#gladio's is my fave here! so lovely and meaningful

[flowers-of-tenebrae]

I wanted include Luna's! (Hope you don't mind op.)

I had to do some sleuthing to figure out which Begonia species (in English) the Japanese flowering website had listed for Sept 4. [See: 1, 2, 3] The hardy begonia is my best guess, but I could be off. The flower they specified is "木立ベゴニア" if anyone wants a gander.

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Lunafreya Nox Fleuret (September 4)

Hardy begonia (Begonia grandis) [x]

(image credit: Alpsdake via Wikipedia Commons)

A member of the Begoniaceae (begonia) family and native to China and Japan. This perennial species is notable for its decorative pink or white blooms and its ability to grow in shade, capable of surviving winter in certain regions. Its species name (grandis) means large, tall or lofty. These plants can grow up to 1 ft. 6 in - 3 ft. tall (50-90cm). [See: 1, 2]

Hanakotoba: Good balance or equilibrium.

Birthday Flowers of FFXV: The Chocobros

(according to 季節の花300, a Japanese flower website) [x]

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Ignis Scientia (February 7)

Thunberg fritillary (Fritillaria thunbergii, previously Fritillaria verticillata var. thunbergii) [x]

(image credit: titanium22 on Flickr via Wikimedia Commons)

A member of the Liliaceae (lily) family native to Central Asia. The bulb of this flower 浙貝母 (zhè bèi mǔ) is used in Traditional Chinese Medicine to relieve coughs and reduce phlegm, among other indications.

Hanakotoba (Japanese flower language): A modest heart.

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Gladiolus Amicitia (April 2)

Reeves' spiraea (Spiraea cantoniensis) [x]

(image credit: KENPEI via Wikimedia Commons)

A member of the Rosaceae (rose) family native to China. Known as ko-demari (小手毬) in Japanese as its clusters of small flowers look like the patterns on temari, children's handball toys that are also symbols of great loyalty and friendship.

Hanakotoba: Friendship. (You know what else means "friendship?" Gladio's last name.)

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Noctis Lucis Caelum (August 30)

Tiger lily (specifically Lilium lancifolium) [x]

(image credit: Maja Dumat via Wikimedia Commons)

A member of the Liliaceae (lily) family native to China, Japan, Korea, and the Russian Far East. The species name, lancifolium, refers to its leaves looking like polearms (i.e. lances). Its showy black-spotted orange flowers have made it a popular ornamental plant.

Hanakotoba: A wise person.

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Prompto Argentum (October 25)

African milkweed (Gomphocarpus fruticosus) flower [x]

(image credit: Bernard Dupont via Wikimedia Commons)

A member of the Apocynaceae (dogbane) family. Native to eastern and southern Africa, the plant is also found in Australia and New Zealand, where it is known as narrow-leaved cotton bush. Its thorny fruit pops when mature in late fall, producing cotton-like seeds.

Hanakotoba: A hidden ability. (I see what you did there, Square Enix!)

[mochatroping]

your notp, brotp, etc. hc's for ignis? 😺

YOU WILL REGRET ASKING THIS, I THINK. This became more of a rank-your-fave-ships thing than a true pair thing, lol. I tend to be character-centric about my fandoms.

NOTP:

Likely just reader inserts ‘cause I don’t really read those, but also probably Iris & Ignis (see next entry). 

BROTP:

Iris & Ignis leads the pack, but honestly love it when fics feature Ignis having meaningful and supportive female friendships. Some pre-roadtrip fics feature Crowe being a supportive older sister type for him, and I really dig that. One of my favorite fics in the fandom is Aranea giving Ignis his WoR lesbian biker haircut, and it is *chef’s kiss*. 

OTP:

I CAN’T CHOOSE AMONG 3. It’s a tie among Gladio/Ignis, Ardyn/Ignis, and Ravus/Ignis for me. I love the differences in dynamics these three ships bring, they’re just so far apart from each other and it’s very interesting to me. 

I will say that fresh out of the game, I was heavily into Gladio/Ignis, it just widened over time as I thought about other characters more and read more fics. Gladio was already so soft and mindful around Ignis pre-Altissia, but him post-Altissia hit me HARD. I keep going back to that, how heartbreakingly solicitous he was, and how lost he looked after he brought Ignis back from the altar, and on and on. Augh.

Ardyn/Ignis is a rareship that’s captured my attention like a bullet train that went off the rails (and really rare—fewer AO3 works under it than Fleurentia, which is already pretty rare [but still more than Nyx/Ignis] ). Ardyn’s my second favorite character in the game (it doesn’t show in my fanwork, I need to fix that at one point)—he just breaks my heart, and if I wasn’t so busy stanning Ignis, I’d be stanning this dude hard. While Ardyn/Ignis sates my need for dark fics in general, there’s quite a bit of variation and creativity in the existing fanwork for it that I wouldn’t automatically categorize it as such (my favorite comedy fic is from this ship, even). I also love how the flavor changes depending on whether the author seems to go for Ardyn “resisting” or “submitting” to his fate. It just gives me a lot to think about, and there’s quite a lot of room for play. Reading Ardnis fics that seem to have been written pre-Ardyn DLC (or ignoring it) has also been interesting.

Fleurentia brings all the fucking regency romance tropes and baggage and I ADORE it. I heavily HC Ravus as ND, and the circumstances surrounding him and his family just lend to so much heartbreak and drama. I normally couldn’t care less about canon compliance, which works really well when thinking about this ship. Ravus also reminds me quite a bit of the Darcy-archetype, which I have a bit of a weak spot for.   

Second choice pairing:

IT’S ANOTHER TIE, AREN’T YOU TIRED BY NOW. Nyx/Ignis, Cor/Ignis. Two ships that I never thought I’d ever be into, but a number of very lovely fics changed my mind. 

Nyx/Ignis is like the opposite of Fleurentia for me, with all the anti-monarchy working-class baggage it comes with, which honestly echoes more of my shriveled heart than any of the other mentioned ships here. The amount of political projection I lend to this ship, lol. TOO MUCH. 

Cor/Ignis I blame entirely on very specific authors. I honestly didn’t look twice at Cor throughout the game, but reading fics on this ship has changed my mind about Cor so much. (AND NOW WE HAVE COTTAGECOR, HOW AWESOME IS THAT).

I’m gonna put Noctis/Ignis and Prompto/Ignis here too, because while they’re not my preferred ships, I do read them on occasion. I just tend to be particular about what sort of dynamic they have.

Fluffy pairing:

Prompto/Ignis, hands-down. Fluffiest of fluffs. If I ever need a fluffy pick-me-up, I look up fics for these two from certain authors, they’re diabetes all over.

Gladio/Ignis is a close runner-up, because these two just slotting into each other’s lives so well makes me emotional. Gladio providing the open appreciation Ignis rarely gets in his normal life just slays me.

Angsty pairing:

Ardyn/Ignis, for obvious reasons. Some Gladnis angst also hits the spot for me, especially during WoR.

Favorite poly ship:

OT4′s an obvious answer, but again, tends to not be my favorite ship in general though I do like some of its fics. Cor/Ignis/Gladio post-WoR is something I like to think of from time to time as well.

Weirdest pairing:

I can’t think of one, except maybe Ignis having a bit of an older-man-crush-thing which feels very on brand to me, for some reason.