#I LOVE MY CELESTIAL MOTIFS!!!!!!

[aroacenezhaanddainsleif]

(points at the star squad)

aether is the sun. lumine is the moon. dain is the stars. paimon is the sky that holds them all together.

[hanafubukki]

There’s a lot of wishing going on in twst and their connection to diasomnia 🤔 (I know other dorms have it too, but it’s more prominent in book 7)

First an event based around the stars and wishes, where we first learned about lilias wish for harmony between races and allusion to Lilia’s lifespan problem through silver and malleus tamagotchi…which, wow, it all connected didn’t it 👀👀 just…wow!

Then book 6 where Lilia mentions looking at the stars for hundreds of years and wishing upon them.

Then book 7, the stars are there when silver and malleus are born. The night sky changing to dawn. The symbolism of meleanors death and returning to the stars and some others.

Then we have silvers recent bday message with the wish bracelet he learned from lilia.

It’s so interesting to me how this is all connected and weaved especially considering diasomnia is nocturnal fae with a human who is blessed by one as well.

[antwuzhere]

hello!! i love your art sm, i've been thinking about your animatics nonstop. kid and leveret is one of my fav yaelokre songs and holy crap it works so well with majorwood??? if you're able, could i request any sort of life series doodle, maybe simple life scott? your character designs are incredible and i've seen so many cool interpretations of second time winner scott so i was wondering what your design would be! thank you!!

Hiyaa!! Thank you so much!! So umm… I might have spent over 3 hours on this and I’m normally really quick at drawing

I quite love him really

This might be one of my favourite arts ever

A lot of words to say about him aaaaaaa

I’d still have his celestial name as like ‘stars’ but he’s meant to resemble the Sagittarius constellation, instead of like shooting stars, which I would’ve had him down as for his first win

Notes under cut:

• a constellation is just like a big cluster of stars, so it’s kinda like he gains more stars for his new win, like stars per win style

• Sagittarius is usually identified as a centaur: half human, half horse - and yknow Scott’s often assigned unicorn motifs because of his channels mascot minty, so it’s fitting to have him portrayed as like a unicorn centaur

•also Joel hates horses, so it would definetly annoy him even more on top of Scott having a double win

• the name ‘Sagittarius’ is Latin for ‘archer’ which is really fitting, as Scott’s super skilled with bows, and he gets tons of kills using them.

•more could be said about the actual, usage of bows in relation to his character’s personality, how it’s an arrow creates a very controlled puncture wound, and even just it being a long ranged weapon, creating this barrier of being reserved

-> not to say that I think Scott���s character is ‘introverted’ or ‘non-outgoing’ he’s the complete opposite actually but it’s more so that he tends hold his personal emotions closer to his chest,

-> by both, putting up a lively energetic front, and favouring his allies wellbeing and success over his own, his real emotions become very self-restrained and reserved. Controlled.

• @ooooo-mcyt (SORRY FOR THE TAG AAAA BUT YOU WORD THIS STUFF IN YOUR POSTS BETTER THAN I DO) has talked a lot about his need for control, especially around how he dies, and I feel like that’s very fitting considering the conventional connotations of a bow and arrow

I have a lot of words to say about him apparently sorry.

•ummm a lil cool detail his heads kinda splitting, and you can see that top quarter of his face is meant to reference what he would’ve looked like after his first win

-> it’s in the same placement as where I put Cleo’s stitches of her face, not an overly important detail, but like a cutesy matching bestie moment

their faces are falling apart but it’s fine cause they can match <3

•there’s a lot more detail to his star halo now, including what looks like the point and feather of an arrow

• the watcher eye and wings are like the handle of his bow just cause I said so

•kinda rainbowy eyes, but mainly green yellow and red

•oh and his skin kinda fades into that purple-black star matter like his origins smp skin

•all the little star markings on his skin is super cool to me, but I also stuck a moon on there cause pearlescentMOON was his soulmate

•it’s hard to tell cause all the colours but he’s got tears like constantly (not quickly mind you, not like waterfalls but drippy tap) falling from his eyes, but they are these starry gold colour, and they just float up and join the other stars

That’s like a favourite character feature of mine

[1e1e1e]

𝐕𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐄 𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐌 | character template.

if you want to commission me, please click this! prices are $15.

⠁ ⠀⸻ this four-page, single-muse character template is FREE TO USE (F2U) and full of celestial whimsy. it is loosely inspired by vintage circuses and miniature theatres, as well as Henry Selick's adaptation of the Coraline novel. it is full of blue, teal, the moon, and stars. it is quite customizable, but please try to match your theme to the curtains! otherwise, I think it might look strange.

this template was so fun to make! i love how simple it is. whimsigoth is a personal favorite for me as well. P.S., i know there is controversy regarding the literary novel Coraline, due to it's despicable author. however, I am not aware of this staining Henry Selick's adaptation--to me, they are completely separate creations, and the movie, I've heard, isn't that accurate to the book. but if this is problematic in any way, please notify me, and I will promptly edit this template to remove all Coraline-related motifs.

✺ the images used don't belong to me and are credited to their rightful owners.

 ⸻⠀TERMS OF USE

this is for personal use only. don't repost or reupload. don't claim any of my templates as yours. do not remove credit or fail to credit me, and please don't copy or try to re-sell this.

 ⸻ HOW TO USE

* click VINTAGE DREAM. * "purchase" the template via my KOFI * once you receive access to the template, go to file  →  make a copy * follow the instructions left on the note attached

thank you! likes or reblogs are greatly appreciated, xx.

[elbiotipo]

Worldbuilding in Flat Worlds

Oh, so you think I can't do worldbuilding on flat worlds?

So, you might or might not have run into my rather hyperbolic advice that the first rule of worldbuilding is placing your equator. I still stand for it, and one of these days I would like to expand on that… But many on the notes have asked, and this is fair since it's worldbuilding: what about if my world is flat? Or a cylinder, or a ring, or other such shapes? While I can't cover every shape here (though I would like to try, eventually) I can tell you one thing or two about Flat Earths, Flat Worlds, Disc Worlds, however you would like to call them, and how you can do worldbuilding on them. You will be surprised at how much myth, fantasy and science fiction can mesh here. I apologize in advance for the lack of hard numbers in such things like gravity and orbits, but I can expand if you'd like.

This is going to be a LONG post, so more, way more, under the cut:

First of all, of course many cultures have thought of the Earth as flat, it makes intiutive sense. But this idea wasn't only about a flat Earth as a disc in the middle of nothing. This belief was also accompanied by many other beliefs about the sky, and what's under the earth (while I don't want to generalize, you see this sky-earth-underground motif in most cultures) and how the gods or God shaped it; so, not only the shape of the Earth, but the entire universe, a cosmology. While I could go into much depth on various cosmologies around the world (though I suggest you do!), I will explain the two "flat earths" that are more familiar to us in the Western world; the Hebrew and the Greek cosmology.

They usually don't teach you the cool lore in Sunday school.

So, what we see in the Hebrew cosmology is a flat earth, yes, but with a firmament that, unlike some might think, does not separate the heavens (as in sky) from the Earth, but rather creates a "vault" with Earth inside from the primeval ocean, as the firmament IS the sky. As you can read in Genesis 1:6-8, in the second day of creation, God divides the waters "under" and "above" the firmament. This idea of a primeval, chaotic ocean from where the creator God(s) create the world is a feature of Mesopotamian mythology (as well as many other unrelated mythologies), and I would love to expand on it, but let's focus on what the "flat" Earth looked like to the ancient Hebrews. You have a flat earth with the foundations on an endless abyss of water, which goes all around the firmament, an inmovable (the Bible mentions this several times) sky where God placed the Sun and Moon and stars to illuminate the Earth, and floodgates where the water for rain, hail and snow (and also the Great Flood) came from. And also Sheol, and the abyss of water, which along with the "heavens" in or beyond the firmament, take into more spiritual characteristics. I could go on, but as you can already see, this is a very complex cosmology, far from a single flat disc floating on nothingness.

The world according to Homer (the other one)

Let's move on to the Greeks. Now, the ancient Greeks, like Homer, initially seemed to believe in a flat earth, with many parallels to the Mesopotamian (and Hebrew) conception of the world, with a firmament and a landmass surrounded by (or floating on, as per Thales who believed EVERYTHING WAS WATER) an ocean with Greece as the center (see below). However, this conception evolved over time. Anaximander imagined the Earth at the top of a cylindrical, inmovable pillar, but more interestingly, attempted to explain the movement of the Sun and the Moon, believing them to be, to quote Wikipedia, "circular open vents in tubular rings of fire enclosed in tubes of condensed air" surrounding Earth. This idea was later refined by Plato and Aristotle as 'celestial spheres' as paths for the planets (this included the Sun and the Moon) to wander. This concept was further explored by Plato, Aristotle, and many more, to extend to the rest of the planets (which also included the Sun and the Moon), as objects moving across "celestial spheres" inside an sphererical firmament. At this point, Greek philosophers were already thinking the Earth was some sort of sphere, even if only because a sphere was considered the 'ideal' shape, but also because they had started to notice that the Moon was also spherical, boats went under the horizon, and the shadow of Earth during eclipses was round, among many other things that current Flat Earthers don't care about. Eratosthenes was the first to calculate the sphere of the Earth with remarkable precision (you probably know this story if you've watched the old Cosmos with Carl Sagan), and from there, it was mostly accepted in the Hellenistic world that the Earth was in fact round. It was finally Ptolemy by his incredibly detailed astronomical work for the time who finally cemented this system of a round (NOT FLAT!) and unmoving Earth as the center of the universe and the celestial spheres.

The Ptolemaic Universe. Not flat! Notice that the sphere right above Earth is on fire. This is because Earth was believed to be composed of the most base classical elements (Earth and Water), surrounded by a sphere of Air, and then later the sphere of Fire where the Sun orbited. The rest of the spheres were often associated with "Aether" or "crystal", but that's for another time.

As a note, as the Hebrews entered in contact with Hellenistic and later Roman civilization, they also adopted the concepts of the round earth and the "celestial spheres", which meshed really well with the concept of "the heavens" and the "circle of the Earth" mentioned in the Bible. With the rise of Christianity, this fusion of biblical and hellenistic cosmology endured for a long time. It's a myth that medieval Europe thought the Earth was flat, they all knew and teached the Earth was round… and fixed as the center of an universe made up of celestial spheres inside an spherical firmament of fixed stars. That concept endured much longer in Western thought, but that's for another time.

One interesting thing about flat earths in ancient cosomologies is that they often took the form of a circle, and that circle had a center. The center of the world. For the Greeks, it was the Omphalos stone in Delphi (this is where the expression 'navel of the world' comes from). For the Hebrews, it was the Temple at Jerusalem, and later medieval Christian maps (the T-O maps) set Jerusalem as the center of the world. This concept of a 'center of the world' in comparative mythology is called 'axis mundi', and as you can see, it takes particular importance in a world that is believed to REALLY have a center.

So, why the history lesson? It's fun, it might give you some ideas, but mostly it's to show you that the concept of a flat earth does not only imply a flat planet (indeed, the vision of Earth as just another planet took long to arise), but also a whole cosmovision of the world around it. To be fair, our current understanding of the universe, with round planets orbiting stars and galaxies and the Big Bang IS also a cosmovision. One based on scientific observation and understanding, but cosmovision nevertheless.

But perhaps what you wanted with a worldbuilding post is a world that is flat. Like a regular planet, just shaped as a disc. Let's discuss that. First of all, is such a thing possible to arise naturally? Most probably not. While I'm sure there might be at least one exception by some freak accident in the universe, maybe more, as a rule gravity tends to compress large objects into spherical shapes. A disc would eventually break up and become an asteroid field, or it would spin and bulge into a 'pancake shape' and eventually an oblate spheroid object, with a big equatorial bulge (yes, I'm going to use the word bulge a lot here). This shape might actually be common in many fast-spinning objects (that don't break apart) across the universe, and in fact you can find it in stars such as Achernar. Earth itself is a geoid, flattened at the poles and with an equatorial bulge (told you).

However, this does not mean that flat worlds are impossible. You could assume that the gods, or an ancient alien civilization (there's a lot of overlap here) made this disc of an indestructible material. How would such the dynamics of the world work then? Finally, here, is where our worldbuilding gets interesting…

Gravity:

Gravity on a disc would be very peculiar. To make a long story short, it would be stronger at the center and weaker at the edges, with the gravity pulling towards the center, which technically is the pole (I'm going to say South Pole because I'm from the Southern Hemisphere). So, if you threw a ball, it would be pulled towards the center/pole rather than the edges, and this pull would be in a perpendicular way, decreasing the farther you go from the center:

A very ugly drawing of an speculative flat world, with a core made of ~magical~ indistructible material, covered by earth, water and air. Note the direction of gravity and how water flows into a bulge on the center.

This would make for some curious effects; water and air would inevitably flood all the way to the center of the disc, where it would make a bulge, the sea level raising in a notable way there. One way to avoid this is to make the disc spin on its center, like a roulette, the centrifugal force of such a spin would make the gravity spread to the edges. Unfortunately, it's hard to calculate how fast would it be needed for it to 'even out' gravity in the whole disc. I can be sure it would be enough to tear normal worlds made of rock and metal apart, so this flat disc would have to be made of a strong, magical material (which really works well with the mythical 'God set the foundations of the Earth' motif)… or a complex structure of orbital rings inside (ultra-advanced tech artificial structures that transport matter in an opposite way to the spin, generating enough momentum so it doesn't pull apart), or some other kind of exotic matter. The spin would probably would not be noticeable to the inhabitants of the disc in their day to day lives, though, as the 'fixed' stars would move, I'm sure the inhabitants would incorporate in their calendars.

One important thing to remember about gravity is that it's not based in the size of an object, it's based on mass. You could have a (regular) planet smaller than Earth, but with the same gravity, so long as the mass was denser. Similarily you could have huge planets with Earth-like gravity as long as the inside is less dense (bubbleworlds, another thing I'm dying to talk about). So you could have, for example, a disc the size of Earth made of a magical or ultra-tech material (let's call it Newtonlith) where certain places inside the disc would be dense to create gravity fields inside the disc. In a normal setting, this would break it apart, but perhaps, if it's in a form of a spread out gradient, it wouldn't. This would have some very odd effects, which I leave to the reader to imagine.

(I'm of course, dismissing stupid concepts from modern flat earthers such as "Earth perpetually falling down" or "gravity doesn't exist", but I have to say, they do have some wacky worldbuilding)

The Edge and The Other Side:

So, if you get to the edge, gravity would feel strange, making it harder to you to keep going since it's pushing you perpendicularily to the center, until you actuall walk into The Edge, and gravity would feel level. It would be like walking on the oustide of a wheel. However, it's hard for me to imagine what this "edge" would look like. Assuming the disc spins, I would expect the edge to get thinner and thinner, smoothing out rather than being like a sharp "coin-like" edge… or, if it spins fast enough, in fact, more of a sharp cliff or, how could I define this? "Horizontal mountain chain". However, again, we're also assuming this whole thing is made of some magical or ultra-tech material, so the edge might as well be a flat expanse imposible to erode, like a coin edge, which might let you, quite literally, walk around the circle of the Earth. In fact, some enterprising civilizations might make a railroad or transport system all around the circle. Another thing about the Edge is that, because all the water would go to the centers of the disc, it would be very dry, and it also would have winds constantly circulating in the direction of the spin. No wall of ice, at least not as I imagine it; as we'll see later, the temperature on a flat Earth would be rather uniform unless there are other conditions affecting it.

One important thing is that, assuming this is a disc *floating* in space (no elephants or turtles…), is that the other side would be as habitable too. Remember, this case is actually one where the centers of the disc are two poles, and the edge is actually the equator! (HAHAHAHA, TOLD YOU THE EQUATOR WAS IMPORTANT, EVEN IN FLAT WORLDS) So yes, you could, in a way or another, cross over the edge (the equator!) to another whole new world, cross over to The Other Side. Assuming, of course, they get light and such, which is the next point…

Before that, though: regarding horizons; no, there wouldn't be a horizon in a flat world. You could see pretty much all the way until something like mountains block your sight. It's hard to find good estimates on exactly how far though, but humans can make out faint details up to 3km away in good conditions (coincidentially, that's around where the 'horizon' is in our Earth) and lights up to 48km away. Insert your joke about Legolas here.

Orbits, Day, Night and the Sky:

How would day and night work? There are Options.

Again, assuming our magical/ultratech indestructible disc, it could spin on an axis so that each side faces the star it orbits, like a spinning coin. This would be a weird thing, especially if the planet already spins on its edge/equator, but not physically impossible. The orbit of Uranus is similar, with one pole facing the sun during summer and the other during winter, but that means an almost century long day in its case (a year in Uranus is 84 Earth years) and a similar long "day" in an Earth-like orbit. But if this world was created to spin much like Earth, there won't be that much difference between our day and night. You could even tilt it to simulate seasons.

An example of the movements of a flat world given the above; rotation on its axis (that is, the center of the disk, rotation in another axis "like a coin" to give night and day, and revolution around a star. I also went the extra mile and gave it a climate like I will discuss later: a parched edge without water, with increasingly rainy desert, savanna and rainforest as you get to the center, and at last the central sea with a perpetual storm.

But I digress. You probably aren't here for a boring normal planet that orbits a star, no, no. You want the full mythical world experience, you want a world where the Sun and the Moon spin around the circle of the Earth, and fuck Copernicus. Let's leave aside what those 'luminaries' actually ARE for now, they can be some sort of magical tech objects or literal gods. How would that work?

You could have two kinds of luminaries here. The clever folks at the Flat Earth Society imagine a sun and a moon hovering over the Earth, spinning in a circular orbit about what we call the equator (in our round Earth, of course) as some sort of giant spotlight 32 miles across and a few thousand kms away, jumping and falling out of view, as I understand it. Same with the Moon. For a more classical approach, you could also have a sun and a moon orbiting your disc, which would be interesting, as the other side of the disc would also be illuminated while the other one is dark (in many ancient myths, the sun went into the underworld at night)

The two ways you could have mini-suns: either hovering above your disk or orbiting it. I was too lazy to make a graphic, so thanks to the Flat Earth Society I guess.

Like I said in the beginning, I haven't done the calculations on how such orbits would work, other that they would be complex, and not natural or stable at all. But after all, suns 32km across that hover over a flat world aren't exactly natural. If there is a place to insert gods and magic shit, this is one, though a fusion or black-hole powered spotlight that completes a very complicated orbit following ancient programming is also an option depending on what kind of setting are you doing. You could watch some videos of people debunking actual flat earthers to get a few ideas on how they explain the whole sun thing (spoilers: they just don't believe in eclipses, which indeed would be impossible here, unless magic is involved).

Both options have VERY important implications on the climate. The first one, with a disc orbiting a star and spinning to get day and night, would mean that the disc would get the same amount of light all over it, thus having the same overall temperature, without any latitudes. The second one(s), depending on the orbits of the suns, means you could have "tropical" areas and cold areas depending on where the sun's "spotlight's" points, either as a regular orbit over an equator, or a more complicated one that might not correspond to what we would expect. Funnily enough, Terry Pratchet's Discworld's sun has such a complicated orbit it's never really explained, it even crosses the legs of the elephants upholding the Discworld sometimes.

Speaking of which, THE Discworld of course moves across space on the back of 4 elephants standing on the shell of Great A'tuin (awesome name for your Torterra in Pokémon btw), and its movement is apparently so significant that the astrologers have to regularly change their zodiacs. And indeed, a flat world would also move around its galaxy if it existed, and carrying its own fantasy sun, it wouldn't need to orbit any star to be habitable. Our own Sun is moving with our entire solar system on tow (or rather orbit) at a speed of, holy shit I had to look this up, 828,000 km/hr. However, even at this speed, the stars seem fixed to us, a whole spin around the center of galaxy (a galactic year) takes 225 million years. Still, the stars are moving like us, in fact, some constellations are in slightly different positions from ancient times, just not at the pace in Discworld.

As a final note, I believe a moon with enough gravitational pull would cause tides as it orbits the flat disc much like on Earth. Would be funny if an actual normal moon like ours orbited a flat world, with a small sun on inside its orbit (not too far from the Ptolemaic universe, actually)

Geology and Climate:

Like I said, we're assuming this flat world is made of either some sort of ultra-tech exotic matter, or was just straight created with magical material. So you would think geology would be pointless to discuss, right? Not so fast. There's some assumptions we can make. First of all, there would be no plate tectonics. Plate tectonics, of course, need an active mantle and core, which a flat world just cannot have at least on the size of Earth. So no earthquakes or volcanoes, unless there's magic involved (Terry's Discworld, which is based on Hindu mythology, played with this by having the elephants holding it up move ocassionally, causing earthquakes) So, a world with less natural disasters, wonderful, right? Sure, but in the long run (millions of years), it's tectonic activity that keeps the Earth alive, replenishing CO2, moving the continents around stimulating evolution and changes in climate and the water cycle. This can be replaced by some magical means, though that means that Something Magical is doing Stuff in your world, (you know, besides the whole flat world thing) and you better contemplate what does it mean for your setting/story. Similarily, one strange thing about geology in flat worlds is that, as mentioned, assuming gravity points to the center(s)/poles, there would be a pull towards there, so mountain peaks would be taller and pointing towards the edge of the disc, and as we will see below, also face greater erosion from there, as the winds and water would also move towards the center/pole.

What about climate? That one depends on how your light sources work. But in general, without poles or equator (well, they exist, but you know), the whole disk surface(s) would recieve equal light all year. Which means no seasons and not climate variation. Seasons are possible by tilting the disc, but overall, the climate in a disc world would be stable. Or would it? By the sheer morphology of a disc, not only water would flow into the center, but also air, and in the case of a spinning disc, it would spin into it. Air would flow into the center into powerful winds: how powerful? Difficult to say, but perhaps geography like mountains and hills could moderate them. If there was no spin, I imagine both water and air would accumulate in a large inner sea (as water would, in one way or the other, flow towards it, and water cannot be denied) and high pressure which could be an odd bulged sea with surprsingly calm weather. However, there's another option. Astronomers have studied tidally locked worlds, worlds where one side faces their star all the time. In this case, the convection currents flows from the light side flow to the dark side, creating strong winds and perhaps, assuming there is water, a perpetual storm in the light side. This has a parallel in our case, as the air in a flat world will all spin around the center, with no other way to go, and with it, it will be where all the heat and energy of the atmosphere (atmodisc?) accumulates. In this world, the center of the world (or at least, this side of it…), the axis mundi, would be the eye of a gigantic eternal typhoon.

OOOH DISCWORLD I'M HOWLING TO THE MOON

What would geography, life and culture be like in such a world, given all the things I've told you? Well, that's the most fun part. It's up to you to imagine it. I personally don't find flat worlds all that engaging (sorry, Terry), I feel more comfortable with my good old spherical worlds with tropical latitudes and all that, or other more futuristic stuff things like ringworlds or Dyson spheres (which I hope to cover in another post). But I hope I gave you enough information and ideas so that the ones you might create are both original and believable.

Thank you for reading this, I hope you enjoyed it and it inspired you to do some worldbuilding! If you would like to see more, I would be VERY grateful if you gave me a tip and some suggestions in my ko-fi below, especially as my country here in the other side of the disc is under the rule of a libertarian fascist idiot, so every little help does indeed help a lot! Follow me and stay tuned for some more wacky worldbuilding and rants about the Southern Hemisphere.

[zuzuelectricbugaloo]

Lifeafterdeath Ship Kid: Vidal!

Created by @sarcosticsarcomere and I, he’s a revamped version of Goth in both appearance and personality, given that they are now the son of Life as well as Reaper and Geno

Concept art for their design:

Yes I know the art is mid but if I could commission my favorite artists all the time I would be drowning in over 20K of credit card debt lmao

Nicknames: V, Vivi, or Vi

Follows True Pacifist Reapertale, making V the youngest of their siblings Frisk (aka Mercy; Life’s child), Chara (aka Faith; Reaper’s child) and Asriel (aka Hope; Life’s child)

Pronouns: Masculine, V identifies as a He/Theyby

Sexuality: Fluid

Height as a teenager: Over 6 feet tall

Personality and some background info: Vidal is a soft-spoken, socially awkward guy. Doesn’t say much, but once they open up to someone and are comfortable around them V could excitedly ramble on and on about their special interests. They had trouble making friends growing up due to being the demigod son of two prominent gods. As a result, when they first met Palette Roller and TK, they went by the name Valeria to hide their identity and befriend the other young skeletons.

Fun facts:

V can do goat blep, shift his eyelights to resemble a goat’s eyes, goat bleat, goat scream, and freeze like a goat when frightened. As a child, V adored affectionate headbonks and would play fight frequently with their siblings and parents. For their goat Mom and goat brother, it was a delightful game. For everyone else, sore foreheads were a common occurrence

When angered, V’s eyelights morph into a goat’s eyes and take on a redder shades

Around 6-8 years old their horns and tail started to appear and grow.

When Vidal’s horns and tail grew out, they became clumsy due to constant struggle with their sense of balance. They’d become frustrated and give up on walking altogether and simply float. This lead to Lifeafterdeath using child leashes to hold onto their floating son while a grumpy V pouts with their arms crossed in the air like a huffy balloon.

They share Life’s passion for botany, inherited Geno’s love for astronomy, and mimic Reaper’s gothic aesthetic. However they are terrible with plants and kill every one they try to grow much to their dismay. They also often carry around a messenger bag for their scrapbook and journals to write about and press and preserve their favorite flora into.

Reaper preens V and their siblings and occasionally V will try and preen their friends or familial figures like Epic and Dream.

Palette Roller is Vidal’s best friend since they were young babybones. They’d often hangout together and when they learn about the other’s infamous parents, empathize and soon become inseparable.

Whenever they can’t be watched by one group’s parents, they are babysat by Epic, their “Bruhncle”. V adores Epic and enjoys wearing fingerless gloves and boots as a nod to him.

Vidal’s Fashion Aesthetic

Best described as gothic cottagecore, V’s color scheme consists of primarily white and black with some blue, green, and purple. Anything that has plants, a gothic motif, or celestial theme, V will wear. Sometimes V will have jewelry decorating their horns for special occasions like birthdays or holiday celebrations. Or when they’re trying to impress their crush xD

Vidal x Palette: Canon

When Vidal develops a crush on Palette, they don’t confess their feelings because they have no idea if their best friend even feels romantic feelings, least of all towards them. They’re very close, but Vidal can’t tell if it’s platonic or romantic.

Palette knows they care deeply about V but has no idea what kind of love it is. He’s unbothered by this. After all, his parents are all in a queerplatonic/romantic relationship (Hyperinsomnia; the romantic comes from Dream and Error’s relationship) and happy and committed. As long as V is in his life and they’re best friends forever he’s happy. Palette does experience attraction and think V is hot. Unlike V, Palette grew up in queerplatonic family, so romance isn’t something Palette has particularly experience in

They start dating before they confess their feelings, confusing everyone except Palette’s family xD At first glance it appears as though Palette is aggressively friend-zoning V the entire time when it isn't his intention.

Some bonus funny screenshots regarding Palette and V from Sarco and my talks the other day:

[rockwgooglyeyes]

karma and heart imagery

There was something I was kind of haphazardly postulating about with some friends about the heart imagery in the new trailer for Karma (thank you @awaggaa for the images love you oomfie)

It was mentioned by one of said friends (thanks @ivanttakethis) that the image in the bottom left reminded them of Sweet Dream or even Black Sorrow, and I agree on both, but I think it's most likely hearkening back to Sweet Dream, given the fact that the planets are colored as in Black Sorrow, none of the celestial bodies had coloration outside of the cool bluish grey-scale tones.

Now to my idea about the heart imagery in Karma- that the hearts shown are representative of people Mizi has lost in her life. The enshrouded figure (top right) I could see being either Mizi's provider, or even Hyuna. The heart with nails through it, clasped between hands, I can see being either Hyuna (because of Hyuna's persecution as a rebel and also her role as a sacrificial figure), Till (again the life of suffering for the sake of some higher purpose) or that could even be Mizi herself, showing how she's lost herself along the way. The bottom left one, which evokes the imagery and motifs from Sweet Dream, I can't imagine representing anything other than Sua, especially with the protective bubble around the heart (the way that both Mizi and Sua protected each other and saw the other as weaker) as well as the soft way in which the heart is held. The bottom right, on the other hand, I think represents Ivan. While I acknowledge that I am extremely and horribly Ivan pilled, the motifs from Black Sorrow being in the black of the cross as well as the inside of the heart's shell, and the fact that the heart was protected by a shiny carapace that has now been broken, feels very reminiscent of Ivan and his mask, how it was shattered in his final moments and his true feelings were shown as he died. Considering that we know that Ivan and Mizi cared a lot for each other, it doesn't seem weird to me that she would mourn his loss, not as much as Sua's maybe, but that he would still be significant enough to have some kind of symbol.

[raayllum]

Cube Hostage Exchange Theory, for Real This Time

Intro

A few days after Through the Moon came out in September 2020, I made a throwaway theory post about a potential Rayllum reconciliation scenario in which Rayla would be taken captive / threatened by the antagonists, and Callum would hand over the Key of Aaravos in order to save her life.

In the almost four years since then, the theory has blossomed into much more than it started as, largely due to people's amazing art and fic inspired by it, and by the enthusiasm it's been received with, and for those things I will always be eternally, deeply grateful for.

The theory has likewise gone through many metas (some of which will be referenced and linked to here when applicable), 20+ pages alone on my blog, with surprising leaps in popularity and plausibility, and multiple variations, both within the theorizing space and within canon itself (5x08, you will always be famous).

There's also been many moments of doubt.

As much as everything seemed to make sense even as Rayllum's post-TTM reunion went on, there was still so much left that was perpetually speculative. We didn't even know if Aaravos would want his cube back, which was one of the theories' many lynchpins, and TDP loves to be subversive (within reason) and throw curveballs I never saw coming, like Terry's wonderful existence or Sol Regem's swerve to attacking Katolis. I've speculated alternative uses for the Key to high heaven (as Aaravos' missing heart piece, a key to the Star Nexus or realm, the key to his prison, and sometimes all three simultaneously as a power up he needs to free himself and wreck celestial havoc). The closest I got to was it being a literal key and related to something Aaravos would want/need back, and indeed a power up, and that he did need a quasar diamond to get out of his prison and that one was in the staff and not also in the Key. Not bad, but definitely missing some marks.

That is to say that there could still be curve balls or swerves, and a theory isn't set in stone as happening until it happens. After all, I've been fully prepared to pack the theory up and for it to not happen three times now (going into S4, particularly S5, and S6). When the S4 finale did indeed have a hostage exchange involving Rayla and Claudia and a boyfriend, I chuckled and figured we might not repeat a plot beat like that again; when 5x08 did it twice, I was overjoyed at getting the exact irony of "Callum literally frees Rayla while chaining himself further to Aaravos' will" that I'd always wanted. 5x08 was, and is, enough for me; if S7 never takes it further, I'll still be pleased as punch.

However, after four years of hemming and hawing and going into seasons preparing for curveballs... I'm pleased to say I finally don't have any doubt.

And here's why.

Sections:

Background

The Cube and the Game Motif

Neon Lights, Narrative Set Up and Pay Off (6x03, S6)

The Knowledge Motif Thread Detour

Tests of Love (Leola, Chaos, and Love)

Alternatives (no possession, third path, Rayla handing over the cube, etc)

Conclusion

Background

First, a little background. Any relevant information in the metas listed below will be summarized / explained / alluded to accordingly for your benefit, but it is a good luck at 1) how the theory has evolved over time and 2) will be drawing in relevant aspects from said metas when discussing season 6.

Previous proper CHET metas include (in chronological order):

The Original Theory Post / Meta (Oct 2020, post-TTM)

Rayllum and Rayla's Weird Consistency with the Key (March 2022, pre-S4)

Rayla's Duality as Callum's Salvation and Destruction (Aug 2022, pre-S4)

CHET: End of Days (Nov 2022, pre-S4)

Opposing Cube Symbolism in 2x08 (Dec 2022, post-S4)

Here's How It Can Still Win (Dec 2022, post-S4)

Aaravos and Rayla as Callum's Two Paths (May 2023, pre-S5)

Shorter post-S6 meta

Things that are useful to our meta here ultimately, however, with a couple of S6 updates in later sections are

THE GAME MOTIF

This refers to a repeated visual and verbal literal and metaphorical motif running throughout the series. Although not exclusive to him, 90% of the time the Game Motif is in relation to Aaravos. It is most prominent when discussing the Key of Aaravos in arc 1 ("This is the game room. Cube should be in there" / "It's a glow toy" literally / "Are you practicing magic or are you losing to Bait at a game of rolly-cubes?") with one 'throwaway' line from Viren to Aaravos in 2x08: "What game are you playing at?"

This then took on a much more prominent focus in arc 2 thanks to the pawn intros and lines from various characters, such as Zubeia's assessment that "We had to beat Aaravos at his own game," Viren's reservations that "I believe Aaravos may be toying with us," Ezran's "His pawns are working to free him even as we speak."

Much of this has been rather set in stone for a while now (one of the TDP's shorts did, though, excitingly link Aaravos' test of love to the game motif, with the line "They aren’t games. They’re tests") but S6 did add some very exciting overlap with Aaravos' game and dark magic, which is fitting given that the two are deeply intertwined: "Because you're too good for dark magic, now? You had a lifetime to play with your toys, and now you decide to hide them away and destroy them?" (Viren to Kpp'Ar about the staff, 6x06.)

We also see occasional overlap with this motif and the stage motif ("You've played your part well" in 6x08 to Sol Regem / "Aaravos chose as his instruments..." + "You will perform acts of love so unforgivable..." in 4x04) as you can play a game, and play your role in a theatrical performance. Or in Callum's case, as a puppet who is "destined to play right into" Aaravos' hands.

PRIMAL STONE FORESHADOWING

As Callum discusses in 2x02 directly, he broke Claudia's stolen primal stone on purpose (not by accident) because he had "a good reason". The comparison later on in the same season, then, that the whole world is like a giant primal stone, and Callum's tendency towards breaking things (specifically magical objects) we well as the emphasis on "breaking the cycle" therefore felt like setup. It also felt particularly apt given Aaravos' wish expressed in Patience that:

I have not seen the stars in centuries. But when I see them again—when the stars are forced to look upon me, their dark brother—they will know how I have waited. And when everything they have built lies shattered, I will savor their fall from the sky.

S6 also affirmed this by associating the primal magic that Leola 'gave' to humans the "first step in a long spiral towards Callum," and what that might mean for Callum, someone who is uniquely a primal mage and has used dark magic. The fact that Aaravos and his key (remember that game motif) are associated with the book of / primal magic as well as dark magic reinforces this duality further.

Who better to shatter the Cosmic Order and known world for the worst better than the boy who is already shattering it for the best?

LIGHT AND DARKNESS

The cube and Aaravos are associated with both light and dark, not only in design, but in magic systems. Aaravos and dark magic are routinely related to darkness ("because I have followed a dark path" / "the darkness and corruption will overwhelm you" / "and my favourite, the human mage, already tainted by darkness" / "in darkness, gaze upon a fallen star"). This is fairly straightforward, as Rayla represents literal light (which we'll get to in S6 in a moment) that heals Callum's broken spirit and rescinds Aaravos' control over him. Note, for example, the way she's shrouded in light in clear opposition to Aaravos' mirror right next to her, with Callum facing ahead towards both of them.

However, it's not that simple, because light can also be seen as a bad thing, such as the possession eyes, Karim's desire to "return the light/sun" to his people, the cube-moon opal's light on the Bridge of Darkness in 4x07 leading to danger, dark magic turning your hair white, and most notably, the way the pawn becomes a literal glow toy in the 4x04 / 5x08 pawn intro.

The light of the cube — perhaps the light in general — is not going to be exclusive in playing into Aaravos' hands. In the mirror-Rayla screenshot, for example, the path towards Rayla is embodied by the shadow she casts on the floor (similar to how regularly Claudia is portrayed in Viren's shadow in S6).

And, speaking of light...

RAYLA AS CALLUM'S PATH, SINGULAR

As speculated pre-S4, Rayla represents light, truth, and love in Callum's life. This was then canonized in 6x06. Post-S4, it seemed overtly evident that Rayla was being set up further to represent a path in opposition to Aaravos. She would save Callum from being Aaravos' prey, she was the Light and reminder of agency to Aaravos' Darkness and stripping of agency. "What if I'm on a path of darkness?" "Then take another path, dummy." This was, of course, all in line with the previous light-darkness and game motif described above. Rayla couldn't, and won't, kill Callum permanently after all if at all, so she has to save him instead.

However, it was also pretty clear following S4 and especially S5 that the razor's edge between salvation and destruction, as embodied by Rayla being the reason he was in Aaravos' clutches in the first place (getting him the cube, being his motivation behind doing dark magic), would eventually merge. Her love would ultimately save him, but it would destroy him first.

This has, of course, been their pattern throughout the series: Rayla comes into his life, causing him to turn/destroy his relationship with Claudia and put him in danger, but she's also what pushes him to do magic for the first time; he follows her off the Pinnacle at great risk to himself, but his love for her helps centre him enough that he can save them both; she is the reason he does dark magic (twice), but is also what fixes his broken spirit during the star-light trial ritual.

Because she's not just the other path in opposition to Aaravos. She is his path, singular.

If you're interested in more of this, I'd recommend my one about the layers of Rayla being Callum's One Truth in greater detail, as well as general speculation of their arc in S7, some of which will be referenced/summarized here as well.

With all that out of the way, let's get into it

The Cube and the Game Motif

Anyone who knows me knows that the Game Motif is my favourite motif in TDP (which is saying something) and that said motif has been a long standing cornerstone of CHET. This is mostly because, as noted, in arc 1 the Game Motif existed almost exclusively with the cube down to its introduction.

CALLUM: This is the game room. Cube should be in there. (1x04)

CALLUM: Last night you thought the cube was just a worthless toy. But now we know— RAYLA: It's a glow toy. (1x05)

The Game Motif was also associated with Aaravos sparsely in arc 1 ("What game are you playing?" Viren demands in 2x08, and never receives the answer / "Well played. She will be a valuable asset") and magic itself ("Is this a guessing game? Just do it!") although to a lesser degree. There were also nods to the imbalance of power in Xadia, with Harrow noting, "Entire armies have crumbled and fallen like toys before [Avizandum]. How can we hope to kill such a godly creature?"

Then, as noted in arc 2, the game motif went from being associated just with the cube to being associated with Aaravos outright, both verbally through dialogue and literally in the pawn intros. This is what I call a motif expansion, where something moves from subtext to text. It is somewhat similar to a merger, where two previously separate associations are brought into being one in the same. This is initially how the cube operates, since the game motif is ongoing whereas Callum's statement of "You wait here, however long it takes, I'll go find a key" in 1x04 is only made foreshadowing in 2x06 when he learns it's called the Key of Aaravos.

2x07 takes this further, though, with this dialogue exchange:

CALLUM: [Holding the cube] What do you think this thing is, anyway? He said it was a key, but a key to what? RAYLA: Are you practicing magic, or are you losing to Bait at a game of rolly-cubes?

For example, here we see the Key analogue/association and the game motif be linked together. TDP does this a few more times with Aaravos' key becoming associated with light (4x04/5x08), destiny dark magic (2x08, 4x04), secrets/mysteries (2x07, 2x06) and more. A lot of this is, of course, because Aaravos is likewise associated with all these things, and the Key is tethered to him and his plot line / motifs and associations.

The game motif does exist outside of the cube's associations — Ezran's pattern of hide and seek represents his childhood innocence, his tendency to run and hide when things get hard, and him shedding both these patterns as they attempt to find

The most interesting thing that S6 did on this note, then, was make the game motif associated not just with magic, but very specifically with dark magic:

VIREN: Because you're too good for dark magic now? You had a lifetime to play with your toys, and now you decide to hide them all away or destroy them? (6x06)

Why am I screaming about this, you may ask? Well, the Staff of Ziard is about as synonymous with dark magic as a thing can get in TDP. It too belonged originally to Aaravos, and became a cornerstone in his grand plan, at least of getting out of the prison.

HARROW: It belonged to an elven wizard in Xadia, the Archmage Aaravos, a master of all six primal sources. (2x06) IBIS: If you seek to return that staff to its true owner, you pose a greater danger to the world than I can allow. (4x03)

So the Staff is a toy, and dark magic, and belonged to Aaravos, and used in his plans, brought directly to him by Viren (indirectly) and Claudia (directly). And the Key is also referred to as a toy, is also in the possession of another pawn, and has also been hidden and/or 'should' be destroyed. A knowledge of primal magic, at least in terms of how it manifests in creatures/locations, is also required in order to be a successful dark mage.

So not only is Aaravos and the key tied directly to the game motif, but through Viren's exchange with Kpp'Ar, so is dark magic. In many ways, this takes what was subtext — dark magic is what allows Aaravos to puppet and manipulate people such as his pawns, and keep the Cycle (his game) going, even if he's not what directly started it (that was the Cosmic Order/Council) — and makes it text. Aaravos' toys are toys ultimately because of their tethers to magic, typically dark magic as well, and his objects of choice, such as the Staff or the Key or how he puppets his pawns, are not exceptions. (There's potential for primal magic as well, of course, but it's currently not as direct).

We also know, thanks to Arc 2, that the Key and Staff are more similar to one another than we might've thought in terms of their purposes in Aaravos' plan. I'd speculated in the past that the Staff and/or the Key held quasar diamonds that Aaravos needed for some power-up purpose; the Staff had the diamond needed for his body contingency plan, and the Key is needed for his primal book to operate and presumably be found, so that he can be at full power.

Furthermore, we have a pattern of dialogue about the Key / game motif eventually becoming literal. The cube is called a glow toy, and then in the pawn intro is revealed to be a literal glow toy; Callum says "what if it's magic?" in 1x04 and we discover that it opens up a book of all primal magic; it's foreshadowed loosely as a key, and it is a key; Rayla asks if Callum is losing a game, and he's embroiled in Aaravos' game as a pawn. Callum will win eventually, of course, as will everyone else... but he has to lose, really lose, first.

After all, every other line regarding the cube has come to fruition other than three:

"This is the game room. The cube should be in there" and "I'll go find a key" from 1x04 have both come back around. "It's a glow toy" from 1x05 ended up being true as well, with the cube flashing a bright light in Callum's pawn intro (and even the cube being included in the pawn intro). The Key's secrets are things Callum is currently investigating (6x02) and will likely fully discover in S7, possibly leading him to Aaravos' book or something else near Elarion and the thematic culmination of the Mystery of Aaravos. Callum's notice that the key seems to be glowing differently in 1x09 is revealed to be true because of the Moon Nexus. Rayla's line in 2x07 about losing the game to Bait is true in 5x08 as he practices magic (both dark and primal) in order to save her from being literal bait, even if that means taking a step closer to Aaravos and 'losing' the game. I expect Callum's assessment of "No good can come from it" (4x07) will ultimately be untrue if it helps him study primal magic ("What if it's magic? [...] I just have a feeling this cube thing can help me"), and Rayla's decision of "Let's go get your cube" is likely going to be true by the end of S7, with Callum reclaiming ownership completely this time.

So let's talk about the three lines that haven't come to fruition yet, because they paint a pretty apt picture:

So in the biggest notion of currently untapped set up, Rayla after being the first to declaring the damn cube a toy says "I hope it was worth it to you putting everyone's lives in danger." The thing is that this it's not like this line doesn't work in context, it very well does; someone could've gotten hurt and Rayla was nearly killed. This is also a sort spot for her because she'd just done the same thing in 1x01, putting her troupe in danger, so of course she's extra (somewhat fairly, somewhat unfairly) miffed at new mage boy repeating her mistakes as well.

Games (and chess) are all about patience, exchange, and sacrifice. We know now that the cube is something powerful, why it is, what it unlocks, and why Aaravos has the incentive to want it back (which as stated was an assumption before).

But the fact remains that the game motif has been tied to the cube to the start and continues to be. Callum's test of either playing into Aaravos' hands and coming back from it (the option that I lean towards) or outright rejecting it again cannot be fulfilled until the cube pawn intro has come full circle.

So let's talk about

Neon Lights, Narrative Set Up and Pay Off (6x03, S6)

As you can garner from this meta and any of my previous ones that have touched on this theory, there were a lot of assumptions that had to go into it. I had to assume, prior to season six, that Aaravos would even want the cue back. I had to assume, prior to season four, that the Rayla-Aaravos Callum-Viren foils thing was happening on purpose and that Rayla would be put in opposition to Aaravos as the light to his darkness. I had to assume, prior to season five, that S4's emphasis on people doing terrible/misguided things for love through characters like Rayla, Terry, Viren, and Claudia would eventually become a mainstay in Callum's arc 2 character arc.

I had to assume, prior to season six, that the story would eventually be inclined to put Callum in a scenario where he'd have to choose between Rayla and the greater good so directly. After all, while I was confident post-season 2 onwards that, if put in a situation with Rayla and/or Ezran's life on the line, Callum would always do dark magic, that was ultimately a characterization basis. Yeah, I could think that he would go there, but the story was under no condition to go there from a Plot standpoint, ie. assembling the story and plot line so that Callum would be faced with that kind of choice again. They could choose to not explore that aspect of a potential character arc, leaving it technically unknown. My characterization predictions in these scenarios, then, have been routinely consistent, but whether the plot itself would cooperate was entirely up in the air, with some plot evidence existing due to TDP's love of exchanges, trolley problems, and hard choices.

Then 6x03 happened:

To say that I cried/cheered would be an understatement.

This, of course, doesn't necessarily mean that Callum will do what I think he'll do, or that it'll play out in the manner I'm imagining. It does seem blatantly obvious, however, that S7 with the season's synopsis emphasis on sacrifice that both Callum and Rayla will face the choice of whether to sacrifice the other, one after each other: Callum first — as he must do dark magic again in order to be possessed — and then Rayla, tested and finally choosing not to sacrifice something to her, saving him back as a result.

But furthermore, I lost my fucking mind explicitly because it's not just a question of "will you sacrifice me or yourself" (which we know isn't a real question for either of them) but "will you sacrifice me or the world (greater good)" which is exactly what I've wanted for both of them all along. For Callum to put Rayla first the way that he always has, and for Rayla to (subsequently) put Callum first as a sign of growth/character development. (This also ties into Rayla's whole thing in s6 of taking the lessons Callum's taught her about how to love and implementing them with him in turn or with others, but that's a meta for another day.)

Now, there are alternatives that there could be / ways to get around the 'greater good' slice of the pie, which I'll talk about later under the Alternatives subheading.

For now, I just want to assert the narrative set up and potential we have so far in a plainer way:

The Knowledge Detour

We know that Aaravos wants the cube (6x09) and we know he knows that Callum has it (4x04, 5x08).

The game motif and key motif have been directly related to dark magic (2x07, 2x08, 4x04 "play right into my hands," 5x08, 6x06, etc).

The Key itself is also related to secrets (2x06), the secrets of primal magic (2x01), and thereby knowledge / answers to the 'Mystery' of Aaravos.

This is also related to the idea of knowing too much or having too much knowledge being dangerous (which you can read more about here, although it's pre-S6 so it doesn't touch on everything presently that it could have).

After speaking with Rayla, Callum tries and fails to give up the cube to assert his own destiny / that 'destiny is a book you write yourself' (4x07)

Callum, like Rayla, will be forced to make a choice between the greater good and his loved one. He will choose her even if that means sacrificing himself on top of the world, and she will save him (symbolically refusing to sacrifice herself).

[Gestures to the rest of the cube / key foreshadowing]

I also want to talk a little bit more about mystery. I touched on it here in a previous meta (Rayllum's potential S7 arc through the lens of S6), but there's an emphasis in S6 on mysteries versus love, with love winning.

I would tell you that the vast mystery I travelled the world to find was contained in you all along. (6x03)

Those few short years with Leola were the most meaningful. Pondering the deepest mysteries of the universe could not hold a candle. (6x09)

Both of these sentiments are similar and apply to Rayla and Aaravos directly: she wanted the security of knowing Viren was dead only to return home to the one thing she wanted ("the best thing I ever had: you"). Likewise, Aaravos had the best and most meaningful years of his eternally long existence when he was with his daughter, where his study and pursuit of magic / universal mysteries ultimately paled in comparison. While it is ordinary parent behaviour as well, Aaravos being away from Leola because of his key and book upon the moment she's taken has layers, as well as how he torments Sol Regem specifically with a mystery concerning love:

We see 4x01 establish two mysteries for Callum that run throughout the rest of the arc thus far. The first is the mirror ("What secrets are you hiding?") which is a stand-in for Aaravos, and then Rayla, even once she returns ("I don't know how to feel about Rayla, either").

These threads run in parallel throughout S5 and S6 (Rayla specific one only here). In season 5, Rayla kicks off both Callum's desire to discover how to kill Aaravos (5x01-5x05) and his new understanding of himself in the Ocean arcanum through their relationship (5x01, 5x04, 5x08). In many ways, S5 is him realizing that he will always be there for her, no matter what the cost — even if that means taking a step closer and making himself more vulnerable to Aaravos.

In season 6, Callum is grappling over the Starscraper / Nova Blade as well as worries of how Rayla will respond to his dark magic use. He worries that Aaravos will use him: "I don't know how, but I'm afraid he... he's gonna use me." The mystery he does solve within the season, then, is suitably what is his one truth — what does he know, without a shadow of a doubt, beyond and above anything else? If S5 is Callum realizing he will always be there for her regardless of anything that's happened or could happen, then S6 is him realizing that Rayla will always be with him (regardless of whether she's physically there or not) and will come back to him.

The reason I'm tangentially emphasizing this is because Callum is a knowledge seeker, inherently — he wants to learn magic and he wants to use magic, and that has always been one of his greatest strengths and weaknesses (ie. going out into the Storm, being unable to throw the Key away). The Mystery of Aaravos through figuring out the Key's secrets will be just about undeniably important, and while Callum might not get obsessive about solving it, the Key still represents that curiosity and desire to Know—the mystery he's chasing and has continued to chase about the world. Knowledge or love (giving up magic to save Zym and Rayla by proxy), and on occasion ("How did you—?" "Cause I love you, Rayla" / "To love is simply to know this") both at the same time, just as Rayla's arc has routinely centred on the push and pull and occasional reconciliation of love and duty.

Rayla's advice in 4x07 made him nearly throw the Cube away, or give up that Knowledge seeking quest. This doesn't mean that Callum should give it up entirely (I've said this in many places, but I think by the end of S7 Callum will likely have the Key and Book as his own rather than Aaravos', paralleling his reclamation of himself and his identity) but the current framing of 4x07 begs the question of "What would you give it up for?" What would you sacrifice this knowledge or curiosity for? Because we know, typically, curiosity and the pursuit of knowledge isn't enough for Callum; he won't "risk his life for magic" (2x04) and views that as being an idiot, but he'll launch himself off the Pinnacle. He'll do things for love that he won't do for magic; he'll be motivated to find knowledge and walk down those paths because of love. Just curiosity, typically, hasn't been enough.

Speaking of which, let's talk about

Tests of Love (Leola, Chaos, and Love)

The game motif and its connection to other aspects of the series—the stage motif (Aaravos and Callum's bowing / "destined to play right into my hands"), dark magic ("You had a lifetime to play with your toys and now you hide them all away or destroy them" / "I'm afraid Aaravos is toying with us")—and indeed the concept of tests ("We all want peace and we all want love, but violence tests us" / "They aren't games, they're tests") had always felt conducive to Aaravos' character, thanks to his statement in 2x09:

You tried to win over the other humans with loyalty and friendship, but they ignored you. Those who fail tests of love are simple animals. They deserve to be motivated by fear.

Even before S6 aired, this statement already made sense—while Viren was motivated by his quest for power and importance, and that was what Aaravos seemingly preyed on, when at the core of it was Viren's desire to be loved and to matter:

I am having some trouble getting people to listen to me. To hear the importance of what I am saying. [Who are these people?] They are kings and queens, the other leaders of the Pentarchy. (2x09)

[To Harrow] What? No, that's not what I'm saying. Please, listen— (1x03)

It is everything to me, to know that I mean something to you. To know that I matter. It's all I ever wanted. (5x02)

Aaravos was able to give them something they wanted very badly. (4x04) / Search your heart. There is something you want very badly. (2x09)

Aaravos' entire manipulation of Claudia has also been based around love—encouraging Viren to lie to her so she wouldn't break away from him and subsequently preying on her desire to keep her family together, dangling Viren's life like a carrot in front of her for two years, pushing her relentlessly on a 30 day limit, and then telling the tale of his daughter to help her perform a spell (the same spell that Callum is doing miles away) literally out of love by letting her connect it to her father.

We see where this mindset came from, of course, in S6, with Aaravos bargaining for Leola's life on the basis of love/compassion, and then to die in her place, both of which being refused. The Cosmic Council failed his test of love, and now he's out for revenge no matter the cost, as Terry says:

Maybe this started out as a story of love, but along the way, it got twisted. He isn't doing anything out of love. He's doing it for revenge.

We also know that the parallels Rayla already has to Leola are just going to be continued into S6 further.

We also know thanks to S6 that the Cosmic Council considered humans having primal magic to be "the first step in the long, slow spiral to chaos." Callum then having multiple arcanums and presumably one day going to continue to spread primal magic to more humans is definitely something they're going to be apprehensive about. Callum reclaiming the Key and Aaravos' book alongside his own identity/agency would make a lot of sense, but that reclamation is only really possible if those things were stripped away to begin with... and it's likely only one thing could strip away those things from him: the lengths he's willing to go through for love, and how love can also bring him back (much the same way Claudia's love for her family doomed her, and will ultimately likely save her).

Callum, you're the 'Destiny is a book you write yourself' guy. No one can control you or make your choices for you. (4x07)

See? So long as we protect each other, so long as we love each other, you can never control us. (5x08)

To love is simply to know this: the tides are true as the ocean is deep. (5x01, 5x08)

Love can save and destroy us, much like how Rayla is the reason Callum took (and may take again) a path of darkness and also lead him back to light (hopefully with help from Ezran). No matter how corrupted or broken, no matter what you've done before, you can be saved and can fix things and at the very least make amends.

Furthermore, if killing Leola for her mercy was what broke Xadia, saving Rayla (and her mercy) will be thematically what helps fix/save it—and also means she can save Callum afterwards, too, since he's the Hope of Xadia and changing the magical scales.

With this basis in mind, let's look at:

Alternatives

For the sake of posterity, the exact events I'm laying out in the above theory is something that looks a little like this:

Rayla is injured and/or dead / on the verge of death somehow

Aaravos (or Claudia) promises Callum can save her if he hands over the Cube

Callum does so and in turn receives the dark magic knowledge he needs to save her

He does the dark magic, and Rayla is saved

Callum is corrupted / possessed and leaves with Aaravos

This lets Ezran and Rayla come together to get him back and resolve any loose ends from their Big Different Feelings about Runaan from earlier in the season

Although Callum did play into Aaravos' hands, he will break free and live beyond Aaravos' perceived use for him, and help defeat him

Now let's talk about alternatives:

Callum doesn't get possessed

This is the only one I'm gonna rule out directly, as I don't think it's likely given the amount of set up and that S7 is Book 7: Dark. You wouldn't have Callum bring up the promise either in 4x07 or again in 6x03 if you didn't want Rayla to be faced with that choice, so he has to get possessed. That at least means a major risk of playing into Aaravos' hands, even if those plans aren't taken to fruition.

Callum gets possessed but not through dark magic use

I've seen positing that Callum could get tainted by dark magic again if he was exposed to the Lux Aurea corruption from a creature or something. I'll also toss one in, which is that perhaps you could be hit with a spell of dark magic of some kind, and have it seep into you—if not from Claudia then maybe Aaravos. Both of these options would fit to me if Callum was pushing someone (Ezran, Rayla) out of the way as that still provides an active choice. It just being happenstance because the characters were randomly attacked in a dangerous area doesn't sit right with me and the show's emphasis on choices and agency even when it would be possible and easier for characters to be more blameless, so I think there will be something along a choice rather than it just being entirely random / Callum's agency being entirely removed. Otherwise, we'd be back entirely to where we were in S4/S5 where he was tainted and open to possession no matter what through no real fault of his own (prior to 5x08); S6 giving him a clean slate also gives him agency about whether he's corrupted or not, and I think it'd be less effective if that agency wasn't utilized.

Aaravos doesn't get the cube

While nothing but canon itself (as it could pleasantly surprise me, and I'd reassess) could change my mind regarding "if Ez or Rayla were on the line, Callum would give Aaravos the key/whatever he wanted to save them" from a characterization basis, that doesn't necessarily mean the plot is going there. For example, I could see Callum just taking the dark magic deal, and then the race is on for Rayla to try and stop a corrupted Callum from delivering the cube to Aaravos. It'd have high stakes, he'd still have some faith that he could make his choice without dooming everyone because she's there to be his safety net, and it'd bring the "I hope it was worth it to you putting everyone's lives in danger" about the cube back but on Rayla's end, as she was the speaker and Callum is worth it.

Rayla gives Aaravos the Cube

I'll admit a set up scenario for this leaves me scratching my head a bit—would Callum be possessed, but Rayla had the cube for safekeeping, and she hands it over so Aaravos would release him? which isn't too dissimilar from some of the central scenario of what I've proposed—as well as it taking away from 1) Callum's agency in breaking free from possession, ironically, and 2) the Cube being his item, not hers. That said, I do expect Rayla to choose Callum over just about everything this season (including possibly the surefire safety of the world) and for the season to do the legwork to get her there from a character development standpoint, so it's not out of the question. It just currently seems unlikely.

Callum doesn't pick between Rayla or the greater good, and has a third path instead

This one is interesting to me, mostly because I'm not sure how it'd fit into the season pacing wise. As stated, I think Callum has to get possessed in the season, as that plotline has too much buildup to get dropped. I suppose that could mean something like 1) he's corrupted through other means (see bullet point number two), 2) Rayla + Ezran saves him from possession, and 3) afterwards, he's presented with a choice between her and the greater good? That could take us to the finale where he's able to find a way through Aaravos' machinations to avoid making that choice, but it does mean until that moment Callum has had little to no agency (and therefore little to no character development) in our final season of the arc. That could reflect the possession plotline's lack of agency, even if it doesn't feel quite congruent with S6 handing Callum back his full agency, but... shrug emoji?

To me, the clearest third path between not sacrificing Rayla or the greater good would be "Callum sacrifices himself in order to take down Aaravos" which could mean unlocking a super dangerous arcanum he might not come back from (Stars would probably fit best there, but Sun or Moon too?) OR doing dark magic to defeat Aaravos; the latter in particular would be a strong Viren parallel to 6x08. We would get the self sacrifice and corruption slant, but it would be without the actual possession part, even if his corrupted form would be undeniably dangerous. It would mean that Rayla is saving him without risking much else, though, which lessens the impact of her arc. This first arcanum avenue would work for a finale, with the dark magic avenue being reserved for mid season (7x04 to 7x07) as a possibility.

If there any alternative theories or ideas you've seen or have that I haven't addressed here, feel free to send them in or leave them in reblogs/replies (I definitely could've missed one, or misrepresented one)—so long as you're earnestly presenting one, and not just wanting to see it debunked because you think it's stupid and/or that people who like it are silly or foolish.

Conclusion

So, in conclusion, CHET as fully and currently posited:

Explains hy the cube is in Callum's pawn intro

Furthers set up with the cube and game motif (+ others) throughout the show

Explains he'll be corrupted and how the possession plotline will come into play

Deepens the series' theme of exchange (i.e. bringing Zym home in return for peace) and transaction (dark magic)

Culminates the setup from 4x07, 5x08, 6x03, and 6x06 in particular

Reaffirms Callum's struggle with losing his sense of self amid dark magic use and Aaravos' hold on him with literally losing himself

Allows Callum to reclaim the cube alongside his own identity once he has broken free

Develops his relationship with Rayla, as well as Rayla and Ezran's dynamic

Culminates Callum's arc in exploring Arc 2 (and the series') main theme of "love can destroy you, yes, but it can also save you" / arc 2's focus on reconciling dualities, as discussed

And I think that's about it!

If you made it through all of this—or indeed have enjoyed this pet theory for any of the 4+ years it's existed—thank you for reading and engaging with it! It was crazy to me after S5 and especially S6 that it was still on the table rather than being decidedly demolished, and I'm excited to see parts / pieces likely come to fruition in S7!

[aerostaticsurrender]

The Satellite Rank in a World With No Space Travel

I’ve wondered for a while about the reason the word “satellite” is used in the RCM to describe a rank when, apparently, space exploration or travel is impossible in Elysium due to the pale. I love the meta’s, fics, art, that uses a space motif for Jean as much as the next guy, but, canonically, there are no space stations, no satellite tvs. It’s unclear even how much awareness Elysium’s population has of other planets, of the motion of moons… they talk sometimes about stars or naval navigation… (I could write a whole post just about how the lack of modern astronomy knowledge would affect language, metaphors, art in the world of Elysium… the implications are fascinating.)

Where, then, is the term satellite coming from? Even if in 52’ they are starting to work on sending high altitude balloons or prototype satellites up, the RCM has apparently been using the term “Satellite” for a long while.

Maybe everyone else already knew this, but I’d never known that the word satellite had an established definition in english well before it was used to describe celestial phenomena.

The term originally comes from the latin “satellit, satelles” meaning “escort or attendent”. Webster gives us the definition, “one who escorts or follows after an important person.” From the Lewis and Charles latin dictionary we get “A lifeguard,” “an accomplice.” My french is rusty, but from the Dictionnaire illustré latin-français we are given “les courtisans,” “compagnon ou compagne,” “serviteur.” A courtisan, a wife or girlfriend, a servant or domestic respectively.

To double down etymologically, the word satellus (simply another form of the word satellit) is literally the diminutive of the word satḗr, meaning “the possessor”. I.e. satellus would mean “the possessed.”

In latin the word satellit was often used to name the followers or worshipers of a deity. If we dig back a bit further, we come to the Proto-Indo-European “Tek-” meaning, “to take by the hand” or “to receive.” The greek words stemming from this same root include the word for “possession,” “property,” “a domestic animal,” “live stock,” “taking, holding, keeping something as one’s own.”

Our astronomical use of the word satellite is actually a metaphor based on the earlier definition—ie the moon “escorts” and “attends” to the earth. The earth owns and possesses the moon. I’d always assumed the metaphor ran the other way, so to speak.

So in Elysium, a world in which the astronomical definition of the word satellite has not eclipsed the original connotation of the word, the rank of Satellite Officer might carry far heavier implications and associations than we’d at first assume.

[fexarii]

Here's my Sybil design!! Gonna draw the other astronomers today as well cuz wth sure

Anyway hc slop below, read if u care

- Sybil's associates color is a shade of pink/coral, to match Jasper's red eyeballs ❤️

- Despite that, her clothing style is very vibrant and all over the place. She's a maximalist!

- She's transfemme (in part due to her design being inspired by Elendira Crimsonnail) and straight.

- She was familiar with Sam but not much besides seeing him head off to work and making small talk, funnily enough she did acknowledge his absence in her routine once he was fired.

- She had a Weird Auntie type personality, always up to chat and eager to share weird facts and knowledge with you.

- Okay this is a sneaky Jasper hc but he absolutely loved that about her. "Yes girl please tell me more about celestial bodies I'm listening" type shit.

- Her clothing had eye motifs pre-Visitor, so her discovering it was kind of a cruel irony.

- She likes mazes n wizards (or whatever the DND clone was called) but her research often had her busy. Melting into a pile of slop didn't help,,

Okay that's all I can think of for now, more will be added later.

[chaaistained]

omg ml. my luminous, incomprehensible, light-refracted-through-a-dying-god’s-eyeball soul. it was your birthday and i MISSED IT??? i should be exiled. i should be put in stocks and pelted with rotten fruit by the townspeople. but instead i’m here, belated but bursting, to say:

you are. you just are. like a celestial event. you are the perfect intersection of deranged and divine. a girl who could dismantle an empire in the morning and bake the best cookies of your life in the evening (and make it look like both took equal effort). you are so right about everything it physically pains me.

how do you do it?? how do you move through the world with this much magnetism, this much amazing-ness. i feel like if someone took a polaroid of you it would self-destruct because it simply cannot capture the scope of you. you are a concept. a motif. the reason art exists.

happy (late) birthday, my seismic event of a friend. hope it was worthy of you.

my darling, my gorgeous rose scented star child, my beloved friend — IT IS OKAY THERE IS NO NEED TO FEEL SORRY (or be exiled while you’re at it)

bcs I LOVE YOU SO MUCH THANK YOU FOR THIS MESSAGE IT MEANS SO MUCH TO ME

truth be told i was busy on my actual birthday with other things so my family properly celebrated today and it truly felt like a birthday experience TODAY so, you’re not late for wishing me today, it was (unknowingly) perfectly aligned with the vibe of my day !!

just said goodbye to my cousins and we had a ton of fun, a lot of loud conversations and i’ve laughed so hard that my throat is hoarse but i feel full of light and happiness :(

and then to come online and see YOU and THIS HEART WARMING ASK?? i’m so forever indebted to you and your motivation for helping me to create this blog and make all of these friendships, particularly ours

thank you thank you thank you

from the bottom of my heart

to the stars and back

i immensely adore you, my darling emma

thank you so much 🫂

[m4rs-ex3]

s7 spoilers ✨✨

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA ok

"death alive" fucking snipe me the insane death motif that seems to be present here is killing me pun intended

GRAAAHAHAHHGROWLS IM SO EXCITED I CAN TEVEN

"i don't want to be separated again"

"i don't want to be separated again"

stop it right tf now bc this is literally what i have been wanting one of them to say so badly. also smooch. dear christ

the fact that terry wants so badly for him and claudia to be free that he is pleading with fucking archmage aaravos himself. like ik they're partners in crime atp but still my guy has balls. the dedication. poor thing 😭

aaravos fucking leading claudia on with even more hope of viren being saved - his own backstory making the way he's manipulating her grief 10x more twisted - and terry seeing right through his bullshit..... im foaming at the mouth

fuckin.g- FOR ME?!?!?!?!?!?

CALLUM SOBBING OVER EZRAN??? (dreamer's nightmare was prepping us for this huh)

SOREN APOLOGIZING TO CALLUM?? (for what i do not know) EMOTIONAL CALLUM/SOREN HUG DEAR GOD ALL IVE EVER WANTED

the making of a primal stone, more moon magic, a quest for an ingredient, insane biblical imagery... once again, FOR ME??!?!?!?!??!

"AND THE CROWD GOES WILD!!!!"

NECROMANCY!! just what this show needed omg

astrid my love. i was a little worried post-s6/pre-date announcement that we really wouldn't see that much, if any, of the celestial elves, but oh ho ho i can't believe i ever doubted you tdp. like you're telling me that astrid is tired of watching, of being the wise observers (especially now that her own brother has been so far removed from, well, being a non-all-seeing prophet), and that all she wants is to, for once, do something about all the tragedy she knows is coming and hasn't been able to do anything about? christmas fucking morning i tell you

goddamn the true extent and emphasized tragedy of katolis has been brought up enough that you just know they're not messing around

NO STOP SEEING SARAI AND HARROW NEXT TO GROWN AND CURRENTLY FCUKED UP EZRAN IS GOING TO FUCKING DEMOLISH ME

obviously ez being angry is just wow omg teehee but just. immediately being so vengeful and wanting to "destroy him" with zero hang-ups is.......... yeah wow omg teehee

"it's great!" i genuinely trust that with my life

ok hello this will most certainly be the most incredible visual to ever exist holy shit. also this is making me realize that we've never actual seen ez on the throne in arc 2 and i mean that's insane enough

this is incredible what can i say. i can see it now: rayla shoving worms in his face like "JUST EAT THE FUCKING WORMS ITS GOOD FOR YOU ASSHOLE" and runaan fighting her like a toddler refusing to eat his vegetables (except it's the opposite bc it's a vegetarian father refusing to eat his grubs)

i love how out of touch aaravos is (makes sense after centuries underneath inside of a rock) bc in what world is this normal. i highly doubt they have snow white or the bible but still it's just human nature to be weirded tf out by that. also yes @zuppizup ur so right his affinity for fruit being played on is amazing

also corvus: yeah yeah uh huh right and what exactly is your name, sir? aaravos: ah yes my name! it's uh uhh i mean it's uhhhhhhhhhhh. jofus

TWO IN THE FIRST EPISODE (which worries me but anyhow) IN THE FORM OF A GOODBYE AND A REUNION AND IN FRONT OF EVERYONE TOO???? AS A TREAT??????????

i'm all for ezran ripping runaan to shreds but i can't exactly say i see the correlation here. although that is kinda funny. it's like when i can't find my phone or smth so i just look at my dog and go "whiskey did you eat it" (she's been asleep this whole time and also she has never eaten/chewed on an object in her life)

also help inigo montoya ahh

ok 1) i, much like everyone else, kinda presumed that the tension would mostly be between ezran and callum and he wouldn't really hold anything against rayla, but the act of straight up arresting him really makes me wonder how rayla's gonna react 2) i really need to see callum's reaction (mainly out of defending rayla, but also because i can see him kinda being like "HEY i JUST freed him bro fuck you") and 3) the way that it is emphasized that soren is the one to arrest him..... idk i just figured that between his love for rayla, his own daddy issues (+the fact that viren was the one to imprison him so it would kinda be like righting his wrong), and that harrow was in fact not his father so compared to ezran he'd have a lot less resentment (he was of course still his king and soren had to actually watch it so still some but like. comparatively) i didn't think he'd be this combative but i'm certainly not complaining. the more angst the merrier

AW YEAH BOYS SHES COMING TO KATOLIS!!!!!

this has been your incoherent, feral mars commentary.* thank you

[allgirlsareprincesses]

I am Venus: Folktale Motifs in Queen Charlotte

Adapted from my 2023 Twitter thread

How the love story of George and Charlotte subverts the classic animal bride and groom tales for a new generation:

We begin with clear swan maiden motifs, with Charlotte as the captured bride betrothed against her will. When the dowager princess refuses to allow her to wear the wedding gown she selected, this is stealing the animal skin (or power) of the animal bride.

What’s more, George’s mother insists she wear an English wedding gown. Clothing the bride claims her for the mundane world, separating her from her otherworldly home. In a typical swan maiden tale, she would flee the moment she recovers her stolen skin.

Then comes the first subversion of the tale: George gives her the option to leave, symbolically returning her animal skin and her power. And Charlotte chooses not only to stay, but also to wear her own wedding gown, thus claiming his world as hers.

Next we see Fruit Maiden motifs, as Charlotte is twice prevented from picking her own oranges. In these tales, the prince cuts open two oranges before discovering his true bride in the third. When Charlotte finally picks her own orange, she once again claims her power.

Later, we see hints of Star Lovers. George has already mentioned his interest in astronomy, but now we see his observatory. This fascination with the heavens and his role as monarch suggests that he is a star husband and Charlotte is his mortal bride.

However, Charlotte also originally called him a beast or troll, and as we see more of George’s mental health struggles, we realize that he does indeed see himself as the animal husband, unworthy of his celestial bride.

When she discovers him in the garden calling to Venus, Charlotte explicitly associates herself with the planet and thus with the goddess of the same name. It turns out SHE is the star bride after all, and George is the mortal husband.

In fact, as the king associates more and more with his "Farmer George" persona, even using this knowledge to assist Charlotte in birth, it becomes clear he is the earthly husband, always digging down while gazing up.

He allows himself to be practically buried in the cellar under the doctor's horrible "treatments," and hides under the bed to escape the sight of the heavens. His only light is his wife, descended from the sky of her own choice.

Mythically, the monarch is the conduit between heaven and earth. When Charlotte the Star Bride meets George the Earthly Husband in the middle, two halves become whole, and they are able to rule together.

Swan Maidens, Star Brides, and Fruit Maidens are nearly always captive brides. Their agency is not a factor in most folktales, but Queen Charlotte turns this on its head by making its heroine a goddess, giving her the power and choice to love as she wishes.

This story's thesis is vital in today's world where nothing seems certain: that life is lonely, so if you are fortunate to find your person, you choose to love them even when it's hard and painful. That feminine desire matters at every age. And that love can work miracles.

[p5x-theories]

Crazy Theory #2 – Wonder's True Identity

Hi again! I’m the one who previously theorized that Wonder’s true identity remains a mystery, and I’m back with more ideas.

1. The Stars

1.1 Red Stars

I went back and checked P5R and P5S—only in P5X do we see a recurring red star symbol. (Okay, technically P5T has it too.) It shows up in the UI, level up screens, and even behind player’s avatar. It contrasts with the black stars frequently associated with Joker .

If black stars = Joker, then red stars = Wonder.

1.2 Stars and Mythology

Greek mythology and astronomy are deeply intertwined—many constellations and celestial terms in the northern hemisphere are named after Greek myths. This aligns with the fact that P3 and P5X use Greek mythological figures for their Personas.

Take Wonder’s Velvet Room attendant: Merope. She’s not just the wife of Sisyphus in myth—she’s also one of the Pleiades (Seven Sisters), a faint star in the Taurus constellation.

1.3 Stars and Fate

Many P5X items are named after stars or cosmic imagery. One in particular, called “Final Refrain of the Cosmos”, references the reversal of a star chart, possibly as a metaphor for Wonder’s destiny.

Even if it’s just poetic, the star motif is so deeply embedded in P5X that it feels deliberate, not decorative.

1.4 With The Stars and Us

Stars have always been a part of Persona 5’s aesthetic—UI elements, backgrounds, and even the names of spin-offs like Dancing in Starlight or the credits theme With the Stars and Us.

But oddly, stars are rarely addressed within the story itself. P5X, as a follow-up title, inherits this motif—but here, stars are no longer just visual symbols. Their names and descriptions now appear in lore-heavy items, possibly containing clues about Wonder’s true nature.

2. The Ocean

2.1 The Bottom of The Sea

The Velvet Room reflects the psyche of its guest. Unlike previous games where the Velvet Room had no defined location, in P5X, Igor clearly says Wonder’s room is deep beneath the Sea of Souls.

But this Sea of Souls feels… strange.

In P1, the the Sea of Souls looks like an infinite void scattered with glowing stars—more like outer space than an actual sea.

So—where exactly is Wonder?

2.2 Reflections

The opening animation of P5X features underwater light ripple effects. In one scene, Wonder fall into a distorted city, rippling like water.

It feels as if both Wonder and the world he inhabits are submerged.

2.3 The Trial

The Velvet Room’s “Sea of Souls” challenge gives a reward called Stardust. Oddly, this has little to do with the sea—but everything to do with stars.

Stardust refers to cosmic dust scattered throughout space, formed during the Big Bang, and often carried to Earth by comets or meteors.

3. Desire

Desire is a central theme in both P5 and P5X. The tagline for P5X is literally: “Take back your desire.”

One day, I noticed a shop bundle named: “Insight Into Wishes”. Wishes? Whose wishes?

The bundle contains items used to summon Phantom Idols . Looking into these idols’ backstories and Co-op events reveals something strange:

Their Phantom Thief forms are direct manifestations of their deepest desires:

Kotone wants to skate—her phantom thief form is a graceful figure skater.

Leo idolizes heroes—his phantom thief form is a tokusatsu-style superhero.

Mushibi wants to escape reality—her phantom thief form is a bold virtual avatar “Yui”.

Minami wants to become a nurse—her phantom thief form is a nurse.

Haruna loves puzzles—her phantom thief form is an explorer.

Runa is obsessed with Shichi-kun—her phantom thief form is a furry.

Mayumi dreams of being a race queen—and her phantom thief form is exactly that.

All their desires are granted—by Wonder.

Stars. The ocean. Granted wishes. My crazy theory is this:

Wonder’s true identity… is a star that fell into the sea.

That’s why his Velvet Room attendant is named Merope—not a Frankenstein reference (as in “made being”), but a star in the Pleiades constellation.

That’s why the navigation symbol in the Metaverse isn’t just an ouroboros—it’s a meteor with a trailing tail of fire.

And that’s why the opening animation shows Wonder falling from the sky, engulfed in flames, crashing into a city submerged in water.

Like a shooting star.

And that’s why Igor says, “You possess the power to awaken desire in others.”

After all, what could stir up desire more than a shooting star?

This might even explain why Wonder’s Persona, Jánošík, looks just like false god :

White, gold and red color

Inorganic appearance

In P5, P5S, and P5T, we’ve seen that human desires can give birth to gods—twisted ones, too:

Yaldabaoth came from lazy desires.

Demiurge came from the desire for wish fulfillment.

Samael came from desire for self-protection.

So maybe… Jánošík isn’t just Wonder’s Persona. Maybe it’s a new false god, born through Wonder—the fallen star who grants desires.

Oh, this is an interesting theory! I particularly like the connection between shooting stars and desires that you make here- that’s a really good point about how they could be related. 

I believe “wishes” is one way that the items used for gacha pulls have gotten translated, which explains (at least partially) the name of the “Insight Into Wishes” item that you bring up? Not that I think it necessarily negates that part of your theory, I just thought it was worth mentioning since you were talking about it.

I do think there’s also one connection you seem to have overlooked here. If your theory involves two points: 1) that the “Sea of Souls” Igor claims the Velvet Room to be under isn’t the real Sea of Souls, and 2) that Wonder “fell into the sea”, doesn’t that, itself, seem like it means something? It makes it sound less like Wonder fell into “the sea” as a general concept, and more like Wonder fell into whatever this Velvet Room is located in, if it isn’t the Sea of Souls. In fact, it makes it sound like Wonder might not have originated from this world at all, even if he lives here now.

Alternatively, if it really is the Sea of Souls, and it just looks different because it’s been decades since (and a different world from) P1, your theory could still say something interesting about Wonder, because what would it mean to fall into the Sea of Souls? Maybe that has something to do with his visions? It’s definitely an intriguing concept to think about!

[kingofplayer2]

WILD LIFE FINALE SPOILERS

Ok, we're all trying to figure out a solid celestial body for Joel and I wanted to throw my hat in the ring.

I've seen a bunch on the car and I love the man-made concept. Joel *built* his way into space. Bro locked in and committed to the bit to defeat the competition.

So, what if he's a rocket? It keeps the building motif, the stargaze motif, the fire and rage-

It's an idea I'd love to see someone smarter than me implement. Send this man to space!

[rowshowz]

LADY SERENITY.

My precious Humans.. Let me tell you how much I've come to Purify you since I began to shine. There are 672.88 million miles of Tranquility in Serenity that fill the misty river.. If the word 'beauty' was engraved on each landscape of those hundreds of millions of miles of Chinas mountains.. it would not equal one one-billionth of the Serenity I gave for humans at every moment. For you. My Beauty. My Graceful mortals.

Did you know that MayhAM does have a wife!? Meet SerenityAM! The Lady and The phoenix of Purity. The Empress alongside MayhAM!

The Chinese myth that the Phoenix and Dragon are Celestial beings that fell in love for wedding motifs! Phoenix and Dragon are also the use of a well balanced Yin and Yang. So they're basically an old married couple that has ZERO angst between them. :3

(i typed this while omw to school....ill ramble laater...)