#this was originally going to end at the end of the yotsuyu bit

[storms-path]

Wheels of Thunder - Eorzean GP: Chapter 7 - Travel

New chapter time! Arashi and Lyse are found out. Yotsuyu has the most awkward dinner known to man. Alisaie spills the truth.

[senespera-ffxiv]

I feel like the story needs to more obviously indicate how Yotsuyu sublimated her anger towards her parents for being pieces of shit into just straight up hating all Domans.

Cuz it took me a bit to realize that it's supposed to parallel the relatively common thing where second generation Asian Americans seem to feel some sort of shame towards their parents' culture compounded with the generalization made from having shitty parents that "oh it's just a cultural thing, all Asian American parents are assholes" which is. not accurate lmao.

Like I can see where Yotsuyu's coming from if only because I've had similar thoughts before and am kinda familiar with the stuff she's going through but it does feel kinda disconnected without having a lived experience like I do y'know. Wish the writer's could've conveyed that specific feeling a bit better, of hating the people that have hurt you so much that you start to direct it towards everyone that looks like them, even yourself.

It's even reflected in Tsukuyomi's design I feel, what with the bunny ears. It's a reference to Chang'e and her bunnies on the moon, and the addition of Chinese mythology to Tsukuyomi feels a bit Off until you realize that this is Yotsuyu summoning Tsukuyomi so there's parts of her reflected in her appearance. Her Doman heritage is something she can't get rid of so even though she hates it and tries to minimize it, it's still there. It just ends up relegated to a functionally useless piece of what is essentially decoration, but is still glaringly obvious enough to be ashamed about if you are. And I mean, what with all of the self-loathing and hate towards Doma in general, I'd say Yotsuyu's got a lot of that.

I kinda joked about this in chat with a friend but Yotsuyu really just. Did not survive the generational trauma and proceeded to traumatize an entire fucking country alskdjhlkdjsf. And I don't know what her parents' parents were like because the story didn't need to mention them, but she did not end up deciding to break that chain of trauma. It always seems to be harder to do that with the first generation, anyways. You don't really know about the concept, you don't feel like you have any obligation to prevent such a thing from happening, all you know is that your parents were pieces of shit and if they've fucked you up then, well, it's not a you problem. Except it is, it is 100% a you problem because you yourself are choosing to be a piece of shit to other people.

Anyways a few more thoughts about Yotsuyu's character, referencing back to my previous analysis that she might've been a parallel to Daji, I kind of rescind that if only because the path they decided to take in the patch quests felt keenly like they wanted to do something specific with her character that wasn't done in the original story of the overthrow of King Zhou of Shang. I still feel that her role in the base Stormblood expansion was more or less that of Daji's, just an interesting inversion hinting at some sort of traumatic past that's caused her to be this way, humanizing her past a typical femme fatale trope. They just decided to turn it around into commentary on this specific flavor of self-loathing that's kind of relevant to members of the Asian diaspora. I could also just be projecting here but, y'know, media is what you make of it and all lol.

tl;dr Yotsuyu good. Not as good as she could've been because I think they stumbled a little on truly showing the sheer rage and confusion that causes someone to become like her, but good nonetheless.

[mrslittletall]

Well, here are my thoughts for Final Fantasy 14 Endwalker, so of course there will be spoilers for people who still want to play this game or are in the middle of it. First, I got told that the expansion was meant to be two but thanks to Covid got condensed into one and wow, you can FEEL that. I still don't think the expansion is bad, but it doesn't reach Heavensward or Shadowbringers and I think even the story of Stormblood is more coherent. Now, let's get into the different zones. I thought the expansion started a bit slow, with us going to Thavnair and the Labyrinthos. Thavnair at least had the goal with the talismans but Labyrinthos was pretty much "Hurr durr, the council is up to something but we won't find out what." At least we had the hilarious "Estinien is bad with money" scene and the thought of him having to take care of three very motionsick friends was fantastic. I also had a good laugh at Urianger just collapsing xD Okay, after we got the introduction out of the way, it was time for Garlemald. Wait what, already?! We had like one tower dungeon and we are already going against the big one? Yeah, that is where it is obvious they had to condense the story. The whole thing with the towers could have been its own expansion and end with a final boss against Zodiark and then they could have used another expansion for the Dynamis stuff. More on that later. Garlemald was... difficult. Mostly because of how close to home it hit. The garleans are pretty much fascists and well, I am German. It always stings to be reminded of the crimes of our past. However, I also figured that the garleans are kinda brainwashed and that the rift between Garlemald and Eorzea is just that high. It felt pretty powerful honestly. And then got ruined by Alphinaud and Alisaie being completely ooc! Like when the legatus asked us "Why don't accept garlean rule?" all my thoughts flashed to Stormblood, to Fordola and to Yotsuyu and what garlean rule means. Of course it can be argued that the twins just thought it was just pointless to discuss, but they looked like they legit thought Quintus had a point and I really really wanted them to at least say something. For Alisaie to go "Damn you, I have seen what garlean rule does" and for Alphinaud to stop her. Or for our WoL to have a little chance to say something and even if it was just "angry glare." And I also think the character of Jullus was underused. Yeah, you can feel in the Garlemald part that the story was condensed. We then go fight Anima as a dungeon boss instead of a trial. It was a damn good dungeon boss, but having freaking Anima as dungeon boss felt really bitter. And then the whole thing gets cosmic and we hit the moon. The moon had massive nostalgia, but it felt pretty stretched out to be honest. I figured out in five minutes that Sharlayan helps the Lopporit and well, there was not a big reveal or anything, it was played completely straightforward and I don't know... Oh forgot about Zodiark. Great trial, felt a bit anti-climactic. Nuff said. I liked the optional quests there though. The Lopporit are kinda wholesome and I loved how much they tried despite failing a lot. I also ate the blue carrot and got a reference to Douglas Adams which came back in the very last zone! Amazing! Then we had the second half of Thavnair. That was fire actually with the apocalypse and all! I also liked how the weather reflected it and how the theme was "Don't give into despair" but of course it was a violent cycle. I liked this part. Okay, so Elpis. First thing first, I don't consider the time travel to be a copout. It was clear it was difficult, there was no chance it would work and we wouldn't be able to save the source of the first final days.

And then... freaking Emet-Selch and Hythlodaeus in their original Ascian form! Fanservice? Yeah sure, but I don't mind it, Emet-Selch was fantastic here and I loved loved trolling him. Seriously, speak to him each time he just stands around, it is glorious ^^ I also liked to see the world of the Ascians and what and how they were. Meeting Hermes and Meteion... and the puzzle slowly being set together. Honestly, I think Elpis had the exact amount of time it needed to set up and let you figure out what the final days really are. And I had to do the dungeon with trusts and I don't regret it ^^ Loved that they discussed the second boss as if it was their work. However, that Venat solo duty?! Too difficult! I had to put it on very easy and I STILL struggled. Sure, I am not a pro at playing my class, but I at least can get enemies down in proper time and do my part in dealing DPS in trials and dungeons. The orb phase was just cruel and evil, they should nerve that. Even on very easy Venat got to like 67 % and people who bested it in normal said she is getting to 87 %. And that means they couldn't beat like 8 or 9 orbs. Yeah, that is a lot. So, we are done with Elpis, we know the truth and honestly, I don't think Meteion was pulled as the villain out of the ass. She had a proper build-up and it was more a concept. EW made this very clear. Hope vs. nihilism kinda. The second part of Labyrinthos was.... not good. That they changed the upbeat normal music with a song that felt like powering up and we had to listen to it on loop was annoying and it felt so stretched out... I agree with the people who hate the quest where you have to find eight scholars with fakes thrown in. Uuugh... I liked the dungeon there though. And I died a lot in the Hydealin trial.. sorry for failing you Venat. And then... Ultima Thule. I enjoyed this part, especially how the music was building up. However, after the second scion "sacrificed" themselves, I was figuring out it was a fake and they would be back. It still made me feel, so much that at the end I told the twins to not do it! Not you too! Because sure, I, the player, could see what was coming, but my character has no guarantee they come back... I liked the three civilizations on Ultima Thule and what happened to them. The Ea were especially interesting and apparently their truth is a truth for us as well? Eh, I don't think we should just sit and wait for the end and besides, I want to die one day. I want to live a good life and then go when it is my time until I can live another life, even though I won't remember this one. Then the trial. It was a fine one, but I was more touched by the cutscene after that. "Let's go home, Meteion." Just a child having to search for an answer that was too much for her... at least we could give her a flower. And that Zenos solo duty? It felt a bit like "Oh wait, Zenos was there, wasn't he?" At least the fight against him was amazing and not as frustrating and difficult as Venat's. I had fun dodging all his attacks and fight him to the death and even though at the end it was a simple fist fight, as a monk main I had to laugh. I am still good without weapons! Hm, now I forgot to talk about the Dynamis. I kinda liked the concept of "hopes and feelings" as energy. And that is what I think they could have used as a whole expansion. It could have started with the final days happening and then travelling to Elpis and it could have been... more.

But meh, I won't complain too much. I enjoyed the story still. The music in this? I actually prefer the zone music of Shadowbringers. Not that it was bad, but it didn't have the same impact as Raktika or Ahn Areng. The battle music however, THAT was fire and a lot better than Shadowbringers which was too samey. I really liked the dungeon mid-boss and final boss themes and the trial songs and the solo duty songs. Okay, I think that was it. Feel free to ask questions or give your own opinion. If I would have to rate the expansions and ARR, I would go like this... A Realm Reborn Stormblood Endwalker Heavensward Shadowbringers (pure perfection)

[blooms-of-ice]

Wyda is officially retired...for now. She had a good run, and I loved writing for her! GOD the existential dread I felt as I drew closer and closer to running the event that would end her.

Her story continues through another. Give a follow here! :D

I’ll be keeping this blog up as an archive, although I might still post every now and again. But since her arc is done, here goes! An unedited, unfiltered slurry of words-directly-from-brain-to-keyboard about Wyda! I’m warning you, this is true farm fresh to you stuff. And spoilers for many events in FF14. Read on if you dare.

Strap in, it’s going to be a long and bumpy ride.

Did I say that I love Primals?

Primal lore gives the FF14 devs a lot of creative freedom when it comes to designing bosses. Want the arena changed? Want something/someone to look absolutely wack? Want to spin up a threat without having a villain train for years prior? Bam, primals.

It also gives us, the players, the same creative freedoms when it comes to roleplaying!

The requirements to summon one are humorously low. At first, primals result from misguided and zealous beastmen shenanigans. Ifrit, Titan, Ramuh, Leviathan, Garuda...but then we get a bunch of weird summonings. Like when Ga Bu summons a funky version of Titan through his despair alone. Or when Yotsuyu brings forth Tsukuyomi because she really, really wants to see the world burn. Hell, Gilgamesh just thinks about his friend Enkidu in the presence of some crystals, and that’s enough to bring forth a primal. So I guess the only requirements for a primal summoning are 1) crystals and 2) thinking kinda hard? Strong feelings, especially negative ones, seem to be more effective but then again! What the heck happened with Gilgamesh? Who knows?!

But this is one of my favorite things in FF14. It’s a powder keg of a situation that will, and HAS, gone off multiple times.

Being tempered, meanwhile, is a fate worse than death. You’re forced to change sides and fight for the enemy. You don’t even find peace when you die - tempered souls linger in Eorzea thanks to how messed up they are by the process. But you don’t become a mindless servant either. *Points to Emet-Selch who is....kinda...on your side (???) but also on Zodiark’s side*

Things aren’t nearly as dark now that tempering can be cured. I’m very thankful, since otherwise my campaign would’ve had a very, very depressing ending. One that I originally planned for but STILL. I’m weak. ;_;

Riding off the Rails

Primal lore is flexible. In ARR, the rules are established, but later expansions took those rules and went “Well, what about this? And this? And this?” In other words, this is me admitting that I’m shameless and will stretch this lore until I reach the moon.

Developing Wyda was a ‘chicken first, egg later’ sort of situation. Though trite, I gave her amnesia in order to give myself an excuse for knowing nothing about FF14 lore (and because I was new to roleplaying). When I finally sat down to flesh her out, my mind kept returning to primals. I love ‘em and their potential for drama! So yeah, I was determined to make it work.

There were a lot of questions I had to answer. If Wyda is a primal, then why isn’t she tempering everyone she meets?! How is she getting away with being a ‘normal’ person? And how do I avoid power creep? I know, for a fact, that if I walked into an RP event and just said...hey. My character is a primal, are you cool with that? The answer would be a solid no. Nooooo! I’d tell that to myself! So I wanted to solve these questions in a fair way that would allow others (and myself) to remain immersed in the roleplaying world. Luckily, FF14 lore is like a bottomless chest of building blocks. It was just a matter of stacking them carefully.

Primals are summoned when someone thinks around some crystals (Ah, Gilgamesh...)

The primal’s purpose is based on the summoner’s desires, but with a monkey’s paw twist (Ga Bu’s Titan punching the other kobolds away is indicative of this)

The amount of aether used in the summoning determines how powerful the primal will be (Shinryu being beefy as hell)

Primals can be summoned out of thin air, or be channeled into someone’s body

When a primal is channeled, the summoner needs the Echo to resist (Ysalye and Ryne). Otherwise the summoner is tempered by their own creation.

Now, with those blocks in hand, I started spitballing...and it led me to this thought. If a primal’s purpose is to NOT be a primal, what happens?

Would they know that they’re a primal?

Can they still use their primal powers?

What happens when the primal is based off of someone who still exists?

For Wyda, I chose to swing this way.

Her memory is garbage because she’s a primal based on someone else. Even if you know someone really well, you can’t perfectly recreate/emulate them.

She’s normal-powered because all her primal magic is going towards suppressing her powers. Extremely inefficient. And she’s very human-like because she’s possessing someone else’s body, as opposed to being made purely of primal aether.

Primals temper whether they want to or not - aether leaks, and it corrupts. To solve this for Wyda, instead of leaking aether out of the wazoo...thanks to the nature of her summoning, she just leaks a tiny bit all the time. Not enough to temper.

But I also wrote myself into a corner. If Wyda isn’t going to behave like a primal, then how does she exist for so long? They need a constant source of aether to survive, and she’s not doing primal stuff since she’s too busy being human. And so...the answer is that she doesn’t. Once her aether runs out, then poof.

See? Fun! (But also pain. So much pain.)

Playing with Fire

Eorzea (like most fantasy RPG settings) is a nightmare factory. Most, if not all, who make their living ‘adventuring’ are scarred from what they have to face. For every success story (WoL), there are countless more tragedies (Avere). And even if you survive...who wouldn’t get trauma if you were an adventurer and it was normal for your buddies to be eaten by a beast, tempered by a primal, possessed by a ghost?

Which is to say, Wyda's scars run deep. Shit goes down. 

To repeat that in slightly more words: Wyda is an accidental byproduct of Cravendy’s grief and longing. At her lowest moment, Cravendy (a Seawolf pirate) thinks of her friend Dots and the unfairness of it all. And oops, there are crystals nearby. So now, we got Wyda walking around in Cravendy’s body, thinking that she’s someone named Dots. By the way, Dots is still alive! Very awkward.

Wyda is a denial incarnate. She is Cravendy’s dream for safety, family, and happiness for Dots. But denial does not erase the past, nor does it change how you feel. By existing, Wyda suppresses those feelings for Cravendy and freezes the other woman in the past. With the both of them like this, Cravendy will never accept her trauma and Wyda will be plagued with a stranger’s guilt.

Primal souls are weird. I have no idea where they come from, but they seem separate from the summoner’s. So as Wyda’s influence wanes, Cravendy’s soul begins to resurface. This forces Wyda into a cycle of self-discovery and self-destruction that, unfortunately, convinces Wyda that she ought to disappear. It’s a tragic conclusion she reaches after having her worldview shattered. She’s a copy of Dots, she’s a primal. What’s real, and what’s not? What even matters?

The Power of Love

Love is a persistent theme for all of my characters. For Cravendy, love is why she hurts, so she would rather forget it than bear any more pain. But Wyda is the opposite - she loves too much. When all else is a sham, Wyda trusts that the love she feels is real. And ultimately, this love dooms Wyda and saves Cravendy.

Wyda’s fatal flaw is her self-destructive selflessness. Thanks to being mistaken for Dots all the time, Wyda develops a low sense of self. Then events of the campaign erode that into nothingness. She’s a second rate copy full of brittle memories, she’s a fake! And discovering Cravendy’s sleeping soul only pushes Wyda further into her flaw. Here is my purpose, she thinks! My original! And I’ll save her no matter what, because she deserves to live!

But it’s a mistake. Certainly, Cravendy is saved, but Wyda deserves to be saved too. Although she loves with all her heart, Wyda never learns to love herself and see her own self-worth. She doesn’t understand that her friends don’t share her view of herself - as a worthless copy that can only find value in saving another. Her selflessness loops into selfishness.

Maybe Wyda will come back...She certainly has a lot to learn still!

The TLDR version of all this is that I accidentally pulled a Kingdom Hearts plot with this character, and now I understand, Nomura. I UNDERSTAND WHY YOU BRING BACK YOUR CHARACTERS. ;_;

[autumnslance]

Not anon but I --5.25 SPOILERS-- would be interested to know your thoughts on the revelation about Midas being under Bahamut's control, especially with the context of trauma-altered memory. I've been pondering tinfoil about this reveal as some kind of subconscious & deeply ingrained coping mechanism for Cid to exonerate the memory of his father, even if a little bit... then again that might be my--FF7 SPOILERS--Cloud Strife brain cell talking.

Let me tell you what I wish I’d knownWhen I was young and dreamed of gloryYou have no controlWho lives, who dies, who tells your story-”History Has Its Eyes on You”, from Hamilton

In Stormblood, I connected George Washington’s song a lot to Gosetsu as he mentored Hien and the WoL through the Azim Steppe and Doma’s liberation, and then later in the patch content with the difficult decisions made in those story arcs.

In Shadowbringers, there’s a lot more emphasis on memory and stories, particularly in 5.2. So I’ve been thinking of that short but impactful song a lot more often lately, in regards to who has survived to tell the stories that makes heroes and villains of the characters. What perspective does the Wandering Minstrel--or Minstreling Wanderer--hear?

It starts with how since we arrived on the First, the stories of the Warriors of Light were twisted or lost, leaving the WoL and Cyella (and a few others among the fae and viis who remember) to try to retell them a hundred years later to reclaim the legacy of those five as the heroes they were, not the villains people have heard about. In 5.2, much emphasis is given tothe history of Archmage Tiuna, a hero of Ronka and past Warrior of Light. To the origins of the name for the “Isle of Ken” that hides Bismark’s presence, forgotten and unknown by most people, though the man lived just before the Flood. To the story of Minfilia’s rebirth over and over and what that meant for those girls, and the glimmer of hope they represented. To Gaia’s disjointed memories and lost past, choosing to look now to the future.

Of the Ascians own susceptibility to the vagaries of time and preference and some tempering, but mainly perhaps their own grief and anger as they look back on the halcyon days of Amaurot and show or tell us what their perspective--as the privileged leaders of their people, mind--recalls thousands of years later.

Over and over, the recurring theme of Shadowbringers is the choral line: Who lives who dies, who tells your story?

HOW do they tell your story? If they do, or can, at all?

In “Save the Queen” we learn about the memory crystals and another aspect of the Echo. Mikoto’s version of the Blessing lends credence to the various oracles and prophets Louisoix and Urianger studied. The relic chain also clarifies how the city introduction scenes in 1.0 worked, and the WoL’s interactions with/repair of Cid’s memories in 2.0 on the airship with the goggles. Here again, we go into our engineering pal’s mind, but this time in a controlled manner with guidance afforded by the crystal.

It’s terrifying in its implications and possibilities, as easily abused as it is helpful for dealing with trauma, which it seems is the main intention of the device and one’s Echo. Canonically, most people with the Echo naturally are written as people inclined to help others (even if they aren’t always very good at it, or go about it the right way, as we saw with Ysayle’s flailing efforts). Still, there’s an ambivalence to literally changing someone’s mind, though we try a few times in the duty to alter the memories--such as when soldiers are fighting rebels or cutting down civilians.

I had a friend watching me play for my reactions, and one that made him grin (I could hear it, Patrick) was when I got to the plaza with Dalamud overhead and “Answers” suddenly kicking in as the music track. The first barrier to getting to the end and finding out “the truth.” Cid lost his memory for five years after watching Dalamud fall and Bahamut rampage across the land. Altering the Lunar Transmitter was an emotional plot point in the Omega raids. It makes sense part of his nightmare would involve the satellite and the dragon.

There are a couple ways the reveal about Midas can go.

In Praetorium, Gaius alluded to Midas being tempered. It seems odd to have it “revealed” now, rather than “confirmed.” Except, do we really have it confirmed? We have Cid’s memory of his father acting strangely, disregarding scientific facts, shooting him--

--and maybe Cid needs an explanation for that. Maybe he latched onto Gaius’ insinuations in the Praetorium and his memories, already trying to protect him from the truth, used Gaius’ words to offer one last protection. “Your father shot you because he was tempered” and not because Midas was too far gone in his own obsession and loyalty, while young Cid was already wavering in how much he owed the empire, how much harm his inventions were causing across Ilsabard and Othard.

On the other hand, it’s often repeated the Echo shows the truth--not anyone’s perception or falsehood, but what really happened. Maybe, after summoning our own memories and inspiring our friend, after cutting through Cid’s self-defenses, we do, in fact find the truth in Gaius’ words: Midas nan Garlond was one of Bahamut’s first modern thralls. And that was a memory Cid didn’t want to remember, either, something just as hard to cope with as seeing his father on the other side of that smoking barrel. That no matter what, his father was lost, body and soul. Cid could never have saved him.

Either way is a very traumatizing experience and realization, and it’s no wonder his mind rebels so much we end up facing off against memories of Bahamut and Varis (to make up for never getting to fight him for reals cuz Zenos is a kill stealing lil--*cough*). There’s a lot of fascinating psychology here I am not qualified enough to go into further, but those are the two ways I see this particular story beat going.

History currently remembers one thing, but maybe Cid can still change the story, and his father will be remembered as another tragic victim of the Calamity, instead of one of its instigating villains. Maybe in a new story Midas can be redeemed and history will see things differently in a few years.

After all, one of Cid’s best friends is Jenomis--the playwright retelling the story of the Zodiac Braves and altering even the modern ending of that tale and what happened in Ivalice. Whose son wants to write about the Warrior of Light someday, to tell our story and determine how history will remember us. Meanwhile, young Azami is set to become Yotsuyu’s biographer, and Honoroit has already written about the adventures in the Sea of Clouds--a companion piece to the tale Edmont already told in Heavensward.

And in an alternate future that may or may not exist any longer, that history, that story, that memory, is the only glimmer of hope left.

As a writer and lover of stories, I think about these threads a lot through Stormblood and Shadowbringers.

[tarajenkins]

Given what you've said of Vauthry, about how we're never given any chance to even try and redeem him, help him become a better person, I'd like to ask: how would you go about "saving" him? When he transforms into that Lucifer/Archangel Michael-looking guy, he seems permanently lost, but how would you write out a redemption narrative for him?

I love this ask, I hate the answer I have to give. But it’s gonna be a long response anyway, because context and because you already know I don’t know when to shut up about characters, lmao. 

SO I HOPE YOU LOVE HEARING ME RAMBLE UNDER THIS CUT (but I won’t blame you if you don’t)

I don’t think the in-game narrative allows Vauthry any chance at redemption in the current time, even if he had the agency to take it.  I don’t think we ever saw what he actually could have been. I think what we saw in Shadowbringers was the Lightwarden he’d been carrying finally “awakening”, as Innocence’s Triple Triad card put it. Or, as the X-Files put it in their eighth ep: “We are not who we are”.  

Even if that Lightwarden could be driven out of him (I know an “Aethertech” who would do anything to make that possible cough), I don’t know if he’d regain clarity he may never have had to start.  I’d love to think that he did, a long time ago. The Minstreling Wanderer tells us he can’t say whether or not Vauthry was a monster as a child, when you unlock Crown Of The Immaculate EX.

I believe the Lightwarden’s influence was driving a lot of his brutal acts of “justice”, because that is kinda their whole thing.  As for the man inside the monster?  I have a hunch he was desperate to not be seen as unnatural, and was trying to make sense out of what was happening to him in a way that would not make him a hybrid abomination. Because if he wasn’t a God, if he wasn’t this divine thing he was told he was – then what was he? The way he worded it, “this is why I was born…as man and Sin Eater both…” – it makes me feel he had, at some point in his life, at least once, ASKED why he was born as he was. That he had perceived it was wrong. He needed it to be right. And that was just fuel to the corruption fire.

The talk of godhood actually seemed to be a recent phenomenon, as no other NPC mentions a thing about it – they refer to him as “Lord Vauthry”, and speak of him in mortal terms, apart from his miraculous ability to keep the Sin Eaters at bay. He freely boasted of being a God to the Crystal Exarch, yet we’re to believe he didn’t say a word to his own people, all this time? Or that no one, in turn, would mention to us “Yyyyeah, about this guy….” Mayor Punchable Face may have told him he was a God, but it doesn’t sound like Vauthry bought into it enough to spread the good word for at least twenty years. 

Also consider he called his transformation into Innocence a “trial”. Why would a god need to be tested? And by whom?

By the time we see him in-game, it seemed he was in a rapid decline of sanity, or at least the ability to keep up appearances, and whatever was left of him was fervently clinging to the only purpose he was ever apparently given – which is exactly what that Lightwarden (and Emet-Selch) would want. 

 He was really cynical about the rest of humanity. Given his father, I can see where he’d get that from. Not that daddy told him people suck, it’s that Vauthry probably learned that by his father’s example. Maybe by the rest of Eulmore, too, but I got the impression he was kept seriously isolated from society before his inauguration. He seems to prefer being alone – he only leaves that room when he moves the Sin Eaters against Lakeland. He gives no indication he knows how to socialize, period. You either come to him, or you don’t see him. (He may be keenly aware humes don’t typically reach at least fifteen feet tall. Seriously, look at Cruelty’s size compared to player characters, now look how Cruelty makes a comfy couch for him.)

Cynical, and yet, he wanted to see the people of Eulmore’s “dreams fulfilled, their wishes granted”. Just so long as he was the one responsible, and he was the one recognized for it. He needed their acceptance. 

ANYHOO.  On to stuff I still have zero idea what to make of. 

I should preface the rest of this infodump with the fact I found the Eulmore arc to be the weakest of the expansion, between Vauthry and Ran'jit. Most of the MSQ was given nuance. Eulmore was given a Saturday Morning Cartoon sledge. A -lot- of questions, with no answers, unless Squeenix decides to be generous in a fifty-buck lore book later. (something I hated Warcraft for. I should not have to pony up for a book to understand the main story quest chain in a game.) So, here are some of the questions I’ve got:

- FOOL! THAT WILL NEVER WORK!

They don’t really explain why Emet-Selch thought corrupting an infant was a good plan, as the Sin Eaters seemed guaranteed a win on The First, if only by outlasting the survivors of the Flood. Impatience, maybe? Why not give it to the mayor? That dickpickle would’ve said yes. Maybe we’ll get more answers with the Eden raid. IT’D BE NICE *COUGH*

- The meol thing.  

It’s using Sin Eater’s non-existant flesh to make a bread, and through that bit of Sin Eater, Vauthry could control whoever ate it.  The fanbase loves the “soylent green is people” angle, but it’s done pretty haphazardly, when you think about it like that? Sin Eaters have no lasting corporeal body. They are Light, mixed with a bit of the lingering essence of whatever they originally were – and what they originally were did not have to be humanoid. They dissolve into sparklies in the air upon death – and arguably, they would not have to die to contribute sparklies to somehow mix into food. Forgiven Cruelty lost a whole wing to Thancred when Thancred first took Ryne from Eulmore, and it seemed to have grown back just fine by the time we see Cruelty again. Killing Sin Eaters also would be entirely counterproductive to a nation that devoted themselves to NOT killing them. Also – we are shown the Afflicted, people who are falling to corruption from a SIn Eater attack they’d survived. How is it people who eat meol don’t become corrupted themselves?

Where did the idea for meol  even begin? Vauthry’s father was ousted by the people as mayor before Emet-Selch said hey there, friend, you have a punchable face, let’s make a deal – and Vauthry only took control of Eulmore 20 years ago. He looks a LOT older than 20, or even 40. So his father must’ve rode his child’s coattails before then.  Did Mayor Punchable Face think that was a wise countermeasure against future insurrection? In any case, Vauthry did not exert that control until the WoL and allies were coming to kill the Lightwarden of Kholusia (him), so it did not seem to be a priority of his. Alphinaud confirmed the people were of a free mind until they were made to fight the WoL and allies. (and dialogue stressed it was very noticeable when someone was not of a free mind.) Squeenix: *throws meol into purse* I have to go plotholes came up

- The “Perverted Paradise”.  (I at least giggle every time Alphinaud says this.)

Vauthry is presented as the pinnacle of vice, yet the game does not really show this well – in some cases, not at all.

Gluttony: He isn’t shown to indulge in drink, let alone overindulge. Apart from the meol scene at the end, which was related to controlling the Eater-corrupted citizenry, not gluttony, he was not shown to have so much as a snack. There’s food in his chamber, all of it untouched. But! In the Shadowbringers trailer, Squeenix thought the best example to showcase Eulmore’s decadence was – three thicc'qotes. Having pleasant conversation ‘round a table. Eating fresh fruit.

Not the creepy-ass old patron who thinks that  since his pretty servant can’t sing anymore, she should be “Ascended” as a kindness, although it was implied she could have recovered her health, just not her voice. Not the guy who tossed his servant from a balcony because reasons and wanted us to bring him back. Not even the noblewoman trying to have her servant killed because her lecherous husband put designs on the poor girl.

Three thicc'qotes. Having pleasant conversation ‘round a table. Eating fresh fruit.

We get it, Square, we’re supposed to see he’s fat and think that is bad. Moving on.

Lust: He doesn’t visit the adult nightclub downstairs (the adult nightclub that is shown practically empty and behind closed doors, the lewdness of it all – I clutch my pearls.) He doesn’t  creep on your player character like Magnai did in Stormblood – he doesn’t creep on anyone. He doesn’t want you to be his steed. No interest is shown in the Sin Eaters apart from them fighting for him, as much as some people in the fanbase theorize he is fucking them. (They probably think that Spirited Away is about the sex industry and My Neighbor Totoro is about dead girls, too.) This game is pretty blatant when they intend that sort of thing, see: Yotsuyu, Sastasha, any number of things in Ishgard or Ul'dah. I’ve found nothing here, except the German translation for “Consort Of Sin: Forgiven Obscenity” is “Purified Fornication: Playmate Of The Redeemer”. Since this is not implied in any other translation, I put my trust in Koji Fox and the fact Obscenity’s job seems to be Official Nose Petter to Forgiven Cruelty.

Greed: I am not going to hold his rings and his robes against him, as Urianger has just as much bling (more, actually), The wealthy are made to give up ALL their fortune to be permitted to stay in Eulmore – but that wealth is then used to provide everything for free to those who live there, and the free citizenry are apparently given funds for private use to boot. If they intended to show that Vauthry was using all that for hookers and blow for himself, it did not convey well.

Wrath: If one has broken the rules of the city (or has thrown shade that takes him a full two minutes to catch), Vauthry definitely has this in spades, with a temper tantrum a lot like Philia’s Fierce Beating attack.  But again, the writers don’t really show the extent of the wrath they are trying to tell . Because if you don’t break the rules? Nothing happens, apparently. Trouble seems to have to be brought forward to him, he doesn’t go looking for it.  It didn’t feel any different to me than the Grand Companies, yet this is the one that finally makes Alphinaud do the *GAAAAASP*.

The populace does not seem afraid of Vauthry. In fact, they feel free to pop ‘round to have a word if they think something needs doing. Chai-Nuzz did not seem distressed by his wife’s suggestion she would have a word with Vauthry to soothe the “hard feelings” stirred up in the quest “Emergent Splendor”.  

Pride: He has great pride in his ability to keep the SIn eaters under control, but doesn’t really display any vanity in himself. No portraits, statues, etc. When Alphinaud interfered with Kai-Shirr’s punishment, Alphinaud was told he’d be permitted to stay in the city if he made a painting – not a portrait of Vauthry, but of the city itself.

Sloth: We get it, Square, he’s fat and he sits down, moving the FUCK on.  No actually, hold up, to be honest? As tired and :| as he looked all the time, he struck me as depressed. What guy in Paradise looks that haggard?

NOW moving on.

Envy: If my theory holds, probably plenty of unresolved envy for folks who are not “half Sin Eater”. Otherwise, I can’t think of an example here.

- “Ascension” (Sure thing, Jan)

This is only made reference to in the Weeping Warbler quest chain. “As all know, the sin eaters exist to devour the sinful. But also do they serve to gather the souls of the innocent, and shepherd them unto celestial paradise.”

Sin eaters ate a meal that represents the sins of a household you fool oh wait this is The First

The thing I don’t get here is - why are there obviously limitations on who can be ascended, and when? If the idea is strictly to feed the Sin Eaters, or make meol, or just be an asshole, why is this the only time we hear of it?

It’s like if there are no more mortals, Vauthry wouldn’t have that reassurance he is doing good anymore. Either that, or since he’s never worked in retail, he doesn’t know how to push features.

But I’m betting on the former.

- LASTLY: the hypocrisy of the writer’s narrative (and the fanbase).

Tesleen was our first and horrifying sample of what Sin Eater corruption can do to a human. No matter how strong her will may have been, she was just lost to it. She scratches madly at her face when she uses one of her attacks in Holminster Switch, as though trying to stop herself, or punish herself. But she can’t help it. And we know this.

Titania was a tragedy, had to be stopped. But, a TRAGEDY. Whatever was left of the benevolent ruler was corrupted. There was never a moment where our heroes went “dis binch just evil, they gotta go down”. ( I had many choice words for Titania when I wiped enough times to them, but no actual game dialogue really says it. )

We, the Warrior Of Light, came this close to becoming a Warden ourselves. Somehow it was stalled (convenience!), but there was never a question corruption = bad and out of our control.

Vauthry, on the other hand, is treated as though he is in full control of his faculties, although the corruption before birth makes that questionable at best and he pretty clearly is not? Even as he did that Exorcist neck-twist, no one was like “oh fuck, the Sin Eaters got to another one, damn that poor man”.  (Which would seem a logical conclusion to me, I hate we have like zero real say in our characters’ reactions) Not even a “ahaha okay no seriously what the fuck is going on guys”. Nope. Their reaction was “EVIL”.  Trying to help somehow was never on the table. Watching him die slowly at our feet was.

We saw the Echo of the real circumstance of his birth. It had to come from the Sin Eater that corrupted him, because he wasn’t out of the womb to see that scene play out. Or Emet-Selch. Either way, we saw it, yet at no time afterward do we try to bring the truth out. We just let everyone believe he was evil by choice, and not another casualty of this mess.

And remember earlier, how I said Alphinaud confirmed the free citizenry were not under Vauthry’s control until the fight? Remember the noblewoman whose husband went after their bonded servant, and so she tried to get the girl murdered?

Yeah, we catch up to that noblewoman who tried to murder her servant. She feels really bad about that now.  And what is an option we get to tell her ex-bonded servant when she wonders how she could possibly trust the woman who tried to kill her?

“Vauthry’s society brought out the worst in people…”

Fffffffuck you Square lmao

TL;DR:

In private RP land? In private RP land, where we can back the fuck up in the timeline at will? You are damn skippy that Lightwarden got purged before it took complete hold. (an Aethertech did it with SCIENCE.) And Vauthry is cynical and scarred and bitter and broken and betrayed, but he’s not evil. If anything, he’s actually pretty relatably human. And he’s actually pretty damn glad his father’s shitty legacy is over.

[volixia669]

Y’know, the Environment art of The Lochs gives me HUGE, “A lot of content from the end was cut” vibes.

Well, technically Stormblood in general has huge, “We gave the team writing the Doman section priority over the Ala Mhigan team” because uh...The main cuts from the Doman section seem to have more to do with Yotsuyu’s plotline than anything else. The last battle is a bit rushed, but the whole Deus ex Destroy the Palace thing aids in making the assault more realistic.

As for Ala Mhigo...You finally get to Castrum Abania and we’re still trying to tie up the whole rescue Krile thing, while also going almost immediately to an All OUt Assault that should lead to the final battle against Zenos.

Except.

Ala Mhigo is a fucking FORTRESS. A fortress with two main weak points. A small wooden door on the side, and a small metal door on the side.

Additionally, the lochs have the Lochwatch and the Sothwatch, two watchtowers of strategic importance yet there’s not a single Imperial there.

In fact there’s NO imperials on the bridge which is...odd?

There’s also that area with Spectres and the tomb of a King which may have importance in a patch but seems...Forgotten.

As is the Royal Hunting Grounds, which I could have SWORN Zenos invited you to, and yet all we do is nab pheasant feathers?

It leads me to suspect that in the dev of Stormblood, a few things happened:

-The original plan was to explore more points within the Lochs and have a longer more drawn out siege/battle.

-Another Zenos fight scene? Some fucked up commentary on what he uses the hunting grounds for? Something?

-The original plan was for the Ala Mhigan campaign to show more horrors of war, and how brutal occupations are similar to Doma, and how the story starts. (Remember the guy who had to pay tribute to the Skulls? THe guy with the chocobo? Remember him?)

-These notes on what would be needed were sent to the environmental level designers who begun blocking out the areas with placeholder assets while the narrative was still being finalized

-The original narrative was deemed too long, the Doman narrative prefered, but between Ilberd’s narrative arc, and Yugiri’s narrative arc, they couldn’t just nix one or the other. So things got cut.

-Communication breakdown between Narrative and Environmental teams (it happens) occurs, and, well, by the time the super duper final version of the story is approved, well, between asset reuse, the fact most of it is just rocks, and other factors, the environment is mostly done.

-Also I think the UI team got the map and points in fairly early.

-So then Level Design just ends up making adjustments on where enemies are, etc, based on finalized narrative, and thus this odd feeling of “there should be more here”

This is of course just me guessing based on what I know of dev process. But yeah. It’s off. There’s stuff missing. Game dev be like that. Of course there’s things I forget from pre-my most recent hiatus and there’s still five patches I need to get through after this grand battle. So maybe more gets used! But its odd more doesn’t get used earlier.

[badlydrawnaishou-blog]

Say, Aishou, what do you think of your fellow Rock Humans? Do you think you're on good terms with them? Have you encountered others in your past?

I don’t remember much about the time when I was a younger...  most of my memory has been blurred and when i try to remember I get anxious and end up having an attack. I however can talk about my relationship with the other rockmen I know. 

[WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD]

Yotsuyu is my best friend, He is almost like a brother to me and the closest thing I have to a family. He has been there for me since the very beginning, he is understanding and patient with my condition and helps me out no matter what kind of situations my stupidity has drag me into. After my ex took away my home, he offered me a good apartment and a job as well. In his eyes I am not “that one annoying brat that screws everything up”... he makes me feel like I am more than just a kid with anxiety problems and a crippled heart.

Damo is my boss and I’m supposed to look up at him with respect. I am not too fond of him, he makes fun of my and my condition, often calling me weak and useless. He would often call me out of my mistakes and will proceed to nag me about them all the time so I don’t “do them again”.He is quite a sadistic bully and enjoys to pick on me as he knows I cant fight back.I’m scared of him and I personally don’t like to be near him, but there are so little of I don’t think I have the luxury to be picky....

The A. Phex Brothers are a bit better than Damo.I barely interact with them, which is the only thing I like about them, But if I do they will bully me and god knows I can barely handle one of them, imagen handling both of them at the same time. Still they are more playful rather than mean, and their pranks are much more undertone compared to Damo’s. Still they often work alone and I’m glad I don’t interact with them much. 

Dolomite is also a close friend of mine. He lives by himself on a pond near a shrine and I like to go visit him every once in a while. The place is very peaceful and relaxing, you can just forget about every single problem while you are in there and just enjoy nature. He is very wise and there is nothing I enjoy more than talking to him for hours and hours... He is the only one that understand what is like to be alone, to be heart broken, to be defective, to loose everything you once held dear and how hard it is to settle in this world when you are just so different. He understands what is like to be me and he helps me out every time I have problems. All in exchange for a big bucket of chicken or fried frog legs. He says I’m lucky, I’m not that sure, but he is the smart one here. I really want to help him, and I’m still searching for that stand that can restore everything to its original form. 

Urban Guerrilla is... well he is... I’m not sure....I mean, we barely met each other... I know we work for the same organization and all but he is often underground, working as an assassin.He is quite the eccentric guy  I’ll give him that, interacting with him is... interesting, but he doesn’t seem interested in picking on me so I’m ok with that. His pet Doremifasolati Do is quite weird as well... I have never seen anything like it before... I think it is a dog? It likes to sniff at me and nudge my arm. he doesn’t seem to be aggressive unless Urban Guerrilla tells him otherwise. 

[sea-and-storm]

DAY 3: BIG MSQ Spoiler #12 (feat. oc backstory rambling);

So now that I’m done for the night after being claimed by the mass DC.. Guess I wanted to do some tired-ass rambling to pre-emptively defend my new alt? And just kinda get some character thoughts out of my head and concretely down in writing? 

Idk man. Mostly I’m just tired and I get talky when I’m tired.

So, uh.. Yotsuyu’s backstory has a lot in common with Sayuri’s backstory. Both were Doman women who were married off to less-than-doting husbands by their families for profit, were expected and told to “grin and bear it” by people who should have cared for their well-being, and then found their liberation after becoming widowed by serving the Empire.

So now I wish I had written Sayuri’s backstory out before SB. Because I stfg, my eyes are going to roll back up into my head the first time someone implies that I ripped her origin story off. Sobs.

But I mean there’s still some pretty key differences, I guess. 

Yotsuyu’s family viewed her as some unwanted thing to be disposed with, and the fact that there was profit made off of it was coincidental. But Sayuri’s family was the opposite. While her brothers were to carry on the family name, her and her sister were viewed like highly valuable commodities to be strategically traded to make profitable alliances with the right families. Same ends, sort of, but different circumstances and strategies. 

Her family wasn’t without love;  it was just overshadowed by their ambitious, business-like nature. And that nature, combined with her elder brother’s lack of experience and eagerness to prove himself a worthy heir, was what led to Sayuri being married off to a terrible husband. It was a total accident. It was supposed to be a pleasant -- or at least tolerable -- match. Her brother just didn’t have the wits to see what sort of bad deal he was making for his sister’s sake, blinded to the obvious red flags and need for caution by the promise of making allies with an influential merchant family in Kugane.

And well, once the deal was struck, there wasn’t any going back on it, at least in his mind. It would’ve ruined the family business in Kugane -- maybe even beyond. Thus the “grin and bear it” advice when Sayuri tried to convince her family to allow her to end the arrangement.

But I guess the biggest difference is that in Sayuri’s case, she didn’t turn into some sadistic, vengeance-seeking monster after it. Sure, she may or may not have murdered her husband and framed it as a botched burglary attempt turn arson to hide the evidence, but that was less about vengeance than it was about reaching the limit of her familial obedience, snapping, and taking the matter into her own hands. The snapping might have been initially emotional, but everything that came after was cool and calculated.

So she doesn’t hate Domans / Doman society, like Yotsuyu does. She doesn’t even hate her family, who were the ones to put her in that spot to begin with. There’s just a bit of resentment there, and a healthy distance she put between herself and them when she chose to enlist with the Imperial army -- a people that she knew rewarded unfaltering loyalty, valued individual skill over tradition or lineage, and would give her a means to prove herself.

So yeah. I don’t even know where I’m going with this anymore. Just kinda felt like writing it out now, rather than waiting for weeks down the line and someone to cry copy-cat or lack of originality. 

Which I guess at its core, it isn’t the most original concept, period. 

But I was already unoriginal before I completed the Step On Me, Mommy: Origins DLC, thank you kindly.

[autumnslance]

A Review on Emotional Stakes

A rambling, spoilery review on an emotional aspect of Shadowbringers.

They didn’t have to kill a major character to make us feel sorrow, or urgency, or the need to stop the antagonist.

(In fact, I feel a lot of sympathy for the antagonist, and understanding, and he was so...Human, in his motives and desires, and he has jumped up quickly to one of my absolute favorites, from the sheer dramatics of his behavior, to his rage, to his blue-orange morality--to his quiet plea at the very end, once all was lost to him)

We lost a lot of unnamed soldiers in Lakeland, many people in Holminster, but those were set dressing. The merchant in the beginning--a purposeful callback to the triplets that we first met in ARR--was an indication of how dangerous the First could be for common folk, and the fear of Sin Eaters. “We aren’t in the Source anymore, kids,” his death tells us.

Tesleen is the biggest personal loss, and it’s more about Alisaie’s connection with her, as well as again, demonstrating the horror of Sin Eaters--and she comes super early in the story. We feel for Tesleen as in the small amount of time she had on screen, she was a delight, and we know one of our closest friends care for her deeply, too. Also, the visceral depiction of the transformation does its job well in horrifying us, and giving the resolve to destroy these things. Facing her again in Holminster is a relief for that sorrow.

I don’t count Minfilia as a loss this time; we said our goodbyes in Heavensward, and though there had been the hope of meeting again, freeing her from the cycle of reincarnation was another relief, and we got to keep Ryne--who is pretty much her child, and less of a plot device than the Word of the Mother/Oracle of Light ended up being. While I’m sad to see Minfilia go for good (there was a lot of wasted potential with her original character, and a part of me will always miss her), I don’t feel it as a shock in the same way as losing Haurchefant. Melancholy, perhaps, but also it felt more natural, despite the fantastic circumstances around her finally passing.

I was genuinely afraid for Thancred, but he was also the only tank given to us for the Trust system, so it turned out well. I’m glad because he finally treats Ryne as she deserves, too, and how we all know Thancred is capable of behaving, when he’s not trying to be a hardass (he’s so bad at it; that man wears his heart on his sleeve, especially when it comes to little girls needing protection).

I was also afraid for Lyna for a bit there, that she might be killed in the assault on Lakeland--or worse, turned as well. The voice actress sold her rage and grief in her frustrated breakdown, and that cracking in her voice hurts me more (She’s also no less strong for that outburst; it humanizes her, with her usual controlled, stoic demeanor, as yet more losses pile up and the enemy seems to actively want to help the world finish dying in direct opposition to the relentless optimism of the Crystarium. I DO wish we had gotten more on the personal relationship between her and the Exarch, though; maybe in patches).

Yet, even without an onscreen close friend character death late in the story, there’s no shortage of emotional connection. No end to the tears, even sometimes for those we never met but learn about, and the effect it has on those still grieving (Magnus’ story as an example; and my throat caught when I realized which heartstone the Night’s Blessed wanted the PC to imbue). And I didn’t feel like there were any “fake outs” like they tried to do in Stormblood--I never once worried that Gosetsu and Yotsuyu had survived Doma Castle once Soroban said he hadn’t been able to find the bodies, which only made the drawn-out teary goodbye scene a bit frustrating. I wanted to feel more for Meffrid and Conrad’s losses, but they failed to re-establish Meffrid very well before killing him, and Conrad didn’t get enough connection--and I still feel like he pushed leadership on Lyse when she wasn’t ready or willing for it (a whole other subject), so I somewhat mildly resent him, honestly.

Shadowbringers is a study in high stakes with deep emotional connections, while not relying on shock value or sudden death to make you feel things. The story brings us along on a journey, rather than trying to force a story upon us, and there is a world of difference after so many recent media flubs using “twists” and “shocks” to try to get a rise from the audience and be “different” in their storytelling. ShB decided it was a Final Fantasy story, complete with well-seeded foreshadowing, and predictable moments, and it’s great because the journey to get there was what made the “reveals” so satisfying.

EDIT: A quick addendum: That they were able to scare us with the threat of death to friends shows how well those previous losses DID work in the story; much as we may criticize some of them–Moenbryda and Ysayle are big ones taken issue with for good reasons, Papalymo honestly could have used more characterization and time after rejoining the group post-HW, I already mentioned the StB crew above; they put a lot of weight on Wilred in StB, but he was such a tertiary character in ARR I dunno if that connection to the WoL is as strong as it was for the NPCs.

Haurchefant is really the main one that was handled “best” and so tends to hurt the worst and be the most raw and memorable for players as well as our characters, and leaves us with the very real fear of it happening again.

Which only helps Shadowbringers’ storytelling to keep the personal stakes high. We know they can and will kill characters–but they, and we, also know they don’t have to to elicit emotions.