#This is probably a mid shb au

[frankenhoez]

Au where they get married to Emet-Selch... Yeah

[dawnslight-aegis]

glamour progression! some canonical Looks that Kaede has had over the years, lore and reasonings and whatnot under the cut~

early ARR: just some basic, comfortable traveling clothes. she didn't have a ton of money here, and her fighting style was offensively-focused, rather than defensive. she didn't even use a shield yet.

mid ARR: finally scrounged up some basic armor, but she still prefers the flexibility and mobility afforded by leather over chain or plate.

end of ARR: for the Praetorium assault, she joins as an officer of the Immortal Flames, and wears their uniform. even though it's heavy and bulky and uncomfortable.

post ARR: newly dubbed the Warrior of Light, she still favors Immortal Flame colors, but make it stylish. also helps Gerolt reforge Curtana and the Holy Shield.

early HW: after the Bloody Banquet, but before being admitted to Ishgard, she comes across the corpse of a dark knight dumped outside the city gates and takes up his sword. it's no longer safe to wear anything that associates her with the Flames, so she reverts back to her more gladiator-like style, but with light plate

mid HW: can't very well be walking around Ishgard as a heretic, so it's back to paladin for a while. she finds a full set of really nice (and warm) armor and weapons in The Aery and uses them for a bit, but swaps the sword/shield for a greatsword again in the aftermath of the Vault

end of HW: Sid gave her some armor. please imagine Zephirin's face under where her sword is planted in the ground.

post HW: had a new set of armor made to match the style of the set she found in the Aery, carries the Fortemps shield in Haurchefant's honor

early SB: when Tataru Taru makes you an outfit, you damn well wear it. also this is her RDM training arc, Marz is the main character doing WAR stuff here, Kaede is just here to vibe and help out

mid SB: Kaede doesn't care for Doman fashion in Eorzea, she has a hard enough time convincing people she's not foreign. but when in Othard, do as the Othardians do. oh this is also where she got her horn and tail decor! turns out when you go somewhere with lots of au ra, you can find cute auri accessories. who knew.

end of SB: we liberating Ala Mhigo in full red mage regalia my friends

post SB: it's just a cute witchy look, Kaede didn't do the Mhach raids so idk how she even got this one. I just like it. she spent most of the SB patches in Ishgard so maybe she bought it from Leofard or something. for REALLY late post-SB (aka Ghimlyt Dark) please see "early ShB"

early ShB: puts her rapier away when her friends start dropping and she has to go to actual legit war. opts for some heavier actual plate mail, but you can't fight evil if you ain't cute. also she got that top from the bowels of Orbonne Monastery, and it's reminiscent of her childhood hero, Agrias Oaks, so it's important to her

mid ShB: Kaede has Feelings about Voeburt and how it's basically Ishgard but with au ra, ask her about them some time. anyway she tries to PLD for a while on the First but it starts exacerbating her light poisoning, so it's back to dark knight time

end of ShB: yikes, girl. yikes. anyway Voeburtite+Crystarium gear is a nice cross-section of the places in the First that really spoke to her

post ShB: neo-Ishgardian top, Halonic gauntlets, I think it's safe to say she is homesick, someone let her go home and see her man already

early EW: Sharlayan is...not Kaede's favorite place. she went there straight from Ishgard so she's just wearing some of her normal civilian clothes tbh. if you see her out and about in Ishgard this is probably the kind of thing she's wearing

mid EW: Garlemald is fucking cold and depressing, even when you have a nice heavy coat. while she's here she gets her arm broken and her shoulder dislocated, so she has to do red mage stuff until it heals. I didn't include it here but it's the heirloom casting top+ravel keeper gloves+virtu duelist boots.

end of EW: a return to the iconic look after getting her shield arm fixed by Haurchefant in the Aitiascope. also all her friends died. it's a bad time. Tataru made her some boots though.

post EW: holy shit baby girl finally learned how to heal, it only took almost dying to make her stubborn tank main ass learn. she changed her hair because she's On Vacation rn. also she's engaged! idk where the yorha top came from, I don't consider the nier raids canon lmao. her staff has a chunk of the mothercrystal on it though

[otherworldseekers]

So what got you into playing FFXIV?

Short answer: My husband tried it out and then convinced me to try it as well.

Long answer: My husband and I have been playing MMOs together for over 16 years now. Our first was WoW. At one point some years ago I was taking a gaming break and so he decided to try ARR without me. He raved about it but I wasn't interested. Then some time later we were kinda in between games looking for something new and he once again suggested playing FFXIV together.

I gave it a shot but only got to about level 20. More time passes. He gets me to try once more. Get to mid 30s this time before giving up. More time passes. HW is out now. He shows me the cool HW trailer and stuff. I'm a bit intrigued by the Au Ra. So we go ahead and buy HW and I roll an Au Ra. Welcome to the world, Severia. This time I get to Cape Westwind (the first 8 man at the time) before I panic and quit. Eventually he convinces me to do the 8 man stuff and we succeed in making it through Prae. We do some of the 2.x stuff but I'm not feeling it. I quit again. This time he's like fine I get it you don't like the game, I'll just keep playing myself. He does so. He gets to end of 2.x and I see him doing the final cutscenes. I am intrigued. I decide to try again. This time I get all the way through 4 point something but I absolutely despise Eureka and it's all our FC wants to do. We both quit this time. We go play LOTRO again for a while.

Then Shadowbringers hits. I had not been paying any attention to the announcements but my husband was. He stealthily plays the trailer while I'm nearby. I am hooked. I finish up StB and start in on ShB. I think that I'll probably stop playing again once I finish the expansion. Ha. Hahahaha. No. I am COMPLETELY OBSESSED. I start actually fleshing out my WoL and seeking out the fandom and thinking about shipping her. I cannot ever go back now. My life now revolves around FFXIV.

[paintedscales]

How do they consciously realize that they like the other character? Does it take them a while?

Thank you for the ask! ; w ;

Useful / Fun Character Development Questions for Couples

Spoilers for HW, StB, ShB, and EW as a fair warning for anyone that hasn't gotten there.

--

TL;DR -> It takes a while. Four expansions worth of time. There's a whole Enemies to Lovers thing with becoming friends being a necessary mid-way point for the both of them. The realization point is in EW when Nomin refuses to let him slip through her fingers once she has that "Oh..." moment during the Sharlayan room scene.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It does take a while for Nomin to really put together the pieces that she likes Estinien more and more. Honestly, she probably never even thought of it being a possibility? (I guess that's not too much of a surprise given that she doesn't really experience strong romantic or sexual interest on sight). Especially since she did make somewhat of a plea in hopes of becoming friends after he was placed in the infirmary after the Dragonsong War had been concluded. They had been at odds with one another during nearly their entire campaign because she has more dragon-like features than anyone else in their entourage.

I don't have rose-tinted glasses about Ishgard and their views on the Au Ra people based on what we've been given. It wasn't a focal point, thankfully, but it is present. I feel like, even if Estinien may have had a respect for Nomin as the WoL (her power and ability), there are still barriers of prejudice that had to be unlearned (and successfully were over the course of HW!) to see her as more than a perceived heretical figure because of the views the people of Ishgard have born of fear and hatred of the Dravanians.

Meeting back with Estinien within her original homelands (which is one hell of a surprise to her, make no mistake) and helping him and Orn Khai allowed them to speak a little more plainly with one another and build bridges. And maybe it was for the best, because being back on the Steppe dredges up feelings and emotions that Estinien could relate with because they're similar to how he felt with Nidhogg. It offered a time for their shared experience with the Dragonsong War to be that foundation for a strong friendship. (I need to replay the StB DRG content, bear with me as I struggle with some gaps I've also yet to actually extrapolate upon for my own character stuff.)

Around that time is also the first time Nomin's true color of her scales had been revealed to Estinien. She painted them consistently till about the end of StB / start of ShB. So this was also a show of trust and the start of her finally being able to express and be herself to him.

I have a short that I'll release eventually where it does detail the tail end of the battle of Ghimlyt Dark from Estinien's point of view. As Estinien brings her back to safety, Nomin is in and out of a conscious state, a gentle questioning being done by the dragoon all the while to assess her well being, but also to get a grasp on what had happened.

Nomin, when actually conscious under Aymeric's care, dismisses the interactions that she can remember as being that of a dream. That is until Aymeric tells her that it was in fact Estinien that brought her back to safety. From there, it kind of becomes the seed that is planted, though is somewhat forgotten about during all the events of Shadowbringers (I mean, being whisked away to play the role of hero for a different star entirely does kind of take precedence).

Coming back to the Source, experiencing the Echo with Estinien and Gaius, and then being physically back in Estinien's presence is like a, "oh... right. Fuck..." moment. She's really awkward about thanking him for saving her. She's also worried about his interactions with Tiamat before her release, though definitely breathes a sigh of relief once things seem to culminate to her working with them -- and more importantly, in tandem with Estinien.

I think the turning point into romance is when, despite everything going on -- the gravity of events that surround Endwalker -- Nomin can find genuine comfort, happiness, and warmth in being with Estinien. Moments she sees him interacting with Vrtra and other Raen of Thavnair, she recognizes more that he has changed as a person, and has changed for the better. And she can see this more readily, because aside from Alphinaud, she has traveled and spent time with Estinien for the longest amount when put together out of everyone else she knows since coming to Eorzea.

So when Estinien comes and speaks to her plainly in Sharlayan with his own self-realizations and thoughts, she's just... "oh... oh..." and she won't let him just leave out the window after telling her all of that. Because she realizes that after all their growth and healing within one another's company, she's fallen in love with the person he grew into being. Fallen in love with the person who she feels understands her more than anyone else. Likewise, I like to imagine that Estinien has found comfort in their shared experiences and understanding of one another that leads into their strong, loving relationship.

[faelune-home]

FFXIV Write 2021 Masterlist

I’m mainly gonna focus on my main girl this year, Fhara. Yuri’s time will come soon, just not right now ^-^

1. Foster - (backstory, the key figures in Fhara’s early life before coming to Eorzea) 2. Aberrant - (npc focused, spoilers for post-4.0 and Doman patch quests, Gosetsu and Yotsuyu wash up on a beach) 3. Scale - (lv55 dungeon and 3.3 trial comparison, short piece) 5. Crag (Freebie day) - (Titan fight, an interpretation of a solo archer taking on the primal) 6. Avatar - (spoilers for 5.3, a pre-fight exchange between Elidibus and Fhara) 7. Speculate - (npc focused, Alisaie’s investigations leading up to the Coils) 8. Adroit - (a small discussion between Alphinaud and Fhara about his art skills, some Studium recollections) 9. Friable - (spoilers for lv79 dungeon and trial, the Scions caring for Fhara in the aftermath) 10. Heady - (post-3.3, celebrations in Ishgard for the end of the war) 12. Freebie day 2 - (post-5.2, inspired by the long wait between patches; Fhara and Alphinaud wait out the rain) 13. Oneirophrenia - (post-Il Mheg, Fhara has a nightmare about being left alone) 14. Commend - (general ShB spoilers, overview on Minfilia/Ryne’s growth and view on Thancred) 15. Thunderous - (pre-Endwalker musing, where each participant stands) 16. Crane - (Modern AU take, struggling to win a prize from a crane machine game) 19. Freebie Day 3 - (Rising style musings with the Scions) 20. Petrichor - (post-Ifrit relief in the rain) 21. Feckless - (post-3.2, an encounter in the astrologian’s guild in the aftermath of events) 22. Fluster - (mid-2.55, pre-party jitters talk with Fhara and Minfilia) 23. Soul - (set during 5.3, Fhara’s musing on her probably connection to the 14th convocation member - mildly connected to a prior story, linked in A/Ns) 24. Illustrious - (post-Secula Imperatoris, Lyse’s fears about the family legacy she has to live up to) 25. Silver Lining - (Fhara’s thoughts on G’raha and their friendship overtime and presently, and some fears about hero worship) 26. Trust (Freebie day 4) - (The group preparing to enter Holminster Switch, a written take on Trust System stuffs) 27. Benthos - (post-4.1, 3 POVs based around water and swimming; Fhara’s free time, Alphinaud’s swimming lessons, and Gosetsu and Yotsuyu’s travels) 28. Bow - (pre-Eorzea, Fhara receives a special going-away gift) 29. Debonair - (no set timeline spot other than post-Malikah’s well, Fhara and Ryne discuss Thancred’s growth) 30. Abstracted - (set between Malikah’s Well and Kholusia story, Fhara is lost in her thoughts and in her music) 31. Bonus entry - (post-5.3 stroll through Gridania, a follow up piece to a fic written before FFXIVWrite 2021)

[windupnamazu]

stories you want to write...

…but for some reason haven’t yet.

[looks into the camera as i pick up a bucket labeled “wip garbage” and pour it out into a pig trough]

double tagged by @fistsoflightning and @to-the-voiceless!! ty quings <3 im not sure who hasnt been tagged yet so im saying this ones an open tag! mutuals i want to see your fic ideas. feed me. 

1. what i lovingly refer to as my "baldesion ausenal," in which lunya is taken to the isle of val post-calamity so they can observe the effects of her mutated aether. she very briefly meets raha during that time and promptly makes a bad impression on him, and then they dont see each other again for six years until raha comes to eorzea for the crystal tower expedition and lunya, now a scion of the seventh dawn and a close friend of the warrior of light, tags along as the scions' representative and they promptly rekindle the start of a rivalry that never got to form when they first met for all of three minutes. then it switches to raha-flavoured angst through all of shadowbringers.

2. lunya and raha getting engaged pre-5.3 and having their engagement rings crafted by two very good friends!! which leads up to: [5.3 spoilers] lunya and rahas SHOTGUN WEDDING post seat of sacrifice, which i havent touched yet because the 5.3 Trauma and because its emotionally a lot, like i want to make myself cry by reading it and i dont think im good enough at writing to do that--

3. the Real(tm) luha wedding, complete with at least 30 friend oc cameos because its MY self-indulgence and i get to choose which way i die. 

4. my very stupid, VERY indulgent gamer au where totally-not-ffxiv is a hit mmorpg and rahas gotten into it because one of his cute internet friends is super into it and he desperately wants to bond with her. the whole guild knows theyre flirting with each other but a year later rahas an ultimate raider and they still havent made any relationship progress. they meet at fanfest in a perfect world where a pandemic didnt cancel me getting another battle challenge tshirt. 

5. just literally ANYTHING for my pokemon au oh my god.

6. a fic where raha gets his hands on lunya's carbuncle gem in the 8th umbral era timeline, which i tried multiple times to poke at during ffxivwrite but ultimately failed to because i dont know if carbuncle lore would let that even work? is that allowed? can you borrow your girlfriends aetherial construct 200 years after she died? how do you get around your girlfriends coworker being able to recognize the aetherial signature of the carbuncle as hers?!

7. my terrible, awful, no good "bad end" fanfic where everyone dies after the post-mt gulg cutscene goes Horribly Horribly Wrong(er). theres a primal and a lightwarden involved. prompted by a mutual and sitting unfinished for like... months. i got permission from my friends to kill their ocs for this so by GOD am i going to do it. someday.

8. more main street au. i want my ocs and my friends ocs to just have some good times and adorable small town romances + slice of life shenanigans, is that TOO MUCH TO ASK

9. shadowbringers lunya/exarch. not post-shb, but mid-shb, where theyre miserable because rahas a liar and lunya doesnt know if she trusts her heart with accepting who he is. probably includes a conga line of the mom squad recognizing who the exarch is but keeping quiet for different reasons.

10. my kimi no na wa au. thatse all i have to say.