#the cypher ghost wax

[noxcorvorum]

how the cypher screwed himself over and why pip is the best: an analysis of phillipa le fay as 'the star'

Aka I'm having Thoughts about ghost wax in the middle of the night again and now it's time for me to be unhinged in a long post about the symbolism of the cypher calling pip a star

The first time she's referred to as a star is, as far as I know, episode 24, where the cypher says she has "star qualities" shortly after he yoinks charli. The next occurrence is in 29, where her description on the cyphers vhs tape is "a star in the making". He calls her some version of 'star' or 'stargirl' at the end of episode 42 and at least thrice throughout episode 43, with at least one of those being through Noah

According to https://www.thetarotguide.com/the-star/ , the star tarot card means hope for the future, to trust that the universe has a plan for you, spiritual connection, and means a period of stability following the Tower card, which itself apparently means chaos/destruction/trauma/etc

To the cypher, it means that pip will be instrumental in helping him get into the real world (hope for the future), convincing her that she will have a more pleasant time in his realm where she has a better support system than in the real world (projecting stability following trauma such as the argument with luca and may's death, with his own stability as getting into the real world after getting excised at the field office as his tower card), and also the cyphers entire thing is about human connection so that's another little way of connecting them.

However. It's not just meaningful to the cypher.

After pip lies her way out of the cyphers dreamscape, she says "Mr Media was right. I'm a god damn star."

To her, it means she's able to escape the cyphers dreamscape (hope for the future and maybe a bit of cosmic plan), and the period of stability (before Charlie happens at least) is getting out with a perfect anchor for the banishing following the trauma of getting suddenly yanked into the dreamscape without knowing whether the cypher would just consume her if she directly tried to escape.

And the connection aspect? The connection is that she won't betray the people she knows and cares about in the real world, even for the versions in the cyphers realm who are more involved in her life and who seem to care about her more.

She's going back to her nerdy little brother and her necromancer grandpa, god damn it, even if she has to lie directly to a glorious' face.

Also the fact that she successfully lied to escape is real interesting to me. Mr Media himself points out in ep 24 that she has "star qualities, and you're a selfish liar to boot!". And in 43, CC says "we're connected here pip. you can't lie to me."

The cypher is well aware that she's an actress, so was it just hubris on his part?