#and they finally get together post HW

[xenodile]

Laying in bed at 1am trying to sleep but got writing inspiration so now I'm laying in at 1am trying to sleep but I'm also glowing and thrumming with power

[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!

[kpopsexstories]

Hey! If you accept any Monsta X request; do you think you could do a Top! Wonho x Verse! Hyungwon x Bottom! Male Reader Threesome? Wonho and Hyungwon are an already-stablished couple who find m/r on a bar, they take him home and the action begins; WH and HW take turns on M/R, then they fuck him together and, under M/R's request, they finish off with WH (top) and HW (bottom) fucking (missionary) while M/R jerks off

Never done a Wonho story before. Always wanted to. So absolutely yes, here you go 😄

GAY ONE-SHOT #1: MX Wonho & Hyungwon x Male Reader Threesome

Content Warning! This is a 100% gay story. Check out this post for my straight smut and this post for more gay smut.

Pairing: Top MX Wonho x Vers MX Hyungwon x Bottom male reader

Content: Wonho & Hyungwon pick up male reader at a bar for a threesome.

Type of Sex: WILD

Word Count: 3.4k

“What about him?” Hyungwon asks and points his pint in the general direction of a passing man.

Wonho chuckles and takes his shot of Jaeger in one go. “Stop it babe,” he says and laughs.

“What? He's cute.”

Wonho turns to look. He can't argue with his boyfriend's statement. His eyes linger on the man while he puts the glass down on the bar desk.

“You're serious about this, aren't you?” he asks and smiles at Hyungwon.

“We had fun last time, didn't we?”

Wonho's expression turns distant, as if he's remembering something that makes him happy.

“Alright,” he says. Then he turns to the bartender: “Two more, please.”

*****

You're by yourself at a table in the corner, looking out across the dimly lit room, your eyes wandering from one face to another. The beer glass in front of you is empty. It's becoming increasingly clear that your date has stood you up.

Two men are sitting by the bar. There's something oddly familiar about them. One is wearing a tightly fitted black t-shirt which showcases his massive muscles, the other a black tank top and an excessive amount of jewelry on his hands and around his neck. They've been eyeing you all night, and your looks have met more than once.

Your heart flutters when the bigger of the two suddenly stands up. His skinny jeans are making their way directly toward you. You can swear you've seen them both before. Maybe they're regulars.

“Hey,” the fit man says and smiles wide. He briefly turns around in the direction of his friend at the bar. “Can we join you?”

You sit up straight and smile back. “Sure,” you say.

Wonho nods at his boyfriend and pulls out a chair. Before you know it you've been chatting with the two men for half an hour, talking and laughing and drinking. You still have no clue who they are or why they look so familiar, but your date can go fuck himself.

When Wonho gets up to go to the bathroom you realize you've been holding it in for too long. When you get up too, Hyungwon quickly follows. There's been an electric spark between the three of you all night, and it only intensifies when you feel his piercing eyes behind you as you all go to pee.

You stand side by side at the urinals, unzipping your pants and taking your dicks out. You stare straight ahead into the wall, desperately fighting the temptation to take a peek. You really struggle with the urge.

Just a quick glance, you think. But when you turn your eyes sideways you realize that Wonho has beaten you to it. He isn't at all discreet about it. He looks up from your crotch and smiles at you as you shake your dick and put it away.

That settles it. The sparks are too strong and you all feel it. Hyungwon has seen your looks and you've finally accepted the fact that he's been flirting with you all night. This gay couple is looking to spice up their sex life, and they've chosen you to do it with.

Hyungwon zips his pants and walks around his boyfriend. He looks directly at you and you get close together as you head for the same sink.

You rub shoulders while washing your hands. Your eyes meet in the mirror, and you see Wonho approaching from behind. None of you have said a word to each other since you entered the bathroom.

When Wonho puts his hand on your waist you can hardly keep it together. You turn your head and see Hyungwon's reassuring smile. Then you both lean in, and begin to kiss.

You make out with Hyungwon in front of the mirror. Wonho's hand on your hip feels stronger, and he quickly begins to explore your body. Hyungwon turns to face his boyfriend and they begin make out, then Wonho turns to you and you kiss with wet lips and sloppy tongues.

You become hard in a heartbeat. The three of you rub close together and explore each other passionately. Seeing the two sexy men make out is an an insane turn-on, and it suddenly feels very obvious that this is what the night has been leading up to since the moment you first lay your eyes on each other across the bar, and they came to join you at your table.

The door suddenly opens. You all quickly take a step away from each other. A man glances at you before he goes to the urinals and pretends like he didn't see anything.

Hyungwon and Wonho's looks say it all. It's time to take this show elsewhere, and there's no doubt in your mind that you'll be going home with them tonight.

You walk in a row through the bar, Hyungwon leading the way. You struggle to keep your hard dick in check, to hide your bulge from the many eyes in the room. You pass the table you once sat at, and a lone man who spots you and is about to stand up to say hello. You don't even notice that he's there.

*****

The couple lives in a relatively fancy apartment complex. Their place is not big, but modern and tastefully decorated. You briefly wonder which one of them has a passion for art and interior design.

The question doesn't linger long. The moment you've kicked off your shoes Wonho is all over your face and body. You make it to the living room where his violent attack knocks down a painting.

He pins you to the wall and licks your neck. His firm chest is pressed against yours, and your hand glides inside his tight t-shirt.

You push it up his body, exposing his abs and lower back. He suddenly let's go of you to pull it all the way over his head.

His bare chest is pumping right in front of you. You put a hand on it and feel his strong muscles, and let it glide fast up and down his front. It feels amazing, warm and incredibly sexy.

Hyungwon has been lingering at a distance. He's watching you both with a smirk and great anticipation. He can't wait to get you naked, and now that his boyfriend is, he approaches to take his place.

He instantly grabs your crotch. He squeezes and massages it while breathing softly near your lips. You're so incredibly hard.

“Mmm,” you moan, and that's when Wonho can't take it any longer. Shirtless, he takes both you and Hyungwon by the arm, smile wide and reassuringly at you, and back away.

He pulls you into the bedroom, where Hyungwon throws himself onto his boyfriend and you all begin to undress. Carelessly, passionately, a lustful and rapid removal of clothes which become scattered on the floor.

It's time to do the threesome you all came here for.

*****

Wonho is on his knees on the bed in nothing but a pair of tiny underwear. He feels your naked body with his hands, squeeze your ass and thighs and size you up from top to bottom. He's quite satisfied with the catch he and his boyfriend have brought home from the bar.

You're on your side with Hyungwon's dick deep inside your mouth. He's on his side too, sucking you hard and skillfully. You trace his slim but muscular body with your hands while you pleasure each other in this reversed position.

You reach up to feel Wonho's hip above you. You pull the seams of his underwear and they slide down. He helps you release his dick, and you glance up at it to see what it looks like. When you first wanted to evaluate it in the bathroom at the bar you fought the urge to stare. Now, it's on full display and you love what both men are packing.

Hyungwon has noticed that his boyfriend wants in on the action. He lovingly stops sucking you and moves aside. He turns on his knees and lay down beside you. Meanwhile, Wonho is making his approach to you from above.

He leans in close over your body. You're still on your side, kissing Hyungwon's shoulder, when the full length of Wonho's body comes down on top of yours. He instantly starts to move his hips seductively, his dick brushing up and down your thigh.

“Mmm,” he moans when the dick presses harder against your skin. He humps you lustfully while you start to make out with his boyfriend.

Your three naked bodies are in a mess on the bed, and it feels incredibly hot.

*****

You're on your stomach on the bed, Wonho's muscular body pressing down on yours. His dick glides back and forth between your cheeks, until you briefly feel the weight of the broad man lift. You wait with anticipation as he lubes up his shaft and rubs some around the entrance of your hole. Then you feel the head of his dick as he slowly pushes it in, gradually expanding you from the inside.

You close your eyes and grimace. A brief pain is quickly replaced by one of pleasure as you get used to his size. He fills you up completely, his organ throbbing inside you.

The weight returns. His large chest rubs up and down your back and he wraps an arm around your side. He grinds against you, and the dick stats sliding in and out of you repeatedly.

His boyfriend, Hyungwon, is laying naked by your side, observing the whole thing with his mouth half open, exploring your body and Wonho's with his hand. He gently caresses your hip before he moves up to Wonho's clenching ass and lower spine.

Wonho has his eyes closed and buries his head in the sheets by your face. You feel the hot breaths on your neck as he pants shallowly onto your skin.

His cock feels great, so good the way it fills you. His embrace is heavy but gentle, causing your heart to beat a little faster. Hyungwon is a lucky guy.

You fuck like this for several minutes, until Wonho decides that it's his boyfriend's turn to have his way with you. He pulls up and out, and you moan when your hole releases the dick from its tight grip.

Wonho rolls off you and sits up beside you. Hyungwon gets ready to take his place, but before he can climb on top you push yourself onto your knees.

Hyungwon comes up behind you, where he sits on his kneecaps and takes a loving grip around your hips. Once again you wait in anticipation, while Wonho rubs lube onto Hyungwon's long and hard shaft.

The penetration feels easier, your hole loser and his size not as thick. The head slowly pushes through, and it feels like it just keeps going. It eventually hits the deepest wall of your cave, sending an intense pleasure through your body.

He fucks you slowly, pulling in and out with great focus. The head almost pops out, until the full length of the long shaft is swallowed again, and the process repeats over and over.

The couple starts to make out behind you. You can hear the sounds of their lips smacking together. You briefly feel Wonho's hand on your ass cheeks as he plays with the root of Hyungwon's shaft, and when the hand wanders to Hyungwon's ass the latter picks up the pace.

He begins to fuck you faster from behind. His fingers dig into your skin and the kissing sounds stop. They're replaced by a shallow panting, as Hyungwon starts chipping for air with each increasingly rapid thrust.

“Ahh, fuck,” you moan for their pleasure. “Yeah, fuck my ass.”

Hyungwon is turned on by your words. Wonho starts touching your back and shoulders. You spread your legs a little wider and bury your head in a pillow.

This is fucking great, you think and groan. You're so glad they found you at the bar and rescued you from the humiliation of a date who didn't show. This is so much better.

*****

Though Hyungwon clearly knows his way around an ass, it's obvious who is the dominant top and who is the power bottom in the relationship. While you lay on your side with your dick balls deep inside Hyungwon – who moans and squirms in your arms – Wonho is banging you lovingly from behind. You're sandwiched between them, enjoying both the sensation of Wonho's hard and thick dick filling you up, and Hyungwon's tight grip around your own shaft. It feels amazing.

Wonho is hugging you, his arm resting on your side while Hyungwon sucks his fingers. Hyungwon's back presses against your chest when Wonho pulls him closer. Your whole body is squeezed between them, and the dicks are pressed deeper inside their respective holes.

Wonho rocks his ass slowly back and forth. He lifts a knee and spreads his legs to penetrate you as deep as he possibly can. While he can't match Hyungwon's great reach, his cock can certainly pleasure you in other ways.

Your ass pushes repeatedly against his groin. Simultaneously, Hyungwon's moves back and forth against your own, as you push and pull on his hip.

“Ohh, fuuck,” Wonho groans behind you. You feel his lips against your neck.

“Mmm, mm,” Hyungwon moans while he takes the full length of his boyfriend's thumb in his mouth.

Your face is buried between his shoulder blades. Your nose is pressed against his smooth skin. And Wonho's pumped chest and soft stomach against your back feels like a warm embrace.

Wonho suddenly stiffens. He begins to jolt his hips and shove his cock faster inside you. The friction in your ass is enormously pleasurable.

“Wait,” you say to stop him from coming before it's too late. Actually, you're the one who's about to come in Hyungwon's ass, but you're not ready for that just yet.

Squeezed between the two men you can't see much of the action, only feel it. You're too intimate and up close for a good view. You want a better one before you release, to fully enjoy the immersive experience.

Wonho reacts to your word. He slows down and you can feel his muscles relax.

You gently push away from Hyungwon, who understands that you want to change positions and pulls away from you. Your dick falls out of his hole and as great as it made you feel to fuck him, the freedom feels like a welcomed relief.

“I wanna see you fuck,” you say to clarify why you called for a break.

Hyungwon turns around and smiles at you. He gives you a kiss on the lips, then leaps over your body while you scoot forward to give the couple more space.

Wonho catches his boyfriend in his arms and rolls on his back. When his dick pulls out of your ass your cheeks feel relaxed. Fuck he's big, you think happily.

The couple kiss and embrace as Hyungwon sits down on Wonho's crotch. Without penetration he rolls his hips, pressing his ass against the length of Wonho's shaft.

You turn around to watch them as Wonho takes a firm grip around his boyfriend's thighs and gives him a push. They roll over, and Hyungwon giggles when the large man comes down over him and attacks his neck with his mouth.

Hyungwon spreads his legs wide for his lover. Wonho sits up on his knees and reaches down to grab his dick. You scoot further away from them and lean on your elbow to watch them spring into action.

Their sex is wild and lustful. Hyungwon moans and jolts his body into Wonho's arms. Wonho pants and grunts loudly as he fucks his boyfriend with great passion missionary style.

“Mm, ahh, fuck yeah,” he repeats.

“Mmm, yes, yes,” Hyungwon whimpers below him.

You can hardly take your eyes off Wonho's ass and the back of his thighs. You watch the man roll and thrust skillfully, as he pushes his dick deep inside his boyfriend again and again. Holy shit this is hot!

You begin to stroke your shaft right next to them. Your eyes are wide open and your mind bewildered and amazed. The bed squeaks and the mattress slams against the frame, and all three of you shake back and forth as a result of the hot and violent sex.

You stroke your cock faster, bringing yourself ever closer to the edge. Wonho is about to go over his. Hyungwon hugs him tight and jams his hips and ass against Wonho's shaft and body, matching the pace and rhythm and giving Wonho's dick an immense pleasure.

“Ahh, uugh, ahhh, fuuuck!” Wonho bellows.

“Yes, yes, mm, I love you babe, ahhh, fuck my ass,” Hyungwon whimpers repeatedly.

Then comes the release. Wonho suddenly jerks forward, hard and deep. The rapid slamming of the bed against the wall immediately stops, and an intense orgasm shoots through his body which causes him to tense up and freeze.

"Uughn, fuuck!" he groans loudly.

“Pull out!” Hyungwon abruptly demands the moment he realizes what is happening.

For a split second you're confused as to why Hyungwon would requests that. But then you're glad that he did. Wonho quickly sits up straight, pulls his dick out of the ass, grabs it by the shaft, thrust his hip forward, and spurts a load onto his boyfriend's stomach.

“Uhhhm, aaahhh!” you suddenly cry, alerting the others to your own peak. You roll closer to their bodies and they turn their heads to look. Your cum shoots onto Wonho's thick thigh and the side of Hyungwon's narrow waist.

Wonho smiles at you when your eyes meet. He's breathing heavily and deeply, heaving for air as his spent body works hard to recover from exhaustion.

Only Hyungwon remains. And Wonho is a caring boyfriend. The moment he's sure that your release is over, he scoots backwards between his boyfriend's legs and bends down. He folds in half on his knees, and takes Hyungwon's long dick and shaft inside his mouth.

He sucks hard and skillfully while bobbing his head up and down. You look on as he wraps his lips tightly around the cock, and jerks the root of the soaked organ in circular motions with his hand and fingers.

Hyungwon closes his eyes and throws his head back on the bed. “Ahhh, fuck!” he cries while his boyfriend blows him. “Fu—uuck!”

His ass jolts upward from the bed, the shaft pushed deep into Wonho's throat. Wonho, in turn, lifts his head and plants his lips at the tip of the head.

The cum squirts out and onto his face. He closes his eyes and opens his mouth, cum dripping down his cheek and onto his tongue. His fingers become drenched in thick white liquid.

When Hyungwon opens his eyes again he looks down to view the result. He pants heavily then turns to face you. His strained expression turns into a happy one, as the intense sensation of your activity begins to settle.

*****

“Thanks,” you say while putting your shirt back on. You're dressed and ready to leave, recently emptied and happy.

“We should thank you,” Hyungwon says and laughs.

“Yeah,” Wonho concurs and smiles wide. “You were great.”

You smile at the couple as they lay naked and entangled on the bed, Wonho on his back and Hyungwon with his arm and leg wrapped around his boyfriend's broad body.

“Will you be at the bar again?” you ask but quickly regret it. It feels like a desperate question.

“Yes!” Hyungwon exclaims. “Definitely. But you don't need to find us there. You have our number.”

You give them a cheeky smile before you turn to head for the door. Your dick may be spent and balls may be empty, but your heart and mind are full.

He can go fuck himself, you think and recall your date who didn't show up. Little do you know that he's still sitting at the table where he saw you leave together with the Wonho and Hyungwon from Monsta X, star-struck by who you were with and thinking exactly the same thing.

[cantstopmeb1tch]

Idrk how to start this, my last account got t- and I haven’t really posted since. BUT I need to get back in my grind bc I’ve been binging for the past like month with finals and the holidays so I’m gonna start posting to keep myself accountable. I’m mainly gonna post inspo and random shit about my day kind of like a diary

PLS BLOCK DONT REPORT IT DOES MORE HARM THAN GOOD

A little about me:

- my previous account was called failingghost

- u can call me riri, I’m 18.

- I don’t really care if minors interact with my posts but I will not answer dms from minors.

- I’ve had food issues for like 6 years now. It used to mostly be BED and mia but recently I’ve turned to Ana bc I need to get my shit together.

- I have a crazy sweet tooth but I’m currently working on that

- I’m also a huge st0ner which doesn’t help

My stats

Height: 163cm or 5’3f

Hw: 58kg

Lw: 45kg

Cw: 47.2kg

Gw1: 45kg

Gw2: 42kg

Ugw: 38kg

Anyways I hope to reach some of y’all bc I really need moots to keep me motivated. Toodles <3

[kyeree]

Okay y'all liked the Stormborn headcanons so here's my headcanons/don't forget to add this to the drawing list from drawing Leomunds Tiny Duck.

- There is no door, they enter through his mouth like walking into a cave with a caravan layout inside. Foster mainly lays down in this form but can get up and waddle around like Howl's moving duck castle. Fosters collar turns into like car keys! He quacks when it locks

- Post campaign when they all live together happily ever after, trust me. They travel Bahumia in the tiny duck when they're not walking.

- Make everything you can into a duck

- Basic caravan layout, end bathroom, bunk beds, compact kitchen with small table, sofa bed.

- Mostly duck themed things but a few personalised items for Dteam, frog bedding, snowflake towels.

- The sofa bed was intended for Calder but he crawled into the small bottom bunk because it looked his size and it would be rude to take the big bed from the host, Callie, he'sa guest.

-Calder either is used to sleeping in smal spaces or ends up rolling out the bunk half way through the night. Someone always wakes up to put a blanket over him

- Sol takes the top bunk. He can just jump up there and reach things in bed with his tongue rather than climb down. Probably does pull up exercises off the rail.

- Big ol' Foster plushie for Callie to hug and hold while Foster is being the hut. Umbrella stand by the entrance with umbrellas and swords

- They made a Smeg joke on the short rest. Add a SMEGG

- Fruity Pebblepots! Bc Emily said she could only eat them on Xmas or something

- Hardwon in the bath finally doing some self care after however long. Add shower cap to beard.

- Add boy wizard comic, maxim mag, Hurwitz beans

- All the accommnodations in the tiny duck are thought of/conjured by Callie for her guests when casting the spell. The bigger bed for Calder, the yarn for Sol and Jessica Simpson maxim for HW. She cannot add more things after casting the spell, so when Calder ends up taking the tiny bunk bed she cannot make it bigger.

- Shelves at the foot of the bunk beds and a window along the wall of the bunk beds. Sol had a small mushroom terrarium on his shelf, a Boy wizard comic or two, graduation pic with Albin and his current knitting project. Calder has a picture of his family, the flower, a Boy wizard comic he's borrowed from Sol trying to catch up and some ice sculptures he preserves.

-There'sa window behind the sofa bed where Callie sleeps and a small shelf. General things are kept on top and her personal things are kept in the shelves below. A few self help books, a book on how to care for ducks that aren't ducks. Ajar of paper stars she made with things written on the paper, a picture or an actual sunflower like the one she spoke to in the Feywild, her diary.

- Add some Ollies! Aka inverted Foster.

- Add liquorice!

- Sol is usually the one to cook. He's used to meal prepping for Albin. There's a tiny pull out stepping stool below the oven for him. Callie washes the dishes and Calder dries them.

- During HW's brief stay he definitely cooks them up a delicious jambalaya he's learnt from staying at the crick

- When Kenna joins the party she shared the big bed with Callie before she realised Callie can easily adjust the Tiny Duck to add more space. Now she has her own bunk above Sols. She's used to morning drills so she's one of the first awake and makes her bed perfectly, does morning exercises before assisting Sol with making breakfast. Sol usually joins Kenna in her morning routine but occasionally sleeps in longer.

- for flavour✨ the hut is actually self cleaning, Fantasia style. Callie or Foster can activate the cleaning and the little Foster items animate and begin tidying. Mugs stacking themselves, rubber duck rinsing the suds out the tub, plushie sweeping, paper towel holder mopping up spills.

- Board games! Foster chess, blue fosters vs yellow Ollies! Snake but will the serpents and one long necked Foster. Hungry Hungry Fosters.

[elizabethrobertajones]

A Dragoon's Work Is Never Done part... three? four? I did not caption the first in this series with that and so I can't even find it now.

Anyway the important thing is this seemingly completely normal diplomatic mission from Radz-at-Han where the Satrap has brought his sister for Fete Day over to visit the dragons in the other city state perched on a rock with a long history of dragon relations for good or ill. Estinien is refusing to dress up as a diplomat, which he is now when it comes to dragon things, whether he likes it or not. He claims he's just here for the Fete food. G'raha is here because he's glued to Frog and likes witnessing history happening in nice ways.

Day 6: Celebrations | Holidays

Oh, wait the above images were a spot the difference

#I'm so interested in Estinien's and Frog's relationship (platonic) and how he fits into the puzzle now that she and Aymeric are A Thing @lilbittymonster

OKAY this will be unnecessary long to explain why Aymeric is getting so smirky.

So way way way back I did actually ship Estinien and Frog a bit, because I'd done dragoon 50 before HW and was therefore Completely Normal about the Estinien/WoL relationship. But I couldn't quite make it stick in my heart, and for whatever reason despite Estinien actually being, I personally think, the character with the closest bond to the WoL on the deepest levels bar the characters who are literally part of the WoL (you know, like, the 3-5 of them we cram in there), it ended up feeling more like just an unbreakable platonic friend bond. *shrugs* sometimes your heart just decrees stuff.

In Frog Canon this translates to the Stormblood 70 Dragoon quest being a moment where after sharing the dragoon eyeball tether for the first time, Frog and Estinien are riding an absolute high of connection and feeling really good about accomplishing Good Dragoon Things (and the reason I keep captioning Estinien and Frog doing dragon stuff as "work never being done" is them chasing that high again by tying up loose ends like taking Vrtra to visit Hraesvelgr or Middy, or taking Azdaja and Middy out for curry together).

That night on the steppe, they camped out together and shared a drink and the spoils of a hunt, Orn Khai was asleep by the fire. And completely unprompted Frog and Estinien both decided at the same moment to swoop in for a kiss, which lasted roughly 3 seconds and they broke apart like "woah, no, that was weird. We don't need to do that again. Nope. Sorry." and they instead solemnly vowed their friendship, and then laughed about it and decided to take that incident to their graves.

(At this point Frog had no idea Estinien had literally ever had a relationship in his life, never mind having been with Haurchefant as well and technically at the same time as her since Haurche had only nebulously mentioned "other partners"; Estinien did know she had been madly in love with Haurchefant, and Aymeric, who in turn Estinien had his suspicions was madly in love with Frog since like, seeing them interact once even in early HW. So it was a bit of a shock to her but he'd been idly contemplating her place in all this now for a while. But since he, Frog and Aymeric were all technically single or on a break or whatever Estinien thought he was doing while ghosting Aymeric for his own mental health SB > ShB patches, there weren't any of those connections to actually like. Build anything on.)

Fast forward to Endwalker, and I'm fully on the "Ysayle needs to know she won and Estinien has gone full dragonfucker" train, because he and Vrtra are an incredible power couple and it really represents to me a sort of final stop on Estinien needing to come to terms with everything that happened to him ever in his life and having accepted all sides of both the grand scope of history and also his own relationship to dragons, Nidhogg, and relations with dragons. He returns to R-a-H post-EW very very intrigued by what Vrtra wants with him, and they pretty much immediately get together.

I think by this point he's also encountered Aymeric enough times to have started to realise they never really broke up so much as stopped seeing each other, and Aymeric is exactly as devoted to him as he was last time they met, and Estinien only actually feels guilty about avoiding him so long, and mostly because Ishgard itself gives him the heebie jeebies immediately after HW and nothing to do with what Aymeric has done or not. So he's completely ready to resume that and just needs an excuse.

Which of course is Vrtra suggesting gently that there's a valuable connection there for Estinien and for the future of the two cities. AND Frog is on his case about seeing if Vrtra wants to meet the Dravanian dragons. Which he does. And then it only belatedly occurs to him when standing in Ishgard with Aymeric that maybe Frog also was manoeuvring. (I actually credit more G'raha machinations that Frog enacted, if you dig deeper :P)

Aymeric sort of ends up the orbiting twin star to the centre of the Frogicule, since he's the connection to all that and brings this whole side in, and considering all the pining on Frog's side to others, he's really got the more stable side of it all somehow...

She's glad of it because most of why she broke Aymeric's heart in the first place post-HW is because she thought it was cruelly unfair how little time she could spare for him and that he would only be mistreated by her coming in and out of his life at random.

The solution? A SECOND partner who comes in and out of his life at random and has very little tolerance for being in Ishgard! \o/ Between the two of them, maybe they add up to one full time partner?

(cue both of them getting on ships to Tural without consulting each other)

I don't think she goes out of her way to avoid seeing Estinien and Aymeric at the same time or finds it at all uncomfortable (low boundaries between them after all), but also she and Estinien are mutually uninterested in each other romantically and only passingly physically so aren't really interested in anything more than perhaps sharing a bed for platonic sleeping with a nice comfy buffer of Aymeric. It's easier just to enjoy spending time with them doing fun things like hanging out in the Firmament chatting to dragons and eating fair food, then take her catboy and leave. To the catboy's eternal disappointment. (Sorry G'raha, now this post isn't about you and we're talking Estinien today!)

Aymeric is here at this party realising he'd bed literally anyone there including Big!Varshahn (jury out on how he'd take to actual dragonfucking but it's like. A Catholic guilt loophole meeting a dragon who looks like a guy.) I don't think Vrtra and Aymeric are quite ready for anything but the simple fact of his existence is like an accessory that's making Estinien 1000x hotter in Aymeric's eyes I guess. Ser, that's a fellow head of state, please stop objectifying him.

Aymeric can not believe his luck that in a matter of months he's gone from staring forlornly out of a window alone to glancing between his hot girlfriend and his hot boyfriend, and is suddenly thrilled to go down in history as Ishgard's most eligible bachelor (never married, so many close friendships, all his letters and diaries spontaneously combusted on his death, how sad).

... as stated before, I am such a fan of Aymeric being a messy bitch who lives for drama and also is full of Secret Yearning and Weird Thoughts and would do wildly unstable things while projecting an aura of control and calm. Literally who knows if five to ten actual years down the line he and Vrtra end up publically married to unite their countries forever or something, but for now, this is where we're at.

Frog is just happy everyone is happy, and lacking the Ishgardian upbringing had given zero thought to Vrtra as a sex object and actively restricts herself from patting big!Varshahn on the head like he is still tiny. Little-brother-gender dragon snares another big sister. Estinien's love life remains a blissful mystery to her except for occasionally comparing calendars with Aymeric and swerving around the weekends he's blocked off for Estinien.

[starrysnowdrop]

Random Lili Headcanons

So I’m still so shocked at how well the Lili x Krile gposes were received!! I’m going to take a chunk of it as Krile hype (and rightfully so! Krile has been sidelined for far too long!), but I’m very happy that y’all seem to be curious about Lili as well! I’m still ironing out the details enough to write up a full profile (and I might make Lili her own sideblog for organizational purposes, but I haven’t decided yet), but I figured it was time to share some of my initial headcanons for her and where I think I’ll go with her story. This will be a random list of things that just pop into my head, so I apologize if I start to ramble a bit.

Lili is the name she likes to be called, but her full name is Lilika Lika, and it’s not only a canon compliment Dunesfolk name (unlike Hali, heh), but it’s also my little nod to Final Fantasy X, because I think it sounds similar to Kilika Island.

Lili’s pronouns are She/Her, she is cisgender, and a lesbian. She has had relations with men in her past when she was finding herself, but she came out as a lesbian when she was 20 years old.

She was born in Ul’dah and she is actually the distant cousin of Hali! Lili met Hali when Hali first arrived in Eorzea and looked up information on Nanani’s family (Nanani is Hali’s grandmother and Lili’s great aunt who left Ul’dah to marry her husband and live in Sharlayan).

Lili is descended from a prominent family whose members almost always become involved in the Order of Nald’thal, with many members also joining the Thaumaturge Guild. Lili tried her hand at Thaumaturgy but she found herself woefully unskilled in magic. Instead, she joined the Pugilist Guild and eventually trained in the techniques of the Ala Mhigan Monk.

I plan on Lili’s main canon job to be Monk from ARR-EW, but perhaps she trained briefly as a Samurai before she takes up the twin blades of a Viper for Dawntrail.

Unlike Hali who never believed in any forms of religion and only understands religion in an academic sense as a Sharlayan, Lili does believe in the Twelve and has her faith shaken by the events of the MSQ and of course the events of the Myths of the Realm raid series.

Lili has had several casual relationships, including a brief fling with Tataru during ARR and HW, but she never had any serious romantic feelings about someone until she met Krile.

I’m still working out a timeline of the Lili x Krile ship right now, but I’m thinking about them confessing their feelings and officially being in an exclusive relationship around Post ShB to Pre EW. Sometime in the 5.3-5.55 range. They get together before Hali and Aymeric do at least.

Lili is represented by opposing symbolism to Hali, and they are a duality of forces. Hali’s symbols are water, ice, darkness, night, stars, spring, etc. whereas Lili’s symbols are fire, light, day, sun, autumn, etc. Hali is a magic user and Lili is a melee fighter. Hali is extroverted and highly emotional while Lili is introverted, practical, and usually in control of her emotions.

That’s all I’ve got for now! I’ll be working on a full profile for Lili in the meantime, so please look forward to it! Any feedback is greatly appreciated! 🥰💖

[morocosmos]

I installed brio for the sole purpose of making this line up of moro'a's official, not complete because who knows when that will be finalised but nevertheless canon uhh. body count.

* = long term/romantic relationships */ = toxic yaoi (specifically for aymeric, sorry) the rest are ONS/short term

Character names and extra info under the cut if anyone's curious/can't identify a character/bc some of them are OCs. nothing explicit but feel free to skip if you're not keen on reading about moro'a's love/sex life jshdj. assume there will be MSQ spoilers.

Pre-ARR

Roegadyn + viera - OCs, i don't have names for them yet and literally designed how they look today but i'm already attached to them. they work at the farms/orchards around la noscea when it's in season and hunt when it's not, much like moro'a did when he started out in eorzea. the roe is a trans man. they're part of the Barn Incident

Koh'sae Naharaf - OC, a keeper miqo'te who moved to limsa lominsa and joined the blacksmith's guild. moro'a's first long-term partner, until they break up after the calamity due to their lives taking drastically different turns. as a side note, he's also yezih's cousin :>

ARR

Guydelot: had a one night stand while moro'a was in gridania for the remembrance ceremony :D when they see one another again at the start of the BRD quests guydelot is just “*POINTS* YOU'RE the wol???? :D” because he only knew moro'a by the nickname he gave him

HW

Haurchefant: moro'a avoided relationships after he became more and more known as the wol/guardian of eorzea, but feelings for haurchefant came for him like the eight umbral calamity, right as the scions were granted entry into ishgard. they do get together and it's very, very sweet for a while, and then...yeah

Post-HW

Aymeric: short-lived, codependent 'we're both dealing with the loss of someone very dear to us and need something to stave off the pain' relationship. aymeric had actual feelings which moro'a couldn't return, then it all crumbled when he found out that fray/moro'a had been killing temple knights

Ansaulme: guy from the HW and STB fisher quests. nothing much to say here, they just slept together

STB

Mauci: from a blue sidequest chain in the azim steppe. stormblood is a continuation of moro'a's maladaptive coping mechanisms so he isn't getting attached to anyone at this point

M'zhet Tia: from a blue sidequest chain in the fringes. i haven't actually finished the allied society quests there so idk all there is to know about him, i just like that he's the one guy who's shorter than moro'a

Wounded Temple Knight: he's in the cutscene of the quest 'heavens weep', when the tower at specula imperatoris falls. there's no reason for me picking him other than that he recognises the wol from the final battle at the steps of faith, and that he's cute

Post-ENW

Estinien: circumstances (alcohol) in radz-at-han lead to them spending a night together, and after moro'a works out some complex feelings (about aymeric and estinien being a thing, and relationships in general) they start a qpr. it goes on for a while, but estinien decides to end it when it becomes clear that moro'a has strong feelings for leofard

Leofard: hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

[helieosphere]

Dawntrail & saying goodbye (spoilers for end of Dawntrail)

CW: death, hospitalization

Let me get this out of the way, I liked this expansion and reading the criticism online makes me feel insane. If I were to rate it against each other it would go something like this:

ARR > STB > HW/DT >> SHB > EW

You’re probably surprised HW isn’t completely smashing DT and I have pretty simple reasons for that.

1) The filler or “filler” between quests feels better and more engaging

2) the encounter design

3) the world aesthetics

HW is awesome and I think of it as a turning point for my enjoyment. But you can’t tell me Moghome, and THE ENTIRE PRINCESS ARC sucked. I hated those areas. I think my opinion will change as a slowly replay it soon but it did not sit well with me post remembrance.

Yes, the pacing this expansion was strange, glaring plot holes exist and some characters feel unnecessary but it had so many sparks of brilliance I cannot ignore. So let’s get into that starting with a very personal story of mine.

Death has always followed me throughout my life. I remember my first experience with death of a family member. It was fast, and I hadn’t realized it happened someone whom I was related to. When I saw my grandmother in Taiwan on her death bed in my mom’s childhood home at six, I didn’t quite process I’d never see her again unlike my grandfather who was in a similar situation. Death struck my life again at 12 when my aunt called my mother and I into her hospital room when she realized she was about to die from cancer. I had nowhere to turn in that moment, I had to accept that someone who had taken care of me so well was going away forever. It sure didn’t make it any better when my mom told me directly after the visit that we were the only people outside of her immediate family she wanted to see, she loved me as her own child. I knew what not to say in that moment, I felt stunted and didn’t say much. But looking back, I wish I was able to properly say goodbye. My grandfather died shortly after as well, but I had a much more intimate relationship with his death and time to feel heavily impacted by it. We had taken care of him in my childhood home, I heard the ups and downs of his health on him and my family. My grandma beat him endlessly as he sat on our bed lifeless and in pain, I’ve heard him collapse down our stairs several times over. I watched as my loving two grandparents turned into soulless husks of one another that, in the end, stuck together through thick and thin bc they loved each other. Once her was transferred to an elderly home, I knew it was the end for him but as a teenager, I felt dutiful to act strong especially considering the trauma I watched everyone around me go through. He would try and put a smile on his face every tine he saw me, and I would try and do the same, we had a language barrier of course but the love radiated off of him even in his final days. I didn’t get to see him during his last day of life, but when I finally heard he was gone, the impact of death had finally caught up to me and I screamed but didn’t cry. I felt numb to death and accepted it was a way of life. I only truly processed how much loss I’ve experienced when I reached adulthood. It was random, and sudden. I just broke down in tears as I reminisced about them and how much I missed them. The impact of their deaths still ring true to this day as I watch my grandmother still struggle to comprehend her condition years later. That is to say, when we first encounter Namika in Heritage found. I broke down sobbing for the first time this expansion. The fear of death followed me home and my desire to give her the best before her passing suddenly became more salient. Living memory only cemented that for me, knowing that with her Dementia, I have become the one of the only people she listens to anymore and loves unconditionally.

I’m not really sure if I’m ever ready to say goodbye, especially since I feel her time is nearing the end soon. But Living Menory gave me comfort and determination to confront death and feel comfort in their memory being inside me as the greatest treasure they could leave me. I’m here to live life to the fullest for myself is what endwalker taught me, and dawntrail followed up and reminded me of the people long past I also continue to live for. To call this story hollow would be an outright lie. It has so much heart and it touched me personally even if the journey to get there wasn’t perfect. I literally dropped story around 93 bc I was not having a good time but I’m glad I came back with a fresh perspective to experience the rest of what it had to offer.

This is to say, while not perfect in execution, I’m happy I was able to go through the emotions I did while in dawntrail.

[autumnslance]

LynMars FFXIV Write 2023 Master Post

This year's challenge completed! Congrats to everyone who wrote anything at all this month, even if just one prompt! Thanks again to @sea-wolf-coast-to-coast for 7 years of this!

Previous Years Master Posts: 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022

Anything wolcred ship-related is marked by an asterisk* as usual. Commentary and stats for anyone interested below the Read More.

01. Envoy: ARR; Aeryn makes her Grand Company choice. 02. Bark: Dark has the wrong pie thief suspect. 03. Free Day! 04. Off the Hook: EW; Lucia & Maxima explore their new HQ. 05. Barbarous: HW; Aeryn's frustrated by the land of her birth. 06. Ring: EW; keepsakes & memories of Aeryn's mother. 07. Noisome: Dark & Iyna contend with ubiquitous seasonal flavors. 08. Shed: EW; Aeryn answers Zenos at the edge of everything. 09. Fair: EW; Azem's brother tries to ensure the future has his aid. 10. Free Day! 11. Once Bitten Twice Shy: ShB Bozja; unwarranted concerns. 12. Dowdy: Backstory; Aeryn's always had Opinions about fashion. 13. Check: Iyna discovers C'oretta's personal business. 14. Clear*: ShB; semi-poetic sweetness of coming together. 15. Portentous: Backstory. Zaine speaks to Tanzel about a decision. 16. Jerk: EW; Aeryn meets an old friend as the Final Days loom. 17. Free Day! 18. Fish Out of Water: Shb: G'raha gets used to his new life. 19. Weal: EW; Vrtra sees to his people and their home. 20. Hamper: In a possible future, Iyna answers academic questions. 21. Grave: Legacy; Zaine Striker returns to his childhood home. 22. Fulsome: C'oretta sorts through her parents' old promos. 23. Suit: ARR; what the Scions wore that most fateful night. 24: Free Day! 25. Call it a Day: Pre-ARR; Iron Summer contemplating his daughter. 26. Last: EW; a final conversation between ancients. 27. Sole*: Post-ShB; Thancred vs the perils of Aeryn's flip-tastic jobs. 28. Blunt: Post-ShB; working with Gaius, like it or not. 29. Contravention: EW; "In from the Cold" violates laws of nature. 30. Amity: EW; Varshahn & Aeryn discuss Thavnair & Garlemald.

Only 2 short shippy prompts all month! All 4 modern girls got a couple spotlights, various family cameos and backstories, a future prompt as is tradition, Zaine had a few posts, a few NPC-only scenes, a LOT of Endwalker, and even Ancient Icarus got a story, tying into 2021's "Destruct" prompt and how/why the siblings' souls have been connected through time and reincarnations.

A few of these are alternate takes on scenes I've touched on before, but it's interesting what a new prompt at a different time can get one to say, how we change as writers in what we focus on and how we say it.

This comes in roughly 300 words shorter than last year, at 18,493. The week of the 18-22 I had off work for my birthday, and that had the most 1k+ prompts, with a word count nearly double the other 3 full weeks. While the longer prompts are good, I'm really happy with how so many of the short ones turned out!

I was again trying to be realistic about my time, energy, not pushing free write days...and also working on an original writing project on the side, so I actually did do more writing over the month, just not FFXIV related!

(Also why some of my responses were in just under the wire...)

But this was a good break and exercise from that other writing, and let me try a few new things.

And comparing to earlier years--especially 2017 and 2018 when I was getting back onto the writing horse and feeling out my OCs--I feel like my growth as a writer, especially to be more succinct yet still evocative when needed, is evident. I've gotten a lot of practice in over time, and this challenge is one of the things that helped me get to where I can write an original story on top of my fanfic!

Breakdowns for funsies: Longest: 21 Grave; 1,652 words Shortest: 14 Clear; 106 words

Between 100-500 words: 1 Envoy; 2 Bark; 4 Off the Hook; 5 Barbarous; 7 Noisome; 8 Shed; 14 Clear; 15 Portentous; 26 Last; 27 Sole. Between 500-1000 words: 6 Ring; 11 Once Bitten, Twice Shy; 13 Check; 16 Jerk; 18 Fish Out of Water; 22 Fulsome; 23 Suit; 25 Call it a Day; 28 Blunt; 29 Contravention; 30 Amity. 1000+ words: 9 Fair; 12 Dowdy; 19 Weal; 20 Hamper; 21 Grave.

I didn't look at the totals until the end; I only checked some of the shorter ones during the challenge to see if they hit my personal "500+ words" cut off for adding a Read More to the posts.

"Grave" honestly could have been a lot shorter; I started the plot too early, and much as I like Zaine making one last visit to his childhood Nana, for the purposes of the challenge, I could have just focused on going to the lichyard to save myself time and energy, and wrote about the visit on my own another time. On the other hand, it's done now!

Not sure which is a favorite; there's a lot I like.

As usual, these will be revised at...some point (some more than others, probably) and added to Ao3, in my various series and threads.

[talkingwoman]

Poignant

There is something endearing about the enduring belief of Charmies in a relationship between Armie Hammer and Timmy Chalamet. Today some of the faithful posted pictures of the two men together at the 2018 Golden Globes as if a six year old PR photo has anything to do with either man’s life in 2024. Of course, the entire Charmie phenomenon has always been premised upon secrecy; it is at once the proof that a ship exists and must remain hidden and the sole explanation for the absence of any verifiable evidence that the men have even spoken to one another, let alone seen or spent time together in years.

Rarely has so much emotional meaning been invested in, pardon the pun, “pure imagination.”

The time-honored but by now very tired PR argument applied to Timmy’s female partners (all of whom share obvious physical appearance characteristics) may finally be permanently dispelled by the success of Wonka. Now, our guy is completely bankable in HW terms, wildly talented and versatile as an actor, and apparently a favorite among influential directors. And please don’t forget or dismiss Timmy’s ongoing avoidance of saying anything in support of Armie. Friends, let alone lovers, don’t leave friends behind, twisting slowly in the wind.

There is some rich quote about the seductive perils of reminiscence dancing at the edge of my memory, but I can’t grasp it. No matter, you get the drift, right?

[efrmellifer]

obviously I didn't want to clog up the tags of that post about Urianger with ramblings, especially ones that are more specifically about Etien, but its very good points did remind me

it's true, Urianger does start trying to ask less of the WoL, and I think the not asking for help thing ALSO ties into his role of secrecy he finally plays differently in EW. like it coalesces in his mind that there is a way to rely on the WoL as someone he can talk to, and that he can (and IMO should, that's like, fine) try not to just foist things into the WoL's lap to handle all the time, but that doesn't mean he has to silently perform the duty he's chosen or been given. they can talk it out so everyone knows Urianger's Plan and he can DO the plan without any/everyone making the WoL do the grunt work

for me, personally, the end of and post-Shadowbringers repaired my (as Etien, and also as a person partaking in an interactive story) relationship with the Scions a bit, because I really, really was starting to resent the fact that any time something went wrong, everybody on the star was calling out for the Wol. Etien never got to sit down.

but then the Sin Eaters. The Light. Post-Innocence.

it was that phenomenon that happens to traumatized children, especially "gifted" students and/or ones with learning disabilities, where they want something visibly bad to happen to them so that finally people will notice that they're in pain.

suddenly, the WoL who did it all couldn't just get up and keep going. the light was tearing Etien apart--and that's why I really leaned into her being unsteady on her feet and sick all the time, and at the end going blind, sleeping terribly, and crying out her light-bleached soul such that no one could ignore her tears anymore

suddenly, the Scions realized they couldn't do these things without her, and they couldn't do these things they kept doing to her.

and Urianger was one of the first Archon Scions (Alphinaud and Alisaie got their shit together in HW and SB respectively) to start putting that together. to me, that's part of why he and Y'shtola had their discussion/argument about the WoL upon the party's arrival in Slitherbough.

in my writing between the scenes shown to us in canon, Etien starts having hallucinations out in the forests of Rak'tika by herself and Urianger finds her and carries her back to her room because suddenly, it clicks for him that they met her when she was 19 and she was immediately made to do anything and everything all of the time and it's only now that she can't keep the mask form slipping because now her body is under the stress of two Sin Eaters' light on top of all the other shit

so he stops asking so much of her, goes back to the way he was in ARR where he tried to be like an uncle to her

and it worked, because in Endwalker, she was like "hey. you can depend on me. just not for everything if it's all the time."

Thancred and Y'shtola also fixed their relationships with Etien post-ShB, as did G'raha, but that was in like, 5.55. they did get very close once they fixed it though

[pangolinheart]

Well since you’ve given me a chance to ramble about my boy, you got any little quirks or story things that you want to talk about for Rhiki? I saw some drk stuff, so maybe like how does she handle that whole plot?

Whooo boy I would LOVE to talk about the DRK quests. I apologize if this runs long i will try to contain myself. Behind the scenes, I actually started playing the DRK quests at a recommendation from a friend. Towards the end of HW I had maxed out my DRG levels (before the cap was raised to 90) and didn't want to waste msq exp. I had been telling a friend of mine all of my thoughts about the plot and my character, and in her infinite wisdom she said "Oooo you should unlock DRK I think you'd like it." And she was RIGHT.

I know that "canonically" the first set of DRK quests is set before the start of HW, but for Rhiki as a character I have them set in my head as taking place after HW-proper, proceeding and bleeding into the post-patches. The level 30-50 questline really tapped into a lot of things Rhiki had been feeling since the ARR post-patches. Around the time of Moenbryda's death, Rhiki started to get the feeling that her "friends" in the Scions didn't really know her at all. (Specifically, Minfilia has a line that goes something along the lines of "You're so strong. I can always lean on you for support" which, for the way i had imagined Rhiki as a character, was laughably inaccurate.) It felt to Rhiki like everyone, including the other Scions, looked at her and, rather than seeing her as she was, projected their vision of the perfect hero, the hero they needed onto her. It got her wondering: if she wasn't the Warrior of Light would they even like her at all? At the same time, being treated like the solution to all of Eorzea's problems put a lot of pressure on her. People treated her like a hero, but she didn't feel like a hero - she didn't see herself as any stronger, or smarter, or kinder than anybody else. She definitely didn't think she was qualified to weigh in on complex geopolitical issues like the refugee crisis in Ul'dah or international relations with Ishgard. But she didn't want to let people down (and she didn't want them to be disappointed in her) so she just kind of talked herself into a "Fake-It-til-you-Make-it" attitude. But, even though she never acknowledged it, t little bit of resentment started to creep in. Why does she have to be the one who's strong for everyone else's sake? Who is she supposed to lean on when everything goes wrong?

She kind of held it together until Haurchefant died. Haurchefant had been just about her favorite person for a while by that point, and the two of them were close (they were probably in love but neither of them ever said it in so many words). So his death absolutely gutted Rhiki. She let shock (and a shiny, brand new thirst for revenge) carry her through the the chase to Azys Lla and the final confrontation with the Archbishop, but after that, when the battle was already won and there was nothing left to do, she kind of fell apart. She really struggled with grief and regret, but also with anger. Rhiki had never really hated anyone before - she'd disliked people, been annoyed with people, but never truly hated them. But oh boy she hated Zephirin and the Archbishop enough to make up for all the years of hate she'd missed out on. And the hate and anger didn't go away once they were both dead - they lingered in her even aft there was no one left to be angry at. She had never thought she was capable of those kind of violent, ugly feelings, and it scared her.

That was the backdrop when she found Fray's body (in my head, she spent a lot of time holed up in her room, but would sometimes sneak out at night so she could get some fresh air without having to worry about running into anyone she knew, which was when she heard about the trial). At first, she was totally on-board with what "Fray" taught her - at least this way she could channel all of those terrible emotions into something good. But the more time they spent together, and the more disparaging "Fray" became of her desire to help others, the more she started to think that, hey, maybe this person might possibly be a little unhinged. But, everyone's got their stuff, and in-for-a-penny and all that, so she stuck with it. The confrontation at Whitebrim was REALLY good for Rhiki. Somehow, seeing herself as another person who was hurting, made it much easier to treat herself with the same kindness she would treat someone else. While the negative feelings didn't go away after reconciling with Esteem, she learned to recognize and accept them rather than trying to bury them inside herself.

When she first met Sid, she thought he was kind of a tool. (He was.) But he DID remind her of a certain other tall, dark tool-ish friend she had recently failed to protect from being possessed by a dragon, which endeared him to her a little and made her more willing to hear him out. Then she met Rielle and decided she couldn't not help. While trying to find a way to keep Rielle safe, Sid and Rhiki bickered A LOT, about things like the merits of mercy, but also about how he treated Rielle. She definitely tried to keep Rielle's spirits up and treat her with as much warmth and kindness as she could, though neither of them were really qualified to be in charge of a 12-year-old, so how much good it did is debatable. (Also, she was a little worried that Sid might start rubbing off on Rielle, so she kind of tried to temper his influence when she thought he couldn't hear them. "Listen, I know Sid says a lot of stuff about forgiveness being a weakness and the world being terrible, but you've gotta understand he's working through some personal issues and he's projecting.")

Their encounter with the moogles put into words something Rhiki had been thinking about but couldn't find a way to express: that the root of most pain and anger is love. Love for a person, love for a homeland, love for an ideal, love for the person you were or could have been. When something we love is taken from us that love has nowhere to go, and it twists and grows into sorrow and anger. But it's important to keep sight of the love at the center of all of those feelings, so as not to be consumed by them. Being able to hear that sentiment out loud was something Rhiki really benefitted from. (She did feel pretty bad about what happened with Rielle's mom, and got into a bit of a tiff with Sid about it. She knew it was probably what had to happen, and it was Rielle's choice to make, but... "Did you have to behead the woman right in front of her? What is WRONG with you?!You couldn't have waited for us to, like, turn around, or walk twenty feet away or something?!") Anyway this is already super long so I'll cut it off here and not go into the Stormblood quests (though I'm always happy to give my feelings on those too!) As a side note: if you haven't already, I highly recommend reading the Journal entries for the Stormblood DRK quests. They're good stuff. Anyway, thank you for the ask and, if by some miracle you made it to the bottom of this post, I'm sorry for how long it was!

[thefinalwitness]

l'aiha and thancred get a nice bit of their own healing done in shb too, regarding each other. that and post-heavensward when they find out what happened to minfilia are the two instances where they engage one another, which they don't do almost at all otherwise because of the ARR ifrit thing. (l'aiha's mad he left her alone and thancred's mad HE left her alone) they don't dislike each other by the end of ARR but they really can't breach this first, horrific impression.

and even in hw patches they don't really talk TO each other. they sense each other's deepening jadedness and mourning, and they speak up in each other's defense several times, but they still can't really FACE each other. but they see themselves in each other, and they both wish someone would understand how much pain they're in. so l'aiha speaks up in thancred's defense with emmanellain, and they both do so in a few other scenes as well throughout hw patches and stb.

but the ironic thing about shb is they're NOT relating to each other this time, and it causes them to engage for the first time in 4 (or 9 in thancred's case) years, but it's not friendly. l'aiha is furious about how thancred handles ryne, and thancred is furious about how l'aiha handles emet-selch. their animosity grows worse and worse until, finally...

they both realize how fucking wrong they were. thancred about ryne, l'aiha about emet-selch. and neither of them take any satisfaction out of the other's moment of revelation. nobody's happy. they expected even a LITTLE relief, and it's there, but it's dull compared to just how overwhelmingly SAD they are for each other.

and i think that's when they both figure out they've ALWAYS been sad for each other. l'aiha was mad about ryne in part because thancred was denying himself healing. thancred was mad about emet-selch because he was scared he'd hurt l'aiha. even after ARR, when they're not upset about ifrit anymore but keep their distance from one another, it's out of concern FOR EACH OTHER.

thancred believes l'aiha hates him because he left her with ifrit. l'aiha believes she's responsible for the bad mental state that led thancred to being possessed by lahabrea. they think they're only capable of hurting each other, and stay away because they don't WANT to do that.

and after shb, after ryne and emet-selch, they can't stand to watch the other still, still hurting after all this time. they're not friends, exactly, but they remind me of like... two people who found each other in rehab. their relationship is intrinsically built up with a desire to see the other overcome their tragedies and heal; they have seen each other's souls in a way you only really do when you've both crawled out of hell together. they can do the periodic friendly banter throughout endwalker. they scold the SHIT out of each other about their martyrdom in ultima thule (thancred deleting himself, l'aiha sending the scions away from the endsinger). it's still kind of hostile when even just a little stress sparks, but they know now it comes from a place of wanting the other to MAKE IT. to LIVE.

and i'm just. feelings about them. they're not friends but they're deeply important to each other. and maybe, slowly, in seeing how angry they get when the other undermines themselves, MAYBE one day they'll realize they can stop doing it to themselves. they can stop making it worse in this delusional hope that it will save someone else. they can realize they're being, for each other, what they need themselves. ough. they're like soldiers who met in war and they're home now and what they have is utterly untranslatable into words. it's unspeakable. it's love and anger and kinship and hatred and they will never untangle their souls from one another no matter how good or bad it gets. they're fused like metals in a forge.

[hylfystt]

okay…………. what about the leida/ardbert situation 👁️

send me an oc + an alternate love interest for them & i’ll tell you what i think of the idea!!

OKAY!!!!!!!!!! the leida/ardbert situation is. whew!!!!!!!!! this one leans very hard into the whole soulmates thing. i mean like!!! they are literally two parts of the same soul!!!! hello!!!!!!!!!!!!

anyways um. really their whole deal starts in shb. post-hw is a very messy time for leida and while i think that a part of her recognizes him, and is drawn to him in some way, she really can't afford to give him much thought until their final confrontation, and all that follows. her heart definitely breaks for him there. "as one fool to another." she thinks about him often, actually — his parting words always in the back of her mind as she finds her footing and trust in herself again post-hw.

and then, ya kno, they reunite on the first and she makes a promise to him there, even in the face of his cynicism and doubt, that she will save both of their worlds — she has to. and slowly but surely, she makes good on her word. and he begins to find hope again. in saving his world. in her. and through the late night conversations, when she can't sleep and he always seems to be there when she needs him most, they grow to care. a lot. and she really comes to love the way she can just. be herself. that she can give voice to her doubts and failures and not be looked at with anything less than compassion and understanding. it gets lonely, being the hero. and who else understands that better than him?

ultimately, i really think it really comes down to being seen and known in a way that no one else can. but it's also like............how do you fall in love with a ghost? how can you give your heart to someone who has been dead for 100 years — who was already dead the very first time you ever met? but at the same time, how can you not? especially when you carry them with you always.

(in a very self-indulgent au, in which ardbert comes back (divine intervention of some sort with his body, fucky soul magic and him actually like…wanting to come back) they absolutely get together. because like. there is no universe in which they exist together where they do not find and love each other.)

[whatsthisascianbullshit]

How did they fall for eachother? Muireann and Hien? I'm sorry if I spelled that wrong my phone is being an ass for spelling today

No worries at all! And thank you @sasslett this has almost single handedly broken me I have been thinking about it Non Stop and the temptation to just post all the half-finished WIPs was so real but there's wolparty canon to be worked out and most of it is bulletpoints still so I'm sorry for how rambling this got!!

The actual fall itself is pretty fast all things considered, but it takes them a while to admit it to themselves and a little bit longer again to admit it to each other.

Putting in a read more because rambles úps

Hien's fall for Muireann is a little clumsy I guess? - he is twisted up in his responsibility and delivering what his people have asked for, and not only is Muireann is the first maths-based mage he meets which already raises questions why she's bringing a book into battle, but he meets her when she is exhausted. Like height of a weeks long pain flare up exhausted because Somebody (Alphinaud) made her leave her chocobo back in Limsa to not draw undue attention towards themselves. So for him it's a series of Muireann defying expectations which is capped off with her summoning Bahamut at the Naadam which is what definitely clues him into the fact that he has feelings for her. Hien being a bit more awkward with not knowing what to make of this supposed mage who is pretty, yes, but sleeps a lot is also fuel for my Lyse & Hien and Lyse & Muireann brotp agendas lol

But because of his Duty and his assumptions that she may not be interested in him (because she's a roaming adventurer) his attempts at flirting are awkward and it's not clear that he is actually trying to flirt, or if he just happens to also be going for a walk at the same time as her.

Muireann falls for Hien entirely against her own will. She is fresh off the romantic rollercoaster that is ARR and HW and the fight at Rhalgr's Reach as someone who was dating Y'shtola and then Haurchefant and then sort of Y'shtola again. She's convinced she is cursed and when she gets butterflies she tries to squash them down because Hien is too important for her romance-curse to kill him. She also has her Responsibilities (to the Scions, the Maelstorm, her goldsmithing students, the Doman junior adventurer's guild) and spends most of the Steppe arc switching between trying to let herself give into the crush and see if there is anything actually there and running away when the fear and panic takes hold.

I have an entirely too long dual PoV fic of them drinking before the Doma Castle dungeon and Muireann confesses she has feelings for ~someone~ but is scared because grief but also because why pursue something that's only going to end because Duty. And they both willfully misinterpret everything the other one says because neither are willing to be the first one to fully let their guard down and risk ruining the plan with a possible falling out.

All that rambling to say, they fall for each other over the course of the Steppe/Doma arc of Stormblood because of a combination of subverting each other's expectations, being really good in a fight, and how considerate they are. Hien knows he's fallen for Muireann at the Enclave after Doma Castle after she consoles him over Gosetsu's bs, and Muireann knows she's fallen for Hien at the final dungeon fight with Zenos when she realises that she is not worried about an ambush because he's leading the last group before the throne room.

They actually get together after the end of Stormblood and have a love time during the patches and nothing bad happens ever.

Couple Questions