#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.

[curepixie]

alphi and his loyal followers ~

[anneapocalypse]

How the Scions failed Alphinaud.

(Note: I am still in Stormblood, so no spoilers please. ❤️)

And while I'm on the subject can I just take a moment to say how incandescently angry I get for Alphinaud sometimes?

The Crystal Braves had bad idea written all over them from the start. (It's funny to me because of how much it's like the Inquisition in Dragon Age, a paramilitary organization funded by powerful socioeconomic interests that answers to no sovereign nation, except that the Inquisition for all its flaws wasn't being run entirely by a precocious sixteen-year-old.) The question about where the money is coming from is set up pretty early and it's not overly subtle, Alphinaud is just like "Whatever, it'll be fine," and nobody really presses it. And yes, Alphinaud is really overconfident at this point in the story, but the thing is, Why wouldn't he be? He's got every single adult around him telling him he's a prodigy and a genius and basically Louisoix reborn and everything he's doing is a great idea and moreover that it's his duty to Eorzea to keep doing what he's doing!

And I just cannot come down too hard on him for how bad everything goes, because someone, any of the actual adults in the room, including all the Scions and the Warrior of Light, should have taken one look at this situation and gone, "Hang on a minute." And not one of them did, because I think all the Scions were too caught up in their own unhealthy hero complexes to realize that they should not be allowing a teenager to take on this kind of responsibility for the fate of three nations. Instead they saw Alphinaud acting like them, emulating the adults he admired and respected, and they went, "He's doing great."

And now he has to live with the consequences. Did Alphinaud need a humbling experience somewhere in his growing up years? Probably. Did he need it to be one where people died because of his decisions? He did not. I think Alisaie really had the right idea when she said, "I can't just be Louisoix's granddaughter, I have to find my own path, or at the very least I need to understand who my grandfather was and why he did what he did and the consequences of it, before I decide to follow in his footsteps." But Alphinaud. Oh, Alphinaud. He thinks he already knows who he's meant to be and what he's meant to do, and none of the older and wiser people around him ever see fit to tell him that maybe he too needs to find his own path.

I love the Scions, I love all these characters dearly, but they failed Alphinaud so badly here and honestly I haven't really seen any of them truly acknowledge that yet. They've all got other problems, it's true, but still... rather than a handful of loyal Crystal Brave proclaiming that they totally still trust their sixteen-year-old commander, what I really want is for someone to say to Alphinaud, "I'm so sorry. We should never have put this on you. We should have seen what could go wrong and we didn't."

[astra-xiv]

suit meme ft. some of the crystal braves

[hydaelyns-bitch]

"If only I had known."

[rena-renana]

Lalapril Days 1-5 A bunch of screens from the journey (and wrong turns) of my XIV OC, a lalafellin man with a mysterious interested party toying with his fate...

[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

[chaoticstabby]

Edwin & Crystal + touch

[capsthorne]

Main 4 + Astrology

DBDAtober Day 6 -> Stars insp

[teunip]

"Learn the secrets they keep from you."

Textless version under the cut!

[canisalbus]

I imagine Vasco and Ludovica have a big painting (portrait but with two people) in Vasco's house (probably his father insisted of getting one of these, people used to do it in the old days, especially wealthy ones). While it's very serious and formal, in the way all these portraits were, it is also very intimate (at least it's implications). I imagine Machete just staring at it sometimes, feeling small while looking at the big painting. And sad, maybe jealous but I don't think he'd resent Ludovica. He, most of all, understands.

.

[haunted-xander]

And so I, the fool, bleeds to play the saviour

[xxcyberghostxx]

to me billdip is the most compelling when Dipper is still a teenager and bill's human form is a middle aged man or something. maybe he manifests and looks like he's in his 30's...maybe he manifests and looks like he's Ford's age...either way, i love love the idea of bill physically demonstrating the power imbalance between them. bill having the capability to look like he's Dipper's age but refusing to even consider that as an option bc he wants everyone to see that he is 100% in control of Dipper

[astra-xiv]

mini log of yuyuhase and laurentius art previously posted on twitter c:

[laraloopy]

Saw a post saying Marcille is a black mage and I went omg what if I dressed them up like lil final fantasy dolls... black mage & white mage!!

Another version with class changes under the cut!! 👀 (they’re spoiler-y so just in case)

[littlemissgeek8]

I'm sure we've all had our methods of coping with certain choices in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, so here's one of mine.

Meet Varric Tethras Varal Tetharal, Bard, Machinist, storyteller and Warrior of Light, seen here comforting Alphinaud "Kid" Leveilleur after the events of the ARR patches. I made him a few months ago while I was on my Inquistion replay, but I honestly adore how he's come out. It's been fantastic to replay Final Fantasy XIV with a fresh character and taking my time through the story. Plus, I get to come up with nicknames for all the characters he meets along the way!

Bonus in-game picture for anyone who wants to see!