#Seaborn

[taffypointby]

recent ocf refs...... my artfight btw if anyone is wondering

[theurlgoeshere]

I can't believe on the monsterfucker website that I've not seen anyone in the Arknights community talking about this MILF.

[flatwoodphantom]

She's everything. . . They're just Kens. . .

Idk i just wanted to draw them in my space dnd universe bc the brain rot came back

[haveyoureadthisbook-poll]

[tsubakkyy]

Twisted Wonderland Arknights!AU HCs Part 2: Octavinelle

The continuation of my TWST Arknights!AU headcanons. This time would be my favorite as well as the longest one I made because I'm biased. Basically this is the one that sparks the ideas of these HCs.

I present you our beloved cunning and sly fish people: Octavinelle!

Disclaimer:

English is not my first language and this post is so self-indulgent I don't even think much about the grammar or such so bear with me and my messy writings.

Pardon any lore inaccuracies of both games. Feel free to correct me if you find any.

Since the Octatrio are all merfolks, that means in Arknights universe they all fall into one race category:

Aegir

Aegirs are basically the fish people of Arknights, but they're not mermaids even though they're based on various marine animals such as fish, cephalopods, crustaceans, cetaceans, etc.

This race doesn't really have any distinct physical characteristics so they seem like normal human, but their skin are more susceptible to dry temperature and they can breath underwater.

They originated from an underwater civilization by the same name. The civilization was inspired from the legendary lost city of Atlantis in our world, but culturally they were based on the social and political settings of Ancient Rome.

They are known to be more advanced than any earth-dwelling civilizations in Terra in terms of technology and knowledge. Aegirians also have a culture of paying extra attention to aesthetics and they are known to be good at visual and performance arts. They even often use songs as a mean of communication.

Meanwhile in TWST, we've got the Coral Sea. Though it is implied that unlike Aegir, Coral Sea seems to be technologically less advanced than the land-dwelling civilizations in Twisted Wonderland. However the cultural aspects of art, particularly music, kinda match with the cultural setting of Coral Sea where the Octatrio came from as the trio often tell us how music is quite an integral part of life in the Coral Sea.

Now, let's imagine the Octavinelle trio as Aegirians!

Azul Ashengrotto | Octopus-based Aegir

It took me quite a while to determine which species of octopus he could be based on. My best guess is he could be based on the giant Pacific octopus (Enteroctopus dofleini). This came from that time Floyd mentioned that Azul in his merform is huge, even bigger than the tweels despite him being shorter than them in his human form.

Jade & Floyd Leech | Moray Eel-based Aegir

I can't find any moray species that has their signature turquoise colour, but based on their huge body size and the characters they're twisted from which are Jetsam and Flotsam, I think the best referenced species for them is the giant moray eel (Gymnothorax javanicus).

°‧🫧⋆.ೃ࿔:･🫧°‧🫧⋆.ೃ࿔:･°‧🫧⋆.ೃ࿔:･°‧🫧⋆.ೃ࿔:･🫧🫧

Bonus 1: Abyssal Hunters

When thinking about Arknights!AU, I often imagined that the trio could be a part of this special Aegirian battle squad called the Abyssal Hunters.

They're are basically Aegir's super-soldiers. They're hybrids that were made through experiments of genetical mutation done by infusing the blood and cells of seaborn into their body. They've got superhuman physical strength, endurance, and speed, but they can't use arts (magic-like power in Arknights universe).

And they are made to fight the seaborns itself.

Abyssal Hunters usually have white hair and red eyes, a sign of a their merging with the Seaborn. Though it seems like there are also some Abyssal Hunters who don't possess such traits, but they are rare. They also have a signature uniform and hat, they also often use huge melee weapon to fight.

Now, I can't imagine the Octatrio with white hair, like, it kinda doesn't suit them at all me think. But I REALLY want to see them in the hunters' uniform. Especially the twins since they already have the physical strength. I think Floyd could use a scythe and Jade a rapier or an axe. Azul may not have the strength as much as the twins, but I still bet he gonna look so good in their uniform lol.

°‧🫧⋆.ೃ࿔:･🫧°‧🫧⋆.ೃ࿔:･°‧🫧⋆.ೃ࿔:･°‧🫧⋆.ೃ࿔:･🫧🫧

Bonus 2: Seaborn

First of all, seaborns are sea monsters coming from the abyss of oceans and they have been Aegir's biggest enemy for centuries. They can evolve incredibly fast and possess the ability to independently mutate their own cells which makes them highly adaptable to changes around them.

Seaborns live with a hive mind/collective consciousness called��'We Many' and they consider any other organism that is not part of 'We Many' as a threat to their survival. Thus, they make themself a mission to annihilate any other forms of life or turning them into their kin.

This could be done with their ability to fuse their cells into other creatures, turning them into another seaborn by consuming the organism or the other way round. Yes, they can modify someone physically and psychologically over time to adhere to the hive mind. For the victim, they can try to retain their consciousness, but it will become harder and harder the more they change to resemble a seaborn. Some even ended up in madness just before they completely turned into a seaborn.

The Octatrio's merfolk form often reminds me (close enough) of the seaborns, especially Azul's overblot form. If they live in Arknights universe and through some unforunate events got turned into seaborns, they could be one of the sentient ones with advanced intelligence. They'd be the more dangerous kind than most seaborns, which are more animal-like and most of the time non-sentient and unintelligent.

°‧🫧⋆.ೃ࿔:･🫧°‧🫧⋆.ೃ࿔:･°‧🫧⋆.ೃ࿔:･°‧🫧⋆.ೃ࿔:･🫧🫧

And that's all for Octavinelle! As always I appreciate any of you who somehow stumbled yourself into this blog and spend some of your time to read my yappings.

Next part:

[day-at-rhodes-island]

My main issue with the seaborn is that they are the least interesting part of the situation they are in, and the fact that they have been given center-stage is frankly criminal.

As always, this is my opinion and not objective fact, but I'm right and would die on this hill.

Let us imagine for a moment that literally nothing is different except that Skadi killing Ishar'mla worked, and all the sacrifices of the abyssal hunters actually did something (we'll get back to this). The only seaborn left are in scattered groups, cut off from we many, that occasionally get attracted to the Abyssal hunters so Hypergryph has an excuse to use those game mechanics.

The first theoretical abyssal hunters event is fairly similar to the Under Tides we do get. It focuses on introducing Iberia and exploring how the inquisition rules with an iron fist even after the danger has passed. Talk about the mass killing of AEgirians and how the terrified communities just let it happen. Glaadia is smitten by Kal'tsit, we get to meet Laurentina, roll credits.

The second abyssal hunters event is about exploring the golden days of Iberia before the profound silence as the Abyssals search for a way to safely return home. Focus on how the partnership with the AEgirians made them strong, and how the inquisition rose to power in the chaos and fear of the silence. They eventually find an old ship and after fighting off the obligatory small swarm of sea terrors set off to finally go home.

The third abyssal hunters event introduces us to the Atlantean AEgirian civilization. It explores the program that created super soldiers with an early expiration date, and how the political situation in AEgir allowed it. People get mad at the abyssals for attracting yet another group of sea terrors. The boss is what is left of an abyssal hunter fully lost to the transformation (perhaps this is a good time to introduce The First To Talk?).

That would be better right? I mean most of what I've described (for the first two) is actually in Under Tides and Sultifera Navis, it just gets overshadowed by the focus on the big spooky ocean monsters and how big and spooky they are.

So, enough talking about what could have been, let's talk about what is, and why it's bad enough that it got me thinking about this in the first place.

The seaborn have no personality. This is intentional. Practicing art and maintaining a sense of self is how the abyssals we do meet have managed to last this long, their self expression literally protects them from the consuming uniformity of we many. This is not, on it's own, a problem.

The fact that this is true and that the seaborn are treated in the story as the antagonist is crazy. They could have been presented in a 'man against nature' conflict sort of way, providing a situation in which the protagonists could shine on their own. Unfortunately, they didn't even do that, as is clearly shown by The Bishop and Amaia.

The most compelling enemies in Under Tides and Sultifera Navis are the church of the deep. You know, the characters that aren't seaborn. Arknights likes having complex villains, and nothing is a less complex character than a seaborn (again, by design!) so they have to bring in characters that aren't seaborn. Just don't make the seaborn the focus in the first place!

Also, by presenting the seaborn as a genuine threat they are giving justification to the Inquisition and the Abyssal Hunter project. I know there are scenes that are meant to show that these things were actually bad, but they're a bit hard to get behind when you have a whole fucking game mode set in an alternate future timeline where the seaborn are an existential threat to all other forms of life.

Another issue with going 'the seaborn are still a genuine threat' is that all the shit Skadi and the other abyssals went through apparently didn't do much, I guess. It feels like they are retroactively ruining a story we didn't even get the chance to enjoy.

I'm going to cut myself off here. There's more narrative nitpicks I have about the seaborn (Like how, just because they don't have personalities doesn't mean they have to be boring, and yet!) but they get even more into how it was executed rather than fundamental issues, and this is long enough as it is.

In conclusion: If the next abyssal hunters event's main story is 'there are spooky seaborn doing bad things, got to go stop them' again, I'm going to scream.

Part 2

[luckypanda17]

Add me if you want to borrow abyssal hunters ^^

I have a lot of friend slot open now ever since they expanded our list. Decided to make my account Aegir themed for path or life 🐟

[heretichromia]

Gla-dia.

[davesanalytics]

CORRECTED: Causes of Death In Infants.

My apologies. The previous "Causes" plot had the data reversed. Here is the correct plot.

[sarahmeeps]

4 & 5 & 15 for Hollis, Lavinia, and Knack (or Vespa, your choice!)

Also, who tf is Seaborn?? Have we talked about Seaborn?? Lolol. My memory is so bad these days.

4. How do they act when they’re sick, and does it change depending on who they’re around or how sick they are?

Hollis has been on her own for a very long time and is a lot like a stray cat when she’s sick. She prefers to hide it until she absolutely can’t, and then she would rather slink off into an alleyway to die in peace than let someone take care of her.

Lavinia was a healer during a plague at a very young age. She has a better idea than most of how bad things can get, and with that knowledge, she struggles to let herself rest and heal because “others have it way worse.” She’ll push herself to keep going until her momma, her brother, or her best friend convince (or order) her to slow down, but then she’ll let them baby her as much as they want.

Knack… God, I bet Knack is the most insufferable whiner when she’s sick. It’s so boring, there’s nothing to do, I’ve read this book already, how am I supposed to learn anything new when I’m stuck here in bed sneezing my head off???

Vespa is stoic about it like Hollis, but the difference is, Vespa takes care of herself. She makes herbal teas and remedies, and she’ll accept help when it’s offered.

5. What’s one hill your OC will die on (anything from a guiding moral position to a strong opinion about combining mint and chocolate)?

Hollis- Freedom is her most precious possession. No one will ever take it from her again.

Lavinia- People are more important than countries. Too many leaders have lost sight of that.

(I don’t have a good answer for Knack and Vespa)

15. How does your OC take up space? What do they do with their hands when they talk, or how do they sit in chairs?

Hollis takes up space casually: long legs stretched out under the table, arm draped over the back of her chair, but she’ll lean toward you when you talk, rest her elbows on the table, trace her knuckle across her bottom lip when she’s thinking. She doesn’t think about the way she moves, she just is.

Lavinia was always an active child, running everywhere, spinning circles, climbing trees, and always a little Too Much for respectable halfling society. Then she spent her teenage years as the only halfling in a temple full of Tall Folk, where she learned to take her natural vigor and amplify it to prevent being overlooked. Her movements are deliberate, and, if she feels she’s being ignored, exaggerated. For a while, when she felt like everything she touched ended in failure and shame, she shriveled inward instead.

Knack is physically twiggy, but she is that girl who sets up at the library with seven open books in front of her, a laptop that she’s ignoring in favor of a sparkly notebook and feathered pen, and a fun little drink and a snack (which isn’t allowed, but who is going to tell her that when she turns on the charm?). This table is hers. Find your own.

(Seaborn was a character made for a 3.5 game that never got off the ground. I rarely talked about her because I always hoped we'd play it someday, and I didn't want to spill all her secrets. But I posted her backstory here a while back)

[the0phrastus]

Hoping to see some of you at Boskone 62 in February! I'll be on a few panels--details as the program is finalized toward the end of the month.

[last-to-walk]

Help!

We went for a swim in a Sargon river and we ended up buried in gold and jewels! We are uninjured, but we are stuck and we need to pick up our racing slugs from daycare before the big race!

[afulltimenerd]

I want to live in the present. But I also don’t fear the past.

Seaborn by Michael Livingston

[multiversetravelingjournalist]

I'm turning the Seaborne into their own nation/faction.

[day-at-rhodes-island]

Why I'm not a fan of the seaborn: complaint 2. This is definitely the less important issue, but I'm not going to let that stop me.

Before I get into it: I am currently doing real studies with evolutionary modeling, like publishable academic stuff, so I know what I'm talking about.

Evolution cannot happen to an individual creature. Ever. Pokemon lied to you. Evolution is the gradual change of gene frequencies in a population over time due to natural selection. Anything else is not evolution (in the context of biology). Whatever the endspeaker is doing is not evolving... unless it is.

One of the very few ways what we see might actually be evolution is if the seaborn are actually a symbiotic microorganism with a very short life cycle which can rearrange the cells of it's host (sort of like the Thing from The Thing). This would explain how so many things with radically different structures can be considered the seaborn, and it also quite handily explains how people can become seaborn. This headcanon alone allows me some relief from these fucking things.

For this next bit I'm going to put aside the fact that they can somehow just create meat when they need more, because if I account for that the "evolutionary" pathway they take makes even less sense.

So let's actually apply the concept of natural selection to the sea terrors shall we? To start off I would like to address the fact that the AEgirians didn't use their advanced technology to fight these things, because the seaborn would then evolve to that level and become unstoppable. That is not how this works.

Do you know what happens if you shoot a fish with a laser cannon? I'll give you a hint: it doesn't grow a laser cannon. Natural selection doesn't produce "better" gene frequencies, major negative traits disappear first and optimization or the emergence of new beneficial traits happens slowly afterwards.

The scenario is they are invading another creature's niche, and that creature is very effectively fighting back. So, which strategy is more likely to get you removed from the gene pool: continuing to push into enemy territory but with slightly better armor, or just staying the fuck away from the people with laser cannons? Evolution always takes the easy way out, not the best way, the easy way. Want to know why every terrestrial vertebrate has 4 limbs? Something crawled out of the ocean with four limbs, and it was simpler to move those ones around than make new ones.

Would the fish growing a laser cannon help them take over new environments, thus out-competing the ones who just stayed away? Sure, but there's no easy path to get there, so they would never get the chance to reach that point. (When talking about genetic algorithms, this is called a local maxima, look it up!)

In even a mildly realistic scenario of creatures like this actually being driven by natural selection, the situation would become a case of dealing with an exceptionally dangerous invasive species, rather than an existential threat to all other forms of life. As per my opinion in part 1, this would have been better.

The seaborn are presented as this purely natural selection driven menace, when in reality they're just the evil army of an ocean god-monster. The driving will to consume all other forms of life isn't natural selection talking, it's at best an excuse Ishar'mla uses so that He can get what He wants, and at worst a case of the writers genuinely trying to write a natural selection driven antagonist, assuming they understand the concept, and not bothering to check if they are right. And it really looks to me like the second one is more likely.

All they had to do was not make them the focus, not make them an existential threat. You can still do the themes of individuality vs conformity with a smaller-scale hive mind. You don't need another planetary-scale environmental threat, you have originium! I could forgive the poorly applied scientific principles, if they weren't such a mess narratively as well. If they had taken this approach the seaborn might have even been one of my favorite parts of this game (they have actually hinted at the possibility of the seaborn deciding that coexistence is actually the best survival strategy, and that would be super cool!). Unfortunately, as it is, the seaborn are bad.

Part 1

[allyourchoice]

Top 10 Python libraries for 2025

Top 10 Python Libraries You Should Master in 2025

Python has remained one of the top programming languages over the years because of its ease, adaptability, and large community. In 2025, Python is still the leading language across different fields, ranging from web design to data science and machine learning. To be competitive and productive in your Python projects, mastering the correct libraries is critical. Here's a list of the top 10 Python libraries you should learn in 2025 to level up your coding game. 1. TensorFlow Use Case: Machine Learning & Deep Learning Overview: TensorFlow, created by Google, is one of the leading machine learning and deep learning libraries. It's utilized for creating and training deep neural networks and is extensively used in many applications like image recognition, natural language processing, and autonomous systems. Why Master It? With the advent of AI and deep learning in 2025, TensorFlow is a library that must be mastered. It's extremely flexible, accommodates scalable machine learning tasks, and enjoys strong community support and tutorials. 2. Pandas Use Case: Data Manipulation & Analysis Overview: Pandas is a must-have library for data manipulation and analysis. It offers robust tools for data cleaning, analysis, and visualization through its DataFrame and Series data structures. It integrates perfectly with data from various sources such as CSV, Excel, SQL databases, and others. Why Master It? Data analytics and science remain key areas in 2025. Pandas is central to data wrangling and analysis and, thus, a must-have tool for anyone handling data. 3. Flask Use Case: Web Development (Micro-Framework) Overview: Flask is a simple, lightweight web framework in Python used for quick and efficient development of web applications. It's bare-bones, having flexibility for developers who desire greater control over their applications. Why Master It? Flask will still be a favorite for microservices and APIs in 2025. It's ideal for those who like the modular way of developing applications, so it's great for fast and scalable web development. 4. NumPy Use Case: Scientific Computing & Numerical Analysis Overview: NumPy is the backbone of numerical computing in Python. It supports large multi-dimensional arrays and matrices and has an enormous library of high-level mathematical functions to work on these arrays. Why Master It? In 2025, numerical computing will still be critical to data science, finance, machine learning, and engineering tasks. NumPy mastering is vital to efficient mathematical operations and data manipulation in scientific computing. 5. PyTorch Use Case: Machine Learning & Deep Learning Overview: PyTorch is a deep learning framework created by Facebook's AI Research lab and has quickly become popular because it is flexible, easy to use, and has a large community of developers. It's utilized for creating sophisticated neural networks and is also famous for having a dynamic computation graph. Why Master It? PyTorch is a top pick for machine learning practitioners in 2025, particularly for research and experimentation. It's simple yet powerful, and that makes it a great fit for leading-edge AI development. 6. Matplotlib Use Case: Data Visualization Overview: Matplotlib is the first choice library to create static, animated, and interactive visualizations in Python. It's applied for plotting data, graph creation, and chart construction that facilitates making sense of big datasets. Why Master It? Data visualization is crucial to the interpretation and representation of insights. Learning Matplotlib will enable you to effectively communicate your data discoveries, making it an essential for data analysts, scientists, and anyone who works with data in 2025. 7. Scikit-learn Use Case: Machine Learning Overview: Scikit-learn is among the most widely used machine learning libraries, providing simple-to-use tools for classification, regression, clustering, and dimensionality reduction. It can handle both supervised and unsupervised learning and is compatible with other scientific libraries such as NumPy and SciPy. Why Master It? In 2025, Scikit-learn continues to be a robust, easy-to-use library for creating and deploying machine learning models. Its simplicity and thoroughly documented functionality make it perfect for both beginners and experts in data science and machine learning. 8. Keras Use Case: Deep Learning Overview: Keras is an open source library that is an interface for TensorFlow, enabling users to make deep learning model creation and training more convenient. Keras uses a high-level API that allows it to design neural networks and sophisticated models without complexities. Why Master It With the increased significance of deep learning, Keras will be a go-to choice in 2025. It makes designing neural networks easier and is a great tool for those who need to prototype deep learning models very quickly without delving into difficult code. 9. Django Use Case: Web Development (Full-Stack Framework) Overview: Django is a Python web framework for rapid development and clean, pragmatic design. It also has built-in features such as authentication, an admin interface, and an ORM (Object-Relational Mapping) that make it suitable for developing strong web applications. Why Master It? In 2025, Django remains a top choice among frameworks for creating scalable, secure, and easy-to-maintain web applications. To work in full-stack web development, you must be proficient in Django. 10. Seaborn Use Case: Data Visualization Overview: Seaborn is a Python data visualization library based on Matplotlib. Seaborn simplifies the development of attractive and informative statistical visualizations. Seaborn gives a high-level interface for making beautiful and informative data visualizations. Why Master It? Seaborn will still be useful in 2025 for people working on depicting sophisticated statistical data. It is ideal for data analysis due to its inclusion with Pandas and NumPy, and rich color palettes and styles will make your plots look more visually appealing. Conclusion As we enter 2025, these top 10 Python libraries—spanning from AI and machine learning libraries such as TensorFlow and PyTorch to web frameworks such as Flask and Django—will inform the future of software development, data science, AI, and web applications. Regardless of your level of expertise—beginner or experienced Python developer—becoming a master of these libraries will give you the knowledge necessary to remain competitive and effective in the modern tech world. Read the full article