Here's a couple tarot explanations I could find for those who don't know the in's and out's of tarot divination (Labriynthos and Tarot).

Twisted and warm flashes of thought, shining brighter than ever after being rinsed by myths. The traces left between the sulci after you wake up from a bizarre dream. It contains the warm inspiration granted by the Depths of Myth that cannot be forgotten.

Kinda ironic that it looks more like it was painted with Clear Drops, a piece of eternal memory that is "rinsed" by the remnants of the Storm. And even if the Storm is supposed to be a harbinger to an era's end, when everything that was built up would surely crumble to dust; there is always a piece that still survives, even if they carry memories that seem intimately familiar yet unnervingly foreign...

Tangled and gleaming flashes of thought, and once-lost inspiration that made your fingertips tremble with excitement. Dreams that slip through your fingers, fleeting sparks of inspiration that make you laugh, make you sigh, and forever tempt you to drown in a sea of endless possibility.

Meanwhile the Cocoon of Myths could just be an unpolished version of the Shell; a collection of memories that seem far too murky and distant to recall right away, like those random thoughts and inspirations that bubble up to the surface when you least expect them. That is to say every Euphoria/Lucidity were created by the Depths for one reason or another, a "physical" embodiment of everything they learned throughout their story as well as going beyond their limits in arcanum or technology. It also makes sense for those that have a prominent connection to the Depths don't have a Euphoria (except for a pair of mathematicians) since they mainly focus on letting history flow by, no matter how chaotic it may seem, and giving out sage advice to those that push for answers hard enough. After all, it's always interested in a person, human or arcanist, that want to learn more than what they can handle...

But to me, it's super telling that both versions of the flavor text paint two different pictures about the Depths of Myth and how one might feel when they first dive in; something that has been mentioned all the way back in The Cave and as recent as Turquoise Serpent Club. Either allowing the Depths to flow through your mind unabated, grant them knowledge beyond comprehension while unknowingly getting crushed from the pressure or floating just above the surface like a buoy, resisting its temptations for more, but it is a sensation so innocuous that you fail to notice your mind blending with the ones before you...

Firstly, the 1900's were part of the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920); a time of internal war, hardships, and eventual artistic boom that Merlin seems weirdly particular about just when he was ranting to Paracelsus after the Uqbar phone call. Then he also complains to Zahir about how Laplace are "textbook sociopaths" despite being far more scientific in their research (except Lorentz for obvious reasons), meanwhile he's cutting up prisoners like they're a science experiment to cure the so-called "disease of the mind"...Did you know that the lobotomy was popular around the time to cure the mentally insane or help with deep sleep? Case in point, I'm all for Merlin being alive around that time until he got sucked into that entire mess in Ushuaia; trying to hold onto his individuality despite a certain someone trying to drill it into his head that they're all Aleph now, so they should just let go of their personal strife and return to the calmness of the Depths. Mind you, Aleph only mentioned "Merlin" being created in 1977 pre-4th Storm (in Folie's The Mask in the Mirror), so it could both be an instance of the era syncing up on top of Merlin trying to prove his own form of transcendence with the tools and knowledge he already has.

Now for the importance of mercury (especially with Enigma's new lab partner in First and Last Principles), it's an extremely important component in alchemy as one of three components of the Tria Prima: Mercury/Mind, Sulfur/Soul, and Salt/Body. Of course, while certain paint-savvy characters consider it to be silver since that was a prevalent material to mine at the time, it indirectly leads to the Awakening of the mice Perezes, Lady in the Lake, and even Muriel's whole scheme to revive Therasita by capturing/preserving memory and "reviving" the dead in a controlled environment. It's the reason why Musae III, Ludwig and/or Laplace as a whole just decide to slap a big glob of the stuff into the Toybox as a Storm simulator without knowing how volatile it is; which Enigma then takes the core for himself and named it Shannon (both for the utter whiplash in his Morning Bond dialogue and as an anglicized version of an Irish goddess of water, purity, and knowledge). Going back to Comala Prison; while Aleph is more of the alchemy man of the group (Para actually being more of an author given his many literary references and possible cameo in Cristallo's A Dream in Stained Glass), how else would Merlin use such a powerful arcane material? Well, as a pigment, it is a pretty good sealant to prevent water damage in an enclosed environment (or a possible reference of a certain sealant from a 1947 paint company); and while the arcanists inside have their sparks of inspiration, they still gets some pretty dangerous bouts of madness that Merlin then feels obligated to "fix" as the temporary warden of Comala. Rinse and repeat until Recoleta and the Foundation (ie. Vertin and Sonneto) stroll in to "ruin" all his hard work. And while Aleph himself is eventually secured in the Foundation in the Changeless Room, it seems that the mercury poisoning is starting to show itself in more telling signs that he just brushed off as symptoms of his hyperthymesia or his reflections of the prison fire...Then the disc burner in Vertin's War Room breaks down, and we all know whose been pretty superstitious about these kind of "omens".

Potential spoilers for the new gamemode (Focused Flashback) even if that goofy alarm clock is literally going to be the first thing people see :)

The Immortal Mandrass: >:)

So uh...

While I do love me some aristocratic sass, she didn't seem to be the one to spout off historical or literary references to win an argument (outside of Dogme et rituel de la haute magie/Dogma and Ritual of High Magic in AFF-01 to indirectly shame Brume). Of course, I'm sure she would've held that front around her Manus subordinates, it would be a convincing enough statement to claim she traveled across three different eras before she was "inexplicably" trapped in the Depths for an unknown amount of time.

Frankly though, I'm all for her originally being an ordinary noble in the late 1590's to 1610 when that era ended (namely with the assassination of King Henry IV) and was unwillingly swept into the undertow of the Depths of Myth (something something Reverse's ancient history being remade through cycles with a few survivors (aka. arcanists) to tell the tale through mythology and folktales).

32 years later, Jules Mazarin was succeeded as cardinal of The Duke of Richelieu to serve the king of France Louis XIII, then to The Sun King Louis XIV a year later. This helpful little financial advisor lived through a series of wars and peace councils, civil wars and diplomatic unions; all until officiating a wedding a year before his death between the Sun King and Maria Theresa of Spain of the Hapsburg line...Who just so happens to be Maria's double first cousin. While I can definitely pick and choose which point of history "Félicienne" would've been a part of, the emotional and political turmoil at the time seems to be a prime time for the Depths to feed on those collective beliefs until the cycle begins anew. And since it seems to be growing knowledge in Reverse's lore that anyone that was Reversed reappear within the same age range when the Storm took them, having a clean slate in life outside of a strange sense of homesickness/deja vu...

Then in the early 18th century, Thomas-Francois Dalibard was a bright and ambition man with a passion for botany and physics, someone who was married to the author and playwright Françoise-Thérèse Aumerle de Saint-Phalier Dalibard (writing under the pen-name Mademoiselle Saint-Phalier) possibly around 1740's-50's. But it was during May 1752 when Thomas-Francois would make his mark in French history as the first to discover how lightning produces electricity by conducting a 40-foot iron rod during one particularly stormy night in Marly-la-Ville...Then in October, Benjamin Franklin took the credit on the US side of the history books. While that piece of history isn't fully documented outside of Wikipedia or any of the Dalibards' books, but I like to think that "Félicienne" got Reversed again into a semi-comfortable life with a well-learned gentleman who suddenly made the hallmark discovery of electricity in France (even if there's no real way to know how rich he was). Mind you, Thomas only met Franklin in 1767, so that clash of the minds already missed its mark (besides Franklin's electricity proposal in 1750 that might've ignited Dalibard's drive to perform the experiment himself). And while it's going to be another rabbit hole entirely to see what kind of monumental event would've occurred for another cycle to kickstart, but I like to think it was sometime after Francoise completed her last book Murat et Truquia and the play La Rivale confidente, comedie en 3 acts et en prose in 1752.

Now jumping way forward after the 4th and soon-to-be 5th Storm (1936 Reverse Time and 2004 Normal Time if anyone was crazy enough to keep track), the Depths of Myth and Its Manifestations are exhausted at this point. Apart from Manus Vindictae messing up time and creating Storms in unnatural points in history, a certain psychology professor began harnessing the powers of Carl Jung and throwing people into a well to inject some kind of human emotion into the great Collective Unconsciousness. On top of all that, the Year of the Worker has been in full swing with factory workers from the States and Europe staging mass strikes; with France in particular eventually taking up arms after years of growing economic and political turmoil since 1931. With this pressure-cooker of a era certainly reaching its boiling point, the Depths are more than ready to wipe the slate clean; even if some outside force were enacting the ultimate faux-pas of perceiving the unperceivable, stirring up the mental seabed and unleashing The Horrors (aka. the Beasts of Gévaudan and displacing the Wailing Whirl/Thought Knot from the abyss) onto the material world. But It needed to create something befitting the era and began the exodus to its (un)natural end... Then a consciousness begins to stir, a soul that has experienced life after life under Its watch, began to resonate with these tides of conflict, of revolution, of poverty, prosperity, and hope. The Depths remember every face, every soul and every identity that sink into Its sea, and It especially remembers this one in particular.

All things happen for a reason, as above and so below, so It should not take this opportunity for granted. It coaxes this fragment closer to the surface, promises of opulence and abundance sparking memories from a time long long lost. Someone who was blessed with fortune and luck time and time again, and someone who will protect and uphold the will of a higher power. Delicate lace against rusted iron, a veneer of elegance over a cold and calculating intellect, and someone who knows how to get her way by any means necessary. A fitting role for a noble of her past, and a perfect visage for a Myth Manifest of this age. A wave of apprehension rippled through the Depths at anointing a human (an arcanist, no less) to such a role, but an era for the people must be decreed in kind. No matter the time taken or the steps used, the cycle must be completed, and all will return to Its waves in due time.

...... It was raining when Félicienne Baron found herself on the streets of Paris, her mind and memories just as murky as the storm clouds above her. Her body felt weak and numb as if she was asleep for centuries, a weight pressing heavily against her chest like she lost something monumentally precious to her... As if gifted by fate itself, a innocuous taxi car (a rather drab one though) pulled up in front of her. It wasn't the valiant chariot she hoped for, but the cold and the rain was quickly getting on her nerves. She just needs to go somewhere, anywhere but here, to finally ease her racing mind...

AFF-10: Paris in Hysteria Brume, absolutely McLoosing It in the first of many gaslighting events by Beryl: You want proof? I’ll give you proof. Hah, madness! Never thought I’d have to actually convince someone that I work for that terrible woman...It was raining. She started complaining about the mud on her shoes the moment she stepped into the car, then insisted we head straight to the Champs-Élysées. You know, wealthy young ladies like her are always generous with payment. I often have to take time out of my evenings just to count all her tips. That very first day, she even gave me some gold francs as keepsakes.  I’ve got them in here. ...?! Her face twists in disbelief as she flips it open and closes it again. Not a single coin or bill... Thus the beginning of the end is set in motion, and all will eventually be washed away in the rain.

Even if I am starting to appreciate Bluepoch's move towards fleshing out the Foundation's and Manus' lore as potentially understanding the inner machinations of the Depths as well (since it's certainly becoming clearer by the day that the Foundation was utilizing its power without realizing and/or comprehending it); it also depends on how that experience is expressed through the characters, visually and emotionally, over the audience being an outside observer. It has more or less been a breath of fresh air for me to enjoy a gacha game like Reverse (and Limbus Company) since they add their own spin to historical/literary figures and references without being too tongue-and-cheek on whether the audience understands said-references if it's not spelled out to them.

Of course, in Reverse's case it wants to tell and overarching story about time being erased and folding into itself; of loss and bittersweet reunions, and of the sacrifices some people are willing to make to bring back the memory of someone that can never be replicated to its fullest extent. And while I haven't entirely completed TSC yet (or yet dare to peer into 3.7), I got a pretty good run-down from my sister since it heavily focuses on the Depths and how pretty cutthroat its deals are to whoever wishes to harness its power...Also Aleph and co. and the (human) Perez family being the catalyst to lead and/or mercury poisoning in Mexico City (Example 1, 2, and 3), more-or-less kickstarting the craze of the "magic pigment" to Manus and the Foundation was a plot point I was not expecting at all but appreciate immensely. Still though, it's a major step-up from Triste Tropiques trying to find that fine line between expanding on the overarching narrative and respecting the culture/country it takes place in.

Nowadays, the playable characters have certainly shifted to letting the audience learn more about the inner workings of the Foundation and Manus. Of course, that means a massive chunk of them try to fit the status quo design-wise since both corporation/cult have a semi-lenient dress code, but they still squeeze in a few notable accessories and clothing designs that connect them to their given era/nationality/culture/etc (Hummingbird/Muriel being a prime example in Flowing Feast and TSC so far). So when the little preview poster for 3.8 came across my feed, I went to work coming up with my own theories on who will be significant to the story the day before the trailer dropped.

Everecho: Not exactly a name but a concept of sound that lasts indefinitely, but mainly used in musical riffs (I swear we get another instrument Awakened).

Cornerstone: Can't say for sure who that might be but it could be a prominent Foundation/Laplace member or something like the Razor Squad...Or if it's based on masonry, they could be a architect for the Foundation since the Storm should be wearing their foundations down for sure.

Grundriss: Apparently a German word that more or less translates to "A comprehensive and systematic outline, especially of a science"…I'm sure them and Cornerstone are best work buddies :)

Keena: A Irish/Celtic name that means brave, but it's certainly going to be a step up having a authentic Irish character that isn't riddled with stereotypes for once in gaming history 🙃

Irinei: The bastard that was managing the Foundation's (War) Hawks all the way back in A Long Long Walk and Campaign's Tale. Can't say for sure why he would be around, but given everything with 3.7 he could be working more as a supervisor alongside Constantine making sure there isn't any funny business going down.

Bkornblume: Possibly will be similar to TSC with Centurion and Latham/Loggerhead as a Team Timekeeper advocate since Vertin is definitely on the fence about whether or not she can trust the Foundation anymore. Or you know, especially after the headquarters blew up...

Then Temporal Scale dropped... While yes, it does connect to the real scientific study of the varying forms of degradation to living/inanimate objects throughout time, observed or not, the references in this patch seem oddly disjointed and confusing at best. Nowa Miedz seems to be a combination of two different things: Nowa being Polish for "new or fresh", while Miedz is the Polish word for copper but there are some other words that mean boundary or foundation (między and miedza respectively); although Polish is definitely a pretty diverse language, even, but I figured it could line up with the Depths becoming more and more relevant to the Foundation itself. After all, this lost and clearly-abandoned Foundation site (likely as a prominent copper mining company) that used to be around until the First Storm and was abandoned since then, but the forces that be still linger after all this time, waiting to find some closure in the way they desired... However, the things also I learned about Everecho particularly had some great potential if she learned more into the ghostly aspects of her character/story for now. Since the concept of an everecho (if I wasn't fighting against ceramic/art companies, oceanographer, and AI brands using the same name) it is meant to be a form of sound that continues indefinitely, although it could be used in music to signify the passing of time (mainly with guitar riffs). So I'm going to lean on the theory that she's meant to be a Felicienne 2.0 and is a ghost of the Depths that is more-than lost to time/reality, although it would've made more sense for the story to crank up the incorporeal/ghostly vibe up to 11, maybe looking more like a shifting veil or haze in the shape of a human or the one ghost to out-ghost them all. And yes, while her outfit and doll could connect to her country/era of origin in Czechia/Bohemia, I have yet to travel down that rabbit-hole on why she looks more like a combination Lorelei-Night Echo...Unless they're going to have some kind of found-family relationship or if she is Lorelei's bio mom since it's been pretty vague since A Series of Dusks on top of me finally having a big brain moment that she ticks off almost every mark of her possibly being a seer to the Depths), but I'm sure that will be shown later down the line.

Hell, I was having a blast theorizing about Truth a Posteriori and how it connects to the horrors of colonization, baseless rumors fueled by greed, and how the Foundation/Laplace don't exactly understand the concept of "dead men tell no tales" if the expedition team in El Dorado are going insane from a paradoxically abundant sponsorship budget...Or advocating for rainforest preservation efforts by a kickass ghost tree that may or may not being a Myth Manifest, that too.

Gods and Deities As stated in the pre-3.5 content, the Aztec mythos (both in-game and in real life) explains the creation of the world(s) through different cycles of creation and destruction; Four Suns that destroyed the world with drought, fire, winds, and floods while the current Fifth Sun was meant to end with devastating earthquakes and "all people will be eaten by sky monsters" (Thoughtco). Even if it's shown with a tiny portion of gods (especially with the god Tlaloc in Day 3), all of them have their own roles and wholeheartedly believe that they only exist to manage the balance of the world no matter if any unexpected events get in their way. They see humans as both their loyal followers and insignificant specks on the earth, only wishing that they hold some worth once they're reborn as anything other than humans. In that case, you can basically think of any god in a certain country's mythos and they could count as a Myth Manifest, plus anyone on the artistic side of things can do a glow-up on their core concepts as well :)

2. Embodiments of Arcanum While it's a smaller section since the only MMs that could fit the bill are the Ley Purifier Convergence in Farewell, Rayashki and the Tongue of Deception in Revival! The Uluru Games; it could be extra funny if any and all forms of ghosts could be considered smaller iterations of the MMs (Charon, Poltergeist, Click, etc.). After all, it takes a lot of effort for a person to exist beyond death (a strong belief per se), even if some of the drawbacks seem to be insignificant and/or an annoyance at best. Although another example of these embodiments could be manifestations from other arcanists (or human), especially if they are overwhelmed with emotions; Beasts of Niyuang in Notes on Shuori, Shumar's breakdown in Journey to Mor Pankh, Reunion of Three Swallows in Showdown in Chinatown, Santos, Reborn in Suffering in Triste Tropiques, and especially Singing Phantom in E Lucevan le Stelle and Ghost of Transcendentality in Folie et Deraison.

3. Wardens of Belief Even if this was a earlier fact I found out through 3.4's Pre-Storm Protocol and Flowing Feast, but it seems really telling that the concept of an unconscious collective doesn't want to be directly acknowledged or interacted with; and they make that fact very clear through psychological torment or brute force. And in the SCP universe it would definitely count as an anti-memetic; something that fights tooth-and-nail to be as insignificant as possible no matter how dangerous it is to the human mind. Case in point with the Depths of Myth driving a person insane if they even attempt to enter its sea unprepared (everything with the Manus in 3.4 and Dr. Roseau's experiments with an ominous well) or anyone trying to "mine its seabed" have a very likely chance to unleash unspeakable horrors unto the world (ie. Humanoid Projections in Showdown in Chinatown and Beasts of Gévaudan in A Flowing Feast). The only way someone, be it human or arcanist, could interact with the Depths safely is to use one of its many many titles or follow a certain belief that's a smaller part of the bigger picture (truth, fortune, immortality, etc.); and there are already a handful of seers and prophets that have plenty of opinions about this universal memory bank.

4. Harbingers of the new era While the first thing you could think of is Manus' influence in kickstarting the Storm, it all centers around the belief of such a monumental change; hence the Depths/Myth Manifests stepping in as that symbol of the changing eras. The Arcana/Guiding One's lineup are pretty emblematic of something that is formidable but unknowable (Guiding One's Creation in Tender is the Night and Guiding One's Harbinger in Vereinsamt (Breakout)), the more Depths-related monsters connect to their associated era more seamlessly, even if the circumstances to their manifestations (and subsequent Storms) vary. From The Brain: Security Robot marking the Technology Age in Theft of the Rimet Cup (and aptly named Harbinger of the New Era in the Depths itself), Annalith in 1987 Cosmic Overture, Aggregated Filth in London Dawning, the true might of Anjo Nala in Floor It! To the Golden City!, and the earlier MMs mentioned above that serve as a massive turning point to the new age whether the main cast was aware of it or not. The one massive-ish outlier to this is Félicienne (The Skyward Depths) in Flowing Feast since she's more or less the anti-Myth Manifest until her façade as a mysterious and extremely sassy noblewomen started to fall apart. A major headcanon I have is that she was initially Félicienne Baron the normal arcanist up until 1610 with the assassination of King Henry IV and the end of the French Renaissance (since a certain streamer that does character analysis in the perspective of a fashion designer noticed her outfit seemed to be in the Victorian era compared to the rest of the cast being in 1930's Art Nouveau). She likely was only brought back up from the Depths for the 1936 Year of the Worker (likely with a lot of nagging and/or going crazy from the information overload) either before or during Manus working on the Beasts of Gévaudan rumor mill. While she had stronger ties to Paris, she needed some kind of anchor to keep her physical form together (even if no one but a extremely tiny margin of people could see her) and something that serves as a symbol to the end of the era: The French Blue/Hope Diamond, a extremely infamous symbol of wealth and great misfortune during a time of extreme poverty and wage discrepancy. However, the diamond also has some pretty deep ties to the Tavernier family, so Brume inadvertently being the one to let the Storm reach its conclusion also lets her "family curse" to finally bite her in the butt among other wild mishaps. And to wrap the little rant up on a sadder note, a likely headcanon to Félicienne's otherworldly sweet tooth is that it's both a coping mechanism for a time she's long lost and that her tastebuds are constantly plagued with the salt of the sea. Cause no matter how hard she tries to hide under delicate lace and fake jewelry, all must return to the cycle eventually no matter how hard she tries to fight it...

Bonus: Truth a Posteriori While I know it's going to be a long time coming for 3.7 to be available on global (especially if the story is going to emotionally rip me apart), the fact that another survival management minigame managed to sprinkle in a bunch of Depths lore is so Bluepoch that it's hilarious. While I don't want to spoil too much from what I can scrounge up from Huijiwiki, it could also tie in with Turquiose Serpent Club and its South American mythology with the ancient city of El Dorado, plus the Foundation's Artifact Preservation/Restoration Department trying to find something important to take back to HQ. However, being a long-forgotten civilization with little-to-no information on its culture and sudden collapse, the Depths seemed to have taken a keen interest in making sure it stays hidden and undiscoverable no matter what.

And apparently that means unleashing a abomination of a skeleton-ghost tree (if it isn't named after or references the goddess Chie/Chia, I'm going to riot), and what I could find out about it design-wise is really intriguing; either being the central tree between Heaven, Earth, and the Underworld (Yaxche), or the first tree to bear fruit after the sacrifice of a great hero to the wardens of the Underworld (Cabalash/"The skull of One Hunahpu").

While I could add a few more tidbits on how the location adds to the mystery and certain psychological doom, nothing beats a story of history repeating itself and a plucky group of adventurers accidentally unlocking the Pandora's Box of cosmic/eldritch horrors. :)

It is utterly hilarious and foul that Tuesday's new garment (and the 3.5 story) is going to be released on Easter of all days...

You know, the day of Christian rejuvenation and is somehow neck-to-neck with a story patch about The Day of the Dead and its theme of remembrance (of the dead) and celebrating the future alongside the past.

While I absolutely adore the combination Mother Mary and La Llorona reference, the only nitpick I have with the garments in general is Kiperina's lack of uniqueness in her ult and the YBs in general keeping their default lines despite their stories absolutely having a separate identity in of themselves.

(Located at Edge of the World)

A concept proposed by a psychologist, one of your dear colleagues’ favorite research topics, frequently invoked by so-called “deep thinkers” both inside and outside the toybox, and now thoroughly overused. It is an ocean, a can of orange juice, your dream — or the shared dream of the entire universe. Do you believe it? A pure, empty, monistic utopia, no different from the illusory tower of the toybox.

Thanks a bunch, and I'd say the same for your AlephSys art as well since it's kinda hard for me to come by nowadays. Other than that, it's either making a funny/funnily-angsty analysis, fixing up a rant analysis from my sis (another avid Re99 fan but been pretty busy with work these days) on Root, or both...But it's still great to know that there's people that share similar ideas and bounce off each other with different interpretations and skills.

- (Timekeeper) Vertin finding a strange little Timekeeper (Cookie) snooping around in her office, more-or-less just appearing out of nowhere and only sensing the flux of arcanum in a mousehole-sized tear that vanished in a instant.

- TC, bored as they are, slipped into a "timeline" where sentient objects and food intermingle with not-really Witches and humans...And they just so happened to find themselves in the office/living quarters of the world's "time director". Whether they know about Vertin working under the Foundation or the "Witch-centric cult" Manus Vindictae striving to destroy eras no matter how detrimental it is to the timeline is up to debate...But they're just excited about the matching hat for now :)

- Obvious headcanon that humans/aracanists can't understand Cookies since they're just a bunch of squeaking piles of dough (Ovenbreak-like), until TC activates Vertin's arcane Rosetta Stone/Book to understand them (Jiu Niangzi mentions it in her Introduction line).

- Introductions aside, especially with the obvious difference in their professions, Vertin eventually asks the titular question of if TC knows about anything about 1999 and beyond...Unfortunately for either of them, the Cookie world doesn't follow calendar years.

- Shenanigans naturally ensue once TC is unleashed upon the Suitcase and most of the crew are obviously trying to wrap their heads around what kind of Awakened they're supposed to be (give-or-take who will be caught in the crossfire). Bonus points on Regulus only trying to find if they're an APPLe tall or not.

- Finally and eventually, Croissant shows up to chew out TC for going MIA in the Time Balance Department while everything is clearly going to shit (cause it would definitely take place during Kingdom's Timeline of Fate, but ignore the potential discrepancy since I didn't watch the story yet). Before finally submitting to the fate of actually doing their job, TC makes their final remarks to Vertin by lore-dropping the fact that Croissant is their past alternate self (mainly wondering if she even had the chance to experience/document it)...And it finally breaks Vertin.

Even if it took a bit of digging to find the actual The Idealist since it connects to either a poem/literature website, a 2014 book by Nina Munk, and finally landing on a 1950 page in the New York Times, the whiplash I got was pretty real (even if the conversation ends just as quickly as an Assistant recruit)...And then the (toy) pieces began to pile up on Aleph and co. interacting with the Toybox in less-than-subtle ways now outside a mysterious red phone booth, the linguistic breakdown, and a couple thought experiments on the side.

So that got me thinking about the potential timeline for the simulations and when Aleph was officially put in Foundation custody. Given X's direct confirmation that this P-SP likely happened a couple days after 2.8 Paradise Regained, well after Vereinsamt, and is a couple months before Long Long Way and Campaign's Tale (definitely trying to give Vertin a breather/cope with losing her mom to the 10th Storm)...Then I look at Gnomon's timeline, albeit still in-progress with Spring Unending mentioning 1996 and Heron’s time likely being 1596, and immediately remember that Time Travel is a perfectly balanced trope and will definitely not melt a person's brain with a chronological gaming experience :)

Other than that, it also brings out a another side conflict with Ludwig and the Aleph(s) on top of ticking off another box on my theory of The Depths + Zahir hijacking Laplace’s less-understood tech to figure out how their collective minds work under a microscope (among other funny hijinks in the earlier Storm Protocols if you read between the lines). Cause how else is the LSCC supposed to know about this strange human's connection to a mini Storm simulation box? Besides Lorentz aka. "Enigmatically Enigmatic Girl" of course, and I'm sure it's going to be a ride once Serpent Club gets released on Global since she wanted to avoid Argentina with a thousand-yard pole after her little conversation with Aleph.

Oh wow, thanks for that and good luck on your paper!!

While that post was initially made as a secret teaser to Reveries and before Wailing Whirls released on global, it also adds another layer to the AlephSys since it could connect to how his alters affect him passive/actively with their given Afflatus and/or "arcane skills"...Plus finally figuring out that Knotted Thought's phases also line up to when each of Aleph's alters were first created (which was majorly hinted at in The Answering Machine and the couple lines in Folie), so that could be something to look into system dynamics and how they might effect someone in the long-term.

Other than that, extra good luck with your studies and hopefully a great summer break too!