#quote me on this only if aalto gets a spectro variant in a few years

[glouris]

wuwa characters receiving variants in the future is a real thing and it can hurt you (maybe)

the elemental system we have with havoc, spectro, aero and all the other attributes can be flexible. characters resonate with frequencies of a phenomenon/object that can be distinguished by an elemental attribute, but cannot always be bound by it completely. there might already have been a couple cases of someone exhibiting signs of a second attribute.

for example, when jiyan summons the spear in his trailer there is a lightning effect around his hand, followed by the sound of electricity cracking. 

this might be a visual representation of sound waves reverberating, or it might just be an artistic choice. but if the source of jiyan’s resonance is, say, the storm, then he can be assigned both the aero and electro attributes - hence the lightning around his hand.

but the biggest offenders for a possible double-attribute deal would be aalto and the mourning aix, walk with me.

during the ‘stygian lacrimosa’ world quest (spoilers for it right ahead btw) there is a moment when they let us control an echo of the second aix. while the two aixes fight, something weird is happening: the aix you control clearly has spectro attacks, but ui for it’s abilities is green, as if it’s attribute is supposed to be aero; while the other aix, the one we fight for ascension materials and know as a spectro-aligned creature has distinct aero attacks. 

I have two speculations for what’s happening here:

1. kuro might have mixed up the attacks of two aixes, the one we control was supposed to be aero, and the other one was supposed to be left as spectro. 

2. mourning aix was shown to be able to cover areas in fog earlier in the quest, so these aix TDs might be mimicking the frequencies of fog, which is a common phenomenon in the area they inhabit. 

fog is formed when cold air meets warm air, condensation happens, tiny water drops form and get suspended - aero connection. but then, the water droplets in the fog stop and scatter light in all directions, which limits visibility - spectro connection. so, creatures that mimic or resonate with frequencies of fog could have both aero and spectro attributes, which is why the aixes have both aero and spectro attacks. 

that sends us right to aalto, who resonates with fog. some parts of his kit already have things that might be spectro-looking: the avatar he conjures kind of looks like a prism, the mist bullets he gets from his skill and forte circuit form an attack similar to one of mournig aix's. those attacks of theirs are in turn similar in pattern to some scattering diagrams.

fun fact, Rayleigh scattering is an optical phenomenon that is behind the sky being blue, and you can find a courier in the whining aix’s mire that will ask you that exact question, ‘why is the sky blue?’. then again, the court of savantae, where we spend most of our time with aalto, is also there. 

to finish the string of weird coincidences, resonance reports of both jiyan and aalto stand out too. aalto’s has statements that are loose, imprecise: 

“Further tests conducted to ascertain the properties of the mist he conjures yielded inconclusive results” accompanied by “As stated in the report, this resonator is cunning and a master of disguises, thus rendering the credibility of his recounts questionable”; his report has no overclock history cause bro just ?? left ??

it’s not established what jiyan resonates with (will probably be addressed later): “Jiyan's Resonance Spectrum Pattern shows no resemblance to known samples'';  then there’s this statement in his overclock diagnostic report: “there are two distinct waveforms identified, each with exceptionally high peak values”. there are characters that can create or summon creatures with their forte, and jiyan is still the only one to have a second waveform, so it’s not because of qingloong. 

my point is, kuro definitely has wiggle room if they wanted to make a character variant. until further notice, jiyan and aalto would be the most plausible candidates for that in my eyes.