#squid text

[calimariheart]

Everyone continually finding out that Bennett has dads, plural, and not checking to see that's just how he refers to the adventurers guild is very funny

[squibhell]

Howdy, you wouldn't happen to be the SquibHell I played with for a couple rounds of turf awhile ago, would you? Using the Hero Splatling? I must've caught you by surprise when I was joining one of my other friendslist contacts. I had all my info temporarily set to the Inkling Boy. Damn, gotta give props to you for the fight you put up; completely wiped the floor with me. I had one Hell of a time playing with you and everyone else!

oh yeh! that was me ! puq  i was playing as flynn i cry tho you played very well friend it was fun playing with you too 

[frozencalamari]

Update schedule stuff

Hey guys!  There won’t be a new chapter update this weekend because I was away on vacation the past two days.  I’ll probably be able to update tomorrow but I’m not making any promises.

The other thing I wanted to say is that I think I’m going to adjust the update schedule.  Previously, I was posting on Saturday or Sunday, depending on when the chapter was ready.  Having taken a few days off, I’ve realized something pretty important.

Namely, that I don’t think I’ve been giving you guys my best work, and for that I apologize.

I wanted to have a regular update schedule mostly to hold myself accountable and keep myself from going 2 months between chapters.  It’s been a good exercise in discipline, but the results have been varying.  I’m going to start taking a few extra days to make sure that the chapters are as good as they can be and not worry so much about a set schedule as much as improving the quality of them.

I love sharing this fic with you guys, I love writing it, and I don’t intend to stop writing it for any reason.  I know how the whole story is going to go right to the end, and we’ll get there no matter what it takes.  But I do want to say that I’m sorry for being more focused on quantity over quality for the past few chapters.  I can do better for you guys because you deserve better.  And please, I do mean this sincerely, if you have any suggestions for me to improve ANY aspect of my writing, please let me know!  I can’t get better without critique, and I’m in sore need of it.

I try to hold myself to a high standard when it comes to the work I produce.  Depression gets in the way a lot, especially lately, because I’m pretty low on energy when I get home from work and anxiety blocks me from writing many other times.  Therefore I’m going to adjust the schedule to make up for my shortcomings and make sure I have enough time to give you guys a better quality story overall.

Thanks to everybody to reads, comments, kudoses, recs, etc. the story!  You guys are the reason I do this, and you deserve nothing less than my best.  I’m going to take my time, focus harder, and be back tomorrow or Tuesday with a new chapter for you all.  The squid loves you~ <3

[calimariheart]

Archons and inversions

If you saw my last post you know that archon's gnoses were heavily tied to chess, however one thing I didn't touch on was the idea of how those gnoses were given up, so I'd like to present to you: inversion of their heavenly virtue

So for venti, the archon of freedom, the inversion of freedom is a lack of choice and being pulled along by other people's whims, as seen with Signora trapping him outside the cathedral and taking his gnosis by force

For zhongli, someone bound by contracts, the very obvious inversion is a breaking of procedures, as fulfilled by his fake death and the decision to give his gnosis as part of the deal. He mentions that people moving outside the parameters of a contract is fine so long as it doesn't break the terms, which I wonder if it's something he came to the conclusion of on his own, or if it's something Tsaritsa made him consider

What does this mean for the other archons?

The hydro archon's inversion could very well be something unjust, although based on their description I'm assuming it might not be as cut and dry as simply maneuvering outside the law, instead striking a deal with tsaritsa to allow them to pass over judging someone fairly to settle a score or give someone immunity

For the dendro archon, the inversion of wisdom would be obfuscation, the chance to shield either themself or their people from a horrible truth because it's too painful a burden to bear

For the electro archon, raiden/baal, her value is eternity so I feel something really fleeting and not-guaranteed will be what's ultimately dangled in front of her to force her hand to hand over the gnosis to tsaritsa.

Since we don't know if murata is still the archon in charge, I can't say whether or not we'll see an inversion of the war ideal, but it'd very obviously be related to peace and a chance to rest

What do you guys think?

[calimariheart]

chess symbolism and gnoses

this is gonna be a shorter theory post but it has been driving me insane so i might as well put it down:

the gnosis we know of so far are venti’s and zhongli’s, but i’d like to argue that we might know what tsaritsa’s is too

venti’s gnosis is the queen (very easy to spot from the crown). in chess, the queen is the one with the most amount of movement options and it’s very, very dangerous to lose it because of that

zhongli’s gnosis is the rook, also known as the tower or castle (again, look at the crown) which can only move in straight horizontal and vertical lines, which fits him as well.

what does this have to do with tsaritsa, though, you might be wondering. well, while venti’s gnosis was taken by force, zhongli’s was traded via a contract.

in chess, there’s a move called castling. it’s basically when you swap the rook and king to 1) speed up the game and 2) gain a more advantageous board layout. i really think this shows that tsaritsa is the king

as an aside, theres 7 archons, but only 6 unique chess pieces. im worried about what this could mean for the story but i really cant make any calls beyond what’s in this post

[calimariheart]

what’s in eternity? a breakdown of electro users and visions

so one thing that always bothered me is how Raiden’s heavenly virtue is stated to be eternity. It’s extremely difficult to try and draw a line between that concept and any of the vision holders of the electro aspect. however, upon reflection, i believe that the key word that describes electro vision holders, and even Raiden herself, is centered on stability, or a lack of it.

under the cut is gonna be the brief explanation as to how it connects + quotes to support it so strap in

Lisa: The first one we meet, so a good place to start! Lisa is often characterized as being rather neutral towards her vision, seemingly not needing it to continue her research, which comes across as her having a good sense of stability about her life. Additionally, her voiceline “more about lisa-V” is:

A Vision may seem like a great tool, but one day, the power one accumulates always finds a way to turn back on you. Should such a day come for me, so long as you're around... Ah, never mind.

 It’s an interesting comment, and under the context of the dynamic between instability and stability with electro users, it makes a lot more sense.

Fischl: Fischl is another Mond vision user, and I think her vision is a result of needing stability more than having it. It’s canon that she is very isolated and doesn’t have a good grasp on things, so puts on the persona of the Prinzessin for a sense of comfort. It’s very obvious from her story about how she got her vision:

So, is Oz just an imaginary friend who only exists as a figment of Fischl's subconscious?

Our story begins with the royal heirloom, Edelstein der Dunkelheit — that is to say, Fischl's Vision.

When her wish was acknowledged, the raven Oz and her Vision both appeared before her eyes.

Her wish for a sense of stability gave her a vision. Pretty cut n dry in my eyes!

Razor: Our final stop in Mond, local wolfboy! I know everyone jokes about him being given a vision because he’s a bupy, which is totally fair, but, *gestures to my corkboard*.

One day, during a lightning storm, an Abyss Mage ambushed Razor from behind and dragged him away. The wolf pack ran to his aid and put up a fearless fight, but every last one of them was defeated by the Abyss Mage. As he looked on helplessly at his dear companions being harmed, Razor let out an almighty roar like that of a cornered animal.

"Lupical!"

Lupical! Lupical! Lupical! Fated family is everything to Razor, and gives him a sense of stability. In turn, however, it destabilizes him, as seen by the ending of the first chapter of his quest. Since his wolven companions cannot accept him, he’s forced to leave his sense of stability behind for the unstable future.

Keqing: Our favorite heretic arrives. Keqing is in the same category as Lisa, being satisfied by her position in life and being given a vision seemingly on the merit of having a good two feet on the ground. 

She once believed that this purple crystal had stolen the pride due originally to her, and that it was both a challenge and an insult from the gods.

...

With the passage of time, Keqing came to appreciate the Vision. She realized that this item did not actually have any divine will imbued within it, and indeed had numerous practical uses, and as such chose to use it.

Her vision originally made her instable, causing her fits of frustration because she felt devalued by her own work knowing people would only view her as accomplished because she held a vision, but eventually became stable. 

Beidou: Beidou is our lovely lady pirate and the last electro vision holder we know of currently! Her life is very unstable, moving from place to place purely for a sense and desire to see more, often leaving her homeland for months in pursuit. Her vision, in this case, gives her stability; not only did she earn it during a perilous situation, it helped her gain control of it.

Thus descended a Vision to the slayer of the sea monster, its violet glow as stunning as lightning, and its immaculate, jeweled form a treasure more precious than dragon blood. A suitably divine gift for the hero who subdued Haishan.

i think it’s interesting that under this thesis, beidou and razor share more in common with vision acquisition 

Childe: While he isn’t a vision holder of electro, he is a delusion holder, and it’s pretty easy to spot the fact that his delusion destabilizes him, making him manic and running wild with energy, and additionally causing harm and extra stress under the foul legacy transformation. 

Raiden: and to round this post off, the archon herself! the vision hunt decree and attempting to set visions into the hands of the thousand-arm statue comes across like a desperate attempt to try and gain control because something is spinning out of hers and she doesn’t quite know how to cope.

[calimariheart]

Amber is 21 yes but she's also the kind who forgets her own age so her friends will talk about getting married and shit and she's like "what are y'all? Child brides?"

[calimariheart]

List of snow halation enjoyers:

-diluc

-klee

-venti (obviously)

List of people who refuse to admit to enjoying snow halation:

-diluc