Okay, I've finally made a list of most of my Sleep Token lore and analysis posts! Divided by categories under the cut, with improvised titles and brief descriptions for each.
Posts are listed in reverse-chronological order per category, except for crossovers.
The catch-all hashtag for these is #aqua's offerings, in case you prefer to look through them that way.
Longer Form Posts:
Duck Into Deep Blue Safety - Comparing the composition of Drag Me Under, Atlantic, and Fall For Me as to how solos are used to describe physical isolation, separation, and the spectrum bridging spiritual wholeness and estrangement.
Show Me What Wounds You've Got - On begging, emotional vulnerability, and our agency as audience and character.
If a Man Falls, and Nobody's There to Hear Him... - An addition-by-reblog to this post by @melit0n about Fall For Me, continuing the exploration of silence and vocals and the implications of Vessel's isolation and actions in the song.
So He Gets To Die A Saint - Martyrdom and the desire to save and be saved, but the uncertainty of who is saving who, and to what end.
Something Was Between You and I My Dear - Musings on the theory posited by @a-s-levynn that separates Vessel as his masked self and as his unmasked self into two separate characters, and what that means for a potential reading of the events of the trilogy, particularly its ending.
I Would Turn Into A Stranger In An Instant if I Could - A deep dive into DYWTYLM with themes of identity loss and the effects of a long-term yet one-sided relationship.
Flood Me Like Atlantic - An examination of the metaphor of being dragged into and under someone's love throughout the course of the discography, and how it reflects in the shifting characterization of both Vessel and the character being sung about.
Would You Invite Me In Again? - A look at cycles of union and disconnect, of love as a melding of body and soul in addition to a rending of body and soul, and the cyclical nature of this dichotomy, primarily through the lens of Drag Me Under and Blood Sport.
So Let's Play - A look into how the language of games and winners and losers is used and evolves throughout their discography.
With My Love as Your Garden - Exploring the lyrics regarding flowers and gardens, of upkeep and of fire, and how it relates to the relationship between Vessel and his lover, described here as Sleep.
Welcome Me In, Deep Into You - Side-by-side examination of Vore and Drag Me Under and their language as it pertains to consumption and consummation, and the respective tones those carry.
Drag Me Under AGAAAAAIN - An addendum to my second Sleep Token x TDH crossover post (linked further below) that brings Drag Me Under into the fold of Atlantic and Telomeres, as requested by @moonchild-in-blue. Elaborates further on the entwining of Vessel and Sleep, of their love and the idea of inevitability.
Duet - Proposing and elaborating on the concept of the song Give being a duet between Vessel and Sleep with alternating POVs.
Other Other Eye - A look at Ascensionism, particularly the lines regarding eyes and attention and conflicting desire. [note: written very early into my posting theory/analysis, somewhat outdated]
Catching a Falling Knife - Using the metaphor of "catching a falling knife" and the general stock market as lens to examine the power dynamics between Vessel and Sleep.
Mini Musings:
Rain Can't Wash Away the Tar on the Inside - Consideration of the lyrics implying Vessel has been trapped by tar and subsumed in it both from the outside and from within.
Keep an Eye on the Road - A quick talk about visuals of crashing cars and mentions of various roadways, and being trapped in untenable situations.
The Vicious Cycle - Cycles and the breaking thereof within the discography.
My Puppet Queen - The dehumanizing language used towards Vessel, specifically as a toy or object.
Glitches in the Code - Considers Vessel as a literal algorithm, and how that reflects in his vocals and degeneration throughout the narrative and what it would say about his relationship with Sleep.
Mirror Talk - Notes on mirrors and both outer and inner reflections.
Are You Watching Me? - Different ways eyes are described as it relates to prey and predation, and Vessel struggling with human nature and humanity.
A Different Harbor - Musing on the peculiar use and otherwise of language regarding boats, harbors, and anchors.
You Want Someone To Be - Concept post about a more literal take on lovers entwined, to both want to become the other, and the loss of understanding of what it means to be yourself without them.
Crossovers:
TDH x Sleep Token #1 - Love as a crashing wave, questions of fate, choosing love despite the clear doomed nature, using The Dear Hunter's Waves as a frame of reference.
TDH x Sleep Token #2 - Uses The Dear Hunter's Vital Vessels Vindicate as a lens to provide a different perspective through which to examine Vessel, death, and what it means to choke and suffocate underwater.
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just finished round 6 of alien stage and man i have so many thoughts (not just of round 6 but of alien stage in general) but theyre kinda disjointed and may be a bit nonsensical to anyone who isnt me lol but i figured i may as well put them here
huge "idk if the flower symbolism is the same in korea" disclaimer but i do still think it fits regardless
mizi and sua adoration crossing over into idolatry/pedestal worship, love in remembrance, hope blooming from despair
mizi worships sua the way a human does a god but sua worships mizi the way a god does a human, but what does being a god in a godless universe even mean, what does being human in a universe that sees you as nothing more than a pet even mean
the first four lines of round 1 i believe is significant throughout the whole story "Oh my Clematis / hope bloomed from the abyss / Oh my Clematis / always be by my side" sua sings the former two lines and mizi sings the latter two, sua is despair (prominent black in design, often depicted with shineless eyes in art esp when not around mizi, godhood, arbiter of change, she haunts mizi's narrative, the abyss, even so there is the shine of starlight in the void), mizi is hope (very "floral" color pallet, often depicted with the shiniest sparkliest eyes in art esp when light shines on her glasses, the clematis, "bloomed" after sua is killed and loses what is covering her eyes)
i think the fact that we never really get to see from sua's perspective is part of her "mythology", that we never see much aside from her love for mizi, that we wouldnt truly know if shes anything more than a devotee if the supplemental material wasnt a thing
ivan and till reaching out for something impossible, for something that gives them hope in an otherwise stifling circumstance, for something that showed kindness in a cruel world, for something to fight for, for something that keeps them going, idealism, the want to be broken apart by the person that they think can mend them
ivan's pupils are as red as the meteors which may burn bright and are magnificent but are ultimately destined to fall, people often wish
saying that the gods are looking down upon someone is often a way of conveying their misfortune
till & mizi and ivan & sua are often depicted with parallels to each other
till and mizi both have green eyes, have an asociation with flowers (symbolism, the red flowers in the garden), both far more emotional than their counterparts, both dressed in black (like theyre going to a funeral) on the round they sing (not even compete) with their counterpart, on the round their counterpart dies, directly attacked a contestant, get severely depressed after losing their loved ones, have a hallucination of their loved one after someone triggers them, directly attacked the person that triggered them
ivan and sua were both given abundance not in the caring sense but in the showpony sense, have an association with stars, and were wearing white on the round they died (like they were going to a wedding), and (assuming ivan assessed what sua was doing correctly) both sacrificed themselves for their loved ones (sua wanted to be remembered [i wonder if she at the very least felt happy that her lover will always remember her, regardess of how it came about, if she felt happy that it was her that died and not mizi, i wonder if she truly had hope that they could both get out of the round alive or if she just went along with it for mizi's sake], ivan wanted to be seen [i wonder if he at the very least felt happy that his loved one finally saw him just him for once, i wonder if he kissed till not just for tills sake but for his own too, i wonder how he felt that he never really got to leave a mark on till despite seemingly wanting to since that "choke" absolutely did not leave anything])
i dont really have much to say about hyuna and luka for now aside from theyre a perfect representation of the two sides of the culture clashes going on and i love them both for vastly different reasons (hyuna is awesome and very cool while luka. is not.)
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