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The Wish Ritual

The aesthetics of it have always intrigued me. Not only does it look beautiful and magical — please let us appreciate Punko's mastery and artistry for a moment — but I think it contains some very interesting details!

First of all, let's take a look at this comment by Wave in the last chapter. I think it provides us with many clues to help us understand CB's magical system, yet and I haven't seen anyone mention it!!

"All you need is the circle, runs are just overkill."

In Little Shadows, we see that Ex libris had a special table for performing rituals, engraved with these patterns that are now so familiar to us:

It perfectly indicated where each key should be placed and the patterns that would be lit by narratonin when it was put in the middle of the circle, as can be seen in these panels:

Now, when Wave performs the ritual in the present, he places the narratonin jar in the middle of a bare circular table, and the patterns appear in the wood by themselves!

This means that these patterns are inherent in the magic of the ritual. Ex Libris had to discover them by performing the rituals and then carefully record them in order to engrave them on the ritual table.

If this is the case and the patterns are intrinsic to narratonin properties and not deliberately chosen by cult members, what might they tell us about its magic??

Weeeeeeell

I have some ideas.

First of all, I'll talk a bit about its structure.

It's just beautiful!!!

Okay okay, I'll say the most evident and relevant thing first. To me, it is very clear that this geometrical pattern is meant to resemble a compass rose. The central part it's extreamly similar to one!! Just look at it!

(Math nerdy rambling warning)

This figure is formed by long cardinal spikes and intermediate spikes with alternating lengths just like a compass rose does!

The strongest feature is its radial symmetry.

Unlike mirror symmetry across a single axis, radial symmetry means rotating the figure around its center leaves it looking almost unchanged.

Nooooooow, that's really cool, but it doesn't say much by itself. Let me elaborate, cause there's so much more to it!!

You see, the central pattern has 8 major points that repeat in each concentric star that forms it.

These occur every 360/8 = 45°

This is the dominant geometric rhythm (dihedral symmetry D₈).

Now, between the long rays are shorter rays. This effectively divides the circle into 16 equal angular sectors.

Each sector spans 360/16 = 22.5°

And well, I am in no way a mandala artist or anything similar, but from what I can see, many decorative details align with this spacing and I'm sure you all can appreciate how beautifully the pattern is formed based on that symmetry.

Now, isn't that just wonderful?

All of this means that, ultimately, the entire pattern can also be divided into two or four separate sectors...

Ummm four?? As in... THE FOUR GIANT STARS??? As in... THE FOUR CARDINAL DIRECTIONS???

The four stars are positionally alligned with north, south, west and east, which gives me a great confirmation that this was the intention!

Okay, okay, but what could this mean in the context of the series? There are a lot of things that could be said about how this could be a metaphor for guidance, navigation, or purpose. All of which would be super fun to analyse!!

Buuuuuut we still know very little about Ex Libris' origins, at least from a free reader's POV, and I think I'd like to wait a bit in order to form a more coherent opinion. If you have any thoughts on this symbolism, I'd love to hear them!!

Okaaaaaay

Another thing I wanted to mention about the wish ritual is that I paid close attention to the symbols that appear on screen when a wish is pronounced and the keys repeat it.

I'm referring to those possible runs/glyphs/words written in another language.

I actually already analyzed this just for myself like a thousand years ago but I couldn't find the file anywhere sigh 🥀 Aaaaand I also think I saw them being very briefly mentioned in an image in one of @promptcorner 's most recent theories where they dicussed if the Ex Libris members could have been originally alchemists!!

Weeeeell, if I recall correctly what I analysed back then, I counted exactly ten different symbols, which were repeated over and over again in the same order, arranged in a circular disposition.

In this screenshot from the newest ep, you can see how the ones appearing in the first row are repeated in the second row but written upside down. You can't see all ten of them here, but look into any panel that includes them, you'll notice the pattern always repeating!!

Of course, since there seem to be only ten differente symbols and they repeat in exactly the same pattern regardless of the context, this is not a complete writing system. And the symbols that form it cannot really be classified as runes, glyphs, written words or very complicated letters.

I see three possible explanations:

1) It IS meant to represent a writen system and I shouldn't be thinking so hard about this because I'm ruining all the fun.

2) It's meant NOT to represent a writen system, but something else.

3) It IS meant to represent a writen system but everytime we see it, it's only one phrase repeating over and over each time someone performs a wish ritual.

Out of the three, my definite favourite is the third option. Because, if this is the case... what could that phrase be????

What sentence is repeating itself every time someone wishes for something?

Is it a very complicated way of saying "I wish" in this writen system?

Is it a spell? An affirmation? A prayer? A psalm? A summons?

If the first option is actually the right one, perhaps these symbols represent what the wisher is asking for verbally in an ancient language. However, I don't think so, because we have seen these symbols in situations outside the context of the wish ritual, which suggests they are more generally aligned with any form of magic being performed... somehow.

But I really really like the third option better!!! I think it would just be so much fun to have that mysterious phrase being, in a way, so plot-important and taking such a back seat at the same time! Don't you think?

Ohhhhh well... Only time will tell, I guess.

As a last thing I would like to point out a really cool detail.

In the last ep, when everyone starts asking for something out loud to ruin Wave's wish, the symbols overlap each other in a chaotic jumble, as if to represent multiple voices speaking at the same time!

That's so cool!!!

I love seeing these kinds of small details here and there. Punko is great at the 'show, don't tell' aspect of storytelling, which is one of the things I enjoy most about CB in general :D

Thank you Punko, and thank you for reading all this, if someone has any thoughts about something I mentioned here, I would love to hear them!!!

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@squeer-el You briefly mentioned in a post that the star on Chase's jacket was similar to the stars that appear in the wish ritual, and that reminded me that I actually have a LOT to say about this, so here you go :D

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Sooo....

Can we talk about how Buddy is the one (apart of Bronze) giving Deacon moral speches and guiding him in some sort of way...?

I mean with Chase, Deacon doesn't have this kind of conversations but with Buddy yes...

Idk why but is interesting...

I mean first in Sick Day

And then in Little Mischief

I mean, I don't know if I'm the only one who sees it (please tell me of you see it too)

#cinderella boy #cinderella boy punko #cinderella boy webtoon #buddy cinderella boy #cinderella chasers #nox cinderella boy #cinderella boy deacon #deacon cinderella boy #deacon hollow