#and i have to thank a lot of it to ffxiv in more ways than one T___T that game really is the epitome of Not Just A Game for me

[madbrake]

Finished Ratatoskr!

Ratatoskr was one of the tricker members of the first brood to draw since there are only three images of her officially associated with ffxiv and two of those are very stylized. I added design notes and thoughts below the cut for anyone curious. They're nothing too crazy since a lot of her design is very similar to other members of the first brood, but I did think about her a lot while working on this piece and wanted to share where I pulled a few elements.

As a base, I gave Ratatoskr the spikier build of Nidhogg and Tiamat based on those images but with some modifications to to match her image in the first brood concept art:

As a result, she has fewer horns and spikes than Tiamat or Nidhogg. The spines along her back are thinner than her siblings’ also to match the concept art and to make her feel a little closer to Midgardsormr.

I also wanted to keep the thick frill(?) of reverse scale plating around her neck from her concept art because it reminded me of Vishap’s more literal neck frill. I liked the idea that some descendants of the first brood might have incorporated elements of her form into their own evolutions. It didn't end up appearing as prominent in my drawing because I had a little trouble wrestling with proportions and the neck bend, but it's there! In pervious drafts I gave her frill identical to Vishap's but I had a little trouble getting it to feel like it fit her design so I stuck with thick scales instead.

Her head shape was based directly on the two stylized images of her from the game. I really enjoyed the strong shape of these. It felt almost shark-like to me:

I don’t usually include other characters or props to my first brood drawings, but I wanted to add the moogles after thinking about Ratatoskr’s history, her dungeon, and her Encyclopedia Eorzea entry which describes her as a bearer of dragon songs and one of the friendlier dragons. I like the think the moogles loved to complement her songs with their own instruments. Working on this piece as a whole made me really appreciate Ratatoskr and legacy all the more and I'm eternally sad that we'll (likely) never get to meet her in game. I think she would have been a wonderful friend. Her design is a little non-standard for a child of Midgardsormer in small ways, but I feel like she was probably a little non-standard as a traveler, songstress, and friend to man.

Lastly I want to give a little shoutout to the site Tales from Dragonstar which was put together by @/ahzuvi-txt and which made my reference hunt a ton easier. It has a lot of wonderful information about the dragons of Eorzea. It's also got an interesting guide to dragon language that I want to dig into soon. I definitely recommend checking it out!

Thanks for reading! Bahamut will be my next and final first brood piece to cap this series off. :)

[tactidoll]

help a disabled trans woman finally move into a real house

hi my names eris im a 26 disabled and heavily mentally ill trans woman living in one of the worst places in england, and more than that just over a year ago i was kicked out by my moms transphobic girlfriend, since then to avoid full homelessness and not having anywhere else to really go ive been living in a barely insulated shed on a farm in the middle of nowhere, this has led to me being nearly constantly sick for the entire year, already barely able to take care of myself ive just absolutely fallen apart as a person despite my best efforts and now during winter the shed has been constantly absurdly cold and lead me to deal with regular mild hypothermia thats sometimes hit moderate despite bundling up with both an electric heater and fireplace going and honestly i just dont know how much more i can physically take

ive been wanting to move into a walkable city due to my disability meaning i cannot ever drive, and ideally somewhere progressive so i can start to finally present femininely despite being outted over a decade ago which would also help dramatically, but despite trying to get financially able to afford the move ive made no progress due to having to spend the lil money i have spare each month on solving immediate issue and sadly im way too mentally ill too consider trying to move into a house share/roommates situation

the british housing assistance system id be able to use would need me to get a place before im able to claim assistance on rent so i really just need to get the money to pay for the deposit and first month of rent and the average deposit ive seen for the apartments that would be comfortable and habitable for my disabilities is about £1100 and about £800-900 for first months obviously thats a lot to ask for and im gonna be trying my hardest to put as much as i can aside to cover the rent and seeing if i can borrow money to help make up the rest

thank you so much for reading im sorry this isnt that well written im really struggling mentally and physically and im just so desperate

my paypal is https://paypal.me/tactidoll absolutely anything helps even if its just sharing this post everything will be saved until i can put that deposit down

1200/£1200 funded thank you so much

[spotofmummery]

OOC: Update – Tad on Main!

Today, I’ve completed the final steps to do something I hadn’t honestly planned on doing – I’ve made Tad my Main in FFXIV!

This is a big deal to me as it’s a huge change for my account, but will not be much of a change here as Tad has always popped up now and then on this blog. Spot of Mummery has always been a slightly multi-muse blog, and this just means Tad’ll probably show up more often since I’ll be playing him as my Main (more on this in a sec).

Just want to stress - this won't change Amon content as he has never been my Main! I just might post additional Tad content going forward. XD

Refresher – Who is Tad Kouris?

In the Spot of Mummery storyline, Tad is Amon’s younger cousin. Also an Allagan, he chose an opposing path, siding with the Resistance to fight against the Empire. However, part of his personal mission has always been to try and rescue his cousin (kicking and screaming if he had to) from the mess Amon had made of his life.

It was only after the fall of the Empire that Tad discovered he was the WoL for that timeframe. He’s still not really sure what that means (there is no WoL noob handbook), and he struggles with the revelations this has brought to him.

He was sent by the surviving Allagan Princess Salina into the future to ensure that Uni and Doga were able to carry out their mission when the Crystal Tower rose from the earth again, and that Xande would be put to rest for good. However, Tad’s ulterior secret motive was still to save his cousin, Amon.

(Spoilers: He succeeded, and that’s part of how Amon came to live in present day Eorzea!)

What’s the Deal With Tad Becoming “Main”?

This could get long, so I’ve put it under a cut!

So why is Tad becoming Main such a big deal?

In the past, some folks who were surprised to learn that I don’t consider Amon my Main FFXIV character. He’s my main in terms of RP and interaction, but he was not the first character I ever rolled.

My Main has a history that reaches back to shortly after ARR launched in 2013. Going on almost 12 years of playing this character, I’ve amassed the most in terms of mounts, minions, music, cards, jobs leveled, etc. on this character. Basically, I can’t give up my Main because my history as a FFXIV player is tied up in this particular character slot.

But I’ve never really got a feel for what I wanted to do with Main. This character has gone through more name changes and Fantasias than I care to admit (thank goodness for free Fantasias!). I’ve gone back and forth between trying to make Main an RP character and just leaving Main as the figurehead character for my gaming blog and socials.

I just know every time I make Main a generic “me-type” character, I get bored. I played Amon a whole lot this past weekend, unlocking things I haven’t done yet on Main, and it really struck home how much I enjoy playing content on one of my RP characters vs. just my generic Main. It's just the character vibe that changes the whole experience (do you feel that way, too?).

So, all that being said, I sorted my list of RP characters over this past weekend, and decided I would once again transform Main into one of my actual story-based OCs.

Why not Amon, you might ask! Good question.

Basically, there are so many things I’ve either purchased or unlocked for Amon that’s specific to him – emotes, mounts, adventure plates, etc. – it would be too costly and time consuming to replicate that. Also, he has folks on his friends list that I don’t want to lose (or confuse - lol), his Tea and Tomes shop apartment, and his Secret Lab FC room.

Tad, on the other hand, was a prime option because aside form maybe the Pizza emote, there’s almost nothing on that alt character that I don’t have on my Main. So, after much deliberation, I did a bunch of name changes and OC shifting on my account this past weekend. (Free fantasias be blessed!)

As of today, Tad has taken up the mantle of my Main character slot, and I’m both excited and a little unsure how this is going to pan out. I hope it will be fun!

And if you’ve read this far, let me ask: Am I the only one with character identity issues like this?

(I told Scylla-mun that she can smite me should I wibble-wobble and try to change Main back to a generic character in the future - lol!)

[robobarbie]

I'm sorry to bother you, but I was just wondering if you have any advice on bringing a character concept into a consistent, compelling character. I have so many character concepts, but I always struggle with giving them unique, consistent identities and voices, and you're so great at that. Thank you so much for creating such wonderful stories!

u r too kind to me. i am no expert, but this is generally my strategy when i'm writing/creating characters:

Remember that characters are more than stereotypes. If I'm making an FFXIV player who loves to shill, I'm not going to make shilling all that he is. That's how you get one-note characters that get a little boring. I try to picture a three dimensional personality that fits around that, even if all parts of it aren't used in text. Like, if I picture all the people who have shilled FFXIV to me over the years, what do they have in common? Quieter IRL, a bit tired of bullies, bad eating habits, etc etc.

Find a way to connect it to something you're familiar with. You write what you know best. If your character is an architecture student, but you know nothing about it, do some research about the field while also connecting that love of architecture he has with a love you might have for something else. You'll be able to write about his love for it more believably if you're tying it to something else you yourself adore.

Life hack: base the character on a person you know in real life. When you base characters off of characters that already exist, I think you run the risk of it not feeling authentic (but that's not always the case). The entire cast of BP was based on a server I was in ages ago -- the characters weren't carbon copies of the people I knew, but those people were good reference points for typing style and initial personality quirks for them all.

Find the fine line between similar characters and emphasize that. Felix already gets a lot of comparisons to Onionthief (deservedly so) but we're making them distinct in the following ways: Felix is colder, Onionthief is less mature, Onionthief is bullied more often in chat than Felix is, Felix is quieter, Felix is less judgmental of mistakes, etc. You find those deeper details that really separate characters and create... well, back to point #1. You create three-dimensional people that could exist in real life.

Edit to add: talk a lot to strangers. You will learn a lot about the variety of people in the world, and the way they interact realistically, if you brave the world and meet new people.

ramble over

[flowering-darkness]

Lorenza: "Had I been at Laxan Loft that fateful day, then perhaps.. You whom the Ascians kept in the shadows might yet have had an ally for that last sacrifice. ..Ah, but who are we two of the void to dwell on a hundred years past?"

(comments/reblogs are appreciated but never required. further context is under the readmore!)

A little idea I had earlier and was successfully able to get a friend to queue into E10 with me to access the location for! This is actually technically my first thing made for my selfship with the Shadowkeeper (or to use her truer name Cylva), so it's perhaps a bit too context-heavy of a piece to start things off with, but.. oh well! I hope that it's still alright/people like it, even without everyone being aware of the full background ;w;

(If you are curious what's actually being depicted here: it's just a hypothetical musing about "if Lorenza had been present at the Battle of Laxan Loft a hundred years ago, where Cylva turned into the Shadowkeeper and forced Ardbert and the Warriors of Light to fight her (but they refused to kill her like she asked), then maybe that whole event could have been a bit less emotionally harrowing for Cylva". There was no way Lorenza could have been there, of course - she didn't even know Cylva at that time, as the two only met at the start of Shadowbringers despite both originating from the Thirteenth - but.. it's still something she idly muses after learning about Cylva's past. For more background context, feel free to have a read of this other post!)

When it came to putting this together, I was limited by what remained of the duty timer (since we had to do the whole boss fight against the Shadowkeeper and then I had to wait for everyone else to leave), as well as my own inexperience with manipulating reshade parameters like colour curves and brightness (so I apologise if this is a bit all-the-same-value - I tried to mess with the background vs. foreground a bit, but that was about all I could muster). To put things into perspective, this is how the arena looked before I went in and started the posing process - so as you can see, a lot of processing needed to be done to get the final vibes!

I'm also still not really adept at posing within FFXIV, which is why Lorenza is incorrectly using her right hand to reach out to Cylva; the day I learn how to flip/invert poses derived from paused animations will be a very advantageous one indeed! There's probably a better workflow than the one I currently use, but.. like when I was first starting out with MMD, it takes a while to get properly familiar with the tools involved and how to do what you're aiming for with them. I'd meant to get some alternate/closeup camera angles, but exited out of /gpose instead after taking the initial one, which meant I lost everything I'd loaded in .w.

In any case, though - I like how the final product turned out (even if the composition is almost identical to my January render..), and I hope that some of my thought process in making it could come through! I did finish making this at one minute to midnight on Valentine's Day, but I'm aware it isn't really a very Valentine's Day selfship thing.. so, I suppose it's more fitting that I wasn't able to get around to posting it until after the date had changed here! =P

Thank you kindly for taking the time to read this! I hope it all makes sense ^-^

[myreia]

❤︎ OC Kiss Week 25 ❤

Hello! 🌹

I've decided that I am going to do OC Kiss Week this year! I am a very beginner artist (started in December, have a lot to learn) and I thought it would be a fun way to learn how to draw more people and characters interacting. I can't promise that anything will look that great, but I want to give it a shot! 🩷

official ockiss info here!

I'll be accepting characters in my ask box from February 2 to February 16. Send in your OC and let me know which one of mine you'd like them to smooch! Little details are helpful too, especially if you prefer romantic or platonic kisses. You can also send a prompt from @ockissweek's list:

• desperate • first • stolen • reunion • worship • forbidden • caught

I am only going to do OCs from FFXIV, Dragon Age or BG3. You do not need to be a mutual or a follower, but please make sure screenshots of your OC are easily findable on your blog so I know what they look like.

❤︎ My Smoochable OCs ❤

❥ Aureia Malathar (FFXIV) half-elezen ✦ 30s ✦ she/her ✦ biromantic asexual ✦ black mage

Aureia is an ex-Garlean agent. She comes off very strong and knows what she wants (except when she doesn't and then it's a mess). She's firm in her beliefs and stands by her opinions, though she is also open-minded and deeply empathetic in her own specific way.

❥ Niam (BG3) Half-Elf ✦ 30s ✦ she/her ✦ biromantic asexual ✦ wild magic sorcerer

Niam grew up on the streets of Baldur's Gate with very little memory of her parents. She's clever and curious, with a tendency to bite off more than she can chew because she wants to find out what happens. Likely to accidentally set things on fire or polymorph her friends into cats and dogs. Also to turn her hair green.

❥ Venara Lavellan (Dragon Age: Inquisition) dalish elf ✦ 28 ✦ she/her ✦ biromantic asexual ✦ knight-enchanter

Venara is generally quiet and reserved, with a keen eye. From the outside she appears a stoic and unapproachable, but once you get to know her she warms up. She cares deeply for her friends and though she likes to keep busy and enjoys her time alone, she always makes time for them. Might have a slight vengeance streak.

Thank you!! This will be fun! 🌹🩷

[windupaidoneus]

hildegarde has a really neat design! Do you have any more lore for him?? (I realise I’m saying this that the answer is probably “yes”, but I’d be curious to find out anything more!)

I hope this is alright to ask~

omg hello!!! thank you so much, & ofc ofc! i love to talk about him much to the detriment of anyone who followed me before i got into ffxiv LMAO

he's. so much. gestures broadly. raised in garlemald (adopted by a high-ranking family, this did Not go well for him), deserted during the 7th calamity at a whopping 21 years old & stuck around in gyr abania for some time on his own before making his way to the black shroud. stayed there for some time, got picked up by bremondt, & that's how his adventuring journey ✨ started! WOO!!

ok im gonna put the rest under a read more its a LOT of paragraphs bc i write a lot of paragraphs about him always. i still have a few unanswered asks that are unanswered bc i type too much & i had to go to bed before i could finish. it's scary down there

ALSO IM BAD AT BEING CONCISE one day ill have his lore doc written up all pretty & nice & itll be actually digestible. but for now!!

notable things about him: - strong affinity for magic (especially white magic for a long time. blm/rdm are now pretty much on par though) but can do anything. he learnt Everything so he could be able to help others in as many ways as he could - omnicrafter but strongest affinity for alchemy. bc of course - system, which honestly might as well be canon to the wol anyway like ardbert is right there. different headmates have affinities for different classes & all of them have dealt with emet at some point in their lives, directly or indirectly - hes! currently 38. started arr at 26. i try not to worry too much about the npcs' ages but there WAS a 4 year timeskip between 7.0 & 7.1 in his timeline - sibling dynamic with nero due to having known him since they were kids (well nero was a teen but same thing) - shapeshifting that is more out of his control than anything, remnants of the effects of the corrupted light on his body (also why he's got white hair & blank eyes, as well as gilded/whitened scales. which. i only recently added to his ingame design bc i was too lazy to work it out before OOPS) - oh also he has a prosthetic leg & a cybernetic abdomen. due to his um bad self care tendencies. his legs are digitigrade

at the start of arr & for a very long time hildegarde views himself as a fundamentally bad person as well as a monster, & to make up for it he needs to put himself in service of the "good people". he's a beast his allies can sic on their foes, & anytime he puts his wants first he is doing something Bad. he feels responsible for any deaths that happen in the sense that people who get too close to him just... seem to die. this is deeply rooted in his mind due to the siblings he lost back in garlemald, which were invariably pinned on him as the oldest of them. & it doesn't help that people do just keep dying on him!! & so yeah he puts himself in service of others at his own expense & anytime he "makes the mistake" of letting someone get close, or doing something because he wants to, it reinforces a subconscious belief that he will pay for it some day. (cut to shadowbringers) oobh he paid for it (joking. but he really felt it) [ now all of this is really funny juxtaposed with the fact he did go through the hildibrand quests as they were happening so he had like, these bouts of absurd & whimsy that were completely fine but the moment he hit the quest complete sound he'd return to lamenting his existence. it is how it is ]

oh and he did necromancy. up until mid-shadowbringers he was doing necromancy. well. researching it for the most part, as he was trying to find an Ethical way to bring back the deceased (haurchefant.) but because it utilised his own aether he gave up when said aether stopped being viable for much of anything & never came back to it. because the shock the events of shadowbringers caused him prevented him from ever going back to it. he also researched tempering & was trying to find ways to revert it but msq took care of that for him so he doesn't have to worry about it anymore ✨

im sure ive posted about shadowbringers specifically before for him but. gist of it is that due to his studies relating to tempering & magic in general, & the fact he is a white mage by trade to begin with, he realised something was very wrong very quickly. not the specifics of it but he notices the enemies happen to be casting the exact same spells as him, it gets in his head very quickly & he keeps doing it bc well he has to & it's fine if he has to be a sacrificial lamb of sorts teehee! (skips & hops) it also means he withdraws more than usual. doesn't talk much to ardbert about how he feels because he considers ardbert has gone through more than enough at this point. & this leads to himmmm leaning ontoooo emet. the most.

the entire arrangement sucks but by mt gulg he feels emet is the only one who sees him for what he is (a monster) & he's just about ready to give in & try to get to the tempest on his own. which i don't even think would've been possible but emet's suicidal tendencies are a topic for another post. amaurot is fucking agonising, as someone who can't deal with grief At All himself it's like seeing exactly the kind of shit he would do if he had the power to, it's the realisation emet & he are a lot more alike than he'd thought, & realising there is no way this won't end in Someone dying. & god. he's so tired. he's so damn tired of everyone dying on him. for him, because of him, he's sick of it. but it happens anyway. & while everyone celebrates he's so struck by it he ends up getting

really bad nightmares (unconventional approach to breaking down my paragraphs)

that very much could've killed him had emet not dragged himself back from the aetherial sea to play the role of himself in them. the emet present in these nightmares was extremely harsh & cruel, would've led to hilde hurting himself in his sleep. not necessarily something emet was happy to do but he did basically tell the scions they had to take care of his legacy or whatever so it would've been counterproductive to let the wol die. this is how they end up bonding with less like.. weight to it somehow, though it's very one-sided since hilde is not aware this is actually him for real inside his head. its a whole thing. thats already too many words. um well that gets resolved with the end of post 5.3 & um cut to post endwalker & emet is back to life through the 🔥POWER OF LOVE 🔥 (soul subconsciously pulled back into one of the remaining solus clones bc of the want to be there to experience life again this time with hildegarde. CORNY MAYBE. but ever the sentimental. it suits him.)

nowadays he's doing a lot better. he's fine with himself, he even allows himself to get angry sometimes! he's capable of recognising when he's not in the wrong, when he can say no, he even Has Fun. crazy stuff. !!! oh & he's also dating hancock. quite possibly one of the funniest things about him. he has kids. that's without counting all the ones he unofficially adopted or considers himself guardians of throughout the game. he needs to eat a lot bc shadowbringers fucked with his ability to absorb aether & he happens to really like food so it's another thing that brings joy into his life. dawntrail was real good for him in that regard.

um. ! yeah. that'ssss hildegarde. ! i left out a lot probably but this is already so much he's just so much 😭 my most specialest...

[kotias]

2024 fic roundup

Thank you @eybefioro for the tag!

Well well well, end-of-year check-up, huh!

What fandoms do you write in?

Oof. I'll do the exhaustive list + the 2024 list specifically.

2024 list:

Good Omens

Deadpool / Marvel

One Piece

Exhaustive list since my beginnings in 2005, in addition to the above:

Dragon Ball

Eyeshield 21

Harry Potter

Naruto

Avatar: the Last Airbender

FFXIV

How many words have you published in 2024?

Published? Damn it xD

Okay, so, I'm going to gratuitously add the words for an epic secret project, as those will be published for 2024 hehehe.

I will not count the CYOA into the mix, as it is not representative of the actual amount I wrote; I did write a few bits, but in the grand scheme of that collab, I pretty much wrote nothing.

96,881 words!

To which I'm adding around 20k words for the epic secret project, so this leads us to a total of... 116,881 words!

Well, fuck, that's a lot.

/oggles at her WIP folder with 200k+ words of WIPs

I'll also link this slightly different count I did in September.

Hum. Guess I know how much I'll have for 2025 huh :D

What is your greatest achievement this year?

Second greatest: getting properly back into writing.

After 8 years of writing slump keeping me at a tiny 3k words a year, this is simply unbelievable to me that I'm sometimes able to churn out that much in a single day.

First greatest achievement:

The epic secret project that you will hear all about very soon. I loved working on it and seeing it take such vibrant colours and life. It is my baby, and I am feeling genuinely sad that we are reaching the end of this project.

What are your favourite top three fics you wrote this year?

Warzone , a Poolverine fic (Marvel, Deadpool & Wolverine). Summary:

Being a mutant sucks, sometimes. Sometimes, your cells will battle one another to the death, leaving you sobbing in your bed. Or out of it. Fully naked, in the middle of Blind Al's living room.

I really had a lot of fun working on it; this is the ultimate fic format to me, it has hurt/comfort, fluff, domestic bliss, smut, and becomes a songfic. If you want to read something that has my writing identity all over it, this is the one.

Dance Our Night Away , an Ineffable Husbands fic (Good Omens), inspired by @gleafer 's art. Summary:

1944, 29th of February - leap year. Crowley and Aziraphale are invited to a ballroom dance party, and will dance- but angels don't dance, do they?

A light fic, just dancing together in a ballroom on some Frank Sinatra, was is there not to like?

My Arum Lily , an Ineffable Husbands fic (Good Omens), written for gcaledonian on the @goodomensafterdark subreddit. Summary:

Hoowee, laudanum! Last time Crowley does that!

This is 8k words of indulgent porn, I cannot say more than that, because the plot does not exist. This was written for gcaledonian over 2 months in a group chat we shared, advancing with each new prompt she gave me, until I decided I was done.

I then decided to do her a surprise: I had it beta'd, and had 7 remarkable artists do art to illustrate it.

This is The Cemetery Porn. If you like muttonchops, wings, cemetery sex, this is the fic for you.

What was your biggest pit of despair moment?

The goddamn epic secret project that I can say nothing about yet!! It has been so important to this year to me that I simply cannot not talk about it in every way. This is a crazy adventure that brought me to the greatest highs and weirdest lows, but holy shit you guys, it is gorgeous.

What have you learned?

I have learned that by being indulgent, I get other people to be indulgent with me. /whispers epic secret project

It is crazy what I managed to do, genuinely, and I still have a very hard time processing the fact that I managed to pull so many crazy people in my crazy projects. It's just... wow. Thank you, whoever is reading this and recognising yourself. I love you so much.

What fic did you want to do but never made it off the ground?

Pièce Montée, a Sanji/Pudding (One Piece) fic. I'm not letting it go, it's kinda taking the dust here but I'm keeping it alive with some strong CPR, don't worry, it's alive, I'll do something with it hahahahahahahaha

Did you beta any fics? Any favs you want to shout out?

I'm not the best at doing it; after a while, I just... lose concentration and forget to continue.

But, I beta'd for a while this fic: What Have I Lost? it is very good, very worth the read if you haven't!

What ideas are percolating for next year?

Oh wait, let me pull out my fic folder spreadsheet...

Okay, let's go.

Continuing Sheltered Scars, a tattoo AU for the Ineffable Husbands (Good Omens), where Crowley is a new tattoo artist arriving in London, and Aziraphale is an art gallery holder who is a war veteran. I'm very happy with the concept, but have a hard time concentrating long enough to continue, I have to get back to it.

Continuing the edits on Down the Path of Sin, co-written with @daneecastle in a huge-ass RP and that will be added to the multiverse of her Reversed Veil of Worlds. So proud of what we did with it, it's an epic story deserving to be out there.

Writing the Ineffable Rockstars AU fic planned out with @daneecastle , @elenthyaolyenths , @vavoom-sorted-art ; expect around 15k words of it, and it's going to be so great :D

According to my spreadsheet, I should get back to Pièce Montée (see above) and to Tanabata, an Eyeshield 21 fic project that is set 10 years after the end of the story of the manga.

Those are the active WIPs. Now for the plot bunnies running havoc in my brain and waiting for an out...

Miscellaneous fandom (whichever will inspire me to make it happen): University AU - outgoing student officer x professor. This is a pure catharsis fic idea, as I'm an outgoing student officer in a university and sometimes I just need the out.

Deadpool & Wolverine fandom: Streamers AU - Logan with his headset that has like cat ears on it, his streamer name is LHowlett, but his gaming name on any platform is Wolverine. Has a daughter (Laura) who helps him out on raids, but despite his older age, he's clearly an absolute beast at gaming. People follow him because he's got a foul mouth, an absolute jerk to his friends but somehow the sweetest sweetheart when they pick up a new one on party finder- so basically, a golden mentor to new people. The X-Men are his raid party. One day, somebody is missing and they go on Party Finder to get somebody for the empty slot, and stumble on Wade. Logan complains the entire time because Wade isn't a very good listener (annoying for a raid lead) and an absolute chaos gremlin during the raid, but the stream watchers see him chuckle silently and grin for the entire session and soon enough start demanding to see that Dead Pool guy again.

Deadpool & Wolverine fandom: Consequences of the Time Ripper, they swapped and regenerated from the time ripper into each other's bodies, then swapped back pretty quickly but that was weird huh. And then it happens again. And again. And again. And they're very confused as to why, especially as it feels like random times, like they're just watching a movie and Wade bumps a foot against Logan and SWAP - I can imagine the thing feeling like a hiccup that continues for too long and after the 6-7th swap they're just "OH COME ON"! And like any good soulmate story, this finally stops when they get their shit together and finally become a couple and put the label on it. Aka: a 5 times/1 time, like "Five times Wade and Logan body swap, and one time they understand why"

Deadpool & Wolverine fandom, longfic, outlined: Baby Mine, Wade and Logan are looking to adopt; but with their situation and appearances (gay mutant couple, with strange schedules and Wade looking scary to humans), no agency really gives them a chance. One day however, Vanessa calls them, asking if they're still looking to adopt. One of her friends was found dead in her apartment, leaving behind her young baby. They do adopt the girl, and call her Ellie. Fic centered around Ellie's birthdays and other big life events as she grows up.

I... I think that should make up for most of my 2025 year.

Who do you want to thank?

Damn. Where do I even start?

First, thank you to @daneecastle for bringing me into a community that allowed me to meet so many people it was almost overwhelming. I never had so much of a feeling of a community, never met so many fandom people and I have you to thank for it, love.

Then of course comes @goodomensafterdark that brought so many good things to me, such a vibrant and beautiful and gorgeous community, I love seeing it thrive like it is. As a result, thank you to @vavoom-sorted-art for yelling loud enough in my ears about that community to push me to slide into it during the angst war.

I also have to thank all my fellow writers and artists working so hard and so diligently on that project. Thank you all so much, you do not realise how honoured I am that you all trusted me with it. Thus, as the representatives of that joyous bunch... enormous thank you to: @theravenmuse , @eybefioro , @whatareyou42 , @gaiaseyes451 , @theonewiththeshippinggoogles , @quona for being fantastic wranglers with me. Thank you. Thank you so much.

More exhaustive thanks for this crazy team will come in due time. I have feelings, alright?

[sjofn-lofnsdottr]

for mercuriel: What is their main character arc in the story? Where do they start and how do they develop? Do they get a happy ending or is their story a tragic one?

My word, a Mercuriel ask! Thank you for that, I always feel like I don't talk about him much, but I do really like him too.

But ... brace yourself, because I suspect I'm going to wind up saying a lot more about him than I probably need to. This is going to primarily talk about Mercuriel in his WoL timeline, rather than his existence in the Dusk timeline (partly because I only have the barest of ideas as far as that goes).

Okay, so, when I was transplanting the post-apocalypse crew into Eorzea, while I was willing to completely jettison their backgrounds to fit better into FFXIV's lore, if there were ways for me to give little nods to their backgrounds that were lore friendly, I'd do them.

Mercuriel grew up in a cult before escaping and starting over, in the post-apcalypse. The Lambs of Dalamud were a thing in FFXIV. SO. Part of FFXIV Merc's secret background is that he was in the Lambs, fully on board with their "let's speed up the end of the world" agenda during the end of 1.0. Mercuriel was not in a good place in his life then.

Mercuriel had grown up a poor orphan in Ul'dah, fully immersed in the teachings of Nald'thal, where your wealth reflects how good a person you are and all that garbage. He could never quite crawl out of the hole that beginning put him in, so by the time the Lambs were recruiting, he was a pretty easy mark, for all the reasons people usually fall into cults. That it was eventually revealed to him that the goal was to accelerate the end of the world was a bonus, really, since he was ready to watch the whole thing burn by then anyway.

When Dalamud fell and it turned out the cult was wrong about everything, Mercuriel did a lot of soul searching about it. And around the time ARR begins, he returned to Ul'dah, having decided to give finding wealth and purpose and fame one more try. Because what else was he going to do? Just lay down and die without it at least being a blaze of glory? No thank you.

And also maybe he can do enough to make up for all the shit he did during the whole cult membership period of his life. Not that he cares.

So! I think of Mercuriel's arc as a sort of redemption arc for him, although he would never say he's looking for that. It more or less follows the WoL's arc, but certain things hit differently when viewed through the lens of someone who was so disillusioned with the world he was willing to try and help end it, who is now struggling his way towards a different, more hopeful mindset. All while being really annoyed it's so much work.

But of course it is, you know?

I've joked with friends that some expansions feel like they're specifically for one of my characters. Heavensward was for Dusk. Shadowbringers was for Errol. Stormblood had more for Bjalla than the rest of my guys. And Endwalker was when it was finally for Mercuriel.

He understood the type of despair and hopelessness they were dealing with far better than any of my other characters. And it was a big struggle for him to try and figure out how to articulate why he changed and why he thought that change was so worth it, as he is still unsentimental and cynical much of the time. But one thing he didn't struggle with was the question of wanting to save the world. He wanted that more than anything, and it was no longer just to make up for what he'd done when he was younger. He thought it really was worth saving, now, that life was worth protecting in spite of the less than stellar aspects of existing. And good for him, I say.

So, I think his ending in Endwalker was a good one, since he managed it! He's always going to have to fight against his more cynical instincts, but I think he's proven to himself that he can. Even better: he wants to.

Who knows how whatever post-Dawntrail stories will shake out for him. Dawntrail itself is hard to slot him into, to be honest, because there are so few points where it feels like the Warrior of Light absolutely needs to be there ... and even after everything, if Mercuriel doesn't need to be there, he's going to be off fishing or something instead.

[gatheredfates]

Hi all, and happy weekend! 🌊 Compendium updates are shifting back to every week/two weeks with me returning to work, depending on how much I can include in each update. In the words of Yoshi-P, please look forward to it.

If you know of a place that isn't featured here, feel free to submit it using the google form here!

However, without further adieu, the following communities have been added to Sea's Community Compendium for XIV Creatives.

COMMUNITY FOCUSED / EVENT SERVERS

The Order of Saint Charbonneau—A heavy RP community and venue surrounding a secretive fraternal order of mages found within Ishgard.

Trionfi—The occupants of Hydaelyn look for a solace — their own little spot in the corner of the world to just get away from it all, where only the stars can see. Welcome to Trionfi. Runs every Friday 11:59pm to 3:00am USEST.

FREE COMPANY, FRIEND / CASUAL SERVERS

Heart of Oschon—Heart of Oschon is a Roleplaying Community in Final Fantasy 14, with themes around adventure, found family, and finding purpose in a world larger than any one person alone.

MISC

A lot of these resources I nabbed from @twelvesblades' "some fun FFXIV generators" post, so please take the time to thank them if you end up using any!

FFXIV Characa—Created by kazetaro_kikori on Twitter/X, this tool lets you make a ffxiv signature of your character, including jobs, for forums and discussion boards.

Final Fantasy Characa Card Generator—this tool lets you make a ffxiv signature of your character, including jobs, for forums and discussion boards.

Arcanum FFXIV Characa Creator—FFXIV Character Card Creator by Iris and Aether.

FFXIV Boss Subtitle Generator—This tool lets you add text to your gposes in the style of boss encounters from Shadowbringers onwards.

Final Fantasy XIV Job Frame Generator—An image generator for FFXIV Screenshots, this tool lets you create job-specific, stylised images.

I am sure I have missed something in my travels buuut that should suffice for now! 🐚

Have you thought about joining our Tumblr Community? You can find it here!

Want to submit? You can either fill out the google form here or send me an ask with the relevant information!

Is my space suitable for the Compendium? Most of the time, yes! Below the read more is some more information/stipulations. This is all publicly available on the document. 🪸

Below are the following things I do not accept on the Compendium:

Personal/Single-Character LFC ads. (Though these get posted to the SEAFLOOR Tumblr Community when I find them!)

Content intended for or can be used for bullying, harassment and OOC gossip. E.g. ‘Secrets’ blogs, receipts, callout posts, etc. This does not include IC tabloid blogs or other ventures used to generate roleplay.

Communities that do not have an RP/writing element (large-scale exempt).

Modding outside of general how-to guides and compendiums of a similar spirit to this. This is for no other reason other than I do not want the document to be drowned in mod-related links.

Anything I find personally distasteful or goes against the spirit of this project.

Common-sense rule applies.

I want to put my community on the Compendium but we have an application process. Is this okay?

Yes! Just note somewhere in your application that's a requirement. The only thing that is mandatory for the Compendium is that you must be open to new members or have a public-facing/accessible facet. There's no point advertising a community if no one can join it in some way!

I want to put my Community on the compendium but I only have x number of members —

Also totally okay! People don't start with large communities. Activity is a must but, whether your server has two or two thousand members, if you're looking for new people to join, I'd love to help you find people.

I want to put my community/resource on the Compendium but I worry its too niche?

Okay, and? If your Eorzean Fishing Alliance has four members but you roleplay every second weekend, I still want to know about it. The same goes for resources; if it's relevant to the game, it'll be useful to someone.

How active does a community need to be?

If you find a community has not been active in about two/three months, send me a message and I'll take a look at it. Communities have ebbs and flows, especially event spaces that may take hiatuses depending on member interest/life events. I'm not strict in my implementation provided a space isn't dead. If a link or anything is broken, contact me asap!

I have [insert a question not stated here]?

No drama! Send me an ask or use the #Compendium channel in my Discord!

[mist-touchedxiv]

I find myself more OOC lately than actual writing, aside from the delightful RP I'm doing with @chadhunkler.

I have a good feeling that when the weather warms again that I'll be back to doing some writing.

In the meantime, I do hope to try to post some character inspirations and whatnot because...

Thanks to @thefreelanceangel, I have a LOT of new followers! Welcome!

Some basic things about me:

I'm currently NOT subbed to FFXIV and am a mega casual player on console, so I don't have much in the way of gposing because I don't have the right mods, so apologies, I tend to be more text oriented.

It's also taken me a few years to get... *checks notes* not finished with ARR! 😅😅😅 I'm at the Lady Snowheart(?) part. However, I'm not gonna get too worked up about spoilers.

I try to be lore compliant, but I'm not beholden to it if it makes sense.

If you ever want to reach out, I'm on Discord! AlexoftheColossus

[starrysnowdrop]

Why Hali/Aymeric?

This is something that I’ve been wanting to write up for a long time now, and I’ve finally been able to get my thoughts down properly. For those who have been around for a while might be used to my ship by now and can see how their chemistry is, but I know I have some newer followers that might be interested in this explanation. Or perhaps you’re just curious even though you’ve been here forever. Either way, I thank you in advance for taking your time to read this! See under the cut below.

Updated: 09/21/2024

So, you might or might not know that Hali is actually not my first WoL OC. Before Hali, I had made an Auri Hingan Samurai woman named Yume Aino, whom I first created back in 2019, shortly after the release of Shadowbringers (Yume’s blog can be found here: @firelightmuse). I didn’t realize it at first, but because of how I had written Yume, as a stoic, no nonsense warrior through and through, but also someone who was dealing with a lot of trauma and trying to find purpose in her life, I soon had a really hard time shipping her with anyone. Over the years I had tried shipping Yume with Cid, G’raha, and I briefly thought of Artoirel, but I now have found her perfect ship with Zenos. Before any of them, however, my first choice of an NPC ship was Aymeric.

Why Aymeric? Well, it took me quite a while to realize that a huge part of me wanting to ship Yume with Aymeric as a first choice was a very personal one. Aymeric was the first character in FFXIV that I completely fell for. Though I enjoyed the characters of Cid, Haurchefant, and G’raha in ARR, it wasn’t until we meet Aymeric in the Pre-HW patches that I had gotten attached to the world and the story through finding a favorite character of my own. Aymeric is so special to me, and that made me try to ship my only WoL at the time with him. But as you can see, that ultimately didn’t work out.

It didn’t work out because Yume and Aymeric didn’t vibe well with each other. There was a severe lack of chemistry between the two. I had realized that Aymeric is much too polite and respectful of decorum to break Yume out of her shell to make a deeper connection than just comrades that respect one another, and I didn’t think Yume was the kind of person that Aymeric would come to love either, as she would likely remind him of the many Ishgardian nobles that he was around all the time, for many reasons which I won’t elaborate on here due to brevity. And as I didn’t have any other OCs at the time, I just continued developing Yume and an NPC ship with Aymeric was discarded. Although I personally was very saddened by that, I thought it was the right decision for both characters.

Yet, I continued having trouble writing any kind of ship with Yume over time. After a few years, as I kept getting frustrated with the ships I was trying to write for her, I got inspired to make another WoL OC that would be different from Yume in every way. She actually would end up being much more of a self insert than I ever expected, but nonetheless I fell in love with the pink haired, happy go lucky Lalafellin woman who would become Hali Aloke, my pride and joy.

As I got Hali through base ARR and into the ARR patches, I didn’t have any intention on trying to ship her Aymeric and to try a WoL x NPC ship with him a second time, as I actually had intentions to ship Hali with Krile later on in her WoL journey.

But everything changed once Hali met Aymeric in 2.4, the lead up to Heavensward. I saw them in the cutscenes together, and as ridiculous of a height difference they had, I still couldn’t help but giggle and squeal whenever they were together. They just were incredibly adorable, and I couldn’t hold myself back. I just had to try to ship Hali with Aymeric.

So I decided to try to write a few prompts with them together and see how their dynamic was. And it was even better than I had expected. Their chemistry was so amazing, and the dialogue between them flowed quite effortlessly. Not only was I highly impressed and kept getting inspired to write more and more, but I got a ton of positive feedback from so many people telling me that they loved Hali and Aymeric together.

And I guess that was that. I have never looked back since. Hali x Aymeric are my everything (well besides Yume x Zenos now of course); my ship makes me so damn happy. Just looking at them makes me smile and want to write and gpose more. I can’t get enough of them. It’s to the point now that I don’t know if I could ever write a ship better than Hali x Aymeric. And you know what? I don’t even want to try at this point.

I still can’t fully comprehend how a pink haired, bubbly, sunshine of a lalafellin woman and a noble, brave, and charismatic Ishgardian knight could be such a beautiful and dynamic couple that would not only bring me endless joy but also keep inspiring me far more than anything else I’ve ever written. It is utterly beyond my comprehension, but somehow it works. And I am forever grateful that I just followed my heart and wrote what I wanted, and not for anyone else’s approval, but my own.

I somehow hope this helps inspire someone out there to not be afraid and just go for the ship they want to write for, despite what the fandom at large says. Trust me, it’s worth it.

[peddlestox-shinyrocks]

So I was asked if Kwas had anyone who had unrequited feelings for her (thank you once again @mimble-sparklepudding) and in it I said it was mostly the other way 'round.

Well since it is almost "LoveDay" and I've been thinking about it all TOday, let's talk about Kwaszit's "unrequited crushes" aka let's speculate about who she could have been with and why did it not happen.

So to start, for all that Kwas is ace, there are a few physical qualities she does like. ...She's a sucker for kitty and bunny ears. Listen I needed at least one character that ADORES catboys (because I do too). As far as miqo'te/viera girls go... she hasn't met one who caught her eye (and probably never will now). Outside of them, she's also a solid yes for other lalafell (surprise surprise). Most other races she's more than intimidated by height (even bunns are in there btw).

And with all that said, Kwas... isn't a WoL. She's an NPC pretty much. Travels like an adventurer does sure, but is pretty much on the same wavelength as Krile pre-SB or Tataru or Erenville, etc. She doesn't fight (only has battle classes leveled because MSQ demands) and has never seen or even heard of the Scions before DT and same goes for most job NPCs. Ultimately this means that most of the candidates for her affections she would never interact with.

BUT! Let's throw that all out the window and take a look at who could have been her crushes and why and why she never did anything about them.

So... Pipin. Yeah. Yeah absolutely. Probably one of her first crushes. Probably would have preferred if her parents set them up together, but Kwas at the time was more interested in crafting than she was boys. More of a sure she could see herself with someone like Pipin (if not the man himself) once she got older.

*giggle snort* This is the one catboy in the entirety of FFXIV that would have been a no from the start and I have no idea what it is. "He's cute, I guess" and that's it. Is it the hair color? No idea. Eyes? Maybe? I don't know what it is that doesn't make her look twice at G'raha but he's a solid "not for her".

If she was a red mage...

Y'know I tried for ages to make her a man who looks like X'rhun because she would be all over it but never found a reason to get them to meet. Huh. Well this ship has long since sailed. But I think it would have been cute for her to have an obvious crush and X'rhun, while flattered, would probably steer her to someone closer to her age. He's a gentlemen like that.

Nope. Never. And the reason is very simple: Wedge is enamored with her and Kwas ships that.

I think Kwas would think she's very pretty annnnd completely out of her league. I also don't think it helps that, for all that Kwas is intelligent in terms of her craft, she's not book smart. And a lot of their compatibility would boil down to how Krile would speak to her. A solid maybe would send a box of chocolates (if Krile would like them) though.

She liked him, until he opened his mouth. There's an old Moonfire Faire entry she had over him too. Still thinks he's pretty, but the cocky type is not for her.

So I did intend for Viggybun to be her love interest and it was not happening. He sees her as a younger sister and she just sees him as a friend. I think didn't help that at the time I did put them together they were at different stages and more importantly not really ready to settle down. Especially in Vigmundur's case.

Of aaaaaallllllll the Scions (excluding Raha cause we talked about him) Thancred would probably be the one she'd have a crush on. And she probably did since she'd likely have seen him around here and there in Ul'dah. Again, like Pipin though she'd be more interested in trying to get into the Goldsmith Guild than meet him. And well, age difference would probably be a major factor.

Oh fien we'll talk about Koana. DT spoilers from here.

So I'm not surprised she found him attractive. Miqo'te. And his voice is pleasing on the ears. Where it went from passing interest to turning up to 100 is probably when we were searching for Wuk Lamat.

While the trial was going on she was in Earthenshire and when she heard the Third Promise was missing she opted to help. Especially since they could use a traveling merchant as a lure.

I'd like to think she also got to hear about how he felt towards his family, both adopted and birth and felt for him as she too has familial problems.

Annnnd the exact line she said "mine".

Brotherly protectiveness does it for her I guess. 'S all I got.

[morgantheblue]

Meet (Some Of) My OCs!

I have a lot of them. Too many. The ones posted here are but some the ones that @transgwenderart has done art for. (You should commission her. Cause she's fucking great.)

In this post you'll see OCs from:

CYBERPUNK WORLD OF DARKNESS WARHAMMER 40K and FFXIV

BLUE-A Cyberpunk thief with an AI hitching a ride in their head.

Age:25 Pronouns: She/They An anarchist, pirate, thief and host to a highly illegal AI, Blue has the mind of a cynic and the soul of a poet. Desperately yearning for a better world they think may never come. Their cyberware is chosen to reject a sterile "Silicon Valley" aesthetic.

Arisander White-A Malkavian Seer and accidental Cult Leader

Age: 20 (Physical) 64 (Actual) Pronouns: They/Them A member of Clan Malkavian with a particularly strong connection to the Cobweb. Ari tried to start an information sharing network for Malkavians. Unfortunately one of the first attendees quickly convinced the others that Ari speaks with the voice of Malkav itself. Ari has tried to persuade them otherwise. It doesn't work.

Flavia Rossi-A Lasombra who loves to wrap her shadows around her servants.

Age: 45 (Physical) 126 (Actual) Pronouns: She/Her Flavia, or to her many servants, Domina was a member of the Italian Resistance in World War 2, wherein her prospective sire did her very best to utterly ruin her. Flavia stood strong through it all and earned the Embrace. A recent defector to the Camarilla, she is seductive, beautiful and utterly ruthless. Attended to be a stable of masked, nameless Ghouls, she wants to wrap the nightlife of Paris around her little finger.

The Many Faces Of Mina Amariyo- Mina is, to be blunt, the OC that means the most to me. She crops up in many settings, and I love her in each and every one.

First, she was a Warrior Of Light.

Age: 27 Pronouns: She/Her Born in the Twelveswood to the Amariyo clan, Mina was troubled by a body that didn't feel like hers and a name she had no love for. Given how aggressively gendered Miqo'te Society could be, Mina ran away from home and set out across Eorzea with a song in her heart and adventure on her mind. Friendly, excitable and an utter adrenaline junkie, she seeks new challenges, new monsters and new experiences with every passing day.

In the Grim Darkness of the 42nd Millenium, she was a Rogue Trader.

Age: 26 Pronouns: She/Her The only child of Lord Captain Alezander De Amarius. Mina was raised among the towering spires of the Imperium's elite. An Abhuman by technicality, her mother being a Felinid, Mina became a Rogue Trader by Birthright following the passing of her father. Even more addicted to adventure than her Eorzean counterpart, Captain De Amarius strides into the void from her ship the Invictrix Anima.

And most recently, she has become an Agent of the Technocratic Union.

Age: 26 Pronouns: She/Her Agent Mina Amari is something of a rising star in the Technocracy. Following the Week of Nightmares, she is part of a new generation of Technocratic Agents who see that the Union is in dire need of internal reform. To this end, she has welcomed the Ascension Truce and works tirelessly to protect whichever city she is sent to from Reality Deviants and worse. She still however, believes the Technocratic line that she is not a mage. Magic is reality deviance. Her Enlightened Science is different. Calling her a mage is a good way to get on her bad side.

Thank you again to the wonderful @transgwenderart for all of the art seen on this post. She's brought my characters to life in ways I never could. If any of these characters interest you, I'm more than happy to answer questions about them! Thanks for taking the time to read about them and have a lovely day!

All the best

-Morgan

[unbloominglily]

i think about it, a lot

they're not the same, Solus and Solas. there are parallels, certainly, but they have distinct differences

grief for Solus was a an old coat. he wore it, which is to say that he had sat with it enough that it was moulded to fit him. this allowed him to be patient, and when the Wol came by and caught their attention they looked at them and accepted it. he reaches out as others walk away and is let behind.

grief for Solas, however, wore him. he was raw with it, numb with it. it made him short sighted, made him lash out unexpectedly as seen when he - presumably in frustration - kills Felassan's dreaming self. he, little shite that he is, walks away and leaves others behind.

both are old, ancient sorcerers who accepted a duty they didn't particularly want. both sought to bring back the worlds they loved that are lost. both, hilariously enough, are one letter off from each other. like looking in a mirror. like that one spider man meme.

both, depending on the choices you make and how you see things, end up giving themselves to right a wrong they are responsible in that Solus balances the light-corrupted aether within the Wol and Solas has a 3/5 chance of binding himself to the veil to maintain it for just a little longer.

both commit terrible, horrible crimes and are responsible for an incalculable amount of lives lost. both need to be taught that people are people. both, (one through 3/5 paths) eventually learn that. both Wol and Rook receive guidance from these ancient, immortal beings with varying degrees of manipulation, one to 'prove their worth' (don't get me started on this, i'll ramble for days) and the other to take his place in a prison of regret

on the topic of regret, both of them - directly or indirectly - killed their friends and (again, depending on your choices and popular head canons) their lovers.

i love them both. i hate them both. the two of them elicit such a vast array of feelings within me. these sassy, frighteningly intelligent old men who need a nap and for someone to very firmly tell them their ideas are -shit- in a way that they listen and stop trying to kill everyone currently alive.

i won't lie, i think veilguard is more akin to an interactive movie that keeps threatening to set my rig on fire because this poor baby can barely run the damn thing even with everything set to minimum than a game but i also like to think i understand what they were going for. but after playing FFXIV for so long and, only recently having finished Inquisition for the first time, i felt like Solas was a direct attack on my person after, well... Solus.

i want more of both, but there will be no more of either, not without fanfiction, without writing and reading and the love of artists and creators.

so thank you, i suppose, to those of you who are brave enough, feral enough about the fandoms.

this world would be a lesser place without you

yes, i know solus' actual name, but still

my thoughts still stand

[riftdancing]

99+ Notifications?!

99+ NOTIFICATIONS?! Tumblr what do you MEAN?? ALL I DID WAS SLEEP.

...And post my wrapped.

...And maybe a new screenshot of Siyoh.

We're not counting that last one.

Originally I had panned to try and respond individually to people, but the overwhelming amount of feedback and kind words on my wrapped has left me slack jawed and feeling many feels.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

Thank you so much for your kind words and for appreciating my work.

There are a few key components to my work. Things I try very hard to keep in mind while composing a shot.

1.) Lighting: Especially in my after effects because it still has to match the original lighting of the screenshot. Which means things like rotating sun beams and making sure the reflection of light is bouncing off the right places. It probably helps that I did years of photography lessons with my Mother in real life before ever bringing this knowledge to the screenshot world.

2.) Pose anatomy & the illusion of motion in a still picture: Admittedly, its a hard thing to capture. I've been doing this sort of posing for years before FFXIV so I have lots of experience and first hand knowledge in knowing how bodies move and how muscles/joints connect. That being said, I still challenge myself every day to continue to progress in this area. Especially with occasionally pushing anatomy post where it goes realistically for the sake of exaggerated expression. Like how 2D animation will always show more expression than 3D, but I also feel like this is a difficult line to toe.

3.) Photo Angle and Scene Composition: Admittedly, I still struggle with this sometimes. In fact, if a screenshot doesn't get posted or chosen to be shown on tumblr or to other people, this is usually the culprit. I'm very picky about it. Sometimes I'll let a screenshot sit for hours and come back to it whilst trying to decide if I like the angle in which I captured the scene. I can think of at least five shots off the top of my head which didn't make it to the editing phase because of this. Loved the idea, hated the execution. Which is NOT to say I hate my work. I love my work. Even the stuff I don't post. But I believe its healthy to have your own sense of constructive criticism along side pride and love for your work. This is how we grow. I also might have deleted a few posts after growing frustrated with their final composition weeks after.

Here are a few examples of things which didn't quite make it to the cutting room floor or had their scene composition/posing revised into better shots. I still love them! I think some of them are great in their own ways, they just weren't particularly capturing what I was fully after.

So what does this bring me to?

Your comments. I am so overwhelmed.

All of your sweet comments touched on these three key points and I cannot express how warm and fuzzy that made me feel. It gave me such a HUGE sense of pride knowing I am able to accomplish what I set out to do. And I only ever want to continuously improve on that (and more)!

I'm going to set some new goals for myself in 2025. But all the kind tags was exactly the kind of motivational boost to keep me going in the new year and to continue to figure out new tools to enhance my skill set as I go.

Truly, from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much.