ink

oh wow! where to even begin. first of all, i was not the only who cried during hime's goodbye, right? RIGHT? i did not want to accept it at all and just kept saying 'no, no, no'. i was really hoping that they wouldn't pull a final lesson on us. and im so glad they didn't bc i think I would just straight up stop playing the game 😭 i just love love himeko. im so attached and she's really our one and only navigator okay

but wow-- revelations upon revelations! the secret to asat pramad's power. how elation and wishpower really works. even yao guang's divination. it's all analogous to quantum physics.

particularly: superposition and the act of observing.

which was not really a surprise, right? ever since we step foot in planarcadia, there had been many examples

yao guang saying from the very beginning how using the eye of isvara on planarcadia as a whole is very dangerous because there is a chance that just by observing, she could lock their fate.

the concept/birth of an imagenae - its creator has to perceive them and their characteristics to bring them to life but in doing so locking them in that box. they cannot be different from how they are imagenated.

to reiterate no. 2--nihilux also mentioned it early on how being perceived in one state for too long poses the danger of being trapped in that box and how it's very difficult to break free (i really think this is her hint to aha's current existence/state)

to take both 2 and 3 even further-- wishpower also works similarly. in that, it's accumulated on a belief system which is also, still perceiving tho by a larger audience.

superposition is further proven with our interaction with our other self in this patch

aside from 5, these were the reasons why i didn't really buy the himeko is an imagenae thing. of course, being an imagenae won't take away her journey but logically, it hardly makes sense. her existence would have had to be fueled by wishpower for 15 years. but even if that was the case, her creator was dead so where does the bulk of it come from? BUT ALSO WE ALL AGREE SHE'S A GENIUS RIGHT HOLY HIME

but what himeko's existence really proves is that elation can circumvent death/curse. we've seen it with firefly in 2.3. how sparkle helped with her "third" death. how aha's intervention spared us from polka in simulated universe. and now, the fact that motoko and himeko's destinies was swapped.

does that make elation the most dangerous enemy for finality? HMM

well, back to the concept of being observed-- my glaring take away is that it's a parallel to aeons (their ascension and state) and their paths. the restriction but also, how it solidifies their existence. which i believe has been hinted throughout the whole planarcadia arc? is that what nihilux' warning means? that maybe the more we continue to trailblaze, the more we are becoming like akivili themselves? and maybe, our "other self" is something we are quantumly entangled? the moment we become akivili, also means the ascension of terminus or something. i would also not be surprised if it's revealed that aha is currently in a human form. and is unable to release themselves because they're locked in that state, currently being perceived. (i would also not be surprised if that's nihilux haha)

and in relation to what asat pramad said, how aha giving away their authority as god of elation is a holiday works exactly like the act of NOT being observed/perceived. it might simply mean they are in a quantum superposition. freer of the possibility to be anything until observed again. but also vulnerable to be locked in any other state. but maybe that's what TRUE elation is: infinite possibilities despite the danger.

still so many questions left!

first of all, WHERE'S yao guang? i hope girly is okay. and she and nescia are just having their vacay.

who was the shadow behind the moon? was it just the imagenae phantasmoon?

HIMEKO IS A GENIUS but what do u mean u used to drink PAINT???

is our other self TERMINUS?

WHO did Asat Pramad refer to when he said "You should be glad THEIR plan has failed. Nobody knows what happens to a universe that has its Paths broken." Is it Akivili?

And when he said "But your old man does know someone from there (Pegana)." Do you think he was referring to the REAL Ryusuke? and not himself?

What do we really think about the massive "coincidence" that the "fall" of Akivili was shortly followed by the ascension of Nanook? And why is Pegana the end of the universe?

and can we talk about the critical rolls?? apparently, it's different for everybody!

i hope to hear anyone's thought and theories! it's so fun to discuss and dissect.