#path of mem

[baeshijima]

the four forms of the galactic baseballer

[exactlyspookykxala]

dare I say this patch is better than the entire penacony arc, for me at least. idk, it feels less dialogue-heavy than penacony. the characters are still using more words than they need to, but not to the point where i question if their throat is getting dry. except aglaea, I think 😭 but i think that part was intentional lmao. all in all, definitely left an impression, but a foreboding one.

[easyboyrecliner]

GRAVITY FALLS DR. it’s a full moon outside, the weirdos are out.

edit: this is a introduction on me and who I am in my dr , like a more detailed one

ACT I. THE RANCHERS DAUGHTER

JOLYNE MORGAN, is the only daughter of arthur morgan and his now ex-wife, mary morgan (née linton). proud dog, cat, geese and duck owner and the queen of existential dread. She is the living embodiment of the word awkwardness. (but more on that later)

it was clear from a young age that jolyne was going to be: one, a talented actress. she displayed great skills since kindergarten, where plays around christmas was a tradition. jolyne made many parents cry with her portrayal of mary (though it has to be noted that jolyne always knew that she was hellenic polyethic. greek mythology just spoke to her in a way that no other religion could’ve). or secondly: jolyne would maybe die (not literally speaking) of social anxiety around the age of twenty one. she hates talking to strangers and standing in front of her class presenting. yet she may choose acting as her future career path? or she will become a rancher. or a second anna wintour. depends on her mood really-

jolyne loved animals, from a young age. she had many pets. when uncle dutch and hosea had gifted her bunnies, she was the happiest five year old on earth. those two bunnies, snape and hermione, passed a year later due to a storm. they had a heartattack due to the intensity of the storm. so dutch opted for…geese and ducks. jolyne was happy again. around that time she began to name them after gods. culture didn’t matter, her first few ducks were named after japanese and chinese gods.

she was…a very shy child. when jack marston was born, two years after her, and their parents made them interact jolyne mostly hid behind mary’s leg. the adults laughed, mostly because it was cute. and eventually jolyne and jack became friends, it just took a long while. they shared one same interest…loving comically bad movies. and they bonded over their love for blade (the movie that saved marvel and convinced jolyne that children of aphrodite were real). but well jack could never replace her beloved ashley & crouton. whose parents worked on the ranch and pretty much were a big part in jolyne’s upbringing.

as for her part on the ranch…she mostly tended the animals. too young to do any harsh work and she hated the trucks. jolyne loved the ranch. it was big, a beautiful mountain laid behind the house. a forrest was nearby, where a lake with water as clear as the sky hid. mary would often scold her for sneaking out there with jack and eventually her friends from school.

II. SAINT CAELISTIS

saint caelistis is an elite boarding school for rich kids and nepobabies in montana. jolyne of course attended that school and discovered many things about herself.

firstly; that she absolutely hated math. her brain wasn’t build for it. her brain was build for english, history, philosophy and art. languages! afterall she was in the german, italian & french course! where she discovered that grammar isn’t her strong suit. but nonetheless she remained top in her class (behind jessica and dehavir).

secondly; that’d she’d kill for her friends. not literally though. her friends mostly consist of her class (they were stuck with the same people from grade 5 to 12th, sounds like hell but yk…) and her class was crazy. their class teacher (yk the one who organizes everything) was herr müller. his patience did run thin occasionally, but he loves them. jolyne has many friends, including @miainbetween & @briiverse. (a proper introduction of said friendgroup will follow. the crazy things they did will maybe be discussed)

and jolyne discovered her hatred for rich kids who are stuck up in their own ego and wealth of their parents. she has a lot of beef with certain students who she swore to never think of again.

but hey at least she went to school in the 2000s. the memories were great, as were the clothes and the general vibe.

III. WHO IS JOLYNE?

what defies her? she is the daughter of legendary arthur morgan. she is the daughter who forgets to wear her glasses and runs around slightly blind. actress who stared in the hades game: she voiced dusa. the head maid, floating gorgon head. deeply honored, she surprisingly didn’t manage to flunk it. well dusa’s nervous nature was based off of that of jolyne….

but well, jolyne is best described as shy and awkward. she laughs or giggles at the worst moments known to man and blushes. pretends it never happened and looks suspiciously interested in the nearest object. her brows scrunched together when she is in deep thought. she is best described as sweet, shy, and sympathetic. she is known to be kindhearted, an example being when she assists stan or her dad with carrying stuff.

jolyne loves with all of her heart. she gets hurt easily, acts tuff but if you truly know her you can tell she is sad. just the mere thought of her animals dying gets her crying in no time. and if she loves someone (platonically or romantically) there will be signs, she is all out for gifts and words of affirmation. since she loves her friends so much she is often seen “flirting” with ashley, briana, maria & sebastian. it’s mostly meant as a joke, but oh boy do people take it seriously some time…

she is also a great company and likes to share gossip in her free time. jolyne knows the hottest gossip, mostly because people suspect her to not care? or just because she looks so “innocent?”. but she is never able to express her feelings due to her mildly-strong social anxiety. jolyne is not good at hiding things and can speak without filters. she can’t lie with a straight face and gets defensive really quickly.

her hobbies consists of dancing, acting, drawing, baking & fencing. she also tends the animals at the farm. ghost hunting is also a hobby that counts? she befriends the ghosts…? jolyne is pretty skilled with guns, a trait she inherited from her father. she hates singing, but can sing. just occasionally when the time is right (aka a musical night!). surprisingly hates studying & sometimes she might come across as antisocial when she prefers to work alone on projects. though it’s only because she knows her friends will distract her. but jolyne can overwork her to appease others.

theres too many things that she likes & hates. it is really too much. but know that she loves the princess bride, dirty dancing & moulin rouge. her favorite movies ever. music taste? classical music, she loves waltzes, the Bloodborne soundtrack & type o negative if she watched constantine again. her humor is…something. it’s deadpan, sarcastic & very on the nose.

NEXT UP —>. meet the headaches

her kins:

ash from the mr. fantastic fox movie.

tsukimi kurashita from princess jellyfish.

luna lovegood.

silvermist

and

dusa from hades.

playlist (made by ashley & sylvester) :

summerboy ; lady gaga

hello hello ; elton john & lady gaga

sugar, sugar ; the archies

cinnamon girl ; type o negative

let’s go to bed ; the cure

secret ; the pierces

holding out for a hero ; frou frou

taglist: @katmikaelsendevotee , @salemisha , @snoopysites , @sozhuo , @realitycanbewhateveridesire , @ladigube , @rumitome , @s1ckatheart

[callingofstars]

i am sleep deprived and utterly insane but 3.4 FRAME-BY-FRAME TRAILER ANALYSIS GO!!

(spoilers under the cut)

i think i was right about Phainon fighting the flame reaver to the death and becoming him, in a sense - blending his past and future selves to create the form we see in his ultimate.

the “observations” made by the emanator and likely the aeons, signifying that this is the moment Phainon gains their recognition and ascends to embody destruction. which would also fit with the core theme of that path, giving yourself and everything you once loved away to calamity.

speaking of - MYDEI!!!!!! MYDEI MENTIONED!!!!!!!!!!!! AT LEAST 1 SECOND OF MYDEI CONTENT IN VERSION 3.4!!!!!!!!! EVERYONE CHEER

also this parallel completely destroyed me. his face when fighting beside Mydei never changed, even if now it’s only a fond memory. he even turns and looks over his shoulder, as if thinking Mydei would appear behind him in a blaze of glory, like he used to .i’m going to be sick

these scenes went by really fast but? hey hoyoverse? WHAT IS THIS. i would say the fractured memory cutscene is the trailblazer getting forcibly pushed out of Amphoreus as it collapses, since they are an outlander, but this doesn’t make sense because if so Dan Heng would appear also. and he is fine and nothing happens to him ever (COPING) !!

March 7th and Phainon’s ultimate form are reflected in a few of the mirrors, which could signify that the shattering is more connected to March/Mem/Cyrene and their past rather than the planet as a whole. i am officially not ready for the trailblazer to experience even more horrors

speaking of, and i say this through tears and gritted teeth, i do not believe Dan Heng won the duel w flame reaver. just putting it out there given Stelle’s look of distress and the fact that Phainon gets a turn battling him at the basin.

HE’S GOING TO BE FINE THOUGH BECAUSE EVERYONE ON AMPHOREUS IS GOING TO BE FINE AND NOBODY DIES !!!!!!!! thank you for your time, passes out and dies

[shanxing-wu]

spoilers for hsr 3.2 story below the cut

my thoughts on some screenshots i saved while playing at 3am

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS

phainon, i think everyone was expecting you to be the one to study his body........

mister "that immortal body soaks up damage like a sponge. trust me, i've tested it myself".

mister i was the first to sign up for mydei's keeping up w/ star rail.

ok but his angry face is so cute i forgive him 🥰

if phainon is the one who EVERYONE is relying on to recreate/reincarnate the people of the new world according to his "perfect memories"... would there just be a sudden increase of people who look suspiciously like a certain kremnoan crown prince? who might share similar features or demeanors? and the aforementioned crown prince's reincarnation is a perfect, exact, MIRROR IMAGE replica of the previous cycle. i know this guy does not stop thinking about mydei for a SECOND. we're all doomed.

dan heng's mission log.... "they will be just fine. i sincerely pray so."

thinking about dan heng carrying trailblazer in his arms, desperately doing everything he can to save them. and to think that he inherited all of dan feng's gifts for cloudhymn magic, prowess with a spear– everything. except for healing.

i'm so curious about the full story of the previous cycle and who all those chrysos heirs were! and it's so interesting to me that they left the death coreflame for last, whereas it seems like in our present cycle we're leaving kephale coreflame for last? (or aquila, but i honestly think it will be kephale since it's kind of just... marinating idk...)

also curious about the chrysos heirs that became cerces and mnestia. were they lovers before they became titans? was this a love that transcended lifetimes, broke the chains of the cycle? after learning the story of polyxia saving her sister's life, it wouldn't be the first instance of love being that powerful.

(now i want to write fic about that happening with phainon and mydei. the voices...)

so what if i cried

i like to think, with this extreme close-up framing on his eyes and the way he stares longingly into the distance... the phaidei shipper in me thinks he's talking about phainon when he says "til the miracle descends." that here, at the border of life and death, fighting with everything he has not to give into death, he still trusts that phainon will be the one to deliver the miracle to him and release him from this cycle of endless fighting and deaths.

my first thought was that he's asking if aglaea is dtf here. and i thought: in front of all the dead gods? 😭 i honestly believed we were about to get another "competition in the hot baths" scene.

as a child of divorced parents myself.... this felt like two divorced parents talking about their son 😭

miscellaneous thoughts:

do NOT ask me how many times i had to replay the dialogue when cipher was on screen. i could not stop staring respectfully at her thigh strap. (i was actually really not interested in her design at all until i met her in 3.2. and discovered that i'm weak. so incredibly weak. and gay.)

phainon giving epic, emotional, dramatic speech in front of the entire population of okhema: mem mememem memem mem MYDEI memem mememememem

the casual lore drop that hysilens is dead?? are we not going to talk more about that, castorice??

i loved this story so much. it confirmed so many of my theories but left me with so many questions still???

so many great cameos. mydei and trianne. ACHERON.

THE ENDING WAS INSANE??? CONFIRMATION THAT DESTRUCTION IS THE THIRD PATH? LORD RAVAGER??? WHAT?

in my opinion 3.1 is still my favorite story update (i'm incredibly biased for mydei), but 3.2 was still incredibly fun and jaw-dropping and beautiful. i'm already counting down the days til 3.3.

[hibernatingflame]

Theory: Trailblazer is a Hercules reference

a bit of a ramble post but bear with me. 3.4 leaks briefly mentioned

based on my Flame Reaver is Prometheus theory

context: assuming FR is Prometheus and Phainon is a mix of Prometheus and Phaenon references

in the Greek legend, Hercules is the hero that frees Prometheus from punishment for stealing fire form the gods. so if FR/Phainon/their original entity's punishment is repeating the cycles in Amphoreus, would TB be the Hercules that breaks the cycle and frees FR/Phainon/their og entity from their punishment (fate)?

reasoning:

TB does not appear to have a "real" hero arc yet compared to the other demigod heirs

despite being an outside, TB's high involvement with the coreflames seem to be setting them up for some form of hero arc. having them play a role in breaking the Amphoreus cycles and freeing Phainon does seem like a suitable hero arc for them.

(plus Hercules is a convenient protagonist figure to reference in terms of writing)

if the path of destruction really has something to do with Amphoreus, TB's landing in Amphoreus also appears to parallel Akivili's visit to Nanook's home star system before Nanook ascended.

the demigod of worldbearing is said to be the one to usher in the era nova, but creating a new world has implications of destroying the previous world. given Phainon's imminent crashout + his eventual inheriting the worldbearing coreflame, world destruction to end the cycles does seem like something he'd be capable of doing.

if Phainon is truly connected to the path of destruction and/or Nanook, the path of trailblaze encountering path of destruction parallels certainly check out.

EXTRAS:

recently i have been talking myself out of the “Cyrene is March/Mem” theory. gut feeling: Cyrene increasingly feels like she was a catalyst planted beside Phainon to push him into whatever the higher powers (Nanook? someone else?) wanted him to do. i do think Mem and March are connected, but not necessarily to Cyrene. haven't thought too deep into these though.

[santoschristos]

The Tree of Life - Binah - Kabbalah and the Sephirot

Binah is the womb from which all souls are born, Chokmah the energy that the soul is made of, and Kether the idea of the soul within the Monad itself. In fact at the level of the Supernal Triad, Kether is the self-realization of the Supreme Being that emanates from En Sof, Chokmah is its Living Spirit and Creational Force, and Binah is its Supernal Soul Body through which the Spirit may interact with the lower realms of creation. The soul has always been associated with a feminine energy by Kabbalists as well as many other traditions. Similarly Binah is the Supreme Feminine Archetype, while the Spirit, Chokmah, is the Supreme Masculine Archetype and Kether, the Supreme Union Archetype. Chokmah and Binah are El and Eloha, the creator God and Goddess of this system, together in Divine Union and balance they are Elohim. Kether, however, is neither masculine nor feminine, it just is. The god name associated with Kether is EHEI (Eheyeh), which means “I Am” or “To Be”.

The supernals are the “3 mothers” associated with the Hebrew Letters Shin (spirit/fire), Aleph (air), and Mem (water), which are also the 3 mother rays of Amon Ra: numbers, letters, and sounds that are used to write the name of God, from which all creation comes. The third ray, Binah (Mem), being the one from which all other rays and creational energies are birthed or emanated out from. We see this in the Kabbalah by the path that the lightning bolt or ‘flaming sword’ takes as it carries the creational energies down from source to Malkuth. Binah is the last of the supernals that it enters before coming into the lower realms. Thus, Binah is the closest of the supernals to the world of form, hence it is the original archetypal form, whereas Chokmah is the original archetypal force. These roles of form and force can also be explained through the beginning stages of creation.

Before the beginning of creation there was only En Sof. En Sof was everything, yet no-thing, everywhere and nowhere, all potential but nothing manifest… At this stage En Sof does not even know it exists and has no concept of creation. And then a contraction occurs. En Sof contracted within its own being and from this withdrew from an infinitesimal point. This point became the center and it was a void. But even in its state of void, it still contained the memory of the essence of En Sof that previously was there. This center point of all existence is called the Shekinah by some Kabbalists – the feminine aspect of En Sof. In the very instant that En Sof contracted and this void was formed, so too did the infinite capacity of En Sof move to fill the void, for there can be no place that is not one with En Sof. As the energy of En Sof moved into this infinitesimal point it became a concentrated and intensified spark of light. This spark of light is Kether (the Center Point of the Universe). In the same instant, the intensity filling this point became so great that there was an outward explosion of light and energy moving in all directions. This dynamic expansion is Chokmah (the Big Bang and the photons/energy of light). But the influence of the feminine aspect to define the space and allow for creation was still present as a reflection of the Shekinah, and this influence served as a vessel for the energy to pour into and then subsequently be channeled through towards manifestation. This vessel or womb that channels and directs the light is Binah (Primordial Matter, which leads to Gravity, which is an attractive force that draws things into form). Einstein’s famous equation E=mc2 can be related to the supernal triad, where E is Energy, whose essence is derived from Kether; c is the speed at which light travels outward from its source, which is Chokmah; and m is the mass of matter, which can be likened to Binah. The union of matter and the speed of light (mc2), Binah and Chokmah, releases an extraordinary amount of energy (sourced from Kether) that can be used for creation below the Abyss.

Thus the light flows on across the Abyss, through Daath, and on to Chesed then down the rest of the Tree until it finally reaches Malkuth. But it is Chokmah that generates the life force energy that enlivens the process of creation, while Binah is the womb that holds the egg that, once impregnated by Chokmah’s life-giving seed, becomes the vessel that gives birth to the other 7 sephiroth.

Geometrically, these initial stages of creation are represented by nothing (En Sof), the empty/black point (Shekinah), the full/white point (Kether), the line (Chokmah), and the triangle (Binah). Thus Binah is also the foundation of the entire Supernal Triad, whereas Kether is its root/source, and Chokmah its life force, and En Sof is the unseen/unknowable essence that flows through all of it. The triangle is the first form created and thus it is the primary key to the powers of heaven (the square and circle being the other two keys).

The supernals are in a realm that is beyond the human mind, thus any discussion of them can only be limited to metaphors and symbolic language. And because they are all just three aspects of a unity, it is difficult to say anything about any one of them alone. To say anything at all is to define, separate, and limit, thus not a true representation of the supernals. And yet, often in books these are the three parts of the Tree that are given the most attention – perhaps because they are the furthest from what we are acquainted with and hence the most mysterious and alluring. But truly, the only way to come to know and understand the supernal realm is through direct experience, which is the purpose of the ascension up the Tree of Life, which culminates in the crossing of the Abyss. This ascension brings one the vision of seeing God “face-to-face” – the inner and outer God. This experience may only be a momentary glimpse, but even that is enough to change your life, and it will give you the experience through which wisdom and divine light may illuminate your entire being.

[coloredsp3ctrum09]

[hsr 3.4 spoilers]

_

Phainon and Cyrene feel like a parallel to Dan Heng and March 7th, now that we're separated from Dan Heng currently and our companions currently are Cyrene and Phainon (still believe Phainon is also with us, tho just another cycle's version). There are a couple of similarities too:

Dan Heng and Phainon: Suffered pain and torture from those with higher power (Dan Heng being subjected to a cold prison and forced rebirth; Phainon enduring 33 million cycles holding onto a hope that things will change), has heavy ship tease and implications with another destruction character who they have a lot of history with (Blade/Yingxing; Mydei), both are destruction units (in Dan Heng's case, his imbibitor lunae form), and are shown to deeply trust the Trailblazer and care about them like a partner or companion.

Cyrene and March: Both are cute, pink haired girls who are optimistic at heart (the two of them lampshade this lmao), they're both the heart of their respective trio, they have a connection to the Remembrance path, they like to bring up how cute they are (lol I found this particular similarity funny), and both are Ice units (in Cyrene's case at least Mem is Ice the same way as Rem!MC).

Kind of goes to show that this beginning of a story/cycle is reminiscent of how we started the game, with us building up relationships with others all over again. If we're restarting our journey, it only makes sense that we have our starting trio as well.

[ritualslaughter]

I successfully sent astarion on his way.... braver than any us marine moment ✊

making a girls only party in bg3 so I can kiss some ladies

[aeonising]

ok my last design based prediction doesn't look like it's got legs.

However

Since the recent reveals my expectations on Cyrene have gone adrift. Until I put a few things together. She's obviously connected to the creation of Amphoreus and to March, but since we have Lygus/Irontomb using the scepter I don't think she's keeping him or Phainon imprisoned as her main goal.

Then I was thinking about the other lord ravagers being tied to other paths and suddenly hit me how Cyrene has been hinted at being Remembrance through March and Mem but is also tied to Nanook through the runes on her arms.

What if Cyrene is the Remembrance Ravager? But much like her Honkai Impact incarnation she is a Ravager who wants to back humanity.

Maybe we have a situation where Cyrene and Irontomb are angel and devil on Phainon's shoulder. Lygus pushing for destruction while Cyrene pushes for romance/humanity?

[sumiieon]

this has been bugging me for a while now but i can't be the only one who felt like Mem is a fragment of March? March's condition is somehow correlated to the foreign memories that lingers in Amphoreus if i recalled correctly? Mem reminds me of March so much, starting from the colour palette with Mem's dominant color being pink (which could totally be a coincidence), and then there's her personality shortly being this "cute girl" attitude and all. Just a hunch but what if Cyrene and Mem are all fragments of March's memories? Considering one of the path residing in Amphoreus is Remembrance March's 5* form will be remembrance trust !!

[synesthesiadreamscape]

The Identity of Cyrene’s murderer, or the Past, Present, and Eternal Self

Ancient Hymn Trailer — "Of Titans and the Mortal Realms"

(I know we’re not in Penacony anymore, just let me have this).

There’s something interesting happening in Amphoreus. And no, I’m not talking about the eerie parallels between the world’s superficial god-slaying prophecy and the ongoing Aeon-slaying subplot playing out in the universe, or the clandestine Memokeeper who tried to spy on Herta and Nous, or even the mysterious murmurings of Oronyx calling for their “mother.” All of those things, I think, are the secrets about this world that the writers actually care about wrapping in mystery. What I find fascinating is that, to this point, there are just as many things that they evidently do not care about keeping a secret, making only the barest effort, if any, to try and hide the truth.

I think the identity of Cyrene’s killer is a prime example of this. Let me show you what I mean.

SPOILERS: Amphoreus Act I: Heroic Saga of Flame-Chase and Honkai Impact 3rd’s Elysium Everlasting arc (and also parts of the Elysian Realm arc). You have been warned!

Amphoreus’ first act concludes with Kevin Phainon undergoing Nikador’s trial to prove he’s worthy to inherit Strife’s legacy. We know Phainon is unsure of this path, despite his repeated assertions that he’s been waiting for this moment, and that it’s his dream to inherit Nikador’s authority. As of this writing, the outcome of the trial is undecided.

…Except we do know its outcome, because Mydei has already been drip marketed as the heir of the Lance of Fury, two weeks before 3.0 even dropped.

“O Chrysos Heir that seeks the Coreflame of Strife, you must suffer a thousand deaths, be bathed in blood on the path home, and bear the madness of fate alone, for one must slay a god to become one.”  (Amphoreus' Saga of Heroes | Mydei)

Not exactly suspenseful for the people engaging with Honkai Star Rail’s social media accounts. What’s more, towards the end of Act I, Mem gives the Trailblazer a storybook called “As I’ve Written” to record their memories of the flame-chase journey and the flame-chasers Chyrsos Heirs. Just like the Titans’ constellations are displayed on a wheel in the Vortex of Genesis, the Chrysos Heirs are represented as icons around a similar constellation wheel after the Trailblazer writes a memory of them into the book. Mydei, unsurprisingly, is occupying the same space as Nikador’s constellation, while Phainon is at the top over the constellation I presume is Kephale’s. Again, this is not exactly a well-guarded secret. All of the marketing for Amphoreus has strongly implied that Kephale is Phainon’s fate, down to the design of Phainon’s eyes. The devs are not even trying to hide this, because it is not supposed to be a secret or point of intrigue in-and-of-itself. In other words, we know the result, but we don’t know how these characters will get there.

Now, spoilers-by-drip-marketing are not a new thing in Honkai Star Rail or in Hoyo games in general (looking at you, Mavuika and Dan Heng Imbibitor Lunae and Wanderer and Robin and–). But that’s not the only example of shit they don’t seem to care about keeping secret in Amphoreus. If you frequent any HSR fan spaces, then surely you’ve seen theories by now about our new friend Mem:

If you haven’t, then here’s the sitch: the current running theory is that Mem is Cyrene, or at least connected to her in some way. Supporting evidence for this is a mix of vibes (Cyrene and Mem’s shared pink aesthetic, similarities between Mem and ELF Elysia’s role in Elysium Everlasting) and concrete hints rooted in the narrative (the memories Mem showed us of a little boy and girl [presumably Phainon and Cyrene] when we first land in Amphoreus, and this part of Nameless Faces), as well as the uncanny resemblance between Mem’s as-yet unnamed voice actors and the performances for Elysia and Cyrene in all languages. I definitely hear Marina Inoue in Mem’s Japanese voice acting.

This is still a fan theory, but there are too many coincidences pointing at least towards its partial truth. When it comes to Mem’s identity, it seems that the writers are far less concerned with players knowing who Mem is, but rather why she is appearing to us in this form.

Cyrene’s only explicit appearance as Cyrene in the story so far occurs in a 2D illustrated cutscene of Phainon’s past towards the end of the first act. Cyrene is sitting in a field in Aedes Elysiae, his homeland, and she says he will be “a hero worshipped by all” based on a card she drew (perhaps some Amphoreus astrology?). But Phainon resists this reading of fate because he has no interest in becoming a hero for the world, which is yet another aspect he shares with Kevin Kaslana.

And that’s when we’re confronted with the horror of Cyrene’s fate — she’s stabbed by an unknown assailant, with golden blood flowing from her wound:

To be honest, I didn’t read too much into this image until this past week while watching Cy Yu’s VODs on Youtube. Because upon seeing it again, I realized I knew that sword. And if you’ve been watching all of the marketing for Amphoreus, then you’ve seen it before too.

It belongs to this dude:

First two images are Mythology Opening, last image is Nameless Faces

That’s what happens when you stare for too long at Anaxa crumbs. Stuff gets burned into your brain that you didn’t even know was there, and it comes roaring to the front when you least expect it. Looking at these other stills of Masked Dude at 0.25x speed, I’m almost positive it’s the same blade.

And yes, this is a tenuous connection at best as is, but hear me out. There’s a lot more to it than just the similar blade shape.

Elysium Everlasting

Cyrene is inarguably a variant of Elysia from Honkai Impact 3rd, and if you’re not familiar with the game then let’s just say she is extremely important in shaping Part 1’s finale. TL;DR, Elysia is from the Previous Era, the generation of humans before Kiana, Mei, and Bronya, who lost to the Honkai and had their civilization destroyed. She was one of the Flamechasers, a group of humans who were modified with the genes of strong Honkai beasts so that they could fight and resist the Honkai in ways other humans could not. Mei learns about this past era by venturing into the Elysian Realm, a simulation composed of every Flamechaser’s memories, where she first meets Elysia’s simulation.

Before the Previous Era lost to the Herrscher of Finality, the real Elysia sacrificed herself so that when she returned to the Honkai, her pure love for humanity would influence the Will of Honkai so that the next Herrscherrs could retain their humanity and the will to fight for its survival rather than its destruction. By doing so, she paved the way for a brighter future that she would never witness herself. I flag this plot point because it almost exactly mirrors what happened with Gnaeus at the end of Act I, and you know how Hoyo loves to foreshadow greater plots through subplots like this:

Gnaeus: I will return to where I came from and become a part of Nikador’s divinity once more. In all likelihood. I will also be consumed by corruption. An inevitable course of action if we hope to end this madness. Castorice: You are willing to…sacrifice yourself for a future you won’t get to witness? Gnaeus: This is my purpose, my origin. I am no mortal and I do not fear death…Even so, will you still weep for me? (Kremnos, Cleanse Thy Rusted Blood (II))

The last memory sync the real Elysia did with the realm happened before she died, so reconstructing the memory of her death in Elysium Everlasting required uniting the memories of those who witnessed it - and one of the people who not only witnessed it, but executed it, was Kevin Kaslana.

This leaves us in an uncomfortable position regarding Cyrene’s death. Could her executioner, (presumably) Masked Dude, actually be Phainon filling a similar role to Kevin's? In Nameless Faces, we see Phainon and Mydei fighting Masked Dude themselves, which would seem to rule this possibility out, nevermind that it seems Cyrene died when they were both children, and that Phainon once sought revenge for having his home ripped away from him. How could he be angry about what happened, and also be the reason it happened? And wouldn’t this direction for Cyrene's death be too close to Elysium Everlasting if it’s true? After all, Shaoji said these characters would have their own fates, separate from some of their variants from Honkai Impact 3rd, right? I think this is still true, but it doesn’t have to rule out the possibility of Masked Dude being “Phainon.” 

It’s clear that there’s a lot more to Phainon than meets the eye. “Phainon” is apparently not his true name, and in his recent past he followed a much darker path than the one he’s on now. Kevin also was known to wear a ‘mask’ while he was in MOTH, only rarely revealing his true feelings to the people he was closest to, and even then he kept many of them in the dark, including Su, MEI, and Elysia. Everyone can tell Phainon is going to crash out at some point in Amphoreus, the writing is on the wall re: his lack of a strong will, his surprise that borrowing a Titan’s power actually hurts them, and the little he seems to understand about the true nature of the prophecy he and the other Chrysos Heirs are following.

Castorice: The prophecy gave him a new mission, granting him a new life as a Chrysos Heir. But which is more important to him: his new mission or his desire for revenge?

This part of him, his “past” self that bubbles beneath the surface of his “present” self, may come back to haunt him as he journeys toward Kephale’s Coreflame in more than just a figurative way. It’s not like this is out of the realm of possibility - we’ve already seen how past and present can be superimposed on one another in Amphoreus, interacting in strange ways through tools that construct illusions (perhaps a consequence of both the Erudition and the Remembrance’s influence). Or maybe it’s that Masked Dude is actually split off from Phainon himself, similar to Wonweek and Sunday, or all of Tingyun’s “selves” in A New Venture on the Eighth Dawn.

And speaking of past selves, there’s a pretty fun puzzle throughout Amphoreus called Golden Scapegoat that features a “past” version of the player, which shapes the gameplay into a series of convoluted maneuvers to both avoid your shadow and trick it into creating a path forward for you. If we read this puzzle as an additional clue to the main story’s themes, just as Oronyx’s puzzles involve using shapes to create light and shadow that construct a desired form (Plato’s Allegory of the Cave), then the idea that Masked Dude is a shadow of Phainon has some additional support, though I suppose there’s nothing specifically limiting it to Phainon, either:

"Past self appears as an embodiment of darkness"

However, I did think this passage of the Golden Scapegoat’s Mutterings was interesting given the nature of Elysia’s death, since Kevin knew Elysia wasn’t their enemy and partook in her sacrifice because he wanted to believe in the future she envisioned. Still need to do a close reading of the rest of it, but this is from the 4th part:

There’s also a part of the Mythology Opening trailer that I assume is Masked Dude talking (I could be mistaken, so take this with a massive grain of salt), and while I will say in Japanese it is not clear to me that it’s Satoshi Hino’s voice (I kinda hear it, but it feels delusional), in English to me it has that same uncanny similarity to Joshua Waters’ Phainon that Mem’s voice has to Cyrene’s (compare Phainon’s “even gods can bleed��� to the link clip). This is pretty copium evidence, since these similarities could be all in my head, but for what it’s worth…

Phainon and Masked Dude shown right after each other (0:09 vs. 0:10) in Nameless Faces. What did they mean by this?

One last note on this Phainon/Masked Dude theory that I think is interesting. The theory that Phainon has something to do with Nanook is as ubiquitous as the theories about Mem and Cyrene, and while there’s clearly some Nanook symbolism going on in Nameless Faces when Phainon splashes golden blood on his torso, I am hoping Phainon will have a happier ending than Nanook and that he won’t go nearly as far as Kevin did in Honkai Impact 3rd. But if Masked Dude is some other version of Phainon, perhaps he is the allegory for Nanook’s ascent, and Phainon’s journey will represent an “alternative ending.” To put it another way, Kephale is the Worldbearer Titan, who shoulders the fate of Amphoreus and delivers mankind to hope and salvation. So what is the opposite of this role, or its shadow?

The Worldbreaker, who delivers all to Destruction:

While this theory did make more sense with some additional knowledge from Honkai Impact 3rd, the available official material for Amphoreus, including marketing videos like the Mythology Opening and Nameless Faces, is not exactly subtle about who Masked Dude might be. I mean come on, they use very similar visual storytelling with Phainon and Masked Dude in Nameless Faces as they do for Mem and Cyrene in the same video. This leads me to believe that this particular “secret,” as well as Masked Dude’s potential role in Cyrene’s fate, is yet another plot point that the writers don’t care that much about shrouding in mystery. And to me, this indicates that there is something much, much, bigger that they’re concealing through the story of Phainon and Cyrene, the “why” of Amphoreus rather than the “what.”

And that’s all! Hopefully you found this entertaining if nothing else ^_^ What lore have you found in Amphoreus so far?

EDIT: changed a sentence about what elysia's sacrifice would do for the next generation of humans cuz I realized the way I wrote it before was not accurate. ☺️

Director’s cut:

Chat, is it normal if your CHIMERA has horns? Get it? …I’ll see myself out.

(no but why does this kitty chimera have horns like the golden scapegoat character?)

References:

What Happened in Elysium Everlasting!? Chapter 29 - 31 Story Recap by Homu Labs. This channel is the GOAT for HI3rd lore.

[readingbcilovecrying]

Introduction & Fic Masterlist

Hi there! I’m Mem (she/they). Haven’t been on tumblr in over a decade, but these are the things I do for Gale brainrot. On that note:

I write fanfic on ao3 under this same name (readingbcilovecrying). The last time I wrote fanfic was more than a decade ago and it was for Naruto (lmao). But now I write BG3 fanfic featuring the wizard man/fem!tav or fem!durge (Gale/Tav & Gale/Durge). I love angst and romance and hurt/comfort and smut and everyone is traumatized always. As they say, write what you know ;)

Below is a list of my currently published fanfics with summaries! Hope you’ll check them out <3

One-shots

Devotion (21k words; explicit)

His agenda has always been clear: to be a different kind of god—a god among people, a god who responds to the ephemeral beings of Faerûn and their needs. And with the help of his friends and trusted advisors, he’s accomplishing exactly that. He has everything, can do anything, and nothing is missing except that which he will soon take.

Or: sometimes, the God of Ambition walks around Baldur’s Gate in a semblance of his human form. On one such walk, he begins to learn that he is very, very wrong about something very, very important.

-

[A very long one-shot directly spurred and heavily inspired by giveon’s beautiful fic “glory to the god of mercy”]

Safeguarding (9k words; explicit; pt. 1 wizard foreplay series)

Tav already likes that Gale casts Mage Armor on her at the start of each day. Loves it, actually.

…She’d still like to know the full reason *why* though. And, once the moment arrives, Gale is happy to explain himself—along with a few other things.

—

Or: in a slightly altered timeline where Gale and Tav fall in very horny, very intense love right away, they struggle with the possibilities of the Crown of Karsus. And the future after the Elderbrain. (And Tav really just wants to fuck her wizard in PEACE!)

Beloved - (7k; explicit; pt. 2 wizard foreplay series)

It is their first Simril together.

It has been three months since they defeated the Netherbrain. It has been three months and a day since Shadowheart married them on the eve of Enver Gortash’s death.

And Tav is three and a half months pregnant.

To The Point of Invention - (13k; explicit; pt. 3 wizard foreplay series)

He’s concerned. It’s just how Gale is. He loves her and their growing child, so he can’t help but be at least a little frantic at all times about her and the pregnancy.

She knows. She knows he means well. She does…

But he’s driving her insane.

—

At Tav's insistence, Gale goes away on a trip to Candlekeep and begins to work through some pregnancy-related anxieties with the help of a certain… tool.

Multi-chapter fics

Extraordinary times (in progress; currently 72k words; chapters 4 of 5 posted; explicit)

Tav is a bhaalspawn. She was made to be used. Not to choose. Not to wonder. Not to want.

Gale disagrees—especially regarding the latter.

Or: After the defeat of the Netherbrain, Withers places a majorly suicidal and unkillable Tav into Gale’s care. You know, for fate reasons.

Tonight I can write the saddest lines (complete; 200k+ words; explicit)

He isn’t much of a partygoer, but he’s fairly certain that this—Tav, on her knees in front of a postdoc, with his cock buried in her mouth—is not how these things usually go.

—

Gale’s only concerns are pleasing his advisor and setting himself up well for an elusive tenure-track job… and then Tav transfers into his doctoral program.

Regression (complete; 50k words; explicit)

They were close once, during college. So years later, when Gale runs into Tav at a bar, he's happy to see her. She’s a widow, his divorce proceedings are in full swing, and hey, maybe they get drunk and sleep together, but do they really need to make a whole thing out of it? It's not like they can remember it anyway.

Or: They don’t pick up from where they left off so much as they bulldoze a new path entirely.

ABD (in progress; act 1 complete; 31/? published; 140k+ words; currently on hiatus until Summer 2025)

“It’s different from Waterdeep. Good. But it’s still a university. And being an academic is still a job, no matter how much some like to pretend it is much more.”

“That’s…” Tav breathed in no small amount of surprise, “not what I was expecting.”

“Hm?”

“You just strike me as someone who is very… attached to their academic persona. I was sure you’d rank ‘Doctor Dekarios’-ing quite highly among your favorite pastimes.”

-

Tavelle is a disillusioned grad student on the cusp of finishing her doctorate in Interdisciplinary Magics. Gale is a new Wizardry professor looking for happiness after his life falls to pieces.

Inside and outside of the university apparatus, they find their way. Together.

Tav of Somewhere (in progress; 1/13 published; on hiatus until I finish TICWTSL)

Sceleritas says her father gave her a gift. Tav wants him to take it back.

Unfortunately, traveling long distances with the constant impulse to murder is even harder than you might think. Thank the gods she meets an entirely-too-handsome and nice prince, as well as a few other weirdos, to ease the way.

-

A Resist!Durge/Gale adaptation of the movie Ella Enchanted (2004)

The Warm Quiet (in progress; 7/~20 published; on hiatus until I finish TICWTSL)

Gale is infatuated with Tav... and then he starts noticing things.

--

A canon-ish retelling of the Gale/Durge romance.

[callingofstars]

HSR 3.3 VERSION TRAILER ANALYSIS HEAR ME OUT !!! incoherent through my tears

spoilers ahead go watch it <3

In every Trailblazer scene they’re fighting with their lance - they’ve never reverted to an earlier path (as far as I remember??) and the circumstances for doing so now are perfect.

The lance symbolizes preservation, perhaps also a tribute to Mydei and the lance of strife, fighting even if it’s futile. He tries to protect everyone as they slip through his fingers and fall to the cycle of fate. Preservation was the first path they obtained from their own free will, and as the path of destruction reins over Amphoreus, he raises his lance to defy his own fate.

He’s under the gaze of Nanook and he fights for the virtue of preservation rather than destruction. also, if he truly isn’t remembrance anymore then what happened to Mem(I am forcefully removed from the stage)

^ Aglaea’s threads, possibly? in the background I can see Trailblazer and Phainon but the other two are itty bitty. The atmosphere loosely matches Aglaea’s prophecy of dying in the baths (given the gold that pours from the walls, it matches the bathhouse) although that is a stretch since this is part of the city in the sky.

Alr phydei time because WHAT THE FUCK HOYO

They’re becoming the titans they represent…Mydei becoming the words that were said to Gnaeus, "Why do you die for a future you won’t get to behold?" sacrificing himself for the last time because can see glory in this one. Phainon kneels under the weight of the world just like Kephale - the last surviving human for the last surviving god - because he truly loves the world and has been fated to witness its darkest moments.

Mydei’s pupil is in the shape of a sun. screams and sobs.

also what gets me is the fact that Phainon is only beginning to realize the full extent of his role. if you talk to his npc in Okhema, he belittles himself compared to the other Chrysos Heirs, saying that he isn’t special like any of them. he didn’t know he was going to be the last one - it had been a sneaking suspicion, fate had woven its course, but now it’s coming true. he has no choice but to pick up his blade and face the end on his own.

The speech he gave beneath the world-bearer about Aedes Elysiae, how it was in his hand to end the suffering of his people by fulfilling the land’s destruction. he’s doing the same thing,,,what if his friends and family then are parallels to the Chrysos Heirs. i’m inconsolable

I could be reading too much into Phainon’s artifact set being red and blue armor, the combination between strife and sun. I could be. however….phydei relics

THAT’S BASICALLY IT however I have many thoughts about Phainon and how he connects to the Flame Reaver, and that rant is found below :3👇

I won’t go into lengthy criticisms about the inconsistencies in Amphoreus’ cyclical history because I believe they’re going to explain everything in 3.3, just know I have them.

Theoretically, Chrysos Heirs can only exist for 2 cycles - when they’re demigods and when they’re titans. Flame Reaver is from a timeline where he stole multiple coreflames and essentially went rogue, trying to catch up to a certain cycle and end it in some way.

We have no way of knowing how Flame Reaver knew about Mydei’s weak spot. if he knew it from Phainon, this means they must share a consciousness (unlikely), or that Flame Reaver is from the future (slightly more likely). Other reasons may be his accumulation of divine powers, or perhaps every Chrysos Heir is fated to die in a similar way (ex: the demigod of romance dying in a bath, or the demigod of strife being stabbed in the back).

That isn’t to say Flame Reaver isn’t some form of Phainon, but the MAIN reason for debate is what The Herta uncovered at the end of the previous version.

This is essentially a gateway to Amphoreus, a place where past cycles meet future ones and converge. Trailblazer and Dan Heng are here because they came from beyond the stars, this is likely a fragment of them that’s still in the real world. So why does Flame-Reaver also have one??????? Is he not from Amphoreus?????

I know that’s a stretch soooo we’ll just have to wait and see !!

[lunaefall]

Amphoreus is a World Long Gone: A Theory

Hardly an original theory at this point, especially for HI3 veterans, but I was thinking that by writing my own post I could bring up my own points, maybe something new to the discussion.

HSR did not shy away with the nods to HI3, bringing back the Flamechasers (a group of fallen heroes). Some characters are familiar faces and some are complete originals, but the story they're going for is a new version of the Elysian Realm.

And we know the Elysian Realm is a memory simulation, but then how is Amphoreus the same? Well, let's get into the different points that support this theory.

The Trailblazer themself is Remembrance.

This probably isn't much to go off of as a starting point, but I'd like to mention that every Path the Trailblazer unlocked since Belobog has been deeply meaningful and relevant to the story. This already means that Remembrance is a key player in the Amphoreus arc.

And what does Remembrance focus on? Memory. Amphoreus being a memory noe isn't that outlandish, but it still needs more evidence — and this brings me to the next point, one we had since 2.3.

Amphoreus can only be accessed through the Remembrance.

The Garden of Recollection being the only faction that can detect Amphoreus seems strange at first — unless you remember that the Memokeepers are tasked with finding and recording memories. They may have found Amphoreus due to it being a memory as well.

Black Swan also referred to it as the 'Eternal Land', meaning it may be preserved as a memory of a specific period of time.

This is where the similarities to Elysian Realm really show, as this simulation in HI3, based on the Elysium Fields, also preserves past memories.

And the Elysian Realm is, in fact, based conceptually on Greek mythology in how it serves as a 'sanctuary' where the memories of past heroes are located.

And now, comes my final point.

The drip marketing title is different for Aglaea.

Notice the difference in the titles for the drip marketing for 3.0? The Herta's "Extraterrestrial Satellite Communication" is pretty similar to previous marketing posts, but Aglaea's is different. "Amphoreus' Saga of Heroes".

This is almost as if no message is being communicated and we're running into the records of someone already dead. It's no wonder The Herta herself is getting involved in Amphoreus, she probably wants to research Fuli and the Remembrance more from it. And she rarely gets involved in a situation in-person so this has got to be big if she's joining in.

Speaking of Aglaea's drip marketing, we do have this quote from it.

"You shall summon the heroes of this world, and lead them to once again embark on an endless journey."

And there's the Trailblazer drip marketing description too.

The Trailblazer sets sail toward the unknown. Alongside their newest companion, Mem, they will record the adventures and stories they experience in Amphoreus — And "memories" will also flourish eternally, paving the path for the journey ahead and recording glorious sagas.

Rewriting the story of Amphoreus

I think the quill in the skills of our Remembrance TB represents that this time, the TB will rewrite the story of Amphoreus and change its fate.

Just like, in the Elysian Realm, Elysia was able to summon the remaining 12 Flamechasers and use the power (literal game mode buffs) they blessed her with to defeat the Herrscher of Corruption. Making them into real heroes that helped save the world, rather than repeating their tragic fall from the Previous Era.

That's all for my theories and thoughts on this topic. Let's see if this turns out accurate or is another one of my late night stupid imaginings again (it's literally past midnight for me).

[bitchwhoreofastorm]

The first Tongue to die in the invasion goes in silence. Shadows take him from this world, and in the morning, his body is found in his freshly-conquered chambers, his throat torn to shreds.

This sends rumours flying. Rumours in the stones of the walls, who witnessed it; rumours picked up by the wind that whistles against the window-frame, carried out into the streets. By noon all of Ebonheart is aflurry. The Nords are angry, but not frightened; the qethsegolle are  frightened, but only of the Nords. And all say: assassin. They say: secret-murder, shadow-knife, black blade. The word they use is Mephala.

Even the Atmorans hear of it. Elja hears it first, while picking through the ruins of the city. She sings it to Ingridal on the city wall, and Ingridal passes it to Vashina in the field, and from Vashina, word flies to Mem-yet Chemua. The invasion is swelling like a wave in the shallows, by then; Mem-yet came too late for the conquest of Ebonheart but there are still the scraps of armies to defeat, dwarves to freeze from their burrows, refugees to slaughter. Minor things. They are waiting for Ysmir to lead his forces up north before they all descend on Mournhold and they are restless. Boredom does not suit the Atmorans. When they hear of tthe murder of Alabar Kings-Clever, they are interested.

A hunt, they jest to each other-- it is a jest, because they all remember Atmora, and understand how ridiculous is the idea that there is anything in this verdant wasteland worth hunting. Still, they like their jests. Only a few of them have participated in Vrage's grand crusade, so there is only a few of them to gather in the shadow of one of Ebonheart's ruined towers, the day after the Tongue was assassinated. Elja, Ingridal, Vashina, Mem-yet; the four of them erect a small shrine from the rubble, and they capture an elf to slay upon it. They paint each other in blood and they sing of Kyne and her son Hir. They make jokes, darkly,  about their throats being ripped out. They place bets on which of them will succeed in hunting the quarry before the others, and decide that the victor will be the first to storm Mournhold.

It is Elja  as the oldest who sings out the call to hunt. Her thu'um shakes the broken stones of Ebonheart, and the bones of the earth echo back: Mephala.

Nothing upon Tamriel is worth hunting. Its bones are too talkative, the towers sing too loudly to hide a path. For those who can listen, to find any quarry is trivial-- and Mem-yet is better than any at listening. She goes first to the site of the murder, still uncleaned, and smears her hands in the dead man's blood. When she touches her wet fingers to the walls they remember the event as if  it were happening again, and they hum it, and she hums in return. She follows the directions she's given, leaving bloody fingerprints in her wake.

Mephala is the word for spider. It is the word for a secret, creeping thing. Mem-yet has been told by Vrage that the elves are also secret, creeping things, that they love to kill from the shadows. He ran his hand over the back of her bare neck and warned her that she ought to guard herself in Morrowind, lest an elf take her from behind.

It is such an elf that has murdered Alabar. Spiders, Mem-yet understands, do not like to crawl far, especially when they are in danger. They prefer to retreat to their webs and hide.

This spider's web is down by the river-- the river tells her so. Mem-yet finds it in one of the elven longhouses, which is tall rather than long. With great reluctance, loath of enclosed spaces, she allows herself into a stinking hovel of perfume and cusions and cowering elven girls hiding behind inefficient daggers. A word makes short work of the girls, turning their flesh  to ice, and then Mem-yet follows the muttering stones through a hallway, a narrow door, and down a stairway into the bowels of this filthy foreign city, where murder is thick in the air. The Nords shed so much blood upon taking the place that it's leaking through the stairway's earthen walls.

At the base of the stairway, Mem-yet finds a shrine, and she finds her murderess.

The shrine is a foreign goddess, many-armed, abstract and corporeal all at once; her face is unfamiliar but the air whispers Mephala. At the foot of this shrine kneels an elven woman drenched in old blood, a bloody black dagger clutched  in one hand, her eyes closed in ecstasy and her face tilted towards the dripping roof. Around the woman, candles.

Just as the stones lead her here, they sing of Mem-yet's arrival. The  elven woman hears it. She ceases her whispering and turns her face.

She looks exhausted, delirious and triumphant all at once; her mouth is rimmed with blood as if she'd eaten of Alabar's heart. She says something to Mem-yet in a language that Mem-yet does not understand, and then she laughs a bitter laugh.

Mem-yet draws the hand-axe from her belt.

The woman says something else, staring defiantly up at Mem-yet. There is the dagger in her hand, but she  does not seem inclined to use it. She says something else, something spiteful, twisting her bloody mouth as she does.

Mem-yet tilts her head to the side. She glances at the shrine, then back at the elf--  her quarry, she understands, but this is no beast worth hunting. The goddess of the shrine is as unimpressed as Mem-yet herself is.

But the elven woman follows Mem-yet's gaze to the shrine, and for a moment, in the  dim candle-light, Mem-yet recognises her expression: love. Love, and relief, excitement--  homecoming. This is a homecoming ritual, whatever Mem-yet has interrupted her quarry in, and the jealousy could ruin her.

Whatever is about to happen, this assassin will get to go home.

The thought of it is hateful. Bitterly hateful. Mem-yet is no magician, she cannot trap a mortal's soul, but she is seized with a spiteful need to keep this elf, to force it forever upon this damnable Nirn with her. She raises her axe, she takes a step forwards, she inhales to form the most evil word known to her, she--

She goes unnoticed. The elf, staring adoringly at her goddess, raises that knife and cuts her own throat.

The first elf to kill a Tongue dies in silence. She falls to the ground at Mem-yet's feet, her throat erupting blood around her own blade; Mem-yet watches her die and feels only terribly jealous.

The stones are singing with blood, drowned in it; the statue of Mephala is silent. Only Mem-yet is atonal, her breath ragged to her own ears, her half-formed thu'um dissolving into a tuneless whine that sounds almost like a baby's cry. Sick with bitterness, she closes her own eyes and crouches by her self-slain quarry, dipping her hand into that rushing blood, finding no answers and no comfort in the flow.

Her sisters will not  know of her failure, here. By the time Mem-yet has finished carving this corpse into strips, not even the bones of the earth will remember who really killed the last Night Mother. But the conquest of Mourhold will always feel like an unearned prize to her, and the city itself, a pittance compared to what treasures the elves claim.