#sand e starfish

[pixelated-stardust]

⭐️🐚Sand E Starfish🐚⭐️

Lalaloopsy aesthetic series part 1

[rosy-bumps-n-bruises]

I run up to you and show you them. Yeah that's it

[merfolkotd]

merfolk of the day: sand e. starfish from lalaloopsy

[glorifiedpigeon]

Coral Seashells, Sand E. Starfish, and Ocean Seabreeze!

[rats-of-cheese]

Sorry this is late:{

[katz-chow]

my first time requesting im sorry if it sounds really bad or cringe ehehsbbejrr

how do you think Simon would react to someone who has a seashell collection they are v e r y overprotective of and they give him one of the seashells because they trust him???

selling seashells by the seashore? nope!

synopsis: what the ask said! + a bit more because i started to really get into it

warnings: fluff, sfw, gn! reader, established relationship, marriage, a glimpse into simon's private life, soap being soap

a/n: i’m literally on an island rn and i’m pretty sure this seagull is screaming at me so i thought this would be very fitting 😝

Simon definitely has his pockets filled, only with Moroccan sand and shells and rocks and…possibly a starfish? It’s not much, but truly it’s honest work when it comes to him picking up and inspecting every shell or sea cookie there is out here on this damn beach. Soap hollers at him from a few yards away, hand beckoning for him to come over.

“Ain’t this one a big ol' Lad?” Johnny says with his hand on his hip and the other pointing down at a huge mollusk, it’s opal and rainbowed color shone in the blazing sun.

The taller one smiled behind his mask and grunted as his knees popped, reaching down to pick it up. With a knife, he poked and prodded into whatever was in it, which was now just a dead, sandy mess at his feet. “Pretty, then again, anything prettier than your face, Johnny.”

Soap glared at him, “Yeah, at least I have a face.”

Simon missed you terribly. Miles and miles away, he just thinks about how his lovely spouse is on their daily walk down the beach, trading and finding pretty shells to show him once he gets back. You two do this every time he comes home. After a few days of resting (with mostly Simon either shutting off in his own room or hiding his face in the crook of your neck in your shared room), you sit him down on the kitchen table and pull out your beach bag to debrief about the new shells. Each one with a different story attached to it and each one you wanted to share and love.

“I got this one from a fisherman that caught it in his net when he went fishing in the Bahamas!” You showed him a huge, pink and white conch shell that was larger than both your hands combined.

Simon smiled at you and took your prized possession from your hands and inspected the shiny finishing of it. “You weren’t at the Bahamas, Lovie, what did you do to get it?”

“Oh I traded a hermit crab shell for his nephew’s crab.” You said fondly, petting the shell that looked normal sized in his own hands.

Simon pockets the large nautilus shell into his bag somewhere and feels his breast pocket for the small, spiral shell that you’ve gifted him. It was his birthday, the day you saw his toothy grin for the first time.

You had found a beautiful, black, spiral shell the size of a blade. Taking it home, you filed the tip into it was sharp enough to cut through…something, you thought. You don’t know what he exactly would cut, but it’ll come in handy right?

He cried that day when you sheepishly offered him this small gift box, a silver bow resting on the top of it. After you calmed him down and held onto his arm, he opened it and a goofy smile replaced his tears.

“I sharpened it, it’s like a…like uhm a shank?” You said, rather confused actually.

Your husband snorts at your reasoning and picks up the lustrous black shell into his hands. He examines it closely, spinning and turning it in his fingers to make it shine in different angles. With the hard padding of his index finger he grazed the tip of the shell, and sure enough, it was sharp. Simon huffs a laugh to himself thinking about how he could potentially use this as his next melee weapon.

“Do you…like it?” You ask him hesitantly, sitting across from him on the couch. Your own hand fidgeted with each other as you pull and push on your knuckles, making them pop gently.

The large man in front of you looks up at you, eyes a bit wide in confusion. A small gasp is heard from the parting of his lips and he softens his gaze, looking at you fully. He didn’t laugh at you, he laughed at himself. “It’s silly…to be killed with a seashell, hmm?”

Large hands found yours as he abandoned the shell temporarily on the safe coffee table. He kisses your forehead. “Of course I love it, my sea star…best gift ever.”

Simon knew that it wasn’t just a gift from his spouse that day. No that’d be too simple, and his life is anything but. That was a piece of you, your love for him manifesting in such a small, delicate object. To break it, was to break a piece of you…and you would raise hell if he did.

His face settled on a slightly less disgruntled face under his mask as he looked off into the coast. With a pat on the breast pocket of his vest, he pondered to himself, ‘This time, it’ll be different.’ This time he has his own collection to present to you. This time he knows you’ll be even more excited than that time you found a perfectly round sand dollar when he shows you these little treasures. Maybe this time you’ll even scream when he shows you this dried starfish.

But one thing’s for sure, he’ll come home to you after all this. And one day, there’ll be no more war, no more bloodshed, just two old spouses sitting on the beach, the sun rising steadily, and a wall of shells from coasts all around the world.

[forgottensibiria]

Amphibian Perucetus and giant scissor sharks

In previous posts, we considered Moropiton and Poseideongenia, two groups of animals that migrated to Siberia through the Ural Sea in the Late Carboniferous. Before moving on to the actual descendants of these Seymouries - the Angarians themselves - we can distract ourselves with the creatures that the Moscow settlers could encounter on a vegetable raft.

The Dynasty of marine amphibians

Let's start with a strange speculative kind that shouldn't exist. Ichthyocetus, the "whale fish", is a large animal reaching a size of up to 2.5 meters and is a direct descendant of tetrapods of the Moscow Sea, primarily tulerpeton. The latter is known primarily for its six-toed limbs developed relative to other modern tetropods, as well as for its location. The fact is that the remains of the tulerpiton were located 200 kilometers from the supposed shore: this and the very structure of the body of the tetrapod under discussion suggest that the animal lived in shallow water, breathing atmospheric air (no bones corresponding to the gills were found, and the head was separated from the body - i.e. the tulerpeton could lift its head) and moving forward using the legs, pushing them off the bottom (their strength would not be enough to allow the toolerpeton to move on land). It is possible that some tetrapods could have stayed in this habitat, becoming the main predators of shallow waters, where larger predators like eugeneodonts or placoderms could not move normally.

Tulerpeton, 360 m.y.a. Art by Dmitry Bogdanov

Tulerpeton found fossils

Ichthyocetus is the last representative of this hypothetical clade, whose population was almost completely destroyed by the decline in sea level due to the new peak of the Karoo ice Age. His basic diet is benthos, which he can find in the buried ground: echinoderms, starfish and lilies, as well as, if luck smiles, the corpses of marine animals that the surf brings. He could also purposefully hunt for moropitons if they swam too deep. The bones of ichthyocetus are incredibly dense; this allows it to stay in the water during strong waves. This animal is able to sense the approach of a storm - then it tries to find the shore and crawl out onto it, burrowing into the sand; then they are most vulnerable. If it is impossible to find the shore, then the ichthyocetuses go to depth, swallowing air, where they can stay for 3-4 hours. Sometimes this tetropods go deep in search of new food sources, where they can catch young eugeneodonts or small fish. Surprisingly, ichthyocetuses are not the largest representatives of their clade (let's call it Ichthyocetusae): some species could grow up to 3 meters and lead a more pelagic lifestyle.

They usually appeared during periods of intense glaciation with a reduction in their original habitat. Unfortunately, this time climate change has become insurmountable.

Something about scissor sharks

If the meeting of protoseimurians with their "cousin" was unreliable, then the same cannot be said about eugeneodonts. The largest animals of the sea were the edestus, or protopirates. Although the largest protopirate species, E. vorax, could reach 6 meters (making it the largest predator of its time), the Moscow species were somewhat smaller and reached a maximum of 4 meters. These sizes correspond to the modern white shark and mako shark.

Edestus, 313—307  m.y.a. Art by Dmitry Bogdanov

Comparison of the four species of Edestus. Authors of this illustration is Leif Tapanila and Jesse Pruitt

Both poseideonogenes and moropitons encountered these cartilaginous fish - most likely, they were four-meter E. heinrichi and E. triserratus commensurate with ichthyocetus. Most likely, the edestus hunted numerous nautiloids and other soft-bodied prey and could well attack rafts, mistaking them for a dead cephalopod with a spiral shell. The protoseimuria themselves would not be of interest to the edestus - they are too small. That's what saved them.

[encyclopika]

Animal Crossing Fish - Explained #234

Brought to you by a marine biologist who hopes you're not sick of sea stars yet...

CLICK HERE FOR THE AC FISH EXPLAINED MASTERPOST!

Animal Crossing Pocket Camp sure does feature a lot of sea stars, and I guess I can't blame them. It seems that with each iteration, they are simply recoloring an old one. But here at AC Fish Explained, we're not about to count them all as just one species - oh no! Each one is a great opportunity to talk about these weird little monsters. So, today's star is the Purple Starfish:

The purple star, along with two others (Gold & Nebula), appeared during Fishing Tourney 43, Star Signs, in October of 2021. It was a related Halloween event that featured the pumpkin-headed Jack. Maybe someday it will make a comeback...maybe it won't.

By now you are all sea star experts, right? We call them "sea stars" and not "starfish" because they aren't actually fish, but are part of a group of animals called the Echinoderms, which include all the sea - stars, urchins, cucumbers, lilies, sand dollars, and brittle stars. Animal Crossing's diving activity and certainly Pocket Camp do a pretty great job representing this group (except I'd love to see a Brittle Star or Sea Lily in the game someday, just so I can really tell you more about them!). Today's star is quite the interesting little guy, with even more super powers than stars already have. It is actually called the Purple Sea Star, but also the Ochre Sea Star (Pisaster ochraceus).

By D. Gordon E. Robertson - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6434467

This species is native to the west coast of North America where it lives in the inter-tidal zone munching on bivalves, like the California Mussel. Just like other stars, they use their tube feet, controlled by their water-vascular system, to pull the shells apart and insert their stomach to digest their prey. Sounds weird, right? Well, that's just a Tuesday for sea stars. The Purple Star has a few other tricks up its sleeve to become perfectly at home to the inter-tidal zone, where a vibrant, underwater community finds itself above-water everyday when the tide goes out.

This star is an apex predator of the inter-tidal zone, possessing the amazing ability to survive being out of the water for an extended period of time. Even under conditions where the Purple Star has lost 30% of its bodily fluid (which is critical for an animal that relies on water to get around), it can tough it out.

By D. Gordon E. Robertson - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6434470

Ocean acidification also doesn't bother this guy, despite the fact that, like other echinoderms, its skeleton is made of calcium carbonate, a substance that is dissolved pretty readily in acid. This super power is thanks to a skeleton formed from nodules and the reliance of soft tissue, allowing it to adapt.

All of these super powers allow it to be the apex predator it is in the inter-tidal zone. Despite what that sounds like, the Purple Star's rule over the rocks is very important to the ecosystem. It's considered a Keystone Species, meaning its presence has a disproportional effect on its own habitat. Removing the Purple Star from a swath of shoreline for an experiment showed a marked decrease in biodiversity of the shore, which became inundated by California Mussels. When Purple Stars are present, the shoreline's biodiversity increases, as the star's appetite for mussels leaves open space for other organisms, like barnacles, to attach. Lots of sea stars that call inter-tidal zones home end up becoming a keystone species there, and can be used to gauge the health of the habitat. Who knew being a little voracious monster could reap so many benefits!

And there you have it! Fascinating stuff, no?

[doggybaths]

[talesfromthegraavim]

THE OMEN CARDS AND THEIR MEANINGS

COLORS

Black: End/Beginning, Death, Challenge

White: Purity,  Newness, Youth

Yellow: Sun, Blessing or Curse, Control, Watchfulness

Orange: Soil, Sand, Blank slate, Opportunity

Red: Blood- shared or spilt, Vitality

Brown: Shelter, Community

Green: Growth, Health

Blue: Water, Cleanliness, Nourishment, Freedom

Purple: Rarity, Scarcity, Luck

Pink: Positive surprise, Feast, Bounty, Love ===================================

COLOR/OBJECT CARDS:

Black Car: Death, Challenge, Outpaced, Enemy, Running out of time

White Eggs: Birth, Fragility, New start

Yellow Star: Leadership, Violence, Control

Orange Cat: Chance to rest, Restart in comfort, Watch and wait

Red Apple: Reunion, Bonds of blood and brotherhood, Fundamental trust

Brown Bear: Strength in community, Close ranks, Defense

Green Bug: Pay attention to details, Sickness, Loss, Famine

Blue Bird: FREEDOM, Release, Victory

Purple Shoe: Luck on your journey, Mind your steps, Leave no loose ends

Pink Pig: Feast, Bounty, Extravagance, Fullness ===============================================

SHAPES: (Outline only means lack of, or problem area, Shape+Color has the meaning of both)

Rectangle: Job, Task, Field to till

Square: Home, Family, Gift

Diamond: Spirituality, Spiritual Strength, Working together

Triangle: Journey, Goal, Direction

Star: Confusion, Differing Opinion, Leadership

Oval: Self+Other(s), Relationships

Circle: Self, Journey

Heart: Togetherness to reach a goal =============================================

SHAPE/OBJECT CARDS

Rectangle/Clock: Job with a time crunch, Move fast

Square/Present: Boon for community, Birth

Diamond/Kite: Spiritual freedom, Discovery, Fly high but mind the ties that bind

Triangle/Pizza: Gold at the end of the rainbow, Success, Indulgence, Lost treasure

Star/Starfish: Opportunity, Split Path, Choice to be made 

Circle/Wheel: Your journey, Movement, Path Made Easier

Heart/Heart: Building or built community, Reaching Goals ================================================

DUALITY CARDS

Open / Closed, Treasure Chest: Yes/No. Go For It / Stop And Rethink

In / Out, Doghouse: Work With Group / Go It Alone. Stay Home / Seek Outside

Over / Under, Cat and Stool: Open Rebellion/ Quiet Subterfuge. RUN NOW / Wait It Out

Day / Night, Window: You’re Being Watched / Watch Your Enemy. Lead to Freedom/ Being Lead to Death ========================================================

NUMBERS

1.Frog: Lone Hero, Forgotten Self, Unexpected Ally

2.Suns: Seek Shelter, Find Home

3.Cups/Mugs: Share Blessings, Mind Your Loved Ones

4.Teddy Bears: Inner Child, Back To Basics, Memory

5.Wagons: Time To Go, Choose a Leader

6.Cows: Abundance, Blessing, Success

7.Bats: Fear, Darkness, Bolting, Misunderstandings

8.Fish: Lost or Forgotten Gift, Rarity

9.Worms: Circle Of Life, Renewal, Little Things Add Up

10.Balls: Be Playful, Roll With It =================================================

ALPHABET (Also indicates name of person/place):

(A) Apple: trust, reunion

(B) Bear: strength, childhood

(C) Cat: protection, comfort, wariness

(D) Dog: loyalty, bonds of choice

(E) Elephant: wisdom, mystery, mysticism 

(F) Fish: forgotten gift

(G) Goat: riches, nourishment

(H) Horse: faith, movement

(I) Ice Cream: old knowledge, gift from the gods

(J) Jar: SHUT UP, secrets, keep it on the down-low

(K) Kite: false freedom, ties that bind, staying grounded

(L) Lion: fierceness, family, pride

(M) Mouse: spy, hidden things, hiding places

(N) Nest: home, returning, cycles, 

(O) Oranges: health, vitality, treat

(P) Pen: history, learning

(Q) Queen: benevolence, motherhood, sisterhood

(R) Rain: blessing, 

(S) Snake: betrayal, defense, warning

(T) Tree: life, stubbornness, will to thrive

(U) Umbrella: Faustian bargain, false blessings

(V) Van: new family unit, marriage, children, coming together

(W) Well: greed, being mindful, caring for others

(X) X: Leave, Stop, Danger, No

(Y) Yo-yo: inconsistency, lying, troubled path ahead

(Z) Zebra: death, harm, curse, insurmountable challenge (or is it?)

[theothin]

B has 8/16 (50%), with Badger, Bard, Basilisk, Beeble, Beholder, Boar, Bringer, and Brushwagg all missing support in eternal-legal sets. That said, Beeble has support in acorn, Boar has support in digital, and there are effects that reward not being a Brushwagg.

C has 9/22 (40.9%), missing Camarid, Camel, Capybara, Carrier, Child, Clown, Cockatrice, Coward, Crocodile, C'tan, Custodes, Cyberman, and Cyclops. Clown does have acorn support, while Coward and Cyclops both have downsides but not support.

D has 12/18 (66.7%), missing Dauthi, Deserter, Djinn, Dreadnought, Drone, and Dryad. Djinn has downside.

E has 7/10 (70%), missing Efreet, Elder, and Elk. Efreet has downside. (The same cards as Djinn, actually.)

F has 7/8 (87.5%), only missing Ferret. I briefly wondered if "supported" is the right term to describe how Flagbearer works, but it does have beneficial functions.

G has 7/16 (43.75%), missing Gamer, Gargoyle, Germ, Gith, Gnoll, Gnome, Graveborn, Gremlin, and Guest. Guest has acorn support.

H has 7/14 (50%), missing Hag, Harpy, Hippo, Hippogriff, Homarid, Homunculus, and Hyena. Homunculus has downside.

I has 3/6 (50%), missing Incarnation, Inkling, and Inquisitor. Inkling has downside.

J has 1/3 (33.3%), missing Jackal and Jellyfish. Arguably it's not really rewarding Juggernauts either since Graaz turns your creatures into Juggernauts anyway, but it is a case of caring about creatures being Juggernauts.

K has 6/7 (85.7%), only missing Kirin.

L has 2/7 (28.6%), missing Lamia, Lammasu, Leech, Licid, and Lizard.

M has 9/18 (50%), missing Manticore, Masticore, Metathran, Mite, Mole, Monger, Mongoose, Mouse, and Mystic.

N has 3/10 (30%), missing Nautilus, Necron, Nephilim, Noble, Noggle, Nomad, and Nymph. (Naga also did not have support but it's about to be removed as a creature type.)

O has 5/10 (50%), missing Orb, Orgg, Otter, Ouphe, and Oyster.

P has 11/17 (64.7%), missing Pangolin, Peasant, Phelddagrif, Pincher, Primarch, and Processor.

R has 5/10 (50%), missing Raccoon, Rabbit, Ranger, Reflection, and Rhino. Reflection has downside.

S has 25/42 (59.5%), missing Sand, Scientist, Scion, Scorpion, Shade, Sheep, Siren, Slith, Soltari, Specter, Spellshaper, Spike, Splinter, Sponge, Squid, Starfish, and Survivor. Scout is only through Frodo caring about the creature type on himself but it sort of counts. Scion, Serf, and Survivor have downsides.

T has 8/13 (61.5%), missing Tetravite, Thalakos, Trilobite, Troll, and Turtle.

U has 1/1 (100%). The only creature type starting with U is Unicorn.

V has 1/4 (25%), missing Vedalken, Viashino, and Volver.

W has 8/14 (57.1%), missing Walrus, Weird, Whale, Wolverine, Wombat, and Worm.

Y has 0/1 (0%), missing Yeti.

Z has 2/2 (100%). The only creature types starting with Z are Zombie and Zubera.

There are no creature types starting with Q or X. Some possible points of error are if LCI is adding another creature type alongside Capybara that I forgot about, or pluralizations that didn't show up in my Scryfall searches.

If this is correct, that suggests that 161/287 (56.1%) of eternal-legal creature types have some amount of support on eternal-legal cards.

if you had to guess of the top of your head what percentage of creature types would you say have some support. (as in what percentage of types have some card in the game that cares about weather or not a creature has that type)

Somewhere between 15% and 20% is my guess.

[daily-lalaloopsy]

Today's doll is Sand E. Starfish!

She was sewn from a mermaid's hair ribbon on June 24.

[tarotnoob]

PAC: What are your strengths?

Please choose a pile with your intuition. And then scroll :)

Pile 1: EVE from Wall-e

Pile 2: Miyazaki characters from Totoro, Howl, Spirited, Kiki’s

Pile 3: Catbus from My Neighbor Totoro

[FYI: The piles do contain some weaknesses, as well, potential shadow work or shadow self issues since I ended up feeling drawn to some of the dark attributes attached to the Archetype Oracle deck. **Only take what resonates**]

Pile 1

You know, my boundary with the cards is if I pick a theme, I want to talk about the theme and not feel obligated to reveal all messages I see. Part of me is like, just ignore it. And then the annoyingly righteous part is like - BUT WHAT IF SOMEONE DIES? Of what, me not pointing out all 10,000 potential meanings that might divert from the theme? Murr.

Fine, I will give ONE message. This Aylis card (notice the star), is about wish, desires, hope, but really the longer meaning is about making sure you know what you’re asking for. It reminds me about manifestation and how specific you can be asked to get in terms of what you want. I was concerned about the 5 of cups as it’s the only negative card (well, and Caution), so I clarified and got 2 of swords and 8 of pentacles. On this 8 of p (you can’t see it), but they are holding a pentacle like it’s a sand dollar to their chest (a sand dollar looks like a starfish design on a shell, so it’s a pentacle). So, there IS - for someone in this group - a block in your manifestation due to the clarity (or lack thereof) of the wish. Not just a lack of clarity but also... focusing on the negative or how something didn’t work out in the past and so you’re overlooking future potentials. I also get the feeling that perhaps your wish and the thing the universe wants to give you might be out of alignment... like as in perhaps your standards are too high? Or what you want might not actually be exactly good for you. And I think that’s why the ace of pentacles sits here, too. It’s that shell in 8 of p’s hand... so there’s something coming for you that’s material: job, money, relationship - but it’s being blocked by something related to the above... I lied, I clarified ace of p. And got 8 of cups and 10 of cups, weird bc back of deck is 8 of swords and 10 of pentacles. 8 and 10 could be significant, such as 8/10, 10/8, whatevs.

I mean you’re welcome to interpret this how you want... bc it could be walking away from a thing you thought made you happy (in the past), but you’ve outgrown it (job/relationship). Actually, that’s the only way to interpret it given all the other cards... it FEELS like having an ideal in your mind and not allowing enough flexibility for the universe to bring you the thing you deserve.

Okay, message out of system >.> that fits with caution too in the sense that you could proceed with more flexibility... but however you want to read that. The good news is when you’re ready to let go of that thing that you’ve grown out of, lovely stuff will come in for you that was much better than what you’re still clinging to!

I mean it’s a bit like EVE in a way...  she/they was working for the government and did everything by the book with rules and then she met WallE and that turned her whole expectation around on what is “happiness.” Rules were EVE’s thing and then she outgrow it and found a new “happiness” in companionship?

In terms of STRENGTHS, though I do think you have a good heart and a desire to help others. Perhaps you even put other people’s wishes or desires ahead of yours or you have some ability to grant people’s wishes through healing, which doesn’t have to be a spiritual craft - it can be through being a good person who listens to friends, loved ones, strangers, etc... It would suggest someone who’s sensitive or empathic, and perhaps the caution is also to make sure you don’t take on too much of other people’s energy. Yeah I definitely see you as someone - however loose we can interpret this - as a person who’s able to encourage or assist people in getting things they want...  and this might be your healing ability and your healing ability is fueled by your intentions, which seem to be pure. I feel like this is a talent that can be utilized in 1. relationships 2. a career or hobby. It doesn’t have to be a spiritual career, it just means that this pure hearted sensitivity energy can be put into a job. It can be an art form, it can be a service job, it can be in the medical field... it can really be anything but it’s so strong that it’s a general everyday part of you which is why it makes you good for those kinds of jobs or in a relationship, you’re that person who provides healing energy, is probably too kind and sweet and giving for their own good...  it could be that your desires or wishes are often selfless, too... but that can be a double-edged sword. It’s okay to wish for things for yourself because that’s a form of self love and if you don’t actually love and appreciate yourself enough to want things for YOURself, then.... you’re not going to get what you truuuly want deep down. So we could read caution that way too... maybe you’re being TOO soft and you need to scream at the universe what you want... but either way the tarot still indicate you are missing out on some type of tangible opportunity because your focus seems to be elsewhere because of distraction or negative thoughts, previous failures, or something else that has your attention pulling you away from what YOU want or need. I’m also drawn to the heart area because at least three cards show an emphasis on a pink heart = EVE, virgin and aylis... we can argue Healer also shows weird things coming out of their hearts so - this could tie into the shadow virgin attributes maybe,,, i don’t know why it’s a “shadow” attribute to not be interested in sex or find it repellant. Lots of reasons to think that way so it’s not a big deal... the other option is a reluctance to lose any type of innocence. for some then there may be a blockage around... a change or development that would result in you feeling like you’d lose who you are or a piece of who you are and you like things the way they are and you worry about (something) changing for the worse. this can be a lot of things from choosing to lose your virginity or...  getting a tattoo? it can be going to college. kissing someone of the same sex for the first time? but all in all it feels more like this is your PERCEPTION in your head about something changing when... i won’t say that it won’t change anything bc your feelings are valid and stuff... does change. but it’s still pointing to this being about a “perception’ you have of something that you’re holding onto and don’t want to let go of bc it might change something in an “impure” way when really that’s more like... a fear of change or transformation at its root... probably. but your feelings are always valid!!! i see this as you protecting yourself but... i mean you’ree also maybe getting in your own way a bit being too hung up on this one thing (still your feelings are valid!!!)

and maybe protecting yourself or your energy is a way for you to keep doing this thing you’re doing that helps others and you feel like if you mess with it you won’t be able to do it the same anymore. like... when freddie mercury talked to some dentist or something about removing or messing with his teeth he said no bc he was afraid it would change his voice. now it might not be that his teeth had anything to do with his voice (he had extra teeth i think...)... and like even if it’s not scientifically true he had this perception of his voice being this pure instrument and changing anything about it wouldn’t make him as good of a singer... does that make sense??

I do see you as someone, also, with good ideaes... I see you hatching them but I’m not sure how far they always go but I feel like you could have an endless amount of them whenever you want them... it’s just there may be some rigidity somewhere in you and it’s tied to self preservation of something inside of you that’s not like really real... it’s more symbolic and personal to you.

---

Pile 2

I wonder if strengths is an objective term... because being able to use any “power” to have influence is... a strength. If we’re talking about morality... that’s another thing... things we “value” for their “morality” as opposed to... what do you call someone who’s easily able to manipulate another with their words? Is that a strength? It would have to be, right. Especially if you can influence masses to do things... now you may use this power for bad things, but it’s still a strength, so I’ll bring it up. Priest is someone with an ability to channel spiritual energy... this can be a spiritualist of any craft or it could even be someone with divine talents in the arts or... war and strategy... the shadow side of priest is using those abilities to... do questionable, shady shit: “Violates the trust of your spiritual community. Seduced by your own spiritual role.” And I’ve been around long enough to know that just because a person calls themselves a spiritualist or claims to practice any of those things doesn’t mean they’re a good person, doesn’t mean they always use their power for good things. (it’s the same with religion). obviously it can happen in lots of situations but especially in spiritual or religious communities there’s this hope that people actually act on those better principles - but we’d be naive to think that’s the reality.

I’m not saying that’s EVERYONE in this pile as that would... be upsetting. I’m saying that this is a potential within this pile to have spiritual abilities and to not use them for great things. It’s a strength - it’s just not a great one.

I do feel in particular it’s related to words so you use your influence/power to influence others through words of some sort... it reminds me of people with popular platforms who when someone disagrees with them or just doesn’t like them, they send their followers over to bully and start twitter/blog wars. Even if a person deserves a public mobbing... if you fan the flames for the mobbing... it’s still questionable morally but... is it a strength? PARTICULARLY if your interests in the mobbing aren’t exactly pure intentioned... for example... say Coke finds out some dirt on Pepsi... Pepsi did a shitty thing, Coke’s done shitty things, too, but Coke lets Coke drinkers know Pepsi did a bad thing and gets on its Coke soapbox... but Pepsi is also Coke’s arch nemesis, not to mention it’s a great chance for the attention to be on Pepsi because Coke actually has a dead body in the trunk of their car right now.

For those of you who have no intention of joining the dark side though you have a power you could wield that darth and the emperor would love to have...

You are some very curious about the world, intelligent, insightful about the way the world works... you’re also very passionate and adventurous, willing to take risks, enjoy attention, personable... with the Empress, I again get that sense you would have a reallllllly easy time convincing other people to believe and follow you because there’s something naturally charming about your manner or you’re really quite physically attractive. You have the ability to nurture and create, there’s something sensual about you, as well... You’re strong of mind and will and very cunning. I think you have great ideas, I think you even have ambitious ideas or ambitious goals...  You have the ability to start things and take those ideas and put them into reality, make them practical  - but at the same time (I’m giving all messages not just strengths), there’s a lack of confidence somewhere... you might sometimes have these great ideas but then you second guess yourself or whether it will work out or if people will like it or like you...  I think the page of swords shows that you WANT TO AND YOUR’E READY AND YOU HAVE IDEAS but you might sometimes overthink stuff and it delays the launch of whatever you have planned... maybe that’s what i picked up on with this choosing the darkside imagery because... even though you have this (again this isn’t everyone lol, this is just a warning message) confidence and immense creative talent and ability to influence and charm... it’s possible this lack of confidence or self doubt or insecurity - on occasion - leads you astray here and there to take shortcuts or wield your power... in a not great way. I feel like the sticker too is like “here are all the people you CAN be”... and there’s a bit of a choice here in how you use what look to be some amazingly raw talents...

and for those of you who are very jedi through and through... the same (positive) strengths apply with the caveat that occasionally you seem to doubt yourself before you go through with your idea even though you do have the passion and ambition for it...  you have the charisma... the creative abilities... but there’s some overthinking and then it affects your confidence or self worth...

But I think when you have an idea you believe in... a start up business, a hobby, an invention... a project... it’s okay to think about some practical stuff... but if you believe in it... and you have a plan for launching in and getting it off the ground... you should feel good that you are able to do all of that... realistically not everything works out... but you have all the potential here to make it happen... it seems to me you have a “divine” gift in the form of natural talents and leadership... hopefully you use it for... good things. bc some people have these abilities and use them for not great things or they let it go to their heads... so when you see success... remember to stay humble, okay? cool.

---

pile 3

I am thankful to you for being a straightforward pile. That should be your first strength.

It’s great that the catbus pile has a lot of hints of escapism, retreating, fantasy. I know it’s obvious but this screams the writer pile... I mean a ascribe can also be anyone who preserves knowledge and information... someone who stores wisdom or knowledge like the Hermit... but with the escape/dreams stuff here... there’s a sense of someone who either has a very inventive imagination or can apply that ability in any type of art form like writing or painting... someone who can even take some type of knowledge and world build, so perhaps you like world building video games, whether it’s sims or... those other games...  knight of wands and six of swords also give this sense of... retreating or escaping on some type of adventure.  five of wands is the only negative card... so I’m going to clarify but my guess would be that perhaps when there’s conflict in life, whether it’s external or internal, you may retreat into some inner space. I suppose it’s also possible you physically retreat or run away when you don’t want to confront something but the five of wands for some reason also gives me world building vibes...  that’s a bit of an intuitive stretch but i keep seeing it as representing this space where you retreat to... maybe bc it can represent inner conflict it’s like... maybe it’s been built because of a desire for escape from conflict, but anyway i’ll just clarify.  well... knight of swords which is... moderately helpful. it does indicate knowledge and mental space... words... learning... it means five of wands probs ties into the scribe card... but what’s cool is all these cards (once you look at the knight of swords), face forward... so you seem to be able to create these ideas or fantasy worlds regarding the future.

i mean we already talked about if you’re a creative person or world builder and maybe that’s your escapism hobby... it gives me lots of pisces or 12th house or neptune vibes...  but there’s also just a lot of air and fire. oh right i was saying so the facing the future could mean some different things to different people. someone who is a writer who focuses on stories related to space, fantasy, the future... it can be someone who does a lot of fantasizing about what their future will be like, lots of daydreaming... it can be someone who is learning knowledge about something that is progressive or advanced technology or aids the future.... like cool tech projects in medicine or medicinal cures... research that can benefit such and such people, environmental breakthroughs that can eliminate carbon footprints... you get the idea... you have a very laaaaaaaaaaaaaaarge capacity to imagine SOMETHING, whatever medium that may apply to... you have a large capacity for knowledge, retaining it and possibly sharing it... some of you might be really into staying up so late you see the sun rise or waking up early and getting started on your day... or maybe sunrises and sunsets just feel especially magical for you... it could be as simple as some of you are imagining... a fantasy vacation or trip right now... or planning one or planning a move and you have all these grand, wonderful expectations of what life is going to be like from now on...  like in pile 2, there may occasionally be some overthinking that leads to some internal or external debates with others and may affect confidence levels... but... with everyone looking forward, i feel pretty strongly that you’re going to do whatever you want... there’s no real attachment to the past any longer. you’re kind of like the evolved version of pile 1.

with catbus, i also feel you’re really ready for an adventure... there’s passion and some mental stimulation... dreams and fantasies and a desire to escape or be in something better in the future... and if it’s just that you lose yourself in fiction writing or video games or whatever hobby... those are still strengths. those are talents... you should keep dreaming because it seems to make you really happy.

[mushlandsandbeyond]

"THE CATALYST OF THE CATACLYSM: A RETROSPECTIVE" (1828)

Once considered lost media, a retrospective on The Cataclysm from the 1820s was found in Starfish Valley's library. The following is an excerpt of that 32 page retrospective.

Just Paste It version here: [Link]

= = =

EXCERPT FROM "THE CATALYST OF THE CATACLYSM: A RETROSPECTIVE".

While we do not know the primary reason for the Cataclysm's emergence, one could explore the history of Echino Mesa, specifically in Calicle Way. During the time of its founding in 1284, Calicle Way was a thriving community of many magical and non-magical beings. Here, the art of terraforming magic was perfected thanks to the efforts of magic-users. The Aphros clan ruled over the city, not unlike a monarchy, and its founder Delfina Aphros kept the peace until her death.

Delfina's death was a tragedy. Assassinated by bandits while she was on her way to her cousin's home, it split Calicle Way's citizens apart. Nevertheless, her descendants continued to rule as the city grew larger and larger, carefully mending the people together again.

In 1489, Philippe and Ariana Aphros, granddaughters of Delfina, began ruling Calicle Way. Many historians mark their rule as the catalyst of the Cataclysm's birth. The sisters were more focused on production and turned Calicle Way from an academic-focused city into a mining town. The gold that was mined from the tunnels were fitted onto the tall Aphros tower of old and rare diamonds encrusted the Aphros twins' mirrors and wands.

Many of its people were discontent with the vain rulers of this time. According to the Starfish Valley Magazine (12 October 1493, p. 32), Philippe would always "turn her nose up at miners" and "pass laws that would benefit her family". Meanwhile Ariana was always commissioning seamstresses for "fancy clothes, with long trains impractical for fighting in" instead of putting that money into bettering the city. Many of these laws also benefited magic-users, rather than being vague and applying to many of its non-magical citizens. 

Calicle Way was in bad shape by the 1500s. Homes were built of mud and terracotta, maybe even red sandstone. Oak wood was expensive, and magic-users adapted to using the branches of dead bushes to channel magic. Meanwhile, "the tower of the Aphros clan shimmered every sunset, mocking those in its shadow" (Chitin Times, 2 Feb 1499, p. 15). Philippe and Ariana managed to shroud Delfina's feats by their greed and deafness towards their own people.

The morning of the first earthquakes were terrifying to many of the citizens. Nobody in Echino Mesa knew where it was coming from. The miners swarmed out of Calicle Way's tunnels, claiming to hear "footsteps that were lined with the souls of their loved ones" (Chitin Times, 23 July 1500, p. 12). Nobody listened to them, thinking that they went insane from spending their time in such deep caves. Rightfully, they rebelled and fled to the outskirts of Echino Mesa, never to be seen again.

Before the Aphros twins could track them down, the ground beneath their tower shook and trembled violently. As the sun cracked its first rays into the sky, sand and stone tumbled down, sinking the great Aphros tower into a large cavern. Philippe and Ariana made it out alive for now, as they "launched into the air from the top floor and landed into the edge of the gaping maw of the cave" (Starfish Valley Magazine, 24 July 1500, p. 20). As their home shattered onto the stone or melted into the great lava pit in the lower levels, a large creature emerged slowly, its head peering out from the new entrance of the cave.

It had no eyes, assuming that it lived underground its whole life. Its body, according to witnesses, was akin to "a void, shifting and shaping to suit its needs as its body was littered with false stars". (1826) (testimony of Humana Felicity). It sniffed, and when someone walked or ran away or hollered, its sensors would click and the creature would lunge forward at them to consume them. Echino Mesa was in danger at the hands of the Cataclysm and it took weeks to fend off the creature and weaken it, where it fell into a deep slumber in the pit it came out of. This was the largest casualty that Echino Mesa has ever experienced in its lifetime, as it included a number of magic users (including Philippe and Ariana). 

[sciatu]

DOLCI SICILIANI

Che folle sono stato ad iniziare a parlarti d’amore. Ti ho presentato un vassoio di dolci e biscotti dai mille colori e dal profumo di vaniglia e chioccolato, illudendoti che l’amore era il poter gustare uno dietro l’altro attimi e momenti dolcissimi. Ma ora, battendomi il petto confesso che questo vassoio di tentazioni e perdizione, non è amore. L’amore è una goccia di rugiada piena di provvisoria luce sul petalo di un fiore nell’alba in un mattino di primavera. L’amore è una rossa stella marina che cammina sul fondo del mare, unica vita in quell’ infinito dominante e freddo azzurro. L’amore è un arcobaleno che unisce due monti ma che nessuno può toccare, o rubare, che tutti ammirano e che prima o poi viene solo ricordato. L’amore quindi non dura quanto crediamo o vogliamo, ogni giorno nasce e come noi, ogni momento può morire. L’amore poi non ha bisogno delle mie parole, né del suono di una canzone e dei colori dei fiori perché lui è le parole non ancora dette, è la canzone che senti nel silenzio delle strade, è il colore che nel buio ti illumina. Non ha bisogno di essere evocato nel tuo cuore per esistere perché in esso è già presente come seme fecondo. L’amore non ha bisogno dei poeti, dei santi o di amabili donne per vivere, non ha bisogno dell’arte o delle puttane per essere desiderato. L’amore è fatto dei tuoi sogni, vive del sangue della felicità che ti dona, è impalpabile ma dominante, illusorio ma pesantemente presente, è generosamente contagioso e dolorosamente vendicativo, quando chi ami se ne va e quello che provavi vive ancora, malgrado chi amavi sia lontano, servo e padrone di un altro cuore. È questo straziante modo in cui muore quanto proviamo, questa sua fine cruenta e dolorosa che ci perseguita e che quando accade rende la nostra anima una foresta che brucia, un fiume che travolge il villaggio che attraversa, una piccola noce in cui chiudiamo l’immensità del nostro essere e di tutto quello che ha provato. È questo immenso potere che ha sulle anime vive, il suo regno infinito, il motivo per cui per noi vale quanto il sole. Lo ripeto. Sono stato folle a giocare con le parole e le immagini per raccontarti una primavera infinita, di cui viviamo a volte solo pochi estatici e terribili istanti. Sei stata folle ad ascoltarmi, a vedere nelle mie parole lo specchio in cui ritrovare le tue emozioni, a nutrirti di questi dolci illusori ma di cui hai assaporato il gusto immortale. Siamo vissuti della sabbia che stringevamo tra le mani mentre il vento la portava via; siamo stati schiuma, luminosa e leggera assorbita dalla sabbia arida; abbiamo conosciuto la bellezza e la perfezione, niente di più dovremmo aspettarci dalle nostre prossime vite. Eppure ogni giorno torno a parlartene ancora, smemorato dell’amore di ieri, assetato di quello di oggi stupito da quello di domani e tu mi ascolti come se con ogni parola rinascessero quei tuoi sogni e desideri che dell’amore assoluto sono l’inarrestabile preludio.

What a fool I was to start talking to you about love. I presented you with a tray of sweets and biscuits of a thousand colors and the scent of vanilla and chocolate, under the illusion that love was being able to enjoy very sweet moments one after the other. But now, beating my chest, I confess that this tray of temptation and perdition is not love. Love is a drop of dew full of temporary light on the petal of a flower in the dawn, of a spring morning. Love is a red starfish walking on the bottom of the sea, the only life in that dominant infinity and cold blue. Love is a rainbow that unites two mountains but that no one can touch, or steal, that everyone admires and that sooner or later is only remembered. Love therefore does not last as long as we believe or want, every day is born and like us, every moment can die. Love then does not need my words, nor the sound of a song and the colors of flowers because it is the words not yet spoken, it is the song you hear in the silence of the streets, it is the color that illuminates you in the dark. It does not need to be evoked in your heart to exist because it is already present in it as a fruitful seed. Love does not need poets, saints or lovely women to live, it does not need art or whores to be desired. Love is made of your dreams, it lives on the blood of happiness it gives you, it is impalpable but dominant, illusory but heavily present, it is generously contagious and painfully vindictive, when the one you love leaves and what you felt still lives, despite the fact that who you loved, is far away, servant and master of another heart. It is this excruciating way of dying of what we feel, this bloody and painful end of it that haunts us and that when it happens makes our soul a burning forest, a river that overwhelms the village, a small walnut in which we enclose the immensity of our to be and all that it has felt. It is this immense power that it has over living souls, its infinite kingdom, the reason why it is as good as the sun to us. I repeat. I was crazy to play with words and images to tell you about an infinite spring, of which we sometimes experience only a few ecstatic and terrible moments. You were crazy to listen to me, to see in my words the mirror in which to find your emotions, to feed on these illusory sweets but whose immortal taste you tasted. We lived on the sand we held in our hands as the wind carried it away; we were foam, luminous and light absorbed by the dry sand; we have known beauty and perfection, nothing more we should expect from our next lives. Yet every day I come back to talk to you again, forgetful of yesterday’s love, thirsty for today’s love, amazed by tomorrow’s and you listen to me as if with every word those dreams and desires of yours were reborn, which are the unstoppable prelude to absolute love.

[whoknowsbud]

Stand Mutation AU

Warning, this is FILLED with body horror! And somewhat loose but present connections to the recent epidemic! Mainly in part 4...

These are mostly just lists of the designs, and this post will only contain parts 3 & 5. There’s a lot more bulk to what was written to part 4, and there’s a lot more angst written, so that’s going to be a separate post.

(Which is now here!)

The idea here is essentially taking the ‘stand sickness’ Holy and Josuke had and twisting it into overdrive. Rather than gaining stands, the infected mutate (often horrifically, but there are some who look almost unaffected) based on their in-canon stands. The uninfected don’t see the full image; the shapes and colors come through, but not completely. The common headlight-style eyes are a big giveaway (until they’re not).

The mutations here will also commonly hinder most functions, especially rational thought. It’s most often temporary as the infected adjusts to the changes of their body. This can take a number of forms, but what happened to the Nijimura brothers is the worst it gets. The term for this for now is going to be ‘fried’.

The infection is only transferred by the arrow, and genetic relation.

Part 3

Holy has flowers growing on her body. Has a way better handle on it than Jotaro; fully present and coherent, the flowers just need to sap a little of her energy to grow big and bright. So, yeah, she's completely fine.

Jotaro ends up this ethereal star man with so much luscious hair, but also partly fried at the start; ends up being essentially like a big dog for a while (acts on base instinct and can’t articulate).

Joseph’s arms become vines. That’s it, that’s all. Vines for arms.

Avdol is pretty much just fused with Magician’s Red. I say ‘just’, but he’s pretty damn rad.

Kakyoin is basically a bunch of wires, wrapped to make a more human shape. Rather than shooting solid energy bursts, he can send energy through the wires.

Polnareff, like Avdol, is also just fused with his Silver Chariot. The armor and sword are still removable.

Iggy is made of sand. Can shapeshift, often takes the form of a wolf, because he can and he wants to.

Hol Horse has a gun for a hand. Yes, that's all.

Gray Fly... tiny man. Beetle sized old man with beetle wings and dagger tongue. Nasty nasty.

Imposter Captain Tenille is a fish-man, simple as that. Basically take Dark Blue Moon and put it in the mans clothes. This makes it obvious that he’s the enemy the moment he comes out, but Anne is still under some suspicion at first.

Forever is just Strength. Green ship with orangutang face.

Devo basically is Ebony Devil. Imagine making a (somewhat crappy) almost life size doll of Devo, and there you go. Rather than needing a grudge to act, he forms his grudge as he fights, making him stronger.

Rubber Soul is just Yellow Temperance; when he went through stand puberty he just pretty much melted.

J. Geil is just Hanged Man; only seen through reflections. Tied a knife to his hand.

Nena is almost the same as canon; she assimilates a beautiful woman to host her real body (which has no skin covering, so here she needs a host, the looks are just preference), and still leaves parasites on victims through her blood.

ZZ's stand mutation is actually his arm. His arm is the car.

Enya… ghost? Still uses fog for the illusions, still does puppet stuff? But then Jotaro would still have to suck her down so NO, THANKS

Steely Dan, the crab man. Can duplicate himself but at NOWHERE near the same rate. Not as effective either. He's about the size of your average 14 year old.

Arabia Fats is just. On fire. Fire man. Human torch. But more fire. Just fire.

Mannish boy appears with a flat, jester-like face, so the group knows to refuse.

Cameo... genie?

Midler is basically herself with High Priestess's power to become any mineral. Still can shapeshift, but its limited.

N’Doul… could be a water man. Sends his hand out so he can stay safely out of most people’s range.

Anubis... is just the same Anubis as canon. It's a sword, what were you expecting?

Mariah is the magnetizer. It happens through contact, and feels like a small static shock. It does not work on normal people, although they do feel the shock.

Alessi has just become a shadow, his own silhouette, that de-ages those it touches like in canon, with the same eyes and manifesting ability, too. Cannot talk.

The D’arby brothers are a terrible amalgamation of the souls they’ve taken.

Pet Shop is... just its stand I think.

Vanilla Ice is another stand/user mix. As uncomfortable as the v o r e is, it seems like the only sensible thing...

Dio is similar to Jotaro. But green & yellow, with more disturbing growths (those... bullet chain suspenders looking things, and the apparent oxygen tanks on the back). He's a bit distorted, rippling in time with the seconds.

Part 5

Haruno becomes a plant creature (Oh you want limbs? Limbs to hold things? Too bad, you get tendrils!), changes his name to Giorno. The human body is still inside, controlling everything. When he’s truly happy, he blooms.

Bruno's body is just zippers. They can all be opened or closed (although if they're all opened he's kind of a mess, and its an awful noise), and what's under them is just a void. He seems to have glowing orbs as eyes, revealed by a single open zipper over where his eyes would be. To resemble a more human form, he has zippers on his head to look like hair. There are a few zippers that hang off his arms and legs almost like fins, and he will whip you with them.

Abbachio is a glitchy creature that looks like someone constantly flipping channels, with a sort of goo coating his body in almost the exact way it does Moody Blues.

Narancia is a ‘cyborg’, fighting logic output to stay ‘human’

Mista basically goes through mitosis, becoming 7 of himself; but it takes time for them to truly separate.

Fugo appears to be normal, but he has this ‘oxygen’ tank & connected mask. The Purple Haze virus is more of a gas here, produced in his lungs, so he has to have a way to contain it when he's around others. Once he starts getting emotional, he sort of melts into a zombie-like form; starts looking like a typical victim of Purple Haze.

(Giorno's able to take in an absurd amount of toxins and pollution and spit out a shit ton of oxygen, so there's much less concern.)

WE RETAIN THE DINOSAUR SPICE GIRL HERE, TRISH IS A STRETCHY & SQUISHY LIZARDWOMAN.

Mr President is a cube, still with the room. He's like a box. A box turtle, you might say.

Polpo is still in prison. His shadow does pretty much everything Black Sabbath does. Permanent poggers face.

Zucchero is a slug. Has spikes on his body that perform Soft Machine’s ability, and they’re barbed to grab the deflated forms.

Sale... maybe he's already dead. Infection stopped his own heart or something. Or hes like.. a landmark. Like Angelo in canon; fully immobile, but sort of immortal. /till you destroy the body I guess...

Formaggio’s size is constantly fluctuating, not always proportionately consistent.

Illuso... doesn't exist outside of mirrors. He can still communicate to those on the other side, and pull them in, but can't leave, himself. He works similarly to Yoshihiro Kira; ig seal the mirror, you seal him.

Prosciutto has so many eyes. Just all over, so so many. Somewhat shriveled up from the waist down.

Pesci has a fishing pole arm I guess...

Melone is some sort of... digital-ish cyborg thing. The Babyface kids are the same though

Ghiaccio is essentially fused with his suit, with the weak spot in the back of his neck frozen over. It’s actually like the mane of a lion, but ice; he can’t turn his head at all, speaking is near impossible, and eating is a struggle as well. The white album fight reveals a lot:

Due to literally being plants, Giorno has to revert back to Haruno or risk serious danger. This is the first time he’s come out; they knew he existed (he was mentioned in passing) but they weren't sure if he was alive or dead. When he can take his plants form again, it’s... kind of horrifying. Roots and vines coming out of his body, wrapping around him...

Risotto is basically a living Metallica colony. Take risotto, make every 5x5 pixels a metallica bean, there you go that’s him.

Squalo... Sharkboy

Tiziano looks fine, but his mouth is all wrong. Tongues like a starfish.

Secco... mud? Mudman?

Cioccolata looks like a zombie, moldy and decomposed an shit.

Diavolo and Doppio are... basically, literally, just King Crimson and Epitaph. They can apparently switch places? Maybe