#Blood Moon Order

[roabe]

Buny aok

[alina-is-hollowing]

this got ship of theseus'd so badly but idc this is how i feel on sote lorewise

note: its not like im disregarding the lore fromsoft put in completely. the story is still amazing and I recognize and understand the direction they want the characters to go down. It's just that I can't help but hold onto a scenario where all this didn't happened and they got to live as normally and happily as possible like pre-shattering ya know

[yandere-daydreams]

speaking of dubiously ethical but unquestionably fuckable father figures - mr. carlisle cullen of twilight fame am i right

[heroesgambit]

Elden Ring Inconsistent Translation Catalogue

I've spent the past six or so months putting together an extensive catalogue of inconsistent translations, and places where different Japanese words end up translated as the same word in English, in Elden Ring.

It's NOT a list of mistranslations or a critique - just parallels and associations that differ and could potentially lead Japanese and English-speaking players to make different conclusions about the worldbuilding.

You can find the catalogue here!

It includes:

Tables showing both Japanese and English descriptions and dialogue side by side

Analysis containing cultural context where neccesary, and links to Japanese lore theorists' videos and essays

And also:

Japanese poetry - haiku and tanka - which aren't possible to preserve in English

Wordplay and puns which aren't possible to preserve in English

A glossary of English translation terms which share kanji in Japanese

Words which have no English-language equivalent and the specific Japanese cultural concepts they refer to

... And more!

I hope you enjoy reading and find something interesting that you didn't know about Elden Ring's worldbuilding and characters in here! Please let me know if you see any mistakes.

[skuaclan]

Aftermath.

[sakasagami]

Ar quid

[empty-dream]

arche(type)

[mayke0077]

Zelretch's first encounter with Arcueid Brunestud, commissioned by me

[miiboosstuff]

ITS DONE ITS DONEEE

The details aren't really seen that well (cough, cough, image quality) so I put them down below

[wastedlychee]

Mash appreciation

[roabe]

Cut

[starfreak]

Random Elden Ring Rant (Contains Spoilers, VERY LONG)

So, the Numen. We can choose it as a character preset, which tells us they come from another world, or another land. I say "or another land" because historically, America is referred to as the "New World," but it's not a separate planet. However, translations from the Japanese version of the game suggest that the world they come from is one of spirits, the dead, etc., so it could definitely be a Literal other world.

Marika is (rumored to be) a Numen, as are the Black Knife Assassins that participated in the Night of Black Knives.

If Marika is Numen, then it stands to reason so is Radagon, since they are the same person in the same body. This means their children together, Malenia and Miquella (and now presumably Messmer since he has red hair like Radagon, but Miyazaki said that he's the child of Marika, so unless there's another red-haired hottie running around the Lands Between, Radagon is the father), are also Numen. This also means that other children of Marika/Radagon are half-Numen.

It seems Numen are not a single ethnicity, but a whole race of people, with various different contradicting skin tones and hair colors. The template in the character creator has medium-dark skin and brown hair. Marika has pale skin and golden hair (possibly changed to be gold from the Greater Will's influence) and Radagon has the same skin with fiery red hair. We know from the Giant's Red Braid item description (below) that Radagon was either cursed by the Fire Giants or simply born with red hair. I mean...no item descriptions suggest he was born with it...but if I was born with hair I hated, I would blame it on a curse too. Though, to be fair, it IS the same color as the Fire Giants' hair.

Also the Black Knife Assassins have no physical form, so we can't discern their hair or skin colors.

So skin tone seems like a non-factor, but Hair is much harder to parse, due to half the Numen in the game having fiery hair and pronouns. The game says nothing about Marika's hair changing to gold, so it may have always been that color, leading me to believe that indeed, Numen are just...magic humans from a land far away...she's just blonde.

WELP.

That's all cool, but what is the culture of the Numen like? Well we can see that they have a very strong affinity for women and femininity. Not only is Marika, the most powerful Numen we know, a woman...all of the Black Knives are women. Additionally, if we choose to believe that Malenia and Miquella are Numen, this fact is further evidenced by Malenia's being a strong warrior woman (she is literally a Valkyrie) and Miquella's own complex gender identity. Miquella was (supposedly) born male, but presented as rather feminine/androgynous all his life. While Malenia is a masculine woman and reflects Radagon, Miquella is a feminine boy reflecting Marika. Not to mention that Miquella is ALMOST DEFINITELY Saint Trina, who is exclusively referred to as feminine.

In addition to the stong feminine aspects of Numen society apparent in the overabundance of strong fem-presenting characters, the description of Marika's Hammer suggests that women in Numen society (like Marika) have a role as destroyers and warriors, while men (Radagon) have a role of construction and repair.

"Queen Marika shattered the Elden Ring and Radagon attempted to repair it."

Again, this is just speculation, and the mythological actions of Radagon/Marika are likely motivated by a mutlitude of things (namely, the Greater Will constantly looming over them, the presence of the Elden Beast constantly lurking just under the surface), but I'm making do with what I have.

Also, back to genetics of the Numen again for a second, of all Radagon and Marika's children outside of the ones they had together (Messmer and the Twin Empyreans), most of them seem to inherit Radagon/Marika's hair.

Radagon and Rennala's kids, Radahn, Rykard, and Ranni, (presumably) have red hair. We never actually see Ranni's hair pre-doll form, so I'm assuming it's red lkke her brothers'.

Marika and Godfrey's kids, Godwyn, Mohg, and Morgott, all have either pale hair or no hair (Mohg has no hair visible on account of all the omen horns).

So it seems like the genes of Numen are incredibly dominant, even dominating the gene pool multiple generations after the first. Godwyn's kids, Godrick and Godefroy, have the same hair color as he does. Malenia's "daughters," although not genetically related to her, all seem to have gained her red hair through exposure to her Scarlet Aeonia. This may also be true of the Cleanrot Knights, but they could also have plucked the red hairs from Fire Giants or Leonine Misbegotten and used them as decor for their armor.

Even merely interacting with a Numen as powerful as Marika, or her direct children, can change one's appearance irreversably. Sure, this could all likely be from her status as a God, but who knows how powerful the average Numen could become if granted the strength? We become Elden Lord after all.

[superchat]

artist: VurDV8a8gbGRctd ~ be sure to follow and support the artist ~

[deus-ex-arcana]

My sister and I collaborated on some very good and important elden ring fanart

[gwengoodrich]

With Shadow of the Erdtree out, the question must be asked:

Feel free to elaborate in the tags!

[hollowbonex]

Elden Ring Boss Project Complete