#this is so self indulgent but I love my xiv characters a lot so I figured why not

[thedarkrose17]

I've been trying to expand my wols somewhat but I've only managed to expand Solis and Ori currently

So first up Sol's profile:

Solis Oriole:

Age: in 20s range (25/10)

Height: 5ft8

Race: miqo’te (keeper of the moon/seeker of the sun mix)

Personality:

-Dumb of ass (himbo)

-flirts but proceeds to get flustered immediately after

-street smart

-introvert

-loyal

- kind

- witty

-impulsive/foolhardy

Solis can hold a conversation but he doesn’t always tend to be the person to start one unless he has too. He’s usually the guy who’ll be standing at the side waiting to step into or find a way out of a conversation.

The main reason he became an adventurer is because he has a thirst for adventure and wanted to gain more power so he could help others in need. Plus he wanted to see the world.

He tends to keep a lot to himself and deal with it solo but sometimes it can be hard to do so.

Solis grew up in a family of five in his tribe. It was a fairly happy and carefree childhood. His mother from the moon tribe and father from the sun tribe. He got to learn about both tribes and their cultures as he aged.

He’s the middle child and only son, having an older sister called Luna and younger sister called Stella. He grew up somewhat sheltered being only surrounded by miqos until he got older and decided to leave the tribe to adventure.

He starts his adventure as a wide eyed, clueless and excited adventurer to a somewhat battle hardened hero who’s experienced a lot of death and trauma. He might unfortunately be used to death now.

He still keeps in touch with his family, sending letters when he can’t visit. He’s both excited and anxious, learning his siblings are either learning jobs to become adventurers eventually (Stella) or seasoned adventurers (Luna).

Hobbies:

-fishing

-cooking

-weaving

-gardening

Quirks:

-randomly flicks ears it happens when he’s happy or sometimes he does it without realising

-zoomies

-will randomly knock shit over

-always runs cold

-smokes when stressed

-snorts when he laughs

- eats fast and probably when food is a tad too hot

- bounces one leg when sitting

- makes up nicknames for everyone if he can

Relationships:

He’s friends with all the scions but he’s the closest to are G’raha, Estinien and the twins.

The twins he sees like family and is somewhat protective over them. He’s really dreading when they finally hit that growth spurt.

With Estinien he feels like he can relax the most around due to the fact he understands when Sol needs time to recharge and they can just hang out in silence if so desired. They feel a kinship with each other.

With Ori he at first thought was cold and that Ori didn’t like him but that couldn’t have been further from the truth, the viera was just trying to get a read on him.

With Raha he finds somewhat endearing and likes to jokingly tease him, reminding him how they first met. He’s made him promise not to sacrifice himself again.

Eventually over the course of the expansions their relationship changes from strangers to an eventual couple.

Sol catches feelings quicker than Ori does. He did think he was attractive when they first met but it’s during Stormblood when he falls for the Viera.

When Ori confessed during Endwalker, Sol might have actually cried a little, biting down on his bottom lip before telling him he loved him too.

Other facts:

-Sol likes to dance

-has depression

-is 100% a nerd. Has the power of God and anime on his side

- his love language is gifts and touch

-hates loud noises (sensitive ears)

-is somewhat childish

-complete disaster around pretty men

-goofs around with his powers whenever he’s got a moment to

-he’d put others before himself even if it was at his own detriment

Disabilities:

None

Enemies:

-Zeno

-Ascians

- twins dad (not anymore but man’s on thin ice)

Fears:

-Losing everyone

-corruption

-failure/not being good enough

-astraphobia (fear of thunder and lightning)

[sie-sharp]

People I'd like to get to know better

I feel like I'm going through a rite of passage on tumblr, I was tagged by one of my moots (@iona-xiv, whose bun is absolutely lovely!) for one of these! So, without further ado... -clears throat-

Last song: ABBA - Gimme Gimme Gimme (i'm not immune to tiktok)

Favorite color: Emerald green or purple, depending on the day. Yes, my mooncat is very self-indulgent =3

Last movie/TV show: Blue Eye Samurai! It was such an enjoyable series, with lots of character growth and amazing fight scenes.

Sweet/spicy/savory? Savory, no contest! I used to eat whole tomatoes as a kid, ha.

Relationship status: Just married to the most beautiful and amazing person I could ever hope to meet!! (hi @aster-skies 😊)

Last thing I Googled: "ffxiv levequest the museum is closed" -- I'm uh... doing the Scholar Zodiac relic on Oyuun... >.>

Current obsession: I'm in-between obsessions at the moment, but the last thing I went really hard into was Blue Mage in FFXIV. I think my bog witch Oyuun might become my next hyperfocus though...

So now comes the hard part -- tagging others, haha. I'm sorry if y'all have been tagged already for this, I miss things sometimes and I just really enjoy seeing your stuff on my feed; as always, no pressure to participate! @aethernoise @dawnslight-aegis @dragonsongmakhali @fair-fae @foamofthe-sea @traveleorzea

[avitus-ostrander]

5 comfort characters & 5 tags

Thank you @sonderlativ​ for the tag

#1 - Varis zos Galvus (Final Fantasy XIV) 

Many of my favorite characters are not necessarily comforting. I do not handle character death exceptionally well. After being brutally emotionally tortured by Blizzard for years as they slowly and agonizingly character assassinated and killed off a character I loved (who at the time was a comfort character, helping me recover from another character death), I was left unable to get attached to anyone. 

Enter Varis.

I remember finishing the ARR MSQ and seeing him show up and thinking “ooh the new emperor is really attractive…” and that was kind of fun. I hadn’t experienced that sort of instant pull to a character in quite some time. It still took an act of will to allow myself to actually get attached to him. And then, after some agonizing, I decided to ship my player character, Aurelien, with him. This was the most self-indulgent thing I had ever allowed myself to do. 

He also got me back into drawing after a multi-year hiatus. If anyone wants to see some random shipping pics, they can be found here. 

He’s a serious, dedicated, deeply flawed person, and I love him immensely. Also, his relationship with my OC is possibly the only ‘healthy’ relationship I have ever written. 

#2 - Millions Knives (Trigun)

This will come as a surprise to (probably) no one who is following me here. 

So I’d been having a pretty difficult time and was struggling a lot. I’d pretty much given up on being alive and was just mindlessly counting down the days. 

Then my best friend suggested we give Trigun Stampede a try. I was skeptical, because reboots often burn me and Trigun was something I loved from my childhood, but I figured if it sucked we could hit the bricks. 

When Knives showed up and announced his presence by playing the piano, I completely lost my mind. I instantly felt something I had not felt in SO LONG. I regained the will to live. I felt EXCITED to be alive again. 

I really tried to fight it for a few days, but I couldn’t. I gave myself an undercut. I smiled uncontrollably at any mention of anything even tangentially related to him. Hearing a single note from a piano made me feel like I was going to faint from joy. Finally, I confessed to my best friend that I was deeply obsessed. 

The reason he does not make the number 1 spot is because this fixation has come with some serious emotional upheaval, as I evaluate some of my unresolved issues that I see reflected in him. And also, Varis is such a minor character that I just didn’t see that much negativity about him. Knives is in the spotlight a lot more, so it can be more challenging to just casually indulge without running into people who hate him. 

No one has to like him and I can see why some people wouldn’t, but he brought me back to life and sometimes I just want to be able to feel happy about that.

[Honorable mention here goes to Legato for helping me through my Knives-based angst when it comes around. He was my favorite from Trigun in my youth and one of two characters I built a character shrine for (if anyone remembers those).]

# 3 - Erwin Smith (Attack on Titan)

This one is a bit more obscure in its reasoning. Levi was actually my favorite character in Attack on Titan, but I wrote this figure skating/hockey AU where Erwin is arguably the best figure skater in the world and, just before he can prove this in competition, he gets injured and has to give up his dream. 

Years later, a bitter and aimless Erwin discovers Levi, who is participating in underground murder hockey tournaments, and decides to take him under his wing. Erwin regains his sense of purpose. Levi stops risking life and limb on a daily basis. And I got insanely attached to Erwin while working on this crazy AU. 

There was a comic I was working on for the prologue for it, but I only got 3 and a half pages in, because I couldn’t figure out how to render the climactic scene. (for those interested: pg 1, pg 2, pg 3) 

#4 - Yuri Plisetsky (Yuri!!! on Ice)

I swear I don’t exclusively like angry blondes… 

But I might (almost) exclusively have them as comfort characters. 

Yuri on Ice is in general one of my comfort shows. I’ve loved figure skating since forever, so an anime about figure skating was a dream come true! It doesn’t hurt that the main characters are adorable. 

But this mega grouch was my favorite. He is angry and standoffish, but really soft on the inside. And he’s an incredible skater. What more could I ask for? 

(Everyone should brace themselves for the potential that everyone on this list will be drawn skating at some point, if they haven’t been already) 

#5 - Malokh Skullsplitter & Auralion Duskwither (World of Warcraft)

So these two are OCs. As such, I don’t have any great color pictures of them. I started coloring this one, but it’s stuck on a tablet that needs fixing. All of my other pictures of these two are even more outdated, so this will have to do.

I haven’t played WoW in ages and am not sure I ever will again, but I still love my characters dearly. 

Aura is a Blood Elf shadow priest. Malokh is an Orc warrior. 

Anyway, Auralion has been my absolute favorite OC for about… 13+ years now? Like everyone else on this list, he is an angry blonde. He’s also a (very slightly) older twin. When I don’t have a current obsession, I draw/write stuff about him. This is not his proper hair. This is his hair growing back after he was nearly incinerated. Here is a picture of how his hair normally looks. 

While Aura embodies a lot of my struggles and I channel a lot of my angst into him, Malokh embodies a lot of the things I feel like I need. It’s about to get kind of personal here so feel free to skip to the end… 

As a little kid, I had the misfortune of simultaneously finding out that death was a thing and that it could be violent and terrible, and I never felt safe again. My parents comforted me by telling me that I was not important enough to murder, and my takeaway was “these people won’t and can’t defend me.” So I decided I would be the person to defend the family. I became a very aggressive, very cruel person because I didn’t feel safe unless I was the worst person in the room. 

But really, all I wanted was for someone to say they would protect me. 

Malokh embodies all the things I wanted as a kid. He is fiercely loyal, compassionate, intelligent, patient, and he would absolutely wreck anyone who threatened the people he loves. 

I have loved orcs since I was a little kid and first played the original Warcraft RTS game. There was something very comforting to me about being so big and strong that you didn’t really have to be afraid of humans. 

I ship him and Aura in the red quadrant (because I do Homestuck style shipping for some of my OCs). 

And Malokh has black hair, so he breaks the pattern!

Anyway, tagging: @skuppycake​, @dragonofeternal​, @evilgeometry​, @setsuntamew​, @arahith​

No pressure if anyone does not want to do this or doesn’t have time! I tried to message everyone to make sure it was okay, but I am not sure if all of the messages got through. I was getting a lot of ‘message not sent’ errors and lately when I try to comment on posts it takes multiple tries for anything to show up.

[dreaming-gamer]

DMC Week Day 7: College AU

For my final entry for DMC week, I chose to write the trio as college students playing Final Fantasy XIV – Nero, V & Nico.

A self-indulgent AU fic (haven’t played Final Fantasy XIV in years) based on a few college headcanons.

Thank you to everyone and all that’s read my works during this week! Your support means a lot ❤️❤️❤️ Here we go, hope you enjoy!

Nero as Warrior, tank

Nico as Machinist, damage dealer

V as Summoner, damage dealer

***

Nero nervously stared at his health-bar steadily going down as attack after attack scratched down his life despite all the buffs his character had on. The controller vibrated furiously in his hands, his jaw clenched. The boss would be dead at any second and the healer was trying their best but the bad connection they had so far had was making Nero nervous. Wasn’t a heal long overdue? Weren’t their character just standing still?

“If you perish, I got Resurrection ready.” V said, his voice ever so calm that it actually made Nero grin. Was he ever happy he’d gotten himself this new headset that let him regulate game and party sounds separately? Yeah, they were in a bad spot, but the boss was so close to dead now. They’d get through it.

“Nico!” He called the second the limit break chime could be heard in his headset.

“On it!” Nero could basically hear the buttons on her controller being slammed, together with her laughter. “Eat this!” Nico’s machinist character pulled out the crossbow, ready for the shot that would send the boss to oblivion.

“Dammit!” Nero shifted his character as an AoE marker appeared under his feet, along with certain death as his health was reaching less than 5000. Even if V revived him instantly, Nero as the tank dying now might just spell their doom.

The boss inched after him, leaving the indicated line of Nico’s limit break. Winds whipped around their characters, but they all managed to avoid more injury.

“Whoa, whatcha doing?!” Nico exclaimed in disbelief.

“Just aim again!” Thrill of Battle was back off cooldown, restoring some of his health. Sweet.

“It got used up, asshole! Healer dc’ed!” Nico’s voice snapped his focus back. Another buff off cooldown and he used it.

“What?!” Did that have to happen at this crucial moment? One quick glance at the party list said ??? for the healer’s status.

“Nero, your Holmgang should be ready for use. Just hold on.” V calmly stated and Nero blinked as he realized V was right. Had he been counting seconds since the last four minutes??

“Fuck!” The progress bar over the boss’ life told him a tankbuster was coming. Nero waited, his finger on the trigger for Holmgang, his sweet 6-seconds of almost invincibility to save him if needed. He pushed the button, the bright orange line above the boss filled the entire way, the hit connected, the controller in his hands vibrating valiantly. Hit points sailing down to zero. Swears bubbled up in his chest, flowed out of him like a sailor when the boss started to move towards Nico. But it had sooo little HP left!

“I pushed the button, I swear!” Nero shouted in disbelief, heart pounding in his chest, did they really have to redo this??

A sharp blast of white light engulfed the boss, sending it to the ground and the screen faded to black for a second before the victory cutscene played, with Nero’s own character magically on his feet. This was why he loved having V as a summoner on their team.

“Freaking finally! We did it!” Nico celebrated. Nero grinned, feeling as if a stone lifted off his shoulders.

“Let’s check gear!”

“No healer means one less to compete with!” Nico singsonged, letting her character put her grabby hands on the treasure chest. A healer chestpiece popped up on screen. Nero’s sigh was mimicked by Nico, none of them were a healer, not even close. At least there was a Strength ring for him to grab.

Nero blinked as the notifications told him V had grabbed the healer chestpiece. Unprompted, the summoner spoke.

“Perhaps I should go as a scholar, for our next dungeon. Our luck with healers tonight has been… less than fruitful.”

“Nah man, continue with summoner if you want, we’ll be--”

“Do it!” Nico stated on the top of her lungs, her microphone bumping into her chin as she grabbed for a cigarette. “I wanna see the end of the next dungeon tonight!”

“I can go paladin for extra heals.” Nero shrugged, even if neither of his companions could see it.

“And give up that sweet damage, really?” Nico teased, making Nero huff.

“I can play defensively every once in a while.”

“Uh huh…” Nico snickered, while all he heard from V was a chuckle.

“What, I can! Come on, let’s go to the next one!” Nero prompted and grabbed for his soda, eager to go again. Leaning his head back for a sip, there were just two drops meeting his tongue. Damn, when had his beverage run out?

“As… enjoyable as progressing further would be, I am fairly certain you both have lectures in the morning?” V said matter-of-factly while there was a weak rustling of a book page being turned coming from his microphone.

“Yeah, so? I can do it for a bit longer--” Nero started, checking his phone for time. It was waaay too late! “It’s already FIVE?!”

Dry coughing made it clear Nico had just swallowed smoke.

“Y-y-yer…” Cough. “kid-ding!”

“Hell no!” Nero exclaimed.

“Why didn’t ya say somethin’?!” Nico coughed at the sole calm person.

“I did try to, both at one and three o’clock. You both were a bit too… absorbed in what we were doing.” V calmly stated, making Nero groan, oh yeah, they might have been into everything. It wouldn’t be the first time…

“I gotta scram, I’ve got an exam tomor-- today!” With that, Nico’s character was logged out, her voice chat icon offline.

Nero sighed.

“Hope that works out for her. What about you V?” The sign out option showed up at the click of a menu and Nero clicked himself out, the calming music of the title screen trickling through his second-hand headset that smelled of energy drink. At most he’d be able to get what, two hours of sleep? Was it even worth it at this point?

“I will attempt to sleep. I do not have a lecture until the afternoon.”

“Lucky you, vampire.” Nero snorted, his dormmate’s chuckle meeting his ears. “Catch you at lunch then?”

“If I have awakened until then, yes.”

“Great.” Nero knew he should log off, get some sleep. But damn, he didn’t feel sleepy at all. He knew something would keep him up, if he went now.

“Hey V?” He tried, hoping the other hadn’t shut off his headset just yet.

“Yes Nero?” V didn’t sound bothered by the quiet inquiry, despite being about to head to sleep. Nero inhaled, through his nose.

“I told you my grade dropped a bit, right? From last exam?” During the day, he brushed it off, no problem. But at night, it was hard to not feel some… nervousness over what could happen, if his grades dropped too much. Nero needed to keep it up, if he wanted a new scholarship and he not only wanted that scholarship, he needed it so badly to stay.

“Yes.” A pause, followed by V softly closing a book. “Are you worried it might happen again?” He softly asked.

Nero scratched his nose, V even knew before he voiced the issue? He wasn’t sure if he felt relieved or called out.

“Yeah, something like that. I know our subjects are pretty different…” No shit, considering V was reading the classical poems and literary works of people whose names Nero barely could pronounce. But V had great study technique, always fixing his assignments on time, something that Nero had failed to do, several times. He admired that, about the dorm vampire with a love for classical music. V’s voice was always a joy to listen to as well. Maybe he didn’t say everything he was thinking, but his voice was deep, calming at this late hour.

“But, you up for studying together? Someday this week? I think I need someone to help me not procrastinate so much and Nico is not that…” If anything, she either sat with her notes and realized she had found out something brilliant for her own studying, or she was digging the rock music Nero always put on while studying, just as much as he was.

“I don’t mind.” V replied, making Nero grin with relief over having one guy in his corner. “We can start with hiding your headphones. Or your Bluetooth speaker.”

“Right…” Maybe that wasn’t such a bad idea, Led Zeppelin did snatch his focus otherwise. Nero let out a small laugh. “But you’ll give the headphones back, right? I need those for my morning runs.”

“Hmm, perhaps.” His dormmate teased.

“Or you’ll come along on my morning runs to keep me company?” Nero tried, he had given hints to get V to join him in the fresh air, the early morning sun for weeks now.

“Too chilly for me, I’m afraid.” Was the soft reply. “I will retire for now, Nero. Do try to get some sleep.”

“Yeah, fine… Thanks V.” Nero’s eyelids actually felt a bit heavier now.

“You’re welcome. Goodnight. Or perhaps, good morning.” V replied with a chuckle.

Nero groaned, giving a goodnight before ending the voice chat.

[squirrelwrangler]

For the meme: 3., 16., 19.

3 What is that one scene that you’ve always wanted to write but can’t be arsed to write all of the set-up and context it would need? (consider this permission to write it and/or share it anyway)

hmmm.... Well, a lot of Final Fantasy XIV really self indulgent rarepair I thought would never see the light of day but between the Silmfic and Llamasward and just, breaking down and writing it, some is leaking through- but not quite brave enough to do the ID candy arranged marriage excuse to have some pwp and definitely not then the timetravel/dimension crossing to plop their OC kids, Prince Newt, and/or AU selves into canon are way too self-indulgent to do. On the purely Silm end of things, Greatest AU EVAR doesn’t have a plot per say and Celebrimbor courting Nómwen is just something I’m reluctant to write and post as it is too much like the MarySue fic bashed in my fandom youth. The story of Krekka’s parents aka what the Bór were up to during the Second Kinslaying I can’t be arsed to write because it’s before the giant final disillusionment with the Fëanorians and I hate to entertain the idea of writing from a pov that doesn’t see them as the fully terrible characters that they are because bah, much more fun and meaningful to balance the scales else-wise.

16 Tried anything new with your writing lately? (style, POV, genre, fandom?)

did break down and write a short FFXIV scene that wasn’t transplanted out of canon recently. A year ago wrote a chapter that went fully sexually explicit for the romance for a paragraph or two, so I’m trying to push myself to be less prudish in the actual writing

19. Is there something you always find yourself repeating in your writing? (favourite verb, something you describe ‘too often’, trope you can’t get enough of?)

I KNOW if I re-read a fic of mine there are turns of phrase and words that every time I notice that ‘yep, there’s my overuse, my crutch words and verbs and metaphors’. In general I love alliteration and rules of three and this type of descriptive dependent clause that I forget the name of but I tack at least two to the action or description of every fifth sentence. I am a sucker for sad dramatic irony endings - so many of my fics are structured around ‘let me tell you this nice and idyllic thing while the foreknowledge that it’s about to die and be destroyed mounts in the background until I end the fic right before or at the moment where the rug gets pulled.’ Quiet unrequited mutual romantic pining, for characters too timid or uncertain to declare their feelings. Landscape metaphors. Voices like caves or objects. Have I brought up the word hope yet and qualified if it is amdir or estel? Perfectly arranged marriages. A good chance that ears are given more sensual attention than lips (I need to fix that).

[nonamedrk]

FAQ

(All of these questions are answered Out of Character. This section may expand into silly territory if I get a repetitive amount of questions.) “What is FFXIV?” Have you heard of the critically acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV? With an expanded free trial which you can play through the entirety of A Realm Reborn and the award winning Heavensward expansion up to level 60 for free with no restrictions on playtime. It is a setting in which I have RP’d within for many years. The “Lore” isn’t very rigid, there’s a lot of plot-holes and questionable mechanics, but I love the game. I abide by the principal of, “If you don’t want to RP with them because of their character, then don’t, but let others enjoy their experience in peace.” That said? I will role-play with almost anyone. More Questions...

“What is a Character Blog?” Back in the Olden Days of Tumblr, when we had boobas and Dashcon was only a twinkle in someone’s eye, Character Blogs were heckin everywhere. Essentially, they’re inspiration boards, stories, even roleplay scenes (if you have other people that want to RP), and anything pertaining to the Character. As I’m a person that will ramble endlessly in other spaces about my character, I figured I would contain it all here, instead of the DM’s of my discord friends. There’s no rule as to how a character blog should be. This is very very very self-indulgent lmao. “What is A Duskwight?” A Playable Character sub-race of Elezen- an umbrella term for Pointy-Eared-Tall-Folks- known for living underground in caves, having grey skin and naturally white hair, and “acute hearing.” They’re also highly discriminated against in their historical homeland, The Black Shroud, as a lot of them have turned to crime due to Crushing Poverty And Pride. Ysolie is part of a group of Duskwight that left The Black Shroud and established a community elsewhere, that I have created all the lore and backstory for. “What Is A Dark Knight” A Playable “Tank Role” Class that uses Heavy Plate Armor, a hilariously Large Sword, and fancy “dark” magic. Dark Knight “Lore” in-game for this class is laughably sparse so, a decent amount of artistic license has gone into establishing the manner in which Ysolie operates. Within their culture the term “Blademaster” is used to refer to those with Dark Knight abilities or with the Dark Knight’s training. “Who is Ysolie Aguetois?” A Duskwight Blademaster, recently relocated to the Holy See of Ishgard, known for bounty hunting, eating too many sweets, hating books, and talking with a Funny Accent. I’ve RP’d this character for many years but am only just making a character blog. Why? **shrugs**. Check out their Carrd for more details. “**Skyrim Voice** And Who Are you?” A Nerd. A gAmEr. Call me Birb. I’m over the age of 21. Roleplay with me In-game is available upon request. RP here? Send an ask. I will also do Google-Docs and Discord if we get along. If you figure out who I am based on likes coming out of nowhere, good job. But for the rest of you? I’ll never link my main blog. You’ll never catch me, chumps! “Can You Tag A Thing For Me?” Yes. Send an Ask and be specific with the wording of the tag. “Did you know that you contradicted a trait about your character that was already established?” Probably. It’s either: A change due to character growth, a retcon, my smoothbrain deflecting a memory, or I simply hecked up and oops. I legit can’t remember everything all the time but that’s ok. I’m havin a gooood tiiiiime!

[blossom-of-kaleidos]

3, 5, 7, 8, 24~, 25, 27!

3. Least favorite class/job?Ssss...scholar... Because controlling a fairy feels overwhelming on top of all the other things I gotta do. Apparently they got really screwed over with Stormblood which ensures that I'll be suffering through DPS leveling queues on Summoner instead of saving time as a healer.

5. Favorite character(s)?As if my URL didn't make it obvious enough, I love pretty much all of the Garleans that show up in this game (minus Cid and Nero, even though they are oddly the most popular Garleans in fandom). I love all of the legati with a burning passion but I guess my order of top to least fave goes as follows: Gaius > Zenos > Regula > Nael. Aside from imperials I really love all of our beast tribe buddies!

7. Least favorite character(s)?All of the Heavensward. Hate hate hate. Don't bother trying to show me any arguments about how "they weren't all bad," they are all guilty by association in my eyes and I will never forgive them for what their lot did in the Vault. The Scions are also hella overrated IMO.

8. Favorite BGM/vocal track?This is really fucking tough because Soken is a god??? I'll go with my first thought which is The Hand That Gives The Rose because you can seduce me with string instruments and I would definitely tap that bug god. Honorable mentions go to Rise of the White Raven, Fiend, and Through The Maelstrom~

24. The next seasonal event provides you with a dating sim like experience, who would you pursue? (Assume all character deaths/disappearances are negated so you may pick from anyone and everyone)-BANGS TABLE- GIVE ME ZENOS, I'LL MAKE HIM HAPPY AND SHOW HIM THIS WORLD ISN'T SO MEANINGLESS AND MERCILESS.

25. Which area/location would you live in if given the opportunity?95% of me wants to say GARLEMALD but the other 5% remembers that I absolutely hate being in the cold. Until the day comes where I can take my rightful place in Ilsabard, I'd like somewhere tropical like the Hermit's Hovel in Outer La Noscea to chill out.

27. You now have the ability to add in one character and one dungeon from any Final Fantasy title prior to XIV, who/what do you pick and why?Okay so the most ridiculous, cringy dungeon idea I can come up with is Deepground from Dirge of Cerberus! Maybe as a Garlean medical facility gone wrong? It's horribly self indulgent because more than anything I just wanna see the Tsviets make a comeback. It might get kinda awkward with having Nero the Sable and Nero tol Scaeva in the same setting, but that's why I usually refer to the latter as his surname or Nerdo anyway.

Character-wise, I... can't actually think of any right now? They already added Lightning in a past event that totally crushed my heart into bitty pieces. If we had to reach, I would say Tifa would make a way better Monk trainer than Widargelt. It pains me a bit to say but he's boring and SE couldn't even do the courtesy of including him in Stormblood's main scenario like they did with Estinien in Heavensward. Surely he'll show up sooner than later but right now I'm disappointed in how the story handled this (among many other things).

[prestonwardffxiv]

Character Survey: Preston Ward

BASICS.

FULL NAME: Preston Ward

NICKNAME: ‘The Viper’

AGE: 28

BIRTHDAY: The 23rd Sun of the Fifth Umbral Moon

ETHNIC GROUP: Hyur Midlander

NATIONALITY: Ul’dahn

LANGUAGE(S): Common, Ishgardian, Thavnarian (conversationally)

SEXUAL ORIENTATION: Heterosexual

ROMANTIC ORIENTATION: Hetero-romantic

RELATIONSHIP STATUS: Taken

CLASS: Monetarist

HOMETOWN / AREA: Horizon, Western Thanalan

CURRENT HOME: Ul’dah/Mist

PROFESSION: Proprietor of the Sapphire Avenue Trust

PHYSICAL.

HAIR: Dark Brown

EYES: Amber

NOSE: Strong

FACE: Ovular.

LIPS: Full and usually pursed slightly

COMPLEXION: Tanned skin, free of blemishes and imperfections

BLEMISHES: None

SCARS: Several scars along his chest and back, faded from time. One fresh scar on the right side of his rib-cage. His largest scar resides on his right leg; Being a C-shaped burn marking hidden behind a large, raised self-inflicted scar.

TATTOOS: One full sleeve encasing his left arm and extending onto part of his chest and back. The pattern combines Ul’dahn and Ishgardian elements. The Scales of Ul’dah lay inlaid in the design near his shoulder.

HEIGHT: 6′2

WEIGHT: 195 ponze.

BUILD: Fit and toned, moreso than what one would expect of a desk-jockey.

FEATURES: None that stand out.

ALLERGIES: Shellfish.

USUAL HAIRSTYLE: Short-cropped and well maintained, styled forward with precise care. Three lines lay shaved into the right side of his head below the crown.

USUAL FACE LOOK: Preston carries himself with a standing dead-panned expression. A titular poker-face to be worn at all time. His eyes are piercing, however. Always seeing through their targets.

USUAL CLOTHING: Preston dresses with extreme care and thought to his direct outward appearance. Most often found in a four piece suit sans the jacket. Casually Preston is still a snappy dresser. Always ready to take in and receive the best of Ul’dah’s upper classes.

PSYCHOLOGY.

FEAR(S): Becoming his father, someone he cares for dying because of his actions.

ASPIRATION(S): Preston dreams of putting an end to the slaving system of Ul’dah. Most recently, his mindset has shifted slightly to securing a stable and safe future for his lover’s children.

POSITIVE TRAITS: Ambitious, Driven, Charismatic, Thoughtful

NEGATIVE TRAITS: Stubborn, Secretive, Deceptive, Overconfident

ZODIAC: Aries

TEMPERAMENT: Composed.

JOB STONE(S): Red Mage (Currently Training)

ANIMALS: His nickname-sake, a black viper.

VICE  HABIT(S): Preston is known to over-indulge in liquor when dealing with something. He is also known to seclude himself.

Patron Deity: Nald’thal.

GHOSTS?: Yes.

AFTERLIFE?: Yes.

REINCARNATION?: No.

POLITICAL ALIGNMENT: Royalist.

SOCIO POLITICAL POSITION: Monetarist.

EDUCATION LEVEL: Self-taught. (College-level equivalent)

FAMILY

FATHER: Bayard Ballard (Alive, Age 60)

MOTHER: Senna Ballard (Deceased, Aged 46)

SIBLINGS: None.

CHILDREN: Guardian to his lover’s children, Miwa & Mirai Rilemont (Alive; Twins, 6 Months Currently)

NAME MEANING(S): Preston’s name does not hold any form of significance. It is a chosen moniker.

FAVORITES.

BOOK: Romance and Drama.

DEITY: Nald’thal.

HOLIDAY: Heavensturn/All Saint’s Wake

MONTH: October

SEASON: Autumn

PLACE: Ul’dah, Othard, The Black Shroud

WEATHER: Sunny with a slight breeze.

SOUND: Singing.

SCENT(S): Roses/floral scents.

TASTE(S): Mint.

FEEL(S): Dated parchment.

ANIMAL(S): Ravens/Snakes.

NUMBER: 12

COLORS: Amber, Black, White, Gold

EXTRA.

TALENTS: Singing, Writing, Winning Arguments.

BAD AT: Letting others in.

TURN ONS: Confidence and Passion.

TURN OFFS: People who make assumptions, Classism, Racism, Lack of self-confidence.

HOBBIES: Singing, Reading, Writing, Working.

TROPES: N/A

AESTHETIC TAGS: Royal Aesthetic, Business Aesthetic

FC INFO.

MAIN  FC(S): Nick Bateman

ALT FC(S): N/A

OLDER FC(S): N/A

YOUNGER  FC(S): N/A

VOICE CLAIM(S): Cullen from DA:I

GENDERBENT FC(S): N/A

MUN QUESTIONS.

Q1: IF YOU COULD WRITE YOUR CHARACTER YOUR WAY IN THEIR OWN MOVIE, WHAT WOULD IT BE CALLED, WHAT STYLE WOULD IT BE FILMED IN, AND WHAT WOULD IT BE ABOUT?:

I think Preston would fit into a movie along the same lines as The Wolf of Wall Street. By that same token, he would also fit well into a Game of Thrones style TV show/movie if he were to play a role similar to Petyr Baelish. A large inspiration for Preston’s character lies in the show Suits. As for a name, I have no idea. 

Q2: WHAT WOULD THEIR SOUNDTRACK / SCORE SOUND LIKE?:

The album Death of a Bachelor by Panic! At the Disco has become something of an apt soundtrack for Preston.

Q3: WHY DID YOU START WRITING THIS CHARACTER?:

Preston was a character concept that I had shelved for over a year. I first came to write his concept when I first started roleplaying, but never found the right time to bring him in until recently when I found myself with a bit of a lull with my other characters.

Q4: WHAT FIRST ATTRACTED YOU TO THIS CHARACTER?:

Preston is.. Complicated in a very intriguing and fun way. Previously my characters had some form of major combat ability, whereas Preston is just your average NPC-strength character. This forces him to find his way through situations using his wit and skilled tongue as opposed to resorting directly to violence as a means to an end. Preston is very careful and tactile; Choosing his words as weapons and choosing them wisely. I had never played an affluent character before; And he is also my first foray into playing a politically driven character.

Q5: DESCRIBE THE BIGGEST THING YOU DISLIKE ABOUT YOUR MUSE:

My biggest issue thus far is likely the misconception that he has some form of ulterior motive to everything that he does. While that’s true for most of what he does, it does not hold true for everything.

Q6: WHAT DO YOU HAVE IN COMMON WITH YOUR MUSE?:

Preston’s wit and argumentative nature is pulled directly from me, I think. He loves a good battle of words, and so do I.

Q7: HOW DOES YOUR MUSE FEEL ABOUT YOU?:

I think Preston would.. I don’t know. He probably wouldn’t bother with me because I’m broke and he’s a wealthy man on a mission. I’d just be common rabble to him.

Q8: WHAT CHARACTERS DOES YOUR MUSE HAVE INTERESTING INTERACTIONS WITH?

Preston has had a wild ride since I created him. A lot has happened in a little over a month, and a lot of that (okay well all of it) has had to do with the lovely folks of the Golden Arcana, including his lover Orianna Chant.

Q9: WHAT GIVES YOU INSPIRATION TO WRITE YOUR MUSE?:

Well the game he was created in, Final Fantasy XIV. Wouldn’t have ever started roleplaying were it not for that game and its community. But I think my main inspiration is drawn from the satisfaction I get each time I wrap a scene up with him. He’s a constant challenge to play, and I can feel and watch him grow. It’s rewarding.

Q10: HOW LONG DID THIS TAKE YOU TO COMPLETE?:

Much longer than I’m willing to admit. xD