#its why i liked ffxv so much

[toestalucia]

i rly like these LOL theyre cute

[astrxealis]

did you know i love final fantasy so goddamn much (specifically xiv, xv, and xvi rn)

[prynacle]

FFXV || UNUSED EP. ARDYN ENDING

Commentary by the dataminer Youtube@Luthus Nox Fleuret

This unused scene was supposed to be the very last cutscene in EPISODE ARDYN but it was seemingly taken out after all the other upcoming DLCs were cancelled which would have formed an entire new alternate storyline. Since Episode Ardyn is the start of that story line it would probably have been a bit confusing to tease something like this and only have it resolved in the novel - as the actual game content got cancelled. Its also worth noting that after this scene the score board will appear, fully ending the game. I dislike this DLC and the alternate storyline developed in DotF. In my view, DotF undermines previously established characterization/story and directly contradicts the original theme of FFXV replacing it with something entirely else. I do not view its content as canon in any form. I am, however, committed to uncovering and documenting the many secrets of FFXV. Hence why I have decieded to upload this online regardless of my personal opinions on the matter.

My thoughts under the cut:

So the sound files from this scene were not an isolated leftover thing? Cool cool we get to see this :D It never ceases to amaze me how far the datamining scene of the game has come after all these years ✨ I'm loving Lunafreya's posture/walking animation here hehe I also partially agree with Luthus commentary. I'm not fond of the alternate story and ending DotF offers because of the lore changes, but It's been long since I decided to simply ignore it/let others have their fun and relish in the little things that surface from it, like Luna scenes and dialogues in the book, or in this case, a datamined scene.

No point in marinating in the things we don't like from a videogame's alternate ending when there's so much more to like from the actual game, me thinks.

[flowers-of-tenebrae]

Random DotF musings pt. 1

(spoilers for the whole book)

A Savior Lost - Ardyn:

So I uh totally forgot there was an "animated prologue" to Ep Ardyn. I did watch it...back in 2019. That means between Episode Ardyn, the animated prologue and DotF, his story has been told thrice in three different forms. Huh. (Well it's par the course for FFXV tbh)

It starts off rough tbh, but I like how the author reminds us of Noct's "shaggy hair and wayward nature" in the opening paragraph. Then you realise it's set in chapter 13 so any slight amusement - at Noct's expense - becomes 😭

I've had DA brainrot, so the justice (Somnus) vs. vengeance (Ardyn) themes stood out. In executing his ideals of justice and governance, Somnus corrupts Ardyn's purpose (his calling) and leads him on the path of vengeance... Culminating in Ardyn doing unto Noctis/Somnus what Somnus did him: 1) Somnus slaying Aera before Ardyn vs. Ardyn stabbing Luna in Altissia, and ofc 2) Ardyn vowing to destroy Somnus' entire legacy and lineage (through Noctis), much like how Ardyn's past as the "savior healer and future king" was demolished/buried and how his wondrous future (as king with Aera by his side) was cut short. This all seems v obvious, but it sounds cool to me when framed with DA's concepts of spirits vs demons - i.e. "if you see them as a demon, they'll become demons and reflect your expectations back at you".

Also obv Jesus/Judas parallels

The last line goes hard ✍️🔥🔥🔥

Now, the train has clearly steered off the rails of canon and into new territory

Not a fan of them casting Bahamut as the big bad antagonist (so cliché). Like the way his speech (as an Astral) is formatted though

It's easier for me to accept the Noctis/Somnus and Luna/Aera parallels in 2024 than it was back in 2019. But even more important than those are the Ardyn/Luna parallels, which we can see taking shape in this part.

Verdict: A slog to read, denser than expected, less exciting bc I've experienced Ep Ardyn - and the animated prologue. Certain parts felt more like reading a "dry impassive timeline" than a story. (I still question Aera's judgement in telling Somnus.) But this chapter does set the stage, so I can see why they still included it. And it's worth re-treading for that last scene alone.

The Beginning of the End - Aranea:

There's anti-food promotion for once, too much of it really. (Ew stale popcorn)

We learn a little bit of Niflheim's past state and its decline. Cool

Omg mentions of Aranea's parents!? Do we know more about her parents than Iggy's?? 😂

Wow they have an aerial safety net system in Gralea (for dragoons...?) Also, Gralea 🔄 Garlean empire - yeah the ff devs weren't subtle (it's a FFXIV ref)

Aranea's penchant for nicknames strikes again -> Tiny = Diamond Weapon

I liked seeing more of Aranea's dynamic with Biggs and Wedge and learning a bit about the latter two. Not as much Aranea + Sol in this ch as I'd expected, but that's okay for now.

While not quite as impressive as [ME2 spoiler] Miranda giving her resignation to the Illusive Man, Aranea going "I really can't stand you" to Ardyn, winking, then diving off the edge of Zegnautus Keep is still pretty awesome

The ffxv devs keep trying to make me care about Loqi but it's never worked

BONUS: FFVI ref spotted! (dancing mad) + minor Tenebrae lore drop (they were a tourist trap /jk)

Verdict: Some parts were repetitive ngl BUT this was more engaging than the prev ch bc 1) it's new content, 2) ARANEA!! - however the action scenes would've been more exciting to play through vs. reading. I'm going to sound like a broken record here; I feel robbed we didn't get to play as her (DRG ladies ftw) and see her wink on screen 🥲

[samarecharm]

FFXV is so infuriating bc its obviously a tragedy with a bittersweet ending at best, but I can never accept the way it ends bc the entire ending arc is the most out of character shit ive ever seen in a story. Its BAD its awful i love this game sooo much but its so bad it keeps me up at night. That post about tragedies is so real; things couldve been different and couldve been better but for it to have changed would mean to have the character be someone else. But it fucking SUCKS bc ffxv is full of tragic moments where youre like ‘oh absolutely they would absolutely do this’ and ‘bro he would NOT fucking say that ! He would not DO that !!!!!!!!!!’

Ignis absolutely would risk going blind and dying if it meant saving Noctis. Putting on the ring was accepting a death sentence, and even if he survived, its TRAGIC that he keeps losing more and more of himself in the name of defending the crown and Noctis! Nobody wants this, ESPECIALLY Noctis! But this is what Ignis has devoted his life to; he would be a different character altogether if he DIDNT find himself expendable.

BUT

in the SAME fucking game, u have Noctis post-crystal walking around like hes been possessed !! 😭 he just SAYS shit that makes no sense, things that sound like writers needed to make Important Big Speeches happen, but forgot to add the character development that wouldve made it believable! Hes been in what amounts to a COMA for 10 years! He misses his FRIENDS he depends on them!!! I can accept that he dies in the end but he would NOT fight alone and die! Hes want his fucking FRIENDS that he MISSED for TEN YEARS to help him!!! They work together for the Ifrit fight but NOT the Ardyn one? For WHAT???? That shit about Fate was so fucking WACK it was executed soooo poorly and it felt like a crutch the writers used to stay on track when they didnt know what else to do.

FFXV is a tragedy but its sooo bad bc the things that mattered for the entire game was ignored in favor of a dogshit Generic Protag 1v1 Fight that left no choice but to have the game end the way that it did. Noctis would absolutely go into a final fight asking for a picture of his best friends to keep with him if he knows hes subject to getting trapped in limbo or worse, death. Its still one of my favorite scenes in any game ever! He would NOT say ‘walk tall, my friends’ WHOOOOO is this man possessing Noctis, thats NOT him! He wouldve said the shit he said at the campfireeeeeeeeeee he loves them and theyre the best friends he couldve ever had and no generic speeches couldve conveyed that love properly !!!!

The game is about u and ur boys being lost and directionless in the face of grief and loss and standing together to find meaning and justice in the mess of it all !!!!!!!! Why would they NOT be in the final fight! All of them wouldve DIED for Noctis and the biggest way to convey character growth wouldve been Noctis saying ‘u know what; thats okay- i dont want anyone to die but i know life, the astrals, and fate itself wont let that happen. If were going to die were going to do it together. And maybe together we can defy fate and save this world’ RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥

[enden-k]

ngl you got me into wuwa, it's been super fun despite the flaws and lag 😭 thank you enden!!! i cant wait to get the limited guy (i am still learning the names) and i love love love encore and lingyang so much.......... my children............ holding them gently

its rlly fun and i love it sm!!!!! feels sm like a mix of nier, FFXV and HI3 to me so thats why it feels so frustrating it lags sm bc i rlly wanna play but im getting denied aughh.....

im happy to hear you enjoy it tho!!!! good luck on getting jiyan, hes so strong and pretty

[paracosmicparadox]

So I finished FFXV ages ago, but I've been thinking about it lately bc you know, I elaborated the chocobros' story far further than it was meant to go and got way more attached to them than I should have. So here're some things that the game did really well and some of the things it didn't. (you don't have to agree w anything here; I'm not trying to corrupt y'all w my opinions; I just feel like talking)

Let's start with the bad to get it out of the way:

CINDY. I swear to everything holy her character had the potential to be So Cool if she hadn't been so overtly over-sexualized. Like, I'm a woman-liker too and I get it, lady mechanics are hot af, but you know what else is attractive? Safety in the workplace. Cindy's outfit was not something any mechanic would be caught dead wearing. Yeah, it was designed to be sexy, but do you know how many burns she would've accumulated from the hot oil and metal she works with? There's a reason mechanics typically wear clothing zipped up when they're actually working on something. If anything, Cindy's character design just made me uncomfortable. Her character itself? Great. No qualms there. Her design? Please acquire more than two square feet of fabric I'm begging you. I just feel like Cindy deserved to be so much more than fan service.

Luna's brief time on-screen. Yet another potentially incredible and deep female protagonist who got short change from this game. People joke a lot that Luna wasn't at all an important character because the game never really treated her like one. She was MEANT to be important, clearly, but it felt like she existed just for her tearjerking death scene? Like there was SO MUCH overlooked potential to bring her into the storyline as more than Tragic Love Interest In White, and yet?? Idk it frustrated me.

The emotional aspect of the game felt rushed. There were a lot of emotional scenes covered throughout the plotline ranging from King Regis's death to the deal with Prompto at Zegnautus Keep. I feel like the game TRIED to cover them realistically and show the characters' grief, but it didn't quite get there. It was just sort of an "Oh, how sad. I'm so upset and angry. Hm, what's that? My friends believe in me without truly understanding and I can kill someone to ease my pain? Oh okay I'm better now." I get that realistic healing cycles are kinda hard to portray within a set timeframe, but having some lingering effects of the blatant trauma inflicted would've been nice. You don't recover from shit like that in a week's time.

Character personalities tended to be one-sided. Noctis was edgy, Prompto was happy-go-lucky, Gladio was tough-guy, and Ignis was... nevermind, Iggy was great--- HE had some on-screen depth. Personally, I've developed these characters myself far more than what the game gave us, but I wish we'd gotten more canon depth beyond their surface-level traits. I love them with my whole heart and they deserve genuine complexity.

Now the things I actually really enjoyed:

The graphics were on-point. The amount of detail put into character design and into monsters was insane. You could zoom in and see individual textures on skin and hair and feathers, bringing a level of realism to the game that I personally enjoyed.

All of the Latin and Norse mythological references!! As a Latin nerd, I found little gems everywhere in this game. Esp in the names--- (Noctis Lucis Caelum = Of-the-night Sky-of-light (the genitives in there make the literal translation kinda a mouthful ik) Gladiolus Amicitia = Sword-flower Friendship (the gladiolus is an actual flower that gets its name from the Latin word gladius, meaning sword, for its sword-like shape) Ignis Scientia = Fire Knowledge; Prompto Argentum = Ready Silver (the word prompto is actually in the dative (possibly ablative), making the literal translation nonsense, but if they'd made his name Promptus, it would've sounded awkward, so I can see why they picked the dative/ablative form of the adjective for stylistic reasons and I put the rough translation instead)) WOW THAT WAS A LOT OF PARENTHETICAL INFO WHOOPS

Ardyn's character. I'm not saying this bc I'm one of the fans who fawn over him---Ardyn is DEFINITELY NOT MY PREFERRED FLAVOR OF MAN, but character-wise, he made an excellent antagonist. He was witty, slick, and classy in an I'm-gonna-outstep-you-like-it's-hopscotch sorta way. He was a poetic villain done well, which made him an antagonist you could both sympathize for and absolutely detest given the situation. He was both the master manipulator and the pawn one space away from the edge of the board. He can sway a crowd, but you know deep in your gut just by the cunning greed in his eyes that You Cannot Trust The Man. He was definitely Not a good person (tragic backstory isn't an excuse), but he was a good villain.

I loved the bond between the chocobros?? This is probably bc I'm a sucker for the found family trope, but their interactions were so amazing to me?? Like, not even the cutscene stuff. Just their little sidebar conversations during fights or while you're walking around or driving the Regalia. They're Roadtrip Buddies™ and I think that's excellent.

THE FOOD. By god, the food in this game looked absolutely scrumptious and I would like to partake. The Daggerquill Soup? Give it to me I'll pay you. The Creamy Crustacean Omelet? Stop it right now I'll eat that so fast it'll be a criminal offense. Like I know I touched on the graphics earlier, but broski I was not kidding. I guess I know why the game took so long to make it to the market bc the detail that went into these recipes is absolutely mouthwatering.

[mamthew]

This review of Final Fantasy XV: Dawn of the Future by Jun Eishima sort of by design contains spoilers for FFXV and all of its tie-in materials.

Final Fantasy XV is a kind of fascinating game. It's a mainline Final Fantasy game that's been in a weird state of incompletion literally throughout its entire lifetime. It was announced in 2006 as Final Fantasy Vs. XIII, then was in development hell for literally a decade after its announcement, when it finally released as Final Fantasy XV in 2016, alongside a movie that filled in a pretty big chunk of its lore, an animated OVA that filled out some of the characters' backstories, and several crappy side-games. It released alongside a season pass that promised three single-player campaigns and one multiplayer campaign that all filled in missing pieces of the story that otherwise felt excised from the game's story as it was at launch.

In FFXV, Gladio leaves the party for a time and returns with a facial scar, refusing to tell the group why. Ignis is separated from the party during a battle and in the aftermath is revealed to have been blinded in the altercation, with no explanation as to how. Prompto is kidnapped and when the group rescues him, he mentions offhand some pretty mind-boggling backstory he has discovered, with no time to explain what that even means. Near the end of the game, there's a ten-year time skip, the interim of which is barely explored. Each of these missing pieces was slowly filled in over the course of 2017, and only for those who had the money to shell out for the extra content and the time to play the kind of tediously long Comrades DLC.

But even after these holes were filled in, many fans were unhappy with the final game. FFXV's entire back half feels incomplete, like it was rushed despite its at least ten-year development cycle. Its final dungeon is pretty short, and its ending is…divisive…which is a nice way to say that it's a downer and most gamers especially circa 2016 couldn't handle a game having a downer of an ending. Throughout 2017 and 2018, the developers kept patching in more story beats, more quality-of-life tweaks, and more side content, in an effort to both make the game feel more complete and cater to fans upset about the less-than-rosy story elements.

This culminated in the release of FFXV: Royal Edition in March of 2018, which packaged in all the previous patches and DLCs and completely reworked the final dungeon to be much larger, more detailed, and to present closure on several plot threads originally left ambiguous. Royal also promised the release of four more story DLCs, based on the results of a fan survey, which would combine to give the game an entire alternate happy ending. But in October of 2018, three of the four DLCs were canceled and director Hajime Tabata left the company. The first of these DLCs, Episode Ardyn, released in March of 2019, a full year after Royal Edition's release. The Episode Ardyn DLC honestly kind of makes the original ending (as in, the only ending we'd gotten) worse by making the villain, Ardyn, aware from the beginning exactly how the game's story would play out and ascribing the entire thing to a fate that no one escapes. It even presents a newer, bigger villain who never gets his comeuppance.

In July of 2020, we got this book, Final Fantasy XV: The Dawn of the Future, a novelization of the story the canceled DLCs would have told, had Tabata been allowed to cook. A friend gifted the book to me the month of its release, and I immediately started graduate school and had too much work to get to it. Four years later, I dug through all my still-packed boxes of books to find it and finally get some closure on the game that dominated three years of my life so long ago.

Dawn of the Future isn't great as a book. It's written well enough, but the pacing of a video game story is pretty different from the pacing of a novel, since so much of the pacing and so many story beats are presented through the language of combat, the primary means of interacting with a video game world. Plus, as an alternate ending to a preexisting story that exists across a game, a demo, a movie, two OVAs, four DLCs, two years of updates, and several weird side projects, the novel assumes the reader is familiar with its world and characters. I was, so it worked for me, but I can't imagine how confusing it would be to try to read this book as someone who had never played FFXV before, or even as someone who had played FFXV but hadn't seen Kingsglaive or maybe hadn't played the Royal Edition of the game. FFXV exists across too many parts for any one story to stand alone, and that's especially glaringly obvious when I'm reading a novel - a medium I usually engage with as self-contained.

Dawn of the Future is interesting, though, as an attempt at recreating a clear plan that was shut down early. It seems to take very few creative liberties with the events as they would have unfolded in the DLCs. Part of why the pacing is so weird is that it details every boss fight and tries to make each of those fights take up as much space as the fight would have taken time in the DLC itself. It takes time to describe what clearly would have been the gameplay loop of each DLC. It's trying to convey to the reader what the playing of this story would have felt like. For that reason, this attempt to bring closure to fans is also, at least for me, a reopening of the wound it's trying to heal. I would have loved to drive a motorcycle across the wastes of the Gralean Empire as Luna and Sol, setting up campsites along the darkened road. Aranea's sci-fi dragoon combat style sounds fun as hell, and chasing Diamond Weapon across the burning city of Gralea would have been up there with the fall of Altissia for spectacle. I'd love to play a boss fight against Bahamut using two different characters in two separate planes of existence - that sounds rad. I'm reading a game I don't get to play, and games generally are more satisfying to play than to read.

I'm also of two minds on the story from the perspective of a fan. Much of what it adds are either things the original game definitely needed more of or fun riffs on previously established gameplay loops. Aranea, Sol, and Luna all being important playable characters would have helped to fix the lack of female characters in the original game, for instance. That's sorely needed. Going on a Mad Max-style motorcycle ride through the post-apocalypse was an inspired twist on the low-stakes road trip that made up the first half of the main game. That's creative and much appreciated. But the ending itself is, in my opinion, weaker than the ending we got. It's a much more traditionally Final Fantasy ending, in that the characters all survive and defeat a cosmic enemy that would otherwise destroy the world, so I'm sure there are fans who see it as a much-needed alternate ending, or even maybe "the ending we should have had if the devs had made the game right the first time." But it loses so much of the ambiguity and ambivalence that the original ending holds.

Noct and his friends dying to wipe out the royal family and cleanse the world because the notion of royalty was a trap that existed only to set right a great evil his ancestors perpetrated was darkly ironic. Instead, Noct and his friends and his fiance all survive while the ancestor apologizes to those he hurt, resulting in the continuation of the royal family. That's thematically inconsistent from what the game tried to do up to that point and is also…just…limp. But I say that knowing full well that if this ending had released with the original game, I'd have no issue with it. I wouldn't have finished the game and said "well, it was all ruined at the end when all the characters didn't die." It's through the act of papering over what was messy and thematically interesting about the original that the inadequacies of this ending are made apparent.

This is a strange book that left me feeling two ways about the game it's based on; FFXV is both lesser and greater for the loss of these DLCs. But that's always been true ever since the game's initial release. FFXV has always been in a state of flux, reliant on tie-in media and promised future updates to bring it to the state where it will be what was promised. Now, with those promises broken and its director pushed out, it's a game that's been refinished just about every month for three years and will forever be unfinished despite it all. The Dawn of the Future is a reminder of a future that never will be, a testament to the ugliness of AAA game development, and a fascinating look at the refinements and setbacks that would have come from chasing fan expectations.

I enjoyed reading it. I would have enjoyed playing it more. It is not the ending we should have gotten, either in form or in contents.

[makapatag]

random screencaps of my current ffxii tza rerun

(i lost my old save file but only really finished the great crystal, now i'm hunting down espers and got Chaos!)

i'm already a huge huge fan of FFXII and Ivalice as a whole, from its non-european-centric fantasy style to its slipstream weird fantasy esque vibes and feelings. it's not so much fairytale as it is "utmost fantasy historia" in a way. its political story captures and it does the classic ivalice thing wherein its political story eventually gives way to earth shattering conspiracies but the best part about ffxii's conspiracy is that even the subject of the earth shattering conspiracy are also having their own conspiracy. it's wild and it's so fun to play through. i'd put its narrative somewhat on the poetry side (alongside things like elden ring or legend of zelda breath of the wild, focusing on the world, immersion, and the moment-to-moment) rather than the narrative prose side (in the vein of things like baldur's gate 3 or mass effect or whatnot, where the writing goes to the characters and is more overt and drags you along with it), though of course being a JRPG it has to conform a bit into prose gaming (forgive the terms i am a literature person first and foremost)

on the gameplay side as someone who loves character action games and simulation rpgs (tactics grid rpgs) i really started out not liking it. but then when i started treating it essentially like ogre battle or unicorn overlord, a somewhat slight autobattler with constant menu pausing to issue different commands, viewing it a bit more like a strategy game, everything really clicked. figuring out everyone's builds with self-imposed challenges (such as having every job in the game be used) is so so so fun as someone who is a sucker for buildcrafting (it's why Final Fantasy Tactics and Elden Ring are the few games I replay!). nothing is more satisfying than seeing a really good build and team comp soar through a grueling boss battle, where you still have to micromanage, casting Dispels and upkeeping Buffs and switching Gambits (and even weapons!) on the fly.

one of the things that FFXII really turned me around on is the whole "you have to both unlock this spell/technick/weapon/armor and acquire it out in the world to equip/use it!" at first i hated it: i already spent time grinding LP to unlock the license, why did I have to still find it in the world?

then i kind of just figured, whatever, i'll explore and just try to find everything if i can. and it worked. exploration in this system was fiercely rewarded: things like Bravery (ATK UP), Faith (MAG UP), and Protectga (AoE Protect) could only be found in chests in the nooks and crannies of the Necrohol of Nabudis. now i have a care for these places i'm traveling around. oh, the nabreus deadlands are called that because nethicite was used here and now it's fantasy fallout new vegas? shit dude that's all you had to say. sorry i wasn't paying attention at first. i wasn't aware of your game. now hand me Silencega and let me get Chaos as a summon

now i can't just rush through the story or whatnot (well, you can! but it's no fun if you do that but it's totally doable and not too difficult which is honestly very accessible). i have to go around the areas i travel around, and exploration is fun because with the gambits system i don't have to keep fiddling with these menus, i can just let my smartly built team do the work. its as if the game rewards you for taking the time to build up and setup your characters! this is a game that rewards team composition and party management, something i feel is sorely missing from modern ffs (ffxv and ffxvi)

to top it all of it's kinda diegetic and immersive. of course these spells and technicks you don't just get. the jobs in this world (also diegetically) only get you to unlock the License to use these things, which are proven by adventuring (and thus, gaining license points). they don't automatically get you that thing. now you have the license, you can use Scathe sure, the most powerful black magick spell in the game, but you have to get into subquest blocked areas of a deep mine to even find it in the first place, and its blocked behind Gilgamesh! so now you're looking for these things and you're interacting with Ivalice and Ivalice feels so alive and lived in because it compromises so little for the player

it's not all perfect of course. so many of the higher spells and technicks and weapons straight up need guides to get, while others are at the whim of RNG. fuck that, but i can't help but completely respect it. it's such an ivalice matsuno choice to do. so many things in this game need guides to do, to the point that while i'm doing it i'm hearkened back to my first elden ring playthrough or my first demon's souls playthrough were i'm partway dependent on those that have come before me to be satisfied with my game. and i don't think that's a bad thing, i think that's something video games are uniquely able to do as a medium.

also i can't help but wish the UI was just a tad bit better, but FFXII was of course made during the menu jrpg era and the PS2 was no doubt already struggling handling so many things that FFXII was bursting with the seams with (something it has in common with its distinguished grandfather vagrant story)

and finally, so many of the things i like about FFXII only really came about in the Zodiac Age (specifically the Switch Version): being able to respec Jobs, finding rare items in the world instead of just buying them from the baknamy merchant in the necrohol of nabudis lmao... but despite all this these are minor detractions to the overall peak experience

though to be fair to the OG it was on a whole a different, perhaps easier game. and i kind of liked the fact that everyone had the same license board. it had that non-self interpenetration buddhist vibe, but also meant that you can go with almost whatever gear and spell setup for whatever team you end up with

what a good game,,, characters are so great too. i love vaan and penelo because they really are both an audience stand-in as well as a masses representation in a cast of knights, princesses, sky pirates and forest shamans

[captainadwen]

Watching the FF Versus XIII trailers and

- what would eventually become ff15 thing has been into development since 2006??? Jesus

- it used to be for the ps3 lmao

- so many familiar characters?? Aranea was there from the start ah

- the trailers show a fair amount completed! Aside from graphics overhaul, it's super easy to notice similar locations. I wonder how much of the game actually got produced. Because there is a LOT of mechanics that seem fully finished, various locations, and some plot

Speaking of the plot though, I get the feeling it wasn't very long either. I wonder if that's why they changed it to a main series game?

- full (affectionate) offense to ffxv but them actually fighting their way out of insomnia after noctis gets a power trip is fascinating and much better than the, admittedly fun though awkward, "ardyn is feeling like projecting himself and his fiance onto noctis and luna and arranged their marriage but Regis got the wedding set in a different country thus getting noctis out of insomnia"

- like I understand why they did the change-- noctis /aquiring/ his op power is the main plot of the game and its already short -- but the original one sounds much more fascinating. Like where exactly was the plot supposed to go from there if noctis starts out with his full armiger??

- that said I do like the stabby stabby armiger acquisition from ffxv.

Though It's impossible to compare with "death goddess gave it to me" bc versus13 didn't get made at all so I don't know how it would vibe

- also I get the vibe that some of the strongest parts of 15 are remnants from versus13. BUT like I said, i also get the vibe that versus13 was already suffering from lack of really meaty plot. All the trailers only focus on noctis and Co escaping insomnia/fighting in accordo, with some little hints of weird death magic (?). Of course a game trailer showing just the first 1/3rd of a game is smart but it does make me wonder just... what this game was supposed to end up as?

Like it's clearly sold as a revenge tale with fantasy strangeness in the trailers. Would it have been them going after the empire????

- prompto looks SO different and it's weird.

[oveliagirlhaditright]

I saw an article about how one of the things Final Fantasy XVI had in common with some other FFs--to make it a FF (which is still a silly argument that we even need to have to me, but whatev)--is flower importance in the story. And that's certainly true. So I decided to make a post about that... And prepare for the longest post in the history of the world, because I may have gone overboard in screenshotting some of these. I also decided to include Kingdom Hearts here, since it's a Disney and Final Fantasy crossover (with its own story, of course).

We'll never know how similar or not Final Fantasy Versus XIII and Final Fantasy XV's stories are or were to each other (after Tetsuya Nomura, director of Versus XIII, got kicked off the project and the game got a new director and became FFXV, and the story did at least slightly change)--even with Nomura now putting some of his Versus XIII ideas into Kingdom Hearts. It seems here, though, that even when it was Versus and Noctis and Stella, instead of Noctis and Luna, there was at least one flower scene with them. Perhaps this is the aforementioned Noctis and Luna flower crown scene (maybe originally it happened with Noctis and Stella, and that was then repurposed for Noctis and Luna). Like, for whatever reason, something upset Noctis' childhood friend here (the responsibilities her mother had to endure, perhaps, if this part of the story was still very much like XV's. Mayhap that hurt Stella to think about), and Noctis comforted her with the sylleblossom, and then we got the flower crown scene Luna alluded to in XV... or maybe it was something totally different from that with Noctis and Stella. Maybe sylleblossoms didn't even exist in Versus. Like I said, we might never know. But here, at least, was another couple (again: how similar they were to the later Noctis and Luna: who knows?) where flowers were at least important to them for a hot second.

Kairi likes to pick flowers, as we see here and in a scene in the BbS credits (that I'd show, but picture limit is keeping from doing it [I'd show a lot more pictures for a lot of these girls, if it weren't for picture limit)].

She also has a flowery Keyblade, of course, surely because of her love for flowers:

And I guess part of her Keyblade's design is that a king chess piece--which Sora's chess piece was the king one in KHIII, of course--is attached to a red string. And we all know about the red string of fate (I bring that up, because another common theme in all of this, is that all these gals with the flowers are part of a star-crossed lover pairing).

Kairi's heart is also in the shape of a flower in Re:Mind and Melody of Memory?

Yep.

Edit: Oops. I forgot Squall and Rinoa: Squall's promise to Rinoa that if she comes to Edea's orphanage--that is full of flowers outside, giving us our flower connection--that he'll be waiting for her, so she'll find him.

Also, I think Yeul gave Noel a flower in Lightning Returns for some reason? Though I don't remember why. I've only played Lightning Returns once--and only watched the cutscnenes once, in said playthrough--many years ago at this point. I really need to replay Lightning Returns again, as I actually love the Lightning Trilogy and found the gameplay in Lightning Returns very enjoyable. I also know that one of the Yeuls in FFXIII-2 loved flowers.

[silver-wield]

Yeah, you heard it here first, Cloud Strife is apparently English and somebody summoning KotR in their gameplay is a "secret ultimate ending" and not just somebody using the materia in the game.

Sorry not sorry but I just gotta blow holes in this shit one insane tweet at a time.

Kingdom Hearts is not canon to ffvii. It just isn't. It's not the "canon game for a summon" and are you out of your fucking mind for thinking Kingdom Hearts is making some canonical link between a summon and Disney's Sword in the Stone?! Jfc this is already sounding crazy af 🤦‍♀️

No. There's no "secret ending" to ffvii. You chose a playthrough with a player summoning KotR. Literally every player can do that. Unless they're like you and never played the damn game, you insane carrot. I'm gonna assume you think ffxv's ending where Noctis calls up the kings of yore to defeat Ardyn, which has been confirmed as a callback to ffvii's KotR but at no point did anybody say the endings were identical or that KotR is a mandatory or secret speshul ending appearance. Cloud, at no point in KH, is ever intending to or looking for king Arthur. He is always searching for Sephiroth so they can settle their shit. He never becomes a KotR. Again, you're confusing ffxv with other games. Noctis's father becomes a King of Yore at the end of ffxv and helps defeat Ardyn. I mean, if you can't keep basic plotlines straight why are you even talking in the first place?

Show me where Cloud's an "Englishman"? Show me where England and Germany are on the map of the planet. He's no more English than he is German and you need to stop listening to that nutbar Calli and her made up garbage based on her own HC fap material. King Arthur wasn't a real person, dumdum. Plz don't talk about English history if you haven't ever learned it in school.

Strife isn't a last name. It's a bloody noun. And Strauss is the German word for ostrich.

He's the fucking player character. He doesn't know how to get the materia. You know how to get the materia.

Kh isn't canon to ffvii or the KotR. Kh1 and 2 leaned heavily on squareenix to grab a player base and build its following. Once kh became established in its own right they began to phase out the FF cameos because the characters aren't needed to keep real players interested in the plot. You aren't a real player, so shut up.

You're an idiot who can't accept an in game email talking about things characters have seen and done isn't canon compared to WoFF, another game that isn't canon to ffvii.

Again: WoFF is not canon to ffvii. Serah isn't married at the point her character appears. Zack isn't with Aerith. He's a soldier 2nd class. I know it's hard for your small brain to comprehend but SE takes characters from different points in their own lives to mix and match in cameos for fanservice. Cloud appears in multiple titles as OG soldier Cloud and post AC Cloud. Tifa appears in WoFF as cowgirl Tifa at age 15 before she's traumatized. Get a fucking clue.

Again: Zack is single at that point in his life.

Aerith is lying and sucking as much copium as y'all do. The translation is also shit in OG because she doesn't call him a ladies man in JP, she says he's a friendly guy.

Idky you think kh, WoFF and KotR are some weird ass "canon" link that proves your garbage ship or disproves Zack is a decent guy, but you need to shut up.

That's all. Don't bother trying to educate yourself, just shut up. We don't want to hear from you. At all.

Shut up.

[tifacaelum]

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐍𝐨𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐬, 𝐓𝐢𝐟𝐚 & 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐭

Noctis & Tifa are chosen by the gods & the planet in their respective worlds for the planetʼs own salvation.

An analysis.

The mythological relationship that they have with their respective worlds:

Gaia is FFVIIʼs planet. Gaia, in Greek mythology, is Mother Earth. She had several children, the Titans. Among them Thea, mother of Selene We know that Tifa is Selene, therefore, Gaiaʼs granddaughter.

FFXVʼs planet, Eos. Eos is also daughter of Thea & is the goddess of Dawn Noctis is the Champion of Light. The one who must bring back the Dawn.

It is poetic to know that Noctis, meaning Night, must end, that is, die, so that dawn can break once again.

Eos & Gaia are alive, & count on certain beings for their defense & protection:

The Astrals in FFXV & the Weapons in FFVII Both Astrals & Weapons are the corporal manifestations of their respective planets.

These creatures therefore represent the will of the planet.

Noctis & Tifa are their 𝐂𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐧 𝐎𝐧𝐞𝐬.

Here is why:

Tifa falls into the lifestream under the protection of a Weapon. This Weapon represents Gaiaʼs will to protect Tifa. It is striking that Tifa appears in a fetal position inside the creature, as if she were a baby in her motherʼs womb.

Remember how Gaia is Seleneʼs grandmother.

Since that event, Tifa becomes intimately bonded with Gaia. She is the only one who recognizes & hears the voice of the Weapon.

While the others seem irritated at the Weaponʼs voice, Tifa listens as if it was a melody. For her it is a different sound.

At the tender age of 5, Noctis was chosen by the Crystal. From that moment on, his destiny was to awake  the Astrals (Eosʼ manifestations) & save the planet from the darkness.

Noctis, just as Tifa falls into the Lifestream, falls into the Afterlife.

There he also adopts the position of a baby & sleeps for ten years until he gains enough power to accomplish his duty. Upon awakening, he is ready to save Eos.

Now comes the part I love the most.

Gaia communicates with Tifa, yet she does not know how to help it, how to protect it.

Noctis, on the other hand, cannot communicate with the Astrals, that is, with Eos. That mission does not correspond to him. But he has the power to save & protect it.

Noctis & Tifa complement each other in their role in protecting & saving Eos & Gaia.

Astrals/Weapons communicate only with those who are touched by their power. Tifa is the chosen one in VII & acts as an oracle by transmitting to the planetologists the true situation Gaia is in.

* This is also why I BELIEVE Tifa cannot contract Geostigma, which literally means: Earth-scar.

She is inmune to it. Gaia herself would never let this disease affect Tifa, her chosen one.

Noctis, meanwhile, must travel throughout Eos & win the favor of the Astrals by passing a series of Trials much like the Greek mythological heroes. But he needs guidance. Someone who can establish a first communication, just like Tifa does in FFVII.

Summarizing, Noctis is the defender of the planet while Tifa is the one who listens to its voice & transmits it to the rest.

Neither of them were born with this power. They were expressly 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐧 by Eos & Gaia.

To conclude, I would also add that itʼs damn beautiful the way Noctis symbolizes the Night & Tifa represents the Moon.

A hero & a heroine intrinsically bound together just as the Night is with its Moon. A Savior & his Angel/Light to guide him through his divine path.

Both chosen by the planet for its salvation. Both with angel wings imagery.

Noctifa is beautiful. Noctifa is peak 🤍

[heartlessfujoshi]

hiya 💙 i have two dialogue prompts for you:

"can't sleep?" and "when I first met you, I had no idea you'd mean this much to me"

rip my heart out with ignoct if you wouldn't mind, I'm feeling nostalgic for the boys

i hope you're having a wonderful day/night!!

HELLO, YES OF COURSE I'D BE HAPPY TO DO THIS FOR YOU!!! I was very happy to see your request, and I hope that you'll like what I came up with for those particular prompts. It sounds like you wanted angst, but I went the opposite route so I hope that's okay. ;A; Hope you enjoy it!!

--

Title: My Other Half Fandom: FFXV Pairing: IgNoct (Noctis Lucis Caelum x Ignis Scientia) Rating: General (Established Relationship - Tooth Rotting Fluff - Wedding Fluff) Word Count: ~2,115

Dialogue Prompts: “Can’t Sleep” & "when I first met you, I had no idea you'd mean this much to me"

Summary: Noctis can’t sleep, as tomorrow is a very big day for him. Luckily, he has someone to join him, as it seems they can’t sleep either. 

---

Noctis quietly gets out of bed, slipping on a pair of slippers as he grabs his robe from the chair and leaves the bedroom without a sound. He ties his robe shut, hiding to the world that he wears a pair of boxer briefs to bed, and a plain black shirt. He’d worn clothes to bed purposefully, because he knew if he didn’t, that he would do something stupid. And tonight is not the night to do that. 

The world is asleep, calm and collected. Everything that he isn’t right at this moment. His stomach is in knots, his palms are clammy, and he has a thousand thoughts in his mind. It’s part of the reason why he can’t sleep - there is too much going on in his mind that it makes it impossible to shut everything out. He looks out the window, and then decides he’d like to go up to the roof. 

Looking out at Insomnia from the top of the Citadel tower, he stares out at the city and wonders how many people are going through something similar to him. Surely he isn’t the only one with these complex thoughts that seem to have no outlet. The hamster runs constantly on its wheel inside of his brain, chasing after thoughts like they are going out of style. 

A warm hand touches his shoulder, Noctis breathing out as he recognizes that touch immediately. “Can’t sleep?” It isn’t so much a question, as it’s an observation. Which, considering the person who is now with him would be the best person to observe such things, brings a smile to Noctis’ lips as he looks up. 

“What makes you think that?” Noctis scoots over, allowing the person to sit next to him. “You shouldn’t be out here, Ignis.” 

“Traditions be damned.” Ignis mutters as he sits down next to him. Noctis immediately gravitates towards Ignis’ body, needing to be closer to him as it doesn’t feel right staying apart from him. “You can’t sleep because you miss someone.” 

Smirking, Noctis rests his head on Ignis’ shoulder. “And you want that person to be you, don’t you?” He loves to tease him. It’s become so easy to do so. “You really should be asleep, Ignis.” 

“As should you.” A strong arm finds its way around his shoulder, letting Noctis get more comfortable against him. “It’s an early morning tomorrow.” 

“Today.” He corrects him, lifting his head. The moon shines off of Ignis’ glasses, hiding his beautiful eyes away from him for just a moment. When the moonlight is gone, he is able to see Ignis staring down into his eyes. “It’s already morning, Ignis.” 

“I know, Your Highness.” Ignis turns his head away, Noctis sighing with contentment as he feels Ignis shift next to him. 

“How did you know where to find me?” He asks, very aware of Ignis’ hand on his hip, his fingers now touching the silk of his robe. Noctis wishes he hadn’t grabbed it, as he could be feeling Ignis’ hand on his body right now with limited restrictions, but the robe is an extra obstacle that can’t be ignored. 

Warm breath caresses his forehead, but the kiss he waits for never touches him. “I always know where you are, Noctis.” 

“Does that upset you?” The words are soft, almost a whisper, as he feels fear begin to creep into his heart. “Ignis, if you’re having doubts, then now is the time to-” 

Two fingers touch his lips, silencing him. “Enough, Noctis. No, I have no doubts. Do you?” 

“No.” He shakes his head, as if doubly affirming he has zero doubts in what’s to happen in the morning. “I couldn’t be more sure of anything.” 

“Then there is no need to say anything else.” Ignis removes his fingers, then pulls Noctis against his side. 

They sit up on the roof for a good long while - the city noises help to keep him grounded. Being this high up, he can hear everything. But right now, all he can hear is the beating of his own heart, as he snuggles up against Ignis, who is holding him with a strength he knows he can always count on. The million thoughts in his mind quiet into nothingness  as he listens to Ignis’ breathing, and matches it with his own. 

The silence breaks as Ignis dips his head down to be closer to his. “You should go back to bed.” It’s a soft murmur, one that causes Noctis’ heart to accelerate. “Would you like for me to take you back?” 

“No.” He knows that it would be going against everything right now. “I’ll go.” Standing up, he offers his hand to Ignis, who he pulls up with little effort. “What time again tomorrow?” 

Ignis narrows his eyes. “I hope you are joking.” 

“Of course I am.” He grins, then steps away from him. “Good night, Ignis. Get some sleep, would you? Tomorrow is a big day!” 

“Don’t I know it.” 

Noctis heads back to his bedroom, the room much warmer than the roof. He flops down onto the bed, Ignis’ cologne clinging to him in a way that makes it much easier to fall asleep. Logically, he knows that Ignis’ isn’t in bed with him when he wants him to be, but because he’d spent so much time next to him outside, he’s now floating in a small cloud of Ignis’ own unique smell. Rest comes easily this time, as Noctis falls asleep with no more rampant thoughts attacking his own mind. 

***

“Where is he??” Noctis is trying not to panic. He looks at the cufflinks on his wrists, staring at the Caelum coat of arms. “Prompto, I swear to the Six-” 

“Don’t panic!” Prompto’s voice is on the edge of hysteria. “It’s fine! Don’t worry!! Everything is going to be okay, Noct!” 

“You are not reassuring me at all, Prom.” He groans, then looks at his reflection. “This vest looks awful. I look stupid. He’s going to hate it.” 

A loud knock on the door stops his thoughts. The door opens, and he sees his Shield standing there, dressed in a tuxedo that matches the one that Prompto is wearing. “It’s time.” Gladio announces. “Are you ready?” 

“No.” Noctis shakes his head. “I need more time.” 

“Too bad.” Gladio grins, then looks at Prompto. “Come on, blondie - let’s go.” 

Prompto turns to look at him. “You look great. Everything is going to be great. This is what you want, isn’t it?” 

“It is.” If there is anything that Noctis knows, it’s that. He knows that this is what he wants. 

“Then, come on! Let’s go do this!” 

He takes one last look in the mirror. He’s wearing a three piece suit, the vest and tie a dark grey to stand apart from the all black that he is prone to wearing. “Right. Time to go.” He nods to himself, then follows Prompto out of the room. 

The altar is to his left. Noctis wants to look out at the crowd, but knows that if he does, then he might charge back into the room. No, he looks at his two best friends, who are standing together, waiting for him to go to his spot. Noctis makes it there with minimal effort, and then the butterflies appear in his stomach. Doubt begins to cloud his mind again, wondering if this is some awful mistake, and then the door on the opposite side of the altar opens, and out walks the person he is about to pledge his life to. 

Ignis Scientia walks out onto the altar, looking as handsome as he had earlier this morning, albeit with much fancier clothing on. He isn’t the only one to choose a three piece suit - Ignis happens to be wearing a vest and tie that are Noctis’ favorite color. Tears well up in his eyes as he looks at Ignis for the first time, and feels like everything is finally right. Noctis can feel his heart beginning to race as Ignis approaches him, Cor standing in front of the both of them. 

“It’s not too late.” Ignis murmurs under his breath as they stand close together, while the crowd settles down after cheering for the two of them. 

“Yes, it is.” Noctis returns. “I want to do this, Ignis.” 

“I do too.” 

Cor looks at them both, and then begins. “We’re gathered here today to witness these two come together in the holy act of marriage.” 

The ceremony begins, and soon it’s time for Noctis to read his vows to Ignis. He’d rewritten them multiple times, the words never really feeling right. So he decides to speak from the heart, and if it winds up being awful, then at least they’ll have a story to tell about their wedding. 

“Ignis.” Noctis turns to look directly at Ignis. This time, there is no moonlight to shine on his glasses; he sees his eyes perfectly, and can see the love shining in them. He takes a breath, then continues. "When I first met you, I had no idea you'd mean this much to me." It was true - the day he met Ignis, he could remember thinking that he might be a bit much, but he was anything but that. “You hold me accountable for things that I should be able to do on my own, but knowing you are there by my side - it makes it so much easier. Your companionship has always been something I’ve craved, and now, here we are - about to make this lifelong commitment to each other. And all I can think about is how lucky I am, that you’ve chosen to be with me like this. For that, I will always love you. Because you make me who I am, Ignis. And for better or worse, I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” 

He can hear people crying, and sees a solitary tear run down Ignis’ cheek. 

Biting his lip, he waits for Ignis to start. “Noctis.” His heart soars at the way Ignis addresses him. “You have, and always will be, my other half. We’ve done so many things together, and we will do so many more. I’ve always loved you, and hoped that one day you would return those feelings towards me.” Noctis can feel his eyes beginning to tear up, as Ignis isn’t really one to share his feelings like this. “You are going to do a great many things for Eos, and I’m the lucky one that gets to call you my husband. You were meant for me, as I was meant for you. We will share this new life together. I wish to spend the rest of my life with you too.” 

The tears begin to fall as he hears more people crying. “Now it is time to exchange rings.” Cor reminds them, guiding them through the next part of the ceremony. 

Noctis feels Ignis slip the ring onto his finger, and says the words, binding them to one another. Noctis puts his ring onto Ignis’ finger, repeating the same words, sealing their marriage to each other. Cor looks at them, then smiles. “May I please present to you, Noctis Lucius Caelum, and Ignis Scientia, newly married! You may kiss your partner.”

He’s dipped down by Ignis, whose knee is pressed against the small of his back. “We’re married now, Noct.” Ignis whispers before kissing him on the lips. The crowd cheers and hollers for them, then the two of them run down the aisle together, holding hands as they make their way outside. 

The rest of the day passes by in a blur. There’s food. There’s photos. There’s kisses. There are multiple dances. Talks with friends. Talks with dignitaries who have come to Insomnia for the wedding. By the time it’s midnight, Noctis can barely stand up as he slumps himself against Ignis, who takes him to their new room for the night. 

He gasps when Ignis picks him up and carries him over the threshold, then laughs as Ignis lays him down on the bed. “Well, Mr. Scientia.” Noctis reaches up and pulls Ignis to lay on top of him. “What are your final thoughts about the day?” 

“I’m glad that you’re my husband now, Mr. Caelum.” Ignis kisses him on the lips. “It’s the first day of the rest of our lives.” 

Smiling, he nods his head. “It is. And I wouldn’t want to spend it any other way, Ignis. I love you.” 

“I love you too, Noctis.” Their lips come together for a sweet, loving kiss. Noctis closes his eyes, and smiles as Ignis whispers into his ear, “My beautiful husband.” 

xXx

Cross-posted to AO3

[ertrunkenerwassergeist]

I finally finished Final Fantasy XVI

Holy shit that game was good. And that ending. I cried. Multiple times.

After the game was done I had to go for a walk to get over the ache in my chest. It’s hot as balls outside, but thankfully I did not melt into a puddle. Heat aside, it helped me get some thoughts in order.

The characters, the plot, the music and the world will live in my brain rent free for a long, long time. (Cid for favourite character, in case anyone was wondering.)

There was emotional weight behind every character.

The world feels lived in and crowded. As much as I love FFXV, one of the criticisms I have towards that game is that its world feels woefully underpopulated. Here, in FFXVI, this was very much not so. There are people and it feels like their decisions have weight. It’s not just the protagonists and the antagonists, but also the secondary and tertiary characters.

I’m a sucker for political fantasy stories, and this one absolutely hit the sweet spot for me. In its politics it made sense to me. The fight for resources, the religious aspects, the very human pride that can make everything so much worse.

And the slavery, well...

This might actually deserve its own post, but imo it lent everything an extra devious note that you couldn’t distinguish a non-magical human from a bearer (that is the English word, right? I played the game in German), if the latter didn’t have a brand on their cheek. Humans can be cruel to each other no matter how they look like.

Bearers are objectified, not considered human. And with objects you can do what you want. They don’t feel pain, and when one breaks, you can get another. Logic like that is scary, not only because of its cruelty, but also because of how plausible it can be. In the sense that it has happened before in history.

I really appreciate it that this story is, in large part, a tale against this type of thinking. Against slavery, against greed and senseless pride.

It’s about learning understanding and appreciating the world around you.

The only thing that missed its mark a bit imo, is that by the end of it all, magic is gone. I can see the sense behind it, a little bit, but I don’t like it.

Clive associates magic with greed and pain. His trauma has in large part to do with magic. He was born a bearer and hated by his mother for it, he thought a Domini murdered his brother in cold blood and was branded himself soon after, to be pressed into military service for 13 years. Only then to learn that his brother’s murderer was himself. All of that, all that pain and misery, because of magic.

So yes, I can see why Clive would think humanity would be better off without magic.

But

Wouldn’t it have been more impactful, if the people had learned to use magic responsibly, that it isn’t just an easy shortcut? What if they had found the wonder that lies in magic?

That would have gone against everything Ultima thought magic was.

Imo erasing magic is an easy cop out, but that might also be fit for a post of its own.

And it also invalidates the development the people of Valisthea went through. As well as Lubor’s whole quest line. Which honestly frustrates me a bit.

Oh yeah. The side quests are amazing. I did every single one and many build on one another into whole mini quest lines. The stories they tell make the world so much richer.

All in all, I love this game. It’s not perfect. But then again, nothing ever is.

[sleepyowlwrites]

Happy blorbo blursday! I was thinking recently about how I have very few outright villains in my writing and I got curious about other people's. So tell me about your villains (or your most villain-adjacent antagonists)! - @void-botanist

here is my incomplete list of villains/antagonists:

Masryune from Summon Story

his real name is Petirik Ov'Rine

somebody once told him the reason for why summoners stay away from the Field of Teeth and he was like "sounds like an invitation"

has some delusions of grandeur but from like. a business standpoint. he thinks a great business idea is to start a war.

he summons some shidha - the type of spirit summoners are warned against ever summoning - to possess dead dragons so he can start this war

he monologues a lot

in my head he's a cross between Ardyn from FFXV and Jan Van Eck from Six of Crows, two antagonists that are fun or interesting for a hot minute before you're like PLEASE GO AWAY

he has no idea that the reason his plans keep getting tripped up is literally just a group of nobody summoners accidentally interrupting them

he throws temper tantrums but the consequences are that people die and there's blood in the streets so that's great

Alexander Gold from Magick Story

he's the calculating, calm type of antagonist. he's playing the long game and he's very good at it

when he's through, all magick in TOWN THAT STILL DOESN'T HAVE A NAME TWO YEARS ON will be linked back to him and he can live forever and control everything. that's the plan

it's not a terrible plan but it's also not a great one because magick is lowkey almost sentient and it literally can't be coerced into a single intention so this is a doomed enterprise but also while it's on its way to doom it's causing a lot of havoc so there's that

he's got this weird fling with Heidi Chorus, his partner in crime, sometimes, and they flirt super weird and torture people together

he's suave and interesting but he also kills animals so we hate him

Max (and Cam) from City Story

he's my least favorite, I hate him so much

his crimes include: abuse, coercion, blackmail, drug dealing, running an illegal fight club thing, abuse, arranging a murder, being an asshole to everyone he meets, brainwashing his brother, abuse

he hasn't even shown up in the story yet because I don't want to touch him with a ten foot pole

he sends people to hurt Rune because he believes she's his property

Cam, the brainwashed brother, wasn't always awful but now he just agrees with whatever Max says and this isn't a Jang Hanseo situation, he is OK with hurting people as long as Max doesn't hurt him. we can feel a little bad for him but that's it 'cause he is willingly terrible

and Max is just the worst

he's slimy and my least favorite and I hate him so much

I dunno who the villain/antagonist of Mercenary Story, Guild Story, or Rain Story is/are. I do also have some evil/antagonistic girls, don't worry.

Rhea from Summon Story

she's Shae's half-sister and bent on revenge

Shae is happy to be reunited with her but Rhea just wants to kill things now and doesn't care about the collateral damage

she's not all bad. maybe. I don't know if she succeeds in killing her father. yet.

I mentioned Heidi Chorus from Magick Story.

there's also Fawn from City Story, Max's favorite girlfriend. she's awful. not in the annoying, brainless kind of way. she's smart and controlling and that's why Max likes her. goodbye.

there are plenty of unnamed characters in Guild and Mercenary Stories, both good and bad, because I keep not writing them, haha.

in Anxiety Story the antagonist isn't a person, though it briefly manifests as Aiden's father.

in Youth Story there's no plot, just vibes, so no antagonist there.

Train Story is also vibes.

Romance Story has John Rusalo but then he gets redeemed and then Jack Sanderson but we kick him out of the story for being just a terrible cousin and then it's like, English law, I guess.

Apocalypse Story is vibes again.

Space Story is as well.

Hunter Story, Summer Story, Princess Story, and Gang Story barely exist.

Thief Story's antagonist is the bridge they're trying to steal, because I don't know what they're stealing it for.

Dimension Story's antagonist is grief, and the fact that these two kids can't keep ripping holes in spacetime to see each other forever. golly that's such a sad story. no wonder I'm not writing it.

thanks for asking, Sapling