#crystal braves

[lully-jo]

To give my own two cents about Alphi being failed by all the adults around him, it really is complicated and nuanced but I really do agree that there isn't anything short of tying him up that any adult could do to get him to listen to them. The Crystal Braves was HIS project, his baby. Given he's a legal adult in this world, there is nothing they could have done to stop him and knowing Alphi he wouldn't be stopped BECAUSE of his immense ego. He's considered a prodigy, he comes from a very high profile family and lots of privilege. How the hell do you step in to stop this kid when he has access to more resources, is legally an adult, it's HIS project, and the boy is self-righteous and has an ego to rival any peacock? Not to mention, there were warning signs--he was warned! It didn't change anything. This was HIS blunder and his alone. He wasn't some uncertain child stumbling through the politics of Ul'dah, he was confidently barking orders and making plans that HE thought were best because his sense of self was so high.

My favorite thing about Alphinaud is that yes he's a prodigy with lots of privilege and resources and can be a know-it-all, but deep down he does have really good intentions. His problem is that he is far too smart for his own good and it clouds his judgement. His lofty ambitions cause problems and he ends up causing more harm than good. Seeing how he really humbled himself throughout Heavensward and by the end realizes that he needs to get a new foundation to stand on--that his reason for fighting needs to change... ugh, it had me bawling my eyes out.

By the end of the Dragonsong Quests, Alphi learns that it's not about the politics or the governing bodies, it's about THE PEOPLE. He learns to re-center his values on people rather than conceptual ideas of nation and peace. I love him so much for the way he grows and comes to that conclusion.

If we want to claim Alphinaud was failed by adults, we'd have to start with his entire upbringing. He got into that position because he was a privileged child prodigy and it clouded his judgement, not because he wasn't protected by his comrades who were equally as caught up in their own saviorism.

[asteriasfallingstarsandtears]

Lead up to the Bloody Banquet, a message had come in to meet up with Alianne but she finds no sign of her friend besides torn up dirt, signs of a fight and a mysterious bottle.

And then Laurentius shows up.

(aka the one person I still stare at the story and go why was he allowed to join???)

TW: canon typical violence, references to former slave trade actions

[autumnslance]

Roevember 4: Betrayal

We were doing work in the Twelveswood that awful day.

When the Crystal Braves turned on us, we barely got away. I kept C’oretta near me while luring the soldiers into a more sensitive part of the forest. I knew how to get us through safely.

They did not make it out.

We ran all the way to Thanalan, and realized too late we were even less safe there than in the Wood.

It took us a few days to get to the Waking Sands, which Urianger had hidden along with the few Scions and allies he had been able to protect there.

The rest we were not sure if they had lived, were captured, or had escaped. We didn’t know for weeks, and in some cases, moons.

He put up a stoic front, but I know how that uncertainty and fear weighed on the archon. Word that some had made it to the safety of our friends in Coerthas alleviated only some of that.

While Alphinaud and the others were busy in Coerthas and Dravania, C'oretta and I dealt with the Syndicate's machinations and rescued Raubahn from the attempted execution.

I didn't kill Ilberd then. It's one of my greatest regrets, given all that followed.

At Baelsar's Wall, I was with the infiltration team. Imagine our surprise when Alphinaud came to find us.

Imagine our horror at what came next.

I won't forgive Ilberd, Twelve help me. Not after all he put my friends through. After what he put the realm through.

He got everything he wanted, and while he never saw Gyr Abania's freedom, the blood he paid for it was not his to spend. Nor was my friends' broken trust.

[gnbrkrs]

Alphinaud Appreciation Week

Day 3 - Leader

[party-of-rpg-muses]

Alphinaud forming the Crystal Braves

[0bsidian5ire]

Prompt #22: Birds of a Feather

Prompt: No Prompt! from @sea-wolf-coast-to-coast's #ffxivwrite2019

Set after Brave New Companions (2.3)

"So, I'm not the only one who heard that from Alphinaud right?" J'attano said over the table. There were glances across the table and everyone slowly nodded.

After the ceremony to formally create the Crystal Braves had ended, the Warriors of Light had retreated to the Waking Sands. They needed someplace they wouldn't risk running into anyone to get a bit drunk and vent. The basement of the Waking Sands was the perfect place.

"I assume you mean the part about only a few strong people being able to deal with Eorzeas problems 'cause Eorzea itself can't do the job." Himalgeim knocked back a flagon of ale. "Now where have I heard that before?" she said sarcastically.

"What did he say... 'With your powers joined to mine, we might do much for this realm. Together, we could bring order to Eorzea, and usher in a lasting peace' I think?" Asuna shook his head and took a sip from his wineglass.

"That and "Only a man of power can rightly steer the course of civilization. And in this land of creeping mendacity, that one truth will prove its salvation." Alex said from where he was staring a hole through the table.

Everyone else fell silent at the reminder of Gaius. They had decided to never tell anyone about what had actually been said down in the Preatorium and Cid had never brought it up either. No one needed to know Gaius had seriously asked the Warriors of Light to join him in conquering Eorzea. Or why he thought they should be the ones to do that.

"I think you're all forgetting that Alphinaud is only sixteen and Gaius was much older." Erin broke the silence. She was studying the way the candlelight played off her glass before she looked at all of them. "Alphinaud's still got plenty of time to learn and change his mind about things. Gaius... probably stopped doing that a long time ago."

"And Alphianud still has plenty of time to mess up," Kharagal said around her coffee mug. "He's sixteen and from Sharalyn. When would he have the time to develop any practical command experience?"

Carmen snorted. "I can tell you he's already makin' plenty o' mistakes already. Me and Riol have been trackin' the Crystal Braves' funding and well... let's just say a decent chunk o' it isn't from anywhere above board."

"Are we talking not above board in Limsa, or not above board in Ul'dah?" asked Kukunji.

"Ul'dah." Carmen took a long gulp of mead and rolled her eyes.

"Thall's balls," Avila cursed. "He's setting himself up to be caught naked on the bloodsands." She leaned back in her chair which gave everyone an eyeful of how her low cut dress barely restrained her cleavage. "We are going to be there for him when it goes tits up though, right?"

"Yes." Eryikoel thought for a moment. "Louisoix knew we had to work together to stop the Garleans, but he didn't try to push his own views on cooperation onto us either. He instead showed us how it furthered our own goals to work together. I don't think Alphinaud has figured that out yet. We need to see that he gets the chance to."

"I can get behind that," Osric said. "People still remember how charismatic Louisoix was and it looks like Alphianud will be no different. Give him a few years and..." he shrugged.

There was laughs around the table. If Alphinaud managed to get some sense knocked into his head now, he'd be a nightmare for Eorzea's enemies to deal with down the line.

Author's Notes: My first reaction to Alphianud's speech during the Crystal Brave creation ceremony was "Oh hey! We heard this logic from Gaius back in the Praetorium... This Crystal Brave thing is going to end badly isn't it?"

Finding out Alphinaud and Gaius spent time together in Ilsabard was a delicious irony.

[spinneryesteryear]

NO PLEASE LET RIOL LIVE

WILRED'S DOWN, ILBERD'S THE SCUM OF THE EARTH, AND YUYUHASE'S A LALA, 'NUFF SAID.

PLEASE LIVE RIOL

[kaoru-takaida]

I thought the picture needed fixed. So I fixed it....

[red-alynore]

This part of the MSQ in FF14 resonated with old Dragoon plot.

Riol: ”We’ve talked it over, see, an’ we’re all agreed: ye can take our uniforms, an’ strip us of our ranks--but we won’t be no less of a company.

Alianne: “The Crystal Braves may be finished, but the ideals upon which the company was founded live on. They bind us to each other--and to you.”

[autumnslance]

Alianne: Speaking of former Crystal Braves, I have not seen Aergmhus of late, constantly away on missions as he is. I wonder how he fares.

Literally the first mention of this roegadyn character since sometime in the 3.x patches. I was certain they simply forgot he--and the femroe caster lady who went off on a mission with him--ever existed. But he was a Brave who stayed with the Scions, while the lady roe was an adventurer in the Toll who had declined to ever join, due to getting a bad feeling about some of the Braves--but when the Scions retook the Rising Stones and the traitors were ousted, she joined up with V’mah and the other new folks.

[solarose]

I might phantasia her soon into another character, so I took a couple of goodbye screenshots as I quested...!

[party-of-rpg-muses]

These three... So much to unpack with Yuyuhase and Ilberd. Laurentius, however? Not so much.

[incorrectffxivquotes]

[textsfromtherisingstones]

Part 3 of the epic saga.

[ivalith]

Fuck I really like Riol from the Braves. Not even as an allusion to a spoiler, I just really fucking like his role and presence in the company.

[finalprismafantasy]

((I have finally found my home away from home and have joined <BRAVE> as my free company. Great group of people so far, I'm sure I'll have a lovely time with them :) ))