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GUESS WHO LEARNT ABT THE MECH NAMED GILGAMESH

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I know you've missed our voices.

8/23, 2:00 pm EST

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As we continue to build on it, I am ecstatic to add on from continued DMs how delicious the mix of emotion could be if she did know before the Ala Mhigo dungeon.

Nobody hates Zenos more, but she’s also the one who reaches out to try and stop him when he goes to end his own life.

He’s no brother of hers. But in some sick way… it is another sibling lost by imperial hands. A mourning because it re-opens wounds carved by the loss of her sister.

The anger borne of having to grieve a monster.

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There's a few things I want to highlight from conversations about this all day, mostly the potential plot beats that it could add if the information was discovered or otherwise revealed to the player.

Lyse has an ongoing theme of doing things for, in the name of, or outright disguised as members of her family, as well as feeling somewhat inadequate to lead. She's identified by many people as "Curtis' girl" in early Stormblood. This has fantastic potential for both a crisis of identity as that title is initially taken away from her and she questions her place among the resistance, and for the eventual affirmation that while Varis is her sire, he is not her father, and she's no less Ala Mhigan for her heritage.

This would retroactively make Arenvald fantastic foreshadowing, as someone borne of an Ala Mhigan and a Garlean who was accepted by the Scions and the Resistance alike with open arms for the strength of his character. Which leads to-

Fordola, and by extension the Arenvald/Fordola friendship. There's a lot to be said about the contrast between Fordola, who once tried to become Garlean via her loyalties and actions, and a royal-bastard Lyse, who is rejecting it wholeheartedly. I desperately want to see this trio have this discussion about identity and having that foot in both worlds.

It also does something interesting for Varis' character; with Zenos at 26 and Lyse at 25, this would imply the fateful affair would have to happen very shortly after the death of Carosa wir Galvus, and with the math of Varis' own age, he would have been no older thatn 20 at the time.

I'll leave that where it is, though.

For those of us more fixated on Zenos, it also adds a fun dimension to what would have been (unwitting, though I doubt he would have stayed his hand if he knew) near-sororicide in Rhalgr's Reach, making him more overtly monstrous...

But also making a clear case that the Galvus blood isn't inherently evil, and showing good things can come of it. You can make that into further condemnation of the male lineage... or you can take it for your redemption fanfics. Whichever, I'm not your mom.

TL;DR: Some of you are gay, and you would like this if you would just believe it.

LYSE WIR GALVUS

This is a likeable headcanon, if you consider it for a moment with us.(Spoilers for like... everything story-wise? In Stormblood??? Also, this is not Lyse hate, this is Lyse appreciation and character flavor.)

Lyse's complexion is notoriously non-congruent to the typical features of Ala Mhigans, despite being born and raised Ala Mhigan herself... for this, we deliberated with @feycircles that she, hilariously, looks more similar to Zenos, than to her own people. Which, really got us thinking... We know a few things about Curtis Hext, Yda and Lyse's father; that he was in King Thedoric's royal guard, and later fled with his daughters when the King's rule became too oppressive. But, we know nothing about Yda and Lyse's mother.

It makes sense for some intermingling to occur right at the beginning of, or even prior to the Garlean occupation of Ala Mhigo. It's not impossible for Varis, possibly a Legatus at that point, to have visited at such a time, to have came into contact with Thedoric and his guards, and possibly even the wife of one of these guards...

Well, you get the idea. Regardless of the details, it comes to be feasible that Lyse is Varis' bastard daughter- with Varis likely never knowing, and most definitely never finding out. It's equally feasible for her to be half Garlean by any other sire, but let's be real this is cooler and in some ways more relevant to the following themes in Stormblood...

One must imagine Lyse and Zenos as half-siblings, as fate would chance it.

If you told me these two were related, I would believe you.

Amazing things this does for the narritive:

Expands on Lyse's out-of-place position in Gyr Abania. She wasn't there to experience the fighting that broke it's spirit, true, and after spending all the time and effort to gain back their trust, girly finds out she is of the same blood as their colonizers. Not just one of them, but even related to the Viceroy actively oppressing them. The guilt and turmoil that goes into paying back an unpayable debt, one that even victimized Lyse herself, is intense.

Becoming a leader of the resistance, and actively vying for change and liberty that defies her heritage is an ICONIC contrast to Zenos, who has perpetuated the cycle of violence and invasion by their father and his father before. Just sibling dichotomy things✨

On a grander scale, this is representative of the empire having occupied Ala Mhigo for so long, the picturesque liberty they dream of is no longer something that can exist. The nations have integrated, and been changed forever, for better or worse. Their children are the greatest example of this- even up to being equal parts Ala Mhigan, and Garlean. The best they can do is often the most realistic side effect of war- try to heal, and bear the scars of the conflict.

In conclusion, do we think this is based in reality? NOT REALLY. However, if this WERE true, it would change next to nothing about the plot (especially if nobody uncovered this information), and it also explains/resolves a lot of the common issues with Lyse as a character. If you can suspend your disbelief and BE DELUSIONAL for that crucial moment then this is a VERY enjoyable hc to spice up your Stormblood experience.

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When I tell you I have the worst/best possible headcanon coming up later tonight

Brace yourselves

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It's weird to be formally introducing her after so long actually, but it's exciting to talk about my beautiful Sun Seeker wife.

I'm a healer main, through and through, and of the firm and unshakable belief that healers should be a little bit weird.

Enter one Vosi Zikhil, who started as a Conjurer with a VERY overactive Echo that made her a little too privy to the voices of the Shroud (and later, the Stars/Future, when she switched to Astrologian.)

Cursed Prophet type beat, you know? Ask me about going through Shadowbringers cursed by visions of her own transformation into a Lightwarden the whole time.

I've put her through a lot. She's been married to a fellow WoL and part of a small tribe he lead, she's recently gotten divorced, she's raising 3 kittens on her own, these days (not to mention all the raising up of those Elezen Twins who follow her around-)

I'll probably start posting about her more moving forward, because I need to USE this sideblog I made to host my own work more, and because I have so many cool mutuals who post about their WoLs, and I think we should set them up on playdates.

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I'm actually really obsessed with my WoL and her twin brother, so it's about time I start posting about her, actually?

Here's Vosi Zikhil, my WoL, local prophet, Astrologian, and 29-year-old mother of three because I was really sick of the game assuming she was like 18.

Her brother is also here.

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Dragon age is coming back so you know what that means. Logging into your dash each day and seeing callouts because someone sided with the magical wizard rumpus club over the warlock circlejerk in their playthrough. Getting messages calling you problematic for following someone who has mixed feelings about the gnome independence movement. Seeing paragraphs upon paragraphs about how slorpity porpity the esteemed magical elf was actually justified in signing the pixie exclusion act. Get ready.

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Random worldbuilding: A culture where everyone's social status is expressed through how their hair is braided.

Children all have the same kind of a simple, unisex "child's braid" which is meant for their parents to be easy to do - traditionally boys were only taught how to do a "wife's braid" while women braid both their husbands and their children, but a modern man is naturally an attentive father and contributes to both cleaning and feeding, and clothing and braiding his children.

While this kind of knowledge is more accessible in the modern age, the art of braiding is still seen as an intimate family thing, and it's not unusual for a youth to come out to their parents by the way of braids - for example a daughter asking her father to teach her how to do the "wife's braid", or a son asking her mother how to weave the "husband braid" for their future spouse. Or a trans kid asking their parents to give them the other gender's braid when it's time to transition from the child braid into the "unmarried youth" one.

It is nonetheless still somewhat common to see an older gay man with a "wife's braid" or two older women both wearing "husband braids", because that was the only way they were taught to braid a future partner's hair when they were young. They could learn the "appropriate" braid now, but it has become a part of the culture, an old-fashioned gay thing to do. It's pride - if you wear this braid to show that you're an adult with a spouse, why try to hide who braids your hair every morning?

The only braid that one is expected to do on themselves is the widow's braid - the only one that is also unisex, braided in reverse from the simple children's braid. Sometimes, young unmarried adults who have no interest in starting a family switch directly into wearing a widow's braid to signify that they are not looking for a partner and are independent adults on their own.

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Evelyn belongs to the very cool @maids-of-stardust ! This was such a fun character to do! I love doing specialized clothing for unique body types, and lingerie is EXTRA fun.

Evelyn is from the Webtoon Your Prisoner! Read it here!

If you like my art, take a look at some more on my blog, consider commissioning me, or check out my patreon!

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@prairiefaery‘s OC, Velvet! A feral, vicious, PINK vampire! Huzzah!

If you like my art, take a look at some more on my blog, consider commissioning me, or check out my patreon!

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maybe my neurons are permanently misfiring due to reading vampire literature at far too young an age but cannibalism as a metaphor for love will never get old and there is something so special about characters with something so so so so wrong with them who struggle to differentiate love from carnage, so jot that down

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Quotes by Sylvia Plath, The Journals of Sylvia Plath

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