#will update after shadowbringers and endwalker

[kayzis]

after finding that one ask about my fav genshin osts, i have made a list of my fav ffxiv tracks because they are constantly swirling in my brain like a blender and i cant resist making a Good Old List;

i am the sea: recently switched to the maelstrom and this city state theme just stuck with me for some reason. its just so GOOD, classic final fantasy music, pirates of the carribean-y, all the good stuff

serenity: this track sold me on the game. i dont know how to explain it. other than the fact that it just feels so calming. i may be a limsa boy now but i'll always love the shroud

oblivion: this song and the trial absolutely rips. the transition is 👌👌

solid: holds so many memories for me. its so......... epic. them catholic elves really had something going with the strings and the organs and all that

nobility obliges: same as above, but pretty and relaxing. makes me think of haurchefant ;v;

borderless: midgardsormr go wheeeeee

stone and steel: i think this one sits pretty high at the top of the list for me. its just. SO COOL. the way it plays whenever estinien appears....... whenever anything ishgard happens.... during the DRG questline!!! i die

a father's pride / a mother's pride: i cannot decide which of these i prefer, likewise with the azim steppe's themes. yanxia's music is generally very lovely :)

drowning in the horizon / he rises above: the azim steppe is my favourite place in the game i cant NOT put these themes here!!!

[pneuma-themes]

Theme #07: Clio by @pneuma-themes

Where you walk, my dearest friend, fate shall surely follow.

Live Preview (Temporary) / Static Preview: [Index] [Permalink] / Get the code: [pastebin] [github]

This is intended to be a fansite! I am finally happy with how this turned out after a few iterations. This theme features Emet-Selch from Final Fantasy XIV. Be warned going into the live preview as this theme heavily features content that can be found on various points of Shadowbringers and Endwalker, which may or may not be a spoiler!

Features:

Customizable post widths and font sizes. The live preview uses 650px post width and 13px font size. Enter the desired post width on the post width field and the desired font size on the font size field on the Customization page.

One accent color, 7 color options

Option for title alignment (centered/lefthand side/righthand side) to accommodate for the chosen header image.

Option to display or hide the blog title.

Built-in dual sidebar layout. All the boxes on the sidebar (members, events, updates, and site info) and the footer (disclaimer, about, and search box) can be edited from the code directly.

5 custom links at the topbar with additional 8 links on the navigation box.

Customizable photoset gutter. The live preview uses 10px gutter.

A header image. The size of the header (w x h) is the width of your screen x 350px. So if your screen width is 1900px, then the size of your header should be 1900 x 350px.

Notes:

This theme uses @eggdesign's NPF reverse-compatible template. Everything should be working as expected, except for some things noted below.

As we slowly transition into the new editor, posts made by the legacy editor will eventually break. This is particularly evident in a quote post reblogged via the new editor, in which the post will be rendered as a text post with blockquote and cannot be styled similarly to a legacy quote post. This is a Tumblr bug as far as I am concerned and from what other people have told me, so unfortunately there is nothing I can do about it.

I've written a short guide on how to set up this theme here. Everything else is annotated in the code, so do read through them before shooting me an ask!

Credits:

NPF reverse-compatible template: @eggdesign

Header: ユズリコ❂ (yuzuriko_red @ Twitter)

Icon font: Phosphor Icons

Icons (affiliates, members) and toggle tags on click: @alydae

Fonts: Nunito, Merriweather @ Google Fonts

customAudio.js: @annasthms

photoset.css with lightbox: @annasthms and @eggdesign

Search box, minified spotify player: @glenthemes

Toggle-able tumblr controls: @seyche

Shorten note count: @shythemes

Responsive video script: @nouvae

Please like and reblog if you like this theme or are using it!

[aotopmha]

I have finished Dawntrail!

I will have a spoiler-free post (this one) and a spoiler-y post (probably one of my following ones) of my very general thoughts.

If there's a wish to avoid even this kind of post, then the warning is here.

For spoiler-free impressions, I will say that I did notice a bigger inconsistency in terms of the voice work.

The final boss had straight-up flat delivery that didn't exist in most cutscenes for ALL voice actors.

Everyone is also mostly fine when talking normally, but when yelling or stronger feelings are needed, especially the newest actors feel strangely off.

Wuk sounded absolutely fine and consistent in 6.55, but there were points where she just sounded really flat in the actual expansion.

I'm also in the camp that the credits theme sounded off. The chorus was fine (and the same track was completely fine when used in a couple of other cutscenes), but the main vocalist sounded really off. It took me out of what was otherwise a very solid final stretch of story. And the singer has done some great stuff before!

It's all really odd and I didn't think I would have these complaints ever again after A Realm Reborn because the voice work since then has ranged from good to amazing.

I'm really curious about what's going on behind the scenes.

FF14's vocal tracks have been weak at points to me, but not once have I felt a vocalist sounded absolutely awful.

Otherwise this expansion is up there in terms of the soundtrack, might be my favourite so far. Incredibly strong all the way through aside from the vocalist in this single track.

The graphics update has done wonders to endear me to the world and this will be the first expansion I will absolutely max out the FATEs for perhaps even just this reason alone. It's a miracle how much more strongly you can sell a world with better lighting and just a little bit more object density.

The content itself is also absolutely fantastic - if the story really bores you, I at least recommend skipping through it to do the dungeons and trials and maybe go back for the story via New Game+. The encounter design is refreshing, from a whole bunch of new mechanics to more interesting fodder enemy usage.

The class changes, while feeling relatively minor have felt like really good smoothing out of awkward elements.

I especially feel this with Dragoon, and as much as I miss Plunge, Dark Knight's new ability animations alone go a long way to add to that smoother feel, as well.

i also adore Viper, which I think is my favourite melee out of the ones I've played. Simple, but speedy and satisfying to play.

I will absolutely still remain a DRK main in a general sense, though.

Will be running dungeons to get everyone along all of the game.

Finally, I think the story came together really nicely by the end, with some interesting threads left behind.

It is much more simple than Shadowbringers and Endwalker, but I think it was still effective. As I've said in previous posts, it's just really thematically strong and followed that strength right to the end, even if I have varied opinions on all of the characters.

In terms of immediate impressions, content-wise (dungeons and trials in particular), as far as base expansions go, I'd place it above ARR, Heavensward and probably Endwalker (Endwalker's solo duties rocked and narrative and gameplay integration is still unmatched, but the encounter design itself isn't as distinct).

Story-wise I'd probably place it above A Realm Reborn and Stormblood because it has a similar spirit of exploration with much better pacing within its individual areas. Every time I felt the story started dragging in its own ecosystem, it moved on and the answers by the end were satisfying and made sense while ARR and StB actually didn't have that many mysteries to even think about, so had much less impetus to at least seek those out.

It had no Labyrinthos, Ruby Sea, Moogle quest or Mt. Gulg setup. But it wasn't as complex in terms of character writing as Endwalker, Shadowbringers and to some extent even Heavensward and Stormblood.

Though, as said, this is only speaking in terms of the base expansions, the only comparison I can make. Because the patch content did amazing narrative things for both Heavensward and Stormblood in particular in my eyes.

(I actually have no idea what to expect from the Dawntrail patches. Which is, once more, both super exciting and scary because the threads left behind are pretty much a complete mystery.)

So in a general sense, I'm an early Dawntrail defender. I enjoyed it a lot. It truly felt special as my very first on-content expansion, too.

Now on to the optional dungeons!

(Have heard some great impressons on them!)

[aoife-asturmaux]

a few years ago in shadowbringers i set out to visit every bar/tavern in the game and make a list of them. i've been keeping the list updated ever since, and this week i went through and added the dawntrail ones! there were a ton. Endwalker only added like 4 tops, but the Dawntrail additions doubled the size of the list........

i will post the list separately another time (it's in a google sheet on an account tied to my legal name), but for now I wanna share the pics i took during aoife's epic bar crawl 2 electric boogaloo. (contains dawntrail spoilers!)

After jotting down the spots in Tuliyollal, my next stop was Urqopacha. There are a couple of named establishments in the Pelupelu half of the map, and one unnamed distillery.

I then spent a long time in Worlar's Echo trying to figure out if the Yok Huy have bars. The seating areas and flagons suggest they do, but I couldn't figure out who was selling the drinks....

After trying & failing to identify any eateries in the Hanuhanu village, my next stop was Many Fires, which serves as a rest stop for travelers and naturally sells food and drinks.

I couldn't find any restaurants or bars in Iq Br'aax - I found a couple cookstoves, but they didn't seem to belong to a specific place. There were also no restaurants in Mamook, which I guess makes sense considering all they eat is najool.

Next my journey took me to Shaaloani. While I had expected to find an even distribution of saloons and the like, I found that the restaurant scene was mostly concentrated in Hhusatahwi. Every other building there shows signs of being a dining establishment. Meanwhile, Sheshenewezi Springs is much more residential, and none of the buildings there looked like they served food or drink.

Speaking as an American from "the west", the big saloon in Hhusatahwi is probably my favorite bar in Dawntrail....

I briefly scanned Heritage Found to see if there were any bars to speak of, but aside from one random dining area in the Outskirts it wasn't immediately clear if there were any.

I concluded my tour in Solution Nine, which has probably the highest number of bars per capita of any settlement in the game. It would be a herculean task to document each and every one of them, especially since none of them have names, so I just made a note of their volume on my list. The cafe Mosaic was also a welcome change of pace as one of the few ingame eateries not focused on alcohol.

I did also boot up NG+ so I could document the eateries in Living Memory, but I didn't end up taking any pictures there. something about that place wigs me out haha... and since the eateries weren't named or permanent (or even technically real) I wonder if I should include them in the list or not....

Anyway, eventually i'll get that list up somewhere public lmao

[winterdeepelegy]

My Thoughts on Dawntrail

So having finished DT, here are some of my thoughts on the expansion as a whole. Expect spoilers below the cut, do not click if you haven't finished. Again these are entirely my opinions, I don't intend to present this from a perspective of fact.

Hmm. I don't hate DT, but it's not high on my list: 1. Shadowbringers 2. Heavensward 3. Stormblood 4. Endwalker 5. Dawntrail 6. ARR That said, I don't hate any of the installments of this game, but there are some definitely high and low points. Let's rip the bandage off and get the blanks out of the way: 1. DT has a dialogue problem. I don't hate Wuk Lamat as a character, it was kind of refreshing to see a green, earnest character take center stage while our characters stepped aside and provided a guiding hand. The big problem I have with her is her dialogue. She's basically a shounen character, complete with the 'I'm gonna be king of the pirates'/'I'm gonna be hokage!' schtick, and it really wears on me after a while. That's not the character's fault so much as it is the writing team. That being so, this game is best played in short stints, 1-2 hours at a time instead of trying to marathon the whole thing in short order. Any more than that and it really becomes repetitious. If they want to script it to sound like an episodic anime series, it will be best enjoyed in smaller bites. Sphene suffers from the same problem. I wanted to enjoy her more as a character, but the script made that a challenge. 2. Pacing and exposition. God. The first few hours of EW were enough of a slog with its slow pacing before getting to the first dungeon, this felt like an eternity by comparison. Up to about the level 95 content, it is a long span of exposition and lore stuffing (far be it from me to complain about abundant lore!), so much of which could have been covered in less time and with less repetition. They really wanted to hammer the tribes into our heads, and it felt like too much at times. They wanted us to care about the tribes and the people therein, but few things make me care less than overdoing it. Level 95-ish is when things start becoming more interesting, in my opinion. That's a long way to climb to reach the proverbial cookie jar. 3. The music. I'll be honest, soundtrack wise, this is not my favorite. I appreciate all genres of music, but swing jazz doesn't quite fit the feel of Tulliyolal. I would have liked to hear something closer to a cultural aesthetic to match the visuals and themes presented throughout the areas and civilizations therein. We didn't get that, and it's kind of a weird choice. The main themesong, also? Ehh... I didn't care for it in the trailer. This opinion hasn't shifted since my playthrough. I didn't really start finding enjoyable area music until Shaaloani. 4. 'My people are more important than your people'. This plot point has been done. We just dealt with the Ascians and pretty much got the same shpiel from Hades. They made Sphene and her subjects a little more sympathetic, though, so... good, I guess? 5. Erenville deserved better. Fussy Bunbun got done so dirty in this expack, the very least anyone could have done was give him a hug. He didn't even get that from his mother who, frankly, was the worst character out of all of it. He was also deadnamed repeatedly, which could have been a teachable moment. 6. Wuk Lamat and/or Bakool Ja Ja still owes me tacos. ------------ As for the positives? There are some. Thanks for sticking with me so far. 1. Pretty graphics updates - better over all. 2. No weirdly split zones - thank the Twelve for this. StB, ShB, and EW all had zones that you could only cover in part, and couldn't finish until later. The zones in DT flow pretty well for the most part, and the transition between upper and lower areas of Yak'Tel are nothing short of beautiful, especially in flight. 3. More Reflections - I'm glad to see more of these and I hope this trend continues. 4. For once, I'm not luke warm on the bard AF gear. It's actually a fresh look, but haven't found a dye pairing I like yet.

[toadeyes-miqote]

New Expansion, new Miqo'te guy

Looking back before Dawntrail hits. Mainly from MSQ, jobs, tribal, deliveries and long quests that I done. Someone mention hair colours meme and this happened. There's a lot of sandy hair cats.

Might have left out other male cats by accident or not having pics of them on my PC (Will update if found decent pics). Or somehow fuzzy memory from doing stuff after EW. Would probably do one for the women and the Miq'ttens . I didn't include Squadron cats

It throughly amused me that Miqo'te men have such intense energy vibes (even Hylnyan's own mate) based on the way Miqo'te men moves. Since I gotten to used to how chill and calming Hylnyan is as a cat person.

A Realm Reborn

A'aba. His cat boy sit/delinquent squat and his sideburns somehow always reminds me of Logan / Wolverine.

V'mah Tia for some reason I always thought he was a Lancer.

Coeurl King isn't included because Hylnyan tend to be more busy kicking his ass than taking decent photos

Other than G'raha, Nhaza'a Jaab is a recurring character for tribal stuff. Hylnyan had chased him out of Stormblood and ARR at least. and probably HW when I resub hopefully before DT

Heavensward

I thought Heavensward had no Miqo'te men. Until they turn up in job quests post EW. Coerthas be too cold for Miqo'te? But there's a Miqo'te soldier in Haurchefant's office.

Stormblood

Specifically went and do M'zhet Tia's quest line because of his Nanaki / Red XIII references.

M'zhet Tia runs around in Tribal quest a lot for the sake of wooing J'olhmym. The other cute red cat

X'rhun tia's kid Arya is at Mor Dhona and Hylnyan be like if she needs help - seek out that Big Hrothgar with that Viera lady across the street there, mention Hylnyan's name if need be.

Shadowbringers

Because Exarch seems like he has much stories to tell of his life

Mao-Ladd. I always thought of the "Mao" part of his name is "cat" in mandarin. And Ladd as in Lad and his name is practically Cat Boy to me.

I may or may not be missing anyone from the Crystarium staff

Of course I forgot Sai-Lewq.

Kai-Shirr and Custom Delivery Crew are all in Metian gear until further notice

Endwalker

T'laqa Tia is my fave and will always be known as Sharlayan Fishing Cat. his questline contain tidbits about aether flow and Zodiark

Do the Tiny Troll quest. It ties in with another Labyrinthos resident and gives a bit of insight on Studium

Bonus

For a mere moment I thought this was the same pic because of the crystals' placement. and stone colourings.

[jewish-anime]

An update to my previous glam compilation, now including Aoife’s Endwalker (6.0) look!!! I also touched up the art and made some changes to reflect lore stuff I decided on after drawing this lmao.

I wanted to keep going with her 6.x patch looks but that would require me to draw Lunar Envoy gear so maybe I will do that closer to the end of the expansion lmao........

Individual illustrations for each expansion, with additional thoughts (but old versions of the art): ARR | Heavensward | Stormblood | Shadowbringers | Endwalker

[la-casa-de-xio]

Dawntrail - Day ∞ (Part 1)

With the MSQ finished, the extra dungeons unlocked and completed. It's time to gather my thoughts before venturing forth. I was going to write one massive post, but I decided to break it up into smaller chunks to make it easier to write.

Before I get stuck into the story and stuff, I really have to commend the FFXIV team for just how smooth this launch has been. Ever since Stormblood expansion launches have ranged from bumpy to a absolute disaster. I think Heavensward was smooth but honestly I don't really recall it. But for Dawntrail sure I got the dreaded 2002 lobby error and then a 1700 player queue on immediate launch, but other than that it's been smooth sailing. Less than 100 people in queue when I log in, and when I was doing a hunt train the other night it was so fucking smooth. Had no issues changing zones to keep up and there was little to no lag even when 400+ players were smacking a single mob. Huge improvement over Endwalker! Especially as I'm on Tonberry, the server that was specifically called out by Yoshi-p for causing issues for the entire Elemental DC.

One of the big selling points in this expansion has been the graphics overhaul and I'm almost ashamed to admit I haven't really noticed anything different other than some of the lighting improvements. For the most part Xio looks the same as she did before the expansion, although with how my mind works I probably just took one look at Dawntrail Xio, deleted all past references, added the new ones and I'm now gaslighting myself into believing it's always been like that. Probably doesn't help that I started the 6.55 MSQ in DT and the first thing I saw a really rough pixelated background texture and just went "They'll get that on the next pass in 9.0 or something".

One thing I do need to call out the devs on is their silence over the Viera & Hrothgar hat issue. Is this issue ever going to be worked on? I naively assumed that after the Shadowbringers release all future gear would be Viera compatible, but I can see that outside of some AF gear the answer is no. Honestly, at this point I just want a yes/no answer if the issue is ever going to be resolved, and a timeline. Like all ARR gear in 7.2, all HW gear in 7.4 or something like that. It's annoying that to wear a basic hat I now have to wait for mod developers to update their tools for DT. (Not complaining about the mod devs, they are doing this for free after all, take your time please, I'm just annoyed at SE)

Anyway, that's enough for today, see you next time~

[koukoupepia]

hi boss! played much dawntrail yet? curious what your feelings were on it. the graphical update has been such a high for me

I meant to answer days ago but im MARINATING!! i talk more about ffxiv on my twitter but yea i finished msq a few weeks ago and i enjoyed it :)) i have been meaning to ng+ all of the msq for the longest time for a better perspective but my tierlist is currently shadowbringers>endwalker>heavensward>dawntrail>stormblood>arr but that doesnt mean i dont like dawntrail cause i liked it quite a bit and im looking forward to seeing where patches goes. also the graphics update is really nice (BETTER GRASS IS SO COOL) (i love new the mount tilt/yaw thing its so neat) and the only things i dont like about it are it stresses my old hot gpu a lot more and that they made catboys have a very slight upturned lips on their neutral face so it looks like theyre always smiling now, which i dont like bc on some cutscenes it looks like my wol is smiling when he is supposed to be frowning. i kinda miss his resting bitch face :(

ALSO i like that the fights are more spicy. i liked endwalker's base msq dungeons a lot but after troia they were snoozefests mechanically. ive only done the first extreme so far but it was really fun and after im done farming it im looking forward to doing the second and i know when the third one comes out its gonna be insane! and im looking forward to savage bc the normal raids were pretty interesting! and im so excited for what they are cooking up in the field operations!

[zenmai--jikake--no--komoriuta]

⌘ where you always were

{ a fanmix following the Crystal Exarch’s journey across eon and instant, one song at a time }

     listen on... { Youtube }  >>  { Spotify }

- if you enjoyed me, please Reblog so others can find me too! -

-------------------------------------- just a mix of EN and JP songs that fit well lyrically, arranged in some semblance of a chronological order. heavily inspired by lesalia and fivebright’s own fantastic playlists -- go give them a listen!

this is an updated version of the playlist I made back in 2019 after Shadowbringers early access, now with 10 new tracks to cover up through Endwalker!

Youtube is the recommended way of listening as it contains all 47 songs in the correct versions (I had to make some cover substitutions with Spotify and it's missing one song, but it's otherwise intact). --------------------------------------

tracklist

     ⌘ = incl. links to a specific translation

- DAYBREAK - ○ 01.  Us — Jenna Raine  >>  We were younger then, we didn't know / Time would tell a story of its own ⌘ 02.  Crystal mic — Tourai (cover)  >>  Just once more, for the sake of "being together with just us two," / I sing a poem for that faraway dream / at the end of the transparent despair ⌘ 03.  Bokura ga Tsunaideiku — Arashi  >>  The eras change and time passes / Even if we chase after a different tomorrow / We'll surely come back to this road again someday ⌘ 04.  Sight for Sore Eyes — Kenshi Yonezu  >>  What I want is simple - there's a future with you in it / And for me to just see what future that would be / That'd be a sight for sore eyes... ○ 05.  Laughter Lines — Bastille  >>  I'll see you in the future when we're older / And we are full of stories to be told / Cross my heart and hope to die / I'll see you with your laughter lines ○ 06.  Wake Me Up — Avicii  >>  So wake me up when it's all over / When I'm wiser and I'm older ⌘ 07.  Seventeen — YOASOBI  >>  This can't be the happy ending / In that case, I'll go to your world and save you / Forgive my recklessness / because I'm sure I'll carry it out

- SUNDOWN - ⌘ 08.  Thousand-Year Solo — Jack (cover)  >>  Although we can no longer meet under this moon / Facing this sky, I'll continue to sing ○ 09.  Vanilla Twilight — Owl City  >>  And I'll forget the world that I knew / But I swear I won't forget you / "Oh darling, I wish you were here" ⌘ 10.  Encore — YOASOBI  >>  In a place I don't recognise, I wake up / This is a world with no night / A world that ends with today ⌘ 11.  Cradle of destiny — MEIKO  >>  I firmly believed that it would one day come true / A future where you and I could stay together / was the only thing that I wanted and needed ○ 12.  Young — Vallis Alps  >>  In the end / Time forever favors the young ⌘ 13.  Kimi wo Sagasu Sora — Kagamine Len  >>  My fate twists, far far away, forever / Aimlessly I wander to find the pieces of my heart / Until the day I see your smile... ⌘ 14.  Halzion — YOASOBI  >>  Even now, I find myself searching for fragments of the days which I can't return to, and your presence / I'm still reaching my hand out towards the pair of us on that day ⌘ 15.  VOiCE — Valshe (cover)  >>  You’re not here anymore, I can't accept it / It's no use, would you listen to this song? ⌘ 16.  Campanella — Kenshi Yonezu  >>  Blown by the tailwind, surely I'll still be living / Until the day it ends, so as to get closer / I want to remember you... ○ 17.  If You Only Knew — Shinedown  >>  If you only knew / How I refuse to let you go / even when you're gone

- BEFORE DUSK - ○ 18.  East — Vallis Alps  >>  I've been waiting on tonight / Crystallize, crystallize / I've been looking in your eyes / We're on the rise, on the rise ⌘ 19.  together, forever — Arashi  >>  Overtaking a flowing wave of light towards freedom / What we were aiming for was a memory that would repaint the night ○ 20.  Counting Stars — OneRepublic  >>  Lately I been, I been losing sleep / Dreamin’ about the things that we could be / Baby I been, I been prayin' hard / Said no more counting dollars, we'll be counting stars ⌘ 21.  Nighthawks — Kenshi Yonezu  >>  If there were only one thing left that these empty hands could grab / I think I'd want it to be your outstretched hand / Ahh, that's all I'd need; that's our future I wish for... ⌘ 22.  Ai wo Utaou — Arashi  >>  A sorrowful sky above a battlefield, I can hear it, Something will change on this night / Wanting to heal you, I'm by your side / You being here is my courage ○ 23.  Giants — ONE OK ROCK  >>  In the pieces, we found ourselves / So fight for me, I’ll fight as well ⌘ 24.  Tsugai Kogarashi — Fumi & Nagao Kei (cover)  >>  To become the rustling wind / To become the solace for many / We want to become the tailwind for the people / who are doing their best to live in this world

- NIGHTFALL - ⌘ 25.  Kimi no Yume wo Miteita — Arashi  >>  Because it won't change, I want to give you the truth / What's important is to tell my true feelings without any lies ⌘ 26.  Fluorite — Kenshi Yonezu  >>  It must be better proof than any / How precious you are to me... ⌘ 27.  Although A Song Is Formless — Pokota (cover)  >>  I will sing / When you, who gave me smiles, are crying / I, even for just a tiny little bit / wish to become your comfort and support ○ 28.  Crash and Burn — Savage Garden  >>  If you need to crash, then crash and burn / You're not alone ○ 29.  Everybody’s Changing — Keane  >>  You're gone from here, soon you will disappear / Fading into beautiful light / 'Cause everybody's changing and I don't feel right ○ 30.  Broken Open — Adam Lambert  >>  It doesn't matter, go on and shatter / I'm all you need ○ 31.  Everything, All You See — Vallis Alps  >>  I thought I'd be okay to play my part like I promised / Ooh, but I want to be honest / My balance in the air, I'm caught off guard again ⌘ 32.  Mirage Song — Kenshi Yonezu  >>  Have I mourned anything? / In a place with such bright sunlight as this… / Have I doubted anything? / Even though you're always beside me... ⌘ 33.  Tsuki Yuki Hana — KAITO  >>  The days forever gone, my wish unanswered / I take in all the grief, and my devotion is beyond my control... ⌘ 34.  REVIVER — MY FIRST STORY  >>  Until the day my last dream comes true / This is my only way

- MIDNIGHT HOUR - ○ 35.  Windswept Day — Revo  >>  - instrumental - ⌘ 36.  I'm Sorry — Kenshi Yonezu  >>  I'm not able to say goodbye, it's just too terrifying / Though my hands tremble in the flood of light / If I'm with you, I can be stronger, that's all... ○ 37.  The Soft Goodbye — Celtic Woman  >>  There's a dream that will not sleep / A burning hope that will not die / So I must go now with the wind / And leave you waiting on the tide ○ 38.  I Found Love — Owl City  >>  So take my hand, and shed a tear / Before I'm gone, it's now or never / I'll hold you close, the end is near / But love goes on, and on forever ⌘ 39.  Eine Kleine — Kenshi Yonezu  >>  To have everlasting sorrows and open seams, but also you / How happy I would be to smile and say, "It was for the best"... / Everything before me seems to blur and melt / A flood of miracles wouldn't be enough / Because you called my name... ○ 40.  Take It All Away — Owl City  >>  There was a shot in the dark, I was caught by surprise / There was a hole in my heart, there were tears in your eyes ⌘ 41.  Yasashii Suisei — YOASOBI  >>  The ring of a gunshot cruelly tears into the night / As the breath of farewell rushes onward / The falling stars, without mercy, shine for just an instant / And disappear before my wishes can reach

- DAWN - ⌘ 42.  Starcrew — Rib (cover)  >>  Denying my memories, scattering them to the stars / As night returned once more / Looking at you, with the loneliest eyes in the world / Knowing the most painful separation of all... ○ 43.  Nothing Left To Lose — Mat Kearney  >>  Come on, and we'll sing, like we were free / Push the pedal down watch the world around fly by us ○ 44.  Stay — Eyeshine  >>  I've seen the worst this life will throw and I can take it / And I'll push it all away / If at the end of the day you are standing with me, who can break us? ⌘ 45.  Blue Jasmine — Kenshi Yonezu  >>  Now, where should we go? Listen, darling, wherever it may be / I'm sure that just having you beside me will make it special... ⌘ 46.  Sangenshoku — YOASOBI  >>  Even if we separate again, ahead of our continuing paths / No matter how many times / If we strongly tie our bonds back together / We can meet again ⌘ 47. Shukufuku — YOASOBI  >>  The fact that you were born in this star / The fact that you will continue living in this world / So that you can love it all, ah- / I give my fullest blessing to you....

[dalmascan-requiem]

Vierapril 2023

(Vierapril 2023 prompt from @DRKestHour on Twitter)

(Vierapril 2023 prompt from @SE_bunboi on Twitter)

It's time for Vierapril! This is the first time I'm trying one of these challenges, so I'm hoping to get through the entire month. There are two main prompts for the event, so I'll be alternating between them for different prompts!

For said prompts, I'll be doing a mix of gposes, fics, and gpose comics. I'm also going to make all of these prompts in-character--which is why it's posted here instead of my main FFXIV Tumblr. All the posts will be reblogged there, however! If you prefer Twitter, you can check out my Twitter Vierapril thread, instead.

You can see the Table of Contents after the jump. It will be updated with links as the prompts go live. I'll also be linking to where they are on other social media sites, simply because it's easiest to archive it all here.

Also, we're going to be jumping around the OCs' timeline with these prompts, which probably isn't surprising, lol. Once Vierapril is over I'll be sure to organize the fics and gpose stories in their appropriate "arcs" on the pinned post. I'll also provide context as needed!

With that, let's get to the prompts.

Table of Contents

(green - normal gpose; blue - gpose comic; pink - fic; yellow - cutscene; purple - blog post)

Day 1 - Hope - Tumblr, Twitter

Day 2 - Tank - Tumblr, Twitter

Day 3 - DPS - Tumblr, Twitter

Day 4 - Healer - Tumblr, Twitter

Day 5 - A Realm Reborn - Tumblr, Twitter

Day 6 - Heavensward - Tumblr, Twitter

Day 7 - Stormblood - Tumblr, Twitter

Day 8 - Shadowbringers - Tumblr, Twitter

Day 9 - Endwalker - Tumblr, Twitter

Day 10 - Illness (a Free Day prompt) - Tumblr, AO3

Day 11 - Portrait (swapping another prompt in) - Tumblr, Twitter

Day 12 - Journey - Tumblr, Twitter

Day 13 - Mentor - Tumblr, AO3

Day 14 - Waste - Tumblr, AO3

Day 15 - Sacrifice - Tumblr, AO3

Day 16 - Help - Tumblr, Twitter

Day 17 - Home - Tumblr, AO3

Day 18 - Azem - Tumblr

Day 19 - Solitude (swapping another prompt in) - Tumblr, Twitter

Day 20 - Rest - Tumblr, Twitter

Day 21 - Protection - Tumblr, Twitter

Day 22 - Growth - Tumblr, Twitter

Day 23 - Joy - Tumblr, Twitter

Day 24 - Mount - Tumblr, Twitter

Day 25 - Minion - Tumblr, Twitter

Day 26 - Trust - Tumblr, Twitter

Day 27 - Location - Tumblr, Twitter

Day 28 - Effort - Tumblr, Twitter

Day 29 - Contact - Tumblr, Twitter

Day 30 - Free Day (literally, this time) - Tumblr, Twitter

[wirewitchviolet]

FF14 Plot Summary Index

it struck me after I wrote this 10-part summary/critique of the plot of FF14 that finding particular Tumblr posts is kind of a pain and you know, some people want to read the whole dang thing, and others maybe just want my take on a particular expansion. So... have an index!

Part 1- A Realm Reborn

Part 2- Post-ARR

Part 3- Heavensward

Part 4- Post-Heavensward

Part 5- Stormblood

Part 6- Post-Stormblood

Part 7- Shadowbringers

Part 8- Post-Shadowbringers

Part 9- Endwalker

Part 10- Post-Endwalker (final version)

Part 10-old- Post-Endwalker (first draft on first catching up to current content)

Part 11- Dawntrail

BONUS: Extensive gameplay thoughts

BONUS: Job Quests, Deep Dungeons, and Adventuring Forays

Also I forgot that there’s this whole referral thing, so on the off chance reading all that made you morbidly curious about playing the thing instead of fully satisfying your curiosity uh, find wherever you use this when you’re signing up and plug it in so I can get a 2-seater chocobo or whatever and if I actually know you I can drive you around through the dull early bits that make you walk everywhere? Oh wait-

Well damn. Guess you have to be social enough to pester me, or a spambot would just go and eat that. Feel free though.

For everyone else, here’s my Patreon, it’d be great if I could like, afford my rent next month.

Also, I finished part 10 RIGHT before a patch dropped, so here’s what’s in that real quick below the fold:

As was kinda predictable, the loporrits get the whole tribal quest thing (because no longer having to evacuate the whole world they’re largely bored, so you help them build a techno night club. No really.

You also help an alarming number of them explore their sexual kinks. Again, not making this up. In the random tribe quest rotation there’s one where a loporrit called Thrillingway needs you to make bondage ropes and acid and another where someone builds a dream-fulfilling robot which in testing shoves a “large metal carrot” down another’s throat. It’s kind of amazing. Also Hildibrand’s weird new alien friend makes a low poly count clone of him who’s actually competent.

Also apologies for not updating much this month. Needed some rest/lead time on my next big project. But... I guess if I’m encouraging people to try this thing I just dumped all this time into, I could do a quick follow-up talking about the gameplay? Any interest in me doing that?

[kranethios]

hm hm dawntrail thoughts

- love the idea of erenville becoming a major character, he was very charming in endwalker and i would be happy to get to know him better. sad to not see zero in the trailer tho, hope we're not done with her.

- i am so so so so 👀 about the new jobs. tell us the jobs yoshi-p.

- i am honestly not too hype about the plot. i trust ishikawa and the rest of the writers but like. shadowbringers and endwalker are two very enormous shoes that idk how they plan to fill. i'm more excited about new features, mechs, graphical updates, etc. than i am about the plot.

- re: plot also i can't stop thinking about how it feels like we're Done with the ancients and boy i do not really uhhhhhhhh want that. i know there's only so much of that story they can tell without it getting stale but if i could have a thousand expansions about azem and the convocation and everything i would be so into that i love them all so much and i also just really don't want elpis to become irrelevant? idk it does feel like they at least try to keep you going back to old areas in sidequests/role quests/etc so maybe i don't need to worry too much about that but it still does feel bad to have to let go of all of that.

- i guess now is the time for me to learn to tank properly because dps queue times are gonna be a bitch.

- g'raha tia manages to continue being the most adorable mf on the face of the earth huh.

- tell us!!! about!!!!! the jobs!!!!!!!!!!!!

- "you can equip glasses with hats now" they made this feature For Me

- where are the female hrothgar. show them to us. i know they're hiding in there somewhere. i hope they can kill me with their bare hands.

- one thing that gives me some hope is they have not shown us as many areas as they did when endwalker was announced, which, like. had some places that they had to be pretty secretive about because spoilers, so 👀 there are sure to be twists.

- they sure are sending us to fantasy south america. fingers crossed for cultural sensitivity and all that.

- idk my general mood is 'cautiously optimistic but seriously how are they going to follow up after two expansions of Apocalyptic Stakes With Story Arcs That Span Thousands Of Years.'

[aotopmha]

Endwalker lvl 83 spoilers!

Did Tower of Babil, the Zodiark trial and made it to the Loporrits.

I really liked Tower of Babil for how all three sections of the dungeon were different and the final boss in particular was a lot more substantial than some others.

This kind of escalation is a fantastic way to build finality and then pull the twist the story did.

This "fake" climax the story built up to is a massive part of why this twist feels so powerful because even if you can logically look at the level and see the 83 in the quest box corner, it still feels final, so you are still surprised and then questioning where the story could go from there.

It's a fantastic fakeout even with the really obvious context.

More than anything, though, I never, ever expected to like the Ascian imagery. To me the cloaked villain group trope always ends up really uninteresting because in my eyes it often impedes the individuality of the villains.

It works for the followers of more interesting-looking villains, but not the key villains of a story.

And I was dying of second-hand embarrassment almost every time one of them showed up in ARR.

And here we are in the lead-up to the Zodiark trial, where this story makes seeing the nature and first confrontation with Zodiark the most meaningful, powerful, tragic moment they possibly can.

An ancient hivemind seeking salvation from the greatest tragedy in history.

I did not think they could give these stupid masks any kind of presence or (more importantly) meaning, but they did. They did in Shadowbringers and they did here.

And Fandaniel snuffing each and every one of those voices out to take control of Zodiark is made a disgusting insult to their sacrifice, their self-appointed painful, tragic purgatory.

This scene left me in awe.

And it wonderfully continued the subversion of the idea of darkness as something inherently evil.

The fight itself is crazy cool mechanically, too.

I was terrible with reading it, but the fact that controlling Zodiark is equalled to literally manipulating the platform, reality itself, is so good thematically.

The only sad part of this is that we never got to see Zodiark at full power/with Eldibus as the core. It would not make sense for us to beat him at full power, but it is a shame regardless.

Future Ultimate material in some form, at least?

In the end, before he returned to the Aetherial Sea, Fandaniel/Amon did ask us to prove him wrong, so despite everything, there was a spark of hope in him. It was hidden, buried deep, but it existed.

And, as a consequence of all of these events, the world is screwed.

Time for bunnies!

This is another divisive part of the story, but I personally like the Loporrits because the humor that comes with them is very much leaning into the darkness of the situation. The nonchalant, blunt nature of it immediately endeared them to me.

But I know I would have probably very much disliked them if it wasn't for this element. I think if they had gone even with just a little bit more cheery humor, I probably would've disliked this whole thing, so it just barely makes the "just right" column in terms of tone in my eyes.

It's a necessary respite after all of the heavy stuff in relation to Garlemald as well.

Finally, I want to mention my love for the space-castle aesthetic. I love it, and everywhere I see it, it is immediately an highlight for me. I hope we see another location that employs it at some point.

The moon is up there in terms of zones for me just because of this. Another location in the game (among many, perhaps even all) I can't wait to see post-graphical update.

And well, Endwalker continues to be really, really good.

[eorzeanpages]

Updated Pinned Post!

Hi! I'm Pages. 30-ish y.o. genderfluid person (they/them). I'm a huge fandom nerd, primarily in Final Fantasy XIV. My other fandoms include Myst and Mythbusters.

I write fanfiction over on AO3 as Chemystry! I have a longform FFXIV fic featuring Chel called "No More To Roam" and a small series of one-shots with the Exselch (G'raha/Emet) pairing.

We're gonna talk more about FFXIV now because that's mostly what I do these days.

I've been playing for about nine years across many characters. Here are my two main Warriors of Light:

Chel

Chel is about the equivalent of a 26 year old, in Viera years. She's a Machinist who works for Garlond Ironworks after the events of Endwalker and definitely yells and Nero on a regular basis (and definitely broke his nose during an argument). I primarily ship her with Y'shtola and Emet. Her tag is Chel Does Things.

Jelili

Jelili is a 30 year old Lalafell and my oldest surviving character. She is the second Azure Dragoon and mostly does travel writing these days. She's definitely Mom Friend and can be a bit of a bully if she thinks people aren't resting. Her best friend is G'raha and I ship her with Estinien. Her tag is Jeli Does Things.

Anyway, welcome to my blog where I mostly just gust about my favorite special interest! I spoiler tag for Shadowbringers, Endwalker, and Dawntrail.

[motheatenscarf]

I think I'm almost done with Post-Shadowbringers stuff

I just did Paglth'an, so here are some catchup thoughts.

Holy shit, Alisaie figured out the cure for Tempering and between her, G'raha, Y'shtola, and Master Matoya, they've figured out how to mass produce this shit so that Tempering is basically no longer an obstacle. Go team!! Ga Bu's! little! voice! He sounds like he's about to ask if please, sir, he can he have some more porridge. Tragic little urchin. Outright Dickensian. So cute ;_; But more importantly,

This has led to the Alliance leaders finally, F I N A L L Y, making peace with and inviting the Beast Tribes to the table. They all seemed to start moving in on it at the same time, but credit still goes to Lyse imo for being the first one to insist, no, we mean everyone gets a seat at the table with the Ala Mhigan republic they're creating. Granted, they modled that on the republic Aymeric built and he was also talking to the Vanu, so. My goodest noodles. I love them so much! I liked Merlwyb getting some character development, but also the entire time she was talking about how to make amends to the Kobolds, I just sat there going, "Land back. You can give their land back. Land back???" But she managed to get them to agree to join up anyway, so... fine :T

Estinien's back! \o/ And he's maybe staying this time? We freed Tiamat and watching Talia, Estinien, and Alphinaud try to figure out how to put a software update on a 3,000 year old phone was way funnier than it had any right to be. Buncha dingdongs. Also, holy shit, Estinien meeting Alisaie was everything I hoped it would be and more. He mistook her for Alphinaud and gave her a noogie. She fucking H A T E S him. It was clear she was envisioning a heroic knight based on Alphinaud's descriptions and then Estinien made the worst mistake of his life. Amazing restraint on her part that she only yelled at him, I thought for sure that was the end for him. But he's actually grown a lot and had a good moment with Fordola where he basically said, "There are enough assholes out there who are good at killing like you and me, but what the world NEEDS is idealists like Alphinaud who actually plan to BUILD something out of the ashes we leave behind." Out of the Scions, I think Estinien is the one who groks Talia the most for this reason alone. That mentality of, I am not good. But you are. I was mostly joking when I said Estinien is her best friend/wingman now and he doesn't get a say in this, but yeah, they would definitely be the "We still never talk sometimes" kind of friends who can just chill in comfortable silence because they're on such a similar wavelength. Which I will say, did make me start to wonder about him and Aymeric and that very gay religious art way he was carried back to Ishgard. Like, oh no, do they maybe have some history there? But then Estinien said, verbatim, "I don't want to go to the Alliance meeting, Aymeric will be there and I don't want to be lectured," so... probably not! Also, the one instance where Talia can't relate to Estinien. Keeping the people you care about at arms' length because you're scared to let anyone in after what you've lost? Tired. Recklessly devoting yourself body and soul to protecting the people you care about because you'd rather die than be alone again after what you've lost? Wired. Get on her level, Estinien, in this house we listen to the Moogles' advice that the fuel powering dark edgelord shit is love.

Anyway, with the Tempering cure in the works, a LOT is shifting in the status quo, which I like. Fandaniel is boring and continues to be just... the fucking most, and I'm tired of him. I'm so tired of him. I have thoughts, but that's for another post.

Zenos keeps making a big deal about wanting a new weapon and they keep deliberately not showing it, and I know Reaper was introduced in Endwalker, so I think that's what they're teasing there, and if he winds up going Reaper I am going to SCREAM. He's already Talia's dark mirror and I already headcanon that her dumb Dark Knight sword that's too big for her was yoinked out of his stupid golf bag. So if he just goes "uno reverse, bitch!" and is now copying her by going Reaper, they are going to be in danger of being legit frenemies and I don't know how to feel about that! That is the exact kind of escalating rivalry I've wanted out of a good nemesis for her!

But also like, Zenos' plans seem so fucking stupid. I don't know what he's got in the works with Fandaniel, he says all he wants is to fight the WoL again, but I don't get how facilitating the apocalypse accomplishes that?

Like, buddy, if you want a fight, roll up and ask her. I brought a character who started her existence as a fucking Sith into this game, you are never gonna find another WoL more eager to drop whatever she's doing just to kick your ass.