#book of fuligin

[ohotnig]

SKETCHBOOK OF FULIGIN is live! ohotnig.itch.io/fuligin ohotnig.gumroad.com/l/fuligin Here's something nice for you, especially if you're a Gene Wolfe fan: brand new digital fanzine, containing 44 pages of my Book of the New Sun-inspired drawings (originally done as personal sketchbook project for one of my most committed patrons). This little book could also be considered an unofficial companion piece for Book of Fuligin (www.kickstarter.com/projects/715611068/book-of-fuligin-honoring-the-legacy-of-gene-wolfe)

You can grab it for free (as usual) or get an extended edition for $3+ donation! Cheers!

[strangerspub]

Book of Fuligin | Garresh

Three pages from Garresh for the upcoming Book of Fuligin; a comics anthology set on Urth, telling stories to honor Gene Wolfe's The Book of the New Sun and celebrate his genre-defining legacy.

[mkllpz]

There’s now a pre-launch page for Book of Fuligin, “a comics anthology set on Urth, telling stories to honor Gene Wolfe's The Book of the New Sun and celebrate his genre-defining legacy”!

The anthology, edited by Ramón Perales and published by Strangers Publishing, will feature “A Column of Ashes,” a new story written by me, illustrated by H. Berlin, and lettered by @mdpenman.

The campaign will launch on Thursday

[lil-tachyon]

"I have seen the eyes of many of these creatures that are supposed to have come from beyond the margin of the world ... but their eyes are the eyes of beasts only. The red orbs of the alzabo were something more, holding neither the intelligence of humankind nor the innocence of the brutes" - Gene Wolfe, The Sword of the Lictor

Oldie from nearly two years ago done for The Book of Fuligin.

[officialcowbow]

For the book of Fuligin

[zakhartong-root]

~ SEVERIAN and THECLA ~ The Book of Fuligin Kickstarter is going on right now!

This anthology looks like it's going to be an amazing book with an incredibly talented crew lined up. Some of my recent favorite artists have stories in here and I can't wait to get at them!

I am not part of it but wanted to do a piece just to point some people in that direction. But please check it out if you enjoy extremely weird scifi/fanstasy worlds.

[copcomco]

STRANGERS PUBLISHING is in the house, with a host of NEW and RESTOCK titles.

We don’t often get these in, so take a moment to take a look!

Book of Fuligin

edited by Ramón Perales Cano

Rusalka – Whispers of the Forest

by Kamila Kròl

Mabel and Francine

by Pierre Lloga

Makinophobe

by Rafael Zaiats

Dear Mother & Other Stories

by Bhanu Pratap

By the Lingering Light of a Slowly Dying Sun

by Tyler Landry

All now up on the site >>>

[pbbeta24]

Drew a 22 page story for this great anthology last year and it's finally here – THE BOOK OF FULIGIN ✨ Created by dozens of insanely talented people and brought together by @Ramonkey_art and @strangers_zine. Check the campaign and get the book here – https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/strangersfanzine/book-of-fuligin-honoring-the-legacy-of-gene-wolfe

[grim-world-creations]

Dossier: Noctissa Grimmory

Noctissa Grimmory

Race: firbolg/ tiefling

Class: sorcerer

Subclass: nuclear (technomancers text book)

Height: 10'9

Weight: 743 lbs

Hair: ruby red, waist length

Eyes: sky blue

Skin: white

Family: Druzzarian Grimmory (dad)

Enemies: Naud Gamigin

Allies: Ultrel Fuligin

Oracle card results.

• Role: aristocratic family. Tracing their lineage and influence back many generations.

• Personality: inquisitive & curious. Keen to investigate and wants to look into new and intriguing things

• Motivation: legacy, personal & betterment. Hoping to leave a personal legacy separate from their lineage. And is driven wishes to better the lives of others in long lasting ways.

• Flaw: amateur. Thrust into a position of power either completely or partially unprepared to handle.

• Intrigue: powerful enemy political. They made a powerful enemy of someone who holds great influence or authority within their body of politics and who is not afraid to use that clout against them

Three lies people have heard about the character:

• is careless and acts on impulse

• that she's only riding on her father's reputation

• is oblivious and unaware of anything around her

Three facts people have heard about the character:

• an inexperienced leader but cares for those around her

• has a tendency to attract strange people into her life

• was sheltered and os struggling with some naivete

Backstory:

Raised by her father Druzzarian Grimmory in the second layer of the hells. Her father an accomplished general and leader of one of the archdevil Grimmories familial heads. Killed under suspicious circumstances. Noctissa was thrust into command of the Grimmory house while the other factions cannibalize her families assets. The archdevil himself tasked her with going to the material plane and recruiting first her inner circle. Then to use them to achieve his goals and investigate the death of her father. With the secondary goal of establishing foot holds on the mortal world as she went.

Naive and curious of a new world too her Noctissa manages a bright and excited demeanor. Trying to play up her naivety to keep her enemies underestimating her.

[manyworldspress]

Don Maitz, cover illustration for The Citadel of the Autarch, by Gene Wolfe (Timescape Books, 1983).

__________________________________________________ Our shop: https://bookshop.org/shop/manyworldspress

[thewordwideweb]

A wealth of Wolfe’s words

Okay all you logophiles (word lovers) – your cup runneth over today, and will spilleth out a small flood of Words of the Day. 

I read an interview recently with one of my favorite authors, Neil Gaiman, and he was talking about some of his favorite authors. Right near the top of that list was Gene Wolfe. Gaiman hailed Wolfe’s four-volume “Book of the New Sun” series as “the best sci-fi novel of the last century.” So naturally, I bought a copy. 

The Book of the New Sun really is an entertaining tale, but Wolfe’s use of language to create an atmosphere can make for some tough going. It seemed there was at least one word (and often many more) on each page that I had never encountered before. The vast majority of them were understandable in the context of the story. Many articles and even whole books have been written just about Wolfe’s lexicon. A lot of people, including me, think Wolfe simply made up many of the unfamiliar words in his books, but he said in interviews that they were all at least rooted in actual words. 

Listing all the weird words would take forever, so here’s a (relatively) quick sampling for your delectation (pleasure and delight): 

Autochthon – an indigenous, aboriginal inhabitant of a place; a native.

Carnifex – an executioner. The protagonist in the story, Severian, is a torturer, and sometimes an executioner.

Monomachy – combat between two people. A duel.

Graisle – a battle horn (which is sounded to rally the troops and start an attack).

Psychopomp – a spiritual guide who takes souls to the place of the dead.

Metamynodon – a hornless rhinoceros (a real animal that has been extinct for millions of years).

Baculus – a rod or staff regarded as a symbol of authority.

Jelab – a hooded cloak.

Pelast – an infantryman with a shield and javelin or spear (this originated in ancient Greece).

Chiliarch – the military commander of a thousand men (also from ancient Greece).

Lictor – This one’s from ancient Rome. The lictor was an officer who worked for the chief magistrate and carried out sentences imposed on criminals. The third book in the series was titled “The Sword of the Lictor.” The sword, called “Terminus Est” (loosely translated as “this is the end”) was prominently featured in the story.

Fuligin – the color of soot. (In the books, “blacker than black”). The torturer Severian wore a fuligin cloak.

Pavonine – resembling a peacock (including the color and iridescence of a peacock’s feathers).

Hobiler – a light horseman.

Delator – a denouncer or informer; one who accuses another.

Spall – to break rocks.

Aubade – I really like this one. It means “a song to greet the dawn.” It is morning music, as opposed to a serenade, which is night music. 

Wolfe also used the word “trumpery,” but as we all know, trumpery is “something showy without use or value; trash, rubbish, worthless nonsense.” 

Hey, don’t blame me. I don’t create the definitions. I just report ‘em.

[ultraclairedg]

Colour in Fantasy

I often add a little bit of what I call “Linguistic Phun” (fun – get it?) at the end of my blog posts, usually a little comment on the roots of certain words used in the post, and often originating from Ancient Greek. Today, I’m starting with some linguistic fun (not in any way related to Ancient Greek as far as I know)

. How many of these colours do you recognise?

 Fuligin

 Paryl

 Octarine

 Flicts

One? Two? None? No idea what I’m talking about ? Well, unless you are absolutely crazy about sci-fi/fantasy in all its forms as I am, the chances are you won’t recognise any of them. They are all, in fact, names for fictional colours which have been invented by their creators. To be more specific, Fuligin is a colour “darker than black” from the “The Shadow of the Torturer” (book series “The Book of the New Sun) by Gene Wolfe. Paryl is a colour far below sub-red and can only be seen by “chromaturgical drafters” in Brent Weeks’ “Lightbringer” books. Octarine may be the most famous of the four as it is the invention of Terry Prachett and is the greenish-yellowish purple which is the colour of magic. Finally, flicts, according to Neil Armstrong, is the colour of the moon.  It was actually invented by Brazilian author Ziraldo and is a kind of beigy colour that has no place on Earth. When Armstrong met Ziraldo during a tour of Brazil after the first moon landing in 1969, Ziraldo asked Armstrong if the moon was flicts. Armstrong answered that it was indeed “flicts”.

I have to admit, I’m a bit of a colour freak. I rarely call anything red just red. For me it’ll be crimson or scarlet or vermilion but never just red. Same thing with other colours. Blue will be azure, cyan or navy; purple can be violet, indigo, heliotrope; green is emerald, forest, verdigris, sage. It matters to get it right. Colour is important, especially in fantasy which depends so much on getting into our imaginations and creating a fantastic world for us to enter and become part of.

The colours above are imaginary and come from literature but colour is so important in films and TV series too.

Have you seen the movie “Little Joe”, with Ben Whishaw as Chris and Emily Beecham as Alice? It’s a pretty good sci-fi film about a group of geneticists/botanists who develop a plant that gives off a scent to make you happy – a kind of floral Xanax (benzodiazepine ). Of course it all goes very wrong, as things do in such films, and what ensues was quite enjoyable and well-acted. But it’s not the film per se that I want to talk about here but rather something that made a big impression on me when I watched this film and that was the use of colour in it and how important the contribution of colour was to the overall atmosphere of the film.

Right at the start of the movie, Ben’s character, Chris, comments on the trainers (sneakers) worn by Joe, Alice’s son. They are a bright crimson colour which look a little “in your face” for a moody teenager and at odds with Joe’s school uniform. In contrast to these very brightly coloured trainers are Chris and Alice’s lab coats, which are a very ecological pale pistachio green. Then you see that the genetically mutated flower is also the same crimson colour as Joe’s trainers and totally stands out from the pallor of the lab coats. Another experimental flower in the lab is a dull, blackish-blue and you just know, immediately, that this flower will fail. This is the use of evocative colour at its best.

So, next time you read a book or watch a film, pay a bit more attention to the use of colour. You may find it adds a little to your overall experience and, perhaps, improves your vocabulary a little too.

[theoriginalsuki]

I was googling Book of the New Sun art and found this and was like, “yeah, I knew I couldn’t be the only one to see the Kylo Ren / Severian parallels.”  Down to the funny details, like, Severian doesn’t wear a shirt when performing the “mysteries of his profession,” -- hello, TLJ Kylo.  Then his mask, the sword Terminus Est, and the fuligin cloak, or the color black that is blacker than black.  Adam Driver could absolutely pull off the blind devotion and incongruous gentleness of Severian.  Though, he is reallllly tall, and they’d be hard pressed casting Exultants to be taller than him.

Please, some nerd gush over this with me!

About Gene Wolfe’s fiction:

“One of the greatest science fantasy epics of all time.” -- George RR Martin

“A masterpiece.  Totally original, new, incomparable; the beginning of something great.” -- Ursula K LeGuin

[mkllpz]

The Furnace

A page from "A Column of Ashes," written by me, illustrated by H. Berlin, and lettered by @mdpenman, one of the stories included in the Book of Fuligin anthology, crowdfunding for three more days and currently over 250% funded! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/strangersfanzine/book-of-fuligin-honoring-the-legacy-of-gene-wolfe Don't miss this collection of dark sci-fi/fantasy comics edited by Ramon Perales and published by Strangers Publishing!

[lil-tachyon]

"It turned toward the light, whatever it was, and seemed to open as a flower might, growing tall more swiftly, almost, than the eye could follow it, thinning until it had become a creature of glowing gauze, hot yet somehow reptilian..."

The Salamander from Sword of the Lictor by Gene Wolfe. Drawn for the Book of Fuligin, the awesome New Sun fanzine being put together by@Ramonkey_art

[nadziejastar]

Analyzing the Weapon Names of Organization XIII (Part 3)

No. III - Xaldin (Whirlwind Lancer)

Founding member. A warrior with a silver tongue. He carries six lances, and can harness the wind.

Xaldin is interesting because he has no dialogue whatsoever after being recompleted as a human. However, his lack of characterization is at odds with his status. He is one of the strongest and most high-ranking members in Organization XIII, as well as a founding member. He has the second-highest chair after Xemans.

He shed tears when Ansem the Wise returned to the castle in KH3, but his characterization in Days and the names of his weapons suggest that he probably had sinister intentions while serving him as a guard. It is likely that Xaldin was originally far more important to the apprentices’ fall to darkness; his weapon names are among the most unique and intriguing. 

The names of many of his Lances are derived from terms relating to the sky, air, or wind, and several have names based on constellations. Zephyr, Moonglade, Aer, Nescience, Brume, Asura, Crux, Paladin, Fellking, Nightcloud, Shimmer, Vortex, Scission, Heavenfall, Aether, Mazzaroth, Hegemon, Foxfire, Yaksha, Cynosura, Dragonreign, Lindworm, Broom (joke), and Wyvern.

The Mazzaroth, also known as the zodiac, is the name given to the pattern of stars found on the celestial equator. Crux is also called Rending Crescent Moon in the Japanese version. It refers to the constellation Crux, also called the Southern Cross. Jack London depicts the Southern Cross accompanied by a crescent moon in the novel Martin Eden:

“Overhead drifted a pale crescent moon, and the Southern Cross burned low in the sky.”

Ancient Greeks considered it to be part of the Centaurus constellation. Centaurus represents the beings called centaurs. A centaur was a creature from Greek mythology which was half-man and half-horse. These creatures represented barbarism and unbridled chaos.

Cynosura is another name for the constellation Ursa Minor. Interestingly, one of Lexaeus’ weapons is named Ursa Major. Ursa Major means “great bear” and Ursa Minor means “the lesser bear”. Nomura said that the strongest Organization members are Xemnas and Roxas due to his potential as a Keyblade wielder. Lexaeus and Xaldin are the next strongest. Maybe the constellations refer to how Laxaeus just edges out Xaldin when it comes to raw strength.

Some of his weapons reference Greek mythology. Zephyr was the god of the west wind, and one of the four seasonal wind gods. He was the bringer of light spring and early summer breezes. According to some versions of the myth, Zephyr killed a young man who was the lover of the god Apollo due to jealousy.

Beauty and the Beast is actually based on the ancient Greek myth Cupid and Psyche. Psyche is a princess so beautiful that the goddess Venus becomes jealous. In revenge, she instructs her son Cupid to make her fall in love with a hideous monster. Zephyr was the attendant of Cupid, who brought Psyche to his master's palace where Cupid ends up falling in love with Psyche himself.

Aether was one of the primordial deities in Greek mythology. He was the personification of the upper air that only gods breathe, as opposed to the normal air breathed by mortals. The air encircling the mortal world was called Chaos or Aer, while the Underworld where the dead dwelled was enveloped in Erebos, the mist of darkness. 

Nescience is another word for ignorance that is used mainly in a philosophical context. According to the Doctrine of the Three bodies in Hinduism, nescience is the root cause of Dukkha (suffering, pain, dissatisfaction), and is asserted as the main cause that leads to repeated reincarnation. Nescience is an interesting weapon name for Xaldin. His most memorable moment in 358/2 Days happens during a visit to the Beast’s Castle. 

Xaldin is definitely one of the most callous Organization members. He has no understanding of love and says that it is only a power of poetry but not practicality. He could not even tell that the Beast was more concerned with Belle’s safety than the rose. This attitude existed even before he became a Nobody. In his report, he admits that he threw away his heart entirely by choice to escape the trappings of emotion.

Watching that foolish beast flail about only deepens my disdain for humans and their incessant need to be pinned down by feelings. We became Nobodies precisely to avoid the shackles of emotion. It was only later that we realized the scale of that loss: that some things simply cannot be done without a heart. Nonetheless, I see nary a pleasant thing about it.

Xemnas: My friends! Remember why we have organized–all the things we hope to achieve. The strength of the human heart is vast. Soon, though…we will have gained power over it! Never again will it…have power over us.

This was an interesting quote from Xemnas that was never expanded upon much. It seemed like Organization XIII wasn’t just trying to regain hearts; they were trying to gain some sort of mastery over the heart as well. This seems right in line with what we can gather about Xaldin’s motivations.

Brume is another name for mist or fog. Foxfire is another term for will-o’-the-wisp. In literature, will-o’-the-wisp sometimes have a metaphorical meaning, for instance, describing a hope or goal that leads one on but is impossible to reach.

Asura, in Hindu mythology, refers to a class of divine power-seeking deities. Asuras are defined by their opposition to the more benevolent devas. In general, the Asuras are associated with the underworld and represent the malevolent nature of the Hindu tradition.

In Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist texts, the Yaksha has a dual personality. On the one hand, a yaksha may be an inoffensive nature-fairy, associated with woods and mountains; but there is also a darker version of the yaksha, which is a kind of ghost that haunts the wilderness and waylays and devours travelers. 

Xaldin’s weapons also commonly reference his warrior attributes as well as dragons. Shimmer is called Violent Lightning in Japanese. Paladin refers to one of the twelve peers of Charlemagne’s court. It is also the name of a recurring Job class in the Final Fantasy series as a class excelling at aerial tactics. 

Heavenfall is called Conquering Heaven in Japanese. It is probably a reference to his involvement in creating Kingdom Hearts. Though it is also possible that Xaldin, like Xigbar, had some knowledge of Xemnas’ true agenda to forge the X-blade and open the true Kingdom Hearts.

Fellking is called Furious King in Japanese. Fellking is a combination of the two words “fell” and “king”, meaning “ferocious king”. Did Xaldin aspire to be the new king of Radiant Garden? Was this his motivation for betraying Ansem the Wise? Hegemon is the word for “ruler of earth” or “imperial commander”. Xaldin’s Pandora Gear is Dragonreign.

Xaldin’s Zero Gear is Lindworm, his original weapon from KH2. A lindworm is a type of wingless, bipedal dragon known for its venomous fangs. His Mystery Gear is Wyvern. The wyvern was widely believed to be a symbol of power, strength, and endurance. In the bestiaries of the Middle Ages, the wyvern was used as an allegory of Satan and was associated with war, pestilence and sin.

No. V - Lexaeus (Silent Hero)

Founding member. Tremendously strong, but surprisingly quiet—stalwart as the earth itself. 

Lexaeus uses weapons called Axe Swords, which possess traits of axes, swords, and hammers. Many of his weapons have names referencing nature. His joke weapon is the Bleep Bloop Bop, a simple cartoonish hammer. His other weapons are Reticence, Goliath, Copper Red, Daybreak, Colossus, Ursa Major, Megacosm, Terrene, Fuligin, Hard Winter, Firefly, Harbinger, Redwood, Sequoia, Iron Black, Earthshine, Octiron, Hyperion, Clarity, 1001 Nights, Cardinal Virtue, Skysplitter, and Monolith.

Many of his weapons are a reference to his size. Colossus (called Orge in Japanese) and Goliath are both giants, and Sequoia and Redwood are two of the tallest trees on Earth. Ogres are man-eating giants in folklore. They are usually cruel and terrifying. Other names are a reference to minerals. Octiron, Copper Red, and Iron Black. Octiron is a fictional element, a magical metal, in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series of books. Octiron is unaffected by anything except magic. It is described as being black and heavy. 

Harbinger refers to someone who announces something (usually bad) is going to happen soon. Hyperion was one of the Titans of Greek mythology. His parents were the primordial beings Uranus (the sky) and Gaia (the Earth). In these ancient times, Uranus behaved as a tyrant towards his children, prompting Hyperion's bother, Kronos, to plot a coup against him. When Uranus came to Gaia, Hyperion and three brothers pinned him down so that Kronos could castrate him. Thus, the Titans overthrew their father and started a new era. Since the four brothers were responsible for restraining Uranus and keeping him from Gaia, they became the four cardinal pillars that hold up the sky and keep it from colliding with the world. Was this a reference to the betrayal of Ansem the Wise. His Zero Gear is Skyplitter, his original weapon.

Reticence refers to his quiet and reserved nature. Many of his weapons deal with a specific mental state. Clarity is called Clear Mirror, Still Water in Japanese. This phrase refers to a Chinese Daoist concept. When a mirror is dirty or it has something on it, it does not reflect things as it should; it is not working as it is supposed to. When your mind is not clear, it does not work as it is supposed to, either. Moreover, when your mind is not clear or clean, it usually means that something evil thing is going on in your mind.

His Pandora Gear is Cardinal Virtue. It is called Wind, Wood, Flame, Mountain in Japanese. This phrase comes from from Sun Tzu's The Art of War: "as swift as wind, as gentle as forest, as fierce as fire, as unshakable as mountain." Megacosm is another world for the universe at large. In Japanese this weapon is called Heaven, Earth, Man. The three powers of Heaven, Earth and Man refer to the basic elements required to make powerful chi energy in Tai Chi. Firefly is symbolic of self-illumination, teaching that the light within is the power of life.

Terrene is a word derived from Latin meaning of or like earth. It is called Of This World in Japanese. This phrase is commonly used in a spiritual context. In religion, renunciation often indicates an abandonment of the pursuit of material comforts, in the interests of achieving spiritual enlightenment. It is highly practiced in Jainism, Hinduism, Christianity and many other religions. In Buddhism, renunciation conveys more specifically "giving up the world and leading a holy life" or "freedom from lust, craving and desires". Since Lexaeus is still “of this world”, it suggests he has not mastered this ideal and has a strong earthly attachment to something or someone.

Fuligin is a word derived from Latin that means sooty or black. In Japanese it is called Of Darkness. It could be referring to the Buddhist term “fundamental darkness” which is similar to Xaldin’s lance “Nescience”. Fundamental darkness is primal ignorance. The most deeply rooted illusion inherent in life, said to give rise to all other illusions. Darkness in this sense means inability to see or recognize the truth, particularly the true nature of one’s life. The term fundamental darkness is contrasted with the fundamental nature of enlightenment, which is recognizing the spiritual nature inherent in life.

Interestingly, Redwood is actually named Camellia in the Japanese version. In China, the camellia represents the union between two lovers. The delicately layered petals represent the woman, and the calyx (the green leafy part of the stem that holds the petals together) represents the man who protects her. The two components are joined together, even after death.

Sequoia was also called Holly Olive in the Japanese version. Holly olive is also known as osmanthus. A traditional symbol of love and romance, osmanthus was used in old wedding customs. The fragrant plant symbolized true love and faithfulness, and the fruit tree symbolized fertility and peace. The custom had the meaning of "giving birth to noble children" and "many children and many grandchildren". Chinese mythology held that a sweet osmanthus grows on the moon. Osmanthus fragrance is associated with a number of Lunar legends in China, which makes it symbolic at the time of the Chinese Moon Festival.

It might be why one of his weapons is called Earthshine, the glow caused by sunlight reflected off the earth, especially on the darker portion of a crescent moon. When you look at a crescent moon shortly after sunset or before sunrise, you can sometimes see not only the bright crescent of the moon, but also the rest of the moon as a dark disk. That pale glow on the unlit part of a crescent moon, the light reflected from Earth, is earthshine.

Hard Winter is called Great Snowfall in Japanese. Snow and winter are often used to represent sadness, bleakness or death. Snow can also be a symbol of cleansing. It is a blanket that obscures all, which can either be a new, clean beginning, or a blanket obscuring a truth. Another weapon is called Daybreak. Dawn or daybreak suggests the notions of illumination and hope, the beginning of a new day and thus a chance for happiness and improvement. Sunrise is a symbol of birth and rebirth, of awakening.

Those aren’t the only weapons suggesting that Aelaeus probably had a love interest. 1001 Nights is an epic collection of Arabic folk tales written during the Islamic Golden Age. Scorned by an unfaithful wife, Shahryar is the sultan of a great empire, but is brokenhearted. Shahryar chose to marry a new virgin woman every day only to kill her the next morning. More and more innocent women die until one day Scheherazade, the daughter of the king's top vizier, offers to marry the king. The sultan and vizier both protest, but Scheherazade insists, all knowing that the night could be her last. That night, she requests the presence of her sister and tells a story that manages to be the beginning of dozens of stories meant to keep her alive. The sultan falls in love with her over 1001 nights and spares her life.

Perhaps Xaldin’s disgust at the power that love has over humans was related to Aelaeus. This also may have been a reason why Aelaeus chose to give up his heart. Was he heartbroken over possible unrequited love? Probably. In the secret ending of BbS, Master Xehanort tells Terra that many seeds have been sown. Telling Braig and Maleficent about Kingdom Hearts was one part of his plans, but what were the others? We never really see what other seeds were planted. Interestingly, one of Xigbar’s weapons is called Cupid’s Arrow in both English and Japanese. It sounds a bit strange at first. But what if it was related to one of the seeds? Maybe Aelaeus was motivated to experiment on the heart hoping he could find a way to be with the one he loves? Or maybe to rid himself of his unrequited romantic desires?

Lexaeus’ Mystery Gear is Monolith. It is a depiction of one of the heads of Easter Island, known as the 'maoi'. They are described in local tradition as having once possessed 'mana', a beneficial power. The islanders have a legend that the statues were moved to the platforms and raised upright by the use of mana, or mind power. Lexaeus’ other weapons show that he is dedicated to mastery of his mind and body. He probably struggled to master his heart, though. The maoi could also be a reference to Lexaues’ mysterious and quiet personality. Easter Island is regarded as one of the most mysterious places on Earth.