ertrunkenerwassergeist

[ertrunkenerwassergeist]

Verso, Charcoal drawing

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can you imagine how fucking confused and worried renoir must’ve been when verso brought maelle to the mansion? seeing the very image of verso (even if the painted version of him) holding unconscious and scarless alicia in his arms probably almost gave peepaw a stroke.

but also it’s funny to think that in retrospect, maelle’s short stay at the mansion technically was just her spending some quality time with her dad lmao. it probably felt so nice for renoir to help her train, hear her speak again, watch her have fun killing nevrons around the hut and befriending noco… and it probably made him so hopeful that alicia can be like this again outside the canvas too one day :/

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Have my only Clair Obscur fan art, had to get this out of my system.

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Personally, I agree with her being 16.

But somehow I never put 16 and 16 together XD

That is such a wonderful observation and now part of my headcanon.

Is Alicia more likely to be in her early twenties than 16? Probably.

Will I ignore this because her still being a teenager makes everything worse, and it also means she's lived 32 years just like the other expeditioners? Definitely.

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Over the last few weeks I have been obsessed with Clair Obscur Expedition 33. I'm still obsessed with it, in fact. This game has been living rent free in my head ever sicne I started playing it, and the experience will stay with me for a very long time. It's such an impressive piece of art, I'm not sure how to articualte it.

The story touched something deep within my soul. The sad melancholic part of me that fundameltally knows that grief and loss are an existential part of life. The part of me that knows what it means to create. The time and emotion that goes into it. The joy and excitement, the frustration and pain. How an idea plants itself and just blooms to life.

It is a game that captures a specific aspect of the human experience. Which I think makes it one of those games that don't come around very often. I hesitate to call it the game of a generation, but it's undeniable that this game is one of the greats.

For me personally, it made me feel the absolute wonder of discovery again. Something I first felt in a video game when I played my first RPG, which was Final Fantasy X. The act of actively discovering a whole new world, the glee of walking around the corner and knowing that something new is waiting for you. It's a feeling I felt less and less as the years went on and games changed. I changed.

There is a kind of grief in that, I think. In knowing how you felt as a child playing those games. The excitement. The joy. The wonder. The wonderful stories and characters. And then the world changed. You got older, and your views shifted. And as you changed, video games did, too.

Maybe I am reaching here (and maybe I'm not making sense for anyone but me), but in a weird way that is what the Canvas meant for me. And also why I sat for a long while before the choice of whom I would follow to the very end. Maelle or Verso.

In the end I chose Verso.

And I could probably write a whole essay as to why. Maybe I will. This game has left a profound impression.

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Das Fühl, wenn du dir nicht sicher bist, ob das noch Schweiß oder schon Schmelzwasser ist, was an dir runter tropft.

[ertrunkenerwassergeist]

@raven-6-10

Oh yeah, definitely

I love the very idea of the paris catacombs like. yeah sure the real-life city of paris has a straight-up megadungeon sprawling under it. Why not.

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Naeem Khan | Fall/Winter 2025

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@raven-6-10

Now that would be really funny! And I can totally see it happening. Aside from the weather, I can totally see a jungle just... sprouting within Insomnia. Or the start of one. Plants breaking through concrete left, right and centre. With concrete columns replaced by sturdy trees.

Opinions about this are split. On one hand: hints about where and who their new King is. Hooray!! One the other: These Plants Are All Rather Inconvenient.

“You know, for a monarchy, the King doesn’t seem to play much of a role in your affairs.”

“Well, It’s embarrassing to admit, but we’ve rather lost track of them.”

“Lost track of them?”

“Quite so. We know we have a monarch, but we don’t know who they are or where they reside.”

“… okay, you’re going to have to run that by me again.“

“To be blunt, the last King had something of a roving eye. While we’re reasonably certain one of his numerous illegitimate offspring has inherited the divine mantle, we’re not sure which one – if, indeed, it’s even one we know about.”

“Can’t you just, you know, pick one?“

“Heavens, no. Our monarch rules by divine right. The land is bound to them. Its prosperity and weather reflect their health and moods. The sacred bond is clearly responding to something, so we can rest assured that a living monarch exists, but none of the candidates we’ve tested have panned out.”

“So, the rain of opera-singing fish last Tuesday…?“

“Wherever our current King or Queen is, they’re evidently having a fantastic time.”

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NOTICE: As more and more fanfic writers are using generative AI for their works (you uncreative dweebs), I hereby swear on everything I hold dear that I have not and will NEVER use generative AI in ANY of my written work. Everything I post will be organically and creatively my own.

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Insomnian Funeral Rites

I... have had a thought circulating in my mind lately. We all know how the Lucian Kings get buried in actual physical tombs, right? Full with a stone cascet with a statue of them on it with their weapon in their hands.

(Look, I know in game the statues look all the same, but I find my headcanon cooler. It would also be kind of funny if the Conqueror had that 'generic king' statue because he didn't want to be depicted with his missing eye.)

Anyway. Not the point of this post. The point is that I've been thinking.

What about the Insomnians? What kind of funeral traditions do they have? Because that city doesn't have the space for traditional cemetaries like ours irl, with tombstones and fully sized graves.

So what do they do? Do they burn their dead? They could. But also: fire is very colsely linked with Ifrit in the religious sense, and Ifrit is the traitor of the Astrals. I can just imagine a religious scism happening here. The discussions the priests had about using cremation. Maybe in modern days it's reserved for traitors and criminals?

Because historically speaking the people of Solheim did cremate their dead and the Lucis Caelum House was Solheimr. So it stands to reason that they cremated their dead until Solheim fell.

Maybe they did bury their dead for a while after that. (Which would make Titan part of the death rites, which as the Astral of the earth isn't that far fetched I think. Especially in Duscae.) But the problem of the lack of space in Insomnia still arises. So what do they do?

They build bone houses. Ossuaries. Maybe there are also spaces underground, like the catacombs of Paris.

The priests decompose the dead body until only the bones are left and they are then set to rest in a small ceremony in the ossuary. Members of the Lucis Caelum family bless each ossuary once a year, so that each person set to rest within that time frame receives a blessing.

Also something something Etro's chosen. So that's why they do it. Not that they know they're Etro's favourites. Though Insomnian people believe that the souls of the dead aren't truly gone until a Lucis Caelum blessed the ossuary they were put to rest in.

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YALL. Holly Black has a list of resources she's used for writing her books on the fair folk. I'm OBSESSED. I love her work and world building. it's so true to the heart of faeries

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Oooof. I know I will do it again, but i think it may be a long while before i do another piece with 36x4 and 68x8 individual leaves with 4 or 6 colors each.

butbutbut... it came out so good!

the pattern started out as kaprifolie, but i tinkered with it. (if you really want the chart to make it like this, i will share it, but it's verrrrrrrry rudimentary.)

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For the Blinded History AU - what *would* Regis et al's reaction be to learning the Galahdian Oral Tradition re: the Black Ships?

It was widely known, especially in the academic circles that Galahd had a very extensive oral tradition. None of the academics really believe the stories. Sure, they very likely might be based on true events, but it's widely known that stories get warped the more they're told. Things get added the storyteller might find interesting or exciting, things omitted if they're thought to be boring or non-essential.

But Falconis has learned enough about the Galahkari - their language and traditions - to know that that preconception is not true. (His professor isn't here to scold him for declaring an absolute without physical evidence, but maybe that was one of the problems between the Lucians and the Galahkari.)

Falconis learned about the Black Ships through turns of phrases the Galahkari use. Once he scrounges up the courage, he asks Epistéme about it, and to his surprise she actually gives him a comprehensive answer. She doesn't tell him the whole story with all the bells and whistles, but that's not important. The important part is that he's starting to see the picture all the puzzle pieces are forming and he's about to faint from the knowledge that he'll have to scedule an audience with the King.

Regis for his part is in equal parts bemused and excited when one of the undergrads he personally sponsored for this project asks him for an audience because he gained some knowledge that would explain why the Galahkari were always Like That when it comes to the Lucians. Even before the refugee debacle.

He sits the clearly nervous and excited kid down and proceeds to get a two hour long lecture about the Galahkari along with Clarus and Cor. About their language, its relation to Sol - how most Galahkari actually can speak Sol - and how that fact alone gives at least some creedence to their oral traditions. How the Galahkari argue old histories for fun, how holding grudges nigh on a national sport for them.

It's interesting, Regis thinks, informative, and will help him with strategies concerning the Galahkari going forward. And then the young man in front of them drops the one thing that can transform international and national relations between the two people.

The Balck Ships, as the Galahkari call them. The Conquerors Fleet. It had actually reached Galahd. It had reached Galahd and the Conqueror had tried to do what he had been named for. And he had lost an eye for it along with most of his ships. The Galahkari had lost many people along with their then leader. A man named Perses Ulric.

Things are starting to make a large amount of sense and neither Regis nor Calrus nor Cor like it. The implications of what actually happened. How does one pay reparations for something that happened nigh on 2000 years ago? Does one pay reparations for something that happened so long ago?

From a Lucian position the answer is clearly no. But for the Galahkari? The Galahkari who apparently know what their ancestors a few hundred years ago had for breakfast? Who argue about what happened on that one wedding that was five generations ago and make it sound like is was five years ago? Would they want reparations? An apology? Acknowledgement?

This is something Regis will have to ponder carefully before making a decision. Though no matter what, this knowledge will inform all future decisions going forward.

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Bahamut is residing in the Crystal hiding in Eos' heart But too much light can be very much a bad thing. Too much Light can blind even an Astral, especially if given a couple of millennia to work.

What I'm saying is that maybe Bahamut can no longer see as clearly as he used to, especially over large distances (Niflheim) or into places that are somehow in conflict with his domain (underwater, underground, lately even dense forests)

What I'm saying is Eos blinded the son born of her own blindness, the son born of the blood of her sacrifice.

Once upon a time long forgotten Bahamut's domain was blood and sacrifice. Blood willingly spilled for others and sacrifices made out of love and compassion. The embodiment of the most powerful act their own mother had ever done.

Once upon a time long forgotten mothers used to worship Bahamut. The blood and sacrifices given by mothers to their children was what Bamahut was once known for. Before he sharpened his wings into blades and encased his body in armour. Before the cruelty and the betrayal.

Once upon a time long forgotten a man went to battle. Men before him had gone to battle - to a long eries of battles that had yet to receive the name of 'war'. But this man was different. His blood was spilled and he sacrificed the wholeness of his body in the name of protection and justice. Blood and sacrifice was given - and Bahamut answered.

Believes shift, religions transform. And once upon a time long forgotten Bahamut picked up a sword and the world changed.

Once, a mother loved her child. The embodiment of her most selfless act. She loved her child so much she did not see the beginnings of the downward spiral that would change the world forever.

Once Eos loved Bahamut, her favoured child. Once, Eos could not conceive of a world where blood and sacrifice would turn to war and betrayal. But it did.

Once Bahamut knew what a mother would do for her children. Blood and sacrifice. Once they knew, but started to forget when they first picked up a sword. It was a scrifice to their own altar in the name of power.

There was once a time Eos loved all her children. It was a knowledge Bahamut could not bear. Out of a man going to battle War was born. Out of a love poisoned by jealousy Betrayal was born.

War and Betrayal nearly caused the world to be swallowed by Sickness and Chaos, and demanded Blood and Sacrifice to right their own wrongs.

Once upon a time Bahamut grew blind to what a mother would do for her children. What Eos would do for all her children she loves. Her heart still beats and her light still shines, and Bahamut cannot look away. Unable to see the shadows hidden by the brilliant light.

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heavy is the crown ⚔️

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Please write the post about Keycatrich's destruction!!

[claps hands together]

So!

Keycatrich, per the almanac that you can pick up, was "once a residential area home to the Lucian rich and famous. Under the Wall's protection, the town flourished as an intercontinental trading post". Furthermore, when you talk to Weskham (one of Regis' former retainers/stewards) in Comrades he mentions that he was born in Keycatrich. Given what little we know of him, and the intentional parallels between Regis' retinue and Noctis', it's a decent assumption that Weskham is a noble akin to Ignis, especially given that he's run his own restaurant in Altissia. This is somewhat significant as a concept because it means that it wasn't just the rich and famous that lived there, but also Nobility.

We know that the New Wall extended onto the continent during the Lucis/Niflheim war of 726, and we can assume that one of the goals of the war was to force King Mors to pull the wall back. This would leave one of Lucis' biggest and most important mainland cities vulnerable, and we also know that Keycatrich was specifically invaded by the Empire [almanac] and then overrun by daemons, and left so many refugees that they were forced to scatter across Lucis. Keycatrich was probably a pretty big city (maybe rivaling Lestallum in size?) due to its status as a trading port and the proliferation of gil across the continent.

Anyways how much you wanna bet that the rich, famous, and Nobility of Keycatrich were evacuated straight to Insomnia? :)

Insomnia, moreso than a lot of real world cities, suffers from the lack of one major resource: space. Looking at an aerial view of the city shows that almost all of it is developed into towering buildings that go right up to the ramparts, even on rocky hills and deep valleys. There's an extensive subway system, none of the highways and roads we see are larger than 2-4 streets across, save for the Citadel district that you run around in game. (Which. Is a very, very small area).

In game a lot of the buildings are just 2d textures propped upright, as you only go to the Citadel in the center of the city-- it's easier to see in this video or this aerial view, both from @/dizzymoogle

Insomnia has buildings on buildings and there's even settlements outside of the ramparts because there's just not much space.

Now. You might be going "well that one corner has a lot of trees, right? So it's not like, all developed?"

So lets say that the Noble Houses driven from their homes in Keycatrich, the ones funding the war that King Mors was waging, demanded recompense in the form of land-wealth in Insomnia? They had estates in Keycatrich, and now the king wants them to only have one building in the Citadel district? Or worse, alongside the peasants? After all the money they put into the war, only for Mors to lose it and sign an unfavorable treaty?

So not only does the war of 726 feature regular refugees from one of the biggest cities in the Lucian continent, it also has wealthy nobility and other wealthy citizens (things like trade moguls, huge mercantile enterprises, government subsidiaries, etc) now demanding concessions because of how much money they're pouring into the war and also Insomnia.

So how does this all factor into the Galahdian Refugee Crisis? Well, when you've got limited space, a massive population, and hampered production, it's uh. Not pretty!

Now the Ramparts were built alongside the New Wall, some 150 years prior to the game, and stretched across most, if not all, of the continent. In real life, the Industrial Revolution (roughly 1760-1840) led to a massive population boom, and real life didn't have pesky little things like daemons creeping around at night and destroying villages and towns. It's pretty plausible to assume that the sheer size of the Ramparts was considered excessive back when it was first built, only for the population to balloon due to myriad factors. Like. I cannot emphasize enough how much good that New Wall did for the whole of the kingdom, if we're taking real world events like the Industrial Revolution into account.

(FFXV has always touted itself as a "Fantasy based on reality", hence the pull here. I know that Solheim left all sorts of technological junk around, and according to the bullshit Official Timeline, Niflheim had magitek soldiers when they attacked Lucis in 606. That being said, Lucis relied on their magical prowess and reigned near supreme for almost 1400 years. Niflheim's magitek was likely the first time they were ever able to contend against Lucis' might. Lucis, now on the back foot for the first time in their history, is slow on the uptake and takes a while to get on board with the technological advantages that the rest of the world is already quickly adopting.)

So the regions of Leide, Duscae, Cleign, Galahd, etc, they all enjoy prosperity for a period of about 120 years, leading to population boom on their parts. And when the New Wall was either destroyed or pulled back, they suddenly had no protection against things like daemons prowling at night, or Imperial attacks. Lestallum probably had a huge influx of refugees as one of the major cities, which it could support due to the energy plant, even if it meant cramped quarters -- they could still expand around the crater, across the mountain, etc.

Galahd, being close to Insomnia, was spared many attacks and skirmishes for about 18 years. If you follow KG movie canon, Galahd was likely on the land just across the Lucina Sound, to the west of Cavanaugh; whereas a pamphlet said that Galahd was on the islands to the northease of Insomnia. Either way Galahd is, quite literally, on Insomnia's back porch.

And It Was Attacked :)

Lucis now has to retaliate and shore up their defenses, because Niflheim has come sniffing at the edge of their fence like a hungry wolf.

We're not told the breadth of destruction that Galahd suffered, but we know it was pretty damn significant, given that Lucis retaliated by creating the Kingsglaive and taking in Galahdian refugees. These two problems are now exacerbating each other (even if Galahdians are now set to become the Kingsglaive), not only are they trying to fund a new militia, they now have thousands to tens of thousands of new mouths to feed. And Very Little Space To Do It.

Now by this point, Insomnia's probably somewhat recovered from the attack on Keycatrich and the refugee crisis there. People have settled, the war's been over for almost twenty years, they're safe and secure behind the Wall. Sure, Insomnia's a little cramped, but there's kids that were born there after their parents came from Keycatrich and knew nothing else. Besides, Keycatrich was practically part of Insomnia anyways, they fit in just fine!

The Galahd, however, do not. They have a culture that is distinctly not Insomnian, not Lucian. Things like tattoos on their faces, strange hair styles, different cuts of clothes, and their food is near inedible!

Libertus: What did you put in this!? Shopkeep: This ain't Galahd, that's the way folks around here like it! Libertus: Oh, well, I'm glad to see you're willing to sell out our heritage for a few extra gil!

Nyx: Oh, the gate watch are real sweethearts. Pelna: [chuckles] yeah, right. We all know they hate us outsiders more than anything.

It gets even worse when you start to look at where Nyx lives, presumably alongside the other Galahd refugees:

Even in daytime, the area where Nyx lives is still so deep in shadow. His apartment is a studio, with just a kitchenette and maybe a tiny bathroom. We've no reason to assume the other Kingsglaive live any better than he does either, based on where they all met up for drinks and food. They're just as part of the kingdom as the Insomnians, yet they're treated with disdain.

Not only do they not fit in, they remind the Insomnians one very important thing, something they don't like thinking about: There's a war going on outside the Wall, and Insomnia is not safe either.

So yeah :) That's how Keycatrich's destruction directly lead to the treatment of Galahdi refugees that we see in Kingsglaive :)