#Dark Souls Theory

[houseboywife]

The primordial serpents of Dark Souls: there is something under the surface

Kingseeker Frampt and Darkstalker Kaathe are two characters that I would define as quite nebulous. Only appearing in person in Dark Souls 1, their presence nonetheless is felt even in future installments. But what exactly is their deal? It's a rather difficult question to answer, for a simple reason: they can't be trusted. At all. This post isn't gonna be a sort of unified theory on who the serpents exactly are: however I'll try to compile most of the information we know and can infer about them and why there's way, way more to them than what meets the eye. Waaaaay more. Yeah this is gonna be a long post. VERY long. But, in my humble opinion, quite thought provoking. Disclaimer: probably not all of the following was intended by the writers. But you know, death of the author and all. I think it's fun to speculate and create meaning even where there might be move.

That said, let's start with the Serpent Species.

Besides Frampt and Kaathe, the Dark Lord ending of Dark Souls 1 (which we'll get back to later) shows us a large number of Primordial Serpents, so we can assume that there's a whole species of them. Maybe. It's never brought up again. Nonetheless, there are several things we can infer about the Serpents in general, or World Snakes as they're known in japanese.

First off, presumably, they're ancient. Duh. How ancient? From the age before the First Flame, possibly. In Dark Souls 3, the description for the Covetous Silver Serpent Ring reads as follows:

A silver ring depicting a snake that could have been, but never was, a dragon.

Interesting. So snakes (or at least some of them) are some sort of imperfect, malformed dragons. Additionally, Dark Souls 3 shows some statues depicting a more humanoid version of the Serpents, of which we can ordinarily only see their heads. Considering their depictions are very different to each other, I'm assuming it's just an artistic interpretation and the sculptors didn't actually know what they looked like. However, one should note the locations of these statues: the Grand Archive (probably connected to Seath's Duke's Archives) and the Ringed City ("gifted" by Gwyn to the Pygmy Lords).

Now, let us talk about Frampt.

That Kingseeker Frampt is lying to you isn't exactly a groundbreaking fact. After all, this close confidant of Gwyn is in cahoots with him regarding the prophecy of a Chosen Undead, a made up folk story to get some poor undead bastard to throw themselves in the fire in order to kindle it once needed. This is all bullshit obviously, there's no such thing as the prophecy and the kindling of the fire is an unnatural sin performed by Gwyn. This means that Frampt is manipulating you with incomplete information in order to get you to link the Flame. One would assume that this would be his ultimate goal.

Or is it?

There are several odd things about Frampt.

For starters, as mentioned before, the Dark Lord Ending. In it, when you refuse to link the fire, Kaathe (we'll talk about him later) makes a point to say that both he and Frampt will now serve you. Why would Frampt do that? You could speculate that he's bound by some sort of oath to the Dark Lord, perhaps because of his nature as a quasi-dragon born in the dark. This could maybe explain the statue of him found in the Ringed City. But by this point, everyone that could be considered his "superior" is dead, and I'm not sure why he would have any obligations to serve you: if he feared being killed by the Dark Lord, well, he could just hide. Perhaps his oath is more fundamental, and he can't go against the Dark Lord because of the very nature of his being. Maybe he allied to Lord Gwyn to try and break this shackle? Perhaps. But I suspect, once again, that there's more to it.

Let's take a look at a very strange mechanic: feeding Frampt.

In Dark Souls 1, you can feed certain items to Frampt, and he'll pay you back with souls. Usually this is not really worth it, because he undervalues items a lot. However, here's the curious thing: for some items, he will only give you a meager 1 soul, while for others he will reward you with a bounty much higher than the value of the item. This is not a mistake, it's hardcoded in, so hey, it should have some significance. Let's look at these outliers.

Frampt will give you 1 soul for anything that has to do with either Seath the Scaleless or Smough; conversely, he will reward you handomely for anything that has to do with Gwyn (soul included), Gwyndolin (soul included), the Moonlight Butterfly, Dragons, Queelag and, funnily enough, women armor sets. So huh, let's unpack this.

It's the women's clothing, believe it or not, that provide some insight. Given that he pays you more for it, I'm assuming that he gives you more souls as a reward for bringing him that item. Either that or he's a misogynist, but I'm more leaning towards horny. And certainly the Soul of Gwyn, the one he pays you the most for, fits: your objective was to kill the crazed Gwyn, and his Soul proves that you've done it. You can't actually feed him it without going to ng+, but hey, it's a technical limitation

With Gwyndolin things start becoming a little bit strange. To have his Soul, you must have killed him. This is a problem for a few reasons: first off, it's his best friend's son. Why would he be happy about you killing him? Secondly, killing him means dispelling the Anor Londo illusion, meaning finding out that the Gods, and him, are lying to you. Now why would he be ok with you knowing that?

The Moonlight Butterfly is a bit strange, since it was created by Seath, but it seems to be connected in some way to Gwyndolin (the moon theming plus the same music). I don't think it's terribly relevant anyway.

Queelag, I have no clue about, epecially considering the fact that he gives no special reward for the Soul of the Witch of Izalith. It could either be because she's guarding the second bell of awakening or because she's hot. Probably cause she's hot.

Now, let's look at a strange thing. He gives nothing for Seath but a lot for the Dragons. Seath betrayed the Dragons, so this is relevant. But how? If he dislikes Seath, this would imply that he's on the dragon's side. But this cannot be, since the dragons and Gwyn are enemies. Maybe he just likes to consume dragon items in an attempt to become a full fledged dragon: this would also be strange considering his allegiance. Maybe he just enjoys eating dragon items but dislikes the taste of Seath (who is physiologically pretty different from other dragons). This, however, would imply that he also enjoyed eating Gwyn and Gwyndolin. Which, frankly, I find the most likely possibility, with interesting implications.

As for Smough, let's be honest, he probably tastes like shit.

Let's move on to Kaathe.

Darkstalker Kaathe seems to be, at the same time, more and less trustworthy than Frampt. More trustworty because he's the one to tell you about the lies of Gwyn, and the truth about the Dark Soul. And he's not lying to you about that. At the same time, he convinced the Lords of New Londo do embrace the Darkness, as well as the people of Oolacile to dig up the corpse of a Pygmy which didn't end very well.

Not much else is known about him: a somewhat obscure fact is that he considers Seath the Scaleless to be a traitor: so, it seems, he's aligned with the dragons despite not being one. What this says about the other Serpent is hard to tell.

However, one last thing is known about him. He wants to let the Flame die, and make the world turn back to an Age of Dark.

Or does he?

The Sable Church, helmed by Yuria of Londor, is an organization devoted to a single goal: usurp the Flame and bring forth an age not of Light or Dark, but of Hollows. This is different from an Age of Dark in several ways. First off, the Flame persists, but is claimed by an individual who is both Unkindled (that is someone who attempted to link the Flame but failed) and Hollow. In an Age of Dark, with the Flame gone, it is unclear what would happen: it is called many times "the age of humanity", but no one actually knows what humanity's original, primordial form is: for all we know, it could just be an existence spent in a formless void as wandering spirits.

At the same time, nothing says that it couldn't be an utopia: but the point is that you can't know, there is an impassable veil that hides its true nature until it happens. At some point some embers will reappear from the Dark again, and bring forth a new age of Fire. But will it be a good one? Who knows. In comparison usurping the Flame is much more straightforward: similar to the current Age of Fire, except it's Hollows that hold power and not Gods. It is not clear how sentient would Hollows be in such an age, considering their usual zombie-like behavior, but since hollowing is tied to Gwyn linking humanity to the Flame we can presume that something would change, otherwise it would be quite a shitty age and idk why they would pursue it.

There's another thing about the Sable Church. From item descriptions and dialogue it is evident that they worship none other than Darkstalker Kaathe, who appears to have perished since the first game (there's a theory I like about it but this post is already long enough).

Now hold on, hold on. Doesn't Kaathe want to bring forth an Age of Dark? Where did Frampt go in all of this? What is going on?

Let's take a step back. If Kaathe wasn't lying to the Sable Church (and I don't believe he is) then he was lying to you in the first game. Not an unlikely prospect, since Frampt was doing the same thing. But why try and get you to be the Dark Lord if what he was looking for was a Lord of Hollows?

First off let's establish something. No matter which ending you pick in Dark Souls 1, I don't believe that an Age of Dark ever happens between that game and 3. This is because there seems to be a linear continuity (somehwat) between the eras the game is set in, which wouldn't be possible if, well, the cycle underwent a big reset. So even if you become Dark Lord, something happens to stop a true Age of Dark from happening.

With that out of the way, here's what I think. When is the only time that a Lord of Hollows can arise? Only when the world is in shambles due to the strain of the artificial cycle taken to its extreme. How do you get to that point? By continously linking the Flame and making it fight the Abyss over and over, purposefully feeding the feud between Light and Dark that should have already ended long ago, slowly weakening the Flame until it is just barely able to hold on and the entire world has been burned to ashes. At that point the Lords of Cinders arise from their graves to link it again, and again and again, until even them refuse to do it. At this point, the Unkindled will rise: after an endless, purposeful cycle of stirring both the Flame and the Abyss.

Flame and Abyss. Frampt and Kaathe.

I want to show something, now. An interesting little design on an otherwise unremarkable shield. The caduceus round shield.

Two serpents heads, joined at the body. Now, is there any reason to presume that this shield is a true depiction of the nature of Frampt and Kaathe, some sort of bicephalous Ourobouros? Well, we don't know. It would certainly make some amount of sense, however. What I think is that, no matter how literally true this is, it shows at least metaphorically the relationship of the two Serpents. They're working together.

You're not the only undead that they contact, after all. Plenty more people, like you, in your world and parallel ones, are spurred by Frampt to link the Flame and by Kaathe to let it die. This is why neither of them particularly cares about you finding out the truth, or joining the other. You're just a disposable pawn in the grand scheme. When a Dark Lord arise, they pretend to worship them, only to betray them at the last second, getting someone else to kindle the Flame and keep the cycle going. Over, and over again. Till the Unkindled finally rise.

There are, of course, some open questions. Why do they want an age of Hollows to come to pass? Perhaps it is linked to their complicated relationship with dragons: after all, they're only incomplete dragons, and they would hardly have a place in an Age of Dark. Perhaps it has something to do with a promise made to the first Pygmies. Or then again, perhaps to defend against them. And then, what about the other Serpents? Are they working with them? Are they from other worlds? Are they all joined in some sort of giant eldrich hydra, its true body hidden from sight?

It is all very complicated, frankly. We probably will never know the true motives of the Serpents, as well as their nature: however, what I hope this analysis has made clear is that there is much, much more under the surface than what it seems like. Like their body. That's literally under the surface.

[spinzzy]

guys I might be going insane but I have a headcanon/crackpot theory, hear me out. Dark Souls series spoilers ahead.

So; Seath, Priscilla, Gwyndolin, Yorshka, and Velka.

I believe these characters are all connected, and here's how:

Let's start with Velka. To my knowledge, we know very little about the mysterious goddess of sin. What little information we have comes mostly from Oswald of Carim, Purple Miracles, and the Painted World of Ariamis. For the sake of this theory, the only thing that's really important is Velka's domain: sin. Let's put her off to the side for now though.

Do you know who else has a connection to sin? Gwyndolin. Already an interesting connection, but something even more interesting is that the Crow Demons that you encounter in the painted world have a chance to drop Souvenirs of Reprisal, aka the covenant time tied to the Darkmoon Blades: Gwyndolin's covenant. Speaking of the Darkmoon Blades, the entire point of the covenant is dealing with sinners.

Now, setting Gwyndolin aside for now as well, let's talk about Priscilla. Priscilla is a crossbreed and "bastard." Additionally, the Peculiar Doll states that she's an "abomination." So this tells us a few things. Firstly, she's very likely half dragon, equally likely to be Seath's child. Second, she was born out of wedlock. And finally, she was viewed unfavorably by broader society, thus her place in the painted world. Also of note is the description of the Lifehunt Scythe. The Lifehunt Scythe causes bleed, and uniquely it causes build up in its user as well because "in the hands of a mortal, its power will turn upon its wielder." This tells us that Priscilla was likely not entirely mortal, thus she's half dragon, half god. This is all some pretty well accepted stuff, and we're gonna set it aside for a sec.

Now, Yorshka. Yorshka is interesting, for a few reasons. Mainly because she claims to be Gwyndolin's sister, when its stated in Dark Souls 1 that Gwyndolin is Gwyn's youngest child. Additionally, to my knowledge, Yorshka never claims to Gwyn's child. So, working with this, i believe that she is Gwyndolin's sister— but not Gwyn's daughter. Visually she's eerily similar to Priscilla, so it can be speculated that they're related, somehow.

Now, with all the main pieces all laid out, we get really into the speculation/headcanony bits. Just bear with me here for a sec.

I believe that Velka was Gwyn's wife, as well as the mother of Gwyndolin, Priscilla, and Yorshka. This explains Gwyndolin's covenant items being found in the painted world, as well as Gwyndolin's general connection to sin. Velka being Priscilla's mother also explains her chilling with all the Crow Demons.

Now, the final bullet point: Seath.

The crux of the theory is that Velka, wife of Gwyn, has some sort of affair with Seath, leading to the births of at least Priscilla and Yorshka, and maybe Gwyndolin as well, though I feel like that is a bit less likely.

anyway, thats all, I'm tired, and it is six am.

[knightscanfeeltoo]

Thinking about what could've Happen if Seath or the Channelers never Kidnapped Havel's Secret, Pregnant Lover and their Illegitimate Daughter, Priscilla never became a Crossbreed maybe...

(I don't know why I am Invested in this Tragic Dark Souls Story that may not even be Canon, I'm Fricking Horrible...)

[palebloodcvrse]

Dark souls/bloodborne crack theory (that might make a bit of sense): Seath is in bloodborne

First lemme get the nitty gritty out of the way:

DS and BB are connected. Marvelous chester is proof since he implies ds is the "past" of bloodborne. And the painting of the new world in ds3 was made of "the blood of the dark soul"

Anyways... From what we know about Seath, we know he can never truly die and only turn into a different entity. We get his soul from freja in ds2. In ds2, manscorpion tark explains that "Long ago, there was a being with powers similar to ours.

The creature took the form of a spider.

But I don't know where it disappeared to.

Perhaps it was seduced by madness." And that

"Our master was a tragically lonely soul.

Eventually, his solitude eroded his very reason.

In the end, he never understood…

…what it was that he truly lacked."

Its heavily implied to be seath the scaleless.

And yes ds2 is canon idgaf what anyone says idgaf if you hate the game, its still canon bc lucatiel's mask, the drang equipment, a painting of nashandra and the faraam armor set exists there. Not to mention all of earthen peak

Now how does this tie to bloodborne?

We know seath can change form right? What if he transposed into something in bloodborne. He could be oedon, he could be the moon presence, he could even be kos. Who fucking knows.

Almost everything in bloodborne that has white flesh or an otherworldly origin has blue magic... and is weak to one thing. B o l t damage

Guess who else was also weak to lightning? Thats right. DRAGONS IN DS

Discuss.

[fiddlesqueak-fables]

I’m thinking about how Artorias had ‘not a touch of dark’ in him and thus was taken over by the abyss. Because I, and I assume most people, immediately took this as ‘Artorias was an extremely good and perfect person and thus was easily corrupted.’

But now that I think about it, since the dark is humanity, perhaps it can instead be interpreted as Artorias having lost all of his humanity through service to Gwyn.

Not necessarily having become evil, but just numb to all the atrocities he had to carry out for the king to keep his power.

If anyone knows about how this line is translated in other languages I’d be curious to know which interpretation it leans towards, especially in the original Japanese.

[shimmershy]

Chara Week Day 5: Ghost

Every time I see that machine in the True Lab, I wonder if it could possibly be Chara's soul in there? Probably unlikely, but not impossible... It's interesting to think about what the implications of that would be.

A version with no text and then a version with just the machine, because I think it looks pretty cool and ominous alone as well.....

[katyahina]

Romina, Scarlet Rot and God of Rot interpretation? What is the Abyss and what 'stagnation' has to do with Scarlet Rot?

(This is a reply for an ask I've got on my other blog) Anon I am sorry I am THIS late, I swear it was just me deliberately avoiding progressing in the DLC because I didn't want it to end + bad timing :pensive: But thank you for leaving this ask because I did want to discuss her as soon as I've met her!

What Happened:

She WAS a victim on Messmer's tyranny, and shown in the second trailer ( x )! Moreover, she originally appears to be from Belurat; not only this trailer shows Messmer specifically burning it, but also this is the exact previous scene before Romina appears:

So I am getting an impression that originally, these buds appeared in Belurat, and somehow Romina knew to relocate them somewhere else:

+ Also, if anyone here can read Japanese please let me know because I've heard that a more accurate translation would be 'she found a divinity and clung to it' or something alike! Here is the Japanese text:

全てを焼かれた教会で ロミナは異形の神性を見出し 禍々しい、朱い腐敗に縋った

焼け跡に、また蕾が芽吹くように

Abyss and Stagnation in this:

My initial interpretation was that originally, this type of buds was growing IN Belurat, and then what she saved got relocated in Rauh Ruins, but "within the scorched remains" part makes it sound as though their fate was being decided right in the moment of the tragedy! So, somehow, what later became Scarlet Rot appeared within the ruin! After all, Formless Mother is another precedent of a god originating from the tragedy:

But why would a plant-insectoid life sprout within the fire? So, basically, I'll dive into headcanons territory for this post, but hear me out! We are not sure what the 'Abyss' is, however.. what IF, when Messmer gets a bit TOO into using his powers, the power of Abyssal Serpent is capable of opening sort of a 'gateway' into somewhere else, and some kind of horror might escape that 'Abyss'?

+ I need to add that Abyss of the serpent plaguing Messmer and Abyss of the woods tormented by Frenzy are different things though; whereas serpent's Abyss is 深淵 meaning literally an abyss, Woods' Abyss is 奈落 that means Naraka (Hindu Hell)! His serpent is AKTUALY named Base Serpent, but he refers the 'Abyss' in his Stage 2 transition: '光無き、深淵の蛇が'. ( x ) In fact, his dialogue in both English and Japanese original suggests the 'Abyss' is a PLACE, where Base Serpent comes from! The mysterious space without light!

Look I can't help using this meme just deal with it fdsgfdgs So, let's say that Messmer got so unhinged that the gravity of his powers still opened up the Abyss a little, even despite the seal Marika gave to him!

The next interesting thing is that there are no traces of Scarlet Rot in Belurat, despite Romina presumably releasing/creaing it right on that spot! There ARE poisoned swamp, the illness that turns people into fly-men, and even giant Spider Scorpions that are a variant specifically developed because of Romina:

+ they likewise deal regular poison, not Scarlet Rot! Some of them developed the wings as well:

So it is more likely that what Romina allowed to live (to the worse or to the better you decide) was not yet the Scarlet Rot itself, however it developed INTO it later, together with her. But what was freed that day and what left its traces in Belurat, as well as spreading across more of the Shadow Realm with at least two villages full of man-fly sickness, was 'stagnation'!

It is a concept commonly addressed across other Fromsoft's games, specifically the stagnation of water 穢れ (kegare)! Poison and Scarlet Rot are connected through themes of poison AND stagnation of water! It is what becomes a poisonous swamp, one of the most Rot places is literally named Stillwater Cave and all that. Scarlet Rot is a 'stronger' version of the venom that becomes of stagnation!

^ (looking through this ( x ) model view video) Additionally, Romina features not only part of the scorpion but also part of the centipede, and centipedes were used as a symbol of human dregs in Sekiro and Bloodborne!

I've also noticed that Blood of Formless Mother, Scarlet Rot and Deathblight are all connected by shared themes of plantlife and spontaneoutsly sprouting winged insects! With the cursed blood, flowers quite literally grow from it and flies spawn from impurities within festering blood swamps. Deathblight are literally roots with multiple flies spawning along them + often getting to fly free too. Scarlet Rot IS associated with flowers and butterflies, and whereas Malenia herself never got insectoid wings (since wings of Goddes of Rot ARE the butterflies, like stated by Romina's incantation), her knights did:

(Close look by Zullie the Witch ( x ) as I've never took a picture)

These three scourges feel like three ugly siblings to me fsdhhfds Needless to mention that Blood Oath, Scarlet Rot and general poison incantations are crammed into the same category, and Death ones aren't here only because they're sorceries!

More interestingly, in Rauh Ruins we find not only Scarlet Rot, but also the Bloodfiends (so, the Formless Mother guys) AND Deathblight:

^ I forgot to take the picture as a proof that the Dancing Lion in Rauh uses Deathblight, so here is screenshot from this ( x ) video of battling it! There are NO Deathroots anywhere near its arena, however it summons Basylisks in the second stage and deals Deathblight damage itself! Divine beasts, additionally, are Belurat thing too!

So, we have all three of these 'affiliations' in Rauh Ruins, giving a strong impression that it is full of Belurat survivors! Whereas the man-flies sickness is found here too, Romina, Bloodfiends and death-dealing Dancing Lion all feel like they've went separate Pokemon Eevelution from the same initial 'stagnation' concept that is the sourse of fly sickness fhhsdgfds I think that either 1) it is exactly what I just joked about, and stagnation is able to naturally develop into one of these stronger "branches" over time or 2) it develops into something specific under influence of an outer god; Deathblight doesn't need 'Prince of Death' since Outer God of Death IS a thing!

Survivors of Belurat here found their affiliations, initially getting afflicted by the "clean" form of it, fly sickness Romina allowed to escape and live!

^ So yeah @ second anon, I do also think that Romina in Rauh guards what is left of her civilisation! Such as one of like, two Dancing Lions and other Hornsent that unfortunately got manfly sickness too! Except, she is not antagonistic to the Scarlet Rot or sees it as her tragedy, but on the contrary: she sympathised with it!

I know it sounds more like a fairytale than an solid theory, but my impression is that a lot of 'waste' goes into the Abyss space and supposedly should have been burnt by the Base Serpent forever! Not as something inherently evil, but just a natural part of the course of life! Eiglay is the God-Devouring serpent, too! Both of them serve as the forces that ensure everything and everybody meets their end eventually, they might even be related! Again, Dark Souls for one had ten Primordial Serpents! We know three here (Base Serpent, Winged Serpent and God-Devouring Serpent) but it could be still a throwback like Fromsoft loves doing!

I think maybe someone, at some point, believed that living forever was a better idea and might have "killed" Base Serpent and Eiglay both! As we know from Rykard's last words though, 'serpent never dies' and he probably was right!

^ Whereas Eiglay had to grow back from a tiny snake again, Base Serpent settled in Messmer's body being so tiny that it could curl behind his eye! Both needed to recover their former power, so whatever eventually slipped in the Abyss was free to persist, rot further and escape back into the living world given the chance!

+ bonus:

Trina ends up having a lot of petals and flowers as part of her body, not unlike Romina, whereas Miquella had insectoid wings at the moment of being kidnapped! The same trademarks of the 'stagnation' again!

I questioned whether it was just Crucible at first, since it also features flowers and wings! In the DLC we've learned that the Fell God himself was connected with the Crucible (Furnace Visage) and Radagon has his red hair due to the curse of his Fire Giants (Giant's Red Braid) 🤔 But.. crucibles are MANY things. It is also horns, spikes, feathered wings, scales, you name that! A LOT of aspects of organic life and not just these two! So I think the Crucible Curse is safe to stay within Morgott and Mohg, and this more likely refers to Miquella himself getting infected at some point! Whether it was having sucked Scarlet Rot out of Freya's wound, or napping in the Haligtree that was getting slowly scarlet-rotten, or both! Sure there are no traces of it left when he becomes a God, but Trina was discarded before that of course! Alternatively, he was a victim of stagnation himself due to not being able to age physically. He, himself, was a lot like Scarlet Buds that are "never to bloom". Endless child state of a body and buds that can't bloom are like eggs that can't hatch but will go terribly bad over time.. what is MORE stagnant?

Who is the God of Rot and why the pink color?

Another side of Romina is a tail of a scorpion, and the giant variant of Spider Scorpions is said to be the result of her actions! At the same time, God of Rot itself was scorpion-like!

I think this makes it... oddly coincidential, that God of Rot is a scorpion at least partially, whereas scorpions are native for the Shadow Realm AND were important animals for Belurat! Like I said before, Belurat strangely has no signs of Scarlet Rot for a place where Romina presumably created/unleashed it!

So, maybe rather than God of Rot already existing as is, it received a particular form in the 'outside' world! I'd say the same for Formless Mother, but her form is ABSENSE of form kind of fdhshdfs Maybe 'receiving the character' is a better way to describe it! Formless Blood, Scarlet Rot and most likely Deathblight didn't exist "outside" but developed from the shared source, and their gods (at least two of them) were born thanks to people! God of Rot might have manifested from a giant scorpion Romina took special care of, or a scorpion who got the 'divine' energy for another reason since giant variants are still not JUST in Rauh! Again, like how Formless Mother manifested in the shadow of a corpse of someone else! The Scarlet Rot became a thing thanks to Romina, developing within her over time!

Again, this is just my idea that Outer Gods are "born" in "our" world rather than simply exist as is, especially since 'outer' is just a type of gods meant to be discerned from Marika's family and who are like Lovecraftian mythos! I just think so because the scorpions connection is a bit too coincidential! It is not necessary!

Eiglay is a God-Devouring Serpent, not Demigod-Devouring Serpent, however, so I think in either case her purpose had more to do with not letting guys like this to ruin the world! Things just must die eventually, not endlessly exist via endless rot/rebirth cycle not allowing for any truly new life to sprout. It makes it double awesome that Base Serpent, and maybe even Eiglay herself, are connected with the fire element as fire itself is ALSO not just an evil force of destruction! It is meant to help the nature to "clean" so it doesn't rot; this power simply must be kept in check to not burn SO much that there is nothing left to be born from the ash and ruin *looks at Frenzied Flame*

Lesbian flag colors joke aside, it seems that color pink is a mark of lacking the master and/or the capacity to bloom! I do think that blooming is a thing only a Demigod is able to do! +remember that Millicent is a unique sprout of Malenia, carrying more of her signs as a Demigod than other girls!

Orange/red is the color of 'true' Scarlet Rot, and you could see even God of Rot itself was orange from Scorpion's Stinger look! It craves the buds that will bloom to grow stronger and increase, similarly to how Formless Mother craves wounds!

+ I also think that Bloodflame is the mark of more "perfect" form of the same concept similarly, as it becomes self-cleaning this way! It similarly could only be accomplished by getting a Demigod (Mohg) involved, whereas regular Bloodfiends are using just the blood itself! Then, Deathblight was not receiving the big roots as we could witness by Dancing Lion in Rauh, without getting a Demigod (Godwyn) involved! The cringe triplets........

________________________

So in the conclusion, Romina reached out for the 'twisted divinity' she witnessed somewhere in the middle of the ruin of everything she knew before, similarly to how Bloodfiends chose to revere the 'twisted deity' found in a corpse of their ancestor as they've lost everything! These two affinities have connotation with strong misery, and it is additionally confirmed by how Millicent can only bloom if she experiences the pain of betrayal! Some sinister power only appears within a lot of pain and death, but on itself it is just "flowers and wings", and a concrete God is born in the place it appears at, depending on the circumstances. It needs the miserable person as much as the miserable person needs it; a call is nothing without the receiver. Together, they define more specific purpose and affinity for it to continue existing and poisoning everything!

...not 100% sure that Deathblight is just as similar, because how do you birth death? Maybe it similarly came to be through the first person to die (Nito, you?????)

P.S.: I'll be damned if the water Dancer Fairy didn't originate from Rauh and simply freaked out upon seeing Romina telling the God of Rot "may you find your worth in the waking world" fsdhfhds

[priestofleviathan]

Ok chat so I’ve just finished watching through my first playthrough of the Shadow Of The ErdTree DLC and on top of the many many bigger lore points that I’m sure other people will be talking about extensively, I became enthralled by- of all things- Ymir’s questline.

I’m by no means a Fromsoft lore theorist and I have no idea what I’m talking about but this the idea I have about Ymir. (Some spoilers for Ymir’s questline ahead.)

We know concretely that Ymir is a high priest of Metyr, Mother of Fingers- who later appears to grant him use of her powers during his fight with the Tarnished. During that fight, he is called Ymir, Mother of Fingers, and he drops the Maternal Staff upon being defeated.

Now throughout interactions with Ymir, we can see him cradling a baby fingercreeper like his own child. If ever he has to give something to the Tarnished, he continues to hold it very carefully with one arm, and resumes holding it with both hands as soon as he is able.

Taking all of that into consideration, I think the fingercreeper, somehow, someway, was truly *his* child. That fingercreeper was his child and he was its mother, he somehow birthed it from his own body. As a gift from Metyr or some act of borrowing her powers as the Mother of Fingers I don’t know.

Of course the most solid evidence for this is when we find him at a grave, having buried the fingercreeper, saying that he “failed to birth [it] whole” and that he “was not prepared to be [its] mother.”

Now this idea could be really obvious or really stupid- like I said I’m no fromsoft lore theorist- but Ymir’s questline and specifically that moment when he buries the fingercreeper really touched me and I just wanted to share my thoughts on it 🥲🥲

[knightscanfeeltoo]

I'm sure that Havel would be a Good Father to Priscilla maybe...

(If Havel ever knew his Illegitmate Daughter still lives anyway...)

[quibbs126]

So I had an idea earlier that in Episode 19-20 we find out that by some means, there is some sort of White Lily separate from Dark Enchantress, and by the end that White Lily joins the team, but since only Gingerbrave’s group and Pure Vanilla know the full context, this is what they’d come back to

I just made this because it was funny to me

Also I imagine that if there is a separate White Lily in the story, then that’d be the cliffhanger we end Episode 19 on, only to have it explained at the beginning of Episode 20. Like Episode 19 would be Beast Yeast and then entering the Fairy Kingdom, and we see White Lily there at the end, and then Episode 20 is about…something else, I’m not sure. We’ll see once we get it

[absolutebl]

I've just started watching Thai BLs and I don't know which ones would be worth getting thru the bad acting. Could you please recommend me some? xo

20 Thai BL's With GREAT Acting

Laws of Attraction

Moonlight Chicken (review here)

Not Me (review here)

Until We Meet Again (discussion here)

Bad Buddy (review here)

A Tale of Thousand Stars

Love By Chance

He's Coming to Me

The Eclipse

My Ride (review here)

Step By Step (review here)

My School President

Bed Friend (review here)

Dark Blue Kiss (PeteKao watch guide here)

Make a Wish

My Only 12%

Never Let Me Go

Theory of Love

Dear Doctor, I'm Coming For Your Soul (review here)

Triage (review here)

Love Sick is also pretty special but it's very long and complicated and kinda a steep buy in. But if you are of the Degrassi Jr High inclination...

You might also want to try I Told Sunset About You. It wasn't for me but is for LOTS of super fans of high quality BL.

From the tone of the question I am assuming we are going with a a western value judgement which prioritizes grittiness and subtlety.

Here's more stuff for you to explore if you're interested.

(Many of these will not have been updated with 2023)

Here's me talking about western struggles with Thai language and acting style:

Here's the master post on Thai BL

Not specifically Thai but here's my:

10 Best BL All Rounders - acting, script, music, narrative, production

(source)

[gobbogoo]

Godwyn Theory - "Those Reborn In Death"

Elden Ring theory time! Some of you may have noticed that in The Land of Shadow's catacombs, Godwyn's corpse sits in the same place the Erdtree's roots normally go:

In the Lands Between, the Erdtree is normally responsible for granting people rebirth through these roots. By sitting in the same spot, it's implied Godwyn is fulfilling a similar function, and it just so happens that the DLC has a few new undead enemies that function differently from the rest. Here's how "Those Reborn In Death" differ from Those Who Live In Death:

1. Mechanics

These new undead don't play by the old rules. They can be put to sleep, don't revive, and most importantly aren't vulnerable to Litany of Proper Death. This has a HUGE implication! Litany of Proper Death is an incantation that invokes the natural order: it enforces death on that which SHOULD be dead. The fact that Those Reborn in Death are immune tells us that nature considers them "alive" despite all evidence to the contrary.

2. Appearance

While visibly not biologically "alive," Those Reborn In Death are notably less decayed than Those Who Live In Death, appearing more mummified than skele-fied, possessing both flesh and hair. Have a look at the new Catacomb Sorcerer compared to the old Tibia Mariner:

3. Intellect

Both the Catacomb Sorcerers and the Death Knights appear much more intelligent and autonomous than other undead, having created spells, equipment, and notions of duty and hierarchy beneath Godwyn. They don't just haunt in the catacombs like modt undead; they LIVE in them. The fact that they aren't immune to sleep emphasizes this. Most interestingly, the ghostflame techniques they've cultivated are unique to them: the Tarnished never learns any of their sorceries, and doesn't get a cool ghostflame cape when wearing the Death Knight's armour. (Miyazaki whyyyy)

4. Growth??

Those who looked closely at that previous Catacomb Sorcerer MAY have noticed a bizarre little detail... he's hiding a wee mummified baby beneath his robe!

In my eyes, this is the strongest piece of evidence for my "rebirth" theory, because that baby isn't being held. It's attached to that sorcerer's body, almost like it's growing out of him! Consider what we know of Godwyn: how his body grows and copies like a cancer. How else would a being like that grant "rebirth," than through tumorous replication? Fia said it herself: through rebirth, those trapped between life and death can solidify themselves within the natural order.

[blobbycentral]

Ancient beasts CRK theory

In episode 2 of Beast Yeast, during Shadow Milk’s little plays he says that Dark Enchantress wishes to free the five beasts. To do this she says she’ll provide the five ancient beasts five cookie bodies. Though we have to take everything he says with salt, Pure Vanilla does say there is always some truth to it.

so five cookie bodies? Immediately you might think the ancient heroes bodies but Dark Enchantress never went to the kingdoms previously for the ancient cookies, she went for soul jam.

so what five cookies could she possibly sacrifice? I mean it’s not like she has five “loyal” cookies by her side.

Yeah I’m pretty sure Dark Enchantress Cookie is sacrificing the Cookies of Darkness. I have a bit of a theory of who should become who.

POMEGRANATE COOKIE < MYSTIC FLOUR COOKIE

Pomegranate Cookie, through all the episodes, is shown to care only for Dark Enchantress Cookie. Little empathy for anyone except the darkness. Apathy, Mystic Flour Cookie’s element, is characterized as little emotion or empathy towards others.

RED VELVET COOKIE < SLIENT SALT COOKIE

Red Velvet, either then non-canon events, has almost never shown up with the rest of the Cookies of Darkness. He works silent in the shadows with little company. Slience, Salt Cookie’s element.

POISON MUSHROOM COOKIE < ETERNAL SUGAR COOKIE

There is literally a joke in the fandom that this kid is high all the time. They can easily be seen as lazy or sloth, like Eternal Sugar’s element. Plus they seem pretty happy.

AFFOGATO COOKIE < SHADOW MILK COOKIE

Affogato Cookie is introduced gaslighting a village girl, lying about Caramel Arrow to banish her, and manipulating Dark Cacao as his right hand the entire time. If that doesn’t scream deceit I don’t know what does. Though I doubt he or Licorice would want to be involved with this dealing of cookies at all.

LICORICE COOKIE < BURNING SPICE COOKIE

I don’t exactly know where I could fit this silly guy. He doesn’t match any of the elements perfectly like the other characters. He is shown to take a liking to dark and destructive magic so I put him with the cookie of destruction but I can see him not being so.

[bell-of-indecision]

Leonard Hofstadter being the prettiest man alive

That's it, that's the post

[fii-b]

The Firekeeper in ds3 is Gwyndolin from ds1

I know it sounds crazy but everyone's entitled to at least one insane fan theory and this is mine. The Firekeeper in Darksouls 3 does not play by the same rules as firekeepers before her. She cannot die permanently, she does not leave behind a firekeeper's soul if killed, and she is able to exist even when the bonfire she keeps is unlit (even prompting you to light her bonfire when you first meet her). It is also strange that we find a stray firekeeper's soul in the tower behind firelink shrine, one which takes a key sold at a high price by the shrine handmaiden. This tower also seems to hold the corpse of at least one other firekeeper.

When it comes to gwyndolin, it doesn’t make sense that she’d just fall ill out of nowhere. Even if she did, she is the god and leader of the darkmoon’s blades who server her every whim. Where she to fall ill, it does not make sense for them to abandon her in Anor Londo to get eaten by Aldritch, a known threat. Furthermore, it doesn’t really make sense that Gwyndolin would want to take over Anor Londo after she has confirmed Gwyn to be dead and the first flame to be linked. Gwyn treated her like shit her whole life and in Darksouls 1 it is no surprise that Gwyndolin would set up an elaborate smoke and mirror’s gambit to get her father killed and the age of gods extended. 

That said, Gwyndolin does not draw her power from the sun like her father and sister do. Despite being called “Dark Sun” Gwyndolin, she draws her power from the moon and from darkness. We know that Gwyn is afraid of the power of the dark and very much wants to keep those who can harness it subservient or powerless. This is likely why Gwyndolin was given a moniker denoting her as part of the sun and why she was relegated to duties which kept her away from the public eye. 

So, with all the background info out of the way, my basic headcannon goes like this:

After the events of Darksouls 1, Gwyndolin continues to run Anor Londo from the shadows for a time. When it comes time for a new undead to kindle the flame and no-one does so, Gwyndolin (knowing the emergency failsafe system will release Aldritch who she very much believes will be coming for her) creates a version of herself for Aldritch to eat and spreads the story that she has fallen ill as bait. (We know this to be within her power as she is both able to spread the chosen undead myth in DS1 and she is able to create a version of herself for us to fight, complete with a soul, without risking the illusions surrounding Anor Londo to all crumble at once upon her puppets defeat). Using this opportunity, she flees Anor Londo and replaces the firekeeper in Firelink Shrine. This lets her continue leading nameless undead into linking the flame and, because she is taking over the roll of firekeeper, it allows her to exist as a woman unquestionably (every firekeeper to date has been a woman). Like with linking the fire in ds1, this is a long-term goal and a personal goal of hers fulfilled at the same time. 

So ye~ 

[megaman-exe-execute]

The erd tree theory