#I just finished ARR hehe

[averaillisa]

more ffxiv doodles ft. my girl Altani

[nights-at-crystarium]

Fragments - episodes 47-52 author notes

You can find similar breakdown posts on older episodes in my pinned!

Time to recap the first proper wolgraha miniarc. See what you might’ve missed, or simply enjoy the extra content in form of my rambling.

47 stands out as a bit disconnected, floaty, introspective episode fully focusing on Exarch’s pov. I’ve scattered some breadcrumbs for him throughout the entire comic, time to pick those up. He may be an oblivious fool in certain moments, but I believe he wouldn’t keep insisting on staying deaf and blind when evidence’s shoved in his face. So, this moment of recollection and rethinking marks the start of the canon divergence, all of his future actions are colored by this.

Vivi has a dire effect on some people even without trying to manipulate them.

The composition forms a star here :3c

This panel should make their likeness even more obvious, they’re mirror reflections, albeit deliciously twisted ones. Also, the V sign is literally something that Vivi. Just. Does.

Exarch's heard from Vivi himself that they might be the same, Urianger literally tells him to go to a mirror and ponder, but when he does, and tries to look a bit more like he imagines Vivi, he can't stand what he sees in the mirror. They still aren't the same in his heart of hearts, even if reality itself tries to prove otherwise.

Hidden Angst Time! I can only hope that most readers are familiar with the flashback bubbles by now, and that this panel reads as it should: Feo Ul embraces Exarch while pointing out that they’re also being ostracized by their kind. Though the ultimate fae wisdom lies in accepting something the way it is, and just not caring too much.

More under the cut~ 

*rewinds all the way back to episode 1* hehe

“Does a hero have to be happy about his job” is one of my personal fav lines so far, I think it hits hard, pointing not only at Vivi, but at Exarch as well, and the visual supports it. I think this encapsulates Exarch’s ideology.

Exarch’s GASP could be interpreted as saying GASP out loud, which only makes it funnier.

Vivi carefully plans his entrance in order to make the atmosphere less formal. Approaching normally just wouldn’t do it. Also he just feels relaxed and safe to be silly. Remember how lowkey he was since his arrival to the First? His behavior all but contradicted what I said and showed about him in the ARR arc and outside of the comic.

Well, that’s in the past now. He’s finished assessing the situation and concluded that it’s okay to be more himself.

Feo Ul's upset that Exarch used his “radar” to detect Vivi’s ambush while they’d just used a similar ability to make sure that no emet-selchs are around.

If you catch a flirty vibe from Vivi in this episode, you're correct.

Vivi when he's remotely interested in a man:

My flavor of lampshading the obvious exposition dump. Oh Exarch, you asked for this, no take-backsies.

Another few hard-hitting questions from Exarch. It's easy to gloss over these, but if you slow down and think, it's decent angst material. Has anyone ever been concerned about Vivi's feelings, or was it more convenient to look away, even if intently, even if both sides knew they're better off not talking about that, for there's indeed no wol replacement. What good does acknowledging the situation if you can’t change it.

This's Vivi's memory, thus he appears small against the looming forms of the world leaders. Rigid, formal, impersonal. Raha's memories of the Ironworks seem to have a different vibe, despite all the parallels of the duty imposed by the world on one special guy. Also yeah I do wanna make my own version of the 8UC timeline and characters someday, for now these are just random characters that I consider as placeholders. And the dunmeshi cameo x’D

Yes, he mocks the people that he's saved. He's VERY frustrated with his job.

I offer you a fun game: spot all the mannerisms that make Vivi and Emet so alike. I genuinely never thought about this until this year, while this scene's pretty damn old, i.e. Vivi's always been like this, it precedes my Emet brainrot.

I swear that this line also was there before my Emet brainrot, but now it makes for a hilarious kind of foreshadowing.

You could already tell how "fit" he is for solving trolley problems.

This’s his “oops I talked too much shit” face.

The way Exarch just quietly TURNS and LOOKS at Vivi cracks me up. Don't undermine the tone with random jokes, dammit. But is this random? I’ve already analyzed this moment somewhere but for the sake of keeping important things in one place: they wrestle for control here. Exarch winds up for something serious, while Vivi wants to steer the convo towards more casual. It does somewhat lower the tension, though Exarch doesn’t relinquish his lead in the convo.

This doesn’t save him from becoming Frank forever from here on.

This miniarc’s rich with raw, hard-hitting words, so I’ll bring this up again.

We’re finally getting the explanation and context for a lot of previous episodes:

And the following episodes only help driving this point home. Vivi already sees the First as a viable escape from the Source with all of its shitty people and endless problems.

"This's why I... enjoy my time away from the Source": even at this seemingly high level of trust between them Vivi won't openly tell Exarch about his plans to stay here, a variable he doesn't want to become a risk.

Yes, he does an entirely calculated and strategic flop. A literal thirst trap.

Meme provided by my discord server:

Vivi casts provoke, it's..... not effective

^ This’s one of my personal fav exarchs I’ve ever drawn DADDY PLS

A panel that everyone loved to bits :>

I pair angst with other flavors to make it fun and non-repetitive. It's not "boohoo I can never kiss my hero, the world will end if I do, I'm so aggravated with myself", it's the hooded Exarch (duty) being mad at the unhooded Exarch (human), and delivering the same notion in a fun exchange. You can't help but laugh at the comical chibi violence, at the same time you acknowledge that it's a pretty fucked up act of suppressing one's innate human desires.

It's not a date, they just sit and talk <- the water in which Exarch is being slowly boiled.

I rarely talk about the visuals, but here I intended to make it look like a magical moment frozen in time. It's immersive, whimsical, full of color and movement. Despite the perceived warmth, the composition splits them apart, they're alone together. It’s still Raha’s pov, Vivi doesn’t seem to have any fond memories of the Source at all, we only hear about the past from his current jaded self.

An in-universe acknowledgment of the ARR arc lasting only 11 episodes x’D Though it’s all by design, it was meaningful only to Raha, while being a forgettable blip in time for Vivi.

Episode 52 opens with.... *drumroll*

NIP SLIP

I lovingly rendered that nip and I’ll make you look at it.

Ibuprofen meme would be the first thing that comes to mind, but consider the better/worse caption: "come to daddy". In all seriousness though, it’s a cool panel that I wanted to appreciate again. This IS Vivi’s pov.

The grimy beaten up Vivi creates questions that are answered in episode 53, which is yet to be released publicly at the moment of writing this. Some episodes, like 52-53 and 42-43, come in pairs that only make sense together due to the non-linear storytelling.

Yes this’s Aymeric, no I won’t say anything else :’> One thing that’s worth noting is the face Vivi makes here. And the distant, emotionless tone with which he recalls the moment of his own near-death.

Lemme spell it out even more plainly: Vivi romanticizes the moment he almost died. Exarch just happened to be present in that moment, and Vivi latched on to him as someone who would grant him escape, freedom, peace.

“A kindly wizard from fairytales”. I regret to inform you that we have two delusional fucks on our hands. Both see each other as some kinda dreamt up, idealized, mythical figures.

This miniarc isn’t over yet, but I’m wrapping up the recap here. Thanks for reading till the end~

[lilirari]

happy halloween !

𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ☾. summary : the one in which you're helping oscar with his face painting for halloween.

𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ☾. pairing : oscar piastri x fem! reader

𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ☾. genre : fluff

𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ☾. word count : 0.8k words

𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ☾. author's note : i wanted to write something special for halloween but i didn't get the time to do so T_T this is pretty rushed & quite short too with a terribly written ending & it's not really proofread either but i hope it'll still make up for the lack of content 😞

" oscar, stop moving around! you're going to mess up your face painting! " you exclaimed, landing a light slap on his right arm in hopes that he'll stop squirming as the said male let out a soft chuckle in response.

" hey, it's not my fault! the ends of the brush are just very soft.. i feel a bit ticklish. " oscar replied back, trying to defend himself. he did stop moving his head around though and had tried to stay still as you were seated on his lap, painting some scars on his face.

the two of you had decided to go as pirates this year, something which you thought would've been funny and at the same time, a sort of a genius moment because your boyfriend already had that thick aussie accent so it wouldn't be too hard for him to get the "arr !!"'s in.

" are you not done yet? i feel like you've been painting on my face for an hour now. " oscar remarked, raising an eyebrow as he looked at you.

" pfft.. it hasn't even been 30 minutes, silly. i'm almost done though, don't worry. just a few more touches and you'll be the best-looking pirate with the nastiest and most realistic scar out there. " you replied back, gently rubbing the brush across his cheek, your tongue sticking out slightly as you had your full concentration on finishing that scar.

as he noticed how focused and serious you were with painting on scars on his face, oscar couldn't help but smile as he looked at you in admiration. the way you sticked your tongue out, the way you squinted your eyes when you were painting the little details, the way you bit your lower lip whenever you made a slight mistake and the feeling of your thumb rubbing the excess paint off from his face all attracted him and made him feel euphoric. the aussie remained quiet throughout the rest of the process, as he stared at your features, admiring your beauty with the most love-struck eyes ever.

" ah, there you go! it's all done now! " you finally exclaimed after a few minutes, a look of satisfaction on your face as you grab the mirror laying on the table next to you. " what do you think? "

" whoa, i didn't expect it to look this realistic.. you did a great job, y/n. " your boyfriend commented, letting out a low whistle as he looked at the painted scar across his face.

" hehe, i know. i'm such a great artist, aren't i? " you asked, placing the brush behind your ear. you straightened your back and placed your hands on your hips as you striked an cartoonic pose, a wide and proud grin plastered on your face.

oscar could almost see stars sparkling around you as you striked your pose. he let out another chuckle and looked up at you once more, a smile decorating his features and not a word escaping from his lips.

" .. what? what's wrong? why are you staring at me like that? " you asked, tilting your head in confusion once you noticed the male simply staring at you and not uttering a word.

" hmm.. nothing. you just look really adorable when you're being all smug and proud of yourself. " he replied back, his smile turning into a grin as he slowly wrapped his arms around your waist, pulling you closer to him.

your eyes widened slightly when you felt his arms around your waist as oscar wasn't someone who showed his affection through physical touch. but you did notice that he had started being more comfortable around you lately and would even be the first one to intertwine your fingers when you walk together or wrap his arm around your shoulders when you're just sitting and casually talking to someone else.

a giggle escaped your lips when you heard him call you 'adorable' as he leaned in closer to you until your foreheads were touching and you were staring into each other's eyes.

" you're so cute.. so pretty.. you're my pretty girl. " oscar whispered, planting a soft kiss on your lips.

your face immediately flushed at both his words and his actions, which didn't go unnoticed by him. the mclaren driver let out a hearty laugh after noticing your red cheeks, his lips tugging upwards into a smirk.

" so, i assume you like the nickname, pretty girl? " he asked, gently poking your sides to tease you.

" maybe.. well, if i'm your pretty girl, then that makes you my pretty boy. " you replied back, running a hand through his hair.

" your pretty boy, huh? .. doesn't sound too bad. " oscar commented, resting his chin on top of your head, his arms now engulfing you into a hug. a small sigh of satisfaction escaped his lips as he felt you melting into his touch. it was the small and intimate moments like this which made him feel truly happy and he never wanted to let you go.

" oscar? " you muttered, leaning your head onto his chest as you heard the soft beating of his heart.

" yeah? "

" i love you. "

you could hear his heart beat a little more rapidly after you said those three simple, yet powerful, words. his hold on you loosened for a second as he looked down at you before pressing his lips on your forehead.

" i love you too, my pretty girl. "

© LILIRARI, 2023 ★

[1driedpersimmon]

was looking through all the sesame art and noticed it was mostly HW. Did you get the ARR skip? Always wondered where that drops people.

Oh no I did play the whole way through for ARR! No skips for me :)

I don’t have a lot of drawings for are because I was still kind of figuring out Sesame’s design at the time and I only really solidified it once Heavensward started! And as for why I have so many Heavensward drawings…. It’s because I’m still playing it LOL it’s taking me a while to finish 🙈🙈

Here’s a, blurry, screenshots of a lot of my early sesame sketches hehe I’ve posted like… none of these… I didn’t really like how any of them looked and tbh I think the solution was just to cut his hair and out him in some nice armor :3

[ramyeonguksu]

Does not matter where you go, we will reunite once more.

I've become way too addicted to this game so I commissioned my friend @dawntrailing to make these GPoses with FFXIV Hillevi and his take on FFXIV Hubert (modded)! I have so many thoughts about FFXIV Hillevi and I loved Aries' FFXIV Hubert so I wanted to see them go around Ishgard since it's very FE3H core 🥹🥹🥹

Very self-indulgent ramblings under the cut hehe

(Note that I have only finished ARR and I'm getting through Heavensward)

My personal headcanon for Hillevi in FFXIV is that she gets isekai'd to Eorzea after the war ends in FE3H. Initially she just takes the opportunity to explore but then she gets caught up in the affairs as a WoL so she goes around doing WoL things.

Hillevi voice "If I had a nickel every time I had to deal with a war involving dragons and a church, I'd have two nickels which isn't a lot but it's weird how it happened twice."

But of course, despite her fun exploring Eorzea and taking on her role as WoL making her feel more confident in herself, the burdens of being a WoL weigh heavily on her, especially after the assassination of Nanamo Ul Namo. She becomes homesick and misses her friends and Hubert. Ishgard at least alleviates some of her pain, but nothing will fill the void that is the Black Eagles Strike Force.

Hubert meanwhile is looking into where Hillevi had disappeared, trying to find a way the two of them to reunite. Eventually he manages since he's super smart and good at magic (let me be self-indulgent for once leave me alone), creating a way for him to travel to Eorzea himself. Once he finds Hillevi again, they have a heartfelt reunion and they have a date around Ishgard during his stay hehe.

Hubert offers to take Hillevi back to Fódlan, but Hillevi chooses to stay behind in Eorzea because she's still needed there. Hubert at least promises to visit her every so often until she feels like her duties are fulfilled. Whenever that would be.

ANYWAY I LOVE HULLEVI AND I NEED THEM TOGETHER WHEREVER HILLEVI GOES

[vixlenxe]

In light(hehe) of Ivy being star-coded as I described, you realizing why Ivy tried so hard to be happy & dodge her negative feelings for so long(Arr-to-Sb).

Because she always knew that opening up to sorrow was a way to go down the path to self-destruction, & she knows that if she goes down that path, she will go down hard & fast. So she rather not even acknowledge her sorrow then risk that.

Which worked for a while, but she didn't realize there were other paths to self-destruction she would go down as a result of suppressing her sorrow. Like Rage. Which lead to her whole situation in Stormblood. SB was literally just Ivy speed raging her way to complete self-destruction, more then likely as Zenos's hands, which certainly would have ended with an explosive finish & would have left a giant hole in things if the Warrior of Light was to die half-way through the story.

[astrxealis]

arghh w dynamis data center coming out (having my fave dc name and world names!! esp seraph!!) i am even more. ahbjdjhgd. i want to be more active in na dc

[kass-storycorner]

Heyhey! May I request childe with a reader who is very generous and like caring? Like if someone doesn’t stop her she’ll give and give and give and give until there’s nothing to give? Thank you

ooooh! Thank you for the request (and for being the first person requesting something yay!). I had so much fun writing this, I didn't knew if you wanted to go this the more platonic or romantic route, in the end I made it kinda romantic? Well, I hope you like it! I also kept using Childe as his name in this because my brain can't keep up with more than one name Title: Genre: Fluff, Humour, blossoming romance? hehe Rating: SFW Content Warnings: None! Except you need a warning for Zhongli voicelines then here it is.I quote Zhongli in this. May the Archons forgive me haha. Characters: Childe x gn!reader Words: 1546 “You look worried,” Childe was pulled out of his thoughts by your familiar voice. There you were sitting down next to him at the table in Wanmin restaurant, looking at him with concern. “Hey comrade, I’ve been waiting for you”, he smiled at you and grabbed the menu. “So, what do you say we eat today? I haven’t had Grilled Tiger Fish in a while”, Childe continued in the hopes of you dropping the topic. “You are really alright? If there is something I could he-“, before you could finish Childe already interrupted you. “I’m fine, don’t be such a worry wart, I just have been thinking about what we should order.” With a waving of his hand, smiling at you you dropped the topic and both of you concentrated on your meal. It was a good thing you didn’t try to pursue the topic further, although Childe knew just all to well you would try to talk about it with him later. But how could he tell you that what he was so worried about was you? Since the day he met you he couldn’t stop to wonder if you even knew the word “No”. Whenever a citizen of Liyue asked for your help, you were always there to do so. No matter how difficult or time-consuming a task, if they needed help you were there to help. Helping with the laundry? No problem. Listening to their troubles? You leaned them your ear. Playing with the kids in the Harbour? Arr, you’re the pirate now. Someone forgot their wallet today? You were happy to pay for the meal (Childe made sure that because of this you would never go out to eat alone with Zhongli – his taste might not hurt a wallet filled with the Mora of the Fatui, but the one of a normal Liyue citizen.). Whatever they asked from you, whomever asked for your help you were always up to the task and eager to do so. Without any kind of compensation. It worried him to no ends, you were always so generous with your time and energy, caring so much about everyone in Liyue. Childe wondered if you ever were selfish. You deserved to be. Just as you two were finishing up your meal, the whole time you told Childe happily about the million errands you ran today for the people in Liyue, he saw someone approaching the table you two were sitting at. “Ah (Y/N), I’ve been looking all over for you!”, Childe groaned internally when he saw the man in the clothes of the adventure’s guild approach you. It was as clear as a Crystalfly to Childe in which directions this was going to go – you helping that man out on one of these guild commissions without even taking the rewards. You greeted that man with a smile, at first you chatting a bit, but then- “You know, I was wondering if you could help me out with a com-“. “Ah, too bad”, Childe interjected himself now into the conversation. “(Y/N) already promised to help me with something, so they won’t be able to help. But there are surely some other Adventurer who will help you with whatever you need.” You gave Childe a confused glance. “I’m sorry, I can’t today. Maybe I can help you the next time,“ you told the Adventurer. With a disappointed face the man quickly told his goodbyes and went on his way. “Okay,” you looked at Childe “so there was something bothering you earlier!” With a sigh Childe put the Mora for the meal, stood up and took your hand. “Just,” he began looking at your now curious face “come with me, okay?” You both made your ways down to the docks of Liyue Harbour, just standing next to each other in silence for a few minutes looking at the ships coming in and out while the

sun started to set in the distance. “You see these boats? They um- ah, what does Zhongli always says about them?” You had no idea where this was going, but you couldn’t help but laugh a bit. “You mean,” and you said the following trying to mimic the way Zhongli always says it, “ ‘Boats are made for transferring commodities back and forth, and those that come across Liyue tend to stay a while.’ “At that Childe laughed a bit too. “Yes, I meant exactly that. But you missed something,” and now it was on Childe to mimic the way Zhongli gestures and talks “ ‘so it is where many things come to settle.’”. Now both of you couldn’t help yourself and laugh. “Okay, okay. Now you told me what Zhongli always say about boats… why exactly?” “Because I want to tell you that you’re like one of those boats”, he gestured at the ships in the Harbour. “Umm, thank you?”, a bit confused you laughed at his statement. “I mean this is in the nicest ways possible Childe, but do you really know what a boat is?” “I know what a boat is, what I wanted to say is-“ “that I am a boat?” “That you need to learn how to say no,” Now even more confused you shook your head. “Now you lost me, how did we get from ‘I am a boat’ to ‘I should say no’?” With a frustrated sigh Childe shook his head, seriously he was asking himself the same question. He put each of his hand on one of your shoulders and looked you straight in the eyes. “Look me in the eyes (Y/N). What I wanted to say is that- okay, the boat thing wasn’t the best way to bring my point across, but what I need you to understand is that you are too generous and caring. Every time someone in Liyue has a problem, no matter how big or small, you drop everything in order to help them.” “You say this as if this was a bad thing.” in the tone you used Childe could hear that this wasn’t really a topic you expected to talk about… and wanted to talk about. “It is! You keep on giving and giving and giving to the people around you, not wanting anything for yourself in return. And while I admire you for this, for how you always care for everyone around you, it’s not good for you. One day there will be nothing of you for yourself left.” His voice was filled with worry and so were his eyes. ‘Oh,’ you thought, ‘so that was this face was about earlier.’ “Listen Childe,” you began, trying to get out of his grip, but he wouldn’t let you go nor let you finish what you were going to say. “I’m serious,” you could hear that in his voice, “please care for yourself just as you would care for someone else. You wouldn’t just stand by and watch how a friend overworks themselves, gets taken advantage of, without them even noticing it?” Embarrassed you averted his strong gaze now. “No, I would not” you mumbled. Childe let go of your shoulders, taking one of your hands in his own and rubbing his thumb over the back of it. When you looked back at him you could see how his eyes were still fixated on you. “Promise me you won’t take on so many tasks in the future. Think more about yourself, be selfish. Please.” Childe didn’t intend to pour all his feelings for you into that please. It was just a simple please and still, he had the feeling that he just told you everything with his voice. “I promise,” you answered, trying not to get lost in his ocean blue eyes. There was a tension now between you two and for Childe it was just… it was too much. He let go of your hand and looking back at the Harbour, seeing how the setting sun coloured it in a warm orange. “Now to make good use of your promise,” Childe broke the tension continuing the conversation with a more light-hearted tone “is there something you want to do? Be as selfish as you want! Come on tell me, we can do that then!” He looked back at you, surprised by the playful smile you had. “Oh? Everything I want?”, you stepped a bit closer to Childe now, he started to feel a bit nervous now. An unusual feeling. “Y-yes, like I said. Be as selfish as you want!” Did he just stumble a bit over his own words? “Then,” you looked in his blue eyes again and Childe could see a glint of mischief in them “how about I kiss you?”. Childe was not one who got easily flustered, but he could feel how he started to blush. “I mean- if that’s what you want, I’m fine with it,” did he sound nervous? He felt like his voice didn’t sound right when he just said that. You came now even closer to Childe and then – you gave him a quick peck on his cheek. “Huh?” Confused he looked at you. “I didn’t say I would kiss you on the lips,” you winked at him, smiling at him and then you turned around, starting to walk away. “Hey, (Y/N) wait that doesn’t count!”.

[sevarix-blogs]

Which classes have you played in FFXIV and which were your favourite and least favourite. Both gameplay and aesthetic wise?

oh!! this is a fun question! i have 2 characters, i'll go through each of them

for my au ra (main):

paladin - ok so my very first class was gladiator/paladin. it was nice for soloing stuff, i didn't mind it as a class in general, i just didn't like tanking lol

machinist - after heavensward i picked up machinist instead. it's my favorite class out of everything i've played. i consider it my 'main' class for my au ra even though he switches between red mage and mch. i'm not the biggest fan of the aesthetic but it's fun to play (plus we get a flamethrower!!!!!)

red mage - this one took me a while to get used to, but after i figured it out (after getting to like level 60 lol) i'm having a lot of fun with it! it's probably my favorite magic class that i've played! i still prefer mch over red mage but it's a nice secondary class for my au ra. aesthetic-wise it's pretty cool! goes against the typical 'mage aesthetic'

astrologian - this is a new class i picked up with this character. it's pretty straightforward healing, and pretty similar to white mage, but with some different stuff plus a cool aesthetic.

for my viera -

scholar - ok so i bought the 'finish arr' package thing for this character when it was on sale for $5 lol so i just had to level up to 50. i was a scholar and just did dungeons nonstop since healers get instant queues. scholar isn't my favorite healer, i kinda prefer astrologian but it's been a while since i've played scholar. i'm really not big on the aesthetic lol

summoner - this one got leveled up for free when i leveled up scholar lol. they completely revamped this class after the last expansion came out and i never bothered re-learning it, so it's still at like level 50 and i don't really plan to go back to it soon

samurai - i leveled samurai from 50-60 and it was just ok. i thought it was a little boring tbh, just the same rotation over and over and over. and maybe it's just me but it was pretty easy to mess up the rotation since it's kinda long. i wouldn't mind going back to it, the aesthetic is really cool, but maybe later

dancer - this is my viera's 'main' class. i love it so much, it's so much fun. it might actually be tied with machinist as my favorite class to play lol. i love the aesthetic too, i even got a nice outfit for him to go with the dancer vibes hehe

white mage - ok i will be totally honest, i bought this class to level 70 back when it was on sale LOL. i knew i liked healing and didn't want to level another class so.... yeah. but i've played it a bit and i like how it plays for dungeons and stuff. kinda similar to astrologian but easier. pretty nice aesthetic, i like the staves they use

bard - ok this is the latest one i'm just now leveling up. i'm only level 36 lol but so far it's ok. i really like ranged physical dps classes but out of the 3 i think bard is my least fave so far, but i still like it. i think in the later levels it will get more interesting

anyway those are the ones i've tried so far at least in a significant way! once you get to level 50 (or even sooner if you want!) i recommend trying other classes out! if you get frustrated with your current class just remember it's easy to pick up another, and it can totally change how the game feels.

keep in mind that i haven't done any serious raiding or anything, just msq and whatnot. so i can't speak to how any class plays in 'serious' (aka not casual) settings

[emetkoto]

does koto multiclass or just stick with one particular job? does emet-selch like to watch him fight, or have any preferences about seeing him use a particular weapon?

K'oto goes through multiple classes through the story!

When he first comes to Ul'dah it's to participate in the bloodsands as a gladiator to make money so naturally he started as GLA and specialized into PLD at the end of ARR where Nanamo presented him with a job stone since I don't fuck with making job quests canon it's too much writing and dealing with characters im not too attached to gjlkfsd..

Anyway he sticks with PLD through most of HW until after the vault at which point he has a bit of a crisis bc ohhh he's supposed to be a hero and he couldn't even save one man and he refuses to pick up his sword and shield again and estinen has to grab him by the scruff and knock some sense into him and force a lance into his hands (not a euphemism very literal) to get him to fight again so they could finish the plot of HW <3 so even tho it wasn't like official he was technically a DRG until after the final steps of faith where his pride has recovered and he can go back to PLD!

I thought about incorporating another job change for SB but I just cant come up with anything else that suits him so he sticks with PLD all the way through SB and it's post-patches and the first 3/4 of SHB! After Vauthy while he's talking to Ardbert they agree to fight together and all that and when they do the little fistbump idk. Ardberts knowledge of WAR is imbedded into K'otos PLD crystal or some shit anyway its an excuse for him to play WAR through amaurot and the dying gasp so i can keep in my tragic Ardbert betrayal moment (for K'otos own good or so he says) :) after that K'oto cant stand to see an axe so he's back to PLD again for post-patches and all of base EW!

When returning from Elpis tho as he's having his understandably massive breakdown on the floor of the ocular over what the fuck just happened he noticed smth on the floor and crawled over to it and it was Emet-Selch's convocation memory stone thing that Elidibus had left for him 🥺 K'oto took it with him and wore it as a necklace for the most part until after the end of EW but before patch 6.1 where he was looking through the memories on it again and was reminded (or discovered since ig his ktisis run would have him as a BLM) that Emet was what he knew in the present as a DRK and he started wondering if he'd be able to translate the techniques seen in Emet's memories into passable DRK skills and thus, it became his DRK job stone :) DRK is his main from 6.1 onwards into the foreseeable future! It's a way to help remember Emet and it kinda feels like they're fighting together, like Emet is guiding his hand and watching over him protecting him with mitigation spells hehe......since he learned it from Emet's memories for some spell casts he does sometimes find himself emulating Emet exactly and doing the stupid little snap and occasionally spawning a glyph during darkside that scares the shit out of his fellow trust members whenever it happens, it doesnt affect anything it's just part of him mimicking what he sees to make sure everything works lol

I can totally picture a homoerotic scene of Emet-Selch telling K'oto he'd look good wielding a mage's staff and that spells would sound so nice spoken with his voice <3 K'oto in general hates casting spells bc he has a hard time focusing and hates how he has to stand still to do it since he's always gotta be moving but y'know under Emet's guidance i think he could do it or get fucked trying!❤️💜

[dracula-in-purple-story]

Pride Month 2/3 [BONUS]

Pride Race is here!

Author’s Note : All of this is ENTIRELY NON-CANON. I’m still working on my writing skills. Thank You and Enjoy, hopefully.

It’s the second week of Pride Month, and the first day of Pride Race! People of all species are mixing their crowd to group up before twelve o’clock strike. Some are changing their colours constantly, some are stretching their bodies out, some are puzzling with excitement, some are waxing their spikes or tentacles and much more species are doing warm up or just talked around to ease their own tension.

The Pride Race are something to be excited as it is the only tournament that can be set and create by winners of the last Pride Race. It’s even more exciting since this is the first Pride Race that the underground citizens get to join. The stands and Audience Area is overfilled with both residents and visitors but they really didn’t mind as the games is starting.

Team CephaHook have the biggest noise around them as they consisted of two mega pop stars and half of the members in the strongest League Team. Hachi is too immersed into clips of some previous Pride Race, Huit is doing work outs with Tres while Off the Hook are just waiting for the race to began. “It’s great to have you guys in the team! Me and Pearlie can’t find other friends to substitute for Sashimori. They have to take care of Paul while cheering on the stands there.”

Huit grinned at Marina after Tres pulled her up, “Don’t worry, Marina. We are going to try our best!” Pearl snorted as she looked up the girl in the eye. “Try? Pfft, we are going to win! If we win, we get to choose some event for those try-hards!”

“But, we are going to have fun, right?”

“Yeah, but our main priority is to win, yo! It’s like the most challenging League that is custom made!”

“I agree with Pearl, sister.” Hachi looked up from his OctoPhone, “Those clips Fior downloaded for me are totally nuts! Not as crazy as the test but it’s crazy enough to know they are a one-time thing!”

“One... time?” Huit jaw-dropped as she tried to see if her brother is lying. “You mean, we only get to play those fancy games... once?”

He nodded. And the clock strikes to twelve.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Welcome to this year’s Pride Race! We were the winners from the previous Pride Race, the Squid Agents!” Callie shouted, “I see a lot of familiar faces that is ready to face their challenges again! But would they win this time? Because this year, we got a lot of visiting players from the underground!”

“It would make our games much more interesting, Cal.” Marie smirked, “In the meantime, we would state the usual good old rules for the newbies. One, respect your opponent. Two, don’t physically or mentally hurt people. Three, don’t glorify your sexuality or gender.”

“We also add a specific rule for people with spiky hair.” Sei added, “Especially Team Roadies, please don’t use your spike on chairs-related games, sincerely from the participants of the Musical Chairs from the previous Pride Race.” a group of Aromantic Urchins laugh uncontrollably as they high five at each other.

“Before we start the games, let us explain how the Race work. I would like some silence please, so the people without the speakers around could hear me.” Erek started as soon as the crowd quieten, “For the first day of the Race, we would have some elimination round to determine the sixteen groups that are going to be in the next round. As the days goes on, the system would tally the results for us to announce at the final day. The team with the most points wins and would be able to decide the games for the next Pride Race!”

Excitement cheers and roars are everywhere. Some people are doing their own battlecries, some are inkstagramming or doing live in their phones and some are being annoyed about the noises and wished it could start already. 

~~~~~~~~~~

The first game is Egg Hunt. People who found a coloured egg would proceed to the next game. At first, finding them is easy enough but-

“Sorry, Team Fruit Jam. Not the egg we wanted. DISQUALIFIED!”

Many groups were disqualified one after another. Some group who are lucky enough got into the next round. This game took quite long as the sun began to set.

“I knew this is too easy to proceed...” Marina pouted as she heard the announcement that another team are disqualified. Pearl and Tres grunted while the octoling twins are still analysing between the five eggs they have collected. They need to be quick because Fior just announced the fifteen group had just qualified, making the remaining teams to scatter around like crazy. Hachi thought for a while, “Tres?”

“Yes, Hachi?”

“Can you check those eggs that the qualified teams brought up to stage?”

Tres shrugged before running to the stage. She returned with a photo and she pass it to Hachi. He looked between the pictures and the five eggs they got. “PfftHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Hachi suddenly got up, “Why we didn’t think of that?” It’s just right in front of us!” He exclaimed as he quickly picked up the egg from the far right and before anyone could react, he ran to the stage and present to them.

“Wait, yo, Hachi!” Pearl shouted, “We don’t want to get disqualified. This is not what we are here f-”

“WE HAVE OUR LAST LUCKY TEAM WHO WILL ENTER THE NEXT ROUND! CONGRATULATION, TEAM CEPHAHOOK!” Fior shouted as she shook Hachi’s hand enthusiastically. All the remaining teams, including Hachi’s, were shocked. And scream and shout emerged quickly.

“What?! How?!”

“This is outrageous! What is this?!”

“I. Demand. Explanation.”

“Ryan, we talk about this. Don’t threaten with a chair.”

“YES! HACHI, OUR ONLY BOY! WE QUALIFIED! TAKE THAT, SUCKERS!”

“We can play more games now?”

“Yes, Huit dear. Let’s go to the stage to take our qualification letter, shall we?” Marina said gently as she hold Huit’s hand while carrying Pearl like a sack, who doesn’t mind. Tres followed behind with the remaining four eggs with intentions to give it to her younger siblings.

~~~~~~~~~~

New day, new game! All teams are gathered at the bottom of Mount Nantai with flying cameras all around. A big television was positioned at the side of the starting line.

“Okay, brother. You have to tell me about this! How do you found out that that’s our egg we have been searching?” Huit questioned him as she starting to do some stretches with Tres, who stopped to listen. Marina also stopped what she is doing while Pearl is busy making verse for their upcoming album. 

“It’s actually supposed to be easy but our girlfriend confused us.” Hachi smirked a little bit, “She said coloured eggs. Not any colour but specifically, Pride Colours.”

“Pride Colours?” Tres continued her stretching, “She never said to anything about it, didn’t she?” Hachi nodded before took out the SquidPhone his girlfriend used. He pointed at the very picture that portrayed all fifteen eggs, but with something that Hachi said, the three noticed something.

“Why, it is Pride Colours! Why didn’t we thought of that?”

“Knowing that sneaky dwarf, Marina, it’s to make everything much more confusing and time-consuming.” the bitter inkling grumbled as the television is switched on, a clip showing Erek.

“Welcome to Mount Nantai! Today, we are going to have Obstacle Relay Race. This game required 3 team players only. The rest could stay right in front of this television to view their teammates.” Erek grinned widely, “Before we start to teleported your place to the spawn point located at the checkpoints, few warnings would be told. Don’t use any shortcuts even if you venture this place well. Rely on your instinct as you dodged obstacles. Don’t trigger the traps. The fastest one to end up in the finish line would be awarded the most points!”

The clip was closed off. Team Cephahook sent out Tres, Huit and Marina as representatives. As the second and third representatives were teleported off to their checkpoints, the clip was opened again. Erek look apologetic, “Hehe... I forgot to tell you. Avoid getting splatted as you would be respawned to where you started. Good luck!”

~~~~~~~~~~

Screams of team players are displayed on the Audience Area as they got splatted on each direction, causing them to respawned from where they started. Only Tres and Ikkan are still alive and kept on dodging the obstacles.

“Are you sure they are going to be okay?” Erek peek through from his hands that he cover on his eyes. Fior and Marie are eating popcorns while Sei and Callie are so worried they sweat buckets.

“Oh, pwease!” Fior mumbled through her full mouth, “They arr goiee to be fwine!” 

“I hope so. Besides, Rekki add in some harmless stuff, right?” Sei gulped nervously as Tres doing backflips over and over. He know that Tres’ imaginary middle name is Acrobatics Danger but he can’t help feeling nauseous as she keep flipping back and forth.

Erek gasped, “Actually... there is one thing I added in because of my Grandmama’s suggestion...”

“What is it?” Callie fidgeted as Tres and Ikkan passed the baton, “What did you add in?”

“Well...”

~~~~~~~~~~

 “Oh god, Holy Mackerel! Why are these guys spitting bullets at us?!” Warabi shouted as they got pulled behind the tree by Marina. The OctoCommanders stopped as they couldn’t see them. They squinted around before going back into their position as they saw other players are coming. Splatting one after another, sending them back to their Checkpoint Spawn Point.

“Since you are not from the underground, I should tell you to start run quickly because those guys are fast at splatting their foes.” Marina explained as she analysed the situation before them. Three OctoCommanders, aligned in a row with large space between each of them. She looked around to see other Octoling and Octarian players shielded themselves and protecting their clueless friends after they got splatted once. “Luckily, the only sharp sense they have is sight. We need a decoy.”

“A decoy? Better not be me because I ain’t got those military lessons you had, Marina.” 

“I know,” Marina smiled dangerously, “that’s why we have to make a fake decoy for them to focus on.”

“Yeah, right. Let’s make a decoy out of dried grass and throw some stones in it.” they exclaimed sarcastically, “As if they are going to work.”

Warabi looked around and saw those Octolings and Octarians are tying some dried grass together and throw rocks in it. They looked in disbelief, “Are you guys freaking serious?”

~~~~~~~~~~

The teams are on the edge of their seats. 

“Well, well! Looks like they decided to cooperate together in order to get past the mighty OctoCommanders! And the Octarians are leading them with some sort of decoy!” Erek’s sound came through the speaker. Teams are either fidgeting around or praying nervously. Only Pearl is looking confident, after all, that’s her girlfriend who leads this operation. Nothing to worry about.

The participating players seems to scoot around trees to trees or bushes to bushes. Three of them got too close for comfort. Before the non-participant even came to their senses-

“Fire in the hole!” the closing three Octoling players suddenly emerged out from their bushes to throw some large packages highly on top of each of the OctoCommanders. After that, two of the Twintacle Octotroopers and Marina came out with their handmade slingshots. “Ready...” Marina commanded as the three of them put a sharp rocks in the slingshot, “Aim... Shoot!”

On the screen, the packages is on fire. It lands on top of each OctoCommanders perfectly on fire. They dropped their splatling gun as they took off their berets, patting aggressively on where the fire lands.

“I don’t want to believe this plan actually work... I refuse to believe it...” Warabi mumbled as they ran through the spaces with the rest. The OctoCommanders saw them as they finally get rid of the fire but before they got their guns ready, all of them had ran far away.

The members scooted closer to the television as they squirmed around. “Count on Mommy Marina to do such dangerous stunts like this...” Hachi grasped both his hands tightly that it looks like it hurt.

Pearl smirked. “Ha! That’s not even come close to what she had been inventing in her room!” she retorted, “You should really see that she turned her room to a mad scientist lab, literally.”

“Is that why she’s been sleeping with you?”

“We are lovers, Chi. Besides, she’s still cute with her pouts and dusts on her face.”

“Whatever you said, Mama.”

~~~~~~~~~~

“Please tell me that’s Lady Octivia’s idea, Erek...”

“Actually, that’s Kevin’s one.”

~~~~~~~~~~

“I told you already, you literal seaweed! All of us got teleported to the end of the cliff! What do you want me to do?”

The brawny Transgender Angel fish raised his voice as his teammate kept on telling him to go. He’s right though, there’s no more path for them to run forward. The sun is starting to set and they are starting to get very anxious but excited that they have such difficult challenge. 

Huit, on the other hand, seems to know something. After what happened to Marina and Tres, from what she heard, they got encountered a lot of traps. Somehow, she realized something. “Marina? Tres got lots of traps with ink, right? Are they Octarian technology?”

“Now you said it, they really look familiar. Like those traps for invasion...”

Huit quickly grabbed a handful of dirts and threw it towards the cliff. Most of the dirts fell out like normal but-

“Are those dirts... floating?!” a Skoliosexual Crab yelled in shock. All of them turned to where she pointed and immediately got freak out, except for the underground citizens. 

“Oh, invisible paths and walls... how I absolutely love them!”

“Remember how we always bumped into them? Screw this tech.”

“Good thing I took the second baton, am I right, Rockenberg?”

“Shut it, Etce.”

“Why did our ancestors invent this again?”

“Hello, invisible techs my old nemesis.”

As they get busied themselves into the conversation, Huit had gathered a bag of dirts. She throw it and make a conveniently visible path as she goes on, being very careful on not slipping down. As she get closer to the finish line, where Team Squid Agents are with a few flying camera drones, she heard rustling and shouting behind.

“Get out of the way, sea donkeys! Make way!”

“Don’t push, you seacow!”

“Let me get that guy! He pushed me and I need to avenge for myself!”

Crowds of the third baton players are squeezing themselves in and out. Some even fall and ended up getting splatted. Huit got frightened and hurried her process. She almost reached to the end and realised, she was out of dirt. As the crowd getting closer or a few of them filled one after another, she kneel down and use her baton to locate. She crawled and crawled, with a few missteps, until she finally reached the finish line.

“Are you alright, sweetheart? You look pale.” Sei comforted as he caress her face. She broke their intimate contact before snuggled right into his embrace. “I could tell you this is going to be fun, Sei.”

[wildwolfheart81]

~A Date To Remember~

NCT Jisung x @etherealparkjisung

Fluff

Short Story/AU

-

Sometimes when someone throws a ball through your window they apologise and pay for a new window for you. Maybe even tell you keep the ball. Or, apologise, pay for the window and ask you out on a date. It’s difficult to think Park Jisung had accidentally thrown that baseball through Frankie’s window a few days ago, but it’s also hard to turn down that cute little smile he gave when asking. Though she didn’t get to answer him before one of his friends that had a perm came up and dragged him away by the ear, Jisung helpless calling out to meet him at an Italian restaurant three days from then.

Which she did, nervous but excited about going on a date with such an interesting and cute guy.

She arrived at the restaurant around lunch time, said time being the last thing Frankie heard from Jisung before he was taken away somewhere by his friends

There at the entrance he was dressed neatly and looking around anxiously, his mouth widening into a smile when he spotted her walking in. It had only be a few days but it looked like Jisung had dyed his hair, it previously being a silvery blonde but now an orange kind of strawberry blonde,

“Um hi! Come in I’ve got a table booked already,” He nervously said, leading her over to a table set for two. Yeah there was some definite planning to this,

“So it’s Jisung right? We’re in the same school?” Frankie asked she took her seat, Jisung nodding as he also sat down,

“Yeah we um, share the same chemistry and English class. A few of my friends are in some of your other classes as well. About the other day with the ball and such, I’m sorry again. It really was a mistake! I was aiming for Hyuck’s head and missed big time,” He explained and apologise, bowing his head before looking up again at her to smile,”Thank you for actually accepting to come out and all, I’ve been wanting to talk to you for awhile,”

“Me to honestly, you seemed really cool and sweet, though you could have just said hi instead you know, breaking my window,” Frankie teased as Jisung guiltily scratched his head,

“Heh yeah that’s true, and wait you think I’m cute? You’re the cutest person I’ve ever met! Wait um uh,” He started to stutter and blush, Frankie unable to not smile at his cuteness,

“Thank you, though I’m pretty sure you’re way more adorable. I’ve seen you dance in dance class before and you looked so ethereal! Oh..” Now she started to blush as she realised what she just said, the two nervously averting their eyes to their empty plates,

“Um so, uh...do you like breadsticks?,” Jisung suddenly said, taking a small breadstick from the jar on their table,

“They’re nice, they’re like little swords kind of,” Frankie replied, calm now with the topic changed. Jisung grinned as he pointed the breadstick at her,

“Arr en garde fair lady!” He challenged in a pirate voice, Frankie grabbing a breadstick as well, the two beginning an epic miniature breadstick dual. Eventually they heard a loud cough that stopped them, the pair looking up to see the waiter holding two plates of spaghetti and meatballs,

“Your food ma’dam and mis’er,” He served the food and left, once out of ear shot the two teenagers giggling,

“Alright this looks really great! Thank you Jisung,” Frankie grinned before starting on her meal, Jisung beaming as he started on his.

They had some small talk, Frankie learning about Jisung’s various friends who all seemed as quirky as him,

“Oh who was the one with the perm? He seemed pretty upset at you after you asked me out,” Frankie inquired, Jisung nervously swallowing,

“That’s Renjun, he uh, probably was just upset about the ball and all, he kinda grounded me as well because of that but luckily that’s over and his all good now,” He quickly explained, something a little off about the way he spoke about it. Frankie decided maybe it was best to shrug it off, and continued to eat her lunch. It was a few moments later she caught Jisung stealing glances at her while they ate,

“Is something wrong?” She asked worriedly, Jisung shaking his head,

“No no, it’s just you’ve got something on your face,”

“Crap where?” She pointed to her left cheek and then her right as Jisung shook his head,

“No just over there, okay freeze for a moment,” He leaned over the table and wiped off a smudge of sauce that was on Frankie’s nose,”There no need to fret, I should have done that in the first place,” He grinned, Frankie noticing now with him closer the spots of sauce all over his cheeks,

“Ges you’ve got sauce all over your face to,” She giggled as his eyes widened and he started to pat his face searching for it, Frankie quickly grabbing a napkin and wiping it off before he started to panic too much,

“Hah I guess this spaghetti is really good, I knew this restaurant was a good place,” He grinned before pausing for a moment, a cheeky smirk spreading across his face as he leaned closer,”Wait I think you’ve got some more here,”

“Wait seriously more? Give me a second-“ She quickly said as she went to use her napkin, Jisung stopping her and cupping her cheek,

“Just be still for a moment, I’ll get it,” He tried to whisper, his ears and cheeks starting to go pink as he leaned himself over the table and closer to Frankie, going to kiss her,

“PARK FRICKING JISUNG!” A yell echoed throughout the restaurant, Jisung freezing up and slowly turning his head to the side. Frankie followed his line of sight to see that same boy with the cute perm standing by their table huffing. In his hands was a large bag, looking big enough to carry a body,

“Hey Renjun! Looking good today hehe...” Jisung squeaked, shrinking into his seat as said boy pinched the bridge of his nose,

“I should have known you were going along with that stupid plan of yours, “dying my hair for a new me” was an easy give away. Jaemin told me everything after I bought him Starbucks,”

“The traitor!” Jisung gasped, beginning to leave his seat and slowly move away, Renjun picking up on this instantly and grabbing Jisung by his ear,

“Not to fast snake, I swear to god if I catch you escaping again and-“ He paused halfway finally noticing in his anger Frankie sitting there eating the rest of her spaghetti watching the two boys like she was watching a movie. Renjun stiffened up and bowed quickly, his ears turning red,”Ah um, I’m s-so sorry Frankie, he’s a-a troublemaker,” He started to stutter, Jisung using the opportunity to wriggle out of Renjun’s grasp and bolt for the door,

“It was great to meet you Frankie! Let’s meet up again at the beach or cinemas!” He called out over his shoulder and winked as he starting sprinting, running straight into a wall and falling on the floor,

“Yup. Idiot as always,” Renjun sighed as he went over and put his bag down, unzipping it, picking Jisung up, and placing the taller boy into said bag. He picked it up and slung it over his shoulder, looking back at Frankie and giving her a shy smile,”I’m sorry again, maybe next time you should meet up with me and we can go have some tea at the local café. I’m much more the gentlemen than this breadstick,” He gestured to the bag over his shoulder, Jisung starting to stir,

“Wait wait! Let me down! C’mon man I saw her first!” Complaints came from the bag as Renjun started to back out,

“I’ll uh think about it, will you be alright carrying him like that?” Frankie pointed out, Renjun shrugging,

“Isn’t the first time I’ve had to drag his butt home. I hope you have a good day my lady,” He said with a swift bow before turning around and dashing out, Jisung audibly stating his freedom and rights as he was carried away,

“Well, that’s a date to remember,” Frankie laughed as she finished her meal, thinking about those silly boys and what kind adventures she would have with them in the future.

-

Doot! Here it is, the belated birthday present for @etherealparkjisung! They’re also a really amazing and sweet and funny person who deserves heaps of love and hugs! I hope you enjoy this and know there’s millions of peeps a part of the Frankie protection squad!