#lyn meta

[autumnslance]

A lot of folks headcanon, use art, or use mods, to show their WoLs and OCs with more curves and heft to their bodies than the in game models allow. The character avatars, especially female, are simply stickish, with unnatural thigh gaps, narrow hips, and otherwise are just small waifs. Which is exacerbated by it being most of them.

In Aeryn's case, I wrote the skinniness of the Midlander model (especially with muscle cut set to 100%) into her characterization. In part cuz I don't mod, and tend to try to keep my characters more or less similar to the in game model limits. So for her, it's partly genetics (her maternal grandma is one of those skeletally thin old women types), and partly Aeryn's terrible eating and sleeping habits. Her unlocking her magic potential finally post 7th Calamity also doesn't help, as she burns through aether--which as a primarily Red Mage, that's how they avoid the issues of black and white magic that led to the War of the Magi and the 6th Calamity, by using one's own aether (and fits into my own thoughts on how the various kinds of aether and akasa work to empower various abilities anyway).

But as she's continued her adventures, those bad eating and sleeping habits haven't really improved at all. She skips meals, to where at times she's maybe had a snack in a 30 hour period. She keeps odd hours, wakes early despite late nights...it's a mess. Even when she's not neck-deep in world saving!

And then, on arriving in Tuliyollal, she meets the Cornservant.

It's one of my favorite side quest chains, as it's about the importance of eating. Variety, snacks, finding what works for your health, the nostalgia of childhood favorites, comfort in the face of grief and depression...the Cornservant wants to see people fed and happy. It's their purpose for being. It's a lovely message, to remind people of why we need to eat.

And in this WoL's case, while the Echo perhaps helps Aeryn see the Cornservant to begin with to aid their quest to fill bellies across Tural, the Cornservant appears to her because she needed to hear these messages, too. And eventually internalize them. And begin to take better care of her eating habits...especially when she hears the rustle of corn husks, reminding her of her little friend and their important mission.

[lynmars79]

Fun meta asks for writers! 1.Tell us about your current project(s) – what’s it about, how’s progress, what do you love most about it? 17.o you think readers perceive your work - or you - differently to you? What do you think would surprise your readers about your writing or your motivations? 20.Tell us the meta about your writing that you really want to ramble to people about (symbolism you’ve included, character or relationship development that you love, hidden references, callbacks, etc.)

Menace. Bully. Fiend. How dare you--

So in 2022 as we were awaiting the finished dark knight zine and prepping for FFXIV Write 2022, roommate found a submissions call for a zine called "I Spade You" that would be about Ace romances. I've had a pseudo-idea floating in the back of my head for a long while about a middle-aged pair in a fantasy setting who despite being from opposite sides of a conflict end up having a connection, and tried to form it into a 2500 word story for submission to this zine but it wouldn't gel.

Well, the problem really was that it was gelling...into something longer. I'd been thinking of it in the background long enough that it took on a life of its own. But things at work heated up, I already had fandom writing projects, so I shelved the idea and lost track of that zine. I didn't think of it seriously for months.

Then Bigolas Dickolas Wolfwood entered the chat with their sincere promotion of This is How You Lose the Time War, a novel I had heard about but hadn't read yet. So I read it, and while "people from opposite sides of a conflict form a connection" is the only similarity to my story, the visceral language in that novel really got to me.

I found myself opening the Spade folder again. And writing random scenes from various points in a 25ish year relationship between 2 people thrown together by outside machinations into a marriage neither wants, falling in love despite that, but the cracks form and irreconcilable differences arise due to duty and pride and a lifetime of nationalist education, a long separation and obsession, and then fate puts them together once more, relearning who they are now After All That.

It's arranged marriage friends to lovers to enemies to friends to lovers again. I keep forgetting to add straight people to the supporting cast. I have 3 distinct parts--early relationship, 15 years apart having life happen, then a disaster that makes one of them relearn all they thought they knew while the other hurtles toward their long-waited fate. I have world building and character profile documents. A family tree for one group for Reasons. Avatars for some characters thanks to BG3 and Picrews. So. It's...drafting. It's currently pretty indulgent and a lot of Vibes, little in depth research yet. There's probably over 100k words written but I dunno how many total and a lot of them will change.

It's still an ace romance between the leads. And between another ace character and her bi partner. Whether people think it "counts" or not will be where there's a perception schism, I guess. If I ever get any of it out. It won't be for everyone and there's probably things I'll get wrong and also some of the characters, even protagonists and heroic figures and loveable folks, aren't always the best people and have major flaws and issues.

There's also a teeny bit of "this aspect of this character's story in X other media annoyed me and also I see where there's some influence from this author of Y media I like so wonder if I could write something similar to be more satisfying for me" thrown against the general idea of "I have this one OC that's been bopping around in my head for years" and it became "but what if they kissed and that's all they do while being in love because they don't need more than that? And there's also a lot of familial and platonic loving relationships in there? And framed around an epic fated adventure?"

Still really developing recurring themes and callbacks, but there's a running joke with flicking balls of paper at someone's head, and a poignant bit about family home entryway markers and mourning rituals that may run throughout.

[autumnslance]

"Hrm, kinda wanna try to write an actual WoL who goes through MSQ, not an 'other adventurer' to free myself from my old prior MMO RP experiences (but I can never change Dark Autumn she's my giant baby and I love that brat miqo'te I made now too just as she is). I like that unused CGI midlander lady, though I swore off making too-pale characters again (bloom lighting is awful and this game's chargen has a wide color palette needing used) so tweak her a little but there's some ideas there with Meteor and 'Arbert' looking the same. Kinda want to run someone who starts close to 'Assumed Default WoL' and see how she develops into and away from that in points, build out the backstory as I see what sticks, I have some basic ideas for dual heritage being a reason she's arriving a near stranger but with ties to the realm and how I can play with the lore. And no romancing NPCs, that's obviously not for me after 2 and a half other playthroughs and everyone else already does their WoLs romancing someone, she can just be happily single and friendly and have adventures. Nothing could go wrong with this idea."

(and then I got her into a room with that damn rogue and she did what she wanted - which was apparently the damn rogue - but the rest of it still held up!)

8/31/24

What was going through your mind when making your wol (oc)? What was the process like?

[bestbonnist]

Chapter 175

175.1 | 175.2

I love the chapter title. “A Perfect Plan.” Yeah, Fushi, lying to your friends (again) is a brilliant idea. That worked so well for you the last time you tried it.

This feels like a good time to go over Fushi’s tendency to lie in the present era, because now it’s continuing over into the wish era and at this point I would go as far as to call it an essential part of their character.

Chapter 125 "Secret Base"

It starts with Mizuha, and Fushi’s decision to omit the truth about what happened to Izumi for her peace of mind. During their conversation the night after Mizuha kills her mom, they have a pretty telling exchange about lies and their deeper meaning. Fushi reveals that they think lying to someone means that someone’s important to you. They don’t say why they think so, but I’m going out on a limb and assuming it’s how they justify the decisions Bon made in Renril.

Chapter 105 "Setting Sun"

Immediately after Fushi tells Mizuha what they think of lies, they then proceed to lie to her, setting up that she’s important to Fushi and laying the groundwork for their eventual conflict. Mizuha doesn’t go into why she thinks lying is bad, but in the case of her relationship with her mom, she was so upset at Izumi stealing her hair-tie and lying about it because it was an act of self-preservation. Sure, Izumi wouldn’t have lied if she didn’t love Mizuha, but her lie was—from Mizuha’s perspective—100% selfish. Fushi is already inclined to take Izumi’s side, because they’re doing the same thing she is. After all, they’re concerned about Mizuha because she’s Kahaku’s reincarnation.

Fushi continues to lie not just to Mizuha, but to their other friends. They don’t tell them about the knockers returning because they want their friends to remain blissfully ignorant of what’s really going on. They tell Yuuki that it’s because they promised their friends a peaceful world, and they don’t want to let them down.

Chapter 131 "Alongside Peace"

Ideally, Fushi would like to take on everything by themselves and spare everyone else the pain. Connecting all of this back to the events of the chapter which I am supposed to be discussing, Fushi lies with the intention to "protect." Reality doesn’t go away if they don’t tell their friends about it—it’s still going to hit them eventually—but given the option Fushi will always choose to pretend everything’s fine for just a little longer.

Chapter 175 "A Perfect Plan"

Chapter 1 "The Final One" (panels in achronological order)

The composition of some of the panels in this chapter are a callback to the scene where the nameless boy thinks the rustling of his fishing line means a human tripped it. He and Fushi both expect to see someone on the other side of the door, although they’re hoping for different things—the nameless boy hopes that someone will be there, Fushi hopes that no one will—and they both switch back to a happy denial when the moment is gone.

Like Fushi, the nameless boy is a liar. He kept up the appearance that everything was fine, and carried on imaginary conversations with Johann because admitting the truth would completely break him. In a way, he was lying out of necessity. But the only person he was lying to was himself.

In the same way, when Fushi lies to the people around them, they’re trying to paint over the truth with an idealized version of reality. They’re lying to themselves just as much as they’re lying to others.

Chapter 172 "Utopia"

Earlier in the wish era, when one of the lacking dies in front of them, what Fushi says when reassuring him reveals more about what they would find comforting in this situation. Similarly, when Fushi lies to their friends about what’s going on with the knockers or Mizuha’s clones, they’re projecting what they wish happened over what actually happened. Fushi doesn’t want to say that the clones are dead, because theoretically they could have stopped the massacre. They especially don’t want to disappoint the doll. Hence the lie that they choose to go with, about all of 32’s friends remembering her.

In terms of whether Fushi’s lying is selfish or not, well. That’s not a distinction that matters in any way. Fushi is doing what’s best for themselves, but they only go through with it because they genuinely believe that’s it’s the best for the people they’re lying to as well. They’re just… not always right about that.

Chapter 175 "A Perfect Plan"

Moving on to the second half of the chapter—which I don’t have nearly as much to say about—this is our introduction to how Fushi uses Yuuki’s form now that he’s acquired it. Immediately I wonder what would happen if Fushi lost Yuuki’s form. It’s clear just from what we saw in this chapter that their memories of Yuuki have become a core part of Fushi’s decision-making process. “What would Yuuki want?” The wish era is the world that Yuuki built, of course Fushi is unwilling to disrupt it even thought they're familiar with its flaws. Maybe that'll change if they lose his form—or if they realize that this world isn't what Yuuki would have wanted.

It seems like most of Fushi’s friends don’t approve of their insistence on pacifism. Tonari and Messar are just tired of it, Bon and Hylo don’t really understand. It’s sort of ironic, since Fushi wanted to create a peaceful world for their friends to live in, that most of them don’t value peace all that much. What they value more is their life with Fushi. A peaceful world has been Fushi’s dream since Takunaha, and they believe everyone else wants it as much as they do. Kind of like the way they lie assuming everyone wants that kind of treatment. Just tied it all together, bam.

[peerlessscowl]

between the fourth and fifth rib.

assassin mastery; word count - 934 words

He stared at the smiling faces in front of him, framed by the dim lights of the inn and the collection of ale tankards that they had brought with them. They stared back expectantly, waiting for him to break the silence that had settled after might have passed for a greeting.

He made them wait for it. Took the time to trace the lines of their faces, the sets of their shoulders underneath cloaks, to count their number, the arms they carried, the steps to points of ingress and egress.

Flicked his eyes to the young man in the corner, who had sent them his way. Covered his face with a hood, turned to obscure the features that emerged from shadow. Smart.

"What makes you think that this is the type of job that I would do?"

The one to his left snorted into his ale, claps him on the shoulder in a way that in any other situation might have been friendly. "Not thinking you have a choice, lordling."

"What he means to say," interrupted another, diagonal to him, across the table and just out of reach, "Is that we've been led to understand that you've recently had some…hardships. And we think that this is an opportunity for you to get your foot back in the door."

His eyes narrowed to slits as the bile spurted up into his throat. "Is that what you've been told…?"

Placating, the one diagonal to him - their leader? They encircled him, but he wasn't sure it was deferential - pressed a palm flat on the table. "We know that this must be a difficult time for you. Our employer simply believes that…you deserve another shot, so to speak."

"And he thinks that I'm going to do his dirty work for him. For what? Some jewels? A title?"

"Your title," the one he assumed was their leader emphasized. His smile glinted in the taperlight, all edges and promises. "It wouldn't even be difficult, would it? He's dying anyway. You would be doing him a favor."

Vaguely, through the throb of his rising anger, he acknowledged that the statement was an odd one - Lord Hausen was already dying?

The silence returned for a moment, then; "Where do I find you?"

The edged, promising smile widened. "There's a good lad."

He'd killed before, and even at another's behest, but there was something different about striking down the man before you, ready to strike you down if you give him the opportunity, and slinking through the shadows to snuff out a singular candle.

And it was another thing entirely when it was a sickly man, asleep in his bed.

He ill liked this sneaking through the shadows, but his feet found the path that he needed to take and graced him with silence in his approach, nary a crunch of gravel nor the creak of a floorboard underfoot. He'd no money for bribes, but he knew the rooms that awaited him, and was watchful enough to remember when the paths to them were less traveled.

If the darkness were to swallow him, he supposed that there were less worthy causes.

The door opened at a tap of his fingers against the handle, and his hand found the hilt of the knife that he'd been given, a gaudy thing and easily identifiable - but that was the point, wasn't it? To claim the glory, and to identify the fall - but its cruel edge would do the deed as efficiently as any other.

The flutter of breath in the dark called his attention, and he took his own, short, soft, steady the heart, steady the hands.

And he got to work.

He had counted his targets - five in total, including the man in the back corner. One by one, they scuffled, the abrupt intake of startled breath as his hand clamped down on their noses and mouths, a brief gesture shushing them for silence the last thing they saw before he withdrew the knife and moved onto the next.

The final was already awake, must have heard or felt or sensed the storm in passing. Their informant had scrambled to his feet by the time the young scion of the fallen house passed the threshold into his room, was already making his way toward the window to flee.

He lunged, forcing the man's throat to smack heavily against the windowsill, throwing him off-balance.

"Stupid boy - !" the informant managed to gurgle. "Lundgren would have given you everything back - "

"Everything?" The words left him in a hiss, and he knelt to bring his lips to the man's ear. "A thousand deaths wouldn't bring my family back. Their names are not a price that one can buy me with."

Vacantly, after tossing the knife onto the wreckage of the body to be found, he supposed that even if it were a price he were willing to accept - more telling about him than about the employer - that it would never have been something a man like Lundgren would pay. No, if he were stooping to such methods to force his way into succession, then the man was nothing better than those who had set alight his own house, and he didn't suppose anything would stop him from setting his sights higher and higher until he fell to his own hubris.

Of the sins warned by the Saints, hubris was not one that he claimed. No, his sin was rage, and he would cling to the clarity it offered until he drew the final breath granted to him.

[sacaeblade]

closed lyn from fire emblem: the blazing blade. golden deer student affiliated with the officer's academy . written by limit (they/them)

notes:

lyn is written post-fe7, taken from her unpaired ending. marquess hausen has since passed away and lyn abdicated caelin to ostia before returning to sacae.

...except now she's at the officer's academy!

mobile links: dossier / stats / headcanons

[autumnslance]

First pic I took of Aeryn, just running around the North Shroud, and the latest pic from the Loporrit quests.

I change her hair styles all the time, but I used a fantasia once to move her skin tone 1 to the right to better match what I intended (it irks me chargen screen lighting, even using the starting zone staging areas, is so different from actual game lighting). I've also gotten more careful about reshade filters and gpose lighting; she's actually probably the hardest of my characters to light, as it's easy to wash her skintone out entirely, and there's been a couple cases where she somehow almost looks as dark as Dark Autumn.

Aeryn's height is close to my own IRL, hence her being tallest for Midlander women. I needed perspective on everything and everyone in the game after playing Dark and then C'oretta.

But Aeryn was always intended to be inspired by--not a one to one, but very close--of the unused CGI Midlander woman that could have been a version of Meteor in the cinematics, so went with that, and it informed my silly meta about her brother as the 1.0 WoL and lookalike to Ardbert, making Aeryn (further) doubt her own role as the Warrior of Light.

And then Shadowbringers and Endwalker happened, and my silly meta meant to amuse myself ended up becoming a core part of her story. I always wonder if the devs had leaned a bit more into the Shepherd or Hawke parallels for the either-gender WoL, or had used her instead of Ardbert for the Warriors of Darkness and ShB arcs.

Dark's first pic in 2015 when I first started the game, to Dark getting her updated Manderville weapon. Her hair has definitely changed a bunch, and I made her taller at one point, as I'd initially left her average Roe height, like a fool. Now she's tall as can be and perhaps my prettiest character ever. Learning how to light and style her has been fun. Also she's now a Bard main.

Also, I chose a Roe cuz I usually start with humans by default, and I chose melee cuz 1) HW was coming out and I know DRG would be important, and 2) I spent all my time in WoW healing or tanking, and wanted to see if my melee issues were me or the gameplay. It's a little of both, but I definitely feel better about DPS at all in FFXIV.

My PunchyCat in 2017 versus a recent instant portrait. I only intended for her to exist long enough to see the Ul'dah starting story...and then I just...kept going, replaying ARR as I'd taken so long, in fits and starts, over 2 years to play through it with Dark Autumn. Got a pink tabard as a quest reward and it somehow worked and a personality and story began to form and next thing I know she was level capped and then waiting for Dancer to drop with Shadowbringers.

Other than adjusting her pink highlights with the aesthetician, and updating hairstyles fairly often, she's the same as she ever was; super tiny (in contrast to Dark's height), longest tail, lots of energy.

Iyna's my newest, and not much has changed; late 2019, early 2020 is her creation, and I never intended to have a Viera. She just happened while playing in the Shadowbringers Benchmark. She's shortest a Viera woman can be, with every slider set to minimum (including ears) cuz of her backstory. Got her Claws of the Beast ASAP. Started her in Limsa as a MRD, but that was never meant to last; got it to 30 and stopped. Rogue/Ninja was the intent there, as well as MCH main.

I haven't even changed her hairstyle yet; I try to, but nothing else seems to really "fit" Iyna. The images are early questing in La Noscea, and reference pics taken for art.

I want more WoLs on my dash. Reblog this with the oldest picture you have of your WoL/OC, and then the newest photo you have of them. Show off what changed! Did they change race? Gender? Hair color? Hair style? Tell me about it!

[autumnslance]

So I haven’t gotten far in MSQ (just past Dungeon 1) but how did you feel about Thancred as part of the opposition from a shippy viewpoint? You’re free to throw in other perspectives.

From the earliest FanFest discussions, about this being a contest and the Scions being on opposing teams on this initially lighthearted journey to the west, it always felt like a friendly rivalry to me. People thinking early on this would be a bloodthirsty deathmatch made no sense. Especially given, y'know, the entire storyarcs of Shadowbringers and Endwalker, particularly the way Endsinger was defeated. "With Hearts Aligned" is a revamp of the WoL's theme ("The Maker's Ruin") with the addition of how important the support and love of WoL's friends are to their success.

Anyway. I was looking forward from the start to friendly competition between the team, and wish we did get a tad more of it (particularly there's a point where Thancred mentions being happy to put Alisaie on her ass if it comes to a scrap between them; I've long had headcanons that he and Alisaie tend to train together, given they have similar drives in terms of combat excellence and their reasons for it, and they'd trust each other to push as necessary). It made sense the moment they mentioned that Koana was studying in Sharlayan in 6.55 that he was the one contracting the fellas, and he was likely not the warmonger if he'd lasted so long in the Studium.

(How much Koana assimilated to Sharlayan culture was a bit of a surprise; we were calling him a sheeb in one of my servers--a Sharlayan weeb)

Thancred did not explicitly tell Aeryn he was going to be working for another Promise. The scenes of him spying on the WoL and other Scions that Erenville's recruiting are canon for me, even if Thancred was a little more present between scenes and before leaving town than that part of the MSQ showed (I mean, the guys still lived at the Annex too, when you think of it). What she got from him was that he and Urianger had a contract that would take them out of town for a bit, and he wasn't too concerned about her going off to Tural. "You can teleport more freely than most, and I'm sure we'll see each other soon enough," that damn rogue said when they parted.

And then he showed up on the dock with Koana. She was somewhere between surprised, mad, and amused at how to get back at him. There's maybe a conversation at Many Fires that also leads to other things, a lot of note passing (they're both letter writers, at least in my world), and a few meetings at other times when traveling Yok Tural, or when back in Tuliyollal, where the friendly rivalry adds sparks in Aeryn and Thancred's relationship, working on their playfully competitive natures.

They also initially have plans, after the contest concludes, to meet up somewhere in Xak Tural in their respective explorations of the continent, but the rest of the plot interrupts that.

So yeah. My shippy nonsense for Dawntrail is that the contest allows Aeryn and Thancred to play, letting them relax with no dangerous world-shattering stakes, just friendly rivalry, teasing, and stolen moments that are fun and freeing. And in the second half of the story, when things do get much darker, heavier, and more dangerous again, he plays his supporting role alongside the others and is there afterwards for comfort and care.

[iconac]

i have like. two posts about this in progress but they're gonna be long-ish so. basically if you get close to revan, they will build people into the fabric of their identity, shaping themself around whoever is in their life in proportion with the distance. so when you are close to them you become a deeply integral part of their world, and if you don't know that or don't treat them like you know that, it does a lot of damage. the revanchists at their core were very tight-knit and this was part of the reason why. when revan loves you, they forgive you for everything except betrayal, and if they don't feel loved in return, they feel betrayed. manipulated, even if it's unintentional.

it's also why they have a tendency to be distant, or self-destruct in a relationship. if they feel like they're not being reciprocated, or they're giving more than they're getting, they will go into survival mode and force distance into that relationship however possible. and the easiest way to do that is by hurting the other person. so in terms of positive relationships they end up with people they're on good terms with but are otherwise just acquaintances, or people they'd burn the galaxy for [who they may try to kill because of that, depending on what point of their life they're at.] but that doesn't mean they're bad at boundaries, it just means you have to lay boundaries out very clearly or they will insert themself into your life as much as you become a part of theirs.

[bl4sphemy-archived]

let me make it up to you .

𝖛𝖆𝖗𝖎𝖔𝖚𝖘 𝖚𝖓𝖘𝖔𝖗𝖙𝖊𝖉 𝖘𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖊𝖓𝖈𝖊 𝖘𝖙𝖆𝖗𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖘 . . .

              It's very rare that anything really gets under Samael's skin     ——    he's usually pretty damn good at regulating his emotions, it's come with years of therapy and hard work... It's hard to piss Samael off. So, as he stands at the mess of his guitar, the one he's had since before his fame, his eye twitches. It was a gift from his aunt, to celebrate his joining her band, and he can still remember how happy he was to accept it. How it had been the first real gift anyone had ever given him... And now, it's broken into pieces at his feet. Samael feels hot rage bubble up inside him, his hands trembling as they curl into fists at his sides. 

              It doesn't help that his aunt is gone, too. Died not too long ago in a hospital, Samael at her side from a canceled tour with her old, withered hand in his as he wept for her... There's no way he can replace the guitar.

              He takes a deep breath through his nose, trying his best to calm himself down. There's a stinging in his eyes as tears begin to prickle his vision, and he has to look away from the mess before he bursts into tears. Summer's words make him sigh, and he grits his teeth as he rubs over his eyes, scrubbing the moisture away. He shakes his head, turning away from both Summer and the guitar.     ❛❛   I need some space.   ❜❜     Comes his clipped reply, murmured out, lacking the amused inflection he usually pours into his responses. 

              He's not mad at Summer... Frustrated, yes, but he's moreover mourning the loss of one of the only physical things he actually gives a shit about... Summer doesn't know the semblance behind the instrument. He probably thinks it's just something Samael can easily replace... Samael knows it's not right to take his feelings out on Summer     ——    no one deserves to be yelled at the way Samael did when he was a child     ——     so, he wordlessly heads to his room, and the second he shuts the door, he's sliding down it and crying into his hands.

[autumnslance]

Aeryn's whole development arc from the start through Endwalker involved her imposter syndrome. From the beginning, with the influence of the unused CGI Lady Midlander model, I'd decided the 1.0 WoL was her older brother Zaine. Aside from some color palate shifts, he looks just like Ardbert (and thus, Meteor), which seemed to confirm to Aeryn that she was the "replacement WoL" that Hydaelyn had to resort to when her brother did not come out of the other side of Louisoix's spell.

It shifted in Shadowbringers with learning about Azem, and with how Ardbert aided her. She was grateful to him, but resentful that the Ascians' issue with her seemed to be that she was not their old colleague, but a "broken" (in their eyes) reincarnation. And of course, that Hydaelyn was also reliant on Azem in the push-pull of things, despite the 14th bailing on both her side and Zodiark's in the first Final Days and leading into the Sundering. She was just pinging Azem's reincarnation as well, right?

Then Elpis happened, and at first, Aeryn thought the same thing; mistaken for Azem's familiar, by people who knew and loved Azem, that was the entire connection. Of course Venat was Azem's mentor and predecessor. No wonder she chose - then Hyperboreia happens and it's very much an "Ooohhhh...."

Aeryn's still grappling, in some ways, in realizing that it was always and only her; not Azem, not her brother, but Aeryn Striker. I wrote in one story once "I wasn't chosen, I was promised" and it still feels like a revelation she wakes up to many mornings, after all the fraught back and forth feelings on her role and relationships with Hydaelyn and the Ascians.

Does your WoL suffer from imposter syndrome? How do they deal with it?

[saphic-with-t]

For senior year I think the bad kids would be insanely over powered (high level dnd is nutty) so here are some fun ideas to spice up encounters in a zany sit-com sort of way. This is a long post btw.

1. Physical regression fight

The bad kids are reverted to their freshman bodies and have to fight as their original level one forms.

I’d imagine it as a Last Standard Exam style onslaught. They start as their level one characters and after each semi-quick wave they regrow a little bit, regaining a few levels, until they finally re-reach their present body. Also funny if they have to go through their bodies most awkward puberty stages again.

2. Freaky Friday

The bad kids all swap bodies. All of the players swap character sheets and have to play their character but using the stats/classes entirely of another character. Extra fun if they can’t meta-game by reminding each other of certain abilities or actions they can do irl, as to hammer in how inproficient they are at being one another.

3. Dance Fight

Similar to the Broadway fight from unsleeping city. All the bad kids have to fight in the middle of some major performance/dance act. Maybe it happens during some sort of audition or performance Fabian is doing.

They all have to navigate doing very high level performance and acrobatic checks which means balance actions and recourses have to be spent on both making sure everyone is good at performing and also on fighting well.

4. Doppelgängers

The bad kids fight themselves. Exact same levels, exact same stats.

Extra points if they don’t know which ones are the real ones, so half of the players are fighting with npc versions of the other half and vice versa. This means they have to also figure out which ones are the fakes mid-fight and some of them were actually playing as their own doppelgänger, semi-similar to the Baron fight in junior year. This also means Brennan would be playing as some doppelgängers but also as some of the actual real characters since those players are unknowingly the doppelgängers.

5. Shipping wars

Some ultra-powerful weirdo god-monster is running a spicy dating game and has kidnapped the bad kids. It is super over the top and annoying and is trying to convince/make the bad kids date eachother and fight eachother as couples. The fight is about tricking the freaky god-monster into thinking they actually have fallen for their assigned partner while pretending to fight the other pairs, with the eventual goal of killing it.

Can’t think of any pairing combo that this wouldn’t be funny with. Adaine and Riz would be bad at acting no matter what, Fig and Fabian would be way to convincing, and Gorgug and Kristen would be super awkward with their partner and also not fully know if Fig and Fabian were actually being serious about their respective partner.

6. Babysitter

Fabian has to spend the entire fight protecting/dealing with new baby sibling. Can hand them off to friends if need be. This includes dealing with a child who has 1 hit point in a high level battle, but also doing stuff like making sure they stay asleep (somehow) or changing a dirty diaper.

7. Freaky Friday 2: Parental Controls

All swapped to their parent’s bodies. Adaine becomes Jawbone, Fig becomes Sandra Lynn, Gorgug becomes one of the thistlesprings, Riz becomes Sklonda, Kristen becomes Lydia Barkrock (her secret mother figure), and Fabian becomes Hallaarial (or funnier option, Gilear).

This is funny to me because whatever spell or curse did this considers adoptive/non-genetic parental figures over biological/legal Gaurdians. Also this is extra funny if they have to team up with their parent who has swapped with them. So Adaine has to deal with Jawbone being in her body, Fig with Sandra Lyn being in hers, Gorgug with one of the thistlesprings, etc.

Also funny if other npcs show up (Ayda became Arthur Aguefort, Bucky Applebees as either Mac or Donna, etc).

Would love to see all of these honestly, would love to hear other dumb silly fighting bits y’all would want to see.

[aislingsurrow]

So I got tagged by @archaiclumina AND @ubejamjar AND @sparrowsong-7 to do this like (checks wrist) two months ago and I finally!!! Got it done!! So please enjoy, Aisling Facts!

Since this is also so late I'm not sure who was tagged and who wasn't... I'm gonna make ONE guess! @mist-touched, if you didn't get tagged before, get tagged now!

And if you're reading and haven't been tagged yet, now you are.

Basics

Name: Aisling Surrow

Nicknames: Often called “Lyn”, “Aisie”, or “little dream” by her father. Her mother will go on and on with such things as “sweet (including both ‘y’ and ‘ie’ and ‘pie’ variations), darling, sugar (and other saccharine additives), pet, dumpling (and a shelf of other baked goods), poppet, pumpkin (and a variety other vegetables), doll, baby, my girl” among others!

The core members of the Scions will casually call her “Ais” (pronounced like “Ash”), and in greeting some of the more military-mind may shout, “Hey, A!” to get her attention. 

After seeing her once again in Il Mehg, Urianger said she was “a vision”, “his vision” in fact…  And found himself unable to stop…

When Estinien first called her “my esk” or “my escape”, it was ironic- a way to mock what Nidhogg thought and said of her. It stopped being ironic rather quickly.

Age: 26 (ARR) 29-30 (Endwalker)

Nameday: The same day as the Seventh Umbral Calamity (And so the date is a little…  fuzzy meta-wise…)

Race: Half Lalafell, Half Hyur

Gender: Female

Orientation: Bisexual, with a preference for tall.

Profession: When not the Warrior of Light, Aisling is trained in the skills of an innkeeper, and is more than capable of manning the shop for as long as she needs. These skills in business serve and are supported by the assignments and work she does for the Arcanists’ Guild. 

She contracts with the Scions of the Seventh Dawn as an Adventurer, doing investigations, deliveries, escorts, and other odd jobs on Vylbrand. The Sleepy Surrow Burrow also provides discounts to any Scion who rents a room during their visits…

When the Warrior of Light- well, she does all that and saves the world!

Physical Aspects

Hair: Naturally curly and thick like her father. Unlike him, she keeps it long. She uses simple tricks of aether to dye the tips a pink similar to her eyes, and will also ‘change’ the length if she is feeling adventurous. This change is more glamor than anything else and eventually reverts back to her usual hair. 

Eyes: A deep pink, and naturally fluorescent thanks to a natural quirk in her aetheric balance. Her eyes are also sensitive to light. 

After the events of Shadowbringers her eyes will lose color the more heavily an area’s aethetic balance shifts towards Light. When a natural balance is restored, or she leaves the Light infected area, color will return to her eyes. 

Skin: Naturally sort of ruddy, but will eventually tan if in the sun long enough. She has freckles on her face that, like her eyes, glow because of an aethertic quirk. 

Tattoos/Scars: She once had scars on her fingers due to slipped hooks and botched knife cuts, but they were wiped away when she grabbed Nidhogg’s eye as it clung to an infected Estinien. While she was able to pull the eye out, she did so bare-handed, and won burn scars that now cover her palms and fingers. 

A rough, gouged hole around her heart from her first bout with Zenos in Rhalhgar’s Reach. His katana nearly went through her, but a desperate barrier at the last moment protected her from being skewered.

Lines and cracks on the back of her neck that trace down her spine, from when the Light nearly burst from her body after defeating Innocence. When she asked Urianger to describe the scars afterwards, he said they were “akin to the remnants of wounds from those stricken by lightning.”

Family

Parents: Aisling’s mother is Cecelia Surrow, oldest of three, and the inheritor and keeper of the Sleepy Surrow Burrow, a long-running family business in Aleport. When she was still learning the ropes of the trade, the devilishly handsome Edvard Volf caught her eye. It took her many a year to woo him and win him, and even longer to get him to settle down into the life of a sailor and innkeeper, rather than be a pirate. 

Many could describe Cecelia as overwrought, but Aisling calls her mother colorful and full of life. She’s a loquacious, eager, and overly earnest woman always looking for an opportunity to do or experience something interesting. While she’s quick to seek a deal and haggles vociferously, she has a keen sense of fairness that cannot be denied. She, like her daughter, has expensive taste- much to the chagrin of her husband. 

Edvard took his wife’s name when they married because Cecelia had the legacy to steward- he didn’t mind. At the time, he was not someone concerned with planning for the future or what his last name was on some legal ledger. He is an intense and silent man, saying little, and oftentimes what he says sounds more… sinister than he intends. Much of his language is still mired in his old pirate career. It’s not that he has bad intentions- only that the life is hard to leave behind. He deeply loves his family and what they have in Aleport, and in the new lens of domesticity his intensity and silence can come off as dreamy and thoughtful; a nature he shares with his daughter.

Siblings: Aisling is an only child. “Though not for lack of trying!” her mother often bemoaned when Aisling was in her teens. 

Grandparents: Edvard’s parents are not in the picture anymore, a fact he doesn’t often speak about to anyone outside his family. Cecelia’s parents are alive and have retired to Costa Del Sol, living out their twilight years in the sun and surf. 

In-laws and Other: Two uncles and one aunt on her mother’s side- no known aunts or uncles on her father’s side. 

After developing a relationship with Estinien, she can’t help but consider all dragons her family and in-laws, in a sense. She often thinks of Midgardsormer as a grandfather- and will call him so to his face quite boldly. He… doesn’t seem to mind it?

Pets: Her trusty carbuncle, Carby, who began its life as a mote of light she practiced summoning as a child. Since then, she has developed its form and concept, each iteration still her delightful Carby. 

The Sleepy Surrow Burrow has two main mousers (that is, cats that live and work within the inn catching vermin). Arturio is a luxurious ragdoll with one eye; which he lost when he picked a fight with a giant rat on his own. It was after this incident that they adopted their next mouser- a raggedy tabby kitten named Anne. While the start was rough, Anne and Arturio are now thick as thieves… which makes sense, as they love to find ways to steal treats and fresh cream from the larder. 

The Sleepy Surrow Burrow also has a small colony of cats that live around it, taking advantage of the many customers, the many pests, and the too-giving nature of Cecelia and Aisling. They just can’t help leaving out some scraps for the poor, sweet things. There are many cats in the colony, including a cat with one ear named after the Gridanian painter, Vangaux. 

Skills

Abilities: Aisling is a capable sailor, fisher, and navigator- readily able to hop aboard any vessel and serve as a rigger, midshipwoman, or surgeon. She is also a whiz at math- quickly able to make complex calculations and estimates in her head, which serves her well when figuring out headings and trajectories. It also helps in her work as an Arcanist- the balances and formulae necessary for the job are no sweat for her. 

She has also always been talented in minor aetherical manipulation. Briefly changing the color of something, the size or shape- small illusions that return to normal not too long after- summoning motes of spirit and light, little drawings made real. Her sense serves her well in any job that requires she deeply connect to aether, its balance, and cast spells and magic.

Aisling is the frequent haver of visions and dreams, and while she has not considered such a thing a ‘skill’ as much, her visions have come to be things to decipher, things that guide her decision making. Interpreting them is a skill in itself...

Hobbies: When not engaged in the equally important businesses of innkeeping and world saving, Aisling takes joy in a variety of hobbies. These include reading stories and myths (adventure, tragedy, and romance stand amongst her favorites), cooking up new and old dishes, singing and dancing with her mother and father and friends, fishing off Brewer’s Beacon (her favorite spot), playing various games of chance and skill (including poker, tarot, various dice games, blackjack, and Triple Triad), and wandering through Eorzea to find places to be and things to do.

Traits

Most Positive Trait: A deep and abiding curiosity for people and the world. She is always eager to listen and observe, and finds it easy to find a niche and make a home anywhere.

Most Negative Trait: A kind of apathy- because of her dreams and visions, things can feel inevitable to her… and sometimes she can treat them that way, which can bring a lack of empathy. 

Likes

Colors: Purple, pinks, and blues- preferably pastels.

Smells: The salt spray. Fresh canvas sails. Bread proofing and in the oven. Rosemary and myrrh. Lavender and spice.

Textures: Cold, glinting jewels. Smooth, sun-kissed wood. Hempen rope. Clean cotton sheets. Soft grass to lay on.

Drinks: Mango lassi. Mama’s eggnog (with a kick!) Chocolate milk. Spicy Bloody Marys. 

Other Details

Smokes: Sometimes Aisling will share a pipe with her father, though it’s not often. 

Drinks: Aisling isn’t shy around alcohol and is happy to be part of the party- she even has expensive taste when it comes to her wines and brandy…

Drugs: She’s got that Primal dank, man. She’s got that shit that causes Rejoinings. It’ll make you nine thirteenths of a soul, motherfucker. 

Mount Issuance: Aisiling has a proper certification for her Company Chocobo, affectionately named Omelette- as for the rest of the creatures and contraptions she rides… Gods only know how she got THEM…

Been Arrested: If you don’t count her brief imprisonments as part of her Warrior of Light journey, Aisling has never been arrested! Though as a wandering child in Limsa Lominsa, she did often get scolded by Maelstrom soldiers who found her where she shouldn’t be.

[autumnslance]

Aeryn keeps a journal; she writes her perceptions and thoughts on events, and when it's hard to write for whatever reason, she sketches in the pages instead; people mostly, but also sometimes places or items that stand out to her. She'll jot short notes and the sketches until she's in a better mental place to write her memories and thoughts more coherently.

She's also a letter writer, especially to her elder step-sister, and has often used letters--some of them never sent--as a means of journaling, as sometimes it's easier to "talk it out" or explain to someone else, rather than how the journal feels more for herself. The unsent letters later get tucked into/added to the journal (and then she has to write an actual letter to send).

HEY! a wol question for you before bed!

does your wol/oc keep a journal or a diary? what kind of stuff do they keep in there?

[favoritenintendocharacterbracket]

Favorite Nintendo Character Tournament 2 Submissions are Open

They'll be open until June 30th at 10 pm PST!

The winner will face our current champion, Kirby!

I'm bringing back everyone from the first tournament, as well as characters I regret nobody nominated last time. But I'm open for more, I'm crazy!

Below the break is everyone currently submitted, as well as the shout outs for promotion:

Characters involved:

Acerola (Pokemon)

Acht Mizuta Splatoon

Admiral Bobbery Paper Mario

Agent 8 (Splatoon)

Akari Pokémon

Alear (Fire Emblem)

Alex (Dragalia Lost)

Alm Fire Emblem

Andy (Advance Wars)

Apollo Animal crossing

Arven (Pokemon)

Ashley (Warioware)

Ashley Mizuki Robins (Another Code)

Ayumi (Famicom Detective Club)

Bandana Waddle Dee (Kirby)

Big Man (Splatoon)

Bobby Paper mario

Bowser (Mario)

Bulbasaur Family (Pokemon)

Callie (Splatoon)

Captain Falcon (F-Zero)

Captain Rainbow (Captain Rainbow)

Celica Fire Emblem

Charmander Family (Pokemon)

Chelle (Dragalia Lost)

Cherry Animal crossing

Chrom (Fire Emblem)

Claude (Fire Emblem)

Cleo (Dragalia Lost)

Commander Tarter (Splatoon)

Craggalanche Kid Icarus

Cranky Kong (Donkey Kong)

Cynthia (Pokemon)

Daisy (Mario)

Dark Pit Kid Icarus

Daruk (Legend of Zelda)

Dedede (Kirby)

Diddy Kong (Donkey Kong Country)

Dimentio Paper Mario

Dimitri (Fire Emblem)

Dixie Kong (Donkey Kong)

DJ Octavio (Splatoon)

Donkey Kong (Donkey Kong Country)

Duck Hunt Dog (Duck Hunt)

Edelgard (Fire Emblem)

Eevee and the Eevolutions (Pokémon)

Egil Xenoblade Chronicles

Eirika Fire Emblem

Elisane (Dragalia Lost)

Ephraim Fire Emblem

Euden (Dragalia Lost)

Fighting Polygon Team (Super Smash Bros)

Fox (Star Fox)

Frye (Splatoon)

Ganon/Ganondorf (Legend of Zelda)

Geno (Super Mario RPG)

Greninja (Pokemon)

Grovyle the Thief (Pokemon Mystery Dungeon)

Hades (Kid Icarus)

Hilda (Pokémon)

Ice Climbers (Ice Climber)

Ike (Fire Emblem)

Inkling (Splatoon)

Isabelle (Animal Crossing)

Issac (Golden Sun)

Jimmy T (Warioware)

K.K. Slider (Animal Crossing)

Karate Joe (Rhythm Heaven)

Kumatora (Mother)

Kyle Hyde (Hotel Dusk)

Lakitu (Mario)

Laxi (Dragalia Lost)

Laxitu (Mario)

Leif Fire Emblem

Lillie (Pokemon)

Link (Legend of Zelda) Twilight princess

Link Legend of Zelda Wind Waker

Lip Panel de Pon

Little Mac (Punch-Out)

Lola Pop ARMS

Lora (Xenoblade)

Louie Pikmin

Luca (Dragalia Lost)

Lucario (Pokemon)

Lucas (Mother)

Lucina (Fire Emblem)

Luigi (Mario)

Lyn (Fire Emblem)

Lysithea (Fire Emblem)

Mac (Animal Crossing)

Mallow (Super Mario RPG)

Mallow Pokemon

Marie (Splatoon)

Marina (Splatoon)

Mario (Mario)

Marth (Fire Emblem)

Mascula (Dragalia Lost)

Matt (Wii Sports)

Matthew (Xenoblade)

Melia (Xenoblade)

Meta Knight (Kirby)

Midgardsomer (Dragalia Lost)

Midna (Legend of Zelda)

Mii (Mii)

Min Min (ARMS)

Mineru (Legend of Zelda)

Mio (Xenoblade)

Mipha (Legend of Zelda)

Mona (Warioware)

Morgan Fire Emblem (Awakening)

Mr Grizz (Splatoon)

Mr. Game & Watch (Game & Watch)

Mym (Dragalia Lost)

Mythra (Xenoblade)

N (Pokemon)

Nedrick Dragalia Lost

Nemona (Pokemon)

Ness (Mother)

Nia (Xenoblade)

Ninten (Mother)

Ninten (Earthbound)

Noah (Xenoblade)

Notte (Dragalia Lost)

Oatchi (Pikmin)

Ogerpon (Pokemon)

Olimar (Pikmin)

Peach (Mario)

Pearl Houzuki (Splatoon)

Penn The legendary of Zelda tears of the kingdom

Penny (Pokemon)

Penny Crygor WarioWare

Pikachu (Pokemon)

Pikmin (Pikmin)

Pit (Kid Icarus)

Porky Mother

Purrah (Legend of Zelda)

Pyra (Xenoblade)

Queen Sonia (Legend of Zelda)

Ranzel (Dragalia Lost)

Rauru (Legend of Zelda)

Ravali (Legend of Zelda)

Red (Pokemon)

Reveli (Legend of Zelda)

Rex (Xenoblade)

Riju (Legend of Zelda)

ROB (Stack Up and Gyromite)

Robin (Fire Emblem)

Rosalina (Mario)

Roy (Fire Emblem)

sablé prince (The Frog For Whom the Bell Tolls)

Sami (Advance Wars)

Samus Aran (Metroid)

Seliph Fire Emblem

Shiver (Splatoon)

Shulk (Xenoblade)

Shy Guy (Mario)

Sidon (Legend of Zelda)

Sigurd Fire Emblem

Soren Fire Emblem

Squirtle Family (Pokemon)

Star Man Pro Wrestling

Starfy (The Legendary Starfy)

Stitches (Animal Crossing)

Takamaru (The Mysterious Murasame Castle)

Taranza (Kirby)

Teba (Legend of Zelda)

tetra (Legend of Zelda)

the president of hocotate freight (Pikmin)

Tia Animal crossing

Timerra Fire Emblem

Toadette Super Mario

Toadsworth Mario

Tom Nook (Animal Crossing)

Tulin (Legend of Zelda)

Twink (Paper Mario)

Urbossa (Legend of Zelda)

Vaati (Legend of Zelda)

Villager (Legend of Zelda)

Vivian (Paper Mario)

Waluigi (Mario Sports)

Wario (Warioware and Warioland)

Water wraith Pikmin

Yoshi (Yoshi's Island)

Yubono (Legend of Zelda)

Zelda (Legend of Zelda) Breath of the Wild

Zelda (Legend of Zelda) Skyward Sword

Zena (Dragalia Lost)

Zenethia (Dragalia Lost)

Shout Outs:

@favoritecapcomcharacterbracket @favoritesegacharacterbracket

@best-atla-character-showdown @best-ducktales-episode @pkmn-go-to-the-polls @fairytale-poll @runefactory-marriage-tournament @bokumono-bachelorette-bracket @1997thebracket @storyofseasonscharacterbracket @weeb-polls-with-pip @xenoblade-chronicles-brackets @enemies-to-allies-tournament @dwampyverse-tournaments @transformedgirlspringbracket @hauntthenarrative @detective-deathmatch @pokepollsters @i-cant-find-my-name-bracket @nintendo-rpg-characters-2023 @yen-sids-tournament @autisticgirliesbracket @pokemoncharacterbrackets @ashs-best-pokemon @super-smash-bracket @worstpokeparentshowdown @best-kirby-character-tournament @goodcartoondadshowdown @ultimatepokemontournament @fair-ut-character-battle @bestbnhacharacter @foundfamilyarena @beefy-babe-showdown

@clash-of-the-wizards @mermaidbracket @mad-scientist-showdown

[kaaragen]

So, I've been mulling it over, and I now have my considered thoughts on Tales of the Empire!

First Morgan and then the bit that matters.

I thought Morgan's segment was entertaining, and I liked learning about another Dathomiri clan. But for real, she's never beating the 'damn we shouldn't have killed Pryce' allegations XD. And that's the problem. The whole thing had a feeling of canon welding, as the airplane rattles apart at 30,000 feet. Perhaps most egregious is the explanation for how she met Thrawn. Apparently, she's behind his favoured TIE fighter design! Does she have any knoweldge of engineering, orbital mechanics, astrophysics or anything else that might enable her to look at a TIE fighter and say 'hey, I know how to improve that!' If she does, the show has no interest in telling us.

Then there's the whole wanting revenge thing. Why? Againts whom? For what purpose? The only thing she takes revenge on in the episodes is a forest, and what did that do to her?

Okay, now the main event: Barriss.

I set my expectations really low, so nearly anything would pass it. Acknowledging that, I'd say this was about the best I would have hoped for given the constraints of canon, Filoni and such. It was really nice getting to see Barriss being the idealist, sticking to her values and having the courage to say no when it became clear where the Inquisitorious was going. And she never fully bought into it, showing she has learned from her prior experience. As a friend pointed out, even when she choked Dante her eyes never turned yellow.

Seeing her as a Jedi Master at the conclusion also felt special, and not going ot lie, I did shed a small tear when I saw her free and at peace with herself after so long. And I love the fact that she defeats Lyn, not with badass lightsabre moves, but by being relentlessly kind and compassionate. Or, essentially, allows Lyn to defeat herself and so open the path back for her. It's a rare display, in Star Wars, of a character actually using the Force for knowledge and defence and not attack.

I loved the implication the reconciled with Ahsoka and made her peace with Luminara. And I don't mind those not being shown on screen; honestly I'd prefer they get time devoted to them in a novel or a comic, rather than 2-5 minutes in what are some already quite rushed episodes.

I'm 80% sure she's dead, and honestly I'm okay with that. She died to save a child and redeem a nobody (in meta-terms with Lyn), and there's something truly Jedi in that. There's something beautiful in that.

That said, there are two caveats.

The first is on Ahsoka. I'm getting increasingly frustrated with the way that Barriss' importance to Ahsoka is getting airbrushed out of the story. Because it is an important component. What sells Ahsoka on leaving the Order is not just the Council's lack of faith it's because she agrees with Barriss. Not in the method she chose, but in her critqiue yes. How can she not? She's just seen her good friend, a paragon Jedi in her eyes, fall to Darkness in fear of what the Order was becoming and she never suspected a thing.

And from Barriss' side the persistent question is why did she target Ahsoka and no one else? I'm starting to suspect that Filoni has worked out that only reasonable answer to this one is Barrisoka one and because he's allergic to writing relationships (a friend pointed out how much he seems to dislike physical displays of affection in his stories), but also specifically with reference to Ahsoka.

The second is on the bombing, and murder of Letta and clone troopers. Like, I'm happy that eleven years later it's been decided that having the Muslim-coded girl become a terrorist was a bad move. And I'm happy to take Barriss' gentle portrayal here as something of an apology note. But ultimately, Filoni made that decision so he doesn't get to employ fanfic rules to handwave it.

And the thing is, addressing it in the text would make the arc stronger. Because it's a fascinating flaw in Barriss' character that, for all her idealism, piety etc. when push came to shove she was too afraid to take the role of martyr and got someone else (willing or not) to do it. We need to see her grapple with that fear and work through it. We do see a strain of this (she does initially turn a blind eye to Lyn's massacre of the vilalge), but it's not really developed. Because it makes her triumph at the finish all the more important.

Barriss at the finish is not a Jedi Master because she can dance around lightsabre blades and spout wisdom laced in sarcasm (though those are cool!). She's a Jedi Master because she's transferring (so it's implied) her life energy to heal others. She's a Jedi Master because she allows herself to potentially be sacrificed to guide another back to the Light.

She's a Jedi Master because she's finally surpassed her fear and let go of her final attachment.