Stars shiver and bend in the wake of Aha's form, planets and asteroids and collections of celestial matter shivering and quaking as Aha bolts between them. Its form is little more than laughter that cackles across the cosmos, the sounds of instruments and singing, dance and cheers and revelry and tragedy intertwined with theatre masks, shimmering ribbons and tassels, toys and props. The physical plane twists around Aha as the Aeon runs.
Aha doesn't run alone; arrows streak after it, around and past it as shrieks of anger pierce through time and space, raining down from the Above. They whistle by Aha, harsh sounds of rage and roars, tasting like anger and gun powder. The Arrows curve around planets and ships and stars towards Aha, the Elation always contorting itself or the universe so that Lux Arrows just barely miss it.
— what the stars reveal: honkai: star rail, interpretative analysis, mainly aha!sampo, emanator!sampo sprinkled in for funsies
— word count: 1.4k
— overview: (as of 2.2) a look at aha’s splash art, what it might mean, and the potential clues it leaves for the identity of a physical avatar.
note: this is my own interpretative opinion — it’s fine if you don’t agree! i know a lot of people don’t subscribe to elation!sampo theories, just as a lot of people do. this is an analysis i’m doing for fun and i understand there are many different & valid interpretations people can have about this. thanks! 🪐
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First, let’s look at the splash art itself:
Our eyes are immediately drawn front-and-center to two masks reminiscent of the comedy and tragedy masks from greek theater — however, instead of one smiling and one frowning, both appear to be laughing.
The other masks, which lay in the shadowed background, are the ones frowning. Note how the spotlights and coloring draw our attention to not just the laughing masks, but the masks themselves (more on this later).
A popular image of this splash art is one cropped down to only the laughing masks, showing that most people’s idea of Aha’s “face” is, in fact, centered around the front-facing masks:
However, upon closer look, we can see a variety of other objects at play, including the frowning masks:
The one on the right is specifically interesting because it also seems to have a spotlight on it. Despite not being front-and-center, its frown is still illuminated, perhaps suggesting a “multi-faceted” appearance or personality (even performative sadness or pain).
Other notable objects include: confetti, flowers with eyes, a coin purse in the shape of a mouth, eyeball-shaped candy, a toybox moon with a face, an owl-cat perched on a circus ball, a strange white bird with human legs and a top hat, the aforementioned frowning masks in the background, and, most notably, several playing cards.
The playing cards indicate a red 5 with an upside-down laughing face, a red heart with a frowning face, a black H with a frowning face, a potentially black 7, and a black pi (which might be a roman numeral 2, but since the 5 was not in roman numerals, my bet is on pi) with a smiling face.
While I do think most of these objects are supposed to be fun little trinkets for the sake of being fun little trinkets — like the circus balls and confetti — the playing cards, coin purse, and shadowed masks stand out to me as potential links between Aha and a physical avatar.
The playing cards have connotations to gambling, money, and deceit, with their unconventional markings tying into Aha’s multiple “masks” and ever-changing persona.
The coin purse signals further associations with gambling and money, with the mouth adding a layer of consumptive desire.
The shadowed masks, as somewhat mentioned before, heavily imply the existence of contradictory emotion behind Aha’s “facade” — a pain or sadness hidden by the flashy lights and faces.
Additionally, and perhaps most importantly, behind all of this gaudy glamor is a silhouette, easily missed for the bright colors of the smiling masks’ spotlight:
This silhouette is the most widely-circulated clue I’ve seen as to Aha having a physical, humanoid form.
While it may be difficult to make out at first glance, the shape of a human is undoubtedly there, complete with a jawline, neck muscles, biceps, and hands with the palms facing up.
To bring back the detail mentioned earlier, something important to note is that the spotlights draw our focus to the masks rather than the silhouette, manipulating us into only seeing the front-facing objects rather than the person beneath.
This diversion could very well speak to a more literal diversion in Aha’s form — a misdirection where They don’t want others to know Their true identity, so They throw the spotlight on others while They operate under the radar, away from prying eyes.
So, how does Sampo factor into all of this? Beyond the fact that a shady, somewhat pathetic underworld merchant on a remote snow planet is a great alias for “operating under the radar” in terms of the wider universe, let’s start with the silhouette itself, which bears a striking resemblance to Sampo’s E6:
As you can see, they seem to have similar jawlines, collarbones, and shoulder lengths. To me, it very much looks like an inverted version of the E6.
Additionally, the silhouette proper seems to have a broad upper body that tapers near the hips, which fits Sampo’s build. However, this connection alone isn’t enough to make a solid theory, so let’s continue.
I mentioned several key objects earlier, like the coin purse, masks, and playing cards. While these individual marks could apply to other characters (i.e. Aventurine & coins, Sparkle & masks), Sampo is the one that checks every box combined.
Who has an obsession with money (cash ➜ coins)? Sampo. Who is always smiling and hiding his true feelings (putting on a mask)? Sampo. Who is always playing a master game of disguise and manipulation to get what he wants, even if it seems he is “losing” at times (cards)? Sampo.
While I do admit Aventurine could also fit most of this criteria, it is important to note that Sampo is the only one to check these boxes while also being directly affiliated with the Masked Fools, a faction that worships Aha the Elation.
Additionally, we have already received a pretty intensive exploration of Aventurine’s backstory in canon, so I think it’s safe to say he walks the path of Preservation and is mostly affiliated with the IPC.
Sampo, however, walks the Path of Nihility, which in my mind has a lot of overlap with Elation. (I tend to see “Nihility” and “Elation” as existing on two separate ends of the “presentation of meaninglessness” spectrum, with Nihility as pure existential stagnation and Elation as pure existential chaos. As such, it’s easy for me to think of someone potentially going back and forth between Nihility and Elation since both Paths can place heavy emphasis on similar ideas.) Nihility is also the Path often associated with those who have something to obfuscate about their identity (ex. Welt & his past, Acheron & her memory, Kafka & “destiny”).
Overall, I think Sampo checks the most boxes if we are operating under the assumption that Aha has a physical avatar.
This isn’t even touching on the conversation between Sampo and Sparkle during the 2.0 Trailblaze Mission where he refers to himself as an “old timer,” or any other clues like his voicelines (looking at you, “everyone has a colorful past, wouldn’t you say?”) and fourth-wall breaking.
However, it is also possible that all these pieces of evidence can be used for the Emanator!Sampo theory — the different masks and coins in this case could resemble Aha’s Emanators, or a kind of shared or split consciousness that uses parts to make the whole. If we’re going based on that, my money is on this mask in the background being the one to represent Sampo, since the eyes/eyebrows are an expression he often makes:
This could break into several other theories, but the two that first come to mind are A. Sampo & the other Emanators are Aha’s “collection” of what They consider to be practical jokes or props, or B. These separate objects represent different parts of Aha’s consciousness or being — i.e. the parts that make the whole.
(Side Note: In this case, I would attribute Doll!Sampo to the coin purse, as it lines up with the Aha Stuffed Toy occurrence and Sampo’s name as a reference to Finnish mythology! Who knows, maybe he’s both?)
Additionally, there is always the chance of a divide between the silhouette and masks, with the potential of a silhouetted Sampo being a “background” entity occupying a different form than the “full” masks of Aeon Aha. (There can even be places of overlap between Aha! and Emanator!Sampo, so the two are not mutually exclusive!)
Whatever the case, I think there are many strong leads in the Elation!Sampo theory, especially including the ones in the splash art described here. Even though so many possibilities are open at this point, I think Sampo’s identity being closely intertwined with the Elation is a plausible interpretation of canon. However, these are still unconfirmed theories, so that doesn’t mean they’re 100% guaranteed (though I think they have a good chance!).
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𖥔 ݁ ˖ જ⁀➴ anyways, that’s the end of my analysis. let me know if there’s anything else you want me to talk about, since there’s a lot of stuff i didn’t touch on here!
also, thanks for reading this far if you did, i’m a bit of a nerd about this theory and i hope all of this made sense! if you want to add anything else to the splash art theory, please let me know, i’d love to hear any details i may have missed! thanks 🪐
— a silly little overview of different "sampos" i find interesting
— not meant to be taken super seriously or canonically, but can tie in to some of the theories i have
— in the true spirit of elation, these aren't hills i'm willing to die on, just ones that are fun to play around with :3
— feel free to use for writing/art inspiration!
— i add to this periodically as new sampos catch my eye!
— word count: 3k (good lord)
— 🎭s indicate aha!sampo
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🎭 sampo "midlife crisis" koski
— at risk of losing his aeon/emanatorhood
— doesn’t find anything funny anymore
— tired of being behind the scenes
— becoming a buzzkill (having “lines” he won’t cross)
— taking drastic measures to improve his quality of life (fucking off to a random ass snow planet to scam people)
note: may lead to a villain arc — sampo "renewed vigor" koski — in which he remembers why he used to love tormenting people, conquers his midlife crisis, and returns to pure elated insanity. this is bad for everyone involved for obvious reasons
🎭 sampo "how're you gonna win if you never take any risks?" koski
— aha took drastic measures to secure their success, either through memory erasure, mortal transformation, giving up power, or all three
— under the radar, civilian aha
— trying to circumvent “destiny” through delusional self-confidence
— enter sampo i mean aha i mean sampo i mean aha i mean s
sampo "ceaseless watcher's special little boy" koski
— not aha but aha definitely likes him
— perhaps an avatar or emanator of some sort
— whether he likes aha or not is up for debate
— can easily turn into sampo "ceaseless watcher get their ass" koski, in which sampo becomes a little too fond of invoking his status as aha's favorite to accomplish his own goals
alternate possibility: he’s aha’s favorite due to his pathetic nature and slutty hip windows, he just doesn’t know it. he thinks his luck is due to his own talent & skill (it is literally outside eldritch forces beyond his control)
sampo "close enough" koski
— not an actual aeon, but rather a vessel for aha’s power or consciousness on varying levels
— perhaps akin to caelus/stelle being a stellaron receptacle
sampo "let's get you back to bed grandpa" koski
— the wear and tear of a long life has taken its toll on him
— despite the infinity of time, he has become out-of-sync with newer masked fools members, who regard him as an “old timer”
— isn’t shown much respect, and is frequently asked why he isn’t as cool as he used to be
— also know as sampo "L + ratio + fell off" koski
— “peaked in high school” energy
— can be either aha, emanator, or similar high status
🎭 sampo "in rehab" koski
— aeonic existence isn’t easy and can, in fact, take a toll on those that ascend from human forms
— he finally decided that maybe he should make a change
— and has thus embarked on a healing journey
— therapeutic exercises include: scamming people, starting pyramid schemes, selling artifacts on the black market, and more!
sampo "ultimate dealmaker" koski
— in a contract or some sort of deal with aha in exchange for power, money, or a combination or the two
— possession? who knows
🎭 sampo "i'm not mad i'm just disappointed" koski
— doesn’t understand why his children have strayed so far
— “where did i go wrong? why do they think this is funny? do they even care about the worm?”
— has the energy of an exasperated parent watching his kids flush car keys down the toilet again
🎭 sampo "horrified creator" koski
— aha & the masks have outgrown their creator (sampo) and have gone off to do their own aeonic thing, leaving him behind
— he thinks it’s all insane, actually, and he’s very disappointed and very tired
— trying to pick up the pieces of whatever mayhem the aha!masks cause
— aha!masks keep him around for fun
— “i should never have laughed at that goddamn baby”
sampo "me and aha kiss on the weekends" koski
— just a silly little guy who has somehow wormed his way into the heart of an eldritch being
— in it for the mind-bending sex
sampo "blasphemy" koski
— technically affiliated with the masked fools but doesn’t subscribe to their beliefs
— thinks aha is a load of horseshit but needs to keep up with what they’re doing to circumvent it
— may have been formerly in a high-ranking position, or just another guy with a mask
— aha probably wronged him or did some fucked up shit in the past and now he has a vendetta
🎭 sampo "stole my fucking thunder" koski
— someone stole aha’s power. that’s it
— sampo is salty
— 10/10 betrayal plot
potential inverse: he’s the one stealing aha’s power
sampo "my boss sucks and i want to quit" koski
— tired, overworked employee of the masked fools
— views aha as a sort of fucked up insane ceo that he wants nothing to do with but is unfortunately contractually obligated to work for
— wants to start a union
🎭 sampo "next in line" koski
— can also branch into sampo "formerly in line" koski or sampo "abdication" koski
— wherein aha’s power or masks are akin to titles or positions that are passed down between different people, somewhat akin to how “crowns” and “kings” work
— in this case, sampo would either be currently in line for this power, formerly in line for this power, or has actually been in power but abdicated or otherwise lost/gave up/moved on from his position
— this could be natural or otherwise
note: this does not have to be solely for aha, this kind of power transfer could work for other high-ranking positions like emanator or organization leader
🎭 sampo "this price was too steep..." koski
— got a bit cocky and wagered his aeonhood
— is now in a Not Great position
sampo "i hate owing people things" koski
— owes aha one
— does not like owing people things
— doing whatever he needs to cancel out the debt
🎭 sampo "i was crazy back then lol" koski
— the universe’s idea of aha writ large is based on an outdated version of their personality
— this always annoys sampo because he has to be constantly reminded of his insane college days before he mellowed out
— the type to reminisce over wine and say “yeah that worm thing was wild. i was crazy back then huh”
🎭 sampo "committed to the bit" koski
— one of my personal favorites
— became mortal as a joke
— ended up liking it a little too much
— doesn’t really want to go back
sampo "worm on a string" koski
— what is a man if not just another omniscient worm destined for tragedy?
— he’s a puppet, basically
— & he just gets wormed around like he’s on a string
— hence the name
— another one of aha’s classic cosmic jokes
🎭 sampo "one of many" koski
— ties into my split consciousness theory
— aha split their personality into multiple people (either as a joke or for a bigger reason) and sampo is one of those pieces
🎭 sampo "yeah i heard aha was super cool and hot and sexy and smart and did i mention sexy" koski
— big fan of the rumor mill
— can’t help but try to win people over to the elation even when he’s supposed to be laying low
— he’s not fooling anyone. just yesterday serval watched him laugh until he cried because a kid dropped their ice cream. he is not slick
🎭 sampo "reverted to babey" koski
— someway, somehow, aha got reverted back to who they were before they ascended to aeonhood
— now sampo is just really fucking confused (and annoyed because mortal life is pretty annoying)
sampo "character creation screen" koski
— aha just had a silly goofy lil day & wanted to create a guy
— so they did
— sampo acts as a kind of controlled character who’s self-aware about his position as a playable character
— or alternatively he was turned loose with no purpose scaramouche-style and is now just fucking around doing whatever
sampo "failed clone" koski
— obligatory clone theory
— aha tried to clone themself. it wasn’t as funny as they wanted
— sampo is the result
— aha realizing sampo was a bit of a buzzkill: “i don’t want to play with you anymore”
🎭 sampo "vicarious existence" koski
— part of the split consciousness theory
— aha sectioned off or created a part of themself that can live in a way they can’t (i.e. have free will beyond the elation)
— similar to the focalors/furina situation in genshin
sampo "trojan horse" koski
— is his own person, under the impression he has free will, but is being used as an unknowing vehicle for eventual Big Aha Moment
🎭 sampo "can't remember shit" koski
— he forgor :((
— used to be aha but doesn’t know that
— most likely erased his own memory in order to accomplish a planned endgame
🎭 sampo "you don't wanna see me when i transform" koski
— dual consciousness theory
— sampo koski as a human is much more rational and reasonable than eldritch-form aha
— sampo likes to stay as sampo as much as possible because he doesn’t like what he becomes when he changes forms
— may lead to a tragic arc where, in order to defend belobog, he reverts to his aeonic form knowing he won’t be able to transform back
sampo "lmao got you" koski
— all signs pointing towards aeon or emanator status are red herrings
— he’s just really good at gaslighting to get what he wants
sampo "whoops i got attached" koski
— fucked off to belobog for whatever reason
— got surprisingly attached
— belobog now has an extremely powerful entity/protector without even knowing it
— “it’s just a weird insane little place. very charming” — sampo, probably
🎭 sampo "elias bouchard" koski
— just a shell for aha, jonah magnus style
— used to be his own person, but got yoinked along the way
🎭 sampo "5d mind chess" koski
— knows exactly what he’s been doing from the beginning
— strategic placement on belobog to meet the trailblazer
— has done a damn good job of coming off as “normal pathetic scammer mcgee” to distract from larger plans
🎭 sampo "just like everyone else" koski
— for whatever reason, aha is insistent that they be treated just like any other member of the masked fools; same rules, same hierarchy, everything
— this results in everyone looking at him weirdly but not saying anything and trying to strike up casual conversation with their literal aeon
sampo "gimme your eldritch money" koski
— the final form of scammers everywhere
— he’s scammed everyone he possibly can, and now there’s only one thing left: to scam an aeon
— chooses aha + the masked fools because there’s a good chance he’ll get stuff just because aha is amused with him
— tries to link aha up with a pyramid scheme
sampo "you should see me in a crown" koski
— either on a delusional self-confident power trip or gunning for aha’s power
— can be aha, emanator, or other high-ranking position, but aha works the best if sampo wants to go all the way up the ladder
— thinks he’s the best ever and can never fail, pairs well with “5d mind chess” sampo like fine wine
— drunk on power/worship
🎭 sampo "wine aunt" koski
— also known as sampo "washed up aeon" koski
— he’s out of the limelight, whether that means he passed on his power, had it taken from him in a free for all, or just wants to retire, and now he’s kicking back with a margarita and enthralling the belobog locals with “hypothetical” scenarios that are actually crazy mind-bending stories from his glory days
— he’s not as great as he used to be, nor does he have the power of a full-fledged aeon anymore, but belobog appreciates him all the same (goes hand in hand with sampo "just like everyone else" koski)
— “geez yeah, ix is so annoying. such a buzzkill, really, that guy even hates knock-knock jokes. i mean, who hates knock-knock jokes? … hypothetically, of course.” — sampo, probably
🎭 sampo "zhongli the funeral consultant" koski
— aha is secretly “dead” but no one knows
— perhaps the masked fools know, but either way sampo has either already faked his death, is currently doing it, or is planning to in the future
— he just wants to retire man, and if that means he has to “fall” then so be it
sampo "just a silly guy" koski
— there is actually nothing special to this man at all
— he’s just a guy. just a silly little guy
— aha is laughing at all of us for even making theories about him
sampo "aha jr." koski
— sampo is a doll created by aha like in the simulated universe occurrence, having the same appearance as aha’s human form and sharing personality & path attributes
— most likely wants to break away from the elation’s influence but doesn’t know how
— views aha as a really fucked up dad
sampo "oh my god i'm in a cult" koski
— raised in the masked fools, didn’t realize how batshit insane they were until a Formative Traumatic Event occurred and he went “oh.. oh no…..”
— estranged from most of the members but still deals with them in the way you do when you hate your family but have to put up with them at holiday dinners
— maybe got to a high position of power before, but left when he realized it wasn’t good for him
sampo "partners in crime" koski
— him & aha are friends, besties even
— knows the risks of working with an aeon but can’t say no when that much money is involved
🎭 sampo "for funsies" koski
— if aha can give the entire universe’s knowledge to a worm for fun, then by god they can give all of their power and aeonhood to a silly little guy randomly for no reason whatsoever (especially if he doesn’t want it)
— constantly fighting against increasingly powerful eldritch control
— “young god”
— canon in my heart
sampo "reality tv" koski
— part of the vicarious emanator theory
— aha gave him all their power and basically watches him like a reality show
— *pokes sampo with a stick* “hey why aren’t you doing anything” — aha, probably
— constant voyeurism
sampo "communism" koski
— part of the dual consciousness and vicarious emanator theories
— one of aha’s emanators that they share their entire path with
— “our” power
— perhaps some sort of memory or consciousness sharing
sampo "horse girl" koski
— “but your dream is to be an emanator”
— “no that’s your dream dad, not mine”
🎭 sampo "aeons anonymous" koski
— aeon in rehabilitation
— wants to start a former aeon support group
🎭 sampo "power receptacle" koski
— in which the masks function as the true “aha” and sampo has given them up or put them away for safekeeping
— “sparkle please please i’m so serious just let me put it back on once. no seriously only once i promise i won’t go insane like last time i’ll be so normal it’ll only be for five minutes please” — sampo, probably
sampo "one-sided hate boner" koski
— man absolutely hates aha (probably for backstory reasons)
— aha doesn’t care at best and at worst thinks it’s really really funny
— “you burned my house to the ground!”
— “🤷”
— “my family is dead!”
— “🤷”
— bonus points if aha makes him an emanator or something
sampo "significant annoyance" koski
— dedicated to being as annoying as possible to aha, whether out of spite, a vendetta, or sheer interest
— aha finds this funny so they let him stick around
— “he graffitied my mask with a bunch of dicks and it took me years to get it off. isn’t he just the greatest little guy?” — aha, probably
sampo "god's silliest soldier" koski
— aha gives their hardest battles to their silliest soldiers
— and that is sampo
sampo "true wild card" koski
— he’s not aha, an emanator, or any higher status
— he is quite literally just That Good as a regular human being
🎭 sampo "cosmic irony" koski
— “man, it sure would suck to be aha the aeon of elation. glad i don’t have to deal with that. i love being mortal”
— “🎭🎉👀”
— “HOW DID YOU GET IN MY HOUSE”
sampo "cult leader" koski
— humility is a facade
— “lines” he won’t cross are a facade
— everything is for the purpose of appearing like the perfect leader (or candidate for leader)
— secretly the most insane out of anyone
sampo "secret agent man" koski
— doing aha’s bidding willingly
— a goon. a henchman even
sampo "tainted love" koski
— aha isn’t the most healthy person to be around, on account of the ten billion cosmic torments jokes they throw around on a daily basis
— guinea pig sampo is TIRED
sampo "sacrificial lamb" koski
— may or may not be aware of his sacrificial status
— created or being manipulated into a position where he becomes collateral for aha doing whatever the fuck they wanna do
sampo "impromptu therapist" koski
— the receiver of many rants and complaints unrelated to him within the masked fools
— becomes the “advice friend” even though this man should never be trusted for reliable advice
— but surprisingly he is the most reliable within the masked fools
sampo "sanest masked fool" koski
— just a long-suffering member of an organization whose followers are some of the most insane people you’ll ever meet
— permanent eye bags for having to put up with them
🎭 sampo "michael distortion" koski
— he was a regular guy once, but ended up absorbing aha’s eldritch power one way or another
— potential assimilation into one form
— aha didn’t expect the joke to joke back
sampo "court jester" koski
— similar to "ceaseless watcher's special little boy"
— the king’s (aha’s) favorite little jester
— and also they make out sometimes
— has a semblance of protection afforded to him by being the favorite (he uses this to his advantage)
— “jester’s privilege”
sampo "try me" koski
— aha is physically keeping tabs on the trailblazer
— sampo is too, but only to swat aha’s hand away like a kid reaching into a cookie jar
— usually a mad dash to see who gets there first
— leads to many situations where they make tense eye contact across the street or smth
— subsists off of pure spite & annoyance
🎭 sampo "favored of humanity" koski
— aha is one of the aeons closest with humanity, and has such developed a more “mortal” frame of mind over time
— eventually if you spend enough time around mortals you might just turn back into one
🎭 sampo "hedonist" koski
— why is he doing any of this? who knows
— who can possibly understand the machinations of what an aeon finds funny
— eldritch humor beyond our comprehension
🎭 sampo "cosplayer extraordinaire" koski
— “so this is my humansona his name is sampo koski he likes scamming people and has slutty slutty hip windows”
— likes to stay in character as much as possible
— kinda like playing a dnd character 24/7
sampo "long-suffering host" koski
— somewhat dual consciousness theory
— aha is just up there, and sampo has to listen to their annoying ass constantly
— can be a joke, chill possession scenario, or necessity for aha due to external circumstances
— may be a side effect of emanator status, or may just be another Classic Cosmic Joke™
sampo "unwilling hierophant" koski
— informercial: how would YOU like to receive PERSONAL and INCESSANT psychic messages from eldritch forces beyond your comprehension?
— “geez ew no”
— infomercial: is that a YES?
— “no”
— infomercial: thank you for signing up for our FREE TRIAL service!
— “wait no”
— infomercial: text "NO PLEASE STOP NO" to 69420 to UNSUBSCRIBE from the Laughter’s FREE psychic telepathy service
— “NO PLEASE STOP NO”
— phone: thank you for subscribing to our LIFETIME PLAN of FREE, UNCEASING, TORMENTING visions from AHA THE ELATION. please enjoy your COMPLIMENTARY descent into insanity!
— “god fucking damnit”
sampo "vacant apartment" koski
— possession receptacle that’s no longer in use and is left up to his own devices
sampo "moved to iceland and became a sheep herder" koski
— living off the grid
— only came back because something bad is gonna happen to belobog
— can be aha, emanator, or other high-ranking position
🎭 sampo "undercover boss" koski
— keeping tabs on the masked fools because they’re fanatical
— “what the hell guys this is not what i want” — sampo, probably
— they say or do something and he’s just like “not funny. didn’t laugh”
— y’know when people say “if jesus came down to earth, he’d be disappointed at what people are doing in his name” — yea that’s sampo but like for real
random divinity au things about Aha!Sampo to get it out of my skull cuz im bored n waiting for class rn
Aha is first and foremost The Elation, but it goes beyond that; Aha is the aeon of mortality. Things like emotions and feelings, desires, the very ability to change, etc. are only really afforded to mortal beings.
Aeons are the pinnacle of immortality; they can't feel emotions because of this. they can't really want for anything beyond what they are 'created' for in a sense. Qlipoth only really wants to build the wall. Fuli only wants to categorize/capture memories. Nous is endlessly curious yet allknowing at the same time. Lan feels nothing but a desire to destroy Yaoshi.
Aha is the exception to this.
long-lived species tend to be less emotional; the closer to immortal a being is, the less they Feel. Immortal beings are 'closer' to the divine, and closer to being a creation/construct/part of the very universe itself. its why many long-lived species tend to stagnate and be... repetitive? stuck in their ways?
Aeons are more like... objects. they are not entirely sentient, but are conscious. they have purposes, roles, etc. that the act on as a part of their Paths. but they are unable to act outside of it. it's like. a lack of free will.
Aha. is the exception.
Aha came into being when sentient creatures came into being. Aha is, technically, one of the 'first' aeons, alongside qlipoth, but Aha was fleeting and unformed at first. The first 'life' wasn't really capable of feeling yet, so Aha wasn't capable of existing yet. Humanity coming into existence is what really 'woke up' aha.
if, theoretically, all beings capable of thought and feeling in the universe were to vanish/die out, Aha would too.
other Aeons were around before Aha was fully formed, though.
no one fully knows about Aha's origins or the contingencies around Aha's existence, not even Aha themself. Qlipoth knows, though.
Aeons are completely unfeeling, except under one condition. When Aha is around, Aeons are capable of feeling emotions, too.
(usually annoyance or rage towards Aha because theyre such an annoying son of a bitch)
the reason other aeons, even Nanook and Oroboros, didn't ever want to destroy Aha is because Aha is the only way they could Feel. also Aha would be extremely difficult to destroy cuz they would just pop back into existence after some time. As long as a single mortal being remains and is capable of emotion, Aha exists.
Most other aeons fucking hate Aha. feeling emotions is strange and horrifying and suddenly being capable of Feeling is way, way too much for them. Some are exceptions to this: Qlipoth, who actually... enjoys Aha's presence for this reason; Lan, who would never admit they like feeling something other than bloodlust for once; and Nous, who is a freak.
In creating Sampo, Aha has technically severed themself into two beings. Aha IS sampo but also isnt.
Technically, Nous had been right in that aha couldnt become human/mortal without renouncing aeonhood and their Path. Its not technically possible for Aha to still be Aha And a human. But aha fucking did it
Aha basically severed themself, cut themself down into a smaller? Human-shaped form, shoved their consciousness into the human form they made, Became Sampo. The remains/clippings of Aha exist at the edge of Nothing.
Technically, aha didnt sever themself from the Elation. Rather they... became sampo, and left behind the remaims of Aha? Like. The majority of Aha is left behind there. Its like Aha cut off their limbs and outer flesh and made a new person out of their internal organs. Nous fucking hates it how dare Aha prove them wrong and find a loophole
Aha, now Sampo, doesnt know what he wants. He wants something desperately, though. He doesnt know what it is but he has always Always just. Wanted.
