#also note how i said Characters From FFXIV

[shivasdarknight]

i feel like we also got to address character C and character D and how person C and person D (...and E and F) interact with them because there's still a level of harm that media can inflict, and that depends on the intentions of the author and the type of fan who engages with them.

character C is a character is an offensive caricature part of an otherwise standard show. they are played off as normal through the show, but everything about them is harmful in terms of how the audience engages with them and how they continue to portray (blank) group in offensive lights. the author may not realize that character C is offensive, but to the audience - especially the group that they reflect - it's glaringly obvious. person C recognizes the harm that this character can cause but they also find themselves liking this character in spite of it. person C's engagement with character C is still positive, but due to understanding the problems with character C's portrayal, most of their engagement with the character comes in as mitigation (rewrites, redesigns, etc.), while also acknowledging vocally what is wrong and never condoning it.

person D also likes this character, however they do not recognize what is wrong and continue to play into how the piece of media portrays character C all the way down into intentionally/unintentionally adding in more offensive material because "it fits." person D can go one of a few ways: denying that the text is offensive and continuing to act blindly; acknowledging that it's bad and learning from it to follow person C; or doubling down on their beliefs and even sometimes finding tokens of the targeted group that agree with them to use them to justify their uncritical love of character C. a person D who takes the last route often doubles down on their interpretation and finds themselves at odds with a person C for their denial of harm. they also use the argument that because it's fiction, that they should be allowed to enjoy it when a person C is still enjoying it while acknowledging the arm it can cause and trying to work around it.

you can also extrapolate this into a person E, who likes character C because of the harm they cause. they see character C as emblematic of (blank) group and are often attracted into fandom spaces by a person D who creates enough of a fuss from being asked to be careful, critical, and respectful when engaging with the sensitive topic of character C's design and existence. a person E often first appears as a defender of a person D who comes into conflict with a person C to portray person C as someone who is trying to take away their right to like fiction, while reinforcing the uncritical love of character C, who perpetuates the harmful portrayal of (blank) group. This causes person D to double down, and slowly be dragged into spaces that person E occupies, where they curate harmful ideas through this media (see: how antiblackness manifests in many fandom spaces and how white supremacists and nazi-types take uncritical (mostly white) fans and turn them against black fans in these kinds of conversations).

character D, on the other hand, was intentionally made to be offensive or represent an offensive idea (see: Rita Skeeter being an early reflection of Rowling's transphobia; the entire dichotomy of AoT, Eren's ideology towards the end, and how titans are designed + later revelations about them) and it's difficult to remove them from the views of the author (Hajime Isayama is a staunch Japanese imperialist, and has gone on record to mock and discredit the existence of comfort women during Japan's occupation of Korea; his characters are named and modeled after notable Japanese imperialists). no matter which way you look at them, they are offensive and harmful, and often times they exist to expose uncritical audiences to their rhetorics (often eugenics, transphobia and general queerphobia, the great replacement theory, antisemitism, antiblackness, and pro-surveillance state sentiments (the last two especially in copaganda media). things like misogyny definitely come up a lot, but they're often red flags for much deeper issues that the author fully endorses; if misogyny is the focus here, it's a lot deeper than just shallow sexism and goes into femicide, the glorification and sexualization of sexual assault, and the reinforcement of "traditional" values. antiblackness functions similarly in that it permeates everything shallowly, but the levels of it can be a red flag for deeper issues - like dehumanization, justification for violent hate crimes, etc. - but im also not qualified to get into this too deeply because thats not my lived experience). they can look kind of like character C, but the important difference is that the author did this intentionally. a place of ignorance can be extremely offensive, but the intentionality of it tries to sneak by audiences and trick them into agreeing with them.

person C may like the character in theory, but it's impossible to deny the reason why the character exists as such. like with character C, person C may try to mitigate the damage, but this more comes in the form of talking about how character D is handled in the source material. there isn't a lot that can be done by these fans because again: the character is meant to harm. they may play into a bit of uncritical fandom, but for the most part just talk about them. person D does not recognize the harm that is does and acts similarly with character D as they do with character C. the problem is, character D is meant to cause harm where character C likely wasn't. so when a person C tells a person D that character D is extremely harmful and you follow those three ways a person D could go, you now have someone who is parroting talking points that may even be antithetical to their own views. they're usually the targets of authors who write character Ds so that their rhetorics get broadcasted to audiences that wouldn't knowingly engage with them.

to bring back person E, this is exactly the kind of person and character they're looking for. people who really like character D are usually like person E - or, they use character D as a way to publicly air out their -isms with the plausible deniability of fiction. entirely depends on the angle of character D. if they're an eren, then person E is one of their biggest fans; if they're a rita skeeter, then person E is using character D to air out their grievances about (blank) group through them and they loathe character D.

we can also introduce person F here. they more align with person C, but the crucial difference is that they will not engage with character D on the grounds of the harm. they can acknowledge the writing all they like, but they will never like, engage with fanworks, or anything unless it's criticism of the character and the author. if anything, they think person C doesn't go far enough in condemning the harmful nature of character D by the fact they still engage with fanworks involving character D and the media they come from as person F views positive engagement (even when it's just a tiny bit, like in person C's case) as tacit endorsement. they are explicitly against people like person E, and often try to work to educate people like person D into moving away from that and more towards person C (ideally further), but often are at odds with person D for the reason that they will double down on fiction and fall in line with person E who reinforces their "right" to consume all fiction. Because the important thing to remember here is that character D was made intentionally to broadcast the author's shitty viewpoints. This means the character is meant to cause harm, as media perceptions do skew worldviews, and it's more complicated than just how people engage with a character in fandom spaces. To reconcile with a character meant to cause harm is a difficult thing, and naturally there are people who choose to divest entirely because of the tangible harm it can cause (again: see copaganda and the perceived rate of solving crime (i think it's around ~75-80%) versus the actual statistics (~30% if you're lucky and more often ~16%); see also the military entertainment industry)

And yeah! It's all extremely complicated because people, their beliefs, media, and media literacy are all really complicated! It's way more than just if a bad character is portrayed as bad and everyone reacts to them as bad - sometimes that bad character is the protagonist and the author wants us to view them as a hero and not a genocidal freak like Eren Yaeger is. Because no, that is not how you portray a "fall from grace", given how many people associate him with sigma male goals and im not joking nor using that term out of nowhere - i recommend this video on the subject, but here's the specific part about eren and the idolization of him and a very fun roast since this is about role models for boys, unhealthy power fantasies, and how anime ties in with all of this. FD's got two other videos on this ("two" and "other" are two different links) on his side channel. Eren's just one of the worst case examples of this since his base full of uncritical enjoyers who don't realize that they're in community with literal fascists who idolize Eren's goals. there are other extreme examples that at least thankfully arent as common as the usual stuff (like Wyll's treatment by Baldur's Gate 3 fans and specifically Astarion fans - links to their wiki pages for people unfamiliar with the characters but tl;dr: wyll's a black man, a sweetheart, and literally has the folk hero background; astarion is a white man who tries to kill you upon first meeting, dislikes it when the player helps people, and is frequently manipulating those around him. it's more complicated than that obviously - especially astarion's motivations - but it still stands that people take wyll's traits and act as if astarion is like that, villainize wyll, and the cherry on top is that wyll has 8 hours of content while astarion has the most content out of all of the companions and the devs won't add more for wyll while astarion (and the others) continues to get more. as an aside, lae'zel - a mean woman who isn't conventionally attractive by virtue of being a fantasy alien - was made to be Less Mean because people didnt like her...not being nice, and fans frequently boast about killing her).

Intentionality is really crucial here, and the way people behave with characters says a lot. You're allowed to engage with not-so-great characters, but you also have to keep in mind other factors such as your own biases and the author's biases - whether they got in intentionally or not. to summarize really quickly:

character C comes about from an author's own ignorance to their own biases about a marginalized group. they are harmful, especially in the fact that the text treats this as normal, but their treatment is like any other character (but depending on the marginalization, they may not receive as much screentime as their less-marginalized counterparts, or are more likely to be antagonistic). authors may or may not be receptive to criticism - those that are will adjust character C in future media or even retcon and republish old media, while those that arent may just ignore criticism or double down and attract people who agree with those harmful tropes

character D is intentionally placed in the text by a bigoted author, and their offensive nature may be either overt or covert. the intention of this is to spread their rhetoric to those that consume that piece of media and introduce it to as wide of an audience as possible - one of the most common forms of this being copaganda portraying the police in a positive light and marginalized people as threats to white society (see: how frequently white women are the victims, while black men or arab men are portrayed as extremely violent and often are the perpetrators). it's not like character A who's mostly just an asshole, or character B where they're bigoted but that can serve a purpose in the narrative: character D exists to do harm - be it as an offensive caricature, or as a bigot to be idolized - through their actions in the text and how that reflects real world issues, or how the text informs people on how to view real people that are like character D (eg: idolizing the police or military, or viewing all black men as thugs). the existence of character D is problematic, but what often exacerbates this issue is when people argue that because they are fictional, they can't do any real world harm. if that were true, then we wouldn't be pushing back against examples of minstrelsy in media or continued use of blackface in fiction. positive representation in media is important and also proves that media has an impact on real people - you can't just say that it doesn't affect the real world suddenly when the portrayal is negative. negative, harmful portrayals do impact people just as much as positive ones - if anything, they impact people more when they're negative. to engage with a character D is to engage with the stand-in of the author's views, and to stand by their reason for existence is to agree with the author who intentionally made them that way (again: people who think Eren's right).

person C is someone who acknowledges that characters can be problematic and tries to engage with them as best they can. they try to give the benefit of the doubt in cases like character Cs, and often try to reconcile with canon in whatever way they can to mitigate damage. while character D is harder to reconcile with, they will still talk about the problems of character D while still engaging with the media that character D is from. they acknowledge harm, talk about harm, and will critique their favorite media while still enjoying said media - even if the character they engage with is intentionally or unintentionally a harmful stereotype.

person D is someone who refuses to engage with media critically and take characters like character C and character D at face value and will often defend them and their right to like them. they do not view them as harmful, and will often expand upon the character without thinking about what other harmful tropes they may be adding. a person D can go a few routes: continuing in ignorance or choosing to remain ignorant, doubling down on their views and arguing that it's not actually an issue (and even going so far as to find tokens of that group who agree with them to back them up), or stopping and considering their actions and taking more after person C. the second route can often lead to them becoming more like person E, even without realizing it.

person E is someone who recognizes the harm in these characters and embraces that because these characters line up with their way of thinking and their world views. they prefer a character D to a character C, while often portraying character Cs as worse than in canon. a person D doubling down on their right to like character Ds will often attract person Es, and they will attempt to pull person Ds further to their side. these are thin blue line people who love cop shows; these are antisemites who love Attack on Titan and Hogwarts Legacy; these are transphobes and literal nazis that get giddy at seeing Rowling becoming more extreme in her bigotry with every passing day. if you are in community with a person E, you need to examine why that is.

person F is someone who recognizes the harm that character Cs and character Ds cause in the real world, and while they will openly criticize character Cs and their authors, their main targets are character Ds. a person F will talk about character Cs to try and educate people on harmful tropes and often fall in line with person C here, though they tend to more focus on the author and the harm this can cause to try and get it to change (rather than keeping that change in fanworks only). a person F will talk about character Ds, on the other hand, to get people to drop them. they view the harm they cause as more important to address rather than their own fandom interests. these are people that will abandon media when they introduce a fascistic character to idolize, or when they continue to play into offensive tropes even after being made aware that the author was doing it. they care more about impact than personal enjoyment in fandom, so they measure things in terms of how the text and metatext can impact the audience. where a person C will continue to read AoT while talking about its harm, person F abandoned the franchise well before it ended and only keep up with it from a distance to discuss its continued harm. they often don't think person C goes far enough when it concern character Ds; they can often be at odds with person Ds because of how person Ds prioritize their personal fan experience over harm, while person Fs prioritizes harm over their own enjoyment; and are antithetical to person Es. this does not mean that they don't enjoy media like a lot of people love to accuse; they just would prefer to drop something they like once they learn the harm that it causes - it's mitigation just like person Cs, but to a much more drastic degree.

yeah, you are allowed to like things. and yeah, who and what you like does says something about you as a person. but the problem is that the third factor - real world harm - isn't discussed much, especially with how people engage with things that cause it. because to like and engage something that causes harm is to perpetuate it. you can try and reconcile with the issues in that character or piece of media, but a lot of people ignore it. and to ignore it is to create a space that lets in people who thrive on it and seek that stuff out - your person Es.

character B exists for a reason and the text criticizes them. the text may not criticize everything, but still shows they are meant for critique. character D does the same things as character B, but the text portrays them as correct and that you should like them. person B will like both regardless and end up a lot like person D, but the both of them are susceptible to being pulled further into bigoted ideologies by the existence of person E who seeks out things like character D and anything that looks like them - like character B, and character C.

we need to examine things outside of the framework of "character is bad and text portrays them as bad" more often. it's not as simple as that. there are a lot of things that show someone doing something would generally be considered immoral, but the author agrees with it so it's portrayed as good. there are things that are portrayed as bad, but when you pick apart why it's bad you suddenly realize they're bad because they're marginalized - or, they're a standin for a real world group and made into the bad guys (eg: how many games have "barbaric" "tribal" enemies (like moblins from LOZ or the hilichurls from genshin) which are just offensive anti-indigenous caricatures, or how goblins (especially in harry potter) are used to perpetuate antisemitic sentiments and conspiracy theories). a fascist can be portrayed in a sympathetic light or have their ideologies be repackaged to sound appealing. a civil rights advocate can have their views warped to make them look like a threat to the white majority and be portrayed as an antagonist often by playing into stereotypes around "barbarism" and violence. there's a difference between having a fascist be a hero and is never condemned (jjba, marvel's zeemo), having a fascist be weakly criticized but be considered sympathetic or even your friend when they're an unrepentant fascist (many characters in ffxiv, this is literally the plot of hetalia and so much nazi chic), and having a fascist be held accountable for their actions and sometimes even maybe working past what made them fascistic to begin with and have them stop being one (terran emperor philippa georgiou from star trek discovery i adore you) - and that difference is the intention of the author in creating that character, the intention behind portraying their ideology for a wide audience, and what ends up happening to them in the end. An author can even kill their fascist off and still be in support of them because they frame it as martyrdom and try to make you feel bad for the character (jjba, ffxiv) - so it's not at all simple.

This is why being critical of the stuff you enjoy is important. No one is saying don't enjoy villains, and I'm certainly not because I'd be a hypocrite. What I am saying is: consider how the characters - protagonist or not - are being portrayed and how it relates to real world harm. Consider the intentions behind them, the impact they have had, and how they can be used against marginalized groups to hurt them and change how others view said group. Again: you are allowed to like things but what you like and defend says a lot about you. I do not disagree with OP. I just feel that the facet of harm and intention behind said harm needs to be considered because you may be putting investment into a character you don't realize is harmful (or you're ignoring is harmful). They don't even have to be a villain in the story to be harmful because again: look at copaganda and the military entertainment industry.

What you like has impact outside of you. How you engage with it impacts others around you. Some people try to mitigate, others try to ignore, while others still double down and get solicited by people who intentionally seek out things that support their bigoted viewpoints.

When the character is just an ass and the text treats them as an ass, that's not an issue. When the character is bigoted for a reason to explore and deal with, that is also not an issue. But if you find out that your blorbo is the focus of critical discussion because they were written to be a harmful stereotype/a means of idolizing bigoted rhetoric, you need to ask yourself this: are you willing to take the steps to mitigate harm - even if it means not engaging with that character or piece of media again - or are you going to continue on as if nothing's wrong and risk alienating those around you that are impacted by the harmful ideologies that are inseparable from this character/media?

What I'm not saying: Don't like villains. What I am saying: Every character - regardless of if they're a protagonist or antagonist - has the potential to cause harm because of the author's biases or bigotry. It is on you to recognize that harm and mitigate whenever possible, and choosing not to reflects on you as a person. You still can like villains. But how you like them and for what reasons says a lot about you, and people may choose to avoid you if you decide that your "soft feelings over the imperial leader working to colonize what is now the empire" are more important than understanding why people are uncomfortable with you, your blorbo, and their rabid uncritical fans.

You're allowed to like villains. What you like reflects back on you. You need to take real world harm into account when you engage with media, because what villains you like reflects on you very differently based on the real world harm that those villains can cause.

hot take but i think that "fictional characters are fictional and liking or disliking them have no real life effect" and "the way you treat certain characters can be an indicative of your character in real life" are statements that can and should coexist

example: character A is violent and makes misogynistic comments. they're still charismatic and their arc is interesting to read/watch. person A acknowledges that the character is bad but they still enjoy consuming content from the character and they do so unapologetically. they're allowed to like the character, especially considering that literally everyone the character has harmed is also fictional. they don't pretend the character isn't violent, or misogynistic, they just like the character despite that. they post about it constantly. this is a neutral action that shows nothing about person A.

character B is a white man that makes racist comments, treats a black person in the show badly and gains money through anti-ethical means. they're still charismatic and their arc is interesting to read/watch. person B claims the character is flawed but overall misunderstood and all their actions are entirely justified. they're allowed to like the character, especially considering that literally everyone the character has harmed is also fictional. person B claims the black character that character B treated badly either had it coming or overreacted. all of person B's favorite characters are white men. person B goes out of their way to justify that all of their favorite characters are actually misunderstood and good people, and more people should like them. this shows that person B likely has some favoritism for white men.

just. you're allowed to like fictional characters even if they're awful fucking people but. and im not sure why this is controversial. the way you interact with media says something about you. this isn't necessarily a bad thing. does this make sense please

[diardri]

Dia's FFXIV Art Reference Notes, A possibly long post

Hello! I made this as a thread on my twitter but I might as well post a version of it here. For the record this will be a thread linking to the resources I use when drawing commissions or fanart, I have not made Any of these and whenever I can I will note the creators and link directly to their resources.

GPose Reference First and foremost, if you're drawing a WOL or ordering a commission of your WOL the most important thing is to take a proper reference GPOSE. I use the method in this post, to make sure I got all the angles. Clean refs are super important when drawing armor/intricate outfits so take care to take simple standing poses like the one in the tweet above. Cool dynamic poses might be fun but they're not really useful for referencing.

Gear/Weapon Reference

If you need good references for a weapon/outfit that you don't have a GPOSE for, I recommend using the attire website

This is a japanese website maintained by @/chiyo_asa on twitter and if you've ever looked up a piece of gear in the lodestone you've almost definitely come across their pictures.

This is a super rough translation in english of the menu of the website. While it is in Japanese it's very easy to navigate and all the pictures in the site are super high quality and very useful for referencing.

This is my number one source for gear references I haven't taken myself

The "mirapuri" button afaik is for glams they made themselves that they want to showcase.

An important note about this site specifically is that I believe it's currently undergoing an overhaul so Some weapons/gearsets might not be completely transferred in yet.

That being said, the majority of sets from dungeons/crafting/alliance raids/job gear sets etc are sorted like so, which makes it super easy to look for.

There IS also a search function but I'm pretty sure it works only for japanese input.

NPC reference sheets

@xivrefsheets Offers really detailed resources of npc models. They also occasionally accept requests on their ko-fi (closed at the time of writing this)

These are super useful and really high quality, especially for some of the boss refs they've done. As someone who doesn't use anamnesis I go back to their refs very often

Convocation of the Fourteen refs

Maintained by @/Igeyorhm on twitter this site has a nice list of Ascian refs per character in addition to some lore bits for each of them. Also some very useful closeups of the Ascian clothes.

Even more NPC and Boss Refs

I believe maintained by @/MlNRATHOUS on twitter, this site has a really nice array of major NPC and boss references in various angles and with colourpicks for skintone and hair which is super useful. I use them a Lot

Lalafell centric refs

Norirow Note is a super cute blog that showcases glam items/ weapons/ chocobo barding and more.

It is NOT meant to be an art reference, however if you play a lala like me, I find their showcases useful when drawing gear on lalas.

Even if you don't use it as an art ref it's a super cute blog that's just fun to go through AND fully translated in english so I recommend just having a fun time reading through it anyway.

Bonus- Au Ra Scales.

I literally found out about this today but @/saficchi on twitter has made a super detailed angled ref sheet for both male and female au ra scales and I love them for it

Bonus 2 electric boogaloo- TextTools

I use this to import 3d models of specific weapons into CSP if I'm drawing them.

I don't know how useful this is for other art software but it's saved my ass from freehanding titania weapons so in the thread it goes

That's the full list of refs I personally use, if there's more that people want to add please feel free to do so in the comments. I hope it helps people out in their creative endeavors!

[driftward]

Title: FFXIV Write 2024 - 24. Bar Characters: Estinien Varlineau Rating: Teen Summary: Tony Hawk was in this fic? Notes: None

Landing lightly outside of the Seventh Heaven, Estinien dropped from the clouds, surprising a few people nearby.

He did not bother to acknowledge them. A sudden fit of nostalgia had come over him while he just happened to be in the area, and he was just here now to check out the old haunt. He walked inside, setting aside his spear.

The place had changed some, but also was much like how he had remembered. The wandering minstrel was in his corner, tuning his harp. He could have swore he saw the man over in Tuliyollal, but then again, he was pretty certain he saw that man practically everywhere. He didn't recognize too many other people, but it had been some time since the Scions had 'disbanded' and he had cause to drop in. And Revenant's Toll was not the kind of place one made a permanent home of. Come in, stay for a few seasons, then go where the adventure went.

Like he had.

He didn't recognize the barkeep, either, but that didn't have to mean anything either. He decided he'd sit down, grab a mug, enjoy the moment, and then go before he felt like he was overstaying his welcome. As he sat, he looked up, and was startled to see familiar faces looking back at him.

Painted pictures of all the Scions hung in the back wall. Where, he supposed there was no real reason to pretend at secrecy anymore. Even before he'd joined, their little organization was the worst kept secret on the star. He'd grown well used at Aymeric's excited near-breathless sharing of their tales of adventure and derring-do before he himself had even met them. The man could be like an overexcited spratling about topics that drew his interest.

None of that here, though. No sharing of stories tonight, unless the minstrel was plied to play a tune. Estinien himself was certainly no bard, and would be telling no tales.

He was admiring the details on the Warrior of Light's portrait in particular when the barkeep finally made their way to him.

"What'll it be?"

"Darkest stout you got and an Eft pie, if you still make those."

"Sure," said the barkeep, flipping a mug up in front of Estinien and beginning to pour. "Huh. You look just like that famous lancer guy we used to get through here, what was his name? Estinien? I wonder what he's up to these days?"

Estinien's eyes drifted to the right behind the barkeep as they poured his drink, and he locked eyes with the somewhat severe yet accurate recreation of his very own face that was hanging from the wall.

"This," he said.

The barkeep looked at him skeptically.

Well, no matter where you went, there you were, Estinien thought to himself as he decided to not clarify any further and just enjoy his drink.

When he left a half-bell later, his painting continued the watch in his stead.

[nihilnovisubsole]

i think i followed you Back In The Day, seven years and seven blogs ago, for something related to mass effect (zaeed? maybe? who could say) and it's wild to come back to this site years later and find you thriving, surviving, growing-- playing ffxiv! love that game. curious how you'll feel about some side characters in shadowbringers, but i won't spoil which ones.

i do have real questions, though; writing tools. not pens or software, but personal structure tools and/or guidance. what does a beat sheet look like, for you? do you have a favored way of outlining or note-taking on your own thoughts when putting a story together?

and... i'm really curious how you hold a big story together in your head while you work on it in pieces, especially for something like dangerous crowns. there's this larger story i've been chasing around for a while, and I can't quite wrap my head around how to write the political/espionage plot for it without feeling like i've actually written a children's pantomime. the best i've got so far is "research real life events and use those as my outline" but after a point it becomes hard to keep track of all the variables of who knows what about whom, who is planning x when y, etc, etc. the characters don't need to know all that-- and may never know some things-- but i feel like /I/ need to understand what's happening on the macro level so i can move the world around them appropriately.

short version: how do YOU wrap your head around writing complex plots?

hey, anon! i started endwalker this week after a long... uh... glamour detour, so don't worry about spoiling things. i spoil myself for a lot of stories on purpose anyway. let's just say i've been attached to one too many characters who got killed.

anyway. writing. i've always handled plots the same way: clear documentation. if i don't note it down, i'm not going to remember it. i've used the same table outline since around 2014. it varies in detail for different projects, but the core format stays. i know it's kicking around in my blog archive somewhere, but it's worth reposting once in a while because people like to ask about it. here's what it looks like, featuring plot points cribbed from an endeavour episode:

i used this format for an outline at work a while back, and the team found it easy to follow, which was a big day for my ego. keeping track of plot structure is even more chaotic at work because we have multiple writers who all need to stay on the same page. we have very meticulous notes on what the player should know at which point, when we're introducing new information, and what we know, but shouldn't tell. we're also not above leaving notes like "this character has to convey X," "this character has to learn Y here," or "this is a clue that they're planning Z." it can be super on-the-nose. all that matters is that it makes sense to you. because you're right - if you get too lost, you can write yourself into logic holes of tremendous proportions. ask me how i know!

[as a sidenote, researching real-life events as a starting point has really grown on me in the past few years. my lead on coh3 had me do it. he said we were dealing with real people's history, so we couldn't be cheap or play fastball - we had to be accurate to pay it respect. even if you're not writing historical fiction, it just gives you insight into how people behave.]

i would argue that the plot of dangerous crowns is actually not that complicated, maybe to its detriment. there's kind of a genre struggle going on. at voltage, we were taught romance fans came for the relationship beats and valued them above all else. in fact, leadership told us players got irritated - which meant less sales - when the plot was too complex and took time away from the making out. political thriller fans, by contrast, expect relentless twists, high stakes, and harsh consequences, and sometimes see the relationships as superfluous.

but whatever. the point is, when you look at dangerous crowns' structure, it's a pearl necklace: a chain of anchoring events. the "pearl" scenes are where Big Plot happens. they're the reason you want to write the story, and probably the ones you have the most vivid daydreams about. the scenes in between are the string. not flashy, but important because they connect the pearls. they build tension and add logic, cohesion, and context. take the opera and hector's failed assassination. those are pearl scenes. that's a burst of drama i really wanted the story to build up to. i also had other flashbulb visions. livia by the fountain questioning herself, marcus' macbeth moment, the temple riot, things like that. so the question was, how could i believably travel between these pearl scenes? how could i make these big showcase moments connect smoothly?

if you're having trouble holding the story together in your head, i would ask, "what are your pearls?" what are the anchor points? outline those. it might not look like a necklace yet, but you'll sort of see it taking shape. and then, once you can see where your heart's-desire milestones are, you'll have a clearer idea of what can't fire until you set it up first. two other neat things can happen here. you could find the rhythm of your pacing, or realize you have a lot more plot meat than you thought you did. even if you don't, you have some road. and if you can't think of the string, sometimes you just have to start writing the pearls and see what comes to you.

good luck!!

[offbrandtoaster]

Enjoyed Metaphor, but I definitely feel like it didn't quite deserve the high reviews it was getting. Maybe it's because I play a *lot* of RPGs, but it felt a little more mediocre to me. Like... a solid 65 to 70ish. Let's start with what I liked. END GAME SPOILERS AHEAD

More being Hythlodeus was some good shit.

I loved all the party members, and how goofy they could be interacting with each other. That said, I think choosing Basilio over Fidelio was a mistake. Del, IMO, would've been a much more compelling party member.

I love that the difficulty was much more inline with core SMT. Absolutely got checked for my hubris by choosing hard more lol.

I appreciate the attempt at non-tradutional dungeon design for some of the dungeons, even if I don't think it always worked.

I appreciate the stort it's trying to tell, especially considering recent events, though I think it wrapped up a little too neatly.

Now for what I didn't like:

I hate party members being social links, it relegates their character development to side quests and leaves little room for other characters to influence them. Junah and Basilio getting no chance to actually mourn did a disservice to the emotional impact of those moments.

The calendar system kills pacing.

I know the epilogue tried to have NPCs imply things weren't perfect, but it also didn't feel like that was true at all.

On a more personal note, I also just didn't really dig Louis as a villain. He reminded me a lot of Zenos from FFXIV, you're told a lot by other people about their past, but narratively they're just assholes who are a thorn in your side. Forden was a more active villain, and I found him much more interesting.

I wish some characters had better stat spreads. Heismay fell off in late game for me because both his strength and magic were so mediocre. I feel like the thief or gunner lines should've had some attacks that scaled off AGI, which would've helped him keep pace with the rest of the cast (Eupha also had relatively mediocre STR and MAG, but starting as Summoner more than made up for it.)

But yeah, better than average, but still a little mediocre. It was good enough for me to beat, which is more than I can say about a lot of other games lol

[the-ocean-in-motion]

A post for publicly sharing the products of my Drawfee Lalafell idol project!

(if u don't know what the fuck I'm saying just scroll on)

NOTE: I am not affliated with Drawfee I just stole their logo for that edit. I'm not making money Julia pls don't sue me

FAQ

Q: Why do this? A: Fatal case of brainworms

Q: How long did you spend on making these? A: Too long. Enough questions

Jokes aside, here's a proper intro to what this is for people who aren't in that one very specific discord: As a creative project of sorts, I decided to make 4 Lalafells in FFXIV based on the Drawfee crew (youtubers). SPECIFICALLY these are based on their Newsday Comic Designs, because there's only so much staring at real people's faces really zoomed in I can do before I start feeling like a creep.

So, No, these are not "lifelike" or even "as close to life like as i can make potato people in a 10 year old video game". They're based on stylized ideas of people, warped by my creative liberty. That left me more space to make them cute instead of uncanny valley, which I'm sure any drawfee members that see this post might appreciate too.

They're also all heavily modded. It's more fun for dressup.

With that said! Onwards to the pictures (and design notes)!

Nathan: I actually "made" the beard for this myself - or, rather, I refitted it from a modded beard for Roegadyn. I even made an effort to mold it into a rough flower shape, but I'm afraid it doesn't show up that well. Still, remembering that there is no full beard for Lalafell in the vanilla game, I think it actually looks quite cute! For this "casual" fit I made an effort not to make Nathan look too fashion-y. Of course, they're idol photoshoot style pics, so I still had to dress him up a bit! With this sporty fit with the fun big red boots reminiscent of early video game character designs, I think I landed in a pretty nice middle ground.

Julia: This is the only design I paid real life money to make. I spent forever futzing with free hair mods trying to find one I liked, but in the end I forked over a few bucks to an experienced hair modder's online shop and got this hair that comes with all the features I wanted. Can't say I regret the purchase, it's very pretty. For the outfit, I knew what I wanted pretty much immediately. I have had this outfit mod for a long time, but I've never really known what to use it for. It feels very Julia, even if I can't remember necessarily seeing her wear this kind of thing before. Maybe it just feels French, and I associate Julia with France?

Karina: Karina's face sculpt mod was very easy to decide. Looking at the list of the free female Lala faces, I saw one that looked like a little shit - and named "Give Me the Phone" - and immediately knew it was perfect. I had to edit this hair to become hat compatible for later outfits, but overall this one was full of easy picks. Maybe I'm projecting too hard, though? I even dressed her in a top I modded for myself, after all.

Jacob: Jacob's design is one I agonized over, because finding a hair for him was quite hard. Short hair mods are rarer than long ones, and Newsday Jacob's hair is very distinctive. In the end I had to settle for a more realistic style, but I'm told it still reads as him. I wound up putting Jacob in maybe the cutesy-est outfit of the four. I don't think he'd mind, but either way the funny little overalls were too big a temptation for me to resist. Accessorising with bandages is where my weeb roots really shine through, though. Portraits done, here's the additional materials I've made!

Drawfee Kindergarten Field trip! Fun fact, I took this screenshot mere seconds before the dungeon I used as a set kicked me out, which means I spent the entire instance timer just deciding on accessories and posing! Where are they going? To see the big squid at the Aetherfont's center, of course!

The first music video! Motions not by me, I'm not that talented, these are retargeted Project Sekai dances (retargeting also not by me lmao animation modding scares me)

Childish war is such a fun song and dance, never mind the fact that none of the "personalities" really work for drawfee. It's dancing lalas! Who cares!

That's it! I might do more music videos or photo shoots in the future, but that's highly dependent on my brain chemistry, so truly nothing is certain. If you made it this far, I hope my silly little project brought you some joy! (and olive) And hey!

Check this out!

[alicesadventuresinffxiv]

In another time, another place

There’s just something about characters speculating how their lives could have gone differently that is pure catnip to me! Especially characters where, but for a few key choices, they might have wound up as a hero rather than a villain, or vice versa.

Now combine that with having an NPC cosplay alt, meaning that I spend a not-insignificant portion of my FFXIV playtime wondering what that character would think about lots of random stuff.

End result: an entire menagerie of Fordola-centric plot bunnies! This post will be an attempt to corral said bunnies into a form that’s at least somewhat organized. It will also grow over time as I add writeups for new AUs if and when they become relevant to what I’m posting on this sideblog!

.

To Catch a Falling Star: Instead of leaving for Doma, Lyse spends Stormblood infiltrating the Skulls, with the ultimate goal of convincing Fordola to defect to the Resistance. When your army gets decimated, just steal the other guy’s one, you know?

Eventual Fordola/Lyse, with a complicated enemies-to-lovers arc.

Note that I'm writing scenes from this as they fit the FFxivWrite prompts, not in chronological order. So here's a second list, with the entries listed in the order they occur in the timeline (though there are still large gaps and lots of missing scenes I haven't done yet!)

Take our quarry alive!

Plans Hatched Behind Bars

Narrow Horizons

For a Morsel of Acceptance

Who wants to steer the Reaper?

Those Fleeting Halcyon Moments

A Telling Emotion

Deleterious Relations

Sally forth, to endings unwritten

Aftermath of a Duel

.

WoL!Fordola AU: Not WoLFordola like the ship, WoL!Fordola as in the original Warrior of Light, the Meteor Survivor who fought at Carteneau, who destroyed the Ultima Weapon, who ended the Dragonsong War… he died to Zenos at the end of Stormblood. Oops!

Now Fordola is the only one left who has the fighting skill needed to even have a chance of filling his shoes.

This is the timeline I’m basically writing as I take my alt through the MSQ. It starts out as a continuation of TCaFS (so technically TCaFS is one of my WoL’s backstories in a roundabout way haha). But it gets even weirder. Fordola might be the new WoL, for example, but it’s Krile who is the shard of Azem!

Fics in this AU:

A Nostalgic Adventure (end of Eureka)

Falling through memory, hand in hand (during 5.2)

Third-Rate Azem (after 5.3)

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WoL was out fishing, Fordola did the sidequests instead: Not an AU so much as a common premise I use. Fics in this series assume that everything is the same as in canon, including there being some non-specific WoL (maybe even your WoL!) who exists and follows the normal MSQ. However, while they’re busy offscreen somewhere, Fordola is forced to pick up the slack for them and do sidequests where she doesn't usually appear.

My first FFXIV fic (Sympathetic Resonance aka "why is Fordola in Eureka?") would be part of this series, as would my WIP Sorrows of Werlyt fic.

.

8th Umbral Calamity: Shadowbringers never specifies whether Lyse and Fordola are killed by Black Rose in the bad timeline. What if they weren’t? Lots of fun (and by fun I mean tragic) ways that could play out!

Originally, this was going to be a kind of Apocalypse/Road Trip AU, with Lyse and Fordola traveling through a Black Rose-devastated Ala Mhigo and trying not to to kill each other before they reached Cid and the Ironworks.

Then I was writing an FFxivWrite entry and realized it would be interesting to combine it with another AU I had, where Fordola gets executed by the Resistance and winds up accidentally bodysharing with Lyse…

[amoebaforce]

A ffxiv req here o/

Maybe childhood friend that’s followed Estinien, and/or thancred throughout their whole life and even went on all their travels with them?

(Could you maybe do the same for mister Meteor himself as well 🥺?)

Thank u op!!

this was such an interesting idea, anon! so interesting, indeed, that I decided to use a new POV for these little blurbs. here's one for Estinien and one for Thancred, written in second person.

i also LOVE the idea of doing one for the Meteor Survivor, too, but i just know i would get carried away and write waaaayy too much for an ask reply!!! that being said, i am going to write some notes on the subject for a longer fic. if you want to be tagged in such a thing (if and when i DO post it), please DM me and let me know! <3

characters featured: Thancred Waters, Estinien Wyrmblood tags: light angst, mentions of canon violence, trauma, second person, no pronouns used for reader

When you try to remember a time without him, you can’t. Even in the earliest shreds of consciousness, Estinien’s face is always there. At first, it was soft and boyish, with freckles like constellations across his nose. In your mind, that face swirls with flowery fields and the slow, sweet sunsets of childhood. It was unlined and innocent. Then, one long summer turned it angular and sharp — the same season that saw Ferndale burn. 

Everyone lost someone when the dragons attacked, and you were no exception. You will never forget the screams of the dying, the unholy blaze that clung to roofs and walls and clothes, too hot and furious to quell. How could you, when your skin still bears the scars? To this day, you don’t know how you lived through it. But you did, and so did the silver-haired boy that lived next door. 

In the span of a day, you both went from happy, normal children to homeless orphans. Wretches forced to rely on charity. Thankfully, you had grandparents in Ishgard. They were old and strict, but they loved you, and they were willing to take you in and help you heal. Estinien wasn’t so lucky. All he had was his rage. 

After you moved to the city, life went on. Sometimes you saw Estinien around the city, trailing the Azure Dragoon like a shadow, looking so wholly unlike the child you remembered. His eyes were hollower, cheeks gaunter. He wore too-big armor and carried a too-long spear, body not yet caught up to the mind and heart. The first time you called to him from your window, Estinien looked as though he’d seen a ghost. He avoided you for weeks, until you finally cornered him in the markets and forced him to explain himself. He broke down; you broke down. The two of you have been inseparable ever since.

And yet, your relationship, too, bears the scars of the past. It’s no longer the carefree, untethered bond of your youth, full of whimsy and make-believe. The years have changed it into a fierce, protective thing. A thing with teeth and claws, willing to rip and tear to keep itself safe. You’ve witnessed one another at the best and worst of times, comforted each other through agonies untold. You’ve laughed until your sides ache and screamed until hoarse. There’s not a soul on earth you understand better, perhaps including your own.

Without him, you’d never have left Coerthas. You’d never have the chance to walk the vibrant halls of Radz-at-Han, witness the sweeping vistas of Ala Migho, or visit the bustling markets of Kugane. And without you, Estinien knows he would have crumbled a long time ago. 

***

You were there from the beginning. Back in the days of pirates and back-alley deals, when Thancred was nothing but a scrawny thief on the decks of Limsa Lominsa, you were the one watching his back. With no parents or guardians to speak of, your tiny community of street urchins was the only family you had. Every child you ran with had a similar story, one where sickness or tragedy stole their childhood and forced them out onto the streets. You and Thancred were the eldest of the group, and thus bore the largest share of the responsibility for keeping everyone fed. 

That’s what drew the two of you to Louisoix — not greed or hubris, but plain, biting hunger. You were tucked in an alley that fateful day, keeping an eye out for Yellowjackets as Thancred made the first move. He was quiet as a cat, and just as nimble, too, as he crept up on the berobed Elezen. He was so clearly a tourist. An easy mark. Neither of you expected the sage to have such quick reflexes. 

When Thancred was caught, you braced for the worst. Your mind ran with a million fears at once. He wasn’t just your best friend. He was a lifeline. Your skills consisted of planning and acting as a lookout; Thancred was the one who actually did the pilfering. How would you feed the young ones without him? How would you treat them when they were sick? But instead of calling the guards, Louisoix bought Thancred a meal and gave him the opportunity of a lifetime.

You won’t lie, you were a little hurt when you found out Thancred meant to take the old man up on his offer. How dare he leave the gang, leave you behind? After all the things you’d done together? All the promises you’d made on those cold, hungry nights? So, like any rational Lominsan urchin, you took matters into your own hands and stowed away on the ship to Sharlayan. It’s been decades since then, and you still find yourself watching Thancred’s back. 

Not that you’d want to be anywhere else. He’s more brother than friend, crafted not by the same womb, but by the same circumstance. It’s evidenced in the jokes you tell each other, the secrets you’ve told and sworn to keep, and the volumes of information you can exchange in silent glances. Talking to Thancred feels like talking to another part of yourself, as if you share a brain, or a soul. It’s beyond familiar — it’s inherent. He is a fixture of your life, and you of his. It has always been this way, and you hope it always will.

[elfyourmother]

Do you consider yourself a lore breaking, lore bending or lore adhering roleplayer? Does this adherence to lore depend on the kind of lore you're exploring with your characters; i.e. you play fast and loose with ideas xiv has yet to develop, but you tend to pay close attention to the fleshed out ideals? Is there lore you have modified that you're proud of and would share here?

I view lore as a starting point for me to jump off from and make my own. Always have.

I find strict adherence to game canon for its own sake creatively suffocating and always have, in every setting I've ever written in. It’s pretty much entirely because I grew up on DMing and writing in Forgotten Realms, which took a very DIY approach back in the day that was heavily encouraged by its creator. Everyone's Realms were equally valid, according to Word of God, and there were often intentional "blanks" left in sourcebooks for the DM to fill. These books emphasized over and over again that the DM was the ultimate authority on canon, not TPTB or the novels or anything else. That philosophy has informed my approach to worldbuilding in the transformative fandom sense for the last 30 years. That and being a queer Black femme of color who is very rarely satisfied by canon narratives rife w racially problematic tropes. I change things to make a space for myself and my characters and the stories I want to tell, by necessity. FFXIV is no different in that respect.

That said, I don't smash SE canon just to smash it either. Despite how bonkershits a lot of Gisèle's canon appears on the surface (eg. post-war Ishgard's constitutional monarchy with King Aymeric), everything I change has been carefully considered and engineered for as much internal consistency as possible. As much as I operate on Rule of Cool, I need things to make sense for me to have fun.

But I am distinctly not a roleplayer, for this and many other reasons. I'm strictly a fic writer, and I don't ever collab with people. The world Gisèle operates in is constructed entirely for her, and my own enjoyment, by design. So no one is forced to deal with my stuff if they don't like it.

That said, King Aymeric is probably the lore I’m most proud of. I wrote a ficlet for ffxivwrite last year on it here, but the cliffs notes: Aymeric invoked the ancient covenant between man and dragon when begging Hraesvelgr’s aid against Nidhogg and vowed he would restore it, but Hraes said that because that covenant was broken by an Elezen king, only an Elezen king could restore it. Hraes was wily though, it wasn’t just upholding weird draconic custom in saying that. His ulterior motive was to make Aymeric guarantee his people would be united enough not to turn on the Dravanians once Nid was handled. the end result is that Aymeric restored the Ishgardian throne (“The Azure Throne”, as a nod to Haldrath), but as a largely unifying figurehead/ceremonial position with Parliament strictly defining the role of the king. Artoirel is Lord Speaker of the House of Lords. Aymeric’s still LC of the temple knights in addition to his royal duties. He wasn’t giving that up lol.

making a constitutional monarchy plausible in the context of the story was challenging and I think I’ve done a solid job of it tbh. I wanted to lean into the Arthurian romance vibes of HW but also solve the fundamental problem I had w how it ended, which is that I don’t think it’s a terribly realistic scenario for ppl who were under a theocracy for 1000 years. Aymeric essentially having his hand forced by Hraesvelgr solves the issue of why he would restore the throne and tbh I don’t flinch from the complications of squaring that with the revelations about Ishgard’s founding, I think it only plays more into Aymeric’s ambivalence about the role he’s been thrust into.

[blackestnight]

ffxiv and magic traditions: a very self-indulgent and nonsensical “““essay“““

as a joke i said “haha what if i went off and described each of my oc’s magical abilities but in terms of pathfinder’s magic traditions,” but then no one stopped me, so it’s no longer a joke. anyway.

this will come as a shock, i’m sure, but i play a lot of tabletop rpgs, especially pathfinder 2e. as much as i love ffxiv’s armory system as a mechanic (getting to take multiple classes! one one character! with no penalties! it’s fantastic!) the inherent mechanical limits on each class as a result just…bore me, frankly, from a worldbuilding standpoint; i much prefer the inherent flexibility of ttrpgs, where even two characters with identical classes and ancestries can play entirely differently. hence i like to draw inspiration from ttrpgs when doing my own worldbuilding for my ffxiv characters.

some necessary background: when i say “magic traditions” i’m referring to pf2’s four traditions: arcane, divine, primal, and occult—you might also hear these referred to as “spell lists.” these are separate from the eight schools of magic that you see in a lot of ttrpgs (including pf2 and 5e), such as evocation, divination, necromancy, abjuration, etc. put simply, the school of magic dictates what a spell does, but the caster’s magic tradition dictates where the power to cast it comes from, which will make more sense in a second if it doesn’t already.

also, obligatory because-this-is-the-internet disclaimer: these are my personal headcanons and class interpretations, applied for my own worldbuilding purposes to my own interpretation of the game world, i am not trying to dictate how you should play the game or write your story, you do you, etc.

with that out of the way: HERE WE GO

i’m starting with haruki mostly because he…actually doesn’t do much magic in the way of spellcasting, but he definitely has magical abilities, being a not-quite-dragoon. (i like to call him “waterbender with a pointy stick.”) instead of drawing upon the power of his ~inner dragon~ (he doesn’t have one), his supernatural abilities are a blessing from the auspice seiryu, which makes him a classic example of a divine caster. the most common divine casters in a lot of systems would be clerics, but it really just means that a character’s magical abilities are given as blessings from some sort of divine entity. on his own, haruki is not capable of breathing underwater or summoning tidal waves, but he possesses the power to do those things because the power is on loan from seiryu. it’s also important to note that just because he has power from seiryu doesn’t mean he worships seiryu; it’s pretty standard fare in the pathfinder universe for characters to receive divine blessings unasked-for, and sometimes unwanted (this is, like, the entire premise of the oracle class, and i’d argue also fits pretty perfectly with the oracles of light and darkness in ffxiv as well, but that’s a subject for another post).

i’m lumping adelaine and sjanna together because, not only do they practice the same magic tradition, they both practiced multiple traditions over the course of their respective lives. addie, who was enrolled in the conjurer’s guild while growing up in the black shroud, and sjanna, who was raised a servant of the green word in golmore jungle, both started their journeys as magical practitioners of the primal tradition. not to be confused with ffxiv’s primals, the summoned entities, primal magic is drawn from nature and a connection to the natural world—druids would be the iconic primal casters in most game systems. the line between primal and divine casting can get a little fuzzy sometimes, especially once you get into things like the elementals (who are sentient nature spirits worshipped in their own rights), but i ultimately lumped addie and sjanna into the primal tradition because conjury, from what we’ve seen, is about drawing aether from the land itself (and the elementals are depicted as “voices of the land”). the green word as it appears in ffxiv, similarly, is close to the green faith as it appears in pathfinder: a code that demands respect, reverence, and preservation of the natural world. addie learned magic as a conjurer who drew power from the land around her, and sjanna learned magic as a keeper of the wood who revered the green word. later in life, addie (who had suffered emotional and medical abuse under the conjurers’ guild) and sjanna (who committed anathema to the green word by deliberately causing harm to the wood) stopped being practitioners of primal magic, although addie left it behind willingly while sjanna had her power stripped from her.

so both of them instead re-trained in the arcane magic tradition. arcane magic is like, your stereotypical locked-in-a-tower wizard who spends all their time poring over spellbooks—they make a study of magic and use logic and rationality to categorize and control magic. ffxiv’s arcanists are also (fittingly) a good example of arcane magic as it appears in pathfinder. the arcane tradition relies upon casting spells from constructs, like magical diagrams or matrices, which can be physical (like the arcanist’s grimoire, in addie’s case, as she goes on to become a scholar) or a mental construct (which sjanna prefers, being more of a staff-wielder than a book-toter). it’s also worth noting that, in the case of pathfinder (and as i’m using it here), arcane magic draws mostly on the caster’s reserves, rather than drawing on power from an external source like divine and primal magic. addie learned arcane magic as a means of retaining her power without giving up her agency to an elemental tradition that had harmed her; sjanna took it up to reclaim abilities that had been taken from her, but this time under her own power. i just think it’s neat.

and last but not least: hanami. if you’re wondering why she hasn’t come up before now, it’s because i am cracking open a refreshing cold can of my bullshit (drk theorycrafting). settle in.

“but cyan,” you say, “isn’t hanami’s whole thing that she keeps insisting she is not a damn mage?” yes it is. however, hanami is a filthy fucking liar. hanami, as a dark knight, is a practitioner of the occult magic tradition.

occult magic is definitely the least-understood of the four magic traditions, both in the in-universe pathfinder flavor text and on a meta level by the players. the word occult probably brings to mind, like, a circle of hooded figures with candles and weird rituals to summon some horrible tentacled creature from whatever great beyond, but per in-universe texts on occult magic, these practitioners are benefiting more from sheer dumb luck than an actual understanding of occult magic, which is best demonstrated by the iconic occult casters of pathfinder: bards.

occult magic draws its power from the concept of a shared narrative. practitioners at their finest use magic to invoke symbols commonly understood by its beneficiaries (or victims) that, in turn, causes some secondary effect—usually an emotional reaction (you see a lot of mental spells on the occult spell list). in the case of a bard, they will most typically use song, but dark knights as written in ffxiv do the exact same thing. per the lv 30 unlock quest, dark knights are fueled by fear, pain, and rage (and, as we oh-so-memorably learn in the 50-60 questline, all of these are superceded by love, kupo), but the flavor text of several of the drk abilities (back in ye olden days when we actually got flavor text) also include references to emotional manipulation. per enyclopedia eorzea’s description of Unleash (the starting aoe skill): “Releasing his pain and rage upon nearby foes, the dark knight manifests an inky black circle of spikes on the ground around him. All those caught in its thorns are struck by unreasoning terror, and an irresistible need to claw away at its source.” also from EE1, under the section dedicated to Dark Arts (the conceptual magical practice, not the skill, may she rest in peace): “Fueled by the darkness from within, the dark knight employs these techniques to lend an arcane edge to the blows of her greatsword. Though known for their disdain for shields, the fighting style of the earliest dark knights was nevertheless built upon mundane swordplay, and it was not until several centuries later that one of their order first unlocked the secrets of the dark arts.”

we know from the very start of the class questline that dark knights are something of a folktale to ishgardians; the npc who starts the unlock quest talks about dark arts practitioners, and even later in the lv 63 quest, an npc named Lowdy (you know, the waitress who poisoned you back in falcon’s nest like 3 patches ago) explicitly mentions being told stories about dark knights as a child. (based on the relevant npcs’ social stations, it probably varies whether the mythical dark knights are presented as folk heroes or bogeymen.) “but cyan,” you say, “can you get to the fucking point?”

yes i can. my theory—once again, i direct you to the ‘this is me playing in a sandbox’ disclaimer—is that the original dark knights didn’t use dark arts or magic because there was no narrative surrounding them. the first dark knights, being the founders of the discipline, didn’t have the benefit of a ready-made reputation to go with the greatsword and the heavy armor: by the modern day, when the warrior of light and sidurgu and fray take up the mantle, dark knight evokes a very specific image that instills fear, and pain, and rage—which they then harness for their own ends. dark knights use the shared narrative of ‘big fucking scary knight with big fucking scary forbidden magic’ to actually do that magic: the belief and the fear is the source of their power.

also just, one of these days i will go off about dark knights and akasa/dynamis, but this is already long and i’m already getting off-track, let me just put a pin in that.

so hanami, as an occult caster, uses Unleash and summons a big circle of spikes in the ground. scary! that image, which is pretty universally interpreted as threatening, achieves the effect of inducing terror in anyone caught in those spikes, because the magic is powered by the narrative of “big honkin’ thorns made of pure darkness = danger.” on the flipside, the dark knight also draws power from love—the specific example we see is the love a knight bears for their charge. (additional side-rant that folks like @starswornoaths and @autumnslance could do better than me: better paladin story than the paladin story.) what is The Blackest Night skill, if not a manifestation of that story of devotion and adoration?

…this definitely got off track and if you’re still here you get a medal. the medal is metaphorical though. ty for enjoying my rambling, if you’re interested in more information about the pathfinder magic traditions, i pulled a lot of the stuff above from the Secrets of Magic sourcebook, which contains a ton of cool worldbuilding about magic, including stuff about the traditions, the eight magic schools, and the four magical essences that i didn’t even get into here because they’re not immediately relevant, but they are cool. also: if this was fun enough that you want to incorporate the magical traditions into your own worldbuilding, obviously you can because i’m not a cop, but also tell me about it!!! show me your divine red mages or your arcane paladins or whatever cool and funky stuff you wanna do!!! talk multiclassing to me!!!

thank you for reading bye!!!

[redwayfarers]

(you) restless son - continued

Fandom: FFXIV Ship: Nika/Artoirel Characters: Nika Perseis (WoL), Artoirel de Fortemps Word count: 1533 Rating: Teen Note: Part two to this. Snippet was posted to Decembhyur. Here's the whole thing which, if I may say, is quite charming too.

Somehow, possibly through Fury’s grace alone, one of them had enough wherewithal to suggest moving from the salon’s opulent settees to have sex. The source of the proposal disappeared in the larger scope of the night’s events. Desperate kisses in the hallways that were suddenly too long for Artoirel’s liking, Nika’s surprised oh when Artoirel finally slammed the door shut behind them and kissed him with all the passion he had in his body mattered much more than who’d spoken the words first. 

Although, Artoirel thinks in the morning, it would’ve been so terribly entertaining if it was Nika. Reckless as the man is, maybe he does care about the Fortemps manor’s furniture. Even if he recalls how often Nika calls just about anything in the house overpriced. The furniture speaks of refined taste in Artoirel’s view, but Nika did not grow up in luxury. He speaks so little of his early life, but he’s said enough to suggest as much. 

Artoirel would’ve been annoyed with anyone else for such words, but there is no point arguing with Nika on it. It is what it is. 

Ironically enough, he is quick enough to cover himself in Artoirel’s fur coat on a mildly cold Ishgardian morning. It drags on the ground behind him as he sips his coffee by the window, a stark contrast against his white boots and the small pink cup in his hand. And yet, his hair blends with the darkness of the fur around the neck of the coat. Nika’s face sometimes breaks into a small, shy smile, only to disappear as soon as he notices Artoirel looking from his desk and later come again. It’s like he cannot contain it, try as hard as he might. 

Nika looks different like this, younger. He looks younger than he usually does, scowling and disinterested. Now, he resembles a young man - which he is, even if Artoirel isn’t old , for fuck’s sake. It’s as if a weight has been lifted from his shoulders for a little while, and in Artoirel’s big coat, with messy hair and a brightness in his eyes, Nika makes him want to come over and pull him to his chest, breathe in the scent of his hair and guard that private moment nobody really gets to see. 

And he almost does, when the realization dawns on him. There is chaos around Nika at all times, but it’s of a dangerous sort, one word away from breaking someone’s heart or attacking. This chaos, though, feels like winter's first tentative snowflake. And it fell into Artoirel’s hands. His chest warms up. Not that long ago, he wanted Nika dead. Now, he’s rejoicing in Nika’s small pleasures and whatever domesticity a chronic evader like him can have. 

“Why are you looking at me?” Nika suddenly asks. He’s looking deeply into the contents of his cup. 

“We have seen each other naked, Nika. Am I not allowed to look at you while clothed?” Artoirel leans against the table. His cheeks burn a little, from embarrassment and happiness both, and taps his nails against the surface in a rhythm. 

“‘M not talking about that,” Nika mumbles. “Also, that’s a very good beat.” He starts tapping against the porcelain in tandem. “That’s the song you wanted to show me last night?” 

“Yes. Of course, wood and porcelain are bad replacements for an actual instrument, but yes.” Artoirel clears his throat. 

“You’d be surprised what you can do with wood and porcelain. Not everyone’s fancy enough to have a grand piano.” Nika smiles. “Besides, it’s fun. I used to play with my mom’s pots like that when I was a kid. Before she’d take them away and shake a finger at me. ‘I need those to make lunch, Nika!’ ‘But we can eat music!’ Can we eat music, Artoirel? Can we eat music?” 

“Does.. spirit eat music? And literature, theatre, painting, and other arts?” 

“You tell me. You’re the one who grew up with those stupidly pretty Halonic chants. Me, I’m just a little bard of Gridanian tradition. The fact I have a magical voice is a side benefit.” 

“We have to go to the theatre sometime, Nika. Since you’re in Ishgard, you might as well enjoy the culture. I think an exception will be made for your hats, too.” Artoirel laughs, but Nika’s giggle echoes around the room. 

“Oh no, not the hats! I would have burned this whole place down ages ago if it discriminated against my hats!” 

Nika’s voice sounds young, Artoirel suddenly thinks. Young and happy. He looks him over, from the oversized coat, the high boots, the cup in his hand, the unbrushed mess of his hair, and the way sunlight hits his eyes differently, bright and creased around the edges. His scar creases, as well, around his nose and spreads to give way to a smile.

Artoirel’s chest feels tight and warm. There have been few times in his life where he’s felt like this. He recalls a then unmarried countess he had had a mind to court some years ago, of a striking beauty; she had a birthmark on her cheek, and he’d longed to kiss it someday. Nika’s scar is less graceful than the countess’ birthmark, but Artoirel wants to kiss it all the same. He wants to have Nika’s hand around his arm, by his side. He wants to kiss his hands, even if they are not gentle. Nika would laugh at flowers, but does one give flowers when courting a man? 

How does one court a man anyway? And more importantly, how does Artoirel de Fortemps court Nikita Perseis? 

“You’re doing it again,” Nika says. “Looking at me so intensely. Like I’m.. Like you’re in love with me, or something.” He laughs, awkwardly. “Are you in love with me, Artoirel?” 

Artoirel purses his lips and looks away. He stands up and runs a finger over the surface of the desk. “I am fond of you, yes. That much is obvious.” 

“Being fond and being in love are two completely different things!” Nika puts his cup down on the windowsill and rubs his face. “Artoirel, I.. You are not like everyone else. You are dear to me, and I care for you, and–” He takes a deep breath. “I care for you more than I should. And twelve help me, everything else I’ve done feels like– fucking foreplay for the main thing. Which is–” Nika waves his hands around. “All of this.” 

There’s something that goes unsaid. Us, Nika wants to say, but his throat seems to have closed up. Artoirel swallows. His heart beats wildly in his chest and he takes a step closer. 

“In Ishgard,” Artoirel starts, “to announce our serious intentions in pursuing someone, we court.” Nika squints. And Artoirel stands before him and swallows again. “Please let me finish, Nika. Ordinarily it would lead to marriage, and ordinarily we would not have slept together beforehand, but this is no ordinary situation. But I do wish to– to court you. To show you I am serious. We don’t have to say anything yet.” 

Artoirel reaches for Nika’s hand, yet allows his fingers to dangle in the air. Nika looks down, away, anywhere but Artoirel’s face, and pouts. 

“We can just try and see where this leads us,” Artoirel offers softly. “I want to think this meant something for you. I want to think that I mean as much to you as you do to me.” 

“You do,” Nika says after a while, almost inaudible. Artoirel’s hands itch to wrap around Nika’s, yet he refrains. Not yet. Not until Nika gives his consent. He will not force his affections on him. Yet, Artoirel can’t look away from the emotions that fight on his face, from the way he trembles. Artoirel trembles too, the patter of his heart drowns all other noise but Nika’s voice, and his stomach ties in innumerable knots. 

They sit like that for what feels like an eternity, on the precipice, ready to walk away or fall together. Eventually, Nika lifts his hand. Artoirel squeezes it. 

“We can give this courting thing a chance,” Nika says, breathless. “Because, I–we– yeah.” 

Artoirel breathes out. “Fury take you, Nika,” he mouths, and kisses him. Nika rises on the tips of his toes and kisses him back, draws him close, and Artoirel holds onto him, his grip strong enough to almost lift him off the ground. 

When they part, Nika’s eyes are wide and round, as they were last night. Artoirel’s cheeks burn like a furnace, but he doesn’t care; it’s his first day of courtship, as unusual as it may be. He can’t find it in him to let go of Nika, and if it were up to him, he’d rather see Eorzea aflame than let Nika go to save it. 

He knows Nika doesn’t like that anyway. 

Frankly, Eorzea doesn’t matter anymore. What does is the way Nika clings to him, and the way his hair smells, and the warmth of his body against Artoirel’s. What matters is them watching the city move about, away from it all, standing by the window together. Together. 

The rest of it really does not stand a chance whatsoever. 

[pellaaearien]

Hark! A pinned post!

I have finally decided to do an intro post, more for archival purposes than anything, but yes. Hello! You can call me Pella, or Pell. My name, which is very long, is a remnant from the olden times of the Barrow-Downs Elven name generator (and forums!), which shows how long I've been around. She/her pronouns, please. I welcome asks and ask games, and will generally answer them, unless I forget.

Mostly, I write fic:

Find me on Ao3! Please note you currently must be logged in to your account to access my works.

Please make fanworks of my work! I'd consider it the highest honour. Just please tag me so I can see!

Current Active Fandoms:

The Sandman

FFXIV

Not Current, But Not Forgotten:

Lucifer on Netflix

Doctor Who

Dragon Age

Tagging:

I am pretty horrendous about tagging (I'm frequently on mobile) but I do my best. I do try to make an effort for spoilers.

With that said, this is not a complete selection of everything that can be found on my blog, but most stuff should be covered--

pella writes - my writing pella reads - other peoples' writing pella answers - answered asks pella poses - for my FFXIV gpose endeavours otp: sun and snow - for all things related to Eyn'ara and Aymeric

OC Do Not Steal:

My FFXIV character is also my OC and the light of my life, Eyn'ara! Please pleasepleaseplease send me questions about her

(Commission courtesy of the wonderful mellifera38 here on tumblr!)

And... I think that's everything! Welcome, please enjoy your stay, and may you always walk in the light!

[stellamancer]

twenty questions for fic writers—

thanks to @kedsandtubesocks for the tag hehe and I'm sorry to everyone who has to suffer through my yapping. open tagging on this! take it if you want it!!!

1) how many works do you have on AO3?

Ninety. I actually don't think I've posted a lot of my jjk things on there, nor does it have basically anything that I had on Lunaescence...

2) what's your total AO3 word count?

262,115

3) what fandoms do you write for?

mostly jjk these days. in the past few years I've also written bnha and ffxiv.

4) top five fics by kudos

face in my hands. they're all from my mystic messenger era.... I'm too embarrassed to mention them LMAO. i'd like to think my writing has improved since then.

5) do you respond to comments?

yes!! i do my very best to respond to comments i get on AO3, and then also to comment-esque tags I get on tumblr. personally, as a reader, I get really excited when a writer responds to me so I try to do the same for my readers... If that makes sense? I think it's fun!!

6) what is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

my gut reaction is to say don't, if you value your life— but like that fic as a whole is an angst fest and so I feel like while the ending was really angsty, it was in line with everything as a whole. but otherwise idk...

7) what's the fic that you wrote with the happiest ending?

mmmm. I think that the nature of my one-shots means they tend to end on a happier note but it's all pretty equal, both across the fics and the fics generally don't have enough emotional fluctuation for me to think 'oh this was a really happy ending.'

8) do you get hate on fics?

i'm lucky enough to never have received hate fo my work directly. i'm sure someone some where has shit on my stuff in private lmao....

9) do you write smut?

not really. I can, I just don't really.

10) craziest crossover?

there is such thing as magic, which was a base kingdom hearts × full metal alchemist crossover. there were other series in it which included fruits basket. LMAOO.

11) have you ever had a fic stolen?

not to my knowledge LMAO, at least not outright. plagiarized on the other hand...

12) have you ever had a fic translated?

I think someone asked to translate one of my mystic messenger fics once.

13) have you ever co-written a fic before?

yes! me and kelsey ( @cannibalisticskittles )cowrote a modern royalty saeran x reader fic years ago. and sel ( @seiwas ) I are working on a bunch of fics together, albeit very, very slowly.

14) all time favorite ship?

uh. I don't really have one.

15) what's a wip you want to finish but you doubt you ever will?

LMAO. every day I seem less and less likely to finish & here i am alive.

16) what are your writing strengths?

dialogue. I've been told I write tension well too.

17) what are your writing weaknesses?

a lack of focus (like sitting down and actually writing) as well as descriptive writing.

18) thoughts on dialogue in another language?

I think that... it can be immersion breaking, especially if the reader doesn't read or understand said language, to the point of being distracting. Like you're switching the attention of your reader from the story to trying to figure out what the character just said. I mean, you can clue your audience in via narration, so at least they understand...

I think it's best for the audience to keep the fic in one language (not including loan words). mao's ( @yinyuedijun ) recent aventurine fic, translation, did a really good job, I think of conveying dialogue in another language. I think she used italics there... But yeah, not sure if I'm a fan of just inserting dialogue in another language into a fic...

19) first fandom you wrote in?

yu yu hakusho

20) favorite fic you've written?

don't, if you value your life

[driftward]

Title: FFXIV Write 2024 - 1. Steer Characters: Rating: Teen Summary: Is reality destiny? Notes: None

Infinite possibilities, in infinite permutations.

Massive concentric rings surrounded her, golden with symbols inscribed upon them, each rotating and spinning on its own axis, yet sharing space and movement with the others. Spheres floated among and between them, drifting, mapping paths, charting probabilities, a guide to every possibility in every permutation. A guide not to reality, but to infinities.

That was the easy part.

Figuring out how to direct it, that was the hard part.

Zoissette sighed, looking over her calculations. She touched a hand to the central control dais, and uploaded her latest work. Immediately the air above it lit up, as thread paths traced through time, probabilities sparkling like stars in their wake, starting from nothing and expanding out, some collapsing again.

She sighed again, watching as it ran. Already too long.

"I thought I might find you here."

Zoissette turned, to see Y'shtola floating effortlessly into the space, drifting downward, carefully avoiding the rings as they spun and the spheres as they orbited. She touched down gently, and walked forward, looking up to see the results of Zoissette's latest calculation.

Zoissette turned to face her, sagging against the control dais, and smiled tiredly at her. She may have been exhausted, but Y'shtola was ever prim, proper, the very image of a cultured and well put together scientist.

She herself probably looked a mess right this moment. But, they took turns, didn't they? Zoissette had fond memories of tucking a blanket around Y'shtola's shoulders as she drooled slightly on notes still unfinished and passages yet to be read.

Y'shtola lifted a hand into the twinkling cloud of computation, disrupting it as she pointed at the cluster of end states. "These should be highlighted, should they not?"

"Yes, I know, I know," groaned Zoissette, wiping her hand across the control surface and erasing the trace. "I am testing new axiom paths with my predictor."

"You might come to bed. A well rested mind would be better able to handle these puzzles you set yourself to, I would think."

Zoissette sat back, slouching in her chair, leaning her head back and closing her eyes. She felt warm hands on her shoulders, and thumbs begin to press into her back. "I still cannot make an algorithm that can predict which threads will self sustain and which will fail early. And if I run the simulations, sometimes I can watch as threads fail, but not see how."

Y'shtola fingers gripped the top of her shoulders, and Zoissette clenched her teeth and hissed gently as a thumb found a particularly knotted sore spot.

"I mean, I know how to make threads that I know for certain will terminate and how, but... there seems hardly any point to trying to run those. If the outcome is already predetermined, we do not learn anything from it that we cannot learn just from looking at it."

"If this were easy, we would not have a star mathematician working so diligently on it."

"Nor wasting your time and talents."

"I am here because I wish to be. You know this well."

"I know."

Y'shtola's fingers stopped, and Zoissette felt a kiss on her forehead, and she smiled.

"Alright," said Zoissette, sitting up. "You have convinced me."

"Ah, if only 'twas always so simple."

"I am not that bad."

"Not always."

Zoissette just huffed, as she put both hands on the control surface, and pushed it down gently. The rings around her slowed, the spheres gradually halting their orbits. She got up, and let Y'shtola take her hand, and they both began to walk to the edge of the platform, but Zoissette stopped, to look back.

"Something the matter?" asked Yshtola.

"What if we are the result of a machine like this?"

"This again? You worry overmuch about that."

"Ryss seems to think it likely."

"Ryssthota is also like to use her time on the machine tomorrow to see if she can generate threads that will combine with other threads to create a thread-destroying cataclysmic combination or some other such nonsense. She sees further than most, but as a result, does not always fully think through the consequences of the same."

"I just... I guess I am just wondering."

Zoissette looked down at Y'shtola's hand in hers. "If we are the result of such a machine, are we one of the predetermined threads? Or are we in one of the threads, running wild and free, to who knows what destiny?"

Y'shtola looked up at Zoissette, and smiled. She reached up, standing on her toes, to cup a hand to Zoissette's cheek, and look deep into her eyes.

"Know this," she said. "I believe full heartedly that whatever has happened to us, we chose this. I chose this. I fought for this. I fought for you, to have you at my side and to be by yours. What matters the opinion of destiny? Gravity seemed inevitable, too, until our people touched the stars."

Her eyes wrinkled with a touch of mischievousness. "As though any prediction could defy my will."

Zoissette reached up a hand, and touched Y'shtola's hand, and smiled back, tiredly. "Awfully sentimental of you."

"Perhaps. You do bring out the best in me, after all."

They lingered, until the moment passed. And then they began to walk together again, hand in hand, towards the edge of the platform, to their beds, to their rest.

"I suppose," said Zoissette, "I hope that in any thread where there is a recognizable you, and someone that is a recognizable me... I hope we always at least find one another."

"Gravity may not be inevitable," said Y'shtola, "But it pulls nonetheless. I hope for much the same."

"Is that not destiny?" asked Zoissette.

Y'shtola just smiled as they vanished off the edge of the platform, passing into the space beyond.

"Inevitability need not be destiny," she said. "I shall always chart mine own course."

In the space of the machine beyond the edge of reality, there was silence.

[paintedscales]

FFXIV Write 2023 :: Day 16

Prompt :: Jerk Characters :: Nomin tal Kheeriin, Jillian, Ywain Deepwell Notes :: Heavy on the Lancer Job dialog Word Count :: 2,256

FFXIV Write 2023 Master List

Nomin had awoken early that morning, having been more than grateful for a warm and soft bed that night at the Roost. After several weeks traveling the road and riding a carriage, not to mention sailing across the Sirensong Sea all the way to Eorzea, that bed was a blessing from Nhaama if Nomin ever wanted to give thanks to the gods of the Steppe.

However, Nomin had stood at the foot of the stairs that led up to the Lancers’ Guild. She took in the appearance of the building, much like she had the Archers’ Guild, and noted its banners. Red and black with a gold embroidered image of a lance upon it. She could make no mistake that this is where she needed to be in order to make good on her word that she would go there.

Entering the building, Nomin glanced about before spotting the receptionist desk and approaching it. Sounds of wood striking wood were heard in the room over, as were the grunts and yells of individuals actively training. There was a hyuran woman there at the counter, a determined smile on her face as she greeted Nomin with a small wave.

“Welcome to the Lancers’ Guild, adventurer,” the woman said. “Haven’t seen you around before, so if you seek to refine your skills with the polearm, then you have come to the right place. Here at the Lancers’ Guild, spear wielders gather to train with one another, and further hone their abilities under the tutelage of our fine instructors.”

The hyuran woman then looked over Nomin, noting the bow and quiver upon her person. She then straightened her posture and inquired: “... you…are here to register with our guild, are you not?”

“Mhm. I told Miounne that I would come here and see about joining,” Nomin informed her. She could swear she saw the receptionist breathe a sigh of relief.

“Wonderful! Then allow me to introduce myself, I am Jillian, and I oversee all matters going in and out of the Lancers’ Guild. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance…” she allowed her sentence to linger, looking at Nomin somewhat expectantly.

“Nomin. Pleasure to meet you as well.”

“No~min…” Jillian repeated, getting a feel for the name. She smiled, giving Nomin a once over before clearing her throat. “Very well! Before we can get you properly situated within our ranks, it is my job to inform you of Gridania’s history with the spear and the art that we teach here.”

Motioning toward her right, Nomin looked at what seemed to be an art piece that looked like a large version of the masks the she saw the Wood Wailers and those dressed in red wore -- but if it were more round and perhaps would have been used to cover the entire face rather than just masking the eyes. There were crossed spears that were mounted upon the walls as well.

“More than just an instrument of war, the spear is also a tool for hunting, and with game ever plentiful in the Twelveswood, the weapon has been the mainstay of the locals here since before the founding of Gridania. With the passing of time, our nation became a gathering place for spearmasters from across the realm -- many eager to test their mettle against the famed might of our Wood Wailers.” Jillian lifted a finger, a smile dancing across her lips. She seemed proud to have this information and share it.

“It was here in Gridania that their myriad fighting styles came into contact, eventually giving rise to the art taught here today. That the spear technique could be formalized at all owed much to the founding of the Lancers’ Guild by Wood Wailer captain Mistalle nigh on a century past.”

Nomin listened with some interest once Jillian had mentioned how people from across the realm had come to the guild to train. She wondered if there were ever any Xaela that had walked past the guild’s doors before herself. She supposed she would find out if she saw any fighting styles that were reminiscent of the Steppe.

“The tradition of accepting students from without as well as within Gridania’s borders persists to this day, ensuring that the art of the polearm may not only survive, but also continue to evolve.” Jillian placed her hands upon her hips, a pleased expression on her face.

“... Can you tell me if you’ve ever had Xaelic individuals like myself pass the guild’s doors in the past?” Nomin inquired, genuine in her curiosity. She had found appreciation in the fact that Jillian, staying true to her lecture, had been rather ambivalent toward Nomin’s appearance. Knowing the Lancers’ Guild accepted people of all kinds was of more comfort than Nomin realized.

Jillian grew pensive, thinking back.

“We have had a couple… That I can remember, anyroad!” Jillian replied. “During my time here, there was a girl I could remember -- said she came from Coerthas up north. Her name was Khenbish, and she was quite well trained already. I shouldn’t be surprised, given the history of the lancers and Knights Dragoon of Ishgard. When I asked her why she wasn’t training with them, she claimed that Ishgard would have rather ran her through with spears than trained her to use them.”

'Khenbish' -- it was a rare name that Nomin knew of. A name that meant 'nobody.' It made her a little more interested in the person behind it. She wondered if it was a name given to the girl, or one chosen. Much like how Nomin chose her own name.

“A…criminal?” Nomin slowly asked.

“Not sure. She never really gave off that impression, and we never had any of our allies among the Temple Knights that patrol near the border of the Western Highlands and the North Shroud ever inquire about her whereabouts. I never really bothered to press her on the specifics of her past,” Jillian explained. “I’m not sure if she’s still around. She hasn’t been back at the guild in several summers at this point. I can only hope that she’s alive somewhere…but we can’t discount the notion that she could very well be returned to the lifestream.”

Shaking her head, Jillian returned her full attention upon Nomin and smiled. “Well, all of that aside, I trust I’ve piqued your interest quite well in regards to what you would be signing up for?”

“I find it reassuring that others like myself have been here…so yes, I would say you have,” Nomin confirmed. “I would like to see what more I could learn, especially if the styles here are blended with one another to make, as mentioned, an evolving style.”

“Excellent! I shall let Guildmaster Ywain know to expect you. All who seek admittance to our ranks must present themselves before him. He will judge if you are fit to become one of us.” Jillian then motioned to the archway to her right. “Pray make your way to the training area within. Our guildmaster shall await you there.”

Nomin did as she was told, stepping foot into the training hall. The air was thick with the scent of sweat and wood polish. She watched the trainees with their training spears practicing their form in staying grounded as well as thrusting to attack. For a moment, she was brought back to her time on the Steppe, training amongst the other Jhungid warriors-in-training. It had been often that she was more taught to use a spear or more hand-to-hand oriented combat, though it was always with the bow that she excelled at.

She had not known how long she was waiting when Jillian came into the room and called to her. When Nomin looked over at Jillian, she had a hyuran man with her, a diagonal scar that ran from just above his right brow down to just barely past where his nose met his cheek on the left. Nomin lifted a hand in quiet greeting, which had been reciprocated from the man.

“Well met, adventurer. I understand you wish to learn the lancers’ art under our roof,” the man said. This must have been Ywain. “I was given to know that you have some combat experience from beyond our lands. Yet it remains to be seen if such skills as you have acquired will avail you here.”

There was want of a knee jerk response, but Nomin bit her tongue.

“It is of no matter. In my capacity as guildmaster, I shall guide your training, beginning with the very basics -- the principles of our art.” Ywain motioned confidently to himself with a small smile. However, Nomin clenched her jaw to prevent herself from gawking in disbelief at the notion of relearning the art of wielding a spear from the beginning.

‘No, it’s understandable. Curb your impatience, Nomin…’ Nomin reminded herself, keeping Esenaij’s counsel rooted within her mind.

“There exist myriad fighting styles, each of which has its own unique qualities. None, however, can claim to be as offensively minded as ours. Our approach is ever one of attack, no matter who -- or what -- we face.”

At this, Nomin found herself starting to pucker her face with incredulity. Ywain’s confident statement seemed that of someone who had never been to the Steppe, where combat was taught to nearly all tribes just because of how violent tribes could be to one another. Self-defense had been a necessary evil for any Xaela that did not want to be set upon by their own people, or worse yet, the Matanga that also lived upon the land.

“An experienced lancer is able to wield a polearm as if it were an extension of their body. They transform into a raging storm before their foes, delivering a barrage of devastating thrusts and slashes,” Ywain went on to explain.

It was here that Nomin’s face relaxed and started bordering on a sense of intrigue. She could not very well think of styles on the Steppe that had them do aught more than powerful thrusts to skewer, or swipes as a means to disarm. The idea that a lance would be used in s quick succession of thrusts had been a mental image that had her thinking on how to balance herself already.

“To facilitate such a relentless assault, we lancers forgo plate, favoring armor of leather and chain -- such materials as provide adequate protection without unduly hindering movement.” Ywain lifted a finger as he went on to further elucidate: “a lancer’s worth may be measured quite simply -- in how swift and decisively they can pierce their enemy’s defenses.”

That made sense. A good thrust to one’s weak point was essential to using a spear from what Nomin remembered in her training on the Steppe.

“By its nature, the polearm is a simple weapon to wield -- for good or ill. Even in a farmer’s hands, it is capable of wreaking considerable havoc. Thus has it been a mainstay of every great army since ancient times.” Ywain paused, looking past Nomin to the lancers within the hall training amongst one another. “Yet know that a lance alone does not a lancer make. Faced with unfavorable odds, an unseasoned spearman will break formation and flee without a moment’s hesitation. A true lancer, however, flinches not before his enemies, for he knows not the meaning of fear. Ever does he press forward, disdainful of the odds, that he might pierce the enemy line and open a path to victory.”

“Would it not be wise to cut one’s losses and flee if they are clearly overwhelmed?” Nomin asked, doing everything within her power to keep her stance as neutral as possible. It was indicative of her tone, however, that there seemed to have been some values that she did not quite see eye-to-eye with. “I don’t mean to undermine your explanations nor station…I simply find myself a little baffled by the idea that I would be expected to run myself ragged if the odds are clearly not in my favor. What would my fearlessness accomplish for myself if I were to stagger in the midst of combat because my headstrong and ‘fearless’ ways to see to this ideal in what may very well be a fool’s errand?”

A ghost of a smile graced Ywain’s lips momentarily. It seemed that it was not often that someone joining the guild had often stepped up to question his meaning nor his authority.

“Fearlessness does not equate to foolhardiness. Having courage and a sense of fearlessness is not to say to run in the thick of combat without your wits about you. I only mean to say that if you run away before you even gauge your enemies’ defenses and openings, perhaps the Lancers’ Guild is not for one of such a caliber.” Ywain looked Nomin up and down, gauging her stature and posture. There was a moment before he continued on with a sense of satisfaction; “having the courage to face your enemies and be level headed enough to make observations of them is important in our field of combat. That is why our guild has striven from the first to instill this essential quality in every soul who passes through our halls.”

Nodding, Nomin felt more resonance with the idea now that it had been expanded upon.

“Without further ado, adventurer… Arduous trials await you should you join our ranks. Knowing this, have you the resolve to wield the lance in the name of the Lancers’ Guild?”

Straightening her posture, Nomin gave a more curt nod. “I do.”

[ayakamizu]

FFXIV Write 2023 Day 8 - Shed

Shed: Verb. To cast off or let fall (leaves, hair, feathers, skin, shell, etc.) by natural process. Characters: Ayaka Mizushima (WoL), Original Characters Expansion: A Realm Reborn Rating: G Notes: No spoilers. Takes place during the level 15 envoy quests in ARR. I realized after writing this that when you start in Ul'dah, the first city you visit is Limsa and not Gridania... But oh well!

Ayaka had found that Gridania was a nice reprieve from Ul’dah’s heat.

As one of her companions—an older Hyur with graying hairs—on this excursion told her, this was the best time of year to visit Gridania and the forest surrounding it. The weather was cooler, but it was worth the price if it meant witnessing the leaves changing color. He spoke about how grateful he was that the Calamity hadn’t changed the way the seasons worked in the Twelvewoods, even if their Ishgardian neighbors to the north hadn’t been so lucky.

A few of the children aboard the airship had listened to the man with rapt attention. From what their parents explained, they hadn’t known anything else but Ul’dah’s dry desert sands and heat. The family was moving to Gridania in hopes that the husband could find better work there, but they thought it was an added bonus that the children could experience more than one season in a year.

Eventually, the children turned their attention towards her. To their parents' embarrassment, they asked Ayaka if she got to experience seasons where she was from. They ended up getting a mild scolding from their mother for making assumptions like that, even if Ayaka wasn’t Eorzean, but Ayaka was more than happy to tell the children about how, where she came from, sakura trees would rain down pink flower petals once a year. She also explained how there were trees like the ones in Gridania that shed their leaves as the season grew colder.

“Truthfully, it’ll help with the homesickness,” Ayaka said to the older Hyur. The two of them were walking behind the family as they left the airstrip landing. They could hear the children excitedly talking about what they learned today and how they couldn’t wait to start living in Gridania instead. “Being in a desert… It was a completely different experience.”

“I’d assume so! Kugane’s a port city, right? You’d think a lass like you would’ve gone to Limsa instead!”

“I did consider it,” Ayaka sighed, shoulders slumping a bit. “But the Thaumatuger’s guild was more appealing.” Plus she hadn’t been sure how to feel about the idea of pirates—reformed or otherwise.

“Well the next stop after deliverin’ this letter to the Elder Seedseer is gonna be Limsa,” the man started, flashing her a bright grin. “Maybe you’ll get to see what you were missin’ out on!”

Ayaka could already picture it though. The smell of sea salt in the air and the tolling of bells as ships came to and from the docks. A part of her missed that—mostly the comforting scent of sea salt clinging to her clothes late at night—when she came to Ul’dah, but Ayaka was satisfied with her choice. 

Still, as the leaves were falling around them in warm reds and oranges, she thought that maybe Gridania would’ve been a good choice as well.