#bloodborne headcanons

[katyspersonal]

who do you think fucked up worse…gehrman or maria?

This is an interesting question, and I kind of didn't think of it before! Time to take a closer look at their crimes I guess. Some of these will be held on the possibilities and 'safe assumptions' though and addressed for the full picture!

1) Both were involved in Fishing Hamlet massacre!

With Maria, we can conclude as much because she discarded her weapons in the well at the place specifically. Her version in the Nightmare realm, a Hunter again, is supposed to be what punishes her, and she is focused on keeping Kos/OoK away from rummaging through. Considering the nature of the Nightmare, as well as the Doll who has spiritual connection with her, it should come from her guilt and regrets rather than.. I dunno, discarding the hunt over natural 'character development' and just picking a cool place to forsaken her past!

Gehrman sleeps better according to the dialogue Doll has after you kill OoK and free it's soul, so if it tortured him so, I think it is safe to say he had to be personally involved too rather than stay back while his students did the job:

They both were involved with Byrgenwerth, following their quest for obtaining the eyes of the dwellers from their skulls, and I suppose cord of OoK?

The thing about this point is that the description is written as though it was Gehrman's curiosity which ruined Maria's "idealisation" of him, or WOULD ruin it had she learned of it! This makes me wonder whether she was really involved in Byrgenwerth all that much, or whether she was aware of the real purpose of Fishing Hamlet massacre beforehand? Her goal, within the Nightmare, is stated to mercy-kill us so we don't allow that curiousity corrupt us to the point of "rummaging through corpse" and similar things, further supported by her visceral attack being an embrace if it is lethal!

I am just saying that here the balance might slightly shift towards making Gehrman 'worse' than her. Maybe she was not aware that it all was not just killing "monsters" but also a pregnant mother with her divine baby, but "well you didn't ask :/". Maybe Gehrman deceived her to use her aid. Maybe he didn't think it would be a big deal for her seeing that Maria was also interested in evolution through talking with Great Ones, and assumed she'd be just as callous about which means to accomplish the goals with?

2) Both were grave-robbing, or at least okay with that!

This one is a little less obvious, but Tomb Prospectors were not the first to go to the Chalice Dungeons! ...It were actually Willem, Dores and Gatekeeper lol:

BUT ALSO it were Old Hunters! We can see the remnants of it by Old Hunter Vitus being one the summons in Chalice Dungeons, hear Gehrman encourage us to go into the Chalice Dungeons to become stronger as via "tradition" of the Old Hunters,

and the fact that one of the things that torture Maria (again, remember that Nightmare Realm is Hell that punishes) is a Chalice:

(A video ( x ) for a better look at the Chalice from a figure)

I'd say that it is not very nice to disturb the undead Pthumerians just struggling in remains of their civilisation! Interesting thing: we can conclude they are even staying there to protect the Great Ones or their remains!

There has been some sort of civil war between ancient great-ones-respecting Pthumerians and who late became Cainhurst nobles! Maria, ironically, fell onto the side of "entitled guys" descendants! But yes, I could see why bullying zombie guys to get more history and archeology relics from them might not seem like much for her at start. Experience in the Fishing Hamlet likely retroactively ruined this period of her life for her: delving into Chalice Dungeons was likewise 'not leaving the corpse alone'. The remaining Pthumerians were right having some honour and dignity. So, that came to haunt her in the form of Pthumeru Chalice. Gehrman is.. well he's here too I guess dfshfdhs

3) Both knew a little too much about Laurence's shady business and did nothing?

Old Hunters used to be friends with Healing Church's Hunters and even had their workshops located close to one another! Gehrman was friends with Laurence and Ludwig, who are both quite strongly involved with Moon Presence (Ludwig's sword and guidance, Laurence's affiliation being known since Byrgenwerth times), as well as the key figure in creation of Hunter's Dream:

This was most likely a bait-and-switch, seeing how the cord itself is still in the real Workshop, and not in the grasp of Moon Presence (unlike, say, Wet Nurse taking Mergo's cord)! I think the purpose of creation of the Hunter's Dream was to "buy time" for the research conceived by the scientists! Remember: Gehrman was known to have "madness of curiosity" that Maria resented, or at least would resent had she known! He might have been fully aware of what Laurence wanted to do and support it! My point here, that with such proximity, he must have known of all Laurence's crimes and agreed with them!

Maria was at least overseer of the Clocktower's Research Hall, which, again, was just beta!Choir.

This last line IS a bit confusing, because it makes it sound as though the nerds looking for the Eyes Inside and the Blood Ministers got split. Laurence and Ludwig make it weird, as Moon Presence is also an Eldrich creature and Ludwig is for sure full of eyes! What also makes it strange is that Choir, and then School of Mensis, are both upper echelons of the Healing Church, but Laurence is supposed to be above both of them.

I think this can be worked with! Let's say what if Choir formed after Laurence's death, which also happened after Maria's death, and Vicars after him were somewhat "powerless" and walked over by Choir and Mensis, only leaders in the name! But that still leaves the bit that the mentioned "division" happened after Choir was formed! Maria and Adeline, however, are locked to the existence of the Research Hall, so, the timeframe when doctors and blood ministers were 100% working together! We find the Eye Pendant that opens the access to the Research Hall in Laurence's hand, and human Skull of Laurence on the platform that hides the secret elevator to that Research Hall. Again, by the Nightmare Logic, they must be connected with Laurence's sins: he started this research, or sponsored it, or was overseeing it, and so on.

This point is not an absolute thing though, because one or both of them might be freed from guilt here. Maybe Gehrman was not as informed and agreeable as we could assume and Laurence did lead him around? Maybe Maria wanted but could not do anything being caught in the web of complicated connections, blackmail and risks for the people she cared about?

4) Both are willingly involved in questionable practices (Maria with research, Gehrman with the cycle of Dream and Hunt)

This point I feel like transcends the morality a little bit, as it touches the matter of 'it is bad if you do it, but it is also bad if you DON'T do it'. I really love Soulsborne universes for having guts to say "you can't win, just pick your poison", but I think it is still worth addressing!

It is up to interpretation in which quantity Maria is involved with the Research Hall! Nothing states whether she founded it, joined in the research later, stepped in and turned the tides (ba dum tss) of the research, or simply was a caretaker/nurse/etc of the broken mess while Research Hall was getting ready for a bit of rebranding. She can be very guilty, or she can be barely guilty but in either case if that was her "redemption arc" that was a pretty bad way to go about it. ...or was it?

Fauxsefka turns people into Celestial Emissaries so they physically can't become beasts instead, and is even stated to be a hero / heroic researcher by Miyazaki:

First, I don't do Death of the Author (in terms of interpreting media I mean, not in terms of a style of writing)! Like, nope. Never. It is just not for me. Creator's word is the final for me; Fauxsefka is the good guy in the story, apparently, and it makes sense considering the fundamentally broken place characters are in! Maria has similarities with Fauxsefka: not only both of them have Cainhurst roots, but also both of them seem to favour 'Stars' line of evolution for humans!

Whereas other patients are afraid of the horrors of the Deep Sea, a concept Miyazaki could not get over well into DS3, Adeline desires them! Other patients seems to have gotten it right, and you can see one of them also clings to Maria mentally to "not drown"; Adeline "didn't understand"! The balcony that Maria wants Adeline to go to so she can forsaken the Deep Sea and seek something "happier" holds unique kind of patients who can shoot cosmic arcane spells:

Herself, Maria is associated with these lumenflowers: their petals are all over her boss arena, and the way to her lays through a much bigger batch of flowers, where Living Failures, other 'Stars' Kin are, whose song lyrics also feature lines 'ave stellar' and 'ave Maria'!

So, how this is different from what Fauxsefka is doing, who is stated to be as much of a good person as possible within this context and with the burden of her knowledge? Fauxsefka was doing more or less rinse-and-repeat practice, with maybe a few patients not surviving the procedure but we don't know what happened: maybe that person was already at the brink of death and she tried to make them live like this.

^ This guy I mean. Maria, on the other hand, is in the time period where the doctors and scientists were only testing the waters (BA DUM TSSS) (ok I will stop) and it was not SO certain what was at the stake, what were the alternatives, what was awaiting the humanity. It is even possible that the beasts problem was not yet bad to the point of "you'll either become a beast, be eaten by a beast or become a Kin, humanity is DONE for!" ! This was an unethical research at the cost of real people! The weight of Maria's sin here really depends on the interpretation, though

As for the cycle of Dream and Hunt, this is complicated and lingers on one's interpretation of what the purpose of the Dream even IS! Its existence provides two things: 1) a hunter who is immortal for the night, thus can sustain the beasts with efficiency like no other, but also effect the continuity of the night ( x ) and 2) supposed sustenance to the Great One Flora of the Moon, who holds the hunt as a concept!

I used to be a bit more set on the idea that if beasts are not sustained and hunted, they will simply overpower those who are yet humans and eat them! It is a self-feeding cycle of people needing to self-defend from beasts, thus having to consume the blood as urgent means of healing and power-up since beasts are too strong, thus risking to become beasts themselves because the blood they consumed during that hunt corrupts them. So, the Hunter's Dream would be a good thing, as it'd help to 'buy time' during nights of the hunt in which not only beasts are more active but Great Ones too! While the Dreaming Hunter holds everything together, the greatest minds of the Healing Church can efficiently study the ways to end beasthood, or ANY problem of humanity, once and for all! It is just better to throw the hunting resources on the Dream, so the scientists don't worry about the beasts and can focus on research. However, I almost forgot that:

This implies that had there not been Mensis Ritual ongoing, people WOULD have the chance to simply 'wait away' the beasthood problem. That, since Rom is not stopping Mensis Ritual but just conceals it, what really makes the inner beast within everyone who consumed the blood inevitably come out is Mergo's cry that draws the Bloodmoon close!

So yeah, the point about Hunter's Dream being helpful for the research of evolution still stands, especially under assumption that the deal with Moon Presence helped to bring more Eldrich Arcane close for "feeding" her. The point about how if the beasts are not hunted they'll simply eat everyone, though, is vague. It is safer to assume that the Hunter's Dream and Research Hall both are both example of hubris of man even if approached differently. Attempts to draw in something dangerous and horrifying, but it is "justified risk" because if you manage to 'tame' arcane/blood, sure, humanity will prosper!

Like... yeah, sure, there IS dangerous and undesireable nature of man that ruins everything and might or might not still linger in humanoids' genes after Loran. But did humanity ASK any of you guys to keep trying to fix it with so many victims and sacrifices? Like, was it WORTH it?

This point is closely tied to 'knowing Laurence's bad antics and doing nothing', yeah. Maria didn't seem to like blood ministration very much, as she disapproved of Adeline becoming a Blood Saint, but she also didn't even approve of blood antics of her own clan! I am not sure what would be her opinion on the Hunter's Dream had she lived to the point when it was created, just that she herself is not willing to ever hunt, so I am leaving this point aside. Is this just blood ministration that she opposes but proximity with a Great One Moon Presence would be something she can see the potential of? Or would she and Gehrman have a pointless cat fight about whose methods are better when they are both hubris of man? In both versions they are 'guilty'! Besides:

In the end none of THIS matters either and everyone was fooled ( x ). The blood offering is a blood offering in any way; whether it is through spilling blood violently during the hunt, or offering the blood's 'red' with how celestial Kin all bleed red. Moon doesn't care what paints it red, in the end.

___________________________________

My conclusion is: both of these characters fucked up almost equally! I think the balance shifts just a little bit and Maria is slightly better than Gehrman since she had some limitations set on how far she was willing to go. Her motivation was not in "curiosity" but strictly in helping humanity, even if in unfair ways, which is apparently not the case for Gehrman?

I'll say this though, NOW I am hooked on the idea of Maria and Gehrman being petty "rivals" ideologically (for as long as they could before Maria's own demons caught up with her). Especially since neither approach is better than the other and they are both cringe loosers! Again, lost comedy gold over Fromsoft making Gehrman's tender and warm feelings for her before and after her death plain. What is not lost, however, is the fact that the two should just kick Laurence and go home :pensive:

[secteel]

Mental health okay!! Mental health better. God helps but mommy’s first time in pants helps more.

[karnaca78]

Improbable interactions between characters we never see together? It fuels my soul.

Part 2

[jarognieva]

Silly headcanon time, Micolash is kind of person who never drinks alcohol because he wants to "keep his mind clear" but also he takes the hardest drugs you can ever get in Yharnam

[x1702x]

Biblically accurate Micolash + some hcs sprinkled in!

The Hcs:

- Grey hairs

- Thick lashes

- Side stubble/Shitty Sideburns

- Small tooth gap

I love him and his stupid green skin hes decaying 🗣🗣 I lobe him

I like to think that hes naturally just scaringly pale (Even anemic I dare say) but since hes a dead corpse in the waking world his body state in the nightmare has gone a bit south, thats why hes getting green. Hes probably scaringly cold aswell, i should draw him more 🗣🗣

[fareehaandspaniards]

Associations post

While I am doing big Laurence post, I found out that lots of paintings for me have strong vibes and references for certain characters. If I will write big text again - I swear I fall asleep, so just a post for me to have as reference in future

Anne of Cleves for Rom

Saint John drawn by Sandro Botticelli and angel drawn by Filippino Lippi for young Laurence

THIS ADORABLY LOOKING MAN - ‘Hans Tucher’ by Albrecht Durer for DAMIAN OF MENSIS GKLNSKJRGTNSKEJHFTKJEA AAAAAA *girly screaming* I LOVE THIS PAINTING FOR YEARS YOU CAN'T IMAGINE HOW MUCH

Oswolt Krel by Durer oooooooooohohhhhhh for Sir Gremia and I I II I I.... (not a reference tbh! My Gremia has different face shapes. But MOOD. THE VIBE. AAAAH)

A man with leather belt by Gustave Corbet for Ludwig

Lady Marjorie Manners (1883–1946), Later Marchioness of Anglesey by James Jebusa Shannon  as Saint Adeline! For long time I tried not to think that she is black-haired but... Lady fell in love with Bicolash in my head and I can't get rid of this headcanon now

Hans Holbein the Younger - "Sketch of unudentified woman" for Adella

I think I will add more later! :0

[synthwayve]

Useless Bloodborne headcanon #Idon’tknow: Micolash unknowingly scratches his skin raw when in deep thought. It’s usually unnerving to the people who notice.

[katyahina]

Maria's brooch is not green...?

(Screenshots from @thesoulzofhades post ( x ))

Honestly, reflections in her brooch are such a neat thing! But:

^ I always assumed that this accessory on the Doll is the same as what Maria is wearing, it has the exact same design, but with the color, I just don't know sometimes:

I could assume that the brooch as shown on Maria's boss form might then be not actually green but reflect the lighting, but we can see that on the Hunter's body (pictured in the Hunter's Dream) it is still green, and it is intentionally green on Maria's model without lighting!

^ I wonder if there might be sort of modeling mistake, then? It is the most logical thing to assume that this is the same pendant/brooch, as it shares the design and Doll already has Maria's ribbon in her hat and Maria's shoes! But the 'green' that covers Doll's brooch is a different filter, placed to reflect the lighting rather than BEING the color green. Similar situation I recall with clothes of Alberich that surprised me:

Notice how 'green' places react on the lighting instead when the set is worn? I think Doll's pendant was supposed to be the same! Maybe with only very slight green overlay, but not to the extent Maria's clothes have it.

Maybe people who modelled Maria were not the same who modelled the Doll, so it was a misinterpretation of the 'filter' as color green? Or maybe they figured it out but decided to keep the green brooch because it looked better? (they were right if true, but still :p)

Now that I think of it, it does make a bit more sense if her brooch is not green but instead is supposed to be glistening and reflect the surroundings. Green is nowhere else in her set, anyways! I think the most logical assumption that it was a misinterpretation within developing; either one they didn't realise, or realised but decided to keep! I guess I will have to draw her brooch waaaaay less green; more in the way Doll has it than 'gemstone'-looking one I am drawing now. ...or I will not, if I end up not feeling satisfied with the change. xD

I just don't really see the point in interpreting them as different accessories. A more compromise answer to the dilemma would be that Maria used to cover it in green-ish gloss to look more *STYLISH*, and Gehrman is just not doing this for Doll! (Moon Presence stole all the green polish for her nails day :(((((( OOF )

[tenderlambkin]

If you gave the The Plain Doll in Bloodborne a name that IS NOT a reference to her being a doll or a Maria clone...What is it and why?

I want to hear takes on this because when I googled it (years ago) to see if the fandom had perhaps agreed on a nickname... Most of the answers were rather demeaning in my opinion: "Dahlia" (like doll, get it?) and "Mary" (like "marionette" and because it's similar to Maria). I hate the doll/puppet reference names. Not sorry. I suppose referencing her connection to Maria can be done meaningfully and with respect but I don't even like naming children after their parents to be honest. In rebellion towards that I started calling her "Vera". Short for "Verity" which means "a fundamental truth or principle". That truth being that she deserves to be recognized as her own individual person. So I call her Vera :)

[fantomette22]

Lady Maria vs Keeper of the Old Lords

In the depth of the pthumerian's tombs, Lady Maria always feared to encounter an adversary with the ability to control fire.

Not just a common foe with a mere fire paper no, but a being capable of channelling their own energy or blood to ignite a blade, a pyromancer. The protectors of the old lords or of the antics kings and queens of their people.

She always had fascination yet a grand fear for them. People aren't sure why a fearless warrior like her would be so destabilised at their evocation or when rumours to have seen one would went to her ear.

But in the end, she managed to overcome one of her biggest fear. She faced the fire and ash warrior and save her companions!

She took a decision. She won't let herself be hold back by this part of herself and scare her so much, anymore.

A few headcanons :

Yes I headcanon Maria is born a pyromancer. The first since about her grand grand grand (grand?) parents. Her blood is very powerful for offensive use. (Way more powerful than a normal human trying to used a Chikage as well, for exemple). So yes she could ignite her blood from her living under certains extreme conditions.

She never really learnt how to control it/how to make it take fire on demand properly and she didn't wished too (plus if she can't control it her family isn't gonna ask her to used it!). She don't want to use her own blood as a weapon, as a mean to hurt people. She don't like this and she almost feel like a monster or a weapon with such abilities.

Still, she was quite curious about the legends of the pyromancers protector of the great ones. Compared than the "shadows" of the queen she should have become.

Her abilities through her blood but it's is very similar to the shadows of Yharnam/beast possessed soul/keeper. Like the description said for the keepers they had to go through a ritual to obtain their power. But they are much older, those rituals take place before pthumerians crown themselves leaders.

Back at byrgenwerth the students gang did encounter a shadow of Yharnam once, during hm training we'll say. Everyone was fine in the end but Maria was quite shock and scared by the experience. It reminded her what she could become and the role her peers wanted her to have. A shadow.(= bodyguard who can do dirty work). Still, she even used her own blood to distract the shadow so they could run away, knowing maybe it would recognize her as not an enemy. Everyone found that a bit weird a t first but they figure that Maria do know some pthumerian/cainhurst rituals so that pass and almost no one suspect anything.

After she got her master degree at Byrgenwerth, she went to the East a couple of months to do a mission for Cainhurst. She got her Rakuyo over there as well. When she came back she got offered her hunter outfit and joined the hunter/ healing church. Not long after they went to Central Pthumeru...

Maria and a few hunter had to fight the beast possessed soul and again it scared her. Afterwards she understood she couldn't let her fear of pyromancer hold her back or people could be severely hurt.

So afterwards they discover the keeper of the old lords, Maria fought it and defeat it. She got injured and was quite destabilised but she made it. She was gift her chalice afterwards and got THE blood transfusion + a baptism + being officially a part of the hunter/church.

So besides her very close family (royal family include) nobody knows about her ability for a huge while. I think you can understand why.

Ok she did tell Gehrman accidentally. But there were more important things she told him at the same time too so he didn't pay that much attention to it on the moment. And after all, 'that you can make fire or not with your blood doesn't change who you are Maria!"

Laurence in the contrary kinda loose it when he learn about it XD he found it absolutely incredible! Compared to her. But he managed to tell her it wasn't a curse but a gift and it shows she must be special for the great ones! She did appreciate that.

I know the idea of Maria vs keeper of the old lords have already been done by a few people but it's just so good! I believe there's many possibility for a story! In term of action or even characters.

[secteel]

I kept coming back to it.. Constable fanart.. Kinda got attached to Müller and baby Valtr.. 👉👈

Valtr being the sole survivor while being the youngest of the troupe is a headcanon going around in my brain.

[karnaca78]

A sequel to this short comic because I have jumped into the Micolash & Maria interactions rabbit hole and I have THOUGHTS.

[heraldofcrow]

More weird ideas on the (headcanoned) Cainhurst siblings—

They both had pyromancy and were actually born with the ability, not taught it. They had enhanced genetics inherited from their specific bloodline that held more Pthumerian traits than others. My theory is that the bloodline had been relatively normal until Cainhurst received the forbidden blood, and then the children like Maria that were born afterwards were not necessarily Vilebloods, but surely posessed more of their ancestral features. (Vileblood parent ≠ Vileblood child unless the child later consumes blood as well).

This is why Maria’s third phase is basically her tapping into her full-blown Pthumerian heritage.

To Maria, this state was a sacrifice of one’s humanity, because Pthumerians themselves are not human by any means. Maria saw them as monsters, and she avoided her pyro-blood desperately. Whenever the fire would seep through her veins in moments of anger or weakness, she quickly suppressed it out of fearful instinct. She only gives into her inhumanity in the nightmare, a symbolic retelling of what she did as a hunter in the real world.

The Bloody Crow was slightly different to Maria. He inherited the same Pthumerian traits and the pyromancy within his blood, but his birth was cursed and his fire was erratic. He could not suppress it through his will the way Maria could. If it wanted to flare up, it would. Moments of mania and anger led to this—of which Crow had plenty.

The only thing that helped was to absorb numbing mist, which as we know, numbs the senses/brain enough to drain the life essence. This was the only discipline that worked, and it led to a rather obsessive addiction to the mist in Crow. When he was sane, he shared the same desire as Maria to be human and control his flame.

Yet also like Maria, there was a time when he did not care anymore and let it explode. Both siblings embraced their monstrosities after believing themselves to have truly lost their human sides.

So basically, neither of them had a simple relationship with pyromancy.

[galaxirin]

Obligatory Lore post for this comic

- Simon and Ludwig met for the first time on the night of Maria’s funeral. Aka why Ludwig still has her pendant and why he looks exhausted (he has not slept in days 😭)

- he’s still in the extreme depression stage of his grief, when he gets to anger it… it won’t be pretty. This will be explored soon ☺️

- he places the gem on Maria’s cravat on his custom made Sword Hunter Badge!! It’s a way to memorialise one of the greatest older sister (figures, even if she’s his cousin) he’s ever had and will ever have

- Simon slowly reveals more and more of himself the more he trusts someone. It’s why he has his hood off (and soon enough eyes exposed) when with Ludwig and with Louis. Louis is kinda being babysat by him because Simon doesn’t trust that he won’t run into danger from how innocent he looks

- and yes. The fire on Laurence’s pendant was 100% colour picked and painted using Laurence’s eye colour. Made me laugh actually, this guy legit has fire in his eyes and it will consume not only his soul but everyone else who had the misfortune of being in Yharnam

[fareehaandspaniards]

I headcanon that Micolash was teasing Edgar with the fact he knew Laurence MUCH closer then he supposed to... lol

Edgar thinks of Laurence like he is a literal saint. Mico doesn't like it

[synthwayve]

The Micolaurence text post ever.

Shoutout to the people in my replies, I blame all of you in the most positive way possible.

Poorly formatted “essay” about the connections they have that make my brain spin because yes :} new years is a time of lawlessness impulsivity: keep in mind I don’t own the actual game to confirm some things, most of this is compiled from item descriptions, cut content, reading the wiki over and over, and my own analysis. I could be totally wrong about some things + this is just my own analysis/interpretation**, have mercy upon my soul 🙏

The biggest thing about them, and the thing I simply do not shut up about if you happen to hear me talk about them, is that both Micolash and Laurence’s respective obsessions/virtues/main associated game mechanics (Insight and Blood respectively) directly influence each other. Not only do they influence each other, they also relieve the negative effects of the other stat. Why is this such a big deal to me? WELL:

Beasthood, the negative effect of taking too much blood, scales negatively depending on your Insight. The more Insight you have, the less Beasthood, and vice versa. Contrarily, Sedatives, crafted from blood(yes, Sedatives are stated to be thick ‘human’ blood and will reset your Beasthood as well, but this does not necessarily reduce it- more on this later*)

Will relieve Frenzy as their primary purpose, which is the main negative side effect of having high Insight i.e going mad.

I think this is very intentional outside of just pure game mechanics and design: there is a running theme in Bloodborne, that being that every enemy you face has succumbed to one side too heavily. BSB, the half-beast Yharnamites, Gascoigne, Amelia, Laurence, and all the other beast enemies you face have relied too much on the blood and fallen to its curse. Brainsuckers, Rom, Winter Lanterns, Micolash, and arguably other insight-heavy enemies like the Celestial Emissary are heavier on the Insight side. What makes YOU, the player, different? It is your ability to balance both.

The creatures that have gotten closest to ascension are ones that we can assume have undergone the effects of blood and insight, but still haven’t gotten there all the way. Rom is probably the biggest example, along with other Kin/Great One enemies. They are physically transformed, as the blood will do, but they are not beasts. Rather, they often have the numerous eyes that are granted with Insight.

The ending that allows the Hunter to ascend reads to me as an ending where you have successfully balanced both mediums: using Blood to tame the negative effects of Insight and vice versa. What I interpret from this in regards to Micolash and Laurence specifically is that they could have come SO CLOSE to achieving what they wanted!! If they had just worked together, and the schism hadn’t happened, perhaps Micolash would not have gone insane with steady treatments of Blood and Laurence would not have transformed with the help of his Insight being steadily raised.

Maybe it’s just me being insane but I don’t know, there’s something pretty gay to me about being in charge of/cursed by an obsession with something that only someone equally as obsessed with its opposite can cure.

I honestly think Micolash and Laurence might have even ended up in a sort of prisoner’s dilemma situation: they both think their own method is correct, and refuse to give in to the other’s perspective. In doing so, they actually end up royally screwing themselves over at the same time whereas cooperation would have led to the best outcome. Laurence, the general posterboy for the blood in general(and most other blood related things) is not someone who I imagine would be keen on giving up his faith in the substance. Especially when he’s being told this by a man who’s sanity is hung by a thread. But if only Micolash listened to HIM, his insanity would be relieved and he would go back to the mostly sensible man he might’ve been- only of course, Micolash would not see it that way. Why would he take something that is quite literally killing Laurence? I find it interesting that Sedatives are a hint of insanity(like with Edgar) yet Micolash doesn’t drop any. Perhaps he’s not the type to invest in Blood, especially if he had to watch it slowly chip away at Laurence’s health who was too stubborn to listen to him instead. You see where I’m going with this- around and around they go.

*while Sedatives are stated to be thick human blood, I have three theories about this.

1. “Derived” from Byrgenwerth implies to me that the formula has undergone some modifications. I would not be surprised if holy blood is used as a thickener.

2. I imagine most “human blood”, at the point that Sedatives are distributed more abundantly, is already tainted with holy blood. I mean, come on. This is Yharnam. Blood is the name of the game.

3. Sedatives reset Beasthood, but for you the PLAYER, your beasthood remains at more of a net neutral than your Insight which the game relies on to progress the story. I imagine that for a scholar like Micolash, who does not fulfill the role of a hunter or a soldier, beasthood would be less of a concern.

OKAY THAT ONE POINT GOT REALLY LONG I’M SORRY so I’ll rapid fire some other things about them:

-Micolash seeks to abandon his humanity in his boss form, Laurence seeks to retain it in his boss form. Micolash seeks a blessing from Kos like that which was granted to Rom, you know, the giant very not human spider. Laurence wants his memories and his head back. Neat!!

-while there seems to be clear animosity between Mensis and The Healing Church later in the timeline, I think it is often overlooked that they DID work together at some time. I can imagine The School of Mensis to be research and science heavy: looking for ways to perfect ministration technology, understand the specifics of the blood, and research what else can be made of it to further humanity. The Healing Church distributes it, covers. The School’s reputation(presumably), and uses that research to further their own ideas of ascension. Bloodborne likes to do things in threes: Willem, Laurence, and Micolash are respective leaders/founders of Byrgenwerth, The Healing Church, and The School of Mensis. Interesting note that the latter two originate from the former, who is the only still “living” character amongst the 3 as far as I can gather. He warned those morons and it meant absolutely nothing LMAO.

-There is something so satisfying to me in how Micolash is generally associated with the dark and dim: Kos- a goddess born from the watery depths, an infinite labyrinth of dust and old tomes, and dark robes of Byrgenwerth. Laurence, on the other hand, is associated with all that is bright: fire, a bright pale moon, white and blue robes of the Choir, and the candlelit cathedrals that are more wax than they are pews. Parallels! Beloved!

-fellas is it gay if we both destroy a city for our own ends. YES yes Old Yharnam specifically was destroyed by the Powder Kegs- but I have a complete crack theory that Laurence saw the Ashen Blood poisoning go down, thought “ah, that is terrible for our reputation”, and sent the then-still loyal Powder Kegs to kaboom the issue away. The Powder Kegs then begin to protect the very beasts that Laurence is trying to sweep under the rug(because panic never leads to anything good), so the Healing Church Workshop as a whole denounce them as heretics.

…but also crack theory aside I still hold him half-responsible for the fall of Yharnam as a whole. And Micolash fucking obliterated all of Yahar’gul so. Yeah. Do NOT let these 2 work together, I think they would destroy all of Yharnam if they could.

-Consider: academic rivals that end up side-by-side, foraying into the brand new promising field of human ascension with matching ambitions and stars in their eyes. That is, until a cost that neither is willing to pay(the health of the other) shows up, and they end up splitting apart in a violent schism that brings them right back to where they started. CONSIDER. For me 🥺

-The Mensis cage obscures everything BUT the eyes, the uniform of the Choir allows for mobility (even enough to fight- like with Yurie) but it blinds the user. Also: Micolash, weird crazy guy who was probably not adored, or at least not as adored as Laurence, dies surrounded by people. Laurence, the guy who put Yharnam on the freaking map, dies completely alone in a big empty room. At least, that’s how we find their bodies in the nightmare!

- “We were friends! How could you?” Is tragic to me in any interpretation

-WHY DOES MICOLASH HAVE A CALL BEYOND. That is a CHOIR SPELL TO THE CORE!! And also, iirc, shared only amongst the higher ranks. I understand him having stolen it from Laurence is the general interpretation- but I like to think that perhaps it was a gift. A show of good faith, even? 😏 to wield the very stars in one’s hands seems like a very apt gift for a guy who is obsessed with the cosmos.

-Laurence 100% stole some of Micolash’s homework on contacting Great Ones imo and the effects of insight. I don’t actually have anything to back this outside of speculation I just think it’s very funny. Endless loop of copying homework. Micolash has more insight naturally, Laurence uses this to learn of the ritual, Laurence does his ritual, Micolash copies his ritual. No credit in sight.

-Micolash has an interesting line of cut dialogue where he claims he “was the head…of this treatment church”. I don’t have the original Japanese text, but I wonder if perhaps Micolash was meant to be an NPC, still fulfilling his role as both the headmaster of Mensis AND the main scholar overlooking all scientific and arcane research on behalf of the Healing Church? If he was the head of the healing church, did an earlier version have Laurence fulfilling his theorized role as a re-incarnated hunter?

-Micolash’s ritual, which I gather(and this is where my knowledge is the most shaky so BEAR WITH ME) summoned the blood moon, seems to be a direct copy of Laurence’s ritual to summon Flora. Whereas Flora took Gehrman as a host, Mergo took either Micolash as a host, or sacrificed the rest of the school in his place. Keep in mind: The Moon rune(found at the bottom of the stairs in Micolash’s boss arena, also eerily similar to the Communion Rune that I imagine would be a big hit with Laurence) DIRECTLY states that the Great Ones are sympathetic in spirit, and answer when called upon. I don’t think Mergo nor Flora are intentionally malicious. I just think these two idiots didn’t know what they were bargaining for, or with. Fellas is it gay if we both change the sky, both sacrifice something we didn’t necessarily mean to, and both suffer in the Nightmare for our sins? Asking for a friend.

-Micolash’s first move is running away from you, Laurence’s first move is to lunge directly at you. Ah, they would have made such a horrendously destructive pairing if the divorce hadn’t happened.

-bonus note!! I have ANOTHER crack theory that the “Moon” and “Communion” Runes have some neat parallels :smear:

Moon Rune is blood red like Micolash’s blood moon, Communion is pale white like Laurence’s pale moon. Moon allows for more blood echoes, Communion for more vials. Moon focuses on the Great Ones answering when called, Communion focuses on Blood Ministration. Moon has the eye in the center surrounded by lines, almost forming another circle(perhaps, and this is a stretch, even the dias that the catalyst is meant to be at the center of?), Communion is surrounded by 3 distinct dots(Laurence, Gehrman, and…Flora? Still not certain who the 3rd dot would be). Reading runes is fun! “Beast’s Embrace” may be closer to Laurence as a character(I mean, you obtain it from him) but since Micolash has no rune to drop as a counterpart(probably because he isn’t a DLC boss), I went with striking parallels between Communion and Moon instead.

-Fellas. Final question. Is it gay if my mild interest in that which lies beyond humanity (POSSIBLY) turns into a rapid obsession/a race against time to save you from yourself and reverse the effects of this poison you so adore, only to realize you won’t hear me, you will never hear me, and it is too late for both of us to turn back? Just wondering. JUST. WONDERING. Maybe trying to stop the other’s descent got too frustrating, Micolash and Laurence both sort of strike me as stubborn pricks in their own ways. Hence the big divorce. “If you won’t see things my way then you can sit with the consequences” (said both of them, equally suffering from consequences). I can only imagine Micolash did not expect for Laurence to prove him right so soon. (It’s funny, because they’re both dead, so really neither was right.)

**(Also I just like relating my headcanons back to canon for fun, I’m not trying to say how ‘canon’ something is should influence how people make hcs. Bloodborne’s not a very romantic game in a traditional sense so this is all mostly me rambling around anyway x,D)

OKAY SORRY IM FINALLY DONE. HAPPY NEW YEARS EVERYBODY. I THINK THEY HELD HANDS MAYBE. I also think they would actually literally maul each other to death if given enough reason.