And I'm gonna be a bit of a nerd here because the writers actually told us exactly why they're writing all these tragedies!
Love and Depression is explicitly on purpose.
Mini essay time!
The World Underneath Fractal Library story is about the library that Zayne oversees in his different incarnations, but it's also about storytelling in the game itself. It's a really cool meta-story, so if you haven't read it, I highly recommend it! They basically end up saying that all stories, whether they're in books or video games or movies or whatever, are equally valid and important. ☺️
Here's the most important bit, from Chapter 3, which is called Question 3:
The administrator character notes that "Happy stories are the same, but unhappy stories each have their own kind of unhappiness" which is actually a reference to this quote:
“All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."
--Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina (GoodReads)
They go on to say:
Once a story finds its perfect ending, it stops, and no one looks back. Imperfections, however, remain unforgettable. They echo without a response until the end of time.
It's the tragedy that makes the stories so memorable. That makes them really stick with you. But what's so clever is that we don't just get tragedy--we get tragedy juxtaposed with a current timeline where things are maybe actually going to be happy this time! But we don't have closure yet. Things are still unfolding.
That's why it hooks you so good! It's sort of the same thing behind Romeo and Juliette being such a memorable story for so long. It's been retold a thousand different ways. Including, on some level, in the Love and Deepspace stories!
Anyway, that's enough needing out to distract me from my emotions. I know the new Raf myth is going to destroy me but I just gotta bite the bullet soon 😩
Spoilers below the cut. Hopefully mobile Tumblr won't troll anyone.
SPOILERS BELOW HERE
I will be doing more structured things with these thoughts but I gotta ramble now that I've finished the new main story content! Still drooling at the event tho, we're gonna get even more little reveals I'm sure...
In no particular order:
We got explicit confirmation that Philos's iterations in the myths are parallel potential versions of the same planet! In a GORGEOUS cinematic, at that. I think I might have to screen cap that so I can attach it to a post where I talk about Philos lore. We also know that every version of Philos eventually dies (as all planets do). This actually also creates the possibility that not all versions of Philos started as Earth--that's actually only referenced in Xavier's Where Shooting Stars Fall anecdote, and we see graphics of other versions of Philos that are whole planets (not with the shattered plates) covered in sad (as in Rafayel's Philos myth) or fire (as in Beyond Cloudfall). It also means that Earth can have futures in which it doesn't become Philos--like Dawnbreaker's future. It's maybe a little anticlimactic that they're all parallel? But at the same time a relief to my lore brain because it means I can stop looking for clues about how they're supposed to reconcile. Head-canon wise I still like the idea of certain overlaps between the various timelines, such as Xavier and Sylus recognizing some of the same Philosian tech.
EVER CAUSED THE CHRONORIFT CATASTROPHE BY FUCKING WITH MC, I am SO proud of myself for piecing this together before from the timing, and I even have receipts! I had my suspicions that she was "created" rather than born (since she's elsewhere described as being born from the planet's core) so getting the confirmation that she's "from Deepspace" is extremely exciting.
And on that note, SYLUS SAVED BABY MC. 😭 I am going to be chewing on the bars of my enclosure for more details about that in the event, I hope we get more tidbits... if not you can count on me for a Sylus PoV with head canon to fill it all in 😂 I think what I'm gonna do is add alt chapters to Cosmic Interlude so the current chapters will still be there, but there'll be alternate/additional chapters with the updated canon. My secondary goal with Cosmic Interlude was always to provide a streamlined/clarified version of what we know from canon (partly so I can keep it straight myself) so I def want it to be able to still do that. Folks can then skip the "old" chapters if they want, or read them all for ideas on different ways things could have gone (and we know this game loves branching timelines). And speaking of timelines...
We get an even more primordial origin story for Sylus x MC???? 🥹 Two cosmic beings, forced together because only they could match the other's strength, destined for one to kill the other, but they escape and reshape the destiny of the entire universe 🥹🥹🥹 I'm sure it's partly my bias but Sylus backstory just hits different. I wonder if we'll get a myth from that setting!!???
And that makes me wonder--how does Sylus know about this past life? Did he fall to Philos like a shooting star and wind up amongst the dragons? Did their consciousness energy disperse into the cosmos, and then manifest again on that version of Philos and he's managed to maintain one stream of consciousness since then? If so, when did those memories return to him? Perhaps in dreams, perhaps in the Deepspace Tunnel... so many yummy options... Speaking of delicious, the way he knew RIGHT AWAY that she'd "eaten" the spatium core, and how tempting it must smell... 😋 there will be smut about it.
Switching gears to Zayne, my poor baby. He's going THROUGH IT. And we are finally getting some reveals to all these things that have been foreshadowed. I saw some people expressing confusion that "Dawnbreaker" doesn't remember MC, but I think it's important to realize that the "Dawnbreaker" that manifests isn't necessarily the same one we see in the Anecdotes--Zayne's whole thing is "yin and yang", so I think we're seeing a more "primordial" Dawnbreaker, the ur-yin of Zayne, if you will. The inevitability of death given physical form. The Still in Dark anecdote demonstrates that even this side of Zayne is capable of compassion--through accessing the "energy" of Dr Zayne's yang. Likewise, Dr Zayne is capable of cold utilitarianism through the "energy" of Dawnbreaker's yin. I'm sure we'll get lots of layers here, my gut says trust the writers.
Also, I'm pretty sure we did not successfully destroy the energy core?? I'll look extra carefully when I go through and annotate everything (the results of which will land here) but I do believe that core remains a loose thread, though the press conference was still successfully delayed.
Zayne attempting to disappear at the end is SO him (they have made this a pillar of his personality to the point that it was a key event in the Tomorrow's Catch 22 AU, even) and also so infuriating. I'm so glad we found him before they closed out the chapter, even if it ended on a tense note! I'd say odds are very high we'll get something at the start of the next main story content (whenever that happens) that's like "Zayne was kind of distant and then after his leave he returned to the hospital as if nothing had happened" since episodic universes like this one need that kind of reset. But we'll see.
The reveal that Benedict is basically a shapeshifting Wanderer is FASCINATING, and I think it's implied he was originally "created" at Mt Eternal? Is he the Wanderer that Zayne kept going back to re-freeze, maybe? (as we saw in Snowy Serenity) And now he's escaped? That could explain why Zayne didn't immediately recognize him and how he knew about William. I also think it's interesting how Benedict said, of killing William, "Even I would have hesitated" and we know that Zayne actually did hesitate. So I think we see how easily provoked Zayne's guilt is here--and/or the implication that Zayne was indeed "possessed" by Dawnbreaker in order to kill William, as some have suggested.
I'm also glad we FINALLY have clarity that Zayne was 12 during the Chronorift Catastrophe and those events happened after he met MC, because there's a few errors in his timeline that made it hard for me to pin down whether his dreams began during the catastrophe or whether they were prophetic. I think we'll get a bit more clarity in the event content, too.
I'm also really going to be chewing on the part where he ended up needing to restrain MC (other than that it's hot, okay, idk, it's the second time the Zayne writers have tied someone up and injected them and we're into it) because she was "too strong"--I'm really curious how this manifested, and whether it contributed to that flicker of murderous intent from Dawnbreaker later. The natural assumption is to assume she was just sort of mindlessly flailing to escape--but what if what she experienced as unconsciousness was something more akin to possession? Or her new powers spiraling out of control like Zayne's Evol does? Aaaaah I want answerssss
Last thoughts for now are that I find the contrast between Sylus and Zayne so interesting, especially since they're my two favorite LIs. Sylus is a creature who defies fate, whereas Zayne is bound by it. Sylus's desires influence him (as when he needs to distract himself from the smell of the spatium core from MC) but do not control him. Whereas as Zayne tries desperately to keep everything under control, those desires inevitably end up controlling him. More of the conflict in Sylus's chapters is external (things he and MC need to react to) whereas more of the conflict in Zayne's chapter is internal (decisions he has to make, concerns about his state/motives, etc).
The actual last thing I'll add her (if you read this far, ilu) is that I'll continue updating my lore project GitHub with all the new content. If you've got even a small amount of coding experience, you should find GitHub desktop and Obsidian pretty approachable if you want to explore the project with all the links intact! So so so so so much was foreshadowed and I'm going to be geeking out going through all of it. I'll probably also post some summaries to this blog as well!
Spoilers for Death and Rebirth below the cut! It's been a bit but better safe than sorry 💕 I'm going back through the All From Deepspace chapter and I have THOUGHTS. About Sylus's origins. 👀
I'll probably come back to this with some more quotes/depth later, but as I'm going through All from Deepspace, here's what's jumping out at me:
When MC has her dream at the end of Dust of Memories of the interstellar arena, she remembers her conversation with Sylus when they're kids. Then "time marches on" and we don't know how much or for how long, and "the Deepspace Tunnel—vast and capable of tearing apart any form of energy--separates us."
Then, the next thing she "remembers" (though it's noted that things are hazy and potentially out-of-order) is Sylus breaking her out of the Collision Chamber.
This creates at least one thread of continuity between the end of the interstellar arena memories and the start of MC's time on earth, just like there's a thread of continuity from Sylus's life in Beyond Cloudfall to him arriving at the N109 Zone.
Since MC just sort of manifested on earth at age 7-8, it stands to reason that Sylus could potentially do the same. And if she went from the interstellar arena to Earth (though it's not really meant to be linear, but bear with me) then it's equally possible for Sylus to go from the interstellar arena to the Philos of Beyond Cloudfall.
And something really caught my eye: In Rules Fall Before Us, MC says, "That nebula was more chaotic than an abyss."
So, what if...
MC and Sylus are doomed for one to kill the other in the interstellar arena
They leap into the nebula, (in a way they both die, in a way they both live) which puts them in direct contact with the Deepspace Tunnel
The tunnel "sends" MC to earth (or she's yoinked there by Ever's experiments)
Sylus is in an abyss, and then he emerges from an abyss--into Beyond Cloudfall's Philos. The dragons find him and raise him as their own.
Sylus may also be a "cosmic soul" like MC, which adds another layer to their being the "same kind". While Rafayel, Caleb, and Zayne reincarnate (Xavier TBD), Rafayel, Zayne, and Xavier all have parents in at least one timeline (Caleb TBD). (I know that's kind of confusing, hopefully it makes sense that their immortality/reincarnation seem different from Sylus's and MC's. MC is often an orphan in her other lives and she never has any explicitly confirmed biological parents in any timeline.)
So, it's fairly plausible that Sylus could also just "appear" on Philos, perhaps also around age 7-8 like MC did.
This means that his dragon powers manifested much like MC's manifested--that version of Philos is able to "grant" draconic powers to anyone who demonstrates that their true nature is draconic.
This means that Sylus's dragon "parents" were perhaps not literal parents (and the dragons of Philos were perhaps not shapeshifters at all) but rather the ones who took in a strange human boy when others wouldn't.
It would explain a lot and the Sylus writers tend to be so tight with this stuff that I'd be shocked if this reference to an "abyss" was actually just coincidence or vague vibes.
So, why that specific version of Philos? Well, it'd be the one that has an abyss. And given the way that dragons are framed as being creatures of/masters of the abyss (which echoes folklore such as Leviathan being associated with a watery abyss), the Philos that has an abyss naturally has dragons.
Or, you can even think about it another way--Sylus leaping into an abyss creates the need for there to even be a Philos that has an abyss, and so it creates a branch in the timeline such that a suitable Philos exists for Sylus to be manifested into and then go on to develop his abyss powers. And yes this is Main Character Syndrome to the nth degree but that's kind of the entire point of Philos--MC literally IS the planet on some level. She is quite literally the center of the game's universe.
If nothing else, I really like this angle for my headcanon because it provides a really satisfying explanation for how Sylus ended up being a random human among dragons. Like ofc you can hand wave about random orphan kids or dragons shapeshifting and getting with humans and whatnot, but the idea of him being a human boy who randomly wakes up in the abyss next to a valley full of dragons and is raised by them is just too perfect to me. (And, lucky for me, it has no conflict with the headcanon I've established thus far.)
The LaDS writers love to pack in little hints, clues, and symbolism to their names. Sometimes these get lost in translation, as with the "Fountain of Atei". So, I've done a deep-dive!
(Please take this with a grain of salt as I am not proficient in Mandarin and feel free to let me know if there's anything I've missed!)
Localized Name
The name evokes the Fountain of Youth, hinting at a goal of immortality, which we know is part of the X-Heart project (see the Snowy Stairs World Underneath story) that also involves exposing human hearts to Protocores, and which Ever announced in the Public Account post Immortality No Longer a Dream!. We also know this goal of immortality was/will be achieved (at least in the version of the timeline Xavier is from) at the cost of feeding humans into the core of Philos, giving rise to new Wanderers. (Key lore in the Shooting Stars myth, see here.)
Chinese Name
CN: 阿忒之泉
MTL: Fountain of Ate
之 is "of"
泉 is "Fountain"
阿忒 is used phonetically as "Ātè", "Ah-tuh"/"Ah-tay", localised "Atei"
阿 is the phonetic character for "ah", can also mean "to flatter" (Google Translate)
忒 is the phonetic character for "tè", can also mean "error", "excess", etc (Google Translate)
Crucially, 阿忒 is the CN name for the Greek goddess of moral blindness, Ate. Compare the CN Wikipedia entry for 阿忒 to the english entry for Ate.
Primarily an allegorical goddess, as opposed to a fully fleshed diety
Representing moral blindness and error, she could blind the mind of both gods and men leading them astray. She evokes recklessness and ill-considered actions.
In Homer, atē is something inflicted by the gods; it causes delusion, then folly, then disaster
Note also that the lore of Sylus and the N109 Zone frequently references greek myths: Onychinus = "Of the claw" in Greek, "Mephisto" derives from Greek, Tartarus and Elysium are locations in the Greek underworld, etc
So, we can then understand the full poetic meaning:
The Fountain of Atei represents a mission to find immortality/eternal youth that is ultimately one of self-deception and recklessness, which will inevitably lead to disaster.
Localization commentary
Since Ate is such an obscure goddess, if the name had been localized "Fountain of Ate" it would be too similar in EN to the past-tense verb of "eat", which would be very confusing
"Atei" has a pronunciation that's more appealing to the EN ear, but loses the direct intended parallel to the goddess Ate. It still succeeds at exuding a mysterious quality.
Ever's hubris/folly is well-depicted throughout the story, so nothing major is lost with the localization, but it's interesting context and another fun Greek Mythology reference
