#goddess etro

[ethernalium]

Goddess Etro by Yoshitaka Amano

[andywinter16]

Terror. Madness. Grief. It flashed all through Regis head when they got safely back to Insomnia. Poor Noctis cried the whole time for Luna. Luna and Ravus, he left them in their enemies hands. He sweard to Sylva, that he will get them back. Niflheim would pay for their crimes ! After leaving exhausted Noctis in hands of his caretakers, Regis went alone to the Crystal chamber. To have a word with his ancestors who silently observed their lifes. 

--

Regis ordered everyone to leave. No one understand why, yet who they were to questioned the king´s decision. After that the chamber became cold, it felt even hostile to be alone there with Crystal. Regis  without any pretensions summoned the power of the ring after more than eight years since he lost her, love of his life. He yearned for his Queen so much, for her soothing touch, her breathtaking smile and a raucous laugh. Those joyful memories still hurted when he though about her. You left us too soon, my love. 

--

The kings and queens of Yore showed themselves before the current king. The time itself froze in the moment. A powerful magic was unleashed and Crystal reacted. 

“ Why did you called upon us, child?” said the Founder king strictly on his massive throne. Regis felt so insignificant in their presence. 

Drained Regis spoke to him as politely as he could. “"I wish to speak to my dear wife. She should be here among you as rightful ruler of Insomnia.” He stood there in anticipation, but no one showed up. The kings and queens were silent, until the Rogue queen took pity on him and said. “Young king, her soul is not here among us.”  Regis was shocked. “ Then where is soul of my beloved?”

“ What an insolence, to think a mere mortal could be in our ranks.” the Warrior king said offended, many of the attendees agreeing with him.

Regis narrowed his eyes at the old king. “ Let me remind you o mighty king, that you all were once mortals like myself. And you especifically should know, what it is to lose your loved one.”  One by one Regis looked around and exclaimed coldly. “ I ask you once again rulers of Yore, where is my wife?”  Yet again no answer was given to Regis.

“Perhaps, I can give you the answer, your highness.” a woman emerged out of nowhere before Regis. He fastly drew his sword in defense. The woman came closer unarmed, as Regis noticed. She looked very young perhaps in her early twenties. “ You can´t expect answer from those who Bahamut chained to do his biding, my lord.”The woman looked at him with regret.” A cursed line of Lucis Caelum, to never know rest. You were ripped from my lady´s hands, when she wanted to bestow blessing upon your bloodline, your highness.”  Regis was wary of her, yet something in him told him to listen to this child. “ If only I was stronger, then I could ripped Bahamut apart for his treachery.” the woman clenched her hand into a fist,” Your highness, you want answers that I can give you, my only condition is that you listen to what I have to say.”  Regis briefly thought about it, he didn´t see  harm in it.

“Let´s say young one, that I would accept this proposal. But first tell me, who are you and about what lady you spoke of to?”  curiosite got better of him.

The woman bowed deeply. “ Hope your highness will pardon my rudeness. I am here on behalf my lady, Etro. And as for me, I am her humble servant Andrea, but perhaps  you will be more familiar with a name  Leo.”  mischievous smile played on her full lips. Regis froze in place upon hearing that name. He remembered the ancient books, in his youth, that told about that name: Leo the beast of Etro´s gate and guardian of dead.

[taylorswiftstyle]

The Eras Tour | evermore Section

Etro custom Christian Louboutin custom

It's of zero surprise to me that this ruffled, tie-front dress that Taylor wears for the evermore section on tour is by Etro. You'll recall me specifically name checking them as a point of reference for the designs of her folkmore sections as part of my TSS Predictions post. The Grammy performance really was a key jumping off point to nailing the bohemian goddess cottagecore look worthy of these albums visuals.

Get the look: Free People, $128.00

[nirgilis]

SRNHNR Extra 1 - Unseen Realm and Night Final World

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Extra 2

"When the twilight of the gods at last descends upon this world, what emerges from the unseeable expanse beyond that Door will be but music, and that devoid of words: the lamentations of the Goddess Etro, as She sobs Her song of grief."

"Somnus" - Etro's song about sleeping Bhunivelze might be the "lamentations" described in FF13's Analect.

On FF15's main screen plays instrumental version of "Somnus," which is "devoid of words," as violin replaces the voice from version with lyrics.

While in FF15 main screen symbolises night to which Noctis has to bring dawn, in VS13 a similar main screen might've meant entering Unseen Realm.

In a way in KH "Somnus" appears 2 times:

KH3 secret ending which has its first accords.

Track which plays when Sora wakes up in Night Final World has "singing," or humming to be presize.

If the author isn't mistaken, track from Night Final World is one of a very few soundtracks from KH, which have any sort of voice in them.

That doesn't include Utada Hikaru's OPs and EDs, Disney and TWEWY's featured songs.

Few others namely being track from Verum Rex commercial, Mising Link's version of "Dearly Beloved" and possibly KH3 Data Fight arragement of YMX's theme.

[ertrunkenerwassergeist]

Can you tell us about flow laying? Like what are some of the cards used and what do they mean, how it's decided there should do one and who should be invited to it?

Do I have more info about flow laying? Oh boy, do I have more info about flow laying. (I have hand drawn charts!)

(This will be all over the place and very long, but please, bear with me.)

First off, the name. Why is it called flow laying? Well, because the cards literally read the flow of power travelling through the world. That way they can give information about the past and present, while they can only make guesses about the future. (Though most of the time they're very good guesses.)

Each card represents a person, a being, a concept, or a seat of power. Like the Black Ships represent the concept of unsuspecting danger drawing closer.

To your last question: In the case of The Games We Play, Rhea - as the owner of the cards - made the decision to lay them. (The reason was the too long and too cold winter) There's a preliminary reading upon which Rhea decides which people need to be present. It's an art form to read the cards and interpret who represents who and who to invite.

There are three big categories the cards fall into:

Active cards, sleeping cards and dead cards.

Active cards are depicting those beings/people/concepts which are actively part of what you want to know. Sleeping cards depict those who don't/can't actively play a part, but are still a factor to be considered. And dead cards are remnants that are still important, but are quite literally dead.

The next biggest categories are the domains in which the cards take their places. There are two of them. The Greater Domains and the Lesser Domains. Which Domain (group of cards) falls into which is dependent on infulence and power, so there's a certain amount of fluidity. Though it is considered a Big Deal when a Domain changes place.

Under the Greater Domains fall The Hunt, The Astrals, The Night, The Day and The Wilds. The Lesser Domains contain The Fire, The Black and the Royal Domain. There's also a group of neutral cards that don't owe their allegiance to one Domain or another, so they make a group of their own.

How many cards there are exactly constantly changes and depends on what the person/people laying the cards want to know. (The Greater Domain of The Astrals is the most stable at 30 cards. The six Astrals and the 24 messengers.)

The Domains of The Hunt and The Wilds represent those belonging to the Wooden Throne, which represents Galahd. The card Wooden Throne itself is considered neutral, since it doesn't belong to one Domain or another.

The Astrals are pretty self explanatory, I think.

The Night and The Day represent the Sister Goddesses and their servants. (Etro, for example, it the Queen of The Night. She is a sleeping card, because she cannot actively intervene in anything going on. Eos is the Queen of The Day. She is a dead card for obvious reasons.)

The Black is the starscourge with Ardyn as the Herold. He switches from a sleeping card to an active one, and it makes people in the kow very nervous.

The Royal Domain represents the roayal houses of Lucis and Tenebrae. The King is the king of Lucis, the Queen the queen of Tenebrae. There's also cards called the Shield (Amicitia), and the General (currently Cor).

The Fire is an interesting one because no one is quite sure what that one is about. It slowly cropped up over the span of decades and is mostly made up of sleeping cards with the odd active one.

Neutral cards other than the Black Ships and the Wooden Throne would be the Gates (Death) and the Chained Heart (the Crystal/Light/healing).

[talysalankil]

Fabula Nova Crystallis: The Mythology

I was trying to dig this video up to show a friend and it occurred to me that holy shit, it's become almost impossible to find this video that Square Enix only showed once at a conference in January 2011, and we're lacking in a proper English translation for it.

So I'm going to put it here for archival purposes and hope tumblr doesn't take it down, along with a translated transcript. I'll be working off Lissar's and FFWorld's translations of the video, using the canon names for the various entities (yes I know "soul" is technically a mistranslation of 心 heart but it is the canon one so hush).

Since I had extra time on my hands, I also put it up on Vimeo with subtitles on. I can provide the srt file (the syncing isn't super tight but since there's a lot of blank space around each line I decided to leave each subtitle for longer than necessary), if anyone's willing to work on translations, you can DM me.

The full transcript is under the cut:

Fabula Nova Crystallis, the new tale of the crystal

Once upon a time, the god Bhunivelze ruled the world. Bhunivelze defeated his mother, the goddess Mwynn, and took control of the world for himself. Mwynn disappeared into the unseen realm.

Bhunivelze was troubled: the world he now ruled over was destined to die. He believed this was a curse laid on the world by his mother Mwynn. He knew he had to destroy her to lift the curse. To do this, he set out to search for the door to the unseen realm where his mother waited. Using his will alone, he created the first fal’Cie.

First, he created the fal’Cie Pulse. The Focus he gave him was to clear out the world, and search for the door to Mwynn.

Next, he created the fal’Cie Etro. But it was a mistake. Unknowingly, he created her exactly in the image of Mwynn. Bhunivelze feared her, and gave Etro no power of her own.

Instead, he created the fal’Cie Lindzei. The Focus he gave him was to protect Bhunivelze from all who might seek to destroy him. Bhunivelze gave Lindzei one special duty. To wake him once the time came. Then he turned to crystal, and fell into an endless sleep.

Pulse wished to expand the world, so he created many fal’Cie and l’Cie.

Lindzei wished to protect the world, so he created many fal’Cie and l’Cie.

But Etro was powerless, and could make nothing of her own. Lonely, she thought of her mother, who she so resembled. Etro tore her own body apart, letting her blood flow to the earth, and disappeared from the visible world. From that blood, torn from her body, sprang humankind. Creatures that were born only to die.

The destruction of the visible world was no curse, only fate. The world was divided into two halves, the visible and the invisible. If the balance between these two were destroyed, the world itself would be destroyed.

The goddess Mwynn could do nothing to stop this fate. She was being swallowed into the chaos of the unseen realm. Just before her last moment, Etro came to her side. Mwynn told Etro that she must protect the balance of the world, before slipping into the chaos forever. But Etro was ignorant of the meaning behind Mwynn’s words.

Etro was lonely, but she felt affection for those humans who live only to die. As they died, she smiled, and gave them chaos. The chaos Etro gave them, the humans named “souls”. Their hearts would become their power, but the humans did not yet know this.

Soon, they called Pulse the all powerful ruler. Lindzei they named their protector, and Etro they named their goddess of death. The humans lived on the world, hold chaos inside their hearts. Because they held chaos so close, the world once again was in balance.

And Bhunivelze still sleeps in crystal stasis. Until the end of days, awaiting the right time.

[flastar13]

the role of oracle, which she never wanted, following the death of her sister Lunafreya, who was barely with her for a day before she was murdered in front of her eyes. She has been recognized as queen of Tenebrae, only after killing her brother Ravus turned into a daemon, never managing to reconcile because both preferred to accuse the other of being a traitor who abandoned Tenebrae.

She was able to discover the reason for her powers, but at the cost of her boyfriend Noct being absorbed for 10 years by the crystal and the answer did not improve anything. She is the mortal reincarnation of the goddess Eos who gave her name to the star, and the original astral, mother of the six elemental gods and the goddess of death Etro. She was born with the sole purpose of taking her six children to the kingdom of her daughter Etro for her careless acts towards mortals. But she really does not want to kill Gentiana who she has known since childhood or Titan and Ramuh, whom she has come to respect. Well she only wants to kill Leviathan whom she blames for the death of Luna and the destruction of Altissa, and definitely Ifrit and Bahamut.

In the following 10 years, she suffers assassination attempts by Ardyn and Bahamut. She struggles to fulfill her duties as queen and oracle, leading Tenebrae while avoiding the realm of darkness. She has been learning the extent of her powers and believes she is capable of facing the Dracoin.

Upon Noctis' return, she joins the Chocobros to reclaim Lucis, but rather than allow Noctis to sacrifice himself, Stella convinces Ardyn to infect Bahamut with Starcouge, promising the death of the astral and that the cursed immortal will reunite with Aera in the realm of Etro.

The plan is for an angry Bahamut to cast Terra Flare, but Stella must prevent this by casting the more powerful Mega Terra Flare, but must return to being Eos to kill Bahamut in the spiritual plane. In order to avoid losing another important person, Noctis convinces the other astrals and the spirit kings of Lucis to grant their power to Ardyn to kill Bahamut in the astral plane.

The entire cast fights against mini-Bahamut, until Stella manages to destroy it with Mega Terra Flare. Ardyn manages to get revenge on the draco and reunite with Aera.

The crystal shatters as does the trident, the remaining gods decide to accept Eos' punishment as they recognize that their lack of action against Bahamut and disinterest in mortals caused all the problems, but Eos gives them a second chance for their efforts to save the world, but now they must agree to form contracts with any worthy mortal (Hello summoners) and stop being destructive. Etro is worshipped again by humans, and takes Bahamut's place as leader of her brothers, with the duty of watching over them.

Stella and Noct marry and rule Lucis and Tenebrae together, and have two children. They are happy although the pain of losing her brothers is always present in Stella.

[catyo90]

Why I still recommend Final Fantasy 13

As we all know FF13 was the black sheep of the Final Fantasy games. It had a different fighting system and was strangely more linear than its previously better-known games. However, this was more of the gamer's issue as when FFX and FFX-2 came out a lot of people said there were too many missable items and didn't like having to search everywhere for items or hidden scenes.

Years later Square Enix responded made FF13, and what were the gamer's responses. "We don't like it"

Now with FF games like 15 and 16 which are open-world people praise both for their own styles and stories. I'll be honest 15 was okay, the fact though that DLC kept coming out for the game and the story was lacking a bit for some of the characters, made me kinda miss the simpler ones. Now as for 16, I have not played it yet but I will differ from those who have that opinion.

As for FF14 which is an mmo its far different from the others but you get the opportunity to play with friends and actually go at your own pace.

But with all the games that have come out of the Final Fantasy franchise, I can say that everyone in the FF13 trilogy I remember and they have good characters. which I wanna talk a little bit about. (FYI this is where the spoilers now will appear. you've been warned. Also Very long Post just fyi)

Let's start off with of course the Queen

Lightning aka Claire Farron. A Cocoon soldier who stays distant and strong for her sister after losing their parents, after years of becoming strong to protect her only family. She faces losing her sister Serah to become an eternal crystal or the insidious cieth. After everything she faces, they save Cocoon. She only had a moment with everyone and realized that she and Serah could have a chance at actual peace. She gets taken away from the dream to save a goddess and forced into the duty of a protector. And even after that, she stays strong, guiding Serah along the way to help her fight Caius even though everyone thinks she is dead.

But then Etro dies and she fails in her mission, overtaken with grief by not only the goddess dying and failing...her sister. The only person in her life that kept her from losing all of her hope. Dies. Everything she did in the first game...gone. And then after sleeping for 500 years she's given the chance by God to save Serah and the World. A sort of redemption if you think about it.

Snow falls kinda under the same category but from a small different point of view. Snow was deeply in love with Serah and in the first game was trying to save her and Cocoon as well. Even though Etro caused Lightning to disappear he still tries to hold the fort and he got to have his peace with her afterward. But sadly he only gets to have that life for a year before FF13-2 starts, the love of his life goes on a mission he cant join. All the while he does his damn hardest to help Fnag and Vanille's pillar holding up Cocoon. And in doing so, willingly takes on the I'cie curse even after getting his brand removed in the first game. Once again everything in the first game almost not worth it (This is a reoccuring theme.), if not for Serah coming back. But then she dies and he can't fix, and he couldn't be there for her. His promise to be her hero is shattered. For 500 years he cares for the people and everyday misses Serah, blaming himself everyday for what happened and not keeping her safe. HE is basically the prime example of a suffering hero.

Hope is kinda the odd one out, he is only a child, in the wrong place wrong time situation with his mother and him being brought into the Bodium purge. He loses his mother and goes on a verge to get revenge on Snow who he held responsible. But in a short amount of time when he stays with Lightning he learns from her that his innocent world is over, he is a fugitive, a I'cie and alone. But after she tells him about her past and facing the worst that life can offer, you grow from it. He even goes from taking up the rear to guarding her in the front, his fear fades throughout the entire game and he learns to grow up to be a fine young man in FF13-2. He even makes a new world for humanity in case Cocoon were to fall. He was their Hope, their hope for a world rid of monsters.

But in LR, we see that he has disappeared possibly having been kidnapped, remolded / torture back into young hope and made to spy on Lightning to fulfill her Savior duties. And can't speak his true thoughts, he is a fake. Even Lightning realizes though that the next world needs him, he even sees his parents who were long since dead he realizes that he gets the chance to have a proper life, Hope is the Symbol for all to have Hope and to Believe.

Sazh suffers from the possibility of outliving his son. He is a widow and the only family left for him is his son who is quite young, and unfortunately at a young age his son is branded by the I'cie. Dajh basically only has a short time to be a child, until he either turns to crystal or a monster. Sazh loses him after being taken and fights to save him, but all the while he slowly loses his faith. He lost his wife and now his son, every moment he questions what they are doing. Only the prospect of saving Dajh keeps him going as well as his Chocobo chick. After saving Dajh though they get to live a normal life until the end of FF-13-2

For almost 500 years Dajh is in a coma like state and Sazh once again loses his faith thinking the only way Dajh can be saved is by doing it himself. When Lightning comes around though and helps reawaken Dajh, well so does Sazh. He regains his faith and even comes to the final moment of the game with everyone ready to welcome the new world with his son. He's the family man, kinda similar to Barret from FF7. But he is also the representation of a man going down the harder path to help those he loves.

Fang and Vanille fall under the same issue, Born to Gran Pulse and lived and had to sleep in immortal crystal to awake and find their home in ruins. The life they lived all gone and the only thing left of who they were is each other. Fang even takes on the torture to awaken Ragnarök. Doomed to bring about the end of Cocoon. But then their fate is changed and they were able to save instead of destroy.

In FF13-2 they are able to help Serah in her mission but they knew what she might have to face and with LR, they were torn about by both a sense of duty and a want to protect the other. Lightning finds out that they each wanted to help the other, however Vanille want for redemption at the cost of her own life to save the lost dead souls, thats what splits Fang away because she refuses to lose Vanille.

They can represent both family and lovers. One will not go on without the other, no matter what.

And now for the princess, (not literally) but still i love Serah. Anyhow, Serah is the embodiment of Love, Faith and Hope. She goes through everything, turned into an enemy of Cocoon, turned into crystal, given the gift and/or curse of Etro, lost her fiancé to time travel for a bit, dies, has her soul taken out of Lightning where she was safe and then used as a bargaining chip by God to make Lightning keep to her role. But through everything, she still believed her sister and fiancé would save her, that she would be able to live her own life and teach children.

This girl fought and stepped up to every challenge but unlike lightning she shows her emotions, all the pain of failure and loss is understanding and that makes her into a connection for the player.

Okay so for times sake Im putting these three in one group since their stories are enveloped all together.

They are the last humans of a future timeline where the events of ff13 did not go well, Noel is basically the last human that ever existed and under Caius teaching and wing both of them protect Yeul who is a priestess of Etro forced to live again and again only to die after seeing the last of her visions into the future. Caius who knows some of the past Yeuls loved him, the last one loves Noel and he tries everything to save her. So whats his plan. Oh yeah, kill the goddess Etro to stop all natural death and the visions. Hence stopping Yeul from dying.

Noel guided by Lightning has to aid Serah to stop Caius and save the Future. After everything though, he fails by killing Caius not realizing that with his death he actually killed Etro (long story) watches Yeul die and Serah die. and after all of that is forced to watch the world and timeline for 500 years fall and crumble into a shell of the former grandeur that it was.

Yeul after dying, helps Lighting but in her now spirit like self she reveals a terrible truth that while Caius is alive no good will come. But while the Yeul we know wants Caius dead. (along with hundreds of other past selves.) Some of them also want Caius to live causing him to never truly die. To quote Caius "Even if one Yeul desires my salvation, another demands my rebirth."

Yeul is the symbol of mourning and regret but also wisdom in knowing that not all things will be bad, and that good things do eventually happen.

Caius is the symbol of inability to accept what happens and the cruelty of death. His immortality while at first would seem like a gift is a curse, he watching all those he love die and when the chance to die comes, it fails. He is stuck in an infinite life that is now out of his control.

Noel is the symbol of failure but also standing back up taking the next steps forward. After everything, with just the promise of seeing the person he loves again, even if only one more time. Gives him the strength to move on.

-

So if any of you can identify with even one of these characters I highly recommend you play the game. Trust me, me writing all of this down doesn't do the games justice. Its a lovely styled game that after some time you will get used to and its really not that hard of gameplay, watch a few videos and you will get the hang of it.

So anyways im not sure if i convinced any of you but enjoy your days and i send you off with a smiling lighting because its so rare and you all deserve one.

[asterites]

𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐄 𝐏𝐀𝐆𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐈𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍

𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐔𝐒 𝐗𝐈𝐈𝐈 : the youngest princess of tenebrae, stella is bestowed with the ability to see the “eyes of expiring souls” after experiencing a near death experience as a child. she was force to relocate to gralea, the capital of the niflheim empire, where she would remain for twelve years. in terms of the cold war between niflheim and the kingdom of lucis, stella as a delegate for tenebrae was originally meant to remain a neutral party. however, due to her connection with etro and experiencing the chaos of the war first hand, stella is chosen to herald the new world by the slumbering god of light: bhunivelze.

𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐃𝐎𝐌 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐒 : the reincarnation of the falling star titaness: asteria, stella is blessed with happiness in the world of eos. she is gifted with the knowledge not known to most and possesses an intimate ability to read stars and interpret nocturnal dreams. despite harboring the soul of a goddess, her mortal body is unable to fully utilize asteria’s true capabilities. if she is not careful there is a a possibility that she could loose her eyesight entirely and permanently damage her body. she is a rare individual that is more aware of the secrets of the universe than most.

𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐔𝐌 𝐑𝐄𝐗 :  placed under the custody of the cult like gigas corporation due to her divine powers, stella is groomed to be a public religious figure. the title and name bestowed to her is sophia taken from the gnostic belief of the holy spirit and divine wisdom, from which she is believed to be the embodiment off. her purpose : destroy the material world and merge it with the spiritual world, from which paradise can finally descend upon them. she is the villain of this tale who hides beneath the damsel-in-distress role.

𝐍𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑 :  a spirit that lingers in the final world, she has been stripped out of her identity for a number of years as a result of her sins. although she does not divulge who killed her, she has hinted that she remains tethered to this world due to a bond with another. after meeting sora and witnessing his return, the nameless star was inspired to finally act and follow his heart to the outside. due to her connection to both sora and the destiny islands, the nameless star is granted a new vessel. she remains completely amnesic with her life prior and has made no effort in trying to recall her past life.

𝐌𝐘𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐘 :  asteria is a second generation titan goddess of falling stars, nocturnal oracles, divination, and necromancy. after the fall of titans, asteria and the rest of the female titans was given clemency and was welcomed in olympus. asteria due to her divine status was said to be greatly honored and respected by the olympians. however, her beauty had immediately captured the lustful eyes of zeus and poisoden who both pursed her affection relentlessly. in a fleeting moment of grief and madness, asteria descends from the heavens and transforms into the island of delos where she slumbers for all eternity.

𝐅𝐅𝐗𝐕 : a princess of tenebrae, stella was taken to graelea following the aftermath of the invasion of fenestala manor. there, she would remain as a political hostage where she would eventually assimilate into the empire. despite carrying the blood of oracles, stella never had the chance to properly develop her divine abilities and instead chooses to focus on the politics and diplomacy of her kingdom. officially, she is consider a neutral party in the war between niflheim and lucis.

𝐅𝐅𝐗𝐈𝐕 : in a past ages of the unsundered world, she took the ancient name asteria who was once incredibly adept in both art and divination. blessed with many gifts, she oversaw countless of projects meant to benefit the golden age of etheirys. however following the final days, asteria would ultimately be lost in history alongside her fellow ancients. the only memento that survived the sundering was a crystal that bore bright asteria’s memories and gifts that would eventually be inherited by her “first world” reincarnation stella. 

𝐅𝐅𝐕𝐈𝐈 : a highly privileged aristocrat in midgar, stella grew up in a versailles style life of luxury. although she remains blissfully unaware of what goes on beneath the plates, she finds herself suffering with dreams of the final days. driven with this unknown knowledge and connection with a past life, stella begins her quest to seek out the promise land. whether or not she is worthy for the challenge remains unseen, but there is nothing stopping her from achieving what she desires. unfortunately, because of her sheltered life, she does seem to struggle adapting to life in the slums and might even be naïve to certain practices. nevertheless, she remains a bright individual that is well-verse in art, philosophy, and occasionally the dead.

𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐍 : in this verse, stella is known as the second cryo archon and tsaritsa of snezhnaya. her archon name, although rarely acknowledge, is astaphaios given to her by the first cryo archon. before the events of 500 years ago, tsaritsa was known to all of teyvat as the goddess of love. at the time, she was considered the youngest of the divines with most of her gifts granted as a sign of her benevolence. however, tragedy would ultimate strike, and the once kind goddess of love would eventually become a goddess of vengeance. the rift between herself and celestia would become one of immense paradox, where one seemingly needs one another, but beneath all formalities, the tsaritsa has already declared a rebellion against the divine. whatever happened between her and celestia remains unknown, but it is said that the former goddess of love had lost her greatest love that day.

𝐗𝐕 𝐀𝐋𝐓 :  a princess of tenebrae, stella is announced missing after the complete annexation of fenestala manor and the death of her mother. having manage to escape the invasion with the help of one of her servants, the young princess seeks out aid from one of her mother’s former allies. however, given the tension between niflheim and tenebrae at the time, she was hidden from the public and eventually was adopted into the noble family. with her newfound identity, she had moved place to place barely settling in an area out of fear of being found out. eventually her newfound family manages to migrate in insomnia where stella can finally know a moment of peace. although she regrets leaving her sibling behind, the truth remained she was still a powerless child who had lost the weight of her name. nevertheless, while in insomnia, stella thrived. education was spared little to no expense and her creative mind, plus her resemblance to the oracle, made her a renown influencer and model inside the walls. although she publicly denies any relations with tenebrae, she eagerly awaits the day she can finally present herself to her siblings without any of her disguises.

𝐄𝐓𝐑𝐎'𝐒 𝐒𝐔𝐂𝐂𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐎𝐑 :  from the moment young stella stepped foot in valhalla, the meeting between etro and mywnn is recreated again. chaos consumes threating the balance of the world and despite being the goddess of death, etro finds herself now being consumed by the unseen realm. although she pitied the young child’s fate, it was clear that in the far future this star will inherit both her mantle and her burden. however, due to the forgotten god’s interference the transition between etro and stella was immediately put on hold. nevertheless, the future was a complex and unusual thing with both god and goddess ironically aiding stella’s ascension as a divine. in one timeline : bhunivelze is successful and now carries inflence in between the known world and valhalla. in another timeline, stella is free from bhunivelze’s control and she resumes her position as etro’s heir. either way, valhalla is now hers to command and makeshift with either chaos or the light at her fingertips. 

[ofspark]

𝒋𝒂𝒄𝒌'𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒏.

@celestrahl asked: "tell me how it got this way." from noel!

𝑪𝑶𝑼𝑳𝑫 𝑯𝑬 𝑯𝑬𝑨𝑹 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑻𝑯𝑼𝑵𝑫𝑬𝑹 in her bones when his words brought her pause? Was it silent enough that the turmoil laden sinew may yet creak aloud && give away her guilt? This mantle she upholds as champion is one of choice. An atonement; the willingness to become an eternal epitaph for the weight of all that has transpired. For there is truth in a mercy by the hand of a goddess. She should not breathe, should not be given the grace to walk within this stone edifice---her existence should be comprised of crystal. But by Etro's hand, she is all that stands between a slumbering goddess && a being that has since spiraled into his own darkness. "Sacrifice.. and the repercussions that come with it." More a musing, more a thought than statement; the breath she takes in is shallow midst the furrow of her brow. One that sees her gaze cast over the curvature of pauldron, a glance to an endless sea beyond still sands. Careful footfalls carry her nearest ledge && resplendent blues take to the sight of coming tide. A glance to her company ensues && it is devoid of malice. She is neither aggravated nor cross. This responsibility she upholds is one that has since melded itself into the fabrication of her existence. A dedication held taut to the soul to safeguard against the what ifs. Steel in her voice, pride in her shoulders. "We've all got our parts to play. It's a race against oblivion." Oblivion. She can still hear the callous voice that uttered his intentions as their blades crossed. The bellow of steel that clashed---it still rings in her ears.

[andywinter16]

I loved Etro since Final Fantasy 13! I just needed Etro in FFXV but sadly there was only a painting of her. ( Beautiful one at that)

[fyresaber]

snow’s sexiest quality is being the pillory for everyone’s grief, from lightning to hope to the people to psicom to NORA to noel to yusnaan; to even serah when she wonders why she let him leave her and be the hero on his own. all while he's never held anything against anyone once; not against lightning for fighting him and not against noel for serah’s death. submission, relinquishment, self-harm, and defeat.

and guess who pulls him out of it each and every time? serah is his goddess but lightning is his earth, just as light is serah’s goddess and snow her earth. god these three... serah is their north star, and without each other they had no footing in this world, unmoored throwing themselves to the whims and wills of chaos, flogging themselves in the middle of the street; suicide at the base of etro’s thone and in the dungeon of his palace.

[taylorswiftstyle]

The Eras Tour | folklore Section

Alberta Ferretti custom

In my predictions post, I had noted that I wouldn't be surprised if we got beautiful goddess references to cottagecore in the vein of her 2021 Etro Grammys moment.

This mauve-toned, chiffon gown mixes bohemian elements thanks to its ruffles and flutter sleeves and lace with very subtle stage-worthy embellishments. Well done.

Get the look: Free People, $118.00

[astralucis]

so apologies in advance if this makes no sense. i can't form sentences for the life of me tonight. i've been thinking a lot about the imagery of the night sky radiating light due to their union with the moon and the stars and how that imagery ties noct, luna, and the hexatheon together. the union of king, oracle, and gods cast light within the darkness and bring the morning dawn

more under the cut because this got longer than i originally intended!

i honestly might use this symbolism as a way to start deviating from canon because i've got some ideas, such as:

noctis as the night sky, the backdrop in which the darkness permeates due to the actions of his ancestors. as the king of light, he seeks to atone for the sins of his ancestors, the origin of the starscourge / darkness, and destroys the darkness that exists around and within -- at the cost of his own life

luna as the moon, lifted up by the night sky and joined by the stars as she casts a glow upon the land to all who seek to travel within the dark, a voice of both man and gods, and looked to for hope among the people ( and her importance as the main source of light in the world. we support women in this house )

the hexatheon / astrals as the stars, the heavenly bodies that lend their aid and light the world with the help of the moon and night sky. some are static, others travel before they fade into obscurity, but all lend their power and voice to the sky and moon to light the world once more

even if it's not directly connected, there's some other fun concepts to explore along side it like the idea of light being connected to death. there's a quote from one of the original ff versus xiii trailers that i really fuck with: "the goddess etro will open the door to welcome the souls of the dead… when that happens, a bright light will shine down through the sky to the land of the dead. few people have seen that light. those who see it are bestowed power from the land of the dead"

but all in all, it'd be such a fun motif / image to play around with. especially because i can use it as a foundation to raise luna's importance and presence in ffxv's story. and she sure as fuck deserves to have a role akin to other ff ladies, like yuna and rinoa

[nirgilis]

SRNHNR Extra 2 - Ravus/Hope and Lauriam/Baldr

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Extra 1

Lauriam and Baldr's similarity to Ravus, mostly due to tragic siblings stories, was pointed out by many people, but through FNC there might be more.

1) Lauriam

1.1) Both pairs of siblings have a degree of flower-theme.

1.2) FNC myth states that Bhunivelze killed his mother Mwynn and when created Etro in Mwynn's image gave her no power, as due to recembling his mother he feared her.

Etro recembles Mwynn and narratively sometimes they interchange. Loss of the mother is a rather major theme for both Ravus and Hope, and around both of them there're characters who are Mwynn or Etro, or both at a different time.

Lauriam and Strelitzia in a way look like inverted Lightning and Hope, with Strelitzia being "Mwynn/Etro" like Lightning, as she says very similar words to Lauriam to the ones Lightning once said to Hope.

Hope's response to Lightning about her fulfilling her side more times than she knows might be somewhat fitting in KH too, as in the form of Marluxia Lauriam wields a scythe like Bhunivelze with them both having "Doom" among their abilities.

While Angel of Death Strelitzia might be similar to Etro, who's often depicted with wings as an Angel, but she's the Goddess of Death, who in a way might be "watching Bhunivelze's back" by sustaining the cycle of death and rebirth.

1.3) Larxene might've been based on FF7's Elena, but given her relationships with Lauriam in some way Elrena might be similar to Hope's assistant in FF13-2 Alyssa. It might be that in VS13 character analogous to Elrena/Alyssa was supposed to be Aranea.

Alyssa wasn't supposed to survive events of FF13-1 and existed only because of time paradoxes, while Elrena wasn't chosen as a Dandelion but survived due to crossing paths with Lauriam. Both cases feature traveling to the future in capsules.

1.4) Ventus under darkness' influence killing Strelitzia is reminiscent of Noctis killing Luna in "Omen" trailer.

Lauriam and Ravus both blame and lash out at Ventus/Noctis when they learn they sister died because of or for them, to the point that Lauriam gets in a fight with other Dandelions and Ravus with Ignis.

But as they calm down they forgive Ventus/Noctis and come to understanding that they care about them.

Bhunivelze didn't initially know/understand that Chaos was needed to sustain the world. Lauriam saying that he needed a "tanglible" target of his anger might be similar to Bhunivelze who hated/feared Chaos because he couldn't see and control it.

In a way what Lauriam says to unconsious Ventus might be what Ravus couldn't to Noctis.

2) Baldr

2.1) Baldr and Hoder resemble KK-L and KK-D, what like with other pairs of siblings makes them complimentary opposites. Since Hoder apart from Red has Blue outline of her dress, it might make her recemble both.

2.2) Hoder protecting Baldr is reminiscent of how Queen Sylva/Aera protected Ravus/Ardyn.

2.3) Baldr being isolated and consumed by darkness thinking of Hoder's death might be similar to how Bhunivelze tortured Hope with illusions of Lightning, isolated him in the Ark and eventually merged with him.

2.4) Lower classmates going to Underworld to search for Upperclassmates but also finding Hoder there, might be in a way along with FNC myth, that Bhunivelze wanted to enter Unseen Realm to finish his fight with Mwynn, and FF15's Pitioss Ruins, which are supposed to tell a story of someone going to underworld/Unseen Realm.

Hoder asking Xehanort for a favor, possibly to "save" Baldr, might be similar to how Yeuls/Shiva asked Lightning/Noctis to save Caius/Ifrit from their sufferings. Hoder/Yeuls/Shiva are all dead but still by different means linger in living world and some were part of the reason why Baldr/Caius became this way.

[zorkaya-moved]

I see Elysia as the Aeon of Origin similar to how Etro acts in the FFXIII trilogy: a goddess who bleeds for the worlds, for the lives. As Elysia has been written out as Jesus in HI3 and her having a thorn crown bestowed upon her? Oh, yeah, Aeon of Origin bleeds for the lives of others but she cannot reach out to them, not in her present state.

She is the Mother, The Daughter and the Holy spirit in this case. But she cannot reach out to the lives herself - alone - not anymore, because she sacrificed her physical presence to break the worlds free of the predetermined fate that Aponia could see, granting the repeated history a chance to change and for people to choose for themselves, to fight for what they believe in.

I say that it's the same with the galaxy, Aeon of Origin's ascending affected the whole Imaginary Tree. It branched out histories, worlds, timelines, and more, which made Terminus see countless endings because there were now countless beginnings created. Thus, there was no fully predetermined path and there were CHOICES to reach certain paths/endings.

As an Aeon of Origin, Elysia as of the moment is weaker because she lost connection to many of the worlds by bringing Zarina as her Emanator from Earth. Right now, she (Aeon of Origin) needs the Apostles of Origin to reconnect her to lives, to dreams, to those who wish to fight against despair and who wish to do everything they can to ensure the salvation of their world/home/themselves. However, Elysia didn't have the capability to do it on her own without her own Emanator and she couldn't find anyone who would be able to fit that role until Zarina's reconnection with her through the Elysian Realm's core. Thanks to that, Aeon of Origin now had her own Emanator that could move the reconnection to the worlds, especially with the 'reincarnation/return of Akivili' (or the Astral Express).

And as the Emenator of Origin, Zarina possesses the blessing of Origin which protects her and she also meets with the most important people within the worlds to plant the seeds of Origin. It is the reason for her acting 'behind Astral Express' back' while approaching the figures of importance and granting them knowledge of the Origin's design/wish. Cue her meeting with Bronya, with General Jing Yuan and Fu Xuan, and later on with Sunday on Penacony.

Intelligentsia Guild is fully aware of the Origin but only that it represents 'Life' and that it cannot be reached by anyone aside from its Apostles. How many Apostles there are, how many followers of Origin there are, and more questions remain unknown. The problem with the path of Origin is that it remains largely untouched and unknown, because every person may be connected to Origin in some way or another. Origin represents life and the beginning, the wish to protect what is important and the desire to fight for what is beautiful in this world. Certain 'geniuses' even thought that Aeon of Beauty and Aeon of Origin were the same people, but the Knights of Beauty will deny that claim as will many others.

Many Aeons are charmed by the Aeon of Origin and certain Aeons show protectiveness over her, which is attributed to her natural charisma and her being the daughter of the Imaginary Tree altogether. Only those who oppose life and desire for the full destruction of worlds as a whole do not like her and wish for her demise. The opposing side believes that to truly destroy everything, they must reach the Origin and kill her to stop the cycle of beginnings and ends. And to reach Origin, they must force her out of her domain to protect the last haven of life she wishes to nurture as the Origin.

The Path of Origin - for many - is considered a myth, a story to tell others about how life connects all living beings and how life loves all who fight for what is beautiful in this world. However, many followers of the Origin exist across the worlds without believing in the Aeon herself. As long as they wish to fight, to protect, and to love? They are already beloved by the Aeon of Origin. The selfless, all-loving Aeon.