#(my wol is uriangers little brother)

[rigil-kentauris]

Prompt #7: Morsel

when he thinks about archon loaf he thinks about how high the counters were at home. he remembers them from floor height, and he remembers the sticky floors themselves, long gone unmopped.

he remembers being very hungry. he remembers being very small.

he knows, logically, now that he's an adult he does realize that urianger was only a few years older than himself. certainly couldn't cook, if even there had been something fresh TO cook. it was probably, in fact, a big ask to have urianger using the grown-up knife to cut off little bite-sized pieces in the first place.

he thinks sometimes he would like to resent their parents.

most of the time, though? he sticks with resenting bread.

[haunted-xander]

Finished the 6.55 MSQ so here's my (very positive) thoughts:

‌Love love LOVE Wuk Lamat she's so fun and her dynamic with Erenville is hilarious. Very excited to see more of her in Dawntrail.

‌Krile is already getting some nice scenes and I'm very happy she's finally gonna get the spotlight in dt. My girls been side-lined for 4 expacs it's about damn time she gets to shine.

‌The inventor of Pictomancy is literally Relm. Like they name drop her. Obv not the same Relm as in VI but still! Relm is real! And she was an Archon! tbh them naming an important character related to this type of magic after her isn't surprising- I just expected it to be something in the job quests rather than the MSQ.

‌Zero made super-spicy dishes popular in Thavnair lol. Wuk Lamat trying to toughen it out was hilarious. God I love her.

‌Wuk Lamat & Erenville being childhood friends was not something I expected! Very fun.

‌The catboy from the dawntrail promotional artwork is probably Wuk Lamat's brother, Koana(Was that his name? tbh I forgot. But she has a Miqo brother that's what's important). He looks smart, and it's possible he's gonna be another candidate claiming for the throne.

‌Based on the artwork, I had figured our main group was gonna be WoL, Krile, Thancred and Urianger, as they are the only Scions featured, but based on the quest it'll probably be Wol, Krile, Alphinaud and Alisaie. G'raha is allegedly staying behind, but since he's shown in Tural in the trailer I think he'll find an excuse to come along anyway lol.

‌Thancred and Urianger are going to be competing against us, which will be interesting. I think it'll be fun to see some of the Scions take on a more rival-y role, if only for a bit. It looks like they were petitioned by someone else participating in the Rite of Succession, so maybe they're working for Miqo boy? They're on his side of the artwork after all 🤔

‌(Also I think the writers know how popular those two have gotten together lol they're like making it a point to have them with each other at all times)

‌Estinien is going to Tural just for the hell of it which I think is hilariously in character. Literally going there at the same time as us purely by coincidence. He really can't escape us can he.

‌Y'shtola is neither seen nor heard of which tbh I think is fair given how much screentime and focus she got during the whole Zero arc. I do wonder why she's going to Tural tho, she's in the trailer too so I'm certain she will be there.

‌(Also, since G'raha, Estinien and Y'shtola aren't aligned with any particular side as of now, I think they'll be a neutral third party in the Succession rivalries going on. That, or they'll end up siding with the 3rd sibling that isn't the Obvious Villain (based on Wuk Lamat and Erenville's accounts) somehow. Will be fun to see in any case.)

‌The little memory dialogue from Emet was nice :) just a reminder of the adventures yet to be had. Also he's finally in the unending codex which I think is nice (ngl I kinda forgot about the codex until he got added to it)

ALSO I almost forgot to include it BUT we have a nice heart-to-heart scene with G'raha alone on a bridge and if the writers weren't COWARDS (and/or worried about romance ambiguity, at least for those relating to the WoL) he could've proposed to us then and there. You know he wants you. Do not hold him back writers let him do what he wants. (I'd have said yes ofc)

‌Backpack :)

[battlecrazed-axe-mage]

How do you think your WOL feels about the other Scions?

Under a readmore because it got kind of long!

Thancred: I had an Ul'dah start, so he was her first connection with the Scions! Very proud of how he's grown as a person in the time she's known him. Teases him mercilessly in the most affectionate of ways. Probably hooked up with him at some point early on; they don't talk about it these days, but mostly because that's not where their relationship landed

Y'shtola: Absolute greatest respect and a little bit of fear. She trusts Y'shtola's words and plans pretty much more than almost anyone else she knows--UNLESS Flow is involved. Please stop solving problems with Flow we're running out of ways to pull you back out. Fully supports all of her high level mage nonsense and wants to help with her dimension-crossing thing any way she can.

Urianger: At this point, if Urianger starts doing something that superficially looks like plotting against the group, she takes it on faith that he knows what he's doing and has a good reason. When he eventually confesses his duplicity and cries for forgiveness, she wraps him in the tightest hug and goes "it's fine, look, don't worry about it. I know you." Will listen to him endlessly even if she only grasps a fraction of what he's talking about

Alphinaud: Baby brother. Incandescently proud of him and the capable young man he's become in the time she's known him. When he called her his family in Eulmore she got a little misty-eyed; considers him and Alisaie basically actual family. The only person whose plans she trusts above Y'shtola's. He's going to be a great leader someday, and she hopes she can be helpful when that day comes.

Alisaie: Baby sister. If Alphinaud is the twin she loves but doesn't understand, Alisaie is the one she understands in every mote of her being; Alisaie is basically her but younger. Do NOT leave the two of them alone to carry out some part of a plan, they enable each other's most reckless and ill-advised impulses and will yes-and each other until only fire lives here now. (Probably my favorite of the scions)

G'raha: Her spouse's boyfriend. Not her type as a lover; something closer than a friend; ranks just below the twins on the list of "people I would kill and/or die for". Raha is an absolutely essential pillar of her life at this point so please stop trying to martyr yourself godsdammit. If ever she has a dilemma she can't see a way out of, or if she wants a second opinion of something, he's her first thought

Estinien: Understands him as a brother-in-arms and lets him dictate the terms of their friendship (so they're not super close, but warm enough when their paths cross). Keeps tabs on him for Aymeric's peace of mind as best she can. There's few people she trusts more to have her back in a fight. Makes a point to treat him to a meal anytime they see each other because she still fully does not trust him with money and wants to be sure he's eating

Krile: Worked closely with her for an extended period of time on the displaced Isle of Val and got to know her in that time. Krile is probably the scion that knows the most of her secret fears and uncertainties; my character feels it's only fair after Krile trusted her with her own survivor's guilt over being the only one to escape the isle. Despite Krile being younger than her, considers her a bit of a "responsible adult" and can be reined in by her

Tataru: Bestie!! Eternally indebted to her as the beating heart of the Scions. Would move mountains for her. Probably relies on her quite a bit as someone who's also started selling her crafts (mostly soup lately) and sells out of her storefronts. Every aimless adventurer needs a pragmatic tether to the real world, and Tataru is hers. They get together every so often to gossip and catch up, when my character makes it back to town

[motheatenscarf]

I keep telling myself I'm being too harsh and that other expansions must have been this slow as well, but actually, no, I'm on level 92 stuff and by this point in EW, the Tower of Zot had been done and in SHB, fucking Holminster Switch had come and gone.

This is just not economical storytelling and the pacing's off.

I was momentarily excited when Gulool Ja Ja summoned up the WoL to meet. The duel was cute and it felt like I actually got to do something, it was reminiscent of the duels with Raubahn and Zenos where the player character is given the chance to just. Have a fun fight for glory's sake and nothing else and revel in it.

I'd noticed that people had been prompting the WoL a lot for their input on how to proceed, but very little in the way of introspection and how they might feel about things or what their motives might be. Which, yeah, actually, that's been a little disappointing given how Endwalker was literally an expansion about, hey, how you feel about things matters, and how Shadowbringers was, hey, why people do things matters.

Like. I don't need the WoL to be the main character or the main focus of the story right now, I acknowledge that Dawntrail is Wuk Lamat's story and our role is, as stated in text, to guide her and mentor her. That's fun! That's new! That's different!

...

Let me do that! There's a difference between not being the main character and feeling like a non-entity in a story. And like. Kinda everybody here feels like a non-entity except for Wuk Lamat. And she's fine as a character, she's just. There's not a lot to her. There are no real flaws that aren't cute or endearing, and like, that's fine, not every character needs to be Oops! All Flaws, Aymeric is one of my favorite characters in this game, but the narrative isn't challenging her and her convictions beyond tummy hurty and alpaca's stinky. Aymeric was STABBED and spit on and had to watch people scorn his name and nearly watched children be murdered in opposition to his dream of peace. He got put through the ringer! Wuk Lamat gets motion sickness and isn't taken very seriously and she feels inadequate when comparing herself to her brothers. Cool. That's relatable, sure, but not compelling. I also get motion sickness and don't feel like I'm as smart as my brother and know that my mom likes him more than me. I'm not the protagonist of a Final Fantasy game! And if I was, I'd hope someone would make that family dynamic the FOCUS of the story at the very least.

Everyone else is like. Why are they here? The twins have nothing to do here. The WoL has nothing to do here. Krile in theory has a quest but she doesn't seem particularly driven or excited about it and we've learned almost nothing of consequence regarding it. We now know she was an orphan but she isn't interested in who her parents were or why they left, and also her earring is special, I guess.

Thancred and Urianger have more to do than this group. Koana and the other one are kinda one-note but they've at least got the advantage of like. Being withholding and letting me interpret the things they say and do sometimes, rather than telling me.

I keep thinking, god, maybe Erenville will be interesting but he's starting to feel a little one-note in his interactions with Wuk Lamat. We know a little more about him now but it's like. Trivia. He was from this village and his mother tasked him with finding the Golden City. Cool. What does that mean to him? How does he feel about it? Why did he obey her instructions to become a gleaner to search for this city? Nothing we've learned is of substance.

I'm... frustrated. We're at 3/7 of these Feats completed and I do not have any greater understanding of these characters and their reasons for being here or their roles in the narrative than we had at the start of the contest. We're still just establishing the setting 1/5 of the way through. It's frustrating. I've been pretty patient, but I don't think my continued urge to fuck off and do something else every hour or two is misplaced. I've almost finished grinding fates in the first 2 zones just because I wanted to take some time to sit and think and digest what I'm feeling about all this and why.

[klopford]

Y’all seemed to really like my headcanon poll earlier (the drinking age one)! This isn’t a poll, but I want to hear people’s headcanons on this:

The Scions are having a karaoke party. Who can sing? Who can’t? What songs do they choose?

I’ll start with some known details: Thancred and G’raha are both trained bards, and according to Encyclopedia Eorzea, G’raha has a fantastic singing voice. I could definitely see either of these guys showing off!

Alphinaud is probably decent but not great. For all his confidence giving speeches I think he’d be a little nervous singing. Alisaie on the other hand is both a better singer than her brother and would be more confident on stage.

Y’shtola would probably refuse to participate. Or she might be surprisingly good.

Estinien would absolutely refuse. If pressed he might pick a song with minimal effort… like “Tequila.”

Urianger would probably be a surprisingly good singer, which would shock most of the Scions.

Tataru isn’t great, but she doesn’t care! She’s the most confident of all the Scions regardless of her talent and would probably goad people into duets or group songs.

Krile is either decent or surprisingly good, I’m not sure.

My WoL, Katina, is decent-ish and shares Tataru’s enthusiasm. She’d probably join Tataru and drag Alisaie along for some girl rock songs.

What do y’all think? Agree? Disagree? How would your WoLs do? Comment or reblog with your headcanons!

[otherworldseekers]

6.55 and onward to Dawntrail!

And so Endwalker is officially at an end and the months until Dawntrail stretch out before us. It's going to be a difficult wait.

Spoilers for 6.55 msq and DT ahead.

Personally, I've been excited ever since they announced our destination for the new expansion. There's little I love more than exploring new places and getting to know new cultures and Severia is the same. The set up of "participating in a contest for the throne" I've been more or less neutral on. I knew my response would depend entirely on the characters involved so I've been eager to know more. Having now met Wuk Lamat, I can confidently say that Severia and I would do anything for her.

I know some people have worries about the so-called conflict within the Scions, but from the information that Wuk Lamat gave us I think the whole succession issue is more about competition than "conflict" except for that one mysterious contender that she says cannot win. (Can't wait to find out more.) It seems highly probably that Koana, the miqo brother she mentions who studied in Sharlayan, is another contender and is the one that Thancred and Urianger have agreed to help. That leaves two unknowns. I'm going to make a prediction that Estinien ends up in support of a third Mamool Ja contender, who is not the dangerous one. I don't know how Y'shola and G'raha are going to fit in, but I have every confidence in the writers' creativity.

I am also intrigued by the little mentions of Garlemald in this patch. Alphinaud and Alisaie want to come specifically so they can gain knowledge that will help Garlemald. The "conqueror" Wuk Lamat warns about is interested in taking advantage of Garlemald's weakness. We even get to help some Garleans kick back and relax on our Island. As someone with an interest in Garlemald (for reasons), I am hopeful that this is an indication that Garlemald's future will continue to concern us in the future and that we can do something about its current state.

It struck me, now that we have our WoL's party set up, that it is meant to call back to our initial journey to a new city in 2.0. Alisaie and Alphinaud were there then too, though we did not know them. And Erenville, who travels for a living, could be said to take the place of the merchant. I believe the reason that they had a stand alone side story for the 6.x msq rather than the pattern that we are used to, is that 7.0 is meant to feel like 2.0. It's the start of a brand new story introducing us to a brand new world where we have no connections or history or baggage and are essentially back to being just adventurers again.

While Yoshida has joked about this being the WoL's vacation, I'm hoping that the tantalizing mentions of the City of Gold will lead to some fun Indiana Jones-esque adventures. But I am definitely most excited about delving into Solution 9 and learning its mysteries.

As usual, I am always hoping and praying that Nero will become relevant in the new content again. (Come on, SE, there are a million ways you could use him and he improves every single thing he's in.) However, even if he's not, I plan to drag him into the story in my own headcanons and writings. Severia's not leaving her man behind this time, not when he would be so eager to explore a whole new potential source of technological discoveries. How exactly he'll fit in I will leave until I actually see how the story plays out.

All in all, I am very excited and looking forward to more exciting story to experience this summer!

[that1nkyone]

Eyyyy glad to see one of the best undertale fic writers coming to The Pit (The Pit is the state of being like 100+ hours into The Critically Acclaimed MMO)

Anyways who’s your favorite characters

I was hanging around at the edge since 2021, but as of a few months ago I am solidly In It. Blame my boyfriend.

I'm not finished yet, but I did complete the Main Shadowbringers story last night and had a lot of feelings.

anyway out of the Literal Hundreds of Characters there are, here's a small list of ones off the top of my head that make me point and go ' : D !!!' every time they show up.

Alphinaud (my son boy nerd with the Excellent Character Development)

Alisae (angry sword lesbian and Way Cooler than her dorkass twin brother)

Urianger (as of Shadowbringers, when they decided to Utilise Him A Lot More)

Haurchefant (my bro my guy my dude i love you)

Ser Aymeric (add another character to the list who all but implicitly has a Big Crush on the WoL)

Vidofnir (the chillest and nicest Dragon Lady with too little screen time)

Vath Deftarm (MY SON I AM SO PROUD OF YOU)

Alpha (ran into him after his quest in a kitchen and was ABSOLUTELY DELIGHTED)

Master Matoya (Y'shtola is Very Cool don't get me wrong but look at the cool old lady who taught her)

Clutchfather Novv (he's just Dad)

Feo Ul (I love them I love them I love)

Raubahn (add another one to the WoL's Dad list)

Look there's way more and a lot of them are either in the Beast Tribe Quests or Walking Spoilers.

[voidsentprinces]

WoL: AND DONE!

Y'sthola: Oh my! Is this garlic bread?

WoL: Yep! Made it myself out of a loaf of bread, 5 sticks of butter, two unskinned cloves of Garlean Garlic and for some reason the fat of a wyvern and 17 fire crystals.

Thancred: This is actually quite good!

Urianger: Aye! A fine loaf thou hast produced!

WoL: Yeah, I swished my frying pan a little slower than usual and then it just kind of released a White Mage's Holy. That sometime makes the food better--not entirely sure how.

Alphinaud: Well I think its a marvelous exploit!

Alisaie: Indeed, perhaps next you can teach my brother how to swim!

WoL: To be fair, I didn't know how to swim until the Kojin gave me the blessed mussel.

Tataru: Well, at least the garlic bread is nice.

WoL: Yeah, I can eat garlic every day for every meal.

Estinien: Shouldn't you'll get fat.

WoL: Wh...how?

Krile: Bread makes you fat.

WoL: BREAD MAKES YOU FAT!?

[flyingcookierambles]

Good news!

Last night I finished endwalker on my birthday, it only took playing from midnight to 4 am lol

Bad news I forgot to log into genshin and I didn't get my birthday cake :/

Lmao

Anyways I love zenos k onwards to the endwalker patch msq and dawntrail yay yippeee!!!

Nov 17th edit: some 7.0 screenshots of my WoL, Cyril, with the great glow up graphic update. au ra enjoyers, elezen enjoyers, we WON!!! YIPEEEEEEEE!!!

also a small comparison of no reshade and reshade also. my color saturation is turned up and the bloom is a bit warm, i love the color. he looks so soft. like, sorry, but even with the wonderful 7.0 looks, the base game is so washed out still. like, maybe i'm used to the photo-realistic and saturated landscape of for example, horizon zero dawn, god of war 2018, also more anime/cartoon-y saturated colorful landscapes of genshin, but ffxiv base game is so faded out to me.

also, although im still a bit miffed at myself for taking literally two years and 6 months to finish endwalker, enough time for the latest expac to come out, at the same time, i'm glad i waited for the 7.0 graphics. ultima thule is amazing! the skybox is amazing! also, the elezen glow up helped the scions a lot, urianger and g'raha look so soft and cute. the twins also have cute cheeks that i want to pinch lol. truly the wol's little brother and sister lol. the elf/elezen ears textsures and the light also going thru the skin a bit helped soften them. just. 7.0 was so good lol.

i will say though, idk what it is about my bloom and keepUI settings. like, maybe i just haven't really set up keepUI/mask UI reshade filters very well, but sometimes in night scenes, also ugh most of the ultima thule area except the omnicron area, the brightness of the dialogue box in cutscenes will make the rest of the screen kinda darken to compensate the bloom effect or soemthing. a bit frustrating tbh.

but anyways beautiful 7.0 crystal mother above!!!! i loved her. QAQ......

the bloom and 7.0 eye updates really helped her eyes pop out and glow.

oh, also i kinda wanna steal pint's reshade settings. i think his settings is technically public, but you have to join his discord?

but also, now that i've caught up, i can see some streamer's reactions and VODs to the end of endwalker. since many of them didn't delay like i did, i see the old graphics and i'm like. oh god. OH GOD, THEY LOOKED LIKE THAT????? (weird default shaders, angular elezen, etc., lol) crazy how you can just get used to the new stuff in such a short amount of time, seeing the stuff i was used to for like 2-3 years, it's really like that dang bitch you live like this meme. lol

oh yeah, here's a screenshot from july when dawntrail first released. truly the fate farming craze!!! incredible.

also, me, two of my friends, and one friend's younger sister all partied together to complete the coils of bahamat. we unsynced to carry my friend who is still in ARR/level 50-60 ranges. like literally just zooming thru the combat as 3 lvl 90 players and our baby level 50 friend to get to the dialogue and cutscenes lol.

oh yeah rip huiton. BUT ALSO THE ULTIMA THULE SKYBOX AND STARS OOOOOOOGH THAT IS BEAUTIFUL!!!

also, nastrond. also spineshatter dive. also eye of the dragon buddy system. just. oof. i know i' not a very high level dragoon, i think only mid 70, so i didn't even get to all the fun full rotation level 80-90 stuff, but god dang. bruh moment. sorry for your loss, other dragoon mains and enjoyers.

(note, i am an healer main, astro enjoyer, and i also loved plunge for dark knight. i get it uuuuuu QAQ....)

also! bloom vs no bloom.

OK, NGL, THIS WAS A MARRIAGE PROPOSAL, RIGHT ISHIKAWA???????? YOU LOVE YOUR CATBOY SON OC. YOU MAKE US LOVE YOUR CATBOY SON OC. I GET IT, HE'S THE SPECIALEST BOY EVER. UGHREAUGHEOGAHOUH. I LITERALLY WAS WATCHING THIS PART OF THE CUTSCENE A BIG DOPEY GRIN ON MY FACE, SQUEALING UNCONTROLLABLY. AND LIKE ALL THE STREAMERS I WATCHED VODS OF ALSO WERE JUST LIKE AWWWW. G'RAHA.... :D

oh also some gpose with the kiddos during Forge Ahead companion MSQ walking up the path Raha made for us. also ngl, it was so so funny to me whenever i got "this NPC is now following you" quests lol. like, SE was really like. LOOK! LOOK AT OUR LATEST ESCORT QUEST TECHNOLOGY! lol

so my reaper was lvl 89, not enough for the final lvl 90 msq lol. so, as i always planned anyways, i switched to white mage for the final msq. like, my first class and job were conjurer/white mage, so it only felt appropriate to end with that job.

So, i'll be honest also. i knew some plot points of endwalker. on social media and such, it's kinda inevitable to see spoilers, especially when everyone is literally 2 years ahead of you. however, i did not know the full context or the order in which some snippets and events would happen. also, the only two things i really kept for myself was listening to flow and close in the distance. like, i succeeded in skipping them or tabbing out and stuff whenever i heard the first few notes. so, hearing both for the first time was great. close in the distance playing in the background and slowly revealing itself and more instruments as the msq and scions' sacrifices went on was beautiful. using the instrumental for the dead ends dungeon was good too. i also loved seeing the alien worlds in the dead ends. of course, im sure that it may lose its magic when i have to play it like a thousand times to get my starbird minion.

also ZENOS MY ENEMY, MY FRIEND!!! :D

so also if you got me at 3am in jenova/ EST time, i am so so sorry lmao. i died like 6 times to the stupid planet throwing and somehow got 1 commendation. i'm sure it was a pity commendation lmao. QAQ i've never been so embarrassed in my life i stg!!!

OOPS ONLY 30 IMAGES ALLOWED PER POST LMAO OK, PART 2 INCOMING. THERE'S ONLY A TINY BIT OF MSQ LEFT BUT I KINDA HAD A GPOSE PHOTOSHOOT WITH MY BESTIE/WORSTIE/HUSBAND ZENOS AT THE END OF THE UNIVERSE BEFORE WE BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF EACH OTHER LOL

[snow-system-wol]

Twitter memes filled out on my phone (so no photos)

Scion relationships are relative to post EnW era.

Explanations and blanks below cut!

S'ria (WoL):

Tataru and S'ria were a bit closer during HW, but now are just besties

Y'shtola and S'ria used to be really decent, but they've been working on becoming closer friends since ShB

Lyse and S'ria bonded a LOT over shared Gyr Abanian background and such during StB and S'ria still visits often

Estinien: Closest to neutral, it's very ??? but friends

S'ria is close with Thancred and has been the whole time (except for parts of ShB). Thancred can get a bit protective sometimes

S'ria and Ryne are friends, but he was also projecting protective sibling energy hard during ShB and only partially got past that

Minfilia: Coworkers, really -- post-ARR badly damaged their relationship, and then they never met normally again after that

Graha: Committed partners

Both twins are all but legally S'ria's younger siblings

S'ria never felt like he got to know Urianger very well and would like to fix that

Krile and him are friends, though Krile considers him a bit more of a brother (since he's been living there for a while, and she considers RAHA a brother, so... Brother-in-law more or less)

Persephone (Azem):

They're close with Venat, and Venat sees them as a bit of a little sibling

Quite close with Themis, and their dynamic is somewhat familial

Hades and Hyth are in a relationship with Persephone that is both... complicated and very simple. They are partners for life, they are close friends, they are not really dating, they are [redacted].

Persephone causes enough difficulty in ignoring rules that seeing Lahabrea is never a good sign

They're really just coworkers with Hermes, but he does seem so sad that they'd like to do something

Never met

Erich has never met Azem, but would be interested in doing so (but also intimidated by what he's heard)

[dragoon-mid-jump]

❓ Are there any Scions they don't like, or don't get along with?

-Thavnair-

"Nowadays, we all get along pretty well." Y'dehlya said. "But of course, it wasn't always like that." She shrugged. "I've definitely had at least one argument with most of our closest companions. We both have. But among them, I'd say my rockiest relationship...was with Thancred."

U'reksh cocked an ear to the side and raised an eyebrow, head tilted. "Not Estinien?"

"He wasn't a Scion back when we had our--" She waved her hand. "--We'll get to that later. Anyway, a lot of our--mine and Thancred's--...friction was stemmed in my older brother being a close friend of his and my being a Warrior of Light putting me in harm's way one way or another. Given how much he blamed himself for the death of Minfilia's father, should anything happen to me, the situation would be no different. It only really started getting worse after she sacrificed herself for the First, and had I not the backbone I have, our dynamic would have spiraled into something like the one he had with Ryne when we first met her. After we had the Scions safely back in the Source, Urianger and Krile had us both sit down and have a long talk before we re-involved ourselves in the fight against the Empire. As for Estinien, our hostility back when we first met was largely orchestrated by Nidhogg using our connections to his Eye to goad us into killing each other, not to mention we were both rather....high-strung at the time. Once he was vanquished, we've given each other another chance, though traces of our old dynamic still remain." She chuckled.

U'reksh laughed. "Yeah, I remember the only one who could get you all to get along was Alph. Speaking of, bloody hated him back when we first met, stuck-up little shit that he was. You hated that, too, but for deeper reasons, yeah?" Y'dehlya nodded. "More personal; felt like he was only seeing things from the outside. Me? Thought I was a dumb brute--Which I am not! He's my best friend now, but only after our time hiding out in Ishgard. And like with Dehlya, I stopped seeing eye-to-eye with Thancred while we were in the First. Just...seeing how he was treating Ryne did more than make my blood boil, it made something deep in my soul burn with anger. I know now after Pandaemonium that that was Ares reliving a part of his past with his family. 'Course, he got better and we made up, but those were some times."

-Omphalos-

Kouh'to crossed his arms and scowled before turning away, a light dusting of pink upon his cheeks. "Hmph."

Kouh'to is currently in a phase of sorts where getting him to admit he does enjoy the company of his sister's boyfriend is like pulling teeth, despite the mixed feelings he personally has about him, between how genuinely good he is, how far he will go for the greater good and how they can compare research notes...and how his plans as the Exarch nearly killed her. The same can be said of Urianger. He has butted heads with Alisaie the most when they were newly Scions over attitudes and modi operandi, but ever since their talks on the First before the WoLs arrived and their collaboration in the cure for tempering, they've acknowledged each other as friends.

(Prompt!)

[phoenixmiko]

Pairing Ask Meme: Final Fantasy XIV

OTP: Haurchefant x Warrior of Light.

Favourite NPC pairing: Urianger x Moenbryda. Estinien x Ysayle is a close second.

Worst pairing ever: Asahi x Zenos.

Guilty pleasure pairing: Thancred x Minfilia.

A pairing you want to see more: Aymeric x Lucia.

That pairing everybody likes but you’re like “LOL NO”: Emet-Selch x Warrior of Light.

Favourite non-romantic pairing: Alphinaud x Warrior of Light. They are my BrOTP. Alphinaud is like a little brother to my WoL and is one of her closest friends in the Scions of the Seventh Dawn.

[ladyramora]

I know you are busy, but if you have the time/energy/desire, could you write a small thing about the scions being with a ace WoL? Thank you for the time.

Here you are anon, I hope you like this~ 💕

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"Ace?" Alphinaud and Alisaie echo at the same time, glancing at one another as if in question if the other was aware of the term.

"Tis an abbreviation of the term—" Urianger glances up from his book and begins to teach as the scholar was wont to do, but is interrupted.

"Asexual," Thancred and Y'shtola say at the exact same time. Favoring one another with a look. "There are many variants of the word," Y'shtola goes on to explain, "but it most often means that someone experiences little to no sexual attraction."

Urianger clears his throat. The more proper, and easily embarrassed of the group.

"They are curious, Urianger," Thancred laughs. "Sharlayan tends to be quite momme about things like sexuality, but you yourself acquired such knowledge through the restricted section in the library, did you not?"

Urianger coughs. "Indeed."

Y'shtola grins, sipping at her tea. "Quite so. What use are books kept behind lock and key? Knowledge is to be shared and known, or else it is simply lost to time and ultimately forgotten."

The Scions turn to look at their champion and friend then, all smiles and obvious acceptance. But of course, for who would accept them as they are, if not the people they had been through so very much with?

"There are plenty a people out there procreating," Thancred says, rubbing his gunblade down with a rag. "There are so many ways to engage in intimacy, sex is merely one of them. It is not a necessary act to form relationships or maintain them. Why, look at us here! Friendship is just as important."

Y'shtola smirks, chewing on a piece of delicious, buttery tart. "My, has Thancred truly put his days of philandering behind him?"

Urianger chuckles. "Mayhaps. Doth our friend maketh of himself an upstanding role model for thy young charge, Ryne?"

Thancred frowns at them. "Enough ribbing, you two. I am perfectly capable of self control, you know."

"Oh, are you now?" Y'shtola chuckles.

Urianger tilts his head, going along with the teasing of their friend. "Indeed? Most fascinating."

Thancred grumbles something or other, whipping his polishing rag at them.

Alphinaud and Alisaie laugh a little, the both of them linking arms with the hero on either side. "Well, as informative as that all was, you're just the same to us," Alisaie says confidently. "Right, Alphinaud?"

Alphinaud nods his head, leaning forward to smile at the hero. "Indeed so, sister. You are our dearest friend. You need not trouble yourself with worries. You need only know that we accept you as you are, no matter what."

The hero huffs a breath of a sigh, and ruffles their hair with all fondness.

"Ok, ok," Alisaie grouses, shrugging their hand off.

Alphinaud is similarly flustered by the show of affection, but seems to enjoy the attention for the way he smiles behind the hand he raises to his face.

Alisaie nods her head, making a fist and punching into her hand. "That's right! About that little mission I was talking to you about before...—" She stars, and begins to drag the hero off to talk about it in private. Shooting her brother a smug little grin over her shoulder as she does so.

Alphinaud straightens up in a bit of a brotherly huff, following after them in a rush, "Ah, wait! I want to go, too!"

[cinnabun-faerie]

Cinna's brothers thoughts on her partners & her relationships

A/N: My Miqo'te WOL Cinna has a big family (Six brothers) so I just imagine how that would go with her love interests/boyfriends...

Warning: Possible game spoilers

Note: Normally I would have written these out in Alphabetical order, but I think it would make much more sense to put them in order of when they had their first romantic interaction with Cinna.

———Urianger———

The first love 

Status: Complicated/doomed 

Cinna: 🤤 Sebastian: Cin, stop it. You're drooling. Noah: Is she alright? Thomas: She's attracted to Shakespeare over there Max: Who’s Shakespeare? I only see a young Santa Clause

The brothers really did like how Urianger interacted with Cinna

Two bookworm-peas in a pod 

Until he broke her heart 

Then he truly didn’t deserve her 

Instead he deserved a swift kick in the ass for being stupid 

Siah knew that this would only end in disaster 

But he wanted it to work, truly 

They are very sweet together 

But he knew that he was still holding onto feelings for Moenbryda

For some reason, Thomas calls him Idiot Shakespeare 

he doesn't think his sister should be crying over him when surely there were other people better than him

Sebastian & Seth learned all that they could from him. Regardless of him being their teacher/mentor, they wouldn’t let this slide

Max doesn’t understand why Cinna would want to date a young Santa Clause

Would this make her Mrs. Clause? 

It now makes sense that she’s the one always making and giving gifts

Jack was only a year old when he and his family were brought to Eorzea

it's funny because he actually looks like a perfect mix of Cinna & Urianger in features (minus being an Elezen & having white hair like Urianger)

he actually considered Urianger his father until he went away

Jack refuses to accept him as anything less than cruel after seeing the long term effects of her heartbreak 

Seth & Finny tried to help him when he decided to get his shit together while in the first

and for the most part, Cinna & Urianger's relationship is on the mend

Sebastian & Thancred have to physically hold back Charlie from kicking his ass after he brushes Cinna aside after reuniting with Moenbryda's parents

they watch him fall apart on the ship when Cin is among those who comes back nearly dead

Charlie, ever the protective brother, is there to straighten him out. He tells him to smarten up or get lost as he he can't tolerate his sister's heart repeatedly being broken by the same man whom she has high faith in

———Haurchefant———

The handsome hot chocolate fellow that stole all their hearts

Status: Happily in love (ongoing)

finally a man who wanted to devote his life to their sister

honestly if she didn't date him, Charlie would have supported Siah with Haurchefant

As Siah was an avid player of ffxiv, he knew all about Haurchefant

He has a lot of love & respect for him

So honestly upon meeting him, he's be really happy

But he'd also play the overprotective big brother because he knows what might happen in the future and he doesn't want his sister's heart to break.

The other siblings on the other hand have no clue who this dude is

He's an elf/elezen man who the older boys notice has major "bedroom eyes" for their sister

that's kinda gross dude, do it on your own time

most of the siblings would just accept him cause clearly Siah has no issue with the guy

Max would be a little suspicious of him though especially after CIn's heartbreak with Santa Clause (Urianger)

Thomas knows that Siah & Cinna have both cried over Haurchefant when they were home (playing the game)

tbh he was quite the stand-up guy from what Siah said

Finny is buddies with Haurchefant 

Felix and Finny would go on to be Haurchefant’s apprentices 

Thomas found him to be pretty cool

until the incident

he hated Haurchefant's guts after Siah died in his place while trying to protect him

Noah followed suit, not liking Haurchefant after this 

None are surprised when Cinna bares his children

In fact, they adore Rémi & Maple 

The brothers were happy that he actually was alive & in his kids’ life 

Not to mention Haurchefant got extra brownie points when he treated Jack & R’owen like his own sons 

———G’raha Tia/The Exarch———

The Soulmate

Status: Finally Reunited (as of ShB/EW, ongoing)

Siah told Cinna not to get attached as the two know the future events

Cinna ends up falling for G'raha anyways (and he for her)

The brothers are happy to see Cin happy when they see how the two seem to gravitate towards each other upon meeting 

Not to mention that they’re both quite mischievous 

And short 

well Max is actually quite heartbroken to find out that short boy G’raha is indeed taller than him

Finny could appreciate someone who loved the thrill of adventure

They just can’t dislike him nor can they really find a reason 

He only has eyes for her 

And he seems much better than that other fellow, Urianger 

They had how sad & depressed she got after he sealed himself in the tower

After his concealment, a little miracle comes along

The brothers adore their nephew

They just wish that G'raha wasn't in the Crystal Tower so that way he could see his son R'owen growing up

Siah knows that all will be right with the world come the events of Shadowbringers 

Thomas thinks that his sister made a mistake by even getting with him as she knew what would happen

He believes that she broke her own heart and deserved this pain

When the brothers (Charlie, Sebastian, Seth, Finny & Max) were summoned to the first with their sister & the Scions they were shocked with how happy Cinna was when she encountered him

Max is fascinated by the Exarch’s blue arm 

When the Exarch was revealed to be G’raha, the brothers rejoiced & had teamed up with the Scions (not Urianger tho) to get them together again 

Max is shocked to learn that the Exarch/G’raha doesn’t have a blue arm anymore 

Even without knowing who the Exarch was, R’owen knew there was a connection

Not to mention that Cinna crafted him a wind-up doll of G’raha for R’owen to have to keep his father close to him (Ro would name this wind-up “Rae” when he was old enough to speak) 

When he officially met his father, he cried because he had always wondered why his brothers & sister were all Elezen except him

Jack met him briefly as an infant but wouldn't meet him again until he was 8 years old

when they reunite, he's extremely happy with how he seems to only have eyes for his mom

———Aymeric———

The Handsome Commander

Status: Fairy Tale Romance (ongoing)

Heartbreaker, coming through

None of them could deny that he was very handsome 

Younger brothers collectively decide that this is the guy to worry about

He's just too charming

Siah is not surprised in the slightest when he sees the instant attraction between Aymeric & his sister

Siah knows that Aymeric is one of the men that his sister is absolutely in love with

he just worries that he will become too busy for her

Yet again, the younger brothers accept him only cause Siah does 

Thomas & Noah later hate him because of Siah's death. If they hadn't have gone to the vault to help him, he might still be alive

———Estinien———

The knight in shining armour

Status: Romance-in-progress (as of EW/NFA, ongoing)

Noah: "Did you hear what he said? His blood sings for her." Max: "That sounds cheesy." Seth: "I wanna hear him say it again. What? It was smooth." Charlie: "Not to mention it worked on her. She's hooked." Siah: "She was hooked before we even came here."

Thomas, Noah & Max find him to be so cool

Siah, Charlie, Sebastian & Finny doesn't like the way that Estinien spoke to her when they teamed up to

The brothers want Cinna to date him 

He looks so cool in his armor and he carries himself pretty well 

Max calls Estinien the handsome tin man 

He’s also shocked to find out that tin man-Estinien 

Jack has been calling Estinien "papa" since he met him

when Jack first sees his face, he is so happy because he was an Elezen with white hair, just like him

honestly the brothers are so invested in Estinien & Cinna's relationships

they literally watched the two of them unknowingly fall stupidly in love with each other

the brothers are just passing the popcorn back and forth as they enjoy the show

Estinien is a true hero in their books

especially after he swoops in to save her after the battle against their cousin Zenos (pre-ShB)

honestly they were happy cause Estinien was there to comfort her after Urianger brushes her to the side once again (EW)

They all gather like a flock of seagulls to a french-fry when Thancred tells them that Estinien & Cinna have been adventuring together

they get the surprise & best present of their lives when Estinien & Cinna come back in a relationship

[mythandral]

Aymeric and Urianger for the character asks

Aymeric:

1: sexuality headcanon: bisexual

2: otp: wolmeric is by far and away my favourite, if that wasn't clear! other than that, I've become fond of Aymeric/Hien - two people who've been thrust into leadership and are figuring out their path forward together.

3: brotp: Lucia. Although I hc their relationship as strictly boss/subordinate I think they trust each other so absolutely. She totally also helped set him and Myth up.

4: notp: there's not really any pairings I've seen which I dislike. Handeloup I guess? Handeloup is a wife guy and would never.

5: first headcanon that pops into my head: let me try and think of a sfw one, uh... post-HW, he's ended up quite close to Stephanivien as they have a very similar viewpoint on Ishgard's class issues. He views the manufactory and the machinists as a template for the rest of Ishgard to follow as they move forward. NSFW headcanon: he really enjoys (and is very good at) giving head. Especially eating someone out. I don't know, he just has those vibes.

6: one way in which I relate to this character: he is very tired and so am I

7: thing that gives me second hand embarrassment about this character: "throw the eyes over the bridge!"... oops. people are little too harsh on him for it, but still, how embarrassing.

8: cinnamon roll or problematic fave? cinnamon roll

Urianger:

1: sexuality headcanon: demisexual, I think he's been attracted to a grand total of two people (Moenbryda and Thancred) and that's it.

2: otp: him and Thancred co-parented a child and somehow EW made them seem even closer to each other, so I really have no choice here!

3: brotp: I really want to see how his relationship with G'raha develops post SHB, after all of their plotting together. I also adore his relationships with the younger characters (Ryne/the twins) - he is such a good big brother/dad figure.

4: notp: he's not really shipped with many people, so I don't really have one. But probably anyone outside of Moenbryda, Thancred or people who ship their WoLs with him.

5: first headcanon that pops into my head: he is nonbinary!

6: one way in which I relate to this character: we are both big old nerds. we'd get on great, honestly.

7: thing that gives me second hand embarrassment about this character: he is socially awkward and misses the joke sometimes and it is too relatable. I also get second-hand embarrassment from his fashion choices, on occasion.

8: cinnamon roll or problematic fave? 110% cinnamon roll

[autumnslance]

Character meme: Thancred

Give me a character and I’ll break them down:

This got long cuz I tend to ramble about this dude.

How I feel about this character:

This utter absolute godsdamned bastard of a man. How dare he.

When I really got into FFXIV finally (after only dabbling for a bit), the age gap of his listed 32 and my RL age at the time put the same distance as me and my own younger brother, and that is where Thancred fits. I was FINE with him as a total bro, as the local disaster, similar to a younger sibling I am both fond of and exasperated by. He has a lot of backstory, character development, and changes, even before Shadowbringers really brings his various issues and working through them to the foreground. I love snarky, sarcastic characters, using that to cover their pain and issues. Highly competent but still so full of doubts. Acting out middle child of the core Scions family (now the elder brother figure with Papalymo gone and his own sense of responsibility kicking in in healthier ways).

There's a lot there, and he hits a lot of character tropes I like as a writer and reader both. So for 2 full playthroughs, he was a colleague, a companion, a pal, a bro.

Now. Now when I make a fic writing WoL based off the lady midlander CGI model, now when I decide to make an ace WoL who won't get shipped with anyone cuz we so rarely see that, now when I decide to roll Aeryn through the MSQ and got to meeting the Scions and Ifrit's quest...

Sigh. Here we are, 3+ years and counting, and "Shippy Nonsense" has completely taken over my FFXIV posting and it's all that Damn Rogue's fault. I blame his bonus to sneak attack vs a WoL's smallclothes. I know he took that feat.

He’s still my bro that I am going to tease affectionately while my character swoons, but I am going to be amusedly grumbly about it forever.

(Also I still think his ARR model is Generic Anime Protag #3547 and isn’t all that visually interesting. I like bits and pieces of the HW mountain hobo look. I think his ShB model is better at showing his experience and personality, but still wish there were some adjustments.)

All the people I ship romantically with this character

Fellow Wolcred ships. I love you all. Also it just makes “sense” to me to ship WoL with a Scion over most other NPCs, and Thancred is definitely the default nice handsome male romance option like what one gets at the beginning of a Bioware game (looking at you, Carth, Kaiden, Alistair...). I just. y’know. Thought OC/NPC shipping was for other people, not me.

I have a soft spot for occasional Y'shtola/Thancred and Urianger/Thancred. I feel like he’s a person who’d only open to true romantic relationships with people he’s known and trusted for awhile, because of his own doubts and issues.

He’s totally a Bi disaster though; a lean toward women, perhaps, but certain dudes’ll turn his head.

My non-romantic OTP for this character

Thancred & Minfilia for the found family brother-sister trope.

Thancred & Ryne for the same, with father-daughter flavor instead.

Thancred & Urianger for the best bros back and forth.

Thancred & Y'shtola for the best bros in a different way. I also include here occasional side-along headcanons for a FWB situation for them, safe comfort and release--especially after the Lifestream--but without romance; their love is platonic.

(I can’t quite see Urianger doing a casual FWB in the same way tho, he doesn’t strike me as the type; it’s all or nothing there.)

My unpopular opinion about this character

How I see the "temporary eye injury." How he likely wasn't as much of a slut as assumed--while he got plenty, he also used the flirting as a cover a lot (esp given how he drops the flirty demeanor entirely post-Antitower). How he likely wasn't as much of a drunkard in ARR patches as assumed, either; getting blackout drunk makes little sense when the issue was loss of control thanks to possession.

I also think many of the people who think it would have been “fitting” (or just wished for) him to die at the Trolley RP Duty in ShB missed some of the point of Shadowbringers’ overarching themes. ShB could certainly be dark at times, but overall was a story of hope and the differences between remembering the past versus being held captive by it, and the bonds between people. If it were a more tragic story with more pessimistic themes, then yes; Thancred dying then to protect Ryne with their issues unresolved would have been (heartbreaking but) fitting. However, that’s not the story being told; it’s him using that battle as catharsis to beat at his own issues and realize he really had repeated his original mistakes. To make his peace with Minfilia’s loss and then, in the end, work things through with Ryne and be the man he should have been for her.

Ryne gets the fairy tale ending of having her parental figure that she feared resented her tell her he was sorry and fix himself for her.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

We should have seen more of his and Minfilia’s found family relationship in game. There wasn’t a lot of room for it in 2.0, it could have been in the 2.x patches a bit more, but a lot about their relationship is described after she’s already gone.

Ran’jit was Thancred’s kill. There is no way that was originally written with the General porting out last second just for the WoL to suddenly be able to defeat his plot armor. The Trolley RP Duty has the foil character set up, the “last special bullet,” and the player is controlling Thancred at the time. It makes no narrative sense and stinks of executive meddling out of some fear the players would feel cheated by not having it be WoL who defeats Ran’jit, but it’s a serious misstep in the story. We could have, should have, fought suped-up Jongleurs as the speed bump boss to Vauthry, as those characters also were woefully underused.

I’m also hoping for more personal Scion history as we get to Old Sharlayan; while most of the older Scions are from or were educated in the Dravanian Colony, being around the culture and people again shall surely give us more information as to their academic backgrounds.

And we all always need more nutkin interactions and shenanigans.