#in a way the crested humans because they are tied to the original sin

[randomnameless]

Do you think Rhea like Dimi hears the voices of all her siblings and her mother? She does mention hearing her during SS' final boss.

:'(

Canon wise, yep, she hears Worst Mom's voice at the end of SS, which makes one wonder why Worst Mom didn't talk to her earlier, but w/c.

Now, about the relics, it's all headcanon land - and if you believe there is still something belonging to the OG Nabatean inside or... not !

I personally think they do, there's still something from the OG Nabatean (thanks to the Crest Stone) inside but whether to say they're conscious or not...

I was thinking of something akin to Envy's philosopher stone in FMA, when he morphs in his... true form and Edwards sees what he thinks are the remains of "people" (are they people??) talking to him.

The Nabatean's soul is still here, but in perpetual agony and with a lot of negative feelings (hurt, pain, betrayal, anger, etc etc).

They are both "dead" but also "still there", are they conscious and able to hold a normal conversation? I don't think so.

They are just here to suffer and be used as tools - this is what Relics are! - so Rhea wouldn't be able to talk to them.

However, her presence (or any Nabatean) "calms" them, because they can feel one of their kind who is still "fine" is around.

A living Nabatean pouring a bit of magic (their own) in a relic can somehow soothe and relieve some stress the Nabatean-turned relic has, but it inevitably stops after a bit of time, and they resume their "life" of hurting.

It is a well-known secret that whenever a relic goes haywire (user uses it too much and it starts to "twitch"/"shine" a lot, continuing this way would ultimately lead to a Momo) a Relic User has to bring the Relic ASAP to Garreg Mach and to the Archbishop, who is supposed to perform some sort of ceremony to make it "return to normal".

Rhea did the "maintenance" on Catherine's relic twice during her tenure as a "Holy Knight" of the CoS, and Rodrigue brought his shield once.

Crested Bearers, when their relic start to go haywire, experience a lot of very vivid nightmares, they cannot talk to the "Nabatean" but at times hear "someone" screaming in agony.

Dimitri, because the world hates him, had a very vivid nightmare where he experienced being torn apart by people wearing masks similar to the ones who instigated Duscur. When asked about his missing eye by Annette after the War, he tells her he already felt like losing every member of his body more than once.

(the dream is odd, he feels like he is towering some people, but then he falls, and there is green liquid everywhere, and he tries to reach out for something only to find out he has no arms anymore, and the people behind the masks laugh and call him a beast, and then they start to hack him in pieces)

Now, it is a tradition (or a sekrit vow, like Willy's sekrit journal) that is passed down from all users of a Relic to other users of Relic that over reliance on a Relic will "eat away at your soul" and also "bring the bearer closer to the land of the dead" - but no matter what, when the "terrible nightmares" about the land of the dead appear, they shall never reveal the contents of said nightmares to any member of the Church of Seiros.

Some people surmised that it is because those nightmares, and the Relics not being super rad actually goes against the Creed of the Church -

But actually, it was a vow made by the descendants of the Elites - who knew what Relics were after the War of Heroes - out of gratitude for Seiros sparing them, they resolved to never tell her about her brethrens's last moments.

The reason for that vow was forgotten, but it still remains anchored in Faerghus's noble houses (and as for the Alliance, some still believe in that old vow, while some dgaf about it anymore but since they are not religious they write it off as superstitious nonsense).

[gascon-en-exil]

I’m the anon who was directed here from teaveetamer. I have 4 questions. 1. What are your tags for the posts about Rhea and the Blessed Mother? 2. I’ve seen several in the fandom connect Rhea as the goddess that Edelgard wishes to get rid of, despite Rhea’s connections to Mary (particularly with a name like The Immaculate One), and her never claiming to be the goddess. Why or how do people mistake this? 1/3

3. What do you make of the potential for a cultural clash of ideas of purity within 3H? Edelgard seems to be presented as innately pure, as in Shinto all humans are pure until corrupted by outside forces. Edelgard had that Hegemon Cipher card and as her stans argue most of her sins are caused by TWSITD. While Rhea is probably more corrupted by her own sins of commission/omission. Or maybe she still has the symbolism of innate purity??? I’m not sure where the Original Sin of the Agarthans plays i

if it does. 2/3 4. I’ve heard that Satan is sometimes referred to as the hero of Paradise Lost, despite being, well, Satan, because he stands up to God and is the underdog and underdogs are heroes, along with his heroic presentation. And I wonder if such a similar occurrence has happened that people view Edelgard as heroic despite the devil symbolism. Thoughts? 3/3

1. I don’t use tags for Rhea too often,and when I have I don’t think it was for anything too substantial.

2. Edelgard herself either outright makes this accusation or implies it, and as has been established her diehard fans take everything she says at face value. They could also be reading into her claiming that humanity has no need for gods as she kills Rhea. From a cultural context, anti-Catholic Protestant rhetoric likes to harp on our veneration of the Blessed Mother, that we call her the mother of God in the Ave Maria and that she’s really a pagan mother goddess with a Christian gloss. Both of these are true to some degree - I personally consider the pagan-inspired elements of Catholicism to be a feature rather than a bug, and one that most of us are freely aware of - but the negative perception as well as the misconception of how we actually regard her could be fueling this interpretation of Rhea.

3. I don’t know anything about Shinto theology, although Catholics believe that humans are innately good and are corrupted by original sin which is removed in the sacrament of Baptism so it sounds a little familiar. As the Agarthans hold themselves apart from other humans it’s difficult to ascribe a representation of original sin to them, although the slaughter of the Nabateans and the creation of Crests and Relics did lead directly to much of the systemic inequality in Fòdlan so it’s still there somewhat. Edelgard’s perceived purity is a messy subject, one tied up inextricably with her appeal as a love interest which itself plays into perceptions of femininity across cultures, but from my perspective the confrontation of wrongdoing is the main thing that separates her morally from Rhea. Rhea literally and symbolically confesses her sins at the end of two routes, and in her S rank resolves to atone for them and receives absolution in the form of hot sex with her child/grandchild/siblng/mother because this is still a dating sim with a lot of kink under the table. Edelgard meanwhile never even acknowledges that her actions or her choice of allies might be flawed, to the point that one could say that her tragic flaw is her morally self-centered, uncompromising nature.

4. What I think is important to remember about Paradise Lost is that it was written by a Protestant, and it features some anti-Catholic rhetoric typical of Milton’s time. From a literary perspective Satan is absolutely the protagonist of the poem and could be considered an antihero (or a proto-Byronic hero, as the Romantics who popularized that archetype were very fond of Milton’s Satan). I haven’t read it in years so I can’t recall specific passages, but the thrust of this positive interpretation of Satan is that it’s a fundamentally humanist one which perhaps not coincidentally aligns with some of the stated goals of the Reformation positing a more personal relationship with God for individuals in contrast to the austerity and corruption of the Catholic Church. I don’t think that works too well in practice as a framework for understanding Edelgard - she has zero interest in reforming the church even if she claims not to hate the religion itself, and she demonstrates little genuine interest in commoners and never abolishes the nobility - but it remains about the only way to spin the darker imagery associated with her as being actually heroic. Besides, that she’d rather obliterate the church completely than reform it probably endears her even more to anti-theistic fans, and as such a figure like Milton’s Satan is a better fit than likening her to someone like Martin Luther or John Calvin.

[antiquecompass]

Untamed Winter Fest Day 22: Naughty/Nice

Nie Mingjue was a disciplined man. Rarely patient, (he could be if given the right motivation), but disciplined in his actions, manners, routines. Yes, he had a temper, and certainly showed the harsher aspects of his personality to most of the world, but considering the things he could say instead of what he did, he showed his restraint and his discipline almost every hour of every day.

Of course, everyone had their weaknesses.

Mingjue was currently being assaulted by two of them.

One, was indulging his baby brother’s whims. Since the farm had become a bit of a destination in the winter for its ice rink and sleigh rides, they had started to arrange for more official events. Like hosting some of the local children’s homes and making sure everyone, children and adults included, had some presents and some good memories for Christmas. A fleeting thing, of course, a pointless frivolity in the face of their actual reality, but for just a few hours they could all have a winter wonderland experience and maybe pet a goat or a sheep or one of those damn alpacas Mingjue had been bullied into ‘rescuing.’

He would like to know when and how the farm had slowly started to become a petting zoo, but at least he was finding good, quality staff to take care of them. He should’ve known, a decade ago, when Huaisang had convinced him to expand into the sheep and wool side of the farming business that it would come to this. His baby brother was a master at playing the long game to achieve his goals.

It also meant that right now his home office was covered in wrapping paper, tape, bows, ribbons, and glitter from said ribbons. So much glitter. He probably had glitter in his lungs by this point. He damn well knew he had it on his skin because his husband kept laughing at him and wiping it off as they day had gone on.

Mingjue didn’t understand why he had to wrap this shit. He was fine signing off on the invoices and paying the credit card on the business account for buying out what had to have been four different Targets’ entire toy section. He would gladly give a tour of the grounds and help the tiny humans put on their little ice skates. But Mingjue was not competent when it came to gift-wrapping. He was far more the stick-it-in-a-bag-with-some-tissue-paper kind. He absolutely was the sucker who paid extra for the bags that already came with the tissue paper in them. His lack of skill was even more obvious when compared to his brother, his brother's boyfriend, and his husband who all apparently took present-wrapping classes somewhere. Theirs looked like they should be in a store window. Mingjue’s looked like it should be in the trash. Or thrown to Lulabelle.

It also didn’t help that he was continually being distracted by his second weakness.

His husband, of course, had always had him wrapped around one of his perfectly manicured fingers. His little fox worked on now, oblivious to what he was doing to Mingjue, or perhaps not oblivious at all but acting as such, carrying on wrapping the mountain of presents. At home Yao was his most relaxed. Gone were the fashionable clothing and accessories he donned like armor. Here at home he wore nothing but a pair of Nie Wool crew socks, some boxers, and one of Mingjue’s oldest sweaters. It was far, far too big on him, and stretched out from years of use, and kept falling off to one side, revealing a swath of skin that called to Mingjue. It was too much of a tempting distraction. That neck. That shoulder. Those collarbones. That concentrated profile as Yao made sure the corners of the presents were perfectly sharp and their ribbons were perfectly tied.

He was also singing something softly under his breath.

“What’s--” Mingjue cleared his throat, trying to drive away the hoarseness of his voice as his husband looked up at him through those damnable eyelashes. “What’s that you’re singing?”

“Riu Riu Chiu,” he said. “Just a Christmas carol.”

Mingjue didn’t speak much---he was guessing Spanish--but he recognized the ‘el lobo.’

“There’s something in there about a wolf,” he said.

“Yes,” Yao agreed with a teasing smile. “Wolf, devil, original sin, take your pick. Saving innocent Mary from the demon wolf's evil bite.”

It certainly wasn’t one about jingle bells and sleigh rides it seemed.

“I’ve always liked the way it sounds,” he said, humming the tune.

He shifted again, stretching out to push his latest present to the finished pile, the sweater rose up to expose the small of his back, the Nie Crest tattooed over his hip.

That was the final straw.

“Scissors!” Yao yelped as Mingjue grabbed him.

Mingjue carefully pushed them far to the side.

“You’re going to ruin the wrapping paper,” Yao complained as he was turned over and pressed down onto one of the unrolled sheets.

“Boo fucking hoo,” Mingjue said. “We’ll just buy more.”

“Don’t you dare ruin this sweater,” Yao said as he arched up into Mingjue’s hand. “It’s my favorite.”

“Then you better take it off,” Mingjue said before diving in to devour him.

**********

Huaisang walked into the farmhouse, arms full of shopping bags. Xuanyu followed him, pushing in a UPS box nearly as tall as him. The children’s home mentioned they needed a new play kitchen set. Huaisang had purchased three of them.

His eyes narrowed as he heard the sounds coming from upstairs.

“Oh no, someone’s definitely going on the Naughty List,” Xuanyu said as he finished dragging the package inside, the jingle bell necklace around his neck quieting as he stood still. “Better prepare those lumps of coal.”

“They can’t even be left alone to wrap some presents. For orphans,” Huaisang scoffed.

“Come on,” Xuanyu said, tugging on his arm. “Let’s go to my mom’s. She’s baking cookies today. You love her snowball cookies.”

A large thump and an even louder moan came from upstairs.

“And I don’t think they’re going to be done anytime soon.”

Huaisang leaned into Xuanyu’s arms and smiled at the soft kiss placed on his forehead.

“Yes, I’d love that,” he agreed. “Just one thing.”

He stepped out of Xuanyu’s hold and walked to the foot of the stairs.

“Close the fucking door next time you assholes! No one wants to hear that!”