wild for to hold

I am ridiculously excited about the Shadow of the Erdtree trailer that came out this past Wednesday. I've been watching it over and over again & trying to come up with theories as to what it all means. Of course, in true FromSoft fashion, it's cryptic and filled with horrors. I love it.

Some speculation

Messmer and his whole deal are intriguing. I wonder if he is perhaps some version of Melina, since they share the Weird Eye Thing and also the fire motif. He's got to be a sibling at least, with the M name and the hair. Maybe he's the one who's been connected to the Smoldering Butterfly all along, not Melina as we all thought. I wonder who he's talking about when he mentions "one so bereft of light." Is it the Tarnished (i.e. the player)? Who knows? Fascinating stuff.

I love the concept of an entire shadow realm behind 'hidden' in the Lands Between, containing a whole world of its own where apparently the Erdtree is fucked up. Very nice.

Of course the most riveting part of the whole trailer is Miquella. Omg. We are going to see more of him! I am 99.99% sure that IS him at the very end there, and the Haligtree! The summary said something about him abandoning his body and his powers to live in this shadow realm-thing! I really wonder what's up with that.

What I love most is the implication that perhaps Miquella is... not as lovely and pure as he's been made out to be so far. I've said for weeks that his powers of "compelling affection" in others sound scary AF, and if he were so inclined he could probably use them to wreak great havoc.

My roommate and I's headcanon seems almost plausible all of a sudden: What if Miquella has been pulling the strings behind the scenes all alon? What if he engineered his own kidnapping? What if he somehow compelled Mohg to do the deed, or struck a deal with him, or something like that? I think we can take it as a fact that whatever Mohg tried to break Miquella's curse of eternal childhood, it worked (to some extent), since the "withered arm" we see in Mohgwyn Palace is most definitely in the shape of an adult. Maybe that was Miquella's plan all along.

Like. Yes. Give me a Miquella that's radiant and kind, but also terrifying in his power, and in his own way as much of an eldritch horror as the other Empyreans. *chef's kiss*

Also IS THAT A SNIPPET OF MOHG'S THEME right when the Roderika-looking girl casts her (apparent) huge Bewitching Branch-related spell. Omg. I may be imagining that, but ooomg.

Except, I'm pretty sure that in order to play the DLC you'll have to have killed Mohg, since it appears to start at the Palace in his boss arena. :/

It is going to be amazing. I have marked June 21st in my calendar and will camp out on Twitch and watch others play the DLC as soon as it drops. :D

Current MohgMiq WIPs and ideas:

• fIRST KISS FLUFF
• Miquella being protective (I love a trope that turns expectations on their heads)
• old man first-time sex

So, it's 2024! Wow! My first association with this number is "I dropped out of uni 10 years ago." Go figure.

• Life has been somewhat stressful lately, but overall I'm doing well. I am taking my second advanced Swedish class, the better to converse with my godmother, and it's a lot of fun and a lot of work. The final exam is some time at the end of January. I've started studying and so far the work load seems manageable. Currently, I'm on winter break. My next class is next Wednesday. I'm very excited to have some time off.

• I have acquired a horrible ship (Mohg/Miquella from Elden Ring, I blame the canonical half-sibling incest on George R. R. Martin's writing) and my roommate and I are writing an RP! This is the first time since high school that I've RPed, and it's exciting and somewhat new. I also tried to play the game again, with mixed results. Fromsoft games are perhaps not entirely my cup of tea, although I do love watching others play them. My main take-away from watching Jacksepticeye's series is that bleed builds are ridiculous and fun.

• The anniversary of my father's death is coming up this Sunday, and I think I might spend the day watching winter sports--he loved skiing of all kinds--and knitting, and lighting a candle for him, and perhaps calling my mom. It's going to be very cozy.

• Some time this year, I will attend a local outpatient program of intensive psychotherapy. I do not know exactly when yet, but hopefully I'll find out soon (the wait list is ridiculously long). I'm a bit wary of the stress of having to leave the house every day and be somewhere that's not at home every day, but I also feel optimistic. Perhaps this will help me get my feet under me a bit more.

• In other OCD-related news, I HAVE CUT & HANDLED RAW CHICKEN TWICE in the past week. Twice! And once with my BARE HANDS and while, yes, I did wash my hands afterwards, I didn't wash them obsessively, and I didn't douse the entire kitchen in disinfecting spray. \o/ I am ridiculously proud of myself for this. The resulting food ended up being delicious too. I've had a definite uptick of intrusive thoughts and fears over this, but so far, I've been able to handle it. And the sheer VICTORY of eating chicken that I HELPED PREPARE has got me really excited to try more chicken-related recipes.

That is all for now! Thank you for reading. I've missed blogging, and really want to get back into it. And yes, I know I say that all the time. xD