#I almost exclusively use thancred

[asleepinawell]

while they've definitely improved some of that, the npcs will always run to the middle for that particular stack in holminster (similar situation with the armadillo in malikah's well). I suspect it's to prevent them from dropping the aoe puddle in the middle of the safe area since it would then be harder to program the AI to avoid that during the next part but idk. by comparison, they do come to you for the line stack in the last boss and in some other places. I'm not sure what the logic was in the hydaelyn fight because I rage quit after that since urianger had already murdered me and I didn't want to start over

and speaking of that armadillo boss, it does a proximity mine in the center followed by a donut aoe. so you need to get out to the edge until the proximity goes off and then in to the center get out of the donut one. the scions will always run into the center before the proximity goes off. it doesn't seem to be that big a problem except sometimes the healer will run directly on top of the proximity and instantly die. I've had urianger do this 3-4 times now. I just know to bring alisaie along now if I don't have a rez myself

in general, learning the scion AI behaviors in trusts is kinda like keeping track of another mechanic since in a lot of instances they're programmed to go to one specific place. for the second boss in vanaspati they all seem to have a set water bubble to run to and will get hit if you take their bubble

despite that, I do like that the supports/trusts let you follow the scions around to learn mechanics and I think it's great for people who are nervous about doing something new with other people and messing it up (like me!), but there's definitely some fun quirks you need to get used to. like the fact they'll often stand exactly one pixel outside of an attack so if you're following them and aren't directly on top of them you may still get hit 😔

though the flip side of that is that sometimes I simply do not learn the mechanics. ktisis hyberboreia is one I run exclusively in support (love the elpis squad) unless I'm playing with someone else and the first time I went in with real people I realized I had no clue how the snake man's head attacks worked because I usually just followed venat around like a lost baby bird. also everyone went to a different spot for the cross line aoes and I was Distressed™ because I was so used to where the npcs went

ALSO (minor 6.3 dungeon spoilers will try to leave vague) in the latest dungeon, on the last boss, there's a super confusing bunch of line and circle aoes that vanish before they go off and the scions will sometimes just go stand directly in one and fuck you over. thanks team!!!!

and then there's the thing where I swear sometimes urianger will get an aoe spread and just run full speed right at me. that guy. but really it's mostly that the npcs are programmed to go to a specific location with those and once you know it's not a big deal but man it can lead to some hilarious disasters

the funniest moment I ever had in a trust was in the hydaelyn fight when I got a stack marker and all the scions came running over to me and then. then. at the very last second every single one of them ran out from under the stack to group in the middle (AI anticipating the next attack I presume) and the stack went off .0001 seconds after they ABANDONED me before I could catch up and the wol's mom resundered the shit out of my poor lizard boy. the sheer and utter betrayal of that moment. exquisite. hydaelyn was like yeah you guys should probably just get on the moon ship and gtfo

[nights-at-crystarium]

i just wanted to pop by and gush about how incredibly well written vivi is because GOD. his story unfolding has made me reconsider several story beats about my wol and thats an amazing thing

theres two things that i think uve done especially well with his storytelling, being that vivi feels like an almost complete enigma to the reader, despite how intimate this story is, and the fact that vivi feels incredibly human - almost TOO human to be comfortable with

so to elaborate on the first point - i think a lot of us (and certainly i can) echo thancreds sentiment that he doesn't know vivian rell, because as intimate as this story can get with his pov, in the end, much like someone you'd meet in real life, we don't know much about him before the point we meet him, and any glimpses we get just signal that theres so much more to him than we get to see. and as much as we DO know about him, i find that every time he does one of his blank, furrowed stares that signal he's thinking something, my brain practically lights on fire trying to figure out what he's considering. to that end i really like how enigmatic uve made him from a storytelling perspective, because it makes him feel so much more real!!! i honestly look forward a lot to learning more fragments (heh) of him and slowly piecing together a puzzle of him as the story goes on. i just want to rotate him in my head lol

but also, this does segue into my other point really well, which is the fact that vivis position as wol really seems to wear on him, and he seems for lack of a better word, completely exhausted! i know (myself included) write their wols with a trait of an almost unbreakable, iron will, which is very much still true in vivis case (again, anyone who gets to the point of shadowbringers without flat out giving up is incredibly strong by default) but showing him at his wits end, exhausted with the burdens of a hero, someone just so throughly *done* with what is, realistically, a pretty shit job is well... yeah! of course he is! he's only human, and he's what, saved the world 3 times now? seen countless die before him, powerless to save them, of course he's numb. the fact that the most defining experiences of the first for him are filled with mostly such... benign experiences, and that the major, climatic moments of shadowbringers get as much fanfare as a forlong gaze, or a like. him hanging out with his fairy bestie is such a cool storytelling decision. (also before i ramble about this the decision to not even show tesleen is such an excellent decision bc like. it makes sense for him for this to not be such a significant moment. shes just another death, another tally to the thousands hes already seen. or maybe im reading WAYYY too hard into a decision to not highjack this love story with plot) basically, what i've been gushing about is the fact that vivi feels very much like a whole person, and is probably one of the most well realised wols ive ever read about. and his relationships with the world leaders, and this impossible burden hes forced to shoulder has gotten me to reconsider how i write my wol, because yeah! any hero might be strong-willed and resilient, but theyre still human, and the burden of a warrior of light is maybe, a little too much for anyone to bear.

i hope u could at least make something out of my rambles, but honestly to sum it all up i am incredibly captivated by vivi. i originally read fragments because i like ANY wolgraha content but now, i come back almost exclusively to see how vivi's story unfolds, and how graha eventually comes into the fold too. hes such a fascinating character, and i think youve done an incredible job of creating a well rounded hero, full of humanity!!! (also, if you want, feel free to post this on ur blog!!)

I think I shat myself like 5 times while reading this (positive)

Vivi being an enigma wasn't really part of the plan. We have a pool that's his lore, things I wanna tell, and a bottleneck through which it has to go. The comic format forces me to consider what bits of info to deliver when, there's only so much I can tell at a time. One deliberate choice I made is completely burn the bridge between ARR and ShB, skip, leave it empty. That already sparks questions when we see a different Vivi at the beginning of ShB (and gives me leeway, time to write with more nuance, I didn't Think about HW-SB in such scrupulous detail as ShB).

I wanted to tell a primarily ShB story from the start, but had less ambition, and planned to condense the angsty bits that you're reading nowadays into an infodump told by Vivi to no one (to the reader). Changing the receiving party to a tangible character who's eager to learn (Exarch) made the info easier to digest and anchored it in the world. This change, fwiw, happened in like 2022 while I drew the ARR arc, saw the warm reception, and got more excited about my thing. I constantly learn and try to improve, writing's a new toy that brings me tons of fun.

So, when I learned the new trick - telling things through other characters - I thought, why not make everyone slightly wrong, or rather, with a specific snapshot of Vivi in their head. Same happens irl, people only know the version of you that they're exposed to, the only person who knows the full and real you is you.

That brings me to the next point, why Vivi feels so human: I made him not as a wol/hero, but a guy I wanna ship with Exarch, his foil. Obligatory note it was dumb of me to ignore Emet's existence in that case, but that's already changed. Exarch denies himself the simple human joys, he plots his own fucking death, so I thought I'd give him a guy that teaches him how to enjoy being alive again. That was THE foundation of Vivi, his core. He's a manic pixie dream boy.

Then I started asking how and why: why he falls for Exarch specifically instead of ARRRaha? He's confident, selfish, casual (these traits are what Exarch lacks), emotionally intelligent, where did that come from? He must've had an utterly normal life and loving family before he became a hero. He grew up being appreciated and happy. OH, then his ass must LOATHE the current situation because he can't go back to that normal life! So on, so forth.

i find that every time he does one of his blank, furrowed stares that signal he's thinking something, my brain practically lights on fire trying to figure out what he's considering.

This's me carefully dropping the breadcrumbs and hoping that you notice them, and you go HOLY SHIT BREADCRUMBS, this's so validating ;w; <3 This's overtly called a story hook, though I prefer "door". So far this story's only opened doors, as in hinted at more stuff without immediately showing it. I love it when questions get delayed answers, when you get time to stew on it and build up anticipation, then, when the door finally closes, it's much more satisfying. I keep in mind all the doors I've opened, if something provokes a question, it's by design.

(also before i ramble about this the decision to not even show tesleen is such an excellent decision bc like. it makes sense for him for this to not be such a significant moment. shes just another death, another tally to the thousands hes already seen. or maybe im reading WAYYY too hard into a decision to not highjack this love story with plot)

You're 100% correct!! I'm not retelling the canon ShB story from a default wol pov, this's a custom thing focused on ships, therefore anything that doesn't contribute to said ships gets cut. You may read what's NOT shown as what Vivi doesn't pay attention to.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me, this gave me so much motivation like you wouldn't know ;//////;

[blissfulalchemist]

It’s time for some OC chatting over coffee! ☕️ When you get this ask, feel free to share one fun fact about an OC of your choice. Then, share with 10 (or fewer — no pressure!) others to spread the OC love.

Ahh! Thank you Macy! Have a few different random oc facts! cause i can never just pick one.....

Conner's little bi awakening/self acceptance was actually at a Green Day concert that he didn't want to go to initially but Luke dragged him there. And while Conner was thinking about it he didn't think a man could be bi entirely, well that was until Billy Joe bluntly said he liked both genders and then proceeded to kiss a man on stage. A whole new world opened up to Conner in that moment, and it was just like things made sense all of a sudden.

Alma once left home without telling anyone for two days when she was 12 to go to the butcher because she was curious on how body parts worked and what they could look like. The butcher put her with a hunter and it was on their little excursion that they came across an antelope that was freshly torn open by wolves and for just a minute she got to see how organs looked and behaved, one of which being the lungs. It was that experience and the readings of some other Kanver scholars that helped her figure out how to save Joshua when his lung collapsed suddenly not long after he was beginning to move around. She didn't have the term of collapsed lung but she figured there wasn't enough space for them to expand and it led to her stabbing him just as the older Undying members rushed into the room. No it was not a very good look for her, she almost got into some big big trouble had he not started to breathe normally again, then it was only trouble because they can't deny that she did manage to save him.

In the Final Fantasy 14 universe Stasia was born a blonde just like her father's vessel at the time. She kept it until she was 16 not long after meeting Emet-Selch when she decided to use her ability to change appearance to make it black. She only ever changed it back to blonde for a decade during the initial rising of the Garlean Empire, which her father would point out that he did enjoy her natural blonde hair as a way to get under her skin.

Siberite almost changed her name when finally free of her parents to try and better hide herself but by the time she got to the adventurer's guild and signed up she had already written down her first name, so she just opted out of a last name which led many to assume she was an orphan, a nicer dressed one, but an orphan nonetheless. Many didn't know her last name until Endwalker when she had to state it for the Sharlayan entrance paperwork. The few that knew before that were Minfilia, Thancred, Y'shtola, Urianger, and Alphinaud. The first four because they knew of her mother's request for aid in looking for her, and Alphie because he was at the dinner where Count Edmont proposed that she and Haurchfaunt get married.

Clídna was undefeated among the young men that she fought against what were also training to become shields. So much so that the Lord Commander would send the ones with too big of an ego to her as a humbling. I should technically say near undefeated as sometimes the young boys like ten and under would want to fight her and she'd let them win or have it end in a tie because she didn't find it right to crush their dreams that early.

Lance only listens to cassette tapes exclusively. Yes his daughter Sage has taught him how to use an mp3 player, and he is capable of using one, he just chooses not to. There's nothing like putting in a tape labeled "Bonfire and Cow tipping '79" with a crude drawing as the cover, and listening to the sound of the times. He has hundreds of them that are personal mixes alone which are his favorites, and he did sacrifice some of his collection to help get messages to the resistance. They were lower on the list of what he liked, but still there were some memories lost.

[zylphiacrowley]

Old age/aging headcanon for Vahl? (Also bonus is he called Vahl often? Who calls him Vahl?)

I actually headcanon that the echo extends his lifespan. Not by a lot, but beyond that of an average miqo'te (he will not outlive oh, say.......... a viera who is already younger than he is). As of this moment, and MSQ-willing (please don't ruin this for me Yoship), he will eventually settle down with Erenville in a small house outside of a small town where people have heard of the warrior of light, but maybe wouldn't recognize him to see him. He'd listen to people tell stories of his adventures and find the inconsistencies and exaggerations endearing and he would go into town to play music for people. He'd stay in touch with the scions and be there to mourn the passing of those he outlives and still visit those he doesn't. I also think he'd revel in the idea of being the kindly old town grandpa who would tell the local kids stories, downplaying his own achievements in favor of bolstering his friends' (enough people tell his story, he wants to make sure people hear of the heroism of the others who helped him along the way).

Bonus: As for being called Vahl and who is actually allowed to call him that; Everyone usually uses his full name in public, regardless of whether or not they call him Vahl. As for who: all of the pre-EW (and still alive/with them) scions are allowed to use it, G'raha and Y'shtola are allowed to use it since he's close with both of them (even though he and Y'shtola act more like bickering siblings half the time) and JustSuncatThings. He also uses their actual names to refer to them when not in public. Tataru was the first of the scions to be allowed to do so. Urianger and Alphinaud are both allowed to call him Vahl but they usually still use his full name. Alisaie teases him and calls him dad a lot more than she calls him Vahl (joke's on you Alisaie, he finds it endearing). Krile and Thancred only recently started to use it, albeit Thancred not that often since he's not used to it and also since they were kind of on shaky grounds during most of ShB. Non-scion wise; the mother of his children used to be able to use it, but he wouldn't let her anymore if he ever saw her again. Also Levi'ra (his canon dnc instructor and old friend) does! Levi is actually probably the only person who almost exclusively uses "Vahl" to refer to him and only uses his full name when he's trying to get his attention.

Thank you for the ask and I'm sorry for the excessively long answer for this one lol I just.... have put some previous thought into it so I have a lot to say about the subjects ^^'

[fair-fae]

Very funny to me that neither of these people replied to me. I even held off on blocking them right away because I thought it was fair to wait and let them say their piece first. Having played through the entirety of the MSQ in English, I wanted to give my (not-so) quick final thoughts and it's pretty interesting that the scene shown in the video is the ONLY scene where I thought Sena Bryer's delivery was 100% objectively bad, and even then it seems to clearly be an issue of direction. It's not a failed attempt to sound strained/angry/distraught, there just straight up is no attempt. There are scenes prior to this where she sounded convincingly angry and emotional. There is the lovely little strained "RGGHH!" growl she does in battle. Knowing that she is entirely capable, and knowing that presumably no one would give such a calm delivery of lines if they were told "pretend you're in the middle of an emotional confrontation that turns to a fight and you're trying to lift up something heavy to stop it from crushing you alive," I have to believe she wasn't properly told that? I mean I'm gonna be real, I think if the voice direction in Dawntrail wasn't at least a little off, those takes wouldn't have been chosen to be used for such a climactic moment to begin with. They're not the only times during the expansion I thought, "How did this recording making it into the finished game?" and the others were not Sena's doing, but I'm not going to dogpile those actors the way people are with Sena. Thancred's English VA sounded legitimately sick in some scenes, which happens, people get ill and maybe there was no time to re-record. Some of the North American voices made me cringe, but FFXIV primarily uses a EU voice talent studio afaik and god knows there are Hollywood actors who can't even do a convincing southern accent, so it's not really the end of the world when it's random NPC's who less experienced actors were probably asked to read a few quick lines for with little direction. There are times where Wuk Lamat's lines could have been delivered with more intensity, sure--almost exclusively ones where she could have sounded angrier. I don't really know or care what the JP voice actress did in those scenes, and it also doesn't really bother me in general. Nothing takes me out of something more than when a voice actor is acting their heart out, meanwhile the character is just standing there with a totally flat expression and no body language lol. It's just a different take on the character/scene. It was never ill-fitting and it never came off as underacting or emotionless, it just wasn't as over the top as it could have been, and that's fine. Some people will like it less, some people will like it more. I think it still suited the character and the context of the story well enough, especially since it usually fit her reasonably as a would-be leader trying to keep her cool and reach peaceful resolutions. You can prefer a more dramatic delivery and that's fine! But that's not always an issue of "good" or "bad." It's also maybe not a bad idea to examine why you think Wuk Lamat, a pretty happy-go-lucky character who is all about peace and love and friendship, needs to sound aggressive all the time. Maybe it's just an innocent case of personal preference, or maybe some more harmful stereotypes about the kinds of people society thinks should be angry and loud are being ~*mysteriously*~ projected onto a character like Wuk Lamat. Anyway I was a little hesitant to add to this and give this post a boost so I WANT TO SAY please I'm begging you, this is not an invitation for random strangers to give me your fucking yelp review about why you still think Sena Bryer's performance was bad. You're either exactly the person I'm talking about in the OP and I'm already aware of your "arguments" and you already know my opinion on them, or this post is obviously not about you and we can respectfully agree to disagree but you can go make your own post about your opinion because it has nothing to do with mine lol

I've seen transphobes all over the place on other social media huffing copium about how they don't hate Wuk Lamat's English VA (and the entire character by extension) because she's trans but because her delivery is "flat and emotionless" and like objectively, no it's fucking not lmao

[soulerflaire]

I’ll put a tl;dr at the bottom since this is gonna be kinda long.

So a couple months ago I decided to finally give Final Fantasy XIV a real shot. I kept hearing how amazing a game it was, and I’d been missing playing an MMO since the whole Blizzard fiasco and quitting WoW. It was definitely not what I was used to; completely different aesthetic, a daunting UI, and constant mentions of features I had no concept of. But I stuck with it, and I am so glad I did. The hype is true; this game is a lot of fun, and the story is incredible...once you get past the base game.

FFXIV is divided into five chapters currently. A Realm Reborn is the base game, then the four expansions: Heavensward, Stormblood, Shadowbringers, and Endwalker. A Realm Reborn’s story is pretty bland and dull. The characters are flat, and some of them are just plain annoying (Alphinaud being famously the most annoying character by far). It’s a real slog to get through, with a lot of the quests being simply “Go here, talk to person.” They focused on story to the exclusion of fun gameplay, except the story isn’t very interesting. There’s also the problem that they seem to expect you to already know all the characters, so they don’t give good introductions to any of them and you never really feel any kind of connection to them.

BUT

That all changes with the very end of A Realm Reborn’s storyline leading into Heavensward. The story picks up, and from then on it’s amazing, with excellent character development for existing characters (Alphinaud becomes one of my favorite characters by the end of Heavensward), really interesting new characters, and quests that actually feel like they matter! And it just keeps going into the next three expansions. There are, as with anything, good and bad points, but overall the story stays strong throughout. Shadowbringers is incredible, honestly my favorite chapter by far. Legit brought me to tears at a couple points. Even the bad guys are well written with interesting motivations and personalities (except Zenos. God I hate that guy, he’s the most boring kind of bad guy. But he’s not the main villain for the most part).

Something else that I have thoroughly enjoyed is that all five chapters, from A Realm Reborn to Endwalker, are part of the one single storyline. Sure it’s got chapters to it, but the entire plot begins with learning about the Ascians and ends with saving the world from an eons-old apocalypse. It’s all one connected story, and it’s just incredible seeing how it all fits together so well. Callbacks to previous story beats that aren’t just “Hey remember this thing that happened?” They’re actual story elements that were planned and incorporated into what is currently happening.

And I mentioned it before but ohhhhhhhh man the character development is so good. Seeing Alphinaud go from spoiled brat with an ego the size of a mountain to a heroic young leader capable of rallying a nation. Seeing Thancred go from outwardly cheerful womanizer who drinks to dull his guilt to a father who fights not just to protect his adopted daughter, but to see her thrive and achieve her goals. I don’t think I’ve ever cared more about NPC companions in a video game than these people. I could go on for days about how much I love all the characters.

I legitimately recommend this game to anyone who loves story, especially Final Fantasy stories. If you played any FF games and enjoyed them, then you will almost certainly enjoy this game as well. You just have to make it though the A Realm Reborn slog first, which is not an easy ask, I know. I nearly quit a couple times during it, tbh. But it’s worth it to get to the rest of the story.

One piece of advice: Don’t read all the text/watch all the cutscenes for side quests. Every single quest, no matter how small or unrelated to the main story, has paragraphs and paragraphs of text with it. It can get very overwhelming trying to read them all, and they don’t matter for the main story. If the game doesn’t require you to do a quest to progress, then you don’t need to read that quest’s text in order to understand the main story. Even if you’re the kind of person who loves doing every side quest and reading every piece of lore, these might get to be too much for you.

TL;DR FFXIV is a fantastic game and I highly recommend giving it a try. It’s free up through level 60, which includes A Realm Reborn and Heavensward, though trial accounts are severely restricted in terms of group play (can’t send or receive mail, can’t trade with other players, can’t join parties, can’t add friends). If you decide to give it a shot, let me know! I’d love to hear what you think of it (and also none of my friends play so I have no one to talk about the game with : p )

[tiredassmage]

For the ship asks, how about 12 and 20??

From the Ship Asks!

12. Character that you can only imagine in one ship.

I think I'll have to step outside of XIV for this one because I don't know if I can think of a XIV character I feel strongly enough about in this way because the general atmosphere of "nothing is set in stone for you, please interpret their relationships with your character as you wish!" And so many interactions in the game are written so well.

Marvel is the place we're going to have to go if we're going to talk about a character I can't ship any other way, and the debate around it and what I, personally, hate about how they have been handled in the movies is why I... no longer really care to keep up with most MCU happenings. But it's Clint Barton/Hawkeye and Natasha Romanova/Black Widow. I fell so head over heels in love with them that I just genuinely cannot imagine it going any other way. And lest I accidentally get embroiled in more than I bargained for admitting that, all I'll say is that I also can't get along with how they've been treated individually in the MCU, either. I can't really get into Natasha and Bruce, and I think both of them have been hideously sidelined and just... not allowed to be shown to their full potential too much for me to ever reconcile with the MCU as it is. I have not, for the record, yet seen the Black Widow movie, nor did I actually watch Infinity War and Endgame, and I don't really intend to amend the latter two just because of how I feel about how things went to get here. I've heard enough on the internet to know more or less what's happened with those movies. Black Widow I'd still like to maybe see at some point (it is the one on the list that I haven't really looked into plot details about) because it's finally here and I stupidly would still like to see what they finally did for her, but there's a part of me that will always feel like it's a bit of an empty gesture to give both of these characters any sort of focus now. A little too little a little too late kind of thing.

20. Ship you liked, but don't anymore.

Hmmmm, this one is... also a little tricky for me to think of in XIV-exclusive terms. It honestly might just be because I'm exhausted (my fan decided it's on its last legs last night so it kept waking me up threatening to fall apart or whatever, and I worked a morning shift today so that was Lovely) that my brain is just refusing to compute thoughts, but I don't... think I've had a ship in XIV that I've felt this way about? So, to give you something, I'll talk about a few almost-maybes I've had for my various XIV OCs.

I had, I think sometime around the time I was playing ARR or HW, toyed very idly and not very in-depth with the idea of Astor and Y'shtola because they have a somewhat similar mind for handling things. With the "hindsight" or further development and interaction shown since then and through Shadowbringers though, I ultimately don't think they'd ever work, and it wouldn't really show up in any of their interactions as an "almost," either. It came down a lot to the kind of interactions they might have had during Shadowbringers, and mainly to the way that I see Y'shtola as an incredibly logic-driven character. Astor, on another hand, is incredibly emotion-driven, and Y'shtola does not hold back anything. I think it'd end up hurting more feelings than anything and leading to butting heads rather than a romantic dynamic. Particularly in Shadowbringers, Astor struggles a lot with... a lot. And there's times where Y'shtola's biting honesty helps him, and there's times where it gets to him and wounds him... More in the kind of wounded pride or things you weren't quite ready to hear but needed to sense than anything that'd make them less of friends, but, anyway, the TLDR is that they're definitely better as friends, and I don't think there's enough from either of them that it'd ever really be a thing.

Minerva is a character I have not put a lot on here and I'm still wildly trying to figure her out, so it's debatable if anything lasting will really ever come of my struggle or if she'll just endlessly remain on the alt-pile, but on my list of potentials for her was Thancred, and I am still debating whether or not I want their almost-maybe-could have play out in full because I do like it. To keep it short, Minerva had a rough life and she's had to fight to survive most of it. Becoming a hero wasn't a thing she ever planned for, and it's sometimes still a little wild to her that... it's happened. She's aggressively against the idea of being used and objectified because she's, unfortunately, experienced quite a bit of it. Their dynamic interested me so much at first because I could see her being kind of taken by his charm in ARR, though, at the same time, his reputation isn't exactly a secret, and it's exactly the kind of reputation that would usually make her skin crawl, so it's something they would have had to work around and through. At the same time though, I could totally see him offering her the kind of genuine confidence building and admiration she'd deserve and... she really needs from a partner. But I think they'd ultimately hit a road bump in SHB that I don't think she could really let herself work around, and that's how he deals with Ryne and his grief for Minfillia. Yes, it's eventually handled better and it's something him and Ryne work through after a lot of coaxing, but I feel like it'd just be a bit of a too-close-to-home issue for Minerva that she'd never quite feel entirely comfortable with again. While it's not exactly a forgiveness issue or really her needing to forgive him, it'd... probably be the easiest way for it to be phrased is that she's not sure she can ever really forgive how he kind of took things out on Ryne when she didn't deserve it, and balked at accepting help. It'd kind of hurt her. I can't imagine them entirely not getting along after and I think they could definitely come to an understanding and work past it as friends, but I don't think she'd be able to maintain a relationship. But that's... a lot of theory for a poor girl whom I can't even figure out what kind of job I want her to main. 🤦 One day. One day I'll figure her out.

[allycryz]

Nerys Eluned: Canon Jobs

Background

Nerys spent her childhood with a community of Duskwight in the South Shroud until she was twelve. Her parents moved first to the Central Shroud, later to the East. Prior to ARR, she had never left the Shroud.

Her father handled her academic education with a bent towards reading and history. Her mother took on the more practical subjects: how to hunt, forage, stay out of trouble; where the Duskwight could move freely and where they should avoid. 

There were always chores and odd jobs for children, especially needed when they left the relative safety net of The Cavern in the South. By her fifteenth nameday, this turned into steady work. She excelled in mostly physical jobs for merchants, farms, and outposts.

Nerys off-and-on entertained the idea of becoming a soldier, but never felt called enough to take steps. Once she reached her 20s, she had two main goals: make enough gil to live and to have fun when she wasn’t working. Nerys broke up her share of bar fights and dealt with fending bandits off merchant caravans, so again the idea of being a soldier or Adventurer came up.

The catalyst is a rough break-up that also ends a lot of her friendships. It is not that becoming an adventurer is a solution to any of the problems she faced. But in the wake of this big change, she took a long look at everything and decided she wanted something new. That leads her to Gridania and the Lancer’s Guild.

Disciple of War and Magic

Lancer/Dragoon

Meta Note

FFXIV is my first MMORPG. Prior, I have always been primarily a “solo play on my own at my own pace” kinda gal. But my friend said it was really fun and I love the FF franchise, so there I went. I wasn’t sure what class to do, was thinking Fighter until I learned it was a tank class. 

My only other major online game experience was Overwatch where I was a Lucio main. That was a rarity for me: I tend to have a tougher time with caster/support classes and prefer playing as a rogue or sniper in most games. As rogue wasn’t an option, I asked my friend what she thought and she suggested Dragoon.

There were three options in Gridania: Conjurer, Archer, Lancer. Although Nerys later tried her hand at the other two, Lancer appealed her as someone who wasn’t afraid to get into the thick of things. 

She ended up taking well to it and her fellow guild members. The guild was very much “here are a few techniques, go out there and figure it out” which matched up with her way of doing things.

Nerys is still processing everything that happened with Foulques of the Mist; angry with his choices while also understanding what he went through as a fellow Duskwight. It is a bit of a relief when Alberic becomes her new mentor and she can get away from everything. Not to mention: Coerthas is a place she has always wanted to go to. Her father’s lessons included their sweeping history as well as their poetry and stories. 

Of course, things go sideways almost immediately. The Eye chooses her as the second Azure Dragoon and her first encounter with Estinien is anything but friendly. Things settle on that front for awhile and her primary concerns become the Primals and Garlemald. And having a small foothold in Coerthas is a boon when she, Cid, and Alphinaud travel there in search of the airship.

When Estinien suggest they partner together, she is hesitant given their previous encounters but feels drawn to help him. She agrees. That all comes crashing down after Nidhogg reveals to Estinien how Alberic’s actions lead to the loss of his family. Nerys has to step in to fend him off. The next time she sees him is in the Intercessory with Aymeric. Though he assures her he is not there to fight, she is on her guard.

She never expects that Ishgard will become the place she calls home. Nor that she and Estinien will become friends and then something more, eventually becoming lovers after he rescues her from Elidibus-Zenos. But it does and they do, and even when they both give up the title of Azure Dragoon, she feels called to protect and serve her adopted homeland. For the sake of the Fortemps and Aymeric and Lucia and Hilda and Ysayle, but also for people like Alberic, Estinien, and Heustienne who made her the warrior she is today.

Note About Armor: Nerys has her preferred aesthetics and the traditional Dragoon armor doesn’t quite fit. She prefers her own style and her concession is armor that pays tribute to the heritage of the position without being an exact copy (pictured, not her only armor set in canon or meta-wise).

That said, she is aware of when statements need to be made. Nerys isn’t a political creature in the way Aymeric and Alphinaud are but she understands that politics are a part of everything. 

For certain missions and meetings she garbs herself in the traditional manner: needing to remind the Alliance of her strong ties to Ishgard, making the Heaven’s Ward realise how badly they erred in imprisoning Aymeric when both Azure Dragoons show up.

Meta Note: 

Once I got to Level 15, I joined...all the Guilds in Gridania. And for a while worked on leveling Archer, Conjurer, and Rogue while also making progress with Lancer/Dragoon and MSQ. Eventually I switched gears because I wasn’t progressing fast enough in the story and focused almost exclusively on Dragoon. 

For story purposes, Rogue doesn’t quite fit into Nerys’ story though I think Thancred has definitely introduced her to that crew.

Archer

Archer never quite suited Nerys, as someone who prefers to get close to the action. She does have a great deal of respect for her fellow guild members and Lewin; and she remembers what she learned when ranged combat is needed.

Conjurer

Nerys’ aether control as a Dragoon is excellent. But for whatever reason, she could not quite translate those skills to conjury.

She kept on for some time because in her mind, a good warrior would have healing skills at her disposal. Eventually, a conversation with E-Sumi-Yan brought her to accept that she might better serve others in a different way.

What she did gain was an affinity for the element of air, likely tied to her role as a Lancer/Dragoon. This becomes vital when she saves Haurchefant at The Vault, although it does not go as well as she would have liked.

(She also had a foray with the Arcanist’s Guild that was about as long as Tataru’s.)

Meta Note: 

Disciple of Hand/Land: I have levels unlocked in all the DoH/DoL, the following four make the most canon sense and are the ones I have progressed in the most. 

That said, canonically she dabbles in everything because she is naturally curious and wants to be self-sufficient in all things. Most of the guilds know her. The following four know her the best and it’s where most of her focus has gone.

Disciple of the Land

Botanist

Nerys was drawn to the Botanists’ Guild because of her upbringing. She knew much of the Shroud and its treasures already. What she found–as she became an adventurer–was that these skills help immensely on the road.

It’s also a centering profession. Nerys needs activity to bring her out of her own mind, especially as responsibilities and dangers pile on. She can go lose herself in nature, either for her own needs or on commission (and often both).

Having grown up foraging ingredients to cook with, her Botanist career also ties into Culinarian role.

Disciple of the Hand

Culnarian

Nerys grew up cooking alongside her mother, so she had a base of knowledge going into the guild. Still, through Lyngsath and the rest she discovers a whole world of new ingredients, recipes, and techniques.

As a hunter and a Botanist, there is no end to the new ingredients she find to experiment with.

Leatherworker

Nerys fell into leatherworking when she was scoping out all the guilds in Gridania (around the time she took up with the Archers and Conjurers).  

It stuck for a few reasons: the resources were fairly easy to come by from her hunts; it is another centering activity; and she is a bit of a clotheshorse. If she has to wear specific gear as a Dragoon, she can add her own pretty details to the leather pieces.

Weaver

This is a culmination of the other jobs: uses resources from other things she does (botany, hunting, and leatherworking), a craft that pulls all her focus into one thing, and satisfies her clotheshorse desires. She knows she can put pretty details into her everyday armor/gear and make more formal clothes that make her feel good.

(Whenever she is dealing with A Thing, she will get her hair done. Of course she needs clothes that work with the new look, even if it’s a temporary updo.)

When it comes to leatherworking and weaving, there a plus to taking guild commissions: it has to be perfect and meticulous and good quality but it is not on the level of say...if you fail this task, a primal will temper all these innocents. Nerys is drawn to help people but it's nice to do that for something that is not saving the world. (Of course when she makes any type of armor or working clothes, she is sure to make them well so they protect the wearer.)

She is not advanced enough to make her own gowns for formal events held by the city-states or the Ishgardian High Houses. One day she would like to be able to do so. Until then, Eorzea has plenty of dressmakers ready to help.

Outfit Note: I ended up choosing a mix of the Scion and Best Man’s clothing, thinking of how you can never go wrong with a suit. It’s crisp, always in style, and she looks great in it! 

[efrmellifer]

Eternal Devotion

I still think Squeenix would be so rich it’d be like printing their own money if they let us marry NPCs

Aymeric hadn’t known how to bring it up when Etien had greeted him at the door, so now he had this fact, this funny little anecdote, to share with her just hidden under his tongue.

But it didn’t dissolve; it burned there, waiting for him to spit it out and tell her.

And yet, he was nervous to. There were so few things he had ever hesitated to tell her—perhaps that he loved her, at first. But that was only for the sake of Ishgard. She was a busy woman, and the last thing she had needed to be dealing with when she was flying off for Azys Lla was carrying around the feelings of the Lord Commander whom she barely even saw.

Hells, he would have expected her to have fallen for Estinien at that rate—well, she had, but he meant to the exclusion of himself.

In any event. That had been more about Aymeric denying himself the relief of sharing the burden of his feelings, for the betterment of his nation and the well-being of its savior. This, on the other hand, was intimately personal.

And frankly, all the more frustrating because of it.

“Etien?” he said finally, placing aside his fork and clearing his throat while he waited.

She looked up, letting her wrist hang limp, then putting down her fork and knife as well. She took a sip of water, then looked him in the eyes, eyebrows lifted. “Yes?”

“I had a—ahem. I came across something of an unfortunate discovery while I was consulting with the Sultana and the Elder Seedseer today.”

Etien tipped her head. “Just them? So Merlwyb didn’t attend your meeting?”

“No, she was attempting to handle part of the very problem we were butting up against.”

“Interesting. And what problem was such that it seemingly stumped the Alliance’s leaders?” She paused. “Or, well, I assume it did.”

“You would be correct, loath though I am to admit it.”

Etien scooted her chair closer to the table, leaning in. “Ooh, that’s even more intriguing.”

“Well, I doubt you’ll like it when I actually reveal the issue—the Alliance hasn’t been properly processing incoming paperwork.”

She sat back, sighing. “More paper-pushing?” Her expression shifted to mild shock as a realization came over her. “Wait. Aymeric. You didn’t agree to take on more, did you?”

“No.” Still, he looked away, swirling his wine before bringing it to his lips.

When he put the goblet down, it was to see Etien with her hands folded below her chin, supporting her re-tilted head. He could practically see the halo of innocent ignorance floating there between her perked ears.

So Aymeric heaved a sigh and told her. “Most of the paperwork that was improperly run through and promptly mislaid was coming from Ishgard and Ala Mhigo. We were still too new to the alliance to add more to the workloads of those poor scribes, but after the victorious Ala Mhigan liberation, then the loss of the Scions and then the battles with Garlemald… things slipped into the cracks and disappeared.”

“Oh no,” she murmured, listening intently now.

“It gets worse. Do you remember what events happened between the removal of Imperial forces from the Ala Mhigan Quarter and the fighting at Ghimlyt?”

She counted on her fingers. “There was the drowned city, we had the wedding and our honeymoon, there were all those meetings with Hien to get Doma involved with us again, Thancred fainted, I explored the Burn and Gaius showed up with Alphinaud… yes? Why?”

“Well, we still have our Ishgardian marriage certificate, at least.”

Etien’s mouth dropped open. “Oh, no. That’s not funny.”

“If I were telling you a joke, it would be,” Aymeric replied, taking up his fork again.

“Are we not married?” she hissed, whispering as if it were going to start a scandal.

“We are. But Greater Eorzea has no record of it.” He took another sip of wine.

“Other than the hearsay,” Etien snorted. “Among other bits of physical evidence.”

That got Aymeric to laugh, and so they sat in shocked, giggling quiet for a long while.

Finally, the silence was broken with a question. Etien wasn’t usually the one to ask it—normally, she was the one having to enact whatever the answer was, but this time she would ask it and be part of its solution.

“So what do we do now?”

“Well,” it came light and airy, “one of us could marry Estinien, and we can effectively commit legal bigamy. But that would hardly be fair to whichever of us got left without an extra spouse. So I suppose our course is clear: we get married a third time. That is, of course, unless you’ve changed your mind and won’t have me?”

From the moment had Aymeric said that, a softness came into Etien’s eyes. It was hard to read at first, but he’d been looking at her for a while now in their shared life (he enjoyed it, in fact), and he managed to sift through the layers with a little extra looking. There was a sort of sadness—he could almost hear the teary huff, the very idea, that after I’ve loved you so long, I could even think of backing out—and there was a touch of mirth. It was funny, he knew it. And there was one more very clear element to it, one that was easy to pick out because of how often he saw it. Love. There was so much love in Etien’s expression that he could have drowned in it.

But he didn’t have time to drown, nor even to swim, because then she spoke.

“If you’ll have a silly little bard for a bride, I’ll have you for my bridegroom even if we have to do this a thousand times.”

Aymeric rose from the table, their dinner utterly abandoned with the advent of this piece of news, and came to Etien’s chair.

“A thousand is a little excessive. It does get expensive after a while.”

She giggled, her hand lifting to cover her mouth.

He took it, kissing just past her fingernails. “Marry me, Etien Felis Regina Mellifer. Again.”

“I will.”

“What a pity I didn’t have a ring the first time I proposed, and I certainly didn’t prepare another one for this occasion.”

With minimal struggling, Etien removed the chain from around her neck, slipping her wedding ring off the end. For a second, they both looked at the glint of the silver and the sapphire in the firelight, then, she handed it over. “We only need the one.”

He slid it onto her finger, and it fit just as naturally as it had the first time it had been placed there.

“I swear, it could have been made for you,” Aymeric mused as they admired the ring in its place for a moment.

Etien put it back on the chain and around her neck again, settled with a locket from Estinien, a purple shell charm, and her mark of Llymlaen. “As long as it’s found its place.” She took hold of his shirt to bring him closer. “Can I kiss you?”

“I would be more than a little upset if you didn’t.”

“Well, we simply can’t have that,” she purred, smiling against his lips as they met hers.

_

In much an echo of the first time, they made their way to the Sanctum of the Twelve with Artoirel and Lucia in tow to witness the second affirmation of their union.

Of course, the Elder Seedseer came along, too, to make sure that the paperwork went directly to be filed, for a whole host of reasons ranging from Alliance leadership needing to set an example to the Sanctum gearing up for a busy season as spring started to wash over the Black Shroud.

Aiming for some degree of accuracy to the usual protocol, Etien had acquired a gown in a starkly white hue—and only white, missing the accents of pink and black that had been part of her other wedding dress. Aymeric wore the same tuxedo he had before, and looked just as good in it a second time.

It was a short ceremony, with no one there to throw flowers, open sparkling wine (not that the bride could have had any anyway), or cry into their handkerchief. And so they were ushered out into the bright day in what felt like less than a bell.

Before they could mount the chocobo waiting for them—but after Etien’s shout of recognition, being able to call the bird by name—he pulled her close.

“It’s a shame that I never get to do this until we make it outside.”

“Do what?” she asked, blinking up at him.

“Brace yourself.”

She gripped his shoulders, and he dipped her low for a kiss. “That. I’ve wanted to since the ceremony was coming to its end.”

“The kiss makes it official?” she asked as he helped her up and onto their mount (Vittelina, Etien had cried).

“Official, no. Complete, I think so,” he added as he settled onto the saddle.

She kissed him again as Vittelina began plodding forward. “I wholeheartedly agree. You should do that more often.”

“I fear I’d make you dizzy.”

“Your kisses certainly can have that effect.”

“Etien,” he scoffed.

“Aymeric,” she cooed. “Darling husband, thrice over.”

His feigned offense at the joke melted completely. He laid his hand over hers on the saddle. “My dearest wife.”

[catleha]

POST - SHB TEXTS; 1 / ?? (minor) canon divergence.

While I like to stick to canon as close as possible in regard to Y’shtola’s arc there are several petite changes I would like to make on this blog. Especially post - Rak’tika, I will go mainly hc- based / canon-divergent to a certain degree. Needless to say, it was very disappointing to see Y’shtola’s entire involvement being narrowed down to a few one-liners & occasional quest giving. 

The list below contains some changes to Y’shtola’s arc before & after leaving the Greatwood to join the Warrior of Light in their endeavors.   -- more will probably follow in the future once I re-watched the entire msq.

     1. Her relationship to Runar & the rest of the Night’s Blessed is strictly platonic / a motherly kind of love; up until her involvement with the Warrior of Light, Y’shtola spent her time (around one and a half year) in the company of the Night’s Blessed. She learned their customs, their rituals & adapted their lifestyle to eventually become their sage. -- she serves as a bearer wisdom & as their leader whenever one is required. Other than that she dedicated most of her time to a) the defense of Slitherbough / the forest, b) her studies & c) meditation. 

    In regards to her status as sage / “mother”: Y’shtola is the hero of the Great Fire, their savior, their caretaker, their guiding light. Nothing, I repeat, nothing hints at a romantic relationship to any of the Night’s Blessed what so ever. -- on the contrary, Y’shtola’s final scene (in which she reveals her true name to Runar & the rest) reminds one on a mother gathering her children; period.

    2. Urianger helps her back on her feet post - lifestream retrieval; the Runar hug thing does never happen. The Warrior of Light stops Runar from rushing towards Y’shtola, while Urianger helps her back on her feet / serves as a prop (I cannot believe that @scionsect​ & I fixed this terrible scene). Her connection to Urianger is furthermore significantly stronger than SE dared to show. I will elude on that in a detailed character relationship post in the future. DISCLAIMER: not only was Runar’s approach cringy & simply inconsiderate of Y’shtola’s status as a blind person (never touch blind people without their permission it’s simply disrespectful) , their “romance” was also terribly developed. -- I have nothing against Runar as a character; I simply refuse to support shoehorned romantic sub-plots / the “strong dude, weak damsel” trope.

     3. The second “Flow” cast messed up Y’shtola’s aether; while the consequences of the second “flow” cast are by no means as severe as the first one, they still had an effect on her soul / being in general. Ever since the loss of her eyesight, Y’shtola has been constantly connected to the lifestream in order to both, see & access deeper layers of magic & understanding of the planet. -- over time, Y’shtola also became more sensible to change in the planet / aether itself, resulting in her being able to comprehend / see into the past in a pretty peculiar manner (read: whenever she dwells in a city or place that holds the lingering aether of a passed away soul, she is able to access said souls’s memories / history via meditation or focus). 

    Ever since arriving on the First, said “memories” have long become more tangible, common &, to a certain degree, overwhelming due to the shard’s aether supersaturation. While living in Rak’tika, she is able to access the swamp akin to Toph Beifong in LoK; she is connected to the Greatwood’s very Fauna & feels every twitch / every pulse of the beings living within. -- the second flow cast messed with an already sensible balance between her own entity / soul & the aether around her. She can no longer 100% distinguish between the memories of others & her own, leading to periods of oversensitiveness & fatigue that leave her vulnerable. In moments like these she seeks utter solitude, trying her utmost to calm herself -- Y’shtola’s identity is becoming more & more vapid. 

     4. Her conflict with Thancred has actual gravitas; Thancred & her argue whilst both stay in the Greatwood, causing Y’shtola to confess her resentment towards the other & a refusal to talk to him until he has sorted his “issues” out (shoutout to @hisburden​). Their conflict worsens upon the arrival of “Ryne” due to Thancred’s depression & agony which the finite death of Minfilia prompted. They have their final discussion post their fight against the third lightwarden in the well, ending with Y’shtola & Thancred agreeing on a truce. -- their relationship is no longer as “cordial" as it has been before.

   5. Urianger’s betrayal causes a rift between them; whilst Urianger becomes her most trusted & dearest friend upon arriving in the First, his betrayal in lieu of the Crystal Exarch’s true purpose leaves a deep mark. Upon returning to the Crystarium, she confronts Urianger in her grief & anger. Unlike her conflict with Thancred however, this argument leads to tears & a temporary reconciliation; mainly due to both being emotionally & mentally exhausted / fearing for the WOL’s very life. -- Y’shtola still retreats to spend time in solitude not approaching Urianger or anyone else until they leave to confront Emet-Selch. After the defeat of Hades, she approaches Urianger to further solve their conflict (tag along for pain featuring your local goth cat & @scionsect​).

  6. The “Hydaelyn is a primal” twist leaves a deep mark; she openly searches Emet-Selch out several times during her stay in the Crystarium. She is conflicted & stands between “two chairs” -- albeit being a true believer of Hydaelyn’s ways she cannot deny that doubt has festered & sprawled where once was fierce dedication.

   7. She has issues with immediately accepting “Ryne”; similar to Alisaie, Y’shtola struggles to fully embrace what Minifilia has become. Despite a positive attitude, she still has her doubts & indulges in slight mistrust. This strains their relationship until Y’shtola decides to aid her in her power struggles. -- in lieu of the event of Amh Araeng, Y'shtola willingly distances herself from the group due to feeling misplaced & quite frankly, lost.

   8. Y’shtola teaches “Ryne” / Minifilia to use her powers; instead of being written off as insignificant (as further above stated above), Y’shtola plays a huge part in helping a struggling Minfilia how to harness her aetherical powers & abilities by teaching her how to use them properly (shoutout to @hyethla​ for not only being my exclusive Minfilia but also the inspiration for their beautiful but tragic dynamic). Similar to Thancred, she first struggled to accept her presence but made her peace by confessing her guilt during and earlier visit in Ill Mheg (hence why she gives Thancred a lot of ‘shit’ later). Even later upon chasing down the last remaining lightwardens, she plays a pivotal role in saving the Warrior of Light alongside “Ryne”. -- she also taught her how to read, write & comprehend the workings of the lifestream before the arrival of the WOL. Their relationship is, in fact (at least until “Ryne” surfaces) a close one.

   9. Alisaie, Alphinaud & Yshtola’s Amh Araeng arc will be discussed in detail; needless to say, I will write a long post about their endeavors & relationship development in Amh Araeng in the future. -- not only did they fight the Eulmorian army, but also discussed the future of the scions, the WOL, Minifilia, etc. 

   10. Y’shtola suffers greatly under mental strain of both, her powers & the second flow cast; instead of brushing literally everything we learned about her struggles aside like SHB & SB kinda did, I will dedicate a lot of time & attention to her mental & physical struggles (growing “blinder”, losing herself, burning her body’s life energy, etc) & explain what role her job change  plays in this very regard. -- an example for her struggles is Y’shtola’s wanning lifeforce. She burns herself up to both, see & further access necessary powers. Doing so for three years resulted in the waning of her aether powers to a certain degree & a rapid, mental aging through burning her energy. I will elude on this in the future -- while physically young, Y’shtola has the soul of an almost 50 year old woman.

[inuitakumi]

i uhhh decided to make a profile for cheng’mei as im updated/rewriting his lore, i don’t expect anyone to actually read this but you’re welcome to lmao

Full Name: C’hengmei Tia/Hengmei’a Xue

“Alias”: Cheng’mei Xue

Full Name Meaning: His parents were a Seeker (father) and Keeper (mother) Neither seemed to fully agree on what his name was, and though while his parents were in the same room he seemed to be ‘C’hengmei’ his mother exclusively referred to his name as ‘Hengmei’a’ when his father wasn’t present (which was often). As a result, he was never quite sure what his name actually was

Alias Meaning: After the Calamity hit and Cheng’mei was left alone, he began traveling with an Elezen who had nursed him back to health, in that time he decided to permanently use his mother’s surname Xue, his first name changing entirely coming about as an accident as his name had been misspelled somewhere as they were making passage to Thanalan. Since it showed no real association with either tribe and was entirely it’s own, he chose to keep it like that.

Nicknames: Cheng, Mei, Warrior of Light/Darkness etc

Pet Name: Occasionally called MeiMei if someone is feeling particularly affectionate

Handwriting/Signature: incredibly messy, as he was mostly ignored during his childhood he never really got much of a formal education.

Gender: Male

Age: 23, probably closer to 24/25 by the end of ShB but who knows how the fuck time works in this game

Birthday: 32nd Sun of the 5th Umbral Moon (Oct 31st) year 1554 of the Sixth Astral Era

Birthplace: Limsa Lominsa

Immediate Family: Father, C’yahng, Mother, Hengmei’a Xue, and younger sister Ahqing Xue. Their current whereabouts are unknown

Distant Family: Presumably has family in a small Xue tribe in the Black Shroud and family in the C tribe. Though his parents are now separated he assumes that if they survived he likely has other half siblings roaming around somewhere.

Upbringing:

Infancy [0-2]: ah what a good time to exist. Too young to realize that his parents definitely should not be in a relationship with each other.

Childhood [3-9]: From about 3-5 he still felt the warmth and affection of staying by his mother’s side. Despite having trouble responding when called due to not fully comprehending what his name was, he felt happy and loved at this point and was excited when his father would come home from his ‘merchant’ trips (cough piracy cough) and play with him. Though there were other Miqo’te children his age from the tribe his father came from who were nearby, they never seemed to want to play with him partially from his being different as he looked like a keeper, and because his father was splintered away from the tribe for coupling with someone despite being a tia, and with a keeper. Either way, at that age his mother rarely left the house, and as a result he rarely left too, thus resulting in no friends even from the local non-miqo children in Limsa.

From 5 onward his mother became more and more distant from him, insisting more and more often for him to leave the house on his own which was an incredibly odd turnaround from before. Traditionally of course Keeper males wandered between groups and generally did not stay with their families. Though looking back, Cheng’mei also suspected there was resentment she held against him since he’s pretty sure that keepers don’t make their sons leave at THAT young of an age, and without any sort of male figure to keep an eye on them. This also created more tension between his parents, with his father thinking it ridiculous to let a small child run around on his own in Limsa Lominsa, especially when Cheng’mei almost got kidnapped on multiple occasions. 

At the age of 9, he now had a younger sister that his mother clearly paid much more attention to. Their parents also had no arguments over her name, and his father relented easily in letting his sister have a fully keeper name since he was never home anymore anyways. When his father randomly decided to take him on a trip with him on a “merchan” ship, he thought things were looking up. He ended up disappointed because even on the ship he was sat on a barrel and largely ignored by his father, with his only entertainment being from some Lalafell who took pity on the bored child and entertained him with stories from Ul’dah and Thanalan, which is where they hailed from. Upon returning home they were greeted with an empty house, with Cheng’mei’s mother having left with his little sister. He suspected his father knew this would happen, but he never got an explanation as to why.

Early Teens [10-17]: Now with only his father, Cheng’mei now spent even more time alone. Despite the fact that in his youth, Cheng’mei’s father would get mad when his mother left him alone or pushed him out of the house, he now did it even more often than she did. Again, he’d spend most of this part of his youth wandering Limsa, seeking out strangers to tell him stories or take pity on him and give him snacks. When he was 16, he picked up a job at a tavern, where he was able to witness more adventurers passing through with their own stories, and he continually remembered those Lalafell who talked to him about Ul’dah. He ventured out on his own on occasion, making it to Costa del Sol by tagging along with adventurers, but it resulted in the scars on his face when he was attacked unaware. 

Late Teens [18-23]: The Calamity hit when he was 18 years old, and he doesn’t actually remember what he was doing or where he even was at the time, he only remembered a blur, and waking up with an Elezen who had taken him in and nursed him back to health. They continued to travel together, helping out what little they could. During this time, he had even considered the possibility of going to Gridania to find his mother and sister. He ultimately decided against it, as not even his father knew where his mother’s family lived and hunted in the Black Shroud, since their meeting had been an off chance moment when she had entered Gridania. And even then, he wasn’t actually sure if any of his family were still alive or not.

Ul’dah [23]: Cheng’mei and the Elezen who helped him parted ways when arriving to Thanalan, now newly christened with his new name after a flub, Cheng’mei traveled to the thaumaturge’s guild to begin some of his first proper training in being an adventurer. It was there in his fledgling adventuring time that he met Thancred and the Scions for the first time, and began his ascent into the role of the Warrior of Light. Despite being able to defeat Lahabrea and destroying the Ultima Weapon, he never felt comfortable in his role as a Black Mage. Despite all the anxiety and reservations that he held whenever he was in Gridania with fear that he may run into his mother and sister and general discomfort with not fitting in with any traditional miqo’te structure (the only miqo’te he was close to at the time being Nashu, who was quite untraditional), he tried his hand at archery and felt at home with a bow and arrow, and even befriended Leih Aliapoh, relating to her confusing feelings about family.

Despite having spent the least amount of time in Ul’dah versus Limsa Lominsa, he considers that he truly came into his own the most during his time there, and even works with the Immortal Flames to this day, as such to most people he’s considered to be from Ul’dah.

Evolution (How has your character changed since they were younger?): as a child he never really formed bonds with anyone because he had the assumption that they’d ultimately ignore him like his parents would. Instead he got his entertainment from stories and fleeting entertainment he got from others never getting very close with them. As he got older he slowly started growing more attached to people like the Elezen who helped him and came to the issue of growing immediately heavily attached to people who would show him slight affection. In the Scions, he often followed Thancred like a swooning maiden just because of some light jokes Thancred would make about following him around. Perhaps because he didn’t enjoy a normal childhood, he definitely acted a bit more childish and rough than someone should at his age. He irritated Urianger at first, for seemingly not taking any of his written out notes or information seriously, until Urianger finally confronted him about not reading anything and Cheng’mei had to tearfully admit he could barely read anything and felt some insecurity for not feeling as intelligent as the other highly educated Scions and just being more of a pawn who was directed in their every action. They became closer as Urianger, along with Y’shtola, helped teach him showing him that despite lacking formal education, he was actually quite perceptive. (Y’shtola earned the nickname of Auntie Shtola as a result of her patience with him) Despite his supposed crush on Thancred, it was actually Haurchefant where he first started experiencing something akin to actual love, and the resulting heartbreak and pain from his death changed Cheng’mei drastically. He’s constantly horrified thinking that it could have been another fleeting attachment from someone who gave him affection or if it ever could have been something else. Though still jokey and sassy, you could see the experiences of battles begin weighing him down as his rough childish edges began wearing down. He started focusing more on his relations with others, and even started considering Alphinaud and Alisae like the siblings he never got to have after not even getting to begin a relationship with his own sister. He even felt quite a bit of anger with how Thancred treated Ryne at first, looking back to his own neglecting parents. 

Species: Miqo’te

Ethnicity: Mixed Keeper of the Moon and Seeker of the Sun, appearance is solely Keeper of the Moon

Facial Type: Round

Eye Color: Left eye light blue, right eye two shades darker

Hair Color: Black, with white streaks

Hairstyle: Tends to stray on the long side

Skintone: Very pale

Complexion: Clear, though very often a bit sunburnt

Makeup: Using a rather elaborate red warpaint design on his face to draw attention away from his scars (and sunburn)

Body Type: Ectomorph

Build: Lean and small for speed, very in tune with the average build of a hunter miqo’te, which is probably why he felt such a strong connection with archery when he tried it.

Height: 5′2″ (157cm)

Weight: 53kg/116 pounds

Facial Hair: none

Birthmarks/Scars/Tattoos: He has a scar over an eye and a smaller one on his cheek from being caught unaware while tagging along with adventurers when he was 15. He draws attention away from it with warpaint. He also has a white tattoo on his nose that he got while traveling with his Elezen companion, who like the color white.

Senses: He sees in the dark very well with his Keeper genes, unfortunately as he grew up in very sunny warm places, his wide pupils only made his vision worse in these places. He makes up for this by hearing very well. Any angry squinting is just him not being able to see shit.

Handicaps: CAN’T SEE. No really he probably needs glasses but he hasn’t bothered yet. 

Mental Disorders: honestly after everything he’s been through it’s no surprise he’s shown PTSD symptoms

Lovers: Presumably with Haurchefant, though it never really reached any sort of proper status before it was nipped. Seems to have something going with Aymeric or G’raha but whether or not these will truly become something more is unknown.

Occupation: Part time Warrior of Light, Part time Fetch Quest boi.

Work Ethic: He does his best to help people as much as he can in any way that he can. Even if the requests irritate him slightly, he still goes out of his way to try to make people happy.

Wealth Status: Though at this point he probably has more money than the usual citizen due to all the money he gets from helping people, he’s not exactly the greatest at ‘saving’ and ‘budgeting’ which results in him having to pinch gil more often than he’d like to admit.

Past Work Experience: Waiter, messenger, Professional Loitering Child That You Wonder Is Homeless Or Not

Organizations/Affilications: Scions of the Seventh Dawn, Thaumaturge’s Guild (formerly), Archer’s Guild, House Fortemps, Immortal Flames

Education: Barely existent. His mother taught him the very basics when he was 5-7 but he never progressed much past that. Though he learned ‘street smarts’ and enough reading to handle working in a tavern, he mainly relied on others to do that part for him. It isn’t until he joins the Scions that Urianger and Y’shtola improved his abilities greatly, though he’s still behind most of the scions. How the hell he managed to study Thaumaturgy with his basic-ass reading could be anyone’s guess. 

Religion: Again, his parents butted heads with Menphina or Azeyma, so out of following his parents he simply prayed to which ever he thought of first. During his times as a Scion, he supposed Hydaelyn was the one he followed but now he’s not sure where he stands with the gods. If anyone asks though, he dryly responds that he’s a born-again Halone worshiper. No one knows if he’s joking or not. 

Desires: Because of his less than stellar childhood, he wants nothing more than to keep the family he has now.

Wishlist: at this point he just wants a nap. 

Accomplishments: Defeating primals, defeating Ascians, leading revolutions. Y’know. Basic WoL things.

Greatest Achievement: He claims its swimming. Just to tease Alphinaud and Urianger.

Biggest Failure: Despite having done so much, feeling like he’s a failure for not saving people he loved.

Secrets: During his time training as an archer in Gridania, he saw his sister. Though it was only at a distance, and the fact that he only knew her when she was an infant, he just felt it was her. But it was not his place to suddenly show up in her life, so he simply watched her go.

Regrets: Never confessing to Haurchefant. Both of them knew something was there, but Cheng’mei continually thought ‘after this is all over, i’ll say something’ but ‘after this is all over’ never happened and he lost Haurchefant before then. Those thoughts still haunt him to this day as he often has dreams wondering what it would have been like had Haurchefant not died that day. 

[transcredwaters]

29. What is their weapon of choice, and what weapon do they dislike using the most?

I almost forgot to answer this when I woke up like. 4 hours ago ?

the great dice have said Kukra. At least he's easy to answer for.

Kukra leans heavily towards nouliths, pretty much exclusively. By his bias towards working as a Sage; he finds he's the most comfortable as a healer. He has tried scholar at some point, but it just wasn't as comfortable for him, and he just didn't enjoy the feel. Nor was he able to adjust to it.

It is canon that previously, when working with Mjara, he was a Paladin; though due to a sort of death by association he's very uncomfortable using it. He's not much to do tanking at all; Greatswords, Axes, Swords, it's all just very uncomfortable for him and he's prone to fight if you try to take him off somewhere as the tank. There was actually a point where he accidentally kicked Thancred over it. The others were holding him back as he started kicking and Thancred came too close.