brineffxiv

[brineffxiv]

I just gotta say.

I cleared this.

Day 1, with the bug.

We res cheesed it. Got 2 tanks and 4 healers killed and gave them pending res's which they used in the last few seconds of the Curtain Call castbar. It was fantastic and badass. I was a SGE healer in Alliance A. We died so many times. Half the raid quit. BUT WE DID IT!

The fact that it was Amon's fight that broke is some sort of fantastic commentary on a metatextual level or something, lol.

curtain call extreme: the clown's revenge

[brineffxiv]

Hi!

Er.. So. Dawntrail is imminent. I have been meaning to make this post for some time? But I procrastinated. I sort-of hoped that I would be able to catch up to my huge backlog of posts? Ah, but I suppose I should confess, I finished the game!

I loved it. It was awesome. Incredible. I cried so much.

Yeah. Kind of a poor excuse for a "liveblog" at this point, eh? So, when we last spoke... I got to the end of Elpis, and then that biiig cutscene happened. And I couldn't manage to articulate how I felt about it. Like. The first time I saw it, I was so upset and cried through the whole thing. I loved it. I hated it. I was so very angry with Venat. But I couldn't put it into words why. In the end, I was very glad I'd taken screenshots of it, and could go back through it and see it slowly, because my initial impression of what happened, turned out to not be what actually happened when I looked at it again?

I am still angry with Venat. But not necessarily for what she did in the moment, more, a collection of her actions and her overwhelming need to be in control at all times. Her mistakes were made long before the sundering, and I think at the time she did the best she reasonably could. Unfortunately, her best wasn't good enough.

BUT! These are all conclusions I should save for that post.

Which I still would like to write.

That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about. See, like I said, I finished the game. But. I kept taking screenshots all the while, expecting to write posts. I had just hoped to have caught up before this point. Because as I understand it, Dawntrail will bring with it a significant graphical upgrade. And then it's not really possible to pretend that this is still a "live" blog, yeah?

And I mean, regardless, pretending it's all still "live" wouldn't be fair to you all. That'd be telling lies. And that's bad.

So how do you feel about this? When I get to writing posts I will still call them a liveblog, and I will try to write them in the mindset I was in when I first played through them. But we all know that it's not truly live.

The other option is I can just... not write the posts and quit the liveblog.

I don't know. Up to you to decide, I suppose. Do you even want to see the rest of it?

Anyway. So what happened was, I stalled out on writing that post, but I really wanted to keep playing. So I thought I'd play just a little... And, well, you know what happens with "just a little" - before I knew it I was in Ultima Thule facing down the Endsinger. And I still couldn't finish that damn post.

I did a lot of fun stuff after finishing the game!

I did all of Eureka! I cleared the Baldesion Arsenal enough times to complete 4 sets of gear and 4 Relic Weapons! I even did calls and led some of the runs through BA! It was a lot of fun! (I did it through the ABBA discord, which, while there are some lovely people there, upper management are assholes and I would not recommend sticking around long term. Use them and lose them is what I'm saying)

Then I went and did Bozja! I ran Delubrum Reginae Savage (with the Lego Steppers discord. Very well managed run. Full stars) and got my Cerberus mount. I hate Bozja! I'm not going back there! You can't make me!

I joined a raiding static and cleared EX6 when it was current! Then we cleared EX7! Then last Monday we cleared P9S! Such fun!

I joined a second raiding static! I was asked to leave the second raiding static! Because I am not very good at raiding!

Hmm... what else did I do? I maxxed out my Island Sanctuary. I got all my Blue Mage spells and completed the Masked Carnivale. I even got my umbrella! And I completed all my Splendorous Tools! I have 25 fish left to catch in the game!

I won a Medium house and decorated it. If you want to come see it some time, it's on Marilith, Mist, Ward 17 Plot 29. I filled it with secrets. And a little shrine to my favorite character (It's Emet-Selch, of course it is).

I even built a personal FC with my alt and am experimenting with subs and airships!

Speaking of alts. I may have made too many.

I did the raids (and cried), I did the tribal quests (and cried). I did a lot of crying! But it was good. It was worth it! I love this game!

I am so looking forward to Dawntrail (and I hope you are too!).

[brineffxiv]

Did I spend entirely too much money on this minion?

Yes. Yes, I did. Okay I also got a soundtrack with it, that's true.

[brineffxiv]

Me, crying, sobbing: "He's so beautiful! My boy!"

[brineffxiv]

Look friends! I have found someone who is also liveblogging FFXIV! They're on the moon! Give them some love!

(They also have excellent taste in characters)

live reaction of me every time emet-selch gets mentioned:

[brineffxiv]

Today I learned that if you manage to get to The Praetorium/The Porta Decumana without getting KO'd, your "death" during the solo fight with Lahabrea afterwards counts as a KO?? That's hilarious. Is that an accident of coding or did they do that on purpose? I love it.

[brineffxiv]

Aw hell.

Back up a bit.

So there we were, Venat and I, trying to enter Ktisis Hyperborea in order to track down Hermes, when who should we re-encounter...

Haha! It turns out that despite claiming to not believe my story, Emet-Selch has been (with Hythlodaeus' assistance) investigating the same things Venat and I have been. I am so happy about this. I was literally chanting "Yes yes yes!" When Hythlodaeus explained what they had been up to.

*Ahem*

We have uncovered similar facts and reached the same conclusion: since it seems unlikely that Hermes himself wants to bring about the Final Days, he may yet be recruited to help prevent them.

(ha... ha... in retrospect....)

And then Hythlodaeus laughs at him. I adore these two.

It's too late Emet! You've been contaminated with my friendship (highly contagious) now you'll never be rid of me! 12000+ years in the future you will care about me so much you'll plan for me to succeed after I kill you.

...oh no now I'm crying again...

Keep it together, you've got two whole posts to write to catch up with the plot. No way you're fitting this all in one.

Right. Right.

I find Hermes (and Meteion) in the depths of the Hungering Gardens and convince him to meet with our little group outside.

I tell him what I've told them.

Though reluctant to believe my tale, Hermes agrees to theorize based on his knowledge of dynamis. He concludes much as I have already suspected: that it is likely the varying densities of the people which produced the different effects in each Final Days - the warping of creation magics and the transformations of the people themselves.

But Hermes also points out something new: dynamis is itself only an energy, set in motion by emotion, which must have a source.

It would follow then, that this source... it must be a thinking being, in order to have emotions? Mustn't it? It's not a what. It's a who.

And as Hermes points out, the celestial currents form the outermost layers of the star. If the phenomena appeared first where those were weakest, then...

Someone out in the great expanse is trying to kill us.

Ah. But we have only a moment to reflect on this new horrific revelation, when...

Fuck. Oh, fuck. Hermes, you goddamn idiot.

But no, it's not a new "friend", it's Meteion's sisters reporting in. Meteion proceeds to "suspend" her individual consciousness and connect with the shared one.

Ah.

Oh. No.

Something has gone very very wrong.

Aaaaa!

Meteion is screaming inside my head, and only I can hear her. The rest can tell that something has happened, but they cannot see the truth of it.

And then, quite suddenly, she has disappeared.

Hermes explains that this is an ability Meteion has to avoid confrontation; she alters her aetheric density to blend in with her surroundings.

It's likely that I could hear Meteion's voice just then when the others couldn't because Meteion utilizes dynamis to speak in her mind and my comparatively thin aether left me susceptible to it. This means I'm the best chance we've got to track her down. We split up and search.

Danger music is playing! Danger music is playing! This is not a drill!

Several times I encounter Meteion or her voice and several times she runs away. Disappearing again. I glean from the brief snatches of dialogue that she is fighting her programming to compile and make her report. Something about the data her sisters have transmitted has frightened and upset her, and she does not want to present it to Hermes.

Our search party regroups to find a new plan; I will continue tracking Meteion via her voice, and Emet-Selch will follow, prepared to rain aether upon her to disrupt her vanishing trick. The rest of our party will work to blockade any avenues of escape, a task made easier in that it appears Meteion has fled towards Lethe.

Um. Lethe? The river of forgetting in the underworld? Can we uh... Can we not go into there? I have a bad feeling is all.

I am at once delighted and extremely distressed. The danger music is still playing loud and clear.

The plan works perfectly, for good or ill, and Meteion is cornered. Her voice in my mind begs me to protect everyone. She can no longer flee, and commences her report.

Everywhere Meteion has gone she has found the dead and the dying. Her dispassionate voice continues behind our mounting horror.

Emet-Selch points out the obvious problem in the mission Hermes tasked Meteion with: he did not account for a negative result. The premise of Hermes' question - what others live for, what gives their lives meaning - is flawed, if Meteion encounters only those who are dead or do not wish to live.

Venat orders Meteion to cease her report, suspend her mission, and return home. But Meteion is not listening. Emet-Selch determines to take Meteion back to Amaurot, as she will be needed in order to retrieve all of her sisters.

Hermes is still stunned from the revelation of both the answers to his questions and the astounding oversight in his instructions to Meteion. He kneels in front of her and seems about to acquiesce to Emet-Selch's demand, but...

Memories of Meteion and his promises to her fill Hermes' mind, and he resolves to accept the answers in her report, whatever they are.

Suddenly he transforms. Declaring that he will not allow Meteion to be taken from him until she has delivered her full report, he takes her in his arms and flies off towards Ktisis Hyperboreia.

We chase after them as quick as we can, but arriving at Ktisis we find a crowd of confused researchers outside. An alarum is sounding and the facility has been evacuated and put into a state of alert - a field of dampening magics is now in place effecting any who aren't Ktisis researchers.

Nonetheless, we must enter the facility.

OMG OMG OMG

(Of course Emet is a Dark Knight. He fights with love! In this essay I will...)

This dungeon is a downright delight. All the little bits of commentary and characterization!! HHHhhh!!!

Also I somehow managed to get Venat killed by double stacking a mechanic on her during Hermes' fight and Hythlodaeus res'd her. Hythlodaeus, my man, you are a Bard with a resurrection spell: you have got to stop saying how bad at everything you are because you are clearly not.

Yes, Hermes, you are indeed a mad, desperate fool, but you are a mad, desperate fool in serious need of therapy and someone to talk to. Your problems, to me, seem to stem from the fact that you feel so alone. Your compassion is hampered by the fact that you're entirely too caught up in your own head, and unfortunately, you do not seem to be much of an intellectual. You need friends, people you can share your thoughts and feelings with, and who you can bounce ideas off of so you don't send your emotionally fueled, vulnerable bird-daughter out into space with no means to shield herself from negative feelings. Bad idea, that. Also you need to calm the fuck down.

Together, we defeat Hermes, who returns to his humanoid form.

Emet-Selch declares he is taking both Meteion and Hermes into custody on behalf of the Convocation. As Emet moves to do so, Hermes turns to Meteion and apologizes to her, for being unable to hear out her full report. Hermes has just time enough to ask one final question of Meteion: was there happiness to be found in those stars?

Meteion's answer is long and features examples of failed civilizations that appear to hit close to home for each of our ancients. Those probably deserve closer examination, but that tangent got three paragraphs long before I realized there really wasn't time for it, because as she's giving us this answer Meteion is beginning to leak the black smoke that signals dynamis corruption.

A- Ah. AH. Oh. It's not. It's.

It's Meteion.

The thing out there that's trying to kill us.

It's Meteion. The Meteia. Her sisters.

They are the source of the emotions behind the Final Days.

And Hermes...

You. YOU. You...selfish monster. You bloody hypocrite!

"If man can learn to value all life and retain his will to live he will surely find a way to avert his demise"

It's not enough that you throw your precious creations at us to slow our advance through Ktisis, no, in making your judgement on man you in turn curse every life upon this star to share our fate. Or, have you not considered the method by which you sentence us!? Perhaps you are too distracted by your own despair to truly hear what she is saying: Meteion is bringing death to the star itself, not selectively killing off Man. You know this from my own account of what the Final Days will bring.

You're just like the rest of us; how cheap other lives become in the presence of Man, whether you seek to better us or to destroy us. I couldn't see, couldn't fathom, how you could be the Fandaniel I met in the future. But you've been him all along, haven't you? When push comes to shove you crumple under despair and it's not enough to take your own life, no, you'll make everyone suffer with you. Everyone must feel your pain.

Hermes causes the Final Days. In full knowledge of what he will bring, the pain and the suffering. He knows, and he chooses this. Unlike Meteion, who has become corrupted, unlike the Convocation, who will never know against what they struggle, Hermes stares evil in the face and embraces it. A mental breakdown will not absolve you Hermes, in this moment you damn yourself.

No. NO.

I forgot about that thing!

Hermes orders Kairos to rewrite the memories of all within Ktisis Hyperborea, beginning at the point of Emet-Selch's arrival in Elpis. Our memories are to be replaced with a vague recollection of Meteion and her sisters' shared consciousness becoming unstable and exploding, triggering Kairos.

Kairos begins counting down.

A lot of things happen, very quickly, all at once.

With his back to us, Hermes bids Meteion fly to the far edge of the universe where none can reach her.

Venat breaks her bonds and launches herself at Meteion, intent on stopping her, but Hermes blocks the blow and Meteion leaps into the air.

The break in Hermes' concentration appears to have freed the rest of us from our chains, and as Emet-Selch summons his weapon to challenge Hermes, Venat leaps aboard Argos in pursuit of Meteion. As the two shoot skyward, Hythlodaeus leads me to the edge of the platform. He tells me that here, this is their fight to wage, but that I must take the knowledge I have gained here back to my time, to my own battle.

Meteion is rapidly approaching the bounds of the star, with Venat in close pursuit. Just before Venat can catch her, Meteion shapeshifts into an actual bird (Hey! My friend has that minion! What!?) and speeds away into space, but not before Venat manages to tag her with a spell.

Emet-Selch and Hythlodaeus sacrifice themselves to allow Venat and I to escape with our memories intact. Kairos completes its final process as we soar above their heads.

In the final few seconds left to us, Emet-Selch proclaims that he still doesn't believe my story, but, if it must be said, to not squander the legacy he leaves to me. In futility I reach for him, feeling the weight of our history falling into place.

Honestly, I could barely manage to take screencaps of this part I was crying so hard.

But I caught his smile.

...

Outside again, Venat collapses on the grass, exhausted both physically and mentally by what we've just been through.

The spell Venat tagged Meteion with is a tracking spell, one with which we can track her. Though she is already unimaginably distant and beyond our current reach.

Venat uses Argos to check on our friends, now exiting Ktisis Hyperborea, with Hermes in tow.

As expected, they have no memories of the events that Hermes contrived to have us forget, and Hermes himself appears devastated at the loss of Meteion.

Wait, what? No. No no no no! You've just seen, literally just seen, that even when Emet-Selch believes something to be completely ludicrous he will do his due diligence to investigate it. Tell him. Tell them, the Convocation. Even if they don't believe you at least let them know about dynamis, so they can recognize it when the Final Days begins! We cannot reach Meteion where she is now, but you have time. Time to work to stabilize the aether currents. Time to find an alternative solution so that when the Final Days arrive it's not necessary to summon Zodiark. Don't you start this again. This information control.

Leaving aside her asinine view that public knowledge of the contents of Meteion's report would lead to some sort of further catastrophe... Venat is against telling the Convocation the truth because of her fears of what Hermes would do if he learned the truth?? Venat, have you lost your mind? Hermes is one man. The only reason he was able to do what he already did was because we had the deck stacked against us, we confronted him in his seat of power with our own abilities severely limited. It was a very specific set of circumstances!! Outside of these exact conditions what he did would not have worked! Hermes' greatest weapon is our ignorance, that's why he contrived to have us forget in the first place. You are wasting the opportunity our friends sacrificed all to provide us with!

You already know the key thing that Hermes will contribute to resolving the coming crisis! The knowledge of celestial currents! Share this knowledge and you will have no need of him!!

It needn't be senseless and seemingly inevitable at all if you would bloody well tell people! Hope is so much stronger when built on a foundation of knowledge. We cannot stop the Final Days from coming, but you can yet mitigate it. All needn't be lost. You can yet choose to do something different. I beg you, use this time to find a different path.

Please Venat, please do not let your future become my past.

[brineffxiv]

you doing ok?

Thank you for asking. I am alive :)

Life is... life.

Working on the next post(s). Slowly. It is taking some time to... organize and articulate what I want to say? I think I am afraid of disappointing people. And it's difficult to... There is a difference between the excitement of speculation, and the emotions of the reality of having the answers finally. And my initial reaction while watching the cutscenes was so different from the reaction that I think I was supposed to have? That I can see the logic of when I go back and look through my screencaps. But I still feel something different. Hhhh it's difficult to say.

I know that a lot of you must have been eagerly awaiting my response to these cutscenes... and I know I went into this already biased... but I am afraid my conclusions will be... unpopular.

I am having an argument with a videogame character. She does not exist. I am having the argument regardless.

[brineffxiv]

Message from the future...

...so I finished Elpis.

I am not okay.

I knew it was going to hurt. Didn't expect it to hurt that bad.

Goodbye gil.

Hmmm hmm hmmm...

Just gonna... cry a bit.

[brineffxiv]

This is a request to your shipper brain: GO WILD. Emet-Selch/Hythlodaeus is probably the MOST popular ship in the entire game. Including any potential Azems/Ancient selves as third member of the poly.

Hehe! Shipper brain is always there, humming away in the background, interpreting all the subtext! XD I try and keep a handle on my speculation and shipper-y reads of the text though, because I know ships are very much a taste thing, and want to be as objective as possible with my speculations. My success at that, however, is entirely up to interpretation, lol.

I like this ship very much (what is the proper tag?) I must obtain ALL the merch. Interesting that it's the most popular, I am unaccustomed to being aboard the fandom juggernaut ships. Hopefully that means there's LOTS of delicious content!

[brineffxiv]

My new old friends and I continue our adventures through Elpis.

We're about to be eaten by a shark with legs when Venat drops out of goddamn nowhere and knocks the thing out. So fast I didn't even manage to capture the moment.

Hell of an entrance. I can certainly say I didn't expect to meet her like this.

Venat is apparently a former member of the Convocation who has eschewed the majority opinion and elected to remain and continue her work after retiring.

*Gaaaaaaassp!!*

Former Azem!? OMG.

Venat knows Hythlodaeus and Emet-Selch of course, and they all have a little exchanging of pleasantries, discuss the current Azem (Me! It's Past Me! AAA!), and generally make smalltalk. When suddenly Venat turns to me, and asks...

DANGER! DANGER! THE CAT IS OUT OF THE CLOSET BAG!

Fuuuuuu-

The question is met with shocked reactions from my two travelling companions. Venat explains how she reached this conclusion: She senses her own magic upon me - a traveler's ward, designed to prevent the corruption of aether - and knowing she has never met me she surmises that she must have woven the enchantment at some point in the future.

I confirm her suspicions.

Emet-Selch is taking this very seriously. He is not going to like what I have to tell him.

Venat offers her accommodations here in Elpis as a place we can go where I can tell them all my story. Venat seems to me a very lovely person. She's difficult to dislike, even if I may have some grievances with her future self.

At Poieten Oikos, Venat prepares us some tea, and the group settle in to hear my tale.

I really appreciate how this was done. The time it took for me to explain everything, and the shots of the characters shown throughout as they reacted to what I was presumably telling them. The way the mood progressed from curiosity and hope to solemn horror as each of my new friends were confronted with their fates and the future of the star.

(It made sense to me that Venat was shown specifically contrasted with her future as Hydaelyn, and Emet-Selch with the fate of the convocation as a whole, but it was especially interesting to me that Hythlodaeus was confronted with - and presumably effected the most by - Emet-Selch and his phantom Amaurot. Not his own future as a shade sacrificed to Zodiark, but that of his friend and the burden he would bear. Curious, and food for thought... bad shipper brain! Not time for that!)

I speak for a long time; until the tea has long grown cold. None of them take what I've told them particularly well, and all express doubts. Venat seems the one most inclined to credit my story as being true.

I am extremely pleased to see that she has several of the same critiques of her future self's actions as I do! Perhaps we will get along better than I expected!

Emet-Selch is not taking this well at all. Honestly, I don't blame him. He plays the role of villain in this tale, and not only is he fated to labor in grief and isolation for thousands of lifetimes, he is ultimately doomed to fail. He alone among the Convocation must carry the burdens of sanity, memory, and responsibility.

In defence of your future self; I do not think you abandoned your brethren or your duty. I think assisting me was simply a backup plan in the event that I killed you. As to why you would do something so seemingly illogical as to invite me to Amaurot in the depths of the Tempest? I think, despite it all, you desperately wanted the person you still saw as your old friend to understand you. What you were doing and why. Deep down you didn't want to kill me, but rather, you wanted me to agree with you, to convert to your side of things. As impossible as that eventuality might seem, you still had hope that we could see eye-to-eye. The friend who disagreed so strongly with your chosen course that he left the Convocation might yet return. Your people - those sundered and those imprisoned with Zodiark - might be made whole and restored to life. All could be as it was, and the world could be restored to the version you loved, when you were happy and whole.

So you invited me to Amaurot. A final attempt to force me to see what we'd lost. It wasn't about winning, or the most logical course of action; it was about a desperate hope to reclaim even the tiniest sliver of what you lost. A friendship, a connection. Pain and loneliness and grief and love were your motivations.

Emet-Selch speaks and plans logically, and rationalizes his actions in the moment. But in truth he is ruled by his emotions: he feels too strongly and too keenly. He loved so much that loss turned him into a monster.

Anyway, back to the preset, Emet-Selch storms out the door with Hythlodaeus running and calling after him.

Venat and I are left alone.

I am concerned, but Venat assures me that if Emet-Selch is truly the man Azem has led her to believe he is, we will see him again.

Fortunately, Venat seems inclined to help me. I tell her of what I've learned of Dynamis, and of Hermes' experiments with it regarding Meteion. We set about questioning the nearby researchers regarding Hermes and his activities.

Our inquiries are mostly unproductive until we chance upon a researcher whose partner once saw Hermes, late one night, sending multiple Meteia skyward. We decide to speak to the researcher personally to hear this story in full. We ascend to the skyway, and, while waiting to hear from the researcher herself, Venat and I get to talking.

Venat wants to know what the world in the future is like. She asks me to tell her about my adventures - the smaller details, as opposed to the world ending ones.

In turn, Venat tells me of her own history; she has been a scholar, one who sought to learn and discover the mysteries of the world. Through her work she feels perpetually in awe of the miracles of creation. She is the Ur adventurer; the desire to travel and learn and experience runs strong in her. And she loves fiercely all that she has come to know.

Her people are her meaning and her purpose, and they are why she cannot bring herself to return to the star. Not so long as she feels they still need her. She speculates that her future self as Hydaelyn is still waiting for a time when She can let go, confident that we can guide our own way.

Oh. That is a hell of a question.

And one I'm not given time to answer before the woman we are waiting for appears. But here...

I think it's obvious I love this game. I adore it. It's fantastic. I'm already planning to play it through again once I've finished.

But what of Rhesh'a? How does he feel?

I imagine he's still somewhat in shock. He hasn't had a moment to rest and breathe in a very long time. He's very good at compartmentalizing, bucking down and dealing with stress in emergency situations. But, now, he's approaching the end of his rope emotionally, and he's going to have a hellish reckoning to face when he finally has a chance to come to terms with all he's been through. I do not think his journey can be described in such simple terms as "good" or "bad". Worthwhile? This is his life. All he is, all he has and loves has come to him through this journey.

I will have to think on this more.

The researcher arrives! She regales us with the tale of the Meteia, shooting skywards like stars from a little isle not too far off. This must be what Hermes was talking about when he told me of Meteion's sisters, off exploring distant stars.

When the researcher had asked Hermes about his secret project, he'd told her that he needed to do more tests before answering any questions.

I am strongly suspecting that this project of Hermes' with the Meteia is related to the root cause of the Final Days, and it seems Venat agrees with me. We are going to go to the little isle to investigate some more, but I cannot yet fly in Elpis so we need some way to get me there...

Argos is less than amenable to me riding on him this time. Venat's solution is for me to fight her, and prove to Argos that I am worthy. She does not go easy on me.

Ouch.

Venat kicked my ass. This fight was not easy with a broken hand, I tell you. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

Yay! Argos likes me now!

Again.

...

Oh.

Oh no.

This dog. This fucking dog, man.

I'm sorry Argos, I'm sure you're the goodest of boys, it's just that you've suddenly become a symbol of everything about to go wrong for me. I tried. I tried so damn hard to ignore it, to put it aside, but my brain can't stop assembling the pieces of the puzzle. And the picture it's creating is upsetting.

Back up a bit. I've been keeping my eye out, and I'm certain I have yet to meet anyone who could be Elidibus. But this dog. Just made me think of something. Elidibus knew to send me into the past because he remembered meeting me here. Re-framed another way; the future I come from already exists as a result of me visiting the past. It's a closed time loop. In order for me to have travelled into the past, I must always have done so. The act of me travelling into the past itself does not create a change in the timeline because that act is a pre-condition to the existence of my own future.

All very well and good, but this dog.

This dog.

This dog knew me in the future.

Argos here had to learn to respect me before he would let me ride him. In the future I come from, my past, he liked me right away. The Watcher even remarked that it was strange for him to behave that way towards me.

But I'm the WoL: I'm used to being exceptional. Why would it be strange that the otherwise unapproachable dog liked me? I am Hydaelyn's specialest little boy, after all.

But here!

He doesn't! He fucking doesn't! I am NOT the exception to the rule!

Which can only mean, that when I encountered Argos on the moon, he was remembering me having earned his respect in the past.

Right now.

I always fought Venat in the past in order to earn Argos' respect. That's why he let me ride him.

Somehow. Incredibly. Horrifyingly. After all I have done. I have not managed to change the future. The timeline has not split. Despite Emet-Selch, Hythlodaeus, and Venat all knowing exactly what is coming... and the former two at least (if not all three) explicitly not knowing that in my future... this time still leads to mine.

While I'm having my little freak out crisis, Venat and I arrive on the little island with the pretty pink tree.

Venat informs me that there are two ways to view an event in the past with my abilities. The first is what I've always experienced with the Echo, the second is utilizing the ambient aether for the same purpose. While I still can't control the ability voluntarily, Venat will help me.

I am granted a vision of Hermes and Meteion, having just sent the other Meteia off on their journeys to other stars. Their missions are to seek other intelligent lifeforms on other stars, and inquire of them their conceptions of life and what they live for. In finding these answers Hermes hopes to bring enlightenment to the peoples of this star, and improve the quality of life for all beings, not just man.

Hermes promises to hold a celebration for Meteion upon her return, and gift her a beautiful flower. I wonder if this is why she wanted to in turn gift Hermes a flower?

Returning to myself, Venat and I agree that it does not seem likely that Hermes would cause the Final Days on purpose. But we cannot rule out an accidental cause, or an oversight. In light of this, Venat suggests we fill Hermes in on my story, and seek his expertise in the field of Dynamis on this matter.

That it would not. If there is anything that can be done to prevent Hermes from becoming the Fandaniel of my time, then I would do it.

[brineffxiv]

hi! can you make a version of the white feo ul sparkles on the emperor's new earrings? I wear hats all the time and i love the sparkles!

Aha! You found me! (Regular readers, I made a mod in my silence time, see here: https://www.xivmodarchive.com/modid/78465)

Sorry for the delay in responding.

So. I am suuuper new to making mods, and I absolutely do not know what I am doing. That said, I originally wanted to make the sparkles attached to the accessory slots but encountered an issue where it appears that the right side slots have different functions compared to the left side equipment slots? I wasn't able to attach VFX to the accessories, is what I'm saying.

I mean to revisit the mod and add additional colors (pink and turquoise) and repair the broken Red color on the Hat slot, so I'll definitely attempt to use the accessory slots again, but for now, unfortunately I can't fulfill this request. I'm very sorry. Thank you for using my mod! I am glad you enjoy it! :D

[brineffxiv]

Very wonderful to read from you again. I wish you a swift recovery with your hand!

Thank you so much! :D I have been so relieved that people were willing to wait for me. I was afraid I would come back and everyone would have moved on. Not that I feel... entitled to your attentions, but that I adore hearing from you all. It makes me so happy to know that something I make can make others happy!

[brineffxiv]

Hope you’re doing well! What do you think of DawnTrail? Or the new expansion in general?

Hi! I am doing as well as can be expected :D (I tripped and broke my dominant hand, lol) Thank you for messaging me!

I don't know much about DawnTrail besides the title, honestly. I don't go looking for spoilers and my friends are kind enough not to give them to me unbidden. I understand it's going to take place in the "New World" (little leery about that, but I'll reserve judgement until I actually get to play it), and that Erenville will feature in it in a more prominent capacity? Heck yes for the handsome bunny man. I did see a wonderful gif of G'raha Tia eating a taco that I am led to understand was from the trailer released at fanfest though!

[brineffxiv]

We're having a nice chat back in Anagnorisis when suddenly we're interrupted by a researcher. A seasoned researcher, by his title. Apparently, something has happened with one of the creations. A "lykaon".

The lykaon has been indiscriminately slaughtering other creations with no provocation. It sounds like this has been an ongoing problem, and it has finally reached the point where the researcher in charge of them has concluded they need to be reverted. This news seems to distress Hermes, and he rushes off to the scene of the incident. We follow him.

No sooner do we arrive at the scene of the slaughtered okyupetes than Hermes is off again. Meteion and I catch up to him just as he himself finds Doros; the researcher in charge of the lykaons.

Doros appears to have done his due diligence in determining the fate of the lykaeons: they are unsuited to any environment and must be reverted. Nevertheless, Hermes wants to ensure all avenues have been explored. Emet-Selch and Hythlodaeus will accompany him to this meeting.

Meanwhile, I get to babysit Meteion.

Which isn't a bad thing. I like Meteion.

That's a Deep Thought, little bird. You're touching on a debate we still deal with in the real world, and one for which there are no easy answers.

Meteion wants to find a flower for Hermes, to help cheer him up after what will surely be a fraught meeting. We consider several less than ideal candidates - including a morbol - before once again stumbling across Elpis flowers.

Hermes apparently has a complicated relationship to the Elpis flowers, as they reveal his internal pain to a world that can rarely empathize. When I tell Meteion that I, too, have seen the flowers dark she asks to borrow my pain. She wants me to turn the flowers dark in front of Hermes, to show him that he's not alone.

OOF. Oof, I say. Dear reader, forgive me for forgetting which of you told me to keep playing, because there was some plot I could relate to. You were right. Ouch, right in the heart.

That night, with the meeting concluded, we lure Hermes over to the Elpis flowers and I get to work thinking dark thoughts. Meteion tells Hermes he's not alone, and that others feel sad too. And, while Hermes seems to be a bit off balance at how much Meteion has told me, he takes off his mask and asks to speak with me for a time.

Oh wow, Hermes, you have lovely eyes. OMG all the ancients are so beautiful! Goddamn!

Hermes is greatly distressed by what he sees as callous disregard for the lives of the creations under his supervision; death may be embraced by man as a reward, but no other lives are afforded that privilege. "Lesser" lives are brought into being and ended at will, with little regard for the individual experiences of the creation in question.

Hang on.

Was I supposed to feel guilty about Hythlodaeus making me the robe out of butterflies?! Hermes would definitely not approve of that.

I mean... I'm a level 90 leatherworker, and I harvest most of my materials myself. I can recognize and understand what Hermes is feeling without... necessarily agreeing with him.

But then, I am reminded - of all things - of school, and being required to dissect frogs. And I thought it abhorrent that we bring these creatures to life for the sole purpose of killing them. "Education" was such a paltry excuse, when a simple diagram would fulfill the same purpose.

I think, in the real world, Hermes would be a vegetarian.

What painful irony; that which so troubles you now your future self... future incarnation. It seems unfair to call Amon Hermes' own self. But regardless, that man will delight in brining upon others that which you so abhor.

You're not alone Hermes. Please remember that.

I get the feeling you've never opened up to anyone about this before. I think if you had, you'd find that you are not as nearly alone here in Elpis as you may think. On both fronts; your respect for the lives of the beings you tend here, and your feelings of sadness. Several of the sidequests I've been doing have touched on similar themes - there was a woman who did not wish for her mentor to pass on, and a group where we preformed a remembrance ceremony for deceased creations, among others. I wish I'd known these themes would come up or I'd have taken screencaps.

To wind up our heart-to-heart, Hermes tells me a secret: Meteion is one of many. Her sisters are even as we speak making their way from star to star, searching for other worlds and the life upon them. Hermes wants to know what those other beings live for.

I am... a little bit unnerved by this revelation. Oh dear. Especially when, as we are walking away, Meteion turns and looks skyward, as though she hears something... Hermes... Has it occurred to you that not everything you find out there will necessarily be... good?

I mean, the people that created Omega are out there somewhere. And Omega was just one of their weapons.

DID ALIENS CAUSE THE FINAL DAYS!?!?

In the morning, Doros has had an accident with the lykaeons; he's managed to take out four of them, but three have escaped. Hythlodaeus and Emet-Selch quickly locate the escapees and the two of them leave to take care of the ones that are flying above Elpis. Hermes and I are left to deal with the one hiding in the fields. So we do.

It was perhaps a mistake to give these creatures the power of flight.

Hermes is not dealing well with what we've been forced to do.

Hermes... This job is killing you. The responsibilities you are required to take on, the duty you are to perform... You are ill suited for it. And it's tearing you to pieces.

Emet, I swear to Zodiark if you say something insensitive... Hermes is having a wee bit of an emotional breakdown and the last thing he needs is your brand of conversation.

Oh right. That's why you're here; to offer him a different job.

I misjudged you. My apologies.

This is... perhaps not the place for it, but, in contrast to Hermes' pain, I think I am understanding why your future self looks back on the world now as a paradise. Not just because of the reasons you gave in the phantom Amaurot beneath the Tempest: it's because you are happy here. You are fulfilled in your purpose and duty, surrounded by those you love and who love you. You have friends and companions aplenty, and you are lauded and respected for the work you do. You see all of the good that your world and your people embody. What more could a man ask for?

In contrast, Hermes is-- Wait. It cannot be a coincidence that my path has led me here, to this time and place. I am here because something that happens here is the key to understanding the Final Days.

Hermes is experiencing anguish over what he sees as the wrongs of his society. He hates what is happening, feels alone in his suffering, and he's been experimenting with dynamis; the energy fueled by emotions.

Something Hermes has done, is doing, or is about to do is the key to the final days. Did he cause it?? That seems almost unfathomable. That a man as compassionate as Hermes would willingly cause what is to occur. But. Perhaps by accident?

Well, now I wonder. Is there not some dark part of Hermes that wishes to meet the same suffering that so pains him onto those he sees as having carelessly inflicted it? Whether deserving or not, if dynamis is purely fueled by emotion, not requiring logic or intent, he wouldn't necessarily need to mean to enact that, provided the correct vehicle, would he?

Satisfaction would certainly be preferrable than the fate that waits for all three of these men. Far preferrable than the "orgy of pain and suffering" Fandaniel will seek to bring. Everything that lives must one day die, Hermes. We can only hope that while we live, we live well.

Hermes, I would argue that your unique perspective is a shining example of why you should represent your people. You are seeing an issue that no one else is, and you are being offered one of fourteen positions with the power to work towards alleviating it. You have the choice to stay here in Elpis, where you will continue to suffer in silence, or to move on to Amaurot where you can actually make change happen. Take the job.

After his outburst, Hermes begs time alone to gather his thoughts. Hythlodaeus guides Emet-Selch and myself back to the Twelve Wonders, for what I presume will be the next leg of our tour. Emet-Selch appears to be deep in thought after what Hermes said... He admits to understanding, on a rational level, the sadness that comes when someone returns to the star...

Oh no, oh Emet... I wish you never have to suffer what you do.

[brineffxiv]

Oh no. Now what will I procrastinate with?!

AAA! I'M NOT READY!

Hmm...

Well, that was tedious.

I could try fishing?

This is also tedious.

I suppose that just leaves...

*sweats loudly*

But! But! I can't progress the MSQ any further without writing up my posts!

...

Well then, I guess I know what I must do.

HALP MEEEEEEeeeeeee....

[brineffxiv]

I miss you, my blog friends. I am trying to make the next post, but am having A Time. I suspect you already knew that. Be back soon. All my love.