#since I think think they already do that in msq a bit when they meet

[thevikingwoman]

Spill the beans about "threesome im not writing" please 😈

thank you Anna!

So the background for this was a conversation/question about which spicy fantasies your wol has, and one of the things I mentioned for Meryta was a vague notion of being fucked by two guys at once.

and then - it gone un-vagued by the most likely pairing would be Meryta with Hien and Tansui, especially if she ends up having a fling with Hien (which I've still not decided on lol). and because - my brain ran off I realized I knew when, and started to muse over dynamics, which I think would be very fun - I think Hien and Tansui would be; sort of competitive (yeah whatever, Meryta is the Main Character, she deserves having people obsessed with her)

my promise to myself to just - write things as I have the idea and not leave things in my mind regardless of whether I actually will write them led me to jotting down notes - even if this is not canon, and I'm not writing it. really him not (except.. what if?)

But - having three people is good dialogue practice too? so some fun dialogue (I hope! )

(cut for length, not explicit)

Everyone settling in and deals to be discussed – she knows Hien has been angling for some sort of permanent discount along with Doma’s tentative allyship with the Confederacy – Meryta finds Tansui leaning against the railing on a lookout platform. It does not look like he’s doing guard duty, and he smiles broadly when he sees her.

“Greetings, Meryta.”

“It’s good to see you, Tansui.”

“It’s been a busy day, today. Everyone has settled in. One should almost think you wanted to find me alone.”

“Perhaps I did.”

Tansui steps closer, running his hand down arm. They’ve met again, since that night in Isari village, but rarely alone.

“And what of the Doman Prince. Or is he king now?”

“What of him?”

“Peace, Meryta. I was merely noticing the way he looks at you, and wondering what that means.”

“And how do I look at her?” Hien’s voice behind her, the man coming up the stairs.

Tansui laughs. “Like you want nothing more than undressing her and whisking her away.”

Hien steps closer. He’s a little shorter than Tansui, but a little broader.

“What if I already did,” Hien smiles, all teeth.

“Perhaps I’ll point out she came looking for me. Again.”

Meryta rolls her eyes, and folds her hands across her chest.

“Neither of you hold any claim on me, nor have I made any promises.”

Something flickers in Hien’s eyes, there and gone. Tansui just chuckles.

“Not looking for any,” Tansui says. “The question is what are you looking for, beautiful Meryta.”

She looks between them, broad shoulders and dark hair, Tansui’s purple streaks glowing in the torchlight. She knows the scars beneath their clothes for both of them. She licks her lips, and suddenly imagines herself pressed between them.

“Is this some sort of competition?” Hien raises an eyebrow, and places a hand on his katana.

“Perhaps it doesn’t have to be,” the words tumbling out her mouth before she can stop them.

[ungrateful-cyborg-moved]

Enough time has passed that I can share my opinion about Dawntrail now. It's a potentially unpopular point of view at times so uh... beware? Idk, people have very strong feelings about stuff sometimes xD

At the very least, beware of spoilers.

Overall I liked the story. Liked it a lot more that Endwalker despite a few things that bothered me. The first half is the most solid to me, because the second half has too much incoherent stuff going on for my taste.

But first thing first. I'm really happy with how well they made us care for all those new people and this giant country. Once or twice, I wished they wouldn't insist on how diverse it is I must say, because while it's nice as a marketing point, it gets old after a while. I have eyes and ears, after all. I can see that for myself.

Wuk Lamat left me cold when we first met her. I was a bit worried about accompanying her at first because she's a character archetype I don't like that much, but she quickly grew on me through the expansion, and I love her now. I do think, however, that the voice acting didn't always match the energy of the scenes (in English. According to friends who use the French dub, it's not an issue in French). Since it also happened once or twice with Koana, I'm gonna assume it's due to how they were directed, but it took me out of the story on occasions.

I really really wish they'd stop with the world threatening shit though. They did it for Endwalker. Fine. Logic even, it was the end of a 10 years old story. Then they did it again with the patches, when really saving the dragon should have been motivation enough. Then they had to do it once more in the second half of Dawntrail, this time threatening the Source AND the reflections. Frankly, it feels cheap and unimaginative, I'm a bit disappointed and worried about what comes in future expansions if they can't find other reasons for us to fight. For a game that keeps insisting that doing the right thing is what matters, they certainly don't like making it our main reason to fight.

The Mamool Ja story bothers me. They survived for centuries on eating bananas apparently and there's no sign of deficiencies so clearly they're adapted to their environment? And if not, nothing stopped them from cutting down trees to make space for the sun? Idk the fact that they spent centuries down there but need a foreigner to teach them how to live well rubs me wrong.

Solution 9 looks dope, though. Loved meeting Otis and Gulool Ja. For Sphene, I understand why they kept Wuk Lamat as the focus, but it felt like a missed occasion to teach her that wanting the happiness of her people and actually bringing it are two different things. Instead, it felt like listening to a teenager telling you that fixing the world is easy when they have no idea what's even wrong with it. In character, perhaps, but frustrating when you have so much more practical experience.

Not to mention that Sphene's issues with the weight of expectations echoe nicely with the weight of the WoL's mantle, and we didn't even get to pipe in to try to connect with her. Or with Zoraal Ja, for that matter.

The twins were entirely unnecessary. Them joining us felt forced and nothing in the expansion made me change my mind. They have nothing to do here except stealing potential lines from the WoL to say out loud the most obvious thing like it's deep. I love them both, but they should have stayed in Garlemald. It's not like the Garleans give a fuck about how the rest of the world deal with their shit anyway, and they visited enough places already. Tural gave them nothing they weren't already aware of.

Erenville got many hugs from my WoL, idc that the MSQ won't make it canon.

I'm still indifferent to Krile, but the Scions didn't grow on me before ShB so I'm giving her time. Still, I would've liked it better if instead of the twins, we'd had her and G'raha with us instead. You know, the guy with actual ruling experience of people from diverse backgrounds.

Slightly disappointed we didn't get to fight Thancred and Urianger tbh. That would have been fun XD

The whole time shenanigans hurt my brain in the second part. Like, if 30 years passed in just a few days for us then they shouldn't have had time to prepare Tuliyollal's defense. The dragons intervening was cool but there were better ways to make it happen without mysteriously forgetting that time flows differently inside the dome. Unless I missed something to explain why very conveniently it aligns now?

I liked the last zone. Gpose bait lmao I found it sadder that Ultima Thule tbh. Though, uh... we were in a hurry. Now wasn't the time to talk to every dead people we met.

Also I don't think it'll happen since he seems to have joined the guards, but I want Bakool Ja Ja to travel with us and Erenville for a while xD

Overall, I really liked it don't get me wrong. Aside from Thancred and Urianger, I don't think any Scion was truly useful however (not even Krile). This was my main problem with the time stuff, but I suppose they're not ready to let them go just yet.

And the graphical update makes me want to travel through all the areas and take screenshots until my hard drive can't take it anymore x)

[oneiroy]

Hi, fren! I did not see the Dawntrail ask game on your page. But I would still very much like to know what Ryss' thoughts on Tural (and everything that happened there) would be!

Hi!! Yeah, I kind of wanted to reblog it to force myself to ponder about Ryss in DT buuut the thing is I can't seem to find something to properly chew on for in terms of new lore for her in this expac so I was afraid the asks would just join the pile of forever unanswered ones already in my inbox ahahahah

Don't get me wrong I really enjoyed playing through DT but I was waiting for new ideas and developments to come to my mind and it kinda... never did? Not yet at least ahahah, maybe it'll hit me like a freight train later on, as it often happens with me ahahah

But uh yeah some random thoughts Ryss has of Tural and the events under the cut, it's gonna be completely random as I try to think through it tho ahahah

First of all, Ryss got everything she wanted and more from her trip to Tural. Sure, she accepted to help Wuk Lamat because she just really enjoys her and her enthusiasm, but most of all she wanted to simply feel like an adventurer again. She wanted to see things she had never seen, meet new people and learn about their ways, and not feel like the weight of the world weight on her shoulders. And she got to do all of that and more!

I think she and Fornax took a lot of time during the rite to go off on their own and simply explore and have some good time together. Definitely giving Erenville new grey hairs when they just disappeared because something caught their eye again and again ahahah

I don't think she was overly concerned about the rite, to be honest. I want to say she had the time to exchange a bit more with Gulool Ja Ja than what the msq shows, and understood that he would not let a future tyrant take his place. Still, she was glad to see Wuk Lamat rise to the challenge, since her heart is in the right place at least.

As for S9 and Living Memory, well.. She obviously has the expected reaction of hating regulators, the way they consider souls and their denial of death. Not only does she see it as a complete disregard for life and what she fought to defend against the ascians's vision, but there's also a form of contempt and pity for people who lived such a strangely sheltered life.

As for the Endless in Living Memory... she has known grief, it brings back a familiar pain and yet... The question of wanting the dead to be brought back or for them to never die is something that she had many occasions to ponder after everything that had happened with the ascians, and she is at peace with that now.

If anything, it was bittersweet in the sense that yes it brought back painful memories, but seeing all of these people wanting to enact their last wishes, that they couldn't do in life... it made her realize that she had little to no regrets. Sure, she had known her fair share of hardships, made her fair share of mistakes, but standing here in that moment with Fornax, she could only draw the conclusion that if it was to be done again, she would go through all again to live the life she had known at their side.

Yeah... that's pretty much all I've got so far I think. Thanks for the ask!!

[myrfing]

6.4 msq spoiler thread

YES! YES....ZERO GOURD FEAST BEASTS

i need this buff PERMANENTLY

EW

ESTINIEN

MAN WHAT

HURLING

DIDNT NEED TO SEE THAT

ZERO LMFAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

yshtola is so good at indirectly cheering people up in that shrewd old lady way. not that she's old just well matoya

I like how they put pen and paper in estinien's room like he's literate

dragons are always wanting to pop out their eyeballs

erenville are you...? the golled more...? can i go with you..

can we kiss

god he appeared on screen and SORRY vrtra but i need him to continue and tell me about his life and I need to go with him

now they're blueballing us about a mysterious letter

i like how zero's just been there like well I guess you know everybody on earth then

margrat. i need more of her bizarre behaviors

i forgort

thancred calling it "social struggles" YOU GUYS ARE MAKING THIS AWKWARD FOR ZEROOOO

these drake ass polar bears

the aetherfont is sooo gorgeous also I forgot my codex broke and nearly let thancred die. long time since ive healed a trust party as well but we go slow smell the ice bears

oh my god :U

thancred: just stick stay close to this one

gourd: slowly turning head with his o_o frontal bird face

they just let thancred tag along just beacause. not to be mean but we could also just meet new people

U Guys Are Leaving Gourd OUt of the Conversation Hinting At Something Happening To Come What The Hell So He Doesn't Get Alone Time And You Guys Are Getting Jobs Without Him Anyway

zero voice Idgaf about that

can the garleans get over their magic fear already you live in a world where there are glowing horses

damn that's crazy

msq is always very strangely gentle and thorough relative to others when it comes to dealing with garlean trauma or maybe thats just my hater lens. anyway the whole they are bigoted and small minded because they'd been hurt stuff is getting old and it's kind of crazy how this hurt people hurt people stuff is the limit here

trust me i dont really want 2

a weird bit about the whole garlemald thing is the bizarre angelic benevolence of the ilsabard contingent. not ONE person has been like you know you guys spent the past half century fucking up the entire world and you still demand respect for your gay ass tower because the imperial family sat their asses in it. anyway i have problems with the whole we're actually a totally 100% saintlike patience goodhearted pure intentioned foreign aid group thing We Have To Save The People Of Garlemald on the side of the alliance since the start but whatever

warmachina.

i dont want the thank you from this man LMFAO

zerooo 8[ also so much of what zero recounts explains. Cylva.

aw that's true jullus

LMFAOOOOO THEYRE MAKING THE WOL THINK OF ZENOS BECAUSE OF THIS CONVO? gourd did NOT trust that man unless you mean trust him to be awful. and what did zenos trust in the wol that he'd fight him eventually? I GUESS? MAYBE THEY MEANT HE WANTED TO TRUST US BUT I ALSO DO NOT CARE?

we're not friends just because someone calls you their friend 29083902 times 💀 i think that dude barely had a concept of gourd as a human being with his own life

an act of trade also can be an act of charity. THIS IS WHAT I MEAN THEIR POLITICAL WRITING IS SOMETIMES SO.....garlemald is still absolutely at the alliance's mercy + they still obviously believe in right by might re: that one line from the old dudes so there's no reason for them to not be cognizant of the fact we can just take by force and doesn't handle the hanging But Why Aren't They? question at all. this was a pity deal and everyone's like friendship and hope <3. im not saying goodwill and sincerity cannot exist between groups but this requires a sense of solidarity that we do NOT have with garlemald considering we still have to step entirely around the subject of their imperial affairs

you see as a nation they're not equals. they're the languishing half dead scattering remnant of an empire that built its wealth and prosperity for a time on war, theft, and enslavement of the rest of the world and radz and the alliance absolutely could just turn the tables and invade and probably just wipe out everyone here without breaking a sweat. of course that's abhorrent but it's crazy that THIS particular pain even the mere thought of it is made to not exist while the garleans get to be complicated about it. they want to keep their national name and pride with none of the consequences and we don't even demand that as if a nation is sacred and untouchable even after everything. I don't get it bro

i like the way varshahn says wyrm

THE LITTLE SQUICH SOUND WHEN I TAKE HER EYE?

glitter guy....

[tishinada]

So, last night @rainofaugustsith​ ran Kass through the Ghimlyt Dark (thank you!!)

I adore the way Raubahn physically interacts with a Lalafell (Haurchefant was also really good at this.) After the dungeon, when you’re reporting to him about Alisaie’s collapse and you get another vision from the Crystal Exarch trying to pull you to the First, he runs around the table and gets on one knee to talk to you and make sure you’re ok. Not really a surprise since, of course, a lot of his story arc has been as surrogate father to Nanamo and Pipin, and except for being a bit over-protective of Nanamo, he’s clearly treated them with respect for their abilities (you don’t get that sort of unreserved affection and loyalty in return if you haven’t.) But that moment really struck me. Even if he did the same with other races, I feel like it was included so he wasn’t towering over a Lala WoL in particular.

Also, Kass wakes up in a bed in Ishgard that’s big enough for about 8 Lalafells to sleep without touching lol.*

Then I stayed up way too late getting her through the opening quests of Shadowbringers, lol.

(SPOILERS FOR A DWARVEN PT OF SHADOWBRINGERS)

I’ve not only looked forward to this because Shadowbringers is so good, but because one of the first things I noticed on Zas was there were no Lalafells on the First. Anywhere. Which is eerie if you like Lalas like I do. But of course, you don’t find out where they are (or even that they are called dwarves) until you reach the level 78 quests just before Mt. Gulg. Even if dwarves are mentioned, there’s nothing to suggest a connection to Lalafells

And because we know the First’s dwarves are so reclusive, I wondered if people would react uniquely to a dwarf (especially an unhelmed dwarf because presumably at least some residents of the First would know what that culturally meant to the dwarves of the First.)

It turns out that yes, someone does. AND if you’re playing a Lalafell WoL, you are given enough information to know your race is called dwarves on the First before you even meet with the Crystal Exarch for the first time:

During the tour, Bragi, the manager of the marketplace says: Forgive my asking, but you are a dwarf, yes? We don't get many of your lot coming down from the mountain these days."

And I have the option to respond with "dwarf?" or "Actually I'm a Lalafell." (paraphrased, I didn’t think to type them out atm.)

Then he goes into his description of the peoples in the crystarium which obviously doesn't include dwarves. So Lalafell players find out their First equivalent are called dwarves long before anyone else. He also adds later if you click on him:

"Bragi: I didn't point them out earlier, but I'm sure you'll spot a Mystel, or another Ronso like me sooner rather than later. Even Viis like Captain Lyna aren't that unusual in this city.

Bragi: Aye, the Crystarium's long been a sanctuary for all manner of refugees─except maybe the dwarves. Your lot prefer to keep themselves to themselves, in my experience."

So, a Lalafell player gets this information way before anyone else. Which is only fair since it would be really eerie (and tragic) to be moving through an entire world where apparently your people didn’t exist.** Instead, you’re given just enough information that a player with a Lalafell WoL isn’t particularly bothered by their absence. And would realize when you’re sent to the dwarven village in the MSQ that you are about to meet the dwarves.

I’m looking forward to seeing what other unique dialogue Kass gets, particularly in Tomra, lol. And because I’m going to lean into this a lot, have Kass’s Shadowbringers glam for warrior:

My HC is that the Crystal Exarch brought the chest piece with him when he met her outside the city so she wouldn’t stick out any more than necessary since lalafell/dwarves are such an unusual sight on the First. And already thoughtfully dyed that shade of pink she loves (considering his hero worship for the WoL, I think it’s entirely likely he’d extracted details like that from one of the Scions who arrived earlier.) Either he dismissed the idea of the helm because he knew she’d reject it, or that would conflict with their story that she was from the Exarch’s homeland, meaning she wouldn’t have the right to wear the helm belonging to either dwarven village. Easier to have her be viewed as an exile.

I’ll post any more unique dialogue as I find it!

*I found the solo duty at the end of post-Stormblood with Zenos was a lot easier as a tank than it was for Zas as dps, lol, mostly because warriors really do soak up most damage with a shrug. It just takes longer than with dps like bard.

**I did check to see if Giott is in the bar at the beginning. She is not, so Kass is the only “dwarf” in the entire Crystarium.

[the-dragons-knight]

FFXIV Write 2021

Prompt #14 - The Dragon Queen

<Post-Heavensward MSQ, Post-Dragonsong War, Slight Spoilers ahead>

Commend - ‘to present, mention, or praise as worthy of confidence’

————————————————————

“That sounds like it must have been so scary, but also like an amazing journey,” Maelie smiled up at Katsum as she petted the small dragonet in her arms, “To have visited another world…it sounds so very strange, yet so fascinating!”

Katsum smiled back as she handed Midgardsormr, who sat on her shoulder, another piece of the cookie she had in her hands, “It was quite the adventure, there is no denying that for certain.”

Ever since the day the True Brothers began their attack on Ishgard and took the refugees of the burnings in the Brume as hostages, the same day that Maelie was dropped from the top of the Vault and Katsum jumped after her only for both of them to be saved by Vidofnir, they had been good friends ever since, especially as Maelie began to have a fascination with the Dravanians. And who better to answer any questions she might have than the ‘Queen of Dragons’ herself. Katsum grew fond of the young girl and told her as many stories and tales that she could remember in hopes to share the beauties she’d seen of the world to another who could scarcely even have dreamed of seeing such things not so long ago. Each time she came home to Ishgard from a journey, she would seek out Maelie or the young girl would find her and they would walk the city’s streets as they talked, waving hello to all they passed by and marveling at how bright and cheerful the city had become since the end of its long war. There was still much to be done to make the nation whole again, the progress so far was still so beautiful.

The dragonet in Maelie’s arms purred as it butted its head against her hand, as she scratched its scales, “You’ve seen so many amazing things, Katsum. I would love to see the Churning Mists one day, and the vast and endless seas of water, but I imagine not all things were so beautiful and good…”

Katsum chuckled softly, “You are a smart girl, Maelie. Always have been. Yes, it’s true, but,” She looked at her seriously, “Don’t let that stop you from going to find your adventures. There are far more precious and wonderful things out there to outweigh the bad.”

Maelie nodded, “Right!”

“And next time Vidofnir, you should ask her if she can show you the Mists, I am sure she would be happy to.”

“Really?! Oh yes, I certainly shall! Ah, I’m so excited just thinking about it!”

Katsum laughed at the giddiness of the young girl as it reminded her very much of her younger self which only made her smile more brightly. They soon made their way to the aetheryte plaza in Foundation, still talking and laughing as the snow fell softly around him. Katsum’s feline ear twitched at the sound of a very familiar voice speaking not far away and she turned her sapphire eyes to lock onto the royal blue regalia of the Lord Commander, and a warmth fluttered through her chest as she smiled brighter. Sure, she had seen Aymeric this morning and every morning since they were married, but that didn’t mean her heart ever stopped fluttering when she would see him. As they approached him and Lucia, who was standing behind him, she noticed that he was speaking to a Lalafellan man and young woman, who were both dressed in fine robes and furs of an Ul’dahian fashion. Curiosity swept over her as she and Maelie moved in closer.

“Ah, good morning Lord Aymeric and Lady Lucia,” Katsum mused sweetly as she smiled brightly at them, her tail swaying happily behind her.

Aymeric’s ice blue eyes warmly met hers as he too smiled, “Lady Katsum, there you are good morning. And a good morning to you as well Maelie, Midgardsormr.”

The little dragon just nodded slightly as he continued to munch on his piece of cookie while Maelie nodded her hello.”

The paladin woman turned her head in question a bit, “Were you looking for me? Is something wrong?”

“No, not at all, but I was about to search for you yes. You see—”

“I can explain myself from here, Lord Aymeric, if you’d like,” The Lalafellan man rudely interrupted her beloved as he stepped forward with a grinning smile on his muschasted face, making a sweeping bow before her, “It is a pleasure to meet you, Lady Katsum. My name is Aguda Kesuguda, head of the stock and trade of Kesugu Industries of Ul’dah. Before I begin, I really must commend your undeniable strength and poweress on the battlefield. I’ve heard many tales, and while I have not seen them for myself, they never cease to send my heart aflutter to recall them, yes yes!”

The miqo’te narrowed her eyes slightly as her smile shrunk into a rather small and fake expression of kindness, shifting her posture into a more regal and defensive stance; the posture of a queen. This did not go unnoticed by Maelie as she took a step back and watched cautiously. Aymeric too noticed, yet he didn’t not say anything, only sighed at the interruption and eyed the noble.

“Yes, I believe I’ve heard your name mentioned before in brief passing. ‘Tis a pleasure, yes, yet what is it that you sought me out for?” She knew that pleasantries from a merchant of Ul’dah meant only one thing: they wanted something done for them. She had not the patience or care for such games either.

Aguda grinned and shrugged, “Ah yes, a woman of action, of course. Forgive me, it is but the habit of nobles to win over the other with flattery, but you and yours here I see are far too smart to play in such nonsense.” Katsum just stared at him and he cleared his throat, “…more so than I thought too. Ahem, I came to beseech you aid in a most urgent matter. I have a shipment of resources and supplies I am trying to transport to the warfront, and every time it begins to leave on its journey to Ala Mhigo, it has been attacked by bandits trying to steal its contents! It’s not been anything terribly dangerous of course, but I wondered if I could ask for your assistance in protecting it to its destination. Or rather, one of your dragons.”

The group stilled and Katsum’s eyebrows arched in confusion, “ I beg your pardon? And please do not repeat yourself, it is just an expression of my astonishment.”

The noble nodded, “Of course, of course. My reasoning for such a request is that while I could hire a group of mercenaries to protect the cargo, such beings can be unsavory themselves and cost right much gil you understand. But dragons are loyal and ask for nothing, with just a word from you and they fly to your beck and call. And what better way to show your power as a queen than having one of your subjects deliver rations and supplies to the soldiers and people of a wounded nation, hmm?”

There would have been a time that Katsum would have shouted at this man that he knew nothing of dragons and nothing of her throne, and to leave their city before she threw him out herself, but instead, she remained quiet and listened to his greedy words with that simple expression of thought on her face.

Aguda seemed to take that bait as a sign of winning her over as he continued, “So, what do you think? Could you spare a dragon to help out a poor old merchant deliver his wares to those in need?”

She saw Aymeric narrow his eyes, “Would they not appear to be supplies from Katsum herself then if a Dravanian were to be protecting them rather than from you yourself Lord Aguda?”

Aymeric had already caught on Katsum knew, and luckily he was laying out the road for Katsum to ride down as Aguda answered.

“I suppose they would, but I have little worry for that. As long as they get the resources they are due, yes? Plus, they would be packed in crates bearing my seal so a bit of publicity for everyone, hmm?”

It is a very interesting suggestion, my lord, but first I must ask,” Katsum clasped her hands in front of her as she asked, “Are these provisions truly yours?”

Aguda froze in that moment and her eyes sparkled silently; she had him, “Whatever do you mean by that, my lady?”

Katsum smiled to herself as she feigned a curious and oblivious expression, “Pray, forgive me for causing such upset, but I had heard the most awful rumor of stolen goods and provisions meant for refugees of Ul’dah recently, and even more unsettling takes of the people trying to take them back from the thieves only to be injured and then arrested on false charges. As some of those provisions were ones that Ishgard and Dravania both had traded with Ul’dah for such purposes of aiding those less fortunate, it seemed only right that the Sultana inform me of these most dreadful events. So again…I ask you,” Katsum’s expression narrowed and her eyes almost seemed to glow in her fury, “Are these provisions truly yours? And I would beseech you to speak the truth, good sir, for we shall know if you do not.”

The noble’s jaw dropped as she moved her first piece into the winning square. Indeed, she and Nanamo had been speaking on the subject just a day or so ago and how the Sultana was worried about how restless the people were getting at being wronged so, and Katsum had offered to keep an eye out. It had been her cargo originally anyway, and such fine Dravanian resources should not fall into hands they were not meant for.

Aguda finally got over his shock and glared at her then, “Uh! The audacity of such claims! I came to seek assistance, not to be blamed for such villainy!”

“Nay, you came here for a dragon —for a “free” guard as you said—that would discourage anyone wearing only tattered rags for clothing too afraid to step forward to take back what is rightfully theirs so that you could spread the name of influence into the city of Ala Mhigo, thus earning potential buyers for future trade. it was made plain the moment you spoke of dragons ‘asking for nothing’. Dragons are loyal to their kin and to those they have come to trust, yes, but if you truly believe they are so blind to follow mine or anyone else’s word and ask for nothing in return like a hound, you are far blinder than you believe them to be.” His jaw dropped again, yet she did not wait for him to answer as she pressed further, “Now, if that is all you wished to discuss, I suggest you take your leave of our city and see to the return of those goods to their rightful owners. Unless…you would like me to inform the Sultana of the information I have just come across and let her and the Brass Blades handle it..?”

Aguda’s face paled, and he tried to retain some of his noblistic confidence, “Why you—”

“Father, please!” Finally, the woman behind him spoke and stepped forward to stand in front of him with a deep look of concern on her face, “She offers you a way to fix it yourself, don’t throw it away with your shame of being caught! I told you you mustn’t do something like this and look where you’ve put us now!” His head dropped as the girl turned to Katsum and bowed her head, a look of sadness filling her eyes as she looked up at her, “I’m so sorry. I had no idea that he had gone through such lengths as this. Please, forgive us, and I will see to it that the supplies are returned to Ul’dah and given out to the less fortunate personally. Please, my lady.”

Katsum stared at her for a moment, looking her over and her lilac colored garments and grey furs. Her eyes showed sincerity yes, but the eyes can be made to fool anyone who looked into them. She glanced at Midgardsormr, seeing he too was staring at her closely, taking in his assessment. With a breath, Katsum summoned Raihogg’s gaze as the dragon’s eye gem began to glow softly and his voice whispered through her mind.

“Her words are genuine as her heart is broken by her father’s deeds. You may believe her as she indeeds to do just as she says.”

The eye in her necklace fades back to its shining red and blue color as Katsum’s eyes softened and she asked the girl, “What is your name, my lady?”

“Kemoda. Kemoda Kesugada, m-my lady.” Her voice trembled as she answered.

Katsum smiled, “There is no reason to fear, Miss Kemoda. I thank you for your honesty and in your offer to right what has been wronged. In return for the good being returned to their rightful owners, I will only speak of the matter being closed with her Grace, nothing more. No names, no suspects. But I will be checking in to be sure our goods were returned as promised.”

Kemoda nodded furiously, bowing low as she breathed, “Oh thank you, my lady! Thank you! You have my word, I shall fix this right away!”

The miqo’te nodded and the lalafellan woman turned and glared softly at her father amidst her worried expression, “Come father, we have much to work on.” With that, she started on her way towards the gates of Ishgard with a determined step in her stride.

Aguda glanced back at her for a moment before looking up at Katsum again and glaring at her, hoping to get in one final word she guessed.

But Midgardsormr hissed first, “Go now, mortal, while I still allow it.”

The deep voice of the ancient dragon seemed to be enough to send the lalafellan man running after his daughter, any thoughts of sassy retorts dying on the squeak of his shout of terror. Midgardsormr chuckled at this before going back to snacking on his cookie and Katsum took a deep breath and shook her head.

“I will never get used to politics and the games you must play,” She sighed.

“No one ever does I’d imagine,” Aymeric mused, stepping up to. her and leaning down to press a kiss to her forehead, “But I dare say you are getting better at playing them. Well done, my queen.”

Katsum blushed lightly as her ears fell back shyly, though her warm smile spoke of her happiness, “Not in front of the child, Aymeric, please.”

He chuckled, and they glanced over to both blink in shock at the wondrous look in Maelie’s eyes as she watched them and she hugged the dragonet tight. She blinked as they looked, “Sorry, I don’t mean to stare, you both are just like a fairytale come true. ‘Tis a love I hope I find one day too.”

Katsum blushed again as Aymeric did and they laughed lightly as Katsum nodded, “I never thought I would have it myself, but thank you, Maelie. That is very sweet of you.”

The girl nodded before Lucia stepped forward then, “Regretful as I am to cut this beautiful moment short, there are other matter that require attention, Lord Commander.”

Aymeric sighed and nodded, looking to Katsum as he drew her into a short yet loving kiss, “Thank you for your assistance, Queen of Dragons. I shall be sure to repay your kindness as soon as I can.”

Katsum grinned knowingly, “And I shall look forward to it. Until tonight, be safe, both of you. And farewell.”

The Lord Commander nodded warmly as he reluctantly pulled back from her and turned to follow the First Commander back to Congregation. katsum watched him go before she turned to Maelie with a grin, “Well, shall we continue our walk?”

“Yes! Or course! Oh, I wanted to ask. How did the Dravanians first come to this world? You mentioned they were from another star right?”

“They did indeed. We’ll be happy to tell you.”

[raelly-writing]

Into the Abyss

Thancred/fWoL, 5.0 Shadowbringers MSQ level 80 spoilers.

I’ve had this in my drafts for ages, but finally was in a decent enough mental space to finish it up. And now I think I’ll go and write something fluffy.

Passing mention of the tank role questline. :)

AO3 link

----

”Y’shtola, Urianger, I need to know.”

Viana frowned at the elezen scholar where he remained seated on one of the undersea rocks. His head was lowered, whether in thought or to avoid her gaze she did not know. There was a twinge of guilt for the forceful tone she’d taken but this was no time to beat around the bush. Besides, focusing on them was better than letting her gaze stray to the silent, white-clad figure in her periphery that had remained stock still throughout this whole exchange.

Standing next to Urianger, Y’shtola crossed her arms, a disapproving frown of her own on her features. “I will not have you prematurely end your life,“ she responded firmly.

“And I am not planning to,” Viana shot back “But I need to know that you can dispose of me if it comes down to it.” Despite trying not to, her eyes flickered to Thancred for just a second. His head was downturned, hair obscuring his face, but his posture was tense where he leaned against the rock wall. Her chest grew tight, and suddenly it felt hard to speak. Swallowing around the lump in her throat, she returned her attention to Y’shtola and Urianger. “I can’t ask any of you to strike me down - for all we know the Light will just corrupt whoever does it into another Lightwarden.”

As if to remind her, sparks of white suddenly danced at the edges of her vision. She bit back a groan as she closed her eyes, though she already knew it did nothing to lessen the glare of the flashes. “So, tell me, is there a way I could strand myself in the rift where the Light won’t harm anyone?”

“Opening a gate to transport thine there wouldst require preparations,” Urianger’s quiet voice replied. “The Exarch did not share how he planned to accomplish such a feat.”

Prickles of pain skittered up and down her spine, making her muscles tense under the weight of her gunblade and armour chafing against her suddenly hypersensitive skin. Forcing herself to keep her voice steady, she spoke slowly and firmly, “You had days while I lay unconscious.” The dizzying lights danced at the inside of her eyelids, taunting her. For all the things Urianger had concealed, right now she needed that resolve of his to do what was best for the worlds at large. “Don’t tell me you did not think of some way to do what G’raha- the Exarch had planned to do himself, or some other way to subdue me if it came to the worst.”

There was a brief silence. “There… may be some way, yes,” Urianger finally responded. “But I hath not the time to ascertain it to be an assured method to contain the aether thy harbour. If thou truly is able to traverse the Rift to the Source, mayhaps there wouldst be a way to prevent thy from reaching thy destination...”

Gritting her teeth, she nodded. “It’s better than nothing at all.” She wanted to see G’raha rescued, but she could feel the Light grinding away at her very being.

It was disorienting how slow her senses and reflexes were becoming – if they faced more opposition down here in the sea trenches she’d have to let Thancred take the lead in whatever fights there were. Her limbs felt too stiff, as though her skin was already in the process of turning into fine porcelain, and the familiar weight of her gunblade seemed too heavy in her hands.

And it wasn’t just her physical body that was affected. Though she had not said anything to the others, while imbuing some of her cartridges with aether she’d felt like the usually easy task took more effort than usual, like her aether was stagnating. In this state, she’d just be a danger to herself, and more importantly, a hazard to the others if she failed to intercept a blow meant for one of them.

As the flare of pain stilled to a mulling, lingering ache, a numbing, cold sensation of fear flared in her chest in its stead. Would she even be able to see this to the end before whatever Ryne had done to contain the Light failed?

A hand on her arm made her open her eyes to find Y’shtola at her side. Her expression was determined, though Viana had known her long enough to catch the traces of concealed worry in her expression. “Whatever Emet-Selch has in store for us, I for one will fight to see you ridden of this burden, my friend.” She turned her head ever so slightly, glancing back towards Urianger and Thancred. “We all will.”

“I know,” Viana replied quietly. “And I hate asking it of you three…” She sensed the weight of Thancred’s eyes on her then, and swallowed, her throat feeling as dry as if she’d swallowed a mouthful of sand. “But… if I’m turning,” she spoke, slow and firm. Urianger finally looked up and she met his golden gaze. The guilt hung heavily over his features. “I need to know you all will do what is necessary, whatever that may entail. Contain me, seal me away until you can dispose of me.”

He closed his eyes for a moment, but nodded. “Thy will shall be done.”

A small, tired smile tugged at her lips. “Thank you, it eases my mind to know that.”

The sound of the twins’ bickering drifting through the cave made them all glance in the direction of where they and Ryne had gone to scout ahead in the tunnels. It felt wrong to keep this conversation from them, but Twelve, she knew none of them would accept the idea. Y’shtola cast one discerning glance in Thancred’s direction then turned to Urianger. “Let us hear what they’ve found.”

Urianger nodded and got up, but paused for a moment. “I swore to thee that I wouldst see this made right,” he spoke quietly. “Have faith my friend, and we shall prevail.”

“My faith in you all never waver, Urianger,” Viana replied with a small, reassuring smile. There was a flicker of something akin to relief in his expression, and he finally managed a hesitant smile of his own before following Y’shtola to meet the younger members of their group.

As their steps faded away, leaving her alone with Thancred in the small seafloor grotto, he pushed away from the wall he had been leaning against. When she bridged the gap between them with a few slow steps, he glanced up at her. There was a hard determination to his eyes, but there was pain there too.

Reaching out, she took his hand in hers, not sure what to say. Thancred’s fingers were cold where they were left exposed by his gloves - her own were not faring much better - but it was a welcome skin on skin contact before he laced his with hers. The comforting weight of his other arm settled around her waist, hugging her close so he could press his cold nose against the side of her neck. Inhaling slowly, she closed her eyes and rested her cheek against his hair, wrapping her other arm around his shoulders. The scent of salt, fish and seaweed clung to him, but she could detect that earthy, masculine tone, laced with gunpowder, that she associated with him - a comforting reminder of the few private moments they’d been afforded in the past weeks.

“It won’t come to that,” he broke the silence with a gruff murmur. “You will be fine.”

She knew it was as much to reassure himself as her. Unbidden, her thoughts strayed back to that first morning she’d woken to him tracing the scars on her back. Despite the heavy subject it’d sparked, the intimate warmth of that moment, the joy she’d felt just resting in his arms, the tender look in his eyes and heartfelt smile… it was a sharp contrast to the cold that seemed to have seeped so deep into her bones that she wondered if she’d ever feel warm again. Drawing a slow, shuddering breath she squeezed his hand. Had it truly only been a few weeks since then? Would that she somehow could turn back the clock to be back in that moment with him again.

But the path would lead here again no matter what.

A sudden flare of pain made Viana groan as white sparks once more danced behind her eyelids. Vaguely, she was aware of his hand slipping from hers to hold her steady when her knees threatened to give out from under her. It felt like something jagged was logged in her chest, making it hard for her to draw breath.

“Easy there, I’ve got you…” Thancred’s low voice spoke in her ear. Trembling, she tried to focus on him and not the pain or the panic that bubbled right under the surface of it. The searing pain in her chest continued, her breaths pained wheezes while hot tears stung at her eyes and slid down her cheeks.

Thancred kept murmuring into her ear while holding her steady, even as she leaned more and more of her weight onto him. Had he not, she would probably have tumbled to the hard seafloor as she jerked to the side and finally, after a series of rib cracking coughs, spat out more of that viscous white fluid. Nausea curled in her stomach at the cloying, numbing feeling it left in her mouth. It was like having a mouthful of fine, gooey sand in texture.

With a trembling hand, she reached for the water canteen hanging off her belt, but Thancred’s hand was already on the clasp, and pressed the cool metal container into her hand.

“Here,” he spoke as he quickly unscrewed the top.

Choking out her thanks amidst the waves of pain, Viana took a quick mouthful of the water, eager to clear her mouth of the vile liquid. Thancred said nothing, just kept her steady when she leaned to the side and spat out the white-tinted water.

She felt him press a brief kiss to her cheek as he steadied her once more, arms securely wrapped around her. These attacks weren’t getting any easier. Shivering, she cradled the canteen in her hands and rested her head on his shoulder, wishing for the pain to subside.

“Better sit down for a moment,” he said quietly.

Nodding, still with her eyes closed, she let him lead her. White sparks still danced behind her eyelids and there was an unpleasant, crawling sensation at her back, as if her skin was shifting and changing form.

Thancred knelt in front of her as he helped sit down on a low rock, staying there with his arms wrapped around her while murmuring soothing words in her ear to ease her through the waves of pain. She was not used to feeling small, or vulnerable or weak and fragile. Ever since she’d left Ul’dah as a teen she’d been used to shouldering her own problems, to carry on no matter what happened. But as she curled herself around Thancred’s solid frame, there was comfort in not having to hide her quiet whimpers while she kept her face pressed against the crook of his neck, to just allow herself to be held and supported without fear of judgment or pity.

It couldn’t have been more than a minute or two that they sat there, yet it felt like an hour before the white lights and stabs of pain slowly ebbed away once more and her breaths came a bit easier. Awkwardly, she loosened the vice-like grip she had on his coat sleeve, trying to will her hand not to tremble. “Forgive me,” she whispered harshly as she straightened her back.

She felt one of his hands leave her waist to cradle her jaw, keeping her from rising to her full height. “You are not the one I want apologies from,” he replied as he rested his brow to hers.

Despite his soft tone, there was a hard undercurrent to it that betrayed his anger at the situation, and those who had shepherded her towards this destination.

He shifted slightly, his nose nuzzling against hers - a motion that had quickly become familiar to her. The memory of Tesleen turning flashed before her mind’s eye. A hard jolt of fear made her jerk her head to the side before he could kiss her - fear that some of that tainted ichor might still linger on her lips, of somehow passing on the corruption festering within her to him.

Thancred froze, hazel eyes seeking hers.

Tears stung in her eyes while her heart ached for that small bit of intimacy. Blindly, she set the canteen aside and grasped his wrist, pressing a kiss to the back of his fingers, where they were covered by his gloves. “I’m sorry I just… the Light… it corrupts, I don’t…”

“It’s okay,” he whispered, the harsh, jagged edges of regret and sorrow all too clear in his voice. “I understand.”

All of a sudden, she felt cruel. If that argument in Twine had gone differently, if she had not been angry enough to accidentally let slip what she’d hid away in the depth of her heart, then… then perhaps he would not have kissed her and they would have just kept ignoring this that lay between them. Perhaps then he would have an easier time to let go of her, to just mourn her as a friend, rather than something more - forever a ‘what maybe could have been’ instead of something real and tangible, something that felt good, and sweet and right that was cut short by the cruelty of the universe.

A hot tear rolled down her cheek. Death was something she had made peace with a long time ago. Yet, this primordial force that was threatening to break free and twist her very being into something wretched and relentless, it scared her to her very core. It would not be clean, or final. Some part of her would linger, like fragments of a cup that had been shattered against the wall, its contents still barely clinging to the shards.

The mere thought of turning on him and the others made nausea twist and coil in her stomach. Thancred was smart - he must know that it was a very real possibility that he might have to fight her, to buy the others time to contain her were she to suddenly lose control. Even if she knew for sure that striking her down would not corrupt the next person into another Lightwarden, she could not ask that of him. Not after seeing first-hand how that act of putting down a loved one had festered and eaten away at Granson nearly to the brink of ruin.

Regret and grief were such potent emotions.

Drawing a slow, shuddering breath, she closed her eyes. “Thank you, for everything, Thancred,” she whispered. “They’ve been dear to me, these past few weeks.” Would that she had had more time with him.

Thancred moved slightly, slipping his hands from hers to cradle her jaw. His thumbs brushed over her cheekbones as he held her gaze. A turmoil of emotions swirled in his eyes, his brow furrowed and jaw clenched. “I’m not going anywhere yet,” he spoke firmly. “So don’t you dare try to tell me good-bye now. Not when we still have a chance to defeat that Ascian and somehow fix this.” There was a flicker of despair over his features, a momentary crack in his stern facade. “Just don’t.”

Viana blinked at him, then slowly nodded as she swallowed. “You’re right.” When she woke in the Crystarium, she had not planned on quitting, to just go quietly and let whatever Emet-Selch said come to pass. She’d fight for this world, and herself. For Thancred, the twins, Y’shtola, Urianger, Ryne and G’raha. For the Source.

Faint though it was, hope did remain.

A small smile curled the corner of Thancred’s mouth, though it did not reach his eyes. Leaning up, he pressed his lips to her forehead. “There’s that determined look I know so well.”

Huffing out a tired laugh, she nodded. “Alright, let’s do this then.”

Viana gathered up her canteen and returned it to her belt, then stood up on only slightly unsteady legs. Thancred squeezed her hand reassuringly as they left the small grotto to find the others. She’d draw her strength from his support, and that of her friends’, as they pushed onwards, further into the darkness.

[foewreckem]

Normally I don’t feel compelled to word-dump my takes on Content when people have already covered the important bits better than I would bother to, but this is my internet square and I can tunnelvision on one part of the Ruby Weapon questline if I want.

I have a lot of friends who could tell you that ever since Gaius was brought back into the MSQ, I would not shut up about how the one (1) thing I wanted from the Source side of the story was for him and Cid meet and have some shit go down, and let me tell you fam this scene was some real Monkey’s Paw shenanigans.

Are you sure about that babe because as someone who has been forced to watch those cutscenes dozens of times, this has never, ever been the impression I left Castrum Meridianum with, unless I fell asleep doing Castrum Meridianum and had some weird dream where everybody is very out-of-character and coordinating the great Pan-Aldenard Circus.

To be fair, I do fall asleep in MSQ roulette a lot.

This is one of those bad parts of the narrative other people have written better about, probably, so I’m just going to print it out and shove it in my mouth and chew on it a lot so it feels as bad as it is.

This is where I might be getting nitpicky with semantics but like, personal grievance is a really flippant way of saying “I realized my mentor was doing crimes against humanity and this was symptomatic of the country’s vibe as a whole and so I took my subordinates and flew off into the night”.

And this in particular sticks in my craw because the game has a very strange, spotty track record when it comes to characters and whether they’re allowed to be mad at the people responsible for their trauma. The particular example I always think of is Alphinaud and Lolorito in 4.1 but to keep this relevant to Ruby Weapon:

We will repeat this display as many times as you got to repeat your CM monologues.

[autumnslance]

Lmao I got three I'm particularly curious about for you on the character meme. Thancred, Lahabrea, Igeyorhm. XD Feel free to do as many or as few as you'd like of course!

You asked for it. We’ll start with That Damned Rogue. The Ascians will be below.

This of course got long, so behind a cut it goes:

Thancred

First impression: I started in Gridania and took like 2 years to finish ARR 2.0, was already spoiled on the possession angle (I spoiled myself, no big), and had just @erickgage‘s affectionate joking summary of Thancred being the guy who shows up 5 minutes late with Starbucks to all the early battles. So I didn’t really get to meet the guy ‘til the Waking Sands.

And honestly, he was stereotypical generic bland anime prettyboy competent guy. His 1.0/ARR model is…just sorta there. He was a flirt, also generic as heck. Really didn’t register too much, until I finished 2.0 finally and then went hard on the MSQ through the patches and into HW and StB 4.0, when I finally caught up to content.

Impression now: Godsdammit.

My first replay through the game was on PunchyCat, starting in Ul’dah, which meant I got to meet Thancred much earlier. I was immediately amused by his nickname for Nanamo, and Papashan’s assessment of the witty Archon. I was more into the lore, getting the first lorebook and reading the short stories on the main site, and playing through all at once instead of piecemeal over months/years made things make more sense. Thancred hits a lot of tropes I commonly like in a lot of characters, so he jumped up to being a favorite.

Gunbreaker suits him as a tank job (thank goodness he can stop trying to tank warmachina as a rogue, ffs Thancred), and tanking in general suits him when it comes to fighting for those he cares about.

I’m interested in the ShB story mentioning why he wears white in all his gear iterations; I’d previously made a post about his color choices and that aspect of character design, but having a lore explanation for his affinity for that color was interesting. I didn’t think his HW model suited him, honestly; way too rough mountain man hobo. His model in ShB is closer to his ARR model, but different enough, and imbued now with actual character, that he’s a bit more visually interesting and while still pretty typical handsome anime protagonist in appearance; his true personality just comes through a lot more.

I’m still forever mad about the unintentional character ‘ship with Aeryn, tho. It took a 3rd playthrough for it to happen.

For myself, mind, when I got into playing and learned his canonical age, it was at the time the same difference between myself and my younger brother. My assessment of the Scion “family” with Thancred being the middle child (esp his behavior pre-HW) maybe helps that. I’m getting to a point, really, where I look at the characters under 35 and think “OMG disaster children, all of you.”

Favorite moment: Oh goodness. There’s some good ones.

‘How was I supposed to know all my girlfriends would track me down and show up at HQ all at the same time: a master class in how to not to deal with multiple paramours by Archon T. Waters.’

His dramatic reappearance and duel with Ardbert in HW 3.1.

Taking out his frustrations by soloing the Coerthas cyclops boss so we can get on with the Tournament and fight Raubahn. (Side Bonus: pre-tournament when he jokes about fighting for the other team to even up the odds, and then: “It looks to be a veritable who’s who of the Eorzean Alliance. The only question is: who came to watch and who came to fight? Hmm…Nanamo. Definitely Nanamo.”)

Making sure Urianger knew he was still part of the team post-Soul Surrender climax.

“All right, which one of you triggered the obvious trap?” Also learning he can hold his breath for 10 freaking minutes–but still gets to be jealous of the WoL, Lyse, and Alisaie for their kojin blessing.

That dramatic teamwork with Urianger to knock Ran’jit down the pit in Rak’tika.

That frickin’ Trolley duty and it’s aftermath with the completed checklist of anime death markers and then just sitting there battered and bleeding and smiling and then giving Ryne a name and a headpat and “You’re family.” Bastard.

Idea for a story: Have you seen my Ao3 account? *grumbles*

Unpopular opinion: While he likely used drinking as a bad coping mechanism at times in ARR’s patches, I doubt he ever really went to blackout, as losing control to that extent, after having been controlled and probably losing a lot of time while possessed, would be awful. We see him drink a few times, but I don’t think he is/was an alcoholic.

I also agree with @ahlis-xiv that his flirtatious persona was mostly adopted. While he probably does have a healthy libido and enjoys time with paramours (that Urianger keeps a handy list of), there’s a lot that’s likely exaggerated, allowed to be assumed, and otherwise used as a cover, given his specializations. It’s also noteworthy how he’s mostly acting the same even after being lost in the wilderness, right up until our foray into the Antitower. The wit/humor gets toned down a lot, but the flirting is cut out entirely after that. He still charms some ladies in the First, based on incidental dialogue, but that seems a general reaction to him being a handsome hero type rather than any intentional flirtatious act on his part.

Favorite relationship: Thancred and little sister types. I do wish we’d seen more of his relationship with Minfilia outside of informed moments and the short stories. I feel like he has a semi-older-brother relationship with Lyse, too, given their antics in the 2.0 patches (particularly the “Hoary’s fighting the WoL, come watch!” and Thancred not even considering how one of his girlfriends would see him sending Lyse to retrieve an item until after and going “oh yeah, whoops”). And now there’s Ryne, and she is totally running things if you watch their background conversations/body language. But that’s kind of where Thancred likes it; find a girl who needs a protective older brother and do what she asks and whatever she needs.

I do have a special place in my heart for the expanded broship with Urianger that Shadowbringers gave us, though. I’ve already spoken on that one.

Favorite headcanon: Everything people assume about how he spoils the nutkin. And really, focusing on taking care of and doting on a pet would be good therapy. Goodness knows he needs it.

Also I assume he and Hilda hooked up at least once during the HW patches. Part of that expectation and cover, sure, to immediately flirt with the pretty, tough, half-elezen guard captain. But also, he spent however long mostly alone, and then only with the Vath and a nutkin for company; the guy was probably touch-starved and lonely and just needing a connection to another person he could relate to (that wasn’t a bug).

Otherwise, again, have you seen my Ao3? Ugh. Damned snarky smart rogues…

————

Lahabrea

First impression: Laughing Organization XIII-wannabe is obvious villain. Wonder what their deal is.

Impression now: So much lost/wasted potential thanks to being stuck as the ARR villain when it was so hastily rewritten and acted, and so little was decided on the Ascians and their motivations yet. A lot of what we learn now retroactively makes him more interesting. The fact he was a workaholic who looked at the workaholic Scion and went “ah yes; that one will do, perfect” makes me laugh.

Favorite moment: I like his interactions with Elidibus. And I am actually fairly fond of his theatrical reveal in Praetorium about the Ultima Weapon, the Heart of Sabik, and casting Ultima.

Idea for a story: Maybe stuff while he’s possessing Thancred. Maybe stuff between then and the Reactor. I dunno; I’ve been enjoying a lot of others’ stories about our first Ascian antagonist.

Unpopular opinion: Dunno if this is unpopular, but some of the retroactive information is to excuse why he seemed so much less powerful than other, later Ascians, but I do think the Speaker could be quite devious and powerful, if he had better writing around him. He suffers for being from ARR.

Favorite relationship: I am not ashamed to admit I am a Lahabrea/Igeyorhm shipper and Hades Ex seems to agree with me so there.

Favorite headcanon: The Speaker likely also had a good singing voice. Another thing good about possessing a man whose primary cover was a bard–excuses to indulge that.

————

Igeyorhm

First impression: Wannabe-Organization XIII also hires women, cool. Wonder if she’ll get to do anything?

Impression now: I’m sad so much got cut from HW; as great as it was, a lot got left on the editing room floor and it shows in spots–particularly where the Ascians connect with the plot. We learn much about her retroactively as well, including how she worked for/with Lahabrea thanks to being the one to wreck the Thirteenth, and change Ascian policy on how to bring about Rejoinings. I still wanna know more about her.

Favorite moment: You beat the whale, good job–thanks, that’s my key now. It’s such a perfect dick move. Excellent timing and taunting. 

Idea for a story: Maybe some of her inner thoughts working for/with Lahabrea. She was a raised up shard, so does that mean they found the scattered pieces of her original soul and force-merged them? I doubt it, since Emet-Selch mentions raising up those who are a piece of the previous office holder, but I wonder if it came with imbuing the new title-holder with some of those memories and knowledge. Perhaps she wonders if some of her interactions/feelings/whatever with Lahabrea are her own, or her tapping into her previous life’s memories. Something to think about, anyway.

Unpopular opinion: I dunno, she shoulda gotten to stick around longer? Or been allowed to do a lot more? Should have been much more of a presence in HW, but I don’t think that’s unpopular so much as unconsidered.

Favorite relationship: Lahabrea is really the only one she gets significant interactions with. Though I wonder about her interactions with the other few women in the Ascians.

Favorite headcanon: See above with the story ideas, really; she didn’t get a lot of time onscreen so there’s a lot of room to make things up, and retroactive info from ShB to make her more interesting, or at least her situation as an upraised Ascian.

[natsunoomoi]

Finished Main Story of SVSSS....

So yeah, I did that. I still really liked the story overall. Some parts are a bit problematic in a way, but also in a satisfying way that is complex and I think can refer to some real life relationships and complexities of that because not all relationships fit nicely into the little boxes and labels that we make and that’s my take away from the ending.

-Don’t like the in-story “original author” still, but also don’t dislike him as much as I did when I started the story now that I got more of his perspective. MXTX posted all of this for free not thinking it would go anywhere really, but it’s true that some people do have careers where they make a living off of their webnovels and fans buying chapters, so that pressure is there. I’m sure that because MXTX is also a fan of D. Gray-man, she’s aware of the similar pressures that even mangaka at JUMP face. Like BLEACH basically ended early because it fell out of popularity with the fans just as Airplane mentions happens to some novel works. To be fair, BLEACH also lifted an entire plotline from another popular supernatural manga including carbon copies of the lackeys of the villain for that arc, so some shade was also deserved. Like Yukio is just Amanuma Tsukihito with a PSP instead of an arcade system or Super Famicom. D. Gray-man itself has also been on hiaitus several times due to health concerns and such. Same as Hunter x Hunter and other prolific manga. The pressure is real and some ways the original author is kind of a mood. He’s also still a huge coward and that’s annoying.

-I feel worse for Shen Jiu than when I did when I was just reading his backstory off of the wikis and stuff from just wanting to see Shen Qingqiu’s beautiful face. Like I felt bad before, but after knowing more and witnessing some sentiments that would have been gut punches if Shen Jiu had heard them, I feel so bad for him. I don’t condone what he did, but I also get it and wish I could hug him. Basically about the same level of thought as I put into how much I like Emet-Selch, but I think overall in the end I love Emet-Selch more because the 5.3 patch update for FFXIV broke me. Man, that MSQ. Like I’ve never been opposed to liking villains and always thought some villains were cool. Like my sister worships Sephiroth from FFVII for instance, but like I was never really into Sephiroth’s motivations in that he’s cool, but his identity crisis didn’t quite strike me as like actually 100% believable that torching Nibelheim and trying to rescue Jenova was justified or a natural reaction someone in his position would have. I like him more than Cloud cuz Cloud is a hot fucking mess of a person and he’s overall just cool, but as a villain his motivations didn’t resonate with me.  A lot of people also really liked Kefka because he’s just straight up insane and like chaotic evil, but that kind of evil just isn’t compelling to me. Emet-Selch though straight up broke me and I thought about him for like months after the initial end of Shadowbringers when you do the fight with Hades. His story is ripe with meaning and nuance and the Tales from the Shadows stories adding more nuance and color to his eternal living torture of seeing remnants of people he cared about constantly without a break or a way to really “forget” and heal. That just stuck with me because I’ve lost people in my life too, and I remember what that was like and how hard it was to even live the day after let alone the following few years. I remember it well even today because it fundamentally changed me as a person, but I was able to find some relief and escape from music and entertainment and going out to have new experiences and travel. Emet-Selch could not, so his story really broke me internally. I bring this up just to make a comparison because I love Shen Jiu as well, but for nowhere near as dramatic a reason as I love Emet-Selch.

Spoilers under the cut

Okay, so since I was just talking about Shen Jiu, and maybe it’s partly because I actually find him to be gorgeous as well, but just reading his story did genuinely make me sad. I found his child form to be a little bit jaded already only because he was an older child already by the time he was bought by the Qius. When Yue Qingyuan was parting with him through the door he was being kind of manipulative there for extra sympathy initially, which isn’t really great. How severely the brother beat him though was hard to take. It was so extreme, like wtf? And perhaps the part where Qiu Haitang said that he’d been “freed” and the part where he was engaged seems to be true-ish, but yeah her brother is kind of really fucked up in how he still talks to him even though he is supposed to be his brother-in-law soon? Like what the hell. But like, the summaries of what he did online and even what Haitang had said also made it sound even more cold than it was. Like once he got going yeah, the onslaught was kind of cold. But he still had a moment of shock where like he didn’t really realize what he’d done right away and needed a moment to process. But after that it was like, well, it’s already done and people came to try to help the young master and he had to get out too. So the other people on the way out after that don’t sound nearly as consequential and it was really striking that not only did he not attack Haitang, but he spared all the other women in the house. Like Jesus Christ, were *ALL* the men in the house including the male servants and other slaves they had assholes to him too? Just, wow. But we don’t get a lot into what else happened there, but if the head of the household is bad and hurts him, it’s believable that other people join in just as Ming Fan joined in because Shen Jiu was complicit in allowing Binghe’s suffering. Really key though is the commentary of both the young master and his first evil master about his age. 

That is such a huge chip on his shoulder because everyone keeps bringing it the fuck up. Including Qingge in another memory later on when he’s already Peak Lord. I know they don’t like each other, but that was really mean. I realize Qingge probably doesn’t care and that was the point to throw salt in his wounds because they don’t like each other, but seeing how much it affected him by him breaking his fan with his hands after hearing that. I’ve had people do similar to me where they make an insensitive comment to try to hurt you without understanding the actual circumstances. My sister did that to me once and I reconciled with her for a bit, but decided not to talk to her anymore again because of some other bullshit with her friends being childish. But when she did similar to me, I never really forgave her for it either. My story is not nearly as dramatic, but basically I had quit a job where I was being bullied by coworkers at the start of the recession and I was looking for jobs, but no luck with anything I was qualified for even though I went on a few interviews. There actually weren’t many listings posted around that time, so I would only be able to find a couple to apply to and by the time my sister came home I’d be playing games to pass the time cuz I was bored out of my mind waiting for something to happen. So then we got in an argument for I forget the initial reason anymore, but she brought up how I “wasn’t looking” for a job and just seemed to be “being lazy” and I just got so pissed and yelled at her that she had no fucking idea what I was doing everyday and that I am looking and there isn’t anything fucking there. I also lost it and threw a stool at her. I’m not proud of it, but I totally get the mood of what it feels like for someone to use something that you are struggling with as a negative to throw in your face even though you are trying *SO* hard to do your best. I especially don’t want to hear that from someone who gave up on their desired career that they were actually good at and making a decent living at for money and also can’t tell when their friends are kissing up to them and crossing a line and won’t stand up to them for being shitty people. Teapot meet kettle, and don’t throw stones if you live in a glass fucking house. I don’t like low blows like that. 

My personal family issue aside though, I felt a lot of empathy for Shen Jiu in that moment. Seeing how he interacted with Binghe on their first meeting after that though, like I was sad for Binghe too, but I can also see where his misunderstanding happened on top of his insecurity. I also kind of wonder if Qingge’s comment also kind of encouraged this situation to happen.  I still like Qingge because he makes up for it a lot later, but yeah that was fucked up.

The gut punch later was when Qingyuan was seemingly dying and tried to apologize to Qingqiu, but all the words and the things Shen Jiu needed to hear. His years of misunderstanding and not knowing and being in pain and thinking he was abandoned. That was painful. Shen Jiu is gone. We don’t know where he is. Maybe he’s dead. No idea, but those are things he can never know. It’s already too late, and that’s crushing.

I still just really want to know more about Shen Jiu and I feel really sad that there wasn’t some kind of redemption for him or anything. Even if it’s like Shen Yuan going into the recesses of his own mind and finds Shen Jiu locked in a box somewhere so actually the both of them share the same body and he’s just watching in a tiny TV what Shen Yuan does with his body. He’d be really frustrated and would probably scream at him a lot with his screams completely unheard, but at least he’d get to see people liking him more and would be able to hear the words that Qingyuan spoke. I mentioned in an earlier post that I saw a theory about OG Qingqiu transmigrating into Shen Yuan when Shen Yuan takes over his body, and I think that’s possible because Shang Qinghua says that when he transmigrated he was born there and was since a baby? I was thinking maybe it’d be more like OG dies when OG Binghe kills him and then becomes Shen Yuan, but who knows.

I mean, also I just crave more information about him. He’s so unfortunate, and I like wish more went right for him so that he wouldn’t be so miserable. Like when you see a character where their life is just shit on, you just wish that you could do something to take away their pain.

And with that sentiment, that’s also why I found the ending to be satisfying but probably a little problematic. Like Shen Yuan is just a good guy and he has that same sentiment for Binghe just because he’s a poor kid with a shitty hand in life, but he’s also like really clearly not gay himself and not actually attracted to Binghe in that way. To be clear, the book does seem to discourage this kind of relationship in that it works in the way the narrative unfolded, but it isn’t one that would work in real life really. That’s part of the depth of it though. Like SY emotionally cares for him and he even remarks that he feels kind of more like his Dad, but the physical side of their relationship is more on Binghe’s side than his, and he acquiesces to it because he feels bad for him because this poor child has no one. And yeah, fine this works in an actual book that we’re all reading and this works within the system within the book where the MC is in a book himself with really screwed up logic rules, but I don’t recommend this method of getting with someone you like in real life. It will not end well. If someone you like is not into you, emotionally manipulating them and crying and also stalking them until they give their body to you out of desperation to console you is not the road to happiness. You also won’t have a pressure timer of life on earth ending by combining with actual hell to push them into bed with you. The fact that SY resorts to this in desperation in order to try to help Binghe to get control of the demon sword is admirable in the narrative of the story in that he’s doing it because he cares so much about this person and that’s fine, but it’s a red flag if anyone did this IRL and put their wishes aside to appease someone else. There will be a breakdown in the future as one person puts aside their needs for the other one completely. Partnerships that work are healthy and equal. That’s not what this is. In the story, the two characters have an understanding though that makes it fine, but I have second-hand anxiety for the idea that anyone would try to replicate this. This is not normally healthy.

But at the same time, the fact that the characters have an understanding to that is unique to their personal choice is also realistic in a sense that life is sometimes complicated and a similar situation could come about, but it is the choice of the people involved. With constant communication there’s a slim chance that maybe it could work out, but it’s hard. The main level of complexity I’m thinking of is that there’s different ways to care about other people or rather to just feel about other people. Like you can have like an intellectual attraction to other people in that you just like talking with them and you’re good friends with them because of that. You can be romantically attracted to someone, but also not feel sexual attraction too. Of course you can also feel physical attraction to someone, but not really care at all about them emotionally or even intellectually. SY has emotional feelings for Binghe, but it’s more on the parental side or even just human in not wanting him to suffer. If this were a points meter, his values for his emotions and just caring about him would be at max, while physical attraction and even romantic attraction are basically zero. Like he also just like cares about him in principle? Like as an all seeing reader you look at everything and are just like, wtf with this shit? How can one person suffer so much? As empthy or even sympathy you feel for them so then if the other person is more not asexual or aromantic that can trigger some feelings which is what happened between these two characters. The reason I say it isn’t necessarily bad, but some shakiness on execution too. But like say like an asexual person is romantically attracted to someone who isn’t asexual, but they still want to be with them. Like the non-ace person has some needs sometimes and even if the ace doesn’t feel it, because they care about their partner they acquiesce to their partner’s requests because they just want them to be happy. This kind of very personal choice situation I think is really similar to basically what ends up happening between SY Qingqiu and Binghe where SY isn’t really interested, but at the same time cares about Binghe’s well-being so much that he actually just wants him to be happy and reluctantly is okay with the situation. IRL though Binghe would be REALLY FRUSTRATING to be so unreasonably needy and like narcissistically abusive in wanting him all to himself an isolating him from his friends and being jealous of them. In comparison, Wangji and Wuxian are a great deal more balanced in comparison, but I also really like this book for the original idea and the complexity of SY’s ultimate choice because I feel like it’s also a bit more real that some people do make that kind of choice. It’s not healthy or guaranteed to be a success or happy experience, but it’s in the realm of possibilities for the kinds of personal choices people can make because the other person’s happiness is worth the minor discomfort.

Ah, I just have a lot of thoughts about this. Part of it stems from myself being ace also and what that means for me. But also getting to the end, I think Qingge is a fellow ace and also similar to me, just serious about his job and loyal to his crew.

I’ve read some of the extras obviously, but I haven’t delved that deeply into the extra materials.

Oh also, I laughed so hard when Mobei-jun just tossed Shang Qinghua over like a chicken. It said like a chicken and it was hilarious. XD Like imagining that panicked sound of hucking chickens in Ocarina of Time.

Oh and ho-shit the alt punishment system came up for SY Qingqiu for screwing up his points. Got to live through half the process of becoming a human stick very painfully.

I guess part of me is still kind of just wondering how Binghe grew to be SO needy. It’s to an unnecessary degree, but I guess without any real emotional or social guidance in the Endless Abyss that could happen?

Zhuzhi-Lang though is a really frustratingly annoying character, but I also like him at the same time. I’m confused by him.

The only other thing I’m like confused a bit about is like, so the 4 sects that are depicted with Cang Qiong Mountain being the top one are like the great four sects, but like...where are they? I’m just asking because of the kind of meta general landscape of what cultivation and Taoism is like some of the events that happen I would think actually would call down some interference from actual Heaven. Like in the classic lit, whenever there’s huge disturbances down in the Human World, like the Heavenly Palace and like the Jade Emperor are like, “WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?” and go send people. I find it really hard to believe that such a disaster as the combining of two realms would be ignored by the armies of Heaven and like Nezha, Erlang Shen, and other notable actual deities up there would come down and be like, “The fuck you guys doing down here with these shenanigans?” Also, Journey to the West is like one of the most like influential books in the canon of Chinese lit and is regarded as literally one of the Four Great Classics. But none of these fools in these “great four sects” know how to stamp a floor and call up the local deity to tell you what the hell is happening in Jinlan City instead of sending your disciples to die? Sun Wukung did that at like every damn city and then also threatened to beat them if they like weren’t doing their job properly. Those minor deities are on the payroll for Heaven, so like...use them? Like I feel like they would know this too because like the ultimate goal for cultivation is to be able to become an immortal and end up on the payroll? I know Qingqiu is supposedly like mid-level or something, but like I think they should like know-ish where they’re going? Like in the future they would become one of those minor gods making records? Are they like not high enough to even talk to them? Maybe not, but I do think like Nezha, Pagoda Bearer Li, or Erlang Shen would definitely come down and be like, “Hey, what’s going on?”

Also like, Shen Jiu isn’t a great character and how he treats his disciples is bad and what he did was bad. But like, also, what is the standard to judge him really? Like Nezha was a dick when he was a child too. When he was 3 he went to a river and was swimming and liked killed all the fish and then a dragon prince came out and was like, “WTF? Why are all the fish dead?” and then Nezha instead of answering him kills him and guts him and then takes his tendon home to turn into a belt. Then like his Dad gets a complaint from the Dragon King like, “Hey, my son is dead! Your son did it. Hand him over so I can kill him or I destroy your town.” So then Nezha’s Dad goes to talk to him and is like, “What’re you doing?” And then Nezha answers him and tells him exactly what he did like it was no big fucking deal that he killed the local Dragon Prince and made him into a belt. Obviously there’s an argument and like Nezha basically rage quits his life and is like, if you’re so concerned about this bullshit I return this body to you and kills himself to cut off his ties to his parents. He was a rude little shit. Then he went into his Mom’s dream and threatened her until she built him a temple so he could get prayer requests until he could be reborn again. His Dad found out and wrecked the temple, so then he went up to go find his master who had him be reborn using lotus flowers. After that after being reborn, Nezha’s first order of business was to go back to his family and try to kill his own father for fucking up his temple and chased him down EVERYWHERE until other powers in Heaven, decided to send down Nezha’s older brothers with a pagoda to give to their Dad that would trap and burn Nezha everytime he tried to murder him. Is this better or worse than what Shen Jiu did? This is an actual god that people worship. A quite prominent and very famous one. Nezha is also one of my favorite deities and I had a huge crush on the Nataku from Fujisaki Ryu’s Houshin Engi manga who has mostly the same backstory as deity Nezha, and I just loved him in high school. He was a good guy. What are the standards here people? I don’t think anyone in any story in China can really judge someone like Shen Jiu doing an understandable level of murder as a response to trauma and severe abuse when they worship a deity that suffered nothing and tried to commit patricide and had a severe disregard for other life. In the cultivation world, potentially, this could be their future boss. I think arguably, he could be worse than Shen Jiu, but he’s a canonical real deity.

The above tirade for me is like a thing I feel like I would have said if I was in the position to be alive in Jinlan City and wanted to defend Shen Qingqiu cuz WTF.

Further, I’m a huge fan of Jigoku Shoujo and Enma Ai did much the same after her cousin saved her from being sacrificed, the villagers found out, buried her a live, made her cousin help bury her alive, and then she came back as a vengeful spirit and set the whole village on fire and killed everyone except maybe her parents who had their souls as prisoners by Enma himself? Can’t 100% remember. But like, on the scale of characters I like that have done terrible things, Shen Jiu is actually relatively low and under some people that are good guys.

[kusinka]

Reasons I love Shadowbringers

Well, I finally managed to put my thoughts into words - yes, after nearly half a year after the release of the Final Fantasy XIV “Shadowbringers” expansion! First of all, I have to admit, that after finishing the expansion (the 5.0 patch) I had “ withdrawal“ syndrome - I was so hooked by how well the story was told, that I constantly was thinking about lore/story days after. I had it a few times already with some books (like The Three-Body Problem or Xenocide) - I loved them so much and they impressed me so much, that after finishing them I couldn’t stop thinking about them. Shadowbringers gave me the same “obsession”, so it’s an  even bigger plus for me, that it was some impactful :)

The world concept:

The concept of the world flooded and almost destroyed by Light was very intriguing and I enjoy exploring it as things were similar enough yet not as same as on the Source. Who would guess, that Light, which normally we would associate with something good (as opposed to the Void) was such scary and destructive force and was able to create such monstrous abominations?

There was something terrifying in the constant daylight and I’ve got thrilled then we returned the night for the first time! Plus Crystarium is my new favourite main city!

The main story in each zone:

I liked the fact that zones were so different from each other and they offered us a different “main theme” - pixies, some ancient Indian/Aztec-like ancient civilization.

Every time I entered the zone and started its story, I was like “meh, ok let’s see how it will go”, but more we progressed, the more I liked each story and setup of the zone/environment! Also I think all zones were well matching the story/theme of each zone. :D

Not, to mention then we meet Alisaie and the whole thing with Tesleen happened - holy molly I wasn’t mentally prepared for THAT! Or at least not in this way... I haven’t expected that SE would drop such scene so early in the story, but it convinced me IT WILL BE GOOD later and I wasn’t disappointed one bit! :)

The character progression:

I think the time difference between the Source and First, served well for the character development. It gave the reason and background to change characters personality a bit - after all, they spend between 1-5 years on the First and time passed, they had their new experiences, problems, struggles and friendships. Also, they matured (omg I love Thancred and Twins even more! <3) a lot and I liked it then we meet them again and noticed some changes about them. PS. I still have love/hate feelings for the Thancred’s scene after his fight with Ran'jit - it had the perfect mood and setting, but I was screaming a big “no, no, no way, no, I will hate you forever if you...” (I cried ok? no judging!) all the time and my friends laughed at me as they knew me enough to know how I’ll react - after all Thancred is my husbando :D

Amaurot / Ascian lore bombs:

Do I have to explain it to anyone who finished Shadowbringers? xD

I never liked Ascians, never - I always found them annoying “the typical bad guys” and when I saw Emet-Selch I was like “oh no, yet another annoying Ascian”, but SE played it well… and I loved it.

We went to the final zone and bum, here you have it - their background story, their tragedy - seeing them in the phantom city (tho it was just recreation from Emet) start to “win us over”.

The more we learnt about the Ascians and Ancient Amaurotian civilization, the more intrigued I was (and probably like most of the players' xD). Finally, Ascians were not only faceless (but still masked!) villains, but they became villains with some “reasons” (tho still it didn’t change a bit they were a bunch of madman murderers).

And we had Emet-Selch - you can pity Ancient Amaurotians and their cruel fate, but not Ascians - nothing can excuse their actions and genocides. You pity them, you feel them, but you can’t forgive them nor forget. I was amazed by this story, especially since I looked at it with annoyance at the beginning of ShB. xD

I just loved the phantom city, it’s architectural style, the music and instance... the instance was just perfect and gave me gooseflesh - we had very nice instances in FF14, but never I saw the instance and trial which were so perfe4ctly matched with the corresponding story... it was just perfect continuation and ending. Every time I got Amaurot as an instance in Expert Rullete I’m thrilled every single time (also I’m amazed to see all these environmental interactions - falling walls and buildings, mass destruction and planet seem from above)! :D

Yes, I was crying and I truly belive Ishikawa-sensei deserves the Oskar xD I was so happy and touched to see she received the standing applause - she deserved it <3

Music:

I haven’t paid too big attention to the music in the game - usually, I had my music on Spotify playing, but this time it was different and I was enjoying ShB OST a lot. Probably, it’s because I immersed myself in the story so much, that the music was the perfect complement and helped to build the overall atmosphere of the world and story.

In Shadowbringers I like almost all BGM - the exception is general battle music... I had to turn it off XD

My favourite BGM is (spoilers in links!):

the final zone of final zone music <3

the final trial boss phase 2 music (tho first phase is nice too!)

boss fight music (in normal instances)

solo MSQ duty music

But Sokan-sama and Music Team made such an awesome job, that I enjoyed BGM so much that I can’t wait to get Shadowbringers OST.

The new classes:

Honestly, I wasn’t super interested in the Dancer - as I always preferred healers as main and magical DPS as my DPS alts - and both Bard and Mechanist didn’t catch my interest before. But I have to admit, now the more I play it and more I learn the encounters and class roration (tho I’m still far from being perfect and at full class potential level) - the more I love it!

Also, my only tank was Dark Knight, so I knew I wanted to try Gunbreaker (especially that now Thancred husbando is one <3) and I really like the style of Gunbreaker (”flashy-almost-like-DPS tank).My beloved Astrologian, was “kind of broken” after the expansion release, but after some changes it feels much better - still love it and it shall be my main! <3So currently my main is Astrologian, DPS alt is Dancer and tank (tho I rarely play tanks) Gunbreaker! :)

All in all:

I expected a good expansion, but it excided all my expectations - I enjoyed the story and the world a lot and can hardly wait to see more misteries and story of the First and the Amaurot to unfold in the upcoming patches! I hope SE will keep good storytelling! <3 

[crystalprincessxiv]

A Sailor Never Sleeps

(An adapted RP log between Ami and Asaigh Hotgo ⌂ Hyperion. Vague mentions to Endwalker MSQ.)

Ami glances up at Asaigh with a weak smile. "Oh, good to see you, love." Alex waves from his spot at the kitchen table, deep into his textbook.

Asaigh looks over at Alex with a wave, before she approaches Ami. "It's good to see you too, love. How... How are you holding up?"

"...I'm okay. It still bothers me a lot, especially knowing the funeral hasn't come to pass yet... but I guess Alex has been planning something to get me... active."

"Let me know when it's close. I may not have known him, but... I'd like to be there for you." She closes her eyes for a moment, before smiling a little. "Well, I don't know about active, but... I do have something we could do. If you want."

"...It's in a few days. I-I suppose I'd be okay with you being there, and I'm sure Alex would too," Alex nods out of the corner of her eye, "...but I don't really want to draw a crowd otherwise." She nods slowly. "...W-Well, I meant in a sense of getting out and not letting this place become a prison for my thoughts... or whatever. But of course."

"I understand. It's not something you want to be a big event." She lets out a sigh. "There I go, being too literal again. But anyway... my mom had a letter ready to send me, for when I got home from Radz-at-Han. It seems she's been wanting to have tea with us for a while. Something about, um," She lets out a breath. "'Letting me finally meet that girlfriend of yours.' Or something like that."

Ami lets out a stifled laugh. "I get it, love." She pauses, thinking about the concept of meeting her significant other's parents at a time like this... but she said she'd honor all requests that her brother had approved. So. "...Very well. If that's what you want to do today, then so be it."

"...I already wrote her to tell her a bit about... everything, to make sure she understands. And if you want to head home at any time, just let me know. I'll bring you right back."

"...Good. The less I have to remember myself, the better. Thank you." Ami pauses. "...I-I don't want to forget, but it's just... I'm sure you understand." She shakes her head. "Let me change real quick and we'll head out."

She nods. "I know. Maybe not the same way you do, but... I know." Asaigh smiles faintly. "Of course. I'll be waiting."

Ami quickly changes out of her everyday clothes to switch into her adventuring attire. She pats one of the stuffed animal's heads on her way out, returning to the common area. "Okay, ready when you are."

"Then let's not dally any further."

The two of them smile at each other and head over to Limsa Lominsa. Asaigh speaks up. "So, one small warning: My mom and I haven't seen each other in at least a few moons, so she might be a bit... much."

"...Very well. I suppose it would only be fair."

"I won't say I blame her, with everything going on, but... I just wanted to let you know." Asaigh steps into the Arcanist's Guild, and she stops for a moment, taking in a breath. "I forgot how long it's been since I came to my old home. I have more in common with this place than anywhere in the Azim Steppe."

Ami hums in interest. "I suppose you did spend a rather good chunk of your life here, didn't you? I've only been in and out of her a handful of times myself as a budding adventurer."

"Some of my earliest memories are here. My mom's lived here for as long as I can remember, so once she took me in, I did too."

While Asaigh doesn't seem to notice, Ami may hear the sound of tiny footsteps approaching, likely belonging to a small animal of some sort.

"...Hm, it's definitely more home to you than it is to me, then. Still, it is reminiscent of what feels like an eternity ago..." Ami’s eyes flicker around curiously, but she's unsure where to direct her attention.

"I know what you mean. It feels like even longer than it really is since I was last here. Probably far too long, to be home-" Asaigh's words are interrupted by the source of the sounds, a deep green Carbuncle jumping up from behind Asaigh to land right on her head. "Wh-J-Jade!" Asaigh reaches up to grab the carbuncle, only for it to hop off of her and sit on its back paws, in front of Ami.

Ami focuses on what Asaigh's saying up to the point the carbuncle appears, her eyes lighting up in surpise. "Aw, how cute... Jade, you said?" She hums. "Does this belong to someone you know? Your mother, perhaps?"

"Ah, without a doubt, that's Jade. And if he's nearby, then so is-

"Asaigh!" Almost from nowhere, a tall, brown-haired Elezen woman appears, striding towards Asaigh before pulling her in a very tight hug. 

"M-Mom!" Asaigh manages. "C-come on!" Ami stifles back a laugh at the appearance of Asaigh's adoptive mother. "I-I think I'm a bit old for these hugs!" Asaigh struggles a little, but it's no use. 

Her adoptive mother only tightens her grip. "A year without visiting, and that's what you have to say? And here I thought I raised you with manners!" She finally lets go of Asaigh, who takes in a deep breath.

"Manners, she says..." Asaigh gestures towards Ami. "Mom, this is my girlfriend Ami. Ami, this is..." 

Their host interrupts them. "Miriam Albanesi, of the Arcanist's Guild. It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Ami dear," she says, with a bow.

Ami thought a few moons meant... well, a few moons, not a whole year. Still, trying to hold herself together, she smiles, facing the Elezen arcanist. "A pleasure to finally meet you as well, Miriam. I hope you've been faring well?"

Miriam lets out a breath. "As well as anyone can fare, these days! The end of the world passes you by, your daughter's off on another continent again... it's a wonder I'm as put-together as I am, if I'm being honest." She waves off the words. "But I've been busy enough, at least. We've been aiding where we can with relief efforts." She looks at Ami. "And knowing that Asaigh has someone like you to keep her in line does wonders for the stress, of course!"

Asaigh's cheeks are unusually red. "Mom!"

"Yes, I suppose even with the Final Days behind us, there's still much to be resolved..." She shakes her head. "On the contrary, Asaigh's done a lot for me. I'd hardly say she's given me any trouble," giving Asaigh a short glance.

Asaigh agrees with Ami. "Even outside of Garlemald and Thavnair, there's much to be done. Which reminds me, I should check in on the Vath..." 

Miriam chuckles at Ami. "Is that so? Why, I still remember the days when she was nothing but trouble." Asaigh just huffs at that, provoking a chuckle from Miriam. "But come, let us head downstairs. We can use my office for a spot of tea."

Ami gives a look of amused sympathy over at Asaigh, but then nods at Miriam. "Very well."

Miriam makes her way downstairs, with Jade hopping along behind her. Asaigh smiles at Ami before following as well.

The small group makes their way into the hallways beneath the common area, before coming to a small room. Inside is a simple enough space, with a desk and a few chairs, the back wall lined with bookshelves. Flush against the wall to Ami's right is a small stove, which lights without any prompting soon after they come in, slowly heating a kettle. "Please, do make yourselves comfortable," Miriam says.

Ami blinks as she passes into the office and sees the kettle flicker on without any prompting, but says nothing as she takes a seat in one of the chairs. She quietly glances around at the bookshelves to see if she can't catch any familiar titles.

The books are mainly books on advanced magic and arcanism, with at least one title pertaining to the finer points of carbuncles. But on the top shelf, five history books are proudly displayed apart from the rest -the first three of them written by Asaigh Albanesi, and the latter two by Asaigh Hotgo.

"Now, Asaigh has told me a great deal about you in her letters, but I find that it pales in comparison to firsthand accounts. So do tell me, how exactly did you two meet?" Miriam asks, taking a seat behind the desk.

Ami smiles faintly at the books written by Asaigh being so proudly displayed-- a simple yet effective way to show her love for Asaigh. As memories of her own parent flicker up, she buries them down by responding to the question. "Ah... well, we met at my library over in the Mist. The Crystalline Library. Her guild leader is an old friend of mine." After a long pause, she adds, "...You didn't want me to recount the whole thing, did you?"

"I admit, I hadn't heard of your library until Asaigh first told me about it shortly after she joined her guild." Miriam smiles gently. "She's always had a way of finding stores of knowledge, whatever form they might take-" Miriam stops herself as Ami's words, before chuckling. "Good heavens, not at all, I can't expect you to regale me with every single detail!"

Asaigh clears her throat. "Yeah, please don't mention -everything- that happened..."

"It's a fairly small library, I will admit. Still, we cater to the whole lot of adventurers, sellswords, and all of the above. And our collection rotates as needed," she pauses, trying to stop herself from going on and on about that. "History is one of our best kept subjects, I'd say." She glances at Asaigh wearily. "...Right, good point."

Miriam replies. "Is that so? No wonder Asaigh was so interested in it. In her school days, sometimes it felt like history was the only thing she was interested in. History, and getting into trouble, of course." 

Asaigh lets out a groan. "I didn't get into that much trouble..."

"Oh really? Do I need to talk about when the Yellowjackets brought you home again?"

"...Well, to be fair, I think I could study a bit of history myself. It was only yesterday I realized I knew little to nothing about the High Houses of Ishgard..." She shakes her head. "I-I know my studies focus on other worlds, but Goddess, maybe it's time for some history of this world for once..." She quirks her brow at the mention of the Yellowjackets, but otherwise says nothing. She didn't exactly want to lead Miriam on, after all…

At the mention of the High Houses, Asaigh perks up, jumping at the chance to change the subject. "Well, my knowledge mostly lies in Dravania, but I could tell you a bit of what I know! Ishgard's nobility is pretty deeply tied into Dravania's history, after all, and that's something I learned a great deal of in my travels..." Miriam only smiles as she listens.

"...Well, I suppose you don't have to tell me this instant, but I would appreciate it at some point. I-It would be easier to get the knowledge from you then have to admit to Garrind or even Elfia when I see her tomorrow that I really don't know much about the city that they or their family call home..." She hums, thinking. "I never would've thought it would be connected to Dravania in some way, though... I suppose it does make sense..."

Asaigh was about to continue on her ramblings when Ami spoke again, and that finally helped her settle down. "Er, right, maybe now's not the best time. But, yeah, they're connected in a few ways..." The kettle began to lightly whistle on the stove, causing Miriam to perk. "Ah, it's just about that time," she says, flicking her hand towards the stove. With seemingly little magical effort, the kettle lifts itself up, pouring boiling water into a teapot nearby.

Ami smiles. "Of course. But, you know how much I like to hear you talk about history, so I will have to make time in my schedule for it at some point." She faintly watches the kettle float up on its own, comparing it to similar magicks she uses a lot at the library.

"Just let me know when my timeslot is, and I'll talk your ear off." Asaigh grins at Ami, gazing gently into her eyes. 

Miriam makes a mental note of when the tea began steeping, but couldn't help but chuckle. "No wonder you're so special to Asaigh, if you like her history lectures as much as she says."

"I'll admit, learning history from a historian is much more interesting than reading a textbook. Not to mention the historian's my girlfriend," she says with a slight tease, gazing back. "Alex has me booked solid for a few days yet, but I will let you know."

"That, I can't disagree with. Though I'll admit to a bias towards hearing which history has my daughter's interest these days," Miriam says. 

Asaigh, meanwhile, blushes just a little under that teasing gaze. "Heh, that's all I ask."

After a few minutes, the teapot lifts itself up again, pouring what smells like chamomile tea into three teacups.

"I'd imagine so-- and I'm sure I'd be the same way. Though, I know each and every one of the staff and patrons has at least one topic they're proficient in and could talk about for hours, I'm sure." She smiles at the thought of it.

"I think everyone in that library could talk for hours about at least one thing, as long as you find it. Lot of like minds in there," Asaigh says, with a similar smile. "I guess that's why I like it there so much."

"Asaigh's always been most at home among her fellow scholars," Miriam says, as a cup of tea settles in front of each of them. "Now then, I believe Asaigh told me you were partial to chamomile tea?"

"M-hm. Me too. I'm glad the chance I've been afforded to pull together those like-minded individuals... including yourself," a soft smile appearing. Her smile fades a bit as she turns to Miriam. "Ah... yes, though I'd drink any tea you give me." She pauses, gazing at the tea. She just had this on her outing yesterday, too, but it wasn't like she was going to tire of the taste that easily. "It just holds sentiment more than anything."

Asaigh smiles right back. "Well, I know we're all glad to have been pulled together, so to speak." 

Miriam nods, taking her first sip. "That, I can certainly understand. My own fondness for coffee cake comes from a similar place..."

Ami nods. "Me too." She hums at Miriam. "Would you want to elaborate on that story, unless you have something more important to talk about...?"

"Oh, it's nothing special. I used to have coffee cake with my sisters every third day of the week. After the Calamity, we drifted apart somewhat, but I retain that fondness still."

Ami nods. "I suppose it's no different than mine-- though, it was my friend's chamomile tea that brings back memories to a time much simpler." She takes another sip of her tea, then stares into the cup, a little distant.

Miriam similarly falls silent, saying little else. Asaigh stares into her own cup of tea for a moment, trying to think of something to lighten the mood. "...My research in Radz-at-Han has been going well," she eventually says, which causes Miriam to perk up. 

"I have been wondering what drove you to Thavnair, of all places. And with hardly a word to me!"

Ami tries to engage as best as she can. "What kind of research?"

"I've been trying to learn at least the basics of Thavnairian alchemy," Asaigh says. "I thought studying their methods would help me to learn more of their history."

Ami raises her hand to her cheek and taps a finger against it in thought. "I suppose alchemy is pretty important over there... Rosey similarly took interest in their alchemy mainly because she thought it could be applied to magitek in some way."

"It's actually quite fascinating. They use alchemy in the same ways some of us use magic or magitek. It's nearly a completely different way of looking at how the world works. So..." Asaigh rubs her cheek a little. "It has been slow progress. But progress all the same." 

Miriam smiles at that. "Honestly, is there anything you -won't- try to learn?"

Ami takes another sip of her tea as she listens to the information. "I see... it does seem quite different in some ways, yes. I wouldn't mind learning a bit myself someday... maybe after I study some history, first," she scratches her cheek in embarrassment. Listening to other places' history really made her realize how little she knew of Hydaelyn as a whole. She smiles at Miriam. "It would make a boring life if we didn't always pursue new avenues of knowledge, wouldn't you agree?"

"Oh, most certainly. My specialty may lie in the magics behind carbuncles - Jade is living proof of that. But it would make for a quite a dull life if I didn't at least dabble in other magics," Miriam says, taking another sip of tea. "And Asaigh here has certainly learned that lesson well, learning quite a few disciplines - at least according to her letters." 

Asaigh chuckles a little, perhaps in embarrassment. "Well, I had the chance to learn new things, of course I took each one..."

Ami nods. "Same here. My current studies are in Scholar magics, but I've also been learning Paladin arts and, uh... Black Magic, of sorts." She bites her tongue after the last one, knowing black magic wasn't widely accepted. "But other than that... I like to study on other useful magic too." She crosses her arms, thinking. "I faintly heard something from Hikaru about somanoutics-- the art that Sages use... I'd like to learn more about that someday too, I think."

Miriam blinks a few times. "Black Magic, hm? I wonder if you've met Asaigh's Miqo'te friend..." she nods. "Ah, the Sharlayan art, yes? I know quite little of it myself, but perhaps the Sharlayans will be *slightly* more open about that sort of knowledge." 

Asaigh rolls her eyes. "Yeah, one can hope..."

"V'rhaka? Yes, we've met. Though, I'm learning from my brother." She nods. "Hikaru is my assistant director and a Sharlayan native. He did say that they'd be a bit more open about it after all that's come to pass, yes."

Miriam nods. "I can understand that. From what I remember of our last meeting, she would certainly make for an eccentric instructor..." 

Asaigh chuckles a bit. "No kidding. But... well, if Hikaru says so, I'll believe him. Maybe next time I petition to enter Sharlayan, it'll actually go through..."

Ami replies. "Hikaru might've been with the three of us in Thavnair during that strange transition period for his country, but his family quickly filled him in on the details. I'd imagine if they don't accept your petition-- which I don't see why not at this point-- Hikaru could vouch for you."

"From what I've heard, I'm surprised they didn't drag him back to Sharlayan... but I'm digressing." Asaigh drains the last of her cup, setting it down on the table. "We'll see, but I don't see why it wouldn't happen either, now." 

Miriam nodded. "Yes, with the Final Days passing, I'm sure Sharlayan has much less reason for secrets."

Ami hums, trying to recall. "I believe they left on their own accord, and only his grandparents were the reason they returned. I think he said something about them ultimately wanting him and his family around for the holidays, but you'd have to ask him." She nods. "That seems to be the case. Which is why if I get a chance at studying somanoutics, I'll take it."

"They do seem like they would fit you well, Ami dear," Miriam says. "Though, I also once thought Asaigh was destined to be a great Arcanist, so what do I know?" She laughs a little, finishing her tea. 

"Hey, I still study arcanism!" Asaigh laughs as well. "Just, you know. Among other disciplines."

"To be fair, Asaigh and I have a lot of disciplines to go around. Arcanist, Dragoon, now Gunbreaker... and of course, being a Sage would be my fourth alone." She takes a sip of her tea, only now realizing she was at the bottom of it herself. She tried to keep herself from pouting-- she could probably ask for more, but she could also brew a fresh pot when she got home... that sounded nice for her and Alex both.

Miriam smiles again, thinking for a moment. "Hm, I remember when I wanted to master every discipline I could find. Arcanism, marauding, I even took a turn at the armorer's forge... but that was a long time ago." She looks up at the window, to see the reddening light of the sunset. "Oh dear, is it really that late already? I do hate to end things so abruptly, but..." 

Asaigh shook her head. "No, it's okay, Mom. Really. I'm just glad we can finally see you."

"Yes, it was a pleasure to meet you, Miriam." Ami pauses. "M-Miriam is okay, right?"

Miriam responds. "As long as it's what you're comfortable with, Ami dear. It was quite a pleasure to meet you too. And Asaigh... do try and visit again a -little- sooner? A mother worries, you know!" 

Asaigh looks away. "Er, yeah, I know... I will."

Ami smiles between them. "Have a good night, then, Miriam," as she gently takes Asaigh's hand and squeezes it. "Shall we head back?"

Asaigh squeezes her hand right back. "Yeah. Let's get you home."

The two of them stand out the front gate of the free company house, finding their parting words. "...Thank you, Asaigh." She rubs her hands nervously. "That... went a lot easier than I expected, at least."

"...I'm glad. To be honest, I was a bit worried my mom would be too much, but... it seems that was mostly aimed at me."

"I feel like that's a family thing in general, isn't it? Rather than make the guest uncomfortable, they direct their attention to their relative." Ami stifles a laugh.

Asaigh snorts a little, looking  away. "Well, I'm glad to take the brunt of it, at least. As long as you felt alright, you know?"

"Mm. Yes, I think there was bound to be some distance due to what happened, but ultimately, I'm glad to have met her."

"I'm glad too." Asaigh smiled a little, reaching for Ami's hand. "Let me know if you need anything at all, okay? I'll drop everything and come running."

"Of course. I'll let you know. Good night, love. Safe travels home." Ami smiles at Asaigh.

"Good night, my love. Sweet dreams." Asaigh smiles right back as Ami heads inside the house, trying to leave her burdens at the door.

[roses-and-grimoires]

Character Study

(Cut for length.)

1. What’s the maximum amount of time your character can sit still with nothing to do?

Idristan likes to think that he wants to settle down somewhere, maybe focus on writing down everything he’s learned about voidsent and voidtouched, and start a very nice garden. But in truth, I don’t think he’s ever really gonna do that. He gets really restless when he has nothing to do. Plus, it doesn’t do his self-destructive habits any good...

2. How easy is it for your character to laugh?

Depends on how you’re going about it. He can appreciate wit and laughing at others. More traditional jokes might not fly as well.

3. How do they put themselves to bed at night (reading, singing, thinking?)

These days? He’s been mainly using a combination of alcohol and potions to more or less pass out. Usually he would read or think for a bit.

4. How easy is it to earn their trust?

Idristan believes in varying degrees of trust. Getting him to trust you completely is hard. He’s been living with some secrets that could get him killed for years, and it’s really hard to get him to open up entirely with anyone because of that--at least, if he gets a choice in the matter.

5. How easy is it to earn their mistrust?

Fairly easily. Again, varying degrees.

6. Do they consider laws flexible, or immovable?

Very flexible. Idristan believes in doing what is right--specifically, what he believes is right. If that means doing things that are illegal in the pursuit of that, then so be it.

7. What triggers nostalgia for them, most often? Do they enjoy that feeling?

Spending time in the Brume. The smell of beef stew. Snow on Starlight. And it’s mixed for him. He enjoyed his childhood, as much as could be expected, but there’s a lot of guilt and regret there now too. He is sorry he couldn’t be there for his sister for all those years or speak to his mother again before she died.

8. What were they told to stop/start doing most often as a child?

To stop getting into fights.

9. Do they swear? Do they remember their first swear word?

Oh, yeah. He mainly sticks to blasphemy, but slips in a bloody, shite, or fuck now and then. All that Limsan influence lately. And yes. If only because his mother came down hard on him for it.

10. What lie do they most frequently remember telling? Does it haunt them?

Honestly, it’s hard for him to keep track. Once you’re gone through a couple of different identities and general lying about your past, it can be hard to keep straight. Perhaps saying he’s fine when he’s really not--and that one has gotten him into trouble before.

11. How do they cope with confusion (seek clarification, pretend they understand, etc)?

He’ll ask for clarification. Often not very nicely, but he’ll ask.

12. How do they deal with an itch found in a place they can’t quite reach?

Grumble and try to ignore it.

13. What color do they think they look best in? Do they actually look best in that color?

Black, of course. And it’s not bad on him, though he can pull off white fairly well too.

14. What animal do they fear most?

Dragons. Certain voidsent.

15. How do they speak? Is what they say usually thought of on the spot, or do they rehearse it in their mind first?

Carefully. He tends to hold back a lot (see lack of trust). Certain topics you practically see his mind working as he judges answers.

16. What makes their stomach turn?

Working with cultists.

17. Are they easily embarrassed?

Yes. He is rather prideful.

18. What embarrasses them?

Weakness. Admitting he made a mistake.

19. What is their favorite number?

13

20. If they were asked to explain the difference between romantic and platonic or familial love, how would they do so?

“One is about the person you want to spend the rest of your life with and would do anything for.... the other is about your sister.”

21. Why do they get up in the morning?

Because lying around doing nothing is far worse.

22. How does jealousy manifest itself in them (they become possessive, they become aloof, etc)?

He tends to become possessive, and a bit sulky as well.

23. How does envy manifest itself in them (they take what they want, they become resentful, etc)?

Sooo much resentment. So much. He’s far better about it now that’s he’s older, but it flares up every now and then.

24. Is sex something that they’re comfortable speaking about? To whom?

To his partner he’s fine with it. To everyone else, not really. He thinks it’s something that should be kept private. Basically he’s still a bit of a prude--though he’s getting better about it.

25.  What are their thoughts on marriage?

He likes the idea. He’s very much a monogamist and a traditional romantic. While he could live happily with a partner without ever making it official, there’s part of him that wants to do the whole ceremony and everything.

26. What is their preferred mode of transportation?

Anything but airships. Seriously. Anything.

27. What causes them to feel dread?

The thought that his secrets might come out. The idea that he might lose himself or hurt someone because of one of them. Inquisitors. Airship travel.

28.  Would they prefer a lie over an unpleasant truth?

No.

29. Do they usually live up to their own ideals?

Yes, but he usually doesn’t see it that way himself. His standards for himself are far higher than those he keeps for other people.

30. Who do they most regret meeting?

Uathach, Draidetch, Richaud.

31. Who are they the most glad to have met?

@solennelagarde​, of course. And @ser-gemini​. And @synn-heolstor​ and Michaux... not he would ever admit that to either of their faces. And ARK as a whole is slowly getting there.

32. Do they have a go-to story in conversation? Or a joke?

No, he tends to wing it. And since most of his jokes are either at someone’s expense or rather grim and fatalistic, it’s perhaps for the best he doesn’t always start with them.

33. Could they be considered lazy?

Kind of. He gets bored easily, and that tends to result in him slacking off--or trying to pin whatever it is on someone else. If it’s something he actually cares about though? Hello obsession, my name is Idristan.

34. How hard is it for them to shake a sense of guilt?

That’s actually possible? Someone should really tell him; the guy hangs onto things and just beats himself up, sometimes for years. It’s not pretty.

35. How do they treat the things their friends come to them excited about? Are they supportive?

If it’s something that interests him, he’ll share in the excitement, at least to a degree. If not, you’re more likely to get a “yeah, that’s nice” and perhaps an attempt to change the topic.

36. Do they actively seek romance, or do they wait for it to fall into their lap?

He tends to wait for it.

37. Do they have a system for remembering names, long lists of numbers, things that need to go in a certain order (like anagrams, putting things to melodies, etc)?

For names he tries to memorize them along with the face. Or... sometimes tries, if he thinks it’ll actually be worth it. Long lists and numbers I can see him trying to turn into songs, or at least something he can hum.

38. What memory do they revisit the most often?

The happy ones are mainly of his family and the time he spent with Solenne and all of his friends in the last free company he was apart of. He doesn’t really try to dwell on them, especially now.

The unhappy ones... well, those tend to come up in nightmares and certain places. There are reasons he avoids certain places in the Shroud now.

39. How easy is it for them to ignore flaws in other people?

Very, very difficult.

40. How sensitive are they to their own flaws?

Oh, he’s aware of them. He just chooses to ignore them.

41. How do they feel about children?

He likes them. He wants some of his own one day.

42. How badly do they want to reach their end goal?

Extremely. It’s honestly a bit unhealthy.

43. If someone asked them to explain their sexuality, how would they do so?

“I mainly like women. Not that it’s likely any of your concern, because flings don’t really tend to interest me.”

QUESTIONS FOR CREATORS A) Why are you excited about this character?

He’s fun. He’s prickly enough to create conflict, but also has that hidden sense of empathy and concern for others--one that he will vehemently deny if you push him on it. He also has some fairly lofty goals that give him a direction to move in--even if it’s unlikely that he’ll ever achieve a few of them, watching him struggle is entertaining. Plus, he’s got a lot of stuff that he struggles with, so that can come into play--and a few secrets that can be danced around. Basically it’s just easy to throw him into things and see what happens. That and he’s gone through some really interesting growth already, and I’m interested in seeing which direction he moves in now.

B) What inspired you to create them?

Honestly? Two things. Thanks to the MSQ and some Ishgard rp I really started to like the setting and wanted an Ishgardian to play around on. Second, I fell in love with the characters from a podcast--or at least, the idea for one. Basically there was one guy who started out as a psychologist then got dragged into the occult and became a paranormal investigator. So I took the basic idea, twisted it a bit (voidsent hunter instead of investigator), and found a way to make it work with an Ishgardian backstory. He actually ended up pretty different than said character as a result, especially motivation-wise. C) Did you have trouble figuring out where they fit in their own story?

Sometimes. I feel like I’m really not that great at coming up with long-term plots, plus it hasn’t always been easy to find people that he bounces off of well. D) Have they always had the same physical appearance, or have you had to edit how they look?

Pretty much the same. I settled on what he would look like really on once I had an idea what I was working on.

E) Are they someone you would get along with? Would they get along with you?

No, probably not. I mean... the guy’s kind of a jerk. And he’s pretty particular about the people he likes. F) What do you feel when you think of your OC (pride, excitement, frustration, etc)?

Sometimes I just want to facepalm cause he’s a stubborn idiot who doesn’t always think about peoples’ feelings. But I’m proud of all the ways he’s changed too. G) What trait of theirs bothers you the most?

He is really self-destructive. He’s got some bad habits that he is actively not working on, has a bad tendency of pushing people away, and just.... being too prideful and stubborn to admit that he needs help. H) What trait do you admire most?

His stubbornness, ironically. He’s gone through a lot, yet he’s still around and he’s still empathetic to other people. He wants to do some good in the world. He hasn’t let it turn him completely resentful and bitter. I) Do you prefer to keep them in their canon universe?

I usually come up with new characters for new settings. An AU could be interesting though. J) Did you have to manipulate or exclude canon factors to allow them to create their character?

I had to dive really into Ishgard lore to make sure that I was getting everything right (hell, I had to check something fairly recently). So I feel fairly confident his backstory makes sense and fits with what we know. There’s been some other stuff that’s happened to him that’s a bit lore-bendy, and while I feel like I can justify it really well, I acknowledge what it is.

Tagged by: @ser-gemini​ Tagging: Anyone who wants to. It’s a bit long, so if you feel like it consider yourself tagged!