#metheus

The new don't starve animation:

Don't Starve Together: From Beyond - Forgone [Story Trailer]

Starvetober Day 31: Light/Dark

Featuring Wendy and Abby from my AU, Lost in a Dream!

Starvetober send-off and bonus art under the cut:

🌹 Because I started thinking about Metheus and the Fuelweaver (as discussed in this mega post), I realized something about Charlie's stageplay.

🌹 Until now, I considered the line about the King making flowers bloom more of a figurative expression of the beauty that Charlie saw in Maxwell's magic when it was new and exciting.

🌹 But since Charlie is now two people in one body – with Metheus likely being the other half, the ”Mirror” – this means that some of their fragmented memories are going to get mixed up. The fact that the details don't add up, is something that Maxwell also comments on, if he's watching the play in the audience.

🌹 And since I consider the Ancient Fuelweaver the predecessor of Maxwell from the same era as Metheus (because the Fuelweaver is the one that calls Metheus by name and there is that shared rose theme - likely from BEFORE the Ancients, but that's also talked about in the mega post) with very clear parallels with Maxwell and Charlie, it hit me that there is someone that can make plants grow and flowers (of a kind) bloom with his magic – the reanimated skeleton on the surface. Which means that this specific memory likely belonged to Metheus.

🌹 The same bones and heart are used to reanimate the skeleton, whether that's on the surface, in the caves, or as the character we know as the Ancient Fuelweaver in the ruins. I sincerely believe that each version is the very same character, but his consciousness is only present when he's near the gate. I previously touched on the topic of Them being a parasitic hivemind entity. Maxwell was connected to Them when he was on the Throne and he still struggles to tell apart which thoughts were his and which were Theirs. He could see what they were thinking, and They could see what was on his mind, likely using his connections and knowledge to find new victims (among other things They needed to make sure that the seal on the Gateway would be broken and They'd be free once more). And it was likely the same for the Ancient Fuelweaver, until his entire mind was absorbed into the hivemind. And They are still only partially free and the majority of the entity is trapped on the other side of the Gate (for now) with whatever remains of his mind.

🌹 There isn't much left of the Fuelweaver's body, just bones animated by nightmare fuel and nothing else. The body can only access its own mind when it's close to the Gate where the hivemind is located. I believe this will also be Maxwell's fate if he doesn't stop using the nightmare fuel...

🌹 In any case, the reanimated skeleton on the surface may not remember anything and is acting purely on instinct. But I think the fact that he's not hostile, and makes flowers bloom wherever he goes, tells us a lot about the person the Fuelweaver used to be, before he got corrupted.

🌹 In the caves he's closer to the Gate and is acting much more aggressive. He's also making noises, but they fail to form proper words, but clearly that version is at least somewhat more aware of who he is and what's going on. I can only hope that his mind gets to rest in peace when the body isn't active...

🌹 Going back to the flowers though. It's pretty clear that Maxwell liked adding flowers too. All of his creations; the statues, the clockworks, and even the door to Adventure Mode are surrounded by flowers! It hasn't been confirmed whether he could make them bloom by magic or if he had to plant them like everyone else, but one thing is for sure; pretty much all of them were corrupted. The flowers you see around his creations are Evil Flowers.

🌹 I saw a line that felt relevant among the skin items. These gloves may belong to Wanda, but the quote fits in general. "Hands touched by shadows can only spread darkness." Maxwell's hands are certainly touched by shadows...

🌹 Maxwell himself has a number of quotes that imply that he thinks exactly that and fears that he'll just end up hurting anyone that gets too close (to be fair, this has certainly been the case).