#i would actually like to go over the early game story again like arr just to refresh myself honestly....

[exmeowstic]

it is in fact 1 am which means were approaching bastion little bit of a bitch moments again

[autumnslance]

What was it like going from World of Warcraft to FFXIV? As someone who has never played an online RPG before FFXIV I am often :0 ?! when I hear that some people found getting into FFXIV hard because of the mandatory main quest when they just want to go to endgame content as soon as possible. Is going endgame ASAP a regular thing in most online RPGs?

Have a header image of a FFXIV version of my original WoW Main, Discipline Priest Lirriel F’sharri.

Me, a concise answer? Hahaha! Sorry. This got long, so behind a cut it goes and hopefully I answer to Nonny’s satisfaction, taking the questions and breaking them down:

Is going endgame ASAP a regular thing in most online RPGs?

In a lot of games it can be, yes. WoW doesn’t really have a linear overall storyline; each zone has its own story, and each expansion has its own story arc. Nowadays, with how long it’s been running and how big it’s gotten, WoW has revamped their questing so that you decide if you want to go through 1-50 in a specific expac (Burning Crusade, Cataclysm, Wrath of the Lich King, etc), and then catch up to the newest expac for the newest levels, since they also recently did a “level squish” as well as a stats squish, as they had gotten well over 100+ levels in the last couple expansions. Numbers are a problem for long running games (which is why experienced MMO players nodded and some even sighed in relief when the stat squish for Endwalker was announced).

I don’t think FFXIV will be able to do anything similar since their overarching story is so linear; it’s more like playing a single player traditional JRPG with some MMO features attached. I can see them perhaps scaling experience point gain with quests the way they have with the side quests in Shadowbringers, or with Beast Tribe dailies; that would work going forward I think. Unless we get the option to start with the new storyarc starting in 6.1; that could be interesting!

The only other time I had a linear story to go through similarly to FFXIV was early days of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, which I played briefly at launch. Even then, each planet had its own storyline, the overall storyline was the individual class questlines. There was, I think, an overarching plot, but it didn’t really come into play until level cap? I don’t even remember and never got to cap because the grind in that game at launch was awful.

And that’s a thing about many MMOs; the leveling experience is learning about the world, introducing characters and setting, but it’s mostly filler until you get to the endgame where the raiding is--and in WoW, the story is only completed via seeing it in raids (thank goodness for Looking for Raid) and was the main focus mechanically as well. WoW didn’t really have an overarching story in Classic, it was a lot of disparate elements setting up and holdovers from the original RTS games and led to random raid content. Burning Crusade gave us an overarching plot with going to Outland to face Illidan--which honestly wasn’t all that well done storywise. BC is remembered fondly for the quality of life changes and allowing smaller groups to raid, rather than requiring wrangling 40 people. And the raids were challenging and fun--or frustrating, but mileage varies there. But the impetus for “the Dark Portal opened and Illidan’s in Outland being bad” was...pretty much it? Later expacs like Wrath had much better story setup and throughlines as they went, and my one friend described Shadowlands as having something like an MSQ. There are, however, a lot of retcons and putting necessary plot information in supplemental material, which was always frustrating. I’ve likened it before to “imagine going from defeating Tsukuyomi at the end of 4.3 and all the separations and set up there...and then the next patch picking up with getting warped to the First because everything that happened in 4.4 and 4.5 occurs in a novel.” That’s too often been WoW’s method of connecting expansion stories while players languish for a year or more in the last raid content.

I wish I was kidding. FFXIV having a set, quick release schedule, that they keep to so consistently with such good quality--and cosmetic and RP stuff added too!--is astounding to me. I worry for the devs’ health at times--then I hear things like Yoshida turning down requests for crunchy overtime to keep said devs from burning out, hence why the next Ultimate is pushed to 6.1. I appreciate that greatly. Getting anything not pertaining to endgame raid and PvP content in WoW was often impossible, coming with complaints from the raiding community that frivolous additions for sheer fun cost them whole tiers, and seriously 18 months between patches was not unheard of.

What was it like going from World of Warcraft to FFXIV?

I started FFXIV at the beginning of Heavensward...but I was still playing WoW. FFXIV was my side game, as I was still invested in roleplay and raiding with my WoW friends. So I mostly enjoyed playing through the story at a leisurely pace, but I didn’t finish ARR for like 2 years. When Stormblood came out I was hitting burnout in WoW despite mostly enjoying Legion, and the quality of life changes for StB really invigorated my interest and ability to play. The longer GCD for FFXIV was actually one of the biggest challenges for me, especially since I had primarily tanked and healed in WoW. I am not an aggressive or competitive player, nor very manually coordinated, so DPS has always been a challenge for me. I find DPS easier in FFXIV thanks to the longer GCD--I’m still not great, but I don’t feel overwhelmed by trying to hit my rotation buttons instantly. It’s taken me a while to get used to tanking, and I still don’t do it in 8man content, except once or twice with my friends. Mostly cuz I’m just enjoying my DPS jobs, really, so haven’t invested in learning.

...And some of my old fear of random roulettes as a lone tank/healer; WoW’s LFG was a toxic pit for various reasons FFXIV has mostly avoided and even my worst day in FFXIV’s roulette is better than a good day in WoW’s, which gave me anxiety and I stopped doing without friends. FFXIV has no Public Test Realm that people expect you to get on pre-patch to not only spoil story moments, but also learn all the fight mechanics ahead of time and if you don’t know them Hour 1 Day 1 of a new patch release you’re deserving of abuse.

I won’t say never, but I just haven’t found myself interested in going back to WoW or feeling invested in that story, though I do sometimes miss my RP characters (and may write more stories for them sometime). I do keep track of certain beloved NPCs and events--a friend streamed a beautiful moment in Ardenweald for me because I did play through what happened to that character in Legion, sobbing the whole time. I’m tracking what’s happening to Anduin Wrynn closely; we’ve literally watched that character grow up in real time over the years from boy prince to king of Stormwind and I’m still a bit heartbroken about his father. But I play for story and characters, and Blizzard’s way of telling those stories and handling those characters lost me, and with how the Acti-Blizz execs and higher level devs act lately (Hazzikostas keeps striking me as out of touch), they don’t give me much incentive to go back. I may not even pick up Diablo 4 at this rate.

So FFXIV’s story hits the right narrative and character focus for me, especially when I buckled in and replayed...and then replayed again...and now have NG+...Anyway, I like how they build the lore and characters and while it’s far from perfect and they have their own flaws, coming from WoW, it’s a lovely change of pace. Not to mention just how Yoshida and his team interact and communicate with the player base, and see the players’ trust as paramount post-1.x.

...I hear that some people found getting into FFXIV hard because of the mandatory main quest when they just want to go to endgame content as soon as possible.

Some people play only to raid; they like mechanics, and challenges, and feeling powerful at max level with the best gear. They don’t care about the overall story--in some cases because they don’t realize it’s so in depth and linear and sensible after/compared to the constant retcons and revamps in games like WoW!--and are just here to play with friends. Cool for them, if that’s what makes them happy! If that’s how they relax and have fun, power to ‘em so long as they aren’t being nasty to others less advanced/able/willing to put in the time and effort for gameplay. But for me, story and characters are far more important, and I raided quite a lot in WoW at various levels of difficulty and raid size. I am old and tired and want to relax and have fun with friends and write stories that get away with me when my characters get a mind of their own. So I rarely do more than Normals, avoiding Savage and Extreme cuz that grind doesn’t interest me. I’ll do stuff I can do on my own to get my progress fix for my brain (like leveling jobs).

The trouble we’re running into now is FFXIV’s linear story is well over 100 hours long. Even with the ARR revamp cutting a lot of chafe, there’s a LOT to get through to reach HW, and then a lot to get to StB, and then to ShB. And there will be a bunch to get through to EW. That’s JUST MSQ, not counting all the side content a new player may also want to catch up on, like the Alliance and Normal raids, PvP, Relics, Hildibrand, side quest stories like Mail Moogle, Beast Tribes, Crafting...the list goes on and on!

Content in a successful MMO must be varied for multiple styles and preferences for the long term health of the game. Roleplayers and story-focused folks tend to be the ones who stick between patches, farming content at a slower pace to get rewards they want for RP or to see story info, as opposed to raid-focused folks who push new content at release for the challenge and glory. Some of those folks also RP or like story though, so go back to farm between blowing up new content. There’s room for all kinds, and there has to be, and while I am sometimes annoyed by people who skip story (or outright dislike it!) while demanding to know how X works or why a character did A thing, they play their way and pay their sub to keep things running same as me and my obsessive need to know the lore and see it for myself. I can certainly understand those players who story skip that much content to get to where their friends are, if that’s the primary reason they play is to raid with pals, and with New Game+ it’s easier than ever for someone to go back and catch up the story later anyway.

[sending-the-message]

I Just Had The Creepiest Text Conversation With My Friend by CR_Jones

Not too long ago one of my best friends, Mario, and I were having a text conversation about making plans to go see the new IT movie that is coming out later in September. Mid conversation, Mario started talking about something completely unrelated and continually texted me a series of very creepy text messages.

Me: (Talking about plans to go see IT) Yeah I guess we’ll just see who can drive that Friday whenever we meet up. We’ll just play it by ear.

Mario: Stopp touchhingg the therrmostat its soooo coold in here

Me: What?

Mario: I’mmm soo coldd

Me: What is this? What are you talking about?

Mario: Theee thermmostat stooopp touccching itt

Me: How could I possibly be touching your thermostat right now?

Me: Are you drunk or something? Why do you keep texting like that?

There was about a twenty minute pause here before he texted me back.

Mario: SOoo CoLDdd

Me: You’re starting to freak me out Mar. What is this about?

I try calling him but he doesn’t answer.

Me: Mar can you answer your phone please

Mario: Whehere arre the ligghhhts

Me: Dude, seriously what the fuck are you talking about?

Mario: It’ss soOO DarRKKkkK

I try calling him again. Nothing.

Me: ANSWER YOUR PHONE FUCK FACE!!!!

Me: I’m going to kill you if this is a joke you’re genuinely starting to freak me out.

There was another long pause here before I finally started texting him again.

Me: Mar?

Me: Are you still there dude?

Me: ????

I try another call, still nothing.

Me: ANSWER YOUR FUCKING PHONE!!!

Mario: ITt’sS soOooO COcold here

Mario: SOoo Cooldd

Mario: sOofd COoolddsa

Mario: Sosofo coOOLsd

Me: Please stop this

Mario: sosfOFJl coLODOJ

Mario: SooJDOK COlLDLOhfa

Mario: SOojfdoCdnlsODkwnqq

Me: FUCKING STOP THIS DUDE!!!

Mario: SODJjdsifajoiCodlfOPAJjdapODNOonfda

Mario: sofsadjpOIDSIsnfSiIJDOSpdSfjoebdfIHSOIHSfiodshvdf

The rest of his texts after this are just nothing but gibberish. He would send me a new one about every five minutes and continued to do so well into the night. I continually told him to stop whatever it was that he was doing and tried calling him several more times, but nothing was working. I finally said fuck it and just put my phone on silent and tried going to bed hoping that Mario would get bored of this “prank” that he was trying to pull on me once I stopped responding to him.

I woke up the next morning and immediately reached for my phone where I saw that I had over one hundred unread messages all from Mario last night. Most of them were just lines and lines of the same shit that he was texting me earlier. Nothing but gibberish. Nearly 112 messages of it.

He had kept texting me well past the time that I had fallen asleep, and he had continued to send them in the same, five minute intervals that he had done before. He had finally stopped texting me at 3:00 in the morning, his very last message being “bye.” I don’t know what game he was trying to play, but I was thoroughly annoyed that he had decided to pull this prank on me completely out of nowhere. He actually had me going there for a second near the middle of the conversation when I was genuinely starting to get scared and worried, but now I just found myself pissed off at his dumbass shenanigans.

I sent him a text a little after waking up to see whether or not he was done with his bullshit.

Me: Are you done texting me gibberish?

I waited all morning for a response, but didn’t get one. I wasn’t going to text him again until he answered, so I just stayed away from my phone for most of the day. At about 5:00 in the afternoon I heard a knock on my door.

When I went over to answer it I was completely surprised to find two police officers standing there. A man and a woman, both with worried looks across their faces. They asked me if I had been in contact with Mario recently and I immediately felt my heart rate go up knowing that this was no joke. I told them that I had been in contact with him and asked if something was wrong.

They informed me that Mario had been missing since 4:00 p.m. yesterday and wanted to know if I had recently talked to him at any point before that. I told them that we had been texting each other all afternoon yesterday and that he had continued to text me well into the night. The officers shared a confused look with each other and asked if they could see the messages.

I invited them inside and showed them my phone. They examined the text messages together for a very long time whispering things back and forth to each other before finally turning to me. They told me that the time stamps on the messages didn’t make any sense. I asked them what they were talking about and they said that Mario had left his phone behind whenever he had gone missing. There was no way that he could have sent those texts because he didn’t have his phone with him.

I felt my entire body stiffen and go cold.

The police officers asked me if I could come in for some questioning which I agreed to do. My phone was confiscated as evidence and I had to continually keep explaining the same story over and over again to several other police officers once I got to the station.

While I was in the interrogation room going over the same story for the fiftieth time with one of the higher ranking officers a detective burst into the room and whispered something into the man’s ear before quickly leaving. An awkward silence filled the room for several seconds before the officer finally spoke up. He said that he was sorry to inform me, but Mario’s body had just found in the woods near his house. He had apparently died early this morning from currently unknown causes.

At first, I wasn’t able to put together what the officer had just said. I had heard the words and everything it just wasn’t getting through to me. As soon as it hit me though I could feel the tears starting to bubble up behind my eyes. He told me that he’d give me a few minutes and then left the room. I let it all out then. Crying and slobbering like a five year old, all over the interrogation table in front of me.

I stayed with the police another couple hours giving them any last minute information that they needed before I was able to leave. It was already dark out by the time I left the station. My phone was returned to me as I was walking out the door, and I drove home which is where I had another crying fit while lying down in bed.

I must have fallen asleep at one point because I was awakened in the middle of the night by a call that was coming in through my phone.

I reached over and answered it without looking at who it was. I said hello in my “I have just woken up” voice, but no one responded. While it was quiet I felt like I could just make out very soft sobbing coming from the other end of the line.

“Helllooooo?” I said again pulling the phone away from my ear to see who had called me at such a late hour.

My heart nearly stopped.

The call was from Mario’s phone.

I checked the name again knowing that there had to be some mistake. The police station had Mario’s phone why would they call me from his phone this late at night?

I put the phone back to my ear.

“Who is this?” I asked, not in the mood for any games.

There was no answer, but the soft sobbing continued. I was starting to get angry.

“Who the fuck is this!” I almost screamed.

“I’m soooo coooolddd.” Someone whimpered from the other end.

I felt my stomach drop. It was Mario’s voice, I was sure of it.

I could feel fresh tears starting to come as I heard the sound of my dead best friend’s voice.

“Mar? Is—is that you?” I managed to choke out.

But it wasn’t him I said to myself. There’s no way that it could be him.

There was no answer for the longest time. The soft cries from the other end of the line continued but neither of us said anything.

“Ittt’ssss soooo daaaarrrrkkk hereee.” Came Mario’s voice once again. He sounded frightened and alone. The sobbing got louder.

It was almost more than I could take. Was I dreaming? There was no way that this was all actually happening, but it seemed too real to be a dream.

I didn’t know what to say at this point. The crying, Mario’s voice, it was almost too much for me to handle.

“Mario, please.” Was all that I was able to get out before completely breaking down into tears.

After I said that though the sobbing on the other end of line stopped. There was dead silence for what seemed like several minutes, but couldn’t have been longer than a couple of seconds. I waited for Mario to say something. After another pause someone who was definitely not Mario said something.

“Bye.”

Then the call was dropped.

My breath hitched and I stopped crying completely. I felt a chill run down my spine as the voice repeated itself inside my head. It was not Mario’s voice. It sounded nothing like what he was saying before that. This voice was deeper. Much deeper, and it had a weird distortion to it. An almost animal like distortion.

I pulled up my recents just to make sure that I really did just receive a call from my dead best friend’s phone, and sure enough there it was. Mario (mobile): 3:00 a.m.

[autumnslance]

First Line

Saw some folks doing this and thought why not give it a try.

Rules: List the first lines of your last 20 stories (if you have less than 20, just list them all!). See if there are any patterns. Choose your favourite opening line. Then tag 10 of your favourite authors!

I’m going with actual “stories” or at least longer scenes, not just short blurbs or WIP scenes I’ve also posted lately for challenges/prompts. Also this goes back past FFXIV Write 2020, so going with the more polished works I posted on the free days and skipping those many prompts (much as I like most of them). Also using the Ao3 links for most of these (which means less visibility in search and tags), though a couple are on Tumblr only. The links go to individual works, though many are found in the “Unexpected” compilation thread I have for Aeryn & Thancred shippy nonsense, where they’re more or less arranged in chronological order. Still, direct linking to the specific chapters seemed the best plan.

I think I like best the ones that immediately give environment details, like “The Old Bargain” and “Sandstorm”, though there’s also something about “The First Day”’s first line that works for me.

1) Celebration: “There’s the hero of the hour,” Thancred said as he ambled over. The child Aeryn had been speaking with waved and dashed off, eager to share with his friends whatever secrets the Warrior of Darkness had divulged. Thancred watched him go, smiling, before turning back to Aeryn.

Shadowbringers 5.0 finale and how two warriors of darkness spend it.

2) Aetherytes: Thancred glowered up at the aetheryte. The morning light was obscured by a light snowfall, the blue glow of the device tinting the plaza. The knight handling the fees had a vague eye on him, but Aeryn was keeping the man mostly distracted with pleasant conversation and a thermos of Fortemps cocoa.

Thancred tries to hide his new condition from Aeryn immediately after Heavensward’s 3.1 patch.

3) Food: “Please tell me,” Y’shtola’s voice from behind Aeryn was positively acidic. “That you have eaten more than a muffin and a few pieces of fruit since our lunch.”

Aeryn is in a research frenzy and Y’shtola is annoyed she has to deal with it.

4) Dawn: Thancred hadn’t slept much.

Morning after the ARR 2.0 finale, kind of a sequel to FFXIV Write’s “Clamor”.

5) Flower: “What?” Aeryn demanded, snapping Emet-Selch’s attention down to her eyes; they were the hard grey of steel arrowheads as she glowered.

Emet-Selch has an unexpected memory thanks to Aeryn’s favored hair piece. Shadowbringers.

6) Indecent Whispers: The ceremony was lengthy, the lists and speeches interminable, and Aeryn struggled to not doze off. She shifted in her seat as the sermon continued.

NSFW for dirty language as Thancred quietly scandalizes Aeryn during an Ishgardian ceremony.

7) 15th Day of the 1st Astral Sun: Aeryn stepped through the mirror and into the familiar space of the Ocular, taking a moment to reorient herself after the rush of journeying between worlds. Once the vertigo had passed she left the Tower, the Crystarium guards greeting her as she crossed the Exedra. It took some questioning before she was finally pointed to where Ryne was currently; training with Captain Lyna just outside the city gates.

Aeryn gets a sentimental nameday present from her conveniently absent partner, post Reflections in Crystal.

8) Thancred’s PoV on 15th Day of the 1st Astral Sun: He always marked the day, even knowing that time was moving differently for her back in the Source.

I apparently had to write out Thancred’s perspective first to get the correct feel in the letters Aeryn read.

9) Girl Talk: Lyse and Aeryn fell on their backs onto the palm of Rhalgr, laughing as their early morning sparring session ended in a draw.

During Stormblood’s “Lady in Red” quest, two besties have a chat after their spar.

10) Only a Little Death for Now: He walked through the empty palace, heedless of the dark or cold due to the heated singing of his blood.

NSFW. Zenos having violent thoughts and finding a physical release for them. Shadowbringers patches.

11) Of Porxies and Pardons: “Oh my goodness!” Ryne squealed. “It’s adorable!”

After an off-screen fight post-Eden 8, Ryne and Gaia bully Thancred into talking things out with Aeryn.

12) Restless: Kugane’s lights were strange as they filtered in through the screened window. The little room was comfortable, and gods knew Aeryn was glad to be off the rocking seas and creaking ship, back on dry land.

NSFW. Aeryn’s got a lot on her mind and an annoying physical need to deal with as the Scions arrive in Kugane in early Stormblood.

13) Teach a Warrior of Light to Fish: A lazy day at the lake was exactly what they had needed, Renda thought, stretching on her towel. She rolled onto her stomach as she opened her eyes. Branden had cajoled Nyelbert and Cylva into some sort of ball game in the shallower water, Lamitt apparently refereeing from atop a rocky outcropping, the four of them laughing and shrieking as they splashed around.

Renda-Rae, Ardbert, and his fishing hobby.

14) The Old Bargain (original fic): The wind moaned across the swampy meadows, long grasses and rushes hushing the rattling cart that slowly moved down the muddy road, pulled by a stooped figure in a wide grey hat and long grey coat. The clouds hung low and dark overhead.

A lone figure acts as the go between for the mundane and fae worlds.

15) Realizations: Rhalgr’s Reach slowly recovered from the assault as the days passed. The bodies had been buried and all rites given, the living granted their too-brief time to mourn. Now came clearing the rubble, repairing what could be repaired, and somehow finding replacements for what could not.

Thancred talks to Y’shtola about his feelings for Aeryn in the wake of the assault on Rhalgr’s Reach in early Stormblood.

16) Sandstorm: The wind was kicking up, sand and grit blowing as they rode across the dusty old roads toward Drybone. Thancred looked up at the sky and frowned as the rented chocobos kwehed and shook worriedly. Aeryn looked to him, a questioning expression on her face.

Aeryn and Thancred on the way their investigations into Ifrit in early ARR.

17) The Parley: “We have time before these negotiations resume,” Merlwyb said. “I suggest we stretch our legs and clear our heads before meeting with the Emperor again, now we have a firmer strategy.” The others readily agreed.

Aeryn and Varis talk during the recess during the parley in “A Requiem for Heroes” end of Stormblood.

18) When Everything Changes: Zaine poked at a snail’s shell frozen to the top of the low stone wall. He guessed it had been stuck there before the winter had taken hold, trying to escape the cool rains of autumn. He wondered if the snail had found a new home, abandoning this one. He liked to think so.

Backstory from the pov of Aeryn’s brother, at five years old.

19) The First Day: Ryne had told herself she would not spend the first day sobbing, yet that was exactly what she did.

Ryne the day after the end of “Reflections in Crystal” in Shadowbringers.

20) Unsupervised, Again: “Ah, you’re back,” Thancred said as Aeryn came in the door, carrying a suspicious number of bags, considering the errand she had been on.

Aeryn got distracted while on an errand.

[autumnslance]

Hello! Are you looking forward to 5.3, and do you have any story predictions? :)

I am very much looking forward to 5.3! I am planning to be up bright and early in the morning (6am my time) for the Live Letter and likely a trailer. I also took Patch Day off work so I can just play and not sit and be unproductive and distracted at work all day.

As a reminder: trailers are meant to hype us up and are often cut to be misleading! Incomplete, out of context voiced lines over entirely unrelated scenes/images! Things spliced together to pique interest and fuel theories! Do not trust it!

They may use more NieR music. Or part of the boss theme for the Secret Trial. Or both.

I had a lot to say so here’s a cut!

Predictions? Hrm. At this point I’m not sure. I can think of a few different possibilities, especially with The Crystal Tower raids becoming mandatory (and honestly they should have just done that before Shadowbringers entirely). We also know Our Lady Natsuko Ishikawa is back to lead writing for this finale of the storyarc she’s guided this entire time.

-I do think the Crystal Tower on the Source will become important again, as will its slumbering keeper. There’ve been hints dropped to that regard since the end of 5.0.

-I’m not so sure the Exarch will die; there’s a lot of talk about it and people claiming “OMG death flags!!!” but that just makes me think the opposite; he might come close, but with the way the narrative has relied on second chances and hope, I don’t see it as that likely. Also Her Grace Ishikawa dislikes killing off characters if she can help it, so unless she’s under orders, I feel it’s unlikely.

There are other ways The Queen can break our hears, after all.

-I am ready for a big, teary scene where Ryne says goodbye to the Scions, especially Thancred. There are a couple possibilities for how it can go, though.

-Interrupted by an enemy/event, leaving only last soft looks and things still unsaid but the communication is finally there.

-Thancred (and/or Urianger and/or Y’shtola) end up remaining on the First after all, perhaps to give the others a chance, or to help the Exarch, or Ryne, or similar last minute emergency reasons; unintentional, but they won’t just leave their friends hanging.

-The Archons do get to leave, but it’s difficult getting them back to their bodies; this is where I think Young G’raha comes back in. His blood on the Source can be used to reverse what Exarch does on the First to get the Scions into the souljars and back into corporeal form.

-A big part of me wants Ryne to last minute suddenly have to help us get the Scions back. That’s been my theory the whole time and I won’t let go until this is resolved. Minfilia got the Heroes of the First home with her, Ryne could be able to do the same; she’s as Blessed as the WoL is, after all, and just as Rejoined.

-That last one does leave Gaia alone, though, which is rough, but also she could finish Eden on her own at this clean break point in that story. While Ryne dearly loves and wants to rebuild the First, she is the Oracle of Light--and Light’s time over that world is done. That Oracle’s powers and point of hope are no longer needed, but a personification of Darkness’ changes, well...

-Runar may have a role somehow; there’s theorizing on the focus on him last patch, and him overhearing Y’shtola talk of leaving, might leave him open to manipulation.

-Frankly all the new-minted WoLs are open to manipulation, and Elidibus turning them on the Scions somehow.

-I want Angelo to come back with Alisaie. Barring that, she immediately remakes him. I definitely want a scene or at least mention of her testing her new technique on Ga Bu, but that might take another patch or two.

(I’m pretty sure out of all of them, the twins are definitely getting home; their stories on the First have been neatly wrapped up and their role alongside the WoL keeps them pretty safe, I think)

-I want a stabilized portal with the First. I don’t want the world “cut off” so far as plot goes (open for us to return for leveling/crafting/instanced reasons, but the story there being over). It would negate in so many ways the point of saving the First to let it rot in MMO static world status, but I’m also sure that’s likely to happen. Story moves on, as do the lives there, but the game can’t depict it unless there’s a plot reason for it to update.

-We’ll start working on the still-destroyed other side of the Firmament. It’ll go much like the last patch’s progression did, as that actually worked out rather well. Maybe it’s a new form of player housing. Possibly. They’ve got to come up with something different.

-Anogg and Konog will blow things up. Machine lifeforms will attack the Goggs’ carnival. The Chief will yell and curse a lot. Nines may end up helping protect people from the machine lifeforms and then begrudgingly work with us, and 2B if we can wake her; she’s in promo art still so may get woken up during the story leading into the Bunker. I know there’s at least one other faction in NieR those figures in the art could be, and the gear they hinted will be based on said figures. We’ll learn some, but not the whole story, of what happened to 2B and why Nines was enraged while not infected (his eyes were clear). Maybe we’ll meet A2; as a boss? I doubt we’ll see Adam and/or Eve until part 3, though; they feel like end bosses, if I understand their role in story right (I’ve not played any NieR).

-People will gripe and whine there are no changes to the actual writing, dialogue, or voice acting for ARR, especially in EN, not realizing how much more work that is, not to mention probably legal issues and contractual obligations with that studio and the actors.

-I’m hoping for Class and Job quests for New Game+

(as an aside, I would love for the ARR Beast Tribes to get retooled to be a bit more like HW and later Beast Tribes, and ARR and HW DoL/DoH quests to get updated to be more StB-style; for one thing, it’s an actual test of your gathering/crafting skills, not “buy it from the MB/have a buddy make it” and for two, once contained to story items, it might make it easier to add those quests to New Game+)

-Please give us Hildibrand. Please. I’m begging, SE! Greg canonically has riftwalking powers and used them at the end of StB Hildy. Please. Give us the Inspector, he’s how the WoL destresses from what MSQ throws at them.

There’s probably more I’m forgetting, but this is more than enough for now. I’m trying not to go too hard on speculation, as whatever happens will still surprise me somehow.

I do expect tears though. Lots and lots of tears.

[autumnslance]

Lmao I got three I'm particularly curious about for you on the character meme. Thancred, Lahabrea, Igeyorhm. XD Feel free to do as many or as few as you'd like of course!

You asked for it. We’ll start with That Damned Rogue. The Ascians will be below.

This of course got long, so behind a cut it goes:

Thancred

First impression: I started in Gridania and took like 2 years to finish ARR 2.0, was already spoiled on the possession angle (I spoiled myself, no big), and had just @erickgage‘s affectionate joking summary of Thancred being the guy who shows up 5 minutes late with Starbucks to all the early battles. So I didn’t really get to meet the guy ‘til the Waking Sands.

And honestly, he was stereotypical generic bland anime prettyboy competent guy. His 1.0/ARR model is…just sorta there. He was a flirt, also generic as heck. Really didn’t register too much, until I finished 2.0 finally and then went hard on the MSQ through the patches and into HW and StB 4.0, when I finally caught up to content.

Impression now: Godsdammit.

My first replay through the game was on PunchyCat, starting in Ul’dah, which meant I got to meet Thancred much earlier. I was immediately amused by his nickname for Nanamo, and Papashan’s assessment of the witty Archon. I was more into the lore, getting the first lorebook and reading the short stories on the main site, and playing through all at once instead of piecemeal over months/years made things make more sense. Thancred hits a lot of tropes I commonly like in a lot of characters, so he jumped up to being a favorite.

Gunbreaker suits him as a tank job (thank goodness he can stop trying to tank warmachina as a rogue, ffs Thancred), and tanking in general suits him when it comes to fighting for those he cares about.

I’m interested in the ShB story mentioning why he wears white in all his gear iterations; I’d previously made a post about his color choices and that aspect of character design, but having a lore explanation for his affinity for that color was interesting. I didn’t think his HW model suited him, honestly; way too rough mountain man hobo. His model in ShB is closer to his ARR model, but different enough, and imbued now with actual character, that he’s a bit more visually interesting and while still pretty typical handsome anime protagonist in appearance; his true personality just comes through a lot more.

I’m still forever mad about the unintentional character ‘ship with Aeryn, tho. It took a 3rd playthrough for it to happen.

For myself, mind, when I got into playing and learned his canonical age, it was at the time the same difference between myself and my younger brother. My assessment of the Scion “family” with Thancred being the middle child (esp his behavior pre-HW) maybe helps that. I’m getting to a point, really, where I look at the characters under 35 and think “OMG disaster children, all of you.”

Favorite moment: Oh goodness. There’s some good ones.

‘How was I supposed to know all my girlfriends would track me down and show up at HQ all at the same time: a master class in how to not to deal with multiple paramours by Archon T. Waters.’

His dramatic reappearance and duel with Ardbert in HW 3.1.

Taking out his frustrations by soloing the Coerthas cyclops boss so we can get on with the Tournament and fight Raubahn. (Side Bonus: pre-tournament when he jokes about fighting for the other team to even up the odds, and then: “It looks to be a veritable who’s who of the Eorzean Alliance. The only question is: who came to watch and who came to fight? Hmm…Nanamo. Definitely Nanamo.”)

Making sure Urianger knew he was still part of the team post-Soul Surrender climax.

“All right, which one of you triggered the obvious trap?” Also learning he can hold his breath for 10 freaking minutes–but still gets to be jealous of the WoL, Lyse, and Alisaie for their kojin blessing.

That dramatic teamwork with Urianger to knock Ran’jit down the pit in Rak’tika.

That frickin’ Trolley duty and it’s aftermath with the completed checklist of anime death markers and then just sitting there battered and bleeding and smiling and then giving Ryne a name and a headpat and “You’re family.” Bastard.

Idea for a story: Have you seen my Ao3 account? *grumbles*

Unpopular opinion: While he likely used drinking as a bad coping mechanism at times in ARR’s patches, I doubt he ever really went to blackout, as losing control to that extent, after having been controlled and probably losing a lot of time while possessed, would be awful. We see him drink a few times, but I don’t think he is/was an alcoholic.

I also agree with @ahlis-xiv that his flirtatious persona was mostly adopted. While he probably does have a healthy libido and enjoys time with paramours (that Urianger keeps a handy list of), there’s a lot that’s likely exaggerated, allowed to be assumed, and otherwise used as a cover, given his specializations. It’s also noteworthy how he’s mostly acting the same even after being lost in the wilderness, right up until our foray into the Antitower. The wit/humor gets toned down a lot, but the flirting is cut out entirely after that. He still charms some ladies in the First, based on incidental dialogue, but that seems a general reaction to him being a handsome hero type rather than any intentional flirtatious act on his part.

Favorite relationship: Thancred and little sister types. I do wish we’d seen more of his relationship with Minfilia outside of informed moments and the short stories. I feel like he has a semi-older-brother relationship with Lyse, too, given their antics in the 2.0 patches (particularly the “Hoary’s fighting the WoL, come watch!” and Thancred not even considering how one of his girlfriends would see him sending Lyse to retrieve an item until after and going “oh yeah, whoops”). And now there’s Ryne, and she is totally running things if you watch their background conversations/body language. But that’s kind of where Thancred likes it; find a girl who needs a protective older brother and do what she asks and whatever she needs.

I do have a special place in my heart for the expanded broship with Urianger that Shadowbringers gave us, though. I’ve already spoken on that one.

Favorite headcanon: Everything people assume about how he spoils the nutkin. And really, focusing on taking care of and doting on a pet would be good therapy. Goodness knows he needs it.

Also I assume he and Hilda hooked up at least once during the HW patches. Part of that expectation and cover, sure, to immediately flirt with the pretty, tough, half-elezen guard captain. But also, he spent however long mostly alone, and then only with the Vath and a nutkin for company; the guy was probably touch-starved and lonely and just needing a connection to another person he could relate to (that wasn’t a bug).

Otherwise, again, have you seen my Ao3? Ugh. Damned snarky smart rogues…

————

Lahabrea

First impression: Laughing Organization XIII-wannabe is obvious villain. Wonder what their deal is.

Impression now: So much lost/wasted potential thanks to being stuck as the ARR villain when it was so hastily rewritten and acted, and so little was decided on the Ascians and their motivations yet. A lot of what we learn now retroactively makes him more interesting. The fact he was a workaholic who looked at the workaholic Scion and went “ah yes; that one will do, perfect” makes me laugh.

Favorite moment: I like his interactions with Elidibus. And I am actually fairly fond of his theatrical reveal in Praetorium about the Ultima Weapon, the Heart of Sabik, and casting Ultima.

Idea for a story: Maybe stuff while he’s possessing Thancred. Maybe stuff between then and the Reactor. I dunno; I’ve been enjoying a lot of others’ stories about our first Ascian antagonist.

Unpopular opinion: Dunno if this is unpopular, but some of the retroactive information is to excuse why he seemed so much less powerful than other, later Ascians, but I do think the Speaker could be quite devious and powerful, if he had better writing around him. He suffers for being from ARR.

Favorite relationship: I am not ashamed to admit I am a Lahabrea/Igeyorhm shipper and Hades Ex seems to agree with me so there.

Favorite headcanon: The Speaker likely also had a good singing voice. Another thing good about possessing a man whose primary cover was a bard–excuses to indulge that.

————

Igeyorhm

First impression: Wannabe-Organization XIII also hires women, cool. Wonder if she’ll get to do anything?

Impression now: I’m sad so much got cut from HW; as great as it was, a lot got left on the editing room floor and it shows in spots–particularly where the Ascians connect with the plot. We learn much about her retroactively as well, including how she worked for/with Lahabrea thanks to being the one to wreck the Thirteenth, and change Ascian policy on how to bring about Rejoinings. I still wanna know more about her.

Favorite moment: You beat the whale, good job–thanks, that’s my key now. It’s such a perfect dick move. Excellent timing and taunting. 

Idea for a story: Maybe some of her inner thoughts working for/with Lahabrea. She was a raised up shard, so does that mean they found the scattered pieces of her original soul and force-merged them? I doubt it, since Emet-Selch mentions raising up those who are a piece of the previous office holder, but I wonder if it came with imbuing the new title-holder with some of those memories and knowledge. Perhaps she wonders if some of her interactions/feelings/whatever with Lahabrea are her own, or her tapping into her previous life’s memories. Something to think about, anyway.

Unpopular opinion: I dunno, she shoulda gotten to stick around longer? Or been allowed to do a lot more? Should have been much more of a presence in HW, but I don’t think that’s unpopular so much as unconsidered.

Favorite relationship: Lahabrea is really the only one she gets significant interactions with. Though I wonder about her interactions with the other few women in the Ascians.

Favorite headcanon: See above with the story ideas, really; she didn’t get a lot of time onscreen so there’s a lot of room to make things up, and retroactive info from ShB to make her more interesting, or at least her situation as an upraised Ascian.