#pre-dawntrail questions

[iron-sparrow]

10. how does your wol sleep? very light? very heavy? do they need a specific item to fall asleep? is it easy for them to fall asleep, or does it take them forever? where do they prefer sleeping?

Sleep, huh? We don't know her around these parts.

Once upon a time, Yein was a light sleeper, but nowadays, being ashkin means they don't really sleep like most understand it. Rather, Yein goes into a deep meditation.

To assist with this, they've learned to take specific drugs from Odette (@ahollowgrave), who has had far more experience navigating life while being on the opposite end of it. Even in their unlife, true rest comes with difficulties; seeing and hearing ghosts tends to really mess with relaxation! Their mind needs a lot of assistance to settle, which is certainly still a necessity for their mental well-being, even if their flesh no longer deteriorates.

Thank the Twelve for drugs.

[whitherwanderer]

Galena, a Rusty Reforger & Pyrite, a Deliberate Deadeye feat. @shroudandsands

In one of worlds fourteenfold, a hyune reforger scales the crags of Alexandria's cliffs and ruins in search of precious electrope, artifacts, and other reusable materials. A scope is trained on him, a voice in his ear, coolly reminding him to watch his footing (as if it needed to be said).

The spotter is an ex-hunter who keeps the levin-cursed monsters and defective sentries off his back with a careful eye and a dead aim. She's also his wife, which makes it that much harder for her to watch him test his scavenging prowess over the deep canyons and crumbling spires that scar the land. Trust him as she does, she has her reasons to be wary.

Galena's methods are unusual. Instead of combing the ground, he climbs. The old kingdom's ruins hide valuable artifacts and electrope caches that would be out of reach for most, but more worrying is his choice not to wear a regulator despite the many obvious dangers. Among the reforgers, it's not wholly unusual for someone to refuse a regulator, but those who know the two hyune know well: it's not a choice made lightly.

———

Deep in the heart of Everkeep, Pyrite stalks the alleys of Solution Nine with a portion of the materials her husband gleaned from the old kingdom. It's how he can offer his support for the organization Pyrite now dedicates her time and talents to.

And an ex-hunter always finds ways to keep herself sharp; sentries vanish, dismantled and sold for parts in True Vue's less reputable markets. Weapons from the manufactories on the lower floors go missing and wind up in rebel hands. Credits grease the palms of the right people for the right intelligence and the doors of high clearance warehouses are left unlocked—by accident, of course.

As an agent for the rebel group Oblivion, the regulator Pyrite wears is a compromise allowing her to take advantage of Everkeep's systems while avoiding suspicion. But for all its conveniences, the regulator is also a grave reminder. Should Galena's hands ever slip, all she'll have of him is the recordings and images hidden away on encrypted data shards—assurance that they'd keep their promise never to forget again*.

———

No mourning, and yet no relief from the aching holes in their memories. All they have is the hints of a loss whose shape they can identify by feeling around its dark edges: an empty room, a closet full of clothes too small for either of them. A name that Pyrite herself chose, always lingering in the back of her mind but slipping through it like a sieve. An image of shade—a face that Galena chases through dreams and wakes up with no recollection of.

Loss enough to take immortality and toss it into a canyon. Pain enough to use that immortality as a weapon against the system that stole from them something so precious it becomes their reason and their resolve. Something that would be worth dismantling a miracle. *OOC Note: This was drafted before the Arcadion raids came out, which answers a critical question I had about the regulator mechanics. A person wearing a regulator will, in fact, remember someone who does not wear one after their death. So that final bit in Pyrite's section is wrong! Oh well.

[abyssalmermaiden]

what's your wol's relationship with food? do they skip meals or do they eat at specific times religiously? is food important to them, or is it just a means to an end to keep their body going? does food mean something cultural or personal to them?

Aryaille's thoughts are something like this:

Food is fuel, but by the twelve its nice when that fuel tastes good. Enjoying a good meal is one of the many reasons being alive is worth it.

You need to eat- if you don't eat you won't have the strength to fight. Objectively she knows this but many times her companions have had to reminder her. Its worst when she's struggling with grief and guilt, but thankfully she has friends to shove a hearty bowl of soup into her hands. (thinking especially of Gale @galewhaleshark and Raer @azure-dragonsinger)

pre-dawntrail wol questions

[sae-mian]

how does your wol's echo manifest itself? do they see visions as they happen? all at once? delayed? do they get any physical symptoms from it?

i love this question so much you have no idea—

⋆⁺｡˚⋆˙‧₊☽ ◯ ☾₊‧˙⋆˚｡⁺⋆

all of Atlas’ shards have the echo, though the way it manifests varies widely between them.

for nira’sae, they do not get the standard WoL AOE predictions we see ingame. they do get visions - but what they see varies wildly. It can be past, present, or future; it’s even been known manifest visions from other shards and timelines (fun fact. this is how minasha ends up joining the Throuple). visions vary in length and clarity - the longer and clearer they are, the more difficult they are to endure, oftentimes knocking them on their ass for a few minutes and leaving them with a nasty headache for a while after.

these visions can happen whether they're conscious or not, rarely coming as dreams when they sleep - and when they do come during sleep, they can project outwards, affecting nearby people. (fun fact. thIS IS HOW MINASHA ENDS UP JOINING THE THROUPLE--)

if we were to compare nira'sae's against hana's or no-one's, however, we would see a very different echo.

while hana can very rarely have visions, mostly his echo just gives him a glimpse into the emotional state of whoever he's focusing on; a very keen empathic sense, you might say.

no-one, on the other hand, gets a hit-list echo-emailed directly into their brain--

(it's complicated. don't worry about it.)

⋆⁺｡˚⋆˙‧₊☽ ◯ ☾₊‧˙⋆˚｡⁺⋆

pre-dawntrail wol questions

[sunnythanalan]

What is your wol's inner monologue like? do they refer to themself as "i"? "we"? "you"? is it organized or all over the place? are they kind to themself, or do they chide themself constantly? (Please? :D)

Thank you for sending me an ask! ♡

✨ pre-dawntrail wol questions! ✨

I actually had to think really hard for this one!

He definitely refers to himself as "I", though he does not engage in much self-reflection. His mind circles around other people, what they want and what he wants from them. Because of this he doesn't spend much time contemplating his own stance on certain subjects - politics, principles and moral dilemmas go way over his head. He leaves that for other people to figure out. If he likes a certain person he'll adopt their moral stance for his own; until the next favoured person and opinion comes along.

Tahn neither praises or chides himself typically, but whenever he experiences rejection from someone he likes, his self-esteem will plummet. Since he regards himself from the outside looking in, other people's opinion on him matters more than his own. That said though, his status as Warrior of Light has afforded him many fawning fans that easily warps his perception of himself in a more dangerous direction. Thankfully the scions keeps him grounded!

[swiftcast-selene]

✨ pre-dawntrail wol questions! ✨

over on our little server i've been asking a WoL development question a day until dawntrail and it's been well-recieved so far, so after a month of doing it i figured i may as well put them on here~

use them to draft your own posts! send each other asks about them! answer them in the tags! do whatever you want with them, as long as you're having fun!

how is your wol about personal hygiene? are they on top of it? always perfumed and spotless, a little messy sometimes, or do they have to be reminded to groom?

is there a texture your wol absolutely can't stand, either food or feeling-wise? or is it not something they tend to worry about? do they go to great lengths to avoid it or do they just power through it?

what is your wol's evening routine? do they prepare for the next day? do they just wing it? do any weapon or gear upkeep? just pass out because that's tomorrow them's problem?

how does your wol's echo manifest itself? do they see visions as they happen? all at once? delayed? do they get any physical symptoms from it?

does your wol have any siblings? how do they get along with them? is it a good relationship or is it tense?

how does your wol feel about romance? are they a hopeless romantic, waiting for The One, or are they more casual? do they believe in soulmates?

how does your wol feel about their hair? is it important to them? just kind of in the way? who cuts it? do they take good care of it or are they not particularly fussed about it?

how good is your wol at taking care of their armor/clothes? do they mend them themself? pay to gave it fixed? just change it when it gets old?

what's in your wol's travel bag? any trinkets? any vital items they cant go without? do they travel light and figure stuff out on the fly, or do they bring way too much with them? (bonus points if you have images!)

how does your wol sleep? very light? very heavy? do they need a specific item to fall asleep? is it easy for them to fall asleep, or does it take them forever? where do they prefer sleeping?

where was your wol during the last calamity? how did it make them feel? did it change their life, and if yes, for better or for worse?

shadowbringers spoilers: how did they feel being so... up and personal with another calamity? did they feel responsible? scared? did they feel like they owed the first to stop it, or were they more detached from the situation?

for the canon casters: what does casting magic feel like to your wol? how does being "out of mana" feel?

for the physical fighters: how does it feel when they do those impossible moves? the twirls, the jumps? do they supplement with aether? dynamis? is it purely physical or is something else involved?

what would your wol be if they weren't the wol? what would they do as a job or career? would they be happier?

is your wol good at cooking? what's their specialty? what can they never get right no matter how hard they try? what flavour profile are they good at cooking? what do they eat on the road?

out of all the scions, which one is the one your wol gets along with the best? what about the one they get along with the least? why?

how good is your wol with money? do they save up? scrounge around? spend it with wild abandon?

what would you say is your wol's greatest flaw? what part of their personality causes them the most problems?

what is your wol's best quality? what's the thing that they do that really gets stuff done of makes people like them? hard mode: their own perception vs. a friend or partner's perception.

what does your wol do to unwind? any hobbies? reading? sewing? croquet? sitting in a dark room in complete silence?

how good are your wol's table manners, based on their own culture? how does it compare to ishgardian table manners? eorzean? doman? steppe?

what is your wol's inner monologue like? do they refer to themself as "i"? "we"? "you"? is it organized or all over the place? are they kind to themself, or do they chide themself constantly?

what's your wol's relationship with food? do they skip meals or do they eat at specific times religiously? is food important to them, or is it just a means to an end to keep their body going? does food mean something cultural or personal to them?

what is your wol's relationship with their family? are they estranged? still very close? tense?

what does your wol think about lying? is it unacceptable to ever lie, are white lies okay, are they a pathological liar? how do they feel about people who lie to them?

how does your wol feel about allag in general? the tech, the experimenting, the crystal tower? any thoughts on allagan ruins? are they impressed, scared, resentful, neutral?

what sense does your wol most rely on? hearing, touch, sight, smell, taste? maybe even aethersense or dynamis?

how does your wol feel about mind-altering substances? do they partake? do they dislike them? are they neutral? do they take them socially, or anytime, or not at all?

how does your wol feel about children? do they want them? like them from a distance? hate them? no strong feelings?

how does your wol work out? lifting? sports? walking? how often do they do it? is it for fun or to keep up their physique? do they enjoy it?

[ahollowgrave]

what's in your wol's travel bag? any trinkets? any vital items they cant go without? do they travel light and figure stuff out on the fly, or do they bring way too much with them? (bonu

Odette is a Nun Errant, traveling is part of her duties! She spends a lot of time on the road and is always adjusting what is in her pack. Here is a general list of what she might carry with her:

An extra set of traveling clothing.

Weather-proofed boots, spare.

Homespun wool yarn and knitting needles.

Whatever knitting project she’s working on currently.

A very beefy first aid kit. Just in case!

Supplies for cleaning graves:

Brushes of various sizes and bristle stiffness

Clean cloths, and dirty ones stuffed into a ‘to wash’ bag.

Gentle cleaning solutions

A little folding shovel for particularly gritty situations.

Blessed cloth of various make to use for burial shrouds and wraps, as needed. 

Bottled moon-touched waters for blessings.

A substantial letter writing kit.

Karakul Feed (Rou)

Hoof care supplies (Rou)

Rope.

Tent and bedroll, weather-proofed.

Various herbs used to quiet the restless dead.

Armor Care Kit (cloths, oils, wax, etc)

Sword Care Kit (cloths, oils, wax, whetstone, etc)

Fire Starting Kit.

A camp chair/stool.

A hammock.

Approx four to six books, swapped as she travels. 

Foraging books, just to double check her finds and to press flower petals with. 

Compass and several maps of regions.

Odette’s is not very good at ‘figuring stuff out on the fly.’ She would love nothing more than to be a cool go-with-the-flow kind of girl. Alas, the bees. Even her day-to-day wear tends to feature a lot of bags and deep pockets. In these she carries:

Small vials of moon-touched water for blessings.

Several polished moonstones to give out as worry stones and good luck charms.

Several trinkets to give to friends for protection and love, made by her own hand.

Her prayer beads, carved and assembled by her Sisters

Pencils and notebooks.

At least one book she’s currently reading.

Snacks.

Mints.

Whatever she’s pinched from other people’s pockets.

Thank you so much for the ask!

][ Pre-Dawntrail WoL Questions ][

[starrysnowdrop]

Looking Forward -> 2024

We are almost done with 2023 and what a year it’s been! Both IRL and here, there has been so many great changes this year, and there’s still so much to look forward to in 2024. Therefore, I wanted to take a little time to reflect on this past year and then talk about what I have planned for next year. Because I know I’ll be long winded as usual, I will place it under a cut.

2023: The Year of Hali

So this year was a momentous year creatively for me, as I officially switched my main WoL OC from Yume to Hali, and though I do still have a twinge of guilt for dropping Yume completely like I did, I have to admit that I’ve never been happier writing than I am right now. Hali and her story and her ship with Aymeric bring me so much joy, and I have seen how much Hali has been enjoyed by all of you, so it just tells me that I made the right decision. I have written so much more for Hali in only a year than I have for Yume in all the previous years combined. I have been practicing my gposing way more and I felt like I have grown so much as a creator, and I think it’s because I’m so genuinely happy with Hali that it makes me want to keep doing more. This little pink woman has stolen my whole heart and I am very proud of all I have done this year with her.

Now I know that the last two months have been really stressful IRL and it’s been difficult to get back into writing, but I’m not going to let it get to me. I’m hoping that starting next week after the holidays are over, my son is back in school, and we are all back to our routines that it’ll be way easier to write. Still, I’m proud of what I’ve already done and I’m so excited for what I have planned for 2024, along with my hopes for Dawntrail and for Hali and Aymeric’s future development.

2024, Dawntrail, and Beyond

I know I’m not alone in being extremely excited for Dawntrail and beginning our WoLs’ next story arc, so I already have some plans for Hali that will happen for sure, and some that might happen depending on circumstances. I also have plans for Urania x Hermes on top of everything I want to do for Hali. So let’s go over all of these briefly.

First of all, I am going to continue working on my current WIPs for Hali’s story, notably Hali and Aymeric’s first meeting, expanding on Hali and Aymeric bonding while Aymeric recovers in the infirmary (twice!), the letters they send to each other throughout SB, ShB, and Pre-EW, the love confession, and the Ishgardian Ball. I have worked on all of this interchangeably for months now and I hope to get something done soon enough. I also have a bunch of Hali lore that I have planned on discussing, notably her ancestry and where each side of her family comes from. This is a lot I know, but there’s so much that I want to write and share with you all.

Next I absolutely know that I want Aymeric to accompany Hali to Tural (The New World) for 7.0 despite it going against canon. I want Aymeric to have some time away from Ishgard and to experience an adventure with Hali. I know he can’t accompany her on adventures most of the time, but I want to be self indulgent damn it and that man needs an action-adventure vacation with his girlfriend!

That’s it for my definitive plans, but what about what I might be doing for Hali in 2024? Well, the biggest question hanging in the balance is the new casting job. It depends on if I believe the new casting job will fit Hali and make sense for her progression if I will add it to her canon jobs list. If I don’t think it’ll fit her, then I might look into the other jobs and see if there’s something I’ve overlooked that can be added instead. But there’s always the possibility that no new canon jobs are added and Hali remains an Astrologian and Dancer only. I was just looking forward to perhaps giving Hali some development of her magical abilities and learn a new job. But I will have to wait and see for Tokyo Fanfest for that!

The other thing that I’m not entirely sure if I’m doing it yet or not is a proposal! I might have Aymeric propose to Hali in 7.0 but I’m not sure if I want to do it so soon, or if it feels right doing it in 7.0. I want to experience all of 7.0’s MSQ before I decide on that. It WILL happen eventually I promise, it’s just a matter of when.

I think that’s everything for Hali, but I also have plans for Urania and Hermes! I’m wanting to write a bit of their canon story but I’m also super excited for the Modern AU I have been developing! I’m not sure yet if I will do anything with the Good Ending AU I just posted about, but it’s still a possibility. I’m also going to make them a separate section under my pinned post so there will be easy access to their lore.

Okay, I believe that’s everything. I will be getting started on all this after the new year’s celebration, and I hope to be able to share something really soon. Until then, I wish you all a Happy New Year and I hope you enjoy your holiday weekend and I wish everyone joy and inspiration in the new year! Love you all!! 🥰💖

[meatball-headache]

Future speculation.

So, this lowercase-kay "key" is the key to the next major story arc, obviously. This thing can enable cross-shard travel in ways that Syrcus Tower could only dream of.

Let's review what we know: the key appeared in our world when it was given to Gulool Ja Ja along with baby Krile; it was used by the Lalafell of the lightning dimension to escape an ice-based calamity in their own dimension. Aha! Paving the way for future ice dimension expacs, right? Well, no, because you and I both know the clarifications we received in Living Memory: the tropical paradise the lalafell once lived in and the ice calamity that ruined it, their use of arcane magic, and the timing all matches the Aloalo civilization in our own world. So the key actually came from the Source, not one of the shards. (Why do I think the word is "shard," by the way? The game exclusively uses "reflection.")

So, who made it? Not the Allagans; it far exceeds what they could only barely manage with the entire Crystal Tower. And, we get a very clear sign: when you use the Azem crystal at the final battle, Azem's symbol lights up on the key. And this makes sense, because with the infinite power of creation magic, surely they could whip up something like this...

...only, wasn't Azem sundered along with everyone but Lahabrea, Elidibus, and Emet-Selch? A sundered person couldn't possibly hope to have this kind of power. In fact, at the beginning of Shadowbringers, Emet-Selch seemed impressed that the Allagans had the ability to do it at all. Emet-Selch himself had to orchestrate these massive calamities to get worlds' aether to spill into one another on their own. And here's a key that can just fuse worlds at the push of a button! The Alexandrians somehow have the power to just get a rejoining on demand.

With the power of the key being so extreme, it seems unlikely that a sundered person could do it. It seems almost to be beyond the ability of the Ascians themselves. But, we've been surprised by dynamis, so, perhaps there's some still-greater magic at play.

But, with Azem's symbol on it, there seems to be little doubt who could have had a hand in it. Pre-sundering, Azem would have no reason to build this thing; post-sundering, Azem would have no power to build it.

Maybe it wasn't made by Azem; maybe it was made by Hydaelyn or even Zodiark, or one of the other Ascians? Perhaps it just showed Azem's symbol because it was reacting to Azem's crystal being used; it would show whatever symbol for whatever crystal was used nearby.

Now, I'm pretty dumb, so speculating never gets me anywhere. But, the whole game is full of dramatic twists. No one was playing in Garlemald in Endwalker and thinking, "I bet we'll go back in time to the age of the ancients, and find out that the original Fandaniel used a secret emotion-based magic to create an envoy to other worlds, which got so sad when it found them all in a state of strife that it decided to end our world, too, and that's what caused the Final Days. Also he wiped everyone's memories once he sent the envoys." Certainly while playing Dawntrail I wasn't thinking, "I bet inside the bubble is a fused world made from another shard that has the technology to cross the rift at will, and also all the people are immortal and powered by other peoples' souls, and later I get to be in a play with the captain of the knights."

But, I reiterate: when we go to the water dimension, I want blitzball, I want a /blitzball emote, and I want to fight Sin. Hymn of the Fayth orchestrion roll? Al Bhed raid weapons? If they make the Calm Lands a zone I will die instantly. After what they've done for FFIV and FFIX, it's not out of the question!

[ofcoffee-andletters]

FFXIV Write day 16: Third-rate

Notes: Wtf when did it became day 16, I am still not done with day 2 haha, wow, I am bad at this...anyway, I do have things for the rest of the days but I am bad at making short things, so I am attempting something different now...I hope you all enjoy.

MeteorArdbert Pre-Dawntrail

Third-Rate : extremely low in quality or value : worse than second-rate. —————— A hyur was staring at something over a table, frowning and making faces constantly…then sighing and walking around, it was more than clear he was frustrated, and as he hears a low chuckle to the side, he glares. “…What?”

Meteor was standing close to the door and couldn’t help but stare at Ardbert, amused and curious, “You seem upset about something…and all I see is a perfectly set of clothes in front of you.”

The former Warrior of Darkness and, currently, apprentice of famous fashionista Redolent Rose, was basically about to hit his head against a wall, “Is not perfect, it has around…a thousand imperfections and I cannot figure out where!”

Current, and eternal, Warrior of Light, couldn’t help but laugh at the precarious predicament his beloved shard was in, “Is that what he told you…?” said man came closer to the table and examined the pieces of clothing, they seemed fine to the absolutely untrained eye but… “Is this supposed to be the basis of a leather armor…?”

Ardbert huffed and finally decided to sit down, “It’s a stupid commission that, explicitly, asked for me to make this set…I have no idea why, I am not even that good at working with leather yet…”

Meteor couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow and then smile sideways, “What have you been up to…?”

At the question, said addressed shard couldn’t help but pout, looking sideways, “What does it look like…? Figuring out a job…I am sure being the Hero and Savior of everyone and everything in the Universe pays well…but we need to have a back up plan…y’know?” That made Meteor laugh, “I am right…!”

“You are! But I never imagined you’d like to take up crafting!” It wasn’t a mocking sound, it was an endeared one — after all, few things that Ardbert did were not adorable, or hot, or cute in Meteor’s eyes. “I also have odd jobs here and there…you don’t need to…”

“I want to.”

Both men stared at each other, with the one standing relenting first, smile still adorning his face as he looked to the set of almost made armor resting there. “…It looks fine to me.”

Ardbert rolled his eyes, “It’s barely third-rate and apparently, no respected Adventurer would be caught dead wearing something like this…” and then, to the utter surprise of the former resident of the First, Meteor grabbed the coat and started to look at it, “What are you…?”

The Warrior of Light then put it on, making Ardbert blink as he realized the piece of clothing — and eventual armor — fit his soulmate quite well, a bit too perfectly fine. And to see him moving around with it, and also going to grab his new swords…made him realize something, “You’re a bastard.”

As Meteor laughed he simply turned around and extended his arms, “Yes? I think I just lost all respect as an adventurer, since…personally, I plan to use what I commissioned, third-rate or not…” even if Ardbert wanted to argue, the damn idiot was smiling at him with one of those big grins of his…that made the shard and soulmate feel a twist inside his stomach and the need to kiss this man to death.

“…Tell that to Redolent Rose…”

Meteor shrugged, “I will make sure to point out that I commissioned my boyfriend for a very specific reason���now, stop pouting and let me watch you work…I like when you’re focused on making armor.”

Ardbert snorts and then shakes his head. “…I am making the entire thing again no matter what, if you’re the one who will wear it…I need to make sure you’re safe with it.”

“I will be safe anyway, I am gonna be with you.”

That only earned Meteor a circle of leather to the face, sadly that covered him and made him unable to see Ardbert’s flustered expression — but…he was laughing, regardless. It had been a great idea to commission his new outfit for Tural right here, in Eorzea…just for this.

[feralkwe]

wip wednesday

i was tagged by both @azems-familiar and @thelittlestancient to see what i have in the hopper, but i don't have any words on actual page, just ideas of what i'm doing next/prompts in my inbox, so what you get is a summary of options.

prompt in my askholebox: 1 bed/four dumbasses - could be a little silly and probably not anything remotely canon but hey, i know what's definitely not gonna fix the polycule as of dawntrail and they are probably gonna do it anyway.

commenter on ao3 suggested: kit goes to elpis the first time in endwalker remembering elidibus' pre-sos "don't you remember being in love?" confession. no answers are found, only questions. angst fest. confusion ahoy! i am unwell.

tagging anyone who wants to participate because i cheated and am also lazy but wanted to honor the tags.

[iron-sparrow]

for the pre-DT WoL questions: 4 and 9 for Yein (and 6 for Qara if you're taking any for them on this blog?)

I have answered no. 4 so you'll find a more detailed response [HERE]. That said, I didn't mention if this ability to see a target's memories affects WoL!Yein physically.

Hm.

I think it must, to some degree. I imagine that their echo manifests as a bit of an aether handshake. The channel between Yein and the other person is not one-way. While the other person may not have the ability to receive visions, Yein may be left feeling dizzy and lightheaded from having their aether pulled off balance. I think at present they have better control of their echo and can steel themself to receive this feeling. At most, they might stagger away a step or two; collapsing is likely very rare now.

As for the other question, I think Yein definitely travels light, particularly because they have fewer physical needs as a champion resurrected by Hydaelyn. For a smaller person, their pack might still feel too heavy and cumbersome. After all, it's sized for Yein.

I like to imagine Yein having their bag slung across their body. It's stuffed with a few apples and dried goods to snack on (to lift their mood). They also keep a small book they're learning to read from, a journal to practice writing in, some grass to smoke, materia for various practical purposes, and gil to make purchases with. The fur cloak I pretend they wear suffices for bedding. (Yeah, I'm a sucker for that Dark Souls aesthetic.)

About Qara ⸺

I could never imagine him as the Warrior of Light, but RP!Qara absolutely believes in love love love. Before he met Ris, however, he likely only saw romantic love as an option for people other than himself.

Now, he knows he can be loved by many.

He considers Fish (@exploding-fish) to be his soulmate, the person who understands him better than anyone in the whole universe. Ris (@this-is-ris) is his haven, the answer to a question he never knew he had. Without her, he wouldn't have ever achieved the capacity to also embrace Theo (@justatheo) in his heart.

[angelinecarax]

Pre-Dawntrail Questions!

what's in your wol's travel bag? any trinkets? any vital items they cant go without? do they travel light and figure stuff out on the fly, or do they bring way too much with them?

-- a deceptively difficult question to answer!

If she spent weeks packing and repacking before her trip to Eorzea, then its NOTHING compared to preparational undertaking for the shores of Tural! Her life is seven times as full, so she'll need seven magnitudes the preparation! In fact, so much so...

... she'll be taking some time to catch up!

I'll be waiting to do dawntrail until mods return! See you all then!

[fooltofancy]

Pre-Dawntrail WoL questions for Mr Ilya 👁 1, 17, and 20!

1. how is your wol about personal hygiene? are they on top of it? always perfumed and spotless, a little messy sometimes, or do they have to be reminded to groom?

cleaner than you'd expect just looking at him, certainly. i wouldn't say he's fastidious, exactly, because he's not neat, but if he's not clean he's uncomfy and he's gonna do the most possible to not be that. so, so unkempt though, like this is a man who can barely be bothered to pull his hair out of his face enough to see, much less do all of his buckles properly.

finds estinien's armor deeply offensive.

17. out of all the scions, which one is the one your wol gets along with best? what about the one they get along with the least? why?

alisaie and y'shtola, respectively.

alisaie is like. he's never known someone who cares in quite the same way she does. when they meet he's still kind of reeling from the scions' willingness to sacrifice - as far as he knows - literally everything for him and it feels just completely out of fucking left field. there are overtures of care, right, but if you'd asked him prior if he felt he could expect that kind solidarity he would have laughed in your face. they're coworkers, boss. but then there's alisaie, whose willingness to give everything from the depths of her heart because she can't fucking help it is just. from go. she means everything to him so, so soon, and nothing's hurt him quite as badly as losing her twice.

they mesh so well i think because while they're both creatures of action their modus operandi (alisaie's idealism vs ilya's pragmatism) like.... temper what can otherwise be very extreme reactions.

y'shtola, on the other hand, do not abide. i don't think they actively dislike each other most of the time, like there's respect? but that's about as good as it gets. they honestly don't have enough to do with each other outside of explicitly drastic scion business, and even then it's like..... ilya is not involved with the scions in the same ways that y'shtola is, and he's not especially social with them that first year either. he's like. he's alphinaud's minorly distressing shadow, for the most part, there to throw his weight around when all other options have been exhausted. so they drift around each other, and that's all. the peak of their relationship is probably the first, not necessarily because it's better, but because it's frankly the most of each other they see.

20. what is your wol's best quality? what's the thing that they do that really gets stuff done or makes people like them?

oof. well.

ilya would not be able to give you an answer, lmao. he's not perceiving him so you should stop also.

most of the scions would probably say his selflessness - man is not capable of putting himself first except in the inherent selfishness of..... refusing the care of other sometimes putting you first.

folk a little closer to him (alisaie and aymeric, probably also thancred) would say it's that he cares when he shouldn't.

[hazelkjt]

10. how does your wol sleep? very light? very heavy? do they need a specific item to fall asleep? is it easy for them to fall asleep, or does it take them forever? where do they prefer sleeping?

Hazel is a very, very deep sleeper. The running theory from the Scions is that her loud snoring blocks out any other noise that could interrupt her sleep, as it takes A LOT to get her up. Currently the only things known to wake her up early are Estinien performing a full powered Dragoon Dive a few fulms from her...and Meep screaming as loud as he can right in her face.

Hazel does fall asleep fairly easily and can sleep just about anywhere, as long as her tail isn't uncomfortable. Her posture while sleeping depends entirely on if there's something in grabbing and cuddling distance. If she has something in her arms to hold close she sleeps on her side, slightly curled around whatever she has. Otherwise, she is on her back with limbs sprawled out any which way. In most situations her pillow ends up in her grasp before falling asleep, which at the very least helps to prevent holes being punctured in it from her horns.

---------- Pre-Dawntrail Questions

[uldahstreetrat]

7! how does your wol feel about their hair? is it important to them? just kind of in the way? who cuts it? do they take good care of it or are they not particularly fussed about it?

pre-dawntrail wol questions!

Hair is SUPER important to my characters - as it kinda is to me too aha. I might not actually answer this for any specific character, since I havent really had the chance to just ramble about this, but hair takes on such a significance for my characters. Usually in an unintentional way that I notice later, but that's par for the course for me aha

I think Q'ihnn is one of my better examples of this - his hairstyle up until post ShB was really messy and in his face, he was still hiding from some of the responsibilities he had and was ready to drop it all in a moment's notice if he really felt like it. After the Dying Gasp, he's pushed it back out of his face. It's neater, more taken care of. He's more sure of himself. And I did a similar thing with Anais, her old self constantly had long hair and bangs that were easy to hide herself and her eyes behind, but now she wears it braided and pinned up. She's showing more of herself to the world now.

And by contrast to these two, Ophianne is constantly changing hers. It often sits within the same general vibe, but she changes her hair like she changes clothes. It's constantly at different lengths, it's different colors, it's entirely different styles one expansion to the next - she's still finding who she is but anytime she gets close she runs off to change it again.

Zana has changed hers a lot too! She didn't think much of it at first but after Baelsar's Wall she decided it needed a change, and she'd built enough trust with Q'ihnn as her adoptive father at that point that she asked him specifically to help her with it. She cut it short and dyed more of it blue, and has since kept playing with the styling of it to find something that's more her. And she really seems to have finally found that.