#we love our rdm

[vaerisunder]

I present to you: Happy Hands' rezzers

[asleepinawell]

one of my favorite perches to chill on while waiting for ivalice to not happen

[sgiandubh]

Lights, camera, shit show

I was just cleaning my OL folders (all those Chinese paintings and scrolls do take a horrendous amount of space, heh) and I just stumbled upon something I completely forgot to share and discuss with you. I found this particular article during my solitaire lurking months and I remember being befuddled by it for a long time, then thought I've lost it for good.

I don't remember ever seeing it shared or discussed in here, either and if, by any slim chance, I am wrong, kindly forgive me. That professional website is now closed, but its content is still available to browse:

Anyway, there goes: https://www.studiodaily.com/2018/06/outlander-dp-stephen-mcnutt-asc-csc-saucy-scottish-show/

We discussed Terry Dresbach and her inebriated rants, Vanessa Woman's devastating impact on set as Intimacy Coordinator, RDM's jealousy and many other aspects of life on the OL set. Rumors likely to have originated there peppered our shipping trail like flickering lights in a sea of darkness. So yes, we dissected these things to death. But not Stephen McNutt's interview to Studio Daily, on June 22, 2018 - please keep in mind the date, it is essential!

Stephen McNutt is a well-established professional and a member of the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) and the Canadian Society of Cinematographers (CSC), as he hails from British Columbia. He also has a consistent track record of previous work with RDM, both on Battlestar Galactica and Caprica (its prequel). Therefore, one has to immediately suppose he was handpicked and brought on set by the same RDM, of course: set a very low bar on your expectations, I am warning you.

By the grace of RDM, he was one of the main Directors of Photography for OL during Seasons Two and Three. IMDb is not the best source for corroborating things, because they credit him with 13 episodes in Season Two (including La Dame Blanche- he is the Blue Room guy!), but only one for Season Three (First Wife), which is completely wrong. I even had to check some opening credits on Netflix (at reduced speed, ugh), because he speaks at length of A. Malcolm, something that would have made little sense otherwise. He was there, of course: and his is a first-hand account, heavily loaded with both innuendo and TPTB bullshit, up to the point of complete incoherence.

We focus on the three final questions:

This is a study in bullshitology, right here. The question asked is very clear and very technical: how did you approach those famous love scenes?

The answer is a mumble jumble of retcon, deflections, slips and overall impossible scramble for a logical explanation. I am doing a line by line, because this is almost too good to be true:

'(...) But as far as Cat and Sammy making love (...)' : um, hello and excuse me, I thought the question was about Jamie and Claire?!? And then we are delusional and can't fucking separate, when your own henchman, the Director of Photography no less, seems to be totally unable to do so, too? Hello? Also: 'Sammy'? 'Sammy'? What. The. Total. Fuck, and I LOLed then and I am still LOLing now. Terms of endearment overheard on set - but no, here comes the 'friendship' shite, hitting the narrative fan with Mach 5 speed. Objective? Explaining in a plausible way the hugging and 'keeping warm'. And I am sorry, but this begs the question: what the hell did this man see on that set? And how many people did see the same, hence the need to release such a gratuitous lie, for pure retconning purposes?

'They are not an item at all - I think she just got married'. Oh, fuck my life, man: you are such a terrible, terrible liar! Remember, that interview was taken in June 2018: after the OZ EFH and just about when C. was gleefully answering 'oh, God forbid!' every time she was prompted by press about her marriage plans. How can somebody with a pretty high trophic level and personal rapport to both S and C be totally unaware about C's marital status at the time? How can a long time acquaintance and coworker of RDM say no both to a friend and to a current boss (same person, the worst case scenario) asking for a favor, in that particular context? It also goes to prove that the shit show plot mainlines never originated with S and C and that the Remarkable Week-end was already planned for quite some time. By TPTB. With the full knowledge of RDM.

Let's suppose Mr. McNutt was so deeply engrossed in his work as not to notice all the people who must have congratulated C on set. I mean, I know who our (spinster) colleague from Accounting is currently banging and that guy is (mercifully) not among our staff (I totally wish them well, btw). Maybe because nobody congratulated C on that fakegagement? Also, you know them well enough to confidently say 'they are not an item', but don't know she was not married at the time and state an enormity with the same confidence? What in the name of the hoo-ha did I just read, here?

'I was always in such amazement of that.' In amazement of exactly what, Mr. McNutt? Surely not a woman holding hands or keeping warm with her gay co-star on set, huh? I mean, I need the best American English dictionary, here:

Again: what the heck did this man see? What comments did he hear? Surely, 'amazement' is a very precise choice of wording, with particularly enlightening synonyms:

Hence the need to end the demonstration with a deflection: 'They would just have fun.' You know, there is no such thing as a virgin whore, Mr. McNutt: you either are in such astonishment or you think your pals, good old S and C, such a funny girl, were having, well... 'fun', what else? You can't logically have both in the same paragraph!

And there we go: 'a very collegial atmosphere on set'. The answer is pure fool's gold, if you ask me: 'Nobody goes to sit in a trailer or says they aren’t showing up that day. '

And I laughed. And I laughed. And I laughed. I really don't know what this man is talking about. I never heard McTavish telling S to get out of that trailer ('nephew'). I never read the 'two very loved-up birdies' in a trailer a-rockin' Anons. I never watched that 2015 Anglophile SDCC interview, when S mentioned listening in their shared trailer to Erasure's Oh, l'Amour and C immediately reacted ('oh, did you just admit to that?'). But unlike me, McNutt must have been legally bound by a big cojones Non-Disclosure Agreement and morally bound by loyalty towards RDM, his friend, boss and benefactor.

This. All of the above. This is the real reason for all the bullshit you've just read: explaining a real, shocking love story by socially progressive regulations, allowing the cast to be 'much more happy'. I would laugh some more, if this was not sinister and cruel, in fact.

It is Love. A deep, strong one. But the seeds of the adverse narrative were planted early and deep, forcing even decent people like this guy to lie and smear himself a bit in the process. What we see and hear now are but better worded and more refined consequences of that fateful January 2016 morning in LA. And since I am allowed the dubious luxury only a healthy distance in time allows, let me remind you a simple, fun fact about this interview who stated they were never an item:

About ten months after McNutt uttered these words, the fandom was hit by the Covfefe Pics.

I rest my case.

[flowers-of-tenebrae]

[ More FFXV x FFXIV thoughts ]

Excerpts from my drafts (Mild FFXIV spoilers ahead):

^I actually did consider DRK for Noctis 😄. Didn't finish writing Ignis' part lol

See my earlier post about SQEX's preferred jobs for the bros - keeping in mind the collab was released in Dec 2018 for FFXV before FFXIV: Shadowbringer's 2019 release. Read this earlier post re: why I feel RDM doesn't fit Noctis plus other users' thoughts on the matter.

Anyway, FFXIV jobs I'd assign the other FFXV characters:

Aranea - DRG

Iris - PCT

Luna - WHM / LNC (still early lvls, no DRG job stone) / BTN

Cor - SAM

Ardyn - WHM then DRK/RPR -> Ardyn & Luna parallels w/ both initially as WHM

Ravus - ?? DRK (idk Ravus fans help me out here)

Other jobs I think could fit:

Gladio - GNB

Hear me out. Gunbreaker (GNB) is all about being a protector or a guardian (FFVIII) and more importantly having someone - or some important cause like one's country or freedom - to protect. I think Gladio could relate to FFXIV's Dalmascans what with the loss of their liege and country due to imperial invasion. Also FFXIV's GNB was an art passed down from generation to generation and originated from royal guards.

BUT I think Gladio would prefer more traditional forms of weaponry and combat, which is why I picked WAR and DRK for him! WAR is self-explanatory (unga bunga) and who doesn't love Fell Cleave? SAM comes after he's completed Episode Gladio.

Noctis - FSH max lvl / SMN

The kind of guy who spends weeks chasing after ruby dragons or cinder surprises or whatever the fuck FSH enthusiasts get up to these days. I think he'd be amused by the name carbuncleplushy (iykyk).

My old rambly notes on VPR and SMN Noctis (viper and summoner):

@noctswife brings up a good point against RPR for Noctis + some thoughts on DRK and RDM Noct:

Ignis - CUL / SGE / VPR / DRG

I'll expand on my choices for Ignis since I didn't explain them earlier. Our FFXV light party desperately needs a healer, so Ignis steps up. Like Alphinaud, he originally was a strategist healer (SCH - scholar) but decided he didn't vibe with Eos/Selene or the angel aesthetic and switched to sage (SGE) /jk

I think healing via DPS fits Ignis and he can swap Kardia between Gladio (MT - the main tank), Noctis, Prompto or even himself. Plus lasers.

About DPS jobs for Ignis - NIN has the traditional Japanese aesthetic while I see Ignis as more of a modern kind of guy. VPR's ability to switch between dual blades <--> one longarm represents Ignis' gameplay really well imo, and it also suits Noctis who has the armiger at his disposal. DRG bc Ignis obv has the hops n jumps, esp in Episode Ignis.

Bonus: I think Ignis would make a fetching RDM! Plus it incorporates his ability to use magic and heal.

Luna - SCH?

@noctswife suggested SCH for Luna, which was great to read:

I think Luna and Noctis both having arcanist (ACN) - the prerequisite class to SCH and SMN in FFXIV - in common works narratively wrt to FFXV's story, i.e. Luna and Noctis are the only ones able to really communicate with the Astrals (excl. Ardyn). Whether it's WHM or SCH, I think we can all agree Noctis and Luna have that tank/healer dynamic going on!

Anyway ty to everyone who shared their thoughts on the other posts about job classes for Noctis. Feel free to agree / disagree here, it's all for fun! Or correct me if I missed sth or incl any inaccuracies.

[yugioh-rare-pair-poll]

Round 2: Poll 7

Propaganda under the cut

Pairing 1:Buddyshipping (Jounouchi Katsuya | Joey Wheeler/Hiroto Honda | Tristan Taylor )

Propaganda: honda and jounouchi are the epitome of “idiot x idiot” they’re stupid but most importantly they’re stupid TOGETHER | They bicker like an old married couple and they're CONSTANTLY huggung/romatically fistfight/basically putting their hands all over each other. they are huge goofs.

Pairing 2: Alternateshipping(Dark Magician/Red Dark Magician)

Propaganda:These two are so important to me, the episode about them impacted me deeply. How the red magician fights his counterpart but clearly envies how loyal he is to Atem, and how well Atem treats him, as opposed to Pandora who mistreates him, and then at the end, joining their side to fight alongside his counterpart and finally getting to experience the joy of helping Atems deck, themes of sacrifice and loyalty i am UNWELL | As for Dark Magician/Red Dark Magician OH BOY. There are intense parallels between the two during the duel between Yami and Pandora. They're both duel monsters who are incredibly loyal, one just happens to be in the wrong hands. Red Dark Magician wants someone to be loyal to, someone to appreciate him, and he gets used and betrayed in the end. I think RDM deserves better and be comforted by the one he was made to emulate.

Now, let’s keep things civil. This is a silly poll where we can share why we love our overlooked ships. There’s no need to be nasty to prove your point. Bashers will be banished to the Shadow Realm.

[curioussubjects]

in which i revisit black market and it's worse somehow

for reasons even i find elusive, i read the transcript for rdm's podcast episode on "black market" (i know i know), but i really do appreciate the spirit behind this particular pod episode. i just. it's just. y'all....you cannot make this stuff up:

"there is no socioeconomic structure beyond the Rag Tag Fleet. There's no government. There's no social system. There's no nothing. Other than these particular ships. Isn't everything black market? Isn't everything to be bartered?" there's so much going on here. like. what do you mean there's no government or social system. the fleet literally has an executive and legislative branch. the executive literally has an enforcement arm through the military. ron please. 😭😭 the idea there's no social system is also bizarre when there's no indication the colonial social system wasn't reproduced down to caprican hegemony. also love the implication that the presence of a barter system nearly if not completely equates to the existence of a black market. that's. that-. hm. what i do think is interesting here though is that a black market existing isn't actually, imo, a foregone conclusion. that it exists at all suggests: 1. there seems to be no enforcement of the rule of law, 2. no regulation of trade, and 3. the government isn't adequately meeting the needs of the fleet with supply distribution.

sometimes i remember rdm has a polisci degree and i want to jump into a river.

but anyway, some of this stuff is discussed in the writer's room and all i can think about is how in the world did anybody think a topic this huge could fit into one standard episode of television. a lot of the bulk could be done in one episode, but you'd be returning to this as subplots and background commentary in future episodes.

"I was really disappointed in the show and myself and what we had done and didn't feel like the episode really had anything going for it." yeah man no fucking shit. you can't build a story out of vibes alone 😭

"You never quite get at the satisfaction of truly having gone through a plot that you had no idea where it was gonna go and you're shocked where it ended up. And you're not really sitting back and going, "My God. Lee Adama is nothing like I thought he was." It just doesn't- it falls in between. It's classically standing on the two chairs and falling in between both of them." the problem you're having is that you never connect what's going on with the black market plot with what's going on with lee. there's no line there beyond right place right time. clearly there's an ethical issue here in that lee is complicit with the black market. THAT'S what's interesting. our ethical center character, who values justice and the law is complicit in something that is happening outside of legal purview and also harms and exploits people. and then culminates with lee doing some light extrajudicial killing. but we never sit with any of it. much less see it play out in future episodes.

which is why this following bit kills me : "Tigh and Ellen and Ellen's involvement in the black market and she's getting things for Tigh, who is a senior officer in Galactica. There's a whiff of corruption here and what does it mean? We're not gonna- we don't take the easy way out. Tigh isn't shocked at what his wife is doing and promises never to do it again. He understands what she's doing. There is an implication that, "Who knows what else Ellen Tigh is doing with Commander Fisk?" I'm not sure that's a picture I want in my mind, but, ok. And Lee is also a bit dirty in this scene. Lee is also engaged in things that are probably not that above-board. There's an implication that Lee helped get the medicine for the little girl and probably went outside official channels. And it's a personal, emotional, confrontation with people with conflicted and conflicting motivations." THAT'S THE EPISODE! RIGHT THERE! YOU HAD IT!

the episode is about ethics, a government failing its people, and complacency. you want an episode of television without having to make a mini arc out of it? those are your themes.

then there's the clusterfuck that is the gianne/shevon/dee portion of the episode, which makes no gd sense AND HERE'S WHY LMAO: "It's not really getting to a place where we're explaining, or at least hinting, or making you think about what is the nature of the relationship between Dualla and Lee. Why is Lee interested in her and vice versa? What does it mean to him as a character? We had conversations in the writers' room that dealt with things like, "Well, Lee's got the girl he left behind on Caprica, he's seeing the prostitute, and then there's Dualla." So there's the classic- there's three women in Lee's life. One dead, two not. What does Dualla represent in that? What is- what is Dualla to Lee in juxtaposition to the dead woman and to the hooker with the little girl? Is she the hope? Is she the future? Is she something more realistic? Is the hooker the hope? There's a lot of ways you can just sit and talk about it endlessly about what it all represents, and it was all fascinating conversation. Unfortunately it just doesn't quite sync-in to what we have. You don't ever- you never quite get to a place where you're rooting for Lee and Dualla. I think that's might be the central problem with it. You're never quite rooting for her."

truly mysterious why this doesn't work rdm. boggles the mind.

he offers no explanation as to why it doesn't work, btw, it's all just "???"

we're not rooting for dee because lee doesn't actually want her. just like he didn't actually want gianne.

meanwhile shevon is the epitome of lee playing it safe. he's obviously lonely and in need of talking to someone, and having emotional and physical intimacy. he wants it without the possibility of being too vulnerable or hurting someone else when he runs. through shevon we understand some of the reasons why lee left gianne. through his relationship with shevon and gianne, we can begin to see what might underlie lee's budding relationship with dee.

and then perhaps we remember lee's behavior during the miniseries. and then maybe we watch scar next and a couple more things become clear.

we're not rooting for dee because we're rooting for someone else entirely. (kara. it's kara.)

i am in the tantrum hole.

"we're playing that Zarek needs to tell Lee about Phelan and about this ship out there where you can get anything you want that's the hub or the nexus of the black market. And yet everybody else seems to know about it. It's clearly the place where all this activity is going, but somehow Lee needs to be told by Zarek that it even exists, which tends to undercut Lee's role as an investigator and the procedural aspect starts to feel a bit weak because you feel like he should've- Lee should've known all that on his own and again, it's an element that doesn't work"

OR it could be something about complacency, a failure in governance, and how out much the Galactica is actually a bubble. very interesting concept for lee who feels disconnected after RS2.

it's not that lee's obliviousness doesn't work, it's that he has the privilege of not needing to think about it. he could even already be seeing shevon and thinking it's all above board like it was back in the colonies, not realizing there's a criminal enterprise going on that is exploiting desperate people.

what happens when lee does learn about how bad it is out there in the fleet?

that's your episode set up.

"When Lee shoots him, you should feel that he shoots him because, "Oh my God! I'm realizing that he is like Bill Duke and oh! Woah! I'm like shocked. And that's- I don't know how I feel about Lee, but I'm really surprised because he's more like Bill Duke than I thought." I don't think the show really says that. I don't think we've accomplished that mission. And that should have been the mission here, is if you're going to predicate a whole show on this concept, about this central confrontation it should pay off that idea." that should not have been the mission there omfg. lee shoots this man because he's doing fucked up shit. the shocking moment isn't that lee is like the bad guy, the shocking thing is that mr. articles of colonization did an extrajudicial killing. he executed a man without due process.

the question here is: is lee more like his father and laura roslin than he'd like to admit? if so, what is he going to do about it?

and btw, is lee like his father completely ties back to a possible reason why he runs from gianne: he saw himself marrying a woman he got pregnant, thus repeating the story of his parents. and it doesn't need to be 1:1 exactly, but there are too many similarities for his comfort. so he runs.

and another theme: lee doing what he knows is the right thing to do vs. lee doing what he thinks is the Right thing to do. and to what extent does lee hide behind duty because he's scared of going after what he wants. (and oh look at that we're back to kara)

this scene is interesting because lee does something he felt in the moment to be right (and he does it on impulse, which is another bit of tension with his character in other episodes), but he also acted against his ethical code. what are the effects of that? how does lee grapple with that? WE JUST DON'T KNOW

i am still in the tantrum hole.

"I think if I had to sum up what's wrong with this episode in my opinion, it's that this time we went for a much more tv, conventional tale and execution." narrator: that's not what was wrong with the episode. "So again it's a grab bag of things we're trying to do." narrator: that's more like it.

incredible podcast though it's like 10/10 reflection 0/10 insight. showrunner of all time this guy.

[otherworldseekers]

Thinking Ahead

Today I realized that we just passed the second anniversary of Endwalker. Two years ago our WoLs saved the world from ultimate destruction. Looking back on those two years...

I'm proud of some of the things I've accomplished. I managed to write a completed fic, even if it was an au. I started recreating vintage portraits and I think developed some skill at it.

Of course I would have liked to accomplish more. I wanted to get my ARR fic completed. Dare I dream of finally finishing it before Dawntrail?

Speaking of DT, I've been giving some thought to Severia's future and what I want to do with her going forward. I am pondering the possibility of making her a RDM main in DT and beyond. She's always been a BRD primarily in the msq, always wearing her beloved Choral Chapeau. But Dawntrail seems like a good opportunity to change some things up. Perhaps it's time to hang up the bow and the chapeau. At least for a while. It will give me even more of an excuse to dress her in red. I'd like to commission a mod for the wrist scars she's had since childhood as well. It would be amazing to play the game with her looking closer to how I imagine her.

Another thing is that for a while I've been unsure of whether or not I want Severia and Nero to have a child in their main canon. But I've come to the conclusion that they don't. Severia the WoL is going to remain happily childless. And Severia the archeologist from Sharlayan au is going to bear the responsibility of being the sole Severia who is a mother. I plan to eventually work on fleshing out Sharlayan Severia and Nero's kid and developing them as the WoL of that universe. I've become really fond of Sharlayan au and look forward to making more stuff for it in the future.

Also someone remind me in January to make something for Severia's birthday on the 31st this year.

But right now I really want to focus as much as I can manage to on getting the canon timeline told. Cause I really love their main story and hope others will love it as well. Severia and Nero continue to own me heart and soul and I plan to continue writing and gposing them for as long as the game is around to let me.

[mmorpg-escapism]

I have just enough energy in me tonight for my favorite solo duty. This one's a doozy, and the final thing that stands between us and Endwalker! ...which I'll start tomorrow. There are also some Thoughts on the expansion as a whole at the end under the cut.

For those of you who have been keeping an eye on this journey, thank you ❤ It's not over yet and is most definitely going to loop back to stuff I did before starting here: there will eventually be another run through ARR to current sometime after the graphics update hits every expansion, so likely late next year. I've got a hrothgal waiting in the wings for that one... and do plan to do this to Dawntrail on my main with appropriate spoilers tagged as well as the usual one. We shall see how that goes.

Now, into the duty!

Alphinaud's character growth is so very visible to us after Arenvald's pep talk. The kid is a natural-born leader, and despite his mistakes he has enough confidence to really use his gifts... after a little push from his friends and family.

And now, we fight! The Scions take the field in full force - first as a group, and then splitting up across the field to take charge of several enemies. Our first stop is us clearing the field of a LOT of tempered Imperials... then splitting up to find and deal with Lunar Primals wherever we can while G'raha holds the fort.

And now, the real fun: We get to cosplay as a few of the Scions! Starting with Alisaie! RDM is my favorite caster, and this simplified take on it is very much faithful to my experience with it itself. Lots of little enemies, one big one, and a very fun slice-n-dice playground.

Development: "Random" magical glyphs that are pointed at the heart of a massive "aetheric confluence" - which is just a fancy way of describing a spot where several aetheric currents meet - and Y'shtola's guess is that they're there to enable some seriously nasty disasters should one of the Grape-flavored Primals reach and destroy one. Cool, the stakes have risen.

Split #2 has us afield as Urianger's Astro, facing Lunar Odin - which I did NOT do in my original playthrough nor this one, so I had no idea what to expect. I'm not an Astro player, but after some experience with one of my static members being... particularly annoyed with it, this wasn't quite so bad. Odin down!

Split #3 is back to G'raha and Alisaie, but now we're playing as G'raha who is some combo of BLM and WHM, facing off with Lunar Ravana. Big stabby sword bug. Woo. He's just as cool as the original fight, if a little toned down for story and "2-man" reasons. Big stabby stuff, and even an excuse to use G'raha's Break spell! Bugman down!

Now, back to the WoL with Estinien and Alphinaud facing down the monster that crippled Arenvald: Grape Ifrit. This one's personal. And boy howdy wthat one was the most intense of the three. Fire everywhere, a big LB3-like thing out of Estinien, the works. But it's the last of the primals, and we're all still alive.

I love this duty so very much. Not only because we get to spend some time as our Scion friends. Not only because we get to fight primals in a more one-on-one style that helps me imagine how to write it when I get there. It's also because there are stakes going in - stop the crazy person with lots of power who's trying to end the world - that become more specific during the fight, and then when the evil plan is thwarted, they don't just gloss over the aftermath.

We get to see our friends being VERY human. Alisaie is exhausted and berating herself for not doing enough. Alphinaud cannot stand losing anyone, and we have to watch him fight that when his healing isn't enough to save the man in front of him. We see the Grand Company of Eorzea at work - city-state leaders and beastmen tribes alike working together to cure the tempered. We cannot save everyone, an Amalj'aa warrior reminds the Scions, but those we have saved would not have been if not for you.

"So please, hold your heads high." The entire bustling field stopped and listened. Every single country we have visited, from the Alliance to Doma, is represented here. Standing behind the Scions, who gave everything they had to win the day, despite the cost. The moon breaks through the clouds above, and one last time we hear the Shadowbringers main theme break through as everyone gathered stares up at it, and the credits roll.

================================================

As I sit and process this entire expansion one more time, it's clear... Shadowbringers fundamentally alters your brain chemistry. That's from one of the posts going around the week I wrapped this up, and it is extremely accurate. We started all the way back in ARR as an adventurer with a gift, but little else, and got used. We slowly turned into something else on our way into Heavensward ("What are you?" - Thordan VII after we beat him) and used the power we had to liberate two entire countries from the Garlean empire alongside our friends, then watched them get snatched away from us for some unknown reason.

And then we went to where they were and found ourselves embroiled in a world that flipped the script on everything we knew. Light was bad, Dark was good, and everything we thought we knew was wrong. Discoveries with ripple effects that will be felt through Endwalker and beyond were made, and two entire worlds were changed as a result.

I'm not that good at analyzing story, or at least I didn't think I was when I started. All I knew is that this expansion was The Best that FFXIV had to offer, and I wanted to find ways to articulate why I thought that. I think I've succeeded, at least a little. I'm very excited for Endwalker and Dawntrail and beyond. Maybe I'll even get some creative spark going and write more of ARW for your enjoyment and my own - I want to do more than think about my blorbo :)

One more Arenvald Appreciation post tomorrow, most likely, and then into Endwalker!

[autumnslance]

Hi Autumn/Lyn! First things first, as someone who's embarrassingly into WoLcred stuff, I wanted to say that I love your writing and I'm a huge fan! Thanks for sharing your work with us!

I really relate to your WoL Aeryn (I too am Thavnairian irl Indian, in love with Thancred, love reading, main RDM, etc etc), which is super funny to me because I don't identify at all with my own WoL, who was originally meant as a self-insert, even (I didn't know what an "OC" was so I just made myself but in-game?), but then had her own ideas and went and became her own person (example: she has dyslexia and hates reading). No clue how this happened, and I still love my daughter OC dearly, but… you see why I also love your Aeryn. Lol.

I wanted to ask, did Aeryn inherit her grey eyes from her father? Or does the Thavnairian side of her family have a tendency towards grey eyes too? Does she have any relatives other than Zaine who have grey eyes?

I'm not sure why, but I got fixated on this one little thing because I've always loved grey eyes (especially described in literature) and the idea of a South Asian fantasy-equivalent with grey eyes fascinates me. Anyway, apologies in advance if this is too weird and/or offensive! Also sorry about how long this ask got! Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a great day!

Thank you so much, what a lovely ask to get! And funny how our WoL kids just do their own things, huh? Can't stop won't stop the WoL, not even their own writers. 😉

Aeryn did indeed get her eyes from her father (and it is mentioned most strongly, I think, in Bearing Sins of the Past), though there's probably some predisposition in her mother's side; her mom's eyes were very dark blue. I lean into the fantasy world's idea of "similar, inspired and influenced by, but not 100% the same" for the setting and characters, and am pleased Thavnair ended up labeled by the devs explicitly as a "melting pot" society (which makes sense for such a centrally located trade hub). Since I had Aeryn raised in Thavnair, with her reasons to return to Eorzea as an adult, but this was back in late Heavensward/early Stormblood before we had it in game, I had her mother's people be a more "recent" immigrant group (within the last couple hundred years) so they have mostly assimilated into Thavnairian culture, while maintaining some of their own traditions to give myself leeway, not knowing how the devs would go into the South Asian influences when we eventually got there.

Also I am very white, and know there's nuance I'd be missing, so while I wanted it to be a part of her character, and be respectful, I'm not trying to write about an Indian experience I have no inherent connection to, but a character whose upbringing includes similar influences to shape her. It's a weird and fine line when writing characters different from oneself.

There's also the meta where I based Aeryn's appearance roughly on the unused CGI Midlander woman model, though Aeryn's darker skinned (I'm still not sure if I want to adjust her facial features post-graphics upgrade or not, I might need to play around a bit). I wanted her to do some dragoon stuff for HW, but not just cuz "she's the WoL" so that got some of the backstory in there, which also worked with "she left as a kid and is now returning as an adult." And the idea that 1.0 WoL, based on Meteor (with some color shifts again), was her lost brother and it gave her a weird tie to Ardbert (before Shadowbringers even came out!).

Even the skintones for my FF14 characters are meta, as having played in earlier versions of World of Warcraft where the natural skin color options for humans/dwarves/gnomes/blood elves were "different shades of white", and my priest glowed like a lightbulb under Ashenvale's bloom lighting, seeing the sheer variety of the palettes in FF14 back in HW was a delight, and so Dark Autumn ended up brown cuz it wasn't an option at all in the other game (at that time). Even C'oretta's in the middle of the options for Seekers as my lightest OC...and Iyna being darkest Rava was playing in the Benchmark while annoyed at the examples shown by the devs at that FanFest.

What a character looks like, either in a visual video game or in a piece of writing, often comes early on to me, and in Aeryn's case, there was an appearance I wanted to adjust and build off of, and then went "OK, so what's the reasons for not only her looks, but also X and Y things I want to do with her story, and how would that work and shape her, and let's use the devs' trick of being a little vague here and there for now until the lore updates, and...."

I do fret sometimes, about how my characters look and how I portray them, especially with Thavnair having such a strong inspiring influence. But I mostly follow the game lore, fill in some gaps with light research, make up a few of my own things and remain consistent with them, and try to be true to the character and story I've written, and let the rest sort itself out. I can't and won't please everyone, but I'm always glad to hear from those who love my girls and their stories.

[ariaofsasha]

i love that more than one person in your system plays xiv, tell me a little bit about everybody's wols! :]

Shura Kuroyanagi is our main WoL, the host's WoL, entirely the results of us giving the game one more shot after a few prior false starts trying to play, there's uh...a lot to her that can't be explained in one short post

Lycoris Tyranado is Juli's WoL, extremely knife lesbian just like her, she's also a voidsent that has no memory of who she was before dropping out of a hole in the world, naked and afraid in the middle of Coerthas

Gaea Narkissos is Esteem's WoL (yes we have a part of the system named after a XIV character, it's silly but he likes it) and entirely based on wanting to make an extremely Gender m-au'ra reflecting him in a way. The character themselves is a con artist who's been through numerous identities before stumbling into becoming the Warrior of Light.

Oh, and Liese is just an alt we occasionally play as when we want to play RDM or DNC, she's not connected to anyone in the system

[toadeyes-miqote]

Things Hylnyan not allowed to do as of 6.35

(Hylnyan not back at full strength at moment aka within the levelling strength of DRK and RDM lvl 66~. I don’t do extremes, savages and Ultimate from SB and up to begin with. Mildly influence by the Artoria list)

Tataru indicates that failure to follow the terms would result in removing Hylnyan from her island and Othard traveling privileges revoked and be confined in Ishgard until full recovery. Aymeric has requested her company and he would like a set of this leather armour that he heard Ser Handeloup talking about. The Firmament will always welcome her helping out. There will be enough work in Ishgard to keep her out of trouble.

Run off to The First without Tataru’s permission. Feo Ul will know and will complain to terrorize  G’raha in his dreams. Feo Ul would also bring angry letters from Ryne, Lyna and Dulia-Chai if she failed to listen. Further failure and Feo Ul would go haunt the dreams of Thancred and Alphinaud. (With very Angry beavers!!!! Now please make sure our lovely branch gets proper rest! If our lovely branch does not get proper rest! No one will!!!!)

Run off to Garlemald, the Moon, Ultima Thule and this Elpis for extermination / consultation jobs without letting Tataru know. (No jobs for dead aliens or moon rabbits until fully healed!)

Any visit to the twins in Garlemald has to follow a fixed Aetheryte route and within curfew.

Travel to places in Thavnair that are not connected via Aetheryte.

Any visit to Estinien has to be done within curfew and follow a set route.

Varshan must accompany her for Void business!!!! (No she may not travel alone with Y'shtola!! I don't want a cat fight and neither do I want one cat's curiosity to kill the other or both!!! I will confine you in Ishgard if you so much as dare to guilt trip Urianger to aid you in traveling. Greater good be dammed if we lose you in the process.)

No totally no Hippo cart drifting!! Its too fast and too furious!

Take on extermination / consultation jobs(Fates, hunts and side quests) by herself while in Thavnir. (What do you mean Hildy, Godbert and Nashu makes a strong enough Light Party?!?!?!)

While in Othard, she has to stay in the Doman Enclave or with the Mol Tribe as long as her house in Shirogane is not ready (procrastinate cellar much? Oh no don't you use materials are from The First, Ultima Thule and Elpis as excuse.... Why are your materials from such far flung places to begin with?!)

She has to check in with either Higiri or Cirina daily (Don’t let her hide with the Auspices or Dothari!!! Byakko and Sadu will spoil her if they do get into fights with her!!!)

No running off to Bozjan or returning to Ivalice without Tataru’s permission ( Thancred!!!! How is this my fault? Who let her run off there? Wait what she just check in with Higiri? Oh ok.)

Not allow to take on any consultation jobs for Cid without Tataru’s permission

Not allow to go on dates alone with Cid as it always turns into a consultation and extermination job. (Stop spoiling her with new tech, Cid!)

Prior to any Pandemonium related jobs, Tataru must always be informed (What do you mean Lahabrea sensei and Elidibus-kun are keeping an eye on things?!?!)

Where is G'raha? Whatdoyou mean you left him with the Twelve?!!

"My ears be burning..."

Totally behaving myself out on the Steppes.

All I grind is the Blackjack, am behaving.

--------

Tough to solo this Steppes Fate chain.

And Dark Knight and Red Mage job quest goes under the radar along with Kojin skirmish. Sidugru and X'rhun Tia be glad that Tataru isn't aware of them.

All this because I'm letting my other classes get the remaining quest exp

[allycryz]

FFXIV Write 9-15-21: Thunderous

Theia, known as Azem, returns to Amaurot with a new weapon.

Hades x Azem x Hythlodaeus

Rated T, past tense, 1kish words

(I picked up Red Mage and adored it after I had established that Nerys is not really a caster, so this is my way of (1) differentiating Nerys and Theia and (2) making RDM sorta canon for her.)

Somewhat connected to this prompt fill that is HythxHades, EmetxUri

--

She came to them in Hythlodaeus' garden, walking through the chaotic maze its owner had crafted. Her hand ran over the thicket, brushing against tiny leaves and ripe-to-bursting berries that left stains upon her skin.

Her hood fell back and she carried her mask in hand. She would have changed before making her report, and done so before arriving here. Better to prolong their separation than cut a reunion short for official reasons, his Theia.

She favored blending in when traveling, adopting the garb of the region she chronicled. Some of the clothes were quite fetching on her indeed, though Hades was supposed to favor the Amaurotine uniform for its practicality and egalitarianism. Officially, he did.

The trappings of other lands were all gone now, save for the weapon she had at her waist. The inferior materials marked it as from the outside. Hythlodaeus rose to his feet from his puttering to seize her about the waist and press eager lips against hers.

"And what is this?" Hythlodaeus ran a finger over the leather belt. Finely worked, no doubt to her specifications. "Contraband from the outside? How shocking."

Theia patted his cheek. "As if there are no swords in your archives, Hyth. I've something to show you two, if our esteemed Emet-Selch might rise?"

"I might," Hades mused from his comfortable perch in Hythlodseus' massive oak tree. It was far too big, taking up far too many nutrients from the soil. He could feel it gulping up the life around it and knew Hythlodaeus could too.

It should be culled but it would not be until the man's hand was forced. Until then, Emet would enjoy its comfort.

"Oh you might?" Hythlodaeus said as he propped his chin upon Theia's shoulder. "Our love is gone for an eternity, but must wait to receive a proper homecoming. Shameless."

"Not an eternity," Theia chided. "I'm sure you found plenty to keep you occupied."

"Occupation is a poor substitute," Hades murmured, at last climbing down. "And a poor comparison, love. I would not call you the equivalent of a stack of paperwork."

"We'll allow him leniency for the pretty words," said Hythlodaeus. "But he still has some recompense to offer."

Hades captured Theia's mouth before she might follow their love's example of indignity. She turned pliant beneath the curve of his palm, shedding much of the shield she wrapped herself in daily. Her hands buried themselves in his robe and clenched tight.

Her touch always gave her away. She might never say aloud the full extent of how she missed them. But the need in her grip was tell enough.

"You are in need of a true welcome. Lucky you, that I might provide."

"We," said Hythlodaeus, curling close against her back. "We might provide."

"Before that…" Theia extracted herself in her easy, agile way. The sword came out of its sheath with its elaborate handle, thin blade, and sharp tip. "Let me show you."

"I knew it was contraband." Hythlodaeus chuckled. "I don't have a single sword like that in my archives."

"A man out there forged it for a new style of combat." She executed several dexterous strokes to show off the weapon's dexterity. "I'm experimenting with both."

Her eyes gleamed as she looked at him. The familiar spark of challenge waited for him to scoff at such a notion. To resume the debate of the merits of creations from the outside.

Hades chose magnanimity and gestured for her to continue.

"There is something about the thinner blade that works especially well as a conduit for magic. I’ve yet to unlock its full potential but…” She held it out before her, tip pointed at the ground and both hands wrapped about the hilt. Her dark eyes narrowed on the vibrant red pommel stone. How it must have stood out, with her walking the streets of their city to them. Just as he did now that he was Emet-Selch, one of three allowed the red mask.

Her soul flared azure when the spell began and that aether coalesced upon the stone, violet and cream in its crackling energy. The quirk of an eyebrow was his warning, his smirk the answer she needed. Electricity shot out in a concentrated orb for his chest and he caught it between two hands.

It burned hotter than usual before it fizzled away, what he absorbed singing through his skin. Promising indeed, though needing work to make it a more impactful hit.

“Thank you,” she said. “I did not want to cause any damage to Hyth’s garden.”

“Only to me.” He chuckled. Both his loves moved towards him then to smooth out his hair. He gathered that some of it must stand on end from the attack. “How should I take your willingness to wound my person?”

“With humility,” Hythlodaeus chuckled. “If she ever wounds you, you’ll likely deserve it.”

“You wound me right now,” he told the other man. It was only half-jest: something about the words sent a chill through him. Theia said nothing, frowning at the hilt of her sword. “What are you thinking about, love?”

“The pommel stone,” she said. It was true but it was not all, only what she wanted to reveal just then. He saw it in the contemplative gaze and the half-curve of her mouth. “If it were altered somehow to better focus my magic, I think it might be the way.”

“Between the three of us I’m sure we can-”

“Ah ah.” Hythlodaeus tugged them both close. “You two may only work on this after we properly welcome back the Fourteenth to Amaurot. Hades has buried himself in work with you gone which means he has neglected to bury himself in me.”

“For shame.” The pensivity left Theia and she wrapped arms around Hades’ neck. Pressed her face into his throat. “You know our Hyth has needs.”

“He is a shameless liar.” Hades pressed lips to her long dark hair. “I have sated his thirst a dozen times this week alone.”

“Believe nothing he says. I perish for want of a touch.” Hythlodaeus nuzzled against the back of her neck. “At last you return to my bower, that I may yet again bloom in your sunlight.”

“Poetic,” she murmured. “I think we should do as he says, Hades.”

“Lies and all,” he agreed, kissing her again.

[theimperialnuisance]

I’ve never thought I was very good at RDM and often doubted myself so I usually go into higher level dungeons as aiming DPS more often than not but tonight on a whim, I joined my friend on a level 50/60/70 as a RDM and all I can say is after that dungeon, I will never doubt my abilities as a RDM ever again. Long story short, a mechanic wiped our healer within the first two minutes of the final boss and since the dungeon was a level 60, I couldn’t raise our healer but I could use cure so I became the healer while also smacking the ever loving soul out of the Griffen and we survived. And I was shaking the entire time. ( ´ ▽ ` )

Moral of the story, don’t doubt yourself! Especially if you know you’ve been working hard! It will pull through and you’ve got what it takes! ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ

[bexplaysffxiv]

Went back to RDM to help some friends run Shisui of the Violet Tides and Doma Castle since it’s my only DPS high enough. I need to do some levelling!! Ended up doing baby’s first res when our healer went down so I was glad I didn’t mess up

Also I love how Stormblood dungeons are just pure chaos. It’s like the devs went “So how many AoEs do we want here?” and the answer was “Yes”

[yugioh-rare-pair-poll]

Round 1: Poll 14

Propaganda under the cut

Pairing 1: Compasshipping (Yami Bakura/Isis Ishtar)

Propaganda: I like the trope of Ultimate villain and Hero's subordinate falling in love. Ishizu and Yami Bakura have the greatest potential for a fantastic Enemies to lovers story, and it's never appreciated or given any attention.

Pairing 2:Alternateshipping (Dark Magician/Red Dark Magician)

Propaganda: These two are so important to me, the episode about them impacted me deeply. How the red magician fights his counterpart but clearly envies how loyal he is to Atem, and how well Atem treats him, as opposed to Pandora who mistreates him, and then at the end, joining their side to fight alongside his counterpart and finally getting to experience the joy of helping Atems deck, themes of sacrifice and loyalty i am UNWELL | As for Dark Magician/Red Dark Magician OH BOY. There are intense parallels between the two during the duel between Yami and Pandora. They're both duel monsters who are incredibly loyal, one just happens to be in the wrong hands. Red Dark Magician wants someone to be loyal to, someone to appreciate him, and he gets used and betrayed in the end. I think RDM deserves better and be comforted by the one he was made to emulate.

Now, let’s keep things civil. This is a silly poll where we can share why we love our overlooked ships. There’s no need to be nasty to prove your point. Bashers will be banished to the Shadow Realm.