is there anything specific you think you'd like to know? I love this game a lot and like to think I'm pretty deep into the story/lore side of things
I don’t think I ‘hate’ a single Elden Ring character. Each and every one is designed so compellingly, their stories are so varied, their interactions while sparse are the type to carry magnitudes of meaning.
Example:
For the longest time I did not realize that the scene we stroll into at Castle Morne is a slave rebellion. The misbegotten are treated as chattel. My first go around I assumed “ah yes, monster attack castle, understand”
It wasn’t until I watched a random lore video that only referenced it that I got it. I went back and read the descriptions of stuff and I’ll be damned.
There’s a lot of little tidbits hidden here and there that flip entire perspectives on their heads. Preaching to the choir on this point.
Even the characters that I generally dislike/disregard (dung-eater, (hot take) Varre, selvus) I still find fascinating. One of the cool parts about the game is you can just kill the character you don’t like. If you’re doing a run and you want to get a little roleplay in, sometimes murder freak be murdering.
Personally, I’m not on twitter, instagram (used to be), deviant art (do people still use that), or anywhere else ((I Do have a blue sky but I think I’m too dim to use it just yet)) . I’d love to be in a space where people talk more about lore or art things! I haven’t the foggiest clue where to go though. When I hear people say “everyone hates on xyz character” or “this fandom is so nuts” or whatever I am genuinely confused. I’m only seeing a portion of the stuff here, and so far it’s been more than pleasant! Big ups to the people on here, so far you’ve all been very kind 😊
So I guess, could I ask anybody to fill me in? Or where to go to get filled in?
In the meantime I want you to know I’ve started working on a pair of drawings centered around Malenia and Miquella - ooooo be so tragic oooooo
Considering the vast majority of the fandom calls Ranni a spoilt, selfish little princess for not wanting to play nice with the god and order that destroyed her home and drove her mother insane, it really doesn’t surprise me in the slightest that many would also not see what’s wrong with how the other races in the lands between are treated.
It seems like anyone who tries to break the status quo in the lands between is often painted out to be a villain in the fandom's eyes, unless they do it in a purely pacifistic way. Including the tarnished themselves.
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Side note but this is also why I feel like any ending that reninstates the golden order as it was (including goldmasks ending) are some of the worst in the game. The persecution of many of the other races in the lands between aren’t going to stop if the golden order is put back in power. The golden order at its core was about trying to brute force control and "order" into the world by assimilating everyone else into it.
It kind of shocks me how people in the Souls fandom do not see Albinaurics as real people. Or even the Misbegotten rebelling in the Castle Morne as something they had to do.
Thinking about the badeline boss fight and how it manifested out of fear rather than pure anger. How Badeline was convinced that Madeline’s goal was to leave her to die on the mountain and go home feeling empty and worthless and she was really was just trying to help her but she could see that she was only damaging madeline in the long run and Madeline only saw an enemy in Badeline and that fear of abandonment is what drives Badeline to lash out and turn into a monster and make the environment SO hostile and the music is powerful and erratic which reflects Badeline’s hostile fear but Madeline KEEPS fighting and Badeline doesn’t know what to do but keep digging deeper and deeper into the cave as the environment grows darker and more wild reflecting the chaotic nature of Badeline’s true fear until suddenly she stops and she is shocked to discover that Madeline was just trying to help her all along and despite the defeat they come together and make each other that much more powerful PLUS the fact that the chapter is called “Reflection” which is a play on words that both reinforces the mirror motif of the game AND meaning to look back on oneself and their choices and feelings and and aAND
also ummm.... Maybe St. Trina? The area has the general color scheme of the sleep effect in Elden Ring, they're surrounded by Trina's Lilly's and the character in shot seems like they could be sleeping. They're also about the right size to be an alter ego of Miquella with the right hair along side it.
Anyone else getting Marika's bedchamber vibes from the curvy shapes draping from the branches of the Shadow tree?
Elden ring DLC ending spoilers.
I’ve seen a lot of contention surrounding the main twist regarding Miquella and Radahn in the DLC, primarily the lack of build up to it in the base game, and while I understand where these people are coming from, it's something I can personally forgive.
While it would have been nice to have some sort of hint to who Miquella’s chosen consort would be, or even that he had someone in mind at all in the base game, they did go to great lengths to rectify this in the DLC, and adequately hint at Miquella’s plans and who his consort will be.
Radahn does not in any way come out of nowhere by the end of the DLC. He only comes out of Nowhere if you’re not engaging in the questlines and talking with the characters, which still isn’t perfect mind you, especially with how easily they seem to be breaking at the moment, but this also isn’t a flaw exclusive to the DLC. The base game is just as, if not more guilty of this with its Marika/Radagon twist.
I also think it's a fine twist because it gives context to past events that we could only speculate on before. Mainly, why Radahn and Malenia fought. Despite being such a massive part of the games story, we previously had absolutely no idea why it took place. But now we do. We finally have context behind one of the most important historical battles in the lands between's history.
Nightreign looks really cool but I’m definitely not looking forward to people using it in lore discussion for the next year, because as far as I can tell, it’s just a spinoff with very little to no actual relevance to the world and story of Elden Ring or Dark Souls, but everyone seems insistent in treating it like a full on sequel.
I could totally be wrong about this, but until we get more information on the game, I’m probably just going to treat it as a fun spin off/elseworld game and nothing more. And that's not a bad thing. I'd much prefer a crossover of these games to be its own thing instead of an actual "canon" story to both worlds.
"Radahn is a warmonger!"
my brother in Christ, they are all warmongers. Radahn is probably the softest character of the lot when it comes to the leaders during the shattering.
Like, Rykard's house is a torture chamber and he's partly responsible for the most horrific (documented) war in the lands between and Ranni masterminded a mass assassination but we're beefing with their brother who *checks notes* Just really likes fighting things, riding his horse and is documented to be a rather fair and honourable opponent to go up against?
1) Yes I stole poll idea from a mutual, 2) Seluvis is excluded on the notion of being "comically evil" character (kinda like Petrus from DS1) when the purpose of the poll is that blorbo has a lot of nuance to base the defence on. No shade on his simps btw gfhfhdbg and 3) Marika and Mohg are excluded on the notion that hate towards them kinda evaporated after SOTE
I've already made a semi-joke post about this idea but now that we know that Shulk and Rex's kids are going to be a part of the Future Redeemed party and that they've been reborn into the Origin system as child soldiers I'm really curious as to how the two are going to react to what Moebius has done.
Despite Shulk's track record of violently flying off the handle when the people he cares about are hurt, I can imagine his reaction to seeing (who could be) his child in Aionios being that he’s just happy to see them and to know that they’re safe, even if they’ve been turned into a child soldier that doesn’t recognise him.
After all, his reaction to Fiora being turned into a Mechon in XC1 was to almost instantly let go of his hatred for the Mechon, try to save her and try to understand what was actually going on. He wasn’t angry that they turned her, he was happy that she was alive.
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Rex however, despite being outwardly optimistic and kind throughout his game I think would fly off the fucking rails the second he realises what Moebius had done to his daughter.
Pyra and Mythra both have a lot of trauma about their past as living weapons, which they probably carry in some way even to this day. And I think the fact that Moebius would dare subject his daughter to the same pain his partners have been through, being dehumanised and forced to fight to survive as nothing more than living weapons would be enough to tip him over the edge.
I also imagine that N is going to be in some deep fucking water if Rex ever figures out what’s happened to Mio as well.
Thinking about how Ranni probably hated her own body because it made her nothing more than a puppet for the GW. And that’s probably why there’s no depictions of her anywhere in the game (I wouldn't be suprised if she slowly got rid of them all before deciding to revolt completely), and why she decided to make her new bodies in the image of her teacher instead of herself.
Because any sight of her previous body would be a horrible reminder of what she was.
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Edit:
To add onto this, Rykard obviously loved his sister as he was willing to fuck with Maliketh just because it would help her, but despite this there’s no depiction of her in volcano manor. Only ones of himself and Radahn.
Soooo he obviously cared for his sister and also obviously cared for these grand displays of affection/family power or he wouldn't have had these portraits made, so why wouldn’t he also have a picture of her? Well I can only assume it was because she didn’t want one.
Probably the mildest head cannon I'll ever share on here, but I like to think that Miquella grew his hair out so long because it was literally the only way he could show his actual age with his appearance. He may have been cursed to never grow, but his hair would always be a clear signifier to his peers that he was much more than he appeared.