#the Messmer effect is strong

[fufuheheii]

Im tempted to write a MessmerxKnightinTraining!Reader where they meet each other prior to SoTE and is gonna be filled with whole lot of romance ANGST SMUT PININGGGG but I already have a fic running out there for him 😩 like I imagine him to be a quiet charismatic person who has to deal with loud people around him and the knight in training is a rather ambitious but weak individual who wants to learn from him ✨

[katyspersonal]

Tbh one of my favourite things about how SOTE effected Elden Ring fandom is that now everyone is talking about Fell God!! He was already a curious entity, but there was no much to work with besides giants worshipping him and borrowing power from him (apparently for a heavy cost, like sold soul tier heavy and deal is only broken by death).. and Marika killing him personally, even though Godfrey was there.

But like, Hornsent depicting him as heraldic sun, and heraldic sun is ALSO a symbol of the "guidance" to curse the entire Golden Order that Dung Eater once saw? Fell God's main incantation also taking a form of an orb, that in retrospective does feel like a mini sun, not unlike mini moons of Carian spells? Godfrey champions using not only one eye imagery but also serpent imagery? Lore saying Marika plucked out Messmer's eye (singular), behind which serpent lived, when Fell God was also "malformed" and one-eyed? Fell God's curse giving people red hair (Fire Monks and Arghanthy, not just Fire Giants and Radagon) when Messmer's curse does the same (his Fire Knights having red hair and body malformations like his, save for Queelign)? Also that sun depiction by Hornsent gave him crucible (horns) of course, but if Leonine Misbegotten are of any indication, red mane is ALSO a very strong crucible aspect? Everything became SOOOOOO much more interesting FFJGHFIGHTN

I just think it's cool that a character who just looked to be like one of Fromsoft's many just-mentioned nobodies without further elaboration ended up tying many things together after DLC! They did this AGAIN, those madmen xD

[forgottenlunarium]

I'll answer these as best as I can, but heads up that I'm not expert and that it's like 3am and I feel like St Trina’s pouring nectar into my eyes

1. AFAIK, the Elden Beast arrived in the Lands Between at the foundation of the Golden Order, as it is the kind of guardian spirit of the Elden Ring itself. This is, iirc, after the Eternal Cities went underground, which imo happened after Farum Azula but way before Leyndell and the Golden Order. So I don't think this is a contradiction

2. I don't think Romina is intended to be the origin of the Scarlet Rot at all. I read her lore as her finding the aimless rot bereft of a master (either sealed rot god or malenia) and chose to become a guardian or saint of the little rot she found. There's a line about her creating rot or something, but to be fair the player can also create rot using items and magic, so I don't buy that as a Special Thing.

3. Given that players have the option of playing a numen, and that the numen are also described as living beyond the fog, I'm willing to say that the numen are far more populous than just one village. It's possible that “shaman” is just the hornsent term for numen in general, or perhaps Marika's village is it's own distinct culture of numen called shamans. I don't see a problem there

4. You have missed something. Rellana volunteered to join the crusade, and was spurred on by her sisters approval. She eschewed a royal title just to be by Messmer's side, and it's implied that Rellana may have loved Messmer.

5. Because the Crucible is very strong in the Lands of Shadow, and especially in Rauh. crucible Knight Devonia is the eldest of the crucible knights, and came here searching for the crucible

6. I don't know, and that sounds like a loaded topic for you, so Ill leave that one be.

7. Radahn likely promised Miquella when they were younger, but then changed his mind. Another reason to hold his fate in place by challenging the stars. He was so against it in fact that Miquella had to send Malenia to Caelid to use the rot to effectively lobotomise Radahn so that he could be killed by the Tarnished- Miquella didn't need Radahns body, he needed his soul. The Radahn we see at the end is not Prime Radahn, it's a homonculus of Radahns stolen soul in Mohgs stolen body, animated by the energy of the Crucible and the divinity of Miquella. Both Radahn and Mohg are victims.

8. Addendum to the above, but Godwyns soul is dead utterly, meaning he can't be brought back. In fact it's implied that attempting to do that is why there's deathblight all over the Lands Between. Miquellas first choice for consort, I imagine, would've been Godwyn, but once he got killed Miq had to go to plan B. In fact I bet what that post fight curscene is about- immediate post shattering Miquella trying to convince Radahn to be his consort, hence the panic and desperation in his voice

9. In the beginning the crucible was a tool like any other, and Godfrey was a firm believer in the crucible, so it was tolerated. It was likely at the tail end of Godfrey's reign as lord that Marika began to implement more and more anti-crucibke edicts, and that could have even been a key role in why Godfrey became Tarnished.

I disagree with a lot of your points, as well as your conclusions, but I understand the disorientation when new lore is introduced. Hopefully, in time, as you spend more time studying and thinking about the lore, you might come up with new interpretations and theories that reignite your curiosity and passion for the setting :)

Lore points in the dlc that piss me off and make no sense

The greater will going AWOL after sending the elden beast breaks so many lore points I'm inclined to just straight up disregard it altogether because it makes no sense. The beasts were given intelligence presumably by the greater will. The elden ring existed during the time of the beasts we know that because of farum azula and the elden ring depiction there. The greater will not being around during that time makes no sense. It would make much more sense that the greater will left during the beginning stages of marikas rule and most certainly cutting ties when the elden ring was broken. But to straight up say god wasn't there from day one is so...? Bad??? I can accept the mother of fingers making shit up after the greater will cut her off but there are things that only a god like the greater will can do. what about the eternal cities being banished underground by the greater will??? If GW wasn't around for that time who did it then? What could possibly have that kind of power. It just makes no sense?????

Also the outer god of rot being written out is so bad too because what the fuck did the blind swordsman seal under the lake of rot then??? Was that just bullshit? Malenia wasn't a candidate anymore because she was an empyrean being used as the vessel for the god of rot because it wanted to imprint its age of rot on the elden ring. It literally makes no sense if Romina is the creator of rot if she's not an outer god.

and another thing, if all the numens in the shaman village were supposedly killed off by the hornsent or maybe even sacrificed by Marika (who knows) who were the black knife assassins and how were they numens associated with Marika if supposedly they were gone.

Why is rellana in the land of shadow have I missed something.

Why is there one crucible knight here.

If Marika was so traumatized by the saint jars why did she fucking allow living jars and why did she allow the jars in general to feed the erdtree. I don't believe this whole narrative that Marika is a tragic baby hurt by the evil hornsent for a second. Her entire backstory and foundation reeks of white colonizer to the point I bet those fuckin numens came here and tried to start shit. Anyways.

I know this horse has been beaten to death already but why on earth would radahn agree to be a consort to a god who wants an age of peace if "war suited him". He held the stars in place to probably protect ranni (and sellia) but also to help the golden order because we know the golden order wasn't a big fan of reading the stars and shit. He was a huge fan of Godfrey, and saw his father as a hero and wore his red hair with honor ( in contrast to radagon who hated it). Look I have no idea if radahn is just as fucked up as miquella or not but you cannot deny him being this consort is bizarre and left field. I would have genuinely accepted godwyn of all people over radahn. Godwyn was a powerful warrior he defeated the dragons but he was also kind and compassionate because he befriended fortissax to the point that dragon bro was ride or die and allowed himself to be eaten alive by deathblight. Also hello miquella literally calls him lord brother. Godwyn being revived was literally miquellas big plan other than curing malenia. So why the fuck was radahn chosen??? It's not like godwyn was dead when miquella was born and shit???? Also?? If mohg had to be used it would make kind of sense that he was used for godwyn since they share the same mother and father rather than radahn who didn't share either Godfrey or Marika (yes I know radagon is Marika). It would have probably been easier for godwyn to sink into mohgs body since they shared actual blood.

If marika was so very traumatized and hated everything having to do with the crucible and the hornsent why the hell would she allow Godfrey to have crucible knights as well as other crucible vestiges.

There's more but I'm just flabbergasted by the lore direction in general. It's almost like two different writing teams are at work.

[joedaddyme-blog]

Employee qualities and qualifications

Organizations with strategic objectives to record good performance and gain high level of competitiveness in this century must have requisite incentives that drive productivity. The institutions must invest in human capital, operating machines or infrastructure, develop performance oriented policies and effective communication systems. In particular, organizations such as BeUapparrel should strive to have employees who are endowed with the right skill set, dedicated and highly knowledgeable. Such caliber of employees is necessary for any institution that seeks to perform well. According to Messmer (2011), a company is a good as the employees associated with it. Variably, performance in various companies is also associated with the quality and effectiveness of the employees who discharge duties or respond to customer needs. Therefore, companies must lay down a viable strategy and process of employee hiring to ensure that they get the right people for the right job who would be able to deliver appropriately. The employees must have relevant qualities and qualifications that are necessary for each category of work. For instance, an accountant should have accounting knowledge; a marketer should also have a strong marketing background.

As BeUpparrel seeks to expand its operations and implement anew-marketing plan, more employees are required. The employees among others are to facilitate the execution of diverse activities with the aim of enhancing performance. Key qualities that the employees of the company must have and that must be considered during hiring include hardworking, creative, knowledge about fashion and social media, self-sufficient and strong business background (Messmer, 2011). In particular, institutions require hardworking individuals who give their all in promoting performance. The employees should be determined, dedicated, steadfast, and work tirelessly towards meeting or surpassing set targets. A hard worker is one who never relent from undertaking various activities that include marketing, financial management formally or informally. This aspect is a very essential quality an employee should have since laziness promotes low performance. Creativity is another quality that employees should have without reservations (Messmer, 2011). It is important since it facilitates the development of new ideas of production, new product development, creation of modern ways of operations including media strategies. Creative individuals are good for the organization since they will advance generation of credible and reliable solutions to the complications the company faces that include inferior marketing strategy.

Likewise, the employees must be knowledgeable about social media and fashion. Their trendiness ability is to facilitate the establishment, understanding and distribution of valuable products the customers need. Employees who have no idea about the needs of the market have no relevance in the modern business environment. They add limited value in decision-making and strategy formulation especially on issues that affect competitiveness (Arthur, 2012). In addition, companies should hire employees who are self-sufficient with strong business environment. Self-sufficiency and strong business background gives employees the opportunity to inject their wealth experience in promoting the execution of various activities that requires particular details. Subsequently, BeUapparrel must also consider hiring employees with good academic qualifications who are well-trained in diverse areas of specialization and with excellent communication command. These qualities according to Arthur (2012) are important in any business environment since they influence performance and delivery of customer-oriented services. They also provide institutions with the prime opportunity to gain high level of competitiveness, make viable decisions on diverse issues including marketing and production strategies that in turn boost productivity levels.

Therefore, it is right and justifiable to conclude that there is not company or business entity that can reach its peak of performance without employees with the right skill set including performance qualities. Employees are the ones who drive change initiatives in companies such as BeUpparrel and if they are deficient of key performance qualities such as hardworking, creativity among others, exemplary performance can be illusionary for long.

References

Arthur, D. (2012). Recruiting, interviewing, selecting & orienting new employees. New York: American

Management Association.

Messmer, H. (2011). Human Resources Kit For Dummies. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

[skrisiloff]

What CEOs said on this week’s earnings calls

Each week we read dozens of transcripts from earnings calls and presentations as part of our investment process. Below is a weekly post which contains some of the most important quotes about the economy and industry trends from those transcripts. Click here to receive these posts weekly via email.

Although sentiment has been very positive this year, the hard data hasn't tracked the optimism, at least not yet.  Some of the comments on this week's earnings calls seemed to reflect the fact that this still isn't a robust environment.  Weakness in auto manufacturing is particularly concerning since auto production is typically a late cycle indicator.  It's also disappointing that two consumer products companies called the quarter "challenging."  Consumer weakness is another leading indicator of broader weakness.

Still, there's no sign of a significant change in the economy and optimism usually leads to stronger hard data.  The Fed has been tightening though and that can also portend a shift.  This also could just have been an off week.

The Macro Outlook:

This quarter may have been more challenging than advertised

"this indeed was another challenging quarter and as I think we all know, the industry continues to face global market volatility and we have seen a further slowdown in consumer demand in several key markets, most especially the U.S. Southeast Asia and South Pacific." --Colgate CEO Ian Cook (Packaged Goods)

"while I remain optimistic about our long-term future, the near-term environment has become more challenging than maybe we saw at the beginning of the year. So category growth has slowed broadly in lots of places over the last year or so, and we expect that growth will pick back up over time, but that pickup may not happen quickly." --Kimberly Clark CEO Thomas Falk (Packaged Goods)

Manufacturing has been slow to recover

"I think the outlook is actually stable...in the U.S. and the progress is directionally good, but the speed is not that what we would like of course." --Manpower CEO Jonas Prising (Temp Staffing)

Auto production is weakening

"auto weakening is taking place. There’s no doubt that it’s plateaued...There’s no doubt in my mind that there’s some weakening going to be occurring. It’s only to the effect." --Nucor CEO John Ferriola (Steel)

But companies are sticking to their guidance

"The improvement has been a bit uneven, it’s not happening in a straight line. That said...everybody is standing by their guidance for the third quarter. Where generally speaking the United States included, things are getting a little better." --Robert Half CEO Harold Messmer (Temp Staffing)

Union Pacific is expecting improvement in 3Q

"volume, we think is going to be our friend certainly in the third quarter improving from the second quarter. And we’ll just have to see how the numbers play out." --Union Pacific CFO Rob Knight (Railroad)

There's no sign of a significant change

"however you wanted to describe it, an eroding plateau...we don’t see anything in terms of the economy, the health of the consumer, housing, oil...that would suggest that over the next two...years, that there’s any kind of significant collapse or dramatic change. We do think it’s going to decline. We think it will be a soft gradual decline" --Ford CEO James Hackett (Autos)

But could there be a shift "relatively soon"?

"The Committee expects to begin implementing its balance sheet normalization program relatively soon, provided that the economy evolves broadly as anticipated" --FOMC Statement

International:

There's optimism in Europe, particularly France

"While we continue to be cautious on the UK and as they prepare to exit the EU, we are optimistic about the overall outlook for Europe...We also see...a great deal of optimism in France, as President Macron has a clear mandate for reforms including labor market reform which should benefit that economy and stimulate better employment growth." --Manpower CEO Jonas Prising (Temp Staffing)

Germany is also very strong

"Germany, by definition, which is a big engine in Europe is doing well in the manufacturing side. And our business in Europe, if you look upon the portfolio, Industrial business is very strong." --3M CEO Inge Thulin (Industrials)

There may even be signs of inflation in Europe

"Europe service, inflation is starting to at least be talked a little bit, even though at very small levels. But for many years, there was no discussion of inflation at all. And now at least there is some talk about potentially a little bit of inflation coming through" --United Technologies CFO Akhil Jori (Elevators)

Caterpillar was positive on construction in China

"Construction in China and gas compression in North America were highlights." --Caterpillar CEO James Umpleby (Construction Equipment)

Financials:

Industries are changing faster than banks can keep up

"one of the things that I don’t think banks do that well...on things like Uber story is pull way up across all of our lending businesses and ask what is the impact given that industry after industry is being revolutionized...if we just go and make one loan at a time...we could wake up and have a lot of rude surprises like we did in the taxi kind of business." --Capital One CEO Richard Fairbank (Bank)

Consumer:

The Whole Foods purchase validated omni-channel

"you think about omni-channel and the advantages that brings, and you look at the recent purchase of Whole Foods, and you scratch your head and say why did that happen, I think if you start to envision how omni-channel could play an important role in e-commerce. You could see an unfolding scenario that says there can be successful pure players and successful omni-channel players. And maybe it all gravitates towards omni-channel at some point." --Stanley, Black and Decker CEO James Loree (Tools)

The retail industry still needs to restructure

"I think there’s a fundamental need to rationalize. People want to get larger to fight online and to fight Amazon and retail specifically. And there’ll be restructurings as well. Now the last time I was asked this, this would retail step in for energy? And the answer is I don’t believe it’s going to be as big an opportunity as energy. Energy was a very, very large user of capital in the leverage world...but a lot of those are smaller companies who are just kind of closing stores and shutting down" --Moelis & Co CEO Ken Moelis (Investment Bank)

Consumers buy more premium brands online

"What we observe on eCommerce thus far is that the consumer is actually — tends to buy more premium and even if they’re not buying the premium brands, they tend to buy in multiples. So, in fact the eCommerce behavior is favorable to us from a consumption point of view" --Colgate CEO Ian Cook (Packaged Goods)

Technology:

Data and AI are now the core currency of businesses

"The core currency of any business going forward will be the ability to convert their data into AI that drives competitive advantage." --Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella (Enterprise Tech)

Technology is ultimately just a tool

"Ensure Tech has become sort of the flavor of the day to a certain extent. Having said this...when the day is all done these are just tools and ultimately how effective they are, how helpful they are will be determined by the people who are using them and the expertise that they have" --WR Berkley CEO Robert Berkley (Insurance)

The average Youtube viewer watches for 60 minutes per day

"YouTube now has 1.5 billion monthly viewers and people watch on average 60 minutes a day on their phones and tablets." --Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai (Internet)

Facebook has 2 billion monthly users (there are 3.7 billion internet users)

"This quarter we reached an important milestone for our community. 2 billion people now use Facebook every month, and more than 1.3 billion people use it daily." --Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg (Social Network)

Comcast says there's still room for growth in broadband

" growth…there is significant runway ahead of broadband. And the key to me when you look at this is the upside of the opportunity. We’re sitting at 45% penetration right now. So there’s growth just there. The overall market is growing with only 75% of households subscribing to Internet access" --Comcast EVP David Watson (Cable)

Healthcare:

Birthrates around the world have been disappointing

"So we had kind of projected 2016 was going to be a flat birthrate year. In the second quarter, we got the final fourth quarter numbers that showed it down 2% for the fourth quarter, which brought the full year down 1%...Korea’s birthrate...was down 7%, which is a pretty big, big drop...we don’t really understand it at a deep enough consumer insight level...But a broad trend is that Millennials are having their children a little later." --Kimberly Clark CEO Thomas Falk (Packaged Goods)

Small hospitals need to get bigger by selling into health systems

"We’re seeing more opportunities in the marketplace now. I think as many health systems, again, went through the positive environment from 2015 and early 2016, and now we’re seeing some volume pressures. They're looking, I think, to be part of the bigger system....we’re pleased to see the pipeline more robust than it has been in recent years" --HCA CEO Milton Johnson (Hospitals)

Scale is an advantage in most industries

"The broad story remains the same that it has been domestically, which is larger players taking share from smaller players...I still believe that the longer-term story is the competitive advantage that scale brings to the larger players versus the smaller players." --Dominos CEO J. Patrick Doyle (Pizza)

Industrials:

Construction activity is still well below its prior peak

"if we use 2007 as kind of the peak market, I would say we’re somewhere around 65% of where we were back in 2007. So it’s getting better. It’s continuing to improve… we are still hoping for some news on our infrastructure build, which would prolong the cycle." --Nucor CEO John Ferriola (Steel)

Infrastructure spend is missing

"what has, I’d say, disappointed for the last several years has been a lack of growth in infrastructure investment, which is really, I think, the area that looks prime to need some more investment and some more growth." --Caterpillar CEO James Umpleby (Construction Equipment)

Waxy corn will be DuPont's first CRISPR-developed product

"our CRISPR strategy, I would say, is something that is still emerging. We’ve clearly identified a few early targets. We talked about our waxy corn program....So it will be our first commercial product. We’d expect that by the end of the decade. We’re beginning to work on a few other diseases that we think CRISPR could help us control." --DuPont EVP James Collins (Chemicals)

Materials, Energy:

OPEC is trying to rein in supply

"The OPEC Gulf countries and Russia...remain fully committed to sound and consistent stewardship of their resource base...These countries are...actively supporting the rebalancing of the global oil market by taking a procative role in moderating the current production levels" --Schlumberger CEO Paul Kibsgaard (Oil Service)

But US equity investors are preventing recovery

"U.S. equity investors...are encouraging, enabling and rewarding short term production growth in spite of marginal project economics...In this market the pursuit of equity appreciation outweighs the lack of free cash flow, net income and return on capital employed for both E&P companies and the service industry...their pursuit of short term equity returns from the U.S...is actually preventing the recovery of the oil market" --Schlumberger CEO Paul Kibsgaard (Oil Service)

This wont last forever

"I think if we stay in a $45 to $50 environment. You are going to have a number of the private operators probably lay down some rigs. So we wouldn’t be surprised if we saw a contraction in the rig count by maybe 50 to 100 rigs by the end of the year...They can’t continue to outspend their free cash flow because in our view the equity markets and the debt markets will be much tighter this time around than maybe year or year and half ago" --Core Labs CEO Dave Demshur (Oil Service)

But don't bet against wildcatters' animal spirits

"I said several quarters ago the customer and animal spirits back and they are with a vengeance and they are now running free to North America. Here is my last piece of wisdom for you. Do not bet against the animal spirits that our North America customers embody. I never have and I never will because that is the bet that you will lose." --Halliburton CEO Dave Lesar (Oil Service)

There's a lot of capital sloshing around the world

"there is a lot of capital that’s being raised and has been raised. And in general, there is just a whole lot capital sloshing around the world, looking for returns. " --Blackstone COO Tony James (Private Equity)

Full transcripts can be found at www.seekingalpha.com

[fufuheheii]

Pre-SoTE! Messmer x KnightinTraining!F! Reader

Notice: This is just a (potential) snippet of my Messmer/Reader Fic! For now, please enjoy this lack-of-context short!

𓆙

The colosseum is crowded as usual, all anticipating the bloody fight that is to come. Gladiators prepare themselves, putting on their gloves and greaves. All fight to be seen, to be heard, to be championed.

For Messmer, it is one in which he can witness the ambitions and fighting prowess of all who dare to display it in front of the people of the Erdtree. There is no greater honor.

He sits above in the pulvinar, studying the gladiators who stand near the blocked entry into the fighting area. Some are familiar faces, others new and jittery. There will be much competition this time, and more blood will be spilled.

“I do not understand the meaning behind these fights,” Godwyn, who sits next to him, sighs as he rests his chin on his palm. “We live in peace, yet the people seem to favor bloodshed more than anything.”

“It is a battle of glory,” Messmer responds, tossing a look at his brother. “Thou should hold pride for these men.”

“I would rather focus on the noble ladies that wait outside the colosseum for their fathers and brothers,” the golden man only mutters, to which Messmer ignores. “Thou’rt not a man of brute violence either, lord brother. Participating in these spectacles will not curry favor with our mother.”

“I am not doing this to impre–”

“Oh, it’s starting.”

The gates are pulled open, and in stomps the first gladiator. He is a champion in the arena, his helmet still not washed from the blood of his victims. He pounds at his chest, roaring for the next opponent to enter the arena. The crowd cheers and chants for the next contender to come out. Messmer tilts his head forward, his red braid falling over his shoulder as the gates open again. When he sees who it is, he immediately leans forward with one wide eye. Godwyn raises an eyebrow before he laughs. “Is that who I think it is?”

“Jeffrey, you are to be brought to the name of justice!”

Your voice bounces off the walls of the arena, and the said gladiator only stares as you enter in, in your rusty apprentice armor and dull blade. The only thing standing out from your appearance is your shiny new helmet, which you must have bought recently as it lacks any scratches. The crowd boos at you, throwing food and shouting for you to get out.

“I am here–oof!” you get knocked to the ground when a whole cabbage smacks your helm. “What is this hostility,” you cry out in shock as you grip your helm. “I am here to arrest this man!”

“Get outta here!” the audience roars in anger. “This is no place for a knight!”

The gladiator roars, and before you can get back on your feet he runs towards you, smashing his whole body against yours with full force. The air escapes your lungs as you are sent flying off, meeting the wall with a loud crack. The audience cheers and the gladiator lifts his arms to bask it all in.

You groan and wheeze in pain with no doubt some of your ribs broken. You left your flask in the saddlebag with your horse, and now you will have to fight with your bones rattling inside you.

Godwyn stops laughing and starts to look concerned over your current situation. “Lord brother.”

Messmer knows what he is thinking and grabs his spear and gets up. He peers down at you, watching you get to your feet. The uneven steps and limping form tells him you won’t survive the next attack.

However, he waits.

The gladiator notices you, and cracks his neck as he waits for you to approach him. You don’t do as he predicts, choosing instead to just stand there. He growls, and starts jogging before he makes a full dash at you. Just as he puts forward his arm, ready to slam into you again, you disappear from his field of vision. You roll to the side just in time, making him fly past you and into the wall. The audience roars, half in glee, half in shock at the scene. You make a hurried run over to your sword, wincing at each step sending a stab at pain to your ribs. The gladiator removes himself from the broken wall, glaring at your limping figure before he cracks his knuckle and takes his axe out from behind. He starts rushing at you, and you look back before quickly getting to your knees and grabbing your sword. However, you won’t make it in time. You quickly turn, ready to strike your sword–!

Flames distort your vision as the gladiator is pushed back by it, and a red cape eases your eyes. You stare in surprise as Messmer stands before you, his spear in hand pointing at the frightened man. The arena instantly silences.

“Sir Messmer?” You call out, your lips curving into a grin of relief. “What are you–”

“The fight is over,” Messmer declares, his smooth voice as loud as the silence. “Guards, arrest this man.”

Instantly guards embroidered in silver and gold trudge into the arena and grab the gladiator.

Murmurs arise in the crowd, slowly forming into protests. However, with one glare from the demigod all shushes back into silence. He turns to you, his irritated gaze brushing over you. He starts to say something, but it is lost in the blurry reality that has set upon you. Darkness follows and you faint away.

𓆙

You awaken inside an empty infirmary, on a bed that is softer than any bed you have laid upon. A small stinging pain stabs at your ribs again and you hiss.

“Thou’rt awake.”

You blink and see Messmer standing next to the window, spear in his crossed arms. “Sir Messmer! What art thou doing here?”

He expels the heavy sigh at your energetic voice. At least you’re well enough to be shouting. He signals the perfumers to leave before approaching your bed. “I should be asking thee the same question. Thou shouldst have gone to the knights to have the man arrested.”

“I–how did you know I was here to arrest the man?”

“Thou spokest of it, didst thou not?”

“...oh! I did,” you laugh weakly and attempt to sit up. “Yes, that man was on a bounty list. I figured had I gone after him myself I would be a step closer to knighthood. Then, I can serve under you!”

Messmer furrows his eyebrows, the deep lines creasing between them as he attempts to make sense of your words. “Thou’rt not serving under me.”

Your smile instantly drops. “But–but you said I can if I prove myself!”

“I said I will teach thee, not take thee under mine commands.”

Your shoulders droop, but you cling onto his words. “So you will still teach me?”

“That is what I just said.”

You beam, instantly forgetting the disappointment. “I will take all of your lessons to heart, Sir Messmer.”

The demigod’s gaze softens and he places his spear against the wall before sitting down on the rather small chair. You listen to the roaring cries outside, and turn to the demigod who takes a rowa fruit from the table next to your bed. “Sir, are you not going to watch the game?”

“No,” Messmer pops it into his mouth. “I am not a man of brute violence.”

“Jokes are meant to be funny, sir.”

“...”

𓆙

That is all for the very short snippet for now. Still writing the main one, and hoping I don’t get any of the lore wrong. Messmer’s speculative timeline in the Lands Between is wonky, but it leaves a lot of creative options open. Hope you enjoyed the snippet, expect more to come soon!

[littlegoldfinchh]

@rwby-shitposter112 except........ It didn't?

Sure it was unexpected, hence the reason it's a plot twist. But it didn't come out of nowhere. Miquella needed a consort, and the game needed a character we already knew to enhance the effect of that twist (since picking a random new character couldn't have achieved the same wow effect)

And we know that he can't choose an omen or another empyrean as a consort right? And that we needed a character we already knew?

So that means he couldn't choose Messmer (he's new), Ranni (empyrean), Rykard (out of the picture since he fed himself to that snake), Morgott (omen), Malenia (empyrean) and Mohg (again, omen). So knowing that, and that he needed someone strong (and since Godwyn is dead) his only choice was clearly Radahn.

Using Mohg's body also makes sense if you think about how he needed an easily accessible body that was unaffected by scarlet rot

why are people so upset about the ending of sote??? Like the base game hinted at miquella using his charms to manipulate people nfnd did ya really think that he was pure and innocent??

[katyspersonal]

*wakes up at 1 AM* Okay, so, it is quite weird that in Elden Ring, we can reliably walk on lava instead of burning to death instantly like normal people? Not the case for other Soulsborne games either. But what if there IS a lore explanation for this?

DLC lore drops that Messmer is up to burn everything devoid of Grace, which Tarnished also are. So what if for one reason or another, part of Tarnished getting genetically trained to return as Marika's super strong army was being immune to his flames, and "immunity to lava" is a following effect of it?

[katyspersonal]

I don't believe I am going to make much SOTE progress today, especially since this traitor @fantomette22 is apparently asleep/busy and can't help me right now -_- So yeah, some extra stuff before bed

1) It is interesting to think of an implication of this item.. damn, apparently there WILL be places where you are stuck but can't teleport or something? :p Okay then.. Sacrificial Twig + this shit it is, then?

2) They continue with the "monkeys are trying to comprehend magic" lore!

! Onze is the Demihuman swordsman I fought in the Belurat Gaol earlier! The sword is dropped by a Demihuman Queen you fight in Cerulean Coast! I mean, yeah, even in the base game there was a Demihuman in Weeping Penunsula who used a Glintstone Staff, but damn..

3) Miyazaki: Yeah DLC area map will be like the size of Limgrave :)

Also Miyazaki:

Me: Girl you ok? 💀💀💀

4) I love the woman with Sulyvahn's blades, but I can't defeat the woman with Sulyvahn's blades ;-;

Maybe eventually.....

5) WAIT gdhyyf it is like, a symbol of moon and flame or something?????

This is adorable gfhgfhgggb I know it makes sense, but aww

6) I already screamed about it at Fantomette, but

HOLY SHIIIIIT SHE WAS FUCKING RIGHT ABOUT DRAGONS FASCISM THIS WHOLE TIME WHEN WE QUESTIONED WHY WOULD DRAGON COMMUNION BE A THING IF GODWYN BEFRIENDED ANCIENT DRAGONS THE ANSWER IS THAT ANCIENT DRAGONS FUCKING HATED GREYOLL-TYPE DRAGONS I REPEAT THEY HATED THE "IMPURE" OFFSPRING OFF THEIR SPECIES WHAT THE FUUUUUCK AAAAAAA

7) There is a new Carian Knight! And it is a big deal since they were "no more than a dozen"! Cool!!!

And it is a girl! However I am curious.. Moongrum, Moonrothyll... why their names start with 'moon'? Are they siblings? Or maybe Carian Knights had ancestry thing going on so those born with expectation to be raised as Carian Knight had 'moon' names in advance? Or they assume 'moon' name as new one upon entering a service (least likely since we already can recall exception)? Arghhhh

8) Okay this was actually an important one for me personally! So basically @jarognieva asked me whether I've met Queelign and I said I had no idea who it was. So greeeat, I've missed an invader -_- She said he was at Belurat and I checked but he never appeared, so I assumed he is one of those invaders that vanish after the boss of the area is defeated. (Who thought it was a good idea? I bet I've missed a cool drop... ;-; ) However, she added that he also invades in another place but she would not tell where! I didn't mind that and continued exploring the DLC as usual. So, after defeating that red bear beast at last (horaaaay!!!), I decided to check a distinct building on that map, and GUESS WHO I'VE MET?????

THE FUCKING GUY HIMSELF LOL!!! OF COURSE HE HAS A FUCKING PETRUS HAIRSTYLE LMAOOOOOOO GGJHJGJJ

So basically bro talked shit (that all 'graceless' shall meet death in Messmer's flame), that already made me REALLY want to kill him as if this cursed hairstyle wasn't enough gghghg . And he also called us 'graceless heathen' upon death lol. But it ACTUALLY clicked when he dropped an item, like:

Okay all 6 of you already had enough of my lunatic ravings about how much I abhor this specific type of attitude, as well as my theories on Messmer's motivations being rooted in purism of religious kind when anon asked about my expectations for him (I haven't met him yet so schhhh). But it is.. more than that. Miyazaki hates this sort of people too, especially he consistenyly bullies clerics in his works. Just.. read this description

Like not only this gave me some STRONG hatred for this character already, but also reminded me of one of the reasons I ended up loving Miyazaki's works so much to begin with. Shit like this just makes me feel understood, and without exagerration, reading this gave me HUMANITY RESTORED effect after I was feeling low because of a certain spoiler 😔 Honestly.. I don't care how many dramatic blonde twinks he will do dirty with a random plot twist, but as long as he addresses his disdain for this kind of people in his works I'll always love his games. Like I know it sounds oddly emotional but you need to be familiar with his other works to understand vfhgjbghb My faith in him as a creator straight up got restored, it is a personal detail for me!

9) So I figured that Ascetics are dropping pieces of their set.. I had suspicions, yeah, but now I am just sad ggjhhhjj I don't want to grind these guys *ends up doing it anyway probably*

10) For some reason I am starting to really like that hornsent guy who drafts maps of Miquella's crosses! Knowing Soulsborne tho I guess I just need to wait for something bad to happen to him -_-

11) Some people (all two of them) legit thank me for showing these item descriptions because they can't play the DLC themselves, but the players they watch don't stop to read items lore! Okay.... I guess I'll continue, heheh;

[katyspersonal]

dfjfsdgfds @ anon NOOOOO don't worry about this!! Trust me you are not the first person who saw my icon like Messmer until squinting at it really hard xD Let's be real, not only Drake Warrior Set does have similar aesthetic, but also before SOTE actually launched we all thought Messmer was straight up connected with Dragon Communion!!

Though to be honest, even I myself keep thinking about Messmer on reflex looking at my icon dfhfdhfd The "vibe" morphed into some strange mental image that is like a "blend" of aesthetics and vibes (and genders) of Eleonora and Messmer and I could not shake it off! It even had a strong passive effect on my self-image and perception of my gender. 🙄 And it felt extremely cathartic picturing myself as this spontaneous "character" until they detached and literally became a new OC xD (if you are prone to fiction kinning, sprout minor alters like Malenia sprouts the sisterdaughters or both you just KNOW what I am talking about lol!!)