#and Alisaie goes 'oh no you don't that's MY best friend'

[humblemooncat]

Just ran Vanaspati with Thancred, Raha, and Alisaie, and I gotta say; It's really easy to see how loved your WoL is when you take a mechanic to the face and all three companions fire off a heal at the exact same time.

[motheatenscarf]

I think I'm almost done with Post-Shadowbringers stuff

I just did Paglth'an, so here are some catchup thoughts.

Holy shit, Alisaie figured out the cure for Tempering and between her, G'raha, Y'shtola, and Master Matoya, they've figured out how to mass produce this shit so that Tempering is basically no longer an obstacle. Go team!! Ga Bu's! little! voice! He sounds like he's about to ask if please, sir, he can he have some more porridge. Tragic little urchin. Outright Dickensian. So cute ;_; But more importantly,

This has led to the Alliance leaders finally, F I N A L L Y, making peace with and inviting the Beast Tribes to the table. They all seemed to start moving in on it at the same time, but credit still goes to Lyse imo for being the first one to insist, no, we mean everyone gets a seat at the table with the Ala Mhigan republic they're creating. Granted, they modled that on the republic Aymeric built and he was also talking to the Vanu, so. My goodest noodles. I love them so much! I liked Merlwyb getting some character development, but also the entire time she was talking about how to make amends to the Kobolds, I just sat there going, "Land back. You can give their land back. Land back???" But she managed to get them to agree to join up anyway, so... fine :T

Estinien's back! \o/ And he's maybe staying this time? We freed Tiamat and watching Talia, Estinien, and Alphinaud try to figure out how to put a software update on a 3,000 year old phone was way funnier than it had any right to be. Buncha dingdongs. Also, holy shit, Estinien meeting Alisaie was everything I hoped it would be and more. He mistook her for Alphinaud and gave her a noogie. She fucking H A T E S him. It was clear she was envisioning a heroic knight based on Alphinaud's descriptions and then Estinien made the worst mistake of his life. Amazing restraint on her part that she only yelled at him, I thought for sure that was the end for him. But he's actually grown a lot and had a good moment with Fordola where he basically said, "There are enough assholes out there who are good at killing like you and me, but what the world NEEDS is idealists like Alphinaud who actually plan to BUILD something out of the ashes we leave behind." Out of the Scions, I think Estinien is the one who groks Talia the most for this reason alone. That mentality of, I am not good. But you are. I was mostly joking when I said Estinien is her best friend/wingman now and he doesn't get a say in this, but yeah, they would definitely be the "We still never talk sometimes" kind of friends who can just chill in comfortable silence because they're on such a similar wavelength. Which I will say, did make me start to wonder about him and Aymeric and that very gay religious art way he was carried back to Ishgard. Like, oh no, do they maybe have some history there? But then Estinien said, verbatim, "I don't want to go to the Alliance meeting, Aymeric will be there and I don't want to be lectured," so... probably not! Also, the one instance where Talia can't relate to Estinien. Keeping the people you care about at arms' length because you're scared to let anyone in after what you've lost? Tired. Recklessly devoting yourself body and soul to protecting the people you care about because you'd rather die than be alone again after what you've lost? Wired. Get on her level, Estinien, in this house we listen to the Moogles' advice that the fuel powering dark edgelord shit is love.

Anyway, with the Tempering cure in the works, a LOT is shifting in the status quo, which I like. Fandaniel is boring and continues to be just... the fucking most, and I'm tired of him. I'm so tired of him. I have thoughts, but that's for another post.

Zenos keeps making a big deal about wanting a new weapon and they keep deliberately not showing it, and I know Reaper was introduced in Endwalker, so I think that's what they're teasing there, and if he winds up going Reaper I am going to SCREAM. He's already Talia's dark mirror and I already headcanon that her dumb Dark Knight sword that's too big for her was yoinked out of his stupid golf bag. So if he just goes "uno reverse, bitch!" and is now copying her by going Reaper, they are going to be in danger of being legit frenemies and I don't know how to feel about that! That is the exact kind of escalating rivalry I've wanted out of a good nemesis for her!

But also like, Zenos' plans seem so fucking stupid. I don't know what he's got in the works with Fandaniel, he says all he wants is to fight the WoL again, but I don't get how facilitating the apocalypse accomplishes that?

Like, buddy, if you want a fight, roll up and ask her. I brought a character who started her existence as a fucking Sith into this game, you are never gonna find another WoL more eager to drop whatever she's doing just to kick your ass.

[itsblorbotime]

anyway,

i think... like, alisaie and gosetsu have a point here, a really solid one, but... also, yugiri is not wrong. zenos at this point is such a threat that simply removing him from the board, regardless of how garlemald chose to retaliate, would have probably been the best thing they could have done for the cause -- and am ambush with a powerful shinobi and the warrior of light probably had the best chance of pulling that feat off. obviously nobody at this point knows that what's about to happen next is going to make zenos into something that they are powerless to truly stop but in hindsight that makes yugiri like. entirely correct. had they killed him here and now, it would have put them at an advantageous position in the long run.

... unfortunately yugiri is simply not the person equipped for the job.

could val have done it, at his power level at this part of the story? ... i don't think so. the skills required -- extreme subterfuge -- were not ones he possessed (at the time, nor does he ever; i've leveled it but canonically he never becomes a ninja.) nor is assassination his style, really, so i don't think he would have ever been good at it. as the wol he switches between many jobs canonically but his style is typically one of two: either he's using speed, range, and stamina to wear out his physically more powerful opponents into making a critical error he can exploit, or he's wielding slower but powerful shielding and restorative magic that simply makes him into a wall that won't break.

also, we know as of endwalker that the wol's power largely lies in their ability to utilize dynamis, a skill that at this point he hasn't quite mastered.

... he goes anyway, even knowing that the warrior of light dying here would be an absolutely crippling blow to both the ala mhigan and doman liberation fronts. his power comes from dynamis, and that means it also comes from fighting for what he believes in, and he does not believe in abandoning his friends to throw their lives away alone.

twitter pointed this out recently, i hardly ever read the journal quest text, but OH MAN OH BOY

(i don't think it's canon for val unfortunately though lol. he very much did not want to engage in open combat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

yugiri is so fucking cool man but like OH MAN OH BOY WE'VE ALREADY FAILED LOL. she had to have killed him in the first blow. she didn't. i don't know if she knew that, aside from maybe somewhere deep in her heart, but val definitely understood at this point it was a fruitless suicide mission.

GET HIM GIRL THO

hi i'm here too with my widdle stick :) rawr xD

okay. THIS is the solo instance i remember doing back in stormblood -- the one where it went on forever and fucking ever because the man simply could not kill me, my hp was constantly topped up while his was slowly whittling almost all the way down. white mage mp regeneration was a little different in stormblood but i simply was never in danger of ever running out of ways to heal myself.

and canonically we know this is when zenos recognises you for what you are, but also i think this is the first time he's ever had to face a really, truly powerful healer. not a warrior, or a brute, or a samurai, or a ninja, or a knight, or a sorcerer, or a wizard, but somebody who commanded not just destruction but restoration. death and life. even distracted by desperately trying to defend yugiri, val, this time prepared for what he was facing, still threw everything into this fight.

he loses, because we know zenos is really just taking your measure here -- but i think it was a very narrow loss. i think this is probably the first time zenos had been in a fight that made him sweat. and against a healer.

(i really like wol as a healer as a direct foil of his, i think it's neat! parallels! opposites!)

i do not like this look :| his smug aura mocks me

these are some damn good lines that i did not appreciate playing through this the first time because i was SO annoyed that it was one of those scripted-to-lose fights. i hate that shit, i still hate it, but in hindsight it was done much better here than fucking shadowbringers where it fucking sucked and was lame and everyone should hate it because it was stupid and bad.

AND THEN WHEN HE'S ABOUT TO KILL YUGIRI AND YOU CAN'T STOP HIM AND THE VILLAGERS OF NAMAI COME TO HER DEFENSE DESPITE IT CERTAINLY COSTING THEM THEIR LIVES AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH YEAH BOIIIIIIIII!!!!! NOW THATS WHAT IM TALKIN ABOUT!!!! THE INDOMITABLE SPIRIT OF MAN WHEN FACED WITH THE INCARNATION OF DESPAIR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 👌👀👌👀👌👀👌👀👌👀 good shit go౦ԁ sHit👌 thats ✔ some good👌👌shit right👌👌there👌👌👌 right✔there ✔✔if i do ƽaү so my self 💯 i say so 💯 thats what im talking about right there right there (chorus: ʳᶦᵍʰᵗ ᵗʰᵉʳᵉ) mMMMMᎷМ💯 👌👌 👌НO0ОଠOOOOOОଠଠOoooᵒᵒᵒᵒᵒᵒᵒᵒᵒ👌 👌👌 👌 💯 👌 👀 👀 👀 👌👌Good shit

I WILL PROTECT YOU WITH MY LIFE

:))))))))))

shut up u stinkman

uh... thanks for the vercure alisaie but i'm literally a white mage benediction is already off cooldown

stormblood for valentine was his journey helping to liberate two countries under garlean rule, to do for them what he couldn't do for his own homeland, and to support his friends while they come into their own...

stormblood for zenos was one man experiencing cute aggression for the first time

stormblood replay thread, part 2

[winterstorm032802]

Scream

Nora: Alphinaud? Alisaie? Y'Shtola?

Everyone lies still on the ground soaked in rain and blood

Nora: G-Guys... What happened? *looks around*

Zenos: Simple, you weren't strong enough, friend *walks closer*

Nora: *narrows her eyes* You.

Zenos: Yes

Nora: *gasps feeling a sharp pain pierce through her*

Zenos: *smiles sinisterly as he stabs through Nora*

Nora: *coughs out blood and begins to cry*

Zenos: Pathetic...

Nora: *screams*

.

.

.

Nora: *screaming*

Alphinaud: *slams open the door* Nora!

Scions: *behind Alphinaud*

Nora: *in a fetal position and huddled at the end of her bed as she pants* No! No! No! S-Stop!

Urianger: Thy dreams are filled of fraught and danger

Alphinaud: *goes to Nora's side and gently touches her shoulder* Nor--

Nora: *smacks his hand away in fear as she stares wildly at him* DON'T TOUCH ME

Alphinaud: *smiles weakly* It's alright my friend, no need to fear me

Nora: I'm not strong enough! I-I never am *sobs* I can't do it... I can't do anything!

Alisaie: Nora...

Thancred: Mayhaps we should leave? Give you two a moment of tranquility?

Y'Shtola: That would seem to be best

Alphinaud: No

G'raha Tia: Are you sure?

Alphinaud: She needs to know that we're all here

Alisaie: He's right, it would help. After all she's been there for all of us tis only right we return the favor

Nora: *tail curls at her feet as her ears stay down* I'm sorry...

Alphinaud: There's no need to apologize *reaches for her again*

Nora: *flinches and backs away* Get away from me! You've already done enough, what more do you want?! Y-You killed them all! Just get it over with and end me, won't you? *whispers* Please, I give up just please...

Alphinaud: *holds Nora by the shoulders and faces her to him* Now you listen to me Nora. Don't you ever speak such things, whatever your seeing isn't real. We would never give up on you Nora. Even at the most desperate of times! Nora... I love you too much to ever do that!

Alisaie: *smiles* (He said it out loud)

Alphinaud: So please... Open your eyes for me

Nora: *opens her eyes and blinks a couple times* Nngh w-where am I? Alphinaud? W-what are you doing here?

Alphinaud: *smiles* We're all here for you my friend

Scions: *smile*

Nora: You're all here? W-why?

Y'Shtola: Just... Checking up on you is all

Alisaie: Everyone needs it once or twice

Nora: *smiles* Thank you

Bonus~

Alphinaud: Um Nora?

Nora: *drinking some tea* Yes?

Alphinaud: *blushes* You wouldn't have happen to heard anything last night?

Nora: *blinks and shakes her head* Was I supposed to?

Alphinaud: Oh no, I was just curious because I called your name and wondered if you had heard me is all

Nora: Well, sorry I didn't but thank you for helping me *smiles*

Alphinaud: (Oh thank the Twelve)

Alisaie: *stares at Alphinaud* (Oh brother... Now, even though we already did, know the truth you hide from Nora? I guess it's fair, we'll be waiting until your ready then brother)

[winterstorm032802]

Machina XI

Machina Xi: Locking target... *targets onto Alphinaud* Target Acquired... Firing

Nora: TOPAZ

Topaz Carbuncle: *uses Earthen Armor*

Nora: *runs to Alphinaud and shields him with her own body*

Alphinaud: *stunned as Nora wraps her arms around his body* Nora?

Machina XI: *shoots beam*

Nora: *shuts her eyes tight* Forgive me friend...

Machina XI: *shoots Nora as the armor cracks*

Nora: *eyes widen in shock as the beam hits her back*

Alphinaud: NORA!

Machina XI: *stops firing*

Alisaie: Hells no! *charges at the Machina and diverts it's attention*

Alphinaud: N-Nora?

No Response

Alphinaud: *feels around her back to feel the stinging burn* N-No *lies Nora down on his lap and begins to heal* Nora! Stay with me please!

Nora: *very still*

Alphinaud: N-No please Gods no! Not her...

Machina XI: *blows up*

Alisaie: *dashes over to the two* How is she?

Alphinaud: I-I-- I-I-I don't-- *tenses up as he looks at Alisaie sobbing* Alisaie... *voice wavers*

Alisaie: *concerned* Alphinaud, it'll be okay, we must save her come on, focus brother

Alphinaud: Y-Yes *looks back at Nora and continues to heal*

Topaz: *bounds over to Nora and cries out*

Moonstone: *helps heal*

Alphinaud: Alisaie... My magic is running out

Alisaie: *looks at Nora*

Nora: ...

Alisaie: She's not waking... Turn her over a bit

Alphinaud: *gently lifts her up and inspects the burnt marks* Severe... A-Alisaie she-- S-She--

Alisaie: NO SHE'LL MAKE IT!

Alphinaud: *runs out of magic* ...N-No

Alisaie: *looks at Alphinaud* Alphinaud *reaches to him*

Alphinaud: *voice wavers* No... NO! *cries out* NO NO NO! DON'T YOU DARE! DAMN IT ALL! *slams his fists on the ground* DON'T DO THIS! DAMN YOU ALL!

Alisaie: ...

Alphinaud: *sobs* DAMN YOU GODS! Damn you... W-Why? Why... Why...

Alisaie: *stands up* Let's take her back, mayhaps it's not too late

Alphinaud: *carries Nora in his arms* ...

.

Krile: *heals Nora* What hurt her?

Alisaie: *glances at Alphinaud* ...A Machina locked down on Alphinaud and she ran in front of it

Alphinaud: ...

Tataru: *looks at Alphinaud* It's alright Alphinaud, N-Nora is strong and brave. We must believe in her

Alphinaud: ...

Alisaie: We shall Tataru

Tataru: *nods and begins to leave* I shall bring Y'Shtola to help

Krile: Thank you

~A few minutes later~

Y'Shtola: *walks in* How is she faring?

Alisaie: Not so great

Krile: Help me will you?

Y'Shtola: *nods and goes over and begins to heal* These don't seem normal, the burns are quite severe

Alphinaud: ...

Alisaie: Brother, why don't we take a step outside?

Alphinaud: *sharply* No

Alisaie: (I thought as much) *sighs* Are you sure? Staying like this won't help you nor her

Alphinaud: ... *looks down*

Alisaie: Alright... I won't bother you any further

Krile: ... *glances at Alphinaud* (Oh Alphinaud... You might even tire yourself out)

Y'Shtola: *moves her hand away* I think we should leave her to rest now

Krile: *nods* Indeed, rest may just help her heal more

Alisaie: Well then, let us retire for the night, it would be best to get ourselves sleep

Alisaie & Krile & Y'Shtola: *about to walk out but turn to see Alphinaud still sitting down*

Alisaie: Brother, it's time we slept, let us leave her to sleep

Alphinaud: *shakes his head* Go...

Alisaie: *looks at the other two and sighs* Alright...

Y'Shtola: Take care

Krile: Be careful

Alphinaud: *nods*

The three leave

Alphinaud: *looks at her sleeping and takes off his gloves* (When will you awake?) *holds onto her hands* Goodnight my Warrior, I hope to see you...

Nora: ...

.

Alphinaud: *wakes up to see he has a blanket over him* (Alisaie...) *looks at Nora as she lies still*

Krile: *peeks in* Are you two alright?

Alphinaud: ... *keeps looking at Nora and holds her hand tighter*

Krile: No change... Well that's alright Tataru made breakfast for you two, heh mayhaps her cooking will awaken her? *hands the two plates to Alphinaud*

Alphinaud: *small smile* Mayhaps... *begins to eat his plate as he puts Nora's plate on the table stand*

Krile: *walks away*

Alphinaud: *after finishing he grabs Nora's plate and sits her up slightly to feed her* ...I miss you, mayhaps it hasn't been that long, but it feels like an eternity to me. How long shall you make us wait? Just to hear your laugh and see your smile? How long..?

Nora: ...

Alphinaud: *sighs as he holds onto her hands again* Please... Wake soon

.

Nora: *opens her eyes slowly* Mmm.. (I feel so sore... Where am I? What happened? How long was I out for?) *looks to see Alphinaud passed out, holding her hands* (Alphinaud... How long has he been here? His hair is a mess too) *smiles softly and puts her hand onto his head* (Did I scare you?)

Alphinaud: *opens his eyes and picks his head up, still drowsy* Ah, seems I slept again-- *sees Nora awake* ...

Nora: *smiles* Hey

Alphinaud: *cries* Nora! *hugs her*

Nora: *winces a bit*

Alphinaud: O-Oh *let's go* Forgive me, in my haste I've forgotten the injuries

Nora: It's alright (I remember now... I used myself as a shield for him... That Machina did a number on me though) How long have I been out?

Alphinaud: About eight days

Nora: Eight?! Twelve... That thing did a good number on me it seems

Alphinaud: *takes a deep breath in and pouts* What were you thinking?! Rushing in and using yourself just to protect me! You could've died! Hells you practically did! What in the Worlds were you thinking?!

Nora: *sheepishly grins* Uh I don't think I was? Forgive me

Alphinaud: I shall this time... But please don't scare me like that again, I don't think I can handle it anymore as much as anyone else

Nora: *nods* I got it, I'll exercise more caution

Alphinaud: Good (Never again Nora, I refuse to lose you) *holds onto Nora's hand* Promise not to leave?

Nora: I promise