The Case Study Of Vanitas - Tumblr Posts
tragic moon twins caught in the claws of their intertwined fates or something🥀⏳
I did NOT need to render a meme this hard but I COULD and I DID.
The Devil, the Scientist, and the Most Beautiful Creature
This is my attempt to analyze the connection between the Teacher, Faustina and Luna through the lenses of Goethe’s “Faust” and determine the origins of the “cursed moon twins”. There’s also alchemy.
This text will consist of four parts. And yes. It is long. Reader, you are warned.
Enjoy!
PART ONE: PARACELSUS, THE FATHER OF BABEL
What do we know about Paracelsus:
Lived in 15-16 centuries;
Was a scientist;
His actions led to the Babel Incident.
The real world Paracelsus was “the father of toxicology”, our Paracelsus is The Shapeless One. Alright, this is a bold statement, but why not.
The twin six-pointed stars above Paracelsus head (Ch. 7) have always stood out to me. Guess who else has exactly same two six-pointed stars as well? Teacher/Saint Germain (Ch. 55)!
Some other similar motives:
Paracelsus’ face is always obscured, we never see his eyes, only vague shadows. Teacher’s face was always drawn without eyes before the Big Reveal Moment in Ch. 55. He’s also known to frequently change his name and appearance, to the point where it’s not always possible to determine whether one’ve met him before (Vanitas has met him in another form, but has no idea when and how it happened).
Paracelsus wanted to save the world from sufferings and guide people to happiness (Ch. 7). He also assembled a team of scientists to conduct a research. Teacher/Saint Germain is referred to as savior by Misha, and he also saved Noé from human traffickers. He also claims his ultimate goal is world peace (Ch. 61). But the goal is shared with someone (he says “our” wish specifically).
And honestly, their vibes just fit so well. Paracelsus and Saint Germain, two mysterious figures who are renowned scientists and alchemists with ambiguous lore — why wouldn’t they be the same person?
Since I want to use “Faust” as base for analysis, let’s assign him a role – Mephistopheles. I mean, just look at this (Ch. 61). It’s as devilish as it can get! The free force in s shape of a fine gentleman that ultimately creates destruction.
Mephistopheles also claims to be an observer:
“I’m so involved with Man’s wretched ways,
I’ve even stopped plaguing them, myself, these days”.
And look how well it fits to Teacher, who left the Court to enjoy his little things in a secluded mansion (manipulating kids and raising pawns) and also claims to be an observer!
Alright, I’d like to keep this part short because my main focus here is Faustina-Luna situation, so let’s move on. We’ll get more bits of this manfailure there anyway.
PART TWO: FAUSTINA, THE QUEEN OF THE RED MOON
What do we know about Faustina:
she’s a Queen and the first vampire of red moon to ever exist, while Teacher was by her side the longest;
she has a special power to control other vampires as herself, not as Naenia;
she’s mostly active as Naenia and was likely cursed in 17 century;
there are two physical bodies that are stated or hinted to be her: one in her bedroom in Carbunclus castle and one in Ruthven’s lab.
Now let’s take a look at Faustina’s bodies (Ch. 13, Ch. 26). I briefly mentioned in one of my recent posts that I think Faustina changed bodies at least once, possibly due to them being damaged by curse. I believe these pics support this idea: the body in the castle looks like that of an adult person, with limbs and fingers much longer than those of the body that was seen in Ruthven’s lab and reacted to Naenia’s name (Chloe also summoned Faustina in the same body of a young girl).
Additionally, when Ruthven talks about her connection with Saint Germain, she is portrayed as having adult-like proportions (Ch. 19). And when Naenia takes more human-like shape, it also has adult-like proportions (Ch. 9). So I think she was cursed as an adult, and her original body is the one in the bedroom, but her soul went from one vessel to another, while her cursed form remained more like her original body.
While we are on the topic of bodies, I’m going to show you this. Thankfully, the moment when Luka stayed at Faustina’s bedside wasn’t omitted from the anime — and the queen’s skin looks quite the same color as Luna’s. I’m not sure what to do with this information yet, but it creates another link between them. It’s quite interesting that Faustina’s corrupted form looks a lot like Luna’s normal form.
Ok now that I’m done with this idea, let’s move on to something more interesting: Faustina’s role in the story.
Right now her position is not really active: she steals true names as part of the Charlatan, but it’s unlikely that she in control of the organisaton (at least in present time), and Ruthven leads it. She obviously can’t fulfill her duties as a Queen either: they’re taken over the Senate (which again includes Ruthven) and a puppet-on-the-throne Luka (who is, again, under Ruthven’s control. Ruthven, what kind of power play is that?).
But I think it’s wasn’t always like this. After all, she was an absolute monarch with magical power to make every vampire fall to her feet! And, well, she had to do something even before that, right?
I believe that prior to becoming a vampire she was involved in Paracelsus’ research, possibly even as an alchemist. While the majority of well-known alchemists were male, there were some cases of women conducting and publishing researches in this field as well. A notable example are Sophie Brahe (1559-1643), who studied astronomy and was also well-versed in Paracelsus’ medical texts, and Isabella Cortese(fl. 1561), who was the first woman to publish a book on alchemy, titled The Secrets of Lady Isabella Cortese. Tbh I just really hope that Paracelsus team (Ch. 7) will include women in general…
Of course, my desire to see Faustina as an alchemist is not enough to claim that this is a credible theory. So let me elaborate on that a bit more (and we’ll get to Luna right after that).
Her name derives from the name of a Ghoete’s character Faust, a man who makes a deal with the Devil to exchange his soul for fulfilling his desires of knowledge and pleasures. Faust is deeply dissatisfied with his life:
“He drives his spirit outwards, far,
Half-conscious of its maddened dart:
From Heaven demands the brightest star,
And from the Earth, Joy’s highest art,
And all the near and all the far,
Fails to release his throbbing heart”.
… And Mephistopheles offers him everything he wants.
I think she literally is Faust. And her Mephistopheles wanted to grant her wish that they probably shared (Ch. 61).
Faustina (well-educated person dissatisfied with reality) met Paracelsus (who offers a way to change the entire world). Perhaps he plays both the role of God and Devil in this version, since Paracelsus is described as someone who actually wanted to help people, but his action led to a literal apocalypse. Way to go, Paracelsus!
Anyway, in my theory, she joins the research and becomes the first vampire during the Babel incident. Perhaps all other scientists, except for her and Paracelsus, died during the incident (but the research itlsef survived and was later used by Chloe’s family). Faustina was reborn as the Queen and Paracelsus as the Teacher.
Why only Faustina is considered to be the first vampire and not both of them? Well, they didn’t necessarily fully awake as vampires at the same second of the same day. Or maybe the Teacher hides his identity and true powers this good… After all, he is known to mess with history (for example, he removed everything about Ruthven from his books, leading Noé to being completely oblivious about his existence). But honestly the parallel between vampires reacting to presence of Faustina (Ch. 38.5) and Teacher (Ch. 55) are interesting…
PART THREE: LUNA, VANITAS OF THE BLUE MOON
What do we know about Luna:
they’re the only known vampire of the blue moon and are considered abnormal and dangerous;
Naenia is the one who steals vampires’ true names, but it’s believed to be the fault of the first Vanitas;
they’re told to have created the Books of Vanitas (it may of may not be true);
they’re canonically agender, neither male nor female, and regret knowing what they are (Ch. 51).
I mentioned here that Luna is a Homunculus. Now it’s time to explain what led me to this idea.
Noé points out that Luna and Faustina look alike (Ch. 49) Is it connected to whatever knowledge Luna regretted having? Considering Luna’s unique blue skin, blue blood and their statement “I’m not like any other living thing in the world”, I don’t really think Luna could be Faustina’s human twin. Or rather, it’s not my first guess. I’m inclined to believe that Luna was an artificial being whose creation was connected with Faustina.
In “Faust II”, the theme of artificial human, the perfect creature that surpasses humanity and yet serves their creator, is also present. Faust’s student, Wagner, works on a project when Mephistopheles visits him. Wagner claims: “A Man is being made!”, Mephistopheles jokes about a “loving couple hidden up the chimney”, but Wagner pronounces this way of creating life “unfashionable” (🤝) and delivers a beautiful speech:
“The tender moment from which life emerged,
The charming power with which its inner urge,
Took and gave, and clearly stamped its seal,
First in a near, and then a further field,
We now divest of all that dignity:
Though the creatures still enjoy it, we,
As Men, with all our greater gifts, begin,
To have, as we should, a nobler origin”.
The interesting thing here is that Wagner’s creation is alluding to Paracelsus’ recipe of homunculus in Of the nature of things, 1537 (I found this in an article which referenced a publication by R.D. Gray Goethe the Alchemist. A study of Alchemical Symbolism in Goethe’s Literary and Scientofic Works.) Paracelsus called the creature “chemisch mensch”, but Goethe adapted that to Homunculus, an alchemical term.
The Homunculus desires to become fully created: “Since I exist, I must find things to do”. He (this character is referred to as a male in “Faust”) seeks “the beginnings of creations”, to “reach at last the human state”. In order to achieve it, he wants a connection with the sea goddess Galatea (here a version of Aphrodite), but his brittle flask hits her chariot-shell and breaks. He spills in the sea and dies, but he also merges with the sea itself.
Now that I’m thinking about it… Painfully familiar… Blink if you too were forever traumatized by “I won’t die, Noé. Even if I’m no longer here…” in Ch. 1…
Well, back to Luna. Just like Goethe’s Homunculus, Luna was created in a certainly unique way. Here it’s time to remember the fairytale about Vanitas, told by Noé to Amelia (Ch. 1). Granted, it’s something he learned while under Teacher’s care, and we know he isn’t above censoring of wildly retelling anything, but Amelia doesn’t correct him on anything, so let’s accept this fairytale as it is.
Perhaps the “birth” of the first Vanitas on the night of a blue moon refers to the artificiality of their creation? Artificiality can be equalized with “unnatural” birth of the Moon in the fairytale version. Even if the concept of homunculus will not be directly named in VnC, we already have the idea of an artificial being that differs from all living things in this world, is nonbinary and possibly agender and is able to perform unique functions — to control the book of Vanitas.
Interestingly, our Vanitas and Misha are also to some extent “artificially created” – without experiments of Moreau and Luna’s bite they wouldn’t have been able to control the Books. It’s possible the reasons for the existence of Luna and both their children were somewhat similar – it was merely an experiment conducted in order to change the design of the world. (Ch. 48)
Perhaps those “reasons to exist” are also the reason of Luna’s regrets and the reason to forbid Vanitas to allow Archivists to read his memories. We don’t know why it’s so. Maybe Vanitas learned something about Luna, and now those memories are meant to be hidden carefully. Maybe Luna just wanted to find out about themselves, asked an Archivist to read their memories (Machina, perhaps), and was so traumatized that simply wanted their children to never go through this kind of pain.
And the knowledge that traumatized Luna? It could have been knowledge about the purpose of Luna’s existence. I don’t think Luna was created by accident. They were meant to do something or to be something. The Books are said to be created by the Vampire of the Blue Moon, but they could have been created for them as a tool to rewrite the world once again.
In “Faust” Mephistopheles tells to the audience:
“In the end we’re dependent on
The creatures we’ve created”.
What if Paracelsus and Faustina needed someone else to fully realize their plan? And that someone was Luna, “the most beautiful creature in this world” (Ch. 55) (he’s so real for this).
Saint Germain, the president of Luna fan-club, everyone!
Oh, one more little thing. The “perfect creation” of alchemy is the Philosopher’s stone.
Carbunculus is one of many synonyms for Philosopher’s stone, which may be anything from a rock to a human-like being (waving at fellow FMA fans);
It’s also the name of Queen’s castle;
And Goethe uses this word to describe how Homunculus looks:
“The deep alembic now has passed,
And like a living coal at last
A fine carbuncular fire is glowing
Into the dark it’s brilliance throwing”.
No way it’s a coincidence. Just. No way. C’mon, it Jun. So… Luna is the “ultimate creation” of alchemy, VnC’s version of Philosopher’s stone and Homunculus at the same time.
PART FOUR: THE THRIAD
Now that we’ve assigned roles to all of them, let’s go deeper in another rabbit hole that is alchemy. This one is hella hard to research because of the amount of extremely different modern occult groups. But alchemy was my childhood hyperfixation, so… let’s do it.
Together, Faust, Mephistopheles and Homunculus form a triad. (Yes, Wagner created Homunculus, but he kinda diss appears from the plot afterwards and Homunculus goes on a journey with Faust and Mephistopheles). This is kinda relevant, because Goethe actually researched the topic and it’s not unreasonable to connect his characters (and their VnC analogues) to certain alchemical symbols.
The triad is Salt, Mercury, and Sulfur. Here we can see irl Paracelsus at work again, because he was among the alchemist who popularized this theory. In alchemy, the idea of “feminine meets masculine” is pretty common, but unfortunately, different sources assign these qualities to different elements in the triad. That being said, the common point is that one is “female principle”, one is “male principle” and one is “neither, or the spirit itself”. The most common division of that in the triad is:
Sulfur — the active male principle. Causes change. Brings an object to be changed. Associated with fire and sun. Red King.
Mercury – the passive female principle (it’s just medieval occult stuff is I’m sorry). Needs something to give it shape and change it. The chaos of creation. Associated with earth or water and moon. White Queen.
Salt – pure and undivided salt is the result of the interactions between mercury and sulfur. Such perfect things are the purpose of alchemy.
Here are illustrations from Splendor Solis, which was also written under the influence of Paracelsus. Really can’t get away from this man… The first one is the Chemical wedding, the second one is… also that. Just in a fusion way I guess. Here the result of the Weddking is portrayed as Hermaphrodite with two heads (like in the myth, where human souls were originally of dual nature, but got divided into two parts that are men and women), but sometimes it’s a child or a person with both male and female features. Hermaphrodite can also be called Rebis (which means “dual matter”, aka Philosopher’s stone) or Androgyne (hello Luna).
I don’t expect Faustina, Saint Germain and Luna to fulfill this specific roles just like that. Rather, I think their roles would be mixed a bit, like how Saint Germain is both God and Devil. Still, the idea of the first one providing an idea, the second one helping him work on it and a third one being born out of it all as a perfect creature is intriguing to me.
The three of them are the oldest, most ancient and perhaps the most mysterious vampires in VnC, and I’d love to them connected in such a way where one can’t exist without the others.
In conclusion: tragic ancient vampires own by brain.
the most tragic trio of VnC strikes again~
I tried to imitate the way MochiJun colors hair, the light reflexes specifically. Idk about the results, but I’ll just leave this one the way it is
The lost name
I think Vanitas’s real name could be Deucalion.
In this text I’ll cover my reasons for choosing this name, its connection to the story of Noah and the myth of Pandora and how would it correlate with the relationship of Vanitas and Noé.
Posting this as an actual answer to @scar-eyejolteon14 as promised here.
The lore of Deucalion
It all started when I was wondering what kind of name I could give Vani if I were to draw him as a Chasseur (ordinary human, who’ve never met Luna and never inherited their name). I began with the most obvious thing: checking Vani’s wiki page for existing details and references. I went with his zodiak sign, Aquarius, as the staring point, because stars and celestial bodies are recurring theme in VnC and well why not?..
The next obvious place to go is wiki page for Aquarius. Here we come across a fun thing: Babylonian star catalogues. They contained lists of stars, constellations, and planets.
I found the first picture on a somewhat strange website, but whatever. This is a fragment of a circular star calendar, which belonged to the library of King Ashurbanipal (668-627 BC) in Nineveh. The second picture is a star list, found in Uruk (320-150 BC). It had information on all constellations such as names, number of stars, their distance, etc. Just so we understand that astronomy was a big deal there.
And yes, the capital of Babylonia was Babel — that one city with the tower (The Book of Genesis, Genesis 11) which is referenced in VnC.
(Ch. 21)
What did Babylonian astronomers think of Aquarius? Well, they associated this constellation with the Ea. “The Great One” is his title. He’s also known as Enki, god of magic, fertility, creation, etc., who was originally a water god (and his temple name E-apsu means “house of the watery deep", idk I think it sounds really cool). The water theme is not random: Aquarius was also associated with floods. Water was sacred, but also deadly: floods were source of destruction.
Later, a Latin author Gaius Julius Hyginus quoted an Alexandrian historian Hegesianax that Deucalion is to be identified with Aquarius, "because during his reign such quantities of water poured from the sky that the great Flood resulted." Again, we see the idea of destructive flood. But where does Deucalion bring us? To Noah. Or Noé, if you will.
(Ch. 1)
Deucalion and Noah
Both Deucalion and Noah are central figures of the classical flood myth, which exists in various cultures. While these two are probably among the most popular figures, there are other examples, including Utnapishtim, who was warned by the god Ea (who also created humans among other things) about the flood and instructs him to build a boat and save his family and animals. The stories of Deucalion and Noah follow the same pattern with some minor variations. But Deucalion is the one who is associated with Aquarius, the constellation that symbolizes the coming of the flood and all its terrors, while Noah/Noé is associated with salvation of human race and all living things.
Deluge, 1864, by Aivazovsky. This painting depicts a beginning of a biblical story about the near-end of human race. It’s pretty much the same in other versions of the story.
Deucalion and Pandora
What’s interesting, Deucalion’s myth is directly related to Pandora’s myth. Deucalion is usually described as the son of Prometheus, while Deucalion’s wife Pyrrha was the daughter of Pandora. And Pandora’s myth is among the core themes of “Pandora hearts”. If we consider the possibility of VnC and PH’s universes being connected, the idea of Deucalion being Vani’s true name would also make sense… For example, this theory covers the topic.
Left – Noah gives Thanks for Deliverance, 1901, by Domenico Morelli. Here we see Noah from the Old Testament, with his family, as they give thanks for their safe deliverance back to land after surviving the flood. A double rainbow signifies God’s presence.
Right – Deucalion and Pyrrha, 1636–1637, by Rubens. This painting shows a scene from the story of Deucalion and Pyrrha as told by Ovid in Metamorphoses. After surviving the disaster, they had to throw stones over their shoulders, each of which became a new human being.
Even if worlds of Pandora Hearts and Vanitas no Carte don’t exist in the same universe, there clearly is thematical relation between the two stories, one being about hope and another about despair. What’s even more interesting, there was actually a whole discourse about what’s hidden in Pandora’s jar: is it true hope or is it actually an illusion of salvation which hurts even more than actual despair? The translation of the word elpis, the spirit of hope in the jar, is actually neutral in its meaning. It’s simply “hope”, not inherently “good” or “bad”, which leaves a lot of space for interpretation in media.
Vanitas and Noé
Volume 3 cover implies that Vanitas will be marked by an Archiviste. It’s unknown whether this Archiviste would ne Noé or Machina or even some other. I hope it’s gonna be Noé, because it would break a specific border between them and it will definitely be very dramatic, but Machina might do it for the sake of obtaining information, which is her main thing. Anyway, regardless of who does this, when and why, I believe that this moment is probably the real possibility for revealing the true name of Vanitas.
On a side note, it would also be kinda interesting if Noé gets to know Vani’s true name, but it will still be hidden from us, the readers. There’s is also a possibility that Vani’s true name will not be revealed even in this situation. His goal is to erase everything related to the Vampire of the Blue Moon, and I guess that would mean erasing everything about himself too. But in Ch1 he promises to stay here even after he is gone, so it might imply that at least someone will get to remember him — perhaps as Xxxx the human, not Vanitas, kin of the Blue Moon. Which might mean going against Luna’s request…
(Ch. 50)
And, well, Xxxx could de Deucalion. Just think about it: wouldn’t it be cool if both Vani and Noé were given names with similar symbolism behind it and later both assume the moniker of Vanitas?
Plus the whole “loop” thing, like “memory loop” theory and “time loop theory” (here and here) again adds to the idea of connection between them. The loop where ends and beginnings melt into each other, like Ouroboros eating its own tail. The loop between Vanitas and Noé, where they will have to understand pointlessness and hopefulness of life – and what does in mean to save and be saved.
The ultimate hope of survival becomes fleeting dream for all caught in this loop. But every dream is destined to end, as pointed by Saint Germain. And what will happen, when Vanitas and Noé will have to wake up from the dream of their own? What will prevail - death and futility of life or salvation and rebirth?
(Ch. 55)
I’ve realized that I draw their faces different every time, so I drew these pics for future reference
been a while since I drew Luna but they and their little family are precious to me🤲
lowkey based on “Vampyr” by Munch but it is mostly because I liked the title
Saw that trend and instantly thought about Luna
I hope he doesn’t break a bone..
Hii!! Since your requests are open could you write some cuddling hcs for vanitas?? I am desperately in need of vanitas content atm 🫶🫶
Notes: Hii!! Of course i can! and AHHH- Cuddling with Vanitas give me serotonin!!🙌
Anyway i hope you like the head canons 💙
TW??/CONTENT: cuddling with Vanitas , fem!reader
-I started by saying that Vanitas LOVES cuddling with you but he will never admit it
-It would be terribly awkward for him if one day Noè found you two just cuddling like a normal couple would
-You don’t know why but he HATE when someone discovers/interrupts y’all in your intimate moments
-He loves hugging you from behind, kiss your neck and make you tickle.
-Generally cuddle each other in the morning when you wake up to ‘energize’ each other.
-He calls you with adorable nicknames but only while you two cuddling, he doesn't want people to start thinking he's a guy who melts easily.
-He call’s you “my pretty princess”, “my girl” and sometimes even “my love”
-Once he starts pampering you, he never wants to stop
-“Ow Princes pleaseee!! Only five more minutes, do it for me! pretty pleasee!!”
-becomes needy and childish like a child (but in a good way)
-But if anyone ever found out about you two cuddling, he would say that you are the one in need of affection and that he, as a good boyfriend, grants your wish.
-“Me? Pffff no! I don’t need affection from my girlfriend, she’s the one who need it and as a good boyfriend i have to make her feel loved, am i wrong? I don’t think so”
-and if you are a vindictive person then as soon as you find out about this, for 'punishment' you will not cuddle him for quite a while until he will ask you by himself.
-How long will it be able to last in your opinion? a week or two?
-“ohh please i’m sorry! You know i didn’t mean to,right? Now... can we please cuddle?”
---------------------------------------------------------------------------so that's it! i really hope you enjoy your head canon's!💙
Ooooo my cute little boy he looks so adorable why is this the first time I see this!!!!!!!!!????
Who let him be this cute
I love the Soo much these 2 are so adorable I want to hide them
— No one’s ever asked to shake my hand…
There is a single brain cell in these gifs and vanitas has it
You wish to help us? But why?
I have a serious artblock, so here, have this for now.
I saw one pic of rats hugging each other and immideatly thought "ROLAND AND HIS SON ASTOLFO".
"And they were roommates"
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Btw, tired fox is my old nickname just in case. I have an unhealthy habit of changing nicks with time then I stop liking them.
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This is one of my proudest last year's work, since I liked how I drew them both. Maybe, it was magic of Eurovision I was watching then? ✨✨✨
Was bored and colored some of VNC pages with Antoine.
silly white haired vampire men >>>
The loves of my life
