#endwalker msq would have been fun for these two

[mnemosyne-xiv]

The moment you returned with the Scions, I knew you were avoiding everyone. Her parents weren't oblivious. My father could hardly keep track of where you were going. And before I could find you, you had already left for Thavnair.

But when you returned yet again, you had no choice but to come to me if you wanted access to my true line of work. The Atiascope was beyond even my father's grasp. Only with my endorsement would Master Fourchenault begin to consider listening to your party's request. Something you knew yet kept to yourself, deciding it better to speak with me alone as far away from your comrades as you could get.

"You'll find more than the Mother Crystal down in the aetherial depths of this star," I warned. "I've seen the Antecedant myself. Do you believe Thancred capable of continuing down this path without letting his guilt and grief consume him?"

"Our friend has come far since last you saw him," came your confident reply.

"And what of you? After everything you've endured, if you saw her, could you continue down this path until the very end?"

"..."

I took a step closer. "What lies at the edge of existence will test your heart far more than venturing into the aetherial sea. If you can't face Moenbryda and promise me you'll work to find inner peace, then I can't give you my support knowing you'll end up dead when all is said and done."

Your silence hung heavy in the air. Painfully so. The weary pull on the corners of your once bright eyes spoke volumes on your behalf. This fight has been long and taken its toll. From the moment you left this little hamlet we call home, you've been tested time and time again, and once more must you choose the choice of sacrifice in the hopes it shall grant us all the salvation you wish to gift.

Before I realized it, my hand found its way to your cheek. A warm, gentle touch that you leaned into as though it were the first source of comfort you had felt in years—and perhaps it was.

"Promise me you'll return," I whispered into the small space left between us. "Promise me, Urianger."

"I promise thee that I shall return no matter the costs."

"Then I'll speak with the Forum on your behalf."

[glacierbash]

Y'know, any time I start to talk about this game, I feel obligated to lead with the funniest fact I have: I absolutely hated Final Fantasy, for myriad reasons both personal and amusing. I hated, for example, the way Elezen were shaped. I hated that Lalafell looked so young. I hated that everybody acted like it was so great, and by sheer contrarian nature I decided I would simply never play this game. And for quite some time, that worked! I'd bombard my partner with whatever media algorithms recommended me involving FFXIV, just to make fun of it. I detested this MMO, without having ever tried it. And yet, deep down, I knew I wanted a community. I wanted to be around people, even if through an online medium. When I worked at the library, my coworker set up a WoW private server that I spent some time fucking around in, but deep down I wanted people. Try as I might, I couldn't deny some part of me wanted to see what the game was all about.

So, I tried it. I spent 30 minutes exactly between opening the character creator to first posting a name that, genuinely, would define more than 2 years of my life: Iverelle Vauvenelle.

I spend about 2 days playing the game, one being chased around by strangers who my partner swore were good people, and one just questing on my own--and it was fine. I got to MSQ level 24, quite literally one quest away from being able to travel to other city states, and I stopped. I played my fair share, I played 5 hours, and I decided the game wasn't for me. I put it down for several months, when I was approached by somebody who I am no longer friends with. He said I should play the game again, keep going just long enough to travel to Gridania, so that I could see one of his alts--and maybe, we could play together! I didn't want to upset him, so I said "fine," and gave it another try.

By the end of the week, I was finishing up ARR, and moving into post patch, and something just... Changed for me. I'm not sure what it was, honestly. It's not like the game magically changed for me then, or if Iverelle had become perhaps my most meaningful character ever, but something shifted, and I found myself enjoying the game. It didn't even make sense to me then when I bought a subscription to the game, but I knew that something here was special. I just... Had to.

Post patch took me about a month, with multiple days spent stressing out over queuing into Good King Mogglemog out of fear and anxiety, because the trial was labeled as hard and my disorder was, frankly, at its worst. But, I managed to do so anyways. The victory was meaningless for most people, but for me? It was beyond words, just how important it was that I did content with other people, especially considering I went through all of ARR solo.

I made it to the end of ARR, to the infamous cutscene, when I realized I was sick with covid. In VC with two of my friends, I said the infamous line: "I think I have a fever." What a way to enter Heavensward, huh? I think it is in no small part due to Covid that Heavensward ended up being my favorite expansion of all time, and why Ysayle Dangoulain ended up being my favorite character of all time. Sickness and quarantine gave me all the time in the world, and being far too sick to be anxious, I sped through the story. One week later, I was done with Heavensward.

And of course, by now, I am finished with Endwalker and awaiting Dawntrail. For 2 years of my life now, I have been playing this game nigh daily. I stay up late playing it, I finish my daily responsibilities as soon as possible to play it, and I find myself enjoying it. I never thought that would happen, truth be told. More importantly than enjoying the game itself, though, is the friends I met.

I have lived a very isolated life. Partially due to my anxiety making me extremely averse to interacting with people, and partially due to how I've been raised, I struggle a lot with people. Autism, anxiety, and having not been properly socialized made me terrible. I longed for new friends, but I hated the effort that went into it. Imagine my surprise when one day, I found myself driving out to meet people who I play this game with, to spend time with them? When I found myself wanting to meet them?

And yet, here I was. I was driving out to meet these people who I play this game with--and more importantly, they wanted to meet me. Even as I think back on that day, I start to tear up. It was one of the most important days of my life. Were it not for this game, for playing it daily, for being dragged into a Free Company and for sitting in calls with people because of this game, I would not have known these people. They are some of the most important people in my life.

I think of the late nights playing Mahjong, or doing PVP, or treasure maps, or just sitting around talking. I think of those nights and then having to wake up early for work, waking up exhausted but so happy. I think of staying up until damn near 5 in the morning talking about whatever it is that comes to mind. I think about stupid inside jokes, and shared experiences, and the stories that I'll tell for years to come.

It's just a game. Final Fantasy XIV is, at the end of the day, just a game--and yet, that game has served as a way for me to grow as a person in ways I've never thought possible. My anxiety has not magically been cured, mind; but, when I'm able to talk to strangers and my heartrate doesn't skyrocket, when I'm able to do things in this game that once terrified me, when I'm able to exist comfortably not just in this game but in the outside world, I realize that it's done more for me than I'll ever be able to say. Yes, it is just a game, but people play a game due to a shared interest, no? And through that shared interest, friendships can blossom. To say that I love my friends, the people I met ultimately because of this game, would be an understatement, and I fear I do not make that clear enough.

Stupid as it is to say, Final Fantasy XIV has changed my life, for the better. Dawntrail is coming in just a few short hours, and though I am a whirlwind of emotions, the predominant one is excitement. I was there for the end of an era, and now I am here for the start of a new one.

So thank you. If you read all the way through this, thank you. If you skimmed just to the end, thank you. Thank you to my friends, especially. I would not be here as I am now were it not for you all.

Here's to a new adventure, friends :^] (Second screenshot featuring: @gailiag, the best viera on hydaelyn)

[higharollakockamamie]

Dawntrail Thoughts

Just putting my thoughts together.

SPOILERS FOR THE WHOLE EXPANSION

Overall, I enjoyed it. The parts I liked less were more missed opportunities than anything outright bad. There was definitely nothing on the Werlyt scale of bad, which is what I was afraid of ever since I heard my personal enemy Werlyt Guy was working on MSQ. You can see where the less experienced writers are getting a feel for things, but I think they did a reasonably good job of it.

Things I Liked:

The environments are gorgeous. I spent plenty of time just ramming my face into plants so I could look at the leaves. Those leaves!

Meeting the different people of Tural was a lot of fun. I liked the summer vacation feeling of just exploring and learning about different cultures. I liked that there were a lot of things for us to do besides "go here kill this", like trade some wool for fancy mezcal like that one guy who traded a red paperclip until he got a house.

I loved seeing fantasy with a Central/South American inspiration. It's really fresh and the colors and designs are wonderful.

The centering of female characters. We had lots of women in major roles, and I really appreciate that. I especially love to see a female villain. I am a full supporter of women's wrongs.

Bakool Ja Ja going from a goofy enemy it was fun to give crap to (I love Wuk Lamat's delivery of, "Be quiet, Bakool Ja Ja. No one cares what you think.") to a tragic child overloaded with expectations was great.

Zoraal Ja betraying his Obviously Going to Betray Him Evil Vizier was hilarious, though it came at the price of giving us less Sareel Ja, who I enjoyed

I liked that the WoL stepped back and took a mentor role. I don't really invest in these kinds of blank characters - they're just a wall for the characters to play tennis against - so you could replace the WoL with a piece of cold pizza with "nods" pepperoni'd onto it and I wouldn't care. So I'm down with them being a supporting character.

Wuk Lamat. I love her design, I liked seeing her journey and growth throughout the story, and I liked the story being based around the development of a leader, this time based on maintaining the peace rather than overthrowing an oppressor. I also thought her voice suited her well. I understand the frustrations of people who thought she monopolized screentime. More on that in Missed Opportunities.

Sphene's part of the story was a lot of fun. I loved how openly friendly yet very suspicious she was, and I enjoyed trying to guess her secrets. Exploring her lands and figuring out the dark side of this ostensibly happy place made me and some friends think of The Giver, and that was fun to compare and contrast.

The combat and dungeons were a ton of fun. Vanguard is a personal favorite. Gotta love any dungeon you crash a train into.

Things I Didn't Mind:

The music used the main leitmotif a lot, but then again, so did Endwalker. In that case a lot of the big bangers that massively slap came in the patches, and, given how Honey B Lovely's theme has taken up residence in my head permanently, that pattern looks to hold out. Also I love the jazz in Tuliyollal.

Missed Opportunities:

I would have liked to see the Scions take more of an active mentorship role. Like, for each culture/area, have one of our buddies teach a lesson: like, Alphinaud should have definitely gotten a chance to talk about not letting yourself think you're the big omnipotent smarty boy who can solve everything yourself. This would have been a fun way to show the Scions' development as well as helping us not overdose on Wuk Lamat by having her be the focus alone.

Where's Zoraal Ja's mom? Where's Gulool Ja's mom? If it weren't for two-heads requiring two parents, I'd think these were those lizards that reproduce parthenogenically.

Zoraal Ja was a little underbaked. He's got this idea of sowing warfare to teach people that war is bad, but where did he get that notion? Why's he willing to go so far for it?

While effective, the idea of fighting someone who is trying to preserve the past at the cost of the present was a bit of an Ascians retread. It's strange that no character ever mentioned that similarity - or, with the idea of things that maintain their existence by sapping the life of other beings, the similarity to Primals.

Also, I hate to argue for more Thancred, who sucks, but "a person you loved and lost continues to exist but at the expense of currently living people" is something he should have been around to have an opinion on.

Where's the Ironworks? There's so much technology they'd have a field day with. Where's Nero? SHOW ME MY BOY

[mages-ballad]

some stuff regarding dawntrail now that ive finished and had time to collect my thoughts, spoilers up to the very end inbound of course. sorry if its long i have many MANY a thought.

ok so i wanna preface by saying i DID like dawntrail. i love wuk lamat and i cried like 3 or 4 times, tural is a great location and it was very fun to meet all the different kinds of npcs there

HOWEVER theres some things that kinda feel awkwardly paced? if i can be completely honest, it feels like the first half and the second half of the msq are two entirely different plotlines that were smushed together. and this isnt even saying that everkeep/sphene/s9 are "too different" because its not even an aesthetic issue for me, its moreso the themes presented first half? a little slow but in a GOOD way, helps you get a feel for the land and the people and shows wuk lamat's growth. the succession plotline feels like a whole, coherent thing. i like it. as soon as thats over and you hit shaaloani though, its slow and quite literally filler aside from a few tidbits for erenville. it felt awkward how it was trying to show xak tural culture, but also heavilyyy favored screentime for the "cowboy" stuff over the hhetsarro (who also very much live in shaaloani and are part of tural), who we spent practically 1 quest with and it was to ask them for lumber. and THEN it goes right from that to a high-stakes plot with zoraal ja's attack and heritage found and everything progressing after that. on its own the plot has potential... but by living memory i got the impression that everything from the end of shaaloani and refitting the train to running through the memories of alexandria, it just felt like it was trying to be Shadowbringers 2/Endwalker 2. and it wasnt really working out the same. "a society faced a calamity and a leader figure cant let go of the past and will gladly sacrifice other worlds to keep the memory of their people alive/go back to how things used to be. theres also a city full of people that arent alive and are just memories. also you get to run through a dungeon that shows the destruction of the past world that said leader figure cant let go of." like thats just the ascians and emet and amaurot right there. we KNOW how this stuff goes. from endwalker and venat we learned that its impossible to strive for absolute peace and perfection and that suffering and death are unavoidable, and the importance of maintaining hope and being able to go keep going forward at those lowest points. the whole time between solution 9 and living memory i was just sitting there thinking to myself like??? have we not seen this same stuff before??? why isnt anyone saying anything??? i knowwww this is mainly wuk lamat's story and development but it felt almost wrong to have these plotlines and themes and neither the wol or any of the scions even point out how familiar it is. i was under the impression that dawntrail would be a point for the wol to take a backseat, but to ALSO use what weve learned from 1-90 to help others. i genuinely feel like they pushed the idea that this is a fresh start *too hard* and everything weve gone through as the wol emotionally feels pretty ignored. aside from the whole "oh yeah btw were super strong weve been to the edge of the universe lol dont worry lol" like i hope this doesnt come off as me hating dawntrail. because i dont, and im interested to see the extent of travel between reflections and how thats handled going forward. but i cant help but feel like something was missing in that 2nd half of the msq. i can only hope some of this stuff gets addressed in the patches, because as it stands rn, even with sphene gone solution 9 still feels weird. the theme of dawntrail wants us to respect their culture, but from past xpacs we already know that a society like that is factually not sustainable, especially when multiple npcs have already pointed out its flaws (declining birth rate, for example.) maybe thatll be resolved later, but as it stands rn, the contradictory of themes is confusing. this is getting reallllyyy long and rambling now but WHEW i just needed to get this all off my chest. on a positive note to end this, im very much enjoying the dungeons and combat so thats been good.

tl;dr, 1st half of msq good, 2nd half confusing, combat good.

[sjofn-lofnsdottr]

☮ - friendship headcanon

Hmmm.

I've been thinking a lot lately about Dusk and his friendships with the Scions as of 6.55. He considers himself at least friends with all of them, of course, but how close they are varies pretty widely.

I'm going to try not to be TOO wordy, but I'll do a cut anyway. Also if there's anyone who doesn't want to know who all the Scions are by 6.55, um ... don't click.

He trusts them all with his life, to be clear, but ... he feels like Y'shtola and Thancred in particular hold him at arm's length. And he finds himself feeling conflicted about G'raha semi-regularly. He likes the guy, but every time he has a little bout of hero worship, Dusk can't help but pull back a bit.

Krile isn't one of the close Scions either, but I expect that'll change significantly in Dawntrail. Their distance is more a matter of not having much time to get closer, shunted off to the side as Krile's been in the MSQ. The one really significant thing Dusk's done with Krile is Eureka and uhhhh ... I never actually finished Eureka, so it's not quite canon for him anyway.

Dusk feels protective of Tataru, but at the same time, I don't think she's someone who springs to mind for him when he is full of feelings and needs to unload them somewhere. So a friend! But not a close one, even after all this time. Great business partner though, he'll do capitalism with her anytime.

The twins (sorry for lumping you two together, guys) are in their own category too. He's close to them, but it's the sort of close a much older person has with a young adult that looks up to them. He's about as old as their dad, you see. So while they could absolutely come to him with anything, and he would do his best to support them in whatever way they need ... it's one-way, by his choice. They're still so young and have already been through so much, he'd rather eat glass than have them hear about some of the heavy shit he thinks and worries about.

Urianger, I have realized, has somehow become one of Dusk's closer friends in the Scions, and I'm not even sure how it happened. All I know is, during Endwalker, Urianger kept confiding in Dusk, and Dusk found that he felt extremely comfortable with the idea of confiding in him right back, so I guess they're close now? I can't explain it well, yet it ... really works for me, so I'm keepin' it!

Dusk and Estinien think they're subtle and still come across as Just Bros. They are incorrect, they have been incorrect about this for years. Even so, they are bros. You know how Estinien is all Ishgard Intense about how he is ride or die for the WoL, how he's always pledging his spear, or saying he will absolutely ruin anyone you send him at (I'm pretty sure that's his version of a marriage proposal, btw)? Dusk feels exactly as intense about him.

Thank you for the ask! This was fun to think about. <3

[ljomi-silvanius]

My response to Dawntrail. Woof. When I started the expansion I actually posted reactively about how much fun it was feeling, and deleted that two days later. Spoilery through the end of MSQ below-

I went into Dawntrail really excited for a chill start-up to future story. Vacation vibe while running into events and characters that might set up big consequences and meaning to other events down the road. No expectations of big drama within the expansion itself just building blocks. We got one block with zero attached narrative. While everyone is yelling that this is supposed to be our new ARR so we should chill about the quality of it- ARR provided us with countless characters, villains, and background plots without conclusions that continued into the future expansions (I know 1.0 really did this but for the sake of the story we have now, it was ARR). It may have been slightly confused and heavy-handed with its traditional MMO gameplay, but it did have a huge engrossing world set up for us. Dawntrail played out like any other expansion except feeling like it has even less effect on the future of the game in-world. We saved the day, again, and everything is exactly the same as it was a couple days prior. After Endwalker, I was excited at the thought of the WoL picking up their belongings and heading off into the horizon on their own and fumbling their way into new exciting events and alliances; yet our place in both the Void arc and Dawntrail felt so reliant on the Scions' decisions it's like nothing has changed. The WoL has been through so much and would be quite capable at this point yet seems to have no agency. This feeling of being trapped by past characters they can't seem to shake off, along with the idea being pushed repeatedly that we are an "adventurer" who goes where the wind takes us, makes the absence of a new band of allies kind of depressing. This was even more annoying as the Scions throughout Dawntrail felt very empty character-wise and unnecessary for the plot. Their reactions to events felt like having a livestream chat on the side of MSQ with no development of their own. I admit that I can't read the future, and maybe patches will make some characters we encountered continue on journeys with us, but nothing pointed to that as they all had their roles in their homes. While not new, I am hopeful Erenville will continue with us elsewhere! I was actually morbidly hoping something would happen making Wuk Lamat not end up in the throne, to give both continuous conflict and a new ally for some period of time past this expansion.

And regarding Wuk Lamat- absolutely love her. That doesn't mean that the dialogue making her repeat herself constantly about peace and learning wasn't some of the most tedious stuff ever put in this game. This tendency along with constant flashbacks and Scion commentary of "this reminds me of past expansion event" made it feel like the game, which has put us through complex politics and Limsa Lominsa dialect, now thinks of us as babies who can't pick up on the most basic thematic threads. The flashback to the Shadowbringers trolley guys was so unnecessary- let the audience pick it up on their own! And if they miss it, the current event should be fun or interesting enough that it's ok. I was thinking by the end that it was all for new players who chose to skip everything before Dawntrail, but flashback pictures would give nothing to them. I entirely agree with the complaints that this expansion was overtly exposition-based. Learning about new cultures is a huge basis of what we've gotten over the years, yet we generally learn through story beats that aren't just "learn the cultures". I love how important the individual cultures are, their differing ideals and lives, and how much color it adds to FFXIV, but I don't want to feel like I'm being placed in a classroom about it.

As we're tagging along with Lamat, it feels weird to me that we were asked to come at all. While I don't have qualms with being a side character to her, she's capable in combat and we're not given the chance to prove ourselves in much other than it, and we don't even mentor her in any way. We could have been the big sister/brother teaching her the ropes! Being given the mezcal jar to hold feels like an encapsulation of the entire ride. It feels like with how much new non-instanced dungeon/raid content we've started to get in MSQ, it was jarring how little there was in the entire expansion. We start out early with the look and zoom mode on Galool Jaja's tablets (which makes no sense why aren't we just walking up to them) and then they just forget we can do anything like that again other than sneaky stalk mode.

After the Rite of Succession and the brief moment in Texas, stuff starts getting better in plot and pace. There's some actual mystery, new characters who are more than an example of a culture, and it doesn't feel like you're doing things for a checklist. I'm obsessed with Otis and Galool Ja. At this point, the predictability seems to wane.

And then it comes back hard two levels later. The final area is again, a complete rehash of Shadowbringers and Endwalker. The Final dungeon is a complete rehash of Shadowbringers and Endwalker. The final zone is incredibly ugly, and I assumed with how jarring the colors were it would be glitchy and haunting. No, it's just a tasteless theme park that is keeping people happy for hundreds of years by having water fountains? Not much in this area points to people having anything but happy lives in a pointless and plasticky town, and yet as recalled by Alisae, their situation mirrors other civilizations we were shown to end up very unhappy. But they all like their salty popcorn and spending eternity serving it to others. I cannot understand the vibe they went for here and the task was again a tedious checklist. I also didn't understand the scale of this location- they made it Amaurot-esque extending to the horizon, yet we are able to turn off all memory sticks in a five malm radius- there could have been mention of other scions making their way to power down areas we weren't involved with, or a montage? Something? There's no way that would be everything.

I really wanted to enjoy Sphene, yet she has nothing to her but one side of Emet-Selch wrapped up in faux-innocence. They tried hard to place her as a foil to Wuk Lamat in the same way Emet and Exarch are foils, yet they had Lamat mention it directly ten times and at that point, how can you care about it anymore? There are threads they placed for her that I can't parse and was hoping to lead to a deeper character- how is the levin sickness her fault? In the end they painted her as nothing more than an overly caring helicopter mom. (Sphene WOULD beat you up at a child's soccer game.)

And that one building block I mentioned at the beginning- having an overpowered Azem-based stone that just hands Y'shtola exactly what she was looking for feels cheap and demeaning. I know she could have figured it out herself. In the same way I know Wuk Lamat could have figured out her trials without the perfect NPC walking up to her by chance every time.

In the end everything was entirely predictable. You get told x, you know that x is coming. We were told about Solution Nine before the drop- can you imagine if Amaurot was spoiled? We don't need plot twists, we don't need insane curves in characterization (Bakool Jaja I'm looking at you and your 90 degree angle), but some detail would really help, something that doesn't feel like it was a fan's recreation of tribe quests and the last two expansions, something I can continue to look forward to. I would have loved for Tural to have more stake and power in what goes on with Alexandria's presence. I would love for Tural to be more important in the future of the story, because I love everything there, and I'm just sad as hell about the package it came in. A package that came with Donkey Kong music using the same part of the leitmotif in every song, instead of Latino tinged songs that fit the region (if Kugane deserves that masterpiece, Tuliyollal deserves a sweeping and nostalgic piece that ties into the heart of Tural). Hell I would be happy with a minigame of making a piña colada if it was something new, but if feels like we're hanging onto loose threads now.

[otherworldseekers]

6.55 and onward to Dawntrail!

And so Endwalker is officially at an end and the months until Dawntrail stretch out before us. It's going to be a difficult wait.

Spoilers for 6.55 msq and DT ahead.

Personally, I've been excited ever since they announced our destination for the new expansion. There's little I love more than exploring new places and getting to know new cultures and Severia is the same. The set up of "participating in a contest for the throne" I've been more or less neutral on. I knew my response would depend entirely on the characters involved so I've been eager to know more. Having now met Wuk Lamat, I can confidently say that Severia and I would do anything for her.

I know some people have worries about the so-called conflict within the Scions, but from the information that Wuk Lamat gave us I think the whole succession issue is more about competition than "conflict" except for that one mysterious contender that she says cannot win. (Can't wait to find out more.) It seems highly probably that Koana, the miqo brother she mentions who studied in Sharlayan, is another contender and is the one that Thancred and Urianger have agreed to help. That leaves two unknowns. I'm going to make a prediction that Estinien ends up in support of a third Mamool Ja contender, who is not the dangerous one. I don't know how Y'shola and G'raha are going to fit in, but I have every confidence in the writers' creativity.

I am also intrigued by the little mentions of Garlemald in this patch. Alphinaud and Alisaie want to come specifically so they can gain knowledge that will help Garlemald. The "conqueror" Wuk Lamat warns about is interested in taking advantage of Garlemald's weakness. We even get to help some Garleans kick back and relax on our Island. As someone with an interest in Garlemald (for reasons), I am hopeful that this is an indication that Garlemald's future will continue to concern us in the future and that we can do something about its current state.

It struck me, now that we have our WoL's party set up, that it is meant to call back to our initial journey to a new city in 2.0. Alisaie and Alphinaud were there then too, though we did not know them. And Erenville, who travels for a living, could be said to take the place of the merchant. I believe the reason that they had a stand alone side story for the 6.x msq rather than the pattern that we are used to, is that 7.0 is meant to feel like 2.0. It's the start of a brand new story introducing us to a brand new world where we have no connections or history or baggage and are essentially back to being just adventurers again.

While Yoshida has joked about this being the WoL's vacation, I'm hoping that the tantalizing mentions of the City of Gold will lead to some fun Indiana Jones-esque adventures. But I am definitely most excited about delving into Solution 9 and learning its mysteries.

As usual, I am always hoping and praying that Nero will become relevant in the new content again. (Come on, SE, there are a million ways you could use him and he improves every single thing he's in.) However, even if he's not, I plan to drag him into the story in my own headcanons and writings. Severia's not leaving her man behind this time, not when he would be so eager to explore a whole new potential source of technological discoveries. How exactly he'll fit in I will leave until I actually see how the story plays out.

All in all, I am very excited and looking forward to more exciting story to experience this summer!

[messedupessy]

Ok so I finished Dawntrail a couple of days ago, and I got so many thoughts about it, things about it I loved, things I didn't vibe with, thoughts of what I both hope and fear will happen next, so prepare for a ramble as this will prolly get long xD MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR DAWNTRAIL DOWN BELOW!!!

Where do I even begin? I got so many throughts about literally everything it's hard to decide where to start, but think I will start with what I loved with this expansion overall and then go from there:

The graphic update is so good, everything looks so nice, the new zones and towns are amazing, all the zone music and music overall this expansion is a fucking banger there is no music I dislike which is amazing, the dungeons and trials, except for the last two for me, was so good, fun mechanics and bosses that is harder but not impossible! Most of the characters were so good and interesting and I loved to get to know them all!

But one issue I had with the expansion as a whole and not just the second half of it, where pretty much all my issues are tbh, is that the voices or rather the voice deliveries this expansion was really weird for the english voices, it felt like the voice direction or the mixing was very off and every character was affected. Like there were several moments Graha or any of the other scions spoke and I got all ??? that's not how you usually sound like what is going on?? And then there is Wuk Lamat, love her voice af, but there were many moments where I felt she just needed to push a bit more especially in emotional moments, her crying is fine but when she needed to get loud and yell it just didn't work, but I feel it's more because of the voice direction and mixing than the actual voice actor. And she isn't the only one though and this has been a issue I feel since the patches for Endwalker, something is really off!

And not to mention that the translation and subtitles are very off, they gotten so very bad since the patches, as my older sister plays in japanese but with english subtitles, and she understands japanese well enough to notice when the characters says more than is subtitled which really sucks. And there was allot of that in the patches, an example when Zero says to thank everyone she says their names in japanese but not in english, and there were moments here in Dawntrail that happened too, don't remember them atm tho since it was a bit since me and my sis talked about it, which sucks, feels like we who play in english are missing out on things all because things just isn't translated properly.

Then there is the msq, I absolutely adored everything until lvl 95 after the first story was done where we crowned Wuk Lamat dawnservant etc, mostly everything between 90-95 was perfect to me, great pacing, great characters, fun bosses and dungeons. The small critiques I got is that we barely spent time at the moblins they didn't even get any voice scenes, and that I wish the like rivalry we were meant to have with Thancred and Urianger thanks to them working for and supporting Koana instead of Wuk Lamat could been stronger. I would had loved a instance of us maybe fighting or just something more there.

And then there is the whole trading part with the Pelopelo, forgot their names the small duck faced ppl, where you are meant to trade things up for more expensive stuff, loved it love the UI they had for it and so on but wish they could gone a bit further with it, like they could have let us fail properly and mess up for example, that if we choose wrong here and there we would been forced to start over at a certain point, just something more there and it would been perfect!

But those are the only things I had issue with when it comes to the first part of the expansion, now to the second where most of my grievances lies and also my fears for what will come next:

First of shiiooni the cowboy place, the story there was truly what you call filler, which I get we can't always have something high stakes thing happening, not always needed either and things was brewing in the background, but I wish there had been more to the story there just it was very bland, something more could have happened there and instead it feels a bit like a waste of a zone even though I like the zone itself very much! Just something more happening in that zone could been really good but no we got like nothing. Connected shitall with the characters there except for our reflection versions of the trolley people they made me so darn happy!

Then the attack at the city happened, wonderfully fucked up but why did they have to kill off Guloo Ja Ja?? Think that's how you spell his name, but Papa simply I love him he was and still is one of my fave characters from this whole expansion, and it feels they went with the way too easy route to just let him get killed for drama, it always happens with fathers who are done and give away their position but i am so tired of it he could just gotten really hurt instead it would done pretty much the same give or take, you don't need to kill off someones dad to give them motivation to kill their own brother for doing so! He had already butchered a bunch of the towns people Wuk lamat did not need more motivation to go for it, and if he just needed to be put out of comission so he wouldn't solve shit too quickly then just hurt him a bit and shit would been fine, it just sucks and while the death scene was good it just frustrates me, let the parents live for once!!

But anyway then there is the dome, 30 years passing etc, loved that whole thing wonderfully messed up but here we meet the sole character that ruined the ending for me personally, Spherne or however her name is spelled. The idea of her and her story is great, but the execution of her character did not work for me at all, and it could been easily fixed if at the end of her instead repeating the same old "sorry for killing your ppl" she could had tried to tell something about herself but maybe failing etc, just said something to give her more character than "I love my people above everything else and I will kill anyone who harms them and I will keep them alive even if it means killing others", that was her whole personality there was nothing else there and it could been fixed so easily by her just admitting to it? If that makes sense? She was just so very bland and could been so much more and I get it she is just the memory of a person long dead but just give me something more, and then there is her design it is so bad if they just pulled back a smidge it would been fine!

After meeting her I feel the rest of the msq ends up so rushed, which like technically makes sense since we in a hurry to stop zorol ja think it was spelled mister first promise boy, but it made it so for me at least, that I didn't get a chance to connect with the new characters properly, didn't get to know the new villain at all, which could been on purpose since wuk lamat and sperne is kind of opposites, but it just didn't work which makes me so frustrated because it could worked so well!

And not to mention, a thing I didn't think of until my big sis mentioned it and how frustrated she was about it, is the whole electric sickness happening there! We have a cure for it we can fix that but there was no mention of it or anything where we could go oh hey we have a cure for this since its the whole thing from the first and tempering we could gotten Aisaie summon Angelo and help the sick boy but no, nothing! This better get mentioned/fixed in the future story patches or I will go insane!

Fuck we could had brought it up to Spherne and made her situtation more complicated but no!

And then there is Otis, I loved that guy but he was instantly taken away and killed we got no time so spend with him except for in the Living Memory later on but that wasn't truly him and it just sucks, wish he had been around longer and things didn't get so fucking rushed here!

Loved the trial for Zorol ja tho it was great, loved how it subtly explained why he was how he was, and while I would had loved having more of it outside the trial before we killed him etc it still worked out and made sense, love his son so much he is so good and I adore that blue baby! But I want to know who his birth mother is, who the fuck is Zorol ja's birth mother?? How was he born even though it is said two headed maamol ja can't have kids? Or is it just so darn rare he just ended up been the first ever? Game please explain gkejngke!!

But then comes Spherne and fucks shit up, which would work if her whole character wasn't as bland as a wet salty cracker! The whole of Living Memory was amazing i cried so much, the zone is amazing the music the progress of it was great, the whole message of everyone dies and life goes on hitting me way too hard.

But then there is the dungeon and Sphernes trial, the fights etc is fine and the visuals great, but thanks to her constant talking in the dungeon and its her we fight it just it's just so meh, she needed something more and now she will be part of Wuk Lamat's story forever and it sucks! Also I am still irritated that she kept calling Wuk lamat by her family nickname like please that was so rude, but I also get why Wuk lamat didn't protest proepr but still! It would been more interesting if like wuk lamat was like no u can't call me that and spherne been apologetic etc, and then later at the end wuk lamat lets her call her by that, just something!

Ok so rant over there but now we get to what my hopes and fears are for the future story, as now we got a fucking mguffin that can open portals to other reflections! Which we luckily know shit about except Kriles people had it but that's all luckily since they didn't know shit about it either, and I hope it stays that way for at least another expansion as it feels we are rushing the whole "find a way to other reflections" bit way too much, it already felt a bit rushed in the endwalker patches, but now we got a mcguffin and I am worried about it!

As while I want to visit other reflections, be able to visit the first with the scions again etc, I don't want to do that just yet! There been too much of reflection stuff in the story, I want a break from that and focus on other parts of the world we haven't been to, like Mercedia, Graha's home land, the Roegadyn homeland etc, I want to wait and let Y'sthola work more on finding a way, as I fear this mcguffin will make things way too easy and solve this whole thing, I want the story to wait, let us do other shit while this storyline can be like in the background a bit, and not the focus! And then it can blow up and be the focus again! I feel we need a break from it and I fear this will be the focus of the patches that is going to come.

After all the best part of the msq for me was when we just enjoyed ourselves in the new world and places we got to explore, where there was no mention except some smaller references and the reflections was not in the focus. I just want a break from it let it brew and stop rushing it!

But I am hopeful that this is something that will take awhile, since we literally have no clue what or where the mcguffin even came from or what it is, so I hope this will mean that it will take awhile, and that we can focus on other things like the electric sickness in solution 9 and their whole messing with souls there! I want clarification on if Alexandria etc is from the reflection from the second umbral calamity or not, as the hints are there as it would make sense, but I do not want to focus on traveling to any reflections for now. I want to explore other things so badly get to do new things and not reflection stuff please.

The only exception to any reflection focus is if something gets fucked up and the WoL gets sent to a reflection alone, with no one there to help us while the scions etc tries to find and contact us, that is the only reflection story I will be ok with getting at the moment as I want things to go wrong more and not feel as easy as it feels currently when it comes to travelling to the reflections!

Ok so think I have gotten out all that I wanted to say, sorry for any grammar or spelling mistakes but I can't be bothered to fix shit, thanks for coming to my ted talk and feel free to chime in with your own thoughts and so on would love to chat or clear up any misunderstandings, as I know I am not the best at explaining stuff at times xD

[msviolacea]

Okay, MSQ is finished. Some mostly non-spoilery thoughts.

I stand by everything I said in this morning's post. If the experience of your avatar being the center of the story is why you play, then this is probably not going to be the expansion for you. We, the player and the WoL, are there to witness events and lend our strength, and to discover new things about the world. We're not there to be the main character. This isn't the high highs and deep lore dives that the previous two expansions were.

But above all else, for me, Dawntrail was just fun.

I liked the characters, I liked the setting, I liked the implications for future lore, I liked the fights, I liked the designs. I had some issues with the pacing, and there were a few brief moments that made me cringe a little - but don't put too much stock in that, I get secondhand embarrassment from Hildebrand, so take my cringe meter for whatever it's worth.

I think Wuk Lamat was a good main character for this expansion - for the genre of story that FFXIV tells, the start of a story needs a wide-eyed "innocent" to go through the start of the story. We haven't been that person since ARR. We got to witness it through Alphinaud in HW, Lyse in StB. We could kind of be that person again in ShB, but we also had Ryne to fill that role. In Endwalker, we were wrapping up the larger story, so the discovery character wasn't really needed - but we also got to play that role briefly in Elpis.

I'm honestly glad they didn't go with having us be the wide-eyed newbie to the new continent as the center of the story. That would have felt culturally ... insensitive, at best.

I have my issues with parts of the story. I don't think the ending was as strong as it could have been - I think the emotional heart of the story had its climax right before the final dungeon when [redacted], the dungeon and final trial were more formalities than anything. It wasn't perfect, but it was good. And fun. And made the game feel fun for me again. And that's what I wanted out of it.

So yes. Dawntrail, a solid ... 7 out of 10, I think. I'd probably set it square in the middle for my enjoyment of the game, somewhere above Stormblood and ARR, but below Shadowbringers and Endwalker. (And probably Heavensward, but I have thoughts about how much that expansion holds up for me in hindsight, about how the good parts were exquisite but the meh parts were extra meh, but that's a story for a whole different day. In the end, I think it takes #3 on my list, with Dawntrail a close 4th.)

I hope everyone else has been enjoying themselves, one way or another. I'm off to cast some paint magic and see how it goes.

[aotopmha]

I finished the Myths of the Realm alliance raid.

I've actually been super busy in FF14 these last two weeks – I also did the 6.1 MSQ, the job quest capstones, the ShB role quest capstones, the Omega Endwalker capstone and a bunch of other stuff that's not story-related.

As far as major content left, I think I only have the 8-man raid series, EW role quests and the rest of the MSQ to go now.

Though the EW role quests don't feel as immediately significant as the ShB ones, so I'm not as much in a hurry to get them done.

All of these bits of content will probably get their own posts in due time.

And I think there is a bunch more to say even for stuff I've already talked about.

But for now, I'll talk about Euphrosyne and Thaleia.

And I think they didn't quite continue the momentum in terms of mechanical creativity that Aglaia started, which is sad, but I think I'd at least place them above any of the Crystal Tower and Void Ark raids and I can say I don't agree with some of the more extreme takes on them because I think they still have some really creative fights/elements in there.

Firstly, I'm sad they didn't continue the mini boss encounters and instead defaulted back to regular mobs between fights. It's something fairly unique to any encounters in the game.

A few more could've been fun.

But going from Byregot's really cool "crafting" mechanic theming to Nophica's comparatively mundane AoEs is also a downgrade.

It's a beautiful-looking fight with the season changes and I even get the farming theme within the AoEs, but I think her fight is probably the weakest fight in the entire raid series.

It really is just basic AoE dodging. The alternating colors are the most unique part of the fight, but I think Tsukiyomi did that in a much thematically stronger way, too.

Moving on, I really like the Astrologian theming for Nymeia. Her design is one of my favourites. I love her clothes.

On one hand, Nymeia and Althyk are the only double fight in all of the three wings, which in itself gives the fight its own identity, but on the other hand I wish each had their own fight.

I like how the gravity and cards are combined and needing to play according to the card effects is neat, though, again, in comparison, I think Rhalgr was just so much stronger in terms of having its own identity, particularly with its super unique arena that is used in fun ways.

Avoiding gravity has been in many fights at this point and so has been dodging status effects and I feel this fight doesn't really do much new with that.

But it is also not entirely devoid of personality by combining these two ideas.

Next, I think Halone actually gets a really good fight. The memory game in her fight isn't necessarily new, either, but I like how it is executed in it because I think it and her delayed attacks are really satisfying to dodge. Her nature as a spear-wielding warrior goddess comes through really well in the fight and I love her transforming weapon.

In fact, I want that weapon for DRK (would be really cool if it was available for both DRK and PLD in its respective spear and shield/greatsword form, maybe even having a form specifically for DRG, and you'd be able to change between them for cosmetic purposes).

I feel there is a fun fire/ice parallel with Aglaia and Eusophryne and Azeyma/Halone: fire being dark-aspected and ice being light-aspected, and the identities of their fights contrasting each other.

While Azeyma felt like a free-flowing reactive fight, Halone felt very orderly and "set in stone" so to say. Passive vs active and I think that's really cool.

I want to mention the ice citadel and the two moons, too, which is probably my favourite location in all of the three wings of the raid visually, though Aglaia's Heaven of Fire is a very close contender.

Menphina I'd put on par with Althyk and Nymeia.

There are some "almost" unique elements with her fight, like Dalamud jumping out of his target ring or the moon creating an attack when it becomes full, but they're more like neat details than fully substantial unique mechanics.

Menphina is one of my favourites out of all of the gods in terms of actual personality.

She's so playful and fun. Her having a magical girl-like aesthetic for a goddess of love is also super fun/cute and I want Dalamud as a mount.

So, all of the fights in Euphrosyne have their own "personality" visually, but it doesn't always translate into the mechanics. But when it does, we get cool stuff like Halone's fight or cute elements like a puppy named Dalamud that is having fun with hit boxes or the goddess of fate using Astrologian cards. It's not as distinct as what came before in a general sense to me, but I still had a bunch of fun running it.

Moving on to Thaleia, I definitely like Thaliak more than Nophica because I like the Zodiark positioning mechanic and I like dodging the triangles because you have to think slightly more about your positioning than with fairly generic AoEs. It's not "unique" so to speak, but what is there is done well enough.

I see Lymlaen the same way. Nier did the corridor running better, but I still really like how she creates an opening in the middle of the whirlpool she created as her arena. It's such a cool idea, but most of her fight still ends up being AoE dodging, which at this point just frustrated me.

I feel you could've done some neat stuff with manipulating the whirlpool and that alone would've strenthened the general identity of it.

I do love that the goddess of the sea is a tough pirate lady, though.

I think Oschon is the best fight in Thaleia. I love the predictive mechanics involving his archery. His fight is a super distinctive fight in terms of showcasing him as a fighter, just like Halone's.

I feel like Bards are fairly underrepresented in the game, too, so the fight is welcome in this sense, as well.

They even manage to weave the straight-forward stuff into this reactive archery identity of the fight.

Finally, there is Eulogia.

I think this fight is basically the alliance raid version of the final Eden fight. I like final fights that test you on mechanics that you've encountered up to that point.

In this case, I think it being a "test" fight really benefitted the narrative structure and did a great job at crafting a sense of finality for the entire raid in terms of the gameplay and story alike.

To me it completed the entire package, even if I thought the first wing was the best part of it.

In a general enjoyment sense, I was never truly bored through any of the encounters, I just think some fights could've been better.

They still sound great and look great and give some really cool glamour.

And I'll probably be happier to get any of these raid wings in roulettes than Nier or Ivalice because I feel you can get through them comparatively quickly. Nier is really long in particular.

So, I can see where the criticisms for the series come from, but none of the criticisms I *personally* have for it truly ruin any of it.

Now if the game kept going down this path and never changing and leaning more and more on these generic encounter tropes, it would eventually become a true problem.

Once again looking at the statements about Dawntrail, though, luckily it seems they are aiming to nip this homogenization issue in the bud.

[ladyramora]

Kotaro & Estinien Rush Comm

Kotaro & Estinien: Foes to Bros

The developing relationship of two dragoons from an antagonistic relationship to sworn brothers.

↓↓↓ Spoilers for Dragoon Questline, MSQ ARR to Endwalker under the cut↓↓↓

Kotaro was hardly surprised to be informed that the Ishgardians within Coerthas were reluctant to receive aid from anyone who swore fealty to another nation. He could have said that himself, considering his experience with the proud and standoffish people.

Hells, the Ishgardians were so damned frosty and hostile that they had very little desire to receive aid from those who held no such allegiance, not even an adventurer like himself.

Course, their particular distaste for him could be layers of things. Being miqo'te, the slightest hint that he might have been a pirate just from hearing his lominsan accent—which he was, formerly, a part of the Kraken's Arms, but that wasn't any of their business—or daring to be an outsider at all.

Cor, it probably really was all of those things combined that were working against him in his attempt to find the correct information to guide him on his way. He did not fancy having to talk to every person in the Conservatorium just to find the man he was looking for.

Kotaro had been brushed off and dismissed by several elezen—not to mention looked down the nose at; damned tall bastards—before being pointed in the right direction of the man he was seeking. Ywain bloody well owed him for sending him off with only the bare minimum of information.

Alberic seemed a decent enough fellow, all things considered. But he would be more agreeable company to the miqo'te by not only being a rare midlander hyur of similar height to him in a sea of snooty, hostile oversized elezen, but also being the first person to greet him with any measure of warmth or kindness for this visit to the Observatorium.

Of course, Kotaro was rather used to the prickly personalities of the coerthan people by now. This was hardly his first foray into the northern highlands of Aldenard.

He was already well acquainted with one lord within Coerthas Central Highlands. Lord Haurchefant of Camp Dragonhead was a gem of a man among so many common lumps of coal. He had been nothing but welcoming and kind to Kotaro since the miqo'te had set foot in his encampment, and that had been before Kotaro had unraveled the dravanian plot to frame Haurchefant's dearest childhood friend for heresy.

Francel had been grateful himself to have been prevented from leaping to his death into Witchdrop. His dedication to clearing his family name was to be commended, or at least that was what Haurchefant seemed to believe.

It was all a tangled, complicated web, if you asked Kotaro. He was only glad they hadn't arrived too late. He would have not wanted to see Haurchefant's usual cheer dimmed by the heavy grief of losing a friend.

Such was why the miqo'te set out in search of one Estinien Wyrmblood with a sense of urgency. If what Alberic said held any weight at all, the culprit was in over his head by making off with this so-called relic. The Eye? Who was in charge of naming these things?

Kotaro was already quite aggravated by the tedious run around that was hoofing it back and forth to talk to one person or several, only to ultimately be directed back to one of the first people he talked to. The life of an adventurer was not for those who lacked patience or stamina, that was for certain.

He'd much rather be payin’ visit to his friend Haurchefant, and trying to convince the man to play a bit of hooky. He worked too much, in Kotaro's opinion. The man obviously had a passion for adventure, the least Kotaro could do was offer the man a chance to cut loose and have some fun every once in a while. Course, he had to get creative and disguise it as busy work that needed doing. Like a dangerous hunt, or some such other peril that posed a threat to his encampment.

He was certain a few of the keener knights had caught wise to his shenanigans, but their affection for their lord outweighed their need to be sticklers about lordly things like paperwork and all that rot.

It was damned decent of them.

Kotaro certainly didn't have any allies in the Scions like that. There was always something needing done, and Kotaro was often the one doing the heavy lifting. There was hardly any time for mischief, let alone full-fledged fun. It made Kotaro miss his days of piracy, his fun-lovin’ crew. The things they got up to would make these sticks-in-the-mud clutch their pretty little pearls and lose their minds.

The miqo'te is damned thankful for a reason for violence. An excuse to let off some steam. Clearing the cave east of the Observatorium is just what the chirugeon ordered, and a bit of multitasking for him to do as he resumes his search for the elusive dragoon.

Where there was smoke, there was fire. No sooner had he dealt with the smallfry scavengers gathered around Estinien's fire pit, did the very elezen he was in search of leap down from the mountain top.

Kotaro wondered if being dramatic was a requirement to being recruited to the knight's dragoon or if it was simply taught to them as part of their training.

Who in the hells was he calling a coin-starved adventurer?

The man was quick to draw his weapon and brandish it at him. How very Ishgardian of him.

Coerthan hospitality was lacking all across the board in the miqo'te’s experience, all except for one man who had welcomed him with warmth and kindness since first he had stepped foot in his camp. He should really pay Haurchefant a visit after thoroughly thrashing this aggravating fellow.

The miqo'te grips his lance, his body primed to react the moment the other man makes his move. If he wanted a fight, Kotaro would gladly give it to him.

He isn't quite sure what to think as the very thing that the elezen had made off with, the so-called “Eye”, seems to resonate where it was tucked away in the dragoon's armor.

What in the seven hells was that thing? Kotaro didn't give a damn if it was reacting to him, all he cared about was finishing what he was set out to do so that he could go visit his friend once all was said and done.

Preposterous? Hah, what did he care about some random Ishgardian relic.

Kotaro bristles, catching wise to that familiar sense of superiority and condescension that seemed to cling to almost all Ishgardians like the foul smell of rotten fish.

Kotaro curls his lip.

Whatever “the Eye” actually was, this turn of events seemed to put the man off the idea of fighting him.

More than a little bit disappointing, all things considered. Kotaro was itching for something of a challenge to make this wild chocobo chase worth the time and effort he had spent tracking the other man down.

Kotaro isn't sure who had pissed in the dragoon's porridge, but the man had a chip on his shoulder the size of a bloody meteor.

Having sufficiently insulted him in just a few sentences and made the worst impression of all the Ishgardians Kotaro had met so far, Estinien offers him a few parting words and promptly leaps away.

Kotaro stares at the spot his quarry had once stood, and huffs an annoyed sigh.

He had never disliked anyone so immediately. His first impression of Aymeric had been rather bad with how the man hid behind a politician's facade, but at least he had been cordial.

“Our paths shall cross again, ye can be sure of it,” Kotaro repeats the man's parting words to him in a mocking tone, his lominsan accent coming through heavier with his aggravation.

Why had he even gotten into this mess? Kotaro began to wonder as he made the trek back to tell Alberic what had transpired. He would be more than happy to put the matter to rest, wash his hands of it and let some other schmuck take up the task of tracking Estinien's tail. Mayhap another knight dragoon?

The thought of not having to meet Estinien again cheered his mood somewhat, so of course things take a turn when he relays the news to Alberic.

Kotaro stares down at the newest soul stone in his hand, the soul of the dragon that had once belonged to Alberic, a former Azure Dragoon.

So Estinien was an Azure Dragoon, too? He certainly didn't act like the strongest and wisest of dragoon's in the miqo'te’s opinion. He was simply a rude, condescending shite head who had run from a fight.

That the eye had resonated with him should have tipped him off as a bad omen. Kotaro was getting rather tired of being special, of being chosen. How many burdens must he bear aside from his existing duties?

Katoro grips the stone in his hand, tempted to chuck it into the wind. He could claim he had dropped it, lost it in the snow. It was not too late now to walk away.

Kotaro raises his fist to do it, then sighs and lowers his arm. Tucking it away to join his other soul stone.

Ah, damn it all.

…..

….

Twice more does Kotaro pay a visit to the Observatorium after some time of honing his skills with his newest soulstone.

Kotaro had to hand it to Alberic, the man certainly had a way with words. Listening to the tale that Alberic weaved with his words of Haldrath, the Fury, and the great wyrm Nidhogg, Kotaro had to admit that the midlander had a knack for storytelling. Truly, the man should have been a bard instead of Azure Dragoon. Perhaps he could pick it up now, just as Kotaro had done with the lance?

He had signed on to be a lancer through the teachings of Ywain's guild, but never thought he would become a dragoon. Ishgardians did not seem the type willing to share knowledge with how on edge they were about outsiders. Kotaro did not want to even touch on the whole nonbeliever, heresy thing.

He had witnessed enough of it just by uncovering the plot to destroy house Haillenarte. Though it had been a dravanian in disguise doing all the scheming, what did it say about the Ishgardian people that they readily believed the lies of the false inquisitor Guillaime? That they stayed quiet in their own fear of having dispersions cast upon them, and in doing so condemned their own to death, lost to the dark and dreary depths of Witchdrop? Countless innocent people, perhaps even children. All of them fallen prey to the wicked deception of one of Nidhogg's horde.

It was utter madness.

Kotaro couldn't help but feel a mite bit insulted that Alberic suggests he was not yet strong enough to take on Estinien head to head as an equal, but he supposed it was best that he defer to the former Azure Dragoon's judgment. He was his new teacher, after all.

He did not know what sorts of training that dragoons got up to, but if Estinien was second to none since the days of Haldrath, perhaps it would not be foolish to focus on his own training a bit more seriously. The title of “Azure Dragoon” seemed entirely based upon skill, merit, and if that revolting little relic that the Ishgardians called “the Eye” recognized you.

The third part was rather ridiculous in Kotaro’s opinion. If the dragon had been their enemy, why would they need its acknowledgment to choose the next dragoon?

The miqo'te was morbidly curious, too, just how the relic had been preserved for so long. It stood to reason that something that was once attached to a living thing would most assuredly rot, given time. Was it squishy? Smelly? It made his fur prickle with disgust. Kotaro could only assume that the eyes of a dragon were different and leave it at that for his own peace of mind.

How grim to use the very place that their own people were disposed of when accused of heresy, to train in the ways of a dragoon to protect the lives of the innocent.

Kotaro is bade to travel to Witchdrop by Alberic twice for more training. Both times does he meet a new face, first a man by the name of Brucemont, and then a woman called Heustienne. Estinien's peers, and now perhaps to be his own, fellow wielders of the lance who had taken up the training of dragoon.

The story Alberic shares of the past lingers in Kotaro’s thoughts. That the man was not merely Estinien's teacher, but his adoptive father was rather eye opening. The pieces of the puzzle that made up Estinien were slowly coming together, though his sympathy for the elezen’s loss in no way softened his instant dislike of the man.

Perhaps it was the eye itself that was influencing the man. Kotaro had seen for himself the many such ways that the minds of men could be warped by powers beyond their control. Look no further than the pitiful existence of the people who became thralls to primals.

At least with the Eye, it seemed Estinien was still himself so long as he possessed the will to resist its power.

….

Kotaro meets Estinien face to face once again with Alberic at his side.

The man seemed to have a thing for dramatics as he called for them to meet him at Boulder Downs. Alberic, being the elezen’s teacher and adoptive father, seems to know exactly where Estinien would make his appearance, leading the way to the very highest peak of the Boulder Downs. Walking them carefully up the snow covered spikes of glowing, crystallized aether to the razor’s edge. It would be a long drop, should anyone fall. Kotaro could only be grateful he was someone who did not fear heights. It would certainly make being a dragoon more difficult, perhaps entirely impossible.

Lo, does Estinien make his presence known, from the fog at the very top of the snow covered spikes of aether. Alberic knew him all too well.

Still does Estinien greet Alberic only as his master, and not as a father the elder dragoon was to him for the past twenty summers.

Kotaro only becomes more convinced that Estinien was more than a bit mad as the man tells them of his reasoning for taking the Eye, and what plans he had made to make use of it.

Perhaps in this moment—nay, perhaps for the last twenty years—has only the thought of vengeance pushed the man forward. That he had stolen the Eye to lead the great wyrm to him when he inevitably woke was practically a suicide mission. Estinien had said himself that Nidhogg had only grown stronger. How had he thought he would stand a chance against him alone?

It was clear that Estinien cared for little else except accomplishing his own goals. The fact that the azure dragoon did not even bother to ask Kotaro his name before foisting the burden of Nidhogg's defeat and the safety of Ishgard upon his shoulders.

His selfish disregard for other people in his own personal agenda had Kotaro’s hackles up, his temper flaring.

“My name is Kotaro,” the miqo'te bites out, his lominsan accent shining through thicker with his irritation. He sounds it out for him, implying he thought the other dragoon was particularly slow. “Ko-ta-ro. Not adventurer.”

Kotaro’s feline ears press flat, his teeth bared to show his clear disdain. “Since ye seem so keen on monopolizing my time without askin’ whether I care to help you or not, the least ye can do is remember that much.”

He seems to take both dragoons a bit aback with the sharpness to his tone of voice.

“Kotaro,” Alberic says, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Forgive me if in my eagerness I have placed too great a burden upon your shoulders. Estinien, too, should rightly apologize for treating you as a weapon for him to use, rather than a person. That is certainly not the behavior of the boy I raised for twenty summers up till now.”

Estinien scoffs derisively at that, but makes no further comment. Merely crossing his arms with his lips pressed thin. It seemed he did not care to be criticized for his brusque and downright rude behavior, nor would he apologize for it. It was obvious that he did not give two shites about anyone else's opinion or what they thought of him.

What a prick.

Kotaro violently disliked him.

The miqo'te offers the elder dragoon a thin smile. “Never you mind, Alberic. I have no intention of shirkin’ a task given to me by my newest mentor. If this next trial is part of my trainin’ anyhow, it makes sense for me to go forward with it.” Kotaro looks pointedly at Estinien. “Alberic is my master now, too. I'll do it fer him, not because ye told me to.”

Estinien curls his lip. “It matters naught to me the reason for which you do so. Only that you survive the trial of Azure and successfully earn your right to don the drachen mail. The Eye may have roused with your potential, but it remains to be seen whether you are truly worthy for the mantle of Azure dragoon, Ko.Ta.Ro.”

The way he says the miqo'te’s name is slow and exaggerated, a mockery of Kotaro's earlier enunciation.

“Suppose we'll see, won't we?” Kotaro replies. “Good that ye pick things up fast. Try to remember my name from now on, E-stin-ien.” Two could play the condescension game.

Estinien gives a snort just loud enough to be heard over the howl of the wind that tries its damnedest to blow through them. “If your reflexes are as sharp as your tongue, perhaps you'll have some chance of survival.”

There is further talk between Estinien and Alberic, before the Azure Dragoon takes his leave as dramatically as he had arrived.

“Well,” Alberic coughs into his hand, but it sounds suspiciously like a laugh to the keen ears of a miqo'te, no matter how frozen they felt. “It is good to see you two may just get along, given time.”

Mayhap it cheered his heart somewhat to see a version of his son that he recognized, rather than the man so hellbent on vengeance that he would forsake everything and everyone to see his lifelong ambition come to fruition.

Kotaro looks at him like he grew another head. “Don't count yer chocobo chicks afore they hatch, Alberic. It'll be springtime in coerthas before that happens.”

….

The trial of the Azure turns out to be many battles one after another. After each of which does Kotaro receive a piece of the drachen mail for his successful survival. He powers through them all, wanting to get through them as quickly and efficiently as possible.

His bond with the dragon deepens with every piece that he attires himself in.

With this, and more dedicated training, surely he could best Estinien should the need arise.

….

Despite Alberic’s best intentions and the hopes he had for his adoptive son, Estinien had allowed the Eye to influence him by listening to its whisperings. Perhaps it had spoken true that Alberic had relinquished his power out of fear, the Azure Dragoon unable to stop the destruction of Ferndale as a result. Yet who knew how the Eye had twisted Estinien's emotions, skewing them towards rage and violence.

Haldrath the dragonslayer had been reborn, his arse. Haldrath had not allowed the Eye to influence him, if Alberic’s retellings were to be believed. Estinien was already allowing it to whisper things into his pointy ears, to twist his feelings and skew his emotions towards darker things.

Kotaro had no choice but to step in as Estinien threatened Alberic. He could not rightly sit back and allow his new mentor to be senselessly slaughtered. Alberic would be no match for him, bereft of his power and many summers past Estinien's senior. He was near twice his age!

He did not care to hear how Estinien thought them kindred, an ally with whom they together could fight the great wyrm. That Kotaro's affection for Alberic rendered the miqo'te deaf to his own destiny.

What destiny? Kotaro had only interacted with the man two times up till now! They were veritable strangers, no matter that Alberic had shared tales with Kotaro parts of Estinien's past.

“Kindred? Ye who did not bother to learn my name?” Kotaro scoffs. “Ye know nothing of me, and I have learned more than I care to know of ye. We are not kindred, we are nothing. Not even acquaintances.”

Kotaro raises his lance up in defense of Alberic. “All we share is the same mentor, and I will not allow ye to harm him.”

Estinien continues on as if he hadn't spoken, acknowledging naught of what Kotaro had said to him. “Very well. That we would one day cross lances was inevitable from the moment of our first meeting—as we shall now find out who is the Eye’s true chosen! There can be only one!”

Kotaro did not give two shites about that thrice damned Eye! It was naught but trouble.

They clash in the middle of the round platform, trading blows that would mortally wound lesser men. Fortified by their armor and enhanced so by their unique powers of the dragon, it is naught to the two dragoon, every blow that was a mere swing of the lance was aught that merely glanced off the other man's armor.

Kotaro had to admit that the words of caution Alberic had spoken to him of Estinien's strength and abilities were not the boasting of a proud mentor and father, but that of pure and true fact.

The trials of Azure were that of child's play in comparison to the threat posed by his elezen foe. Estinien's ability was a culmination of twenty summers under the tutelage of Alberic, not to mention extensive training in the ways of the dragoon.

Kotaro was hard pressed to keep up with his learned skills by leaning heavily on his own innate abilities.

Still, Kotaro had fought his fair share of deadly opponents and come out on top. An endless slew of beast, imperials, and now even a few primals made that list.

Estinien was just a man, albeit a very capable one. So long as he could defeat him before the elezen became too lost to the great wyrm’s seduction, all would be well.

Kotaro would hate to have to put the other dragoon down, much as he greatly disliked him.

For the sake of Alberic, he does his best to prevent from wounding the dragoon too severely that he would die from it.

Estinien notices this, and it only fans the flames of his rage. “Do not hold back! I am the Eye's true chosen, and you shall know it when I bury my lance in your chest!”

Kotaro grits his teeth, jumping back to avoid the blade of Estinien's lance.

He can hear Alberic persist in trying to reason with the Azure Dragoon, though it was a useless endeavor. “Estinien, stop this madness! You and Kotaro were meant to be allies, not enemies!”

Kotaro could feel the malevolence of the aether that had already begun to corrupt the elezen. The more that Estinien relied upon the power of the Eye, the more his aether became twisted, his mind addled. His sense of self would become lost not unlike those who had been tempered by primals, inevitably made into mindless thrall.

Every attack that his foe sprung upon him was made with deadly intent. It took a great deal of focus just not to find himself gored by the business end of Estinien's lance.

Kotaro pushes himself harder, letting go of holding back. His own aether swells in response, the power of the dragon was at once similar but different. The strength of a dragon, but naught that was so seductive that it would consume his mind.

He could feel his wounds knitting together with the power, his body less heavy and his lance lighter in his hands.

Incapacitating Estinien would be the main objective, to knock some sense into him through utter defeat before he entirely lost who he truly was to the influence of the great wyrm’s wicked curse.

If he maimed him in the process, so what? Estinien would still be alive, he would still have autonomy.

Perhaps, up till now, Estinien had been without equal, but no longer.

Kotaro presses the advantage, steadily overpowering the dragoon. It makes Estinien desperate, crazed.

He sounds like the very heretic that Ishgardians claim to despise. “Power! I must have more power! O, Lord of Dragons, grant me strength to raze thine enemies!”

A dark ominous shadow blocks out the light, and Kotaro lunges back just in time to avoid a ball of flame as it falls where he once stood, the snow becoming a haze of steam and the stone below scorched black. It was

“Estinien!” Alberic cries, aghast. “Surrender not to the beast within! Have you forgotten the vows you swore?”

It matters naught what Estinien might have said in response, because Kotaro attacks the dragoon with a flurry of strikes that overwhelm the Elezen, ending with a brute, forceful swing that knocks the elezen to his knees. Flopping over onto his back, dizzy and defeated.

Kotaro levels his lance at the dragoon's prone form, not trusting that the elezen would stay down in his frenzied state.

Alberic runs to his side, the both of them walking cautiously forth to where Estinien was crumpled on his knees, his body heaving with every gasp.

A voice spoke, then. The beguiling words of the very wyrm that Estinien had dedicated his life to defeating. The great and terrible dragon lord that now held Estinien helpless in his snare.

Feeble creature… Dost thou desire power? Look to thine anger and thy hatred… it is there that thou shalt find it…

“O mighty Nidhogg! Lord of Dragons!” Estinien gasps in a voice of reverence for the very beast he had so despised. Raising shakily to his feet to reach towards the sky in a worshipful plea, “Grant unto me thy blood, that I might be granted the claws and fangs wherewith to rend thine enemies!”

A cloud of malevolent aether swirls overhead, answer to his pitiful prayers. It descends down upon the dragoon, enveloping him in its wretched light.

At the very same time, Kotaro feels a power, a presence rise to the surface to offer him aid. Aught that opposed the terrible darkness in a surge of bright, brilliant light.

Alberic will tell him of it later, how Kotaro had appeared to be possessed by the spirit of Haldrath the Dragonslayer, as depicted in the holy scriptures. The dragoon of legend brought forth to put a stop to Nidhogg's reign of terror before it could again start the cycle anew.

It ends with one blow, and a blinding clash of aether. When the dust settles, Estinien is gone.

Kotaro feels sympathy for his mentor, who expresses regret at having failed his adoptive son yet again.

Kotaro is only glad to wrap everything up. Much as he would have liked to go see Haurchefant after everything, he would rather not linger in coerthas for much longer now. He should like very much not to return here for a while yet.

Of course, barely a week passes by before Kotaro is forced to return to Coerthas on Scion business, to offer aid to Ishgard against Nidhogg's horde. The gods must surely have a sense of humor, as Ser Aymeric introduces Estinien during one of their meetings.

Despite how they had last left things, Estinien looked quite well.

Kotaro did not doubt that no one knew except for himself and Alberic of Estinien succumbing to Nidhogg's seduction.

The strangest thing of all, however, is that Estinien is not a pariah for stealing the Eye. Had Alberic truly covered it all up to spare Estinien? Or was it merely that Estinien's abilities were so valuable to a city at war with dragons for nigh a thousand years that they were willing to overlook one small transgression in the grand scheme of things?

It was utterly baffling.

Kotaro’s head aches trying to wrap his mind around the reasoning of Ishgardians, and so he brushes it all aside to focus on the more pressing matter at hand.

Fighting Nidhogg's horde.

….

Being forced to seek political refuge in Coerthas after the bloody banquet of Ul’dah was one terrible thing of the many that Kotaro experienced ever since joining the Scions.

Becoming tangled up, and ultimately deeply embroiled in Ishgardian affairs was another. He consoled himself with the reasoning that it is the least he can do for his sworn brother Haurchefant, and that of House Fortemps who had sheltered him from the fallout of the false accusations that had been leveled against him and his fellow Scions.

Estinien joining himself and Alphinaud in their attempt to parley with the dravanians, in the hope to achieve some matter of diplomacy between Ishgard and the dragons struck Kotaro as a terrible, awful idea. It filled the miqo'te with extreme displeasure.

What was worse, Ysayle soon joined their party of unlikely allies; and the two older elezen wasted no time in beginning their endless bickering over every little thing. It seemed they could find no common ground on their differences of opinion.

Alphinaud was in a state of constant fretting, watching two of his companions so at odds. Kotaro chose to stay out of it the best he could. He had enough on his plate without getting dragged into their petty squabbling, no matter how Alphinaud looked to him to intervene. This was not part of his job description.

It was a small mercy that Estinien mostly kept out of his fur. There was still a lingering awkwardness and tension between them even though they had interacted a few times after Estinien had almost succumbed to the Eye's influence. Perhaps Estinien's pride was a bit stung by being beaten by a dragoon who not only had picked up the lance not more than a few moons hence, but was also chosen by the Eye as a second Azure Dragoon of this age.

Whatever it was, Kotaro did not particularly care. There was much to do without worrying about the inner workings of an elezen he was quite sure he would never come to like. Endless tasks laid out before him, and Kotaro wanted nothing more than to finish it all quickly so that he could keep the company of people he actually enjoyed spending time with.

Estinien mostly kept out of his way, except for when he didn't.

The miqo'te can recall stepping between Estinien and Alphinaud at one point, his palm nudging slightly at the dragoon's drachen mail so that he would step back.

Estinien had swatted his hand away. “Watch yourself, Warrior of Light.”

Kotaro had turned on him, hackles raised. Itching for a fight, and glad to start one. “Ye watch yerself, Azure Dragoon.”

Kotaro can hardly remember what it was that had set him off. It had been a small ember of irritation, fanned slowly into true anger by small inconveniences throughout the day.

“Do we have a problem, warrior?” Estinien had groused in response, instantly on edge.

“Ye bet we do,” Kotaro growled back. “Ye just invited yerself along on this little trip, after I was already sick o’ the sight of yer face.”

Estinien rolled his neck, beckoning to him. “Come at me, then. Let us settle this like men. Lest you desire our petty differences ruin your pitiful attempt at parley with the dragons?”

“Who asked you?” Kotaro hissed, and took up the invitation to fight him with relish.

Before he knew it, they were wrestling across the grass like a pair of temperamental teens with no self control.

Alphinaud and Ysayle had been forced to pull them apart before it got too serious.

Their interactions had crumbled from there, childish and petty, where before it had been at least somewhat civilized.

They laughed at each other's small inconveniences: Kotaro when Estinien got stuck in a mud hole just below his knee that was most definitely full of something other than just mud, Estinien when Kotaro slipped on a slimy rock when cutting across the river and found himself caught in the river’s current, rolling arse over tit down a small waterfall. Soaked to the skin in moments.

They tripped one another, shoved one another, and found themselves wrestling several more times like two siblings in desperate need of getting their aggression out, until it came down to Ysayle declaring that they were both “in time out until they could start acting like the grown men they were, and less like children with a grudge.”

What was worse, Alphinaud agreed. Even declaring that they were worse than the petty squabbles between himself and his sister, Alisaie.

That cowed the two men like nothing else.

It had felt far too satisfying to blow off steam in that manner, but perhaps they had gotten a bit carried away with it…

This was still a diplomatic mission, not a weekend of roughhousing for the boys.

What was shocking was Estinien actually listening to the woman’s words, instead of stomping off in a huff like Kotaro expected he would do.

They did not apologize, but their behavior did improve. Both men resolved to put aside their differences to better focus upon the task at hand. Especially after it is discovered that there was yet another primal here, one that would be left up to Kotaro to deal with yet again.

Estinien was particularly stiff after that. He seemed ill pleased at the cropping up of a primal.

What was his problem?

He didn't have to fight it.

Much to the hero's surprise, a turning point eventually came about because of it.

Just before heading out to his inevitable fight with Ravana, Kotaro was taken aback as Estinien spoke up on his behalf, scolding Alphinaud for using the hero as a trump card; a weapon for vanquishing every primal that cropped up. Kotaro was stunned speechless, by now well used to being the sacrificial lamb, so to speak. He always hit the ground running, thinking on his feet. Adapting to whatever was thrown at him, because it truly was life or death. He had been fortunate up till that his instincts proved enough to get him through, no matter if they had any prior knowledge of the primal he was to face.

“And you, Warrior of Light…”

Kotaro was further startled as Estinien turned that intensity onto him. The dragoon closing the distance between them in two strides and raising his hand up to flick the hero in the forehead.

Hard.

“Ow!”

Kotaro’s fur prickles with agitation and shock. What was that for??

Before he could give voice to his complaint, Estinien tells him. “That is for going along with this nonsense and rushing forward blindly with no concern for your health. Should master Alphinaud bid you jump, do you say how high?”

Kotaro gapes at him, caught by surprise at the vehemence with which the other dragoon spoke.

Estinien was not finished, continuing on with obvious indignation, “Are the Scions of the Seventh Dawn not an organization best equipped for dealing with primals? Going in without a plan is the surest way to get yourself killed. Perhaps your Scions think it worth the risk, but you should realize by now that your life is worth more than being fodder for the next beast that rears its ugly head. To strike before you know the level of threat is to make enemies, always. Perhaps it is best you make use of the oft neglected brain in that head of yours, and actually think before you act.”

With that, the dragoon turned on his heel and walked off.

Kotaro stood there, rubbing his stinging forehead. He had mixed feelings about being scolded like this by Estinien of all people…

Yet it was plain that by the elezen’s actions that Estinien now valued him as an ally, and the dragoon was not one to put his allies in unnecessary danger, no matter the circumstances.

From that moment onward and for the rest of their journey together, Kotaro paid the dragoon a bit more attention, and his perception of the man slowly began to shift.

Estinien was not one to mince words, or to express himself in obvious displays of emotion outside of confidence or anger, but his actions spoke for themselves. The man was not above showing care for his allies. He taught Alphinaud how to gather firewood, and kept a lookout for dragons while the young lordling did so. He took the night watch without complaint when Kotaro was too exhausted, dead tired on his feet. Even small things, such as asking Kotaro if he were well whenever an echo vision came with the side effect of a splitting headache. Hells, he even expressed sympathy and concern for Ysayle.

It all began to add up, painting a portrait of what sort of man Estinien truly was. One that Kotaro did not mind too terribly to keep company with. He was not so bad, after all.

Stuck together as they were, Kotaro had begun to build a rapport with the man. There was something of a bond forming between them, a connection of the soul unique to them as two dragoons who had awakened the dragon within. Aught that would only continue to grow as their friendship deepened.

That was not to say that they didn't still occasionally tussle. The difference was that they did so now in a more friendly manner, rather than out of mutual dislike.

It only irked the hero that Estinien still refused to call him by name normally, only calling him by titles such as “Warrior of Light” or his “fellow azure dragoon”. He only used his name when being sarcastic, or playfully mocking. Sounding the syllables out the same as the very first time that Kotaro had demanded he used his name, “Ko-ta-ro.”

He was still somewhat of a prick.

….

The Vault… happens.

Haurchefant.

Haurchefant is…

Gone.

Kotaro is devastated. Overcome with grief. Haurchefant is… was… his closest ally, his sworn brother since taking refuge in Ishgard.

He stares with eyes unseeing at the face of his friend, that limp hand still clutched desperately in the grasp of his palms. Every moment of their friendship plays out like an echo vision in his head until heavy tears dripped endlessly from the corners of his unblinking eyes.

His heart hurt. He was in such agony, he could not think rationally. He wanted this moment to not have happened. His one desperate wish to have his friend stir awake and smile at him again, tell him that he need not fret, that all would be well.

Kotaro attempts the unthinkable, lost in this state of agonizing turmoil. Focusing all his aether into this singular concept with that one wish held unwavering in his heart.

It is not to be.

He is torn away, the swell of his aether interrupted, broken before that terrible concept could be made into an awful reality.

A familiar resonance wakes him from the wallow his grief, the budding bond of brotherhood that had only just begun to grow between himself and Estinien.

For the first time, he sees Estinien's face in full. Understanding writ across his face, the truth plain in the blue grey of his eyes as he squeezes Kotaro's shoulders and says in a soft, grave voice. “Kotaro, he is gone.”

Kotaro chokes on a sob, shaking his head. “No, no. No, he was my… He was my brother, Estinien. I have to…!”

“There is nothing more you can do,” Estinien says quietly.

Kotaro does not resist as he pulls him to his feet, the dragoon leading the way to the highest roof in Ishgard. A quiet place for just the two of them.

Estinien is a quiet, comforting presence as by his side Kotaro looks up at the stars and allows himself to cry. Mourning the loss of his sworn brother.

Wondering if maybe, possibly, he and Estinien could be friends, just as Alberic predicted.

Kotaro cannot even begin to sort through his feelings—of losing Haurchefant, or the potential of having a true friend in Estinien—before there is more he must do.

To Azys Lla they must go.

Aboard the airship, Kotaro can only watch as Ysayle sacrifices herself to protect them.

Thordan falls, along with his knights twelve. It won't bring Haurchefant back, but there was some satisfaction in avenging his friend.

Then, with both of Nidhogg's eyes in hand, Estinien succumbs to the influence of the great wyrm again.

There is no stopping it this time around.

One moment, that was all it took. A single moment of weakness—the shield broke, Ysayle free falling through the air, Estinien…

How many more friends did he have to lose?

No.

No more.

Kotaro had only just begun to get to know Estinien, to see the potential of a true and meaningful friendship between them. This was not the same as when he had just met him, and only saved him to spare Alberic the pain and Ishgard the certain destruction he would wrought.

Alberic... Kotaro would have to tell him it had happened again.

Things move forward, and Kotaro is once again swept up in Ishgardian politics. Only this time he is caught in-between as the middleman. The hero of Ishgard and friend to Ysayle—and so by association and through his efforts to aid them, a friend to the dragons of Anyx Trine.

It is no small matter to achieve a truce between dragon and man for a war that has waged nigh a thousand years. There are many people opposed to it, so many who have lost loved ones. It is never easy to bring about change, no matter how good the intentions behind it.

Kotaro watches as Ser Aymeric does his best, despite having it all thrust upon him.

It is made more difficult when the Azure Dragoon, possessed by Nidhogg, attempts to slay Vidofnir in the middle of unveiling the symbol of the treaty between dragon and man.

It was hard to watch, but Kotaro could not look away as Aymeric was forced to take up arms against his friend to save Vidofnir’s life. The arrow he loosed towards his friend's heart swallowed by the malevolent aether of the great and terrible wyrm.

It is Nidhogg who speaks, using Estinien as a puppet. The grotesque display of his eyes fused to Estinien's drachen mail, stained red with the wyrm's own blood.

Kotaro cannot tear his eyes away even as he hears Alphinaud curse, his gaze glued to the dragoon as that wretched aether envelops him, consumes him. Transforming him from the man he was, and taking the shape of the dragon lord Nidhogg.

The great wyrm's attempt to squash their hope does the opposite. It only strengthens Kotaro’s resolve. There is no trial he would not face to see Nidhogg’s end, and so they set out to seek the assistance of Nidhogg's brood brother, Hraesvelgr.

Hraesvelgr only agrees should they succeed in besting the trials he lays out for them. And so, with a little company, Kotaro does what he does best.

Despite all that, Hraesvelgr is no match for Nidhogg’s rage. Entrusted with the strength of the dragon's golden eye, Kotaro knows this is his best chance to challenge Nidhogg and save Estinien from the wyrm's terrible grasp.

They defeat Nidhogg.

His aether spent, the wyrm reverts back to his host’s true, elezen form.

Estinien wrests control, dropping his lance before the wyrm can make another attempt to harm them, grasping his own throat in a stranglehold.

Kotaro and Alphinaud rush towards him, ignoring his plea to put an end to him whilst he held the wyrm at bay.

Nidhogg put up too great a resistance as they try with all their might to pry free the dragon eyes fused to Estinien's bloodstained armor.

Yet they are not alone. Kotaro feels him before he sees him, a familiar presence of warmth and kindness.

The spirit of Haurchefant, his sworn brother, smiles down on him. A hand that helped him even now. A knight who had come just when he was most needed.

Kotaro musters up a smile even as tears brim over his eyelashes, suffused with warmth and the strength needed to rescue the dragoon from his own stubborn insistence that he was beyond saving.

With a bright burst of light, the eyes pry free, and in an adrenaline fueled burst of panic, Kotaro listens to Aymeric as the lord instructs them to chuck them into the abyss.

Would they really disappear like that? Kotaro had a bad feeling they'd somehow show up again, like a bad pair o’ coin gil. Nothing but trouble, those things.

Kotaro stumbles, bereft of all his strength. Finding himself leaning on Alphinaud as Aymeric scoops Estinien up into his arms as if the dragoon weren't wearing a full suit of drachen mail.

He glances over his shoulder, swearing he could see the spirits of Haurchefant and Ysayle standing behind them. Lingering a few moments longer, watching them go.

…Thank ye, brother.

Haurchefant smiles, and rests his hand over his heart.

Ysayle raises her hand in a wave.

Kotaro blinks, and they are gone.

…..

Kotaro’s ears press flat to his head, listening to the sound of Alphinaud crying from where he stood out in the hall of the infirmary. He had wanted to give the boy a moment alone with the man, seeing as the younger elezen seemed to look up to Estinien as something of an older brother.

“Cease your mewling, boy.”

Kotaro's ears perk to attention as Estinien speaks. The miqo'te gives them some time to talk to one another before he ducks through the door, trading off with Alphinaud to give the young man some time to recapture his composure.

“Ye look quite well fer a dead man,” Kotaro says, feeling a mix of relief and irritation at the sight of Estinien looking so damn serene.

No more was there a heavy burden weighing down his shoulders.

He was relaxed.

“You are the one stubbornly complicating a simple thing. You never could strike me down,” Estinien replies.

Kotaro crosses his arms. “Ye should know me better by now, after everythin’ we've been through.”

Estinien actually chuckles. So weird.

“Yes, I know. You were never one to leave a friend behind, no matter the circumstances.”

Kotaro arches a brow. “Ye think we're friends?”

Estinien matches his expression. “You think we aren't, after all that?”

Kotaro levels him with a look. “Say my name, should ye know it, if yer thinkin’ we're chums now.”

Estinien hums, his expression mocking. “Name? Do you truly have one of those? I thought everyone called you the Warrior of Light.”

Kotaro narrows his eyes. “Estinien.”

Estinien smiles. Chuckling in his throat. “Nay, that is my name. Not yours. I suppose now I shall simply call you the one and only Azure Dragoon, Ko-ta-ro.”

He really knew how to ruffle his fur.

He was still a prick, even now.

Kotaro shook his head and sighed, feline ears perked and tail swaying with curiosity. “Yer leavin’ it behind, just like that?”

Estinien looked more content than Kotaro had ever seen him. Downright serene. Entirely relieved of the burden he had bore for twenty summers since Ferndale had burned.

“I have no need of such burdensome titles anymore. I leave it to you now to carry the mantle. There is no other quite as worthy.”

Kotaro could sigh at such talk. As if he needed more titles added to his record. It was far better to share the moniker with Estinien. It was less burdensome that way.

“Then, as my first action of the sole Azure Dragoon,” the miqo'te lifts his hand up and flicks the elezen in the forehead. Feeling a smug sense of satisfaction as the elezen twitches with the sting, his eyebrows scrunching together as his face twisted up.

“It is my responsibility to reprimand my fellow dragoon for bein’ a reckless fool, is it not? I worked so hard to save ye, and yet ye would have cast aside all that work! For what? To kill the wyrm that was already on his last legs? He was already beaten.”

Estinien huffs, rubbing the spot where the hero's fingernails had made contact.

“Suppose I deserve that much,” he remarks with a rueful quirk of his lips.

Kotaro nods. “That much and more, but it is not my habit to tussle with the infirm. I might put back yer healing a few more moons if I did that.”

Estinien grumbles. “Oi. I could take you on here and now, Warrior of Light. I owe you a rematch where I am in my right mind, after all. That first duel hardly counted.”

Could it count as a duel when Estinien had clearly come at him with murderous intentions?

The miqo'te grins to himself. “Ye can barely sit up in bed as ye are now, but I look forward to the day when ye come to challenge me again. The look on yer face will be right satisfyin’ when I knock ye on yer arse again.”

Estinien scoffs. “You talk big for a man of your diminutive stature.”

Kotaro bristles. “As if yer tall for an elezen! I am a perfectly respectable height for a miqo'te.”

Estinien grins, clearly pleased to see him ruffled.

The miqo'te took a calming breath, waving his hand flippantly. He supposed he could let him have the win, the other man being bedridden and all. There would be plenty of time to get his own back now that Estinien was himself again.

Kotaro had more to say, but at that moment Aymeric arrived.

He gives the two elezen a moment, knowing they were friends.

Wondering if he should call Estinien friend, too. Estinien seemed to be of the opinion that they were.

Well, he supposed they could talk later. Trusted that Estinien could do as the chirugeons ordered, and give himself the rest he sorely needed.

….

They never did have that talk.

Estinien had snuck out of the infirmary, leaving Ishgard entirely.

Kotaro knew he was still around. He could feel him close by on several occasions through the tenuous link they still shared as azure dragoon. Estinien could leave his title behind, but he was still the only dragoon on Kotaro's level. There would be no other to take his place.

Estinien could thank Aymeric for the task of having to chase down Nidhogg's eyes, though Kotaro supposed some of the blame could be placed on himself and Alphinaud for flinging them into the abyss in a moment of pure adrenaline instead of seeing them properly destroyed.

They do not meet again during Kotaro's time in Ala Mhigo, nor in his time in the East. Though the miqo'te could feel through their bond the elezen's feelings of concern for him, along with fond exasperation.

It is Estinien who comes to his side in the Ghimlyt Dark as the world fades around him, the very same affliction that had affected all the other Scions.

He fears he will truly fall to the swing of Zenos' blade, to the ascian that wore the prince of Garlemald’s body like an ill-fitting suit of armor.

The resonance of their dragon souls is all the comfort he needs to succumb to the dark as Estinien snatches him from the jaws of death and carries him away to safety.

Then and there, as his consciousness slipped away, Kotaro decided that he needed to toast with Estinien when he got the chance.

Brothership with Haurchefant had come naturally, easily.

With Estinien, it had not been so. With him, it had been a long and hard road fraught with difficulty and less than favorable impressions.

Though it had taken them time and endless struggles to come this far, there was no denying it. This was more than mere friendship.

They had stood by each other at their worst, saved one another from death, and they were still here. Together.

Estinien would be his brother, no matter what.

…..

The time came much later when they were finally in the same room again, both of them returned to the Rising Stones. Estinien come to give report on his mission about what transpired in Garlemald, and Kotaro returning from his most recent quest.

He suspected it had not been a coincidence, their meeting like this. Estinien was intentionally lingering, leaning against the wall in wait of him when Kotaro passes him by.

“Estinien!” Kotaro brightens up at the sight of him. “If yer not too busy, do ye have time fer a drink with me?”

Estinien straightens up, his face softening into a slight smile. “I suppose I could be convinced, provided that you have spirits worth sampling. I expect nothing less from a former pirate.”

“Aye. That is, if ye think yer Ishgardian constitution can hold up against the drink of a pirate. ‘Tis hardly the watered down ale served in Ishgardian taverns,” Kotaro laughs, taking him by the arm and leading him to his room.

“Gibrillont might cry to hear that the Warrior of Light thinks his ale is substandard,” Estinien chuckles, glancing around the room that Kotaro had made his own with personal touches. It was his first time being invited in.

Kotaro was making himself busy setting up a low table.

Estinien, in the meantime, perused the bottles lining his shelves. It was obvious that Kotaro had a taste for quality spirits.

“What are we drinking?” Estinien asks, stepping to the side as the miqo'te comes up behind him.

“Bacchus wine,” Kotaro replies, plucking a bottle from the shelf and settling in at the table where he had already set up the cups for them.

The cork pops and the wine flows, given time to breathe a bit before the two men raise their cups to toast.

“Oh? To what are we toasting, for a wine so famous that even I have heard of it?” Estinien asks as his glass is slid across the table towards him.

“What say ye to toastin’ to our friendship?” Kotaro proposes, lifting up his glass. “That is to say… I'd like for us to be sworn brothers, Estinien.”

Estinien seems surprised. His blue grey eyes are wide, his fingers loose around the glass he has not yet lifted from the table. “...Sworn brothers. Truly?”

Kotaro nods. “Aye.”

Estinien’s posture loosens, his expression soft. “It would be my honor, aibou. Your friendship has been a gift. To be your brother… It is more than I deserve, after how I treated you in the beginning.”

Kotaro laughs a bit. “Aye, ‘tis true I thought ye to be a right prick in the beginnin’, but ye are a different man now, Estinien. I do not ask this of that man who was so consumed with the goal of vengeance that he believed the wicked words of a wretched wyrm over that of his own adoptive father who raised him with care for twenty summers. I ask this of the man who gave Alphinaud a dressin’ down for sending me to take down Ravana, the one who stayed close by in case he was needed even though he had given up heroic titles such as Azure Dragoon. I ask this of the man who saved me from certain death. I ask this of the man who stayed by my side and was a comfort to me even in quiet as I mourned the loss of Haurchefant. Ye have more than proven yerself through yer words and deeds, Estinien. Ye are more than deservin’. Verily, I could ask fer no finer a brother as ye. So, will ye accept, and become my sworn brother?”

Estinien’s eyes had taken on a shiny sheen while listening to Kotaro's speech. “Well..” His voice croaks a bit with emotion as he tries to speak. With a forceful, manly cough he tries again. “Well, far be it from me to refuse with such a convincing argument. If you would accept me for all that I am, I should be most glad to be your brother, Kotaro.”

Kotaro grins, his feline ears twitching as tail swaying happily, utterly beside himself with joy.

He raises his hand, extending his glass towards the elezen. “To brotherhood!”

Estinien meets him in the middle, smiling. Their glasses clinked together. That small clacking of glass sounding off a new bond of closeness between them.

“Aye, to brotherhood.”

They drink together, swapping stories of themselves in a relaxed setting they had not been afforded in some time.

The hours quietly while away with no pressing matters to attend to.

It is a warmth and comfort that Kotaro had sorely craved for some time. A feeling of belonging, of family.

He was certain that Haurchefant was smiling down upon them, too.

….

The next adventure is one that Kotaro looks forward to, one where Estinien was by his side.

Exploring new places, meeting new people. Enduring new struggles.

All of it was made better by having his brother beside him. Kotaro only wished that Haurchefant could have been here, too.

To share in the fun, the laughter, exploring the map of the world.

From Sharlayan, to Thavnair, then traveling to Garlemald and beyond.

Darkness soon dampens the brightness of this adventure like ink spilling across parchment. The hardships and horror, Kotaro endures too.

Estinien is beside him through it all.

Until he isn't.

Grief is a feeling that Kotaro had not wanted to revisit. How thick it clings, stifling all joy, every step weighed down with heavy, heart wrenching emotion.

One after the other do his friends make the difficult choice. To give the others a fighting chance.

Kotaro wanted to sink to his knees then, to give into that swallowing darkness and sob his heart out. But he could not. He couldn't give into despair. To do so would be to squander the chance his friends and his brother had given him.

Kotaro presses on.

At the end, it is only him. Walking alone.

The hopes and dreams of their world resting upon his shoulders. All their lives, the very universe hanging in the balance.

Hope is what gets him through.

This could not be the end.

There was still so much life to live.

He could not let them down.

It feels like a blur, a blink.

It all happens so fast.

Kotaro can only feel relief as he comes back to himself, surrounded by his friends.

He doesn't remember what he says when he stirs awake, but Estinien was there beside him. Laughing at him.

Kotaro smiles, closing his eyes in relief.

For now, his duty was complete, so he lets himself rest a while longer.

Saving the world was exhausting.

…..

Kotaro gives a nice, feline stretch as a yawn cracks his jaw. He scratches at his chest, tail shivering and feline ears perked as he gazes at the bright blue, cloudless sky.

It was another beautiful day, if he did say so himself.

Kotaro isn't quite sure what he thought the other side of saving the world—nay, the entire universe?—would be like, but he supposed it was just… business as usual.

The work of an adventurer was never done, and Eorzea didn't put a pause on its daily peril just because the Warrior of Light desperately needed a holiday.

The world waited for no man, hero or no.

There were lulls between said peril, thankfully, and Estinien had taken to the task of the hero's chosen adventuring companion with gusto.

“Aibou!” The dragoon calls out to him with brotherly affection, striding over with a bounce in his step as soon as he spots him.

“Go treasure hunting with me?” Estinien asks with an eager grin, showing the miqo'te the map in his hands.

Kotaro perks up, looking over the map with the intrigue of a former pirate and the joy of an adventurer. He nods his head, pleased with the invitation.

“Ye know ye had me at treasure!”

Estinien chuckles, folding up the map and leading the way.

Kotaro stands still for a moment more, watching the dragoon's back as the elezen forged ahead towards their next adventure.

He had not thought he'd ever find a brother again, not after Haurchefant.

Estinien was different in every way, of course, but here he was beside him.

A brother as near and dear to his heart as Haurchefant had been.

Kotaro glances up at the sky, smiling.

A shadow falls over him, blocking out the bright light of the sun.

Kotaro jolts as he feels a familiar flick against his forehead.

He slaps his palm against the stinging spot. “Ow! What was that for?”

Estinien grins down at him. That familiar feeling of fond exasperation shining through their shared dragon soul bond. “Are you coming or not, aibou? Or should I take this hesitation as you forfeiting your share of the treasure?”

That said, Estinien bounds away with a burst of dragoon power. Laughing out as Kotaro swipes out at him a second too slow. “Very well, I accept!”

Kotaro stumbles forward, racing to catch up. “Hah, ye wish! Wait fer me, Estinien!”

A new adventure awaited, and Kotaro was looking forward to meeting it head on.

Side by side with his brother.

[sarrie]

Relationships: Those who know me know I think shipping is tons of fun, and ofc FFXIV sets us up with the perfect setting to indulge. That being said, this will now contain spoilers up through Endwalker!

Y'shtola was Aeryn's first major crush. Her dry sense of humor and sarcasm suit Aeryn's style of humor perfectly. Being new to the area, she also appreciates how absolutely insanely smart and well-read Y'shtola is. The two would spend hours discussing any aspect of history or magic theory - especially as Aeryn made advances as a conjurer into a WHM. Their relationship never progresses outside of flirting and maybe an awkward hand holding here or there. During and after the events of the Bloody Banquet Aeryn fears she loses Y'shtola without being able to tell her how she feels.

Haurchefant is easy to like. Unlike other Ishgardians he is easy to talk to, full of optimism and romanticism about the world. Mourning and exhiled, it is easy for Aeryn to return his flirtation as it becomes something to get her out of bed in the morning. While they become incredibly close friends, their relationship never strays outside of a friends-with-benefits scenario. They become besties in that platonic soulmate kind of way, and anything sexual is no strings attached.

I did absolutely ship Aeryn and Aymeric as an endgame, but Aeryn evolved so much as a character I don't think I could see it working out long-term. There was a spark, maybe, but anything that could have been was quickly buried by the war and trying to make sure Ishgard doesn't fall apart.

After losing Haurchefant, the world becomes very heavy. Aeryn becomes more reclusive, sad, angry. So angry. At some point Estinien and her start to become very argumentative and it totally leads to them, uh, lashing out. Verbally, and then beating the shit out of each other under the guise of sparring which has led to another kind of physical activity once or twice. This leads to a very interesting relationship as the two of them just… start getting along. (Much to Alphinaud's confusion and Ysayle's amusement. She teases them relentlessly.) Getting along is too strong of a word - their insults and fighting have less bite. After Heavensward the two do become pretty solid friends, and now in current msq timeline Estinien is one of Aeryn's closest friends.

Stormblood doesn't really offer Aeryn any New Romance (tm) chances as it's so much running around and political exhaustion the poor thing is just trying to make it through the day. Emet-Selch. Hades. I uh. Am one of those Azem x Hades people. Shadowbringers features a very exhausted Aeryn. Being the WoL and seen as a savior to the entire planet is kind of a lot. There's a lot of hero worship from total randos, and it weighs on Aeryn. Of course her friends/the scions don't treat her any different than they used to, but she's so tired of being an unstoppable force. In contrast, Emet treats her as weak, as mortal, as someone with flaws. It's a wonderful blend of Y'shtola's dry sarcasm and Estinien's verbal bite. It's refreshing. She doesn't have to worry about breaking him (but gods she wants to). End of Endwalker and she doesn't remember a lot of Azem, but she remembers how she felt back then. And she knows how she feels now. MEANWHILE. . . Ok this is cracky AU stuff but Zenos is so good for Aeryn. I mean he isn't. But hear me out. There was nothing until this idiot puppy of a man kept coming back. Infatuated and obsessed and the worst thing is, he's the part of Aeryn she doesn't want to acknowledge. To those she defeats she's the bad guy. She's killed. She's arguably done horrible things and it's only justified because of which side she's on. And she sees that every time she looks at Zenos. And he's strong as hell - there is maybe no one left on Eorzea who matches Aeryn's strength and every fight is one wrong move away from her dying. It's invigorating and she hates him but he's the only one who understands.

[nymfaia-archive]

more timeline fun, ft. My Ship + their bb. ft. @nossumusmanus since this ship + the ship's respective verse is fairly intertwined w/ quintus living at this point, lol

alta gets pregnant around the time of Pagl'than. either before or after. she is barely a few weeks along when Endwalker happens, and is Very Thoroughly Ill in Garlemald - something she thinks is a result of the corpses and the sheer horror of what has been done to Varis and the Tempered soldiers. It's early spring by the end of MSQ, and the snow is melting, exposing corpses that had not been able to rot in the cold, the sickened aether from the Tower making her feel nauseous and ill to her bones.

It is after their first excursion into the Tower that it truly rears it's head, and she is caught outside of camp kicking snow over the rations she failed to stomach. Jullus finds her crying and upset at herself for not keeping things together. After some encouragement, she bundles her uncertainty and despair back in, knowing she had a world to save.

(she's also sick in Thavnair, but - as she was sick from using the Aetheryte to travel there - she assumes it's just that, along with exhaustion and nerves.)

After the end of the main MSQ, Alta is quarantined in Sharlay for multiple, multiple weeks. She's still sick and she needs physical therapy and time to heal from her wounds. I think someone in Sharlay probably tried to tell her what state she was in, but she was convinced her injuries and her light aether corruption from Shadowbringers would cause the pregnancy to be a fluke. Out of fear of being known and having been cooped up for too long, she swiftly left after that to go aid the realm. By the time she leaves, she's just shy of three months along.

She visits Thavnair first, subsisting almost exclusively on mint lassi to keep her from getting too sick on the palace's tiles. Vrtra pegs her and her coalescing aether almost immediately and does his best to respect her hostility, and Alta flees to the undersea vault with her former Scion allies before the greatwyrm can truly guilt her about it. (Unfortunately for her, Y'shtola's aether sight knows it just as well. Fortunately for her, she says little and less beyond a veiled tease that the Warrior of Light entirely does not get.)

As soon as she ties up that loose end, Alta returns back to Garlemald. Her illness has gotten better, but is still off and on depending on what she's doing. A few days into the stay, she learns about Quintus' lover and their state, and both her and Jullus make an attempt to gather supplies from a deserted medical clinic. They bring back a mobile ultrasound machine, medicines, and vitamins, stopping by Tertium for a rest. They find a retired nurse there who is able to show Alta that she was still with child - and closer now to four than three months along. With Jullus, she traverses back to Camp Broken Glass to retrieve Quintus and Nerva and returns back to Terncliff that same evening.

Alta is in Terncliff for less than one moon. She dances around telling him the truth, and finally does one evening when she thinks he's fallen asleep beside her, whispering the news in his ears as if testing words on for size. By the time he fully awakens in the late morning, she's already long gone - but he knows what he heard was not a mere dream.

She doesn't return to Garlemald, but Thavnair. The tear betwixt realms is explored, the first two of the Fiends felled, and Zero returned to the Source upon their collapse. Still desperate to avoid Gaius and what response he may give her, she travels back to Ilsebard.

She teams up with Jullus and Quintus to go through the tower for supplies, and the three of them run into Nerva Galvus - or nearly do. Removing Quintus from the palace was like pulling teeth, but both her and Jullus finally were able to convince him it wouldn't end well if they stayed. They resolve to return after sharing the news with the Alliance - and, after some needling and reminders of you swore, Alta admits she's about in the same boat as Nerva (and sheepishly apologies for being a bit spicy in Endwalker and beyond.)

Alta has gone from begrudgingly eating rations and a half to starving even after two, and feels guilty that she's sapping resources from Garlemald and it's people. Using magic has become a drain on her she hadn't expected, and her stamina for traveling has lessened. After they enter the palace for a final confrontation, putting what was left of Varis to rest in a funeral pyre, she returns to Terncliff. Her state is becoming obvious to those who knew her previously. (Tataru would be happy to see Alta gaining weight again, after how thin she had become during her trip to the First. Alta firmly does not tell the receptionist-turned-tailor. Half the realm would know by sunset, and she is stubborn in keeping those who know to a bare minimum. She is nigh five months and beginning to get quite tired of people asking questions.)

It's the first time she's fully explained what all went on in Garlemald in her visits. She couldn't stomach telling Gaius the truth before, but now she feels as if it's unavoidable. He knew things had been dire, but had no idea that Zenos had treated his father so similarly to Varro and his children.

He was not there for his children. He was not there to protect Varis. There had to be something he could do to repent to his homeland, if only to close that chapter wholly and soundly behind him. Gaius decides he needs to return, if only to visit the grave of his homeland one time before it begins anew.

So he and Severa take off, leaving Allie in Alta's care and Alta in Valdeaulin's. A week of feeling bored and thoroughly harassing Valdeaulin later, Alta takes Allie on a small trip abroad, just the two of them. Allie learns of her present state: Alta, going without her facepaint, flies mostly under the radar as the two act as tourists in Kugane. They return to Terncliff about ten days later and Alta has a linkpearl call almost as soon as the airship lands; the disbanded Scions prepared to go into the Thirteenth, but were informed of issues in Garlemald with voidsent.

Alta leaves Allie in Valdeaulin's care and returns to Garlemald once more. Alongside Gaius once again, the pieces begin to fall into place for those she is affiliated with - her closeness to him as they move about the camp, his challenging gaze when she volunteers overmuch, the meals they share side-by-side - it is painfully obvious what they had gotten themselves into. Alta travels into Lapis Manalis alongside three Scions and Zero, acting as a sub-healer. The third Fiend is eradicated, and they return to the Camp with many, many liters of ceruleum.

(She is instructed to stay in the vehicle and stay warm as they load their loot, and her absolute silence on the ride back has Alisaie being a little sassy about 'the savior of the world, pouting over not being allowed to help'. She is about six months along, and, despite her apology to Quintus for being uncouth and short-tempered, she is still both of those things. It has been years since she has been disallowed to act - doing so now feels like a curse instead of a nicety.)

Alta is taken back to Terncliff with Gaius, who is still in disbelief that she's still forging ahead despite not being able to button her coat any longer. She lurks about the town for nigh on a full moon, tending to the flower field her and Valdeaulin have been growing since her first visit to Terncliff after the end of the world; and, for a moment, she's enjoying the break... before the Scions call on her once more.

The fourth fiend is in need of being dispatched. So she does as they ask, as she always has, and isn't given a reprieve to return home before they make further progress: they've figured out how to get to the Thirteenth's moon, and she's needed.

First to aid in the Aetherfont, and then to travel betwixt the stars.

While she is tired and irritable at the beginning of their adventure to the island of Haam, the surplus of positive aether is a boon after months of feeling drained. Her spells are cast with ease, her mana well feels as if it is bottomless, and for the first time since visiting Elpis, she feels as if she is hale and whole. She carries the energy through to the Thirteenth's moon, and, while relying on her shards from beyond the rift, she is able to take down the Knight in Black.

After a short stint in Thavnair to rest, she does return, one final time, to Terncliff. Despite the small town's slow pace of living and it's lack of true adventure, Alta finally decides she needs a rest. She calls the Scions and their affiliates to inform them of her hiatus and then clicks off her linkpearl for the longest, quietest stretch of relaxation she has had in over five years. She is seven moons and a handful of suns, having traversed two realms and taken down more enemies than the 'disbandment' of the Scions had promised her. She loves them all dearly, but she is tired.

Gaius still has his own linkpearl connection with Estinien open, and is kept abreast of their machinations as Alta stays willfully ignorant. He knows the biggest battle is yet to reach them - to tear down the last bastion of evil in the Thirteenth - and he hopes it is at bay for long enough for the Warrior of Light to have a peaceful last few weeks.

When they come to be, it is to her surprise - not his - that Moogle mail carriers are inundated with gifts and well wishing cards. She thought she had been quiet about it. She thought no one had found out, outside of Jullus, and Quintus, and Nerva, and Alisaie, and Y'shtola and Vrtra and - ....

[nosafeharbour]

Tataru’s Grand Endeavour thoughts/reactions (6.4)

I bet you thought you’d seen the last of Werlyt reaction posts. Me too, actually.

So yeah, it was kinda mid, but I’m so focused on the few crumbs I did enjoy that I can attempt to happily ignore everything else... LOL I’m more annoyed this will make people roll their eyes over Werlyt more than being personally disappointed, ya feel. The redemption arc in the eyes of the public did not happen. Oh well.

Albael still real. That’s still my seaside malewife. That’s good.

Giggles and kicks my feet

Oh my god, they were sisters-in-arms. As sad as I am that Tataru herself was not involved, maybe it’s for the best. Mehdjina should continue to live in ignorance

:)

I was wondering if Gaius would talk in such a way that this is the first time you meet him post-Endwalker, I’m glad it wasn’t! He greets you so casually. I don’t have to change anything I’ve been thinking about for them post-EW. This is just a fun weekend visit (they’re not about to have a fun weekend)

Uhhh so I just really hate all the fake Valens stuff, it just cheapened Werlyt and the only actually good Valens scene (the one where he’s killed). Werlyt was already a cringe caricature of MSQ characters, and this felt like a cringe caricature of Werlyt... LOL

MY HOPES... WERE RAISED... I WISH IT HAD CRASHED IN GARLEMALD... all the previous Tataru quests had a walking section with the main NPC(s) in an area seperate to their main one, so I was foolishly hoping for something like the Lochs or even Garlemald. I certainly was a fool

He is either saying this purely sarcastically to Albi, and/or making excuses bc he just really does not want to do it. There is no world where Albi is better than piloting than Gaius, but it’s funny to pretend. He’s being petty

I am immediately soothed by mecha anime cockpit scenes. I’m glad I had my Werlyt pilot glam on a plate from an art party a few weeks ago

I have been waiting, praying, and ultimately gave up on Gaius and Nero reunion scene since 2019. Oh my god. Everybody shut up, this is my everything

Half the reason I wanted to see it/was sad that it had assumedly happened off-screen was because I wanted to know what Nero would call him... in ARR it is just “Lord Baelsar”;

My, how long has it been, Lord Baelsar?

I had to stand up and pace around for 5 mins at this line LMAO

Gaius going “ah, so the rumours were true that you survived” is so funny. The “rumours” are just Cid and Albi mentioning him casually, Gaius just practiced this dramatic moment in the mirror for too long to not still go along with it when they do finally get to talk. Nero built the damn Mark II we’re chasing, did they simply not brush shoulders during Werlyt? This is so funny.

And then Nero just... I merely use my talents to save Cid from his own idiocy. And now, I am here to do the same for you. I love it so much

Nero dryly calling Albi hero or adventurer is still a charm point that I enjoy

Kind of wished I had failed the (cringe-ass) Werlyt rhythm game now just to see what he’d say instead of this... I’m still not convinced Albi is a good pilot, but she is a good marksman at least!

My mecha anime brain cell activated. I don’t care about things such as “quality” or “good writing”, I only care for Sonic vs. Shadow with robots

bbbbbbbbbb really do not care for this scene, but I do appreciate how much Gaius no longer cares for monologues and just attacked this guy.

A shame, really

I just like it when they are on screen

DID YOU... FORGET THE TIME WHEN YOUR LEGION KIDNAPPED TATARU... it was all very much spearheaded by Livia rather than Gaius, but... lmao. You’d best hope you never meet her, bud (shame they did not, would have been funny)

Mister Gaius...

Avilina being compared to Nero multiple times in this quest was cute, I forgot that they worked together. One of the engineers post-quest remarking that since she refuses to wear the Ironworks uniform, maybe she’d be content with a red version like Nero, too... they are two peas in a pod

Allie... cute!! You had to assume Terncliff had an orphanage, but I liked the confirmation/discussion

This is. So funny. He looks so awkward. I guess it is cute that Albi went to ask a favour from Ishgardian portrait friend at least

Cute...

I just cannot get over how awkward Gaius looks. He is so funny to me

:)

This lines up with Cid mentioning in EW that Gaius is terrible with words when he’s trying to be heartfelt. Charm point

When the whole squad don’t know a damn thing

I was wondering what the memento for the main Tataru quest would be... the main reason I like this overall questline is because Albi is a goldsmith who has a lot of sentiment tied up with jewellery. So not only would Albi be so down for helping with Tataru’s necklace, something from Werlyt in there is cute. Rose shells... it’s always roses... ah ah ahhhh (looked up to see if rose shells are a thing, they are not, they picked rose on purpose here)

I gotta let this marinate. Had no idea Werlyt even had beaches since they make such note of the cliffs being too high above the water to have any benefit from the ocean. See, this is where I’m getting my food

Was glad to see Severa and Val back on the overworld post-quest, but man, I’m so disappointed they weren’t even present. I’m just reminded how much my investment in Werlyt was always hinging on Gaius’s MSQ era... I miss Team Shadowhunter, I do wish Nero was here in-person and not just phoned in, etc.

I care deeply about Allie and the Raen, but mainly in scope of them being Raen and relating to Albi, not as much in relation to Gaius, if that makes sense? So this quest being just weird Valens and then only the briefest Raen kids moment was like. Okay.

Was sagely nodding after speaking to everyone else... heading back down to the lookout to see if Gaius was trapped in aimlessly staring at nothing for the rest of his days-- oh my god

Shut the fuck up. This is so cute. Immediately burst out laughing at having a really stupid 4am tweet made canon

THIS IS SO HYPER-SPECIFIC. Albi manspread confirmed just because I liked this new /sit idle they added last patch

And the book... just grabs this from my WIP notes, but post-EW Albi has been doing a lot of book collecting/restoring. I’ve had “Gaius reading the assorted books Albi leaves in his apartment” as a whole thing for like a year now. [shoves the rest of the quest out of the way] They Did This For Me

I’m so glad they gave him such a charming afk spot/animation. I can just sit next to this guy

In closing: Quest was not as good as I hoped (I wanted the same comedy-tint as other Tataru quests, having Nero/Sev/Val sort of there but not really just made me miss their absence more, Gaius still does not even acknowledge what we did on his behalf in Garlemald) to the point I’m pretty :/ about the Valens stuff, but... I’m too Gaiuspilled to let it bother me too much. Just like in EW, he wasn’t personally badly written/out of character, and I got enough little crumbs for my own content, that it’s fine that there wasn’t much actual food. I can cook.

One last thing actually: I assumed Nero was in Werlyt, albeit it behind the scenes, because of the “we found someone who knew enough about Allagan warmachina to build us a second G-Warrior, even if he was overly adamant about it being red” line post-Werlyt when you go look at the Mark II in the hangar. He says he’d hate for the Mark II to be destroyed in this quest + called it scarlet in a very endearing way that confirms that for me, but when you go look at it in the hangar again after this quest, it has some new dialogue. Mentions that it came back safely, albeit it with a few new scrapes, but I think that line replaced the “guy who made it demanded it be red” line which was the real Nero giveaway? I’ll have to go back through old screenshots, hmm

Anyway

I’m done now. I’m sure I will warm up to this quest and it’s weird energy over time. Albi’s booty call turned The Sorrow of Werlyt 2 turned book club

[donkuri]

extremely rambly post dawntrail thoughts. mega spoilers. I sound like such a hater, but i promise i'm not <3

90-95(ish)

For the most part I enjoyed the beginning half of the expansion, in all honesty there were (many) times that it all felt a bit naive and twee, someone referred to it as feeling a bit like an afterschool special and I couldn't agree more. For an expansion coming of the back of Endwalker and how it engaged with difficult subject matter in (in my opinion) a very thoughtful and meaningful way, Dawntrail felt a bit shallow in comparison. Which would not be a problem, I am in no way saying every expac has to have the same depth and Endwalker (far from it, that would be exhausting), but Dawntrail constantly feels like it's trying so very hard to be deep. A message is all well and good, but please don't expect me to be impressed with "don't hurt others ^_^ ever. ^_^" I realize also that the vibe was very likely exentuated to be 'subverted' (not really) in the second half of the story, but that didn't stop it from feeling patronizing and trite for the first chunk. I realize this sounds soo hatery and I really did enjoy the story, going into it i expected a lighter 'fun-adventure' vibe which we definitely got, However (😖) i thinkk the writing team is coming up against the one piece problem, mainly, there are too many characters and they don't know what to do with them. Frankly, it feels extremely weird to have the scions parsled out piece by piece into the msq, I realize in order to tell more stories other characters need to be introduced, which in turn can make the characters we know redundant. But, having estinien show up for literally what feels like about 5 total minutes of the expansion is baffling. Personally, I think the solution to this is more character moments, we got a couple with wuk lamat and company, but to me some of the best moments in endwalker were when we just get to hang out with our buddies, something like that could have gone a looong way for me to feel like they were actually part of the story. honestly, even having G'raha just be on continent would have been something, just have him bum around the city i don't know.. let me get skewers with estinien, let me go tidepooling with urianger, little character moments go a long way for making a story feel lived in, and i think dawntrail was slightly lacking in that regard. In the final cutscene erenville says the whole city partied for 3 days and 3 nights, let me go! let me get wine-drunk with y'shtola and have a taco eating contest with Alisaie. there was even a perfect break built in before the dawnservant ceremony, let me hang out with my pixelated friendsss orz...

95-100

In terms of the second half of the expansion, I enjoyed it as well, the general consensus seems to be that the second half is the stronger one, and I don't think I disagree. The theming is cool (r.i.p. to the people that hated the recent pvp gear...) and I'm glad soken has started to embrace his gift for making incredible techno music. But on the topic of music... what the hell is that theme man. I love ffxiv music, truly truly I do but, I cannot come up with anything but 'bad' to describe that fucking song. I've heard it described as disney, and like a song from a political ralley, i'll dare to combine the two and say it sounds like disney produced the campaign song for kamala harris 2028. When it first crops up during the coronation ceremony i was like "wow thats not good at all.." but during the train montage it literally made me laugh out loud, and during the ending credits i was just kinda bummed. The expansion theme itself (from the trailer) is fucking awesome though, no notes 👌

gulool ja- I truly truly adore him, i don't care if he's a marketable moeblob, that's my baby nephew, I do however have some thoughts.. First of all, I was honestly hoping for a failed/discarded clone reveal, personally that makes more sense to me considering Alexandria's technology instead of some random Mamool Ja woman also being stuck there deciding to bone down on zoraal ja, unless he can do asexual reproduction, in which case, slay. But I think a clone angle could have been an interesting entry point on a discussion of nature vs nurture, would zoraal ja raised away from the burden of expectation of the miracle son grow into the despot that he did? I do think it was insane that he just, stayed the boy king, literally a terrible idea considering it's heavily implied the burden of his father's legacy is what caused zoraal ja to break bad but okay... AND he shoulda moved to tural and gotten to play with the other mamool ja kids dammit 😣

the issue of Zoraal Ja- For all the knowledge we have he was ostensibly raised with a loving family, gulool ja ja seemed to be a good father on most if not all accounts, so why did Zoraal ja turn out like he did? was it an instance of that slimy advisor dude raising him like namikka did for wuk lamat? I think in general Zoraal ja wasn't afforded a lot of grace as a character, and generally treated as pretty wholly evil until his death-floor speech. I, personally don't find that very compelling, or even that it makes much sense. You never get an insight really as to *Why* he's doing what he's doing, 'he wants to surpass his father' ok, but why is world domination the only way he can think to do so? I had thought for a bit near the beginning of the expac that he'd have a similar character to Koana, on that while he may be outwardly cold towards his siblings, he'd still love and care for them, but those thoughts went out the window after the cook-off. I think he was underdeveloped and could have used a little more consideration when creating his motivation and personality. Or at least more of a backstory, a lot of Koana's personal beliefs were formed by his studying in sharlayan, did zoraal ja have a similar experience that shaped his worldview? give me something... anything...

I have heard a lot of criticism surrounding the villain of the expac (store brand metion) a lot of which I think is fair, but whats kind of funny to me is seemingly she didn't really do anything too heinous in my opinion... Sure, she participated in the initial invasion of tural, but that was absolutely gonna happen anyway, and her grand fusion plan didn't work (as near as I can tell) in the end anyway. I saw someone pissed that she got 'redeemed' but honestly, I don't think she had anything she needed to been redeemed for. In terms of her motivation, I personally found her interesting, But, I also realize that I find her interesting because of how I characterize my wol, instead of how she's actually written, so I don't think that can be used in her favor (sorry sphene, I don't think it should be a requirement to have 30k+ words of oc lore to enjoy a villain) But she really did feel like a knock-off metion, which really only was to her detriment. I think the expac hot of the heels of Endwalker (my favorite expac) should be doing all it can to avoid direct comparison between the two, and Sphene as a whole invites that.

but it was goood, right now I'd rank it at a solid #3

#1 Endwalker

#2 Shadowbringers

#3 Dawntrail

#4 Stormblood

#5 Heavensward

#6 ARR

I think I'm gonna new game plus and replay the other expacs this summer (yippie unemployment ♥️) so my opinion might change in hindsight, currently its pretty damn close with Stormblood imo

I hope everyone had just as much fun with Dawntrail as I did, and I'm excited to see where we go from here!

[kuroimarzipan]

sorry for the long post im on mobile at work and have no idea how to put a readmore but. rambling musings on my characters re endwalker because im doing traffic control at work which mostly means standing around on my phone waiting for a car to leave this carpark so i can go hold up a stop sigh. for a minute to let it leave. its boring as hellll

but anyway im like. so off the shits from endwalker rn for multiple reasons. ive been developing niuwyb more and more as a proper wol... i made her partially as a joke bc i played thru msq as roeh (who id already written as a non-wol oc and was really happy with her story) and was having trouble envisioning any wol id create as terribly different lmao. the wol was a sea wolf roegadyn warrior to me... so i made niuwyb as a clone/twin au thing and ended up liking my self indulgent idea so much i kept her. and now im super invested in her as her own character... endwalker has me like. constantly thinking about her life with the other scions like. its so nice for her to have the scions as almost her own little family... roeh brought niuwyb into her family when they met for the first time and found out what was going on and the two are sisters that have a close relationship but i think that the scions are always going to be really close to her heart no matter what.... i just really enjoy thinking about those moments between all the big events that they have to deal with in msq. just sharing a meal together. or hanging out. after everything that happened i want them all to be happy... i almost think its a shame that they all left the rising stones but i want everyone to meet up again regularly u know. not as coworkers or people with similar goals but as friends and family...

and!! i wanna include some of my non-wol ocs in that too... sandrine and sonje were in this really weird place during shb (partially bc i was still developing their story) but i think endwalker is a really good point to cement the trio of sandrine sonje and ysayle as scions... one cause i always thought ysayle shoulda become a scion this whole time fr so im gonna imagine it. i would design her a scion outfit but my design principles are so not final fantasy it would be out of place lol. but theres no way niuwyb and the other scions wouldnt offer her a place with them as soon as they found out she survived lol

two i think sonje is in this sort of similar place as estinien kind of?? certainly not exactly of course but theres some parallels and i think that if they werent both socially inept they could probably talk about it. like sonje helped to liberate ala mhigo from the garleans and worked on rebuilding and returning peace to the place she grew up. but she had been gone for so long and lived so much more life and formed so many other attachments that staying there just... wasnt where she wanted to be anymore?? her place was with sandrine and ysayle now. and i think her joining the scions with both of them is like. they are her home now...

sandrine is actually the most fun to think about in regards to endwalker because shes so spiteful to sharlayan for both the new sharlayan exodus as well as them not doing anything to help when she was pursued by the temple knights on charges of heresy because of her studies in sharlayan... her mother died for that and its a wound that runs deep... she magically hid her archon tattoos for so long out of spite. i think that coming to old sharlayan would be very difficult for her, but with hydaelyn's power waning and sandrine's visions with it, she doesnt have a charted path and decides to rely on the scions for a way forward... shes still like fuck them sharlayans and fuck the forum tho. person that would get along splendidly with matoya. but i do want her to be able to form some semblance of peace with sharlayan as she did with ishgard after the dragonsong war. not forgiveness but a nod of acknowledgement that things are being set right finally. also thatd make 2/3 countries she has beef with. which means next expac its time for gridania to pay reparations to the duskwight lmaoooo

oh man this post is so long now help im just gonna stop it here before i go even deeper into rambling