Elden Ring + Shadow Of The Erdtree Lore Thoughts

Ledaposting again, i want to study her under a microscope

The most interesting part with Leda for me, is that for all of the murder she does, she doesnt seem to enjoy it in any way. When she fights Ansbach, the Hornsent, Thiollier or you, she always seems to express some form of regret at having to kill you. Of course, she doesnt actually have to kill anyone, she is just very quick to use murder as a solution, but it doesnt seem to stem from a desire to hurt others, it feels like she genuinely believes this is the only way forward.

She says she is mistrustful of others, and while that convo is kinda funny, it really does feel like she has lost all trust in mankind. In the dialogue about Hornsent's crusade, while most people remember the "they were never saints" part, I mostly remember "Man is by nature a creature of conquest". It really does speak to how she views people, and it seems like she believes Miquella's forced age of compassion is the only way to change things for the better, that without his control, everyone would just constantly be at each other's throats. It almost makes me wonder about the needle kights. Did she kill them for the same reason ? Were they actually disloyal to Miquella ? Was there already infighting before she came along ? Whatever the case, Leda is now utterly convinced of Miquella's cause, and is ready to do anything to bring him to power.

It's a very interesting dynamic with Miquella, who is always portrayed as a very hopeful figure, always trying to create a kind and compassionate world, while Leda is a very pessimistic one. She seems to almost embody his "through whatever means necessary" philosophy. Had Miquella succeeded, i could almost see her taking on a role similar to the one Messmer took for Marika, an enforcer, someone who does the dirty jobs so their god can keep their hands clean. Hell, she's almost started to do it by herself, Miquella wouldn't even need to ask her.

An attempt at analysing the last scene from The End of Evangelion

Warning ! I will be spoiling both the movie The End of Evangelion, as i am talking about the last scene in the entire film, and the original series, since EoE is by necessity taking place after it.

If you're still here and don't remember exactly which scene i'm talking about, or just really want to read this post abt sth you haven't seen, i am specifically referencing the scene where Shinji attempts to strangle Asuka on the shore of the LCL sea. Without further ado, let's get into it.

Shinji is hurting himself here. He is strangling what might be the only other person left in this world, the only being that could give him the affection he craves.

He is strangling asuka, whose facade he interprets as a mirror of his inner self, an arrogant entitled asshole with no consideration for the feelings of others. He is attempting to better himself by physically assaulting a reflection of his past self.

Asuka is trying to help herself here. She is caressing what might be the only other person left in this world, the only being she could open herself to.

She is caressing shinji, whose facade she interprets as a mirror of her inner self, a lonely child who longs to be loved, but cannot open him/herself to affection. She is attempting to better herself by giving a reflection of her past self the affection it deserved.

Shinji drops his façade, and grows into someone who will take action for what he believes to be right.

He sees the both of them as unredeemable, as deserving of punishment.

Asuka drops her façade, and grows into someone who can provide affection and receive it.

She sees the both of them as two children failed by those who should have helped them, as deserving of love.

They see each other, without façades, without pretenses.

Shinji sees asuka, Asuka sees shinji.

They are forced to confront their diametrically opposed yet coexisting statements on themselves and humanity.

Both are right.

Shinji and Asuka were both selfish entitled pricks who consistently let their impulsive actions hurt the people around them.

Asuka and Shinji were both scared, lost children who were denied the love and support they should have been given.

They deserve retribution and love in equal measure.

This is contradictory.

This is true.

This is real.

This is impossible.

This is Adam and Eve, cast from the garden of Eden, grappling with the knowledge of the world they now possess.

This is human.

How disgusting.

Yeah you're probably right tbh

I originally read it as a means to somewhat preserve their culture out of some begrudging respect for them, but the british museum allegory is much more evident after second thought

Thanks for the feedback !

After a bit of time and a hefty amount of thinking abt the lore, SOTE really brings this post to my mind.

It's like. Miquella did love Malenia and Godwyn, but couldnt cure them the way he was. He did want to better the world, but it didnt help him as he retraced his mother's footsteps.

Midra did love, and was loved, he endured for ages in memory of the love he shared with Nanaya, and her entreaty. This didnt stop the inquisitors from ramming the sword of damnation through his throat.

Messmer did love his mother, and he obviously cared for her people. He cared for his knights, even when they betrayed him. He even seems to have cared about the hornsent in some capacity, judging by the amount of hornsent culture that remains preserved in the storehouse. And yet, despite all that, he still is responsible for the slaughter, and utter genocide the hornsent suffered. He still couldnt save the jar saints. He still couldnt get his mother to answer his pleas.

Marika did love Messmer. The amount of blessings she gave him is proof enough. She did love him, but it didnt prevent her from sending him on an endless crusade.

Marika loved her people. It didnt matter.

"Marika bathed the village of her home in gold, knowing full well that there was no one left to heal." "What was her prayer ? Her wish, her confession ? There is no one left to answer, and Marika never returned home again."

By the way, small addendum that is only somewhat related bc i dont want to make a full post abt it

The shaman village ost is the elden beast theme with only the harp, without the grandiose melody.

"Only the kindness of Gold, without Order."

you! tumblr user!

You guys don't even know how desperate am for any and all Leda content

I have returned from my abyss of "im too lazy to post", despite this hellsite's unwillingness to let me, and i am back to ledaposting (kinda ? Ig shes technically in the post)

Anyways, i have made the shocking realization that i own a pen and paper and decided to try my hand at sketching leda's armor. I drew the helmet but didnt finish the full armor, i switched to drawing it digitally on my phone like halfway through.

It was fun figuring out how close helms work for this

As a side note, how often do you think characters in souls games remove their armor ? Logically they should do it once in a while to keep it in good condition but some of the armors look a bit too complex to put on / remove by yourself so idk. Also theres never really a good place to do so.

Idk why but i really just felt like posting this particular disco elysium quote rn. No particular reason. No connection at all to recent political events or anything. I just think it's neat.

Elden ring + SotE lore rambles part 2 electric boogaloo

Spoilers ahead

If you want, my first post was here, its not necessary to read it to understand but it might also interest you.

Alright, so ive been playing the dlc and thinking a lot about Miquella, Marika, godhood and everything. And in my first post, I speculated that the reason Miquella turns out to be the "bad guy" (big quotation marks bc theres not really an actual "good" here cmon guys its fromsoft were talking about) was because the path to godhood required him to fundamentally change as a person.

We do see how much change is required here, Miquella abandons huge parts of himself, both physical and emotional. But the part that interests me here is St Trina specifically. St Trina is a large part of who Miquella once was, shorn away and made into an entirely new person, cast away in Miquella's post to godhood.

Now that got me thinking, bc doesnt that sound familiar to you ? A young empyrean, casting away part of themselves to become a god, and that part becoming an entirely new person of the opposite gender ? Now where have i heard that before...

Oh hi Radagon, what are you doing here ?

Do you see where i'm going here ? The whole Radagon is Marika thing has been a topic of debate for a while now, and i dont want to toot my own horn here but i might have cracked the code.

I think Marika split Radagon from herself on her own path to godhood just as Miquella did with St Trina.

It works pretty well with every aspect of the lore so far. It explains the how in the Radagon is Marika thing, St Trina is somewhat antagonistic towards Miquella just as Radagon and Marika were somewhat antagonistic towards each other, I dont think either Radagon or St Trina are empyreans despite their other halves being so, etc etc. And we do see that St Trina is a whole ass different person which implies Radagon probably was as well.

Anyways damn, like mother like son amirite ?

IT LOOKS SO FUCKING GOOD TOO DUAL PROTAGONIST SYSTEM WITH SHAREED INVENTORY AND SEPARATE THOUGHT CABINETS AND SKILLS CHAIN THOUGHTS THAT GO BACK AND FORTH FROM CUNO TO CUNOESSE AND VICE-VERSA VIA DISCUSSION DIFFERENT VOICE ACTING FOR CUNO AND CUNOESSE'S SKILLS AS WELL AS THE SWARM OF LOCUSTS (hi limbic system and ARB hows it going) DIFFERENT SOUND EFFECTS/DIALOGUE/THOUGHT ORBS DEPENDING ON WHETHER YOURE CUNOESSE OR CUNO AT ANY GIVEN TIME THE FUCKING LOCUST CITY BEING A REFLECTION OF CUNO'S JOURNEY/MENTAL STATE, POLITICAL ALIGNMENT AND CUNOESSE'S INFLUENCE ON HIM ALL AT THE SAME TIME CUNOS CGHARACTER BEING CENTERED ON THE LOCUSTS WHILE CUNOESSE HAS A WATER MOTIF, BOTH SERVING AS A PARALLEL TO HARRY IN A WAY (PHASMID/CRYPTID OBSESSION FOR CUNO, SEA MONSTER ALLEGORY FOR CUNOESSE) THE FUCKING SKILL AND THOUGHT NAMES A VARIABLE DISTANCE BETWEEN CUNO AND CUNOESSE WHEN WALKING DEPENDINGH ON THE CURRENT STATE OF THEIR RELATIONSHIP ALL OF THAT AND IT GOT FUCKING CANCELLED ?!?

we were robbed

WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN WE COULD HHAVRE HAD A CUNO ANDF CUNOESSE FOCUSED DISCO ELMYSIUM SPINOFF I WXANT LOCUST CITY INJECTED INTO MY VEINS RIGHT FUCKING NOW