#of course urianger eventually finds out

[keicordelle]

The Daily Inconveniences of an Au Ra: Writing

"So if you could just go and write down what those three say and bring the transcripts back here to me, that would be a big help."

Keshet looked at the little leather-bound journal and pen the man held out to him, brown and battered and thoroughly unassuming, and grimaced. "Is that really necessary? I could just tell you want they have to say, and then you don't have to hand over your book."

The man frowned at him. "I'd really like to have their words down exactly. Is something the matter?"

"I- That is- No," he ground out, snatching the offered implements with perhaps more force than was kind and stalking away in the general direction of his first target. He thumbed through the book, squinting at the spidery cursive the filled its early pages. It might as well have been meaningless squiggles for all the sense it made to him.

Dragging a hand down his face, he let out an angry sigh that turned into a growl, and didn't notice the person before him until he'd run right into her.

"Keshet!" Lyse exclaimed, sounding far too delighted for his current mood. Sensing the aura of gloom that surrounded him, she paused. "Is everything alright?"

"Just peachy. Some historian wants me to record what the survivors have to say, that's all."

She cocked her head. "And you're angry about that because.... it means you don't get to hit anything?"

"No, I- Well, yes, but it's not just that." Tail lashing in aggravation, he glanced to either side to ensure his admission wouldn't be overheard before beckoning her closer and leaning down to confide, "It’s just... I don't know how to write."

Lyse blinked at him. "You- what? Of course you do."

He glared, the spikes on his tail suddenly looking a lot more pointy than usual as it sliced through the air, and she cleared her throat. "Or rather, you had to have signed your name when you joined the Adventurers' Guild. And I've seen you read letters before."

"Have you?" he asked pointedly, and her lips pursed as she considered.

"Maybe not."

Keshet raked a hand through his hair. "I can sign my name, and I can recognize enough words to get by. Inn, tavern, things like that. But..." He shrugged. "We didn't have a writing system on the Steppe. Our traditions and histories are all passed down orally, so we never needed one. Look, just don't tell the others, okay?" She shot him an appraising look that he didn't like. "I mean it! I'd never hear the end of it from Alphinaud. And Nhaama forbid Urianger ever find out..."

"I think you're selling them short. I bet Alphinaud and Urianger would love to help you learn to read and write!"

Keshet's lips twisted. "I'm not sure which sounds more painful: them finding out in the first place, or having them as teachers..."

Read the rest of the series on Ao3!

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[plounce]

rob plounce's ffxiv fic reclist

this will update as i continue to find stuff i enjoy. (it also exists as a page on my desktop blog!)

disclaimer: this is just stuff i’ve read that i’ve enjoyed! i have my own favorite characters and pairings, so my reclist skews heavily towards those. i’m not super into in wolshipping, so there won’t be much of that, sorry! i have not read everything in every pairing and character tag, so don’t take this as a comprehensive guide. these are just things that i liked and think are worth reading.

fics are noted with wordcount, pairing (or as gen), and rating (e = explicit). * means it's been recently added to the list.

spoilers ahoy!

scions

*flight of an anorak (17k+, G) gen - urianger childhood backstory fic with transfem urianger! incredibly well-characterized urianger narration. breaks my heart and brings a smile to my face with every update.

lost and found (8.8k, T). gen, light moenuri - you know how moenbryda’s parents basically adopted urianger after they basically abandoned him? this fic is about that. also urianger autism :)

while eating (2.2k, G) gen - more baby autistic urianger with bastard parents. sob. at least moenbryda’s parents are there.

foster (1k, G) gen - pre-canon, thancred overhears fourchenault and louisoix talking about him.

second impression (4.8k, T) gen - fourchenault is a bit more of a classist bastard than in canon and is a dick to thancred, but gets past it. mostly. thancred does his best.

the stars in their abundance (2.7k, T) gen - pre-canon from the perspective of g'raha’s mom in corvos!

cross (1.1k, G) gen - minfilia and thancred clean up the mess of thancred’s possession.

your song, carried onwards (4.9k, G) gen - thancred’s rescue of alisaie from the WoD in the hvw patches.

a stranger in the woods (4.3k, E) thancred/marcechamp - you know, the guy from tailfeather in heavensward? they hook up. thancred gets taken care of.

dust in your eyes (8.8k, T). background ships include wolchefant, wolcred, and haurchefant/urianger, but is mostly about thancred being a sad bastard who is always too slow, too late, and trying to be his best self but not totally succeeding. and haurchefant being a great guy. good character stuff.

how massive is the spirit in us (2.2k, G) gen - ryne character introspection… makes my heart hurt.

testing the waters (1.8k, G) gen - thancred teaches ryne to swim.

the shimmering light (2k, G) gen, light thanuri - urianger settling into the bookman’s shelves. fun il mheg worldbuilding.

almost crystal, almost ascian (10k, T) gen - minfilia and the exarch meet up a few times over the course of a century. their parallelisms. the horror of being “minfilia.”

off the hook, provisionally (974, G) gen - y'shtola talks to the exarch in the wake of 5.0 about his deception.

among the shelves (5k, G). gen - the twins and ryne hang out and talk about the other scions.

portentous news (842, G) gen - urianger’s first morning on the moon in the middle of endwalker.

adventures in unlikely friendship (23k, T) gen - wol+cred friendship! i really like these. the bozja one is delightful. passively-suicidal bestiessss

void parsley sojourn (4k, T) gen, light thanuri - urianger hotboxes the rising stones. very charming depiction of urianger as a weed nerd. makes me laugh and smile every time i read it!

there is (maybe) an ascian among us (11k, T) gen, minor side pairings - post-endwalker, the scions try to get to the bottom of a conspiracy about thancred, who just wants to grill for gods sake! comedy.

two scions walks into a bar… (26k, T) gen, but eventually thanuri - a series where the author intended to just analyze and write about thancred & urianger’s relationship as gen, but then slid into shipping lmao. covers ARR-early STB with a bit of post-SHB. great character work for both of them!

respite, despite (25k, T) thanuri - urianger pining from pre-5.0 to the close of endwalker… good pining, good urianger misery, good romance. wagh!

erasing all the lines in the sand (30k, E) thanuri - mutual pining, miscommunication, coparenting! bookman’s shelves fic.

(in parantheses) (9.9k, M) thanuri - thancred's rescuing of minfilia, time in the first, and the mental stress that emet-selch gives him due to ascian trauma during shadowbringers. also getting together with urianger.

sleepy-eyed soldier (4.6k, M) thanuri - elidibus puppetting ardbert's body brings thancred’s ptsd over having his body used by lahabrea roaring back to the surface in the form of nightmares and hypervigilance. (mind the CWs)

trouble in paradise (2.3k, E) thanuri - transfem urianger!!!! :D :D :D great kind-of-an-asshole thancred character work. hurting each other but trying to fix it.

sole conundrum (412, G) thanuri - pre-edw garlemald scouting mission. urianger autism :D

three of swords reversed (3.2k, T) thanuri, moenuri - urianger dealing with grief over moenbryda and thancred in the later half of endwalker.

another sunrise (5.8k, T) thanuri - post-edw wanderings - urianger deals with a mystery, sudden solitude, and a crisis of doubt! ends happily.

take root in this barren soil (and grow back stronger) (7.4k, E) thanuri - thancred shares what the training regimen of a sharlayan spy entails, not expecting urianger to react so strongly.

to wander is a dream (46k, M) thanuri - post-edw. i don’t tend to enjoy hanahaki fics but this fic is so so so good. thancred being an emotionally stunted asshole, urianger being the world’s most beautiful martyr (for better or for worse), lots of fae stuff, both of them struggling to not be repressed.

why do we forbear? (9.3k, E) thanuri - modern au fake dating, which would usually not appeal to me but this one’s real cute. (currently unfinished)

*to care for those we love (11k, T) ryne and her parents, thanuri - ryne drags thancred to the bookman’s shelves and does her best to administer first aid in urianger’s absence. each chapter is from one of the trio’s pov - i’m usually not super into 1st person, but this fic uses it really effectively in imparting each character’s mindset. it’s very sweet!

ancients

on call (2.5k, T) hythades - emet-selch goes out of town, and hyth is asked to step in for a soul-seeing duty. and he futzes with emet-selch’s office.

mail run (840, G) hythades - “A young archival intern keeps finding completely legitimate reasons to do all the deliveries to a very specific Bureau of the Architect clerk. For no reason at all.” young love!

as stars to a sky (1.8k, T) hythades - little vignettes about life in the pre-sundered world.

the seat of destruction (13k, M) hythades - canon-divergent au where hythlodaeus is the one to take the seat of emet-selch, and the sundering still happens. my favorite ascian!hyth work.

affective memory (9.3k, T) hythades - pov from the shade of hythlodaeus as he wanders around emet-selch’s reconstructed amaurot.

for good health and opportunity (14k, T) pre-emetexarch - emet-selch visits the crystal exarch numerous times over the course of a century. frenemies!

other characters

“nero tol scaeva did nothing wrong”… (5k, G) gen - a bunch of job npcs try to arrest nero for driving without a license. goes about as well as you might think.

biohazard (1.1k, G) gen - nero hates valens’ ass. not because he has “morals” or anything he just thinks valens is a dogshit project manager.

left in the dust (3.9k, T?) cidnero - ARR nero finds amnesiac marques working in the lichyard. miserable little man.

adrift in memory’s fog (16k, T) cidnero - cid’s frequent bouts of amnesia have led to a patchy memory - enough where he forgets that he and nero were betrothed as teenagers. (trans cid!)

the troubled envoy (1.3k, T) gen - maxima’s diary entries during the stormblood patches, including his thoughts on his weird boss.

the last abandonment (1.9k, M) gen - maxima wanders the ruins of garlemald and reflects on his time in the garlean left. by the same author as above - i really rec all their maxima fics.

this cathedral where your face stains the windows (2k, G) ysayle/igeyrohm - “Someone had to teach Ysayle summoning.” great ysayle heresy stuff + toxic yuri.

this blessed day (80k, M) gen - lucia’s journey from a captured garlean spy to aymeric’s right hand. lucia……

cadavre exquis (6.4k, T) gen - emmanellain helps pack up haurchefant’s things at camp dragonhead ft ishgardian homophobia and an underground queer zine scene.

the lantern jar (19k, T) cirisadu - OH MY GODDDDDDDDDDD. this fic is so good. cirina and sadu growing close. lots of development of steppe spiritual traditions and beliefs.

duet (13k, T) estivrtra - estinien encourages vrtra to live more fully as a dragon. cool dragon stuff.

a view of you (14k, M) estivrtra - estinien gets fatally wounded, and vrtra keeps him alive via a great sacrifice (sadly unfinished, but what’s there is a great read)

veteran advisor (15k, E) vrtra/estinien/gaius - really great gaius character work here where he and allie are on vacation in radz-at-han, and the impact that has on both of them. but also? it's mostly about big!varshahn getting railed. good for him!

this home wrested forth (2.5k, T) gen - sidurgu from DRK quests and alaqa from WHM quests meet up and deal with some gridanian wrongdoing.

a fervent desire (111k+, E) sanson/guydelot - an incredibly in-depth retelling of the BRD quests. great work developing these characters and giving them really in-depth motivations!

and love you shall find (9.8k, E) sanson/guydelot - BRD quests, but what if sanson journals as an accommodation for short-term memory loss?

[nonbinaryurianger]

FFXIVWrite 2024, day 28 - Deleterious

Emix and Urianger admit their feelings for each other about an expansion earlier than I'd expected.

"I must beg thine aid on a matter of research. If thou art resolved to face Lord Ramuh, I would ask thy leave to observe the event."

Before Emix could respond in the affirmative, their colleagues butted in with what had become their usual japes.

"Research, is it?" Y'shtola teased.

"I'll grant that Emix does cut a striking figure in combat," Thancred said. Then, with a feigned realization, he added, "Oh, you mean to observe Ramuh! Well, then, forget I said anything."

Even Papalymo seemed to be suppressing a chuckle. Despite the gloomy lighting in this part of the forest, Emix could tell that Urianger's face was growing red under his hood. They knew the teasing would never cease until they either gave them what they wanted or called them out on it. So, despite their usually endless font of patience, Emix reacted in a way that surprised even themself.

"Matron's tits, would you all cut it out?" It worked, at least in the short term, and that was all they needed. They turned to Urianger and said, "Of course you can observe," before stalking off towards the battlefield where the Lord of Levin awaited them.

After the battle, they reunited with Urianger for the walk back to Little Solace, the others having blessedly left them alone. As the rush subsided, they found themself regretting their outburst. Its efficacy likely lay only in how out of character it was for them, and in acknowledging what was going on, they worried that they had only lent credence to the others' suspicions. Had they ignored it, they probably would have let up eventually.

"Um...sorry about earlier," they finally said, mostly to the ground.

"Nay, 'tis I who should be offering mine apologies to thee," Urianger said. "'Twas my responsibility to shut the rumors down ere they reached thee, but I regret that I did not find the courage in time. I pray that my failure hath no deleterious effect on...our relationship, in whatever form that may take."

That wording made Emix wonder: what form was he expecting it to take? Were the jests and rumors from their colleagues based on speculation, or was there actually a chance that they were based on something more concrete? They had long since come to terms with the fact that their own feelings for Urianger went beyond friendship, but they had never wanted to assume that it might be reciprocated. Well, given the circumstances, now was as good a time as any to ask.

"What form does it take, in your eyes?"

Urianger paused in his steps. "I could ask the same of thee."

"I asked first," Emix grumbled, earning a chuckle.

"So thou didst. Very well." He took a moment to gather his thoughts, gently grasping Emix's hand. "I shan't deny that I have made certain attempts to signal my feelings, though my perception is that they have gone unnoticed, or unaccepted, or simply landed in the realm of uncertainty, much as I have been uncertain as to how to interpret certain gestures of thine. Thus, directness may indeed suit us both. First and foremost, thy friendship doth mean much to me. If thou wouldst have that alone, then may it bloom forevermore. If, however, thou wouldst have more"—he lifted Emix's hand to his lips and placed a soft kiss on his knuckles—"I would welcome it wholeheartedly."

It was hard to believe, somehow, despite all the signs, but the touch of his lips made it real. They took half a step forward, taking Urianger's other hand in theirs.

"I would," they said. "But unfortunately, this means we'll have to tell the others that they were right."

[driftward]

Title: FFXIV Write 2023 - 20. Hamper Characters: Yda Hext, Thancred Waters, Urianger Augurelt, Y'shtola Rhul, Minfilia Warde Rating: Teen Summary: Thancred's very funny. Notes: Sometimes I claim to be committing crimes against words. This time, I kind of mean it.

Being a conscript for the mighty Garlean empire was both better and worse than he had anticipated it would be.

Worse, because of course it wasn't possible to imagine to what it would be like, separated from his family, thousands of malms away from his home, knowing that his obedience was the only thing keeping them safe. Having to be in someone else's home, knowing that the goal of the Empire was to make sure the same fate befell them, onward and onward, a beast hungry for sweat and blood, forever.

Better, because in practice, it was actually really boring.

A lot of drills. A lot of getting up early at hours gods could not see and frankly neither should men. And a lot of chores.

So many chores.

He was not sure what he had imagined military life to be like, but certainly, he had not imagined this. He spent much more time cleaning his weapon than using it, even more time marching around and checking on things he felt certain did not need checked, but checking them anyroad. Lots of standing around waiting for a lot of nothing to be done. Cleaning the Castrum. Cleaning his barracks. Cleaning his clothes. Cleaning his comrades' clothes, and that was the duty he had pulled today.

He sighed as he went from barracks to barracks, pushing, pulling, and otherwise cajoling along an increasingly long train of hampers, each one on some caster wheels and connected to one another through some clever coupling mechanism, and all driven by a magitek contrivance whose workings he didn't know. He didn't have to. Just had to guide it and make sure all the laundry got picked up. It wasn't hard work at all, just tedious. Just go to a barracks, find the watch, tell them why he was there, wait while the hampers were gathered, usually already full, add them to the train, and be on his way.

He was supposed to keep track of how many he had from where. But each hamper had a barracks number on it, and so long as the laundry room did their job, the laundry would be returned to the correct hampers, and whoever took them back didn't have too hard a time of it. And so he only made certain he didn't lose any, and paid little attention to how many he had, eventually just duly driving his long, smelly train into the heart of the Castrum where the laundry magitek devices were. This was where his job ended for now, and he was risking being late to his next duty. So while he sorely wished to stop and try to chat up the comely lass who greeted him - he could tell, even inside of the ugly sack cloth uniforms they all wore, that she was, if nothing else, athletic and trim - he saluted her sharply, signed off on the duty board, and went on his way.

She watched him go, her hands on her hips, not moving towards the hamper train or otherwise making an effort to do her job. Not so far away, tucked out of sight, another conscript was taking an unfortunate nap. Once the man who had delivered the hampers to her had gone, she began to whistle a merry tune loudly to herself as she walked along the train. She examined each barracks mark until she came to two in particular, and shifted the tune she was whistling, as well as building it up a good deal louder.

When the two hampers began to shift, she returned to her prior tune and volume, and turned slowly in place, keeping an eye out, as the heads of Thancred and Urianger popped up from the hampers. She kept whistling as they pulled themself free and resettled the clothes, and made their way to a corner she gestured at.

She spent some time doing her job. Or at least, some approximation of what her job should be. Once some of the autolaunderes were working, mechanical arms ducking uniforms into hot soapy water and swishing them around noisily, filling the space with steam, she found her way to her friends.

"You failed to mention how bad this job -stank-, Thancred. Or how hot it'd be in here. I'm about ready to die in this uniform."

"I'll thank you to not do any such thing," said Thancred. "Where is Papalymo?"

"Waiting by our escape hatch. You also failed to mention that that particular pipe was for waste outflow, it's full of water filthy with ceruleam! He's got words for you, you know."

"I just bet," said Thancred, dryly. "Urianger?"

Urianger had a set of heavy goggles resting on his head as he took stock of their surroundings. "I have readied mine enchantments and am ready to play my part. Mine spellworks are ready to addle the senses and delight the masses. Shouldst any pierce mine defensive auras of illusion, I shall stymie them with a dazzling display before taking mine leave."

"I can't believe this worked," said Yda, glancing around.

"Stay focused. Hasn't worked yet. Though I do hope to get the chance to tell Y'shtola I told her so. Alright. We're going in. Stick to the plan and cover us. Once you hear the alarum, get going, Urianger shouldn't be far behind. When you hear the explosions, the ruse will be up. Any questions."

"Ugh, yes. Why'd I agree to this."

"For the good of the realm," said Thancred, giving her a wink. "If I could have done it alone -"

"And I wish you wouldn't."

"-I would have."

Urianger nudged Thancred. "Come. My spellworks are intricate and delicate, and shall not hold forever."

The two nodded at Yda. "See you on the outside," she said cheerfully as Thancred seemed to almost melt into the shadows.

"A console from which I might make mine announcements?" asked Urianger, and she gestured down a hallway. "They're already all asleep that way. Do be careful."

"When am I not?" he asked.

Yda just put her hands on her hips and looked around the laundry room as her two friends disappeared to their respective tasks.

"I always get the lousy jobs," she complained.

~*~

Minfilia's face was bemused as Urianger told the ins and outs of the tale of how their little group had successfully infiltrated the Castrum. He was fully in his element, recounting the story as though it were an epic poem, telling of how he in turn bedazzled, confused, terrified, and bamboozled the castrum guards. Thancred just sat in a chair off to one side, looking terribly pleased with himself as he flipped his blade in his hand. Yda and Papalymo had already returned to the Twelveswood, but Y'shtola had stopped in to listen, and just now had her eyes squinted shut, her ears back and head down as she squeezed her nose between her thumb and forefinger.

"And verily, I tell you true, the local Garleans now surely believe their own commander mad, thanks to my clever use of glamour and misdirection," he finished with a broad grin and a bit of a bow.

Thancred spoke up. "And are blaming themselves for making a fine mess of their central routing. It'll be moons before they get it all repaired, and in the meanwhile, no trains in or out. They'll need to resort to airships. Which while their airship technology exceeds ours, they're still shy about floating their larger ones over our area. And the smaller ones just aren't as efficient as their trains."

"And you're certain that no trace of this little job of yours will be traced back to Eorzea or worse yet, to us?" asked Minfilia, drumming her fingers on the desk.

"As confident as I am in Urianger's spellworks," said Thancred.

Minfilia sat down in her chair, and sighed. "Well. Alright. I suppose the reward was worth the risk in the end. Thank you, Thancred."

"Certainly. Though now that it's done, I think our little job should have one of those colorful names the Grand Companies like to give to their big operations. You know, something memorable. Just for posterity."

Y'shtola lifted her head to give him a glare, while Minfilia just raised an eyebrow. "...go on."

"Well, a good code name should gesture vaguely in the direction of what it does... while not entirely giving the game away, of course... let me think, we've set back Imperial progress for moons... and given our methods... I'm thinking... hmn..." Thancred paused as he faked looked like he was thinking.

"Operation Hamper."

Minfilia blinked at him a few times before bursting into laughter. "Get out!" she squealed. Thancred winked at her as he stood to leave, and he glanced over in the corner.

And there was the cherry on top of a successful mission.

All those years of bard schooling were worth it for the absolutely withering look Y'shtola was giving him. He blew her a kiss, and whistled on his way out, a chuckling Urianger close behind him.

[anneapocalypse]

Dawntrail asks: 1, 17

Dawntrail WoL/OC Questions

Thank you for asking!

Why did they agree to accompany Wuk Lamat to Tural?

She liked Wuk Lamat, and it sounded fun to travel somewhere completely new, but the biggest reason, if we're being honest? Her sister wanted to go.

I gave a little backstory on the situation with Ariane's sister Gratienne here, but they've been reunited not long after EW after believing one another dead. Gratienne was always the more adventurous sister (ironically) and after their very isolated childhood she loves travel and the sea in particular. So when Wuk Lamat invited Ariane (and by extension her companions) to come to Tural as her allies, Grati was like "HELLS YES yes of course we're going right I wanna travel with my sis say yes Ari you'll say yes right of course you will!!! TO SEA!!!!"

And really, how could Ariane say no to that?

17. The theme of family and legacy is repeated throughout Dawntrail—did this theme resonate with your character? Were there specific moments relating to family that impacted them?

It resonates with Ariane so much.

Ariane was born and raised in Mor Dhona, on the shores of Lake Silvertear, until the Garlean attack when she was 12. Her family fled with many other refugees to the outskirts of the Black Shroud, where a small number settled permanently when it became clear their homes were lost and there was no going back. In the years that followed, their mother grew increasingly paranoid and afraid of the outside world, discouraging her daughters from ever leaving their small hamlet or seeking their fortune in the wider world. Ariane took on the role of Good Daughter, always acquiescing and reassuring her mother and trying to play peacemaker between her and Grati, who openly chafed against this restrictive and isolated life. In the year leading up to the Calamity, it was Grati wanted them to run away and become adventurers, and Ariane, who was already hiding her terrifying and unexplained Echo visions, who convinced her to stay home, that leaving would kill their mother.

The Calamity hit and basically obliterated their home. Their parents were killed; Ariane awoke on the forest floor with no idea how she had survived and for years believed the Twelve to have saved her for reasons unknown, until later she came to believe (probably rightly) that it had in fact been Hydaelyn Herself. Unbeknownst to her, Grati also survived, but they were separated and in the chaos following the Calamity they were never able to find one another. Grati eventually took to ship as a privateer, and spent the next several years on the seas, while Ariane wandered alone by land for several years before going to Gridania and beginning her study of conjury.

She has a lot of complicated feelings about her parents. It was only with their deaths that she found her way out into the wider world and truly discovered herself. She misses them terribly and wishes every day that they were still alive. They loved her and her sister deeply and tried to do what they thought was best, and sometimes they were very wrong about that.

"Everything feels a little less terrible over a cup of tea, don't you think?" "Once again I find myself humbled by thy wisdom," Urianger said, managing a wry smile as he again raised his cup to his lips. "My mother used to say that there was little that couldn't be fixed with a hot cup of tea," Ariane said with a half-smile. "That, or a bowl of hot soup." "Thy mother doth seem a wise woman." "Sometimes she was," Ariane said wistfully. "Other times, she was a woman who gave in to all her worst fears about the world, one for whom everything beyond our doorstep was deadly and terrifying, and would have denied me a life because of it. But I dare say she was right about the tea. And the soup."

So with all that... she understands not only what it's like to lose a parent in a sudden and terrible way, but also what it's like to realize that your sibling's experience of family and childhood was not the same as your own despite growing up together. Especially now that Gratienne is back, and they're gradually catching up and getting to know the people each other have become, Ariane understands that while her feelings about their parents are mainly sorrow, Gratienne has had a lot more anger to work through. So, Zoraal Ja's very different feelings toward his father(s) is less of a shock to her than it might be, but she also understands why it's such a shock to Wuk Lamat and Koana. She does her best to offer support (and a shoulder to cry on if needed) as they're all going through it, Erenville too.

Gratienne also ends up sympathizing a lot with Erenville's situation with Cahciua--how frustrating and infuriating it is when your parent keeps talking around a serious problem and using talking about how much they love you as a deflection to keep you from cutting to the core of it. She and Erenville don't hit it off from the start (if we're being honest he probably finds her kind of annoying!) but she reaches out to him in the end and they end up bonding quite a bit.

[pangolinheart]

22. Someone my muse is indebted to and 27. Someone my muse envies

Ooohhh these are good ones! I really had to think hard about these! 22. Someone my muse is indebted to rowena for all the weapon mats This one was difficult because Rhiki very rarely views her relationships and interactions with other people as transactional. She's the opposite of Zero in this regard. That's not to say that she's ungrateful for the help of others, nor that she would take without thinking to give something in return. It's more that she rarely contextualizes this as "repaying a debt". People who help her and offer her kindness are her friends, and she does nice things for her friends. She only thinks of this in terms of commerce when the person in question makes clear that they are expecting some sort of repayment for services rendered. And, of course, not many people demand favors from the Warrior of Light. The whole "saving the world" thing is kind of payment in advance....

At first I was tempted to say the remaining members of her parents' adventuring party for supporting her in multiple ways after their deaths, but they really do have a familial relationship, so while Rhiki is grateful to them and wants to make them proud, I don't know that anyone involved would see it as a debt. It's just what families doe for each other. If I had to choose the canon character Rhiki feels the most indebted to, it would probably be Edmont de Fortemps. Being forced to flee Eorzea virtually alone was really difficult on her, so while she wasn't quite as relieved to be granted passage into Ishgard as she was to find sanctuary at Camp Dragonhead, it meant a lot to her that he was not only willing to extend his hospitality to them, but to stake his reputation on their good character. His support during and after the events of Heavensward was invaluable. Then, of course, there's the other thing.... which Rhiki feels at the very least responsible for, though they've shared their feelings on the subject and he's made it clear that he doesn't blame her for it. "Indebted" may be the wrong word, as it's a debt that she feels she will likely never be able to repay, but she certainly feels a sense of obligation towards him. It may also be inaccurate because Edmont doesn't view her as owing him anything at all. 27. Someone my muse envies This one was difficult as well, but for the opposite reason! Rhiki is a little envious of a lot of people. She can find something she likes in most people, but as a consequence can be a little envious of of them. She envies Y'shtola's beauty, intelligence and resolve. She envies Urianger's composure. She envies Tataru's financial prowess. She doesn't envy any of them enough to allow it to affect her behavior towards then, but these are all things that she has at one point or another found herself wishing she had.

She's kind of envious of moogles. They get to goof off, play pranks, and eat kupo nuts all day. Plus they're fuzzy and cute. Sometimes she thinks it would be great to be a moogle.

The specific NPC that keeps coming to mind, though, is Minfilia. She's not really jealous of the responsibility she carried, or her eventual fate, obviously. But, at least when she was alive, she had lots of traits that Rhiki wished she had. She was beautiful and gracious and kind. All of the other Scions loved her and spoke highly of her. Later, on the First, she would also be reminded that Minfilia was strong. She was gentle and caring and unfailingly good -and she made it all look so easy. Rhiki definitely felt as if she could never live up to the standards Minfilia set as one of Hydaelyn's chosen, and she envied the grace with which Minfilia carried all of her burdens.

If Rhiki was sharing a universe with another Warrior of Light, she'd probably also be a little jealous of them. There's nothing particularly special or stand-out about Rhiki other than the fact that she's been granted the Blessing of Light. She's been kind of bumbling her way through being the WoL, just doing the best she can and hoping with all her might that it's enough. So she might find herself a bit envious of someone who's better suited to the roll than she, whether it's because they're more competent, better-liked, or more badass.

[From the Supporting Character Ask Meme]

[fluffysilver]

Flufftober Day 29 - Hey, wake up

Soft sounds disturbed his sleep. The darkness behind his eyes where he drifted, unable to focus on anything, where not even dreams disturbed him. It was a comfortable darkness and he didn’t want to leave it. On the other side was pain and obligation; he’d have to go back eventually but for now… for now it felt good just to rest. 

“Please…”

“...losing… need more…” 

“...focus thy energies…” 

Rika shifted away from the soft voices, but they had pulled him closer into awareness, growing louder. Memory drifted into his grasp and with it the edge of pain. His body; each limb ached, every joint burning with the pain that meant he had pushed himself to the point of collapse, again. Davien was going to spank him. 

The voices faded again, letting him drift back into slumber. Time passed without his supervision or awareness, until the voices came back. Now he could attach names to them. Alphinaud. Urianger. G’raha. Loudest was Alisae - of course she was yelling. She always yelled when she was upset. 

He wasn’t sure what had upset her, but likely if she was upset, and it sounded like the others were too, he should probably get up and find out what was going on. It took something monumental to shake Urianger’s calm, after all. With an effort he opened his eyes, blinking at the unfamiliar view of metal etched with patterns that reminded him of Allegan artifacts. Between the metal and his face were a pair of hands glowing with white healing magic like a glimmering fog in front of him. 

Perspective shifted, and he realized he was laying down, looking up at a ceiling, and the hands were people casting healing spells on him. They tingled over his skin, soothing the aches and pain, though they didn’t do much for the bone deep fatigue. Even healing spells had their limit, and eventually the body demanded its due. 

One hand drew back to be replaced by Alphinaud’s worried gaze. “I think he’s awake. Are you with us, Rika?” 

Hm. Not up to speaking yet, Rika managed a smile for him. From the look on his face, it wasn’t as reassuring as he had hoped, so he managed a single raspy sentence; “Is everyone… all right?” 

“How can you ask us that?” G’raha knelt beside Alphinaud, his red eyes bright with tears, features tight with relief. “Considering how close you came to dying. Again. How can you keep your promise if you do that?” 

Well he had a point there, but it wasn’t like he’d really had a choice.

“You put on quite the show, my friend,” Estinien added as he stepped closer, fond smile softening his features. 

Rika smiled a little as Y’Shtola and then Thancred scolded him; he didn’t need Thancred to tell him that it came from a place of love. He’d yell at them for being hypocrites later, when he’d recovered. Gods, they were mad at him when they had all sacrificed themselves to get him to the nest of the Endsinger? He’d sent them back here because he couldn’t bear to see them die, not when he had just used Venat’s last gift to him to bring them back. 

“We did what we could for thee, but considering the extent of thy injuries, I would recommend further repose.” Urianger said then. “How is the pain?” 

Rika considered that, then shifted and sat up, steading himself on his hands as a wave of dizziness washed over him, and several mostly healed injuries decided to protest. Blood loss - he needed a good drink and some food, and a week’s worth of sleep. But he smiled at the healer and nodded once. He’d live. 

Urianger smiled back. “That is gladdening.” 

“Gladdening!” Alisae exploded. “There is nothing ‘gladdening’ about this! You…” She was almost sputtering with rage, even as tears slid down her cheeks. “When Meteion appeared she said you were right behind her! And then you didn’t come, and when you do deign to appear you’re an ilm from death!” 

Rika’s lips twitched into a small smile and he placed a hand on her soft white hair. “Just remember that the next time you blithely decide you’re going to give your life for me.” His gaze swept around, including all of the Scions in that. 

After a moment Alphinaud cleared his throat. “If you’re feeling up to it, you might like to see where we are. We got the ship moving while you were, ah, indisposed.” 

“We’re home already?” he asked, then shifted with a grimace. His legs were unhappy, but he could move. With a nod, he let Alphinaud pull him to his feet, and paced slowly over to the window, watching it open to reveal the bright blue sky of Aetherys. Home. 

“I think we’re in range now,” one of the Loporrits reported. 

“Excellent. I’ll announce that we’re back.” Thancred replied and put a hand to his ear to activate the linkpearl there. “You’d better be ready,” he added to Rika, who winced. 

“Just as long as they don’t put together a parade.” The congratulations were going to be rough enough.  Maybe he could sneak away; he had his ninja soulstone…

[weightoftomorrow]

Prompt #30: Two Heads Are Better Than One

i hate this prompt because i already DID the looking for help segment of the au and also my brain fixed on blessed siblings instead. none are appearing in this fic tho sigh

The group passed empty glass tubes, and darkened terminals, reflecting the light of the handheld lanterns strangely. Qahs'a paused at each one, but didn't linger when none responded to anything he did.

Eventually, he sighed. "I guess I disabled power to this entire sector," he said reluctantly. "It's going to take me forever to figure out how to book anything back up without booting up everything."

"Perhaps we should examine the gate first then," Y'shtola directed. "G'raha's expertise may be quite useful."

"Ah, yes of course," G'raha said, and turned away from the terminal he'd been poking.

"The souls machine can wait," Qahs'a agreed. "Do any of you want this, or should I keep it for now?"

Alisaie snatched the book out of his fingers, then frowned. "Is this book in Norvrandtian?"

"I got Ardbert to help," Qahs'a admitted. "I didn't actually know how to write before I ended up in charge of an entire city and I had to learn very quickly. But since the book was always meant for the Scions, I knew that at least G'raha and Urianger had to be fluent in it, if not all of you, and no one else would know it."

Alisaie paused in flipping pages. "You… didn't know how to write?"

"I was raised in the woods, of course I didn't know. I asked Thancred for help before all this happened but we didn't find time before…"

"Why Thancred?" asked Alphinaud.

"Because right now Alisaie is judging me, and I knew that would happen because when I mentioned it to Cid and Nero, they judged me for it," Qahs'a said dryly. "Not all of us were raised in the city of scholars, but I didn't want to highlight it again."

Alisaie winced.

Y'shtola cleared her throat in the ensuing silence.

"Uh, right, back to the elevator, we have to take it all the way to the top." Qahs'a turned his chair and wheeled back the way they'd come.

[rhela-zhwain]

Eorzean Sign Language, a brief timeline

ESL is one of my favorite headcannons/lore bits about Rhel'a but I've never talked much about it. lets fix that

ARR:

Rhel'a is recruited by Y'shtola into the scions of the seventh dawn. at this point Rhel has been using written notes to communicate with others due to his mutism.

a brief interview with Minfilia sheds some light on his communication issues. she quickly puts into place accommodations for Rhel informing the rest of the scions about his needs and ensuring he is only sent on missions where his mutism isn't an issue

(In my head, the period of working with the scions pre Garlean ambush lasts close to half a year)

her interview with Rhel'a also plants the idea of a hand sign based language. Rhel'a mentioned that during his prior "employment" on a Limsan calamity salvager ship, that the crew used handsigns to communicate with each other over longer distances. Minfilia also remembers from her time as a miner that crews would on occasion use hand signs to communicate when in noisy environments

Taking her thoughts to Urianger the two eventually settle on the idea of developing a handsign based language for use among the scions. partially for utility and partially to accommodate Rhel'a

Minfilia canvasses several Ul'dahn mining crews to learn the most common hand signs in use

Urianger schedules some meetings with Rhel'a to learn some of the hand signs used by his former crew.

in addition Urianger sends a request to the Noumenon for several Sharlyan codices on historical sign languages. (they're woefully incomplete as previous sign languages were not widespread enough for detailed records to be kept)

using the resources that they've gathered, Minfilia and Urianger collate what would become the first Codex of Eorzean Sign Language.

Minfilia immediately begins spreading the usage of ESL among the scion operatives who find a secret and silent method of communication useful during various operations.

Urianger sends a copy of the first Codex of Eorzean Sign Language back to Sharlyan for archiving. he also personally tutors Rhel'a on its usage.

As a final touch, Minfilia submits a proposal to the grand companies for the adoption of a sign based language for use during their military operations, citing benefits to utility, stealth, and efficiency that the scion operatives experienced by adopting such a system. each of the grand companies receive a copy of the first Codex of Eorzean Sign Language

Heavensward:

Over the course of Heavensward, the Grand Companies adopt ESL as an official method of communication. higher ranked members of the grand companies are often given mandatory ESL classes.

ESL fluency in the Grand Companies also begins to bleed over into the adventurers guild. turns out having a hand sign based language to fall back on is incredibly handy when there's a significant number of monsters capable of inflicting silence in Eorzea. Adventurers who often work with the Grand Companies pick up snippets of ESL and begin creating signs relevant to their own occupation.

Perhaps the most shocking adopters of ESL are the Ishgardians. Somehow copies of the first Codex of Eorzean Sign Language made it past the walls and took up quick adoption by the Temple Knights largely due to the prevalence of hearing loss among their number

(you tell me that firing a cannon all day, or having to withstand a dragon's roar wouldn't give you hearing loss)

meanwhile across the bloodbrine sea in the halls of the Studium. a particular Codex of Eorzean Sign Language sparks an intense debate on the nature of languages. the points of the discussion vary but include ideas such as "Sharlyan could do a better job" "is such a language is even worth studying?" "of course it is you halfwits we're witnessing the rapid and organic development of an entire new language! complete with various reigonal dialects!" and "How could we let the Eorzeans come up with the idea first"

all of this info trickles back to Urianger who begins work on the 2nd and 3rd Codex of Eorzean Sign Language

Stormblood:

While unfortunately adoption of ESL isn't particularly high in the far east. its sees some marginal spread into Ala Mhigo due to the return of refugees post liberation.

Thavnarian merchants also pick up a small amount of ESL from trading in Limsan ports

Once the Garlean conflict picks up post SB and the newly formed Eorzean Alliance unites to respond to the Garlean threat, the high ESL fluency among troops proves its worth in the trenches of the Ghimlyt Dark where the sounds of gunfire and warmachina drown out voices.

the 2nd and 3rd Codex of Eorzean Sign Language are published at around this time which include chapters on the Grand Company, Adventurers Guild, Ishgardian, and even the newly forming Sharlyan dialects of ESL

Shadowbringers:

Why the fuck is everyone in the Crystarium fluent in ESL???

apparently the Crystal Exarch is fluent in ESL? when the Crystal tower first appeared, one of the things that he did was teach the various survivors of the flood of light sign language... no one knows what the fuck is an Eorzea though, and whenever asked the Exarch simply replies that its a land far away from here. Given that no one has heard of the place everyone assumes that the Exarch developed the language himself and uses a made up country to try and pretend otherwise

(tucked away in the bowels of the crystal tower are old and well read copies of the first to third Codices of Eorzean Sign Language. G'raha is terribly guilty about stealing credit for ESL from its original contributors. Rhel'a among them. but if it makes the Crystarium a more welcoming place for Rhel'a when he eventually arrives then its worth the guilt)

Rhel'a loves it btw. no one bats an eye at his sign language, and he barely needs an interpreter or written notes when roaming around the Crystarium. He quickly takes to the first specific words and dialect as well

Endwalker:

At this point in my head its been several years since ARR. Sharlyan scholars marvel at the rapid spread and development of ESL across the star.

While the Sharlyans created their own ESL dialect, spurred on by Eorzea's development. their isolationist practices mean that its been starved of contact with other dialects and lacks a lot of the shared vocabulary. this means that while fluency is high among their population (you give a nation of scholars a new language to play with and don't expect them to compete who can become fluent the fastest???) its actually somewhat difficult for Rhel'a and other ESL speakers to sign with Sharlyan speakers of ESL. the Sharlyan dialect of ESL tends to come off as snooty and prudish as a result.

The Sharlyan dialect however is king of being specific. most creature genera, chemical substance names and various other scientific terms have signs in Sharlyan ESL.

development of the language is firmly out of the hands of Urianger and Rhel'a at this point as well. several other publications collating hand signs have popped up. And several Sharlyan theses, studies, and papers on the subject have been written. ESL has established itself well and truly as a living language

copies of the Codices of Eorzean Sign Language were sent to the moon and the Loporrits being the devoted creatures they are immediately mandate learning ESL to accommodate for any mute or deaf Eorzeans that they would need to host.

Following the events of Endwalker, there's also a prominent movement to rebrand the language as Etheryian Sign Language. some speakers begin to use the term interchangeably with Eorzean Sign Language.

Dawntrail:

apart from contact with Eorzean traders. there's no notable spread of ESL to the new world...

yet

[chormaganorl]

*some answers may be a bit lewd and for that ONE person who's still in ARR who follows me: spoilers*

1. Watching the sky burn from Southern Thanalan.

2. From the Calamity and the large wave of aether rushing directly at his eyes.

3. Same as the canon with a little bit of the 1.0 version. His is more like spectral visions of ghosts — Not quite spirits of the dead but their memories. As well as forgotten ones.

4. His bright red chocobo in Yojimbo gear and a black mage hat. As for a minion... Gigi.

5. Full of strife. He dealt with being left alone and isolated from the others, being misunderstood based on his race, wanderlust, and just being alone.

6. Absolute dread. He didn't sign up for this and felt an immense amount of guilt and rage.

7. He appreciated his kindness and of course his love for Ishgard, her people, and his knightly ideals. He has since carried a bit of his ideals and his memory as he fights.

8. He was passionate about liberating Ala Mhigo. Even if it wasn't his homeland, the people that did raise him deserved their home. He was tired by it all but after the Zenos incident he was just "hells".

9. Disgust. Hate even. Though... Also a modest amount of respect for his strength as a warrior. That and poking at that one nerve of his addiction to keep fighting.

10. With Midgarsormr, he really respects him and his plight. He even reveled in getting his strength taken away from him because he wanted to be free to choose his own path without Hydaelyn's influence.

Hydaelyn on the otherhand... Was complicated. It started with abject hate. He didn't want to be a god's champion, he didn't want to walk a fate to save a world and be a hero. He resented Hydaelyn for "putting him in this situation". He wanted to be free and find a place to call home.

After Endwalker... He has nothing but respect and love for Hydaelyn, knowing that his path was always his own.

11. Both, leaning to the dragons. Of course, after learning of the truth of the Dragonsong War, he had carried Ysayle's legacy and still actively helps people in The Brume and runs his caravan in Ishgard to assist those in need, adventurers braving the north, and those seeking a home.

12. Initially he was just a stray lancer, took a bit of thievery with the rogue's guild, and then... Once Heavensward began, his rage and despair made him channel the dark arts and became a dark knight. Eventually he grew a tether to his convictions and broke out of his guilt. Once he found out about his father's story of being a Doman samurai, he practiced the blade and somewhat incorporated his fighting style with his dark arts. By Endwalker, he has done his best to carry the memories of people he loves.

He has dabbled in other forms of magic, even attuning to white magic and attuning to the desert nature.

Coming Dawntrail, he may learn how to fight with more versatility with Viper but is also likely to cope with his loss and grief in Endwalker with Pictomancer.

13. Married G'raha Tia. He likes Thancred, Krile (even coming to the point to apply for a scholarship in the Students of Baldesion), cares immensely for Alisaie, thinks of Urianger as an uncle-figure. Loves bullying Alphinaud but cares so much for him. Respects Estinien and thirsts for him, but is too shy to push his luck. Fears Tataru. Dislikes Y'shtola.

14. G'raha, of course.

15. Polyamarous, somewhat promiscuous.

16. Sometimes he practices his swordsmanship to keep at his toes, but eases up when he is too stressed for mercenary work. So he makes coffee and loves taking baths. He loves cooking and eating sushi. His bad habits would probably be more of his self-deprecation. And sometimes smokes.

17. Raubahn, Aymeric, Hien, Merylwb, and Nanamo are good friends to Chormagan! Raubahn and Hien have a saucy and sensual relationship with Chormagan still amazed he got to *ahem* "ride the bull". It's hard to choose but... Overall?. His favorite would be Hien. He's so nice to him and shares a kinship in their pasts and their way of the blade.

18. They stay humble. He still is unsure/embarrassed/self-deprecating about being praised.

19. Hated them. Absolutely hated them.

20. The Crystarium! Goodness he misses the First the most.

21. I haven't done Ivalice or Nier, but soon.

Definitely Coils. It's a given. CT is obvious, Alexander definitely. Sky Pirates... No idea. Omega: YES. Eden is a MUST. Pandaemonium: ABSOLUTELY. Myths of the Realm: YES. Sorrow of Werlyt... Oh gods very much so.

22. A bit of both! I feel like he merges his Samurai techniques with dark arts. He's what I'd consider an abyssal ronin.

23. Besides the raids I mentioned... Eureka is one, Palace of the Dead is definitely one. All the Variant Dungeons thus far (6.55).

OF COURSE THE HILDIBRAND QUESTLINE.

24. Being abandoned. Losing all his freedom. His friends and loved ones dying.

...tonberries and namazu....

25. Yeah he plays with his hair and sometimes smokes. He fidgets and stims sometimes.

26. Chormagan is traumatized alright. Very much so. Oh boy howdy is he depressed and lost in his thoughts. Besides his altruistic endeavors, he wants to know what his legacy would end up being or why he matters more than just being a hero or kind. His self-loathing and inadequacies are something he is kind of bringing into Dawntrail especially with the previous questions with Pictomancy.

27. Heavily. It shaped the way he wanted to help people without reward and with conviction. He loved Ardbert very much and was devastated by it all. He misses the First a lot. He also prefers to be the Warrior of Darkness.

28. Gods no. Emet-Selch was one hell of a person but gradually he came to sympathize him.

29. With Urianger he was not at all surprised. The Exarch? Very much suspected. Didn't resent him as much. Just hurt.

30. Highest point would be the fight on Mt. Gulug and the battle with Hades. His lowest point was realizing Ardbert was gone and mourning him.

31. "Hells. He's absolutely stunning... I wish he would do me..." but also kindness. When they had a talk before the siege on Doma Castle, he had great respect for him.

32. "Ugh."

33. Chorm sympathized with her. If she had better circumstances, she would have been a good ally and understood her anguish.

34. Fundamentally, Chorm is a good person. Absolutely beautiful in my eyes and someone I wish I was. He's got his hangups and traumas, I admit, hells even using his masochism to hurt others sometimes. Though overall he has a lot of kindness and love in his heart.

35. Not at all surprised anymore. Kind of numb, honestly. He does feel bad with people he had no choice in the matter.

Found some questions rummaging through the xiv tags while I wait for this social event to start so send a number and I'll answer it? Feel free to reblog and do the same.

1. Where were they during the Calamity? 

2. How did they acquire their Echo? 

3. Does their Echo function like it does in the MSQ? Or is there a twist to it? 

4. Do they have a canon mount or minion? What's its name(s)? 

5. Where are they from? What was their childhood like?

6. How did they deal with the massacre on the Waking Sands?  

7. How did they deal with Haurchefant's death? 

8. How did they feel about the liberation of Ala Mhigo? Do they feel it could have been handled differently? Where they at all bothered by how they were involved? 

9. How do they feel about Zenos? 

10. How do they feel about their relationship with Hydaelyn? Midgarsormr?

11. Were they more sympathetic to the dragons, Ishgardians, neither or both? 

12. How has their job affected whatever headcanon version is of the MSQ if any? 

13. Are they close with any of the other Scions? Who do they get along with the best? 

14. Of the Scions, who are they most worried for? 

15. Is your WoL promiscuous? Celibate? Or just waiting for the right person? 

16. What does your WoL do to relax? What sorts of distractions do they seek? Do they foster any bad habits as a result?

17. Who is their favorite Alliance leader? Who do they get along with the best out of them? 

18. Does your WoL fully embrace their role as the WoL or do they try to remain humble? 

19. What do they think of the Heaven's Ward? 

20. Of all the places they've been to, which is their favorite? Do they like to go back there? 

21. Are there any raid storylines (Ivalice, Coil of Bahamut, Werlyt, etc.) you consider to be canon for your WoL? Which ones don't you consider canon? 

22. Do you  have a unique tale for their job class or is it pretty much like what it is in the game?

23. Are there any side quest storylines that you're particularly fond of or think of as being canon to your WoL's experiences? 

24. Does your WoL have any phobias? 

25. Do they have any habits or rituals that they do to soothe themselves? I.e. Playing with their hair, chewing their lip, fidgeting, etc. 

26. Do they suffer any traumas from any of their adventures? How do you foresee this affecting them going forward? 

27. How did the events of Shadowbringers impact them? 

28. Were they suspicious or open to Emet-Selch's presence when he first appeared? 

29. Did your WoL suspect anything was amiss with Urianger or the Crystal Exarch? Did they feel betrayed? Upset? When the truth finally emerged? 

30. What was their highest point in Shadowbringers? Their lowest? What caused it? 

31. What were their first impressions of Hien? 

32. Did they trust Asahi right away? Why or why not? 

33. How did they feel about what happened with Yotsuyu? Did they feel like she was justified in her actions?

34. Would you say your WoL is fundamentally a good person? Or are they a bad person that's been persuaded to do the right things? 

35. How do they feel about the fact that they've killed a lot of people and/or things?

[stxrmnight]

Tentative Rewrite of the Void Patches

So, I alluded in my Void patch posts that I didn't vibe with some decisions. But can it be any better!

Surely! I feel they just forced some areas cause they wanted one dungeon per endwalker era (with the last one being, space in a way). The one that sticks out like a sore thumb is the Aetherfont, cute as it may be at points. Even with that, I feel swapping the order around can do a lot for fixing the most jarring things

Endwalker Patch Spoilers of course

First of all, all of 6.3 should be in Radz-at-han. It should center around passing time with Zero as she tries to explore the town and the outside nature, all while the brains are trying to improve Alzdaal's Legacy portal for Vrtra's draconic form, or seeing if they could make it go to other places in the Void

Thanks to that, we spend more time with Zero causing troubles and miscommunication around town, still insisting to interact thru barter even when many aspects of the town feel familiar. This is why she is wandering in the first place: chasing the memories repressed of being the protector of a village. Since reparting bread felt familiar, she must have done other active community things. By going through the town and villages this way, her comments would indirectly tell us about life in the Thirteenth building up to that eventual instance later.

But, is it totally implied her memories are repressed rather than back end? I argue being twisted by Fandaniel likely caused mental trauma, and she talks about the bread in Garlemald like something new but familiar, not something she knew of before. Her seeking these memories actively would lead her to get out of the barter logic herself than be therapy add libbed by others, which would be much more satisfying to see happening!

But the shift to oppenness wouldn't be instsnt of course. Zero has done all this exploration, but she has not recovered her memories. She might still be apprehensive of WoL pointing her actions are out of barter ways, justifying as simple adapting to the logic of "those who don't toil in the wheel. Just because I understand it doesn't mean I will be blindly trustful. I'm still in debt to you at the end of the way." The WoL could then ask, does she really want to leave them? Cause they don't intend to hold her captive. They only brought her here to heal her

Suddenly, there is a distant explosion: Rubicante has broken through Vrtra's voidgate, so him and Ysthola have no choice but to shield everyone as Rubicante launches destructive flames instantly. Y'sthola linkshells to warn of the oncoming danger, but Rubicante arrives to the hill just to contemplate and await for a peaceful death

To make Golbez' plan less on the nose, I would have Rubicante say Azdaja is trapped on the Moon, and react to Zero talking of the First. I found it odd she didn't mention it. I also would make her speech not suddenly judge her own kind for trying to survive, but find value in the logic of this world with life, which the Void lost way before the flood and being corrupted. That would be a more satisfying development that is halfway there (no fire in chest yet, just more logical perception autism style)

Because of the loss of the Voidgate, we go to the Aetherfont this patch to prepare to make a portal to the moon, and the brains go back to work while the aether transport takes a LOT of time. It's only the first step in getting it done after all. Urianger wouldn't do his weird condescending dialogue, but only call for Thancred for support. I do think he could have been a fun opportunity for banted and clash as the more socially going person in the cast. MLM WLW animosity

So what does this imply? Yes, putting 6.3 Garlemald plot in 6.4 before Golbez instead.

We go to Garlemald straight to prepare the tower, which by rolequests have stablished, is still used by Garleans themselves to go to the moon and back from research!!! So it has been used before, and there is no reason to fear any transmission really. The aether storage could actually be teleported and used directly on the moon by the loporrits. Why did they make it beam like the Crystal Tower lol

So yes, it's cutting the whole deal with the bigoted politician cause it's a waste of time

In helping the twins while the others make arrangements, Zero and Alisae interact more and we get more funny bite out of Zero and her foodie tendencies almost doing anything for food, which the WoL has to put a stop to before she reaches her own limits.

The leadup for the voidsent instance can still happen. Zero is still operating on barter logic while trying hard to stick to selfishness, and so her deja vu hits harder as we realize her cover was a cover to her frustration at failing to protect others in the past, reflecting her dismissal of friendship and trust to be a mistake... and then the rescue happens as usual :)

We go to Lapis Manalis to find the source of the sudden voidsent uptick, not knowing Cagnazzo is there. He pretends to be a coward, and doesn't say the taunt he does nor, spell Golbez' plan as he dies. He wails moreso that at least he's free and unbound, and from his corpse falls Azdaja's eye. This leads the gang to think that he used the Eye to escape... and ah, Vrtra's feelings are not dismissed.

When we take everything back to Lapis Manalis, we find Y'sthola has finished the preparations on the moon with Urianger. The Golbez trial proceeds as usual, and hopefully coming off less as a painfully foreseable trap now. It feels like we genuinely got duped good than, being kind of silly.

With this, 6.3 would hopefully have more time for Void information and lore, maybe even discussing the Fell Court of Troia in 6.4 when Zero recovers her memories.

With this and 6.5 going as it is, we lose no trials or dungeons.

I rest my case

[sgnblg]

So, I think of hammock

Jethrault lived all his childhood on ships. He had beds in captain room or inns but I think he slept a lot of years in hammock too. Like, on his mother's ship, or one of his fathers'.

In Sharlayan, he would hang a hammock in his bedroom, up his bed and desk. Head near the window for fresh air. Legs near the wall to rock himself. And boy he's used to do this all night. He needs a place where he doesn't have to think about anything world saving related.

The Scions know about the hammock. G'Raha went from seeing Jethrault taking a nap in it to find himself tucked in, warm and comfy, the elezen petting and scratching his head. Nothing more, but nothing less. G'Raha woke up feeling amazingly well, liking the experience. Yes, experience of course. You know, for science.

The twins have heard of this and tried too. Many times. To be sure. Whenever one of the three got exhausted from studying but anxious to take a break, they come to Jethrault. And he never refuse a nap. Each of them sleep calmly and have warm body. They're not heavy but just enough. And nice head and hair to pet. Who would refuse warm, heavy blanket you can talk about sciences and stuff with?

Y'shtola once got to experience it. Jethrault just found her in the library, sleeping on books. Not on his watch. He scooped her and bring her half awake to his room. He took time to wash her face (from makeup and ink), got her clean shirt and pants and rocked her until late morning. She may have purred, her hair may have been completely messed up with the pats and scratches, no one knows. She asked Jethrault not to mention anything about this. Long story short, she stopped sleeping on books.

Estinien just... Found the hammock empty when he looked for Jethrault. He was curious too. When the former pirate came back from sparing, he got a dragoon sleeping on his hammock. Then, Estinien had to take his turn with the three other Scions for nap time. Eventually, Jethrault got a larger hammock.

Urianger and Thancred seemed not interested about it, except for Thancred asking where he can get one and Urianger and he having some time when they can't be found.

Krile and Tataru weren't sure about this. Jethrault hanged his hammock pretty high after all. They freaked out a bit when he put them in. Then, they didn't stop moving and giggling. Tataru didn't try the nap, but Krile did and enjoyed it. But it's still too high and she only tries again sometimes.

So, yeah, hammock.

[cinnabun-faerie]

Vampire!G'raha Tia Headcanons

A/N: This is a bit sad it seems. Dammit. Oh well. I think this one is nice regardless! ^-^ Please enjoy!

Warning: Obsessed!G'raha, slight yandere tone, mention of blood

@atlasdiatia @healersadjust

Frightfest '22 Masterlist

he wasn't always like this

a monster

once he was just a boy who was hungry for adventure

and who wanted to be by your side

but once bitten, he hungered for something more

you, his dear friend

no

you were more than that

his first love

and to protect you from himself, he chose to lock himself away

other than his human mission

all was well in this new world he had gone to

at least as far as anyone aware

no one knew that he starved himself until insanity

and then he would go on a rampage

he would regret it once he was in his right mind

he'd imagine what you'd think if you were to see him

speaking of, he followed your adventure through the books he'd read

until he would discover your death

insanity would kick and he'd have to lock himself inside the Occular so that he wouldn't hurt anyone else out of anger

he wasn't living 100 years or more just to lose you

he was living it in hopes that you would meet again

except he would need to have you by his side at all costs

he craved for you

and not just for your blood

so when he'd finally summon you after multiple attempts, he'd have to restrain himself from attacking you like some ravenous animal

it was much easier for him to lull you into some sort of security

not a false one, but one that you'd not be able to escape from should you try

you were to be stuck in his web

but when he'd get close to you, he'd almost snap

his monstrous side taking over his good natured mind

why else would he send you on wild goose chases to fix the realm?

at least when you'd come back, he'd be back in control

but that was until the day you got him alone in the Occular

and started asking questions about G'raha Tia

your good friend who was so sweet

you'd not forgotten about him

good

and when you let it slip that you had been in love with him, he could not help himself

"And if I know where he is? What would you do?"

"Anything."

"Anything? That's a dangerous answer, Y/N."

his sanity would start to drain from him when you'd come close, almost enough to look under his hood

he'd have to bite back a snarl as he'd pull it farther over his face

"I won't look, but I know it's you. If you thought I couldn't tell by your voice, you're mistaken."

and there it was, every last bit of his human sanity gone from him leaving only the monster behind

"You said you'd do anything."

"Anything, G'raha."

"Be mine. Forever."

"Of course."

he would grab your wrist and bring it to his lips, his fangs piercing into your soft skin

he would soon let up only to move his lips to your neck, his thirst for your blood only becoming stronger

he would be too dazed to hear your soft and weak call for him

when he'd hear the faded beats of your heart would he finally pull away, covering him mouth allowing Urianger to heal you in time

he'd stay away from you for a while after that, worried that he would lose control once again

but you'd find a way in, holding your hand out to you

"It's okay. You need to eat."

"Y/N, I am a monster. I almost killed you."

"I'm still here, aren't I? So eat."

and for years, he fed on you and only you

but eventually he would turn you, holding you close as you fed from him, slowly changing from human to monster

he wouldn't lose you every again

and you would not die at his hands

your eternity could be spent together with him and only him

[neighawolf]

He will, eventually. The when of which I, the player, have not figured out. The timeline in the game is a little wonky and trying to figure stuff out for planning is a little rough. I want to make sure Rornir and Urianger have time to celebrate them and their marriage and relationship before adding a kid to the mix.

They will, however, adopt a young Doman Viera refugee named Akiko. Akiko Habiki Augurelt was an accidental child. Rornir found her while escorting some refugees back to Othard. The caravan was attacked, by rebel Garleans, locals tribes and assassins, all rallied by his shitty uncle (still unnamed) Akiko lost her parents in the explosion and clung to Rornir, as he was the one who ran to try and save her parents. and one of the only other viera in the group. He was severely wounded and crawled away to hide in a shed. When Rornir was reported missing, Urianger, Thancred and Alex busted ass to get to Doma, only to find him in said shed, asleep with little Akiko tucked around his arm. She refused to leave his side or be seen by any chriugeon without him.

He got her set up in the Doman Enclave, entrusting her to the Doman Explorer’s League. Over the course of a few weeks to a few months, she opened up and is a regular kid again. Rornir visited quite often. He invited Urianger one day and one glance at the way the two interacted, Urianger fell in love. He’s always wanted a family with Rornir and seeing them running around laughing, then taking bunny flop naps together, his heart melted.

Later on in her youth, Akiko is trained by Thancred, who she considers uncle or dad #3 Alex, Rornir’s best friend and Thancred’s partner, is her mother figure. Its a very happy loving family. Akiko loved the way Thancred fought and Alex advised against Dark Knight. Akiko wanted to protect her family, so she’d never lose them again, like she did when she was younger. She’s a fighter, a protector, a funny bunny, and a little bit spoiled. She was raised by stern, traditional father (Rornir tried to keep her knowledgeable about her origin, her culture and history). She’s punny like Urianger, kind hearted and open minded like Rornir, feirce female force like Alex, and a protector and spy like Thancred. 

Wolqotd 6/16/23

does/will your wol(oc) have kids? who are they?

[anneapocalypse]

You'd think I would miss the playable romances moving from Dragon Age to FFXIV but I honestly don't. Probably because I've always had no problem filling in the blanks in my imagination, but also... I mean, I love the DA romances, it's always fun playing through them and they show you a different angle on the character and it's still my goal to eventually play them all. But there's also a certain freedom in not being locked into a specific path or a specific dynamic written into the game. (Of course we're always free to headcanon and create whatever we like, but the canon romances still lead us in a certain direction and there's a reason those romances dominate the fandom.)

In particular I've been thinking about this as I've been contemplating the potential for Ariane/Urianger because in a playable romance you don't tend to get a long slow burn, except maybe by accident with something like Mass Effect where Kaidan/M!Shep wasn't included until the third game so you can imagine those feelings to have been simmering for a long time. But in general the game starts tossing flirt options at you pretty early on, and unless you look it up, you don't know how many you can miss before getting locked out, which is how you get painfully hilarious scenarios like Shepard taking command of the Normandy and immediately hitting on their subordinates, or Hawke hitting on Anders two minutes after his boyfriend has died, or the Warden jumping into bed with Zevran approximately five minutes after he attempted to assassinate them, or the Inquisitor flirting with people who are basically holding them captive. And we find ways to have fun with all those scenarios, but they still shape the romance in a certain way.

And there's a freedom to imagining the shape of a relationship from scratch without those guiderails. One isn't better than the other, they're both fun in their own ways. I'm just enjoying where I am right now with Ariane and shaping her relationships where my imagination takes me.

[autumnslance]

Prompt #12: Miss the Boat

“Urianger!”

He turned and smiled at the familiar voice, but his expression faltered at the absolute storm in Moenbryda’s face as she caught up.

“Is it true?” She demanded without preamble, hands clenched at her sides.

“Thou shall have to be more specific—”

“Are you going to Eorzea with Master Louisoix?”

He glanced around, but their path in Journey’s End was surprisingly, blessedly, free from random passersby. Still, he kept his voice low. “Our master hath given unto me a task, one which I intend to carry out to the best of mine abilities.”

“Of course you will, you brilliant fool,” she growled. “I just…I don’t understand…”

“Understand what, pray tell? If there is confusion as to my role compared to thine own, then—”

“That’s the thing, Urianger, I don’t have a role!” She nearly wailed.

His mouth went dry and his palms clammy. “What dost thou mean? Surely…”

She shook her head. “He…he told me I must stay here, to continue my studies into aetherology. And I thought…I was all right because you and I could still study but then…Why you but not me?”

“I…do not presume to know our mentor’s mind on the matter.”

“We’ve always been a team, we do our best work in collaboration! Or…so I thought. Your studies do align more with his, that’s why you apprenticed to him.”

“While our master hath granted me greater access than I would otherwise be allowed to the secrets of prophecies, such doth not preclude the work thou and I have done.”

She thought for a long moment, enough to make him worry; Moen taking too long to think eventually became a plan, if not a plot or even an outright scheme. And like as not, he would get roped into it, as what else could he do?

“Will you speak to him for me?” She finally asked, quieter than before. Almost timid, though he discarded that notion instantly; “timid” was not a word for Moenbryda. “Just ask him why I must stay, while you remain at his side.”

“I shall, at the most opportune moment.”

She smiled, though in a way that told him he hadn’t said exactly what she wanted to hear. But she knew how busy they all were, and catching Master Louisoix in a good time and temper for such queries would be difficult. She knew he could not promise more than that.

“Thank you, Urianger,” she said, with all her warmth regardless. She did understand him.

Over the next few days, Urianger truly did try to live up to that promise, but there never seemed to be quite the time. Not until he was standing at the ship rail waving to Moen and her parents, noting how she held her face carefully to hide her true feelings. 

“Precisely because you both have spent so long as one another’s shadow,” their master said, when finally asked in the cramped quarters of the ship, with nowhere to go and naught to do but read. “You, I believe, already understand yourself, your convictions and your place in the world, and have accepted such. Moenbryda…she must find her own path, not simply follow mine, nor cling to that which you trod.”

Urianger frowned. “Didst thou tell her this?”

Louisoix shook his head. “She must find the answer herself. With her keen mind and iron will, I’ve no doubt she shall, once we are no longer underfoot to distract her.”

Urianger nodded, though could not shake that unsettled feeling, nor the memory of Moen’s face as they had pulled away from the dock.

—

In the silence of the Waking Sands, Urianger completed his work and leaned back in his chair to contemplate it.

The mammet was nearly perfect, from its long silvery hair to its thunderous brow to the hue of its pale skin and tiny Sage Marks. His dear Moenbryda, cast in detailed miniature.

Urianger’s eyes slid to the parchment at the other end of the table, the unfinished letter upon it accusing in its shaky script.

He ought to return to Sharlayan, even briefly. Wilfsunn and Bloewyda deserved to hear it from him. But the letter was difficult enough; facing them, with the truth so heavy in his heart…

‘I should have told her.’

The thought continued to cycle incessantly through his mind, as it had since that dreadful day. It seemed an eternity ago, yet not even a sennight had yet passed.

There were so many things he should have said. About Louisoix, and how Urianger had both agreed and disagreed. About their work, their mission.

About his own feelings.

The memory of her face that day in Journey’s End came to mind; her fury and her grief. Her misplaced hope in him.

The mammet’s perfect visage blurred, his eyes stinging. He covered his face with his hands and wept for her, and for himself, and all the opportunities he had failed to take with her, to give her.