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on-stained-glass-wings · 2 years

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☕️ + Marika

TW: Implied incest; implied marital rape; discussions of child abuse and neglect; discussions of eugenics and genocide.

Malenia chuckled huskily and rested her head against the back of her 'throne' in the roots of the Haligtree, staring with sightless, scarred eyes up at the sky. The red and golden orange of the coastal sunset bathed her face and caught the thick red hair spilling over her shoulders in a flame-like sheen. Miquella, curled up in his blanket nest in the hollow of the roots, slept blissfully on.

" Miquella is far more magnanimous when it comes to Mother than I," Malenia whispered harshly, turning her face towards her brother's nest. " We have discussed our family many a time, and when it comes to Queen Marika the Eternal, Miquella simply feels...sad. He neither likes her nor respects her actions and ideals--and how could he, once he learned of the atrocities and genocides she has committed in the name of the Greater Will. Yet he recognizes that she herself is trapped and mostly powerless in the face of her patron god; indeed, the Elden Ring is as much a shackle around her throat as it is the manifestation of Regression and Causality. The way Miquella looks upon Mother is the way one would look upon a starving, rabid dog in the rain: dangerous, yet so terribly pitiful. He considers the inevitability of stripping her of her Grace as a mercy."

Malenia turned her face back towards the canopy, humming in satisfaction at the faint warmth playing on her pockmarked skin.

" Miquella, as always, is the better of us...for he finds it in his pure, good heart to love her still, whereas my own love has long since wilted, choked in the thick overgrowth of my anger and...hate. Yes, I freely admit that I hate Mother with every inch of my rot-burned body, and every scrap of my weary will. It is a hate that is both personal and ideological. Idealogically, I hate her for the genocides she committed against the giants, the omen, the Nox, and the nomadic tribes. I hate how she has isolated the Lands Between from the rest of the world, converting visitors to our lands but sending none in turn, for who could possibly want more than the stagnant golden grace of the Erdtree? I hate her for cowing to the Greater Will and throwing her own children into the sewers to pitifully waste away. I hate her banishing Lord Godfrey and the entirety of his people from the Lands Between, all in the name of some grand task, some eternal grasping at more and more power and more and more strength. I hate how she has wielded fundamentalism as a spiked flail, forcing the demi-humans into either exile or slavery, and turning a blind eye to the slaughter and persecution of the albinaurics. Even if I was not her daughter, I would hate her for this alone."

Malenia's left hand clenched into a trembling fist in her lap, and she moved from leaning over the back of the chair to slumping forward, picking up her prosthetic arm from the ground with palpable weariness.

" Yet as her daughter, I hate her more." Malenia spat bitterly, resting the prosthesis on her lap and running the fingers of her left hand along the worn, grooved joints, crude gold patches, and hastily hammered dents. The act seemed to calm her somewhat, although her shoulders were still taught with tension. " I hate that she forced Father away from the woman he loved and into her bed without his consent. I hate that she broke both Father and dear Rennala--who will forever be a better woman, queen, and mother than Marika could ever hope to be--all in the name of an Empyrean heir of her own; for she could not let the Carian family line have control of the Elden Throne, now could she?" She chuckled bitterly and let her head hang low between her shoulders. " Is it any wonder that Miquella and I are cursed, having been born from such better designs, such selfish whims, and such...such violation? We would be cursed even if Mother and Father were not..."

Malenia trailed off, unable to admit her family's greatest secret and greatest shame, even to the most well-intentioned stranger. Finlay and Ranni had been the only two beings the twins had ever told, and they intended to keep it that way for the foreseeable future.

Even without saying it, though, the revulsion and bitterness of such a lie...such a blasphemy...such a crime against nature in and of itself...it made her want to vomit.

" I hate her for her hiding me away when I was suffering with rot." Malenia said after a moment of heavy silence. " For believing my pain would lead me to greater strength and power--and then, when I remained rotted and sad and not stronger through adversity, she grew disdainful. 'Should ye fail to be nothing at all, ye shall be forsaken.' That is always what she said to me when I was being too troublesome--too unruly--and I knew in my heart that it was a threat. She had thrown her newborns into a sewer simply because they were born 'cursed'; why would she hesitate with a miserable, unruly daughter disfigured by rot? Even after I grew my skill with the sword, she was cold, distant. I was simply a replacement champion for her--someone to wage her wars and fight her battles as her proxy when Father was too heavy with melancholy to move. Even being chosen as an Empyrean did not satisfy her...although she certainly was cross when I renounced my Two Fingers mere days later."

The memory of her mother's sour-lemon face brought a rueful smile to Malenia's lips. She shook her head and began to flex the finger joints of her prosthetic arm, checking to see if any needed oiling or smoothing.

" Yet even if she was naught but the sweetest, kindest, most devoted mother to me...even if she had not forced Father to lie with her to conceive my brother and I...I would still hate her, for I consider what she did to Miquella innumerably worse than what she did to me. She used his intelligence, his ideas, his brilliant creativity for her own aims, trotted him around like a show pony during political affairs and royal events, only to regard him with naught but cold eyes and stony silence when in private. She considered Miquella to be an eternally innocent, pure, meek little boy; and yet when it came to caring for that boy? The moment he stopped growing was the moment she stopped acting as his mother. He was as old as I was, she said, so he did not need any 'coddling'...and Miquella, so desperate he was for Mother's love, agreed, and tried so valiantly to make himself into an adult he could never be. Yet he was not an adult--still is not an adult--and he still so desperately needed his mother's love and touch. She knew this, but she could not be bothered with him, so it was up to I--his sister--to act as mother in her stead." Malenia wearily rubbed her eyes with her left hand.

" I do not regret it. I have never once resented Miquella for staying young while I have grown older--for needing more from me than as a twin and a friend. 'tis not his fault, and we are so precious and dear to each other...it does not matter to me that I am younger twin, bosom friend, co-ruler, bodyguard, blade, and mother all at once. I cherish this unique, bewildering, yet beautiful relationship we share, and I would gladly strike this balance until the end of our days if need be. All I have ever felt about Miquella's stagnation is guilt--guilt that I, the younger twin, was forced to leave him behind."

Her lips curled into an almost feral snarl.

" Yet Queen Marika the Eternal, who abandoned her child when he needed her the most...I shall hate her until the stars fall and the sun melts into itself. I shall hate her until there is nothing left of me to feel such hate. And if it turns out the reason behind her disappearance is her death...even if it means that Father is also..."

Malenia swallowed, and when she spoke again, her voice was choked and cracking.

" ...if she has died...then I hope she died in a manner that she deserved: alone; abandoned; slowly; and howling in indolent rage at the Greater Will--the one being in the universe even colder than she."

#answered entreaties (asks)#fulgrantfirstborn #the goddess speaks (malenia answers)#golden abundance and scarlet decay (headcanons)#golden queen of stagnation (marika)#forge red hair and golden hammer (radagon)#cw: discussion of child abuse #tw: discussion of child abuse #tw: discussion of child neglect #cw: discussion of child neglect #tw: implied rape #cw: implied rape #about the rot goddess (malenia)

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on-stained-glass-wings · 2 years

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lay marry kill wizard edition: sellen rogier rennala

('Lay, marry, or kill' for Sunday! Malenia only!)

Ugh. Ugh. Really?

" Lay Sellen." Malenia said tiredly, rubbing her scarred face in her hands. " For while she is a despicable creature, she is the only person in this selection who is female and not my stepmother. Marry Rogier, because I refuse to marry my stepmother. This leaves the 'kill' option, but I am certain Rennala will live, for she is one of the few sentient beings in this world that I truly fear. Rennala's sorceries are naught to be trifled with."

#answered entreaties (asks)#try maidens but despair (memes)#the goddess speaks (malenia answers)#i'm fucking dying hgiouaershgiaorejhogiae #glintingstones

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on-stained-glass-wings · 2 years

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Gwynfor lifts his skirts, admiring the sheer silkiness of the fabric against his fingers. Truth to be told, the Tarnished had never imagined that he could wear something so delicate, being the warrior that he was.

He turned away from Malenia, letting the pale white shawls drape down his back and shoulder blades. "What do you think? Would Bel like this? Would he... smash or pass?"

(@fulgurantfirstborn basically wearing that dress you find in Leyndell)

Malenia hummed thoughtfully and tipped her head to the side. After a moment, she nodded severely, the right corner of her mouth ever-so-slightly turning upwards.

" For lack of a better term for it, yes, I do believe Bel would 'smash'...although I certainly hope he at least makes you dinner first." Her stern facade cracked even more as she chuckled under her breath. " Especially if he is fond of your legs. And back. As unusual as such costume would be, I know I would find Finlay fetching in such garb."

#fulgurantfirstborn #answered entreaties (asks)#the goddess speaks (malenia answers)#malenia's like yaas slay king

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on-stained-glass-wings · 2 years

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𝐒𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐇 𝐎𝐑 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐒

" Well...considering that you are one of the Tarnished who seek to kill me and claim my Great Rune for your own, I shall have to pass on this one, despite you being rather fetching...in a haphazard way."

#mei-is-tarnished #the goddess speaks (malenia answers)#malenia appreciates a good mixed butch and femme aesthetic

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on-stained-glass-wings · 2 years

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Would Malenia like a flower? Because there is a whole basket of them being slowly scooted towards her by a very nervous Willow

" Oh!"

While Malenia is no stranger to gifts (being a goddess and all), most of the 'tributes' went to Miquella, and the ones she received tended to be 'practical': lovingly handcrafted weapons; armor that was always far too heavy (or skimpy) to be practical; hunting trophies preserved via taxidermy; and homebrewed tinctures and tonics given by well-meaning healers in an attempt to soothe her rot (but only tended to put her to sleep or make her breathe mint for a week). The softer gifts--fabrics, flowers, sweets, and fruits--were Miquella's purview, so to receive such a bountiful basket of flowers was...a surprise, albeit an extremely pleasant one.

" My thanks, dear girl," Malenia said with a smile, not being very familiar with Willow but seeing nothing but unguarded sweetness in her eyes--just like Miquella. She was immediately endeared. She took the basket and sat down semi-gracefully next to Willow, setting the basket to her left side. " These are some spectacular blooms. You must have made quite an effort to pick them for me. It would be a shame for such beauty to simply wilt away in a vase, however..."

As she spoke, surprisingly deft scarred and artificial picked out the flowers with the longest stems, setting them in her lap. With a skill garnered from over a thousand years of living with Miquella, she swiftly braided them together, interspersing yellow, blue, red, white, and indigo into a sturdy crown.

Malenia would give the rest of the flowers to Miquella, and together they would make each other crowns, the only ones the rulers of the Haligtree ever wore. This one, however, was specially made, and Malenia placed it on Willow's head as if she were crowning a king or queen.

" There," Malenia said, crossing her arms over her chest with palpable satisfaction. " Now you may enjoy the fruits of your labor along with my brother and I. Not many sentient beings in this world can say they were crowned by a goddess."

#kingdomofbellows #the goddess speaks (malenia answers)#answered entreaties (asks)#(help i wasn't expecting malenia to be so sweet. i'm gonna cry.)

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on-stained-glass-wings · 2 years

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△ Malenia: How good are you in bed?

(Send me a △ and ask a really invasive question aimed at my character)

Malenia immediately punches you in the face with her sword hand and steals your pocket change while you curl upon the ground, whining and holding your bloody nose. " Seven." She says flatly, kicking you in the side for good measure before walking off.

#the goddess speaks (malenia answers)#answered entreaties (asks)#there’s a fight at the haligtree burial grounds (crack)#(in all seriousness finlay thinks she's pretty neato in bed and none of malenia's past flings have ever complained)#(she's not a sex god but she's super buff and strong and the metal limbs assist in accomplishing interesting positions)

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on-stained-glass-wings · 2 years

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"How, um. That is to say- How do you make it work out with Finlay? Since she's a spirit summon?" (he is also a spirit summon so he is asking so he can TAKE NOTES)

Oh, Rogier, you're so damn transparent--especially with who you're interested in. If he were anyone else, Malenia would tell him straight up that she's not going to aid and abet Mohg's perversions. Yet Miquella has grown fond of Rogier through their dream interactions, and she knows that the poor spellblade could use some happiness in his dour life, even if its source is the being who violated Miquella.

So, Malenia takes a breath, bites back the insults, and answers Rogier as if he weren't sleeping with the man she despises the most.

" It is rather simple, actually, once you learn the mechanics of spirit ash. Ranni and dear Rennala were the ones to teach us the niceties during our regular trips to Liurnia in our youth." Malenia leans against the wall and crosses her arms over her chest as she talks. " Basically, most spirit summons can only manifest for a short time, and both the duration and the potency of their form are based on how much mana--or mind, as you humans started calling it several centuries ago--one puts into the incantation to summon the ash. However, even if you put every bit of mind into the incantation, the spirit ash will eventually burn through it all and return to dormancy. It runs out all the faster if they take a more solid form."

A small smile turns the corners of Malenia's lips.

" The key, dearest Rogier, is to have an anchor--a powerful and constant source of mana--mind--magical energy. I am just going to call it that. So long as the spirit ash is in proximity of the anchor, they can remain present and tangible nigh indefinitely, even though most choose to enter into dormancy for several hours a day, much like a regular sleep cycle. Finlay tends to wait for me to fall asleep before she dematerializes. She puts on a good show of being the salt of the earth, but really, she's as sentimental as one can be."

With a sigh, Malenia undoes the top two fastenings of her brown and red curiasse, revealing what appears to be a brand seared into scar-pocked flesh. The mark is pitch black and in the shape of a circle with a vertical line cutting through its left periphery.

" While Finlay is present in the Haligtree, she can simply draw upon its own bountiful magical energy to sustain her form, but her range is limited when anchored to that source alone--only to the outer village of Ordina. However, when we are out and about, I anchor her to my Great Rune." The fingers of her left hand trail lightly over the symbol of her betrayal. " It is such a potent power source of its own that I barely have to put in my own energy to sustain her physicality. Only when I have been using the rune's energy myself do I ever have to supply some of my own magical energy reserves...mainly during long campaigns and particularly brutal fights."

Malenia grows silent as she re-fastens her curiass. Once she is 'decent' again, she turns her face to Rogier and appears to 'study' him, even with the lack of eyes. Whatever she is able to 'see' in his countenance, she is apparently resigned to its presence, and her shoulders slump with a long sigh.

" I imagine all Great Runes have the ability to serve as anchors for spirit ash." She says, forcing out the words as if each one is causing her pain. " Just...please think on it, spellblade: think long and hard to whom you wish to tether your fate. I cannot choose for you, and I feel that you have reached the point where even the most well-reasoned argument will fall on deaf ears, but...you deserve better, Ser Rogier, even if you do not believe it yourself. That is all I have to say on the matter."

#spellbladerogier #answered entreaties (asks)#kingdom of the haligtree (milieu)#golden abundance and scarlet decay (headcanons)#the goddess speaks (malenia answers)#the goddess and her valkyrie (finlay and malenia)#(malenia is suffering)#(just GOD WHY DID GOOD TASTE HAVE TO VANISH ALONG WITH MY PARENTS IN THE SHATTERING)

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