#5.5 spoilers

[viiioca]

day 5: fire

From the journal of Estelle de Laussienne, 3rd of the 5th Astral Moon, 5 7A.E. As we work on bringing the various tribes of Eorzea back into the fold – and stamping out Fandaniel's many fires – it has been enticing to imagine Ascian fingerprints on every misfortune that's ever befallen us. It's an understandable leap of logic, even, given that two or three of them have skittered out from under nearly every rock the Scions have picked up since the Calamity. It does make sense, doesn't it? The strategy was clear enough: Drive a wedge between the peoples of Eorzea, create a state of desperation in the various oppressed populations, teach them how to weaponize their own deliverance, and let the situation escalate on its impressive momentum. It all comes together with a neat little bow, tied expertly. How could we have avoided it? We were being manipulated from the start. And yet I know for a fact that the average Ul'dahn Monaterist has already considered some manner of betrayal, monopolization, or war profiteering before the breakfast kettle even whistles. When they voted to break the alliance with the Amalj'aa and eject the tribes out of Ul'dah, there was no deft hand necessary there. I doubt Elidibus ever needed to take time out of his busy schedule to convince the Syndicate to have the sultan and his wife murdered to protect their future profits. When the Ascians came to sow their seeds in the Amalj'aa, had we not already made the fields plenty fertile? Even now, Fandaniel reaps the benefits of mistakes we were all too happy to make on our own. Now that the Unsundered are gone, we are going to spend the rest of our lives – and some lives beyond these – cleaning up the mess they've left us. But even absent their influence, I have a feeling we're going to be perfectly capable of making brand new messes all by ourselves.

[roevember 2023 prompt by boreal tempest & roe fizzlebeef]

[zaragear]

Juli is a delight, and take AMAZING photos. If you have cleared 5.5 in the FFXIV MSQ, check out these awesome Gpose shots she posted on Cohost.

[capsicrew]

[zen17hdee]

Thrice now (at least) has Ishmael pointed out how strong a woman was

I love my hopeless lesbian please send me any more instances of Ishmael saying something gay

[bluuscreen]

i really like the communication pixies, they’re cute :] and hey, maybe they could be used to stay in touch when everyone goes their separate ways at the end of the series? idk, i don’t think senshi would be too into it

[skrunksthatwunk]

thinking about how eiji's a pole vaulter and how ash talks about eiji "flying" and how eiji's associated with bird imagery and how eiji's free (unlike ash) and how eiji comes in on a plane and leaves on a plane and how ash cannot fly, ash cannot be free, how nyc is ash's prison, and how ash is the leopard who dies climbing the mountain, unable to live at such elevation, how he was trying to reach the sky and be free but was always stuck to the earth, how he chose to die instead of climbing back down, how he chose to die where he could see the sky and hope and freedom almost like a bird with eiji's letter right in front of him rather than letting everything go wrong and ruin it once again, how eiji's a failed pole vaulter anyway, how a bad fall ruined his career and grounded him (physically and emotionally), how it took flying to america and meeting ash and needing to save him and skip for him to try flying again, how he landed hard and harsh and still the thought of that escape compelled ash to protect eiji at all costs because if he could fly that means something to him, even if he doesn't think he can fly, how eiji is the manifestation of his hope and how when he breaks and asks eiji to stay with him a while he folds himself over his legs and weighs him down and traps him and grounds him, how ash fights like hell to keep eiji alive not because he thinks he can be like him (hopeful, flying, innocent), but because he makes him forget the gravity of his situation, and so he can see eiji fly again. how he wants to see him escape. how eiji is a bird and ash is a wildcat and how ash never once saw eiji as prey. how eiji never saw ash as a predator. how it is eiji's naivete that first endears ash to him, how it is his freedom and flight and removal from darkness and his ability to leave that darkness that really roots eiji in ash's blood as something essential to him keeping on living in this hell of nyc. how it is that distance from the violence and that hope for the future that ash chooses to surround himself in as he dies. how ash dies in a dream because he feels more than anything that he can't fly like eiji, that he can never leave. how his violence is a part of him and will be forever, how it weighs him down. how he wants to enjoy the view from the mountainside rather than looking up from the ground below. as if they can both fly. as if he is with him up there and not grounded. eye-to-eye with what he can't have, seeing eiji's homeland: the sky. how he dies trying to reach the top because he couldn't take retreating and trying again. how ash, tired and tired and tired and convinced it will go on forever if he crawls back down the mountain, chooses to close his life deluged in eiji, in eiji's insistence that they can fly together, in eiji's hope for him and for them, in eiji's beautiful dream. how ash dies without trying to realize that dream. how ash, in dying, destroys it.

[cogito-dreams]

so like.

so like. hey. are we gonna talk about the fact that this discussion of 'rich folks with screwed-up perversions' involving human sacrifice is the first time we've ever seen hong lu, known rich boy from fucked up rich family, say "uh" or otherwise show this kind of hesitation and then immediately change the subject. or like are we gonna let this one slip by-

[lulu2992]

Does Jacob Seed believe in God?

It’s a popular theory that, even though the oldest Seed brother is part of the Project at Eden’s Gate, he only has faith in his own ideology and doesn’t necessarily believe in God or the Voice. So is Jacob one of Joseph’s Heralds simply because he wants to support his brother and use his influence to his advantage, or does he actually believe in a higher power and in the Father’s message?

The first time we come (very) close to Jacob, during the mission “The World is Weak”, he explains why he thinks humanity has “forgotten what it is to be strong”. He says that “our heroes used to be gods” but that they are now, among other flaws, “godless”. If Jacob associates godlessness, so the lack of faith in God, with weakness, one of the things he criticizes the most, it implies to me that he thinks believing in God is a quality, so he most likely does too.

The next time the Deputy is captured by Jacob’s soldiers, he stays in the background to let Joseph talk to them and explain how he lost his wife and daughter. The Father tells this story in the Whitetail Mountains for a reason: it’s about pain, sacrifice, being tested, and doing whatever we’re asked to prove our devotion. Although Jacob doesn’t say anything to the Junior Deputy in that scene, the pained expression on his face proves that Joseph’s speech affects and resonates with him, and we only fully understand why the next time we meet him.

The third time the Deputy gets captured and ends up in one of Jacob’s cages, he too has a story to tell. While he casually shows how submissive and “well-trained” Pratt has now become, he talks about his experience in the military and more specifically during the First Gulf War. He explains how he and another soldier, Miller, got separated from their unit without food, water, or radio, and had to survive in the desert. When he realized, after eight days, that they were most likely going to die, he accepted his fate. “And in that acceptance came clarity”, he explains, and before he says the last two words, Jacob pauses and looks at the sky. In my opinion, this may indicate he believes this epiphany was of a divine nature.

When he continues his story, he says sacrificing Miller so he could survive “wasn’t something [he] wanted” but “something that [he] had to do” before concluding that it was “[his] test” and looking at the sky once more. Again, to me, this suggests he believes that this “test”, this sacrifice he didn’t want to make but thought had to happen, was a divine trial, a “test of faith”, exactly like Joseph killing his own daughter. And in order to join his army, people are expected to do the same: they must sacrifice something (or someone) that’s holding them back. To Jacob, it appears a sacrifice is not just about the “weak vs. strong” ideology and culling the herd, it’s also how you prove your devotion, your commitment to the Project, to the Father and, by extension, to God.

In his final moments, Jacob says what led many people to conclude he was possibly an atheist: “My brother saw all this coming. I don’t know if he talks to God... that doesn’t matter. He was right.” I don’t think this means he doesn’t believe in a higher power, though. Many other characters in Far Cry 5, such as Jerome or Grace, clearly are religious but also think Joseph is a false prophet and that there’s no way the Voice he claims he heard is God’s. Here, Jacob doesn’t say it’s not true and that the Voice isn’t real; he simply admits that he doesn’t know if Joseph can communicate with God.

So, in my opinion, it’s very likely that Jacob believes in a higher power and that part of what he does to people has a religious significance. That said, as he takes his last breath, whether or not the Voice Joseph hears belongs to God doesn’t matter much to the Soldier anymore. What does, and what he seems to be certain of, is that he was right to believe in his brother.

[citroncynique]

[insert wuthering heights by kate bush mashed up with cruel angel's thesis muffled from another room here]

[offshore-brinicle]

Can I say though Yi Sang and Aeng-du's instant connection and solidarity is one of my favorite things about this event, it's just so sweet and also so special how they find that feeling of safety just from also knowing someone from the homeland they have left behind while they remain so out of place in The City. It stands out so much when the general mentality of the world is "everyone for themselves" but S Corp's people and those who had to leave it behind seem to have found so much understanding and sympathy with each other.

Overall I find it so interesting and unique that more than any other District in The City the people of District 19 feel such genuine attachment to the land and its heritage, not just with Aeung-du, Kim and the rest of the Blade Lineage but going back to Dongbaek and Dongrang's EGOs too, it's just so special to see that very united sense of culture and heritage in a world that despite being multicultural and multilingual seems to have largely left such notions behind

[timetodiverge]

The Bad Batch | Season 3, Episode 1 "Confined"

[moongothic]

You know I was wondering if Crocodile ever did have any kind of involvement with the Revolutionary Army in secret (lest the Government finds out and revokes his Shichibukai status), what kind of involvement would that even have been

And now, with both the Vegapunk/Ohara flashback and Kuma's flashback, it's being made very clear to us that the Revolutionary Army was broke as hell 22 years ago. Like the fact that this has been brought up twice now in a relatively short span of time is interesting to me, that's usually a sign it's not an unimportant plotpoint

But you know who would have had money to help fund the Army

A funny little warlord who would eventually go and build a fucking casino to run for funsies. A warlord who had to give the Government some of his Pirating Income to keep his warlord-status

Like Crocodile hated the Government anyways so why not help fund the Revolutionary Army in secret, out of spite if for no other reason

Vaguely related, but I keep on remembering this scene (post-Enies Lobby), which at first glance just seems like a basic Lore Dump

But then there's the

"Yet..."

(Or "however", she says "no ni" in Japanese and you could translate that in many ways, I would probably have gone with "however" but that wouldn't have fit into the speechbubble)

Mind you, the conversation just kind of ends there, next we see Garp realize he probably shouldn't have mentioned Dragon infront of such a massive audience, so wherever that "yet" was going to lead to we will never find out, because Oda conveniently changed the subject before we got to it

And you know. Like yes, Robin could be just expressing her shock over finding out that the leader of the Revolutionary Army had a child with someone

But also, Robin was a part of an organization that was trying to overthrow one of the founding countries of the World Government in an explicit attempt to go against said Government (compared to like, Blackbeard, who currently wants to make Fullalead into a "pirate country" that's a part OF the World Government)

Like you don't have to be a genius to look at Crocodile's ultimate goals and compare that to what Dragon is doing and find a few similarities here and there maybe

(Also like, Crocodile's equivalent in Romancing SaGa 2 is meant to be Wagnas, the queer-coded leader of the Seven Heroes (whom the OG Shichibukai are based on) who "hoped to help the world". You know, an interesting detail and all.)

Not to mention, during the time Robin spent with Baroque Works, if Crocodile was ever in contact with the Revolutionary Army at all, considdering she has the ability to easily spy on people and that she didn't trust Crocodile one bit, it wouldn't be unsurprising if she ever spied on Crocodile and/or just overheard a phone call or knew about Crocodile having secret spending habits or something

(Mind you, I'm not saying "she knew" Crocodile was involved with the Revolutionaries, more that she might've been Suspecting Things, that "yet" being about her connecting the dots while unsure if her conclusion was right or not)

Of course Crocodile's plans can't have been Dragon Approved by any means, especially considdering the Army had been looking for Robin for over 10 years (pre-timeskip)

Four years of which were with Crocodile. Like if he was FULLY allied with the Army and KNEW they were looking for Robin, surely he would've called Dragon and been like "hey I found the kid from Ohara, wanna come hang out" or something. But no, he had bigger plans and kept Robin a secret from the Revolutionaries and the Government alike

Also like, I have seen people question why the Revolutionaries weren't involved with Alabasta's rebellion at all, and "Oda hadn't come up with the Revolutionaries yet at the time of writing" (/"OP was meant to end at Alabasta at one point so there would've been no reason to introduce the subplot at that point") aside Between Baroque Works being a secret organization working undercover (thus the Army might not have been aware of the civil war being manufactured), the framing of the King making him look bad and very much the type of monarch that deserved to be overthrown in the Army's eyes, and Crocodile maybe lying through his teeth about what was happening in the country... Yeah, the Army's lack of involvement with Alabasta suddenly makes sense

EDIT Minor addition: Just realized that because Crocodile was technically working for the Government, if the Revs ever did send forces to participate in Alabasta's civil army and taking down the throne, the Government could've easily ordered Crocodile to step in to stop the rebellion and take down the Revolutionaries, right? Because he was supposed to be on the Government's side, right? And surely the Army wouldn't have wanted to fight against Crocodile if they were secretly allied (Croc's secret betrayal aside), and if Crocodile refused to fight the Revs the Government could've seen that as a reason to revoke his Shichibukai rights (which wouldn't be great if they wanted to keep Crocodile in a position where he could fund the Army?). So it could've also been a case of it being for the best for everyone's sake to let this one play out "naturally"

But my point is

I'm just deeply intriqued by these little details and wonder if I'm Actually Masterfully Connecting The Dots Like a True Genius or just seeing a pattern where there's none. Like this is far from confirming the theory, I'm just saying, the pieces do kinda fit together do they not

[bearscones]

Okay, we all feel excited about Lappland Alter, Crownslayer, and a new Siracusano event but like...we just not going talk about how Emperor and Dolly are made up of dead animals? Like straight up ghosts of dead animals from a major Catastrophe? And their forms are illusions?

[noot-nootie]

I'll NEVER stop thinking about this. Like, all cool but WDYM???

Lu Guang be asking suspicious questions why u be asking suspicious questions Lu Guang?

[shortstak87]

[harenodrawsthings]

Pushing through artists block, trying out some new watercolors I got. The third one I was testing something for the last dream I had. The last one I was at the coffeeshop ready to sketch, but when I took a sip of my latte, the lid wasn’t put on all the way and it spilled on my sketchbook. I thought if I had to have that in my sketchbook I may as well get some art out of it!