#I fell in love with WHM all over again

[woltourney]

ROUND 1 / SIDE B / POLL 11

Raine Kurusu (@lilvulpix-alex) v. Iris Opranta (@irisopranta)

Raine Kurusu:

q. What is your WoL name and pronouns? a. Raine Kurusu he/him

q. What is your WoL's species? a. Viera (male)

q. What is your WoL's class? Or classes? a. WHM main and sometimes Reaper

q. What data centre/server are you on, if you want people to find you? a. Excalibur (I think that’s the Primal data center?)

q. Tell us a bit about your WoL! a. Tired, sarcastic, (not so) secretly soft. Likes to flirt but is nowhere near as bad as Thancred used to be. He agreed to meet the scions mostly just humoring Thancred because he’s pretty and seemed interesting, but ended up joining them because they had common goals. He likes being a hero, he’s just a Tired Bitch and needs more sleep. He likes reading with Y’shtola or sketching the scions when they’re there. He really likes apples and chocolate.

q. Why should YOU win? (Answer IC!) a. Why should I win? Because I’m pretty and you know it. winks or, y’know, because I saved the star? Several times over again? Not to mention all the other things I’ve done. It’s exhausting. I’m going to nap.

q. Anything else you wanna add? a. I fully expect to be the worst WOL in here tbh he’s so self indulgent

Iris Opranta:

q. What is your WoL name and pronouns? a. Iris Opranta (She/her)

q. What is your WoL's species? a. Elezen

q. What is your WoL's class? Or classes? a. Dragoon/Astrologian/Weaver

q. What data centre/server are you on, if you want people to find you? a. Primal/Leviathan

q. Tell us a bit about your WoL! a. "Iris Opranta, Pleased to meet you. I am a seamstress turn adventurer when fate had plans to make me the Warrior of Light. While I never really wanted to go down this path in life, it did give her a lot of opportunities that I never had while living in Gridania. Despite all the hand I was dealt I'm still quite optimistic. In my free time, I do a lot of needlework. Also love having guess over for tea. I will be happy to have you over for tea anytime to share any stories of my adventures."

q. Why should YOU win? (Answer IC!) a. "Why should I win? Well I am capable of a great many things. I fell dragons and ended the Dragonsong War, liberated Ala Mhingo, even saved the star from the final days. I did this while being completely fabulous. If I learn anything from Gobert Manderville, you can be truly powerful even though you are a craftsperson. If nothing else I can stitch up my opponents of any hole I put through them."

[duskwild]

Growing stronger day by day In the hue of crimson battles

[HELLO, I FINALLY GOT WHM TO 70 and realized I never quite shared that I did get RDM to 70 like. Almost a month ago now, B U T, here, have celebratory screens! :D]

[shivasdarknight]

What are the main jobs of the characters in your wolship/wolnpc ship?  Do they adventure together or take on separate quests?  I’m sure this has been done but feel free to share a fun quest/adventure they had together too. :)

well, let’s start with a tally

Surkukteni: DRK/DRG predominantly, sometimes RDM, knows AST but won’t use it in combat Ysayle: BLM/PLD predominantly - also knows ARC and is learning MCH during 5.X Estinien: DRG and DRG only Aymeric: PLD pretty exclusively tho we’ve seen him w a bow Venat: PLD/WHM/DNC or whatever those technically are to the ancients idk

4 canon tanks.  Four.  And only one person who heals willingly.

If theres any adventuring going on, it’s more likely going to be Venat going than Aymeric due to his obligations as Lord Speaker, but they effectively swap as the assigned healer as he’s pretty much a blue healer.  The makeup is usually:

Tank: Surkukteni, very very rarely anyone else because of her injuries from 3.3 DPS: Estinien and Ysayle - both extremely obnoxious about it Healer: Venat or Aymeric but again, see above.

Surkukteni goes off on her own quite often, but has increasingly been going on jobs with Estinien and Ysayle.  Each of the three are pretty independent as Scions, but they don’t pass up on working together.  Aymeric only goes with others, and Venat heavily prefers to go with others as it’s just not fun if she wanders by herself.

As for a fun adventure, IDK IF THIS COUNTS AS FUN BUT. (see below the cut - explicit 5.5 spoilers)

Paglth’an was one of the few instances where Surkukteni, Ysayle, Estinien and Aymeric were actually on the same battlefield.  Ysayle hung close to Surkukteni and the other Scions, and Estinien and Aymeric basically followed along with canon.  This was Ysayle’s first proper excursion as a Scion besides the work she’d done with Melisande (which was a lot of laying low while Ysayle recovered), and also the first major thing she’d done with Surkukteni since Heavensward.  So maybe there was a lot of overcorrection, maybe there was a lot of hovering on each others’ parts because they were worried and all of this was new.

But during the last leg of the fight - you know, when Tiamat shows up - Ysayle got super fucking distracted.  She knew of Tiamat, but had few chances to speak to her - let alone see her in combat like that.  And Ysayle is a sapphic mess, and is extremely predictable and was crushing hard.  While it got the Scions to tease her for it - namely Surkukteni and Y’shtola - it quickly turned into a dire distraction as a tempered dragon seized Ysayle by the leg and broke it.  Injuries were bad, Surkukteni panicked but at least Ysayle was otherwise fine when they managed to deal with the main pack.  Part of why Estinien doesn’t engage in the Lunar Bahamut fight (beyond it not being canon) is that he hung back to keep an eye on Ysayle until additional helped arrived to let Surkukteni deal with things.

Which means when they head to Ul’dah after everything, there’s this wonderful image in my head that I love of Surkukteni just bridal carrying Ysayle through the streets to the infirmary while they’re just quietly talking to distract her from the pain of having her leg mauled.

She’s fine.  She recovers and it helps that the duration between 5.5/5.55 and 6.0 is like...just over half a year in my canon (for reasons).  But it drives Ysayle nuts after the fact because she hates navigating with crutches and neither Surkukteni nor Estinien will let her live it down because the initial fear and worry is gone - all that’s left is Ysayle is in this situation because she got distracted while oggling a dragon she thought was really hot.  It’s too good of an opportunity to pass up!

And yes, I’ve already written it too.

    Changing the subject to not risk Allie overhearing them talking about her, Surkukteni’s hand fell gently on the cast Ysayle was forced to wear.  “What were you doing out?” she asked, looking Ysayle over with concern.  “I thought you were ordered to rest.”

    “Funny that you’re the one saying this,” was Estinien, falling hard into the couch to Surkukteni’s other side in spite of the glare she leveled by at him.  His hand draped behind her shoulders, falling to rest near Ysayle’s.  His fingers traced her exposed pale skin - all thanks to her slipping shirt - and trailed up her neck, letting them linger at her jaw.  “But I do agree with her, even if she is a hypocrite; is your leg any better?”

    Ysayle shifted to lean into Surkukteni, and by proxy more into Estinien’s touch.  She sighed as she took Surkukteni’s hand, running her own slender fingers along her rough palm.  “I think if you’d told me several years ago that I’d have both former Azure Dragoons fretting over my well-being, I would’ve called you crazier than I and laughed it off.”  Before either could protest, she did laugh it off and shook her head.  “It’s feeling much better, thank you.  I just needed the fresh air, is all.”

    Surkukteni sighed.  “I wish it’d heal faster.  You’d think healing magic would do more for broken limbs, but I suppose it can only do so much.”

    “You and me both.”  Ysayle sighed.  “I only wish I’d been of some help in Carteneau.”

    “A word of advice, then?” was Estinien, in that markedly unhelpful tone of his.  “Things generally go better if you stay focused, and not get distracted by dragons you fancy.”

    Ysayle groaned loudly at that, her face burning bright red.  

    Surkukteni - equally unhelpful - could only laugh, a wide and toothy grin painting her features.

    Paglth’an had...well, it had certainly gone.  It was Ysayle’s second ever serious fight as a Scion proper, and it was safe to say not an easy one to learn group dynamics in.  Things had gone smoothly for the most part (though, Alisaie was no help, as usual), but that quickly changed when Surkukteni caught Ysayle staring.  Not staring at her - though she had honestly wished she had looked at her with all that awe and desire - but rather at Tiamat mid-battle.  She didn’t even get the chance to tease her for it before one of the tempered dragons had seized Ysayle in its jaws, cleanly snapping her leg in two and giving the lot of them a collective heart attack.  It’d been scary in the moment - mortifying, if she were honest - but now that they knew she’d survive and keep her leg as it was?  Well.

    “She is single, you know,” Surkukteni pointed out, only to get a loud whine from Ysayle as she buried her face in the crook of the Warrior’s shoulder.  “You could, if you wanted to.”

    “I’m sure she’d be eager to at least see you properly, with all you’ve done,” Estinien added.

    A more exasperated groan slipped from Ysayle, muted mostly by Surkukteni’s arm.  “Damn the both of you, I never should have explained why,” was her muffled response, broken up by a flustered laugh.  At least it wasn’t a sore subject with her.

[f3ar-prompts]

Hero/Villain writing 7, Part 3

oh my god I actually finished it fmsnfnsndn

I hope y’all enjoy this part! I might continue it again but for now, enjoy :333

Part 1

Part 2

—

Something moved.

Villain stumbled awake. He rubbed his eyes. “Whm..”

A voice beyond the door spoke. “...what is wrong with the-“

A different voice, “SOMEBODY. Burnt the key.”

A distant “worth it.”

“The hell...?” Villain looked up at the door as his memories came back to him.

“how do you— ugh,” a pause. Soft voice, who is that? Villain leaned back against the door. “Villain, are you alright?”

Villain groaned in response.

“...is that a yes?”

“probably.” Another person was with the soft voice. He couldn’t quite place either of them.

“how are we supposed to get in now?”

“dunno.”

The two went quiet.

Villain almost drifted off again before they spoke up.

“Villain, I’m gonna kick the door down.”

“Wh— wait wha-?”

“If you’re in front of the door, can you move to the side, please?”

He swore, something about that voice seemed so familiar. Villain crawled to an open corner and sagged against the wall.

“You’re good,” Villain called out.

“thank you.”

Villain tensed in anticipation for a moment.

It didn’t take long, though, as a loud bang split through the thick atmosphere of his room. The door slow-motion toppled inwards, light pouring into his room.

Superhero peeked in.

Ah, that’s why they sounded so familiar. Villain looked away from him, fully awake.

He heard Superhero step on the wooden door and over to the carpet. He heard Superhero kneel down next to him.

“Villain.”

Villain tried to back further into the corner, his arms coming up to cover his face.

There was a bit of shuffling before he felt something long and heavy draped over his shoulders.

He looked up.

It was his blanket from his bed. His gaze drifted to Superhero, then back away. He felt guilt wash over him as he pulled his blanket closer.

“Villain, hey.” Superhero’s hand landed on Villain’s back but Villain refused to look up. He felt Superhero stroke his back. Superhero’s touch, which normally filled him with happiness, flooded his mind with dread and fear.

Silence held between the two. Superhero waiting for Villain to look, Villain to shameful and scared to look. It felt like nothing would be solved.

Hesitation.

“...”

“...i’m...”

Superhero looked up at Villain.

“....i’m... i’m sorry...”

Superhero sighed. “Don’t be sorry. Mistakes happen.”

Villain’s heart ached at Superhero’s kindness. Even when he pulled the worst of moves, Superhero was still so forgiving. “I shouldn’t have... ‘ve run away.”

“It’s okay.”

“It’s not, it’s- it’s really not-“ Villain sniffled as his eyes stung. Was he really gonna cry again?

“I shouldn’t have done that, I went back- on my progress. I... I’m sorry...”

Superhero leaned against Villain’s arm but no hug came. “Please don’t be sorry. I am not mad.”

Still not much of a response.

“Could you at least look at me?” Superhero’s soft voice gave the phrase a different context.

Villain still didn’t comply, never met Superhero’s gaze. Superhero could turn on him in an instant, he can’t risk giving in. But if he didn’t, he could make Superhero more angry...

...

“Do you want a hug?”

Villain sat for a few moments, contemplating if he even deserved a hug at this point. After all the bad things he did, he should be receiving punishment, right? One doesn’t just let a bad person off the hook like that, right?

But Villain’s body ached. He wanted so bad to run to Superhero and get lost, where he knew he was safe. Superhero always showed compassion and acceptance, he was reliable- even if Villain’s intrusive thoughts told him otherwise.

With the opportunity in the air, Villain rested his legs down from his chest and onto the floor. He held out his arms slightly.

Superhero smiled and reached over, his arms curling under Villain’s arms and over his back to pull him close, like a teddy. Villain’s arms hung loosely at his sides.

The sweet feeling of home... It had been weeks since Villain felt the affection from his friends. Going from pretty much daily to nothing for weeks on end felt like hell. It felt like an addiction to Villain, like if Superhero didn’t show up to hug him, he’d scratch his eyes out.

Superhero’s embrace was heaven on Earth to him. It stung his eyes and filled his chest with love. This is what he needed, what he missed the most.

Villain let tears fall from his eyes as he clung to Superhero’s neck like a lifeline. His breath hitched as Superhero’s hand glided up and down his back.

“I know...” Villain bathed in Superhero’s welcoming voice. “It’s okay. I’m not mad, nobody’s mad at you. It’s okay.”

Villain yelped when another pair of arms wrapped around him. His eyes shot open and he glanced to his side. It seems his crying drowned out the other heroes entering his room. Most of the others surrounded him, the only exception being Hero5, who leaned against the doorframe.

Villain wiped his face with his sleeve and gazed to the other heroes. “‘msorry,” he muttered. “I... didn’t expect you guys to... to care so much.”

Villain watched as Hero3’s expression softened. They shuffled closer, just slightly. “Man...” They looked sadly at Villain before smiling. “I mean. Did you expect us to NOT care?”

Villain shrugged. Hero3 closed their eyes and shook their head slowly. “We love you, man.”

Villain felt his heart swell and hid his face in Superhero’s shirt.

“We do, Villain,” Superhero spoke up. “We love you.”

It was too much for Villain. He was never used to receiving so much love, even if it had already gone on for months. He sobbed. Usually nobody in his life ever loved him as much as this.

“Aw- no, don’t cry,” Hero2 said. “It’s okay! Please don’t cry...”

Villain sniffled and rubbed his face into his sleeve. He blinked a few times before smiling at his friends.

“YAA- There he is!! There’s the Villain we know!” Hero2’s sudden outburst made Villain smile more. He giggled.

“Oh-“ Villain hiccuped as Superhero hugged him tighter.

“We missed you, man...”

Villain looked up at Hero2. “I— I missed you guys too...” His arms loosened from Superhero’s neck and he leaned back. Superhero held onto him a bit longer before letting his hands fall to his sides.

Villain rocked back on his heels and fell against the wall. His gaze constantly shifted between the five.

Then it fell when he looked at Hero5. All eyes fell on him.

“Hero5.”

Hero5 looked over and his eyes widened when he found everybody staring at him.

Villain sighed. “Don’t.... do that.”

“Don’t run away.”

“HEY.” Hero4’s outbreak made everyone flinch. “Don’t be rude. You locked him in his room.”

“HE ran away.”

“Stop being an asshole.”

“Guys,” Villain spoke up. “Stop fighting. What he did was... kinda justified.”

“No it wasn’t. I heard you crying from two doors away!” Hero4 glared at Hero5. “Don’t do that.”

“Tell HIM to not run away for WEEKS ON END.”

Villain’s eyes widened and he shrunk into the corner.

“Hero5, quit it! You freaked him out when you locked him in here!”

“He freaked ALL OF US OUT when he LEFT-“

“Alright. That is it.” Superhero stood up. He grabbed Hero4 by the collar and dragged him onto his feet, grabbed Hero5’s sleeve, and dragged them out of the room. “If you are going to fight, do it outsi...” His voice faded away.

An awkward silence filled the room as the heroes looked between themselves and the doorway where Hero5 once stood.

Villain sighed and pulled his legs up to his chest. His eyes stung and his bottom lip quivered. Villain’s friends fighting over and about him is the last thing he wanted to happen... He knew Hero5 was mad the moment he got back home, but he didn’t know he was THIS mad...

He felt Hero’s arms snake up and around him again. “Don’t let them getchya down, Villain.”

Hero3 said, “You’d be surprised how they rival each other so much- I didn’t expect them to actually fight, though...”

Villain’s heart sank. This wasn’t meant to happen...

“I’m sorry...”

[elfyourmother]

you mentioned that Gisele learns sam from Hien and Gosetsu rather than following the sam questline; can i ask which jobs Gisele learns through the job questlines, and which ones she learns through a different means??

Everything else (rdm, smn/sch, blm, whm, brd) goes exactly like the job quests but I should note that she basically learns AST from Leveva like usual but she also learns a lot from Urianger, mostly the divinatory aspects of Sharlayan astrology (he really helps her develop and hone her skills as an oracle)

- I still don’t know how I feel about her dragooning—as beautiful/poetic as I find the idea of her and Estinien being co-Azure Dragoons together and the whole WoL!DRG facing Nidhogg-Estinien and saving him thing is so narratively satisfying from a romance standpoint but at the same time...that’s not Gisele’s story. So if she did ever learn DRG it would likely be after all of that’s over, and from Estinien. But she’s already an omnidisciplinary mage tbh it’s too damn much no matter how much I love dragoons (and honest it’s my favorite FF archetype and has been since I was 10 and fell for Kain in FFIV, I have so many dragoon ff ocs)

- similarly she would learn to Paladin from Haurche but again I don’t know how to feel about it. thematically I think Dark Knight fits her better and ties more into the Grey Warden background, but that also depends on how Gunblade ends up playing, bc I still have a hard time wrapping my head around the idea of Gisele being a plate armored knight. it’s weird and a little offputting. she’s a glass cannon speedster type and if she ever sword and boarded it would be like Diana in the WW movie. again she already has so much in her kit though

[subetei-noykin]

Do ALL of the boss prompts.

I’m so sorry in advance. Credit to @clover-hawthorne​ for the inspiration for the majority of this.

What would the setting/arena look like?

The battlefield would initially start off in a closed-in building, tables and chairs scattered off to the sides against the walls to create a deliberately closed in arena. One large set of double doors the party enters from, behind Subetei the only doors to advance into the remainder of the building.

Four large columns support the room from inside, with small amenities. A fireplace, a thick fur carpet on the stone floor, no windows.

At the fight progresses, environmental damage from Subetei’s attacks would begin to open the arena up. Walls cave in, pillars collapse and fall over, chunks of the ceiling create hazards that must be dodged and piles of rubble form that cut off line of sight or escape routes, or must be used to dodge certain attacks.

When phase two begins, the entire room collapses onto both parties and creates a rubble-filled, open sky battlefield for the fight.

What would the music sound like?

Phase One Theme - Battlefield by (Megalobox OST)

Phase Two Theme - Power Worship (Extended) 

What would the mechanic(s) of the fight be?

Phase One (Pre-Trance)

Primary mechanics are initially simple, dealing with Subetei’s rotation of Overpower > Cyclone > Upheaval which are, in order, a cone AoE pull-in, a point blank area of effect knockback and his tank buster. Cyclone applies a ten second duration slow to any hit by it and colliding with terrain inflicts a short duration stun as well. Upheaval is simply a damaging tank buster.

As Subetei rotates through this pattern, the arena is collapsing around the party. Pillars fall in random patterns creating obstacles that must be destroyed before the next Cyclone phase or the entire party risks being thrown into terrain and being stunned, in addition to the ceiling raining down from above creating area of effect nukes that apply stacking vulnerabilities.

At 75% health Subetei binds the tank via Holmgang, creating a target able effect, and then begins charging Onslaught. If the Holmgang isn’t destroyed before Onslaught finished charging, Onslaught is a high-damage party wide damage that’s going to wipe the party. If Holmgang is brought down it’s a line AoE charge that sends Subetei across the room, but can be dodged well enough and knocks back anyone hit, with vulnerability stacks.

Once Onslaught is over, Subetei’s rotation changes. His Overpower now also pulls in chunks of debris as well as players and his cyclone also creates multiple line AoEs that players must avoid. Players hit by Cyclone will have difficulty from the slow, and those who are slammed into terrain and stunned are always put in the same path as the lines, causing double stacks of vulnerability and longer stuns.

Phase Shift

At roughly 50% health or a set duration of the fight Subetei rushes into the center of the arena and begins charging Stormbringer. A gauge representing Subetei’s focus appears, and the room begins to collapse in earnest. Patterned AoEs will begin to fall and any player hit will be encased in Rubble, requiring them to be broken free before they can participate further. Subetei does not directly attack during this phase, but the debris and Rubble make it difficult to stay still and do damage.

If Subetei’s focus is at 100 when Stormbringer finishes charging, the party wipes as Subetei unleashes a Limit Break style Decimate that craters the entire room and buries the party in rubble, ending the fight.

If Subetei’s focus is under 100 when Stormbringer finishes, the room still collapses but the party takes a scaling amount of damage depending on how high the gauge was when he completed Stormbringer.

Subetei is likewise buried under the rubble when the dust clears, revealing the new open air arena and the music changes as Subetei bursts his way out of the rubble.

Phase Two (Post-Trance)

In this Phase Subetei has a permanent gauge marked Trance, which starts at 100% and ticks down rapidly as he takes damage. His mechanics remain mostly the same, but gain additional effects. Overpower always pulls in debris now and also sends out multiple additional aftershocks in wave patterns around the room. Getting hit by these waves causes the slow debuff to apply. Cyclone remains the same, with the line AoE effect afterwards, but now sends up piles of target-able debris that function as the pillars from Phase 1, in random positions.

Upheaval gains the biggest change, requiring both tank and off-tank to stack as it applies an Akh Morn-style repeating effect that lowers in damage as hits are delivered. He almost immediately follows this up by charging Uproar, which will knock up anyone hit by it. If the off-tank isn’t fast enough in getting out of range they will be hit too.

At 35% health the Onslaught phase repeats, except that Subetei also throws out Tomahawk, several line AoEs radiating out from him, that repeat in the opposite direction, usually aimed to hit around the tank. If the tank is not broken free in time the party wipes, as before. If the tank is successfully freed Subetei performs a similar line charge to before, with the added effect of knocking up and stunning anyone in the path instead of slowing them.

Any time Subetei’s trance gauge drops to 0 during this stage he stops attacking, dropping to one knee. He is especially vulnerable during this state, but damage must be dealt quickly as when he recovers Subetei will use Thrill of Battle, regaining a percentage of his HP and gaining a full Trance gauge once more.

At 10% health Subetei uses an immediate Cyclone that affects the entire party, knocking them back to the edges of the arena as he begins charging Stormbringer again, except without a Focus bar this time. It is a DPS race to finish him off before he completes the charge, else the party will wipe from the damage.

What would their Ultimate/Enrage attack be?

While Stormbringer is Subetei’s ultimate during multiple phases of the fight, including the end, his enrage timer would be marked by him gaining the Berserk status and executing Fell Cleave, a room-wide attack that visibly shatters the floor in multiple directions. The party dies.

What would the theme of their weapon drops be?

Honestly much like Subetei himself I like the idea of the weapons being very mixed in theme. Crude and hand-made with tribal or nautical elements. Prefix would be Scarred.

PLD: Scarred Cutlass + Scarred Mantlet (BIG SHIELD)

WAR: Scarred Ship Cleaver

DRK: Scarred Saber

WHM: Scarred Branch

SCH: Scarred Quarto

AST: Scarred Sextant

MNK: Scarred Punching Daggers

LNC: Scarred Trident

ROG: Scarred Dirks

SAM: Scarred Gunto

ARC: Scarred Longbow

MCH: Scarred Bombard

BLM: Scarred Cane

SMN: Scarred Octavo

RDM: Scarred Spardoon

Bonus: Voice Lines

Intro: “Well ah be out o’ m’ depth…But ah job be ah job, aye?”

“C’mon t’en, ‘ero. Let’s see where ye stand.”

Phase One Lines: “Harr! Ye sweatin’ yet?”

“Yer guard be down, salt!”

“Ah’d duck!”

“T’at look like ih ‘urt…”

Onslaught: “Yer lookin’ tired…”

“Sit ah spell, ah’ll ‘andle ter rest!”

Stormbringer: “Gettin’ cramped ihn ‘ere…”

“Time ter bring ihn ah little air!”

Phase Two Lines, pre combat: “Ah’m startin’ ter t’in…Ter job nah be worth ter coin…”

“Ah’ve got ter…make ih back…”

(Voice lines are replaced by grunting and growling sounds)

Onslaught, Phase Two: “Yer ah worthy fight…But ah canna die ‘ere!”

“Ah’ll rend ter lot o’ ye!”

Trance reaches zero: “Wha’? Ah shite…Ah can’t…”

Trance returns to full: “Ah’m nah done yet…!”

Stormbringer Phase 2: “No…Ah won’t stop till ah’m…!”

“Yer goin’ ter ‘ave ter pry m’ life from m’ ‘ands, hero!”

Upon Defeat: “…’yuki…Ah’m so…sorry…”

Focus 100 Stormbringer/Final Stormbringer/Fell Cleave Enrage: “Dodge t’is ye whelp!”

@whitemxge and @shard-kilamarii who also sent in asks on this!

Thanks for the ask! - OC As a Trial Asks

Holy crap this is so self-indulgent but I can’t not love this idea in my head.

Since I answered all the asks I’d received on this subject in one fell swoop, I’ma make a sort of reward for the folks who want to send in more asks on it; All asks I get from this meme from this point forward will be for one of Subetei’s AUs.

You can specify, or leave it up to me. Applicable AUs are; Magitek!Subetei, WoL!Subetei and ???!Subetei.

[aspected-benefic]

FFXIVwrite2018 #16 - Bond

Word Count: 1,801

((Aye, is late. I still wanted to finish this since this entry is dedicated to @abeat, the most wonderful girlfriend ever. She is going through a rough time right now and I wanted to do something for her. Also thanks to her for the Executioner’s lines. The four sisters and the Executioner belong to her.

This is based off of an old RP we did together. Though the RP is unfinished, I imagine this is what would happen later.))

Party:

Maroda Metzger: PLD | Teremy Itsubishi: WAR Reonora Aestethe: AST | Princess Kneesaa (aka E-e-e-e-e Ewok): WHM Ash Lawrence: DRG | Xiaoning Shou: MNK Joey Madison: RDM | Yappy Dog: BRD

Trial: Executioner (Savage)

The party’s leader, a Paladin named Maroda Metzger, tapped the special linkpearl created solely for her group. “Can you hear me?”

“Loud and clear… somehow...” spoke the party’s Monk, Xiaoning Shou. “These winds are deafening!”

“All right. Brave these winds a little more, everyone! I see our mark up ahead.” said Maroda.

On the open field, the winds screamed a near-deafening roar. However, the primal who hovered in midair, preoccupied with her own ritual, was not Garuda, but a woman whose very aura emanated energy of pure malice. Enough to make the more aether-sensitive members of the party cover their mouths lest they succumb to the ill sensation in their stomachs.

The Executioner herself.

Some of the party members had been told that this is their mother, a being who had become obsessed and corrupted with power. Others were told purely of their evil. But regardless of what any of them had been told, all eight had two objectives, one mission.

To stop the Executioner’s ritual and free her daughters.

The eight-person team, lead by Maroda Metzger, stepped into the midst of what appeared to be an elaborate ritual circle. Surrounding the ritual at four specific points were the ones the party had come to rescue.

The Hell sisters. All unconscious with their limbs rope bound onto tall crosses.

To the east hung a blonde lalafell who called herself Cecille the Brave. However, both her appearance and disguise were nothing but ruses to hide her true identity as Iris Hellwind.

To the west hung an elezen of extraordinary beauty, Lavender Helltear.

To the north hung a miqo’te innocent of face but steel of resolve, Holly Hellhound.

And to the south hung a dark-haired lalafell, the ever-sarcastic but kind of heart Camellia Hellfire.

“They’re still alive. I still sense magical energy from them.”

The party’s White Mage, Princess Kneesaa, nodded in affirmation.

Joey continued. “Their positions indicate their respective elements: wind to the east, fire to the south, water to the west, and earth to the north. I’m also sensing a buildup of magical energy in the center. The Executioner’s starting her ritual.”

Maroda narrowed her eyes, “Not if we can help it. C’mon!”

Taking what could very well be her last deep breath, Maroda stepped into the center of the arena. As she did so, the wind stopped and she could hear again. Her example by leadership paid off as the rest of the party followed without hesitation.

Once all eight party members stood in the midst of the giant ritual circle, an ominous shadow underneath the Executioner herself slowly loomed over them in greeting. “Well well well...look who it is. The almighty saviour has appeared!” chortled the inhuman echo of her voice.

Though the Executioner’s height made her appear like she looked at the entire party, her eyes looked upon but a single member.

Ash Lawrence, the party’s Dragoon.

“Oh, look my dearest daughters, a saviour and his motley crew have appeared to save the day! Are you not pleased? Oh, right, you can’t be, you’re barely still alive.”

The Executioner’s cackle vibrated through the arena that sent chills up the adventurer’s spines.

“So you found me. Oh no. Whatever shall I do. So what now? Going to run me through? Overcome my terrible evil in the name of justice, love, and all those other pleasant lies you mortals tell yourselves to feel better about your short and pathetic lives?” She cackled again. “That, of course, is being generous with the assumption that you have the power to even scratch me. Let alone stop the wheels I have in motion.”

Ash twirled his spear in his left hand and slammed the handle end on the ground. “You speak of a saviour, and a saviour implies that they shall be the ones doing the saving, no?” He asked in his heavily accented Ishgardian accent. “Bold of you to assume the results without before the battle. Do you count your chickens before they hatch as well?”

“Won’t let me have who? These four that you so desperately cling to? As though they were even alive?” The Executioner waving a shadowy hand around the room. “I am not ‘counting’ anything. I am reclaiming what was already mine. These four are not alive. They are merely extensions of me. Little more than puppets on a string. Strings that I control.”

The Executioner held her palms upwards. Invisible strings attached from the sisters to the tips of the Executioner’s fingers made themselves known as coloured energy streamed forth from the sisters and into the Executioner herself. The sisters who once appeared unconscious cried out in pain. The party members stepped forward. The healers even held their weapons at ready, but hesitated. No telling what would happen if they made any rash moves.

Thankfully for the sisters, the Executioner stopped her energy drain. Her actions served no other purpose than as a warning. “So you’re here on your merry quest of righteousness to ‘rescue’ these extensions of myself? As if it is even worth saving mere puppets from their one true purpose?”

Without hesitation, the party’s Astrologian, Reonora Aestethe, balled her hands into tight fists and looked up at the Executioner dead in the eyes. “Yes, they are! Perhaps to you they are nothing but your puppets in your twisted little show, but to us, they are so much more!”

Reonora gestured to the elezen to the west. “Lavender… she taught me the value of friendship, of being a good friend you can care for, but also that good friends will care for you as well!”

Reonora gestured to the blonde lalafell to the east. “Cecille the Brave--no, Iris. Perhaps she and I have not always been on the same foot, but she showed me that one does not need to always get along to be true, loyal friends.”

Reonora gestured to the dark-haired lalafell to the south. “Camellia… she taught me to open up and speak my mind. Tell jokes. That people are not always what they seem.”

Reonora gestured behind her to the miqo’te to the north. “And Holly… she taught me what it means to feel valued… and loved.”

As though Reonora’s shout was a war cry, the other members of the party stood up. Maroda was the first after Reonora to step up.

“That’s right!” Maroda shouted. “Holly taught me the importance of not running away. She also gave me the courage to stand up to the people who tried to control me. Just like how I won’t be controlled anymore, I won’t let you control them either!”

The party’s Warrior, Teremy Itsubishi, slung his oversized axe over his shoulder. “Pfft. Speaking of Holly, I’m more than happy to show you what she taught me--” A red aura--the manifestation of his inner rage--temporarily flashed, shaking the earth underneath his feet. “--with this axe.”

Princess Kneesaa took a single dainty step forward, clutching her staff in both her hands. “Lavender helped Princess Kneesaa to save taint Kneesaa’s people had become.” She spoke in a dignified Ishgardian accent. “Lavender is true friend! Kneesaa protect Lavender!”

Joey stepped beside Kneesaa and looked up at the Executioner. “And Camellia helped me to move on from the past and instead fight for the future. Fight against the stupid strong people who oppress the weak. Like you!”

Xiaoning balled her hands into tight fists, similar to Reonora, and stamped her foot, also shaking the ground. “Not only is Lavender a frequent guest at my inn, she’s also the bestest friend a girl could ever have! Besides, you’re not gonna break Lavender and Ash up! I’ll make sure that they’re together forever!”

Ash held a gloved hand to his mouth and cleared his throat. “Thank you for that, Xiaoning.”

“You’re welcome!”

Ash lowered his hand and looked up at the Executioner. “The mistress--” He took a quick glance to Cecille, “--is quite the handful. Yet, as her retainer and her friend, someone must take care of her. And as for Lavender...”

He looked at Lavender to the west. Even unconscious, even on the brink of death, just seeing her alive made him smile.

“She gave me a reason to live. A reason to fight. To defy the expectations my family set upon me, to face my shadows and conquer my fears. Now, it seems as though my companions and I shall be conquering her shadows as well.”

Yappy Dog, the party’s Bard, aimed an arrow at the Executioner, tears streaming down his small cheeks. “Give me back my Mom!”

The Executioner leaned forward like an exasperated mother about to scold her children. “Oh quit your incessant prattle. I would ask you to simply leave me in peace and continue with my plans, but I am certain you would just enter into yet another self-righteous monologue, wasting both my time and yours. I think I’ll just kill you instead!”

Reaching to the side of her head, the Executioner dug her fingers into her flesh and swiped her hand across. The sound of fabric tearing screeched alongside her show of force and her body fell to the floor, opened in half, laying flat and limp like yesterday’s dirty clothes. In its place, a shadow that vaguely resembled a human reached to the skies.

Her true form.

She continued to grow… and grow… absorbing the shadows. Absorbing the energy around her. Until she towered over the party, enveloping them in her own darkness to symbolize the end of all hope. Once she reached her full height, she leaned back, arms stretched to the side, and shrieked a deafening, unearthly roar. A show of power. A final bid to show the adventurers that they had come to forfeit their lives.

However, the party refused to fall for her intimidation tactics. Ash stood in between Maroda and Teremy. The two tanks parted ways to let the Dragoon through. Gazing up at the Executioner, Ash held his spear to the side.

“Indeed, you are wasting your time… by picking a fight to a losing battle.” said Ash. As he spoke, he felt a power within him that he had never felt before. A burning desire to protect. To save. An overwhelming power like he had never felt before. An aura of blue began to glow around him. In his mind he once again heard the foreign words he didn’t understand, yet knew what they did. Knew what powers they invoked. “That roar of yours… you have quite the will to fight, little kitten. However.”

His aura grew brighter and brighter.

“Can you compare to the roar of the dragon?”

Ash clutched his spear in both his hands to brace himself for the power within him now overwhelming him. The blue aura that surrounded him burn high and bright like a raging fire. Twin dragons swirled around him and screamed to the heavens.

“May God have mercy on your soul. Deus miserere animae meae!”

Outtake:

[magegoddess]

Not the most desirable background, but I fell in love with White Mage all over again today. #unedited #ffxiv #gpose #whm #whitemage #aura #endlessexpanse #almostmaxtoo

[ro-chan]

Day 66: Favorite Gear Set

The original called for favorite gear slot, but my FC mates and I changed it to gear set since that is what we originally understood it as. I will say that FF14 is one of the few games were the entire set of gear created are actually nice and worthwhile wearing. I choose the witch set from the 2015 All Saint’s Wake event not just because it’s a set I like, but because it holds special significance to me.

Back when FF14 was first released, my sister and I heard all the poor reviews so we skipped it in favor of Guild Wars 2. When ARR was released we heard about the miracle rebirth and decided to check it out. We loved the feel of Final Fantasy and just how pretty it all was. We invited a few of our long time friends and we started playing. It was a rough start, many had never really played an MMO before and I was still new to the entire idea of end game so I was super slow at leveling and very casual. Over time people got bored or quite because they were a white mage trying to do Titan EX back before the server lag was fixed. So it ended up being me, my sister, and a one monk leveling to 50. Once we reached 50, the Golden Saucer was released (I told you super slow here) and we tried to get them to come back but to no avail. So we finished ARR, watched the cut scenes and uninstalled.

When Heavensward was released, one of the six of us came back to the game to try it out. This guy is notorious in our circle for inviting people to play a game with him and then leaving after a bit of time. Therefore many of us were not inclined to join back in, since it would potentially mean we’d be abandoned after three months. Time went on and he managed to convince the WHM who had raged quit (landslides never forget) but she had started to get bored and quit after obtaining this particular event set.

At this time I was bored of GW2 and had been hoping around MMOs for a bit (WoW, Wildstar, TERA) doing all the Halloween events in the games that had them, when my sister casually mentioned: “I wonder what FF14′s event is?” Curious, I checked the lodestone and fell in love with the Witch Set. I wanted it and so I resubscribed. My sister followed suit and brought a friend with her who had never played. When the guy who had been trying to get us to come back saw us return, he messaged the WHM and she begrudgingly came back. A week later two more came back and now there were 7 of us trying to catch up Heavensward. An old friend of my sister and mine saw we had started up and got in contact with us working with her guild to fudge some EX runs through DF. Eventually we moved to her server and made a static of 8 and tried out doing Goridas normal, next raid tier we tried Midas savage, lost two members of the static and mingled with more raiders enlarging our pool of friends and players.  We replaced our two missing members and when Alex came out we raided savage again this time stopping at A11S before raid tier ended.

We’re still playing together (although we’re about to lose a member so she can raid with her long time friends). Enjoying every minute of our journey with no current plans to stop. We are having a blast and it’s all thanks to this one gear set.