#smhtdf

[top-quality-garbage]

has anyone named the fucking thing yet?

[floating-goblin-art]

Behold, a divide.

[sailorsun546]

The alchemical notation for Aqua Regia, I see you fuckers (affectionate)

[tempered-grace]

the entire sleep token fandom right now:

[the-impulse-to-love]

i still can't get over the fact how the new album is even in arcadia.

like. take me back to eden, and now even in arcadia.

take me back to eden, which is a paradise that was inhabited in and later lost due to the sin of eating the forbidden fruit.

even in arcadia, which is an idyllic paradise of a real region in greece. a concept that was romanticized and explored during the renaissance that is said to be unobtainable and lost.

and the phrase "even in" -- referring to the phrase "et in arcadia ego," roughly meaning "even in arcadia, there i am." a phrase used as a title to painter nicolas poussin's painting (left) depicting three shepherds and a woman. yet, this work was inspired by a work of the same name done by artist guercino (right), done about a decade before. and his work has themes of memento mori, a reminder that death is always There, with the image of a skull reinforcing the idea of the title.

all just to say...

vessel wants to be taken back to eden -- back to a way when things were idyllic and perfect. and yet, if he obtains this, if he somehow gets to arcadia, he's met with the harsh reality that his paradise is unobtainable and lost. "i" -- whether that be sleep, death, or some other figure -- they are still there in what appears to be paradise, even if vessel wants to escape from them...

[whitejawz]

Even in Arcadia, There am I ⚔️

[moonchild-in-blue]

By the way!

In case there was still people who were a bit uncertain of the use of gen. ai for their new stuff - we finally got the credits of the artist!

Noruwei seems to be a relatively small indie company, so it's extra nice to see them supporting actual creatives!

[wishicoulddisappear]

nothing is ever a coincidence

[top-quality-garbage]

baby I am so prepared you have no idea

[sleepanonymous]

QR CODE SPOILERS

I'M GONNA

VESSEL

WHEN I CATCH YOU

I CANT EVEN

links -> one two

[sleepiestoken]

seeing everyone’s renditions of the sheet music is truly the coolest shit ever. what a lovely way to engage with your fans so intimately whilst still maintaining anonymity

[tempered-grace]

anyone else see the benzene ring in the house logos

like

thats skeletal structure!!!

[the-impulse-to-love]

him and those damn flamingos

[whitejawz]

SHOW ME HOW TO DANCE FOREVER

[moonchild-in-blue]

Show Me How To Dance Forever info dump

Alright, I'm joining the research team side of tumblr and going through every element of the website / new information. A lot of what's here has been posted by others, so this is more of a compilation of things and me thinking out loud.

The Code - D O U O S V A V V M

The Shugborough Inscription is a sequence of letters – O U O S V A V V, between the letters D M on a lower plane – carved on the 18th-century Shepherd's Monument in the grounds of Shugborough Hall in Staffordshire, England, below a mirror image of Nicolas Poussin's painting the Shepherds of Arcadia (...) [about the relief] On the tomb is carved the Latin text Et in arcadia ego ("I am also in Arcadia" or "I am, even in Arcadia") The letters on the second line, D M, were commonly used on Roman tombs to stand for Dis Manibus, meaning "dedicated to the shades". (from wikipedia page)

I'm not gonna go into much detail about the whole Holy Grail thing, bevause you've all probably read this article by now. I do wanna point point out the obvious Arcadia = Eden connection:

Arcadia (Greek: Αρκαδία) refers to a vision of pastoralism and harmony with nature. The term is derived from the Greek province of the same name which dates to antiquity; the province's mountainous topography and sparse population of pastoralists later caused the word Arcadia to develop into a poetic byword for an idyllic vision of unspoiled wilderness. Arcadia is a poetic term associated with bountiful natural splendor and harmony. The 'Garden' is often inhabited by shepherds. The concept also figures in Renaissance mythology. Although commonly thought of as being in line with Utopian ideals, Arcadia differs from that tradition in that it is more often specifically regarded as unattainable. Furthermore, it is seen as a lost, Edenic form of life, contrasting to the progressive nature of Utopian desires. Greek mythology and the poetry of Theocritus inspired the Roman poet Virgil to write his Eclogues, a series of poems with references to Arcadia as the home of Pan, pipes and singing. (from wikipedia page)

And to point put what the shades in "dis manibus" mean:

In ancient Roman religion, the Manes (/ˈmeɪniːz/, Latin: mānēs, Classical Latin: [ˈmaː.neːs̠]) or Di Manes are chthonic deities sometimes thought to represent souls of deceased loved ones. They were associated with the Lares, Lemures, Genii, and Di Penates as deities (di) that pertained to domestic, local, and personal cult. They belonged broadly to the category of di inferi, "those who dwell below", the undifferentiated collective of divine dead. (from wikipedia page)

POINTING OUT that the Lares are viewed as guardians (sacred guardians if you will -> see Chokehold (I come as a blade, a sacred guardian) and the TOG poem (I am the teeth of God).

The Divide / The Choices

SPEAKING OF the TOG poem, the first email that prompts the choice of house reads "Behold, a Divide", which is very similar to " I am the line between" verse of the poem.

We are presented with two images (which I will get into it later) - House Veridian (crossed swords) and Feathered Host (a feather)

House Veridian: The House Must Endure Feathered Host: The Cycle Must Be Broken

House Veridian

Veridian is probably a reference to the colour viridian, given the symbol is green. Interestingly enough, this pigment is a "hydrated chromium(III) oxide", os an HEXAGONAL SHAPE (the same shape of the images we see on the email. ALSO. OMG YOU GUYSSSS LOOK:

It is antiferromagnetic up to 307 K, the Néel temperature

What's that you ask? WELL:

In materials that exhibit antiferromagnetism, the magnetic moments of atoms or molecules, usually related to the spins of electrons, align in a regular pattern with neighboring spins (on different sublattices) pointing in opposite directions.

THIS IS BLOODSPORT AND ALKALINE ALL OVER AGAIN, I'M GONNA THROW UP. VESSEL YOU BEAUTIFUL BASTARD NERD. MORE:

Chromium(III) oxide is amphoteric AKA In chemistry, an amphoteric compound (from Greek amphoteros 'both') is a molecule or ion that can react both as an acid and as a base

BITCH.

It is also used to polish BLADES! SWORDS! HMMMM!!!!!

If we think of The House as A Vessel for a god (which is basically what they are, mortal houses of worship), we can definitely see it as "I, the guardian, the fighter, the blade, must endure" . See Chokehold and Higher especially for this.

Feathered Host

I think the connection with thw TNDNBTG/ Euclid is pretty obvious. The constant imagery of angels and heaven in his lyrics, the "cycle" that is completed and repeated with those two songs. The cycle is broken, but it loops again.

You live with angels vs your wings won't find you heaven. You are the garden vs I will go back to Eden. You are far away where I can't reach you vs I will bring down heaven myself for you. Gods vs mortals vs angels. Beginning and End. Like F. Ocean said, "it's a loop. the other side of a loop it's a loop".

I think both of these choices are a very clear representation of the story that has been presented in the trilogy, but even more so in TMBTE. The dichotomy between continuing to fight, to spill blood, to be a hones and well polished tool, and the realisation of the enormity of the violence that persists. The desire for peace, the longing for simpler, more innocent times, for Eden, for Arcadia. A utopia that may only exist in dreams, long forgotten. The fields of elation now barren and sealed off.

Euclid marks the moment of breach, where there's finally a clear thread of hope. The break of the bough, the killing of the self, of the ego. But even then, there is still some attachment for the past weaved between the frayed ends. It's still the autumns leaves, do you remember me? And the final callback to TNDNBTG, the loop. An everlasting ouroboros, the venomous serpent biting its own tail, Even and The Tempter one and the same.

I find it interesting how the double-swords can mean so much. In tarot, it represents an impasse, a stalemate (the card is a blindfolded woman - see the Rain guardian - under the moon holding the two swords). It's used as a battlefield marker. In chemistry, double daggers are used to indicate the Transition State of a chemical reaction. Much to think about.

Show Me How To Dance Forever

Right so, I already made a half-assed post about the Nothing Lasts Forever to Show Me How To Dance Forever pipeline, but I'm keeping it here anyways. They have mentioned dance many times before, in the WH cover, in Aqua Regia and Ascensionism, in the interludes (where they say something about dancing with life and death both if I'm not mistaken).

Now, Aqua Regia makes a reference to Dark Signs . I'm done dancing to alarm bells // (...) I could see dark signs, alarm bells in your eyes. AND, Dark Signs has one of my most favourite lyrics, which goes: I might bend and break to my basic needs to be loved and close to somebody. WHICH WE CAN CONNECT to I Wanna Dance With Somebody (who loves me).

Which poses the question: WHAT are we dancing to? Are we giving in yet again to the need for love, and reveling in what it is a flawed and broken cadence of pleasure and pain alike? Or are we asking to be shown how to dance instead of fight, how to turn despair into tenderness. How to live this new life, a new beginning? Are we forever doomed to waltz with Death, to balance fire in the earth, or are sailing away to new ports, leaving funeral pyres behind towards a new shore, to Arcadia? MANY SUCH QUESTIONS!

The Black Flamingo

I don't know dawg. Is he Vessel? Black and tall and elegant and kinda weird?? Ridiculous wingspan??? Jk. I know some people have already talked about it, and it's potentially connected to the TOG novel (which I haven't read yet), so I'll leave that to you.

I might be missing some things but this is what I have for now. My brain hurts lmao.

[rayons1only1started]

LET'S GIVE THE FUCKING FLAMINGO A NAME

Okay this is it:

See the bastard? Here he is in case you need to look at him again.

If you have a name suggestion please put it in tags or comments and after a while I will make a poll with the most common ones.