#but pre-Stormblood for the record

[biff-adventurer]

FFxivWrite2023 Prompt #19: Weal

It was the good kind of ache. Exhausted, bones broken, scarred and scabbed, Biff lay in his bed with a happy sigh. He hadn’t fought so hard in a while, and the sights they had seen! The passions they shared! Their thrilling dance of death! He looked forward to someday doing it again, perhaps with four less people this time. He wasn’t sure how long it took kami to accumulate an aramitama, but he hoped there would be another battle with similar stakes. Watching Mikazuki shift and change like a true moon’s god was a delight he would not soon forget. The old man certainly had tricks up his great, big sleeves!

He thought, then, of those tantalizing eyes. He’d never noticed how truly lovely they were, though he’d always believed both the blade and its tsukumogami to be of the utmost beauty. The old man had impeccable taste. Er… Biff bit his lip. If he truly cared for Mikazuki, shouldn’t he have been thinking ‘grandfather’? His heart cringed and he puzzled over it. For so many days since they’d met, it had felt right. Dear grandfather, sweet jiji, gilded granddad and all the rest! The words turned to ash on his tongue. Did the battle change something?

There, right there. The flutter at his heart.

“Well, fuck.”

He was head over heels in love with someone else. He didn’t have time to have a second crush! Oh, what to do? He rolled around in bed, suddenly unfeeling all the wondrous wounds on his body, restless with dissatisfaction. Was it even possible to love two people at once? It was, of course, and he loved her. The star that followed him forever. And anyway, weren’t they meant to be? Yes, of course. The thought of her cooled his heart and he sighed in relief. She knew him, all of him, and she promised to always be with him. That was enough for him.

Besides, a little crush on a new friend was to be expected. Mikazuki Munechika was, after all, the most beautiful blade under heaven. It was like the thrill of loving a celebrity, wasn’t it? There was nothing wrong with that. Hopefully, it would not change a thing between them.

Well, except for the ‘grandda’ bit. A tiny change like that would probably go unnoticed, though, so there was nothing to worry about!

[kannedia]

Kind of.

Oscar keeps a record of all the ancient architecture and ruins he comes across in his travels. He hopes to share them with G’raha should he be alive when the man awakens. G’raha would in theory inherit them should Oscar die first, but they could not be found during the events of the bad timeline. I have not started yet alone finished Endwalker. I would like to think he gives the notes to G’raha some time after though.

Asel keeps a notebook dedicated to her research on aether manipulation. She starts the research in Heavensward to help figure out what happened to her fellow Scions. It becomes much more serious pre-Stormblood when Asel finds out how Red Mage weapons work. She is convinced she can use the same principles to create something to keep Y’shtola from burning through her life energy with the method she uses to see.

They both write to their families when they can but they can only share so much.

HEY! a wol question for you before bed!

does your wol/oc keep a journal or a diary? what kind of stuff do they keep in there?

[starswornoaths]

On Names and the Ties that Bind

Early in their courtship, Aymeric and Serella have a...strange discussion on the topic of marriage.

Or: neither of them knows what they’re doing but they’re pretty sure this isn’t how the topic should be brought up.

(For timeline’s sake, this takes place only just after the Warriors of Darkness arc, but before everything with Baelsar’s Wall and the end of Heavensward)

There was always another letter to respond to, Aymeric thought to himself, eyeing the stack of letters that had just been delivered to his desk with about the same level of open contempt he’d typically reserved for an enemy on the battlefield. Though if he were to truly dwell on it, he hardly viewed either overly different from the other on his best days.

“Shame, really,” Serella commented, clucking her tongue. “You’d just finished that whole pile of documents, too.”

Aymeric spared her a sidelong glance, his expression softening. She gave him a sympathetic smile, her hands stilled in their tinkering with whatever contraption she had hauled from the Skysteel Manufactory this time.

“’Tis more bearable with you here.” He admitted, returning his attention to the newly acquired pile of envelopes and reaching for the first one.

“Fortunate for you, then, that I had no other plans today.” Serella gave a thoughtful hum, even as she went back to her fiddling.

“Fortunate indeed.” He agreed with a quiet chuckle, envelope opener cleanly slicing through the wax seal with practiced precision.

The clicking of her screwdriver working a gear into place became the only white noise in the room once more as he opened the folded letter. He let out a thoughtful hum as he read the header—he was faintly familiar with the house crest on the stationary, but what would they want with—

Reading barely two sentences in, and it became clear exactly what this was: a proposal to discuss marriage between himself and someone of the house.

Setting it to the side, he let out a huff of irritation and took to the second envelope—surely ‘twas the only one this time, he hoped beyond hope.

A second house, petitioning to meet with him and discuss— amongst other things, admittedly— a potential marriage arrangement. And though he noted sourly that at least this one deigned to acknowledge that he was currently ‘in the midst of a dalliance’ — a dalliance! The nerve!  — as the letter worded it, they also found it perfectly acceptable to comment that it was, ‘hardly a detriment to his possible eligibility, as mistresses were a common and expected stipulation to a potential marriage.’

At that, Aymeric frowned deeply but opted not to comment on it. He set the second offer on top of the first and moved on to the next envelope.

He had never been more relieved to see a tax proposal—nor had he ever so enthusiastically signed one before then. Putting it in a fresh envelope and creating his own wax seal was an almost outright jovial experience, because it was not another marriage offer.

But the envelope after that one, unfortunately, was.

Without meaning to, Aymeric let out a noise of disgust as he added it to the others without more than a passing glance—though the words, ‘additional mistress’ did not escape his attention. Serella looked up at the noise, and he couldn’t help the minor moment of guilt he felt—she’d been working, he didn’t mean to interrupt her.

“Trouble?” Serella asked him with a tilt of her head.

“After a fashion.” Aymeric answered, leaning back in his chair. He pressed his fingers against his temple, hoping a migraine was not forthcoming despite the ache that had begun to present itself. “Trouble I had hoped would eventually stop.”

“Is it something I could help with?” She offered, lowering the device she had been working on, her hands stilling.

He considered—he certainly did not want to hide anything involved in this, as it would be foolish to; she had known of these thrice damned offers since before they had even considered one another friends, so it would likely not surprise her to know they still persisted. Rather than let it fester until something unnecessarily dramatic came about, talking on it now would be good, he decided— he could better understand her position on the matter.

“House of Lords giving you trouble?” She ventured when he did not provide a further explanation.

“In a sense.” He sighed and let his hand fall back upon the desk. “Forgive me, I do not intend to be vague,” he gestured to the pile of letters. “Ever these have vexed me, I am accustomed to it.”

“So...marriage proposals?” Serella asked after a moment of studying him, voice thick with sympathy.

“Kindling.” Aymeric answered darkly.

“Marriage proposals.” She affirmed to herself with a nod.

Truly, they were nothing new, not even to her; in the time she spent alongside him, even as naught more than acquaintances when she was newly come to Ishgard, he had received offers of marriage on a somewhat regular — if slow going — basis. With his new position as the Lord Speaker, however, those offers seemed to only increase as the weeks wore on, much to his chagrin.

“They would not bother me quite so much, were we not…” Aymeric cut himself off, pinching the bridge of his nose as he sucked a breath through his teeth. “Forgive me, I need not vent to you about this, of all things.”

“It bothers you.” Serella said, setting her work in her pack and turning her undivided attention to him. “So if you want to talk about it, then so do I.”

Lowering his hands into his lap, he looked at her, at the way she sat with her head tilted in interest, brow furrowed in concern, and felt whatever frustration he had leave his shoulders entirely. She cared, he had to firmly remind himself; in regards to companions— even courtships, the concept was one he still had to get used to outside of his immediate circle of subordinates.

“I know we have only scarcely begun—” his cheeks faintly flushed in spite of himself. “—courting.” She nodded, her lips tugging into a soft smile. “And ‘twas not as though I expected such letters to simply go away because I am now spoken for.” He gave her a small but genuine smile. “Rather happily, I should add.”

“Well, that part’s a relief, at least.” Serella breathed a laugh, though her concern still showed on her face. “But I’m guessing they haven’t let up.”

“They have not.” His frown returned. “I am unsure if I would be more upset if they did not acknowledge our relationship and merely continue on as they always have, but…” Her eyes watched the way his hand clenched his quill. “But that they insult you with these proposals—“

“Wait, wait,” Serella held a hand up. “How are they insulting me?” She did not seem angry. Merely…perplexed. “I’m not really involved in the whole thing.”

“Many of the offers I have so generously been given of late have acknowledged that I am currently with you,” he paused, clearly conflicted in going on.

“Ah,” She sighed as it all clicked into place. “So they’re offering marriage, with the understanding that I could still be your mistress.” When Aymeric looked up at her in surprise, she shrugged. “I get it, the offer is brazenly arrogant and gross, but that’s just,” she gestured vaguely with her hand. “A nobility thing. Doesn’t just happen in Ishgard.”

“You speak as though you have come across it often.”

“Not where I’ve been involved— that’s a bit of a first, I’ll admit,” Serella waved a hand dismissively. “But I’m commissioned for engagement rings an awful lot of the time. And I’ve gotten plenty of requests for, ‘can you add a third ring that’s less ornate than the other two so the concubine doesn’t feel left out’ types.” She mockingly pitched her voice higher to mimic the nobles she was commissioned by, pursing her lips in obvious displeasure. “And more often than not, they’d demand a refund because surprise! People don’t like being belittled—even less so when their actual lover is being belittled alongside them.”

“Forgive me,” Aymeric murmured sadly, eyes downcast. “I had never wanted you to be dis—“

“Dear one, I don’t give one fig what the nobility say about me— here, or elsewhere.” She stood and walked around to his side of the desk. She leaned the back of her thighs against it, smiling gently at him as she reached over and laid a hand atop his. “I’m just sorry they’re still hounding you. You clearly don’t want their advances.” Though he laced his fingers with hers still he could not quite ease the knot that had formed in his breast. “Something’s still troubling you.”

Ever the observant one, he noted with infinite fondness.

“I suppose.” He admitted, offering her a small, tired smile through a sidelong glance.

“Is it something I can help with?” She asked.

“Perhaps. I do wonder,” Aymeric paused, debating on if it would even help with the strange tangle of concern that had firmly lodged itself in his chest. “What do you think of marriage?” He wound up blurting out, his thoughts tangling the intent of his words. “Or rather, the idea of marriage, I should say.”

To her credit, she did not gawk at him, even if the surprised of the question was evident on her face.

“Given you’re not one for idle musings on such things,” Serella began slowly, her tone even. “I’m guessing you mean a marriage between you and I?”

Painfully aware that he had now well and truly stuck his foot in his mouth, he nodded. She mulled it over in her head for a moment, and he was suddenly anxious of her answer; would she have an expectation that he would not be comfortable meeting— or worse, would he find out that she was not interested in something long term with him? The thought of either being the case made his stomach twist unpleasantly.

“I mean, it’s entirely too early to seriously consider it.” She said after a moment, shaking her head.

“I agree.” He  said, and let out a breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding, relieved that she felt as he did in that regard, at least. “I am merely curious on your perspective of it.”

“That’s fair,” She conceded with a nod. “Since we are discussing a possible  marriage later,” she paused to mull it over, though after another moment she simply shrugged. “I admit, I find the idea nice, but ultimately unnecessary.”

“Unnecessary?” Aymeric asked, a bit surprised.

“It’s just,” Serella paused and tilted her head as though deciding what to say. “I am fairly certain that my mother didn’t use her last name when we were kids—we were just ‘the Arcbane house,’ but,” she paused, lifting her head to look out of the large windows behind his desk. “But they didn’t wear rings, never had an anniversary. I don’t know if they ever got legally married. And yet…”

“And yet...?” Aymeric pressed gently, giving her hand a small squeeze.

“And yet, I remember how they adored each other.” She began slowly, her voice growing soft in remembrance. “I remember Da singing to Ma all the time,” her eyes glazed over in warm nostalgia that he would never know. She looked at him again. “He had a bad leg, but whenever she was upset, he’d start to dance slowly around the kitchen with her and serenade her, and they’d always be smiling by the end of it.” Her smile grew infinitely fond. “I remember Ma would always help him move around, and when he would feel particularly down about himself, she’d brew him a cup of tea and curl up with him by the fire, and they’d just whisper to one another all night.” She shrugged again. “I may not know if they were married, but would marriage change how much they clearly loved each other? Does it matter?”

“I confess, I have no experiences of my own to draw from.” Aymeric answered, his voice as quiet as hers.

“The Borels were not affectionate?”

“They may well have been, in their youth.” Aymeric answered, looking back at his desk, at the papers still strewn about it, and found it greatly resembled his thoughts in that moment. “But by the time they had adopted me, they were older, more sickly.” He paused, frowning. “I do not remember them as not affectionate— merely tired.”

“I’m sure they loved you.” Serella reassured him with a bright smile. “Even when they were tired and sick, I’m sure they loved you— and each other.”

“You seem confident.” He mused, though he could feel the smile forming on his lips.

“I speak only from knowing you, dear one.” She leaned down and pressed a quick kiss to his forehead. “So yes, I am confident.”

Warmth flooded his chest at the gesture and his smile grew wide even as he ducked his head back toward the remaining paperwork on his desk.

Though even through the happiness and the soft words...something niggled in his mind. He could not place it, necessarily, but there was certainly something that was bothering him, even if he could not put it into words. This was all uncharted territory in the mapping of his own heart, and though he was glad to finally be able to work through it, discovering how little he knew himself was more than a little concerning.

“So shall I file away marriage as a, ‘perhaps,’ for us?” Aymeric asked in a tone he hoped passed as playful.

“That seems a sound conclusion.” Serella said with an amused laugh. “Though if we were to decide to get married one day,” She noted, pulling herself out of her own reverie. “I would rather we had some form of prenuptial agreement beforehand.” She paused, tilting her head. “That way, what finances and assets we both had remained separate from the start.” He must not have caught his surprise quick enough to not show it on his face, because she waved the hand not holding his. “I don’t need to know the specifics of your finances to know we both have enough of our own. And were things to ever sour, I would not want estates to be the reason we bitterly remained together.”

She didn’t even want him for his money, then, he noted—though now that the topic was brought up, he found it hardly surprising; he had known her long enough to know she cared little for it, and had enough of her own saved besides.

Still, the innocuous comment seemed to pull particularly hard at that little bit of the tangled thread of feelings still jumbled inside his head. Where he had been unable to place what was making him feel such unease, the topic brought to light a lingering question, one that had evidently been creeping in the deepest pit of his heart all the while, but only just know whispered in his ear: then what worth have I to her?

“I,” he fumbled, his tongue darting out to wet his lips briefly. The frustration that had burned in his chest at receiving yet more of those damnable proposals gave way to a tangle of emotions he had not realized he had been ignoring. He quietly wondered how long they had been there, and he had simply buried them. Discussing the offers of marriage—and marriage itself—forced him to contemplate more than one thing that he was swiftly realizing he was uncertain of. It felt like he had been knocked on the back foot by the surprising turn in discussion, in a sense, and he found himself unsure of what had led her heart to want him, if not for power or wealth.

“Whatever it is, you can talk to me about it, if you’re comfortable.” Serella gently coaxed him, her thumb lightly stroking his knuckles, her smile soft as gossamer.

“Why are you with me?” Aymeric finally asked. The moment the words left his lips he winced. “Rather—“ he let out a heavy sigh. “At least with these,” he gestured with his free hand to the ‘kindling’ pile, as he had called it. “I know what they are after, but with you,” he shook his head and sighed again. “You already have influence greater than I could give to you, should you tie yourself to me. And you have no interest in what monetary gain I could give you.” He shook his head. “So why? What do I offer you?”

“Must you offer me anything at all?” She answered his question with one of her own. “I care for you, Aymeric.”

“I know,” he answered, because as much as he wondered at the why, that she did was never in doubt. “But,” he sighed. “Were we to wed, I haven’t even a name to give you.” He looked at her fully. “Not of my own, at least.” He shook his head, almost at himself. “I have never been in a relationship where there was not at least something I could give my partner. So I,” he grimaced as he finally put to words the feeling that had knotted his heart in a tangle of anxiety. “I suppose I just cannot see why you would choose me.”

That was it, he realized with a start. At the end of it all, I have nothing for her. Not even a name. For all I have built, what of it is truly mine to offer her?

Examining that he could offer her, even in the context of affection was...disparaging. For all her freedom, for her promise to always return to Ishgard, to him, the best he could ever offer her in kind was, I will get to you when my work is finished.

The thought made him uncomfortable.

“Truly?” She asked him softly, looking down at their entwined hands. “You can’t see any reason why I would want to be with you?”

His silence was as good as a yes.

“I need no reason other than you make me happy,” Serella began with fond exasperation. “But if I must put it in terms of what you might offer me,” she trailed off for a moment. “You offer me peace.”

“Can you truly not find that elsewhere?” Aymeric asked, more bewildered at the thought than anything.

“Not the same way I can with you.” Serella answered. “But if that isn’t enough, you offer me understanding and being my equal. You offer me independence within our relationship— and seek your own as well.” She gave his hand a squeeze. “You’ve never demanded I change who I am or what I believe in, even when we have disagreed.”

“I would never!” Aymeric spoke up immediately, aghast.

“Most I have courted can’t say the same.” She admitted sadly. She looked at him, smiling despite the revelations of her past relationships. “You offer me a great many things, dear one,” she brought his hand to her lips, lightly kissing his fingertips. “Home being chief among them.”

He stood from his seat even as he continued to drink in the sight of her— partly from his neck beginning to cramp from looking up at her, but mostly because he suddenly felt an intense need to be closer to her, to remind himself that this was happening, and he would not wake from this pleasant dream.

“And so it is for me,” he rasped, unsure of what else to say.

Their hands still entwined, it was his turn to bring her knuckles to his mouth, to gently kiss the scarred skin there in silent reverence. Her cheeks flushed a lovely shade of pink but still she did not pull her gaze from his.

“And that is why I am with you.” Serella said with a nod, as though that settled things. “Besides,” she continued in a teasing lilt. “If the whole last name bit bothers you later down the line, you can just have mine.”

“Oh?” He breathed a laugh, finally letting go of her hand and letting his rest softly on her hip. The ache in his chest had loosened into something pleasantly akin to a knotted muscle at last being released of its tension. “I suppose that would be a reasonable compromise.” He felt himself smiling a bit wider at the thought. “So I would be...Aymeric de Arcbane?”

“No.” They were both startled by the force behind her voice, if the way she winced was any indication, but she pressed on, closing the distance between them to slot comfortably against him. “No, ‘de.’ No, ‘of.’ That’s—” she shook her head in frustration. “It’d just be, ‘Arcbane.’ You aren’t some...some acquisition for my family.” She looked at him with bright eyes. “You are my family.” 

He nearly forgot to breathe.

“Serella—” he whispered.

“...Hypothetically.” She added, the flush on her face only darkening as her eyes shied away from his. “...’Cause, y’know. It’s all hypothetical and all.”

“Of course.” He whispered, even as he fully embraced her and hoped she could not feel his heart desperately trying to beat out of his chest. “Still...a rather appealing hypothetical.”

“...Still too early for that.” She almost sounded like she was grumbling, even as he felt her smile against his neck.

“Quite.” He agreed into the crown of her head, pressing a kiss there.

It was too early for a great many things, Aymeric knew— too early to admit that he already loved her, too early and too dangerous to think of forever— even too early to discuss what level of intimacy they would be comfortable with— but it was never too early for him to show her how much he adored her, how much he was hopeful for their forever.

Never too early at all, he decided as she rocked on the tips of her toes to press her lips to his.

[autumnslance]

Don’t Panic

Yuuichi Nakamura (Thancred’s JP VA) made vague comments on his show about Endwalker having a definite end to the Zodiark/Hydaelyn story and not knowing where the story and his character go from there.

From the r/ffxiv translation channel:

・中村さん「6.0のボイス収録をしたが、あれ？俺の仕事(サンクレッド)なくなるのかなと思ったし、次のステップがあまり見えなかった」 Nakamura-san is already done with recording his lines for 6.0 Thancred . But Nakamura-san, when looking at the script, thought his work/role for the game is done, and he couldn't quite see what's for him in the future. For context, Nakamura-san can roughly tell that, by the end of a story in a major expansion that there's going to be a continuation, but for Endwalker, it seems that the future becomes uncertain... This means Nakamura-san is amazed that the scenario has a proper and conclusion to the current Hydaelyn-Zodiark arc. The game doesn't end for sure, but the current story arc certainly has reached its end.

Someone else pointed out it seems unlikely he’d mention anything like that if his character was dying (though still might!). Remember, this man is an avid FFXIV fan as well as VA, he likes lore and speculation as much as the rest of us, he just happens to have a leg up on it.

Also, they said at the Showcase and FanFest that we might see the Scions stepping back and the WoL going to new adventures; it could be the organization gets disbanded or restructured once the Z/H story is over. After taking another option besides “fine” or “dead” with a beloved character in the 5.5 patch quests, and Lyse leaving the Scions to do something else in Stormblood, characters can change or exit from the main story in multiple ways. Try not to immediately jump to the worst possible conclusion based on the vaguest hint when the VA is under NDA. Especially when Ishikawa has said she dislikes random death for shock value, there’s other ways to up the stakes and make players care about story and character fates.

I am going to sound a bit harsh as I say right now that if people start wailing and gnashing teeth over the possibility of character death and go on about "if X dies I will quit the game" I will respond with "then quit." Cuz frankly:

1) it’s probably healthier if 1 pixel character is the only thing keeping someone playing a game they otherwise don't care about/enjoy. 2) I've already dealt with that from someone pre-Shadowbringers that I had to cut out of my online life for various reasons and honestly have no patience left for it. I’m old and tired, y’all.

Characters might die in Endwalker. Certain characters like to collect so-called “death flags” like some people collect novelty spoons. Will I be sad if my faves die? Of course! But I’ve also dealt with it before in other games and shows and don’t hinge my existence around other creators’ fictional characters. Will my WoL grieve if her partner is among the losses? Sure--but she’ll also continue on with her life, as there’s more to her than her ship*.

And if it is going to be emotionally devastating for you if we lose another beloved character (or multiple), please consider seeking pro help if able, and if not, looking for good coping mechanisms and friendly support. Your mental health has to come before the game you’re supposed to be playing for fun, not stress.

--

(*And if anything I’ll finally be free of this accidental pairing though I’d miss it...but since I don’t write chronologically anyhow and NG+ exists I can revisit and tell more stories as I want anyway. But that’s also gremlin voice talking and gremlin needs to go back in its box.)

[weatheredpileoftomes]

FFxivWrite 2021 Master Post

Fics written: 30 Total wordcount: ~20K, ish, probably

[Day 1 | foster] building homes || early A Realm Reborn postgame, ~1200 words, Frydlona | 2.2 spoilers and early ARR alliance raid spoilers || There are a lot of things worth doing in Revenant’s Toll.

[Day 2 | aberrant] a splinter of ice || late A Realm Reborn postgame (Heavensward pregame), ~600 words, Frydlona | spoilers through the 2.4 trial; religious intolerance and violent rebellion || Frydlona isn’t sure any of these Ishgardians have a right to call anyone else “Iceheart”.

[Day 3 | scale] up above the world so high || early A Realm Reborn, ~700 words, Frydlona || Mother Miounne and Frydlona have very different ideas of what’s strange and new for a special emissary.

[Day 4 | baleful] mettle || early-to-mid–A Realm Reborn, ~850 words, Sisila | gld jobquest spoilers || A paladin is never afraid, but Sisila isn’t a paladin just yet.

[Day 5 | free day]

[Day 6 | avatar] shades of heroism || early Shadowbringers, ~1100 words, Frydlona | lv 71 dungeon spoilers; mention of canonical character death || The Warrior of Light has another role to fill now.

[Day 7 | speculate] in the details || late Stormblood, ~1000 words, no WoL specified | 4.0 spoilers || A deputy president’s work is never done.

[Day 8 | adroit] unmended || mid-Shadowbringers, ~1100 words, Frydlona | end-of-5.0 spoilers || Emet-Selch observes the Warrior of Light, and considers.

[Day 9 | friable] greatloam || early A Realm Reborn, ~500 words, Frydlona || Frydlona explores her new home city.

[Day 10 | heady] an unfamiliar victory || just after Shadowbringers proper, ~600 words, Frydlona (can be read as gen) | 5.0 spoilers; discussion of grief/the cost of war || This isn’t how Frydlona had thought the latest war would end.

[Day 11 | preaching to the choir] sins of omission || late Heavensward postgame (Stormblood pregame), ~600 words, Frydlona || Philosophy, war, and Ala Mhigo.

[Day 12 | free day] centuries deep || just after Shadowbringers proper, ~1100 words, Frydlona/Exarch | 5.0 spoilers || Frydlona probably should have expected this.

[Day 13 | oneirophrenia] water of life || early Heavensward postgame, ~800 words, Frydlona | 3.0 spoilers, alc 50 spoilers; grief, bad coping mechanisms, survivor’s guilt || Frydlona can’t imagine this is helping.

[Day 14 | commend] it takes a (good) village || just after A Realm Reborn, ~550 words, Frydlona || They’re calling her the “defender of Eorzea.”

[Day 15 | thunderous] this is how it starts || early Shadowbringers, ~600 words, Frydlona | lv 71 dungeon spoilers • Rain comes to Norvrandt.

[Day 16 | crane] starry-eyed || early A Realm Reborn, ~750 words, Sisila || This will be something for Sisila to write home about.

[Day 17 | destruct] irradiant || late Shadowbringers, ~500 words, Frydlona | spoilers through post-lv 79 trial, drk jobquest spoilers; past canonical character death, survivor’s guilt, war, violence, [the things implied by “post-lv 79 trial spoilers”] || Everything is white.

[Day 18 | devil’s advocate] refining || assorted points during earlyish A Realm Reborn, ~650 words, Sisila | mild early gsm jobquest spoilers || Making jewelry is harder than Sisila thought and this mammet is very rude.

[Day 19 | free day] iron grip, healer’s wand || lateish A Realm Reborn, ~950 words, Frydlona | spoilers through lv 35 msq; non-focal canonical character death, real and imagined survivor’s guilt || Frydlona hadn’t appreciated how hard the healers she’s fought beside worked, before.

[Day 20 | petrichor] guiding lightning strike || five years pre-A Realm Reborn, ~800 words, no WoL specified || This time the skies darken in grace.

[Day 21 | feckless] heritance || late Heavensward postgame (Stormblood pregame), ~700 words | 3.5 spoilers; canonical character death, grief, reference to canonical familial abuse || Emmanellain has an unfortunate knack for disarming Frydlona’s harshest criticisms.

[Day 22 | fluster] asking the important questions || between Shadowbringers and Shadowbringers postgame, ~1900 words, Frydlona/Exarch | 5.0 spoilers || Krile has a few questions about what’s been happening in Norvrandt.

[Day 23 | soul] hells open, heavens weep || Stormblood postgame, ~950 words, Frydlona (can be read as gen) | 4.0 spoilers, drk 70 spoilers; canonical character deaths, survivor’s guilt, grief || Frydlona wasn’t at her best.

[Day 24 | illustrious] down through the years || post-Shadowbringers, ~450 words, Frydlona | implied physical DPS + healer rolequest spoilers || The children tell stories.

[Day 25 | silver lining] sealed with a sticker || early Heavensward postgame, ~800 words, Frydlona | 3.0 spoilers, early HW normal raid series spoilers; mentions of war and violence || Frydlona has doubts about how many of her so-called adventures are really suitable for children.

[Day 26 | free day] a bright particular star || set after the eighth umbral calamity, ~1600 words, Frydlona | spoilers through lv 79 msq; post-apocalypse, discussion of grief, mention of character deaths of varying degrees of canonicity || The further back he goes, the more personal the records of the Warrior of Light become.

[Day 27 | benthos] deeper than did ever plummet sound || post-Shadowbringers, ~450 words, Frydlona | 5.0 spoilers || The Tempest is surprisingly peaceful.

[Day 28 | bow] tool for the job || late Heavensward, ~700 words, Frydlona | spoilers through post-lv 57 dungeon; discussion of canonical character death, mentions of survivor’s guilt, implied grief || The bow is a hunter’s tool.

[Day 29 | debonair] masking || mid-A Realm Reborn, ~350 words, Sisila(/Thancred) | mention of canonical minor character deaths || Something seems to be bothering Thancred.

[Day 30 | abstracted] spirit of air || a year or two pre-A Realm Reborn, ~450 words, X'majha | brief implied sexual harassment || X’majha never gets to just enjoy a quiet day in the woods.

[Day 31 | free day] in the balance || post-Shadowbringers, ~700 words, Frydlona | 5.0 spoilers, “The Bozja Incident” quest spoilers; imperialism, war || It’s never as simple as one’s deeds being weighed against each other.

[kannedia]

Under the cut as I have a lot in this. Will be posting another one with Asel. Haven't thought of anything for Oscar. In fact, I'm still struggling with his profile.

For the record, Iskra is He/They. I'm using he this time for clarity's sake.

Iskra sees Tataru and Krile as sibling figures. In turn, they both treat him as their baby brother. He's 31.

With Tataru, this started in Ishgard. During the trial by combat incident, he yelled that they would not "hurt my family" in their native tongue. Alphinaud and Tataru got him to explain soon after. Both were flattered to know he saw them as family. Tataru is just the one who's verbal about it.

Krile will probably start at some point in or after Eureka. I haven't gotten Iskra to Stormblood yet.

Iskra has a tendency to attract sibling figures. Besides Alisaie, Alphinaud, Tataru, and Krile, there is also Lyse. As he started in Gridania, she'd known him since his adventure began. They would hang out at base when both were not out in the field. The reveal pre-Stormblood doesn't break their relationship but they do need to do some rebuilding.

I also think he would get along with Sadu.

WoL/FFXIV OC Question!!

Kinda, today's a freebie lol

What's one cool/sad/fun/etc. fact about your WoL/OC that you don't get to bring up often, but are just dying to ramble about?

Could be about lore, design details, abilities, anything!

[professorurha]

So I worked out a timeline and I cracked jokes through the whole thing because you have to.

TIMELINE There’s a few things that are important to Urha, who should be around 40, depending on how you view the timeline. She isn’t part of the timeskip, but she knows people who were, so let’s establish a few historical points. 3rd Astral Era, aka about 5,000 years ago, Allagan Empire rises and falls, shit happens. This is the height of technology as far as the history of this world is known. (4th Umbral era, Calamity of Earth) 4th Astral Era: The Eorzean Alphabet, not much else. 5th Umbral Era, ???, Calamity of Ice, Miqo’te can survive in Eorzea I guess. They can hunt, and enjoyed the Alphabet a lot. This is why they aren’t mentioned later in the waves of immigration I assume, because they were kind of there. (5th Astral Era, Mhach and Amdapor) (6th Umbral Era, Calamity of Water) (6th Astral Era, Pre-ARR. The reason a 7th calamity was not predicted was because the 6 elements had all been accounted for. I guess some people knew another one was coming, but no one really cared I guess, so they assumed it’d just all be great forever. If you think about it, it sort of makes sense since yeah that’s all the elements. Yoshi P, an as yet  unknown element,  was the 7th Calamity, as we all know. The Calamity of Deus Ex Machina, also known as, fuck, the moon.) - 969, the Lalafellian nation of Belah’dia, made up of descendants of ancient Mhach, is split into Sil’dih and Ul’dah. Some Hyurs try to come in around 755, and Belah’dia tells them to fuck off using the universal language of explosions. - ca. 1000, Ul’dah accepts some people from the prior waves of immigration to Aldenard, Hellsguard and Highlander sellswords. -1179, Ala Mhigan Mercenaries introduce Highlanders once again to Ul’dah. For 17 goddamn years Sil’dih has taken Ul’dah’s water and they are PISSED. They also fucked up Thanalan, helping in making it the crap place it is today. -1181, Ul’dah raises the fucking dead to destroy Sil’dih, thanks alchemy. -1224-1355, Thorne Dynasty, aka Hyurs sort of have some significance in Ul’dah for less than 150 years, good job guys, way to let the potato man keep you down. -1468-1469, Autumn War, Big Huge Deal. In summary, Ala Mhigo is an asshole and Ishgard, Ul’dah and Limsa all help Gridania fuck them up. -1476, Ul’dah isn’t gonna fuck someone up and not make a profit, so they force Ala Mhigo to reduce their tolls. This is great because pirates are still this huge problem for Ul’dah, and they haven’t invented flying yet, but they will soon. This is the beginning of it, where Tatanora makes coaches bigger and lighter using Ixali technology, which involves ceruleum vapors, and becomes a really famous figure in Ul’dah’s history as a fantastic and filthy rich merchant. -1522, Tatanora starts to do airships too, mostly used for exploration. Flight is available to the public as Highwind Skyways, 9 years later, but this turns out to be a terrible time to figure out how to fly because The Republic of Garlemald has just become the Garlean Empire in 1522. Somehow this doesn’t become a problem immediately. -1552, Garlemald Annexes Doma. -1557, Garlemald Annexes Ala Mhigo. -1561, Battle of Silvertear Skies. Neutral area of Mor Dhona is attacked by Garlemald, but they crash into a dragon. Midgarsormr and the warship makes a huge, gross mess. Ul’dah is still flying around like nothing’s gonna ever go wrong. -1563, Not only can Ul’dah fly now, but Garlond Ironworks works with Highland Skyways to make modern airships suitable for regular service between the citystates, available to an average citizen. -1569, Finally Garlemald shoots one of those airships out of the sky, so they suspend airship travel, limiting it only to “extraordinary circumstances”. Yes, it was only that recently. -1572, 7th Umbral Calamity, WOOPS WE HAD ANOTHER CALAMITY. Cue ARR. -1577, ARR, and we are in the 7th Astral Era. Some people who were at the Battle of Carteneau are forgotten along with the Warrior of Light and kind of jump ahead 5 years. It’s not really clear if it’s only the Warrior of Light or if it’s anyone out there fighting. Basically, if you were a player before ARR, your character has woken up 5 years later and someone took your shit. This blows. Fuck you, Yoshi P. (WE ARE NOW IN THE NOTORIOUS TIME BUBBLE) -1578 (?), Doma rebels, but it doesn’t work very well. Monzen’s bombed, because as previously established, explosions are a universal language. Doman refugees are refused entry to Ul’dah because Ul’dah has enough problems, and they are taken into Mor Dhona, which has now had not only a warship and a dragon fall on them, but also the moon. A regular local weather pattern is “gloom” so needless to say, this place sucks.

-1579 (?), Doma and Ala Mhigo is liberated by Some Guy, and I guess all of Heavensward happened last year, and/or this year, also Stormblood. These are a pretty impressive 2 years. They sure just flew by. -1580 (???), the year of our headcanon, Professor Urha, who is 41 or 42 sometime in the fall. Also known to some as The Future*. This could be ShadowBringers, but probably ShadowBringers also happened last year. Sorry, it’s not my fault. * (The only thing for certain is… heavensward happened, Yugiri said there was a rebellion at some point, and 25 years ago from that day, Doma was annexed, stormblood happened, and an NPC said the rebellion was last year. At least one year has passed. I allowed the canon to exist, and for 3 years to have past since ARR began, and that we are living in year 3, and will be living in year 3 for some time. When a more strict timeframe is referenced, my character’s age will reflect this.) Now that we have that established, let’s overlay Professor Urha’s history. Thanalan. Urha’s mother’s side is a seeker of the sun of the J tribe, who were there since magical ice age I guess or something. Her mother is a first generation citystate-cat, sired by a Nuhn named Raahn. Hyurs were let into Ul’dah around 1000, 6th astral era. It is suspected by her father’s side that in 1179, Urha’s Hyurian descendants were permitted to exist in Ul’dah society. The city of Davenport is on record existing at the time of the Autumn War, 1469, and is where her father, Miles Davenport, or at least that Surname, comes from. 1539: On the 30th Sun of the 6th Astral Moon, Myria Davenport is born to J’urhalla Raahn, AKA Rosegold, and Miles Davenport. This is a fantastic time to be born a Monetarist. No Ala Mhigan refugees, Ul’dah can fly, is dealing with the east near and far, Ul Dynasty is doing great, plenty of money to be made and no one to stop you. It’s been almost 10 years since the previously unknown republic has named itself an empire, but they’re mostly dominating Ilsebard, maybe the start of some of Othard, and not an issue Eorzea has to worry about. There aren’t very many Miqo’te monetarists, and so her father is very protective of her, as she came out with ears and a tail like her mother. He wants her to be taken seriously in business and gets her the best education money can buy. He takes it a little too far, and in the end, all members of the family go missing, with only some members of the Syndicate at the time aware of what actually happened. 1550: Something really really awful. 1552: Doma is Annexed by Garlemald. 1555: Something even more awful. 1557: Myria Davenport is all but forgotten, and somewhere in the east, a beautiful 18 year old Miqo’te is a horrible monster, and is frustrated her research has been rejected. She is being transferred. Oh, and Ala Mhigo is Annexed by Garlemald. 1559: Not a great time. Chemical Burns. 1561: Nope. 1572-1577: Calamity, and then a new era is born. The entire planet changes, physically and in spirit. Everyone works to repair their lives. When people try and remember those who fought for them and are the reason they are alive, they can remember neither the name nor face nor life of any being, only a shining, lighted silhouette. Myria Davenport returns to Eorzea after spoilers, in the year spoilers, using a short and sweet version of her mother’s name as her alias. She is found unconscious by a tribe of Keepers in the South Shroud, between the Black Shroud and Thanalan. Many keeper tribes have fled Eorzea entirely, a few broods moved from the West Shroud, now no longer in existence, to other parts of the Black Shroud. In spite of the fact she is a Seeker, she is accepted due to her medical knowledge and asked to act as the tribe’s wisewoman. Keepers are way more chill than she remembers them being, but I guess a calamity or two will do that. Once confident, she leaves them, and rebuilds her fortune, even though she cannot rebuild her family name, because spoiler.

[mettic]

Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward, a personal retrospective.

jesus i put a lot of hours in this game. something finally managed to beat dota on my steam hours, maybe because people wont play dota with me anymore but thats a different issue.

You dont really realize how much you get into an mmo until you find one you really like. this is probably gonna be pretty long so im gonna put it under Read More.

How much experience did I have with MMOs pre FFXIV?

Basically nothing. I had done a trial of WoW during WOTLK but WOTLK was like 9 years ago man, I was like 12 at best

Part of my inspiration to start playing FFXIV was because Wildstar was drumming up some hype an I was on board because I could play as a cool robot. I was onboard with wildstar up until the open beta and then i played it and you dont have to be an MMO veteran to know what Wildstar was ass. I was actually SUPER salty about how bad Wildstar was and I think that dissapointment  made me say fuck  it and do the FFXIV trial.

While I like to say that i started playing FFXIV during 3.0 thats a lie. According to these oldest screenshot i started to play around 2.3. I actually did hit 50  and get to the end of the 2.0 MSQ but i didnt do much later and I think life started to catch up to me so I unsubbed. I wasnt even on Hyperion originally, I was Adamontoise! 

3.0, Heavensward

Cant exactly remind myself as to why I started playing again. Old screenshots state that I started playing again around october 2015, a few months into 3.0. I had time available to me again, I think Carlego had decided to try the trial and Vitamin had offered to do stuff iwth me if I went on hyperion so I said fuck it and dropped the bucks for HW and a server transfer and started playing catchup.

its not really worth talking about the leveling experience but I’d like to say taht i actualyl really enjoy questing and leveling in MMOs. Some people hate it but I love this shit, even if at heart its just a huge time sink. Probably the thing I’m most excitied about in Stormblood is to do questing again. maybe I’m a loser?

3.0 was also my first experience in doing  content that you actually have to try to clear, in Bismark EX and Ravana EX.  I dont have much memory of Bismark, we were already pretty overgeared for him by the time I got there, and I swear it only took me atleast one look out to learn and kil lit. maybe. It was like two years ago.

Ravana I had put much more time into, started setting up nights and shit for it. I sorta wish I had footage of me doing ravana because im sure i’d be furious at myself for how bad I was probably playing, but hey I cleared it so whatever. It was an accomplisment, I felt good!

next primal, not so much.

3.1, As Goes Light, So Goes Darkness

I have a theory, and it’s that if you are a person who does end game bosses in the more modern MMO settting, there’s gonna be a fight  early in your “career” that humbles you and forces you to actually really fucking try in future fights. For me that was Thordan EX. Thordan was humbling. 

For reference I did not clear Thordan during 3.1, and its still frustrating to me. There were a lot of reasons for that, we had some frustrating people in the group I did it with, I was pretty bad, Thordan Divebombs were racist agaisnt roes

man i get salty watching this video cuz i was standing on the exact same spot as some other people and get hit but the NIN who gets clipped by the particle  effects didnt. racist.

Thordan forced me to start actually really consider my cooldown usage  in the context of the fight, and all that SHIT.  I still consider Thordan easily the hardest of 3.X primals but I’m not sure if thats just me being bias enough. I got my clear after the fact but it was never the same.

If it wasn’t obvious, I did NOT do Gordias prog at all during 3.0-3.1. Gordias was a meme and I didnt beat Thordan during tis patch, gordias was NOT happening.

3.2, The Gears of Change

Sephriot was also an infuriating fight but for different reasons from Thordan. I was probably the last of the people in my static to get my Seph EX clear because we didnt do seph as much as a group and did a lot of PFing. I play WAR btw and this fight was an absolute nightmare as an OT because OT is easiest role in the fight but the fight had a kinda infamous DPS check so even though I have had this dumb fight down on the back of my hand and can probably still explain it piece by piece off memory to people, I had to pray to god that my PF dpses didn’t die and lose us the fight because lol sephirot.

my sephirot clear was PEAK Mettic Yelling

what a nightmare.

However, as you noticed if you kept watchign the video, I also started doing Midas Progression! Midas prog would be my first e xperience in doing raid progression and what a dream. But I’ll discuss hat more in the 3.3

3.3, Revenge of the Horde

Before I start talking about Midas, I’ll talk about Nidhogg EX. Nid is probably my favorite of the 3.x primals, I think that fight is super fun, especially as a OT as its a very OT involved fight. Fuck the Geirskyol tethers tho that shit was BS sometimes.

Anyways, Midas.  My midas progession at heart was awful. Over the course of two patches worth of our best attempts at consistent two days 3 hours each a week of raiding,  we only cleared A5S and A6S, the later we only cleared two or three times. A couple reasons, one of the biggest was probably that we lost close to one-two months worth of progression due to various reasons of people not being able to make it, and we lost tons of time inside the actual fight due to every reason I could possibly think of, from random 5 minute long DCs to someone thinking that someone’s trying to break into their house. IMO if we didnt miss that huge amount of time, we probably could’ve cleared atleast A7s, because our A7S prog when we got to actually do it was pretty good (I wanna say that we managed to atleast hit second set of cages over the course of our fight dedicated a7s night.) But then someone left and we had to start teaching someone A5S and A6S and we were clowns and didnt get far.

Midas was a nightmare. And also probably the most fun i’ve ever had in this game. The memes were out of this fuckign world.

and so many more were lost to time. Still sad that  we didnt record the time that we fugged a blaster tankswap that we used to vitamin would open on  brawler without 10 trillion magic vuln stacks that ended up with me yelling “NO WAIT” 0.1 second before he gets one shotted by the brawl autoattack. good times. Prog was ass but the memories will never be forgotten.

3.4, Soul Surrender

Won’t talk too much about Sophia. I really do not have much of a memory of the fight. It was a fight that gave me very little trouble in getting clear, probably second only to Bismark in clear difficulty. It’s a pretty good fight, but I got my clear and farmed it painlessly so whatever. 

Creator had a change in my static’s mindset because while Im sure everyone had a lot of fun in Midas, the lack of actual good prog was pretty fucking disappointing, and we had a lot of high hopes for our creator prog because A12S got killed on the second day of the patch, so everyone knew that Creator was easier than Midas.

AC still holds the title of Free Company That Does Everything  Everyone Else Does But Slower And Worst. We got A9S down on our second raid nigth, which  was kinda dooming cuz most groups had that fight down on day 1 but WHATEVER we got it at like 10%.

My screenshots and tumblr posts say that we took down A10s like a week later but it sure as hell didn’t feel like that. I think it was one of those things where we got the clear but didn’t stop clowning it afterwords, and we’d spend like an hour on raid night on getting a10 down before we could get back to progging A11S. 

My screencaps show that we got A11 during early December, so about two months after a10s clear.  These numbers are kinda depressing to write out, but shit hey we got it before 3.5. I remember that those winter months became a pretty big issue for people having to miss weeks, and we had a lot of weeks where we only got out a9/a10 weekly clears cuz people couldn’t stay for a11 and that kinda stuff. This would actually still be an issue into 3.5, if not get worst.

3.5, the far edge of fate

For EXs, I absolutely hate Zurvan. Probably my least favorite fight of 3.5, and I’m sure a lot of people sahre that sentiment.  The fight itself in of itself would already be one of my least favorites in a vacuum because I think think its annoying and the fire and ice tethers is a bad mechanic for a EX, which is designed to be done by PF groups with no voice communcation, but more importantly the community lost its mind on this fight because of that fucking tweet of good players beating zurvan a few hours after 3.5′s launch saying that it was easier than dun scaith. I gotta say really good palyers gotta stop saying shit is easy because it fucks up the PF scene with people having absurd expectations. Skipping Soar becoming common knowledge also helping fuck up the PF scene because peopel would do fucking anything to skip soar. 1-2-5 parties are the expectation for zurvans still, and lots of people even run 1-1-6 because GOTTA SKIP SOAR. not that I can blame them, soar was realyl dumb. Also people using Tank LB2 for second late phase soar is so silly. I do like that it was a fight that didnt require the standard 2-2-4 set up tho. 

It was easier than seph/thor and I think Ravana to get a clear but harder than Soph/Bis to get a clear. Annoying fight, Annoying scene, and Infinity is a wack song dont lie to yourself.

Anyways Creator. To make it quick we did NOT clear A12S before echo, but imo give me like 1-2 more weeks I think we coulda got it. But at the same time it felt like I was saying “we get it next week” for like two-three weeks. A12S was the fight that made me feel like I should’ve been more proactive in helping raid members learn mechanics outside of raid night, something I’ll think about going into Stormblood.  We did however end up clearing it, but we cleared it at the start of april. That’s like a 4 month time inbetween A11S down and A12S down, which is pretty depressing. But in oru defence it was our most awkward season for missing days, and like midas we’ve probably lost like 1-2 monthsf worth of raid nights, and who knows how many “no a12s prog only a9-a11″ nights, and more importantly two of our regulars couldn’t run anymore and we had to find replacements from outside our group of friends. But thats just excuses, and TBH this fight gave a lot of people awkward issues, i’d say taht I know how to do this fight as OT off the top of my hand but apparently I fucked up first time stop positioning last night so idk.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t amped on actually clearing a raid tier, but getting it on echo it pretty disappointing. Creator to me was also never really as fun as midas even though our prog was much better, the memes weren’t there. But shit I as a player learned a lot from this, especially on optimization DPS in the context of individual fights

still too lazy to use pots tho.

FOR STORMBLOOD

My biggest personal goal for stormblood is to clear an omega tier before echo. I’ll be happy iwth myself if I can get that, and I want to be more proactive in helping raid members learn mechanics because mechanics is and what has always held my group back.

What I’m playing in stormblood is kinda up in the air tbh.  I really want to play Samurai because MY WEBBRAND but I also wonder if its worth it,  because I played almost exclusively WAR for EX and Raids in HW, so all my raiding experiene is on tank. Even on EXs I probably went as my sub class, BRD, less than 10 times over the course of HW. I’m gonna try to level all the melees going into stormblood to get melee practice and start taking my melee 60s to casual 60 content for more practice.  Tho I tell my raid members that I’m going SAM to Omega I’m not 100% against going WAR for the sake of getting a pre-echo clear. Plus none of these fuckign kids play war they just wanna play DRK/PLD. casuals.

get hyped for Omega!

anyways the important shit:  HW glamour.

3.0 glamour

Absolutely ador this set actually? It’s straight up vendor gear but it rules, and there isn’t a lot of good heavy armor set in this game.

The blue color is because its based on my favorite leveling set, the heavy iron set, and for reasosn I do not remember I dyed them all this color of blue. I think it’s a good blue!

3.1, The Behemoth King

A set inspired by old METTIC.TUMBLR.COM followers would recongize, it s bsaed on my favorite dark souls character I made, the Boar King, Which was the giants set with the iron boar helm. it ruled. I attempted to recreate it for FFXIV, and was the most effort I put into glamour because I sat for like 5 hours waiting for Behemoth for the helm. The gold was gaudy btu I love the gaudy. I also switche chest pieces during the patch cuz I was never really sastified.  I think I like the first one more if I ahd found better leg pieces instead of ones that show my fucking underwear. Might bring this back, I love the behemoth helm.

3.3

Probably my least favorite? I  designed it aroudn the chest that I saw the cape chest piece and really wanted to use it. The black and blue undyeable colors of the chest always put me off tho and I never found something that  really made it what I want. Good chest piece tho

3.4-most of 3.5

honestly my favorite leveling set in the game. I think this set fucking rules. SOmething about it just clicks with me. Also makes cutscenes really funny because you cant move your head with it on. 

I actualyl kept this unti llike last week, even through most of 3.5. I only changed it when i got the A12S axe cuz that one is cool

and I just painted it fucking red lmao. Kinda miss the blue but I’ll use this for a while. I’ll honestly probably be using this into 4.0 in some way unless some real dope shit comes out.

BARD 3-1 +

i leveld my bard and got this glamour in 3.1 and I dont think I’ve change it since. I like this set a lot, plus BRDs dont get a lot of full face helmets. Ive changed the weapon a lot tho, used the pruple ironworks for a while cuz i like it but i never really fit the aesthetic. Used the Lore bow  for a long time, and im currently using a purple a12s bow. Dont be surpried if im still using this in 4.0

see yall in stormblood!