#bloodborne observation notes

[yharnamesque]

Bloodborne Observation Notes

Back in 2018 I had a very stupid idea: what if I went through my favourite game, Bloodborne (2015) by Fromsoft, and noted down every single thing I could see? Well that’s what I started doing. Did the main game, took a several year break, came back and did the chalices. I mean it when I say this is my favourite game, it is so stupidly important to me, and I wouldn’t have done this if it wasn’t

So I present to you, broken down into territories, all of my notes looking into every single detail I could come across in every single area of the game. I made these to be shared, for everyone to see and to use how they want. The only thing I ask for in return is you share them about, and give credit plus a link back if they end up influencing your own work. This is my contribution, my gift, to the community, and I hope it serves you well

The links below will go straight to the folders themselves rather than all the individual documents, but they’ll still be listed out here for easy reference as to what is where

-

Progression + Foreword

Yharnam

Iosefka’s Clinic

Central Yharnam

Old Yharnam

The Hunter’s Dreams

The Hunter’s Dream

The Hunter’s Nightmare

The Cathedral Ward

The Tomb of Oedon / Oedon Chapel

The Cathedral Ward / The Grand Cathedral

The Upper Cathedral Ward

Healing Church Workshop

The Abandoned Workshop

The Altar of Despair

The Forbidden Woods

Forbidden Woods

Byrgenwerth

Cainhurst

Hemwick Forest

Hemwick Charnel Lane

Castle Cainhurst

The Unseen Village

Hypogean Gaol

Yahar’Gul

The Graveyard of the Darkbeast

The Nightmares of Yharnam

The Lecture Hall

The Nightmare Frontier

The Nightmare of Mensis / Mergo’s Loft

Pthumeru

Pthumeru

Central Pthumeru

Lower Pthumeru

Cursed and Defiled

Great Pthumeru Ihyll

Hintertomb

Hintertomb

Lower Hintertomb

Loran

Ailing Loran

Lower Loran

Isz

Great Isz

Cut Chalices

Great One Beast

Alternate Moon Presence

[katyspersonal]

Why Bloodborne is like thiiiiis (creativity notes, don't mind me)

I do like how cosmos/arcane in Bloodborne have different colors, too? There are:

turquoise/cyan - Ludwig's moonlight sword and Guidance Rune, Small Resonant Bell + the mist from which summoned cooperators appear, mist around Gehrman after he turns to the Moon

'pale' blue - magic of cosmic Kin like Brainsuckers, mist around scythes of Church Servants (at 15+ Insight), Milkweed Rune, mist Gehrman and Micolash disappear into when hit, haze inside skull of Laurence before we saw his memory for some reason...

a more saturated blue - magic of Celestial Emissaries, Eye Rune, that weird spiral trap in Isz dungeons, Rom's meteorites, eyes of the scourge beasts in Choir's base, Call Beyond charging, Choir Bell, Fluorescent Flower's magic

purple - Messengers' lamps, magic of Nightmare Executioners (behind their helmet and from their axes), portal from Lecture Hall into Nightmare realm, lanterns Church Servants are carrying, skulls of Fish people (mages) + accursed brew, glowing eyes of enemies that got hunter's Blood Echoes, Wet Nurse's magic

deep red - trickled state of Logarius' Wheel, his whole magic actually, skulls of Executioner's glove, Maria's Quickening mist (after stabbing herself), mist around Brador when he invades + Sinister Resonant Bell, cursed effect that Cain servants can give the player

What I can reliably gather from this, is that the color of Moon's power and guidance given to the hunters IS cyan, and I've been misremembering Gehrman's mist as pale blue when it is p much like Ludwig's guidance, yes. And that from colors meanings standpoint placement of Purple works very well! It feels like a combination of 'curses' and blood + 'cosmic' arcane. Red + blue = purple. Especially I'd say seen from Fish people, who are using the same cursed Pthumerian magic represented by skulls, yet were... touched by arcane blessing QUITE a lot, ok? And Fishing Hamlet priest will even give us Accursed Brew as a reaction TO Milkweed equipped. But also, the fact that Dreaming is both bloodshed and magic, and it's mechanics are tied with purple (lamps and recovering Blood Echoes from enemies)...

Blue hues also broadly overlap, it seems. The only truly visible difference is color of Eye vs color of Milkweed. I'd say the colder and paler blue is closer to 'marine' arcane, and is more 'primal', whereas more saturated blue is closer to the 'stars' and more 'perfected'. However, 'pale' blue also has its merit connected with the dream and the hunt, of course!

______________

I started to try to put all this together all because I was unsure of what to color-code Laurence on earlier stages, when Arcane was more prevalent in Healing Church, as opposed to his later corruption when he delved stronger into blood and left the nerds (Choir and Mensis) to do their thing... I suggested purple, but then hesitated because it'd fit Micolash too because of Nightmare connotations, but then @val-of-the-north said:

Purple is blue and red, arcane and blood Both Laurence's pursuits I think it still fits him quite well He was a man of both, but all who came after him chose one or the other

And yeah, I think this actually works really well! (Though it is yet ANOTHER time Laurence and Micolash are both perfect to share a concept... They are just doomed to be rivals, hahaha) I am already thinking about how to elaborate purple into his design! Mostly I just broke my mind over this because I struggled with what color to make Laurence's ribbon, since I didn't want to make it blue (that's for Willem and Choir, which doesn't go with my headcanons on timeline and Laurence). But also it would be too "early" for red, nor my Laurence WEARS a ribbon in his 'third stage' to begin with.. Other variants are to use cyan patterns, like Ludwig's guidance, or try more golden (so, golden ribbon). But I think purple is just really good! Because the connection Val made about how it color-codes both of Laurence's gimmics at once is great.

P.S. Oh boy... So, Ludwig - cyan, Gehrman - blue, Laurence - purple and Maria - red. 🌈🌈

P.P.S. Nightmare Executioners (the mobs), however, wear cages on their heads (not dissimilar to those of Yahar'gul Hunters), and also protrude tentacles from their faces... That makes me think of Micolash again. Not sure whether they were result of Micolash's experiments, OR Micolash took the inspiration since School of Mensis IS a faction of the Church after all.

[blackvahana]

Ahhh thinking. Except not thinking. Pretending I don't want to think about the fact that I'd know how to programme a realm in accordance with the Bloodborne planes and also the fact that even back then I understood them so well... because I know their seed. very very much ignoring I know their seed relating to the fact that they're supposed to have come from Kos creating them, or at least the Hunter's Nightmare.

Oh. OK. Another song with a baby in the background, this time coughing and... cooing?

Ignoring the impulse to make a part of the space in ANVD in accordance with this seed. Ignoring that Ive known this seed before the damn game, ignoring ignoring ignoring (and by ignoring I mean I'm staring right at it.)

Keep getting the song that reminds me of Bloodborne with the crying baby in the background... OK... Theme of the day...

[crowhoonter]

The Moon Presence holds a special place in my heart in terms of souls games final bosses because of the sheer what the fuckness of it all. All of the other final bosses have some kind of build up; Dark Souls can't go one minute without mentioning Gwyn, Nashandra and Aldia are major figures in Ds2's lore, the Soul of Cinder, while never directly alluded to is another example of the converging of time and space in 3, Isshin plays a large part in Sekiro's story, and Radagon is a major lore character with Elden Beast being pretty easy to clock as a manifestation of the Greater Will.

Flora, the Moon Presence, though? She comes out of nowhere. There are maybe two lines alluding to her existence at all, those being the workshop umbilical cord and the lecture hall note. The closest you otherwise get is the references to the terrible hunter's dream, which doesn't immediately conjure the idea of her to mind.

Even better we don't even know what she really wants. Oh sure, there are plenty of theories and inferences we can make. Maybe she uses Hunters like hitmen to prevent infant great ones from threatening her, maybe she's keeping a natural order running, maybe she wants to spread the beast plague, maybe she wants to prevent mankind's evolution, maybe she just plain loves violence. In the end though, its all still maybes. Girly walks on in and her mere existence changes so much about the story, yet she refuses to elaborate on anything.

Another very interesting aspect is, and this is probably a somewhat baseless observation, we don't really know what she is. Everywhere else in the game, Great Ones have some line of text associating them with that status. Oedon, Baby Mergo, Kos, Amygdala, The Brain of Mensis, Ebrietas. All of them have text somewhere that directly refers to them with that moniker, but Flora? Nowhere will you find something calling her a great one. Hell, in the Japanese translation, she is called "Moon Demon." It is probably safe and the intended inference that she is a great one, but the thought she might not be does tickle me nonetheless.

Then there is her role in the story. The Great Ones are said to be sympathetic in spirit, and there definitely is a part of her that echoes that sentiment. The way she cradles the hunter is like that of a mother holding a child, yet she seems to be a lot more manipulative than the Great Ones we see in game. They typically cause suffering not by tricking or making deals, but by being unaware of how they affect the world with their actions. Getting picked up by Amygdalae seems like a curious child picking up a lizard, unaware that they are hurting it. Flora though, there does seem to be a certain level of maliciousness beyond accidental. Gehrman's pain and suffering is clear to see, yet she keeps him chained to the dream because of whatever bargain he made (presumably animating the Doll). She does the same to the hunter should you forgo the umbilical cords. She also doesn't seem to want a surrogate like other Great Ones, maybe settling for keeping humans as pets rather than having an actual child.

She really is one of the best Fromsoft final bosses because of the sheer strangeness and the wrench her presence throws into the game's story. We can get a concept of most of Bloodborne's story with a bit of interpretation and reading between the lines, but she will forever be an enigma. For what purpose did Laurence and Gehrman summon her? Why is she seemingly not worshiped unlike other Great Ones? Does she desire a surrogate or are humans pets good enough? We may never know, and that is wonderful.

Stay enigmatic queen, live your freak life

[katyahina]

Burial Blade and Blade of Mercy are made out of meteorite, but WHY? Inspiration and context behind them (+ the source of snake infestation)

This one is a reply on ask from @bobbyzombiegg that I decided to put here because I really keep forgetting to use THIS blog for lore and not my personal/shitposts one...

I know, and this is such a good observation! I am glad that you've noticed what else connects Burial Blade and Blade of Mercy! Even better - whereas Burial Blade severs the ties of a person with the Dream, Blade of Mercy, in a way, helps to create it!

The interesting thing about these blades is that, of course, they must have been created before the conception of the Hunter's Dream! It makes it oddly coincidental that both weapons are useful for the cycle of Dream and Hunt, doesn't it? Blade of Mercy is at least believed to contribute to this as of now; the more we hunt the more messengers get added in the Hunter's Dream, so, perhaps, Blade of Mercy is not necessary! My personal interpretation of this is as Paleblood Hunter, our character has the privilege otherwise special for these weapons! Regardless of which weapon they use, they can send those they killed to be messengers (or add them in the cycle of the hunt, like how Henryk or Yamamura will become summonable after we kill them)!

Still, it starts to look like too much was planned ahead? Blade of Mercy said to be made in an old workshop would imply Old Hunters, likely created by Gehrman himself, from the same material as his own weapon! But I think the answer here is that Messengers, something akin to Hunter's Dream and similar weapons existed since Pthumerian times!

Starting with the weapons observation here! Pthumerian Descendant, interestingly, displays the similar style of transforming their blade into two same as how Blade of Mercy does it! Meanwhile, Gehrman's blade is fashioned similarly to Mergo's Wet Nurse's blades! In isolation, I would not think this means anything.. but crows, according to Hunters of Hunters lore, ARE connected with taking the souls and passing them into Dream realm, which is also Nightmare realm!

(Link to my other post explaining why Vilebloods descend from Pthumerians ( x ) in case someone who doesn't know already finds this post)

Wet Nurse herself is very bird-like (crow-like, specifically), and very coincidentally, Baneful Chanters pray to those who "have no blood" as those who'd have enough power to curse the hunters (which is to ensure they go in the Nightmare realm). Wet Nurse not only coincidentally fuels at least one section of Nightmare by nurturing Mergo, the center of it, but also, Nightmare realm has Winter Lanterns whose heads are made of Messengers!

So we have: Wet Nurse already being quite Pthumerian with her accessories and fighting style, Pthumerians and their descendants (down to Cainhurst!) honoring symbolism of crows, Yharnam (a city named after Queen Yharnam, after all) having depiction of BIRD-like Messenger in its oldest part, superstition about crows taking souls of the murdered in Hunter's Dream, people praying to "bloodless ones" to take the souls into Nightmare instead + evidence of it happening with Winter Lanterns.. In my opinion it is fair to assume that the weapons Gehrman created had a pre-existing inspiration and their similarity to pre-existing Pthumerian weapons is not coincidental!

Alright, first - I want a Bloodborne prequel where I could make a Pthumerian Paleblood Hunter. Second, as you can see, concept of the Messengers, the "Hunter" symbol/rune (depiction of the hanged man of course), and even the MOONLIGHT Sword were a thing since Pthumerian times! (It is safe to assume Ludwig found this sword somewhere in the Dungeons, as obtaining Radiant Sword Hunter badge is what lets you buy Tomb Prospector set!)

^ The note already mentioning Laurence associating with Moon Presence, THE Great One of the Hunt and the Dream, is found in Byrgenwerth already! Basically? Without maybe predicting that he would be trapped in the Hunter's Dream one day, Gehrman already knew what he was doing with the weapons.

Conclusion: there was the clear idea in mind! Blade of Mercy, intended to kill people from the start, immortalises the hunters as the HUNTERS and brings them in "Heaven" of Moon Presence, before they turned into beasts, whereas Burial Blade, initially intended for hunting everyone that was no longer human (for example, poor Fish People), ensures they, on the contrary, never go to "Heaven". What later serves to sever a Hunter from the Hunter's Dream initially intended to sever non-humans from it, in a way sentensing them to "Hell". :) Gehrman is a fun person.

+ Also some bonus observations regarding the topic of Yharnamites still continuing Pthumerian traditions, likely brought back because of Byrgenwerth, and then Healing Church, diving into dungeons:

(Context for those that didn't play Bloodborne because Sony hates you and you in particular: both this trap in the dungeons and this bath in Yahar'gul warp you in another area, connected by the circle of candles)

Forbidden Woods, surrounding Byrgenwerth, are full of formations that resemble the Tonsil Stone very much! However, when you examine the woods, you will see that sometimes there are body parts near these "heads"! This could be another case of petrification upon strong arcane impact, similarly to petrified body of Rom near Ebrietas, to petrified bodies of other Kin in Upper Cathedrals covered by fabric, bodies of victims in Yahar'gul, all that!

Were they people living in the woods that started to turn into Kin (like Garden of Eyes that are also found in Byrgenwerth) but didn't live until petrification, or were they baby Great Ones born only to instantly die? I am not sure. Both can work.

But, snakes are an interesting clue here. Besides Forbidden Woods, they are only also found in Hintertombs - a dumping ground for corpses of Pthumeru Ihyll that became venomous! Forgotten Madman, who is a former Choir member as he uses A Call Beyond, is found in these dungeons + getting Cosmic Watcher Badge is what lets you buy Poisonous Knife. Doesn't it look strange for Choir members to pick so much interest in this? Snake infestation might be a strange result of burying cosmic Kin in the ground, a corruption of what would normally be a process of multiple parasites/phantasms settling in a corpse of a cosmic being, OR someone affiliated with one! We do have precedents:

Cosmic creatures, "downgraded" and "filthied", becoming something eartly instead, such as snakes! One of them was able to raise human children (Madaras twins), so sure they are unusual!

So, what I am trying to say is, it is possible that Tonsil Stone is a result of burial of a dead (and rapidly petrifying) cosmic Kin, one that was yet not rotted like what we see in Forbidden Woods! Maybe even more directly so, it is a petrified skull of a cosmic Kin, most likely of Amygdala's kind, and a "meteorite" in the sense of them coming from space! So, creating weapons both of which are connected with burial ritual from the buried Kin is appropriate! This or similar technology maybe also was discovered by Pthumerians long ago, so examining Hintertombs was a great help with figuring what material to use for Burial Blade and Blade of Mercy!

^ These disturbing dead cosmic Kin fetuses are found in Byrgenwerth in two forms: one depicts a petrified corpse, something we already knows happens with Kin, such as Rom and eldrich creatures in Upper Cathedral. Another is dead, rotting, showing horns, and has multiple tiny skulls on its head! The latter one gets my point about corpses of Kin, or maybe anyone touched by Kin, sprouting smaller life forms from within. People infected by snake virus sprout several snakes from their heads, rather than turning into a snake or something!

It is entirely possible that Byrgenwerth used to bury creatures like this in the grounds around the college, and that those gigantic graves in Forbidden Woods were for much larger Great Ones: "Hunt the Great Ones. Hunt the Great Ones." note is found in Byrgenwerth as well! They might have been able to resist the full rotting that results into snakes due to their size and development, hence their graves still show sluggish phantasms. Burying other ones, on the other hand, was a big mistake. Or, should I say.... a GRAVE mista- *gets sniped*

_________________________________

These are my thoughts on the topic! You kinda got two theories at the price of one here, but snake infestation was somewhat relevant in the context of burial and my idea of what IS this "meteorite"! Thank you so much for prompting me to tie this theory together at last!!

[phantasinsomnia]

⟢ WHITE LIST .ᐟ

what i shall create , what i hold preference to doing .

꒰ ホワイトリスト𓈒 white list .ᐟ hsr . genshin . zzz . pjsk . alnst . fe3h . final fantasy . enstars . crk . reverse 1999 . splatoon . persona 5 . any manhwa . most anime . twst . bsd . aot . elden ring . bloodborne . loz . nightreign . most animated games . hi3 . vocaloid in general . more tba !

please note 𐔌 if you seek to request graphics of something that does not appear in neither my white list or my black list and are not sure whether i take requests of the theme, DM me or drop an ask in the inbox ! the phantasms will grant you an answer when they have the chance to .

⟢ BLACK LIST .ᐟ

what i refuse to make . without lenience . 慈

꒰ ブラックリスト𓈒 black list .ᐟ real people . animals . vivziepop media . yandere sim . any pixelated games or media . minecraft or any roblox characters . anything depicting nsfw / not safe for work media and art . food . most cartoons / extremely stylized media . mouthwashing . ai characters .

please note 𐔌 i will not under any circumstances create content that is marked in my black list . do not be pushy about it . i will not yield .

credits to @ianrkives for the divider . the phantasms observe all .

[fantomette22]

2023 Tumblr Top 10

1. 389 notes - Mar 26 2023

Children corpses found in Yharnam + beasthood post

2. 189 notes - Apr 29 2023

Theory & observation on the fishing hamlet

3. 175 notes - Jul 29 2023

The Valtr cup in the plane xD

4. 165 notes - Feb 21 2023

« You’re going to find it funny but i still find incredible how Elden Ring can be a relaxing game in some aspect »

That’s it that’s the post…

5. 156 notes - Sep 9 2023

The Bloodborne girls!

6. 156 notes - Jun 6 2023

« You can fit so much trauma in it »

7. 132 notes - Nov 28 2023

Just Edgar…

8. 126 notes - Apr 8 2023

Theory and thought on parasites

9. 116 notes - Mar 15 2023

10. 95 notes - Mar 24 2023

Bloodborne 8th anniversary asks !

Created by TumblrTop10

I’m glad my best theories a have lot of notes hehe but yeah funny of the site work i suppose.

[miirshroom]

Observations at the Liurnia West Coast Fire Monk Camp

Spent some time running around looking at stuff in Liurnia on my level 30 co-op profile, in between being summoned.

Something that becomes apparent with Elden Ring is that coop play is optimal for certain types of observation. Notably, when you reload back in your own world all of the enemies will ragdoll drop at their spawn points. Case in point - from the location where this fire monk is standing, the Carian Research Hall is positioned directly in front of the Divine Tower with Rykard's Rune.

So my first priority was to carefully compose a shot where the central larger Fire Prelate Helm is facing directly forwards, which happens to align the soul item with the "Fire Spur Me" emote on its left eye.

"Helm engraved with a sacred countenance and housing a cauldron. Attire of the Fire Prelates, commanders of the Fire Monks. It is said the cauldron perched atop the head was originally furnished with embers, and would surge into flames when the wearer's faith reached its zenith." - Fire Prelate Helm

Also of note here is that the purple soul item with the Fire Monk's Prayer Book is emerging from the left brazier. I would infer that this head represents the origin of the Fire Monks - building on the idea of faith reaching a zenith.

"Prayerbook of the Fire Monks, who came from the Mountaintops of the Giants far to the north. Can be given to a learned cleric to gain access to the following incantations: - O, Flame! - Surge, O Flame!"

"Incantation of the Fire Monks. Momentarily sparks roaring flame from the caster's hand. Charging enhances potency. The Giants' Flame still smolders upon the distant northern mountaintop, and the Fire Monks are its guardians." - O, Flame!

"Superior incantation of the Fire Monks. Creates a stream of fire to burn the area before the caster. This incantation can be cast while in motion. Hold to maintain the effect. The Giants' Flame is the flame of ruin, capable of burning the Erdtree. And so, following the War against the Giants, its ruinous blaze was sealed, and guardians were appointed to watch over it." - Surge, O Flame!

There are 4 benches encircling the braziers. I decided to guide observations by capturing the scene when sitting at them and looking forwards.

Bench #1: The "Fire Spur Me" thought appears in front of the Prelate Helm as if it is a concept being studied. To the right two braziers are aligned, in front of a wooden post, in front of a vertical rock spur, and off to the side is a 14-spoked wheel (same number of spokes as the Wheel of Logarius in Bloodborne). To the left there is the corpse that holds the Fire Monk's Prayerbook, positioned over the top of the bench and looking in the direction of the thorny stake. This I assume to be a preview of the end - as such items on corpses typically represent the abandonment of an idea.

Bench #2: From this bench the entire corpse holding the Fire Monk's Prayer Book appears to be burning in a pyre generated by the Fire Prelate helm. On the other hand, it seems more apparent from this angle that the fire helm on the righthand side is following in the trail of the wheel being pulled by the cart.

Bench #3: From this vantage point the Fire Prelate Helm is positioned with the fire on top of the cart wheel in the distance as if it is being consumed by the flame. This location would also seem to be giving a hint of who occupies the bench that is left from this vantage - the Fire Prelate Helm with the Scorched Butterflies hovering over it and looking off in the direction of the lake.

Bench #4: The most apparent observation from this angle is that the large central head is burning the Carian Study Hall, which is partially aligned with Rykard's Divine Tower, which is aligned with the Colosseum at Leyndell. On the other hand, "Fire Spur Me" is in vertical alignment with the Divine Tower where Ranni's burned flesh can be found. The Erdtree also looks particularly translucent from this vantage point.

Bonus: Assuming that "Fire Spur Me" and the "Fire Monk Prayerbook" originate from the same brazier, this also aligns with the far distant Erdtree in the Altus Plateau that is lacking foliage. And I was so focussed on getting that screenshot that I didn't realize until later review that I missed the 2nd and more obvious alignment. There is this great alignment where the Fire Prelate Helm with the Scorched Butterflies above it has the optical illusion of looking like one of the more typical fire basins suspended by a tripod of wooden beams. It is also in direct alignment with the thorn stake, which is in alignment with the Divine Tower where Ranni's burnt flesh can be found.

And that was that for this session. Maybe I'll go back again sometime and also record the direction that each head is facing. There's another good spot for sitting on benches and looking at stuff further to the south at the Cuckoo Soldier campsite.

[insanepoll]

WELCOME TO THE INSANE CHARACTER TOURNAMENT: REVIVAL ROUND, ELIMINATION!

[ID: Photos of all the 111 characters competing on this round in a graveyard. /End ID.]

Upset your favourite character lost? Here they'll battle for the chance to be one of the four to come back! The goal of this round is to eliminate as many characters as possible. Each group will have two polls who will later battle against each other to be the sole survivor of their group. ROUND ELIMINATION PART 1 will begin on MONDAY 14TH OF AUGUST.

Groups below the "keep reading" line.

GROUP 1:

Micolash, Host of the Nightmare (Bloodborne) VS Tuco Salamanca (Better Call Saul) VS Renfield (Dracula)

The Master (Doctor Who) VS Cheryl Tunt (Archer) VS Morgana Pendragon (BBC Merlin) VS Lucille Bluth (Arrested Development)

GROUP 2:

Delirium (Sandman) VS Alexander Hilbert (Wolf 359) VS Roman Roy (Succession)

Doomguy (Doom) VS Dr. Franken Stein (Soul Eater) VS Jack (The Shinning)

GROUP 3:

Sasuke Uchiha (Naruto Shippuden) VS Light Yagami (Death Note) VS Pinkie Pie (My Little Pony)

Mahito (Jujutsu Kaisen) VS Dabi (My Hero Academia) VS Seo Moon-jo (Strangers from Hell) VS Jinx (Arcane)

GROUP 4:

Aerion Targaryen (A Song of Ice and Fire) VS Goro Akechi (Persona 5) VS Bubby (Half Life: VR but the AI is Self Aware) VS Sebastian Morgenstern (The Shadowhunter Chronicles)

The Narrator (Fight Club) VS Opal Koboi (Artemis Fowl) VS Orochimaru (Naruto)

GROUP 5:

Dottore (Genshin Impact) VS Ice King (Adventure Time) VS Millions Knives (Trigun) VS Trexel Geistman (Stellar Firma)

Harrowhark Nonagesimus (The Locked Tomb) VS Eliot Cardale / Eli Ever (Villains Duology) VS Donatello Hamato (ROTTMNT)

GROUP 6:

Hisoka (Hunter X Hunter) VS Vegas Theerapanyakul (Kinnporsche) VS Dennis Reynolds (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) VS Max (Sam and Max)

Eren Jaeger (Attack on Titan) VS Drusilla (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) VS The entire cast of Blaseball (Blaseball)

GROUP 7:

Bill Cipher (Gravity Falls) VS Spinel (Steven Universe) VS Midori (Your Turn To Die)

Chat Blanc (Miraculous) VS Leopold Fitz (Marvel) VS Tsukishima Hajime (Golden Kamuy) VS Alucard (Hellsing Ultimate)

GROUP 8:

Tokishige Usami (Golden Kamuy) VS Jīn Guāngyáo (Mo Dao Zu Shi (The Untamed)) VS Roberto (Futurama) VS Sammy Lawrence (Bendy and the Ink Machine)

Victor Frankenstein (Frankenstein) VS Dr. Baxter Stockman (TMNT 2003) VS Cicero (Skyrim)

GROUP 9:

Spamton G. Spamton (Deltarune) VS Denji (Chainsaw Man) VS Kira Yoshikage (Jojo's Bizarre Adventure) VS Magic Man (Adventure Time)

Jevil (Deltarune) VS Helena (Orphan Black) VS Starscream (Transformers)

GROUP 10:

Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader (Star Wars) VS Enerjak (Sonic the Hedgehog) VS Niki Sanders / Jessica Sanders (Heroes)

Alfred Drevis (Mad Father) VS Loki (The Mechanisms) VS Tyrian Callows (RWBY) VS The Mad Hatter (Alice in Wonderland)

GROUP 11:

Evan (EverymanHYBRID) VS Eric Cartman (South Park) VS Simon Keyes (Ace Attorney Investigations 2)

Alex Kralie (Marble Hornets) VS Fintan Pyren (Keeper of the Lost Cities) VS Darcy (Amphibia) VS Hamlet (The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark)

GROUP 12:

Will Graham (NBC Hannibal) VS Simon Laurent (Infinity Train) VS John Kramer (Saw) VS Bibble (Barbie Fairytopia)

Ryuki (AI: The Somnium Files) VS The Observer (TribeTwelve) VS Galahad (The Mechanisms)

GROUP 13:

Nikolai Gogol (Bungo Stray Dogs) VS Castiel (Supernatural) VS Ben Chang (Community)

Shinobu Sensui (Yu Yu Hakusho) VS Xue Yang (Mo Dao Zu Shi (The Untamed)) VS Kristoph Gavin (Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney)

GROUP 14:

Knock Knock (Phantom Spirits (2002)) VS Heathcliff (Wuthering Heights) VS Pugsley Addams (The Addams Family) VS Billy Lenz (Black Christmas (1974))

Shou Tucker (FMA) VS The Antagonist (Hatred (2015)) VS Gabriel Agreste (Miraculous)

GROUP 15:

Tim Drake (DC) VS Rebecca Bunch (Crazy Ex-girlfriend) VS Ken Kaneki (Tokyo Ghoul)

Fëanor (The Silmarillion) VS Himiko Toga (My Hero Academia) VS Lee Dongsik (Beyond Evil) VS Ultra Violet (Lego Ninjago)

GROUP 16:

Professor Henry Hidgens (Hatchetfield) VS Lestat de Lioncourt (Interview with the Vampire) VS Wade Wilson / Deadpool (Marvel) VS Samarie (Fear and Hunger 2: Termina)

Jonathan Crane / The Scarecrow (DC) VS Komaeda Nagito (Danganronpa 2) VS Volo (Pokemon Legends Arceus)

[asleepinawell]

hot off the triumph of my ng+ run of dark souls 1, i decided to finally go back to try and beat ringed city which i rage quit 2 years ago (read more because i rambled a bit) (obligatory note that this is all just my opinion, other people get different things out of the game and that's fine, etc)

i didn't quit over a boss fight, but over that stretch between the inner wall bonfire and the swamp where the devs were like okay turtle clerics, ringed knights, SIX harald knights on the stairs backed up by ranged, and then a goddamn swamp in a level that should have been a cool ruined city. and all of the hard damage sponge enemies respawn. so if you die you have to go through a ton of very slow hard fights again and it's tedious

this time i looked up where the bonfire was and just made a run for it. and then after trying the next part did the same thing again. it is just frustrating. i can't play for more than twenty minutes at a time without having to turn it off and find something actually fun to do

the whole time I've been thinking about what makes a soulsborne level actually good. i've never thought it was difficulty (and would argue that being known as "so so hard" becoming the core aspect of soulsborne has been the worst thing to happen to the series)

for me, the best levels depend on patience and observation, not extremely hard enemies spawning out of nowhere. the sign of a good level is that when you finish it, when you're out of the thick of it, you think "hey that was cool and i wouldn't mind doing it again someday". and you think that regardless of any annoyance or difficulty you had along the way

when you finish an area and just think "i never want to go through that again" then something went wrong

i think about tower of latria, anor londo, darkroot garden, tomb of giants, central yarhnam, and even the valley of defilement and yeah some of those were grueling but god were they cool and i will go back to them someday. ringed city makes me think i'd rather go mop my kitchen (which i did so i guess something good came of it)

similar feeling about boss fights. artorias and manus were challenging but i ended both fights being like fuck yeah i did it! and the fights looked and felt really cool. i felt like i was fighting a duel rather than waiting for the boss to stop ping-ponging off the walls shitting status effects so i could get in one hit

the first boss fight in ringed city (I'm up to the second one now but haven't done it yet) i was like oh good now i never have to do that again (i don't even remember it very well, just that i didn't enjoy it). i actually prefer easy fights that have neat atmosphere (moonlight butterfly) to harder ones that leave me frustrated and think the best ones combine elements of challenge and atmosphere

(artorias' primal screams still get me every time, the deceptive speed he can move with despite lurching around, his dead arm dangling, the trail of abyss corruption, the way i remembered all his attacks years later...god that fight was good)

anyway i love the series a ton and I'll just end with the fact i have beaten demon's souls about 5 times (3 ng+ iterations included), and dark souls 1 about the same number of times. i've been through bloodborne twice and am almost through a third time. elden ring i beat twice and it's kind of a mixed bag. and then there's ds3 which i beat once and have 5 new characters i never got far on (i did like it but felt no desire to replay). i don't think i ever touched ds2 again after beating it. to me that says a lot

[maximuswolf]

Microsoft's $100B Acquisitions: Apparently the New-Original IPs are staying Xbox-Exclusive (for now)

Microsoft's $100B Acquisitions: Apparently the New-Original IPs are staying Xbox-Exclusive (for now) Note: As of now I only own PS5 and may setup (budget issues, lol) a PC in next couple of years if non-PS games really become attractive to me. Even though I'll get downvoted but I personally feel that there should be some exclusives attached to a brand if a brand is targeting a platform/hardware system. Since MS has spent 100B on acquiring studios, its simply not possible to keep everything exclusive as PS is the moneymaker in software as well. But I observed a very cool thing. I've seen that apart from few exceptions (Hellblade 2 & Licensed IPs), Xbox hasn't announced new-owned IPs for Playstation, YET. Yes, lots of games 1st party games are announced for PS but those were already the games which had their previous parts released on PS and weren't closely associated with Xbox brand. Saying that, following is what I've observed. [I'm excluding PC and Nintendo from this discussion as Nintendo seems to be on another plane while PC has been adopted by even Sony]New Original IPs: Exclusive to Xbox for nowStarfieldAvowedPerfect DarkSouth of MidnightClockwork RevolutionEverwildRedfallSignature IPs: Have always been associated with Xbox (or MS in case of Flight Simulator)Halo InfiniteForza Horizon 5Forza Motorsport 2023State of Decay 3Fable 2025Gears E-DayMS Flight Simulator 2020 & 2024Owned IPs: Announced or released for PSCOD: Black Ops 6Diablo 4Doom: The Dark AgesThe Outer Worlds 2Sea of ThievesDeathloopGhostwire: TokyoExceptionsHellblade 2 - Still seems to be exclusive even though part 1 was released on PS, so it's a bit difficult to associate this brand with Xbox. May become multi platformIndiana Jones & The Great Circle - Licensed IP. Would have been nice for a good xbox game to be exclusive but since branding is the main thing so it may not have much of an impact.Blade - May become multi-platform. It's a Marvel brand so no point of pushing it to become Xbox's brandState of Xbox - Rumors/Confirmations/ObservationsGamePass seems to be the core brand for MS Gaming and futurePushing for everything to be "This is an Xbox".There's still one more console that they'll release as per Sarah BondI think having these 14-15 big exclusive IPs can still be realistic to manage and will also add prestige to xbox brand just like PS has God of War, Uncharted, LOU, Intergalactic, Horizon, Ghost of Tsushima/Yotei, Infamous, Astrobot, Ratchet & Clank, Resistance, Demon's Souls, Bloodborne, Returnal, Days Gone and many others. Submitted December 15, 2024 at 04:46AM by blinkyretard https://ift.tt/RktgK3x via /r/gaming

[yharnamesque]

HERNE'S LORE MASTERPOST™

I'm consolidating all of my lore posts into one! Much nicer to have them all in one place that's easy to edit and reblog as and when new stuff gets added. All separated by game with a small summary of what each post entails and the date that it was created!

BLOODBORNE

Chalices: The Vex Analogy (January 10th 2022)

A quick look at how the chalice dungeons might function by using the framework of the Vex in Destiny and their use of the Infinite Forest on Mercury

-

The Failed Evacuation and Protection of Yharnam (November 6th 2022)

A glance at the chaos of Central Yharnam's abandoned carriages and sprawling luggage and how perhaps the people were more aware of their situation and the consequences than we think

-

The Altar of Despair: It's Not Rom On There (November 15th 2022)

My argument as to why the creature we see dead beneath a mourning Ebrietas at the Altar of Despair is NOT our beloved Vacuous Spider like many believe it to be

-

Mini Thought: Beasthood + Blood-Drunk ≠ Mutually Exclusive (July 4th 2023)

-

Bloodborne Observation Notes (July 12th 2023)

I went through the ENTIRE GAME (minus root chalices due to their randomised nature) and documented every observable thing I could see with the odd question peppered throughout. Written over a long period between July 1st 2018 and 12th July 2023. Secret cat pictures hidden within!

ELDEN RING

So Why Does Godwyn's Corpse Look Like That (July 19th 2024)

A look at the body of Godwyn the Golden and considering whether or not he was slowly turning into a different kind of Magma Wyrm post death

[katyspersonal]

Reddit experience stuff

1) The feedback in there is WAY more abundant than on Tumblr (lol yeah no shit). It is like a thing between 'Tumblr is mostly dead but at least it has no algorithm' and 'Only sites like Xitter are alive but whether you will get notes or no does NOT depend on how good your post is, it is all a gamble'. They just happen to appreciate the posts that ARE interesting o:

2) "Silly" moments like this:

And here I thought that only Tumblr section of fandom could get pissed at 'loredigging too hard' fsdhhdshfd xD

3) A lot of 'giving a head' jokes for some reason fsdhsfdhdfhsh But also a lot of compliments on me overthinking the lore? After hearing legends of how intolerant Reddit was towards novel ideas? xd

4) The boys like my fanart too

This is like x5 times more than what I usually get + more than my MOST popular Bloodborne post!

Conclusion: Cross-posting on Reddit is not a bad idea but only for as long as you have something 'solid' to say. They're not very friendly towards very headcanoney headcanons or OCs, but they apparently latch onto canon-adjacent stuff and cherish it? I could try to share more "objective" art and observations there more consistently than just posting and vanishing for 2 months, they're like... both more open to the 'original ideas' than what I was told and have some people who are rude just for the sake of being rude. But, again, so does Tumblr that will obliterate you for """wrong""" ship or sexuality/gender headcanon

Basically, they're pretty receptive to theories and fanart that doesn't go "too" far into creativity, so, a perfect place to cross-post some things, just not all of them. +as you can see, they tell off assholes that ruin the fun as well xd

[uncanines]

𝄃𝄂𝄂𝄀𝄁𝄃𝄂𝄂𝄃           *           ﹕         olek watched the hunt in silence, careful and enthralled, head canted slightly as bloodborn spoke⸻ voice scoured clean of humanity. it wasn't the first time he'd witnessed such from another pandora operative, but it always caught his attention. it was always quite a sight to observe= all the ways these agents could be stripped down to necessity in circumstances that called for plain and simple survival. though, with a power like his, it was probably just an inevitability. blood was a crude medium. there was no way to wield it without getting stained. still, olek watched as the crocodiles spasmed midair, limbs jerking as if they still had a choice ... until blood spilled from their orifices, like being wrung dry. efficient. messy. unnecessary, maybe. but some people liked the performance. "          couldn't you not just stop its heart before bleeding them dry ?        "          he finally asked, steady, nearly conversational. a chuckle followed, soft, almost thoughtful. it wasn't quite judgment or disapproval, just a simple curiosity. a way to gauge just how much brutality bloodborn found necessary. a way to note where necessity ended and indulgence began. not that it really mattered, though. two fewer predators in the marsh only meant more reason to keep the younger agent around. he might just be one of most useful operatives when it came into survival.        "          i'll get started on the fire.        "          said as he stepped forward and grabbed one of the drained creatures by the tail. the scales were rough beneath his fingers, cold and heavy with death, but with a sharp tug, he started the slow drag back toward their makeshift camp, the crocodile's body carving a path through the mud.        "          never had crocodile meat. but i suppose it'll do. thank you, agent bloodborn.        "          

Hell Week - Event

Sink Marshes Biome Closed to: @uncanines Interesting. Fingers clenched and relax on both of his hands as Bloodborn looked around – narrowing his eyes in order to try to see anything past the initial darkness. The cold, murky waters that reached above his ankles were a … problem. It made moving difficult – making it quite frankly hard to run if one were to have to bolt for one's life. Which… was not the case. The agent closed his eyes and continued to clench and relax the fingers on his hands. This truly was all about survival. Nothing else mattered but to endure the trials tossed their way and guarantee their own survival at the end of the week... how many others would have issues dealing with the creatures and threats lurking in the darkness? How many would fall prey to the traps and vicious monsters wanting to tear them apart limb from limb? But this was about survival. Which meant no holding back.

”Tsk.” The movement in the water gave the position away. Whatever they were – whatever they craved – the water rippled as something moved quickly underneath the surface, seeking easy prey to devour and destroy. But Bloodborn was not as easy as they would assume. Primal instincts aside, those creatures were nothing more than predators. Living. Breathing. Predators. “Now, now.” He raised his arms and the movement in the water halted almost immediately – frozen in their place and unable to move any limbs or muscles at all. “Almost impressive if not for the fact that you have blood.” There was no trace of humanity left in his voice as Bloodborn moved his hands like a puppeteer, lifting the two slightly bigger than average crocodiles from the murky waters – holding them in midair almost as if he pulled the right strings to get them to move the way he wanted. They could be useful. Should he keep them around and have them act as his personal pet bodyguards? “We also require resources.” And to him… there was one resource more valuable than all others. All it took was his fingers to curl back into his hand to make the reptiles growl and hiss, trashing against the invisible strings that kept them in place – before the blood came forth from their mouths, nostrils and eyes – the dark ruby liquid being summoned and called upon by someone else. “I have no more use for you, unfortunately…”

[ceph-the-ghost-writer]

Apophenia 0.5 Part 1

Summary: Isaac's curiosity does him no favors.

Words: 981

Content advisory: Kidnapping, drugging, needles/injection, captivity, use of restraints, being gagged, loss of consciousness, swearing, supernatural horror elements

Dysthanasia Taglist (Ask, DM, or tag to be +/-): @thecyrulik @cljordan-imperium @k--havok

Original Version Here :: Ao3 :: Patreon

>Status report logged: 0124

>ID: R784

>Zone: 93

>Case Code: 1897

>Issue: Sighting

>Comments: Bloodborn in an all-nite diner next to old interstate. Scoping the place while stirring coffee. There any registered out this far or am I being jumpy?

>Re: Report #1897 logged: 0136

>ID: A209

>Zone: 163

>Good catch, Soto. Definitely shouldn’t be any registered that far off the grid. Pretty far south for one of Walsh’s brood, but you never know. Got a description we can run?

>Update report #1897 logged: 0147

>Submission >Person/Creature of Interest Form

>Name: Unknown

>Type: Bloodborn

>Age: Appearance of a man in mid to late 20s you could take home to parents

>Pronouns: Unknown (defaulting to he/him for now)

>Height: 5’5” est.

>Weight: 130-140 lbs

>Hair: Dark brown, trimmed around the ears and longer on top

>Eyes: Really bright blue or green, have that tapetum lucidum going on when the light hits them right, it's what tipped me off

>Skin/Fur/Scales: Medium brown skin, no tats, no scars, no mods. Five o’ clock shadow going on around outline of jaw but clean shaven otherwise

>Threat Assessment: Might have a weapon under the jacket, I don’t know, it’s an unregistered bloodborn that’s scary enough, right? Someone’s going to wind up getting a death hickey

>Notes: Cooking staff has been taking turns to come out on break and chat him up. Yikes. Waiting to see if subject makes a move. Will observe from a distance, maybe find daytime hiding spot

>Re: Report #1897 logged: 0152

>Keep your head down, do not engage. Sgt. Alan Curry from bloodborn dept. and Corp. Cristina Yi from magic to be deployed as soon as description is run. You know the drill.

>Re: Report #1897 logged: 0431

>Comments: Back up arrived, Soto. Meet at location on map within the next hour.

>Re: Update #1897: 0450

>Comments: Soto, status? Sgt. Curry says you haven’t shown.

>ALERT: PROTOCOL 1997: 0520

>Zone: 93

Curry, Yi, I don’t think the bastard was after the cooks. Find him.

It was embarrassing how fast it happened. Isaac had always believed he’d put up a fight at least—death before dishonor and all that enforcer talk—but there hadn’t been any warning. No clatter of footsteps rushing up behind him. No ominous chuckles from the darkness of an alley. No hair raised on the back of his neck. Just an arm snaking around it and squeezing. A few moments of pressure on his carotid arteries frosted the world white, then shrunk it down farther and farther away on the other end of a black tunnel. When it returned, it was too late. A fabric gag cut into the corners of Isaac’s lips. Zip ties trussed his hands behind his back, his ankles to each other. Disappointment in himself outweighed panic over finding himself bound in the dark trunk of a car at first. Slowly, though, reality rearranged his priorities.

He would wind up both dinner and a show if he didn’t escape. Okay, okay. He could do this. Focus. Think it through. The subtle hum of an electric engine and gentle bumping and rocking motion meant they were on the move. Trunks had latches to open them from the inside for this kind of situation, didn’t they? He could maybe wriggle around and grope until he found it. Roll out into the road. Hope he wasn’t hit by any vehicles following in that lane. Though, getting turned into an interstate pancake had to be preferable to what awaited at the end of the ride.

He’d just completed Step One—felt the rush of cool wind against his clammy skin, heard the dull roar of its passing—when the car began to lose speed and drift toward the shoulder of the road. Desperation got him as far as up onto his knees before it stopped and time ran out. The crunch of shoes on gravel came around the side. Against the backdrop of the starry sky, the silhouette of the bloodborn loomed over him. None of his features stood out clearly in the gloom of pre-dawn. Except for the eyes. Same color as a tropical sea with the pupil blown wide like a cat’s to hunt in the darkness. He reached into an inner pocket of his jacket.

“I didn’t want to resort to this, but I can already tell you’re trouble.” His voice projected goodwill, giving away only the barest hints of accent around the vowels. Spanish or Portuguese, this close to the Broken Coast.

“Fuck you,” Isaac replied in his own basic, Central States one, muffled by the gag.

A pale glimmer of teeth in the dark as the bloodborn smiled. He pulled his hand from his jacket pocket. Something small and made of glass winked in the starlight. A syringe. The cap was pulled off and tossed to the gravel.

Isaac thrashed, cursed, strained muscles. Fought for his life just like the Coven field guide suggested. It didn’t stop the bloodborn from getting an arm around his neck again while the sting of the needle sank into his bicep and released a rush of something cold into his veins. That done, he threw the syringe aside, calmly reached into the trunk, and wrenched off the escape latch with a jerk of the wrist. He still wore the same crescent sliver of a smile while sealing Isaac back into his lightly upholstered tomb. Fuming became the only remaining option. There’d be plenty of time for it, he suspected; whatever the bastard had injected him with would work even slower for having to be absorbed through muscle. That meant a long ride ahead.

It took what he estimated to be a half hour before the drug slipped into his brain, picking apart the tangled threads of terror, outrage, and despair. They unraveled, fell away. Combined with the gentle hum of the engine and rocking motion of the car it turned his eyelids and limbs to lead.

Isaac Soto rode to his doom not with a roar or whimper but a snore.

[baeddel]

because i'm playing Bloodborne i can't just write down my thoughts on my computer without getting up to change the HDMI cable around, so i've been taking notes on paper. like a neanderthal. so far my page goes like this:

Flaubert—St. Anthony—'who sees' cannot be St. Anthony in Neb.'s city—but Anthony is 'focalizing' still?

Bloodborne—Gilbert—we misremembered—thinks he can 'die human', already sick—seems important lost use of legs! the scourge!

Symbols—repeating in a bicameral way, w/out knowing their importance—of flowers, virgins cf. Uzumaki

to expand in order:

Gerard Genette proposes the concept of 'focalization' to deal with the fact that 'who speaks?' and 'who sees?' is often different, in a way that isn't captured by the term 'point of view.' basically, we can see through the eyes of a particular character within the story even when they aren't narrating in first person; we understand that the narrator is still conveying their interpretation.

well, throughout Flaubert's Temptation of St. Anthony we are obviously getting St. Anthony's interpretation. in fact, most of the time St. Anthony is also the one speaking. when he isn't speaking we get a lot of explicit descriptions of his reactions to the things just described.

Then many things appear which he has never seen before—black hashes, jellies, the color of gold, ragouts in which mushrooms float like nenuphars upon ponds, dishes of whipt cream light as clouds.

And the aroma of all this comes to him together with the salt smell of the ocean, the coolness of mountains, the great perfumes of the woods. He dilates his nostrils to their fullest extent; his mouth waters; he thinks to himself that he has enough before him for a year, for ten years, for his whole life!

this keeps going as he passed through temptations which strain ordinary perception:

He beholds at one glance, the two ports (the Great Port and the Eunostus), both round as circuses

later there is a long sequence where St. Anthony wanders through a enormous palace belonging to Nebuchadnezzar and encounters fabulously gory scenes:

On the pavement below crawl the captive kings whose hands and feet have been cut off; from time to time he flings them bones to gnaw. Further off sit his brothers, with bandages across their eyes, being all blind.

eventually this elevates to descriptions of the entire city, the entirety of which St. Anthony cannot possibly be the observer:

From the depths of the ergastula arise moans of ceaseless pain. Sweet slow sounds of a hydraulic organ alternate with choruses of song; and one feels that all about the palace without extends an immeasurable city—an ocean of human life whose waves break against the walls.

actually, it occurs to me that Flaubert—or is it Lafcadio Hearn, the translator?—does insure against this boiling over of the perspective, confining the description to what 'one feels' would be true about the entire palace, as though you could guess something like that. later on, the return to St. Anthony's person is called out to help us stick the landing:

Anthony, from afar off, reads all these thoughts upon his brow.

i have nothing to say about it really, just an interesting use of narration.

on the second point, a minor correction to my big post; the player is actually misled about what illness Gilbert has. Gilbert does have the beast plague—we know that because he turns into a beast later. but he explicitly says he doesn't have it: "I can even die human." he says this because he believes that "their [Yharnam's] blood bought me time." he obviously came to Yharnam to seek blood healing from the Healing Church for whatever illness he had, and he thinks it worked. it didn't work; it gave him the scourge and its about to kill him just like it did everyone else in Yharnam. on the second playthrough we can understand the tragic irony in this line of Gilbert's, which on the first playthrough is a red herring.

Gilbert is the only character with a cough that i can remember, so that's probably his original illness. tuberculosis, why not? his other symptoms are side effects of the Healing Church's blood ministration, i believe. he can no longer use his legs. he blames his TB for this, as if to say 'thats how bad it's gotten now', but this is a widespread problem in Yharnam and appears to be an iatrogenic effect of blood ministration.

Gilbert's misunderstanding of his own condition reminds me a lot of Terrare. when Terrare was dying he got in touch with his old doctor and confessed to him that once upon a time, a long time ago, he swallowed a little golden spoon, and he believed that it was now stuck in his intestine and was killing him. it only made sense to him that he would die because of something unusual he ate, since his unusual eating defined his life so much. when they performed an autopsy on him they did indeed find the little golden spoon he talked about. but that's not why he died—he died of TB, like everyone else.

on the last point, there are repeating motifs in Bloodborne. some of these are: small white flowers, blind or veiled female figures, the spade (as in playing cards), perforation. there are lots more than that. these reoccur all over the place: statues, gravestones, architecture, the design on the reverse side of a wheelchair, and so forth. they also have cosmological importance; kin grow out of small white flowers ('lumenflowers') and flowers also have some relationship with the Great One named Flora, blindness is generally important in Bloodborne, from scourge symptoms (bandaged eyes) to blindness or blindfolding promoting higher forms of knowledge (Byrgenworth & the Choir both use it), and women are obviously important to Great Ones for their fecundity. the Spade i don't totally understand, but it represents Communion in the Choir cosmology. finally, perforation is seen on the Amygdala head and on some important otherworldly objects.

regular Yharnamites producing secular textiles cannot possibly know all that stuff, since not even all factions within the Healing Church know about all of it. further, we encounter them with as much frequency in the Chalice Dungeons (ruins of 'classical' civilizations). the implication, to my mind, is that these symbols work a bit like Oedon, expressing themselves through the creative activities of mortals who are ignorant of their origin and significance. they repeat the lexemes of the cosmic language over and over, never learning their true meaning. that's why it reminded me of Uzumaki—people start to, for example, make spiral-patterned pottery, ignorant of their role in the cosmic drama of The Spiral and its will.

it occurs to me that this implies a concurrentist or at least occasionalist theory of causation. Mr. Saito makes spiral pottery because he liked them, but Mr. Saito was also wholly and entirely making spiral pottery because The Spiral willed it. this is how many medieval Christians understood the relationship between God and Nature. i wonder if it has a parallel in Japanese thought?