#castle swimmer labbu
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On this post on Castle Swimmer details that I haven’t completely threaded together but have been floating around my head: Kappa and his connection to turtles.
After episode 100 was released, one of the main things that quickly stuck out to me, other than the emotional devastation I was quickly going to feel, was how the main character from the story Kappa got his name from and the god that destroyed the witches’s castle we’re both turtles. Asides from setting up some more neat parallels between Kappa and the witches, it was something I kept in the back of my mind for when we learnt more about this mini god that destroyed castle and, oh boy, did it bring forward implications for the rest of the story.
When we first learnt Labbu’s name in episode 120, we found out they aren’t just any mini god, oh no, they are a full on god. The god of the abyss, the creator of the mini gods and the only other god that we know exists in this world other than the god of the surface. Knowing this put the turtle link in a whole new light, since it recontextualizes Kappa’s name having a link between the mini god that destroyed his friends’s castle to Kappa’s name having a link to the likely main antagonist of Castle Swimmer. As a result, it has caused me to go back to that children’s story now and again with Labbu in mind. I’ve seen the idea that the Kappa from the children’s story and Labbu are one and the same, and while I don’t think it’s the case, I do think that the children’s story could have parallels to the creation of Labbu. I don’t have a complete picture of this theory yet, but since the mini god’s powers come from fossils, Labbu being the source of this power and the fossils likely coming from the work of the ancient people, my money at the moment is on Labbu being some creation of the ancient people, whether it was intentional or not. I’ll probably try to make a proper theory post about this idea when I’ve smoothed out more of the details but I think it’s the idea that makes the most sense at the moment.
While I’m still on Labbu, thanks to episode 155, we now know for sure that there are, or at least were, multiple beacons. Since Labbu is the creator of the mini gods, this revelation really fuels the idea that the mini gods could be Labbu’s attempt of creating their own version of the beacons. Could they have something to do with what happened to these other beacons? Possibly, but either way, it’s going to be interesting to learn what exact feelings Labbu and the God of the Surface have about each other.
On a more outer-story discussion, it seems like these decisions around turtles could be based on Kappa in mythology. For those who don’t know, Kappa’s name comes from the mythical creature of the same name. A kappa is a reptiloid kami with similarities to yōkai found in traditional Japanese folklore. They are typically depicted as green, human-like beings with webbed hands and feet and turtle-like carapaces on their backs.
If both Labbu and Kappa from the children’s story were chosen to be turtles as a reference to Kappa in folklore, that’s a really cool detail!
#just spewing out some of my thoughts#very intrigued to learn more about Labbu#and to especially see them in person#castle swimmer#castle swimmer kappa#kappa#castle swimmer labbu#labbu#castle swimmer rambles
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okay. how do prophecies work. word vomit below
the prophecies are created by all of the people in a castle believing in a single wish - in exchange, the Surface God "answers" with a prophecy
this is an "UNBREAKABLE PACT"
THERE IS A BEACON FOR EACH CASTLE. EACH PROPHECY. beacons are an integral part of this thing.
this process does not seem to be immediate? it took like a hundred years for Siren to be born - the elders who originally wrote about the thing all died, etc. also the prophecy from the first episode (they'd been waiting for centuries)
anglerfish mer. they were being cursed. the single wish of the castle would have been to stop the curse. and then the elders CAME with a solution. (episode 82). killing their queen, except they didn't like that so they broke it another way and then the prophecy brought it back (UNBREAKABLE PACT)
basically this implies they did not chose the prophecy. they had a wish and then Surface God was just like: here. have the beacon kill your queen.
also: the anglermer woman tells Siren not to trust "gods" piural. funky. (epi 84)
why did the Vaquita curse come back? was the prophecy not strong enough? is it possible that it was not fulfilled correctly? possibly because Kappa was the "wrong" Beacon for that one?
Herm (episode 109) believes that fulfilling prophecies wrong brings curses back. fits with the "Unbreakable pact" thing. but I think they're wrong about Siren's curse, because if Siren's curse was really temp broken, why would Siren's blood still flow back to the castle?? there's something more going on here.
crab prophecy: their wish was to save Ogo. that did happen. but Ogo (ep 124) says this is a temp solution-that the power of Labbu (abyss god?) will bring Ogo's transformation/curse back. or was the prophecy not filled correctly (wrong Beacon?)
will Ogo reverting also bring the prophecy back? does this work both ways?? because its an unbreakable pact, and if the curse comes back the prophecy has broken its promise??? HM
the Octailia prophecy is actually different from all the other ones. this is because they don't just have a wish and then Surface God makes the pact. Neth just comes up with the whole prophecy and then presents it and Then people are like: swag. yeah. we believe this. awesome.
is this a real prophecy then?
my thoughts:
castle people have wish
god creates them a beacon and prophecy to fulfill this wish
the people find out about it ?????? somehow??? elder magic???
Beacon supposedly arrives and does their thing!
this actually explains why the prophecies for the Sharks and especially the anglermers existed. they didn't actually CHOOSE the solutions. they were just like "pls help" and then God picked sacrifice (i'm guessing this might have to do with the blood to takes to halt the minigod corruption power?? also halts curses from minigods??). so thats how you end up with prophecies that suck.
as for the witches, they have a weird situation, as it is implied that Neth just kind of wrote the whole prophecy herself. so-is it an actual "Unbreakable Pact" or not? was the Surface God involved at all? will Kappa be drawn to Labbu to fulfill it??? i'm guessing we'll find out at some point, but until then.
#castle swimmer#also uh. lot more questions. WHERE ARE THE OTHER BEACONS#whales?????????????????????/#are minigods labbu's versions of beacons?#surface god does NOT seem to be doing too hot. you good? also could have helped teach Kappa to fucking read man
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Castle Swimmer x Final Fantasy X-2 AU Update
Updated the list a bit and now have some background and plot. :3
WARNING: Little long~
(Probably gonna replay it before I plan anything else.)
Ships are:
KappaSiren
MonoGaloo
Not Yet Used Castle Swimmer Characters:
Silver
Fean, Finley, and Fizz
Herm
Ogo?
Roc and Reesha
Nee and Krilli
Skiff
Castle Swimmer FFX-2:
Yuna - Mono and Galoo
Paine - Neth
Rikku - Mucku
Shuyin -
Baralai -
Khimari -
Lenne - ?
Leblanc - Jengu
Gippal -
Nooj -
O’aka XXIII -
Wantz -
Yaibal - ?
Brother -
Shinra - Pagoon (still 13 versus 10, and very smart but prefers the ol’ whack’em dead method. Excellent strategist like his mom)
Donna - ?
Logos - Tunny
Ormi - Whisker
Buddy - Siren
Tidus - Kappa (FFX, but only technically)
Beclem -
Sin (dead) - Labbu
Characters Not Replacing Other Characters:
Pim (also a Gullwing)
Worm/Arp (sealed away with Kappa? Either way, he’s a good Axolotl doggo)
PLOT:
At some point Neth gives Siren +10 cool points since the other two girls are being annoying, and he mentions that makes him at -23 since she once said he was at -33.
Neth: “Congrats. Today you graduate to whole numbers.”
Siren: -half distracted- “I knew I’d get there if I only believed...”
“What are you looking at Siren?”
Siren: “Something strange is going on on the screen...” -all three octo crowd around him- “Do you guys always have to invade my personal space when I’m trying to share the screen??”
All 3: “hmmmm...” THEN
Mono: -nods yes-
Mucku: “Yep”
Neth: “Only way to read it, really.”
Al 3 practically squishing his face with theirs.
Siren gets or has a “Merman” dress sphere. May also be the experimental guinea pig for it which leads to a scene of them seeing Siren in a small pool on deck as a shark mer.
Galoo can read memories as in canon, but also see physical fragments of them when she’s close to or in the farplane. Kind of like what happens in X when following Tidus’s dad around in Zanarkand. She falls in the pit like Yuna did by accident somehow and in the pit sees “Shuyin’s” memories of Zanarkand, and then Shuyin attempts to possess her but she’s saved in time by Mono. Galoo follows a helpful memory out. When they get out, Galoo reveals what she can see and they realize the pits are connected to the farplane.
Kappa is from “another time or world” like Tidus, but isn’t a dream of the Fayth. He’s found trapped in stone and released? Or something similar? When Kappa is center, the audience learns what’s up with him.
Everyone is under a “Water Sign”.
Mono, Mucku, and Neth are still “Octalia” though they’re human bodies because their sign is an octopus, which gives them dark magic. Siren is under the shark, of course, which means he gets to keep his sharp teeth, etc.
Koi fish sign are supposed to be extinct, until Kappa. Holy magic carriers from a thousand years ago.
The Octalia defeated Labbu/Sin, but at a great cost. Before, a sacrifice would be chosen at random via a magic roulette that the Octalia refused to be apart of before as they felt sacrificing someone every ten years to keep Labbu happy before he goes on another rampage was the cowardly way out. They were despised for wanting to fight Labbu rather than appease him, and their people were spared from sacrifice (but not Labbu) for a century due to not joining the roulette.
(Don’t know what the roulette is yet)
Sacrificed persons are known as High Summoners and must still go through the whole shibang to get the final summon, which is the final offering.
Reason from the Octalia never worked and they finally decided to do something about it; they threw their hat in the ring, so to speak, and the new High Summoner was Mono. But the Octalia weren’t about to just sacrifice one of their own. Instead, they used it as an opportunity to get rid of Labbu for good, and succeeded... but now there’s only about a dozen of them left. Mono lost her voice, Mucku lost her memories, and Neth lost her arm per canon.
At some point Mono tosses whoever is Beclem into the ocean for being a piece of garbo, which is what Yuna should have done versus that stupid obstacle course. You have nothing to prove to that douchebag!
When Kappa is found by the Gullwings (keeping the name for now) he becomes part of their crew while trying to figure out this new era... doesn’t hurt that the Navigator is cute.
Like Yuna did for Brother, at some point Kappa overhears Siren very plainly confirming to someone else down at the bar he does have a crush on Kappa. Whoever “Brother” is is lamenting, part drunk, his crush on Mono and Siren reminds him Mono is gay. “Brother” suggests if only he was gay he could just date Siren, who pretends to gag. Siren reminds his friend gay doesn’t mean immediate attraction to every person of the same sex and he only puts up with “Brother” because he knows he’s a good guy who is willing to learn and grow. When “Brother” asks why Siren likes Kappa, Siren easily says “He’s cute, funny, sweet...”
Kappa likes seeing Siren as a mer-shark and makes terrible fishing pick-up lines at him.
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castle swimmer spoilers below please don't click unless you've read up to the most recent chapter, s3c155 (#167)
ok so there are a variety of reasons that Kappa has never met his beacon siblings. here are the most likely ones (that i believe could happen in some combination):
First of all, the God of the Surface might have a massive (as in centuries-long) delay in spawning Beacons after their prophecies are made. meaning Kappa will have younger siblings after a hundred years or so. This theory means that Kappa really was only destined to fulfill one of the Prophecies, but since the God of the Surface was busy spawning the second Beacon, Kappa has to play catch-up for his younger sibling so they can share the problems together. During the spawning time, the God of the Surface is unavailable for comment, which is why none of Kappa's attempts to communicate received a reply.
Second of all, the God of the Surface might have already made several older Beacon siblings for Kappa but they got locked away from their destined castles/prophecies somehow, for reasons probably related to the God of the Depths. The suffering inflicted upon various Castles throughout the years probably helps Labbu with whatever shit they're dealing with, so having Beacons alleviate that is unacceptable. Hence, the Minigods may have been deployed to find and capture all of the Beacons prior to Kappa, or the Beacon Sibs might have been given Artifacts and brainwashed through those. This might mean the God of the Surface could also be under partial Artifact mind control as well, so keeping that at bay (heh) takes too much power for them to respond to Kappa's queries. The difference between this theory and the second one is that here, the previous Beacons have been kept alive, possibly as bargaining chips against the God of the Surface, and possibly to maintain a Curse upon the God of the Surface. Since Kappa hasn't met Labbu or his Beacon sibs yet, he doesn't know or can't yet be affected by the Beacons' Curse.
Third of all, the God of the Surface might have made several Beacons already over the past hundreds of years, but none of them were nearly as likeable as Kappa. Hence they got killed by random fish or Minigods. At their wits' end and running out of power, the God of the Surface poured as much divine favor into Kappa as possible, exhausting their powers, but ensuring Kappa could live a long life and fulfill the backlog of Prophecies. This theory being true would indicate that the God of the Surface has gone into a recuperating slumber, just like the Whales, and possibly even influenced the Whales to also take a nap. In this theory, Kappa waking up the Whales could help awaken the God of the Surface as well because the Whales were friends with them long ago.
I don't remember where the third one was going to go but overall thinking about these have made me consider why, narratively, Kappa had to be an only child and couldn't wander around with his Beacon sibling(s) if they exist.
First, and most importantly, a Beacon sibling would give Kappa something the Chapter 167 him had yearned for most of his life: an equal. For his whole life up until he met Siren, Kappa had been treated as better than, as greater than, as more important than everyone else around him. Castles saw him as a divine entity first and a person ......not at all. Being put on a pedestal his whole life contributed to his feelings of insecurity and his compulsion to fulfill Prophecies to stave off a fairly hefty impostor syndrome. If Kappa had been given a Beacon Sibling, he would have been validated by someone in the same boat as him and had less of a need for external validation. Therefore, Kappa's neglectful upbringing contributes decently to his romance with Siren.
Secondly, having a Beacon sibling would have given Kappa someone to protect. Although I don't think having a sibling would change his feelings of inadequacy as Beacon, having on older or younger sibling would depend on how he was treated by everyone else. If Kappa was the older sibling in this hypothetical, he'd absolutely be traumatized by his younger sibling getting injured to fulfill Prophecies and insist on self-harming even more to make up for it. When his sibling got old enough to realize what was going on, Kappa would be made aware how fucked up his savior complex was. This would be flipped if Kappa had an older sibling. He'd probably snap after being prevented from self-sacrificing by his sibling and do whatever he wanted much earlier than the Chapter 167 Kappa did. He'd probably get into arguments with his older sibling about being allowed to hurt himself to help others, but ultimately have a much more realistic view on self-harm than 167's Kappa does.
No matter the older or younger or twin sibling, if Kappa had any relatives he would absolutely give up his life for them because they understand how hard it is being the Beacon. That's not a role that any of our lovely (as of chapter) 167 supporting cast could ever fill out because it doesn't exist. However, if Siren's mom had Kappa's sibling to execute instead, he would have swam back as quickly as possible and possibly too early to be saved by Siren. So that would have also altered the trajectory of the plot too.
Thirdly, because having a sibling with him would make Kappa sick to death of the "I thought there'd only be one of you" comments. He (167 version) is already sick to death of the "you're more/less x than I thought you'd be" comments about him being the Beacon, where x is any adjective you can think of. Give the fishman a break! He's listerally just existing and you have so many expectations for what he will look like! (Although the difference in appearance might be related to the "one Beacon for each Castle" thing earlier and the fact that it takes a long time to spawn one [1] Beacon. But I digress.) These extra, stupid comments to the Beacon Sibs could inspire Kappa and BeaconSib to defy the Prophecies and God of the Surface much faster than 167's Kappa did, with the simple power of "I dare you to" from a sibling. The webcomic creator wanted to give Siren that encouragement power, instead of a family member, so that we could enjoy watching Kappa become found family with the Evil Witches (which I'm grateful for). However, we missed out on watching Kappa sibling dynamics.
Which brings me to 167 Kappa again. Should Bulleted scenario 2 happen and he has several alive older siblings, Kappa will not enjoy meeting them because he spent his childhood alone and lonely, without even learning how to read (Hi my name is Kappa, 20, and I never fuckin' learned how to read). If he catches wind that there was anything they could have done to keep him company back then, and they didn't, he would be devastated. To be honest, I think he's devastated even upon learning this news in 167. Get this fish man a therapist. Oh my god. He has so much on his plate already and now he's about to probably both have his magic rampage and get the party kicked from the Whale Zone.
That's my two cents. I'll be over here eating my hat over the cliffhanger in the meantime.
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Castle Swimmer x Final Fantasy VIII AU Update
Update to the list (almost have a full character roster now)
Some minor plot stuff to share.
Ships are:
SuscaShoal
KappaSiren
GalooMono
Not Yet Used Castle Swimmer Characters:
Seko and other sharks not listed might just be random SeeD.
Herm
Castle Swimmer FFVIII: (? = May not even use this person)
Headmaster Cid - Susca
Edea - Shoal
Squall - Siren
Zell - Pagoon
Xu - Pim
Quistis - Neth (Does NOT have a crush on Siren, does NOT lose teaching position)
Raine/Ellone - Galoo (Has Ellone purpose but also a grown woman who helps the Octos out in the flashbacks, as well as temporarily acted as an orphanage aid while in hiding for a while?)
Rinoa - Kappa
Angelo - Worm/Arp
Dr. Kadowaki - Nee and Krilli (Mostly Nee)
Combo Irvine/Selphie - Silver
Seifer - Fizz (NOT Kappa’s ex)
Laguna - Mucku
Kiros - Neth
Ward - Mono
Ultimecia - Jengu
Adel - Labbu
Fujin and Raijin - Fean and Finley
Biggs and Wedge - Reesha and Roc
General Caraway - (NOT Kappa’s dad)
Deling - Tunny
NORG - Ogo
Dr. Odine - Whisker
Nida - Skiff
PLOT:
There is still a Destined Children prophecy like in the game. Galoo during her time in the orphanage foresees it, as well as what will happen if it’s ignored/not met. Susca wanted to prevent her child having to head a wholeass war, but it was also her husband’s “last wish” to fulfill the prophecy. She continued with the plans they made and hoped to arm Siren as best she could for the coming hardships.
Everyone knows not to mess with Pagoon and Pim.
Pim is also a teacher at the Garden. Gets along with Neth/they’re practically Work Wives (tho Pim is straight and Neth is still asexual, so platonic wifeys).
Siren finds out with the rest what his parents are up to and who the sorcerer is.
One scene during the break out fighting in the garden, Siren bites another person on the shoulder (always gotta have him have them sharky teeth~) and as blood is dribbling down gestures to the next person as if they’re being invited in. Person runs, horrified. Gross, but most “peaceful” method to end things immediately. Siren then has to wash his mouth out because the guy tasted like he hadn’t bathed in a week.
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Castle Swimmer x Final Fantasy IX AU Update
Updated List
Got some plot in mind
This is the one most likely to see actual realization (though I kind of want to do all three now. Am I truly that dork, though? The answer is yes, yes I am).
In this AU, I may be forced to keep some characters from FFIX, though I realize that might be strange. In particular, I can't decide who should be Queen Brahne, Vivi, and Kuja... Maybe I'll take some characters from a different comic/game?
FFX-2 AU and FFVIII won't have mature content for sure, but the jokes and dialogue going on in my head for mature content in this is too strong. However, whatever mature content there is in this will only be indicated to keep some modicum of innocence (beyond some heavy kissing).
Ships:
MonoGaloo
KappaSiren
ShoalSusca
NOT Krilli and Nee, despite who they “represent”
Not Yet Used Castle Swimmer Characters:
Seko
Silver
Shoal
Labbu?
Tunny?
Whisk?
Galoo
Castle Swimmer FFIX:
Zidane - Kappa; will not be a sexual harasser and will only flirt with Siren
Garnet - Siren; not a spoiled brat and realizes his limitations, though he hates it (is determined to improve so he can be useful to everyone). Real name he remembers from childhood is “Siren”, which is the name he switches to instead of Dagger. Fake name Prince Diamond
Echo’s Moogles - Susca and the Sharks (people of the mist, and that’s all I’ll say to avoid spoilers)
Echo - Skiff (Child Skiff, who has a crush on Siren when they meet)
Amarant -
Freya -
ViVi -
Steiner - Nee
Quina - Ogo (”I must feast upon the frogs!”)
Beatrix - Krilli
King Cid -
Queen Hildegard -
Doc Tot - Herm
Ruby -
Fratley -
Puck -
Black Mages - ?
Mikoto - ?
The Genomes -
Garland - Surface God
Queen Brahne -
Lani - Jengu
Zorn and Thorn - Reesha and Roc
Kuja -
Black Waltz 1, 2, 3 -
Characters not Replacing Others:
Pim and Pagoon - Meet Siren along the way after he escapes kidnappers, learns how to fight then (when Garnet put everyone to sleep during dinner and separated. Siren will not be heading back to Alexandria of his own will, cuz he ain’t stupid.)
Worm/Arp - A pet Kappa carries in his bag
Tantalus:
Baku - Mucku
Blank - Mono
Cinna -
Marcus - Neth
Nero Bros - Fean, Finley, and Fizz
PLOT: (Not revealing planned scenes or anything I want to keep a surprise)
Siren’s real name is “Siren”. Prince Diamond was the name he was given at age 6 when he was essentially kidnapped. (Might keep Garnet because that has Bahamut, and apparently Garnet is a masculine name as well... But I like the subtle coorelation to Sailor Moon, hmmmmm...)
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