#SPECTER HOW COULD I NOT LOVE YOU AND SKADI

[abyssalhuntersnerd]

ARE YOU ACTUALLY SERIOUS RIGHT NOW???? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA, NOOOOO, THEY ARE SO CUTE WTF!!!!!!! AND THEY ARE BY APEX TOYS, JSSHSJSBSISBS-

[cerastes]

What's your read on Andreanna's 'love at first sight' line? It could be fun to just take it as face value and just assume it's just her having a crush on Skadi and Spectre (making her utter lack of connection to them on the network very funny), but I feel like there's something else going on there. Is it seaborn stuff? Something to do with her being an abyssal hunter knockoff having some kind of innate admiration for the original?

It’s because she’s a Walmart Abyssal Hunter, yeah.

The line in question:

Andreana feels something completely and utterly puzzling and maybe even thrilling when see sees Specter and Skadi, so she says this. It’s further elaborated on in her Module lore:

In her Module, Andreana explains that she was making a joke with that comment, however, it is true that she felt weird and bothered, Felt A Ways, as some would say, when looking at them or in their immediate presence. Then she posits that this physiological reaction might have to do with That Weird Backstory Of Hers, but also, 1) she doesn’t really care too much about it, and 2) it sounds like a pain in the ass so she doesn’t want to find out.

As we all know (and if not, as you’ll learn now), Abyssal Hunters can sense each other on a level that other people can’t. They perceive each other as they would a wave, a sea current, the smell of the sea, even its temperature, if close enough to each other. In Under Tides, for example, Skadi immediately perks up when Gladiia breaks into Specter’s room to steal her away, because she immediately ‘smelled’ a cold, strong wave of seawater coming from her room. That’s how Gladiia ‘smells’ or ‘feels’. It is stated at various points that Hunters don’t even need words to communicate if they so choose, with Specter in particular feeling like land-dweller language is bothersome to a fault at first, and Skadi addressing that with “no yeah I hated it at first too, still can’t get used to it, but it’s got its virtues”. It also explains a little why Skadi is so stoic and laconic: She literally isn’t used to talking or needing to, but I digress.

It’s easy to extrapolate that this is precisely what Andreana is feeling when she sees the Hunters: She’s “feeling” them but has no earthly clue as to what the hell that is in the first place. Proper Aegir Hunters have an education — Gladiia taught Laurentina not just about the Hunter trade, but also about art in general, with a focus on dancing — that prepares them to be Hunters and have the information needed given to them. Andreana has memory issues and not a damn clue of what the dicken is going on when she “feels” a Hunter, no context, so her first assumption is “Huh. Love at first sight?” because why the hell is she feeling something as intimate as what kind of waves and breeze they are from just looking at them? Then, a while later, since Andreana is a pretty pragmatic, logical, no-nonsense person, she starts putting the legos together and thinking, oh, yeah, might have to do with my Mysterious Circumstances, on second thought. Then she shrugs it off and keeps fiddling with her crossbow.

In Kal’tsit’s own words Andreana 200 Trust Files), if Laurentina or Didi can be considered a proper inkwell, Andreana is a droplet of ink in a glass of water: A facsimile, an attempt at something, an aberration. Of course, this callous indictment isn’t directed at Andreana, it’s aimed at what was done to Andreana.

And since I know I’ll get an ask about it, I’ll take the liberty of plugging Andreana into Drimo’s patented Just A Guy spectrum. Is Andreana Just A Guy (gender neutral)? Not quite. Let’s compare and contrast with our favorite specimen, Shalem. Shalem is terrified of his backstory and runs from it at every turn, until it was impossible for him to refuse it any longer (IS2), Andreana, on the other hand, is aware that she has a backstory. She KNOWS there’s lore, but she doesn’t really want to meet it. The backstory ambushes her, but Andreana says “no thank you :)” and walks past it. It’s a pain in the ass. She’d rather play paintball. She’s not normal, is keenly aware of it, and doesn’t give a zalak’s ass about it. Can’t be bothered! Simply uninterested!

[burstfoot]

mmmmmmm🅱️ all the irene/hunters ships? <- not biased

Ok I'll do this one too. For Irene Skadi/Irene: Answered earlier, potentially interesting but their relationship is mostly abandoned in SN, doesn't feel like they're that close. I think their relationship is most interesting in the context of how much they both love Specter & how they get along with that (be it angsty, sweet, or silly) Andreana/Irene: Also answered earlier! Another pairing that I think works best alongside the other pairings in the AH polycule with them both adapting to these three insane women and taking solace in each other as the babies of the group, relative to the strength of the pure hunters Ulpianus/Irene: I'm 99% sure you didn't care about Ulpianus as part of this group I only included it because I thought of it and the concept reeked of gachabro reddit mischaracterization so hard it made me naseous Gladiia/Irene: Potentially some very juicy stuff, considering how Gladiia is the most antagonistic to land-dwellers, similar potential to what I like in Gladiia/Susie (though Irene is far more antagnostic than Susie is). They would both be very passive-agressive towards each other for a WHILE before any sort of connection could be reached, but whatever happened from there is very interesting Specter/Irene: ITS SO CUTE ITS SO CUTE I LOVE ALL THE 'Li'l [x]' pairings I love seeing Irene flustered... I maybe don't understand the deepness of their connection as much as some other Specrene fans but its just really nice!! You are a fruit

[kc5rings]

can I get Gladiia, Specter and Skadi for the kink meme? not necessarily as a throuple, more like, how freaky do each of the fish like to get in their respective pursuits

Ok one at a time in no particular order

Skadi- 6, but can swing wide in either direction

Skadi doesn’t rate much higher than average just because her motivation largely depends on her partner. Often she’s up for most any wild thing Laurentina has thought up but with say, Grani? She’s equally happy sitting back and letting the service pony be of service

There’s also the problem of her strength, she often prefers her partner doing the work simply because unless it’s another Hunter or someone equally sturdy there’s a very real chance of someone ending up with a severe case of powdered pelvis

Laurentina- 10+

Laurentina is a much more active participant than Skadi and also much more specific in her tastes, if it’s not hitting one or more often several of her niche buttons she’s not interested. Edge play is a given if it’s an intense scene but even for lighter play she loves an intricate roleplay and will absolutely lose interest if her partner isn’t committed to the fiction

Basically wether it’s the things she and her partner are inflicting on each other or the fantasy they are playing out, it has to be dramatic

(I’m doing Laurentina because I consider her and Specter two separate people so feel free to ask again if you want the nun shark specifically)

Gladii- 8 to 10+

The Captain is very demanding and unless you are specifically Kal’tsit or one of her hunters it’s very unlikely she’s playing nice. Bondage, domination and power dynamics are her bread and butter with often very little or no sex involved at all. Her idea of a night together could very well be reading for a few hours with her feet up on a footstool that whimpers and if her partner was not properly grateful or up to her standards, there wouldn’t be a second scene

Small addendum that both Skadi and Laurentina enjoy bondage but finding restraints that can both hold them and are aesthetically appealing is a rare thing. So if anyone can manage that they are probably interested

[misskriemhilds]

Reed and Skadi for the ask meme?

reed

sexuality headcanon: bisexual! favorite ship(s): ...with ebenholz, of all people. this is mostly due to the post-lingering echoes fic i'm writing in my head that develops their relationship and interactions together. i think they could have the potential to get along very well. brotp: reed and saileach. their interactions in the main story really endeared me. notp: while people will certainly disagree, i'm not very fond of reed/bagpipe or romantic reed/saileach (mostly for personal reasons that i'll not get into) - though i wouldn't exactly call it a notp so much as i dislike it. a random headcanon: when she was extremely little, she really wanted to become a ballerina. her family signed her up for ballet lessons and she did really well, but after (vaguely gestures) everything she never really got an opportunity to pursue that as a full-time career even though i think she would have liked to. general opinion: i really like her! i always liked her when i first got her in my pulls, but seeing her role as deuteragonist in the main story and watching her growth in "what the firelight casts" really endeared her to me.

skadi sexuality headcanon: bisexual favorite ship(s): you knew this was coming - her and specter. they're probably the reason i actually started playing arknights to begin with, and when i did get to see them in action i was not disappointed. i love how truly comfortable they are with on another; specter the unchained's operator record made me gremlin screech because of their interactions. they're just married to each other in my eyes. brotp: grani and thorns! grani is pretty understandable considering the side story, but the case of thorns is more hypothetical. i think they'd be really good friends together. notp: it's not so much a notp so much as 'not my thing' but i don't care for the abyssal hunters as an ot3 either with gladiia or andreana (i like both gladiia and andreana as individual characters, for the record. it's simply that i can only really see skadi and specter with just each other.) a random headcanon: she really likes collecting plushies. it's not something she talks about very much, but considering those really cute plushies we get with both of her skins (seriously, with the new one, is alchemaniac a mind reader because i've imagined skadi wearing an outfit super similar to that?) it's something i could see. general opinion: i can't even begin to describe how in love i am with this fictional 2d orca woman both from a "she's attractive and i am enamored by her stoic personality with a secret soft side" but also "i love seeing her character play out on screen". also she really needs a hug after everything she's been through.

[feotakahari]

Arknights is rarely content to have two people be shippable together with no additional ships. Grani and Carol are cute, but Grani and Skadi are also cute, but Skadi and Specter are cute, but Andreana wants Skadi and Specter to step on her. Or you could ship Lappland with Texas, but you could also ship Texas with Exusiai, who could be shipped with Mostima, but then there are people who ship Mostima with Bison, and I don’t even know how Fiammeta fits into all that. Saria made it easier by torpedoing her relationships with both Silence and Kirsten, but think of poor Ptilopsis (who still has shippy potential for both Saria and Silence) or even Muelsyse (who seems like she’d like to be the devil on Saria’s shoulder.) I think the least complicated shipping is Blemishine and Platinum, and that’s only because everyone else falls in love with Blemishine’s sister.

[bentosandbox]

some thoughts about Stultifera Navis’s armature 3 ft. Spalter op rec

Part 1 here / Part 2 here

Part 3 of my stupidity and also probably the post most people will be interested in because I accidentally translated the entirety of Spalter’s op rec before I wrote this so I will stick it somewhere...I tried to cover the skaspec dynamic as it went through the event but this is definitely not an exhaustive rundown of their interactions

Spoilers for Stultifera Navis as usual and the op rec

ok first things first There’s a parasite in my brain being like "you know your post sounded kinda ableist lol, you know it yourself that even getting through the day is already hard enough sometimes and you still want to ‘better myself’ lmao" yes yes calm down other me and anyone else I will explain

Basically I think there was a ‘mindless consooming is not good’ message but more importantly,

Recognising issues that aren’t outwardly destructive or seem minor at first glance are still issues worth trying to figure out/improve on: ie. I wish I could have read this story a good 10+ years ago instead of just being like “Well I don’t feel like jumping down a window so I’m fine! I’m fine! (is actually fucking depressed)” and only realise from some random tweet on the bird app that actually, not wanting to live can also be considered being suicidal. Wowza ok back on topic

1 Be cringe and be free

At the beginning of SN Skadi is fretting over Specter’s phasing between her different selves and asking if Gladiia really had to bring her along with them on their journey.

Sometimes when we’re dealing with someone that needs help, when we help them, we forget that they’re still their own person. And then Gladiia says this banger of a line:

BUH BUH BASED?? That’s right this was a swordfish appreciation post after all haha gotcha!! But really though, as Specter gets more and more of her memories back Gladiia is like “nice” but also says they’ll wait for her old self to come back,

And that she’s the same as them, she’s no less normal as they are.

It's not like she's completely 'fine' either; she still struggles with it as they head towards the Ship of Fools ™

o..i love abyssal hunters…. let’s get back on topic

On the boat she finally returns to her ‘old’ self, but says that she doesn’t really mind her nun-sona:

It’s not a real or fake thing, they’re both valid identities to her, she just likes one more.

And even thanks one of the deep-sea cultists for how she ended up like she is now

And outright says that being un-normal is okay!

2 Take it easy

As someone who feels compelled to always spend their time wisely and productively, stories with a ‘its ok to do useless things they're part of life’ message always hit me hard so let's dive(hehe) into Specter’s Operator Record:

In SN Specter says that Gladiia taught her how to dance from when she was small, and the op rec opens with her induction into the Abyssal Hunters

And teaches her how to dance.

It then cuts to Gran Faro after the events of SN where now Specter is teaching Skadi how to dance and then also asks her to teach herself how to sing.

They practice for a moment before Gladiia shows up and tells Skadi that Kalt’sit wants some more tests done, so she leaves for that and our swordfish and shark go for a walk.

While admiring a rocky outcropping with Gladiia, who just sees the rock as “abstract”, Specter offers an alternative; it is beautiful, because its a “coincidence created by time and nature,” as opposed to how statues in Aegir are made; rigid, troublesome, takes a lot of time and resources.

As if they momentarily switch positions of teacher and student, Specter offers Gladiia to try a kind of scale fin snack. Gladiia deems it unnecessary, which Specter agrees to, but offers again anyway.

It may not provide any practical use, but is useful in other ways.

She talks about the beauty of everyday occurrences in nature:

And then invites Gladiia for a dance with them using each other’s names instead of their titles or nicknames:

The temporary erasing of the responsibility of being Abyssal Hunters, the suspension of superior-subordinate hierarchy, a moment shared between just two regular “daughters of the ocean” !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sometimes we forget that we can enjoy the most trivial things. Sometimes that smallest useless thing can be what keeps you from falling into the abyss. I know this too personally cough

Gladiia goes back to work and Specter spots Irene heading towards the lighthouse, and follows our little birdie–

Sike surprise rant time. Nevermind the fact during the whole story till the end Specter mostly sees Irene like a little pet bird to play around with, people can ship whatever you want(ther was a really great scene towards the end of the main story too actually), but I’m so fucking tired of EN-only children and their selective reading completely missing the point that Irene basically just went back to her father figure++'s grave(Remember the cool head Inquisitor from UT? He ded) to try and connect to him again because she felt lost and Specter was like cheering her up and these people are just being like GIRLS BE FRUITY!!

Don’t get me wrong either they look cute together but that is probably the worst fucking possible moment to do this. Imagine going to someone's grave and his daughter is standing with someone pretty next to the grave mourning/talking and your reaction is haha don’t they look so gay together!

Before anyone pulls a “It’s not our fault we can’t read CN to read the entire SN to find out he died there!” They literally mention it explicitly in the op rec so you didn’t even have to read the entirety of SN in the first place:

Specter plays with her for a bit trying to cheer her up, but also imparts a very important lesson:

Perhaps I am over reacting because this part hit me the hardest out of all the entire event 😄 I kept wondering if it was wise to keep this whole thing but you know what. it’s my own blog and how can I write about being cringe and free and then do the exact opposite

Before they part, Specter reintroduces herself as the 2 different identities she has now, but it’s not the shark and the nun:

Specter and the Aegirian; her duty and destiny intertwined into one that she cannot and will not escape from, but also herself.

Conclusion: I was trying to install a dark theme on my google sheets I use for translation and this came up and i thought it was very apt so here it is

In Specter1′s second op rec(en loc called it “I, Namely I” but idk I think “I am Me” is more succinct and to the point...) she sings a song (and sings it again in SN)

When she prayed♪The stars ceased to shimmer♪

And when she wept♪The night let out a smile♪

And as she lamented♪The anguish sprawled upon her madness♪

At the end of this op rec she sings it again but puts her own spin on it

When I pray ♪The stars ascend into the night♪

When I dance♪The two moons shed their black veils♪

When I smile♪The sea will witness my joy♪

Man I love stories about coping and dealing with trauma and taking agency;

Nihilism vs Existentialism;

Nothing in life matters! (derogratory) vs Nothing in life matters! (affectionate)

If you like stories like that a very recent and very accessible exploration of this is the kino of the year; Everything Everywhere All At Once yes the whole point of this was to make people go watch it (iirc digital release is next month or so so it should be even more accessible)

My friends also know this too well but I cannot stop recommending Heike Monogatari, directed by Yamada Naoko of Liz and the Blue Bird fame, its only 11 episodes too, it was so good it made me trawl through the entire (modern translation) of the original war epic

Bonus AKA don’t take this seriously unless you want to I guess I cannot stop you

Skaspec is the jesus/judas of Arknights because my friend said so and I believe it (does not provide any evidence) Ok but it’s so funny that Skadi just kuudere’d Specter and comrade zoned her in the op rec lol..you do all that and you’re like “that was just my duty” ok orca

To be honest though I love how Skadi technically has the most ‘monster’ within her(she has the blood of the thing she killed back then within her) but she’s undeniably the most ‘human’ of the trio and to Specter; She misses the old Laurentina so much and wants her back so bad but she also comes to respect that Specter is also part of Laurentina, is also Laurentina herself.

Last but not least

[penandlandship]

This is more curiosity than a request btw but how you think the Abyssal Hunters would be as poly couple with a Doctor ?

Abyssal Poly Headcanons

To start off, I doubt that these three would be easily swayed into romance. I may make it different in my writings but for the most part it would be a slow process for the Doctor to get the Hunters to embrace their love for them.

Specter would be easily swayed, Gladiia might be hard because of her duty. Skadi is complex, she has feelings for the Doctor, yet feels like she is too dangerous for them. To break down those emotional walls is the key.

With each other, they are tight knit. Just like they always were, if anything I doubt much would change between their relationship with each other though there would be more close times, less distance and more overt displays of care.

With the Doctor they are fiercely protective. If someone hurts or threatens the Doctor, there might be blood. Three protective girlfriends.

Adapting to their lifestyle might be hard for the fragile Doctor. The Abyssal Hunters deal with Sea Terrors that no over could face. The Doctor would have to accept this fact.

It would be hard, and there will be a lot of work put in for the relationship to actually work. But I could see a Poly bond not only working but being surprisingly healthy.

[shuttershocky]

Not saying it's gonna happen considering how much love HG has already shown him, but do you think it's possible we could get a Phantom Alter? We know his Oripathy makes his singing cause psychological damage, so maybe he'd be a damage focused bard(or Hexer)? He even his shadow to use as a summon, it could work.

Hmm, I wouldn't get my hopes up to be honest. With the exception of Specter the Unchained (who was made to capitalize on Specter's insane popularity), Alters usually get made for Operators that the playerbase considers underpowered, popular but limited in potential (I.E, a 3 star), or just in need of more attention. Nearl for example has been mostly a secondary Saria for when you're already deploying Saria but need another one, while Skadi was considered underpowered not because she was a numerically bad Dreadnought, but dreadnoughts just have very niche uses that are mostly accomplished just fine with Melantha.

Phantom is both very strong, quite popular, and has a whole event around him. I wouldn't get my hopes up for him getting an Alter any time soon.

A Hexer alter would be really cool though. I think we're still missing a 6 star in that branch.

[johannstutt413]

Can you give a list of blue poison ships? yuri or BFFs from least favorite to most favorite and why and how it would make sense

Well, this is gonna be interesting...

Obviously, I'm a Doc/BP fan - not only are they the closest to a self-insert Arknights has, hence their perspective being the one I started writing fic in - for fuck's sake, I wouldn't be here if Doc/BP - but in the actual story I don't think this would actually happen. Yostar's plans for the Doctor seem pretty ace to me. Won't stop me, but an important note to make, and important enough for it to go first despite this request asking least-to-most-favorite.

Second note - I feel like there's an assumption that there aren't any male characters that would go with BP in this question? Am I the only one getting that vibe? Cuz there are dudes in AK lol.

Third note - Quite honestly, there's probably a case makeable for just about anyone willing to give her the time of day. This Anura is affection-starved and clearly in her head about it; the ones I'm going to mention are just the ones especially fitting to me, but, like, anyone will do. Most of us are given two hands to cherish best frog, after all.

With that in mind:

Ptilopsis - This was definitely me just bringing two waifus together lol. Cute, but totally not happening outside of my wishing for both of them to find happiness.

Astesia - They're...both blue? I wrote it, but as something that just happens naturally it's not terribly likely. So cute couple, needs a pretty specific meet-cute to make it happen though.

Da Bears - I'm grouping them together for simplicity. I feel like there are much better matches for them within the realm of AK's roster (mostly each other), but I've made cases for most of them for fic requests already and I think I did a pretty good job of it.

Specter/Skadi/Andreana/Deepcolor - As a sort of honorary Abyss Hunter from her past, it definitely makes some sense for her to be fair game for them, but again, she's not in any way automatic for them.

Thorns - Both Iberians who study and utilize toxins; wrote this fic with the ship as an important element because it just makes sense to me.

The Doc - ...Look I'm biased :P. I want to wake up next to this frog is that so much ask? (Yes. Yes it very much is.)

Glaucus - Aaaaaand we get to the one I think actually happens without any interference from outside factors at all. These two have good chemistry, have an Archive File where the two of them are together on a mission, and the slug's profile talks about BP specifically. I'm not even mad about losing to her, it just makes sense Brent.

Like I said above, and as calligomiles pointed out in a note on this Angelina fic, "I call it the Miku effect… as long as a character is still cute, the blander and more generic they are the more versatile they’ll be in the hands of fandom authors." As much as I love mah frog, she's another subject that applies to - her defining character traits being "People are scared of touching me," "I want to be touched," and a mixed bag of details that make her a bit more than two-dimensional (giving me a couple extra angles to ship her with - BP/Cutter, for example) but still keep her pretty generalized. That Archive File, giving her some more precise characterization through the vehicle of more dialogue (aka, doing its job perfectly)? Not really gonna change that perception.

So, that's a list. I get the feeling I won't see another question like this? But if I'm wrong and people are curious, I could do this again with other Operators. (I can think of at least one I have what may be spicy takes on, but again, we'll see if anyone's interested in that).

[abyssalhuntersnerd]

While yes, Specter Alter made me fucking suffer for months because she's just built different, I still adore her with every single fiber of my being because she's literally everything I could have ever wanted and she is everything she deserved to be.

Everytime I think about how beautiful her character development has been and how her own self worth journey has developed I just get so happy because she thought that she was worth nothing. Her body has been worn out, she has no control over it and the only thing she can do that is somewhat useful is slicing things up for a living. Even if she has a brief moment of consciousness, it's probably just as bad as being trapped in her previous state, it's spent thinking to herself there really isn't anything she can do for herself and that this is it, her fate has been decided. She will die fighting like this, being restrained to chains she never chose in the first place and she won't have a choice in the matter- Because some weirdos decided to inject Originium into her spine to get information out of her and even when they tried to, she still never gave them what they wanted.

I don't think we talk about her mental resilience enough. Like yeah, she was unstable when she didn't have control over herself and her reactions to certain things told you everything you needed to know about her past experiences- But damn, this girl is tougher than most of us would like to admit. The Church tortured her to extremes I'd rather not think about, ruined her life and her as a whole but she doesn't hold any resentment towards them, she doesn't hate their guts, she simply is disgusted by them and just... Instead of straight up murdering Amaya on the fucking spot cause let me tell you I would not be able to hold myself back, she just tells her to fuck off, to please die in the fanciest way possible and dances with her because why not. Just why not. At the end of the day she still admits they would never have gotten along but damn, just damn.

The fact that she takes that experience, the years of isolation and pain- And learns to love herself for who she is now, not for who she was before is mesmerizing. She's 3 people at the same time, she's Laurentina of Aegir, she's Shark of the 2nd Company and she's Specter the Unchained. She's the same person she was but she doesn't reject the parts she hated before.

She sees so much more worth in her own self than she ever did before because those parts she's been trying to reject for so long are what she just needed to become the person she was meant to be, so beautiful, so tragic and so perfect that she baffles me at times.

We don't talk about her enough. About how she's seen her the worst parts of herself and instead of hating them she embraced them. How we all wished we could do that ourselves and we find it so difficult because loving yourself is so hard nowadays.

And honestly? We also don't give Skadi and Gladiia enough goddamn credit. I don't care what anyone says anymore, if it wasn't for them Specter wouldn't be where she is. Yes, they weren't the ones who made her like this but the fact Skadi spent literally YEARS to find something that would help her, even if it was just for a brief moment because she wanted to talk to her, be with her and try to save the only thing she had left from her beloved home? How she considers her, her treasure map, the one who keeps her going even though she doesn't know where she's going but she still will regardless cause if it's for her and with her partner, it's all worth it. How she was the one who cared for her along with everyone who wasn't scared to, who held and carried her when she needed it? The person who properly spent countless hours by her side, telling her about all the things she wished she could tell her in hopes that maybe, that way, she would get better? To then be told that she was being heard and that even if she thought she couldn't rely on Specter, she still told her that Skadi could regardless of her condition? That even after Under Tides she promised her she would be there when she woke up again and she was, and fuck, Skadi's heart probably leaped out of damn joy to see her back, to see the person she's been caring for so damn long to finally be back, back to her true self. Can you imagine how Specter feels about Skadi? How grateful she is to her for everything she's done? How wonderful their relationship is?

How even if there wasn't much to go off of, Gladiia was always there for her. Even if she was desperately looking for a way to go back home and to stop her mutation she still believed in her beloved Shark? Even when Skadi doubted herself and Specter she still reassured her telling her that her hunter is tougher than this. That she can overcome anything. That even if it wasn't much, Specter still appreciated being able to be hunter under her wing, that she promised her she would try to get better even if it took her a while? How Specter makes Gladiia smile with her just being a little shit something not many can do?

How they just... Complete each other in ways I cannot express because it is so beautiful to see 3 people appreciate each other so much? How Specter in a way, might give them that little hope they need to keep going? That if she can better, so can they?

Just. Just them. Just Skadi. Just Gladiia. Just Specter.

I just love her so fucking much. She's absolutely perfect. She deserved her damn Alter so much.

[cerastes]

Specter: "Have you seen Swordfish? I had some questions regarding the roster for the deployment tomorrow, best to get those inquiries done and settled before showtime, and all that."

Skadi: "I think I saw her with doctor Kal'tsit, they were going towards the dormitories together... Probably her room."

Specter: "Oh, wonderful, then I get to ask the two head honchos about it instead of just the left side of the brain, should make matters more simple."

Skadi: "Hey, now, wait a second, Laurentina. I said to slow down. Surely you don't mean to interrupt them?"

Specter: "Interrupt what? A strategic meeting? I dare think I have a voice in such sundry matters as much as anyone who is ordered to take cannonfire to the face in her duties on a nigh daily basis. The value I can add to any given conversation is not to be understated, my little Orca."

Skadi: "I'd consider that a complaint, where it to come from the mouth of anyone except you, Shark. But seriously, think about it a little... The two of them, alone, not in any of the meeting rooms or the offices, but rather in the dormitories. You can add those twos together with ease."

Specter: "Surely you jest, Orca? Are you suggesting that I could be so uncouth as to intentionally, naively, brazenly sling open the doors to the realm of intimacy between two entangled, probably very sweaty souls? Non-sense! I so confidently stride because I know that's not even a possibility!"

Skadi: "Elaborate. And seriously, slow down."

Specter: "Those two old wells haven't seen a trickle of moisture in years, I'd reckon. They are all-business, no non-sense, well oiled chaste tactical machines! Young, dumb and full of cum? Try old, cold, and full of mold! And I love them so, but let us be real for a microsecond, my little Orca, can you truly picture Swordfish and Miss Kal'tsit doing the Sargon Speedbump? Or the Laterano Excommunication? Perro Style? Get real, dearest, they are more likely to be playing checkers than they are to be making Bolivar Pancakes in there. And she's absolutely in there, reeks of that seawater with a tinge of warmth so characteristic of her behind this door."

Skadi: "First of all, never say any of those words ever again, but you're right, it smells like the Captain in there. There, past that door, with a plaque that very clearly reads 'Kal'tsit'. Let's, perhaps, mind our own business and just field your questions tomorrow early."

Specter: "You truly are insistent on these fantasies of yours, Skadi! It's so cute and endearing how you think that could even be possible! Ahem... Pardon, Swordfish, Miss Kal'tsit, I've got some inquiries regarding tomorrow's sortie that I was hoping to--"

*Specter opens the door and has a full frontal VIP seat peep at Gladiia running her hands deep inside of Kal'tsit's dress, half-lidded red eyes staring back at the intruding shark, straddling the doctor with her lithe yet strong frame, a cougar that's not yet had enough of its meal. The silence is filled only by greedy little gasps seeking to oxygenate two hearts that have very clearly not have had enough of each other just yet, an almost primal hunger in the two pairs of eyes that glared guillotines at the interloper, deafeningly silent yet clearly inquisitive as the trails of saliva that connected their lips lost its tension and threatened to snap*

Specter:

Skadi: "Hm. So, I tried to warn her, but--"

Specter: "Orca, look! Isn't it gallant, isn't it inspiring? Swordfish is hard at work, making a younger sibling for me! Oh, how splendid!"

Skadi: "LAURENTINA!"

Specter: "Oh, how simply joyous! Observe! Swordfish fully intends to cultivate that moist, fertile delta, and from it shall life spring! Orca, we'll care for a brave new Hunter soon, we must be on our best behavior and be good influ--"

Skadi: "With your pardon!"

*Skadi secures the interloping shark with a deft armlock and beats a hasty yet perfectly gallant retreat, closing the door behind her in such a hurry that the entirety of the landship shook. Many a Messenger on-board would remember this as the Localized Earthquake of 1099, which would go on to prompt emergency preparations for a sudden Catastrophe overnight, but that is a story for another time. Back in the dormitory room, as the younger Hunters exfiltrated themselves from the battlefield that was that room, after a cautionary yet eternal few minutes of silence and stillness, just in case that door decided to open again, the senior Hunter dismounted the doctor.*

Kal'tsit: "...Well? So what was that about?"

Gladiia: "My sincere apologies, Dame Kal'tsit, and you have my gratitude for having gone along with my drastic, sudden strategy."

Kal'tsit: "Don't worry about it. So?"

*Gladiia nods and, from a little corner behind Kal'tsit's bedside cupboard, carefully drags out a small table with a checkers board on it. The game is clearly quite progressed, with one side having a clear advantage.*

Gladiia: "I did not want Shark to see me, as some land-dwellers would put it, 'getting bodied' so badly in this showdown of ours."

Kal'tsit: "Because she would never let you hear the end of it?"

Gladiia: "Not for a couple of lifetimes, no."

Kal'tsit: "You have my sympathy and understanding, don't worry about it. Now..."

Gladiia: "...Yes. It's about time I reverse my fortune. Ready yourself, Dame Kal'tsit."

*Kal'tsit then proceeded to win the next game, as she did the previous seven, and they played lots more checkers afterwards*

[dlamp-dictator]

Allen Rambles about Code of Brawl

Man... remind me to never talk about having a future Rambling in the works, it’ll instantly fall into draft-hell. But anyway, I’ve been meaning to talk about Arknights in depth for a while now, but I’ve never had much drive to actually finish the damn draft of my initial thoughts a few months ago. I couldn’t tell you why, I just lost the drive to finish the thing. However, with Code of Brawl coming to a close and my thoughts on the event still lingering I think I can use it as jumping off point to actually talk about the game. 

That said, here’s the synopsis.

Arknights is a Tower Defense game for the PC mobile devices placed in the world of Terra, where an infectious disease known as Oripathy ravages the land, slowly turning people to minerals in a slow and painful process. You play as the Doctor, an amnesiac military commander of the Rhodes Island pharmaceutical company who fights against the Infected radicals known as the Reunion. 

That’s about as far as I can go in a single paragraph for main story, but Code of Brawl instead focuses on the eccentric adventures of Pengiun Logistics, side faction of the game that’s a seemingly innocent delivery company with quite the ragtag group in it, consisting of the happy-go-lucky gunner Exusiai, the cold and dismissive swordswoman Texas, the excitable and energetic Sora, and the business-savvy Croissant. All led by the charismatic and multi-talented Emperor. However, as their new intern Bison comes into the fold the group is caught in a series of gang wars and organized crime trying to snuff out the company.

And unlike Fire Emblem Three Houses, that really is the basic plot without me sarcastically building anything up. With that all said, I think I can move on and talk about... 

The Story

The story of Code of Brawl honestly has the best and worst of Arknights writing. I think having a story that focused on a group outside of Rhodes Island was for the better. For all the lore blurbs and archive notes we get, I think Code of Brawl proves just how little Rhodes Island is involved with the world of Terra at large despite it’s apparent reputation as a weird and quirky company with some terrifyingly powerful Operators and lofty ambitions. And while I’m still only on Chapter 4 since I’m grinding out some E2 before moving on, Rhodes Island really does more reacting to random Reunion plans than anything proactive with their goals of curing Oripathy. They feel more like a counter military force to Reunion, and a barely effective on at that given the point of the story I’m at. Code of Brawl, being focused on another group with a more direct conflict and villains, feels a lot more cohesive and interesting, as Penguin Logistics’s goal is to just get Bison through his first day and take out whatever force is harassing them this week. 

Penguin Logistics as a whole is a rather interesting bunch of ruffians and seeing them is gallivant around Lungmen trading blows and bullets with gangsters is a joy to read and see. Seeing some of the inner workings of Lungmen society, seeing a bit of the underbelly, as well as getting to see the cast just have more casual interactions with each other is great. We learn that Sora really is just gay for Texas, and the all of Penguin Logistics has only 3 function braincells with Texas having one and Mostima having the other two.  We get to see that Sora has probably beaten someone to death with her microphone at some point given how willing she is to bar fight. A lot of fun stuff.

And then... there’s Mostima. 

Look, I like this story, I really do, but Mostima really didn’t need to be here as far as the story is concerned. All she does plot-wise is rile up Exusiai, drop some cryptic advice for Bison, shows she knows more powerful than she leads on, and is a bit of a deus ex machina for the end of the plot, and not even by that much. You could had replaced her with Chen, Swire, Hoshigumi, ShiraYuki, or anyone else that would logically be in Lungmen at the time. Hell, ShiraYuki knowing everything a being cryptic about it would at least be in character for her. 

And that’s not to knock Mostima. I actually pulled her in my last ten-pull (didn’t get Waii Fu though, and I’m still salty about that), she’s a pretty good and damn near god-tier once you get her to E2 if some of the guides on her are to be believed, though her kit is a little niche for an AoE caster of her cost. However, as far as the story is concerned she shows a serious issue with Arknights as a whole. That’s its constant need to have half of their characters be mysterious.

Mysterious Characters

So, just to give an example, here is a list of characters in Arknights with a Mysterious Past™. These are characters that either have their archive notes explicitly state their past is unknown, or characters who’s past is implied but but deliberately kept unconfirmed.

With that said...

Mostima

Myrtle

Cuora

Skadi

Specter

Shining

Siege

Projekt Red

Specter

Blue Poison

Lappland

Texas (?)

ShiraYuki

AMIYA

Okay, I’m cheating a little with Texas since she has enough of her past implied, but it’s still technically a mystery as far as the specifics go. But you see my point, right? A lot of characters have a Mysterious Past™, which is a nice shorthand to not go into depth about writing their background. Now, you don’t need to give twenty paragraphs on their backstory, but something would be nice. Keeping things a mystery might be nice for the theory-crafters, but for me it’s annoy as hell to see so many character, so many high-rated that really just have their skills and design to go off of, especially with most the cast overall having a pretty simple background to them that are interesting when you read through the lore blurbs and think about it. Breeze is a former noble that wanted to do more good in the world than throwing money at a problem. Liskarm is a protective friend that joined Rhodes Island to make sure the problematic Franka integrated without problems. Frostleaf is a child soldier that wants to do some good in the world after becoming Infected. Kroos, Beagle, and Fang joined Rhodes Island after getting kicked out of their old jobs. You don’t need to be flashy, but giving answers isn’t an admission of lacking creativity. The hints might be nice for the analysts, but the fans would likely want some answers.

Again, Mostima isn’t a problem, and a lot characters in that list do have some concrete hints about their past. Texas and Lappland are likely a former mafia heiresses and old rivals. Shining was likely a highly skilled mercenary before realizing she could do more good in the world with a healing staff instead of a sword. Siege is likely apart of Londinium royalty, but was either exiled or ran due to political turmoil. But that’s the issue, likely isn’t confirmed. Mostima being a powerful character with a mysterious past just feels like a cop out to me. It’s not bad, but she’s a symptom of what some of the issues of Arknights story is. I’m not asking for AFK Arena-levels of lore, just... an explanation here or there would be nice. 

But anyway that’s my main issue, moving on.

General Gushing

Despite that large critique I have, there’s a lot I love about this story. For simplicity sake, because I’m tired of all the editing, I’ll put it into list form:

Penguin Logistics in general was just a joy to see. Watching them in action and just how laissez-faire they are is hilarious, especially when paired with the straightforward and reserved Bison freaking out over the wackiness. 

Speaking of, Bison made for a very good straight man to balance out all the wild antics of PL. He really kept things from getting too crazy by at least questioning the zaniness, and the point when he finally stops caring and just charges in with a crazy plan of his own just gave me the giddiest of smiles.

Given how they discuss it, PL apparently trade blows with criminals and thugs on a daily basis, and since they’re just a delivery company this implies they likely deliver drugs or other hot cargo the mafia and gangs want... and given Emperor’s personality, that wouldn’t shock me.

Emperor in general is a delight of a character. He’s about as charismatic and wild as his aesthetic makes him look. I would legit whale for him if he ever become an operator.

Learning a little bit about Lungmen culture was fun as well, as little of it as we see. It’s my personal headcanon now that the mafia and general thugs of Lungmen don’t mess with civilians because they’re either a sleeper agent under the Rat King’s protection or they might be a kung fu master in plain clothes like Waai Fu.

Waai Fu and Texas fist fighting in the streets of Lungmen is just hilarious and awesome. I honestly don’t know what that says about either of them. Texas is holding her own against a martial artist with over 10 years of experience barehanded, meanwhile Waai Fu is holding her own against what lore blurbs have implied is the former heiress/hitman of a mafia. All the while drunkards and Texas’s coworkers are egging them on. This is the dumb content I live for.

Save for some of the absolute bullshit of the challenge maps, I found the actual game content to be pretty fair and interesting. The Bullies required good defender placement, a lot of the ranged units focused on targeting the helpful buildings that buffed your characters and increased the operator deployment count, and maps themselves had a few clever chokepoints to work with... At least until they started spamming Fanatics.

Bison actually has a pretty solid kit for a free Operator. He buffs a lot of adjacent units, has a no real weakness, his tools don’t feel niche like Grani or Celycon, overall a great unit. Once I finish E2-ing all my main Operators I might build him next. 

While I have issues with her as a story element, Mostima is a 6-star that has instant utility once you promote her to E2, much like Chen and Siege. This is something I’m relieved to say as a lot of my 6-stars aren’t worth much until you E2 them and I’m still trying to E2 some of my easier units like Cuora and Gavial for Chapter 5 and CC.

That’s really all I have to say on that front. So to close things off...

For the Future

Like I always say in these Ramblings, I don’t like the idea of people prattling on about being able to “fix” or “rewrite” something has already been made. It always comes across as both arrogant and ignorant to me. However, I think it’s completely fair to make requests and suggestions for the future. ‘

That said, I'd like to continue seeing side stories without Rhodes Island’s involvement. Both to see other factions in their natural element and because, frankly, Rhodes Island always feels a little out of place when involved in other stories, or at least more of a distraction than a good element if chapter 2 and 3 are anything to go by. I think a Black Steel side story would be nice. Jessica, Franka, Liskarm, and Vanille getting into shenanigans in Columbia or something sounds like a fun time. Maybe have the leader/high commander of the organization as a new operator and they’re a really powerful Supporter than can buff the party, like a 6-star version of Sora or something that gives operators insane ASPD buffs... I don’t know, something like that anyway. Ideally something a little less wordy than Code of Brawl at least.

Anyway, that’s all I have to say. Next time... I’ll talk about something else. Maybe discuss a manga or something. 

See you all later.

[cerastes]

What I love is, back in "I, Namely I" Specter said she couldn't go back to her old way of fighting because her body felt too heavy. Well, having a spine made out of rocks probably does weigh you down. So what does she do but figure out how to use Saw 2.0 to spindash up walls? Absolutely iconic next-level strats from the executioner of the second company.

All jokes aside, it's precisely that.

In "I, Namely I" (Specter's 2nd Operator Records), Laurentina tells Closure all about how she wishes she could form an adventuring trio with Skadi and Gladiia and take to wandering, offering their services to whoever needed them, just three supersoldiers doing the right thing, finally getting to live a little.

Closure says that's a great idea, and then Specter immediately calls it a great dream: This cannot happen. No matter how much Laurentina wishes for it, it cannot happen, because she's ill, she'll inevitably go back to being Specter. Even if she wasn't, her body was ravaged by years of deteriorating from Originium and regenerating from her own regen factor. Her body felt too heavy, too slow, too weak, or, in other words, she simply couldn't fight and move as she did before, and she understood she'd likely never be as strong as she used to be. In her own words, Laurentina would be a burden to Skadi and Gladiia, and she would never allow herself to be that.

The decision to stick to the buzzsaw rather than going back to her original weapon is based on the fact that she likely cannot use her old weapon anymore. Not in the way she used to, not in the way she knows. Laurentina is the guitarist that lost use of her dominant right hand. The decision to stick to the buzzsaw perfectly reflects one of the big decisions she makes in I, Namely I, and the request she makes to Doctor directly in her last moments of sanity: "Make more use of me. Put me in more dangerous situations. Let me have a weapon in my hands and enemies in front of me. Only that way I truly am."

Because Laurentina is defined by being a warrior and a shield. She was the infamous and feared Shark, Executioner Of The Second Company, the soldier that survived what would kill other Abyssal Hunters ten times over. The only fate worse than death to her is to be forever confined to a hospital room, withering away while others concern herself over her. No, she requested from Doctor to specifically be put in even more dangerous missions, to be sent to more fights, because only while fighting and protecting and struggling, she truly is anything of worth in her own eyes. No matter what, she has to fulfill her existential duty as a warrior and protector, that way, even when she's Specter, she's Laurentina and Shark.

So, after that and into whatever causes the sequel to Under Tides, Laurentina/Specter leaned twice over into the buzzsaw. As a guitarist without the use of her dominant right hand, she learned to play the guitar with her left hand, and it was as simple as that: A warrior is not defined by her weapon, but by her gumption and her guts, and if there's anyone with gumption and guts, who is really good at spilling and tearing through guts, that's the Executioner Of The Second Company.

It immediately tells you everything you need to know about how experienced and seasoned a warrior Laurentina is when she actually starts freaking spindashing up walls by using a weapon as weird as a buzzsaw tied to the end of a stick and converting into full meter air combos from there. Makes you wonder how lethal she was with the weapon she actually was experienced with.

The decision for Unchained to retain the buzzsaw as a weapon is the perfect and beautiful conclusion to I, Namely I, in which Laurentina acknowledges that Specter, too, is her.

[abyssalhuntersnerd]

I just... I just read her whole record myself...

Needless to say, I am crying really fucking hard. Holy fuck. I'm emotional. I'm so emotional.

She's exactly the way I imagined her to be- The way she teases Skadi and thanks her for taking care of her during all this time. How Skadi simply tells her it was her duty to do so, how she smiles in front of her regadless of her teasing- Both just content to be with each other. How one teaches the other what they love- It's simply mesmerizing to me. My heart is so full. They both look so happy. It's everything I've ever wanted. I've pictured this specific moment thousands of times, and yet, they made it even better than I could have ever hoped for it to be. So short, yet, so perfect. They deserve this so much. They really do.

And then, the way Gladiia and her dance together and enjoy their conversations about art and life. How Gladiia thanks her for letting her experience this kind of joy and even tells her her laugh is pretty. Gladiia too, is smiling at her, as if she too too is happy she's back. How Gladiia is a bit hesitant to try snacks but still does because of her. It's so... Familiar. They just feel like family. I love that this shows how much Gladiia truly can care about people. Because she does and Specter does too- They are the perfect match in my eyes, how a captain and a subordinate should be. It's so endearing.

And lastly how she tells Irene she's a cute little bird who has so much ahead of her and can do anything- As long as she doesn't forget the joys of life while giving her headpats, how Irene gets pissed and Specter laughs back in return and it's so damn perfect... How Irene blushes and tells her that her name is beautiful after Specter introduces herself, by bowing down and lifting a bit of her skirt up... You feel like Irene. You just do.

The song at the end... It just... It's so perfect. I am so content. I feel like... I just feel like I've always known her, you know? She just hits home. It's amazing. I'm so glad she turned out to be just exactly like I thought she would be. Nothing can beat the feeling of being able to say you've always had faith in someone, even if it's a fictional character.

They truly mean the world to me. They just do. I'll never be able to understand why they do but they simply do. I cannot express my love and appreciation for them more than I can because it's simply impossible for me to do so. There's no words that can describe how much of an impact they've had on me. I love the mesaage behind their cause, themselves- It's truly... One of the best things I've ever had the joy of experiencing.

Thank you Hypergryph. Seriously. She deserved this. They deserve to be happy too.

This Iberian girl, is content.

[cerastes]

What do you make of Specter's operator record? Personally I liked it, but that's with the knowledge we're getting more Specter backstory soon.

Ok, so! Just as you pointed out, I went into it with the knowledge that:

We're getting Under TIDES soon.

Specter gets a second Operator Record later, some time after Under TIDES.

And with that in mind, I'm fine with it, but if I was a CN player and all we got was Specter's first Operator Record without any knowledge of the future, I would be pretty pissed, lmao. In fact, CN players were pretty pissed, the reception to her Operator Record was pretty bad. Specter is a popular character both in terms of gameplay and character (the latter more so in China, she gets a steady influx of cosplayers, fanart and fanfic in Weibo, Lofter, and such). It's believed that Hypergryph announced her second Operator Record because of this backlash.

Now, with the context and preamble on the table, I want to say: Great idea, not so great execution. Overall, I enjoyed it, but again, that's only with knowledge of the future. Despite that, I sincerely praise Hypergryph for actually having the balls to try a narrative approach like this one on a mobile game. The thing is, just because an idea is interesting doesn't mean it's good, and I think a lot of aspiring writers and designers need to hammer that in their head, especially armchair game designers that like to theorize oh so much about how cool it would be to have a game that did this or that. I don't care if it's cool or not, is it enjoyable to experience?

And that's just the thing with Specter's Operator Record: It felt lackluster in many regards. The approach was definitely interesting, bold, I'd even say, but that doesn't really matter too much if the result isn't a success, now, does it? Let's immediately address the Originium Slug in the room: Specter doesn't even appear in it. Now, is that an interesting approach to an Operator Record? Sure! Is it good? I don't really think so, especially with a character that fans really have been clamoring to see more of in actual cutscenes, given the wealth of clues they've put regarding Specter in other places:

Blue Poison' Files -> We learn that Blue Poison knew Specter personally before her descent to madness, addressing her with her real name.

Skadi's Dialogue -> Skadi implies that Specter was on a very important mission, and more or less confirms she knew her before she went crazy.

Several pieces of official art -> Specter is associated with the phrase "All seas are singing your name".

Ceobe's Fungimist -> It's implied the cursed painting depicting the end times is the same confusing painting Specter painted in her Token.

Rosmontis' Files -> It's confirmed that Specter's spinal cord is filed to the brim with originium fluid, and the Medical Team theorizes that, just like Rosmontis, her infection was artificially induced. It also confirms that they have no idea how Specter is able to fight such an insanely high level of infection.

So, see, this has been a character that fans have really been clamoring to see again. The only cutscene Specter's ever been is the secret cutscene of Grani and the Knight's Treasure AKA the very first event in the game. Understandably, after two years of the game existing, people were a bit miffed that once again we just get breadcrumbs and a non-participation 'appearance', to say the least, in what's supposed to be her day in the limelight.

Now, personally, I kind of get how they are handling her, and the Operator Records are a very faithful reflection of this: Specter is meant to be this mysterious force that we don't have clearance to know about, as Kal'tsit herself is the only one authorized to treat her or even enter her containment quarters. And, in this regard, I think the Records succeed:

It all starts innocently with Suzuran drawing Specter in a Secret Santa and then having to start deep diving to find out who the hell even IS Specter, because absolutely no one knows of her. Eventually, Suzuran lucks out by asking Meteorite, who did participate in a mission with Specter once, to which Suzuran immediately reacts: "Hey hold on, don't they send you on pretty dangerous missions all the time?", and Meteorite's answer is, "Yeah, and she's right at home there."

Now, this is really interesting because we, as Doctor, have some level of clearance: We know things about Specter and can even converse with her to a certain degree, because Doctor is a high authority in Rhodes Island, but the average Operator, like Suzuran, Aosta and Chiave, doesn't even know of her existence. She's one of Rhodes Island's well kept secrets, even within Rhodes Island. Even Meteorite, a veteran Sarkaz mercenary and a bombardment expert, only knows about Specter in a need-to-know basis (because they deployed once together). More telling is the fact that Meteorite doesn't think she'd get along with Specter, simply based on the fact that, just on that one operation, the level of violence and carnage brought upon by Specter unnerved even her, a Kazdel Sarkaz veteran. Well, to be precise, it's not the sheer level of destruction that Specter is capable of that unnerved Meteorite, it's the fact that she does it all seemingly without a care in the world, expressionless, soundless, simply following orders to the letter without showing or taking in a single emotion. To paraphrase Meteorite, "someone that can unleash such destruction and violence upon others so easily, and that can then just not mind it in the slightest, has something wrong and concerning going on with them, no doubt".

Next up, we also learn that Folinic has very restricted, also on a need-to-know basis access to Specter. Keep in mind that Folinic is extremely competent and not at all a stranger to danger: She handles Phantom. So this is a huge hint: There's perhaps more to the secrecy regarding Specter than just her being a dangerous, unstable element. Folinic could reasonably handle Specter professionally, but it's not about whether she can or not, it's about information, and this brings us back to Grani and the Knight's Treasure: Kal'tsit makes it clear to Skadi that Specter is, as a whole, inaccessible to everyone but her, that only she has clearance to access Specter's quarters. Keep in mind that Skadi does not operate in the same conditions, despite also being an Abyssal Hunter. In fact, it's well known that Skadi is infamous among other Operators for being unreasonable and obstructive in operations, as well as unapproachable outside of them (unless you are Grani, who managed to successfully befriend Skadi and vouches for her). There's things about Specter that are so sensitive, so important, that Kal'tsit can't risk them getting out, and even using her as an Operator is something reserved for very dangerous operations. Not even Warfarin, senior staff and Operator that's been with Rhodes Island for a very long time, has full access to Specter, but she clearly knows the importance of keeping her under curtains, given she immediately diffused the Folinic-Suzuran situation by coming up with a compromise on the spot.

There's another interesting contrast between Files and the Operator Record: Meteorite describes Specter as "dead silent". Mind you, we knew from before, thanks to Specter's Files, that the shark is completely silent in battle, but we also do know that she incoherently rambles quite a lot. Folinic sheds some light onto this, explaining that Specter intentionally stays silent most of the time so as to not say anything that could be misunderstood when around others. When she's in a more private setting, however, she does let loose with the insane talk. This is confirmation of something that had been hinted at before: Even though she's insane, there's a fervent part of her clinging onto sanity for dear life with bloodied, splintered fingers, and it manifests itself in how she'll never harm an ally, and how Specter is, to a certain degree, aware of how far gone she is, and thus keeps her mouth shut around others that aren't Doctor or Kal'tsit, so as to not spook them out or accidentally threaten them with her insane rambling.

Then, at the very end, after Suzuran managed to get her present to her, Specter does in fact deliver a thank you present back to Suzuran: A music box, consistent with Specter's love for the arts. Of course, the gift might have been chosen by a proxy of hers (Skadi or Blue Poison, both known to also enjoy music), but the message is all the same: Specter clearly appreciated the gift, and was mentioned to see an improvement in her condition after receiving the doll Suzuran gave her.

So, in paper? All of this? I love it. Of course I do, she's my favorite character, and it was such a bold way to present her Record, too, I respect them trying out new things, it managed to capture the essence of "the mysterious, terrifying fighting machine Operator they don't want us to know about that's actually a pretty sweet and decent person, just going through some really hard stuff" that they've been going for with Specter, it's just, I can also understand (and agree with) fans because... It's been two years, bwahaha, let us see her again, you know? It's her Operator Record, we've gotten some VERY good insights into the lives and days of other Operators through those, like with Angelina's or Kroos'! Of course we also wanted something like that, bwahaha.

What I would've loved, and what I think would've made it all better with fans, is if the final scene had Specter actually show up in Suzuran's room like the cryptid she is, with Suzuran noting the security door had just sort of been casually pried open, Specter's perpetual smile on her face as she's holding her thank you gift before Warfarin and Folinic just sort of storm into the room like "DUDE, WE SAID YOU CAN'T--", she thanks Suzuran wordlessly, gently hands her the music box, and then she calmly turns back and walks back to her confinement quarters.

But, yeah, I've gone on for long enough. I appreciate it overall, knowing what's coming, and I appreciate the idea, I just think they could've handled it better, but the whole essence and message of it, I think lands pretty nicely.