Quote Originally Posted by Catwho View Post

Then there's arcanima, which are the simulated souls created by arcanists that don't have a consciousness or will of their own. They don't draw against the aetherial sea in the same way to create their life forms; those life forms are created with a set of instructions, not unlike a golem, and can be created and destroyed without remorse (unlike the guilt that constantly plagued Hermes for the Ancients creation of soul-bound life forms only to end up killing them if they didn't work out. Arcanima solve that problem.)
I think aetherial constructs like Carbuncle and Eos are a bit of a difficult comparison in this regard. These summoned beings are created from the summoner’s aether and sustained by it whilst manifest. Any constructs the Milala had created would’ve been ‘desummoned’ after they were wiped out by calamity. That’s not to mention, personal aether is a finite resource (Sylphie learned the hard way lol). There’d have to be a Dalamud-sized battery full of still-living Milala Arcanists all praying for the manifestation of Sphene/Living Memory/Etc.

The part about having no will or consciousness of their own is also highly debatable given Eos. Not only does she (attempt) to communicate (through inaudible whispers lol), and retain memories, but there are various points throughout the Scholar storyline where she actively acts counter to our instructions. Despite being created for and by someone else, the fairy is still able to exert its own will. Carbuncle I believe is the same, in that an inexperienced Arcanist will have trouble getting it to follow orders (like Tataru lol).

I’d liken Sphene/Living Memory more like moving projections of a once-dead person. They aren’t tangible physical things that can act outside of what the AI dictates. Like a picture except you can talk to it. Not only is it based on a specific context in that person’s life, but it’s not a complete representation of who/what that person was. The Living Memory projections were the same; approximation of what the people were to give comfort to the living, not fully realized manifestations of them who can live on after death. That’s my thoughts anyway