#first gpose of the year here we go

[mages-ballad]

pov lopu has to show you something really important

[sjofn-lofnsdottr]

Then & Now

I was TRAPPED in NEW JERSEY when I got tagged for this and it had me rattling my cage. But now! I am home! And I can go hunting for some THEN. And I'm gonna ramble.

Please enjoy my LIVE REACTION to Dusk standing up in a cutscene, so very long ago, in February, 2019:

As I've said here and there, Dusk was kind of an experiment for me. I thought elezen looked weird as hell, but in a way that intrigued me, and it made me try to make one I liked the look of ... and Dusk was the result.

I BELIEVE this is my first attempt at a real glam, although I was still getting a handle on how to dress his goofy ass. I also had no idea gpose existed yet. Hiding UI for me, baby!

PS: he was an arcanist for his starter class, something everyone, including my husband, usually forgets. And for good reason, I rarely play SCH or SMN any more. Although I do have warm memories of Stormblood-era emerald carbuncle welcoming me to the game by aggroing 9868356386 sheep in an attempt on my life.

It took until me getting into Stormblood content before I started trying to do gpose things! And I did it pretty rarely, I was busy trying to finish the MSQ so I'd be ready for this expansion that was coming out soon. Shadowbringers or whatever.

It wasn't until I finished 5.0 that I got consistent with him wearing his glasses 95% of the time, but aside from that and some new white highlights that you couldn't really see, there was basically no change between baby sprout Dusk and Big Boy Current Content Dusk. It cracks me up that I lost my sprout when I finished HW, btw, knowing when sprouts go away now.

And in Endwalker, his big changes?

He got his EW GNB suit I use constantly and changed his ear clasps to something brassy instead of silver. Oh, and got a husband. I also started messing with crime, finally.

I thought he'd be basically the same in Dawntrail, since I had gone so many years barely changing him at all. I thought he'd just get graphical upgraded to sexier ears and otherwise just be Dusk as we always knew him. But I was wrong!

Behold, current Dusk:

He grew his hair out SLIGHTLY. I assume it'll be another 4-5 years before I change him again.

If anyone reading this wants to be tagged, consider yourself so, I live in perpetual fear of leaving people out and like to take that cop out instead.

Thank you for the tags, @amalthea-felsblood and @alicelufenia!

[pointyhatspointyears]

Then & Now: OCs & Gposing

Tagged by @sparrowsong-7 @l3ylines & @lynxden (thank you <3)

This'll be long and all over the place because I took a very different direction with gposing this years and it's been very uh educational. Learned to use posing tools less than a year ago and it's really given our characters more life and made a world of difference. Old embarrassing screenshots incoming.. (but the point here is to show ~Growth~ and I hope it motivates you to keep improving too. and push through all the bugs and that existential ennui hit when your game crashes before youve taken a single screenshot ;-;)

-

Random sentimental observations first, going through old folders..

My gurl aged. But the older she got the happier we both were. We discovered ✨boundaries✨ together.

Her fem elezen Era of 2013-2014 had a bit of both Gabriel & Theneras in her. Nerdy elf and grumpy elf were always there. Never realized. (also apparently we've always had that annoying light/shadow shimmer effect and it's not just a post DT lighting thing)

Apparently I've been wearing the same outfit since 2018. Sometimes you just put on a hat and your character says Yup. That's me. Forever. You'll just have to find a way to squeeze under. (sorry for +6 years of clipping, sweetie, but it was your gift and I'm never taking it off)

Gabriel and @pocketyoukai's Yuusei were besties since 2016 before they were RP characters. and he'll always be a loving doting dad retainer to her sister.

2020- Goose & Amalthea were girlfriends before we realized they were girlfriends. The ship sailed itself.

2018: discovered GIF making. Tried to put it to good use..

…but I just kept making shitposts. which didn't last long thankfully.

..And I'm glad it was short-lived, because when I focused more on telling stories through gposing, especially this past year, it's like my brain got rewired to view this world differently, through the eyes of a little sprout again. If I was going to use screenshots only and no words, I had to take shots/gifs of different things to set my scene and experiment with angles I wouldn't otherwise have considered (and fail 50% of the time and try something else. timing is so tricky😭)

..not to mention, when you're thirsty and need to work around censorship you also get creative with angles and visual subtext

It's 10x more fun and rewarding, albeit challenging especially if you don't want to use any crime tools. But doable. And just as fun and rewarding. And I want to do more of this (and fail and keep experimenting) next year and see you tell more of your stories your way too. and be inspired by and fall in love with your characters.

..I was very much 100% vanilla, as in not even shaders, until early 2020. And started using posing tools about a year ago. When you say "your characters have more character!" (you know who you are) I know exactly what you mean now and that makes me very emotional ;-; it really wasn't the case until less than a year ago. a lil criminal activity goes a long way.

Also vanilla kisses were so hard to gpose and turned out so funny. Note to self never to /puckerup for kisses. ever. But we did our best and learned a lot. A ton more kissing next year for sure.

-

A little late so not sure who hasn't done this yet. Tagging my new favorite gpose storyteller @quiethealer , @squidzure (you've shown us Rhea's glow-up but where is Birdie's glow-up!), partner in storytelling & crime @pocketyoukai & @pumpkinmagekupo

and if you're seeing this and are happy with the growth you've done lately... doeet. Show me your embarrassing shots and the shots you're most proud of this year.

[verysmallcyborg]

a celebration before the dawn of a new era, cheers to the good company, and to all of the adventures ahead! fornax and ryss are more than prepared and excited for what's in store >:)

(ft. @oneiroy's ryssrael)

it's wild to me that all it took was tentatively dipping back into tumblr, and a friend linking me a gif of ryss (and then proceeding to go feral in the tags on a lot of her gposes over time LOL). and now here we are... it would be a year starting next month since we started talking!! time flies!!

i could write several sappy walls of text of how much onei means to me and how i GREATLY cherish and appreciate her, honestly i'm not quite sure how things would be right now without her around, y'know? she was a massive help in bringing fornax to life from how i draw them, and then taking the time to teach me how to do ports/modding myself....! onei is such a joy to talk to, play & watch things together, fornax and ryss have brought back my creative outlet energies (the most i've felt in like.... probably 2-3 years TBH!!! it's great!!! i've had such a good time gposing, rping, drawing, and even writing actual fic for our butches!!!). it's been one hell of a fun ride developing these two together, they're important to me.............. i love them your honor

anyways. this is my first time being around for the release of an expansion, and i'm so excited that i'll get to experience it with onei <3 server hiccups and timezones be damned

(i am ALSO very happy to have met and chatted with so many other friends here!!! i'm glad i decided to try and get back into tumblr last year, i love seeing everyone's creations, and occasionally getting to hang out, you're all lovely and i hope y'all have a blast in DT!!!)

[candycryptids]

THEN vs NOW with Chuu- my first character and also my Main. She went through big changes! I started playing like 4-5 years ago (who can remember exact dates, really?)

Cut cos it’s gonna get uh, image heavy.

Would you believe she didn’t get fat until like 2023? It feels like she’s always been fat in my heart but no… she was skinny for a long time… that’s wild. She was a summoner main ride or die for like EVER too lmfao also, I don’t actually have many good pictures of “early Chuu” because I played on a laptop that gasped for life every day I played until I upgraded to a PC I built in like, I wanna say ‘21? So every screenshot has incredibly crusty resolution and you can’t zoom at all xD

Here’s my attempts at mystery- back when EW was announced I decided Chuu was going to make a “clone of herself, but less attractive, and a man” which lead to some fun internal studies on what she found attractive about herself to begin with in the later stages of Tuesdays actual FR development.. there wasn’t a way to make the mannequin float in a tank I tried really hard 😩😂

You can see I started getting more into modding tho c: back in the days where Mods were loaded via Textools and affected everybody and we just ???? Coped.

And then in like, January ‘22 I discovered….. scaling with Anam. Which was tricky; when I did a pose, I had to remember to load her scaling, and then also adjust any skirts she had on, because otherwise she’d be too fat and simply clip through them…. Chuu went through an explicitly Only Pants and Shirts Phase xD

“When did Chuu get so dark like nowadays?” Apparently, Post Being A Lalafell. And then an Au’ra. this is also when I started really gaining steam in non-vanilla gposes, but it didn't actually fully take off to the races until sometime in mid-late '23/early '24 I think.

(thanks @meatybits for sometimes doing shitposts on my poses I always love them x3)

I can’t even pinpoint when Customize+ became a thing I was using which kinda sucks because it really changed the game for me LOL. Chuu got to be fat ALL the time! Forever! Fat Bunny!!! This was a slippenslide to customizing everyone a little bit forever, but I dont think I’ll ever regret it u_u

I like fat people and I like being chubby irl and I like making characters that deviate from the expected norms because I’m Ace, Agender, and Aro, and Poly+married, and I like it that way!

Bonus! The very first screenshot I could find featuring Chuu, ever! Taken by Talia (the Roe)

I was tagged by @displaykitkats and more people insisted I should do this than I can think of and further still have ALREADY done it- so just thank you for reading this jumbled mess if you did and you should give it a shot if you want to :)

[starrysnowdrop]

I know this is a little late, but here’s my New Year’s post where I’ll discuss what my plans are for 2025 and some of my thoughts heading into this new year. I’m assuming that I might be a little long winded, so I’ll put the rest under the cut. Have a happy 2025 everyone!!

First of all, I wanted to thank everyone who reached out to me after the attack in my hometown of New Orleans. As I mentioned before, no one I personally knew was there on Bourbon Street when it happened, but it nonetheless left me feeling extremely distressed, and everyone here in Nola is grieving together, so we are taking it one day at a time.

Because of the attack, I wasn’t in the right mindset to write out this post, but I’m finally alright enough mentally to get these thoughts out.

Next, spurned on by my new profile picture, I decided that I wanted to change up the look of my blog a bit. There’s lighter, brighter colors used, and along with the new colors, I decided to make some new banners for my pinned post. The new banners are already being used in my pinned post, but I’ll attach them below in case you haven’t seen them yet. The background is a painting of snowdrop flowers! Don’t worry, the starry banners that were there previously will still be used interchangeably with the new ones when I answer asks.

Speaking of Hali and her ships, I have plenty of things that I want to gpose and write for Hali, and at the moment I’m still going forward with Hali having two ships in separate universes, but I’m not going to lie: I’m extremely inspired to write for Hali x Themis at the moment.

So does that mean that I’ll drop the Aymeric ship in the future? Well, I don’t know that yet. I’m still very happy with what I’ve done for the Hali x Aymeric ship, and even in the Themisverse, Aymeric is her first love. The only difference is that Aymeric pushes Hali away so that she doesn’t have to be stuck in Ishgard with him when she’s an adventurer, so they never get together in the Themisverse. So Aymeric would still be a very important person who plays a very important role in Hali’s story regardless if they are in a relationship or not.

However, my mind just will not leave me alone when it comes to Themis. I currently want to explore Hali’s experiences with seeing Themis in her dreams and not knowing who he is or why she can’t stop dreaming of him, and also having a Deja vu feeling whenever she encounters Elidibus but neither of them recognizing each other nor remembering their past love for each other. And of course, there’s much to write about Hali’s personal story during the events of Pandaemonium when they start falling in love with each other.

On the gpose front, I already have made some great strides with getting back to doing some more complex posing and using some shaders and presets that broke in the DT graphics update that I FINALLY got around to fixing! So once my son is back in school and I have more free time to practice, I’ll be getting back to do more gposes and especially more Hali x Themis shippy stuff!! So please look forward to it!!!

Alright, so let’s move onto Yume and Zenos (her side blog is @firelightmuse). I’m going to continue housing Yume’s stuff on the separate side blog even though all of my other OCs will be on the main blog, and that’s because Yume’s story has some darker content and themes from her backstory and her relationship with Zenos that is very different from Hali’s story and what I’m planning on for Sohna’s story.

There’s already several WIPs on the Yume x Zenos front, and I will be going forward with what I’ve wanted to explore with Yume for a long time: Yume will be heading home to Hingashi and facing what’s happened to her home since she left over a decade ago. It’s a storyline that I’ve been planning for a few years now but I finally feel confident enough in where she’s at that I’m going forward with it finally. So there’s much more that will be coming out from Yume’s story this year, so once again, please look forward to it!!

And lastly but certainly not least, I’m still going to be exploring Sohna’s story and developing her relationship with Alphinaud, but that’s going to be slow going, because Sohna is from Tural, and her story is so tied up in Dawntrail’s MSQ that I don’t know how much of a role she will play in the events going forward. I do know that down the road I want her to join the Scions and obviously she will grow closer to Alphi, but I’m not sure how I want to approach all of that just yet. Just know that I still love them greatly and I’m excited to see how things progress this year!!

And with that, those are currently my plans for 2025, and I have so much on my plate that I want to accomplish, but I’m really motivated right now and I’m excited to start working on it all. If you’ve read this far, thank you so much for your time, and feel free to ask me anything that I didn’t cover here or if you want more details on something. Once again, thank you, and here’s to a Happy 2025!!!

[blackbirdffxiv]

Hey there! I really love your poses and aesthetic posts, and have been wanting to try my own hand at it for a while now.

What would be your tips/resources for someone dipping their toes into the more custom side of gposing? I've done a bit of vanilla stuff, and do use some light appearance mods, but things like shaders, posing, and custom camera positions still elude me.

This is a tough one because, in my opinion, a lot of tips I can give is mostly just "practice practice practice" as I didn't get remotely close to where I am now overnight. I've been gposing and working with mods + crimes for YEARS.

Like this is how I started vs how I do now:

Not the best examples but I wanted two completely unedited shots to keep it transparent

There is (according to the timestamp of this photo, which is not my earliest, but the earliest I could find) a nearly 5 year difference. I can promise you, I did NOT get this overnight. It was a lot of trial and error, a lot of finding my own style, a lot of experimenting, etc.

Some tips and advice from personal experience:

First and foremost, PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE: I was not kidding when I say it is all about just practicing and doing what YOU think would look good. Don't let others tell you what looks good or what doesn't unless you specifically ask for constructive criticism. At the end of the day, it's your gpose, your work, so long as you're happy with it? No one else's opinion matters.

Do not be afraid to experiment with new styles or even new OCs: Sometimes just having one OC to gpose can make things feel stale and boring, but we feel compelled to stay with JUST ONE for a myriad of reasons (which is fine!) and it makes people afraid to branch out a little. So if you want to experiment? Do it! Want to dress your OC how they wouldn't normally dress? Do it! Want to experiment with an alt that is vastly different from your main? Do it! You never know until you try.

Do not be afraid to use pre-made poses: Maybe this was just a twitter thing, but there were a few times I saw people shaming others for using "premade poses" instead of doing it themselves. Don't listen to these people, they're the WORST kinds of people, I promise you, they have nothing good to say (unless you're kissing their ass). A lot of creators, especially people who make poses frequently, make poses for them to be USED. They are a resource, free for people to use, take advantage of it.

Gpose for YOU, not for others: This is easier said than done, I know, but the biggest thing is you have to gpose only if you want to/if you're in the mood to, not to try and garner for social clout. At the end of the day, this is a hobby, we need to remember that.

Lift others up as you'd want others to lift you up: Now this is something I really need to remember to do myself; it's easy to get lost in the sea of praise when someone compliments you, or if a lot of people compliment your efforts. Remember to give the same love you get; just noticing someone's work can be a strong motivator, and let's be real, a single kind word about someone's work can really make their day. You never know.

Numbers don't matter at the end of the day: At the end of the day, we're all a bunch of nerds playing a game and playing dress up with our imaginary friends/digital dolls. Its easy to get swept up in the popularity contest that is social media, but that can go away at a moment's notice. So don't place your value as a gposer/creator in the numbers. Take pride in knowing you put your best efforts into something.

And now actual gpose resources:

Now I don't have a lot of "special" tools I use that aren't available elsewhere, but here are some things such as filters, plugins, etc, that I use to make my gposing a lot easier.

Elvashades (Gshade/Reshade Filters): I pretty much EXCLUSIVELY use Elva's shaders and have for the better part of 6-7 months. Their filters are incredibly easy to customize, come in a variety of styles, and they actually show how their filters work on multiple skintones. Even better: their filters are gshade AND reshade compatible! So no matter which you use, they'll work just fine.

Elegy (Shaders): Now a lot of folks know who Elegy is; they're the creator of the Rue body and make a lot of more fantasy/victorian-style outfits (I love their work), but they also have a few shader sets that I personally enjoy for softer shots.

Leggerless (Poses): Lately I've been obsessed with Leggerless' poses, as they're quite versatile, and they have TONS of different themes that fit whatever I need. I also have the easiest time adjusting them, which is a huge plus in the checkbox.

Elio (Gpose Stage Props): ELIO is a creator (or creators*) that make detailed gpose stage props. They literally have WHOLE SCENE SETUPS on on a single minion that are perfect for something niche, or if you just want something simple. (Personally I use their studio photoshoot prop as a backdrop for my mod previews!)

At the current moment, this is all I can provide, but I encourage anyone with advice, tips, resources, etc, to add onto it. I'm always open to trying to help folks, whether it's just giving my own advice on gposing, or just providing resources.

[hythlodaeus-mynewoldfriend]

Spotify ask number 63

Where does your body go when I leave you alone? Would your heart know if I met you in a brand new set of bones? 'Cause you may see me in different bodies Hiding below with the same soul I could have walked by you a thousand times Different places, different lives

-"Same Soul" by PVRIS

Thank you for sending this in! I had this song last year funny enough for the gpose prompts so similar take but with a slightly different interpretation this year! Have my Azems and their various shards! Complete pictures and info below the cut (spoilers for ShB, EW, Panda raids, Post-EW patches, and FFXVI)

Deimos and Phobos

The originals, the start of it all! During the Final Days in looking for a solution that would prevent more death and sacrifice Deimos became overwhelmed and devised a bit of a crazy plan he wasn't even sure would work. Deimos growing up had heterochromia, knowing it was one of his eyes having just slightly different DNA he took a page out of his old mentor Lahabrea's book and tried to see if he too could split himself in two. The difference in being able to keep a full soul and full power laid in Deimos making the basis on that small piece of different DNA, and so was Phobos brought into fruition!

note: characters on the left/listed first are shards of Deimos and those on the right/listed second are shards of Phobos

Demos Reyes and Siberite Akagane (The Source)

The WoLs and the ones to avert the Final Days, the promised kept to one Emet-Selch made thousands of year earlier. The two couldn't get a long at first but over time and through many trials they found common ground and supported one another and developed a kinship that goes beyond friendship. With the Final Days averted the two are living out a version of what their past selves would have done, with Demos settling down and leading a more quiet life, with the occasional adventure, and with Siberite exploring the world with all it has to offer and helping those met along the way with no sign of stopping.

Unnamed Archeologist and Ardbert (The First)

"There was a man. A researcher who pored over these pieces. He offered us work when we needed it. Slaying beasts, delivering provisions... A funny old bugger, he was, but he had a good heart. He believed this first painting dated back to a time of myth and legends. A tribute to the heroes of a long-forgotten era. The story went that it was rediscovered by an explorer from Ronka, who was so struck by its majesty that a second painting was commissioned, commemorating the heroes of their day. "One day, you will all be here too," he said. "Heroes immortalized forever. Maybe I'll paint you myself!" I had a good laugh at that. We were only trying to make our way, after all. Being heroes couldn't have been further from our minds. But it seems...he actually went and did it. Before or after the Flood, I wonder...Do you suppose your deeds will warrant an addition to this collection? Or some other kind of monument?" -Ardbert, Shadowbringers

What can I say he explains all you need to know.

Golbez and Durante (The Thirteenth)

Two friends trying to save their world from impending darkness, were unsuccessful in their endeavor resulting in one having to kill the other. With his best friend dead and the world still falling apart Durante took up Golbez's armor and name in the hopes of being able to eventually free his home from the cycle of darkness that befell the land. His methods would prove destructive and nearly be the end of him, had he not been reminded of the friendship that he once had. This pair shows just what can happen when one loses the other after having met and forged a bond, their souls don't like be parted in that way and will lash out in line with who they are in that life.

Clive Rosfield and Midadol "Mid" Telamon (Valisthea)

Both souls on their first lives in their world Clive and Mid met for the first time not long after her father's death and since then she's been whirlwind of a friend to Clive. A prodigy engineer Mid created The Enterprise to initially be a last resort for escaping the Blight, but seeing all that Clive had done so far to stop that from happening put him in charge of the vessel and did everything in her power to help him save their world. While neither know that they share the same soul Clive can't help but be reminded of Siberite, the au ra he met while on a different world, when Mid is teasing him or speaking from the heart, while Mid always felt an instant connection to and faith in the man that made it feel like they had been friends since children and not just the five years. There is only two people that know of them having the same soul in this world and that is Barnabas and Ultima, the two using it to their advantage to get Clive to Kanver.

[liulfr-j]

FFXIV Cosplay - Rei Ayanami

Saw the NGE McDonalds stuff today and put this together spontaneously. I knew the plug suit lookalike gear was there for melee for years and pretty much knew people were using it for ZSS and NGE cosplay already pretty much exclusively, but wasn't aware the legs don't quite actually dye white? Pearl White gives a brighter white than Pure White, presumably because of whatever material swapping behavior involved in making things shiny, as a weird quirk. I bought Scouting gear because that's what I play but it all seems to dye the same even though the different sets have a different sheen on their default dyes. Have seen a lot of people go dragoon for a big red spear but found it a serendipitous coincidence that the Ruby Weapon Daggers seem to share the distinctive forked design of Longinus from NGE. Also considered some more plain knives but level 8 bronze knives are the blackest military looking knives I could find. AFAIK the most fitting weapon is exclusive to a MCH PVP action (meanwhile we have 7 sword jobs now :/)

Shoes are the type-51 scouting for female from Copied Factory which I happened to have handy, which are conveniently also available in Maiming and Striking varieties like the Late Allagan pieces. I wasn't aware that the female character nier pieces were segmented so weirdly between the foot and leg pieces until I fantasia'd this patch but I got some neat short boots out of it so I'll take it.

Non-melee uniform set included because it's better to have backup outfits than to have to aesthetician every time I wanna switch jobs, but I'm not 100% happy enough with it to take a good gpose set. Might be better options whenever dual-channel dyes expand to more items but most of the current options are disappointing. Riviera Doublet's second channel in particular seems like it only dyes something the first channel should've already effected, but at least gave me something to work with here.

[asteriasfallingstarsandtears]

What if WoL instead meets Emet for the first time in Eulmore? As a former Garlean resident she'd recognize the Emperor's face, but she also knows that there are doubles at this point on the First. The chances of the very old and very dead Emperor being on the First being incredibly slim in her mind.

And this person, whoever he was, was very much not an elderly man.

This HC also requires the Chais to not accept the WoL when they enter Eulmore, precipitating the need for another sponsor or needing an alternative means of staying for investigation purposes.

(wish I had a little gpose to go with this but sadly not)

“How strange, so very few take in the sight from up here.” She hadn't noticed anyone else here when she had come here.

She turned to apologise for disturbing him but when she met his gaze she found she couldn't speak. Something about him was familiar, even more familiar than G'raha felt. It was impossible that they would have met, though she would have said he looked like the late Emperor of Garlemald. She had met other look alikes since her arrival here, not exactly the same as those she had once known on the Source. It was possible there was a reflection of the Emperor here. She didn't even know what year it was here, it could be the equivalent of his youth now here.

She shook her head, trying to concentrate again. She was babbling to herself, trying to justify what she saw. It was simple, really.

She wasn't on the Source and no one here, save those very few from the Source, were their counterparts.

“Did anyone tell you it's quite rude to stare and not introduce yourself?” His brow raised and he crossed his arms, looking annoyed save for the twitch of his lips. For all his seeming annoyance, he seemed to be fighting off laughing.

She licked her lips, trying to breathe. “Forgive me, sir. I did not know this balcony was occupied, I will leave.”

“Must you? Merely make up for your rudeness.” He strode towards her, leaning easily on the rail beside her. “Your name, for a start, and an explanation of why you might be out here, sad and dressed thus. Is this not the happiest place in all of Norvrandt?”

She snorted. “Happy for some.”

“True, there are a number of rather unhappy people below.” His lips curled up in a smile. “Now, will you make me guess?”

There was no way for anyone to know her here, and despite his being a stranger, she felt at ease with him. Far more at ease than she had in a very long time. Not since Haurchefant’s death, anyway. “Mina.”

“Mina.” He repeated, looking amused. “Hardly a common name amongst your folk. I'm sure there is quite a story about it.”

“Nothing so exciting, save I wasn't raised amongst my kind.” She wasn't lying, she hadn't been. She knew what her name would have been, but it did not follow the Mystal traditions, so it wasn't worth repeating here. “As for why I'm out here, my would be patrons have rejected me. It was but a moment of weakness.”

Also not a lie. It was easier to tell a kernel of truth always.

“Ah, you are new to this fair city. No wonder you do not feel the joy and exaltation so many others here do.” He gave a dramatic wave of his arm and rolled his eyes. “And so, you find solace on…” He peered over the rail, seeing only the sea before them and the crystalized wall of Light. “Emptiness?”

“Perhaps the decadence inside was overwhelming.” She shrugged. “I'll have to return eventually, if only to enjoy what brief time I've left.”

“Hm, you'll give up so easily?” He leaned on the rail.

“Hardly.” She grinned. “I've options, I'm told. Something called the Honeybee?”

He scowled. “Surely not, not you. You would be unimpressed and bored of the seductions that happen there within hours. It's hardly a challenge.”

“Maybe I don't want a challenge, the world's tough, and an easy life sounds…” she had trouble keeping a straight face. She knew exactly what the Honeybee was. She would be bored. “Well, the world doesn't always give us what we want.”

He didn't say anything about that, only tapped his fingers distractedly. She was about to excuse herself, claim she wanted to see the city before her removal or find her father even. She didn't want to, she enjoyed their small exchange, but it was a distraction and she only had so much time.

“I could sponsor you.” She stared at him, mouth slightly open. They didn't know each other, there was no reason for him to. Unless he had taken her suggestion of the Honeybee as a sign she was receptive to other things. She wouldn't oppose it, he was nice enough looking, seemingly well toned for what must be a relatively sedentary lifestyle here and despite the exhausted black rings and other signs of middle age below his eyes, his face wasn't so bad. “I've need of a companion and it would give you some protection against the less savoury types of Eulmore.”

“And in exchange?” She asked. If she didn't like the terms, she could say no. If he refused to accept her answer, she didn't need weapons to defend herself, they only made things easier. What little time she had spent here had taught her that nothing was free, even the food supplement moel came with the understanding of obedience.

[xivrefsheets]

Dawntrail Updates!

Figured I may as well toss a post to the void with DT rapidly approaching. Ahem. Hello! First of all...

Wow... thanks a bunch! I'm happy this little project has proven to be so helpful for so many folks out there! I figured once I stopped updating that this blog was gonna fizzle out into obscurity but I'm still getting quite a bit of interaction despite the inactivity (I really do miss Tumblr sometimes...)

Anyway, wanted to put an update out here on things going forward after DT drops and knowing how rambly and Autistic™ I tend to get, I'll just put that in a cut.

So as I've mentioned in passing in the tags of a random ask, I'm sort of considering opening comms for ref sheets again due to really Really Spicy money-related happenings in my personal life. However, there's a few steps along the way before I make this a reality and this isn't even a full guarantee it'll happen as I'll also be opening art commissions in the near future and those will take more time and priority over ref sheets PLUS there's the factors that led me to closing in the first place.

I'm trying to steer away from using Anamnesis going forward for a number of reasons (some borderline petty, I admit) but I've been introduced to some nifty new plugins that are slowly taking the program's place that make posing infinitely easier and also fix the primary issue I had with Ana which was.... not allowing unique NPC faces to show in gpose anymore. (Yes I'm aware that they still worked for carbuncles and the like but that was just enough of a hassle for my posing needs that it made the sheets Not worth making anymore since I was already dealing with other stress on the side at the time as well). I'm still learning how to effectively utilize said plugins and once I've gotten better and mastered them that'll be the end of step 1.

Step 2 is gonna be... well... waiting for DT to drop. As we all know, a massive graphics overhaul is coming, so there's very little point in opening requests for new characters now when the models are about to be more detailed and will very likely be tweaked along the way if player feedback affects NPCs down the line.

Step 3... that I dread... revamping my studio yet again. Mostly just gonna be taking out some of the extra light sources since those tend to get in the way when the model is really tall and also researching more setups. May also see about utilizing chromakey as well. Idk idk. I doubt I'll have the energy to make the sheets super pretty like some folks do, but taking transparent shots will cut out a lot of distracting factors and make the finished sheets look a bit better I think.

Then after that, I'll probably do some practice rounds and re-work sheets for popular characters as well as fixing the old, shitty sheets from when I first started that were Way Too Yellow that I've been meaning to fix for literal years now (so sorry to all my fellow color-picking artists friends out there I'm sorry that's so annoying... TTATT) and from there I'll see if it's something I still want to pursue and open comms for.

I'll shoot for maybeeeee mid-August or so for the next update. Obviously, I still have a job and I'll be enjoying DT with the rest of you guys so it'll be some time before I even think of doing ref sheets again, but I at least wanted to throw out there that this is still something I think about, but a number of factors made me stop to begin with. One factor being...

...pricing! If/when I open again, it'll likely be a proper commission post on ko-fi and I'm thinking of starting at $10 with tipping enabled. In the beginning, I was allowing requests for the barest minimum of a donation and the constant $3 for characters with a ton of details to cover was getting a bit demotivating after a while, so I'm sorry if this puts off past and future clients, but I am doing all of this in my free time, so... ;w;

ANYWAY! If anyone read all this... thank you! I know it's a Lot and I'm sorry. Been a minute since I've had to do some sort of official addressing like this... haha.

Feel free to follow my ko-fi for updates regarding ref sheet commissions, art commissions, and whatever new art I post (if you're into that) and maybe toss a dollar or two my way since, yanno, I'm Quite broke rn and have an unpaid vacation coming up... 👉👈 or if you just wanna support a fellow queer this June.

and if y'all don't hear from me in a few months just assume I lied LOL!

[dragonsongmakhali]

Mutual catch-up!

LAST SONG: Different - BAND-MAID

CURRENTLY WATCHING: X-Files, though we're doing a mythology-only watchthrough. We're most of the way through Season 4 at the moment :> tbh I'll likely go back and watch all of the episodes we skipped once we've finished the plot.

THREE SHIPS: all of my ships are OCxOC ships, so it would likely be silly to list them here. Y'all would be familiar with Makhali/Khasan [aka Makhasan], tho!

FAVORITE COLOR: If forced to choose one, black. If I'm allowed an accent color, red.

CURRENTLY CONSUMING: XIV, though gpose is less consumption and more creation. It is consuming my waking thoughts, though, so I think it counts.

FIRST SHIP: Inuyasha and Kagome. Yeah, I was in the inu trenches.

PLACE OF BIRTH: Born in raised in Florida, babey :(

CURRENT LOCATION: still Florida (unfortunately)

RELATIONSHIP STATUS: happily married to my best friend

LAST MOVIE: believe it or not. The original Shrek, because we were on a plane (the third of the day) and my anxiety was so bad I couldn't sleep or relax, so my husband put on something silly and made sure I wasn't thinking about the endless turbulence on our flight.

CURRENTLY WORKING ON: ton of Makhali/Khasan poses, both in ideas/composition and pose-building itself. I realized how much serotonin I get from posing them and now I must make that the world's problem 👍

Tagged by: @sealrock - aaa thank you!!

Tagging: @mimble-sparklepudding @paintedscales @healersadjust @chadhunkler and @airis-ray - if any of y'all have done this, feel free to ignore! I only just recently figured out what year it was, so I'm not sure who's gotten to share some fun mun factoids :'>

[sylvari-xiv]

Confession

Stormblood spoilers, I guess, haha. This scene is set during Ghimlyt Dark, right after Alisaie collapses. Ari and Sylvaire are co-WoLs and rivals, and have been working together for a few years now. It's no surprise that the first scene we wrote was when the rivalry took a turn for the romantic. VN and gposes: Blue Writing: both of us

The tent was silent, heavy with the shared pain of its two conscious occupants. Aritsune. Sylvaire. 

Sylvaire held Alisaie's hand gently in his own, feeling her aether waning and stagnating, and he hardly needed Krile to confirm what he knew had happened to her. He could feel the absence of a soul as he probed her aether with his own, and his heart sank. He couldn't imagine the pain Ari was feeling at seeing her like this. She was a shell. Hollow; empty. And perhaps soon enough he would be, too. And if he was, how could he protect the others? How could he protect Ari?

Ari moved swiftly through the motions of checking his weapons, refusing to let the fear of what was happening to his friends—what might happen to those who remained—overwhelm him. 

He flicked a glance at Sylvaire and then away, ignoring the tight, terrified beating of his heart. He'd felt the summons, knew that something was trying to tear him, and Sylvaire, from this plane. Whatever this was, it was aetherological in nature, and Sylvaire was the best person equipped to discover the means to reverse it. They'd been partners in this for too long for him to have any doubt of that. 

Stepping outside, he looked to Raubahn and his guards, standing nearby. "Alisaie needs transport to the Rising Stones. And–" he stopped the guard as he moved to follow the order. “Sylvaire doesn't leave this tent, understand? Keep him here. I'm doing this alone.”

Sylvaire stirred into motion when he saw Ari duck through the tent flaps. Wherever Ari was going, he was determined to follow. It was all he could do—to offer his protection, his healing magicks and what defensive spells he had honed over the years. This was not his fight alone—it was theirs, together—and he would be damned if Ari left him behind. 

As he exited the tent, he felt several sets of eyes fall on him, a weight he could not shake, and he attempted to brush past them in pursuit of Ari. When his path was barred, however, he stiffened his back, drawing himself up to meet Raubahn's gaze as best he could. 

“Let me pass. I refuse to stand idly by while he risks his life like a fool. I am the Warrior of Light as much as he is.” 

When no one moved so much as an ilm, and Raubahn replied with a rather stiff excuse as to why Sylvaire's talents were needed here rather than on the field of battle, Sylvaire felt his face burn hot, and Raubahn's words soon fell on deaf ears. 

“I don't give a damn what he told you, it is not his decision alone to make, not now, not ever. I'm going. Let me pass.” 

The moment Rauhbahn relented, Sylvaire shoved past him and took off at a frantic pace, his lungs filling with smoke and ash. His feet dodged rubble and fire as a single thought—a single person—consumed his mind. He could not bear the thought of arriving too late. Ari was an incredibly capable fighter—more so than he was, though he would never admit it aloud—but  Zenos, or whoever had inhabited his body, was out there, waiting to strike. And although Ari had survived battles with Zenos before, it had never been what one could truly call a victory. 

Sylvaire’s lungs burned more fiercely with each ragged breath as if they themselves had been lit aflame but he pressed on. He wouldn’t lose him, couldn’t. He’d already lost everyone else and if he lost Ari…

But before he could finish the thought, he saw him. 

Smoke hung in the air like an ominous fog, and Ari squinted through it to take stock of his actions. He’d tucked himself behind a barricade, hands sliding over his weapons, checking them. He was so far oblivious to Sylvaire’s approach, his attention clearly directed at the conflict taking place just beyond: Zenos tossing Yugiri aside and bearing down on Hien.

Sylvaire slowed despite how loudly his mind screamed for him to run to Ari and fight at his side, in exactly the place he belonged. Ari had tried to leave him behind, had tried to do this alone; never in all their time fighting side by side had he endangered himself like this, and Sylvaire’s head swam with mounting fury. 

Movement at the corner of his vision distracted Ari from his concern for Hien, and he turned to see Sylvaire stalking toward him, his expression harsh with anger. “Sylvaire. No…”

Sylvaire heard his name fall from Ari’s lips as he closed the distance and placed his hands on Ari’s chest, gathering the fabric of his coat and pulling him close before shoving him away with a sharp growl. 

“What do you think you’re doing?” he hissed, shoving him again for good measure. “How could you leave me behind? You selfish, reckless fool…never do that to me again! We do this together or not at all, do you hear me?” 

Ari growled, his long tail lashing as he regained his balance. Sylvaire had never gotten physical with him before. In all their years fighting beside each other, sharing the mantle of Warrior of Light, they had maintained a carefully cultivated distance between them. At first out of annoyance and distaste, but lately... perhaps out of fear of something else. Something that lurked beneath his skin, making his blood hum as the scent of Sylvaire, heated to a heady musk by his recent exertion, washed over him. 

“Hells take you, Sylvaire,” he hissed back. “You were supposed to stay and solve this.” A sharp gesture between their bodies made his meaning clear: the condition afflicting their friends, the condition that might at any moment take one or both of them, too. “Not risk your fool life out here with me. That's why we work, right? Division of duties, play to our strengths.”

Heat that rivaled the flames that surrounded them rose in Sylvaire at the insinuation that he could simply solve the problem of what—or more specifically who—had been tearing their closest comrades from them one by one holed away inside a tent in the middle of a raging battle that threatened to take Ari from the world…from him. 

“And what, pray tell, do you believe it is I’ve been doing since this entire mess began? If I could solve it so quickly, don’t you think I would have by now? You know as well as I do that I’m no use back there, not right now. But no, you have to do this on your own, have to leave me behind to rot in a tent while you risk your life instead!”

His breath came in heavy pants as he wiped soot out of his eyes with the back of his gloved hand. He tried to step in front of Ari, to block his path to the battlefield where Hien continued to struggle against Zenos. Ari responded by shoving him out of the way. “The hells do you think you’re doing? Someone needs to help Hien. Besides, what do you care if I risk my neck out here?”

Sylvaire hesitated for only a moment. The question—or rather, how readily the answer sprang to his lips— caught him off-guard, and before he could allow himself to think it through, he responded: “I care because I’d be lost without you, Ari; because I love you—gods know how long I’ve loved you—and you’ve simply refused to see it this whole time.” 

Ari froze, staring down at Sylvaire in shock.

It had been awhile since he'd considered Sylvaire an opponent, someone to be beaten. Though they bickered much as they ever had, recent moonturns had seen them become something akin to friends. But now Sylvaire was telling him he loved him. And something in Ari was responding. 

He remembered the feelings of unease. Frustration. The twinge in his chest whenever Sylvaire got too close. Or too far. Or someone crept out of Syl’s room in the quiet stillness of the early morning. Waking up in the arms of someone and thinking about that taunting little spark in Sylvaire’s rose gold eyes. His desperation to leave him safely behind in that tent. As the people he loved collapsed around him, he’d been fighting a mounting terror that Syl would be next. And losing Syl would hurt more than all the others. The thought surprised him, even as it settled over him, his body resonating with the truth.

He didn't just tolerate Sylvaire. It was a whole lot more than that. 

Hien's pained cry wrenched Ari from the moment. It was a well kept secret that Ari and Hien had spent a string of nights together during their efforts to liberate Doma. Though both knew it would amount to nothing and had ended their relationship, Ari could not ignore the clarion call of his cry. Hien needed to live, needed to hold the fragile Eastern Alliance together. 

He tossed Sylvaire into the dirt behind the fractured barricade, the words leaping to his lips but remaining unsaid as he threw himself into the battle, blade screaming as it intercepted the killing blow meant for Hien: I love you, too.

Sylvaire hit the dirt with a thud, too surprised by the sudden change in position to do more than gasp. He and Ari locked eyes for an all too brief moment before Ari flung himself forward and into the fray. 

Godsdamnit, Sylvaire cursed under his breath, angry at himself for such a ridiculous display of vulnerability coupled with such terrible timing. What did he have to lose? Everything, clearly—his own dignity to start. He scrambled to his knees, careful to take stock of the situation before he ran headlong into the fight himself, and he saw Ari absorb and counter a blow that had clearly been meant for Lord Hien. His chest simultaneously filled with fear and swelled with pride as he watched Ari land blow after blow, but then; he faltered. His steps became less sure, and Sylvaire vaulted to his feet, throwing out a desperate but focused string of spells to both shield Ari and restore his strength before Sylvaire could reach his side. 

And, for a moment, it seemed to work. Ari righted himself on his feet, locking eyes again with Sylvaire as he did. Sylvaire breathed a sigh of relief. Just a few scant yalms to close the distance, and then…

And then, his worst fear came to pass. Ari collapsed on the ground in one swift motion, his sword falling from his hand as it went limp. There was an audible thud as his body hit the ground, and Sylvaire reached him just in time to feel a rush of aether leave his body, leaving it alive but empty, just like the others. 

No, no, not Ari, he couldn’t bear to lose him, couldn’t bear to think that was the last conversation they would ever have. He channeled his own aether into him, oblivious to those around him who kept him safe just long enough to chance a desperate, futile attempt at channeling aether back into him to reanimate him, to bring him back from whoever had stolen him from underneath Sylvaire’s nose. 

When nothing happened, and Ari lay as still as he had the moment he collapsed, Sylvaire’s cry pierced the air, and the tears fell hot and fast, threatening to sear his skin and his very soul with their relentless trails.

[mrlarkstin]

This is going to be a bit of a long ramble so I ask you bare with me. But I have a lot I want to say re: FFXIV as a whole and I think Tumblr is the best place to say it.

Long thoughts below break!

I've been on and off with FFXIV since 1.0. I returned for good early SB and have been playing everyday pretty much since. This game, the characters, the people I've met all hold such a special place in my heart.

Is the story perfect? No, of course not, there is no such thing as perfection. But it's damn good and it's damn enjoyable. From ARR all the way to EW, the story is strong and stays strong, sure there are issues here and there, retcons, some flow issues between the different writers- but, what's great about this game is that you can essentially make your own story out of what's given to you.

You can take the pieces and add on, grow or change it. The freedom and creativity I've gotten from this is...its insane really. And it warms my heart. For the first time in years I've been creative.

I've been writing, rping, trying to draw, learning new things (how to make mods for example) and I've actively been writing fan fictions. It's been amazing to feel creative again. From gpose to making crimes, I've been feeling free.

Yee, this game comes with its fair share of drama with FCs, friends, people in game- but that's all to kinda be expected given how big it is- but even with the bullshit there are so many amazing people who are beyond fantastic and sweet.

I'm always so overjoyed when someone says they like my ship or Eramus' family, that they like Eramus. It honestly makes me so happy when people say that.

The friends I've made (even the ones I've lost) have all been such amazing, beautiful and creative people. And even though drama tore us apart, or an FC was being toxic, you are still beautiful, amazing, creative people regardless of what happened to us.

I will always cherish those I've met, those I knew, and those I have yet to meet.

You are all beautiful people. All of you.

Thank you for making this game so enjoyable, thank you for being a friend, thank you ex-friends for the time we did have together, thank you SE for making a great game and thank you to everyone who always likes or interacts with me.

❤️❤️❤️❤️

[gnbrkrs]

Very late Endwalker tank role quest impressions because I am a slowpoke who couldn't finish it for 2 years

Decided to move this post to Tumblr because I felt I might structure it better without having to think about the pesky character limit on Twitter. Also, as a warning, this perspective may be partially biased due to me picking the questline up again, way long after doing the first part because a lot of IRL issues popped up over these 2 years, and I chose to focus my remaining free time on GPose over anything else.

Overall the questline was... Okay. I would still rank it below the healer questline, which I thought was good at the time I did it, but I am not sure if I'd rank it above the caster role quests(which had a problem of rehashing storylines and motives that were already present in older questlines). There were certain moments where I feared the story would take specific routes, but thankfully, that did not happen.

I feel like the moment where people come to support Kan-E-Senna is very heartwarming, and it was nice to get into her backstory a bit. I am certainly curious what she was like when she was a student, and kind of hope that this may be used as a hook for potential character development similar to one Nanamo and Merlwyb underwent. At the same time, given how much the game keeps shilling the Elementals completely righteous creatures despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary (which I talk about next) makes me unsure whether SE is ever going to take that direction at all.

I feel like a lot of it's potential is downplayed by the fact that FFXIV's story seems to consistently try to gaslight the player into believing that every messed up thing the Elementals do, or every oversight that happens while Gridania prioritizes faith in them above all else, is either something to be expected or For The Greater Good, Actually.

Not only was Ea-Sura-Supin aka Elenyja cast out by the Elementals once for a relatively small mistake as a student, which is a pretty out there thing to do in the first place, especially since at the time, he saw it as his life's calling. They also were powerless to save his wife (possibly because they were growing weaker, but regardless, we have what we have), which broke him the second time. This should show how being overly reliant on them may not be the best course of action, along with the many other instances over the course of the game. The Hyrstmill villagers bring this case up up to Kan-E-Senna, and are completely valid in doing so, and yet their concerns are talked over in a matter of a few minutes, with the answer being to have more faith in the Elementals. Which is... Something that has multiple problems on many levels.

Through the entire game, both in the MSQ and the various job/ role quests, there here are cases in which the Elementals either do nothing for one reason or another, do not help or actively harm because they think a person is bad (which they are right sometimes, but there are also cases where it normally wouldn't be up for creatures like them to decide), or otherwise cause some other sort of messed up stuff to happen. Yet this is continuously treated as something heroic and unambiguously good, and all the bugs of such system are just treated as something that is bound to happen. I get that the world isn't fair, and that there are always going to be things that are perceived as something different than what they actually are, but when literally every other nation in the game, including the other main heroic factions and previous arc's big villain faction, has a "we are actually fucked up and we need to do something about it" arc, the continuous presentation of the Elementals as an unambiguously good force gets old. People love to rag on Werlyt for making Gaius look good (which I partly see as justified because there are certain moments that required elaboration, and I have my own complaints about Werlyt's writing, but also at the same time not justified because a lot of them use the writing as bad faith arguments to bash on the character and portray him as an irredeemable monster worse than Zenos, Emet or Thordan), but IMO the Elementals have been getting it on a way greater scale. Since launch. To a point that most players don't even seem to notice it.

Overall, I think it could have been very good. We see interesting bits in it, we see it expand upon existing lore and characters. And what little we see of Ea-Sura-Supin IMO makes him an interesting character, even if posthumously. But being told once again that the Elementals are perfectly fine and good tires me, so it brings the questline down to my book from good to just okay. Anyway, on to the melee DPS quests, as I've been leveling Viper since DT's launch, and it's about time I started them. Or I might finally say fuck it and jump into DT's MSQ without finishing Viper and Picto leveling, because I am tired of spamming the same dungeons in Trust.

[janzoo]

A Nameday Gift for the WoL's Little Sister

I don't do enough with Lakelta, Drakyr's younger sister, especially since I decided I would ship her with Magnai since he appeared during the Starlight Celebration this year. What better day to give her more spotlight than today, her nameday, a.k.a. Halfoween (since I made Halloween Drakyr's nameday). Gposes and lore under the readmore~

First, some info on Lakelta/the Saovine tribe -

The Saovine tribe travelled to Eorzea when Lakelta was a toddler. She was always curious about this faraway homeland of her people - more so than Drakyr. Lakelta often asked the elders who remembered the Steppe about it, and grew up dreaming of visiting it one day.

While Lakelta was also skilled with archery, she had more of a mind for numbers and organization, and became more of a behind the scenes contributor to the tribe's performance/tournament. She is also skilled with conjury. Between those skillsets, she made a living in Gridania as a conjurer, and as an accountant for Fen-Yll Fineries (Leatherworking Guild).

(Tentative) At a young age, the tribe was attacked by wolves/wild dogs. One of them got hold of Lakelta and savaged her calf to the point that she had to walk with a cane going forward. She's terrified of canines; Drakyr is especially wary of them (and feels bad that she couldn't stop the wolves from hurting Lakelta even though it wasn't her fault). Drakyr's Starlight gift to her was a special magitek prosthetic harness of sorts that stabilized her leg so she could walk without a cane, albeit with a limp.

Lakelta and Magnai met after she received the aforementioned harness. She was dancing outside in celebration when she lost balance and fell back - right into Magnai's arms. The clouds parted briefly, a moonbeam shone on them as gentle snow fluttered through the air - the whole nine yards yalms. A true to life meet-cute. Drakyr's jaw hit the ground as she watched.

So the two of them struck a chord, but with Magnai returning to the Steppe, it's become a hell of a long-distance relationship. Luckily, Drakyr agreed to facilitate since she can teleport between Gridania and the Dawn Throne with ease. (Thanks, aetheryte tickets!)

BUT TODAY IS THE DAY! For Lakelta's nameday gift, Drakyr personally took her all the way to the Dawn Throne! (Ok so it takes more than a day to get from Gridania to the Dawn Throne the old-fashioned way but you know what I mean.) Not just to attune to the aetheryte, but to get some one-on-one face time with Magnai AND to make her dream of visiting the Azim Steppe come true!

Drakyr welcomes Lakelta to the Dawn Throne. Here at last! Magnai sent his gift with Drakyr ahead of time: some proper Steppe clothes (in Oronir colours, of course). Thus Lakelta arrives already looking the part.

Meeting up with Magnai. (I probably should've posed a dramatic hug but I didn't - that's on me, not Lakelta.)

Looking out over the Steppe in all its glory - Magnai talking about the Steppe, Lakelta looking on in awe.

And there we have it. Yay more spotlight time for Lakelta! And some romance to boot.