Mementos are items found throughout Layers of Fear and Layers of Fear (2023). They are photos or notes. Picking them up will add points to the Family Ending. They are different from the regular notes the player can find throughout the game.
See also: Layers of Fear (2016) Notes
In the original game, they can be viewed in an album on a table in the workshop. In the 2023 version, they are displayed on the wall near said table instead.
Most of them are diary entries written by the Musician after her accident. Diaries with dates are listed in chronological order.
Letter to Daughter[]
[This note's transcript is given the date 'October 2nd' in the 2023 game, which is the same date as the Musician's suicide note. Since there is no date on the actual letter itself, the date in the transcript is likely a typo.]
My love,
even though you have not been born yet, I can already feel your presence. It’s simply amazing. I just can’t believe how lucky I am. A year ago, all I had was talent and ambition. Now, against all odds, I have a career, a loving husband and you I have never been a deeply religious person I guess, what other people look for in a sermon, I found in perfecting my art.
But now, I can’t help but feel like there’s a higher power watching over me. They once told me that I would never succeed as a musician. Now, I’m playing sold out concerts at some of the most prestigious venues in the country. They also said I had a “difficult” character and that I would never find a soul mate.
Guess again. Finally, a doctor once told me that I would never be able to have children of my own. And yet, here you are, within me. I am quite possibly the happiest woman in the world.
I love you so much.
March 23rd[]
March 23
It’s been a while. It took me six months to be able to hold a pen again.
Six long and painful months.
But I finally did it. It still hurts, but the pain is just bearable enough for me to jot down a few lines. The things we take for granted… Wow, that’s deep.
I think I’d better rest some more before I put ancient philosophers to shame.
March 24th[]
March 24
Alright, let’s try this again. Finally managed to play a little, if banging on the keys awkwardly counts as playing. I won’t lie, it drives me insane not to have control of my fingers. In any case, I was promptly berated by my loving husband, who said I should be resting. I know he means well, but how will I ever get better if I don’t work at it?
The worst thing is, I swear I could smell liquor on his breath.
God, please, not this again.
April 4th[]
April 4
Found his little collection of empty bottles this morning. I reacted… badly. I know it’s hard for him too, but Goddamn it, he should know better!
With a small child in the house…
That’s just irresponsible!
May 23rd[]
May 23
How can two people, who once loved each other so fully, so profoundly, drift so far apart? My husband barely speaks to me anymore. He just slithers in and out of his study, obsessively working on one failed painting after another. He won’t even sleep with me anymore. I can tell he’s disgusted by me.
The look he gave me the other day…
That pathetic, hurtful look…
A combination of shame, guilt and repulsion. I have come to realize that I’ve become a monster in my husband’s eyes.
It feels… like nothing a woman should ever experience.
Still, being the good wife I am, I decided to realize my husband’s fantasy.
If he thinks me a monster, I will sure as hell act the part.
June 17th[]
He’s on about the damn rats again. I don’t think I’ve even seen one, but that doesn’t stop him from laying out traps all over the place. He claims he can hear them in the walls and that there must be hundreds of them.
God, I fucking hope it’s true. I hope they crawl out at night and eat you in your sleep, you cruel,
self-obsessed,
pathetic
drunk
July 19th[]
July 19
Judging by the silence that has now fallen over the house, I can safely assume he has finally passed out. Undoubtedly surrounded by empty bottles and tattered pieces of canvas that have become his preferred bedfellows. Every time that happens, I pray it will be the last. I pray fervently. Passionately.
Our Lord in Heaven, let him crack his head open and the rot spew out. Let him cut his own wrist on the glass and the red bile flow. Let him choke on his own vomit, so that we may all find peace. For if you don’t, one day, I will find the courage to walk down the steps and end him myself. You of all should know, it’s not the lack of will that stays my hand.
Amen.
August 11th[]
[This is a note only included in the 2023 game. It used to be present in the Early Access version of the original 2016 game, but was removed before the final release.]
August 11
Let’s consider our options…
KNIFE
Pros: quick, personal, painful
Cons: too messy, might not have the strength to pull it off
PAINKILLER OVERDOSE
Pros: readily available, easy to administer
Cons: not painful enough, wouldn’t earn his lesson.
GUN
Pros: quick and easy
Cons: would need to get it first, we wouldn’t want him to die too quickly
RAT POISON
Pros: easily obtainable, beautifully ironic, considering his recent obsession
Cons: might take to long
POISONED PAINT
Pros: poetic
Cons: which poison? Where would we get it from?
October 2nd[]
October 2nd
My love,
I wish I could do what all mothers could do and tell you that monsters aren’t real. But it couldn’t be true.
Life can be things of exquisite beauty, but it can also twist them into hideous beings. Selfish. Violent. Grotesque. Monstrous. It hurts me to say that your father has turned into one such monster, and I’m afraid the disease that afflicted his mind has taken hold of me as well.
It sickens me to think what we’ve put you through. There is no excuse. I only ask of you, though I know I do not have the right to do so, to try and forgive us. I despise what your father has become, but I love and pity him all the same. I only hope you can find it in your heart to feel the same about him. About me.
I wish I could see you blossom into a strong, beautiful woman. I wish I could be there for you. But I can’t. This is the only way.
Goodbye.
Gallery[]
