#kronyle

[mx-maledictus]

🌀🌀🌀 oooo oooooo i’m using my magic powers on youu you wanna yap about the moth crown sooo baddd 🌀🌀🌀 (/nf ofc <3)

Okay so I got two asks about this so I'm answering the one that's just objectively funnier. Had me dying, thank you.

(The other was from @red52z and asked more directly about Kam and Emil)

First, a bit of explanation/backstory:

Empheryne, being the goddess of the future, predicted the events of The Moth Crown hundreds of years in advance; though she could not see the details of what happened (during the time the story takes place, Empheryne’s crown is missing, and the crown is what allows her to see the future in detail), she began to prepare. She rarely interferes with the present or future world (and generally avoids mortals as much as possible), but her inability to see this portion of time worried her.

Empheryne wanted to ensure that she would have someone to essentially do her bidding in the mortal world when the time came for it. For reasons I have yet to think of, she chose a young man by the name of Emil Schneider, the son of a reasonably wealthy tailor family, raised with a high regard for the gods. She met with him and promised he would be essential for a mission far in the future, but first he could prove his loyalty, and to do that he had to complete a simple task: kill the person he loved the most. And he does. Emil kills his closest friend, Kamryn Carlisle.

Now, for the parallels:

Emil came from a powerful family, had a generally positive outlook of life, and enjoyed every moment in his life; he had a passion for the world (similar to Kronyle). Kam, meanwhile, came from humble origins and was largely uninteresting, invested in the world in a gentler sort of way (similar to Kronyle’s mortal lover).

Emil had to choose between the promise of a good future and his best friend (Kronyle had to choose between sparing his future pain or being with his love). Where Kronyle chose happiness in the present, however, Emil chose future greatness. Where Kronyle stayed with his lover, Emil killed Kam. In both cases, the person they care about dies because of them (either directly or indirectly) and in both cases, Empheryne has a hand in it. The key difference is that Kronyle chose his love over himself, while Emil chose himself (although he was manipulated by Empheryne’s insistence that it was necessary). Empheryne told them both to get rid of the man they cared for, that it would be best for the future, but only Emil did it. They both lost someone they loved because of the goddess and because of their own choices, but only Emil dirtied his hands.

Finally, Kam’s transformation into a killer parallels both Kronyle’s transformation from the joyous being he had been into something bitter and heartbroken, and the creation of Praetris - a new being born of the tragedy. Though Carlisle is, in essence, still Kam, he’s different, twisted, a new being in his own way, and it is because of Emil’s actions. He will forever be marked by the tragedy that made him this way, just as Praetris is, and they’re both bitter because of it. Where Kam’s hatred turns toward himself and Emil, however, Praetris’s bitterness is more of a longing to overcome the horrible things that marked the beginning of his existence. They both want to be more than a tragedy. In addition, when Kam returned to his home after being killed and transformed into a siren, his mother responded with fear and anger, turning him away; Praetris is constantly shunned and hated by his own “mother” (Empheryne) for being a painful reminder of what she did to her brother.

I would also like to add that it’s up for interpretation whether Emil’s feelings for Kam were romantic or platonic. Even if they had been romantic, he would not have admitted it to himself or anyone else, and it’s pretty unlikely that the feelings would have been reciprocated (although there is a chance).

Thanks so much for finally forcing me to explain this TvT 👍

If you have any followup questions, as always, feel free to ask

[mx-maledictus]

The Moth Crown: Mythology

The Birth of Praetris

Pronunciation guide:

Empheryne - em fair in ay

Kronyle - crow knee lay

Praetris - pr eh triss

Word count: 732

"When the universe began, long before life and even before the formation of Earth itself, there were a pair of gods: Empheryne and Kronyle. They were not the first beings to exist, but they were the closest. Siblings before there was such a concept. Together, they were the Hands of Time.

Empheryne represented long stretches of time - events far in the future and far in the past. She gazed upon a wide scale, a constantly unfurling landscape so vast it was hard to focus on a single instant. Kronyle, on the other hand, represented the miniscule passage of time. Each moment was new, and he reveled in the novelty of it all. The two complimented each other; Empheryne’s foresight and ability to look at the bigger picture kept her brother from harm, and Kronyle’s enthusiasm for the world in each instant, and each detail captured within it, reminded his sister to appreciate the small things.

The two were never seen apart. Together, they watched planets form, humanity rise, civilizations fall. They watched the birth and death of gods and the ideas they embodied. They were timeless, and they were time.

Kronyle quickly grew to appreciate the mortal world, fascinated with its temporary nature and with the passion of each moment lived. He spent more and more time with mortals, living among them sometimes for days and sometimes for decades. And he fell in love. Not only with humanity itself, but with one man. He wasn’t a noteworthy man - the son of a leatherworker whose mother died in birth - but that’s part of what Kronyle loved.

As the two grew close, Kronyle spent more and more time in the mortal world. Empheryne, used to his constant presence, grew bitter and jealous of his lover. She couldn’t understand how her brother could fall for something so temporary, and feared the pain her brother would feel once the man’s life was over. She tried to tell Kronyle this and convince him to end the relationship and spare his future feelings, but he refused, furious at the very suggestion. He tried to explain to her the nature of love and the beauty of each moment they did have, and how he could never give that up, but Empheryne simply couldn't understand. So, Kronyle turned away from his sister with a finality that cracked her bitter heart..

Empheryne decided that she would save her brother from his future pain, even if he did not agree, so she visited his lover one night - one of the few nights Kronyle was away - and she stole the time he had left in his body, bleeding every precious minute from him as he slept, and as each year abandoned him, it took physical form, sprouting wings and settling atop the goddess’s head in an insectile crown - a ring of moths adorning her hair.

When Kronyle returned to find the love of his life dead in their bed, he let out a cry of such deep agony that it shook the heavens. Empheryne heard his cries. No matter how far she went or how she tried to block them out, his pain rang in her ears, and when the wailing lasted for days and she could take it no longer, Empheryne cut off her own ears so at last her torment might end.

From her pain and holy blood, a new being was born - a child of suffering, of difficult decisions made and memories best left behind. This was Praetris, god of the past, and with his birth and the tragedy that befell the world that day, Empheryne’s and Kronyle’s roles changed. Empheryne refused to look back, unable to bear the consequences of her choice and the sight of her brother’s pain, and thus became the goddess of the future, always looking ahead. Kronyle became the god of the present, of every moment one has and the joy or pain that can be found in it, but every moment he lived was in misery, for it was a moment his love would not be able to share. He never left his lover’s side again, and as years passed a canyon carved its way through that very spot. The flow of water and time buried them, their names and their story forgotten, but Empheryne will forever bear the marks of their pain, and Praetris will be a constant reminder of her worst moment."

Bonus info:

**Statues of Empheryne always have her hair covering the spot where her ears would have been, hiding them or their absence

**Since that moment in time, the world has gotten progressively worse, the god of the present’s suffering bleeding into the world, and some gods worry that if he cannot be shaken from his lament, it may bring an end to the world itself.