This should work:
class Universe < ActiveRecord::Base
has_many :universe_character_ties
has_many :characters, through: :universe_character_ties
has_many :actors, through: :characters
end
class UniverseCharacterTie < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :universe
belongs_to :character
end
class Character < ActiveRecord::Base
has_many :universe_character_ties
has_many :universes, through: :universe_character_ties
has_many :character_actor_ties
has_many :actors, through: :character_actor_ties
end
class CharacterActorTie < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :actor
belongs_to :character
end
class Actor < ActiveRecord::Base
has_many :character_actor_ties
has_many :characters, through: :character_actor_ties
has_many :universes, through: :characters
end
Then you can call actor.universes
or universe.actors
...
Hope this helps