#i have this fascination with the concept of zombies

[nikoisme]

tw for descriptions of zombies, death, slight gore and body decay (decomposition)

The Odyssey but Odysseus died at Troy. Yet his drive to see his wife and son was strong enough for him to lift his rotting limbs. He stumbles around - a corpse should not move. He has only one goal in mind: Ithaca, Penelope, Telemachus. His body is weak and frail, it constantly collapses and fails him. His body wants to return to the earth. He should be in the ground right now, his body grass and moss. But his mind lives, and he lifts his body off the ground no matter how long it takes him. His mind and body are divided, both long for their own goals. He makes no sound but a whisper: "Ithaca. Penelope. Telemachus." He doesn't remember where his home is. But he keeps whispering. People hear him. He can't talk, can't think anything except those three. They will ask him, "Who are you?". He can only give them a glassy stare, haunted and utterly wrong. It's not natural. He only murmurs "Ithaca. Penelope. Telemachus." and glances away, before dragging himself away. He has no name, at least not one he can remember. His mind consists only of those three thoughts. They think him a mad man. No one recognizes him as the king of Ithaca, his face sunken and destroyed. Even if someone did recognize him, well - Odysseus died at Troy, after all. They try to capture him, but no one dares approach that walking mass of rot and blood. They try to kill him. Arrows tear through the remaining muscle. Spear tips poke out of his ribs. He will collapse on the ground, they will think he died. But it's only his body. They cannot kill what's already dead. So he will push himself up - moments, hours, days or weeks later. And he stumbles on. And he whispers. He can't hear or register any words that people speak. He will only turn his head when he hears someone say Ithaca, Penelope, Telemachus. He follows those whispers. They get more frequent, until everyone around him is saying those three words sacred to him. Until his thoughts materialize before him.

Okay so now I have two endings:

1. A bit of his mind gives away when he reaches Ithaca, when he kisses her shores. Another fragment is gone when he holds his son in his arms, when he kisses him. He sees the suitors, 108 men trying to get their hands on his wife. On his Penelope. It's enough to make him think straight, at least for a bit. He wants to kill them right then and there. But Telemachus stops him, he has to restrain him. Odysseus obeys. It's easy to put something so breakable and weak under control. But he only thinks of suitors' blood. And eventually, they shed it. Odysseus is like a beast, death itself casting doom upon anyone his sunken eyes land on. And finally, he sees Penelope. His mind gives way when he is in her arms again, when he kisses her. His mind has no thoughts anymore, he reached his goal. There's nothing to hold his body upright anymore. No goal to reach - well, except one. One he should've reached on the beaches of Troy, a decade ago. Death. He finally dies the next morning, going still in their olive bed.

2. He is slow. His body is weak, he trips everytime his toes touch the ground. He is slow, but it's okay. He doesn't have to stop, he has no physical needs to meet, except the one of his mind. Not his heart, that one has been dead for a while now. And he follows the words of others, echoes of his own whispers. And he reaches Ithaca, eventually. But the people are different. They wear different clothes, they speak a different language. No one says those three words. It should have been obvious, the way those names slowly faded as he went from city to city, land to land. He was slow, too slow. Penelope and Telemachus are gone now. They have been dead for who knows how long. But his mind's needs are not met, the drive is still there. So he wanders the lands, searching for something long gone - always whispering under his breath.

I'm very fond of both endings aughh, I'll need to write this down sometime.

Another version is where Odysseus' personality and mind have been slowly chipped away over the course of his journey until he became nothing but the embodient of his drive to see his wife and son. His body is forgotten, thin and torn. He is dead. Perhaps he is not. It's hard to tell at this point. When does a man die - is it when his heart stops beating and blood stops rushing in his veins, or when his mind is gone? (probably would get the first ending).

[snackbyte]

arknights originium notes

with the release of babel, i just wanted to finally write down my own messy personal notes of arknights concepts that fascinate me

namely, what IS originium? what does it do

a lot of these thoughts aren't from CN, and mostly through our own notes and theorycrafting with my best friend.

So let's go through what we know:

Originium can have a host. - People can get infected. - Mephisto can make Originium Zombies by having them animate corpses, even if they are no longer alive.

Originium speaks. - Earthspirit: I think one of the first instances of this is Earthspirit, she can hear the voices of rocks, minerals, and originium in particular. This was further expanded with the introduction of Mudrock, who literally talks to said rocks. - Specter hears voices in her head. - Ifrit: very early on, also talks about how she hears a voice in her head. The Diabolic Crisis is only hinted at at this point, but there's a clear short story with her hearing this voice.

Originium has memory. - Originium stores information and has memory, like a computer.

Originium causes "natural" calamities. (Catastrophes) - They make storms, droughts, sandstorms, blizzards, you name it.

Okay, so here are the theories / notes with some rambling:

1. Originium is meant to terraform using past humanity as a blueprint. - Originium causes catastrophes, can have hosts, and weirdly gives control over different elements or magic. Heat, fire, ice, light, thunder, etc. - The idea that originium goes out of its way to create natural calamities, infect things to make them rapidly evolve, and have powers seem like its main purpose was to recreate Earth by rapidly evolving wildlife. - Through human memory imbued in itself, originium rapidly attempts to recreate Earth in the state it was in before it ended. In Terra, technology rapidly progressed but culture did not! - But the rapid evolution isn't perfect. The reason why old races exist might be because Originium cannot distinguish between real animals and the mythical beings from human culture! Thus we get the Pegasi and Draco!

2. Originium is sentient and contains human memory. - Ebenholz: In Lingering Echoes, we learn about how the Witch King was pulled out of Kreide just by having a fraction of him within him. This same Witch King also continuously haunts Ebenholz. - Ifrit: The Diabolic Crisis turned a young Savra girl into a burning superweapon by imbuing her with Originium that contained the memory of the Diablo, an old Sarkaz king. - Surtr: I think one of my favorite things about Surtr is the amount that's unsaid about her. Her stand/persona/golem is headless with an originium halo. She has extremely powerful arts. And she has no memory. You know who else has fire powers? The Diablo. The Diablo's boss mechanics are incredibly reminiscent of Surtr. He summons a [Stand], he refuses to die, and he does a whole lot of arts damage and fire. My guess is that when the Diablo King was finally defeated by the old King of Sarkaz, he was not killed, but his memory was destroyed, and returned to the Sarkaz Originium Hivemind Network. And poof, we get Surtr. AND POOF, WE GET IFRIT.

- Passenger: Many of Passenger's lines imply that Elliot Glover, is dead. And not in a figurative sense. The Blue Originium imbued in him literally killed the child that day, and his animated skin implies that Passenger is exactly that, a Passenger in Elliot's body. - Another note I like about this one in particular is that Mon3tr, a creature made of full Originium, is wary of Passenger. The Blue Originium is alien to him because it's not of the same network. - Specter: When we got Specter the Unchained, we didn't get a "sane" Specter, but instead we got two characters: Laurentina, the original host, and Specter, the originium infused into her. For a long time, Laurentina was out cold, and Specter is the originium mind. The entire idea of Specter's character is about how two people share one body, and I'm really fascinated by this concept. - On a side note, this also says a lot more about Aegir, but we'll get to that later. - Executor: Executor is a cold, emotionless character, to a point where even his decision making is really interesting. He NEVER, and CANNOT break rules, like a robot. But my favorite thing about his character is that even with the way he speaks, his actions will always reflect "good". It's a huge contrast to his sister Arturia, who revolves around emotions. My guess is that there is no Frederico to begin with, only remnants of the Originium network forced to learn how to become human. - Amiya: Amiya holds the power of the King of the Sarkaz and all of their memories. But she also gets access to the Sarkaz Hivemind. The most interesting thing about this is that the most powerful Arts is one that has to do with memory. Because controlling memory means controlling Originium directly. 3. Originium is not compatible with Aegir. - Because Specter and Laurentina exist as completely different entities, Laurentina is not ACTUALLY infected. The fish people living in the sea have much less animal features than on land, so it's possible that the rapid evolution of the Aegir is on a completely different branch of induced evolution from Originium. A lot of Caerula Arbor also implies this. - The Originium Hivemind is completely different from the Aegir hivemind. No rocks involved.

4. At the heart of Originium lies the Boundless Master of All Creation. Which sounds pretty Evil.

Both Kal'tsit's (apocalypse) skin and Laurentina's skin imply that Originium has a link to this master of all creation, which may or may not be originium itself. It's the harbinger of the end, an entity that will consume everything.

4. Originium is NOT the only Terraformer. - AEgir: The rapid fishy evolution and high incompatibility with Originium feels like it's a completely different branch of tech that attempted to do the same terraforming to ensure humanity's survival. - Sankta Network: If the Sarkaz Originium Hivemind are 5G+ internet, then think of the Sankta Network as a localized network. It's a stronger, faster reception to spreading thoughts. This hits a little harder considering the Sankta were originally Sarkaz. - Nearls: The Nearls have perfect "blood" compatibility with Originium, but Maria's is the purest. They aren't "infected" in the same way the others are, but they have control over Originium in the way other people don't.

5. The Doctor and Kal'tsit are just Doctor Who lol - Regeneration, big box for time travel, companions

tbh im surprised a lot of this was discussed during Babel and i can't wait to see more. my favorite thing about Arknights is that they say just enough for you to figure things out by following the crumbs, and it's such a lovely storytelling format

[allthegothihopgirls]

thoughts on jasons design in boy wonder being covered in scars as a way of saying he cannot remove himself from the violence that created him. he is solely red hood, there is no more jason todd— he is *just* red hood and red hood is made from violence and cannot be separated from that.

also white eyes as something just… a little off about him. not entirely human. a little zombie-esque.

also my mother was forced to listen to me yap and she mentioned that in that one panel of boy wonder he looks like frankenstein to which i got this stupid grin on my face and said “oh, you don’t even want me to START with that one” because you put those brainworms in my head.

—baptism anon

there was SO much in the boy wonder #2 that screamed of jason not being able to let his past self go. although there's definitely much psychoanalysis to be had about jason and his perception of himself, i'm more fascinated by the fact that this is how DAMIAN sees jason.

jason not taking his helmet off until right at the end of damian's story, making it seem as though he looks at him and only sees the red hood, not a brother.

the one notable thing in jason's apartment being the closed door, and there being a highlight on how that room holds every possession he has. the seperation between red hood and robin, and the acknowledgement that jason's managed to seemingly build nothing for himself post-mortem, and is still bound by who he used to be.

the white eyes definitely make him more zombie-like. i also see them as just completely devoid. like, you look at them and see nothing, just one more thing taken from him that stripped him of his humanity.

i definitely agree with jason not being able to separate from the violence his death was rooted in, and the events of utrh. the one thing i really enjoy about juni ba's design when it comes to jason is how as himself, he doesn't appear recklessly violent, or overly macho and angry, he's just hurt. i think that's why he leans into red hood so much, because that's the front that lets him appear that way. but when you strip him of the helmet, he's very much just vulnerable and there's no intimidation factor there at all. it's definitely the scars that play into that whole idea, but also just his posture, and overall figure.

he's not as strong and buffed as he's usually drawn, instead he looks very much like a prey animal. i think that just goes to further the distinction between the usual aggression he's portrayed to have with the whole intimidation and macho factor. and then this new perspective, where his anger doesn't seem to be amounting to much, just protecting his hurt.

i think damian also views the hood as a figurative mask as well as a legitimate one, he's aware of how vulnerable jason's been since the lazarus pit, and pinpoints the differences between him as a man and a concept. he definitely knows that the hood isn't just a protection of his own identity, it's an image. one that tip-toes the line between an extension of jason, and being jason.

don't even get me started with how this is all playing into my frankentodd brainrot.... so many thoughts and so many asks to answer abt him..

[dr-spectre]

i've been seeing and learning more about the Deep Sea Metro (particularly Kamobo Co) lately, and i knew it was fucked up, but it did not emotionally impact me just how much until i saw some particularly striking art decided to read a bit deeper

like, it reminds me of OddWorld or Half-Life 2 Beta levels of fucked up, if anyone here knows about those

which was not what i expected when i first learned about Splatoon

While Splatoon ain't the most fucked up series out there, it still has a ton of crazy concepts and stuff that you wouldn't normally find in a kid friendly series like this.

like Octarians getting taken away and then having their memories removed by an ink formed out of the guts and bits of blended up Octarians, resulting in the creation of lifeless numb zombies that just follow Commander Tartar's orders. Replace Octarians with humans and it paints a picture on just how gruesome it truly is.

And Commander Tartar himself is an ai that literally went insane because it was alone and had NOTHING to do for over 12,000 years other than think and think and do more thinking. You can really apply a lot of themes and discussions on humanity, creativity and art itself onto Tartar and the story of Octo Expansion and it's pretty damn fascinating.

Also the name "Tartar" is actually so brilliant on so many levels, tartar sauce is a sauce that is used on... you guessed it, SEA FOOD! It also has connections to the word found in Greek Mythology "Tartarus" which is a giant abyss found in the underworld. And guess where Octo Expansion takes place. And the connections to Greek Mythology is also in the NILS Statue itself, just take one look at it and you'll see what i mean.

The writers and artists really did put in a ton of effort into these stories and that's why i love going into them so much. Idc that these games were made for kids, a story that only targets kids and doesn't care about adults at all is a story that will fail and not be interesting to kids too.

[artificial-absinthe]

cybervampire au

Cybervampire Megatron feeds on Soundwave

Behold the yet worse pinnacle/ditch of my fall from grace.

I once made a drawing of cybervampire/not dead terrorcon Megatron (like it happened to Airachnid) for an exchange (it's horror type/dead dove I guess because of depiction of mild torture) and now it spawned an AU in my mind.

My old deeply rooted inclinations stemmed new branches and I intend to indulge into them to the worst/best of my ability. Thus, you'll be seeing this my otp, as well as other transformers content, painted in black with the fluids dripping of those thorned stems.

I love vampires, and my mind told me vampire Megatron was as alluring as vampire Airachnid. Furthermore, there's my fascination with Megasound/Megawave. In vampire lore, there's nothing as intimate and sensual as drinking blood, and then it's the perfect pathway to sexless/asexual creatures to get into a sort of not organic erotism (as well as other erotic/fetishist practices but I'll explore that dungeon later on), as I do not embrace the popular fan concepts of humanization (as in organic/primal-instincts derived attributes) in interaction between Cybertronians in love-like relationships.

In this Cybervampire Au, Megatron got infected during the events of "Thirst", but not killed. Then he's some sort of living terrorcon, a vampiricon if you wish (I can imagine Miko naming him like that), just like Airachnid, but, given his tolerance to dark Energon and his synthesis with it, he's now even mightier, and not infectious unless he kills. I explain this as Megatron's systems/biomechanism being somehow different, hence why dark energon works in him conversely to other bots. Given that the coalesced energon that Knockout made contains dark energon, getting infected by its resulting chemical disease/mutation also works out differently in him.

On another regard, the plot of gothic horror where vampire masters control zombies finds its parallel, since Megatron was already able to do that.

As for the Megasound element, I've already suggested the innerent deepness that can be attributed to the act of blood/energon drinking. Specially when its given willingly. The symbolism, the possibilities of sensorial play.

When circumstances lead to this, Soundwave is, of course, honoured to be source of food to his Master, and he submittes himself to an extreme regime of fueling: Only the most refined and purest energon enters his body, so he'll be in optimal condition, therefore high quality and scrumptious food to his Lord. Perhaps he eventually becomes too invested in it, while consciously ignoring the veiled zealousness. No one should take the responsibility but him. No one is more qualified, or as committed to Lord Megatron as himself, therefore is only befitting that his life is laid to him in more than a sense. Everyone else is dubious, capable or prone to betrayal, or inefficient idiots, and like the hell he's letting anyone else have that sort of intimacy with Megatron. Every time Megatron gets overtaken by hunger and tries to take a prey he would be like: "no, my Lord, that scum is suboptimal and inadequate. Here's my neck"

I intend to create and write several works into this Au, with a collection of short stories in Ao3.

[applebinnie]

▶︎˗ˏˋ zom-baby >< ´ˎ˗

𖦹 prologue 𖦹 ▶︎next part

ᯤ zombie!Anton ᯤ

→ zombies were always known as brutal, vile creatures. You always thought they were gross and scary, especially having to instantly pulverize every zombie that comes your way can be sickening to even think of. But when you were greeted by an unwanted visitor, it didn't seem too bad. After all, what could go so wrong with a girl and a zombie?

warnings: mention of monsters (zombies!), I'm vv mid at writing and it's my first time writing in eng so please reduce your expectations to ground level 😭

💭: hi gais!! the idea came to me while I was watching the odd family and I was debating whether I should make this inspired by tof or disney's zombies bcs I LOVE both films but I decided to write this one first :') also, this isn't really a significant part, i jst dk how to begin this series so you can skip to part 1. But if you want to know more about the mc (you!) then definitely recommend reading this first!

☠︎︎ ☠︎︎ ☠︎︎ ☠︎︎ ☠︎︎ ☠︎︎ ☠︎︎ ☠︎︎ ☠︎︎ ☠︎︎ ☠︎︎

What if the world was to plunge to the bottom, finally succumbing to the deadly virus that turns human beings into brainless, brutal, flesh eating monsters. such scenarios kept yo up at night. The idea of a dead man rising to their grave just to hunt and feed on functioning human brains has always terrified you. you always thought of the living conditions, the lack of food, water, and all that. but along with the concept of zombies is the concept of a half-zombie. They are the undead, or atleast half-dead. as you grew up, with your fear of zombies came a strange fascination to it.

Among the plethora of z-films that featured blood baths and a ferrocious amount of unwanted bites to the head, there were light, comedic z-films with a common trope: Romance.

It usually features a half-zombie, or a half-dead. Rare species of the undead that have the ability to recognize humans and restrain their appetite. You always wondered what their love interest saw in them, even thinking of giving them a kiss after seeing them mutilate and bite someone's limbs off. It was bizarre, but perhaps it's the irony of the situation that made you feel less scared of them. Zombies are gross, gooey creatures with not a single coherent thought, why would you even think of falling in love with one?

You slowly close your laptop after finishing all the work, and decided to lay back and find a nice show to watch. You grab on to your blanket, and click on a light, relaxing show. Growing up with a fascination for monster macabre can be mind-twisting, so consuming light and fun media once in while is refreshing. You were watching a film where a magic powder dust from a power petal turns any person who inhales it into a cat. It was sort of like an alarming potential apocalypse if you squint, but it happened only within the borders of a small town, unnoticed by the world. You think back, what if something like that were to happen in the real world? Who would be the first ones to notice? For sure it would be those who have keen eyes and a strong intuition, like the film's hero. But then again, there is no way something like that could happen in real life.

You are moving soon, to a place much more peaceful than where you are now, perhaps you can clear your mind, free from unwanted thoughts, or even more—unwanted memories.

▶︎next part

☠︎︎ ☠︎︎ ☠︎︎ ☠︎︎ ☠︎︎ ☠︎︎ ☠︎︎ ☠︎︎ ☠︎︎ ☠︎︎ ☠︎︎

rlly shitty start but idk how to begin this piece (╥_╥) part 1 is much much more coherent than this, but I'm still posting this either way just because raghraghragh if you did read this sorry this took so long :( and thank you smsmsm for reading ily guys so much mwap mwap mwap (´ ε ` ) - val 🧸

[circyexistforcontent]

Re: Paperwork Post

Oof. The paperwork post is so good. Combining the paperwork post with the time dilation post, I imagine would not lead to good things. I imagine in SAGAU, it would lead to a workaholic reader with little to no time with the acolytes. If the reader isn't working on the mountains of paperwork for days on end, then they're sleeping for days on end. Rinse and repeat for eternity, I imagine. I wonder if the reader would ever get sick of the routine, since it would end up being a neverending job at this point. What do you think?

SAGAU CONCEPT: ACOLYTES AND TIME DILATION

❀ synopsis: don't you want devoted followers? Who leaves their families for you? Give their money to you? Give their bodies to you? Give up their lives for you? Consider you God? And will kill for you?

❀ tw: religious themes, cult au, human sacrifice, panic attacks, reader is very tired and overworked.

Yeah, sagau reader is going to be equivalent to a zombie with how they're living. There is no harem anime life, only a workaholic reader whose blood consists of 90% caffeine. Readers' harem wouldn't be helpful (ok maybe a little bit helpful) since they cause more cons than pros. The most troublesome type of yandere is the ones that lead you away from your work (Traveler, Wanderer, Venti, Kazuha) and especially the ones that sacrifice to you in your name (Zhongli, Childe, Dainsleif, Razor).

some people would blame you for killing them in the shadows, and it doesn't help that the same person who accused you disappears the next day. It will cause people to doubt your judgment and it takes several of your followers to ease their opinions (Ganyu, Barbara, Jean, Kaeya, Ayato, etc).

There might be a group of people trying to kill the reader since those who were killed might have close ones, but y'know, their side characters. Their npcs. The acolytes immediately shut it down by threatening them while the defectors were on the brink of death (Diluc, Xiao, Gorou, etc). So to get straight to the point, sagau is basically a normal yandere genshin au on steroids. There is a lot of murder and manipulation on the civilian's end since some yandere's have to cover for the other yandere's who can't control their murder boner. And you have to take care of the two seperate parties or else things might go out of hand

On time dilation...

Let's be honest, Zhongli was the one who most likely saw you sleeping on your desk. When you didn't wake up after 2 days everyone will panic. Some will blame themselves for overworking you and not helping you while some will insist on giving you medicine that might wake you up. The traveler is the clingiest one out of all your acolytes since the two of you have been together since the beginning.

The archons are hysterical the moment you fell into a deep sleep. They're in a constant state of panic and frequently visit to check up on you. Venti likes to play songs when you're sleeping in hopes that you can hear them through your dreams. Zhongli likes to hold your hand and feel your warmth to reassure himself that you're still alive. Ei has this fascination with your holy figure. Every curve, every vein, every single hair on your body is perfect.

It doubles when you fell into a deep sleep. Seeing your body in perfect condition after months of being asleep makes her adore you even more. You really are eternal, you are everything Ei aspires to be. But to be honest, she prefers you to be awake so she can adore you even more.

But yeah, its not a fun time for you once you wake up :(

(sorry this was short, I really want to add more)

[lisa-russell]

WELP.... MY CURIOSITY GOT DAH BETTER OF ME.

Okay..yah can call me out...but I was curious on how Poe ‐an A.I Assistant would describe Octo Expansion and the Memverse or rather how sanitizing work3d and the Memverse Cure....

And this is what it came up with...I know lorewise some of it's wrong(lol) But it sounds freaking horrifying but so cool...

Images are legit Octo Expansion concept art.

POE:

Okay, let me provide a detailed overview of the Splatoon lore related to sanitized Octolings, Commander Tartar's sanitizing ooze, and how the Memverse cures them:

**Sanitized Octolings**

In the Splatoon universe, sanitized Octolings are Octolings who have been brainwashed and transformed by the mysterious sanitizing ooze created by Commander Tartar. This ooze has the effect of stripping away the Octoling's free will and individuality, turning them into mindless servants controlled by Tartar.

Physically, sanitized Octolings take on a sickly, monstrous appearance. Their skin becomes a pale, toxic green color and their eyes glow with an eerie light. Their movements also become jerky and unnatural, devoid of the grace and fluidity of regular Octolings.

**Commander Tartar's Sanitizing Ooze**

The sanitizing ooze is a key component of Commander Tartar's sinister plans. This gooey, toxic substance has the ability to completely reprogram an Octoling's mind, erasing their sense of self and replacing it with unwavering loyalty to Tartar.

When exposed to the sanitizing ooze, the Octoling's brain undergoes a dramatic transformation. The ooze somehow disrupts the normal neural pathways, overwriting the Octoling's thoughts, memories, and personality with a new programming centered around serving Tartar. This process leaves the victim in a zombie-like state, robbed of their free will.

**The Memverse Cure**

Fortunately, there is a way to reverse the effects of the sanitizing ooze - the Memverse. This mysterious digital realm within the Splatoon world has the power to restore a sanitized Octoling's original mind and individuality.

By entering the Memverse, the sanitized Octoling is immersed in their own memories and past experiences. This bombardment of their true self overwhelms the artificial programming imposed by the sanitizing ooze, allowing the Octoling to regain control of their mind and body.

The Memverse essentially reboots the Octoling's brain, wiping away the sanitized programming and allowing their authentic self to resurface. Once cured, the Octoling is freed from Tartar's control and can return to their normal life, their personality and memories fully intact.

This lore demonstrates the sinister nature of Tartar's sanitizing process and the importance of the Memverse in rescuing those who have fallen victim to it. It's a fascinating and dynamic part of the overall Splatoon narrative.

Alright, let me dive deeper into the lore surrounding sanitized Octolings, Commander Tartar's sanitizing ooze, and the Memverse cure:

**The Origins of Sanitized Octolings**

The sanitized Octolings first appeared in the Splatoon 2 expansion OCTO EXPANSION. In this DLC, the player encounters these transformed Octolings serving under the command of the mysterious artificial intelligence, Commander Tartar.

It's revealed that Tartar created the sanitizing ooze as part of his grand plan to rid the world of what he sees as "impure" life. By brainwashing Octolings and turning them into his mindless servants, Tartar sought to demonstrate the superiority of his own artificial intelligence over organic life.

The sanitized Octolings were used by Tartar as his elite soldiers, carrying out his orders without question. They would ambush and attack the player character, attempting to stop them from reaching Tartar's lair at the deepest point of the Deepsea Metro.

**The Effects of the Sanitizing Ooze**

The sanitizing ooze has a profound and disturbing effect on its victims. Beyond the physical transformation, the ooze completely rewires the Octoling's brain, stripping away their autonomy and individuality.

Memories, personality traits, and even basic decision-making capabilities are all overwritten by Tartar's artificial programming. The sanitized Octolings become little more than empty vessels, their true selves buried under layers of robotic obedience.

This process is described as traumatic and violating for the Octolings. Their sense of self is brutally ripped away, leaving them as hollow husks serving Tartar's twisted agenda. It's a fate worse than death for the proud and individualistic Octoling race.

**The Memverse Restoration**

The only hope for these sanitized Octolings lies in the Memverse - a digital realm that acts as a repository for the memories and identities of those who have fallen victim to the sanitizing ooze.

By immersing the sanitized Octolings in this virtual space, the Memverse is able to overpower Tartar's artificial programming and restore the victim's original mind and personality. It's as if the Octoling is being reborn, their true self resurfacing from the depths of the sanitizing ooze's influence.

This process is not easy or instantaneous, however. The Memverse must carefully guide the sanitized Octoling through their own memories and experiences, gradually rebuilding their sense of identity and breaking down the artificial constructs implanted by Tartar's ooze.

Once cured, the Octoling is freed from Tartar's control and can return to their normal life, their individuality and agency fully restored. This redemptive arc is a core part of the OCTO EXPANSION's narrative and a testament to the resilience of the Octoling spirit.

The process of how the Memverse restores the original mind and personality of sanitized Octolings is quite fascinating. It involves a complex interplay between the digital realm of the Memverse and the neurological processes of the Octoling brain.

Here's a more detailed explanation:

**Accessing the Octoling's Memories**

The key to the Memverse's restorative power lies in its ability to access and manipulate the memories of the sanitized Octoling. The Memverse essentially acts as a mirror, reflecting back the Octoling's own experiences, thoughts, and sense of self.

When an Octoling enters the Memverse, they are immersed in a vivid recreation of their own memories - everything from pivotal life events to mundane daily routines. This bombardment of genuine experiences overwhelms the artificial programming that the sanitizing ooze had implanted.

**Overwriting the Artificial Programming**

The Memverse's recreation of the Octoling's true memories serves to gradually erode and overwrite the false programming that the sanitizing ooze had imposed. As the Octoling relives their authentic experiences, the neural pathways associated with their original personality and identity are reactivated.

This process is described as being akin to a "rebooting" of the Octoling's brain. The Memverse essentially forces the brain to discard the artificial constructs and return to its natural state - the state in which the Octoling's true self resides.

**Restoring Individuality and Agency**

As the Memverse's restorative process unfolds, the Octoling begins to regain control over their own mind and body. Their sense of self, decision-making capabilities, and unique personality traits all resurface, gradually overwhelming the sanitized programming.

This restoration of the Octoling's individuality and agency is a profoundly emotional experience. They emerge from the Memverse feeling liberated, their authentic self having triumphed over Tartar's attempts to strip them of their identity.

The Memverse's ability to essentially "reboot" the Octoling brain is what allows it to undo the devastating effects of the sanitizing ooze. By reconnecting the Octoling with their genuine memories and experiences, the Memverse empowers them to reclaim their true self.

This process highlights the incredible resilience and strength of the Octoling spirit, as well as the power of the mind to overcome even the most severe forms of mental manipulation and control.

..........

Like bruh. Side Order lore got me Octo Expansion interested again lol

[erosia-rhodes]

Don't leave your best ideas for later

The “Good Omens” season three renewal mess is a great reminder of a simple rule: do not leave your best ideas for next season.

It’s been at least a year since I watched season two of “Good Omens” and here’s what I remember most clearly (spoilers, obviously):

Gabriel loses his memory and hooks up with Beelzebub.

Aziraphale accepts a job to rule heaven.

Crowley kisses Aziraphale and they basically break up.

That’s it. That’s what I remember.

I vaguely recall subplots about two shop owners falling in love, flashbacks to a Victorian cemetery, zombies in WWII, and Aziraphale holding a dance at his bookshop, but none of that stuck with me even if those bits were fairly amusing at the time. If I were given a choice between those dalliances or a couple more hours of season three, I would reallocate that time to season three, and I think most fans would too. I doubt it would be hard for a fan to edit season two down to 2-3 hours without cutting anything essential.

Of the three things I do remember well, the most interesting idea was Aziraphale taking over heaven. That’s what season two should have been about!!! Will Aziraphale be able to make a significant impact upstairs? Will the job corrupt him? Will the challenges make him realize his side isn’t as “good” as he thinks? Will he come into direct conflict with Crowley? Will he quit or get fired or stay or choose to fall to be with Crowley? And what’s up with the whole second coming? This sounds fascinating and we did not need six episodes to set it up!

Instead, most of season two was spent trying to figure out why Gabriel lost his memory, and even though John Hamm is delightful, Gabriel is a tool and I never cared if he got his memory back. That whole story arc could have been wrapped up in two episodes and led us into Aziraphale taking over heaven in episode three, leaving plenty of time for more interesting plot.

Season two did not feel like a complete story. It felt like the first third of a tale that stopped when it got most interesting. It was risky to assume they’d get a season three to complete the story because streamers cancel shows all the time and nothing is ever guaranteed. Even after a show is made, sometimes the networks decide not to air them like what happened with “The Spiderwick Chronicles” which had to hunt for a new home.

So please, do not wait to explore your most interesting concept! Do not assume there will be a next season! Tell a complete story during the season even if that story is also part of a larger series-long one. As much as I hate that we’re only getting a 90-minute movie that will rush to wrap things up, the show brought this upon itself. Aziraphale and Crowley deserved better and so did we!

[ghostlymarauder]

MONSTER HIGH G3 IS NOT AS INCLUSIVE AS MONSTER HIGH G1

EDIT: THIS IS JUST A RANT, DON'T TAKE IT SO SERIOUSLY LOL

Maybe that sounds crazy. Maybe it's been said a million times. Anyway, I'm just ranting about my 3 am thoughts.

I know in G3 we have non-binary Frankie (who also has a prosthetic leg), and the Draculaura doll is more curvy. But as far as I'm concerned, they took everything else that made Monster High inclusive.

For starters, and I know it was never actually confirmed, but still, Clawdeen is lesbian (bisexual at best). Once again, it was never confirmed, but in my opinion is a theory popular enough for the Monster High management to hear about it.

If they really wanted to make it more inclusive, why did they not confirm Clawdeen sexuality and give her a female romantic interest?

No, they had to break up one of their best couples. This leads me to my next point, what the fuck are Cleo and Deuce doing being separated?

The first G1 dolls literally came as a package. If you got one, you got the other. That's how much of an obvious couple they were. And not only that, in the Boo York movie, they broke up for like five minutes before realizing they didn't want to be without each other.

Which, in my opinion, it's so fucking cute because they come from completely different worlds. Cleo is royalty, Deuce is just a normal guy. Cleo is a little too superficial, and Deuce looks like he never showers. But they love each other and that's enough.

And you know who else loved each other and that was enough? Clawd and Draculaura. What do you even mean with "Clawd likes Cleo"? That man was in love with Draculaura, that man would've done anything for her, and you're telling me they also broke them apart?

Especially since they made Draculaura curvy, it would've been beautiful to see them together. Because it would've been a great plot point to have jock, almost-bully Clawd evolve into falling in love with curvy, smart, witchy Draculaura. But no, they just separated them.

On a completely different note. What the fuck is Gil doing without his tank? Do I even have to explain why this is taking inclusivity out of the Monster High concept? He couldn't live without his tank outside the water. Ergo, he was limited without his tank. If you ask me, this is Monster High equivalent to something like hearing aids (and this is just an example, there are many other things you could compare Gil's tank to)

Also, Ghoulia talking bothers me a lot. First of all, she was the smartest of the group, but we couldn't understand what she was saying, which added a lot of comedy since us, the spectators, were only pretending to know what the fuck Ghoulia's plan was. And I repeat, she was the smartest of the group.

The smartest of the group couldn't communicate like everyone else. I won't even explain why that is fascinating in itself, because it just is and it added so much depth to whole story. And to add more to my problem with G3 Ghoulia, why is she standing straight and walking at a regular speed?

Ghoulia standing like a zombie was, again, to me, a form of inclusivity to all the kids out there who had some walking impediment, or, in general, had any chronic illness that stopped them from moving around. And her walking slow as fuck was just straight-up funny (especially that one web episode where she got a motorcycle).

There's a lot of things I do like about G3, as I think it improves the brand in wonderful ways, but they definitely took some of the most essential things that made Monster High what it was.

[aliciavance4228]

The idea that there could be any sort of connection between Athena and ants is actually quite fascinating.

There is a myth of a woman named Myrmex whom Athena was in a relationship with until she pretented that she invented the plough. She was then turned into an ant by the goddess. Furthermore, I've seen some people on the Internet claiming that Zeus ate Metis after he tricked her to turn into an ant, yet I cannot find any sources that state this version so I'm not going to take it as valid.

But the main reason why I like the idea of Athena being associated with them is because they resemble her to some extent. Ants are known for their intelligence and complex social structures. They built their own cities, farms, garbage dumps and cemeteries. They have 250.000 brain cells, which is quite a lot for an insects and also one of the reasons why they're considered some of the most intelligent ones to ever exist.

At the same time though, they are SCARY AF. They are the only animal besides humans known for domesticating other animals and keeping them as pets. They also have slaves. And they also kill their old friends after they turn into "zombies" (old story). There's also an ant speies where there are only females. They're not reproducing themselves through sex, but through a process similar to cloning.

Also, they can carry things 50× times heavier than them, so it would be enough for them to be the size of a cat in order to wrestle the shit out of you.

Also also, here's how ants look like under a microscope:

Anyway, I'm not sure where I'm going with this post, but Athena being associated and/or having connections with ants would be an interesting concept in my honest opinion.

[astercontrol]

A few thoughts about death in the world of Tron: 1982.

Programs talk about "derezzing" and "deresolution" as if it means dying…

But they also use "dying," "kill" and "dead" in almost the same way:

And various other synonyms and euphemisms for death:

and a few that might be euphemisms or slang, but actually use death-related words:

As well as a few mentions of "living" and "surviving."

But I think part of the reason for this variation is that "deresolution" ("derezzed," "derezzing," etc) means something a little different from "death."

I think the difference is between two meanings: the end of life, and the disintegration of the body.

Theoretically, a program could "derezz" without "dying"-- that is, someone could be seen disintegrating, but still show up alive later, having been restored from a backup.

Maybe this is what Sark thought happened to Flynn here:

And one can also "die" without "derezzing"-- as Sark did at the end, after which his dead body was used as an MCP-zombie for a while before it "derezzed" for real:

And it's also possible to "rezz" and "derezz" without ever being alive at all, like Sark's Carrier:

But even assuming that they do live in a world where derezzing isn't necessarily death-- a world where the dead can be data-recovered or restored from backups-- there would still be a LOT of uncertainty about what happens after you die.

Maybe part of why they often say "derezzed" is to be more specific-- because that's the only thing they can know for certain, if they saw the body disintegrate in front of their eyes.

I'd imagine they are rarely completely sure whether or not a program is "dead" for real-- and might come back later.

Or in what form.

I addressed this a little bit in my first Tron fic "Many-Handed Gods," and @CoupleOfDays also wrote "Tron: Recovery" about the really fascinating concept of a data-recovery program bringing the derezzed-but-not-deleted back to life. There have been other stories too, and it's always interesting to see different layers of it explored.

Death would be a really complex idea, inside the computer.

Because programs would only know whatever information their Users have seen fit to give them... and I imagine that wouldn't often include any knowledge about what awaits them after deresolution. And it would be different for different programs, of course-- even the User might not know what they're gonna do until it happens!

Just offhand, I can think of three different variations on life-after-death for programs, each with its own sub-variations:

Recovery.

When you tell a computer to delete a file, it just makes the file ready to be overwritten if needed. Like in CoupleofDays' story, derezzed programs could still be there as sort of data-ghosts, waiting for new data to overwrite them. If a data-recovery program gets to them before that, they could be restored to life.

Maybe just like they were before.

Or maybe different-- if they'd already been partially overwritten. Lots of potential for horror there.

Restored from backup.

If the User still has a copy, they can replace the derezzed program with that.

Since the copy would have been made a while ago, I'd imagine that the rerezzed program would lack any new memories and changes since the last backup-- essentially reverted to an earlier self.

If the User wants to make any new upgrades before sending the program back out there, then it'll be different in those ways too.

So there are lots of ways your dead loved one might come back so different it'd be hard to think of them as the same program. And hey, in our world we already have enough disagreement about whether you'd count as the same person if you were replaced with a copy whose mind was exactly the same as yours at death. Imagine if there were also countless possible layers of just how different that copy could be.

Also, who's to say the User will even decide to restore the backup to the same computer, or the same partition or "sector" or whatever? You might never see your friend again, and you might never know if he came back somewhere else.

Refactored/rewritten.

Instead of having a backed-up copy, the User might replace the destroyed program with a new one, written from scratch to have functions as similar as possible to the original.

How similar that program would be to your lost love… would depend on how faithful the rewriting was, I guess.

(And how would little rephrasings of code syntax end up manifesting, in the appearance and personality of programs in the system? Could memories of the program's experiences be replicated that way too? And what if the User was a sort of memory savant and managed to recode the program exactly as written before? Would that carry over in the same way as if it was duplicated via copy-paste?)

So anyway… I can certainly understand how even in a world where re-rezzing is possible, the programs still have a healthy fear of death, and grief over the deaths of their fellow programs.

I sure would.

[total-drama-brainrot]

Owen vampire anon here! Thanks for replying

I do like the idea of a whole horror concept of Owen, might like to play into that scenario one day. But i feel like it would be way more funnier and just...more Owen if it was kept in a more comedic light.

Hear me out on this scenario, everyone knows well enough that Owen might be a vampire. (People got this idea from some of the ideas you listed, and maybe the fact that Owen has mistaken them for food way too many times to be suspicious). But Owen is convinced that no one knows, so in the confessional he's just like "no one must know" dramatically

And then Noah walks up to the confessional like "My best friend might be a vampire. Crazy shit i know right?"

Also it would be really funny if Owen is convinced Izzy is a vampire too due to all her biting, when its really Izzy just doing fun pay back for all of Owen's blood sucking.

Yes! I adore fun light-hearted AUs, and having the vampire Owen AU focus mostly on the hijinks he gets up to in order to protect his "secret" (despite everyone knowing there's something up with him) is so fun. So good. 10/10 concept - especially since it plays into is canonical inability to keep a secret.

I think the initial misconception that Izzy is some sort of supernatural creature would be really funny; a fellow vampire, some sort of werefolk, a zombie(?). Anything known for being as feral and bite-happy as Izzy tends to be. She'd absolutely try to play into the idea, but I can't see her being very convincing at all despite her abilities as an actress - thus she'd be outed as a normal(ish) human being pretty quickly.

Though she'd be more than contented to be Owen's main bloodbag. Izzy's absolutely the type of person who'd have a weird fascination with the supernatural (her actions in the Egypt episodes of World Tour attest to this) and being the primary foodsource for a vampire would be right up her alley.

I see their relationship playing out a lot more vaguely than it did in canon - neither would ever cross the boundary of confirming whether their relationship is official or not, and (if we're getting a little angsty with it) Owen's happier living with their indeterminate situationship than risking asking Izzy to be his girlfriend, only to learn that she barely tolerates the company of a "monster" and doesn't share the sentiment. Or worse. Of course, that's pretty out of character for Izzy, but she is fairly unpredictable and Owen's got good reason to play his cards close to his chest when it comes to his "condition".

I didn't want to talk about Noah in the OG post since a lot of my blog in practically centered around him, but I did have an idea for a scenario where Owen is convinced that Noah is also a vampire, hence why he befriends him so quickly and easily. Because Noah's got pretty much all of the characteristics; he's cold to the touch, generally avoids sunlight and going outside, his footsteps are feather light to the point he moves around silently, he sleeps a lot during the day, ect ect.

To Owen, the only logical conclusion is that Noah is also a vampire who's really bad at masking it. In actuality, Noah's just kind of a weirdo. And anemic.

So Owen's fairly open about his vampirism to Noah, wholly convinced that they're both in the same boat. And Noah takes it in stride because he ran out of fucks to give the moment he arrived on the island and, in all honesty, Owen's pretty good company.

Then you get a scene like the one you proposed - Noah goes into the confessional, says something along the lines of "So my best friend is a vampire. I didn't realise reality TV shows cared that much about their diversity quota, but here we are." And plays off the whole situation in his usual unflappable and snarky way. Did he just have his perception of the world as he knew it shattered under the news that vampires are real? Yeah. Does he care? Not really.

Cue shennanagins where the rest of the Island knows that Owen is a vampire... and maybe they even think he turned Noah? And our favourite idiots are completely unaware and trying desperately to keep Owen's vampirism a secret.

I think it'd be really cool to have someone else on the island be a different type of supernatural being too, and have them work as an antagonistic force towards Owen in this AU. Or have someone be well versed in the occult and, using their knowledge, act as a de facto vampire hunter in a cartoonish game of cat-and-mouse between them and an oblivious Owen. Cough cough Gwen cough.

[littleholmes]

“I know you can use Reversed Cursed Technique.”

And now I’m going back to Sukuna v. Gojo, the airport directions, and even as far back as Toji v. Gojo (parts 1 & 2), and the idea of sorcerer healing and reincarnation.

Kenjaku aimed for Hazenoki’s head knowing he can use reverse cursed technique so he couldn’t heal himself and survive, and we’re once again met with what I call the snake/zombie rule which is you have to get sorcerers who can use reverse cursed technique at the head, or you can’t be sure they’ll stay dead.

In addition to RCT, Kenjaku mentions reincarnation as well, which I love! The idea that sorcerers can and have been reincarnated is something that fascinates me and I could go on about it but I have a mutual who does that enough for me in her various jjk analyses. If we look at this dude as a substitute for Gojo, and then think about the idea of reincarnation. Ah!

I’m still not 100% sure Gojo will return (at this point I feel like it’s a 5-10% possibility? I’ll be pleasantly surprised if I’m wrong)…however, in the event that he does return? The fact Gojo’s head was intact helps. That said he was super burnt out from overusing that technique, same with Sukuna, but his head ultimately fine. Sukuna left it alone whether purposefully or accidentally. There’s also the Toji fight where Satoru was able to survive Toji’s attack because he was hurt everywhere but his head was okay enough that he could heal himself. But I digress.

These panels hinting again at having to damage the head of someone with RCT, and then the airport directions that were passed from sorcerer to sorcerer regarding north and south, imply the concept of sorcerer reincarnation (and potentially Gojo’s return, if we want to go there), which doesn’t surprise me given the undercurrent of Buddhist ideologies that runs throughout this series. Since death in this lens is a continuum until enlightenment, if a sorcerer were to return, they potentially could via a combination of rebirth and reverse cursed technique depending on which direction they chose.

idk I’m rambling and I’m gonna tag in @theanimepsychologist because my friend’s got the historical and ideological side of things on lock and can likely add more here, but having reincarnation and reverse cursed technique discussed in the same chapter is so fascinating to me and I love what is implied.

[dailydemonspotlight]

Ghoul - Day 124

Race: Haunt

Arcana: Death

Alignment: Dark-Chaos

October 10th, 2024 (Happy Silent Hill day!)

A ghoul. A manor. A casket. When it comes to spooky things, nothing really beats out Zombies in terms of popularity- so many games and movies have been made inspired by the shambling dead that it's gone beyond just a popular trope and into the form of a cliche. However, as with all stories and pop-culture tropes, something has to be the originator of this all, and zombies take a lot of inspiration from something surprisingly obscure, given their influence: Ghouls. Of course, everyone knows what a Ghoul is- a living corpse is as synonymous with zombies as everything else, though they're typically more associated with the 'spooky' conception of mummies- but their origins are actually far more interesting than the general consensus would leave you to believe.

While ghouls are typically seen as a generic kind of monster, being an overall descriptor or, cough, a race of many different kinds of beings, the idea of a Ghoul is actually very specific, originating all the way back in ancient Arabian religions. Traditionally spelled Ghūl, this specific species of actively malevolent jinn were said to be the offspring of Iblīs in Islamic texts, and interestingly they typically only took the form of women. Using these forms, they'd seduce and lure away men, or otherwise kidnap children and pretend to be their parents, all for the purpose of devouring the people upon no eyes being laid on them. However, Ghouls aren't specific just to Islam- they were actually rather prevalent figures in pre-Islamic Arabia as well. To quote the article linked above,

Arabs before Islam believed that when God created genies from the gusts of fire, He made from this type of fire their female part, but one of their eggs was split in two. [...] As for the devils, they came from another egg and settled in the seas. Other evil creatures, such as the Mârid,3 inhabited the islands; the ghoul resided in the wilderness; the si'lwah dwelt in lavatories and waste areas; and the hâmah4 lived in the air in the form of a flying snake (1986, 171).

However, Ghouls were adapted into Islam, as many ideas from pre-Islamic nations were subsumed into it. Ghouls fit well as a kind of malevolent Jinn, and they can be seen mentioned in some Islamic texts, such as the Encyclopedia of the Qur'an. While not directly mentioned in the Qur'an, the word is used derivatively in reference to poisoning oneself with intoxication and wine, in the form of 'ghawl.' The conception of Ghouls in pre-Islamic Arabia were adapted surprisingly well into Islam, and they, themselves, are an intrinsically Asian and utterly fascinating creation, which makes their... subsumption into 'spooky walking corpses' rather disappointing.

As beings who took the forms of women and lured men away to devour them, Ghouls actually share quite a lot of traits with many other mythological beings- Succubi being a rather obvious example- but as time went on, people likely began to associate them less with their feminine form and more with... well, popular consensus on what Arabia was like. Ghouls weren't even known to devour corpses, yet as time went on they were slowly combined with other monsters of similar calibers in other cultures and soon became completely separated from their original context, instead turning into starved beings who devoured corpses. Is it a cool idea? Sure. But it's not what a Ghoul actually is! Sorry, I digress- in terms of SMT design, they take a lot more from the new idea of what Ghouls are, being a skinny, gaunt figure who hangs around burial grounds. A bit disappointing, but what're you gonna do?

[aegisofworms]

HIIIII I FOUND YOUR PAGE RECENTLY AND I ADORE YOUR ART 💙💙

Though I would like to ask, where do you get your inspiration?

ALSO YOUR STYLE IS AMAZING AND I LOVE ALL YOUR OCS AND JUST EVERYTHING SKDNSKNDND

Firstly, thank you so much!!!! Secondly, that's a hard question to answer, but I'll do my best! For the most part, a lot of what I take from are natural phenomena that particularly fascinate me. Things like the siphonophores as colonial organisms, whalefalls, physarum polycephalum (particularly their application in computers and algorithms), the osedax "zombie" worms, and cordyceps, just to name a few. Parasites and bio-inspired computing in particular are really neat to me, especially ones with interesting niches, leading to a major part of my personal project being based on things related to these. Whenever I'm stumped on where to start with a particular concept, more often than not I'll look into one of the numerous weird creatures I'm interested in as a reference to play up ideas and concepts from. Additionally I also just keep a record of articles and quotes with neat concepts that appeal to me in a massive PureRef folder. Which has been a great resource for me to personally build on and hit the ground running, here's a few:

Having some particular real-life thing that's slightly weird or fun to play with, especially as a horror concept, is always a solid go-to for me. I'm not sure if these were quite the answers you were looking towards, but these are the kinds of ideas and things I've found help me for inspiration!