#LOOK I'M PUTTING THIS IN HEADCANONS BECAUSE SDAZL;KDFJ

[phoenix-flamed]

inhales

So I commissioned Han, aka @cwarscars , for a theme and stuff, right?

I don't know much about themes and graphics as a whole, so I'm just like, omg this'll be so cool, it's gonna turn out great!

LET ME TELL YOU. I HAVE SO MANY THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS. ABOUT THE WHOLE THING? LIKE.

HEAR ME OUT, HEAR ME OUT --

THIS. THEME. IS. ABSOLUTELY. PERFECT. FOR MY MUSE??? It's dark and gritty, and it is perfect. You have the Rosarian flag and the Phoenix in there, which are great, right? Rosarian pride, hell yeah! But the thing is, Rosaria, like every other nation in Valisthea, has A History. A lengthy history of war and conflict and bloodshed, most of which is not really elaborated too much on in the game except through lore excerpts and now through the Ultimania book too.

Rosaria has been clashing with the Iron Kingdom and the Northern Territories for centuries before the game's start. In the case of the prior, it's been to try and wrest control of Drake's Breath from them, which Rosaria has been forced to retreat each time from in the end.

The tl;dr is that Rosaria has a very bloody history. And once Elwin takes the throne, this does not change. When the Northern Territories, riled up from losing their Mothercrystal, come knocking on Rosaria's door to cause trouble, Elwin not only kicks their asses, he goes a step further to ensure that they will not cause any more problems -- by taking their princess, Jill, as a means of assuring that they will no longer attack Rosaria. Politically, militarily, this is a smart move. If Silvermane cares about Jill, he'll comply. But it is, undeniably, a very underhanded, cruel tactic, that breaks up a family and punishes an innocent little girl just to strongarm her father into doing what Elwin wants.

And now we know that when Kanver was pushing for its independence, it was Dhalmekia and Rosaria that formed an alliance to try and stop them? And for eight long years, Dhalmekia and Rosaria fought to keep Kanver from attaining its goal, even clashing against Waloed at one point when Waloed intervened, and the only reason Rosaria retreated from that was because Dhalmekia up and abandoned the fight and left them to fend for themselves? (Without a Dominant, mind you -- Joshua was only seven or eight years old at the time they retreated.)

And when it came time to make a last desperate move to protect Rosaria from the Blight, Elwin was willing to take his sickly little boy not only to Phoenix Gate to perform the traditional ritual of Phoenix's Dominant communing with their ancestors for guidance in the upcoming war, but to war itself as the Phoenix -- even though Joshua was only ten years old. Did he necessarily want to do it to Joshua? Maybe not. But he chose to do it anyway.

And speaking specifically to my Elwin muse -- he blames himself for everything that happened to Rosaria and her people after The Night of Flames, both at the mercy of the Iron Kingdom and under the rule of Anabella. He blames himself for what happened to his men at Phoenix Gate, and he blames himself for what happened to his boys. He blames himself for all of it -- because all of this started, as far as he's aware, because he wanted to make a difference.

Because he, despite knowing full well that his proposals and plans for the future of the duchy, for the liberation of the Bearers, for the institutions dedicated to caring for those afflicted by the curse and to finding technological means of replacing magic usage in everyday life so that Bearers would no longer have to suffer and they would no longer have to go to war for control of Drake's Breath, were incredibly unpopular with his peers. They were so unpopular, in fact, that he was aware that he had a target painted on his back as a result of them.

He just didn't expect it to be Anabella and Sylvestre who would be the ones to stab him, and that he would drag his family and the entirety of Rosaria down with him.

So yeah, the dark gritty appearance of the theme and everything is so incredibly perfect. It's something beautiful and vibrant and evoking pride, but it has been tainted by blood and violence and so much guilt because this is all on him -- this is all on his hands. He never meant for it to happen, but he sure caused it through his choices and actions.

IN SHORT, THANK YOU HAN, I LOVE YOU !!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA