popola-sil-pola

[popola-sil-pola]

Hello darlings~! I'm in the midst of setting up a vgen account! I'm planning to open some holiday/end of year coms, so please give me a follow over there~

[popola-sil-pola]

the bar was so low i don't know what I expected.

[popola-sil-pola]

hey all, I haven't done commissions in years... and I decided I would do that since I haven't been able to table at any conventions this year & (long story short re: living situations) it would be nice to have food

^Here is a direct link to my ko-fi page where I've organized everything! But feel free to DM me here or on twitter if you have any questions :^)

[popola-sil-pola]

updated my commission posts over on ko-fi! I've opened up 5 slots for full colour!

Check here for more info!

[popola-sil-pola]

Tbh in popolore reguarding storm blood she was MUCH more concerned in aiding Widargelt

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It's the same picture.

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[popola-sil-pola]

FFxivWrite '24 - 20

To the Attention of One Mr. Caranar (no surname)

As recompense for innumerable personal offenses, irreconcilable differences, and generally insufferable behavior, you are hereby challenged to a gentlemanly duel under the law of the Holy See and the Fury's ever-vigilant eye.

Don't bring a second.

- Renaud-Elouan Cledwyn

"What a load of shite." Eryna stated.

Caranar stood at his wife's desk, trying to get her to put ink to paper.

"I don't see why you should even bother to answer. He's an arse."

"He's not gonna let it go."

"How can you be sure?"

In response, Caranar held up three more similarly addressed letters, still in their envelopes.

"Ugh." Eryna looked over the message once more. "Since when did he give a damn about what was proper according to Halonic scripture? And what's this bloody nonsense about 'no seconds'? That alone isn't proper."

"He's a coward. The only reason he'd ask for a duel in the first place is so he can cheat."

Eryna rolled her eyes. He was surely right, but... "All the more reason for you to let him bluster about unheeded like the impotent wretch he is."

"Or," Caranar muttered through his teeth, "I could thrash him within an ilm of his life like he so badly wants, so he'll think twice about trying it again."

She groaned loudly and drooped against her desk. "I just don't want you getting hurt."

He snorted, then graced her with a crooked smile. "I know. Don't worry, he's not gonna get the chance."

"You really mustn't kill him, either. Beef and Popola would be devastated."

Caranar grumbled affirmatively. "You ready to start writing?"

Eryna sat up and lifted her quill from its inkwell. "I suppose."

"Alright..."

Dear Renaud,

Fuck yourself. Time and place?

Sincerely, Caranar

[popola-sil-pola]

FFxivWrite '24 - 17

"Well, my dear knights, shall we sally forth?"

Nanamo looked to each of her adventurer escorts for approval. She felt she couldn't have picked a finer pair of defenders from Thanalan's adventurers. Beef had been primed for some Sil'dihn spelunking for a few bells now, but Popola avoided the sultana's eye sheepishly. She still wasn't sure if she was suitable company for royalty...

Beef took a single look at his sister in her hesitation and knew immediately what the problem must have been. Certainly not the scalekin and vilekin infestations, unstable infrastructure, or general sewer-related unpleasantness.

He pointed a thumb at his chest. "Knight," and then clapped a hand on Popola's shoulder, "princess."

Nanamo's laughter and Popola's protestations bounced around in the barren drainage pipe. "Well, one of us should be the princess for a day, no?" Nanamo teased. "After all, today I am merely Lady Lilira - a minor noble of little note."

After a few twists, turns, and sewer gators getting boxed around the snout by a pair of experienced monks, the three came upon curious ruins draped in silver linings and shades of regal purple. "Could this truly be...?" Nanamo's steps faltered for a moment as she stared up at the architecture, then turned to a rapid pace as she hurried down the newly-uncovered corridor. Her protectors followed suit, lest they be left behind.

The following chamber was no less luxurious - bedchambers judging by the furnishings - and seemed to confirm Nanamo's suspicions.

"The layout of these bedchambers mirrors my own. Even the secret passage into the aqueducts..."

Popola clutched her hand to her heart. She had already felt where it was that she stood, even before Nanamo continued.

"...that so much of the Sil'dihn palace had lain undisturbed beneath our feet, for all this time..."

While his charge marveled in wonder, a nearby glimmer had caught Beef's eye. Hanging from a display stand upon an ornate vanity was a familiar-looking earring. He glanced back to Popola as Gale studied the details of the bit of silver.

"I wonder just how much is still intact? We should keep exploring." in that moment, Nanamo realized she was short one knight. "...Beef?"

His curiosity piqued, Beef had wandered over towards the table and was in the process of fastening on the earring. At the sound of his name he trotted back, the jewelry jingling faintly all the way. Once he was closer, he daintily turned his head to model it for them.

"What a lovely find, Beef. There are more than enough artifacts here for a series of exhibits around the Royal Promenade, so you have my blessing if you wish to keep a souvenir or two."

Beef nodded in response to Nanamo, then smiled to Popola, who was avoiding him. "Matching."

Nanamo followed Beef's gaze until she settled on the same sight. "My word, he's right! Popola, your own earrings share a striking resemblance!"

Popola tried to feign ignorance. "Do they, truly? I'm sure there are as many styles at Esthaime's as stars in the sky..."

"Esthaime's? Is that where you commissioned yours? I don't recall ever seeing their like in the displays..."

But Popola shook her head, sending the silver swaying along with it. She couldn't bring herself to deceive the Sultana, and Beef would no doubt remember where they had truly come from regardless. "N-no, they were a gift from... from my late grandmother. They're a matching set with the bindi I wear. An heirloom." All she had left of them.

The word 'heirloom' floated in the unstirred air like a speck of ancient dust.

Shock slowly dawned on Nanamo's face as she considered its implications. For a few long moments, she and Popola locked eyes in the low light, deepest emerald to brightest sapphire. A shaft of light, seeping in from the ornately cracked ceiling, laid between them. It separated the two like the placid mirror of a lake's surface.

Nanamo was the first to cast ripples across it. "Might we be...?"

"My mother by birth was an astrologian of Sharlayan. As were my grandparents." Popola said. At least, her grandfather was Sharlayan... but her grandmother...? It was a matter of which the Echo had revealed to her precious little.

"Then, perhaps your father was-"

"I'm afraid I have none, your majesty."

Nanamo smiled with gentle sympathy. She well understood the burden of a bloodline, and how one may wish to be free from its yoke. "Then I suppose either your grandparents or even their grandparents must have been dear friends to the Sil'dihn sultanate once upon a time. Much as you are to ours."

At that, Popola's face, normally as round and pale as the moon, turned flushed.

"Shall we keep moving forward?" Nanamo asked. Much as Ul'dah had done to the Amalj'aa in more recent memory, her ancestors had turned against those who they should have taken greater pains to enfold once more. In her heart, she swore she would weave Popola's loose thread back into the bond of kinship that had been torn to tatters in the War of the Sisters centuries before.

As the group continued their expedition, they came upon none other than the very throne of Sil'dih itself. It too was one of a pair, with a cousin residing in Ul'dah. As Popola passed it by, she felt the urge to sit upon it; to see if it would accept her as readily as it might her grandmother or even her mothers... or if she would simply be spat out onto the chamber floor.

Standing amidst the silent stone and silver, she felt a shiver through her, a sense that all she had for family were wrecks and remnants like these. A history of ruins.

She missed Venat's presence sorely.

"Popo?" Beef called from the doorway, past the throne. Nanamo waited for her beside him.

"On my way, Bifu." she replied.

Maybe not all she had.

[popola-sil-pola]

All of the FFXIV soul crystals and some stones from real life that could serve as their analogues!

Special thanks to @robboybot for lending me his awesome rock knowledge to help with this!

[popola-sil-pola]

twitter is so bad. but in retaliation, a few ppl have started a lovely movement urging to donate to organizations fighting back against bigotry. it is a twitter based hashtag but i wanted to post about it here as well, i think it's a great idea and i hope others can join in if able 💛

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It seems like most people got the mail @popola-sil-pola and I sent out so I think its safe to post art. I had a lot of fun drawing these and I hope those who got our card enjoyed the stickers!

[popola-sil-pola]

Eorzeas craziest mascot, kupo...

[popola-sil-pola]

Watercolour commission for a dear friend🩷

I haven't had the chance to paint in a long while, this was a real treat!

[popola-sil-pola]

The idea that she no longer wears a hat so she starts fidgeting with her hair got me—

[popola-sil-pola]

I deeply appreciate that FFXIV did not bother with trying to give us some kind of underwater breath-holding mechanic with a timer, and instead simply went, "A turtle guy did a magic blessing and now you can breathe under water forever. Don't worry about it."