#light's falle

[hyrtwynwrites]

Happy (Late) Birthday, Yen!

I feel like a bit of an ass for forgetting my own character's birthday (as silly as that sounds). Given she's inhabited my brain rent free for the past three years and four days, it feels a little strange to not commemorate it. Three years is a long time... or, at least, it feels like one.

As a player character, Yen has gone quite far since I made her. She was supposed to be a second attempt at XIV (well, fourth, really, but that's not important), a self-insert that was canon compliant. That idea pretty quickly went awry, especially when I spent no small amount of time designing her backstory. She's gone through periods of intense play and long hiatuses, but through thick and thin she remains.

Not unchanged, however. Over the years, Yen has gone through a few changes, little tweaks with fantasia to bring to forward her Ala Mhigan heritage, change her birthday to when I started playing her, and change her guardian deity to Rhalgr. She survived the update to the new character system in 7.0 extremely gracefully, I'm relieved to say, and I think she looks better than ever. Most importantly, though, she bears a new name - Zahra. It was something I agonized over for weeks and weeks, but in the end, I decided to jump for it. Expect to see that story reason for the change, uh... eventually!

At present, I'm taking her back through ARR NG+ to try and find my groove with XIV again, as well as for some research. Her MSQ progress, however, is all the way out at Patch 4.1. I'm hoping to resume pushing towards Endwalker and - finally! - Dawntrail, but only the gods know how long that will take me...

I think it is fair to say, however, that Yen casts the longest shadow in writing. I have spent an uncountable number of hours writing, thinking about writing, planning, plotting, ranting, raving, and otherwise going mad. My poor friends, who have the patience to let me beg them for advice, can speak first-hand to how much blood and tears have gone into Light's Falle.

And it's funny how far we've come in the last three years. The first chapters of Gridanian Prelude were written mostly just for myself and for friends. I didn't think about posting them on AO3 until I was several months deep into a project evolving past me. I didn't realize how far under my skin the roots of the idea had grown until I stood at the end of it.

And maybe I'm being melodramatic. There are worse things to be, I suppose, but I'm still being honest. The story has become something more. Yen has become something more.

So, where do we stand here, in 2025? Writing-wise, I am still slowly working my way to the end of An Oasis at Twilight, a book that has taken more to finish than I could have imagined when I started. 2024 was a tumultuous year for me, so I'm trying not to give myself a hard time. Still, we are getting there. I've started to plot out the next book, the finale in the "Gridanian Envoy" trilogy. Beyond that, I am thinking about the future - Ifrit, the Sylphs, Little Ala Mhigo... and well beyond.

I don't know where we'll be the next time her birthday rolls around. Ideally, I'll actually commemorate it on her birthday. I'd like to do a short story of some kind for next time, too, so let's see if I remember come next February! No matter what, though, we'll be a step further than we were, and no new bruises or hard knocks will keep us from keeping our heads held high.

Happy birthday, Yen <3

[landsccape]

[hyrtwynwrites]

Yenifer was born in Ala Mhigo, but her and her mother escaped to the Black Shroud during the Garlean invasion, when she was an infant. She grew up in the southern Shroud, Quarrymill specifically, as a refugee

Please feel free to elaborate in the tags!

[ak-nm]

[natureell]

[cansu-m]

[hinamie]

blue light overexposure dot png

[mroddmod]

some recent stuff i've done in magma bc im kind of addicted to using it lol

[bluelightview]

[i-dont-trust-butterflies]

Please, don't stress about it so much

One day we'll all forget about it, remember?

[marography]

"Gentle autumn moments..."

[hyrtwynwrites]

New Chapter!

Zirnbirk pushed off the table, stepping close to Arenvald. Arenvald twitched, fighting the urge to retreat as his far larger opposite came within ilms. "You couldn't take it, so you drove your axe through his skull? Am I supposed to feel bad for you, you Ala Mhigan piece of-" Yen didn't realize she was moving until well after she had. Her mind was still racing to understand, but her heart needed no time - and neither did her fist. With all of her might, she swung upwards, catching Zirnbirk unexpectedly under the chin. The Stone Torch staggered backwards, blindsided, while his guards went for their weapons. "Bugger." Thancred muttered, seemingly to no one, before he started to mumble… something. The Echo could not parse the words, at least not through the thundering of blood in Yenifer's ears. As Zirnbirk reeled upwards, readying to strike back and drive Yenifer through the floor, he opened his mouth to growl some slur - only for nothing to leave his lips.

Come check it out here!

[landsccape]

[sioltach]

[whimsifae]

[natureell]