https://preview.redd.it/by4b0zwgdhjh1.jpg?width=1000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=60dcd0ef87228ba7d3fd855dafa703b22d5d4835

I love that Manta is leaning into this bit, I truly hope she makes a million dollars on it. It's clever and funny and show how much we miss the little muppet that someone can "come close" to being her. Keep it up Manta!

I've been looking into the whole Filian disappearance / “Filian Is Lost” thing, and I think there might be a bigger connection between some of the clues.

I'm not saying I've solved the ARG, but here's everything I've noticed so far in the order I found it.

1. The final stream

One of the first things that stood out to me was Filian talking about time during the final stream.

She says things along the lines of:

“running out of time”

“out of time”

Then the stream ends and the whole disappearance situation begins.

At first I thought this might just be normal wording, but later clues made me start questioning that.

2. “TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE”

Then there's the Filian Is Lost website.

One of the things that immediately stood out to me was the phrase:

TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE

This feels way too deliberate when you combine it with the time references from the final stream.

So now I'm wondering if TIME is actually one of the main mechanics of the mystery.

But what does “time” actually mean?

That's where I started thinking about a few possibilities.

3. What if “time” means when an event happened?

This is my biggest theory right now.

What if we're not supposed to think of “time” as just a countdown?

What if the time is actually telling us when something happened?

For example, if the ARG gives us a time like:

3:17

maybe we're supposed to find something that happened at 3:17.

That could mean:

a timestamp in a video

something that happened during the final stream

a specific event

a timestamp hidden somewhere on the website

or potentially a sequence that we haven't figured out yet

So instead of:

TIME → countdown

it could be:

TIME → find the event that happened at that time → new clue

I don't know if that's correct yet, but I think it's worth testing.

4. The QR code

Another piece is the QR code.

The QR clue eventually brings us to the Filian Is Lost website.

That makes me think the clues aren't necessarily supposed to be solved individually. They may be designed to lead us from one location to another.

So the chain could be something like:

clue → QR → website → another clue

5. The Wall

Then there's the Wall.

At first I was thinking the Wall might simply be somewhere we're supposed to add information.

But then I had another thought:

What if the answer isn't just something we ADD to the Wall?

What if there's actually a clue inside the Wall itself?

Basically, what if we're looking at the Wall wrong?

Instead of:

“What should we put on the Wall?”

maybe we should be asking:

“What is the Wall trying to show us?”

That could potentially connect back to the whole “TIME” thing.

6. The “HOSU” thing

There was also something in one of the images that I initially thought said:

HOSU

I thought this could be significant because I associated it with Japan and wondered if it could be pointing toward a location.

BUT — I went back and realized I had actually misread it.

So I'm not counting HOSU as evidence anymore.

I don't want to build a theory around something that isn't actually there.

So what do I think “TIME” means?

Right now, I don't think we can say for certain.

But I think there are several possibilities:

1. Time = the time an event happened

This is the theory I'm most interested in right now.

2. Time = a countdown

“Running out of time” could literally mean there was a deadline.

3. Time = the order of events

Maybe the time tells us which clue/event we're supposed to look at first.

4. Time = a timestamp

It could point us toward a specific moment in a video, stream, recording, etc.

And honestly, #1 and #4 might actually be connected.

The current chain I'm seeing

Final stream

↓

“Running out of time” / “out of time”

↓

Filian disappears

↓

Filian Is Lost

↓

“TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE”

↓

QR clue

↓

Filian Is Lost website

↓

The Wall

↓

Possible hidden clue inside the Wall

↓

More visual clues

↓

???

And that's where I'm stuck.

My biggest question now:

When the ARG keeps emphasizing “TIME,” are we supposed to look for the time at which an actual event happened?

Because if that's what it means, I think we've been looking at the clues from the wrong direction.

Instead of asking:

“What does this clue mean?”

maybe we should be asking:

“WHEN does this clue happen?”

And if the answer gives us a timestamp, that timestamp might lead to the next piece of the mystery.

That's just my current theory though. I'd really like to hear what everyone else thinks, especially if anyone has found another reference to time that I haven't connected yet.

The last videos left before everything got deleted could be a message.

Vedal Regretted That Instantly | Ririne chan

If you guys have idea concepts that you can share feel free to do so.
Idea 1 for filianislost: A brand new movie in theaters at Shibuya Cinema or somewhere wdk “Where’s Filian/Finding Filian”. For a popular style for the film, it would be the ones that have been used in well known anime shows: Studio Ghibli, Toei Animation, Madhouse, MAPPA, Bones, Ufotable, Wit Studio, Kyoto Animation, Studio Trigger etc. It would make the whole thing explode everywhere in the internet. And yes the VAs are the Vtubers themselves that are starred (If most would agree) in for the project. There would also be some lore for Filian, and make it mean something!
Idea 2 for filianislost: A amusement roller coaster park (because vtubers are known for being chaotic) that has themes of your favorite oshis like: “ BOSS-RUSH” for Sinder,Tricky,Vienna, Spite’s ride, “Filian’s Flying Chair” which is a spinning wooden chair, “Camila’s Carousel Chaos”(because she’s a clown and the carousel is tall and wonky to it would spin you in the air so hold on for dear life because it would go crazy), and “Dokibird’s Wooden Airplane Adventure” (where you will fly in the air and hold a rope and for protection, there’s something buckled to your feet and there’s a pit of soft squares if you fall down. There are also some video games “Yuzu’s Space Adventure” a big screen video game where You play as “Agent Yuzu” and her sidekicks are “Space Ranger Cottontail”,Battle Boss Buffpup” and “Kaleidoscope Kokonuts”, and the antagonist you have to fight are space monsters “Space Killer Camila”, “Zen the Mars Dragon”, “The Terminator Twins Neuro and Evil” and the abominated boss herself “Vexoria the Galaxy Destroyer”. Rekson’s Gameshow ” which is like Monopoly, Mario party, and Jeopardy had a kid and have a acid trip (the acid trip parts are the transitions or intermissions, and there is a wonky road that has hidden 3 stars, if one player has three stars they win immediately and they move on to next round , if each player has one star then they would transition into a minigame, if One player wins then they would steal two stars from each separate player and the other two that lost would be left with nothing. There would also be some coins there so you have to get them and put them in a bucket, the players with the highest amount would win the game. There’s also a dice for how many steps, if you take a bad step, you would fall down in a gaping hole and you will meet a deformed spirit and it would either steal all your coins or stars, giving a choice of steal from others, or immediately eliminate you with a snap of its fingers. There are classic minigames like “Spin the Wheel” “Trivia” “Buckshot Roulette “ “Repairing Neuro” and new minigames “Outrageous Obstacles” “Claw Catch” “Bubble Stack” and “Hungry Sharks”These are examples of the games on the screen or the crazy rides that you are go on based of the Vtubers.

I know its not her but one can hope.

All that happened was my wig fell apart and I got to find out people still remember Filian in Birmingham!

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/jFSnk2rz_R8

Let me know what you think of my Cosplay in its current form. I'm not happy with the wig but I'm mostly happy with everything else

Maybe I am not making myself clear, I am the Filian now

I might be too schizo to attempt to participate in the ARG here, I just thought I might try to help even if what im about to say already exists or was attempted. I couldn't find any other ideas like this online, so I did my best to gather as much as I could. Worth a shot in the dark I guess...

What the story actually says

>

Taken at face value: Mercury = evil carrier, Venus = destroyed innocent.

Why we think it's flipped

The story literally warns you: "They will use all sorts of tricks to make you a part of their group." A story that flags deception and then hands you a suspiciously clean "this one's bad, this one's a victim" is inviting you to look under it.

You don't even need the text to be lying. Mercury is the vector — the thing that travels and spreads. Venus is the origin — the one who corrupted it first. The narration tells you what travels, not what started it. Mercury is the infected messenger; Venus whispered first.

Venus fits nearly every beat. Mercury fits one.

• "Seduction… the more dangerous method" → Venus's entire domain. Mercury doesn't seduce.
• "Full of pride… present themselves as judges… pretend to be friends" → Venus = the Morning Star = Lucifer: the beautiful one who fell through pride, the deceiver in a friendly mask.
• Venus is literally called Earth's "evil twin" — a world that looks good and is hell underneath = "manipulative and hypocritical."
• Venus spins backwards (retrograde) — inversion, the thing that runs opposite to everything else. (Ties into the story's own "particle / antiparticle" line.)

Mercury's only real hook is "trickster/messenger." That's it. Everything else — seduction, the fall, the false-victim framing — is Venus.

The "devil plays the victim" structure

If Venus is the real seducer, then the "destroyed good planet" line is her own cover story. The narration = the antagonist's propaganda. That's a far stronger piece of fiction than the surface reading — and it makes the story's "beware tricks" warning actually pay off.

Why this may be why we're all stuck

Deception that requires outside research to see through is the hardest kind to crack as a crowd. If the intended read is "distrust the narration and cross-reference Venus = Lucifer / evil twin / Asura-guru," most people won't get there by staring at the text.

Likely author source-pool (where the flavor came from)

Reads like someone who researched planetary occultism: Lucifer/Morning Star tradition, Vedic Jyotish (Jupiter/Brihaspati = teacher of the gods vs Venus/Shukracharya = teacher of the demons — natural enemies), and Agrippa's occult philosophy (Venus = desire/seduction; Jupiter as the cosmic "vacuum cleaner" ↔ the story's clean / unclean wording).

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Yea idk, probably just another schizo theory to add to the pile of existing ones