When The Person You're In A Codependent Relationship With (your Secret Half-sister) Starts Having Her

i feel like a lot of the leda fanart leans wayyyy too into the whole "murderous religious fanatic" thing by way of giving her bugged out eyes and stuff but like. she's literally calm and nice in all her dialogue delivery. which is her charm point. in her eyes miquella is so self evidently worthy that she's more just confused than anything when seeing someone who doesn't see things her way. she literally thinks others just don't get it lol, like her conflict with the others in the band comes from questioning why their older vows/history remain with them *after* having met miquella. in her mind she is literally just fighting for a gentler world guided by love and goodness. it's less incensed "fear of god" and more frigid "love for jesus", i guess?

which for her does lead her to the same ends but. idk i love insane girl art as much as the next guy but that's not her...

Also was that a mcfucking fire punch reference

Big spoilers for an optional and fairly hidden area in SOTE ahead !

Holy fucking shit midra is so fucking cool

The abyssal woods have the creepiest ambience out of any game since bloodborne's cathedral ward imo, loved every bit of it. My only complaint is they are a bit too big and kinda feel empty as a result. Other than that, the winter lanterns, the in-game messages and the music are a 10/10 for me.

Midra's manse is wonderfully creepy, with its labyrinthine halls that loop back into each other and hidden passageways behind paintings. The enemy selection was very fitting, going from spectral inhabitants and guardians to a veritable legion of inquisitors, probably the ones responsible for midra's current state if you ask me.

And oh my goodness that boss. That was honestly my favorite boss of the entire game. No bullshit, no endless combos, no ludicrous delays, just an overall great boss. It's up there with lady maria as one of my fav fromsoft bosses tbh. The fight feels so smooth, elegant, its just a banger all around. The ost is also just peak. I also love that little introductory part where you just beat an old wounded man for a minute before the fight starts, its that little fromsoftware goofyness in the middle of this daunting dreary place, i love it.

Overall, one of the best dlc areas so far for me, the build up, the dungeon and the boss were all brilliant.

My biggest criticism is the remembrance. The greatsword of damnation should have been a madness weapon tbh, it would have felt much more fitting. Its also a bit sad that we don't get midra's drip, it would have been great if they did sth like the dragon hearts or lamenter's visage where you use an item to get the frenzy head and boost madness incantations/skills. That incantation is pretty cool though.

Reblog daily for health and prosperity

Uhhhhh- so anyways-

Age Headcanons for SOTE NPCs; A Senseless List

A reminder that this is purely for fun and makes no claim for or against canon. This is merely a collection of headcanons and vague vibes, enjoy.

Leda: For this post, let's count biological age and not weird-resurection-ages. To me, Leda seems to be around 25-28. Old enough to have lost her naivety for the world, but young enough to keep the pedestal she's placed Miquella upon. She's an adult, sure, but I'd hardly say she's reached her full abilities. If Miquella had succeeded, she certainly would have matured into a vicious killer with decades of battle experience.

Freyja: This redmane has left her years of doe-eyes and frilly bows long behind. She's an easy 38, cool and confident in her body and her lifestyle. Sure, she's noticed the faint lines that have started to form on her brow but- eh- who cares? She'll keep doing what she's always done. To her, age really is just a number.

Dryleaf Dane: The martial arts know no age limit. 20, 30, 60- only the dedication of the mind and body matters in the pursuit of perfection. Dane has seen it all in his eventful 50-ish years of life, and his fighting style reflects that. It's his reserved demeanor and silent loyalty that make him a perfect balance for the cynical Leda. To whom he likens himself as both a friend and mentor. Honestly, he appreciates her youthful fervor and often finds himself considering her something like a daughter.

The Hornsent: He's 40. 40 what? Just 40, as far as he'd ever tell you anyhow. A trusting man he is not, even with the simplicities of sharing one's true age. Such pointless talking points are for truer friends and family, of which the hornsent has none. Perhaps under the guidance of Kindly Miquella, he might one day celebrate another year of life lived in vengeance. For now, however, the memory only fills him with a deep and singular loneliness...

Igon: Drake Warriors aren't known for living long lives, and hunters of all kinds are known for it even less. Igon is the exception. Without the magics of the land of shadow, he would be about 42. An impressive age to reach, for one in his line of work. Although the lack of care he gives to his own appearance would lead one to believe he was much older.

Sir Ansbach: GILF lovers rejoice, this man is easily the oldest npc on our list today. I would say Ansbach is dutifully vague about his true age. While it may amuse him to give the true number, and watch the flicker of awe for his agility cross his companions' face, he remains aware that giving his real age is a disadvantage should things turn south. On one hand, it may cause him to be targeted by those unaware of his skill. An easy problem to solve, if not overly tiresome. On the other, it endangers on a more... emotional level. He cannot risk his allies putting his safety over their own on such a baseless reason as his advanced age. He is SIR Ansbach, after all. What sort of man, as both mentor and knight, could abide by such an obvious danger to his juniors? Not he, that is certain, and so his many decades remain a mystery (although they certainly number more than Dane's)

Thiollier: Awkward, skinny, and chronically anxious. Thiollier reads as young, very young. He's most certainly the baby of the group, even if most of the others don't treat him differently for it. After all, they must likely assume him only a few years younger than Leda. They all began their lives as warriors, scholars, and missionaries at a similar age. So to them it matters very little how old their resident perfumer is. Freyja assumes he is 22, the Hornsent suspects him little older than 17, and only the Tarnished and Sir Ansbach know he is - truthfully- somewhere in between.

Moore: It is difficult to place Moore, since he is kin to the Pests and therefore likely a different race/species category for biological age. However, I would say that Moore is somewhat youthful, based upon his naivety. Likely, he is in between Thiollier and Leda in age - when the years between Pest kin and Tarnished are converted. Mid-20s seems an appropriate range for Moore.

Aaaannnd that's all I have for now! If you have different headcanons on sote npc ages, or npc headcanons in general, pls feel free to share! I love reading comments and seeing different (and similar) perspectives on Elden Ring characters!

Anyways, thanks for reading! This was a fun way to kill time lol >D

Rin, smiling, and nagging

Rinsha Fana’s character is summarized in a couple facts thrown here and there. Because she worries for him, she follows Kabru to help his cause and protect him, and to nag him. She’s a grumpy angry tsundere, but it seems not only rooted in her attitude but on a deep rooted physical level, to the point where any intense emotion she feels will make her frown and scowl even if it’s genuine joy. Her childhood was half spent ostracized in the tallman community her family lived in and half with the elves, where she’s said to have been treated like an animal.

We don’t know how she was raised exactly or who it even was, but knowing she was "treated like an animal" by the elves taking care of her…

Elves are shown to have a highly hierarchical society, not only with their concern with status such as nobility and the purity of bloodlines but also reflected by its social culture imo. They have high society and etiquette, upmost devotion to the queen, very role-oriented, like cogs in a machine, and as such, it’s a bit skewed since most of what we see of the elves is in a military context with military people but they seem to value having emotions under lock and key to be efficient and not bring dishonor, Flamela is an interesting character on this. Don’t be a bother and do your job until you’re called on, fulfill your role, everything else is extra at best inconvenient at worst.

Personally I do think the canaries kept Rin, it’d make sense that whichever canaries got stuck with the job at the headquarters would be barebones with her and treat her like an ‘impounded article’, they couldn’t find another place for her and this way they can get her report on the events whenever she can speak again in however many years, and this way it makes sense that she could keep in touch with Kabru too. They’re used to prisoners, not kids. Being raised in a military context rather than at some orphanage would shape her further.

All of this to say…

She’d already seen the world’s harshness to those who don’t conform in her hometown, but with the elves? Her disdain for those who had formal education at a magic school?

Wouldn’t she become very concerned with proving she is not an animal, proving that she’s smart and skilled in her own right on her own merit, even without schooling. And to do this she nitpicks and nitpicks, because even being pristine isn’t enough to be respected, but at least it’s not giving others reasons to disrespect and dehumanize her. Learning to school her emotions, to scowl as a defense mechanism because anything else makes her vulnerable, because they don’t care about her as a person with feelings, because showing other expressions was dangerous or punished in some way: because it was fit in or don’t fit in and that’s the difference between having your house burnt down and being tolerated, between getting her food or having her questions answered and being yelled at to shut up… Because all her life she’s been surviving in hostile social environments and at the mercy of others, but unlike Kabru she doesn’t become a people pleaser but becomes very self-reliant and wary of socializing.

So she nitpicks and nitpicks and nags, because she’s worried. Because flaws are dangerous. So she has a hard time smiling and laughing, because it’s dangerous to allow yourself to feel safe in being authentic.

It would be nice…

Is my red, red enough? I'm waiting for your teeth at my throat. It’s only good manners. -Stephanie Valente 

Ok so for everyone here saying dune is a white savior story, i'm gonna need you to understand that paul doesn't save anyone here. He just takes the fremen from a forced opression into a willing one, by shackling them with his own made up religion.

He's still a tragic figure, because he doesn't really want this but he knows that this is the only path in which he still has some amount of control on the bloody space crusade led by his worshippers. Every other path has the same result but worse. So he tries to fight that "terrible purpose" every step of the way until he reaches the breaking point, his son (sir Not-appearing-in-this-film) dies and he just goes "fuck it, this is gonna happen anyways, might as well just commit to it" and ends up being responsible for the deaths of like 60 billion ppl. But he isnt a white savior here.

Spoilers for dune messiah :

In the sequel, its made pretty obvious that the space jihad sucked ass for everyone. No one in the galaxy likes the imperium, the fremen who came back are maimed, old cynical veterans who fucking hate paul for having sent them on a meaningless crusade across the universe, and paul himself has grown from a young idealist forced to bear the burden of prescience into a bitter, cynical and jaded old man who cant be bothered to give two shits about anything but his rapidly deteriorating interpersonal relationships with the ppl around him. Thats the tragedy part. Thats the part where you look at the full picture and you're like "well thats sad, he was such a nice little kid at first."

As for the "white savior", if the whole "everything has gone to shit" wasnt enough to convince you thats not the case, paul literally has a scene whe he just looks at the reader and says "i am literally worse than h*tler" and stilgar unironically responds "well yeah i mean his k/d ratio was kinda shit tbh my lord"

correct me if i’m wrong cos i don’t watch dune.. but i’ve seen people call paul a tragic character. except isn’t he a whole white coloniser tricking indigenous poc into believing he’s a prophet to serve his own interests? that’s inherently evil that cannot be a tragic character imo

so yes that is correct that is what happens. the tragedy is that he is a sixteen year old boy who gets a vision of this happening and he is TERRIFIED and absolutely does not want this to happen at all. He does not want the holy war he does not want to be the chosen one he initially very much wants to fight alongside the fremen as equals trying to liberate themselves from their current colonizer without becoming the messiah because they have common political cause.

And then the entire second half of the first book (and the second movie) are about the concessions he makes to himself bit by bit by bit (well it’s the only way to save his mom and sister. well it’s the only way to prevent nuclear war. well he does want his revenge. well maybe he IS special.) Until by the end he has lost 100% of his humanity, fully wants to be the messiah and is willing to manipulate people into thinking so, and has declared himself duke of arrakis in his father’s name and made a play for the imperial throne.

you’re right that it’s evil. the book and these movies agree with you. the tragedy is watching a child who desperately wanted to avoid this slowly completely lose himself to it anyways. i don’t think “tragic” and “evil” are inherently mutually exclusive.

Also, sorry more Leda posting, the line "Have you been taken in by the plight of the hornsent? Foolish… But hardly unexpected. Man is a compassionate animal, for better or worse." fascinates me so... there's no justification there, if anything she acknowledges that what she's doing in attempting to kill the hornsent is the bad, the non-compassionate thing to do. And from other lines we know she feels empathy, respect, regret, the "weight of one’s deeds"... She may be overly paranoid and violent and murderous, but it's not that she's without emotion, she's just capable of entirely steeling herself against those emotions. She'll carry those burdens willingly, Miquella's dogged blade, so he needn't sully his hands.

Although at the same time... she's so arrogant about all of it, to presume she knows Miquella's will better than anyone else! She has the authority to say who is or isn't undeserving of serving under him, and she has the power to execute the ones she judges dangerous. When I honestly can't imagine that Miquella, at least previously to shedding everything that made him himself, would've approved of any of that. She would never betray him, true, but there's a reason he still put a charm on her as well (and I kinda have to wonder what the reason he kept her around at all was...)

Sanji and Baby five should have met. They lock eyes and it's over, everything's over. Sai got lucky because Sanji and Baby 5 would have matched each other's freak on an insane level. They'd have married each other on the spot. 10/10 no notes, instantaneous shotgun wedding. It's halfway into dressrosa, everyone is bumming along and then Sanji sees Baby 5 and now everybody is suddenly working together to get these two married in the eyes of the law. Weren't they fighting a moment ago? Not anymore. They all got hit by Sanji and Baby 5's insane bitch beam. It's wedding time. Doflamingo is giving away the bride, Luffy is the ringbearer, Giolla is putting up decorations, Nami is working out a pre-nup with Trebol. Fujitora's blind old ass is officiating. The tontatta's get to make the dress a la the mice in disney's cinderella (the animated film) Zoro is working the open bar. Law is doing whatever the fuck and Sabo is just along for the ride and Sanji and Baby 5 are married before sundown. I sound insane but that's literally what would happen.

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.

I spent way too much time on this