#an iced squid's lore

[iced-squid]

wyn as the six-winged angel

much like the whale in moby dick, the six-winged angel in my in-universe lore represents obsession. i'll be making more of these because i've been having too much fun with cobalt blue. definitely one of the colors of all time

[shadowxamyweek]

Is Shadow being immortal canon? I thought it was just a generally accepted headcanon by the fandom

...Yes?

The pause and questionmark are not directed at you, they are directed at Sega.

I confess, I'm a bit of a stickler for what lore I consider canon. If it's in the games, it's canon to me. If it's anything outside of the games, including the game manuals themselves... then it's not.

I have such a narrow-bracket view of the story and these characters due to two things:

1: There seems to be a disconnect between the different 'branches' of the Sonic Franchise. There's the Shadow we see in games, there's the Shadow we see in marketing and social media (like Twitter Takeover), There's the Shadow we see in IDW, and then there is the Shadow we see Sega write about in character profiles like on Sonic Chanel and the official Sonic the Hedgehog website. This exists with all the characters to a degree, but I feel Shadow presents an egregious case of it. 2: Sega has a tendency to retcon things or change their language or act like stuff didn't happen and... I don't like it XD But they can't change games that have already been published and played. As such, to me, in-game dialog/play/story/etc is the crowning jewel of truth within the Sonic story.

But that these are *my* paramaters. They do not have to be *your* parameters.

So while there hasn't been any mention of immortality *in game*, there has been plenty *outside* of it. Lots of different official Sega sources say Shadow is 'immortal', but no examples or specifications have been provided in game. There's also plenty of times the whole 'immortality' portion is omitted. Most noticeably, it's not mentioned in the Sonic Channel character profile, nor the character profile provided on the official Sonic the Hedgehog website. At best, it is mentioned intermittently in game manuals and external sources.

(And I know we see Shadow in stasis in 06- I'm aware- but I'll also point out we don't know *when* he went into stasis. Furthermore, I cannot help but wonder if, much like Black Doom in SHtH, Mephiles took a portion of truth and twisted it to scare Shadow. (Also, like.... Shadow was under such heavy security when GUN put him down for an ice nap the first time. Why would they just leave him out and about like was shown in 06? I doubt the truth of what Mephiles shows Shadow.))

I actually reached out to @squid-in-a-party-hat, @fyeahsonicthehedgehog (x), and @forgottensonicfacts (x), as well as some friends of mine like @shadamyheadcanons for help collecting information to provide you with as well-rounded answer/opinion as I can. In fact, Squid has a video on this very subject XD They do a great job of weaving together all the different types of canon (comic, anime, social media, etc) so if that's how you prefer to operate, I really, really recommend them.

Anyway, Here are some game manual examples in chronological order.

SA2 (2001):

Sonic Heros (2003):

And...I want to take a moment to show something interesting between the original Japanese and the English translation. The japanese translation says 'unaging and undying' which gives us narrower guidelines, but the Heros profile is the only time I've seen that.

Shadow the Hedgehog (2005):

Which OUT OF ALL OF THEM you'd think it would be mentioned in his title game but like... *gestures*

Sonic 06 (2006):

Sonic and Mario at the Olympic Games (2020):

Then there are these online examples, stemming from both Sonic Chanel and the Sonic the Hedgehog Website. They are both officially owned and operated by Sega/Sonic Team. Note they don't mention his age or the immortality at all.

Sonic Chanel, 2007:

Sonic Chanel, 2010:

Sonic Chanel, 2022:

This is the character profile put up on the Sonic the Hedgehog website 2024, separate from Sonic Channel but still official.

(In talking to @forgottensonicfacts- I had asked about times Shadow had been called 'ageless' or '50.' Turns out the 'ageless' bit was written in a Scholastic's book and, so far as anyone has found.. there is no official mention of Shadow being listed as '50 years old.' I had been so sure it had been officially listed at one point in time. Really glad to be wrong on that one, frankly, because that would have been daft XD)

So this is what we have about Shadow's 'immortality' that has been put out by Sega themselves. Not the comics, not the media team, just Sega/Sonic Team.

Now... this is where I pick apart that word 'Immortal' and broaden the scope a bit.

Not to be 'that bastard,' but I popped on to the Oxford Dictionary just to get a concrete definition for you and they define the adjective use of the word as being, "living forever; never dying or decaying."

1- Shadow's already almost died. He *would* have died were it not for Eggman saving his sorry ass. We know this. It's a whole-ass plot point in his story because it's due to this he ends up with amnesia.

2- Even though Gerald was tinkering with immortality, that doesn't mean he succeeded. We also don't know how that immortality would look/work/act like.

3- In Sonic Battle (for Gameboy), several of the characters have a healing ability. Shadow is one of them. However, Shadow's healing ability is one of if not *the worst in the game.* Also, in the story itself, he get shot and is down for the count *for a while*.

4- We have not seen any of the characters physically change in game save for the big age up/design shift that happened when Sonic went 3d in Adventure. As such, we cannot personally test/see whether or not Shadow goes through any changes at all, be them aging or just changes to their body.

So... all in all... I feel this leaves a huge amount of room for interpretation.

Maybe Shadow isn't immortal after all. Nothing spectacular, it's just that portion of the Ultimate Life Form project didn't succeed.

Maybe the 'immortality' is his healing factor, and it needs to willfully be employed. As such, if Shadow WANTS to age, they need to intentionally and willfully allow themselves to do so by NOT employing the healing factor.

Maybe the 'immortality', being the healing factor, can wear down/slow down over time, especially due to overuse.

Maybe Shadow can live forever barring any really traumatic physical harm, but their body will physically change over time.

Maybe Shadow is immortal like how Oxford puts it, but there is a way to stop that perminantly if they so choose (like genetic therapy).

Maybe Shadow is immortal in the sense that they will never physically age, grow, or change. Ever.

Truthfully, that's pretty cool! Like, this gives people a lot of stuff to work with and play around with, compare notes, talk- that's the fun part of fandom! And no singular person is right! @shadamyheadcanons has this one that's fun. I personally like the idea that Shadow's 'immortality' wears down over time and gets weird, causing their Black Arms genetics to kick off (like a third eye ooooough gimmie gimmie gimmie.)

I don't know if this was the answer you were looking for. Perhaps I've just confused things further- I've been known to do that XD

Ultimately, what I'm trying to say is- it's whatever you want it to be, and nobody can stop you <3 So go have fun!

[bethanythebogwitch]

@fishyfishyfishtimes, I noticed you like mermaids and enjoyed my fish Digimon post, so you may be interested in mermaid Digimon.

The OG is Mermaimon and I really like that she's (I'm saying she but whether or not Digimon have genders depends on which setting is being used) also a pirate. The lore says she uses her beautiful singing voice to lure people in and rob them. She also carries an anchor as a weapon and is not afraid to give someone a thrashing.

Mermaimon is the OG mermaid in the sense that she debuted first, but in lore the OG is AncientMermaimon. She is one of the Warrior 10, a group of ancient Digimon from the beginning of the Digital World. The Warrior 10 are dead, having long ago died to stop Lucemon (as in Lucifer) from destroying the Digital World. While the Warrior 10 are long dead, their data went onto spawn many species of other Digimon. AncientMermaimon specifically is the ancestor of all aquatic Digimon. She was effectively a goddess of the sea, able to control the weather and with enough power to sink entire islands. While I like the original Mermaimon's design more for its pirate theme, AncientMermaimon also has a great design.

The only merman in Digimon is Neptunemon. As the name suggests, he is based on the Neptune, roman god of the sea. He is also part of a group, the Olympos XII, who are also based on the Olympian gods. They collectively rule a portion of the Digital World that is on a private server called Iliad. He is the absolute ruler of the oceans on the Iliad server. I really like his samurai-inspired armor and the trident made of shark heads.

While that's all the proper mermaids, I have some honorable mentions in that they still fill the aquatic creature/girl archetype. The first is Ranamon, who has a direct connection to AncientMermaimon from above. In the anime Digimon Frontier, which introduced the Warrior 10, it is established that their spirits, each representative of an element, survived their death and can be taken up and used by others. While half the spirits are taken by the heroes, the other half are corrupted into evil. The good spirits are fire, light, ice, wind, and thunder while the corrupted spirits are steel, water, wood, earth, and darkness (later redeemed). Ranamon and her evolution are the corrupted spirit of water. The only spirit that we saw both the pure and corrupted versions of was darkness and I think that's a big missed opportunity. Ranamon is easily my favorite of the spirits, which is largely due to the english dub making her a classic mean girl with a southern accent. Her name comes from the Spanish word for frog.

Ranamon's evolution is Calamaramon, who is deliberately designed to be a darker version of a mermaid. Instead of a fish tail, she has an entire upside-down squid for a lower body. She's also supposed to be a sea witch and has a major temper. Oddly enough, she's one of the only spirt Digimon from Frontier that has shown up in other series. In the Digimon Adventure reboot she shows up as a major threat and in Digimon Ghost Game she's a monster of the week that's only a villain due to a misunderstanding. In approve given her role in Frontier basically boiled down to a joke about her being uglier than Ranamon.

Last of the honorable mentions is the entire Jellymon evolution line: Jellymon to TeslaJellymon to Thetismon, to Amphimon. They're pretty recent recent Digimon, having been designed for the most recent anime, Digimon Ghost Game, where she's one of the main characters. She is also easily the biggest little shit in the franchise. I really like the jellyfish meets human design of the line. I also suspect Amphimon wearing a full-body dive suit is a deliberate subversion of the trend of feminine Digimon having sexy designs.

Jellymon

TeslaJellymon

Testismon

Amphimon

[ask-deep-sea-4]

Saw other ask blogs and figured I'd make some for my sillies. To know about these guys and their lore you're gonna have to read

there is also two minor fics about these guys

______

Agent 4 aka Nova: Still the happy chaotic person they were before the Metro but carry many fears and will often stare out into the void. They still have many scars from the events of there adventure and try not to think about them. They are also a force of nature and did emerge from the Metro far more powerful force. Is dating Agent 8, always carries their king salmon tooth knife.

5'9

Agent 8, real name unknown : Cold as ice as fierce to strangers and enemies but aloof, gentle and soft to the ones close to them. Still has bad flashbacks from the Metro and fighting sanitized 4 but hides it best she can. Dating Agent 4 and carries a similar deadliness making them a formidable pair

6'1 wears long black pants and sleeveless black shirt on missions, wears sweat pants, baggy OTH t-shirt with hoodie and the golden tooth pick

Agent 3, Captain: Confident and focused but normally puts on a straight face and blunt attuite, firmly believes in their own combat strength and has a tendency to put others down to sever their own ego which was a factor in 4 running away to prove themselves in the Mero. She carries much guilt from this as she has always seen 4 as a sister and good friend. Since then she has been trying to be humbler but she does bond by being the only one to truly know what been sanitized is like.

5'4, shorts and her normal agent gear stay on 99% of the time, she has a brace on her arm currently to help since it was jerked out of socket during the fight with 4 and has a scar there from where her cartilage broke and cut her skin. She has her sanitization scar on the opposite side to 4's and a few leftover bruises and cuts from the aforementioned fight.

Tyson: Was the test subject before Nova and was saved by her after trying to fight CQ cumber and later escaped with her help, sent with her roller which he brought to Sheldon's leading to 4 being found (and 8 kicking his ass, thinking he had something to do with 4 being missing) He is kind but often concerned and soft spoken but can be smug. He was a medic in the army but was pulled out of the program due to being a big guy and was forced to be cannon fodder.

5'10, black jeans, and Squid sisters shirts as normal wear but has a nurse unform for school (The NSS pulled some strings to get him in med school)

you can also send asks to Maire and Callie.

---------------------

this is before Splatoon 3 but you can still ask about aspects of it that I will try to fit into at this time also that means there is no Neo right now

A few other things to keep in mind.

suggestive jokes are fine just don't take it too far

I most likely won't do much art for this since I can't draw that well

I am open to interacting with other blogs but rp is not something I always enjoy and if it's something i don't want to do I will message you and say so

[honey-minded-hivemind]

🍷The Heir of Evil🐉 AU fans have decided, and...

🍷The Heir of Evil🐉 AU Reader will be an IceWing!!

I have a few headcanons for them, and a a bit of backstory and lore planned, too😊 Let's dive in:

• ❄IceWing!🍷Heir of Evil!🐉 Reader is the grandchild or great-grandchild to the wicked IceWing queen, specifically the one who put the tribe into multiple wars and skirmishes and tried to take over the dragon world. Reader isn't like her (they're not an irredeemable monster who hurts others for fun)

• Heir! Reader wears jewelry that is mostly silver or black, but loves any sort of colorful gemstones or charms...

• Heir! Reader only wears the pieces of jewelry that are necessary; they don't want to waste the tribe's treasure on frivolous items, and if the jewelry appeals to other tribes, then it might make Reader and the IceWings seem more appealing, like they're dragons, too...

• Heir! Reader is good with algebra, dragon biology, and creative writing...

• Heir! Reader is torn between what the two sides of their kingdom wants: to stay unscheming and try to foster peace, hoping other tribes will leave them alone and not hurt them further... or to amass enough power and treasure that they can wage a war against the other tribes, or at least the IceWing hybrids who some view as traitors...

• Heir! Reader's necklace they were told to never take off is enchanted, but they don't know that. The necklace hides something about them, which is why their vanished/dead parent gave it to them...

• Heir! Reader has had to stop a coup for their throne/title at age four (about 12 year old in WoF dragon years), which led to them earning the respect of the remaining advisors and generals of their late parent/late family, as well as the respect of the few nobles left and the different IceWing villages...

• Heir! Reader's hatching day is a mystery, as no one ever saw their egg, nor them, when they were first hatched, save for their deceased parent and a late ally of their's...

• Heir! Reader has an army of pet foxes, all of which are (diet) platonic yandere for them (they're all so cute and cuddly and fluffy-!)

• Heir! Reader, unlike most IceWings, enjoys trying cooked meats and exotic dishes from other tribes and kingdoms...

• Heir! Reader prefers to sleep with a fur blanket, not because they're cold (they're an IceWing), but because they like the soft fur and fuzzy texture...

• Heir! Reader is an aromantic-asexual...

• Heir! Reader enjoys traditonal IceWing foods such as fresh salmon with lemon juice, thinly-sliced caribou strips, puffin and moss salad, kalimari (squid), bear jerkey, ox ribs seasoned lightly with moss, seal meat marinated in ginger/lemon/honey, as well as ice cream, frozen berry slush, and lemon-flavored shaved ice...

• Heir! Reader likes traditional dishes from other kingdoms such as: MudWing's Diamond Delta Gumbo, SandWing's Cinnamon Milk and Roasted Lizard Kebabs, SkyWing's Charred+Barbecued Eagle Wings, SeaWing's Thousand Scales Thousand Fish Sushi, RainWing's Mango-Orange Juice, NightWing's Smoked Boarchops, HiveWing's Honey-roasted Shrimp, SilkWing's Loaded Baked and Sweet Potatoes, and LeafWing's Planter's Pie...

• Heir! Reader sometimes wears a small, spiked tailband on the end of their tail, nestled above where their spikes are...

• Heir! Reader enjoys sunrises, and writes new poems and hymns for their tribe to sing at their Gifts of the Ice Dragon Festival...

• Heir! Reader enjoys old literature, especially comedies...

(I will make another post about Heir! Reader facts, but dealing with IceWing culture)

(I wonder what their name could/should/would be?)

[loominggaia]

Question Time! Are there any extinct animals from the past still alive in Looming Gaia? Like, say, trilobites, ammonites, Ice Age megafauna, or pterosaurs? Just askin'.

There are wooly mammoths still hanging out in the Shrieking Mountains, but not as many as there were in prehistoric times (in this case meaning before the 1st Age). Folkvarans herd them across the tundra like cattle. It's dangerous work, but every dead mammoth provides a huge amount of resources, and the cold climate makes it easy to transport the meat long distances before it goes bad.

There are plenty of megafaunas like sharks, squids, giant sloths, and giant insects. (Most of the giant bugs are in Umory-Ond and eastern Evik. They used to be plentiful in western Evik too, until Zareen Empire killed them all with pesticides.)

Mr. Ocean and Solveig had a pet giant ground sloth called King Kaiva. He was supposedly the last of his kind on Redwood Island.

There are gigantic isopods in Mogdir Kingdom which are used as busses. They have not evolved in millions of years.

There are straight-up velociraptors in Lorrowey.

Most of Looming Gaia's dragons are "dinosaurs" that have not changed much from their ancient forms, especially the Evangelite and Matuzan war dragons, and the Redwings. They're basically perfect predators as-is.

*

Questions/Comments?

Lore Masterpost

Read the Series

[thefirstknife]

Kraken Mare

And ANOTHER thing, from TWAB:

And we’re not kidding when we say we’re going under the sea…here’s a glimpse of one of the places you’ll be headed in Season of the Deep:

There will be actual underwater sections! That makes me insane right away.

Also, this is a Golden Age facility. Why is it at the bottom of the ocean? Or in some sort of a cave? Well, we don't know, but we do know that they were investigating Titan's ocean(s) back in the Golden Age. Perfect time to talk about it!

I cannot recommend Last Days on Kraken Mare enough as a lore book, as it's not only relevant right now, but it's one of the only true and direct accounts of the Collapse starting and the devastation it brought. Last two pages deal with a scientist who was doing research on life in the ocean.

In The Water Sun, Part I, the scientist Maury Yamashita is diving to open a pen with creatures he calls swarmers in order to save them as the Collapse is starting. They were native to Titan and, from the way he talks, we know they weren't originally in the place where their cage is at.

Sorry, Mia, he thinks. It has to be worth my life, or I'm worth more than them, and I know I'm not. I put them there. It's my job to let them out.

He's always loved the stupid little swarmers.

When Titan gets pulled and released from the gravity attack, it causes a massive disturbance not just on the methane sea, but also in the ice shelf and subsurface ocean; yes, Titan has another, non-methane ocean under the surface:

"The tidal pull. The ghost mass. It just… left. The moon is collapsing back to spheroid shape. I'm detecting primary waves in the subsurface ocean—it's a quake. It's a quake! Maury, get away from the substructure! Get clear!"

Maury imagines 60-plus meters of bulging moon, Titan's mass hauled up into a teardrop pointed at the sky—suddenly released. Smashing and scraping and grinding back into equilibrium. Cracks in the ice spewing plumes of water and ammonia. Continent-sized shelves slamming and rebounding and calving like bergs. The whole vast inner ocean sloshing back into its shape.

Maury gets tossed and tumbled in the methane ocean and has a fear that, with the ice cracking, he will fall over "into the abyss," meaning through the ice shelf:

"The swarmers," he says, and he jettisons his buoyancy tanks. Without that lift he is so much denser than the bad water around him that he plunges like a skydiver toward the cross brace below, where the swarmer pen is anchored. Titan's gravity may be gentle, but even gentle acceleration adds up. He hits hard, and the spinmetal surface blasts the air out of his lungs. He gasps and gags. Scrabbles for purchase before he slides off and falls into the abyss. He's going over—no! No! He is not going over! He will not fall!

In Part II, Maury saves himself with his hi-tech suit and finally reaches his swarmers. He gives us a description!

The swarmers seethe and pulsate in the perforated plastic sac. Not Titan's highest life, nor its lowest, they hive across the icy sea-bottom in enormous braided patterns that speak to Maury of intelligence. Not individually—not even at the hive level—but some kind of vast concert, conducted, perhaps, by leviathans down beneath the ice shell, communicating across the barrier by magnetic whisper that the swarmers receive via organic SQUIDs. An ecology spanning methane life and water-ammonia life. Why? How?

This is so cool! Not only does he describe the creatures, he also tells us that there's also life under the ice shelf and he calls that life "leviathans." This also means that there are probably ways to go through the ice which allowed them to study those creatures beneath the ice shelf. Maybe caves? Maybe the Golden Age facility is beneath the ice shelf. Not entirely likely, but still! Maury's theory is that the swarmers are somehow connected to those leviathans beneath the ice and that all life on Titan is a connected ecology of lifeforms that live in wastly different biomes.

These creatures predate the Traveler's arrival, which we know from the writing of Clovis Bray who specified that Titan, Europa and Enceladus were never terraformed:

Did the Traveler bypass Europa and Titan and Enceladus out of respect for their native life?

Or was it afraid to touch the things pulsating below the ice?

This is interesting now in context of the information that an "enemy of the Witness" is on Titan. Did the Traveler bypass the life or has that life always been a part of the Traveler as enemies of the being that seeks to destroy it? Or is it something more specific, like the Leviathan from the Fundament? Vibrating to find out.

Maury thinks about how he brought the swarmers up from the bottom and that he can't bear to see them all die because he captured them so he hurries to open their pen. Once he does, they all skitter back to the bottom.

The polymer shreds and the swarmers scatter, their tiny bodies siphoning liquid methane as they pump down and away. Safe. Safe.

And then:

The quake hits.

A hundred and fifty meters below, the icy basis of Kraken Mare rolls like liquid. The arcologies answer the low geological wail with a cacophony of groans and shrieks, joints flexing, tethers snapping taut, substructures soaking up unthinkable mechanical energy, trying to keep anything from—

Breaking.

Maury falls to the bottom from the blast and gets told to move it back up because the wave is coming. An ice shelf completely collapsed into Kraken Mare and the wave is going to be catastrophic and he has to reach the surface. Which he does! He manages not only to reach the surface, but also to fly out of the water with really cool Golden Age tech suit:

He makes it to the surface. He's up there in plenty of time. He can even see Dome 1, still intact, though a lot of the surrounding rigging is damaged. One of the creepy Exo soldiers stands outside, beckoning to him with a laser dazzle, guiding him in.

Maury opens his suit wings to their full membranous span. A single mighty stroke of paramuscle cups the air and hauls him up out of the sea. He's aloft! Titan air is thick, and Titan gravity is light, and like a huge bat he can fly. He puts his head down and starts building altitude, headed towards the beckoning Exo.

Alas, it's not enough. What follows is one of the best descriptions of just how utterly cataclysmic the situation was:

First, he sees the supercarrier, tragically buoyant, tragically light, built for seas with gentle one-meter tides but now riding the greatest wave Titan has ever seen, directly into Dome 2's crippled understructure. In 152 kilopascals of air pressure, the pandemonium sound of the collision has the gut-mulching power of a rocket booster.

The entire arcology collapses down onto the ship, into the sea.

Then he blinks past the devastation and recognizes the sheer scale, the utter speed, the complete imminence of that unthinkable methane wave coming down at him.

"Oh, man," he says.

This is easily in my top 5 lore books in all of Destiny. Honestly read the whole Last Days on Kraken Mare. But this final bit is so good. It's incredibly good. It was the first direct description of the type of devastation brought on by the Collapse and how incredibly impossible it is to survive it. No weapons fired, no armies involved, nothing. The moon was just squashed and then released, and gravity did the rest. Nothing short of immediately leaving the planet can help you.

It was also the first unambiguous proof that what happened on the Fundament was because of the Darkness. Last Days on Kraken Mare released in Season of Undying which was the first season of Shadowkeep. We'll wait for The Witch Queen to see the Witness admitting that it caused the God Wave of the Fundament and blamed it on the Traveler to deceive the Hive siblings, but Last Days on Kraken Mare was our first direct indication about it, as well as insight into how it's done. Our own God Wave that started the Collapse.

It's very cool that two celestial bodies with some sort of underwater leviathans linked to the Traveler were hit by cataclysmic waves to destroy them. I guess, it's the easiest thing to do to a water planet like that, but still an interesting parallel, especially now that we're very specifically going to be looking for a creature that's apparently personally an "enemy of the Witness." This lore book also confirms that the existence of some massive creatures in Titan's oceans predates the arrival of the Traveler.

So much text about that one picture, but to see a Golden Age facility at the bottom of the ocean is such a sight. I'm hoping for more Golden Age information in the next season and more about the research that went down on Titan, especially research into its life forms.

Interestingly enough, there was another important research being done on Titan, though it wasn't about Titan. But this research was the subject of the rest of the lore book and has relevance to the Collapse, as well as Ishtar and Braytech. The scientist in question was Shanice Pell who fled to Titan to build an interstellar probe. She wanted to send it to explore the universe outside of the solar system.

Both Ishtar and Braytech were interfering with her work so she went to Titan which was independent. Did Ishtar and Braytech interfere because they were also doing research on interstellar space and travel? Did they want to stop someone independent from learning more, especially about the strange anomalies in space that seemed to be coming over?

Very likely, because Shanice's probe discovered the anomaly as well. Initial data from the probe made no sense, obviously because it's paracausal, the anomaly being the Black Fleet. She continued to research and figured something is off and when she figured it out (as much as she could, we aren't sure how close she came to understanding it), she decided that her data must get out. Unfortunately, this is where Last Days on Kraken Mare happen; Shanice was being evacuated, but her evacuation was intercepted by Braytech Exos who came to aprehend her and stop her from publicising her research. She boarded the evacuation shuttle which was then shot down by Rasputin's warsat to stop her escape.

Ultimately, she died in vain. This was literally at the start of the Collapse so even if she had escaped, her data wouldn't have done much. There was no way to stop or survive the Collapse at this point. Her data may have alerted the people at the end, but nothing could've been done with it.

But it's super interesting how many stories are converging on Titan, especially now that we know more about Ishtar and Braytech and their involvement with predictive AIs, exodus projects and all the other stuff they did which ultimately led to Neomuna.

It's also been brought to my attention that the author of Last Days on Kraken Mare, Seth Dickinson, previously said that he wrote three times as much content about Titan. Titan was apparently supposed to be relevant in Forsaken, but there was not enough time in the existing crunch to get it done so it never got implemented. But he wrote a lot about it, and a third of his writing got implemented as Last Days on Kraken Mare in Shadowkeep. I'm sincerely hoping we'll see the rest of his writing about Titan in Season of the Deep. His comment:

It was supposed to be Titan content back in Forsaken but there wasn't enough time during crunch to get it all localized and hooked up. Even the chapters available in Shadowkeep are only about a third of the whole thing.

I'm looking at Bungie with the biggest eyes and hoping the rest gets released.

ONE MORE thing before we go and it's just a nice little detail about Last Days on Kraken Mare as a lore book; its "chapters" are named after various eschatological beliefs of different cultures aka beliefs about various ends of the world. Namely, The Sixth Seal from the Biblical Revelation; Tenth Avatar and Kalki's Burning Sword are from Hindu beliefs of Kalki being the Tenth Avatar of Vishnu who will appear to end the world; and the name of the final two chapters, The Water Sun, is from the Aztec myth of the Five Suns, or eras, in which each era ends with some sort of a catastrophe. The Fourth Sun (also known as Water Sun) ends with a great flood.

[strummingmyheart]

well i dont normally use tumblr n i deleted my last account because i hated everything about it !! so anyway, you can call me finney, rody or clem, any pronouns but he/it by default, please & thanks yew, i really like sea life especially koi fish or magnapinna squid, n my favorite animal is probably either cats or giraffe's. im in alot of fandoms so I'm only gonna name a few rn, !!

i really like the dcu although mostly batfam and young justice (both the comics & the cartoon), vocaloids !! (mostly kaito, len kagamine, gumi, luka, miku and gakupo), l the mcu although mostly spider-man,deadpool n daredevil, mcyt (ex; life games, hermitcraft, empires smp, etc.), studio investigrave (ex; dead plate and cold front), omori, ensemble stars, random story games i find (like literal storys that are interactive, i usually find them on itch.io and dashingdon, like infamous by amy ^^), bungo stray dogs (the mangs, the anime & the mobile game !!!), project sekai [my favz r tsukasa, mafuyu, shizuku n basically all of wxs, !!], VIVINOS [ex; alien stage and pink bitch club], flcl, vkei (ex; malice mizer, gulu gulu, Yuugure GIRL SUICIDE, etc.), danganronpa, bandori, twisted wonderland, d4dj, the guy she was intrested in wasn't a guy at all, good omens, hi3, yttd, fe (fire emblem) [the entire franchise], persona, n so so many more, so many.

my favorite colors are yellow, red, black and pink. i read alot of fanfiction but im terrible of writing, my favorite book is the goldfinch n I'll probably post one of my old mini rants about it,[ i also might post my when twilight strikes lore dump... wtv I'll get 2 that later!!!11 ], while my favorite book series is percy jackson or the tim drake: robin series if comics count :3.

i like drawing but im really bad at drawing already existing characters, i appreciate constructive criticism but if ur just gonna be rude abt it, don't.

examples of my art !! ;;

the first oc is mei lynn, her whole backstory is basically that she's SUUPER unlucky, like really REALLY bad luck, and on her way 2 school she did isekai'd, fell through the air, landed in a lake and broke her leg ^^

n the second oc is florian, his nickname is driam, hes a dragon shifter, meaning he has a full dragon form (which i haven't drawn yet), a half dragon-half human form, and a fully human form (i haven't drawn this yet either), n his backstory is that his parents who were also dragon shifters [and unapollogetically so] were killed by discriminatory humans who beleive shifters shouldn't be aloud rights called hunters, so he usually just parades around as a human, the only people who know hes a dragon shifter are his partners, (havent drawn them yet but he has 2 partners; his boyfriend abbie who's a cat shifter and his girlfriend mira, whos a mage that specializes in ice, water, and healing magic) and bestfriends, (elliott, a freelance programmer who beleives everyone deserves rights, shifter or not and protests these rights happily. piper, florian's roomate before he moved in with his partners, a human who lightly dabbles in plant magic but she wouldn't consider herself a mage, her apartment is above her flower shop which she named ' The Bluebell ', its her pride and joy and she hired mira to set up protection runes around the shop that activate when they close up for the night. and mikhail, whos a demon that refuses to make a deal with anyone for anything out of fear theyll hurt them because a deal with a demon always backfires on the person making the deal with them because a demon always wins in the deal they make, and demons are just angels who were abandoned by their patron god/goddess, mikhail's patron goddess was the goddess of the night and stars, he was abandonded by her out of hope that the mistreatment he got for being an angel would lessen and in a way it did because in the end he found a family.)

this post wasnt sposed 2 b about my ocs but it was fun to write about...

next post i do will most likely be alot of headcanons for alot of different fandoms !!

[melancholicwriteaholic]

The Game’s Lore: “...And so the final surviving humans crash landed back on the destroyed Earth they meant to escape, luckily landing within a deep but habitable cavern with a vast sea. The scientists discovered, deep within the sea, a curious glass projected a blue sky! They took this miraculous, sky mimicking glass, and covered the entire ceiling of the vast cavern into a fascimile of the sky they once lived under.

...But this would be humanity’s final undoing. The scientists did not understand that the miraculous glass they found was not merely mimicking the beautiful blue sky, but was truly reflecting humanity’s greatest collective yearning back upon them. So because of the decisions of the scientists, generations upon generations of the last humans grew up surrounded from above by a vast sky that they could never have again.

Desperate to live under a true sky once more they one day built a rocket that they hoped would propel them out of the underground toward the surface, where they dreamed the REAL sky was waiting. But it was not to be, as the rocket failed to launch, catastrophically exploding and wiping out all human life in the cavern. So ends the tale of the last humans.

Deep within the sea of the caverns, however, the aquatic creatures survived. And as the cavern’s glass shattered from the final apocalypse small shards fell into the lake.

The small creatures of the sea were surrounded by bits of blue and white, images of a clear wonderful sky, and soon they too began to dream and yearn. The final dreams of humanity was inherited by the oceans.

The Game’s Present: WHICH OF THESE FLAVORS OF ICE CREAM ARE THE BEST? THE POLITICAL STRUCTURE OF ALL SQUID-KIND HINGES ON YOUR CHOICE! :D

[dragonfire2lm]

Right so, been fangirling over the Emperor for a while, and once I got over the initial "People don't like this character and I feel like I'm doing something wrong for just liking said character" mood from seeing one too many Emperor hater posts inbetween the fanart, i decided to go all-in on the squid brainrot.

Time to add to the Emperor/Tav ship content. This is Lilowyn, in-game she's a silver dragonborn, silver dragon draconic bloodline sorcerer, an ice build that is surprisingly fun. Technically, Lilowyn is an OC, not just a Tav, since I gave her a backstory and lore set before the game for the fanfic I want to write, however since she plays the role of group leader in her story and in-game she's a Tav, I count her as being a Tav for the sake of the ship tag.

The first image is a shitty little concept art I drew in MS Paint, this what I envision her head and tail to actually look like, since I imagined her with more frills than just the ones on the sides of her head.

The second is her canon camp outfit, elegant robes and gladiatorial sandals dyed boreal blue (please ignore the half-illithid features, I always use tadpoles on my run because 1. they fun, and 2. I am an Emperor fan, of course I'm gonna use the tadpoles).

The third image is the closest I could get to how I wanted her to look in-game when I first started a run dedicated to an ice build.

And fourth is just a screenshot of her and her squid husband, because they look cute together and I took way too many screenshots of that scene lol. (again, please ignore Lilowyn's use of the astral tadpole)

All screenshots were taken on the PS5, and transferred to the laptop. I am a console player trying my hardest to interact with what might be a primarily PC fanbase so...

I'm currently working on a fanfic for her, and I have a lore doc written up for her backstory. My plan is to get most of (hopefully all of) the fanfic done, post it on AO3, then do a post here on tumblr that is the lore for Lilowyn.

[iced-squid]

An introduction to the characters of my (incomplete) story, The Chaos Magnet:

(I collaged together a mishmash of old art to make this. It's not very elegant but oh well.)

The Chaos Magnet is urban fantasy, with a magic weapons system (because I had very specific media fixations back when I was a teenager). Two secret organizations have been waging a centuries-long war to gather magic weaponry and find the Pandemonium Machine. Wyn Halford, the leader of the organization formerly known as “The Confederation of Angels,” is desperate to end the war. As he sets his plans into motion, he recruits his nemesis’s daughter and is dealt much more than he reckoned for.

I wrote the first draft almost a decade ago and edited it religiously, but I’ve currently uprooted the whole story and I’m rewriting it. If my art skills ever get better, I’ll make a webcomic.

This post mostly explains my characters’ relationships to each other. I made this diagram to make it easier—

—just kidding. This diagram is insane and confusing. I did it for the joke, but in retrospect, I spent a little too much time on it.

It's going to get reallllllllll long, so I'll break down their dynamics/background below the cut.

The main POV characters are Glade Gideon, Wyn Halford, and Arch D'Auvay.

Glade Gideon is the daughter of Henry Gideon (the main villain, a.k.a. Wyn Halford's nemesis). She's a runaway drifting from place to place until Wyn sends Arch to "recruit" her. She is kidnapped to the organization headquarters and forced to join the war against her father. Though she doesn't like her father, she holds resentment towards Wyn for kidnapping her. She befriends Arch despite his role in carrying out the orders because it is clear he lacks autonomy—plus, he's fun to annoy.

Arch is not amused with the new addition to headquarters or with the incessant interruptions to his reading time, but it has been long since he had consistent conversation. He is not willing to admit he likes the company, or that he likes seeing Wyn suffer the annoyances wrought by the new recruit.

Wyn deeply regrets recruiting Glade because she is a menace. She spikes his coffee with a new condiment every week and interrupts his paperwork process, asking him inane questions. He did not sign up for babysitting his enemy's daughter. Hoping she would prove to be of some use, he has Arch and Layla train her as he makes preparations to dismantle Henry Gideon's organization for good.

Extra:

Glade is convinced she can snap Wyn like the twig he is (if he didn't have magic powers of course). If only she knew the phrase "I want that twink obliterated." She would have so much fun.

Arch secretly partakes in the "condiment of the week" prank with zest. But he's so deadpan, Glade can't tell.

Wyn likes the pranks. At least, most of the time. He loves a break from the monotony of his work and the chance to be melodramatic.

The slightly older characters with intertwining fates who are all doomed by the narrative: Eno Vallerium, Layla Adderley, and Wyn Halford.

Eno's dead. But as far as the narrative is concerned, she's alive and well. Prior to her death, an seer told her the year she would die, so it came as no surprise to her. Knowing she would cease to be, she made every effort to stamp out her feelings for Layla. But she was not very successful. They have a few good months before her timely death. Eno is also well aware of Wyn and Layla's mutual feelings for each other, so they encourage it.

Layla was recruited into the organization when she was fourteen by Wyn, who had already been ambitiously running the organization for two years. She worked for Henry Gideon and was an utter slaughter machine, so Wyn saw her as valuable. In her youth, she followed excitement and ambition—motivations Wyn exploited. Unfortunately, with age and Eno's influence, her lust for murder has waned. It turns out, a quiet life is much better than a life of endless bloodshed.

Wyn was drawn to Layla's ruthlessness and ambition because it mirrored his own. They bicker often in their youth, usually with Eno on standby ensuring it won't devolve into a fight. Wyn and Layla both defend Eno fiercely, especially knowing her eventual fate. They don't know when they develop feelings for each other, but after Eno's death, they are determined to hang onto each other forever. Their relationship is a secret because they fear it will be exploited by the enemy.

Extra:

As of The Chaos Magnet, Layla and Wyn are engaged with rings inscribed with a commemoration to Eno.

Wyn has consistent morals and values he abides by, but Layla is genuinely a terrible person until she matures. She spends a lot of her life in a "frozen time" state, so she has a lot of time to think. They get on the same wavelength eventually and spend their free time chilling on a couch.

They're all just very tired.

These guys grew up together in the organization headquarters. Eno basically parented Eric, Arch, and Wyn. Wyn takes care of Arch and Eric when he grows older, but he also gradually becomes more distant, especially after the responsibilities of leadership are thrust upon him at the green age of thirteen.

Wyn and Arch were orphaned in the same night. Before dying, Wyn’s parents ensured they would make a safe trip to the headquarters, despite having retired from the organization because they didn't agree with the politics.

Eric and Eno were practically kidnapped for the organization’s needs. Eno doesn’t even know their own birth name.

They all grew up alongside each other, but the weight of responsibility divided them. Eno and Wyn learned to shoulder the burden of knowledge so Eric and Arch could live as carefree as they possibly could. Of course, they couldn’t escape from the organization’s work.

Arch and Eric were inseparable, training and spending every waking moment together. If one of them got sick, the other would not escape the illness either. This would have probably continued forever, if Eric didn’t get beaten to a bloody pulp on a mission. The last time Arch sees Eric is when his maimed body is swept up by a helmeted stranger on an enemy motorbike. He’s twelve when he blames himself for what happened.

Wyn is too busy with work to provide consistent emotional support and Eno tries her best, but she is contending with her own fate, which was coming for her in less than a year.

As a result, Arch spends all his teen years stewing in guilt and loneliness, with nothing but his books.

Extra:

Layla’s there too, but she’s horrendous at dealing with people’s emotions. She tries, but she’s not good at it. The most she can do is hold a box of tissues.

Clem shows up eventually, but she’d rather die than deal with touchy feely stuff.

I had no idea what to label these guys, but here they are: Eric Florentine, Arch, Glade, and Clem. They're the younger of the main cast.

Glade meets Arch and Clem her first day of being kidnapped. Clem is the resident healer who is mysterious and aloof, but as far as Glade is concerned, she has not wronged her, so she likes her presence. Plus, for a person prone to small injuries, having a magic healer around is handy.

They all meet Eric when he shows up at the doorstep with a potentially fatal wound. Arch has been sure he was dead for six years, but Eric is very much alive, and he has been made into an experimental subject for Henry Gideon's people. He's been on the run after he made an attempt to steal something important from Gideon. He's a charismatic dude, and he dislikes Wyn, so Glade automatically considers him a friend.

Clem likes to stay out of the drama and emotional bits of other people's lives as much as she can. She heals people, and that's it. Out the gang, she likes Arch the most, since she considers him the most normal one. He's quiet and doesn't stir up trouble (at least, until Glade's influence and Eric's reappearance).

Extra:

Clem is secretly bothered by the fact she can't take Layla in a fair fight. She respects Layla the most though.

Glade is usually only annoying when she is with Arch and Wyn. She's much more chill when conversing with both Eric and Clem because she admires them.

Wyn has known Eric was alive for four years. He never told Arch on account of the promise he made to Eric.

They're all a hot mess. It's a miracle Clem can stay out of it at all.

It gets a lot more complicated, but this is the simplified, spoiler-free version.

If you've read all of this...well I don't know, I guess I owe you a small sliver of my soul. Here, I'll put it on a fancy gilded plate for you.

[gay-artificer]

curious about your thoughts on how lizard heads are able to emit light and pulsate the way they do. based on my (limited) knowledge i thought they would have chromatophores or smth similar on their heads which would allow their heads to flash colours and would be controlled via muscle contraction (which is why their heads lose colour when they die). that's just my take on it, but was curious to know your thoughts?

also, as a side note, is it alright if i include some of your theories/thoughts in the creature section of a rw lore document i'm writing? will give full credit of course!

Answering the second part first: Yeah go ahead! I don't mind at all

Now for the actual question: Lizards are very interesting because while controlled bioluminescence isn't uncommon, they have a few interesting quirks. Namely that it extends into the frills of the lizard, and persists even into the Saint ice age where lizards grow out either fur or feathers as adaptation against the cold. So we have something here that needs to be at least a little more flexible than we normally see! (or at least give a healthy amount of fictional flexibility) So that fur or feathers can have similar properties. Luckily, the game does give us an easy out of insanely diverse genetic modification, so saying 'they messed with it enough to do this and its still in the genes' works well enough. The rest of this is under the cut because its long! I'm not kidding. And obligatory note that I'm not an expert in the field of specialized skin cells.

So, Chromatophores, which I'm sure your thinking of in terms of animals like octopus and squid, are color focused- They don't actually emit any light on their own, although you can get an illusion of such in particularly flashy displays like you might see in a cuttlefish (Which often actively manipulate light reflection, but its not self-produced). Lizards in RW actually glow from their heads (as you can see in environments like shaded citadel or mole lizard flashes) so we at least have more than just something like chromatophores, which could control the presence of color through contraction (the 'on and off' switch') like you said. This method however would be complicated by the saint age of lizards with fur and feathers due to those mechanisms being skin based... which takes up the spot the feathers and fur would develop.

Now, in theory, you could work around this by creating 'bald spots' on the lizard where the glowing parts go instead and fur and whatnot that develops around that. But the in game models at least somewhat suggest the glow effect applies to the fur/feathers/frills as equally as the skin sections. So... interesting critter here depending on how true to the models you are!

The next question to that would probably be "are there any furred/feathered animals with bioluminescence" which the answer is... not really. We have animals in that group that fluoresce- which means that when exposed to certain types of light (usually UV) parts of the animal absorbs it and re-emit it back rather than just reflect, which results in a similar glow effect. Bioluminescence, in contrast, refers to self-produced light. They're similar, but fluorescence relies more on the environment since the light effect isn't produced by the organism itself, but rather an interaction. I would argue the RW lizards seem much closer to true bioluminescence, which means they have a self-produced chemical process going on.

(Theres also phosphorescence, which is mechanically closer to fluorescence, but due to the method by which its achieved the glow can exist after the light has been removed. This would be most glow in the dark toys that 'recharge' from being in light in the day. Interestingly... this is probably what the new lizard plushies do- so those particular lizards are phosphorescent!

The real question then, is what method of bioluminescence do lizards use, and how do they control it. Truthfully, control isn't that difficult- Some organisms, such as the flashlight fish, have small pockets of bioluminescent bacteria that are simply covered by things like specialized skin flaps. But often it just requires a form of cell signaling or internal regulation to stop and start the processes. We think fireflies do this by limiting oxygenation of the chemical fluids they use. Honestly a lot of the stuff isn't well known! Something else interesting about the lizards is that the glow is isolated (mechanically at least) to the head area, the rest of the colorful spots on the body in terms of in-game behavior are non-glowing. That actually makes things way easier in terms of control, especially since the body features are the most variable. The only exception to this is cyan lizards, who also have the glowing effect in their side spots- which are another consistent feature. The head also isn't strictly just 'on' or 'off' in terms of color- they have a third, which is a flash of white when the lizard is struck or injured. Given the means by which it shows up, we could guess that it might be a side effect of some sort of shock or damage interfering with the means by which the lizard controls its signalling. Of course, since the head flashing could easily be a means of communication, it could also be an intentional signal used for telling other lizards that its hurt and doesn't want to fight.

It terms of production though, there is really two possibilities- Either the lizards self produce and 'ignite' chemicals or enzymes that produce light or they have a symbiotic relationship with organisms like bacteria that do. I like to think its bacteria! Mostly because I don't think it would be too impossible to wacky genetics your way into those bacteria also being present in specialized frills in hollow chambers. We do also already have grounds for special bacteria/host interactions through Artificer- who's explosive saliva is a result of caustic bacteria in the garbage wastes. So if anything, we do know that the Ancients messed around with microbial symbiosis in organisms, and I could certainly see them making use of bioluminescence for a number of reasons (Because its cool).

Of course, its not impossible that lizards have self produced light and their skull has specialized cells for it, especially since the Ancients seemed to love doing... absolutely whatever they wanted with animal genetics. But microbial symbiosis is a big part of a lot of things. Being full of bacteria is the means by which we can even properly digest food! This is a long answer that covers a whole lot of random science, but its fun and interesting (to me at least). The real question is what does eating a neuron fly do to the slugcat that makes them glow...

[queen-rainy-love]

Cookie of the Week: Prophet Cookie

This cookie of this week is...

Cookie name: Prophet Cookie

Pronouns: He/Him

Rarity: Epic

Position: Rear

Type: Support

Lore: His backstory is not really explained but it is known that he gives fortunes to other Cookies. He uses his Scroll of Prophecy to help guide his path (even if it’s wrong sometimes).

Personality: He has the standard calm personality that most wizard characters would have but with a hint of silliness. Think of Merlin from Disney’s Sword in the Stone.

Skills: Prophet has a unique skill, called Seven Prophecies, with multiple abilities. Once activated, it heals an ally and amplifies buffs. It also adds an extra skill effect, which is decided based on the symbol summoned. These are the prophecies and the seven are called Fire, Squid, Mango, Thunder, Water, Ice, and Nothing. It will vary.

Costumes: Prophet has no costumes in Kingdom.

Cookie Decor: Prophet has no Cookie Decor.

Thoughts: At first…I thought Prophet was just a run-of-the-mill Cookie. He did become special when he would give you a prize every three days. But then his skill… really did turn my opinion around. His skill, if leveled up and with the right toppings, can be a real power tank. And those fortunes…I almost wanted to cry at how sweet it is.

[pad-wubbo]

Very sweet post.

It makes me think, "how has it been between Splatoon and me?"

* I've been following Splatoon's world since day one. Splat1 came out and I followed it religiously since the Global Testfire. I thought it looked really cute, and its central ink mechanic felt similar to the gels in Portal 2 (I was 12 and had just recently marathonned the entire Portal series). I had a major crush on the Squid Sisters, too.

* I never had a Wii U. I never played Splat1. I only watched it. Still, though, I felt there was something special about it. The way the Inklings had their own bands, fashion, language, history, everything. It was a world. It wasn't just a video game level floating in the middle of nowhere. It was alive.

* My Splatfest picks (EU) for 1:

* Rock > Pop

* Eating > Sleeping

* North Pole < South Pole

* Singing > Dancing

* Messy > Tidy

* Cats > Dogs

* Zombies < Ghosts

* Pineapple on Pizza is Delicious > Disgusting

* Get Fit < Get Rich

* Play Like a Barbarian < Ninja

* Pokémon Red < Pokémon Blue

* Hoverboard < Jet Pack

* SpongeBob < Patrick

* Black Tie Event < Fancy Dress Party

* World Tour < Space Adventure

* Callie > Marie

* I played as the Inkling Mii costumes in Smash Bros. 4 a lot. They looked weird without the black line between their eyes.

* Of course, I was making the "white ink haha" jokes.

* I kinda forgot about Splatoon after FinalFest 1.

* I didn't have a Switch until 2021. As a result, I didn't care that much about Splat2 when it came out.

* I still vaguely kept up with it though.

* I at least knew that Callie defected to the Octarians, the Calamari Inkantation was now Spicy, there was an Agent 4, and Off the Hook were the new idols.

* Octo Expansion comes out. My interest is piqued by how much its plot copies Portal (you're a test subject in an underground lab for a shady company, the AI promises a reward but wants you dead, you escape and destroy it).

* I once again become interested in Splatoon lore.

* I never kept up with the Splatfests for Splat2, though, unlike with Splat1.

* So, have my retroactive input:

* Cake > Ice Cream

* Mayo < Ketchup

* Flight < Invisibility

* Toilet Paper on the Front Roll < Back Roll

* Warm Breakfast > Cold Breakfast

* Film < Book

* Action < Comedy

* Gherk-OUT > Gherk-IN (on burgers)

* Chicken < Egg came first (objectively correct)

* Sweet > Salty

* I know nothing about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

* Pulp < No Pulp (in orange juice)

* Squid < Octopus

* Adventure < Relax

* Retro > Modern

* Trick < Treat

* Eat It First > Save It For Last

* Hero < Villain

* Family > Friends

* Pancakes > Waffles

* Knight > Wizard

* Hare > Tortoise

* Time Travel > Teleportation

* Kid > Grown-Up

* Chaos > Order

* Super Mushroom > Super Star

* Come 2022, Splat3 comes out, and I play it. My God, it's fun. Seven years of being a Sploon fan up to that point and this is the first time I'd actually played it.

* This is what the Animal Crossing team abandoned New Horizons for, and it was worth it.

* Anyway, here's my Splatfest choices for 3:

* Rock / Paper / Scissors

* Gear / Grub / Fun

* Grass / Fire / Water (in Pokémon)

* Spicy / Sweet / Sour

* Dark Chocolate / Milk Chocolate / White Chocolate

* Nessie / Aliens / Bigfoot (which is real?)

* Power / Wisdom / Courage

* Vanilla / Strawberry / Mint Chip

* Money / Fame / Love

* Shiver / Frye / Big Man

* Zombie / Skeleton / Ghost

* Handshake / Fist Bump / Hug

* Friends / Family / Solo

* Friday / Saturday / Sunday

* Drums / Guitar / Keyboard

* Baby Chicks / Li'l Bunnies / Bear Cubs

* Same Ol' / Bucket List / Save the Day

* Palace / Theme Park / Beach

* Bread / Rice / Pasta

* Past / Present / Future

* Now, I had only been playing the game on and off until this year.

* Side Order really, really, got me hooked on it. Permanently.

* Since then, I have been absolutely dedicated to Splatoon. I'm on a crusade of sorts to 100% all the single-player games now. I've finished OE and will finish the rest shortly before and after Grand Festival.

* I've become obsessed with marine biology. I've become an Inkling in real life thanks to a certain hat.

* I've started playing many fangames and reading many fanfics, designing my own characters, and whatnot.

* Coming to think of it, I realise now why I love it so much.

* It's a world, a community, a culture.

* Splatoon is all about self-expression in an ever-evolving world of no status quo.

* If all the official games and their staff simply vanished, there would still be endless games, music, art, stories, characters, and expression in their world. It would live on, as an organically-mutated culture.

* It encourages this. Splatoon, with its central theme of expressing yourself, actively encourages the creation of your own stories within its world, and that makes it feel alive.

* It's the anti-Nintendo Nintendo game. Hisashi Nogami was recommended to make a "Mario Paintball". Nothing was stopping him. He had access to the Mario brand and guaranteed success, and chose instead to express himself, to make this wonderful world of squid-people who live and love. The player-generated posts, and the final Splatfest influencing the next game, add to this level of personality and sincerity.

* It's not sanitised and corporate in tone. Its understanding of fashion, music, and sports is genuine. It features dark themes and relatable characters that open the door deliberately for angsty fanfic. It features sexual innuendo, suggestive character designs, and sometimes swearing, deliberately leading into naughty fanfic.

* Because it's designed for self-expression, to refer to it as merely an "IP" erases this wonderful aspect of it.

* This is what makes me so ambivalent. I love Splatoon more than anything in the world, possibly, yet I despise Nintendo.

* Nintendo is a megacorporation that systematically lobbies to kill privacy, freedom of speech and consumer rights for its own profit. It sends agents to stalk and ruin the lives of those who reverse-engineer its consoles. It consistently shuts down harmless fan projects (betraying Splatoon's whole point of encouraging expression in its world). Its most major stakeholder is Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman, a murderer. I have nothing but respect for the developers working under it, but no respect for it as a corporate entity.

* Loving Splatoon has made me happier as a person. There are some things that make me sad about it, though.

* Since it's a world unto itself, not just a game, I very much did participate in its world from 2015 to 2022, yet having not actually played it until Splat3's release makes me feel like an imposter, not worthy of being so invested in it.

* Since it's "owned" by Nintendo, a company I now refuse to support beyond its online subscription, being a Splatoon fan makes me feel like a corporate bootlicker (although I know that's irrational, like how I can love Star Trek and not give two shits about the Paramount Picture Corporation).

* Its living, breathing world and themes of moving on, especially as emphasised by "Three Wishes", reminds me that time is rapidly slipping away from me, whether I'm ready or not.

* That fills me with existential dread. The series still feels new to me, as it came out 9 years ago and thanks to my strange brain experiencing a traumatic event and changing 9 years ago, every one of my memories constantly plays back to me. There is no past or present to me. Only constant, melting existence. That's why 9 years ago feels like nothing. I still feel 12. There was a longer time between 2013 and 2015 than between 2015 and now, to me.

* Three Wishes reminds me that 9 years have indeed passed, and that is surreal to me.

* One last thing, I never vote based on the idol. You love the Squid Sisters the most, and I do too, but I'm with team Future.

* Think about it. These games are about moving on and living. Team Past doesn't make sense.

* Team Present is boring.

* Future is the logical way to go, then.

* Just like how Chaos was the logical choice last time, in a game about making a mess and being unapologetically you.

* Callie vs Marie was the only FinalFest without an obvious logical choice.

* So that's a history of Splatoon and me. I want to be a squid in real life.

* Where do I get a Callie plush in the UK, other than on Amazon? I don't trust Amazon.

Getting sappy about the Squid Sisters....

The Squid Sisters being the ones to start and end Three Wishes genuinely broke me down and made me feel the most amount of emotion out of anything in this whole franchise.

They embody the past, present and the future of this series and it's world. They have made an impact in the past as they were the ones who started it all, they sing and dance in the present, and will plant the seeds for the future. Them getting the opening and final lines of this grand song is just... it's so smart.

These girls are so important to me on so many levels it's not even funny. I genuinely don't know what my mental health would be like without having these comfort characters by my side. I love them so much and they helped me get through the worst mental period in my life back in mid 2023. If they didn't help me see the light and comforted me, i don't know where i would be.... They also helped me get comfortable with my autism as well and made it less of a curse and more of a difference in how i see this chaotic world.

I remember getting my Callie plushie in October 2023 and once i held her... i teared up. This is not a joke. I'm not playing around. A 19 year old me actually cried holding a cute little Callie plush. She helps me sleep at night and helps silence the stupid thoughts in my brain that is just trying to rest.

I've been in love with this series since 2017 and it's done so much for me since then. I am gonna continue to love and adore this series until my heart finally stops beating. I've made so many memories i hold near and dear to my heart and some of the best gaming experiences I've ever had.

And getting the chance to share it with you all is just... I'm so happy. I don't feel lonely anymore in my thoughts and this series helped me make wonderful connections and it will continue to do so...

I love the Squid Sisters... I love them with every piece of my heart.

Sorry for getting all sappy LOL! (It will happen again in September.)

[qreepystuff]

List 5 things that make you happy, then put this in the askbok for the last 10 people who liked or reblogged something from you!get to know your mutuals and followers

hi hihihihi :)

listening to music

making cute outfits for my splatoon squid and giving them Lore

iced coffee

cloverfield (2009)

sleeping w a window open so i can see the moon (can ou tell im running out of ideas)

[swordduels]

I'm lowkey watching One Piece and I want to introduce an ice-mermaid in a roleplay :3 I think she will look like she's a stone face but instead she's incredibly huggable and cling to Sigfrid like a squid x) I have more ideaas :D Also. I still ned to write down info about the pirate crew on the blog. On Another note. I have so many ideas for Fenja in the Demon Slayer verse. It could be really fun to play around with her lore.