#when i tell ppl l'aiha is basically an ascian or 1/3 louisoix or other insane shit and they go 'HEY NEAT' i'm like

[thefinalwitness]

oc creation rambles sorry i love two (2) cat characters

when i got into ffxiv i thought l'aiha was Too Crazy as an oc, like, i loved her whole concept but i came from warcraft where if ur oc was anything more than a nobody npc u'd get harassed for being a mary-sue (if they were a woman) or edgy grimdark (if they were a man) or just a freak (lgbt/nonbinary/etc) so l'aiha was like, my decision with myself that i wanted a crazy powerful oc and i didn't care what anyone said about it :')

and then she was SO NORMAL IN THE GRAND SCHEME OF FFXIV LMFAO LIKE. the biggest thing i thought was "too much" was her being basically a hydaelyn-version of an ascian, but then shadowbringers happened and uhhhh yeah they just gave that to me LMAO.

atlas is, i think, more of a "true" "let's go crazy about it" oc—unsundered (can familiars even "be" sundered?), venat's personal therapy moth, fought meteion for 12k years to stop the song of oblivion from being Worse, can temporarily learn any job by being in proximity with someone (friendly) who knows the job, can shapeshift into whatever they want (i was too scared to do this with l'aiha but i wanted to with her too—i've seen enough full blown shapeshifters tho that i'm not scared anymore hehe)...

like, they're not All Powerful, of course, but it's fun to really let loose and just make something nuts. their weaknesses include that someone has to be friendly to them, has to be someone they can connect with, and they have no real combative skills on their own—and, well, they're a bit out of every loop imaginable since returning from ultima thule. you say something assuming they'll know what you're talking about and you're more likely to get ":D?" in response.

they're kind of like... they have the potential of those around them. if those they're with are strong and full of hope, they can be too. their power comes from actual, literal friendship. because that's fun actually don't @ me. and similarly, if someone weaker puts their faith in them, they can do more. they are the collective hope and ambition of those around them. when venat sent them after meteion, she sent them with all her hope and love and confidence, and that lasted for 12k years. but it wouldn't have lasted much longer. atlas is just a voice in the wind by the time the warriors of light arrive. all they can do is speak, and hope the scions listen.

it's their hope and their triumph and meteion's restored heart that brings power back to them—and it is fundamentally different now, because they are made up of those around them. u know. they were not a creation of dynamis, but when venat sent them, when she put all her hope into them, she gave them the dynamis to survive meteion's song of oblivion. unrealized to her, they were ever designed to flourish under the dynamis of others. when people hope, or put their hope in them, they are at their strongest. they're not nearly so formidable on their own; they cannot create that dynamis themself. they are what their friends make them.

their main friendships now are minfilia, who has ever believed in the greater good and in hope and in the ability to persevere, and meteion, who has learned this from the warriors of light. so atlas does really well. and even more of their strength comes from having met the warriors of light too—l'aiha, aeric, nanamei and aes'a all live within them. those four were what saved atlas in ultima thule. and they couldn't have if each of those characters hadn't become people that hoped against hope, that had ambitions reaching far beyond the limitations of mankind. had even one of them not become that person, atlas wouldn't have survived, and ultima thule would have unleashed its full power on etheirys and all the stars in the sky.

because ffxiv is a game where you're encouraged, by the game and the playerbase, to make batshit insane lore like that, and i LOVE IT.

im SOOOOOO glad i made a dedicated dancer oc, i love the job so much ;_; ranged but instant casts my beloved. so sparkly and bouncy. wah