#and it getting worse and worse by the time of stormblood patches

[wildstar25]

The scions hanging out in the Rising Stones post stormblood. Y'shtola is talking to Tataru and Thancred near the main desk when the door from the tavern creaks open. Before they can even see who it is, Arsay's voice rings out with a cheerful greeting. "Rising Stones ahoy~ Is everyone having a wonderful daaaaaaayAH, Y'shtola, you're up and about! There's something I wish to ask, if you have a moment."

Y'shtola turns to face the on coming Warrior of Light, ready to lend an ear and her expertise. Thancred smirks and leans over to Tataru.

"It appears someone's happy to see our friend." Y'shtola's ears flick back, picking up Thancred's teasing whisper. "I've not once witnessed her tail shoot up like that, have you?"

Tataru replies with a light chuckle, "Now that you mention it, I don't think I have."

Y'shtola shakes her head, "You two clearly need to bolster your observational skills." She glances back at them with a sneer. "Arsay’s tail could be used as veritable dowsing rod for any one of us. In my opinion, It's quite childish for someone in her posi-" Y'shtola cuts her statement short as she notices the very tip of her own tail from the corner of her eye. In an instant the dots connect. They were talking about her. Y'shtola's tail had risen at the sound of Arsay's voice reflexively. How completely and utterly unbecoming of her.

Reprimanding herself will have to come later; with Arsay only a few paces away resolving the current situation was far more important. Y'shtola's tail drops just as fast as it had risen as her sneer turned to glare. "One word... One word and you will both rue the day. Do I make myself clear?" She hisses under breath. Tataru and Thancred both nod furiously as they cover their mouths unable to contain their laughter. Y'shtola could feel her blood pressure rising.

"What's so funny, did I miss a good joke?" Stopping herself barely an ilm away from Y'shtola, Arsay chimes in with a curious smile.

"Yes, a very good one indeed." Thancred manages to spit out a reply between laughs.

"Uh huh!" Tataru wipes a tear from her eyes, "oh that really was something."

"Oooh, tell it again, won't you Y'shtola? I'd love to hear it too." Arsay raises her fists to her chest in anticipation. Which made her all the more confused when Y'shtola spun her around and began pushing her back to the Rising Stone's main door.

"Ignore them, Arsay, they forget themselves. Come, I'll take your question somewhere where the madness can't reach us." Y'shtola marches them away, doing her most to not allow even a hint of anger carry through in her tone.

"Aw c'mon, I wanna know what you said~" Arsay complains as she lets herself be walked out. "Tataru tell me later, okay?" Arsay calls back as they cross the threshold of the scion base.

"They'll do nothing of the sort!" Y'shtola slams the door closed behind them.

[musesofawolf]

Day 17 - Sally

[Minor Heavensward and Stormblood spoilers]

"Hold the wall! HOLD THE WALL!"

Bryn's rifle cracked, the ball of super heated aether flying through the air, and through the black armored chest of an advancing imperial, sending him crumpling to the ground as others rushed forward still, desperate to retake Baelsar's Wall, the only separation between the captured land of Ala Mihgo and the Black Shroud. Bryn still had no idea how, or why, the Grand Companies had suddenly taken the wall, or why they had chosen to hold it, but when the desperate call for reinforcements went out, he answered. And now, in the fort, they had a tenuous hold. One that would threaten to break if they kept letting the Garlean's rush the gates.

Already, Magitek armor was starting to appear from the Ala Mihgo side, three drill equipped monstrosities, and Bryn knew they would make short work of the gates if they were allowed to reach them, but the alternative seemed somehow worse. He gritted his teeth, his green coat whipping through the air as he turned and stormed towards the steps off the raised wall, hollering to the soldiers he left behind, "Keep shooting! Don't let them close!"

He nearly skid down the stairs in his haste, boots hitting dirt as he found a group of spearmen already forming up on the gate, ready to poke back anyone who made it through with nervous energy, and their commander lingering near their rear. Coward. Bryn was in the midst of them in a moment, pointing at the two closest to the front. "You! Get ready, when I open the gate, each one of you take half of this force and take one of the magitek armor. I'll deal with the third!"

"This is my command!" The shrill, untrained voice that rose in objection was silenced with a glare of silver eyes, with a flash of the silver wolf patch on his cloak, and a growl that was more animal than man. A growl that served to get the spearmen into rapid position, even calling over a few archers for backup. Good enough. It had to be, especially since Bryn turned, and kicked the block out from the gear holding the gate closed, and it started to wind open with heavy clinks of metal chains.

For the Garleans, they saw the gates to their wall opening, welcoming them back into its safety, and they cheered with feverish delight. But those cheers were met with a roar of challenge, from Bryn and his commandeered unit, bayonet fixed at the end of his rifle as it spit aether and he charged out on fleet feet. The spearmen and archers that followed struck fear into the foot soldiers protecting the machines, turning and fleeing as the magitek marched forward with its orders firmly in place, only to find their way blocked by a sea of spears and rain of arrows. They halted, turning their attention to their attackers, but the large drills meant for puncturing armored gates was not well equipped to handle rapidly moving dragoons or distant archers.

And the third didn't stand a chance against the barreling soldier as the Eorzea alliance sallied forth, meeting their attackers head on in a defensive maneuver, and for the time being, stalling the recapture of the wall.

It was only after the metal and magitek machine lay wrecked at his feet that Bryn realized where he was standing. That after nearly eighteen years, he was standing in his homeland once more.

And for the first time since the fall of Dalamud, he felt hope.

[ryxmas]

for the wol think thonkers, 4, 8, 11, 18, 24, 27! i know its been a minute so i can link you the post again if you need it lol

4. What do they do in their down time? Do they have any hobbies outside of Primal-slaying and world-saving? Are these lifelong hobbies or recent interests?

The main thing is that Solara's a tinkerer! Before he came to Eorzea, he was working under (and eventually became) a Goldsmith in Kugane. It’s something he picked up when he was in his teens after seeing these items at Reunion from a foreign merchant that no one was interested in buying. So some of his downtime in ARR was spent with the Goldsmith's guild. Some of it translated well to machinery which he also found himself drawn to, especially after his time with the Skysteel Manufactory. A lot of his ARR and HW and early StB post patch was spent learning from and working with the Ironworks and Skysteel Manufactory. Which contributes to why those groups know him better than the Scions for most of the story. When shit really hits the fan and he doesn’t have the time to work with either the Ironworks or the Manufactory, he puts that creative energy towards his own weapons. Making and repairing stuff is how he eventually connects with the rest of the Crystarium. So some of the Crystalline Mean quests are canon since he does that during his recovery period in post ShB. And I imagine that he becomes a bit of an omnicrafter (sans Alchemist and Culinarian) over the game's timeline. I haven’t decided how post EW looks for him in terms of hobbies though. And I gotta think about some other smaller scale hobbies he might have lol. 

8. What is one of their biggest regrets? Has it had an effect on how they act moving forward, for better or worse?

Choosing just one of his biggest regrets is hard so here’s some back to back lol. There’s several that are kind of in the same ballpark. His behavior to the Scions during Shadowbringers are pretty up there (and more so the latter). And he works towards making amends throughout Shadowbringers post patch and Endwalker. Not quite as high of a regret are his interactions with Hien. He doesn’t regret interfering with Hien’s plans in Stormblood in the slightest, but he does know he took it a lot further than he reasonably should have, which is what he feels bad about specifically. And those two have a bumpier road to reconciliation. I've yet to explore how or if Solara's Myste would manifest (if they do) regarding his guilt over the people he could not save and the people whose lives he unintentionally negatively affected. And among his regrets competing for the top spot are Haurchefant and Ysayle's deaths. He didn't get to know some of the others (e.g. Minfilia, Papalymo, and Moenbryda) to have massive regrets over them, but Haurchefant and Ysayle were some of his closest friends during that point in time. And because Solara only becomes a tank after Heavensward, I think it would make sense if he picked up tanking specifically because of Haurchefant and Ysayle (both of whom are tanks) dying. But these events (and honestly Ishgard as a whole) feeds into his general distrust of city state leaders when he knows they’re hiding things, which affects his perception of and behavior towards Hien and the Exarch later down the line. And I want to say that especially after Ysayle dies is when Solara becomes a lot more hesitant to connect with new people in his life, at least until ShB post patch. 

11. Despite everything, is it still you? Has the core of who they are as a person remained true through everything, or have they been changed by what they've experienced and learned, for better or worse? 

No. Solara has pretty solidly changed on two major facets (and Shadowbringers was his "get torn down and rebuilt from the rubble" arc). The first is that events of the story wore away the ambition that he had before he came to Eorzea. And the way his initial dream of “I want to Khan and Khagan” became such a shitfest that he’s very averse to both ideas now. I need to figure out how long Solara is Khagan because the Naadam is a yearly event. While he doesn't want to, for the sake of being involved in the politics of the region, he might continue to participate until some time in Endwalker/Endwalker post patch where he decides to stop being involved in the Naadam (because I HC that each expansion is roughly one year). And even after EW, I think Solara is a bit aimless now that there isn’t a giant existential crisis. He’s picked up the pieces of his interpersonal life and has made a lot of repairs, but hasn’t really figured out what he wants for himself. The other is that Solara becomes a lot more selfless and heroic as a result of everything. This is a “The mask becomes him” situation where there was a lot of heroism that Solara did early on that grated against him because he thought that’s what he should do in his position (and what he thought his brother would do) and not necessarily what he wanted to do. But it slowly does just become the way he naturally thinks and sees things. Like I imagine early Solara to have thought processes similar to ARR Alphi, he just didn’t act on them because he’s just more aware of how to handle people and that behavior doesn’t suit the WoL image he was trying to craft. And I also have to give a lot of credit to the twins for inspiring him in this regard, especially Alphinaud because Solara sees so much of himself in Alphinaud that there’s a level of “Alphinaud grew and learned and succeeded in a way Solara wished he did”. And that’s not a tone of envy, but of deep admiration and beaming pride. 

18. How do they feel about the work they do? As the Warrior of Light they're tasked with quite a lot of violence, is it something that comes naturally to them or do they resist it? Are they merciless, do they try to spare as many lives as they can, or do they fall somewhere in between?

The first part of this question is already loaded, damn LOL. But I don't think Solara likes being the WoL. He'd really rather it wasn't him, but this is what the situation is and he has to deal with it. He likes helping people, or perhaps more accurately he's grown to liking it. He likes that he's making a difference. But he wishes at the end of the day, it didn't end up all falling to him. 

As for the questions regarding violence, I honestly think Solara's indifferent to it. To a large extent, violence has always been a part of Solara's life or at least hanging over him as a specter. From his mother taking him to flee the Garlean occupation of Doma, to growing up on the Steppes and losing his adoptive brother during a Naadam, to even the fact that his heritage from Doma is that of being bodyguards to the royal family. He just takes it as a fact of life and in a fucked up way, it comes naturally to him when he’s in a situation that calls for it. He isn't going out of his way to take lives, but he isn't making an effort to spare people (unless told to). Not including extreme cases like Zenos, (so mostly talking about foot soldiers on the opposite side of the battlefield here) it makes little difference to him if he takes someone out by killing them or knocking them out. With some exceptions I can think of being parts of StB (e.g. anything on the Steppes and also he might be more careful to not kill soldiers that might be conscripted from the nations he's trying to help free) and fighting tempered after they find a cure. 

24. How do they feel about Hydaelyn? What was their perception of the Mothercrystal in the beginning, and how did that change by the end, if at all?

I haven't put too much thought into Solara's belief system to be honest, or if he's even a religious person. I don't know if it makes sense for him to pay any mind to Hydaelyn until the initial calls though. And the initial calls from Hydaelyn and awakening the Echo were pretty distressing to him. And he's always had a buried fear that he might actually be tempered somehow due to Ifrit's comment back in ARR and the uncertain nature of the Echo. This fear only gets exacerbated during ShB. And also after shit hits the fan during late ARR post patch with Moenbryda dying because he doesn't have the Blessing of Light at that moment and then Minfilia disappears and becomes the Word of the Mother, Solara has a largely negative opinion of Hydaelyn for most of the story. And then Hydaelyn remains silent, which doesn’t help the situation. But contextualizing this over what he learns in Endwalker and thinking about Hydaelyn in the context of Venat makes everything click for him. He likes, trusts, and understands Venat. He retains complicated feelings over everything, but he doesn't have an explicitly negative opinion anymore. Because Venat the Ancient who chose what she thought was the best possible action in a slew of only terrible choices is a lot more easy to accept and forgive than Hydaelyn the faceless, unacting, Mothercrystal who intervened once to keep her weapon alive but not any of his allies. Hydaelyn made Solara feel like a tool and a puppet and Venat made him feel like a friend and accomplice, which made all the difference. 

27. How well known are they? Does everyone know their name as the Warrior of Light, or have they managed to maintain some level of anonymity? Do they prefer it that way, and do they have any struggles resulting from it? (Getting stopped on street corners VS awkwardly avoiding questions.)

Solara being a max height Au Ra is just going to get noticed lol. Especially since there aren't many of them outside of the Eastern regions, which are the regions he's most often in anyways lol. I don't think he can go anywhere after Stormblood, and especially after Endwalker, without being noticed. So it's probably an “everyone knows his name” situation, especially in the East because he was a political figure there for some time. He does wish he retained some anonymity but people generally leave him be. His resting bitch face is canon and deters a good number of people off. And also his (self) destructive behavior during Stormblood post patch was pretty public and also scared many people off. It's one of those situations where the people that do talk and interact with him (which are often children) say he's nice and friendly (late Stormblood post patch excluded) and everyone else is like ??????

[amdapor-keep]

according to my observations, in ffxiv most of the patches have a singular focus. heavensward has ishgardian unrest, then specter of nidhogg, then soul surrender, then stormblood prelude set up in a pretty linear fashion, and stormblood, shadowbringers, and now endwalker keep that set up. Something that I like about post-ARR is that the patches don’t necessarily have a singular focus. I’m not 100% on where the patches split up, I’m just going by achievements, but the continued ascian threat, move to mor dhona because of ul’dahn interference, and moggle mog were all in one patch, arrival of the doman refugees and leviathan were grouped together (intro to teledji, primal menace) and the riots in ul’dah were grouped together with ramuh, and the concept of an ascian prison was introduced there too. Rather than focusing on one plotline at a time post-ARR sticks its hand inside and swirls them all together and I really love that as a prelude to the banquet. As things get worse toward the end of post-ARR you really get the sensation that something awful is happening in the background but more urgent things keep popping up and youre distracted until everything falls apart explosively....... I like it

[eemamminy-art]

I saw your response about ships and decided to see what you thought about some of the rare ones I like! I thiiiink you encountered these at one point on the book club but perhaps not.

Nero/Solus(rehydrated)

Nero/Exarch

Nero/m!wol

Varis/wol

Emet/Exarch/Nero

The Chais/wol

The Chais/Innocence (these here and below literally just occurred to me, but...)

The Chais/Exarch

The Chais/Emet

Innocence/Exarch

I'm actually not in the bookclub! But I have heard mention of some of these pairs!!

There's a lot here so I'll do a cut :3

Nero/Solus

When you say rehydrated I'm assuming you mean like, the more youthful Solus? I think if anything Nero would be way too fascinated by the allagan cloning and it was just irritate Solus gjdsgjds I could see them as like fwb but without the friends part lol colleagues with benefits I guess?? I get the sense Nero has a really hard time being emotionally vulnerable but likes to have fun physically at least

Nero/Exarch

Okay omg... I have to tell you... I had this like cracked AU idea before that like, Nero ended up as the exarch instead?? Like since he was really trying to stay inside the tower at the end of the CT quests I was like hey what if he did... So I don't think it's a stretch to imagine they both ended up in there! Hundreds of years of isolation with just the two of them, I think they'd spend a lot of time deep in their research and work but would eventually develop some sort of codependency. I think that would be interesting to see! :D

Nero/m!wol

I think it would depend on the wol's backstory but I think it could be interesting! Wol/npc stuff is always tricky to navigate because I think where it's great with one wol it doesn't work with another, so I think it's a bit hard to answer since one half of the ship is always going to be up to interpretation since it's an OC. But I think just looking at it from Nero's perspective, I could see it starting as another competitive sort of thing with Cid-- feeling like he's stealing the wol away from him, whether or not Cid had romantic interest in the wol or not, but just wanting to claim something against him in their neverending rivalry. I do like that you specified m!wol too because I can't imagine Nero with a woman personally

Varis/wol

So I actually do ship Varis with an OC! Not the wol though, the OC is Zenos' mom although I know technically she does have a name in canon now but I pretend I do not see it lol. It's a really tragic ship the way I do it because it leans into azemet kind of, where she wasn't Azem but was an ancient who was with Emet and is now sundered and married to Varis. To kind of compound their already bad family dynamic and make Emet sadder lol (affectionate).

But speaking of Varis specifically with the wol, I think that could be really interesting too! I think back to that scene in the stormblood patches where he absolutely owns the whole alliance and they're all scrambling like oh shit we actually know next to nothing about this guy what the fuck dsgjsdj iconic scene and one of my favorite parts of the game, but I would want to think that's where there's a turning point for the wol. They're like fascinated with him and feel so conflicted about everything. I think it would be a really good launching point for an AU where the wol switches sides and I would love to see it :D

Emet/Exarch/Nero

Well I love Emet/Exarch already so I think adding Nero into the mix would be interesting as well! I feel like it would be a combination of my answers above for Nero/Solus and Nero/Exarch. Possibly brings out the vindictive shitty side of Nero if he was already getting codependent with the Exarch (I could see him acting that way toward the wol as well) and I think it would be a really destructive relationship for the three of them. But that's sort of the appeal of Emet/Exarch anyway imo, that they make each other worse and I think adding Nero to that would just compound it

The Chais/others

I will combine these all into one answer because it is going to be the same (possibly disappointing) one: I love the Chais but I really don't see them having an open relationship. I feel this way about the Leveilleurs too, and I know it's popular with both of them to have it be an open relationship. I am just really passionate about being a monogamous wifeguy and so I absolutely project that onto m/f ships gdsjgjds Extremely weak for the devoted husband who is kind of insufferable otherwise but he's just a gooey sweetheart with his wife 🥺 it's too relatable for me so I can't bring myself to ship it as poly due to it having that personal sort of connection for me. I'm sorry!! 😭

Innocence/Exarch

I hadn't thought of this before but it's an interesting thought 👀 Sort of like a bad end scenario, I feel like? The Exarch was ready to throw himself away in that moment so why not let himself be corrupted? Or consumed? My brain immediately goes to body horror type of stuff for them and it's a lovely thought, I will need to ponder this one more ☺

I hope you found my thoughts on these interesting! Thanks for the ask! I definitely hadn't considered a lot of these before!!

[ferrocyan]

bit messy tart and zenos talk under the cut

the entire reason tart started adventuring was to be a hero, the biggest damn hero if possible, bc heroes don't get forgotten and cast aside. but there is a downside to this: the bigger you are, the less of a person you become to other people. youre not you anymore but Something Else. that something is free for other people to define, and suddenly it doesnt matter to them if you stand with good, if its convenient to them then youre evil now. people can just say you murdered the sultana for power and, well, of course thats true. but then. the good side applies this too? of course youd fight for them, youre the hero! and isnt it better to be assumed to be on the good guys side? theyre your friends, too. but this sure has stopped being about you, and instead about The Hero, huh?

thats kinda how tart feels during stormblood i think. not that this is what the expansion is about!! but like she just doesnt belong there idk. shes got her reasons to fight the empire ofc but like.. the fight isnt about her. and it rly feels like shes just there to fight for the other characters thanks to the writing around duties.. i dont hate it ftr but like by the time we fight lakshmi its like whew the wol is rly just here for yalls convenience lol

not saying this makes stormblood bad btw my wol does nawwwt need to be the main character when theres imperialism to be defeated. This Is About Post Colonialism People. i get stormblood dw. and like i wouldve just dealt w my wol being sidelined... if it wasnt for zenos

because for all that tart has ceased to be a person before a hero to the world, the same doesnt apply to zenos. no shes not a person to him either, but "fellow warrior" is close enough.

tart genuinely likes zenos. knowing that he recognizes something in her thats the same as him, that rly lit a fire tart hasnt felt in a while. theyre very close matches: if anyone can survive zenos, its tart, if anyone can kill tart, its zenos. theyre equals! man it feels good to have an equal. when it feels like even your friends are using you, its nice to have something that feels real.

except its not. because its worse! tart isnt a person to zenos. shes not the hero either. "fellow warrior" doesnt mean friend. it means "a source of dopamine".

shinryu is such a betrayal. its not about them fighting as warriors anymore. zenos is a dragon now. and like, fuck, at this point tart the hero cant even be faced by a person anymore, its gotta be a dragon. youve moved so far from being a human!! she could shrug off thordans "what the fuck are you" accusation last expansion, but not anymore!! if even zenos has to become a dragon to fight her then tart is for real some kind of abomination of nature.

when zenos kills himself that is it. theres no chance for tart to go back being human now. its painfully clear already. thats why she cuts contact w the world afterwards. being a hero is the only thing that exists for you. dont bother trying to be a person when youre not one anymore

(and like it couldve been fine. shed be fine w that if it means she can still realize her goal: helping alphinaud achieve his dreams. as long as alphinaud is there it doesnt matter--

stb patches: oops your boy is gone

well fuck!!)

[myreia]

1 or 17 for Aureia? 👀

Thank you, Rue! 💗

17. What is the worst thing you have put your OC through story-wise?

Ooooo, well, outside of XIV plot events in general, it would be Aureia's backstory and her behaviour throughout most of Heavensward and Stormblood.

Her backstory, briefly:

She and her twin, Kallias, were born in Corvos to military research scientists working for the Garlean military. They were moved around a lot as children as their parents were moved from post to post, following orders from their superiors. When Aureia's natural magical talents manifested, she was told to suppress them as her parents didn't want her to cause problems for them or their place in the military. There were talks of her eventually becoming an Imperial signifier, but her mother had a whole different idea.

Throughout their teen years, Aureia (then under her birth name, Kira) were groomed to be operatives. Their team was sanctioned for operation when they were 18, a process which involved passing the scrutiny and testing of Zenos. They spent almost a decade in the field working against Garlemald's enemies until the Calamity - the massive amount of life lost made her question her upbringing and everything she knew, eventually leading her to defect. She fought Kallias personally the night she left, and thought she fatally wounded him.

She fled to Eorzea, shed her identity and her history, took up the name Aureia Malathar and landed in Ul'dah to hide among the refugees. Her early days in the city were spent in fear that her former unit would track her down and kill her for defecting. That confrontation didn't occur until well after she was established as the Warrior of Light.

As for HW and SB, I keep pressing the "make it worse" button because she's an absolute mess.

Losing the Scions and getting exiled from the one place she called home really did a number on her and it had ramifications for her mental health throughout most of HW base. Sidurgu is one of the few people she actually forms a bond with in HW; there's a bit of confused feelings there that neither of them act on since she's too afraid of a relationship to actually do anything with it.

By the HW patches, she is very emotionally confused, uncertain where she stands with Thancred, watching Aymeric fall in love with her although she can't understand why. She and Thancred spend a good amount of time being generally nasty to each other. She starts a relationship with Aymeric because she pushes herself to do so; while she cares about him a great deal, the relationship was always a little uneven because he loved her more than she loved him.

Fast-forward to Stormblood. Aureia's filled with righteous rage, desperate to kill Zenos since he symbolizes her past to her, and she's got it in her head that if she kills him, then she kills her past and Kira can stay dead for good. When that doesn't happen, she ends up in a downwards spiral. She pushes Aymeric away; their relationship doesn't formally end, but it is strained.

She has a very brief fling with Fordola, one of the only people she has opened up to about her past and with whom she can actually be herself. It's a one-time thing that happens accidentally because her mind is in a really bad spot, but she's wracked with guilt about it because she and Aymeric are on such rocky ground and she still loves him, but she doesn't know how to talk to him anymore.

She spends a significant amount of time with Sidurgu and Rielle inbetween SB patches. He's a breath of fresh air, she loves Rielle dearly and is deeply protective of her (relates a little too much with having a mother who wants you dead), and it's good to be isolated from all of the political ongoings. Her mind is its most clear when she is with them, but that also means that all of the buried feelings come bubbling back up. She and Sid have a very brief relationship before she calls it off because she doesn't want to hurt him and she knows that if they started anything in earnest, the foundation would always be cracked because she hasn't properly ended things with Aymeric.

The SB patches is when Aureia is at her absolute worst. She has a very hard time sorting out her emotions and figuring out where she stands when she's balancing who she is now against who she was formerly. It's all one big jumbled identity crisis and unfortunately people she loves very dearly get caught in the crossfire.

Some very hard truths need to come out before she can get better.

[edgy/misc ask meme]

[bonsaibnuuy]

so i was thinking about gearing in xiv

i feel like with the set of content we have right now (that being exploration zones, savage, ultimates, and alliance raids), the gear structure could (and should) be changed to make progression a bit more horizontal. being able to do difficult content or long grinds and get worthwhile gear that could be bis (and having multiple outlets to get good gear) is a good thing, and i wish square would see it as such

savage gear could probably be the same as it is now - ilvl 665 (6.4 numbers, of course) gear that's better than most stuff out there.

however. there should be gear that's on par with savage that's just as difficult to get - whether that be through content that's just as difficult (criterion savage) or through a super long grind (exploration zones). a potential patch structure could look like this:

x.0 - raid tier, usual savage gear

x.05 - criterion savage, alternate left side gear with different stats

x.1 - alliance raid, more alternate left side gear that's slightly worse - more of a catch-up, like it is now, but a bit higher in ilvl. closer to savage, maybe 5 ilvl below?

x.15 - another criterion savage, alternate right side gear with different stats, with an alternate way to get tome augment materials

repeat from there until whenever the exploration zone comes out, where relic is started and becomes bis at the end of the expansion, but with a relic gearset that evolves with it, and some pieces become bis at the end of the expansion. eureka did this well, i think - i remember BLU specifically having elemental gloves of casting +2 as bis for one of the sets (and that counts as another point for stormblood being the best expansion gameplay-wise i think)

i feel like having a more horizontal progression, with savage being the main focus (as it comes out before anything else), could be really beneficial to the game, not just because it lets more players get geared - it also provides players with more things to look forwards to and more things to do in the downtime between patches. done with savage? wait until the .x5 patch and then get some more gear that could be better!! want to get in to savage next tier, but don't have the gear for it? do criterion and the alliance raids to get left and right sides and augmented tome materials and catch up!

the mentality that good gear should be savage raid tier exclusive kinda sucks. i really wish they'd consider having more outlets to get stuff like this - i feel like it'd bring a lot of life to the game in downtime where it needs it most and would be a lot of fun for players who want to grind and get that best gear at all times, and it'd give a lot of incentive to do all the content in the game

[semi-imaginary-place]

ffxiv 4.1

why's kugane the hub city for stormblood. Narratively Ishgard made sense for Heavensward because Heavensward is the story of Ishgard and the location features prominently in the plot. However the story of Stormblood is the story of Doma and Ala Mhigo's fight for independence if anything the two cities should have unlocked after beating 4.0. Kugane also makes a bizarre choice for a hub city from a lore perspective given how Hingashi is known to be isolationist

msq time! yeah i was wondering about the leadership question for ala mhigo. narrative direction seems to be going towards lyse but i do not think lyse makes a good leader and then she'd have to drop out of the plot and scions. politically raubahn makes a lot of sense for reasons i have already stated so far the writers haven't hinted they're going down this path

I wonder is skalla preserved anything the same way the dead sea scrolls were preserved by the salt.

the choices foldora's parents made mirror some of the choices we saw the domans made in that it really was the only way to survive, but doing so also further ensnared their nation as a whole and worsened the lived of everyone. watching your kind loving father get stoned to death by an angry mob would traumatize anyone really. its foldora's mom that has completely bought into the garlean propoganda and when its perfect that when she goes to them for protection when she needs then the most the garleans let her husband die to the mob and her daughter be stoned.

and how do you think the non hyur or the beastmen feel. i understand her mother though, she sold out ala mhigo so to protect foldora so that her daughter wouldn't be conscripted and wouldn't be forced to fight and there she goes joining the army anyways.

this probably got the strongest emotional reaction out of me out of the entire game so far

oh we are having a raubahn arc! as much as raubahn makes sense as a leader ala mhigo would unify under there's a lot waiting back for him in uldah. he's got many positions and responsibilities from the flames to the syndicate. his son is there and nanamo is basically his daughter. but at the same time they're both grown and pipin has proven himself capable of leading the flames.

can I say that nanamo's really brave. she's not a fighter she got fake assassinated/poisoned for months and she still wants to participate in politics.

you want me to go to the literal other side of the world to talk to a merchant instead of literally anyone in uldah the city of merchants. besides the east alderd trading company is run by lolorito you can't walk 3 steps without running into one of lolorito's men in ul'dah.

oooh girl do not help the monopoly. you got the advice now look for smaller salt businesses.

I'm surprised by the lack of fighting in this patch. i guess this is a shift in game design from arr where they wanted you to fight everything. for example in salt town the devs could have had you demonstrate to wildred how to kill monsters instead of just pointing out the weakpoints.

hmm so in the end it was personal. nanamo saved raubahn's life by chance but that was likely one of the darkest periods of his life and he swore an oath. if only the paladin quests could be this interesting.

representative government! republic! (ahhhh now if only doma did the same...). i do like how they showed a little bit of the messiness because real world tends to be messier. most irl revolutions devolve quickly into a series of worse military dictatorships.

huh what happened to that bit about letting him choose. i mean i guess raubahn felt like he had to honor his oath instead of doing what he actually wanted.

hmmm. wait we're not putting raubahn to work. he's one of the best generals on the continent if not the world and ala mhigo is in need of 1. an army given eorzea's stance on garlemald. 2. any sort of law enforcement, security, or organization given the power vaccum left by the imperials. 3. really any security look what just happened at the first council meeting. 4. governance raubahn has experience on the syndicate now too. oh no i wouldn't let him go back to being any old mercenary you aren't getting away.

yeah good they putting raubahn to work.

the rooftop garden is still intact? didn't the battle with zenos and the giant primal trash the place. hey there's a unique chamber orchestra arrangement of the ala mhigo theme up here.

[xiv-wolfram]

Monsters - Comic Script

Stormblood - Patch 4.2

Wolfram does a better job dealing with Yotsuyu's abuser than Hien did. :)

TW: Yotsuyu's past, mention of past forced prostitution, choking, violence

Wolfram Saga Comics (Chronological)

This is the script for a future comic. Posting for those who don’t want to wait to get the story. Numbers indicate frame number. A/B mean a frame is split.

Wolfram, Alisae, Gosetsu, Hien, Alphinaud, and Yugiri standing in a circle in The House of the Fierce. Wolfram stands opposite Hien, next to Alisae and Yugiri. Narrator - "Wolfram is in Doma and was tasked with finding a man named Jifuya who had abandoned his post only to discover that he was one of Yotsuyu's abusers. The man who had bought her from her father and forced her to work in his brothel. He ran away out of fear for her and wants a new post for his own protection."

Hien pondering - "Gosetsu told me Jifuya's tale. His past conduct was...regrettable. But the man has served the Liberation Front with distinction for years, and that should not be forgotten. He will have his new post." Wolf standing with his arms crossed. Angry, Thought - 'What I won't forget is the man who just - on recounting when he first met Yotsuyu - referred to a traumatized young woman as a doll.'

Wolfram tightens his jaw and clenches his fist, yet remains quiet. Thought - 'Of course - a royal happy to keep the status quo. Why did I expect any different from this one?'

Hien looks resigned to his decision - "I would not presume to defend the life Jifuya led before he joined the Front. Nor will I condemn it. Frankly, it is not my place to judge. I will only say this: the Jifuya I know has ever been a man of courage. That he should feel driven to flee bespeaks the depth of his terror. Even now, Yotsuyu casts a shadow over the realm…"

A) Alisae looks shocked. B) Yugiri's eyes narrow.

A) Wolfram puts a hand on Alisae's shoulder. She looks up at him with a concerned expression. B) He nods. 

It's night time. Jifuya walks down a path in Yanxia. Wolfram leaning against a tree down the path from him drinking from his flask. 

Jifuya stops in front of Wolfram and smiles - "Oh, is the Warrior of Light here to escort me safely? I'm on my way to my new post, yet these parts are still dangerous."

Wolf smirks and puts his flask away - "Aye, I'm here for you. Don't worry, it's about to get much less dangerous around here."

Wolf speaking casually and smiling as they walk along the road - "I suppose it was a surprise to see Yotsuyu after so long. You're lucky to have been given a new post. Hien was certainly …understanding."

Jifuya smiles - "Yes, he is a great leader. We're lucky to have him." Wolf scoffs. 

Wolf smiles sadly, looking around at the scenery - "You know - I had a little sister once… a long time ago. I wonder how she would have fared if my parents had been allowed to through with their plan of trading her to that Garlean officer. In a way… marriage is -"

A) Jifuya eyeing Wolf with confusion. B) Wolf looks down the path, straight face - "Well, *that kind* of marriage - is selling a woman to a man she doesn't want. In Yotsuyu's case it was worse - several men."

Wolf ponders, scratching his head - "I suspect men. It's usually them after all - yet the details matter not. I did assume that Ana would have rather died than suffer that life… but I can't truly know. Perhaps she would have become like Yotsuyu instead?"

They reach a bridge. Wolf beams - "This will do nicely. Let us rest a while."

Jifuya smiles - "Alright then. I'm sure we've both had a long day. I feel a bit guilty - you being out here when you could be resting."

Wolf gives him a friendly smile and pats him on the shoulder - "Worry not! I have time for you." Jifuya smiles back. 

A) Wolf leans against the bridge railing, looking up at the sky, pondering - "You make a good point though…I'm not a young man. Neither of us are." B) Wolf turns his head to look at Jifuya - "I've seen quite a bit of the world. Something I've come to believe is this - Monsters like Yotsuyu, more often than not, aren't born. They're made. Made by other monsters."

Jifuya leaning against the bridge, nods sadly, looking at the ground - "Unfortunately, I agree."

Wolf continues, not acknowledging the other man's words, smiling sadly - "That's how I was made after all. The Garleans were my monsters. Still are... I won't claim complete innocence but they certainly were the catalyst for my literal transformation from man to beast. I wonder how many monsters I've created as well…"

Jifuya  confused - "What do you mean … you're the Warrior of Light. You're a hero. You save people."

Wolf beams - "Aye, that's true! It's my favorite part of the job. I save someone and I feel a bit of the monster inside me die off instead. Just a small bit. Not enough to truly change what I am. Yet perhaps over time it will be… not in *his* lifetime but perhaps in mine. If what they say about the Echo is true…" 

A) Wolf, scoffs and takes a swig from his flask. B) Jifuya stares at him in confusion - "I'm sorry sir, but you're not making sense."

Wolf laughs charmingly as he slips the flask back into his jacket - "Aye, I have a habit of thinking out loud like that. My apologies -"

Wolf smiles and stands in front of Jifuya - "Heroes and monsters. I used to think people were one or the other. Good or bad. Now I'm not so sure. After all - I chose to be a hero despite my past."

Zoomed out shot. Wolf chuckles - "Hells, I was even made the Warrior of Light! Though if that was reward or curse is a question I have no answer for."

Wolf smiles - "Activating the blessing certainly has its benefits. Enhanced strength - for instance. Yet one thing is clear. I am a monster, but I am also a hero. And you know what heroes do?"

A) Jifuya looks up at him still confused - "Well I suppose they -" B) Wolf scoffs at the man as he briefly glows white.

A) Zoomed out shot. Wolf holds out his arm, grabbing Jifuya by the neck. B) Close shot. Wolf smiles sadly - "They kill monsters."

Jifuya scared - "No! P-Please I've changed!"

Wolf smiles sadly and shrugs - "That very well may be - and yet I have no way of knowing for sure. I've read people wrong before. It cost many lives as well as the arm of the best man I know. Unfortunately for you - you weren't a thug, a thief, or a small-time murderer. You just so happened to do the one thing I cannot seem to overlook or give a second chance to."

Jifuya surprised - "Over a couple of girls several years ago?! Some pretty dolls with lifeless eyes? You won't get away with this! They'll know I'm gone!"

Wolf lifts the Hyur with one hand, holds him over the railing and grins - "Aye, for some *women* who you couldn't even be bothered to treat like people. As for you being found - I'm counting on it. They'll notice you're gone and come to search for you again. Hells, maybe they'll ask for my help this time too. And do you know what they'll find?"

Jifuya struggling, pulling at Wolfs hands with both of his, trying to cry out, but Wolf's grip is tighter.

A) Wolf smirks - "A coward who fled for the second time and managed to break his neck falling over a bridge." B) Jifuya stares at Wolf in horror.

A) Wolf breaks his neck with one hand. B) Wolf let's his body drop over the side of the bridge. *thud*

Shot of the broken body on the ground below.

A) Wolf scoffs - "That felt better than expected. Must mean I was right." B) Takes another drink from the flask. 

Dark ominous shot of Wolf walking down the empty path alone.

Wolfram Saga Comics (Chronological)

[the-rogue-mockingjay]

Worst Part/Best Part of Ravi’s MSQ journey so far—GO!

OKAY UHHH. ALL OF IT

Jk LMAO

We're making a sandwich out of this, we gonna start with aspects of MSQ that she likes, put all the MSQ shit she hates in the middle, and then we're gonna end with which sections of MSQ she enjoyed the most! :> Buckle up, friends, and let me spin you a bit of O'ravi's tale! 🥪☕

Best part of MSQ, as in "the aspects she likes the most": getting to meet such a huge variety of people, see all these incredible vistas, making a positive impact on people's lives, the friends she's made along the way, just- the incredible depths of love that she gets to experience. In some ways, it's her ultimate dream come true- she set out to become a minstrel, she wanted to see the heart of humanity, to learn of other cultures, she wanted to just...it's hard to put into words, but she wanted to live life to the fullest. To experience fully, to understand fully, it's sort of like- you know how Y'shtola's dream is to uncover the truths and secrets that lie at the heart of the world? O'ravi's dream is very very similar, except instead of being like, based on knowledge of the star, it's centered around people- their histories, their folklores and languages and songs, the love and loss and hope, the rage and sorrow and despair. O'ravi loves the star, but her truest love has always been people, not unlike Venat. And being the WoL is the only path that allows this dream to be reality.

Worst part of MSQ, as in "the aspects of it she doesn't like": she has a whole ass list and it is LONG. Really long, and it includes watching people die, people using her for their own political ends, having to put up with people she fucking hates, being everyone's Ace In The Hole, people making her play the kingmaker, people acting entitled to her time and energy (this is the biggest reason why she currently dislikes and distrusts Wuk Lamat T^T*), having to kill people literally constantly, the pain that all the fighting leaves her in and the toll it takes on her mind and body (she used to ignore it/not give a shit but she can't do that anymore)... Long story short, there is a Reason(TM) why she's a dark knight ldfkjghdkjgh, and she might be a paladin now but that doesn't mean she's hung up the greatsword. Far from it. (She has hung up Shattered Heart (formerly Zephirin's sword) though, much to Aymeric's relief fdklgjhdkgj. Not sure what sword is her main one now.)

*IT'S NOT REALLY WUK'S FAULT, O'RAVI IS JUST REALLY FUCKED UP AND HAS BEEN BURNT TOO MANY TIMES BEFORE 😭 I believe that she means well and is just overenthusiastic but O'ravi 100% does not, tbh she almost resents Wuk Lamat for sins that she hasn't even committed yet, just on account of the way she, like, approached O'ravi like the fact that she was gonna agree to help her was already a done deal and assumed the answer would be "sure let's go" without really even considering the possibility that she could - and had the right to - say no....

Worst part of MSQ, as in "time that sucked the most": base Endwalker and Stormblood (base + patches). Somehow those ended up being a lot worse and a lot harder than post-Vault Heavensward, because at least in Heavensward she had the support of her friends and the Fortemps, it was a conflict she had very personal stakes in and no one was forcing her to be there (unlike SB), and she had hope that she could save Estinien. Endwalker was just....a different can of worms which I'm putting under a cut in a bit.

Stormblood was bad because she absolutely did NOT want anything to do with that war and she didn't believe for a second that winning it was possible (Nidhogg and the Horde had reasons she could understand and she was still semi-naive and optimistic back then, but the Empire felt incomprehensible and unstoppable and she'd become extremely pessimistic by then). She just wanted to go back home to Ishgard and be left alone to grieve her friends. To sum up her biggest issue with Stormblood: Hien found it odd that she was dead silent most of the time, and he once asked for her thoughts about his plan to flood Doma Castle. Her answer amounted to "I don't have any thoughts because there's no point in thinking, it's not my job- I'm just here to be a good obedient weapon and kill whatever you tell me to. Why would I waste my time having an opinion on something when what I feel/think/need doesn't matter to anyone?"

Yeah it was really fucked up lfdkjgfdghldk. (For the record, I do like Stormblood, this is all just O'ravi's feelings about it, and they're extremely negative because it was the lowest point of her life by a landslide. She was overwhelmed by trauma and grief and it kind of broke her, she was afforded no time to process anything that happened before she was thrown into war as the Alliance's #1 Weapon. Her opinions are not my opinions, please don't come at me FKJGLHDKGJH)

Endwalker fucking sucked because uhh.....well. She held herself personally responsible for the Final Days. The rest of this is going under a cut!

It's kinda hard to get into details but between the time loop and the fact that she personally slew Zodiark, not only does she believe the blood of everyone who became blasphemies is on her hands, she also believes she doomed the Ancients - and Azem, personally - and sacrificed them on the altar to save her own people, her own timeline, her own life. She considers herself the root of all Final Days-related suffering and death both for the Ancients and for modern Etheirys, and the whole time she's practically praying that she'll be killed to end the Final Days. She believes that fate demands it- that all she is MUST die to redress the balance. If everyone else were to flee on the moon, she would be obligated to remain on Etheirys until the bitter end, because she caused this. She burned the world. All of it is her fault, she deserves to die, and there is no ending to this story in which she lives. For her to survive would be an affront to the gods, to fate, to the people she's wronged, to everyone that ever lived. She adamantly refuses to listen to anyone who says otherwise or any evidence to the contrary fgljkdhk.

I know in-game the narrative treats the concept of WoL becoming a blasphemy as kind of a joke because in what world would that ever happen lol, but uhhhh, it does almost happen to O'ravi after what I call her day from hell (the Final Days of Thavnair, where Ahewann dies and Matsya's friends are killed and he and his friends' baby almost turn to blasphemies, etc). She has a breakdown after the meeting with Shirabaht and the dignitaries, and it takes the combined efforts of Ardbert, Estinien, and probably Fray to stop her from turning. The guilt and self-loathing and sheer fucking stress from all that happening just turned into wholesale despair. It only happened that once, though.

The only reason Endwalker DOESN'T rank as being a worse time for her than Stormblood is, ironically, her unshakeable belief that she had to die at the end. Because dying at the end was her best shot at redemption and atonement, and the thought of being able to atone, even if only in part, became the hope she could hold onto. She wasn't sure if she could save Etheirys, but being able to give it her absolute all without the distraction of being worried about her survival was sort of a saving grace sdkjfhlkdjgh. Idk it's weird!!! It's a lot!!! It was a bad weird time!!!

Her other saving grace was whatever the fuck she had going on with Aymeric FKGJHDFLJGHD. That's a post for another day but the tl;dr of it is they had a sort of star-crossed lovers thing going, she threw caution to the wind and decided to kiss him and be open about how much she loved him despite the fact that they'd never get to be together the way they both wanted, they were sort of just making the most of the scraps of time they had because time was running out

Best part of MSQ, as in "time she enjoyed the most": ARR patches and the first round of ShB patches. The ARR patches were her highest point for a long time, she had everything she wanted, all the adventure and purpose and thrills she could ever want. It was also before grief shattered her and she was made to pick up the pieces, before most of her idealism and hope was ripped away from her. It wasn't perfect, though, much as she used to think it was.

The first round of ShB patches were for the most part such a joyful time? Norvrandt never for a moment took her for granted the way Eorzea does, and they don't idolize her to the point of dehumanizing her either. There's a sort of kinship that she has with the people of the First, because they've known such horrible loss and kept on living anyway, same as she has. It's more of an even playing field, as it were. She can breathe easier there. She was also sort of drunk on the joy of being reunited with G'raha and the fact they both survived; the very complicated feelings she had about Emet and Amaurot were sort of buried under that fdlkgjhdgjk. She loved helping people, and then getting to go home to the Source and reunite with the people she thought she'd never get to see again (Aymeric, the Fortemps, and her family most of all!), and so that all outweighed the problems of Elidibus's Weird Stupid Bullshit by a lot. Most of the second round of ShB patches were good too, but she was so emotionally fucked up by the Seat of Sacrifice (as well as her own insecurities getting really bad) that she couldn't enjoy those as much.

tysm to anyone who read all this, and tysm for asking this meg!!!! this is probably more than you bargained for FGKJLDHGJH but you asked a very good question!!!!!!

[wildstar25]

Friendship charts \o/

Originals (x,x)

I feel like Arsay's is pretty self explanatory if you've been following her story/reading my texts posts about her. The scions are her family, even the ones listed as "close friends", I just didn't want to give everyone blue lol.

- Urianger is Arsay's most complicated relationship. Mostly due to the fact that she didn't really get what he was saying most of the time. She was distrusting of him due to what he did in the heavensward patches; even if it was for a good cause, Alisaie and the others could have been seriously hurt due the conflict Urianger forced upon the group. He regained her trust by the time of stormblood patches, but immediately lost it again in Shadowbringers. She was already upset he didn't fully inform her of the potential consequences of the light poisoning (not that knowing would have changed her mind or anything. she still would have taken down the wardens.). Then, after Mt.Gulg, Arsay would have probably launched herself at him claws out if she wasn't feeling so physically unwell. She felt completely manipulated. Like specifically in my canon of events, it's Urianger who pushes Arsay to confess to Y'shtola. Kind as it was at the time, it was hard not to feel like it was a ploy in hindsight. If she and Y'shtola were together, then G'raha's sacrifice would be easier for Arsay to swallow. Urianger coming at this from a place of genuine caring for his friend's feelings, per-emtively easing her from a broken heart. But instread of that, Arsay now has to deal with something even worse: confronting the fact she has feelings for both Y'shtola and G'raha and not being sure what to do about that. Not really something you want to be thinking about while also barely holding on to your humanity and trying to save the world.

Anyways, it's not until after they talk on the moon in endwalker that she feels like she can fully forgive Urianger and move forward as friends. She knows him and Thancred are together, so that kinda makes him like an older brother in law.

As an aside since it's on the arrow, Alisaie did have a crush on Arsay. Very much a normal teen crush where admiration quickly turns to infatuation. It started in coils, got worse by stormblood, and finally fizzed out by shadowbringers patches. Arsay being in an active relationship let Alisaie get over it fairly quickly, though she did give g'raha a hard time for a while. Now Alisaie is incredibly embarrassed by that crush and it's a "secret" she will take to the grave.

-

Lethe is just... not good at being close with people. So those friends on the list are pretty much her only friends, minus a convocation member or two. It doesn't really matter because by the final days she feels betrayed by all of them. But for a quick explanation:

She grew up with Hith and Hades. Hades eventually fell in love with her, but she could never return those kinds of feelings. They did travel together for a time after concluding their studies, and they did get intimate but Lethe approached it from a friends with benefits lens, while Hades could never properly express the depths of his feelings and just took what he could get. They parted ways when Lethe met Venat and was taken under her wing.

Venat was a great mentor to Lethe, which says a lot given how difficult of a person she was. Not just to teach but to be around with in general. Regardless Venat believed in Lethe and knew she could be a great Azem, she just also very much hoped that after some years of being in the position would give Lethe a wider perspective on life. After Venat met Arsay, she did not contact Lethe once and she placed a magic on herself that made her immune to the Azem summoning spell. It was a hard choice, but she had to do it.

The complications for meteion is more so that Lethe just happen to run into Hermes while he was still planning out his dynamis creation. Lethe spouted some really cryptic nonsense at him and made some "suggestions" on meteion's design. Mostly that it should be blue, instead of the dreary grey that Hermes was working with. I have a comic in the works for the interaction but I'd need to get back to it.

[silvaswiftcast]

FFxivWrite2023 Prompt #27: Sole

Characters: Silva Cataracta, Ricmorn Cataracta, and Hien Rijin

Rating: General

Notes: This scene takes place sometime between the ending of Stormblood Patch 4.0 and the start of Patch 4.1. Silva and Hien are not together yet, but they know there is an unexplainable connection between them. Ricmorn and Hien have already talked about it and he is fine with seeing where it goes. Silva is still in denial that she has romantic feelings for him because feelings/emotions are complicated. This is also a scene that will be going into my longfic about them, but will look different by the time I get around to writing it!

Content Warnings/Additional Tags: Pre-Polyamory Relationship (V Relationship), M/F/M relationship, Playful Teasing/Banter, Mentions of Childhood Trauma.

Silva walked around the barren plot of land marked off by high stone walls as Ricmorn and Hien talked, their voices fading into the background. Her long tail slowly swayed from side to side, deep in thought. She never knew this existed behind Kienkan — the training grounds obscuring the view for the most part. It was almost a shame. A part of her surprised the young lord didn’t request the walls to be knocked down as renovations continued in the Doman Enclave.

That was until she learned the reason why they remained standing.

“I have a request for you, my friend,” Hien told her as he guided them into the space. “I would like for you to build me a private garden. You would have free creative control over it, and when my duties aren’t so heavy, I would be more than happy to assist you.”

A private garden and the young Lord of Doma offering to help her make it… Who would have thought? Not Silva, that’s for sure. She couldn’t believe her horns when she heard the words leave him.

And yet, the more she roamed around, the more she could visualize it in her mind. Lush greeny and vibrant, fragrant blooms. Tall sakura and Far Eastern wisteria trees provide shade and cover from the elements, filling the air with their sweet scent as the breeze catches their petals. A winding stone pathway to walk freely on and leave the plant life undisturbed and benches to sit on and relax. A small koi pond with lily pads and horsetails decorating the calm waters. Maybe even a few patches dedicated to growing local fruits and vegetables all year long.

Gods and Kami knew she could transplant a lot of her own seedlings and saplings from her rooftop garden in Kugane into this one with ease. Unbeknownst to him, he would be doing her a favor.

It would look beautiful — a place Hien could claim as his own and rest without being bothered by his duties.

“So… what do you think, Silva?”

“...Hm?”

The Au Ra turned around at the sound of her name, her train of thought breaking. She blinked, finding curious hazel and sky-blue eyes watching her, heat flooding her cheeks when both men chuckled.

And the smirk Ricmorn wore only made it worse.

“A-apologies, Hien!” she stuttered, shooting a quick glare at her husband before giving her full attention to Hien. “I was elsewhere for a moment. Could you repeat your question for me?”

He dismissed her apology with a wave, offering her an understanding smile. “Nothing to worry about, my friend. I was wondering what your thoughts were about undertaking this not-so-little project I suddenly sprung on you,” he explained, taking a few steps closer. “It’s quite the challenge — starting from the ground up. And I know you and Ricmorn are still on a break from your Warrior of Light duties, pray know I wouldn’t fault you for turning the project down.

Ah—

A soft hum left her. “I must say, I’m still surprised you came to me first for this. And I won’t lie to you. I already have several ideas on how to fill this space.”

As if she wasn’t used to challenges.

“Fair!” he laughed, amusement shining in his gaze. “But when I think of someone who has a great deal of knowledge when it comes to botany, you are the first person who comes to mind. One who is highly recommended by several members of her family.”

The unexpected compliment made her heart flutter, a rush of warmth filling her chest. She looked off to the side, toeing the point of her leather boot into the dirt. “The lot of you flatter me,” she mumbled. “Over a hobby, nonetheless.”

“A hobby we all know you take great pride in, my dear,” Ricmorn added, crossing his arms. “Something you have spent years perfecting.”

“Something that I used solely as a distraction from my troubles and depressive thoughts,” she corrected.

And yet it was something she continued with — that she loved. How it reminded her of better days with her mother, feeling the dirt crumble between her fingers and toes. Watching in pure childlike wonder as seeds turned into rich green sprouts, sprouts turning into lush plants sprouting colorful vegetables.

The joy glowing on people’s faces as they shared anything extra from their harvest to those more in need in their little village in Doma was something she would never forget.

How she still did that today.

“But… that’s not the only reason why I enjoy gardening, not anymore.”

Ricmorn raised an eyebrow, his beige tail twitching. “Sounds as if you’ve already made your mind up, Silv.”

“Perhaps,” she mused, taking another look around. “I’d certainly have my work cut out for me on top of everything else — helping to rebuild the Enclave, running all over the star for gods’ know what, personal matters.”

But she knew already there was no time limit on this project, that she could take her time with it and make sure it became everything she envisioned. She didn’t want to let Hien down. He meant so much to her. He was…

A friend — a very, very good friend. Not a handsome man who had somehow wormed his way into her heart and mind over the last several months and decided to stay there, plucking at the delicate strings of her feelings and thoughts.

He could never be— They could never be more than—

“You said I would have creative freedom to do as I please with this space, and there’s no rush to have it finished promptly, yes?” she asked the young lord after clearing her throat. She silently prayed the lilac blush staining her cheeks hadn’t deepened.

“Yes to both of those things,” he confirmed.

Silence fell over the three as she thought about it for several more minutes, even though… her mind was mostly made up the second he asked the question in the first place. Silva had her reservations about it, sure. The idea of staying in the land of her birth for an extended period after the trauma she’s suffered here as a child — a trauma she was still processing and trying to lessen the sting that came with it. It would be unhealthy for her to simply avoid coming here at all costs. She had family and loved ones living here, people who cared about her, not to mention her Warrior of Light duties, should Hien need her.

And something in her soul told her she would be here quite often in the future…

She took in a deep, calming breath before looking at Hien again. Hope, curiosity, and… something she couldn’t identify shimmered in his pretty peridot eyes. Whatever it was, it made her heart do flips inside her chest.

“I’ll do it. I’ll make you a garden that will rival the ones in all those Doman folktales we grew up with.

[arachnostalgiac]

Final Fantasy XIV A Realm Reborn Expansions By Someone Who Has Played All of Them (but not 1.0)

1.0:  Well.  That didn’t work.  Time to blow up the whole ass planet.

A Realm Reborn:  Okay c’mon it gets good I promise just keep at it please I promise it gets better.  You begin to learn to curse ghost wizards.

Heavensward:  The church sucks because it won’t let you fuck dragons.  Improper use of tank mitigation.  A bad time to be a ghost wizard.

Stormblood:  Get ready to meet the Worst Guy, and then meet a Worse Guy.  A good time for lady villains. The xaela are also in this one so that rules.  Not as much ghost wizard stuff until the patch quests.

Shadowbringers:  Lay down.  Try not to cry.  Cry a lot.  Also, several characters enter their slut phase, good for them.  Meet your new shitty grandpa.  A man has a face on his tiddy.  Ghost wizard central.

Endwalker:  You will shout ALREADY?! at one point.  Don’t worry.  Everyone does this.  Also, you know how you cried before?  Get ready for more, asshole.  The Worst Guy returns.  The moon is there.  Ghost wizards continue to vex you (for the last time???).

[vierandancer]

I laughed out loud at this one, since Meiko's self-esteem is COMPLETELY transformed over the course of the story and is a huge chunk of her personal development.

To try and keep it short: When Meiko is adopted by her Lalafell parents, she ends up unintentionally given a role of caretaker. She helps her smaller and physically-impaired mother around the house, has to help carry her Da home when he's too drunk at the bar, and looks after her feral adopted younger brother. She is very much praised for her responsibility, and this positively reinforces the notion of her value being based on how she can help and support others. There are very few cases where she is rewarded for just taking care of Meiko.

Then her brother becomes the Warrior of Light, and Meiko has joined the Scions solely to keep an eye on him. She feels out of her depth, both intellectually and morally (i.e she's clearly not there to save the realm and feels selfish about her motivations) in comparison to others around her, and yet she has no desire to leave and live her own life. Who is she, what is she worth, if she's not making sure everyone else is okay? And hell, even being a Scion, you get positive reinforcement by putting yourself at risk for others! It's a veritable shitstorm of cementing her bad habits.

So of course, she meets Fray in Heavensward. She's forced to accept that she isn't happy, but like in the quests, doubles down that she prefers to do the 'right thing' while also finally acknowledging her discontent. She also gains her own Blessing of Light and becomes a second WOL, but is too afraid of the responsibility to let it be acknowledged by anyone but the Scions. "I'll be th'secret weapon," she insists, while praying that everyone forgets she too has the Echo and the same accursed destiny as her brother.

So things don't really change for Meiko until everyone, including A'kihiko, are called to the First before the final showdown in the Stormblood patches. She is alone. The burden of the Scions rests on her shoulders. Even after winning against 'Zenos', she has a two-week period of recovery in Ishgard where she agonizes over her situation. At the end of it, she makes a vow to harden herself and be whatever is necessary to return her friends and brother home.

Over the course of Shadowbringers, she comes to learn that she doesn't need to kill herself for others to be worth anything. She also finally gets a taste of what it's like to be the hero, both good and bad, and comes out a stronger person for it. By the time Endwalker begins, she and her brother share their burdens and destinies equally, and she is a far more confident person overall. She even is able to separate herself from looking after A'kihiko for awhile, as between EW and its patches, she departs on her own solo adventures to explore the seas on her sailboat, the Amaurot.

If the events leading to and during Shadowbringers did not unfold as it did, Meiko would still probably have her self-esteem issues. It would be even worse if she had not been called to the First at all.

How is your WoL's self esteem, and does it change much over the course of the MSQ?

[desertdragon]

I hate raiders, mostly the hardcore's bc they're just cunts, but whenever they are in tune with looking at the game from a gameplay perspective (not just looking at logs), everything they have to report is shit I can feel even as a casual though I can't explain it as in depth as they can; and I have to agree it feels like the devs have forgotten how to make and balance a game in the last 3 years, as much as most players themselves suck at understanding and playing the fucking game (and how poor the game's learning tools and mentors are as well) since it's seen as a vehicle for story cutscenes or mashing buttons

If the gameplay keeps going dumber across the board that would take away the last legitimate reason I have to play it and surprisingly I don't like the thought of that conversation with myself