#» — → i. thread [ seaborn ]

[hawkp]

imagine this Sam Seaborn

friends with this Josh Lyman

[brookezilla]

I was tagged by @jubileen — ty luv.

Take this test https://openpsychometrics.org/tests/characters/ and share your top ten!

Having my top spot tied between someone in the Aaron Sorkin universe with someone from Nora Ephrons? Goals.

C J Gregg (West Wing) — 86%

Annie Reed (Sleepless in Seattle) — 86%

Sam Seaborn (West Wing) — 84%

Alexis Castle (Castle) — 82%

Angelica Schuyler (Hamilton) — 81%

Sally Albright (When Harry Met Sally) — 81%

Leslie Knope (Parks & Rec) — 78%

Donna Paulsen (Suits) — 75%

Angela Montenegro (Bones) — 73%

Blaine Anderson (Glee) — 70%

Does anyone see a common thread here?

tagging: @sophiedevereavx; @dvrkhcld; @biscuitboxpink; @thatonesquintern13; @modern-day-classic and anyone else who'd like to do this!

[ageofaetheria]

Age of Aetheria: The Trouble With Playing God

THAT’S THE TROUBLE WITH PLAYING GOD:

You can’t. And if you try, you’ll end up dead. Or something like it. Whatever this is. Whatever I am. Nothing.

So, I’d like to start by saying I in no way think I am God and I understand that feeling the need to state this outright is a likely issue in itself, but here we are. Everywhere, nowhere. Here.

This is what I know:

They call it Remembering. It’s not exactly right but it comes close, scrapes the surface of the inarticulable. 

In the instant that it happened, four of us were transported one hundred thousand kileons away to today. Or what we call today anyway. What you may call it. I don’t know. The mechanics of it matter little, and in truth, I don’t know what they are, but the location matters a lot—that much I do know, I think: He threaded them into thin tombs of stone, deep within the Seaborne catacombs sometime before. There, they lie in wait.

Nearby, there is a book. Once buried, His meticulous weaving of aether in an infinitesimal moment unearthed the lost artifact. It, too, waits. I can’t tell you what it is because I don’t know but I have the sense that you do. Or will. So, maybe, eventually, you’ll be able to tell me. I know nothing. 

There were three more of us. Two got stuck Between, both liminal and necessary. And as for me…well, as I said before, I don’t know.

I don’t know anything. In all honesty, maybe you shouldn’t even be listening to me. If I can even be heard. If I am anybody at all. Any body. Nobody. No body. Hmmm.

So, here we are: on this bed or couch, sunlight pouring in from a skylight overhead. His voice comes as it does, uncanny and familiar.

Go, Scarlett.

Scarlett. Is that me? It can’t be. It feels strange to attribute it to myself. It doesn’t quite fit. But then, there is no one else here, besides you—sorry about that. 

Maybe Scarlett was here before us. Maybe this was her home. Maybe she’s still here, hiding somewhere. No, no. That doesn’t seem right. 

I’m the only one here.

So then, it is strange to hear the name upon waking, but now it is all that I know. That, and how she doesn’t live here anymore. Now it’s just the bed-or-couch and the desk-or-table and the maybe-glass walls. Solid black; opaque. And also me. 

My reflection comes into focus as the name—her name—rings in my ears. I try to avoid it, which is impossible because of the walls. I’m everywhere. Do you see a mirror or the face inside of it? He wants me to look at me. He. She. They? I think He’s a man, but maybe not. Is God a man or woman? Either? Neither? Does it matter? He knows. I don’t.

What I do know somehow is that I could have left this place by now only for some reason I can’t. Am I meant to leave? I’m not sure. I don’t believe in coincidence. Too many timely moments and existential accidents to relinquish myself to chance. I’m here on purpose. But—whose?

And know that skylight wasn’t there yesterday if yesterday is something that still exists. And I know I don’t want to be alone right now and my dreams don’t work like they used to. So, all I’ve got is you. I hope that’s okay.

I also know Scarlett was only a child when she did it. She didn’t know any better yet, what would happen, so she can’t be held to blame. Can she? And yet look at where we are. Can’t she? Someone did this. 

And—haven’t I told you? 

This is a cautionary tale: dreams are dangerous.

And life is low hanging fruit, for better or for worse.

There is no order to this story. Not yet, anyway. All of this will change.

So then, let come what may. And then, let it come again.

[waltzingophidian]

I think there's a lot to be said about how the Corazonix itself is a tool that blurs the individual and the environment in the way it gathers data & how that connects to the way Thorns inverts the primary individual desire VS collective repression theme through needing community and belonging in order to unearth his own desires (and, metaphorically, that revelation coinciding with his incorporation of the Corazonix, which connects him to those around him in a physical sense), as well as the idea of Good Leaders as represented through Juana/Anastasio(/Thorns) vs Javier/Silver where ultimately a leader must have their own agenda and vision that can temper the conflicting needs and pressures of their community, much like how the desires of the alchemist temper the raw data of the Corazonix into useful insight.

I think there's also a thread about the relationship between knowledge and desire, which I think relates to the criticism of the criminal as a self-reinforcing social category. Recorded crimes are a kind of institutional knowledge, but where and how the institutions of law pay attention to the actions of their subjects is contingent on past behaviour & presuppositions of what it means about their natures and inclinations. (Anastasio's refusal to allow the pirates to become part of Aarón is another expression of that - the pirates have demonstrated a proclivity for crime through past wrongdoings, which means that it would be unreasonable to allow them the opportunity to avoid future wrongdoing by rejoining normal civic life, which means they ultimately cannot be redeemed. It is ultimately cyclical.)

Going back to the Seaborn, it would also be amiss not to mention that they are also purposed creations through scientific craft (though they are often associated with nature, they are also associated with environmental science esp in Stultifera Navis) and their processes of evolution, assimilation and survival are ultimately in service to reseeding the world with life after all the cataclysms that await Terra. In that sense, they could also be said to have a central driving agenda, though it is unclear how much that agenda is acknowledged and retained within We Many, especially with the degradation of Caerula Arbor.

I love how despite the Seaborn having a very minor role during Exodus from the Pale Sea their presence is still embedded so deeply in every facet of the story. I don't just mean how they're the reason the Pale Sea exists or how one of them appears in the event, but also the way they affect the themes of the story, which applies the Human Individuality vs Seaborn Collective conflict we've already explored in the Abyssal Hunter events to a tale where every part is played by humans.

There's something in the way Anastasio stands against any and all desires, almost word for word quoting Arturia as something that should be fought against at all costs. The way Arturia in turn thought of the Seaborn as boring because they lacked that desire. The way the citizens in this story are so scared of desire, how they fell so deeply on the Inquisition's teachings to survive and try to forget the horror they lived through that even now that much of the danger has passed and the conditions are better they still dare not fill their bellies even if there's food, they dare not buy something that might look fun from the caravans, they dare not wish for anything for themselves, almost every ounce of individuality they once had completely destroyed to the point that when Silver tried lifting the bans and letting them live a better life they couldn't accept it and wanted the prohibitions to come back, readily switching side to Anastasio to get back that familiar sense of comfort and stability the rules gave them even if they had long exhausted their material purpose. The very Inquisition that's so hellbent on eradicating the Seaborn from the land while making speeches about the superiority of human civilization ended up turning the people they swore to protect in something that's not so different from them, or even fully ready to join We Many as seen in other events with the way the Church of the Deep is able to pray on the discontent of the Iberians.

But as Deepcolor once noted in her operator record, it's impossible to completely eradicate your humanity, just like the Priest she talks to couldn't fully become Seaborn due to his curiosity or she couldn't become one because of her artistic passion, and in fact if you look at the conditions of both the citizens and Anastasio, they're all just guided by fear. After all the Seaborn have no concept of guilt or sinning, they're just driven by the instinct to keep the collective going and any of them would readily sacrifice itself for the others and they're shown wanting to free their kin even as they're actively being killed by them - meanwhile Silver trying to help the city by reforming the pirates and making some compromises so that everyone could live better is met by Anastasio with disdain, because his teachings don't allow for real forgiveness except for the one given by death, no matter if "the collective" has to live a life of misery because of it. He values peace of mind above the physical well being of the people in a way that's the farthest you could ever get from We Many, but the way he gets it is by violently eradicating the core difference between us and them. He seeks the embrace of death, deeply mythologizing it like a human would, while being driven by an incredibly powerful directive to live on like a Seaborn would, straight up coming back from the death three times. He's a walking contradiction, and when the event ends with him literally being shown as a mix of both, everything falls into pieces. It's a tale about how self-destructive repressing your wishes and individuality and trying to force everyone to adhere to a single doctrine - trying to live as a seaborn while being human - is.

And of course the final touch is how well all this works as a premise for Arknights to make a story about pirates, because of course even if they're not actual good guys and in fact very violent and did plenty of bad things on screen, they'll forever be a great stand-in for the concept of seeking freedom and following what your heart desires (and in fact the whole plot revolved around the Corazonix, one side wishing for what it promised, the other believing it only brings corruption). Juana and her crew are the other extreme to the Inquisition in the city, people solely guided by their desires to the point they become destructive, and while we had to fight both sides during the event, the final resolution is about accepting them as shown with Thorns's very simple wish that guides him to victory against Anastasio - he just wants to see the ocean. The story ends with the beginning of a straightforward pirate story with Isidro and his fun band of misfits going on an adventure, re-contextualized in a setting where the Profound Silence had long since suffocated any notion of dreaming about the future, any notion of the sea as something you want to admire and explore rather than a place of horror and death as it's always been presented in Arknights up until now.

It's neat.

[divyaramu874]

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[lelandwindsor-blog]

leland can almost count on two hands how long it’s been since he’s seen the son of poseidon. after the assassination attempt, after their small blowout and reconciliation, the demigod of the seas pulled away. maybe it’s for peace of mind, maybe it’s his single minded focus on keeping the others safe. leland isn’t sure, but he’s growing tired of not having someone he considers a friend around. 

so he’s going to fix that. 

he’s balancing a plate in each hand, food piled on with whatever he could grab from the banquet hall. he’s not seen the other for meals, either and that’s only slightly concerning. he makes his way toward lip’s cabin and, with his foot, knocks on the door with three small, but kind of hard, kicks. “lip, it’s leland. open the door and stop avoiding me.”

[unseelieseraph]

I feel like this is part of why Arknights works though. Generally speaking, these sort of serialized soshage love to spin their wheels, and it makes most of the side-content just suck ass. They're largely separate from the actual main plot and really unstructured from the game in general. Arknights is cool because it has way more cohesion. Yeah, the seaborn and laterano and columbia are all in Some Shit, and yeah it weaves together a tapestry that can be somewhat impenetrable, but it gives it way more narrative heft. FGO for having ran for nine and a half years now with some of the most acclaimed visual novel writers of all time has managed to produce, what, maybe three stories of equaling quality to Arknights(Avalon le Fae, Nahui Mictlan, and pick your favorite of CCC/Atlantis/Ooku). And its not like Arknights hasn't done more separate things, even recently. So Long Adele is probably my single favorite story in Arknights, just this incredibly beautiful and well-structured tale that stands with the best of anything Key Visual Arts has put out, and it has basically no connection. Our dear favorite sad catgirl Jessica's event certainly built off a lot of threads, but the actual content itself is self-contained and really captured Jessica's character arc.

As to the apocalypse, I agree a bit inasmuch as Arknights has escalated a little too much, but it also hasn't really fallen into the problem of most where it lacks meaning or isn't really going anywhere. The new seaborn event and Caerula Arbor have largely wrapped up the bulk of the seaborn stuff, Lone Trail capped off a lot of the dread around Rhine Labs, we actually fucking killed the Witch King for real, the Icefields were banished to Endfield(thank god). There isn't that sense of stagnancy like in most serialized narratives of this type.

It does make it harder to get into, for sure, but I also don't know if thats strictly a bad thing. It's hand in hand with the actual gameplay of these games. Someone coming in 4 and a half years into its run is just simply going to have a harder time "catching up", as it were.

Arknights has kinda run into a problem with its long-term storytelling potential where the initial energy that made the game so cool was seeing characters with interesting hooks and then seeing those hooks get fleshed out years later. but now we've explored a lot of the main ones, and all the new operators coming out are largely associated with events, so their plots are already known. and they have largely stopped going back to explore unexplored plot hooks like Mr. Nothing or the Dreambind Castle, so it is just kinda iterating on what we've got established. It's turning slowly inwards and making it harder to jump in unless you have read Everything everything, and that's getting frustrating as somebody who has ADHD and doesn't read every event unless it REALLY compels me

[bobbile-blog]

Okay so considering the end of Il Siracusano, I wanted to put together a list of floating plot threads that might lead to future events, just to get my brain in order. This will be a list of the events and characters involved, as well as a general summary of where things are in these plots in Global.

So, we have:

(Minor spoilers for a lot of Global under the cut, but specifically for some bits at the end of Il Siracusano)

- The main story, obviously, counting both Reunion and Dublinn/Kazdel stuff, as well as stuff like What the Firelight Casts and Vigilo. Not sure how relevant this will be to future side events because it’s already the main plot, but who knows.

- The Feranmut plotline, encompassing Ancient Forge(?)/Who is Real/Invitation to Wine/Where Vernal Winds will Never Blow, featuring Nian/Dusk/Ling/Chong Yue. Updated pretty regularly as the CN new year event. Haven’t been keeping up with this one so I can’t say where we are rn but we’re about to get Vernal Winds anyway so it doesn’t matter much. The short overview is that Yan used to be populated by godlike beings called Feranmuts. Feranmuts fought a war with people, which concluded when a Feranmut named Sui betrayed his people out of a selfish desire to be the only being with the kind of power that Feranmuts possess. When he was discovered, the emperor of Yan (China analogue) split him into 12 fragments which eventually developed their own identities and personalities - these are the Sui siblings, i.e. Nian, Dusk, Ling, Chong Yue, etc. Once all twelve of these siblings meet again, they will reform back into Sui and he will be reborn, and probably take over the world. As such, the current goal is to find a way to prevent the siblings from all waking up and getting back together, and hopefully finding a larger way to prevent Sui’s resurrection.

- Abyssal Hunters and Seaborn, with Grani and the Knight’s Treasure/Under Tides/Stultifera Navis/Mizuki and Caerula Arbor, featuring Skadi/Specter/Gladiia/Kal’tsit. Was updated pretty frequently as an anniversary event, but they seem to have thrown us a big lore dump with Caerula Arbor and left it at that for the time being, which is understandable. The state of the plot at the moment is the Abyssal hunters we have are back together, Specter is back to her old self, they’ve met Ulpian and established an uneasy truce with the Iberian (Spanish analogue) Inquisition, and we’re starting to understand just what Ishar-mla is. Iirc the alternate timelines we see in IS3 are actually shown to the Doctor by Mizuki, so that may play into future events as well.

- Kazimierz, with Maria Nearl/Pinus Sylvestris/Near Light/Obscure Wanderer, featuring Blemishine/Zofia/Nearl/The Followers/Flametail/Ashlock/Fartooth/Wildmane/Justice Knight my beloved/Młynar. This kinda shouldn’t be on this list, because it’s mostly wrapped up, and I don’t expect any more Kazimeirz events for a while. It’s still probably important to summarize though so: Margaret Nearl won the 24th Major and became the Grand Knight, and has since stayed in Kazimierz (Poland analogue) to improve living conditions for the infected and push back against the General Chamber of Commerce. The Armorless Union has mostly been decapitated - the Platinum defected, the Lazurites have disappeared and taken on new identities, and the Darksteel has promised to stay away from Margaret and Rhodes Island. Pinus Sylvestris and most of the rest of the Nearls are now on the landship, working for Rhodes Island.

- Rhine Lab, with Mansfield Break/Dorothy’s Vision/Lonetrail/the second Records of Originium comic (which has an official translation that you absolutely should read it’s really good), featuring Silence/Ptilopsis/Saria/Ifrit/Dorothy/Mulesyse/Ho’olheyak/Kirsten. This is one of the newer plotlines, and my personal favorite. Kirsten Wright, founder and head of Rhine lab, wants to go to space. Ever since her parents were killed in a plane crash, she’s looked at the stars as a goal for humanity and a symbol of the power that science and technology can give us. Unfortunately, in pursuit of that power, she believes the end justifies any means, and the Colombian (America analogue) military-industrial complex definitely isn’t helping things. Kirsten’s disregard of human rights has pushed away the people closest to her, most notably Saria, who left the company after discovering how Ifrit was abused. At the moment, the relationship between Rhodes Island and Rhine Lab is becoming more adversarial because we keep poaching their directors when they see the horrific human rights abuses that they’ve committed. Saria left after the Diαbolic incident, Dorothy left after site 359, and now the Doctor even has Mulesyse thinking about leaving. In addition to that, Saria has finally confronted Kristen and told her in no uncertain terms that she is done working with Rhine lab, which Kristen previously hadn’t fully accepted. Unfortunately, all this has only served to drive her deeper into “the ends justify the means” - rather than accept that she might have been wrong, she’s doubled down on the idea that if she can just achieve her goal and make it to space, they’ll all see how right she was and come back.

- Wolf Fangs, with some hints in the earlier chapters of the main story and being explicitly confirmed in Il Siracusano, featuring Texas/Lapland/Projekt Red/Lunacub. This is the newest of these plots, set up in Il Siracusano and presumably proceeding from there. The Feraerus are supernatural talking animals that we’ve encountered a couple of times throughout the story, like the High Priest or the Emperor. They are connected with the land and are almost akin to guardians of it. They don’t need Originium for their magic, and are tied to the setting in ways we don’t quite understand yet. More importantly to us, though, they’re involved in their own power struggles and contests among each other. This underscored the drama in Il Siracusano - the whole Bellone family was propped up by the wolf Feraerus Zarro as part of an ancient game in which the wolves pick champions, called Fangs, who fight each other in a Battle Royale to decide the pack’s next alpha(debunked study, I know, just roll with it). We know a couple of the fangs - Lunacub is one and Bernardo was another before his death, but Projekt Red is also a Fang, as well as Crownslayer’s mentor, so we’ll probably be coming back to this conflict in the future. Judging by Bernardo’s story and Lunacub’s files, the implication is that a lot of this story is going to revolve around breaking free of these old traditions and systems.

- The Sami Icefields haven’t technically gotten an event yet, besides that one story in Operational Intelligence, but I’m including it as an honorable mention because it looks like we’re going there for IS4. The Icefields are up north of Ursus, and they are terrifying. You remember the Emperor’s Blade, the one that kicks your ass in WD-8? Yeah we only see three of them in the game because the rest are busy fighting against the Eldritch demons constantly invading from the Sami Icefields. Let’s please never go there ever, thanks.

That’s all I can think of in terms of plotlines as of Il Siracusano in AK Global. If there’s anything I forgot or got wrong, tell me and I’ll add it in.

[yashkonu]

How are you finding Stultifera Navis? It seems like it's got a lot of good stuff going on.

it's been a hell of a ride! i've finished what's currently available so this will necessarily have some spoilers. with that in mind:

stultifera navis has been doing one of my favorite things that arknights storytelling does: bringing in a wealth of different and (seemingly, at the start) unrelated story threads and weaving them all into a big thick rope they then gleefully beat you with. a light spark in darkness is a really good encapsulation of how they do this--lots of little stories that all wind together into a totality you couldn't have seen coming from any one perspective.

so in SN, we have lumen, trying to find an identity and a purpose that doesn't put him at odds with his love of his home, even as he learns how little the big overwhelming forces at play there care for him

there's the hunters, still trying to a) sort out what's going on with skadi, b) sort out what's going on with specter, c) not at all in any way address what's going on with gladiia, and d) go home

there's irene (and, behind her and symbolized by her, the whole of iberia), struggling through a crisis of faith that a future for them even exists anymore

and even beyond them, there's the Seaborn, the church of the deep, ulpianus (weirdo (affectionate(?))), AUS, thiago, kal'tsit's endless machinations, and so on. it's a complicated setup! and it's all brought together in a way that's really satisfying.

okay that's enough of big serious plot talk let's get to the core of what i'm here for: homoerotic fish behavior

EVERYTHING between kal'tsit and gladiia is so charged in these minute delicious ways that you really only notice by contrast to how they talk to and about other people. these are women who have lived a long time and NOT spent very much of that time happy and still they have a guiding respect for one another. i know they send each other outlook calendar invites for sex.

gladiia is cold, abrasive, often arrogant, and often right to be arrogant, but she's also been adrift without an anchor for a very long time now. strange things are happening to her body, the hunters she used to command are all but wiped out, she can't get in touch with aegir, and she's not even sure now if she should. someone like kal'tsit who just seems to Know What's Up at all times has to be VERY attractive to her right now. but also she does things like allowing mizuki to keep existing so she's infuriating too.

long story short i'm having a great time! whew this got long

[kinships]

“...”

Silence is his answer as she thinks long about it. She refused to let him become seaborn but if he did….

“I’m living on borrowed time anyway.” She says finally, staring up at him, face and voice softening. Her hand moves to hold his, fingers threading together between his. She made no more moves to get closer, she didn’t want to scare him more. “If you become a seaborn, then…” What's stopping her from drowning with him?

“The monster from my nightmares isn’t you.” Yan Xue holds his hand in both of hers, gentle kisses pressed into his fingers. “The creature doesn’t exist, and never will…even as a Seaborn…” Yan Xue was sure he'd remain as he is now, hivemind be damned. She looks down at the bangle for a minute, not once had she taken it off when he was gone, and even when he returned, still refused to remove it. Slowly, she lets go of his hand, but holds her wrist up to show him.

“Jordi, I don’t care. If I did I wouldn’t have told you I love you. You can’t get rid of me so easily… I’m not going anywhere unless it's with you.”

Fear engulfs the Aegir whole, rendering him mute.

A multifarious amount of scenarios frolic contextually in his head. He likened it to watching a horror movie unfold in slow motion at the theater. The semi-lucid dreams of yesteryear, the self-induced nightmares of days prior, starkly interwoven into the inner patchwork of his subconsciousness. Yan Xue deserved better than the meager qualities he could provide her.

The plethora of questions soon arise. Why? Why lower his own self-esteem? Why build him up, only to break him down again and again?

His chest ached subtly, as he begins retreating into himself. One step forward, two steps back. The restless tide recoiling back into the abyss, and terra firma doggedly pursuing behind. Lumen can run, but he can't hide from her sheer obstinance. Her hand catches his wrist, forcing him to stop dead in his tracks --- a recognizable glint of aureate luring the Aegir's attention to Xue's petite wrist. The gold bangle… his parting gift to Yan Xue before his departure 'home'. Did she wear it this entire time?

Jordi's heart skipped a beat. If this isn't true love, then he doesn't know what is.

❝ Xue... ❞

Her name is mumbled underneath his breath, as the medic endeavors to remain evasive. It's too late. Lumen can't pull away from her, the determination besmirching her countenance enticing him closer, like a moth to an open flame.

She is the open flame, he is the hapless moth flying on wax wings.

❝ Surely, you've heard the circulating rumors. How easily Aegirs can slip into the hivemind, how easily we can be assimilated and turned into seaborn ourselves. We're just a step away from calamity. ❞ Lumen's wrist is slack in Yan Xue's grip, digits trembling. Lately, the nightmares have plagued him incessantly. And he secretly fears that if she releases her grip, he would simply slip away. Into the seafoam, into the abyss where light touches everything and nothing in-between.

❝ Would you still stay by my side if I became one of them? The creature that gave you nightmares. ❞

[twwpress]

Weekly Press Briefing #10 - August 28th - September 3rd

Welcome back to the Weekly Press Briefing, where we bring you highlights from The West Wing fandom each week, including new fics, ongoing challenges, and more! This briefing covers all things posted from August 28 – September 3, 2022. Did we miss something? Let us know; you can find our contact info at the bottom of this briefing!

Challenges/Prompts:

The following is a roundup of open challenges/prompts. Do you have a challenge or event you’d like us to promote? Be sure to get in touch with us! Contact info is at the bottom of this briefing.

The fic drive for reproductive rights is looking for authors to participate in their auction event. Learn more here.

Trope Soup: A Josh/Donna Tropes Fest is open for prompt submissions and claims. Fics will be revealed on September 24. Learn more here.

Big Block of Cheese Day announced its September prompts. Submit to the AO3 collection here. 

The September 20 prompts in 20 days are up on Tumblr.

 Photos/Videos:

May we all prosper in the Janel Employed Era! Here’s what was posted from August 28 - September 3.

Janel Moloney posted a photo of herself on set and announced she’s playing a cop in season 3 of Law & Order: Organized Crime, which premieres September 22. 

Richard Schiff posted pics of his wife and himself over the years for their 26th wedding anniversary. 

Marlee Matlin posted a number of photos on Instagram this week, but highlights include getting tattoos with her daughters and posting a selfie with her husband for their 29th wedding anniversary.

Donna Moss Daily: August 28 | August 29 | August 30 | August 31 | September 1 | September 2 | September 3 Daily Josh Lyman: August 28 | August 29 | August 30 | August 31 | September 1 | September 2 | September 3

No Context BWhit: August 28 | August 28 (2) | August 29 | August 30 | August 30 (2) | August 31 | August 31 (2) | September 1 | September 2

@JanelMilfoney: August 29 | August 29 (2) | August 30 | August 30 (2) | August 31 | August 31 (2) | September 1 | September 2 

Miscellaneous:

@JanelMilfoney tweeted a link to an archived transcript of Janel Moloney’s appearance on The View on June 17, 2002, and a highlight thread of quotes from the interview. 

Creator Spotlight:

Welcome to our weekly creator spotlight. Each week, we will talk to a fandom creator and ask them questions about their work and their process. We’ll also give you the opportunity to ask questions of them, too! Want to be a featured creator? Find us via one of the methods listed at the end of the briefing!

This week’s creator is @sinistercherubs, who both writes and makes edits! You can find the spotlight on tumblr or on twitter.

 Editor’s Choice:

Break out your PSLs and your best light academia looks, September is here! In honor of so many educators and students going back to school this week, we thought we’d share some of our favorite fics with back to school vibes: high school AUs, university AUs, law school AUs, professor AUs, sending the kids back to school fics… there’s SO MUCH in this realm and we know we missed a ton of amazing stuff, so we would LOVE for you to reblog/retweet with some of your favorite back to school fics that we missed!!! 

what if i told you, i feel like i know you? but we never met. by annmeredithperkins | Rated G | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | Complete | Donna Moss meets an unfamiliar face when she knocks on Sam Seaborn’s door for their English project. His name’s Josh Lyman and he’s good at bothering people. High school AU. 

boy quit foolin' around by sam_writes_fics | Rated G | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | Complete | “I don’t follow.”

“It’s detention, Josh, you sit there quietly minding your own business until the bell rings, what did you expect?”

// met in detention au

sometimes it's like you grew up down the street by starsontheceiling | Rated G | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | Complete | Afterwards, he’ll say he did it without thinking and all their friends will laugh at him in disbelief, and he understands why but it’s still true. University AU. 

 I'd Go the Whole Wide World (Just to Find Him) by Lily_Padd_23 for supernatural_mondler (starzinoureyes) | Rated G | Josh Lyman/Sam Seaborn | Complete | Josh meets a cute boy. Law School/Model UN.

Final Exams by shutterbug_12 (shutterbug) | Rated G | Sam Seaborn, Josh Lyman, Toby Ziegler, Ainsley Hayes, Amy Gardner | Complete | One-sentence glimpses of to-be-staffers as law students during finals week.

Professor Josh by cookme25 for JessBakesCakes | Rated G | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | Complete | Josh's first day of school as a professor! Features Mama Lyman, Donna, and cute kiddos!

The Best Lesson by AndAllThatMishigas | Rated T | Abbey Bartlet/Jed Bartlet, Leo McGarry/Annabeth Schott, Josh Lyman/Donna Moss, Will Bailey/Kate Harper, Zoey Bartlet/Charlie Young, Ainsley Hayes/Sam Seaborn  | Complete | Jed Bartlet leads a quiet life as an Economics professor, but everything is turned upside down when he meets Biology professor Abbey Barrington. Features the whole tww gang, though with quite a few twists thrown in. University AU. 

Office Hours by hufflepuffhermione | Rated T | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | Complete | It doesn’t take Josh Lyman long to become one of the most storied professors in the history of Georgetown University.

 when i’m in my sweet daughter’s eyes (my heart is now ruined for the rest of all time) by JessBakesCakes | Rated T | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | Complete | The first day of school in the Moss-Lyman family is, as seven-year-old Nora puts it, a big freakin’ deal. Josh has come to enjoy it as much as the girls do – watching them all take on another school year with (mostly) wonder and excitement fills him with pride.

// the Moss-Lyman family's first day of school

Fics:

Presenting your weekly roundup of fics posted in the tag for The West Wing on Archive of Our Own. If you are so inclined, please be sure to leave the authors some love in the form of kudos or comments. Be mindful of posted warnings/tags for each story.

Josh/Donna

it’s you and me (that’s my whole world) by hanyolo | Rated G | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | In Progress

Healthcare Reform by hufflepuffhermione | Rated T | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | In Progress

And the world spins madly on by Shinyrosa | Rated T | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | In Progress

i hope this pain’s just passing through (but i doubt it) by sam_writes_fics | Rated T | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | In Progress

when i’m in my sweet daughter’s eyes (my heart is now ruined for the rest of all time) by JessBakesCakes | Rated T | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | Complete

darling, so it goes (some things are meant to be) by mikaylawrites | Rated T | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | In Progress

no disorder but the heart's by fairwinds09 | Rated M | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | In Progress

Jed/Abbey

The Weight We Carry Is Love by piratequeenofgreenthings | Rated T | Abbey Bartlet/Jed Bartlet | In Progress

Wait For Me by imperfectirises | Rated M | Abbey Bartlet/Jed Bartlet | In Progress

Holding Hands by Thedoctorsblogger | Rated M | Abbey Bartlet/Jed Bartlet | In Progress

Sam/Josh

nothin' like you by sam_writes_fics | Rated T | Josh Lyman/Sam Seaborn | Complete

Somebody's Going to Emergency, Somebody's Going to Jail by Legends_Never_Die | Rated T | Josh Lyman/Sam Seaborn | In Progress

Other Pairings/Gen Fic

fudge sauce & other persuasions by Ashling for ElasticElla (Set It Up crossover) | Rated G | Ainsley Hayes/Kirsten (Set It Up) | Complete

to whom it may concern by rearviewmirror | Rated T | Jed Bartlet/Leo McGarry | Complete

burnt toast, sunday by fleurfemme | Rated T | Amy Gardner/Donna Moss | Complete

Chosen Family by eowyn_of_rohan | Rated T | Josh Lyman, Sam Seaborn | In Progress

to feel you in my arms by rearviewmirror | Rated M | Jed Bartlet/Leo McGarry  | Complete

i’m yours to keep by fleurfemme | Rated M | Amy Gardner/Donna Moss | Complete

Multiple Pairings

constants and variables by rearviewmirror | Rated T | Abbey Bartlet/Leo McGarry, Abbey Bartlet/Jed Bartlet | Complete

the morning after by rearviewmirror | Rated M | Jed Bartlet/Leo McGarry, Abbey Bartlet/Jed Bartlet | Complete

you're my achilles heel by flowersinapril (Newsroom crossover) | Rated M | Josh Lyman/MacKenzie McHale, Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | In Progress

Paradise City by casliyn | Rated E | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss, Ainsley Hayes/Sam Seaborn, Abbey Bartlet/Jed Bartlet, Zoey Bartlet/Charlie Young, Amy Gardner/Josh Lyman, Helen Santos/Matt Santos | In Progress

The Girl from Madison by Shinyrosa | Rated T | Donna Moss/Sam Seaborn, Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | In Progress

i was seven (and you were nine) by jazzjo | Rated G | C.J. Cregg/Andrea Wyatt, Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | Complete

turning in place by jazzjo | Rated G |  C. J. Cregg/Toby Ziegler, Andrea Wyatt/Toby Ziegler, C.J. Cregg/Andrea Wyatt, C. J. Cregg/Andrea Wyatt/Toby Ziegler | In Progress

There are no second acts in American lives (except when there are) by norahb | Rated T | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss, Sam Seaborn/Original Male Character(s), Josh Lyman/Original Female Character(s) | In Progress

 THE WEEKLY PRESS BRIEFING TEAM CAN BE REACHED VIA THE FOLLOWING METHODS:

Twitter: @TWWPress

Email: weeklypressbriefing@gmail.com

 Feel free to let us know if we missed something, if you have an event you’d like us to promote, or if you have an item that you’d like included in the next briefing!

xx, What’s next?

[booksandwords]

Magus of the Library, Vol. 4 by Mitsu Izumi. Translated by Stephen Kohler

Read time: <1 Day Rating: 5/5

The quote: Libraries amassers of memory galleries dedicated to history's thread and monuments to all life across time.

I finally got my hands on this volume of Magus of the Library, I was so excited when I saw that it was being transferred from the previous reader. This volume gets serious and by the end, everything changes. Essentially, no one is what you think. It's an intriguing ending that I guess I didn't see coming but I should have. The plot of this volume is fairly simple it is Theo trying to find his place in the system he is now in. And realising what he has to do excel and work in the library. The art is still lovely and the plot moves along and a decent place. It does start with a seemingly unrelated side story in which we meet the rather funny Kaz Blak. I'm not going to say while I like him that would ruin the fun. One thing that I do see in it is a great explanation of one underrated aspect of librarianship.

As with the previous volume the intervals between the chapters are all linked. They introduce Theo's classmates. These people, primarily women, are introduced in groups. These groups are done under titles The Banded Few, The Seaborn Souls, The Power of Smile, The Unyielding Majesty, The Harried Handlers, The Ends of the Spectrum, The Markedly Conspicuous and The Guiding Hands. Theo is in the The Banded Few with the only other two male trainees. Each one of these pages has a picture of the trainee and a brief rundown of them. The basic traits of them I mean. It will be very useful later I think. While the characters are distinct on the page, at least individual enough, there are a lot of them and their traits are going to be important.

Among these classmates are some familiar faces and plenty of new ones. I'm so happy that Alv is back. I really like him. He is so easily underestimated and I like his attitude. There is one classmate we haven't met yet "The 27th trainee of this incoming class. A girl yet to bet revealed for reasons that will eventually become clear." I can't think of any obvious reasons why we wouldn't have met her yet. Reasons that she would remain hidden. There is one very, very familiar name among the trainees and it wasn't until I was writing this review that I remembered why. The name is Sophie Schwimm, at 35 and she is the oldest of the trainees. The reason the name is familiar... Sophie Schwimm wrote Kafna of the Wind, the text Magnus of the Library is based on. That is just really interesting to me, this is lore within lore. Sophie survives the trials, training and exams being faced by the class now. I think it gives an idea of where she ends up after graduation too, either Archives or Personnel. I Sophie, I like her attitude and what she represents. Libraries are often a second career for their staff.

[moss-lyman]

no one asked for this prompt, but I saw it and it kind of just fell out of me.

J/D set post-series. rated F for fluffy.

“Did you think I’d leave without a kiss?”

Donna’s in a bad mood.

She’s been in one as soon as she woke up this morning to an empty bed and a note from Josh that he’d gone to work early. It had gotten worse when she called for a cab only to hit bumper to bumper traffic due to a protest happening downtown. She has the cabbie get as close as he can, but it’s already almost 8 and she can’t wait anymore, so she hops out in the rain that’s starting to come down and trudges the last half mile in her heels.

When she finally makes it to the White House, she’s got a run in her pantyhose, her feet are like blocks of ice, and her hair is frizzing. Her assistant doesn’t say anything as she rounds into her office, and Donna slams her briefcase on her desk a little too hard. She takes off her shoes and her pantyhose and sets her heels by the little heater in the corner to try and dry the insoles as she roots around her desk for some thigh highs.

“Donna,” her assistant calls. “You have a meeting with the Education Secretary in ten minutes.”

“Thanks,” she mumbles and rolls the material up her cold legs. “Has Josh stopped by this morning?”

“No, but I saw Sam. I think they’re both on the Hill today before they leave for Oregon tonight.”

Donna freezes. She forgot he was leaving for the weekend. Her mood darkens. “Will you see if he has any time today? I’m gonna be busy with education until lunch.”

Her assistant nods and walks out of the office, leaving Donna alone again, thankfully fully clothed once more. She grabs her heels, grimacing when the heat wears off and they squish beneath her, and she grabs her files before heading to the meeting room. “Have someone bring me a muffin and a large black coffee, please!” she calls to her assistant before she rounds the corner and out of sight.

* * *

Her day goes from worse to horrible when her meeting with the Secretary of Education doesn’t give her what she and Helen want. She comes out of the meeting even more mad than she was this morning with cold feet, and stomps to her office where she still has no message from Josh or five minutes with him on her schedule. She doesn’t have any time to be to fester though as she has to go with Helen to one of the public libraries for a reading.

The sky seems to want to match her mood, dark and gloomy with heavier rain falling as they’re ushered into the mini motorcade.

“How’d the meeting go?” Helen asks cheerily and Donna only has to give her a look before she retreats. “That bad, huh.”

“They went back on almost every promise they made me last week because of a meeting with the west wing yesterday. I’m gonna kill Sam Seaborn when I see him next.”

Helen chuckles. “Maybe don’t say that too loud around Secret Service.”

“Actually... Marjorie?” Donna asks, leaning forward. “Can I borrow your taser?”

Marjorie’s lips quirk. “Sorry, ma’am. Special training required.”

“If I slip you a $20 can you just give him a little shock? A small jolt is all I need... A warning shot.”

Helen laughs. “You’re awfully feisty today.”

“Sorry,” she grumbles and sits back in her seat. “I’m in a bad mood.”

“Josh do something?”

“We would have to see each other for that to be an issue.”

“Ah,” Helen says, nodding in understanding.

“Yes. So if his office doesn’t return my request for five minutes today, I’ll be needing that taser for him, too.”

“He and Sam are gone all weekend, right?”

“Yes,” Donna grumbles again and Helen pats her knee.

“I’ll try and read quickly so we can get back to the White House before they leave.”

* * *

The reading actually runs 20 minutes over because the kids had about a million questions on caterpillars and how they turn into butterflies. By the time they get back to the White House, Donna’s on the verge of tears because her shoes got wet again and one of the kids accidentally dumped melted ice cream on her skirt.

She shuts the door to her office and tries to take deep, calming breaths before she has a full blown tantrum. Her irritation is shot up again when there’s a knock at her door.

“Not now, Sophie,” she calls. “Take a message.”

Her door opens anyway and she’s about to take off her shoe and throw it at her assistant when she hears “it’s not Sophie”. She turns around to see Josh standing in her doorway.

“Where have you been?”

He laughs a little when he’s fully in the office and can see her properly. “What’s on your skirt?”

And that’s all it takes for the dam to break. The day catches up to her and she just loses it, her eyes filling up and spilling over. She starts to walk over to her desk, but Josh grabs her hand and pulls her to him, wrapping her up in a big hug.

“Hey, c’mere. What’s wrong?” he murmurs, kissing the side of her head as she cries into his shoulder.

She doesn’t say anything, just gets mascara all over his shirt and hugs him tight as she lets out her frustrations. He doesn’t try to say anything else, only rocks her gently and rubs her back. They stay that way for a solid five minutes until Donna finally gets a hold on her emotions and leans back. She knows her eyes are red and blotchy, but she doesn’t care. She’s missed him and her day has been awful, so he can just deal with it.

“I didn’t think I’d get to see you before your flight took off.”

He looks at her a little incredulously. “Did you really think I’d leave without a kiss goodbye?” Her eyes widen as he tucks her hair behind her ear and wipes under her eyes with his thumbs before tipping her face back so she’s looking at him. “I’ll always make time for that. I promise.”

She holds onto his wrists and sniffs again. “I’m all gross now.”

“Don’t care,” he murmurs and he brings her forward so he can kiss her. She sighs and slumps against him as he deepens it, moving one hand to thread into her hair before leaning back. “I love you,” he whispers and kisses her gently again. “Call me when you’re in bed later. We’ll still be in the air.”

“Okay,” she says, still completely pliant in his hands and it makes him grin.

“You have a spare skirt in that closet,” he reminds her, pointing to the small wardrobe in the corner. “Dylan’s taking you home in the car, so you don’t have to worry about the rain or a cab. Take a hot bath when you get home ‘cause you feel like an icicle.” He rubs up and down her arms to create friction. “There’s a really good bottle of red in the fridge, so, you know, feel free to drink it and then give me a call.” He smirks and she smiles for the first time all day. “And maybe I can work you through some frustrations from 30,000 feet.”

Her grin grows smug and she wraps her arms around him again. “I love you,” she murmurs. “Thanks for making me feel better.”

He kisses the side of her head again. “That’s what I’m here for.” He gives her one more peck before detangling himself from her arms. “I gotta go.”

“Okay.”

“I was serious about that wine.”

She hums. “And drunk dialing you?”

“It’s a long flight. I’ll be more than happy to walk you through some late night sexual scenarios.”

Donna puts her tongue in her cheek as he gives her a smug grin and turns around to head for the wardrobe. “Get out of here. They’ll leave without you.”

“Donna?” She turns again to look at him as he leans against her open door. “I’m sorry you had a bad day.”

She looks up at him, with his sweet smile, and thinks to herself that if five minutes with Josh can turn a day like today all the way around — she’ll be okay.

“Eh,” she shrugs and gives him a knowing smile. “It wasn’t so bad in the end.”

[hyaciiintho]

@box-of-characters​ said: [ entwine ] 8) ⚘                  word prompts compilation || ❀ (No longer accepting !!)

     It had been silent on the deck that night, ship docked and awaiting the sun’s rays before The Navigator would return to sea on yet another long journey. Despite the captain’s gaze fixated on dark waters below, however, Link could clearly HEAR the other’s approach long before he felt the other’s presence at his side. Takumi’s company was a welcomed one, greatly so, especially on nights like this where the blond felt restless.

     Then he felt fingers graze his own, threading together neatly and filling him with such WARMTH that his response had been near instantaneous      His lips tugged into a gentle smile, switching the hand to hold the merman’s own, so instead, he could wrap the nearest arm around the other and tug him close. Cheek pressed into the seaborn’s shoulder momentarily, before lips found their mark there instead.

     Link breathed in saltwater air, and suddenly, all was RIGHT in the world.

     “Can’t sleep either, my precious pearl?” He murmured, planting yet another gesture of affection against Takumi’s cheek. “Or have you come to whisk me away to bed? Perhaps I could be swayed if you asked nicely~” Came the light teases, already feeling the beginnings of sleepiness begin to take him. Funny how a single person’s mere PRESENCE could awaken an ocean’s worth of soothing emotion within you.

     Takumi should know already that he would take no SPECIAL amount of persuasion... After all, the merman had the captain wrapped around his pretty little finger      thoroughly.

[taurusborus]

someone translated more of the under the tides event on reddit if you're interested in reading wtf is going on.

I'll also add it under this in case it's easier to read.

Warning, if you don't want to leave the slightest bit of surprise for yourself when the event hits global, TURN BACK NOW!!

I made a comment thread yesterday with a story summary. However, I still left out a lot of things, so I thought I'd make a new post, add in more info about plot I left out, organize the Q&A from the thread, and link to the TLs of the new units. Hopefully a centralized hub of info will help people find the information they're looking for and dispel any of the more wild hearsay floating around.

This will be organized into a few sections, the new unit TLs, my original story summary, a bunch of (my new summaries) separate plot threads that tie into the bigger story, and then some common questions.

Skalter profile + lines TL

Gladiia profile + lines TL

Event CGs

Some good supplemental information about the seaborn hivemind

A much longer summary of each stage, 11 pages - courtesy of Lauli. If you want to know more about the townspeople, Inquisitors, and details on Kal'tsit's end conversation with the Inquisitors, take a look.

The original summary I made yesterday, the fastest crash course on the major story points. I have edited some of the references of the new factions to match the updated TLs from MrSkyblock404 so there's no confusion:

First of all, if you've ever read the manga Claymore, you now understand most of the event. Key differences are that the "Organization" is Aegir. They don't SEEM to be the villains here, and they went the Claymore route to fight the sea horrors fully knowing that their Claymores will eventually awaken into the sea horrors that need to be put down.

The "secret" of the Abyssal Hunters is that Aegirians created them as supersoldiers with the bodies of land dwellers but the blood of sea horrors. More on that down below.

The seaborn is part of the underwater cosmic horror hivemind that's been foreshadowed since the start of the game. Its interest is in learning, evolving, and assimilating everything (a la Evangelion's instrumentality more like end goal of Starcraft's zerg). It's acts primitively... robotic? It doesn't understand things like emotions and "Does not compute. We will learn what you mean" is a large part of its exposition. The church in the town is actually the Deep Sea Church hiding in Iberia and slowly indoctrinating remote towns and turning the people to sea horrors. The ending convo with Kal'tsit implies that Iberia is now completely infiltrated by the cult and if they maintain an isolationist policy, they will be destroyed like Aegir.

The seaborn shows up to impale Gladiia, and reveals the big "you [Abyssal Hunters] and I share the same blood. You are us. We are you." Skadi has a mental breakdown over the truth bomb ("I've killed my own transformed family and friends" etc. Glossing over the specifics, just know she doesn't take some past war trauma well), and it seems like the seaborn can somehow "awaken" the blood and turn Abyssal Hunters like Skadi into one of them.

Skadi is right about to awaken [and probably become Skalter, that seems to be the general consensus on CN forums right now, Skalter = Skadi if she gives in to the call] when Gladiia reveals she was sandbagging (yay superhuman regen abilities) so she could listen in on why the seaborn wanted to meet Skadi so badly. Since the seaborn revealed everything, Gladiia promptly kills it and tells Skadi to get her shit together. Skadi gets her shit together. As the seaborn dies, it says its people will learn to understand everything the Abyssal Hunters have told it, and then they will ask them to join the family again. Also, Specter is now free from whatever "control" the Deep Sea Church exerted over her, she's elated over being "free" now. She's still infected but compared to her previous half-dream state, she considers it a minor setback.

Then there's the Deep Sea Church leader dude who had no idea Hunters were also of seaborn blood and also has a mental breakdown. His entire life's work and dream is shattered because the cult crap he made up believed in is a lie, and the seaborn don't put any special weight on his existence and work. He turns into the SV-9 giant tentacle demon that the 3 Musketeers take down. Before he dies, he curses Gladiia and says some ominous things about how she's different and unlike the other 2, her fate is set. Then in the scene with the mirror, she's shitting on herself for being useless and still ending up like an ugly little bitch. The mirror closeup shows part of her neck starting to look like fish scales, so it seems like she's already undergoing the sea horror transformation.

The town situation

The town has fallen on hard times, and the Deep Sea Church has slowly indoctrinated the population with Iberian values twisted into a pro-seaborn slant. These towns become experimentation grounds for the Church and seaborn. Gladiia confirms that she's been busy destroying many of these experiment grounds. The Church now provides the town with food from the sea when the tide comes. There is also a human sacrifice chosen by lottery, which the Church disguises as "the sea has chosen you to take into its embrace and provide a better life." Kind of like how parents tell their kids their dead dog went to live on a farm. The brainwashed people genuinely believe they have a better life and see it as the greatest honor.

The "food" the sea provides are the "dormant" state of severely injured Dinichthys, which regress into a more resilient meaty form while it recovers. This dormant state is edible (ugh) and what the people harvest during the tide. The unlucky human sacrifice walks into the tide to be eaten by the Dinichthys and thus what the sea giveth, it ultimately taketh.

I would like to note that the Church leader has made an appearance before this event. He has a substantial role in one of the story scenes in Archetto's event. I won't ruin the surprise, but if you pay attention to the setting, you'll know which scene it is before he shows up.

Deep Sea Church agenda and the seaborn

The Deep Sea Church are likely the major instigators of this major "sea vs land" conflict. According to the seaborn that shows up in the Church, the general seaborn population are territorial and generally abide by the animal instinct of survival of the fittest, there is no right or wrong if you kill to survive. The seaborn's behavior and inability to lie show that they indeed don't give a damn about individual seaborn, the Church's plans, or even the Church leader.

Distinction needs to be made between the general seaborn population and the seaborn used by the Church, the latter which could be artificially created. The Church leader is Iberian, but somewhere along the way managed to become part seaborn, which is why the seaborn will listen to him. Being part seaborn allows him to "weaponize" the true seaborn population for his own agenda.

The seaborn themselves indeed have a goal to evolve and and expand (from Skalter's profile). But to what degree the Terra conflict can be attributed to seaborn passive expansion vs. the Deep Sea Church's hostile accelerationism is not clear.

Thus, there's an interesting 3-way disparity between how the conflict is perceived.

* Abyssal Hunters: believes all seaborn must be eradicated * Seaborn: not really interested in the conflict * Church: "it is the will of seaborn to subjugate all"

Regardless, Gladiia has constantly repeated she doesn't give a shit about the seaborn's role in the Church's schemes. Her duty is to kill seaborn, and she's not going to discriminate.

Kal'tsit creates a cliffhanger every time she shows up at the end of any event

After the church-leader-turned-giant-tentacle-demon is killed, its enormous corpse is like a beacon calling to all the Dinichthys zerglings to swarm the area. The 3 Musketeers are like "ok fuck what now" and Kal'tsit swoops in with perfect timing to call Mont3r to completely destroy and bury the ground and its secrets.

She's here to direct the 3 Musketeers to leave Iberia and rendezvous with Misery to go back to RI for a vacation (yes, she actually says they get vacations). The Inquisitors also show up to stop everyone, and after giving them her usual condescending finger-wag-and-lecture, she offers to stay as hostage/information source in an Abyssal Hunter's stead. Her agenda is to convince the Iberian powers to ask for help instead of maintaining an isolationist policy. If they continue to keep it internal, they will be destroyed like Aegir.

She has some atypical kind words for the 3 Musketeers before they leave. To Skadi, she makes a throwback to some cryptic bullshit she said in Grani event. To Specter, she makes some banter about her newfound freedom and moving forward knowing her body's state.

And then it turns out she and Gladiia planned for almost everything before the Skadi sets off for Saltwind City.

The state of Iberia and Aegir

Aegir is pretty much sunken Atlantis. Gladiia says that there's no communication in and out of Aegir after the Calamity.

The Abyssal Hunters were created as just one small piece of Aegir's military power. Aegirians are fully aware of the Abyssal Hunters' eventual fate to turn into the enemy, and have special patrols out to monitor and kill any who turned. The seaborn confirms that they had nothing to do with those deaths. The people Skadi killed and watched get killed, those were all done by her own people. This does not help her mental state.

Iberia has likely attempted to replicate Aegir's Abyssal Hunters. We don't have story on the result of this project, but based on clues in her profile, Andreanna might have some connection to it.

In Kal'tsit's "I know everything" exposition, she states that Iberia once had a prosperous Golden Age, and is now a shadow of its former glory. As stated before, the Deep Sea Church has also infiltrated all levels of Iberian government. Thorns' profile says he left because of "religious strife" and how in recent years treatment of Aegirs in Iberia has gotten worse. All the breadcrumbs are building up to Iberia potentially getting the same kind of Calamity that destroyed Aegir. (See Skalter page's TL note on Calamity.)

Bunch of misc info that don't really fit anywhere else, from yesterday's thread Q&A

It's established that Abyssal Hunters are not allowed to bleed, especially on land. The seaborn says the swarms of cannon fodder zerglings can smell the "same blood" on the Abyssal Hunters. But they're a bit stupid, so their brains only know "this is the blood of my kind, but why is it trapped inside hooman skin?" instead of recognizing it's not a trapped comrade.

Their attacks on Abyssal Hunters are attempts to "free" their kind from the trappings of hooman skin. The more the Hunters bleed, the more frenetic the swarms get, because they know they are getting closer to freeing them.

If you are a Specter fan, you will absolutely love the scenes after she wakes up. The ensuing conversations show that the Abyssal Hunters cherish their close connections like everyone else, despite their usual "stay away from me I'm dangerous" vibes. I really hate how Specter's operator record turned out, and I'll keep salting about it, but this event really did her justice.

Question: Is story Skadi already Skalter? She is wearing the same clothes.

Answer:

No, and this is the biggest misconception that needs to be cleared. At no point in the story does Skadi fully awaken. She comes close but pulls back just in time. The in-universe reason Skadi changes into her wandering songstress wardrobe is that she needs a box carrying her "instruments" (her sword and Specter's chainsaw) and to avoid suspicion while sneaking into Saltwind City. There are two high ranked law enforcement officers (something like that) after her, who know she's an Aegir and a possible threat. In story, she's still guard Skadi. Devs probably wanted to keep the red getup on Skalter to differentiate between the two units.

Question: Why did the seaborn want to meet Skadi so badly?

Answer:

It's not entirely clear thanks to hYpErGRyPh oBtUsE wRiTinG. Every time the sea heir talks about how much it wanted to meet Skadi and perhaps why, Skadi or cult leader interrupt with their mental breakdown monologue. My interpretation of its reasons is a combination of desire to share knowledge with her (learning is constantly repeated as a goal of the sea horrors), extend an invitation to join the hivemind, and ask a question, explained below.

There are flashbacks to this one suicide mission she and her Abyssal Hunter squad had against one particular sea horror. Her entire unit died and she barely made it out after landing a fatal strike on it. Based on Skadi's mental breakdown, it sounds like that sea horror is like the Zerg Overmind, a central connection for the sea horror hive mind.

There's some exposition about how the Overmind isn't really dead, and it's gone into Hibernation Mode because though it no longer responds to communication, the sea horrors can still feel its pulse.

His specific question was whether Skadi heard the Overmind say anything before it went dormant. More Skadi breakdown, because she did. It said (rough TL) "[our] suffering is eternal." The "our" is ambiguous. It could be referring to Skadi and the Abyssal Hunters, since she's the one narrating, or it could be the Overmind and the sea horrors, who Skadi is repeating. I'm leaning toward the Abyssal Hunters since "being abyssal hunter is suffering" has been a core takeaway of this event.

And then Gladiia stops playing dead and kills off our sole source of Aegir lore :)

Question: Is Skalter/Under Tides canon?

Answer:

The events that happen in Under Tides is canon. Skalter's canon status is in existential limbo. As MrSkyblock404 has reiterated, devs have directly said Skalter is a POSSIBLE future in which Skadi gives into the call.

Question: But isn't the fate of every Abyssal Hunter to eventually turn into Seaborn?

Answer:

Technically yes. The call will never fade, so the moment it overpowers the Abyssal Hunter's will to resist, it will have won. But I say technically because the other side of the tug-of-war is the Abyssal Hunter's own willpower. There are hints scattered throughout that their fates aren't set in stone. As Gladiia said to Skadi in her "get your shit together" moment, if you don't want to become a seaborn, then you won't. Not to mention, they can always ask to be killed by another's hands before they fully turn, so they can die as "themselves". This is like the black card system in Claymore. Skalter's E2 promotional record also has this part:

Well, but that's not what I want to say to you today. What I want to say is that when they want to acquire a structure, they transform in that direction.

Skadi, since those creatures can become what they want to be of their own volition ...... Then you can also not become a certain way by your own will. You can do what you want to do.

For example, an Abyssal Hunter. Or, a little more freely, a bounty hunter.

The seaborn as a collective are naturally able to "focus" their evolution toward a specific direction. So as an individual, Skadi should also have a degree of control over what she does and doesn't want to become. Gladiia is implied to still be undergoing transformation despite her obvious obstinance, but the Deep Sea Church leader says she's different from the other 2 and her fate is sealed. As one of the first Abyssal Hunter prototypes, Gladiia might not be able to resist like the later Hunter prototypes.

If you made it this far, nice job! I hope that helps the EN community understand the tsunami of information that got dumped on us in the event.

If there are questions, post in the comments and I will do my best to answer them. Corrections to information in this thread and swapping notes with other CN readers are very welcome!

EDIT: Removed the spoiler bars since I got feedback that it was annoying to click on each paragraph. I've also added a new section "Deep Sea Church agenda and the seaborn" to clarify all the relationships defined in the story.

Also loving the connections the comments are making to other media. I personally made this post because I am a massive Claymore fan. Seconding one commentor, I highly recommend Claymore, it's a gem that's passed a lot of manga readers' radars. I'm also giving Bloodborne and Dragon Age a shot after the event.

EDIT 2: Thanks to the awesome ak-lore group on the official Discord, I've since made a number of corrections on key points. They are in the sections The town situation, Deep Sea Church agenda and the seaborn, and The state of Iberia and Aegir.