#i love melina~

[hyperionwitch]

Whilst we are on that topic, Melina updates! First three were things I did before the con (dyed + styled new wig, made a lil smoldering butterfly ring, and @tasty-patches made me a Blade of Calling with a model by TrinesTreasury)!

NOW, I'm sprucing her up for competition, so last two, I modeled my own Blade of Calling this time and I'm working on assembly, and I'm remaking her dress but this time with Knowledge(tm). There will be more updates too! Boots, weathering, facing, it should be fun~

[dragoncult-handmaiden]

I want to be every soulsborne woman at the same time. Why are they all so ethereal and divine and mysterious and powerful and feminine and graceful and elegant and dark and I love women

[novicedraws]

Random AU time, instead of being raised on earth realm and trained by the monks. Raiden is Li Mei's second in command and is naturally gifted with the powers of lighting/thunder.

[rainesjupiter]

Once, during their youth, Godwyn tried to steal a little of his Mother's wine from the cellars. Before he got to his room however, Messmer caught him red handed with a full bottle.

As any aspiring diplomat would, Godwyn offered him half a share in return for his brother to look the other way. Eventually, stolen wine tasting had become a small tradition between the two princes.

Bonus:

[drenched-in-sunlight]

I know you mostly focus on the Marika/Messmer relationship in your works (which can i just say i fucking ADORE IT IT'S SO GOOD GAAAH) but i wanted to ask, what do you think of the other parent? Who do you think Messmer's (and by extension Melina's) father is and what his relationship is with him? Is it Radagon? Godfrey? A secret third option perhaps??

im glad you enjoy my work!! as for your question, i think Messmer and Melina are like... parthenogenetic offsprings?? they are born of Marika only, which is why the game groups them in as brother and sister and they are the ones inheriting everything closest and most personal to Marika.

but i don't necessarily think they know each other exist, or at least it's my personal headcanon that Melina was born after Marika shattered the Elden Ring (at which point Messmer was already stuck in LoS, so he didn't know).

i actually think Marika only split into Radagon on the eve of Liurnia war, when Messmer had already been a grown young man fighting alongside Godfrey for a while. so technically, Messmer existed before Radagon. but on paper i guess the guy could be counted as Messmer and Melina's dad? cuz he's Marika still? (ugh my head)

but imo to Messmer and Melina they don't consider him their dad (and he doesn't consider them his. i lowkey think Messmer and Radagon despise each other 😭). they only regard themselves as Marika's children. at the same time, Messmer respects and trusts Godfrey, which is the closest he'll ever regard anyone else as a father figure.

[maranull]

Marika's village, oh my god...

so beautiful and sad. it's this field of flowers, bright and colorful and shining with gold. peaceful and quiet and as you move the birds are leaving, not loud and scared, but gentle and at peace

entering it you find the healing tree spell Melina uses, and then the description kills you.

"Only the kindness of Gold, without the Order." "Marika bathed the village of her home in gold, knowing full well that there was no one to heal."

then the slow walk on the hill, ever covered in flowers, so many flowers. you reach the top, and inside the hollow trunk of a burned old tree, the Grandmother's statue lies, with a strand of Marika's hair left at its feet.

I'm gonna cry

[slavicshadownr]

Melina: I’m still on the letter Natasha sent about life in America. with the Avengers. It’s like 25 pages. Alexei: I like Yelena’s better, it’s short and to the point. “Hi Dad, send money.”

[i-28-29]

Older sister melina doodles i dont think i shared

[ceofcatgirls]

Thinking about it, it seems every child of Radagon and Marika has either parallels or thematic relations with a demigod from another marriage

Miquella - Ranni and Mohg

Malenia - Radahn and Morgott

Messmer - Rykard and Godwyn

I think the Empyrean twins and the Omen twins are most interesting.

In the case of Miquella and Mohg, they are both twins cursed from birth who wish to disavow Marika's legacy. They've witnessed what it's like to be born cursed, for Mohg he faced discrimination and for Miquella he witnessed what people shunned from the GO endured, and how that could've been him had he not been lucky to not be abandoned by Marika. As a consequence, they both want to make a new era where people like themselves no longer suffer.

It makes me wonder if Miquella was aware of what the Omen twins endured, and if it influenced his beliefs and his choice of picking Mohg's body for Radahn

As for Malenia and Morgott, they too are twins born with a cursed from an outer entity. They've grown to greatly detest this curse, as seen by Malenia not wanting to use her rot powers at all until the Aeonia battle, and this is even more obvious in the case of Morgott. They've also developed great loyalty towards a figurehead of an era, Marika in the case of Morgott and Miquella in the case of Malenia. Conveniently, Miquella and Marika also share thematic parallels. Malenia and Morgott are also great in battle, and Radahn has suffered under both of them. They are willing to fight for the era they believe in and put a lot of religious trust on the figureheads they follow.

The case of Messmer and Godwyn is also interesting, because of how different they are. Messmer has two curses; hid fire and the abyssal serpent, meanwhile Godwyn is born completely normal and only suffers when he half dies. They are also figureheads of the order of Marika, with Godwyn being a stand-in for the Golden Order and Messmer leading Marika's crusade. Their hair colours also show the two sides of Marika; blonde and red.

Though, I'll say the case for Messmer and Rykard is just as interesting. Messmer was born cursed from a serpent yet Rykard chooses to be eaten by the God devouring serpent. For Messmer, the curse was forced upon him. For Rykard, he chose it on his own free will. This dichotomy is one of the central bits to their characters, and how important the concept of free will is. Rykard would view Messmer in great awe, perhaps he wouldn't even see the abyssal serpent as a curse. Messmer on the other hand, would perhaps not understand why Rykard decided to ruin himself, and ofc detest him for going against his mother's likeness.

I won't speak on more obvious writing, like with Miquella/Ranni and Malenia/Radahn.

This isn't exclusive to the trio I mentioned above, btw. I think every child of Marika has some relations to each other in some way. The most obvious example being Ranni and Godwyn. I just think it's neat how the characters relate to each other whilst still being very unique

This goes for Melina too, btw. But my speculation on that feels more like a headcanon more than anything haha. But it seems Melina, like Marika, subtly wants us to go for Ranni. I think this is because Melina put great importance in fighting for a new world where life can flourish (as seen if you pursue the frenzied flame), and Ranni's ending is the best for this. She is also more than happy to destroy symbols of Marika's order, like the Erdtree.

Now this is real headcanon territory. But, if the theory that Melina was split in body and soul, and that who we travel with is the spirit whilst who we see in the frenzied flame ending is her body, it would seem Melina also has thematic correlations with Godwyn and Ranni. Specifically about the splitting of the soul and body. But ofc that's entirely speculation!

Ofc she also has similarities with Messmer, in the sense of them having the same closed eye, and both being related to fire (except Melina embraces that fiery nature, whilst Messmer detests it. That speaks about their characters, I think. Especially in relation to Marika), but overall Melina for me seems to be a more unique character, and if anything she takes after Marika the most. I have further thoughts about Melina pertaining to Millicent but I'll leave that be.

Anyways. This was a quick thought dump I needed to get out there into the world.

[scrollonso]

This the team you put all of your hope in?

thats mine 🥺💞

[kuki-avd]

One part of why I love Melina so much is that despite her having little to no lore in items, no one ever talks about her directly, and she is basically forgotten by all, she is still so kind and selfless.

Melina doesn't care if she's not remembered by the world. She wants to open the way for it to be better.

But I also think she wants to know that she did, in fact, matter. Even if no one else does. Which is why, despite her death, she thanks the player for allowing her to be a part of something she considers greater than herself. I believe that's why she is so fixated on her "purpose" both before and after she learns what it is.

Photo by Lucatiel on Twitter:

[hyperionwitch]

Melina is (almost totally) DONE, WHEW, so I wanted to get some preview-y detail photos in celebration.

(Photoshoot will HOPEFULLY be soon...and there will probably be nicer detail photos to go with that, but whatever. :P)

[dragoncult-handmaiden]

If you are a woman who plays Elden Ring, PLEASE REBLOG THIS!!!!

I have not met a single woman irl who plays Elden Ring, and it saddens me. I don’t know many women in general who are gamers. Hell, I’ve only met one other serious female gamer in my life

I’m NOT saying this as a pick me sort of thing. The beauty of streamers is that since we can see them online, it gives us the illusion that female gamers are everywhere. But we are not. We are in the vast minority.

So please, if you are a woman and play Elden Ring, reblog this! Female gamers unite, we need more representation!!

And can we appreciate the badass women of Elden Ring while we’re at it??? We couldn’t have made it through the game without the guidance of multiple women. And also THANK YOU FROMSOFT for not sexualizing any women in the game. I LOVE WOMEN RAHHHHH

Tumblr wouldn’t let me add any more pics, I love all women in Elden ring (except Marika for obvious reasons)

[roodllle]

I go back and forth on being understanding and upset that people don't know/forget that Melina's dagger (Blade of Calling) is found in a one-room, guarded, prison that was built inside the elevator lift that goes to a place no one is supposed to go to anymore (Consecrated Snowfields/Forbidden Lands SoG)

And there's this item on a corpse right outside the room

Official's Attire Grubby blue robe worn by magisterial officials to carry out their grim tasks. Surveillance, executions, gruesome rituals... The darkest duties drive the wheels of mankind.

And here's the description for the Blade of Calling

Blade of Calling Dagger given to one who set out on a journey to fulfill her duty long ago. The power of its former owner, the kindling maiden, is still apparent. The one who walks alongside flame, Shall one day meet the road of Destined Death.

We know that Melina was born at the base of the Erdtree, she was given her duty by Marika, and remembers quotes from her mother. And yet she doesn't remember what it's like to have a loving mother

Melina about Boc: "I think he misses his mother. He wants someone to tell him he's beautiful. Does being born of a mother... Mean one behaves in such a manner?"

I also find it interesting that Melina was given this purpose but now is not doing it for Marika, but for herself and she talks a lot about how she wants to see this world change for the better. Ex.:

Melina: However ruined this world has become, however mired in torment and despair, life endures. Births continue. There is beauty in that, is there not?

My own personal theory is that Marika knew that her first daughter was destined to burn the Erdtree and that scared Marika, so she locked her away and Melina died in that room. I know that doesn't explain the burn marks on her skin or why Melina has a claw/talon mark over her closed eye that goes away when we don't use Death/Giant's Flame but Frenzied Flame. And no I do not think Melina is/was the Gloam Eyed Queen.

[rainesjupiter]

Out of the three, I do not think Messmer was the talkative type

[dxkjf]

I love this guy lalala

and somee extra stuff cause i’ve been redesigning and working on stuff for sunnyside woohoo