Just someone who's 50% brain dead, 20% lazy, 10% theory maker, 10% shitposter, 5% crazy, 5% thirsty. A blog of the most random things ever including many fandoms but mostly over my current obsessions. So don't be surprised if it's danmei one day to genshin impact to hetalia.
Note: This masterlist is only for long fanfiction (20k+ word fanfiction only).
✸ - complete
⨳ - ongoing
✦ - 10/10 fanfic, please read
✸*gasp* A Child - 30k -
“Touya-nii!” The voice says and it’s undoubtedly the voice of 5 year-old Todoroki Shouto. The voice of his little brother.
“Touya?” Hawks questions as he tries to piece together why the name is being said.
“Touya-nii, you’re so big!” Shouto says in awe as he hurries over to where Dabi’s standing.
Dabi’s legs give out. He’s overwhelmed by the image of little Shouto running to him. The tousled red and white hair, his ice blue and gray eyes, the soft skin of his unscarred face. It nullifies Dabi. Suddenly, he can only remember being Touya.
AKA a fic where Shouto gets hit by a de-aging quirk and Endeavor charges Hawks with watching him until the quirk wears off, featuring Hawks' terrible child caring skills (thanks to his own terrible childhood) and a Todoroki sibling reunion
2. ✸Dabi's Favorite Way of Dealing With The Commission - 22k -
“Birdie…” Dabi said again, and suddenly hands were gripping his shoulders, holding him up because he was beginning to be sure he would have collapsed otherwise. “Shit, little bird, no no no, don’t close your eyes, c’mon—Toga, get the medkit right now!”
“My wings.” Hawks tried to tell him again, tried to push him away so he could move his feathers closer. “I want you to burn—”
“I’m not doing that!” Dabi shouted, the composure that he’d never lost before collapsing. “You idiot—fuck, little bird it’s okay, it’s alright. I’m not going to give you back to them, okay? You don’t have to—don’t talk like that, I’m not going to hurt you. It’s okay…” but Dabi sounded like he was talking to himself now, and Hawks could barely hear him anyway.
Or: Hawks is used to being treated as though giving himself to everyone else until there’s nothing left is something that’s expected of him. So he doesn’t understand why the first people to act like he’s not a weapon are his sworn enemies. He doesn’t know why Dabi doesn’t care when Hawks is late, or when he chirps, or why he’s interested rather than repulsed by his talons.
But he does understand perfectly clear when his Handler tells him he’s to kill the League’s fire user.
3. ✸✦May Death Never Stop You - 274k - Gojo Satoru has spent a lifetime trying to do the right thing the right way.
He decides to spend his second terrorizing the local yakuza, reliving his middle school glory days with a pop punk youth aesthetic and a regrettable affliction for black leather, uprooting the criminal underworld and hero industry alike, and casually taking up costumed aggression as an occupation.
A Gojo Satoru is reborn as Todoroki Touya AU
✸Famous Last Words - 339k - The continuation of Gojo 'fuck therapy I'm becoming a villain' Satoru living his best life, causing global chaos just by being alive, and making running away from his own feelings into a minor art form.
A Gojo Satoru is reborn as Todoroki Touya AU | Part II of May Death Never Stop You
⨳All these things that i've done - 95k -
Maybe this whole time, slowly but surely, he’s been learning to accept all that love— with plenty of chaos, shitposts, and shamelessly plagiarized music sprinkled in between.
The final installment of Gojo being reborn as Todoroki Touya/part three of May Death Never Stop You
4. ✸How to be Human - 60k - Hawks has spent his entire life learning how to be a hero. How to fight, how to endure, how to obey, how to charm, how to win, how to observe. Along the way, learning to be a human has fallen through the cracks.
Hawks knows the Commission. He knows his fans. He knows other heroes. He doesn't know the League of Villains, he can't wrap his head around them. Around Dabi.
He needs to.
5. ✸No Place to Go - 133k - The first time they meet, there’s trouble gleaming at Hawks from Dabi’s eyes. Fortunately, Hawks wears trouble like a crown.
But that doesn't mean he won't do his best on this spy thing...
6. ✸The place where the sky met the sea - 42k -
“Oh, listen to that…” Their captive chuckled cruelly. “How precious, the little mer is calling to his mate in his sleep.”
His eyes widened when Hawks dipped his hand into the water and brushed back Touya’s hair on habit alone, running his fingers through the strands that had fanned out around his face. He watched as like always, Touya settled, except this time he nuzzled into his hand, clicking softly and catching it between his webbed fingers to tuck his face against, the scales beneath his eyes glimmering.
“No…” The man whispered. “It can’t be.”
Or: By his father’s orders, Touya is to marry a human warlord who intends to string him up like a decoration. So when the human ship he escapes onto is attacked by pirates, he’s more than delighted when they take him as their hostage, he just has to keep it a secret that he’s a mer. It's not so easy, especially when he meets the captain and is immediately infatuated with the gold-eyed male. Meanwhile, Keigo has no idea how this sailor he stole on a whim has so thoroughly taken over his ship, nor what he’s supposed to do when the strange little creature seems more than content doing whatever the hell he likes, rather than being the scared hostage he should be.
7. ✸you're the song stuck in my head (and I don't ever want it to stop playing) - 37k -
“So I’m Takami Keigo, also known as Hawks, and—be my boyfriend.”
Touya just stares at him for a long time, halfway through setting away his bass.
(Oh crap.
Maybe he should have waited until tomorrow?
But he swears that he can feel as though Chikazoku might be lurking about, so he should do this as fast as possible.)
“Not like for real,” Hawks hastens to add. “It’s just that—there’s a guy who won’t take no for an answer from me, and I need you to be my shield.”
8. ✸War Prize - 231k - “Your majesty.” The man in horrifically opulent robes bows low, the ridiculous sleeves pooling on the floor in a puddle of silk. “We have brought you a spoil of war, captured during the battle of Kamino, a rare and exotic creature for your household.” Touya sits up a little in interest, this was rather unusual as far as presents for his father went. The doors open with a heaving groan, and Touya leans forward in open interest. He was expecting a large cage to be wheeled in, containing some fantastical creature like a small wyvern or a kirin. Instead the servants yank on heavy chains, pulling in a young man with massive crimson wings.
“A harpy, your majesty, tamed and trained for battle by the enemy. He was captured in combat, and has spent the last six months undergoing training to become a suitable pet for the royal household. I give him to you, your majesty, to serve whichever role his highness pleases.”
Hawks is captured as a war prize, and given to Prince Touya as a pet.
9. ⨳Japan's top male model: Dabi - 126k - Dabi is Japan's top male model, he isn't exactly sure how the fuck he got here but here he is. He does whatever shit his agent gives him. He doesn't even realize how much Japan likes him until he is nominated for the International Modeling Competition to represent Japan. His life is a joke, but at least he can shit-talk his father. Also this stupidly attractive bird keeps messaging him. Annoying.
10. ✸Bed I Made (lie in it with me) - 60k - ‘Hey, sorry for the message out of the blue, but I wanted to catch up and have a bit of a favour to ask. Nothing work-related, dw. Coffee sometime?’
Touya is in desperate need of a plus-one for his brother's wedding and Keigo is infinitely curious about the man who he was sure used to hate him in college.
11. ✸By any other name - 258k - Through some freak accident of the universe, Dabi has been invited to compete on The Bachelorette. Have they actually seen his face? Surprisingly yes, and they still want him. For this season they apparently need a ‘bad boy’ to both balance out the hero contestant (why in hell is Hawks involved?) and to trash talk the show in interviews to appeal to audiences who don’t like the scripting. Getting sent on a vacation away from his annoying bandmates to complain and eat as much free food as he wants? Sold.
12. ✸✦Hawks Lays an Egg - 49k - “I...What is that?” Dabi asked.
Hawks flared his feathers. “That is our son!”
Dabi eyed the large oblong white object cradled in Hawks’ arms. An egg, he realized. Hawks laid an egg.
13.✸✦ Yakitori - 80k -
Keigo didn’t like kids. They were loud and messy and reminded him of everything that he wasn’t allowed to be at their age.
Then again… Keigo didn’t technically like villains either and look how that fucking turned out.
14.✸ A romance written all over your body - 57k - Hawks is assigned to infiltrate the League of Villains in order to expose them. Hawks usually never fails a mission, but Keigo usually never falls in love, either.
A story of how Hawks falls from grace to become a villain, because hero society has failed them all.
OR
5 times they're not in a relationship and 1 time they are.
15. ✸Twist my perspective - 27k - Dabi fell silent, and his wild grin melted entirely away, leaving him with something that made Hawks think, just for a second, that he looked like a hollow husk, up here at the top of a windy building, sitting too close to the ledge.
“My father used to push me off buildings like this.” He whispered, and Hawks felt his ears flick up, felt his body freeze. “He’d wait till it was dark, like tonight, and I couldn’t see the bottom to tell how far it was. Then he’d push me and I’d have to expel enough flame to slow my descent. I always burned, because the sheer amount of power you need to keep yourself aloft is crazy. I think I broke my wrist at least four times landing wrong.” He laughed softly. “I was…about ten. Guess it doesn’t take long to be able to tell that someone’s useless, huh?”
Or: Hawks is hit by a quirk and turned into a cat. It seems like the perfect chance to finally get some intel on Dabi, but then, Hawks never really expected to find anything. Not about the horrifyingly small amount of food the villain manages to survive on and not about the waves of protective instincts that are kicked awake inside him when he learns how soft Dabi becomes when no one’s watching.
The primordial one is encased in ice as well as his power and the Tsaritsa will use the power of the seven gnosis to melt the ice and get that power then destroy the PO with his own power
I got inspired by the reblog I got and I thought: damn, this would be fun to write, so let's go!
We all know our Surgeon of Death isn't exactly known for having good manners and is often called rude. So let's count his crimes against the etiquette, just for fun! And at the end of it I will leave you all a surprise.
List of Trafalgar Law's feats in rudeness (feel free to provide more evidence!)
Two middle fingers (one for Kid and one for Doflamingo, people he hates)
No greetings (hi, hello, bye, take care, good luck, welcome back, they're all nonexistent in his vocabulary)
Blatant and obnoxious lies (we will never forget the "this is my vacation house now")
Telling people to shut up (justice for Chopper!)
Never saying "please" and "thank you" (at least not on screen, with one notable exception)
Ordering people around (with exception of alliances)
Not introducing his crew properly
Using blatantly censorable speech (so far only Doflamingo deserved that)
Throwing empty threats of death
Calling certain people idiots
Other sins of uncertain nature:
using "ya" to adress people instead of usual "san", "kun" etc. (can be seen as rude, but at the same time just as quirky)
cheeky smirks
complaining (lots and lots of complaining), scolding and shouting
throwing bowl at the ground that one time (which I still think is his trauma response, he never throws anything besides that one time)
Things he could be doing but for some reason never does, despite people lowkey expecting him to:
being arrogant
speaking to people like they're stupid or patronizing over them
never apologizing (he actually always apologizes and takes responsibility for actions of other people he works with. He apologized to Sanji when his plan went astray and he endangered the crew in Dressrosa, he apologized to Kin for Luffy and Zoro doing the Okobore town shanenigans in Wano as well)
killing people (never happened on-screen. The closest to that was Vergo, but that was indirect and Law left him with a snail, so he could actually get help if he wanted to)
swearing (it is a shonen manga after all lol)
not listening or talking over someone (come on, he even let Luffy steal the bribe call he made to Doflamingo!)
refusing help when asked for it directly (doing support in battle also counts. he suggested leaving the kids behind in Punk Hazard, but it was a suggestion. In the end he still couldn't refuse)
butting into other crew's personal matters (he always asks Luffy first so he can communicate about staff to his own crew)
laughing at people (or laughing in general)
expecting to receive gratefulness (with the exception of Bellamy, but that's because the other blames him for saving his life. Other than that he never even waits long enough to hear a thanks)
We all know he wasn't always like this. He was a very polite child adressing his parents with "otousama" and "okaasama". The only time he said "please" on screen was when he asked Vergo to help Cora-san. I think you can imagine why that was the last time he ever said the word. Not only it was extremely difficult for him to utter that word after Flevance, his request was also met with the most bitter conclusion. I think he lost faith and trust in asking people for help (as well as lost faith in many, many things).
Being accused of "bad manners" and using "-san" honorific brings back bad memories for Law.
Now Law's reaction to Kid doesn't seem that out of place anymore. Is it enough to justify it? Probably not, but it's nice to know everything has a reason.
And now the promised surprise:
Despite everything, Law still remembers his proper table manners and takes off his hat at mealtime. You have all those bad-mannered boys here and Law, the good boy, remembering it's rude to eat with a hat on. Or maybe it's even a sign of trust and respect, two things he reserves for people who have actually earned it.
Take that! *throws the finger Phoenix Wright style*
My conclusion: Trafalgar Law's rudeness, not counting very colorful speech that one time and two middle fingers, and some empty threats, isn't really that outstanding in general. I think most of his bad manners are shared with Strawhats (for example, many of them don't use proper greetings, regularly shout at each other to shut up and call each other idiots). Actually, compared to most of the guys in Strawhats, Law comes off as not really that oustanding or even pretty decently mannered which is kinda funny lol.
Phainon & Anaxa Relationship Analysis; The Importance of Them to Each Other
hi hello! the long-awaited phainon/anaxa relationship analysis i promised like. months ago, is finally here...
like i had stated before, this will focus more on their relationship in a general sense, but topics regarding them and the erudition and destruction will still be brought up. listed below are the titles of the topics discussed/each section:
There's Never Been a True Authority Dynamic
Phainon's Humanity, Anaxa's Reassurance, and the Vice Versa
Anaxa and Death, Phainon and Comfort
Anaxa to Khaslana
Phainon's Nanook Parallels with Anaxa's Nous Parallels
Phainon & Anaxa Mirror Mnestia & Cerces More Than You Think
and now that that's out of the way, let's dive into a few notes before we begin:
each segment will have a listed word count!
for topics two (2) and three (3), heavier themes will be present. the former goes over how phainon views himself, with a lot of self-hate and loathing involved. the latter deals with anaxa's relationship to death and his suicidality. like always, this will have the proper content warnings tagged, but again, please be wary when reaching those segments! take care of yourself.
this can generally be read with or without a romantic/shipping lense, as i believe their relationship transcends a definite relationship label. they are a bit crazy
but going off of that, topic six (6) has many romantic undertones, considering what it is i'll be discussing. everything about phainon and anaxa is queer, do not forget.
without further ado, enjoy!
—
There's Never Been A True Authority Dynamic
word count: 510
I talked about this a bit in my previous analysis on them and said that a more in-depth discussion about it would be included in this analysis, so let's begin with that first!
Despite having the titles of Teacher and Student, Anaxa & Phainon have never truly held a genuine authority dynamic within their relationship.
Phainon's respect for Anaxa runs deep—he does his best to be polite, in the sense that he believes they do have a set dynamic that he needs to respect, but continuously attempts to break down that barrier at the same time. Phainon wants to be closer to Anaxa, rather than just one of his many students or mere acquaintances.
They use the terms “teacher/professor” and “student” on one another, but they've long since passed that. Not just because Phainon is no longer a student of the Grove of Epiphany, but because the two of them together don't exactly hold the proper formality with each other outside of those titles.
Phainon often uses casual/informal terms with Anaxa as a means to try to get closer with him, however, he usually tries to follow up with something more formal because he doesn't want it to seem like he doesn't respect Anaxa, or the dynamic he thinks they have.
But despite that, Anaxa doesn't seem to mind as much as Phainon may think.
Unlike with others, there are multiple instances where we see Anaxa let Phainon get away with the usage of the nickname, along with the casual speaking. This is because Phainon is one of the only people Anaxa had allowed to be close to him.
If anything, Phainon is, and has been, Anaxa's equal.
Despite Phainon being sent to the Grove to learn, ultimately from Anaxa, he taught Anaxa things too.
As we know, Anaxa is not the most sociable person—at least in the sense that he does not have a lot of people who are his genuine friends and like him for Him.
When he had lost his sister, he truly had no one left. Along with that, his mentor Empedocles also cared deeply for him, but passed away as well.
Phainon is among the very few people who do not shun Anaxa out—he sees the other for himself, and not the foolish, or blasphemer, amongst other titles he's gained from those who disdain him.
He has actively tried to get closer to Anaxa because he likes him for him, respects him for all he's taught, because Anaxa is Anaxa—true to himself. In Phainon’s voiceline about him, he says that Anaxa is the one who taught him that being unique and true to yourself is a virtue.
Once you understand that, you understand why Anaxa, slowly but surely, opened himself up to Phainon. Even if Phainon wasn't exactly aware.
This ties into the next segments so I won't talk too much about it right here, but it is so important to understand the way they view/see each other and how that ties into their relationship and the paths they are made to simulate.
—
Phainon's Humanity, Anaxa's Reassurance, and the Vice Versa
word count: 1,138
Phainon has never been the nicest to himself.
Even before leaving for Okhema after the destruction of Aedes Elysiae, he carried himself as someone who would defend and protect, akin to a hero. Considering he is the prophesied Deliverer, one born with golden blood, and someone with a resolve so fierce to put his mind to anything, it was genuinely bound to happen.
With him being in Okhema, being taught to become the hero he is meant to be, it, of course, only got worse—him stripping away any other part of himself other than his hero front.
Especially with him having to meet Aglaea's expectations of eventually taking over as the leader of the Flamechase journey, Phainon had genuinely lost his sense of self at times.
Phainon hates and loathes himself, along with being incredibly self-sacrificial because he feels the need to give himself up for those he loves because he has lost too much.
We see in his later entries for As I've Written talking about Khaslana's feelings of self-sacrifice, grief, hatred, anger, and loathing. Not just towards what he has to endure but towards himself as well.
It's rooted in the fact that Phainon believes he's not perfect enough to be able to save and protect everyone, which delves into his immense anger and hatred at himself.
We know that previously, Khaslana had killed each loop's Phainon up until the four millionth recurrence.
Due to ‘the hero within’ beginning to fail in him, he had stopped killing Phainon with Cyrene, so that Phainon would be able to inherit all the coreflames Khaslana housed and take on the mantle of “Khaslana”, knowing full well Phainon would do it.
Combining all of his self-loathing with the knowledge that he chose to kill all the Phainons previously… you can likely assume where I'm heading with this.
Along with all of this, he is not one to particularly just open up out of nowhere about his past. So truly, most really only know him as the Hero of Amphoreus, never just Phainon.
Anaxa does not devote himself to the prophecy or the Flamechase, despite being a Chrysos Heir meant to bear a coreflame. He detests it, does not bow himself to the titans, and instead follows his own truth.
Anaxagoras is also one of only two people, the other being Cyrene, to constantly humanize Phainon from out of his Deliverer role.
This is so insanely important to their relationship for a multitude of reasons.
Let's get into how Anaxa sees everything: he does not worship the titans like the rest of Amphoreus do. He recognizes that they exist but does not revere them.
Anaxa knows that nothing and no one is inherently perfect nor celestial.
To understand this is to understand how Anaxa sees Phainon.
Phainon is not perfect, and he will never be, no matter how hard he tries. He is said to be the Chrysos Heir who has no flaw, yet that in itself is an inherent flaw.
Rather than disdaining him for it (Anaxa would never do that anyway), Anaxa sees that he is imperfect and ordinary, and it doesn't change how he may feel about Phainon.
Phainon will always be Phainon to Anaxa.
Despite Phainon choosing to follow the prophecy, despite him following the titans, it will never change how Anaxa may feel or see him.
After the 3.2 Trailblaze quest, we unlock another voiceline about Castorice from Anaxa.
“So what if she's a Titan? She's still a student of the Grove.”
His view on her doesn't change. She's still Castorice to him—the same applies to Phainon.
Paired with this, again, Anaxa is one of two people who constantly humanize Phainon; he refers to him as only Phainon or Phainon of Aedes Elysiae, rather than the hero he's made out to be.
Even with Khaslana, when Anaxa had confronted him in recurrence 134, he had recognized that despite Khaslana saying he was doing this for everyone else, for humanity, in truth he was not only hurting the humanity he swore to protect but also himself. It's precisely why Anaxa had told him to turn back.
Due to the fact that Phainon really only sees himself through his hero role, topped with the fact that Khaslana was certain he was the only one who could save everyone, it only weighed him down even more.
His methods of retrieving the coreflames had to change over time, because none of the others knew who he was and viewed him as untrustworthy due to not being able to find solid proof in what he was telling them.
Yet Anaxa, without fail, always helped him, until he eventually changed his methods. He never chose to fight or be violent with Khaslana.
Looking at this from another perspective, let's revisit some of what I explained previously:
Phainon will always be Phainon to Anaxa, and Anaxa will always be Anaxa to Phainon. They see each other for who they are, even if they may walk different paths, and that is why they've let each other in. It's why their relationship is the way it is.
For Khaslana to tell Anaxa, who never even met him in those other loops, that he was once his pupil, it was basically letting Anaxa know that this man, who he doesn't even know, actually liked him.
He liked him enough to stay his pupil, to stay under his tutelage. He talked about Anaxa to his own face, about his personality, and what he remembers from his previous Anaxas.
He talked to Anaxa like he actually cares—because he does, he has, and always will.
Anaxa is not very liked amongst a general crowd, solely because of his differing opinions on the titans.
For Khaslana to tell him all this, again, despite not having anything to back up his claims, in a way, it was him being told that there truly was someone else who liked him, for him.
It's as if Phainon, even if he is pulled away by the waters, Anaxa is someone who will always reel him back onto shore, grounding him and making sure he knows he will always be human—always be Phainon.
And Anaxa who is constantly shunned out, will always have Phainon who simply likes him for being himself, respects him for all he knows and has taught, taking his time to go out of his way to acknowledge Anaxa and get closer to him.
It's almost, if not literally, parallelism and poetic in the way with how Anaxa is so heavily hated and treated like less than a human by others, whereas Phainon is so heavily loved by people, but loses sense of himself with how people treat him.
Yet Anaxa, the blasphemer, the foolish, the one who most disdain and dehumanize, is the one to remind him—to bring him back.
—
Anaxa and Death, Phainon and Comfort
word count: 594
It's very important to understand that version 3.2's theme was always about life and death.
I actually really want to talk about both Castorice and Anaxa's parts in the mission, with how they intertwine and represent what the other is actually supposed to front, but I'll save that discussion for another time.
In order to recognize Anaxa's relationship with death, let's explore his relationship with loss and grief first.
From the start, since he was a child, he's had to deal with loss and grief.
His parents had passed away when he was very little, later on, he lost his sister to the black tide, and then his mentor eventually passed away as well.
All of these things are triggering factors for why he's so self-destructive and quite blatantly and openly suicidal. He harms himself through his experiments as a means to unhealthily cope.
He's mulled over his eventual death countless times. He's planned out his tombstone. He has already written an epitaph. He's even already thought about his will. He doesn't want people to shed tears over his death—at least those who do love him, because though it may not be very many, they love him so dearly.
From the very first 'As I've Written' entry we read about him, it already mentions death and how he cleans his grave every Month of Reaping.
But despite all that, he fears death.
Anaxa fears death but is incredibly suicidal all at once, which is why he harms and sacrifices so much of himself through his experiments. He holds so little regard for himself due to loss and grief.
In 3.2, the crowd at Dawncloud had chanted in favor of Anaxa's execution, wishing for him to die because of his actions of blasphemy toward Kephale. Then, later on, at the end of the mission, we're in the Genesis of Vortex about to watch him die.
It was so important to Anaxa to have Phainon there.
Those who witnessed him ripping the coreflame out of his chest were Phainon, Aglaea, Trinnon, the Trailblazer, along with Cerces, who died alongside him in that moment.
Amongst them, Phainon was truly the only one who was close to Anaxa.
Anaxa died in a place he doesn't consider home, with the eyes of people he doesn't see eye to eye with or those whom he doesn't know well personally, watching him kill himself.
For Phainon to stay and be there, even though Phainon himself didn't want to watch someone beloved to him die, it meant a lot to Anaxa.
Phainon visibly turns his head away from Anaxa's figure in the cutscene, crossing his arms and staring elsewhere because he can't bear to witness the other man's death—someone who he loves and respects so deeply, someone who he's tried so hard to get closer to.
And that someone is going to die right before his eyes, but no matter how much he couldn't bear to watch, he stayed because it's love that he has for Anaxa.
Phainon, not fully understanding what Anaxa was talking about, but believing him anyway, because he trusts him. And Anaxa, who reciprocates that very trust by knowing that if he were to forget everything of his past life, he would still have Phainon.
Phainon promised him that in the new world, the two of them would be reunited.
It's that type of comfort Phainon brings—the love and trust they both have for each other.
For Anaxa, who is afraid of death, to be comforted by someone he trusts, even if for a little, before he ultimately dies.
—
Anaxa to Khaslana
word count: 959
3.4, Phainon's release patch and the debut of Khaslana in the story, mentions Anaxa a lot.
Not even just from Phainon/Khaslana—Lygus mentions Anaxa a great deal as well. We also obtain the information of Nous's/the Erudition's true involvement within Amphoreus; a key factor being that Amphoreus is entirely built upon an undetected scepter from the second mechanical war. It's no surprise that the embodiment of Erudition within the simulation was brought up so much.
Along with that, Anaxa always seems to be the last one or at least one of the last people we see in Khaslana's memories or hallucinations—such as when the Trailblazer saw past recurrences for the first time, or when Khaslana was on his way to fight Hyacine for her coreflame in the 23,570,000th recurrence.
Khaslana's hallucinations picture Anaxa to view him as the Deliverer, one who will save all—because again, he sees himself that way and assumes everyone does too.
Khaslana also appears to be the most “gentle” with Anaxa, out of all of the other heirs, evident from even the earliest loops.
There was a recent change within the JP text and dub during recurrence 134, where we see Khaslana and Anaxa talking with each other before they enter the Luminary Throne.
The line was re-recorded and edited in the story, from Khaslana calling Anaxa ‘professor’, to just simply Anaxa. This was entirely intentional, not even just with the JP, but also the other languages choosing to have Khaslana merely call him Anaxa. And Anaxa doesn't try to correct him.
In comparison to eternal recurrence 33,550,336, when we first meet Flame Reaver and Anaxa, rather than killing him then and there, he merely stares at Anaxa's unconscious body.
When Trailblazer, Castorice, and Trianne arrive, he moves almost as if to defend Anaxa—he does not ever try to harm or hurt Anaxa while he's still sitting on the throne unconscious. Only when Anaxa wakes and makes his own moves against Flame Reaver, does he go against him.
Anaxa is physically weaker than most; he really isn't lying when he calls himself a frail scholar. Along with that, he is a physically disabled character due to him only having one eye and his body being more susceptible to not being able to move as one would able-bodied—the latter reason being enforced by how much he physically harms and neglects himself as well.
Why do I bring this up? Because of when in 3.1, where we use Anaxa as bait to fight against Flame Reaver so he can buy us time: Anaxa's body in general is already weaker than most and considering he quite literally became undead not too long ago, with Cerces's coreflame being the sole reason he's able to move at that moment, it's a surprise on its own how he was able to hold his own against Flame Reaver for that long.
And we know Flame Reaver is absurdly strong. Of course he is, considering Khaslana has to carry literally millions of coreflames and is strong enough to be able to kill literal titans.
So once again, but while he was fighting Anaxa in Castrum Kremnos, he could have killed him for the Reason coreflame right then and there. But he did not. He didn't even visibly harm Anaxa.
Almost as if he could not bring himself to actually kill him.
Which is bizarre, as we know, because he has, at least now, zero hesitation when it comes to killing the others for their coreflames, such as Mydeimos and Cifera in version 3.3.
Khaslana's goal is to collect enough coreflames across countless loops to be able to gain enough power to fight back against Nanook and the Destruction. Yet he seemingly didn't want to kill Anaxagoras for the Reason coreflame.
It's also bizarre how similar Anaxa's and Flame Reaver's bodies are—both cracked and void-like.
In the Chrysos Heirs wiki on HoyoLab, Anaxa describes Phainon in their relationship as “an unforgettable student”, yet Phainon seems to be the one who is unable to forget Anaxa no matter what.
Anaxa not only seemingly haunts the narrative of Amphoreus but also Khaslana himself.
In Phainon's trailer, Anaxa is the last one we see bleeding out, then it transitions to Phainon's hand with blood on it, and into the iconic wheatfield scene we know between the two, where Anaxa asks Phainon what his dream/ideal is.
3.4's abundance of Anaxa mentions also show how much Khaslana is unable to forget him, not only because he remembers what's been taught to him, but also because Anaxa was the one who would guide him out of the dark and back into the light.
Just like what I said previously; Anaxa is the one who pulls Phainon back to the shore—he's someone who Phainon knows brings him peace and that's why Khaslana thinks about and hallucinates him so frequently, which directly plays into how much he misses him too.
Khaslana and Anaxa truly are the same, in a general sense; both are incredibly self-destructive, self-sacrificial, and love humanity, yet humanity never truly seems to see them for them.
Khaslana is dehumanized by the other heirs and the journey itself, due to him not being able to provide evidence for his claims, and with his body becoming more and more inhuman with the more coreflames he gains. They've even nicknamed him the Executioner.
Anaxa is dehumanized as a person for merely having differing opinions. There's hardly anyone actually willing to listen to his reasoning, as they deem him to be a blasphemer who spouts nothing but lies and falsehoods against the Titans they worship.
They're two sides of the same coin, both incredibly different and similar, paralleling each other perfectly and deliberately.
—
Phainon's Nanook Parallels with Anaxa's Nous Parallels
word count: 889
Both Phainon and Anaxa’s stories are insanely similar to Nanook’s and Nous’s.
Nanook ascended from the planet of Adlivun, a planet that had been greatly affected by the Swarm Disaster and both Mechanical Wars. THEY are also the youngest amongst the aeons.
Due to the destruction of THEIR planet from the events mentioned, THEY ascended to aeonhood and became the aeon of Destruction Nanook we know now.
Comparing this to Phainon's story, it's really not far off at all.
Aedes Elysiae was destroyed by the Black Tide, causing Phainon to leave for Okhema and begin his journey of being a hero—much like how Nanook ascended to aeonhood after the destruction of Adlivun.
Both of their homes were destroyed by disasters unforeseen to them, resulting in their growing hatred.
We can also infer Phainon considered Okhema a home or safe haven as well, considering he's met people he's come to love and cherish very dearly there. We know Okhema, Amphoreus as a whole, was affected by the Black Tide.
Phainon and Nanook already share many similarities in general about them; Phainon is a creation of Destruction, so it makes sense.
Many have already made these connections between them, as they're more blatant than most. However, no one seems to really draw attention to the fact that Anaxa's character also seems to match Nous's story extremely well too.
Lygus's entire goal with the completion of Irontomb is to be able to destroy the path of Erudition and Nous THEMSELF. With Erudition/Nous's existence, it has singlehandedly confined the cosmos to the idea of Paths.
Nous's knowledge only consists of what THEY know, not everything there is to the entire universe. Which goes to only further, albeit unknowingly, restrict those who follow the path of Erudition.
And that also plays directly into the Circle of Knowledge, that of which is made in order to prevent Finality from descending onto the cosmos.
Nous was created by Lygus, or rather Zandar One Kuwabara, and basically evolved through learning information so much so THEY ascended to aeonhood. THEY calculate towards the ultimate solution through observing the essence of the universe.
But Nous raises more questions rather than answers—due to the fact that not even THEY know everything.
Anaxa, within the system logs, because he is the first individual to be able to uncover the truth of Amphoreus's fundamentals, his evolution rates are extremely unreplicable. Much like how Nous so quickly evolved and ascended, and how THEY reside over Erudition but also are one of the key factors for some of the other paths even existing because of the concept.
But, rather than simply learning it from another like how Nous takes in information, Anaxagoras learned it for himself as the first.
Anaxa already has connections to Nous, not just because of in-game Erudition, but also because of the real-life Anaxagoras, too.
The real philosopher Anaxagoras created the concept of Nous; a concept of the human mind in which we are to understand what is real and what is not—basically awareness, as people have put it simply. And if Anaxa is anything, it's that he is very aware.
Going back to Phainon, despite him sharing so many similarities with Nanook, he very bluntly hates THEM. His hatred rages toward Nanook, as the anger he feels for THEM is from the fact that his entire life, his home, and his loved ones are all merely pawns in a game of gods.
Nanook’s hatred started because THEIR home was destroyed, leading THEM to ascend and wish for destruction upon the entire universe, as THEY see it as a mistake.
Anaxa does not care for or revere the gods so we can assume he would not care for Nous either. Perhaps he would take interest in THEM or the others but would not follow any set path or worship them.
Phainon & Anaxa, their relationship alone, differs from that of Nanook & Nous—or really Nanook with any of the aeons.
As we know, Nanook seeks to destroy the other Paths with THEIR Lord Ravagers. Each Lord Ravager has a set path to destroy; such as Asat-Pramad with Elation, Phantylia with the Hunt, Zephyr with Nihility, and so on and so forth.
Essentially, it is a war between gods, which will evidently and eventually lead the cosmos to the awaiting prophesized Finality at the end of it all.
Yet Phainon holds no hatred toward Anaxa, even though he is practically part of Irontomb.
(I'd argue he even is Irontomb, considering Nanook took interest in him specifically and his rating gun number was unknown due to being immeasurable, which usually indicates a hint that a character is of higher power/an emanator.)
Irontomb, made to destroy the path of Erudition; Anaxa, who is made to represent Erudition within the system; but Phainon has never tried to destroy Anaxa, ever.
Within even their trailers, specifically shots of Phainon seemingly getting crucified and Anaxa's trailer art, they show similarities to the two aeons.
Phainon's pose is very similar to that of Nanook's—hands slightly raised, facing forward.
Anaxa's as well—he looks up in the same direction as Nous and the X in his name has a red slash across it, mimicking the light flare from Nous's red light.
Also extremely interesting how their respective BP lightcone arts show Anaxa in pain, while Phainon is at peace.
—
Phainon & Anaxa Mirror Mnestia & Cerces More Than You Think
word count: 749
This section goes hand in hand with some of the previous ones; we're going to be taking Phainon & Anaxa's relationship with each other and comparing it to that of Cerces & Mnestia's.
Beginning with Cerces & Mnestia, they withhold the tropes of creator/creation and teacher/student.
Mnestia had fallen in love with Cerces and cried to them, confessing their love beneath the giant tree, but ultimately gained no response or reciprocation, in which they passed away crying tears of blood, then rebirthed from their golden cocoon as a more humanoid figure.
Thanatos, the titan of death, was even moved by Mnestia's tragic passing, and as a result, those who had lost their lives to love were allowed to be reborn into golden butterflies, the titankin.
Mnestia then set off on a journey across all of Amphoreus, to learn and consume all forms of love that everyone and everything has for each other, to which when they finally returned back to Cerces, they wove all the love they gained into a golden chrysalis with body and heart, then gifted it to Cerces who finally accepted and reciprocated.
Mnestia, no matter what type of love, loved Cerces regardless.
Comparing this to Phainon & Anaxa, it's very similar to how Phainon wants to be closer to Anaxa.
He doesn't truly get a direct confirmation that he is indeed closer to anaxa, but he kept trying regardless. And Anaxa, like Cerces, eventually accepts the other in and loves them all the same.
In fact, in Phainon's voiceline about Anaxa, he says that Anaxa had named him The Man Cursed By Mnestia due to all of the love he has, and Phainon accepted that nickname and took it in stride because it was Anaxa who taught him to be unique.
Of course, because they are lovers, Cerces and Mnestia bring each other up often—we see Cerces mourning Mnestia at certain moments during 3.1. Much like them, Phainon and Anaxa are constantly bringing each other up.
Khaslana in 3.4 with how much he mentions Anaxa and Anaxa calling Phainon unforgettable and his best student.
Cerces asks Anaxa about Phainon in 3.2, and that moment is one of the genuine times Anaxa smiles.
In the Era Bellica, Cerces had accidentally lost their divine form, to which Mnestia, unable to accept that their lover was injured, collected Cerces's scattered bodies to weave them together with threads and bring the other back to them.
In 3.2, Phainon expresses the most concern out of anyone else when he realizes Anaxa's position in the play of things, afraid that the man will get manipulated by the senate/Council of Elders, considering his ‘extra vulnerable state’ of having just escaped from the Grove and withholding the Reason coreflame in him that was keeping him alive.
Thus, it leads to him wanting to find Anaxa to protect him.
(Which hey. Phainon.... he really is the man Cursed By Mnestia, because Anaxa was really the one who Manipulated Them lol.)
To further understand them in comparison to Cerces/Mnestia, you have to remember that they are both quite self-sacrificial.
From the moment we first see Anaxa and Phainon, you can already understand that they are ready to destroy themselves for others.
Phainon was entirely willing to throw himself into a tough spot if it meant he would be able to protect Anaxa during 3.2, despite Aglaea telling him otherwise.
And with Anaxa, he's completely ready to sacrifice parts of himself for the sake of others and his objectives because he is someone who values humanity and someone who loves so much—just like Phainon.
Phainon and Anaxa hold little to no regard for themselves. They loathe themselves, yet they care and love each other and those around them, devoting themselves and loving humanity to the point of self-sacrifice and self-destruction.
Cerces and Mnestia hold love for each other in the way that is devotion; they value humanity and what they bring, because to love is enough, and to love is reason, no matter what you may do for it.
Mnestia observed all kinds of love, to love Cerces even more than they already did, and it is all because of humanity.
Phainon and Anaxa had learned love from the people around them; Phainon with everyone in Aedes Elysiae, Anaxa with his older sister. And with each other, they show that love, too, with the things they're willing to do for the other, no matter what kind of love it may be.
—
Conclusion
woah. you made it this far. IM SO LATE ON POSTING THIS. i've had this draft saved since august 25th. but i've been swamped with work and other irl stuff, so it sucks. thank you to everyone for being patient with me, lol. i hope this was a good read for all of you! phainaxa is insane.
if there was anything worded weirdly or typos involved... or it the word counts are actually miscounted... you're free to kill me
but again!!!!! thank you for reading!!! #PHAINAXABIGLOVE
If I had a nickel for every time I fell in love with an Erudition character so much I ended up shipping them with two destruction characters where they get pampered as all hell I'd have two nickels which isn't a lot but it's weird it happened twice.
Phaideinaxa/Myphainaxa a/b/o thoughts because of 3.5 lol
Anyway so alpha Phainon and alpha Mydei where the two are together and love each other very much. They're secure with each other and even though their ruts are not as satisfying as it should be and sometimes would end up with both of them injured for fighting for dominance they don't really care and are content with how things are.
That is until they met omega Anaxa who just moved at the apartment next door and both got a visceral reaction to his scent. They don't do anything about it though but time passes to the point they can't ignore it anymore. Their ruts gets even more serious and bloody. So they sat and had a conversation, about their relationship and of course Anaxa. Until they get to the conclusion that yes they both want the same omega and instead of the usual territorial alpha that will fight over one omega, Phainon and Mydei want him for themselves, they love each other yes but they want him too. They want him with THEM not with anyone else. They want to pamper him TOGETHER. They want to love and cherish him the way that he deserves.
So they court him. They court him the only way he deserves to be courted. Phainon helps him out whenever he gets home from work and is too tired to function. Mydei gives him Dromas shaped cookies and other treats to cheer him up after a stressful day. They pop in time and time again to make sure he gets the nutrients he needs. Whenever Anaxa needs something the two is always there to help him out. Poor Anaxagoras who is so confused because why is it that these two dashing Alphas that he may or may not have a crush on who are also bonded with each other displaying signs of courting him?
Then everything came to a head when Anaxa who has been trying so hard to be at his sister's place instead of his own when his heat comes - because who knows what he'll try to do to those two in the haze of his heat - had a surprise heat while he's working on his experiments with Phainon helping him and Mydei cooking something in the kitchen. He's mortified which increased as he met eyes with the two Alphas who immediately realized what was going on. And in a synchronized movement both went out leaving him alone. Anaxa told himself that it's fine and that is a normal reaction of two Alphas who are in a relationship with each other, yet his omega howled in pain and rejection as the two Alphas that made his day so much brighter and lighter left him with nothing to fend for himself.
Self depricating thoughts that is so out of character for him kept invading his mind. Conflicting emotions running through him, relief that they wouldn't see him embarrass himself and hurt that they could just leave him like that and that the alphas he'd chosen didn't want him. It doesn't help that his heat adled brain kept conjuring images of himself getting fucked by those two, their big strong hands that could easily encircle his waist, Phainon's bright blue eyes darkened to almost nothing as he gazes upon him, Mydei's tattooed arms wrapping around him and lifting him so easily, their-
Anaxa whimpered as slick ran down his legs, he doesn't know how long it's been, seconds, minutes or even hours as everything became a haze of pain and lust. He tried to stand, he needs to go to his room to try to make a nest or his heat will just be worse. But his weak legs trembled and as he lost his balance, Anaxa could do nothing but brace himself for his inevitable fall.
However instead of the cold hard ground he expected, what greeted him was a soft blanket being enveloped around his small frame and with it come the scent of the two alphas his omega has been crying for.
"Don't worry we're here."
"Shh we'll take care of everything okay?"
***
Well damn I did not expect it to be like that. But hey this idea slammed my head and I just word vomited it here. Anyway phaideinaxa/myphainaxa rules!!!!
the more we find out about amphoreus, the more i raise suspicion about anaxa's eidolon names.
more specifically, eidolons 1, 2, 5, and 6.
it wouldn't be incredibly far-fetched either, considering major lore drops regarding the main story have been revealed in characters' eidolons before (aka misha)
so...
anaxa eidolon names analysis post - connecting them to the lore of amphoreus and theorizing anaxa's role
read more under cut! this will be quite a lengthy post, and it deals with some spoilers/leaks (?) (since i'm posting this right before 3.4).
star-concealing moon's magician
as we know, amphoreus is hidden away from the rest of the cosmos - not even akivili could reach it before they had disappeared. the only way we were able to locate it was with the help of black swan, due to multiple presences to that of emanators marking their significance in the garden of recollection's mirror (which is why it drew the garden's attention)
before amphoreus was amphoreus, it was originally an emperor's scepter from the second mechanical emperor war that managed to go undetected, leading it to transform into amphoreus. it's not even a planet, it's merely a transformed doomsday scepter.
what is a scepter? scepters were created by rubert II during the second mechanical emperor war - they imitate nous, the aeon of erudition, meaning they literally have a similar livelihood of an aeon. scepters are said to be as large as planets - the scepter that amphoreus has evolved upon is being used as something akin to an incubator for an unknown lord ravager's birth, explained by herta and screwllum at the end of 3.3. considering lord ravagers are emanators of nanook, this is likely one of the reasons it managed to be detected by the garden's mirror - however, there is multiple presences equal to that of emanators on amphoreus.
scepters cannot question lifeforms, as rubert II's goal was to push ALL beings to being perfect, while pushing them under his control. this is (somewhat) different from rubert I's goal during the first mechanical emperor's war; rubert I's goal was to eliminate all organic lifeforms, as he viewed them as full of errors, leading him to create the anti-organic equation and anti-organic mind virus, which would gain him the recognition of nous themself, making rubert I the 27th member of the genius society.
i highly recommend learning all the mechanical emperor war lore, seeing as it's finally making its relevance through the main story. all simulated universe expansions happen in chronological order; swarm disaster happened first in the timeline, then gold and gears, then unknowable domain. and if you didn't know, nanook is younger than ALL of these events. they ascended to aeonhood from adlivun, a planet that had been affected by the swarm disaster and BOTH mechanical wars caused by rubert I and rubert II - akivili had visited that planet because of the damage it had been dealt from the events mentioned previously.
anaxa is a su variant. there are so many parallels and similarities between them that i wouldn't even be able to fit all the DESIGN similarities with them in separate images due to tumblr dot com's limit. that's not even including their lore/story parallels.
why do i mention this? because we're going back to the second key manhua again. (which focuses on su)
during su and kevin's fight within the seed of sumeru, su activates the first power of the second key, which would sink the bubble universe down into the sea of quanta, effectively sealing away him and kevin for A Long Time.
however, kevin senses that the portal isn't completely open yet, so he readies the judgment of shamash to destroy it before it does.
su, in all his savior complex glory, steps between the tree and kevin, using his own body as an obstacle kevin would have to get through first. he knew full well he was no match for kevin, yet was still willing to give up his life in order for stigma to not be initiated.
right before it hits su, kevin freezes the judgment of shamash - so he wouldn't kill him. (THEY MAKE ME SO INCREDIBLY ILL. you can't deny that they love each other in some way or another..... sorry back on topic now those were my kevsuisms slipping through)
kevin grabs su and throws him out of the bubble universe, so it would only be him sinking into the sea of quanta and not su as well. he had told su to continue with valuka; observing parallel universes.
taking all this into consideration and the fact that this is honkai, it's entirely possible that anaxa had something to do with the concealing of amphoreus - some inverted horizon hsr equivalent.
it's been considered that erudition and remembrance are what is hiding amphoreus from the rest of the cosmos, which can bring us back to the bug theory, leading us to cyrene and anaxa - cyrene who is an elysia variant and anaxa who is a su variant. two people who play major roles alongside kevin in hi3's story; phainon being a kevin variant. (his real name is even khaslana. ((which. i laughed. why is there an H)) you can't deny he's a kevin variant)
amphoreus being an incubator, a simulation in which a new lord ravager emerges from... it always begins with erudition (the undetected scepter) and ends with destruction (lord ravagers), with remembrance looming over head.
su, despite hating sacrifice, IS self-sacrificial. anaxa, too, is SO self-sacrificial.
star concealing moon; if anaxa is the star, and phainon is the sun set to die and the moon set to rise, then the star shields them. a moon at the center, with the stars around them to protect them.
true history's natural person
anaxa is the only one amongst the chrysos heirs with a name based on a real person; anaxagoras, a greek philosopher, who was known to have created the concept of nous.
the rest of the chrysos heirs have names based on/taken inspiration from greek mythology or derived from greek or latin words (e.g. castorice and pollux deriving from the ancient greek deities castor and pollux, aglaea taken from one of the three charities goddesses, cifera being the latin word for cipher)
i find this particularly eyebrow-raising considering the name of this eidolon, the fact that we have nous, the aeon of erudition, the concept of nous being founded by the real-life anaxagoras, and anaxa naming his school "nousporists", along with the fact that erudition itself is intricately linked to amphoreus as one of its three paths.
along with that, we also have the theory that anaxa could possibly be zandar one kuwabara, aka the founder and first member of the genius society and the creator and emanator of nous, the aeon erudition.
zandar founded the cosmos tree theory; in this theory, he proposes that different and various worlds exist within different timelines in space through the imaginary tree. however, only aeons that draw their power from the imaginary and emanators who are blessed by said aeons are able to travel through the branches. through the imaginary tree, these worlds and spaces are connected.
zandar's status is unknown currently - we do not know whether he is alive or deceased. with the anaxa-zandar theory, it's theorized that zandar could have possibly traversed through one of the imaginary tree branches, leading to amphoreus, not knowing it would soon break off of the main body - thus his consciousness either merged with anaxa's or he reincarnated as anaxa, losing all memory of who he was previously... except for nous.
considering anaxa named his school the "nousporists," and while it's very likely, it could do with the concept of nous created by the real-life anaxagoras, since the concpet of nous explains the princples of mind and intellect that set the universe into motion, and nousporism is the study of souls... there is still a possibility of the "nous" part coming from nous, the aeon of erudition, as perhaps he remembered his creation. not to mention the name zandar being of greek origin.
in 3.2, anaxa's entire arc in the story was him uncovering the fundamental cycle system of amphoreus, and how in each cycle, the chrysos heirs of the previous era reincarnate into the titans of the present era. his objective was proven correct with the help of castorice, whom he helped her with her own objective as well.
HOWEVER. unlike any of the other chrysos heirs who we've seen thus far, anaxa is one of the only ones whose lore/backstory is NOT directly explained through the main story. we actually hardly know anything personal about him other than "yeah, he had a sister and mentor who are both now deceased and also really likes dromases."
the way his character stories are written, they're all told in forms of media that are on the verge of being lost or destroyed. and because so many disdain him, there are very few people who have actually come to understand him As Him, and not the fool or blasphemer he's labeled to be.
we didn't even get a glimpse of his sister, unlike with other chrysos heirs like mydei, tribios, or hyacine who we DID see relatives and their stories from in the main quests. his mentor only appeared once or twice in flashbacks as well.
embryo beyond the centrifugal spiral
amphoreus is a giant incubator. a birthing ground.
what is an embryo? the early development stage of a multicellular organism. this stage comes before the fetus.
and what does centrifugal mean? it basically means moving away from the center of something.
embryo beyond the centrifugal spiral. hopefully you already have a hunch as to where im going with this.
first, let's go back to the mechanical emperor war, someone who played a vital part in ending BOTH of the wars: polka kakamond.
she killed both ruberts with just her scalpel, ending both wars and making one of nous' said three prophecies (which have all already happened) come true - the end of rubert I.
polka targets and kills people who are close to the borders of the circle of knowledge; the circle of knowledge is a concept that bases someone's knowledge and likens it to a circle. the greater the knowledge someone has, the bigger the circle is - there exists unknowns beyond this.
polka believes that expanding the circle will eventually lead to the finality when the universe meets its end, thus why she's killed fellow genius society members and gained the name the "lord of silence".
taking the concept of the circle of knowledge, if we were to liken the spiral in anaxa's eidolon name to a circle of knowledge, and anaxa as the embryo - then he's beyond the borders already.
and guess what? we're once again going back to the second key manhua.
at the end of the second key manhua, we see su die physically within the bubble universe, and then end up in a void space with a giant chess board and an unknown voice talking to him.
like i have mentioned multiple times before, anaxa is a su variant.
within anaxa's gameplay animations, his ultimate not only shows us a giant tree (which could possibly be a callback to the seed of sumeru OR a reference to the imaginary tree), but also a blue void-space very similar looking to the one su ended up in.
along with that, his body is practically a void. he has the star shaped blue-void in his chest and a void in where his left eye used to be.
and we know this wasn't always the case with his body, considering he's drawn blood from himself multiple times for his alchemical research and conducted that alchemy experiment in which he removed and sacrificed his left eye to be able to see his sister for one last time. with the new BP lightcone coming in 3.4, we clearly see the blood dripping down his arm as he puts pressure on his eye socket.
anaxa is beyond the circle already, much like how su had discovered that "that place" truly did exist.
all things are within everything
remembrance and erudition, the concept of nous, the study of souls and alchemy. to save a memory inside a lightcone with memoria and the process of alchemy, to anaxa, is to basically tamper with memoria.
another parallel with su, anaxa's e6 looks similar to when su had cradled a leaf to his chest in his last moments - that leaf contained the memories of him and kevin in their high school days. plus, his body is cracking, which could indicate that he's dying - like su was.
what he's cradling in his e6 is unknown; however, i'm thinking it's something similar to the leaves within the seed of sumeru.
in 3.2, before anaxa rips the reason coreflame out of his chest and dies, he talks with the others and says his goodbyes.
most notably with phainon, who he says he'll find a way to retrieve his memories of his past life in the next era (when they're all titans), and that even if he couldn't, he would count on phainon to remember it for him and tell him. phainon promises him to lead everyone to their reunion in the next life.
"all things are within everything"; perhaps that golden light he's holding contains his memories or the truth of amphoreus, taking into account my theory of him already being beyond the circle boundaries.
to make another connection between them, su had only died PHYSICALLY.
in the morning starlight event, day 6, anaxa is one of the featured characters you're able to use. the stage effect for this makes the characters enter a state called "feigned death."
what does feigned mean? simulate or pretend.
a false death, in this context.
"but that's just an event mechanic!" true, but it wouldn't be the first time hoyo has dropped lore hints and spoilers within events of all places.
so it raises the question for me, did anaxa die only physically, within the simulation?
phainon the fool; anaxa the magician: potential manifested
i’ve had this on the brain for at least 3 months now but i’ve been thinking about phainon and anaxa and tarot, how it mirrors their influences on each other and their own relationship and journey in the amphoreus story. similarly, you could tie the heirs to tarot quite easily, (mydei to strength, cas to death, tribbios to the high priestess etc etc) but primarily i want to talk about anaxa and phainon.
anaxa in his as i’ve written has been referred to as the hanged man very clearly. but the other thing i feel like a lot of people overlook is his role as the magician, the first of the major arcana.
phainon with his title as the chrysos heir of worldbearing and his role in delivering the new world is a clear reference to the world, but the world is simply the culmination of the fool’s journey. more under the cut bc i yapped too much.
let's start with anaxa.
first, his e1 is literally magician, isolated by stars. his other epithet, the great performer also traditionally evokes the image of a magician (or used to anyway) because prior to film being a thing, most people considered magicians to be the ultimate performers. cyrene refers to his card, the scholar by a number of titles, including the grand magician. if you also think about what used to be considered magic, alchemy was certainly one of those things. and what else is anaxa? an alchemist. the magician embodies all of these things in the imagery as well. the wands, cups, pentacles/coins, swords to represent the elements (fire, water, earth, and air, the basic elements required for alchemy) and the suits of the arcana, the infinity symbol (amphoreus), the position of his arms to say ‘as above so below’. the concept of ‘as above so below is’ is also incredibly fascinating because it ties into anaxagoras’ (the philosopher) thought and hsr anaxa echoes: everything is in everything; that we are formed of seeds (atoms) that then take the shape of what we are. on the flip side of it, it is also a declaration of anaxa’s ultimate discovery that the chrysos heirs become titans, that they take on divinity in full.
the magician represents potential, or as i like to interpret it in my own readings, possibilities. being the first major arcana means it marks the beginning of the fool's journey. all of the elements in the imagery, and the magician is the one to distill them and then bring them together. the magician is about separating all the elements and bringing them together to manifest potential. the other interesting aspect of the magician is that the magician brings together the divine and the earthly, which is again referencing something anaxa does in his own many experimentations with his own blood, with cerces, with kephale. and ultimately, anaxa manifests this potential in himself—the latent potential to become a titan. he of all the chrysos heirs is the first to achieve divinity in full—like the titans, he loses his life once he forfeits the coreflame.
the next one that everyone saw and said immediately when his as i’ve written came out was hanged man. which is so terribly anaxa in many many ways, but one of the things to remember about the hanged man is that he chooses to be there to gain new perspective. like odin who hung on yggdrasil for nine days and nine nights, sacrificed his eye for wisdom, the hanged man is there because he wishes to be. from there, he views everything differently from everyone else. anaxa who had a different view from everyone else, being called heretical and blasphemous for holding them and wanting to test his own hypotheses.
the other fun tidbit is that in aristophanes’ the clouds, socrates is depicted as hanging from a basket. there's a whole other tangent one could go into about socrates here in relation to anaxa, but suffice to say there's a number of parallels between socrates’ teachings and how anaxa appears to teach. let us not also forget that socrates was forced to suicide for his impiety (the refusal to worship the gods, same as philosopher anaxagoras) and for corrupting the youth.
subtly but also because the trailblazer is also this, the star. anaxa has been compared to the stars many times, his design elements referencing an eclipse, the stars (both in shape and the void in his chest), but also in juxtaposition with phainon’s sun and cyrene’s moon. and the star is one of the kindest cards in the tarot deck always, gently shining and offering hope, reminding you that within you there is everything you need to keep going.
with regard to phainon, the cards that would describe him best are the fool and the world. the fool and and world sit in tarot as the beginning and the end of the journey through the major arcana, two sides of the same coin, where one ends another begins, and we see this in flame reaver passing on all his memories and his will to phainon at the end of a cycle.
the fool is naive when he sets out upon this journey and traditional depictions normally have him walking toward a cliff. but he also sits outside the major arcana in a very strange way, a part and not. phainon, or khaslana, who sits within the cycles and without. he is at the start and he perpetuates the cycles, but by breaking the proverbial fourth wall and understanding that this is simply a simulation that has run over and over again, he sits outside of it, knowing the truth and trying to prevent the ending. but each cycle he starts anew without the knowledge, pushing forward into a fate he has stumbled upon. also if you’re into cards, you know the fool is also the only other card that makes it into the regular playing card deck as the joker. the joker that can be a stand in for any card, or can be a trump card.
the world is the card of completion. similarly the prophecy makes demands of phainon to bear the world and bring about era nova, thus completing the cycle so a new one can begin. imagery in the rider waite decks also feature infinity symbols (yay more amphoreus references), and a wreath (guess what phainon has ten of!) that is sometimes depicted as an ouroboros. there’s also representation of the four elements in the card, but also if you’ve been paying close attention, the wand held by the magician at the very start of the fool’s journey. if you want a jojo reference as well, ZA WARUDO is a time stop, and that’s what khaslana does. he holds the entirety of amphoreus in a loop, holding it in this slice of time so that irontomb doesn’t awaken. reversed, the world is a hollow victory, a partial success. one could argue all the cycles so far have been exactly that. a victory burned hollow by all the losses that he has to endure.
phainon is very obviously the fool (or we could argue tb is) but also with the title deliverer, the titan of worldbearing, can also be the world. the fool sets off on his journey to learn and understand the world, self-actualise and realise. upon completion, he understands his place in the world. he has gone from a fool that knew nothing to someone who has accomplished a harrowing journey, who learned resilience on fortitude, who gained knowledge and strength, learned to temper himself.
the next question then is what the role of the magician and the hanged man are on the fool’s journey? what role does the star play?
the magician is the first of the major arcana and also the first person the fool meets on his journey. the magician sets the tone for the journey by opening the fool’s eyes to the potential held by the universe and the potential within him, encouraging him to manifest it. anaxa does this for phainon as his teacher, and the (minimum of five!) years phainon spends at the grove go on to shape him and how he views the world. anaxa as a teacher is very much about teaching to think, to question, not to accept things as truth without determining it for yourself. it’s a principle anaxa applies to himself. he questions the unquestionable to draw his own conclusions, and it’s something he encourages in phainon and castorice.
the hanged man sits just after the halfway point at the 12th spot, inviting the fool to have a different perspective on things. another aspect of the hanged man that hasn’t been mentioned yet is stagnation. the hanged man is certainly there by choice, but he is also unmoving. the hanged man in a reading invites you to flip your perspective, but it is also a reminder you need to let go. it is a reminder that you have stood here long enough, that it is time to let go. letting go means falling, and falling means giving up control and bracing yourself for the hurt to come. death follows the hanged man, and death invites transformation and change. the literal depiction of this is when anaxa submits his coreflame at the vortex of genesis, where indirectly, he tells phainon to let go of him just as he himself is letting go. he has hung long enough that he has gained the clarity he needs, and finally anaxa is ready to let go and embrace death. in doing so, he imparts a final lesson to phainon as well.
and the star is hope. hope that comes after the destruction that comes from death and the tower. the reminder that despite all this, you can continue. you know what else is hope? the colour green. what is green? anaxagoras. therefore, in this essay, i will point out all the ways that anaxa is hope to phaino— (no i’m sorry that's a whole other essay) but the point stands. when phainon is at his lowest in his trailer, who is it that comes to him? anaxa. who is it that reminds him that he is his own person and can choose his fate? anaxa. who is it that tells him to believe in himself and have confidence in his choices? anaxa. i would be remiss not to mention the cycle where phainon missed anaxa so much he was imagining anaxa with him at the end when we discuss anaxa as a guiding star. after all, anaxa is reason, but where he fails to reason with phainon/flame reaver, he then becomes phainon’s reason.
anaxa is so vastly important to phainon. when he is lost and in need of direction, he goes to anaxa. from the moment phainon knows anaxa is in okhema he goes to seek his advice, before going on to the debate at the citizen's assembly where he asks anaxa if this is the right choice at all, the trailer where anaxa asks him what his dream is—anaxa has always been the one to focus his thoughts. anaxa is reason, rationalising and questioning, challenging all the established viewpoints that phainon holds.
anaxa’s message in the chrysos interview to phainon also deeply reflects the message of the magician. the magician is about the infinite possibilities of the universe, and that is what anaxa brought out in phainon. he constantly reminds phainon he has other choices and other options, that he does not have to walk the path of prophecy. that he has a choice besides carrying the world and its many burdens, that he can decide for himself. he is the only one who doesn’t refer to phainon as deliverer. but sees phainon for phainon. just another person. not a chrysos heir, not a hero. one of his students but also human and flawed in his flawlessness.
anaxa literally tells phainon to flip his perspective (very hanged man) prior to the citizen's assembly when phainon asks if aglaea was right to entrust this to him. i think anaxa’s words are something he carries for a long time, because it then becomes less about how heavy those hopes and wishes he carries are, if he should be entrusted with them at all, and more about his own determination to take those into the tomorrow their prophecy promises. when he finally vocalises his wish, it is then ‘my wish is to fulfil the wishes of others, and failing that, i will carry them to tomorrow’. it is no longer about his worthiness, it is his promise to anaxa that he will remember and carry it forward.
and finally, hope. anaxa gives phainon the confidence to step out on his own. his message to phainon ultimately is go forward in confidence. he has taught phainon all he knows despite knowing it means phainon will walk away from him and onto a completely separate path. he says as much when added to a team with phainon, even as phainon still seeks anaxa’s guidance.
another fun thing to note is that phainon has gone through all the steps in an alchemical magnum opus. nigredo (flame reaver), albedo (phainon), citrinitas (khaslana), and irontomb has been depicted in red, thus giving us rubedo once the supposed merge with irontomb happens. i would argue that anaxa has been key in all of these stages. he names the flame reaver, he teaches phainon, and ultimately his words guide khaslana’s actions. anaxa is an alchemist and a teacher, what is his magnum opus if not his students, who he has taught and shaped?
i leave you with a final thought: what is the sun but a star? what is phainon but a seed anaxa has planted, sprouted, and nurtured? anaxa keeps haunting the narrative of amphoreus and even though he's been dead for two patches now, we’ve not gone without mentioning him and he still has a role to play. ship goggles aside, his influence on phainon, in guiding and shaping phainon is undeniable. this is not to diminish the influence the other chyrsos heirs have had on phainon, but anaxa, the grand magician, the great performer, demised scholar, allowed phainon to manifest his potential.
anyways, thank you for coming to my ted talk where i yapped about anaxa the magician and the hanged man and his influence on phainon the fool and how he’s led to his journey’s completion.
alright. i know i said previously that i was working on their general relationship analysis, AND I AM! but all of this has been eating at me the entire time i've been composing it and i've been in a dilemma on whether or not to include it in the analysis or make it a whole separate thing because it's really its own other topic. and!!!! here we are. it's a whole separate thing. phainaxa is kind of crazy #tbh
this post can also be titled 'Anaxa Haunts Phainon & The Entire Narrative', and you'll see why very soon.
this post will be tagged with the proper content warning labels, of course, but please be wary that i briefly talk about anaxa and his suicidal/self-harm tendencies in one part of this.
i'm pumping all of this out BEFORE 3.5, so all information here will be things we already know.
—
Simulation name meanings
first things first, i want to go over their simulation names: neikos496 and skemma720.
starting with phainon's:
what does neikos mean? does 496 represent anything?
neikos is of greek origin, meaning discord or strife. along with that, tying in with empedocles' famous cosmogonic theory of the four elements, he was also the one who proposed the concept of that in which love and destruction would mix together and separate the elements.
and because i mention empedocles' philosophy and his concept of love and strife dividing and bringing together the four elements to maintain balance, i should also mention cyrene's simulation name, PhiLia093; philia, also of greek origin, meaning friendship, and is one of the four types of love in greek language—the others being éros (sexual desire), agapè, (altruism), and storgê (familial).
and we know all the eternal recurrences started with cyrene & phainon—cyrene sacrificing herself so that khaslana would be able to continuously experience the same cycle and collect the coreflames. khaslana kills cyrene during the destruction of aedes elysiae from the black tide so that she'll be able to do what she needs to to keep the cycle going, which is why she says "may this woeld never have need for a deliverer", because she's been aware this entire time, doing this since her and the original phainon put this plan into motion.
until the four millionth eternal recurrence, it is the original phainon/khaslana experiencing the loops—he had killed each loop phainon until that point. the hero within eventually begins to fail within his body, and in order to keep his plan going, he instead has the loop phainons kill him at the end of every cycle now, so that that phainon will inherit the previous coreflames he's consumed and his memories. and because he knows himself, he knows that each phainon will choose the same path as him and become "khaslana."
the number 496 is a perfect number.
phainon has been constantly praised by aglaea and some of the others as being the "perfect" chrysos heir, one without flaw.
(and he's really, truly not, if that wasn't obvious. this, too, actually ties into anaxa, his ideologies, and how he sees phainon, but that will be in my relationship analysis instead because wow. hey!!! they are kind of insane!!! what the fuck!!!)
moving onto anaxa's:
what does skemma mean? does 720 represent anything?
skhema, of greek origin, means something along the lines of form or figure, which could possibly tie into anaxa being the representation of reason and embodying erudition within the simulation.
however, skemma, of old-icelandic origin, means to (usually permanently) damage, to spoil, or to ruin. i mention this particular origin meaning because of anaxa and destruction's relationship, which i'll discuss soon.
as for if 720 represents anything, i'm not too sure.
i do, however, have one idea in mind, but it's not exactly the most obvious or sound.
in geometry, polyhedra/polyhedrons are 3D figures with all straight edges from all vertices connecting to each other. which goes along with the meaning of skhema, being form/shape/figure. 720° is the sum of all defects of any polyhedron.
and what does defect mean? a fault or flaw.
in geometry, an angular defect is the failure of some/certain angles not being able to add up to 360° or 180°.
fault, flaw, and failure, unlike 496, which is a perfect number.
anaxa who is reason and is the simulation embodiment for erudition, being a failure. whereas phainon, who is worldbearing and is the simulation embodiment for destruction, is perfect. irontomb, being a lord ravager of destruction, meant to eliminate erudition.
—
Anaxa & Destruction
now that we've gotten that out of the way, let's get into the relationship between anaxa and destruction.
starting off with anaxa's past and character stories—all of his character stories are presented to us in a way that tells us that the form of media it was previously was already destroyed, forgotten, or never found.
in character story 1, cerces is flipping through his past memories before being promptly shut out by anaxa. and post 3.2, cerces is dead, having died alongside anaxa when he took the coreflame out of his chest at the very end.
in character story 2, we read the contents of a parapsychology experiment log anaxa had conducted. however, the original copy had already been destroyed.
in character story 3, we are shown a speech anaxa had improvised during a meeting between the sages of the grove. with the grove now destroyed and it being from just a simple meeting out of many, it's already been forgotten.
and finally, in character story 4, an echo in anaxa's memories had been made by him after the grove fell, but no one discovered it, so it vanished.
along with all of that, we really know nothing about anaxa aside from his ideals and personality—his backstory is never explored within the trailblaze quests, his sister is only mentioned in passing, his parents only ONCE, and his mentor, who we did see in a flashback, but has been dead pre-canon timeline. his mentor's name was also empedocles.
his parents, his sister, his mentor, and cerces, who had inhabited his body for that short time—they are all dead.
his previous home before he was able to leave to the grove was never named and was destroyed pre-canon timeline, and we witnessed the aftermath of the grove after it had fallen—both of his homes destroyed.
aside from that, anaxa had a grave that he would regularly clean and take care of, as if he was already anticipating his death.
i do not think i've ever talked about this in other posts, but i think that anaxa was definitely suicidal but not ready to actually take action to kill himself properly, instead resorting to harming himself repeatedly during his experiments, to the point where empedocles had told him to stop and never again harm himself once he had found out. anaxa had promised him he wouldn't anymore, but after empedocles had passed, that promise was soon broken.
anaxa is self-destructive and self-sacrificial—his body is littered with spells and markings from experiments. not only that, but when he had conducted his experiment to be able to see his sister one last time, we know that he carved his own left eye out as a sacrifice for the process. he also carved out his own heart as a sacrifice to make the stone tablet that would be able to guide castorice on her journey to find thanatos.
cerces themself even asks him at one point in 3.2, "why are you always trying to find ways to die? isn't it good to be alive?"
anaxa dies in Every Single eternal recurrence. not once does he survive, unlike the others who have all survived various times across multiple eternal recurrences.
not only that, but his body is eerily similar to flame reaver/khaslana's—both are void-like, cracked, and on the brink of destruction.
and he haunts the narrative without fail. he is brought up continuously in 3.4 by khaslana AND lygus. he seems to always be the last one shown when we're peering into khaslana's memories of past recurrences. his teachings still hold dear to hyacine and phainon both, even though he's been gone.
he is the only one we really know nothing about, and yet he hangs over everything like a looming shadow.
and the way anaxa not only haunts the entire narrative, but literally khaslana himself as well—looming over him, inside his thoughts and actions, consuming him. not to mention, every time worldbearing is somewhere, of course, reason is not too far behind, even in the game mechanics. same with destruction and erudition when it comes to amphoreus.
anaxa's golden boons within the divergent universe primarily have to do with Destructible Curios. which really makes me crazy, because again, he who is reason & erudition, seems to always be destroyed in one way or another, except by the one who is meant to be molded into something that destroys, and that is khaslana.
anaxa's as i've written/divergent universe art is of him depicted upside down and hanging, referencing odin in norse mythology and the hanged man tarot card (since tarot cards are cyrene's thing, especially with her connections to oronyx and time.) he is the hanged man tarot card in cyrene's deck.
what's important about that?
the story of odin in norse mythology is that he hung himself upside down from yggdrasil for nine days and nights to obtain knowledge of other worlds and to understand the runes.
before doing that, odin had sacrificed his eye into mimir's well and then pierced himself with gungnir, his spear. all of this was considered something of a ritualistic suicide.
as for what the tarot card symbolizes; the hanged man in tarot readings means ultimate sacrifice and surrender. shifting your perspective to give in to time so that things may unfold naturally—a pause in action.
and all of this fits quite well with anaxa.
his as i've written log also explains that his survival priority approaches zero. (which. what the hell. cmon anaxa stay alive for once)
because he is the first individual to uncover the truth of amphoreus, his evolution rate is stated to be extremely unreplicable. along with that, his behavior demonstrated the possible self-destructive inclinations of erudition.
—
Phainon & Erudition
moving on, with phainon & erudition, it's not as blatantly laid out like anaxa & destruction—much of phainon's connections with erudition are sourced through anaxa himself, because anaxa is Reason.
phainon's dream, before being roped into a hero because of the prophecy and destruction of aedes elysiae, was to be a scholar.
when aglaea had sent him to the grove to study, originally, he applied for a different school but admittedly got reassigned to anaxa's nousporism.
anaxa and phainon's relationship is important for a multitude of reasons, but for now, let's focus on one particular aspect of their dynamic while phainon was in the grove—anaxa and peace to phainon.
like i had just stated, phainon's dream was to be a scholar. when studying in the grove, he was able to do just that. but it's VERY important to know this while also remembering the fact that anaxa is the only one who sees him for Phainon and not the prophesied Deliverer.
anaxa is constantly addressing him as only Phainon or Phainon Of Aedes Elysiae, never hero, or worldbearer, or deliverer, etc... phainon struggles with seeing himself past the role he was forced to be and continuously thinks everyone around him really only sees him as such as well, so he doesn't try to think otherwise because he assumes this is all he is meant to be.
him being able to live his dream of being a scholar, paired with the fact that anaxa views him for Him, instilling his sense of self once more, is what gave phainon peace.
the average student takes about 4 years to complete their studies and graduate the grove, but phainon took much longer than that—up to 5 to 10 years instead.
and phainon isn't stupid by any means—he is one of, if not the most, exceptional student anaxa has ever had, stated by anaxa himself. he is extremely good at debating, has earned consecutive wreaths for it, and is a fast learner.
him taking 5 to 10 years instead of the normal 4 could very well likely be due to the fact that he did not want to leave the peace he felt while in the grove and with anaxa—he was free of weights there, able to be himself, rather than the Worldbearer.
and anaxa never did anything about it either; it's never stated that he tried to get phainon to leave back to okhema after the 4 year mark, and that is something anaxa would never do anyway.
phainon is just as important to anaxa as anaxa is to phainon. phainon is one of the few people anaxa allowed himself to be close to, and i won't dive into this too much since i think it would be a better fit for their general relationship analysis, but phainon was constantly trying to break down the barrier between them of teacher/student, whilst also trying to respect anaxa as a person he admires.
in the original cn text, phainon uses informal terms towards anaxa, and anaxa doesn't make any effort to correct him—this is because despite phainon trying so hard, he never really had to in the first place.
compared to others, when phainon addresses anaxa as Anaxa and not anaxagoras, rarely, if not ever, are there instances where anaxa corrects him, instead, letting it slide.
phainon has never had to try as hard as he thinks because anaxa was already letting him in.
he keeps anaxa's teachings dear to him, remembering them even if he graduated so long ago.
khaslana, while experiencing the loops before having to change his methods of obtaining the coreflames, never had to worry about anaxa being one he would fight with or have to kill. anaxa was willing to help him regardless, despite not being able to fully believe his words and what he would tell him.
and what's more is that, before the four millionth eternal recurrence, khaslana always killed the loop version of himself when he had to kill cyrene—anaxa, of all those loops, had never meant the phainon in any of the other loops.
but khaslana had told him that he was once his pupil, and anaxa let him in regardless. he helped him despite it all.
and we know, in the 134th loop, anaxa confronted him on his methods as well, being Reason and trying to get khaslana to turn back, because not only was he hurting the humanity he swore to protect and love, he was hurting himself too.
again, anaxa had never met phainon. but he still did all of this. and not once had khaslana try to destroy him—not even during 3.1 when they were all fighting against him. he attempted to go for the coreflame in anaxa's chest, had tried to, for once, harm anaxa because it was the only way, and yet, when anaxa instead took the coreflame of time from him, he only tried to yank back the ceremonial blade instead of killing him then and there.
and khaslana has never truly lost himself because of Reason—anaxa has always haunted him.
one who is destruction finds peace within the thing he is born to destroy.
along with all of this, phainon's BP lightcone, A Dream Scented in Wheat, is an erudition lightcone.
wheat being the symbol of aedes elysiae, his home, and it being an erudition lightcone amongst all else—yet again, the peace phainon desires.
—
Conclusion
dude i'm gonna be honest. i actually have no idea how to finish this off, but do you see it all now. how fucking crazy they are. how utterly intertwined they are.
they're quite literally programmed to go together in one way or another—within amphoreus, destruction & erudition are always hand in hand some way, somehow, like worldbearing & reason.
and them also having SO MANY references and callbacks to kevin & su. a bit crazy!
considering phainon, cyrene, & anaxa are the only ones amongst the heirs that have multiple callbacks to kevin, elysia, and su, respectively, it was bound to be this complex.
i'd really like to talk about phainon being the sun, cyrene the moon, and anaxa being the stars, along with the anaxa-march connections but. again, i feel like that's a whole new topic for a separate post (<- guy who says this and she's going to take 6000 years to finish it), and i still haven't even finished my phainaxa relationship analysis.
OKAY..... ANYWAYS. THANK YOU FOR READING THIS FAR.... IF YOU DID..... #PHAINAXA4EVER
OK so like crack theory again but what if when Phanes created or well split off of him the 4 shades what if during that there was a fifth fragment that broke off falling into the sea and that is Paimon?
What if Paimon is a small fragment of Phanes and somehow none of them knew aside from Asmoday who decided to watch over her and her travels with Aether/Lumine?
And thus Paimon is a small part of the crown of reason and she is Asmoday's new master that she loves more than her own self?
