#dark knight quests

[xviicprc]

dark knight doodles and a fray appearance hc

[pangolinheart]

*rhiki voice* Okay, but can we discuss it a little?

[mooglemedal]

Obsidian Heart ♥

[sangrefae]

FFXIV WRITE 2023: DAY FIVE [BARBAROUS]

link to the ao3 post for my entries | day one | day two | day three | day four

barbarous [adjective] - excessively cruel and vicious, oftentimes in ways that are shocking to a societal standard. - wol & fray & sidurgu, ambiguous time after the calamity but before ARR. [TW: mentions of violence, implied SA] 551 words.

"Your recklessness is getting concerning, Ursa. Beyond concerning. Taking on an entire patrols' worth of Knights—it's idiotic!"

Ursa says nothing, letting the hum of healing magic fill the space instead. Only once the spell dissipates does she speak, lifting her head to blink owlishly at them.

"Most of the blood is not mine," she says. Her voice is soft, matter-of-fact, wholly unbothered.

"Yeah, I kind of figured that out by myself," Fray bites back, abruptly stashing their conjuring wand and stepping back from her. She does not move, merely letting her eyes track them as they stand.

"You didn't leave much to identify them by, anyway. Mostly just battered helmets," a third voice intones from behind them, Ursa's eyes flicking from Fray to the unseen figure in the darkness.

"I waited too long this time. Needed more than just their aether," she responds.

"It doesn't matter!" Fray snarls, throwing their hands into the air. "This is excessive! You could have just as easily done the same shite in the Highlands with a herd of karakuls and we wouldn't be in nearly as big of a mess as we are now!"

Ursa turns her head to look at them fully during their rant, expression finally shifting from its impassive mask.

"They're the same to me. Karakuls, Temple Knights. The only difference is that I don't care about the Knights. Killing them does nothing but benefit us. I thought you felt the same." Her voice turns colder as she speaks, a razor-sharp edge to it.

"It's never been the dark knight's way to kill just for the sake of it. Especially when their only crime was being knighted." the third voice speaks again. Fray gestures vaguely in its direction in agreement.

"Sidurgu's right. I hate the Temple Knights just as much as any of us, but the difference is that we don't act indiscriminately like they do. Like you do."

Ursa sits in silence, then, turning to inspect her nails. It isn't quite clear what she's looking for; her hand is covered in just as much blood as the rest of her, with each nail still immaculately shaped and filed. When she finally speaks, she doesn't look away from them.

"I let a few of them go, you know." Her voice is returned to its soft, carefree tone, as if nothing had happened before. "Only the younger ones. Mages mostly, with one of them being a conjurer, I think."

Sidurgu's figure shifts in the darkness, his teal limbal rings finally showing through the haze as he turns to look at her. "That isn't—"

"I saw his face when I tore his superior's spine from his body. Saw how he realized that his magic would do nothing to save him. Not that he needed saving, anyway. I was there when he'd forced that Brume girl to pleasure him."

Both Sidurgu and Fray fall silent, then. Ursa continues to check her nails for any damage as the moment stretches on, leaving only the sounds of the city around them to fill the space.

"You're lucky if they don't come knocking down our door by dawn," Fray finally growls, stomping away further into the darkened halls of the old manor. Sidurgu shifts, as if debating internally, before finally stepping out of the shadows and up to Ursa. Wordlessly, he offers her his hand.

[stxrmnight]

Some leftover extra gposes that didn't fit anywhere else

[fenboh]

fray

[koukouture]

It has come to my attention that Sidurgu from the DRK questline has the moniker of "Sidurgu of the Obsidian heart" which is funky because yeah it sounds edgy- obsidian is black and shiny so it's cool right?

W R O N G

Obsidian is GLASS. Sidurgu has a glass heart. Obsidian can also be extremely sharp- sharper than steel. But it is still so much more brittle and will break if it is not used correctly.

Dark Knight at the end of the day is a protector- they train like hell to be able to protect what is important to them. The path of the Dark Knight is not an easy one- a Dark Knight will inevitably have to kill for the greater good. So they need to be stronger than everyone else. Sharper, if you will.

All of this because the Dark Knight is born out of love. The first Dark Knight was seen as a monster by the Holy See because he protected a child. Their hearts are just as fragile as anyone else's but they have tempered their body and soul to be strong enough to stand tall and protect the innocent in this essay I will-

[the-last-butter]

HC they first met a year or two after Yelan got her vision; post fighting the in abyss but when Kaeya was still navigating his identity from Kaeya, Brother and Right hand of Diluc Ragnvindr to Kaeya Alberich, Cavalry Captain and Quarter master of the Knights of Favonius.

[sexybritishllama]

i find it so strange when people act as though the japanese ffxiv script is the only canon allowed. like yes it's a japanese game but a LOT of work is put into the localisations? it’s hardly some random fan translation people are putting stock in?

anyway i don’t care if it’s just a reference to monkey island the translators put in im going to accept that thancred can hold his breath for 10 minutes (or that he’s just exaggerating for dramatic effect)

[mnonep]

Break time at the carline canopy~

[totallycorrectffxivquotes]

"I love all of you. Even the parts that you believe are too dark and too shameful. Every scar. Every flaw. Every imperfection. I love you."

Lvl 80 DRK Quest, probably

[xviicprc]

I love Heavenswards (focuses only on Fray)

[scout-stims]

nightmare knight from cucumber quest w dark purple + space stims for anon!!!

🌌 🌟 🌌 🌟 🌌 🌟 🌌 🌟 🌌

[aromanticasterisms]

no but actually. the parallels to other Twins in different nations of teyvat in relation to the traveler and their desire to reunite with their own sibling makes me a little bit bonkers. like.

diluc and kaeya as what the traveler has and fears, after we will be reunited [separation born from conflict that seemingly cannot be mended; they both care for each other but ultimately their opposing ideals mean they cannot be at each other's side in the same way that they used to, and no longer have the close bond they once did]

ei and makoto as what the abyss sibling experienced [a crushing loss not just of one's twin but the last remaining friend they had and the safety and security of their nation, coming out the other side traumatized, cold and jaded and making decisions that will ultimately hurt the people they claim to want to protect for the sake of an unattainable goal]

and lyney and lynette as what the traveler and the abyss twin used to have before they were separated [never apart for long, home is wherever we are together], what the traveler wants [their separation brief and quickly amended, continuing to be inseparable after they reunite], and also the choice they'll have to make [the twins being together in an organization the traveler inherently doesn't trust - does the traveler want to be by their sibling's side badly enough to throw their lot in with the abyss, and turn their back on everyone else they've met on their journey so far?]

[youngster-monster]

You're gonna carry that weight

Cowboy Bebop | All These Things That I've Done, The Killers | On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, Ocean Vuong | Mattress Performance (Carry That Weight), Emma Sulkowicz | You're So Cool, Nicole Dollanganger | Every Day I Am Trying New Techniques To Make Myself Disappear, E.E Scott | Papyrus of Ani | Impossible Weight, Deep Sea Diver | The Gang Carries a Corpse Up a Mountain, It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia | an old poem about reflections, Grendel Menz | @jb-blunk | @intactics | The Glass Essay, Anne Carson (thank you @grapecaseschoices )| Henry V, Kenneth Branagh | I, Carrion (Icarian), Hozier | Carrying the Skeleton, Marina Abramović | Atlas, Serhii Hetmanchuk | Dark Knight questline, Final Fantasy XIV

(image descriptions in alt)

[stxrmnight]

Finally some Acceptance... no, way more than that