#orpheus (azem)

[lufdraws]

a song for parting, a song for resting🎶🍃 bday present for the wonderful @/evefaucillien (on twt) of a transformed soteria, whom orpheus joined in resting under the trees💚

[gurosinner]

made a graph of justifying my aesthetic choices for ff14 charas

[radicrow]

Just realizing that the name is a pun because it is in fact phrydrice and not phrydice which I thought was pronounced like eurydice. Ohhh my gooooodddd shrimp fried rice

GHKDSKDFHGKJH it is a magical moment every time someone realizes that she is shrimp fried rice :)

[rabbit-illustrations]

Never posted this cute little oc chart based on the relationships between my Ancient OC's and my friends ignoring Azem placement Eos, Helios, Aether and Apollo - My Ocs Selene - Savvy Bunny Orpheus - @johndiscolights

[castellankurze]

Azem as Odysseus: a clever problem-solver, a warrior and tale-teller; one who ever thinks of home on their long journeys

Azem as Heracles: a powerhouse, ferocious and seemingly invincible; not the wisest head on their shoulders but always capable

Azem as Atalanta: a challenge-taker, a glory-seeker, a fierce competitor with an irrepressible energy

Azem as Dionysus: the life of the party, doing it for the meme, always gathering a coterie of followers; a little wild and out of control

Azem as Nemesis: a retributor, grim and humorless, full of fire and fury, inevitable and terrifying; one who will pursue their prey across the face of the earth

Azem as Orpheus: the mournful poet, a musician and lyricist sharing tales of far-off corners of the world, ever filled with an unshakeable melancholy

Azem as Cassandra: the prophet, one who knows what is foretold by the troubles of the day; cursed to be turned a deaf ear by those who ought listen closest

[sparrowsong-7]

6. Halcyon

"What I would not give to return to those halcyon days…

When I would wake up next to you, when the sun shone and the birds sang. When all of our creations flourished…

Before the terrors, before the screams, before you…

…It will not be too much longer, Venat should be putting her plan into motion by now, I just hope that I have bought her enough time to see it through.

*sigh*

The bleeding will not stop… I pushed him too far. Never did I think that Hades would actually turn his magicks upon me.

I hope you are there waiting for me, my love…"

-The last words of Orpheus, Seat of Azem

[starrysnowdrop]

So now that Hali is in 5.X of the MSQ, I have been rethinking some things about Hali’s Unsundered Self, Ariadne. To summarize what I had intended for her before, she was Head of the Words of Azem, not Azem, as Yume’s Unsundered self Eurydice was Azem. I also had Ariadne married to Hermes/Fandaniel, but I’m not sure if I’m liking that idea now.

I’m thinking that Hali should be Azem and Yume be in the role that Hali was, as Yume ends up sacrificing herself along with G’raha in Ultima Thule and Hali goes on to fight Endsinger. Would it not make more sense that Hali was Azem after all and not Yume?

I also just can’t come up with the best solution for a ship for Hali/Ariadne and I might just make her not in a relationship Pre-Sundering, as I don’t want to be cheesy and do what I had previously done with Yume/Eurydice (I had G’raha’s Unsundered Self as Orpheus and they realized they loved each other but it was too late and the world was Sundered soon after).

I know it’s ultimately my decision, and perhaps this is just me thinking out loud, but I just can’t make up my mind. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

[catboyoflight]

A glimpse into Lethe...

This will be longer than people are probably used to. Started as twitter threat so formating might be weird?

Lethes Backstory actually begins with Aion. They are 'my' Azem.

Aion possesses a certain future sight, and while Venat is still Azem, Aion has a vision, and decides to start their long term plan to FIX things. Eventually they get knocked up by Venat. That is where Lethe comes from.

Later, Aion gets to be Azem for a while, and then gets sundered. And currently his main shards are the co-Warriors of Light Makaukau and A'drew - more about those guys maybe later.

what about Lethe then? (I am writing Lethe, but back in Elpis/Amaurot days he still goes by Orpheus) Well Lethe came not out as expected?? (Or did he? 🤷) My guy was simply not made for life. Aether all fucking wrong, and way too few. But since Aion had the little guy with on his travels until Lethe grew out of toddler stage, he was there to stay.

Aion became Azem, and Lethe was now too heavy to drag around, so he stood behind with Venat. But back in society it was pretty apperent that Lethe was not doing 'well', for like Ancient standards. Magic was 'fine-ish'(not really), and the kid was obviously hurting.

So from then on Lethe met up with Emet-Selch (not the Hades Emet-Selch), for regular check-ins if he did not want to return to the aetherial sea or something. You know? A mercy. Start over. "Well no, but thanks for the offer", Lethe said, over and over. Basically.

Years go by, and Lethe actually is part of society, a bit, but not really. He has a job, research on time phenomenons, because he is good at that shit, hangs out with Lahabreas kid, is in fucking pain. Like normal things. Enter the (new) Emet-Selch. After the other one retired into the afterlife.

Hades is out of his water with Lethe. Lethe is tired by now. He still wants to life. But living is hard. And Hades… he can't get himself to nudge him into his demise after having talked with him once. He has emotions (tm) and his worldview… suffers.

It comes as it has to. They kick off, and not only Lethe and Hades, but Lethe and Hythlodaeus aswell. Things are good. It's not really a public relationship, but it is clear that they are more than friends + But as usual, disaster arrives. Short before the Endwalker Elpis Adventures, there is an accident where Lethe works, and he disappears. Both Hades and Hythlodaeus are heartbroken. They can't reach out to Lethe, that is the worst. It is as if his Soul vanished with his body... Lethe opens his eyes. He is in a deep Forest without Night. He does not know where, or WHEN. But he does not hurt as bad as he is used to. He can breathe, he can walk. He is far from being completely perfect, but hell, it is like he is made for this world. With effort he can adjust his appereance to the locals. There he meets new friends and learns about the place he ended up in...

[c0rpseductor]

i don't mind the muddled like mythology allusions in my (plans for my) xiv fic, they arent supposed to be 1:1 so much as like, evocative of vibes

so obviously emet is hades because this is canon. fucking duh

g'raha im sort of playing with the idea of making a reincarnation of orpheus but he takes on this role even if he's not. which is kind of why i'm like Might as well simplify it but what evar

pfeil is a reincarnation of azem bc wol. specifically azem in my beautiful world is a closeted trans man named eurydice. HOWEVER. because pfeil is a new guy entirely there are some persephone allusions thrown in there. and that is mostly because that would mean:

Thancred Is Demeter. and for whatever reason that is so fucking hilarious to me that i HAVE to shoehorn the persephone imagery in there

[itsblorbotime]

Oh, my heart it aches to stay — I'm already gone. I'm gone.

Shepherd to the Stars | The Traveler Azem | Orpheus

[bladeoftruths]

u'renh: perseus is the current (last) holder of the fourteenth seat of azem in his wol story!

venat is his mentor. emet-selch and hythlodaeus are his allies in the convocation, albeit he isn't that close to them.

hermes and themis are his close confidants among the members of the convocation; perseus wants to understand hermes more since he gets his personal struggles and conflicts towards the social life of the ancients, but they both fell apart after the incident at the ktisis.

as for themis, they are both good friends, but as the final days come close, themis got too attached to his duties that he slowly grew distant and stopped talking to perseus.

meanwhile, lahabrea is his mentor at the akademia anyder. perseus' presence annoys him as he always cause problems during his class back in the day XD

mizuki: atalanta holds the position of azem in her wol story.

venat is their mentor/mother figure who took them in after they got exiled from their hometown. she also taught them how to control their dangerous eye power that was concealed in their left eye.

they are friends with emet-selch and hythlodaeus, though they're more closer to the latter.

they are also good friends with hermes and themis.

the only ancients they're not really close to is lahabrea. mainly because they think he is too stiff and strict for him XD.

chase: orpheus was the azem before perseus. his time at the convocation was very short due to his disinterest in holding a ruling position. he is also super distant towards all the members of the convocation.

venat was his mentor, but after stepping down from his position, he stopped talking to her completely. he felt bad for letting her down like this.

he is not friends with emet-selch. neither enemies nor friends, just pure acquaintances. after stepping down, orpheus distanced himself from him even further for absolutely no reason.

however he is friends with hythlodaeus. he is the only person who would be interested in listening to orpheus' performances.

don't even get me started on his relationship with hermes, themis and lahabrea. he never spoke to them at all.

(im sorry he is such a loser)

as a side note: u'renh and chase share the same universe, but they both cannot be wols at the same time. their wol canons diverge during the seventh umbral calamity, depending on whether chase joins kan-e to carteneau or not!

mizuki, aka wol setsuna fire emblem, has a completely separate wol canon. she is based on my ffxiv au fire emblem fates.

hm? oh is it wol question time?

who is your wol/oc's ancient?

is it Azem, or someone else? what's their name? what was their relationship to the ancients we know (Venat, Emet Selch, Hythodeus, etc.)? do you have a picture of them?

[gurosinner]

watched oomfs do pandae again. i think they hate each other

[lufdraws]

they’re bullying him, probably

[topbanana-art]

Dumb lil comparison doodle between Arslan and Orpheus.

They're just different brands of himbo

[thorinoakenbutt]

Anyway that musical is literally half of the reason why I named Andi's Azem 'Orpheus'

A song from Hadestown came up on shuffle and I was slapped in the face by how much it impacted the development of my WoL

[tea-and-conspiracy]

Prompt 24: Beam

Azem had this uncanny way of knowing when Emet-Selch was in the middle of something.

She’d summoned him from a nap too many times to count. Once, she’d summoned him when he was holding up a ladder for Hythlodaeus. Today she summoned him out of the bath tub. That wasn’t the bad part -- after all, either of them could solve it in a snap and it wasn’t anything she hadn’t seen before. Nor was it the fact that his unceremoniously naked appearance set her into delighted giggle-fits. No, the real rub was that this time, Azem had summoned him not because anyone was in danger, not because she needed his insight, but because she had found a petrified head hanging from a tree.

He didn’t even bother re-conjuring his mask because his need to facepalm was too great. WHY did he find this so endearing? That was most frustrating of all.

“Guess what this is!” She was practically bouncing on her toes. “Come on, guess.”

“Why is it singing?”

“Look at it, Hades!”

“Yes, it’s quite a lovely head.” He hadn’t even noticed her using his real name.

“No,” came Azem’s careful reply. “Look.”

Oh. She meant that sight. Emet-Selch blinked and stepped forward, squinting at the head. He’d thought it painstakingly carved from marble -- a beautiful, curly-haired youth, the textbook definition of Adonis. But beneath unmasked, alabaster flesh came an anemic glimmer, the faintest shiver of yellow light.

“It has a soul?!” He stepped back in horror.

“Mhm.” Azem gave a melancholic smile. “I’ve been searching for him forever. This is Orpheus, the third Azem, who died attempting to save his beloved Eurydice.”

Emet-Selch shook his head, sweeping forward to touch the man’s cheek. “No, dear, he’s not dead. Not while some fragment of him lingers here. The third Azem, you say? Then he has lingered in purgatory for....”

Azems rarely lasted long. There had only been fourteen Emet-Selchs but there had been thirty-two Azems. By all in mournful Creation, that was an unfathomably long time.

“That’s why I called you,” came her soft response.

Of course. The Shepherd to the Stars needed the Shepherd of the Dead. That wasn’t even his Seat and yet it had become his job more often than not. This was...new, though. Emet-Selch couldn’t recall a time he’d seen Creation magic used with such murderous intent. Who had this Azem managed to anger? Had the past truly been so barbarous?

“Help me, my dear?”

“Of course.”

He didn’t need to explain; she understood.

As he weakened the stone, turned it to putty, she summoned the sliver of soul from it. She could not see them, not as he could, but the pull of her Traveler’s stone told her it was there. When at last it was free, Emet-Selch reached for the soul -- and smothered it, crushing it back into the Lifestream. And in that lingering silence, Orpheus was finally free.

“...Thank you, my love,” she whispered, her eyes upon the stars. “I know it’s grim work.”

Emet-Selch gazed back at the tree. “Certainly less unpleasant than being denied rebirth. I cannot imagine what an effect that would come to have upon a soul. Amnesia? Depression? Perhaps simple madness.”

“Maybe. But the important part is he’s free. Isn’t that worth being happy about?” She smiled, laying a hand upon his cheek. “Besides, you are very much alive. You have no excuse to be depressed.”

“I have to deal with Nabriales in the morning, that’s plenty depressing.” He smirked.

“Nabriales, hm...?” And Azem got that look. He knew that look; she wore it almost as often as Hythlodaeus did. With a melodramatic flourish, the Traveler moved to where she’d dropped her belongings in excitement nearby. “You know? I think I forgot how to send you home all the sudden. Maybe Nabriales will have to wait a few more days. What do you think?”

Azem glanced over her shoulder, and beamed.