#the lord bless thee and keep thee

[heresylog]

[Image description: A soap dispenser with a paper taped on. The paper says, “Please wash hands with soap. Two Hail Mary’s. Hail Mary full of grace the Lord is with thee Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus holy Mary mother of God pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death Amen. One Hail Mary equals twenty seconds total wash time. End description.]

We’ve circled back to medieval methods of time keeping.

[ozzgin]

content: gender neutral reader, religious themes, blasphemy, NSFW, horror

Something is wrong with your beloved Angel, yet you cannot place the dreadful feeling in the depths of your stomach. Perhaps you weren't made to comprehend such divine truths.

5. Honour thy father and thy mother

It was birthed from the void of the Heavens. No parent governs over its will. No being controls its resolve.

Father...? The word rings and echoes across ancient times, forgotten eons. It does not remember its meaning. All it knows is you, and you are enough.

4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy

"Six days you shall labor, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord, your God." Of course. The law is clear, or at least it should be. Its mind navigates the meaning, suddenly engulfed by a mysterious haze.

Six days it labors, it serves, it worships. It exists for you, to please you and fulfill your desires. Your wish is its command.

Six days of creation. It has been molded just for you, to fit all the nooks and corners of your body and soul. You have taught it how to love, how to crave, how to need. It starves for your touch.

3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain

"Oh, God", you cry, clinging to the holy beast. It shivers in raw bliss, its many hands embracing your lewd body, drooling and panting in unquenchable desire. Its mind is possessed by one singular thought: to breed you, to own you, to fuck more profanities out of your pretty, little mouth.

The word swirls inside its head, baptized to a new sense: God is when you reach your peak, when you're within its voracious hold. Your trembling hands reach for the horns.

2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image

It yearns to create, to be the architect for once. Your home is littered in unfinished pieces: bizarre, geometrical paintings, abstract statues chiseled in most refined detail, music sheets of notes foreign to your human ears. All of them have something in common - it's how the Angel perceives you.

You fill up its senses, and the essence drips onto its works of art. It gathers the objects of worship together, like the outline of an altar, like an inviting chamber of prayer.

1 Thou shalt have no other gods before me

The abyssal creature bows before you, its many eyes devouring your form. The long, black claws reach out, like a beggar scraping its way out of the depths of ennui.

You're a blessing from the Heavens.

[Navigation] | [Ozztober Masterlist] | [First Half]

[epicfroggz]

Age of Shadow

(This is a fan-made Messmer questline and ending, not based on cut content or anything of the sort. Source is: I made it up. Thanks to @purpupa for helping with some of the items, inspiring me, and listening to my crazed ramblings at the midnight hours. Very long post ahead, enjoy!)

After his fight, particularly after the Hornsent has left his arena, you will be able to locate Messmer at the entrance to the keep’s infirmary, near the West Rampart site of grace. He will be standing in thought before these three chairs:

Messmer has donned a cloak made of Shadow and patched himself up using black gauze (see drawing above). When prompted, he says:

“Hello, Tarnished. There art three chairs here, but none fit me. That seemeth an oversight, does it not?”

Messmer does not turn to face you when he speaks. When prompted again, he says:

“… Thou hast not walked away yet. Doth thee needeth something?”

>Ask how he is alive

pleasantly “Serpents art exceedingly difficult to kill. Believe me, I have tried. Is that all?”

>Ask why he is not attacking

“I had underestimated thee, Tarnished. Thee hast strength befitting a lord. I shouldst not have doubted my mother.” pause “The serpent didst not expect a lightless creature like itself to be elevated to such a standing. It appears things hath changed in mine absence. I have much to learn.”

>leaving dialogue

“Tarnished, I have a request, if thou’rt up for it. I hath misplaced some notes of mine, a recipe for a particular physick. If thee bringeth it to me, thee shalt be rewarded. Farewell, for now.”

The key item Messmer’s Notes can be found in the Specimen Storehouse, near the Storehouse, Loft site of grace. It requires climbing up the catwalks and dropping down to an area with bookshelves.

Messmer’s Notes - Barely legible cursive scrawl written by Messmer the Impaler. Details a recipe for a medicine once derived from one of his mother’s blessings. It appears to be based off a childhood memory, with a few added ingredients “for taste”.

When you return to the infirmary, Messmer will be kneeling in the “O, Mother” gesture before a shrine to Marika that he has set up, the three chairs neatly pushed out of the way. When prompted, he retracts his hands, and says:

“Hello again, Tarnished. Didst thee findeth the recipe?”

You may then give him Messmer’s Notes. Alternatively, you may choose to give him a Blessing of Marika if there is one in your inventory.

>Offer Messmer’s notes

“Oh! I thank thee. Here, thy compensation.” gives you a Rune of an Unsung Hero

>Offer Blessing of Marika

“Oh, this is… Where didst thee get this? Nay, ‘tis not my place to ask. My sincerest gratitude, Tarnished.” gives you a Marika’s Rune

You may now ask Messmer more questions:

>Ask about the jarfolk

“Ah. What remains of my mother’s people. I hath tried desperately, for aeons it seemeth, to ease their suffering, yet… At what point is keeping a patient alive no longer in the interest of their wellbeing? At what point does it becometh insanity?“ shakily “I still feeleth as though I hast failed them…”

The second question only unlocks after you have defeated both Rellana and Gaius. If you have not, when you leave and travel back to the West Rampart site of grace, you will be greeted by the sound of Messmer weeping. Walking within ten feet of him or breaking objects in the room will cause him to stop. When prompted, he says:

trying to sound intimidating but holding back tears “Begone, Tarnished.” shakily “Messmer does not wish to speak to thee at this moment…”

Leaving and traveling back to the West Rampart site of grace will let you choose the second question:

>About your friends…

“I knoweth, Tarnished. They were in thy way, were they not? Rellana, and Gaius… I shall grant them a hero’s burial. May they returneth to the Erdtree yet, even if that is a vain hope in this land.” quietly “My friends, forgive me… For I have availed you nothing…”

>leaving dialogue

“Tarnished, thee can travel to the Lands Between, can thee not? I have another request for thee.”

A cutscene plays wherein Messmer carefully pulls a snake from his eye socket. During it, he says: “After shedding the seal, I recalled abilities lost to me. Some wonderful, some terrible, some… Gah! Hah… For thee, Tarnished. On thy travels, I bid thee well.”

Thus he will grant you this key item:

Juvenile Serpent - One of the base serpent’s progeny, pulled from the eye of Messmer the Impaler. Writhes around often. Stares longingly at the world, or perhaps stares hungrily at you. Who can tell? “Do take care of it, wilt thee?”

After reluctantly accepting the serpent, when you travel back to any grace in the Lands Between that Melina can spawn at, there will be a new option to Speak to Melina. She will say:

“What in the world is that creature you travel with? It seems to like me… You are exceedingly warm, little snake.” pause “It appears hungry. I can feed it some runes, if you would like?”

>Accept (-100 runes)

“Snakes are said to be traitors to the Erdtree, but we too are walking the path of heresy. Let’s get you fed, little one… There. Do tell, where did you find it?” pause “A long lost demigod pulled it out of his eye? Have you been afflicted with madness? No, you are entirely sincere. Huh. Well, it seems harmless enough.”

The serpent must be fed one more time to continue the quest. Speak to Melina at any grace and she will say:

“Hello. The little one hungers once again. Would you like to offer some runes?”

>Accept (-100 runes)

“I am surprised at its good nature, though I have witnessed it spit a red flame when angered. It is impossible not to question what sort of demigod it came from…”

An interaction occurs wherein Messmer materializes in a shadowy haze—not unlike the spirit fog through which Melina appears to you. He introduces himself: “Ah, so it was thee feeding the wee serpent? I knew it smelled like kin… I am Messmer, and thee?”

dumbfounded “Melina?”

“I see. Melina. Sister of mine, I knoweth of the kindling that smolders within thee.” he summons a small flame in his hand to show her “There is no need to burn thy self again. The Tarnished and I shall see it through.”

After this, the description of the Juvenile Serpent item updates:

Juvenile Serpent - One of the base serpent’s progeny, pulled from the eye of Messmer the Impaler. Prefers the company of the kindling maiden, as her touch feels like home. It will not bite the hand that feeds it. Serves as an anchor between the Lands Between and the veiled Land of Shadow.

(Optional) Taking the serpent in this state to the Church of Vows site of grace allows you to choose the new option, Speak to Messmer, which will summon him in shadowy spirit:

“Thou hast met Miriel? We became acquainted when Rellana once brought me here… ‘Tis a burning memory now, but the pastor is a wise beast indeed.” he looks to the sky “‘Heresy is not native to the world. All things can be conjoined’. We have forgotten that. We have forgotten ourselves, what we held most dear. To repair shattered Gold, I must layeth bare the ugliest truths of this world, those which I have been the bearer of for so long—I must mend it with Shadow. For there is no light that exists without the dark.”

Taking the serpent to the Forge of the Giants site of grace allows you to choose Speak to Messmer:

“Thou hast done well to come this far, Tarnished. Long have the prophets uttered of this moment. ‘Tis not lightly I choose to fulfill it, but… I wouldst prefer to give my men the option to return home, if nothing else. Art thou prepared to commit a cardinal sin, with me?”

>Accept

A cutscene plays, in which the Erdtree and Scadutree are burned at once in Messmer’s flame. Messmer speaks:

“Tarnished, hold my kindling aloft. From here, I shall do my part… O, Erdtree, and Scadutree both, ye shall burn together. For the sake of the new Lord, and a new world, mended.”

You continue your journey to Farum Azula and then back to Leyndell, Capital of Ash. Sir Gideon Ofnir will have access to the incantation “Messmer’s Orb” in his fight (why wasn’t this a thing already???). At the Queen’s Bedchamber site of grace, you must choose to Speak to Messmer one last time:

“Ah… Thou art close. Within the Erdtree, I intend to confront my mother. If it be true she has become infirm, and lost all sense of self… Then I shalt taketh her place. The Two Fingers rejected me long ago, but I am yet capable. If it cometh to this, will thee be my Lord?”

>Accept

“I thank thee. We have come a long way, Tarnished.” small laugh “When it cometh to thee, I find I have no regrets. Take this, and when the bell tolls, summon me forth. To stand before my mother once again.”

Thus you will be granted this key item:

Mending Rune of the Abyssal Prince - Mending rune gestated by Messmer the Impaler. Used to restore the fractured Elden Ring when brandished by the Elden Lord. Formed of a swirling mass of serpents, and the base serpent biting its own tail. It will embed a Shadow lost back into the Golden Order, restoring balance. The “base” in the base serpent’s name refers both to its nature and the place it once belonged, at the roots of the Erdtree where light does not reach.

After defeating Radagon and Elden Beast, you will have the option to summon Messmer from a shadowy summon sign on the ground, giving this final cutscene:

“‘Those who walk alongside flame shall one day meet the road of Destined Death’… Yet, it seemeth my road hast led me back to thee.”

“Mother… Thee may rest now. I shall put thee, and this world, back together again…”

Messmer gently gives Marika’s head to you, and you place it upon her body, the Elden Ring becoming mended with the abyssal rune. The scene lingers on her as the shadows in the background deepen, and as a squelching sound grows in volume, soon thunderous. From the darkness suddenly emerges the abyssal serpent to swallow her whole, its red eyes burning against the dark:

The scene cuts to black.

Messmer narrates the final scene, showcasing the now physical Erdtree grafted unto its Scadu counterpart: “The fallen leaves tell a story… Of a Tarnished who became Elden Lord... And the serpent that became a god. A god that ushered in a gentle dark, so that this shattered world may heal.

So that the light of Gold can shine ever more brilliantly, against an Age of Shadow."

[lullinglily]

pairing: messmer x wife!tarnished! reader

notes: i've never had anything i've written exceed a character limit before. can't believe the first time was because of a request, things i usually try to write short and sweet little hcs or stories for. anyways i hope this was enjoyable!

( part 1 )

He knew once you approached him that you would make your choice known, whether your answer would break his heart or not he was unsure. Either way he was sure he’d have no other option than to accept it. He knew his sweet, perfect, stubborn little Tarnished better than most. 

Had you chosen to stay his cheeks would flush with delight. He’d sweep you into a tender embrace and secretly plan a feast befitting a king later that very night. The both of you would never again separate for longer than a day or two — never. 

Especially not after the devastating news he’d just learned. Speaking of which, I doubt he’d acknowledge it so early on. If it hadn’t been for the topic of your decision, he’d have sent you away to spend some time brooding on his own for a good week. 

“O darling returned, never again from thee I shall part.”

And thus begins your life anew as the Lightless Lady of the Shadow Keep.

If you were to leave then he’d beg you to stay just one last night, and hold you with all the care in the world. It would be quite difficult for you to leave him then, but he knew you’d find a way out of his arms eventually. He’d press a solemn kiss to your lips after ensuring you were well-prepared for wherever you would go next, tucking one of Marika’s blessings into your belt as he did so. 

���Precious wife, apple of mine own eye,” he began. “Rest upon thine throne as Lord, but forget not thine home. Forget me, my dearest, not.” 

[emjiroki]

Good Graces

Priest! Satoru Gojo x Reader ft Bishop! Suguru

Warnings: explicit scenes and language, corruption, religion, taking of virginity

A/N: Sorry everyone for this being a day late! got a horrible migraine yesterday and couldn't finish this. But we're back with our second fic of kinktober! Hope everyone enjoys!

likes, comments, and reblogs treasured like gold

“Be it done unto me according to thy word” You said, finishing the last line in your repeated Hail Mary prayer.

“How many was that?” Satoru asked you, his palm running over the redding skin of your cheeks where he had you bent across his lap. 

“Nine” You breathed, trying to gather yourself before the next onslaught of swats. His hands were so cool against your stinging flesh. 

“One more,” he said softly and sternly, " and your sins should be forgiven then.” 

Your sin? Looking too long at Bishop Suguru at Mass this evening. 

The Priest did not take kindly to being “so blatantly ignored” by his favorite congregant. 

You always sat front and center, right within the ethereal gaze of your Priest, listening to his sermons with riveted attention at the clear calm of his voice sending goosebumps across your flesh. 

People whispered of him being heaven-sent, a divine being, someone molded by God himself. 

But if people knew the things Satoru had taught you in the privacy of his office and the walls of his home, They would say other things. 

“Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee” You began, raising your hands in contrition as the blood rushing had your head swimming.

Smack

“Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb”

Smack

“Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, Amen”

Smack

You took a deep breath, not wanting to let your voice crack as you swallowed thickly. 

“Behold the handmaid of the Lord: Be it done unto me according to thy word”.

Smack

“A bit heavy-handed there,” Suguru said from across the desk. 

“Not at all Suguru, She needs to learn to keep her eyes on me and me only” The white-haired priest said with a ruthful smile. 

“Seems like you have problems with control, Satoru,” Suguru replied, taking a sip of his tea, “She can’t even look at another man, despite your interest and temptation by her being a sacrilege”. 

“How could I not be tempted by her?” Satoru asks, moving you up to straddle his lap with your back to his chest, your skirt still down on the floor at his feet, “I would break every holy vow I ever made to have her”.

These two men talking about you as if you weren’t in the room spread half bare on your priest's lap was doing things you never expected. Your skin was warming, your breath getting a little more heavy, and wetness beginning to leak from between your legs. 

“Just look how pretty she is Suguru,” Satoru implored, his long fingers moving down to trace over the hair at your mound and down to your clit, glistening with your arousal, “So wet and pink all for me”. 

You gasped as his fingers dipped into your entrance, just enough to make you clinch. Satoru pulled his fingers away shiny, groaning low in his throat. 

“Try this pure ambrosia and you'll see what I mean” Satoru said, extending his hand across the desk. 

You expected Suguru to refuse, roll his eyes, maybe say something nasty but no. As if pulled by a leash he leaned forward and enveloped the light haired man's fingers, sucking your arousal off his digits with a gleam in his dark eyes. 

“Hmm I suppose I do see what you mean” Suguru hummed.

“I knew you would see it my way," the white haired man smirked, “and you want me to ruin you, don't you Angel?”. His breath was warm against your ear as his hand moved down to free himself of his pants, his election hot and hard against your leaking cunt. 

“Please” you whispered, rutting your hips down and catching the head of his cock along your rim. 

“My sweet one,” Satoru murmured as he hooked his hands under your knees, “so ready for me”. 

You squealed and kicked your feet as the first inch sank into you, pushing tenderly against your virgin wall. 

“shh shh I'll be easy” he said, flashing his blue eyes to Suguru as he leaned back in his seat. 

You could feel Satoru's hands shake a bit as your pussy clenched around him and tried to suck him in. Your arousal leaked out around him. You gasped as Suguru leaned forward with a questioning look in his eyes as his hand raised towards your mound, the look in his eyes asking for permission. 

His finger moved down to rub circles against your clit, a low moan bubbling up your chest as pleasure shot through your body. 

“I don't remember telling you that you could touch her,” Satoru said in a warning tone. 

“Better to ask for forgiveness than permission” Suguru replied, a soft smirk on his lips as Satoru sucked his teeth in annoyance. 

You cried out as Satoru plunged the rest of his cock in, a ring of blood around the base of him staining the white hair there pink as he began to move you slowly up and down. 

“She's so… tight fuck” He hissed, his heart pounding against your back and his abdomen flexing. 

Your senses were going haywire. The pleasure from Suguru’s fingers rubbing your sensitive clit and Satoru’s cock stretching you out, Satoru’s warm kiss against your throat, and the murmured words of encouragement had your blood running hot. 

The burning knot that had formed in your stomach seemed to be shredding at the seams the longer this onslaught continued, debauched sounds escaping your mouth sounding so foreign. 

“I’m- God Satoru I’m-” You moaned, your toes curling.

“Cum for me Angel, bring me to heaven” Satoru practically begged. 

A sharp cry filled the room as you hit your peak, wetness dripping down to slip between your cheeks and onto the cloth of the chair. 

When Satoru moved you off to lay against his desk, your head was barely clear. His cock glistens with a mix of your cum and virgin blood.

“How many more of those can we get from her Suguru?” Satoru asked, his hands moving up to rub and tug on your nipples. 

“As many as she wants,” Suguru said, “The better question is, how many does she deserve for taking you so well her first time?”

[achaoticeternal]

— 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗵𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗵

aemond targaryen x fem!reader

|| aemond, much to his mother’s delight, has fallen head over heels for a kind-hearted, devout follower of the Seven 

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

✧ you were a daughter to a well-established Lord and family in Westeros, evening having to great honor to receive many lessons in a monastery 

✧ you not only had a brilliant mind like the crone, a beautiful innocence like the maid, and the tenderness and warmth like the mother. but your aura also demanded the same respect as the father, the smith and the warrior

✧ your lord-father and alicent were close friends in court, so when he sent you to King’s Landing to learn from the greatest septas the faith had to offer, it was only natural that you be a guest of the royal family.

✧ when alicent had introduced aemond and you, he took clear interest 

✧ aemond noticed the pendant of the maid adorned on your neck, signaling your purity and virginity. he knew then and there you would do anything for your faith and to simply be a good girl

✧ often, he would invite you to attend his own private lessons - except for his high valyrian lessons, since those were sacred to the Targaryens - but you would join him for histories and even answer questions about his own house before he could so much as utter a word. 

✧ he took notice to how you prayed before each meal and drink you took, before each lesson, before bed, while attending tourneys... he liked seeing you kneel in prayer and at night would imagine you kneeling before him like a God. 

✧ soon, aemond made a habit of praying with you when your paths crossed. at meals, he’d clasp your hands together in prayer under the table. at festivals and tourneys, he’d come to you alone and take your hands in his and speak praise to the mother and the father with you.

✧ he used your prayer time as a way of become closer with you, to insert himself into your life — because while alicent raised her children in the faith, aegon had strayed to his promiscuity and his own father never thought much of it all. it gave him a release from the world to just pray with you.

✧ one day, after your lessons at the sept, he met you outside the doors, only to drag you right back through the great doors.

“my-my prince... what are you doing? we’ll be late to your histories lesson!” you spoke in a hushed tone, acknowledging the quiet in a hall of worship. 

“i must confess before the seven... and you,” he explained which caused you to more willingly follow him while his grip still strong on your fore arm.

once at the altar, both of you knelt before the array of candles. both of you lit your own candles to call upon the seven. silence fell between both of you as you made your own prayers to the respected gods.

that was until aemond began to speak aloud, “Father Above, I beg your courage. Mother Above, I beg your kindness. Maiden sweet, I beg your virtue. All of thee to bestow upon me a love, a true and honorable love. The love of the girl who pray with me and i with her.”

your prayer was cut short as his words caught her attention, “aemond...”

“blessed be,” he finished before looking back at you, “my lady, i wish to pray at your side for the rest of my days. would you allow me such a courtesy, and even allow me to ask your Lord-father for your gentle hand?”

he extended a palm to you, asking for your hand if you accepted his proposal. with a smile, you gladly accepted such. with a finally prayer, he escorted you from the sept back to the Red Keep, doting on you while walking arm in arm. 

[itstheendofthegoddamnworld]

Swallowed Whole by The Flame (Messmer the Impaler x Tarnished! Reader) 5

MASTERLIST

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Summary: You go on a hunt to find Redmane Freyja.

A/N: Oh boy, another fight scene that I cannot write. This chapter mentions scenes of violence: blood, gore, swearing - all the fun things.

A03 link

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Chapter 5: Challenge

"If thee dare betray me, I shall maketh sure thou art never blessed by mine own mother's grace again."

It haunts you his exact words, whispered as if death was watching your every move.

It's a challenge, though one where he can judge you for how foolish you are. If he really wanted you to do all this for his loyalty, you would've rather faced the golden hippopotamus again.

You tell yourself you'll prove him wrong, and wipe that smug attitude away when you return. That is if you do it in time. There is a sense of doom to your mission, one you think could go wrong. Redmane Freyja - someone you didn't get the chance to speak to - is a warrior through and through. Capable of standing for herself, and impressive in her prowess. 

Having followed the Moorth Highway south, avoiding furnace golems and trolls that sit by ransacked carriages. By the time you see the ruins on the second night, darkness has fallen, and rain slashes in front of you. You decide it's best to take a rest.

You sit by the closest site of grace, and rain shields your vision, giving less visibility, but it is only the grace you look upon, watching intensely.

Torrent nudges you out of your thoughts momentarily, bringing a gentle hand out to feed him berries you gathered, whilst you rip at the bark-like cured meat. "What have I gotten myself into, Torrent?" You whisper to him tentatively, as your stead munches happily on the treats you provide. A flash of lightning casts the tree behind you to look like a mighty beast, yet you do not jump. Instead, you sigh, your body aches and your mind wishes for rest. "Doom follows me, and I can only welcome it."

Sleep does not come easy, not that it has for many nights.

When morning comes, you dismount from Torrent, and the stead disappears out of sight, back into the whistle for when you need him next. The ruins are a large formidable mess, crumbling from age with the heat of the stone burnt from eternal flames. You're aware of its underground structures, but it is not that you're interested in.

For in the centre, stands the person you've been looking for.

"Tarnished, I am pleased to see you made it out alive from the Shadow Keep." Freyja greets you smoothly, turning to face you, "Is the deed done? Is the tyrant dead?"

"No Lady Freyja, he is not." 

The woman only gives a hum to your answer, "That is a shame. I will have no doubt when I tell Lady Leda, she will not be too pleased either. 

"She will not hear of this news, Freyja," There was a sense of acceptance to your words. You pull forth your nagakiba, bending your knees as you hold a defensive stance, "For I have come for your life instead."

She is silent for what feels like forever until you hear the absurd thing. Laughter. She is laughing at you. "Did your new lord ask of you to do this? Ah, you foolish girl, what have you done?"

You don't answer her, but you feel something boil inside you. Fight me. Fight me now. "Do you believe Lady Leda will not hear of this? The news of my death will trigger my allies to come find you. Do you not hear yourself, who will stand with you? Miquella will not take lightly hearing of your deception."

It is only with a heavy sigh that eases you. She unsheathes her great sword, flashing like a giant sun. "Very well, Tarnished. May your foolishness be your undoing."

"May it be then." You say, and before you in a flash, she charges.

Metal hisses against metal as the great sword hits the side of your armour on your chest, caught mostly by your nagakiba, thankful that it does not slice through. It does, however, leave a long scratch down the steel.

You grunt. Freyja is a mighty warrior you admit, but she sweeps with her great sword with the intent of hacking your head off rather than trying to whittle you down. A foolish mistake, you note, rolling out of the way as her great sword swings down, hitting the very spot you just stood on.

You land a quick slash towards her, having almost no effect as she dodges easily, grabbing you tightly by the forearm and headbutting you with a crack that you think has split your skull. She tosses you backwards, her laughter raucous and vexing.

You continue to circle her, darting back and forth, slicing, which makes her have to try looking out for you. She makes for a big target, swinging her great sword around as she huffs and grunts like a beast not wanting to surrender. A true warrior of Radahn, you wonder why she chose to leave him. For what feels like ages, you both jab at one another, taking turns with neither gaining a hit or dodging the last second. Only one of your slashes with your nagakiba gets her on the back of her leg and you smile in victory underneath your helm, only to dodge out the way clumsily from another one of her heavy-hitting attacks.

"You're slow, Tarnished." Freyja mocks. "Is this the warrior Messmer fought? I feel sorry for him."

You hiss, slashing at her most vulnerable areas, legs, arms, twice at the shoulders in an attempt to get her to become sluggish. Freyja would not slow though, grunting from time to time, but overall seemingly not injured.

You wonder if Messmer did all of this as a cruel joke- to have you face the largest and most formidable of Miquella's followers. It would be easy to laugh too, for you were indeed the fool who accepted. 

You continued, earning a slash to your shoulder at one point that has you promptly rummaging for a healing flask, dodging another attack as you down it. Your shoulder feels stiff, but it has healed the wound quickly enough for you to keep going for her. Circling, slashing, rolling. On and on, this dance goes on until you do begin to notice she is becoming slower.

You stagger her with a parry, going up behind her in a flash to stab her through the rib, getting through the gap in her armour as you kick her forward. Blood ruptures out as she gives a loud grunt, cursing you loudly as she lands on her feet before you can attack her again.

"I will not die today, Tarnished." You can hear her gritting her teeth, leaping like a cat into the air, her sword and herself swinging in time before she lands on the ground right in front of you. Debris and dirt hit you, rocks scrapping your exposed areas not covered by armour and you're flung backwards, landing not so gracefully on your back from the force of her landing. She strides towards you, thinking victory is ahead.

You roll to stand, thinking swiftly as you pull forth a perfume bottle, throwing it her way. It casts pockets of fire in her way, and she stumbles through it, patting herself as you can hear the sound of her blood bubbling and boiling from her cuts.

The next foolish thing you could do whilst she was occupied with the perfumed flames was charge towards her, running through the flames you cast as you scream, leaping onto her, kicking her in the gut that she is winded enough to have her great sword knocked from her hand. Now with her unarmed, you raise your nagakiba over your head, thinking it would be enough to strike the exposed part of her neck to give her a quick death, only to find she is slamming her fist into your gut too, not once, twice, knocking your sword from hand as she lands a punch to the side of your face, knocking you off her and onto the ground.

You scrabble, as she gets up, wheezing and whimpering as you pull forth another weapon. Small and delicate, the knife from your pocket would need to do a lot of damage, only she laughs at the measly size of it, charging you once more.

You dodge another punch to the side of your head, fear coursing through you, feeling more afraid than ever before. To be classed a traitor to all was not what you wanted, but you could feel yourself needing another flask immediately.

Freyja caught sight of it as you tried to reach for it, grabbing your wrist and twisting, releasing the bottles as they flew overhead you both, crashing with a shatter against some debris, clearly broken.

You can taste blood in your throat, coughing some up the more you move. Everything burns, pain that moves from one part of your body to the next part, screaming for rest, mercy. Freyja cries, raising her hands over her head as if ready to slam her fists down upon you when you see an opening. The exposed part of her armpit is uncovered, the blood seeping is her own. You miss the fists to your head, gripping the knife and using your other hand to drive it upwards, screaming with the force.

Freyja only hisses when you're face to face with her now. Her golden-masked face is all you can see, but you wish to believe her face has written on it either fear or approval. You don't think it's been driven hard enough into her chest, driving it deeper which earns a louder cry from her, followed by shallow, deep breathing.

"You fought well, Tarnished." She wheezes, "I pray Kindly Miquella will think the same."

With a final curse, she bends, falling to her back, her breathing ceasing with the blade poking out between her skin and armour. 

It was only when you felt the sense of victory wash over that you felt something was off. Pain kicks in, replacing the adrenaline with a stinging sensation that begins to burn between your ribs. Horror rushed over you, catching you off guard. A cold sweat washes over. Crying out, you jump back away from Freyja's crumpled body, running shaky hands over your body to find what was sticking out of you. Oh Gods. You dread, crying out as a blade you hadn't noticed she had pulled forth, with a handle as thick as your forearm was now protruding in your side.

You had felt many deaths before and suffered great injuries, but none had been so foul as the feeling of torture before death came. You needed to find a site of grace before you lost everything. Gritting your teeth, your hands gripped the handle to the blade, reeling back from the pain of it so far lodged into you. One, two, three! You didn't want to give yourself any time to react as you pulled it out from you, screaming from both the alleviation and fear bubbling in your mind. 

Immediately, your legs gave way and you fell backwards, limbs numb as you still held the bloody knife in your grip. You groaned in disgust, throwing it away as you remembered through it all that you couldn't just leave without the proof Messmer asked for.

"He better be fucking grateful." You spat, clutching your bleeding side as you tried your best to even kneel. With only the knife on you to use, it would be better for hacking than the thinner blade of your nagakiba. You knew what you had to do. Staring down at Freyja's corpse, you kicked off her helm, revealing a mass of unruly hair. 

"Forgive me." You whispered, revealing her neck as you pressed the knife into her flesh, the sounds of hacking and sawing could be heard through the ruins.

Once off, you threw the head into a bag, tying it to your belt as you whistled for Torrent. It was hard not to stop yourself from gagging, the thick smell of blood wafted in the air, creating an even fouler stench in the ruins. You had been through worse, you reminded yourself, dying is now as familiar to you as waking up in the morning, but even on the verge of death, it was the worst feeling to experience. It was not the same as just suffering a quick and easy one, waking up by grace fully healed. 

Once here, Torrent stands solemnly beside you, warily swaying as his beady eyes access you. It takes some effort to mount him, for the beast is patient, and you can only silently thank him for not bucking you off for how many times you try getting your leg over. Finally atop, your skin feels both hot and cold, your armour was sticking to your skin as if it was boiling you alive from the inside. The soft fur of Torrent was all you had to concentrate on, despite the feeling that your brain wanted to switch off. You fight it for as long as you can, hoping Torrent can guide you the way you came. 

You didn't know how long you had been travelling back when the pain was ebbing away at your consciousness, your body was weakened and struggling to stay atop Torrent. Your skin had paled, hands were jittery as you lost the strength in your fingers to hold the reins. Your vision was spiralling, swaying like the waves of the shoreline, not certain what was up and what was down, but the feeling of your body swaying, and finally, falling and falling in slow motion.

You thudded to the ground, Torrent halting as he inspected you with a muzzle to your face, coaxing you to stay awake. 

"Torrent." Breathing noisily, you would apologise to him when you found yourself at a site of grace. You dreaded knowing you would fail at Messmer's quest in his mind, but before you could think further of it, darkness swarmed your vision, and you thanked whoever was watching over you finally gave you comfort.

From the darkness, came distant, cold dreams, filling your mind with doubt:

..."They are incredible, are they not?" There is a sense of dread and awe as you stare up at the sky, bright and bold with the sounds of dragons. The creatures, large in age, sweep and dive down, creating rushes of wind to almost knock back the men who stand on the ground. Some are still wary, when the dragons came once, it had been to destroy towns and wage wars. Now, having them as allies was an unseen miracle. "It is your friendship with them that is outstanding." You marvel, turning to the man beside you, as regal and charming as those with royal blood. He carries himself with a way of understanding all, a calming presence that all could admire. He smiles at you, resting a hand on your shoulder. "I am certain they would love to meet thee. I have told them much and more." "Me? I am just a mere knight, here to serve, my Lord." "Yes, but my most trusted ally and loyal friend." The man chuckles, leading you down as if now is the right time to introduce you to the winged creatures.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

... "Mother is to remarry again." The regal man says, this time you don't know how much time has passed. There is a slight tinge of disappointment in his words. He has his back towards you, the parchment thrown across his apartments. "I received her message when I broke my fast." "You know to whom?" You ask. "The Carian Queen's former husband, Radagon." "And of your father? What becomes of him?" "He is to begin his long march with many of his armies, my mother has decreed." He turns to you, sorrow that was not just in his voice but in his eyes. "She asks that thee join." You don't wish to, you want to plead and beg, but this sadness is not just felt in him but yourself, something you cannot understand nor explain. You think this man is unknown to you, so why do you feel such disgrace? All you can do is nod, acceptance heavy in your chest. "Very well, my Lord."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

... A half bottle of wine is now neglected, and large calloused hands dance along your hips and thighs, lips pressed to the pulse point of your neck. "Let me speak to my mother," the man uttered, pulling you closer on his lap, "she will let thee stay." "I can't," you say, his hands felt so realistic in the fogginess of your mind, fingers stroking his jawline, "it is my duty not just to serve you, but your family as well." "I know, my sweet knight." He murmurs in understanding, a sense of despair consumes him, and when he tries to pick you up to continue things in the bedroom, you stop him. "Not yet, my Lord. I only wish to be in your arms tonight. One final night before I must leave." He smiles, kissing you with the need to remember the outline of your lips. "Anything for thee."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

... A battlefield of blood and bone, ash and carnage. Men in golden armour surround you, in the dying, groaning for mercy and death, their voices dying down in numbers. You clutch your bleeding chest, holding a grand ornate sword in hand, and sweet tears drip from your eyes. You cough, spluttering crimson blood that dribbles down your chin. You stare up at the endless sky, with a man's name being muttered from your lips as you die. 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Your lungs burn when you wake from a death-like sleep, coughing up the air and drinking it in as if you can still somehow feel the cold blade deep in your chest. You go to touch it, only to remember that it was all a dream.

"Easy, milady," a voice pulls you back to reality, and when you look at your surroundings, you're not staring into the golden strips of grace, but the roaring flames of a fire. Opposite you, sits a nomadic merchant, plucking at the strings of his instrument, "your wounds are still open."

Messmer. Is your first thought, and you dread to wonder if he thinks you've betrayed him. You're careless in the way you try to stand, running a hand over where the blade stuck through you, only to find heavy bindings that have been kept to stop the bleeding. You hiss softly, guilt pouring through at the attempt this merchant has made to keep you alive.

"It shall be enough to get you to find a proper healer if you're quick." He says in a soft tone, watching you through clouded eyes, his face half covered. 

"Torrent... where is Torrent?" You're blinking back from the intensity of the fire in front of you, blinking back tears you're certain to have come from the cinders, not your life-like dreams. 

"Ah, your stead," the merchant points, and through the bushes, you spot Torrent, munching on berries with no care in the world. "We found you in the nick of time, milady. If we had been any later, well... you would've been a goner."

You try to laugh at that, but you're unsure if he knows you're Tarnished. "Thank you," you stand shakily to your feet, throwing a coin his way that he accepts with some surprise, "I must be going now."

"I must warn you, Messmer's soldiers lurk on the roads. Best to keep to the woods." The merchant speaks with uncertainty as you coax Torrent to come to you. He does, stroking his snout before climbing atop. You feel just about better now that you've had time to rest, but you need to head back to Aldwin so he can stitch you back up. You've been gone so long without a site of grace that you fear you will begin to wither.

"It is alright," you speak earnestly. "He is looking for me."

-

A/N: I am aware that it's recommended not to pull sharp objects out of you unless you wish to bleed to death, but I guess Tarnished thinks it's the smartest plan. I do wonder who this mysterious man is-- oh well, I guess we'll never know *wink wink*

[searchingforserendipity25]

An old draft resurrected for @feanorianweek! Inspired by last year's Back to Middle Earth bingo board option - gift giving. Some humor and some angst. In which Maedhros is a defiant prisoner, but not the most infuriating of his siblings.

-

Gift-Giving

In Valinor, there had been certain expectations from musicians - the minstrels, those few that devoted themselves fully to the Song. 

Every noble house ought to have one among their members, and the noblest the best; Maglor had been very obliging in that regard. Maglor had been the example to follow, the prototype, the trend-setter.

Maglor, Maedhros had thought even then, had chosen the Song as much as it had chosen him. For its own sake; and also so that he did not have to choose anything else less great and mighty. 

Minstrels were for rites, time-keeping, celebration and beauty. Minstrels were for the blessing of the fields. Minstrels were an honour to their kin, and an adornment. 

Beleriand changed things. In Beleriand, Song was power, and Songs of Power needful weapons used beyond the value of their beauty alone.

Unfortunately, kingship was also power, and not one that could lightly be set aside. Fortunately, Macalaurë had always been very able at managing a number of tasks, as long as he could accomplish them in the most impressive and aggravating performance possible. 

For thirty years he ruled singly, second-born of a great house in exile, making Siege against one of the Powers, he that first Sang discord into the very matter and memory and making of the world. 

Morgoth was besieged. Maitimo might be prisoner, hostage, slave and victim, but there was some satisfaction in knowing the manner of his binding.

Treachery there had been, and foolish anguish - but he would not have chosen other. He could not have chosen otherwise; and at least this time, when he suffered the consequences of one of his brother’s irreverence, there was a bitter pleasure in the paying of it.

No gift could be sweeter to him than the memory of the song borne over the great dark stillness of Thangorodrim. The voice soaring to the heights, saying, 

HAIL DECEIVER, SACKER AND THIEF, FROM ANOTHER MURDERER: HOW IS IT TO BE LOATHED AND REGRETTED BY ILÚVITAR, THY VERY OWN KING AND FATHER - 

“Alas for what you have wrought, fell lord,” called Maitimo Nelyafinwë. The laughter wound the chains more treacherously still on themselves, but it was worth it, and frankly necessary to defiance to laugh sometimes. “Once he is started, the true challenge is to close his mouth.” 

AND KNOW THOU HAST BEEN MADE TO FAIL AND FAIL AND FAIL EVER AND EVER UNTO THE VICTORY OF THE HEAVENS AND INDEED THE FORCE OF ELVES IN WRATH AGAINST THEE -

Morgoth roared, and shock the mountain, and thundered at the skies. 

There was a pause. The echo rang, and then the silence; it set, and settled. Morgoth’s immensity blotted out the stars, and grew to match his complacency. 

Maitimo waited. His brother held passionately to a theory, regarding the counting of time in silence as a mark authorship, from which every composed could be identified with enough familiarity, and his thesis presentation had gone something like this:

Somewhere in the far, far distance, there was the familiar sound of a harp being strummed in a uniquely obnoxious fashion. 

GIVE ME BACK MY BROTHER THOU AVARICIOUS CUR-FACED DULL-WITTED  CRAVEN -

For a moment, a terrible abyss of an instant, the full force of Morgoth's loathing filled the air in a silence made of many dimensions and many strains of incredulous rage.

“You heard him,” Maitimo said into it. Teeth-bared, words round and smiling in his mouth. “Cur.” 

The chains were really quite dreadful, where they bit into flesh to lash the bones; but he wouldn't have said they weren't worth it, for the look on Morgoth's face just then.

[saintvainglorious]

10 Best Black Sails Fics I Read in 2023

In honor of Black Sails' 10th anniversary, here's a list of my top 10 favorite Black Sails fics I read in 2023, in order from shortest to longest. Most Black Sails fic rec posts I've seen are now around 2 or 3 years old (though not all, bless @jaynovz and your #jay's esoteric rec lists tag) so nearly half of the recs in this list spotlight newer fics. It's amazing to see fantastic fics still being written and updated years after the show ended - y'all are keeping this fandom alive!

I didn't read that much Black Sails fic this year, comparatively speaking, so I'm sure there's plenty of newer gems that I missed. All the fics in this rec list are Silverflint unless otherwise stated.

1 - Gone To Port Royal by Apetslife (G, 3k) - a delightful oneshot from Gates' POV where they all go to a pirate afterlife. every scene is perfect. endlessly re-readable and never fails to make me smile.

Definition of Valhalla 1: the great hall in Norse mythology where heroes slain in battle are received 2 : a place of honor, glory, or happiness: heaven

2 - i’ll be seeing you by youatemytailor/@annevbonny (NR, 19k) - this is THEE post-canon Silverflint reunion fic. the anguish, the rage, the quiet jokes, the tenderness, it's all devastatingly in-character. particularly the chapter 5 climactic unspooling leaves me in awe upon every reread.

Silver is out of his chair and across the room before he knows it. He has a grip on the barkeep’s shirt before he knows it, and he’s pulling him up, hauling him eye-level, only to head-butt him to the ground again. The barkeep’s mouth is thrown open in a wail, but there’s no sound, Silver thinks, no sound at all, save for the blood rushing in his ears as he looks at the other man on the ground, watches him roll to his side with a groan. Flint, Silver thinks, and nothing else. It beats around the knife in his gut like a drum. Flint. And then Flint is looking at him.

3 - The Dark Lord Proprietor by Amiril/@runawaymarbles (M, 19k, Silverflintham) - a fuckin hysterical supervillain AU. Thomas has amnesia, Flint is pining, Silver tries to get them back together. what could go wrong? could not stop cackling.

A year ago, James Flint was in a stable relationship and was within spitting distance of taking over London. Now he’s single, with a dubiously loyal henchman, a lairmate determined to learn his every weakness, and a Secret Past with the new supervillain on the scene. And thanks to a new government program, it’s all a race to the bottom.

4 - the cross dimensional nassau bar of getting izzy hands laid by FortinbrasFTW/@fortinbrasftw (E, 19k ~WIP~, Flint/OFMD Izzy Hands) - a Black Sails OFMD Flint/Izzy Hands crossover. the very best kind of smut-as-character study. funny, gripping, and endlessly re-readable.

The first thing Izzy realizes is he looks absolutely fucking furious — which yeah, alright, fair enough. He’s got shorter ginger hair. A beard like Izzy’s but kept neater. Earrings like Izzy’s but worn simpler. Bleeding like Izzy but, well, maybe a bit less. And he’s handsome. Izzy realizes it suddenly and slowly somehow all at once. Bit like a bloody painting even. The kind you saw up on walls in rich folk’s houses. Only, well, no painting had eyes like that, did it? You’d have to be mad to keep a painting with eyes like that in your home. They were bright and clear and looked — honest-to-fucking-Christ — ready to set the whole damned world on fire. Izzy's terrible, horrible, no good, very bad night takes an interesting turn thanks to a completely different sort of pirate captain.

5 - frail and fragile bars by Ajaxthegreat/@francisthegreat (E, 21k) - Silver realizes, post-shark date, that he's in love with Flint. an instant, iconic fave fic. SO many delicious scenes and quotes that live rent free in my head. just read it, you won't regret it.

“I think you fuck,” Silver says. By which he means, with great intent: I think you are human. I know you are human. I see you.

6 - the whole estate of mortal man by Amiril/@runawaymarbles (T, 43k) - Creature Silver AU where he'll grant wishes in exchange for souls. first read this fic in 2020 and cried. reread it this year and cried again. the nature of the AU intersects so cleverly with Black Sails' themes, and the end result is devastating.

Silver has a limited memory, an unlimited lifespan, and a need for human souls. He spends months trying to buy Flint’s.

7 - our feast is but beginning by x_etoile_x/@etoilesombre (E, 55k) - Flint teaches season 1 Silver how to cook. they're definitely not dating. no, really. this writer writes dialogue so in-character that it cuts like a knife. features sensual cooking, Flint being a queer mentor for Silver, fun genderfuckery, and Them Being Real Tender.

Flint should walk away. Silver can figure out how to feed the men, it isn’t his problem. But roasting a pig is so easy, and when was the last time he had a hand in creating something rather than destroying it? Anyway, what else is he doing, with Billy taking the crew in hand with such annoying competency? He absolutely does not think about why he is reluctant for this interaction with Silver to end. “Go get another pig,” he says before he can reconsider. “Do exactly as I say.”

8 - With Strange Aeons by Amiril/@runawaymarbles (M, 60k, Silverflint + Flinthamilton + Jackanne) - Came for the Silverflint, stayed for the Silverflint but also for holy fuck Jack and Anne are sent to Savannah and break out of there with Thomas to battle literal Cthulhu. How can you NOT read this. I don't typically read Flinthamilton, but by god Thomas is amazing in this.

After the disappearance and presumed death of Captain Flint and Long John Silver, Max smuggles Jack and Anne to Oglethorpe’s plantation. Thomas learns that not only do the three of them have a friend in common, but he is not the only one whose dreams are haunted by a strange city and a terrifying name. Meanwhile, Flint and Silver try to escape an island trapped in time, impossibly built and impossibly old. Along the way they’re forced question reality, each other, and themselves. And in his house in R’lyeh, dead Cthulhu waits dreaming.

9 - The Salt and the Sea by x_etoile_x/@etoilesombre (E, 60k) - a between season 2 and 3 recovery fic. i still remembered months after reading that chapter 4 in particular left me undone. a harrowing journey into the ruins of post-leg loss Silver's mind, plus exquisite hurt/comfort.

John Silver was always able to make the best of a situation. If this particular situation had started to feel complicated, well, a vast fortune ought to prove clarifying. Whatever he might have imagined he’d seen in Flint, the reality was they had used each other. And he had been set to walk away on top. Except now he couldn’t. Now he was trapped.

10 - the straight walk home by vowelinthug/@vowel-in-thug (E, 73k, Silverflint + Jackanne + Maxanne + Billy/Vane) - A western AU and one of the best long fics in the fandom. Excellent comedy, amazing AU twists on our favorite characters, found family vibes, nail-biting action, and a fucking fantastic climax. Also, I can't believe this fic got me invested in Billy/Vane.

Let me tell you a story, about a vaquero named Vasquez...

[coziebunbuns]

I'm really leaning into the sacrilege thing, so I must pray for my sins...

Imagine going to church after throwing my little whore pussy at any person willing to give me attention, I feel now is the time to change my ways. Who better to ask the the purest being to walk the earth. Mary, the mother virgin of sin...

"Hail Mary full of grace..."

My head is bowed, my knees are aching, though for a whore like me it's a surprise. So focused on remembering the prayer I did not see the imposing priest behind me.

"The lord is with thee." He say. I look up at him with teary eyes. He looks down at me in disgust, pity and disappointment. "Of course a pathetic little thing like you wouldn't know how to pray"

"please teach me father" I sob, weakly holding onto his robe.

He tuts again then sighs, handing me a rosary. "Very well. You repeat after me holding one of the beads at a time and no matter what do not stop praying and do not take your eyes off her."

I nod, eager for some help. I start again, looking right up Mary this time with a little more confidence.

"Hail Mary full of grace, the lord is with thee"

But as I repeat the words, I feel a hand travel down my back. It tugs and groves my exposed flesh with perverse intent.

"Blessed are thou amongst women"

The hand slips under my skimpy dress to cup my tits, squeezing and pinching my nipples. I can't help my yelp at just how hard the pinces are, the pain sending tingles through my body and to my aching whore cunny. Another hand prys my legs open and slips beneath my panties so my sloppy cunt. A disgrace I know, but the hand rubs my soaked pussy I fight not to moan the next line.

"And blessed is the fruit of thy womb.... JESUS CHRIST!!!"

Thick fingers thrust into my wanton hole with punishing force, catching me off guard and making me cry out. A rough thumb finds my clit and I can't help but moan, it feels so good, to be touched, to be violated like this. My nipples are pinched even harder and tears fill my eyes. Stars start to sparkle around the image of the holy mother and my body starts to trembling.

"Holy Mary, mother of GOD!"

I can feel it, the orgasm it creeps through me like fire, this must be what holiness feels like. The hand on my tit moves to my neck squeeze so rich I feel nails dig I to my skin, a torso joins the service with the impression of a thick cock pressed up against my ass.

"Pray for us sinners..."

It builds more, ripping through my skin.

"Now until the hour..."

The fingers curl, hitting that spot, that oh so holy spot.

"Of our death! AMEN!!!"

It all comes crashing down, I'm shaking and speaking and weeping through my climax. Coming undone before this Holy figure. It took a moment before I calmed but it was not the end.

"You pathetic little whore. Did you really think you are worth redemption, that you could be saved. You're nothing more than a whore, a street bitch."

"Please Father! Please! I can change!"

His hand tightened around my neck as I felt his thick cock slide into sloppy hole.

"Then you better keep praying, you'll learn how to properly use a rosary my dear..."

I have a problem🙄

🐇. 🐇. 🐇. 🐇. 🐇. 🐇. 🐇. 🐇

[epicfroggz]

Why do you think Messmer would still love his mother in an AU where he survives his battle with the Tarnished? Him cursing Marika with his last breath implies that his love for his mother finally broke, and became conscious hatred

Hi, thanks for the ask!!

“Mother… Marika… A curse, upon thee…”

He switches to “Marika” quite pointedly in this dialogue. I interpret it as: Messmer loves his mother very much, but he hates what she has become. It was not Mother and her love that sealed him away, but Queen Marika and her fear. He loves the memory of her from before the Golden Order, that kindness she once had, and wishes to see that woman returned.

(more below cut! the AU this is referring to can be found here)

The undercurrent of hatred is more-so implied than stated by Messmer in my ending. At first he is suspicious that Marika has abandoned her conviction and chosen a lightless Tarnished as Lord (the ones she herself stripped the grace from), but finds that, since you are strong enough to defeat him, 1) her reasoning might still be sound, but more importantly, 2) the world has changed and Marika has changed with it. Keep in mind that, from the Wrath From Afar incant, we know those in the LoS have no idea what went down in the Shattering, only that “something” happened. Returning the Notes or the Blessing of Marika to him makes him recall the mother that once cared for him (hence the “based on a childhood memory” part of the Notes description), and gives him the idea to return to the Lands Between to find her. While on your travels with the Juvenile Serpent, Messmer sees what has become of the world, and begins to develop a strong conviction of his own (the Church of Vows dialogue). At the foot of the Erdtree he thus says that he wishes to confront her—to ask her “why?”—but in the end, he finds he is unable to speak to her due to her shattered state. So, partially out of revenge/hatred/frustration, and partially out of pity/sadness/hope to “put her back together”, he eats her whole.

That is essentially the arc he has in my ending. Separating “Mother” from “Queen Marika”—wanting to save the former and usurp the latter, and mend everything that is broken himself because she is no longer capable. He forced his old mum to retire, if you will. For her own good. :)

- Froggo

[talonabraxas]

Khamael , Archangel of Mars Talon Abraxas

Samael is the Archangel of Mars – prince of the fifth heaven, lord of war and pestilence, and angel of death and destruction. He is the Sathan (Adversary) who visited wrath upon Job, slew the firstborn in Egypt, and (as the Guardian Angel of Easu) wrestled with Jacob. As the Sathan he accuses men of their wrongdoings in the Divine Court. Samael should not be confused with the modern Christian concept of Lucifer or the Devil. Samael is not the source of all evil, nor did he ever wage war upon the Throne of God.

He was, however, cast down to Earth when he refused to bow to Adam as the Image of God. (He had previously sworn to never bow to anything less than God Himself.) Once here, he took Lilith as his wife and has acted as the Divine Accuser, Enforcer and Angel of Death ever since. While he is still very much in the employ of God, he persecutes and seduces mankind when he is ordered to do so.

(Some sources equate Samael with Shemyaza, the leader of the fallen Watchers from the Book of Enoch. This is likely due to both Samael and Shemyaza being punished for disobedience, yet each retaining their positions as celestial angels. However the angels share no other characteristics, and this similarity does not prove the two angels are one and the same.)

The ancient Gnostics elevated him to the position of Demiurgos (the Creator) and interpreted his name to mean “Blind God.” They also called him Ialdabaoth and Saklas. His form was described as a lion-headed serpent. He and his angels (called archons) had created the world as a prison where they could feed upon mankind’s suffering. Later forms of Gnosticism, however, did not equate Ialdabaoth with Samael.

Samael was at one point regarded as the Patron Angel of Rome – and it is likely in this aspect that we see him (as the Dragon with Seven Heads) engaging in single combat against Michael (the Patron Angel of Israel) in the Revelation of St. John.

More recent tradition has given him the name Khamael (Camael, Camuel, etc) – the result of mistranslating a Hebrew Samekh (S) as a Kaph (Kh). In this form he is regarded primarily as the Angel of War and Divine Severity.

Invitation to Samael

I invoke thee, Samael! Holy Archangel of the Martial sphere! I call upon thee within thy realm of Severity and Fear!

Samael, Powerful, Bloody, Sword-bearer, Bold, Untamed, Terrestrial Fire, against whom none can defend himself, thou who destroys the strong and powerful, Lord of fiery heat – and of the planet of blood!

Samael, who art the Adversary, accusing men of their wrongdoing. Fearsome warrior and divine enforcer! You who inflicted Job with sorrow, who slew the firstborn of Egypt, and wrestled with Jacob. It is you who bears the wrath of God unto the Earth! You who overthrow nations and cast kings down from their thrones!

O Samael, we have called upon you [here list the reasons you have called him in the past, if any, and the positive results that came from those workings]. For all of this we thank you!

Come thou forth and partake of these offerings, which we have prepared in thy honour and to the glory of Elohim Gibor. May you find them pleasing and empowering. I ask that you offer your blessings to my home and family, and bear our offerings and prayers of thanksgiving to the Divine Court. We petition thee for strength and protection in all of our undertakings, for defense of our home, and that the light of thy wisdom should guide and keep us at all times. In the name of Elohim Gibor. Amen.

[wu-sisyphus-gang]

Jaune: Gold is for the mistress - silver for the maid" -

Copper for the craftsman cunning at his trade! "

" Good! " said the Baron, sitting in his hall,

But Iron - Cold Iron - is master of them all."

So he made rebellion 'gainst the King his liege,

Camped before his citadel and summoned it to siege.

" Nay! " said the cannoneer on the castle wall,

" But Iron - Cold Iron - shall be master of you all! "

Woe for the Baron and his knights so strong,

When the cruel cannon-balls laid 'em all along;

He was taken prisoner, he was cast in thrall,

And Iron - Cold Iron - was master of it all.

Yet his King spake kindly (ah, how kind a Lord!)

" What if I release thee now and give thee back thy sword? "

" Nay! " said the Baron, " mock not at my fall,

For Iron - Cold Iron - is master of men all."

" Tears are for the craven, prayers are for the clown

Halters for the silly neck that cannot keep a crown."

" As my loss is grievous, So my hope is small,

For Iron - Cold Iron - must be master of men all! "

Yet his King made answer (few such Kings there be!) "

Here is Bread and here is Wine - sit and sup with me.

Eat and drink in Mary's Name, the whiles I do recall

How Iron - Cold Iron - can be master of men all."

He took the Wine and blessed it. He blessed and brake the Bread

With His own Hands He served Them, and presently He said:

" See! These Hands they pierced with nails, outside My city wall,

Show Iron - Cold Iron - to be master of men all. "

" Wounds are for the desperate, blows are for the strong.

Balm and oil for weary hearts all cut and bruised with wrong.

I forgive thy treason - I redeem thy fall

For Iron Cold Iron - must be master of men all! "

'Crowns are for the valiant - sceptres for the bold!

Thrones and Powers for mighty men who dare to take and hold!'

" Nay! " said the Baron, kneeling in his hall,

" But Iron - Cold Iron - is master of men all!

[beloved-of-john]

Different anon here to ask more rosary questions!! So, you said that you're supposed to pray while contemplating the holy mysteries: does that mean there are like specific prayers you're meant to say? Sorry if this is kind of a dumb question, I'm still a baby Christian and I'm definitely not very familiar with Catholic traditions and practices.

There are no dumb questions, only questions you've never been taught the answer to, and I'm happy to help if I can! I think a visual demonstration would be easier than me describing it so...

These ↓ are my rosary beads, and where my fingers are spanning is a decade.

You can identify a decade because they're separated by isolated beads. It's called a decade because it consists of 10 beads. In the traditional rosary, a Hail Mary is prayed on each of the beads in a decade. The Hail Mary prayer is as follows:

Hail Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our deaths. Amen.

So now the mysteries. A different mystery is contemplated on each decade, while praying the Hail Marys. For example, today (at time of writing) is Tuesday, so you would contemplate the sorrowful mysteries. The first sorrowful mystery is The Agony in the Garden, so I would contemplate Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane while praying the 10 Hail Marys and keeping track of them on the beads. As you can see there are 5 decades in a rosary, and there are 5 mysteries in each 'set' of mysteries. A mystery for every decade.

And that's how you contemplate the mysteries! For a list of all the mysteries and what days to pray them, check my previous ask (just search the #asks tag on my blog) and for what to do with the rest of the beads, I'll attach a helpful guide below.

[linda-ravstar]

A conversation between Ranni the Witch and Saint Trina. Pre DLC, canon-ish timeline. Only dialogue.

“Dost thou forgive me, then?”

“No.”

“Why is he not here to talk to me if he is so interested?”

“He knows not that I am here… Yet.”

"Oh?"

“Wilt thou do what I ask?”

“What is there for me? Why would I want to help him?”

“Thou owest him.”

“Do I…?”

“Thou dost. Hast thou forgotten?”

“Art thou collecting?”

“No, I am asking.”

“Then…?”

“I thought the Lunar Princess of Caria kept her word.”

“Hm. Thou art just like him. Mayhap less subtle.”

“… And it could help thee.”

“How so?”

“If thou dost what I asked… mayhap the one to whom thou givest my gift shall help thee. They shall be chosen. They shall be strong. They shan’t give up. They could be useful to thy efforts.”

“And why would Miq… Why wouldst thou, Saint of Dreams, want to help me, the one thou dost not forgive?”

“I desire not to help thee. I wish to aid him. I wish to stop him.”

“And only a chosen Tarnished wouldst do it? The one called to be Elden Lord?”

“The one with the strength to be Elden Lord.”

“A Tarnished lord is said to be fated to kill us all. Well, those of us who can be killed.”

“Perhaps. Perhaps that shall happen.”

“So thou wishest to die.”

“There are worse things.”

“… Thou dost look tired. Is… Is he alright?”

“He is… not.”

“Ha. Hath he finally realized that any change cannot happen in this world by only hurting himself? Sacrifices must be made. No path is clean. No hands shall be free of blood and tears."

“Like thine?”

“Yes, like mine. I do not deny it.”

“… If it were so simple as to hurt himself, or die, or suffer… This world would have already changed, princess. If the peace we seek could be bought with only our blood, thou wouldst have thy cup overflowing with it long ago. But as thou saidst, it’s not so simple.”

“Mine age shall be different. No more chains of gold around these lands. No more fingers crawling in the fates of us all. No more sons or daughters called to bear the sins of their mother.”

“… Princess.”

“Hmm?”

“If thou art victorious, someday… In thy new world… Wilt thou remember Malenia? … Godwyn?”

“Not everything can be undone. There are forces that are part of this world, only emboldened by death bound and the stagnation of life. I shall give them the freedom from the gold, the cold guidance of the dark moon. I shall keep mine own memories, mine sins and loves. But what it is cannot cease to be.”

“… I understand.”

“…”

“He would have supported thee, thou knowest?”

“Miquella?”

“He would have knelt before thee and wished to see thy age of stars embrace this world. We would have our corner of the world, our small kingdom of downtrodden and outcasts. He would have been happy to see thee reign and spend his life amidst inventions and wonders. Even if his curse would have remained. …But only if thou couldst have saved those he loved.”

“I shall mourn both of your deaths. I fear… I fear thou wilt lose more than thy lives in this misted path. Marika did.”

“Perhaps. Canst thou blame us?”

“I know not.”

“Please think of my ask.”

“I shall. Go in peace. Tell Miquella… if thou canst… that I always admired his heart. If anyone could have done it, ‘twas him. And if anyone can save him, I’m sure ‘tis thee. ...Give my love to noble Torrent as well. His path will surely be a long one before sweeter rasins can reach his nose."

“I shall share thy blessing with him. And... I shall take thy words within mine heart, Lady Ranni. I hope thou findest peace in thy dreams. I hope thou findest solace from thy sins.... Thou mayest wake up now.”

“Goodbye, Trina.”

“Goodbye… sister.”

... Or, "Why would Ranni have the Spirit Calling Bell".

[familyromantic]

(Submission)

"I promise — I promise that I'll show you a smile."

"Then I promise too — to be the one who'll make you smile."

Brother and Sister’s Promise – Tales of the Rays

Pairing name: Edna/Eizen or Earthcest (also アイエド or エドアイ)

Series: "Tales of"

Canon: No.

Spoilers: Lategame spoilers for Tales of Zestiria and Tales of Berseria, as well as up to the very last chapter of Zestiria the Cross.

Eizen: “Other malakhim were born there, but I never felt like they were my family. But something—I don’t know what—was different with her. If she was sad, I’d feel sad. And if I was happy, she’d be happy, too. She can be... abrasive, but when she smiles, it’s like nothing else. I swore to myself that whatever happened, I would protect her.”

1. Introduction

Tales of Zestiria was a J-RPG released for the 20th anniversary of the Tales of series on PS3, PS4, and Steam (international exclusive). It followed the story of a fantasy world called Glenwood, which had been plunged into a nigh-incomprehensible state of chaos. The high level of malevolence was ravaging the world with mysterious illnesses and abnormal climate changes, making humanity struggle with crop deaths, famine, and starvation. This was the context in which Sorey, the protagonist of the story, found himself in. He then had the final task, as the new Shepherd, of quelling the very source of malevolence: the Lord of Calamity.

This release was later followed by Tales of Berseria a year later, signaling the end of the 20th anniversary’s celebrations and also available for PS3 (Japan exclusive), PS4, and Steam (international exclusive). The land of Desolation—the same Glenwood but with a different name—a thousand years prior to Zestiria showed to be just as chaotic. And, if Zestiria accompanied the Shepherd in his journey against the Lord of Calamity of his era, Berseria accompanied the Lord of Calamity against the Shepherd of her time: Velvet Crowe set off on a personal journey of revenge, while (not very willingly sometimes) picking up a few companions on the way.

2. The characters

2.1. Edna

Edna: “If you really wanted to take me with you, you should have just dragged me kicking and screaming. ‘Let’s go hunt legends, my lady?’ ‘My noble heart would not deceive thee?’ That went out of fashion a few hundred years ago.” – Mounting Terror (Main Story) - Tales of Zestiria

The choice of entering the world for the sake of saving her brother

If you play the games in release order, you get to meet Edna in Tales of Zestiria first, an earth seraph living by herself in Rayfalke Spiritcrest, a mountain surrounded by legends about dragons. Seraphim (also called malakhim) are beings akin to fantastic spirits with elemental affinities whose forms are determined by their souls. They can live for thousands of years and are invisible to most of the population, which means humanity has stopped believing in their existence.

During his journey, Sorey finds himself with no way to access his next destination, Marlind: the bridge has been washed away. Advised by his Prime Lord Lailah, he decides to find an earth seraph that lives close to help with its restoration.

Sorey soon realizes that Edna’s very different from other seraphim he knows: she’s not like Mikleo, who dreams of human and seraphim coexistence like he does; she’s not like Lailah, who’s been the Prime Lord of other Shepherds before him; she’s not like Uno either, who's accepted to become Ladylake’s Lord of the Land and keeps malevolence at bay with his blessing. If anything, Edna’s feelings towards humans are similar to those of the Elysian seraphim you talk to at the start of the game, when their homeland is suddenly visited by the princess knight Alisha.

Edna: “I despise earth-dwellers. Self-centered, emotional... But when they need something, it’s ‘Oh dear seraphim, heed my prayer!’ Heed this, morons.”

Edna: “And besides... I can’t leave my brother as he is right now.” – Mounting Terror (Main Story) - Tales of Zestiria

Edna has a sharp tongue and doesn’t hesitate to speak her mind, shocking people thanks to the contrast with her small and cute appearance. Bitterly, she informs them that the famous dragon from the mountain is actually her big brother and only family Eizen. This is the form that seraphim take after absorbing too much malevolence, which reduces them to mindless monsters.

Edna refuses to move away despite the danger Eizen means to her now. Sorey and Mikleo ask her about her plans, and Edna’s voice soon falters, stuttering: she wants to save her brother, but hasn’t found a way to do that yet. Hearing that, and despite being told this is impossible, Sorey promises Edna to turn Eizen back to normal with the Shepherd’s powers of purification. Edna is reluctant to believe him, asking them to leave her alone.

Eventually, and moved by Sorey’s words and actions, Edna accepts to become his Sub Lord with the condition that they find a way to cure her brother’s condition.

Edna: “Promise me something. Promise me that we’ll find some way to save Eizen. (...) Now then, take me with you. To the outside world.” – Mounting Terror (Main Story) - Tales of Zestiria

2.2. Eizen

Eizen: “Who cares? If I gave a damn about other peoples’ feelings, I wouldn’t be a pirate.” – An Angry Letter (Skit) - Tales of Berseria

To live and die as your own self

At one point in her journey, Velvet’s group is intercepted in the middle of the sea by the Van Eltia, a famous pirate ship belonging to none other than the Aifread crew.

Stopping on land and ready for battle, the group is surprised: it’s rare to see a free malak roaming around, but even more to see a malak that is also a pirate. And yet, their opponent is clearly one: he can cast malak artes.

Having taken the leadership of the Van Eltia in the absence of the captain, the malak Eizen offers Velvet and her group a deal: only by joining forces do they have a chance to pass through the Gate of Vortigern, the Sea Gate Fortress that controls the passage up ahead.

After weighing all possibilities, albeit distrustful for several reasons, Velvet accepts.

Eizen: “There’s something I should tell you first. I bring ill fortune to all those around me. The ‘Reaper’s Curse’. (...) If you join up with me, I can’t guarantee your safety.” – Sailing With The Reaper (Main Story) - Tales of Berseria

Edna’s dislike of humans is more than clear since the very moment you meet her in Zestiria, but she never makes an actual statement as to why: whether this attitude is related to Eizen leaving her behind to travel around with humans, to his transformation into a dragon, to a general dissatisfaction born out of having watched humanity’s wrongdoings for centuries, or to something else entirely, is unclear.

Eizen, on the other hand, openly enjoys his life among humans. By the point you meet him, he has accepted the threat they possess to his life (malakhim don’t produce the malevolence that eventually will turn him into a dragon, but humans do), as well as their differences. He navigates the seas alongside his crew with the goal of finding and rescuing their captain, who was captured by the Abbey, and creating a map of the whole world that includes the mysterious far continent.

3. Edna and Eizen’s relationship through the story

Tales of the Rays: Edna’s third skit, Time Spent Together (translation by justlol)

Velvet: “Weird sister you’ve got.”

Eizen: “You don’t know the half of it. A girl weird enough to want to live alongside the reaper... No matter the cost.” – I Am Calamity (Main Story) - Tales of Berseria

Due to Eizen’s transformation into a dragon, most of their relationship in Zestiria and the references to it are left to whatever Edna is willing to share, as well as a few non-verbal cues.

Certainty, at Last (Main Story) - Tales of Zestiria

According to her words, Eizen would try to bribe her and make up for his absence with souvenirs: old artifacts, ribbons, strange charms, sweets, and other various things. She’s however not always willing to speak about him, sometimes cutting the conversation short and hiding under her umbrella so no one can see her being vulnerable. At one point, another character (Zaveid) reveals to her that her brother knew he had little left and asked him to kill him once he turned into a dragon, making Edna lose her characteristic cool and stoic composure.

Edna: “Huh?”

Edna: “What does that even mean?! That’s so selfish of him!”

Edna: “Leaving on a journey without me! Becoming a dragon without telling me! Didn’t he even think about how lonely I’d be without him?!” – Siblings (Sub-Event) - Tales of Zestiria

Edna routinely leaves flowers at the small wayside shrine in the base of the mountain she lives in, a gesture in memory for those humans her brother keeps eating, though she tries to take importance off this fact. She also took on an oath sometime before the game, a type of arte that allows you to expand your powers so long as you can pay the costs, to prevent Eizen from leaving the mountain and hurting even more people.

The situation is less bleak however when it comes to Eizen’s side in Berseria, though the relationship is not without its troubles.

Edna’s existence is revealed for the first time when a major antagonist uses her illusion* against Eizen, sparking the party’s curiosity.

The Dissonance of the Wind and the Waves (Main Story) - Tales of Berseria

*It didn’t make it into the final product, but this illusion of Edna would have also approached Eizen by saying “You finally broke your curse. Now we can finally be together.”

Velvet: “The umbrella girl... That illusion made Eizen hesitate.”

Velvet: “She must be really important to him.”

Magilou: “Indeed. It must be a deep, knotty relationship!”

Rokurou: “Come on, now.”

Eleanor: “Like... A wife he wants to leave but he can never let go? Or a lover from whom he can’t move on?” – The Girl With The Umbrella (skit) - Tales of Berseria

Sometime after this incident, the party finds a fancy letter written in cute stationery. Perplexed about it and not recognizing the name that signed it, they leave to find Eizen and ask him about it, who seems to be busy about something.

White Turtlez: “Nowz about getting’ that pot wrapped, I’z gotz this new sunflower print. How’z that sound?”

Eizen: “Hmm... Yeah, that one’s cute enough. Let’s go with that.”

Rokurou: “Did... Did he just say ‘cute’?” – Eizen’s Letter (skit) - Tales of Berseria

Eizen, who recognizes the letter and only then realizes he has dropped it, quickly snatches it away. With a suspicious look, he asks them time and time again if they really, really, didn’t read it.

After this exchange, part of the group remembers the mysterious girl with the umbrella and once again assume that, due to the way Eizen is acting and his secretiveness, the recipient must be his lover.

Laphicet: “Was he sending a gift to someone? And with a letter, too...”

Rokurou: “Gotta be a ladyfriend, that’s for sure.”

Laphicet: “You think...? Either way, that letter was really polite... And did you see that penmanship?”

Rokurou: “Yeah, I didn’t know ol’ Reeps had it in him.”

Eizen: “I can hear you two, you know.” – Eizen’s Letter (skit) - Tales of Berseria

Eizen doesn’t take kindly to being gossiped about, giving both Rokurou and Laphicet a small sample of his fists. This, however, doesn’t seem to deter any of them.

Rokurou: “It was serious stuff. Whoever it is must be important to him. A lover, maybe?”

Laphicet: “Eizen’s lover?”

Rokurou: “A child wouldn’t be happy with that pot, and a man wouldn’t want it wrapped up so pretty.”

Rokurou: “A young woman with Eizen’s tastes, then... He’d be bound to fall for a miraculous match like that, right?”

Laphicet: “I don’t know. I bet she’s that girl with the umbrella.” – Who Was The Letter For? (skit) - Tales of Berseria

It’s not until later that Eizen overhears them again and finally clears their misunderstanding up: he’s exchanging letters with his sister in a mostly one-sided conversation due to, according to him, Edna wanting to show she disapproves of his actions. It turns out that the curse he has warned the party several times in the past about is also the main reason they live apart.

Eleanor: “That insect daemon was a bit of a surprise, but I still think this ‘curse’ business is overblown.”

Eizen: “I can count on one hand how many have survived more than three years at my side. If you’re not careful, you might wind up as Corpse Number 50.” – The Dissonance of the Wind and the Waves (Main Story) - Tales of Berseria

Eizen left Edna behind to travel around the world in search of a cure for his curse. However, meeting Van Aifread and the rest of the Van Eltia crew made him realize he had found his way of life instead: even if one day he happened to find a way to break the curse, he couldn’t simply return to his former secluded life in the mountain.

This ‘Reaper’s curse’ is actually Eizen’s innate blessing as a malak, much like the Lords of the Land granted their blessings to cities in Tales of Zestiria. The blessings of earth malakhim are usually about growth, life, and support; In Eizen’s case, its intended effect is supposed to be that of providing acceptable trials to incite said growth.

Unfortunately, his sister was the one who bore the brunt of it, much to Eizen’s dismay who couldn’t understand why so many unlucky things happened: terrible accidents, daemons that attacked them, dragons that tried to kidnap her,…

Eizen: “But one time when I was baking them, the oven suddenly spewed fire out and badly burned my sister.”

Eizen: “It was all my fault, and stupid, clueless me didn’t even know why at the time.”

Eizen: “Crazy thing is... after I did what I could for her burns and put her to bed, she told me she wanted to eat the palmiers I’d made.”

Eizen: “They were burned to a crisp, but she ate those pastries like nothing was wrong, then she smiled and told me to keep on making them.” – Palmier Memories (skit) - Tales of Berseria

At one point in the past Eizen finally realized that his sister wasn’t just prone to illness and injury: the cause behind her suffering had been him all along.

Velvet: “He just wanted to do something for his sister, only to be confronted by how bad his curse is...”

Laphicet: “That’d be really hard to deal with...”

Eleanor: “She must realize by now what’s going on with Eizen, right?”

Magilou: “Maybe she thought that he’d leave if she ever let on that she knew...”

Rokurou: “And he left because he thought he could spare her from learning the truth...” – Palmier Memories (skit) - Tales of Berseria

Edna: “I suppose my blessing would be ‘perfect health’”.

Rose: “You? Really? That’d be odd.”

Edna: “Not really. I've been hit by lightning on multiple occasions...”

Edna: “Tumbled off the peak of Rayfalke, gotten caught in an enormous landslide...”

Edna: “Stubbed my pinky toe on the edge of the dresser, gotten a tiny fish bone stuck in my throat...”

Edna: “And yet, here I am. Safe and sound.”

Rose: “Holy crap! Well, okay, some of that was just regular crap, but still, whoa!”

Sorey: “You really are lucky, Edna.”

Edna: “To a bizarre extent, even.”

Edna: “But it’s how I survived being near my brother even after he had turned into a dragon.” – Edna The Invincible (skit) - Tales of Zestiria

At one point during Berseria, Eizen starts receiving unsigned and quite aggressive letters: the owner of the letters, the normin Phoenix, eventually reveals himself and confronts Eizen on the prison island Titania about his relationship with Edna. After spying on her and watching what was happening, he could not help himself: he had to do something about it.

Eleanor: “A brother writing letters knowing he’ll never get a reply. And a sister waiting for a brother she knows will never come home...”

Velvet: “You two make it so damn complicated. Just talk it out face to face and make up already. It’s not that hard.”

Eizen: “......”

Velvet: “At least the person you care about is still alive!” – No Reply (skit) - Tales of Berseria

Eizen previously claimed that Edna wouldn’t answer his letters as a way to show her disapproval, but it turns out that Edna has been sitting on mountains of unsent letters that she often cries over. It’s hinted but not confirmed that this is related to back when, shortly after Eizen left her, she sent him a letter saying that she wanted to be with him no matter how dangerous it could get that she didn’t get a favorable response to.

Phoenix: “Just what is it that you’re communicating with the superficial scrawlings and shoddy baubles you send her?”

Laphicet: “He’s trying to atone—”

Phoenix: “Don’t be absurd!”

Phoenix: “Which is the real you? The considerate brother who worries for his sister? Or the man who consorts with lowlife scum and pirates?!” –Joyful Nor Doll (Sub-Event) - Tales of Berseria

After their fight, Eizen finally sends Edna a letter with his real thoughts and feelings. He actually had written it before this event, but never could bring himself to send it.

Edna’s answer, proof of them starting to mend their relationship, quickly threatens to bring Eizen to tears.

Eizen: “Ungh...”

Rokurou: “Hey, are you okay? What does it say?”

Eizen: “I can’t read it right now... One of you do it.”

Laphicet: “O-Okay...”

Laphicet: “‘Dear brother, I got your letter. Not sure why it was so tattered.”

Laphicet: “I’m glad that you were able to tell me how you really feel, even though it was beyond obvious by now.”

Laphicet: “Your clear descriptions of the self-defense malak artes allowed me to master them quickly, despite your terrible grammar.”

Laphicet: “As weird as it feels writing this to a pirate... Good luck with your work. And I know how to keep a secret.”

Laphicet: “So please keep writing me letters. My life doesn’t revolve around them, but I do enjoy hearing from you.”

Laphicet: “I can’t see the oceans you sail from my perch here on the mountain, but I’m thinking of you and praying for your safety. And I want you to know I’m doing fine.’”

Eizen: “Ungh...”

Magilou: “Aaah, looks like she’s just as roundabout and stubborn as her brother! It must run in the family.” – Dear Brother (skit) - Tales of Berseria

4. The ship

Tales of the Rays: Joyful Nor Dolls (Event)

4.1. Trivia and Tropes

“Sibling relationships outlast marriages, survive the death of parents, resurface after quarrels that would sink any friendship. They flourish in a thousand incarnations of closeness and distance, warmth, loyalty and distrust.” –Erica E. Goode

Edna and Eizen live apart, so they don’t get to interact much directly in either Berseria or Zestiria. However, the print they have left on each other is indelible, a love and devotion expanding through space and time for centuries and even thousands of years. It’s implied that Sorey reminding Edna of her brother influences their relationship, and the same thing seems to happen with Kamoana and Laphicet for Eizen.

“No. Humans don’t have true names.”

“Hey, that’s not fair! Malakhim are so lucky.”

“Your name came into your mother’s mind the same way. ‘Kamoana’ is already your true name.”

Kamoana frowned and fell silent for a while. Eizen looked at her kindly, as if she was his own sister, and finally spoke.

“Don’t think too hard about it. As long as you remember your name ‘Kamoana,’ your mom is always with you.” –Tales of Berseria Official World Guidance Book: 'True Name' (translation by Caphi)

Rose: “Didn’t you guys live together?”

Edna: “My brother’s adventure-crazy, like a certain someone I know. He’s always been traveling around.” (...)

Rose: “I see. Was your brother like Sorey?”

Edna: “Maybe.” –Edna Talks About Her Brother (skit) - Tales of Zestiria

The most obvious argument in favor of Edna/Eizen is the context in which they are introduced. Malakhim aren’t humans, and therefore they don’t have blood families. The vast majority of them, including Edna and Eizen, are born from earthpulse points, flows of natural force that ordinary humans can’t see. But even for the very few seraphim that happen to be reincarnations from living beings, they usually don’t keep any memories of their past lives, and having been related in a past life doesn’t grant them any kind of innate and special connection in their next one.

No other pair of malakhim gets what Edna and Eizen experienced upon meeting each other. In Berseria, a mother and son with tragic deaths were reincarnated into malakhim, and neither of them felt their souls pulling towards each other, nor were their moods synchronized, nor experienced anything like what Edna and Eizen do exhibit. Even though they were reincarnated at the same time and appear side by side, they do not recognize each other.

Edna and Eizen’s meeting is an scenario often written as romantically charged in media. If Eizen didn’t say that all of these signs were telling him that Edna was his little sister, including that they somehow gifted each other hand-made matching pendants in the very same day without having said a word to the other before, it’d be very easy to interpret it as the fated meeting between two soulmates instead.

My Sister Is Off-Limits:

Edna: “Don’t try and weasel your way out of this. You said there was something you had to settle with my brother.”

Zaveid: “That’s all there is to it, really. There’s just something between us we need to settle.”

Edna: “And that ‘something’ is?”

Zaveid: “I told him ‘Please let me marry your little sister!’ and he punched me.”

Edna: “Don’t lie.”

Zaveid: “Oh come on. He’d totally do something like that!”

Edna: “Fine. Don’t tell me then.”

Zaveid: *now left alone* “No wonder he’s worried about her all the time.” – A Promise Between Men (Skit) - Tales of Zestiria

Overprotectiveness, jealousy, possessiveness,... Eizen not only keeps his relationship with Edna hidden from the party through a good part of the game, while banning the pirate crew from speaking about it: he also hates the idea of other people meeting her. Of other men meeting her, to be more exact.

Benwick: “‘Touch my sister, and I’ll kill you.’ Right? Sheesh, you say that to EVERY guy you meet.”

Velvet: “Awfully protective.”

Eizen: “Nah, just obsessed.”

Benwick: “That’s even worse!” – I Am Calamity (Main Story) - Tales of Berseria

No man is spared, including Aifread whom Eizen holds in high regards, and the very young malak that accompanies them.

Finally, Benwick spoke up.

“I-I’ve just only joined the crew.” His eyes were locked on Eizen, and his voice trembled as it worked into a shout. “I want to have more adventures! So please…”

“Leave it to me.”

A flame sparked to life in the malak’s breast.

“Trust in Eizen,” Aifread said. “His only faults are an annoying attention to detail, and the fact that he won’t let me meet his cute sister.” –Tales of Berseria Special Collector’s Edition Novella: A Witch’s Tale, A World Full Of Daemons

His “awful overprotection” (or self-admitted obsession) is also sometimes used by other characters to tease him.

Eleanor: “Are you suggesting that Eizen’s sister wrote these letters? I mean, they’re certainly unusual, but...”

Eizen: “My sister wouldn’t write something like this.”

Magilou: “Then maybe it’s someone who’s spending a lot of time around her... Like, oh, a man whose shoulder she cries on?”

Eizen: “Damnation, Magilou! My sister doesn’t have any guy clinging onto her! Do you know something I don’t? Prove it! Bring him here right now!”

Eleanor: “Calm down, Eizen! No one’s saying that! – A Very Angry Letter (skit) - Tales of Berseria

Laphicet: “Is that her in the picture?”

Eizen: “Yeah... It’s a self-portrait she drew for me on the day I left home.”

Velvet: “Did you draw her a picture of yourself?”

Eizen: “No... I don’t exactly have an artistic side.”

Eleanor: “Well, I’m sure that if you looked inside her pendant, you’d find a portrait of the person who matters most to her.”

Eizen: “I hope so...”

Magilou: “Yeah, and it would be nice if it was you.”

Eizen: *staring with eyes that could kill* – Matching Charms (skit) - Tales of Berseria

Brother Complex:

Edna’s whole motivation and goal in the Zestiria game was always her brother; the Zestiria anime, however, goes a bit further with it.

The anime is a reimagination of the game’s events rather than an actual adaptation, hence why it’s not recommendable to start with it. But, for much needed context, this anime ends with Eizen’s slow recovery, being able to understand what’s happening around him and even speaking short sentences. The implication is that he will eventually return to his normal form.

With the first of the BD boxes for the anime came a Drama CD consisting of a small retelling of it, with the girls of the party having a fun time together as they talk about what has happened. At one point, Lailah asks Edna who is the one in the party that she likes. Edna answers that said person is actually her brother.

Theme Naming:

In Zestiria, if you interact with a particular Discovery Point in Aifread’s Hunting Grounds, you can trigger a skit in which Edna mentions Eizen named her after the red orchids you just saw (Edna Stamperland).

“And then, our door just swung open. A spring wind was blowing in, a warm and gentle wind.”

It was like it was calling him. He took her and walked and walked, not knowing where or how far, until finally, they emerged from a dark forest into a shimmering clearing.

“She stopped crying and smiled the sweetest, most innocent smile, and just like that, all at once, the entire field was covered in bright red flowers.”

Kamoana was smiling too. “Wow!”

Eizen nodded. “The flowers vanished soon after, but I still remember how strong and vivid their color looked, and I thought that when she grew up, she needed to wear one. And then I heard her voice in my mind. ‘I want to grow up fast.’ I thought, what a precocious little squirt. But that’s just what she was.

Hephsin Yulind — “Edna, the early bloomer.” But that name was only for Eizen to know. –Tales of Berseria Official World Guidance Book: 'True Name' (translation by Caphi)

Red orchids can be gifted as a confession of love and, in Japanese flower language, can also be read as “happiness that comes in flying” 「幸せが飛んでくる」and “true love” 「純粋な愛」; Coincidentally, when in a Zestiria the Cross bonus skit Lailah asks everyone to pick a flower, Edna chooses lily of the valley, a flower whose meaning is also “happiness will come again” 「再び幸せが訪れる」. All of them instantly understand that this happiness means that Edna will be reunited with Eizen.

Incest Subtext

Most of what Edna wears are Eizen’s gifts: the pendant hanging from her neck is handmade (the matching one she made for Eizen can be seen attached to his waistcoat), the boots and glove are hand-me-downs, the ribbons she uses are part of his souvenirs,... Even the headband seems to be his.

Tales of Zestiria - Menu

But that’s not all of it: In the Tales of Berseria Illustrations artbook, Minoru Iwamoto speaks about how he came up with the characters’ designs.

For Eizen he mentions that, for his clothes, the underlying theme is that of a wedding suit, because he had already drawn Edna’s to take on the appearance of a wedding dress and he wanted them to match. The dagger on the lapel of Eizen’s coat is thus inspired by the handkerchief grooms wear in the same place, and the ore bracelet is also inspired by a wedding ring.

Later, for the 25th anniversary of Tales of, a set of memory rings for several Tales characters were released, with Edna and Eizen being included. The rings are meant to represent the characters and their personal journeys, as well as their relationships and feelings.

Edna’s ring has motifs from her clothes such as her characteristic ribbons; Eizen’s ring has a small chain hanging from it that symbolizes the pendant Edna gifted him with once. The inner side of Edna’s ring has Rayfalke Spiritcrest engraved on it, while Eizen’s has the Van Eltia ship. Stacking Edna’s ring on top of Eizen’s forms the shape of a letter. As a small side note, the rings are also mentioned to go well as pair rings.

Relative Error

See the explanations above in the third point about the unknown woman Eizen was sending letters and gifts to, and the insistence of several characters that she and the illusion were the same woman and also Eizen’s secret lover.

Translation Mistakes

Even though Eizen was an important figure in Edna’s character arc in Zestiria, little was known about him outside of their relationship. It wasn’t until Berseria that more details about him started to get shared. That, eventually, included the reveal of his true name.

Besides the name they usually go with, all malakhim are bestowed a “true name” in the Ancient Tongue. These names are not to be shared lightly outside of pacts: in some circumstances it’s an expression of intimacy and vulnerability, a sign of trusting the other with their very lives; in others, it’s akin to a love confession. This name shows the seraphim’s raison d’être or that what makes them most themselves.

Before the American and European releases, a mistranslation of this true name was shared in social media that happened to mistake Eizen’s true name “Explorer Eizen” for “In Love Eizen”. Before it was corrected, fans quickly reacted to the news while assuming it could only be about Edna.

Roughly five years after this the next mainline entry in the series, Tales of Arise, was released. Ironically, and with Eizen available in said game as a cameo battle, a mistake in the English version that happened to turn this relationship official was again reported in different social media by several fans. It seemed to get fixed with a patch that was issued shortly after.

4.2 The appealing of the ship

Putting two fictional siblings together into an idealized, consensual romantic relationship can look strange, but the charm itself resides in that the relationship is indeed atypical from that of a classic romance.

Tales of Arise: Edna and Eizen’s cameo battle.

Though Eizen had already lived for roughly seven centuries before Edna was born, his life seems to have been unremarkable until then, having not even moved away from the place he was born; for Edna, Eizen has been a constant in her life, and she doesn’t know what it is to live without him. This is not a case of getting to know each other and going on dates, there is no classy “boy meets girl” type of story, and there’s no clean slate: they carry their previous relationship with them, knowing each other better than anyone else in the world for sometimes better and sometimes worse.

“Blood relationships are the only relationships we have where people want us exactly as we are. To a child, the daddy who affirms everything about her is her prince and the world itself. So the words, ‘When I grow up, I’m going to marry Daddy’ mean the same thing as ‘I’m going to make the whole world mine.’” –Kunihiko Ikuhara

It might not be in their blood, but it’s still seared deep within them. They don’t ever stop (can’t stop) being brother and sister, they can’t just walk away from each other and move on with their lives. Even if they happened to cut all contact, they would still be family, and this is actually quite proved through their relationship: even though Edna and Eizen spent so much of their lives physically separated, their hearts stayed together.

Tales of Crestoria, Eizen and Edna’s SSR Units.

“I learned love as taxidermy, the careful art of keeping alive a dead thing.” –Blythe Baird

Edna dedicates several centuries of her life to watch over Eizen, trying to reduce the harm he causes and never leaving the mountain until Sorey appears. Her love is unconditional, holding on and enduring despite the pain and sorrow. At one point of Berseria Eizen compares her to a cat because of how spoiled they can act, but the way Edna acts after he has become a mindless dragon is more akin to a dog: she remains loyal until the very end, waiting for him for endless centuries.

Edna: “A monster who’s devoured countless humans and seraphim alike. He’s so far gone he doesn’t even recognize me anymore.”

Edna: “But I kept holding on. I just couldn’t give up on the possibility of him turning back to the way he was.” – Siblings (Sub-Event) - Tales of Zestiria

Going by the way Edna appears in Melchior’s illusion, being pulled from Eizen’s memories, she doesn’t change a bit in over a thousand years except by her choice to wear Eizen’s boots and one of his gloves after fitting them. Seraphim can change their appearances as they desire to an extent, and this is also tied to their peak of strength, yet Edna refuses change as if wanting to hold onto her place in the world as “Eizen’s little sister”.

Working under the belief that there was nothing else he could realistically do against his fate, and as if knowing how far his sister could go, Eizen uses the remainder of his life to mitigate the effects his death will have on Edna. He asks Phoenix to watch over Edna and protect her from all kinds of danger, including himself as a dragon; He also asks Zaveid to kill him once he becomes a dragon so she won’t hurt for him.

Rose: “Oh, I get it. Edna’s brother gave Phoenix to her as a memento.”

Mikleo: “So then Eizen asked him to use his normin powers to protect Edna from all threats.”

Sorey: “Including Eizen himself.” – Phoenix (Sub-Event) - Tales of Zestiria

Zaveid: “‘When I become a dragon, kill me.’”

Zaveid: “‘I don’t want Edna to suffer for it.’” – Siblings (Sub-Event) - Tales of Zestiria

It’s also very telling that the one successful illusion against Eizen is the one made to Edna’s likeness. Eizen has an inkling that Aifread isn’t real, putting him at test and then confirming it so; He also recognizes something isn’t quite right in the fake Aball Velvet is enveloped with in a different part of the game. And yet, it’s Edna appearing in front of him what actually affects him, and it’s also only when Zaveid shoots the illusion down that he can break out of the spell.

Velvet: “Magilou… Are there artes that let the caster manipulate dreams?”

Eleanor: “Huh? Dreams? Why?”

Magilou: “There is, yes. An arte that requires a certain type of malak. It envelops you in a fog and reads your regrets, then traps you in a happy dream.” – A Fragment Of Heaven (Main Story) - Tales of Berseria

Magilou: “Let’s say you know your target’s innermost desires. You simply conjure the right illusion. Show them what would push their buttons in just the right way.”

Laphicet: “Ahh… If you can create an illusion of something someone really wants, you can control them.”

Magilou: “Exactly. You can force a powerful burden upon your target’s psyche… Until their spirit breaks, that is.”

Laphicet: “What happens when they break?”

Magilou: “Depends on the target. They might become an empty shell; They might go wild with desire… Eeny, teeny, spiny, crow…” – An Arte to Control Daemons (skit) - Tales of Berseria

Though they are not humans and therefore not bound to their rules, Edna and Eizen’s relationship is still incredibly star-crossed, making the small time they get to have together especially precious. In the hypothetical case that Eizen found a cure for the curse, an acceptable one that didn’t trample on his morals like eating the heart of a white-horned dragon was (or he came to understand and accept Edna staying by his side despite the danger), the world they live in can be cruel and unforgiving. If they happened to travel together rather than stay safe in the clean and free of malevolence Rayfalke, they would still be risking turning into dragons.

5. Ending thoughts

Tales of Arise: Edna and Eizen’s cameo battle

5.1. Guilt, malevolence, and will

Eizen: “As far as I’m concerned, my earth affinity and my Reaper’s Curse aren’t much different, in that they’ve both shackled me since I came into being.” – Eizen And The Sea (skit) - Tales of Berseria

Eizen already carries a lot of guilt just about physically existing close to Edna, due to hurting her with his curse whenever she’s within his domain. With guilt and shame being often the bread and butter of sibling ships, that is something that is at least guaranteed.

It’s well documented in both Zestiria and Berseria that malevolence influences not only malakhim’s bodies, but also the state of their minds and their emotions. With Eizen progressively turning into a dragon, it’s not difficult to imagine his feelings for Edna getting twisted the more malevolence gets to him.

Eizen: “My wheel is mine to hold. If I’m not the one steering the ship, then I’m not truly alive.” – Fortress Under Fire (Main Story) - Tales of Berseria

Eizen’s distaste towards the Abbey goes back, long before Aifread is kidnapped, because the way they subjugate the malakhim’s wills goes against his principles. He believes that you should always be grasping the wheel of your life, otherwise you might as well be dead. For obvious reasons, this belief is also tied to his later downfall as a dragon.

Tales of Asteria’s Fifth Arc

Eizen spends all his life and later impending death trying to gain control to compensate for his helplessness, the grief the curse has caused him and all the consequences it has had in his life. Even if in the present day he’s come to accept the curse as a part of himself that cannot be erased, a deep scarring was left by what he lost in the past: his life with his sister.

Magilou: “Physical wounds can heal. Emotional wounds never fully fade.” – Melchior’s Illussions (skit) - Tales of Berseria

You can’t help what you feel: you can only help what you do. Eizen’s self-loathing often makes itself apparent; holding very much non-familiar feelings for Edna, within this entire context, would not help matters. Even if, as mentioned earlier, by virtue of not being humans they might also not be bound to their taboos (though it is to note that Eizen spends a lot of time among humans, and might have picked up on things from them), it’s easy to see how Eizen would see it as a corruption of their bond and hate himself for it, pulling away further from Edna.

5.2. Sibling Complex

It has already been brought up earlier, but both Edna and Eizen clearly have a brother complex and a sister complex respectively. Often, characters like these get into romantic relationships yet end up finding the suitor lacking an unexplainable something, having idealized their sibling to an extent that can never be reached, which is another angle that would be interesting. That, or the partner not accepting that they have to be so close.

5.3. Perspectives

Much like back when the party discovers the self-called (and often pointed at by people as intimidating) Reaper writes letters in pretty stationery and wraps up his presents in flowery prints for his sister, or the way his voice softens when he talks about her, Edna also shows a sweeter side when she speaks to Eizen that she usually wouldn’t. There is a special vulnerability in their interactions, and it’s clear they let their guards down with each other, showing a part of them that nobody else will get to see.

Tales of Zestiria: The Cross (Finale)

It soon becomes apparent in Zestiria how miserable Edna feels because of what has happened to her brother, being extremely rare that she gets to smile and laugh from the bottom of her heart. With everything these two went through, you can’t help but cheer for them to be happily reunited, whatever form it might take.

5.4. What-ifs

Eizen: “Soon after I left, my sister wrote me a letter. She said, ‘I don’t care if it’s dangerous. I want to be with you.’”

Eizen: “Maybe the old me, once I realized there was no fixing this curse, would have gone home prepared to do everything in my power to protect her.”

Eizen: “But I’m not the old me. Haven’t been since I met Aifread and his crew.”

Eleanor: “I understand. You found your place on that ship. Even if you lifted the curse, you wouldn’t move back home...” – No Reply (skit) - Tales of Berseria

It was almost by accident that Eizen found his place in the world and the meaning of his true name. Had he never taken the Van Eltia as his vessel, he would have never met Aifread and the others, and thus would have eventually returned to Edna’s side.

In Zestiria, and before the war reaches its climax, you can find a seraphim couple in Aifread’s Hunting Grounds that asks you to leave them alone. This is the couple from the “The Lovers” Sub-Event, with one of them being a very recognizable character for Zestiria players: Tiamat.

A choice like this, rejecting everyone and everything while favoring a world for only the two of them, would mean a return to a past Edna is shown to mourn.

There’s more ship potential to talk about, some relevant information to themes in both games that I have omitted, and talk related to their appearances in crossover games. However, this is already long as it is, so it’s only right to end it here.

That said, if you got this far, thank you for reading! I hope I could catch your interest, even if it was only a little.

My thanks to @familyromantic as well, for giving me an excuse to ramble at length about these two. I have been meaning to sit down and make a decent write-up for years, but I never actually brought myself to do it. Now I did!