#ffxv happy ending

[skialdi]

☀️A New Chapter Begins

Hope as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul (it cannot slip and it cannot break down under whoever steps out upon it-a hope).

Happiest of birthdays to my sweet friend @every-lemon. Sending you lots of love for your special day! 🩷

[someobscurereference]

ive been rereading your ffxv fic "im trying hard to take it back" for literally four years now. please end my suffering and tell me how gladio feels. please. PLEASE. (but only if u want ofc)

(fic) Short answer: Gladio feels insane guilt and spends a lot of his life trying to make this up to Prompto. In the process, they deepen their connection as friends and do begin a relationship probably around the one-year mark of endless darkness. <3

Longer answer: (implications of abuse/violence tw but no worse than in the fic itself; just what others assume to be true even if it's not in the context of this specific fic)

Gladio is a secret romantic at heart who has always envisioned meeting his soulmate, but he's also duty-bound and duty comes first. So even though he reads romance books (amongst other types of books too) and indulges in his head a bit as many people do, he's often put his duty to the crown first and foremost in his mind. He also didn't imagine his soulmate was anyone on this trip and thought perhaps the person he may have been fated to meet died in the assault of Insomnia. Even if they were a refugee, they can't be a priority to him at this moment. His priority has to be Noctis.

Prompto has obviously grown on him over the course of their road trip, but there are aspects of them that don't 100% mesh (as is true with every realistic relationship). That said, Gladio never in a hundred years would want this moment of (understandable but out of line) frustration and anger in the wake of Luna and Altissa to be a permanent mark on Prompto's face. He's genuinely horrified and disgusted with himself for a long time after this and spends most of his life trying to make it up. He feels like a dirtbag about it.

That said, Prompto runs away from him in this moment and they need time to calm down, just as the fic shows. Noctis goes after Prompto, just like in canon. Prompto falls off the train and has his Despair Arc just like in the DLC, now with the added despair of "well, in addition to being a clone, my soulmate hates me. And in addition to the mark of inhumanity on my wrist (barcode), I have a giant hand print of him literally Shoving Me Away on my face. Forever."

Aranea: Well, do you want to die about it. Or do you want to live.

Prompto, eventually like in canon: Live, I guess. But it will be excruciating.

Aranea: That's what living is. We do it anyway. Your friends love you. Get off the floor.

He fights his way through his issues and gets rescued like in canon. Gladio probably tries to talk to him when they all catch up again, trying to apologize, and Prompto tells him to hold off on that for later.

Then, of course, Noctis is eaten by the crystal and "later" becomes much, much later as they evacuate and try to survive in eternal darkness. (Though they also can't Not think about it because it's a giant hand print. On Prompto's face. And every person they meet has Something To Say about it, for better or worse, whether they knew Prompto before or not. Prompto cannot escape it, and when Gladio is not doing Crown Duties he feels he must do in Noct's absence, he's with Prompto, so he also Cannot Escape It either. Even when the person speaking is unaware that Gladio left that mark. It's almost worse when they don't know, but when they see it's Gladio, who is such a big guy who seemingly hit Prompto and left that permanent mark there, some of them get nasty to him and some back off out of fear. Both are horrible. The guilt is eating him alive.)

Eventually, enough time passes as the dust settles that they do Talk About It. Gladio apologizes sincerely, for the 500th time. Prompto's like, "Well. It's not like you could have known that this would be The One Time it happened." And then cracks a joke about their soulmate mark being a Prompto's hand print on Gladio's ass from a butt slap in another life, which does help the tension somewhat. (The more Gladio tries to apologize, the more Prompto grows sick of hearing it, so they just have to move on and keep going, as he's learned to do.)

They grow closer over time, especially because there's not a lot of people who have survived to this point and even less later on. They do get together romantically, both because they do like the idea of soulmates (for different reasons) and also because they're living out of each others pockets for years, so there's an affection and dependency that develops there. Also, teenage Prompto always thought Gladio was really handsome and teen Gladio thought Prompto was cute and sincere for a pipsqueak.

When they are out together on dates in normal settings surrounded by strangers after the light returns, Gladio will receive dirty looks for the rest of his life from strangers who see the hand print on Prompto's face and immediately (correctly) assumes it was out of anger rather than a funny accident or something. (Edit: Some people will assume there is a funny story attached. Gladio will not know what to say to this. Prompto will play along.) He will learn to live with this. Prompto is really grateful Gladio is with him despite everything.

[transmasc-rose]

You ever think about how Noctis FFXV was doomed from the start.

Like thats the POINT of the game obviously but I still keep going back to it. In most games, even if the protagonist dies at the end, its a defiance of fate. It's "I'll take you with me" or "I won't let you do this"

But in FFXV

Everything that happened with Noctis and Ardyn, both of their deaths, how they suffered, was preordained by the gods.

There are AU-type endings, like the one in Episode Ignis, or the one in the book, where things go better. And the book was the written version of what they were GOING to make the true ending. But they never made that into the game.

Noctis was born to die. He dies.

Ardyn was abandoned to die. He dies.

And that's just. It. Thats the ending. Thats where we land. Ardyn was doomed by god to take the role of sacrifice and antichrist, and Noctis was doomed before he was even born to the role of sacrifice and saviour and there's nothing to be done.

You don't fix it. You don't fight it. You just walk into your fate and die.

And there's just something so much more upsetting about that than in narratives where death is the defiance of fate. Like the story stares at you in the face, and tells you giving up is the right thing to do.

[starshcwer]

( happy birthday, tifa! | @royalarms )

" uh - " he starts , overcome with overwhelm , and realizes he's already off to a rough start . " it's your birthday , yeah ? " he's only been pestered about it all day long , unable to find a moment for himself not only to gather composure for this inexplicably nerve - wracking experience , but to garner the courage to approach her with a decided confidence ( which , he now realizes he wasn't completely prepared for ) . a sigh pushes past his lips , as if he's ejecting the nervousness from his chest , and he places an assured hand atop his hip , slouching more comfortably into his usual posture . " i got ya something . " and from his pocket he draws a dainty silver - chained pearl drop necklace , holding it in the minimal space between them . his thoughts race in several directions , his imagination portrays him wrapping the jewelry around her neck and placing a loving kiss behind her ear . . . but this is reality , and his face grows red and instead he continues standing there , offering an awkward clearing of his throat . " to match your earrings . saw it and thought of you . " he places one foot back and his eyes drift to the side before he approaches her with obvious hesitancy . " don't really know how to put it on but . . . " he doesn't , knowing full well that he'd make a fool of himself . instead he simply leans into her space , swallowing harshly , perhaps audibly , and while he wants to kiss her lips , he shies from it and places a gentle kiss atop her head . " happy birthday , tifa . we should hang out tonight . "

her head tilted to the side, & a curious hum left her lips at noctis' hesitancy. with the date momentarily forgotten from her mind, his uncertainty confused her, but he finally spoke his question, & the pieces clicked into place. their relationship often went like this: she was sure when he wasn't, & he was sure when she wasn't. they operated in a balance, action, & reaction. & so she met his question with a confident nod of her head.

❛ that's right! you didn't forget now, did you? ❜ not that she would have blamed him for doing so. friend or not, she wasn't self––––centered enough to think that the life of a prince ceased in its forward momentum for something like her birthday, but she also found herself hopeful that he had remembered. & then the coin flipped. his confidence announcement brought an expression of surprise to her face–––– lips parted, eyes a bit wide–––– he'd thrown her off kilter with such a simple declaration.

❛ you did? ❜ the unspoken, you didn't have to lingered on her tongue, but it never made it past the thought. the sudden excitement in her chest held it back. her hands clasped together, & she rose slightly on her toes as he reached into his pocket, as if she could get a glimpse of the gift even a second sooner that way.

the sight of the necklace stole the breath from her lungs, & she rocked back to the soles of her feet almost involuntarily, as if she'd been stunned. her lips parted as she searched for her words, & yet the only thing that left her was, ❛ oh... ❜ a single syllable spoken in a soft, sweet tone.

the sight of the gift dangling before its giver brought a foggy memory to tifa's mind. her dad had once given a necklace to her mom–––– for what, tifa could no longer remember, but the memory lingered. they'd stood together so he could put it on her with smiles on both of their faces before sharing a kiss, & though tifa had made a face that had made them both laugh, she remembered admiring the moment more than she had wanted to admit.

it felt odd, for just a moment, to be the young woman receiving jewelry & not the little girl who had once coveted becoming her. the feeling was quickly replaced with a warmth that spread through her at the realization of what sort of comparison she had just made between her & noctis ( though it was also what finally shifted her stunned look into a smile ).

to match your earrings. the realization that he paid such close attention that he would remember what they looked like, even when she wasn't by his side, was enough to turn that warmth into something tangible–––– a redness on her cheeks, threatening to cross the bridge of her nose. ❛ it's beautiful. thank you! ❜

she thought he was approaching to hand her the gift & assumed that his hesitancy was because of his embarrassment at not knowing how to put a necklace on her ( words that had, admittedly, brought a few giggles from her ), & she shook her head, dismissing the thought even as she wanted to ask him to try anyways. ❛ don't worry about it. ❜ but then he grew a bit too close, & more steps followed until her head had to tilt back a bit to see him properly.

tifa could hear nothing over her own heartbeat, suddenly fast & strong, but she didn't dare move from her spot. her eyes shut as his lips pressed gently against her forehead & her breath left her in a gentle sigh. they opened again as he separated, happy to see that he hadn't yet moved.

 ❛ thank you. ❜ her voice was much softer this time, as if this was a secret to be shared between just the two of them. she nodded her head, her smile growing. ❛ yeah, we should! ❜

but instead of making plans or taking the gift from his offered hand, she hesitated. her teeth caught her lip & her gaze turned to the side in thought before she turned back to noctis, feeling a bit bold. ❛ hey...if I showed you how...do you think you could try? ❜ she wasn't dressed for such jewelry. her outfit was far too casual, & she had almost decided against her earrings, but now she was glad she had worn them anyway. despite her informal attire, she wanted to wear the necklace.  she wanted noctis to put it on her–––– a birthday wish, she'd call it.

❛ putting it on me, I mean. ❜

[lulu2992]

I just want to share something really quick, and I'd love to hear your two cents on this.

One of the best things about Collapse (despite its flaws) for me was the Voice not being as benevolent of an entity as Joseph initially thought. That reveal actually gave me a lot of vindication on my own personal headcanons surrounding the Voice before Collapse had been released. And it's something I don't really see talked much about, often times its brushed over really.

The Voice is manipulative, especially on Joseph, and I actually believe that the only reason Joseph was given the visions of his family alive in New Eden was so it could a) ensure Joseph stayed devoted and b) just to give Joseph a false sense of hope and ultimately laugh at Joseph's desperate attempts to keep his family (such as John) alive and for his eventual breakdown over their deaths (I headcanon that the Voice had never intended for Joseph's siblings to survive). It uses its cunningness, omnipresence and ever knowing knowledge to create and execute plans accordingly, and with just how arrogant it is, you just know it expects things to happen according to how it wants and must have a kick in watching Joseph and many others suffer, helpless to its power. It clearly knew what it was doing when it chose to speak Joseph right after his wife's death. I have no doubt that the Voice anticipated/expected Joseph to sacrifice his infant daughter, despite how the situation was presented as a test or choice to Joseph.

I don't even think it ever actually cared if 3000 souls were saved in the bunkers from the Collapse. The Voice definitely doesn't cry a river about it. It just wanted to string Joseph along and play him like a fiddle until it eventually gets bored with him. And just thinking about it makes my heart ache for Joseph even more. There was no happy ending for him from the beginning. The Voice played Joseph from start to finish, giving him moments of hope and peace (finding his family again, being right about the Collapse, New Eden, the Captain of Security's arrival) before taking it away (the Deputy killing his siblings, the post-Collapse world not being as peaceful or fulfilling as he expected, New Eden burned to the ground, and Ethan's bitterness and envy growing to corrupt and eventually kill him) because the Voice is just that cruel.

The Voice is the greater-scope villain. It planned, and inflicted pain and suffering and misery on Joseph (a devoted instrument) and everyone else around him just because it could and wanted to do it.

Collapse wasn't a DLC I enjoyed very much, but the Voice will always be a highlight for me. It's now one of my favourite "love to hate" antagonists. And it gives me a real rush of serotonin thinking about the Far Cry 5 fics I want to write that are heavily dipped in a "screw destiny" plotline just to wipe the Voice's smugness.

Yeah, that's all I wanted to get off my chest. Happy second day of 2023 (or first depending on your timezone).

I like what they chose to do with the Voice in Collapse too! Even though it’s also played by Greg Bryk, the fact that it shows Joseph his future as we’ve seen it in New Dawn indicates that the Voice is clearly not a figment of his imagination. In the DLC, Joseph had no idea what New Eden would look like, that the Deputy would become his Judge, and even that he had a son, but he saw all of that because the Voice is real and omniscient, not just “in his head”. I’ve been saying that “God” was the true villain of Far Cry 5 all along and, even if I don’t consider the Far Cry 6 Season Pass canon for many reasons, I was glad the new writing team agreed with that!

Ironically, the Voice being malevolent, choosing the highly devoted, well-meaning Joseph Seed as a punching ball for its own enjoyment, ruining his life, and never intending to keep its promises (except the Apocalypse, so the death of millions of people) can also explain several of New Dawn’s inconsistencies and why that game’s ending felt pointless. I don’t know if it was intentional and the DLC’s writers thought that “the Voice never cared about anything or anyone and did things just because it felt like it” was the best solution to make everything sort of make sense but, honestly, they’re not really wrong…

I’m not sure the Voice was supposed to be 100% evil and manipulative in the minds of the original Far Cry 5 writers, but I think Collapse was right for showing that Joseph was telling the truth, merely following orders, and that, because of his unwavering faith, had to suffer the loss of everyone he loved. I’m obviously not saying he didn’t do bad things, but it’s important to remember why he did them. Making the Voice Joseph’s guide and villain in the DLC was a great idea.

And, yes, it was the second day of 2023 for me when you sent this, so thank you very much, and happy 6th(?) day of 2023 to you :D

[ffxvreversebang2022]

Today’s team: @agent-jaselin & @/Notthebeeeees (Twitter)

You, Me, and the Ghost Between Us, was written for the FFXV Reverse Bang 2022 and can be found on AO3 here.

Rating: Teen & Up

Promptio, No Archive Warnings Apply

Description: Prompto's life was complicated. After a series of bad relationships, things were finally looking up when he started seeing Gladio. Things would be even better if his best friend Noctis approved. Getting the two to meet would be difficult however, because Noctis was a ghost.

[noxtivagus]

listening to a lot of songs rn n i'm just thinking of how much i love my music taste

[koobiie]

bestowing my highest honor as an artist to ffxv (drawing the characters in fun outfits)

thoughts under the cut

RREAAAGHHHH SO EXCITED TO BE DONE WITH THIS!!!!! it took me forevarrrr but i soldiered through as an act of love. now excuse me. yap time

OKAY SO the concept behind this was originally specific fashion subcultures for everyone!l ike noct emo ignis dark academia etc. but then decided i didnt want to pigeonhole it all and just freestyled outfits i thought would look nice on everyone

noct - i do think noct would still be emo-ish but also opt for comfy baggy stuff a lot. something you could just fall asleep in on the spot. note the details of bass pro shop shirt (of course) XV necklace, little moon + stars accents, carbuncle + fish keychains. i also wanted his metal band logo shirt to spell LUCIS but i forgor some letters but its not very readable anyways

ignis - ignit ooohghh ignos ignaurs. sorry i made him serve so much cunt it will happen again. i drew him first cause that kind of inspired this whole thing i love him so bad if i didnt draw it id explode. not much detail to note except his collar pins are like his double blade thingies

luna - lunaaa the concept was “clean girl aesthetic” idk if that happened but im actually really happy with how it came out! might be my favorite of the bunch just because she looks so pretty and happy. your honor she should have been able to just be a normal girl and just. chill

prompto - prompotoooo i had trouble picking his vibe!!! my first thought was techwear?? because weeheeeehee he loves tech and well... you know... but then i realized i didnt really like the look of anything i saw + it was so bulky and dark and serious for him! ending up going with some more youthful and baggy. i was considering something more loud and colorful but ended up not going with it. i feel like in canon he'd be too nervous to have such a flashy fit and would want to just look "cool" to fit in with the boys lol. itty bitty details here - chocobo keychain, pompompurin and bi miku buttons, and his lanyard is kings knight themed! i also thought it was funny to write LUCIS on his shirt like you know those shirts that just say BROOKLYN or TOKYO or SAN FRANCISCO and thats it. thats what its like

gladio - okay i know this is going to sound like a lie but im not horny for gladio like at all, hes my least favorite, i think he's just alright. but also i KNOW in my heart of hearts that he would LOVE being a leather daddy and so i had to make it happen. main detail to note here is that his tank top has the motifs of a cup noodle! i didnt know what else to add cause you know.. hes the cup noodle guy.. but also i didnt want it to be so in your face about it with a big as logo so kept it subtle!

(side note the leather daddy gave me an idea for a post where its like noct and prom go to a gay bar all nervous but then they run into gladio and its like "p: GLADIO YOURE GAY?" "n: nevermind that PLEASE dont tell ignis we snuck out" and then ignis walks up and theyre all like WHAT THE FUCK!!!! caption would be "the gang finds out theyre all bisexual." probably wont draw it but i think its very funny lol)

iris - iris my sweetheart.... definitely leaned into the scene vibes here and also that one image of the blonde emo anime girl. details here - of course the moogle big ass backpack and keychain (can you tell i love keychains), but also her buttons are an iris (the flower) and also a crown with hearts (haha symbolism)

anyways oh god i didnt mean to write an essay down here. usually i keep this in the tags but this time i just had Too Much To Say. can you tell i put a lot of thought and love into this . anwyays. *walks off into the sunset and fuckig dies*

[chaos-in-deepspace]

L&DS Xavier: Lazy Mornings | Drabble

I totally meant for this to be posted yesterday...but then one of my homies got me into FFXV and legit played that all night. So anyway, my third 10-minute drabble. I'm actually going to start working on Rafayel's batch right now and write maybe one or two of them before I gotta get ready for work.

Pairing: Xavier x Reader Warning: None Disclaimer: This is an original fan work for “Love and Deepspace”. Do not repost on other platforms or plagiarize. All characters shown in this fic is 18+.

Blog Information | Masterlist

Xavier

Waking up to something burning normally wasn’t the ideal way of starting your morning. Especially not when you noticed how the man who was normally passed out right next to you until who knows when was currently not in bed. The two things combined had you jumping out of bed in only your underwear, all but sprinting to the kitchen in a panicked haze.

As you suspected, you could see Xavier in the kitchen wearing one of your favorite aprons. He seemed to be trying to cook bacon, but in the frying pan it looked almost charred. He had his eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he slid off the desecrated food onto a plate and looked it over. That’s when he finally noticed you in the doorway, looking at him in horror.

“What’s goin on?” It came out as more of a slur as you let out a loud yawn. You covered your mouth and noticed how your eyes seemed to water. You really were tired and you couldn’t place why. Xavier glanced at you, those cerulean puppy dog eyes were big as he almost seemed to pout at being caught.

“I got hungry so I thought I could make us some breakfast.” He finally said and you looked him over then back to the pan. “I also thought maybe I could bring you breakfast in bed for once since I woke up early…” ah there it was. Now you couldn’t be mad at him.

You shook your head as you walked over to him, your hand reaching up. It looked as though you were about to cup his cheeks, but instead you opted to pinch them, making Xavier flinch back in surprise. Before he could get too far though, you were dragging him down to your level and planting a kiss on his lips.

Your arms snaked their way around his waist as Xavier seemed to melt against your lips. Your fingers delicately played with the strings of the apron and you easily untied it and parted from his lips, using your hands now to take off the next piece. Once the apron was gone you tossed it on yourself, tying the back piece and smirking.

“I’ll get us some breakfast, you just sit there and look pretty.” You said with a laugh and Xavier was now actually pouting after realizing he had gotten played by you.

“Can’t I at least help?” Those giant eyes looked at you as he seemed to almost be begging you with them. It always set your heart beating faster than it should and you had to hold strong so you would have a kitchen by the end of the morning.

“How about you crack and whisk us up some eggs. I want to make a breakfast scramble.” You finally said and Xavier didn’t seem happy with the meager chore. His lip jutted out in a pout and gosh it was so hard to say no to him when he was begging.

You grabbed his cheeks with both hands, squishing them and watched as his cheeks turned red. His own hands went over to grab onto yours, but you didn’t let up, “Behave, Xavier.” You scolded him. He knew just what he was doing when he gave you that look, “I want something edible this morning for breakfast.���

Xavier huffed and rolled his eyes; the hands that were trying to pry yours off now went to your waist, dragging you closer as he pressed another kiss to your lips. He spoke against them in a soft voice, “I truly can’t do anything else?” he was testing you this morning it would seem.

You pushed him back gently and smiled, “You really can’t. Now get the eggs ready, babes.” you pat his chest once before parting, walking over the fridge to grab what you needed.

“Fine…but I’ll make breakfast next time then.” He muttered.

“Like hell you will…”

So anyway...tomorrow Infold has a Livestream for what's essentially Season 2 of LADS. Anyone gonna be watching it? Imma have to literally wake up at 6am to catch it.

[flowers-of-tenebrae]

How It Could've Gone

I really adore Noctis/Luna but I'd be the first to agree it could've been executed better or fleshed out more, they should've interacted in-game as adults, the players should've been allowed to build an emotional connection to Luna, etc. So here's one hc of how it could've gone:

-

Luna survives the battle at Altissia and Ardyn's stabbing but is weak and severely wounded. Instead of mourning her death, Noctis and his bros grapple with the aftermath - the response and recovery of Altissia, Ignis' blindness, Luna's convalescence, Noctis' own shortcomings in the last trial, and Noctis' realisation that it isn't too late. That he and Luna still have time.

Cue Luna joining the guys when they depart for Niflheim - to some protest, mainly out of concern for her health. But our girl isn't one to sit back when there's a world save and she has the power to help. Maybe she even tries to heal Ignis' eyesight but it's been too long since he incurred the injury. Maybe her healing powers have waned after the last trial or maybe Ignis refuses it. Either way Luna acts as their guide to Niflheim and joins as a guest party member when they alight at Cartanica.

Their trip down the mine to the royal tomb is still fraught with danger and heightened emotions, but Luna's presence eases the tension and her abilities (both as a healer and wielder of the Trident) help in picking up the slack. During this time, and earlier on the train ride, the guys and Luna get to know each other - the way they should have in-game - and discuss their respective journeys. Maybe Noctis and Luna have a private moment at a campsite where they can, for the first time in years, be just "Noctis and Luna" together - and not the chosen King of Lucis and the Oracle. The Ring of the Lucii is brought up, with Luna apologising for not delivering it sooner, and so is the fall of Insomnia and Regis' passing. Amidst the sweet sorrow and growing pains, the group retrieves the royal arm but Noctis still has yet to put on the ring.

They agree to journey to Tenebrae, both to fulfil promises unspoken and to check on its state after hearing rumours of an attack on the radio. Their impending arrival is heralded by daemons assaulting the train. Luna helps repel the daemons with her powers of light, but is left utterly spent and Prompto is lost in the onslaught.

The remaining group reaches Tenebrae only to find the rumours are true - an imperial invasion has devastated the land once again and the fight rages on. In the midst of it all, they encounter Aranea, Biggs and Wedge assisting with the evacuation. Aranea points out where the fighting is thickest and informs them of the latest news out of Gralea and Ravus' rumoured passing.

The army of MTs and daemons is being puppeteered by Ardyn, who mocks them for being down one member and running behind schedule. Their enemies are relentless in their attacks and despite Gladio and Ignis' warnings, Noctis breaks off as he charges after Ardyn. Their frenzied fight comes to a head as Noctis gains the upper hand and pins Ardyn to the ground. Ardyn's mocking laughter rings in Noctis' ears as he crows their time has finally run out. Noctis' vision clears and he finds on the end of his sword is none other than Luna.

Lying amidst the ravaged flower fields of her home, Luna reveals her true feelings and inescapable fate. Her body has been wracked by the covenants and Ardyn is right, her time was always going to be limited with her calling now fulfilled. Still, she is grateful for the time they spent together, for the chance to stand beside him and laugh again as they once did. Luna admits she was looking forward to their wedding and asks Noctis to save their star, reminding him he is not alone and Prompto can yet be saved.

Noctis, cradling her body, cries he is sorry, he won't let her down and they'll be together again someday.

Luna smiles... And the party is down to three.

-

(Happy 8th anniversary to FFXV!)

[rixareth]

Fanfiction meme

@doreyg tagged me to answer these fanfiction questions; thank you so much!

How many works do you have on ao3?

On my main account, Riona, it’s 234. I also have 130 works across two pseuds on my secondary account, rionaleonhart (for older works and ficlets), so in total I’ve posted 364 works to AO3.

What’s your total word count?

My combined total on AO3 is 1,136,030 words. If I look at the documents in which I keep all my writing archived, it’s slightly higher – 1,266,834 words – because I haven’t posted everything I’ve ever written to AO3.

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

My most popular fic, by a long way, is And Again (Danganronpa, Naegi is caught in a time loop, 7,227 kudos). This was the first fic I ever posted to AO3, and I was startled by the way it blew up! For a while I was slightly intimidated to post anything else in case I let everyone down.

The others in the top five: Life Imitates (FFXV, Noctis/Prompto, 5,566 kudos), Vessels (Deltarune, 2,635 kudos), Visitors (Assassin’s Creed/Sense8, 1,607 kudos) and Memory Error (Doki Doki Literature Club!, 1,551 kudos). Most of these were an accident of timing: I happened to post just when the fandom was starting to get big. The exception is Visitors, which mainly picked up readers because it ended up expanding into a vast cowritten series.

Interesting to note that four of my top five fics are gen; I wasn’t expecting that!

Do you respond to comments? Why/why not?

I used to be very bad at responding to comments, back in my Livejournal days – it was a struggle to think of what to say! – but nowadays I reply to every comment I get, unless they’re outright rude or I suspect that they’ve been left by a spambot. A nice comment can really make my day, so I always want to say thanks! Plus a lot of the things I write are a bit niche, so I’m always excited to have the opportunity to talk to other people in the same niche.

What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

Probably New Game? (Until Dawn): Mike is caught in a time loop, endlessly trying to prevent his friends from dying, and there’s no way to get out.

What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

Hmm! I tend to prefer hopeful endings to outright happy ones; it’s tough to think of an answer that feels right for this. I’ll just say Interweave (Lost, everyone/everyone), which ends with Jack accepting that he’s in love with pretty much everyone else on the island.

Do you write crossovers?

Not as many as I used to, but I still really enjoy crossing things over! I’ve only written one crossover this year (Always Believe, Death Note/Ace Attorney, Phoenix Wright defends Light in court), but in total I’ve written somewhere in the vicinity of fifty crossovers (including fusions).

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Fifteen years ago, I received a comment telling me ‘FUCK YOU. SERIOUSLY. YOU SHOULD FUCKING DIE’ on what I thought was a fairly innocuous Doctor Who/Silent Hill crossover. To this day I don’t know what my crime was.

I’ve had occasional negative comments since then, but that’s the only instance I can think of in which someone obviously just wanted to hurt me. A lot of people hated the concept of In Fainter Ink, my Last of Us Part II fic in which Ellie, Dina and Jesse navigate V-shaped polyamory, but most of the negative commenters were at least making some effort to engage with me in good faith. I still think it’s odd to read a polyamory fic and then tell the author you don’t want polyamory! But the commenters were nonetheless people who had genuine feelings about the story that they wanted to express, rather than just throwing hatred at me as a person.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I can’t write explicit sex at all! Most of my sex is fade-to-black. I do occasionally write ‘onscreen’ sex, but it tends to be very vague.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Three times that I know of! And Again, my Danganronpa time loop fic, was stolen twice; it was posted once to ffnet and once to Amino. Seems like a bad idea to steal my most popular fic; it meant that in both cases it was quickly recognised and people came to let me know!

My Doki Doki Literature Club! fic Memory Error was stolen, posted to Pastebin and shared with fans on some sort of 4chan-adjacent site. I didn’t bother taking any steps to get that one taken down; Pastebin seems such an impractical platform for pretending you wrote a fic that I could only shrug in bewilderment.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

A few times, usually into Russian! I’m always thrilled and honoured when someone wants to translate something I’ve written.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

A small handful of times! I don’t recommend attempting to cowrite with me, because my attention span is a disaster and I may lose focus before the project is finished, but I’ve cowritten fics here and there.

What's your all-time favourite ship?

I can’t say for certain whether Nate/Elena from Uncharted is my absolute favourite ship, but it’s always the pairing my mind goes to first when I’m asked about ships I like, so it’s definitely a strong contender. They’ve got such good chemistry!

What's a WIP that you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

There are a lot! In particular, I’ve got a thousand words of a Kingdom Hearts/Neon Genesis Evangelion crossover in which Axel, Roxas and Xion are EVA pilots; I still like the idea, but I don’t think I’m ever actually going to get it done, particularly as I’ve forgotten everything about Evangelion by this point.

What are your writing strengths?

I tend to be good at dialogue, I think, and at pinning down what a particular character would do in a particular situation. I’m also strong on technical aspects such as spelling and punctuation.

What are your writing weaknesses?

I struggle with description and scene-setting; a lot of my scenes end up feeling like characters conversing in a void. I can’t plot things in advance, which means I’m terrible at writing anything long; it’s a lot easier to write on the fly with short one-shots. I find it very difficult to write a good opening; I’m more comfortable when writing endings.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

Like many things, it can be done well or badly! It mainly depends on how it’s employed, and on the audience for your fic. If you include a lot of text that you don’t expect the audience to be able to read, it might become distracting or frustrating.

Basically, if someone asks the protagonist of your Spanish fic a question in German, and the protagonist doesn’t understand German, it makes sense to write the line in German. If the German speaker then gets into a long conversation with the protagonist’s German-speaking friend, it might be better for the fic’s flow to gloss over the conversation and have the friend explain it to the protagonist later, rather than writing the whole German conversation out word-for-word.

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Pokémon! When I was twelve, I wrote a fic about Definitely Not Me going on a Pokémon journey with Definitely Not My Friends and Family. There was a subplot in which Team Rocket were abducting people and turning them into furries.

What's a fandom/ship you haven't written for yet but want to?

The Coffin of Andy and Leyley is the latest canon to consume my mind. I’m working on a fic about Andrew and Ashley’s time imprisoned in their home together, so I hope to get that finished before long!

What's your favourite fic you've written?

I’ve written a lot; it’s hard to narrow it down! I don’t want to spend hours overthinking this, so I’ll go with the first fic that comes to mind: Shackles. It’s a Death Note fic about Light and L being incredibly toxic soulmates, and I had a lot of fun with it.

[marmolita]

ffxv fic that I think should exist though I have no desire to either read or write it: one of the bros is dating Noctis and wants to break up with him, but can't figure out how to do it, because Noctis is The King and there's all kinds of potential consent issues involved. OR, Noctis wants to date one of them, likely in an everyone lives AU, and the other guy feels like he can't say no even though he doesn't really want to.

I don't really want to read such a fic because I love Noctis and can't imagine anyone NOT wanting to be with him 🥲 but I feel like there's probably something interesting to be said about it. Maybe if someone were to write it in a way where it got into that angst but then Noctis realizes what's happening and feels terrible about it of course but ends up happy with someone else? Like as long as Noctis isn't the Bad Guy and gets a happy ending I'm here for it but I feel like this plot in general would be most likely to not end up there...

[jenkatkatzilla]

Noct: "Please.. Lend me your strength! Help me protect my friends!"

EPISODE IGNIS - EXTRA CHAPTER

aka. FFXV: Happy Ending Edition

[mrsmneme]

My Art Summary 2023

2023 will end soon. I faced a huge change throughout the year such as promotion, relocation, tougher schedule, etc. I was too busy to make arts, but I'm so glad that I made enough to create an art summary. Because my arts weren't finished in monthly basis, so I don't add names of months again. Thank you for all impressions and participations for my work. I'll keep practicing. 🥰❤️

The first one was the 2023 celebrating piece. I made the chocobros playing multiplayer game, the same composition as Comrade's advertisement, but they are older, in alternate ending appearances.

The second one was a happy birthday Ignis piece. I drew his much older self, as we had seen him greeting King Noctis in alternate ending end credit. Thanks @gakusa2 in x for the gorgeous reference.

The third one was a happy birthday Ardyn piece. I drew his chancellor outfit with his famous grin.

The fourth one was a comic I made in an Ignoct gift exchange 2023 campaign. I drew more realistic brotherhood Ignis for the first time.

See full work here.

The fifth one was a finished sketch, but I will color it later. The piece was a Gladio/Ignis romantic moment. I got my inspiration from my Gladnis mutuals and made such ship related piece for the first time.

The sixth one was one of [chocobros in Hellsing TV series outfit] series, I drew Noctis in Integral Hellsing's outfit first.

The seventh one was a part of [chocobros in Hellsing TV series outfit] too. I drew Gladiolus in Alucard's outfit.

The eighth one was still part of [chocobros in Hellsing TV series outfit]. I drew Ignis in Walter C. Dornez's outfit.

The ninth one was made for Ignis fashionweek 2023 campaign. It was first created in 2022 but I couldn't finish it, so I retried in 2023. The outfit was [shirtless under a suit].

The tenth piece was a happy 7th anniversary of FFXV piece. I drew 7 characters in top 100 Final Fantasy Big Vote.

The eleventh piece was made for Christmas-themed FFcolorwheel in x.

And the twelfth piece was the last one in [chocobros in Hellsing TV series outfit] when I drew Prompto in Seras Victoria's outfit.

[primamchorus]

Tagged by @ubejamjar!

Tagging: @finishing-touch, @icehearts, @ahollowgrave, @blossomblade, @humblemooncat (no pressure ♥)

challenge: make a poll with five of your favorite OCs, and then tag five people to do the same. see which one is everyone's favorite

I don't really post much outside of Nomin over at @paintedscales and Prim here, but there are some OCs of mine that have leaked through the cracks. Like the person who tagged me, I offer some brief snippets under the poll's read more about them to give an idea of them. :>

Jaydin Byrd :: Pokémon (originally); multi-purpose OC at this point

Art by @/blossomblade

Roguish with a bit of a sassy tongue to boot, Jaydin places value in giving to those around her instead of being complacent in a world of squalor. For her, laws are optional, especially if the laws only benefit those in power. She cares deeply for those she would call family, wanting nothing more but a safe haven for those who would be called craven misfits and freaks...

Manaka Shimizu :: Original Setting (Spirits)

Art by linllen @ Twitter

Hailing from a long line of kannushi and miko, Manaka is one who channels spirits and speaks with the yokai of her world. In an attempt to practice magic beyond her, however, she ended up bonding herself to a karasutengu who feeds off of the energies of joy and happiness, leaving her feeling more of the negative feelings than not. She has been on a journey, claiming herself as an aruki miko as she searches for any answers to break her bond.

Valian "Vale" Azmus :: Original Setting (Ryne)

Art by @/madratbird

A traveler versed in the art of the sword, Valian really just journeys for the sake of journeying. He then pledges himself as a companion to a mysterious figure, helping her to find the answers she seeks so desperately. In this venture, Vale learns more about his past and his ancestry, which explains the various feats of magic and strength that he had always been able to command.

Primam Chorus :: FFXV

Art by pepperacae @ Twitter

Born to the noble House Chorus, Primam grew up alongside Prince Noctis and the others that were to become the future of Insomnia -- the future Lucian Council. A prodigy in the art of magic, Primam has a penchant for ice magic, able to cast strong Blizzard spells when needed. Generally soft spoken and kind, Primam tends not to want to cause conflict because of her trauma at home already.

Nomin tal Kheeriin :: FFXIV

Art by me! :>

The Warrior of Light who was originally born to the tribe of Tumet. Overcoming her trial, Nomin was soon taken in by the Sagahl shortly after she declared her name. Initially reluctant to bear the title of 'Adventurer', let alone 'Warrior of Light', Nomin sees her achievements and accomplishments with a sense of pride that needed to be fostered and nurtured into what it is now. Venturing forward with a sense of closure and greater acceptance of self, Nomin is happy to finally have a sense of peace and quiet, not to mention is more than happy to explore her relationship with the person she's come to love.

[mamthew]

This review of Final Fantasy XV: Dawn of the Future by Jun Eishima sort of by design contains spoilers for FFXV and all of its tie-in materials.

Final Fantasy XV is a kind of fascinating game. It's a mainline Final Fantasy game that's been in a weird state of incompletion literally throughout its entire lifetime. It was announced in 2006 as Final Fantasy Vs. XIII, then was in development hell for literally a decade after its announcement, when it finally released as Final Fantasy XV in 2016, alongside a movie that filled in a pretty big chunk of its lore, an animated OVA that filled out some of the characters' backstories, and several crappy side-games. It released alongside a season pass that promised three single-player campaigns and one multiplayer campaign that all filled in missing pieces of the story that otherwise felt excised from the game's story as it was at launch.

In FFXV, Gladio leaves the party for a time and returns with a facial scar, refusing to tell the group why. Ignis is separated from the party during a battle and in the aftermath is revealed to have been blinded in the altercation, with no explanation as to how. Prompto is kidnapped and when the group rescues him, he mentions offhand some pretty mind-boggling backstory he has discovered, with no time to explain what that even means. Near the end of the game, there's a ten-year time skip, the interim of which is barely explored. Each of these missing pieces was slowly filled in over the course of 2017, and only for those who had the money to shell out for the extra content and the time to play the kind of tediously long Comrades DLC.

But even after these holes were filled in, many fans were unhappy with the final game. FFXV's entire back half feels incomplete, like it was rushed despite its at least ten-year development cycle. Its final dungeon is pretty short, and its ending is…divisive…which is a nice way to say that it's a downer and most gamers especially circa 2016 couldn't handle a game having a downer of an ending. Throughout 2017 and 2018, the developers kept patching in more story beats, more quality-of-life tweaks, and more side content, in an effort to both make the game feel more complete and cater to fans upset about the less-than-rosy story elements.

This culminated in the release of FFXV: Royal Edition in March of 2018, which packaged in all the previous patches and DLCs and completely reworked the final dungeon to be much larger, more detailed, and to present closure on several plot threads originally left ambiguous. Royal also promised the release of four more story DLCs, based on the results of a fan survey, which would combine to give the game an entire alternate happy ending. But in October of 2018, three of the four DLCs were canceled and director Hajime Tabata left the company. The first of these DLCs, Episode Ardyn, released in March of 2019, a full year after Royal Edition's release. The Episode Ardyn DLC honestly kind of makes the original ending (as in, the only ending we'd gotten) worse by making the villain, Ardyn, aware from the beginning exactly how the game's story would play out and ascribing the entire thing to a fate that no one escapes. It even presents a newer, bigger villain who never gets his comeuppance.

In July of 2020, we got this book, Final Fantasy XV: The Dawn of the Future, a novelization of the story the canceled DLCs would have told, had Tabata been allowed to cook. A friend gifted the book to me the month of its release, and I immediately started graduate school and had too much work to get to it. Four years later, I dug through all my still-packed boxes of books to find it and finally get some closure on the game that dominated three years of my life so long ago.

Dawn of the Future isn't great as a book. It's written well enough, but the pacing of a video game story is pretty different from the pacing of a novel, since so much of the pacing and so many story beats are presented through the language of combat, the primary means of interacting with a video game world. Plus, as an alternate ending to a preexisting story that exists across a game, a demo, a movie, two OVAs, four DLCs, two years of updates, and several weird side projects, the novel assumes the reader is familiar with its world and characters. I was, so it worked for me, but I can't imagine how confusing it would be to try to read this book as someone who had never played FFXV before, or even as someone who had played FFXV but hadn't seen Kingsglaive or maybe hadn't played the Royal Edition of the game. FFXV exists across too many parts for any one story to stand alone, and that's especially glaringly obvious when I'm reading a novel - a medium I usually engage with as self-contained.

Dawn of the Future is interesting, though, as an attempt at recreating a clear plan that was shut down early. It seems to take very few creative liberties with the events as they would have unfolded in the DLCs. Part of why the pacing is so weird is that it details every boss fight and tries to make each of those fights take up as much space as the fight would have taken time in the DLC itself. It takes time to describe what clearly would have been the gameplay loop of each DLC. It's trying to convey to the reader what the playing of this story would have felt like. For that reason, this attempt to bring closure to fans is also, at least for me, a reopening of the wound it's trying to heal. I would have loved to drive a motorcycle across the wastes of the Gralean Empire as Luna and Sol, setting up campsites along the darkened road. Aranea's sci-fi dragoon combat style sounds fun as hell, and chasing Diamond Weapon across the burning city of Gralea would have been up there with the fall of Altissia for spectacle. I'd love to play a boss fight against Bahamut using two different characters in two separate planes of existence - that sounds rad. I'm reading a game I don't get to play, and games generally are more satisfying to play than to read.

I'm also of two minds on the story from the perspective of a fan. Much of what it adds are either things the original game definitely needed more of or fun riffs on previously established gameplay loops. Aranea, Sol, and Luna all being important playable characters would have helped to fix the lack of female characters in the original game, for instance. That's sorely needed. Going on a Mad Max-style motorcycle ride through the post-apocalypse was an inspired twist on the low-stakes road trip that made up the first half of the main game. That's creative and much appreciated. But the ending itself is, in my opinion, weaker than the ending we got. It's a much more traditionally Final Fantasy ending, in that the characters all survive and defeat a cosmic enemy that would otherwise destroy the world, so I'm sure there are fans who see it as a much-needed alternate ending, or even maybe "the ending we should have had if the devs had made the game right the first time." But it loses so much of the ambiguity and ambivalence that the original ending holds.

Noct and his friends dying to wipe out the royal family and cleanse the world because the notion of royalty was a trap that existed only to set right a great evil his ancestors perpetrated was darkly ironic. Instead, Noct and his friends and his fiance all survive while the ancestor apologizes to those he hurt, resulting in the continuation of the royal family. That's thematically inconsistent from what the game tried to do up to that point and is also…just…limp. But I say that knowing full well that if this ending had released with the original game, I'd have no issue with it. I wouldn't have finished the game and said "well, it was all ruined at the end when all the characters didn't die." It's through the act of papering over what was messy and thematically interesting about the original that the inadequacies of this ending are made apparent.

This is a strange book that left me feeling two ways about the game it's based on; FFXV is both lesser and greater for the loss of these DLCs. But that's always been true ever since the game's initial release. FFXV has always been in a state of flux, reliant on tie-in media and promised future updates to bring it to the state where it will be what was promised. Now, with those promises broken and its director pushed out, it's a game that's been refinished just about every month for three years and will forever be unfinished despite it all. The Dawn of the Future is a reminder of a future that never will be, a testament to the ugliness of AAA game development, and a fascinating look at the refinements and setbacks that would have come from chasing fan expectations.

I enjoyed reading it. I would have enjoyed playing it more. It is not the ending we should have gotten, either in form or in contents.