to exist; to be alive / (of sb or sth) to be (located) at / (used before a verb to indicate an action in progress)
在
=
一
+
亻
+
土
:
Zorro (z) and Rosa Luxemburg (亻) exist (在) in the airplane's bathroom (ai4). Rosa is in the middle of balancing a flute (一) on her head and on a pile of clay (土). Zorro uses his rapier to inscribe "Z" into the flute, so as to mark that the pronunciation of "在" begins with "z".
drum / CL:通[tong4],面[mian4] / to drum / to strike / to rouse / to bulge / to swell
鼓
=
壴
+
支
:
Gitta Giraffe (gu) is beating her drums in the space station (Ø3). She is beating an archaic drum (壴) and a modern snare drum (鼓) using a twig (支).
lining / interior / inside / internal / also written 裏|里[li3]
里
=
土
+
田
:
Mnemonic symbol: a sunflower. The 田 part looks like the blossom and 土 looks like the stem and leaves. Li Qingzhao (li) wants to put up a field (田) inside (里) the space station's living room (Ø3). First she puts some earth (土) here and there, and then she plants lots of sunflowers (里).