#Marika muse

[an0ther-f00ls-muse]

The different Interpretations/Portrayals of my Muses!! ((Be aware, this may be somewhat ‘cringe’ & ooc as I have yet to actually play the damn game & dlc yet, however I did watch a lot of lore videos, soo yeah-))

My Portrayal(s) of ‘Queen Marika the eternal’

I technically do two different versions of her, a much, much younger version of her before the hornsent did their whole jarring thing, so if you wanna do something with her just let me know which one you wanna do things with lol.

The main points that are most important

-> My village version of Queen-Marika <-

-> This first interpretation/portrayal of Marika is that, as a younger woman that she is more akin to ‘Roderika’ with the fact she’s more of an actual ‘Spirit-Tuner’.

-> My younger version of Marika I’ll be using as a muse here doesn’t really talk, she usually uses simple sign language, she doesn’t actually speak until the whole ‘hornsent-activities’ in my interpretation/portrayal & the only reason she even talks after that is because of the jars & such.

-> She has turquoise-green eyes up until her ascension into her godhood, much akin to the eye color of Messmer’s serpents actually.

-> She is more passive & peaceful up until everything that happened with her village & the ‘hornsent’, so keep that in mind if you wanna do anything with her younger-self of her lol.

-> My younger version of Marika likes flowers, a lot and just likes making different things out of them, so if you ask for a starter with this version of her just keep this in mind maybe lol.

-> She technically ‘named’ my own muse version of Radagon, this won’t automatically apply to your ‘Radagon &/or Marika’ muses unless we discussed otherwise for RP purposes!!!

-> She’s not as tall as she is in canon just yet, she has some more growing to be doing despite being an adult, she won’t be her canon height until a bit after her ascension into her godhood.

->:My more current version of Queen-Marika<-

-> She’s her actual canon height in this version of herself now, keep this in mind ig.

->This will be the version of her that actually talks with her words nowadays, however she still knows her sign language.

-> she can still somewhat use her ‘Spirit-Tuner’ abilities, but she doesn’t do it as often and is pretty damn rusty by now.

-> her eyes & hair are fully golden now, as golden as the actual Elden-Ring by now.

-> Her skin has many small ‘cracks’ all around her upper body, it’ll just won’t be as noticeable as the ones she gets after the ‘shattering’ (aka the trailer)

-> She does somewhat try to be a good- or at least half decent mother to her children but she isn’t really good at it nine times out of ten.

-> My muse version of Marika has very complicated feelings about her omen twins, she loved them and didn’t know how to deal with that factor and the way that omen’s in general were viewed whatsoever. (This won’t affect your Muses unless we discuss it for RP purposes!!)

-> Both of my muses of Marika & Radagon have complicated feelings for each other, they don’t really like each other anymore- it’s bad. (Once again, this will not affect your own muse version of them both unless we discuss it for RP purposes!!)

-> my version of Marika did & does honestly love her children, so there will occasionally be some kind of this aspect in my RP’s unless asked/discussed otherwise.

-> on my blog, Marika is the one that give her youngest twins the seed to grow the ‘Hailg-Tree’. 

-> Marika on this blog threw away a part of herself that became the Gloam-Eyed Queen.

-> Queen Marika, after the jarring of her people because of the hornsent, she was made to be more or less a ‘Saint’ for their people & she was mostly ‘raised/re-educated’ by the grandam afterwards.

[lockawayknight]

@coldblood-gardens

It's almost as if something had drawn him here...

There's something... off... about this particular invasion, Creighton thinks to himself as his red phantom appears at the foot of the Erdtree – in the ruins of the former capital, rubble below his feet and golden leaves landing in his hair. The once-great kingdom of Leyndell, having long since been abandoned and left to crumble, still patrolled by knights who dutifully protect their lost causes despite it all. It's an almost haunting sight, the sound of the trumpets of emissaries echoing in the distance, and the gentle stirring of branches above. It's certainly a sight to behold...

But Creighton has more important things to do than look around, and more important things to kill than time.

The search is always the best and worst part, fuelling his adrenaline like oil on a flame, sparking deadliness and threatening wildfire. He creeps around corners in search of the target – whoever the Gods decided has to die today. The search is long...

His search eventually leads him to an old building that looks... strangely familiar. Something like home, but hauntingly so, like visiting the place where one grew up after it had been long abandoned. Familiar halls, with familiar fireplaces. Familiar bookshelves adorned with familiar fabrics. It looks strangely like... the Roundtable Hold...?

No, no. Impossible. And regardless...

He's found his target.

But, hold on just a moment... he creeps closer, his axe held tight, his breathing hushed; and he realises...

"... Oh! I remember you!" He gives his position away without a care, taking a casual stance with his axe's blade pointed harmlessly towards the ground. "Albert, or somethin'. Ice witch. Hah, what a joke: looks like you're my mark..."

He says it so casually, as if he isn't about to kill the man.

(Or, at least, try to.)

He does not lower his guard – no, of course not, not when his Lord's name is on the line. But he's treating it with the casual air of one running into an old friend at the market. He shifts his weight to one side, his blade still crackling threateningly.

[chiefatticcreator]

Muse idea: girls from Cara the Blood Lord. Yes, this game is part of Taimaninverse

Okay, did some checking and

Cara Cromwell

Uehara Kitae

Marika Krishna

Kmimura Azuma

are DEFINITELY IN

[luminaryofblood]

A childhood memory of the Lord of Blood...

The jar-warriors found outside the Church of the Forsaken, where Mohg yet resides in the Shunning-Grounds.

Marika forsook Mohg and Morgott when they were born, for bearing the likeness of the people that slaughtered her own. But they were only children. They were innocent.

The jars of Jarburg themselves kept to themselves. Minding their own business and tending to their gardens of flowers. A new generation of jars. They were innocent. Yet still, they were slaughtered. Whether because their was value in their innards. Or perhaps by some lingering decree.

Jars... And Omens... Both reminders of Marika’s past. And both Mohg and the Jars were punishment for crimes they had not committed.

Anyone else thinking about how in Elden Ring the Jars were all hiding away in a secret village because they were being hunted by poachers for their innards and growing rare flowers, and when we meet Jarbairn he says that we can't be a potentate because we don't have smooth silky hands but instead the hands of a warrior and thats no good for becoming a potentate. And then Diallos quest-line happens and it becomes apparent that he isn't a fighter and takes up being the caretaker of the Jars making it very apparent that a potentate is supposed to be someone who has a gentle heart and is akin to a craftsmen/nurturer of the Jars, which ends in Diallos dying in order to protect them?

And now in SotE the potentates are actually naked giant cleaver wielding butchers who chop people up to stuff them inside of the Jars?

Because I sure am.

Edit: Also you would think that considering the heavy trauma associated with the jars and Marika's stellar track record of genociding everything that she doesn't like, that the jars would have been one of the very first things she would've gotten rid of along with the hornsent/omens.

But no, she keeps them around for some reason.... 🤷

[space-blue]

Melina, Messmer and the Gloam Eyed Queen.

Disclaimer : this is not my theory. I saw it in a buried youtube comment and it rings so damn true I want you all to see it! From this guy, in this video.

OK so I was watching a lore video and disagreeing with a lot of it. Good stuff though, and the comments were fun. As I scrolled, I saw this, which blew my socks away and is definitely my personal take now! (the comment is edited for readability)

Melina is a daughter to Marika and Radagon. This is confirmed as she’s represented by a butterfly. The butterflies we can find in game all represent the children of Marika and Radagon.

Nascent butterfly represents Miquella, Aeonian butterfly represents Malenia, Smouldering butterfly represents Melina. And then in the dlc we’re introduced to Messmer and Black Pyreflies.

I like to believe that the children of Marika and Radagon come in twos. First came the twins Melina and Messmer, and then came Miquella and Malenia. The later share a contrasting theme, Miquella is cursed with eternal youth while Malenia is cursed with Scarlet Rot which caused her to rapidly decay, symbolizing old age and death.

And then we have Melina and Messmer who both share the theme of fire. Messmer has his own flame, a flame which is notably different from any other pyromancy in the game, his fire is more red and more aggressive. He is able to share his fire with his followers, his fire knights who cast incantations of Messmer’s flame. Then when we kill Messmer, we obtain his flame as a physical item.

Now Melina’s flame was black flame, and in contrast to Messmer’s flame which could burn away all physical things, Melina’s black flame could burn metaphysical things (being burned by black flame does hp damage because it’s burning your very soul) and just like Messmer, Melina was able to pass on her black flame power to her own ‘knights’ the Godskins.

And so Messmer went on to use his flame to burn the enemies his mother pointed him at, where as Melina desired to burn the things that she could, she wanted to burn the Erdtree.

Marika couldn’t risk Melina tearing down everything she had worked for, so she had Maliketh confront Melina and defeat her. Maliketh then took Melina’s black flame just as we take Messmer’s flame, and he converted it into destined death, giving Maliketh sole control over the only thing that can kill the soul, thus truly killing someone once and for all.

(Note, Maliketh didn’t have destined death when he defeated Melina, which is why she’s still around, he killed her, but couldn’t get rid of her for good, nor did he need to once he took her power away.)

So when we meet Melina, she doesn’t know who she is or what her purpose is, but in time, she ultimately arrives at the same conclusion once again, she wants to burn the Erdtree, even without her black flame, she’s still the same person. We can then see to her wishes and use her to burn the Erdtree OR we can spare her and burn the Erdtree with the flame of frenzy.

And then in the flame of frenzy ending, we see Melina take on a new form, her original form, the form of The Gloam-Eyed Queen. Why has she reverted to this old form?

Because we kill Maliketh and unleash destined death, thus returning Melina’s black flame power to her.

The idea of Melina and Messmer being twins is backed up further by their association with the serpents. Messmer’s association with the serpents is obvious, where as Melina’s connection relies on the theory of her being the Gloam-Eyed Queen, where she’d then be associated with the Godskins, and we know the Godskins are associated with serpents.

My own musings...

What if Maliketh defeated Melina/the Gloam Eyed Queen, but let her be. Deafeated doesn't mean killed. It's possible she was burnt and bodiless because Messmer destroyed her. Marika already makes him do her dirty deeds with his subjugation of the shadowland, isn't it possible he requested he burn his sister so she could better control her as a spirit?

Things that don't really gel : why would Melina be "queen" of anything. Where would she have ruled? If she's an empyrean, as we know she was, where is her shadow bound beast, and more importantly, why wasn't Messmer? We know both Miquella and Malenia have no shadows (as far as we can tell) but were also both Empyreans despite the curse.

Perhaps it's because Melina inherited Grace, while Messmer didn't.

Perhaps the flames aren't the curse, but only the serpent inside of him. Making him uneligible, not only for grace, but also for empyrean status.

Now that I think about it, there's NOTHING to support this, but it's possible that Melina could have been the queen Marika puts in charge of all the shadowlands while she's off with Messmer in the Lands Between. There is a lot of death there. Maliketh and Messmer could have come for her together, Messmer burning her/returning her to Marika to control (and use later on).

[forget-me-maybe]

Rolan HC (Dad-Rolan)

He spoils his baby.

Here's a drabble:

“Help Daddy” baby Marika said and pulled at the leg of his trousers. “Up!” 

Rolan was sitting by his desk in his office, trying to figure out the last details of a spell he had been working on for a while. Well, technically it was an improvement of an already existing spell and he just needed to get one more equation out of the way.

But that didn’t matter. If Marika wanted up, she would get up. Faye had made plenty of remarks about him spoiling Marika. So be it. He grabbed her and placed her on his lap. 

“Help Daddy work” she said and grabbed onto the quill he was holding. 

He distracted her for a moment with a tickle while he replaced his own notes with blank pieces of paper. She squirmed on his lap and giggled. 

“Alright then, what kind of spell are we making?” Rolan said when the giggles died down. 

“Green!” Marika said, which was her current favourite colour. 

“Green” he mused and tapped the paper in front of them. “Are you writing this down?” 

Since three year olds can't write, Marika made a scribbly line and a circle. 

“Very good” Rolan continued. Marika's face lit up. His heart fluttered. “What more should the spell do?” 

Marika's brows furrowed and looked like she was thinking very, very hard. Rolan didn’t have to think very hard about what would follow. 

“Sparkles” Marika said when she had thought for a while. 

“Ah, sparkles, a fine choice” he said and tapped the paper again. Marika made another scribbly line and a triangle. 

When Marika was satisfied with her ‘notes’ she looked up at him expectantly. He did a simple prestidigitation and conjured a shower of green sparks. The child let out a squeal of delight and clapped her hands. It was probably the tenth time he had conjured the same thing for her in less than three days, it didn’t matter. When Marika's eyes lit up, mesmerised by the sparkles, it was the only thing that mattered in the whole world. He pulled her close to his chest. 

“Daddy best” Marika said. 

“I love you” he said and placed a kiss on top of her head. 

[yournextflame]

Elden Ring Theories: A Retrospective

So, enough time has passed for me to form my opinion on Shadow of the Erdtree and revive this blog. But before posting new theories based on the DLC lore, I decided to take a look at my old speculations and see how well they aged.

Does the Greater Will even exist? ✅ In this post, I compared the Greater Will to the Big Bang and suggested that it might not be an actual deity, but rather an attempt by the people of The Lands Between to explain the world around them: the creation of the universe, the fall of meteors, evolution, and the natural order. The Shadow of the Erdtree continues to present the Greater Will as a scientific concept described by the inhabitants of a fantasy world, allowing players to decide whether it’s a god beyond the microcosm or just an empty circle in Count Ymir’s hat, a mere projection of human imagination

The outer gods are natural forces. ✅ 🟡❔While the Greater Will's cosmic origin was emphasized even further in the DLC, the motives of the outer gods were tied even more strongly to earthly concepts. I have many thoughts about the outer gods and godhood in particular, but one of my ongoing ideas is that they manifest human emotions, given how perception and sacrifices shape reality in a material way in the Lands Between.

Elden Ring and Color theory: ✅🟡❔ While I disagree with some points I made in this post, many of my observations were quite accurate. One clarification I’d like to make is that the scroll sigils indicate the heritage of magic rather than its source of power. I also appreciate the DLC narrative that suggests all the differences are actually man-made.

Translation of Marika's echoes from JP, ✅ The DLC gives Marika such human and deeply personal motivations that reducing her to a mere puppet of an evil outer god feels like an insult to the collaborative work of GRRM and Miyazaki. I must admit that my initial reading of her character was too harsh; I even questioned why FromSoft would write such a one-dimensional character. However, I’m very glad that The Shadow of the Erdtree gave Marika awesome depth without depriving her of agency.

My musings upon Helphen's Steeple design and DLC predictions ✅ 🟡 Well, the Shadowlands are described as a place where all kinds of death come only to be suppressed, and the Shadowkeep, as pointed out by the community, very much resembles the design of the Helphen. You can even find Tibia Mariners' boats here. It’s not the exact version of the spirit realm I predicted, but it’s very close.

Small bonus: Even though I insisted that the DLC should be centered around the spirit realm, I pointed out that exploring Godwyn's story beyond what was shown in the base game is pretty unnecessary.

What's wrong with Ranni's Two Fingers? ✅🟡❌ Right direction of thinking, wrong conclusions. One of the biggest reveals of the DLC is that everything is wrong with the Fingers and their mother, Metyr.

Children of the Erdtree 🟡❔I'm not sure what to make of it. The DLC continues to toy with the Empyrean connection to plants, from the special properties of Marika's people's flesh to St. Trina being a literal flower, but it never makes any direct conclusions.

Bells and Bell bearings ❔ The connection does exist, but it should be explored in greater detail.

Candletrees, Miquella, Death and Sleep 💡❔✨ Now that the DLC has revealed Miquella's plan to replace Marika all along, it’s astonishing to realize that my earlier discovery about Necromancer Garris — who likely collaborated with the Black Knives — had Miquella's butterfly and candletree in his basement is actually quite wild

What is Crucible? 🟡❌❔Although the nature of the Crucible is still a mystery, I think my old theory that it was a different tree is not exactly right. I’ve even started to wonder if the Crucible and the Primeval Current are just different names for the same thing.

Some of my old takes haven't aged well, but if anything, I'm glad that Mohg isn't the "walking uooohh 😭💢 joke" I used to call him. However, my opinion on Miquella was surprisingly accurate. For two years, the fandom preached that Miquella wanted to abandon his godhood, making me seem like a major contrarian for insisting that godhood was still his ultimate goal (at least because it would be pointless from a writing perspective to create another Ranni).

I still believe that characters like Marika and Miquella are primarily vehicles to deliver Miyazaki's and GRRM's ideas regarding civilization development, human nature, religion, and philosophy. So, whatever faults they have are the faults of the concepts they represent. Nevertheless, *Shadow of the Erdtree* did an awesome job of elevating these characters from mere ideas to something more human and relatable.

My old description of Malenia is so relevant, it hurts.

Mohg, Radahn, Rykard and Snakes 🐍 Honestly, I'm not sure if Messmer was initially planned by FromSoft or created specifically for the DLC, but looking back, it's pretty funny that I noticed something weird going on between the demigod brothers and the serpents.

Elden Ring lore is a disaster 🤡 Elden Ring story is such lackluster that it was rewritten with the first day patch on top of the giant mountain of cut content. I’m not sure that DLC, if there will be any, can fix this mess or give any proper answers as it seems that writers got too much carried with the idea of making story as vague as possible.

Someone was overdosing on doomium.

To my surprise, the DLC managed to address most of my old frustrations. While I do wish certain things had better foreshadowing or were explored more, it still did a good job of filling many gaps in the base game lore that were making me frustrated. Looking back, I think some of my grudges over the lore were no less important than my theories because they served as a good indication that something was intentionally left unexplained. It seems that the gaps and ambiguities were not oversights but deliberate choices.

As I explore the new content in Shadow of the Erdtree and revisit my old theories, I will also share my thoughts on the new lore and its impact on the narrative. This fresh perspective has already sparked some intriguing insights, and I am eager to see how these revelations will reshape our understanding of the game’s world.

[an0ther-f00ls-muse]

My muses and how they’d act if they ever get sick because I’m bored?, This will probably all be pretty basic however lol.

::Queen Marika::-> I don’t think she gets sick all that often, I guess that’s because she’s a god so yeah- but when she does get sick i feel like it hits her like a falling tree to be honest, like 10 to 100 real quick lol. I can see her acting more clingy to certain individuals in all honesty, not to an ‘uncomfortable’ extent but to an uncharacteristic extent.

::Spirit-Tuner Marika::-> Thai version of Marika however, she’ll get sick much more often honestly, it’s not going to hit her like a falling tree just yet however- but I can see this younger version of her probably getting sick like every other, if not every summer/spring. She’d would probably be as clingy as the older/future version of herself in all honesty.

::Radagon::-> I think he would probably get sick during the colder months of the year, but only at the beginning of the colder months however- probably just within the first few weeks or so. I can see him trying to keep up with his work by himself if possible, not wanting to get any other people sick.

::Messmer::-> he probably is a lot like his mother because I just can’t see him getting sick all that often, probably just once in a blue moon to be honest, however whenever he does get sick in a rare case he does- he needs to be forced to take care of himself by his soldiers in my opinion lol.

::Godwyn the golden::-> Godwyn, despite being one of the few un-cursed children of Marika he probably is one of the few ones that gets the most sick in all honesty, he’ll try not to really let it affect him but he also knows when he needs to take a rest so yeah, pretty normal in all honesty.

::Godwyn the prince of death::-> unlike his living version of himself he just doesn’t get sick anymore, he physically can’t at this point in time.

::Miquella::-> because I muse his ascended vision he is much like his mother, he can’t  necessarily get sick unless it’s something really bad-? But whenever he does/if he does get sick he’ll try his best to take care of it as soon as he can, mainly because before he  ascended he never wanted to get his twin sister any more sick then she already was/is.

::Malenia blade of Miquella::-> because Malenia is inflicted with Scarlet-Rot whenever she gets sick she really feels it and feels it hard, whenever she’s sick she feels like she’s dying more then she already does. She’s really just out of commission whenever she’s ill/sick more so then she already- that’s about it to be honest.

::Malenia Goddess is rot::-> this version of Malenia can’t necessarily get sick anymore actually, mainly because of the fact that she’s now fully is the living vessel of/for the outer goddess of rot at this point in time.

 ::Saint Trina::-> Trina doesn’t get sick all that often, she probably does a bit more then what Miquella does but still, she has a pretty good immune system in my own opinion, however whenever she does get sick she just sleeps, sleeps more then she probably already does actually, that or she’ll make herself something to drink that she’ll think would make her feel better.

::Fia::-> She has an amazing immune system, she hasn’t been sick since she was an actual child, sooo yeah. She’ll probably try to help others who get sick however.

::Roderika::-> Unlike Fia, this woman gets sick every other month most likely, it’s nothing to bad but it is annoying for obvious reasons, she’ll try to just rest it away and do what she can to make it leave sooner rather then later.

::Romina::-> Romina, much like Malenia in her rot goddess form just doesn’t get sick- or at the very least not that often anymore, it was probably many, many years ago by now since she was actually sick at this point. However when she was last sick she kinda half-ass taking care of herself.

[lockawayknight]

🤚   for   your   character    to    guide    mine    by    touching    their     back

through a dangerous swamp? a fucked up cave?

from soft prompts [accepting!!]

It’s not exactly a polite guiding motion, and certainly not a comforting arm meant to protect during a dangerous time, but more like… something controlling. Not in a rude way, not meant to be harsh — definitely just another manifestation of Creighton’s protective instincts filtered through his many layers of impatience and agitation — but still, his fingers dig a little too deeply into Artem’s shoulder for comfort, the push and pull of dappled digits attempting to dictate the man’s movement.

But Creighton’s just worried, really. There’s fuckin’ bears in this place, after all.

Which he lets Artem know as he not-so-gently escorts him towards a narrow passageway into the darkness of the moss-lined cave. “Saw a runebear in ‘ere once. Took twenty minutes to take the damned thing down. Swear if y’sniff hard enough y’could still smell it rottin’ down there.”

He finally lets go as the corridor narrows, and they are forced to walk single file. Creighton, of course, pushes his way to the front, guiding.

Of course, it’s not what’s left of the bear that he’s guiding the both of them towards. It’s what the bear was guarding.

He’s got the place mapped out… sort of. He takes a sharp left. “This way.”

[linda-ravstar]

Warm rays of sun (Trina talks to Mohg and Sir Ansbach)

Incomplete musings about an AU scenario in which Trina fights Miquella and wins. The divine power that Miquella acquired allowed her, after winning the battle, to slowly heal the broken world. And one of the things that she did was to make amends and restore a betrayed soul. Completely self indulgent.

“Ansbach tells me that I should be grateful to you,” Mohg noted. He seemed tense. Restless. She didn't doubt it. Guiding a lost soul to the world was no easy feat. It must have been disconcerting, like waking up from a deep sleep that had not been anticipated. “I don't feel gratitude right now.”

“And I'm not looking for it either,” she replied. Her gaze remained fixed on the horizon, where the faint rays of sunlight illuminated the land. A land that was beginning to heal.

“I wonder if I wouldn't do better to challenge you right now.” Mohg's growl was filled with something that was clearly something other than rage. It was fear. It was sadness. It was betrayal.

Trina looked at the Lord of Blood. In her lap remained the sword that had kept her company all the way. Stained with his blood and her tears. It would be so easy. It would be so easy to wield it again and get lost in an ocean of poison and violence again, no matter the outcome. But that would be an absurd selfishness and she could not allow herself to succumb to it.

“If you wish to strike me down, Lord Mohg, you are welcome. I won’t fight you.” The demigod suddenly wanted to speak, but Trina interrupted him, without looking at him. “If slaying me will do you justice, you go ahead. But know this: you cannot kill a dead god.”

“Lady Trina,” Ansbach suddenly pointed out, advancing towards his lord with an urgent but respectful tone. “I thank you with all my heart for the service you have performed. Returning my Lord's soul from the abyss in which he was discarded into, will be something that I will never be able to fully repay. I couldn't even begin to conceive of how to thank you. I know that these are not the circumstances in which we were supposed to meet and, if I am honest, my heart remains restless due to your presence. I understand my lord’s desire because I feel it myself. You represent a great danger being the one who could kill a god. But I also know that… that if there is anyone in this world who is more tormented by what happened, it is you.”

Trina's eyes filled with tears, but she did not look up at the knight.

“I appreciate your words, Sir Ansbach. I’ll answer your honesty in kind, and I’ll say that I don't think anyone will ever understand what it means for me to be here when...” The words seemed to shatter in her chest. “…When he is no longer here. What it meant for me to finish the task that no one else could accomplish.”

“Miquella betrayed you,” Mohg said, and his tone has changed. It was no longer that restrained wrath. It was just sorrow. Just resignation. “Just as he betrayed me and maybe how many others.”

“He didn't betray me,” she whispered. “He lost his way. I couldn't save him. I was the one who failed him.”

“You did save him, Lady Trina. In the end, I am sure he could see that.”

“... My pain is my own, Sir Ansbach.”

It seemed like the end of the conversation. Lord and knight did not say another word to her and started to walk away from her. Suddenly, the Goddess raised her voice again and looked directly at Mohg, which looked back at her.

“Lord Mohg, son of Marika, servant of the Mother of Truth, Lord of a Dinasty of Blood. I know you don't want to hear this and maybe it's just selfishness that guides me. But I'll say it anyway because you deserve to hear it”.

Ansbach, by instinct, changed his position, ready for the unexpected, but relaxed when he saw that the Goddess did not move.

“I am sorry.”

Mohg was silent, but Trina could see the tremble in the hand that held his trident. The huge dark wings peeked out from behind, proud and beautiful.

“I am sorry we treated you this way and we did no better than the rest of the world who shunned you. We never approved of your vision or your methods, and probably never will, but your life and soul are yours and no one should have robbed you of that. I can only hope that you will now find the rest and peace that were denied to you before.”

“Do you seek my forgiveness?” asked the demigod, in a voice that was also a whisper.

"No. It is not my sin, although now I bear it. The one who could receive your forgiveness died in my arms. Your sorrow, your anger, and your future are yours alone, Lord Mohg. Forgiveness is your decision.” She was silent for a moment. “It is neither a consolation nor an excuse, but… if it is of any soothe to your heart, the deception and death that you suffered haunted Miquella until the very end. He could never forget it. Neither will I.”

Mohg did not respond. He only nodded.

It was enough.

“Lady Trina, will you remain here?” asked Ansbach, when the silence threatened to consume them all.

“I will.”

“… can I ask you why?”

“Because this was his dream,” she said and her voice broke in a hundred different pieces. “This world, slowly recovering from its wounds, slowly healing from its ills, slowly flourishing. A better world. A gentler world. A world that accepted them all. That was his dream, forever and always. And if there is nothing left of him but me to see it, to see the warm sun of this new era, so be it. I will stay here to see the world that should have been his, I will stay so that something of his soul can rest in this world that he wanted to save and that he could not see." Tears fell freely down the Goddess's face. “Because if I am all that is left of Miquella, I want him to see through me the world that he helped create, even if the darkness consumed him whole during his path.”

“And were we a part of that world?” asked Mohg, suddenly.

The Goddess of Slumber and Death smiled. The first smile in a very long time.

“You were. That was the vision, impressed on all hearts. A new world where all things would flourish, whatever graceful or malign. No living creature denied. Mercy for all”. She closed her eyes, her smile still in her face. “Go in peace, Lord Mohg. May this new young world be kinder to you”.

[redsixwing]

Mohg for character opinions?

The last of my batch of asks for the character meme! Thank you, this was fun.

How I feel about this character

I've thought since encountering the Bloody Fingers for the first time that - despite how the goal of "kill a bunch of people to raise a new god" looks - Mohg is actually one of the more successful demigods in leading a new organization toward the future.

hear me out.

He's got a faith that is outside the Golden Order, and yet the Greater Will seems to have no particular interest in slapping him down. YOU do that of your own volition, either because Gideon told you to or because you're curious (or you don't).

He's got loyal followers who aren't necessarily gunning for his death. Unlike Radahn, Rykard, and Godrick, none of his followers intentionally set you up to confront him. He isn't trapped in a state of passivity like Rennala, Ranni, Radagon, or Malenia* or completely gone like Marika, Godfrey, or Miquella.

He's a leader of his own people, at least some of whom have come a very long way to find him (Okina, for instance). The person he's most directly comparable to is Morgott, his twin. The Veiled King is the main mover and shaker aboveground, just as Mohg is in his own organization.

That makes complete sense if the Omen Twins were raised by Godfrey for a time, and Godfrey - whose own knights used Crucible power to do his bidding - may not have seen them as inherently twisted, as their mother did. These two have the skills to rule. Mohg appears to have been at least partially successful in doing so.

SOTE MUSING AHEAD. SKIP TO ----- TO AVOID SPOILERS.

Now that we know Miquella likes to mindwhammy people into obeying him, I have to wonder how much of that skill got nerfed by a charm. How much more could Mohg have done if he weren't used as a pawn by an Empyrean? ---------------

*From continues to have a pattern of not permitting its woman antagonists to have agency, but that's not what this is about.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

Once again, I don't have an answer here. I think Varré wants to have his Lord's love; I don't think Mohg feels that way about him.

My non-romantic OTP for this character

Sir Ansbach :) I think they were good friends. There's a lot of room for Lord and Knight tropes to be in play, with the devilish twist of "yeah they're both completely in it for your blood."

Also my Tarnished LET THEM BE FRIENDS who keeps saying that.

My unpopular opinion about this character

*parades around with Varré's "Apologize to my Lord" sign*

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

There should be a Mending Rune of Blood that lets you restore carnal, craving life to the Golden Order alongside Destined Death.

[newwillinium]

Elden Ring Musings: Rykard, Ranni, Radahn; the Children of Sentiment

So Pat has just finished streaming Shadows of the Erdtree, Woolie and Reggie are actively going through it, and I finally gone through my Vaati backlog.

And I have some thoughts, thoughts that should not touch on anything in the DLC at all, but just some idle musings regarding the children of Radagon and Renalla and what ties them all together.

The value of Love and Sentiment. Inherited from both of their parents.

I want to kind of start this with some backstory as a bit of a refresher.

-][-

Long ago before the arrival of the Erd Tree, before the Shattering and the Coming of the Greater Will, there existed many peoples spread out across what would become known as the Lands Between. One group in particular is important to this tale, The Astrologers.

Sword of Night and Flame: Astrologers, who preceded the sorcerers, established themselves in mountaintops that nearly touched the sky, and considered the Fire Giants their neighbors.

One such Astrologer was the young girl, Rennala, who had forever explored and followed the stars until finding the majesty of the Full Moon.

The young astrologer gazed at the night sky as she walked. She had always chased the stars every step of her journey. Then she met the full moon — and, in time, the astrologer became a queen.

This girl, Rennala, on her travels would be accompanied by Trolls. Descendants of the Fire Giants whom the Astrologers called Neighbors, these Trolls were bound by Oath to the girl who would be Queen. And yet, these Trolls, looked down upon by so many and enslaved by the Golden Order, were treated as true oathsman and knights of the House of Caria.

Carian Phalanx and Troll Knight Sword: They were the comrades of the young Rennala, bound by oath. Called into service when the Queen invoked an oath they swore, the trolls are treated as true knights of Caria, and fight arm in arm with their human comrades.

In time she went to the Acadamy of Reya Lucaria and enraptured them with the might of the Full Moon, becoming their Eternal Queen and establishing the House of Caria as Royal.

She, her Glintstone Knights, The Knights of Caria, and the Academy would serve as the truest rivals to Queen Marika and her Golden Order.

Twice they warred, and twice neither side could gain victory, and so the Champion of Queen Marika, the Red Haired Radagon, cleansed himself in Celestial Dew (I mention this because of something important later) and declared his love for the Queen of Caria, and so they wed.

Celestial Dew: Once upon a time, the stars of the night sky guided fate, and this is a recollection of those times.

In long standing tradition, Rennala would grant her new betroathed a Sword (which he would later keep and reforge into a symbol of the Golden Order).

Together they had three children. Rykard, Radahn, and Ranni. The Praetor, The Lion-Warrior, and the Carian Princess turned Empyrean.

We honestly don't know much about the childhoods of the trio, but we do know a couple of things.

Radahn held in him a worship of the tales and stories he heard of Godfrey, the first Elden Lord, and took great pride in the Red Hair of his father. Ranni found a favored mentor, who existed outside the bounds of the Academy or the Golden Order, and was accompanied by a companion Blaidd, a shadow sent forth by the Two Fingers to guard the Empyrean Princess, and an old family vassal Iiji the Troll.

Of these companions, Blaidd was looked upon kindly by the Queen and was adopted as a step-brother to her three children. Otherwise Radagon had brought with him a Great Red Wolf.

One day, Rennala would lead Ranni and Ranni alone to greet the Full Moon as she once did. This is where Ranni found The Dark Moon.

Then one day Godfrey was banished from the Golden Order, and Radagon made the decision to abandon his family to become Queen Marika's Lord Husband and Second Elden Lord. Though before he left, he left his beloved Rennala a gift, a great Amber Egg containing the Great Rune of the Unborn, and left the family dog with her.

He kept his marriage-sword, and reforged it to show his new dedication to the Golden Order, and in a show of graciousness Queen Marika adopted the three children of Radagon as her own step-children.

Rykard would become her Lord Inquisitor, Praetor, and punisher of her enemies. Radahn would earn the title of "Starscourge" for his rapacious victories over the Star-Beasts, and learned Gravity magic at the feet of a Alabaster Lord, and Ranni would come to know her fate.

Rennala was shattered by Radagon's betrayel, and when the Academy turned against her, reclused herself within the Great Library clutching the last sentimental gift of her husband.

This is where the timeline gets. . kind of murky.

Rykard stations himself at Mt Gelmir, rediscovers old Death Hexes and creates Magma Sorceries, learning of ancient lore and forgotten gods. He meets a Dancer, a commoner and possible prostitute, and marries her out of love.

Radahn finishes his tutelage under the foot of his Alabastor Lord teacher in Sellia.

Collapsing Stars: A gravitational technique mastered by the young Radahn. "I thank you for your tutelage, for now I can challenge the stars." Remembrance of the Starscourge: "The Red Lion General wielded gravitational powers which he learned in Sellia during his younger days." All so he would never have to abandon his beloved but scrawny steed. Starscourge Talisman: The mightiest hero of the demigods confronted the falling stars alone—and thus did he crush them, his conquest sealing the very fate of the stars.

Here is where he earned his title, as the Stars rained down, his mastery of Gravitational magic allowed him to crush them all, and arrest the movement of the Stars.

-][-

The Shattering

I'm going to be speeding up a bit here.

Ranni, bitter and hateful at her fate as a Empyrean, conspires to remove herself from the contention and does so through the partial theft of the Great Rune of Death.

Using the Rune she creates the Black Knives, disperses them to Assassins, who proceed to carry out the Murder and Assassination of the Demi-God Godwyn, just as Ranni kills herself.

Godwyn's body lives on. Ranni's spirit lives on, and the Stars are halted, and the Fingers are blind.

Astrologer's Robes: Robe fashioned from supple cloth. Worn by those who look to the cosmos above. They read fate in the stars, and are said to be heirs of the glintstone sorcerers. But alas, the night sky no longer cradles fate. Varre:"The words of the Two Fingers cannot be trusted. Truly, naught but rambling, senile delusions. I believe, that when the Elden Ring was shattered, the Two Fingers were corrupted, their guidance; skewed. Even worse, the Fingers harbor no love for our kind. That's the part that irks the most." Finger Reader Enia: "… But here we are… The Fingers, dormant, severing our link to the Greater Will. The realm, and all life, in ruins. Impossible events transpire, beyond the ken of the Fingers. Who is to say that the cardinal sin must be cardinal forever? Go on. Finish the job. Take the course you deem most worthy." Finger-slayer Blade: "The hidden treasure of the Eternal City of Nokron; a blade said to have been born of a corpse. This blood-drenched fetish is proof of the high treason committed by the Eternal City and symbolizes its downfall. Cannot be wielded by those without a fate, but is said to be able to harm the Greater Will and its vassals. "

I am going somewhere with this, just you wait I swear.

So Ranni fashions for herself a new body, a doll, made in the image of her Mentor the Snow Witch, and keeps a watchful and protective eye on her shattered mother.

Rykard, and Radahn, siege Leyndell only to be pushed back by the Fell King Morgott/Margitt, Radahn ultimately meeting a cursed fate at the hands of Melania, Blade of Miquella, and Rykard and his forces fighting a apocalyptic battle with the Armies of the Golden Order that shattered the landscape, before ultimately ending with their armies destroyed.

Gelmir Manor, still proudly displaying pictures of the Praetor Rykard and General Radahn.

Rykard trusted by his little sister, to be her backup plan should her plan fail.

And Radahn, who held back the Stars and Fate itself, so that his Sister would have a chance to break free of the fate forced upon her.

-][-

So this is a rather important part I feel that gets kind of overlooked in the base game.

Rykard, Ranni, and Radahn are siblings.

"General Radahn, Praetor Rykard, Lunar Princess Ranni. Willful traitors all!"

It's evident in the game itself that the siblings held fondness for one another, and most importantly trusted one another.

They may not be kind, but they are each and every one of them sentimental to a fault.

Tonic of Forgetfullness: A gift bestowed by Rykard, sworn to blasphemy, to Lady Tanith, who unfortunately had no use for it. "My Lord, there could be no greater distress than to forget you." Blasphemous Claw: On the night of the dire plot, Ranni rewarded Praetor Rykard with these traces. Should the coming trespass one day transpire, they would serve as a last-resort foil, allowing Rykard to challenge Maliketh the Black Blade, the black beast of Destined Death.

When Radahn halted the Stars, he blinded the Two-Fingers from the reach of the Greater Will, he freed her from her fate and in doing so freed the Shadows from falling into madness.

Which is why, I think, everything falls apart after the Radahn Festival.

When the Stars begin moving again, Ranni once more has a fate and can wield the Finger-Slayer Blade.

But she no longer has the body of an Empyrean. Her Fate is that of the Stars.

She abandons her vassals and followers, to walk that "Dark Path alone", in order to try and keep them safe from what she has to do to ultimately free herself and all the lands of the influences of the Outer Gods.

Radahn, I think, played a major role in that.

That Starscourge Radahn holds Ranni's fate in stasis. But once he's out of the way, it will spring back into motion. So now, we stand against the demigod once known as the strongest of them all.

Note: The Radahn Festival happens usually when Ranni is slumbering, due to the limitations of her doll body, and Blaidd and Iiji consider the Radahn festival to be the best way of accessing Nokron to grab the Finger-Slayer Blade that Ranni requires to save herself.

-][-

So I. . .ultimately don't have too much of a point to my musings.

Other then that, I think that the "R" Family is ruled by their Senitments and Sentimentality towards those they care for like Family.

And that Radahn might not have been Ranni's enemy as is so often suggested by those who interpete the lore, but perhaps yet another ally who had been lost to madness and decay.

Those are just my musings at least. What do the rest of y'all think?

[lockawayknight]

Maybe he’s just hungry. Maybe he’s just pissed. Or maybe the loneliness of this long, long walk from Caelid to Limgrave has finally caught up to him. But Creighton feels drawn towards the lonely little fire — to the warrior who sits beside it, taking a knife to the felled animal. Behind his steel-and-chain mask, the knight crinkles his nose in disapproval of the sight of kill. He likes deer, after all... She coulrn’t have chosen a less cute animal for dinner, huh? Harrumph.

“You’re makin’ a damned mess a’ somethin’ wha’ oughta be beautiful,” Creighton sneers down at her, his arms crossing as he approaches the empty campsite without so much as a glance of invitation. But he needs no friendly wave. He makes the rules, after all. And the card that’s been played right now is: if he decides he doesn’t like her, he’s gonna take that deer for himself, and carve it up proper.

Boots crinkle through the tall grass, steps equal parts playful and threatening. His arms are crossed, though — weapon holstered to his hip. He clicks his tongue against his teeth. “Tha’ knife looks like it ‘asn’t been sharpened since the Shatterin’. You tryina attract harpies with all tha’ mess…?”

The warrior crouched low among the bushes, her eye fixed upon her target. A lone deer wandered amongst the trees, grazing upon the grass, oblivious to her presence.

Slowly, and with careful fingers, the warrior withdrew a dagger from her pouch, and let fly her blade.

The blade hit it’s mark. And with that, the creature was felled.

The warrior carried her quarry back to the bonfire. She had since run out of boiled prawns, but Limgrave, it seemed, was rife with prey. It was as though she had fallen into a hunter’s dream.

She was running a risk of being discovered by the manticore, making a bonfire like this. But even a Tarnished guided by grace needed to eat.

The warrior hummed a tune to herself as she readied her knife, and got to skinning the slain beast.

[themaskstayson]

Night Terror

Astarion and Faith (Tarnished turned Tav), light hurt/comfort Just another scene like my Gale and Faith interaction

Baldur's Gate 3 and Elden Ring crossover, once again some Elden Ring lore

Faith woke with a start, gasping as they frantically sat up straight and looked around camp as they sweat from the night terror— The memory of the beast impaling their body with its massive blade. The pain that they felt from the battle, so long ago now, echoed through their mind as they pressed their trembling hands to their stomach.

A shake sigh left their lips as they looked down to see they were fully intact.

It was only a dream.

Faith frowned, their blank white gaze moved to the dying flame of the bonfire.

“Are you alright, darling?” Faith blinked, looking towards the vampire of their little band of misfits. His red eyes studying them with no concern that laced his voice. “You're twitching.” Astarion pointed out, now frowning as he watched them.

They forced a smile out to help ease him. “I'm fine.” They said with a mutter, rubbing their stomach one last time to ground themself. “It was just a dream.”

“Sounds horrid.” Astarion said, sitting down next to their bed. “A memory?” Faith tilt their head slightly while watching him with slight amusement at what the other could be doing. “About your world?”

“Yeah…” They sighed, looking up towards the sky. “The last battle I was in was against a god, I was so close to becoming Elden Lord but…” They paused, frowning as the memory began to get fuzzy. “I messed up, got too clumsy at the end, and the beast got me.”

Astarion hummed, pulling Faith's attention away from the night sky to look at him. A frown graced his lips as he watched them.

“I wonder if failing that time was what banished me again.” Faith looked back to the bonfire as the last flame died out, musing out loud in a whisper.

“Fighting a God is no easy feat.” He said, “If you were banished to our realm, maybe it was because you were too close to succeeding?”

Faith let out a chuckle, smiling at the idea that Marika would be so petty. “That would be something.” Faith said, looking at Astarion again. “I fought so many things and died so many times to the point I thought I was not good enough. That this path I was put on was some kind of test, not to see if I can become Elden Lord and restore order, but to see if they can make a lowly tarnished like me do their bidding as a sick game.” Rage filled them as the idea was spoken, as they grabbed at their robes and twisted it between their fists.

“If that was it,” Astarion started, Faith looked up at him, he swallowed the at the pained look on their face. “Then they don't deserve you.” He ended, placing a chilled hand on theirs.

Faith looked down at it, confused at the touch but unclenched their fist and turned their palm downward on his hand. The last time Faith was touched was by Fia, the hug from the Deathbed companion, which stole some of their life in exchange for a blessing that can be used. Astarion reminded them of her, just the idea that the vampire wanted to drink their blood. And just like Fia, Faith allowed the vampire to feed from them.

The experience was vastly different but it did make them miss the familiarity of home.

“Maybe.” Faith sighed, looking up at Astarion. “I guess I'll never know now. Once the tadpole is removed? Will I be stuck here?”

“You want to return?” Astarion blinked, almost surprised in either his question or theirs.

“I need to return. If order isn't restored, the cycle will continue.”

“But do you want to go back.” Astarion asked again.

Faith paused. Did they want to go back? The answer should have been just as quick as before but they felt stuck.

“For what it is worth,” He started, startling Faith slightly. “I want you here.”

They laughed. “I thought you didn't like me?”

He smiled, “You're starting to grow on me.” He answered, bringing Faith's hand up to his lips to kiss. “Go back to sleep, I'll keep watch.” He let go of their hand and moved back to his camp.

Faith watched with confusion settling around them before laying back down to sleep, pressing the hand that he kissed to their chest.

[citadelstorage]

Muses 2

Franchises that are listed without any characters before it means any character from that property is available.

Video Games: Shepard, Aria, Tali, Liara, Miranda, Kassumi, Varren (Mass Effect) Ranni, Miquella, Malenia, Nepheli Loux, Roderika, Rellana, Rennala, Melina, Millicent, Marika (Elden Ring) Powder, Jinx, Vi, Kayle, Caitlyn, Mel, Ambessa (LoL/Arcane) Cortana (Halo) Ada-1, Eris Morn (Destiny) Cole, Morrigan, Josephine, Cassandra, Lilianna, Serah (Dragon Age) Aloy, Beta (Horizon) D.Va, Tracer, Widowmaker, Mercy, Mei, Sombra (Overwatch) Mayor, Isabella, Ankha, Raymond (Animal Crossing) Raven, Tang Yun, Jacob, Laura (Dislyte) Kris, Chara, Frisk, Toriel, Asriel, Ralsie, Susie (Undertale/Deltarune) Cloud, Tifa, Aerith, Red XIII (Final Fantasy) Cass, Lone Survivor, Courier 6, Rex, Roxxie, Veronica, Strong (Fallout) (The Coffin of Andy and Leyley) Ciri, Yennefer, Triss, Geralt (Witcher 3) Chel (Portal) Shadowheart, Karlach (Baldur's Gate 3) Zelda, Urbosa, Link (Wolf Link), Link (BotW), Bokoblin (Legend of Zelda) Bowsette, Peach, Rosalina, Boo (Mario)

YouTube Original Shows: Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang, Pyrrha, Raven, Oscar, Whitley, Winter, Kali, Penny, Neo, Cardin, Grimm (RWBY) Charlie, Loona, Moxie, Millie, Miss Mayberry, Katie Killjoy, Angel Dust (Hazbin Hotel/Helluva Boss)

Original Characters: Jacwyn, Samael, Tink, Dew, Midan

Original Fandom Characters: Legion Assassin: Gaius Aureleus (Fallout New Vegas) Werewolf: Wil of Leta (Witcher 3) Dovabear (Skyrim) Varren: Skrilk (Mass Effect) Loth-cat: Alpha (Star Wars) Ralts/Kirlia/Gardevoir: Rals (Pokémon) Ursaring: Ursa (Pokémon) Vaporeon: Vapor (Pokémon) Houndoom: Hoon (Pokémon) Pokékid: Franklin (Pokémon)

Mythology: Artemis, Athena (Greek)

Lewd Comics (If the creators see this and want me to stop then I will): Genwyn (Jay Naylor)

Books: (Artemis Fowl)

[mavigator]

i need new music or i’ll die. incomplete list of some artists i like if you want to help a poor starving maverick

IDLES, nine inch nails, frank ocean, tyler the creator, radiohead, marika hackman, the killers, glass animals (their first two albums), los campesinos!, deftones, manchester orchestra, the mountain goats, ajj, WHY?, muse, vera sola, mitski, cage the elephant, montell fish, TV on the radio