#nocti reads

[14dayswithyou]

This angel has another question! \o

do you have a general idea of what renrens voice would sound like? like a celebrity, singer, or maybe just a general description?

i hope all is going well for you 🫶🫶

✦゜ANSWERED: Ren's singing vc can be found here (I misread the original ask and thought it said "sings like", not "sounds like" sdksdgjs), but it also includes what I think Ren's talking voice would sound like ^^

But!! if I had to give an example, I've always imagined Eve (from Nier) to be very similar to Ren's talking voice!! It's soft, timid, and has that curious lilt to it — but also has dat [REDACTED] edge as well >:3

[coochellati]

we did

sorry, Ray Chase

[lulu2992]

This post is long overdue, but because I promised exactly seven years ago today that I would talk about this “later”, I want to finally do it!

So, prior to annoying everyone here about the Far Cry series, mostly Far Cry 5, and complaining about its nightmarishly-inconsistent lore, I used to annoy everyone with Final Fantasy XV and its... surprinsingly-not-that-inconsistent story. It’s not perfect, of course, and I’m sure many people could tell you more about it and its flaws better than I can, but considering it was told in the span of at least three years across four versions of the main game (which was updated several times to add more cutscenes and information), four DLC episodes, two films, two books, one animated series, one multiplayer expansion, as well as a few more spin-off games, demos, and trailers (not all of them canon), I still think it’s impressively coherent and that things could have been way worse.

Despite having never played this game myself (I don’t even know if I’ve ever said that), I fell in love with it, and more specifically with a character named Ardyn Izunia, a charismatic antagonist with a tragic past. Yes, I have a type.

Anyway, one thing I loved to complain about at the time was the English localization of the game. Although it’s far from being terrible, it slightly differs from the original Japanese version, and while some changes are appropriate and make sense (a localization isn’t meant to be a literal translation, after all), others are... questionable. The English version also had the luxury of having its own facial animations, which means the team didn’t even have to worry about being 100% faithful to the character’s original lip movements and emotions. And they weren’t.

Some of the choices that were made regarding Ardyn in particular are still upsetting to me. The way he talks about his name is unclear? People get confused. A sentence he finishes in Japanese gets interrupted in English for no apparent reason? That creates a non-existent mystery. A frown is turned upside-down? That erases a rare and therefore important angry reaction. He doesn’t chuckle at a key moment? That changes the tone of the scene and his feelings on the whole situation…

So, on March 19th, 2018, I said I wanted to talk about “when he sounds mocking and unimpressed instead of surprised and offended in the Pocket Edition”, so this is what I’m going to do, at long last. The mobile version of FFXV is interesting because it contains a few lines that were not in the original game and never included in the other editions (unless that’s changed; it’s been a while since I’ve studied this game). Those lines are exchanged between Noctis and Ardyn during their final battle.

From what I’ve seen and tried to translate thanks to online tools (I still don’t speak Japanese), the English conversation is nearly identical to the original Japanese version, but there’s one thing Ardyn says, and especially how he says it, that is very different to me.

When Noctis asserts he will save him from the darkness, in English, Ardyn replies, “Will you?” in a rather derisive and dismissive tone. In Japanese, though, he replies, “何?” (“What?”), and it seems Noctis’ words actually affect him. You can hear both versions below. Focus on Ardyn’s tone:

Original videos: English - Japanese

To me, the way he replies in English suggests he doesn’t take Noctis seriously at all. It’s like he’s saying, “Aw, that’s cute; as if you could do that”. In Japanese, however, I think he sounds shocked, like he can’t believe someone would genuinely want to help him despite everything he’s done and the monster he has become.

His reaction reminds me of the moment Lunafreya softly tells him he will eventually know peace… and he just slaps her. I could never decide exactly why he did it. I don’t know if it’s because he feels insulted and belittled by her words or if, on the contrary, he can’t stand the fact she’s showing compassion, not to mention right after he’s just mortally stabbed her. Does her kindness hurt him because he believes he doesn’t deserve it? Does she remind him of the man he used to be, the selfless, naive healer she somehow managed to still see, deep inside of him, despite the many layers of darkness he’s spent ages burying himself under?

In any case, it seems Ardyn is supposed to react strongly and be thrown off balance when someone believes he can and deserves to be saved, so what I wanted to say in 2018 is that I thought, and still think, that it’s a shame the English version of his line in the Pocket Edition doesn’t reflect that.

[shitpostingkats]

Your Lunafreya fan fic "Dear Beloved Stranger" was incredibly well written! You gave Luna such an amazing voice! You capture the frustration and confusion she feels about her circumstances, but also her determination, kindness, and a little bit of silliness too.

Luna's final scene of her laughing among the syllablossoms as she comes to understand her feelings was very heartwarming to read. After spending all this time keeping her true emotions close to her chest, Luna allows herself to let out everything she's been holding inside. She accepts that Noct won't ever her, and neither will she love him, and instead of being disappointed, it's liberating to her. You've written her with much more dimension than what we were originally given, but you still kept the core aspects that make Luna, well, Luna!

Long story short, I really enjoyed this, and I look forward to your future writings!

Hey, thank for the kind words! I'm so glad you enjoyed it!

Yeah, I started getting Luna Feelings when I was playing through the chapter in Altissia and you go and see her wedding dress. Like! Up until that point Noctis seems kinda uncaring about the wedding (though he obviously cares about Luna) but it's the first time we actually see him mourn what could have been. And it just hit me like 'Oh! This was their safety net. They both thought of this as their chance at stability.'

And then after that she dies and in that cutscene they both are children, because despite seeing her in-person mere moments ago, he can't conceive of the two of them talking as adults. The juxtaposition of pinning their futures on each other while also being almost complete strangers. And then I started pacing around and the more I thought about their dynamic the more I wanted to chew on concrete.

The amount that themes of rest permeate both their stories. She's the constantly working Oracle and he's the prince of Insomnia. They both die during the main story and get pulled right back to work minutes later. The fact that the ending of the game is them leaning against each other and closing their eyes. I just wanted to keep pulling at and exploring that thread and then I blinked and I had a whole fic in front of me.

Made me more insane about them, honestly. 10/10 platonic soulmates of all time.

[flowers-of-tenebrae]

After finishing dotf, I know no longer want to read about Noctis being disinterested, uncaring or indifferent towards Luna with my own eyes ever again.

The guy spends half his time in the book going Luna. Luna. Luna! And it turns out yes, he's actually a sap when it comes to Luna - only now he's no longer hesitating or keeping those thoughts secret because he's already lost her once before.

page 332

Noctis being romantically sappy (not a complete collection):

page 312:

Sol: never mentions the word anxious Noct: 🥺 Luna really really wants to see me (which fair, is completely true)

page 358:

page 359:

[muffled sobbing]

page 360:

her delicate wrists? how victorian of him 🤭

page 361:

Noctis: Yep we promised to stay together forever, no verbal confirmation necessary, we sealed the deal by holding hands, btw the wedding's still on

[deva-arts]

Noctis: ...

Harvey: ...

Noctis: So hypothetically speaking--

Harvey: Noctis. No. Stop. I'll stop you right there.

Noctis: ... Hypothetically speaking, what would happen if *you* took Halcyon?

Harvey: I don't know. I never tried. And I don't intend to.

Noctis: ... Just one patch.

Harvey: I'll break your arm.

Noctis:

[someobscurereference]

ive been rereading your ffxv fic "im trying hard to take it back" for literally four years now. please end my suffering and tell me how gladio feels. please. PLEASE. (but only if u want ofc)

(fic) Short answer: Gladio feels insane guilt and spends a lot of his life trying to make this up to Prompto. In the process, they deepen their connection as friends and do begin a relationship probably around the one-year mark of endless darkness. <3

Longer answer: (implications of abuse/violence tw but no worse than in the fic itself; just what others assume to be true even if it's not in the context of this specific fic)

Gladio is a secret romantic at heart who has always envisioned meeting his soulmate, but he's also duty-bound and duty comes first. So even though he reads romance books (amongst other types of books too) and indulges in his head a bit as many people do, he's often put his duty to the crown first and foremost in his mind. He also didn't imagine his soulmate was anyone on this trip and thought perhaps the person he may have been fated to meet died in the assault of Insomnia. Even if they were a refugee, they can't be a priority to him at this moment. His priority has to be Noctis.

Prompto has obviously grown on him over the course of their road trip, but there are aspects of them that don't 100% mesh (as is true with every realistic relationship). That said, Gladio never in a hundred years would want this moment of (understandable but out of line) frustration and anger in the wake of Luna and Altissa to be a permanent mark on Prompto's face. He's genuinely horrified and disgusted with himself for a long time after this and spends most of his life trying to make it up. He feels like a dirtbag about it.

That said, Prompto runs away from him in this moment and they need time to calm down, just as the fic shows. Noctis goes after Prompto, just like in canon. Prompto falls off the train and has his Despair Arc just like in the DLC, now with the added despair of "well, in addition to being a clone, my soulmate hates me. And in addition to the mark of inhumanity on my wrist (barcode), I have a giant hand print of him literally Shoving Me Away on my face. Forever."

Aranea: Well, do you want to die about it. Or do you want to live.

Prompto, eventually like in canon: Live, I guess. But it will be excruciating.

Aranea: That's what living is. We do it anyway. Your friends love you. Get off the floor.

He fights his way through his issues and gets rescued like in canon. Gladio probably tries to talk to him when they all catch up again, trying to apologize, and Prompto tells him to hold off on that for later.

Then, of course, Noctis is eaten by the crystal and "later" becomes much, much later as they evacuate and try to survive in eternal darkness. (Though they also can't Not think about it because it's a giant hand print. On Prompto's face. And every person they meet has Something To Say about it, for better or worse, whether they knew Prompto before or not. Prompto cannot escape it, and when Gladio is not doing Crown Duties he feels he must do in Noct's absence, he's with Prompto, so he also Cannot Escape It either. Even when the person speaking is unaware that Gladio left that mark. It's almost worse when they don't know, but when they see it's Gladio, who is such a big guy who seemingly hit Prompto and left that permanent mark there, some of them get nasty to him and some back off out of fear. Both are horrible. The guilt is eating him alive.)

Eventually, enough time passes as the dust settles that they do Talk About It. Gladio apologizes sincerely, for the 500th time. Prompto's like, "Well. It's not like you could have known that this would be The One Time it happened." And then cracks a joke about their soulmate mark being a Prompto's hand print on Gladio's ass from a butt slap in another life, which does help the tension somewhat. (The more Gladio tries to apologize, the more Prompto grows sick of hearing it, so they just have to move on and keep going, as he's learned to do.)

They grow closer over time, especially because there's not a lot of people who have survived to this point and even less later on. They do get together romantically, both because they do like the idea of soulmates (for different reasons) and also because they're living out of each others pockets for years, so there's an affection and dependency that develops there. Also, teenage Prompto always thought Gladio was really handsome and teen Gladio thought Prompto was cute and sincere for a pipsqueak.

When they are out together on dates in normal settings surrounded by strangers after the light returns, Gladio will receive dirty looks for the rest of his life from strangers who see the hand print on Prompto's face and immediately (correctly) assumes it was out of anger rather than a funny accident or something. (Edit: Some people will assume there is a funny story attached. Gladio will not know what to say to this. Prompto will play along.) He will learn to live with this. Prompto is really grateful Gladio is with him despite everything.

[omnificent-orion]

"What began in deception would end with the Truth, shining like a blade in the hand of the last usurper."

Besmirched, Chapter 26 A Gladiolus/Noctis Irish folklore AU longfic by @rose-madder-gaze

[yuudamari]

Dropping umineko out of nowhere to play 15 hours of final fantasy xv and then not be able to play again in months cos my parents wont let me take my ps4 out of their house

[heartbinders]

“Hey, might I get an, ah- … pardon me, please do not scream at me.” // ( Game Changer Sentence Starters ), from Ignis to Noctis because he absolutely would just barge on in while he's in the shower. XD

Well I gotta answer this one before Sunday is over huh || @tenebriism

Ugh, finally... another night of camping was simply NOT going to cut it. What Noctis was ready to give just for a hot shower before hitting the road again...

Too tired to even begin to think about little things like locking the door, the first thing Noct did once in the bathroom was start running the water, hot. Then he peeled his clothes off, nose scrunching up at how the sweat kept them clinging to his body in protest. He tossed everything haphazardly to the tile floor of the motel bathroom, more than happy to be rid of it. The room was starting to steam up nicely, too. Nice.

He was just about to reach for the door of the shower stall, when an unexpected click caused him to freeze up.

Noctis didn't scream. He wasn't really one to in situations like these. The noise that escaped his throat was more of a strained yelp than anything else. Other than that, he was more of a deer in the headlights, standing there totally in the nude. He dare not turn around and scandalize poor Ignis with even more of a show than he was already getting. How much cover was the shower steam giving his bare ass, again? Enough, he could only hope, God.

It took a moment for some sense to kick in, but eventually it did. Noctis pulled the shower door open and stepped in so quickly, it was a wonder he didn't slip. He pulled it shut, back still to Ignis. Cleared his throat. Had he run the water too hot?

❝ Y — Yeah, just grab whatever. Uh...can you turn the lock on your way out? ❞

[cognitivemania]

Kay so I finished my second reading of flesh and steel by guy Haley. Nothing too spoilerish, I wonder if mem-ba is going to reappear in the sequel novel— assuming there ever be one. Boy I hope nothing happens sheebena, maybe becoming a stray cat at best (dunno, maybe becomes lux's new pet?) killed like the dog in Watchmen worse.

I half expected Symon's dad to turn his daughter into a servitor. Instead of taking her to the schola, yeah I sorta anticipated him to just give her the same fate as marchenstka's daughter. But the schola route was grimdark enough.

[demisexualnathanvuornos]

Shopping 11.-24.11.2024

Saana Lahtinen Aftershock (2024)

Honami Shirono I Want to Be a Wall 3 (2023/ 2024)

Alice Oseman Ilman rakkautta (Loveless Finnish translation 2020/ 2024)

Glitter nails for Christmas party (20.11.2024)

Star Trek: Lower Decks season 3 (2022)

Becky Albertalli Imogen, Obviously (2022)

V.E. Schwab The Fragile Threads of Power (2023)

Reacher season 1-2 (2022-2024)

[krisssssssy]

[marmolita]

getting back into ffxv 5+ years after the first time means I have to migrate my playlists to a new music app, which sadly I have to do by clicking on each individual song because every service hates me and I hate them all too

also this has revealed to me that Google mysteriously deleted some of my files (don't worry I have a backup)

BUT more importantly I am reconnecting with my Noctis playlist, which includes discovering that I still remember all the words to some Gackt songs from 2000 😅

[flowers-of-tenebrae]

[ More FFXV x FFXIV thoughts ]

Excerpts from my drafts (Mild FFXIV spoilers ahead):

^I actually did consider DRK for Noctis 😄. Didn't finish writing Ignis' part lol

See my earlier post about SQEX's preferred jobs for the bros - keeping in mind the collab was released in Dec 2018 for FFXV before FFXIV: Shadowbringer's 2019 release. Read this earlier post re: why I feel RDM doesn't fit Noctis plus other users' thoughts on the matter.

Anyway, FFXIV jobs I'd assign the other FFXV characters:

Aranea - DRG

Iris - PCT

Luna - WHM / LNC (still early lvls, no DRG job stone) / BTN

Cor - SAM

Ardyn - WHM then DRK/RPR -> Ardyn & Luna parallels w/ both initially as WHM

Ravus - ?? DRK (idk Ravus fans help me out here)

Other jobs I think could fit:

Gladio - GNB

Hear me out. Gunbreaker (GNB) is all about being a protector or a guardian (FFVIII) and more importantly having someone - or some important cause like one's country or freedom - to protect. I think Gladio could relate to FFXIV's Dalmascans what with the loss of their liege and country due to imperial invasion. Also FFXIV's GNB was an art passed down from generation to generation and originated from royal guards.

BUT I think Gladio would prefer more traditional forms of weaponry and combat, which is why I picked WAR and DRK for him! WAR is self-explanatory (unga bunga) and who doesn't love Fell Cleave? SAM comes after he's completed Episode Gladio.

Noctis - FSH max lvl / SMN

The kind of guy who spends weeks chasing after ruby dragons or cinder surprises or whatever the fuck FSH enthusiasts get up to these days. I think he'd be amused by the name carbuncleplushy (iykyk).

My old rambly notes on VPR and SMN Noctis (viper and summoner):

@noctswife brings up a good point against RPR for Noctis + some thoughts on DRK and RDM Noct:

Ignis - CUL / SGE / VPR / DRG

I'll expand on my choices for Ignis since I didn't explain them earlier. Our FFXV light party desperately needs a healer, so Ignis steps up. Like Alphinaud, he originally was a strategist healer (SCH - scholar) but decided he didn't vibe with Eos/Selene or the angel aesthetic and switched to sage (SGE) /jk

I think healing via DPS fits Ignis and he can swap Kardia between Gladio (MT - the main tank), Noctis, Prompto or even himself. Plus lasers.

About DPS jobs for Ignis - NIN has the traditional Japanese aesthetic while I see Ignis as more of a modern kind of guy. VPR's ability to switch between dual blades <--> one longarm represents Ignis' gameplay really well imo, and it also suits Noctis who has the armiger at his disposal. DRG bc Ignis obv has the hops n jumps, esp in Episode Ignis.

Bonus: I think Ignis would make a fetching RDM! Plus it incorporates his ability to use magic and heal.

Luna - SCH?

@noctswife suggested SCH for Luna, which was great to read:

I think Luna and Noctis both having arcanist (ACN) - the prerequisite class to SCH and SMN in FFXIV - in common works narratively wrt to FFXV's story, i.e. Luna and Noctis are the only ones able to really communicate with the Astrals (excl. Ardyn). Whether it's WHM or SCH, I think we can all agree Noctis and Luna have that tank/healer dynamic going on!

Anyway ty to everyone who shared their thoughts on the other posts about job classes for Noctis. Feel free to agree / disagree here, it's all for fun! Or correct me if I missed sth or incl any inaccuracies.

[deva-arts]

Definitely feeling a little trantiveness rn