#aquaria spoilers

[lumenflowered]

Pelipper mail! A dream of a life that, not long ago, was peaceful and carefree. But no longer.

The statue sings. This strange, tall idol of a man with animalistic face, through means unknown produces a song – in notes so low you could not possibly repeat them except several octaves up, but you do echo its melody. You respond in kind, even as the sparks kindled from its notes sting against your skin and avoiding them becomes ever harder as they reflect off the intricately carved walls...

And when you have finished this odd, disjointed song, and put its pieces all together as one, the statue falls silent.

You sing to it, you call forth a melody so sorrowful yet sharp, folding the Verse into a shape you never before dared... A dizziness overtakes you, and when you come to, you are transformed.

Energy flows through your every vein in place of blood, your skin is pallid and your eyes glow orange from within, and the statue before you has crumbled to the floor in a thousand shards. Did you do that? The most careless wave of your hand sends darts of glowing force waving through the waters, and as you swim onward, deeper into the temple, you find yourself hoping to meet resistance.

You find creatures that spread orbs of the same energy behind them, and even a salamander that sprays the room with splashes of fire, but you would hardly call that resistance. That was barely a fight. You come across nests of swarming, hopping creatures that normally you would have avoided or fled from, but you tear them apart and relish the rush of power releasing from your every move.

...But in this form, you cannot sing, and that nags at you. It is wrong, to be so silent, to not exclaim in wonder at each new sight and fill the caverns and the halls with the sounds of your delight.

So you revert when you can, and use the energy form only to fight back against hostile octopodes and amphibians, as you navigate the maze of winding halls and diabolical traps. You find a pearl, and fit it to a gate, and slam your newfound energy upon its surface until it glows and powers the door to open, letting you swim down further into the foreboding depths.

And at the bottom of the temple, you discover its god.

Or at least, you discover a creature down there, injured and diseased, missing half its lower body and with open sores covering all that remains, with a face still clearly recognizable as the same visage that was carved upon the singing statue and every other relief set upon the walls of this forgotten place.

Whatever intelligence once lived in this creature, it is long departed. You throw bolts of energy upon it to no avail, and are nearly torn apart by its claws when it moves faster than you can swim, but even though the beast is immune to the gift its image bestowed on you, there is still a way forward.

You lure the zombie god back, chasing you toward where you entered its resting place, and there you turn the temple itself against the one it once honored. The traps you dodged while exploring this place show no mercy even to their creator, and though it takes several blasts, the monster eventually falls.

And yet, as you swim past, it seems there was not quite nothing left of the old god after all, for its presence reaches into your mind with a vision, and a memory.

This was the god of the Krotites, a warlike race, each one of them with that same strange mammalian face so out of place here beneath the waves. They laid claim to the waters you now call home, but so did another species as well. The Erulians, like that spirit you awoke in the cave of spiral stones, lived here too... until they were wiped out, every one, in war. And then, with none left to challenge them, the Krotites' lust for conflict turned inward, and their civilization too perished, leaving none to wander these waters save you alone.

You have answers, now, and yet more questions than ever before. You are not a survivor of either of these races, so who are your people? Do they have a creator god like this one? Do they still live, somewhere, far beyond this ancient battlefield?

Those are not questions you can settle from here. You exit the energy temple and make your way to the far side of your home territory, to the Krotite door that bars the way to the unknown... and there, for a while, you sit and reflect.

The sea has gods, you know now. The sea has gods with the power to create life and to destroy, with the power to reach into minds even with their dying breath. And yet, for all the horrors and the nightmares this god imparted unto you, none of it felt like punishment. It felt only like recognition, like the desperation of a once-great being to be seen and understood and above all, remembered. This dying god wanted to help you, in its own foreign way, by giving you a shard of its power and a glimpse of its history.

Should it have been left well alone? Perhaps. But perhaps the knowledge gained was worth the danger, and perhaps it wanted to be found.

But you cannot think here forever. You know now how to operate the mechanisms before you, and so you sing yourself into empowered form once more and open the gate ahead. And you swim forward to wide open waters beyond, never before seen, where your past and your future together await.

[When you awaken, you find countless splinters of red crystal lodged under your fingernails like dirt. Without the light shining through them as easily, they appear darker, the color of blood.]

Th is is starting to fee l like apersonal att ack .

Cont inue sending m enightmares of he ocean li ke this and they w ill simply cea se to affect me so. Thou gh the inclusion of an ocean god that shou ld perhaps not have bee n left well alon eis. Nove l.

If you wil l excuse me ,I n ee d to wash m y hand s.

[deltajellybean793]

Black Clover, Chapter 349

"I don't want...to kill you either...!!"

[dumplingfaye]

More Spoiler colorings

[o-craven-canto]

Between Eyewitness: Dinosaur Hunter (an interactive dinosaur encyclopedia from the 1990s that was made extremely creepy for no discernible reason) and Escape: Triassic Halls (a puzzle game from the same era which [ROT13 for spoilers] qbrfa'g npghnyyl rkvfg, vg jnf znqr hc sbe gur lg ivqrb nf n zrgn-flzoby bs ybfg zrqvn naq gur varivgnovyvgl bs qrngu), there's an obvious niche of point-and-click horror games set in a haunted natural history museum.

The theme of impending doom and oblivion is there for the taking, and you can play around with:

exhibits coming to life or changing when you aren't looking (living dinosaurs prowling the dark hallways are a staple of both games above; also consider a simulated volcano filling a room with actual toxic fumes, humanoid figures in cave walls crying for release);

dioramas much more unsettling or gory than they need to be (first you see the models of a peaceful Neanderthal family; when you go back they are busy butchering a bison; the third time they are the cannibals of Krapina cave);

impossible ground plans or basements that go much deeper than they ought (rows and rows of skeletons fading into cavernous darkness, excavation pits stretching into underground labyrinths, aquaria with their own abyssal zone);

hints of a dark history of the museum itself (exhibits of skulls of "primitive" peoples, some who obviously died violently; fakes made from crudely stitched corpses)

the madness-inducing scale of Deep Time (picture a group of escaped hominids settling in a part of the museum where time is warped; in order to progress you must accelerate it until stalagmites have grown over their bones);

the inherent violence of the natural world (have an exhibit that puts you in the body of an early mammal hunted by dinosaurs, nearly blind and travelling by smell, or a proto-tetrapod trying to crawl from pond to pond faster than desiccation);

the mindless optimization on which evolution is built, the seamless continuity between human and beast (hominids from the distant future, who are no more flattering than those from the distant past)

Make the museum itself a sprawling cathedral-like building (the one in Vienna would be a good model), alternating between dark echoing halls and tight mazes of glass cabinets, decorated with creepy old prints of prehistoric life and strange cave paintings, built over actual deep caves. The way out is down. Mine heavily reconstructed dinosaur vocalizations for ambient.

You could have the whole game follow the actual trajectory of evolution, though I'm not sure which way would be creepier: going forward (leaving the uncanniness of quasi-human beings for last, dealing with the danger of increasingly intelligent enemies), or backward (complex life degrading into mindless slime, the world turning increasingly alien and hostile)?

[teawaffles]

yuumori: the remains ch5

Now on: Cubari / Mangadex

Thank you for waiting! Somehow we're right on schedule this month (๑˃ᴗ˂) Also, Volume 1 of The Remains will be released with the next chapter on 4 Aug, and the next chapter will have a colour spread too 💕

Spoiler-y footnotes for this chapter under the cut:

Callbacks to the light novels

On Page 1 of this chapter, Louis mentions some tales in passing. In order of appearance, these are: Book 1 Story 2 (Louis and the Aquaria), Book 1 Story 3 (Albert’s Drinking Contest), and Book 2 Story 2 (There’s No Business Like Show Business).

Callback to Ch71

William’s handshake with Helena Curtis mirrors the same scene with the other Helena in New York, in Ch71 of the main manga.

The Girl Who Sees Rainbows…?

The official English title given for this story is “The Girl Gazing at the Rainbow”. This is due to the use of 視る rather than 見る in the Japanese title — while both words mean “to see”, the former kanji is used to emphasise “looking intently”, and hence “gazing”.

While I will be using the official English title in this arc's chapters, I still stand by my original version of it (“The Girl Who Sees Rainbows”) in the light novel translation, as I think it sounds more natural and succinct in English. 😅

Where might The Remains be going next?

My sensing is that subsequent chapters will adapt the rest of the third light novel, since [spoilers!!] the three stories within it are all connected 😆 That would mean the rest of the cast will be getting some time to shine too (including the 221B gang!) ☺️

Really hope they’ll adapt Forbidden Games (Book 2 Story 1) in between those chapters — maybe as a side story/minor digression from the plot? It would be such a missed opportunity if it doesn’t turn up in The Remains ( ; ω ; )

[jessjustplay]

Story Analysis of Star Ocean Till the End of Time (Spoilers!)

June 2, 2024

Simple, complicated, philosophical. That's how the story rolls in Star Ocean Till the End of Time.

When the game begins, Fayt and his family are on a spaceship that gets attacked. Fayt is separated and ends up on an unfamiliar planet. He meets Cliff and they eventually find themselves teaming up with a stern woman named Nel (she's cool, I like her). Nel needs them to defend her country, Aquaria, against Airyglyph. That's the simple part. A planet with countries at war? Seems to be a normal occurrence (unfortunately) in all realities.

It's during the next arc that things get complicated. The team meets Maria, and they go to space to defend the universe from some god-like creatures. (I mean... it's a JRPG, what do you expect?) Even the people of Aquaria and Airyglpyh realize this is no time for fighting amongst themselves.

Now, instead of traveling to a new city, the team finds themselves needing to find a way to an entirely new dimension: the 4D. To top it off, they're hit with the news that their existence and the world they know is a complete fabrication. They are indeed, inside a simulation.

The wild part is that, we the player, are technically living in the same world as Fayt, Cliff, and the rest. It's established that Fayt is from Earth, and that is also our home. So the game is technically including us as being part of a simulation. Or on the other hand, we are in the real world, playing a game that is a game inside the game we're playing. (I love it here.)

Anyway, the big baddie of the game is called the Creator, but he's just random man named Joe. (His name is actually Luther, but he might as well be a random man named Joe.) After defeating this guy, Fayt and company are actually deleted along with the universe. (Kinda shocked the game followed through with this.)

"I wonder what's going to happen?" - Maria "Just believe. Just believe that we exist, here and now." - Fayt

"Choose to live!" - Fayt

However, as Fayt finds himself amongst the great big world of nothingness, he becomes aware that he is having a thought. And as René Descartes argues for the knowing of our own existence: "I think, therefore I am."

"There's nothing left. Everything has completely vanished. Light. Air. Even my own body no longer exists. Absolute nothingness. Hmm? Nothingness? So nothing really exists anymore? But if that were true, then what about this thought? This thought is real. And I am aware of this thought. So... there is something left. There has to be. That means... that I'm still alive!" - Fayt

THE WHOLE STORY IS A PHILOSOPHICAL JOURNEY OF RECOGNIZING YOUR EXISTENCE AND THE WILL TO LIVE. It's simply hidden behind flashy PS2 graphics and sci-fi lingo. Incredible!

"All that we can see in our dimension, and everything we can touch, it's all been a fabrication created for us to perceive. And now Luther has disabled our perception of such things, effectively erasing them from existence. Without perception, there is no existence." - Maria "And yet... even though everything around us was an illusion, I'm positive that our minds, which perceived that dimension, really do exist." - Maria "You're right. No matter what Luther claims, our minds are the only things that were real." - Fayt "That's exactly why Luther was unable to erase our consciousness. He merely deleted all the illusions around us. Doing so could not possibly erase that which actually exists outside of his creation." - Maria "So, you're saying Luther never acknowledged our existence? Does his failure to do so explain why we still exist here?" - Sophia "Maybe... strictly speaking, the universe as we know it most likely no longer exists. Nevertheless, we still feel its existence in our minds." - Fayt "If everyone in that universe still feels like we do right now then that universe really does exist." - Maria

Humanizing the characters with ethics, morals, empathy, and compassion

The game includes a variety of moments that evoke emotion in the characters, and us (the player) too! The cutscenes are examples of how humans are, how they react, feel, and think.

These are the reasons why the game's revelation at the end is so impactful. Because, not only were the in-game characters feeling sad, angry, and confused, but so were we.

The characters in this game experience loss, betrayal, hurt, and confusion but also happiness, joy, and relief. They ask themselves and the Creator, if they are just simulations, then did any of those moments actually matter?

And that translates over to us in real life too. The emotions that we feel are what make us feel alive. The good and the bad. If thinking means we are, then feeling means we are, too.

Ethics

When Fayt first lands on the new planet, he is very careful to not break any codes from the "The Underdeveloped Planet Preservation Pact" (UP3). So much so that Cliff will tease Fayt about this throughout the game. Fayt is showing how he abides the law and it's important for him to do so.

Morals

Fayt also knows when it's necessary to break the rules. He helps those in need, like the cute brother and sister (Niklas and Meena) at the beginning of the game. Meena has a broken music box that Fayt decides to fix with his technology. He also uses his device to help Niklas escape the jail. Fayt's morals are shown here as well as later in the game when he decides to help Nel with the Aquaria-Airyglpyh war. He isn't a part of this world, but he decides to help because he knows he should.

Empathy

The characters, particularly Fayt and Sophia, display a lot of empathy towards each other and the situations at hand, but I believe the most empathy is felt by the player. Playing a story video game is the epitome of empathizing since we are playing as putting ourselves in someone else's shoes. I felt so much emotion with the Ameena and Dion subplot and felt so sad when they both passed away. (Tears were shed.) It was incredibly sad, but a testament to how the video game successfully humanized the characters.

Compassion

As the player and genuine true controller of the game, Fayt's desire to help us can only happen if we decide to keep playing. As the story develops and we learn more about the hardships the people of Elicoor are facing, we, unknowingly or not, feel compassion for these characters and we decide to do as Fayt would and fix the problems. (Or you're just a trophy hunter and none of this applies to you. 😶)

So does any of it matter?

The characters wrangle with this question, and thankfully come to same conclusion as I. Yes, it all mattered. It made them feel, that made them real, and that allowed them to exist.

"No matter what the real truth is, the fact is we have thoughts and feelings of our own. We want to save our dimension and everyone in it." - Sophia

"Now that they've developed minds equal to our own, how are they any different from us? The evidence is clear. It's getting harder and hard to interfere in their dimension as we please. Doesn't that prove that they've become equals? That they deserve to live?" - Blair

To think is to be, to feel is to be. To think about your feelings is to be alive. The game purposely gives these pixels, 0s and 1s, human qualities that we relate to and bond with. Star Ocean Till the End of Time also does a great job at making you think about your own existence. Would finding out that your life is a simulation change your thoughts about it? Would it still matter to you?

All the pain, heartache, happiness, disappointment, and joy that you felt up until this point, does it matter or is it meaningless? I'll reiterate that yes, it all matters. Living can be as simple as experiencing fleeting moments of good and bad and embracing that we are here - in this moment alive, until the end of time.

[rhyme-thinks-stuff]

spoilers for Aquaria (video game, released 2007)

Li Aquaria-game is pretty underdeveloped & underutilized but I love him with my entire heart anyways.

He's so Love Interest. He meets an aquarian woman and she gives him the ability to breathe underwater so he follows her to the ends of the earth (to be fair I would too). You can put his divers helmet back on him so he stops following you around and he'll just sadly swim-pace back and forth. He gets captured twice in a row by the same guy.

He's so funny to me and I become irrationally fonder of him the longer I think about him.

[peonights]

Black Clover Birthdays

Contains spoilers, as there are some spoiler-filled characters as well as spoilery name changes.

If this list is not complete, do say so in the comments. Characters who share birthdays are listed by known order of birth (e.g. 6/27: Drowa, Vanica, Gauche).

For every April or October baby, I will do a push-up. /j /lh

January

3: Alecdora Sandler

8: Mars

13: Gordon Agrippa

16: Revchi Salik

18: Rhya; Robero Ringert

20: Yosuga Mushogatake

29: Gaja

February

4: Kiato

5: Jozo Hanegatsuji

6: Finral Roulacase

12: Lumiere Silvamillion Clover; Henry Legolant

16: Licita

20: Grey

21: Lolopechka; Fragil Tormenta

26: Solid Silva

March

12: Fumito Mikuriya

16: Rill Boismortier

17: Sally

19: Nathan Agrippa

21: Dorothy Unsworth

22: Orsi Orfai

24: Fana (elf); Fana (human)

28: Theresa Rapual

April

7: Magna Swing

10: Allen Fiarain

18: Rebecca Scarlet

19: Klaus Lunettes

20: Catherine

21: Svenkin Gatard; Hamon Casseus

22: Sekke Bronzazza

24: Kirsch Vermillion

26: Hirscher Ongg

28: Dante Zogratis

30: Nacht Faust

May

1: Morgen Faust

4: Siren Tium

9: Ichika Yami

13: Sol Marron

16: Vanessa Enoteca

20: Gaderois Godroc

23: Komari Imari

21: Morris Libardirt

June

1: Jack the Ripper

2: Finesse Calmreich

3: Charmy Pappitson

18: Nero/Secre Swallowtail

27: Drowa; Vanica Zogratis; Gauche Adlai

July

2: Lily Aquaria

4: Ladros

23: Ryuya Ryudo

26: Mereoleona Vermillion

August

5: Fuegoleon Vermillion

13: Leopold Vermillion

26: Mimosa Vermillion

29: Daizaemon O'oka

31: Acier Silva

September

3: En Ringard

5: Gifso

12: Vetto

15: Dominante Code

17: Yami Sukehiro

18: Charla; Charlotte Roselei

19: Halbet Chevour

20: Jonna Agrippa

27: Langris Vaude

October

1: Licht

2: Fujio Tenmanyashiki

4: Asta; Yuno Grinberryall (not actual birthday, the date of being left at Hage’s orphanage)

5: Liebe (not actual birthday, the date of being found by Licita)

7: Fanzell Kruger

11: Rufel; Luck Voltia

14: Kaiser Granvorka

15: Julius Novachrono; Lucius Zogratis

16: Damnatio Kira

21: Marx Francois

22: Augustus Kira Clover

23: Nebra Silva

26: Mariella

27: Ginnojomorifuyu Kezokaku

28: Foyal Migusteau

29: Roxanne Agrippa

November

3: Queen of Witches

14: Heath Grice

15: Noelle Silva; Kahono

December

1: Lotus Whomalt

4: Ralph Niaflem

5: Gueldre Poizot

19: Zora Ideale

21: Ecra/Eclat; Marie Adlai

24: Patry; William Vangeance

27: Valtos

28: Zenon Zogratis

30: Nozel Silva

[loosesodamarble]

AAAAUUUUUGGGGGHHHHHH!

THE RECENT CHAPTER SPOILERS HAS ME GOING WILD!

Like, the revelation that the manipulation over the Paladins isn't entirely ironclad! Their true hearts and wills are buried deep inside! It's magical brainwashing! It's so terribly violating of who someone like Sister Lily is!

And Morgen... Tabata has to bring back Morgen. He's dead but Lucius can bring back the dead as proved by Heath! And Nacht's whole complex/hang ups about Morgen and his death! And the silhouette from chapters ago! It has to be happening!

Nacht would be messed up to see Morgen again. Alive. And being forced to work for the villain. I have to wonder how much of Morgen's original will would be present because Sister Lily was changed while alive but Morgen is being revived so like-! I can imagine Morgen and Nacht being forced to fight each other and them breaking down in tears because they don't want to hurt each other! They lost each other once before and killing each other (again in Nacht's case, kinda sorta) would just... end them.

The recent chapter is just... oh the cans of worms that it opens!

Spoiler!!!

Wo I think abaut abaut the last chapter whit sister lili she is not fully manipulated the only part what got’s manipulated is this she thinks Lucius is every time right as fare I see but Her love four Asta is there…

How it is if Morgan came back we all know Morgan Love Nacht but it’s must be hell four Morgan fist he wuld four sour Need try too kill Nacht because of Lucius then see he Nacht’s psyche and how Nacht is and if Nacht is all suicidal year four Morgan must it be a living hell then

[meeravandaseera]

Naija from the videogame called Aquaria developed by BitBlot from roughly 2007-2009. It's one of my favorite games and I assume that it introduced me to waterfolk back then. The soundtrack and game itself is breathtaking. This sketch that I made represents the title screen when starting the game where - I assume - Naija's soul is trapped in a crystal. It makes me very sad that there will never be a sequel unlike with Endless Ocean because it would have deserved it very much. There once existed a mod dedicated to making a sequel, but that too got lost in the waves. Include the fact that this game pretty much is not very remembered by many or shrimply lost its appeal. It saddens me even more to sea how Naija is left like that in the story, but still no spoilers on my behalf. May the tides go on and spread that one song, the Verse...

Edited additional information: It was one of my first ever videogames that I saw one of my relatives play. I had not know its name for many years until I rediscovered it via a video titled "Top Ten Video Game Merfolk" on YouTube sometime this year. Aquaria's footage was basically in my memory for long, but I took a bit until I heard its song.

[tortoisebore]

9 people you want to get to know better

ty for tag @colgatebluemintygel 💖💞✨💕💓

last song: keep those teardrops from falling - natalie bergman

favorite color: cool gray or forest green can’t choose

last movie/tv show: rupaul’s drag race season 10 (aquaria my one true love 🤩)

sweet/savory/spicy: spicy 😛

last thing i googled: 2011 outback red paint aerosol

current obsession(s): drag race season 16, the impossible puzzle on my coffee table that i’ve been working on for 6 days but have not even come close to finishing

last book: the secret history (i haven’t finished it yet no spoilers)

looking forward to: my chicago trip in a couple weeks!! (which will consist of me flying in, holing up in my favorite hotel for two days, leaving the hotel for one (1) night to uber to the orchestra to see my favorite cellist, and then flying out the next morning 😈😈😈) (maybe i’ll go to the restaurant from The Bear if i feel like i can brave the cold)

tagging: @parttimeromantic + @arcturusnebula + @moonheavens + @butcherbacterium + @plecotusauritus + @veeshufflpuff + @noperksallwallflower + anyone else that wants to play ✨✨✨✨

[lumenflowered]

Pelipper mail! A dream of a life quickly turning from wonder into horror.

There is a palace and cathedral set into the rock, at the far back end of the city. Imposing, awe-inspiring, from the outside, as such a building should be.

But on the inside… at first, it is normal. You swim through the decorated halls, even coming across a trio of thrones with portraits hung above. You find a prince’s bedroom, and rest there with daydreams of a life as royalty in a thriving civilization. But you cannot stay.

You move on to the church behind, and there you are stopped short by the sight ahead. All across the intricately carved floors and walls, spreading like spiderwebs to blanket the interior in layers too thick to see past to the stone behind, are threads and cords and ropes of meat.

Something is alive, here. Something that perhaps should not be, parasitizing this grand cathedral with its ever spreading flesh, pulsing and writhing all around you as you swim deeper. You cannot turn back, not now, not while any answer to the question of Mithalas’s fall and to your own past might still lay within.

You also cannot turn back because of the strong currents in the waters here, stirred up by who knows what, bringing enough force to bear even upon your streamlined form that your fins cannot carry you against them. But even if you physically could leave, the secrets beckon so sweetly. Whatever misdeeds long ago created this horror and trapped you inside, you must find out… and you hope, desperately, that neither you nor the mother you just recently recalled had a hand in the events that transpired.

It is a maze inside the cathedral, made worse by the walls of softly wriggling flesh that have overgrown the area. Monsters lurk here as well, poisonous from the slightest touch, and you find your supply of medicinal herbs running low the longer you explore.

And then the worst comes to pass. You see in the halls ahead figures shaped so similarly to yourself, to the statue that pointed you on your way to Mithalas… and they, too, are diseased. They too swim like simple predators searching for prey, without sign of higher thought in their so familiar faces. They attack you, and you sing the song of the Krotites and wield your boundless energy in response.

What plague could have beset this city, and turned these men and women into beasts?

It is enough for you to turn away from the upper reaches of the cathedral, and seek your answers below. And in the depths, beside a terrible, gaping hole into darkness, there are letters carved into the stone of the wall. A warning left by a survivor long ago, speaking of guilt and pain, beyond hoping for escape. A warning whose end identifies an enemy by name.

Sauguin, the anonymous survivor wrote. The Abyss given form, who watches from every shadow. The name is meaningless to you, as you can remember the name of no other living being but yourself, but you can feel the writer’s fear at its utterance as if it were your own. But there is nothing you can do with this knowledge, so you proceed further into the depths.

You have left the building now. Or at least, you hope you have left into some caverns below, because the meat lining every surface is so thick you cannot see any hint of what lies beyond. The currents too are stronger, pulling you onward even should you kick your legs to try to turn around.

It feels like ages, drifting through the tunnels, seeing nothing but pulsating flesh lining every surface, fighting and killing the diseased, poisoned creatures who used to be so much like yourself. And then, finally, you see stone again. You see bricks, carved and engraved.

You see a door, and it fills you with a foreboding that even the harrowing trip down here could not mirror.

You see a door, and through it, a god.

The monster before you was once great, that you can tell immediately. Once upright and noble, once capable of speech instead of primal roars, once with eyes filled with wisdom rather than pain and hunger.

The writing on the wall here is even more dire than the last. Even as the god-beast snaps at you, spits balls of energy that splash upon the far wall, you find yourself unable to ignore reading the words. “You have failed me,” it begins, and you realize it is no warning, but a message from a jailor to their captive. “Your hunger will consume you. Feast on the flesh of your own children.”

As the assault of energy upon you intensifies, and the strong current traps you within, you realize what you must do at last. Your own bolts seem so tiny in comparison, and fizzle against the monster’s fuchsia scales, but there is another way to hurt it. One of the malformed, plague-ridden people drifts through the door after you, propelled by the same current that prevents your own escape… and so you sing and bind the Verse around them, and hurl them into the great beast’s jaws.

Again and again you do it, until the poison takes its toll. The god, weakened, slows its movement, and you target bolts of energy into the only soft target you can find: the eyes. Finally, it falls, and you feel relief not that you are no longer in danger, but that you no longer have to do such horrible things in your own defense.

And just like the last, like the Krotite god before it, this god too reaches into your mind with his dying breath.

He tells the story of a flourishing city, with benevolent rulers and a noble god. But the priests delved into the secrets of the Verse, inventing terrible and discordant songs, even abandoning their patron Mithala in favor of another: a greater god, they said, a Creator who gave life to every god and every race and to Aquaria itself. A Creator who was not named, but you have your suspicions.

The priests bound Mithala, enslaved him, stole his lifeforce and his essence. Then, they sang a new song… and vanished. To where, the dying god cannot tell you.

Too late, you realize that this is your one chance to ask questions, to get answers about your own past, as you remembered so clearly that one house, that one kitchen, from who knows how long ago. You ask who you are, but the answer only prompts more questions.

You are the child of the Thirteenth, Mithala says. He calls you by name, and bids you journey to the land of the light. Before you can ask to clarify, the last of his strength leaves him. You have slain another god of the ocean, and his last words were of thanks.

Where will you go, now? You can feel the Verse humming around you, echoing the essence of Mithala in an audible chord, and as you kick your fins to leave at last, you vow to remember his song, and you repeat it. The change that comes over you is lesser, as compared to the Krotite song of war, but powerful nonetheless. Your legs grow stronger, fins wider, able to push through even a hostile current. Your jaws too… you dare not test them, but you wonder.

You too can become a vicious beast, should you will it, and stir the Verse with that fearsome song. This, and this alone, is the final legacy of a people so much like your own, yet not. A people plagued and destroyed by their own church, of which nothing remains but empty houses and ruined halls.

You can bear to stay here no longer. Where is the land of the light?

[When you awaken, you find twelve tiny red crystals, each a slightly different shape, arranged in a circle on your bedside table.]

I.d id notne ed that today .

Please excus eme for amoment.

[deltajellybean793]

Black Clover, Chapter 347

My, My

Will your group be able to evade this?

[ashcadence]

In the Louis and the Aquaria light novel, he had no right being so relatable!

!!spoilers!!

I've kept fish for many years, and as soon as Louis started obsessing over these fish, I was like, oh no... he's got a one-way ticket to the eighth ring of hell that is keeping fish.

Then, he started projecting all of his problems onto a fish. Which is a mood. I'm pretty sure every fishkeeper has done that. My fish in college doubled as a therapist.

Then Louis obsessively cares for said therapy fish while giving the other fish bare minimum care.

What am I reading? My own life story in the fishkeeping hobby?

Does the author have fish? Because there is only a certain type of person who is crazy enough to enjoy keeping fish (speaking from experience), and Louis captures that perfectly.

[teefa85]

The rule says that Good Doggos get loving owners.  Kitties too.  Because you know how I am about the cuddly ones...

(writing spoilers under the cut as while the game is now out in Europe, my peeps here might not have seen the leaks)

This is talk for saying that ALL THREE doggos have gotten a Trainer.  Rutee gets a Dachsbun because, c’mon, she can have some help baking break for the orphans in the Dragonkinverse as she has the same ‘mons there.  Lufia has Houndstone as she is the incarnation of a Death Goddess and could definitely deal with the line’s life draining issue due to the residual energies before they were split apart.  And Jerin just randomly was given a Mabosstiff.  Whose Dex entry about its loyalty is just...ohgod good boi Dark Types!

Also...as the starters were given to the Crystaland peeps, Sprigatito ended up with Phoebe.  There is that herb in Aquaria after all...

[silvyavan]

Black Clover theory about the 5 headed dragon legend, Astaroth and how Lucius shot himself in the foot by targeting Sister Lily

Warning for my insane ranting and theorism but there are CONNECTIONS.

TIME FOR PREFACE:

In the past few post timeskip chapters we've been given some important details:

Lucius had taken the hearts of several supreme devils, including Beelzebub and implemented them into humans.

Sister Lily views Asta as a little brother

In Yami's homeland, there's a legend about a heavenly maiden and a 5 headed dragon

Sister Lily and Beelzebub are now in Hino country

The Black Sea in Yami's hometown is considered a ripple between TIME and SPACE

This is all linked into, what could very well be the Astaroth reveal in the VERY NEAR FUTURE

IM TALKING "HAPPENING BEFORE CHRISTMAS" NEAR

Let's preface this with Beelzebub, Astaroth and Lucifero and how hearts work with devils. We've SEEN with Zagred that the hearts of devils are more like a core of sorts and the devils magic and soul likely resides in. We don't know whether or not those devils, upon having their hearts eaten, dissappear as egos or simply get put to hibernation.

Assuming that the personas of said devils are tied into their magic, the brainwashing and purification with paladin bullshit Lucius is pulling is likely trapping both Sister Lily and Beelzebub in the same shifest.

Astaroth is likely exempt from being locked up in the back of Lucius' mind, probably because the ego/soul either escaped or was transfered somewhere else as a last ditch resort of survival (this will be important a bit further down.)

Now, Beelzebub and Astaroth are more alike and connected to each, similar to how in mythos Satan and Moloch are connected but instead were fuzed into Lucifero.

Both Beelzebub and Astaroth were demons who originated from Mesopotamiam/Ancient gods, Baal and Ishtar respectively. The affinities of space and time are both directly linked and dependent on each other. They're technically the only devils of the trinity who, SO FAR, haven't had direct interaction with humans outside of deals.

In ADDITION, both are in the same group of sorts, both as the evil trinity and supreme devils.

However, Astaroth is different in the point where in his description, he has two pets under his command - a viper in his hand while riding an INFERNAL dragon.

Now, we're not given any context into what these creatures can and can't do or what they represent, so artistic liberties in portraying them can be taken.

How does this connect to Sister Lily, the legend of the 5 headed dragon and Asta?

The legend of Benzaiten in Enoshima.

The legend that Ichika talks about is LITERALLY the Enoshima land legend, which has a shrine made for MATCHMAKING.

Asta has been connected to the number 5 ALL the time in the series and wouldn't be surprising to have him connected to THIS dragon as well. And with the whole "holy maiden of beauty and benevolence" myth, that's where Sister Lily/Possessed Lily comes in. Literally down to rejected proposals.

The thing we need to look out for is that the legend says that the dragon was DORMANT in Enoshima, ie still there, and that the sea which turned black was a ripple between TIME and SPACE. The dragon is very likely still there and the reason why the sea is black.

The theory is, that, the dragon that Astaroth has is the SAME DRAGON in the black sea. And by Sister Lily and Asta fighting there, we'll likely get the Astaroth reveal.

And this is because we've seen foreshadowing in this with the VIPER.

Which happened in ELF ARC, THE ARC ABOUT REINCARNATING AND WHERE A DEVIL APPEARS AND OPENS A HELL GATE.

Zagred is described as a high ranking devil, so the likelihood of him being from the 5th gate, which Astaroth should reside in, is Plausible. In addition, Zagred isn't summoning the Tendrils/Viper, he's opening a gate from his world to this one. The Viper Tendrils are just busting out likely because they became feral at the loss of their owner.

How this connects to the Dragon is how Asta reacted to said Viper. We SEE how this magic reacts to both elf and human, even to YAMI, who's technically a kijin. It's hostile to EVERYONE.

EXCEPT ASTA CAME OUT UNSCATHED

Note how Patri says that Antimagic works on Viper but remarks that Asta's UNSCATHED as a separate thing.

Asta isn't safe because of antimagic but because of himself. Antimagic was able to cut him free but when Asta was swallowed up, he wasn't in black form. The Viper didn't do damage because of Asta himself. The Viper, even if now feral, recognised Asta as Astaroth and knew not to attack. And we KNOW its not because of magic because it leeches life energy too, similar to Licita's curse.

THIS, is where shit starts building up to a Sister Lily vs Asta on the Black Lake fight because it will parallel this moment.

Sister Lily and Asta start duking it out in the Black Sea but nobody can get in there or suffer adverse effects. ASTA gets thrown in there by Sister Lily to try and kill him for good but he comes out unscathed. And since the place is a ripple of Time and Space, the 5 headed dragon can feel "Astaroth", or maybe Asta's presence wakes it from its slumber.

And fucken busts out.

And Beelzebub fucken SEES this.

Astaroth's old ass pet reacting to this little dude. Who's name is Asta has goes memory dumpster diving. Who also is as old as when Astaroth disappeared.

And he starts making connections. THIS is how the reveal happens.

And THIS is how sister lily gets out of the brainwashing.

Beelzebub by mythos, is older than Astaroth but similar enough to warrant connection. It wouldn't be weird for Beelzebub, who looks like a 40 year old man with alcoholism, to be considered a "big brother" to Astaroth.

And sister lily stuck in the back of her own head suffering over hurting Asta and sees BEELZEBUB try and bust out. Which is how we get Siister Lily gets out of the brainwashing, Astaroth lore AND Beelzebub and sister Lily working together to save their "little brother".

It's all FUCKING CONNECTED.

Especially in helping all of them get BACK to Clover with extra help.

Imagine you're Lucius and you see Asta, previously assumed dead, Sister Lily and BEELZEBUB with extra help from Hino Country riding into battle on a FIVE HEADED DRAGON. I would just throw in the towel and start evacuation.