#viewing and musing

[o0kawaii0o]

4 hearts

[steveharrirngton]

♪ lord save me my drug is my baby i'll be using for the rest of my life.. ♪

[peonies-and-dreams]

[basalamander-corner]

When you stop to actually think about it, the situation the octolings go through in pretty horrifying. Not just living in a home where the sky could collapse on them at any moment, but the futility of everything they're doing.

We learn in Splatoon 3 that some octolings clans (like Shiver's) lived above ground. They never went down into the Octo Domes, and became well-established to the point of being almost ruler-like? I don't think it's made clear if the great clans that Deep Cut hail from are seen as lords over the Splatlands or what, but they're clearly influential and powerful. So the octolings... really didn't need to spend all that time suffering.

Every one of them could have waltzed onto the surface and easily integrated into inkling society, and no one would bat an eye because as we all know: inklings are stupid as shit! They didn't care when Marina ended up there! So they wouldn't care about others.

So what was stopping them?

Could it be that the higher ups of the Octarian army, those closest to Octavio, were so blinded by their loss, by their sense of pride and their own selfishness, they felt the need to prove they were better than the inklings? To prove they didn't need their "blessed surface", and that they could survive just fine on their own? Their loss was humiliating, and for their superior weapons to lose to such a weak enemy, clearly they need to show their strength to persevere through even the most horrifying of situations.

Clouded by their arrogance, the Octarian army could only imagine that the inklings were keeping the zapfish (and other energy sources) away from them in order to punish them for daring to fight in the Great Turf War in the first place. They were so caught up in this loss they didn't realize inklings had forgotten all about the war within two generations! That sure, the inklings might have learned about it in school (as we hear from Pearl), but they don't know much else other than the basic facts.

And so, the younger generation of octolings suffered the most.

While the generation who lived through the war were trying to return to their glory days, desperate to show off their power and abilities, the newer generation of octolings are forced into fighting for a war they never wanted from a young age. We don't know if all octoling training starts at age 6, but Marina is certainly a case of it. Regardless of when they started fighting, they are fed propaganda and lies from birth.

Inklings are dangerous. Inklings are evil. Inklings will destroy you if they see you. You must avoid them. They hate you because you are an Octarian. That is why you must train.

And they have no choice but to believe it, because they've never seen anything to the contrary. They live in these crumbling domes, they know the inklings live on the surface with unlimited power, so of course they have to believe what their higher ups are saying, and what their own eyes are telling them. The new generation of octolings embody the teachings of their predecessors. As much as it might hurt to fight, as much as they are run ragged and used and abused, it's all for the best. It's for their protection. For their safety. If they step back, if they refuse service, then they're letting everyone down. The Octo Domes would lose power forever. How can you leave your own people to die? Are you selfish? Do you think the innocent must suffer? No. You'll be a good little soldier, and you'll follow orders.

But in the end—as the octolings find their way to the surface after Octavio is defeated and the Zapfish is recovered for the first time—they find out that everything they had done was for nothing. They lived through horrible conditions, believing that inklings were punishing them, only to come to the surface and find that none of it was true.

Are any of them resentful? Do some think of their time underground fondly (like Marina is implied to)? Do they see it for what it was: a futile attempt at holding onto some semblance of dignity after their humiliating defeat to an enemy who couldn't even wake up on time?

Or are they left deeply scarred by it all? Hurt that the older generation—the ones who were supposed to know best for them—would turn their backs on them and let them suffer for a so-called "greater good" that didn't even exist!

Some ramblings about how my own OCs fit into these thoughts are down below. Feel free to skip if you don't want to read something less canon!

Sashi was long trained into being the perfect soldier. He was bio-engineered for it, spliced together using the genes of other soldiers that came before him. He is mistreated by those above him... and it's deserved, isn't it? After all, he isn't an actual octoling. He was created, he wasn't born naturally. So he isn't really sentient, is he? He's just a thing. A useful tool for what the Octarian army wants to accomplish.

And so as he's mistreated, he starts to embody that too. It takes finally escaping to the surface for him to realize and come to terms with the fact that what happened to him wasn't deserved. And I think that, while he isn't resentful, he is angry at Octavio. Sashi looked up to him when he was younger: the brightly shining king who clearly wanted what was best for his people. But when Sashi learns that every was for nothing, well... he certainly won't be happy about it.

Except... we find out that Octavio (and some of the other higher ups) would have never dreamed about treating Sashi the way he was, or any other experiments for that matter.

Yes, Octavio was blinded by his own pride and dignity, but he genuinely wished the best. And to him, creating an army of super-soldiers that could fight to protect them in battle was the best decision to make. So then why? If Octavio never ordered the cruel treatment, why did it happen?

Let's go back to the propaganda and lies: many octolings would believe it. They would grow up hearing about the glory days, the stories of war... and they want a piece of that pie. They want to be a celebrated war hero, they want to rush into battle and defeat the inklings that keep them oppressed in the dark for so long. And with that desire to fight comes a penchant for cruelty. So they treat the experiments—and other lesser soldiers—poorly. Because their job as soldiers is to fight fight fight and keep fighting, so it won't hurt to push them far beyond the limits of what is humanly possible, right?

And Octavio is blind to all of this. He is blind, and it seems like he doesn't care.

So they are left to suffer in silence.

@sharliexth here's a more concise version of my thoughts I shared with you the other day lol

[ruthlesslistener]

Learning that most insects cannot see in the dark has me wondering about how the vessels see. I always thought it interesting how Ghost couldn't really see too far ahead of them in areas like Deepnest and some parts of Crystal Peaks, and before I just chalked it up to normal vs Advanced Darkness (advanced darkness ofc meaning the Abyss/the Void, which is a living, elemental darkness vs mere absense of light), but now I'm wondering if maybe they actually really do have pretty damn good eyes compared to normal bugs, who wouldn't be able to see in such conditions at all. What might be poor lighting to them and us might actually be pitch blackness to someone like Quirrel, who'd need to use secondary sense structures to figure out where they were

(I also wonder how Ghost, as a vessel still in their larval form, might compare one like Hollow, who has reached their adult morph, as many larval bugs have very rudimentary sight organs compared to adults [stemmata vs ocelli]. But then again, by the time they reach godhood they might not even need sight at all and use it as a backup sensory input like smell is to us, which is something I actually imagine Hollow's perspective to work. Something to think about!)

[dukeofthomas]

My understanding of Jason Todd's age;

Jason dies when he's 15, 4 months before his 16th birthday. He is dead for any number of time; it doesn't count towards his age.

He's resurrected; he is in a coma for 1 year, then catatonic for another. He is then put into a Lazarus Pit. (These 2 years are practically useless, as he doesn't remember them and they contribute very little to the story. They could be condensed to 2 months and it would change basically nothing.)

He trains for about a year. You can then give him 1-12 months of prep and planning time before his debut as the Red Hood, and the story of UT(R)H, at which point he would be mentally 16-17, physically 18-19, and it would be (--) years after his birth.

[lgbtlunaverse]

I have been thinking on the nature of mdzs as a deliberately vague text that leaves many things up to interpretation, and how i've slowly come to understand "up for interpretation" less as "there is One True version of this story i must find" and not even as " Everyone has a different One True Version of this story inside their head be based on their interpretations and the differences don't make one wrong and the other right" but as "There is no One True Version. Even in my own subjective interpretation of the text multiple things can be true at once" specifically, in regard to Jin Guangyao and the many things which are left up in the air as to whether he did them or not, most notably killing his son.

There's evidence for this, but it's non conclusuve (jgy saying he killed him while also saying he killed Qin Su, who very much killed herself. The speculations on how he'd have killed him being sect leader yao just saying shit. ) it is, esentially, just up in the air enough that if you decisively fall on one side of the debate is probably says more about you and your general opinion of jgy than it does about the "true" events of canon.

I have, as a proud apologist, always fallen on the "he didn't kill him but felt in some way responsible for his death." Side but recently have become more okay with the interpretation that maybe he DID kill him, and that at the very least, that when he tells Qin Su their son "needed to die" he is being genuine. Which, once you look at it beyond. "Is jgy a poor lil meow meow who it is Okay to Like or an irredeemable baby murderer" becomes both INCREDIBLY tragic and deeply interesting. Because here is a man condemned for who his parents were and who wants nothing more than to live, saying that it is possible to be so cursed by your heritage that you need to die. There is no existence for you. The exact same thing that has been said to him.

Of course being born out of wedlock to a sex worker and being a product of incest are different things, but that begs the question: where is the line? What crimes of the father can mean death for the son? How cursed can you be until your existence is so incompatible with society it is you who needs to give? And if there is... where is it? Qin su clearly thought she was past it. Was his son really past it? Is he?

[steveharrirngton]

♪ the more that you say the less i know, wherever you stray i follow, im begging for you to take my hand, wreck my plans that's my man ♪

[katakosmos]

hello primcess talk to me about rosier twins/macaulay twins parallel. and also the incest. lots and lots of incest.

you sent me this ask so casually, i imploded and wrote an essay about it. love you 🤲

so, i would like to start with pandora, because for me she is the reincarnation of camilla. i must admit that pandora started to take shape in my head after reading the secret history, so they have many similarities. what immediately struck me about camilla was her mysteriousness; because we know nothing about her except for what richard tells us, and he focuses particularly on her physical appearance.

"Being the only female in what was basically a boys’ club, must have been difficult for her. Miraculously, she didn’t compensate by becoming hard or quarrelsome. She was still a girl, a slight lovely girl who lay in bed and ate chocolates, a girl whose hair smelled like hyacinth, and whose scarves fluttered jauntily in the breeze. But strange and marvellous as she was, a wisp of silk in a forest of black wool, she was not the fragile creature one would have her seem. In many ways she was as cool and competent as Henry; tough minded, and solitary in her habits, and in many ways as aloof."

one aspect that camilla definitely has in common with pandora is her being apparently sweet, angelic and delicate. even if camilla is more often described as almost masculine (because she's very similar to her brother) it's clear that both she and those around her are well aware of her femininity. she was not the fragile creature one would have her seem. her being a woman masks her true nature (which is what, in the end, makes her part of that group, a boy's club); but, while camilla's femininity is perceived as natural and spontaneous, the femininity that pandora transmits is enormously forced.

she uses her beauty and the desire she inspires in those around her with great subtlety and cruelty. not only does her femininity change the perception others have of her and hide her true identity: she wants to appear the opposite of what she actually is. she has very long hair, she only wears skirts and dresses (no one has ever seen her in pants, except evan), she also wears makeup, smiles often and acts all sweet. and yet, she has a strong personality and a very sharp mind, even if it isn't at all evident.

another difference is that camilla seems to simply exist in the group, and she has a secondary/background role (fuck you richard). instead it's impossible to ignore the presence of pandora in the group formed by her, regulus, barty and evan. she's the center of it, the most important element: the boys would give their life for her without thinking twice. she's pampered and protected by everyone, even if the only one who completely falls into her trap is barty (a perfect richard) who sees her only as a beautiful girl to have the worst fantasies about.

her central role depends heavily on evan. he's objectively the most mysterious and interesting person in the group (a sort of henry) and, even if he voluntarily prefers to close himself off and leave the role of protagonists to his friends, he builds the group dynamics.

i can't imagine evan completely as charles, but one thing they definitely have in common is violence and the desire for obsessive control and possession over their twin. charles's anger develops as a result of bunny's murder, throughout the book he's described as mostly calm. i've already talked about it, but for me evan has been a victim of a constant need for violence all his life, and he suffocates it until he simply explodes. however, if he finds himself in stressful situations like charles, he's also unmanageable. he controls his anger as he controls every aspect of his life, including his sister (and, being so close, pandora is often a victim of his mood swings).

(speaking of mood swings, i realize i often portray evan as a horrible person, but when he's not going crazy he's honestly kind and good, especially with pandora. he loves her with all his heart, and this deep feeling often causes uncontrollable emotions like desire and possession. but caring for pandora is the most natural thing for him. like charles: he hurts camilla several times, but when she gets hurt at the lake he's so scared that he can't even help her ← thanks beth for reminding me of this).

now, one thing that certainly shines through in the incestuous relationship of the macaulay twins is coercion. it seems to us, and it's probably the truth, that camilla is forced by charles to indulge his desires. instead, i believe there was a long period in the lives of the rosier twins where they both started an incestuous relationship voluntarily. evan and pandora grew up in an almost unapproachable environment and, during their teen years, they always detached themselves from everyone. they knew romantic love, but there was no one else they could pour it on other than their own twin.

i've talked about this a bit here, but i like to think that pandora and evan hated the idea of growing up and changing. and this was a start of their twincest, the inability to accept a more detached and healthy type of relationship.

charles doesn't seem to care about the unhealthy nature of his relationship with his sister, and it's something he shares with evan. while camilla realizes it right away, pandora takes a while but there's a moment when she too realizes she wants a different life. and both of them, even if they start to please their brothers under constraint, don't suffer so much because they're forced, but because they're ashamed of it. they are ashamed of being trapped in an incestuous relationship: they are not scared of their siblings' behavior, but they are madly afraid that the people around them might know what is really going on.

despite the love they feel for their twins, both camilla and pandora eventually decide to take their lives into their own hands and run away, without looking back. and they both manage to get what they want, even if it's fleeting, temporary.

in conclusion, this is so confusing (and it's more of a comparison than a parallel). i could say so much more if only i had a copy of this book, because fun fact: when i read the secret history, i bought it and annotated it as a birthday present for one of my friends, so i don't own a single copy of that book.

if anyone reading this has anything to say or add, please share it with me 😣😣

btw: you don't know what i would do to know the story from camilla's point of view...

[ethaneldritch]

so i'm actually finally getting to watch Dracula (1931) because it's free on YouTube.

thoughts inbound

[harpuiaa]

i've been dead and gone bc of school and jobsearching and everything happening all at once but ive been playing the boktai series games lately and i'm enjoying it a lot. I just got past the third boss in boktai 2. I don't know why but i'm enthralled with these games, i highly recommend them

[ghost-bxrd]

How would Calvin react to meeting Jason when both his parents were still alive, assuming Willis is not that great of a father. Would he take Jason and run? Would he observe to see how Willis treats his kid? And what would Calvin think of Catherine?

If Calvin just randomly met him one day I don’t think he’d care too much. Having a home is more than some kids in Gotham can boast of, and little Jason didn’t look too worse for wear to truly register for the Talon.

But if for some reason Calvin got attached to Jason and decides to follow him home to make sure he’s well taken care of… well.

Let’s say Willis isn’t home initially, so for the first few hours Calvin only sees Jason come home to a mother hopped up on drugs (let’s assume it’s the later stage where the addiction was very bad already). And Calvin already feels that uneasy buzz in his gut because— someone like that cannot possibly provide for a small child. And little Jason is cleaning his mom up as best as he can and draping a blanket over her before he goes on the hunt for food in the cupboards. Only to come away with nothing but some canned peaches that he painstakingly pries open. And this is bad enough but— but at least he’s got a home. And food. It’s more than Calvin had with his dad. And there’s always the chance the woman will sober up and realize drugs aren’t as important as her sweet little kid. It’s not his place to intervene—

But then Willis comes home. Just when Calvin was about to leave. And for a moment it’s nothing to worry about, but then Willis starts yelling. And Jason cowers. And the uneasy feeling in Calvin’s gut turns into sickening dread.

And then Willis draws back his fist and—

Taking Jason is so much easier than it should be. The kid is too small for his age, too light. Willis goes down with little more than a solid punch to his throat, and Catherine doesn’t wake up at all. Too deep into her drug induced haze.

And Jason— Jason is scared. Terrified. But Calvin refuses to leave him in a place that’s bound to kill him eventually.

[apollos-boyfriend]

sorry inniter here this convo reminds me of how ppl were mad tommy was drinking on stream when hes an adult where it is legal to drink in the uK. like saying he was "encouraging unhealthy behaviors and alcoholism".....like so many ppl see young streamers still as kids

obsessed w this bc the way you worded it makes it sound like captainsparklez is in the same boat of “young streamer still treated like a child by the wider community”

[titanbabyeams]

okay but how insane would I be if I admitted I was curious about the ship dynamic between The Ghoul & Norm?

The only issue I foresee is that, in my head, Norm is the younger brother and cannot possibly be over 22 years old… but boy, does that little worm in my brain bring up the ship every time I write.

Sometimes I just think it’d be so interesting? Norm has gained some backbone by the end of the series and I really think he wouldn’t be afraid to just… say what he thinks to The Ghoul’s face. He’d also have none of that ‘Vault Dweller Goodness’ that The Ghoul has associated with Lucy. There’d be a strange combination of respect and animosity… plus, I think he’d appreciated Norm’s dry humor.

Imagine: Lucy & The Ghoul are traveling together and Norm joins them at some point. Norm is keeping records of all the Wasteland creatures he comes across because he’s genuinely interested in how the surface has affected things and people…

…which leads him to asking rather probing questions to The Ghoul. Does he have genitalia? How long did the process take to become a ghoul? Are they experiencing radiation exposure just by traveling with him or do they have to be in closer proximity? Is he semen irradiated?

Purely scientific, of course, but The Ghoul would turn it right back on him and ask if he wants to experiment to learn these things.

Norm is disturbed, initially, cue crisis…

Who knows who knows.

[meowunmeow]

Would Anfuu be the type to call each other pet names... I personally can't imagine Fuuko calling him one but I bet Andy would short circuit if she does lmao

[littlest-bugz]

DID/OSDD is like being a broken plate. Healing is like kintsugi.

You will never be the same again, but when you heal, you will be beautiful together.