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kayuripax · 12 days ago

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A Bloodborne Guide for Newbies - How to Hunt and not get discouraged

Heyo! I'm Kayuri. I am a relatively okay Hunter, and played Bloodborne a few times now, and got it Platinum'd. I am by no means an expert, but I noticed people have gotten Bloodborne this christmas, and we have a large new load of Hunters. And this is why I decided to make a guide for the new flesh among us, so they may stay for the long haul.

THIS GUIDE CONTAINS SPOILERS, ESPECIALLY IN THE BOSS SECTION! BE AWARE OF THAT!

Things I will cover:

Things you can do with and without online

General tips and tricks

Caryll Runes (specifically the Oath runes)

Weapons

Builds?

What does scaling mean?

How and where to farm

Tips for Bosses

This will be under a cut, because things can get long here.

Things you can do with and without online:

Bloodborne has an online mode. It costs money to play online. An unreasonable amount, frankly, so don't worry if you don't have it! But not having it removes some options for you, so let's see what having Online allows you to do and what not having online does to you.

The realities of having Online:

You can summon other people to help you in boss battles. This leaves you open to Invaders. Invaders want to kill you. This starts happening once you reach Blood Level 30. If you want to have reliable summoning, I suggest checking out r/huntersbell here!

You can leave and read messages by and for other people. If they rate your note "Fine", you get a health top-up and a notif.

You can see the spectres of people, that show you how others died. Very useful to avoid your own death.

You gain access to online chalice glyphs, like the infamous Cum Chalice. Yes, that name is unfortunate, but it is THE place to get useful echoes.

The Realities of not having Online:

You won't get invaded when you summon an NPC to help you, but you cannot have the help of actual people. If there is no NPC summon, you will need to figure out the boss yourself. See the tips I have further down.

You will not see messages or specters.

You will not be able to use the Cum chalice. That makes grinding for items substantially harder.

Generally, you can play the game entirely on your own! That is possible, and largely what I did! In some instances, playing offline is a boon, even. Namely in the Nightmare Frontier and the first part of the Nightmare of Mensis. In those two areas, if you are playing Online, you are automatically entered into the Invasion pool, and you cannot return to the Hunter's Dream while this is active. You need to find the Bellringer to kill her before you can return. Consider playing in offline in those areas until you are right before the boss.

General Tips and Tricks

First off, this game is huge. There is a lot to do, a lot to do wrong, and how to do things seems overwhelming at first. Let's see if we can't order that a bit, eh?

First things first, don't be afraid to look things up! I personally endorse the Bloodborne Wiki here. It isn't the Fextralife wiki, but it has a lot of data, extremely detailed pictures, and good breakdowns of the weaknesses your foes will have. It also has extremely good guides for chalice dungeons, and where to find things. There is no shame in looking things up, and anyone who tells you otherwise needs to get a grip.

Second! You will die. You will see this a lot.

It's a meme for a reason. Don't worry about it, death is meaningless and teaches you how to do things. It may get frustrating at times, but if you take death personally, you won't have fun. If you die too much in a single region, there may be cause for you to go and grind a bit somewhere else until you are at the spot you want to be. Maybe you need to get more familiar with your weapon. Maybe you need more echoes. Go and grind a bit somewhere, and get familiar with movesets - both yours and your foes'. You will lose echoes. That happens. It will become less and less of an issue over time. Try not to use all your coldblood dew in one go, it's nicer to have a solid stock of echoes to have for when you are maybe a hundred or a thousand echoes off from the next big level up.

Third up: Before you do anything else, level up your vitality. That's your health. You need to be able to tank at least one or two hits, or you'll go down like a wet sack of flour. Attack power can come later, you need to be able to survive for now. Your first order of business once you get access to Miss Doll is to level up your vitality to at least 20 if not 25. Then you may focus on the attack power. Don't be me and level up one of your attack stats to 25 and stay with your health at starting level until you get to the Bloodstarved Beast. I mean, you can. But it will make things more dangerous. Endurance is useful too, that is what you use to hit and to run. I personally consider vitality a bit more needed though, I did two game runs with barely leveling endurance and only really got to it now in ng+2.

Fourth: Get out of the starter clothes, but feel free to have fun with dressing up. Clothes have stats, yes, but the clothes will not save your life. It is better to dress how you want to than to dress for stats. There are very few instances where those will actually save your life. The few points I can think of are when poison is involved, and when you need to avoid Frenzy. Aside from that, just have fun with it! There is no fashion police unless you are invaded by them. Style goes hard, and fashionborne is a thing.

Fifth: If you are coming in from Dark Souls or Elden Ring, I have to tell you that you need to forget that shields are a thing. They will not save you. There are two of them in the game. One protects against magic and is dlc only. The other one is less than useless and even described as such in the item description

You parry with the power of Gun. The timing is roughly equal to Dark Souls 1 parry times, and it is easier to do it than you think! If you parry shoot someone, you have a chance to go in for a visceral, which will deal a good chunk 'a damage to your enemies. Viscerals primarily scale with Skill, so consider leveling that up a bit. ^^ A Visceral is essentially a riposte. After you shoot an enemy by using L2 or hit them with a charged R2 from the back and it is staggered, if you get close and tap R1, you get a Visceral attack. This works from the front or the back on general mobs, but bosses tend to have specific spots to Visceral.

Sixth: Don't go into the DLC as soon as you can. It is brutal. You will die. It is end-game scaled. I have seen recs that say to do it after you killed Micolash. Others even put it after the Wet Nurse. Generally, don't do this until you are at least at Blood Level 80, better yet 90, and have a well upgraded weapon.

Seventh: You will see NPCs die here. You will not like that. Sometimes the best way is to never engage them, but you will learn their fates the first time. it will happen. It will hurt. If you want to save as many as you can, look it up on the wiki. It's going to be okay in the end. But it will not be fun at all times. If people can be spared, try to do that. There are too few friendly faces in Yharnam already.

Caryll Runes (specifically the Oath Runes)

You will get access to an item called the Rune Iron after defeating the boss of Hemwick Charnel Lane. This allows you to equip Caryll runes of varying effects. Most of them enhance a stat or allow you to carry more items. Experiment a bit with them until you find something you like. I won't dictate which runes to use. No, what I want to talk about are the Oath runes.

If you come in from Dark Souls, you are likely aware of Covenants. These runes work similarly. Depending on whether or not you have the DLC, you have between 4-6 covenant runes. Two of these are in complete opposition, one may result in increased pvp.

I will let this picture make the work for me, and elaborate a bit on best uses after that.

As seen, there are six runes:

The Cainhurst Vilebloods, also called Corruption, obtained by talking to Queen Annalise. If equipped, you will enter pvp when summoned by an Executioner, or if you summon one yourself. The rune will heal you a bit as you are near death, and this mechanic doesn't rely on being online.

The Executioners, also called Radiance, obtained by letting Alfred kill Queen Annalise. This rune does the same for pvp as the vileblood rune. This rune increases the percentage blood vials recover your health by by about 2%.

The Hunter of Hunters, the Hunter rune, obtained by finishing Eileen's questline. It speeds up the stamina recovery rate by 6%, and if you summon, there is a low chance that the one you summon or are summoned by is declared blood mad, making you an adversary. You will need to defeat them.

The League, also known as Impurity. Impurity heightens your hp by 2% during cooperation, and makes it easier to find help during summoning.

Beast's Embrace, a rune that transforms the hunter into a more bestial state, obtained by defeating Laurence the First Vicar in the DLC. This rune doesn't affect pvp, but enhances the moveset of the beast claw weapon.

Milkweed, a rune that transforms the hunter into a Lumenwood, obtained by helping the npc Saint Adeline in the DLC. This rune heightens discovery, making it easier to find items, and enhances the moveset of the kos parasite weapon, a dlc exclusive.

WEAPONS

Aaaah, the Trick Weapon. The cornerstone of a Hunter's arsenal, and something you need to pay attention to!

Your weapon can break. If you see the "weapon at risk" notice, it's time to go into the dream. Your weapon does half damage at that point, and you do not want that. You need every chunk of damage you can get.

Weapons can, as the name trick weapon implies, trick. They have two modes, and these modes differ. Most of the time, not just in the moveset, but also in how they deal damage. This is important, but not to the point your preference for one weapon type will ruin the game for you.

Weapons can broadly be divided into three categories, which can be useful for builds: strength, skill, quality. They will scale with one of these majorly, and you will want to level that stat more. Quality builds rely on both strength and skill just about equally. They are the everyman's weapon. It is the more esoteric ones that rely on Arcane and Bloodtinge.

Don't lock into one weapon from the start, dear hunters. Don't give a rat's arse about some other person's tierlist of weapons and their stats. Just about everything is viable if you build it for yourself. I personally use a saw spear the most, and for my first run, used a Chalice Gylph to get early access to a Burial Blade for large-scale crowd control. These days, I have exchanged that one for multiple other weapons, each of which is good for a different purpose. You don't have weight limits. Carry what makes your soul sing, and use whichever weapon makes you happy.

Blood Gems can make or break a weapon, sometimes do both, and at times do so literally. Some blood gems make your weapons break faster. They hit like nothing else at that point though. Blood Gems can be found all over, but primarily so in Chalice Dungeons, and they extend the ways your weapons can be used. Experiment a bit with them, but pay attention to the shapes they have. Some can only be used in certain slots.

Upgrading your weapons is crucial in this. You need Blood stone for that. It takes 16 items per upgrade material tier. 3 for the first, 5 for the second, and 8 for the third upgrade of the tier. 16 Blood Stone shards to get a weapon to +3, Blood Stone Twin Shards to +6, Blood Stone Chunks to +9, and then the final price are coveted Blood Stone Rocks, which allow the final upgrade to +10. Depending on whether or not you have the DLC, there is a limited number of them you can get per game cycle. They can be farmed, but they are rare. Think carefully about which weapon you want to get to +10.

Weapons come in variants. These Lost and Uncanny variants are found in Chalice dungeons, and they have different blood gem layouts. Use that to get some variety, or to acquire a weapon early. ;)

Builds?

I bet you heard the word Builds before. It carries weight, and it tells you what your character is good at. Now, don't worry. You don't need to make those from scratch. The wiki I linked before has a few build guides. Often, builds decide which weapons you can use best. There is no shame in experimenting a bit, in mixing and matching.

Generally, builds are very useful for pvp. It makes you pvp optimized, and the pvp level rests at around 120. You can of course level higher! In fact, the cap is at 544, so 99 in each stat. The return for stat investment you see diminishes at a certain point, the hard and soft caps. That's okay, it is expected.

I personally tend to run skill builds. Strength builds are just as viable however, as are bloodtinge or arcane builds. They are all damn useful, and they are all fascinating to play. Your starting class can help, but in the long haul, it barely does anything.

First and foremost, have fun with it. Do give a look to this site though if you want a few build ideas.

What does scaling mean?

Weapons scale. That means that they depend stronger on one stat than another. The scaling of a weapon improves as you upgrade it. A weapon with a D scaling in strength is going to rely less on it than a weapon with an A scaling. Scaling determines bonus damage your weapon does, and it's shown by a + symbol next to the raw damage number.

Does higher scaling make a better weapon? Technically. And yet, despite that, someone with a fully upgraded Simon's Bowblade can and will die to someone who is naked and running in with a broken, not upgraded saw cleaver that yells cowabunga. It's the player that makes or breaks a weapon.

How and where to farm?

Farming is essential. You need vials, and you need bullets. And you sure as hell need echoes. You gotta get that off the ground before you can get a Chalice to use the unfortunately named Cum chalice, and if you don't have Online, you can't rely on that. Farming can and will get easier once you got a steady supply of Bold Hunter's Marks too, since they allow you to respawn without losing your echoes, so consider investing in some of those! This site has a few guides, but here is a short list of my favorite places to farm some stuff:

Blood Vials:

These drop from Scourge Beasts and Large Huntsmen a lot. Brick Trolls are practically guaranteed to drop between 2-3 of them. Those are not easy foes at first. If you have opened the shortcut to Gilbert's house, you can farm them somewhat easily from the scourge beasts on the bridge by luring them towards the entrance of the house leading to the Bridge. just clear the people inside first. The scourge beasts don't fit through the door, and if you have the axe or cane, you can safely dispatch them one at a time.

Large huntsmen are vulnerable to being parried when they have their arms raised the highest, but if you have a reasonably fast weapon, you can stunlock them. If you manage to sneak up to them from behind, do a charge attack (long r2) and they immediately become vulnerable to a visceral. Use that window to get 'em!

Brick trolls kind of suck to parry at first, but they drop blood vials rather reliably. They are easy once you get used to their timing, but they are intimidating. Don't be afraid to land potshots, and run away if it gets too dicey.

Bullets:

Your thighs. Don't be afraid to stab yourself via Up on the d-pad to get 5 extra bullets, especially if you have a surplus of vials.

Any mob with a musket will drop bullets. If you feel like chancing murder alley, there is one near a carriage pretending he is asleep. kill him, loot him, to the nearest lantern, rinse and repeat.

Bloodstone Shards:

Those drop from the sewers and the large huntsmen there about as often as blood vials. Be careful and you won't waste for getting your weapon to +3 before you know it.

If you haven't done the sewers, Old Yharnam has a good spot. It makes me feel a bit bad because I like Djura and he says beasts are people, but the area he can't see, near the church and over the bridge has about 4-5 scourge beasts and a lot of beast patients that you can kill relatively easily. they drop a lot of echoes and shards, and you can use those. They drop vials too, and sometimes even beast blood pellets.

Echoes

Broadly said? Everyone and everything. That doesn't help you, I know that. So let's see what I can go with that will help y'all in actual places...

Central Yharnam: The house behind Gilbert's. You need to open the shortcut for it, yes, but it's good farming. You got slow yharnamite hunter mobs, and you can easily get them down, and then there is the bridge right at the top where you can lure the scourge beasts to the entrance of the house. you will be inside and can kill them cheaply. Do not go to Murder Alley, aka the long bend at the start. That is hubris talking. Also consider the bridge at the aqueduct. if you go to the middle and then run back and go somewhat down the ladder, the huntsmen get bowled over, quite literally. Bowling for beasts nets you a fair bit of echoes for little effort.

The Cathedral Ward: There are three church servants and some fat crows in the back area of the chapel. If you kill those, you learn the parry timing of the servants (when they raise their staff), and you get echoes. The servants drop bullets and vials. It's good. Then go to the outer courtyard. two more servants. one to parry, one to let walk by and sneak up on with a backstab visceral. Beware the amygdala in the corner, it's grabby.

Old Yharnam: Don't focus on going through this area the first time without damage. Just try to survive, and if you gotta kill beasts, it happens. DO NOT GO UP ON THE TOWER! That way is Djura. Djura can be befriended if you stop hunting the beasts of Old Yharnam after defeating the boss Darkbeast Paarl. I like sitting with Djura, he's cool. Anyways. If you get through Old Yharnam, you will eventually reach a church where a beast bursts through the doors. Go inside and up the stairs, and you unlock a shortcut all the way back to the start. now you got an area for the easy farming of echoes, about 3-4k per run. you go down the church, and then go at the 3 scourge beasts on the bridge as well as the three beast patients coming in. Then you turn around, sneak up on the screaming beast patient in the fog, and backstab-visceral her. Try not to get poisoned by that scourge beast there. rinse and repeat as needed.

The Forbidden Woods: Why do you want to farm here. This thing has poison. It has snakes. eugh. That said, once you get the shortcut to valtr open, he has a thriving snake habitat next to himself. It's a decent farming spot. I try not to be here, I don't like this place.

Hemwick Charnel Lane: Your best bet to farm here are actually the mobs right in front of the boss room. Once you got the Witches down, you can go back up and take care of the 3 grave women, the executioner, and the dogs there. that gets decent echoes!

Yahar'gul: No. (you can get twin stone shards there. the chance for it is abysmal. don't be me. Do not farm there for 18 hours only to give up without the shards you wanted. You can get twin stone shards elsewhere.)

Cainhurst Castle: You should probably not grind in an area with little guardrails and open roofs, but you do you. If you can deal with potentially being stunlocked by enemies screaming at you, the library is a decent spot.

If you have Online, discard all of these after getting the Pthumeru Chalice. Once you have that, and can use Chalice Glyphs, you will want to enter the Glyph code CUMMMFPK. This will generate a chalice dungeon that will, without fail, drop you nearly 90k echoes for doing nothing but standing in the entrance area for like 5 seconds. I advise using those echoes to buy items rather than to level up, but that choice is yours entirely.

BOSS TIPS

Here we are at last. Took me a good while, but here we are! I will try to do this with some pictures to break up the monotony. Gotta announce them in fashion, after all.

Cleric Beast

This bastard. Utter Tool. screams like the damned. Here's the rough sitch and the damage breakdown:

Hates fire. Is a beast, and thus vulnerable to it. Pack molotovs if you can.

Gets extra damage from serration due to being a beast. The saw cleaver and saw spear are your best friend if you are a fresh player, as is the transformed threaded cane.

Get Father Gascoigne's help if you can and haven't fought him yet. He does decent damage against it, for all that he doesn't heal himself. He will play meatshield quite well! He is found at the fountain near his house, where you can see a brick troll bang away at a door.

When the beast screams, it won't attack. you can use that to whale on it. Don't get too comfy though.

It is surprisingly fast, but turns slowly. If you are behind it, you can slash at its ankles.

It can be parried. isn't easy, but it can be done. Sometimes you get insanely lucky and do it with a throwing knife. Don't focus on the visceral. Slow and steady wins the race.

Father Gascoigne

Congratulations, you met the first mandatory boss. Congratudolences if you are like my dear girlfriend and his voice does it for you. You will get your shit kicked in summarily.

He has two and a half phases. Yes, i mean that as i said it. He has a Human phase, and a beast phase. About one-third in, he will transform his axe. that extends his already ridiculous reach, and it will be announced by a voiceline. You'll know it when you hear it. He can still use his blunderbuss despite the transformed axe. The computer is a cheating bastard, I guess. The beast phase kicks in at a point between half and a third of his health being left. He will hold his head, shriek, and transform into a beast. At that point he drops his weapons and will go for claws.

Gascoigne is a mirror boss to the Hunter. He fights like you. And it is meant to be hard. He is in a crowded arena, and that is not easy to navigate. But just as you can get stuck, so can he. Use that to your advantage to get healing in. Don't get greedy attacking him.

If you found his daughter, you will have a music box. Using that will make him stop attacking for a bit and howl in pain. You get four uses of that total. Three in human form. After the third usage, he will transform into the beast prematurely. His beast form only weakens from it once. He will howl in pain, and you can slash in. If you have trouble using the box, go up the stairs and towards the roof, but do it carefully, since you still want to be able to hit him after it works. This will go for beast and person both.

He is far more mobile as a beast, and can destroy the gravestones. If you are careful with that, you can get yourself some room to maneuver. I do not recommend that, frankly.

His human form doesn't have a particular weakness you can exploit early on, unless you want to stagger him. In taht case, use the kirkhammer. I have it on authority that it makes him stagger like a drunken man. After transforming, he is weak to serration and fire like any other beast. Don't waste molotovs, he is liable to dodge that.

If you need breathing room, up the stairs and down to the roof, and back into the graveyard. he tends to follow you, and that can buy you good time because he needs a bit to get down on the roof.

The Bloodstarved Beast (or as I call it, Old Raghead)

This boss won't win beauty awards. what it will win is your annoyance.

This beast is weak to serration and fire, business as usual.

It does however deal poison damage. It's blood is poisonous, and it is fast and likes to make grabby hands.

You should in fact try to bring in Alfred as a meat shield. It will raise the boss health, but he can distract it well enough.

You need to dress in poison resistant clothes. Gascoigne's garb has superb poison resistance and is good for this.

Pack antidotes. As many as you can. For the worst case scenario, the back of the arena has about 3 more. You will need them.

Keep molotovs handy, and the fire paper cooperating with Alfred gives you. You can find two more at the top of the shortcut church in old yharnam. They coat your weapon in fire for about 60 seconds each, and that is hella valuable.

This thing is quick. If it screams and the skin flaps, haul ass backwards because it is about to let out a cloud of poison

the third phase has not-so-fun gimmick: permanent poison aura. get fast, know when to use your antidotes, and have blood vials handy.

the hunter torch you can find near the shortcut door can make a decent substitute weapon here if you ran out of fire-paper. it won't do much, but it does fire, and that is sometimes just enough. If you have the flamesprayer, that is very neat too.

In theory you can parry this dude. I never managed it. props if you do.

You may get frustrated at dying. That happens, and is a part of it. I can't tell you much aside from the fact that you may wish to dodge forward rather than to the side or backward when it goes in for a swipe, because that allows you to go under it and gives you access to the back. You got this.

Old Hunter Henryk

Henryk is technically not a boss. He sure as fuck still feels like one. He is sitting at a horrendously high blood level for the point you find him at. If you don't want Eileen to die, you have only one true shot at this. So here is my list of tips for this crochety old bastard.

Just like Gascoigne, Henryk is a Hunter. That means he will fight like you. Unlike Gascoigne, Henryk comes with a you-sized hitbox as well. On one hand that means he can't reach you as fast. On the other hand, you can't do it either. You win some, you lose some.

Henryk packs a pistol, unlimited throwing knives, and a saw cleaver. Said saw cleaver has been upgraded so it hits harder.

Henryk is very prone to shooting and parrying you, especially if you go in with r1 attacks only.

You can save yourself some runback if you don't mind having a longer run through the Cathedral Ward. Before opening the gates for Eileen to come in, spawn in at the Tomb of Oedon. The initial runback if you die before engaging Henryk is longer, but if you die against Henryk, you'll respawn right in his face. Consider that worth it, especially if you want to keep Eileen alive.

I would advise you to try and learn to sneak up and visceral attack. If you come in from Oedon Chapel, and you walk slowly, you can drop onto the roof where Viola's corpse is, and can sneak to the back of Henryk, as long as you practically hug the gravestones. If you then charge and r2 him, you get a free visceral to start this battle off with. That can make or break it.

Henryk's health bar remains reduced if you die in the fight.

Eileen will jump in after like a minute. Henryk is highly likely to visceral her. Once eileen joins, shoot henryk. use all your ammunition on this. Shoot him. shoot him and make sure he doesn't visceral her. Take potshots with your main weapon if you can, but once eileen is there, focus on harrying him. bleed yourself for bullets if you have to, use throwing knives, and if you got some from the cathedral ward, poison knives work on him too.

If you die against him, that isn't the end of the world, but it will make things difficult. try to keep Eileen alive, shoot henryk. That and the entrance visceral tends to do the trick as far as i have learned. Maybe use fire paper or bolt paper if you have that, but don't activate that right behind him. do it from a bit away. He can hear the application, and doing that ruins the entrance visceral.

Darkbeast Paarl

Paarl here is a fun boss, as far as I think. It is also prerequisite to befriending Djura. Paarl is also a bit of a hard nut to crack, especially if you lock on to it. The camera is a bit of a bastard.

First off, you need Lightning resistance. I'd personally suggest doing Paarl after you help Eileen take care of Henryk. He is right above Paarl in this, because Henryk does practically work as a boss in his own right. Why do I suggest Paarl after Henryk? Because you can buy his set from the Insight Messengers after you kill him, and it has the highest Lightning resistance in the game. I know I said fashion likely won't save you. In this case, the lightning resistance will however afford you at least one more hit to tank, so wear that. You will be blindingly yellow, but it's better.

Paarl, as a beast, is weak to serration and fire.

You can have summoned NPC help for Paarl. Depending on what you have done so far, you can get either Defector Antal or Confederate Yamamura the Wanderer. Yamamura is available if you freed/killed him in the DLC, and when you wear the Impurity oath rune. Antal is slightly better in this instance, because he has a flamesprayer. You can only summon one of them, they are mutually exclusive.

Don't lock onto Paarl, it moves quickly and it is large. That means chaotic camera movement.

Paarl screams a lot, and those screams tend to herald it doing a lightning explosion. Be aware of that.

if you stand underneath it, that tends to be relatively safe until it starts to explode.

Molotovs and oil urns are your friend, as is fire paper. Use them if you can.

After killing Paarl, use the lamp to go back to the dream. then, open the doors and run towards djura's tower without killing the beasts. You will get the chance to spare the beasts. spare them, and he will stop shooting at you and give you the powder keg badge and a gesture. Friends are rare in yharnam, and the top of his tower is a nice spot to relax for a bit.

Vicar Amelia

Amelia is not as hard as one thinks.

She is a beast. that means serration and fire. you know the drill by now. ;)

You can summon Old Hunter Henriett to help here. She has a kirkhammer and a repeating pistol. She pulls her weight, and does a good job! Summon her if you got insight to spare.

Vicar amelia has large telegraphed swipes and can be dodged into. If you have Henriett, she reliably goes and becomes bait.

If you did well with the Cleric Beast, this all applies to Amelia as well. She is after all a cleric beast as well.

Amelia tries to heal in her later phase, when screaming. She gets a white-ish glow, but you can easily outpace her healing with damage. If you aren't confident in it, throw some Numbing Mists at her.

I... don't have many tips for her, she is, all things considered, a bit of a "repeat what you learned" case of a boss. Not that hard, but also not really introducing new mechanics, y'know?

The Witch(es) of Hemwick aka granny wants your eyes

This boss can be cheesed if you are willing to get rid of all your insight.

If you have insight, they summon Mad Ones. The easy way to circumvent that is to enter the arena, see the boss, bold hunters mark out, and then spend all your insight in the dream. that way, the witches can't summon mad ones, and on their own they are relatively harmless. They go somewhat invisble, but that isn't a big issue when you run close.

Once you kill the first, a second witch shows up, and if you let her, she will revive the first. The second one doesn't really do stuff for the boss health bar for some reason, but you do need to gank them both.

Really, just do yourself the favor and spend the insight, it makes this all so much easier.

Shadows of Yharnam

These proto-nazgul are not all that fun. There are three of them, and they have different weaknesses. We have Candle, Sword, and Mace.

You can summon for this, if you have the Impurity Rune equipped. You can get the Younger Madaras Twin or Henryk. I would personally go for Henryk, as he has higher health and also intelligence. Younger Madaras Twin can and will get lost in the forest. Henryk doesn't.

Your best bet is to focus on one of them at a time. For all that they have three health bars, they share a trigger pool, and when one of them reaches a certain threshold or their combined damage does, they go into phase two and sprout snakes. You will want to have gotten rid of one of the pyromancers at that point, or at least have them close to that.

I would suggest spending some insight to get shaman bone blades. If you did that already, excellent! they are a close quarter item, and if used on enemies, makes them attack other enemies for a bit. That is tide-turning here, so use them. You can have three of them, and they are worth it.

The one with the fireball has the least hp, the sword only one the most.

When they enter phase two, they have a vastly extended reach. try to move in close and be quick, and be liberal with using elemental paper, it's a small bonus. I would personally suggest bolt, but fire does it just as well.

Once two shadows are dead, the third gets the power to summon snakes. they are large. they hurt. Be quick as you can be once the other two are down, because he won't wait that long to summon them.

All in all, divide and conquer is your main strategy. Get Henryk to help you, he is really good here. Good luck.

Rom the Vacuous Spider (photo a stand in because arachnophobes)

Rom is... well, she is a summoner.

Rom is weak to Bolt and fire does a nice chunk of damage too. If you have it, use the Tonitrus. She also takes extra damage from Kinhunter gems.

You can summon for this fight. The options are Henryk, The Younger Madaras Twin, and Mensis Scholar Damian. All of them have their uses, but they are mutually exclusive. You can summon Henryk AND the Madaras twin, or Damian. Henryk is a good damage dealer, but Damian uses the Choir Bell, which means an additional source of healing. You need to decide which you value more in this case.

Rom will not attack you the first time you enter the arena. That gives you some time to prepare. Your first strike will not damage her, it will merely aggro her.

Rom teleports three times. During her curl-up animation, you can still damage her.

Rom will summon a horde of her children to fight you. Their front is hard to damage, because their faces are practically stone. This holds true for Rom too. Going in from the side is your best bet.

After she teleports the first time, Rom will begin to summon meteors. Meteors deal arcane damage and it sucks. When she teleports the second time, she gains access to ice spikes. they also do arcane damage.

Rom is a war of attrition. You should go in from the side, and if you have it, use your flamesprayer buffed with Bone Marrow Ash. that can eat through her health quite well!

I strongly encourage summoning someone to help, that makes the romlings manageable. their health isn't affected by the summon, unlike rom's own.

When you approach Queen Yharnam after the fight, you will transition into the Blood Moon Phase. I strongly suggest you save who you wish to before that, and tie up loose ends. You can teleport back here via the lantern at any time.

Amygdala aka The Surveillance System of Yharnam

This is the Amygdala. It is a Great One proper. Despite that, it isn't all that difficult in this instance. It only gets bad in the Defiled Chalice.

Amygdala is weak to Fire, Bolt and Arcane. It does not get bonus damage for Beast or Kin.

Amygdala has a huge lower area where you can stand practically unmolested. If you hang around behind it, amygdala will eventually jump, and try to land on you. If you take two steps forward and have a weapon like Ludwig's Holy Blade or the Burial blade, and charge the r2 in full, you will nail it right in the head after it lands. That deals a shitton of damage, and is in fact the best way I can tell you to damage it.

Amgydala will summon a laser in a zigzag pattern. Not the most fun attack, but when you get close enough, that isn't a problem anymore.

When you damage it enough, it will throw a tantrum and tear out its arms to use as clubs. The jump-bait will still work though, so keep on using that.

The One Reborn

The One Reborn is very weak to Bolt. It does not get bonus damage for beast or kin.

You can summon for this fight. Options are Defector Antal and if you freed/killed him in the Nightmare and wear the Impurity Rune, you can summon Confederate Yamamura the Wanderer. Both are viable in this fight, and you may go for whoever appeals to you more. They are mutually exclusive. Antal carries a church pick and flamesprayer, Yamamura a piercing rifle and a chikage. He can potentially cause rapid poison damage, antal may be better if you want elemental damage.

Heavy weapons will do well, but blunt damage weapons less so. TOR has decent blunt defense, so the Kirkhammer will not do all that well.

TOR has six bell ringing maidens on the ramparts. You need to kill these first, because they will heal it and support it. Once they are down, feel free to have a go at this disgusting mass of putrid flesh.

Both up close and far away has its hurdles. It can stretch to reach you, and it vomits up acid if you are too close. Focus on dodging and keeping yourself alive. Keep the electricity on your weapon, and things will work out.

This boss is more annoying than bad. You can do it!

The Celestial Emissary

Weak to Bolt and Kin gems. This is a failed great one experiment.

This is a bit of a puzzle boss. At first you merely see a lot of walking Kin, with no specially distinguished boss. It will be the one keeping at the back, so try to ignore the ones rushing for you. Keep taking care of them, but go for the one in the back.

After a while, it will grow huge and grow tentacles from the head. This boss does not deal well with thrust damage either, so consider using a transformed saw spear, the rifle spear, or a stake driver equipped with kinhunter gems.

You can use the arena to your advantage to get the smaller kin into a bottleneck near the entrance of the arena, and pick them off one by one. The do respawn eventually, but all in all, this isn't too difficult of a boss.

Ebrietas, Daughter of the Cosmos, aka the big unknowable Girl

Ebrietas is a Great One, and is weak to Bolt, Kin, and Fire.

Her reach is long, and your patience needs to be longer.

You can summon Mensis Scholar Damian for this. His use varies a bit and depends on RNG, but he is decent for this. Use him if you feel like it!

Like with rom, your first attack on her will not deal damage. She is non-hostile at first and at the back of the arena. Damian will not walk in until you aggro'd her.

Phase one she crawls towards you slowly, and goes for tentacle lashes and head slams if close enough. Every once in a while she discovers her inner speed demon and rushes towards you. if she spits blood, have a sedative ready, because it will almost always max out your frenzy meter unless you managed your insight and outfit well.

Come phase two, she will begin using what is a scaled up version of A Call Beyond. She also has an aura that will damage you whenever you are in the vicinity of it.

You can in theory be behind her back and between her tails and continuously deal thrust damage, be it with a fully charged r2 stake driver or a holy blade. This runs the risk of you getting locked in a corner and her killing you though, so use that trick with caution.

Ebrietas is a boss I personally struggled with, and that I don't look forward to fighting again. Just... try to wear her down slowly. Don't get greedy.

The Bloody Crow of Cainhurst

Another member of the "not technically a boss"-squad, like Henryk.

Like Henryk, he hits like a truck. Unlike Henryk, you got unlimited attempts with this one. If you killed Henryk, you will face the Bloody Crow. If you didn't help Eileen, you will face her. I don't know how to fight Eileen, because I got very good at killing Henryk.

He uses Quickening, which means he essentially teleports rather than dodges. He is a bitch. He also uses a Chikage, so he can inflict rapid poison on you. You can poison him too, though. It won't be easy, but you can.

He uses a Chikage (Fully upgraded), a Repeating Pistol, an Old Hunter's Bone for Quickening, and a single Blood Vial. when you get him to half health, he will heal himself up. You can stop that with Numbing Mist if you feel like it.

This will be rough. I won't even pretend you won't be in for the long haul here. This Hunter has more HP than some bosses you faced so far, and he has rather good defenses. He seems to be somewhat weak to Bolt.

He is fast and a bastard and good at inflicting viscerals on you. You need to dodge, and if you are good at parrying, be ready to be disappointed. He teleports away.

You just kind of... Need to be careful here and be ready to dodge. If you got a blue elixir, you may be able to come closer to him than otherwise right at the start, and with some luck and skill, you can possibly get a starting visceral off. That isn't a guarantee, but it's worth trying.

Good luck. Remember, you got all night for this. Unlike Henryk, he can't kill Eileen, and you won't stay dead in any way that matters. If needed, throw everything and the kitchen sink at him. Knives of all kinds, oil urns, molotovs, whatever works. Try it all.

Martyr Logarius, the Corpsicle

Martyr Logarius is a fight where you gotta watch the environment. The roof has no guardrails and you WILL fall off if you aren't careful.

The corpsicle is weak to all sorts of physical damage, and has resistance to all sorts of elemental and poison damage. Just hit him.

You can't summon npc help, but if you can, i support using online to get yourself a proper cooperator.

He is fast and agile, and occasionally he flies, but he is also highly predictable in his attacks.

Phase one he will summon skull spheres. if you run past them and at him, he often doesn't get off more than two, and his scythe telegraphs well. You can stagger him. Just in general, dodge towards him and through the attacks, that works wonders.

Once he drives his staff in the ground, go for that to destroy his armor and stagger him.

When he summons phantom swords, you reached phase two. Phase two means this bastard flies like a pastor on wires.

He becomes more aggressive and chases you down, but that only means more parry opportunities. Single shot firearms work better here than the blunderbuss.

when he flies, attack the sword in the ground, that dispels the phantom weapons.

when he tries to cast a spirit wave, go back. you can't interrupt that. otherwise, parry, parry, parry.

Micolash, Host of the Nightmare, aka Soggy Todd Howard

Welcome, dear hunter, to the worst fight in the game. This is a walking simulator combined with a rage simulator.

Micolash may be a fucking twink, but he hits like a truck. Do not be deceived. He has an augur of Ebrietas, and will use it to nigh on instakill you. He also has A Call Beyond. Be really, really careful.

He is relatively susceptible to poison. If you got poison knives, you may cheese him a little. If you hit him with a throwing knife before getting into his range and poison him (should take 2-3 knives), he will start a cycle of "run, disappear, come back at first spot, rinse repeat"". This will go on as long as he is poisoned. It's slow, but it will help.

Remember to take care of his marionettes, they do hit like hell and can also respawn.

After a while he will go into a single room where you can whale on him until he is at half health, after which he will run again. Not exactly fun to deal with. He will summon two marionettes, so take care of them, and stagger him if you get the chance.

Once in second phase, you can absolutely cheese him, should you have Simon's Bowblade. After giving him the run-around in the upper arena area, you can drop into his end room ahead of time, and approach him from behind. If you stand in the entranceway, you can shoot him in the back again and again, and he won't run into the room you are in, or attack you. This man doesn't deserve the honor of a fair fight. Kill him.

Mergo's Wet Nurse

Congratulations! Depending on the Ending you are going for, this is your final boss. This is Mergo's Wet Nurse. She is a Great One proper.

You may find the music a familiar tune. It is the full melody of the one Gascoigne's music box played.

The Wet Nurse is horrendously weak to fire, bolt and rapid poison. If you have dirty blood gems or a chikage, now is the time to use them.

You can make relatively light work of her by staying behind her and using charged r2 attacks. That aside, beware that she likes to twirl.

This is a war of attrition. She will summon fog and doubles after a while, but the doubles go down to a single hit. once this aptly named Nightmare Fog is over, go back to the grindstone of hit and run with charged r2 attacks.

She is NOT all that threatening, all things considered. The biggest issue is visibility.

After defeating her, wait a while to see the Nightmare Slain message. Congrats, you killed your first higher god! If you go back to see Queen Yharnam now, she will bow to you in thanks.

Gehrman, the First Hunter

This is it. This is the second potential final boss, depending on whether or not you consumed the three cords.

Gehrman is another Hunter Boss. He is distinguished by long reach and rapid burst movement, yet also has relatively slow limping speed otherwise. He has about three phases.

Like every human, he is rather allergic to being electrocuted or set on fire. Bolt and Fire are your friends, as are parries and Arcane damage.

At first, his burial blade is transformed. he will dash in to try and reel you in, and he is really good at that. However, he telegraphs, and that allows you to parry and visceral him. Use that.

After a while, he will transform his burial blade and go in for close combat, This is the point he brings out his own gun to shoot and visceral you. Be aware of the distance his gunfire covers, and dodge with it. Try not to be greedy, he is good at interrupting you.

After a while, he will get to phase three. He will rise into the air and absorb energy before releasing an energy blast. This blast reduces your health, but you can attack him somewhat unimpeded while he gathers the energy. This is where things get tricky, because he will now have an aerial projectile attack, switches between weapon modes at will, and has a bit of super armor. He gets more aggressive, and you need to be able to adapt to this.

If you defeat him and are low on resources, but consumed the umbilical cords, Bold Hunters Mark out. Restock. And then go back in, because you have one more boss to kill.

The Moon Presence, Flora of the Moon

Your last Great One. The final Boss proper, should you have found and used the three cords and fought Gehrman.

You will kill her. That is not optional. You have consumed the cords. You felled bigger foes than her. She is merely the last on the menu and she knows it.

Flora is weak to all elementals. Be it bolt or fire or arcane. Poison will do nothing to her. She is the only entity in the game where it will never proc.

You will want to carry the Choir Bell. She can stop you from healing, and the choir bell negates that.

Flora has less health than Gehrman and the Wet Nurse. She is frail but fast, and uses that. She will jump around the field to fell you.

Her head is her weak point. Aim for that if you can.

Do NOT get greedy. leave yourself the stamina to dodge backwards and escape from her swipes to heal up.

Standing behind her tends to be the safest spot, unless she winds up for a spinning whip attack.

When she makes it rain blood, your healing is being blocked. Use the choir bell, because oh man will you need it. When she uses her Doom Gaze attack and a red shockwave runs out, you reach one hp. no fail. if you can't heal then, you are fucked. HAVE THE BELL.

sidesteps are a good way to survive phase one. Flora has a tendency to attack straight forward.

Good luck. She too will fall.

DLC BOSSES

Ludwig the Accursed/Ludwig the Holy Blade

You have the DLC. That means you have a whole new frontier to fight in, to dismantle. This includes this former Church paragon, Ludwig. He has two phases that are drastically different.

His first phase, he is a beast proper. Serration, fire, the works. He howls and shrieks, and moves erratically.

You can summon for this fight. In the Nightmare Church, you can find Henriett. Slightly hidden in a corner near Ludwig's cave, you find Valtr, should you wear Impurity. I suggest Valtr, as he carries the Whirligig Saw. It doesn't matter much if he is Master of the League or the Beast Eater. Either way, he will work better than Henriett. Furthermore, should he survive, you can gain a Vermin.

Ludwig will swipe and jump in phase one. He will move erratically, try to run you over or kick you, and after a while, the second mouth on his shoulder will spew milky arcane vomit that has a long reach. Ludwig is deceptively fast. Try to stay on his sides to immobilize him, and try not to be backed into a corner.

When you reach the halfway phase, he will transition into the Ludwig the Holy Blade phase. He now fights completely differently. Furthermore, the Beast gem bonuses no longer apply, and serration no longer damages him extra. The game no longer sees him as a beast.

Ludwig now fights with the Holy Moonlight Sword. He has long reach but is slower, and it is in fact possible now to duck under them and anticipate which ones he is liable to use.

If he raises his sword straight up, be ready to dodge to the side. He is about to summon a blast of energy right in front of him. If he holds his sword down, dash back as he is about to unleash an aoe blast.

He is no longer susceptible to side damage, but if you break his super armor in front, he will stagger and you can visceral.

If it gets dicey with blood vials, there are five at the back of the arena, behind the railing. Get them if you need to.

Laurence, the first Vicar

You can summon Valtr for this fight as well. If that is useful depends entirely on whether or not if he wants a dunk in the lava or not. First phase is worth it, third not so much.

Laurence is the only beast not susceptible to fire. He is on fire. If you want elemental damage, go for Bolt.

He is a reskinned Cleric Beast that occasionally explodes into fire. The first two phases are essentially the Cleric Beast again. I would suggest wearing the Charred Hunter garb to avoid burning painfully.

He may be largely the Cleric Beast all over, but that fire explosion hurts like hell. it will come and you will need extra vials for that. Be prepared.

Phase three, his legs dissolve into lava and he turns the floor into a hazard as he crawls after you and vomits up more lava. This is where Valtr's pathfinding ai will suffer and he is liable to get himself killed.

Lead elixirs can make it so you won't flinch from the lava, but it doesn't reduce the damage you can get. Use with care.

In phase three, try to keep to his side, and stay away from the back.

The Living Failures

These fine gentlemen are Kin and failed celestial emissiaries.

They are weak to bolt, fire, kinhunter gems, and susceptible to rapid poison.

They share a healthpool. Being able to inflict rapid poison is a fast way to kill them. The available League summon, Yamamura the Wanderer, may inflict this status. He is a valuable ally, both as a meat shield and fighter.

There are four on the field at all times. two melee, two mages. They will come at you even so. Divide and conquer.

My suggested weapon is a decently upgraded whirligig fully equipped with Kinhunter gems. a transformed, charged L1 or R2 is going to tear through the individual failures and make them need to respawn. In that time, you can go for the next one and reduce them relatively well.

You can use a shaman bone blade to make them attack each other. Enjoy with caution.

When they raise their arms, seek shelter under the lumenflower. They are summoning meteors. Take cover, then right after, shred their health some more.

All in all, don't get greedy and you'll be fine.

Lady Maria of the Astral Clocktower

It's her. The face of the DLC. The former apprentice of Gehrman.

Maria is another Hunter type boss. And by god by golly does it show.

She changes weapon types at leisure, and transforms her rakuyo freely. She is agile, and can visceral you. The animation for that differs depending on character gender, btw ;)

However, you can visceral HER too. She is rather susceptible to it too. You can parry her, be it with the gun or the augur of ebrietas, and shear through her health until she enters phase two.

Phase two starts with her stabbing herself to coat the rakuyo in blood. she now has about double to triple her old range. Be careful of that. She remains fast, and she practically dances around you. You can still parry her, but be aware that she can reach you from halfway across the arena now and deals blood damage rather than primarily physical.

She uses quickening, which makes her rather good at dodging you. Be aware of that.

Come phase three, she will rise into the air and culminate into a fiery explosion. Cheers. Her blood is now on fire. You will be in pain. Like in phase two, her reach is extended, and it isn't really safe anymore to quickstep through her attacks or rest behind her. There is about a second delay between the blood and the fire.

You will want to move in quick and fast at this point, and may consider using the beast roar to stunlock her in combination with a quick weapon like the blades of mercy.

Good luck.

The Orphan of Kos

This boss is a Superboss.

It is a Great One. Unlike its remaining kin, this boss does not get all that much damage from Bolt, and is weaker to Fire.

This boss has two phases and no NPC summon. I would advise to try and get summon help online if you can. If not, that is fine too. Godspeed tho, you madlad.

The orphan is highly aggressive, but won't start attacking until you are halfway into the arena.

The arena has water. I would encourage to stand in there, because you can't fall off, and it is more even than the beach.

The orphan likes to jump and has more range than you think. You can parry it, but I would honestly focus on surviving more. If it jumps, dash forward so it sails over you. Try to stay on its left side, that way the attacks won't hit you as much.

It can be ranged by throwing globs of its placenta. That will explode and have more side range than you think. Don't dodge into it, sidestep. This will still happen in phase two.

Slow and steady wins the race here. This Great One may be freshly born, but it fights almost like a Hunter and it hurts.

I can honestly only really say that you should use firepaper, keep oil urns on hand, and also some molotovs. Some throwing knives too, in case you run out of bullets and vials.

Once it reaches phase two, it grows and becomes even more aggressive. The weapon can't reach as far anymore, but it jumps like a kid on energy drinks and sugar now, and is more than intent to grind you into paste.

When it screams, be aware that the corpse of Kos is now summoning Lightning. Dodge those waves, they hurt. Don't try to attack the orphan, just stay clear.

Don't get greedy, and take it slow. I can't tell you much more. Godspeed. You can do this.

That is it! Good hunting, and may you stay with us for a long long time!

#bloodborne #long post #guide

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shana-silver-fox · 3 months ago

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TBOC 2.03 L'Invisible

The title was clearly a callback to Rick and Carol's conversation at how good she is playing undercover detective. She gets it done in this episode.

Lots found this one boring, but for someone like me who likes to over analyze every little bit it was packed with lots of goodies.

Ces Douleurs

Genet: These pains we carry, we women need to learn to let them go. Men seem to have no problem doing that.

Carol: They certainly do not.

Damn. I FELT THAT hard!

we open with Genet's back story and what will be a parallel later to Tinkyl

The purposeful comparison of Carol to the Mona Lisa is just *chefs kiss.

The most famous painting in the world. The most famous lady of The Walking Dead. Both with that hidden secret behind their smile.

This quickly turns into Genet displaying a show of power over a much bigger man by making him eat food off the floor like a dog. There is another scene in the next episode that is very similiar. Would like to hear ya'lls thoughts on the point of this.

The man she humiliates has disrespected the lady who is serving them food. I lost count of the times haters have tried to diminish and disrespect Carol for "just being the cook". Wonder if this was a Melissa note? Genet tells Carol she has no tolerance for bullies, and no one has been bigger bullies in this fandom than the Carol haters.

Loved this. We know Carol wants Daryl in the kitchen with her.

Experiments. Yes we heard about Daryl’s “experiment” from Norman. Just as gruesome. No thanks.

Cordron: I had him and I let him go.

Carol knows what that’s like. Cordron also thinks Carol’s last name is Dixon now.

More talk about coincidences and signs. Look for the signs. 🪧

Remmy let us down, but his line saying Carol would have done the same for HER DARYL is so true.

The symbolism of Carol riding to the rescue on a white horse through a tunnel was beautiful. She was just cut off, unfortunately. So much tunnel symbolism connected to Caryl I could do a seperate post. Even Losang talks about light at the end of the tunnel. “you make the light” “follow my light”

I do love Carol’s reaction to hearing Daryl has aligned himself with a religious group. “REALLY?” Like the fandom’s reaction to this version of Daryl so far 😂

Carol: the war to end all wars? I’ve heard that before.

Shade at Rick?

Calling Daryl Carol’s raison d’être is spot on. It translates to “reason to live”

Tick tock time for the fairytale to end

Conveniently Sylvia dies so Isabelle doesn’t have to confess to executing Emile.

Why did Izzy just stand there and wait for Daryl to shoot walker Sylvie? Was she gonna let it happen? 🤨

I was impressed with Daryl’s action scene. Norman’s stunt double actually got a bit of a break. He made sure to get his Carol knife back!

Losang’s break down of Daryl is amazing….

losang :Simply reacting. A man alone. It’s a sad state. He’s right. Daryl has been just reacting not feeling since he got to France. and he feels totally alone

Only by risking everything can we be sure. Daryl’s so scared to risk everything with Carol

Daryl: What happens if you’re wrong?

Losang: If I’m wrong there would be no point in going on There’s Daryl’s greatest fear. If he risks it all to tell Carol how he feels and ends up being wrong and she doesn’t feel the same way, then loses her friendship, he will think he doesn’t have a reason to go on.

Laurent and Daryl’s cave couldn’t be more Lost Boys coded.

Laurent: Not Daryl. He never believed.

Yes toodles, & that’s why Tinkerbelle dies.

The Leah parallel is just too much

When Isabelle figures out she’s Tinkerbelle 😥

Ok did everyone hear that distinct change in music tone after Tink says ILY? It was fraught, not happy. Along with Daryl’s expression.

Lasong to Daryl :Isabelle has always had an open mind and heart. You sadly are beyond hope

Daryl’s heart has been closed off and he thinks he’s beyond hope 😭😭😭 but hope is coming to open it!

Hope in the form of a tiny woman from Georgia is on her way to save you. Hope is not lost Daryl, she has a map!

The perfect bookend to this episode was Isabelle’s Douleurs Exquise . It’s a very common French phrase that means the pain of unrequited love. Poor Izzy. Getting silence and no return on that ILY was rough. 🥶

From Ces Douleurs , to Douleurs Exquise

Fin

#caryl #daryl dixon #carol peletier #norman reedus #melissa mcbride #caryl is endgame #caryl positivity #caryl is coming #daryl and carol #twd #tboc #twd tboc #the book of carol #twd caryl #twd daryl dixon #twddd

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my-mt-heart · 2 months ago

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Thoughts on TBOC 206

I have a few thoughts on 206 specifically, but now that all of the episodes are out, I want to look at what the season as a whole accomplished for Carol's and Daryl's arc(s), or rather, how much damage it did, and emphasize for the millionth time that new leadership is the only way forward.

Carol and Daryl both planning to stay behind was really sweet. I especially loved the emotion in Melissa's voice when she delivered Carol's line about not being able to live with herself if anything happened to Daryl and the look she gives him when she's about to get on the plane. Melissa has a remarkable talent for conveying a story that the writing and editing don't want to tell and I cannot thank her enough for staying true to the character in spite of that. It shouldn't have to be that way, but it is because the men in charge are all vindictive monsters.

The interruption trope was grossly overused the whole season, but in the case of the plane, after Carol jumps out, there's plenty of room for her and Daryl to have a moment with each other where the impact of what she just did lands on both of them, but it gets passed over. There are smiles sure, but they don't even hug? It feels extremely inorganic.

For the very first time all fucking season, we get to see Daryl comfort Carol. He tells her that what happened to Sophia and the other kids wasn't her fault and that living at the Commonwealth will be different this time because they'll “stay together.” Again, it’s a sweet scene when you take it at face value, but thinking about it in context, I have several bullshit cards to play. It shouldn't have taken Daryl this long to figure out that Carol was struggling with her grief again. Even if he wasn't an expert on reading Carol, she explicitly told him multiple times throughout the back half of the season that she’s hurting, but for some reason it’s only when the child he's known for two months is safe that he can finally make some space for her? Bullshit. That’s not Daryl. Acting far removed from that grief when Sophia was a huge part of his story too? Bullshit, that's also not Daryl. The scene is supposed to be Caryl fans' payoff? Bullshit, because it's a repeat of a couple of scenes they shared in S10, only worse, because this time it's really hard to take Daryl seriously when just a few episodes previously, he was talking to Isabelle about the life they'd have in the CW. Do I think he meant what he said to Isabelle? No. Does that matter? No, because it's never clarified. Thus...bullshit.

Why is a supporting character given really drawn out romantic beats with another supporting character I don’t recognize (did she fall out of the sky? Who is she??) when the only romance that's actually been earned gets no focus whatsoever? Is the hand-holding scene supposed to parallel them? Why are we only allowed to have parallels? What is that?

I've talked a lot about the tunnel scene already because of the script leak and for me, seeing it on screen was worse than reading it on the page which was already an awful experience. Again, why do Daryl and ghost Isabelle get more emotional weight than Daryl and Carol, who actually have a deep bond with each other and have spent over a decade with each other? Why is he giving up on life when he knows he has Carol back? Why is there literally no reaction when he meets up with Carol again after a near-death experience? Zabel treats them like they're strangers, and I will never get over how insane it is that someone so ignorant and careless gets to be in charge of their stories. Also, why are they talking before putting on their masks??

Melissa is wonderful in her performance when Carol sees Sophia, but the scene feels like a copout instead of giving her a proper resolution to her arc. It feels like there's still so much work to be done there. Also, why couldn't they find an actress who resembled Sophia more closely? The contrast is really distracting.

Thinking more broadly about the season now, it feels like the healing journey Melissa intended for Carol got upended by Daryl's betrayal (and yeah I'm going to call it that). I think it raises more insecurities about her self-worth, and I hate the male EPs for that.

They turned Daryl into an original character who embodies an "ideal" masculinity, but it comes off as inauthentic to the character many fans related to in the flagship show. I miss the unconventional hero who takes a long time to build emotional connections and stays loyal to them once he does. His sudden desire to build an entirely new family with people he's just met wreaks havoc on many of his bonds back home, but particularly Daryl's and Carol's. One of the many issues with Zabel is that he's used to writing broadcast TV shows (think crime, medical, or law procedurals) where the main characters can be reset a million and one times and their trajectory doesn't change. Daryl's and Carol's story isn't wired that way. On the contrary, they are two of the most transformed characters on television, with a long history that needs to be respected. Zabel does not respect that. Neither does Nicotero, Gimple, and even Norman.

I don't expect things to change for S3. I actually think they'll get worse and as much as I love Melissa and Caryl, the four horsemen are simply untrustworthy. I won't subject myself to more of their shit. Why should I? As Nicotero so kindly pointed out, they don't make the show for me (or any fans?) anyway. I'd love to watch a real Caryl show, one that has a showrunner who values Melissa's input, understands the characters, and respects the fans and I sincerely hope AMC will do the right thing.

Bonus Thought: “You Can't Always Get What You Want" feels like a slap in the face and I will never be able to listen to it again. Thanks, Zabel 🖕

#caryl #carol peletier #melissa mcbride #daryl dixon #norman reedus #the book of carol #twd caryl

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daryl-and-carol-oh-my · 1 month ago

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The Walking Dead; Indifference

"Like I was supposed to see it happen over and over, like it's some kind of curse. But, when it's just you out there with the quiet. . . Used to be I'd drink a bottle of anything just so I could shut my eyes at night. Figured the prison, the people, thought it's be easier. The run to the Big Spot I did it for me." - Bob Stookey "Gotta keep busy." - Daryl Dixon "No. I did it so I could get me a bottle. Of anything. I picked it up, I held it in my hand, and I put it down. I put it down so hard it took the whole damn shelf with it. That's what brought on the walkers, and that's what got Zach killed." - Bob Stookey "That's bullshit." - Daryl Dixon

Carylering ON<33333333333

#daryl dixon #bob stookey twd #caryl #caryl is endgame #caryl positivity #caryl is love #the walking dead #twd #my gifs

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carylerxsecretsanta · 16 days ago

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written for: @madwomanlexie

Title: New Ground Author: @theresnosafeharbor4myships Rating: G Summary: After returning to America, Daryl's worried about Carol, who's been acting distant. A heart-to-heart one night helps clear the air...and offers them an unexpected step forward in their relationship. A/N: I was so happy to be your Caryl Secret Santa, Lexi! I hope this fic brings a Caryl smile to your face. I know you haven't been watching the Caryl spinoff, so I want to highlight this gif set from the trailer for s3. It's what inspired this fic. Happy Christmas, friend! <3

Daryl watched as the knife sliced across her shoulder blade, and Carol’s cry of pain simultaneously cut through his heart. He’d only had a second to glance toward her and her opponent before his own two combatants rallied and dove for him again.

He took a few hits, grunting at the punch that landed in his side, before the larger of the two men suddenly froze, then crumpled at his feet to reveal Carol, blood streaked down the side of her face, holding a dripping knife, the third enemy lying on the ground behind her. Daryl took the opportunity to knock out the remaining man, and they set to work tying him up.

“You alright?” he asked quietly as he looped rope around the man’s hands, wondering at her wound, at the swipe of blood on her brow, how she’d recovered so quickly from the fray.

“Yeah.”

Something in her tone piqued his concern. Daryl’s gaze darted towards her as she restrained the man’s ankles, but she stayed focused on her task.

“You sure?”

One side of her face tilted up in a reassuring smile before she nodded once. “Let’s get him inside.”

Daryl couldn’t help worrying about her and her unusually stoic demeanor. Their separation had lasted longer than he’d ever intended for it to, and she’d spoken often of home—the kids, their family, how Alexandria and the Commonwealth had changed, what they’d do when they got back inside the gates—as they’d made their way back to America. The blend of nostalgia, worry, fear, and excitement had left her contemplative the past few days, altogether different from the ease he’d felt with her in France and Spain.

And the relief of being on their home shores didn’t mean danger ignored them. The man they’d just tied up was proof things continued on as they ever had. In unison, they lifted and moved him into the barn they’d inhabited when the men had overtaken them.

Together they extinguished the small fire they’d started earlier in the evening, and Carol shrugged on a deep brown sweater, too large for her, but somehow sexy all the same.

“Hey, lemme take a look at your shoulder,” he entreated.

“It’s fine,” she brushed him off. “He barely got me.”

“Carol—”

“We should go. Before he wakes up. Or anyone else comes along.”

He gave her a concerned look, but she didn’t falter in her haste, snatching up the blanket she’d laid out to sleep on and her backpack. Reluctantly, he nodded in acquiescence and gathered his own meager belongings, then barred the barn from the outside. It’d give the bastard a small chance at surviving, which was more than he’d planned to grant them.

“Here,” Daryl tossed one of the men’s bags to Carol, and she rifled through it while he did the same with another pack. They made quick work of the belongings, taking the food, matches, extra knife, and gloves they found.

“Come on,” Daryl said softly, eyeing their surroundings again to be sure they hadn’t left anything of value before leading her into the forest.

They walked for over half an hour in silence, the bright moonlight offering them guidance through the crisp night as they moved farther away from the road they’d traversed the past several days. Their boat had somehow missed all the outer islands of Massachusetts and landed along the coast of Rhode Island—a better situation than he’d figured they’d end up in in the long run, but they still had several hundred miles between them and home. They’d agreed to head south along the coast but eventually cut inland to avoid the major cities as much as possible—New York and Philadelphia posed more danger than the entirety of France in his mind—so now they’d head west.

Daryl noticed Carol slowing down after a while, and he wondered if she merely felt exhausted from their daily treks or if she’d been more seriously injured than she’d let on. He feared the latter, so he began searching for a place to call it a night. Damn those bastards for sneaking up on them and forcing them to leave the warm camp they’d made.

It took another fifteen minutes to find a suitable spot to rest for the evening, an old but solidly built shed in the backyard of a decaying house tucked out in the woods. The workmanship had held all these years, and Daryl felt sure a skilled carpenter had taken the time to build the shed, maybe even after the fall. Regardless, a rickety wire fence encircled the property, and he’d hang the keys and silverware they carried with them along the enclosure to alert them of any intruders this time.

“Start a fire while I prep the perimeter?” he asked Carol after they’d unburdened themselves of their packs.

She nodded and offered him a quiet “sure,” causing his worry to flare up again. He watched her for a few moments as she moved around the yard gathering wood and kindling before setting off for his own task. Though her movements appeared normal, he needed to get a look at her shoulder, make sure she really was okay. And maybe find out why she’d become so closed off the past few days. It wasn’t their style to press each other to talk, but the shift in her had happened so abruptly. He didn’t know what to make of it and couldn’t stop wondering and worrying about her.

By the time he’d finished securing the noisemakers on the fence, Carol had a nice warm fire going, but he slowed as he approached. She’d shrugged her sweater off her wounded shoulder but kept it tucked close around her for warmth. She now struggled to stretch her left arm far enough over her right shoulder to reach and clean the cut with a strip of cloth.

She looked stunning in the flickering light of the fire, warm and soft and inviting and tantalizing. He’d seen her numerous times by both candle and firelight, but he’d never loved her more than this moment. She’d traveled across a damn ocean to find him, alone but hopeful, never losing heart that he was still out there somewhere. The list of what they’d survived together ran longer than the equator but still couldn’t compare to how he felt about her. How much he wanted her. How nervous she made him, looking beautiful and sensual in the glowing light of the fire. His heart skipped fast, and he immediately wanted to kick himself for his wayward thoughts while she was injured.

Daryl swallowed hard before moving closer, ensuring she heard his footsteps. When she did, her eyes darted to him, and she released the tension of her struggle, caught red-handed.

“I can help with that,” he offered quietly, not wanting to scold or show frustration, even as he wished she’d have let him assist when he’d first asked.

Carol merely nodded in defeat, and he knelt on the ground just behind her right shoulder. He took a steadying breath before gently taking the cloth from her hand. God, her skin was soft. He knew that, of course he did, but something about this night, how alluring she looked; her fighting spirit, his equal in every way; how she’d come to his rescue; the way she made him feel things he’d always thought himself incapable of feeling—not to mention all the things they’d seen and experienced together in other countries, the fight to get home, the hours and days and weeks they’d spent alone (a dream if he’d ever had one) getting to know one another in ways they never had before, and now, finally, finally making it back to their home country—left him breathless and wanting her more than any time in recent memory. And that was saying something.

He tried to focus on the task at hand and looked at her fresh wound. The knife had sliced through her clothing and left what looked to be a four-inch cut across her shoulder blade. Though her shirt was ripped, the fact she still wore it made viewing and cleaning the wound difficult.

“Shirt’s ruined, and I need to get a better look,” he told her, relieved he didn’t reveal his desire or nervously trip over his words.

“Just rip it. Or cut it,” she instructed.

He knew it had to be done to help her, so why did it make him so damn nervous? He’d seen her shoulders before. Hell, she walked around in flimsy tank tops every summer trying to beat the oppressive and sweltering air—while causing additional heat for him. This was a piece of cake in comparison. He needed to get himself in check—it was just a shoulder. Carol’s shoulder. In the light of the moon. With the firelight dancing over her silky skin and only the night air between them.

Daryl mentally shook his head to clear his traitorous thoughts, then grabbed the knife from his hip and sliced the shirt the rest of the way to the neckline, the material falling open to reveal most of her injury.

He groaned inwardly. They’d dressed in layers to keep warm, and now somehow her layers were causing an inferno in his blood. The sweater and shirt no longer posed a problem, but one of those blasted tank tops and her bra still did.

He wished he were unaffected by her. Or that Maggie was here to help with this or that he’d been the one who’d gotten cut. Or that she hadn’t been hurt. Yes, that was the better wish. God, he couldn’t even think straight. He needed to clean this cut and be done with it so he could remember how to breathe properly.

Steeling himself, he set his finger along the ridge of her tank top strap.

“I need to…” His voice sounded strained even to his own ears, but either Carol didn’t notice or mind because she nodded and slid her cream tank top and black bra strap—a black bra? Was she trying to kill him?—off her shoulder.

Daryl’s heart thundered against his chest as the final barriers were removed. He wanted to skim her skin with his fingertips, his lips, make her blood sing the way his was, but he’d have to remain satisfied with taking care of her. Focus, he reminded himself.

The cut had stopped bleeding and didn’t appear as bad as he’d envisioned. With shaky hands, he opened the bottle of water she’d set beside her, poured some of it onto the cloth, and gently dabbed the wound clean. She didn’t make a sound, but he saw the muscles in her arm tense.

He swallowed hard again—why was his throat so dry?—before rendering a verdict. “Ain’t too deep and won’t need stitches. It should heal up in a few days.”

“Thanks.” Her voice came quietly, nearly a whisper, and it made his heart ache.

He stared at her in golden silhouette, committing this image to memory, a snapshot to add to the others of moments she’d stolen his breath, that soothed him when the world felt like it was caving in on him.

Carol looked to the night sky, and he knew his gaze must sit heavy on her because she avoided it. “Guess it’s almost Christmas, hmm?” she asked absently. “Temperature’s dropped off, and that storm that nearly took out our boat felt cold enough for December.”

She didn’t expect an answer from him, he knew—she was just avoiding the elephant she’d carried with her the past few days. He wanted to know the reason for it, what had caused the change in her, wanted to ask if he could help, to find out what he could do to lighten whatever darkened her mind. But instead, he simply said her name. “Carol.”

She turned to glance at him over her shoulder, and it took everything he had to stay upright. She looked delectable, despite the scrape on her forehead and its accompanying blood smear. Her eyes sparkled with emotion, a soft expression on her face. The curve of her cheek, her hair long enough for him to run his fingers through, the line of her collarbone, the arch of her lips...every inch of her screamed for his touch.

Daryl didn’t move, merely stared longingly at the woman he’d loved for longer than he’d known the meaning of the word.

“I’m fine, Daryl,” she answered his unasked question quietly, turning back to face the fire instead of him. He didn’t press her, and after several beats, she sighed before continuing. “I’m just...wondering if home will be the same when we get back. Wondering what’s happened since we’ve been gone. And if we’ll be the same with everyone.” She looked vulnerable with her clothes swimming around her for warmth, her arms wrapped around herself. “So much has happened...we’re not the same.”

“We’ve seen things the others haven’t, been places without ‘em, but we’re still here. Still survivin’. Same as we always have.”

Carol glanced at him briefly, and it struck him what a beautiful contrast she was to his dark mop of hair and black clothing: the golden flames dancing over her face, the light shade of her hair, her cream-colored shirt pooling around her shoulder. She was radiant. But something dark threatened to overtake her, and he wanted to chase it away for good.

“I know it ain’t been easy, the grief of Sophia weighin’ on you these past several months.” He nearly tripped over her name, not because she was long gone but because the girl had been like a specter to them, walking alongside them as they’d traipsed through romantic countrysides and European cities. Almost like a family of three. Carol had spoken to him more of Sophia in the past few months than she had since they’d met more than a decade ago. She was a memory they shared, the tie that’d bound them then, forever and inextricably linking them, and even more so now. He felt honored to bear the memories, the grief, the release of the years of silence, and the experience of trauma with Carol.

“And I don’t expect us to ignore her just because we’ll be back with the others,” he continued. “We can talk about her as much or as little as you need to. Whenever you need to. That ain’t gonna change.”

The air sat heavy between them, and he let it, waiting. For what, he didn’t know, but he’d give her the silent space or the conversation she needed to continue on.

“Thank you.” Her voice, barely above a whisper, came to him, and he knew by her tone that something had locked into place for her. An assurance that her healing could continue, regardless of who was around them? The comfort of knowing things didn’t have to change because they were back with their community? The understanding that the space they’d created for the ghost of Sophia wouldn’t be occupied by their family who still lived?

“These past few months…” She paused, and he hung on the silence, wondering what she’d reveal. “I didn’t know how much I needed to...just be away. I’m desperate to get back, but I feel different. Lighter—freer, somehow—even with the ache of seeing her everywhere I go.” She stared into the fire before her. “I don’t think I could’ve gotten through it the same if I’d been with anyone else all this time.”

Her words washed over him like a balm, even as a lump rose in his throat. He was jealous for her, wouldn’t have wanted anyone else to share Sophia and the memory of her with Carol. She was theirs alone. To mourn, to remember, to grieve, to share.

“I’m glad it was with you,” she said, her voice heavy with emotion.

“Me too,” he avowed, the admission nearly a whisper.

“And I know the things you’ve been dealing with and grieving haven’t been easy either.”

Daryl thought back to the miles and days and countries they’d traversed as he’d opened up about Glenn and Abraham, Denise, and even Merle. Like her, he felt freer than he ever had, as if the breaths he’d used to speak about them had lifted him beyond the mire mucking up his soul and washed away the grime.

“I get so tired of fightin’ sometimes, but I’m glad you found me when you did,” he admitted. “Didn’t know it then, but I was ready to give up, thought it was all over.”

He spoke of a thousand moments over the past decade-plus since the Turn and the hundreds since they’d reunited in France. And she knew them all.

Carol nodded in understanding. “You and me both.”

She turned to him again, and he saw something—heat? desire?—flicker in her gaze before she looked away. His own roaring ache for her drowned out any reason or common sense, and he saw his hand, of its own volition, lift to her chin to draw her gaze back to him.

“Carol,” he murmured her name as his eyes flicked to her lips. She stared at him with naked want and acceptance, and he moved—consequences be damned—to kiss her.

She let him, and it was all the inspiration he needed to slowly, tenderly move his lips against hers, the breathy sigh she let out sounding like a quiet mewl that tangled his heart and set him on fire.

She meant everything to him—family, friendship, love, home, comfort, reality, peace—and he imbued every second of this life-altering moment with the passion he felt for her. Carol melted into him, and he wondered why they hadn’t done this before now, why they’d waited all this time to slip the last puzzle piece into the picture of everything they were to each other.

When he finally withdrew, she stared at him with a small, contented smile, a look of love—and dare he say adoration?—on her face, and any remaining doubt he had that she’d wanted this too washed away.

Daryl ran his fingers along her brow before lacing them into her hair and drawing her to him. She came willingly, settling against him as though they’d done this a hundred times before. He welcomed the weight of her, the fit of her in his arms a comfort he’d never thought a possibility.

He’d never intended to end up in Europe, but he could never be sorry for the roads they’d traveled to get to this moment: warm, safe, protected, joined, loved.

Together in easy silence, they stared into the fire, the warmth they offered each other blazing brighter than any flame and heating them from the inside out.

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#Caryl #Caryl Secret Santa 2024 #gift 1 of 1 #from theresnosafeharbor4myships #madwomanlexie

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darylscigarettesmoke · 4 months ago

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so there’s caryl shippers and there’s darabelle shippers but where are the…. Nothing-shippers like me? 😅

I don’t want Daryl with Carol. But I also don’t want Daryl with Isabelle or with someone else.

His character was always so special to me. A male, main character who was just… not focused on love, romance and “getting it on”? Who’s sole purpose was to find acceptance, stop his self-loathing, to find family and friends and heal? Who had other things on his mind than fucking around?

Who was soley and utterly and *just* Daryl. Who was just himself. No strings attached. Who’s a great father-figure, a great brother, a great friend, and a great soulmate? Who has a hard time with finding love, just like so many of us? Who didn’t need to play the sexy, hot, hero, many female characters swoon for? Who was not “easy”, not focused on reproduction, getting into somebody’s pants? Some who makes women feel save, without wanting more from them? A safespace for all of us in a patriarchal world?

Again: Who was just Daryl?

Sure, he deserves love. So much of it. But I always appreciated him feeling this love through anything else than romantic love. Through feeling cherished for what he’s doing for others. Through seeing how much he’s helping others. Him cherishing this “other” kind of love, deep friendships, deep brotherly bonds. I appreciated him as someone, for whom this kind of love is just enough to be complete.

Maybe I’m interpreting his character completely false, then so be it. But for me he’s always gonna be just Daryl. Just himself. No strings attached. Just my Daryl. And that’s enough.

#my English is a mess in this one I’m emotional #marina yapps #daryl dixon #baby boy #boyfriend #the walking dead #daryl dixon twd #non gaming related #the book of carol #carol peletier #isabelle #tboc

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synthwayve · 1 year ago

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Hi have this absolute crackpot of an AU my delirious 4:00 AM brain came up with where Micolash fulfills the role of the Plain Doll. Doodles+rambling below the cut \o/

Imagining him saying “Ah, good hunter” has been killing me for the past 30 minutes

In all honesty I have no idea where any of this came from, I think I just wondered what it would’ve been like if Insight was the loose stat that does not progress the story, and Beasthood/Blood became the story-dependent stat. That brought up the possibility of Laurence and Gehrman communicating with Kos rather than MP, and THAT made me think “what if Laurence got whisked away like he was supposed to, instead of Gehrman taking the fall for him?”

Since the doll looks like Maria and not Laurence, I figured if Laurence were in Gehrman’s place, his doll wouldn’t resemble Gehrman. So I started wondering who else would fit the role AND. YEAH. Then I just went insane from there. In this AU, moon presence would be dead(maybe “washed up” in the field of asphodels rather than the beach?) and Yahar’gul would fulfill Yharnam’s role (since it’s the more insight-heavy area, so there’s be Old Yahar’gul and New Yahar’gul lmao). I think Kos would take an arm rather than a leg thanks to the placement of the Kos Parasite, but I still drew Laurence in a wheelchair because I imagine after a certain point he’d lose the energy/mobility to walk due to an unclean cut and eldritch shenanigans.

I like to think that while Gehrman has the know-how to create the doll and MP gave it life pygmalion style, if Laurence were in his position, he would 1. Not know how to do that and 2. Not create Micolash anyway. So I thought it’d be funny if Kos just dumps him in the dream like “hey I heard you were upset, here’s something that’ll make you more upset” because Great Ones don’t understand human feelings. Kos thinks having a curious doll that can’t be killed is a gift, but obviously Laurence would Have Issues with seeing his old academic rival who died horribly just be “Brought Back But Wrong” like that. Perhaps Lady Maria and her research patients would be a really big deal and Micolash+The School of Mensis would have been the first “faction” to die in this AU. I haven’t exactly marked out who “”swaps”” with who since there are quite a few characters who dabble in both Blood AND Insight, so their biases are hard to figure out(maybe Rom would fulfill Carylls role and you’d get to fight an ascended/beastified Caryll, The Byrgenwerth Runesmith?) idk!

This is all just silly half-asleep “hey what if”s and “oh this would be goofy to draw”s so obviously I’m just tossing ideas around. And doodles! I’m tossing doodles around too :,) okay goodnight

#my art #Bloodborne #bloodborne au #micolash host of the nightmare #laurence the first vicar #plain doll #I am Going Insane #if I had to see this mf every time I needed to level up I think I would also start seeing things on the walls #headcanons #soulsborne

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fareehaandspaniards · 6 months ago

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Ultimative Rom post

I was going to post my headcanons, but this turned out to be basically a chronological sequence of facts about her life, almost a biography (as always, I am sorry ).

Thank you, @pyro-madder for the opportunity to finally talk about Rom! I hope you will enjoy that!

Rom's father was a physician and biologist who researched the fauna of the Yharnam counties. He was one of the "old school" doctors - a graduate of Byrgenwerth, a conservative.

So how about the family drama? Here we go. At first he had an affair with a poor woman named Aglaya, Micolash's mother. But after learning of her pregnancy, he disappeared from her life and began a new affair, from which Rom was born. Rom spent a few years of happy childhood with her parents, and then both died in a fire. That's how Rom ended up in an orphanage.

Rom has been very curious since childhood. She was often scolded by her mother for eating grass and flowers xd And one time she even ate a bug… No evil intentions, it was just her way of exploring the world!

She has one single photo left from her parents, capturing her in a cute dress and her mom and dad. She got her red curls from her dad.

Rom's orphanage had strict discipline and focus on the old Yharnam religion (I don't want to openly call this religion Catholicism because it's not :0 But the vibes are generic. Reminds me of the movie adaptation of the novel Jane Eyre, where little Jane gets to go to school). But her extraordinary intelligence helped her stay afloat amidst cruelty and other people's malice, and then her relatives showed up - an uncle and aunt close to her dead father.

They helped Rom to enroll in Byrgenwerth, as the girl showed talent and curiosity for science and medicine. After spending a short time with her relatives, she studied the entire home library, and also at family evenings talked about her observations of the flora and fauna around their estate.

In Byrgenwerth, Rom was quiet at first. She endured ridicule for her red curls and overweight figure. A few generations ago, though, such a figure had been valued more than any other in Yharnam - it showed a healthy body and the ability to bear children.

Almost immediately Rom had a friend, Yurie, a girl who wore a male uniform. They studied at different faculties - Yurie aspired to become a chemist. And it was Yurie who had started this friendship, too. Rom didn't know, but despite her cold temperament, Yurie fell in love with her almost at first sight and was eager to protect her. And she was good at it! But she couldn't express her feelings. Therefore, she was often silent, rebuking Rom or resentful.

At first, Rom became friends with another young man. It seemed to her that she was making friends. The son of a wealthy family, an ambitious historian and future doctor, Laurence, with whom they had once teamed up to pass an exam. But Laurence quickly saw her as a competitor, and also experienced unwanted sympathy, and became her biggest bully. And created for her very many unpleasant situations, shameful and ugly. Her skirt fell off in front of everyone, her chair got dirty, rumors started, and many, many other things that silly children like to do (even if they are adults) :0

But the insults from Laurence allowed her to meet another victim of his taunts. A young man confined to a wheelchair, pale and seemingly almost dead - Caryll. Frustrated and genuinely hating Laurence, Caryll felt sympathy for Rom. So did she for him. This allowed the two to grow close. Gradually, an affection grew between her and Caryll. Rom even felt in love. One night the two of them spent together, secretly, on a Byrgenwerth balcony. They tried to kiss and tried to become a couple. But such feelings are not for Caryll, he loves differently. During that night they shared almost everything - life story, troubles, resentments, joys, secrets, and Caryll even told her about his dreams, how he often has nightmares related to multi-armed monsters (*wink wink*). They became best friends, and in fact, almost family.

Rom and Caryll also found a friend in the main comforter of all students, the librarian Damian. According to my headcanons, Damian is a former graduate of Byrgenwerth and a failed doctor. He was unable to start work as a doctor, and so he asked Master Willem to set him up at his alma mater. Willem valued him as an apprentice, so sometimes Damian got essays of Willem's written works, and those related to the research of the catacombs of Pthumeru once fell into Micolash's hands carelessly… But that's another story xd In the library Damian could do what he loved most - sorting, record keeping and, most importantly, guardianship and supervision. And there was always tea and his cookies available in his library.

There was also another man who had studied at Byrgenwerth. Unfashionable and strange to everyone, but too independent, proud and cunning to be an object of ridicule (In fact, Lawrence was very interested in him). Micolash. He and Rom talked, saw each other, though they were in different faculties, but sometimes found themselves in classes together. They were good together, comfortable. They were both drawn to each other's intellect. And… Romantic feelings were born in Micolash's heart. (Sorry, I really love love and everything related to it, in my stories crushes and feelings are VERY IMPORTANT xD It's my way of exploring characters). But her red curls kept reminding him of something he couldn't guess himself. He began to search for the cause of his embarrassment. Started looking for Rom's papers, found her last name. He found her parents' names on the paperwork. And the name of her father awakened a memory in his mind! Micolash found out about their kinship by breaking into Rom's dorm room while she was away and searching all her things. One picture in her things was enough for him to realize everything. He was hurt and offended because the only person who had attracted his mind and heart turned out to be not just a relative, but the daughter of the man who had once abandoned his mother, leaving her and little Micolash to live in terrible conditions, and also making the woman suffer for him for the rest of her life.

(Forgive me for the Santa Barbara xD)

Over the course of their studying, the relationship between them all only grew stronger. Caryll and Rom had become literally inseparable! Yurie was still wooing Rom, but from afar, without talking to Caryll. She wanted to look strong and tough in Rom's eyes, but she didn't realize that she didn't realize it. Rom had gotten prettier over the years, and that was helped a lot by Caryll supporting her and forcing her to eat food so she wouldn't get physically exhausted, bailing her out of her depression. By this point Caryll had already suffered a small clinical death, and Willem had injected him with a portion of the Great Ones' blood as an experiment. He had already started dreaming about the Runes, hearing voices, and had gotten quite a bit of insight! He even changed his wheelchair to a cane - his legs could move, but only weakly! And only worked when injected with a dose of blood. Rom became more independent and began to engage in debates with Laurence during lectures and outside of school. And even managed to shame him once (piquing his interest even more). Rom was gradually transforming into a grown woman - her body was transforming, as was her mindset. She became one of Willem's favorite students - demonstrating theories on the effects of flowers and plants on perception, as well as (without knowing it herself), revealing the unusual nature of Lumenflowers. Also during this time Damian and Micolash became a couple, and Damian couldn't devote much time to the students besides him. But he and Rom still kept exchanging things and stuff - like scented soap, cloth, and other household trifles.

Laurence had changed, too, and so had Rom. And he had gotten away from the "spoiled boy" image with what Gehrman had helped him by becoming somewhat of a father figure to him. Laurence looked forward to the future, communicated with Willem and promoted the theory of the Blood, studying it with Willem himself. Thanks to Laurence also, one day Willem took the students on a field trip to the catacombs, where Laurence was able to collect even more samples. At this time, Willem also starts working with a rebellious knight from Cainhurst, who actively helps with the exploration of the catacombs in exchange for shelter and organizes his own little order, which he named after the warrior-soldiers in Cainhurst and one of his old mentors (Logarius! I'll write about him later for sure! In another huge as Bayle post of headcanons).

There goes a visit to Fishing Hamlet! Which had already been destroyed by the hunters, Maria and Gehrman were already here, as well as Willem and Logarius. The students visited what was left. But were able to see the corpse of the Great One. And it affected each of them in its own way! But it was Kos's parasites that interested Rom. She spent a long time rummaging among the snails and worms, examining and studying. She even found the corpse of a female snail in a pile of rot. And something was keeping her in suspense. Everyone around her was grieving, and she couldn't do it. She just couldn't feel the bitterness and fear and remained calm. She felt interest and excitement. She felt not the pain of Kos, but the remnants of her spirit and desire to live that were leading her to the sea!

Laurence contemplates a future marriage, the first project of treatment with purified blood appears, and the study of sea water. And… He has a weakness for Rom, who absolutely does not care about him! He saw in her, finally, not a rival, but a beautiful young woman with a brilliant mind and extraordinary character. He even offered her an engagement, it would be beneficial to both of them. But Rom refused (and Caryll showed him a middle finger lol).

Rom hates direct eye contact. She also has a hard time understanding irony and sarcasm - she takes everything literally. Rom is great with facts and direct arguments! She's also a perfectionist. Sometimes she felt like she was forcing herself to express emotions and doing it "too" artistic? She really wanted to let others know how she felt because she was considered "ice cold" at the shelter. (Yes, she is autistic. And I haven't yet consulted with my friends who have autism about how Rom might feel. And I've only used what I've read myself (or seen) to create it. But if you disagree with my view of her as autistic person, please text me and tell me what's wrong, I need corrections)

Rom met Gehrman at Willem's request (much to Laurence's delight). And she also met the huntress Maria, originally from Cainhurst. The four spent one evening in his workshop, and Rom enjoyed listening to stories of his life. Actually, she and Maria found common ground too - with the help of blood gems. However, Maria always felt uncomfortable around Rom. Under Rom's gaze, it was hard for her to say anything, she felt guilty and ashamed of what she was doing. Rom didn't understand her feelings, but she realized that something was wrong with her.

Opening of the Research Hall. Rom was supposed to work there as a doctor. But positions and jobs don't interest her much, she cares about research. She works with parasites and injects seawater into herself. Rom researches growing eyes on people, and here she is helped by Caryll, keeping an eye on her health. Rom gradually becomes a patient of her own free will, and lives on the upper levels of the Research Hall, in a laboratory, alone, visited only by her doctor.

Rom's hair is almost impossible to put together in a neat bundle - it will always stick out in different directions. Despite the fact that she and Micolash are complete opposites, they have a lot of similarities - those protruding locks of hair, the frown, the passion for unethical research lol

Laurence, already a vicar, Willem's assistant, begins now to care for her openly. His work takes up all his time, but he carves out hours to check on Rom and ask the doctors what is happening to her. He sends her small gifts and food and tries to visit her. And… She reciprocates. I can't count how many shitpost sketches I have in my head about this. Because Caryll was horrified when he found out that Rom had forgiven Laurence for all his wrongdoings and become his lady of the heart!

The Tomb Prospectors under the command of Ludwig, a knight from the southern lands, are hard at work for the Church. Olek, Gremia and Damian are among his charges. Tomb Prospectors discover the first Augur of Ebrietas, and Laurence, as a gift (giving her food for thought, so to say) gives him to Rom to examine. Augur lives in Rom's terrarium and crawls on her hands. She discovers that it gives off vibrations similar to those she heard in the Fishing Hamlet. And she discovers that Augur has the ability to leave burns on her skin. These burns are treated by Caryll and kissed by Laurence.

Yurie also works at the Research Hall. But Rom won't let her near her. And the girl's broken heart is healed by another lady doctor of the Research Hall named Madlene (And in the future it will be Imposter Iosefka)! Also, Yurie picks up her little nephew named Edgar from the orphanage :^)

Micolash ignores his sister. He is solely researching Saint Adeline and making her his own test subject (At her own will). From the moment he found out about their sibling bond, Micolash and Rom have been distant from each other and even feuding. He now considers Rom "unhinged" and "stupid" because of her research methods. He believes that trying everything on her body is barbaric and a waste of resource.

Tomb Prospectors dubbed Rom a "hottie" when they saw her with Damian! :D

Also Rom is incredibly tall among all other women! (Except for Maria maybe who is also tall) Rom is 6′ 0″, and while Laurence 5' 5" lol... They are quite a funny couple. But Laurence never complains. Actually he has the best view when he talks to her.

Rom is the first to bandage her eyes to discover her new vision. And is the first to start seeing "more". Caryll helps her settle into life with the insight lol. Her bandaged eyes will become the basis for the Choir hat.

Rom and Laurence go on dates when she manages to get out of her research center and he manages to get out of the Church. But Rom is more interested in discussing augurs than romance, and Laurence has to temper his own passionate feelings for her each time. Still, the two gradually come to bodily intimacy. Laurence also becomes very caring. He feels like a child with her, and suddenly begins to show guardianship and attentiveness.

Rom studies the Augurs and hears their call. She learns from their singing about the "daughter of the stars". And builds a theory about the sacredness of the mother-child bond.

She and St. Adeline had seen each other several times. And they saw each other as rivals - both aspiring to the Great Ones in their own measure. Adeline wished to have a child, she heard voices in her head assuring her that Kos was blessing mothers and families, and that would set Rom on a future idea >>>

Rom makes a plan for her own pregnancy. She wouldn't admit it, but she sees Laurence as her instrument. Her research takes her head over heels, and takes her very much away from the people closest to her. In an attempt to learn more about the Great Ones, she even rummages into Caryll's papers, waiting until he falls asleep to check what he has in his researches. Rom realizes Kos's mother nature, and tries to make contact, again using only herself for the experiment. And this idea she shares with Willem, who is proud of Romina and supportive, helping to plan for all future consequences. He becomes her new "family". And now she gets secrets from her two favorite people, Laurence and Caryll.

She does become pregnant after a night with Laurence. She hears much, much more. And one night a call comes to her, a real crying cry for help. She hears Ebrietas. (Laurence is the last to learn of this news. But he is still happy and hopes that they can become a family)

Ebrietas, discovered by Tomb Prospectors in the catacombs of Isz, is frightened and confused. She screams into the void, and Rom takes her signal as a beacon. Several Tomb Prospectors die in the battle with Ebrietas, and the survivors experience their first doubts about what they are doing. The monster that tore and trampled their companions is elevated to "Holy" by the Church, and no one mentions the dead so as not to taint the image of the new icon. Damian renounces here the teachings of the Church. But despite his resentment towards Rom, because she doesn't seem to care about his grief, he maintains a friendship with her, albeit a weak one.

Speaking of how Ebrietas ended up in the Church, or rather, in a large cave under the Upper Cathedral Ward. I think it was simply that there were ancient ruins under the Cathedral District that Ibraitas managed to "summon" to. Honestly, I have no idea how else she could have been transported xd Crawling through the catacombs and the city? Nuh uh. Teleport? Maybe. Or summoning with ritual and stuff in a certain place where the voices and whispers are particularly strong.

Rom is known as "weird" in the Healing Church, and it is known to quite a few that she is the vicar's sweetheart. Logarius is very judgmental of the vicar for allowing a woman taking up his precious time. But Laurence is a good enough leader to not let him talk about it much xd

Around this point, Micolash already has intentions of leaving the Church and establishing his own line of study of the Great Ones. Damian is absolutely on his side, for his encounter with Ebraitas has left a wound on his soul, as well as a deep aversion to the Church's perception of the Great Ones. They both choose Kos as their beacon, separating her from the rest of the Great Ones. Damian and Rom are forced to cut off their friendship for good.

The Choir was founded! And Rom becomes its idol and prophet (My version of Rom in the transparent blue dress is already relevant here. This dress was created for her by Laurence, or rather, designed for her by him). He decorated it with stars. Rom didn't do any more research. She only broadcast Ebrietas' will and communicated with her. Her body starts changing - a plate of chitin appears on her cheek, one eye darkens, and the pupil in it multiplies by eight. She begins to grow flowers that will cover her entire body in the future.

Caryll leaves the church to pursue the study of runes at the Mensis School, and… Rom, to his surprise, feels nothing. Moreover, because of her prolonged contact with Ibraitas, she begins to forget her old life and the people she loves.

Rom's child is never born - she loses the child. But that child will return to her, becoming a multitude of spiders that appear with her during the battle. Laurence has been heartbroken - his girlfriend, his love, the one he chose to marry - has isolated herself and given herself over to an insight. He wanted to be a father. And all their shared dreams of a family went down the drain. But he doesn't complain - his feelings are less important, than coming fall of Healing Church and Yharnam that Laurence can feel. He never knew that he was part of her plan. Though Rom did love him. But curiosity was paramount.

Yurie went from the Research Hall to the Choir, following Rom. But Rom hardly noticed her attempts to protect and be near her. And this annoyed Madlene (Imposter Iosefka), who despised not only Rom's working methods but also her impulsive nature.

Rom and Ebrietas find each other as two halves. A daughter finds future mother. An orphan meets a similar orphan. They resonate with each other in the strongest possible way, and Rom learns to understand her by transmitting the Great One's speech. Rom spends all her time with Ebrietas. And will exist next to Ebrietas without reacting to anyone around her. Everyone will think she's lost her mind, but Caryll will know it's still the same Rom, just on different levels and planes.

Rom will exist already as a spider and she will be visited by Laurence, Caryll, Yurie and then Damian will come to her when his life's work proves to be a failure. Willem never came to her - he had stopped contacting anyone. But really, Rom and he didn't need to - Willem knew his apprentice had ascended.

And then she'll shelter Yahar'gul at the cost of herself. And Micolash will be annoyed - such potential, and wasted. Rom achieved what he couldn't - Contact. And wasted it, in his opinion. That's why he calls her an "idiot."

I can say that Rom has always been a loner, and even being surrounded by people - she remained lonely. Only Caryll could understand her and was practically her soulmate, but gradually they started to keep secrets from each other - secret knowledge creates jealousy and fear. She experimented only on herself, not out of fear of harming others, but more out of a desire to feel the results, even if it hurt and was bad. She is probably the most successful of scientists - she accomplished her goal.

I apologize for the amount of text! Adding my old art with Rom: (just because)

#rom the vacuous spider #bloodborne #bloodborne headcanons #my art #runesmith Caryll #laurence the first vicar #longpost

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