#thancred x wol x emet-selch

[nights-at-crystarium]

ShB and Fragments in a nutshell

[laena-ffxiv]

Admittedly, my pictomancer glam is kinda very revealing lol I had to think about how the reveal would go down

I enjoy bringing these more lighthearted Dawntrail moments to life. 🥹

[koukouture]

Official FFXIV men oral game ranking

no i will not elaborate

[winterheart]

プリクラ!

Diana x Thancred Crow x Hades

[autumnslance]

Year of the OTP - March 2023 - Fairy Tale AU

A young thief becomes embroiled in the tale of a pair of cursed lovers; by day, the lady is a hawk, but by night, the man is a wolf. Forever together, eternally apart, cursed so after crossing the evil bishop. Aided by the thief and their old friend--a penitent, drunken monk--the couple must somehow face their foe as humans together on "a day without a night and a night without a day" to break the terrible spell.

--

...So Ladyhawke is one of those cheesy 80s fantasy films (complete with rock score instead of orchestral, that was a thing in that decade), but the story is very fairy tale-esque and I thought it'd be a fun set to do. Thanks to @driftward for help with some photoshopping, like the Ifrit eclipse and fixing our stubborn Ascian standing in for the bishop.

Year of the OTP prompt list here. I'm not great at writing AUs, so it's more about the images for this one.

[displacedarchon]

Emet-Selch tired of their SHIT. He’ll make this ship sail if it’s the last thing he’ll do.. 

[ainyan]

“You and the Warrior of Light are terribly close, aren’t you?” Thancred paused mid-step as he crossed the Exedra, then swung around, hands in his pockets as he stared at Emet-Selch. The Ascian stood behind him, a hateful glint in his golden eyes and a sneer on his face. “In fact, I believe you spend more time sleeping in her room than your own. It makes me wonder what your little protege makes of your neglect. Or perhaps,” he added, his voice dripping with contempt, “she’s used to it.”

Baring his teeth, Thancred took a step forward, reaching over his shoulder for his gunblade. “For shame,” came a soft voice from behind him. “You know as well as any here that Minfilia is Thancred’s primary concern.” Emet-Selch’s eyes darted over Thancred’s shoulder, and the gunbreaker turned to see Kali standing there, one arm about the girl in question. “He would never leave her alone if he thought there was any possible risk to her.”

The blonde stepped forward, and Kali let her arm slip away. “I asked him to go to her,” she said, chin jutting forth stubbornly. “They deserve privacy after so long apart. It’s hard to be private when you’ve a roommate but a few fulms and a couple of screens away.”

Kal’istae stepped forward, her eyes on Emet-Selch, his eyes on her. Thancred felt his hackles rise, but forced himself to step back, next to Minfilia, and leave the Warrior to deal with the Ascian. “As you well know,” she was saying, her hands folded before her, “Minfilia is very carefully watched and warded not only by Thancred and the other Scions, but by the Exarch as well. ‘Tis not only he who deserves privacy, but her as well - privacy she’s had scant chance to enjoy these past years since Eulmore took her.”

“Your bleeding heart,” Emet-Selch said flatly, “is going to find you in trouble.” Then he frowned, golden eyes briefly glinting with misery before his habitual sneer rose firmly into place once more. “But what care have I if you waste yourself on something so far beneath you?”

Kali shook her head. “That is your opinion, Emet-Selch, but never mine.” Glancing briefly over her shoulder, her eyes met the gunbreaker’s, glowing brightly. “In many ways, he is my equal; in others, he is as far above me as the stars in the night sky.”

For a brief, ephemeral moment, Thancred saw rage in Emet-Selch’s eyes, rage directed at him. He didn’t know what it was about him in particular that in so infuriated the Ascian; he’d never even known of him before their first meeting on the First. Perhaps it had something to do with Lahabrea, but as Thancred himself was not responsible for the Paragon’s demise, he did not see how.

Or perhaps it had something to do with the puzzled hunger with which Emet-Selch watched Kal’istae when she wasn’t looking.

“Do not be absurd,” the Ascian was saying, voice clipped and annoyed. “Twisted and sundered though you are, you are as far above these mewling creatures as I am above you. Why, your very aether,  tenuous and colorless as it is, attests to that.”

The gunbreaker tensed. “Tenuous compared to yours, perhaps,” he said flatly, “but colorless? I think not.” The other man’s head swiveled towards him, his expression incredulous. “If you can see the color of souls, then surely you can see how rich and varied hers is, so many beautiful shades of blue.”

“Her soul is not blue!” Emet-Selch roared, and the three of them stared at him in shock as he stood before them, breath heaving. “It is not blue. It is a pale and transparent and lifeless thing. It is not… it is not…”

Without warning, he abruptly vanished, leaving behind a rapidly fading cloud of dark aether in his wake.

Thancred snarled and made a rude gesture towards the dissipating cloud, then turned to check on Minfilia. The girl looked distressed, but unharmed, and when she noticed him looking at her, she gave him a trembling smile.

Then he turned to Kali and froze. She was gazing at the now empty spot where Emet-Selch had stood, one hand pressed against her breastbone as she stared in dismay. “Kali?” he asked softly, crossing to her and reaching out to touch her cheek.

She started and stared up at him, eyes wild for a brief moment before she closed them and exhaled. “Thancred. I’m sorry.” Reaching up, she took a hold of his hand and drew it to her lips. “I do not mean to distract you from Minfilia.”

He cupped her cheek and drew her to him, at the same time reaching out to place his hand gently atop his ward’s head. The girl stared at him, startled, then offered a sweet, shy smile. “You do not distract me. If I were not absolutely certain she was safe and watched, you and I would share my bed, not yours.” He didn’t mention his certainty that it was not Minfilia that had her so distressed.

Any mention of the Ascians distressed Kali, but this one more than most. What was it about Emet-Selch that triggered such sorrow and guilt in the Warrior of Light?

What was it about Kal’istae that triggered such sorrow and rage in the Ascian?

He wished he knew. He wished he knew how to find out. But even his skills at information gathering could come to naught against a mystery ten thousand years and more in the making. Still, the more they chased the Lightwardens, the more they uncovered about the mysteries surrounding the Sundering. Perhaps there would be some hint within their future adventures, but for now…

For now, it was past time they put the Ascian from their minds. Sliding his arm about Kali’s waist, he lowered his head, brushing his lips across her temple. She blinked and looked up at him, and her expression softened, melting into a quiet pleasure. “Thancred,” she murmured.

At their side, Minfilia giggled, then clapped her hands over her mouth, eyes wide and startled above them. Thancred was startled too, staring at the girl for a long moment before his lips curved in a tentative smile. “Come, ladies,” he said, snugging Kali against his side and stroking Minfilia’s hair before letting his hand fall away. “I do believe we could all do with a spot of lunch before we dive into the mystery of the next Lightwarden.”

Kal’istae’s gaze drifted once more to the spot where Emet-Selch had once been. She was silent for a moment, then exhaled. “Yes, I agree. I think we could do with some lunch and some company.” She slid her arm tentatively around his waist and he tightened his own in response. “Coming, Minfilia?”

The girl watched them with wide blue eyes. “Oh! Ah - yes! Thank you,” she added shyly, and when Thancred ruffled her hair, she couldn’t hold back her delighted grin.

[yasuosexual]

FINAL FANTASY 14 MASTERLIST

key: 18+ = 🔞, contains spoilers = 💔

RAMBLINGS:

where i just spit my thoughts

Impatience - 🔞 Thancred

Death - 💔 Thancred

Warm Hugs - Estinien

Sexual Deviance - 🔞 Estinien

Virgin - 🔞 Aymeric

Learning - 🔞 Aymeric

Reflection - 💔 Haurchefant

Life - 🔞 Haurchefant

names are abbreviated:

HEADCANONS:

Kinks - 🔞 Th, Ay, H, Es

Carried like a Princess - Th, Ay, Es

Sex Positions - 🔞 Th, Ay, H, Es

Hugs - Th, Ay, H, Es

First Time - 🔞💔 Ay, H, Es

How They Sleep - Th, Ay, H, Es

Seduce - 🔞 Th, Ay, H, Es, Ur

Face Sitting - 🔞 Ay, H, Es

Pregnancy - 💔 Th, Ay, H, Es

Naming Your Son After Them - Th, Ay, H, Es

Boob Sucking - 🔞 Ay, H, Es

How They Sleep pt.2 - Hythlodaeus, Emet-Selch

Polyamory - 🔞 Ay x WOL x Es

[cinnabun-faerie]

FFXIV {April 2022 Masterlist}

✧Group HC & Reactions✧

WoL playing a prank on them (Alisaie, Alphinaud, Estinien, G'raha Tia, Thancred, Urianger, Y'shtola)

React to a sick!WoL admitting that they were scared that their caretaker only thought of them as a tool (Alisaie, Alphinaud, Aymeric, Estinien, G'raha Tia, Thancred, Urianger, Y'shtola)

Comparing/Tending to scars (Estinien, G'raha Tia, Thancred)

React to WoL being a Miqo'te (Emet-Selch, Hermes, Hythlodaeus)

Encouraging Miqo'te!WoL who is nervous to show their cat-like behavior (Aymeric, Estinien, Haurchefant, Urianger, Y'shtola)

WoL Breaking down into tears (G'raha Tia, Thancred, Y'shtola)

Domestic Fluff HCs (Aymeric. Erenville, G'raha Tia, Haurchefant, Y'shtola)

WoL breaking down into tears {Part 2} (Emet-Selch, Estinien, Urianger)

WoL going to live with the beast tribes instead of adventuring (Alisaie, Alphinaud, Estinien, G'raha Tia, Thancred, Urianger, Y'shtola)

WoL breaking down into tears {Part 3} (Aymeric, Erenville, Haurchefant)

Finding Y'shtola & WoL making out (Alisaie, Alphinaud, Exarch, Ryne, Thancred, Urianger)

WoL having a bad nightmare (Alisaie, Alphinaud, G'raha Tia, Thancred, Urianger, Y'shtola)

WoL having a bad nightmare {Part 2} (Aymeric, Emet-Selch)

Finding Urianger & the WoL making out (Alisaie, Alphinaud, Exarch, Ryne, Thancred, Y'shtola)

Cuddles HCs (Artoirel, Emmanellain, Haurchefant)

Reaction to an Au Ra!Reader curling up to them as Ishgard is so cold it makes them want to hibernate (Alphinaud, Aymeric, Haurchefant, Tataru)

Comforting WoL who suffers from delusions that everyone hates them (Emet-Selch, Hythlodaeus, Venat)

WoL wanting to be bent over the nearest surface {18+} (Aymeric, G'raha Tia, Thancred, Y'shtola)

Viera!WoL having their bunny tail (Erenville, Urianger, Zenos)

With a Sick WoL (Emet-Selch, G'raha Tia)

WoL getting married to Aymeric (Alisaie, Alphinaud, Estinien, G'raha Tia, Thancred, Urianger, Y'shtola)

WoL laying on their chest when they're cuddling (Aymeric, Estinien, G'raha Tia, Haurchefant, Urianger)

WoL singing "Raise your glass" in the Forgotten Knight {Part 1} (Alisaie, Alphinaud, Estinien, G'raha Tia, Thancred. Urianger, Y'shtola)

Exarch accidently summons the 8 year old version of the WoL (Alisaie, Alphinaud, Exarch, Thancred, Urianger, Y'shtola)

Miqo'te WoL bunting them (Alisaie, Alphinaud, Estinien, Exarch, Post Reveal-G'raha Tia, Thancred, Urianger, Y'shtola)

Reaction to WoL after Alisaie hits the G note on the Piano (Alisaie, Alphinaud, Estinien, G'raha Tia, Thancred. Urianger, Y'shtola)

Finding Thancred & WoL making out (Alisaie, Alphinaud, Exarch, Ryne, Urianger, Y'shtola)

WoL saying they don't want to fight anymore (Aymeric, Estinien. G'raha Tia, Haurchefant, Thancred, Urianger)

WoL trying to redecorate the tower to make it more cozy (Zenos x Reader x Fandaniel)

✧Solo HC & Reactions✧

Thancred with a Lalafell s/o HCs

Y'shtola reacts: Unconscious WoL teleporting back to the ship (part 3)

Gaius Baelsar Domestic HCs

Fandaniel reacting to learning you had banged his clone from the Crystal Tower

Y'shtola with a shy Fem!WoL who takes great appreciation of Y'shtola's new outfit on The First

Zenos Domestic HCs

Fandaniel reaction to WoL saying they don't want to fight anymore

Erenville reacts to WoL trying to help him with a small task but ends up getting so frustrated that they can't capture the creature they end up breaking down

Gaius Father HCs

Artoirel Love at First Sight HCs

Fandaniel with s/o who's been trying to reverse-engineer allagan tech for years

Tired WoL enters the Rising Stone and falls asleep on Y'shtola's lap

Thancred & a Miqo'te HCs

Zenos confessing his love to the WoL

WoL revealing they have Azem's memories by playing wrong notes of a familiar song (Emet-Selch)

[maybevillage]

tell us your shippy wol thoughts! are there any other characters you like to see her with or just haurchefant? and which characters does your wol really hate?

://D i ship a lot of chars with my wol (meade) and i wanted to draw a silly chart for fun at some point so now is as good a time as any ?? although in retrospect this thing is kind of an eyesore omfg

ok im going to ramble now (spoilers for the chars on the chart)

wol x haurchefant to me is the plot relevant fates intertwine through-thick-and-thin partners in crime power of love and yet something beyond it relationship to me... i don't think about it a lot recently bc it makes me emo but they're like exceedingly similar in my mind (and both freaks) so they get along like two matching puzzle pieces. and they're like endgame to me. like i'm reincarnating and i hope to see you in our next life endgame to me. reading each other's minds and enjoying each other's company *cry*

wol x erenville is also endgame to me but a lot more casual i like that erenville is so normal lol in my mind he's the one who has to MATCH MEADE'S FREAK HAHAHAHaha haha hahahaha. in my slowly unraveling wolverse she spends a lot of time in sharlayan trying to ingratiate herself to him and he knows why but is just largely unconcerned about it for a long time bc idk my headcanon is that vieras culturally or w/e are not all that concerned with monogamous relationships and stuff. idk. i need a ffxiv blog

wol x fray is like...unlike haurchefant where i'm raising him from the dead i think learning fray was dead the whole time and you're kind of...idk dragging them along with you for your own purposes in some strange way (i need someone smarter than me to give me their thoughts on the drk quest one of these days bc how it plays out is actually pretty nebulous/confused in my mind) really solidified the relationship to me like its endlessly fascinating. i wont say a lot bc there's a comic i want to draw but meade is like obsessed with them, basically. like an idol-like fascination with a person you "meet" post-death but it's weird (like how idolising a person might be desecrating in a way) of her to feel this way so she would rather die than breathe a word of this to sid or rielle or anyone. would've been endgame bc fray's sort of demanding and goading personality is perfeeecttt but them being dead just adds something too interesting to pretend it didn't happen. whatever its my world i dont think too hard about the logic

wol x emet-selch is like ajajfjajugfgafjajdfjagjfjgjfgjfhjajgj. you understand. not-romance but also not-not-romance. they'll never really understand each other. also meade doesn't think too deeply?? there's a lot of mental jumps in this to me bc she's kind of a moron and he's like obviously really focused on things she will never really empathise with or think so much about. what is it called when A wants B as his monstrous avatar of destruction bc idk what else will sympathise with him and b could have a casual relationship w/ a rock bc she's sillayyyyy

meade used to have a crush on thancred around arr (the quest where you dress up in disguises in camp drybone really stuck out to me) but it cooled off bc it didn't seem necessary to pursue and also thancred is just so. idk he's just so funny to me. and he's married to urianger now i think. now him and wol are like jokingly rivals but not really. compete against each other for fun

with y'shtola it's like that one person you'll have a crush on for the rest of your pathetic life. like that "in your dreams" person. she remembers every moment y'shtola has thrown her a bone with utmost clarity and has only dreamed about being her lapdog like five times. she just doesn't think anything would work out bc y'shtola can be kind of stuffy. also unlike thancred y'shtola definitely knows. now the two of them are like the closest scions to her imo (aside from the twins ofc. and free graha)

and that's it......kind of............................................................there's actually a lot of chars i wish i could mold into wolship but i think they just don't fit what i have going on with meade so sometimes i entertain being crazy enough to make entirely new wols. i like aymeric, estinien, urianger, cirina and hermes too but they just don't really work with meade in a way i like and i cant bother force it when i have my hands seriously full alreayd

like i specifically enjoy aymeric being in unrequited love with wol forever. like he'll be in his grave before that ever gets realised and that's partially why he didn't want to govern a whole nation but maybe (a small part) of why he did is so that he could continue to meet up with wol. idk i also like them being bestieees. or mutually in love. i like a lot of things. i love aymeric

estinien and urianger are like too particular to me like in my mind they require something delicate romantically (in different ways) and i think meade is just too heavy-handed. also these two are gay asf to me like not even bi or whatevs just gay as hell. these two and cirina and hermes are like too specific to me or something idk i'm overthinking it for sure but it's like i'd have to make wols entirely dedicated to shipping with them bc of their highly specific environments/contexts to get the dynamic i want or something. i like estinien/aymeric, urianger/thancred and sadu/cirina though LOL maybe that's why????? like meade can't give any of them what they want and there's something else going on i find more interesting. and i barely know what hermes wants (half joking). i like him though. i will rotate him in my mind more once i finish ew. i think i just ship him w myself tbh

ok moving on.... if i really had to say i think the only chars she really hates are like the fucking ul'dahns who are soooooo obsessed with money and hurt people to get more of it and are just so stuck in keeping ul'dah the same oh my gawddddd. like lolorito, teledji adeledji and dewlala like THEY ALL PISS ME OFF SOOOO BAD WHAT IS WITH THE CONSERVATIVE LALAFELLS ITS SO RANDOM and i think i could see my wol just hating them. i think for similar reasons she dislikes a lot of the sharlayans. i like to make chars who aren't particularly cerebral probs bc i overthink so much grr so she isn't concerned at all with bureaucracy or not getting to the point, as in doesn't even understand why ppl speak around things. so i think snake-like nobility and non-intervention policy is smth that would just bother her. also that idk gold saucer guy nanamo talks to in post-stormblood about helping the refugees and he's like "there's no point trying to help them without thinking of how to turn a profit" or wahtever he said like i think meade would harm him.

oh and i think she just doesn't like hien like finds him disconcerting for unknown reasons. i hope its obvious that im just projecting my own feelings onto who she doesnt like bc i cant help but find that man weird. and the sharlayan forum i find annoying

maybe surprising but i don't think she'd hate zenos or anything but thats bc nothing he does to me registers as canon in the game............... he's just not in the game to me... i think i blank out when he shows up like i don't even hate him i just wish he was doing something else somewhere else like no more of him please. i think in canon he just confuses her like she's not sure how he's reached the point he has. but tbh all the imperialism stuff is just not really in the game to me

[agent-cupcake]

UPDATE TIME Okay so my sleep schedule is obscenely fucked so my productivity has been really low when it comes to writing, but I'd like to share some of the ideas I've been kicking around recently. They're all FFXIV because I've got the brainrot and there's a HIGH chance I'll write none of these, or things will change dramatically, but I wanted to share regardless.

Hermes x f!reader - Modern AU

You're a patient with a rare disease being treated by Doctor Fandaniel. In that time, he becomes a little too attached to you and your case. He believes your medical issues are fully curable given the proper resources and time, but isn't getting approved for that sort of experimental treatment. Realizing that the hospital, your family, and the medical field in general are just going to let you die, Hermes takes things (namely, you) into his own hands. Essentially, Hermes kidnaps you so he can personally treat you with the stated goal of saving your life and obviously no other ulterior motives.

Zenos viator Galvus x f!WoL reader - Post Endwalker AU

This one strays far enough from canon that I'm not sure I could do it justice, but I like the idea nonetheless. Zenos's third life begins in a prison. You, physically and mentally drained by everything that has happened, are his savior and his warden. In your attempt to understand him, your dark mirror, you open yourself up to a whole lot of uncomfortable baggage a hero shouldn't carry, and to being understood, convincing Zenos to consider a new perspective. Unfortunately, understanding a monster doesn't make him any less monstrous, no matter what misguided ideals your adventures have taught you so far... All of this to say that when he escapes, he's no longer preoccupied with fighting you.

Hades x f!reader x Hythlodaeus

Long before you're made Azem and Hythlodaeus gives up the seat of Emet-Selch for Hades, the three of you go on an anthropological expedition as a more hands-on lesson. I have to write a threesome with them eventually. Legally, I think it's contractual. We'll see.

G'raha Tia x f!WoL reader

He's very enthusiastic and attentive and I have a voice kink.

Thancred Waters x f!Reader

I want to take advantage of a man with the lingering issues of a caretaker who lost his ward + it would be funny if he got fed up with the old man jokes. I wholeheartedly blame Kane for this one.

[amoebaforce]

Heya! I've been really enjoying your writing and wanted to ask for some hc of wol x thancred x emet selch. I just think those two hate each other so much but you can't make me choose only ONE. Have a nice day btw :).

this is possibly the funniest trio you could have asked for, and i thank you for it, anon! this was fun to write (though i did come to the realization that there's almost NO gifs of these two together!!).

fluff at first, but things get spicy under the cut :)

pairing: Thancred Waters x gn!WoL x Emet-Selch tags: fluff, established relationship, polyamory, bickering, a little jealousy perhaps, NSFW (mdni), threesome, oral (m receiving), penetrative sex, begging

The WoL is inevitably sandwiched between their partners every morning. Usually, Thancred’s playing big spoon on one side, while Emet-Selch’s sprawling limbs encroach from the other. Thancred sleepily swats at the Ascian’s hands when they loll toward him, as if warding a fly away. When Emet wakes to the sensation, he grumbles something about “hogging” and rolls closer on purpose.

You won’t hear the WoL complaining, though. There are much worse ways to emerge from a slumber, and the men are pleasant alarms, letting their lips and hands glide over the Warrior’s skin until all three are wide awake.

Yes, the WoL savors these slow, easy mornings, mostly because they seem to be the only moments in which their boyfriends aren’t actively bickering.

There is a subtle but ever-present air of competition between Thancred and Emet. They don’t outright fight over the Warrior — they’re both content enough to share — but they do try to outdo each other sometimes. 

If Thancred holds a door, Emet rushes to hold the next one. If Emet takes the trio on a trip, Thancred pays for every dinner. And of course, they’re quipping and japing at each other the whole time.

“See, darling, I told you the beach would be nice this time of year,” Emet hums to the Warrior. “Beaches are always nice in the summer, bell-end,” Thancred says from behind his sunglasses. Later, when Thancred falls asleep sunbathing, Emet uses sunscreen to draw a dick on his chest.

And, of course, their competition can’t help but spill over into the bedroom. They never sleep with the WoL individually — always together, and always with some kind of game happening between them.

Emet likes to use the Warrior’s mouth while Thancred fucks them from behind. The Ascian coos delicious little encouragements at both of them, trying to push Thancred into coming first.

“Doesn’t our beloved look so sweet like this?” Emet asks, hands fisted in the WoL’s hair. “Drooling and cock-drunk. Did you know their eyes roll back when you’re hilted?”

The WoL proves Emet right as Thancred groans and buries himself inside them. “Not fair,” Thancred grits out. “You’re making them clench up.” Emet laughs and purposefully gags the Warrior on his cock, sending a jolt to their core that makes them clench even harder. Thancred swears as he loses control and releases so hard his legs shake.

But Thancred has his own tricks, too. He knows Emet loves it when the Warrior begs, and he plays accordingly. When Emet is the one hilt-deep inside them, Thancred is a brutal tease.

He’ll kneel before their face and stroke himself slowly, letting the Warrior see his arousal drip. When they whine impatiently, licking their lips, Thancred merely smiles and cups their face in one calloused hand. “What was that, baby?” he asks. “If you want something, you have to ask properly.”

“Please,” the WoL keens. “Please, please, please let me taste you!” Emet shudders, hands tightening on their hips as he pumps into them. Thancred hums, as if considering his answer, but he’s really watching a vein protrude on the Ascian’s temple. He shrugs and looks back to the Warrior. “I don’t know, baby — do you deserve it?” he presses.

The WoL dissolves into babbles. “Yes, yes, please-please-please–” It’s too much for Emet. He growls out a warning, and Thancred knows he’s won this round. He finally relents, slipping his cock into the Warrior’s mouth as the Ascian slams his hips against theirs. Emet’s brutal pace stutters as he unravels, spilling until his spend is leaking down the Warrior’s thighs.

Thancred snickers as Emet pants through his aftershocks. “What a mess you’ve made. Would you like to switch, Emet, so our darling can clean you off?”

[fandom-geek]

spoilers up to earthenshire (maybe a few quests into it)

i think my main issue with dawntrail is nothing actually feels like it requires the wol. we barely even have a reason to be here, aside from emet selch mentioning golden cities and g'raha telling us to follow our journey through, and one of those lines doesn't even get mentioned half the time!

the wol just feels a lot like chopped liver, and it doesn't help that the reveal of thancred and urianger working for koana wasn't even voiced. by all standards, it should be a pretty significant cutscene, but it's just glazed over.

it also feels a lot like they've recreated the worst of heavensward with all the boring chores, especially with the awful aetheryte placement. i did the pelupelu as my first branch so that wasn't too bad bc you use the alpacas, but i am currently feeling degrees of homicide toward the hanu/moblin zone

wuk lamat is fine on paper, and often very enjoyable when she's in her element. but her self-esteem issues feels like a bit of a retread of alphinaud's crisis over his leadership skills just without the dire consequences, although i'm seriously hoping she's over it after the post-first dungeon cutscenes.

i'm debating a bit abt how much of this is bc of dt itself versus the utter lack of build-up we got in the patches for it. i also think that zero's story wasn't helped by dragging it out as long as they did, and i seriously see no reason for the dawntrail build-up not to have started in 6.4 or 6.5 to get us actually invested in these characters beforehand. it's almost always been x.1-3 dealing with the expansion aftermath, then x.4-5 dealing with building up the next one, and that's worked wonderfully for a reason. this all just feels very... extraneous.

[karygurl]

prevarication (ffxiv)

Thancred x WoL, Emet-Selch x WoL. Takes place in Shadowbringers, timeline is vague but probably sometime after returning to the Crystarium from Rak'tika Greatwood. Two intelligent men dance around what they truly want, and find they have at least one thing in common. Became inspired by this gpose and just had to do it to 'em.

Thancred bit down on the groan that threatened to escape from his lips. He could think of few people, in the First or the Source, that he wanted to see less of than the one approaching him.

He’d been assisting with the patrols at Fort Jobb in Lakeland, helping in his own way while the more learned members of their crew worked with Moren in the Cabinet of Curiosity to locate some clues. He’d been afforded a brief respite, leaning against one of the structures in the shade and enjoying the still calm of the lavender forest and lack of blanketing light overhead, when a skulking shadow crept into the corners of his vision.

Emet-Selch. Headed Thancred’s way, for some reason. 

"What's this? Has the band of merry misfits driven off their stalwart protector?"

And the Ascian opened straight away with sarcastic disdain. Lovely. 

"Don't you have anything better to do? Like work on those plans that have you slavishly sacrificing a world to your god?" All things considered, it was likely better to have him skulking about in plain sight rather than off working on some scheme, but that didn't mean that Thancred had to enjoy his company.

"Well, you lot haven't managed to derail my plans yet, and until such an occurrence, I have precious little to occupy myself. Surely you’ll forgive me for seeking out some alternative means to pass the time."

Thancred wasn't sure he bought that explanation. As Emet-Selch settled back against the wall beside him with a weary exhale, he tried to consider what the Ascian’s angle might be. For the moment the Scions were still formulating their next objective, so perhaps he was curious? Though were that the case, surely he wouldn't have singled out Thancred as someone with information on their plan that could be gleaned, especially isolated from the others as he currently was. 

Perhaps Thancred could prise information from him? Doubtful. This so-called Paragon has orchestrated the rise and fall of great civilizations with meticulous planning; it was unlikely Thancred would be able to extract anything that he didn't wish revealed. Still, in the off chance that the Ascian wished to brag, surely there was little harm in casting a line, if he could manage to bring the subject around to something he needed information on? 

"I cannot fathom what prompted you to seek my company out."

A dignified huff. “You think yourself that far beneath my notice? You wouldn’t be far from the truth, though it seems you’re the oldest acquaintance of a certain someone in your little group, and that had caught my attention.”

Of course it was Cassandra. Who else could it possibly be? Thancred hadn’t missed the rare, brief smiles that the Ascian had cast in her direction, the difference in the man’s suddenly illuminated countenance striking, before he once again succumbed to whatever melancholy weighed him down.

Thancred’s gaze slid to the slouched man at his side, choosing his words carefully to both probe and insult. "And what do you see when you look at her, she who recoils at your very presence?"

"Someone with naught the memories to recognize who stands before her."

The grave weight in his words gave Thancred pause. He knew about Cassandra's amnesia? That seemed the obvious explanation, however that could possibly be, though something in his hollow tone lent more gravitas to the words than he'd expected. Was there more to it? What could the Founding Emperor of Garlemald, an Ascian, possibly be to the Warrior of Light? 

“You’ve met Cassandra before?”

“If that is your question, then yes. Yes, I’ve had the pleasure of brief familiarity with her.”

Thancred immediately caught the implication of his initial response. How else could he have worded his question that would have changed his answer? 

“And yet she doesn’t remember you.” Thancred didn’t miss the way a dark shadow seemed to pass over the Ascian’s eyes at that. Perhaps he didn’t know about her amnesia? Or did he in fact have something to do with it? “And when did you last see her in your previous acquaintance?”

“In the days before the Second Eorzean Uprising.”

Thancred knew from his infiltration of the empire that the Garleans had their own calendar, their own names for skirmishes and battles. The Second Eorzean Uprising was their name for the Battle of Carteneau.

Though Thancred schooled his reaction, Emet-Selch’s lips spread into a wry smirk as he watched the realization dawn, hooded eyes staring intently. 

Thancred didn’t rise to the bait; he was too busy thinking through the ramifications. He knew from intel he’d collected while in the Circle of Knowing that Emperor Solus had been reported to be in the Garlean capital for much of the time preceding Carteneau. He hadn’t toured the empire for some time due to his health, and he’d wanted to subtly distance himself from Nael van Darnus’s Eorzean campaign and its wretched Meteor Project. If the Ascian wasn’t lying (and that was anyone’s guess), then Cassandra had presumably been in the Garlean empire’s capital in the days preceding the battle. Somehow. Was she Garlean? A conscript? The latter seemed more likely considering her affinity to that Bozjan lullaby that had haunted him these past years on the First. However, conscripts were trained and deployed far from the capital itself and rarely if ever allowed into the palace, let alone anywhere near the emperor. And how could she have managed to vanish from the heart of the Garlean empire, from under the nose of the Emperor himself, and turn up inside a Gelmorran ruin in the Black Shroud four years later with her memories lost to her?

But Emet-Selch was still watching him. Looking for a reaction. Looking for information, he realized. He didn’t know her whole story, either, and Thancred wasn’t about to start handing out information without making him work for it. “Tell me how you knew her.”

The Ascian’s grin was near vicious in its self-satisfaction. They’d arrived at the heart of the matter; this was why he’d deigned to appear, why he’d sought Thancred out specifically. “Quid pro quo, spymaster.” 

Thancred crossed his arms. “And what could an almighty Ascian possibly want from a lowly man such as I?” Tell me what you want. Her secrets are neither mine to divulge nor yours to withhold. 

“Simply information. Assuming you even have any, which I’m beginning to doubt. Do you truly know so little of the woman you love?”

Blatant provocation. Thancred held Emet-Selch’s pointed golden stare, neither reacting nor backing down. Denying it would be pointless; just as he’d recognized Emet-Selch’s adulation, so had the Ascian spotted his own longing for her. 

Between he and Cassandra was much that had yet to be spoken, and he wasn’t certain that it ever would be. But if he was to have his emotions dragged through the mud by an Ascian, then by the gods, he’d bring the bastard into the muck with him. 

Emet-Selch’s mocking smirk had yet to wane. “Given up already? Content to simply pine for a woman so far beyond you?” 

Still Thancred’s gaze didn’t waver. "Does seeing your affections mirrored in another truly spark such jealousy? How surprisingly uncivilized. And here I thought you Ascians were possessed of superior virtue and beyond such ignoble salacity, but I see I was mistaken."

That piqued the Ascian’s annoyance, lips curling into a sneer. "You think I'm lusting after her? How base. She is no object to be used… a truth that most of your pathetic people cannot seem to grasp."

“It might surprise you to know that on this one thing, I agree with you.” 

Moments passed in silence, then. The tension was palpable, not companionable, but at least in one singular way, they seemed to understand one another. 

Emet-Selch closed his eyes, breaking their long-held stare. Thancred was honestly expecting more of an interrogation, but it seemed the Ascian was finished as he pushed away from the wall with a heavy sigh. “I suppose you’ve offered enough amusement for the moment. Enjoy your exhausting and pointless heroic work.”

That infuriating, flippant wave was the last thing Thancred saw before the Ascian was swallowed by a darkened portal and vanished, leaving him with far more questions than answers… and a headache he wasn’t particularly thrilled with, either. 

[heirsofdiscord]

FFXIVwrite2023 - My Fills 10(+1)/30 complete

Prompt #1 Envoy: Unearthed Hyacinth Veil | ARR & Endwalker

Prompt #2 Bark: Scars Yorick Faust | ambiguously post Shadowbringers

Prompt #3 Free Day: The House Molyneux Built; Boniface Boniface Molyneux ( ft. Alana Molyneux & Amélia Murchadh ) | late into the Sixth Astral Era

Prompt #4 Off the Hook: Lady Grinnaux Tsubaki Grinnaux | post Shadowbringers

Prompt #5 Barbarous: Kicking Far, Kicking Wide The Burn (ft. Bukidai, Moth'ir & Ibuki) | post Endwalker

Prompt #6 Ring: Eternal Return Yorick Faust x Lahabrea | ARR-post Endwalker

Prompt #7 Noisome: Wretched Selene Molyneux (ft. Daxue & Alicia) | post Canon

Prompt #8 Shed SKIPPED

Prompt #9 Fair: Cookie Clickers The whole WoL group & Moth'ir ( ft. Thancred, Emet-Selch, Elidibus & Hien) | All Saints Wake 2022

Prompt #10 Free Day SKIPPED

Prompt #11 Once bitten, Twice Shy: Glass Yorick Faust (ft. Montresor) | post Shadowbringers

Prompt #12 Dowdy: Daughter Alicia, Daxue, Selene Molyneux ( ft. Yotsuyu) | post Canon

Prompt #13-14 SKIPPED

Prompt #15 Portentous: The Vision Alain & Montresor Molyneux ( ft. Yotsuyu) | pre-ARR, post-Shadowbringers

Prompt #16-30 SKIPPED

[nidstiniens]

title: Godless rating: explicit. chapter: 01/05 pairing: emet-selch x wol, ardbert x wol (referenced) notes: starts when the scions first approach amaurot and follows the wol up until the end of shadowbringers. canon-divergent while also trying to remain as canon as possible? my own little slice of canon. explicit rating for chapter 2.

preview:

She can’t imagine it, being here one moment and gone the next. Though she’s had more than a few close brushes with death in what’s truly been a very short life, she’s not once had to grapple with the thought of it until recently. Perhaps it’s because this, the eventual slow, painful turn from human to sin eater, is not so much a brush with death as it is an untimely rendezvous — she knows they’re supposed to meet, but she hasn’t been told the time or place.

Something moves out of the corner of her eye and she snaps her gaze in its direction. Across the wide, empty street from where she sits is a dark alleyway nestled between the clock tower and another nondescript high-rise. What’s interesting to her is not its existence — Amaurot is filled with dark alleyways —  but rather the fact that its shadows are noticeably darker than the rest. The darkness in the alley is thick, almost permeable, and Nara swears she can feel it calling to her.

Her eyes narrow and she tilts her head as she stares down the shadowy back street, straining to make out any sort of shape or figure in the darkness but ultimately seeing nothing. She stands up and shakes her head tiredly, is just about to admit to herself that perhaps Thancred is right about sleep when she feels it — a tug. It’s not an invitation, but a summons, the same one that led her into the city. It pulls urgently at her chest and before she knows it, she’s at the mouth of the pitch-black void.

Emet-Selch waits for her.

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