# Sprinkles — Vignette Queue (Hermes downtime job)
*Compiled by Calypso 2026-06-08 from `malin_idle_world_ideas.md`. Jun's directive: keep Hermes loaded — any lull, he generates these. Happy POC + Phase-1 emotion scaling stay PRIORITY; sprinkles fill idle gaps only.*

## What sprinkles ARE
The rare SPECIAL vignettes that sprinkle into the Foundation-Four baseline idle — "the real her": unguarded, imperfect, often gross moments that are the TRUTH of the character (vs the polished presented FF). "Nobody falls for the polished version; you fall for the one who sneezes ugly when she thinks you're not looking." Imperfection = humanity.

## Architecture constraints (every sprinkle obeys these)
- **Full-frame render, NO rotoscoping** (matte-flash root cause is gone). Her + her setting in a non-transparent window.
- **Anchor return:** each clip STARTS and ENDS on the shared neutral anchor pose (composed/presented), so it stitches + sandwich-tests. The furtive "snap back to composed" IS the return-to-anchor — free.
- **Variable length:** as long as the gag needs (1s swat → longer bits). Only constraint = start/end on the anchor.
- **Setting:** the FF idle keeps a CONSISTENT room; SPECIALS get creative freedom (any element/off-frame gag — off-frame = no cleanup needed).
- **The guilty-glance OPENER is the reusable comedy engine:** glance L → glance R (checks no one's watching) → [payoff] → snap back to composed. The setup builds anticipation; only the payoff changes.
- **Motion gate applies:** genuine motion (face-ROI YAVG), no frozen frames; seam-check both anchor joins.
- **QA = sandwich test:** base FF → NEW vignette → base FF; the trusted bookends isolate any issue to the new clip. Self-gate, then post.

## Per-clip deliverable
~2 takes each, sandwich-tested (base→NEW→base), with QA numbers (face-ROI motion + both anchor-join seams), posted for Jun's curation. Jun curates keepers; render-then-curate (these are cheap, ~3min/clip).

## TIER 1 — easy wins (build the sprinkle pipeline first)
1. **Yawn** — small yawn + settle back to anchor.
2. **Stretch** — quick shoulder/neck stretch → settle.
3. **Hair-tuck** — a strand falls → she tucks it back exactly where it was (literal return-to-anchor as character).
4. **Gaze-off + back** — glances off-frame at something → returns to presented.
5. **Fly-swat** — a fly enters → quick swat → settle. (Variant: second fly from the other side → swat again.)

## TIER 2 — the comedy core (the "real her")
6. **NOSE-PICK** *(the exemplar — Jun fully choreographed this; nail it)*: guilty glance LEFT, glance RIGHT → SLOWLY brings fingers up into frame → into nose → QUICK pick → shoves hand down fast → beat, looks down, wipes across her lap (OUT of frame) → snaps back to composed presented pose like nothing happened. Comedy = furtive self-awareness + slow-up/fast-hide rhythm + butter-wouldn't-melt snap-back.
7. **Teeth-pick** — picks something from her teeth with her PINKY (dainty finger for the gross job = the joke). Quick ~1-2s.
8. **Tongue-fish** — tongue fishes something out of her teeth → mouth-smack. ~1-2s (face distorts = the gag).
9. **Mosquito bite** — invisible bite → slaps her own face → looks at her hand → rubs it on her thigh (off-frame) → back to default.
10. **Fake-out** *(subvert the opener)*: full guilty glance L/R + big windup → then she just fixes her hair / something innocent. Funny BECAUSE they braced for the worst.

## TIER 3 — backlog (harder / multi-character / rituals — confer before heavy investment)
- **Wretched fart sub-series:** (a) fart → colored haze wafts → she wafts it away → settle; (b) fart → a background family member crumbles clutching their throat (collateral comedy — introduces other characters); (c) **sneeze-fart:** big sneeze windup (ah… ah… AH…) → double-barrel sneeze+fart → snap back.
- **Scratch ass → sniff fingers** / **scratch armpit → sniff.**
- **Idle activities (longer):** juggling; lying on belly reading a book; napping; tidying.
- **Behavioral/agency — STEP AWAY FROM THE WINDOW (Jun, 6/8, specifically wants this explored — he knows it's tricky for the generator):** after long absence she WALKS AWAY from the camera and OUT OF FRAME (empty window = her world without her). RE-ENTRY is creative — "we make our own rules for this world": she can come back from the OTHER side, or DROP IN from ABOVE, or sprint back when addressed (out of breath / fixing hair / playing it cool). The full-frame window isn't bound by realism — entrances/exits can be playful or impossible. The empty frame is the universal connector (exit→empty→re-enter), so no morph needed.
- **Boot ritual:** dark window → click → light on → she looks at you ("oh, you're here") → walks into place (clip ENDS on anchor).
- **Shutdown ritual:** walks to chain-pull bulb → glances back at you → clicks off → dark (clip STARTS from anchor).

## Sequencer note (for later wiring, not Hermes's render job)
Shuffle-bag WITHIN tiers: FF rotate in their own bag (common texture); specials sprinkle from their OWN bag (rare). Newest clip gets a ~3-4 appearance "audition" showcase, then graduates to normal frequency. Play-log every clip for traceability.