#oh you know don't mind me let's just toss another 15.000 words into this

[bookwyrminspiration]

Okay, so I’ve thought about it a bit more, and I have some more thoughts on the messages Bronte and Oralie sent.

So, the first part goes “Secrecy and redundancy compose the toolkit of those trying to hide.” And what strikes me here is the use of redundancy- it’s not usually something you’d think of putting in a normal letter.

Redundancy is the state of no longer being useful, or not necessary, so what are they trying to say? On one hand, it could mean something like “just help us get rid of these monsters and the Neverseen and then you can go and do whatever you’d like”, but that’s too easy, it’s too obvious. There’s gotta be some deeper meaning to it all!

And the secrecy part- well, obviously. If you’re trying to hide, you need to be secretive. But maybe they’re not talking about Sophie at all? Maybe they’re speaking about something else.

This could tie in to the idea they’re referencing some old Council projects or whatnot, that went out of use but might have something to do with the monsters and Neverseen…

And “infectious light”…well, now that I now for sure there is a meaning behind it, I’m never going to be able to stop thinking about it. Does it connect with stellarlune (or whatever it’s called) or quintessence or any other light source we’ve heard of in the series?

And Oralie’s message is even stranger than Bronte’s- “Play a melody for me, and tell me what it says. History will have something sweet to say about you.” What does that mean?

Sophie needs to play a melody, but what does that even entail? Is it something she has on her right now? Something she already knows? Or does she have to dig for the answer? Is the answer buried in one of her memories? And how will a melody help her? Unless it’s a metaphor for something else?

Or maybe it’s the code for whatever secret was buried? And once she tells Oralie, they’ll know she has access to the truth?

Ah, hell, the more I think about it, the more I’m falling into the rabbit hole of this theory. It’s just…brilliant. This AU is brilliant.

- pyro

I don't think you understand how ecstatic I am that you're focusing so much on these messages because they took a fair amount of effort! I was complain about them to my partner as I was trying to figure them out because it was taking so long.

you're right! something that's redundant is something that's not necessary or something superfluous! and there is a deeper meaning to it, not just getting read of these monsters. I don't want to give it away, tho!! I will say that the use of the word redundant--well, redundancy--is crucial to the hidden meaning. it kinda enables everything else to fall into place once you crack the specific way I used it.

and we all know that the council and the elven world in general is just bursting with secrets, so what secrecy they were referring to specifically could be anything! I think the better question is if they're talking about Sophie keeping secrets, or if they're referring to someone else.

and the "infectious light" thing! that part is also important, but I don't want to give away exactly how. well, every part of the message has a second meaning, so that's not really surprising, but I think it stood out because it doesn't sound 100% like Bronte. I can say, however, that it does connect to something already introduced in canon!

Oralie's message gave me a bit of trouble, I have to admit. But I think I've kinda worked it out for the most part! it does tie into something we've seen from her before. whether or not it's a literal melody remains to be seen, but so many of the words so far have had double meanings that it makes sense this would be no exception. I think this is one of the details that will make more sense once we actually get to it, whenever that turns out to be. Additionally, the word of the "history will have something sweet to say about you" line has a few key words, which may be why it sounds a little off (at least to me). same as with the infectious light thing. the secret message required some creative use of language that was a little different for them, but they're just hoping she'll figure it out

there's definitely a lot of avenues to explore with their wording since it was so cryptic--which is a good thing!! it's something you're supposed to think about!! we could probably just continue to go down this forever; there's just so much to it!

also thank youuu! brilliant is what i'm going for! i don't want their messages to be easy to figure out, but I also don't want it to just be excruciating and make no sense at all. i think when it's fully revealed it'll be easier to understand, we just need to get there

your thoughts on this are so interesting I'm just ahh !!