#i feel bad for people that did it after ARR was over

[alannah-corvaine]

I just have such strong nostalgia for the ARR relic grind.

I still think about the Northern Thanalan light farm freight train. Like yes I spent literal days there and it was repetitive and boring as fuck.

But I miss it.

A lot of other people were there doing the same thing so there was this sense of camraderie and We're All Stuck In This Hell Together and it was such a social experience.

And running the same 8 dungeons over for the item drops over and over begging RNG and Yoshi-P to have mercy on you, how many firstborn children were offered up in the name of Please Let This Be The Last Run. I hated it.

Still miss it though.

Also there used to be a public spreadsheet for tracking what dungeons had the light bonus.

And when it was Syrcus Tower it was like the heavens opened up and smiled because you knew it was gonna be a relatively short run for the maximum amount of light. If you didn't get fucked by the queue anyway.

Otherwise you were running Garuda HM 200+ times in a row (either by queueing or running with a PF group because you couldnt solo it yet (random beastly WAR outliers dont count)) and you liked it. Now nobody even remembers the old fast burn fight strats and it's so sad.

Of course, a lot of people also had a terrible time with the initial atma grind but those people were not me because for once I was a lucky bitch. Thank you RNGesus ����

We don't talk about the stupid books and how long those took.

The whole thing was an awful grueling very expensive slog and I miss it so much.

[voidsentprinces]

Shadowbringers took Emet-Selch from ARR Lahabrea levels of mustache twirling, Saturday Morning Cartoon villain. All monologue and evil laughter while his evil boobs malevolently boobed down the Post-Stormblood's darker breast boobily and changed him into an actual character. And the first Ascian who actually spent time with us in a more meaningful way. Flipping them from one note, evil that must be defeated. To one we came to understand and a group that connected to our character's literal past reincarnation that we do not recall.

Additionally, atmospherically, Shadowbringers brought us to Post-Apocalypse that wasn't 28 Days Later, Mad Max or Rapture-esque. While pulling from all those series. Its a world 100 years after the Apocalypse was averted but still causes the world to live in its shadow.

This expansion seems to be the beloved darling of the community. Even topping Heavensward in most regards. But, also, personally, I feel like Shadowbringers is only good Shadowbringers for the last three levels of it. And rest is just so much set dressing and putting together the A-Team. For lack of a better comparison, 70 - 79 is our Avengers Infinity War. We get the band back together, fight off the big bad and actually almost win. But then we lose and we lose HARD and we spend a handful of quests somewhat wandering aimlessly until we resolve to go after the one who took victory away from us. That lead up, to me, is alright but the story didn't really HIT, outside of my long winded story analysis reasons, until we reach Amaurot.

Even its Post-Patches seemed to struggle to figure out what to do. Having Elidibus bounce hither and thither without the Scions really trying to stop him because, "We don't know what he is up to." which was counterproductively frustrating to me. You are literally not stopping and banishing the villain so the plot can happen. Alisaie literally kept tabs on the Warriors of Darkness because we were focusing on dealing with Nidhogg. Why the hell couldn't they have kept tracked and harassed Elidibus at least? But no, the sky starts to shower stars and then it is go time. And while To the Edge and the Seat of Sacrifice are awesome. My suspense of disbelief that our Scions would just shrug and only off screen keep tags on lesser Ascians and then just be like, "I dunno fellas, this here Elidibus is tricky." strikes me as dense. Like, this is denser than a dead star. They let things happen for the sake of it happening.

Bottomline, there is some wiggle room here. Shadowbringers may be the community's darling. But I wonder if, its just because we remember the super highs of Amaurot to Seat of Sacrifice. And kind of brush things like; the Ran'jit fights, the Supernatural problem of Lucifer's Cousin's Roommate being the big bad in Lunar Primals, Thancred's treatment of Ryne and Speedrunning him some redemption in the Amh Araeng second half.

I'm rambling now, as a whole. Did you enjoy Shadowbringers? If not why? Vote your answer and leave your opinion in the tags if you'd like.

Note: I am aware that the Post-Patch production was stunted by the COVID Pandemic. Still, I'd like your opinion about anything you felt lacking. Even with that dead whale hanging over the entire thing.

[elizabethrobertajones]

Frog Time

I'm so bad at tagging people so consider yourself tagged if you want to be :)

B A S I C S

Name: Bounding Frog (redacted roe language name because I forgor)

Nicknames: Frog

Age: 18-22 (ARR-EW)

Nameday: 23rd Sun of the 5th Umbral Moon

Race: Hellsguard Roegadyn

Gender: cis woman

Sexuality: Bi

Profession: She has a summer job working with the hippo riders, although that doesn't pay as well as adventuring, so she's looking forward to Dawntrail and doing more than delivery runs.

P H Y S I C A L     A S P E C T S

Hair: maroon and light pink

Eyes: maroon and light pink

Skin: brown

Tattoos/scars: I headcanon the single choice of tattoos per face for roes are meaningful somehow - I chose coming of age, getting her Adventurer Name, and leaving home, so those were fresh porple swoops over her cheekbones in ARR :D I've only known her as long as she's been Frog and looked like this.

The scar on her nose is from being underhand punted like a rugby ball by an older brother back when she was an orb shaped child. Since adventuring the regular healing has stopped her getting too scarred up from any misadventures.

F A M I L Y

Parents: Notable members of their remote mountain community, maintaining an important set of Arcanima wards around an aetherically dangerous geological fault. Of course, they're good at their jobs so this wasn't very scary as an upbringing. They're a lovely couple and make a hell of a bowl of soup. All else I know about them is they're very supportive and Frog writes to them regularly.

Siblings: like six rowdy older brothers. She was very spoiled by this squad of bodyguards tbh. (Ignore the previous comment about one of them maiming her, they DO love her even if they saw her as a cannonball under other circumstances.) A couple of them left to be mercenaries, uncertain if for Garlemald - they don't write home as thoroughly.

Grandparents: Probably, tbh. We're getting out of my limited perception of Hellguard culture and history but I think I can say the remoteness of their village is an excuse for nothing too terrible to have happened to any of them :P

In-laws and other: She was sort of starting to think of Edmont as a potential in-law and he began acting like it after Events so she's acquired some without marrying. He DID also adopt Aymeric informally, so now she's courting him it's coming back around!

Pets: Multiple, even not counting animal sanctuary beasties. Some she drops by to visit where they're being looked after once she'd raised them or sheltered them for a while (the baby hippo was donated to the hippo riders thankfully before he got too large and hungry for example). Others live at the free company house getting spoiled by the staff. The free company is named after the baby tapir who is the best and cutest. :)

S K I L L S

Abilities: In character, she has yet to find something she isn't good at after a couple of false starts. (ooc is much more of a mess depending on my ability) As an all-jobs all-crafts all-gatherers weirdo she's genuinely alarming to contemplate.

Hobbies: crafting/gathering/fishing is more of a wind down respite than a career calling for her. Canonically she's finished the fishing log... ooc I haven't by a long shot :P She also loves visiting bars and pubs across the world that she's visited to drop in on old friends, or go on foodie tours of places she's liberated. They stole G'raha being a foodie traveller in the dawntrail trailer from her actually.

Kinda always wanted to do a in character review of all the drinking establishments in game.

T R A I T S

Most positive trait: determination and everything that went into being strong enough to do the end walk, which did feel like a culmination of all the positive things they ascribe to the WoL. Since she's living the life of box art Meteor with no plot deviations or alterations except what I can put into the downtime and spaces between cutscenes, I can't argue with times when they REALLY show the admirable heart of the WoL.

Most negative trait: She's not going to say no, so if you need a favour just stand near where she wanders by routinely and look forlorn and you WILL get helped to within an inch of your life.

L I K E S

Colors: royal purple, dark reds and deep blues

Smells: fresh baked anything. Probably also the fresh morning smell when she gets up at ass o'clock to do stretches or whatever gross things morning people do.

Textures: G'raha ears >:)

Drinks: black coffee, red wine, milky tea

O T H E R    D E T A I L S

Smokes: tried it with the Vath and hated it. Still has no idea if Fogweed is a drug or not.

Drinks: socially and merrily with a bottomless liver.

Drugs: nothing harder than caffeine and alcohol.

Mount Issuance: her sweet blue chocobo is called Turbulence and threw off everyone who attempted to ride him before that.

Been Arrested: not outside MSQ run ins with the law

[dainesanddaffodils]

Y’all uh. holy fucking shit I’ve finished Endwalker! So here we have the last (pre-Dawntrial) breakdown of Cimorene’s feelings on her friends and comrades!

Thoughts post-ARR | Thoughts post-Heavensward | Thoughts post-Stormblood | Thoughts post-Shadowbringers

And now, without further ado, Cimorene Greystone’s post-Endwalker relationship vibes!!

Estinien - after some awkward dancing around it - that everyone picked up on - they’re finally officially lovers (after he came to her room. you know the moment.) Cimorene truly loves everything about this ridiculous man, trusts and understands and respects him and knows he feels the same - but also neither is really used to a Conventional Courtship so currently things are a little touch-and-go as they figure out where they want to go moving forward

Alphinaud - her dearest and most beloved baby brother now and always. There is nothing more to say; he means everything to her.

Alisaie - her dearest and darlingest baby sister now and always. Deserves the fucking world and also A Break.

Thancred - the work friend to real friend pipeline kicked into high gear this expansion, though admittedly for a minute it was much more on his side than hers (and took her off guard when she realized how close he considered them). Now he’s a bestie and she cares deeply for him.

Urianger - you did it buddy! you got Cimorene to care about you! Maybe if, as you yourself point out, you’d talked to her before now it would have been sooner! Nonetheless better late than never and she looks upon you - and your relationship with Thancred - with fondness.

Y'shtola - bestie now and always. Cimorene loved getting to spend more time with her while dealing with the Thirteenth. She thinks her world-hopping ambitions are a bit Insane, but like, affectionately - and also if anyone could pull it off, it's her. She can't wait to see where she goes, figuratively and literally.

Krile - That's! Cimorene's! mom! She loves her very much and she is thrilled beyond words that she's going to be on their next adventure, properly. It's what she fucking deserves! (but also nothing is allowed to hurt her or Cimorene will riot)

G'raha - is a lot more chill with him now that he, himself, is a little more chill around her. I'd still say she considers him like a close work friend, but like, she's open to that growing down the line

Tataru - absolute fucking queen who 100% deserves her own trade empire. Cimorene has her back for anything she needs going forward

Vrtra - Cimorene loves him so so so much. Her strong attachment to Midgardsormr means that she met Vrtra and felt immediately protective of him (and he, in turn, of her). Conversely, however, she never feels… at ease around Varshahn because he constantly gives her Uncanny Valley Heebie-Jeebies, even though she knows it’s Vrtra. In spite of this she still cares deeply and would do anything for him.

Matsya - BEST BOYYYYYYYY full stop lmao

Nidhana - Cimorene is like, ever so slightly intimidated by her and her scientific enthusiasm but like, also not in a bad way. Cimorene's just not science-minded at all so half of the things she says go very much over her head. But she's so sweet that it doesn't really matter in the end

Hythlodaeus - i the player love him. Cimorene loves him. Cimorene’s Azem loved him. Most beloved of characters of all time methinks

Hades - Cimorene’s Azem’s relationship with him is that one post that’s like “ships that appear unhealthy but when you consider the two people involved this is actually the healthiest thing for them” and that colors a lot of how Cimorene interacts with him. Like this constant “fuck you” said with unbearable levels of affection.

Venat - Cimorene never, uh, fully trusted Hydaelyn and she feels really bad about that now lmao Venat is so good and Cimorene now holds her in such high esteem like. This woman is Everything.

Hermes - She feels bad for him... like, she does, really. But also. Your hubris, man. Your hubris. She watches him unintentionally orchestrate his and his world's downfall with such precision and is helpless to stop him and so it's never hate. it's not even pity. It's just a sad, tired resignation.

Meteion - baby girl you never asked for this. you just wanted flowers and candy apples and were instead given this man's depression and existential dread and an insane amount of unstable untested power. this wasn't your fault. like... it was, but Cimorene never blames her.

Themis - *DISTRESSED SOBBING*

Zenos - no amount of philosophical posturing is going to convince Cimorene that you have anything whatsoever in common - or even make you interesting to her. she does not think about you at all. leave her alone.

Zero - took all of 5 seconds for Cimorene to say 'this is my sibling now.' She's very protective of her but also is always worried she'll say the wrong thing while teaching her the World - and is glad others have also hopped in to help in that regard. Is so proud of her growth and her heart. Wants only good things for her now and always

… and that’s all she wrote!! This is kinda insane to think about really

See you all in Dawntrail!!

[jazzpostsrandomthings]

I had to finish some pre-exam homework today and then stomach ache was killing me so I wasn't able to complete Journey Retold entry today, sorry ;w; I will compensate with some fun trivia for my WoLs because I feel like doing it.

Pi Peataan

Pi is Sharlayan by birth but he doesn't remember much of his early childhood here because he was very little;

Pi's birthname is Piyu Lazuyu;

He is 97 cm tall (postEW);

He is a good swimmer;

He plays a flute (picks it up preSB and gets better at it during ShB);

He likes to keep his diary (in addition to sending the letters to his family that usually recount everything that happened within a week);

He also scribbles small drawings at the sides of his letters and sometimes diary pages. Not nearly as good as Alphinaud at art, but they are not an eyesore either;

Pi likes citrus fruits, specifically the oranges;

His favorite flower is a dandelion and his favorite bird is a doman magpie;

Pi wore a few different hats over the course of his journeys (I will probably make a funny post about the hats he officially wore in the story itself tomorrow).

Haru Hataori

Haru looks almost the same as his mom (horn type, tail type, eyes (partially)) and he only got the skin color from his father;

His mom expected him in Spring and wanted to name him Haru;

He is 203 cm tall;

Haru has heterochromia;

He was taught to sew since he was 6, and despite of mainly being a fighter, he is actually great at making clothes;

He was growing pretty much unsupervised which resulted in him growing up to be the dork everyone knows him as now;

That also resulted in him getting a book about the brave Ishgardian Dragoons which inspired him to pursue the craft;

Haru started to dye his hair and do makeup in his teens;

His family is quite rich and thus he has bad spending habits;

He can draw patterns pretty well but he is awful at drawing people and animals;

He is very bad at wistanding cold (even if he says otherwise);

He wore new clothes designed by his father every time He met Pi from ARR to SB. He stopped doing that after he journeyed to Eorzea on his own near the end of SB;

Haru likes sweets and spicy food but he doesn't overindulge in them and most of his meals are actually quite healty;

His favorite flower is a sakura flower and he carries around a sown trinket shaped like one everywhere he goes;

His favorite animal is a chocobo. He absolutely adores the horsebirds, especially his girl Chyunchyun :)

Also did you know that his chocobo laid eggs after Endwalker---

[nosafeharbour]

Encyclopedia Eorzea III: Werlyt thoughts

How is this the second Werlyt thoughts/reactions post I've written in 2023. The Sorrow of Werlyt ended over 2 years ago

This is literally just Werlyt (so also Gaius and Raen) musings, I'll actually finish reading the rest of the book later...

It's beautiful. I've looked at this for 24 hours now

Holy shit, all this Werlyt lore… Gaius was viceroy of Werlyt for TWENTY YEARS?? In-game it sounded like he led the invasion during the epidemic 10 years ago, when you see him adopt the Raen kids, but otherwise wasn’t too deeply involved... but it was under Garlean control since the very start of the Empire? Gaius came into the picture midway through, after it briefly rebelled.

"A young Gaius van Baelsar" capturing Werlyt when he was 30... I guess him being legatus in his thirties makes complete sense with the timeframe of Ala Mhigo, but having it spelled out so plainly… wow

Thinking about the memory of Gaius in the Emerald Weapon trial being a 30 year old is so funny. You jumped-up little shit

It’s hard to pin down dates because everything is measured in years after Werlyt was taken, without it ever giving a starting date, but you can work backwards… the rebellion 30 years post conquering + 20 years of Gaius as viceroy + 5 years before ARR when Gaius begins advance on Eorzea in 1.0 = 55 years ago. The Empire is also 55 years old, which lines up:

Between 55 and 455 years ago: Werlyt is founded (happens after Gyr Abania is unified, but Werlyt is still described as “newly formed” when it was conquered, so definitely closer on the scale to 55)

55 years ago: Werlyt falls under the Empire

25 years ago: While the Empire is stretched thin conquering the Far East, the Werlytians stage a revolt and retake the province. Gaius comes in to quell it, and becomes viceroy after the previous one is killed (Gaius is 31 yrs old) (This is also the year Doma is conquered, so that also lines up)

20 years ago: Ala Mhigo is conquered, Gaius is also made viceroy there

15 years ago: Gaius’s fuckup at the Battle of Silvertear, and when he starts to lose favour in Garlemald

10 years ago: The epidemic, when the Raen kids are orphaned

5 years ago: Gaius leaves for the invasion of Eorzea (1.0), which eventually leaves Valens as viceroy after the events at the Praetorium

Did the epidemic happen under his watch? The flashback of him first reaching out to Allie and Alfonse makes sense to be 10 years ago, but the energy of that scene was very much “arriving to a situation” and not that… it was already under his jurisdiction…

I don’t know how I feel about the change of context here, at least in my understanding of it. It honestly feels a bit of a shock that Werlyt has been under the Empire for 50 years? They never stated any specific years, but I always read it as a decade or so? Long enough for it to become their new lives, short enough that people still remember life before. Gaius coming in to “save” Werlyt from the epidemic by way of conquering it was this mixed bag that ultimately did build towards his character thesis of “good intentions stuck in a bad system”. To think the epidemic technically happened under his watch is new and strange, I dunno. I need to replay it with this in mind to see if it checks out

Especially with that one post-Emerald scene where Gaius is all “Things were shit in MY legion? But I ran a tight ship” lmao… I know a lot of people take the piss out of that scene thinking that he was only discovering racism for the first time in his life (he literally has scenes in ARR about stamping out discrimination in his Legion), but I always read it as his ego meaning he believed that his influence and word over his Legion was immovable, that nobody would behave that way because he told them not to. It complements his view that he always thought he was doing good, but not yet having had the blinders of being a cog in the fascist system removed. These things will always still happen. It would be good to see that scene again, with all this context of the epidemic happening during his time as viceroy... If the times are all correct, I feel like him being stretched thin between Ala Mhigo and Werlyt is a part of this

The “all the good Gaius had achieved” line in regards to him building up Werlyt as viceroy makes me wince, while I do like engaging with Gaius having good intentions, just talking about all the good he did and not the fact it was still a conquered territory + the epidemic? Even I’m balking at that, and I’m a Gaius enjoyer. Slow down here. I’m looking at the artwork of destroyed Werlyt from when he re-conquered it right below this paragraph LOL

The Raen of Werlyt migrating there directly from Corvos, to the point that their religion and food is still Corvosi-inspired... seeing it spelled out so plainly after this incredibly fleeting and brief image from FanFest... wow. I get to feel even more insane over Corvos, now

Really curious about the timeframes, still. If Raen only arrived in Werlyt a little over 50 years ago, in one fell swoop they have turned Albi's Welytian grandmother into a Corvosi grandmother

Werlyt religion being polytheistic, seemingly a fusion of the Twelve and Corvosi religion… I NEED TO KNOW ABOUT CORVOS…

I love the kind of demographics you get from these books:

Werlyt currently undergoing negotiations with Ul’dah for ceruleum, so they can continue mining… Gaius overseeing said negotiations in Ul’dah, Ul’dah is Albi’s turf... Thinking about them in Ul’dah together. It’s actually so fun thinking about Gaius visiting so many Eorzean city states as an envoy. He’s helping, but also he’s keeping his god damn head down (or in a chicken suit)

Werlyt’s main food being stewed dishes is just another thing that lines up with what I imagined, mostly just because it’s what I figured Albi and Gaius would eat a lot (both from cold places, they both know how to cook simple stuff but aren’t master culinarians)

Cheese being a major export to Garlemald, and there being a major cheese presence in Garlemald already (via Ovibos milk, so native to Garlemald itself and not all imported)... cheese lore

There’s way too much dairy talk in here, “dairy enthusiasts” pleeeeasseeee stop making my favourite place like this when I’m lactose intolerent

After The Sorrow of Werlyt says that Terncliff is too high above the ocean to fish, but then Tataru’s Grand Endeavour had orphans collecting seashells, I was so confused on whether or not Werlyt has beaches or not. I’m glad they clarified that there are a few harbours amongst the cliffs.

All of this geography and agriculture lore is neat just in that it’s showing that Werlyt is really quite big. You never really get a full sense of scale in-game, between Terncliff and what we see of the main Werlyt town (?) during Emerald trial/post-Diamond

We have three Werlytian surnames – Hunte, Souther, and Horne!

Severa Souther and Valdeaulin Ganathain… I care them. Severa is only 23, bless her heart. Valdeaulin being 48 is just exactly what I’d assumed/hoped.

The leader of the interim government is Talbot Hunte. Have we seen him..? I’m picturing the Revolutionary Commander in my mind when I read that, but I don't think he was ever named

All of these Werlytian names (surnames, and Hyur first names) have a Germanic feel, while Severa and the Raen kids have Latin-based names. The Raen in Werlyt originate from Corvos, so I am hoping it’s because they are sticking to Corvos being the root of the Latin-based Garlean language, as it should be? Severa had a Garlean parent? Hmm

Bereft at the casual mention of “the bravery of the Baelsars and the Warrior of Light”… THE BAELSARS

Kind of sad they straight-coded Milisandia by giving her a crush on Alfonse. That lizard was one of the gay ones :/

I think Gaius is possibly the first character to get a second Encyclopedia Eorzea entry. I was hoping he would, but had low expectations bc they've never given any other recurring characters new entries... but they did this, for me

“... and though his quest for vengeance would claim the masks of Altima and Deudalaphon, the hunt for Ascians was quickly set aside when he learned of the Empire’s plans to produce the noxious weapon Black Rose” – Black Rose is important and thematic, but seeing the Ascian plot dropped so abruptly even in this book is breaking my heart all over again LMAO

So extremely cool that there are 6 pages just about the Ultima Weapons!! Including the Allagan iterations, the original ARR project, and the second project during Werlyt

I do like the line “According to the testimony of Gaius Baelsar…” in the section about the Ultima Weapon, about how Lahabrea guided them to it. Gaius sat and gave testimony to the Alliance about a lot of things, huh!

I also like the confirmation that Proto-Ultima is the last iteration the Allagans made, and that all the visuals of the Ultima Weapon are magitek and Garlean-made. It’s hard to tell, since the earlier Ultima Warrior has them too, but the fact that Ultima Weapon’s horns look like Gaius’s helmet means it was done on purpose… kinda moe. Nero trying to impress his legatus

Interesting that the Heart of Sabik is mentioned so clearly, and that Valens knew he couldn’t recreate it… but still acquired a piece of Ivalician auracite to base the Oversoul system on. Reading this all post-Pandaemonium is enlightening

Seems that the “third eye” looking chestpiece on the cuirass of legatus armour is the synthetic auracite they used for the same purpose as soul crystals! Having a visual on that is neat

Another extremely obvious hint that Nero made the second (red) G-Savior, which only makes Gaius not finding out he was still alive until Tataru’s Grand Endeavour so funny/weird. Nero literally must have been in Werlyt!! The Ironworks were talking about him constantly! Gaius, are you stupid! (yeah)

[adacatlovelace]

I feel like the whole point of 40k is that "there are no good factions" becuase eternal conflict brings out the worst in everyone and violence only leads to more violence.

The Old ones refused to help the Necrontyr, who, in desperation and anger, turned to the C'tan to destroy the old ones and what they got was slavery to new gods and biotransferance robbing them of their souls followed by the bloodiest war in the galaxy.

As a result of the war in heaven, the eldar began to populate as far and wide as possible to survive but their numbers were so great their collective psychic energy gave birth to a new entity of the warp (which likely wouldve still happened had they not been full murderfuck mode, if not slaanesh than some other chaos god) which resulting in the fall of their empire

As a result of this, the Dark Age of technology came to an end and old night began. I want to note that human colonies are found all over the galaxy, implying a level of coexistance with xenos. Hualmanity is then at its lowest point, when The Big Golden Fascist appears and subjugates Terra with his big mutant army. Like, think of that for a moment, in most other scifi, usually this dude would be main antagonist.

Then, not content with just "uniting" Terra, he creates even more powerful supersoldiers and 20, I mean 18 sons. (Keep this in mind, this will be important later)

To understand WHY the Horus Heresy happened, lets look at the Orks. They are a race recklessly made by the old ones exclusively for battle, with no regard for how they will exist after the fighting is done. Sound familiar? Like the 20,000 mutant monster people the emporer made?

I commonly see "The Emporer is a bad dad" but I disagree. He wasnt a father at all, he was a master with the rest of humanity as his slaves. A "Master of Mankind" if you will. At no poimt did he ever form a paternal relationship with anyone EXCEPT Horus.

Look at what he did the thunder warriors. Did he try to use his genius to help cure them? No he threw them away.

Look at what he did to Magnus, Pertarabo, Mortarian, Angron, Fulgrim, and Lorgar.

Look at what he did to The Lost and Forgotten.

Look at how Konrad Curze is TERRIFIED of him and what he would do if he found out about his visions.

Are these the actions of a father or a slaver? Horus KNEW this and was desperate to fimd another way after watching so many of his sons die on Murder and the failed diplomacy with the Interex. And that was all chaos needed, as thats what Chaos does, preys on the desperate. And as a result, the galaxy burned, the emporer was slain, and after the horrors of The Horus Heresy and the sudden abscence of the figure who held so much power of them, the imperial cult began to rise to power, leading to the modern imperium and all its evil.

Chaos itself is just a reflection of the galaxy, full of violence, lies, death and pain. The only differance is A. They prey on the material plane and B. They can put aside "The Great Game" for a few moments and work together to seriously fuck up the galaxy.

If this wasnt bad enough, the tyranids began to invade the galaxy. They are a true threat to not only the imperium, but the galaxy as a whole who are too busy fighting each other to deal with them.

Then you have the Tau, who may be the best morally, but they are such a new species that they are basically a tiny speck in the galaxy surrounded by Tyranids, Orks, The Imperium, The Forces of Chaos, Eldar, and Dark Eldar, all of which either dont use diplomacy or arr so violent and mistrusting that any diplomatic action that happens is cut shortand as a result they have almost no influence on the galaxy

Its not "There are no good guys in 40k" its "There cannot be good guys when there is only war."

Like imagine how quickly the fighting would be over the necrons, imperium, eldar and dark eldar realized how fucked they are and that they NEED to band together to defend their home before they are consumed by the tyranids and chaos. Hell they could even get the orks on board just for the chance to be a part of the biggest goddamn WAAAAGH the galaxy has ever known.

[snow-system-wol]

A conversation after the lv89 trial. (And perhaps some things that have been left unaddressed since ARR)

Ao3

By the time they got back to the Annex, they were quite ready to lie down. S'ria was a bit dead on his feet, and G'raha – well, he was hardly as used to doing battle with gods and clearly suffered for it. S'ria was sure many of the others felt similar.

There were no words spoken as G'raha followed S'ria into his room, the implicit understanding that such a thing would be okay. G'raha was more than a little surprised when S'ria led him towards his bed – aside from the highly temperature-dependent choices in Garlemald, S'ria had seemed to often hate G'raha being near his bed. Back in Mor Dhona, they'd never so much as lounged on S'ria's bed, and now seemed like a time he'd be more uncomfortable than he'd been in the past.

But if cold was enough to override that fear, perhaps other concerns of comfort were as well – because S'ria bonelessly flopped onto the bed with a displeased grunt, stretching out on the soft mattress. He curled up a bit to make space, patting the spot next to him.

G'raha sat gently, sliding back until he could lean against the wall. He grabbed a pillow to tuck behind his back, sighing in relief at finally relaxing. S'ria inched closer and cautiously laid his head on G'raha's thigh, so slowly that G'raha felt that he'd jerk his head away if G'raha so much as moved. The moment passed without incident, S'ria settling in comfortably. G'raha's hand twitched at his side.

“You can touch, as long as you're careful.”

G'raha's fingers landed cautiously by S'ria's temple, brushing strands of hair out of the way. His hand migrated further into S'ria's hair, combing gently through it. A soft pleased sound escaped S'ria's throat and they both stayed like that, quiet and half-awake, for a long time.

S'ria eventually spoke up, tired but relatively focused. “She said that She wanted to ask me Her question again, after we fought… She didn't. I wonder if She just ran out of time, or if She…”. He shook his head. “I don't know.”

“If I may ask, what was the question she meant?”

“Back in Elpis, Venat and I had talked, but we got cut off… but she asked if my journey had been… good. If it had been worthwhile?”

G'raha sucked in a quick breath, fingers briefly pausing. “Did you have an answer ready, if She had asked you today?”

“It's not a difficult thing to answer. You can probably guess.” S'ria huffed out a strange noise that was close to a laugh. “Has it been good? Absolutely fucking not.”

He curled up into a tighter ball, head still on G'raha's leg. “It's been so painful. But worthwhile? I would not have met you, first off. Nor Alisaie and Alphinaud, nor all the rest of the Scions. And The Twelve know how many people live that would have been dead without the Scions… I wish with all my heart that things could've been easier, and it's hard to imagine shaking off the awful feeling that hangs over me, but… I'd do it all again, if I had the choice.” 

G'raha resumed petting his hair, but didn't speak for some time longer. 

“Ah, I… I see. Thank you for answering.” G'raha's voice was distinctly choked up.

“Was that a bad answer?”

“No… it was not.”

There were often moments that S'ria struggled to read other people, especially without Menphina's help, but he could accept not fully understanding G'raha's reaction as long as it was an okay one.

They both relaxed for a long while, nearly silent except for birdsong and distant voices. 

Eventually, it did occur to S'ria that he had something he'd like to ask of his own. 

“I don't want to make you feel doubt or anything, but can I ask a question?”

“By all means?”

He paused, trying to formulate an acceptable way to phrase it. “Are you scared? Of what comes next, or of whether we'll fail?”

G'raha laughed, a small humorless thing. “Who would not be? I am only a man, of course I am afraid. Of faltering, of losing you, of meeting my own end  – just because I have the resolve to try does not mean I am without doubt.” He sighed. “And what of yourself? I would not presume to think you immune to such things.”

S'ria shook his head, ruffling his hair where his head rested on G'raha's leg. “No, I'm terrified. One mistake will cost us the world, and I am on… some damn wobbly legs, mentally speaking. I don't want to fail. That’s the part that scares me, not so much the idea of dying.”

“Dying…doesn't scare you?”

There was an implicit question there, one S'ria recognized and wanted to quickly ward off. “No, I – I want to live. And even when that's difficult, I want to want to live. I'm not…giving up, don't worry.” S'ria took a few slow breaths. “It just feels different when everything is at stake – somehow natural, if I'm meant to be playing a role. It would not be me dying out there, but rather the Warrior of Light. Does that make sense? Inevitable… It isn't like it'd be the first time.”

G'raha's hand had stilled completely, legs tense under S'ria's weight. “Pardon? ”

S'ria cautiously pulled himself upright, G'raha's hand losing contact with him. “To what part?”

G'raha closed his eyes, inhaling sharply. “Absolutely every godsdamned – no, I – it wouldn't be the first time?”

S'ria understood he'd misstepped, even if unclear on the exact directions, but he did hold one small regret – or rather, a realization.

“...Ah. Nobody knew.” And perhaps he would prefer not to have brought this up, upon remembering that. Dredging up something wholly unnecessary that was clearly upsetting G'raha.

S'ria made a kind of helpless gesture. “It was years ago, when I wasn't so close with the other Scions, not long before I first met you. Ultima – and then Lahabrea. My heart stopped beating. And then it restarted, and I was none the worse for wear, really. I was fine, and wasn't all that comfortable being medically checked over by any of them – so I didn't feel the need to say that it'd happened.”

“Ria...you truly don't see anything wrong with that, do you?”

He risked a glance at G'raha's face. “You're angry.”

“Yes. Not at you so much, but… at the way the Scions were before I had met them. I had read numerous accounts about your victories against the Garlean Empire in the early days, and – none of those ever spoke about you like you were a person and I had thought that – I had hoped the impression it gave of the Scions was wrong.”

S'ria laid his hand over where G'raha's had curled into a fist. “I wasn't entirely unaware or unbothered. Why do you think I spent such long stretches staying with the expedition when there was no new progress instead of returning to the Rising Stones?” He offered G'raha a small smile. “That, and the company was agreeable – once you got used to me being there. And you always asked me to help, never just telling me what my role was to be. I won't lie, I needed it at the time.”

A hint of color found its way into G'raha's face. “Surely I was not… that nervous around you at first, was I?” G'raha shook his head. “On second thought, do not answer that. I am…just glad that I could help, even if I did not quite realize at the time. If I may ask – if you were unhappy being with the Scions, why did you stay?”

“At a certain point, it felt like there was no choice. And then everything happened with the banquet, and – suddenly a few of them were like family to me. Even if I remained the Warrior of Light outside of the Scions, I was actually S'ria within our group.” S'ria let a small smile slip onto his face. “And then it didn't really matter so much the way things used to be or the expectations placed on me, it just became another part of my life.”

G'raha sighed, a deeply exhausted thing. “I…will not press this matter anymore right now, much as I would like to. No, far more important is just for me to say – S'ria or Warrior of Light, there is no heroic role that would make your death inevitable." He looked up to meet S'ria's eyes. "Please just, leave the title behind here in Sharlayan – let it just be S'ria with us in Ultima Thule – a man, not a martyr.”

S'ria's hand tightened over G'raha's. “I… Raha, I don't know what to respond to that.”

“Then you do not need to.” G'raha shuffled closer, cautiously leaning into S'ria's side when he didn't move away. “I simply wanted you to hear it.”

S'ria wrapped his arm around G'raha, comfortably pressed together. “And I'll try to keep it in mind.”

[jonathancjones]

! 槍 - 𝐘𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐡 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮! ♡︎

When Johnny thought of anyone in the world who could possibly have feelings for him, the name 'Yaridovich' didn't pop up at all. Didn't this guy hate every fiber in his being? He only wanted to kick his tail fins in to get the star piece…right?

Surely, the only thing they had was a rivalry and nothing more…

Johnny didn't want to think about how it made sense in a twisted way, but he now found himself wandering along that trail of thought.

No matter how bad he beat the spear, he kept coming back for more. He even ventured into the waters he whined about rusting his fragile little body to obtain it. At first, the shark thought he was merely doing it for his boss. After all, he droned on and on about him when they met, so bad that Johnny could smell the scent of Smithy's shoes on his breath.

But…Maybe there was more to it…

Despite the water rusting him, he braved it to go and see him multiple times, knowing the pirate would make his face concave. Johnny had thought of him as no more than a stubborn insect that simply wouldn't die who loved his authority figure…a little TOO much for his liking.

Johnny wouldn't deny that in the recesses of his mind, he found fighting the spear fun. The adrenaline rush was just what he needed to quench his growing thirst for brawling. Yaridovich fought like he had something to prove, something to live for, and that was precisely the kind of fight the pirate was looking for. Stubborn and tenacious…but was it really for Smithy…or was it for him?

He had to laugh. Surely, he was going insane! The pirate was simply twisting their heated rivalry into something much more! What was that saying? People who pick on you secretly like you? Something to that extent.

"Is that so…" He drug his hand along the snout of the sharkskin. His voice was laced in deep thought.

Johnny hated that he couldn't get the notion out of his head now.

"Surely not! He's too into his boss for that malarkey. I'm just an obstacle in his way!" Johnny laughed, obnoxiously loud, as if to drown out any thought that dared him to delve deeper into the subject. "Why would he have a crush on me? That's just the rambling of an insane person, arr, harr-harr!"

He'd tell himself that, anyway.

"Even if that were true, we both know it's doomed from the start. I wonder if he got tired of tastin' all that boot he's been licking! Fwahaha! Wait…he did say he had a thing for authority figures…" He shook that idea right out of his head.

"Arr! I'm gonna skewer him when I see him next for making me think about him like this! He's not gonna get one over on Ol' Jonathan Jones!"

[plounce]

as someone whos played ffxiv for almost 8 years now i gotta say its SO exciting to see youve started playing. i really enjoy seeing you talking about trc and kurofai (unfortunately i know absolutely nothing about xmen so it goes right over my head) and so im excited to see any thoughts you have about the ffxiv story and characters!

HEEHEEHEE. most of my ffxivposting has been in a thread on my twt priv, but after the recent botslaughter im gonna try and move it over here.

im at the beginning of stormblood. here are my thoughts:

as i said previously, in ARR i was very meh on alphinaud. i have a grudge against his ARR va (due to critical role), i was like "WHY are we starting a PARAMILITARY ORG", and i was kind of like hey. im playing a 6ft tall elf lady with a huge axe. you fancy little twerp dont boss me around. the end of ARR was soooo crazy and good though, really kicked the plot into gear for me, and those cutscenes were like WHOA!! OMG THE GUY FROM THE BEGINNING CUTSCENE... and in heavensward he became my little boy. because he basically reversed all the things i didnt really like about him. new VA. constant regret and shame about the crystal braves. and everyone was like awww hahaha youre a nice little boy. and he is. he is a boy. and he's polite. and he got a new outfit that covered his midriff, which i appreciated.

minfillia... im sorry. her VA was so insanely bad. and i never really DID anything with her that made me feel attached to her. she felt very bland and generic. i was like okay cool 👍 see ya. i also think her outfit was so blaaaahhhh like it gave me girl next door final fantasy character, NOT leader of an NGO, which would have been more appealing to me.

y'shtola: one of my mutuals is constantly posting her very cute WoL/yshtola fanart and i thought i would like a bit more than i presently do... i like her! i just feel like she hasnt gotten to do very much that isnt going "hmm.. aether." i think it's delightful that she shares a VA with sera from dragon age. bitches with bangs 4 lesbians

urianger: when i first saw urianger i was aghast. i was like. PEOPLE ARE HORNY FOR THAT THING? but now that ive seen more of his shb/edw outfit im like aha i see. you have gender. you're either like "do not perceiveth me" or "dripping with gold in a lightweight backless gown". i really enjoyed his undercover outfit with the WoD. i don't think he did anything wrong. he was like "yeah i did lie to everyone and help manipulate events to send minfilia to a different data center. i feel absolutely awful about it, i wish my trolley problem principles had not made me deceiveth thou all, i am a horrible villain, pray do not feel compelled to forgive me" and i was like nah youre good 👍 like she isnt DEAD. plus he always tried to help me a little bit when he could. i like his funny voice. i like how in ARR he was voiced by fenris dragonage. take those goggles and hood off again mx tism

tataru: if lalafells didn't look like that. i would be shipping my WoL with her. i think she is so cute and fun and a delight. she is a joy. my girl JUGGLES!!!!! she makes OUTFITS!!!!!!!!! she has A KETTLE WITH A FANCY NAME!!!!!!!!!! and she works so hard. im so glad she got to come with us to ishgard. she is my joy. my light...

thancred: i have heard tell that he really leaves behind his initial lothario characterization, and i really have not seen it in forever, which made ARR thancred perfectly fine to me. i was prepared for him to be much more egregious. i wish i knew him a bit better before he got possessed. i was like oh okay! yeah i guess i havent seen him in a while. which made me sad because i love possession storylines i think they are so juicy. his ponytail and rattee (like a ratstache but a goatee) are funny to me. thancred nakey images were funny. there was a moment towards the end of hvw when he came back and i talked to him in ishgard between convos with nobles and he said stuff that was very commiserating and i was like okay i have decided you and my WoL are complaining friends. sipping the haterade together. i think he's like 5'7". like with alphinaud, the character development in this game has really surprised me with how effective it feels. i look forward to seeing him grimly yet compassionately fail forward even more. and to be a single dad. aforementioned mutual (who i know through klapollo) is into thancred/urianger so im also looking forward to confining them into the yaoi compartment

cid: HE IS MY FRIEND :) i love how he's a short king. i like how he was simply like "fascism and imperialism are bad. i am going to go fight against it by building big airships :)" no qualms no struggle just knew what was right and went and did it. he's like a gay older coworker who you go out for drinks with sometimes and invites you to barbeques. i enjoy him and nero's turbodivorce saga.

alisaie: i completely forgot to do all the bahamut raids in ARR so when she showed up post-hvw i was like oh it's time for the girltwin! and she was like "oh we've worked together already :)" and i was like oh god. we only had one conversation. oops. so far i think she's a delight. i have heard that she's a bit of a lesbo. good for her. love that she gets a sword and she gets to be the mean one of the two twins. i cant wait for her little red jacket. looking forward to more >:)

krile: have not seen much of her so far but i LOVE how she has a cloak with cat ears, so cute. LOVE how she teases alphinaud. im like yes... shared character history... quite fun...

ysayle: I LOVE YOU DRAGON ELSAGARD I LOVE YOUUUUUU BIIIIIIIIITCH... I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU. i love her style. i love her political convictions. i love her gap moe with the moogles. i think my WoL had a crush on her. i think it's messed up that during the scene where the WoL and alphinaud are prying the eyes off of estinien, she touches alphinaud's hand. she should be touching MY HAND!!!!!!!!!!!! all love to haurchefaunt but I BONDED WITH HER.

estinien: i know many people like estinien. every time he spoke a word at ysayle i felt like a barking like her guard dog. DONT YOU SPEAK TO MY GIRL IN THAT TONE YOU BROODYBOY SMELLMAN. SHUT UP. i assume he softens up now that he is retired from All That. i thought his relationship with alphinaud was very sweet - i liked when he taught alphinaud how to gather firewood. i think my WoL only tolerates estinien because alphinaud is so attached.

haurchefant: i was still barely reading dialogue in ARR when he was introduced. so he showed up and was like OMG HI AGAIN BESTIE!!!!!! and i was like oh! that man! one of my friends is gaymarried to him so he's like my gay brother-in-law. i am a lesbian and my WoL is also a lesbian so we were hagging/tyking (dyke tyke) out with each other. the facial animation on the WoL when he croaks was astoundingly good. i call him horsey

aymeric: well he certainly is competent, principled, and nice. one of the more handsome elezen men in the game. i know he's implied playersexual so i really need him to stop inviting me to dinner because i have had conversations with dude friends like that before and it is so painfully awkward. i think it is great that he committed fratricide AND popecide. wahoo!

lyse: i really enjoyed yda. yknow. i thought she was such a fun cockney karate bimbo. i didn't know she was lyse. i've heard about lyse. and how she is conspicuously the only blonde blue-eyed ala mhigan. and how she is a source of some of the collar-tugging politics in stormblood. sigh. so. i am now burdened with her.

raubahn: I LOVE RAUBAHNNNNNNNNNN I LOVE HIMMMM i love how he has a small adult son. i love how he is trying so hard. i love how he is so righteous and hardworking. the misery lolorito and ilberd put him through during hvw made me so mad on his behalf. when lolorito was like "oh, how we laughed at how upset you were!" i was like RAUBAHN. HE IS THE PERFECT HEIGHT FOR YOU TO JUST PUNT ACROSS THE TOWN SQUARE. PUNT HIM RAUBAHN. YOU DESERVE IT. and i love a one-armed king. kurogane swag

lucia: i think she is cool and fun. hahaha dont potentially be in love with aymeric queen youre so hot and cool and butch

matoya: SHE'S SO COOL. I LOVE HER DESIGN. HER VOICE ACTING. AND HER RUDENESS. AND OF COURSE THE FROGS

moenbryda: i thought she was so fun and cool. i was like cool!! new character!! big funny woman i love it!! and then near bluefog she dished about her childhood a little and i was like... is that a deathflag. and it was :(

okay thats all the npcs i can think to have anything to say about.

i was pleasantly surprised by the way that lalafells are not the lolibait/shotabait i had grimly prepared for them to be. they are just short funny guys for the most part. moving past that, i then got slammed into by the giant brick that says "BEAST TRIBES". i heard that the new writer has made their writing a lot better (apparently the alliance leaders acknowledge that they have been basically been doing genocide on these sentient beings, which is helping me push forward through stuff)! i do their quests really regularly because i like helping them out. i would really love to see someone with more expertise on the subject write about the presentation of indigenous peoples in ffxiv, because i think that there is a lot going on that is vital to critically inspect.

i have to go eat dinner now. but i will try to post more thoughts on here as i have them >:)

[sheepwithspecs]

FebHyurary Day 1: Start

|| FFXIV || Rated G ||

Ao3 link

ARR | Gridania Start It's pretty bad when your first brush with the civilized world ends with nearly watching a man die.

Oh, Father… you didn’t prepare me for this….

Eachna clutched the straps of her knapsack for dear life, stomach rolling as the carriage lurched beneath her on the worn path. Her mind was still fuzzy with the last wisps of her dream—always the same dream, every night for the past five years. Yawning darkness all around her, and a warm amber glow.

And that voice! In all her four-and-twenty years of life, she had never once ventured beyond the edge of the isolated mountain forest she called home. Her father was the only person she had ever met, the only voice she recognized. But this voice, at once both familiar and comforting…. Without being told, she knew that it had offered her encouragement time and time again, over countless moments when all seemed lost—

Hear. Feel. Think.

She craned her neck, looking back for any trace of the squat trading post, but there was nothing to see but trees. They seemed to envelop them on all sides, thick-laden boughs brushing the top of the carriage as they traveled deeper into the Shroud. One of the chocobos trilled to its partner, the signature kweh-kweh! she’d read about in The Eorzean Guide to Flora and Fauna: Fifth Definitive Edition. Upon seeing them for the first time at the outpost, Eachna had found the illustrations in the tome did not do the birds justice. She had been mesmerized by the way they moved, powerful wings lifting to rustle long, golden feathers. Their black eyes had observed her with wary curiosity, beaks clicking as they whispered avian secrets to one another from the safety of their pen.  

Eachna wasn’t frightened of the birds; until recently, animals were all she’d known. Her childhood had been spent making friends with anything too slow to catch her: lumbering goobbues, flat mud puppies, the occasional litter of coeurl kittens. She felt more at home with these creatures than she had the people in the trading post, with their strange appearances and odd voices and indefinable expressions.

The porter who had taken her coin in exchange for a seat on the carriage to Gridania had glared at her when he caught her staring. She hadn’t been able to help herself, having never seen ears quite like his before. Long and pointed, jutting from the sides of his head like leaves on a cornstalk. Her own ears were round; the portrait of her father’s old body that hung above the mantel in their cabin had round ears, too. She had never before realized that ears could be pointed, or feline, or like a wild hare’s.

She also hadn’t known that people could come with mirrored reflections of themselves. A pair with ears similar to the porter’s had booked passage on the same carriage. Everything from their hair to their clothing was exactly the same, save for the color of the ribbon tying their long braids. One of them had held her gaze steadily, the other looking away in clear indifference after a second or two. They sat across from her now, eyes closed, swaying together with each bump in the road.

“Y’all right, lass?” It took a moment for Eachna to realize that she was the one being addressed. Turning, she found herself watched by a grizzled man with a beard. His brown skin glistened with sweat in the midmorning sunlight, the pale hairs on his upper lip dampened by the contents of the bottle dangling from his hand. “You were moanin’ in your sleep and sweatin’ buckets besides,” he explained, brows furrowed over his flat nose.

“That’ll be the aether, I reckon,” he continued, seemingly oblivious of her mounting confusion. “Some are more prone to the sickness than others. No need to fret, though. You’ll soon get used to it.”

Aether? Eachna knew the term well enough, from her studies. Her father had once been a scholar of Old Sharlayan, and from her earliest memories her mornings had been filled with all manner of instruction. Aether was the lifeforce of the star, flowing through every living thing and in the very atmosphere itself. But why would it make her moan and “sweat buckets”?

The man lifted the bottle to his lips, tilting his head back to take a long gulp. Before she could bother to ask—or even summon the courage to say anything at all—her thoughts were interrupted by a raucous, tinny buzz of a sound. It was unlike anything she’d ever heard before in her life; no animal that she knew of made that sort of call. Looking over, she jolted in place at the sight of a round, fuzzy sort of cat… rat… thing with a glowing ball on its antennae.

Some strange type of insect?

But no, the little creature had a horn in its hand. It blew it again, proving itself to be the source of the strange noise. It twirled, revealing bat-like wings that seemed, on the whole, too small to keep its rotund body aloft for much longer.

“Feeling better, kupo?” it asked in a squeaky voice. No one else in the carriage seemed to notice it, with the mirror-children asleep and the grizzled man focused on draining the last drops from his bottle. Taking a chance, Eachna nodded quickly. “Aha!” the creature squealed. “You can see us! I had a feeling you could, kupo!”

“We’re moogles,” the creature told her, hovering closer to her face, “and we live in this wood.” The moogle’s companion floated in front of the grizzled man, who was now staring out at the trees with a smile. It danced before him, close enough to touch, but he paid no more attention to it than if it were a speck of dust in the air. “Normal people can’t see or hear us—which makes you special, kupo!”

“And seeing as you’re special, maybe you can tell us something.” The moogle paused thoughtfully, one miniscule paw on its chin. “The wood’s been restless of late—lots of strange things happening. Have you chanced to witness anything suspicious, kupo?”

Eachna shook her head. The Shroud, with its emerald sea of leaves and the loamy fragrance of damp earth, seemed more normal to her than anything the trading post had shown her. It made her nostalgic for the forest of her youth, before the falling stars had ushered in the endless glacial winter. A small part of her hoped that she would not be too homesick in Gridania, surrounded by nature as it was.

“But of course you haven’t—you’ve only just arrived.” The moogle sighed, its companion taking a moment to steal the man’s bottle and drink the remainder of its contents. Eachna opened her mouth, but could not find the words to raise an alarm. If the man could not see the moogle, would he find his bottle floating in midair? “Well, there’s nothing for it then—we’ll just have to keep looking. Nice to meet you, kupo!”

The moogle turned and flew off, its companion close behind. Peering beneath the overhang, she watched them meet two more moogles just above the tree line, the four appearing to speak in hushed tones too quiet to hear. The grizzled man attempted to take another drink, his mouth falling open in shock when he found the bottle drained to the last drop. Sighing, he placed it back at his side before turning to her once more.

“Gridania’s still a fair way off, in case you were wonderin’. Seein’ as you’re awake, how’s about you keep me company till we get there?” He motioned to the mirror-children with a jerk of his head. They were awake now, sitting side by side with crossed arms and surly expressions. “Them young’uns don’t care much for conversation, see.” Neither reacted, though the one with the blue ribbon shot the man a sidelong glance.

“Bremondt’s the name, an’ peddling’s me trade.” A peddler! Eachna had read about peddlers in her father’s library, though of course none ever ventured out to the untamed wilds where they’d made their home. “As for your good self, judgin’ by your unusual garments, I’d say you were one of them new adventurers. Am I warm?”

She nodded. The porter at the outpost had said the same when he asked if she hailed from Dalmasca. Her hat—or, rather, her father’s hat—was indeed Dalmascan craftsmanship, but the place itself was naught but a name on an old map. As for these strangers, what they thought of her did not matter… at least not much. She sought answers, not adventure. Even so: if she found that one went hand-in-hand with the other, she would have no great trouble accepting both.  

“I knew it!” Bremondt cackled. “Goin’ wherever the wind blows, seekin’ fortune an’ glory—now that’s what I call livin’!” His laugh trailed off, though his smile remained. “So long as you can avoid dyin’, I mean. Ain’t no secret that adventurin’s a risky business—these days especially. What was it that first attracted you to it?”

“To… to gain power,” Eachna answered, after a moment’s thought. After all, was not her purpose for visiting Gridania to join the Archer’s Guild and hone her technique? If she wanted answers, she would have to be strong enough to take on anything the world could throw at her.

“…Power?” It seemed a perfectly fine answer to her, but Bremondt looked at her strangely. “As in, er… power to do good? Like protectin’ the weak, an’ fightin’ for what’s right, an’ all that?” She nodded, prompting him to let out a sigh of relief. “Aye, that’s what I thought you meant. Well, adventurers do get up to a lot of fightin’, that’s for sure. You’ll never be short of the chance to polish your warcraft in the adventurin’ business.”

“When you arrive in town, you’ll want to report to the Adventurers’ Guild.” He nodded sagely. “You can find out everythin’ you need to know about the adventurin’ business in there. Just remember, though: there’re more important things than fortune an’ glory. Such as breathin’. Ain’t no profit in bein’ dead, an’ that’s a fact.” Before she could answer, the carriage shuddered to a stop.

“Halt!” a voice cried out on the path ahead. “Go no further!”

“What’s this, then?” Bremondt murmured, twisting to look through the window. Eachna started, head jerking up at a sound as familiar to her as breathing: the whistle of an arrow let fly. It embedded itself into the floor of the carriage with a staccato thump, missing the peddler’s nose by an ilm. He let out a shriek, flailing as the realization came upon him. Eachna peered into the forest, searching the shadows for the unknown assailant.  

A near miss, or had the arrow intentionally fallen short of its mark? That alone made all the difference.

There was a flutter of voices from the front of the carriage, too quiet to make out. The driver’s voice seemed to tremble, the shouting voice answering in a stern tone. All at once there was a sharp yell and the carriage lurched again, this time speeding up over the path as the driver urged the chocobos into a run. Eachna grabbed onto the wooden seat with both hands, fighting the nauseated churning as it renewed tenfold. Bouncing over the path, she was just able to make out the sight of a skirmish in the trees.

“That was too bleedin’ close…” Bremondt yanked the arrow out of the floor, holding it with a grimace. She couldn’t help but agree, twisting to watch until the blur of figures vanished behind the trees.

Oh, Father… she could not help but think again, every onze of her yearning for the relative peace of her little clearing in the mountains. There, the only arrows she had to worry about came from her own quiver. But as the carriage slowed once more, rattling its way over a wooden bridge, carrying her closer to her goal, she knew that she could not turn back.

After all, there were still answers to be had.

[voidsentprinces]

FFXIV feels like a weird tv series in terms of how I feel about each expansion

1.0 is the pilot season that people agree was bad but there was charm to it. It had its moments and if given a better writing staff and perhaps more budget. It could of been something great. But the season’s cancelled now so we’ll just have to post on the forums about missing its charms.

ARR feels like the reluctant second season after they got cancelled after the first season. It airs on SciFi (or however the fuck they’re spelling it nowadays) at a 1am dead block in hopes to never see it again. Its rough around the edges, the writing has some spots to be desired, the costuming is iffy but functional and all it all it becomes a cult classic.

Post-ARR is a lost season, extra materials, some unconnected filler but a few episodes that actually link back and boy does the finale really shake things up. Causing a massive fandom to grow around it and pester executives for a third season.

Heavensward is the return of the king. Final Fantasy XIV is back, it has budget, production, and cast and man with the special effects blow you out of the fucking water. After the Post-HW you hear stories about the cast loving their time on set and with the directors and really getting invested in the “characters”.

Stormblood is the unlucky season which has big shoes to fill cause its coming up after Heavensward and like thats like being the Dark Knight Rises after the Dark Knight right? And while it comes close to Heavensward. Some studio heads got involved and wanted to change stuff up because they saw another TV show do it and thats super popular so why don’t we do that? It returns to being a bit rough around the edges but the new villains really are here to chew the scenery and be memorable as all get out.

Post-SB is uneasy, it feels like the execs aren’t happy it didn’t bring in billions like the Heavensward Season did. Some actors go on to different projects and its really up in the air where its going to go. Are we going to stay in Ala Mhigo? Are we going to stay in Doma? Going to Garlemald is on the table. And this new Solus character just seems like Lahabrea but then BAM! The Call Episode happens and everyone is fucking LOSING THEIR GODDAMN MINDS! There are leaked trailer footage online and Y’shtola is now Master Matoya, Urianger is half naked and IS THANCRED WIELDING A GUNBLADE?! WHAT THE FUCK!?

Shadowbringers hits and it is the best thing on television since sliced bread. Everyone is invested, the budget is back, the writing hits hard, the Solus character is changed and given new dimension. Everyone is up in arms about fist fighting Thancred over his initial treatment of Ryne. There’s fan art of Runar and Y’shtola even though the actors are just good friends. And that Finale? Holy shit. There is some sleeper episodes like the second Amh Araeng arc but the emotional pay off of seeing Minfilia return for a last cameo is well received.

Post-Shadowbringers is making the most of the new world sets. Tying up lose ends, here and there. Setting up the next big bad with this Fandaniel dude and Zenos being back by fandom demand. But the mid-season finale has everyone hooked, I mean after the Seat of Sacrifice arc, who can top that?

Endwalker hits, a love letter season. Some stuff feels overtly long, like was an entire half an episode necessary to show extras turning into monsters. But the baby rescue episodes has people emotionally invested, the loporitts are beloved, everyone loses their shit that Zodiark is introduce and fought only like five episodes into a 24 episode season. Speculation flies left and right and then they get the Elpis and the Ancientsona Fandom from Shadowbringers’ initial season is reignited. People are getting into fights whether to fight or protect Meteion and everyone cries at the finale of the Ultima Thule arc.

Now we’re in the after season of Endwalker, its had sort of monster of the week villains. We’ve seen some cool set design in the Thirteenth Shard and this Golbez character seems like a stand in until they figure out what to do next. But everyone is absolutely LOVING this Zero character. Nidhana’s fandom is also reignited. And there is some debate over Vrtra and his avatars but everyone is also absolutely losing their shit on whats going down in Pandaemonium and with the Twelve. Though its getting close to the end of the season and people are wondering where we’re off to next.

...if that makes any fucking sense whatsoever.

[ambalambs]

So getting through rhalgr's reach on my ng+ sb playthrough gave me some miko thoughts I hadn't considered before

So basically its a given miko carries a lot of trauma from his childhood with the whole garleans destroying his village thing. And he does carry a deep seeded anger over that which couldve been twisted into a desire for revenge. But in arr it really felt more of a cathartic experience for him to storm the praetorium and beat the ultima weapon. Mostly because it wasn't a mission of revenge but more of a yeah let's finally hit back against the imperials and save a friend in the process! There was definitely reason to that fight

And then hw was really miko's big journey of understanding his feelings for revenge and witnessing just how debilitating those emotions could be. Witnessing how it destroyed nidhogg and created a war that last a thousand years and continued to take countless lives. And not to mentioning seeing just how much revenge had corrupted estinien. Like I think miko felt it bad when haurchefant died. Like that was the moment that snapped miko's usual resolve and he let that drive for blood just kind of take him but once thordan and his knights were gone it just left miko empty. Haurchefant was still gone and the pain was still there. But hey at least the monsters were gone. Idk it just felt like he really came to understand in himself that this was not a path he was suited for and I think the whole hw journey helped calm his spirit a bit.

Then come to the imperial attack on rhalgr's reach. It suddenly occured to me just how much that experience probably brought back a lot of those bad memories for miko from his childhood. Rushing into the camp seeing death and destruction everywhere at the hands of the same people who did the very same to his own family. And then seeing y'shtola wounded like that itd just be all too familiar and miko had been too late. But he's older now, stronger, the great warrior of light, and yet he can't shake that feeling of being a little boy again afraid as he watches those he cares about getting struck down around him. Like just thinking about all that and then seeing him lose to zenos it doesn't seem all that unrealistic he'd lose that fight. He would've been just incredibly shaken up and distracted, not enough focus to really face someone like zenos in that moment. And then to have it end in such a devastating failure and a scare on his face. After having just found that peace in himself during hw only to be put through this so soon. Yeah he definitely wasn't handling that whole post rhalgr feels all that well lol

This is why I like doing this ng+ run tbh. Having miko so fleshed out now and really being able to think about how all it ties together on the journey again is so fun (also im so mean to him im so sorry miko lol)

[xenodile]

Been thinking a lot lately about like, how would Bylgrael feel about Yotsuyu.  Stormblood is A Lot for Byl.  Papalymo dies, Y’shtola is almost killed, Zenos is after her, she’s butting heads with Lyse, she doesn’t like Hien and his fixation on honor, and in the middle of it all is Yotsuyu.

Obviously it’s a bad first impression with Yotsuyu torturing people at Isari because Byl is a good egg, but beyond that, I’m not so sure.  Rage and lashing out is a part of who Bylgrael is.  Her fight or flight defaults to fight 99% of the time, when someone hurts her, her instinct is to hurt back, hell even when she’s terrified and emotionally broken in ARR she turns some poor Imperial into meat sauce on reflex.  Once she learns what Yotsuyu has been through, she’s going to understand entirely.  She grew up with a loving parent and a comfortable upbringing, and even still that instinctual proclivity for violence as a trauma response remains, of course someone that grew up being shown no love, being treated with such cruelty and violence on all sides is going to turn that hatred outwards at everything around her.

To an extent, Bylgrael can almost see some parts of herself in Yotsuyu.  If she had endured even half of Yotsuyu did growing up, she too would hate the world.  So everyone calling Yotsuyu evil and irredeemable doesn’t sit right with her.  Bylgrael’s killed a lot of people too after all, motivated by hatred and a desire for revenge.  The Fourteenth Legion, the traitorous Crystal Braves, Thordan and his Knights Twelve, is she just as detestable as Yotsuyu then?

So when Yotsuyu returns as “Tsuyu”, innocent and free of pain, Byl is honestly kinda happy for her.  To be relieved of all her trauma, to start fresh and be happy, is something Bylgrael herself considered more than once over the course of ARR and HW, though part of her own growth is coming to accept that hardship has made her what she is and she wouldn’t give up what she’s gained for the sake of “fixing” the past.  It does however, bring her into very direct conflict with Hien who seems to lament that honor won’t let him execute Tsuyu.  Not because to murder an innocent woman for his own catharsis is obscene, but his precious code of conduct says he’s not allowed to.  And then when he finds out one of his own is a slaver, he’s all too willing to forgive him because honor.  Bylgrael is already a pragmatic woman that thinks honor is a load of bull, so Hien being so hung up on it and using it to justify his actions is just abhorrent to her.

Naturally, Yotsuyu regaining her memories and the battle that follows tears Byl up because again, this is something Byl can understand.  She knows that horrible cognitive dissonance of being so angry and vengeful, but also grief and self-loathing, of wanting to hurt people and take your pound of flesh, but to recognize by the same token how destructive and cruel your pain has made you and how you will hurt those that care for you if you were to act on your impulses.  She doesn’t want to kill Yotsuyu, but Yotsuyu wants to die, with her dying breaths lamenting that she deserves this end and the pain it cause to those that made the mistake of caring for her.  That’s already a heavy emotional blow for Bylgrael but then it’s immediately followed up by Alphinaud leaving for Garlemald and the fight they have about that, and capped off with Hien having the audacity to be dismissive of Yotsuyu’s death.

And if that weren’t enough, when the Scions start dropping like flies, culminating in Alisaie getting yoinked at Ghimlyt Dark, yeah Bylgrael breaks entirely and is reduced to a screaming near-mindless husk of rage and sorrow, just like what she imagined would happen to her if she had to endure the kind of pain Yotsuyu went through.

So yeah, wouldn’t quite say they were ever friends, definitely not romantic, but like.  Bylgrael would not say Yotsuyu was ever her enemy, or even evil.  Bylgrael would mourn Yotsuyu in that special “I wish things had been better for you because I see way too much of myself in you and I’m not ready to unpack what that means” kind of way.

[carcharsaur]

(sticking to your rearview window) 3, 15, 34 for both caranar and kozu please...

3. Does their Echo function like it does in the MSQ? Or is there a twist to it? 

kozu doesn't have the echo at all! he's a RELATIVELY normal guy... not being able to help the 'real' wol fight did bother him more and more as time went on so endwalker finally letting him participate was gratifying for him (guy who has a guilt complex about inaction. smiles) for caranar, he gets flashes of the future similar to mikoto from ivalice/bozja quests and... it's a big thing for him, from the moment he got it he and the people around him labeled it as a curse and portent of doom. it was the start of a lot of bad shit happening to him genuinely. it haunted him for the longest time, and before meeting minfillia he refused to even speak about it or admit it was a thing anymore out of fear of it. after meeting her and other echo-bearers it was a huge weight lifted from him, but it took him a long time to begin to accept and come to terms with it. even when it was framed as a loving blessing from hydaelyn he still fell ill at ease about it. the things he sees always happen without fail, but they lack a lot of context that the canon in-game echo scenes have so the devil is in the details etc. but even still very rarely does it not fill him with dread to get one. meeting mikoto really helped him cope too though I imagine they are besties based on JUST that cause he is not scholarly but they can firmly shake hands about this.

ok good lordt I'm gonna readmore the rest

15. Is your WoL promiscuous? Celibate? Or just waiting for the right person? 

caranar hypothetically has no problem sleeping around, but in the context of like ARR-late HW he is way too insecure and scared (both of being hurt and hurting someone. bodily) to be vulnerable with people like that really. so he flirts then pulls back before he has to really show his underbelly etc you'd have to chase him and get his trust. hard sell. in my main canon for caranar by the time uuuh 4.1 rolls around he has a wife but in my multitudinous AUs SB would be the prime caranar slut era (especially when he's riding the high of the nadaam arc), shb too but in a more unhealthy "we might die tomorrow so fuck it" way. post endwalker though he'd be very well adjusted and free to indulge. the thing with him though is that if he catches real feelings for someone he'd pursue that singlemindedly and get overprotective of it. and fall deep fast. so partially waiting for right person but not going to hold himself back either I suppose? kozu... well he's a whore and I love him for that. (in my perfect world where transphobia isn't a thing to worry about on etheirys). as soon as he got remotely settled in dalmasca he just had a full hedonist era. caranar was his roommate and was sick of his shit but didn't care enough at the time to intervene. the events at the end of their time there though lead to kozu withdrawing a lot and focusing on himself rather than relationships, by the time we get to ARR though he'd just have regular flings. dropping anything as soon as he got scared of the expectation, inclination, echo, of any real emotional intimacy and commitment. genuinely kind of a big problem with him until fucking shadowbringers where in the face of "we might die here for real" and being away from the source he pulled some skeletons out of his closet and faced them for real. still a bit flighty but he's trying. also he's polyam and if a partner wanted exclusivity it'd be over right away, but he's very clear about that before getting real with anyone. oh btw caranar is bi/pan and kozu is very very gay

34. Would you say your WoL is fundamentally a good person? Or are they a bad person that's been persuaded to do the right things? 

well I think if you directly asked them, caranar would legitimately think he's a bad person despite his every effort to try and do good. and kozu would just say they're trying to be a good person out of their own selfish desire, undermining how good they could truly be. I think they're both fundamentally good people though, especially caranar... he's just been abused and used enough that he blames himself for it rather than those who inflicted it on him. (other than the empire. and ishgardian inquisitors. he wants to tear through them. his righteous rage is focused more of injust structures of power and ppl that willfully enforce them vs. individual people) he really just wants to do right by common people though. kozu is a bit more complicated, but not enough for me to say he was ever "bad" just he genuinely didn't understand the weight of his own actions when killing people as a warder in golmore and felt more and more personally sickened by himself the more of the world he saw, and thinks he can never make up for a hundred years of that no matter how many lives he saves now.

[motheatenscarf]

Okay, I've avoided it long enough and FF14 is apparently down for maintenance this morning, so, uh, time to bust out the conspiracy theory board again after some lore dumps from Emet Selch.

So first off, I was RIGHT, Hydalen and Zodiark are primals, round of fucking applause for me... doing... basic analysis based on the information given and conservation of detail.

Look, alright, credit where it's due, in a consistently good story, yes, proper details like this are easy to figure out. While the quality of the writing may wax and wane, there is at least relative consistency with establishing the lore. The pacing at the rate they reveal that information is... wanting, but the information itself is internally consistent. That's an impressive feat for something ten years in the making. I think they at least knew the broad strokes of the picture they wanted to paint, even if some of the details like "Interesting Characters" got left out in things like base ARR.

Anyway, that said, uh, yeah, the casual lore drop that the Ascians to a man are all tempered by Zodiark was uh... a lot.

It retroactively explains a lot and actually makes me feel... kinda bad for them. Desperate people summon Primals. Something terrible came for them and their world (what does that mean?) and they "through great sacrifice" (what does THAT mean?) summoned up Zodiark who then tempered them.

Apparently not all of them, though, since Hydalen then got summoned up by "dissidents," likely out of the desperation of those who weren't tempered. Then supposedly the worlds got split apart and Zodiark was sealed away.

Begs the question of what happened to those who summoned up Hydalen, but I think that's just... the echo.

Emet says he can "shape a vessel" at his will, but not all Ascians choose to do so, hence why Lahabrea left Thancred intact. (Some Ascians buy up real estate and quick flip it for a profit, others craft a loving home out of their new bodies. Truly, they're just like us.) But also, uh, hey, have you been paying attention to what's going on with Minfilia? She's being passed down through the generations as a reincarnation with her will and memories intact, but at the cost of erasing the girls she's possessing. We know through Ardbert that people with the Echo can survive as wandering souls without bodies for a LONG time and not lose their sense of self. And these girls are ALL called Minfilia, and boy do they have those same haunting void blue eyes and blonde hair like she did as The Word of the Mother when Eldritch Horror Hydalen took hold of her, and hey, wait a minute, that's exactly what Emet Selch does?

Sure, Minfilia and maybe Hydalen feel BAD about what they're doing, but like the Exarch, they are using BAD methods to try and avert catastrophes. Calamities, even. That's not a moral judgement, that's just... a fact, and it's interesting, and I'd love to hear their thoughts on it as characters.

We already knew the echo enabled bodyhopping, but yeah, to get visual confirmation that the echo is straight up just the Ascian technique, that feels big. I don't remember if it was Lahabrea or Gaius who called the echo an "abomination," but I do recall them saying they'd need to make use of it in their plans, hence the Ascians granting the Echo to random summoners and the Empire's experiments to create an artificial echo. It's maybe something you can just... awaken in people.

Talking to Emet Selch in between quests is also fascinating, if you click on him, he'll be annoyed but will answer any question you pose and you get to ask a new question each time you click on him, so uh, guess what I've been doing?

The way he talks about Ascians, I get the feeling there's more than just the fourteen seats of them that we saw in ARR. Gaius says that the red masks rule over the black masks, and that there are only 3 red masks, and I was like, okay, so what, only 11 lackeys, that's not very fun.

But no, Emet says they're straight up expendable and that the ones assigned to the First reflection, them being killed by the Warriors of Light from before this calamity was factored in and deemed an acceptable loss. The point of the lackeys is to be fodder.

Which brings me to the whole thing about Ascians being able to recall "fragments and fleeting memories" of the original world pre-sundering. He said the land AND people were each split into 14 pieces, not just the worlds themselves and Zodiark. But the Ascians somehow remember, which feels contradictory, but I don't think it is?

We already knew the Ascians wanted to rejoin the worlds and make them as they were before, that implies they knew what the world was "supposed" to be like. The new info confirms that Calamities do seem to rob the survivors of their memories of it, at least partially; no one in Eorzea remembers what happened after Dalamud fell out of the sky. I figured that was just a contrivance for them to put off explaining in the text what happened between 1.0 and ARR, but it's nice to see them incorporate that and give it a real lore reason.

Some people remember the world pre-sundering, though, somehow. Which makes me think of who might remember anything from the Calamity, which makes me remember how Cid's memories came back by spending time with the WoL. I thought that was a cheap contrivance on the power of friendship or whatever, but I'm wondering if those memories seem to get... clearer around the echo?

So, I think Ascians are just people who had the echo, but were maybe these first people tempered by Zodiark, who somehow found the right trigger to show them these visions of the past to help them remember these fragments. Others like Ardbert, Minfilia, and even the player, were ones who were associated with and probably tempered by Hydalen. Ardbert even asks, "Holy shit, are we just slaves to her will?" Which. HM. Isn't that a good question? I've played Dark Knight, I really hope they're gonna do more with that "Serve, Save, Slave, Slay" mantra now.

I don't THINK it's that simple, I think maybe Hydalen is just trying her best to make an omlet out of all these broken eggs that were supposed to be hatchlings. But uh. Not unlike Urianger NOT telling the player about how they might be getting their soul corrupted and devoured by all of the Light Wardens they're killing and absorbing, Hydalen is probably trying to withhold upsetting information that will only make her job and yours that much harder.

Anyway, I'm now, as of Shadowbringers, finally CONFIDENT that they actually, maybe, know what they're doing story-wise and that these things will be answered and I will actually be fucking rewarded for paying attention and not just have to throw darts at what information was or was not important.