#nephs rambles

[canongirlf]

happy new year to all my fellow self shippers and their f/os!!!

[angeloftrumpets]

[cinnaspicesys]

does anyone else do this thing where you extensively imagine how you would hypothetically go around committing extremely specific crimes and/or tiny misdemeanors without getting caught, only to then get worried because what if someone else does that exact same crime and you're questioned about it and you didn't do it but you already thought extensively about it so you fail the polygraph and go to prison

[noa-de-cajou]

Me : *chilling*

My brain : Hey isn't it funny how Ether thought she was a small, insignificant part of Faloi's life and then realized as she got older that he was actually such a small part of her life too but it was never insignificant and never lost its meaning and the love and the grief were still there the world just grew bigger around it as she aged ? And that Faloi never got to age after her and with her but that nonetheless she was the last loving smile he saw before he died and that she meant so much to him as well?

Me :

Me : I was having a good day

[s-s-s-sad]

sleeping is so overrated (and overwhelming) they said about to go fully lights out fighting this ominous little death.

[neflil]

Hearthian oc time!!! Meet Nepheline

Below the cut for more info and doodles of them :3 vv

So I caved in and made an oc. This is the first time I'm really doing something like this so hhhhh.

Nepheline, or neph, a half self insert - half oc! They're a bit younger than the Hatchling, so still considered a hatchling but almost an adult.

They like to draw, paint rocks, and explore around timber hearth a lot! They're cool with everyone and friendly, but much prefer to sit in the background and listen instead of actively talking. That is of course until someone gives them enough time and trust that they'll listen to whatever neph has to ramble about.

They're interested in all kinds of things really. The nomai, physics, the weird quantum rocks ect. Even if they're not the brightest when it comes to that, they love learning about anything when given the chance.

As soon as any of the travellers get back from space, neph rushes over to ask them about what they saw or if something cool happened. Gabbro and Riebeck especially, as neph is interested in what they have to say the most.

As much as they value the village and it's people, they also value their alone time. Sometimes disappearing for days into the quantum groove or the old mines just... Vibing really, doing whatever. They also have a small piece of a quantum rock they call a "friend", of course it disappears every time neph let's their eyes off of it, but they compare it to the travellers going away and mainly- feldspar. It's a rock that keeps them company without actually needing to have someone *there*. Along with really liking to sleep in and let their mind wander in worlds far from here, people often joke that they remind them of gabbro (the pains of making a half self insert while relating to a character hhh)

Their interests and way the explain them isn't that common, so people often turn a blind eye to them. They mostly parrot cool facts people have taught them which results in situations like "but did you know that the nomai-" "yes neph, you've told us three times already". They just want to share the stuff they know

Esker is someone who likes to listen to them! But also share their own stories. Ever since neph was young they'd hangout nicely. Now they radio eachother. Neph is old enough to join the space program but seeing and they aren't that great with more technical stuff, they are afraid. They put off actually seeing gossan and talking about this so hey.

Their scale pattern covers a big majority of their face at the front, it's a mix of lines and ovals. But when I draw them I just... Blehhh color. Also! Nepheline is named that I spired by the Greek word "nephele" which means cloud (and is also my name, hi lol). Since the rock turns cloudy when exposed/put in acid. Therefore, to somehow reference this, nephs face turns a cloud blue color when they're frustrated of angry!

Once they fell asleep in the old mine (that sounds stupid but I swear I've imagined the whole situation, there's more than that trust, might make it into a comic) and people looked for them, worried as they couldn't find them. Once they got back they got grounded to not not leave for there again- especially alone.

Neph despite everything, went back. They drew a nomai, based off the skeletons there and everything they've seen so far. To prove that they need to get off their grounding since they're doing "work". They don't really have a speciality either so yyyea

They used to be named Nephrite but merry showed me a rock named Nepheline, so I HAD to change it because well- we have the same name lmfao

(if you saw me posting this before, no you didn't)

[moooclipse]

I cannot escape pokemon, it has a grip on me.

I've wanted to make a trainersona for a while and finally got to it. I like to think I'd start of as a trainer traveling to different regions to meet new pokemon, and then later on decide to become a pokemon professor who studies shinies (and maybe legendaries?)

Most of my pokemon have names; Spirits the female absol, Lumi the shiny male umbreon, Wynter the female alolan vulpix, Tinker the shiny female sylveon, Moonstone the shiny male dusk form lycanroc, and Piko the female pichu. Still working on a name for Silvally. Either Tinker or Lumi I think would be my first pokemon, mostly because they're both based on pets I've had irl- my current black cat named Reaper and a black and white cat I used to have when I was younger named Tinkerbell.

Spirits is based on an absol I have in pokemon sleep, it was one of the first pokemon I got not long after the app came out! Although I didn't draw one, I think I'd also have a snivy, since one of my first memories of pokemon is from getting a toy snivy figure from a McDonald's happy meal. Might honestly swap out Piko with said snivy, not really sure why I included Piko other than reusing her from an older drawing (that I've been swayed from pikachu from the show since I've been watching it lately ^^')

While I'm at it might as well share some older art with my trainersona at the time not yet considered trainersona. First one was with my at the time main pokemon sleep team, which is where Spirits comes from, and the second one was with pokemon I at the time wanted to have if pokemon were real, which is where Pikos design, Wynters collar, and Tinkers marking (although barely visible on the recent drawing) came from.

Komainu (growlithe) and Nepheli (togetic) are both fully evolved now too, since the pokemon sleep art was made a few months ago.

Ok I need to stop rambling about pokemon-

[balteus]

fuck okay in sorta relation to last post i think people generally don't pick up on a lot of dare i say,,, humor of elden ring. it's kinda subtle and a little lost in translation i think but with ranni, radahn and gideon it's especially apparent i think. it's a sort of humor of irony and subversion of opposites that reminds me a lot of old plays.

radahn: is a war general, most powerful demigod (alongside malenia). reveres combat and physical strength. widely respected. also is a strategic and intellectual genius. also has a huge soft spot for small animals. in fact it's his love for animals that motivated him in becoming what he is. he has numerous parallels to ds1 artorias. he's miyazaki's favorite elden ring boss.

ranni: literally giving you the cold shoulder 24\7. shown as a coldblooded (heh) killer who kick-started everything that went wrong. but if you show the slightest amount of devotion to her and a willingness to listen she shows just how starved for closeness she is. she falls in love with you if you listen to her ramble at a save spot. this affects the ending cutscene with her. fromsoft NEVER does this, which shows just how much she actually cares for you even if she doesn't want to let you know. seluvis outright describes her as a gentle girl who uses her perceived coldness to protect herself. i love her sm.

gideon: my beloathed. this mainly pulls from his dialogue regarding his adopted daughter, nepheli loux. it's similar to ranni except gideon is actually an asshole. he will say something that will make you think "oh, does he actually care? does he hold fatherly feelings for her?" and in the next sentence he'll not only manage to destroy that little bit of good will but also dig himself a deeper grave. i honestly still think about how he raised nepheli promising her that she'll be able to help the oppressed and downtrodden only to himself take part in that oppression. also the implication that he knew her biological father personally and that he was entrusted with care of her while hoarah was away. what's going on here. i wanna study him under a spyglass.

[maze-of-sweets]

I'm curious to know the other Pokey's opinion on the antagonists from Mean Girls and Heathers (music goes hard, been listening to it for 5 weeks on repeat).

-🌟

Heather Macnamara Has The Best Solo (Lifeboat). Heather Duke Is Evil And Rocks It. Heather Chandler Is Good. I Too Enjoy Poison And Blue Goo. The Valley Girl Accent In The Cast Recording Is A Major Plus.

Neph Saw The Touring Production Of Mean Girls Live (I Am Still Jealous Even Though She Shared The Memories With Me.) And The Woman Who Played Regina George Was Outstanding.

My Favorite Is Karen. Because Of Course.

And Gretchen’s Role As A Whole Is Greatly Overlooked. Her Harmonies Are Always The Third And Are The Backbone Of Each Cord The Three Of Them Have. Karen Harmonizes With Cady. And Regina’s Is The Note You Hear Loudest. You Can Pick It Out Always.

Gretchen’s Actress Also Did An Outstanding Job With What’s Wrong With Me Reprise. The Flute Was Out Of Tune The Whole Time. And That’s What Gave Gretchen Her Pitch. And Even Though It Was Incorrect. She Was On Pitch The Whole Time. Which Is A Gift.

I’m Rambling Now. I Also Need To Relisten To The Cast Recording.

I May Be Biased But Mariah Was Always My Favorite Regina.

[yolowritter]

A perspective on Gideon Ofnir part 2

Follow up post to this ramble about Gideon. I stand by what I said last time. Gideon Ofnir is a tired old man who is clearly losing hope in the Tarnished, and the Two Fingers that are meant to guide them. Again, he is completely right in the regard that all current Tarnished staying at the Roundtable Hold are just waiting for a miraculous savior to sweep in and take the throne, and none of them embark on the journey themselves. Rogier has even lost Grace, possibly because of abandoning this goal, even if the exact mechanics of "gaining" and "losing" Grace are complicated. Alas, not the point. Gideon quite literally has only Nepheli that he can trust in, and he does in fact send her after Godrick the Grafted, the weakest of the Shardbearers. Make no mistake, this in itself is a show that he's done taking risks, or perhaps is following the mission half-heartedly by now. Nepheli is very clearly an accomplished warrior, since she managed to get inside Stormveil Castle and slay a Banished Knight inside of a cramped room (anybody who has fought them in tight spaces knows it's not easy). She is his strongest piece on the board, and Gideon sends her for the Shardbearers' weakest. There is a clear reason why none of the people present at the Radahn Festival are acting for or on behalf of Gideon. Blaidd is there for Ranni. Alexander is there to prove his own worth in battle, nevermind that he isn't Tarnished to begin with. Okina is possibly there on behalf of Mohg, since he already had the Rivers of Blood, which we know lore-wise he got after submitting to the Lord of Blood. Lionel is already dead and under Fia's control by this point, as we find his body in Leyndell, and Therolina is a puppet acting on Seluvis' orders. He even gives the Tarnished her ashes as part of his quest. Tragoth is following his own interests and travels the Lands Between to help his fellows, without ever going to Leyndell except to assist the Tarnished in defeating the Draconic Tree Sentinel (assuming he's summoned to help). Gideon literally has no more capable warriors at his side, no possible hope of ever defeating someone like Radahn.

That's why he sends Nepheli for Godrick, who is the weakest in all aspects. He's the only Demigod Gideon thinks even she has any chance of actually defeating. (Side note that the Radahn Festival must have already happened hundreds of times, due to the relevant Jerren dialogue, so even that is a failed strategy until the Tarnished shows up.) And what happens when the Tarnished returns to the Roundtable with Godrick's Great Rune? With or without Nepheli at their side, Gideon happly welcomes them, sounding proud to call the Tarnished a true member of the Hold. The player character becomes his new hope, that just maybe, if he keeps us on the straight and narrow, we might just end this Age of Fracture and stagnation.

Right after this, Gideon immediately launches into a whole discussion about the other Demigods. Those whose locations he knows of at least, and the list of targets that the Tarnished can hit. He's impressed by the fact that a Shardbearer has finally fallen and immediately urges this newcomer to keep going, offering knowledge and explicitly warning them to stay far away from the Capital until they've collected at least two Great Runes, and are strong enough to challenge Morgott. And yes, I know that the barrier at Leyndell's gate is an in-universe story beat possibly erected after Vyke got jailed, but that's not relevant to Gideon. Of course he has his own agenda, everyone in the Roundtable does apart from Roderika. Hewg is hopelessly smithing away and wants to be freed, Rogier is investigating Death, Fia wants to get as much vigor out of capable champions as possible, and D to hunt down the Undead.

Gideon is perplexed by mysteries. He admits that he can never know everything, and yet relentlessly tries to increase and expand his knowledge regardless. He does do this behind the Tarnished's back by taking magic from the Demigods they defeat, but consider for a moment that Gideon has no reason to trust the Tarnished with something so important just yet. Before Leyndell, the newcomer is a hope, yes, but one just as liable to fail as all the rest. Gideon is expanding his pocketbook of spells in case he ever needs them, and because why not? He's clearly got the power to wield all this magic, and the Two Fingers even deemed him worthy enough to learn Lord Divine Fortification, an incantion built to negate holy damage. Why would he recieve this knowledge if not for the Fingers intending him to challenge Radagon at some point?

And even in the cases where Gideon has the Tarnished do his dirty work, it's never a demand or a threat. He's passive, content to watch, and aside from Ensha (who explicitly acts on his own), has no intention to attack us so long as we don't end up being a threat to him. Don't stab me, I don't stab you. Pretty simple stuff. Gideon searches for knowledge, and while the whose fiasco with the village of albinaurics is absolutely unethical and cruel of him to do, it only serves to point out that he considers finding Miquella (and therefore possibly understanding one of the people that perplex him) more important than the lives of people who lore-wise are "widely considered impure and graceless". It's obviously wrong, but Gideon values a way out of this stagnation more than anything. Again, the Tarnished is never forced to find Latenna, not to mention that if they do while also eventually going to Ordina, a whole new generation of Albinaurics can be born. Gideon simply considers the Tarnished as a comrade of sorts, hence why they are trusted with Latenna's possible location. Hence why he then shares his secret thoughts about Mohg and Malenia. Gideon only wanted the Tarnished to prove they were worth it, and they have. Alright, I'm going to stop here and continue in a third and final post talking about why I think Gideon betrays and battles the Tarnished in the Ashen Capital. There is no 100% clear answer, but again these posts are just my two cents. See you all soon!

[un-local]

Hello again!! I feel a bit bad for flooding your Inbox but I was wondering if any other NPCs would appear in SWRD? Maybe some characters like Boggart, Thops, Patches and maybe even Raya? And if so would their quest lines stay the same or will they also survive like Rogier?

I am sort of wondering what would happen to D and Devin too in this fic but its alright if you havent thought that far out. Elden ring is such a massive game with so so much lore that you just want it to make sense so I dont blame you if you want to take your time and figure it out!

I’ve been trying to piece together things in it but Ive just realized that I just dont have the pieces to the puzzle to piece together right now. Looking forward to see how it all pieces together though!!

Sorry for so many questions and an insane ramble- I’m really curious about this fic and its genuinely piqued my interest since no one else really writes about Rogier- much less fix-it/canon divergence fic of him at all

Insane rambles are my specialty, anon. No need to apologize! If anything, I’m flattered my writing has inspired such consideration. Thank you!

Onto your question:

Currently, drafting is underway for Mags’ journey to Carian Manor. (I have various scraps and plot points planned out to end-game areas, though.)

Boggart has already made one appearance in-draft so far, with Rya having an offscreen mention. You’ll see that in the next update for sure. Bogs is a favorite of mine, so he has some other appearances in the works. They’ll be fun.

Blaidd will be quite interesting to write, but I don’t want to give too much away there :3

Nepheli will also eventually have more appearances, I think. But her personal quest isn’t on the menu just yet. 

Darian and Devin... that’s a huge part what I’m trying to sort out with this fic. Same with Fia. I have things outlined, but actual, coherent implementation has been the real challenge. 

With quests as abstract as theirs, making heads or tails of them has been a bit of a nightmare. But it’s coming along, albeit slowly. And honestly, that's just fine, because Liurnia alone should be enough to keep our plates full for now. 

As for Thops… I had an interaction with him in the outline, but I’m unsure if it’ll make it into the final product. That remains to be seen. Same with Patches. Yura, Millicent… so on, so forth. 

I will say that this fic is mainly focused on Rogier, and how he might evolve throughout a playthrough, so most NPC quests are likely going to remain largely unchanged. (Some may not even be finished to completion, since Rogier’s got such strong priorities of his own.)

God help us all, this game is a behemoth. We’ll see where it takes us!

[canongirlf]

sometimes seeing art of a popular ship involving my f/o is fine but sometimes it feels like I'm getting my ribs kicked in

[darkseraphscorner]

“You want a what?”

"A baby.... But need a ring first, got to do it in the right order.... If you are willing to put up with me?" He is rambling now, face red.

Caroline looks over the back of the couch. "Real smooth dad, real smooth."

Neph elbows her. "Didn't you get all flustered when your girlfriend said she wanted kids?"

"Shut up!"

Seraph looks at his daughters.

[lamplore]

I don’t personally want to believe that Malenia was charmed, but I think that OP is a genius for pointing out that whether or not she was charmed… that’s not the point. The point is that there’s doubt, because Miquella compromised himself as soon as him removing others’ agency became a possibility.

If you’ve been following my ramblings for a while, you’ve probably seen me suggest that I think that the biggest consistent theme through all of Elden Ring’s narrative threads is the idea that agency matters. You might not be able to change the world, but there’s power in making active choices to bring about the world you’d like to see. We see that in Melina, Fia, and Ranni, as well as in Ansbach and Thiollier during the final fight. It’s why the Frenzy Flame ending is so drastically different from DS3’s peaceful End of Fire, and why Seluvis is the worst guy in the Lands Between.

I think it’s also where Miquella goes wrong. I think the suggestion with him is that he truly is the most compassionate being in the world, and he truly did care deeply not only for his siblings, but for every suffering person in TLB. He just couldn’t see that it’s not ethical to save people by removing their agency. You can’t just wish everyone into happiness and peace forever without destroying some part of their ability to choose their own fate. He’s essentially doing another version of the Frenzy Flame ending, which it’s worth mentioning is also typically brought about by compassion and a desire to save another from suffering (think us and Melina, or Vyke and his Maiden, or maybe Midra and Nanaya but I still don’t quite know about that one). I’ve also seen people genuinely arguing for the idea that the FF is the best ending for the inhabitants of the Lands Between because burning it all down means no one will suffer ever again. That’s compassion, but it’s a twisted compassion that totally erases the agency of the person or people you’re claiming to save. And that is Miquella, too.

(Also look at Miquella’s followers. Between Leda, whose obsessive devotion makes her bloodthirsty and paranoid, and the soldiers of the Haligtree, who literally invented a way to blow themselves up in service to Miquella even though they literally had no war to fight… the idea seems to be that an ideology like Miqqy’s, though well-intentioned, inspires a dangerous and destructive sort of faith in his followers. And his only solution to the Leda problem was to reduce her agency further with a charm.)

I think there’s also a pretty distinct narrative throughline that I’ll call… collaboration? Community? Something like that. The idea that you can’t strive for change all on your own. That’s the contrast between Ranni and her little band with Blaidd and Iji, (Remember how some of her final words to us are “Tell Blaidd and Iji I love them?”) and characters like Marika, who continuously used those closest to her for her own ends, and Miquella, whose excessive selflessness led him to take sole responsibility for Marika’s sins to the point of sacrificing himself piece by piece. I think the idea of collaboration, or at the very least trusting others in some sort of community, also shows up with Nepheli, Kenneth and Gostoc back in Limgrave. They’re a bunch of very different, very flawed individuals, but what matters is that they try to build something together.

So that’s another thing Miquella finds himself in opposition to. His character is basically built on metaphors for solitude, from Unalloyed Gold (an unmixed metal, purer but weaker than an alloy) to the Dryleafs (a dry leaf has fallen from its tree). There’s also the way he cuts out his other self so that not even she can suffer godhood with him (If Trina knew that Godhood would be a prison, Miquella surely did too) and his other cult, the Dryleaf Sect, who are so devoted to self-sufficiency that they refuse to speak to others or even look them in the eyes. These things are not healthy; compassion alone is not healthy. It needs to be tempered (alloyed?) by a sense of trust in others and their ability to make their own choices.

I think its pretty interesting that theres a bit of hinting that Melania was charmed by Miquella and theres also a bit hinting that she wasn't, and we'll probably never know for sure.

On one hand, Melania has always been "The Blade of Miquella" and deeply devoted.

On the other hand, she grew up being taught by the very person who sealed away the god of rot, but threw that all away to kill Radahn and nuke Caelid and after you defeat her, she calls you a "TRUE lord" with the implication there are lords out there not truly capable of being a lord.

It really feels like its making the point that the act of taking away peoples agency casts doubt of how genuine your support is

[scrawnytreedemon]

You know, as I'm writing this, I can't help wondering if should you see Kenneth's questline through and see Nepheli instated, while leaving Castle Morne's questline untouched... Is Edgar's fealty to Stormveil, or to Godrick himself?

His dialogue heavily implies fealty to Godrick the man, Lord of Limgrave. I don't think he'd be too cheesed to find out his enemies taking up his mantle.

There's a good fucking chance we've split Limgrave in two. I'm cackling. Look, I know that canonically Castle Morne is too far gone to have a castellan anymore, and Edgar vows to spend the rest of his days with Irina... But imagine if.

This game is a travesty. I'm living for it.

[perurx-moon]

Pgsm!Nephrite listens to Nickleback and cries about how Ami didn't make him her bitch