#the fucking sperm whale
Note
HELLO YES I WANT TO HEAR ABOUT SPERM WHALES
DO YOU NOW
ok this is of course about the pirate show
first of all, let me redirect you to this tag where you will find the rest of my unhinged ramblings about this insignificant almost-certainly unintentional random little detail; of course I'm gonna ramble some more.
The paperweight Stede uses to knock out Nigel Badminton resembles a sperm whale.
An animal that mainly eats squid, including giant squid; the real-life Kraken.
I am absolutely in love with it, it's got incredibly dense symbology, so many different angles one could take on interpreting this.
One could focus on the monster-killer aspect: Stede kills Nigel with it, who is the one who's truly monstrous. And yes, whether or not stede actually murdered him is debatable on a technical level, but he IS the one directly responsible for his death. Which doesn't mean he should feel bad about it. He shouldn't, the story absolves him. Not because he wasn't actually responsible, but because Nigel had it coming, good riddance. The sperm whale kills the only monster on the ship, and later, Stede finds the perfect paperweight to replace it: the petrified orange, the symbol for family, and home, and love. The thing he finds right as he invites Ed to take a place at his side and Ed accepts. The whale is no longer necessary; there are no more monsters on this ship.
Or. How about this: both Ed's and Stede's most violent moments are tied to creatures from the deep.
Ed diassociates the part of him that was capable to strangle his father to death. He tells the story about the Kraken, about a mythological beast emerging from the ocean to wreak senseless havoc, to kill an innocent man while he watches, frozen in fear (but doesn't fail to mention that his father deserved it). An animal that can only survive in crushing depths, in darkness, that never comes to the surface, or if it does, kills without mercy or meaning. A terrifying alien, unlike anything us surface-dwellers know or understand.
An animal that, in reality, is intelligent and fascinating. Not evil, because evil does not exist in nature. A survivor, each adult the only one of thousands to grow that big.
And Stede. Stede gets the sperm whale. No less terrifying, but understandable. Air-breathing and warm-blooded, like us, but, so very unlike us, made for depths. Diving deeper than any other mammal, the biggest predator on earth. Deadly, but not to us or other mammals, and gentle. Kind and living in a network of strong social bonds. Hunted nearly to extinction, because colonizers have never seen a miracle of nature and not exploited it to near-destruction.
Not monstrous like the Kraken. Not inspiring fear and awe. Not even the protection of unreality; just a big, dumb animal that can be killed for the fluids in its body, the giant carcass left for the scavengers.
A hunted giant, striking back.
A great, horrible power emerging from the waters, and retreating back in the safety of its own legend.
Both Ed's and Stede's most violent moments are tied to creatures from the deep, but neither is a monster, and neither is evil. Both are just living things, trying to survive in an increasingly hostile world.
But there's this too: you cannot make a life in the depths, if you are human. Violence is necessary sometimes, and cycles of violence do not start with the oppressed and marginalized defending themselves; but dwelling on it cannot make a life grow. To find contentment and healing, you will have to release the creatures to the abyss where they belong.
You have to plant oranges.
#THANK YOU GOOD NIGHT#and like yes. yes I know this is unintentional. the kraken isn't but the sperm whale is. but it just. fits too perfectly#too good to be accidental too random to be intentional#the script that made the rounds a few weeks back just mentions a brass paperweight (of course I checked) that's proof it's not that deep!#except it's clearly an early draft that has 2 or 3 additional characters so maybe it was a sperm whale on purpose! I don't know!#anyway point is: nobody tell me i sound like an unhinged conspiracy theorist I'm well aware#the fucking sperm whale#our flag means death#thoughts#moth-ra#message
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put your head on my shoulder
#FOREVER obsessed and enthralled with the imagery of the whale hunting the squid#giant squids are so mythologized as vicious krakens but they're basically defenseless against sperm whales#and what the fuck business does a sperm whale have diving that far down anyway. we see way more scarred whales than we see squids#art#20000 leagues under the sea#voyage of the nautilus#captain nemo#pierre aronnax#nemonax#giant squid#sperm whale#m1nty fresh hall of fame#litblr
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I wanted to make some art of my boy Moby for World Whale Day but unfortunately every time I sit down to draw him I completely forget what a sperm whale should look like, on account of their anatomy is um. terrible. So, have my sketches where I attempt to nail down how tf to draw these beasts.
The crooked jaw that Moby is supposed to have has also baffled me a bit, because the thing about sperm whale mouths is that they are already very weird. They are only a tiny sliver of their giant heads and the lower jaw has rows of teeth that fit perfectly into sockets in the upper jaw. If it’s too crooked, then he wouldn’t be able to like… close his mouth.
Which isn’t necessarily a problem for a sperm whale since they just vacuum up squid like jello through a hoover, but it is a problem for a whale that crunches up multiple boats and chews a guy’s leg off. He’s gotta be able to close his mouth to do that. My suggestion is that his jaw is curved but still lines up so that the teeth of one side fit into the sockets of the opposite side.
Anyway, enjoy my horrible whales.
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Have you ever thought about how Linebeck describes Jolene as "crazier than a rabid squid"- only to then be possessed by a literal rabid squid later in the game?
Cause I sure have- especially after seeing a lot of your BellumxLinebeck stuff
mmmmghmm im gonna be honest i haven't thought about it much at all
linking it to my bellum x linebeck thoughts, im not too sure what to make of it in context with my other linebeck notes and w/e
there's also my idea that linebeck has a special interested in shellfish and by extension squids, and the idea of him having a weird thing for bellum, and just... enjoying sealife, and it's kinda of...
he compares her to a rabid squid to link in order to i think... offer a shorthand explanation of what she's like, and i think it (with some other stuff) is kinda just another little peek into how he might feel abt her?
i mean he also compares link to a dog in that one letter? i'm not sure where im going with that one. i dont think linebeck particularly likes dogs
i'm not sure abt the link between that and him getting possessed, jolene is kind of just... there a lot of the time and doesn't really do anything except 1) show that linebeck has enemies and 2) show that people know about link's quest by the end, linebeck generally references sea creatures a few times in ph
relating to bellum x linebeck, i dont see him comparing jolene to a squid an indicator of anything in relation to that, with linebeck having a thing for bellum its more of like. there's a lot of complicated ideas i have with what goes on between them during bellumbeck and bellum being a squid thing is more linebeck having a bit of a monsterfucker streak and having a bit of a thing for like. being tied up. as for literal squids he kinda just likes them as food and to dissect and learn about
like i think 'rabid squid' is more like linebeck just tossing out some derogatory shorthand to explain how he thinks of jolene as some fucking. violent annoyance he has to deal with that he doesn't fully understand
tbh i see the comparison but imo it comes down to a difference in characters and interactions and histories, there is the rabid squid thing (and i think in the manga too theres a vague parallel drawn ig) but im not. sure. what there is there just beyond. linebeck talks about sea creatures and wants to get the fuck away from jolene
i'm not entirely certain what you've been thinking about with that comparison, but i haven't been thinking much about it and it's kinda. eh ig???? its something
#asks#musicncomics#like im gonna be real jolene is a character i do everything i can to avoid half of the time#im not too sure what your thoughts on this are but i can tell you like jolene leagues more than i do so like. idk#idk i have a hard time talking abt jolene bc i Do Not like her so im not really sure beyond this stuff its just. idk#bellum also isnt a literal squid like looking at actual squids the most comparisons are surface level and dont work too deeply#he kinda just looks like one at first glance but 1) doesnt line up well enough and 2) we dont have enough info on him anyways#hes more a reference to a squid than an actual squid bc there is the reference to sperm whales and giant squids fucking hating each other#but while oshus is literal whale bellum is like. some thing in the shape of a squid#im not sure what parallels oyu can draw between the jolene thing and bellum thing. if anything theyre opposites?#w/ jolene its like things got so bad (or w/e) that he just robbed her n fucked off and she decided that was enough to warrant murder#while with bellum things get so good (w/ link and co) that he risks his life for em and is turned against them for it?#tbh this kinda comes down to me having a pretty negative bias against jolene and. that ship. so yeah sorry#im not gonna give this any main tags or anything this is way too far off the beaten path and kinda negative#idk i hc linebeck as gay and a lot of other linebeck hcs just kinda. suggest that he kinda had a really shit time w/ jolene#i dont like her im trying to figure that shit out so i can be like. fair at least in how i write her but i dont like her#salty talks#sorry that i keep tearing away from the rabid squid thing but its like a minefield when i try to talk abt anything w/ jolene#theres not a ton of parallels or like shared themes or w/e and its just too dissimilar in little ways that its just. a thing#ill add this in a few hours later idk if youll see jt but like. i can go in depth and discuss stuff#in dms like im fine with that its just weird in posts bc like tagging and my thoughts are a mess#like if you wanna elaborate on your thoughts thats fine
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Take a moment to contemplate the unknown thousands of dwarf sperm whales hidden in the oceans who traverse the lightless depths yet maintain their vital bond with the surface, sucking squid with unparalleled throat power whilst evading orcas and great white sharks with squid-like ink-farts.
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So there was a dead sperm whale that washed up nearby
It was very dead and smelled bad. It was not as large as I thought it would be but it's also very sunken in and decayed
Lots of people showed up, litterally a bus load of children so i didn't stay long or get very close cuz...people
there were these weird chunks of plastic blob looking things everywhere and I stepped on one and it was very soft like wax and I think I stepped in whale blubber or other whale related parts
So now my shoes and van smell and someone watched me sniff my shoe
#oregon coast#warrenton#right by the Wreck of Peter Iredale#like right next to ut#its cool#i wish i had gotten closer but people skills said no#personal#me#fuck#i dont know#sorry not sorry#dead whale#sperm whale#beached whale
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I never thought my nerdy ass would be excited to write about sperm whale clicks vibrating people from the inside out but here we are.
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✨Museum trip ✨
Got to see some ancient Dino’s related to the whales
But also
Massive real sperm whale skeleton! Was so cool!!!
But also saw a orca skeleton, and a humpback whale skull and whale spine vertebrae!!!
Felt so weird to see the actual size of such a magnificent creature up close!
#museum#trip#whale#orca whale#sperm whale#marine animals#marine biology#oceanlife#ocean#whales#fossils#fossil#fossils are fucking cool#also the whale facts were epic#really makes me excited to someday work in a museum and be a nerd#I am a nerd but if someone wants to pay me to share facts#I’m up for it
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FUCKING WHAT?!
Why is that even a thing?!
Okay now it’s not in this instance but still.
I’m sure this’ll have the Tories bitching up a storm! Bunch of stupid vengeful old women!
What’s next? Shall they dig up the queen and inter her remains in a giant mound of old candle wax?
#personal stuff#dougie rambles#vent post#what#oil#whale#whales#wax#sperm whale#intestinal#intestinal wax#sperm whale intestinal wax#coronation#fuck the coronation#anointing#or lack thereof?#whale oil#disgusting#disgusting object#uk politics#anti monarchy#explain this#news#british monarchy#royalty#no context#sacred oil#jerusalem#tangentially#cursed
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i'm thinking about sperm whales
(again)
thinking about mammals, made for land, for the pull of gravity and air in their lungs, that went back into the water, went down so far that no light touches them, down to where only the strangest creatures dwell, storybook monsters, unknown and unknowable
thinking about meeting your greatest enemy, your best friend in the depths where the weight of water alone should crush you, meeting a thing with tentacles and a beak instead of a mouth, a thing that squirts ink in the pitch black, how you will eat it if it doesn't drown you
thinking about embraces in the dark, suckers leaving perfect circles of scar tissue, carrying the proof of something existing down there, something no land dwelling creature should ever lay eyes on, carrying it up into the daylight, where no one will understand its meaning
thinking of giants, vicious and gentle, teeth bigger than my hand, who will protect their calves with their bodies and rather get eaten than leave their families behind
thinking about a ship run aground sitting on the sand like a beached whale being slowly crushed under its own mass and how it takes to water again weightless once more, pushed back in by gentle hands, who really only want to see it go
thinking about the rest was just gravity
thinking about calling someone whale when what you mean is fat when what you mean is there's something off about you there's something weird i can't put my finger on you're other you don't belong
thinking about whalers, about waves of blood and giant corpses sinking to the ocean floor for the sharks and the worms, about being hunted to near extinction and still surviving barely
thinking about whales
#yeah sorry i cant let this go im chewing this over in my head like a dog with a bone only the bone is granite and my teeth hurt#the sperm whale broke me. its too perfect to be coincidence and too random to be on purpose#its about. fuck. GOING INTO THE WATER WILLINGLY#yk#anyway! i feel SO normal about this god fuck me#our flag means death#thoughts#lmao does this even count as meta no it doesnt#i wrote a thing#the fucking sperm whale
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can we talk about roleplaying blogs for a second? cause like, this vampire one that left a comment on my post, they just make suuuuper basic comments about being alive in the 1600s and knowing the guy in that painting. Not to mention they only post on other people's posts
girl you know a rich lesbian vampire from the 1600s would still be pissed that they stopped wearing powdered wigs and would have the most absurd petty 1 note vent posts
#like she could be one that fucking hates corsets and hated wearing them and now she's watching all these bloggers be like#'actually corsets were fine' and she's FUMING and she won't let it go. She's on the war path against corsets#But she hates that you can't really find whale sperm for candles for sale easily and also she hates online shopping#there#now isn't that more believable as a vampire that's been alive for 400 years#than someone who posts basic shit about how they knew jfk or whatever
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So fucked up that toothed whales only have one nostril and baleen whales have two. Imagine if you only had one nostril. It’s the left one.
#toothed whale anatomy is SO WEIRD I’m sorry#esp sperm whales bc it’s not even in the center#it’s wayyyy the fuck over
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started playing Abzu on my switch, finally, after owning it for literal years, and while I have no idea what the fuck is going on in terms of the story (WHAT are the triangles that keep electrocuting me and what are all these temples) it is so beautiful and enthralling and has honestly been really helpful in my sadness that I haven’t been able to swim or go to the beach or scuba dive in the past couple years
#shhh sharkie#I am going to the beach this year and will at least snorkel like that’s a resolution and i’m determined#I haven’t been swimming at all since before the pandemic and i MISS IT#even like I haven’t been able to take a bath instead of a shower in so long i NEED to be fully underwater before this year is up#discussing with my person about trying to plan a vacation to somewhere we can go snorkeling/scuba diving so that’s giving me a lot of hope#will satisfy my Urge To Submerge this year goddammit#anyway it feels like one of those games like Monument Valley that it’s just this simple but beautiful environment that you puzzle out#and I love seeing all of the different sea creatures!!#omg I just got to the diving with the whales bit and I was just so stricken it was beautiful#going down with the right whales and having the humpbacks pass you coming back up#and then the blue whales holy shit the camera zoom that shows you that you can only see their eye that’s how big they are#and then the sperm whales and giant squid in The Deep too#it’s incredible what a wonderful game#serendipity i do think i’m experiencing it at a time that i needed something like this but still why did i wait so long to play#actually i know it was cause my joycons broke (fuck u nintendo) and the limited functions meant I couldn’t actually play#and then I did get new off brand ones (that are much better) but was going through mental health hell cause broken knee#and didn’t have the brain capacity to actually start a new game#ANYWAY it’s a beautiful game and I need to get into the ocean asap but in the meantime I’m living vicariously through this game#still don’t know what the fuck is going on with the actual story though#I just like finding the meditate spots#s2g the deep sea one is just obsessed with hatchetfish cause I kept going next and it was like ten in a row before I got something different
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the concept of 'sperm whale' is so fucking funny. these prudish victorians found a gigantic, terrifying sea-beast, and, discovering it was full of a thick, oily substance, immediately went 'is this fucking Cum???' and started fueling everything with it. they thought their whole sexually repressed society was running on the monstrous cum harvested by deadly expeditions to the black, icy sea. what kind of immaculate neuroses they must have had.
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why are sperm whales like 1/3 head
#what the fuck#maybe all whales are like this but in looking specifically at sperm whales#and like#why#michi tag
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a complete list
so we got the following already:
AFAB = assigned female at birth
AMAB = samesies but for the bros
ACAB = fuck them pigs
AHAB = guy who wants to fuck and/or kill a sperm whale
so I'm gonna give you the other 22. ready? let's go
AAAB: the muuuscle in your miiidseeection
ABAB: 🔥🔥swedish band typo🔥🔥
ACAB: fuck them pigs
ADAB: world's most rad dance move
AEAB: assigned evil at birth
AFAB: doctor said you were a dame right when you slunk out the pusspuss
AGAB: what the doctor said you was when you slopped on outta the verjubit
AHAB: from hell's heart I tap that cetacean or whatever I never read it
AIAB: all investigators are bisexual
AJAB: a friendly poke
AKAB: all kops are bastardz
ALAB: like asexual but for science experiments instead of sexual attraction. short for "alaboratory"
AMAB: doctor said you were a bloke the second you shot out of the ol' utero cannon
ANAB: someone very sneakily trying to name their D&D character after a banana. don't let them get away with it
AOAB: desperately trying to remember the official Maori name for New Zealand but I'm so so bad at spelling
APAB: assigned pussy magnet at birth
AQAB: the guy from the new GAY version of Moby Dick. this version's called Moby Pronouns. the woke agenda has gone too far!!!!!
ARAB: an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the ARAB world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant ARAB diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years. In the 9th century BCE, the As
ASAB: ahh!! stinkyyy!!! aww, baby
ATAB: the thing you start at a bar when you don't want to pay up right away. ALTERNATE JOKE: the thing you hit to go to the next cell in Excel
AUAB: sound a turtle makes when it's ramming ham
AVAB: only known word to be a perfect anagram of both "balaclava" AND "baklava"
AWAB: assigned weeb at boston
AXAB: amnestic XK-class anomalous being
AYAB: alla youse are bullshit
AZAB: mystery option. nobody knows what this one is. if you know what this one is, send your knowledge to the Pentagon and they will send you a shiny American penny.
glad to help out!! just playing my small role in the queer community. fuck cops also
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