#dawntrail 7.1 spoilers

[pensola]

Gotta love Dawntrail's (and honestly, at times XIV since ShB and beyond) continuing trend that for every silent female miqo'te in the background, they give us three male miqo'te with dialogue.

Either they are truly commited to retconning the miqo'te's gender ratio lore and hope nobody comments on it so they don't have to achknowledge it like they admitted they are too incompetent to make natural curls as hairstyles, or there is something about the Hhetsarro (and Mystels, to be honest) that make them have equal amounts or more male miqo'te than female.

[peculiarmarsu]

Yuweyawata Field Station

[punklilyyy]

I think its time to post him (totally not insane over him)

[twinkle-art]

checking on my yuri stocks

[slimyhipster]

koana and his rroneek friend!

[apathmakerstale]

There is no heterosexual explanation for this.

[swiftcast-selene]

living memory.

[deathflare]

ahhhhh

[emcapi-gaming]

Sphene and Wuk Lamat: A Theory

So... There's something that's been on my mind since I first played Dawntrail. And tbh, I'm surprised that I don't think I've seen anyone else come to the same conclusion, because it was really obvious to me.

Yeah uh... ever since like 10 minutes into meeting Sphene, I've suspected that her and Wuk Lamat are each others shards/reflections.

My initial suspicion was largely based on personality, the way that they immediately clicked and seemed to have a lot in common. And then I was like "wait a fucking second, they have almost exactly the same eye color, if not a perfect match," which pretty much cinched it for me.

(Note: technically - since, as far as we know, the Sphene we met was a recreation without a soul - it would have been the original, living Sphene who was Wuk Lamat's shard.)

It's pretty undeniable that they're set up as narrative foils from a character perspective, but I think it goes beyond that. This line in particular grabbed my attention:

That's... pretty direct.

And that's also the big difference between them: Wuk Lamat is someone who is physically strong and was raised as a warrior; Sphene is neither of these things.

The other thing that's standing out to me is that this whole situation between them, where they have mutually conflicting goals? Where one invades the other's world, even, putting it into peril, for the sake of saving their own?

We've seen it before.

Even including the fact that the main character's reflection is already dead.

And after patch 7.1, I'm only more convinced... because guess what?

I daresay we've seen this before too.

And beyond just the interesting narrative parallels between Sphene & Wuk Lamat and the WoL & Ardbert, the fact that Sphene's story clearly isn't over is making me think that this is going to be relevant.

[makersruin]

dawntrail is so funny like imagine you have no idea of the concept of death and then your president dies. these people have no idea how to dress for a funeral theyre just showing up in their standard rave gear and falling to their knees

[invisiblebounds-ffxiv]

FINAL FANTASY XIV 7.1 - CROSSROADS

[pensola]

Well, well, well. On tumblr, I predicted Koana's future development, and I was somewhat right on some accounts, so that's fun.

I might have been wrong that the Mehwahhetsoan chieftain and his son were blood related to Koana, but I knew they would somehow be involved with Koana learning to appreciate his cultural origins, and to learn that he wasn't REALLY abandoned heartlessly.

Also, I do find it interesting how Koana realizes how he has resented his birth parents for a misunderstanding, only to realize later that it was for naught. Koana was able to recognize the senseless grudge he held and how that caused him undue trauma and need to overcompensate to the one who took him in.

Then you have Zoraal Ja, who was unable to realize the senseless grudges he held toward his father and adoptive siblings due to bad communication and a bad mixture of flaws, who felt like he had been abandoned and given nothing in life, whereas Wuk Lamat felt like he had been given something that could never be given to the others. How interesting.

I am very curious about Zoraal Ja's strong reaction to learning he has a son. That seemed something way more than just anger at feeling neglected or abandoned by his birth father, especially since Wuk Lamat said in optional dialogue in 7.1 that Zoraal Ja used to be a good brother to her in the past. What changed, what caused him such a strong reaction?

And I still want to know who the heck is HIS mother, because for all the talk about him being a miracle because his father was supposed to be infertile, they sure don't speak about his mother, huh? Could that be why? Did he witness Gulool Ja Ja initially reject Zoraal Ja so vehemetly?

[peculiarmarsu]

"At least the bunny was cute."

[eriyu]

a day later than I'd hoped, but the Dawntrail 7.0 script is complete!

and it's the first section of the MSQ to be complete with not only optional dialogue, but also WoL gender differences. \o/

[hazelkjt]

7.2 Prediction

[anneapocalypse]

me every time Wuk Lamat is onscreen: there! she!! is!!! 🤩🤩🤩