poor / destitute / to use up / to exhaust / thoroughly / extremely / (coll.) persistently and pointlessly
穷
=
力
+
穴
:
Cupid (qu) exhausted (穷) his bank account and is very poor (穷). He has nowhere to go and nothing to do anymore. In the engine's kitchen ((e)ng2) he creates a big cave painting (穴) out of boredom. Idly he paints a big power button (力) wishing that upon hitting it, money would rain down on him.
二
=
一
:
Mnemonic symbol: a capacitor, because the two strokes remind me of the symbol in electrical drawings. Albert Einstein (Ø) is experimenting with a capacitor (二) in the space station's bathroom (Ø4). He finds that it's uncomfortable to discharge a capacitor using two flutes (一).
to substitute / to act on behalf of others / to replace / generation / dynasty / age / period / (historical) era / (geological) eon
代
=
亻
+
弋
:
Rosa Luxemburg (亻) wants to practice her archery skills in the airplane's bathroom (ai4). On the other side Don Quixote (d) is standing, but they don't have an apple, so they substitute the apple with a token (代, 代币). Don Quixote is trembling heavily as Rosa lifts her bow (弋) and prepares to shoot down the token from Don's head.