#his name is 100% an FF13 reference

[chrysalispen]

#FFxivWrite2019 - 2. Bargain

more kidfic, a continuation of the previous: how a boy named Seven takes his first steps to become an adventurer named L’sazha.

@sea-wolf-coast-to-coast

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2. bargain

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"You," the auburn-haired woman said, "are in a great deal of trouble, lad. Do you know what imperial law states the penalty is for theft? Especially for repeat offenders?"

"But Aurelia said it was fine! She said I could come anytime I wa-"

"Don't interrupt adults. It's rude." L'haiya dus Eyahri folded her arms across her bosom and stared him down with her piercing eyes. They were two different colors: one a golden yellow, the other a deep, burnished orange. It made him think of the color the sun made on the stone when it set in the evenings.

For his own part, Sev swallowed back his retort and tried to ignore the throbbing ache of his ear where the woman had dragged him through the back door of the kitchen and into the parlor. Aurelia had mentioned her governess could be strict, but she had completely failed to mention the woman was also terrifying beyond all reason.

"While we are talking about proper decorum, Mistress Laskaris is a scion of the imperial aristocracy, though she be young yet. And as such, you-" she jabbed a finger in his direction, ignoring his cringe, "certainly do not have leave to address her with such familiarity."

"She didn't say anything about any of that."

"She shouldn't have to say anything. You are aan, as I once was myself." Some of the stony disapproval went out of her face, replaced by something like pity. "The rules of this land have changed, boy, and you will need to learn how to navigate them if you've a wish to survive the boot on your back."

"I didn't ask for them," he burst out. Angry tears burned his eyes and his fists clenched at his sides. "I didn't ask for any of this."

"Not a one of us asked for the Garleans to overrun our lands. All you and I can do is learn to live with the hand we are dealt. Do you understand?"

"Yes," he muttered, even though he didn't.

"You can't keep allowing her to pilfer food from the larder to give to you. And sneaking into the Administrative District like this... you're going to get caught, eventually, by someone who will do much worse than give you a lecture."

"You mean the soldiers."

"I mean the soldiers. And the girl's father does not have the sort of personal clout that would put a word in the viceroy's ear. You would be left to languish in the gaol with barely a moment's thought, and that is a hefty penalty to pay simply to hop a fence to the wrong part of the city."

He stared at his feet, at the patterns woven into the nap of the rug.

"How long has this been going on? Have you been taking food back to your family, is that it?"

"No."

"Who for, then?"

"Just myself." He bit his lip and looked up at her. "I don't have any family. It's just me. I don't..."

"Don't what?"

"I-"

"Speak, boy."

"Please don't tell me I can't come back." It came out as a strangled sob. Hot tears dripped onto the carpet and blurred out the patterned nap he'd been trying to trace with his eyes. "She's my friend. My only friend. She’s all I have."

The woman - L'haiya - didn't ridicule him as he'd expected, sobbing over a slip of a girl who he should have hated by all rights. She only watched, and he thought he saw something like understanding in those sunset eyes.

"You have to have a permit to access this part of the city," she said. "A permit issued by legate administration, and signed by Lord van Baelsar."

"I-I don't-"

"Don't interrupt."

He fell silent, sniffling and wiping at his face.

"If you are aan, you must have either a work permit or a work-residency permit, and the latter requires the signature of both the viceroy and the household's comptroller. Fortunately for you, I am the latter." A tight smile crossed her face. "I first came into Lord rem Laskaris' service in Dalmasca and have been with the family ever since."

"Dalmasca?"

She waved her hand.

"A story for another time. But I see here a way we might mutually benefit each other." At the blank look on his face, she released a sigh. "I think we can help each other get the things we want. I want Miss Laskaris to have a friend - one whose world view is not limited to the Empire’s. You need food and shelter, and are in need of a friend yourself, it seems."

Not quite sure where this was leading, he nodded slowly.

"I think," L'haiya said slowly, "that Lord rem Laskaris will be very surprised to hear that a young relative of mine has but recently arrived in the city, having lost his dear mother, one of my cousins. He knows I have been seeking a groundskeeper, so I shall let him know the position has been filled-"

"Miss," he croaked, "thank you, thank you so much-"

"-by young L'sazha here."

Sev blinked. She braced her hands on her hips.

"You must become L'sazha if you want my help. The choice is yours."

"But- but I'm not Dalmascan. I don't even know where that is."

"Garleans know little of the customs of those they conquer," she said. "His lordship is a well educated man and he would still not be able to tell an Ala Mhigan Miqo'te from a Dalmascan Miqo'te, nor will he think or even care to make the distinction. We are naught but savages, and that is all that will matter to him. That indifference, and my story, is the only protection I can offer you. All your basic needs will be provided, and you will have the pleasure of my charge's company whenever it can be spared."

"Aurelia- I mean, Miss Laskaris-"

"Is surprisingly good at keeping secrets when the need arises." Gravely, she lifted a hand and held it out to him. "Those are the terms, lad. Do you accept?"

He stared at it, wondering if he could really give up the boy he'd been so easily. He remembered his mother's hugs, the smell of baking bread- but he also remembered the red cloth, the days of hunger and loneliness, the spare hours when there was nothing at all.

Can I still be Seven if I’m also L'sazha? 

It was a question he didn't know how to answer. Not yet. But maybe he'd find his own way, in the end.

The boy once known as Seven took the hand he was given, and shook it.

"I do."

[yuri-cocaine]

6.2 msq thoughts under the cut!

WIFE CITY WIFE CITY WIFE CITY

ZEROOOOOOO AND IIIIIIII WILL AAAAALLLWAYYYYSS LOVE YOUUUUUUUUU

idk anything abt ff4 so i did some research: zeromus/zemus is actually manipulating golbez in that game. zero...zeromus......whats goin on.......

i also got to thinking about pashtarot, one of the MIA ascians that’s still supposedly alive after ew. in ff12, pashtarot is the scion of light in opposition to the esper zeromus, named after the ff4 zeromus

pashtarot’s title is also knight-star, and the golbez of the 13th is referred to as a knight. idk if there’s any connection here 

completely unrelated trivia, but knight-star is the name of a kind of lily, and the flower that grows out of zero’s eye in drakengard 3 looks like a lily 

primals in the 13th are called eidolons bc summons in ff13 are eidolons!!!!!!! yeahyeaheyah ff13 refrances my beloved

the voidsent are all so endearing and cute ;w; the sin eaters are way scarier bc they’ve become 100% feral, but the voidsent still retain a bit of humanity and the low-rung voidsent act like cartoon minions hehe

is scarmiglione’s mortal form a catboy bc he hisses??? also he’s cowardly, which makes him a.....scaredy cat!! :3

also LMAO at the debuff scarmiglione gives us being called “brain rot”

the blobby quests show the backstory for scarmiglione and barbariccia and it looks like scarg comes from somewhere that looks like lakeland and barbariccia def comes from the 13th’s version of the black shroud. there’s even the same heavenspillar trees!

barbariccia is hot af wlw stay winning this patch

im so enamored with zero i hope she’s not an azem shard bc then wol might absorb her and we will never see her again like ardbert

speaking of azem, the azem crystal entry in unending codex says emet-selch made the crystal out of “lingering affection” ;w;

who is the ancient golbez was killing in the flashback???? i can’t think of any significant ancients in plain weenwoon robes that aren’t already accounted for. there’s some theories floating around that it might be versions of the watcher on the moons of other shards, but if golbez was killing the watcher to free zodiark, why is he making big moves now AFTER zodiark is already dead? 

he mentions a “prison of passivity” which sounds like the moon? is there something else worth getting at on the moon other than zodiark?

he also says “how ironic that the blessed damned should set us free” during the still image of him about to kill a weenwoon so blessed damned could refer to A) memoriates B) echo bearers C) ascians/ancients???

this patch left me with more questions than answers tbh but!! im so glad we met zero i got lonely thinking that the wol doesnt have scions with her all the time and also new old friends hyth and hades are still in the aetherial sea

also re: hades, zero’s meditation so she doesnt forget herself reminds me of how emet rarely took over bodies and if he does he has to mold them to look like how he looked in the ancient world so he doesn’t forget himself. 

Pandaemonium thoughts:

themis is so cute and cool! “say my name” you’re elidibus!!!! 

oh....but then knowing what his fate is.....it makes me so sad again ;-; 

pandaemonium showing up in the present day lifestream makes me think we’ll see elidibus in the aetherial sea for the last segment of the raids! 

also azem is becoming more and more like their own character and less of an extra oc that we can have. they do a ton of stuff outside of player control, and it’s confirmed that they have tabs on wol the whole time

so what was azem doing during the final days???? there’s no way they’ll simply let it happen in order to preserve the timeline and ensure wol’s existence. they must have tried to find a different way, and i think there’s a definitive answer to what they were up to, bc at this point i don’t think we can simply imagine it for ourselves. azem is like.....a fire emblem MU now lol we can headcanon what they look like but ultimately they are their own character

so athena was the shittier parent all along............boi

both the msq and pandae have a theme of how merging yourself with others makes you lose individuality. the voidsents become influenced by other voidsent souls they devour, and lahabrea was infected by athena’s mad scientist proclivities 

we also finally get to see an ancient child! child erich looks just like every other kid npc in the game but now hopefully we can finally end the themis is a minor discourse. themis is young, but he’s not a child!!!

lahabrea seems very.....okay....with wol being azem’s weird familiar. he just stated that creating souls is nigh impossible and yet here we are lying that we’re azem’s familiar. if i were lahabrea i’d go back to amaurot and shake azem for answers 

themis also mentions a belief in gods, but i thought the ancients only conceive of gods purely for the sake of debate ?_? regardless, this is cool and gives more insight into their culture

claudien looking for the crystal that resonated with the one he found and then going missing in azys lla is worrying D: azys lla is where our lahabrea got killed. he’s going to get possessed isnt her

i still think claudien is an erich shard. erich is the “perfect test subject” so if he got away in pandae, then lahabrea/athena will just have to nab his shard. 

[rozalynpaige]

About The Know’s video titled “Final Fantasy 7 Remake & Kingdom Hearts 3 GET HITMANNED?”

On May 26th, 2017, YouTube news channel The Know released a video titled “Final Fantasy 7 Remake & Kingdom Hearts 3 GET HITMANNED?” and... there is so much wrong with it.

Since this post turned out really long, I’m gonna put a TL;DR here at the top so I can put my explanations and sources under a Read More, so as not to clog up y’all’s dashes.

TL;DR:

Kingdom Hearts 3 is not in FF15 Development Hell. The Know saying that Jose compared KH3′s development to FF15′s is actually wholly incorrect, as he did no such thing. He even clarified that he didn’t. Please note, to be fair to The Know: This can be blamed on mistranslation, as the tweet they were referencing was originally in Spanish. They are not the only ones to reach this incorrect conclusion from the mistranslated tweet. So, try not to be harsh on The Know, guys.

Jose most likely was only implying that minor content would be cut from KH3 if it isn’t 100% done by its deadline, not that we would be getting an incomplete game a la FF15. As he said on May 9th, “There is no rush when you delay a game twice.”

“These are games we intend to release in the next three years” does not mean “Three years from now”, The Know. How can you go from reading aloud a tweet that says “2018″ twice to saying “What if it doesn’t come out until 2020 because they said ‘in the next three years’”? I feel that The Know’s comments about KH3 not coming until “2020 or later” are entirely overreaction. While Jose_Strife’s claim of a 2018 release for KH3 is still officially just a rumor, he may not be far off. We’ll just have to wait and see, possibly at E3 2017, if Jose is right about them releasing a KH3 trailer there.

We already knew, since 2015, that the Final Fantasy 7 Remake will be released episodically. How is this news, The Know?? It is not as bad as it seems, however. FF7 Re’s episodes will be full games, a la FF13. FF13 is a series of three games (XIII, XIII-2, and XIII-3), and Square Enix considers it to be “episodic”. Square Enix said that FF7 Re’s “episodic” nature will be based on FF13′s release structure.

I don’t think KH3 will be released episodically. Even if it is, I believe it’ll be like FF7 Re and FF13.

Explanations and sources below the Read More. For a slightly more manageable read, I’ve split up the sections through use of horizontal line and making pseudo-headers with bold text placed between “~~~”.

~~~First...~~~

I will start with their inaccurate information about what Twitter user Jose_Strife said in regards to Kingdom Hearts 3.

If you don’t know who Jose_Strife is or why anyone would consider him an authority on Kingdom Hearts news... In summary, he appears to have connections, and his “leaked info” has been right before. On May 8th, 2017, he made a series of tweets about Kingdom Hearts 3′s current state in development, said there will be a trailer at E3, and even said the planned release year is 2018. These tweets were in Spanish, so English-speakers had to translate them. This led to misunderstandings from faulty translations, and on May 9th, he tweeted clarifications in English. This is where The Know got tripped up.

~~~Comparison to FF15′s development~~~

First off, they claim that Jose_Strife compared KH3′s development to that of Final Fantasy 15. This is completely untrue. The misunderstanding comes from the following tweet:

“Y, para sorpresa de nadie, todo esto es culpa del infierno de desarrollo de Versus.” which got translated to “And, to the surprise of no one, all this is guilt Versus development hell.” (Link)

He refers to FF15 by its original name, Final Fantasy 13 Versus. Somehow, The Know (and admittedly, other people) took this to be him saying KH3 is in the same development hell as FF15. On May 9th, he clarified with this English tweet:

“Reports about kh3 being in development hell like Versus are also inaccurate. I said that the development of Versus was a hell.” (Link)

The impression I’m getting here is that he had been trying to make an off-hand comment about Square Enix’s actions being a result of guilt from FF15′s development... or something. Either way, KH3 is not in FF15 Development Hell, at all.

~~~KH3′s deadline; incomplete release?~~~

Second, The Know insinuated that Jose_Strife said, if KH3 doesn’t meet its deadline in 2018, story content will be cut and we’ll be given an incomplete game. I’m pretty sure this is incorrect, as well, judging by various tweets he posted.

In English, on May 9th: “Square Enix is not rushing KH3. That reports are incorrect.” (Link)

In English, on May 9th: “If they can't finish something when they hit the deadline, it'll be cut. There is no rush when you delay a game twice.” (Link)

He says that KH3 has been delayed twice, which indicates that Square Enix may be trying to avoid cutting major content. This is further supported by the following English tweet from May 9th:

“If Nomura was a Osaka team resident and he set his goals accurately, the game would be out in December like planned.” (Link)

Meaning that Tetsuya Nomura had initially expected KH3 to be released December 2017. When it was realized that it won’t be finished by then, the release date was delayed to sometime in 2018, according to Jose. Of course, this is by far not an official release date and can only be considered a rumor.

Assuming Jose is right, if KH3 was really going to go the way of FF15 - an incomplete release with cut story content that requires downloaded updates to finish - would they really have delayed the release? I think they would have stuck with the December 2017 release, if that was the case. But they seem to want to avoid repeating their mistake with FF15 (that possible “guilt” mentioned earlier).

There was also a Spanish tweet on May 8th that may clarify what kind of content Jose_Strife meant would be cut if KH3 doesn’t meet the deadline:

“Como muchos sabréis, KH2, BBS y 3D tuvieron contenido recortado, por lo que no es nada nuevo en KH. Todo lo planeado no estará en 3, simple.” which got translated to “As many of you know, KH2, BBS and 3D had content cut out, so it is nothing new in KH. The plan will not be in 3, simple” (Link)

Basically, pointing out that previous Kingdom Hearts games had content cut out and it has never been a big deal. There are actually YouTube videos out there where people talk about the games’ cut content, including unused assets that can be found in the coding, and it’s often pretty minor.

Just to put context to what I mean by that:

Content cut from KH2 includes:

Two keyblades, which had models.

Two Heartless, which appeared to have textured models. They were seen in an advertisement.

Not-so-minor: They changed their plans for how the battle against Xemnas would go.

You were going to be able to fight each member of Organization XIII for fun in Olympus Colosseum. This idea was later implemented in the Final Mix version of KH2.

Summons of Woody and Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story. Their untextured models can be found in the game’s code. The best guess for why they were cut is because Square Enix didn’t have the rights to use any Pixar IPs. Hopefully they’ll eventually get the rights to Pixar movies.

This YouTube video talks about this info and has images, including concept art of old ideas for the Xemnas battle.

Content cut from Birth by Sleep includes:

A keyblade, which had a textured model.

An appearance by Pleakley in the Lilo & Stitch world. He has a model, but it has no texture.

Not-so-minor: A world based on The Jungle Book.

Not-so-minor: The Mirage Arena was actually going to have a story, where it was headed by Final Fantasy 8 character Laguna Loire. For whatever reason, Square Enix decided that Laguna would be in either Dissidia 012 or KH: BBS, not both. They went with Dissidia 012.

Cut content from Dream Drop Distance includes:

Plans for a rabbit-like Dream Eater

Sora was going to visit the old Tron world from KH2, while Riku visited the world based on the newer Tron movie.

Sora was going to visit the world based on the old Fantasia movie, while Riku visited one based on Fantasia 2000.

The latter two cut from Dream Drop Distance were due to time constraints, in regards to how long it takes to build a world. Side note: The fact that building a world takes a lot of time may be one reason KH3 is taking so long - Nomura said it has more worlds than KH2 and the worlds are bigger and seamless.

All in all, the content cut from previous KH games did not result in cutting out story content, and they were minor cuts in the grand scheme of each game. This seems to be what Jose is implying will happen if KH3 doesn’t meet its deadline - minor content and ideas cut out, but the story and significant parts still intact.

~~~“KH3 will release in 2018″/“We might not get it until 2020?!”~~~

Seriously, The Know, which is it?

If you ask me, we’ll more likely be getting KH3 in 2018. However, there’s still no official release date (as of May 28th), so Jose_Strife’s claims of 2018 being its release year are still considered mere rumor. That said, it’s looking like Jose’s rumor may not be far from the truth, and like I said earlier, he has a tendency to be right about these things.

KH 1.5+2.5 and KH 2.8 were released for PS4 in 2017. If you get both of these packages, you’ll have the entire current Kingdom Hearts series on one console. Granted, in those packages, 358/2 Days and Re: Coded are cutscene movies and KH X is a movie, but it’s still the whole current series.

Jose claims we’ll be getting a KH3 trailer at E3 2017.

The Kingdom Hearts Facebook and Twitter accounts have been a lot more active since, about, early January this year (2017), posting every one or two days. Whereas, late last year, there were anywhere between 4 and 25 days between posts. Granted, they’re mostly posting about the previous games and asking fans about things like their favorite Drive Form from KH2 or their favorite ice cream item from Birth by Sleep. But the noticeable increase in activity could be them trying to draw up interest and attention, which would make sense if KH3′s release is coming up.

It’s common for a video game company to begin its major promotional campaign about a year before the game releases. If KH3 is due to release sometime in 2018, it would be a good idea to begin its promotional campaign soon. If they do release a trailer at E3 2017, that trailer may announce the release date and kick off the promotional campaign.

As for The Know’s comments about KH3 possibly not being released until 2020 or later...

That was entirely based on Square Enix’s presentation of “These are games we intend to release in the next three years” along with images of the titles for Kingdom Hearts 3, Final Fantasy 7 Remake, and their Marvel IP. That does not, in any way, mean “These are games we intend to release three years from now”, which is the scenario that The Know presented. It means “These are games you can look forward to within the next three years.” 2018 is included in that “next three years”, you know.

So, in my opinion, The Know’s scenario of a 2020 or later release is mere overreaction.

~~~Episodic releases?! Oh no!!~~~

Calm down. We’ve already known since 2015 that the Final Fantasy 7 Remake will be released episodically.

Here’s an article from 2015 that talks about it

And another from 2015

And one from 2016 that explains that it’s not as bad as it sounds

When we hear “episodic release”, I think a lot of us are thinking of Life is Strange and Tell Tale Games (such as, Tell Tale’s The Walking Dead), where you get one game split up into bite-sized pieces that are released individually.

That is not what they’re doing with FF7 Re.

FF7 Re’s episodes will be full games, a la Final Fantasy 13 - one big story, told through a series of full games. And of course they have to do this with FF7 Re. The original FF7 was spread across 3 discs! Though, they were all released at the same time in the same disc case. Ahh, the old days.

Will Kingdom Hearts 3 have an episodic release? Personally, I don’t think so. However, if it does, I’m confident that it will be a case just like FF7 Re and FF13, where each episode is a full game.