After A Bit Of Time And A Hefty Amount Of Thinking Abt The Lore, SOTE Really Brings This Post To My Mind.

The Hank Pym drama is one of my favorite parts of marvel content tbh

Didn't know which one fit better so i made both versions

Obsessed with Isshin:

Isshin knows about The Horrors.

He lives for fighting. He killed a tyrant, won a country, but his only real goal in life is to perfect his fighting style.

Yet, he is so full of life and joy, even in his old age.

He will see a young person, ask "Is anybody else gonna mentor that?" and then not wait for an answer.

He will make the same joke twice and laugh about it.

He used to throw legendary parties.

He outdrank Owl.

He will drink with Wolf even though Wolf kicked his grandson out of his own castle.

He will drink with Wolf, make his jokes, help him on his quest in what ways he can – and in the same breath he tells Wolf that he can see the shadow of Shura in his eyes and promises that he won't hesitate to cut him down should he give in to his violent urges.

If Wolf does betray him, Isshin will get up from what is essentially his deathbed to kick his ass.

He once cut off Orangutan's arm to stop him from going down that same path.

He allows Orangutan to stay in the dilapidated temple near the castle and hang out with his doctor.

He taught Emma swordsmanship because she wants to be able to kill a demon.

Isshin is known as the Sword Saint and has developed and perfected multiple fighting styles.

He is deathly ill.

He dresses up as a character from folklore to hunt down enemy spies and assassins and his grandson's allies. While he's deathly ill.

Emma and Wolf know that he's the Tengu, but they never bring it up. Let the feudal Japanese Batman have his hobby.

Isshin knows they know and he lets Emma tease him about it.

Isshin loves his grandson.

He also told his grandson's very important hostage about a secret escape tunnel at the reservoir. And then he let that hostage stay near that tunnel in a tower with half a wall missing.

He told Emma to rescue that hostage's bodyguard from a well.

The way he talks about Genichiro's plan to use the black mortal blade makes it's clear that Isshin has no interest in self-sacrifice, even for immortality, even for Ashina, and he is greatly disturbed that that's what Genichiro has in mind.

He tried to help Kuro escape for Genichiro's sake more than anything else.

Again, he hunts down Genichiro's allies – who happen to herald from a corrupt buddhist temple that has experimented on and killed countless children in their quest for immortality.

In a story about (im)mortality, Isshin's opinion of immortality is a clear "hell, no!"

In a story about things ending, Isshin is firmly on the side of letting those things die that must die.

He goes behind Genichiro's back to prevent him from using the Dragon's Blood or the forces of Senpou temple and their corrupted immortality. He holds no ill will towards Wolf for defeating Genichiro. But he WILL fight Wolf to the death, despite having no beef with him, not because he cares about Ashina or the invasion or being rescued from the underworld, but simply because it was his grandson's last wish.

When Kuro first formulates his plan to sever immortality, his first instinct is to ask Isshin for advice.

When the besieging forces draw nearer, Kuro tells Wolf not to worry about him, because Isshin visits frequently. Isshin frequently checks on Kuro to make sure he feels safe.

When Isshin finally succumbs to his sickness, you find him lying dead in Kuro's room, sword in hand. He was gonna go out fighting, defending this child his grandson had kidnapped.

Emma stays with him to the end, and remains at the castle, watching over his body.

The way Isshin mirrors this gesture in the Shura ending, gently holding Emma's dead body.

The fact that Emma gets away with teasing Isshin about his exploits as the Tengu.

The fondness between them.

The faith Isshin puts in Emma, when he asks her to go behind Genichiro's back - who happens to be her childhood friend, on top of being the de facto leader of Ashina.

Isshin.

Uhhhhh- so anyways-

Age Headcanons for SOTE NPCs; A Senseless List

A reminder that this is purely for fun and makes no claim for or against canon. This is merely a collection of headcanons and vague vibes, enjoy.

Leda: For this post, let's count biological age and not weird-resurection-ages. To me, Leda seems to be around 25-28. Old enough to have lost her naivety for the world, but young enough to keep the pedestal she's placed Miquella upon. She's an adult, sure, but I'd hardly say she's reached her full abilities. If Miquella had succeeded, she certainly would have matured into a vicious killer with decades of battle experience.

Freyja: This redmane has left her years of doe-eyes and frilly bows long behind. She's an easy 38, cool and confident in her body and her lifestyle. Sure, she's noticed the faint lines that have started to form on her brow but- eh- who cares? She'll keep doing what she's always done. To her, age really is just a number.

Dryleaf Dane: The martial arts know no age limit. 20, 30, 60- only the dedication of the mind and body matters in the pursuit of perfection. Dane has seen it all in his eventful 50-ish years of life, and his fighting style reflects that. It's his reserved demeanor and silent loyalty that make him a perfect balance for the cynical Leda. To whom he likens himself as both a friend and mentor. Honestly, he appreciates her youthful fervor and often finds himself considering her something like a daughter.

The Hornsent: He's 40. 40 what? Just 40, as far as he'd ever tell you anyhow. A trusting man he is not, even with the simplicities of sharing one's true age. Such pointless talking points are for truer friends and family, of which the hornsent has none. Perhaps under the guidance of Kindly Miquella, he might one day celebrate another year of life lived in vengeance. For now, however, the memory only fills him with a deep and singular loneliness...

Igon: Drake Warriors aren't known for living long lives, and hunters of all kinds are known for it even less. Igon is the exception. Without the magics of the land of shadow, he would be about 42. An impressive age to reach, for one in his line of work. Although the lack of care he gives to his own appearance would lead one to believe he was much older.

Sir Ansbach: GILF lovers rejoice, this man is easily the oldest npc on our list today. I would say Ansbach is dutifully vague about his true age. While it may amuse him to give the true number, and watch the flicker of awe for his agility cross his companions' face, he remains aware that giving his real age is a disadvantage should things turn south. On one hand, it may cause him to be targeted by those unaware of his skill. An easy problem to solve, if not overly tiresome. On the other, it endangers on a more... emotional level. He cannot risk his allies putting his safety over their own on such a baseless reason as his advanced age. He is SIR Ansbach, after all. What sort of man, as both mentor and knight, could abide by such an obvious danger to his juniors? Not he, that is certain, and so his many decades remain a mystery (although they certainly number more than Dane's)

Thiollier: Awkward, skinny, and chronically anxious. Thiollier reads as young, very young. He's most certainly the baby of the group, even if most of the others don't treat him differently for it. After all, they must likely assume him only a few years younger than Leda. They all began their lives as warriors, scholars, and missionaries at a similar age. So to them it matters very little how old their resident perfumer is. Freyja assumes he is 22, the Hornsent suspects him little older than 17, and only the Tarnished and Sir Ansbach know he is - truthfully- somewhere in between.

Moore: It is difficult to place Moore, since he is kin to the Pests and therefore likely a different race/species category for biological age. However, I would say that Moore is somewhat youthful, based upon his naivety. Likely, he is in between Thiollier and Leda in age - when the years between Pest kin and Tarnished are converted. Mid-20s seems an appropriate range for Moore.

Aaaannnd that's all I have for now! If you have different headcanons on sote npc ages, or npc headcanons in general, pls feel free to share! I love reading comments and seeing different (and similar) perspectives on Elden Ring characters!

Anyways, thanks for reading! This was a fun way to kill time lol >D

Another thing to add is that Igon is physically forced to admit he cannot hunt bayle by himself. For all of his recklessness and single-minded devotion to this hunt, he can barely drag himself up the jagged peak. To quote him directly : "My limbs are limbs no more, my heart is twice-over filled with fear, but my soul yet lies on the mountain."

He knows he cant do it by himself, he can barely even psych himself up to do it, let alone actually fight. Hes forced by his circumstances to admit that he cant do it alone, no matter how much he wants to, no matter the depths of his hatred.

In contrast, captain ahab is missing a leg, yes, but he has a peg leg that is sufficient for him and his purpose, he has money to hire a crew, and he has a boat and whaling equipment to hunt with. He has a crew that doesnt really dare to question him bc of his sheer aura of hatred and determination. He has the means to pursue this hunt alone if he wishes, he can be the main character of his story and get revenge himself.

Igon doesnt even have a weapon to start with. He spends an excruciating amount of time making a bow from dead dragon bones and intimately carves every single harpoon he plans on piercing bayle with. Eventually, once he's made weapons, hes forced to admit that by himself, he wont be able to make it up to bayle. He cant walk, cant run, cant afford good equipment, and cant even get to bayle. What he can do, is send his spirit, his hate-driven and relentless soul, to help someone who can. It is the only way he can free himself from the inextricable hold bayle has had over him since they last met.

The Igon and Ahab comparison/difference

This will not be a whole comparison of the two characters, (I'll save that for a rainy day), but there is something I find really interesting with these two gents that I find often gets overlooked as people just go 'oh yeah Igon is captain Ahab' and end the discussion there.

To first get the obvious out of the way, both characters have monomania for their respective foe, and both share a narrative similar to the end of a Faustain tale or at least there story is a continuation of one already told, both crippled after their fights and both will not let injury, judgment, people or God from killing their enemy.

Now, the main and obvious comparison that is made comes from the speech Igon gives when you summon him for the bayle fight. But this speech also shows something, a difference between the two, a difference that ties to their fate.

In igons speech, he introduces the tarnished first, giving them the title of Drake Warrior and only calling himself by his name. Igon wants Bayle dead by any means necessary, and to achieve his goal, he has the humility in asking the for aid of others he views can help (gameplay wise, that is by allowing the tarnished to summon him for the fight). Igon saw the tarnished slay the mountain drake and chose you as someone who could help achieve his goal. Whereas Ahab depite having a whole crew of rallyed up whalers doesn't view the aid of others as anything more than a convince, to him, Moby Dick will be killed by him and only. Constanly disregarding even imput from those who only wish the best for everyone such as Starbuck. Ahabs determination to kill the whale with his own harpoon is what led him to getting killed and dragged to the depths of the ocean, dead, unsuccessful.

Igon incontrast by following and completing his quesline igon dies of his injuries sure, but after successfully defeating Bayle saying

'Bayle the dread, you shall haunt me no longer'

Igon achieved peace and a concussion to his goal, where Ahab did not. Igon recognised where and when he needed help through his rage and determination.

[There's also, tho like the comparison needed with what Moby is representative of compared to Bayle, but that's not important right now]

what do you mean elon musk did a nazi salute on live tv at the united states presidential inauguration twice and is now erasing the evidence off the internet by replacing the footage with the crowd cheering instead?

would be a shame if people reblogged this, wouldn’t it?

When the person you're in a codependent relationship with (your secret half-sister) starts having her own character arc without including you

I have returned from my abyss of "im too lazy to post", despite this hellsite's unwillingness to let me, and i am back to ledaposting (kinda ? Ig shes technically in the post)

Anyways, i have made the shocking realization that i own a pen and paper and decided to try my hand at sketching leda's armor. I drew the helmet but didnt finish the full armor, i switched to drawing it digitally on my phone like halfway through.

It was fun figuring out how close helms work for this

As a side note, how often do you think characters in souls games remove their armor ? Logically they should do it once in a while to keep it in good condition but some of the armors look a bit too complex to put on / remove by yourself so idk. Also theres never really a good place to do so.

Rin, smiling, and nagging

Rinsha Fana’s character is summarized in a couple facts thrown here and there. Because she worries for him, she follows Kabru to help his cause and protect him, and to nag him. She’s a grumpy angry tsundere, but it seems not only rooted in her attitude but on a deep rooted physical level, to the point where any intense emotion she feels will make her frown and scowl even if it’s genuine joy. Her childhood was half spent ostracized in the tallman community her family lived in and half with the elves, where she’s said to have been treated like an animal.

We don’t know how she was raised exactly or who it even was, but knowing she was "treated like an animal" by the elves taking care of her…

Elves are shown to have a highly hierarchical society, not only with their concern with status such as nobility and the purity of bloodlines but also reflected by its social culture imo. They have high society and etiquette, upmost devotion to the queen, very role-oriented, like cogs in a machine, and as such, it’s a bit skewed since most of what we see of the elves is in a military context with military people but they seem to value having emotions under lock and key to be efficient and not bring dishonor, Flamela is an interesting character on this. Don’t be a bother and do your job until you’re called on, fulfill your role, everything else is extra at best inconvenient at worst.

Personally I do think the canaries kept Rin, it’d make sense that whichever canaries got stuck with the job at the headquarters would be barebones with her and treat her like an ‘impounded article’, they couldn’t find another place for her and this way they can get her report on the events whenever she can speak again in however many years, and this way it makes sense that she could keep in touch with Kabru too. They’re used to prisoners, not kids. Being raised in a military context rather than at some orphanage would shape her further.

All of this to say…

She’d already seen the world’s harshness to those who don’t conform in her hometown, but with the elves? Her disdain for those who had formal education at a magic school?

Wouldn’t she become very concerned with proving she is not an animal, proving that she’s smart and skilled in her own right on her own merit, even without schooling. And to do this she nitpicks and nitpicks, because even being pristine isn’t enough to be respected, but at least it’s not giving others reasons to disrespect and dehumanize her. Learning to school her emotions, to scowl as a defense mechanism because anything else makes her vulnerable, because they don’t care about her as a person with feelings, because showing other expressions was dangerous or punished in some way: because it was fit in or don’t fit in and that’s the difference between having your house burnt down and being tolerated, between getting her food or having her questions answered and being yelled at to shut up… Because all her life she’s been surviving in hostile social environments and at the mercy of others, but unlike Kabru she doesn’t become a people pleaser but becomes very self-reliant and wary of socializing.

So she nitpicks and nitpicks and nags, because she’s worried. Because flaws are dangerous. So she has a hard time smiling and laughing, because it’s dangerous to allow yourself to feel safe in being authentic.

It would be nice…

Is my red, red enough? I'm waiting for your teeth at my throat. It’s only good manners. -Stephanie Valente 

How awkward do you think this interaction was ?

Is that lord of the rings in the background audio or am i insane

I think this is VERY funny, okay? I drew this for 2-3 months