#matthias knight

[lewistan]

Lewis Tan for Esquire Philippines February 2023

[frascospecimen]

Ok here’s some of these characters I’ve been working on. Each based off of albums

[illustratus]

King Matthias and the Czech Champion, Holubar

by Gyula Benczúr

[comicwaren]

From Amazing Spider-Man: Blood Hunt #001

Art by Marcelo Ferreira, Roberto Poggi and Rachelle Rosenberg

Written by Justina Ireland

[starry-astronaut-creates]

[dimiclaudeblaigan]

LOL I can totally see Claude being embarrassed about Rodrigue's "dad behaviour" but I think he would also love to hear all the childhood anecdotes Rodi has to tell about the Faerghus Four, probably embarrassing Dimi and mortifying Felix, haha. And yes, Rodrigue would be good with Sylvain. I think he could also make Matthias realize that their sons really love each other and even though Sylvain cannot pass on his Crest this way, that it will be ok in their new future (I mean, they could still

[2] adopt kids. Honestly, Sylvain would be a cool dad. And I imagine Felix would be more openly soft with his kids than his usual snarling wildcat persona he pulls off when he likes to pretend he doesn't care xD. Dimitri would be such a good father, too. We already know from canon that he loves kids, like teaching the orphans, AM ending mural and this monk who tells Byleth he saw Dimi caring for an orphan even in his boar phase. Claude would be great, too and I see him being naturally good

[3] with kids on the surface but also a bit of insecure inside bc of his own childhood. His own parents aren't exactly good role models *cough* and though he seems not always aware of the impact their upbringing had on him, I think he would want to do better with his own children. And Rodrigue would tell the kids adventurous bedtime stories. Tbh I could even see any kid Sylvix may adopt melting "the wall of ice". Rodrigue and Matthias as great grandpa duo is a headcanon I didn't know I need lol

Oops sorry for the long ask. I got a bit carried away with my "kids/grandchildren" headcanon lol

YEAH like since Claude doesn’t know much affection from a parental figure I feel like he’d be a bit shy about it at first, but he’d also want to hear the stories about Dimi and what the group did as kids. Felix would absolutely be mortified, he’d be doing anything in his power to stop Rodrigue from continuing but Dimi and Sylvain would hold him back because if they have to suffer, Felix does too. 😤

Tbh I like the idea of Sylvain opening up to Rodrigue about his feelings about his own father and how he’d like to be closer to him but Matthias just isn’t really “hanging out with” material. Rodrigue is much more emotional and more readily available for heart to hearts, but Matthias won’t have even that much with his own kid(s). Might even be a good way to get Rodrigue to talk to Matthias about trying a bit harder since they could die at any time from something like even a Sreng invasion. Also, it might be good for Rodrigue too since he always wants to talk to Felix but Felix isn’t interested and always acts angry about literally nothing. I think he’d be happy to have someone rely on him for advice besides Dimitri who he already considers a son.

In Hopes Dimitri also mentions the power of Crest bloodlines is getting weaker anyway and they have to prepare for that. That’s in his support with Sylvain too if I’m not mistaken. It’d be interesting if Sylvain adopted a kid instead of having his own (since I imagine nobility/royalty would be pressured to have blood children bc of their bloodlines, even if they weren’t with someone they could have children with). It’d be like preparing for that by raising a child to be ready in the same way any Gautier would be, but without the bloodline or relic’s power to help.

Felix would be a good parent imo because you can tell he’s not really that aggressive with people outside of his best friends. Felix has this weird attitude where he’s nicer/more considerate with others than with his best friends, where he doesn’t hold back or play the nice guy when he has something to say. He’s nice to them when he has no reason to be angry/aggravated, like how he personally goes to Sylvain in their B support specifically to apologize, but he gets aggravated again when Sylvain says something stupid.

Specifically, his childhood friends each have reasons he’s more snappy with them (Sylvain saying dumb shit and acting like nothing matters to him including his own life, Dimitri being so violent toward enemies but being kind and polite otherwise and Felix doesn’t understand that and is somewhat afraid of him bc of that, and Ingrid is too deep into knighthood in a way that goes completely against Felix’s beliefs on knighthood and hates the extremities Ingrid takes it to).

So, like, I think he’d actually be a really good and gentle father generally, but probably be more strict just because of things like not wanting his kid to grow up to be like Ingrid, to make the mistakes Dimitri made or to be as whimsical and careless as Sylvain. Tbh I think Felix would be one of the most devastated parents ever if he lost a child. Obviously most people would be like that if they lost a kid, but I think Felix would take it a lot harder than even the expected norm.

Claude and Dimi would be amazing parents imo! Dimi is already very good with kids but I think they’d find him fun and be amazed by him. I think Claude would be the more awkward one since he grew up so isolated and didn’t have a group of friends growing up like Dimi did, so I think his understanding of how to behave in a way that a child would enjoy would need a crutch to lean on, like watching Dimi interact with them and learning from that. Since he also grew up basically being emotionally stunted and not having experience from his own life to go off of, I feel like he’d need the experience through watching others first. After that I think he’d be more confident about it and be able to handle kids better. He’d definitely be an overprotective dad when the kid was really young though imo just out of experience and instinct. I feel like Claude would be the stricter parent, not on purpose but because his mind would just always be like “YOUR KID IS ADOPTED BY TWO MEN AND ON TOP OF THAT YOU’RE BOTH ROYALS WHICH MAKES FOR A HIGH BOUNTY AND LOTS OF PPL ALREADY HATE YOU SO OFC THEY’D HATE YOUR KID TOO AND YOU CAN NEVER BE TOO TRUSTING WITH STRANGERS LEST SOMEONE KIDNAPS YOUR KID ETC ETC YOU GET IT CLAUDE”. Claude would be “be home by eight PM” parent and Dimi would be the “be home by eight PM if you’re not with a friend/have to get home by yourself, but be home by ten PM if you’re with a friend or people you trust”.

I also love this one idea/headcanon of mine that Mercedes teaches Dimi how to sew/knit and Dimi teaches Claude. I’d think Claude would know the basics of it, but since Dimi would know it beyond just basics from Mercedes’ help then I’d think he’d know more than Claude after working with her. I love the idea that Dimi and Claude would handmake lots of stuff for the orphans, so I bet they would do that for their own kid(s) too. I feel like they’d love handmaking things for their kids since they’d feel more special than things they bought!

ALSO I love the idea of Claude asking Rodrigue for advice on how to handle his kid(s) bc like sure Dimi is good with kids, but Rodrigue has had children and is a grown adult, so he’s not still learning how to raise his own kids like Dimi would be. Maybe him asking for advice would be how Rodrigue gets into telling all these stories to the kids (Dmcl and Sylvix kids both!), and Claude listens too sometimes to learn from Rodrigue!

OKAY BUT LISTEN, Sylvain bringing his first kid (adopted or not) to Matthias and Matthias actually crying about Sylvain being a dad and seeing how much of a good dad Sylvain became even despite Matthias himself not being much of a father to Sylvain... He’d be so happy to see that even though he wasn’t much of a father, Sylvain still became a great dad and he’d realize he didn’t ruin things for Sylvain’s parenthood and be so grateful. I can see him telling Rodrigue about that and being so proud of Sylvain and Rodrigue just being SO HAPPY to see Matthias being emotional because it’d been such a long, long time since he was. Maybe he’d even hug Sylvain and thank him for bringing back the old Matthias he used to know by being a good father.

No worries on getting carried away! I love hearing other people’s Dmcl/Sylvix headcanons and family headcanons! If you ever just wanna drop some in my ask box just to let them out or talk headcanons, feel free. I don’t mind how long they are! If you’re having fun talking about them then that’s good and I’m happy you’re having fun! :)

[the-mis-adventurers]

Art request i.did back when I had a stream on discord

Feat. war of the idiots, eddsworld

First one, they wanted Jing petting Cheddar (Raines brother pet cat)

The second, they wanted two of my ocs dressed like their crush. (Raine with her hair down is LIFE)

Third, A friend's Kirby oc

Fourth and fifth, vampire Matt and his dad Matthias

Sixth, A crossover with WOTI (war of the idiots) since I'm friends with the show's creator and we do want to try and have a crossover :33

Seventh, grim from hollow knight.

eighth, another friend's oc.

[oopsallmabari]

dunno if it will actually pop up in my longfic but i have been struck with a need to write about arya’s time in ostwick circle just prior to it rebelling. current timeline of things under the cut so i don’t forget:

-arya is 24 and in charge of a small group of apprentices, teaching them some of the basics of magic and thaumaturgy (the kirkwall rebellion has already occurred, but the college of enchanters has yet to vote on secession from the chantry) 

-one of the apprentices in her care, matthias, is a young new(er) arrival from ferelden. he has been having difficulty adjusting to the environment, some of the senior enchanters have dubbed him a problem child.

-as part of the lesson the apprentices are learning how to freeze water using magic. matthias has a hard time and in a frustrated magical outburst his flask explodes and gets arya around her eye (part 1 of why her face is scarred)

-things go downhill from here: matthias freaks out as he feels guilty and terrified, arya attempts to keep him and the rest of her class calm, while one of the templars monitoring the room attempts to step in and remove matthias. arya in an attempt to protect matthias argues with the templar that she can fix this and that he needs to stand down, templar isn’t having it and attempts to make a move for matthias, arya lashes out and in response the templar attacks with his sword (part 2 of why her face is scarred, she’s able to dodge the hit enough for it to be a less serious wound).

-the rest of the templars guarding the class subdue arya and detain her in ostwick’s hold. she is given a healing potion to stop the injury from worsening, but never gets any other magical healing

-arya and the knight-captain of ostwick, jannes, have a conversation in which a few important things are mentioned: first, the only reason she isn’t already dead is out of jannes’ friendship with her brother; second, matthias has been inconsolable since arya was taken away and is under guard for fear that he will become an abomination; third, ostwick’s senior templars are determining arya’s fate given she has proven herself a problem before and the unrest throughout the circles. jannes is normally a quiet, contemplative man, but he is at his wit’s end. the conversation leaves arya with a quiet but growing fury.

-at some point while her fate is being decided arya is interrogated by other templars, primarily in an attempt to determine if she is intending to start a rebellion or if she’s been in contact with kirkwall’s rebels. she’s not, and she hasn’t-she at this point is trying to resign herself to life in the circle. the templars are afraid of making her into a martyr.

-several of the junior enchanters along with a handful of the senior enchanters get into open conflict with the templars that becomes full-on rebellion. amidst the chaos some of the mages free the detainees in the hold, arya included

-arya’s primary goal once ostwick goes to shit is to find any apprentices she can and get them all the fuck out. she does this with varying success.

-ostwick’s rebellion ends with an explosion that leaves a crater from the top floor of the circle. arya flees with a few other enchanters and a group of apprentices, left to figure out what comes next.

[wisheswagered]

fred / evelyn / richard / lily as a new group for me to focus on?? hmm... i am thinking...

[lilaudity]

me looking at king matthias and vladek: Siri play “the plagues” from Prince of Egypt

[snakes-in-mirrors]

Drew and animated our OCs as characters from Hollow Knight: Lucian Moth and Matthias Wasp.

[lewistan]

Lewis Tan on Spill the Boba Tea

[athanasius-symposium-of-writings]

Just a thought about Matthias handling 'sharing' aka open/poly relationships (they are different)

Rated T | Warnings: none

Since Emil arrived at the Desaulnier Estate, he has always slept in your room. Early mornings you will exit your room to prepare breakfast and Emil will follow to help, always preparing the tables and rolling the cart of food for all the meals. He helps you as much as you allow him to, often he simply shares the same space with you.

Many who were here, before the puppy latched to your side, cannot say they have ever been inside your room as much as Emil.

Matthias does not like it, he is still getting used to the idea of sharing you but does not like the immediate access Emil always has to you— Willing access.

“How do you do it?” Asking when both he and the Mercenary are alone in the sunroom.

“Do what?” Then he looks at what Matthias is staring hard at, “That? Hm, got over it.” Lounging on the long seat used to sunbathe.

“But how? Don't you feel it is unfair?”

Naib Subedar knows the question is genuine and not to cause strife or bitter feelings. As one of the older vampires in the manor, Matthias is forced to go to others for guidance. “Heh, you sound like Norton,” Closing his eyes as he spoke, “We all thought the same thing. (Name), is a private person and someone suddenly having the opportunity to be with them in a private way was… Upsetting.” Trying to find the right word, “In the end, it is their choice whether we are allowed or not to be that close.” Naib Subedar cracks an eye open, “Emil is a special case, it is not as clear now but back then he was not in the same headspace you see him in now.”

“So you pity him?” Matthias’ attention is on Naib Subedar 

“I did. Pity however doesn't help him. And…”

“And?”

“He will get better. When that happens he will seek out independence,” Glancing at the fledgling, “When he leaves their room,” A chuckle, “We can see who gets to warm their bed then.”

Matthias stands there realizing Naib Subedar is being patient. From what he has seen of the other vampires and heard, Naib Subedar is a patient man. Disciplined and the only person who spars with you— Other than Lord Desaulnier. From the large photograph portrait of you in the art gallery room, you were a soldier of some kind— Details you do not talk about lightly.

“Matthias.”

“Hm, yes?”

“Are you sure about only wanting them?”

“Yes.”

“Alright, but consider having another option. There isn't anything wrong with sharing.”

Everyone in some way or form is attached to you, their bonds to you undeniable, but few have found bonds with one another. Lord Desaulnier and his husband Aesop too, Matthias avoids the Lord often but he too sees their bond— Matching rings. Naib Subedar with Norton Campbell, there are others, most include you as a ‘third’, someone they both adore.

Matthias only wants you, sharing you is difficult for him and something he would rather not think about. But he cannot simply ask you to break off this open relationship with the others… He knows the many centuries worth of love cannot be cut off. They love you, just as he is coming to love you.

“Don't think too hard about it.” The mercenary's voice breaks the train of thought, “Talk to them. (Name) listens.”

You do, you have listened often to Matthias especially when Louis becomes involved. When the curse of his vampiric blood whispers those dark whispers connected to the Embrace— You become his knight, his grounding force. The puppeteer doubts anyone else could be there like you have… Like you often are without him having to ask or beg.

He understands why Emil needs you.

[pathetic-gamer]

Fashion in Fódlan: a very long, non-comprehensive, and entirely unsolicited analysis

The fe3h writers did a pretty solid job of creating three nations with clear social, economic, and political differences. The fashion stands out to me as doing exceptionally well at expressing those differences, and, just like in the real world, it works as a sort of socioeconomic barometer that helps tell Fódlan's story.

In this post, I'll break down the key clothing trends in the three regions and provide some light interpretations, largely related to $$

Please note that I'm NOT using this post to discuss historical inspirations. Also, not everyone from every region is included. In particular, anyone whose outfit is too much of just a riff on a class uniform (like the Ashen Wolves or the various minsters in the empire) is left out.

There's a part 2 now lol (church of seiros time); part 3 as well!

1. Holy Kingdom of Faerghus: function IS fashion, baby!!

Fearghus, beloved land of ice and snow and spooky folktales about watering your fields with blood and ghosts living under the ground - you did not come to fuck around. You're here to protect the commoners and go back home to a stew that may, if you're lucky, actually have some meat in it. In this kingdom, you're going to dress warm and you're going to like it. Oh, you have some extra money? Gonna spend it on something for yourself? Better be using it for something useful, like keeping your plate armor in good condition. (Please note: Catherine, though being Faeghan, is excluded because she wears the uniform of the Knights of Seiros, not her own clothes.)

Trends:

High collars, long skirts - generally as little exposed skin as possible. (There is exactly one pair of bare hands in the entire kingdom. Mercie is getting a little bold 👀)

Fur cloaks/capes/gloves, or just fur around the cuffs and collars if they don't have a full fur cloak.

Armor - every single man is dressed in armor, as is Ingrid. Most of the men have full suits of plate armor, but Felix, Rodrigue, and Ashe are wearing only gambesons (note the quilting in Felix's sleeve - that's what gives it away, imo). The folks in plate armor would have gambesons on as well (you can see Ingrid's underneath her breastplate), acting as padding for the plate armor. I think Gilbert is wearing plate armor with a tunic over it (a realistic historical practice).

Fastening is accomplished with clasps and lacing, and there are relatively few buttons or adornments to be seen on the main garments - Annette is an exception, which will be addressed later.

Brief analysis:

Notice the economical use of fabric - their clothing tends to lie flat, with fabric being layered for warmth rather than pleated, gathered, or puffed. The folks in plate armor may spice it up a little with a sash of some kind if they aren't already wearing a cloak or cape. I'm assuming Gilbert's ~stylish tunic~ is keeping him warm well enough to not need a cloak or larger scarf. (Mercedes has a ruffles and puffier sleeves, plus a fuller skirt, but it's worth noting that she is currently part of a merchant house, and merchants tend to be wealthier and actually occupy a unique social class between nobles and commoners.)

Note the colors, too. Greens, browns, and yellows are the cheapest and easiest dyes to make and use. That bright sort of tawny color that Gilbert, Annette, and Jeralt all have is easy and cheap. Gilbert's grey tunic could feasibly just be undyed wool. A true blue is difficult, but you'll note that the blue the people wear up here leans towards grey and green - could be that the dye is faded, or that it was never very blue to begin with. The only true blue is on Dimitri.

All of this reinforces the idea that Faerghus is not a rich nation, and the nobility don't live too far off from the common folk. The vast majority of the cost we see is actually their armor (worn by Dimitri, Dedue, Sylvain, Gilbert, Jeralt, Matthias, Ingrid, and also if we're getting all the way into it, Gwendal, Miklan, Lonato, and Baron Dominic as well), which is would have been pretty expensive. You'll notice they mostly wear grey armor with very little extra decoration, keeping the costs low. Ingrid, the poorest of the nobles in armor, also has the least actual plate. Felix and Rodrigue both have full cloaks, which most other people don't have (just Dimitri), but they also aren't wearing plate, so clearly that's a calculated choice.

That being said, even within these more economical fashions, we can still see clear differences between classes. Most noticeably, Felix (rich) and Ashe (not rich) have very similar outfits, but Felix's tunic/gambeson is lined with fur, while Ashe's is not.

BTW I'm of the opinion that the Fraldariuses are the richest people in the kingdom other than the royal family, and I believe that specifically of their fancy cloaks lol

so luxurious~

2. Adrestian Empire: look at my money bitch

Ah, the land of beauty and excess! I love to live in the capital and visit the cultural icon that is the opera and pretend that I'm not in Wealth Inequality Central. (Please note: Petra is not included, since she dresses according to Brigid's fashions. Also note: I fuck w these styles so hard, dude.)

Trends:

Short skirts (above the knee - Dorothea has a draped over-skirt thing, but her main skirt is shorter, and Manuela has leg slits instead of a short hem), low or square necklines, open backs. In general, we're looking at a lot of exposed skin. Forgot to include Cornelia in the pics, but she has this too.

Tailored jackets with just SO many buttons. Hanneman fits into the tailored jacket category, but isn't included in the highlights by virtue of Not Enough Buttons. (Some concept art is included here to drive the point home.)

Finally, there's this specific very specific double-breasted neckline thing (baby edelgard is separate bc i forgot to include her when i made the first image shhhh)

Brief analysis:

Adrestian fashion is all about displaying status and wealth, in this case through ornamentation, rich colors, uniforms denoting class/role, and also a fair amount of excess fabric.

Historically, fabric itself was one of the major indicators of wealth - in fact, certain historical styles very explicitly showed off just who was rich enough to afford, for example, a whole gown made from the same length of fabric, or even just an entire skirt panel with no piecing. In the Adrestian Empire, We've got excess fabric galore, tucked away into all those beautiful ruffles and bell sleeves, layered skirts, unnecessary capes, double collars, and puffy pants - and it's all in much more luxurious colors, too. In fact, I'm pretty sure the largest single piece of fabric on anyone in the game is Edelgard's cape, which is then also adorned with dozens of buttons and extra bits of fabric. It's almost definitely fully silk, both the outer layer and the lining. (And it's badass.)

Look at all that fluff! Dimitri's cloak probably rivals hers in the size of the actual fabric itself, but his is likely a heavy wool (unlined, maybe?), plus has a lot of fur.

"Oh, but pg, there are capes in Faerghus, too!" yes, but in Faerghus, they live in the arctic /hj. Note the vast expanses of exposed skin down here in the empire - clearly, cold is not an issue. You'll also note that the cloaks in Faerghus were heavy and lined with fur; that's not the case here. Given the prevalence of tailored jackets and the dual colors on Ferdinand's cape, I'm guessing they're either a comparatively lightweight wool with a silk lining (typical for tailored suit jackets, nothing particularly noteworthy about that), or just fully silk. (Bernie's shawl is just cotton though, prove me wrong...) Hanneman and Manuela are exceptions, since they both have fur, but they live at Garreg Mach, not in Enbarr.

The jackets themselves, by the way, could be silk OR wool. Ferdinand's in particular (especially thropes) reminds me of early 18th c. waistcoats, which would have been full silk.

We also have much richer colors down here in the land of art and song. Red, purple, and black were all very difficult colors to maintain, and very expensive. The most expensive colors, in fact. Not gonna lie, as far as price per yardage goes, I think Hubert's outfit might rival Edelgard’s in expense.

A notable exception to the excess fabric bit is Bernadetta. However, her dress is in what is arguably the most expensive color, and is heavily decorated, so that's a reasonable trade-off, and I don't blame her. I, too, would go for a smaller amount of pretty purple silk embroidered with bright, beautiful gold and yellow instead of a bigger, more impressive-looking option. It's about the little things.

I do want to take look at Caspar, in particular. He's unique in that he's dressed in a full suit of armor. But, given that he's the second son and not set to inherit anything, unlike all his waistcoat-wearing friends, he isn't being held to some particular uniform, and even if he were, it's the ministry of military affairs. Of course they wear real armor. What's interesting is that his armor is a sort of rosy grey/brass, rather than silver, and he has a lot more decoration and flair than the folks with full armor in Faerghus, in both his throuses and thropes outfits.

Worth noting, btw, that we have exactly zero examples of actual commoners in Adrestia, other than generic NPCs. Dorothea belongs to that peculiar niche that is opera and acting, so she is expected to dress and act like a noble, despite not having a title or property of any sort.

Adrestia - and Enbarr in particular - leads the slow march of fashion across Fódlan, given that it's a cultural hub and is so much wealthier, while Fearghus slowly picks things up over time. Thus, we have Annette, who lives closer to the empire and has disposable income, having some decorative buttons and tassels and a mock low neckline.

It's not nearly as much as the actual Adrestians, but she's picking it up!

3. Leicester Alliance: the beeeest of both worlds~

Oh, Alliance, you messy bitch. What we see here is a mix of everything, where some of them are influenced by Faerghus, and others by Adrestia (just like how some of them have kingdom-style names and some have empire-style names), and a few fit neither camp. There are clear reasons for similarities where they exist, though, so let's take a look! (Please note: Claude is not included, since his clothes are heavily influenced by Almyra.)

Hilda and Lysithea have the frills, puffy sleeves/skirt, short hems, low/square necklines, and expensive colors of the empire (plus, Lysithea gets a decorative veil in dark purple. How ~fancy~). This reinforces the idea that Adrestia sets the standards for fashion: Hilda cares about fashion and keeps up with the times. Lysithea lives on the border and was briefly under the control of the empire, and thus is influenced by it. Mostly, though, I think it's about how she tries to seem older and tends to see Hilda as a model of maturity (lol), so she's following that example.

Holst's armor is quite decorative, similar to Caspar's, but what stands out to me is the fringe in particular. We see the exact same fringe on Caspar, Hubert, and Edelgard, but not anywhere else.

Lorenz and Erwin are a bit of a border case, tbh! They both wear practical, full plate armor with little in the way of extra decor (other than Lorenz's rose and Erwin's little cape thing), but Jesus christ how much does it cost to keep it all so purple like that??? That's a blatant display of wealth that would impress any empire noble.

Marianne, on the other hand, would fit right in in Faerghus, with the old fashioned long skirt, high collar, capelet, and lack of extra decoration other than some pretty trim. Makes sense, since her territory is so close to the kingdom and she's clearly not interested in trying to stay fashionable.

Judith is dressed very practically, has some fun puffy sleeves and bright but inexpensive colors, has a short cape and gambeson (a short vest one, though). I want to say leans toward Faerghus, which makes sense since it's on the border and the house did at one point split off, with part going back to the kingdom.

Now we get to the only real, honest-to-god, never-owned-land-or-property, born-as-and-remain-now peasants/commoners: Leonie and Cyril. (Raphael was born into the merchant class and was able to support himself and Maya by selling his estate, so while we can consider him a real commoner at this point, it's not nearly to the same degree.)

Their economic status is obvious from their outfits: both have very practical clothes with no extra decoration, in cheap and easily accessible colors. Leonie's cloak wrapped around her waist is purely functional - she can use it when the weather calls for it, but it's out of the way of her arrows when she doesn't need it - and looks to be pretty soft, so likely is lightweight. She has a hint of some light protective wear (note the quilted sleeve) and the same front clasps as Felix and Ashe, so i think she's also meant to be wearing a gambeson, but it's shorter and less protective. Cyril doesn't seem to have any armor at all except for the shoulder protection - we can tell from the lack of center-front closures on his shirt and the shape of the cuffs of the sleeves that he's actually just wearing a tunic (or rather, two tunics on top of each other).

Raphael also has a very practical outfit, but notice that his is so much more protective, probably because he has a little more money than the other two. He has very limited, sparsely placed plate armor, but he is covered head-to-toe in quilted cloth armor. He's ready to get some punching done, baby!

Our real outlier, however, is Ignatz... But you bet your bottom dollar I've got an explanation for that one, too!!!!! Mans is an artist and he has rich(?) merchant parents, he can do whatever he wants.

Absurdly unnecessary lengths of (probably not very expensive) cloth? Sure. Fancy feathers that literally no one else gets? Why not! A billion buttons, half of which arent even keeping anything closed? Curly and intricate cloak fasteners probably made of some kind of cording? Sashes and tassels and a decorative sword??? Fuck it, we ball. I love this so much, it's easily my favorite outfit in the entire game and I would ABSOLUTELY wear it irl. I already have the right haircut and glasses and boots, I'm ready

4. In conclusion

These designs really are Fódlan in a nutshell. From the quiet wealth and functionality in Felix's fur-lined gambeson to the audacious luxury of Ferdinand's waistcoat to the unrepentant anarchism of Ignatz's entire vibe, we can see the history - and future - of the continent outlined right before our eyes:

Faerghus is cold, practical, focused on survival, and probably has the most even distribution of wealth. Leicester is a mix of remnants of the empire and kingdom, with clear wealth disparity but also a relatively high amount of social mobility and communal support systems. Adrestia has significantly wealth disparity, with nobles very disconnected from their people and instead busy politicking about.

Side note I know I said I wouldn't go into the historical inspirations, BUT I do think it's interesting that the men's clothing in Adrestia - particularly the tailoring - is similar to much later styles than the men's clothing in Faerghus, and the reverse is true of the women's sleeves and necklines.

Okay that's all, thanks for reading!

[batmanlovesnirvana]

— Faith in the grishaverse.

I’ve always thought that, despite the important role religion plays in the Grishaverse, it isn’t very well explained when it comes to the Ravkans.

There is no central Ravkan deity. People pray to the saints, who are the ones performing miracles, unlike the real-world concept where people ask saints to pray to God on their behalf.

Not all Grisha are saints, but it’s been debated that all saints were actually Grisha. Grisha used to be much more powerful, but their powers diminished after the formation of the Second Army and its orders.

The world was created in The Making at the Heart of the World (let’s call it MHW for short, lol), which is like the central point of creation where everything comes from. The Grisha are connected to MHW—they come from it and return to it after death, but the concept of "Grisha" came later than the Ravkan religion. People credit Sankt Grigori, who was a healer, with forming the first Corporalki, but even in Grigori’s time, saints were already a thing.

The religion is older than Ravka itself. The monks helped the first king of Ravka unify the country, and then founded the Priestguard in exchange for their help. It’s suggested that they were also Grisha.

It’s implied that all gods are the same god, meaning Djel, the saints, and even the Ravkan religion come from the same central source. (I don’t totally agree with this because Ghezen is opposed to Djel, but okay, lol).

Leigh has said the religion is based on Slavic paganism, but the very concept of having saints, cathedrals, icons, monks, and a kind of central religious authority (the Apparat) feels a lot like Eastern Orthodoxy, which was the official religion of the Russian Empire.

In an interview from 2012 (pre-Six of Crows), she said: “I never get specifically into Christianity. That was really important to me. There is no Christ in this world. The religion that is in the world is much closer to the kind of pagan tradition that was in Russia pre-Christianity, and even that grew out of the influence of Christianity, but that couldn’t tamp down these local mythologies.”

Interestingly, a concept of heaven or hell is never mentioned… The Fjerdans are very focused on not sinning against Djel, but we don’t really know what happens if you do. Djel has his saints and is the higher power for the Fjerdans, just like Ghezen is for the Kerch. But there isn’t a central Ravkan deity, and we haven’t heard much about the Shu religion either, just that they believe in some « seven knights », but it was never adressed. I think they believe in more sciency/superstitious and the Suli believes in their Saints, Gods and curses…

Grisha, on the other hand, don’t believe in life after death, though it’s unclear if non-Grisha do. In Crooked Kingdom, Inej tells Nina to let Matthias go to his god, which might imply some kind of afterlife for the Fjerdans. At the end of Rule of Wolves, it’s hinted that all gods are the same god (AGAIN I’d disagree—don’t tell me Ghezen and Djel are the same), suggesting Djel could be the central god of the Grishaverse, taking different forms depending on the culture.

The use of expressions like “heaven” and “hell” might just be a way of speaking that’s familiar to us in the real world. Sometimes authors reshape these concepts to fit their fictional worlds, but Leigh Bardugo doesn’t seem to have done that here.

Honestly, we don’t know much. We know more about the Grisha’s involvement in religion and how people interact with it than we do about the beliefs themselves… What do they believe in? Is there a code of behavior/practice? Is MHW like the Big Bang, or was it set in motion by someone else? I have questions, too…

I had another point, but I forgot it before I could type it out—I'll add it in the comments if I remember… The Nikolai Duology touches on this more, but it doesn’t explain a lot either. It’s more about the influence of religion on Ravkan/Grisha society than actual world-building.

[lesssial]

Trying to figure out the year in Bram's/Fyodor's Backstory

So what I'm looking at is Vlad the impaler's timeline along with a few hints in the manga. But not much Dracula because I haven’t read the book, and also because the book takes place about 400 years later.

So the castle that Bram lived in, for people who don't know, is an actual castle in Transylvania Romania named Bran.

Basic info

-Bran castle was built between 1377 and 1388. (Vlad the impaler never set foot in it but Dracula lived there.)

-Vlad III ruled Wallachia

-Vlad the impaler / Vlad III lived from 1431-1476 (He was defeated by the ottomans not Romans and his head was shipped to Constantinople/Istanbul)

-Vlad III’s reigns; 1448 (For a few months), 1456-62, and 1476-77.

It is a bit hard to truly connect to two while they ruled two different regions (Transylvania & Wallachia)

The knights

In this panel, we can get a look of the types of armor these knights wore.

The majority of the helmets resemble a barbute helmet which was used in the 15th century

The rectangular shields (scutum) mostly disappeared by the end of the 3rd century

Mainly spears and Halberds (The spear ax things) with an occasional sword in the crowd of knights. (Spears were cheaper at the time)

The full body armor became popular between 1400-1500s.

Byzantine empire fell in 1453 while the holy roman empire fell in the 1800s.

What nation are the knights from?

This is the main question. Are these knights from the Holy Roman empire? The Byzantine empire before it fell? Most likely not the ottoman empire due to the amount of christian symbolism. It can’t be the Byzantine empire because they rarely if at all used Halberts. Also the Byzantine empire fell pretty early so it's unlikely they were associated with Bram’s defeat. It seems like the Holy Roman empire however they did not use rectangular shields, favoring a kite or heater shield instead. Then who else?

I couldn't find any good maps

Fyodor mentioned the North (Idk why Bram started blabbering about the west). Do you know what was north of Transylvania? The Kingdom of Hungary who also had a skilled army known as the black army that used rectangular shields and was big on spears and Halberd.

The Hungarian Black army (1458-1494)

From the evidence gathered so far, it must be 1458-76.

King Matthias & the Sultan

Here, Bram asks Fyodor who he serves, either King Matthias (The king of Hungary) or the Sultan (Leader of the Ottomans). Bram was suspicious of the Sultan for the reason that they started eyeing Europe once the Byzantine Empire fell, along with his history with them (Held hostage as a boy). The tension between King Matthias and Vlad III started when Matthias received a letter from the saxons allegedly written by Vlad III in which he offered support to the Ottomans. This was enough to convince Matthias of Vlad III’s treachery so he imprisoned him from 1463 to 1475. Vlad III was intercepted and captured by Matthias after he had escaped Ottoman capture and sought Matthias for assistance. This could be when Bram was defeated in the manga(?) So I guess the year may have been 1462-1463?

Some bonus info that I noticed is that Matthias signed a peace treaty with the Holy Roman empire in 1463. Maybe Bram was defeated after they signed the treaty so they could form some sort of coalition against him (This could explain why the knights all had religious imagery on their helmets).

Another thing is that Bram was impaled(?) alongside two other women. In the Dracula book, I believe it was mentioned there were three female vampires that the protagonist had to defeat before killing Dracula in the castle. This could hint towards the fact that Bram was in the castle when he was attacked and defeated.

(I'm having trouble mixing history and fiction. Fyodor definitely had a hand in this. No way he just came to warn Bram for no reason)

None of these images are mine (I'm sure you know, but just in case)

Yeah that’s all I got, please comment to correct me and/or let me know if you know anything. (Might edit later idk)