#Garlean Experiment

[sealrock]

How to Carry Your Healer: A Visual Guide

Yes ✅

No ❎

he'll be fine

[charmiespecs]

Light Party 🔥Four characters in my FFXIV FC adventuring together! After all that healing, Mylon definitely appreciates the marshmallows!

[dovalore]

is it pronounced mica or mica?

[jenessa-mercier]

Everything was wrong. Her limbs were too short, the armor didn't fit quite right, and each step threatened to trip her in the snow with legs that she was used to being a full three ilms longer. And that wasn't even getting into the sensation of utter wrongness that pervaded her being, the sword in her hand familiar and yet alien as she glared at the standard issued sword of the Garlean army.

It was a cruel joke, Jenessa stepping over the unfortunate opponent that had attacked her, his body already cooling in the fierce Garlean winter. Everything in her body ached; this body was not nearly as strong as her own, Jenessa moving through the alleys and destroyed buildings with the ease of a lifetime of navigating the capital. The patrols were evaded despite her inexperience with her forcibly swapped body, nearly tripping and banging on debris that she would normally avoid.

The few lone tempered soldiers she encountered were dealt with as best as she could, doing what she could to spare them in the hopes they could be treated later. But as severely weakened as she was meant, that less than she would have liked were rendered unconscious rather than slain, having to fight tooth and nail to keep herself safe.

Her stolen body heaved, crimson spilling through the mouth vented helm, an errant heavy blow from her previous opponent having smashed against her chest, and judging from the pain, at least several ribs had been broken at the very least. It was becoming clear that her time was running out, Jenessa forcing herself to breathe normally even as she could feel the wetness in her throat. Gods, it hurt more to not breathe...

The sound of conflict drew her attention, her head turning as she beheld a group of Garlean soldiers fighting a group of the tempered while civilains in winter clothes ran for the outskirts of the city, following the tracks towards the waystation where Julius and his crew had been holing up. It was like a jolt of aether through her body, Jenessa forcing herself to her feet and towards the conflict. Each unsteady step was quicker than the last, crimson marking her path as she reached a full sprint.

The tempered about to behead his kinsamn was crashed into with all the force her body could muster, the hoplon smashing against his helm with enough force to send the tempered sprawling across the ground. A wordless hand yanked her kinsman to his feet, Jenessa falling into formation in the line with the ease of a thousand drills as for a moment, she was not the Warrior of Light but once again, another soldier fighting to protect her people.

Her body screamed in protest with each swing, lungs burned, and the arcs of crimson marked the desperate struggle to buy the fleeing civilains as much time as possible. Blows were felt, ignored, and returned, the Garlean having no choice but to trust in this body's gear to keep her going.

The sound of a shuddering walker charging its primary cannons drew her attention too late. One of her kinsman's screaming about its core overloading reached her ears half a second before it detonated.

There was no sound. No light.

Agony.

She opened not her eyes behind a ruined helm, her limbs feeling like they weighed a tonze, forcing herself to a sitting position. The walker was no more, a smoking crater of ruined machinery and cerelum. Any standing close to the explosion no longer resembled figures as much as blackened messes of ruined metal and meat. Some of the others had fared better, looking over the fellows and urging others up.

One grabbed her shoulder now, speaking, but she didn't acknowledge him as she pushed herself to her feet, her armor smoking and ruined. The heraldy on her armor was still burning in places as she paused long enough to withdraw the scant few medical supplies she had scrounged, wordlessly pushing them into the youth's hands.

She didn't know how she looked, but the fear in the young man's face told her enough. Taking her fallen sword and pressing the other hand to her ruined side, Jenessa moved away from the survivors of her temporary company. Shifting her attention in the direction of Camp Brolen Glass, she began to walk; one agonizing step after the other, her boots no longer scraped the snow, crimson now lining her strides.

She prayed the few lives she had saved would not come at the cost of others.

[nivienne-grovant]

Junelezen Day 19 - Food

So I must keep reminding myself - these are the people I am working to save.

[deus-and-the-machina]

ffxiv garlemald discourse is so funny because people will go "ugh people just cant stand it when things aren't black and white" and then you look at how the empire are portrayed in stormblood and shadowbringers and its like hm. that seems like a pretty intense and accurate display of violent imperialism to me! Wow I wonder why people in this day and age may find it hard to feel sympathy for them or even hate them on principal. god its such a mystery.

the games like 50/50 to me on how it tackles these themes because I actually like the garlemald arc in EW, I think it has a lot of horrific and powerful scenes depicting how self destructive fascist propaganda and beliefs are, but I also think it doesn't go far enough on some fronts. the garleans' xenophobia is most notably and obstacle to getting them to accept the contingent's help, which is what they're there to do,

but there's never an admission of harm from any garleans on the uuuuuuuuh massive amount of war crimes the nations around them are still suffering from they're just kind of like "we misjudged you...but you actually wanted to help us all along" like yeah thats great now can we get you all some deprogramming because you keep talking about returning to your prime and glory days and I think we need to unpack some stuff you really SHOULDNT return to. im not even really talking about EW proper but the patches where things are a bit more chilled out and people are recovering.

It feels like they wanted to have their critique of imperialism and also have things end with the beauty of human connection and reaching out and these things just don't mesh well because hey a lot of your modern day audience is not gonna like having to treat people yelling xenophobic things at the cast and your character with kid gloves after you showed them hours and hours of the awful things these people's beliefs have done. especially in the present day hoo boy.

[echthr0s]

Hey. Guess what.

I learned how to gpose.

[smallest-turtle]

Deidre, Caelen and Zenos all discuss their pasts with people the same way that dads will drop Lore out of nowhere

[nini-dirthara-lothlenanas]

                                        𝔗𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔳𝔢𝔯𝔶 𝔈𝔫𝔡

[miqojak]

If you were reborn as someone/something new, who or what would you want to be?

The little feline woman shifts, all the better to take up as much room as possible - despite her diminutive stature - where she reclines on a nearby sofa, "Oh, now there's a thought. You'd say that people who ascend into Primals are reborn, no?" Here, a gilded claw taps against her lip in thought - the orange-stained tip of her tail twitching in the silence. "Why not the Jackal? Tsukuyomi became an incarnation of a god - why not I? My people were massacred by ones like her. I have enough righteous fury without all the followers. If strength and power are what it takes to have control - to see that oppression is extinguished eternally - then why wouldn't I take it? One thing is for certain - no one would fuck with me ever again."

(( Look... she hates Garlemald, but their assaults on her/her people and their beliefs both colored her outlook. She sounds a bit like Anakin, really, when she gets to talking about the state of the world, and what justice looks like. Which sounds a bit like Gaius, when you think about it...))

[impossible-rat-babies]

Thinking about fordola time I guess !

[sealrock]

rotten apples are common in my family tree.

[maids-of-stardust]

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.

[kokiri]

Zenos being the illegitimate son of Solus is something that I cannot get out of my mind. This adds onto Varis's apparent disdain and neglect towards Zenos. Because Zenos looks so little like his father Varis yet shares so many of Emet-Selch's facial features. A strong, full aquiline nose; down-turned eyes with heavy lids; a perfectly round inset pearl for a Garlean eye.

Credit to @xivrefsheets

But, then that begs the question, why would Emet-Selch do this? Was it an experiment for his grand plans as an Ascian to further sow chaos for the Garlean Empire's inevitable fall? Why did Zenos dream of the Final Days? How was he able to utilize a crystal to channel aether, as a child, in the side story "The Hunt Begins"?

And besides that, did Emet-Selch ever see his late son, Lucius, in Zenos? Did the two of them ever interact as Zenos was growing up? They both certainly have a penchant for waxing poetic and theater, the latter of which was banned by Varis when he rose to power.

[jenessa-mercier]

A deep inhale.

Every sensation of home flooded into her chest: the unforgiving chill and the faint scent of ceruleum on the wind. The air hitched momentarily in her lungs before old muscle memory kicked in, exhaling in a slow stream of frosted breath. Violet eyes raked the horizon, seeing not a spot of light through the snowfields. Even the worst of storms would have revealed something: a guidelight, trains, or the distant glow of the city.

Nothing.

Her armor was more than sufficient for this weather, having been considered too heavy and warm for most other parts of Eorzea while in comparison, the other members of the Ilsabard Contingent having bundled up in much thicker clothes to deal with the harsh cold. Even the Ishgardians were not exempt, having to add a layer or two to deal with cold they thought they had prepared for.

Nobody in the know found it odd how comfortable she was moving through the snow, always seeming to know when the winds would change and drive needles into one's face. Her companions knew, however. It was no secret but a fact simply that went unspoken unless prompted. Feeling the approach of two, Jenessa rose from her kneeling position in the snow, pulling her gaze from the distant shadowed city and to the twins, questions writ clear upon their features and in their posture.

"Later." She promised, raising a hand to shield her face and keep her bangs down as a Temple knight approached to collect the trio for the briefing. While her tone and expression betrayed nothing, the hand not shielding her eyes was clenched into a fist at her side as she strode back towards the company here to salvage what was left of her country.

[eemamminy-art]

You have turned me from a Zenos hater into a Zenos ambilaventer keep posting and you might manage to turn me into a Zenos lover

If you already hated him though is me drawing him really going to make that big of a difference? 😩 Like I know I give him a fat ass and extremely delicious nose in my artwork but now I feel compelled to give you my tedtalk on why I like zenos lmao

This is about to be really long and also contains spoilers for stormblood, shadowbringers, and endwalker

This might surprise you but I like Zenos for his characterization and storyline in the game itself! The fanart is just kind of a bonus. He's one of many examples in Stormblood of a character that is shaped by their experiences, though I think it's not told as successfully as it is for like, Fordola, Arenvald, or Yotsuyu, because a key part of his backstory was locked to a short story in a print-only book (which I think is out of print now). The most you see of it in the actual game is this blink and you miss it line from Lyse at the very end of 4.0:

(Dialog from the quest "Stormblood", patch 4.0)

What really, really appeals to me about Zenos though, is that he is the personification of depression and that really resonates with me. He has anything he could possibly want, he has accomplished a great many things, but he feels completely hollow inside. He's miserable. He slaughtered countless Domans including their leader and felt nothing, commanded to do it by his father because (as shown in that short story) he only ever was acknowledged to even exist to his father when he practiced violence. So it's a given now, that's what's expected of him and that's all his life is. He's completely desensitized.

He finds one thing that makes him feel alive, that is the warrior of light challenging him, and it becomes his sole focus. Nothing else matters but chasing that high, because every single other thing is a low. After being bested by the warrior of light for the very last time, faced with probably prison for his crimes, he decides to die by his own hand on that high note rather than go back to the drudgery and misery that is everything else.

It's why in endwalker he can be swayed to do something good at the very, very end. He doesn't have a moral compass because he was shaped into an attack dog by his father, he sees "righteousness" as an excuse for war. Because I mean, what else is Garlean propaganda but righteousness from their twisted perspective? He asks Jullus if he would be happier had he a good reason to kill so many garleans after killing his own father— he makes it plain that death is death and there is no justice or good or evil in his eyes. He did have a reason, and it was that his father's use of black rose would likely kill the warrior of light, the only person or thing that gave Zenos any joy in life. Later, it was that Fandaniel dangled the idea that the warrior of light would be attracted to the slaughter and would come running to stop him so he killed more people during the civil war after the emperor's death. But he doesn't need to say that that was why. The reason doesn't matter, he knows the action would not change no matter how it was justified. Even if it was a "good" reason, death is death.

(Dialog from the quest "The Time Between the Seconds", patch 4.0)

(Dialog from the quest "As the Heavens Burn", patch 6.0)

I often see people take Alisaie's part in that scene as her convincing him to be a better person but that's really not what happens. He knows if he takes that action that others perceive as good and helps to stop Endsinger, he could have that high again in facing the warrior of light one more time. He could find joy and meaning, even for a fleeting moment. Then once again end it all because he fears returning to the low monotony of life. It's all over his dialog, especially in Endwalker. The dialog at the very end where he asks the warrior of light if they feel fulfilled, I know is meant to be a bit more of a meta question toward the player themselves, but I'd like to think it's Zenos comparing how different his outlook is to the warrior of light's. The warrior of light has many things keeping them going, whereas Zenos is drowning in despair with only one bright spot that he is constantly chasing time and time again.

(Dialog from the quest "Friends Gathered", patch 6.0)

those three tiny lines can hold so much zenoswol yearning in them AAAAAAAAAAAAA I AM not well

I personally still feel like there was room for him to survive that and to be gently guided into more and more good and try to undo some of that conditioning but I think he might be too polarizing of a character for him to become a permanent ally in canon. Much as I would love to see that! I have to wonder if the mentions of him in the 6.X patches that bounced between positive and negative were testing the waters, but I will leave my tinfoil hat aside because this post is already WAY too long lmao

I understand why people dislike him: they think he enjoys murder because he does it without "a good reason", they don't like how obsessive he becomes toward the warrior of light who is an extension of the player themselves, they don't like that in Fandaniel's scheme in "in from the cold" Zenos is the one inhabiting the warrior of light's body. Totally get it, totally understand.

I'm just saying I see the complexity to him and I find it compelling. Just as I found the overwhelming grief and despair that motivated Nidhogg or Emet-selch or Elidibus to be compelling. I think what people miss though when you like an antagonist is that feeling empathy toward them means you don't feel empathy toward the people they harmed, or that you somehow agree with what they did. But really, I just love seeing these characters that are faced with such tragedy or misery that they start to lose sight of right and wrong. They're driven entirely by emotions. For a story where emotions are literally power, I think it's a really interesting angle to take with the antagonists of that story.

Man, where was I going with this? 😂 I just love Zenos... I don't think I will be convincing anyone to like him who doesn't already, and that's not at all my intent. I just thought I'd share my perspective a little bit after getting this ask!