#cirralings

[bloomblanche]

Hi, I made a little edit with my fan species for fun

Hope you guys like it!!

(Original illustration from Haikara Walker)

[andrastes-flaming-arse]

☁️ Little sketch of my Hawke, Cirral :3 ☁️

Let me know if you’d like to see any of my other DA protags :)

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Burning of Wallasey Church, Wirral, 1 February 1857 Harold Hopps (1879–1967) Williamson Art Gallery & Museum

* * * *

"The most dangerous psychological mistake is the projection of the shadow onto others; this is the root of almost all conflicts."

~ C.G. Jung

+

“The mentioned ‘particular need’ of theirs (to 'teach others sense and 'put them on the right road') arises in them, in its turn, thanks to another particular property of theirs which is that from the very moment when each of them acquires the capacity of distinguishing between ‘wet’ and ‘dry,’ then, carried away by this attainment, he ceases forever to see and observe his own abnormalities and defects, but sees and observes those same abnormalities and defects in others."

~ Gurdjieff, from 'Beelzebub's Opinion of War' in 'Beeelzebub's Tales to his Grandson'

(Ian Sanders)

[ruthlesslistener]

could you give like a brief explanation of who your OCs are? I know around nothing about them so it's hard to send these oc ask game asks

Lemme try to do a brief rundown without eating up my entire night hdhfhhd

Non-fandom ocs:

-Takhanobou: the guy in my icon, a young male fire dragon who was intentionally overcooked in the egg to be epigenetically activated into a morph usually only seen in his land's past, where the volcanoes were active and resources were much more scarce/fickle (though the dragons ofc didn't know this, and just call the condition 'fireborn'). This essentially just means that he's got darker, shinier scales, more intense firebreath, and dragon autism, but it's seen as a curse of uncanny strength in modern draconic 'society', where more social groupings are common. This overcooking was done because the earth had a global cooling event due to increased volcanic activity that led to the expansion of the volcanic isles his tribe lived on paired with the expansion of the southern icefields that a polar-bear like tribe of ice dragons lived on, and the famine + territory quibbles led to a small subsection of fire dragons blaming those ice dragons for their troubles and deciding that the best way to solve the problem was to just wipe the whole tribe out. His mother, Verada, was a queen who lost all of her mates and all but one of her clutches to the famine, and so her thought with Takhanobou was that she was going to make a supersoldier who would save their tribe and restore her honour by destroying the last of the ice dragons. (The fire and ice titles are placeholder names btw, they just are the elements associated with their habitats. I'm still working on names)

Needless to say, it didn't work, and a bit of an oopsie from Taki led to the death of her favorite son as well as his exile, as killing a grown hatchmate was forbidden. Now Takhanobou has to learn who he is outside of being a weapon- and just how much of his sheltered worldview was wrong

-Theodonalus: okay my phonescreen is tacky and my cat is yowling at my bedroom door so i'm not gonna get an alcohol wipe to clean it so typing is less of a nightmare. Leucistic greyhound of a dragon with stunted wings, this is a 2x combo of Bad Mutation in his tribe because they're very flight-oriented migratory guys and flashy colours and patterns is essential for individual recognition and mate selection. To prove to them that he's not a dead drake walking, he walks one leg of the migratory paths out of spite, where he meets Takhanobou and basically bullies him into acting as a watchdog by besting him in a fight (as Taki never fought someone well-fed and half his size before). They become mates as their journey continues, and shenanigans happen along the way

-Ritha: Same world, 2,000 years later, humans have arrived and she is one of them. Orphan girl from a shunned community proves her worth to settled society via yakherding apprenticeship, becomes a dragonrider by accident when her ceremonial presentation of her 2nd best bull at the dragon-picking ceremony ends with one of the dragons choosing her. Chaos ensues. She wants no part in any of it

-Rhyerron: Her dragon (or rather, she's his human. Dragons keep humans as pets, pretty much, that's the entire source of the bond). Young teenage drake who's seen as an omen of great change bc he's the first true leucistic dragon since Theodonalus. Oblivious to what this means in society, just wants to hang out with his human and do teenage boy things

-Ja'kari: Same verse and era as Ritha, one of the actual contestants involved and an ambassador from his kingdom (honourably kicked out bc he was a palace guard who was in a secret relationship to the crown prince). Jovial and laid back dude with lots of internal turmoil, was picked by a much older dragoness who already had several riders in her past and is Ritha's only friend among the riders

-Cirralli: Ja'kari's dragon. Very stoic, secrative, and silent type. Ruby-red scales, turquoise mane, cream and black markings. Full of Secrets(tm)

Fandom ocs:

-Aeris Sharphawk: Multifandom (Bloodborne, Destiny 2, DnDestiny, potentially the same verse as Ritha and Taki but way earlier in the timeline), though his Destiny iterations post-guardianhood are way different from each other. Autistic awkward 6'3 beanpole of a man who loves his sister and is a scarily efficient living weapon with a curiosity streak that can kill gods. He's a creepy motherfucker who looks like a vampire and has a dead-eyed stare that can make a serial killer run screaming, but he's genuinely just a chill guy when no horrific trauma is involved or hot men are involved (that's when his freak mode gets activated). Very cat/snake coded kinda guy, currently my favorite oc. Lots of stuff with him on my Destiny 2 sideblog, @ahamkara-apologist

-Marcelline Attenbough: Multifandom, same ones. His younger half-sister, an absolute firebrand of a woman with a very strong sense of justice and a huge weakness for big buff women. Marcie is a caring sort by nature who fusses over Aeris almost as much as he's protective over her (though it should be noted that Aeris DOES require a caretaker; he's not high-functioning enough to last long without one) and is genuinely a sweet, playful sort of gal, but she has a quick temper and is not always the most logical about using it- she's a great dipomat, but her favorite tactic to fix things involves hitting her problems with a giant hammer. She's like if a jack russel terrier was a 5'9 human woman

-Viper-4 (Destiny 2): An ex-hunter exo who dealt with the grief of losing his ghost by becoming a herpetologist. It...works reasonably well!! One of Aeris's few friends, works with venomous snakes and drug research via their venom bc being a robot means he's immune to their bites, mc of a crack-treated-serious D2 x Hollow Knight au (that also involves Marcie and a baby wish-dragon)

-Ashe: (Destiny 2) Human solar warlock, ex-Ishtar researcher from Venus who was rezzed as a guardian in the tail end of the Dark Ages. She went with the 'do drugs to get in touch with your powers' route, which worked- but her innovative uses of the Light are banned in the Last City bc she essentially learned how to make a magical nuke. She's a cynical, sneering meangirl bitch to hide the fact that her drug thing turned to a genuine problem when her fear of the Final Shape turned her to self-medicating outside of medication sessions. Hires herself out as an assist healer for money and to the Spider for extra drugs/glimmer, but still has a heart hidden somewhere under a million different layers of fear and trauma

-Petrichor-12 (Destiny 2): Exo void titan, voluntary became an ex-Guardian (without killing their ghost!!) post Deep Stone Crypt raid when they found their memories of their past life, and the monster they were within them. Now they're a fucking huge mass of anxious depressed metal that knits and weaves blankets alongside Namrask in House Light, both as penance and as therapy for what they've done

-Fenrix (Elden Ring): My Elden Lord, a mute mercenary who went off the deep end when seeking power and decided to become the next Lord of Blood after being wooed by Varre. One of the nightfolk, lost his voice in death when a mob of golden order fanatics violently slit his throat and his first revival didn't fix it, turns into a fanatic of the Formless Mother bc he wants to consume her and take her place post-Elden Lording. Fuckboy (weaponized)

-Leysha (Elden Ring): Tarnished Banished Knight/ex-general who really does NOT want to become Elden Lord- she just wants to peacefully magically transition, find a partner, and settle down to have a family and a small sheep farm. Breaks both of Morgott's legs when he confronts her in Leyndell, feels bad enough about it to nurse him back to health bc she saw their confrontation as entirely avoidable, falls in love with him in the process and works to bring about a new Age of the Crucible while straightening out his Golden Order trauma by force. Genuinely a sweet and loving woman, as long as you aren't crossing her

[teamrundisney]

A quick visit with the characters of honor before jumping into the starting cirrals as runners are just 10 minutes away from race start! #TeamrunDisney #runDisney #WDW10K #DopeyChallenge (at EPCOT) https://www.instagram.com/p/CnEcBD2uP99/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[arlinns]

psst if any of y’all do wow rp i have a new bby void elf who needs some fleshing out and i am down for in game rp or discord or whatever tbh

[ofwraithsandwords]

NPC/location names in most high fantasy games:

The Silver Lord Danforth the Unyeilding The Gray Blight Serpent’s Island

NPC/location names in Elden Ring:

Saint Vhael’isse of the Ascension Cirral, Weaver of the Silken Death The Sarkonian Brume/Zyfatosis Village of the Obstiquean

[rollercoaster59]

Cirral with milk

[bloomblanche]

SRL Exploration Team here to make an emergency report!

These funky fellows are starting to pop up all around town! We're not sure what their deal is, but they seem friendly. Who knows? Maybe we'll get more info on these cirralings in the future...

(original image)

...and here's an (unfinished) attempt from a year ago! I'm proud of my progress.

[bloomblanche]

Cirralings

(Splatoon fan species)

Aka: I overanalyzed Raian's design and ended up making a whole species of cirrate octopuses (otherwise known as dumbo octopuses) over it.

(The cover is an edited version of the official White Day 2020 illustration, if anyone's wondering.)

(Also, I'm going to use a lot of synonyms for "cirrate octopus", so here's a little list of what they all mean)

Cirrate octopus: octopus in the suborder "Cirrina" or "Cirrata"

Dumbo octopus: finned octopus (note: every cirrate octopus has fins, so they all classify as dumbos)

Flapjack octopus and Umbrella octopus: octopus from the family "Opisthoteuthidae"

Now, without further ado...

Introduction

I love dumbo octopuses. Who doesn't? With their little ear-fins flapping around as they float majestically through the deep sea, it's hard not to like them. And their rarity only makes them more mysterious and interesting. If they ever were to add a dumbo octopus character in Splatoon, the whole fandom would go crazy for sure. It's a wonder how absent they are from the franchise.

...or are they?

(cue vsauce music)

If you're in the splatband fandom, you probably know who this is. This is Raian (or Orion in the English localization) from the band Chirpy Chips! This creature has been mercilessly occupying my brain for, uh... almost a year now. Help.

But here's the most interesting part about them: they're a flapjack octopus! That's right, they're canon! And they've been right here since Splatoon 1. But... there's one small problem. They don't look like an Octarian at all. This is possibly explained by the fact that cirrate octopuses don't have ink sacs, and Octolings (like Inklings) are primarily composed of ink. That's where my fan species comes in!

They're mostly a product of me over-analyzing Raian's design and adapting it to my style. But then, I started attaching a lot of lore to them, and... boom. Now I've made an entire species over an obscure Splatoon character from an arguably less obscure in-game band. The brainrot made me do it, and I don't regret it in the slightest.

Here's a remastered collection of everything I've posted about them on other platforms!

Design breakdown

(I wanted to provide a closeup of every single element over the course of the post, but I can't because of Tumblr's picture limit. Don't hesitate to go back to the design sheet above if you need to.)

The eyes

When I first saw Raian, I thought they had pitch-black eyes. Turns out they're probably just closed, but I really liked the idea. Since cirrate octopuses live in the deep sea, they'll probably need to see as much light as possible. The Octarians also have this alien theme going on, as with octopuses in general. And with deep-sea creatures often being described as real-life aliens, I figured that I would take this aspect and go all out with it. I'm aiming for a "cute yet vaguely eerie" vibe, and I think the eyes fit very well with that!

However, I do think they would have coloured eyes. Or even irises! Take the Stauroteuthis genus (picture on the right), for example.

The fins

What's a dumbo octopus without its fins? They're always flapping about, so I loved the idea of having them move based on how they're feeling. Despite not giving them any eyebrows, I would still keep the "eyebrow muscles" for the sake of more dynamic facial expressions (like the ones in the introduction picture).

Their bangs are made out of webbing. As for the "antennas" on some haircuts, they're a modified pair of cirri! With the importance of fins, I figured that Cirralings would enjoy having "ear surrogates" for when their ears are hidden.

(or just because they feel like it)

(or not, it's their choice)

also it's cute

To those who don't know: a cirrus is a small hair-like strand that moves a bit like a mini-tentacle. The suborder "Cirrina" is named after those strands, which they most likely use for feeding.

If we go back to Raian's design, there's a problem: despite being a cirrate octopus, they don't have any visible suckers nor cirri. Will we ever know your secrets, mysterious chiptune flapjack???

...so, I came up with something. If we go back to the reference picture under "Design breakdown," the suckers are on the same side as Inklings and they're covered by their cirri. It's a little unusual, but again, it fits with the vibe I'm trying to create.

The swim form

Since many cirrate octopuses live at the bottom of the ocean, I figured that I should keep them adapted enough to sit on the sea floor like they usually do. Those who live in the open ocean probably look more like a traditional octo form.

One thing's for sure: Opisthoteuthidae certainly don't need much stylization with how cartoony they already look.

The hands

Cirrate octopus have a lot more webbing between their tentacles than incirrate ones. Here's a cool way to translate this: webbed fingers and toes!

I'm sorry for telling you to scroll back again, but I'm very proud of how I drew that hand. Look at it. I'm not forcing you, like- you don't have to do it if you don't want to, but. Look.

The teeth

These are just Octoling teeth but flipped and a little different. I also decided to "fuse" the teeth together to better distinguish them from the Octarians.

My main goal with this species is to show how differently they would evolve compared to their surface-dwelling cousins, all while staying similar to each other. I haven't studied biology since secondary 4 (aka 10th year of American high school), though, so please take this with a miniscule grain of salt.

The mask and neck, as well as any other design choice that I haven't explained, are just some elements of Raian's design that kinda just... exist. That doesn't mean they're useless, though. If anything, it makes them look more "cirrate-like."

On a side note, I thought it would be cool to base them around what they're most famous for: their appearances! Given their reputation as "the octopus suborder that makes scientists so happy that one of its species almost got called 'Opisthoteuthis Adorabilis'", I think they have something to be proud of.

Unorganized tidbits of lore

I wanted to illustrate all of these individually, but I'm pretty busy with university. Also, I'm kinda slow at drawing. In the end, I got too impatient and decided to reveal my most developed ideas right then and there.

Cirratians, like most deep sea species, evolved through many miracles. First, the miracle of coming in contact with the crystals. Second, the miracle of evolving on dry land via caves. Third, the miracle of surviving in the harsh, barren underground.

Because of this, they evolved to be drastically different from their surface-dwelling counterparts. Since they don't have ink sacs, their bodies are mainly composed of water. However, they can still be splatted by getting submerged in dense enough liquids such as brine.

Not every cirrate octopus is a Cirraling, as evidenced by the existence of cirrate Octolings. As the name suggests, the latter are Octolings with cirrate ancestry. They almost always inherit the ink bodies of Octarians, but some are born without ink sacs. There are two types of cirrate Octolings: those whose ancestry dates back to the dawn of evolution (often through interbreeding and assimilation) and those whose ancestry is a result of modern Cirro-Octarian contact. Scientists are still researching this odd, prolonged "contact gap".

Similarly to Octarians, they have their own variants born from severed tentacles. Though, due to their different needs, these ones are non-sapient and take the role of cattle and companions. In ancient times, long tentacles were considered a sign of wealth.

They have a traditional dance characterized by slow movements and light, flowing fabric. Skilled dancers will try to make their costumes flow as much as possible without moving too fast. If they did, it would be considered a waste of energy.

Like many deep sea cultures, one of the most important gods they worship is based on ancient whale falls (illustration by @thap34nut ). This large, skeletal god is a symbol of plenty. It is credited as the origin of marine snow and an essential provider of food to their ancestors. In the afterlife, it will grant eternal satiety to those who died of starvation. Meanwhile, it will punish the greedy with eternal hunger. To honour that god, they have a similar holiday to Squidmas colloquially called "the Deepest Gratitudes." The many bone decorations (which are usually painted rock sculptures) are often the source of culture shock to many uninformed outsiders.

Despite their internal shells, Cirralings are very squishy. This allows them to better withstand their highly pressurized environment. However, this also makes them vulnerable: they are notably more prone to bruising than most inkfish. So, they prioritize diplomacy over conflict.

Their natural charisma is known all over the deep sea, and many young Cirralings move to bigger cities in hopes of breaking through the idol industry. They are often stereotyped as charming and polite at best, or two-faced manipulators at worse.

Despite their reputation, they have a certain "shyness" to them. Indeed, most Cirratian cities and settlements are rather isolated. Their conflict-avoidant culture is most likely a result of the competitive, individualistic atmosphere of early deep sea civilization. Since then, however, the "spirit" of humanity and the survivalism of deep sea life managed to blend together more smoothly. Despite their cold and aloof appearance, these modern civilizations are now characterized by a certain sense of unity.

Cirratian society is noted to have a pretty unique atmosphere, even compared to their surrounding cultures. Despite shrouding themselves in mystery, they are warm and welcoming. Despite living simple lives, their social rules are very strict.

Cirralings are significantly less concerned with imitating humans. Their skin tones are rarely human-like, and while dull, they vary a lot in terms of colours. Their fins and tentacles also play a very important role in expressing emotions, sometimes even more than facial expressions. They have gained minor colour-changing abilities from the crystals, though many of them describe the process as "time-consuming and not very instinctive." They specialize more in bioluminescence.

Their eyes vary much less than other humanoids: they are large and dark to absorb as much light as possible. Some may have smaller or lighter irises, but this is rather uncommon. Cirratians come in all shapes and sizes, but their eyes are their most recognizable aspect.

The Cirratians and the Octarians have an odd relationship. They want to understand each other better, as there's potential for solidarity and brotherhood. However, it's hindered by their inherently different values.

Sometimes, Cirralings sneak to the surface in search of resources. They rarely interact with surface dwellers, as both parties would fear each other in the past. In fact, the "glowing-eyed mimic" or "void-eyed mimic" cryptid originated from various Cirraling sightings.

They often come to the surface through bodies of water. For a variety of reasons, some may even wash up on shore. Those who choose to stay will almost always hide their identity, though they have been revealing themselves more and more as the years went by. The events of Octo Expansion lead to a wave of deep sea creatures who immigrated to the surface in search of new opportunities. By then, almost every Cirraling had stopped hiding their identity.

Thank you for your interest❣️

Here's my favourite flapjack pic, for the soul.

[bloomblanche]

Quick Cirraling edit before I go to bed

(Original)

[bloomblanche]

＊✿ It's Melly!! ✿＊

I just realized that I haven't talked about her much on my blog. Time to fix that.

(Text cut for aesthetic purposes)

Bear in mind that she kinda evolved from "splatsona" to "OC who shares a lot of things with me (but not everything!) and still represents me sometimes but is mostly her own character now"

❥ Mélusine (full name Mélusine Larchipel) is 20 years old and goes by she/her. Her height is 166 cm, aka 5'5. She's autistic and pansexual.

❥ She's all academics, no street smarts. She's rather shy, overly polite, and has trouble voicing her opinions (as well as socializing in general). Her enthusiasm and eccentricities regularly slip through the cracks of her demure appearance.

❥ Melly moved to Inkadia around 10 years ago (making her multilingual as a result), but she still hasn't gotten used to everything because she would mostly spend her time inside without interacting much with other people. She's only recently started to open up, and she uses ink sports and tableturf as a way to do so.

❥ Her mom is a surface Octoling, but her dad is a Cirraling (which is my fan species of cirrate octopuses). That makes her half-grimpoteuthis! The reason why it matters is that the top design isn't her true appearance. The bottom one is what she looks like all-natural.

(Older drawings for comparison)

❥ Due to the biological differences of cirrate octopuses, her chromatophores and her ink sac are a bit underdeveloped. It takes roughly 15 minutes of light exposure for her chromatophores to be able to change colour and roughly 30 minutes in darkness for her to revert back to her natural colour.

❥ She's a bit insecure about her differences, so that's why she disguises herself as a regular Octoling. In fact, her hairstyle is meant to make her ears look smaller since she would get teased for them as a kid.

❥ This character is pretty much a metaphor for masking, when you think about it

❥ Now! Being part-dumbo has its perks, such as better night vision, but it also has its downsides. Remember when I said that her ink sac was underdeveloped? Because of that, she has to focus almost all of her gear abilities into ink saving.

❥ And that combined with her being unable to play anything other than brushes means that Melly REALLY sucks at Salmon Run. She sucks so much that her teammates kept complaining, and she ended up getting kicked out of Grizz Co. She doesn't mind it too much, though, because she's happy earning money with turf war and sewing. Not to mention that the whole business looks really shady anyway.

❥ Going back to brush weapons! Melly has a weird obsession with them. She owns all of the available ones on the market and will only listen to Sheldon's rambles if they're about brush weapons (if they aren't, she will immediately zone out)

❥ She's named Mélusine after the fairy from the eponymous myth. Mélusine is a spirit of fresh water who was cursed to become a serpent from the waist down every Saturday. So! Not only does it have a water theme, but it reflects her appearance-changing deal. She likes her full name, and her family uses it on a regular basis. The reason why she mostly goes by "Melly" is because it's easier for her friends to pronounce.

❥ Her favourite band is Chirpy Chips, and her favourite song from them is Shellfie. She's also a big fan of Raian (guess where that came from) and has a celebrity crush on them.

❥ Her favourite show and videogame are called "Magical Mumi Uni-chan" and "Coral Village 2" respectively.

❥ She loves blueberry pies and hates walnuts for their dry aftertaste (macadamia nuts are more up her alley)

❥ She developed emetophobia as a kid after a severe bout of salmonella.

❥ She really likes flowers as well as lolita fashion and does sewing as a hobby.

❥ While not visible in this drawing, she has some webbing between her fingers (which are tainted purple)

❥ Her shoes are punk whites with ruffle socks.

❥ And last but not least: Melly is based on this specific octopus! She's also very interested in the deep sea and likes to search for books about it.

Thank you for your interest!!

Here are some silly gifs

[bloomblanche]

Ok!! New headcanon!

Those who have seen my Cirraling lore thread might remember this god of food and plenty based off of whale falls. It grants eternal satiety to those who died of hunger, and eternal hunger to those who lived greedily.

Well, I'll add more lore to it!

During the mammalian era, whale falls were an essential source of nutrition to the creatures of the deep. Today, only a few proofs that they once existed can be found. Their extinction is actually one of the main reasons why the fauna moved to shallower waters.

Historically, the Whale God would feed the deep sea denizens with its bones (whale falls) and its flesh (marine snow). So, why did the whale falls disappear while the marine snow remained? The answer varies greatly depending on the culture and location of who you're asking.

Some say that the god has no more bones to spare. Some say that it's tired or nearing the end of its life. Others say that it's testing their resilience or punishing them for a major wrongdoing. A rare few say that the snow will end soon, since the god left them long ago.

LOUIE ZONG!! HIS NEWEST VIDEO!!!! IT'S ABOUT DEEP SEA CREATURES!!! WHALE FALLS!! IM GOING INSANE AGAGSHSH RJRJRJRJ!!! THE VIBES!! THE V I B E S!!!!! PERFECT INSPIRATION FOR MY SPLATOON DEEP SEA HEADCANONS!! I AM SO SO HAPPYYYYYYY!!!!! HQHDJRJRI!!