#gah I still haven’t gotten all the aether currents. Gah

[fisherrprince]

Oh hey! Welcome to stormblood :D! So, how are your overall opinions of Heavensward now that you're one the cusp of new expansion?

Hello hello! /bow

I liked it!! I liked it quite a lot I think, but I definitely think the best parts were about the dragons (the first half of base expansion with Ysayle and then 3.2-3 with Nidhogg and Hraesvelgr and Estinien) (I got sad when we left Ysayle :( ) — which, admittedly, is probably because I really love dragons. But it’s also I think structured more engagingly, I was really interested in what everyone had to say and react to. I think I stopped to talk to almost everyone anytime I could, and I really want to remember to look at item descriptions because they have TEXT in them and sometimes they’re FUNNY.. The dungeons got progressively cooler too :D

I wasn’t quite as interested in the allagans this time (or the pope I kept forgetting about him— to be honest the ishgardian half of the story was really interesting as it contributed to the whole of the story, I love how the writers are handling the complexity of human conflict and rage thus far, but I found that chasing down the pope at the end took quite a while because we also had the scions stuff in there too, which was more interesting, and I think the amount of interest just conflicted with the pacing. If I look at Heavensward without the post patch quests it has very odd pacing but with them it’s perfectly fine.) (but also the — what’sit the whale primal trial — I’ve heard is disliked but I found it really really fascinating when I did it for the first time! Maybe because it’s novel) (and also while I LOVE the hand that gives the rose, I cannot get behind unbending steel. I can’t tell if people are joking when they say it’s one of the best songs. I don’t… like it, it sounds goofy to me), but that’s also just because Azys Lla is, all offense to allag, butt ugly?? The Crystal Tower is so pretty how did you create this narsty place. Bring me back to G’raha. I also think the interjections with the Ul’dahn syndicate early on were hit or miss entirely, sometimes very satisfying and investing and sometimes I just… I don’t like the wizard lady or her wizard hat.

anyways, Hilda is my new friend, I like her. I, um, don’t think I got as attached to haurchefant as many others did, but I appreciate how well-written a good death scene is, I do. And I really felt like we got to see way more (and deeper and better-articulated) character personality and interaction than we did in arr! I liked that!!! We had little flavor text jokes everywhere! I like my friends tataru and alphinaud and although I will have to decline Aymeric’s request for a date, I would love to hang out. I will be going on a date with Vidofnir. I want to see more of where dragons actually, like, live.

also both the “final battles” were very very cool. Like immensely cool I think I legit cackled to myself a couple times (hraesvelgr’s eye being one of them) thank u dragons everyone say thank you dragons. Also everyone say thank you to soken and uematsu. And the cinematic animators. And the fight designers. And

and — I’m not sure where post-heavensward stops and pre-stormblood begins, but I assume it ends with nidhogg and starts with the warriors of darkness? in that case I’ll hold my opinions of pre-stormblood since I’m not done. bless it for having alisaie leveilleur. goodnight

[dispatches-from-the-lorecord]

Whatever happened to Waning Moon!Faba?

[January 13, 2023]

{Haji:}

Part of me likes to think the Voices never recovered [from the Faba battle in Waning Moon] either so when we have bouts of noisemakers and funny music replacement, it's a lingering side effect from when we took a hit to save Devin and it made us a bit more sensitive to these influences. Sometimes it's an outside force (like Meloetta) sometimes it's just the Voices have some level of reality warping and will randomly play music for the current host going "Gee, I'm glad SOMEONE is having fun. Mutter mutter, I was not born a loser, jerks"

{Newbie:}

....this puts the meme clips into an entirely new context

{Trollkitten:}

Ooh. So Faba permanently altered the Voices' perceptions

I don't think the likes of Bill, Fennel, or even Larry have ever gone that far

I love my headcanon that Faba is Ein in disguise and he's been using his job at Aether to cover for continuing his unethical bio-research

{Haji:}

For my lore, S3 Faba is literally the worst. Which is saying something. Especially when we have people like the above.

It's toned down as the generations have passed which is still saying something that I'm sure Ace has gotten an earful from his dad going "Oh if you knew how lucky you have it. MY FATHER..."

But yes the tl;dr timeline for original Faba for me goes

One of Oak's assistants with Ceth in Channel

Ein in Colosseum, quietly steps out when things go awry

Faba in Sun, still manipulating Lusamine as a dear old friend (and probably helped raise her when he worked for her father)

Hijacks things a bit to take the Aether to the "real world" where Nigel can't follow.

Waning Moon events where he's determined no one is going to stop them this time with Quips getting "killed" (he didn't know the kid survived) and laying multiple other traps for the new kid all while getting an indepth study on the Voices during his travels.

Not as upset as he pretends when this fails, he's been forming contacts in Unova for a backup plan

Helps Cipher take over Unova seemingly disappears during the 30way War of Randomized White 2. Likely killed but hard to say who or what got him during the chaos

He may be gone but his family still thrives in the shadows.

{Trollkitten:}

I mean, I'm not sure what got him but he almost certainly deserved it

This being RW2 it could have been any number of things -- heck, he's mostly lived in warmer climates, he could've just frozen solid when the whole Kyurem thing happened and is now an icicle

Good riddance

[Editor’s note: The conversation split in two after this point. Both threads were ongoing simultaneously, but I’ve picked them apart for easier reading.]

[Thread 1, Kahuna Moon:]

{Newbie:}

...if he's cryogenically frozen is there a chance he could thaw :Kappa:

{Trollkitten:}

Realistically? We haven't hit that level of technology yet. In the world of the Voices? If they could do it for the Type: Null then maybe they could do it for a human

Would they do it for this human?

That depends on whom 'they' are

{Newbie:}

...

...fuck i have a plot bunny now

maybe if i stand perfectly still it won't see me and it will leave me alone

ok uhhhh remember when i rambled about Kahuna Moon and her deleted universe and her plan to try and strongarm the Voices into restoring it, failing when Gigi beats her, and then her decision to blackmail them by basically causing as much chaos as possible until they fold?

...well

you asked who would thaw him out

{Trollkitten:}

GAH

{TheNewbie:}

it's the first place my mind jumped to :RaccAttack:

{Haji:}

With TK's earlier statement, now I just laugh at the image of Kahuna Moon gloating to some of her followers how she's about to awaken a great evil that's going to help them reign chaos on those who oppose them and then it's just a body. Sorry, hon, he wasn't cryogenically preserved, just... Preserved. But hey! Maybe he's got some damp notes she can use

{Newbie:}

even that seems cause for concern

{Haji:}

Very XD

[Thread 2, Fennel:]

{Haji:}

A distinct possibility. It's also possible the Dream Mist got to him since my personal explanation for several things in the RW2 crisis was Unova was slowly sinking into The Void. Some people get possessed by Voices, others by Glitches, some just get outright physically warped (like in the Darkrai movie) due to perceptions and nightmare fuel....

{Trollkitten:}

...so Fennel sidles up to him reaaaaaal casually with a knife and goes 'who's gonna miss him anyway?'

{Haji:}

It could very well be that and NO ONE WOULD BLAME HER THIS TIME

{Trollkitten:}

She knows that, and she's pretty smug about it

"Will I get caught? Almost certainly. Will I get away with it? Let's be honest Faba; by this point I'm doing the world a favor."

"I'm going to enjoy your screams."

"And possibly foghorns."

"BibleThump."

{Haji:}

The only one she might have to worry about after that point is Grimsley since it seems he may have finally gone crazy. Will he be upset about Faba? Nah. But she still needs to watch her back

{Trollkitten:}

Yeah, Grimsley has definitely got his eye on Fennel.

Meanwhile, Cress would be rather miffed about Fennel doing the whole murder thing again, but there's always the question of 'is this worth bringing up knowing full well what Fennel has done before and could do again'

{Haji:}

which reminds me, there's still a bit of a mystery with the RR as to where Aalija came from. Is he actually Grimsley's kid? Would that make him part Outsider or whole since Grimsley is a weird case himself after being "cursed"?

{Trollkitten:}

Like, at this point Fennel is that one dog that keeps tearing up the furniture and going through the trash and everyone puts up with her because she's absorbed so much Voice and Glitch energy that she is effectively immortal and nobody can ever really get rid of her so the best they can do is to try to keep her from wrecking shit

{Haji:}

I don't doubt that. Though I laugh to imagine her saying okay... But it's just this one. The dude needed to be stopped and for how much shadow shit he's dealt with, he might be a corrupted human and could only taken out by one like herself. :Fufun:

{Trollkitten:}

Yeah

Cress: Your logic is reasonable but you certainly don't have to enjoy it

Fennel: Now, what sort of a supervillain would I be if I didn't?

Cress: You could always try not being a supervillain.

Really, Zetsu's original ending for Fennel had her sealing herself away on the glitch abomination side of reality, but we all know that the Outsiders didn't stay on the outside again for long and neither did Fennel, so it makes sense she'd show up again