#celestial larvae

^^^ My headcanon is that these statues in Upper Cathedral Ward (Choir’s base) are not actually statues, but rather petrified celestial larvae!

There are many statues in Yharnam that have shawls and cloaks like part of the sculpture, but these guys are COWERED with fabric. Like in preservation manner... or maybe grieving. Bloodborne also has plenty of themes of petrifying from too much Arcane (like pebbles, people in Yahar’gul, Arcane blood gems being grey, petrified Rom on altar that Ebrietas weeps, etc) - and we know celestial larvae are half-humans!

So like maybe they were developing into ‘wrong’ side - the more humanoid one, even were trying to walk on the two (hinted by these walking canes in many of them)! But they were just not able to handle it, so at some point in maturing they’d just... petrify where they stand. Whatever secret helped Ebrietas to develop normally back then is lost.

Or maybe something else happened that got them petrified? Like the night when Old Yharnam was burnt - the same night Laurence summoned the Moon Presence! But unlike newborn larvae, these guys could not handle the response to so much Arcane - whereas normal humans go insane or just turn into beasts under red moon, they turned into rock that night.

Take note that Ebrietas is a genus of skippers (butterflies), and caterpillars are likewise known as larvae. 

Coincidence? I think not! 

The celestial larvae—or children—are located atop Oedon Chapel in the Upper Cathedral Ward, in near proximity to the Altar of Despair that is situated in the dwelling place of Ebrietas, Daughter of the Cosmos. Dozens of larvae crawl their way to the edges of the railings, facing toward Ebrietas as if in veneration of her.

And now, gaze in awe as I impart this eldritch observation... They have wings.

Gossamer, skeletal, little baby wings flapping uselessly on their slug-like, scoliosis-twisted backs, that are rather reminiscent of Ebrietas’ own. 

Listen, I know we all subscribe to the theory of Formless Oedon having sired Arianna’s squeaky meat-sack baby, but there’s a critical piece of evidence that even the keenest lore-hunters have glossed over. The distinction is subtle, but paramount if we are to comprehend precisely what fuckery Miyazaki is trying to pull on us.

You see, Celestial Larvae are Kin, not Great Ones, and like can only beget like; therefore Formless Oedon could never sire a Kin child. Only another Kin would be capable, and that Kin is Ebrietas herself. Yes, yes, yes! I say it is so, Ebrietas is not a Great One—it’s in the manual—but a Kin. What, you need something more concrete? Fine! Get this, Mergo is speculated to be a legitimate child of Formless Oedon, and there is credence to this; not only is Mergo formless, he is also a true Great One. Despite his mother Yharnam being Pthumerian, Mergo himself is classified as belonging to the race of Great Ones. The Celestial Child Airanna births is thus not the offspring of Formless Oedon, or any other Great One; it and all its ilk are progeny of Forsaken Kin Ebrietas.

Nevertheless, please do recall the item description of Arianna’s Cord: “Every Great One loses its child, and then yearns for a surrogate, and Oedon, the formless Great One, is no different. To think, it was corrupted blood that began this eldritch liaison.”

Here is Impostor Iosefka’s Cord description: “Provost Willem sought the Cord in order to elevate his being and thoughts to those of a Great One, by lining his brain with eyes. The only choice, he knew, if man were to ever match Their greatness.”

Workshop’s Cord: “Every Great One loses its child, and then yearns for a surrogate. The Third Umbilical Cord precipitated the encounter with the pale moon, which beckoned the hunters and conceived the hunter's dream.”

Finally, Mergo’s Cord: “Every Great One loses its child, and then yearns for a surrogate. This Cord granted Mensis audience with Mergo, but resulted in the stillbirth of their brains.”

First and foremost, let’s cleanse a few queries, but beware, these are my queer interpretations. Now, we know Arianna’s Cord belonged to her Celestial Child because we personally seized it, but Impostor Iosefka’s Cord does not directly state that it is her own. Moreover, though she appears to be in the birthing position when we come across her, the item description for the Cord alludes to Provost Willem having sought the Cord for purposes of psychic elevation. This implies the Cord was appropriated from Byrgenwerth long before Impostor Iosefka’s rapturous quietus.

And Mergo’s Cord item description likewise leaves room for speculation as to if the Cord unearthed by Mensis was actually Mergo’s original Cord, or if it belonged to some other ethereal child. As it stands, I’m more inclined toward the the latter conjecture on the basis of Mergo being formless, and therefore probably lacking in any placental or umbilical apparatuses. Moreover, even if we are to grant that the Cord we find with Mergo is his own, how could the Cord of a Kin as nugatory as Arianna’s Celestial Child be deemed equivalent to that of a veritable Great One of the likes of Mergo, the Nightmare Newborn?

Well, here’s how: just as the Hunter may surpass Kin, so too may Kin transcend Great Ones. Disparity in might is neither illusory nor writ in stone. Kin themselves manifestly eclipse Man in wisdom and power, yet the eensy-weensy Hunter proves he possesses the faculties to slaughter four Kin bosses (plus all the Living Failures), not to mention lesser Kin such brainsuckers and Winter Lanterns. Then, is it truly so beyond the bounds of possibility that a Kin might have the potential to devour Great ones?

But I digress; there exists evidence to the claim of Celestial Larvae being Ebrietas’ spawn, but Arianna’s Cord item description confounds that inference. Or does it? If you wouldn’t mind, please offer up your own theories and debates. Thank you for reading! ☻