#honey.annotates

The Poem

I have not written a poem in years but I do hope it’s nice? Though I believe I need more practice haha. Anyways, here is a breakdown on why I wrote what I did.

Come, drink from me o’ poor, docile lamb. You, forsaken by your shepherd, condemned And willing—stolen and brought To this ruined bed.

The lamb and the shepherd simply represent the master-apprentice relationship where reader’s master has no faith in them and is ready to ‘punish’ them without thought. Whereas Lethe is the one of the five rivers of the Greek underworld, specifically of forgetfulness and, according to Ovid, found within Hypnos’ cave, who was the god of sleep; so I wanted to merge this with the idea of a (river)bed.

I also thought it would be fun to play with the formatting where “condemned” is associated with the shepherd, and “stolen and brought” is joined with “willing[ness]” to relate to reader’s inability to find the strength to leave their master.

Thou must graze upon the poppies, Damp with the dew of oblivion, To be lulled into a soft slumber Until there is naught left to covet.

I wanted to incorporate how poppies bloomed at the entrance of Hypnos’ cave as I believe the contrast between Lethe running through it was lovely because the flower is one of remembrance. To create the memory-erasure seal, you must mix tears with the ink, represented by the “dew of the oblivion”; while the target of the spell falls asleep, just as you are “lulled into a soft slumber.”

When you wake, you will delight, For this is no longer your prison; Thy desire has withered, and No love shall anchor you here.

Because Qifrey cannot love as it will cause the Silverwood to grow, I wanted that “desire” to “wither” to maintain a corresponding language in nature alongside having “naught left to covet” from the previous verse. Similarly, “anchor” concerns letting go with the aquatic relation to the Great Hall, the weight of love, and how all three of them separate as Qifrey travels alone for a time.

General Thoughts

To me, one of the most compelling parts of Witch Hat Atelier is the division between the Unknowing and the Pointed Caps and, even further, able-bodied witches and those with disabilities so I wanted to touch on that with Beldaruit and Qifrey, especially as ch.90 shows other witches looking at both of them with scorn. And with the prejudice they openly face, I believed to depict Qifrey's childhood would mean that the ableism he experienced had to be part of it also, especially as my opinions of him in an educator lie in his ability to respect others, especially children, no matter their background, as proved by the safety both Agott and Richeh exhibit in being able to act like a child despite what they experience themselves.

Honestly, the scenes surrounding Tartah and Coustas made me particularly emotional, and it really is the reality faced by those with disabilities that I think it appropriate to assume that the prejudice was even worse prior to Beldaruit being appointed Wise of Teachings. Aside from using it as a way to exhibit how terrible of a person reader's master is, I did want to show how disability is a spectrum through reader themselves—they can walk, see, speak, and hear without issue, but they do have an essential tremor, although not as severe, but one that impedes their ability to draw seals nonetheless. I hope that I was respectful in my depiction and that reader defending and standing up for both Beldaruit and Qifrey was relieving.

Aside from that... When I first started outlining the story, I wanted three main chunks: “there is something strange about the new apprentice,” “there is something strange about Olruggio,” and “there is something strange about Qifrey,”; and in determining how to give reader a memory wipe, I decided to depict how, throughout the series, it appears so easy to treat children wrongly, which means it is equally as easy to treat them with respect. This is the additional theme within WHA that I've been particularly taken by, specifically through Euini and Richeh's personal stories, which made me incredibly emotional haha. And I do apologize for the suffering I put reader through and how the resolution was one of equal violence, unfortunately, but the dramatics of fanfic prevail.

Lately, I also really like writing with repetition and being careful with my diction and certain phrases. Here, “strange” is only used when it concerns the memory-erasure spell. Others include: ache, joy, inevitability, wraith, and wail. But I also changed the types of diction I used to match certain scenes and what was occurring. For example, when reader convinces Qifrey to run away with them, a lot of the language is related to plants (e.g. propagated, sprouting, sown, etc).

And to end this off, I do hope the passing of time made sense/was natural enough. Other than explicitly stating it, I attempted to slowly transition Qifrey's casual speech into one that was more formal. However, generally, I think subtlety is something I need to practice, and tried very viciously within this haha.

When you complete a bunch of the puzzles, NPCs will translate six “Mutterings” that concern the dichotomy between a traveller, sinner, and a lamb denoted the same way the game clarifies words or phrases by placing it above the original text. I will identify this within brackets.

Muttering One

Discusses the creation of a torch alongside “fire and light” as the “embodiment” of the “sin” to which the lamb, or golden scapegoat is “framed for.” The traveller (sinner) travels on water that is “closer to voiceless eternity,” but the traveller is equal to their home. “God wish to see the world: Thus came Darkness (Light).

The tutorials for the Golden Scapegoat say: “use the holy flame you bear to light up the altar and give light to this world”; “an Enshadowed Version of You will manifest as an enemy and process along the fate you have etched into being”; and “while on the road of destiny, it is a tragic thing to be tethered by the past… Do not approach the Enshadowed Version of You.”

Here, Phainon is the equal to the “light” whereas Flame Reaver to “fire” because Phainon's name has roots in epithets of Apollo where there is a romanization into Phanaios, meaning “giving or bringing light” while Mem in Grove, Wherefore Are the Wise Silent says Flame Reaver is “memory itself” of the “burning paradise.”

Traveling on water towards “voiceless eternity” may imply Khaslana (original) leaving Aedes Elysiae for the Flame Chase with the way the Coreflames are returned to the Void of Genesis, but he is always “equal to [his] home”—the origin of his hatred. “God wishes to see the world" but instead of “light” being the primary denotation, it is “darkness” because Lygus tells Anaxa that the world is “farcical” in Citizen, Listen to Those Roaring Tides, and we know that the Dawn Device is a lie, so to “see the world,” one must be in “darkness.”

Muttering Two

The black tide comes and the “culprit (scapegoat) must die, even if the sin was yet to be committed (irredeemable).” The “words” of the one “leaving a place marked as his grave from birth” border on “madness” but are “mute and unspoken.” With the “ebony tide,” one is made to drink or “die of thirst,” and those “who do will lose their own names. / In this water that does not reflect one’s face, all the world’s faces are contained within. / That face says, humans will re-discover their truer names (gravestone names).”

Aedes is an alternative form of aedis meaning 'temple' or 'tomb' while Elysium is the Greek afterlife for exemplary mortals and heroes. Temples can also be associated with sacrifice → death, so Phainon begins his journey where he kills the villagers in an act of mercy.

The “mute and unspoken” “madness” may be the restraint employed by Phainon where he abandons his name to become the Deliverer. And now that we know Phainon is Flame Reaver, then “re-discover[ing] their truer names” with the “ebony tide” represents how Flame Reaver comes with the black tide, who we associate with Khaslana (demigod) returning to Aedes Elysiae in the beginning = “gravestone names.”

The water “not reflect[ing] one's face” could also allude to how Flame Reaver's body breaks down due to the Coreflames and the Worldbearer's duty is to remake the world in his memory according to Anaxa in Scholar, Let Us Meet Again Before the Gates of Truth—“all the world's faces are contained within.”

Muttering Three

“Hate and void devoured the sinner (lamb)” while the “world is already upside down: Future is past,” and “in this silent world of creation, all life is revived.” On the lamb’s skin is a ”mark that denoted the shepherd’s property (destiny).” There is a focus here on life’s resurrection, destruction, and then return.

Notice how the lamb is the sinner, but the dominating figure is the sinner: Phainon adopts Tribios prophecy where he is shattered, so the sinner is Phainon who is lost to “hate” yet is sacrificed as an innocent lamb who has no choice because him and Cyrene are hoping that they can either change Amphoreus' fate themselves or wait long enough for someone to come save them through the Eternal Recurrences

The nature of Oronyx and Janus’ prophecies through memoria matches “future is past” as the way their powers work actually contradict itself within the readable "The World in Oronyx's Eyes" without the Eternal Recurrences—Oronyx and Janus’ powers are isomorphic and cannot ‘see’ past nor future but are absolute nonetheless because Oronyx can see memories, validating how it works. So the memoria is another instance of the loop of the current cycle, aka ERs; or, the resurrection, destruction, and then return.

Lastly, the “mark” on the lamb denotes an ownership equal to being controlled by destiny: Phainon has a neck tattoo that looks like a sun, the Dawn Device; he is destined to be the Deliverer.

Muttering Four

“The two gods brush past each other” where one is “blinding light that rises from infinite void, and the other is blackened blood coursing along parched earth.” The sinner (traveller) speaks to a murmuring lamb skull where he tells the lamb “you [the lamb] and I [the sinner (traveller)] are nothing more than slaves to a distant dream.” But the “dream is everything that the dream forgot.” Lastly, “the one who carries out the sacrifice is also part of the sacrificial offering.”

The infinite void sounds reminiscent of the primordial deity of Chaos and what preceded the Cosmos prior to order within the universe, and the Greek romanization of this is Khaos, which is the name used for the demigod of Worldbearing who becomes Kephale (Broken Dream, Enlighten From the Beyond). So we know the "blinding light" must be the Worldbearer.

The two gods that meet should then be Phainon who ascends as Khaslana (demigod) to become the next Titan, but because the sinner is equal to the traveller (original Khaslana), this does not happen—aside from this never being the goal with Irontomb—instead leading to Flame Reaver of "blackened blood" who passes the 'torch' of the 'sin' to Phainon, now in the form of Khaslana (demigod) to Aedes Elysiae to begin Khaslana's (original) journey.

Mydei's incongruent timeline and the adventure quest “Disquieting Dream” prove that dreams are memoria so this would match how the “dream [memory of the loops] is everything that the dream forgot.” The last is self explanatory where Phainon sacrifices the Worldbearing Coreflame, and is a sacrifice himself to become Flame Reaver to enable the next Eternal Recurrence, while a new Khaslana is born without his complete memory, allowing two instances of his electrical signal to exist at one time where they are separate but still congruent.

Muttering Five

“The hour hand greets the minute hand’s thirteenth return, just as it did the first time. The sinner cannot tell beginning and end apart.”

This entire section is important:

With Amphoreus completed, we know the Thirteenth Titan is Demiurge, but during 3.3, I actually linked this to Phainon and Flame Reaver because the readable “Anecdotes of a Numerophile” states that the 13th Titan or “One True God [...] grants the world chaos, from which order emerges.” Meaning, Flame Reaver brings chaos through the black tide because his goal is order -> saving Amphoreus.

The wiki has this on the Golden Scapegoat page but I can't find it in game:

In other words, this is Phainon who completes Worldbearing and becomes the new Flame Reaver who “returns, and remains as the first” because he is the “one” that “all shall bid farewell to [where he] alone will witness the miracle [world remade to return to the beginning of the loop].”

Recognize that for the “Light” there must be “Strife” (this denotation is made with the strife above the word light in the last section); for Phainon, there must be the Flame Reaver; and we now know that Phainon's electrical signal is Neikos, meaning Strife just as Phainon means “bringing or giving light.”

Notice how they begin and end with a “sin,” followed by bringing “light” and “destruction” where the sinner and traveller’s faces overlap as if they are one. The line right before this says that he is “alone, yet murmurs to no one,” where we know the lamb is the one who “murmurs” based on Muttering 4; therefore, the sinner/traveller/lamb are all one person.

The “obsidian urn” sounds similar to Amphoreus as an amphora or Pandora’s Box, and thus, with the language of “urn,” is one of “death.” Yet, he “slew” the people just as they “slew him”: Flame Reaver slays these people in “blood” (also remember Phainon killed in mercy), while Phainon is killed to “reforge” the world and bear its “burden.”

Muttering Six

The lamb is equal to prey, but in the “language of blood” of only which one “can leave traces in thoughts,” he deems himself the “shepherd”; followed by a slumbering “golden fleece [...] in the sanguine seabed.”

The following is all significant:

We can say that the “language of blood” is the result of the black tide and the destruction of the world to remake it (Muttering 5’s light versus destruction/strife).

The golden fleece is likely a reference to the myth where a ram named Chrysomallos rescued two children from being sacrificed but was later sacrificed to Zeus. The fleece was given to King Aeëtes, and later stolen by Jason and the Argonauts to cement Jason's rule of Iolcos. I unfortunately couldn't really make a connection? Aside from maybe Phainon sacrificing himself only to learn the truth at the end of each cycle.

The declaration of being the shepherd despite being as the lamb (prey) is synonymous with the sacrifice also being the “sacrificial offering” (in control of the sacrifice versus being the sacrifice). In other words, the self-fulfilling prophecies for each individual Chrysos Heir and the overall Flame-Chase Journey where, in Distant Travelers, Listen to this World’s Prayer, Phainon even states: “It's considered a prophecy because it manifested as a miracle, though its origin or whose will it represents remains unknown.” They are making it come true, sacrificing the Coreflames but dying in the process.

Stepping on the “altar countless times” indicates the loop, while there is a repeated association of fire equal to light where, knowing the association in prior Mutterings, the “sinners” who “deliver the fire” are the “travellers” who deliver the “light.”

“Gold Specimen Goat”

Unlocking all six Mutterings leads to the “Gold Specimen Goat” questline where the NPCs you were working with receive an invitation from someone who “developed a theoretical understanding,” that being Lygus.

He instructs us to go to the Grove and insert our research into a slot beneath the “Heart of Cerces” to determine any bias; however, we discover that it was “tampered with.” Lygus implies it may have been the Flame Reaver, while Diogena (an NPC who helped with the research) suggests that it may reflect the Flame Reaver’s past. Moreover, Lygus says the following:

Notice how he states that Kephale will lie to hide a “truth,” with the implication that it is kind and therefore is a lie told with good intentions. At the same time, he describes an “erasure,” one of which we can associate with the truth of the world due to how we deconstructed each Muttering in accordance with everything + the root word of farcical being farce, defined by Merriam Webster, means: “a light dramatic composition marked by broadly satirical comedy and improbable plot.”

General Concept

Food is so integral to peoples and celebration, and HSR has told us that Phainon would share food when he was younger to the point that he was known for it where we also know that he's a big eater, so I thought it would be fun to not only give Phainon a relationship with a normal person (since the issue with his identity is the fact that he himself isn't one) but someone who makes food.

An important aspect of For the Sun Is Set to Die is how the Eternal Recurrences may change in some way because Khaslana takes different actions and changes histories, but the outcomes are the same (e.g. Cipher always comes to face him). I also believe many of Amphoreus' timelines are disjointed as a result of lingering memoria that converges, which allows for Oronyx's extrapolations because although small details change, certain events are definitive in occurring. What Khaslana and Cyrene achieve is effectively an anomaly because they are not following what is 'coded' of them (i.e. Era Nova or "re-creation" as it is called in As I've Written).

There's this post saying that the "first rule of cooking is to have fun [...] and the first rule of baking is to stay calm because the dough can sense fear." So, Khaslana/Phainon is like cooking because even if there's a recipe, you can still make changes as you like. In baking, this is much harder because of the chemistry involved, and coding is similar in some vein depending on the language.

And this is how baker!Reader was born paired with the idea of soulmates where rather than an idea of fate, it's something coded by the Scepter because everyone on Amphoreus are just "electrical signals." If you know you aren't human and are a product of Lygus' plans, do you have free will? Khaslana/Phainon and Cyrene show evidence of that because they refuse what is expected of them, but this is different for baker!Reader and the Chrysos Heirs. So, if fate is equal to code, is love between 'soulmates' real? Khaslana attempts to avoid baker!Reader, but he always meets them because that is an 'event' that is 'definitive in occurring.' If Khaslana/Phainon can reject fate, but we're unsure if baker!Reader can, is this obligation?

Character Identification: Khaslana/Phainon

I tried to be careful of his names to separate the original cycle against the Eternal Recurrences, but keep each version of him identifiable.

If you notice, when Okhema falls, he is never designated with a name, only his pronouns because I believe much of what we associate with Khaslana is the Eternal Recurrences even if that is his true name. I wanted there to be this additional loss of identity before he and Cyrene enter the Void of Genesis and begin their plan because he has already sacrificed so much for Amphoreus and will do so again to be Khaslana (that is later equal to the Flame Reaver) in comparison to Khaslana (pre-Okhema).

Sometime between Hyacine’s monologue of his flaw and the Trailblazer entering Amphoreus, he adapts the persona of Flame Reaver, so I incorporated that into the last section of YLIU based on 3.3 where we see Trailblazer's Phainon designated with blank spaces, implying when the cycle resets, he returns to Aedes Elysiae as Khaslana (Flame Reaver), while a Khaslana (pre-Okhema) from that loop is also born. This is through Khaslana (pre-Okhema) waking up and going through his childhood until Aedes Elysiae falls, followed by his arrival in Okhema where he introduces himself as “Phainon.” I wanted the transition to be smooth enough so that I could cycle back to the beginning of YLIU to further solidify how within the Eternal Recurrences certain events always occur: baker!Reader is always coded to meet and fall in love with him, whether that is Khaslana or Phainon, with certain events unique (first meeting at your bakery) to the one born within the cycle/loop.

Character Identification: Chrysos Heirs

Personally, I believe Amphoreus has a really strong cast and a lot of what I love about Phainon is his relationship or lack-there-of with the other Heirs.

In terms of Eternal Recurrences, we know from Anaxa's words in the 134th that Khaslana likely sees everyone as unequal to him because he’s been looping with them acting exactly the same in many situations. I also noticed in the 23,570,000th that Phainon calls Hyacine by her full name despite not doing so normally, which I interpreted as the aforementioned fact of dehumanization because he no longer calls his friends by an affectionate nickname.

So, when I depicted 134th, I hinted at this part of Anaxa's conversation through Phainon calling Cipher as Cifera, but shortening Anaxagoras because it's still an earlier Eternal Recurrence in addition to Anaxa’s association with baker!Reader being a positive memory for Khaslana in comparison to Cipher’s hypothetical of whether or not baker!Reader would have lived. We know that baker!Reader never runs, mirroring how Cipher always returns to face Khaslana after Zagreus is killed. (I make an exception of this name symbolism for Mydei because of the reason mentioned below.)

On top of that, the Heirs’ characterizations are fairly nuanced where the 3.4 quest guide tells us a bit about what Khaslana does in these long cycles. So, when I wrote the violence he enacts on them, I wanted to anchor it in each Heir's character paired with his love for baker!Reader:

Mydei: he isn't designated as 'Mydeimos' because I've observed that his full name is associated with Kremnos' culture in battle and Strife, yet he doesn't wish that life for his people. If baker!Reader is Khaslana/Phainon's "tenderness" and humanity, then I think it's important that their first meeting has some relation to Mydei. Also, in the quest guide, there are mentions of burning libraries and shattered vertebrae, which I thought was compelling to include because Mydei wanted to show Phainon his library and trusted him with his weakness.

Castorice: she is one hand of death, but she is a gentle and poetic person, mirroring her confrontation of calling Khaslana a cold sun, “broken idol,” and “tragic firewood” in 3.4. Moreover, the quest guide mentions “comfort,” so I thought it was important to make the distinction with Castorice. Her wish is to be "normal" and Phainon believes that is merely her right (Coronal Radiance), but the one thing she can offer someone else is the "comfort" in not being alone at the end of your life when she ferries baker!Reader's soul to the nether realm.

Hyacine: the longest section because she and Phainon are very similar in how they suppress sadness or grief for the sake of others. The quest guide mentions how Phainon is stuck in a “dream” alone but it's “futile” because he isn't able to free Amphoreus (until the Trailblazer), so I wanted to bring back the mention of Phainon's wishes/dreams of baker!Reader with the recurring motif of “grain, olive oil, and flour” that is first introduced when making Georios’ Seven-Grain Bread because baker!Reader is dead, effectively making it a lonely “dream.”

Cerydra and Hysilens; and Agalaea and Tribbie: Khaslana (original) never meets the first pair until the 1st Eternal Recurrence so they're introduced as "Imperator and her knight" in accordance to history he knows. Hyacine is the first to notify us (the players) of Hysilens' existence, so I use the title of "Lady" when Khaslana names her, only to drop it once he does because of how he threatens her but not Agalea and Tribbie (of which are designated with Lady simply because Khaslana does not know this version of them; although when he speaks of them in canon dialogue he often refers to them with the title). We never see him meeting Cerydra, so I did not name her because we are unaware of their dynamic.

Themes

Loss of Identity

When he leaves Aedes Elysiae in the original cycle, he goes on to defend Okhema, and even seemingly objects to being a Flame-Chaser because he views himself as a "common soldier." In Anaxa's CHYRSOS edition, he even refers to Phainon as a "blank slate." We have a lot of characterization for Phainon, but at the same time, his identity loss is directly connected to the sacrifices he is willing to make.

Being the 'Deliverer' is effectively a symbol for this as he does have his own dreams and aspirations, but is willing to give them up with no regrets if the world needs him (CHRYSOS), which is why I make the distinction that to baker!Reader, he is merely himself rather than what everyone else wants him to be.

Under the colour purple in CHRYSOS, he mentions the dromas he rode with no recollection of that journey, so I wanted that exact point to be his transition within the fic from Khaslana (pre-Okhema) to Phainon, the Deliverer as this additional loss of identity after I show that Khaslana (Flame Reaver) begins passing memories.

Soulmates: Determinism and the Baker

From General Concept: the importance of recipes in baking being a metaphor of the inability to have free will.

Many-worlds interpretation of determinism paired with Novikov's Self-Consistency Principle means multiple events can be different with a consistent outcome (latter), but also a possibility of multiple timelines existing at one time (former). I think this relates heavily to 3.4 in general, but in terms of baker!Reader, I wanted to show how no matter what action Khaslana takes, he will meet them. The original meeting at the bakery is always tied to the Phainon born in the current cycle/Eternal Recurrence, but because baker!Reader is coded to always meet him, they will also meet Khaslana because he is a version of the electrical signal they are coded to meet and love even if he is from a different instance of time.

When Phainon and baker!Reader discuss soulmates, I wanted to set up the motif of Georios' Seven-Grain Bread to have that importance on baking recipes being followed. If you go through the "Festive Culinary Guide" readable, you will see that baker!Reader goes through the first steps when they make more dough. When Phainon observes baker!Reader kneading dough, he talks of a repetitive action where when Khaslana later trains a version of them, the same phrases are used to solidify the habitual nature of their relationship that ends in the baker!Reader's death (consistent outcome of the many-worlds interpretation).

Motifs

Sowing Festival: Georios' Seven-Grain Bread/Dreams and Wishes

See the last point on Soulmates: Determinism and the Baker.

The dream described in CHRYSOS takes place in Aedes Elysiae, a farming village, so they would have likely celebrated the Sowing Festival, which is how I bridged the association with baker!Reader.

Further broken down with "grain, olive oil, and flour" in association with baker!Reader where the smell or idea of the three ingredients reminds Khaslana/Phainon of their discussion of soulmates and also the life he wants to have with them in a peaceful Amphoreus. By association, this also ties into the prevention of Phainon's loss of identity against his need to become the "Deliverer."

Recipe calls for scoring "wheat-ear patterns" where we know Phainon's at peace when he recalls the fields of Aedes Elysiae so it's another call back to his dream/wish. But I also wanted to use similar wording of "scoring" and "olive oil" from the recipe in describing the wound baker!Reader receives as a representation of the impossibility of his dream that is fulfilled through bread and the Sowing Festival.

Rake and the Fire Iron

Relates to the above as the rake is used in farming and the fire iron in stoking the fire in an oven, but they are turned into weapons when Khaslana turns Aedes Elysiae into a tomb and baker!Reader defending themself and others when Okhema falls.

Ergo, in Amphoreus, they will not know peace, only violence. The reader mirroring what Khaslana does is foreshadowed in Phainon teaching them to wield a weapon "once," only to show them how to turn any object into one.

So, when Phainon outlines the full dream/wish in a peaceful Amphoreus, baker!Reader teaches him how to manage an oven's fire, while Khaslana teaches them to use a rake to tend to the fields to become a representation of violence or the lack-there-of.

"He holds you. Your body is [...] warm."

The Era Nova is assumed to be the way Amphoreus escapes its tragedy, but Khaslana learns this is false, so I wanted his last action before the Eternal Recurrences start to be holding baker!Reader because it is the last thing "granted" to him when he gives everything up for the sake of the Flame-Chase, including the life of baker!Reader themselves because he always fails to save them.

Recall my mention in Mydei's part of how baker!Reader represents Khaslana's "tenderness" and humanity in light of his dehumanization of everyone else. Holding baker!Reader at the end of each Eternal Recurrence before he makes his next attempt is meant to be his reminder of why he is doing this in the first place: the wishes he carries for everyone else, and now, through baker!Reader, his own wish to fulfill that dream he was unable to have because he must be the "Deliverer."

Anaxa's Characterization

To me, Anaxa has always been such a fun character to observe and learn about because of not only how unexpected he acts and how forthcoming he is regardless of what happens around him, but because he’s so haunted by tragedy.

The way he speaks appears callous, especially when one considers everyone's opinion of him as a person, but once you begin to understand Anaxagoras, you see that he is undeniably kind and caring even if he acts as if he isn't. In his CHRYSOS edition, no one really speaks ill of how he teaches, most of the pushback against him is always because of blasphemy, and it seems that everyone actually loves him as their teacher because he encourages them so strongly. If you read through his other material, this rings true because he cares less of what he is remembered by and more so of his work surviving through the efforts of others and the inspiration he leaves behind—his last Character Story details this and then specifically goes on to tell us that one of his remaining echoes “vanished because nobody discovered it.”

It also reveals how integral loss is to his character that he believes he deserves it in some self-destructive manner of existence, but he still fears death despite already having a grave made. Anaxagoras is incessant in his pursuit of knowledge, yet he would never put anyone else but himself in harm's way. Even in a Fragment of Recollection from  “Murmuring Woods” Grove of Epiphany, Old Titus remarks that Anaxagoras willingly got hurt to protect him in their escape to the library, which Anaxagoras evidently tried to hide based on his silent response. And it’s already mentioned within the fic, but he dreamed of the Grove as a child so he could have a better life with his sister, and then once she passed, his goals had been inspired by her death.

He is eccentric and appears as if he would do better without others that the game goes so far as to tell us that he has “been reclusive and isolated since childhood” and that the epitaph he wrote for himself says that his “name was seldom mentioned by others,” yet he cares so deeply once he does have that connection, which is why it was important for me to begin this fic with Anaxagoras because of his relationship with Phainon.

Anaxa and Phainon's Relationship

Loss and Grief

Together, the two of them are so similar yet so different in how they act as a result of what they experience. Anaxagoras’ self-destruction is mirrored in Phainon’s own similar hatred of himself where Anaxa has no trust in machinations of the world and the Titans, believing himself the truth, whereas Phainon himself extends his self-hatred into a hatred for the world (his Saga of Heroes chapter). But, again, when you think about it, both are a result of love—Anaxagoras’ pursuit born from his sister and Phainon’s desire to save the people he cares about.

However, their differences come from the fact that Anaxagoras does not hold back to achieve his goals, while Phainon pushes down any feelings that are not gallant for the sake of being what is needed of him as the Deliverer. As a result, I translated this into Phainon’s restraint in pursuing a relationship with baker!Reader because love is inherently selfish because it does not benefit the Flame-Chase Journey. I also wanted to tie in the idea of Reason (Cerces) against Love (Mnestia), in the literal sense of Phainon seeing his affections as something ‘against his better judgement’ so to speak, and the alchemic ‘Force’ the game provides in “Fragmented Alchemy Notes (Excerpt)”—Romance that binds and attracts versus Reason that repels and separates. Other than that, the final line states that this takes place during the Month of Freedom, whose patron Titan is Kephale where everyone is meant to “work on their hobbies, pursue their dreams, and do whatever they wish to do,” which I thought was fitting since Phainon is the Worldbearer and although it is a time of freedom, Anaxagoras struggles to help Phainon let go of this restraint.

And if you’ve read the Voice of Contellation’s account on Mnestia, then you will know that Mnestia failed their first confession and only succeeded in their second after they learned of all types of love as a humanoid figure and was able to come back and say that they did, in fact, truly love Cerces romantically. So there is this incredible focus on realizing that Reason is the same as Love, which Anaxagoras understands because he is anchored in his sister and the Grove—which reminds him of such—whereas Phainon is so stricken by his grief and his hatred that he cannot see beyond that even if every action he takes is one out of love because he cannot reconcile his loss.

A Blank Slate

In Anaxagoras’ CHRYSOS edition, he describes Phainon as “a blank slate [that] holds infinite potential,” and I see this as a recognition of Phainon as Phainon and no one else. This isn’t even unique to Phainon because in Anaxagoras’ second voice-line for Castorice he says, “so what if she’s a Titan? She’s still a student of the Grove,” which makes sense considering Anaxagoras’ characterization because he is someone who refuses to believe in anything or be defined by someone else’s views. He comes to conclusions on his own through his own efforts and experiences, therefore when it comes to the relationships he has with others, their titles and roles have no bearing on how he views the other person.

I’ve explored this before, but I believe Phainon bears such a heavy weight with the title of the Deliverer, so I wanted this chapter to never refer to Phainon as anything other than his name, what he looks like, or with the addition ‘of Aedes Elysiae’ (as Phainon refers to himself as such and it holds such significance on who he is as a person in addition to Anaxagoras himself canonically using it too). The only exception of this is during the seminar because, to Anaxagoras, this is a performance and a formality. And I think that the purpose of stripping away these titles and roles is so important for their relationship because the rumours surrounding Anaxa are something that I believe would beget a cautious attitude in Phainon due to his gallant nature. Yet, when Phainon first becomes a student (Fragment of Recollection from "Demigod Council" Dawncloud), Phainon is very open. This means that just as Phainon is simply Phainon to Anaxagoras, the same can be said about Anaxagoras to Phainon instead.

Anaxa and baker!Reader's Relationship and Interactions

Although this is a reader-insert, I want the fic to feel very real in the sense that baker!Reader has relations beyond Phainon that are unique to themselves, whether that is in other NPCs or each individual Chrysos Heir.

As Anaxagoras is mostly at the Grove, introducing baker!Reader and Phainon’s relationship—or lack thereof—best occurs through him because even Hyacine assists with the Garden of Life while I imagine much of Anaxa’s free time consists of alchemy. It also helps that he’s very observant and has a personality that can spring off the one I established for baker!Reader in the other two fics to allow both their playfulness and sombre consideration to come through. Other than having the debate sequence be light-hearted, I really wanted that dynamic to come through so everything felt natural amongst the hustle and bustle of everyone’s personal duties and responsibilities—the Grove of Epiphany’s task, the Flame-Chase Journey, Hyacine’s being so busy literally everywhere, and the citizens own dependency on baker!Reader.

Their conversation on soulmates is meant to set the foundation of what occurs in your love is unmoved (tell me, if somehow, some of it remains) as this series actually follows the soulmate trope with a canon-compliant reason—that being, Lygus, through the Scepter, codes you and Phainon to fall in love. I won’t go into it too much because this fic is meant to be fluff with only hurt/comfort, but although Anaxa and baker!Reader come to the conclusion that it is not real love if someone else tells you it is and how to love, Phainon/Khaslana is certain your love is true because he is autonomous from the Scepter. I also wanted this conversation to show that baker!Reader closely resembles Anaxa’s own views of how to live a life in a world where Titans exist.

Finally, Anaxagoras familiarizing himself with baker!Reader is to not only show how much he cares for Phainon that he must ensure that you are a good fit for him, but to give Anaxa another friend, really, even if it sounds so simple.

Chimera Identification

Names taken from Castorice's CHRYSOS edition and Chrysos Awoo Championship event.

Wheat Stitch: baker!Reader (original to this fic; meet them here)

Vigethos: Phainon

Candied Apple: Tribios

Krenabis: Hyacine

Oatmeal: Aglaea

Nanus: Anaxa

Butterfly Cake: Castorice

Master Cat-Thief: Cipher

Fig Stew: Mydei

NPC Appearances and Mentions

Arielle from the Awoo Firm event

Demetria, the vegetable and fruit vendor in Marmoreal Market

Demetri, Andriskos, and Marsyas from the 3.1 Trailblaze Mission, Glory, Turn From Imbibed Poison: any mention of a trio of children refers to these three. In this series, their first appearance is in Offering Hearts and Honey and the significance is provided in that fic's a/n.

Old Titus, a Grove Scholar

Soctires from Whereto Shall We Go

Dorian, a Mountain Dweller stationed as a City Guard near Kephale Plaza

Reference List

Anaxa's Character Stories and Voicelines

Phainon's Voicelines

As I've Written/Amphoreus' Saga of Heroes: Anaxa

As I've Written/Amphoreus' Saga of Heroes: Phainon

Anaxa's CHRYSOS Edition

Castorice's CHRYSOS Edition

Evernight's CHRYSOS Edition

"Demigod Council" Dawncloud Fragments of Recollection

“Murmuring Woods” Grove of Epiphany Fragments of Recollection

Fragmented Alchemy Notes (Excerpt)

Awoo Firm event

The Chrysos Maze Grand Restaurant event

Phainon's Anan Magazine Interview

Phainon's Keeping Up With Star Rail

Divergent Universe: Protean Hero/Titan Odes—Giant’s Mission

Voice of Constellation, “Chrysalis of Gold” Mnestia

Amphoreus Chapter | Tales of the Chrysos Heirs

Whereto Shall We Go, Adventure Mission

Georios Festival Ceremony (only a hint of it; will be expanded in Mydei's chapter)

Festive Culinary Guide

Various Trailblaze Missions

Amphoreus’ Calendar

Chrysos Awoo Championship event

Plato's Symposium (a real Socratic dialogue that I took creative liberties with)

What called to me the most about the email was the line: "The black-clad swordmaster gazed at the tranquil Aedes Elysiae before him, and at the white-haired man who called him a hero – those eyes still held their pure cornflower blue." There's this incredible softness to the entire email with numerous mentions of nature that it felt like it extended all the way to how Phainon's eyes are described, so I did take that phrase specifically for this retelling.

Then, there is mention of a "hollow" flame at the end as per Hyacine's words from the 4,000,001st ER—she tells Phainon he lacks the normal warmth of a human and that he has become a "pyre built from the bones of all the selves [he] left behind," and that an "empty flame saves no one." To show this, I focused on what replaced it; Aedes Elysiae's fall always ends in hatred due to his primum mobile, so we start with him being "filled with nothing but grief" > grief pushes him to "take up arms to protect" Okhema > he is recruited as a soldier for that city, but the Flame-Chase is a journey of separation (all shall bid farewell to one who alone will witness the miracle) > separation begets fury.

The "tiny ember filling his chest" loops all the way back to how our Flame Chasers refer to Phainon in 3.7: "the boy/man who loves to laugh." In that section of the quest, you have everyone offering him solace in exchange for the many cycles he endured for their sake, and we're only ever shown these motionless versions of himself (Flame Reaver and then Phainon) that carried that burden. But when we are shown Phainon's resolve against the Scepter and Black Tide that Lygus is attempting to weaken (e.g. the Tribbios section with Phainon's 'parents'), it's depicted as a child. A child that is designated as a blank wish, which is both reminiscent of how Anaxa speaks of Phainon's potential and also his innocence. So when I utilized the "pure cornflower blue" line from the email, I wanted it to be associated with that innocence by its first use being tied to "the boy" who never leaves the village, and the second to the "tiny ember" that is, according to the email, "no longer hollow."

The last little detail would have to be the bell. In the final section of 3.7 when Cyrene and Ripples of Past Reverie recall everything, this occurs with a series of bells. If you returned to Aedes Elysiae post-3.4 where you just hang out with Cyrene, every time you do something with her, a bell sounds. Because of this, I wanted to use similar imagery through the death knell, which is when a bell is tolled to mark death, so, in this cycle, no one in that village falls but Cyrene.

As a result, Khaslana remains as himself where his laugh is "as sonorous as a bell and as free as the West Wind." For his laugh, I brought back the bell imagery but the sound is full as opposed to hollow, while there is still an association with death as our Heirs always mention meeting again at the end of the West Wind. And although it's a sad association, the new planar, Last West Wind of Amphoreus, states the following about the Eternal Page: "It is a peaceful paradise, the end of the west wind, and a sprouting thread of memory yet to bud."

So, I guess what I'm trying to say is: this is an alternative POV of that email examining how I believe Flame Reaver protects himself in relation to love, whether that's familial (the recognition of Cyrene as I interpret their relation similarly), platonic (despite his continuous slaughter of the Heirs that he begins using their full names, he still takes Hyacine's words to heart—some form of his affections persist), and romantic—his hope of a peaceful life with you.

i do wonder if klara confusing her memories means that manager was actually josie when she observed her limp. rick and josie growing apart was also bittersweet but understandable.

and the concept of having a artificial friend to curb loneliness only to become afraid of how their minds work within part 6 has this sort of question about consciousness and compassion for objects that aren't 'real' yet think, especially when klara has some empathy (seemingly?) or maybe it was a result of her 'duty' to josie to adopt that type of attitude.