#gow norns

[duck-noises]

 I had a dream where I was gow Thor’s successor and I was trying to fix his mistakes by helping the giants be able to live in peace again or something like that but everything was getting worse when I would try and help them. Then I go to the Norns to see what I can do and change my prophecy and help the giants. They basically went “you can’t undo what your father has done to them, and you never will be able”(I found out he was my dad in this moment) and I was basically going through an identity crisis cuz I knew I wanted to help but knowing that I would always make it worse sent me into a spiral of just going “I can help them, I know I can. After all I’m not my father, I have to be able to help them, to fix everything and anything my father has done to them”.

[jenarosscity]

[eliasbouchard]

today i offer you god of war edits, tomorrow? who knows. (part 2)

[the-dormant-ocean]

The Norns, after Ragnarok, walking pass Kratos after they trash talked him and wrongly predicted his death:

[sunnys-sonnets]

The Norns: Your other half is your fate, is your life, and can be your death at the peak of Ragnarök where you will meet and decide each other's end with your own hands. The sum of you choices is your destiny

Atreus, who hasn't slept in days, currently wanted dead by more than half of those living in Asgard including the King of the Aesir: stop fucking calling me gay

[ambienceroyale]

Gaming Moments, Scenes, & Screenshots

God of War Ragnarök (2022)

[thedailybullshit]

God Atreus & Angrboda are the pan4pan couple ever.

[lazuliquetzal]

HOLLYYY SHIIITTT you have outdone yourself again. Chapter 9 was fucking amazing, I am dying for the next chapter. 💖💖💖

💖💖💖💖💖 THANK YOU

[nintendovaahkiin]

Iconic

You seek what all who search for us seek.

[charalysis]

GoW: Baldur

Trigger Warning: Discussions of suicide, sundial ideation, and self harm.

The main antagonist of GoW 2018, Baldur is well known by fans of the newer games and is beloved by many for the complexity of his personality and story. Baldur captivated many with his erratic behavior, interesting abilities, and his complicated relationship with his mother. Today we are going to examine him as in depth as we can and break down his behavior, motivation, and his complicated emotions around his relationship with his family.

Let's start with a little backstory.

For those needing refresher, when Baldur was born his mother, Freya, went to the Norns to inquire about her son's fate. She was told Baldur would meet an unnecessary death. This terrified Freya, as she loved her little boy more than anything and couldn't bear to lose him. She seemingly spent much of Baldur's childhood looking for the right combination of spell components, words, and general rites to protect him from his fate.

Presumably, Freya and Baldur once had a good bond, a very close mother-son relationship. Freya wears to the current day a necklace Baldur made for her as a child. We can see signs of this closeness as it seems that, despite an Aesir upbringing, Baldur followed his Vanir heritage more. He doesn't wear shoes, only leg wraps that lightly wrap around his feet, leaving him essentially barefoot. What clothes he does wear don't seem to match anything we see the other Aesir wearing, even his nephews. Everyone is in either clean, neat attire, or they are lightly armoured, but still clean for the most part. Baldur's pants are simple. He wears a large piece of either cloth or soft hide around his waist, along with an ogre hide as a leather apron, held up by a belt (a gift from Odin) which holds a pouch and various simple trinkets. Not unlike Freya's "Witch of the Woods" outfit.

It's also likely that he inherited Freya's magic, but he possibly refuses to use it out of spite. However there's little evidence for this. Though there is a little evidence for him taking on Odin's magic. Baldur has the ability to absorb and manipulate other elements, not just light. We see this with Leviathan and later fire with the giant fight.

Now, despite his potential closeness to his mother, obviously something broke this bond.

The spell Freya made to, in her mind, protect Baldur. She was terrified for him and worried he was going to die. However, for Baldur, this was no protection; for him it was a curse.

Baldur was left unable to feel warmth, cold, pain... He was also unable to feel any sensation. The touch of his wife, Nanna. The taste of food, the taste of a drink, let alone the feeling of anything in his mouth to begin with...

And this means Baldur was actually left with a lot more problems than I've seen anyone discuss.

If he did drink anything, there's no way he could tell if he had to pee, likely leading to plenty of accidents, or him just... Not peeing. Because of his healing ability and inability to die, it's possible he just gave up trying to eat or drink in general. Not like he'd die from starvation or dehydration, as much as he may have tried.

That also leads into the idea that it's possible Baldur, early on with his curse, likely tried to kill himself.

Of course, realizing his mother made him incapable of dying, he likely resigned himself to his fate of simply existing as he was and serving Odin.

Now, his broken bond with Freya does not mean Baldur ended up close with Odin. Perhaps closer than before, but Odin views his family, especially his children, as pawns in his larger game. He sees them as a means to an end and we see this outright in our first meeting with Odin in Ragnarok. Odin simply calls him "his greatest tracker". Odin just saw Baldur as a hunter to send out whenever he needed something or someone found.

Seemingly, Baldur had no one to help him cope, (aside from a wife we never actually have mentioned. Nanna's existence is implied however in a background dialogue in Odin's home/mead hall where someone mentions Forseti being paranoid someone tried poisoning Thor. For any unaware, in canonical mythology, Forseti is the son of Baldur and his wife Nanna.). However I would like to speculate a little here and say, perhaps Baldur and Thor were close.

In the fight with Thor at the beginning of Ragnarok, Thor says the line, "That ones for Baldur!", Or something like that. Given Thor's generally dismissive attitude towards his other brothers, Tyr and Heimdall, and his dislike of them, I find this line interesting. It implies that there was a level of closeness, at least enough for Thor to want to get some kind of payback against Kratos for Baldur's death.

Obviously, Thor's larger concern was the blood payment for Magni and Modi. However, I don't think that entirely negates the idea that Thor loved his baby brother and wanted some kind of payback for him.

I do also suspect Baldur and Thor being close could be in part why Thor's boys in particular were sent with Baldur. I doubt Baldur immediately went to Odin about his initial failing, as Odin is capricious and patiently unpredictable. It's possible Baldur went to Thor, the best known giant killer, to ask advice on hunting down a giant (reminder, he thinks Kratos is Laufey). Thor could have easily sent his boys to join their uncle, not going himself because of other responsibilities.

Magni and Modi seem perfectly agreeable to Baldur, only really bickering or bantering amongst each other. Baldur I think, despite his madness, was as kind as he could be to his family.

Which does lead me to speculation on his bond with his son, Forseti.

For anyone unaware, Forseti is the Norse god of Justice, Reconciliation, and Law. This tracks with his few mentions in Ragnarok, lining up to him trying to find someone allegedly trying to poison Thor and being the one to track down Heimdall's corpse and report it to Sif.

Forseti was at least conceived before Baldur's curse, which does make him one of the younger gods, closer in age to Thrúd than her brothers.

so, this means, Forseti likely grew up with a volatile, distant father. He was quite likely exposed to a lot he shouldn't have been, such as the incident where Baldur was asking people to launch arrows into him to see how many it would take to make him fall over. Baldur likely was not a good dad to Forseti, and the likely frequent violence against Baldur, simply because of Baldur's invulnerability, likely contributed to Forseti's seeming isolation and paranoia in Ragnarok.

Baldur was likely a genuinely worse father in ways compared to Thor through sheer neglect and exposing his son to horrific sights. Not to mention the emotional impact of having someone so volatile around.

(Obviously that's not me saying Thor's a good dad. I love Thor's arc and as a character, but he is a child abuser and he doesn't even try changing until Thrúd comes around.)

Segwaying right along back into the discussion of his appearance: Baldur's tattoos.

There are a few I think are work mentioning.

First, the large red runs across the top of his back say "cursed", which is how he feels about his condition of invulnerability and sensory deprivation.

Second, his arm says "never to forgive", which makes sense given his condition and his rage at Freya over it.

Third, I believe this is the large circle tattoo on his chest, apparently reading, "lights confide me with warmth so that I might feel (something)". If this translation is accurate, I think that could be an appeal to his own abilities to manipulate light. As god of light, we can see in game he can bend light around him to move faster, or at least appear to move faster. There is no telling what else he could do with his light manipulation. But this also matches his desire to feel something, anything.

And finally, the tattoo around his neck/collar bone seems to tell of his role in prophecy as the bringer of Ragnarok, which is true. His death triggered Fimblwinter.

There are other tattoos to be translated on him, but based on these, it can be assumed they are just as tied to his identity, and possibly his curse and fate, as these. And Baldur is covered in tattoos. And from what we can tell there is no clear point to tell when he started to get them done.

Further interesting points on his appearance, at least for me, is the almost haphazard placement of beads and braids in his beard and hair. It seems as though that either A, in his broken mental state, Baldur is easily irritated by the beads and braids, so he just half asses it. Or B, he tends to leave the beads in, allowing some to fall out or be messed up.

Baldur's outward presentation of himself seems to follow his mental state. Messy, bold... He's not afraid to make a statement or point that's for sure

And despite Odin's fondness of Baldur, at least in what Baldur can do for him, I'm certain Odin resents Baldur's outward presentation. Baldur must serve as a reminder of Freya, not only in his face to an extent, but also in how he dresses. His clothes and his arms being riddled with tattoos must remind Odin a lot of Freya, thus ensuring Baldur also wouldn't be close to his father. Same as his brothers before him.

There is also the Kratos parallel to acknowledge.

Baldur, like a young Kratos, is vengeful and angry. He doesn't care who gets in his way, they'll become a target too. He's brutal, cocky, outright arrogant. He's particularly gungho about killing a parent who wronged and betrayed him. (I would argue though that Baldur is way more justified than Kratos ever was in his rampage against Zeus. Not that Zeus didn't deserve it, but his motivation against Zeus was, "He killed me and stole my powers wah." At least at first.)

Baldur also does as Kratos did, and he perpetuates a cycle of hate and destruction. Kratos knew Baldur likely wouldn't stop at Freya, just as he didn't stop at Ares. Baldur was exceptionally keen to fight and kill, especially after he regained sensation. He wouldn't have stopped at Freya. He damn well likely would have gone after Odin next for lying to him and not helping him, and anyone else getting in his way of such a goal. This, seconds before his death, Kratos tells him the same thing Zeus told him. "The cycle ends here."

In conclusion, Baldur is an extremely complex character whose life was admittedly ruined really before it began. He was young for a deity, at a mere 130 years old, when he died. Freya, despite her love and intentions, ignored his wishes and refused to respect her adult son's boundaries. Odin's only real use for his youngest son was just that. What he could use Baldur for. He didn't really love him, he didn't care about him, he lied to his face... And we don't know how truly isolated he was.

[remycroft]

Cross my Heart, Hope you die || Heimdall (GoW) X Reader

Prologue

I woke up to the sound of Chaurli lifting himself and my mother coming through. I left my room immediately and was shocked when I saw a dead body in her arms. She looked heartbroken, nevermind, heartbroken wasn't the correct term. She looked completely destroyed. Was this Baldur in her arms?

I had never met my half-brother, only heard of him constantly. My mother wanted him to come back to us, for us to be a family here, in Midgard. She wanted me to meet him, I suppose now I was. "Is this who I think it is?"

"It is. But he's gone, taken from me, from us." She spoke, stifling her tears, her voice was breaking.

"By whom?"

"Kratos, that monster snapper his neck. and Atreus, I constantly told him to tell his father to stop but he wouldn't, then he made him vulnerable, took away the enchantment." Atreus couldn't be part of this, he was good. I had met him a few times, he was a sweet, innocent boy. His father was a mystery to me, he was a foreigner, obviously, and he was protective over his son but that's pretty much all I could gather from him. He was a true stoic. "Atreus surely couldn't have done this." I say gesturing to the cold body now laid on our kitchen table. "He helped his father, he will be given some mercy but his father will not." Her voice was no longer broken, it was angry, distant, cold. It wasn't the voice of the loving mother I had known, it was the grieving one I was about to

"What does 'some mercy' mean?" This seemed unlike my mother, she wouldn't hurt a fly, she quite literally couldn't, after what Odin did to her. "He will be offered a quick death." Shit.

"You can't even hurt them, your curse." I remind her, "Let me take care of that, you will go out of the protection stave," What? She was actually allowing me to leave, I had been told not to, the stave was the only thing protecting me from Odin. He wanted my mother alone and in despair, I stopped that.

"While I break these curses, you will tell other mortals that Kratos is the cause of Fimbulwinter and killing him will stop it." Fimbulwinter had started? I looked outside the window, it truly was snowing. It was snowing quite heavily, as well. So what happens next? Ragnarok, the great battle where so many people die and the nine realms are forged a new.

I nod, I didn't know Kratos well but I cared for Atreus. I doubt the mortals can harm them though, they were strong, powerful, true warriors. I doubt the mortals could leave a scratch on them.

"Now, we need to build a funeral pyre. He would want an Aesir funeral." The thought made me want to throw up, I didn't care for the Aesir, in fact I hated all of them. Like I said, Odin wanted my mother alone and in despair, so he had my father killed before I was born, I also hated him for what he did to her, at least I was there to take care of her. My mother missed her home, missed everything Odin had taken from her, including my dad. I had been there when she broke, she still does sometimes, and I'm always there telling her that everything will be okay. I sometimes asked her to leave the stave so I could try, she said it was too dangerous.

~

The pyre was built. My mother had wrapped his body up in cloth and laid it on the funeral pyre, "Are you sure Atreus can't be spared?" I ask her, "He's only a kid." Her face softened, "I'll think about it, for you. I don't want to lose another child because of my bad parenting." So she wasn't angry at Kratos entirely, it was herself too. "Your not a bad parent, look at me, I'm fine."

"But he's not, he is dead, just like the norns had said. I drove him away because I was scared to lose him. Now it's happened and I have now lost so many centuries with my son." But those lost centuries gave her me, wasn't that a good thing in all the bad?

~

I went out of the stave for the first time, the week after, alone. My mother had gone off to find Sigrun and help her break the curses placed on her.

I found Midgard, empty, desolate. Mortals did exist here didn't they? It was nice to have some independence. I had been trained and protected by mother for the one hundred and seventeen years I had lived, it was nice to not be under her wing for at least a few moments.

I found a camp of people, they were huddled in a cave, it was nice and warm, they seemed kind. Maybe I could make a friend? Since I have now lost Atreus.

How naive could I get? Friends are not what you need when you're facing the gods damn apocalypse.

Hi, I hope you enjoyed this. I originally started this on AO3 but wanted to move it to Tumblr.

I started it September 2nd after writing it once and then hated it for how fast paced it was so you may have read it already.

[angstandhappiness]

Interesting

I think the one thing that I love the most about GoW (2018) and GoW: Ragnarok is the fact that the women of the world have the most power out of all of their male counterparts. And it isn't because they have higher power or any special abilities.

It is because they are women. And they are messy and angry and don't always have the best view of the world, themselves or others.

And that they are actually respected by the story itself.

Like, say what you will about how Faye had to die to kickstart Kratos' redemption arc, but I find it unbelievably badass that said dead woman played the long-game of the century, made herself a living legend in all of the 9 realms, knew fully that she was going to die young, but instead of wallowing in despair, she chose to smile and love her husband, son, her heritage and friends to the fullest despite it all.

Freya rallies armies, beats the shit out of her ex, regains her warrior spirit, reunites and rekindles her relationship with both her Valkyrie sisters, Kratos and Atreus and twin brother, heals from the death of her son and regains a new family.

Angrboda uses her companionship, trust and gentleness with Atreus to show him a glimpse at the life and skills of a giant, peace and comfort and overall domesticity that he had been lacking back home due to odin and fimbulwinter, as well as give him the skills needed for his journey into who Loki is.

The Valkyries are able to be well respected warriors who are fully proud to be fighting aside true commanders and fighters and not have to follow Odin's command.

Thrud becomes worthy to wield her fathers hammer, is respected by her mother and those around her for the first time.

Sif controls, rallies and persuades Thor, the meanest of the aesir to nearly kill Atreus and Kratos for revenge against the deaths of their sons, just by her words and love for him alone. SHe even tries to be a better mother to Thrud due to having lost Magni and Modi.

The Norns freely use their creepiness and vast knowledge of fate and time and wisdom to scare the shit out everyone they meet and because of that, people don't dare mess with them, not even fucking mansplain-manipulate-manslughter Odin.

The Lady beneath the water is so respected and worshiped that it's factually known that you don't talk to the lady, she talks to you.

A lot of GoW is about swinging axes and ripping apart enemies. But the most powerful characters don't do that. They use their emotions and smarts and intelligence rather than their fists.

the true character arc for God of War isnt about Kratos at all.

It's the fact that God of War went from a dudebro power-fantasy hack-n-slash game where the women were either relegated to sex minigames, sub-par emotional justification for *why* we are killing gods, and villainous roles---to actual 3-dimentional characters who are given proper respect, courtesy and value, who are integral to the story as a whole and are crucial to the long term consequences of the game.

[samieree]

Goddess of Muspelheim || GOW Ragnarök

Heimdall x OC

-> Chapter 6

Chapter 7 || Understanding

Amaris was sitting in her family home, in the family world. She decided to come here after she, Freya, and Kratos visited the Norns. She was sitting in the main hall where great feasts had once been held. From here you could usually hear the hustle and bustle of the bustling house. Her aunt and uncle, parents, grandparents used to live here... Some conversations could always be heard from here.

Now she was alone.

Alone in the great hall, alone in this house. She was sitting at the table, her face resting on her clasped hands, her elbows resting on the table top. Her black eyes fixed on an unspecified point on the wall at the end of the room. Her hair was loose, tousled from the way she tossed on the bed when she couldn't sleep. Her mind was occupied only by visit to the Norns.

She didn't even care that much when they found out that Heimdall was planning to kill Kratos' son in Asgard. She didn't care that they didn't answer her why her parents had never let her come home.

There is no destiny.

That's what she cared about. That life is the sum of choices, not some grand plan, that it can only be predicted based on the characters of different beings. So it's not at all certain that Ragnarök will come? Does that mean that Odin's tyranny can last forever, that he will destroy anything he pleases, anyone who looks at him askance or refuses to dance to his tune?

She sighed, finally taking her eyes off the wall. And what was she supposed to do now? She can sit here feeling sorry for herself for the rest of her life or reach out for revenge on everyone who hurt her and her loved ones. Thor, of course his nasty father Odin too... She had a feeling she couldn't think of torture big enough for him to pay her back for everything...

However, she felt more hurt by Heimdall... She was the closest to him, she trusted him. She had considered him a friend in her teenage years, and he had hurt her the most. He left her helpless as everyone she loved died. She hated the feeling of helplessness she had faced over the years, hated him, his family, everything about him, all of them...!

She abruptly stood up from her chair, her hands resting on the table top and clenching them into fists. Maybe she shouldn't stay here? Sit back and let Kratos save his son by killing Heimdall? It was her revenge, after all.

"Amaris..." She must have misheard. There's no one here, and she didn't recognize that voice. It sounded like... It was coming from under the ground. And she knew what was there. A place she'd never been allowed to.

"Amaris."

This time the voice was more assertive. It wasn't just a whisper in the fringes of her mind, it was a distinct sound. The sound she chose to follow.

Her boots pounded the stone floor as she headed for the stairs leading underground, deep beneath the main hall. There was a stone door at the bottom of the stairs. The door that she slowly opened, knowing full well what she would find behind it. Raging flames behind which is a room that only her family was allowed to enter.

No one else, not even Odin could get there, he doesn't have the right ability. She didn't know much about the room guarded by flames. She knew as much as she remembered from her parents' stories. She knew that when the last God of Muspelheim die, the room and everything in it will be consumed by flames.

And she knew that currently only she had access to the room.

Slowly, as if in a trance, she entered the flames. She felt how pleasantly they brushed her skin, leaving only a feeling of warmth. After a few minutes of slow walking, she finally found herself in a circle devoid of fire. A place that years ago she had no access to.

The small room was filled with cupboards, and there was a finely painted picture on the floor. She knew perfectly well what it reflected, and how faithfully it reflected this...

"Come to me."

She stared at the painting of a huge volcano as if in a trance. It was the very volcano that flooded her world when her family died and she was held as prisoner. It equaled her in power, and now it was calling her.

Kneeling on the ground, she felt the energy flowing through her, so similar to the one that was dormant in that miracle of nature. She stared at the painted floor, which reflected the glow of her eyes, now glowing an intense red.

"What are you afraid of? Nothing better awaits you anyway. Come. We'll end it together."

This words in her head were like a bucket of cold water. She suddenly got up from the ground. Her eyes had lost all their sparkle, all the madness they had had. Now they were black again, hiding only fear. Fear that she might actually do it. Throw yourself inside the volcano and thus... Destroy her whole world.

After all, fire wants one. Burn as much as it can, regardless of the fact that in the end it will destroy everything and itself in the end.

She didn't even look back at anything her ancestors might have left in this room that was valuable to them or held great power. Looking back at the painting several times, she ran out of the safe circle. She ran through the wall of flames, running out of the room and slamming the heavy door behind her.

"This is crazy, why did I come here, why did I want to do this..." Amaris grabbed her messy hair and slid to the floor by the door.

Was that why her family didn't want her here? Wouldn't she lose her mind? So that she doesn't lose herself in madness, that she doesn't destroy her home?

When she was in Asgard, no such voice had ever resounded in her head. Is it because she was far from home? It's dangerous for her to be here, was that it? That's why they sent her away?

"I can't stay here, I can't... How can I get revenge if I commit suicide...?" Taking a deep breath, she slowly let go of her hair and got up from the floor.

Composure, it's the only thing that can save her, literally. She needs to calm down, go back upstairs, fix her hair so she doesn't look crazy, and go back to Sindri's house.

This is about her revenge, Kratos can't take that away from her. She was the one who waited ten years to kill them all.

But well, once she was in the aforementioned house, it turned out that Kratos and Freya — and even Atreus. So he came back alone and no one killed him? — They're already in Vanaheim. Freya has been helping her brother against Odin's soldiers for some time now. And Kratos and his son only recently went there. At least that's what she'd learned from Brok and Sindri.

Tyr had never spoken to her. He avoided her gaze and was generally preoccupied with anything away from her.

Never mind. Vanaheim seemed to be her target now as well. She couldn't afford any weakness now, weak people never get their revenge.

And it seemed that her revenge would begin with a person she would once trust with her own life. A person she would gladly snatch the hands with which he held her tightly and prevented her from helping her family.

They should have killed her then.

"Let's not kill her, what if it comes to Ragnarök? It rises from fire, you said yourself Allfather that perhaps she could control it?" — she had never heard this conversation. The conversation that saved her life.

~

-> Next chapter -> general masterlist -> God of War: Ragnarök masterlist

tags: @violet2507 @zoleea-exultant @dijanur

[teronsrickman]

— And no false dreams can cover the way from us in the night under an invisible wing np: Мельница - Любовь во время зимы Well, last February 14, I was a cringe and drew myself in love with Anton Castillo, and this year I'm fascinated by Mr. Kratos)0)) In general, I'm just walking around the game again as a character, so I'm testing Kratos' patience, chatting with Mimir and Freya, being friends with Atreus and bantering with Jonsy_Frost in love with Freyr and BJ_Risk in Heimdall. But I'm not making fun of StiMer , he turned out to be some kind of harsh in the world of GOW, I don't mess with him. No false Norn prophecies can lead us astray. And in the Midgardian night I finally manage to spread my invisible wings of my own free will I am full of love again during the harsh winter!

Happy Valentine's Day!

[goldenchocobo]

These were done for an ask I got just before the new years, but I also wanted to try my hand at drawing KH characters dressed in their God of War: Ragnarok counterpart’s clothes ever since I watched a playthrough and was introduced to GoW’s Heimdal.

I took a bit longer than usual, because I was ill for a week, and because the details of Sigrun and the two Norns kind of intimidated me a little bit.

Every character is pretty much 1 to 1 for their GoW counterpart, with some detailing omitted for my sanity’s sake. Bragi is the only exception. He’s technically in the game (according to the wiki) but he’s a background character you can’t really interact with; which is a shame, because he’s a skald, and he’d have some interesting tales to tell.

So; I used the top half of Bragi’s outfit with the bottom half of Raeb’s; who I was going to use originally before I found out about Bragi.

Overall, I think the most complicated to draw was Sigrun’s, and the hardest to interpret was Skuld’s; since in the one cutscene she’s in, she prances about and rarely stands still, except at the end where she sits down, obscuring most of her outfit. I did my best, though!

I don’t know if I’ll do any more in the future.

[forgedobsidian]

'you come to us, piteous archetypes, seeking freedom from your scripts'

like seriously get fucked

'that your choices are so predictable only makes us seem prescient'

can you predict me shoving my foot up your ass

the norns give off a vibe similar to a undergrad creative writing student who read the summary for one of joseph campbell's books and thinks they know everything