#and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone else's WoL's

[sandyca5tle]

A Cliff Side Conversation

Just a small conversation I wrote between my (main) WoL and Ardbert after the events of Endwalker ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I sat on the cliff edge, my heel hanging just over the lip, looking out over the area below. This view had one place the eye was naturally drawn - Eulmore - the city was a stark burst of colours against the other wise brown-green grass of the land and the browns of the shacks of Gatetown, let alone the lights shining out into the night sky.

I smiled a little at that; until somewhat recently, the sky had been a permanent sea of primordial light, blinding and unrelenting, a result of the Flood of Light over a 100 years ago, and so the people of the First hadn't seen the night sky since. However, thanks to a certain Miqo'te - or should I say Mystel - me and the Scions had found ourselves here, and ended up restoring the night sky. I looked up at the sky, appreciating the stars, instinctively trying to find some of the constellations I was familiar with from home, to no avail

"Quite the view isn't it?" Came a familiar voice over my shoulder. I looked towards the source, finding the ghostly figure of Ardbert standing beside me.

I smiled at him "Yeah, it is," I replied "And not just Eulmore, the landscape too, it's a really amazing sight,"

"You should have seen the rest of the world, before the Flood," He remarked, taking a seat beside me

"I've seen bits and pieces, in your and others' memories, Echo shenanigans, you know how it is,"

"Yes, I do, but I also know that that doesn't give you a proper idea of what it was like," He replied

"Well, until Ryne and Gaia finish sorting the Empty, or at least, until it becomes habitable and not a barren white waste, they're all I have. Will be nice to see what will become of it,"

"Indeed, I'm glad to know this world will be restored… It will be nice to see it lush and full again," Arbert remarked, looking off into the distance, I assumed recalling the world in his time.

"That's gonna be another adventure to look forward too, exploring the First Restored. I wonder what it will look like - Will it look like how it looked like before, albeit wild and natural, or will it grow in a completely different way this time around - makes me glad to have you here to compare and contrast,"

"Is that the only reason you're glad to have me around?" He teased. I shot him a playfully unimpressed look. "But I agree, it will be interesting, but we won't know which way it will go until it happens,"

I paused for a moment, adjusting my position "I do hope Shtola can work out the whole 'travelling between shards' thing, it'll be nice for everyone to come and visit the friends they made during our time here," I said "I've already offered to help her if something comes up, but interdimensional travel is a little outside my field of study," I added "I should check the records in the Crystal Tower and read up on the subject - better yet I could ask Raha about it, save me trawling through ancient tomes and tomestones about it,"

"He is probably the resident expert on such magicks, although I fear his methods require a little more power than even you can muster easily," Ardbert pointed out

"You may have a point… still doesn't hurt to ask," I said with a shrug "On the note of Raha, I'd imagine Lyna and many others at the Crystarium would be overjoyed to be able to see him again, even if he's a little less crystalline than they might remember," I added with a chuckle "Not to mention everyone else - Alisaie would want to check up on the people at Journey's Head, and I'm sure the Chais would love to see Alphi again," I continued "Thancred and Urianger will likely want to check up on Ryne and Gaia, although I'm sure the fairies in Lydha Lran would love to see Urianger as well," I smiled as I moved to the next member of Scions "And of course lets not forget 'Master Matoya' who's spearheading the research specifically so she can visit Runar and the people of Slitherbough," I let out a sigh "Will be nice for them to all meet up again,"

"Reunions with friends once thought lost to you are indeed joyous," Ardbert remarked, putting on a slightly pompous air, although his words were true regardless

"Agreed,"

"I couldn't help but notice that you failed to include anyone who you'd want to visit here, or you think would be pleased to see you?"

"Well, for one, I can come and visit people here whenever, perks of being the target of the summoning magicks that brought us all here, but also, I wasn't here nearly as long as the rest of the Scions, and when I was here it was basically all 'Warrior of Darkness' business, so not a lot of time to settle in and know people like the others did," I pointed out "There's not really anyone here that I don't already visit at least…. somewhat regularly….." I trailed off towards the end

"You've just had a thought haven't you? You know that's dangerous!" Arbert teased

"Oh screw you!" I replied, going to playfully hit him for the remark, only to phase through him "Ah, yeah, right," I said, as we both looked a little awkward "Uh, but you are right, I did have a thought about someone who I could visit here,"

"Who?"

"Hythlodeus, or at least the shade of him down in the memory of Amaurot,"

"Why would you not visit the original?"

"For one it's easier - I mean, I probably could sneak into the Aitiascope and go into the Aetherial Sea to visit but a) I wouldn't even know how to find him b) it's pretty dangerous, even for me, and c) I don't need to get berated by Emet-Selch for 'bothering him' or something, as nice as it might be to see him." I explained "The other option being Elpis, but I don't think I should mess with time any more than I already have if I can help it," I added "So the shade is really the only way to talk to him in any capacity,"

I paused, looking out from the cliff again

"I imagine he gets lonely down there - I mean, he's the only one aware that they're just a memory, and while I'm sure its nice to be able to talk to those he knows are lost, he's the only one who knows about the Final Days and everything - well, almost everything,"

"That you would be concerned for even a shade," Ardbert mused aloud

"Of course! He was created with all his memories - well, all that Emet could give him - so he's arguably his own person, as much as any of the rest of us,"

"Would you tell him of what transpired? Of your visit to the past, of the Final Days, of Meteion?"

"I don't see why not," I replied with a shrug "I mean, I'm sure some of it would be kinda sucky for him to learn, but I'm also pretty sure he'd want to know what happened, that we were able to avert the Final Days and save Etheirys."

"Just another day for the Warrior of Light," Ardbert teased, emphasising the title

I chuckled, rolling my eyes at his antics "It really is becoming like that. Save the world and in no time at all I'm being dragged into the Void to hunt down a lost dragon." I gestured vaguely at the sky

"Careful, you almost sound like you're complaining,"

I turned to him "You know I'm not, I love helping people out where I can, it'd just be nice every once in a while to be able to sit down without the threat of the world exploding or something,"

"There are perks to the job though," Ardbert pointed out

I smiled "That's true, there are some amazing opportunities I've had throughout my journey, all the amazing people and places I've met and seen," I paused, allowing myself a moment to reminisce before I continued "And this latest foray into the Thirteenth is incredibly interesting from an aetherological standpoint, seeing how life and aether function and interact in such an umbrally polarised world. It's also interesting to see how the denizens of the Thirteenth have adapted to the environment as well."

"Nerd." Ardbert remarked, before frowning a little "You may find it 'academically interesting' but for me it just serves as a reminder of what my home-" he gestured at our surroundings- "nearly became,"

"Ah… right, yeah, sorry about that, I didn't think…." I said, looking at my feet

"I suppose I can let you off the hook though, you did pick up where me and my friends left off and stopped my world from becoming like the Void, so don't worry about it," He replied jovially

I chuckled "You know that the First wouldn't have become anything like the Thirteenth, right? It would have become the exact opposite - like the Empty, not the Void," I pointed out playfully

"Gods, do you always have to be so right all the time!?" Ardbert complained, now rolling his eyes

"It's important!" I replied, before we both broke out into laughter

After we'd both finished laughing there was a moment of pause before I spoke again "We should probably head back soon, people will start to wonder where I've wandered off to, and it's not like they can just check while I'm in another world,"

"'We'? I go wherever you go, so you should probably get back, I'm just along for the ride," Ardbert pointed out

"Fair point. Well, come on then freeloader!" I replied, standing up

"Freeloader!?"

"Well yeah, I take you all over the place and you don't even pay rent!" I teased

"My rent is the aetheric boost you get from having me around!" I raised an eyebrow "I pay attention when you're reading!"

I chuckled "Fine fine, you don't owe me any rent then," I settled into a smile "Right, off we go?"

Ardbert nodded "Off we go." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tag list below cut (lmk if you want to be added)

@calliecwrites, @friedsputnik, @now-entering-the-goop-zone, @scrubbinn, @lilacinthefog,

@mint-and-authoress, @losttodreams, @redroversendjayover, @ariathelamia, @kanithecatdemon

@ask-de-writer @codexjinora

[echoofazem]

That post you're real nervous to make XD

(not tagging this on purpose, I'm just going to stick it in my Rev's world state section) Oh boy, so I dabbled with this on one of my more popular posts but-

I'm hoping my take on Raha doesn't rub people the wrong way; Raha's a really wonderful multifaceted character - able to go from cute fanboy all the way up to follow my orders if you want to live. Raha in my timeline is going to be leaning a little more into the latter.

While I still want him to have his soft, adorable moments (because that's who is is) In my HC he's very much taken upon himself that he needs to be a leader / protector or he's going to lose people (because that's also who he is) He's sweet and vulnerable and also able to lie to your face without missing a beat, "the tower was empty when we opened it." Able to verbally spar with Vauthry, Hades etc, able to throw ALL THE SHADE

Spicy taco cat appeals to me. He outright tells you he wants to share your struggles, that that he's aware you're not invincible in EW and I found him very protective of the WoL in 7.2 and I want to go forward with that energy in their relationship - that he wants to be the safe space/person who looks after the hero that saves everyone else.

There's also - and this is where I feel I'm really at risk of losing people - a few other things I want to explore, especially in his Exarch era - he can get jealous, he can get angry, he was a little obsessive over the legend of the warrior of light.

In the jealousy post where he scrys on the warrior of light only to find her with Hades, I wanted to try and convey that he was ashamed of what he was doing (the lights in the Umbilicas turned way down as if he was trying to hide it from everyone, even the tower itself - taking his hood down/removing that mantle of the honorable Exarch leader, guide and becon of hope to the people of Noverant, he's just a man with an ache to try to be closer to his hero, his love, his obsession that he can't fulfill in public. The looks of I know I shouldn't be spying on her but doing it anyway, the hurt jealousy and anger that the ascian has taken HIS WoL.) The game hints through Ardbert that he COULD be up to that, we know that he generally keeps track of you when you're out and about J.Bailey slips in a lovely little jealous edge to his delivery when talking to Hades (or at least that's how i interpret it)

I don't want to pull things out of thin air just to make him edgier - I just want to lean into the little bits we do get.

My very basic take on Raha is that he's an extremely passionate person, with alot of that held in check for the sake of propriety.

"FINISH THEM" he all but snarls in your ear before clearing his throat, "too much?" when you're playing Mahjong XD

Anyway all of the more intense stuff is going to be largely contained within Shadow Bringers. By the end of it and throughout Endwalker, the veil of perfect amazing unbeatable fantastic did i mention perfect warrior of light sheen has worn off. He doesn't idolize her anymore - he sees under the armour, under the legend and finds a woman who has her limits and is weighed down by the burdens and expectations of everyone around her - including his own. And he wants to alleviate those, take on what he can and be safe harbour for her when things get too much.

ANYWAY YEAH GESTURES VAUGLY I don't want to piss anyone off or have a potentially problematic portrail of him, I just…..if you see a few of my future fics or gpose sets or (hopefully comics in the future) and you think, Holy shit Spicier than usual Taco cat - this is why.

[bahamutgames]

AFTERTHOUGHTS - ROUNDUP ROUND 15

September - October 2024

We're fast approaching the end of October, and I don't really think I'm gonna be beating anything else before Halloween that I want to include in my round up. So I figured I'll just go right ahead and get to talking about what I've got lined up here!

You know the drill: these aren't reviews, just me throwing up my thoughts. Please play anything I talk about that interests you!

Final Fantasy IV (December 20, 2007) - DS

Alright, to get us started, it's the next game in the Final Fantasy series! And the first in the SNES trilogy, it's time for Final Fantasy 4!! I played 3 at the start of the year and was REALLY itching to finally dive into the next entry. So how did it fare in my mind? Well, I'm a little conflicted on my thoughts about this game. And I think most of my issues come from the version I played.

Final Fantasy 4 is, in of itself, a very cool game. I remember feeling like 3 was odd because it felt like a sequel to 1, rather than being a sequel to 2. It went back to a lot of things 1 did and improved on them, while not taking much from 2. But 4 feels like an actual proper sequel building off concepts introduced in 2. Such as meaningful additions to your party who don't all die like in 2, and having non-silent protagonists, a bigger story, ect ect. 4 is the first one that I think genuinely has protagonists and villains that are really cool and iconic. I love the WoL and Garland, but they're not fleshed out in the same way, yknow? 4 also is starting to really feel like Final Fantasy as I know it. Lots of iconic monsters, the ATB system, lots of staple spells and what not. It's got great music (SUPER iconic battle and boss themes, and Zeromus' theme was cool too). I liked the story, it went a lot of places I didn't expect at all and stuff like the moon and the lunar whale were REALLY cool. And everyone who joins the party was fun and cool, even non-permanent teammates. I liked Cecil, and Rydia, and Palom and Porom a lot. And I got SO much mileage out of Tellah and Yang.

And the DS port also does a lot of cool stuff! I think the models look nice, I actually really liked seeing them fully animate certain cutscenes. The Wyte summon, even though I never touched it, was very cool! I liked being rewarded for exploring the whole map of an area, even if I didn't go for all of them. It was a fun incentive to explore dungeons and I'm kinda surprised I've never seen it outside of this. And I think there's some scenes that potentially even hit harder because of the redone cutscenes, such as Golbez leaving and turning back into the little boy as he goes. Genuinely gut wrenching, I loved it.

However, I think playing the DS port is why this game was just not that fun to me. This is, without question, the most brutal and unfair FF game I've played so far. 1+3 had some tough moments. 2 was tedious. But FF4DS is BRUTAL as brutal gets. Every single boss battle in this game was a tremendous roadblock, which is fine, but no amount of grinding ever helped. It felt like grinding basically did nothing to help with those troubles. In fact, I'm not 100% convinced Zeromus is possible in this version. Even with Excalibur, tons of great items and tools at everyone's disposal, and even having Bahamut by my side. I just don't know how you were supposed to do this boss. So ultimately I had to cheat and give myself max levels on an emulator. Right at the end too, it leaves a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. But maybe one day I'll try it again on my actual save file. But for now... I kind of wish I had just played the SNES version, I think I would've liked this game more.

And yeah, I have some issues with FF4. Like I think too many deaths happen, even if all but 1 (the only one I think was justified tbf) are fake outs. And this game has the classic case of giving a teammate too late for me to truly care about them with Edge. But even with any core problems I had, I do think this is the step forward for FF I was hoping to see with 3. Building off of what 2 did and making it actually fun to play through. Even though DS was too brutal of a port for its own good, I can't deny that the game itself is filled with good ideas and genuinely where the series should keep going from here. THAT'S WHY! My new FF ranking is:

Ultimately, while I think it was considerably stronger than 2+3 by a landslide, I still feel like I enjoyed 1 more. Even if it is way more basic with way less FF series staples included in it. However, I do believe that if I had played the considerably easier SNES original or Pixel Remaster, there's a good chance I would've walked out preferring 4 over 1. But, unfortunately, this is the world we live in, and I'm still oddly fond of FF1 lol.

Crash Bandicoot (September 9, 1996) - PS1

Now for something that's basically the opposite end of the gamer spectrum: Crash Bandicoot! So I don't really have much history with this series. I played 2 once or twice as a kid, and the only game I've beaten was the Nitro Kart remake when it had a free NSO trial. But I figured I'd go ahead and give the game a go since I'm so overdue on this guy. Plus, I played the big PS2 platformer mascots, I need to get onto the PS1 guys, right?

Crash Bandicoot... Is good! It's a simple platformer for sure. But it's fun! The perspective, more linear levels honestly gets the job done and works well. In fact, maybe not being too ambitious with big open levels is why it felt so fun and easy. Which is not a bad thing at all. I think the game was really pretty, had fun music, was fun to control, Tawna was hot. I like the concept. There's not much to say, but all of it is good :)

My only main critical things to say is that there's some gameplay elements that I thought were weird. Like, guys with shields who knock you back in the first world. What on EARTH was I supposed to do about them? I feel like I got past all of them on accident. And similarly, while I thought all the bosses were really good, I do NOT understand Pinstrip. I also felt like beating him was an accident lol. But my biggest gripe, and maybe it's not my place to say, is that we need to have a serious discussion about beloved 90's platformers and their insane need to be FILLED with indigenous racism. Cause. Oh man. Again, not my place to say. So I'll leave it at that. But MAN!!

Also for the longest time, I really thought this was going to be a BRUTAL video game. I don't know why, but that's actually why I emulated it. Cause I thought I would need save states to make it through. But, no? This game is actually REALLY easy. And I totally could've gotten through it without cheating lol. So maybe I'll actually play 2 and 3 physically? If I can find copies of them of course. Regardless, this was a fun time and I'm excited to see what the rest of the trilogy has in store for me :)

Splatoon 3: Side Order (February 22, 2024) - Switch

Let me just open up by saying: I HATE ROGUELIKES!! OH MY GOD I'M SO DONE WITH ROGUELIKES NO MORE PLEASE NO MORE I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!!

*cough*

uh, anyway. Yeah my sister bought herself Side Order and so I finally got the chance to give it a go! And it was very neat! It's certainly no Octo Expansion, not by a long shot. But I still had fun with it! I think the story was cool, I liked Order as a villain and it was cool to meet Acht. I also LOVE the visuals, though that's not a surprise with this series. The strange cyber visuals was really cool, and I'm always a sucker for climbing evil fucked up towers. And everyone's outfits in this mode RULE!! The Pearl drone was cute, Marina and Acht's outfits rock, and 8's outfit is also cool! Not as cool as her outfit in OE. But it's still neat. I love Agent 8 btw. And the Jellotons have GREAT designs, I'm a huge sucker for skeletons. I think most of the challenges they present were fun and creative even if they can sometimes feel a little repetitive. The bosses were all the highlights probably, all 4 are SUPER creative and cool. Even Parallel Canon, which is a basic boss for the series sure, but they were visually awesome and Parallel Canon is such a cool and haunting name for them. And I love seeing myself slowly get upgraded with random buffs over time as I play (my personal favorite part of this genre) and having 8's colors change based on what you pick is SUCH a nice detail! The final phase of the final boss also RULED, I love little power trips like that. It's a fun game!

But, as I so gently said at the start. I am not a fan of roguelikes. While I love getting random upgrades and making what I'm given work as I go. I cannot lie that I HATE having to start a game over from scratch over and over, and especially hate when story content is locked behind progression. I just can't get into it. And yes, Octo Expansion will do some NASTY shit to fuck you over and make you start over. Don't even get me started on Dual Splatties, fuck those guns. Agent 4's gun is the obvious GOAT. But yeah, the game does have some stuff to make it easier. Permanent upgrades are always nice, vending machine floors were a much needed break, and the fact you only had to do it once (unlike NASB2 for example) made it a little easier to deal with.

So I did enjoy myself for the most part. But, also... Seriously it's enough we don't need more roguelike modes. STOP IT!!! THAT'S ENOUGH WE CAN STOP!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-

Robotnik's Ring Racers (April 24, 2024) - PC

Hey another fan game!! I really am so far behind in the world of fan games. Somehow I hadn't played this or SRB2 yet. But recently at the GA Mini FurryConvention I met someone who let me try all sorts of fun stuff on their steam deck! And Ring Racers was one of them! And I was pretty much immediately hooked!

For starters, I LOVE how this game looks. I'm a sucker for the billboard sprites and 3D models and how it really does try to look like a Saturn game. It's really cute! Everything is teeming with personality but even though it's a classic styled game they don't shy away from modern stuff with a lot of Adventure things and even characters from way after SA1. Which as a huge 3D Sonic fangirl, I appreciate a lot lol. I love how much customization there is, being able to play as Green Metal Sonic fucking owns. And I really like the little buddies you can have flying around you! I also really love a lot of the track aesthetics and I appreciate that so many of them are original and they're not ALL pulled directly from Sonic games. I love seeing their original stage concepts. Also, the music is great! A lot of it is pulled from other sources but I think they managed to pick songs that REALLY fit the vibe. I'm shocked by how well Rivals of Aether Music fits in this game lol. My favorite may be Tower Of Heaven - Full Moon Remix (Luna Ascension) from what I've heard so far.

But NO, my favorite part of this game? Is the actual gameplay itself! So, I'll confess, I'm not really that smart about physics in Sonic games. I don't really understand what the hubbub about it all is most of the time. But I think this momentum based racing stuff REALLY works! In particular I LOVE the ring mechanic! In Mario Kart usually coins are just passive. But having to actually spend rings to speed up feels AWESOME! I love cashing out in the middle of a pile of rings and just getting them all back. Or going risky and cashing them all out and weaving through everything with 0 rings. It's exciting! And really reminds me of how F-ZERO ties Boost and Health to one meter. I love it, and honestly I like this system more than the coins in Mario Kart! Having hills actually slow you down when going up them can be annoying, sure. But having a built in spin dash helps and I had very few instances where it TRULY got in the way. Drifting feels good, items all mostly feel good. It feels good!

But it's not perfect. Yeah. Some items are a little weird, I think the shrinking things are totally inconsequential? I don't get them personally. And sometimes you can get really fucked over by the momentum. Like it can be nearly impossible to get going again quick enough if you get stopped. But I think my biggest gripe with this game is that some of the tracks... Just kind of suck! Not all of them, not even most of them. But some tracks will just have stuff that feels wrong? Or sometimes you'll get a track like Collision Chaos, which may seriously be one of the worst racing tracks I've EVER played on. It was so bad the CPUs couldn't even beat it. I think over reliance on springs and 180 turns (and sometimes unclear road/offroad particularly in city levels) are really odd and can slow a race down or make tracks too confusing.

BUT, that didn't stop me from enjoying it! It seems like the game actually has a story and a boss. And I will ABSOLUTELY keep playing to find it and see more of this game! Normally I wouldn't write my afterthoughts after doing the bare minimum like this. But there's over 100 stages, I am not doing all that right now lmao. Maybe I can do a part 2 once I've unlocked everything (I WANT TO PLAY AS GREEN SHADOW AAAAA)

Rivals of Aether 2 (October 23, 2024) - PC

Oh hey, speaking of Rivals of Aether! THE SEQUEL IS FINALLY HERE! I wanna open this section by giving an INCREDIBLY huge shout out to my friend who surprised me with a copy of this game! I've been having a blast with it and I seriously cannot thank you enough for grabbing it for me!

As I'm sure you all can guess. I love Rivals 1. I'm a furry. I'm a smash fan. I like big lore. Rivals has it all for me! So I've been eagerly awaiting the release of this game! I played the demo a little while ago and had a total blast with it, but now the actual product is here and I can tell you my initial thoughts after the opening week!

It rules!! Rivals is back! It still feels just as good to play, maybe even better in some ways? I appreciate new mechanics like proper blocking (I suck at parries), ledge grabs (I suck at recovery mixup), and grabs (I suck). But I think some of the most exciting new moves are actually new uses of the special button. Special get up, ledge, and pummel attacks are a VERY welcome addition! I honestly wouldn't mind seeing this concept pushed even further if possible. Potentially special throws? Special shields/dodges? Special jumps? Idk. Just some thoughts. Each character is fantastic and feels wonderful to play as for the most part. Kragg is still my GOAT, I LOVE playing as him. I think Fleet is the only character so far that I don't fully understand but I haven't tried her much. But without a doubt the shining new addition to the roster is Loxodont! HE IS SO MUCH FUN! When I played him during the demo I actually got excited and giddy while figuring out his moveset. He is so burly and explosive and the gimmick of building up your magma power is SO cool! Rivals excels so much particularly because every character is SO interesting with a gimmick that really feels like you could build a whole platform fighter just around that one character and have a good game. And I'm SO excited to see what else they introduce with more newcomers (PLEASE ADD AN ALLIGATOR/CROCODILE GUY!!) I think the models look GREAT, in particular Forsburn and Orcane look SO clean in this one. And I think these models really help bring Rival's art style out way more than the little sprites could. Claren, Maypul, they all look SO much cuter now. And Zetterburn, who is a little odd looking in the first game (face-wise) looks very handsome now! Music is great. It feels great. Those costumes are AWESOME I really want the Zebra Loxodont and the Caveman Kragg whenever it comes out.

BUT, of course, as with all games. It's not perfect. While what's here is good, I think it leaves a bit to be desired. Mainly I'm bummed by single player content. It's not great here at launch. Outside of training and CPU battles, your only 1P mode is Arcade. And that's fine, Arcade is good! I like that they have overlapping battles, so when you fight someone in one arcade, you'll do the reverse in the enemy's arcade. The Abyss versions of characters are NASTY I love them! But this arcade mode feels unpolished? Target test has NO music, and there's some visual bugs and general lack of... sauce in the victory screens and between matches for a quick example. And you're encouraged to play through all these arcade modes on hard for achievements (basically the only other 1P thing I could do) and honestly it just was not fun. I think hard mode is relentlessly hard, particularly those final bosses. Which, are just characters who are made massively OP. I think even a proper boss battle would've made the arcade mode feel better and more fulfilling. Idk. As it stands I am happy with my time online, but I am not super thrilled with my time ALONE. Which is goofy! Sure, but I play fighting games for the plot!

Now, I am FULLY aware that I am complaining about what is effectively a free to play game on launch week. I know we'll be seeing a MASSIVE boost in content as we go. So I don't fault them for not having much at launch. Would I like there to be more to play with already? Sure. But I know there's only so much an indie team can do. Rivals 1 just had so much content (idk how much was at launch) and I just can't wait to see that come into Rivals 2. In particular I am SO stoked for the new story mode as that was my favorite part of the first game. I hope we see custom colors, I hope we see more casual stuff like items and final smashes, I'm SO excited to hear they're gonna try to bring back the workshop. So yes I am personally a little bummed about the lack of single player stuff at launch, but I have full faith that this team will deliver on amazing content as we go. And yes, when I get more money, you will absolutely see me supporting the studio by buying a few costumes from them :)

ANYWAY GUYS PLEASE LET ME DESIGN SOME COSTUMES GUYS PLEAAAAAASE PRETTY PLEASE I'LL BE YOUR FRIEND!!

[chibisatou]

Adventurer Portraits Two: Alts Edition

I have a Highlander, Lalafell, Viera, and a familar looking Miqo’te, with their adventurer plates and quick portraits under the cut! 

I have not updated any of the adventurer plates, leaving my pre-patch portraits as they are great and I don’t have to try to recreate them this way.

Satou Weard: my tall, hot, replay the MSQ alt on the same server as my main.

I have two gearsets for each of her DoW or DoM jobs.

Please ignore the Dragon being labeled as Lancer. Made sure that job crystal was properly equipped.

Without the battle stance or victory poses of my main my options were a bit more limited, and I found myself struggling finding images I liked with the Highlander emotes. I ended up deciding that DotL and DotH would be more of a series of standing with icons than it had been for my main, with some extra enthusiasm for culinarian, (bread!) and a little extra flair for weaver, for the beautiful suffering.

Sweete Popoto: my first ever alt, to play with a friend on the Crystal DC. She’s a cute ray of sunshine.

It was at this point that I figured out how to import the portrait from one gearset to another, and Sweete Popoto has the same portrait for all of her DotH

Helenus Vienna: made together with a friend, as black and white viera twins. My friend is the black rabbit and I am the white one. Sort of the tall, hot opposites to our usual lala antics.

I’m taking advantage of the copying portraits function liberally at this point, with Warrior and White Mage being unique, all DotH being the same, and the DotL having the same image but different backgrounds corresponding to the cities that the jobs start from.

Last but not least G’rahaute Tia!

That being said, I do not have much for his glamours yet, and he is the least played thus far, so I decided to focus on trying to capture the uncapturable movement of the ear wiggles, and used the same portrait for all jobs, and the same border, changing the background for each job.

[the-storyteller-and-her-soldiers]

Bewitching Fate/New Self-Insert?

So as y'all know I've been hyperfixated mainly on FF14 and FFSOP as of late. Y'all also know that my royal s/i is my ff14 s/i because I want all my loves together~! (Canon be damned, my worlds now!)

BEWARE: Spoilers for FFSOP and FF14 (mainly Shadowbringers)

So some of you also know that at the end of SOP Jack and his friends become the bringers of darkness Chaos and the Fiends of Chaos in order to create new Warriors of Light for the land they inhabit. Well, in FF14, Guess what your character becomes?

Ding Ding Ding If you guessed a Warrior of Light, you get a cookie and kisses from your f/o (the kisses were gonna happen regardless, but yeah)

Well, the organization that Thancred and all my friends/family are in -- the scions -- work with the Warrior of Light to bring light to Eorzea! And any beings of darkness are considered an enemy...

Well, Jack still has his 'day job' as my s/i's royal guard! So when she ventures off and ends up staying in Eorzea longer than planned, you know he and our friends aren't too far behind. The only problem on top of the internal cruel twist of fate of me being a WoL is that people in Eorzea can see others' aetherial balance...

So let's just say the first meeting between factions was very... tense to put it lightly. If it wasn't for me so excited to see Jack, Jed, Ash, Neon, and Sophia, then vouching for them to the point I said "I'm a princess and the only one who can slay primals! If you wanna fight these guys, I hope you found someone else who won't become a mindless slave to the primals 'cause I'll quit. Not my land so it really shouldn't be my problem BUT IT IS!"

Needless to say, everyone lowered their weapons but kept their eyes peeled for any sort of slip-up from the other side. Especially Thancred when it came to Jack... If anyone asked, he said it was simply because he couldn't risk such darkness corrupting their strongest ally further... But who knows why he'd spy in on softer moments..?

--

Now fast forward to ShadowBringers where I and the scions find ourselves in a situation to save a world overrun with Light. This place is so off-balance that the light has turned many of its inhabitants into angelic-looking monsters known as sin eaters who only live to consume aether!

So now it's my job to slay the mightiest sin eaters known as Light Wardens in order to bring darkness back to the realm and restore balance.

The only problem is I'm the only one who can take in their light without transforming immediately myself. But even then we don't know how much light I can take...

Fast forward EVEN MORE to the death of the final Light Warden and me taking in their light. That was the straw that broke my frail form's back and instilled the beginning of a transformation.

My daughter Ryne (A girl originally known as another Minfilia since she was bestowed powers to prevent a total flood of light) was powerful enough to halt the corruption but not cleanse it and no way is currently known!

SO with that said what if Jack and our friends were also with the scions. Therefore when they see the transformation and how some of my allies will be so quick to turn against me should I show any signs, they decide to join me in the enduring battles since who better to bring back the darkness then those who embody it?

Also cue a moment where I make Jack promise to kill me if and when I lose myself, much to our mutual dismay

But with that said: a whole sin-eater AU has been in my mind so I even have a design at behest of my bestie @floweringforgetfulness for biblically accurate Becca (I still lose myself to giggles with that) I have a design (THANK YOU BESTIE!!!!!!)

The only thing is that as a Light Warden/Sin Eater they usually go by names like "Innocence" "Tesleen the Forgiven" "Eros" "Philia" so I kinda wanna keep that name so I was thinking something along the line of Paitence since the others are like greek forms of love/virtues

So any ideas would be appreciated!!

taglist: @jellyfish-ships @canongf !@hadesgoddess @nyandereneko @disneymarina @goldenworldsabound @singingdeepinme @violetsandmilk

[4seasonswithiu]

[TRANS] 190708 tvN Hotel Del Luna Press Conference - Interview

Actress Lee Jieun: Hi, i’m IU Lee Jieun who portrays the role Jang Man Wol in HDL. The actual drama is more interesting than the highlight video itself, so please look forward to this sweet drama this summer!

Q. What made you chose this drama and fell deeply for your character?

IU: Truthfully, I wanted to greet the audience with a brighter character image after my role in My Mister but didn't expect it to be this fast. One of my acquaintances asked me whether I've read the synopsis for Hotel Del Luna so I looked it up and fell for the strong and tough heroine. So i'm thankful for this role. I had lots of concerns at first but after meeting with the director and scriptwriters, they gave me lots of reassurance which convinced me to take on this role. I especially remember the scriptwriters told me "Jieun-ssi, if you meet such strong female character, please grab on it!" Their reassurance and certainty made me chose this character.

Director Oh Chong Hwan: Truthfully, the scriptwriters, production team and I thought only actress Lee Jieun would fit Man Wol's role and we said it among ourselves that we wouldn't start this drama until she joins us. To me, Though Man Wol goes all out being fancy and extravagant, she gives off this lonely and pitiful aura. Strangely, I get the same feeling from actress Lee Jieun which convinced me to cast her in this drama. After watching her performance on set, I thought I made the right decision and was proud of myself.

Actress Lee Jieun on Yeo Jin Goo: I was so happy to know that Jin Goo confirmed his role for this drama because I think he's so reliable and fits Chan Sung's role so well. He does a great job and I thought I have to work harder so I wouldn't be a burden to him. Our filming went very smooth thanks to him. Even the director also keeps telling us on set that JinGoo is a blessing to all of us. He always lifts up the set atmosphere and make us feel more energised. I think we have great chemistry too!

Actor Yeo Jin Goo on Lee Jieun: I thought I came well prepared but seeing Jieun-ssi, she was totally immersed in her character Man Wol. I think we didn't have to worry about our chemistry even from the start.

Actress Bae Hae Son on Lee Jieun: I have always been a fan of singer IU, but when I get to know her closely on the set, I felt that she's a truly meticulous and brave person who can fit the role Man Wol better than anyone else. The more I get to know her, the more I think the director did a great job casting her. Though it's no doubt that she would feel stress being the heroine, but she never fails to treat everyone politely and brightly. She always keeps all of us together and maintain our balance through communication. I think she is the best heroine ever.

P.O on actress Lee Jieun: When I first met her, I was like "wow it's IU, she's so pretty"

Kang Mina on actress Lee Jieun: I've always watched her on TV but meeting her in real life was like meeting a celebrity. We didn't have much scenes together so I hope we'll get closer later on.

Actress Lee Jieun on her role: "When I first met up with Director Oh and the scriptwriters, we all had different interpretation for my role Man Wol. This shows the diversity that this character contains which is very much attractive to me. Whether is it compliments or criticisms, I've received all of it when promoting as a singer. So I tried to consider from various dimensions when improving my role. That was how I got closer to my role because rather than throwing away all my past characters (in dramas), I tried to bring them along and combine their qualities into my current character. I also discussed a lot with the scriptwriters and Director Oh. 

We also discussed a lot about my image in the drama, especially my fancy outfits. Normally you see the heroine changes her outfit every episode, but for me, I have to change it for every SCENE! They also wanted me to put on different hairstyles and outfits that nobody has seen before. As you know, i'm not a very fashion person, so I worked hard on my own to make sure everyone can enjoy Man wol's style and appearance in the show. 

Though i'm so thankful to have met this role because it's such a blessing, but no doubt I feel pressure to live up the expectations of viewers. I'm sure there are still people who love and remember my previous role in My Mister and would probably pick her as my best portrayed role, so I will work hard to make sure everyone can enjoy Man Wol too, and maybe take over Ji-an's place in their hearts. Please make sure to tune into the actual broadcast. We will guarantee you a refreshing and sweet summer!"

Actress Lee Jieun on working with singers-turned-actors: Strangely, we didn't run into each other much when promoting as singers so it felt fascinating meeting them on the set. We had script reading and filmed a few scenes together, and it made me want to cheer on them too as a colleague.

Director Oh Choong Hwan wraps up the interview session: “Please watch our drama, Lee Jieun will make her breathtaking appearance. I knew that she was beautiful, but she's prettier in real life. So please watch it! It's an interesting, exciting, enjoyable yet sentimental drama.”

Translated by IUteamstarcandy

[cinnabun-faerie]

FFXIV Reactions: WOL telling them they’re from another world

A/N: Woo! First reaction post of the year!! Let's go! I'm so indecisive I wanted to post headcannons for my own wol but I don't know. I have so much I wanna do...ANYWAYS! Enjoy!

Warnings: Spoilers (if you haven't made it past Shadowbringers!) Tread carefully my friends

Emet-Selch

You were so peculiar from the beginning, so it wasn't really a surprise when you admitted you were from another world. You were so different than everyone else. But he just couldn't put his finger on it. You were so much more than what he thought he assumed. He thought that it was strange how when he first appeared to you and the Scions, you seemed happy to see him? Why would your eyes light up like that? Why were you smiling and so eager to accept his proposal to work together when your friends were so against it?

Estinien

Honestly one of the only ones to believe you completely. You were a little too strange to be from Eorzea. And you seemed to be so in awe of your surroundings, things that were so normal. He remembers when he had met you, you were whispering (rather loudly, may I add) to your friend:

"I don't want to ever go back to (earth country). There exists no Elezen men like Estinien. We were robbed!"

Honestly he could not help but let a chuckle slip past your lips. Luckily he wore his helmet during that time. It would have been quite mortifying for anyone to see his cheeks red from your comment.

G'raha Tia

Another one who believed you completely. And he wants to hear about all of your adventures in your world! It would be so interesting to him as your experiences were so different. But he would be shocked about so much. And there was no magic? No aether? How did this "earth" function?

Haurchefant

He knew something was different about you when he met you. And the way you seemed to look at him with such adoration and pain. So when you told him you were from another world, he had no doubt you were telling the truth. When you had come to see him at Camp Dragonhead, he would happily ask you to tell him about your world.

Thancred

"Are you feeling alright, Y/N?"

Thancred would probably think that you haven't had enough rest. You've been on the go non-stop that maybe you just had a nice dream of being elsewhere. And when you tell him about your "world", he would be even more in disbelief.

Urianger

Confused, intrigued, curious. He would ask you lots of questions and do a lot of research. But when he'd find nothing, he'd genuinely be frustrated.

"You're quite sure of this reality?"

"Yes. I tell no word of a lie. There are things I know about the future of this world that others would know not. And the Echo would not dare give me the sight of such things either. And no, it's not anything like a clairvoyant."

Zenos

To say he looked forward to only duelling you was an understatement. No, he was awaiting what humorous things would fall from your lips. And when you'd start spouting about this other world, he was most intrigued to hear more. Perhaps he could steal you away for a much more detailed chat...

"I can tell you Zenos, that you won't win. I've played this part before."

[yezielmoore]

1. Cross

So it's that time of the year again, where we grab a WoL and dust off our writing skills. This year is about Athene Noctua (probably, mostly, we shall see). She's my shard of Athena. Yes, that Athena. But looked at from a different angle (less sociopath, more corruption arc >:3c). But anyway, Athene is herself, even if she's having something of a crisis.

.-.-.-.-.-.

Normally, working alongside Athene was a comfortable and enjoyable affair to Y’shtola, something she enjoyed and looked forward to when the opportunity arose. Circumstances being what they were, it was natural that their flow suffered. Urgency and life and death circumstances rarely made for a truly enjoyable experience, even if they were excellent motivators. This was not that.

“Is something amiss? You’re rarely this quiet.” Y’shtola finally broke the silence and turned her gaze pointedly towards the crystal interface Athene had utterly failed to interact with for lack of even trying. 

If she hadn't already known that something was bothering her friend, then the way her aether coiled up would have given it away immediately.

“Yes… No. Just… a lot on my mind, that is all.” 

Y'shtola pursed her lips at the non-answer, but waited. It'd shock everyone that knew her to see her waiting (im)patiently when the solution was right in front of her. However, pressing Athene for answers when she didn't want to give them had never yielded anything but headaches. Use of forbidden magic notwithstanding, Y'shtola liked to think of herself as too sensible to repeat the same mistakes over and over again. So she waited.

“Have you ever felt that knowledge is a burden?"

“...Not as such,” she answered truthfully despite her surprise. Of all the people she would have expected to ask such a question, Athene didn’t even make the list. “I have felt the weight of it. Knowledge of the kind we came across here, in the First, it has a presence I can hardly put to words…” She paused, tail lashing out as she reorganized her thoughts. “It is a burden, because with it comes a legacy we would be fools to ignore; but, on the same note, it's not a burden, for I am glad to carry it.”

Athene was silent for a long while. Long enough for surprise to morph into alarm again.

"What's the matter?" She asked as she approached slowly. She couldn't read Athene's expression, but her aether had only gotten tenser, if such a feat was possible.

Athene looked at Y'shtola from the corner of her eye, saw the pinched expression the other woman didn't try to hide. She could feel the words bubbling up in her throat, wanting to be let out, to be shared. 

She turned her eyes back to the interface. Its surface was crystal clear and dull, waiting for the push that would activate it and brighten the room. By all rights, she should see nothing but her own reflection on it. And yet… A woman with short brown hair and a white mask reminiscent of those specters under the waves looked back at her, a smug smirk tugging at her lips, like she knew something you didn't and found it hilarious.

"It's nothing," Athene said at last. She sent a fragment of aether to the interface and watched as it brightened, dissipating the vision.

If only she could dispel the knowledge from her mind as easily. However, Y'shtola was right about something. This knowledge was her burden to bear.

"I'll be fine, Y'shtola." She mustered up a smile for the worried black mage when she remained standing by her side. "Too much in my mind, nothing else."

"If you say so," Y'shtola hesitated, as she always did when matters became personal. "You can confide in me, you know."

"I know," she said softly, her smile turning genuine at the soft side her friend liked to pretend she didn't have. "Thank you, Y'shtola, but I'm fine, don't worry." 

"Now that is a lie," Y'shtola retorted, but obligingly went back to her own interface, dropping the matter for now. 

The conversation wasn't over, Athene knew, not by a long shot. Simply postponed. Hopefully, by the time they had the chance to sit down and talk it would be forgotten. 

[miqo-tales]

Six Point One and done

Someday I'll put up my thoughts on 6.0, but till then, you'll have to settle for the new stuff.

As always, don't read unless you've finished 6.1.

MSQ

"What are your plans?" Nod and then kill things, I suppose. Same as always.

OK, Tataru, first, why does this mannequin have hair? And second, why didn't you make any pants for this outfit?

Yea, it's a game and all, but sometimes it's a little ridiculous how WoL will need to find/do something, take two steps in one direction, and usually (and sometimes literally) trip over the exact thing they needed to find/do the thing.

Genuinely shocked that Estinien was aware that he might be getting tricked.

Poor little mammet has to clean up Y'shtola's mess.

Geez, that look on Y'shtola's face when the voidgate is revealed. I genuinely thought she was possessed or something and was gonna do something.

Do love that the general consensus after that dungeon is "uh, whoops?"

Vrtra loves his people and would do anything to protect them, but also loaded up the treasure island/vault with deadly guards to kill anyone who went there. Hm.

Oh, ok. I didn't think they'd keep going with FF4 stuff after 6.0. And even if I had, I don't think I would have expected Golbez to show up.

It's funny that every reaction to hearing that Y'shtola wants to take a nice trip to the Void is just "OK, sure" and not "Are you fucking mad?"

I did the final role quest just before the Sharlayan stuff, so was amusing to see Fourchenault being pretty grumpy when he was actually sociable in the role quest.

I don't mind the "this person is following you" bits, but I don't see why they bother doing them if there's nowhere to get extra dialogue during it.

"What? Terrible forbidden knowledge? SIGN ME UP!"

I look forward to seeing that Nixie summoning in JP.

OK, that's Zenos' avatar, isn't it? That certainly stamps a big "YES" on him being dead, huh?

Course, if his avatar is gonna show up in MSQ, begs the question, who is they?

DUNGEON

Anyone else get Nyzul Isle flashbacks from this place?

I don't think I have to worry about farming the gear from here. Don't really care for it.

(If the gear didn't have the light blue accents, I'd like it more.)

RAID

G'raha just having the best day ever, isn't he? Not one but TWO fantastic adventures with their best buddy.

Deryk is totally one of the Twelve, right?

Or maybe the opo-opo is?

Raid really doesn't mess around. It feels like older content in the sense that there's a lot of things that can very easily wipe the entire raid.

That last song though, damn!

"Oh we pretended to be evil conquering gods so we could have a fight with you." OK, have you not been paying attention to the WoL at all? All you had to do was just ask.

I really only want one thing out of this raid, and that's for it to involve Azem somehow.

*****************************

It's funny that shortly before this patch hit, there was a some... discussion... on Twitter about how Y'shtola was boring and one-note and just the mascot (mascat?) character and everyone else got good development and she didn't and blah blah blah

And then this patch drops and it's the Y'shtola Power Hour.

I'll be honest, I was kinda expecting for SQEX to sorta retire Y'shtola, Thancred, and Urianger after 6.0? Not permanently, obviously, cause none of us are gonna deny that Y'shtola is pretty much the external face of the game. But I didn't think they'd have any focus or major interaction with any of those three till deeper into 6.x or maybe even till 7.0.

Now? Well, I'm kinda wondering if I've got it backwards and we don't see Alphinaud and Alisaie for a good while. And maybe by the time they show up they've, y'know, gotten taller? Probably not, but hey, who knows.

In any case, I dunno where this is going. How far into FFIV are they going to dig? Is 7.0 going to focus on the Thirteenth or is this a side story that will setup something else?

And most importantly, how badly is someone (possibly us or Y'shtola) gonna fuck something up?