#but tbh I think it has something to do with the primordial water

[avemstella]

Lyngbakr

The never ending saga of me getting things almost right in my fic, but just a bit off pfft. Though whose to say maybe mystery whale is one of Albedo's brothers, a girl can dream.

[stellarcobweb]

have i ever mentioned tht whenever i think of the web i just go "thats just my mom?"

(putting a break in here bc after typing everything out, its more of a ramble than i thought it would be)

like. specifically in my own weird as hell way. as well as like *insert my conpantheon and soft polytheism, certain aspects and presentations can be forms that make it easier to talk to and influence humanity*

for whatever reason i look at like. moon/primordial void/mother as being very very VERY Web . using Smirkes detailing of the Fears (which . i think its a lot more nebulous than that but whatever)

also its DEEPLY funny to me that like. my system name for the longest time and even now tbh was Maratus, with collective name Mara for short. Maratus is the peacock spider genus

as well as my Thing abt weaving fate together, getting into tatting lace and crochet, wanting to get even more into like. honest to god spinning and weaving and knot magic and stitch magic in my practice

AND ALSO. final nail in THAT coffin. someone did an energy reading on me once and straight up got fullblown spider demon vibes off of me? w the concept of "you can literally spin ur own web" as something they noticed. which is just. FASCINATING.

+ my energy being called sticky and/or web-like on multiple occasions

like. thinking of terms that i would consider myself w the Fears that ARENT the spiral (bc i am first and foremost an Avatar of the Spiral).

Child of the Web feels a lot better than any of the others? bc im not a Victim, Avatar, or even really necessarily Marked imo. its just like. thats who created me? thats who made me and who built me out of nothing? thats who legit created my soul? if nobody has my back, i know my Mama has my back! its a more personal relationship than anything else honestly. just like. wholeass that is my Mother and i am absolutely my Mother's Child. you *could* consider me marked from birth but idk that doesnt feel OR sound right

(also im a pretty doll :) i mean Doll and dollself are legit. identity at this point. both for coping reasons and xenic reasons. in both marionette AND bjd ways. im not human! and have never ever felt human!)

+ Marked by the Lonely . bc yeah former Victim WOOOOO my childhood was AWFUL!

ik theres an Eye association w me but i have no idea what it is. shrug. research is my hobby and i legit live for doing it. also it def feels nice to chew on info when im researching, very satisfying. no i dont think im an Avatar, and im definitely not a Victim. the Eye just straight up doesnt scare me. tbh i think theres *potential* for Avatarhood fr me at some point but if it happens it happens idrc either way. i just exist!

...honestly Victim of the Corruption would also apply to me but i take a very "if i dont see it it doesnt exist" approach to that and its not anything active in my life . fr the most part. so shrug

YKNOW. the Dark would be called my parent too. i dont think of that part of things as often as i do my Mom but like. Child of the Dark also fits here. i mean . "Born from dark water, daughter of the rain and snow" is something that i take fully as identity. (yes thats a line from Landscape by Florence and the Machine). also it connects to my former beliefs abt Leviathan = soul parent and what is he but associated with the abyss, water, and darkness

ngl its also funny looking at that from the concept of like. my eyes practically cannot handle any direct sunlight. it hurts them so bad ;;v;; like my eyes are ridiculously sensitive to light and i have insanely good night vision somehow. i know literally nobody else like that. also the concept of the Void is deeply comforting actually. vantablack :)

also unrelated slightly but A Fathers Love is my favorite episode out of literally all of the ones ive heard on TMA. like its just the best one ever

[moni-harmonia]

Chapter IV - Act IV

Phew, so like I thought Act III was just a set up because so many things happened in this Act, it was crazy. I'll summarize it as best as I can.

We continue our investigation in the prison and after talking to Lyney we decide that it would be best to investigate the infirmary. So Traveler pretends to be ill so that they can stay there for a while without raising suspicions. And while they're in there, Traveler sees a suspicious iron plate on the floor.

Then we reunite with Lyney and discover that something must have happened with Lynette since she was supposed to be in the infirmary but she's missing. Lyney goes into panic mode thinking that they did something to Lynette and possibly to Freminet as well. So we go to talk to Wriothesley.

(We also discover that Sigewinne knew that Traveler was pretending to be ill and she just played along. She's smarter than she looks, it's a bit scary lol)

So we talk with Wrio. He knew what we were doing all along and just pretended not to know to see our movements. He starts to provoke Lyney with his siblings' status. He then tests us to see how much we have discovered about the prison.

After that Lyney thinks he's had enough and tries to attack Wrio but Sigewinne intervenes with a tranquilizer.

Fortunately, everyone is safe. Clorinde appears with Freminet who's unconscious and we later learn that Lynette was just asleep. Freminet went to investigate the tunnels where Tartaglia supposedly escaped and somehow came into contact with water from the Primordial Sea.

We actually play this part as Freminet as he investigated the tunnels. I said this once before, but I really like when we change perspective and play as other characters. They are playable after all!

But anyway, after making sure that Freminet and Lynette are ok, we go to talk to Wrio because we wanna know what's happening exactly.

He tells us a bunch of lore, but the important thing right now is that there is a kind of barrier in the prison that is containing the Primordial Sea and it is about to break.

And guess what? Next day it does break! Everyone is in panic mode. We go to the barrier again and we see that Wrio is trying to freeze it but to no avail. Clorinde is there to help too.

(This part had a lot of good shots tbh)

As we go out we see Neuvillette who has come to help, but he tells us to go with Furina because she's going to see Arlecchino again and he wants us to support Furina since she's so scared of Arlecchino.

While Arlecchino is an intimidating woman, she's not that bad, for now at least. When we finish we decide to go talk to her in private and she tells us a bit about her story with Furina.

Basically she kinda attacked Furina, which is why she's scared of her. But what's interesting is that Arlecchino is not very... certain that Furina is the Archon. She just thinks that for an Archon, Furina doesn't seem that powerful or confident, she's like a little girl. While Neuvillette on the other hand seems way more powerful and commanding, he seems more like an Archon.

(That's funny because at first I also thought that maybe he was secretly the Archon)

Also while we're talking with her, Neuvillette is doing his thing and uses his powers to contain the Primordial Sea.

(Another cool shot and cutscene)

And when he finishes we talk to him again. Traveler and Paimon question him, wondering if maybe he is the Archon after all. But no, as I thought he's not the Archon but rather the Hydro Dragon. That's why it rains when he's upset about something (that must be a bit awkward).

So yeah Furina IS the Archon, but there's clearly something going on with her that will probably get revealed in the final Arc of this Chapter.

I'm guessing that Arlecchino must have some scheme too, and I doubt the Primordial Sea will be contained that easily.

But there's also something else... I mean, we don't end up finding Tartaglia after all. As a little twist at the end, Traveler gets another dream with his Vision, and we see Tartaglia falling in the sea... as a giant whale hovers above him.

(Insert here a screenshot of this that I forgot to save lol)

So uh... is that the freaking whale that he fought in the Abyss? I mean there has to be a reason why he talked about that in Act I. I wasn't expecting Tarta to have a bigger role here, but I'm interested to see how this will end.

I don't know if I'll play the whole Act the day it comes out, but I will play it soon because I don't want spoilers and I'm excited to find out how all of this will end.

[bulletbilltime]

PIKMIN 4 BEATEN, TIME TO GIVE SOME THOUGHTS. SPOILERS ARE A GIVEN

NOTE: I have gotten all areas 100%, but have not finished Olimar's story or finished all the side missions.

Pros:

Honestly, probably 95% of the experience

After each game giving us on average 4ish areas of gameplay per game, Pikmin 4 has SIX whole areas. SIX! And none of them are like... small pseudo areas like Impact Site, Final Trial or Formidable Oak. They're ALL genuine explorable levels!

And good god, it is FUN to just be let loose in a level and get to explore it on our own! Gone is the railroading present in Pikmin 3 (and in small parts in Pikmin 2).

Everyone Is Here! (and they get their own onions too!! Though understandably the purples and white onions are locked behind some bonus content, which I haven't gotten to experience yet)

The amount of Pikmin 1 to 3 fan service is off the charts. For the most part, every single returning boss/enemy was handled in a really cool way, and even for Pikmin 2 veterans, they do manage to make the encounters feel unique.

The caves are a massive step up from 2 IMO. Now that we're no longer forced to bow to the whims of random dungeon generation, the level designs are allowed to stand out a lot more! There's also more of a focus on puzzle solving in a good chunk of the dungeons.

THAT GROOVY LONG LEGS FIGHT FUCKING RULES. I AM PUTTING THAT SONG ON LOOP. EASILY THE HIGHLIGHT IMO (even if the boss was beaten not too long after)

So many neat little quality of life improvements (pellets not switching when pikmin are beating it down, the little pause after you throw the minimum # of pikmin on an object, and honestly so many more I can't name)

I really like the item shop providing a way for ppl who struggle to make their life easier!

I found the game to be pretty decent difficulty wise tbh. Many have said it's easy, but you could absolutely do a minimal Oatchi/no items/no death run to kick it up a notch IMO. And Pikmin as a series thrives on replaying to beat your previous best, so I don't mind the "first playthrough" being a bit on the easier side

The Night missions were really neat! I think Tower Defense style gameplay suits Pikmin very well! Some of those later missions can become pretty rough if you don't have a good plan.

THE PROGG IS BACK, I REPEAT THE PROGG IS BACK. THAT FUCKER WAS HORRIFYING IN THE NIGHT MISSIONS

The final boss was really cool! Though only getting 5 reds and yellows was... weird. And I lost almost all of them in the fight. Still, super cool boss! I liked that it was more of an endurance round!

I really love that Oatchi and the captain have different properties, which means that sometimes you might want to bring one over the other in a given situation! ex: Oatchi can't go underwater, and the captain on their own can't swim

For the most part I think the order the Pikmin are introduced in is very solid! The Pikmin that were considered more game breaking, like Purple and Winged Pikmin, are only found near the end of the game.

Mud was such an unexpected hazard, but it's really cool!!! Water that captains can't traverse, that you need to use Winged or Ice Pikmin to navigate... (and maybe blues but I haven't really tested that one)

I liked the Moss patrolling and hearth gimmicks! They added something fresh and unique! I'm surprised that Primordial Thicket didn't have a noticeable Stage Gimmick but it was definitely still enjoyable!

While the caves do still absolutely have a majority of the treasures you find, I feel like the overworlds this time around give you more than enough content to explore, and don't feel barren in comparison to Pikmin 1 & 3, like 2 did!

Some cons:

Ice Pikmin... they're lil cuties and I love how their ice ability contrasts nicely with Blue Pikmin and Oatchi's swimming... but I actively tried to avoid using them for most battle encounters because they made them so easy. From the moment I saw them in the first trailer, they felt like Bitter Spray Pikmin and that was only confirmed to be true tbh. I kinda wish they would've been nerfed a bit ngl!

Now for one of my Big Two gripes: THE ENGULFED CASTLE IS SUCH A LAZY CAVE. Waterwraith comeback is really hype and all, but why oh WHY did they feel the need to literally port the cave from Pikmin 2, almost one-to-one??? It's such a baffling decision in a game that was otherwise really good about keeping its content fresh even if it was very steeped in Pikmin 2 fan-service. But nope, it had to be a straight-up copy. Why did they do the Waterwraith so dirty 😭 Its return in Cavern for a King was genuinely more interesting than the entirety of Submerged Engulfed Castle. The entire time I was playing through the cave I was just utterly unimpressed. Surprising low point in an otherwise solid set of caves IMO. The irony of my least fave Pikmin 4 cave being a port of the best cave from Pikmin 2 is not lost on me. It has "can I copy your homework?" "sure, just change it enough so ppl don't know it's copied" energy (except they forgot to change it). I didn't even mention how the cave title is just... thesaurus'd. Like bruh. Do better pls

Now for the genuine biggest issue I have with the game: the auto lock-on, which I thought was kinda neat at first. But with each passing day, the lock-on began proving itself to be more and more of a nuisance and a weirdly implemented feature. Trying to switch away from a targeted enemy when fighting a swarm of enemies is such a crapshoot, I can't count the number of times I was trying to throw Pikmin on another enemy, only to have my captain keep throwing on the current target, or just target a treasure nearby?? This is probably not helped by joycon drift issues tbh, and I'll have to try to get a New Controller and see if that helps. But I have an issue with this feature existing to begin with tbh; we already have a lock-on feature that we can toggle at will! Why does the game require Another lock on too?? Could you imagine a Zelda game where Link auto-targets every enemy he gets within range of? It's just annoying, and the lack of a toggle for this feature is genuinely baffling.

On a similar note... why oh WHY do the small mushrooms on mold not have targets?? It's such a weird issue; none of the other hazards have this issue.

Collin honey I love you but if you tell me to whistle a Pikmin back from hazards like a second after I already did, I will lose my shit

I don't really mind the chatty captains as much as many ppl do, but I absolutely do mind them constantly telling me what to do in every single situation ever. Some of the prompts can be helpful like "did a Pikmin die somewhere??", but you don't need to tell me that the weak spot is the tail. I KNOW. I'VE DONE THIS 5 TIMES ALREADY. PLEASE LET ME DO MY JOB

They put in another treasure that takes 1000 pikmin.... It wasn't quite as bad as the Doomsday Apparatus though, since you can go directly to a sublevel with many candypop buds unlike in Pikmin 2, and you CAN get the Purple Onion too (but it's so out of the way that you're better off just grinding tbh).

That Empress Bulblax fight in the last cave genuinely felt like something out of a Kaizo hack. It felt weirdly finicky and I had to restart a bunch of times because I was too slow to get on the geyser and 90% of my pikmin got squished. It's far more difficult than any other encounter in the rest of the cave and felt out of place.

Why they make you fight ouppy :(((((((( Moss bby I'm sorry

Some things I wish had been included (which may or may not exist in the 2% of game I have left to peruse)

After the story made such a big deal of all the captains that got shipwrecked on PNF-404, I am a bit disappointed that there was no meaningful explanation as to what makes shipwrecks so frequent? Or how Olimar got leaf'd to begin with? Or what the fuck Louie was doing to begin with?? Seriously wtf Louie??? (I'm just asking Nintendo to make the Umibozu theory canon /j)

Enemies respawning in the overworld. One of the things I loved doing in Pikmin 2 as a kid was going around after 100%ing the game and clearing the whole areas of all monsters to grow Pikmin, over and over again. It would've been fun to have that again in the game.

The co-op from Pikmin 3 Deluxe, obviously. The game being only 1 captain does make this a bit tricky, but I really thought they'd at least let someone else control Oatchi since he's basically a 2nd captain! I am more lenient on that though because of just how much content we got in Pikmin 4. I certainly won't give the game 1 star over it because that just feels really pointlessly petty??

I will however give the game 1 star for not giving us a level editor of any kind because I am pointlessly petty /j (Ok but seriously Nintendo if you give us a Pikmin 4 cave creator as DLC I will never ask for anything again)

SPOILERS END HERE

tl;dr: The auto lock on is a bit of an annoyance and really detracts from the fun at times, but I think I can safely say that this was my favorite game in the series. This is what Pikmin 2 could have always been, if it had been given better hardware/intentionally designed caves. It's probably the longest game in the series though, which might make repeat playthroughs a bit tougher to go through. But with how much fun I had, I might go for it!

[sleeplessvalley]

actually you know what. that post reminded me of something and uhhhh

buckle up it's time for me rambling about splat2n stuff (mostly oe) and a bit of something else as well though it won't be getting stated directly.

this has a whole lotta headcanons, and a lot of it is put down in a jumble bc I have adhd and am completely incapable of putting things down in a way that makes sense to everyone else and not just to me. aNYWAYS

I've seen a couple posts from a while ago about how the japanese and the english versions of tartar's dialogue imply different things? something about how like... in the japanese version he actually comes across as having legitimate reasons for wanting to destroy the world and start anew, something something I don't feel like finding the post tbh and it's actually been a bit since I've read it myself so I'm probably not 100% correct on it.

anyways if you've known me for long enough or have been following this blog for a while you'll know that I am OBSESSED with this bastard telephone. to the point that I have about 15 different versions of him and apparently am not showing any signs of stopping.

so, to recap very quickly:

Commander Tartar is an AI created by a human scientist referred to only as "the professor" 12,000 years before the events of Splatoon 2. Its purpose was to pass down all of humanity's knowledge to the next capable species. The professor's intention to do so was to prevent the next intelligent species from repeating the same mistakes that lead humanity to extinction. However, due to spending all those millennia isolated and alone, the AI's thought process ended up going in a different direction.

Commander Tartar initially saw hope in the Inklings and Octarians, but eventually became repulsed by their evolution, needless wars, and fashion obsession, ultimately concluding that they were unfit for its knowledge and reprogramming itself to create a new form of life that would be worthy of its patronage, while annihilating the existing lifeforms on Earth.

taken directly from the wiki, because I am also not in the mood to summarize myself (despite knowing all this very, very well)

honestly? I don't think tartar hated cephalokind.

I think he loved them too much.

think about it for a sec. this is a sentient AI that was created by a professor that didn't want the next lifeforms to become extinct just like humans did. assuming that the professor treated tartar exactly like a fellow human, he went on to spend the next 10,000 years alone. and he had so much time to think.

humans became extinct because of the rising water levels. what caused that? for the sake of sticking with the whole water thing we'll say global warming. what caused global warming? many things, one of the most notable being the burning of fossil fuels in the industry. why does that happen? one could amount it to the industrial revolution. and the industrial revolution also contributed to wars.

an AI that was created to pass on humanity's knowledge would probably also be able to access all these things- and more- whenever it wanted, and 10,000 years is a long time. tartar probably read over so many things so many times and eventually reached his own conclusions about what the best things to tell the next lifeforms NOT to do would be.

and then the mollusc era started. tartar, from wherever he was, was able to watch the mollusc era from the moment it began, was able to watch cephalokind grow and develop at a rate that was equal to how humans developed, was able to have hope for the first time in years.

that hope was gone once the Great Turf War started.

things had been going so well; despite the water levels rising some, cephalokind was flourishing. everyone got along (more or less. someday I might get into salmonid stuff more but that day isn't today) and technology was advancing in ways humanity wasn't able to achieve. and then it hit the point that there was a shortage of land, and war broke out.

tartar spend 12,000 years waiting; 10,000 were spent in complete isolation, 1,900 were spent watching cephalokind grow, and for this I'm going to say that the last 100 years were spent doing all that stuff that happens in the octo expansion (and by this I mean creating the metro, having all those test subjects, agent 8, right up until destruction). honestly if we take the date the og splatoon came out (may 28th, 2015) we can argue that the great turf war is meant to parallel our WWI, especially if the calendar was recreated during the mollusc era because then the dates are... actually eerily similar:

if we take may 28th, 2015 and take away 100 years that gives us may 28th, 1915

WWI started july 28th, 1914, and ended november 11th, 1918

may 28th, 1915 literally lands in the middle of our WWI

I mean COME ON. that's uncanny.

back to my main point: the industrial revolution contributed to wars and also to the burning of fossil fuels, which contributed to global warming, which contributed to rising water levels.

tartar is watching all this happen just like it did to humanity (except slightly out of order), and to make things worse, not only are inklings more concerned with fashion, once the great turf war is over inklings start playing turf war for fun. one could also say that the splatfests are actually worse than turf war, because it forces inklings to pick a side and then fight for it- everyone wins something if they participate, but the losing team also has to accept that the winning team's side is better according to... whatever splatfest law it is.

---

(kind of off-track, but this also kind of parallels something in the great turf war as stated in the sunken scrolls, which I've pulled the summary of from the wiki as well:

[...] and the Inklings' victory over the Octarians was most likely due to their superior number of limbs.

there was another bit to this, but I can't find it. I remember some stuff about this being stated to be propaganda though.)

---

assuming tartar loved humanity, he also grew to love cephalokind for the same reasons (something like how a mother will get attached to the baby growing inside her even if that child is going to get adopted for some reason or other). and he didn't want to see another species go extinct just like humans did. so what does he do? he decides to destroy the world, and start over by finding capable cephalopods and unifying them (the primordial ooze from which the ultimate lifeform will emerge. I think that's how the line went, anyway.) so that it won't have to happen like that

everyone can just... not have to worry about failing to live a long life. everyone can be happy, and have their place in the world, and love one another.

if you think about it all at once? it seems sort of extreme. but also: we're human. if we have a friend going down the wrong path/in trouble or a family member or pet or- I don't know, some material object- we tend to go to extremes to help sometimes. and if you're raised by a human, even if you're different, you might do the same thing

[nikkywrites]

Since today is the last challenge day, Day 31 is all yours: Tell me something you wish I'd asked you, and didn't cross my mind! Rubber duck it out or simply talk as much or as little as you want about something from your wip or your wip in general! I'd really love to hear your thoughts😊

(I've tried to keep myself from saying it, but. Calypso. Calyyyypso. Lives free rent in my head and has been so for quite a while. And your uncanny ability of writing about all my favorite topics. And the emotions in your writing?? It was a wonderful month)

Wishing you the best!

Ahh, last day. I think I’m gonna miss you dropping in to ask about Calypso, tbh. Though you’re always welcome to drop by. Because you’re wonderful and love her so, I humbly offer more Calypso.

So. In Fool, King of Sea, I alluded that there's a darkness to her sometimes, an emptiness. Her reaching for something that is not quite there. I couldn't elaborate on it much there, so lets do that.

(Read More because I ramble and don't want to clog anyone's dash)

Okay. There's a lot to talk about. Calypso is made purely by her domain. Not a patron, or spilled blood or rising foam, but her domain. That is the reason behind the empty/I-want-to-stir-trouble feeling she experiences with Amphitrite that once. There's nothing... wrong with how her creation turned out, but having untied blood and loose divinity is. An experience. It shies on the edge of wrong. Its not how things are meant to be.

It's. She's not touched by chaos, per say, but she is close to it. There's a connection. That is the reason behind those moods. The... unfilled potential of her being reaching for more. It's-- imagine it as on most days, Calypso is comfortable and her divinity is settled in her bones. All is well. When those mood strikes, it's like... her divinity realizes that her bones are hollow and her blood is untied to anything else and it yearns to fix that, but. It's not something to be fixed. Calypso can't force her blood to settle on a set of parents that never created her. Her blood is as shifting as her nature.

As for how she becomes Kraken.

She is just goddess for a time. The only thing her blood is tied to is the water so it unavoidable, almost, that will become a sea goddess. When it is what made her and her divinity is only half-leashed, why would she stray from a domain that accepts her and could swallow the mishaps of her divineness? So she settles. Formally takes mantle of sea goddess. In the abyss, where she is when the decision is made, she whispers a vow. Not on the Styx, as that is not yet custom, or on the Primordials as is done at the time, but on the bond between herself and the ocean. She will be more than a minor goddess of one aspect of it.

There is a power in her that she cannot quite have full grasp over and she will use it to represent all the ocean is. The surface, the deep. The fish, the sharks, the whales. Sea foam and bubbles. Lukewarm waves and biting cold. It is soon after that she gets the gift of Kraken. As just a goddess, she cannot represent the beasts of the water, all of its horrors and its cruelty -- but in that shape? In the shape of a monster? Well, with that and her maiden body, she can represent all of the ocean.

It does not fill her bones or anchor her blood. But it fulfills something else in her, allows her a measure of freedom she would not otherwise have. The deep of the abyss no longer crushes her. It is no longer too cold for her new bones to take. She is all of ocean, and sometimes she is empty and wanting of something she never had.

(Have I told you that you've inspired three stories over the course of the challenge? I think I've only mentioned two, but I'm not sure. Also, you were a fantastic adopter and I enjoyed answering all of your questions (about Calypso). I hope you drop by to chat again sometime!)

[ironxkid]

11. What do they think of creation? Do they believe in evolution or do they believe in God? What is their religion like? 16. What are their best school subjects? What are their worst? List five of each. 29. Does your character get restless when things are too quiet or do they favour solitude and silence? Why?

30 Uncommon Character Development Questions

11. What do they think of creation? Do they believe in evolution or do they believe in God? What is their religion like?

Carter absolutely believes in evolution! She specifically believes in the primordial soup theory, as well as the first law of thermodynamics (which I covered here, albeit in the opposite direction dgfjkhsdfh). Evolution is actually something she works with quite a bit considering her line of study, since she’s often figuring out how life could survive and evolve on other planets (which I should cover at some point tbh dfshjdsfh), so it’s something she is rather passionate about, although isn’t obnoxious or rude about it if someone doesn’t share the same line of thinking

with that being said, she’s agnostic! Personally, because as far as I’m aware this hasn’t been something confirmed in canon, I headcanon that Carter grew up with a mix of Catholicism and atheism, with Obadiah being Catholic and her father being atheist. Again, I just wanna clarify, this is my personal headcanon and I don’t expect anyone to feel the same, and I honestly don’t know if religion has been established for either character! Anyway, because of that, it was... pretty tense at times if the subject of religion ever came up, and with her having plenty of questions about a supposedly loving God allowing bad things to happen, led to her being agnostic - she’s not going to attack or ridicule anyone who is religious, since she fully understands how important religion is to many people, and she doesn’t want to encourage that sort of hostile environment

she also has no issues with acknowledging she could very well be wrong about there not being a God or Gods (which, now that I think about it, probably is pretty stupid considering that, y’know, Thor is a Norse God and uhhh they’re very much so real in the MCU sdfghjsfdgjh), but overall tends to keep her line of belief to herself unless asked. She’s more than willing to listen to someone talk about their religion as long as they’re respectful (like, someone trying to use it to excuse their shitty behavior is only gonna piss her off - especially in terms of bashing other religions or different sexualities), but does prefer not to talk about it overall. It can make her uncomfortable at times, but not to the extent where she feels the need to shut down any conversation involving it

16. What are their best school subjects? What are their worst? List five of each.

her best subjects are: science (particularly biological, physical, and, of course, astronomy), music, physical education (which might be surprising to some, but Carter’s actually fairly active!), technology, and geography

her worst subjects are: English/language arts, foreign languages (her brain struggles to understand and remember even the most basic components), history, drama, and political science

29. Does your character get restless when things are too quiet or do they favour solitude and silence? Why?

She does get very restless when things are too quiet!! She doesn’t mind so much being in solitude, and she’ll often play music or having a movie or show playing in the background to fill up space, but she has a hard time in silence. Her thoughts can become too loud for her to handle, especially when her mental health is low, but it also very much stems from past trauma: specifically, the night when Obadiah almost killed Tony when taking the arc reactor out of his chest

when she had woken up, things had been eerily silent in the house, and when she went downstairs to get water and investigate why, she saw someone she had trusted and looked up to trying to kill her father. After that, if things become too quiet, she gets anxious, and will snoop around to see if anyone else is there and if they’re okay. That’s actually a small part as to why she’s living at the compound! Because, if she lives alone, the constant quiet (even behind whatever background noise she plays) will become overwhelming, and the fact no one else is there can make her anxiety worse

[pelagaios-a]

meta on tartarus?

I’m back on my meta bullshit  ╱  accepting.tbh ty for sending this cause this is one of the meta’s I lost in my draft disaster…

aigh’t first “what is Tartarus” because I know some people don’t know:

Tartarus is both a place and a being  —  similar to Hades, whose realm is named after the god  —  and Tartarus himself is the birthplace of monsters.  it is where, when they die, monsters go to be reformed before making their way back to the mortal realm.  Tartarus is the place where the giants and titans were chained after their defeat, it is the darkest pit of the underworld.  Tartarus himself is a primordial, son of Chaos and father of all things horrible.  in pjo, Tartarus the location is also Tartarus’ the primordials body.  the rivers of the underworld  (  Styx, Lethe, Acheron, Phlegethon  &&  Cocytus  )  are all but blood vessels flowing from the primordials heart.  when you think of Tartarus, you need to think of the deepest pits of hell  &&  then raise them to a ridiculous exponential.  there is, in Greek mythology, no place worse.  it is death before death even had a name.

lots of stuff happens to Percy in Tartarus,  &&  none of it is good.  I mean none of it.  everything in Tartarus is death to any mortal  (  hell, even some gods  )  &&  it shows.  the air is toxic, the ground is broken glass,  &&  the place not only plays with you physically  (  there is no food or water, they drank the fires of the Phlegethon to survive  )  but mentally.  Percy not only is a well-known demigod  —  a prize  —  but also one many seek revenge on.  the place plays with your worst fears  (  Percy says it reminds him of Smelly Gabe, which says a lot about Percy’s first stepfather  )  &&  then some.  Nico makes it out barely intact, having been locked away in a pot,  &&  Annabeth isn’t at the level of raw power Percy  &&  Nico are  —  she does not see as much as they do through the Mist down there.

Percy snaps.  something fundamentally him breaks down there  &&  it’s not something that can be fixed.  he describes it as shattered glass.  the pieces of him he worked so hard to hold on to aren’t an option down there,  &&  Percy gives up portions of who he is to survive  (  for Annabeth to survive  ).  I know I bring this up on  &&  off on other posts but the Percy that comes out of Tartarus is a lot closer to the Percy he’s kept locked away, the one that feeds off his anger  &&  resentment  &&  wants other’s to hurt.  the place essentially destroys him  &&  fills in the gaps left behind with Tartarus itself.  it’s legitimately a stain on his essence.

just a…  short list of things that happen, so I can give an idea:

they describe the place like a nuclear blast zone.  it reeks of sulfur.  everything about it is toxic  &&  designed to kill them.

Percy’s instincts are on hyperdrive.  Tartarus is already starting to creep it’s way in  &&  remove barriers he’s fought hard to keep.  when he kills Arachne  (  yes, he kills her like it was easy  )  he wishes he could have hurt her more.

Bob calls them “the defeated ones”  —  the one’s Percy  &&  co. have defeated that seek their revenge, that are hunting them through Tartarus.

the bits of Percy that were careful are no longer careful  —  he terrifies Annabeth with his own manipulative behavior in order to make Bob help them through Tartarus  (  which, if you know the side story of what happened with Percy  &&  Bob oof  ).

the arai.  the literal physical embodiment of a curse.  for every one he kills, Percy takes on a curse someone wished on him.  do you know how many people  &&  monsters Percy has killed  ??  do you know how many people resent him  ??  the answer is a lot  &&  it would have killed him.  I could talk about this one scene for days due to the depth it shows us; most importantly the last one he takes on is to slowly dissolve to death.  he got to painfully feel himself dying in brutal clarity.  he’s 17.

I’m just gonna throw in Percy did see Tartarus, as it is, almost entirely.  which is what almost drove Nico to madness.

the whole Akhlys thing.  I know I mention it on  &&  off but Percy tortured her.  he wanted her to feel his misery.  there’s a piece, here, where Percy can never truly go back.  he’d made his choice  &&  a step in an irredeemable direction  —  this is also the moment we see Percy bloodbend.

the Acheron…  says stuff to them.  calls him a murderer  &&  a monster.  the fact he still has the strength to keep going post the Cocytus which started their journey feasting upon their doubts.  Percy has officially controlled every river in Tartarus.

all of this, of course, ignoring when he finally did reach the doors of death  &&  did face Tartarus himself  &&  did accept his death.  he survived two wars  &&  countless horrors but Tartarus will forever be the part that sticks with him.  it’s the steady thrum of a heartbeat in his ear  &&  the fact he can’t trust what he sees.  Tartarus left such an impact  (  especially post everything he was lied to over in pjo  )  that haunts him.  it feeds off what you fear most, it feeds off the emotions that leave you most vulnerable.  Tartarus drove him into a corner where his anger  &&  resentment were the tools he needed  &&  it fostered them.  Percy has canon anger issues  !!  it’s stated he even used to go to anger management classes  —  Tartarus stripped down all the progress he had made  &&  set him back at square one.

post Tartarus Percy is prone to lashing out when he doesn’t mean to, when his emotions get the better of him.  while in a sense he is now more adept at using his gifts than before he’s also more dangerous with that skill.  post Tartarus Percy is closed off in ways he wasn’t before.  Tartarus turned him into the monster he tried so very hard not to be  &&  Percy grew much too tired to fight it.  sure he can keep up the facade but even canon asks us “for how long  ??”

then there are the nightmares.  as if he didn’t already not sleep  (  demigods like Percy aren’t allowed pleasant dreams, they’re either premonitions or nightmares  ).  if his waking moments are haunted by what he might do the snippets of sleep he gets are haunted by what he could do.  he doesn’t trust anything especially himself anymore.  we see how tired he is we see how closed off he is  &&  in true Percy fashion he works so very hard to make sure no one notices but even that doesn’t matter  —  he can’t hide it.  he scares people  (  he scares everyone, Annabeth won’t even talk to him  )  to the point he stops trying.

what was thrown into that pit was a bitter demigod with a bit of hope  &&  what came out was the angry thing the gods had been afraid of since the start.  no matter how good he is at a day to day mask it bleeds into his choices  &&  his actions.  he’s lost the filters  &&  barriers that made him who he was  &&  now he’s just desperately trying to play the part of survivor.  he doesn’t think he survived anything.  Tartarus destroyed him. 

[cuntbliss-blog]

Auckland City Limits 2018 review

I made a very last minute decision to buy a ticket for Auckland City Limits. I had enjoyed a windfall and felt a deep sense of FOMO. Within half an hour of gate’s opening, I purchased a ticket from the Ticketmaster Box Office in Aotea square.

Seeing new up and comer Jed Parsons who opened the festival was a real drawcard for me. Unfortunately public transport caused me to arrive a little late. But hearing the opening notes of his absolutely stellar ‘Get Lost’ seemed like a very good omen. I caught two more songs, and it appears as so this young lad is rapidly ascending to the mighty mantle of other local greats like Ruban Neilson. He has roots in the traditional formulas of rock and roll songwriting, mixed with funk and psychedelia but also inflects it with tasteful modern production. His recently formed band were solid, Parsons was a friendly, seemingly unpretentious and generous entertainer. I look forward to seeing more from him. 

I was astounded upon arrival and over the course of the festival as to what an ideal and world-class public venue Western Springs can be. Two main stages to the East at the entrance, a small Golden Dawn stage across the bridge alongside the lake and of course two ‘main stages’ inside the stadium/speedway itself. It meant that a punter never had to feel boxed in or claustrophobic and could still enjoy the music at a reasonable distance. Grass abounds, there are trees to find shade beneath, not to mention a natural body of water! It really is quite perfect and massively superior to Mt Smart Stadium. The food mostly came from very classy inner city eateries, but I had to save my money for beer, which given that it was 2.5% ABV I had to really throw them back. 

Second for me was Alien Weaponry. I see they’re gaining a lot of local attention and accolades and while I find the use of Te Reo lyrics in their music intriguing, I didn’t see the music itself as being much more than a fairly derivative mash-up of Thrash, commercial 90s metal and maybe the vaguest prog flourish. I also find overt political righteousness of any variety (no matter how well intended) in music to be irritating if not unnecessary. I understand they’re very young though, and it was difficult to fault their musical competency.

Next were Head Like a Hole a band who don’t exactly cater to my tastes but I’ve always had an unexpected fondness for. Rocking up on stage looking like a team of mechanics from Te Atatu (they could be for all I know, oops nah they’re Wellingtonians) frontman Booga Beazley is well versed in the theatrics of rock’n’roll buffoonery.  They have too much groove to be metal, but are a little too heavy to be lumped into the hard rock label of the early 70s. They really just carry themselves so well, seem so confident in what they do given how long they’ve been doing it. Their cover of ‘Immigrant Song’ was for me a highlight of the entire event. 

Next up I thought I’d check out the Golden Dawn stage across the bridge. Nicely secluded and shaded by trees, this relatively small stage still enjoyed good sound. So, thumbs up to the engineers involved. I saw Simon something or other. Restrained indie pop but very confidently delivered. Almost teetered on Slowdive-esque shoegaze at times, I thought. I wasn’t madly keen but it was resolutely competent.

By this stage I thought I’d consider giving Carseat Headrest another go. I can’t say I’ve been impressed by the recordings I’ve heard - I frankly can’t stand vocalists who mumble or murmur, unless they’re Kevin Shields. I find the overtly jammy song structures uninventive and a bit tedious, frankly. With the large band set up, two drummers, and aforementioned jamminess, they remind me superficially of Pavement. But Pavement they are not. Although the knotty segues in their songs can make it difficult to predict where a song begins and ends, the progressions tend to be formulaic, albeit drawn out, just with the unexpected, appended additions to structure. These songs generally erupted into ‘whoa whoa whoa whoa yeah, tonight we are young esque’ call and response sing alongs. I know the guy writes heaps of lyrics and I always respect that, but frankly I couldn’t really hear them. Yeah kinda fuck this band tbh.

Next, between two of my frequent panic attacks, over-exposure to the sun and the proper ABV beer I enjoyed at the Golden Dawn stage, I retired into the shadows of the hills, regrettably missing most of Thundercat’s I was assured (and I am sure) excellent set. 

Next up were the Libertines. Who were poised to be a highlight for me. I really enjoy their first album especially. There he was - Pete Doherty. Looking surprisingly healthy. Or maybe it was the make up from a distance. The only two people I bumped into and knew during the entire festival are about 21 and both wrote it off as ‘old guy stuff’ within a few songs. Yikes. I’m only about 5 years younger than them. They reminded me heavily of the Clash in terms of their sing shouty choruses, vague 1950s rockabilly/early rock’n’roll rhythmic undertow and general vocal style. The rhythm section might secretly be the best part of this band - the bassist showing effortless dexterity and the drummer incorporating vaguely Afro-beats at times. Something just wasn’t right. It didn’t help that Doherty’s guitar was out of tune for the first few songs, but something just felt off. Like it has just become a job for these guys. The Libertines are creative songwriters but their stage-show felt underwhelming for me, fostering cheesy showmanship that seemed to compensate for substance.

What happened next? Fuck. Not sure. Was pretty drunk and stoned at this point and freaking out again. I saw the D4. Whyyyyyyyyyy. Ok I’m being a total dick, the D4 play with impressive energy and proficiency but their songs just don’t do it for me. ‘Get up and get out and get loose?’ No thanks, I think I’ll just do the getting loose part then curl up like the neurotic sociopath I truly am. 

The Avalanches I was somewhat looking forward to. Because of that ‘Boy Needs Therapy’ song. Well. I genuinely didn’t realize they were a band. I thought they were electronic. Avalanches was very 50/50 for me personally. Whoever took charge of sound wasn’t doing a great job - too much bass, too little vocals. I didn’t really enjoy the bunch of really obvious songs they sampled into the music. At some point during the late 90s people discovered computers and DAWS and samples and decided that inserting great music into electronic tapestries was tantamount to genius. I’ve never quite understood this. Avalanches were still enjoyable, but I can’t say I loved it. 

Then I started freaking out again and walked back to the Golden Dawn area. The most violent, obnoxious, obstreperous bass I have ever fell victim to seemed to penetrate the entire complex. The trees were trembling, man. Must have been some hip hop guy. How can they even sing over that shit? What is it with you humans and excessive bass? I hate it. 

So then I got my shit together (popped some sedatives, had some more low alcohol beer) and prepared myself for Grace Jones. I’m not a Grace Jones fan in any huge way, but the second she graced (hah) the stage in an outrageous space-age costume replete with golden helmet and red laser beam eyes, her voice, her charisma, her band and her sheer sound production out shined everything which came before (and after). I was a bit far back cuz I’m a nervous freak but someone I know claimed she changed costume (11!) times. But I must not begin to let this sound like it was all about the stage show (which was dazzling, inventive and spectacular). Graces’ breed of mutant post-funk disco is at once entirely artificial and yet somehow primordial, spiritual even. Her voice is commanding, rich, full and doesn’t even have the vaguest shred of elderliness to my ears. ‘Do you feel the life’ Grace asked the audience ‘I love my life was her response.’ I’ll bet she does. What a fucking lady. Every younger band at that concert could take an encyclopaedia  of knowledge and wisdom from the glorious uniqueness and pure charisma that is Grace Jones.

Then I saw Beck. Fuckkkkkk. Beck was 50% of the reason I came to this fucking gig. Beck’s set was A) too quiet B) lacking energy, conviction, enthusiasm C) too top heavy with his more recent stuff which is frankly barely distinguishable top 40 tripe and D) well I’m a cunt. Anyhow. I’m being overly negative. Perhaps Grace simply set the bar too high and I was getting too sedated. There were some highlights. For some reason the Chimpmunk funk of ‘Mixed Bizness’ from Midnite Vultures turned out to be an unexpected highlight for me. We also got to hear Devil’s Haircut and Loser. Yeah they were good. But I dunno. Amidst the awkward attempt to get people to sing along to ‘Raspberry Beret’ and the massive screen projection of him, I sensed the vague whiff of scientology in all its epic soul destroying creepiness. I left early.

But I had fun. Seriously. Auckland City Limits is fucking awesome. Make sure you go next time.

[avemstella]

jeepers, sending this ask on the eve of the 4.2 stream and trailer ! do you have any thoughts on how genshin will approach tying up childe's storyline in the fontaine quest next update? if smfwtwd manages to predict something again, apollo's dodgeball of prophecy has a 2 for 2 streak lol

You don't want to know how long this response took pfft. I uh, had too many thoughts. Also, don't take this as spoilers for my fic, this is mostly stuff based on the Fontaine stuff. (also there is no leak stuff here because I haven't looked at any in relation to this haha, and uh, pls don't tell me any story leaks everyone)

under cut because I rambled too much lol (and I apologize because it's a bit of unorganized mess)

But yes, now that's out of the way! So since 4.0 I've been convinced Childe's whale/the thing that Skirk saw in him is some manifestation (or something) of the primordial sea (will be refereed to as PS from now on). Or maybe an abyssal taint within it. Not sure on the specifics, but the reason Childe was deemed 'guilty' was because the PS was the source of the disappearances, and well he is part of that sea.

Going to talk about Furina for a hot minute (it's relevant), and uh spoilers for my Furina fic so beware. I still stand by my theory from that fic that Furina is also connected to the PS and in fact in some manner the cause of the prophecy/PS being fucked up/is the reason everyone in Fontaine will be dissolved. A bunch of canon evidence about Remuria implies that Remus fucking around with PS is the cause of the current dissolve the fake french waters and I believe Furina is a product of those experiments, a literal false god made by a mad king.

And to throw a bit of a crazy theory out there, I think she specifically is the reason the big old abyss rift opened up in the middle of Remuria back then, and as we know from Skirk/the whale showing up in the present day, history is repeating itself as the Abyss is back here again.

And Furina knows that (or sometimes knows that, I'm in the boat that her mind is fractured, and she only sometimes is aware of certain things) and that's why she took Neuvillette under her wing. Because to her, he is the only one who can judge her and carry out the punishment. Basically, I think Neuvi is effectively her method of suicide, a punishment for her sins against Remuria and now Fontaine.

Okay, so the whale (and Skirk). To get this out of the way, I can see Skirk literally being the whale, or I can see her being someone keeping an eye on the whale for a variety of reasons. I'll be honest I'm not sure what is up with her (I still want to say she is Khaenri'ahn, but tbh I've just believed that for so long I'm a bit biased on that front lol). I'm thinking the latter is more likely, but honestly it can go either way.

But back to the whale, as I mentioned up top, it's very likely a manifestation of some kind of the PS. My speculation is that it's Furina's Abyssal counterpart. Whether it's literally Furina or parallel creature to her, idk (Furina's gameplay literally has her controlling little sea creatures...). But I would lean on the latter, I think the whale is like the 'natural' manifestation of it, while Furina is the man made one. Furina exists in the human world, while the whale is in the Abyss (Furina has a lot of duology in her design, her eyes, the flip-flopping of her personality, her gameplay modes, her con is half greek half latin, etc).

And finally I'm returning to Ajax, he is a child of two worlds. He crossed the borders between the human world and the Abyss and came out changed (but unlike many, he was able to leave with his mind mostly intact) He is named after a Greek hero (which side note, Enkanomiya, aka lots of Greek stuff, is where the prophecy about the Dragon of Water being reborn is from) and currently going to be facing a Roman goddess.

He, much like Furina is a nest of contradictions. His title Tartaglia, the old stutterer, doesn't suit him at all. His disconnect from the rest of the Harbingers (He is arguably the most sane of the bunch yet is a nexus of chaos), his obsession with childhood innocence despite his path covered in blood. He is human, yet can turn into a big old monster.

And while this is more generally a Harbinger trait, he much like Furina is a big old performer (The Harbingers are named after a French/Italian form of theater, and Furina is Roman goddess who rules a sort of French nation). And with that a massive liar to those closest to him (for Ajax it's his younger siblings and for Furina its Neuvillette). Not to get literary on us, but the two of them are foils to each other. The lying Celestial goddess and the child who fell into the Abyss.

He walks the line between the human world and Abyss (and is a representative of the divine via the Tsaritsa), and I think he's going to be the bridge between Furina and the Whale, and the means of which both will be saved from the corruption that has been eating them alive for thousands of years.

While I'm not sure what exactly will go down, we've been a bit spoiled by Furina's gameplay, which shows that she has gained control of the 2 sides of her. I believe the Furina that we've met so far is only part of a whole (possibly the other half is the Oratrice or maybe the Abyss as a big whale, maybe both maybe neither lol), and her story will be reuniting those pieces. And she'll be able to do that by seeing Ajax and his own contradictory pieces that are still a whole despite the disconnect. And maybe on Ajax's part, he too can learn to make peace with the contradictions within him, and he'll be able to turn into Foul Legacy without hurting himself (and maybe that Legacy will stop being so foul).

Um that was very rambly and got very esoteric near the end and probably didn't make a lot of sense. I'm likely super wrong, but it's fun to wildly speculate sometimes haha. Thank u for giving me the excuse, though I don't know if this is what u wanted when u asked me this pffft.