#it wasn't on purpose i swear...

[crescentfool]

every day i have to live with the fact that my subconscious is a blender with yosuke and sylvain in it and that some of my splat ocs had some of that juice and are influenced by those two 💔

[castaway-clan]

Celebrating the freedom of pookie's bisexual horrors!! Silly doodle to embrace said horrors.

Text Transcript: "I am a man who failed himself. I am a man who failed when I loved. I am a man who failed when I tried. I am a man who failed my ward. I cannot be a man, I can only be a failure."

PS: I had actually wondered if I sent that ask or if it was some fever dream I had.

YAY YIIIPEEEEE WAHOOOO oh i like this one very much, love his face of distress that's the energy we need this year !

But also i apologise for holding your last ask ransom

[artichow]

I'm too pleased to not share this wip edit: i finished it :D

[blahaj-my-beloved]

Please assume tr! for all names in this ty <3

Ros's life deal with the keeper today was super interesting to me.

Personally I think it's fitting that both Ros and Aimsey have pretty much forced their hearts upon the other. They don't say it in words, not yet, but with their actions they are saying so much.

❤️Here is my heart, please take it. (I love you)

❤️Here is my heart, a piece of myself, it's safer with you than me. (I trust you to care for me, even when I can't care for myself)

❤️Here is my heart, I know you don't want it but I will give it anyway, no matter the cost. (I will love you even if you hate me for this)

They both care so deeply about the other that their first instinct is to tear into their own chest and hold out their heart with bloodied hands just to keep the other around even a little bit longer.

------

Now, I'll preface this next bit with the fact that I know that today's deal was nothing to do with Foolish and was a natural culmination of Ros's survivors guilt of being forced to accept Aimsey's heart so long ago.

However... I do think that Foolish's sacrifice after the ball kick-started everything today. In Ros's own (paraphrased) words, she feels like she's living on borrowed time and with borrowed lives.

Knowing that the sole reason you are alive is because you've taken something from two of the people you care about most must be devastating to Ros. From her perspective, what does it matter that they both did it for her. How can she possibly be more important than the life of her "bestie", or of her King.

She didn't ask for either life, continuing to live like this wasn't her choice. People give her so much but she finds it hard to feel like she deserves it. So today was a chance to finally feel like she's able to give back. To be a little selfish for once and choose to do something that was as much for herself as it was for Aimsey.

Because Ros knows exactly how it feels to be put in the position of having to accept a life. She knew that if Aimsey had the slightest clue that they had an option to not fulfill the keepers contract, then he would never have gone through with it. Because Ros herself would never willingly choose to gain a life if it meant Aimsey's death. That's why she hid the contract.

I know some people were thinking that Ros is being "careless" with the life that Foolish gave her, to keep her at 2. (Possibly because his deal is more recent than Aimsey's own sacrifice, which people may have forgotten or overlooked)

But I think the King has much more faith in Ros's judgement than that.

After all, above all else, a totem understands exactly what motivates people into giving their own life for the survival of others.

[bishicat]

Without the arm, the tattoos, and the hair, is Johnny Silverhand even Johnny anymore?

I was hugely inspired by @psuedoendotrizine and @totentnz's posts (1, 2) <3333 thank you for keeping me hyperfixated 👁👁

[soybento]

So. Here's the Thing. The drama SEVERELY changed parts of the MDZS novel. Enough that Wei Wuxian's character AND as a result (off the top of my head), Jin Guangyao, Madam Yu, Jiang Cheng and even Su She's character. This is going to be a whole thesis so here we go.

Let's start with one of the largest topics of debate in the fandom, Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian, and specifically Wei Wuxian's position in the Jiang Clan and the heat about Jiang Cheng's actions. In the novel, Yu Furen doesn't like him for her husband's preference of Wei Wuxian over Jiang Cheng (this is the same in the drama) and his supposed previous love interest, Wei Wuxian's mother (debated, ambiguous). Added to this is Wei Wuxian's ambiguous position in the clan. Jiang Fengmian never specifies what his rank/position is (as other people have pointed out) and as a result, all the Jiang Clan members kind of...have their own relationship w/ him courtesy of their own projections. For example, Yanli's relationship with Wei Wuxian is the simplest, mostly because she's the daughter, not a strong cultivator and is destined to eventually leave the Jiang Clan. She chooses him as her brother. For everybody else? It's a lot more complicated. Yu Furen (understandably if not justifiably) does not want to treat Wei Wuxian as her own son (aforementioned reasons). She sees him as a threat to her son's right of inheritance and also, doesn't trust the origin of his birth. This is definitely Jiang Fengmian's fault since he took in his servant's son but also not exactly since it's complicated by their close friendship and his unreciprocated feelings for Cangse Sanren. Consequently, Yu Ziyuan projects her insecurities not only on Wei Wuxian but also Jiang Cheng (we know this) and constantly compares the two of them. She wants her son to be better.

Jiang Cheng is a product of his parents and sister's relationship w/ Wei Wuxian but what I think the drama changes is the fact that Jiang Cheng cares for Wei Wuxian as a *martial brother* and a future right hand man. He gets the brother stuff because his sister has loved Wei Wuxian as her didi, he gets the firm ideas of Wei Wuxian's future position in the Jiang Clan from his mother (and also the lack of denial from Jiang Fengmian himself). He doesn't see Wei Wuxian as a brother *only*. Instead, he partially projects duty and destiny onto him because of how they were raised. This is why I don't think it was wrong of him to refuse to take in the Wen Remnants. He had a duty to the Jiang Clan that he chose to prioritize to keep himself out of the political tension that Wei Wuxian was in the center of. He didn't see it as disowning a brother but as a strategic withdrawal from the situation for his sect. Say what you will about him but I don't believe that he's unjustified in wanting to ensure the safety of his Sect (especially as clan leader). Growing up, Jiang Cheng did get a lot of conflicting opinions on his own worth. He fell short in almost all his relationships because he would approach Wei Wuxian w/ the anger and competitiveness his mother expected of him only to disappoint his sister who expected them to be siblings in the truest sense of the word. He disappointed his mother because he *did* see Wei Wuxian as more than just his fellow disciple, not just a future servant. He didn't disappoint his father but his father never made his affection for Jiang Cheng clear and this lack of communication led him to draw his own conclusions on Jiang Fengmian's preferences.

My issue with the drama is that much of this is not clearly defined or explained. He is villainized for his eventual estrangement with Wei Wuxian because we're operating from the assumption that his feelings for Wei Wuxian *are* of the sibling kind and not the messy duty vs martial brother type. His position is understandable after reading more of the novel. Plus all the changes about the siege led by him (which I'll talk abt) and Nightless City and the Qiongqi Pathway Ambush and him rejecting the Wen Remnants. And the ending at Guanyin Temple makes sense. Wei Wuxian is released from his commitments to the Jiang Clan and that is the kindest thing Jiang Cheng could do for him (again, others have pointed this out, I'm simply reiterating it). Because Wei Wuxian *does* care for Jiang Cheng as a brother but his feelings for him are also complicated by duty and obligation to the Jiang Clan and dealing w/ the complicated myriad of expectations from the Jiang family. That and less of him being a brother is what leads Jiang Cheng to think Wei Wuxian betrayed him. It's like he betrayed his duty to the Jiang Clan and not just their brotherly commitments.

Now coming to the second point, it's the drama's portrayal of Wei Wuxian as a martyr. And he can be but he's so much more complex than that. To start with, I believe his character would not have endeared himself to me as much if I hadn't started with the drama but now, I enjoy the complexity of the novel Wei Wuxian more. For example, novel villains Su She and Jin Guangyao are a lot more complex than portrayed in the drama. Because the drama kind of made them scapegoats (ironic as they portray Wei Wuxian that way) for Wei Wuxian's continued innocence. The Ambush at the Qiongqi Path is so much more complex than in the drama. Jin Guangyao *does* set it up and Su She curses Jin Zixun out of spite and Wei Wuxian *is* wrongfully cornered. But he also loses control of Wen Ning and accidentally kills Jin Zixuan all because he loses control of his emotions. I won't comment on whether this is right or wrong because Wei Wuxian was cornered. He was fighting his way out of an ambush. He made mistakes like escalating the situation by antagonizing Jin Zixun, not believing Jin Zixuan wanted to help him, and not calling off Wen Ning when asked to by Jin Zixuan (because he believed he'd be shot by the archers) and accusing Jin Zixuan of working w/ Jin Zixun to ambush him. By taking away these mistakes in the drama, it takes away the complexity of the situation and what the choices say about him. Jin Guangyao did not intend for Jin Zixuan and Wei Wuxian's confrontation to end the way it did. He wanted to put Jin Zixuan and Jin Zixun against each other in the novel (correct me if I'm wrong tho). He isn't innocent of course but his motivations make more sense than him just killing Wei Wuxian on behalf of his father with no deeper mechanations at play.

Secondly, the battle at the Nightless City. In the drama (and possibly in the novel but this isn't confirmed) he commits suicide but the timeline is important. He does lose control of his puppets in Nightless City and making Jin Guangyao the scapegoat for his loss of control *again* simplifies his character as someone that can do no wrong and is hopelessly plotted against by the rest of the world. The puppet that hurts Yanli (not fatally) is one that Wei Wuxian has lost control of and not one that's been controlled by Guangyao or Xue Yang or Su She. She sacrifices herself to save him and he *then* slaughters the rest. After he finds that Wen Ning and Wen Qing have died and they plan on leading a siege on the rest of the Wens, he raises the corpses and loses control and accidentally hurts Yanli who asks him to stop. He tries, she dies, and then he slaughters a bunch of people.

And in the novel, there are a few months between the Nightless City Massacre and his death. He defends the Wens from the siege led by Jiang Cheng (and *this* is the siege that he leads which makes MUCH more sense than the siege he supposedly led in Nightless City as shown in the drama) and when they die and he realizes he's going to lose, he kills himself (probably out of guilt?).

The implications of this are major. His sister's death doesn't push him into suicide, it pushes him into war (and Wen Qing and Wen Ning's death). It's the wtf this is a lost cause I'm fucked and everyone I wanted to protect is dead that eventually pushes him into death.

Looking at this from Jiang Cheng's perspective things make a lot more sense. He is under the (almost rightful?) assumption that Wei Wuxian lost control and killed Jin Zixuan (also Jin Zixun but lol fuck that guy). He is also not clear on the details of the ambush and while we don't know this, is given the same explanation for the ambush as everyone else. That Wei Wuxian cursed Jin Zixun. And Wei Wuxian does say that if he killed Jin Zixun he'd do it a thousand times better (worse). Following this, Jiang Cheng's sister is hurt and while her actual death is a choice that she makes, he blames Wei Wuxian for it.

I won't deny that Jiang Cheng is morally ambiguous but so is Wei Wuxian and so is Jin Guangyao and Su She. The drama is almost a softer, nicer version of the novel where the protagonist is the hero and not just the person whose perspective we're getting. But in doing so, Su She, Jin Guangyao and Jiang Cheng's character are changed to fit the narrative.

What the drama also doesn't get across is that demonic cultivation isn't a good idea!!! Lan Qiren, as much as I dislike him for his rules or whatever, did have a point. It goes against the natural order of things, there's a reason why demonic cultivation should not be taught and why Wei Wuxian never took in disciples. It would result in cultivators like Xue Yang. When drama says that Jiang Cheng was hunting and killing off demonic cultivators because he hated Wei Wuxian, it takes away from the fact that demonic cultivation does actually harm the body and soul! It does in fact require human sacrifices! Just because Wei Wuxian didn't use any does not mean that the others won't! Jiang Cheng is sure to have had a personal motivation but fanon misses that those accounts have been of the crowd and the cultivation world, not from Jiang Cheng directly. His killing of the demonic cultivators was likely not as simple as fuck that guy, I hate everyone like him.

Finally, Yanli. Surprised? I have a lot of thoughts on her though so I'm gonna have to keep going. She's at the centre of the storm and also severely sidelined. She's a motif and she's a character fighting to make choices that the world does not allow women and especially women that aren't cultivators. I think thinking of the story from *her* perspective (novel or canon) makes my appreciation for her even deeper. She is, despite Wei Wuxian's perception of her, a flawed character. But she's flawed in the same way everyone else is. She grows up in a volatile family and her mother doesn't share her sentiments but she chooses to love Wei Wuxian as a brother. Although she means well, this brings about a conflict of interest for Jiang Cheng. She's perceived as this all forgiving character by Wei Wuxian and it makes sense, we're looking at his POV *but* it takes away from the fact that she consciously chooses to be that way. I think her character brings about some very interesting ideas in society about womanhood and specifically motherhood. Her role in Wei Wuxian's life is more motherly than it is sisterly and thus, her sacrifices are almost expected. What comes to mind is that her feelings on things really aren't considered. Remember when Jiang Cheng lost his golden core? Wei Wuxian comes in and he sits across from her and he tells her that this is all his fault. She's dealing w/ the loss of her parents, her brother's sudden injury and her worry over Wei Wuxian. But she's gotta tell him gently that no, that's not true. In reality, this isn't ABOUT Wei wuxian. His continued insistence that things are his fault does bring about a degree of self centeredness because it takes away from where his attention should be. After he kills her husband, his focus is on his own guilt over his actions but less on her pain (I'm not condemning him, I'm just pointing it out). Being a martyr (as depicted in the drama not the novel as much) is incredibly selfless but also incredibly selfish. When the audience doesn't see this, Jiang Yanli's actions almost seem expected. Of course she's gotta see him for the person that he is and know that he didn't mean it etc. But these expectations take away from the very real choices she makes to continue to forgive and love and forgive. She does this with Jin Zixuan and although from Wei Wuxian's perspective, he sees it as she's too nice and kind and forgiving, it takes away from the fact that she *CHOOSES* to forgive him and it doesn't just happen as a part of her character profile. Being kind is a choice, not a personality trait. Being nice and agreeable and open etc can be personality. but altruism? That shit is where the credit is due.

The narrative does minimize her (I'm not sure if this is intentional) by making her an accessory to Wei Wuxian's development. She's sidelined during important moments like the war, the rebuilding of Lotus Pier, even the times that their parents die. She steps in when Wei Wuxian or Jiang Cheng need help or a guiding hand. She steps away when the story has to focus on other conflict. She could've easily turned against Wei Wuxian for killing her husband but she chooses to see him again and later, die for him. Jiang Cheng uses her in his own way, and so does Wei Wuxian. I do not particularly mean this as a criticism but I think it's worth noting that Jiang Yanli was a traditionally feminine character whose strength was a very conscious choice on her part and is not more or less than if she had chosen to go into war w/ the rest of them. If she didn't hold back on so many things like not protesting her engagement, playing a supporting role and staying in the background for much of the narrative until the death of her husband pushes her into the spotlight, waiting for her brothers to get back from war, waiting for Wei Wuxian to tell her what's wrong when he comes to Lotus Pier and fights w/ Jiang Cheng and seems to, supposedly, not want to be there, the story would've been different. Idk different how but definitely different. She chooses not to take up space and thus, narrative attention. She doesn't push, and she doesn't demand, and she defends quietly. I think that's why traditionally feminine characters are kind of a double edged sword when perceived. Are these qualities inherent? If yes, then they're taken for granted and...minimized. Are they chosen? If yes, then it begs the question of what a traditionally feminine character is at all. Sacrifice, standing back to let other people shine, being quiet and letting other people's actions (even those that you love) control what happens in your life. I cannot imagine that these are traits that someone is simply born with and thus, give Jiang Yanli credit because she chose to be that way!!

Ending this with, I don't believe there's a wrong medium with better or worse portrayals of the characters. I think I like the drama for some of its kinder aspects and the novel for its complexity. I just think it's important to note that Wei Wuxian is more than a martyr, Jiang Cheng more than his brother (he's in his own right a sect leader and plays an important role outside of his relation to Wei Wuxian) and Jiang Yanli more than a mother figure. And we love Lan Wangji ofc, sorry he didn't get a mention. Give more thought to characters like Jin Guangyao and Su She (yes Ik ik) and Xue Yang as portrayed in the novel. There's a theme here of classism that I don't think is appreciated enough.

The very point of this post is not to condemn or acquit any of the characters. It's just to point out how none of them are black and white.

That's it for now and I hope I didn't forget/mistake any of the details in the drama or novel!!

[0sbrain]

every time people say an autistic coded character is an emotionless robot an angel (me) cries

[yarameijer]

Worldbuilding challenges I did expect: History and political environment.

Worldbuilding challenges I did not expect: I, a soil & geology student, accidentally getting side-tracked and fixating on developing the area's climate, geological buildup, geological history and development, current geological phenomena, geological relations to land use, land use in economical and trading context, influences of climate on said land use, I could go on.

[moonchild-in-blue]

Espera Sunsets

Some watercolour / pencil sketches I did last night of our lovely Espera, based on this gifset by my sweet friend @thejawsoffate. These are long, long overdue, and I still intend on making a proper drawing of it, but for now have these.

(as always, click for quality. some closeups bellow)

[graboidmilk]

R.E.P.O. Sona, Rory

Need to make him his own entry in the Sona Slideshow

+ Bonus Prototype Sketches below the cut

[chaotic-scraps]

The vampire spat out your blood. "God, what have you been eating?!"

[godisasimp]

Amphoreus - Heroes, Paradoxes, Loops and Destruction.

Amphoreus, as i said earlier, spent 17h reading about it and so i have stuff to say. All under the cut.

Mandatory red text and disclaimers because you never know if people know how to interact with something nowadays.

⚠️ : Most of this, most likely all of it, is *my* opinions, interpretations and overall view of the story, i unfortunately do not have insane memory to remember every words and breath nor did i check every corners and dialogs, believe it or not i have a life ; mistakes, misinterpretations and overall "oops that's not what actually happened" *will* be present in this post (i will try really hard but perfection is not to be expected), if you find one or overall disagree with what i said : share if you want, via reblog or correct me via ask, or don't do anything, regardless stay polite about it.

⚠️ : Obviously very spoilery for everything until 3.2 proceed with caution.

I- Amphoreus : what even is that?

It's a planet, of sort, it existed that's the only way Fuli managed to memorize it and recreate it, but was it how we currently see it? Most likely not, current Amphoreus is a loop as showcased by its "physical" appearance, doubt it looked like that originally, the only actual planet we've been on is Belobog (Xianzhou is a ship, Herta Space Station is just that a space station and Penacony is an ex-prison turned hotel made by the IPC) and it looks very much like our planets (aka it's a globe that probably spins and does revolutions) but Amphoreus is well either a Mobius Strip, a Infinity Loop or even both, for this post and my overall thoughts : it is both

And while i know it's a video game sci-fi mixed with fantasy, so way not realistic MiHoYo still tends to depict planets as well planets no matter how magical, wild and illogical their ecosystem is/are, they are still globes. So it is safe to assume that the original Amphoreus was just a regular planet. The current appearance is probably caused by Fuli, voluntarily or not.

II- The original Amphoreus

I think we do know about the original Amphoreus, it is told to us quite a lot : it was before the Titans of Calamities (Strife, Death and Trickery) appeared and Titans didn't exist at all, the state at which current Amphoreus is looping : all the titans already exist, and never seem to disappear so Fuli must have taken Amphoreus after that point, now why is it the case? Why isn't it just repeating the entire history?

Fuli's goal is to preserve and memorize everything so that when the Universe inevitably dies and is reborn (think Jojo's Bizarre Adventure Part 6 Stone Ocean, what Pucci did with Made in Heaven and the Heaven Plan is basically, in the overall lines, what Fuli is preparing for) Fuli can recreate the old one as it once was, and well keeping a planet in a constant "gets destroyed, gets reborns, gets destroyed..." loop doesn't seem the most efficient does it?

So Fuli just took it at a point where civilization was well established and stable and before it's inevitable destruction. Keeping it in this loop, in their domain the Eden of Blessed Insight for preservation, Amphoreus being there would explain why only the garden can interact with it, the physical location (ie where the Astral Express stopped to "open" Amphoreus) might not even be accurate, nor does it need to be since the planet is only a memory, Black Swan probably just asked for a fast empty space to not disturb any other planet and to keep Amphoreus somewhat hidden.

Another note that i didn't know where to put : Amphoreus might not even be its original name, while the garden's goal is to preserve all memories untouched, including names, "Amphoreus" is named after the greek's vase "amphora" but another connection is "Pandora's box" as it wasn't a box like you and i imagine but probably an "amphora" this connection has been acknowledged (neither confirmed nor denied) by the developers ; this myth being all about all opening a "box" that was said to never be opened and doing so would unleash all evil/illnesses/ect... upon the world. Amphoreus is just that : Pandora's Box, as Lygus* says to Herta : «You will break the shackles of a Lord Ravager, and when that happens, their fury will engulf the cosmos.», opening Amphoreus will do exactly as the original greek myth said : release evil upon the world. All of this to say that Amphoreus is unlikely to be the original name, moreso a code name by the Garden to act as a warning for the rest of the Universe.

III- Lord Ravager, where art thou?

The loop Amphoreus is endlessly repeating is the "shackles" that is keeping the Lord Ravager from either being created all together or just "asleep", but...well we haven't seen them have we? Makes sense that we haven't, as showing them would ruin the reveal of the Third Path but not even the slightest of hints about their existence was shown. Well at a surface level but we probably already know who they are, or were before becoming a Lord Ravager.

A- Phainon, a bright sun soon to be eclipsed.

Mihoyo has been having a lot of fun sprinkling details and hints about how the "flawless" Chrisos Heir is the current antagonist of the story.

>Repeating a story - Kevin Kaslana & Phainon

Phainon is very much a parallel of Kevin Kaslana, no debates, but the parallels might run deeper than just physical appearance, Phainon might be repeating Kevin's overall story.

Kevin Kaslana was the greatest hero of the 13 Flamechasers and Humanity, just as Phainon is for the Chrisos Heirs but at the end of his story, Kevin Kaslana had to be the antagonist of the protagonist's (K-423) story and Phainon seems to be headed towards the same direction, becoming the final antagonist to the Nameless's story.

>Birth of a Paradox - Flame Reaver & Phainon

The similarities between Phainon and Flame Reaver are too numerous to name all of them but i will list a few :

When Anaxa/Ceres punched Flame Reaver, he was seen "bleeding" out gold, just as the Chrisos Heirs are said to possess golden blood.

Mydeimos only ever said his weak spot to Phainon, his 10th thoracic vertebra, and during the attack in [-] Flame Reaver was seen attacking Mydeimos in this exact spot, which he could only know if he heard about it before.

Both use a one-handed greatsword (or at least are able to one hand a two handed sword.) and seem ambidextrous.

Phainon has sun motif almost everywhere and Flame Reaver has eclipsed sun imagery everywhere, as if the sun was hidden no longer shining.

Another hint/nod regarding Phainon's future as an antagonist, in the currently ongoing event Seal Slammers, the main antagonist of it is "Pie-non" aka Phainon.

However Phainon being Flame Reaver asks the question : How is he even here in the first place? A question that will have to wait until it is answered.*

B- Lord Ravager ?

Now that we have established the connection between Phainon and Flame Reaver, let's talk about the third entity at play with Amphoreus's fate : the Lord Ravager who's its prisoner.

We have only ever met one Lord Ravager before, Phantylia, a Heliobi ; and while very powerful her style was very much created by her victims via internal conflicts rather than outright by herself, so she may not be a good indication as wether or not the average strength for such beings would "engulf the cosmos", beside her we have other named Emanators of Destruction, let's go one by one to see if any of them could be a match.

>The Sun Devourer

A Lord Ravager who inherited this title after targeting mainly Stars, aka "Suns", to plunge the planets into pure darkness and cold and eventual demise.

Besides a single mention linked to the Yvanna Chain 300 years ago, and is also how it god its title, there's not much known regarding this Emanator.

Since we do not know when Amphoreus was destroyed we can't say wether this event happened before or after Amphoreus's destruction, but as far as we know hasn't made an appearance since so a candidate for being "sealed", the lack of information is both good, as it is basically a blank slate for mihoyo to use, and bad for the same reason, mihoyo likes to hint at the future, so the lack of information is a double edged sword. The only link between Phainon and The Sun Devourer would be the "Sun" in its title which isn't linked to appearance and moreso its exploit, however considering Flame Reaver's motif of a broken Sun/a Sun no longer shining it shouldn't be outright ignored, so that's a weak link.

>Zephyro the Scorching Flare

A Lord Ravager who has a passion for raw power, the beauty of things in the moment of their destruction as well as doomsday scenarios, also said to be a "one man army".

Another Lord Ravager with a Sun connection, this one being the prophecy that he will ignite a Sun, and also a greek name as Zephyr is the name of the God of the West Wind, and so more connected to Phainon than The Sun Devourer, and if the prophecy is correct either Zephyro was never sealed and is so still running rampant or will be freed from a seal and created the Sun of New Bethlehem, which could align with the current story of Amphoreus, as i imagine the story eventually ending with the Lord Ravager shackled being freed.

Even how Zephyro acts could align with Phainon, Phainon based on Kevin Kaslana would fit the definition of a "one man army" and the doomsday scenarios could be from the sad fates and unfortunate fates of the Chrisos Heirs, the "love things in the moment of destruction" is a bit harder to explain but considering how Amphoreus is basically in a state moments away from destruction it could work.

One major issue is that they were spotted in the Tia'nua galaxy and depending on when that was, would either be another hint or destroy this comparison.

And those were the only 2 named Lord Ravagers that had even the slightest of similarities to Phainon/Flame Reaver, we still have 2 unnamed ones, a third candidate still floats and has one really strong point.

C- The Chess Grandmaster

The only Lord Ravager shown to be directly tied in some way to Amphoreus as it was shown in the Golden Epic trailer as well as a single word, "Strife" being mentioned to describe them, but Strife is Mydeimos not Phainon.

Besides those two small relations to Amphoreus, this Emanator just doesn't fit the bill, they're said to have led a millenia long campaign which, does not match with how the Lord Ravager shackled is described, from how Lygus talks about them it seems they're a being with a lot of raw power, so almost the opposite of the slow and steady as well as calm demeanor of the Chess Grandmaster.

But if the Chess Grandmaster is not the one shackled, then why are they at play with Amphoreus ?*

IV- Paradoxes, one must create itself

Not to discredit Lygus, whomst i will talk about later, but let's look at this in another angle.

What if we aren't dealing with a simple Lord Ravager? The destruction that this one being is said to bring is much more than the other Lord Ravagers, none are said to bring dangers to the whole cosmos, only galaxies at best, and very few known ones actually exhibit such feats of raw power. So this makes me think that maybe, we are dealing with a being way more powerful, who's rage could end the entire cosmos.

But before that discussion, let's get some things in order.

A-Paradoxes and Oronyx the Time Titan

*Flame Reaver's existence is a paradox if Phainon and them are one and the same, after all according to Phainon himself it was Flame Reaver who killed Cyrene, how could 2 people be at the same place? Well could happen on a planet on which time doesn't flow correctly, a planet who's time akin to a mobius strip, with a titan who can rewind time, on such a planet time is non linear.

Everytime Flame Reaver attacks a place it either spares Phainon or Phainon is not there, but why would that be? Simple, if Phainon dies Flame Reaver cannot be created in the Future and so would die, but how is Flame Reaver created? Unclear but potentially related to a failed Flamechase journey, but what if the FlameChase journey failed because of Flame Reaver's intervention, killing the Chrisos Heirs ? The paradoxical nature of the environment would make it possible for Flame Reaver to create itself in an endlessly repeating loop of its own, each time it's created it goes back in time, using Oronyx's powers perhaps, and makes it so the Phainon of the "past" would become the Flame Reaver of the "future" and and would be able to go back in the "past" or "present" to create the events that led to its creation.

A being stuck in a true paradoxical loop, a seemingly inescapable prison, Flame Reaver and Phainon are the ones shackled, breaking the cycle would allow Flame Reaver to escape or allow Phainon to become something even greater than Flame Reaver.

B- The original Amphoreus, the original Phainon and the birth of Nanook

Nanook ascension into Aeonhood is known, we know where and even what led to its destruction but we have never seen it, and with Amphoreus being an already long dead planet it could align with Nanook's story.

>Adlivun the Diamond world

Adlivun was a tragic planet doomed by two disastrous events : The Swarm Disaster and The Anti-organic War, these two disaster are what led to Nanook ascension and the unfortunate destruction of the world upon this event happening.

The Swarm Disaster, chronologically the first event, happened all throughout the cosmos in 13XX Amber Era, an event at such a scale that it involved most of the Aeons of that time, the original Amphoreus could have easily been one of the thousands if not millions of infected planets, and one of the lucky few to survive it. The first Mechanical War soon followed and brought back remnants of the Swarm and with both conflicts bringing Adlivun to its end, it all culminated with Nanook ascending and finally destroying the planet, leaving nothing of it behind.

And while the IPC existed, seemingly during both events or as a result of the Swarm (my memory is a bit foggy around Swarm Disaster lore it's been so long), they at least existed during the Mechanical Wars, but by that time Adlivun was basically already dead, still plagued by leftovers of an Aeonless swarm and the destruction of its last remnant of civilization by the Mechanical War, a planet of very little interest to both Qlipoth the Preservation and the young IPC.

And even if the IPC had records of it, and if my theory of Amphoreus not being it's original name is correct, they would have them under the name "Adlivun" not "Amphoreus" explaining why they "don't know" anything about Amphoreus, that name is kept within the circles of the Garden and to keep it hidden and pure, not spoken outside.

The original Amphoreus being Adlivun would then explain why it is such in a "primitive" state with little technology, the Mechanical War would have left all machinery destroyed out of conflict or to avoid more being corrupted by the equation, Fuli would have then recreated Amphoreus without the technology and kept it as primitive as it is now (i think them having "phones" was made also because playable characters hold phones when pausing which hoyo would like to keep that consistent since the menu looks like a phone screen and maybe giving them nothing or paper would look "weird"), the Black Tide could also be the result of a weird recreation of the Swarm leftovers, after all the Black Tide seems to endlessly propagate and spawn monsters. It would also answer the question as to what happened to the original planet : it was completely destroyed when Nanook ascended.

>Phainon, Flame Reaver & Nanook, a single entity?

This isn't my observation, multiple people have noted the clear similarities between the three, but still let's analyze them.

Nanook ressembles a golden eyed, dark skinned human male, with long braided white hair, wearing a black robbed adorned with purple gem and finally a body cut apart into ribbon-like and a giant scar on his torso from which flows golden blood (that seems to turn to dust or sand) and finally behind them, an eclipsed Sun.

Let's go from the most important point to the least important one to see how they match up with Phainon :

Golden Blood : this is the most obvious connection, Chrisos Heirs are said to be born with golden blood, and while that might be metaphorical (we have yet to see someone bleed from a physical injury) Nanook takes that literally. Also noticed that one of the "splashes" of the golden liquid seems to take on a similar shape to that of Nanook's scar, however it is located way lower (towards the stomach rather upper chest area), so this may be nothing and just a coincidence, still noteworthy.

Eclipsed Sun : this is a very "small" detail within Nanook's design, due to Aeons being a bit odd with their appearance this may not even part of Nanook, but regardless they are depicted with it so it not to be ignored. This detail would tie in more to Flame Reaver since they have a direct eclipse motif while Phainon has a Sun. I would like to note that Nanook's eclipse is a nearly identical match for this eclipse, as both are depicted "bleeding" gold, the hand shown could be Nanook's hand (metaphorically, Aeons are bigger than planets after all).

Black Robe & purple gems : this is a more direct physical link between Flame Reaver and Nanook, the robe Nanook wears could be Flame Reaver's cape, and while Flame Reaver does not have purple gems, it does have purple in its hood, and in both designs purple seems like the odd color, Phainon does not have purple at all, but Kevin does in its Deliverance form, and purple being a mix of Blue and Red, the blue of Phainon could have been tainted by red blood, resulting in the purple seen in Flame Reaver.

Hair : the weakest link, as hair color in an anime game doesn't imply link between characters, many having similar hair color while being unrelated, however the spiky, a bit "wild" hairstyle and color combined can be taken as another purposeful design similarity but beyond that, not much to say about it.

Now they are things in the designs that are very different, mainly the skin color and golden eyes, easiest to explain would be the eyes, this could be a result of the Chrisos Heir blood, the skin would be harder to explain but considering the wild designs of Aeons in general, i don't think that alone disqualify the rest of the similarities.

C- There won't be a 2nd Nanook

A bit of a shorter segment, but, I would like to explain what would happen if Pandora's Box were to be open, if Phainon is indeed Nanook. Simple answer : A weird thing, we don't know what would happen if two Aeons following the exact same path were to exist simultaneously, however we do know that Aeons do absorb "each other" if the paths are similar enough, the more broader path "winning" and becoming the one that stays ; so we can assume that a similar event would happen in that scenario.

Not to completely discredit Lygus's words, (that were said highlighted in yellow just like all prophecies i will add) but i assume such an event, absorbing oneself basically, could trigger Nanook to act, thus explaining "[...] their fury that will engulf the cosmos.".

Lygus's words could also be taken as maybe a warning from the past, however Lygus is an entity that has been gazed upon by Nous, which could only happen after Amphoreus was recreated by Fuli, so it is unlikely that it's that.

It could also be that since Nanook already exist, Phainon might not be able to complete his ascension, we have experience with stopping someone from becoming an Aeon : Sunday. His Boss 2nd phase hints at him starting the ascension in the flavor text "Using the Harmonious Choir as a foundation, the power of Order and Harmony intertwine to form the shell of an egg, within which the newborn god slumbers.", not directly saying Aeon, but, Aeons have been called Gods, and beside Amphoreus few civilization have other being compared to Gods, and the mixing of both Order and Harmony could create a third path, a perfect mix of both which could be the broadest and thus absorbing both (but this isn't a Sunday post so let's stop there). And so it is possible to prevent Phainon's ascension all together, either completely and allowing him to" turn back" into a human, like Sunday, or unfortunately "midway" and stopping at a being that would become a Lord Ravager as being technically Nanook itself, it would also embody Destruction and be gazed upon by itself.

Considering Amphoreus arc seems to be all about fighting against fate, it seems that the option of stopping the ascension and thus rewriting Phainon's fate could be the most likely answer, also since we aren't actually rewriting the past and just the memory of Amphoreus, this won't make Nanook dissappear in our present but might for the Future Universe, since Fuli will use the memories to recreate the Universe, us modifying it could have an impact and outright prevent Nanook from existing in this Future Universe, but that's something we don't have a lot of knowledge about so this is extreme speculation.

D- Chess Grandmaster's play

*And with all of that, what is the Chess Grandmaster doing in Amphoreus? I think they are aware of who is in Amphoreus, and also the consequences of tempering with it.

If Chess Grandmaster is indeed aware of Nanook being the one shackled to Amphoreus, it would make sense that they would want to free them, even if there isn't a 2nd Nanook born from the ascension, the raw power alone would destroy Amphoreus, and Destruction is the goal of the Lord Ravagers, now would destroying the memory make it so that Nanook wouldn't be created in the Future Universe? Very unclear but to a Lord Ravager, would that even matter? I think not, they're all about destruction in the moment present, wether or not a potential future universe allows them to exist would not concern them.

Another idea is that Chess Grandmaster would not destroy the shackles but just stop us from rewriting the memory and erasing Nanook's ascension, so that Destruction can exist in the Future Universe as well.

Without more details about the Chess Grandmaster as a whole, it is difficult to guess why they would involve themselves with Amphoreus, but these would be my best guesses.

V- Conclusion

These are all my thoughts regarding Amphoreus's greatest hero Phainon, some obvious things already compiled by the community, but, i tried to not just repeat all that was said so i avoided videos and other form of sharing thoughts so i could make sure these were all my own, but if you notice similarities i suppose then my interpretations aren't all that inaccurate.

Obviously no matter how many hints there is, MiHoYo could still go in a completely different direction but this was quite fun to write, i didn't expect such a long post but thoughts kept adding themselves to my brain, i might even get more ideas after posting this, if enough thoughts accumulate i could make a part 2.

And a little last bonus for the road and because i did say i would talk about him :

Z- *Lygus, hint at a 4th path?

This is an idea that i must credit a friend for, she is the first to implement the idea in my head. She noted the similar designs between Lygus and HooH the Equilibrium, and thus a secret 4th Path somehow entangled within Amphoreus, and so let's make points!

Symmetrical designs : HooH has a 99% symmetrical designs, most of their components are flipped in different ways (i am not really good at geometry so i couldn't tell you in detail which axis) since they're all about perfect balance, meanwhile, Lygus gets pretty close to a 1:1 symmetrical design as well, the only asymetry being his hands and chest decorated with a design resembling the Vortex of Genesis, other than these he's very symmetrical, which is an odd design choice if he wasn't connected to equilibrium.

Hands : both designs feature hands as the main eye-catch, HooH's hands being in a prayer like motion and Lygus's seem to be carrying the Vortex of Genesis, and while not fully gold ly Lygus's hands HooH's do feature some golden accents, with both designs having very other details the hands stand out a lot.

Hole : It is unknown if the center of HooH is a hole or not but both designs do feature them as the other main notable points on their designs, and both "holes" are located in similar areas in the middle of the chest.

With both designs being quite simple, in MiHoYo standards, there isn't a lot to say but the few that there is can be notable and an actual link, if a 4th patch (in this case Equilibrium) is indeed at play this could complicate things even more, but while not fully baseless, i do not yet if i believe this, but we are just in 3.2 more hints about this will surely come if this is true.

I will note that despite being gazed at by Nous, there is nothing going against the idea of Lygus being linked to 2 paths, a potential creation of HooH being gazed at by Nous after its involvement with Amphoreus is likely.

[hoverboards-and-dragons]

Something I'm unreasonably fond of in the Happy Day in hell reprise are these changed lines

"To change their minds and touch their hearts, or whatever angels have" ->

"you've changed my mind, you've touched their hearts, found the good in souls gone bad"

Sung by Lucifer, who would know, sneakily avoiding saying whether angels have hearts or not

I was just so ready for the potential of fucked up angel biology to be dropped that I was pleasantly surprised when it stayed ambiguous; no idea if it was even intentional tho

I really do hope something interesting is done with the heavenborn and they aren't just people with wings. Hell's world building has been pretty good about giving different species different cultures and world views I have hope

[eveningshowhost]

A mask and a uniform for Lucifer :) what depraved little nothings Adam is whispering into his ear?

I really wanted to give a go at the possible exterminator/heaven's angel design for Lucifer!

[thegreatyin]

absent-mindedly glanced at caeru's wallet while grinding bone fragments, and

something something, ex-seeker joke.

[gthswrld]

Dear charisma house fandom please take this offering of carefully crafted shitposts I made instead of drawing something cleaner as a first time here