#and then Link reports on it

[merriclo]

totk is altering my au’s Wild so fucking much and i’m actually very here for it

[tritoch]

i know a lot of people (very understandably) dislike the paladin job quests in ffxiv, particularly HW, but i do think it's fun that, now that the pre-ShB MSQ revamp is complete, paladins now have a very cool and thematic in-game storyline that happens without a word being spoken: the development of passage of arms.

none of the below is directly stated in the script, but imo it's a fairly obvious gloss on what the game presents, if you assume a paladin warrior of light. spoilers for all expansions through the end of 6.X.

in the new version of steps of faith, as vishap breaks through each ward protecting ishgard from attack, lucia mounts a final desperate effort to hold him back, with a very familiar looking animation:

but even lucia can't hold back vishap's flame alone, so the temple knights surge forward to assist her. their efforts make the shield visually more powerful and larger. the temple knights here band together in defense of ishgard, and their knightly resolve to protect their home is the difference between victory and defeat.

lucia and the knights do ultimately succeed in defending the last ward, as you have to defeat vishap before their shield falls or you lose.

later in heavensward, obviously, we will get ffxiv's most famous (failed) attempt at blocking something with a shield.

this moment can be read as fairly impactful on the warrior of light's development; as i've noted elsewhere, after the trauma of watching haurchefant bleed out in their arms at level 57, at level 58 paladins learn to channel their magic into healing (and it's called "clemency," or mercy. mercy for whom? who was guilty?), and as someone pointed out on that post, at level 58 dark knights used to get "sole survivor", letting them heal in response to a marked target's death.

for a time, you literally carry haurchefant's shield with you, and 3.3 very much literalizes in genre fashion the idea that even when you are standing alone, your fallen friends stand with you. you don't need to call any allies to stand at your side and raise their shields with you because they are already there, in spirit.

stormblood marks a pretty important turning point in the warrior of light as a combatant, in my opinion, and the text makes this clear in several ways. first, in pretty much all your jobs, you've now far exceeded your trainers and are pioneering new techniques. this is no less true of paladin, which for 60-70 abandons any trainers at all for you to show off your peerless skills in a tournament.

second, stormblood is straight up a story about you getting stronger. at level 61, zenos kicks your ass. at level 70, you kick his ass. why? because you fought and got stronger and developed incredible new techniques and became a one-man army.

for a lot of classes, this story lines up nicely with the big rotation changes or flashy new finishers on the way from 60 to 70. SMN is now busting out bahamut and casting akh morn; RDM gets verflare and verholy; DRG starts harnessing nidhogg's power directly through dragon sight and nastrond.

the tanks are divided in two: warriors and gunbreakers get huge damaging upgrades at 70 in the form of inner release and continuation, each of which lets them hit the same button many times for lots of damage and satisfying animations. paladin and dark knight get more protective abilities; dark knight gets the blackest night, and there's been plenty said about that already by pretty much everyone.

paladins get passage of arms. instead of a relentless new attack (and you get requiescat at 68, which is a way bigger deal for your dps rotation), your big reveal at 70 for zenos in your fight in ala mhigo is a superior way to protect your party, a shield that lets you stand for your allies so they never have to fall for you again. it's lucia's same shield, except you need no allies' shields to reinforce you, proof of your martial prowess and your ability to transcend limits, and perhaps in truth a reminder that you never really stand alone.

in many respects passage of arms should really feel like a paladin signature move to you now if you are playing it at this point, because you should be popping it in pretty much every fight (you are using your mits, right...?). basically every FFXIV fight has at least one big AOE with downtime that warrants passage of arms usage, usually after the mid-fight add phase with slowly filling bar. since that AOE usually drops during downtime, there's no reason not to pop passage of arms (which otherwise restricts your movement and actions), and even on normal, sometimes every little bit counts on a damage check even if it means dropping DPS (thinking here of harrowing hell P10N on release, which was...less consistent for a lot of roulette parties than you might hope).

so from 70 onward, passage of arms is in a sense a paladin warrior of light's signature move, and certainly the one a player gets to most actually enjoy (since if you're using it, you're by necessity not doing anything besides moving your camera and admiring your sick animation). it doesn't have any competition in terms of spectacle until confiteor, and those you're usually throwing out in the middle of movement.

it's such a signature, in fact, that the only other person shown using your one-person version of passage of arms is your greatest admirer, who studied your legend for over a century.

and it's when he fails (should've popped arm's length, bud) that the warrior of light decides they can't let their friends fall for them, and sends them away with the transporter beacon. this is all wrong: you were meant to die for them, not the other way around. yours is the shield that stands between your allies and defeat. it is you who will win this passage of arms and break your opponents lance. and you do.

and then later, when they need to quickly establish zero's domain as a place of fallen grandeur, the home of someone who once believed in heroes but is now a cool and cynical vampire hunter d, what do they use? a decayed statue of someone in the paladin endwalker gear doing the passage of arms animation, of course.

from a visible instantiation of knighthood as a joint effort to defend what is sacred, to a tribute to the fallen friends whose memories stand by you and animate you, to a symbol of the wol's power as emulated by their allies or darkly mirrored in other shards.

not bad for a mit button you hit once per fight and otherwise never think about!

[heez-nutz]

do you have some hee nsfw linkss??

❗️ 𝐌𝐃𝐍𝐈 | 𝐍𝐒𝐅𝐖 𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐊𝐒❗️

hee wont stop overstimulating you

bestfriend hee who always looks after you (properly) after you had a breakup

hee stuffing his long cock inside

hee accidentally cumming on his stomach after jake tries to help him shave

while on tour , u havent seen him for weeks missing him a little too much.

“you like my halloween costume baby…?”

sticky situation (pt 2 w hee) ;))

(my acc cutely got suspended soooo i have to wait) 😭 once again , love u all x 🖤

[luthienne]

all of these are documented in un reports, amnesty international reports, save the children reports. this is just a very small summary of what the reports contain. i highly recommend reading through the entire reports for yourself: 1, 2, 3

end the occupation. equal rights and right of return. free palestine 🇵🇸

[neolunanocte]

Reminder to to report the porn bots as SPAM and NOT sexually explicit material.

[jula483]

(x)

[whirlpool-blogs]

Boeing B-17 Takeoff and Landing Checklists

[three-headed-monster]

back to camp!

[triaelf9]

Running a little cross platform test on reach vs platform with some WIP art from a little #TearsOfTheKingdom something that I'm working on for an eye-catch ^_-

If you follow me and see this post, please reblog

If you don't follow me & see it, please like

[mithliya]

racists on radblr: brown & black men are a dangerous threat to women & girls. they’re more violent! white men arent as bad.

the supposedly safer white men to 8 & 10 year old black girls simply passing them by:

racists on radblr:

[legendofzoodles]

Wind: We won!

Warriors: [scoffing] No, we won. You participated.

Time: What do you mean he ‘participated’?

Warriors: Uh, moral support...?

Wind: He gave me one of his shots.

Time: What?! He’s 13!

Warriors: [defensive] How old were you when you started drinking?

Time:

Time: Mentally or physically?

[gundamfight]

[rusty-gloinks]

Classy N

[emry-stars-art]

👑 ROYAL AU TUMBLR LORE MASTERPOST 👑

Linked in order of when they were posted to tumblr.

Find the writing masterpost here 💕

The first sketch dump

A first meeting pt1 / pt2 A misunderstanding the king and queen overview/plot post pt1 / pt 2 confident Nathaniel how Abram got his scars no one will ever know where the prince's favor lies early possible twinyards backstory hurt/comfort of post-Evermore Abram's lashing scars caring for Abram's scars Abram doesn't realize Andrew is courting him A different kind of therapy (royal au inspiration pinterest board) Abram feeling guilty Lyndis's courting realization idea Another 'Abram realizes he's being courted' One of Abram's favorite courting gifts more sketches don't call Abram pretty Lady Allison's new head of staff Twinyard backstory second Tuesday of the month is Market Date day now Maserati is a courting gift from Abram sketches from that scene ^ Abram's experience with nobility and royalty blacksmith Jean (and more Jean) the cats Abram and gloves and touch Andrew's Darcy-hand-flex fencing High Prince Riko's court Abram's scars ache in the cold Andrew and Abram dancing The Spear family and Drake Abram and Katelyn Andrew and Renee Abram's brands pt1 / pt2 Andrew and Abram's hair care

Andrew’s casual behavior

Washing Abram's hair

Pet names

Kateaaron’s wedding

Andreil first kiss

whumptober 1: drugging

whumptober 6: forced to hurt others

Day and Abram; Abram’s recovery

whumptober 9: scar reveal

whumptober 10: branding

whumptober 15: muzzle

whumptober 20: dehumanization

whumptober 22: whipping

comfort (wip): getting Abram to relax

whumptober 27: locked away

comfort: forehead kiss for Abram

royal twinyards

Jean thoughts

nanowrimo update 1

Kissing Abram's scars

Clothing designs?

Tiptoe around the new prince (or guard. Depending on the pov) (snippet)

Where's Stuart?

Abram's love language (memeposting)

Nathaniel's arrival in Palmetto Towers (snippet)

Cat #1 acquired (snippet)

Cozy bathtime

Lil jerejean

Evermore royalty structure

Prince and Lord Minyard (snippet)

A royal wedding?.. 👀

Abram's love language pt2

Paladin Renee

[jula483]

(x)

[world-of-wales]

❥ 20 NOVEMBER 2024 | As part of The Prince of Wales' visit Homewards Newport Coalition has published a milestone report addressing women’s homelessness in the city - "Newport Women’s Joint Strategic Needs Assessment"

Read the report here -