#it's important to me as well that Fordola is the only one to full break out of her cycle

[lightparty-fullparty]

Gods okay I need to talk about the Stormblood Antagonists for a hot minute. Whatever personal issues I have with how Stormblood is paced or how certain characters are handled, the villains are absolutely fantastic.

If there is one singular theme that ties the main three antagonists (that being, Fordola/Yotsuyu/Zenos) together. It's the idea of the Ouroboros. The snake that is caught in a self-destructive cycle of devouring it's own tail.

Historical in our real world, the Ouroboros has been symbolic of main things, the cycles of life and death, fertility, even immortality. However, it can also been seen in a more negative light as a symbol of perpetuated suffering. Of being unable to let go of something that only end up hurting you more. And gods doesn't that just sound familiar?

Now I can hear you, in your head saying "But Gengar - Yostuyu and Fordola obviously have those parallels of suffering abuse and becoming abusers themselves, but what the hell are you doing throwing Zenos in there too? He's the abuser." And I get it, I do. Aside from the fact I'm a self-admitted Zenos lover, he doesn't at first glance really fit in with the ladies. But hear me out okay?

It's not just suffering abuse. It's refusing to let go and allow yourself and your perspective to change, even though your current way of thinking and acting is only making you suffer more. Yotsuyu was victimised for *years* at the hands of her Aunt/Uncle/Asahi. Then sold off to an (asummedly) abusive husband, and then sold again into prostitution. She was never offered a shred of sympathy or kindness during this time. And when she was given power, given authority and the means to protect herself physically. She choose to return all of the suffering she endured onto the people of Doma. She did not see them as being in the same position as her, suffering under the abuse of the Garlean Empire. She did not offer them any sympathy or kindness of her own, because (in her mind) they had denied that basic decency to her. Yotsuyu couldn't let go of her hatred until a literal giant wooden beam smacked her on the head and gave her complete amniesia. At which point, she displayed the ability to be kind. To think of others and to try and do nice things for them (Persimmons anyone?). Tsuyu was freed from her self-inflicted cycle of pain. She stopped letting herself be comsumed by her own anger and fear. Fordola was much the same, though her family at least very clearly cared for her. She grew up in an occupied Ala Mihgo. In a family with supported the Imperial force. Out of genuine agreement with the Empire or as a means of ensuring a sightly better life for themselves we don't really know (as far as I can remember at least). Fordola's suffering, much like Yotsuyu's, came at the hands of her own 'countrymen'. People who (rightly) despised the Empire for it's brutal oppression, but who choose to take it on someone more vulnerable and accessable. A child. A young girl who was given a horrible and sudden lesson on just how cruel people can be. On both sides of the conflict.

Fordola chose to join the Garlean Army in the hopes of amassing power for herself. Of trying desperately to carve out some place of herself and her friends where they felt they actually belonged. Where they would be respected. Unfortunately, she found none of this. The Garleans saw her as a 'savage', the Ala Mihgian's saw her as a tratior. Like Yotsuyu, Fordola couldn't let go of her desire for revenge. Her desire to "make anyone who ever looked down on (her) pay!". It drove her to extremes to try and hold onto that scrap of power she had managed to gather. The resonant, the Castrum, all of it more teeth biting into her own tail. So what can Zenos not let go of?

His belief that the only joy he can find in life is from dying in combat. Because let's be honest with ourselves, Zenos has no desire to live here. He wants a meaningful death, a brilliant, climactic, perfect moment and then he wants to not be alive anymore after that. It's why he chooses to kill himself after the Royal Menagiere. You beat him! You gave him his perfect moment! He knows (believes) that there's nothing left for him after this! So he dies. Zenos is infact suffering. It's just not as clear as Fordola or Yotsuyu. He's miserable. He's perpetually bored, and lethargic, and consumed by apathy. A prison of his own making because he has had tunnel vision since he was like 8? 10? that combat was the only thing capable of making him feel anything. So he chases after it, chases after you (the WOL). Trying to push you and push you like he was until you're capable of giving him what he wants. His perfect, transcendant moment of pure joy, and then death after.

Really what it comes down to is that Fordola, Yotsuyu, and Zenos are stuck in their own self-perpetuated misery. Yotsuyu in her fear of powerlessness, Fordola in her need for revenge, and Zenos in his desperation for meaning.

And none of them can see a way to break their own cycles until it someone outside of it comes in to try and do it for them. (Gosetsu/Lyse + Arenvald/WOL+Alisaie)

'Ere does the head devour the tail.

[voidtekarc]

Help Unwanted - Part I

Arcuris walked through the large Gyr Abania town, receiving suspicious looks from the locals every now even with his improvised face mask pulled up over his mouth and nose with a dark hood covering most of his face. He was much paler skin than them, his eyes bright blue, and his hair a pale silver. Unlike the more modern raiment he wore around other notable eorzean settlements, he wore loose fitting, darker clothes to conceal his appearace. Despite this he still stood out, especially with his massive build and height. A couple more townspeople glared to Arcuris after he knocked on the door of a large home, painted crudely on the front of it were big red letters that said Traitors.

"I told you people to leave me the hell alone-" The man's voice silenced after he opened the door's sliding peephole before speaking harshly, "Who in the hell are you?"

Arcuris said in almost a whisper but loud enough for the man to hear, "Perhaps the only friend you have left, Ribald."

The man shook his head and noticed the more pale features of the man. He was an outlander, someone not from around the area. He scoffed and shook his head, "I'll entertain the idea..."

Arcuris heard the multiple deadbolts unlock before the door opened up to the opulent home. The man had a large beard and a friendly smile with fancy clothes and he somewhat rotund, but one that was seethed in loss. He held up his hand and motioned Arcuris in with a sigh, "Please come in."

Arcuris entered the home with a slight nod and his host closed the door behind him, latching it up once more. The host was taken back at the size of the stranger, and spoke again, this time a little less enthusiastic and worried, "You can hang your coat up on the rack and feel free to take your boots off, if you would like I mean."

Arcruis planed his coat on the rack and nodded, taking off his boots as a sign of respect before he walked to a large living room, full of decorations, many expensive, that adored the walls. He sat down slowly on the couch, leaning back on the couch as he sunk into the soft fabric. He pulled down the bandana face mask and waited. His host followed him into the room and sat in the large recliner. He stared to the table and hunched over with his hands clasped together in worry. As soon as he saw Arcuris' garlean third eye his chest tightened.

Arcuris held up his hand in a dismissive fashion and motioned for the man to calm down. He looked to his eyes and narrowed his own, "Ribald, I'm here because I heard you're missing something and I want to help you get it back. Your missing a daughter, correct?"

Ribald's body tensed up as he looked up to meet Arcuris' eyes. Tears streamed down his face and then he started to shake profusely as he clasped his hands to his face, "A group kidnapped my daughter who are loyal to the Eorzean Alliance, they are considered heroes to the people here. They targeted me because I once did business with Garleans and I don’t want anymore to do with-"

Arcuris held up his hand and kept staring to Ribald, "I know your history, Ala Mhigan. Very much like the circumstances surrounding Fordola rem Lupis, your family is seen as traitors in the eyes of many in Gyr Abania." He leaned over and grinned to him, "Rest assured, however, they will no one will bother you again...but 'm not doing this as a charitable act."

The man frowned, "Please, I just want my daughter back, I'll pay you a million gil."

Arcuris sat silently and stared to Ribald.

"More than one? What about two? Three?” The man tilted his frustrated head to the side and raised his voice, “For the love of the gods what do you want from me?!"

"I want partial ownership of your mines. The same mines that these so called heroes want as well, is that also correct?"

Ribald looked up, angry with the Garlean but also angered that the same people who he called countrymen took his daughter from him, "You want to take everything I own, just like they would? How does that make you any different, Garlean?"

Arcuris smiled and leaned back, "What is more important to you, Ribald? Some ore or your own daughter? Your own flesh and blood. Let me tell you that your daughter is one of a kind. You can't just conjure up another one." He sighed and looked to him, "I even said partial, I'm not going to confiscate it like these local heroes want to just to give it over to the Eorzean Alliance. My offer is far better, I believe.”

Ribald glared, knowing he didn't want to agree to those terms. It was too much. However, it was far too much to not know how is daughter was and was thinking of awful things they might be doing to her. He rubbed his face and tasted the salty tears and the bitter choice he had to make. No one else was going to help him and he knew it.

"Just get my Kristin back. For the love of Rhalgar, just bring her back safely, Garlean..."

Arcuris smiled and nodded and held out his hand for Ribald to shake. His sadness was overtaken with curiositly noticing strange, small scars in the forms of straight lines along the outside of his hand. He reached over and shook his hand slowly, his palms glistening with sweaty regret. The Garlean shook his hand with the grip of a bear. Arcuris looked to the man’s eyes, "So we have a deal then?"

Arcuris stood up and nodded to Ribald, pulling his mask back up over his nose and nodded to the concerned father, "I'll be back tomorrow evening and with your daughter." He started to walk out and Ribald kept his distance following behind him. Arcuris spoke once more, "One more thing. Do not break our agreement." He sighed and glared to Ribald, "It wouldn't end well for you." After that, he gave a slight wave, leaving the home and closing the door behind him.

Ribald swiftly locked the door after the Garlean left. He started to cry bitter tears as he swung his arm and knocked over a priceless vase, a relic of his ancestors. It shattered against the floor as he fell to his knees in the middle of the hallway, his face buried in his hands as he wept.

[safestsephiroth]

SO I BEAT STORMBLOOD’S MSQ.

stormblood MSQ spoilers below. For like, basically the entire thing.

I’m a big fan of a whole lot of the game, like, almost all of it. It’s much easier to talk about the handful of bad things rather than the overwhelming tide of amazing stuff, but then I’d come across as hating on it.

Trust me. This is the best FFXIV has ever been. This is some of the best Final Fantasy has ever been. I feel Stormblood stuck the landing perfectly, though I’m given to understand that isn’t a universal opinion.

I love the music. The character writing is phenomenal, especially given that most (if not all) major cutscenes are actually full-on animated - no more are there nothing but in-game emotes for cutscenes, now characters are free to move and act outside those rigid restrictions!

Every single time I expected something to happen that would piss me off (except once) I was wrong. I kept calling shit left and right that would be infuriating and all of it went way better than I expected. @twelvesavethequeen can confirm, as I did MSQ side-by-side with him on mic the entire way.

The new zones, the lore added to stuff, every single thing is fucking phenomenal and I can’t wait to dive into the huge variety of sidequests and get even more of it. Both new jobs play like a dream, and the job changes I’ve played are all awesome. (Except for Summoner. That being said, I now finally understand the changes to Summoner - they made it easier to play under pressure. I had no problems, but I can see how fighting Shinryu someone less-experienced might freak out and completely fuck their entire rotation multiple times if they were playing heavensward summoner. Making the job simpler made it more accessible, even if it also made it way less fun or interesting.)

Every dungeon is great, and every single dungeon except the first one is better than any dungeon in ARR and any HW dungeon that isn’t called “Hullbreaker Hard Mode”. The music is fucking PHENOMENAL. The changes to the FATE system (i.e. now it’s actually, like, worth the trouble) are fantastic. New gear is gorgeous, the old gear they chose to make recolored dyeable gear now is GREAT, enemy design is fantastic (though Cyber-Gorrilas was a...weird choice), everything is amazing. Straight-up giving us artifact sets at 70 is amazing and I love them for it.

So.

What don’t I like?

I’ll divide this between “legitimate complaints” and “I am an asshole”.

LEGITIMATE COMPLAINTS:

They’re taking up the western superhero comic problem of killing off characters for emotional impact, except psych! They’re not dead.

Y’shtola, Krile, Alisae, Gosetsu, Yotsuyu, Conrad (the first time) - All of them died, except they didn’t. This is particularly cheap in the cases of Y’shtola and Alisae, because we actually SEE them get presumably killed and have time to dwell on it and accept it’s the case until psych! They’re not dead.

This cheapens the story and undermines dramatic tension. If we realize the only times characters actually die now are when they’re given five minutes to say their last words, then we know those shots are meaningless. Opening with Meffrid dying that way does create the illusion that everyone else might also be dying, too - but then it never happens again.

This is especially a problem in the case of Gosetsu, because him dying there was perfect closure to his character arc. His ultimate redemptive act (and a final fantasy VI reference inside a massive chain of FFVI references) to atone for his guilty conscience. It’s a touching emotional moment.

But it didn’t mean anything, because he didn’t die.

This trend was the worst part of the follow-up to 2.55 - walking back a shitload of presumed deaths to the point the only person who actually ‘died’ is just a deus ex machina goddess puppet or something - and it’s disappointing to see they’re continuing it.

And...that’s it. That’s the complaint I have that people who are not me could reasonably agree with. Let’s get on to the bulk of my complaints, then!

I AM AN ASSHOLE:

FUCK ESTINIEN! FUCK ESTINIEN! GET HIM OFF MY SCREEN, GET HIM OUT OF MY GAME. I’M SO FUCKING SICK OF HIM. STOP TRYING TO GET HIM OVER. FUCKING STOP IT.

When I found out Estinien was in Stormblood, the exchange I am paraphrasing went something like this:

Me: “Does he die?”

Them: “No.”

Me: “Fuck that, then.”

Them: “He’s only really around for one cutscene, does an important thing and then leaves.”

Me: “The only way Estinien being in the MSQ would be fine with me is if he dies, and then everyone gathers around and talks about what a fucking asshole he was and how everyone hates him and then they string him up by his entrails and the Garleans and Eorzeans call a truce for a day like the fucking WWI christmas truce and we all get together and hold hands and laugh under the bloated corpse of the absolute worst character in the Final Fantasy series.”

That didn’t happen.

Instead, Conrad and a bunch of other people died because Estinien had to look cool.

Yeah, did you think about that? Did you think about the fact he was chilling up there when they fired the gun that killed so many good people? Sure, he broke it after that, but he still is directly responsible through inaction for the deaths of everyone in that tower. Including Conrad, an infinitely better and more interesting character.

And the camera wants you to fucking LOVE him. The camera wants you to freak out at how cool he is, and he acts all fucking cocky and YEAH YOU’RE WELCOME BOY, I STILL DON’T KNOW HOW TO SHOW PEOPLE PROPER FUCKING RESPECT BECAUSE I’M A CANCEROUS FUCKING TUMOR ON THIS GAME’S LORE.

And narratively, it didn’t even have to be him!

Could’ve easily been Yugiri planted a bomb that took out the tank. Could’ve easily been Thancred. We didn’t know where either of those characters were at the time, and both are shown to be fantastic at stealth. It didn’t HAVE to be Estinien. But it was.

Fuck Estinien. Fuck him for showing up. Fuck him for living. Fuck him for existing. I hope he dies violently, horrifically, and in a humiliating way. I want to see him destroyed. I want to see him fucking ruined. I want to see him suffer for nothing, like he makes me suffer by existing when he doesn’t have to and living well past the time other, well-written characters died in a humiliating and disrespectful way.

Also, Lyse is an idiot for not killing Fordola even if it turns out to have gone well in the long run. Break out the guillotine and line up every single Garlean sympathizer and purge them all. Do it. No forgiveness. No quarter given to servants of evil. Run the streets of Ala Mhigo red with the blood of Garleans and those who aided them.

Before, I would’ve thought that impossible or a bad idea, but then we find out that there’s a SHITLOAD of Ala Mhigans that didn’t support Garlemald. I was afraid we’d find a populace widely indoctrinated, but no, we didn’t.

So. Purge ‘em all. Clean the Garlean taint from the soil with Garlean blood, and build on the ashes of their corpses.

Fuck the imperials.