#they're just like: epic. wanna go get a smoothie together?

[deadn30n]

i think one of my favourite things about being able to mod in FFXIV is being able to show the gradual and fluid transition to which solstice starts physically fleshing themselves out overtime. i'll talk more in depth about it later, but it's a very very important and key point in the novel. because they go from being almost a blank slate ( the first picture ), to reconstructing their outward appearance to suit their own preference ( the second picture ). there's a lot of nuance behind why && how this all happens, and i just know that translating it from my rp with my bff to actual writing in the novel is going to be so much fun.

it's important to remember that the race of angels solstice is 'born' from ( although i use the term 'born' very loosely because they were created first as a machine by their world's god ) do not perceive gender. gender is not a thing in their society. you are not born female or male, you are simply you. there are no specific defining features that set you apart with labels like 'male' or 'female'. you have the option later on to give yourself a gender-identity if you so wish, but most angels kinda vibe. they could give two shits less about it and only give themselves reproductive organs for the sake of procreating. most of them walk around in a similar fashion to solstice's 'blank slate'.

[a-lonely-dunedain]

heyas friend! would you be interested in taking about ethedis a little bit? she seems pretty cool from what I've seen so far, and I'm kinda curious about her :D

oh! well sure I'd love to! provided I can get my thoughts into a half-coherent state. I haven't really written anything about her publicly, mostly because I don't really write much of anything publicly. or privately, for that matter. it all just floats around in my head like some kinda thought-soup. or smoothie. so it will probably be helpful to write some of this down anyway lol

ahem! so Ethedis was my first character, so the early parts of her story pretty closely follow the elf-intro quests. main difference being that she wasn't there when the Refuge of Edhelion fell. according to the game it was attacked like 600 years ago, and I think she's waaaay younger than that. I wanna say like 300-something? yeah she's baby. I mean still an adult by elven standards but like, in spirit, she is baby.

but yea she ends up there just as an apprentice Loremaster who's traveling with the sons of Elrond, both to help in any way she can and because this was a good opportunity to study some recent-ish history. also even tho she's from Rivendell she's probably been to the Blue Mountains a couple times. she's actually fascinated by dwarven architecture and culture, so she jumped at the opportunity to join Elladan and Elrohir's party. she wasn't even initially gonna be allowed to come, but she gave Elrond good enough puppy-eyes 🥺 he was like "fine FINE you can go just stop looking at me like that".

Also, I'd been toying around with the idea that in her travels to and from Ered Luin in the past she might've met Amdir and became friends with him, so that just makes everything in Bree So Much Worse for her. because now not only is she experiencing the loss of a mortal friend for the first time, But she's the one who has to help put him down. (not to mention the guilt of "could I have prevented this if I made it to Bree sooner?") it takes her awhile to fully understand that he's like, gone gone, on account of her being so young and like This Has Never Happened Before. anyway yeah, fun stuff :)

good news is that she bounces back from that pretty quickly! I mean kinda. She's just putting her strong emotions to a more productive use, that being hunting down whatever bitchass Nazgul was responsible for her friend's death! she has no idea what she's getting into :)

as far as her personality goes, she's bright, cheerful, and a bit of an airhead (surprising for a Loremaster I know). she's not exactly stupid or anything (I just play it up for comedic effect sometimes lol) but she is young and therefore less experienced and wise than most other elves you would meet in the 3rd age. the benefit of that is that she's not nearly as Tired™ as many other 3rd age elves either, and can handle a lot of emotional distress without losing her sunshiny demeanor. good thing too! Corunir definitely could use a sunshiny friend, considering all he's been through.

OH! right, speaking of Corunir and Ethedis!

When I met Corunir in Aughaire I was just like "oh this poor guy. Ethedis, go /hug him he needs it" and their dynamic just kinda escalated from there. Ethedis the Sunshine Elf™️ just goes "sad ranger??? NOT on my watch!". Ethedis provides much needed emotional support, and Corunir keeps her from walking off cliffs or into pools of death-water. mutually beneficial relationship 😊

In my headcannon, after Ethe masters the watching stones she's able to get close enough to one to damage its heart so Corunir has a path through Rammas Deluon, and they do the rest of the Eriador epic line together. Corunir deff wouldn't have wanted to leave Ethedis to east Angmar on her own, he finally got a friend gosh darn it he's gotta make sure nothing happens to her!

also they hold hands sometimes 😳 maybe even cuddle,,,, 👉👈

gah I'm bad at talking about this, what I'm trying to say is that they're adorable together. I personally headcannon Corunir as demiromantic ace, and Ethe probably is too, so their relationship isn't romantic for like a long time (what can I say? my demiro ace self likes to project onto my blorbos). I'm not sure when they develop romantic feelings for one another. I think there isn't one point I can point to and say "that! there's when they fall in love!", it's more of a gradual thing that just always felt natural to them. they don't notice their relationship changing from platonic to romantic, whatever state it's in is just what feels right. it's like, they don't fall in love, they just kinda end up there at some point. I don't know if I'm making any sense lol. point is, yes I ship my OC who has a personality *vaguely* based on my own with my favorite ranger, what of it? what is life without at least one shamelessly self-indulgent ship? I think everyone should get at least one, as a treat :) also:

*gently slides this image of Corunir and Eth over bc my friend did a rly good job on it and I need u to Look At Them*

anyway uh, yeah! that's some stuff about Ethedis :) my lil elf who's head is full of sunshine instead of braincells. I don't know how to end this post.