#I'm committed to this take on Ranni now.

[yolowritter]

A Perspective on Miquella the Kind

"Miquella the Kind...is a monster." Those are some of the first words uttered by Sir Ansbach once the Empyrean's Great Rune is shattered, and the charm placed upon his followers in the Lands of Shadow is lifted. But...are they actually true? With all the new information we have about Miquella in the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, it's worth to re-examine all we know about his character. Naturally, a huge part of the community is budy combing every nook and cranny for more lore on this Demigod. And...others are displeased with the new information given, or more specifically, what Miquella's plan is revealed to be at the DLC's end. So today, I want to take a closer look at Miquella as a character, his followers, and of course, the overarching plot which the Tarnished becomes involved in after slaying Radahn and Mohg. As an aside, we really owe the Lord of Blood an apology as a community. Nevermind the murders and cult sacrifices, Mohg managed to beat the allegations! Anyway, I do intend to also give my own interpretation in regards to the more...questionable things in the new Lore, so let's get right to it!

Firstly, it's worth establishing a baseline for who Miquella is as a person. As we all know, he is the son of Queen Marika and King Consort Radagon, as well as brother to Malenia. As a side note, the whole "Miquella divested himself of Saint Trina" situation most likely explains how this family dynamic would be possible, but that's another post altogether. Marika's...questionable marriage choices aside, Miquella has always been described as a kind, gentle soul. In some ways, his narrative place in Shadow of the Erdtree serves as a foil to Marika herself. Where his mother schemes and conceals the truth, Miquella is extremely upfront about his goals. Make the world a kinder, gentler place. And honestly? I believe him. I fully believe that Miquella, having grown up next to his cursed sister and seeing the Golden Order unable to do anything for Malenia, wished for nothing more but to better the world. And after realizing the Order wasn't working, I've no doubt he went on to discover the many, many attrocities committed against those of the Crucible, like the Misbegotten for example. However...this is where things get a little muddy, in terms of morality that is.

Remember that Miquella is basically a God. He is one of the few who can succeed Marika in a new Age. But...he doesn't seem like a fighter to me. He isn't one, which is where Radahn comes in. Now, forgive the aside, but we need to have a chat about what exactly "Consort" means as a word. Yes, it's typically used in the context of marriage, but from the original Latin meaning (I'm no expert here, feel free to correct me), a consort is someone with whom an individual shares a destiny. Miquella himself talks a little about this, both in the fight against Promised Consort Radahn, and if the Tarnished is charmed by his Circlet. Yes, that's the thing he uses to hypnotize people, it's in the item description. We understand the concept of a consort as the more modern interprepation of a romantic partner, a spouse of some kind. However, Elden Ring doesn't work by the same rules. Yes, it can mean spouse, given that Ranni welcomes the Tarnished as one and grants the Dark Moon Greatsword as a wedding gift, but it doesn't have to.

Unfortunately, I think the community is falling into the same pitfall we did with Mohg's wording of his own desires to become Miquella's consort. Unlike Ranni, neither situation here necessitates romantic feelings, and frankly I don't believe they exist here. Miquella was fascinated by Radahn's strength and kindness, and believed his brother would be an excellent person to share the remainder of his plans for a New Age with. And Radahn was, objectively speaking. He's hailed as a hero from everyone who knows him, even Ansbach treats him with great respect should you summon him for the final battle. I think the Vow made between Radahn and Miquella happened before the Shattering, and was something along the lines of Radahn helping Miquella make the world a better, kinder place. It's something the Red Lion would absolutely want, since despite his element being war, we get many accounts of him being an honorable, good man. It would make sense why Radahn at first agreed with Miquella, so let's see why Malenia even needed to go and do what she did in the first place. Why did Radahn not hold up his end of the deal?

To put it blunty, it's because he's a Golden Order fanboy. I'm still not entirely sure how Messmer ties into this from a timeline perspective, but Radahn grew up with his older half-brother (presumably before the Holy War against the Hornsent), his father Radagon, and Lord Godfrey as his primary male role models. Even if Godfrey had been exiled by that point, the evidence of his crusades was memorialized in song for Radahn to be inspired by. Of course he believed the Golden Order to be righteous and good, and wanted to uphold the honorable values he was raised on. Considering his own character, I'm quite confident in speculating that Radahn saw the Order's faults, and probably agreed with Miquella that there was a distance between the stories he grew up on and reality. So naturally, upon seeing his younger half-sibling try to fix things, Radahn quite possibly supported the idea.

Where I think the divide happened...was Miquella's method of problem-solving. As I said before, I've no doubt that he is as Kind as they say; it's just that Miquella envisioned a world without violence and had the power of make it so. His broken Great Rune holds the power to resist charms, so it's pretty reasonable to assume that the whole thing once held the power to perhaps inflict them. Miquella later replaced it with the Circlet he now wears, but still. He was strong enough to evoke a cult following from most of those who laid eyes on either of his forms. Again, I firmly believe he was doing good here, as both himself and as Saint Trina. From Miquella's point of view, he is helping. He grants the restless a peaceful sleep, he gives a home to the outcasts, he protects the Albinaurics, etc. That's why so many people wanted to follow him. What interests me is that Miquella seems to be a classic case of the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.

He undoubtebly, truly wants to make a kind and gentle world, but has little qualms about forcing people to stop fighting. As Leda tells the Tarnished when asked about Hornsent, she explicitly states that without Miquella's charm, he would be attacking her and the others right now. Yes, it is arguably better for people to not fight to the death, but Miquella enforces this "good" thing in the wrong ways. Everywhere in the Lands of Shadow, we can see something similar. Sir Ansbach for example explains that Mohg himself got charmed, and that upon trying to rescue his Lord, Miquella brainwashed him as well. And he only sounds upset about it after the charm is broken. This gives us a very interesting character, since Miquella is technically correct in what he states. Should his Age of Compassion come to pass, there won't be any more War, or violence, or destructive conflict. However, taking away people's free will is arguably worse. So, what happened? Why does there seem to be a difference between the morally grey (but with good deeds to his name) Miquella, and the more extremist version we battle in Enir-Ilim?

Well...I think Miquella's Crosses hold the answer. At every site, he "divests himself" of something. It's clearly stated that he had doubts, he second-guessed if this was the right thing to do. He had moral qualms, but forced himself to leave them all behind. And there is one more thing he abandoned. Saint Trina. I believe this is why he seems so jarringly different to what we know about him. Because Saint Trina is his love and compassion. Every genuine feeling that Miquella held was left behind to make space for the more nebulous "Greater Good" of his new age...and evidently, very little that made Miquella himself even exists anymore. Despite the radiant light at the Gate of Divinity, his demeanor seems cold and calculated, much more akin to how I and many others might characterize Queen Marika. In attempting to ascend to Godhood, Miquella ironically became what he sought to destroy.

That's why there's such a difference between the Miquella we hear about in the main game, who does seem to be using his powers yes, but for a good cause...and the DLC version of Miquella, who is abusing his charms. Ever since entering the Lands of Shadow after he cocooned himself, Miquella has slowly divested himself of everything except the greater goal. Godhood is all that's left of him by the time we arrive at Enir-Ilim, which is why Saint Trina begs us to kill him. Miquella has already killed himself in a way, and all that's left is a brilliant yet hollow shell. The genuine warmth and compassion he once held for the Lands Between and their people are void, leaving behind only the unfeeling rays of pure gold, much like the ever-present Erdtree. He seeks to supplant Marika's Age...and then install himself as a God, just like his mother. I'm sure that he did have genuine kindness in his heart, but now...there isn't any left within him. That's why he's enforcing his will upon Moore, Ansbach, Freya, Thiollier and Hornsent. Because he's become just like Marika.

It's unfortunate, and a brilliant tale a self destruction that if correctly decoded shows how masterful Fromsoft is at this kind of storytelling. Now, I'm not claiming to be completely correct in this interpretation, since this is just my personal viewpoint of how and why things played out this way in the DLC. Feel free to drop your thoughts below, I'm more than happy to open up a disccussion about Miquella! Anyway, if you'll all excuse me, I need to go replay Shadow of the Erdtree. I'll see you all soon, but until then, Stay Tarnished everyone!

[definesanity]

I'm so happy that you like Elden Ring and SAGAU, because here's a concept I thought of recently and I'm dying to share it with someone - SAGAU Imposter AU, but with Ranni the Witch!Reader. Self-indulgence on my part (and Elden Ring spoilers) but hear me out:

- Canon Ranni has unusual allies, such as a troll blacksmith whose species are used as slaves in the Lands Between. Ranni!Reader who isn't the only one disgusted by the Archons' actions - Traveler and Paimon are officially done with the Seven's sh*t, and offer Ranni!Reader their help. The 'truth of this world' can wait, now that Traveler's seen the true face of the Archons. Maybe Nahida chose to be reasonable and stay out of it. Maybe the Tsaritsa is too busy with her own plans to care about some mere mortal 'stealing' the Creator's face. Either way the twins are reunited earlier than expected, and Ranni!Reader now has an army at her back.

- Canon Ranni stole a fragment of Destined Death to kill her flesh and Godwyn's soul. Ranni!Reader is the Creator, she has sovereignty over death in Teyvat. Ranni!Reader lets the Archons capture and publically execute her, to reveal her true identity (golden blood ✨️) and turn the mortals of Teyvat against their idiot Archons. Speaking of Archons, they're all horrified and panicking. The once-cheering crowd is in silent shock, then all hell breaks loose. The Hydro Archon, who struck the killing blow, becomes a soulless shell - a living corpse, just like poor Godwyn. Unlike Godwyn, not a single soul cries for Focalores. This was her punishment, after all. She brought this on herself.

- We don't know who crafted canon Ranni's doll body, maybe she did it herself. Maybe Ranni!Reader does the same, maybe she employs the services of a certain wandering puppet, or perhaps the doll body is a peace offering from a certain Fatui Harbinger...

- Canon Ranni wants to completely remove the influence of Outer Gods from the Lands Between. Ranni!Reader wants the same, just replace 'Outer Gods' with 'Celestia.' It's not dissimilar to what both the Abyss Order and the Fatui want. For all that the two groups hate each other, they are willing to accept Ranni!Reader's radical proposal. They can go back to killing each other when this is done, for all she cares, but they need to keep it together for this one plan.

- Canon Ranni takes the Tarnished as her consort in her ending. For Ranni!Reader - well, there's the Abyss twin and Traveler, for starters. The Adepti, Xiao and Ganyu, who turned their backs on Rex Lapis after Reader's execution. Childe, who's fighting style could translate perfectly into Elden Ring. Any one of the Anemo boys. Pick a fave and go for it, honestly.

- Canon Ranni, once the Erdtree is burned and the Elden Beast is dead, brings forth the Age of Stars and removes the influence of Outer Gods on the Lands Between. Ranni!Reader and co. crush Celestia, undo the curse on the people of Khaenri’ah, and Ranni!Reader purges Teyvat of divine influence forever - no more Archons, no more Celestial gods, no vague and infuriating requirements to 'earn' elemental powers - the elements can be wielded by anyone now if they have the stats, catalyst and slots for it. The people of Teyvat are free to take control their own destinies, for better and for worse. Still preferable to being divine pawns for uncaring gods.

- Canon Ranni, despite what the English translation would have you believe, departs the Lands Between for the stars, taking the not only her consort with her, but the Elden Ring itself, to ensure the Lands stay god-free. Ranni!Reader bids Nahida and the Tsaritsa a heartfelt farewell - they committed no crime against the Reader, so what is there to forgive? But then the other, now-mortal Archons come to grovel, desperately begging Ranni!Reader to stay, spewing endless apologies. Various Vision holders join in. Ranni!Reader is unmoved.

"Ye art not sorry for thine actions. Only that ye were wrong. Were I not thy God, but a regular mortal, ye wouldst feel no remorse. I care not that I wasn't recognized - I care that ye were willing to make up a crime, and kill innocent people for something they could not control. Monsters, the lot of ye. T'was worth it, I hope, this callous and heartless behavior - I loved ye once, truly, but no more." Ranni!Reader turns to the Vision holders, "If anyone, blame them," Reader points to the heartbroken Archons, "t'was them who caused this. Do what ye will with them - this is the last ye will ever see of me."

Ranni!Reader departs. Perhaps to other worlds, perhaps the Abyss. Perhaps she has a consort at her side. The twins and Paimon are believed to be in Khaenriah. Nahida and the Tsaritsa, now mortal, quietly settle into somewhat normal lives. The remaining traitorous Archon, now powerless, are left at the 'mercy' of their former worshippers. Centuries pass, and tales of gods become half-forgotten myth and legend.

I'm aware that this turned to complete word vomit, but I'm super excited that you wrote Tarnished!Creator SAGAU

Congratulations, you just made my fucking neurones activate xd

LIKE???? HOLY SHIT????

Now, consort-wise, I AM in a Faruzan mood... but I'll just go with Ganyu for now:

Yeah, I can see how that certain someone--Sandrone--would be one to craft Ranni!Reader's body; what would they be previously, however? A mere spirit, or perhaps their old body, before bringing about The Knight of the Black Knives?

I mean, gonna say this now; I did Ranni's quest and got her ending so... yeah xd

Still, ouch to Focalors; a Soulless husk of a body? Then again, imagine striking down on the Creator's neck and seeing the blood of your God. Focalors genuinely believes that she can do no evil. Well, perhaps now it's time for her to learn... the hard way.

KSKSIISJDSJDJ I HAVE SO MANY IDEAS MY FELLOW YOU JUST WROTE A GODDAMN MASTERPIECE--

Imagine other characters too; Millicent!Reader? Gideon Ofnir!Reader? Heck, Morgott!Reader sounds cool!

Still, thanks, I'll have to continue this later but sidnsjdjjddj thanks! And don't worry, always happy to see another Tarnished :3

If you have any other ideas, honestly? Feel free to share them! I'd love to hear them! :D

[sleeplesslionheart]

Burning Fic Update: 10,000 Words on Chapter 4

I haven't updated poor ol' Burning since April 13, so as of this coming week, I'll be reaching two months since I started working on Chapter 4.

Life really kicked my ass in April and May, with a huge wallop of depression (and some bad bouts of insomnia) following. For a while, it totally fried my interest and motivation in writing, and it took me weeks to get back into the swing of things.

But now I've got some fire again. I'm eager to get this chapter finished and posted.

So, for anybody out here who cares (though this post is mostly just a nice little benchmark for me), I'm excited to share that I've just hit 10,000 words on Chapter 4. I'm currently halfway through the chapter's third scene, with one more scene to go after that. I'm estimating that the chapter will probably be around 15,000 words by the time I finish.

Chapter 4 is very Edeleth-focused, including a healthy, substantial dose of, umm...spicy content. So, even though it's taking me a long time to get it out, I hope that it'll be worth the wait.

Given this chapter's subject matter, I'm also very determined to have it released during Pride Month. I've still got a solid amount of work left to do - not only finishing the chapter, but also sending it to my beta for feedback and revisions - but I'm also making this post as a commitment to have it finished before the end of June.

So, with that: back to work for me!

In the meantime, enjoy this picture of my Elden Ring Byleth-Tarnished proposing to Ranni/Edelgard.

[maranull]

Hey, wanted to get an opinion from someone who doesn't straight-up hate Marika. I just answered an ask that sort of turned into a character study/lore overview on Marika. If you feel like taking a look at it, I'd be interested to hear your take.

I'm definitely not Marika's biggest fan, so I just want to make sure I've been fair. Would love to hear your opinion, but obviously no pressure if you don't feel like it.

Thanks!

Catcas22

Hi, that's a really interesting post. I will preface my thoughts with the fact that I haven't done any serious lore diving in months, and my (very Marika centric) fic tends to blur my "canon" understanding more often than not.

If anyone hasn't read the ask mentioned, here's a link, read that before this, please.

Also, tldr, I agree with basically everything, with some nuances.

Alsox2, I'm sorry if you didn't want me to go through most of your points, I just found them really interesting to comment.

I very much agree with the options given as the potential GO reign holders. I personally lean towards a mix of 2 and 3. I think Marika build the Order according to the GW command, and her calls while heading the Order were the GW's. I also think that after her imprisonment, the Order lost most of it's direct contact to the GW, only being able to communicate to it through the Fingers. A situation in which people like Ofnir and Morgott took charge following their own beliefs.

Also, fully agree that the shadows were contingency plans, and I also think they are the only creatures the GW has a more direct control over. Which is still not that strong, even then (Blaidd is evidence of that, given that even during his kill-switch-on moments, he actually defends Ranni's tower (I firmly believe that even if Ranni was there, he would had broken free of the GW's control one way or another)).

As for the following options and interpretations about Marika, I lean heavily towards no3.

This one feels the most unlikely to me. The one thing we know that Marika loves is her children (putting an asterisk here, will explain at the bottom of the text). And since the GW can't directly control her mind or body, I see no other way for it being able to control her.

I also don't think Marika didn't understand what she was signing up for. If I'm not mistaken, she came in the Lands as a conqueror, she is/was as ruthless and plain evil as conquerors are. Plus, even as she conquered and maimed the Lands, she kept small and far-fetching contingency plans (the Giants' Forge come to mind immediately). I feel like she knew how dangerous her alliance with the GW will was, and did it regardless.

And this is my fav. What makes Marika so interesting to me is that she starts as a selfish, power-hungry villain, but as the eons pass, she appears to crack at places and slowly realizes what she has build.

I actually have nothing to counter this option, just that it's too straightforward for a main character from a FromSoft game. I can't speak for Sekiro and BB, but in the DS trilogy, all main antagonists had more than a shade of grey to their characters. It just feels very unlikely she was written that way. Possible, sure, but a bit uncharacteristic of FromSoft's writing.

Asterisk point: Marika's breaking point is the death of her son and daughter. We also know that she was slowly working in undermining the GW before, but their deaths drove her into madness, attempting to brute force her dismantling of the GW's reign.

Now to explain why I agree with option 3.

At first, she is insanely ruthless, committing genocide towards the Fire Giants and conquering land after land, placing a objectively ruthless and bigoted religion over the Lands. She also allows the Omens to be hunted and even when two of her own children are born as such, she throws them in the sewers. But here is where the first crack appears, to me at least. Omens were killed at birth normally. She let them live. And later, both escaped and at least one of them was allowed to roam the Lands as a commander (Morgott leading the Night Cavalry). After, or during that, her other son formed an alliance with the Dragons, arguably the biggest enemy of the GW, given that their Outer God was in charge of the Lands before. Marika not only allowed a truce, but let the two factions merge together (Godwyn/Fortissax and the cult in her soldiers). Then, she herself (or her other self that is still her?) again joins forces with another one of biggest enemies, Raya Lycaria. Three children are born from that, and one is the favourite chosen to take her place as a god. Then, with her last three children, she allows two of them to leave, and attempt to form their own Erdtree. As with the third, she explicitly gives her the purpose of burning the Erdtree housing the Elden Beast.

Honestly, the main thing I read differently is the interpretation of this line:

Hear me, Demigods. My children beloved. Make of thyselves that which ye desire. Be it a Lord. Be it a God. But should ye fail to become aught at all, ye will be forsaken. Amounting only to sacrifices...

The way I understand this is not that she's saying she'll forsaken them if they don't become anything. The way I read this is as a warning of how the GW treated her and how she was about to end up.

Overall, I think Marika is a tragic character, not because she had no say in the atrocities she committed, but because she realized her error of her ways too late, loosing everything she cared for as a result (only three of her children survive (and Godwyn but I wouldn't call that living) and from those three, two are cursed and in terrible states). Some may say she deserved it and I don't disagree with that per se, but that's a whole moral argument that I'm not touching right now, this is already too long. :P

I hope this made some sense, my mind isn't doing that well today. But this was really interesting to think about, so thank you for the ask. :)

[sams-vg-journeys]

elden ring - limgrave part 1

Start of my journal for elden ring - I'll be documenting my game as I playthrough it the second time in my NG+ with the characters and questlines I complete in the game. I started doing this after Margit - so this is everything after that fight remaining in Limgrave. The rest of the areas will probably be more structured.

WARNING, this contains heavy spoilers for characters and bosses you might encounter! look away if you haven't played the game and experienced the quests

After grabbing our gear and heading out the dungeon, we explore a bit and head to the Church of Elleh at night.. to find Ranni

She tells us we'll meet again.

We go further down south and hear a bush speaking to us, upon rolling it, we encounter - Boc - who tells us about a cave on the shore he wants to visit. He's a bit scared right now, though, so we leave him alone for a bit and venture onwards.

Continuing to travel in Limgrave, we spot a ronin-like warrior, Yura

He warns us of a Dragon up ahead. We'll listen to him for now and continue riding along.

I then ran into Bernahl. Unfortunately, I accidentally killed him.. he was shouting something about the Volcano Manor as he died. Oh well

We venture onwards across the bridge and run into a pumpkin head!

We make quick work of him and then find a character overlooking a body beyond the bridge.. his name is D - he warns us of a ghost maiden in the river

Of course.. we ignore his warnings.. and make quick work of her! She gives us a deathroot, which D says he's collecting. He marks something on our map, a Beast Clergyman and tells us a shortcut to get there after the Third church of Marika

After this however - we continue exploring and running into Kenneth - who lost his castle. We agree to get it back. He is a bit of an ass

Along the way, I run into a wolf howling in the distance. I snap my fingers and bring him down to talk to me. He tells me he's looking for someone too. At this point I'm committed to getting Kenneth's fort back.. so I move on

I charge straight into the enemies fort and beat the Knight up top. Kenneth can return to his fort now!

Next post -- we continue D's questline, take down the dragon Yura mentioned, and explore some more areas.