#spoilers for everything really up through Endwalker

[rainofaugustsith]

Who is a shard? - Updated

Just for fun I keep a mental list of who I think is a sundered in FFXIV. Short list here; explanations behind the cut. 1. Warrior of Light (S) - Ardbert (F) - Zero (13th) - Golbez 1.0 (13th)  2. Minfilia (S) - Ryne (F) - Golbez 2.0/Durante (13th) 3. Yotsuyu (S) - Barbariccia (13th) 4. Shatotto (S, black mage story) - Matoya (S) (same shard reincarnated; thank you for this suggestion @tishinada!) 5. Ququruka Tataruka (S, black mage story) - Nyelbert (F, Warrior of Darkness) - Unukalhai (13th/F) 6. Zenos (S) - Vauthry (F) - Cagnazzo (13th) 7. Hautdlong (S) - Traynor (F, Magic DPS role quest) - Rubicante (13th) 8. Solkzagyl (S, paladin story) - Branden (F, Warrior of Darkness) 9. Leih Aliapoh (S, archer story) - Renda-Rae (F, Warrior of Darkness) 10. Gerold (S) - Grenold (F) 11. Rowena (S) - Mowen (F) 12. Drusilla (S) - Lorathia (F) 13. Urianger (S) - Cyella (13th/F, Warrior of Darkness) 14. Haurchefant (S) - Ser Tolas (F) - Otis (9th) 15. Lalai (S, black mage story) - Lamitt (F, Warrior of Darkness)

If the Warrior of Light IS a Golbez, I believe it's the one who was in the memoria crystal and became Zeromus. 

- In the First, the Warrior of Light barely escapes succumbing to the Light and becoming a Lightwarden. - In the 13th Golbez 1.0 succumbs to the Darkness and does become a voidsent. We have a parallel there. 

Golbez is also recognised by passerby in much the same way as the Warrior of Light on the Source. In the Lunar Subterrane dungeon, passerby seem to recognize the Warrior of Light as Golbez. 

However: 

- The Warrior of Light's personal crystal from Hydaelyn resonates with Zero.  - Zero has an extraordinary trust of the Warrior of Light.  - Zero's dialogue in the last sequence is very Warrior of Light-esque.  - Zero as a reaper avatar did not voluntarily work with Zenos. If she shares a soul with the Warrior of Light, it would explain why Zenos wanted her. He's obsessed with the WoL, after all.  - Zero was thrown into the rift to avoid being killed, exactly like the Warrior of Light before ARR. 

During the final dialogue between Zero and Golbez 2.0, the Warrior of Light is not seen, and there seems to be an Echo flicker. Zero also finds the strength to regain her form as a paladin. It could possibly be because the Warrior of Light lent her strength to Zero and briefly merged with her. 

I feel like there's a possibility an Azem shard from another reflection somehow ended up being filtered to the 13th - perhaps as an attempt by Hydaelyn to give them help and avoid destruction. Hydaelyn would have been at her most powerful and we know that even after Shadowbringers she has enough power to bring Minfilia and Emet-Selch's souls back to the aetherial sea on the Source. So this would have been simple for her when the 13th was going downhill.  The names Zero and Zeromus are very similar and we know SQEnix doesn't choose names randomly, so maybe this is meant to pull the player toward realizing both are Azem shards.

Minfilia (S) - Ryne (F) - Golbez 2.0/Durante (13th)

Minfilia and Durante both have the same braids on the sides of their heads - just opposite- the same hair color and the same eyes. -

In Shadowbringers, Minfilia refers to the WoL as her "dearest friend" and is very affectionate toward her even after they've just met in ARR.

If your WoL has carried over from 1.0, Minfilia remembers the WoL clearly when nobody else, including those with the Echo like Papalymo, does not.

Minfilia, as Antecedent of the Scions, is also really successful at bringing together a lot of disparate recruits.

In addition, while Minfilia in the Source is not a fighter, she does stop the entire Flood of Light on the First with the Warriors of Darkness' help. Also, her numerous incarnations in the First all are documented to have fought very successfully against Sin Eaters. 

Minfilia in the First stops the Flood of Light. Her shard in the 13th causes the Flood of Darkness. It really makes sense and brings things full circle. 

Yotsuyu (S) - Barbariccia (13th) Both of these characters have an overwhelming desire for freedom and were wronged terribly by horrible families. There's a vibe about them that matches.

Zenos (S) - Vauthry (F) - Cagnazzo (13th)

Cagnazzo is depicted as being someone who gets off on fighting, believes in no one, and is searching for the perfect fight to fulfill him. That forms the core of his identity. I don't think they could make this any clearer. 

- Vauthry was turned into a monster by his parents and Emet-Selch; Zenos was turned into a monster by his father and Emet-Selch. 

- Vauthry controls those in and around Eulmore by feeding them meol, which when activated turns them into his unwilling servants. Zenos controls those in and around Garlemald with his towers, which when activated temper anyone who isn't protected and turn them into his unwilling servants.  - Both the towers and the meol are made with body parts of the dead.

Both think of absolutely nothing but their own gratification and see those around them as mere tools to be exploited. 

Hautdlong (S) - Traynor (F) - Rubicante (13th)

Rubicante is a noble mage who watches his friend die and mourns for him forever. That's the story of Traynor and Nyelbert exactly. Traynor and Unukalhai are obviously kindred spirits - when U. comes to the First, Traynor comments that he can work with U. like he's known him forever. As though he's Nyelbert's shard.

Urianger (S) - Cyella (13/F)

Both are Elezen with grey hair and questionable pasts. - Cyella betrays her friends to try to save her world, but make amends and saves them in the end by rescuing their bodies from possession as the Cardinal Virtues.   - Urianger betrays his friends to try to save his world, but makes amends and saves them from being defeated by the Warriors.  - In the scenes where the Warriors of Darkness fight the Scions, Urianger appears as the sixth "Warrior," in the spot Cylva occupies with the WoD on the First. 

Haurchefant (S) - Ser Tolas (F) Both are noble Elezen knights who are fast friends with the Warrior of Light/Darkness. Tolas is more contemplative, perhaps, but he also gets the Warrior of Darkness to go sit in the spa with him after just meeting them, as though they're really comfortable and get along well.

Lalai (S) - Lamitt (F)

The most obvious of the parallel souls they show with the Warriors of Darkness. - They look almost identical  ' - Both leave their homes in search of forbidden knowledge and have to more or less teach themselves - Both are seen as pariahs by their peers - Both are possessed - Lamitt's body by the Cardinal Virtue (evil); Lalai's body by Shatotto (good).  - Both have a very significant unmasking scene - Lamitt has an unrequited crush on someone.  - Someone has an unrequited crush on Lalai.  - Lalai: black mage - Lamitt: white mage - Lamitt: cast out and finds found family - Lalai: accepted and finds found family.

Solkzagyl (S) - Branden (F) Leih Aliapoh (S) - Renda-Rae (F)

Gerold (S) - Grenold (F) Rowena (S) - Mowen (F) Drusilla (S) - Lorathia (F)

Ququruka Tataruka (S, black mage story) - Nyelbert (F, Warrior of Darkness) - Unukalhai (13th/F)

Ququruka is a black mage who botches an incantation and sees his friends merged into a monster. He throws the monster into the void, throws himself in prison and waits for 100 years, sick with grief, for someone who can save them from their misery by reopening the voidgate and defeating them. Nyelbert is a black mage who watches his friend/training partner Traynor get sucked into a portal/void gate. He never gets over the trauma and grief. 100 years later, when his body is turned into a Cardinal Virtue, he spends his time opening voidgates, seemingly looking to save his friend even in death. His last thoughts are of Traynor. When Unukalhai comes from the Source to the First, he and Traynor immediately become close friends. They work together as though they've known each other forever. It would seem that the friends have found each other again.

[ishgard]

Presenting: An Absurdly, Stupidly Long and Wordy Warrior of Light-based Questionnaire, or as my bestie dubbed it:

30 WoL Think Thonkers

Less an ask prompt, more of a daily prompt, (though you can use it as an ask prompt if you prefer!) Answer the questions however you want: straight-forward, with stories or screens, or a mix of all.

Get any of your little brainworms out. Wax poetic, ramble off into several digressions, challenge yourself to answer in the least amount of words possible, whatever you're vibing with! (If you want to tag them #wolthinkthonkers feel free!)

This is very Warrior of Light and MSQ based. It's set from a Post-Endwalker mindframe, so there are some minor/vaguely worded spoilers.

----------------------- WARM-UP QUESTIONS

I. Where is your Warrior of Light from? What was their home like growing up and what set them out on their journey?

2. What city-state did your WoL start in? How did they feel about it then, and how do they feel about it now? (ie, did their experiences sour their perception, or make them appreciate it more?)

3. How do they feel about being Hydaelyn's chosen? (Feel free to break it down from ARR's "Champion of Eorzea" all the way to "The Savior of Etheirys" as much as you like. Have those feelings changed, or just grown more complex?)

4. What do they do in their down time? Do they have any hobbies outside of Primal-slaying and world-saving? Are these lifelong hobbies or recent interests?

5. How do they feel now that "it's all over" (the story of Hydaelyn and Zodiark)? What do they plan to do next? Or is their story finished - and if you're retiring them, what does retirement look like for them? Do you have someone else taking the stage going forward?

6. Who was their Azem? What were they like, and were they different from your WoL? Who were their family, friends? Or, if you don't care for the Azem angle or went in your own direction for their past self, how so? How does your WoL feel about their Ancient identity?

----------------------- CHANGES

7. Have they gone through any physical changes? What scars have they collected, and how do they feel about them? Did they sprout horns or other features as a result of spells or pacts gone wrong? How did light corruption impact them? Or have they walked away miraculously unscathed? Are they more peculiar for how eerily unmarred they are?

8. What is one of their biggest regrets? Has it had an effect on how they act moving forward, for better or worse?

9. The Warrior of Light has been through quite a lot, but what is a moment, big or small, that bolstered and renewed their spirit? Was it a cup of hot cocoa or a lovingly crafted sandwich? Did someone give them a few words or a gesture at just the right time that meant the world to them? (Of course, this can be a canon event or headcanon!)

10. What does home look like for them now? Do they still return to the home where they started, and if so has it changed at all? Or have they found or forged a new home? Who do they live with, if anyone? What sort of things do they keep in their personal space?

11. Despite everything, is it still you? Has the core of who they are as a person remained true through everything, or have they been changed by what they've experienced and learned, for better or worse?

13. Is there a canon moment you've drastically (or not-so-drastically) rewritten? A character death, or something that just really did not fit your WoL's character. Or just some alterations and personal touches you've added? Has that had any long-term changes on the wider story?

----------------------- STORY

12. Which canon moments shaped your Warrior of Light and impacted them the most?

14. Do you have any headcanons for what happened post-Ultima Thule? What kind of injuries did they suffer, or did they walk it off like a boss? Did they take a lengthy vacation, did you shove a time skip in there before 6.1 hit? Or was it quickly off to the next adventure?

15. What were their thoughts and feelings on the events of Myths of the Realm? How did they regard the Twelve prior, and how did the revelations impact them? Was meeting their patron particularly special to them, or not really?

16. What were their thoughts and feelings delving into Pandaemonium? How did they feel working alongside Themis and Lahabrea, after all their history? What did they think about how things ended?

17. Taking a step away from "canon", do you have any wholly unique side quests and adventures your Warrior of Light has gotten caught up in? Did they chase down ghosts of their own past, get married, open a bakery, or fix an ancient blood curse on their family line? Have they reunited with loved ones or buried old hatchets? If there's some unique story behind your character, how does it show up and how did it play out?

----------------------- COMBAT & ABILITIES

18. How do they feel about the work they do? As the Warrior of Light they're tasked with quite a lot of violence, is it something that comes naturally to them or do they resist it? Are they merciless, do they try to spare as many lives as they can, or do they fall somewhere in between?

19. While many fights are dramatic or have high stakes, are there any especially memorable or difficult fights they encountered? Outside scripted battles, were there conflicts that you thought felt better if they were tweaked for narrative or lore-based reasons, ie their first time fighting a primal? Or perhaps a more meta "You the player had a hard time so it translated into headcanon for them".

20. Are there any unique abilities that they possess outside of what's in-game? Are they actually a dragon, or do they see visions of the future? Or, is there a special way that their Echo manifests?

21. Jobs! What job is your character and why is that the route they chose? Is your WoL a Jack-of-all-Trades, or just have one (or a few) specialties? Did they start with one job and change to another? Have you 'homebrewed' their job at all, adding any unique twists or details to it?

----------------------- RELATIONSHIPS & THE WORLD

22. What are their feelings on the Scions? Who are some of their closest allies and dearest friends? Are they more of a loner, or closer to people outside the Scions? Have they kindled any romances or partnerships?

23. How do they feel about getting pulled into politics? Are they adept at navigating political intricacies, or does it go over their head? Do they appreciate getting asked to do more than punch their enemies, or would they really rather just punch their enemies? Are there any areas they like to be particularly involved in?

24. How do they feel about Hydaelyn? What was their perception of the Mothercrystal in the beginning, and how did that change by the end, if at all?

25. Do they have any particular enemies that stand out to them? Someone who inspired a lasting grudge? Our beloved and beloathed antagonists give us plenty of reasons to despise them, but are there any that particularly rubbed your WoL the wrong way? On the other hand, are there villains they can't help but sympathize with, even if it's at odds with the narrative or their allies?

26. What are their thoughts on the Ancients, their way of life, and the world they lived in? Did they sympathize at all with the Ascians, or did learning the truth not influence them in that way?

27. How well known are they? Does everyone know their name as the Warrior of Light, or have they managed to maintain some level of anonymity? Do they prefer it that way, and do they have any struggles resulting from it? (Getting stopped on street corners VS awkwardly avoiding questions.)

----------------------- WHAT'S NEXT

28. What's something they look forward to? Exploring the stars, more of a place we've already been, or somewhere we haven't? Or do they look forward to retirement, starting a business with their craft of choice, or any other little old thing?

29. How do they feel heading into Dawntrail? Excited? Exhausted? What do they think of the promises of adventure to come, and their role to play? If you're using a new character, do you have any idea how they'll end up on this path, and where is their headspace starting out?

30. What are they going to be doing while waiting for the ship to Tural?

[storms-path]

Dawntrail and Conquerors

Dawntrail has given me thoughts. So many thoughts. This is only one of 'em, be prepared for more! But also, SPOILERS FOR BASICALLY ALL OF DAWNTRAIL AHEAD! Read on at your own risk!

There’s something of a running theme throughout FF14 that I think Dawntrail has really honed in on, and it’s something that resonated with me the more I thought about it. Time and time again we’re confronted with men who claim that they are worthy of rule through the strength they bring to bear, and time and time again they’re laid low by our own. We see it with Gaius, with the Heavensward, with the entirety of the Garlean empire (but in particular Yotsuyu and Emet-Selch), and now in Dawntrail with… Well, you know. The theme is clear: Conquerors do not keep their thrones.

So when we heard stories at the end of Endwalker about how the mighty Dawnservant united the people of Tural, a famously divided people by both land and people, my thought was this: We have another conqueror who we’ll inevitably have to topple. With the Garlean empire fresh in my mind, it was the obvious conclusion to reach towards. And Wuk Lamat was already shown to be sheltered and naive from her introduction, which made me wary of trusting her word on her own father’s supposed goodness.

Suffice to say I was pleasantly surprised that Gulool Ja Ja was not a conqueror, but a uniter instead. For all that he’s hyped up as an incredibly strong combatant, and a force to be reckoned with on and off the battlefield, all the stories we hear of Tural’s founding are of him… Making peace. Liberating through non-violence. Saving people from terrible beasts. Forcing a generations-old war to end through a cook off to end all cook-offs! He could have quite easily conquered the people of Tural, forced them together through violence, but he knew how short-sighted that would be. He was raised in warfare, called upon to be a saviour of his forsaken people and lead them out of the canopy… and he did, in a way. But he did so without casting down everyone around him.

Is he a perfect ruler? Oh, absolutely not. His people still have problems, especially the Mamool Ja who chose to remain. But he has succeeded in bringing together a prosperous, peaceful nation in a time of upheaval and crisis. And despite everything, he is successful in… well, being succeeded. His trials do exactly what they should, but teaching Wuk Lamat and Koana how to properly rule through respecting their people instead of using them for their own gain.

Which bring me neatly to Vergil Zarool Ja.

Zarool Ja is everything Gulool Ja Ja isn’t. Ruthless, cold, unable to see the people around him as anything but tools. He claims he wants to bring war for the sake of peace, but he simply wishes to escape his father’s shadow and truly surpass him. And he cares not a whit for his siblings or fellow competitors. At every turn he is given the choice to do better, and at every turn he chooses to walk further down the path of blood and violence. So it came as little surprise when he positioned himself as head of a conquering army, intent to overturn everything his father worked to build.

Zarool Ja is the clearest and finest-pointed reminder of FF14’s core lessons. He is the epitome of unearned strength, literally leaching it from the souls of his people. And it consumes him in the end, turning him into a pale mockery of his father, complete with a stump where his second head should be. Resolve without reason, hellbent on conquest at any cost. And so, of course, we put him down. Just another marker on our list of conquerors conquered.

And then Sphene fully unmasks.

Sphene is… very interesting. In a lot of ways, she entirely rejects the idea of conquest. She only wants to keep her people safe from harm forevermore. She actively joins us against Zarool Ja when he turns on them! But therein lies the problem. She can’t keep her people around without taking from others. And so, regretfully, with utmost sorrow… She enacts her plan to keep her hollow world alive. Invading other reflections and robbing them of their aether to keep her people forever sated and able to live beyond death. It doesn’t matter to her that they’re only shades. After all, she is one herself. If that’s what it will take to protect and safeguard her people, so be it. No sacrifice too great, no sin unforgivable. So she does what so many have done before her.

She attempts conquest. And we put her down.

Conquerors do not keep their thrones, after all.

[tritoch]

miscellaneous wol characterization thoughts post-dawntrail

since wolund is supposed to be as close to canon wol as possible i think about this stuff a lot. huge spoilers through the end of 7.0. non-exhaustive list

we're WAY more chilled out now. very consciously avoiding combat or taking up arms until absolutely necessary. in retrospect you could sort of tie that back as far as the endwalker patches so maybe my new canon is now just that wolund lays down his sword after the zenos fight. we're done looking for new fights because we fought our greatest rival at the end of existence in a place made real by our willpower and where we were strengthened by our emotions. the conflagration of our clash scorched even the stars--and now we are kind of burned out!

there's a recurring thing where alisaie keeps saying you should take a break when you've not done any more work than the rest of the team, and there's also the moment where she's like "oof okay. i guess you gotta go into living memory. aight :\" and i think that's fun. as far as scions go this was really her and g'raha's expansion emotionally.

so much of the wol's stuff here is about what you don't do or say. you don't step in during the bakool ja ja fight, either the kidnapping or the wuk lamat fight. during valigarmanda, you very pointedly don't talk about prior experiences fighting primals or even your experience with the auspices, because this is wuk's big moment and you've gotta let her have it. you don't ever draw direct comparisons to emet-selch or other things with wuk lamat when sphene comes up because you're letting her figure things out herself. we've evolved from hot-blooded hero to wizened mentor, and we've gone sharply back to a heavensward-ish number of dialogue options. we're VERY quiet.

the gulool ja ja fight really is the one time you cut loose! and you're explicitly denied the chance to test yourself against him in his prime 1 on 1. there's a subtle undercurrent that basically every single fight in dawntrail is kind of "beneath" the wol in the sense that it doesn't require their exclusive attention in the way that Only You Could Fight Meteion, even if you're clearly the strongest combatant and wuk lamat says they couldn't have beaten zoraal ja without you. no one except gulool ja ja really takes your full measure in this expansion. i think a g'raha-level fighter probably could have helped the wuk lamat team clear everything just fine, and he's definitely supposed to be below you and estinien level even if he's an all-rounder.

that kind of denial of anything truly satisfying on the wol's level...seems very intentional? it's interesting that after the credits you're explicitly like "yeah i'm gonna be outta here soon." shadowbringers you had to resolve the scion's dimension hopping problems, endwalker cuts you off before you can say what's next, but here you're like "yeah this was fun but honestly not that big a deal to me. i like you and i know you think of me as surrogate family after losing your dad and mom and brother but i am in fact gonna bounce." the key is obviously more immediately interesting to the adventurer than anything about tural.

oh my god. oh my god wolund is already a deadbeat dad to a young woman in her 20s. he's gonna ditch wuk lamat too. my god what an asshole. this is so fucking funny.

i think i'm gonna go back and have wolund be a scholar as early as 6.1 and see how that changes things for me. i think i'll find it a lot more satisfying if i'm like "he came to tural because he's done fighting" instead of the "he now loves fighting even more" i'd been carrying through endwalker patches.

[mages-ballad]

some stuff regarding dawntrail now that ive finished and had time to collect my thoughts, spoilers up to the very end inbound of course. sorry if its long i have many MANY a thought.

ok so i wanna preface by saying i DID like dawntrail. i love wuk lamat and i cried like 3 or 4 times, tural is a great location and it was very fun to meet all the different kinds of npcs there

HOWEVER theres some things that kinda feel awkwardly paced? if i can be completely honest, it feels like the first half and the second half of the msq are two entirely different plotlines that were smushed together. and this isnt even saying that everkeep/sphene/s9 are "too different" because its not even an aesthetic issue for me, its moreso the themes presented first half? a little slow but in a GOOD way, helps you get a feel for the land and the people and shows wuk lamat's growth. the succession plotline feels like a whole, coherent thing. i like it. as soon as thats over and you hit shaaloani though, its slow and quite literally filler aside from a few tidbits for erenville. it felt awkward how it was trying to show xak tural culture, but also heavilyyy favored screentime for the "cowboy" stuff over the hhetsarro (who also very much live in shaaloani and are part of tural), who we spent practically 1 quest with and it was to ask them for lumber. and THEN it goes right from that to a high-stakes plot with zoraal ja's attack and heritage found and everything progressing after that. on its own the plot has potential... but by living memory i got the impression that everything from the end of shaaloani and refitting the train to running through the memories of alexandria, it just felt like it was trying to be Shadowbringers 2/Endwalker 2. and it wasnt really working out the same. "a society faced a calamity and a leader figure cant let go of the past and will gladly sacrifice other worlds to keep the memory of their people alive/go back to how things used to be. theres also a city full of people that arent alive and are just memories. also you get to run through a dungeon that shows the destruction of the past world that said leader figure cant let go of." like thats just the ascians and emet and amaurot right there. we KNOW how this stuff goes. from endwalker and venat we learned that its impossible to strive for absolute peace and perfection and that suffering and death are unavoidable, and the importance of maintaining hope and being able to go keep going forward at those lowest points. the whole time between solution 9 and living memory i was just sitting there thinking to myself like??? have we not seen this same stuff before??? why isnt anyone saying anything??? i knowwww this is mainly wuk lamat's story and development but it felt almost wrong to have these plotlines and themes and neither the wol or any of the scions even point out how familiar it is. i was under the impression that dawntrail would be a point for the wol to take a backseat, but to ALSO use what weve learned from 1-90 to help others. i genuinely feel like they pushed the idea that this is a fresh start *too hard* and everything weve gone through as the wol emotionally feels pretty ignored. aside from the whole "oh yeah btw were super strong weve been to the edge of the universe lol dont worry lol" like i hope this doesnt come off as me hating dawntrail. because i dont, and im interested to see the extent of travel between reflections and how thats handled going forward. but i cant help but feel like something was missing in that 2nd half of the msq. i can only hope some of this stuff gets addressed in the patches, because as it stands rn, even with sphene gone solution 9 still feels weird. the theme of dawntrail wants us to respect their culture, but from past xpacs we already know that a society like that is factually not sustainable, especially when multiple npcs have already pointed out its flaws (declining birth rate, for example.) maybe thatll be resolved later, but as it stands rn, the contradictory of themes is confusing. this is getting reallllyyy long and rambling now but WHEW i just needed to get this all off my chest. on a positive note to end this, im very much enjoying the dungeons and combat so thats been good.

tl;dr, 1st half of msq good, 2nd half confusing, combat good.

[aerithium]

FFXIV Endwalker Review!

*Spoilers Ahead*

★ Score: 10/10 ★ Date Finished: May 30th, 2024 ★ Final Thoughts: I'm not entirely sure words can describe how I feel about this expansion. I feel as though my haste to get through the expansion speaks volumes, completing one of the longer expansion in just over a week. This expansion is the (nearly) perfect finale to every single one that lies before it, there was no better way for this story to end, and begin again. The overall story flows perfectly, with very few moments of "low" energy. Each of its own quest lines serve greatly to the overarching story of the expansion, my favorite being the time the WOL spends with the ancients. To be there with characters that are once your enemies and allies, yet before they even know, creates strong emotions and the entirely seperate world is easy to fall in love with. The area designs overall are fucking phenomenal, each on is so different from the others and have their own beauties with in. The characters, both new and old, are so incredibly written a factor of media that means the most to me. I've felt this in the previous expansions but it seems to shine well here, each close ally of the player's is their individual person and they are all so different from one another. Such as the ways they talk to their allies, the player, and the choices they make during the expansion. The new characters recieve this treatment as well, and have great development across the expansion's story. My only problems with characters rely with the twin's father, who has a distinct moment that I felt didn't align with his overall writing as a character. The music in this expansion also utterly smashes the music from all the expansions before it. And I mean SMASH. Every song is so perfect for the moment in game that it plays, and the music is used in a way that truly amplifies the events that unfold in the story. The ending of the expansion leaves so much to look forward to without making anything feel incomplete, which solidifies the end of the current story arc but still leaves much to look forward to in the next expansion. I was seriously just blown away with this one. That's the only way I can put it. Following up to talk about the post Endwalker content, the story overall didn't have me as roped in but its rather hard to follow up the expansion that Endwalker is. The existing characters were still as great as ever (I'm lookin at you Estinien) and the newly introduced characters were very enjoyable. Zero's character development across the post-EW quests was really well done and you could slowly see her begin to make more sense of human feelings such as trust. The dungeons and trials were also fantastic, some being among my favorite in the game. The Dawntrail build up quests are small but they do a great job of ramping up the players hype for the coming expansion and feeds into the spontaneous nature of everything. This side content alongside post-EW (normal and alliance raids) were also really awesome, getting to spend more time in Elpis and meet more of our former enemies was just what I wanted and then to get to learn more of the Twelve. It was the perfect time to expand upon their existence after both Hydaelyn and Zodiark's defeat. Finally, the music is actually insane for these set of patches. I constantly found myself jamming out to the music in the new content I was doing. The post content has only further solidified my desire to give Endwalker the 10/10 it deserves.

[jigschosai]

The Dawntrail Review no one asked for

Lots of spoilers ahead, you've been warned.

Initially after I finished Dawntrail I had to write a short piece featuring Jigs and Nashmeira to help convey how hard it hit me, and at the time that's what I needed. Now with a bit of time and space behind me I'm in the mood to toss out my 2 cents about the expansion as a whole.

I liked it - a lot. And I feel it was really well done, and generally an improvement over everything previously.

I'm not going to rehash the entire plot, because if you're reading this then you likely know it already. But I did want to touch on a few key things that I think really set it apart.

The first was for the bulk of it, we weren't the main character. It wasn’t about the WoL, though we do see things from their perspective, it was about Wuk. It was about how she matured from a goofy sheltered kid with a skewed view of the world into a leader you could be kind of proud of. In some ways it mimicked Lyse and Stormblood, but I felt the execution was a lot better because when we got to the end we weren’t blindsided by someone being put in charge where it made little sense. Wuk earned it (as did Koana).

From a broader perspective it did something else that was really needed after Endwalker. It made the WoL’s power moot. Sure we could punt Bakool Ja Ja and Zarool Ja into next week – but really, it wasn’t our fight, or our place to do so. And while I’m never a fan of playing a different character such as when you play Wuk versus Bakool Ja Ja, I easily understood why I needed to. It wasn’t an irritation like some many times before. Ok, not as much of an irritation.

In a game like FFXIV, power creep is always going to be an issue over the long term. You want players to feel like they’re getting more powerful, but over time the threats get more and more absurd when you take a step back. For example, where was Meteion when everything else was going on up until Shadowbringers? By making the bulk of the story about Wuk, it avoided a lot of the power creep problem. We didn’t need to have a giant villain come out of the blue that didn’t make a lot of sense, which was one of my primary complaints about Endwalker. Yes it was great to see everybody again for the finale, but it never felt like a proper ending the way Shadowbringers did. It felt like an epilogue, a snippet of story to remind you of the characters that are not going to be back, along with a villain that really didn’t matter.

And a quick side note as I’m about to move on from Wuk. I’ve seen a bunch of complaints about her voice actress, and I don’t get it. The delivery always seemed fine to me, not that I have the most discerning ear. I can’t remember any point where I felt the voice was way off from how Wuk was acting or appearing. On top of that it was great to finally here some non-English accent voices, which helps with the diversity of the world.

Loosely that brings us to the trip with Erenville back to his home as we got what we wanted, a pass through that big door. This was probably the slowest the game was for me, but it still wasn’t bad by a long shot. In other expansions this lull hit hard because I kept feeling like “The world is ending! Get to the point already!” This, the “big stuff” so far as we knew was over. So doing a quick little adventure in a wild west type town wasn’t bad, it was something to do as we wandered around. This break was welcome, and it made sense. We weren’t waiting to get back to the main plot, we were waiting to see what it was, which is much easier to deal with.

Then we get to Solution Nine! Finally, a spot in FFXIV where the modern clothing we’ve had for ages looks like it fits in. The FF series has always been neat to me because of how it mixes magic and technology so well. There are variations, and a couple things that do it better (coughXenogearscough) but the way the cyberpunk theme was worked into the game went pretty well. Perfect, no, I feel time travel is always a bit sketchy, but good enough. I haven’t enjoyed running around a city this much since the Crystal Tower in Shadowbringers.

The only part I couldn’t figure out in this section was Galool Ja. I imagine there’s a side quest I haven’t done that explains it, but the fact he was around at all is a bit confusing to me. It almost felt like he was the time travel in Endwalker where “oops, we wrote ourselves into a corner.” But if I dig around a bit I may find it better thought out.

Finally – Living Memory. To say this part hit me like a train is understating it severely. Turning off each section and having it so final was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do in a game (different kind of hard than Elden Ring). Knowing that inevitably we’d turn off Cahciua’s section and she’d be gone too was rough for some very personal reasons. But I think anyone who had to deal with losing a loved one to a terminal illness probably has a good idea why. You always want one more adventure, one more meal, one more day. But inevitably, it all has to come to an end. My biggest complaint is there was not a proper hug between Erenville and Cahciua; but I know there’s some level of projection on my part going on there.

That brings me to our v-tuber-esque villainess Sphene. I mean the v-tuber-esque as a compliment, love many of the designs out there and Sphene, even though she is not a v-tuber, is no exception. As the big-bad, I feel like she’s a step behind Emet, but they got her right. You’re brought along with her to understand her, and just like with Emet, see you’re on two opposite sides of something and there is not middle ground to meet in. It’s the WoL’s way, or a way that stands against everything the WoL stands for. Just like with Emet, conflict is inevitable, despite how long it was put off and how much the WoL (and the player) has come to understand them.

Those kinds of villains make me think about the WoL, and their place in the grand scheme of things. Will there come a point where we’re the villain? Where like Emet and Sphene, we’re doing everything we can to protect our people, and doing so at the expense of others? So far we’ve largely been spared that (maybe don’t ask Garlemald). And at the end we get our special Azem inter-dimensional sippy-cup. And I think that is a good way to setup for the future where everything on our star is fairly well settled, and we can start exploring others. Maybe even properly revisit the first.

Lastly the upgrade to the difficulty is largely welcome. I’m a bit slow and have had a tough time figuring out some of the mechanics in a timely manner, but it’s been fun. I’ve enjoyed having to toss out clemency and cover far more routinely. The content is a lot more engaging and a bit harder to blindly memorize which makes doing roulettes routinely less of a mindless chore.

I know I’m in the minority, but this is my favorite expansion so far. It made up a lot of short comings some of the other expansions had, and I’m way more excited for future expansions than I was about Dawntrail. I feel like the more technical sides of the writing (e.g. avoiding power creep), and the pacing of the story (e.g. lulls when they’re a good fit) has improved a lot. It’s going to be interesting to see how things change in the future.

[hollowtones]

i can't find the vods for the rest of your endwalker playthrough (if you even did stream the rest) so i was wondering, what were your opinions on 6.0? (also what were your reactions to That urianger scene)

I think I only did like one or two streams of it. It ran kinda bad when I streamed it, people didn't want to watch it, and I wasn't getting much out of streaming it compared to just playing it on my own time. That and I think I had a really severe depressive episode at the time (for unrelated reasons).

IDK if anyone's still trying to avoid spoilers but I'll throw it under a read-more.

It's been a while since I last played so my memory's kind of spotty. I liked it, though. It felt like a satisfying conclusion to what they've been getting at since 2.0 MSQ, and a nice little dialogue on despair and exhaustion and depression and hope, and finding ways to carry on and keep living and keep loving and keep trying. I feel like that's when the game's overall writing and theming tends to be at its strongest (yes I liked the Dark Knight questlines haha).

I remember having mixed feelings about how they pulled off the Garlemald segment & the "Alphinaud and Alisaie's shit head dad" plotline but I don't remember enough of the specifics to really elaborate on that.

Alisaie has lesbian college admirers and I thought that was funny.

I came out of 5.5 MSQ expecting White Woman Jumpscare Hydaelyn to be a little trite but I ended up really liking Venat. I felt kinda whatever about Emet-Selch coming back, but I didn't hate what they did with him I guess, and his earless-Viera boy toy was fun. Fandaniel felt like The Joker but he still felt like a fine first-act villain. The way they write him (& Meteion) in the later chunk of the game felt more interesting to me, & felt like a fun play on "Shadowbringers"-era Emet-Selch's whole "AMAUROT, BABY! GREATEST CITY IN DA WORLD, BABY! SLIMES ALL OVER DA STREET, BABY!" nostalgia. It was funny when he was The Joker, though.

Final area was thematically and visually really interesting. I'm excited we got more stuff related to Omega & I'm glad we got more "btw the dragons are aliens" stuff. I've seen a lot of people forget about that, for whatever reason. That one area right by the end that was completely desolate, with no people & no indication of who lived there, was a really good setpiece. The Namazu canonically suffer in all possible dimensions and all possible worlds and you cannot help but laugh out loud.

I kind of rolled my eyes at Zenos coming back. "By the way he's a Reaper now" felt like it amounted to nothing, but admittedly I never did the Reaper questline or the post-6.0 stuff. Getting to punch him in the face at the end was fun.

Music was good, I liked the way they played with different motifs & I really like how that comes to a head in the final boss fight.

I was expecting moon rabbits to be grating and insufferable but I liked them. I fucking love that none of this planet's moons are normal. Why are they both orbital prison-ships. I love it.

Zodiark's design owned and Hydaelyn's design was okay. Very Yoshitaka Amano design, which makes sense given how he did that one boxart for "A Realm Reborn" & she looks a lot like she does there, but I kinda wish she got to look more monstrous and weird. She kept talking up becoming a monster to do what she felt was right!!! I wish that had informed her design a little more.

Hamburgers exist & I do like that the animators got to livingly render G'raha Tia going to town on one like those weird clips of anime girls where it looks like they've never eaten in their lives.

I don't remember what you mean by "the Urianger scene". LOL

You didn't ask, but the crafting/gathering questlines were a lot of fun. I feel like they (& the guildleves) added some fun extra context to everything going on while I was going through the MSQ.

I liked it overall. I don't think it's the highest point of the game's writing, but I had a good time and felt very satisfied by the time it came to a close.

[aotopmha]

Woopsie. Forgot I haven't finished MSQ yet and wandered into spoiler territory.

Luckily it's something I kind of suspected/was still vague enough. So a kind of semi-spoiler, maybe? I don't know, and that's good.

But, spoilers for level 97 MSQ.

So, in typical FF14 fashion, the reality of the situation is fucked up, but also incredibly compelling.

I think you could explore some really fascinating ideas with the foundation built and everything revealed during the 5th zone.

The "immortality" aspect, the memory "manipulation" aspect, the commodification of souls and how that is tied to the entirety of the story that came before, including Endwalker, is really solid thematic writing.

Once again, a simple foundation is given depth by later reveals.

And I'm really enjoying Wuk in this section because she is becoming savvy.

The losses have really pushed her to be serious when it matters and the lessons she learned are really being solidified here.

She is trusting, but not too trusting.

Willing to learn, but also out of her depth, while also being aware of this and her shortcomings and thus leaning on those who know better than her.

But also giving confident input when she truly believes in something; like her perspective of her brother.

I think her willingness to learn and budding true confidence are becoming my favourite part of her character.

In short, she is becoming a leader.

I think I'm now also firmly on the side of people being pretty terrible at reading comprehension when considering some of the criticism I've seen of her character, especially if they've claimed they've made it to the latter half of the story.

In general, I've seen people say it's fine to skip unvoiced cutscenes, but I think this is absolutely not true.

Please, at least skim it. Some important connective tissue is in there, at the very least.

But of course, all of this said, there are still a few levels left to the story, so issues might turn up here, so we'll see.

For some other highlights, Erenville's mom is fantastic, as well, though I am expecting tragedy there.

I also think Sphene probably ends up being a villainous character. She seems *too* sugary sweet, especially when considering the reveals that were in parallel with her first substantial appearance.

As I said, though, I adore this entire thing so much thematically above all I think. You take all of these simple concepts you introduced in the first half and combine and complicate them in the second half.

What if that unknown culture you're facing is truly nothing like what you've seen before? What if that culture is fundamentally opposed to your beliefs?

What if the family you love so is responsible for a lot of suffering?

In fact, something that has been obvious to me from the start is that all of these areas are so different from each other to enforce the culture shock theme. And Heritage Found took it to the logical extreme.

It's the point for it to feel off/strange and I love that because it kind of comments on the tone and setting shifts Final Fantasy games tend to go through.

The entire point of them is to explore different "perspectives" isn't it? From settings to concepts and other elements.

And all of the voice actors used from different regions of the US enforce this theme. I don't know if this is true for the original jp cast, but the eng cast enforces this theme well.

Not all of them are flawless performance-wise, but it makes me happy they went through the effort to give this talent an opportunity to get more experience and exposure.

I'm excited to learn more and extremely gripped right now, though. Only stopped because of being tired.

[pallisia]

hello, gg! I had your flower fella in my head while I was gposing around some flowers in Elpis, and it brought a question to mind. How did you feel about the Elpis arc in Endwalker? On my first playthrough, it absolutely blew me away, but on my replay, I feel like parts of it retroactively cheapened Shadowbringers (if that makes any sense). idk, I'm curious to hear your thoughts, if you have any to share. :>

sure. i feel like i mentioned a while back that i'm not crazy about endwalker for this exact reason. like, i had fun playing through the msq and i acknowledge the difficulties of trying to wrap up a decade-long story for a massive fanbase with varying expectations, but it just didn't land for me. especially the elpis arc. this is going to be really long and full of spoilers, so i'll keep the rest of it under a cut.

arriving in amaurot in shadowbringers was easily one of my favorite story beats in all of ffxiv. i loved that the ancients were portrayed as kind strangers, the anxiety about the final days from their dialogue, the vulnerability from the villain; it was all just great. one of the things that helped sell amaurot to me was how little was concrete about it. it was a faint memory of a place that didn't exist anymore. we couldn't see anyone's faces, we couldn't feel like we actually belonged there in any meaningful way. and when you confront emet-selch, it's like, "sure, it's sad that this happened to you, but we're here now, so you have to let it go."

looking back, i feel like elpis is the polar opposite of all that. i smiled at hades' beautiful wife and shitty haircut as much as the next guy, but it just felt...unnecessary? where shadowbringers said "the unsundered world is not coming back, you have to get over it," endwalker said "Bring It In, Guys !!" and showed me more of the ancients than i ever really wanted to see. i didn't need to go back in time and run around with my pal emet to sympathize with him. and again, he's beautiful, but i didn't really need to put a face to hythlodaeus, either. i thought he was much more compelling when i didn't know anything except that he was nice and emet-selch loved him.

this is more personal preference than anything, but i was also let down that the ancients were just...humans? i was hoping that the origin of all the sundered races would have more varied features to reflect that, and the way they were portrayed in shadowbringers allowed me the freedom to imagine them that way. 

anyway, going back to the the time travel... in shadowbringers, i loved the bittersweetness of the doomed timeline continuing even after g'raha tia fixed everything. elpis changed how time travel works within the story to tie everything up with a bow. i know it functions the same way in the alexander raids, but i thought it was bizarre to rewrite the rules within the main scenario right after the expansion where it was a big deal. (using the same time machine, even!)

venat was fine. i didn't really consider her to be the same character as hydaelyn at all, and it felt like a stretch to equate the emotionless crystal god voice to this nice, cool lady we spent an afternoon with. also, explaining the echo the blessing of light as a "traveler's ward" was such a letdown, man. it was a tremendous deal when hydaelyn and zodiark were revealed to be primals, but endwalker essentially threw out the concept of tempering, so it didn't matter at all. again, i get that retcons are inevitable in a decade-long mmo storyline. but the way she'd been built up as a morally questionable figure as early as heavensward made me hope for more flavor than what i got from venat. 

hermes was a pretty interesting character. i liked meeting someone who didn't fit in with ancient society, and even resented a lot of what was considered normal for them. he just didn't get enough time to cook. i probably don't have to harp on the stupid amnesia machine, so i'll skip that part.

meteion was... well, getting back to the point of your question, i kind of hated that the final days ended up being "a bird in space is beaming us with nihilism energy." i'm not sure what i wanted the final days to be, but the mystery of it was so much more intriguing than the explanation. the idea that the ancients' creation powers went out of their control was so cool! but, oh, it was because they were too aetherically dense to transform into monsters, i guess... okay...

maybe that's my overall problem with elpis, that it eliminated all mystery for the sake of neatly wrapping up loose threads, even when the mystery was more fun. every subsequent dev interview really drives this home, to the point where i wish they'd stop explaining things altogether. i'm feeling the same way now with the alliance raid series and its explanation of the twelve. of course, that storyline is still going, but i don't have high hopes for the last part.

wow that was long. sorry. thank you for your question i've been bottling this up for like a year lmao

[eorziapple]

FFXIV Write 2023 Prompt 5: Barbarous

(Character: Apple Silverberg, Setting: WoL Apple, Expansion: Endwalker Spoilers)

"We know what you are, -beast-." the mother spat the words at he feet as she put her body in between Apple and the young child she had shared a chocolate bar with a moment before. She was all to familiar with the sight of hunger in her travels, and none of these Garleans had much to eat outside what they could scavage from the homes of the dead and tempered. The soldiers kept most of the provisions for themselves, and to her disgust, it probably was the right call, only the able bodies men and women of the 1st Legion would stand a chance of getting more supplies, which meant hungry children.

The woman looked defiantly up at her, but she could tell that she was trembling. Apple slowly rose to her feet, cupping the jaw that still felt the whelp of the woman's fist as she'd struck her to separate Apple from her daughter. Of course she could have protected herself, but she'd made a promise to keep the peace, and the Garleans were still in control, for now, though as she looked around the room, the fear and despair in their eyes was infectious, the all knew her as the Champion of Eorzia, the demon warrior of the savage lands.

The retribution the woman expected did not come, Apple merely turned around and began to walk away. "T-that's right! Legatus Quintus has shackled you! Dont you dare accost us again, we wont have it! Our children wont grow to be the bloodthisty barbarians you are!."

The young summoner knew this woman needed this, knew that she was scared and trying to hold onto hope that everything really wasn't crashing around her. that life would never be the same, that they were all dead and it had to be for something.

But she couldn't leave that be. There was a better way, a harder truth. One that she'd been fighting all this time for, even within her own country.

"You've been lied to." she said without turning around, the woman blubbered a bit, she could feel the fear from her, sure that the outburst had cost her her life, that the butcher of the XIVth Legion would end her for her insults. "It is a comfort, to see all others as fundamentally wrong, makes it easier to hear the reports of conquered lands and defeated foes, and never think."

"You are t-the liar!" her voice had lost its confidence, laced in fear now but unable to let go. "Why else would you be here if not to conquer? To rake through the rubble of your magics and finish us off?!"

She sighed undoing a few pouches along her belt, and then letting them drop to the floor, "and what would be the point of that?"

She turned her head back towards them, " It's easier to be afraid than to think of others as people. Lets you sleep better at night."

She gestures to the fallen packs on the ground. "Eat, survive, for all the people that are lost, you owe it to them. But make no mistake, once the lies unravel?"

She begins to walk away, "You dont sleep easy anymore."

[wind-up-thancred]

i was thinking last night abt katsu getting his first actual apartment in mist during post SHB and the reasoning behind that, but also mostly thancred's reaction to it, seeing as how he has All That with limsa and i kinda wanna. yap a bit about it. long, mild shadowbringers spoilers

i don't really think katsu thought about it too hard at the time but ultimately his subconscious reasoning for settling on limsa was:

a.) comfortable climate, the guy fucking hates cold and enjoys the coast, seeing as how he grew up in a coastal area

b.) being on an island makes him feel isolated and safe (he was still dealing with the threat of zenos at the time), and

c.) that island has one of the best naval militaries on the star and katsu was still associated with the maelstrom at the time. plus they have a second police force in the form of the yellowjackets

so basically it made him feel safe during a time where he had become increasingly aware of his own mortality and fragility. SHB tends to do that to wols, i think.

he also fully intended to have thancred live with him once he got back to the source, so he definitely asked for thancred's thoughts on the matter re: where he wanted to live. and i don't think thancred openly voiced any objections at the time (typical of thancred "i can't be a burden to anybody or else i'll fucking die" waters) but, like, there was definitely a bit of hidden apprehensiveness there?

you'd think katsu might clock it as something that might make thancred feel weird, being somewhere he'd lived miserably as a street urchin before being miraculously taken to Super Fantasy College, but i think the possibility completely flew past him bc his personal experience just a few months prior was similar, but fairly different to thancred's.

katsu was paranoid when he'd first returned to kugane in stormblood, seeing as how his previous departure was extremely abrupt and unannounced and he had no idea how that would be perceived. he was part of a well-known family, so he figured word of his disappearance would spread pretty quickly. so in his case, he was just nervous to see people who still remembered him

but who was going to remember a singular street rat after 30-odd years? so katsu never even realized there might be an issue.

but i think, in reality, it definitely did make thancred feel Strange (bad), because he was back in the place he'd grown up, probably having to scrounge for food and clothing and shelter, except now he is looking at it while sitting in a cushy apartment worth more gil than his smaller self even thought was possible, with a doting partner on his arm, and by the gods he does Not think he deserves it.

what made him deserve it more than any of the other orphans he'd lived alongside? how many of them faced fates much, much worse than his, for no good reason? and no, anything he'd done along the scions probably didn't count to him— from what i can tell he doesn't see any of his countless good deeds to even have made up for the "mistakes" he "made" along the way (read: shit he was marginally involved in and couldn't have done much more about but that he still blames himself for anyways).

it probably makes him feel hypocritical to walk through that city after everything, to see that there are still countless homeless children and adults, and the only thing that allowed him to escape that was the pure dumb luck of robbing a sharlayan man.

i think he initially shoves the feeling way down bc that's probably A Lot, too much for him to deal with right away, but perhaps eventually he's able to reconcile with it by helping out the orphans, buying them meals, keeping them safe from danger where he can, etc.

i do think he also brings it up to katsu *eventually,* but knowing how hard 5.4 and later was on katsu's mental health, he probably waited until well after endwalker when katsu was more mentally stable and he didn't feel like he was adding unnecessary burden to katsu's head.

and katsu actually understands right away— he is very very aware of the strange, upsetting feeling that can come with just being in the same physical location that some rancid shit happened to you at, so he totally gets it despite not initially clocking it as a possibility.

but also, by around that time, i think it's less of an issue for thancred because the scions had disbanded, he didn't have much else to do being unable to teleport and still wanting to be available to be home for katsu, and that prompted him to start spending most of his days assisting the limsan caravan patrols. he is definitely not the kinda guy to stay unproductive for a long period of time even if he absolutely has the financial means to do so.

and i think that also helped him reconcile the initial feeling of "abandoning" this city and its people. or something. this man consists of like 85% guilt so it makes sense to me to give him a little sprinkle of impostor syndrome regarding his home city.

[anneapocalypse]

Thoughts Before Endwalker

As I'm about to start Endwalker, I thought it was high time I actually write up some closing thoughts on Shadowbringers, and since I really haven't done this for any of the other expansions, this has turned into a general "thoughts so far" kind of post! And also long. This is not any kind of an essay, just a big long thoughts dump. Spoilers for everything through the end of the Shadowbringers patches.

And I trust I don't have to say this to my own followers at least, but just for the record: please do not tell me anything about Endwalker here, even if you think it's minor, even if you want to hint at something I'll like. I know very little and I'm looking forward to watching it all unfold.

How it started!

It's been a year and change since I started playing this game in the fall of 2022. I didn't actually expect to play very far (I only picked it up in the first place because I was helping a friend set it up! I swore I would never play an MMO! I hated multiplayer games!) and I certainly didn't ever expect to get as deep into it as I have! ARR is very handholdy for new players, which was exactly what I needed to enjoy playing and keep playing. I love the story and the characters and the world and while I do enjoy the solo aspects of the game very much, I've also ended up really actively enjoying playing with other people! I enjoy dungeons. I enjoy raids. I run roulettes more or less every day. Free Company life hasn't always been smooth sailing (long story I won't get into here), but it's also brought me a lot of fun times and some new friends, as well as seeing me step into an active leadership role and not hate it. Who am I? 😂 I don't know! It's not that I've never tried to step out of my comfort zone before when it comes to games and hobbies, it's just that most of those experiences haven't been good and I've ultimately walked away from them. I don't know why this has been different, but it has. It's challenged me to tackle and let go of a lot of old insecurities, which I'm glad for (and grateful to friends who've been patient with me along the way). It's also just been a really good time, and continues to be.

How it's gone! (ARR through Stormblood)

So here I am, in 2024, about to start the last current expansion! Shadowbringers is easily my favorite expansion thus far, but I have really enjoyed the whole ride.

I enjoyed all of ARR, because while I don't think it has the strongest writing and certainly not the strongest characterization, it's really more a very long introduction to the world and its major players and conflicts, and while slow-moving, it does serve that function, and for someone brand-new to MMOs like me, slow was okay. It gave me time to get my bearings and learn the game.

I did really love Heavensward. It hits on several aspects of Fantasy Politics that I enjoy (generations-long war, class politics, structural reform), and postwar Ishgard, while maybe still a little rosy, still doesn't shy away from the growing pains of social change. Also the dragons were cool. I loved Haurchefant a lot, and was heartbroken by his death even as I knew it was coming; I also wouldn't change it. I think his death was meaningful and the natural culmination of his character. A Knight lives to serve. I think Haurchefant was always going to go out sacrificing himself for someone else. If it hadn't been the Vault, it would have been somewhere else. He was a delight and I miss him dearly, but it was a good narrative beat and one I wouldn't change.

Ysayle, on the other hand, I really don't think needed to die. She undergoes a fascinating character arc in Heavensward which I think the writing really drops the ball on at the end. Ideally, I think Ysayle coming to terms with her missteps while continuing to fight for what she believes in would be fantastic. She could have been a meaningful figure in Ishgard's reforms, and she would have made a great Scion. Her death also simply isn't treated with the same reverence as Haurchefant's, and I think that's sad. Heavensward has a bit of a Women Problem, in that it really doesn't give us a lot of female characters who are central to the plot, in contrast to a lot of great and memorable male characters. And the one who is most central dies with a lot less fanfare than WoL BFF Haurchefant. (And I'm not knocking Haurchefant, whom I love dearly, or Aymeric or Estinien! The imbalance is just very noticeable and I wish it wasn't so.)

Stormblood tends to get a bad rap among FFXIV's expansions. It's so common to hear people say it's their least favorite, it wasn't as good as Heavensward, etc. It came up recently in a server I'm in, where a newer player said they were having a bit of content fatigue after Heavensward, and having heard that Stormblood wasn't very good, they were considering buying a story skip. Other responses were, not outright negative, but mostly lukewarm, and I felt like I was the only one who really came out for Stormblood's story. First of all, I don't agree that it's not as good as Heavensward! I grant you that not everyone is as enamored of Fantasy Politics as I am, but as mentioned above, Heavensward is also very political, so I don't really think that's the big difference. Stormblood is maybe a bit grittier in its depiction of war, and that's something I like about it; it's really about the horrors of imperialism and the cost of resistance, and it doesn't pull its punches on that.

Ironically where it does pull its punches is with character deaths, heroes and villains alike. It does feel a little like someone thought they might have hit us too hard in Heavensward, given that we haven't had a lot of major character deaths stick since. I'm not complaining about Gosetsu's return, as I liked him very much and was very happy he lived. I will grumble a little about Zenos, though I'll go easy because I know a lot of people like him. 😛 He just doesn't do much for me. Yotsuyu was a great villain, and I was really dubious when they brought her back, but was pleasantly surprised with how her story ended, to the point that I'm willing to eat a lot of what I said about memory loss as a plot device. They did well with it, and her ultimate death did feel appropriate. Yotsuyu was never going to have a redemption arc, because she didn't want to be redeemed.

It was very refreshing in Stormblood to have more female characters taking essential roles in the plot. Colorism issues aside, I do really like Lyse as a character, and I also loved seeing Yugiri and Alisaie taking prominent roles, especially Alisaie who really hadn't gotten to be in the main plot much before. Rolling around with the three of them was a blast. Raubahn is also a favorite of mine, so seeing him play a major role in Ala Mhigo's liberation and get some character development was excellent. I'm happy that he's stayed involved with the Resistance in the time since.

I also just think Stormblood's new areas are absolutely beautiful. Kugane and the Azim Steppe are particular faves, but I just think they did a great job with the environments and I loved exploring them, including the underwater bits! Eorzea and Ishgard are so European-inspired, and I really enjoyed seeing Asian cultural influences in a fantasy setting. It is after all a Japanese game!

Just this week I finished the reconstruction of the Doman Enclave. As a player who's joined the game more recently, it's always bittersweet to learn about game elements that were temporal and are now lost to time, like the evolution of Mor Dhona during the ARR patches, or the Ishgardian Restoration in the Firmament. I can go hang out in the Firmament and craft and do fêtes and custom deliveries, but I'll never get to see the Firmament being built. It was done when I got there, which for me was after completing 3.3, very soon after completing the main story of Heavensward. The Doman Enclave goes in the other direction. It is a solo experience by necessity, but it's an experience that every new player can have: making their donations every week and watching the Enclave grow. Such things are always a trade-off for an MMO, but between the two, I would definitely choose the one that doesn't lock new players out of the experience.

And to give one last shout-out to Stormblood, I think it's pretty essential setup for what's happening when Shadowbringers begins. It's not just that the Scions are dropping like flies, it's that this is happening on the brink of a full-scale Garlean invasion. Said invasion is also critical to the bad future that G'raha is ultimately trying to prevent. The state and history of Garlemald is inextricably tied to the Ascians who are tied up in all of this. Stormblood is arguably more important to the events of Shadowbringers than Heavensward is, though Heavensward is also not unimportant, both with the continued presence of Estinien (reluctantly so if we believe him 😉), and with the involvement of Tiamat in the Shadowbringers patches. It's all connected!

How it's going! (Shadowbringers)

Urianger is, unsurprisingly, a big part of why I love Shadowbringers so much, as he gets some wonderful character development there and actually gets to be in the plot! But it's not only him—I like how character-driven Shadowbringers is overall, how much the major characters are driving the story and not merely reacting to events. ARR was largely driven by the world itself; the expansions are where the story starts to become character-driven. The driving forces of Heavensward's are much bigger than the main characters, but Haurchefant and Ysayle and Aymeric and Estinien bring a personal face to the conflict and a reason for us to be invested in it. Stormblood's emotional core is Lyse, Yugiri, Gosetsu, and their collective drive to liberate their homelands from Garlean occupation.

Shadowbringers, to me, really brought all of that home. It's not only character-driven but it brings a much more personal touch, I think, to the Scions themselves, with the major players being characters we've known since ARR but now get to know in a deeper way. I've always liked Y'shtola as a character but never felt I really connected with her, and Shadowbringers changed that, even as her story in Shadowbringers is in many ways about her isolation from the others, her (sometimes justified) mistrust and the way she closes herself off even to the people closest to her. Yet there is a deep caring beneath Y'shtola's prickliness as well, which we see in her leadership of the Night's Blessed, the new family she is willing to risk her life for. She's complex and difficult, sometimes angry and stubborn, and we all know I love that in a fictional woman. I really gained a deeper appreciation for her as a character here.

I've said my piece on Minfilia already, so I'll try not to repeat myself too much. I will say that Thancred is the main character I have the hardest time with in Shadowbringers. I appreciated the additional character development given to him at first, but as the story made Minfilia's death more and more all about him to the exclusion of everyone else, the more I started to kind of resent it. It really gets under my skin how he treats Ryne for like, the entire time until Minfilia Prime's final departure. The narrative kind of treats it like oh, he just has a hard time expressing how he really feels! and honestly I don't fully agree with that framing. I think Thancred's cold and harsh attitude toward Ryne does reflect how he really feels at that time—namely, he's angry and lonely and upset for valid reasons, but he's taking them out on a teenager who's fully dependent on him for her survival, to the point that she admits she thinks he hates her. His legitimate pain doesn't justify that to me, and it really kinda chaps my ass how everyone just agrees that he's the one with the most claim to call Ryne family, when Urianger was far kinder, gentler, and more comforting to Ryne than Thancred ever was. And Urianger was in pain too. He also regrets what happened to Minfilia, and his part in it. He was carrying a terrible secret that he couldn't tell his closest friends, which put one of those friends' life in danger. He just owned his feelings, instead of taking them out on a scared kid. I know my bias is obvious, and I swear I don't hate Thancred 😛 but I really didn't like his behavior here and I wasn't really satisfied with the way the narrative handled it.

Probably my least favorite part of Shadowbringers was Vauthry. I just do not like "fat" as shorthand for "evil" and I think there could have been better ways to design him that didn't fall back on that trope. Even Dulia-Chai, a very lovable character in the end whomst we stan, does fall into some fatphobic tropes, and it's unfortunate that in a game without much body diversity (not to single out FFXIV, that's a problem for games generally), we only got fat character models as signifiers for "rich person" (yeah, I get that "fat cat" is the joke, it's just not a good joke) and "repulsive, evil abomination." No love!

On a lighter note, the return of G'raha Tia as the Crystal Exarch was simply wonderful. G'raha was very cute and fun during the Crystal Tower story but his presence was quite short-lived, so we didn't fully get to know him then. I think it's pretty easy to guess that it's him under the hood; he has a distinctive voice and lip shape and also the tower is right there. So the question becomes why he is hiding his identity, what his true motives are, and that's all intriguing! The fact that his plan hinges on his pretending to be the villain at the end and he utterly fails at convincing anyone is… deeply charming. But one of the things I love most about him is the kindness he extends to the people of Norvrandt. Even though his primary mission is the salvation of the Source, he gets attached to these people, offers up the resources of the Crystal Tower freely to improve their lives, helps build a home and sanctuary, fights for the First and becomes deeply invested in their survival as well. He has a huge heart, and I love him. I'm delighted that he gets to return and join the Scions at the end, and it's already been a lot of fun to have him along on the patch quests.

And of course, Urianger my love. 💜 He really shines in this story and every scene with him was a delight, even when I was climbing the walls needing to know what he was hiding. He gets so much good character development in Shadowbringers I could go on for hours about it, but I did especially love the Echo scene where you see G'raha asking him to lie—and you see how much he doesn't want to do it. Urianger's really been on a long arc ever since Moenbryda's death, and I don't think that arc is over yet, but my biggest worry for him as the cracks started to form in his story was that we'd find he hadn't changed, and was lying here for the same reasons he did in the Heavensward patches, and as easily. And that's not the case at all. He hated doing it before, and he really doesn't want to do it again, but G'raha's reasoning is just too strong for him to refuse. I brought it up recently but I think Shadowbringers reveals an Urianger who despite his long isolation really doesn't want to be alone, and does want his friends' understanding and approval and their trust. The look he gives the Warrior of Light if they say they trust him, and then the way he submits himself to their judgment when things go wrong while begging to be allowed to help fix things… god. I love him. And I'll stop there for now, since I'm sure I'll have a lot more to say about him in the future. ;)

Emet-Selch is a fascinating villain, certainly the most interesting Ascian we've seen so far, and the one who finally turns what have been fairly two-dimensional powerful bad guys into a truly motivated and complex faction. My favorite villains are always the ones who believe they're the hero, and there are a lot of parallels between Emet-Selch and Solas from Dragon Age: Inquisition which will be obvious to anyone who's played both games. FFXIV being a more linear story afford the player a lot less choice in how they respond to their villains true motives and history, but there's definitely still an expectation that we will sympathize somewhat with Emet-Selch, and recognize the tragedy of what happened to his people.

Ardbert's ghost, too, was a welcome addition to the story. Between his presence and the role quests (which were 100% worth doing in their entirety), I felt like we finally got to actually know the Warriors of Darkness against which we briefly clashed back in the Heavensward patches, and I really felt the pathos of their story, all they fought for and lost, but also their friendship and how they cared for one another.

Shadowbringers is beautiful in so many ways. The design of the Crystarium is gorgeous. Il Mheg is probably my favorite location in the game so far. Eulmore is a fascinating dark mirror of Limsa Lominsa. The way the game takes the idea of "a world being swallowed by light" and interprets that visually is so stunning. The sky over Lakeland arrests you immediately upon arrival, and the crystallization of the Flood of Light where it was halted at the edged of Amh Araeng is a chilling reminder of how much the First has already lost. The music has also been a highlight for me! I really adore the Shadowbringers music, and it has prompted me to go about collecting orchestrion rolls more deliberately than I had before.

The more I sit and write about how much I loved this expansion, the more I think of, so while I could definitely go on, I think I'll wrap it up there. 🙂

Onward to Endwalker. I'm not making any predictions this time, because I have done my absolute damnedest to stay unspoiled for this one and I know very little about what's coming other than what the locations are, what's been revealed in the Shadowbringers patches, and that it's the end of the big story arc we've been on since ARR. I'm extremely excited.

[wildstar25]

Hello and happy one day until Halloween [:

I’ve been scrolling through your wol posting tag and I absolutely adore Arsay and her throuple with g’raha and y’shtola <3 I was curious, in your canon, what is Raha’s and Shtola’s relationship like without Arsay there and how has it changed over time? Would they count themselves as partners or just partners of Arsay?

Thank you so much for sharing your amazing gposes and artwork for your wol!! It has been a delight to look through. Have a great day [:

omg Thank you!!🥹 I love my catte throuple so much and it's so nice to hear other people like them and the posts I make about them too! That's a really good question. I can't seem to recall making a post about it since being caught up with the msq, so thank you for asking!

This ended up being quite long so I've place it under a read more haha apologies for rambling so much! As well, Happy halloween o/

Initially Shtola and Raha both considered themselves partners to Arsay first and foremost. They both cared for Arsay deeply and agreed to this poly situation because, after everything she's done for them, they wanted to do something for her that would make her happy. I also like to believe because they started off on the wrong foot, it took time for the two to build up trust in each other.

I have many side thoughts about how Raha held himself back while he lived out the persona of the Crystal Exarch, how his hesitance to the relationship caused Arsay to get upset, and how Y'shtola essentially saved the whole polycule very early on by telling the Exarch to get his head out of his ass stop living dishonestly and start thinking about what he really wants to do with his life. How that gave him the spark to think about the possibility of transferring his memories over to the version of himself on the source, since this version of him will never be free from the tower's grasp.

By the time everyone returns to the first, Raha and Shtola consider themselves trusted friends and deeply respect the importance they both have to Arsay. No words about it are exchanged, but there's a mutual understanding that for as long as this can go on for the three of them, it will. Shtola and Raha actually end up spending casual time together in the Rising Stones while Arsay is off doing warrior of light stuff. Turns out they actually have a lot to talk about together. Mostly about magical studies, but Y'shtola strikes me as someone who would be mildly curious to know of the event that took place in the timeline they erased, and Raha for sure would have loved to learn about Y'shtola's involvement in the warring triad stuff and the alexander raids. Plus they can theorize about history and mysteries of both the first and the source! By the time Endwalker starts, Arsay has noticed everyone seems a lot more comfortable with each other. She started asking to spend time all together more often then not. There was no real objections to this surprisingly. They all settle into a consistent dynamic around each other pretty naturally. If you were to ask Raha or Shtola how they defined their relationship at that point they would probably say they were just Arsay's partners and leave it at that. Ask Arsay and she might let slip how she caught the two snuggled up to each other while they were reading on the couch at her apartment.

[end of endwalker 6.0 spoilers from this point]

The next shift between the two is while on the Ragnarok waiting for Arsay to regain consciousness. I have a particular scene in my head which i cant gpose out since I don't have access to the environment so here it is described: --

Y'shtola has placed herself against the wall of the ship, shifting from pose to pose doing her best to contain her nervous energy. They did all that they could to seal up as many of Arsay's wounds as possible. Still it was impossible to tell just how much blood Arsay had split prior to her arrival. What Y'shtola could see is that Arsay's aether was unbelievably weak, having been all but spent in a final clash with (presumably) Zenos. For all Y'shtola knew, Arsay's body arrived to them too late. Her head began to spiral at the thought. So much so that she had failed to notice G'raha had torn himself from Arsay's side to stand next to her. He looked at Y'shtola with a pitiful face, eyes puffy and red, lips pressed into a trembling frown. Neither of them had the wherewithal to speak at this point, and Y'shtola most certainly did not want to. Twelve forbid if a single being on that ship heard her voice shake or crack even the slightest. Instead, G'raha timidly put his hand around Y'shtola's and held it. It was a small gesture, something he'd often do whenever Arsay looked in need of support. It was a comfort to her, to hold hands with a loved one. The two stood together in silence. Their gazes fixed on to Arsay's motionless figure laying in the centre of the room. Y'shtola squeezed G'raha's hand ever so slightly. Holding on to someone you love was a great comfort indeed.

-- Perhaps its not an as romantically charged love, but its love! Shtola and Raha are part of Arsay's tribe and they've come to care deeply for each other. Again, I do not believe either would readily admit to those feelings publicly, but in private conversation with Arsay it's obvious how fond of each other they have become. (this is also when shtola and raha begin feeling more comfortable being intimate together with Arsay >w> she is notorious for doing everything for her partner and not really letting herself be focused on. The two of them work as a team to make sure arsay gets some attention *nods* )

And, imo?, their closeness is kinda backed up by the endwalker patch content where G'raha already knew where to find Y'shtola and did not hesitate to get her for the treasure hunt. And then many of the proceeding patches has Y'shtola saying in passing that she's been in constant communication with G'raha. okay yes im not delusional, I know they are brought up because of them having relevance to the things happening or being done in the plot but still! The way the dialogue is phrased I can't help but put my wolship glasses on lol. I figure Raha and Shtola keep pretty consistent contact even when they are busy doing their own thing, same as Arsay does with them. The most recent development for my wolship is that by 6.5, they are all pretty much married to each other. Unofficially, that is. No ceremony is held or anything of that vein. It was more that they all finally managed to say out loud how much they want to be in each other's lives no matter where the future takes them.

Eventually I picture the three of them getting a proper house together. Arsay surprises G'raha by importing a bunch of furnishings from the crystarium, and dedicates an entire room just for Y'shtola's book collection. She also brings back some flowers native to the Greatwoods for decoration. Until then though home is wherever they are together!

So yeah! thats the break down of grah and shtola part of graharshtola!

thank you for reading, asking the question, and sending such a sweet message about my blorbos. Hope you have a fantastic day <3

[purple-link]

Alisaie and Purple Link

FFXIV Write 2024 Story Entry

Spoiler: Story takes place after WoL reaches Garlemald in Endwalker, but but before the Tower of Babil dungeon. Story will be largely sfw, but will adhere to FFXIV's level of mature storytelling.

Chapter 8: Golden

Every adventurer needs a break, and using his ability to shift his aether from place to place, he brought his friends along.

Purple Link thought it best to head to the Golden Saucer, which was less of a gambling house and more of a lottery amusement park.

The Wolf Burglar, holding hands with Alphinaud, Alisaie, and Purple Link, felt his body shiver and his stomach turn.

“This is how you adventurers get around?” said the Wolf Burglar, wearily, “I think I’m about to ralph.”

“Have you never teleported through the aether currents from established settlements?” asked Alphinaud.

The Wolf Burglar looked like he was about to keel over. He went over and sat on one of the steps that surrounded the Aetheryte Crystal platform. He put a paw over his stomach.

“What need do I have?” said the Wolf Burglar, putting a fist up to his muzzle, to prevent expectoration, “All it takes is a boat ride between Othard and Hingashi, and I have everything I need - Urgh! - I may need to lean on a person.”

“Here, you can lean on me,” said Purple Link, sitting next to the Wolf Burglar, putting his head on his shoulder, “Take it easy, teleportation can be a bit of a throw at first.”

“I don’t know about you, dear sister,” said Alphinaud, stretching his arms above his head, “But I’m starved! What say we pop over to the lounge and have ourselves a bite?”

“Couldn’t agree more,” said Alisaie, “Purple Link, you interested?”

“In a minute,” said Purple Link, “I wanna make sure we’re good and ready.”

“Fair enough,” said Alphinaud, generously, “Food on a queasy stomach can be a bit of a chore. Make sure everything’s all settled before moving about again.”

Alphinaud and Alisaie used the aethernet once more, and they vanished in an instant. Just seeing it again made the Wolf Burglar hurk a little.

“It takes a while,” said Purple Link, “You have to do it a couple more times to get used to it. After a while, aether is like breathing.”

“I’m aware of the principles, I’m not a simpleton,” said the Wolf Burglar, “I merely prefer more traditional methods of locomotion.”

“Oh, like mysteriously heading off into the sunset?” asked Purple Link, “Your sword on your shoulder and a wry but endearing smirk on your muzzle?”

“I’m starting to seriously wonder,” said the Wolf Burglar, exhaustedly, “if you’re really the Warrior of Light and not just some guy they picked off the street who was lucky, because there’s no way you’re this tactless.”

“A little of both is true,” said Purple Link, “What differentiates me, I suppose, is my connection to Hydaelyn.”

“The planet?”

“No, the mother crystal,” said Purple Link, “I’m one of the chosen. A Warrior of Light.”

The Wolf Burglar tried to keep his eyes open in a way that meant he was strained for thought and could care less about this subject, but his curiosity got the better of him, and so did his stomach.

“I think I feel a little better,” said the Wolf Burglar, “If we want to join the rest of your crew.”

“Alright, we can-”

“But not through the crystal.”

“What?” asked Purple Link.

“I don’t care if it’s faster,” said the Wolf Burglar, “I want to walk up there.”

“Fair enough,” said Purple Link, “Keep close and try not to bump into people, this place can get crowded at times and I don't want to get us lost.”

“I am a thief,” said the Wolf Burglar, “My ability to move through crowds is comparable to that like water flowing through a maze. It is not a difficult task…

“I just don’t want to topple over just yet,” said the Wolf Burglar, “That’s all.”

The Wolf Burglar stood up and leaned on the Warrior of Light for a couple more minutes, holding his paw, until he felt good enough on his own to traverse the ramp that led up to the restaurant.

The Wolf Burglar sneered at the golden statue that endeavored to take as much of the center of the lounge as possible.

“It’s so…overabundant,” said the Wolf Burglar, his eyes half-lidded in exasperation, “Clearly this man has not heard of the word ‘subtle.’”

“It is a little garish,” said Purple Link, “But I’d be lying if it wasn’t a good time. I’ve been rewarded with mounts from this place, and they’re some of my favorites.”

“Well, bully for you,” said the Wolf Burglar, “I’d love to spend my time submerged in decadence and depravity, but fortunately for me, I actually give a damn about people, and try not to exploit them for their money.”

“Aren’t you a thief?” asked Purple Link, his eyebrow cocked.

“That didn’t deserve it,” finished the Wolf Burglar, “I find no lack of conviction stealing from lords and corrupt statesmen and giving their burgeoning money bags to those who actually need it.”

“Purple Link, over here!” waved Alisaie, “We got a corner booth!”

A brief look over the menu later, some drinks, and they were off to the races.

Purple Link was still holding the golden seal in his paws, turning it over and over. The quality was immaculate, almost printine, even after the fact that’s it’s been floating in view of the dead captain’s grasp ever since the Garlean ship sunk.

But while gold was an amazing quality, and an attractive appearance, he also knew that the metal could be soft to the touch. He handled it delicately, being careful not to even graze it with his black claws.

He grimaced.

“Alphinaud, do you have a piece of paper on you?” asked Purple Link. Alphinaud looked up from sipping his drink.

“What are you implying?” asked Alphinaud, “Do you think it, because I’m a scholar, that I would have study material at hand?”

“Uh, sorry, I guess,” said Purple Link, nervously, “I didn’t mean to make any assumptions, I just know it’s because you’re the most prepared out of all of us.”

“Well, you’d be wrong, mostly because there are many times recently that I had the wool pulled over my eyes, and I didn’t have the proper resources at the time to combat those moments.”

“Gee, sorry,” said Purple Link, genuinely, “Sometimes, I forget–”

“Just kidding, Purple,” said Alphinaud, pulling out a few sheets of paper, “I’m just messing with you, of course I have paper.”

“Alphinaud,” said Alisaie, curiously, “How long have you been waiting for Purple Link to ask you for study material?”

“The whole time,” admitted Alphinaud, “Honestly, I thought he’d at least think about some of the things we’ve been doing. Jotting down details just seems like good common sense.”

“Gee, thanks for the faith in my intellect,” said Purple Link, sneering.

“That’s my brother for you,” said Alisaie, shrugging and sighing, “Even in the most perilous of crises, my brother still has to record for posterity.”

The Wolf Burglar merely sipped his drink. It was merely orange juice, but the fruity nature of the beverage kept him content for hours.

Scurvy was not particularly hard to avoid in the lush greenery of the Doman countryside, and it was inexpensive to avoid in Kugane, but the fact that the drink was on the Warrior of Light's tab did not take away the fact that it might have been the tastiest drink he ever had that wasn’t a spirit.

Purple Link popped the cap of the inkan, the seal’s ink still very wet and vibrant.

The Wolf Burglar peered over his drink, watching carefully as he hovered the seal over the paper. He looked up at the Wolf Burglar, who furrowed his brow.

“May I?” he asked, rather politely. The Wolf Burglar stared for a moment.

He needed to worry if it had enough ink. He needed to worry if it was the right artifact.

He needed to worry if Akimitsu wanted the seal for himself, taking the seal and keeping it prisoner, to prevent the ceremony from taking place.

With all this weighing in his mind, the nod seemed as if to take forever, as if raising his head was difficult with all that was pressing down on it.

Purple Link dabbed the seal in the ink, and then placed it on the paper three times. A red border surrounded four letters of Hingan origin.

“I don’t know what it reads," admitted Purple Link.

“Let me see,” said the Wolf Burglar, and peered at the letters. He was momentarily frozen. He put a paw to his muzzle. Purple Link worried for a moment or two whether or not he did something wrong.

“Is something the matter?” asked Purple Link. The Wolf Burglar nodded.

“It is nothing out of the ordinary,” said the Wolf Burglar, trying to prevent tears from coming out, “Just a simple inkan seal. I wasn’t prepared to certify its authenticity until just now.”

“You mean, it’s the real thing?” asked Alisaie, as their food was set up on their table from their server, “It’s the artifact for sure?”

“The wolf depiction carved into the seal is meant to be Lupin symbolism,” said the Wolf Burglar, “But unlike most civilizations, we don’t carve our likeness into just anything. Such need for vanity is left to those more self-sufficient.”

“I tend to agree,” said Purple Link, “I don’t know if I appreciate all those plushies made in my likeness, doesn’t look like me at all, plus it doesn’t include the glasses. I’ve written to the manufacturer.”

“It might not spoil your mood then,” said the Wolf Burglar, acidly, “to learn that the authenticity of this artifact is not that it’s confirmed to reflect Lupin culture, but the veracity of the message.”

“Message?” asked Alphinaud, “I’m afraid I am also not familiar with the Hingan alphabet.”

“It’s actually a lot easier to learn than you think,” said the Wolf Burglar, “the language is all about intonation and grammar.”

He handed the paper back to them.

“It supposed to read ōkami no isan,” said the Wolf Burglar, taken by the sentiment, “In Hingan, it reads ‘Legacy of the Wolf.’”

“‘Legacy,’” said Alphinaud, curiously, “So, it’s a reflection of your history, of the peace your people struck.”

“It’s a promise,” said the Wolf Burglar, “That the history and heritage of the Lupin would be honored. I’m assuming the seal is meant to notarize the promise.”

“But notarize what?” asked Alisaie, “Should we have to worry about a document?”

“I wouldn’t worry,” said the Wolf Burglar, “An old Lupin friend of mine, who was alive when Kaien performed the ceremony, told that one of the aspects of the ceremony is that each decade is personally acknowledged by a personal decree written by the Lord at the time. Kaien did it three times before his demise.

“But the proper methods have been lost, and we’ve only a few people to ask who have seen the ceremony in full,” said the Wolf Burglar, “Eyewitness testimonies are notoriously inaccurate, especially after so much time.”

“Even so,” said Purple Link, “It would be worth it to gather as much information as we can.”

Everyone else nodded.

Purple Link replaced the cap, and gave the seal to the Wolf Burglar, for safekeeping. It was his people's inkan, after all.

The Wolf Burglar fiddled with it in his paws for a minute or two, ambiguously hampered by the hesitancy to keep it for Lord Hien or steal it for Akimitsu.

For now, he pocketed it and figured that it would be a decision to make for later.

The Hrothgar dug into the antelope steak he’d been dying for since he arrived.

The Wolf Burglar ordered the same thing. Eating the meal using a barbecue sauce simply labeled “Sweet Baby Godbert’s,” once again making him question the owner’s celebrity with severe wryness, he suddenly became aware of a number of people looking at him.

He glanced around. He didn’t see a single other Lupin besides him in the place. Plenty of Hrothgar, both male and female, and a number of races, even the cactus-like sabotender.

However, the wolf still managed to feel like he was sticking out like a sore thumb.

“Not a lot of people seem to be familiar with the Lupin,” said the Wolf Burglar, with concern, “I feel like a side-show attraction.”

“I know how you feel,” said Purple Link, “Even if there are plenty with my pelt color, I still end up being easily picked out of a crowd.”

“Not like this,” said the Wolf Burglar, “I’ve only been seeing Elezen, Lalafell, and Hyur about, not a lot of Au Ra or Roegadyn. I see even less of the Hrothgar.”

“I see,” said Purple Link, “Is that how you see me? An anomaly?”

“Honestly, yes,” said the Lupin, “You and that blasted Hildebrand-”

“Oh, Hildebrand Manderville!” said Alisaie, suddenly and sharply, “The owner’s son! Of course, he was in the papers!”

“Yes, him,” said the Wolf Burglar, flatly, “Though the papers don’t tell you everything. If you’ve been blessed by the mother crystal, I’d say Hildebrand was blessed with its arse.”

“He is a rather unique individual,” said Purple Link, “I don’t know if I can live up to that.”

“You already have,” said the Wolf Burglar.

Purple Link looked away anxiously. The Wolf Burglar dabbed at his muzzle with his napkin and then put it neatly on the table.

“I’m going to ask you a question, Warrior of Light, that you probably don’t get asked very often,” said the Wolf Burglar, a very serious tone in his voice, “How did you come about here? Why are you the Warrior of Light?”

Alisaie watched as Purple Link did something he very rarely did. He receded slightly, like a low tide. She felt as if a vital part of him was locked away, almost for safekeeping.

She worried about it, not because she didn’t trust him, but that it might be affecting him.

“I…uh,” said the Hrothgar, blinking, “It’s…a rather long story.”

“Then tell me the good bits,” said the Wolf Burglar.

“Not a lot to tell, even before I joined the Scions,” said Purple Link.

“That’s not true,” said the Wolf Burglar, “If there’s one thing I learned about being a thief, it’s that there’s always something you can dig up about a person.

"Right now, I want you to tell me something true about yourself, something not a lot of people really understand or learn.”

“Why should I?” asked Purple Link, sounded less offended and more intrigued, “What’s in it for you?”

“Nothing,” said the Wolf Burglar, “You telling me is your own choice, that’s the point. If you want to tell me something about why you became a Champion, tell me how to do my job, badger at your friends, and force your way into everything, I want to know.

“I want to know why you do it,” said the Wolf Burglar, “Just a morsel. Just a tiny bit of information, something real about you, something more than a golden statue would tell.

"It would help give me a better idea of why you do the work. Even just a morsel would make me understand why I should trust you with my people’s legacy.”

He looked around at all the people staring at him and the Warrior of Light. He dabbed his napkin again anxiously.

“Maybe then, I won’t feel so alone,” said the Wolf Burglar, “I don’t like being put on the spot.”

“Neither do I,” said Purple Link, “But unfortunately, we don't have the luxury.”

“No, we don’t,” said the Wolf Burglar.

Purple looked at the wolf and furrowed his brow. He felt himself drive up more confidence and, in only one minute, made a decision.

“Well, I suppose it’s only right,” said Purple Link, “After all, we do owe you, besides the commission.”

“Don’t worry about payment,” said the Wolf Burglar, “I’ve got Lord Hien and Hakuro to cover for me. All I’m asking for is something empathetic.”

“You’re right, I’ve been selfish,” said Purple Link, “All right, here goes.”

He took a deep breath.

“I’m…more than just a Hrothgar,” said Purple Link, “I was born a Miqo’te.”

To be continued...

[rivenroad]

Thoughts on Dawntrail MSQ - Part 1 (roughly 90-95, general discussion of plot)

I finished it a few days ago now and I've been slowly putting together a record of my thoughts, here's the first part.

Some of you may remember my feelings about Endwalker and, subsequently, my hopes for the future of XIV's story. Mostly, with Dawntrail I was looking forward to the opportunity for change, a new start, and hopefully a return to one of the things that made me fall in love with the game to begin with - excellent world-building and lore to get immersed in. I would say it gave me those things.

I would like to discuss my thoughts about the story in detail, but at the moment that's a bit difficult for me. I think I would need to go through it again another time in order to properly solidify everything that I feel. But I still have a few points to make.

Firstly, as I mentioned above I was really looking forward to the chance to explore Tural and learn about it and its people, and of course, that's exactly what the first arc of 7.0 was all about. I had a fantastic time with it (and continue to do so, since there are still a lot of quests, exploration and so on for me to do), which was enhanced by the graphics update. I'm pleased to say that beyond a few minor things, most of my characters look the same or better than they did before, and the degree to which the lighting, texture and object density improved the environments is absolutely stunning. I'm really excited to draw the new places, they're incredibly inspiring from an artistic angle. I've spent so much time staring at new higher-definition plants, admiring lighting and weather effects...

I'm thrilled with the presentation of the Mamool Ja. I always found them intriguing, but until now we didn't really get very much solid information about them beyond a few scraps in ARR and the BLU questline. I absolutely love Gulool Ja Ja, he's definitely my favourite character in Dawntrail, and the others interested me a lot too. Very well done and the voice acting was great. I didn't expect to actually get to visit Mamook, but I love it, I really enjoyed all of their history and that of Tural in general... as well as the Mamool Ja, I'm particularly fond of the Yok Huy and the Moblins (long time goblin fan, of course) but I feel that all of the diverse people of Tural were interesting and it all came together very well.

I've seen some criticism of this part of the MSQ with regards to it being boring. I really didn't feel that way though I know it's just not what some people enjoy, which is fair. But Wuk Lamat was fine. The degree to which the "power of friendship/peace" message is stressed sometimes does feel a little silly to me when it's presented so plainly, people have compared it to a shounen anime from that angle and I would agree, but it's not necessarily a bad thing - just not my usual preference.

One thing that did bother me throughout the expansion, though, is one that I expected - I'm really quite tired of the Scions. Estinien is the most blatant example here - his presence in the story served absolutely no purpose whatsoever. I was rather disappointed that the story behind Thancred and Urianger's presence and supposed "opposition" with the others turned out to be... basically nothing of any importance at all, given how it was dramatised in the trailers and so on.

I am fond of many of them, but I'm very strongly in favour of retiring characters, concepts or anything else before they start to become stale, and unfortunately we're very much at this stage with those guys... Just because I like a character doesn't mean I want to see them pop up everywhere all the time when it doesn't really have a point to it. I dunno. Doesn't seem like they're going to drop it, though...

I'm going to continue the rest of my thoughts in a separate post since it involves more specific spoilers for the later half of the story.