#HAIL ULTIMA

[supermarioterrarium]

I've got a pet theory for the ongoing story in FFXIV.

There are lots of little bits and pieces that alone might just be cute nods, but together make me think that FFXIV is and has been laying the groundwork for an eventual Chrono Trigger-inspired expansion or at least a more significant plot beat.

MAJOR SPOILERS FOR FFXIV THROUGH DAWNTRAIL

One of the key elements is the infamous "keening from the earth" mentioned in relation to the Final Days by one of Emet-Selch's Amaurotine simulacrum Ancients. I say "infamous" because come Endwalker, it felt like a dropped detail -- Meteion didn't really fit that description, and nothing we're told about how those Final Days played out really brings it up again.

But I think another plot element is being hinted at in other places that could very well provide us with the source of that "keening".

It's a little odd that we got another Ronka-esque dungeon at the end of Tender Valley this expac, complete with its own serpent! The Yok Huy simply.. finding the ruins suggests that this ruin and the Ronkan ruins on the first share a common origin -- meaning their inspiration probably comes from before the sundering -- perhaps even from before the Ancients themselves, considering its architecture doesn't really share any similarities with structures we know the Ancients built. That period is a blind spot for everyone.

We learned about something else that existed prior to the Ancients in Endwalker's patches -- The Heart of Sabik, AKA the Black Auracite. It came from somewhere not of Etheirys -- somewhere else in the Sea of Stars -- from, or at least from the same place as, the being known as Ultima.

It's interesting, then, that when Pallas Athena manifests, her arena / realm is not only wreathed with the eye motif from the previous fight with Athena, but also with.. what seems to be the body of an unimaginably large serpent.

To rephrase the idea here, through P12S, the concept of the Serpent is connected both to the Ancients -- beings who lived and worked in places like Elpis, which shares more than a few similarities with the Kingdom of Zeal -- and with a dread being that hails from outer space.

That's what I think is "keening". A great serpent that, long before the disaster of the sundering or even before the Ancients' civilization was the dominant one on the star, burrowed its way deep beneath the crust of the planet.

That's a thought, though: what about the sundering? If this serpent existed beforehand, it would be in a similar state to the one we ultimately find Zodiark in, right? Well, before Dawntrail, we know that the star's been rejoined to its reflections seven times, meaning it's 8/14ths of the way to being "whole" again. And now in Dawntrail, we have Heritage Found, a partial "dimensional fusion" between a shard and the Source.

If this counts as a rejoining without a corresponding calamity, then perhaps in the coming expansions, Preservation will use Dimensional Fusion in their conflict with the WoL and, inadvertently, rejoin the serpent as well. Zero and Golbez's efforts to rebuild the 13th, in combination with Dimensional Fusion, could mean that a total (partial) rejoining actually becomes possible!

So, if you've played Chrono Trigger and you're convinced by all of this, why don't I just come out and call the serpent Lavos?

Well, I'm not sure if SE's going to be quite that explicit.

After all, Krile's parents were named Alayla and Robor, not Ayla and Robo. They have the good sense to obfuscate it at least a little.

[luxudus]

    Took me long enough but heres the sequel to the september cutting room floor. Ending this series for good. Staring in order by their number Starting with the entries made for 2022

    1. A mammaloid alien native to a dangerously cold planet iconic for it’s red and blue plantlife. They are skittish herbivores. Grazing along its planet’s “grass” by grabbing handfuls of plants with its oral tentacles and brought it to a mouth located in a hollow space in between its oral tentacles and head. And would sport vibrant patterns to blend in with it’s equally colorful forests

    2. Originally a suggestion by my friend Lemuel. They were a descendent of pill bugs/roly polies that evolved powered flight. They soared through forest understories with three sets of flattened legs and held onto branches with their hind pairs of limbs. In spite of the radical change to their movement, they would still act and eat like any other Armadillidiid Isopod. Only now they could get to their food much faster

Now onto the entries made for 2023.

    3. An alien predator that has all of our senses, but none of the familiar organs. They see the world with an organic sonar dish so powerful it could see colors as good as any eye. They smell and feel heat through heat pits on the sides of their body. They hear sound through sensitive whiskers on the feet of their hydraulic legs. And they eat and taste with a liquivorous proboscis.     And on top of their unique sensory organs and a testament to their overwhelming success, they are also freakishly intelligent. Not fully sophont, but still able to run circles around earth’s smartest life aside from humans.

    4. An orbital view of a carbon planet. A hypothetical world where it and the rest of it’s star system formed with much more carbon in its composition than standard oxygen. In place of water would be oceans and clouds of hydrocarbons. And nestled right in between the crust and mantle would be a hundred-kilometer-thick layer of pure diamond.     Sadly how life would evolve and take advantage of such a world was never conceptualized before spectember ended. Maybe someday this idea can be covered again and be brought to justice.

    5. A descendant of azhdarchid pterosaurs from the same world (or at least set of timelines) as the aforementioned Dinosauroids. They live in hierarchical herds where the strongest males have ownership over the herd’s female members.     They are also extremely violent, capable of killing their own predators if a hunt goes slightly wrong, And changes in power often escalate into bloody fights that could end in death. Some members are even willing to kill their herd mates' children if it means they get a chance to continue their bloodline.

6. A descendant of the golden snub-nosed monkey that has evolved to mimic the violet deathhead from my last official september post. Their fur is a speckled brown to blend in with the trees it lives on. The structure mimicking the deathhead sail is derived from nasal flaps once used to attract mates. The primate’s blue skin paired with clusters of veins within the nasal flaps create the iconic purple hue.     High concentrations of melanin along the tip of the nasal flaps mimic the black stripes. And even the orange spots are recreated by rows of unusually thin skin refract sunlight the same way the webbing between our fingers turns orange as a close light source passes through it

    7. A dinosauroid microbiologist who lived in a time when their people colonized the solar system. A Chia’J-di ecologist who lived in a time when their species’ industrial revolution provoked an equally powerful environmentalist counterculture, the globe they are holding is earth 500 million years in the future and long after pangea ultima split, the version of earth their species hails from. And a masculine female human sophontologist who lived in the aztec empire during it’s height. All pose for a picture.     Despite their different walks of life and origins of separate timelines. They are all heads of research within the earth division of the Inter-Timeline Evolutionist Union, better known as the ITEU

The ITEU is a non-profit, nongovernmental secret organization spanning the entire multiverse. With the goal of documenting and archiving the evolution of every species and civilization that has ever lived and will ever live across every possible timeline.     Their employee count ranges in the quantifiable infinity, and the division of a single planet is still big enough to utterly dwarf the largest and most technologically advanced civilizations ever documented. And their membership program accepts anyone from individual sophonts like you and I, galaxy spanning gestalt super-intelligence, to even celestial deities that create their own worlds and galaxies and seed them with life.  

    The symbol above the heads of the earth division is the logo of the ITEU as a whole. Surprisingly very little is known about the meaning behind it. Theories range anywhere from it representing the multiverse as a stream of timelines. The evolutionary tree of life, the infinite fractal-like scale of life and the multiverse. To possibly even the form of the ITEU’s founding species.     There’s a very good reason why the logo is a mystery to all. The ITEU has some pretty big flaws in spite of their noble goal. The organization is very secretive, even to it’s own members. Nobody outside the ITEU knows it even exists. The organization’s founders and early history remain a complete mystery. And despite its multiversal span being common knowledge. no one truly knows the full scale of this organization or the multiverse. 

    They are also very non-interventionist, and will stop at nothing to not leave a mark on the natural world and make any irreversible changes to the course of time. Even if it means never sharing their knowledge with the multiverse’s most advanced civilizations. Allowing interdimensional atrocities to keep going despite having the power to stop it. Or even keeping their own members from ever returning home.     This whole entry was meant to be a bigger grand finale to 2023’s spectember instead of the Batesian mimicry ring or the neurodivergent posthumans. And was meant to be a meta look at 2023’s entries and the genre of speculative evolution as a whole before spiraling out into its own thing entirely.

(i apologize if the aztec woman appears culturally and/or racially insensitive, if anyone who's an expert on aztec culture wants to give feedback I'd appreciate it a lot i want to improve more on illustrating other cultures)

[feliciadraws]

*FINAL FANTASY XIV SPOILERS*

Well, that's it! I'm done with Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn! And what a wild ride that was! And I'm not even done, since I'm now moving on to the patch content and then the expansions! So, after the momentous battle with the Ultima Weapon and Gaius van Baelsar, none other than Lahabrea, or the Lahabrea-possessed Thancred, decided to show up to the battle, and in true anime villain fashion, went on to tell us that the Ultima Weapon isn't just a giant primal-eating mech monster, but it has something else inside it, something even the Allagans themselves didn't fully understand, something called the Heart of Sabik, which I have yet to learn about in my watchthrough but it sounds ominous. Lahabrea then divulged that he sought the life force of the primals primarily to "quicken" the core, which I assume is why he was working with the Garlean Empire, and he also spoke about his 'god', whose 'rebirth' he is working towards. And after his little anime villain monologue, he then unleashed the weapon's ultimate power, Ultima, an immensely powerful spell that was basically a freaking magic nuke that destroyed the whole area and everything within the blast radius except himself, the Ultima Weapon and of course the Warrior of Light. After the final destruction of the Ultima Weapon itself it was then a showdown with Lahabrea himself, with not just the fate of Eorzea but Thancred's fate at stake here, and in the final moments of the epic, mano-e-mano battle, Hydaelyn herself summoned the WoL and Lahabrea to the void where she dwells, and then urged the WoL to form a 'blade of light' from the aether crystals that had been collected over the course of the game, and, using the blades of light, literally BLASTED Lahabrea and YEETED him out of Thancred's body, leaving him vulnerable, and then (this part gave me actual legit goosebumps btw), using the combined spirits of all the Scions and the figureheads of the Grand Companies AND Cid and Alphinaud, all the friends and allies the WoL had gained over the course of the story, then came together and VANQUISHED Lahabrea using the power of pure light (and maybe friendship hehe), destroying the crystal binding him to Thancred in the process. Hydaelyn once again spoke to the WoL, praising her and hailing her as a true Warrior of Light, but also spoke of the 'Dark One,' who watches from the shadows, warning us of an even greater threat. I definitely have reason to believe that this 'Dark One' might be the 'god' who Lahabrea and the Ascians worship. After a mad dash out of the now exploding Imperial stronghold on our sentient magitek armour walker, the WoL made it back with Thancred and reunited with the Scions, and with that, we could finally celebrate a moment of peace. The Garlean Empire is defeated (for now, anyways), and the Grand Companies and their figureheads, Kan-E-Senna, Raubahn and Merlwyb ushered in the Seventh Astral Era, and of course, a realm reborn! But, things are far from over. The celebrations were interrupted by a massive roar, which could only mean a new primal had awakened, and elsewhere, it turns out we are far from done with Lahabrea, who appeared out of the darkness with his Ascian buddies. And we also saw this;

A crystal, just like Hydaelyn's but DARK...is THIS the dark one Hydaelyn warned about?

Ugh I am so SO invested in this (and I'm not even playing it), and that's me done with A Realm Reborn, so now I'm moving on to the patch content and eventually the expansions!

Oh and big BIG thanks to @mikanashii and @bamboorocket for getting me into this, because this is one of the best things ever.

[myrfing]

ancients arent fascists and are far too fantastical to fit into any real political system but people tend to view them in the story in a bubble (which, they kind of are portrayed as such in-universe so w/e) when I don’t think their position in the story can be extricable from garlemald. amaurot is dead and gone by the very beginning of the game and are introduced in shb as a means to examine why/how. what they represent is an ideal upon which garlemald’s purpose is built. what matters is not that they were good or evil but that their mythical perfection was upheld and used as justification for what came after 👍 not saying that this is ALL they are but imo it’s a big old chunk of it. the goal of extermination based on innate traits is not to kill people for fun forever (though you could argue it becomes entwined) it’s the idea that if the only people existed in the world were the most intelligent, most able, most “whole” that the world would be at peace and there would no longer be conflict or great suffering.

one neat thing about EW is its deconstruction of this “mythical fatherland” type of paradise and one of my favorite examples of this is their depiction of ultima thule. if you google “ultima thule” you’ll find…lol a boatload of controversies surrounding its usage in stuff like band names because of its heavy ties with nazi mythos/symbology. it refers to a place “beyond the borders of a known world”, a mythical grecoroman-styled land to the north from which the perfect people once hailed, were lost, and to which the “true” people who adhere to the ideology must return. blah blah blah a lot of parallels to christian ideas of an immortal paradise. i’d like to think that the developers were aware and deliberate with this context considering how easily accessible it is! Thule in the game, when you reach it on the edge of the universe after you go through elpis (a temporary veneer of paradise) is a dead and stagnant land built as a cobbled together amalgamation of a bunch of dead civilizations and peoples who did not make it through “the test” that hermes in purposeful irony imposes on the ancients, who again, represent that ideal. instead of being a paradise, it’s a purgatory where everyone DOES live forever but as ghosts in a dead land scraped of everything that gave it meaning, that orbits a heavy and turgid cocoon of despair. the world that is “born” (everyone imagine imagery analysis here I’m too lazy) is miss endsinger’s wild neverending ride where there is no real substantial world where anything lives but instead an endless mish-mashed retrospective recollection of all the loss and terror it took to create it. i think this is very cool. It’s swagful

[ohmeadows]

very interested to hear your fu xuan thoughts now that she’s out !

first of all love her second of all i'll just do this in bullet points because my brain is soggy cereal today:

starting with her character stories, so spoilers under the cut:

she hails from the xianzhou yuque, famed for their divinations and jade abaci export, and it mentions that "centuries passed" so. she's at least, at the barest minimum, two centuries old, probably older. she ran away from the yuque to attempt and avoid a foretold destiny, namely that she would kill her teacher. indeed her teacher even says it was part of the reason why he took her on as a student.

this is interesting because it ties into her teacher's prediction that she becomes master diviner of the yuque, a destiny she defies by running away. but...

xianzhou fleet follows star calendar dating, and in 8072, third abundance war happened, a decisive year for many on the luofu. (caiyi dies in this war, as well as dan shu's love.) fu xuan, annoyed that the divination commission can't do much to help in the battle, devises a plan to use the cloudpeer telescope, putting it on the battlefield and calling down lan's arrow to raze it, winning the fight. jing yuan agrees to her plan, but takes responsibility for it. as a way to protect her.

she is willing to go down and be the one to call on lan. but no. the person who goes down with the cloudpeer telescope... is her mentor. he dies. as does many. but the battle is won.

this battle happens roughly 30 years before current timeline in-game, where while it's not confirmed 100%, we can guesstimate that we are around 8098 or 8100 SC (xianzhou reckoning, we know it's 2158 Amber Era, IPC calendar) which, sidebar, jingliu was ""killed"" by jing yuan in 7380. that's almost 700 years of the high cloud quintet survivors being tormented in various ways.

not sure of the timing of this report, but lan is on the move again.

the third war is very interesting because it left part of the hexafleet struggling to recover; luofu only recovered because of widening trade, something we see reflected in tingyun, yukong opting to work in the skyfaring commission, and aurum alley. and it was won because of fu xuan's choices.

in the time since, she seems to have come to terms with destiny being impossible to change. she writes in this letter (emphasis mine):

Let me be more straightforward here — the way the Matrix of Prescience Ultima operates is like a black box. We know that we can derive a frighteningly accurate prediction from the Chaos system by "observing our observation," but no one knows how it works nor can anyone explain it. Many, including my colleagues from the Divination Commission, consider this to be an example of how humans can change or select the future with their own power. But for me... I will interpret this from another perspective... The past, present, and future are not diachronic, but synchronic. (This statement denies the existence of time, so the use of "diachronic" and "synchronic" might be slightly inappropriate.) Every moment in the universe has been predetermined since the genesis. That is to say, it is impossible to change the future.

i find this very fascinating because we can thus also trace what that war did to her mindset and point of view; she doesn't think the future can be changed and that the universe is a deterministic one. (note that i don't think it's proof it is, as we saw with kafka and our choices in her quest, she also grapples with the question of if everything is predetermined or not. these are their point of views.)

now, some other observations and picking at her voicelines:

so, the omniscia/third eye she has is a gift from nous the erudition, also known as the wisdomwalker on the xianzhou. she writes in glimpses into the beyond that she has had at least one audience with nous, and regards them highly. (i also wrote more in-depth about that book here already, so i won't dig too deep right now.) she's had it most of her adult life, even before the third abundance war, before leaving the yuque.

despite being harsh sometimes, she's not mean. this comes across very well in march 7th's quest, i think: she does care what people think about her, but she's not about to go simpering or sucking up to get liked. i really respect that in a character, especially female? i've seen men write her off as a walking red flag of a personality, which is hilarious to me. she's a delight! just not your soft uwu waifu.

she loves her boba and milk tea. she claims it eases her constant pain from the third eye, which kind of tracks for me, i usually need to have caffeine in some form to help alleviate migraines. she likes them far too sweet for my liking, however, but she's big on teas. (it's suspected she is the one arguing that startaro tea is amazing and everyone else is just a loser and hater.)

and the pain. so, xianzhou natives, because of the abundance's blessing, are constantly healing. nous implanted a third eye into her that if it had been made by mortals, would have just been rejected. her body is constantly fighting this third eye, pushing it out, but it does not budge because of nous' powers. hence, unending pain until the day she dies. she even refers to it as an eternal punishment.

also worth noting how she's a follower of nous, while being on qlipoth's path.

her trigram talk sounds a lot like the i ching to me, and she's constantly consulting it, sometimes several times even before breakfast. implication? that she does not like surprises, perhaps. that knowing the future is her greatest security.

in march 7th's quest, i feel like we get to see a very protective side of her. she does not take lightly at having her work interfered with, even by fuli's followers, and you can see a glimmer of why she follows both qlipoth and nous here: intense desire to protect, and intense desire to know the truth at the bottom of it all, even if it makes her unhappy.

i also think her desire to be general stems from her preservation path, beyond just ambition. sure, she wants power, but to me she seems to want power to ultimately protect and guide.

ignorance is not bliss to fu xuan, to put it lightly.

she notes that the trailblazer doesn't have a trace of future destinies around them, and calls it strange. gestures.

[falleri-salvatore]

Plot Bunny that will not leave me

--Salem gathered the 4 Relics and successfully summoned the gods. The Brother Gods deem humanity unworthy and cast Ultima, once again decimating the entire human population except for 2. --Jaune and Ruby are the only survivors; due to Ruby and Jaune's Aura being linked and successfully neutralizing the Brother's attack. --Jaune and Ruby wander around empty Remnant, with Ruby pretty non-responsive. She walks she eats and breathes, but she does not talk does not laugh nor emotes. Jaune is little better, but can still force himself to push through for Ruby's sake. If there is one thing he was good at, it was being strong for someone else.

--Jaune and Ruby find ruins regarding Salem and Ozma's time, during the Age of First Humanity. Within them is a library with old tomes and grimoires. Most of them are ruined, but some of them are in perfect condition despite clearly being ancient. --Signs that someone occasionally read them in recent times are apparent. Jaune discovers even more secrets by way of notations made by someone within the texts. Speaks of how the Soul is made of Light and Dark, and while humans have learned to harness the Light, the ways of Darkness have been lost and reduced to mere myth or at best, as obscure cults.

--Jaune reads everything he finds aloud for Ruby to hear as well, even if he is unsure if she is even listening. He makes sure that she eats her food and makes sure to keep her healthy. 3 years since the end have passed and Ruby has yet to respond. --Jaune realizes that most of the texts speak regarding the harnessing of Light and Darkness, and how full mastery of both can lead to a fusion of sorts, which could lead to the successful usage of the soul's full potential. Some notations even theorize that whatever the "Darkness of the Soul" is, it is most likely associated with Grimm and their make-up. --Jaune recalls the converstations he had with Pyrrha back at Beacon, how everytime she spoke to him and taught him about Aura, she spoke about it in a way that was very similar to spiritual doctrines and beliefs. And how everything she told him were basically repeated in the tomes and grimoires. --Some texts also spoke about a time far before even Salem's. Specifically, they spoke about a "Tyrant of Light" and about how the Darkness was constantly being mislead and betrayed by it, and how the tyrant's desire for Absolute Order caused it to create heartless laws in order to keep all creation under the grip of its authority while hypocritically referring to it as "maintaining peace", despite said tyrant also being the one who often drove zealots to cause wars and unrest by crusading on its name every time humanity seemed to have reached a golden age.

--5 years since the end of the world and Ruby still hasn't shown any changes to her condition, while Jaune has now taken to travelling across the desolate Remnant in search of more tomes, texts or even any more objects or relics that can describe more about the old age; his newfound thirst for knowledge and helping Ruby being the only things that kept him from completely shutting down like Ruby had.

--He now knew some magic spells, though he did not have Magic to use them, but has tried to access the so-called "Darkness of the Soul" the texts spoke of, in order to fuse it with "The Light of the Soul", that is to say Aura, in order to create a new energy he hypothesized to be equal to Magic. Jaune's belief was, that if he could use "The Power of the Soul in it's Totality", and if he could use Magic with it; then maybe he could tinker with it until he could finally use the knowledge that gave him his hope back.

--A tome spoke of an ancient time spell. The wizard who wrote it, one who hailed from a time before Salem and Ozma; spoke of how humanity's fate had long been decided. The wizard also spoke about how "The Tyrant of Order" had actually come to disdain his and his brother's creation due to them always using their free will in way he did not approve. To the one of Light, free will meant "Having Free Will to choose to submit to him"; but humans were too independent, the more the one of Light tried to impose his will upon them, the more he tried to force them to a certain path, the more the humans defied him and rebelled. While Dark had animosity for the humans due to their lack of acknowledgement, he also greatly respected their drive to survive and thrive. Even the Grimm were, in his eyes, his own way of showing affection.

--To the "Lord of Destruction", Grimm were not only meant as a tool to cull the truly vile and evil (Jaune: "Wait, is that why they always seemed to sense focus on negative emotions"), they were also meant to give humans a challenge, a struggle. A constant battle that would force humans to constantly adapt, constantly grow, constantly evolve; it was meant to feed the fire of their determination and their passion for life. Although humans, in turn, saw it as the hatred of a scorned deity was never acknowledged for his actions nor thanked for his gifts.

--Back in the truly ancient days, the "God of Darkness" and the "God of Light" were equally worshipped and revered. Light and Dark, Life and Death, Creation and Destruction; these two concepts were acknowledged as the two pillars that served as the foundation of their world's laws. While one saw humans with an affection akin to how one would care for a toy for their own amusement, the other considered humans as no more than puppets for him to control, no more than servants to praise him. To one, their free will and spirit was what made humans interesting and entertaining; to the other, it is what made them insolent and compelled them to chase their own self-destruction. .........More to be added later

[game-saved]

Through the Nintendo Verse

This is but a silly advert to see if there would be interest in this type of game and also a way for me to just drop this from my head. I'm not sure when the game would start but if enough people are interested I'll at least run the Session One for the scenario.

System: Fabula Ultima

Method Of Play: Foundry + Discord VC

Date/Time: TBD

Group Size: 4-5

Preferred Player Experience: None/Newbies welcomed

Preferred Player Age: 21+

Session Length: 2-4 Hours

You and your friends have been dreaming about the greater world, exploring the lands beyond whatever Mario Kingdom you hail from and suddenly your whole world is destroyed by some dark entity. With its touch, it saps all the color and imagination from your world, turning your people, your kingdom into a mangled mess of scribbles that lashes out.

Inspired by a What If Nintendo but Kingdom Hearts!

Would most likely use Paper Mario and Other Mario Villains as Core Villains from any such game.

Explore a vast multitude of Nintendo Game Worlds at your own terms, from Paper Mario to Star Fox and Bayonetta.

Canon Game Knowledge for worlds not required.

[sweetwhumpandhellacomf]

She Would Have Done The Same

Inspired by this prompt from @whumporama!

FFXIV fanfic, takes place between ARR and HW. Not shippy.

---

With van Baelsar dead and the Praetorium a smouldering ruin, it was easy to write off the remaining Garlean castra after the Ultima incident. Eorzea had won—no, the Warrior of Light had won. Elodie Valeroyant had won, rendered the former invading army a diminished threat.

It was also easy, after such a feat, to forget that she was still simply one woman with a knack for healing magic, and as such, was not immune to getting into scrapes. The emergency signal transmitted by her linkpearl caught the Scions off guard that afternoon, and although they began to mobilize for a rescue, it wasn’t until Minfilia was unable to hail her for an hour after that they began to truly worry.

Some reconnaissance and information gathering revealed that Elodie had been in La Noscea on an expedition for the Botanists Guild and wasn’t equipped for heavy combat. Thancred found signs of a scuffle near Raincatcher Gully—dropped bags and plant samples, the scuff of Imperial boots in the mud.

“Of course it’s the bloody Imperials,” he muttered into his linkpearl after relaying the information to the Scions at the Rising Stones. “Let’s meet up at Wineport. I’ll see what I can find out before joining you.”

Infiltration was ever among the rogue’s strong suits. All it took was a well-executed concussion and some clever words, and one would find oneself in enemy territory looking exactly as if you belonged there. The uniform was a bit baggy on him, but he didn’t think he’d stand out; the rank and file likely had no say in how well their clothes fit.

He kept in touch with Minfilia and Alphinaud with furtive whispers in isolated corners, reporting in on what he saw and heard. The castrum was being manned by little more than a skeleton crew, and he only saw one very bored officer in the sector he chose to explore. There seemed to be one building under heavier guard than anywhere else, a soldier piloting a magitek armor pacing back and forth in front of the doorway as well as two swordsmen engaged in uneasy conversation. Squinting, Thancred could make out the words on their lips.

He caught “Warrior of Light” accompanied by a jerk of the thumb at the black iron door. That was all he needed.

“I’ve located her, I think,” he murmured into his linkpearl. “Just got to confirm it so we don’t go in on a wild dodo chase.”

“Be careful, Thancred,” came Alphinaud’s reply. “We can’t have the both of you in trouble.”

Thancred huffed quietly but didn’t answer as he made his way over to the building, carefully moving between stacked crates and passing armor. There were no windows, but a vent high up on the wall would suffice. He found a crate empty or else light enough to move with minimal effort and snuck it over, climbing on it to get a decent look inside.

Thancred had been expecting to see his fellow Scion alert and awake, maybe impatiently waiting for rescue or working on escape herself. The figure huddled in a corner, head drooped to her chest and shivering faintly, couldn’t be her. Elodie could never be in such a state. But the dark skin, the ears—hells, the shattered monocle hanging from its chain and glinting off the faint light, those were all Elodie.

Thancred suddenly couldn’t bring himself to leave her. Not like this, not tossed in a small room like a broken toy. This wasn’t just the Warrior of Light, not just the savior of Eorzea. This was his friend, this was the woman who had saved him when he was puppeted by that damn ascian. He couldn’t leave her because she wouldn’t have left him.

It was easy enough to distract the guards. Triggering an alarm on the other side of the castrum was trivial, and one of the gas grenades he brought along with him took care of the magitek pilot who decided to stay and guard the prisoner. The door unlocked with a clunk and he stepped carefully inside, hating the way Elodie’s slim form flinched at the sound of his footsteps. “It’s Thancred,” he whispered, hurrying to crouch by her. Up close, he could see her left eye was swollen shut, her shoulder was hanging too loose in its socket, and there were cuts and blood soaked into her botanist’s coveralls. “I’m getting you out of here. Can you stand?”

“I-I think so.” The quiver in her normally steady voice sent a spike of cold through his stomach. If she was so injured, why hadn’t she healed herself? Elodie was a more powerful healer than anyone he’d ever met—but as she tried to push herself up and dropped back with a gasp, he saw the magitek suppression collar clamped onto her neck. When she looked up at him, lower lip trembling, he knew things were much worse than anyone had imagined.

“Here,” he murmured, moving to the side with an uninjured shoulder and sliding his arm under hers to help her stand. She towered over him by nearly a fulm, but once she was standing, she was able to support herself by grasping tight to his shoulder. “We’ve got to go quickly. I know you’re injured, but the false alarm will only distract them for so long.”

Elodie didn’t complain, just nodded stiffly and started to limp alongside him. There seemed to be something wrong with her ankle; probably not broken, thank the gods, or he didn’t think she would be able to walk at all. It was still upsetting to see her like this. Even in person, Thancred always thought she was larger than life. Unflappable, shrugging off small injuries, an unstoppable force.

Every time she whimpered in pain, his gut clenched.

Yalms away from the building he’d pulled her from, Thancred froze. Hurrying footsteps, armored, coming back their way. He spotted an open storage shed and pulled Elodie towards it, pushing her into the dark corner and yanking the door shut. He heard the click of a lock and swore—more time he’d have to waste unlocking it again. “Be quiet,” he hissed, pressing his ear against the wall, listening hard. Muffled voices, one seeming to issue commands. He almost didn’t notice, due to how slowly she did it, that Elodie was pressing her face into his shoulder. He did notice, due to the cramped space, that she was still shivering.

He waited for the voices to pass, for the footsteps to recede, before relaxing. “Sorry,” he muttered. “Another dark space is probably not where you want to be just now.”

“It’s f-fine,” she answered, her voice muffled by his shoulder. “I trust you.” Something twisted in his gut.

The lock was open in moments, and Thancred let Elodie renew her grip on his shoulder before continuing on their way to safety, all his senses alert. As soon as he spotted the side gate he’d come through, he picked up the pace. Elodie let loose one small noise of complaint as the speed made her ankle worse, but the sight of freedom seemed to bolster her spirits otherwise.

The change in atmosphere outside the black metal walls was palpable. Thancred hurried over to a small glade on the edge of the cliff and set Elodie down against a tree, then spoke into his linkpearl. “This is Thancred,” he said. “I’ve got Elodie outside the southern wall of the castrum.”

“I told you to be careful!” Alphinaud protested, but Thancred could still hear people making ready to move out.

“I wasn’t going to leave her like that,” Thancred snapped. “She’s in rough shape, can hardly walk.”

There was a pause as Alphinaud came to some conclusions. “Sonya’s here, luckily,” he said. “She can carry her. Probably better to keep her occupied around Garleans…”

Thancred huffed a short laugh. Sonya would probably strike down any soldier she saw if she wasn’t busy looking after Elodie. “I’ll keep watch til you can get here. Thancred out.”

He looked down at Elodie, now leaning against the tree, her eyes closed. Even out here, in the warm air, she was still shivering. “Are you cold?” he asked, starting to pull off the baggy uniform tunic.

“No,” she said, with a minute shake of the head. “I-it’s the—this.” She raised her hand to cautiously tug at the suppression collar. “I think… I think it converts my aether to levin when I try to channel magick.”

“Gods,” Thancred said, shaking his head. Once more, the situation was worse than he feared. To not only be unable to use your own spells, but have them turn against you in such a manner? “I’d try to take it off, but I’m no Cid.”

Elodie’s lips twitched up in a brief smile, and she peeled her good eye open to look up at him. “That’s alright. Y-you’ve done plenty.”

Thancred draped the baggy tunic over her regardless, and the weight seemed to calm her. He stood back up and kept his eyes peeled for movement—either Garleans or, hopefully, the Scion rescue team. When he heard distant swearing and recognized Sonya’s voice, he grinned and stepped out of the high shrubs around the glade to wave them over.

Sonya was the first to make it, crashing through the brush. “Hells, Elodie,” the hrothgar said, stooping down to get a look at her. “You’ve got to stop getting in trouble.”

Elodie offered a weak chuckle. “I did try,” she said, unresisting as Sonya scooped her up in her muscular arms.

Alphinaud was soon to catch up, followed closely by Hoary Boulder and Coultenet. “Elodie,” he breathed, standing on tiptoe to get a better look at her injuries. “Heavens forfend, when I learned it was Garleans—Nevermind that. Do any of your injuries need immediate care?” When she shook her head, he sighed in relief. “Good. Let’s see you to safety.”

Hoary in the lead, the group arranged themselves so that Elodie was safely in the middle of them. “Thancred?” she asked, her voice wavering. He quickly shifted spots with Alphinaud, looking down at her. She seemed to be dropping out of consciousness, the ordeal having taken its toll. “Thancred, thank you.”

“For—?”

“For coming to save me. I always…” She drifted a bit, before screwing up her face and forcing herself to finish her thought. “Always thought it’d be nice… to have a knight in shining armor, when I was little. Just one time.”

“You’d do the same for me,” Thancred said. “Rest, Elodie. You damn well deserve it.”

She hummed and closed her eye again, dropping straight off to sleep.

[wilanserulia]

Hi, I'm Wilan! I'm a freelancer artist from Italy, and I work with digital media. I specialize in illustration and character design. I'm also a FFXIV Gpose enthusiast, and I write fanfic for my OCs in my free time.

And well, in this blog you can find stuff I create, which is usually either about my TTRPG OCs or my FFXIV OCs.

• My art: #art • My gpose: #gpose

I'm mainly active on tumblr, but if you use other socials you can also follow me on: • Twitter • Instagram (art) • Instagram (gpose) • BlueSky If you just want to check out my art: • ArtStation • Cara • deviantART If you want to read my fanfics: • AO3 For anything else: • Linktree

More info about my OCs under the divider!

FFXIV

I've been playing FFXIV since its original launch in 2010. I'll happily tell details of the story of the two characters I play to anyone who will listen to me, through gposing, art and writing.

Wilan Serulia

Wilan hails from a small island off the coast of La Noscea. The fisherman's life, however, never appealed to him, his gaze ever pointed beyond the horizon, his traveler's heart aching to explore the world. Fate had other plans for the fledgling adventurer, however. Hydaelyn chose Wilan as her Champion, her Warrior of Light, and he's been slowly buckling under the growing weight of the many responsibilties placed on his shoulders.

Tag: #Wilan #Aldarulia (ship)

Delen Aldanea

Born in a Garlean-occupied Terncliff, Delen grew up under imperial dictatorship until Eorzea's champion killed Gaius van Baelsar in combat, when she managed to escape while the colonies under his command scrambled to re-establish order. After reaching the shores of Eorzea as a refugee, the Werlytian girl was taken in by the very same Warrior of Light who felled the Black Wolf, who gave her a place to stay. Free at last but still stuck in her traumas, in Limsa she would meet a friend who would slowly but surely help her move forward with her life and enjoy what her newfound freedom had to offer.

Tag: #Delen #Aldarulia (ship)

TTRPG

I've been playing TTRPG for, like, 15 years now. D&D 3.5, Pathfinder, DnD 5e, Pathfinder 2e, Fate RPG, and most recently Fabula Ultima. Over this decade and half I've created plenty of characters and, boy, I can't stop talking about them if you get me going. I have way too many OCs to list on a pinned post. I did however list them here. But I'll introduce a few more recent and prominent ones anyway.

Viria

Born from an affair between a desert elf and a human woman, the mixed-race child has been unwanted by her human family ever since she was born, her very presence an uncomfortable reminder of her mother's infidelity. She ran away from home in her teens, around the time she started to develop her magic powers from her elven bloodline, met a similarly outcast half-orc girl and turned to a life of delinquency for a while under the destructive influence of her companion. But in the end she came into her own thanks to her found family, who accepted her for who she was and taught her a better way to be herself, and she blossomed into a bright and cheerful young woman.

Tag: #Viria

Hoshiko

Living a cyberpunk world where lovecraftian mythos were revealed to be real, Hoshiko Yukimura is a brilliant student of the University of Prague, enrolled in the faculty of Arcane Studies. Her natural pre-disposition for controlling magic made her a candidate for an elite corp of soldiers called Vakyries, and under the many pressures of the academy, society and her own family, Hoshiko caved, put aside anything she could consider childish or immature and dedicated herself to the pursuit of her studies. That is, until a botched ritual called an unknown creature into this world. The entity, inhabiting the cat-like construct intended to serve as a familiar, luckily seems to be benovelt toward Hoshiko, grants her a mysterious power, and is bringing chaos into the orderly girl's life, somehow pushing her toward healthier life choises in the process.

Tag: #Hoshiko Yukimura

Nora

A woman from one of the many nomad tribes of Numeria, the robot-infested wasteland of Golarion. Nora's unique appearance, a tiefling resembling a Balor, with goat horns, red skins, and two leathery wings sprouting from her lower back, is the result of having being conceived in the neighbouring land of Sarkoris under the corrupting influence of the Worldwound, the colossal planar rift connecting the material world and the Abyss, plane of the Demons. Nevertheless, being but one freak among many, Nora became a formidable warrior and a capable mercenary. It was during a job for the Crusade where she witnessed (and barely survived) the might of the Storm King Khorramzadeh, lord among balors and master of electricity. The encounter awakened something in Nora, that once channeled manifested a whip of lightning and command over lightning, earning her the title of Daughter of the Storm.

Tag: #Nora

[trillian-n7]

Elena von Valancius

Portrait is from Rogue Trader Generative Portaits.

Name: Elena von Valancius  Age: 38 Terran years Homeworld: Imperial World Origin: Navy Officer Conviction: Dogmatic Archetype: Bladedancer Planned Romance: Heinrix van Calox Appearance: Black hair, usually worn in a tight bun; grey eyes; light olive skin, tall and athletic build Style: Imperial navy uniform, white shirts, fitted grey pants, vest, black leather boots Personality: Confident, unrelenting, persuasive; loyal to the Imperium through privilege and wealth.

Early Life Elena van Mynaard was born on the small, yet prosperous, Imperial planet of Kessler. The Voss family was part of the nobility of Kessler and her mother hailed from the prestigious Von Valancius lineage. From an early age, Elena's sharp intellect and natural leadership skills were evident, which threatened her older brother, Matthias, the heir to the van Mynaard family, especially since she was clearly their father's favourite.

As Elena neared her eighteenth birthday, her father fell ill. Threatened by his sister’s popularity, Matthias seized the opportunity to secure his inheritance and pulled strings with the planet's Governor to ensure Elena's admission to the Kar Duniash Naval Academy. This honour left Elena with little choice but to accept.

Determined to avoid the commission, Elena secretly plotted to transfer the honour to her younger brother, Bastion, for when he turned eighteen. However, in a treacherous twist, Bastion orchestrated Matthias's murder and framed Elena for the crime. Heartbroken by his children's betrayal and unable to discern the truth, Lord van Mynaard concealed the murder within the family and commanded Elena to attend the naval academy.

Career At the age of 18, Elena attended the prestigious Kar Duniash Naval Academy in the Segmentum Ultima. Training was brutal, both from the expectations of the instructors and the conflicts between students, but her time at the academy was marked by excellence in both academic and tactical training. She graduated with honours and earned her first assignment as midshipman to the cruiser Indomitable. Her first deployment was in the Segmentum Obscurus, where she saw action against Ork raiders and Chaos incursions. Her strategic acumen and bravery in battle earned her several commendations and a rapid promotion to Lieutenant.

Elena's defining moment came during her deployment in the Gothic Sector where she played a crucial role in the defence of the forge world Aeolus. Her decisive actions and innovative tactics, luring a pirate squadron into a gravitational tear of a star, turned the tide of battle, saving countless lives and securing vital resources for the Imperium. For her heroism, she was promoted to Captain and given command of the frigate Drusus’s Blessing. 

As the commanding officer of the Drusus’s Blessing, Elena van Mynaard now patrols the perilous voids of the Segmentum Obscurus with the mission to safeguard Imperial interests and maintain the Emperor's peace. Known for her unwavering resolve and tactical brilliance she was promoted to Commodore and it was of little surprise when Elena received summons from Rogue Trader Theodora von Valancius to attend her ship.

Views of the Imperium Born to a lineage that has served the Imperium for generations, Elena's loyalty is woven as deeply into her being as her bloodline's honour. Sheltered by privilege from the many horrors of life under the Emperor's gaze, she nonetheless holds a burning conviction, a fierce dedication to the Imperium. This loyalty isn't a mere formality; it's the essence of her existence, sculpted through years of relentless service and countless battles. Each skirmish, each clash has only fortified her ideals, reaffirming her unyielding belief in the Imperium's cause. Elena's life is a testament to noble duty and the unbreakable spirit of the Emperor's faithful.

[meteorstricken]

This ask is about the post you reblogged with the Ultima voting and I agree: Ultima is not a perfectly written character at all, but most of his critics are definitely comparing him with other FF Villains.

The funny thing is if he was written like a revisit of characters like Sephiroth, Kefka or even Garland pre or post-Stranger of Paradise; everyone would whine anyway.

Which is ironic, as technically he IS a revisit of a FF villain: The Final Fantasy Tactics' Ultima, who basically acted the exact same way as he did, with the sole exception that she didn't act as a god creator. Said game that some critics also whine that FFXVI isn't: a dark and tragic story for the heroes, realistic politic drama, mysterious conspiracy in the shadows, powerful magical beings- wait what do you mean FFXVI also has that? ...And yet, funnily enough, it was reviled when first released in 1997 because it was a spinoff, had a weird and complicated gameplay and THE new hot stuff FFVII came first.

Life is funny that way. If annoying...

Yeahhhh...There is a long and terrible tradition with Final Fantasy in general where the newest game gets lambasted as awful until the next one comes out, at which point the previous starts to be hailed as a misunderstood masterpiece.

And I'm just not into that. Life is short and the clock is never not ticking. If I dislike a game enough that I'd want to publicly bitch about it, I just stop playing it. No sense in giving it more oxygen, and even less sense in giving others with a different opinion grief.

As for Ultima, my argument was that there's nothing particularly wrong with how he's written, but that some people just don't like him because he's not their favorite archetype. I see a lot of that--people deciding that "not my favorite kind"= "flawed writing". This is annoying to me, because it shows that some folks just don't know how to discern between their personal opinion and objective analysis, or are so attached to their opinions that they treat them as facts, which in my book is a symptom of extreme arrogance. And what usually follows on the heels of this arrogance is mean-spirited behavior towards other fans who don't agree with them...and on and on.

[rockheadcd]

@electrivolt said: "Are you, huh... are you sure about this?" With the kind of weather Tural had to offer, once the star-endangering issues were solved Volkner was very much in need of a change to something more appropriate. Or rather, something that wouldn't boil him by just walking around. Turns out, plates of steel aren't very friendly in the warmth. On the bright side, Roark was more than willing to assist on that regard. "Not that I'm complaining—! It looks great, I like it, just—" it just so happens that saving the star multiple times doesn't particularly make for an exercise in building confidence outside of battle. Still, Volkner wasn't lying, especially after all the effort Roark went through not only to find something comfortable, but also taking into account both his personal taste and the discomfort that fresh bandages can lead to. And his love does know him well, the new clothes are just as comfortable as he's used to, with the freedom to let bruises and wounds breathe and all the range of movement he requires when it comes to battle, not to mention the exact range of colors he favors to top it all off. He just isn't all that used to exposed skin, no matter the amount of times he's already been exposed for one reason or another. ( even though those reasons tended to be blood forced out of his body just a little too often for someone supposed to fight at a range regularly. ) "... How does it look?" He just needs a little validation as the last little nudge to really feel completely comfortable stepping out like that, that's all. / smn fit real.

By the time the two and their company had survived the voyage to Tuliyollal, the climate change was already getting to the cat in particular—Roark had a plan very quickly, all to excited to be in t he place where apparently half of his family hailed from. Finally in their cabin and situated, apprised of their duties here as welcomed teammates of the Third Promise, the Au Ra had quickly left as he came, bound for the bustling markets for a change of attire for Volkner. This side of the world was more apt to work with the mixture of arid and humid climates here, the local flora and fauna making something ideal to survive both with minimal discomfort.

A good hour and a half passed before Roark came tumbling back, beaming with his prizes stuffed in a satchel brought along for the ride.

He was already pleased that Volkner was willing to try it all on at least, and give it an honest judgment.

"Of course I'm sure! I'll probably need a change myself, but, that can wait. After all that chaos in Ultima Thule, getting all this armor off was driving Krile and Alphinaud insane... we're gonna be in a land with more bountiful nature than even Labyrinthos could have offered, and that means plenty of opportunities to need a bandage or two... knowing you, ehe.." Roark explains excitedly, but eventually calms down and ends with a warm smile.

"You look great. Very comfortable, to boot," he hums, stepping closer just to wrap his arms around the Miqo'te and squeeze, far too hand to grab at exposed sides that peek out between dyed leather panels, tough hide that can handle Volkner's insistence on standing next to him despite being a caster. "I had to run laps around the markets trying to find that kind of blue you like, ya know!"

Eventually, he lets go, happier when he pauses to take the entire outfit in it's entirety, pleased when he's matched his eyes near perfectly. "Wait.. I take that back. You look handsome." Another gentle smile, those of which have been appearing more and more after the events of saving the star.. again. Among other things, of course, having the island sanctuary to thank for that. He can't just help himself, can he—just smitten over this new adventure, being able to finally see for himself all the stories and sights that were described to him as bedtime stories. Roark can't help but sweep up Volkner and give him a kiss, just radiating excitement in everything he does. Really, if someone doesn't stop him, he's two seconds from diving into the shallow seas just outside their cabin.

[unbloomingmoonflower]

FFXIVWrite2023 Prompt 3: Free Day

Air couldn't fill her lungs fully. No, it kept escaping, kept being stolen from her, as she relived the white-hot fury and mind-numbing pain at infiltrating Castrum Meridianum.

There were so many of them that even after they've cleared the place out, Shuri couldn't catch her breath. Sweat dripped from her brow as she struggled to hide her discomfort, but she couldn't. She couldn't.

Not while vision of crimson lifeblood splattered on newly fallen snow continued to flicker in her vision and no longer behind her eyelids. Not while the cacophony of screams and clashing blades echoed in her horns and deep into her subconsciousness to pull the most devastating memory of her life to the fore.

So overcome she was that Shuri flinched when hands were upon her, mismatched eyes blinking to gain her focus back to the face of Cid. His brows were knitted in concern and Shuri all but recoiled from his touch. She was torn asunder by her conflicting feelings.

Cid was of Garlemald, his genius hailed from a young age there. Circumstances found him in Eorzea, where he discarded the ideals of Garlemald. He hasn't been one of them in so long, but Shuri struggled to reconcile that with the fact that he was one of them. One of the barbarians that slaughtered her entire tribe.

But Cid had treated her ever so kindly. He was her friend. Wasn't he? So what of his lineage? That shouldn't matter. Tried as she might to keep telling herself this, but Shuri couldn't stop the pain in her heart. The loss that haunted her, its ghosts wailing for her to not believe that anyone who had fled Garlemald truly left their ideals.

No, she admonished herself. That's wrong.

She couldn't think like this. No, this was wrong. This was utterly wrong.

"Shuri." Cid's voice called to her, the concern still there in spite of her reaction. "Are you all right? Do you need a moment to rest?"

"We can't," was Shuri's answer, choked with every strained breath. "We have to stop Gaius. We have to stop the Ultima Weapon. Can I count on you, Cid?"

The question was a double-edged sword, but one that Cid already seemed to have the answer to. He nodded, his expression now resolute. "You can. I promise."

[lossandfireandfaith]

Endwalker thought of the day: thinking of how Venat had a whole backup plan in case you can't or won't fight Meteion. sure, the ship could take you there, but it can also be used to evacuate the planet. almost all the world rests on your shoulders - almost.

the path is there, but the Scions have to argue and bargain for that ship. you go to fight not because you are the chosen one(s) and you must do it, but because you're ready.

and if you're not ready? it's okay. it's okay if you're not ready to take a chance on the fate of the entire world as we know it and go fight a millenia-old spirit of existential despair. as players of course we know that we will go, fight Meteion, and save the day, but you - not you the player, but you the WoL - you have a choice. god puts the most difficult, harrowing, hail-mary task possible before you, and says I love the world, so I will tell you how to save it - but I will not make you do it.

in another world there's a WoL who could not gamble with all of humanity, and chose to go and live to fight another day. and Venat would still be proud of you. she doesn't even get to see the outcome of your confrontation in Ultima Thule. she kicks it before you even take off. all she knows is that you tried, you've done your best, and that is all she can ask of you.

[lord-radish]

Mega Man X is one of the craziest examples of "first installment wins" in video games.

Like you'll get a game that's such a hard act to follow that the next game doesn't do well, or the devs will tack on two more games that have more in common with each other than they do with the original game to create a trilogy.

Really, there's a host of reasons why this could turn out to be the case, but it happens - the first one is the big passion project, later games don't measure up for one reason or another.

But for the most part, an enduring franchise - like Dragon Age or Ultima or what have you - will birth a handful of standout fan favorite entries between the contested ones, or have enough variety that there's a slew of equally valid arguments about which one is the best. The first one has clout, but maybe it doesn't age well or maybe later games approach things from a more compelling angle. Stuff like that.

Very rarely does a game series peak at the first game, then suffer an extended downturn that never really manages to rise above that initial peak. Even rarer is for a series like that to last beyond the standard trilogy of initial game releases that companies are known to do.

Fellas, gals and non-binary pals - Mega Man X.

Mega Man X is a series with eight games in it.

The first game has aged like wine. I played it for the first time in 2021, and it felt like it could have been released days beforehand as an indie title and sold 20 million copies. Straight up, I don't tend to like new games right away. I instantly loved Mega Man X.

It built on the foundation that the original Mega Man games laid and updated them for the 16-bit era of gaming. You could shoot in all different directions. You can dash and wall-jump, and you can get upgrades that makes the game feel even better to play. It is, for all intents and purposes, one of the best generational leaps forward of that era - Mega Man X is to Mega Mans 1-6 what Super Mario World was to the original Super Mario Bros.

The second and third games are fine for the most part? I think X3 has a cheap death due to a design oversight as soon as you spawn into a level (or is that X4?), but they're okay games even if they roll back some of X's most radical changes.

Mega Man X4 has a positive reputation, though I'm not the biggest fan. It has FMV sequences with voice-acting, and it's arguably the most "cinematic" game so far. It was ambitious, and it was the first 32-bit Mega Man game - it had a lot going for it. But frankly, I just don't think it was as tight of a gameplay experience as the first one was. I'd even say it felt a lot less tight than the previous two games.

And then the next three games are terrible! Like genuinely just terrible! X5 had a really cool effect on the first and last boss fights, but as a game it felt cheap and kind of desperate. X6 felt like shovelware - it had a cheap translation, no dub and really bad level design! And then X7 was the first 3D game in the series, and it hit the polygon ceiling at 300mph!!

X8 came out in the mid-00's, and it felt like it had the most love put into it in like 5 years at least. But even then, I couldn't bear to play much of it. Every game since X5 had been a step down, and I couldn't reconcile the fun I'd had with the first three games with the hail mary attempt that was X8.

Capcom made a game so good that it has hardly aged a day in its life. I'd say the proliferation of indie development and the revival of retro aesthetics has actually made X1 more enjoyable and relevant today than it was fifteen years ago, but it's always had such an incredibly strong structure and core that nothing has been able to touch.

It innovated on the Mega Man formula in ways that later games rescinded on in the name of tradition, iconography or formula. And after the series peaked in ambition at the fourth game? The series never recovered, despite producing four more games!

People still champion X4 as a worthy contender for the title of Best Mega Man X Game, but I can't get past its drawbacks. Mega Man X is all killer, no filler, and the seven subsequent games - try as they might - never held a candle to it. Seven full retail releases, over the course of 12 or so years and three home consoles, couldn't crack the formula that made the first game one of the best video games of all time.

They had the recipe from day one, but it was never as good as the first time they made it.

[toxicjack-destination]

**Character Profile: Black Heart**

**Age:** Eternal

**Race:** Anti-Void Saiyan

**Gender:** Male

**Sexual Orientation:** Straight

**Power Level (Battle Power):** Ultima Infinity⁵

**Abilities List:**

1. **Perfection Regeneration**

2. **Super Mind Acceleration**

3. **Demon Lord Ambitions**

4. **Turn Null**

5. **Ciel**

6. **Super Resistance**

7. **Chaos Creator**

8. **Reality Warping**

9. **Supreme Deity**

10. **Law Manipulation**

11. **Omnipotence**

12. **God Ki**

13. **Super Saiyan 1, 2, 3, God, and Blue**

14. **Ultimate Instinct Master 1, 2, 3, and 4**

15. **Various Ki Blasts**

16. **Omni Ki**

17. **Omni Transform**

18. **Omni God**

19. **Omni Super Saiyan 1, 2, 3, and 4**

20. **Perfect Ultimate Instinct 3**

21. **Divine Super Saiyan 1, 2, and 3**

22. **Insane Power (8000 times)**

23. **Omega Power Up (900000 times)**

**Backstory:**

Black Heart, an eternal being hailing from the Anti-Void Saiyan race, traverses the vast multiverse, exploring realms beyond mortal comprehension. Possessing a Battle Power at the Ultima Infinity⁵ level, he is the epitome of strength, capable of challenging gods and reshaping the very fabric of existence.

Corrupted by the anti-void, Black Heart treads the fine line between malevolence and benevolence. His ambitions stretch across realms, from Null dimensions to Celestia, leaving an indelible mark on every reality he encounters. A master of various transformations and abilities, he wields the power of gods, surpassing even the concept of Omnipotence.

Despite his overwhelming power, Black Heart's disposition depends on the understanding he finds in others. Whether a harbinger of destruction or a protector of realms, he remains an immortal force, training for eons and ever-ready to unleash his wrath upon those who dare challenge his might. Beware, for angering Black Heart can result in the erasure of existence, but aligning with his benevolence can lead to a powerful ally in the cosmic dance of existence.