Ranni has every reason to hate Marika. She is the figurehead of an order that has caused her and her family so much misery… and yet, in the Age of the Stars ending cutscene, Ranni holds Marika’s head with such gentleness. It feels less like Ranni is putting down a tyrant, and more like she’s laying her to rest, after many long years of torment.
Ranni could have been Marika’s successor, but she rejected the guidance of the Two Fingers, slaying her own flesh in order to be rid of their influence:
“But I would not acquiesce to the Two Fingers. I stole the Rune of Death, slew mine own Empyrean flesh, casting it away. I would not be controlled by that thing.”
Ranni goes to such drastic lengths because the most intolerable thing possible to her is to be a pawn; her will not being her own, but being at the mercy of a higher power. Ranni’s quest is above all about free will – it culminates with Ranni using the Fingerslayer Blade to tear her Two Fingers into bloody ribbons, at long last giving her full control over her own destiny.
Marika in the present day is a prisoner held in perpetual torment. According to Enia and the Two Fingers,
"Queen Marika is the vessel of the Elden Ring, carrier of its vision. A god, in truth. But after the Elden Ring's shattering, she was imprisoned in the Erdtree. A grim punishment for shattering the Order, despite her godhood. The Fingers speak... "Marika's trespass demanded a heavy sentence. But even in shackles, she remains a god, and the vision's vessel.”
Marika shattered the Order, going against the will of the Two Fingers, and was punished for it gravely. In many ways, Marika’s fate is Ranni’s absolute worst nightmare. This is exactly the fate she took such drastic lengths to escape… serving a higher power with her entire being, her will not her own, but the will of the Fingers, with any attempt at change met with violent suppression, her body essentially being used as a puppet to defend the last vestiges of the Order.
“I would not be controlled by that thing.”
I think that Ranni, seeing Marika’s broken body at the end of it all, felt nothing but pity for her in that moment, despite everything she’d done. To me, the act of Ranni holding Marika’s head in her hands feels like she’s saying, “you were my enemy. But there is no worse fate in this world than what you suffered. Now, you can be truly free."
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ITS THE ROUND BOY
ITS THE ROUND BOY
ITS THE ROUND BOY
OH GOD THERE'S MORE OF THEM
ROUND BOYS UNITE!!!!!!!
you can't stop them
chosen has tried many times 😔
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me @ dca in 'canon' outfits: ah my good boys, love them, adorable little jesters
me @ dca when someone puts them in like, normal clothes: Oh my god i need to fuck them right now, sexiest thing i've ever seen boy howdy Sunny please let me seduce you out of those tight jeans and that loose shirt you slu-
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ON the topic of RE7&8 can we talk about how Ethan’s one of the most UNPREPARED protagonists in a horror game like… Ever?
Like dude went to a Random Ass farm in Louisiana on the off chance that his missing wife Might be there (cause he does admit that it could be a prank for all he knows) and comes face to face with a vhs tape showing people dying in the house he’s in, said wife going on a violent rampage resulting in him being stabbed and having his hand cut off, being force fed intestines and other grotesque stuff by a family he’s never even met but knows him, having said family try to kill him NUMEROUS times, while going off about “being part of the family” that’s trying to Murder him, having to go on a scavenger hunt on the off chance that whatever he’s finding could possibly help out Mia and then at the end of it all has to kill a Giant Mold Monster.
And, while he seems more prepared in RE8 with military training and gun books he’s still WAY in over his head with his Baby daughter getting kidnapped and dealing with the Lords who drink blood, antagonize him with hallucinations of his supposedly dead wife, a fetus monster thingy, a gross sludge monster with mommy issues, a dude with metal powers and Even MORE mommy issues, said “mommy” that kidnapped his daughter in the First place ripping out his heart and learning he’s been DEAD since the Baker incident 3 years prior.
Like damn dude could NOT catch a break!
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