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hoarah-babylon · 7 days

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I had to make a BIG post going over everything that's got my brain whirring after watching the story trailer - it's all my speculation and personal opinion so don't take it as fact yada yada IT'S FUN SPECULATION TIME

(I'll put it under the cut bc this is gonna be a LONG one)

“Miquella the kind spoke of the beginning. The seduction. And the betrayal. An affair from which Gold arose. And so too was Shadow born."

My interpretation of this scene is that we are seeing the creation of the Golden Order by Marika. She plucks grace from something dead and fleshy, and holds it up to the Greater Will, beckoning in her new age. It would make sense to me, considering the voiceover, that this is a dead god that has been betrayed by Marika so she can pursue her Order and claim power. It does like quite reminiscent of Kos from Bloodborne to me. The fleshiness of the corpse also reminds me of the godskins/snakeskin. However, I don't believe this is the Gloam Eyed Queen. From my understanding of the timeline (mainly thanks to @eldenringslut) the GEQ didn't come about until later on during Marika's reign - if we are seeing the creation of the GO, and my understanding of the timeline is correct, I don't think it would make sense for this to be the GEQ. I can't deny different aspects of this do allude to things related to her though - the dusky sky, the godskin-like flesh. But I almost think that would be too 'perfect' for it to fit together like that, especially with how much people want to know more about the GEQ, I think fromsoft would want to keep us in the dark and surprise us. Whatever we are seeing here, Gold and Shadow seemingly came about at the same time.

We get our first look at what appears to be Messmer's army. They appear to all wield spears which ties into Messmer's whole Impaler thing, along with the shot of the person(?) impaled on the steps. I wonder who these people were, if they had to stay in the Shadow Realm after the battle was done (if it is?). I find the design on the helmet interesting - at first glance I thought it could be a tree or roots, but actually doesn't it kind of remind you of the black tendrils that shoot out of Messmer's flame? I think it could be either, or both, or maybe it's a chicken and egg situation and they're related somehow... my first thought when the initial gameplay trailer came out was that the dark tendrils in Messmer's flame could be deathroot or something similar to that. Maybe I wasn't far off?

We get our first shot of Messmer here. His pose pretty much solidifies to me that this is his army - this is the pose of a character commanding an army. It's so classic fantasy, the composition and everything, I love it. Messmer is awesome. I'm obsessed with the snake-like flames flying above the carnage.

"What followed was a war unseen. One that could never be put to song. A purge without Grace, or honour. The tyranny of Messmer's flame."

My take on this is that once Marika had won her battle/betrayed the God we see her pluck Grace from, she had her opponents banished and/or wiped out at the hands of Messmer. I have to say, it does surprise me that it seems Messmer was around and fully grown at the creation of Marika's Order. The implications there leave me with so many questions. Who is his other parent? Marika is Numen, and they seldom give birth. This is not an insignificant thing for her to have a child, especially if the theory of births being governed by the Erdtree/Golden Order is to be believed, and this must have came about before then. It would also go against the idea that Messmer is the full brother/secret triplet of Miquella and Malenia, considering that Miq + Mal were not born until Marika had left Godfrey for Radagon. I find that detail so intriguing... especially because I was so on board with the butterfly theories.

No idea who this is, but they're cool and that definitely looks like the kind of weapon we'd be able to pick up. It just looks like a PVP weapon, know what I mean? Very reminiscent of Vyke as well imo, similar pose to the box art of him along with the billowing cape. This reminds me, I'm noticing an emphasis on hair in this trailer too - I never took much note of Marika's hair before but in this trailer there was a lot of emphasis put on how long it is, how similar it is to threads of Grace, and Miquella's hair too. It's making me think of the bible story of Samson but let me not go too off the rails

Here we have some of the coolest shots in the trailer imo. This posits the Lion/Omens as enemies of Messmer to me - which to me supports the view that Messmer is aligned with Marika. The Lion/Omens always came off to me as if they were making a mockery of the GO - positioning themselves as enemies to Marika/the GO. We get another good look at his Flame, with the tendrils. They almost remind me of thorns actually. That final shot looks like a victory scene to me. It also really hammers home the Impaler thing. The man knows his brand!

Then we pan up to see what hangs above this burned city - this 'shadow tree'. THIS IS MARIKA'S RUNE.

I think we are seeing the origins of her rune as part of the modern Elden Ring here - Grace/blessings dripping from the bough of this tree. I have to say given the imagery relating to motherhood on the run up to the DLC, the rune does look vaguely yonic, especially on the seals. I think references to motherhood are in this trailer too - Marika taking something from a fleshy orifice with a voiceover talking about seduction, I can't imagine that wasn't intentional. So far the main character we have seen is her child, after all. The whole story of Elden Ring revolves around Marika's children. I have a feeling Marika's relation to motherhood and childbearing is going to be a big theme in the DLC.

I remember when the first gameplay trailer dropped, people theorised that this was Ranni's rune, and I was happy to believe that because of the similarities to Rennala's rune. But now I believe it's Miquella's rune, for several reasons, one being it reminds me of Malenia's rune, and they are twins after all. Although Rennala and Malenia's runes are oddly similar, it just makes more sense to me that it would be Miquella's, considering we are following in his footsteps. I think these rune spikes are going to be our DLC equivalents of sites of grace.

"And so kindly Miquella would abandon everything. His golden flesh, his blinding strength..."

Abandoning his flesh is very reminiscent of Ranni... but why would he need to abandon his flesh? Perhaps after Mohg stole him away? Though I have to say, I'm warming up the idea that Mohg never actually had Miquella, he just thought he did. That might not make sense considering that body in Mohg's palace is how we get to the Shadow Lands, but I don't know, something about it doesn't sit quite right with me for some reason. The line 'his blinding strength' is a bit odd. I can't take credit for this next idea, I saw it on twitter, but someone suggested that this is referencing him potentially abandoning Malenia - his strength, his blade. For Miquella to abandon Malenia though, it doesn't exactly align with what we know of his character. This is the person that turned his back on the GO because it could do nothing for Malenia's sickness. He'd need a really good reason to do that to her. Maybe it was his only option? I'm so intrigued about why Miquella is even in the Shadow Lands to begin with. What are his motivations? Perhaps it's something to do with his proclivity to want to welcome all, especially those outside of Grace, I suppose those in the shadow lands fall under that mantle.

"Even his fate."

Now THIS is super interesting - our first look at St. Trina! In her usual purple - associated with sleep. It does also look like she's sleeping here, sinking... What on earth does it mean to say that Miquella abandoned his fate as we are shown an image of St. Trina? Was he meant to eventually become Trina fully? We don't know much about her, but we do know Trina is an aspect/alter-ego of some sort of Miquella. Considering his parents were one in the same body, it's not a stretch to assume this could be the same case here. But in Marika/Radagon's case, it doesn't seem completely intentional - with the Ring shattering, I always got the impression they each fought to be in control of their singular body. Perhaps Miquella/Trina worked together rather than against each other? The queer part of me can't help but think of some kind of allegory to transition and Miquella having to walk away from it for whatever reason... but I really don't know enough to figure anything out from this.

I saw someone point out that this shot of Trina looks like Trina's lilies too, which is super cool (sorry I don't remember who that was).

"But we are not deterred. We choose to follow. Will you walk with us?"

I'm honestly surprised to see all these characters that we saw in the previous trailer just hanging out, I assumed they'd all be enemies of different factions. But here they look like allies, and from the voiceover they sound like it too, asking if we will join them. I think the voiceover is one of these NPCs. Seeing the fighting guy second on the left has got me super excited, what if he teaches us the hands-on combat we saw him do in the first trailer? I also think the crouching character on the right is the one we saw sleeping in the purple area (Trina?) from the last trailer:

Anyway, these are my thoughts, I hope they resonate in one way or another. I can't wait to come back in a couple months and see how wrong I was <3 yayyy

#i spent 2 hours putting this together and i'm meant to be sleeping #the brain rot is SO fucking real #i'm too tired to proofread so if i spelled anything wrong no i didn't #loreposting #elden ring #sote #shadow of the erdtree #messmer the impaler #numen #marika the eternal #marika #miquella #st. trina #elden ring shadow of the erdtree #elden lore #fromsoft

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miquella-everywhere · 1 month

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Thinking about how even before the scarlet rot claimed Malenias eyes she probably had poor eyesight to begin with when she was younger.

Malenia's vision was blurry, shapes were never clearly defined, and colors melded together which made everything look abstract and untouchable. Thanks to the Rot there was always this itch in the back of her eyes that could not be scratched, and attempting too do so would only cause more scarring and bleeding, and on bad days, when the Rot festered horribly, her eyes were bandaged and obscured completely with pungent, medicinal soaked gauze, to prevent as much permanent damage as possible.

Miquella was always her guide in those younger years, and she clung to his side and tightly held his hand whenever they went out, and Miquella would tell her how the world truly looked. About how the trees had thousands of individual leaves and how the leaves had veins which carried nutrients much like how human bodies do, about how butterflies had wings with tiny little scales that were oh-so delicate, but beautiful nonetheless. She listened, utterly fascinated, as her brother enthusiastically described the world around them sparing not even the smallest detail.

It was only when she met her blind master that she truly learned how to navigate the world while completely devoid of vision.

Of course, Malenia would still hold Miquella's hand regardless of her newfound independence.

#hmmm thoughts #malenia blade of miquella #miquella the unalloyed #uri posts

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wanderingmausoleum · 2 months

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My latest Shadow of the Erdtree theory:

Could Messmer the Impaler have been partially inspired by Cú Chulainn and his spear, the Gáe Bulg, from Irish mythology?

This will be a long post with a lot of heavy speculation so buckle up!

According to the Táin Bó Cúailnge via Wikipedia (which I apologize for using as a source; I don't know much about this topic and other results seemed untrustworthy or were behind paywalls), the spear Gáe Bulg was made from a sea monster's bone, and it "entered a man's body with a single wound, like a javelin, then opened into thirty barbs. Only by cutting away the flesh could it be taken from that man's body."

Which brings me to this iconic moment in the trailer:

Although the thing impaling this person doesn't look like Messmer's spear, it looks like it may have impaled them similarly to how the Gáe Bulg is described: spear-style, with extra barbs erupting out of it afterwards. I'm not sure how the living corpse in the trailer would have kept their head and body somewhat intact unless the barbs extended from the central spike after the impaling happened. Although it doesn't look like this was done with Messmer's spear, this gruesome injury's similarity to what the Gáe Bulg was said to do makes me think it's worth mentioning.

In some versions of the legend, the Gáe Bulg had seven heads with seven barbs each. Thus it may be worth noting that Messmer's spear has 6-7 metal barbs (depending on the angle and whether you count the spear point as one) formed by its fire design:

And, right after the trailer's scene of the impaled corpse, Messmer is shown to have an attack where he stabs the floor with his spear and a bunch of identical spears erupt from the ground around it, which is another slight similarity to the Gáe Bulg's multiplicity.

Now onto the even more speculative part of this theory...

Messmer and Shadows

We know Empyreans in Elden Ring are given guard dog-like Shadows to be their guardians: Ranni has Blaidd, and Marika has Maliketh. However, Malenia and Miquella are both Empyreans, and we are given no information about their Shadow(s), a significant absence in the lore and a topic which has been given much discussion in Elden Ring spaces I've participated in.

There has also been extensive theorizing about Messmer's place in the lore, with his red hair and M initial leading many to believe he may be another of Marika and Radagon's children, alongside Malenia and Miquella.

While learning about the Gáe Bulg spear, I learned its owner, the mythical warrior hero Cú Chulainn, "gained his better-known name as a child, after killing Culann's fierce guard dog in self defence and offering to take its place until a replacement could be reared," after which he obtained his well-known spear (Wikipedia).

With this and my prior speculation about Messmer's spear and lineage in mind, this makes me wonder: did Messmer kill Malenia and Miquella's Shadow(s), and possibly become their replacement himself (whether he later defected from that position or not)?

It may be notable to mention again here that the DLC's title is "Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree" and Messmer features prominently on its cover. Considering Shadow characters are an important part of Elden Ring's lore, with Blaidd being crucial to the game's most popular ending and Maliketh being necessary to defeat to complete the game, I wouldn't put it past the Elden Ring team to give the word a double meaning here: shadows meaning literal darkness as shown in the trailer, and Shadow meaning an Empyrean's guardian.

On the other hand, of course, Messmer with all his various heretical symbolism (fire, snakes, etc.) seems to exist in opposition to the Erdtree, so if the DLC title is referring to him, him being called the Shadow of the Erdtree doesn't make much sense lore-wise.

In conclusion:

There are no conclusions yet, really! Everything I'm theorizing here is based on a lot of speculation and vague connections. There are contradictions in the Gáe Bulg's lore itself, too (such as how it "had to be made ready for use on a stream and cast from the fork of the toes" [Wikipedia], something Messmer is definitely not doing in the trailer—although, since Fromsoft decided to give so many of their character models toe articulation and Messmer's toes are out, this could be a very funny way to make use of that). On the other hand, since Fromsoft very rarely takes inspiration 1:1 from existing mythology, I still think it's possible Messmer was influenced by it even if it doesn't fit his known lore with 100% accuracy.

I welcome thoughts/theories expanding on or contradicting this, especially from anyone who knows more about Irish mythology than me! I do not know too much about Cú Chulainn's story or this mythos in general, so I'm sure there's a lot of notable information I missed.

#elden ring #shadow of the erdtree #messmer the impaler #elden ring lore #elden ring theory #elden ring dlc #messmer #there are other VAGUE connections i could mention such as the mythical spear being made from a sea monster bone vs--#godwyn and death being themed after the deep ocean #but that seems like a stretch even for me ajhgsdhjad #i simply enjoy thinking about this. i saw one post mentioning the Gáe Bulg earlier and went on a 2-hour theorizing rampage immediately #oops #speaketh

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whitewitchqueen · 3 months

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wow more stuff from @oldworldpoolhall specifically relating to this concept right here.

"Regarding the concept post you did, I feel like it took several tries for the reader to stay long in the lands between. Like they could go there yes, but most of the time they’re in a trance— it’s a dream to them after all, but they’re aware of what’s happening and remembers the dream still. I like the idea that they’re not very responsive in the way you’d expect for them to be, but Miquella is fine with that. He somehow manages to figure out it’s because you’re dreaming, you’re never awake. And it makes him long for the day he may meet you that’s out of the trance like state bc he wonders how you would be like without the haze of sleep. It took several visits from you to be close to them methinks Then one day, he tells you to take his hand in that weird space in between again. But this time, when you take his hand like you always do, something strange happens. When you woke up, you’re in Elphael. And you’re really sure you’re not in a dream anymore because you feel pain, you feel the wind, you feel the cold and smell the trees. He actually succeeds in bringing your body with you, but you react a bit differently than he expected you would— but he also expects this, of course you’d be different. You’re no longer asleep. You’re more reactive, you’re more responsive, you’re not as mute or as blank stared as before. You’re more… curious as you see the entirety of Elphael without the haze for the first time. It was strange in the dream bc you couldn’t remember or even see all of the details, but now you do. You can even remember Miquella and Malenia’s voices better now, their faces, their hair. You can feel their skin, the roughness of the rot, the gold embedded on Malenia’s skin in an attempt to subdue the rot, and Miquella’s surprisingly slightly rough and strong hands. It’s a terrifying experience though, still. And you come to the realization that your newfound friends do not care for the world in which you live in; that’s fine, you’re safe with them here in the Haligtree. When you get to Leyndell, that’s when it fully dawns on you that you’re really in another world."

---

It does take reader multiple tries to get to the Lands Between. Like they have these very vague dreams with very vague looking people in them but they don't really think much of it. I implied that reader has a sleeping disorder so they most likely take medication that makes them very woozy to it makes sense that they have super weird dreams.

When Miquella first meets you he finds you super interesting, even though that you're not super responsive he can't wrap his head around how this random person is able to get themself into his own dreams. When you become more lucid and are able to actually communicate with Miquella he ends up learning a lot about you, which is what drives him to bring you over to his world.

When you arrive in Elphael for the first time, and you realize that you aren't dreaming, you're a lot different then how you used to behave, like mentioned your more reactive, maybe even a little excited to be somewhere new. Miquella is super excited that his friend is finally here and is excited to see all the things in his world.

I think for the first few weeks everything is great, you're spending time with Miquella and Malenia, learning about this world, having a great time. And then you mention in passing, not even completely serious, something about your home. It might have been about wanting to go home or about something that happened when you were in your world and their reactions are just super cold. Like I do think that Miquella is curious about your world but whenever you bring up wanting to go home even in passing he shuts that down real quick.

And for real, when reader finally gets to Leyndell they're finally like "okay so maybe this world isn't all that great" and they just want to go home so badly.

#yandere x reader #platonic yandere #soft yandere #elden ring x reader #platonic yandere elden ring #yandere elden ring #elden ring godwyn #godfrey the first elden lord #elden ring radagon #elden ring

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protagonistpolling · 1 year

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PROTAGONIST POLLING

Why should you vote for either of these characters?

Why should you vote for Mono? (1)

"He smol, he cute, he protecc (and holds hand!!) and he attacc"

mod note: i added six because it felt wrong to just have mono by themself. they are friends and holding hands

Why should you vote for the Albatrio? (1)

"Jay, Chip, and Gillion are so cool. They’re pirates in a fantasy world, but they kind of suck at being pirates and they keep SAVING ISLANDS.

Chip is an orphan who found family in the famous Black Rose Pirates, before their ship, the Midnight Rose, got caught in a horrible whirlpool. He ended up separated from everything he knew at only 9 years old. He found a gang, of sorts, led by a boy named Reuben Price. After refusing to kill a traitor and running away with a stolen boat, he tried to live up to the legacy of his caretaker on the Midnight Rose, Arlin James, and become a great pirate so that he could find him again and make him proud.

Jay Ferin is the daughter of Jayson Ferin, a well respected general in the NAVY, and Malenia “May” Ferin, the owner of a bar. Her uncle, Drey Ferin, left to go and join the Black Rose Pirates instead of be in the NAVY. Jay also trained to be a high ranking NAVY official, and her sister, Ava Ferin, was also a NAVY official before she was killed.

Chip came to the town where Jay and her mother lived and worked at their tavern, and told people stories. They ended up working together to save someone, and Chip won a bet against Jay. Since Jay lost, she agreed to join Chip’s pirate crew, and be the second member. Later, sailing the sea, they would find a fish man floating about, and he would join them too.

That brings us to Gillion Tidestrider, the third member of the up and coming pirate crew that would one day be known as the Riptide Pirates.

Gillion happened to be born on a specific day at a specific time while specific things were happening, and so was the Chosen One of the prophecy. He was so special that his parents gave him away to the elders! He endured harsh training, as he was destined to defeat evil, and also flood the world, but that’s not important yet. The elders told him that if he managed to do well, he would be accepted and loved. He never managed to do it, and despite being surrounded by people, he felt like he was alone. Except for when his sister, Edyn, visited, he was under a lot of stress. Eventually, Edyn was forced to stop visiting, but she gave him a pet frogtopus named Pretzel to keep him company. One day, the elders had a meeting with a human. Of course, Gillion had been taught that all humans were evil and that he should hate them, so he attacked the human. However, instead of being rewarded for following the teachings, he was banished from the Undersea. He was found by Chip and Jay, who let him in their pirate crew.

They had many adventures! They blew up a building, Gillion made a deal with a sketchy guy to save a town, they started a band and saved another town, they won a competition, they saved their friend and Drey Ferin from jail, they saw old friends again and Chip defeated an evil guy, and much more! And by much more, I mean the Riptide campaign is 97 episodes long not counting the Origins video and all episodes are over one hour and usually two hours. Yeah, there’s a lot of stuff."

#tournament poll #poll2023 #little nightmares #mono ln #six ln #chip jrwi #gillion tidestrider #jay ferin #jrwi #jrwi riptide #-45 sanity from this. aughhghhg

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thatboreddrake · 1 year

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The Nature of Rot in the Lands Between:

So long story short, I was putting together a document of all the item descriptions in Elden Ring grouped by association (it's nowhere near complete). Anyway, I have a seed of an idea germinating and I need y'all to tell me if you think I'm completely off-base here.

Sources:

Enia: "The Rune of Death goes by two names; the other is Destined Death. The forbidden shadow, plucked from the Golden Order upon its creation..."

Poison Armament: "Those who dwell within poison know rot all too well. The death that begets life, that comes to all equally. That is to say: it is the cycle of rebirth put into practice."

Malenia's Great Rune: "Malenia is daughter to Queen Marika and Radagon, and her Great Rune should have been the most sacred of all."

Great Rune of the Unborn: "Amber egg clutched by Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon. Great Rune of unborn demigods. Perfects those who have been born anew. Children born anew by Rennala are all frail and short-lived. Imperfect beings, each and all"

Blue Dancer Charm: "The dancer in blue represents a fairy, who in legend bestowed a flowing sword upon a blind swordsman. Blade in hand, the swordsman sealed away an ancient god — a god that was Rot itself."

Basic idea: when Marika/Radagon established the Golden Order, they removed the Rune of Death to prevent death for them, the demigods, etc (Enia). Now, for our scholars of Greek mythology, you can probably see the flaw in this plan. See, removing death doesn't mean that the aging process stops.

In the myth of the dawn goddess, Eos, she wished that the man she loved be granted eternal life so they could be together forever. However, she failed to wish for eternal youth, so the man grew old and decrepit and eventually shrank into a grasshopper (mythology is wack sometimes).

Anyway, important bit is that the removal of death just means that people can't die no matter how much their bodies decay. So naturally this is a problem. Without death, you still have decay and rot but you cannot have the creation of new life that death brings forth (Poison Armament). Similar to the problem with Hollowing in Dark Souls, you have people who lose themselves because they are unable to die properly.

Now, some fairy realizes the problem here, and gives a blind Nox blademaster a sword imitating the form of flowing water so that he may seal away the god that is the incarnation of the unbridled decay plaguing the world (because that's easier than going against Marika and putting death back in place) (Blue Dancer Charm). So he seals away the god of Rot in the Lake of Rot and everything goes back to "normal."

Interesting Note: the word "Siofra" (as in "Siofra River Basin") is an Irish name meaning "elf or changeling." My personal headcanon is that the fairy who bestowed the sword on the blind swordsman was one of the Ancestral Followers, but that's neither here nor there.

Here's where things get interesting: As seen with Mohg and Morgott's runes, the Great Runes of siblings (and especially twins) come in pairs.

May I present:

Notice anything?

One of the runes is infested with rot, the other is undersized and pure gold.

I propose that the Great Rune of the Unborn (the great rune of "unborn demigods") was intended to be Miquella's Great Rune.

Malenia's Great Rune keys off of her fighting spirit ("due to the infusion of Malenia's spirit of resistance"), and the Great Rune of the unborn creates frail, short-lived beings ("Imperfect beings, each and all"). Perhaps what is missing from the newborn sweetings is a fighting spirit, a sense of determination, the will to go on living?

These runes were initially the Great Rune of Rebirth, the law of nature which allows beings to die and be reborn. In the beta version of the game, Malenia and Miquella's runes were the Runes of Decay and Abundance, respectively (I know that we can't use beta data as evidence, but stick with me here).

When Marika recalled Radagon to Leyndell, she fractured the Rune of Rebirth as a parting gift to Rennala. Without death for demigods, Marika has no need for a Rune of Rebirth, so she gave Rennala the fraction that would produce imperfect offspring and kept the fragment that would instill it with a soul(?) under the belief that she will bear a single child with Radagon who will inherit that rune as her true heir.

Obviously, she has the Twins, not a single demigod. Thus, Malenia was granted her Great Rune which, according to its description, "should have been the most sacred of all." The disparity is what bestows the Twins with their paired curses. Without the Rune of Growth/Abundance that was intended for him, Miquella is trapped as an eternal child (this could also be a result of him watering the Haligtree with his own blood, but I'm more of the opinion that the Haligtree came well after his and Mal's curses manifested).

So Malenia receives the decay fragment of the Rune of Rebirth (shades of the Gloam-Eyed Queen). Anyway, that's why the god of Rot was able to gain a foothold from such a young age: Marika split the Rune governing its job of death and rebirth and gave it to Malenia.

Anyway, I'm not entirely sure if I have a point that I'm trying to get to. Something about the sins of the father? What goes around comes around? Anyway, it feels like I'm on to something, but I'm not entirely sure that all the pieces are fitting correctly. Any suggestions are appreciated!

#elden ring #lore theory #malenia blade of miquella #miquella the unalloyed #marika the eternal #help if you can please

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nerdythebard · 1 year

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#56: Malenia, Blade of Miquella [Elden Ring]

[Art Credit: Aleksandra Skiba on ArtStation] ---

What's her name again?

This request comes from an anonymous reader. Surely, their goal was to give some of you lovely folks violent flashbacks. It is in fact time to venture into the world of Elden Ring and yet again face Malenia, Blade of Miquella. I'll be completely honest, I do not get the appeal of Souls games, so I never bothered to look into them, but you all very well know that your wish is my command. So let's step into the arena!

Next Time: GODDAMNIT, BARBARA!

Let's see what we need to equip for this fight:

I am Malenia

Blade of Miquella

And I have never known defeat

Um... okay... whatever you say.

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Malenia, Blade of Miquella, is a demigod, and specifically mentioned to be an Empyrean; in D&D terms, Empyreans are celestials so that will make her an Aasimar. Using the new rules from Mordenkainen's Monsters of the Multiverse, we get a +2 and a +1 to two abilities of our choice (let's get Dexterity and Constitution respectively), speed of 30 feet, Celestial Resistance to necrotic and radiant damage, 60 feet of Darkvision, the Light cantrip, and the Healing Hands ability that lets us heal a creature for [our proficiency bonus x d4] once per long rest as an Action.

Malenia, Blade of Miquella (this is the last time, I promise), is going to have the Soldier background, as we can definitely use those Athletics and Intimidation proficiencies. We also gain proficiency with one gaming set and operating land vehicles, and the Military Rank feature, which will make soldiers related to our former (remember, the concept is that D&D characters begin their new lives as adventurers) organisation recognise us, and may provide us with supplies, shelter, or help.

ABILITY SCORES

We'll start with Dexterity, as we need to be nimble with our moves and swing our weapon better than Benny Goodman. Constitution will be next, since we've never known defeat. Follow that up with Wisdom, for our Rot damage.

After that, we get Charisma - Malenia's got that intimidation skill perfected. Strength will be on the lower end, in case we need to switch weapons, and we're gonna dump Intelligence - we just need others things more.

CLASS

Level 1 - Fighter: We start with the classic, but a useful one. Fighters start with a d10 as their Hit Dice, [10 + our Constitution modifier] initial Hit Points, proficiencies in light armour, medium armour, heavy armour, shields, simple weapons, and martial weapons. Apart from her helmet and prosthetics (the latter of which you can also get, as described in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything), Malenia doesn't appear to use any armour, so we'll skip that for now, and grab her a rapier; it's not exactly a katana, but it's the best finesse weapon we can get for now.

Our saving throws are Strength and Constitution, and we get to pick two class skills from the list (Acrobatics and Perception).

Fighters get to pick their Fighting Style. You could consider picking Blind Fighting since Malenia has no eyes and doing so would make you aware of everything within 10 feet of you, but in this case we need to deal damage and a lot of it; we're going with Dueling. When we're wielding a melee weapon in one hand and no other weapon, we get a +2 to damage rolls.

Fighters also get to tap into Second Wind. As a bonus action, we can regain [1d10 + our Fighter level] once per short or long rest.

Level 2 - Fighter: With Action Surge we can now take one additional Action on our turn once per short or long rest.

Level 3 - Fighter: We choose our first subclass, our Martial Archetype. Malenia uses a long katana/odachi, but because her spirit is essentially unbreakable (and she's never known defeat), we're gonna go with the Samurai archetype. We get a bonus proficiency in one skill from the list (Insight) and we gain Fighting Spirit; as a Bonus Action, we can give ourselves an advantage on weapon attack rolls until the end of our turn and gain 5 Temporary Hit Points. We can use this ability three times per long rest.

We also gain a racial ability - Celestial Revelation. We get to choose a form to transform into for 1 minute as a bonus action (once per long rest). To keep with Malenia's Rot theme, we're gonna get the Necrotic Shroud; creatures within 10 feet of us who can see us must make a Charisma saving throw or become frightened of us until the end of our next turn. Additionally, once per turn we can deal extra [our proficiency bonus] necrotic damage to a single target when making a weapon attack or cast a spell.

Level 4 - Monk: Let's jump classes for some faster and more nimble slashes. Multiclassing into Monk gives us proficiency with stuff we already know, so instead we jump straight into Unarmed Defense. While wearing no armour or shield, our AC becomes [10 + our Dexterity modifier + our Wisdom modifier]. We also learn Martial Arts. When benefitting from Unarmed Defense and using our bare hands or a monk weapon (which the rapier qualifies as), we gain the following benefits:

We can use Dexterity instead of Strength for attack and damage rolls of our unarmed and monk weapon strikes.

We can use a 1d4 instead of the dice used for our unarmed strikes and monk weapon attacks (the value changes as we level up).

When we use our Attack action to do an unarmed strike or a monk weapon attack, we can use our Bonus Action to make an unarmed strike.

Level 5 - Monk: We gain access to the Monk's resource - the Ki energy. We start with a pool of Ki Points (that we recover when we finish a short or long rest), which we can spend to achieve the following effects:

Flurry of Blows: Immediately after making an Attack, we can spend 1 Ki point to make two unarmed strikes as a bonus action.

Patient Defense: Spending 1 Ki point lets us take the Dodge action as a bonus action.

Step of the Wind: Spending 1 Ki point lets us take the Dash or Disengage actions as bonus actions, and doubles our jump distance for the turn.

We also gain Unarmoured Movement. When not wearing armour or using a shield, our speed increases by 10 feet.

Level 6 - Monk: Here, we learn how to Deflect Missiles. Whenever we're a target of a ranged weapon attack, we can use our Reaction to attempt to reduce the damage by [1d10 + our Dexterity modifier + our Monk level]; if the result reduces the damage to 0, we catch the projectile and can use the same Reaction to throw the projectile (range 20/60) and make an attack.

We get to pick our second subclass, our Monastic Tradition. To get better with our only weapon, we're gonna choose Way of the Kensei. We can now make our rapier a kensei weapon, which will give it extra bonuses. We gain proficiency with either caligrapher's supplies or painter's supplies (choose either), and with Agile Parry, if we make an unarmed strike as part of our Attack, we can gain a +2 to our AC by using our weapon to defend ourselves. We also gain Kensei's Shot, but since we're not using ranged weapons, we'll skip that one.

Level 7 - Monk: Finally, we get our first Ability Score Improvement. We're gonna boost our Dexterity and Constitution, as it will be useful in the next level. Here, we also gain Slow Fall, which helps us when falling, reducing fall damage by [our Monk level x5]. I would also ask your DM if you can take the optional feature Quickened Healing from Tasha's (since we didn't get anything when multiclassing), which lets you spend 2 Ki Points to roll a Martial Arts die and heal the rolled number of Hit Points.

Level 8 - Druid: Time to make some things rot. Multiclassing into Druid once again gives us proficiencies we already have, so we'll jump straight into Spellcasting. Wisdom is our casting ability and we know cantrips and rituals. Druids have access to their full spell list, and they can prepare [our Wisdom modifier + our Druid level] spells each day. We start by choosing two cantrips (Infestation and Resistance) and two 1st-level spells (Jump and Longstrider). We also learn Druidic, a language unique to the druids.

Level 9 - Druid: Although druids gain their signature ability, Wild Shape here, we will not focus on that in this build (we will be using the resource for something else), so allow me to skip straight into picking our third subclass - our Druid Circle. There is absolutely no question here, we're picking Circle of Spores.

From the circle conntected to rot and decay, we pick up our first feature: Halo of Spores. We're surrounded by an invisible aura of spores and bacteria, which we can unleash onto a target. Whenever a creature moves into a space within 10 feet of us (or starts its turn there), we can use our Reaction to deal 1d4 necrotic damage (unless the target makes a Constitution saving throw) which increases as we level up (1d6 at lv. 6, 1d8 at lv. 10, and 1d10 at lv. 14).

We can also channel magic into our own spores to create a Symbiotic Entity. By sacrificing one usage of our Wild Shape, we can awaken the spores on our body and gain [4 Temporary Hit Points per Druid level], as well as the following benefits (which last for 10 minutes or until we lose the THP or until we use Wild Shape again):

When we deal damage from our Halo of Spores, we roll the damage die a second time and add it to our attack

Our melee weapon deals extra 1d6 necrotic damage to any target we hit

We can also get another spell; let's grab Protection from Evil and Good.

Level 10 - Druid: Halfway through the build and we don't unlock anything class-related, only 2nd-level spells. Enhance Ability may aid us in case of saving throws for abilities we do not excel at, and we pick up two spells from our subclass: Blindness/Deafness and Gentle Repose.

Level 11 - Druid: Time for another ASI. Putting two points into Dexterity, we now max our primary damage-dealing and evasive ability. We also collect one more 2nd-level spell, Wither and Bloom, and one more cantrip - Primal Savagery.

Level 12 - Druid: Once again, we do not unlock any class features but we get 3rd-level spells. Let's grab Plant Growth, and get Animate Dead and Gaseous Form from our subclass.

Level 13 - Druid: We get our second subclass feature - Fungal Infestation. We can now spread our spores to a recently killed person or beast. If a Small or Medium creature dies within 10 feet of us, we can use our Reaction to animate it for 1 hour (or until defeated or dismissed) with 1 Hit Point. We can use this feature a number of times equal to our Wisdom modifier per long rest. The Cleanrot knights will now serve us!

Level 14 - Monk: Time to get more sword strikes to our build. We get Extra Attack - we can now attack twice, instead of one time, during a single Attack action (plus unarmed strikes as a Bonus Action). We also get Stunning Strike; when we hit a target with our melee weapon attack, we can spend 1 Ki Point to attempt to stun the target. The target has to make a Constitution saving throw or be stunned until the end of our next turn. Additionally, our Martial Arts die becomes 1d6.

Level 15 - Monk: Our Unarmoured Movement bonus is now +15 feet. At this level, we can now deal extra Punchables™ with Ki-Empowered Strikes; our unarmed attacks now count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistances and immunities. From our subclass, we gain One with the Blade, which gives us the following benefits:

Magic Kensei Weapons: Our kensei weapon attacks now count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistances and immunities.

Deft Strike: When we hit the target with our kensei weapon, we can spend 1 Ki Point to add extra damage to our weapon equal to our Martial Arts die. We can only do so once per turn.

Level 16 - Monk: At this level, we get two really useful abilities to avoid harm. Evasion allows us to take no damage when failing a Dexterity saving throw would make us take half damage (and half damage if we'd normally take full damage). With Stillness of Mind, we can use our Action to shake off one charmed or frightened effect.

Level 17 - Monk: Time for another ASI. Let's put one point into Wisdom and one into Constitution.

Level 18 - Monk: We gain Unarmoured Movement Improvement. We can now effortlessly move across vertifcal surfaces and liquids without sacrificing any loss of movement.

Our Unarmoured Movement bonus is now +20 feet. With Purity of Body we are now sure that the Rot or any of its strains will touch us, as we're immune to poison and disease.

Level 19 - Monk: For the final ASI, we'll put one point into Constitution and leave the last one into Intelligence.

Level 20 - Monk: Our capstone is Monk 12, which gives us our final subclass upgrade: Sharpen the Blade. We can now imbue our weapon with Ki, spending up to 3 points to increase the weapon's attack force, damage, or both for 1 minute. Our Martial Arts die also changes into 1d8.

---

And that's Malenia, Blade of Miquella, who has never known defeat! (I had to squeeze that last one in!). Let's see what we have here:

First of all, we have a lot of ways to deal damage, depending whether we with to attack with our weapon, our unarmed stikes, or our Rot powers. We have also several ways of sustaining ourselves, whether by gaining Temporary Hit Points, healing with Second Wind, or casting a spell.

Our AC is 17 (+2 if we use Agile Parry), we have 50 feet of movement, a +5 to our initiative, and the average of 163 Hit Points.

This build is also difficult to maintain because of a triple multiclass, which means a lot of resource management: Ki Points, Wild Shape, Spell Slots, Martial Arts die... plus, the many options of attacking and several versions of managing your Action, Bonus Action, and Reaction moveset, this may cause some confusion.

---

Ho boy, that was something. It seems to be a satisfying build, but I also feel like I've spent a bit too much on it. I also had to reschedule the next build, but I'll explain why later. If you want to, I'll also provide commentary on the few controversies with Wizards of the Coast and D&D situation, but all in due time.

Remember that I love you and wish you all a good day or night!

-Nerdy out!

#dnd #character building #dnd build #dnd character #dnd5e #wizards of the coast #elden ring #elden ring malenia #i am malenia #malenia goddess of rot #malenia blade of miquella #fighter #kensei monk #druid #d&d druid #circle of spores

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toweringclam · 21 days

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One thing that makes analyzing Elden Ring lore so difficult is how holistic and interconnected it is. Previous games had the lore more siloed, with maybe one or two threads connecting to other silos of lore.

For example, what does Seath think about the Demons? Other than the need for his Lordsoul, does Gwyndolin have any connection at all to Nito? You'd think that the Demons and Darkwraiths would have some conflict as they're competing for the same resources, but they might as well exist in different games.

On the other hand, Godrick has two entirely different sets of soldiers, one inside the castle and one out. There are soldiers outside the castle working for Mohg or Morgott instead. The soldiers inside the castle can also be found working for Miquella, and marched with Malenia against Radahn. His weapons appear in nearly every game zone. He has a Godskin prayerbook hidden in the castle. And what the fuck is that face in the basement??

Trying to understand any one aspect quickly spirals out into a need to understand everything.

#elden ring #elden ring lore #soulsborne #dark souls #dark souls lore #soulsborne lore

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maranull · 4 months

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This is a continuation, soft of, of this lovely ask. Cause I normally do my quartet for x reader asks (Melina, Malenia, Ranni, Marika) but I had no brain power to do them at the time.

Reader being on a long train ride with Meli, go:

Melina:

Meli prefers just getting normal train tickets and spending the night on the seats. She can do more people-watching then and she also likes the open space of the wagon better than getting into a cabin. She spends a lot of time dragging you up and down all the wagons, curiously looking at everything and discretely observing everyone. After the train-exploration is concluded, she'll go back to her seat and watch the landscapes go by. She might also pull out a map of the area and somehow pinpoint exactly where the train is as it moves. She jumps out at every stop and makes it a game to enter the train at the very last second, teasing you that she might get stranded. Speaking of games, she has quite the knowledge about games you can play without any items at hand and so you play a bunch of them together. At night she uses her cloak (she always carries it around, you never know when a good cloak might be needed) to cover you both, then leans on you and falls asleep. Suddenly those plain seats are more comfortable than a king-sized bed, who would had thought?

Ranni and Marika's pieces were jokes but since Meli's is serious I decided I'm not writing the comedy-duo for this one.

#elden ring #melina #melina adoring hours again #x reader #headcanons

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bitchfitch · 3 months

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chapter 4 from that elden ring fanfic (needed to post it on its own for a thing)

There was a rattling noise coming from the air conditioner in Radagon's car. No one could remember if it was Miquella or Malenia who shoved the folded up sticker responsible for the sound through the vent slats when they were four. The rattling and quiet purr of traffic filled the empty spaces of the car during the otherwise deathly silent ride.

Radagon kept his eyes on the road, his jaw tight, his grip at ten and two on the wheel. The tendons in the back of his hands flexed as his fingers twitched in their grip on the wheel. Tightening and loosening over and over again as Radagon picked through his own thoughts.

Miquella tried not to look like he was paying too much attention to the unconscious fidgit. It wasn't like he could divine his father's thoughts from the twitching of his fingers, but sometimes he wanted to believe he could.

The security guard in the little station by their school's fence didn't even look up from his book when he opened the gate for them. It always seemed a very blase response for a security guard to give a black car with heavily tinted windows driving up to a highschool on Saturday, even if Miquella knew they were an identifiable lot, Radagon with his massive build and bright red hair worn loose, and Malenia with hers tied back to make a point of not hiding the extensive scarring on her face, and Miquella... was there too.

When they parked Radagon cleared his throat before unlocking the backdoors to let them out.

"Mal, can you give your brother and I a moment? He'll be in right after you."

Malenia hesitated, waiting a beat for Miquella to give protest to the idea before nodding when none came. "Yes sir," She gives Miquella a tight half smile "I'll wait for you by the changing rooms," before grabbing her duffle and escaping into the parking lot.

The door closed with a dampened thunk that Miquella felt as much as he heard. Radagon was still staring forward. His hands still on the wheel. He sighs and lets his shoulders drop.

"I'm going to be gone a few days. But I was wondering if you'd want to do something when I got back. There's a suit shop in town, a proper one that tailors them to fit," he pauses, his eyes flicking up to find Miquella in the rear view mirror. "I wanted to wait until you were a little older to take you, to see if you'd get any taller, you know, but... with everything that's been going on, and your 16th coming up, I think it'll be a good thing for us to do. A proper father son bonding experience."

Miquella knew this was his vain attempt to make up for the dress, an olive branch being held out between them. He couldn't help but wonder what snakes were hiding in it or when it would be turned into a switch.

"Uh, I'll see what my schedule is like. Midterms are coming up and I don't want to lose too much study time-" Miquella tenses when Radagon's face hardens again.

"It won't take longer than any of your playdates do. I'll check your schedule and get an appointment set up for us, ok?"

"Ok," he knew when to let a fight be a loss, "Thank you but- Malenia- She needs help with suiting up. I don't want to keep her waiting too long," with that the door unlocked so he could step out into the late winter day. The light chill being a relief from the pressure of being alone with Radagon.

Miquella hurried to catch up with Malenia as his father's car pulled out of it's parking spot. Too focussed on willing himself into faux calm to notice the trio of boys from his grade loitering in the otherwise empty hall until it was too late.

The leader of the posse, a military brat who's name Miquella had never felt was worth learning, stepped away from his crew just enough to 'accidentally' hip check Miquella as he attempted to pass them.

"Hey what's the rush? Class doesn't start for another ten Euraidd," the brat sneered, clamping a hand on Miquella's bicep to make him freeze. Miquella didn't know when he learned that trick, or if he knew why it worked, but that never mattered when it happened. It always made Miquella stop dead like a deer staring down a semi's headlights.

"Probably just looking for her big sister," one of the lackies chimed.

"Weird to see them separated. Thought you were supposed to be the cripple's seeing eye dog," the third added on.

"Ptchssh, lay off her Ed," the brat steps around him to stand behind Miquella with his hands on his shoulders. The change in grip not at all helping when there were fingers digging into the flesh above his collar bones. "She's clearly a puppy, not a dog. I mean look at her! She's what, nine?"

They were trying to get him to be the one to start the fight, to escalate 'friendly teasing' into a thrown elbow that could justify proper aggression.

"Malenia is waiting for me," he tried to shrug off the brat's hands, taking a step to the side to escape the circle, but the grip only tightened as the larger boy dragged him back into place.

"Hey we're just playing Micky. No reason to go running off so soon. She'll be fine on her own for a bit. We had something we needed to chat about with you anyways," he lifts one hand from Miquella's shoulder to flick his braid back and forth over the nape of his neck. "Heard a nasty rumor and just needed to set the record straight with you so that next time we could defend him for you.

"A lil birdy said your brother knocked up some bitch before he killed himself."

Miquella bristled, for a moment loosing his temper and getting beat to shit before he was expelled didn't look like such a bad consequence for punching the brat. He was saved though, from cracking his teeth with the force of how hard he was clenching his jaw to hold his tongue, and from what would happen should he loose it, by one of the girls in their class shoulder checking the brat.

Finlay, Miquella knew her name because Malenia had once made a point of complimenting her skill, shoved the brat aside. She wasn't the biggest woman in the world nor was she the best fighter, but she had bulk to her and a stubborn fire that Malenia liked.

"Back off," it was a simple command, and one the brat moves to follow, holding his hands up defensively.

"Fuck sakes, Cleanrot. Don't spook a guy like that! I might have accidentally yanked poor- hey!"

Miquella took that as his cue to escape down the hall towards the girl's locker room. Though she was a bit shorter than the brat, Finlay had a foot of height on Miquella and, if he was remembering correctly, her father might very well be brat's commanding officer. Even if the trio felt comfortable going after him there wasn't a chance in hell of any of them touching her. Besides what help would he be in a fight like that.

The bickering faded as he rounded the last corner between him and the locker room, and with it he managed to breath a little easier.

Malenia was waiting for him just beside the door, her cane tapping against the floor along to the rhythm of the song playing in her ear bud as she typed away at a message to someone.

"We owe Finlay," Miquella said to her as he bent to pick up her bag, "The goons were bothering me and she stepped in."

"Why?" Malenia pocketed her phone and followed him through the door.

"Probably to make sure we owed her."

A few of the girls greeted them both, Miquella's use of the girl's locker room having not been questioned once in the time they've attended this class. As far as the other students knew Malenia needed help getting suited up, so of course her twin would follow her to the back corner and offer assistance while he got his suit on over his under clothes too. Everyone was fully clothed anyways, dressing in the locker rooms being more for convenience than modesty, and it wasn't like anyone of the young men and women that made up their class really saw Miquella as a boy equal to their peers. He was too... stunted for that.

"What held you two up? I was about to start texting Mal to ask if you two were breaking your attendance streak," one of the seniors, Tamra, asked.

"Our dad just wanted to talk to me about buying a suit," Miquella shrugged, not wanting to involve the others in whatever the goons had been attempting even if he was still simmering from the brat's attempted insult of Godwyn. It was a car accident. Miquella knew it was an accident. "He wants me to wear one to Malenia and I's birthday party."

"I can't imagine you in a suit... Either of you really," one of the other girls said as Miquella helped Malenia step into her trousers, she didn't need the help, he just needed to justify his presence.

"I could make a suit work," Malenia replied, leaning on Miquella's shoulder to brace herself.

"Yeah I mean you Could, but you're both so-" Tamra mimed doing a cute sway in a skirt "-You know? All graceful and pretty."

"My sister got married in this like, lacey dress suit thing. They'd both look good in that... Malenia especially. Like the lace plus the engravings she has on her bicep? Perfect look," the other girl chimed in as the door opened and Finlay stepped in. She was greeted much the same as the twins had been. Miquella makes a point of shooting her a smile.

"I don't think the place Dad has in mind will sell that kind. He wants me to wear a proper manly suit," Miquella directs the attention away from Malenia's looks with an eye roll. There's snickering at that idea from everyone listening. Miquella again bit his tongue to stamp down the feeling that came from the others finding the idea of him 'dresed like a man' comical. He was feminine and often he was a woman, but he was still a man most of the time.

"Why?" Tamra asks, "Also, who wears a suit to their sweet 16?"

"We do," Malenia sighs, "Same reason we're not inviting anyone we like. It's more for our mom and dad to show off how refined we are to their business friends."

"Yeah, It's all gonna be pageantry. But, since none of those people or their kids know us we do suspect we'll be making off with a good number of gift cards."

"We're hoping they'll try to outdo eachother to impress mom."

Some of the girls laugh, some who were closer to Miquella and Malenia's level and who knew what it was like to have their parties made into business meetings grimaced and offered quiet condolences. They were all done getting ready for the class now, their bags shoved in lockers and their helmets and sabers under their arms, so the herd moved from the locker room to the main gymnasium. The conversation between them drifting and breaking off to other topics amongst smaller groups.

After drills came the bouts. Malenia and Miquella found their usual spot on the bleachers. Low enough to have a good view, far enough away that Miquella's commentary wouldn't bother the other students.

"Tamra and Samira are up. Samira is stiff, I suspect her shoulder is still hurting her," the rhythm of narrating their fellows' fights was easy if dull for Miquella who didn't care much for the sport. Malenia loved it though and listened intently as she prepared to take her turn. Every described bout adding more and more notes to the library of strategy she had for taking on any one of their peers.

Though today it seemed they were destined to be interrupted.

"Finlay is approaching us from your side," Miquella warned as Finlay slid along the bench.

"Hey. Hi," she smiled awkwardly, sitting too straight as both twins turned their attention to her completely. "So, I heard what you were talking about in the locker room. Ok, and I just... Need a little favor. I need an invite to your party. I don't have to actually Go, but I need need need an invite."

"What?" Malenia raised a brow at her.

"You all will get this. My dad doesn't like my friends right, since you know, none of them are straight or-" she puts on a bad imitation of her father, "- of the right sort-" and immediately drops out of it to continue her ramble, "- So I thought if I could prove to him I was rubbing elbows with the Euraidd's it would get him off my back a little, you know?" There's a beat where they both just blink at her, she continues to run her mouth, "And You know, we're the only three out queers in our school, We should-"

"Stop. Who told you that?" Miquella interupted.

"We're not queer," Malenia tacks on defensively.

"Funny," Finlay snorts, "But I'm serious please- Wait you two are also being serious?"

"Yeah? We're both straight," Miquella lies and Malenia nods.

"Guys..." Finlay finally runs out of words, and takes a moment to gather more. "Listen, I won't tell anyone, but Seriously, everyone already knows. Or, they already know about Miquella being a girl. I think we all just, you know, assume you're into girls."

"I'm not a girl-" Miquella starts and then takes a deep breath, "Fine. If You're so sure about us, might as well let us be sure about you."

"She's a lesbian," Malenia answers his question before Finlay can.

"Bi but yeah, girls. Anyways. Invite?"

"You aren't going to drop that are you?" Miquella sighs, already forming a plan to get her off their back. She was stubborn and liked proving herself...

"Nope, not until I have it."

"Fine. A mat just opened up. Go beat Malenia in a bout and you can have an invite," it was a stupid bet and Miquella didn't actually care all that much if she was invited or not, but he resented her calling him a girl and so publicly bringing up the dirty laundry that was his and Malenia's atypicalities. Even if they did owe her.

"I can take you no problem -"

"I didn't say take me. I said take her. Besides, it's a segregated class boys and girls don't get to share the mats."

"I'll go easy on you," Malenia would have rolled her eyes. "C'mon Cleanrot. I haven't managed to get him to change his mind once, you aren't doing it today."

"But-"

"It's this or backing off." Miquella turned his attention to his nails with a huff, thoroughly being done with this argument.

"Fine. Fine, I get it, you two need to be like This about everything. Legally," Finlay stood and stomped after Malenia, her determination clearly winning out over her frustration with them.

Miquella didn't care for fencing, until it was Malenia holding the saber. Her modified prosthetic mimicked a real grip as best as the twins had been able to make it. To keep in line with unwritten regulations. But as she stepped to the mat and donned her helm it was easy to imagine her with a saber prosthetic actually made to compliment her instead of mimic others.

They were counted in. Finlay lunged first, Malenia countered easily. A fast exchange of swiping strikes and then the buzzer sounding as a strike finally found its mark on the other girl's vest.

Malenia held her saber too high in the final moments. It wasn't even a close miss. Miquella knows what it looks like when she throws, and aggravation boils his blood.

Finlay had won. Malenia let her perfect streak die to Give away a match.

Half sincere clapping spread through the watching students as the girls returned to where they had left Miquella. Malenia was a prodigy with no compare amongst them, even winning a thrown match against her was something worthy of praise.

"What was that?" Miquella hissed at her, letting his usual calm and sweet mask fall away into a bitter faced pout.

"Don't rub it in," Malenia's tone was utterly dry, "The first loss of the year always hurts the most."

"Invite?" Finlay's smug smile was the only thing more irritating than her victory.

"A deal ia deal," Malenia knew she didn't need to push it further than that.

"You're both the worst," Miquella pulled out his phone to find the text thread between him and the party planner, telling her to edit the invite for General Cleanrot to be for Finlay and company instead.

"Miquella, you're up." their teacher called. She let him slack off, knowing he was only here for Malenia's sake, but never did she let him escape a session without a bout.

He groaned, dropping his phone in Malenia's lap and sulking off to see who the least physically adept student would be facing today. Only to have someone volunteer instead of be assigned.

The brat sneered at him from the other side of the mat before their helmets went on. Miquella was just grateful he wasn't stupid enough to run his mouth while their teacher was right there.

They were counted in. Miquella fainted to the left before slapping his saber against the brat's right side. A quick and messy win that came only from the brat's muscle memory being developed against taller opponents, but a full win none the less. He disengaged the second the buzzer sounded. Stepping back and out of reach before he could be punished for lingering.

"Good job, both of you. Best two out of three?" the teacher pushed the idea of another bout, but Miquella was already unplugging his wires.

"Malenia needs someone to tell her what's happening," he lied, knowing the teacher didn't care enough to force him.

"It's not even a fair matchup, She should be in the kiddie league-"

"That is enough-" The teacher turned her full attention to the brat as Miquella trotted back up the bleachers to where the girls were now talking between themselves.

Malenia had moved into his seat to sit closer to Finlay so Miquella just took hers.

"We're going to Finlay's after this," Malenia says as he settles. "Her dad is out of town and she has the code to his sword room and wants to pay us back with a tour."

"That can be how she pays You back. You two can both pay me back by saying I was with you if anyone asks."

"Why?" Finlay laughs, "What're you going to be up too that's so cool you'll turn down a hands on look of some sick ass swords? Malenia said you were like, into making them and everything."

Malenia doesn't say anything now, Miquella notices how she stills though. She has an idea of where he'll be and he'll be hearing her disapproval of it the next moment they have alone.

"None of you business," he responds to them both as he begins counting down the minutes until Mohg would have someone come get him.

#im applying to be a writer on a zine and this is literally the only thing thats recent and im proud of that doesn't involve cannibalism #just bitchfitch things #that highschool au thing

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miquella-everywhere · 2 months

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Hi Uri! If you're still doing the ask game, could I get 8 and 9 for Miquella?

How loose is their use of the phrase ‘I love you’?

Do they give tough love or gentle love most often? Which do they prefer to receive?

8. How loose is their use of the phrase ‘I love you’?

Miquellas I love you's are all encompassing and found in everything that he does. Miquella said I love you when he created Unalloyed Gold in the form of a needle to ease Malenias pain and in her prothesis which gave her the mobility to become an unparalleled warrior. I love you was in him bleeding and watering the Haligtree with his blood so that it may grow and become a haven to those persecuted in the world. I love you was Miquella creating Golden Epitaph and praying for Godwyns remains to die a true death and be free from such a horrific curse. I love you was gifting us Torrent and the Spirit Calling Bell to help aid us on our journey, all while he awaits his promised Lord in the Realm of Shadow.

9. Do they give tough love or gentle love most often? Which do they prefer to receive?

Miquellas love has always been gentle. A gentle love that aches so painfully sweet. You confess your sins and Miquella understands, his love and understanding sears and hurts your soul like no wound or injury ever could. You kneel and weep before him but Miquella smiles and places a hand atop your head, the small hand weighs heavily and you can barely breathe. But you find yourself craving more of the asphyxiations tender sweet burn. Miquella absolves you of all sins and now you will never be the same.

#kinda went off on this one lol #hc but miqs love is 100% genuine and pure but it can be so very dangerous and addicting like a drug #amd that can spell problems for others and even miqs own safety #uri answers #miquella the unalloyed

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theslowesthnery · 2 months

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Nah, but going off on the idea of Mohg losing an arm -- whatever the scenario might be.

It ends up being Miquella creating a prosthetic for Mohg.

Of course, there's some words exchanged... Could be any number of things.

"You took me from the Haligtree and left it vulnerable." There's a bit of ire from Miquella. He scolds, but isn't overly harsh.

But he still sets about to help Mohg... There's other things that he wants to help Mohg with; but first, he wants to make a prosthetic for Mohg.

Miquella going over, like... Measurements.

Because if he's to make a prosthetic for Mohg, it's obviously gotta fit.

Of course Mohg's topless so of course during that time Miq's going around with a measuring tape, he's just purring like a motor.

Miq asks Mohg about details and he's just sort of...

"Is that important?"

"For the functionality, not really... But I want to make something that you, personally, would be happy with. So yes. It IS important in a way because its yours."

After the prosthetic is installed, Miquella asks Mohg to try it out.

It... takes a lot of practice. But one of the first things he does, once he has it mastered, is hold Miquella's hand.

"... I once carried you in my left arm when I whisked you away."

"... And here you are, holding my hand with your new one."

"... Does it... Bother you...?"

"No."

YES

i'm a huge softie so i always think of miquella as someone almost incapable of hating anyone, and having shared the cocoon (and perhaps even dreams) with mohg, he has felt what drives mohg, and therefore knows that in his completely misguided way (thanks, formless mother) he was trying to do good, and that all he ever really wanted was love and acceptance and not being loathed and mistreated. so even though mohg did wrong him, miquella can't bring himself to hate him - if anything, what mohg did just makes miquella want to save him all the more. is he not the perfect example of the pain and suffering the golden order has caused?

tl; dr, i'm fully onboard the idea of miquella making a prosthetic for mohg 😌 it's the last thing mohg expects, shocked that miquella would want to come anywhere near him after everything he did, and a part of him does wonder if this is some elaborate punishment beyond his comprehension. but the arm is functional - beyond just functional, even - and causes him no pain, and on top of that it's even beautiful.

(malenia isn't happy about any of it. miquella doesn't owe mohg anything and should be staying as far rom him as possible, she thinks, or if anything he should be insisting on worse punishment for the omen, not wasting his kindness on someone like him. perhaps there's a bit of jealousy as well, or resentment that she now has something in common with mohg, and that miquella will continue to see him in order to adjust and maintain his prosthetic.)

#elden ring for blacklist

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tarnishedinquirer · 4 hours

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Godrick the Grafted

I summoned Nepheli Loux to my side, stepped through the golden mist, and exited into a long strip of land flanked with graves. At the end was a central keep, looking as much mausoleum or temple as seat of power. A small dragon was impaled on a spire, presumably the one that crashed into the floors just outside. A massive, lumpy, misshapen figure approached it.

This could only be Godrick.

The wind carried his words to me. He spoke to the dragon lovingly, calling it a "kindred" and a "trueborn heir," and asked it to deliver him to greater heights.

Then he noticed my presence, and his demeanor shifted. See, everything I'd heard about this man told me he was a coward. Hiding from Radahn, licking Malenia's boots, sneaking out of Leyndell. His legitimacy was in question, his castle was crumbling, his soldiers were deserting... every sign pointed to a reign that was at an end.

And then I showed up. A Tarnished of no renown. Having defeated all his soldiers, looted his entire castle. To him, in this moment, I was a living manifestation of his every inadequacy and failure. I represented the inevitability of his fall.

My presence enraged Godrick.

He threw off his clloak, revealing the tangled mass of arms that was his body. His limbs were made of knotted coils of other limbs like muscle fibers. Some hands hung free at his shoulders. One held a spare axe. But in his main hands, he held a giant, golden axe with a heraldic crest on it. He slammed it into the ground and shouted, "I command thee KNEEL!"

At first, he was slow and lumbering, dragging his axe behind him as he hobbled towards me. His body was a patchwork of limbs and torsos, grafted from other unfortunates who had come through here, and I thought they weren't all working in concert. I had plenty of time to summon Aurelia before he got to me. But the second she spat poison at him, he whipped his axe in a vortex around his head, summoned the wind, and started rolling at me.

Walking like a normal person might not be his strongest suit but powered by the wind, and with so many limbs to propel him, he could tumble with breathtaking agility. It was all I could do to avoid his axe.

Nepheli Loux barreled into him, matching control of wind for hers. But she had an advantage he did not: she could also command the lightning. Each blow of her axe was accompanied by a yellow levinbolt. But Godrick had other tricks up his sleeve. He brought his axe down on the ground, stomped on hit like it were a shovel, and the earth around him heaved, knocking Nepheli Loux off her feet.

I was hanging back and throwing Glintstone Pebbles at him, but he sent two blasts of wind my way. I dodged them both, and lunged in with my sword ablaze in blue magic just as Nepheli Loux recovered and hit him with everything she had in her. He dropped to his knees, and I took the opportunity to plunge my sword into his chest, somewhere in the general vicinity of where his heart was.

I was not close enough.

Godrick threw us off, raised his axe, and....

...severed his own arm?

I think we were both too stunned to stop what happened next. Even Aurelia stopped, whatever passed for her brain failing to comprehend what exactly he could possibly be doing. Godrick staggered over to the dragon, screaming and laughing maniacally, clearly pushed to to the brink. He plunged his the bleeding stump into the dragon's neck and wrenched it off.

The dragon's head twitched.

I don't know the rules of grafting, but this seemed somehow against them.

Godrick raised the dragon's head above his and, despite its lack of lungs, it roared.

"Forefathers one and all," he shouted, as it breathed a gout of flame into the air. "Bear witness!"

My battle with Agheel had taught me that the best place to be when a dragon breathed fire was behind it, so without hesitation I sprinted past Godrick. The fire had a physical force that seemed to add to its mass, and he could not turn fast enough to catch me. He summoned the wind, but added a tiny gout of flame, turning it into a firestorm. He rolled at me again, and when he landed, a wave of flame went out from his axe. Even his stomp as empowered, now rocking the entire land bridge. He did not even care if he perished anymore, as long as we perished with him.

Nepheli Loux, barely clinging to life, slammed her axe into his gut and spun him around so his back was to me. I leaped on top of him, charged my sword once more, and plunged it down through his collarbone—his original collarbone. He spasmed, gagged, then went utterly still.

Nepheli Loux leaped in and he caught her in the dragon's arm, cackling like a madman as slammed her into the ground and roasted her alive. As I watched, the arm was already erupting in sores and pustules. There was no way it would last this fight, but he could certainly kill us before it rotted away.

Suddenly, he coughed. Choked, even. Godrick was seized by a coughing fit that only ended when he vomited black bile, forcing him to release Nepheli. I realized what was happening when I saw another spurt of purple fluid from Aurelia. Her poison had finally taken effect!

Staring unseeing at the Erdtree, he said:

I am lord of all that is golden One day we'll return together To our home bathed in rays of gold...

It sounded like the man had rehearsed his last words, like he knew this day would come and wanted them to be good. It was a poem, but I didn't get to hear any more. He hadn't accounted that his lungs would be filling up with blood and bile. The next lines trailed off into gurgles as all the various limbs started falling off his body. I took the sword and jumped back as he came apart, rotted into nothing, and left only a tiny, shriveled torso on the ground.

Nepheli Loux returned to her world, Aurelia to her ashes, and I stared down at the broken thing before me that was once a demigod.

Then Gostoc appeared and stomped on his head.

He continued ranting as he stomped the former lord's head into pulp, and I decided that whatever those two had going on before this, I didn't need to know. It was time to move on.

Is the Golden Lineage descended from dragons?

Why does his axe have a similar emblem to the Grafted Blade Greatsword?

#godrick #godrick the grafted #godrick the golden #gostoc #gatekeeper gostoc #nepheli loux #stormveil #elden ring lore #elden ring #in character #in character blog #in character post #let's play

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