#i subscribe to the studio ghibli school of haircuts mirroring pivotal character growth

[stormbabylore]

Look at this wee sprout with her baby ARR gear. (╥_╥)

Aeryn's hair journey:

1. ARR - early Stormblood: Pigtail braids! She awakens on the Source with this style and doesn't change it in hopes that someone might someday recognize her and tell her who she is. (Because her hair glows, then turns yellow when cut/broken, her fringe would also be yellow. The highlights in the braids themselves would be less prominent until the end of the tail.) 2. StB - ???: Short crop, half-braid! (And her current style - see 99% of my screenshots!) Zenos cuts off one of her braids in their first battle, and Aeryn falls into a state of denial, refusing to acknowledge what's happened until en route to Kugane, when Tataru offers Aeryn her first ever proper haircut. It becomes the catalyst for an overarching identity crisis. Keeping her hair unchanged had been representative of an idealistic hope to one day reclaim her missing sense of self; and the loss of that feels more severe while the story is so heavily exploring themes of home, family, belonging, and cultural/national identity - all things Aeryn realizes she might now never find. 3. EW (?): The longer half-braid! Aeryn's unspoken goal since StB has been to grow her hair long enough for pigtails braids again, so I'll change her hair to the shoulder-length version of her current style once I feel there's been enough of a time shift. (Not sure if that will be before or during EW - I'm waiting to see what the story gives me, first.) I've also been toying with the notion of turning her highlights white instead of yellow, but I'm not sure if anything in EW would give me a story-reason for that... so we'll see! 4. Future: Once she grows her hair out long enough (maybe after EW?), Aeryn will discover she no longer wants to return to her former style. Though the style doesn't exist in game, she would probably begin to wear her hair in a single braid over her shoulder. It represents the journey she's been on to blend her two selves - to accept and then let go of her mysterious past while also embracing the person she now is... Future side-braid Aeryn also has smaller accent braids randomly plaited into the larger one. I have a teeny tiny little obsession with my WoLship braiding each others' hair. It's important to me. I headcanon that it's an archaic elezen courtship custom. No one will ever talk me out of this. (ꈍᴗꈍ)♡

What hairstyle do you use for your WoL?