#why is wuk lamat coming. i like wuk lamat i do but oh my god shouldnt she be like. with her people or something

[sexybritishllama]

g’raha i am going to shake you silly what the fuck do you MEAN ‘shall i remain as well’ what happened to literally your one dying wish to go on adventures with us!!!

[athena5898]

Given the nature of my blog at this point, i tend to shy away from posting about media stuff. Buuuuut I think there are a lot of younger people experience this slightly "political" dude bro phenomenon so I kind of want to walk them through it. So Dawntrail the most recent ff14 expansion. Is actually pretty good. Now if you listen to some aspect of the community you are going to get some other........."perspectives" on that. Dawntrail is flawed, of course it is. This is the expansion that would have been in development during mid to post 2020 AND it's the expansion that needed to come around after Enwalker to build up the new story. Endwalker that spent YEARS building up to a climatic finish. What does this have to do with the first paragraph? Well, I'll tell you.

Dawntrail focuses on the story of a coming of age of a nontraditionally feminine woman lead Wuk Lamat (who is voiced by a trans voice actor) and we, the heroes of the world, are now going to help and take a back seat to this person. Who she and the entire expansion is based on Indigenous people from various parts of "America" so you know, they should be front a center and our out-of-town asses *should* take a seat in the back (some of you will read this and immediately go "oh that's why it's getting extra hate") If you do not know and was lucky enough to not be a woman or non cis het white male in the 90s trying to play video games or enjoy nerd culture....All of what I just stated is a big problem. Dude bros as I like to call them, (aka someone who you will always be curious if they were or would be part of Gamer Gate. Also please note a dude bro doesn't have to be a man...trust me on that) hate this kind of shit. They naturally feel threatened when the media's focus is not about them. So what do they do? They take legitimate criticism of something and BLOW IT THE FUCK UP. Suddenly that thing that was kinda annoying, is now just the fucking worst. A story beat drags on a little long? Worst media ever. A character has a minor plot hole? Worst media ever. dialogue a little blah at one point? Worst media ever. etc etc etc These are the same kinda people mind you who will write a 8 page essay how (insert average mid action movie here) is the most amazing masterpiece of a film. (which I don't really care about, but it shows that these people are not exactly the most objective purveyors of media arts as they like to claim to be when it's suddenly about their misogyny and white supremacy) I'm bringing this up cause I'll notice some well meaning people being confused saving things "well...I kinda get *this* part of the criticism but...not this other stuff. Why is it a big deal" or some version of this. They don't actually care that much, they just care that an Indegenous GNC cat woman is getting more screen time then their precious gods gift to Eorza WoL. If they had made this expansion about a white guy or our WoL and it wouldn't of gotten nearly the same level of backlash. People will disagree with me, but I'm sorry this is just a fact. And because this is the reading comprehension website, no it's not bad to dislike Dawntrail. No it isn't bad to think a character is annoying. But the patterns are there and the chances of this JUST being about the real issues is just fucking zero. You dont' spend that much time complaining about ONE character as the focus if it isn't about the bullshit dude bro gamer pride. Honestly given how fucking gay this game is I have no idea how these people play this game without burning up like a vampire touching sunlight ALSO...I'm a ex wow player who played that game for the story (I was 14, give me a break) from BC all the way up to 7.2. So I kinda know what i'm talking about when it comes to toxic dipshit gamer behavior *looks back at that last paragraph* god that's so fucking sad. Oh fun fact, according to Wuk Lamat's voice actor Sena Bryer, all voice acting for the new area in Dawntrail was given to Latino/Indigenous voice actors for every single character. (from this area of course) *edit* lol yeah anyone saying i'm wrong is just a fucking grifter or liar. Found this while looking something else up. You know it's bad when the god damn director has to step in and say "yo you little assholes cut it out" https://www.pcgamesn.com/final-fantasy-xiv-a-realm-reborn/naoki-yoshida-wuk-lamat

[yuri-cocaine]

trucking along on msq

-bakool ja ja i owe you an apology. i wasn't familiar with your game.

-i ran into some fuckass weirdo who held up the whole run of skydeep cenote to complain about how much they hate msq. holy shit ive never seen anyone do this even for arr and sb. i tried vote kicking but it didnt work :/ block v'runja raqu on balmung to save yourself a big headache

-every zone is gorjus but my fav zone so far is urqopacha, fav zone music is kozama'uka, and fav towns are in yak tel. theres something really cozy about hroth town and mamook is a beautiful stonework city in a blue magical forest. mamook reminds me of lost city of amdapor but Blue. ive headcanoned yuma's hometown of camoa village to be something similar so maybe i can gpose in mamook instead of queueing into amdapor

-zoraal ja is my failhusband. all he does is scowl and want everyone to die in a big war. talking to everyone in the landsguard hq is kinda funny bc they're all like uhhhhh when's commander zoraal ja coming back. is he even coming back or...???

-awwww im glad wuk lamat made koana co-dawnservant ;w; now they can build infrastructure

-gulool ja ja's "oh right" when he tried looked at his brother's head and stopped casting his big fireball is rly sad now bc his brother isn't asleep, he's dead :( imagine living with your brother's dead head grafted onto your body for three years. what if it....starts to smell bad......

-as much as i like wuk lamat, i really didnt enjoy the feats so im really excited to travel xak tural with erenville. shaaloani's desert landscape is also gorjus with the graphics update bc before all that sand would just be a badly textured lump (sagolii desert...)

-the fact that ppl in shaaloani have american accents is taking me out LMFAO

-my theory for why erenville has such a strong icelandic accent is bc in addition to taking an eastern viera name, he also copied the eastern viera accent. as for why vieras living in othard have icelandic accents, uh...other than it being a carry over from ff12, maybe viera language is just. icelandic. but in dalmasca.

-ive always thought sharlayan is the scandinavia of etheirys but they're also greek-ish so who even knows at this point.

-in elpis, there's a sidequest where an ancient has a yellowish cactuar called notos 626 and he couldn't think of a suitable name for it. in urqopacha, the same kind of cactuar is all over the place and they're called notocactuar!!! so in the end, i guess he never named it :0

-why are the nopalitenders so fucked up.......estinien likes eating them tho

-i bet my cowboy boots that the sheriff in town is corrupt and it's up to a rootin' tootin' by god be shootin' young upstart to challenge him and restore peace to the wild west

-and by that, i mean the wol. wol will restore peace. i love that erenville just does not fight at all, so when those mad max from shein lookin ass bandits threatened to hang erenville up by the ears i got so protective of him LMFAO eat the full force of my level 100 burst bitch

-im not fucking bakool ja ja

[nianeyna]

I kept a bullet-pointed liveblog in a notes document as I played the new ffxiv expansion. now I have finally finished the story so I can share with the class without fear of someone responding to me with spoilers. speaking of which everything below is dawntrail spoilers, for the entire expansion, in case that wasn't clear.

⬇️ SPOILERS. FINAL FANTASY XIV DAWNTRAIL SPOILERS BELOW. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED ⬇️

Dawntrail Liveblog

- ok so the mean claimants are obviously not going to win, but catboy promise is a dark horse. also not ruling out "nobody wins"

- Urqopacha is super cute

- CAMPFIRE SCENE!

- Erenville's deal continues to be very mysterious no matter how much he contrives to appear to be telling us about it

- lol Erenville dialog: "I spoke too much" YOU BARELY SAID ANYTHING BABE

- Kozama-uka is sooooo pretty

- I like how the entire first dungeon was totally unnecessary since we would have got there FASTER if we'd just stuck around and helped Alisaie and Erenville repair the boat lmao. but that's not how the WoL does things!!

- CAMPFIRE SCENE!

- erenville lurking in the background... siddown boy lmao

- unknown dude: hey you uh... forgot something. yeah back there. come with me and get it this is definitely not a trap

- oh no it was a trap! who could possibly have predicted this??

- awwww, Koana. wasn't sure about him at first but he's just a cute little muffin isn't he

- wuk lamat getting all excited about eating the xibruq pibil was so cute omg. she just likes food!!! I appreciate that in a woman

- oh shiiiiit wuk lamat origin story?! dun dun dun...

- aaaaaand solo duty... ulp

- haha get wrekt

- CAMPFIRE SCENE!

- the mamool ja should look into tourism... this place is pretty as hell

- ok koana shooting the tablet was a pretty cool move

- have my doubts about the golden city being in yak tel... like if it was there why'd they go to xak tural then

- ok, I guess it... was there? or... the *entrance* was there... according to gulool ja ja, anyway...

- road trip alone with erenville be still my heart!

- out of context erenville quotes: "this is your first time, so let's take it slow"

- no need to apologize erenville... you can drag me into anything you want

- oh wow this is really fucking sad. wow. I wasn't expecting that!

- the ridiculous train plan is cheering me up a bit thank god (editor's note: it didn't last)

- sigh... there always has to be at least one zone per expansion that's all dark and gross-looking. did they sign a contract to that effect or something??

- I can't believe how mean this plotline is to erenville

- this is fucked up... this is so fucked up

- npc: "sorry to darken the mood" NO THAT'S FINE I DON'T THINK THE MOOD CAN GET ANY WORSE!!

- I want to rip Spene's crown off and push her off a cliff. her little I'm so cute and innocent and helpless act makes me want to puke.

- CAMPFIRE SCENE!

- if any more parents die in this story I am really truly gonna lose it

- YES finally we get to fight these horrible people. machine army. whatever.

- I hope the next trial is sphene... I want to kick sphene's ass SO bad

- well there goes otis which brings the fucking dead parent toll to at least 4

- finallyyyyyy made it out of heritage found... *collapses onto the floor of tuliyollal like a shipwrecked sailor reaching land*

- (ok obviously I've technically been back to tuliyollal while I've been doing these godforsaken quests but THIS IS DIFFERENT!)

- we didn't fight sphene but the prospects are looking really good for me getting to punch her in the face soon. probably not literally like we got to do with zenos, but I guess you can't have everything :(

- wow sphene really BELIEVES she's just a helpless little girl. fucking incredible.

- next expansion let's have a final zone NOT populated entirely by ghosts. change it up a little

- so should I count namikka and cahciua's deaths twice on the parent death toll scoreboard or what

- you know what I still don't get. is why the yok huy went to xak tural to look for the golden city. *why did they think it was there*? I mean heritage found is there *now* but it definitely wasn't hundreds of years ago!

- that face on the tower looks more like meteion than sphene tbh

- two more dead parents!

- I can't. believe. sphene erased herself before I could beat her ass. this is the most unfair thing that has happened in this expansion, and it is up against some STRONG contenders

- it's just not satisfying to pummel a weird robot that has none of her memories!

- oh sphene's SORRY? *loudest fart noise ever*

- it's a good thing wuk lamat is here to be nice cause if I had to do it I'd throw up

- "their lives remain unchanged"? uh.... we shut off the afterlife. which was a real physical place you could go to. I feel like that changes things a bit!

- I DID IT I'M OUT CREDITS ROLLED UP I'M DONE THANK GOD

First half I rate: 9/10

Second half I rate: 3/10

Overall I rate this expansion: 5/10 I guess

Up until the lightning dome appeared I was having a blast. after that the gameplay experience became one of gritting my teeth so I could get out and be done with it. all the alexandrian zones are dark and unpleasant to be in, which would have been bearable except the plot was literally nightmarish and any new characters I didn't hate either died or were already dead (except gulool ja, who's cute of course, but his story was still pretty upsetting in a different way). This is not to say the writing was bad, because I don't think it was. In the alternate universe where I was LOOKING for a tragic existential horror game I might have even really liked it. However I really really wasn't looking for that at all, so in the real world I feel pretty betrayed and upset. There's a line between "plot twist" and "false advertising" and I think they left it behind in the dust.

But hell, at least we got 4 campfire scenes.

[soopaval]

DAWNTRAIL SPOILERS

My unorganized thoughts and personal beef with the story, ye have been warned. I will continue to update this as more thoughts come to me.

7/3/24: I have let the expansion simmer a bit and I mostly feel the same, maybe with less hatred for the baby Galool Ja lol

However, one thing that really bothered me was more to do with the EN voice directing. The actors were fantastic, no complaints there. However, I feel like they weren't given the best direction when recording. The biggest example is in the final fight against Sphene when Wuk Lamat joins the battle. There's just no strain to her voice, it's as if she's just having a conversation. For comparison, someone posted the EN lines vs the JP lines:

Wuk Lamat's VA did a great job, but was clearly not given the right direction for this scene. And this isn't the first time, either. Each time anyone gave any sort of speech from the palace balcony, they just... talked. They weren't shouting to the crowds down below, so I'm not sure how anyone down below was expected to hear it.

Just little things like that. Again, VAs were fantastic, but the direction was lacking.

7/1/24: Thoughts on the new characters

Wuk Lamat - Great character whom I loved dearly, but got REAL tired of toward the end of the story. I felt suffocated by her. Aside from brief trip with Erenville, there wasn't really any time away from her. She was just always there. Give me time to breathe, to digest the character and her plight. I get that she's the main character of the expansion and I'm just kind of there but for real, the Lamaty'i fatigue is real.

Erenville - Absolute wasted potential. He was a body for the majority of the story. Our brief adventure just the two of us was neat but it was after a very boring and exhausting portion of the story and just didn't add anything. We learned tidbits about him but we didn't get to know him and that pissed me off at the end when we're supposed to care about his feelings. I STILL DON'T UNDERSTAND HIM. He is the last person I would invite anywhere, oh my GOD.

Zoraal Ja - More wasted potential. Very obvious bad guy vibes from the get go. Entirely unsympathetic villain, which is WEIRD coming from FFXIV. Every villain we have had so far has been written in a way that makes you understand their intentions even if you don't agree with them. Zoraal Ja was just a tropey bad guy with daddy issues that you just don't care about because, again, you don't get to know him. You don't DO anything with him. He's just THERE. WHY ARE ALL THE CHARACTERS JUST. THERE. His final form was baller, though.

Bakool Ja Ja - Another tropey bad guy but who got a redemption arc kind of? I liked him a lot better when he finally came around. I appreciated the "depth" we did get from him, and he's one of the few characters in this expansion I actually managed to care about.

Galool Ja Ja - A+++ dad, no notes.

Galool Ja - WHY WAS THIS NECESSARY. WHY WAS ANY OF THIS NECESSARY. Adding in a child was entirely unnecessary. There are so many better ways this could have been written, so many other routes to take. Instead, we get some boo hoo baby we're supposed to be endeared toward and feel for but he's just another blatant, poorly written trope of a mannequin we're forced to put up with. A terrible plot device. An annoying plot device. I don't ever want to see him again. Give me the baby mamool ja eating a taco and dancing but get this thing away from me.

Koana - My entire kingdom and all of my worldly possessions for Koana. Of all the new characters introduced (and by GOD there was a lot of them) he was the best written. Whoever was in charge of writing for Koana did wonderfully. He was interesting, he had great lines, and I was even able to sympathize with him. I liked him! I love him! I can't praise any other character in the same way.

Sphene - Hey, did you like Meteion? You want another one, right? Here, have Meteion 2.0, except she's worse in every way. And when I say worse, I don't mean that she was a greater villain. This just felt like the writing team saying hey, this worked in Endwalker, so let's just do it again. It'll work again, right? Wrong. Sphene was very predictable from start to finish. I loved her voice actor, what a very pleasant voice to listen to! But I just did not care for her, for her plight, anything. Again, another character thrown at me who I'm supposed to feel something for. I get it. She loves her people. But that's literally all she is. That's all she was programmed to be. So, you want me to like, feel something for her? I gave her the cold response at the end, that told her she was just a program, because that's what she is and I was so bored of her. I felt nothing. Just another wasted potential.

[dualcastimpact]

dawntrail impressions pt. v

In this installment: the Feat of Pots, pathetic wet meow meow Wuk Lamat, and a mysterious summons...

Spoilers under the cut, as always:

Sareel Ja: "If this power truly exists, then I humbly beg a fair share of it."

Sareel Ja: "Time is passing, and I would put my plans in motion without delay. The useless tool is cast aside, after all."

Sareel Ja: "And just so there is no misunderstanding... You consent to this course no matter who is made to suffer?"

Oh my GOD, it's just red flags everywhere with this guy. They really could not be more heavy-handed with the foreshadowing, truly.

Foreshadowing aside, this scene shows exactly why Zoraal Ja is unfit to rule, aside from the whole warmongering expansionist thing. It speaks volumes of Zoraal Ja's character: that he's working with this shady-ass royal advisor of some sort (I forgot his exact position, but I know he's part of the royal court), going along with his plans like sheep and disregarding any and all harm it could incur just to achieve their respective goals. Wuk Lamat and Koana rely on their allies not to tell them what to do, but to guide them throughout this contest. They make their own choices. This is not the case with Zoraal Ja; he's clearly under Sareel Ja's thumb and goes along with his plans, and he's willing to risk everything — even the lives of those he may or may not care for, as hinted here — for his aims.

Those traits do not a good ruler make.

———

Wuk Lamat: "If there's one thing I've learned on this journey, it's how practiced you are at aiding those in need."

Wuk Lamat: "And I mean to make the most of having such an incredible mentor at my side!"

Obvious jab at the Warrior of Light's saviour tendencies and nod to the player aside — that is meant as a nod to the player, right, with her looking right at the camera as she says that? Does she look down if you play a Lalafell or something? — the way Wuk Lamat refers to the Warrior of Light as her mentor encapsulates everything I just said about Zoraal Ja.

———

Koana: "Surely, it would be more effective to engage a uniformly trained collective. I cannot understand their fixation on individual contracts..."

Again, the game's being extremely heavy-handed with how they're showing each claimants' flaws and all that so I can't say too much about this. I just think after a certain point it gets a bit grating, is all.

———

Koana: "Even Sharlayan goldsmiths could not easily replicate such exquisite artistry."

One thing that personally irritates me about Koana is the way he keeps acting like Sharlayan's this absolute pinnacle of excellence, from technology to science to craftsmanship — to everything! — when he hasn't even seen what the rest of the world has to offer. He's like those people who've only gone overseas maybe once or twice and then never shut up about their trip, ever. "Even Sharlayan goldsmiths could not easily replicate such exquisite artistry" has he been to Ul'dah, the literal home of the Eorzea-renowned Goldsmiths' Guild? Has he seen the delicate metalworks of the Ala Mhigan Ananta? Does he know there are other goldsmiths than Sharlayan ones? Does he know that Sharlayan is not the greatest nation on Hydaelyn?

I get that he's mostly well-meaning and this stupid, blatant idolisation of everything Sharlayan is more to highlight the flaws in his character but good god this specifically pisses me off so bad.

———

The Feat of Pots required the claimants to bring one (1) craftsman back to Earthenshire to become a contracted potsworn; presumably the goal was to get the claimants to understand the importance of the collective's system of contracts in facilitating trade and commerce across Tuliyollal. This is where Fonjeantaine comes into play — he agrees to go to Earthenshire to hone his craft and become their contracted potsworn as thanks for Wuk Lamat's earlier encouragement of him.

This required us to travel back to Tuliyollal and discuss things with Fonjeantaine, however, which led us to...

Landsguard Messenger: "Oh, and one more thing: you are not to mention this visit to Wuk Lamat."

What's with the secrecy? Hello?? Without even giving me a chance to take a break after two riverboat rides, a whole-ass dungeon run, running errands all around Earthenshire and hunting down that damn Elezen in Tuliyollal??? Do you people not understand the concept of rest????

———

Sunperch Guard: "The Dawnservant awaits you within. While I was not informed of the reason for your audience, in terms of attire, I would suggest full battle regalia."

OH, COME ON!!!

———

Vow of Resolve Gulool Ja Ja: "Judging by the sailors' gossip, you are a warrior of renown in your homeland."

Lowkey cackling at the absolute neutrality of Raginmar's expression here, like he is not bothered at all (laughs)

Vow of Resolve Gulool Ja Ja: "Yet I wonder—with all your deeds done and victories won..."

Vow of Resolve Gulool Ja Ja: "Are you warrior enough to stand against me?"

He's so dramatic, did he really need three scene changes just for that one piece of dialogue??? Also if Raginmar can take down the literal embodiment of despair, he can absolutely take Gulool Ja Ja down. I know the game makes it so that the Warrior of Light is constantly challenging stronger and stronger enemies and I'm not saying Gulool Ja Ja wouldn't pose a challenge, but he wouldn't make Raginmar resort to his summoning abilities or go all out in his Lightwarden form, is what I'm saying.

———

What will you say? > Why don't we find out? > So long as neither of us gets too carried away. > I'm not interested in fighting you...

Because accidentally killing the ruler of a nation would be bad, yes.

———

Vow of Resolve Gulool Ja Ja: "The battle rage is upon me! I'll stop short of killing you, of course...but expect no other mercies!"

Good for you, Gulool Ja Ja! I've mentioned it before but it bears repeating again: Raginmar doesn't know how to spar. If you challenge him to a duel, he will fight as if his life is on the line. He will fight you to the death. He literally doesn't know how else to fight, so if you're challenging him to a 'spar' then you'd best not hold back.

———

Vow of Resolve Gulool Ja Ja: "I've brought my full strength to bear against opponents before, but you are the first to withstand it."

(jazz hands at Raginmar and his whole deal)

Like, what part of battled the literal manifestation of despair and then 1v1'd Zenos Viator Galvus in a fight to the death right afterwards and won do you not get? Granted the whole ordeal was bad enough that it killed him, but that's neither here nor there.

Jokes aside, the solo duty instance against Gulool Ja Ja was actually really fun! It was a good fight and I enjoyed it a lot.

———

Vow of Resolve Gulool Ja Ja: "Now, a confession. I said I craved a challenge, and that was no lie...but I had another reason for calling you here."

Oh of course you had an ulterior motive, I don't know what I was expecting.

———

Vow of Resolve Gulool Ja Ja: "I had to judge for myself if you were fit to attend my beloved daughter."

I prefer the term 'mentor' to 'attendant', thanks.

Also, I just want y'all to know that in the JP dub, he calls Wuk Lamat his "cute daughter" — かわいいなむすめ — which had me bursting into laughter. Doting father, much?

———

Vow of Resolve Gulool Ja Ja: "But one with your talents could easily dispatch the threats that bar Lamaty'i's way.

Overprotective father detected! The whole point of this was for Wuk Lamat to grow and learn to fend for herself. She doesn't need Raginmar clearing the road for her, although I suppose just the knowledge that he can if she ever needed him to is comforting.

———

Vow of Resolve Gulool Ja Ja: "Will you hear my question and answer me plainly? Address me not as the ruler of Tuliyollal, but a concerned father."

Just so you know, Gulool Ja Ja, this is what we commonly call a death flag. Good fathers who also happen to be kings don't tend to survive for very long in JRPGs.

———

Vow of Resolve Gulool Ja Ja: "Then tell me, given your journey together thus far, what is your impression of Lamaty'i?

What will you say? > She is young, but has potential. > She is not ready to rule.

You wanted an honest answer, that's what you'll get with Raginmar (laughs). None of them are ready to rule, which is actually pretty concerning when you think about it. Gulool Ja Ja outright says that if none of the claimants impress him enough during the rite of succession, he simply won't give the throne to them and will remain Dawnservant himself. He's been ruling for around 80 years, how many more years does he even have in him?

My bet is none. The death flag is way too strong with this guy.

———

Vow of Resolve Gulool Ja Ja: "Lamaty'i thinks she understands our many peoples—their histories, their cultures, their beliefs. But she knows only what she's seen in the capital."

Vow of Resolve Gulool Ja Ja: "With outsiders dragged into my game, I am also hopeful that the different perspectives you and your companions have to offer will inspire them to grow."

I get where he's coming from but, uh, with the exception of Raginmar literally every single one of these 'outsiders' are Sharlayans. That's not really what you'd call a diverse range of perspectives, truth be told.

———

Vow of Resolve Gulool Ja Ja: "I imagine you in particular have traveled many lands. Known many peoples and cultures—loved them and been loved in return."

He is absolutely correct and even echoed what I literally just said, but also his wording drove me to tears, what do you mean you're telling me that Raginmar's loved and been loved throughout his journey in those exact words, you can't just say that. This one throwaway line makes me so emotional, gah.

———

Vow of Resolve Gulool Ja Ja: "Guide Lamaty'i as you think best. Walk at her side and, when needed, push her to walk ahead."

Gulool Ja Ja asks us to keep this whole discussion a secret from Wuk Lamat and like, now I have an inkling of what Urianger felt back in Shadowbringers (laughs). Granted it's not as a heavy a secret as help me enact this suicide plan to save the star and the Warrior of Light without letting anyone know, especially the Warrior of Light, and the Warrior of Light has had plenty of people confide to them throughout the game, but I think this might be one of the rare few times that they're explicitly implored to keep a secret.

I wonder how the Mamool Ja age in comparison to Hyurs — are they like the Viera who live for hundreds of years, or like Elezens who live around 100+ or so? Gulool Ja Ja sounds like he might be in his 50s or 60s in human terms, honestly, which I think reminds Raginmar of his own father.

It's worth noting that he's already went through this sort of thing, albeit from a different perspective — Gulool Ja Ja is a father looking out for his daughter, while Raginmar was a brother looking out for his sister. A father's and a brother's protectiveness are not the same. Even if the age gap between them is more like father and daughter (20 years), Raginmar saw Hyllizirn as his sister and treated her accordingly, which meant that he was a lot less worried about letting her get into and out of trouble by herself. He trusts that Hyllizirn would be able to take care of herself and learn her lessons along the way, and so leaves her alone to it and won't interfere unless she asks him to; so does Gulool Ja Ja believe in Wuk Lamat, but the way he's imploring the Warrior of Light to protect and guide her shows that that faith is not 100%.

———

Vow of Resolve Gulool Ja Ja: "You needn't worry, Daughter. I took care not to inflict lasting injuries."

I like to think this line is him downplaying how fighting Raginmar took the wind out of him and he's just acting tough in front of her (laughs).

———

Vow of Resolve Gulool Ja Ja: "Koana's recruits are no less sharp—as one might expect of Galuf's countrymen. They saw the flaws in our claimants from the outset."

Now I'm wondering if he'd summoned Thancred and Urianger as well, like he did Raginmar. But if that's the case, why didn't he summon the twins and Krile as well?

———

Vow of Resolve Gulool Ja Ja: "The other two, though... They dismiss comrades willing to point out their shortcomings, and no good can come of it..."

It's beyond that — Bakool Ja Ja and Zoraal Ja are both Mamool Ja; they both have that added pressure of being the 'rightful' kind to inherit the throne. There's the issue of bloodlines and inheritance coming into play. And was it intentional on the devs' part, to have the two stubborn claimants who refuse to engage with outsiders to be Mamool Ja? To be from a race that's historically been enemies in Eorzea, and arguably more bestial and non-human than the X'braal and the Hhetsarro?

———

I'm going to stop saying what's coming up next (laughs) I feel like there should be a concluding paragraph or something summing up what I feel for this post, but really I'm just doing my best to fit as many screenshots into a post as I can while keeping the commentary flowing cohesively. I took about 400+ screenshots and I just hit level 95 in the MSQ, so there're a lot of screenshots to comment on and a lot of posts to make, and I think summarising my thoughts at the end of every post is an exercise in futility.

I'm mainly writing up these impressions? commentaries? for my own enjoyment but if you've been reading along and have comments of your own, I'm more than happy to hear from you!

[ffxiv-swarm]

prompt 19: taken

She and Avery have been together for a while. Rita thinks she’s probably getting a decent enough handle on this dating thing, considering she’s never done it before.

(“What th’ fuck,” Gan says when she mentions that. “What about Emm?...what do you mean, not th’ same thing?!” But it isn’t. This is serious. She and Avery live together, fight together, have faced down the end of the world together. He may not have her near-bottomless well of aether, may not have been Hydaelyn’s Champion first, but his is the seat of Azem—alone among the Scions, alone among all the men of the world, he is the one she trusts on the battlefield. And because he is kind and patient and good—because he calls her my lady and means it—she trusts him with her heart as well.)

(It is absolutely not the same thing as when she was with Emmanellain de Fortemps.)

They’re in Tural for two days when she realizes she might have a problem. Not with Avery—gods, no, even in this beautiful land filled with new and exciting people, he only has eyes for her. (Sometimes literally. When she debuts a new swimsuit he nearly trips off the edge of the For’ard Cabins pier.) She knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is loyal.

No, her problem is with everyone else.

Wuk Lamat shrugs cheerfully when she brings it up. “There aren’t a lot of elezen here! Avery’s just...new. Exotic! Like I was in Sharlayan!”

Rita narrows her eyes at her. “When you were in Sharlayan, you were single.”

“What does that have to do with...oh. Oh. Right.” Wuk Lamat certainly understands when flirtation is directed at her—though watching her try to flirt back is an exercise in torture—but when it comes to other people, well, the subtext has to be delivered with a sledgehammer. “But he’s so—I mean, no offense, but he’s so spindly.”

“Your fellow Tuliyollans don’t think so,” Rita growls. (Technically untrue; spindly is certainly an accurate description next to a Xbr’aal or a Hanuhanu or even most Mamool Ja, and she and Avery and the twins have gotten a lot of extra portions foisted on them by locals who think they need to eat more. But that’s not the part she’s complaining about.)

They’re sitting at a little table outside Aunt Tii’s, drinks in hand. Avery’s in line—it is a long line—to fetch them lunch. It’s an Ishgardian thing, Rita had explained, and then Wuk Lamat had asked her what Ishgard was like and that conversation had lasted them until Avery was three people away from the counter and Rita had looked up to see a Tonawawtan woman leaning over from behind Avery to put her hand on his arm, gazing softly up at him and asking something about where he was from, he was so tall...

Rita sets her piña colada down, takes a deep breath, and adjusts her bra straps.

“Oh no,” Wuk Lamat says.

Her ears are pinned back, but only the Xbr’aal here will know what that means. She rises from her seat like the tide. “I’m not gonna hurt anyone,” she says evenly.

She doesn’t have to. No, instead she saunters over to where Avery is, setting each foot in front of the other in a way she knows emphasizes the curve of her hips. It’s immensely gratifying to watch Avery turn to watch her, a smile tugging at his lips, but that’s not why she’s doing it. No, she leans against him, draped against his side with his hand coming to rest on her waist, and says, “Love, refresh my memory. Did I order th’ shrimp tacos?”

Avery blinks at her. She knows what he’s probably thinking—that she rarely forgets anything, not least because she writes everything down. “You did; why?”

She shrugs. “Wanted to make sure. The table next to ours had some and they look incredible. Think we can get extra salsa?”

He peers over the tops of his glasses, doing that little squint he does when something is at the exact wrong distance for his farsighted gaze and yet too far for the glasses to help. “Aunt Tii seems not to have run out yet.”

She grins, sharp and not aimed at him. The Tonawawtan woman has shrunk back, red-faced, and Rita spares a moment to flick her the coldest glance she can. Back off, her eyes say. He’s mine.

Her mouth, on the other hand, says, “Grand! Extra salsa for me, then. Th’ mild stuff, I don’t wanna accidentally kill you.”

Avery’s ears turn red. “I am perfectly capable of handling spice—”

She grins up at him, twining a lock of his hair around her finger. “I know. But we can’t cheer Wuk Lamat at her coronation if your mouth’s on fire.”

They order the mild salsa. By the time they’ve got their tacos, everyone trying bites of everyone else’s—Wuk Lamat’s pulled xibruq is the clear winner—Rita’s almost entirely forgotten having to stake her claim.

She does sit a little closer to Avery than she normally does, though. Just in case.

[graha-stan-account]

FFXIV Write 2024; Day 1: Steer

“Miss big Warrior of Light is off to direct the fate of another nation,  is she?” K’dajhir rocked back on his heels, enough to bump into the coat hanger near the door. It broke his composure, all snark and teasing, and he quickly did all he could to keep it from toppling to the floor.

“It’s not like that.” Napha was rolling a set of smallclothes  - tightly - and wiggling it into a pocket of space in her rucksack. “It’s a favor for a friend of a friend.”

“Geez, how do you pay back the debt for a favor like that?”

“You be surprised. But it’s not that kind of favor I’m doing. I think it’s more the weight of the title. I just so happen to be the person holding it.”

“Ugh, I bet you’ll be greeted with flowers and exotic drinks and manservants to fan you and choose your wardrobe!” He threw himself up on the roughshod settee, sending tufts of its innards into the air. “And coronation parites, and exotic food, beautiful men...”

“That sounds like a fantasy of yours.” She sighed. “And that’s not the spirit of this trip.” She met his gaze with a pointed glare. Her brother shuddered.

He shrugged as though it couldn’t be helped. “A guy can dream.”

“Go dream somewhere else.” She eyed the edge on her chakram, shifting it in the dusty light of her neglected cottage. “May need to take this to the mender first,” she mumbled.

“You really think this Wuk has what it takes to be king?”

“Servant. Dawnservant, they call it. I’m sure there’s a reason. And Wuk Lamat certainly has the spirit, but honestly, I don’t know.” She paused a moment. “She has little experience. But perhaps with the right guidance, the right training...”

“Worked well enough for you, huh?”

“It’s not the same. I didn’t have a choice. There’s... there’s others. And perhaps it’s better her than those others. We shall see. It’s a personal matter for Krile too. I’d like to help her if I can.”

“Sounds like you’ll have your hands full.” K’dajhir sat up, knees bent and right angles, arms stiffly propped against the settee cushions. “So, can I come?”

“No.”

“What if I paid my own way?”

“No.”

“What if I just showed up?” He shook his head, eyes narrow and teasing.

“No.”

“Not an onze of consideration for family.” He made a harrumph sound as he crossed his arms. “I bet your boy toy is going.”

“G’raha will remain in Sharlayan,” she said, her response a gut reaction, knee-jerk, and so automatic she did not even pause to take exception to his word choice.

“Oh? I never said G’raha.” Dajhir loved to tease her, always had. It seemed worse with age though, and he spared no opportunity to provoke her on the muddled circumstances of her relationship with the over-eager scholar. His bottom line was that he always received special dispensation.

Dajhir’s bottom bottom line was it was time she explained to him why.

It was her turn to sigh. “All from the heavens to the seven hells understand your meaning. You are not to come to Tuli-yol-lal.” She managed to trip over the word much less than she anticipated. “Do not come to Tural at all. Promise me.”

“Rolls off the tongue, don’t it?” He winked, his teeth flashing a white smile set against his tanned skin.

“I’ll get used to it!” She stuffed a leatherbound tome into the rucksack, then wiggled it frantically to make it fit.

“Is that your grimoire?”

“There’s potential for unrest if things go poorly. And I think we’ve all had our fill of calamity.”

He quirked an eyebrow. “I thought you decided to give ‘the shades of gods gone mad’ a rest?”

“I just... want to be prepared.” She wasn’t looking at him. “For anything. Is that hard for you to understand?”

“I just thought this trip was going to be more like a vacation, or a trial for your next gig.”

“I’m not interested in being anyone’s bodyguard. I’m more of... an advisor. Somehow.”

“An advisor... All right. So tell me again, as an advisor, how you will not be steering the fate of nations... in an island paradise, while whispering into the ear of the heir to the throne?”

[thelongestway]

Dawn: Trailed

Now that the spoiler embargo is gone, well...

This is probably my favorite expansion. On par with, if not better than, HW (My personal rating otherwise goes HW>ShB>Ew=Sb=Arr). I went through it without reading anything about others' experiences, and you can imagine my surprise about the incredibly mixed reception!

I was even more surprised, because I was going in very burnt out on FFXIV, and had really been expecting to go in and say "eh, this was ok, sure, but nothing special."

Instead, I got exactly what I wanted or, dare I say it, even needed. That is to say, this:

So this review is going to be reflecting over the type of story this is and what made it so appealing to me specifically.

Tons of spoilers below the cut!

What I thoroughly enjoyed about Dawntrail:

the "not my circus, not my monkeys" vibe

the worldbuilding

the pacing

And I think these things are related. But let's start with the pacing.

My usual way of playing is "do story, do available sidequests as they pop up, a couple of fates along the road, etc". I usually wind up with a class fully leveled and a class half-leveled by the end of the story. My WoL is very thorough and meticulous, and a firm believer in "get the lay of the land" first.

In most previous expansions, that meant there were spots where I went stir-crazy, because something about that flow didn't click; there were many places I was bored but also did not want to skip things, because while it felt bad to do them immediately, it would feel even more out of place to do them later. To wit: Moogles HW (even though I loved the crafter quests later), Ruby Sea SB, Twine etc ShB, Ultima Thule EW (yes, not Labyrinthos part 2 - sorry my friends, I love insane academics, while Ultima Thule really, really did not hit for me).

This was not the case in DT. There wasn't a single moment I felt truly bored. And specifically I enjoyed the vibe that you can come and go at any moment - the fact that the succession isn't really your problem helps with this a lot. This is why the amount of Wuk Lamat didn't particularly bother me - my WoL just went "oh, fantastic, any fallout is your problem, not mine - I'm just here to see the sights and talk to people". He got to have a good night's sleep without being interrupted, for gods' sake - unheard of!

On a player level, this worked wonderfully, because I hate it when writers try to raise the stakes by making it personal. Usually, I have a very visceral reaction to that, which is primarily "you do NOT get to decide what makes it personal for me", and I can count the number of times that kind of bait worked for me on one hand. In FFXIV specifically, Haurchefant and Ysayle in one expansion - and never again (although should anything happen to the twins, yeah, that'll work). Having another character take the brunt of "this has to be personal For Them" is really one of my favorite vibes. That said, I'm very much a worldbuilding-over-story girlie. Give me a world to muck around in, and I'm happy. And if I don't feel punished for taking my time, this becomes even better - I detest time-based long-term gameplay, I have enough of that IRL. Which means that for me, the vibe of this whole expansion was "excellent, I've got an excuse to be here - oh, we're moving on? You go on, I'll catch up". The last time I felt like this was really in HW, while the resolution to the Monetarist plot was brewing in the background. "Yeah, we can't really go back to our three home states for long. Great - let's explore the floating islands and see what the deal with the Dragonsong war is. We've got nothing but time." In both expansions, giving me time to fool around let me develop a personal connection - not to the characters, to the space. And by the time the plot picks up, I am hooked.

So aside from being my favorite type of worldbuilding, the feeling that "the plot is on pause and I have time to breathe" is unironically one of my favorite things in games, and what lets me feel like I've been relaxing while playing a game. And, well, I really needed a vacation from IRL bullshit, and I got just that.

It was one heck of a surprise for me to see that's not the case for most other players. To showcase this, I actually quite enjoyed one of the most controversial storytelling moments - which was "you've found the City of Gold! ...Now before you go in there, the current ruler needs to inform their successor about the bullshit going on down there, and you're not invited". My WoL's reaction was an amused "yeah, sure, I'm not in a rush - we'll get there (not that you can stop me from poking my nose in). Now, what else did you say was here? Xak Turaal?"I know a lot of other players got thrown out of the illusion of verisimilitude here; for a lot of people, the pacing here felt like a jarring stop. For me, though, it felt like breathing space; like a promise - there's no rush, we'll get there. Take your time, relax. It was like the game said "yeah, I see the load you carry normally. You don't have to for a few hours". And that was great.

It was the same with Wuk Lamat. The big cat wants all the bullshit I hate? She can have it, and my gratitude with it! The only time my WoL felt irked with her was the "invitation to be part of her government" - but even that moment was basically fixed immediately by the WoL's reaction! Which is: you stare at Wuk Lamat silently - silently even for the WoL, no gestures or implied responses, she sheepishly goes "you don't have to answer now... also I got you that pass to Xak Tural I promised?.." Only then do you smile. And you have the option of basically turning around after that and walking directly into Xak Turaal without talking to anyone except Erenville, which I found appropriate and more than a little hilarious. Finally, much later, Wuk Lamat even goes "ok, yeah, I get it now, the invitation was kinda stupid, sorry" - which is a big Point for her in my WoL's eyes.

And you get to just walk away! And there are no problems arising from that! And you walk into Shaaloani, doubling down on the "nope. I am On Vacation. Nothing but the wind and the vibes", and it was exactly what I wanted and needed. And then, after Shaaloani, once I've thoroughly relaxed, the plot picks up! I've had my rest, and now I get to do shit! 10/10 hit in the personal preferences, no notes.

All of this would've been enough to bring DT on par with HW and above ShB (which had the "new world exploration" down pat, but was also much more inconsistent in its pacing for me). But what brings it really... Above HW for me was the last zone. Because that zone hit stuff I'd been needing to have a good cry about, and I spent 8 hours doing just that: reading through and sobbing.

Now, this was a very personal hit in the themes. I mean, it was mostly coincidence that it hit that hard. But it was what I needed.

Dawntrail is an expansion that has two main themes: vacation (break, pause, freedom) and death. Death, while always present as an FFXIV theme, here is discussed specifically in the aspect of "leaving behind stuff for others to take care of". These two themes are bundled in extremely neatly, you keep going back and forth between them, and they reach a crescendo in the last zone, which is a memorial disguised as an amusement park; a memorial whose paperclip-optimizer managing AI was about to try and kill everyone it could reach in order to keep that memorial's lights on. So you walk into a deteriorating attempt to make the "between-space" of vacation last forever, and then you turn that vacation into death, and that comes as a relief.

I won't go into the IRL bullshit that made me cry over this. But the mix of "you can't capture happiness in a gilded cage" and also "you cannot exist in that liminal space where you temporarily leave your burdens - you shouldn't try to actually live there", and finally "someday you will have to leave your burdens to someone else, and you will never solve everything forever" - yeah, I needed that. I needed a good ghost story right now, and I didn't know I did. So the last zone hit insanely hard, and I loved it.

And it hit all the harder because the focus wasn't on me. For contrast, Ultima Thule was my least favorite zone of EW. It was a total, absolute miss for me - the exact kind of "the writers are trying to make it personal" that I hate. I think I have the exact feeling about Ultima Thule that most people have about Dawntrail: if the plot had been moved a few steps to the side, I would've enjoyed it - say, have the Scions lean into "we're building a bridge, and whoever gets to the end will have to handle the rest. WoL, though - you're gonna have to be the last one to go, we need you to bring us back. Let's walk into this with our eyes open" rather than into the "sacrifice" aesthetic. But they didn't, and it didn't hit for me. I felt sort of numb and irritated throughout.

Meanwhile, Living Memory - and its focus on a bunch of NPCs I didn't know, and then Krile, and then Erenville and Cahciua - let me experience what I needed to experience without also feeling like the writers are dragging the requisite emotion out of me with pliers. For once, playing through the story as a Black mage was amazing - I was very much "okay, time to put on my thaumaturge ritual robes and hold a funeral". It was a somber feeling, but also it felt like it should.

And then you get a multidimensional key out of it! And you end 7.0 alone, looking at a map with the key in your posession, and you can see the gears turning in your WoL's head as they plan... That's my personal perfect ending.

As a result, this expansion made me reflect very heavily on my own personal preferences on pacing and plot, and how the niche that I inhabit is probably smaller than I thought. Things that are absolute dealbreakers for other people are barely blips on my radar; while things that are absolutely monumental to me often go unnoticed. Good stuff to know for a writer - and I'm very grateful for getting a story that was written so close to what I like.

[motheatenscarf]

Oh yeah, also, -HUGE SPOILERS for the first half of Dawntrail-

there are lizard eugenics, it turns out the magically inclined "Head of Reason" on the two-headed Gulool Ja Ja is dead, and also Wuk Lamat is sharing the role of Dawn Servant with Koana.

The lizard eugenics threw me for a loop, but I guess we'll chalk that up to goblin slavery with "weirdly dark shit we're just gonna fix by saying 'Maybe you shouldn't do that'" despite there being centuries of turmoil and strife behind it... aight.

The third bit I called, more or less. I did say they'd have to share power, but I thought it was gonna be all three siblings. Really thought the first brother would matter more or get more screentime devoted to huamnizing him, but I guess he's just gonna fuck off and kill our second weirdly human Roegadyn in Kenteramm or whatever his name is. Both will be back, I'm sure, but I don't... care...

They gave the motives I thought the warmonger brother might have to Bakuul Ja Ja instead, hence the lizard eugenics. I. Sure? Why not. He also fucked off after he revealed that only one in a hundred of these Blessed Siblings their culture strives to create ever live long enough to even crawl out of the shell. I'm assuming now that he'll come back to make some heroic sacrifice at the end or something.

As for the other head being dead, yeah, I kinda figured that during the duel with the Dawnservant, but woof. Didn't realize the head had been dead for THREE years? That... okay, look. I know Ardbert had been dead for 100 years and still somehow had meat on his body for Elidibus to scoot around in for a meatsuit. But like. I assumed that was ascian shenanigans. I even handwaved the Alchemist job trainer's dead wife being dead for 5 years and still looking fresh as being some embalming or preservative or whatever.

But uh. Stretching my disbelief here, especially since it was the head that commanded magic that went. If the Head of Resolve had died, I could chalk it up to magic bullshit again but... guys they're just conjoined twins. Fucking sepsis and necrosis, you have pirates with peglegs because their limbs had to be amputated or they'd die, this is a thing.

Oh, another thing I guess I should put on the record before finding out for sure, but I think Guluul Ja Ja's little entourage that entered the golden city with him have some lingering effects of the city keeping them young. The Yok Huy specifically mentioned eternal youth in their descriptions of that paradise, and I don't think Roegadyn live to be over a hundred on average, let alone reaching that age and staying that spry. Maybe some kind of fountain of youth thing going on.

Still don't know for sure because the succession has come and gone and WE STILL HAVEN'T GOTTEN ANSWERS ABOUT THE GOLDEN CITY DESPITE FINDING IT AND STANDING RIGHT! FUCKING! THERE! AT THE GATES!!

Erenville wants to go traveling now to meet back up with his mom to tell her he found the Golden City, despite, y'know, not actually setting foot inside it and seeing what's there. I know it's supposed to be sealed away for a good reason but TRANSGRESSION AND CONFLICT IS WHAT MAKES THE STORY HAPPEN. ARE YOU KIDDING ME.

GOD. I'm so angry lol!

[floweramongstthecold]

Gawwd you're asking too much for this one. XD I mean I love everything about the game. But let's see the one dungeon that makes me go wild is the Final Days and Alexandria kind of. I went to try Alexandria in duty support because I wanted to see what was going on and man, MAN it's fucking sadder than I thought? Just the lighting and the destruction. The airships. ONE FUCKING EXPLODED! I didn't even know it EXPLODED! I knew it was on fire but then it went BOOM!

Alexandria makes me sad because that place was actually really pretty before the surge. Final Days just hurts my soul cause knowing that we're Azem and then seeing this shit? It makes me go, oh my gawd... that... that was our HOME. Our HOME is being destroyed and we weren't there to help. The people running away, the music, the atmosphere, the visuals just... damn.

Another one is the Endsinger raid. I will never not love the Endsinger raid even though we never fucking get that in rous anymore. I might see if I can do it in duty support or something, I fucking miss that raid. The way the area goes completely dark and you think you fucked up then all of the sudden, the Scions show up praying really hard and make a LIGHT?! They're literally your fucking beacon int he darkness and I... 🙏🏾👌😍 That shit STILL makes me tear the fuck up, I don't care.

And Close in the Distance is my FAVORITE song. I don't fucking care. Some people don't like it, and I don't understand why but I love it SO MUCH! SOOOO SOOOO fucking much that I call it the communitie's Anthem. And the new song from Dawntrail? Smiles? Smiles is so.... gooddd to my ears? Oh and fucking we can't forget In the Balance. I fucking LOVE In The Balance and OH MY GAWD EXPONENTIAL ENTROPY?! Hell yeaah baby, forward and back forever!

I'm STILL kinna mad that whoever wrote Dawntrail made me fall in love with Bakool Ja Ja after I fucking DESPISED him. Not in a "I fucking hate it." way but in a "God dammit they did such a good job, how dare you make me like who I fucking hated?" kinna way. Because they did such a good job? Just.... *melts* uuggghhuhuhuhh! Obviously we're not gonna forgive him for almost fucking killing people but bruh, if you somehow make me like him after I hated him HOW DARE YOU?! XD And it's even more HOW FUCKIN DARE YOU?! Because so many people fucking hated him. I dunno if any people like him now but gawd dammit... just god dammit man. I have no words for that oh and the fact that WUK LAMAT acknowledged how we were feeling too?! LIke... brugh, she hated him and then she liked him. SHE LIKED HIM TOO SUDDENLY AND IT'S JUST SOOO VALIDATIN SOMEHOW?! I can't man, I fucking cant.

OH OH OH OH! Lemme scream about another thing. When Vrtra showed up to help Tuliyollal get rid of Zoraal Ja's ARMY?! I DID NOT EXPECT VRTRA TO FUCKING SHOW UP OUT OF NOWHERE?! Like.... I didn't even recognize him for a minute. I was like THE FUCK DID THAT DRAGON COME FROM?! Then I stared longer and went... now wait a fucking minute... VRTRA?! IT WAS SOOOOOO FUCCCCCKING COOOOOL! Cause like, how far away is Radz-at-han from Tural anyway? How long did it take for him to get there? AND SEEING HIS SISTER?! She's gotten bigger but is still fuckin cute. Just... *sCREMS AND FLAILS AND WIGGLES AND...* AAAHHHHH~! IT WAS SOO FUCKIN AWEESSSOMMEEE!

AND ANOTHER THING! The way they made Alexandria actually just feel like it didn't belong. The atmosphere for that place when you first get there so sooooo fucccking wild? It's just so goooddd! Section 9 drives me fucking crazy to be in though cause it's like you know it doesn't belong and it feels like and it and UUGGGHHHHHUHUHUHUH! *screams into the void and flails into oblivion* IT'S JUST SOOOO COOOOOOLLL! So well done just AAAAAHHHHH~!

Look don't I don't really care about whether or not you think Dawntrail as a whole is good or bad.

That's not interesting.

Instead talk abt what makes you go ABSOLUTELY FERAL from it (or ffxiv in general).

What is it that hits your brain in just the right way to make you fall into a never ending rabbit hole of madness and obsession. A rabbit hole from which you emerge from with endless and absolute knowledge about super niche subjects that may come up in conversations once or twice.

a character? Plot beat? Theme? Job rotations??? A dungeon with absolutely unhinged lore? A random ass sidequest that is somehow relevant still today and lives rent free in your brain???

Go wild w those plz, I need more of those.

[s-ound-wave]

I. No, it doesn't, at all. It's a fucking bodyswap in a fantasy game, it's not rape.

Again, if you are satisfied with having the reason behind a decade of storytelling come in at the last minute and be mediocre and best and completely unnecessary and contradictory at worst, that's great. Wish I had your low standards.

Meteion is the final boss. Zenos is an afterthought. It literally just goes 'oh guess we're doing this now? Oh okay cool.'

I wasn't expecting them to give away everything, I was expecting them to have good and consistent writing. This is something they failed at. To dumb it down as much as possible - all of the build up to Dawntrail has been about Wuk Lamat, Krile and Erenville. If you went into Dawntrail going 'oh boy, hope we get more about these characters I like' and then suddenly nope the first half-ish is about them, and then the second half is about some random guy you haven't seen or heard from before who is suddenly incredibly important to the story for no reason, that would be bad writing and bad marketing.

It is an issue with the script though! Jesus fucking Christ I don't even know why I'm arguing with someone about Zenos who thinks his visions were from Fandaniel and who thought he was spoiled by Varis but for fuck's sake the story built him up one way explicitly, built up a ton of mystery surrounding him and then Did Not Answer It, and now they can't answer it because everyone who could answer the question is dead and the guy who the question is about is dead and if they bring him back, it's also bad writing. They've fucking One More Day'd themselves in a way I haven't seen since One More Day.

And for god's sake if you're gonna accuse any character of being my blorbo, look at the name and avatar first. Soundwave is my blorbo. Get it right.

Hey so someone explain to me why like 90% of all the antags in ffxiv get treated with kid gloves and get redeemed EXCEPT Zenos. Why is he an irredeemable evil despite being arguably the closest thing our WoL has to an equal on several levels.

Genocidal rulers get to be redeemed because they're waifublobs, Golbez gets redeemed because the waifublob of the patch demands it, the fucking bird who wants to wipe out all life in the universe gets redeemed because she's saaaaad (and a moe/waifublob), and lets not forget Emet Selch.

All of these characters have far worse writing, far less connection to the main cast and have committed far worse crimes than Zenos. There is an incredible disconnect in how the narrative treats Zenos vs them.

[bubblesthetherapyfish]

probably almost at the end?

*grabs Cahciua* YOU!!!!!

wait we dont have zip lines in the source

oh i guess we do but they're Not Called That

erenville's now getting the whole "we lost someone but the narrative's forcing us to to keep going without processing it" bit

we saw this coming but ough it's still rough to think about

damn this is like hit video game final fantasy xv where you had a gondola ride and everybody liked it

wol looks so peaceful for once

aww this reminds me of seeing fountains like that in atlanta

....uhhhh fuck this game it's for babies uhhh fhgjklbljknlfg

im fine

im soooo fine

i dont think i can do this

the way the buildings fall apart when you look past them even a little

okay let's go

ohhh god

the silence.....

is this gonna be like the abandoned theme park in forgotten land that gives me depression

help raha's dialogue when you talk about the pixies

will i get a moment with everyone like with g'raha

hi otis

but we both are cats already though 😭

little beepo's misery is increasing, im little beepo

the bunny fates??? 😭

it's The Arena from Kirby

o- oh...

oh krile

ohhhh fuck me

i sure have carried many objects before

what are you up to catboy

BRO INHALED THAT SHIT

wuk lamat is me going to any attraction ever

maya.....

"somewhat" dfkjhgkdj

i love this zone a lot

IIFA TREE MENTION!!!!!!!!!

is it an armadillo or...?

the goddamn echevore

capybaras???

they both have completely different theories about why the capybaras can fly djfhgdj

it's like being a kid and going on the last ride before you have to go home with your family, except your mom is going to fucking die too

ouhg.......

this game is fucking destroying me again, more news at 12

let's go.....

if sphene turns into something like hydaelyn im gonna piss my pants

please be kind to me server lag

oh my god it really is alexandria holy fuck

SERVER LAG IS NOT BEING KIND AAAAAUGH

i give up for today

okay im back with a lot less lag

also i didn't even notice im on the Dawntrail quest 😭

help this first boss is fucked up even without lag

these noises are sososo scary

I FUCKING DIED TWICE

4th time's the charm.... 😬

oh no we're in a suspiciously trial shaped room

SHE PUT THEM IN THE TRASH FOLDER NOOOOOO

I COUNTER WITH A FRUIT GUMMY

finally my queue popped

EVERY BOSS IN THIS EXPAC IS DESIGNED TO GIVE ME A FUCKING HEART ATTACK i need to lie down

o7

we all fuckin faceplanted

damn....

live footage of me taking a walk with my irl family

alphy leaves estinien to die 2024 colorized

i think that was a really nice and heartfelt expac for a setting that was more relaxed, i think there's only a couple small things here and there that i didn't like with the story which is really solid

and wuk lamat is such a good character with really amazing voice acting, even though she's pretty cheerful most of the time she really came through with anger and sadness too

i like how the duties really challenged me and made me sit the fuck up and focus, honestly i really wish i could do EX/savage this tier

aside from the ending theme (which im just extremely neutral on) i think the music was great this time, usually i only really love the themes for 1-2 zones per expac but this time i went crazy for nearly all of them

overall it doesn't have as much of the issues as previous expacs where the story felt rushed, there's some weirdness here and there but its not too bad

ALSO THE VANGUARD THEME IS SO GOOD

wait im curious does anything play in living memory now or is it just quiet forever?

.....are we getting any meanwhiles or

im plotting my next move >:)

YAYYYYY ALPACA!!!!!!

THE ARENAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

7.0 time

jumpscared by new quest jingle

WHAT THE HELL

my mouth looks so different when it's open 😭

my lips are so tiny

sirensong sea 2?

wave goodbye to your fucking children you bitch!!!!!!!

alright im gonna pause to fantasia

yeah im just changing the lips (and finally getting my lion tail yippee)

hello person with green hair who won't be an important character for sure

my fucking load times boy

whoa another motion sickness friend!!!!

holy shit that line read was so funny

it's raining cats and dogs and even horses here

yeah i've done leviathan 2000 times already

i got so caught up in enjoying the new city i forgot to write anything 🌮

"crunchy"

MY FUCKING TACOOOOOOOOOSSSSSS

the way krile says tacos like she's never pronounced it before (she hasn't)

damn they hittin us with the "set aside sufficient time" already?

HEY I KNOW THAT GUY

when did my wife get here and why didn't he say anything

go off babygirl

oh that's a sweet nickname

ewwww

i like this catboy he's got good sense

krile my beloved

THAT'S A LOTTA FUCKIN PEOPLE

*remembers my catboy* nah im good

im so curious about zoraal ja ja

oh the echo??

aww she's happy even with a few people cheering for her

okay byeee

looks like split paths coming up?

oh huh it actually locks you out of the other now

BLUE QUESTS

outta my way gayboy i got unlocks

i am once again starting an expansion off by buying a cat minion

this trading segment is so fun

i like this hot pink bitch named breakfast

what the fuck is that an hq alpaca

whoa erenville smiled

AGAIN WITH THE FIREWOOD

my son will never know peace

i hope the hanu ate good while we were gone

so ive done the pelupelu half of the quests and the blue questline. i think i really like the pelupelu, it's interesting to see a culture based around business that's different from ul'dah and im excited to unlock their society quests. im also curious about zoraal ja ja's motivations, i can kinda understand his whole thing of wanting to teach the people a lesson but im sure there's more to it i haven't seen yet