#wol template game

[sunderedazem]

Corrain de Fortemps (formerly Gealai)

Nicknames: Corr, "you little shit"

Age: 16 at ARR start, 22 at the end of Endwalker

Birthday: He doesn't know for sure - he was abandoned at an orphanage in Gridania as a newborn. Sometime in winter.

Race: Keeper of the Moon, Miqo'te

Gender: Trans man. He had to pick a name alienated from Keeper traditions on transitioning because he didn't know his bio mother, and well. The caretakers of the orphanage he grew up in were never close with a poacher's kit.

Orientation: Gay

Profession: Warrior of Light, weaver and gardener on the side. Field researcher and adventurer at heart.

Physical Aspects

Hair: Long, straight, and white as the greater moon. Usually pulled back into a single plaited ponytail that falls to his shoulderblades. Messy bangs around his face

Eyes: Bright silver, with that catlike pupil that turns round in the dark

Skin: warm and pale, with peach and gold undertones. Flushes as red as a Maelstrom jacket when he's embarrassed. Facial Markings: At the inner corners of his eyes, and a single dark spot in the center of his forehead. A target for flicking.

Tattoos: Tattoos at the outer corners of his eyes, curling on his cheeks. He tattoos them a darker shade of blue every time he loses someone. They go from pale sky blue when he's an apprentice conjurer to deepest black by the end of Endwalker. Scars: Myriad little ones, but only two worth talking about. One an angry, ropy white line carving up through his abdomen the bottom of his chest, courtesy of Zenos- in Rhalgr's Reach. The second a ragged patch of once-torn flesh, knotted and raised across the small of his back above his tail - a scythe blade, stuck into his spine and ripped furiously free at the end of all things. From Zenos, in Ultima Thule. He never walks quite right again

Family

Parents: Edmont de Fortemps - by adoption when he was seventeen, and more importantly, by his own choice. He does not know his biological family, and does not know if he wishes to find them.

Siblings: Artoirel de Fortemps, Emmanelain de Fortemps, and Haurchefant Greystone. Elder brothers dear and treasured to him, forever. Lelesu Lesu - an all-but-sister and best friend, a soul-deep bond that has transcended reincarnations.

Others: His partners, Hades and G'raha Tia, one a flame eons old now lit anew, the other a fresh, dewy thing still unfurling rose petals. And his platonic partner Hythlodaeus, from ages past. And then Lelesu again, who is sister and friend and the other half of him - some things cannot be defined but by unconditional love.

Skills

Abilities: The dark rage of a Dark Knight, calling on his own pain as a weapon. The quiet ferocity of a Ninja, Doma's knife-work serving him well in close combat. And the blinding Light of a White Mage, a skill in magic from before the Sundering, a capacity for healing he ignores at his own peril. And then the Echo- his manifestation of it a cacophony near-impossible to block out, the past clamoring for his attention- and with that inability to look away from the sound of memory, a synesthesia of soul-colors

Hobbies: Gardening - in both growing plants from seed and discovering new ones growing wild. Weaving - conspiring with Tataru to make clothes for everyone, and weaving the cloth from scratch himself. Reading - anything and everything. He taught himself his letters at thirteen, and will always feel triumph when the words flow freely. Pranking - mostly Lelesu. He gets zapped for his trouble. And most of all- Traveling, as much as he can before there's no time left.

Traits

Most positive trait(s): His gentleness, and his stubbornness. He does all he can to keep these traits strong and polished, and pointed in the correct directions. He's the type to mourn a dying enemy, to spend the aether to ease their pain. He's the type to refuse to kill, to refuse to break, to bullheadedly plow through a problem until it collapses in on itself. He will not abandon hope or friends or the innocent - he will shatter himself (and has) before he does so. Good traits- as long as he aims correctly.

Worst negative trait(s): His cruelty, and his rage. Gentleness is not always kindness, and when Corrain's temper ignites friend and foe alike will be burnt by the blaze. He can cut deeper with words than any knife, and he'll do it seething with fury, with hate, and there will be no room for consideration. He will have to burn himself out entirely before the embers cool to the ash of guilt - and then he will have to make sure he does not choke on the apologies.

Likes

Colors: purples of all hues, the deep evergreen of trees, and blues the color of a dark lake.

Smells: the musk of old paper and creaking leather, honeysuckle, the sad sweetness of Nymeia lilies

Textures: supple leather and soft cotton, and the cloud-like softness of Lelesu's hair. Heavy quilts of fleece as well.

Drinks: coffee and tea in equal measure, fresh-squeezed apple juice from Coerthan apples.

Other Details

Smokes: no. It smells too bad

Drinks: yes, to cope - and likely too often. He doesn't want to remember, sometimes.

Drugs: Does catnip count? It's not even as strong as cannabis- or so he claims. Maybe a few times a year.

Mount Issuance: Haurchefant's gift to him, a soft black chocobo that he names Snowball. She's a feisty but spoiled pet in many ways, but he's her willing treat dispenser and there was never a chocobo more affectionate. Then Twilight, a yol wrestled into submission on the Azim Steppe, a wide pair of wings and a stern glare. He's less a pet, more a partner, and while he will forever answer Corrain's whistle- he knows he is expected to fly free.

Been Arrested: At least twice outside of the bloody Banquet. Not for starting fights- but finishing them. Things are usually cleared up quickly. And perhaps just once because he'd gotten a little *too* mellow after Haurchefant's death and- well, son, while we understand the loss you are only eighteen. You've got three years until this is legal - in Coerthas, at least. Come on now.

tagged by @azems-familiar - thank you lee! I was a Slow about this one lmao!

tagging: Hopefully you all haven't done it already? @calico-heart, @thefrostflower, @orime-stories, @gatheredfates, @arinaxiv, and anyone else who sees and wants to join in!

[r0ttenhearts]

slip from my mind

scaramouche x reader (streamer AU)

part 1

sypnosis: scaramouche was a moderately known streamer, while you were a newbie streamer who happened to be a “fan” of scaramouche. your only hope is for him to hear your feelings, even if he doesn’t reciprocate it.

you didn’t mean to be weird, not really. but it was scaramouche! in a world as small as yours, he was a micro celebrity in your small social circle online. you were only mutuals, which you considered yourself very lucky to have. it was strange for you to be so fangirlish over some random guy on the internet, but something about this felt different. somehow you had a feeling that you’d come to know him, every time you glanced his profile. that day couldn’t come soon enough.

scaramouche was streaming another one of his MMORPG’s while you watched quietly in a minimized tab at your desk. it was another one of those days where you felt a very heavy silence in the comfort of your four walls. only those walls didn’t feel comforting, just cold. it was a very deep cold, a cold that drapes over you like a heavy blanket.

“the redheads in this game are the hottest to me.” scaramouche’s voice rang out from the little box you had set his stream in. as a consistent lurker, you never were one to think of typing something the chat. but today you felt so constricted that you allowed yourself to mindlessly write a comment in his chat. “where’s the love for (h/c)’ed girls :(“ you typed out before tapping send. you didn’t think much of it, not really. it’s likely he wouldn’t even respond to it. he doesn’t respond to every single message.

you turned your attention back to your other monitor where you were idling in a game, your attempt to try and cut the heaviness that you felt.

“(h/c)’ed girls are cute too.” scaramouche replied, moments after you had already forgotten the message you had mindlessly posted. the gears clicked in your head as you replayed his words. he actually replied to your message. your first and only direct interaction to him and he noticed. a warmth swelled up inside of you as you clicked back into his chat, fingers ready to type. what would you say? how should you reply? should you be nice or give a witty answer? would he even reply to it?

“yay there’s hope for us :)” you sent into the chat. you giddily waited for a response, only for scaramouche to ramble on about a raid in his game. while you hadn’t gotten the complete interaction, you were still happy for the brief moments of his attention. it really was the coolest thing for you. and when your life is a constant replay of the same day, even small things like a streamer responding to you meant the the world to you. there wasn’t much to get excited for these days, so you let yourself savor these moments. as few and far between as they were.

scaramouche continued his stream for another hour until he went offline. you closed out of his stream page and went into yours, modifying a few of your stream elements before your next stream. as you clicked through your files to upload for your template, a ping sound came from below your screen. it was a DM. you clicked it open, only to see:

scarax: soo miss (h/c) girl, do you play WOL?

scaramouche asking if you play his game? so you could possibly duo? today couldn’t have gotten any better. your smile felt very cheesy as you clicked on the dm, typing away a reply.

(y/n)^_^: yes! but i’m very under-geared compared to you

you were in. you spent the rest of the afternoon texting scaramouche about the game, world of legends, planning a day to duo. he had given you his discord to be able to message more directly. it all felt so surreal. scaramouche was a lot sweeter than he appeared to be from his streams.

on camera he had this tough, almost borderline jerk-y attitude, but it was in a way that you found endearing. maybe that was your first red flag you shouldn’t have ignored. but off stream, he was the sweetest guy you had ever met. he made sure to good morning and good night text you, and consistently hangout and talk to you.before you knew it, it had officially been a month since you two met, and you were now very much into each other. he wanted nothing more than to introduce you on stream for your official getting together, so that’s just what you two did.

the chat blew up in support of the new relationship that had blossomed between you both.

mnxia: you guys are so cute!

prnk: wishing you the best dude

pnnylvr: so jealous omggg

you regularly would go on to stream together and spend practically every day together. everything felt perfect. you had finally gotten something to break your everyday life. and it was the micro celebrity with 500 followers.

a few weeks after your first month anniversary, scaramouche wanted to meet you. it had made you nervous, at the time you both were practically edating, despite living in the same city. but it wrecked your nerves to think of all of the things you could do wrong in person.

you were known for being a strange girl almost the few people that knew you. and not in a negative way; not really. just that you had a tendency to say things in a slightly more dramatized way. as well as another secret. one that could probably ruin your relationship with him. you see, you weren’t just a fan of his streams before. you were more of a stalker to be precise. every single thing he had done online, you had seen, read, watched, and memorized it. you practically knew everything about what he had made public online.

a bit strange, you would admit, but you rationalized it with love. but you wanted your relationship with scaramouche more than your fear for him to find out. so, you planned to see him in person. that day would be engraved in your mind forever.

seeing him out under the grey skies, orange, yellow, and brown leaves drifting to the ground. you had met your autumn love.

two months would go by quickly in your relationship with scaramouche. but lately things seemed off with him. he stopped inviting you over, didn’t reply much while you were attending your college classes, and overall seemed disinterested in you whenever you played games together. the anxiety of what was wrong was eating you up inside, as he always dismissed the question when you’d bring it up. but tonight you couldn’t do it anymore. the silence, the dismissing, it was all too much.

“please tell me what’s wrong, scara. i’m scared.” you spoke quietly into your mic as you clicked on your inventory in minecraft. you watched scaramouche’s character pause as silence was heard on his end. “i’m sorry (y/n).” he spoke softly, his character now afk. “it’s just, my ex messaged me recently and it’s really shaken me up.” he spoke into his mic. a moment later, a bloop came from your discord as scaramouche sent you a screenshot of the conversation. in the screenshot, it was a long paragraph of his ex explaining how she regretting hurting him and knew what she did was wrong. the same ex who had cheated on him and left him for a more popular streamer in his streamer company: fatui. as you finished reading the conversation you couldn’t help but notice how the scroll bar was a lot higher thea the bottom of the scroll bar, he had talked a lot more to her than he was willing to show you. the thought made you sick.

“i wish you would’ve just blocked her instead of feeding into it.” you mumbled.

“you don’t understand.” scaramouche flatly said before hanging up. you stared at the empty discord call, and then the “scarax has left the server” minecraft notification moments later. you sighed, clicking the server closed. you began typing a lengthy apology to scaramouche about how you were inconsiderate and wrong for what you had said. your message would be ignored for 3 days as you left more messages that would be ignored. on the third day he gave you an abrupt apology for not responding, just to ask if you’d like to hangout on a game together. you blinked at the interaction. was this meant to be your new normal? his silence and nothing to retaliate it for the sake of things being okay?

you swallowed hard as you agreed to his invitation. you would spend another half month in this treatment. his silence would last days with no remorse. scaramouche was known for being someone who thrived in being alone. his time away from you only solidified it.

“scara, we should talk.” you spoke into your mic a month later from the first time you had said this phrase. “what is it?” he asked, a tinge of annoyance in his voice. “it’s just, i don’t think i can do this. we can be friends but i can’t pretend like this relationship is okay. and i know you won’t change and i won’t ask you to. so i just want to end this.” you spoke rapidly into your microphone, afraid of his response.

“you lying fucking bitch.” scaramouche seethed into your ears. you stayed quiet as he shot out insult after insult. “you said you wouldn’t leave me no matter what. you promised. even after i told you about bal. you’re so fucking selfish. you’re only thinking of yourself.” he paused, “i’ll come over to get my stuff in a few days.” he spoke flatly before hanging up. you didn’t utter a word as you closed out the applications on your desktop.

you sat there idly, staring at your now black monitor. it was only to open a conversation, you didn’t mean for it to end so abruptly.

you quietly got into bed that night. he had blocked you on all socials by the time you woke up, so you blocked him back in response to the now visible disdain for one another. disdain you didn’t even feel.

three nights would pass before his knock came to your door. not a word was said as you went back in your room to collect the box of his belongings that you had gathered in the 3 days since the breakup.

scaramouche held a box containing your belongings. he walked into your living room, noting all of the details he would soon forget about you. as he set the box down on your sofa, he noticed your phone light up.

glancing at your door, he made sure you weren’t coming as he inserted your passcode into your phone. of course he knew your password, he was your boyfriend three days ago after all. he quickly opened and closed several apps, until he pressed on your gallery. he scrolled through hundreds and hundreds of screenshots of content of himself, things he didn’t know were even publicly online. he found your notepad of all of the known places he had gone to in your city, dating back to your fangirl days.

scaramouche slammed your phone down in disgust, alerting you from your bedroom. you walked over with the box in your hands, wondering what the loud noise was. scaramouche scoffed loudly, snatching the box from your grip. “you’re a fucking freak. stay the fuck away from me.” he spat before leaving, slamming the door behind him.

you walked over to what had been slammed on your coffee table, your phone. a long crack across your screen was the first thing you noticed, before turning your attention to what exactly was on your screen. all of the recently opened apps were left on some sort of documentation you had taken of scaramouche during your fangirl days. you didn’t meant to be weird. not really. you just wanted to bump into him and hopefully have a relationship with him, not even romantically, but a friendship.

your phone started dinging with notifications, twitter notifications coming up one after another. you tapped on the notification to see you had been tagged in a post by none other than scaramouche.

scarax: @(y/n)^_^ is a stalker freak. everything was a lie.

oh. oh.

mnxia: @(y/n)^_^ you’re acc such a freak for stalking scaramouche

hrtshapes: @(y/n)^_^ no way..

hundreds more notifications popped up on your phone. you quickly set all of your public accounts private. muting app notifications completely as you sat at your desk. so many thoughts raced through your head. your up and coming streaming channel was already starting to get a little popular, but that was all gone now. your whole online persona was tainted, ruined.

you sigh heavily, knowing you’d have to part with it. nothing you could do or say would make the situation any better. it looked bad. maybe it was bad.

a few hours after scaramouche’s tweet went out, all of your accounts were either deactivated or gone completely.

scaramouche scoffed as he tapped on your deactivated twitter account. you ran, just as he knew you would. he knew you wouldn’t have said anything in retaliation to his tweet, you knew better than that. but that didn’t stop him from looking through your mutuals following lists to make sure you hadn’t made a new account.

you spent the next two months in silence, away from any type of internet community. while you quietly browsed and logged things on your private accounts. scaramouche used the few public accounts you used, posting pictures of your steam, trying to add your friends on WoL through stat tracker sites.

that didn’t stop the tweets either, every other week he would vague tweet about you, or something you had ruined for him. the world had sided and sympathized with scaramouche.

luckily for you, two months later and the buzz of scaramouche’s ex stalker was no longer a topic at all. his feed was now void of any mention of you. so, you took advantage of this opportunity and created a twitter for your new self. you followed your mutual mutuals back, but kept the account as low profile as possible. you didn’t even have your name in the display name, just an emoji to represent your tweets. 

it didn’t take long for scaramouche to notice the sudden arrival of a new account following all of the people he knew you were friendly with. but he didn’t make it known that he knew, not really. at most, he would tweet out one of your tweets, word for word. people would reply to these tweets as if they were his own.

you took note of this as well on a burner account you had made in your absence, only following art and game accounts to keep up with the latest news. you frowned, seeing your same tweet on his feed. “if he hates me so much why does he watch me.” you mumbled under your breath as you closed out twitter.

you didn’t say anything related to him ever, your own personal rule. while you knew he watched you, at the very least he didn’t directly interact with you. he had your public account blocked despite the copying of tweets. but he left you alone. for that, you were grateful.

your account would go on to steadily grow in numbers, 100, 200, 300, and finally 400. only two hundred below scaramouche. for your 600th tweet and 400th follow you decided to post a picture of your cat in a silly hat you had gotten her while you were offline. your mutual, on a private account, tweeted a reply of her cat in response to the picture. “so cute 🤍” you replied to the picture.

hours later, your mutual would go on to post a private account requesting her account.

> @wanderingcat requested your account

> ew gross! total stalker account!

your breath hitched in your throat as you read over the username. wandering, cat. scaramouche’s old usernames had previously been wandering samurai, wandering hat. and cats, well, he looked just like one. and you had always let him know it.

you messaged your mutual, telling her about your history with him, and the reason why she had even been requested. because of you. scaramouche could not let go of you.

your mutual sent you screenshots of her telling him off, calling him a creep for still being so insistent on his knowledge of you. the screenshots made you laugh but you couldn’t help but notice his defense, as if nothing was wrong with what he was doing.

no word of you would ever be posted on his page though, everything looked normal. as it always had been. but the thought still weight heavily on you. he hadn’t done this since the initial breakup, it was now months later. why did he request her account? just because she replied to your post? you couldn’t let these burning questions go, so the next monday you found yourself in his doorway.

you knocked on the door, gripping your bag in your arm. the cold winter weather helped ease your nerves with the breeze against the trees.

it took a few moments before you heard his door unlatch, his bewildered expression surprising you.

“hey, scaramouche. are you busy?” you asked.

“why? what do you want?” you replied coldly. his glare made you feel small, standing there.

“i just want to talk. and finish things once and for all.”

“i considered it done when you ended it that friday.”

friday. you had forgotten what day of the week it was when it happened.

“but if it was completely done to you. then this wouldn’t still be happening, would it?”

scaramouche sucked his teeth, moving aside to let you into his apartment. nothing had changed since the last time you had been here. almost like nothing had happened at all.

“look, i’ll stop requesting your friends if that’s what you want. is there anything else i can do for you ma’am?” he retorted, leaning against his kitchen countertop.

an ironic thing to say really, as you had a gap in age with scaramouche.

“it’s not just that.” you mumbled, trying to get your thoughts together. the last few days, you had thought of something. but now that you were in front of him, asking if he would commit to your idea felt like a shot in the dark.

you had thought to befriend him, so this would all stop. the subtweeting, the stalking, the adding of your friends accounts. and despite what you were willing to admit, you wouldn’t mind being around him again. some days it felt so lonely that all you wanted to do was scream into your pillows and sulk in bed.

maybe he felt that same suffocating sadness. maybe that’s why he kept up with you.

“i understand if you don’t agree to this but, i would like to have a do over with you. not a relationship, but a friendship. just to be amicable. and then i’ll leave you alone, i promise. it just doesn’t feel right; leaving things like this.” you paused, looking at your feet. “i never hated you, not after the breakup or even with the tweets. i just hated what you were doing.”

“i hated what you were doing too, but, if we become amicable again, why do you want to leave? i don’t want to be left alone again.” he mumbled, reminding you of his sleepless nights he had once had about his mother and her absence.

how hopeless you were for a connection you had once had. the one thing that would break your circle of nothing. him.

“i won’t go if you don’t want me to. it’s just for your sake, i don’t think you’re too fond of me.”

scaramouche took you in his arms, cradling you in his embrace. “everything that happened deeply hurt me.” he whispered as you nodded. he pulled away from the embrace, he held your face in his hands, looking into your gaze directly.

“but please, give me your honesty. that’s the one thing i ask if i agree to this.”

“i will, i promise.”

you and scaramouche would go on to hangout everyday. both of your socials becoming less active as your days would be taken up with each other. you had come over with drinks in your hand, a very drunk friday night planned ahead for you both. alcohol sloshed in cans were clicked back as the night went on, movies you had brought over being played on his tv.

you never saw scaramouche in such a tender way. he was holding onto you in any way he could with each drink that passed into his system. you let yourself have that closeness to him for the night. it’s not like you’d remember it, anyway.

you had missed him, this close connection.

but after that weekend, everything had stopped, he’d stopped replying to your texts, his social media gone silent as well. you frowned, what had you done wrong?

you didn’t push him any further, opting to leave him alone. his discord status always stayed at an offline too. something that would stay for a month.

with december coming to an end, scaramouche’s birthday was coming up. january 3rd. though you weren’t talking, he was still someone you wanted to remember fondly. so, that weekend you went around to his streamer friends houses, gathering signatures for a card you’d present to him. everyone that signed had the same question, just who were you? you simply excused it with “just a friend.”

you wrote a personal note in a separate card, meant from you to him, and packaged them both up in decorated envelopes which you had drawn on. december 2nd came around, which meant you’d be making your midnight trip to his house.

pulling on your boots, you made sure to secure everything in your bag before you made the walk there. your boots crunched underneath the powdery white snow, evidence of this cold winter. while you walked, you thought of the last month that you hadn’t spoken to him. your month of patching things up felt like a brief but eventful time together. and you couldn’t fathom why he had decided to part from it.

you figured this would be your last interaction with him. he wanted nothing to do with you, you figured, from his constant disappearances. so, you’d give him one last gift before parting with him for good.

you had promised him, after all. and unlike him, you would make good on that promise.

the promise came with one of your drunken night’s together. through slurred words, scaramouche had told you how he had nothing planned for his birthday as he never felt he was worthy of a celebration for his life. with his mother taking off as soon as she could, he never saw much value in himself.

through quiet mumbles, you made him a drunken promise. you doubted he’d even remember it, but you still did. so here you were now, clutching two envelopes in your hand as you knocked on his door.

checking your phone, you noted the 2 minutes until midnight, hearing sounds coming from behind the door. scaramouche’s expression of exhaustion turned into one of surprise. here you were, once again. in the middle of the night?

“(y/n)? what time is it?” scaramouche yawned.

you shook your head, presenting him the envelopes. he took them from your hands, his eyes scanning over the little doodles and details you had drawn on them.

“happy birthday.” you replied, ready to turn away to return to your life. but he stopped you.

“(y/n)? why don’t you come in.” he said softly towards your turning back.

you smiled to yourself before turning around and following him inside. “okay.”

a/n: i didn’t mean to make this a two part story but i already feel like it’s very long so.. this will eventually be a 3 part series. i’m very sorry that i haven’t posted in awhile, i just haven’t felt much motivation to write with everything that was going on. everything going on being.. this. i haven’t written in a very long time so i apologize if my writing style seems different than before. i was also high for 3/4 of me writing this so there’s that. i’ll post part two very soon as i’m currently still living in part 3 ^_^

taglist: @samarill @whorerificstuff @somatchajade @sakiimeo @astrolomona @dearsumire @saeism @shoheartluv @0kauy @lelemnh @aqualesha @msdevilis @linkookie197 @beriiov @xiaonscaraswife @foxlover1144 @reblog-crazily @sparklylanddetective @gh0sts0up @darliingyu @magica-ren @kuronvshi @Maxineslair @kenmabfasf @atanukileaf @jihyuniepark @chiisananingen @just-anotherbookworm @kleeboomed @crepezinhos

[plaguery]

long post time

im not really in the mood to write a solid essay with a structured thesis i just kind of want to infodump and explore the subject as i write. unfortunately for everyone but me and a select damned few this will be about zenos but it will also be about my wol/the concept of the wol in general (there will be a perhaps strange interplay between the two because i feel like siv really highlights my commentary on the concept of the wol but i still recognize that shes her own character)

so.

i scrapped together a basic idea for my wol quite a while before i even played the game myself. my friends were heavily into it and i wanted to join the crowd despite not having wifi at the time to even download the game. i used what little guidance they gave me of researching the ffxiv races and the seventh umbral calamity to throw something together. core idea: femroe from a village, specialized in funerary traditions, born to a former pirate, largely raised by her aunt, propelled into adventuring after her aunt dies and her shitty pink catboyfriend breaks up with her.

as i played the game, i developed her backstory more and got clearer on specific details and locations. but even into heavensward and cumulative weeks of gameplay, for the life of me i could not get a grasp on her character. the non playable characters were rich and i enjoyed following them around, albeit mildly, and so i continued to power through, aiming for the later expansions with promised quality. i struggled to connect to the game by story or premise. often, i felt confused, baffled, or humored by contrived plot lines and conflicting messages.

straddling this line of willing reluctance to move further, to fully engage and give in to the "fantasy" of the game--one which posits that ultimate hope of a select few can rally together a world on the brink--i began to understand my wol to be as willingly reluctant as myself, the player, in her adventures. she still felt intrinsically vague to me. her purpose was as missing as mine was, more a waiting, an expectation of change as reliable as a roll of the dice, the turning of the cards. i couldn't call her bluff, because she simply didnt have one.

as the player, i was enriched through learning the mechanics of the game, progressing in skill, and with every mark of achievement: ever the more able to level our foes. where i couldn't find enjoyment with the story or premise, i was able to sustain my efforts forward through enjoyment with digital battle. it was not until that particularly rainy nightfall in doma, with the foiled assassination of our newest enemy, that i finally felt a "click" with the story. we were purposefully kept alive, for a second time, by an opponent embroiled in the philosophy of violence for violence's sake. driven forward by the promise of enjoyment with our digital battles.

the warrior of light, for all intents and purposes, is a template character. they exist for the player to insert a character of their own design, one that the developers cannot predict or reasonably accommodate with the mass of players who log on everyday. this character can then essentially be anything or anyone. with any background, any motive, any connection and viewpoint to and of this world. but in their limitless potentiality, they must also be a kind of nothingness, a malleable emptiness, at least to function as the playable template required for the main scenario quests to move forward.

but our template is united by certain factors. as a mmorpg, the idea of community is interwoven throughout the fabric of the game, a rallying cry of unison behind our light parties, our trials, and our companies. we are members of guilds, associations, military factions. whatever drives us forth, we are strung forward by violence, battles won and lost, tempering our skills both literally and digitally to rise to each occasion. and no matter our motive, our history, or the alliances of our hearts, it is unmistakable that the warrior of light is hailed as a hero.

against our warrior of light, zenos makes sense to me as a literary foil, unique in what exactly he contrasts and reflects. he is as much a means to the end as the warrior of light, a plot device of villain and hero. he lacks character outside of vague philosophical ideals in an embrace of bloodshed, the temptation of meaning through ultimate pursuit. without the bonds that our warrior of light holds in contrast to him, his meaning can only be found in his lone design. with the actions he must take in his role, no matter his motive, his history, or any alliance of his heart, it is unmistakable that he is reviled as a villain.

this aspect of emptiness to him, i feel, is not fully engaged with until endwalker, but he constantly calls into question this relation to violence, its purpose and meaning, and the power of physical (in the player's case, digital) attainment.

after zenos left us to grow in strength for the second time and we find ourselves the inspiration for yet another rally of the citizenry, my wol finally began to make sense to me. i saw the idea of the bluff itself in her, that her willing reluctance, this paradoxical hollow, was what made her her. admittedly, this was partly reflecting my own disconnect to the game so far onto her, but it was also a championing of what kept me in the first place, the value that i found as a player in leveling my jobs and completing the duties and trials that first scared me as an amateur gamer. to play a game, even if you don't find worth in the story, you can typically look to satisfaction in the gameplay. if you don't find it, the sensible action would be to stop playing and move on. but you made it this far. again, cumulative weeks of gameplay, and i made it this far.

siv, my wol, was born to death and violence, inheriting a funerary position from her father and a disgraced pirate's vengeance from her mother.

"She had ever been cold, distant, untouchable. To be a symbol, something separated from life into the ideal, was her most natural state of being. Less a person than a personification of the care and cruelty of death all set adrift into the cask of a body, struggling to mold itself against the flesh, clumsily adopting habits and gestures and preferences."

she exists in tandem with her creation as a warrior of light, a template, an idea more than a character with unique traits that solidify fantasy into something resembling reality. if not for some strike of fate, she could have ended up on the other side, the villain seeking nothing but violence, perfected. and for a time, there was quite a villainous life she led, massacring others alongside her mother.

"Morality meant as little as the rest of her life. Morality was another meaningless, inscrutable gesture of the world. There was no right or wrong to her violence at sea and yet, something was still amiss. It was not enough. Nothing could be enough."

but still, even later as hero, she follows violence.

zenos eventually asks an interesting question of jullus in endwalker,

"Would you be 'happier' had I a 'good reason'? [...] If my motives met with your approval, would you no longer resent the outcome?"

to probe these questions further: what exactly makes zenos' violence villainous? what exactly makes the warrior of light's violence heroic? do their motives, histories, and alliances inform these delineations and where exactly do we draw the line? is there and can there be an exact line?

i wanted a warrior of light who indirectly asked these same questions back; a character, who perhaps had no right being a hero, thrust into the role. would people be disappointed to find out that their hero lacked 'good reasons' for her acts of liberation and protection, large and small? would they resent her, knowing that she feels no intrinsic sense of right or wrong?

what do we make of a story where both hero and villain are hollow?

"These people are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead. They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever." (Jude 1:12 & 13, NIV)

"In that transcendent moment, what was it that I sought in you? And what was it that you sought in me?"

"Never have I understood those around me. Understood their obsessions. Besieged by their banality, the world was a mire of tedium and trivialities. [...] What of you, my mirror?"

accounting for the blankness of the warrior of light, zenos and wol look to each other as personified void trying to find the light. in absence of a clear, defined character to examine, zenos is left to address the player's shared thrill of combat with him and conclude their sameness in this respect.

by this point in time, my wol, siv, has changed much from her beginnings. directly, she has been changed by the people around her and has come to understand a purpose for herself. her hollowness serves her, her ability to take and accept an abundance of unanswerable questions without limits allows her to brighten the path for others.

siv, through all the trials, found fulfillment.

zenos, through his mirror, found understanding.

and in the mirror, siv finds an acceptance, a peace, a resolution that she, as the warrior of light, was able to reach even the most unreachable of places.

[airis-ray]

Inspiration Chart

Tagged by @xmimiteh, it was really interesting, thank you for tagging and thinking of me!💖🌺

It was supposed to be an WOL Inspo chart, but as always I don't really separate us both 😄 So it will be our joint inspiration list.

Top Middle: Sarah Connor My number one inspiration from childhood. Thanks to her, I can shoot and I still have relief on the biceps 😄

Down Left: Xena Warrior Princess My number two inspiration from childhood. When I was little and loved heroic fantasy, she helped me understand that you don't have to be a princess waiting for your knight or hero. You can save the world (including knights and heroes) by yourself.

Top Right: Trinity Love that is stronger than anything, even death. And the strength to keep this love.

Top Left: Yennefer of Vengerberg (from game only!) My representative in the whole world of single rpg 😊

Down Right: Esmerelda Weatherwax Last but not least! Greatest and strongest in every aspect female character from Discworld cycle, written by Sir Terry Pratchett. I adore all characters from Discworld, but Granny Weatherwax is so perfect in my eyes, that I can call her the best of the best of all times :) Also, she reminds me so much of my dear grandmother 🥰

Template here

Non pressure tagging, only if you want: @heart-of-corundum, @littlestcreampuff, @under-the-blood-moonlight, @aces-and-kings, @eris-vito, @archaiclumina, @miqoquest, @zhauric, @irisopranta, @dragonsongmakhali, @thefreelanceangel, @meatball-headache, @karotte2188, @sealrock, @alixennial and everyone who wants to do it.

[furys-mercy]

WoL Inspo Chart: August Mercer

This meme is making the rounds again and I decided to make a second one for Mercer. I won’t call it an update since it’s not as if the old one is no longer valid. I just had six more characters that remind me of him or have sparked bits of inspiration in the past. 

Characters:

Viktor - Arcane Teyo Verada - Magic the Gathering (Particularly War of the Spark) Joel Miller - The Last of Us (Both TV and Video Game apply) Percival de Rolo - The Legend of Vox Machina Edward Elric - Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood Garrus Vakarian - Mass Effect

If you want to make your own, I’ll put the template under the cut.

Tag me so I can see who you choose! 

[neriyon]

Ship meme thing! Get the template here.

So turns out these were a lot bigger than I thought sooooo we posting them one at a time to save space. It also conveniently leaves me more room to ramble about specifics under this

So! Let's go down from the top, I have lot I want to mention lol.

As said, they met during CT quests but only ended up dating after ShB events. ARR G'raha was a brat who was too focused on future to even think about relationships and Hawu'li hadn't lost anyone yet so he took his time with showing his interest. They parted as friends, and G'raha's well being was one of the first things Hawu'li asked about after meeting Exarch.

Hawu'li is canonically couple centimeters shorter than the min height allowed in-game. Based on my own comparisons of them standing side by side I'm pretty sure G'raha is min height (Exarch is little taller, guessing that's because no catboy slouch).

G'raha being bi - this is more of a general note but since the game understandably does not define any of their sexualities I usually default to just calling all npcs who show any interest to WoL bi.

Affection - I originally thought about just painting the whole chart purple bc Hawu'li is so so so affectionate. If you let him he'll touch you almost constantly (holding hands, tail wrapped around your limbs, small kisses to cheek/forehead, constant words of affection etc) but he's also very considerate about some of his partners disliking pda (limits it to behind closed doors if asked). G'raha seems more verbal type, mostly bc he still feels shy touching someone he's been idolizing for so long.

First to confess - G'raha confesses right around the last quests of 5.0 MSQ. First "love" said goes to Hawu'li though - G'raha stumbles on his words long enough for Hawu'li to just interrupt with "I love you too, you know. No need to be so shy about it."

Propose - Hawu'li is actually not that interested on marriage (after growing up on family where that was not a big thing) but he is the first one to ask for a keepsake as a mark of their bond. G'raha got a ring to keep as a necklace (with the "new adventure, together" carved inside it) and Hawu'li got a red, crystal speckled piece of thread to add to his braclet (hand woven with one thread for each person he dates seriously, him asking you to pick a thread for it is a big thing)

What else uhhhhh...

Sunkitty gets up early, moonkitty likes sun but tends to sleep long.

Hawu'li will be whatever spoon you want as long as he gets to cuddle

Being almost same size they tend to steal each other's clothes regularily, sometimes accidentally (G'raha's shyer to do it tho)

Hawu'li needs attention or he will die, luckily G'raha also needs it after pining for so long

[toadeyes-miqote]

Wol Inspo chart

Template on Twitter

I seem to be big on maintaining a sense of core identity

Freya (FFIX) - Borrowed her storyline of finding a missing SO. Didn't realised that so much similiarities as game progresses on.

Yuna (FFX) - The finding of self and missing SO. what's next after saving the world?

Yuri Sakazaki (AOF / KOF) - trying to get out of her brother's shadow (taken as Azem, Meteor)

Asuka (Tekken) - My OC is a face stealer. Have you seen Tekken 8? There is an entire pattern to the type of female characters I'm partial to.

Harry Dresden - Where do I start on the burden of responsibilities, the need to maintain the idea of self when dealing with Mab? Have you seen his trauma conga line? How do you still stand up after this? Harry and WoL can be therapy buddies. Being chosen is not fun and games. Next book when? Harry needs a hug dang it!

Helen (long time OC) - Am amused by the slight deviation Hylnyan took to be not totally Helen. Even though the entire personality was thrown right in.

I would throw Motoko Kusanagi in as well.

[boileddogchicken]

i feel like most blorbos of mine that qualify as oc's are ones made within the context of either a ttrpg or a video game, that's cool and all but i should try to make one not confined by any particular setting tbh, although knowing me i'll inevitably turn said character into someone within something anyways i still have thoughts about the thirsty sword lesbians campaign i gm'ed even though it's over, one of the npc's has become the template for so many characters i've made, so there's the original one, there's the star wars 5e one, the dungeons and destiny one, there's like half of a pathfinder one (i need to play pathfinder fr), also i keep thinking abt the species she was and coming up with more lore abt how they work and in the silly college au i think abt from time to time where all my oc's just get to be normal (except marina of course, she will never know peace) the TSL bird woman and the star wars 5e bird-adjacent woman are dating oh and also my WoL just fights everyone oh yeah i still need backstory for my D2 guardian, also i should throw her into the blender that is the My OC's University™️ AU im new to using tumblr how long is the character count for a single post??? wowww i can just keep typing and just keep going honestly tho, if my brain just wants to keep writing stuff i might as well take the time to write that ffxiv thing i've been thinking abt lately but haven't been able to put together if it ends up being stream of consciousness like this post that's fine, tbh it'd make sense for b'rsh to write in that way but wait i was gonna write in third person. hmmmmm i'll have to think about what i want to do in that case also i need to think more about how exactly b'rsh is connected with all my friend's WoL's bc like *one* has been properly flushed out but the others are almost entirely vibes yknow? maybe i'm just tired and forgetting things since i'm so bad at memory but idk iverelle and b'rsh's dynamic???? or like backstory stuff???? like b'rsh and etrii hang out on weekends and shoot the shit but no one else has been properly developed i mean b'rsh likes to bother narail and also she has an auntly vibe with just abt every other WoL belonging to my friends but how did that come to be yknow??? wtf was this post abt when i started wait it was me wanting to make oc's outside the confines of specific settings/ttrpgs/games eh whatever if i make my own character and i think they're neat who cares right? i think the closest thing i have to a fully independent oc is Dusk, she's a wild west but fantasy outlaw who was cursed with absolute silence, meaning she can't cast spells or speak but also it makes her so hard to track so yeah but also i had been thinking of using her in a ttrpg. but honestly i don't think i will tbh if i'm being honest- but yeah that's the gist of it i'm still not at the character maximum for tumblr- is there one? or can i just keep going until i decide that it's time to stop. hmmmm do i really want to try to push tumblr to its limit or should i just stop now and press post

[huntinghare]

WOL as NPC [Template]

Name: Morcant Atrox Alternate Name or Alias?: N/A Race & Job: Viera Red Mage Nickname: Mor Default Tarot Card: The Devil

Do they have the Echo? If so, how did they discover it?: Yes. In addition to the standard anti-tempering effect, it grants him a sharpened sense of hearing, even beyond what’s standard for Viera. He seems unaware that this is unusual at all, and will dismiss any comments about it as the speaker spending too much time around Hyurs.

How/where does the WoL meet them?: Encountered early on in the Quicksand, where he’s flagging down new adventurers for help chasing leads (this gives a quest that serves as a tutorial for treasure maps). After, he can be occasionally be spotted in different places around Eorzea. Once a week, he’ll tell the player that he has more maps than he knows what to do with, and sell them a treasure map in exchange for tomestones.

How are they recruited into the Scions?: Attempts to invite him early game fail, he will respond that he “doesn’t really do the whole commitment thing”. The quest that allows him to be recruited becomes available after Alisaie officially joins the Scions. Alisaie recognizes the focus he wears on his hip as having once belonged to her mentor X’rhun Tia, but is suspicious of how Morcant obtained it, as X’rhun told her he hasn’t taken other students in recent memory (save the WoL, if the WoL has unlocked RDM).

The player is given a choice between attempting to stalk Morcant for information, or finding X’rhun and asking about it. Either way, the player learns that they did know each other well over ten years ago; X’rhun seems to think they parted on good terms, while Morcant seems convinced X’rhun hates him. Alisaie thinks this is stupid and that everyone would be better off if they could work together to further the dying art, and tasks you with wrangling the two into the same location so they can make up. Once they successfully reconcile, Morcant comments that maybe the whole teamwork thing isn’t so bad, and asks if the Scions are still recruiting (”only so I can keep an eye on Alisaie, you understand”).

Romanceable?: Yes. A casual physical relationship is available to WoLs of any race or gender. The “true” romance route is only available to Viera WoLs.

Where they are in the open world:

[As an NPC]: Moves around frequently. Can be found in the marketplace section of all (unlocked) major cities, or in the Quicksand, the Culinarian’s Guild, the Gold Saucer, Camp Dragonhead, or Idyllshire.

[As a Scion]: There is a 50% chance he will be found in Idyllshire, working as a middleman between the Scions and Rowena and helping them source various artifacts. The other 50% remains split between the pool of NPC locations.

Default saying:

[As an NPC]: “Hey, stranger. Business or pleasure?”

[As a Scion]: “[WoL]! Up to anything interesting? Want me to tag along? You can do all the work if you’d like, I don’t mind.”

What do they typically do off-screen?: Presumably he does some treasure hunting of his own, sometimes. His official role in the Scions is to help source artifacts, as well as keep an ear out for information with his various contacts across Eorzea. His visits to the Gold Saucer slow down after being recruited, but they never stop entirely.

Things they Generally Approve of: The pursuit of knowledge, professional courtesy to other mercenaries, being invited to social gatherings, sparing no expense, wit and sarcasm, protecting the innocent or whatever Things they Generally Disapprove of: Rushing into situations blind, needlessly risking your neck when running away is an option, disregarding nature, White magic/the Seedseers, talking about emotions

Are they in a Grand Company? Which one?: Occasionally freelances for both the Maelstrom and the Eternal Flames, and may show up in quests involving them, but holds no official position in either.

Friends:

Within the Scions: Alisaie, Tataru, Alphinaud, Riol, Estinien

Outside the Scions: Haurchefant, Rowena, Lyngsath, Momodi, X’rhun

Small side mission(s): He’ll occasionally give small quests asking the player to bring him on a run of a specific dungeon (The Lost City of Amdapor, The Drowned City of Skalla, etc).

He also has a short romance quest, which is only triggered if he’s recruited to the Scions and reaches a high affinity with a Viera WoL. While everyone is gathered having a discussion in the Rising Stones, he suddenly snaps at the WoL, calling them a heretic and a traitor and several other insults, before storming off. The player can follow after him, or just wait a few days, after which he’ll show up and apologize, leading to more or less the same conversation: he didn’t mean any of those things, he actually thinks very highly of the WoL, he just doesn’t know how to reconcile them being a good person with the beliefs he’s held for years. Accepting his apology, or simply responding “just don’t do it again”, will keep him in the Scions and open the possibility for an eventual romantic confession. If you tell him to get out, he will leave the Scions permanently and you will not encounter him again, even as an adventurer in the overworld.

Potential tarot card changes:

If accepted into the Scions: Judgement

If not recruited/doesn’t reconcile with X’rhun: Two of Swords

If romanced by the WoL: Death

[tallbluelady]

WoL as NPC!

Name: Rowan Argentas Alternate Name or Alias?: Affectionately known as "The Tall Blue Lady" Race & Job: Duskwight Elezen Bard (only Bard when not the WoL) Nickname: Ro (High affection only) Default Tarot Card: The Fool (I only know major arcana lol)

Do they have the Echo? If so, how did they discover it?: Yes, gained it from watching Dalamud fall.

How/where does the WoL meet them?: In the South Shroud with Jehantel.

How are they recruited into the Scions?: Must have Urianger in the party, must have Urianger speak to her.

Romanceable?: (Can your character be romanced by the WoL?) Singly if Moenbryda survives the fight with Nabriales. Poly if WoL has a high affection with both her and Urianger (and Moenbryda if above criteria is met).

Where they are in the open world:

(As a Scion): Reading with Urianger in the Stones.

(As a NPC): Singing songs in Buscarron's Druthers with Jehantel.

Default saying: (when you want to talk to them in open world, how do they respond?)

(As a Scion): "Oh, do you need me for anything?"

(As a NPC): "Have a song request?"

What do they typically do off-screen?: Will either be reading up to learn magic or be training with Jehantel to become a better Bard.

Things they Generally Approve of: The rebuilding of Gelmorra, music, peaceful resolutions, good food. Things they Generally Disapprove of: The Elementals, the Garleans, large social events, being put in the spotlight, teasing Urianger.

Are they in a Grand Company? Which one?: None. An adventurer's lifestyle suited her better. She'll work for any as a freelancer.

Friends:

Within the Scions: Urianger, Moenbryda, Lyse, Alisaie, Estinien.

Outside the Scions: Jehantel, the Nevelles, Guydelot and Sanson.

Small side mission(s): (such as fetch quests, or an extended quest line) Finding the Song of Oblivion with Guydelot and Sanson. Follows HW's Bard quest line. Finding an appropriate gift for master Jehantel. A side quest is unlocked if Moenbryda dies that helps her admit her feelings to Urianger.  A different side quest is unlocked if Moenbryda survives that opens up the romance option with the WoL. One of the possible routes to unlock the Palace of the Dead dungeon. Potential tarot card changes: Don't know enough about Tarot to even try lmao.

Tagged by @azure-dragonsinger​! It was fun to scratch at while warming up my writing brain. I figured that the story could change if XIV was a single player game so there’s some AU shenanigans occurring here.

Uhh, free tag if you wanna try, template found here.

[ast-soulcrystal]

☆- WoL if they were an NPC meme [blank template here] by @vaniccio

Name: Branches (He wouldn't be called Ziero if he was an NPC) Alternate Name or Alias: His co-workers call him B or 'Neto Race & Job: Viera, Vigneron Nickname: Branch Default Tarot Card: i!King of Cups

Do they have the Echo? If so, how did they discover it?: When he was younger it would manifest while he was sleeping and attempt to impart knowledge of his estranged grandmother to him, he could never understand what the visions meant and would often just wake up with a migraine.

How does the WoL meet them?: The WoL can meet him upon arriving in Wineport for the first time, catching Branches taking a delivery to Master Gegeruju before the WoL meets him for the first time.

How are they recruited?: Branches catches wind of the fact that the WoL is going into the Aurum Vale dungeon, and not having had enough courage to go by himself he offers to join the Scions to help them with any living flora they encounter. If Branches is rejected, he can later during the events of Shadowbringers be found in Idyllshire working for Midnight Dew trying to find the elusive 'sour pucker morbol.' There is also a chance for Branches to be left to die in the Aurum Vale dungeon, should the WoL not take extra care to help Branches grab Morbol Fruit while fighting Locksmith.

Romanceable: (Can your character be romanced by WoL?) Branches is a bit stand-offish to any strangers- but if the WoL spends time completing Branches' personal quest, they have a chance to romance him. He likes big cat daddies and finds himself smitten quite often by tall bunny girls...

Where they are in the open world:

(As a Scion) Mor Dhona/Rising Stones: When not on a mission, he can be found arguing with Bloezoeng about the terrible wine selection at The Seventh Heaven. If Branches hasn't been romanced by the WoL by the events of Shadowbringers, he can be found shamelessly flirting with Riol whenever he gets the chance.

(As an NPC) Standing with Midnight Dew and the rest of the treasure hunter Goblins, trying to convince them to help him find Morbols.

(If left in the Aurum Vale) A small white flower, with crimson dappling, can be found growing near the entryway to the Aurum Vale...

Default saying: (when you want to talk to them in open world, how do they respond?)

Around The Seventh Heaven: "Listen, I don't know how many times I must tell you Bloezoeng: this vintage is AW-FUL. Do not make me get Y'Shtola to back me up on this!"

In the Rising Stones: "Oh sweet Riol, why do you only have eyes for the WoL?"

In Idyllshire: "Have you come to help me find the 'green pucker' morbol!? It is most imperative that I do, who knows what delicious nose we could get with the berries they produce!"

What they typically do off-screen: Perfectly happy to search for strange fruit-bearing morbols, and catch up with his friends in Wineport, one can find Branches traveling by foot quite often. He likes walking from town to town, seeing all the sights, and tramping through the underbrush any chance he gets. When on duty with the Scions, he does his best to provide cover with ranged attacks with pointed daggers-- that he can throw in (mostly) straight lines.

Things they Generally Approve of:

☑ Caring for the vineyards in Wineport, helping Byrglaent; ☑ The WoL talking about plants; especially if they are a Botanist; ☑ The WoL completing Levemetes with Aileen in Wineport

Things they Generally Disapprove of:

☒ The WoL carrying around morbol drops in their inventory, or having a morbol minion; ☒ Being asked to participate in large-scale battles; ☒ (if not romanced by the WoL,) going to places with lots of snow

Are they in a Grand Company? Which one?:

>> (As a Scion): Yes- he aligns with the same Grand Company as the WoL

>> (As an NPC): If the WoL aligns with the Maelstrom, he can be recruited into their squadron as a Ninja

Friends: (which in-game characters are they close with?)

> Riol > Urianger > Gegeruju > Pretty much everyone in Wineport and the Bloodshore > He knows a few folks in Limsa Lominsa as well, specifically around the docks

Small side mission(s): Branches will have annoyingly long fetch quests, that all end in having to go into older dungeons and performing an emote at a specific spot (something about observing the flora and how they react to dance...) He will reward the WoL with Vitality materia and dyable versions of accessories found in the dungeons he sends you into. At the start of each new expansion, he will request that you take him along to the first dungeon of the new zones.

(If romanced by the WoL): He will ask to do Fieldcraft Levemetes, and can be caught lovingly staring at the WoL as he gets distracted by the sweat on their brow.

Potential tarot card changes:

❖ If accepted in the Scions: The Hermit ❖ If romanced by the WoL: Knight of Cups ❖ If kept as an adventurer: Two of Pentacles ❖ If left in the Aurum Vale: i!Seven of Swords

[sunderedazem]

FFXIV OC Masterpost

Corrain Gealai de Fortemps

(ffxiv screencap, art by @/aazulean, art by @/minpage)

Age: 16 (ARR start), 22 (EW end), 24 (DT start)

Race: Keeper of the Moon Miqo'te

Gender: trans man

Sexuality: gay, polyamorous

Primary role: (the) Warrior of Light/Azem shard, lead OC

Primary ships: emetwolraha, azemet-by-proxy

Unsundered name: Helios

Character intro link: PENDING, intro game link here, WoL Template link here

Various AUs

Soulshards - Solo Warrior of Light universe. Not cowritten

your boldness stands alone among the wreck - AU in which Corrain is co-WoLs with @azems-familiar's Lelesu Lesu, and is a shard of Helios, the man who was once Azem.

in the shadow of the sun - Ascian Azem AU. In which it is @azems-familiar's Seleukos who becomes Azem, and Helios perishes in the Final Days. Corrain is reborn thirteen thousand years later- and Azem cannot stay away from the fragments of their best friend.

Inara Oronir Dotharl

Age: 25 (ARR start), 31 (EW end), 33 (DT start)

Race: Xaela Au'ra

Gender: cisgender, butch

Sexuality: lesbian

Primary role: Scion of the Seventh Dawn, Mercenary

Primary ships: Sadu, Cirina, and @azems-familiar's Yesuntei

Unsundered name: pending

Character intro link: here

Inara is a mercenary from the Steppe who possesses the Echo, and plays a supporting role in all of Corrain's (and Lelesu's) various AUs, though her role rarely changes. Originally a member of the Oronir tribe, she runs away to prove herself, and ends up working with the Scions of the Seventh Dawn until she (and Yesuntei) win the Naadam for the Mol, and she marries Sadu (and Cirina and Yesuntei).

Fraegeim Hezzfyrwyn

Age: 29

Race: Galdjent

Gender: cisgender

Sexuality: lesbian

Primary role: Warrior of Light of the First/Thirteenth (AU dependent)

Primary ships: N/A. Renda Rae, but never acted upon

Unsundered name: Helios

Character intro link: PENDING

Fraegeim is one of the fourteen disparate shards that Helios became after the Sundering, but her world of origin varies by AU. While she is always a shard of Corrain, and thus shares many personality traits with him- such as a love of mischief and laughter, a too-quick temper, and a childlike awe for the world in which she lives - whether or not she hails from the First or Thirteenth varies based on whether or not the AU is shared with Lelesu or Seleukos, mentioned above. When it is shared- she is Corrain's matching shard from the First (as Ardbert is Lelesu's matching shard). When he is the only WoL, she hails from the Thirteenth, and was slain much like Golbez was, after succumbing to Darkness.

Syewell Denman

Age: 39 (ARR Start)

Race: Hyur, Highlander

Gender: bigender, uses all pronouns

Sexuality: queer (otherwise undefined)

Primary role: Ala Mhigan refugee, companion and check on the Warrior of Light (possesses the Echo)

Primary ships: Elidibus (and Elidibus/Asklepios)

Unsundered name: Asklepios

Character into link: PENDING

(More OCs to come. This is a Certainty. Help me)

(SWTOR OC masterpost here!)

[aindoesart]

orig templates: x x

drawing more of my WoL again 👀 I'm obsessed.. can't stop hearing quotes from random sources and going "omg.... That's So Lenny™️" and the fashion in this game is just so fun!!

might make more WoL intros for some of my friends, but it depends how things go

Edit: I have since changed her name from Len'oa Sutan to Lenoa Ainzel. Turns out the apostrophe in her first name wasn't really lore accurate, and I like that kind of stuff. And I wanted to relate her more to my chosen name. :]

[booty-uprooter]

Nhaza'to Jaab as an NPC, Part 1

original template by vaniccio

Name: Nhaza'to Jaab, + his nine-year-old daughter, Nori, who is always accompanying him and is here represented by this random nameless Miqitten. Nori herself is a Keeper of the Moon Miqitten with black hair and gold eyes who wears a unique pink dress that changes every expansion. Here's a random picture of her as one of my retainers:

just to give some idea of what she looks like, and another picture of a character based on her in another game I don't play anymore:

just to give some idea of the style of clothes she wears.

Alternate Name or Alias?: none

Race & Jobs: Keepers of the Moon

Nhaza'to's job varies, but between the quests he appears in he's usually (but not always) either an Arcanist/Summoner or a Fisher (he's a RDM above because it's my most npc-ish glam). In trusts he's either a Gunbreaker, Summoner (in Shadowbringers), Reaper (in Endwalker), or green Arcanist (functionally a Scholar, but with the Arcanist job icon, a regular Carbuncle instead of a fairy, and the unexplained ability to cast Medica II). As a Summoner he can't summon Phoenix, and instead summons Bahamut more often. You can also change his trust job by gifting him a weapon of the job you'd prefer, though it won't change his stats at all.

Nori is normally a Fisher, but in trusts she's a Dancer. Unlike Lyna, she'll actually select the other DPS as her Dance Partner.

Nicknames: Nhaz and Noringo/Ringo

Do they have the Echo? If so, how did they discover it?: They both do, but never mention it so you don't find out until Nhaz becomes a Summoner in Heavensward, and Nori having it is never mentioned at all. It most likely came to them in a dream.

Nhaz's Echo manifests as him and Nori actually being physically present (rather than avatars) in trusts.

Nori's Echo gives her even more of an advance warning of attacks than the player. Functionally, her evasion is so high she never gets hit, even when stacking (her share of the damage does not get applied to the rest of the party; it's just gone).

How/where does the WoL meet them?: If the player starts in Limsa Lominsa or Ul'dah, they'll be inside their starting guild. If the player starts in Gridania, they'll be in the airport landing when you first arrive in Limsa Lominsa. The first time you talk to him, Nhaza'to explains that he's a researcher studying combat styles.

They appear outside wherever the guild/jobmaster hangs out every time you start a new class quest, as whatever the job in question is, but don't participate in the quests. For example, if you pick up a Pugilist class quest, when you exit the guild, they'll be standing right outside, and Nhaz will be a Pugilist. If you pick up another job quest before finishing the current one, they'll move outside each subsequent area. With the classes where the job master moves around, but still has a location the job master is associated with, they'll appear in that location (for example, for all of the DRK quests, they appear in the lower floor of the Forgotten Knight), and for the ones where the job master has no location they're associated with, they'll be hanging out in the Adventurer's Guild for whatever city-state they're in (unless they're in Gridania, in which case they'll be in Revenant's Toll).

In Disciple of the Land quests, they'll be hanging out in the area where you can find the target items. If you're working on a Gridanian job quest, or looking for an item that can only be found in the Black Shroud, they'll instead be found either in the Observatorium (for post LV 30 jobs), Highbridge (for CNJ, LNC, or ARC), or the Airport Landing in Ul'dah (for Miner) or Limsa Lominsa (for Fisher or Botanist).

If you talk to Nhaz during a job quest, he'll comment on some of the class mechanics relevant to the level of the quest you're on--for example, during the LV 5 Pugilist quest he'll point out how you can't do the next part of your combo if your attack misses. The first time you talk to them after accepting a Gridanian job quest, Nhaza'to will explain that he's from an island settled by Keepers and Duskwrights who elected to leave Eorzea entirely rather than be forced to assimilate to Gridanian culture or be branded criminals, so he spends as little time as physically possible in the Twelveswood. At higher levels he'll talk more about his daughter or relay anecdotes about their recent misadventures, and during the Dancer quests he goes from talking about Nori being interested in learning to recounting how her training is going. During Disciple of the Hand quests he'll give you a random amount of materials necessary to craft the quest item (except in Stormblood, when you don't need outside materials. Instead, he'll talk about an unspecified project he's working on).

If you talk to Nori, at first she won't talk to you at all and will just hide behind her dad. Any time you talk to her (regardless of if you're on a job quest), if you have any kind of milk in your inventory, instead of dialogue you might get a prompt that says "Nori is looking at your bag knowingly," and you're given the option to trade for a random monster drop. She has a hidden TP (i.e., Trust Point) stat that is raised by talking to Nhaza'to (each time you get a line of dialogue from him for the first time it's 50TP, and every repeated line is 10TP), completing her quest (5000TP), trading milk with her (100TP), or inviting them on trusts (1000TP). Once you reach at least 500TP, she'll start talking about some of the local food or nearby places she likes to play.

How are they recruited into the Scions?:  If you talk to Nhaza'to after getting his linkpearl (details below), he'll mention that watching you fight has been really helpful for his research and ask if he can do so more often. If you say yes, he'll become an all-rounder and Nori will become a DPS option. You cannot use one of them as a trust member without the other. They don't have an active role in the MSQ so they aren't available as duty support.

Romanceable?: Nhaza'to is to players who've leveled every job (incl. Disciples of the Hand/Land) to at least LV 70, recruited him as a trust, finished Nori's quest, and earned the maximum 65535TP with Nori.

Where they are in the open world: When you aren't on a job quest, their location varies based on time of day, weather, and RNG. Regardless of where they are, during the day they're usually playing together or fishing, and in the evening/at night Nhaza'to either deep in thought or sitting somewhere surrounded by books and papers and Nori is either eating or dozing off. Every so often, regardless of if they're Scions or not, Nhaza'to will appear as a Culinarian in Drest's hut (you'll be able to know he's there because Nori will be standing outside), where he'll explain that he likes to check on him from time to time to check on his health and make sure he has a store of proper meals to eat. After Heavensward they'll start showing up in Idyllshire, where Nori will mention her friends Khloe and T'kebbe. If you've unlocked Zhloe's custom deliveries, Nhaza'to will talk about how he helps her out by doing chores and tutoring the orphans.

(As a Scion): In Shadowbringers, they hang out on Pier #2 in Kugane during the day, the bathhouse in the evening, and Nhaza'to is right outside of the inn at night. In Endwalker, they hang out on the pier in Sharlyan during the day, at the Last Stand in the evening, and he'll be hanging out alone in the lobby of the Baldesion Annex at night.

(As a NPC): When not in Idyllshire or visiting Drest, during the day he and Nori will be on the beach in either Costa del Sol or Mist if the weather is fine/clear. Otherwise, they appear in random locations all around La Nocea and Limsa Lominsa. In the evening, they're in either the Drowning Wench or the lobby of the Topmast Apartments. At night, he's there by himself.

Default saying:

(As a Scion): Nhaza'to: "Hello, [Firstname]! Do you want to go adventuring? I think I have an extra treasure map or two here somewhere..." [he may or may not give you a random one at this point]; Nori: "Hi, [Mister/Miss Firstname]. Do you like my dress? Da made it for me."

(As a NPC): Nhaza'to: "Hello! Did you see how cute my Nori is today? Of course, she's cute everyday."; Nori: "Hello. Did you come to help Da with his work?"

What do they typically do off-screen?: They pretty much do the same things off-screen as they do on-screen, lol.

When not helping out around Menphina's Arms or looking after Drest, Nhaza'to is working, fishing, or taking care of Nori.

Nori is usually playing, fishing, or studying.

Things they Generally Approve of:

Nhaza'to likes treasure hunting, going on adventures, hearing stories about adventure, and people who earn Nori's trust.

Nori likes milk, fishing, and dancing.

Things they Generally Disapprove of: 

Nhaza'to hates Gridania, Hearers, the elementals, Wood Wailers, being under/overstimulated, crowded places, noisy people, people who are stuck up or elitist, people insulting or threatening his daughter, etc.

Nori doesn't like dry food, crowded places, noisy people, or strangers.

Are they in a Grand Company? Which one?: they are not

Friends:

Within the Scions: Nhaza'to gets along fairly well with all of them, but is particularly close to Tataru, G'raha, Alisaie, and Y'shtola. In addition to those four, Nori also likes Thancred and Urianger because they spoil her.

Outside the Scions: Nhaza'to is well-acquainted with pretty much everyone associated with the job stories, but most often talks about the rogues. He's also good friends with Zhloe Aliapoh, Drest, Brayflox Alltalks, and Shamani Lohmani. Nori is friends with Khloe Aliapoh, T'kebbe, and Rielle.

Small side mission(s):

The only actual quest that specifically involves them is picked up from Nori. It becomes available after you've unlocked airship travel and have spoken to Nhaza'to at least once. Until you complete it (and so long as you don't have any job quests active), Nhaza'to will be talking to Rubh Epocan inside the Arcanists Guild and Nori will be watching the Arcanists practicing with their Carbuncles downstairs. The quest involves Nori wanting to visit Gridania but not wanting to mention as much to Nhaza'to because she knows he doesn't want to go there. You then have to go talk to Nhaz, get permission to take Nori on a "little field trip", and then escort her on a tour around New and Old Gridania before returning to the Arcanists Guild and turning the quest in to Nhaza'to. As a reward, he gives you some money and a cosmetic outfit.

After you finish the allied beast tribe quest for Stormblood and max out all the Shadowbringers beast tribes, you can find Nhaza'to on the pier in Kugane deep in thought, and with Nori nowhere in sight. There's no quest marker, but if you talk to him he'll ask if you've heard anything about his brother recently, at which point you'll get an option between "You have a brother?" and "Yeah, about that..." If you pick the first option, he'll explain Keeper naming conventions and clarify that he's referring to Nhaza'a Jaab. Either way, once you explain that the last you saw of him was him being dragged underwater by a shark, he comments "My idiot brother doesn't have the good sense to die that easily," then gives you a linkpearl and asks you to please contact him right away if you hear anything.

Randomly, you'll be given the option to ask Nori about her mother, to which she'll just cock her head quizzically and say that she only has a dad. The next time you talk to Nhaza'to when he's alone, he'll explain that Nori's mother died in an accident when she was only a few days old, and he decided to raise her himself rather than entrust her to relatives.

Tagging: I'm inflicting this on @druidquest because I know she won't do it but really anyone who wants to can go for it.

[fmlfpl]

Lineup Lamentations - GW26

Our Transfers, Captains, and Starting 11s for the week!

Friday My Life also just went up for Patreon subs. Get in.

—

WALSH

TRANSFERS:

OUT: Martial, Haller, Maupay

IN (for -4 points hit): Traoré, Jiménez, Ings

Time to embrace the template for my squad.

Feels like it's time to get rid of some of these shitehouses and get in some actual good players and good picks. Not overthinking here and just going for the simple good guys which is actually really hard for me. Progress? Who is to say.

Could afford this on the nose, and we went into the reasoning behind the shift away from what we discussed on the normal pod in the my life pod we just did.

I'm hiding Pointstram for now because I can and will look at shifting him out soonish or whenever.

Getting rid of Neal is also just simply dreamland.

GK:

Schmeichel (wol)

Schmike will continue to torment me until I WC him out. It has been written.

At least I'll get to keep him on the bench for 58 days / however long this gameweek is for sweet baby Fredlad Woodman my favorite love.

DEF:

Three guys in defense for the near term - pretty streamlined and feeling goodish about it.

Alexander-Arnold & Gomez (nor)

Trent and Joemez need no words. Legends.

Stephens (BUR)

Jack the lad Stephens gets a start with a good on paper fixture and will get a run for a while in my team.

It would be amazing if they keep like one in two cleans for this plum fixture run so hopefully that comes in.

MID:

De Bruyne & Mahrez (WHU)

Kevin and Mahrez hopefully both enjoy massive banana eggplant hauls against West Ham. Great fixture great players get great points please.

Salah (nor)

Mo is still in, another one who needs no discussion.

Traoré (LEI)

Lastly is new friend Adama...really never thought I'd see the day with him in my XI not gonna lie here.

Biggest upside is me and Producer Nathan can be hand holding friends now in the fan club.

Don't really have a lot of expectations for him but at his price and with how he's looked he seems like he'll be in with some reasonable points.

FWD:

A lot of upheaval here

Agüero (WHU)

Kun is still in as my treble City attack goes again.

Ings (BUR)

Dings in for this nice fixture run seems like a good safe pick as previously mentioned. He's looked good and they look good.

Jiménez (LEI)

Same goes for Jim. Good tick merchant good player good pick blahblablhab ok points will make me happy.

CAP:

Agüero (WHU)

Kun let's go Kun.

Really took a lot from Alon to get me off Mo and on to Kun.

Playing the big diff cap and the team that put up 5xG last game against spurs means they should put up 10xG this game right? I'm not sure if that's how it works but if it is then seems good.

Rolling dice on diff cap maybe it'll regain me the points and places I lost last weekend...or double down and I'll keep falling.

—

ALON

TRANSFERS:

OUT: N/A

IN: N/A

Wanted to go super aggro with my move(s) and get in as many City attackers as possible for the incoming haul against West Ham but alas talked it out with myself and then with pod partner on Fri My Life and we ended up here.

Boring but my team is good.

GK:

Henderson (BOU)

With triple Sheff U defense watching their matches is utter torture. I am not looking forward to it but Hendo is great.

DEF:

Alexander-Arnold & Gomez (nor)

Easy, breezy, beautiful, Liverpool boys.

Egan & Bashamn (BOU)

As I mentioned, just torture. 90′ of absolute torture.

Come on you Blades.

MID:

Salah (nor)

He’s really good.

De Bruyne (WHU)

Also really good. Hopefully whatever perversity City are up to I at least get some Kevin points to mitigate any damage.

Son (avl)

Feel great about my Son pick and our Spurs chat on Monday’s pod. Feel like people will be moving towards Son quickly and we know if he hits form he can light up the league with tons of goals in a short period of time...

Villa are ripe for a hiding.

FWD:

Aubameyang (NEW)

Despite all the missed chances sticking with Aubz for a bit with eye to turn him into Vardy in GW28 when he blanks and Leicester’s good run begins.

Newcastle are still god awful and so I’m hoping for some dongs here. Pleeeeeeaaasssseeee dong me baby one more time.

Jiménez (LEI)

Leicester defense are in shambles and Jim should have his way with Soy and co.

Ings (BUR)

Great fixture, good form, good team, I feel really solid with Ings in the good run. About time.

CAP:

Son (avl)

Again back to referencing Friday My Life pod but I’m just feeling the differential caps in this moment... Not that I don’t think Mo will score vs. Norwich he probably will get a return but my main points were 1. I think Liverpool will have an eye on conserving energy and just coasting to a one or two goal win and 2. Liverpool under Klopp are usually very disjointed and just “off” after a break and this is a long break. Can’t really explain it but players usually seem out of rhythm and just struggle a little bit...

Son seems like my best guy with the best fixture and highest ceiling in what could be a ~4ish goal performance from Spurs for me.

I’ve liked how they’ve looked recently and I’m betting on it.

Come on Sonny boy.

[nonamedalbinoauri]

WoL Inspo Chart Meme  ▶ Susaan Kagon

↳  template from twitter

so...Bill, Angela, and Tendi are all on there for the sense of wonder they all possess as they see new things. Tendi is more on the energetic "OMG THIS IS SO COOL" that Susy has, while Angela is more of the "fish out of water," but with the fierce loyalty to her new “clan.” Bill has the wonder, but a lot of the "ok, let's do this" attitude.

Elsa is on here for the ice aspect...but also to represent Susy’s exile from her people, as well as the fear of who she is and what she can do.

Nora is here for the happy attitude and kinda carefree spirit...that also hides a bit of brokenness from other people that only comes out with those she trusts the most. Mind you, I’ve only seen through season 6, I have some catching up to do.

Whang-od is an actual tattoo artist in the Philippines...she is the last and oldest practitioner of Kalinga tattooing.

Tagged by: @furys-mercy​! Sorry this took me so dang long to finish!

Tagging: Anyone who would like to take a whack at it, I know I’m really late to the game here, lol