#you also get ffxiv music

[izayoichan]

A moment for us. 🎶

(pose by @simmireen)

[finneander]

if dawntrail has a million fans, i'm one of them

if dawntrail has 5 fans, I'm one of them.

if dawntrail has 1 fan, that one is me

if dawntrail has no fans, i'm no longer alive

if the world is against dawntrail, then i am against the entire world

till my last breath, I'll support dawntrail

[remma-demma]

Thinking about how similar Lucretia TAZ and G’raha Tia FFXIV are………

[pacificovertures]

@blackglasses66 asked me to draw someone in the jirai kei girl outfit and the spinner landed on him. you’re welcome.

[astrxealis]

mobile tumblr's new format what the fuck!

[sexybritishllama]

what i say when i'm trying to get people to play ffxiv: there's such an incredible amount of content that there's something for everyone. you get an intricate jrpg plot with fantastic characters and worldbuilding that also makes YOUR character feel like an actual person somehow despite the limitations that come with customisable pcs. there's 21 different combat classes which you can all do on one character so there's always something new to learn and improve upon, but if you want to specialise that's totally cool too! there's raiding obviously but if you're not into that there's all sorts of side things like crafting, fishing (yes this is its own category), housing, island sanctuary, pvp, and so much more i can't even list. the music goes so hard. people are generally super friendly to newcomers and yes it's a meme but there's a super generous trial up to level 70 with no restrictions on playti—

what i should say when i'm trying to get people to play ffxiv: look at this

[noxtivagus]

tyvm for the tag kat 🤍

night in the brume - ffxiv

bulbel - mili

amplify - ren zotto

existence - granblue fantasy

moonlight at midday - tsukuyomi

tagging ( only if you want! c: ) ; @astrxealis @yorimuse @sk2lton @/anyone consider yourself tagged if you see this, these r just the only users i remember rn bcs tumblr on my phone is glitching :<

✨when u get this u have to put 5 songs u actually listen to, publish. then, send this ask to 10 of your favorite followers (non-negotiable, positivity is cool) 🎶✨

say amen

dont threaten me with a good time

death of a bachelor

riptide

sofia

tagging: everyone readng this

[luck-and-larceny]

FFXIV Write: Morsel

Marrant’s first and second love is himself. His third love is also himself. But somewhere a little way after that is music. 

Those are qualities we share, I suppose.

Where we disagree is on the topic of image. Marrant cannot rest until he proves to the world that he's every bit as important, intelligent and talented as he fully believes himself to be. He is certain he's a divine gift sent from the Twelve themselves to be idolized and admired by an adoring public. The problem comes when he encounters people who do not realize this. These ungrateful fools cause him to lose sleep, for if there is even one person who might doubt his capability he tosses and turns in bed, fully consumed by a gnawing need to prove them wrong. 

I cannot even begin to comprehend that. To me, it's more fun to be regarded differently by different people. I thrive as much off people hating me as I do them adoring me. 

So when Marrant tells me that he needs me to steal Audr Shade’s latest musical composition because it will win this year's competition I'm not surprised. He could never handle people thinking someone else's work was better than his own (though it often was). 

I am surprised when Marrant tells me that he needs me to also rob his place of the composition he was going to submit to the competition because, “It's not good enough and I won't embarrass myself by letting them hear it. But I also won't embarrass myself by not submitting it.”

“But you will embarrass yourself by asking your ex-girlfriend– who we've already established hates you and you hate in return– to steal it from you? Why not just say it was stolen?”

He rolls his eyes to make it clear to me that he's already considered that and he's disappointed that I can't keep up with his superior intellect.

“Unless it looks like it was actually stolen they'll see through it. They'll gossip amongst themselves that I made the whole robbery up because I was too ashamed to admit my incompetence. Despicable little cretins.”

“Oh, absolutely,” I agree, “It's so hard to find good, honest people to take you at your word these days while you're hiring thieves to wreck your home so you can save face in a stupid little music contest.”

His eyes light up with rage. Uh oh. That means a boring lecture will soon rain down upon me. 

“It's NOT a ‘stupid little music’ contest. The fact that I need to tell you that says so much about you and your lack of culture. All these years later and you still don't care about the things that matter, do you?”

“Nah,” I agree, “You need this done tonight, right? I'll need addresses…”

“The Gridanian Songwriting Competition is the most innovative and creative music celebration in all of Eorzea–”

“Wouldn't know it from the name,” I interrupt, “They use up all the innovation and creativity budget before getting to that?”

He ignores me. That's probably the right call. “Every important name in music and aspiring artist attends the competition. The winner becomes the most respected name in music for the entire year. As a professional musician there is no greater honor than to be acknowledged by the committee. If you spent half as much time on your music as you do skulking about, breaking windows and shoplifting–”

“Then I wouldn't be able to save you from utter humiliation at this contest by robbing you. So really, thank the Twelve I'm such an uncultured child, right?” 

He sniffs and says nothing because he knows I'm right. I'll savor this tiny victory crumb.

“Audr Shade is a genius. A musical genius.” It is a great struggle for Marrant to form these words and if I didn't despise him so much I might even pity him. Instead, I relish this. This is delicious.

“But he's also a heathen,” he says. “He is rude, uncouth, undignified and undeserving of the award.”

“Sounds like my kind of guy,” I reply.

“You'd like him,” he admits with a shrug. “But I still need you to steal that music if you want information on the Tempest Tapestry.”

“I steal from a lot of people I like,” I casually shrug back. 

“You're a terrible person,” he says and I don't disagree. Instead, I take down the address and make my plans to rob the musical genius and this insufferable bore tonight.

I might be a bad person, but at least I won't be a bored one.

[bestgameostcrownduel]

Round 1, Side A: Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers (2019) vs Kingdom Hearts 3 (2019)

FFXIV | Kingdom Hearts

Campaigns under the cut!

Campaign for FFXIV:

oh my god where do I start. Final Fantasy XIV (FFXIV) is an MMORPG that's been going on 2013, or 2010 if you count the trainwreck that the current FFXIV replaced (the 2010 version's music was composed mainly by Uematsu, 2013 onwards is mostly Soken). Thus its OST is FUCKING HUGE and spans a whole lot of genres. If you like any kind of music at all you can probably find at least one track that speaks to you in this game. FFXIV has a category of incredibly difficult fights called Ultimate, comprised of multiple short phases that each have their own music. Because of the nature of how Ultimates are structured, they're the only fights in FFXIV where the music can actually be timed to the mechanics. If you're not afraid of story spoilers, look up any ultimate's BGM and you can see how cool this effect is. (I can't listen to Under the Weight without also hearing the sound of every mechanic and tankbuster.) (My personal favorite ultimate, music-wise, is The Epic of Alexander. Back when I was progging the fight I used to fall asleep listening to the BGM.) To The Edge is so so special to everyone who loves FFXIV. It's the theme of a boss in Shadowbringers; I can't give details without also giving major spoilers, but I will say that the story and this song deal with the themes of death and loss. If you look up the lyrics, which aren't too spoilery without context, you'll get what I mean. What makes this extra emotional is that FFXIV's main composer, Soken, was in the hospital fighting cancer when he composed this song. (To be clear: he kept working because it provided him with a desperately needed sense of normalcy, not because he needed to.) No one on the dev team knew aside from Yoshi P, FFXIV's producer + director as well as Soken's personal friend; the rest of the team found out the same time the fans did, months after the fact when Soken was in full remission, at the 2021 FFXIV Fan Festival (FanFest). To The Edge was already widely beloved prior to this because it's an incredible banger tied to an incredible story moment, but knowing what was going on behind the scenes during its composition, in addition to the story and song's own themes surrounding death, turns it into a piece that no one can listen to without getting wildly emotional about it. At the same FanFest, before Soken announced that he fought cancer and won, he performed this live: https://youtu.be/aBt4zT_PBmw?si=SgzTV9BvINfA0b-U Absolute king shit. With Hearts Aligned is also so so so special to me because it's the song that plays in the 'victory lap' second phase against the final boss that caps off a nine year long story arc. It features a leitmotif from The Maker's Ruin, a song from 2013, that represents the player and is often used when we overcome seemingly insurmountable odds. There are no words that can describe the sheer fucking emotion of fighting the final boss of a nine year long story arc while listening to the leitmotif that represents YOU, a leitmotif that you first heard however many weeks or months or years ago when you first started playing this game. The ultimate triumph, and the ultimate song of hope. Also if you like leitmotifs, FFXIV has /so many leitmotifs/. Have a spreadsheet of them: https://x.com/EENlX/status/1686043012353396736?s=20 Also also, Alex Moukala on youtube does more in-depth analysis of some of the best tracks in FFXIV! Great videos, I highly recommend checking them out.

I would put the entire game's soundtrack if I could but there's a LOT. The album I listed is for the "postgame" of Shadowbringers. Of particular note is the song "To The Edge" which was written while the composer, Masayoshi Soken, was battling with cancer.

Campaign for KH3:

yoko shimomura, the GODDESS, the LEGEND, her composing skills never fail to amaze! kh music is so so goodddddd

I’m not good with propagandizing but the OST for this series is so good. For KH3, I love so much of the soundtrack. The Disney worlds have some great tracks, but the endgame and dlc has almost nothing but bangers.

[sunderedazem]

I know i already have a dawntrail reaction post here with a genuine take but i am going to bitch again because i saw some condescending shit and got annoyed. So yeah. This is a vent. If it's not about you then it's not about you, you know? I'm not naming anyone b/c it's an aggregate annoying not a That Person Is Annoying.

Anyway.

Have a certain segment of the people who liked all or most of DT considered that perhaps, some people who disliked parts of dawntrail (especially the latter half) dislike it because they understood and actually just *disagree* with the themes and portrayal of the themes of that portion of the game? I don't dislike it because I didn't get it or because i didn't interpret it correctly (because this shit is subjective too!), I dislike it because it feels like it's spitting on the themes of the previous two expansions to me. Maybe the patch quests will resolve that dislike, i don't know. The Arcadion raids are helping a little, admittedly. If it keeps going like that I might start appreciating things I didn't before.

(Spoilers below here)

BUT- I will never be okay with the fact that all of Living Memory gets deleted, and the people of Alexandria do not have their memories of their lost loved ones restored. To me, that is not moving on, or moving forward, and our characters, the Scions, and the Tuliyollali (?) do not actually have the capability or right to remember these people on behalf of Alexandria when Alexandria's people *still exist*.

The past two expansions have involved uncovering and remembering, or at least acknowledging, a forgotten people, while also protecting the people of today. The Ascians are not an existing society deliberately divesting themselves from their past, they are a nearly-dead people who want the past back. And we choose to remember them, as Emet-selch asks, because we are his last chance of Amaurot not being utterly lost to time. We are literally his last resort. Our win means his people stay dead. He asks us to remember because we're the only people left who even know a little bit about Amaurot.

But Alexandria is a society that is still present! It still has its own culture, its own history, it's own right to keep and change and preserve all of that! But it's people don't appear to know when people die (or if they're killed for their souls, as is implied with Ambrose) or about psychonekrosis. They literally don't remember death. And they all deserve an actual chance to be able to preserve their own culture and history and to remember their own dead! Shutting down Living Memory with NO provisions made for them to be able to preserve the memory of their past *if they so choose to* is nothing like the previous themes of FFXIV and I don't like that. At all.

I am very tired of people acting like a dislike for Dawntrail indicates incomprehension or worse, malice somehow. Or acting like this point of view is completely incomprehensible and means "you're just mad it's not SHB and that's unfair to the devs" or etc. (or the worst- somehow assuming I'm a reddit dudebro who hates Wuk Lamat because I can't handle a leading woman if I ever mention that I thought her character was misused in the latter half of DT.)

I'm really, genuinely happy for you if you loved the latter half of DT. It was visually stunning. The music all slaps. Heritage Found is fucking eerie as shit and the intro to this part of the game with Namikka gave me good heebiejeebies. I can see why people enjoyed it. But to me, the end felt like a series of just...shock value emotional moments. It felt pointless and worse, kind of careless and callous (at least from a Watsonian viewpoint). And I would like that to NOT be called a "red flag lol" thank you. I'm perfectly sure I can hold a normal fucking discussion with people who loved the shit outta Dawntrail about things we mutually enjoyed.

Idk man. This is a vent post, obviously. And I do get that Twitter and Reddit are being Twitter and Reddit. I'm not on them for a few reasons but that nastiness is the main one. But it's also really fucking annoying to keep seeing shit that amounts to "If you dislike or criticize DT at all you're a nasty foul person/stupid idiot who is objectively wrong and you're not worth speaking to ever again." Like dude- can we NOT reactively slide to the polar opposite of the reddit dudebros. Can we just acknowledge that they have viewpoints that are shit *outside* the game that are causing them to have shitty other opinions.

Sighs. Anyway.

[cklukilutz]

When it comes to the arts (music, film, theater, etc), what does your character like?

🎵 MUSIC 🎵

Her favourite genres are rock and industrial. She'll dance to pretty much anything if she's at a party or club though. And her guilty pleasure of pop music gets outted at karaoke events (especially after a few drinks).

Less enjoyed genres include the screamo side of metal (she kindas hates it), and country/western.

🎞️ FILM 🎞️

Luki's very much into action, horror, and sci-fi flicks. She's also love Disney animation (if it exists in FFXIV), but she won't watch them with you as she's likely to cry at whatever character death they throw in there. And she doesn't want you to know she cries at movies sometimes.

She doesn't like westerns. Unless they're space westerns. Or involve some level of thirller/horror.

🎭 THEATER 🎭

Unless it's specific to her interests, she's unlikely to watch a play.

🎨 ART 🎨

She no interest in renaissance type of art, or standing around in museums looking at any world renowned works, but she'll go crazy for something you made.

I can't think of all the specific arts types, so if there's something I missed that you're curious about, feel free to ask away. There's so many, and every ask helps me shape Luki as a character.

So thank you so much for this ask, @captain-rez!! 💖

[meatball-headache]

I have done the alliance!

I have no idea what happened. Yes, mostly because I had all battle effects turned on :D Can't overstate how much fun/what a bad idea that is. Also, whenever I take a screenshot, my computer drops to like 3 fps for thirty seconds, so that's something.

But that's on me, so, I'll find some way to deal with it. Just have to practice more, I guess. It didn't help that I was playing on monk, which honestly I don't know well enough to do new content on. It's got a surprising amount of OGCDs for a job where its thing is supposed to be "Greased Lightning makes you super fast, no time for OGCDs!" But maybe there's a bob-and-weave thing...

Right, right, so, the alliance. Like I said, I have no idea what happened. Okay, untrue. I was dead for most of the time, so I did have a chance to suss out most of the mechanics. Some I didn't quite grok, due to the overwhelming amount of battle effects, so, gonna take a few more runs.

Is this what folks who didn't play FFT or Neir felt when we had the Ivalice and Yorha raids? I liked those a lot, but then, I played the games they were from. I played FFXI, yes, but not much. In FFXIV terms, you could say I played, but I never got to Ifrit. All I did was hang out and grind levels... by myself... slowly. So slowly...

I liked Prishe, lot of personality in her voice lines, and I liked the Five Guys fight. They were all good, but I liked those the most. Five Guys was the only one that wiped us—remember when doing content on patch day meant you'd see the duty timer run out for sure?—and it's also the only one I stayed sort of alive on. I was dead for most of all the rest of the fights. Our whole party was, A and B really carried us.

First impressions: it's very good, I like it more than Aglaia, or at least more than I liked Aglaia at first. But, the story for the Aglaia series bugged me—you go to Olympus Coliseum and then it's "oh hey the Twelve are actually real btw, also they want to fight you because Reasons." We'll see where the story goes here, and, like I implode, I'm not very familiar with FFXI, so I can't say much about the story. All I know is Shantotto, Absolute Virtue, eat hot chip and lie.

The mechanics are exciting, lots of movement and watching stuff, figuring stuff out. Read the move and respond, it's not just by-the-numbers. The music is... it has this weird quality to it where it sounds like there's just less? There's less instruments, or less notes? I don't know, it just doesn't sound as... dense, as the rest of FFXIV's music. Are they using the original tracks from the game? Is this a new remix performed by the Soken Quartet? I'll have to play it a few more times to get it to stick.

Tell you what, though—I'm AFK in Jeuno right now, listening to the music, and I finally realize that this is what I've been humming when I did the dishes for the past twenty years...

[paintedscales]

People I Want to Know Better

Tagged by @lal-ffxiv (I meant to do this, but forgot until you rb'd your original post with an update ksjdfsdf)

I also tagged a good handful of people the last time I did this some time...last week? So open tag! If you want to do it, do it! Post here on my other blog.

Last Song: 8 Legged Dreams by Unlike Pluto (immediate arachnophobia warning in video)

Favorite Color: Still crimson~ But I do like other colors, too. Like phthalo blue or phthalo green. Good colors right there.

Currently Watching: I have some of Vinny's Silent Hill 4 videos playing in the background. I'm not really watching them? More like background noise to keep my brain stimulated while I work, otherwise I get too in my own head about stuff.

Last Movie: Still Spy x Family: Code White for now.

Sweet/Spicy/Savory: Big sweet tooth, and savoring what sweets I can before my family medical history can catch up and take that away from me.

Relationship Status: A week closer to mine and my partner's 14th year anniversary on Halloween since the last time I filled this out. :p

Current Obsessions: //motioning toward blog// You better believe it's still Nomin and Estinien. Smooching, hugging, loving each other. But also, my Primam and Prompto ship has been pretty loud lately, and they're probably my most wholesome ship, and they fill me with the fuzzies.

Last Thing I Googled: "tomodachi life music"

[nihilnovisubsole]

i am, as promised, having buckets of fun with the catboy game, and i'm not even at the part where it's supposed to Get Good yet

i snagged a spot on balmung because its notoriety appealed to my morbid curiosity. marie_kondo_i_love_mess.gif. at first i was disappointed. my starting town was so quiet! then i went to ul'dah and got swarmed by bikini avatars and chat logs about becoming someone's kitten. now that's the MMO experience i remember from the good old days!

ul'dah's music is gorgeous, though

in all seriousness, it's not hard to see why people fall so in love with this game. like persona 5, it wants you to be earnest. it hopes you'll roleplay a hero and approach it with an open heart. unlike persona 5, it dreams in 70 millimeters. it's an epic, from the massive vistas to the powers shaping the world. it's its own game with its own lore, but contains just enough of the final fantasy sourdough starter to make veteran fans feel at home. ffvi was a deeply formative experience for me. in ffxiv, i get more of what i like! it's all upsides here.

i mentioned my primary MMO experience is ragnarok. this is an advantage. i've come to ffxiv over-prepared. the low base attack speed and presence of global cooldowns makes the pace of combat much slower and more manageable. in ragnarok, DPS is about how fast you can spam your skills, which makes for utter chaos and absurd repetitive strain. i was warned that dragoons have a bunch of buttons to press, but so far lancer has been fine. i'll keep at it and see how it goes.

speaking of, it's amazing how a few targeted quality-of-life features make the game so much more playable. i can spend all night in it, and i have! i can auto-run in the overworld, i can teleport from anywhere, and i've mapped the keys to do all movement and combat with my left hand. i only use my drawing hand for moving the camera and navigating stuff like the inventory, which gives it plenty of room to rest.

people also mentioned that this is a game that encourages you to get attached to your characters. i'm feeling that, and i enjoy it. it's been a very long time since i've immersed myself in making a video game OC. i don't want to get too carried away with developing her until i've seen more of the plot and learned more about the world. still, it's nice.

i should remember not to take it too seriously. this game has a well-cultivated silly side

do you ever wonder what baby lalafell look like

i want merlwyb's coat dress

[koijikido]

Koiji Kido

Nickname: Koi Age: 46 Nameday: 15. Sun in 3. Astral Moon (15. May) Race: Viera - Veena Gender: male Orientation: gay Profession: wood warder, dancer, bard

P h y s i c a l A p p e a r a n c e

Hair: medium length, snow white, fluffy Eyes: sky blue Skin: lighter soft skin Tattoos/Scars: white moon and star syombols

F a m i l y

Parents: unknown - his tribe had the tradition to not tell directly about mother and father, they were more raised like a bunch of kiddos, all on same levels with same bondings to others.

S k i l l s

Abilities: subtle • diplomatic • good-natured • combative • intelligent • orientation and survival in the wilderness • strong against cold • can hide very well especially in snow regions • music • dance

T r a i t s

Most positive trait: will helpy anyone who needs his help. Is a very bright soul that wants to spread positive vibes to others and get them some energy and smiles!

Most negative trait: He has a very twisted fiew on fear (not when others fear something but he himself) and how to deal with it or how to show it. This comes from his growing up in his tribe and how they thought them to view and deal with it.

L i k e s

Colours: blue, green Smells: fresh scents, wood, nature, fruity and citrus fragrances Textures: soft and elegant textures are his favourite! Drinks: lemon or lime tea or lemonade, coffee with a hint vanilla

O t h e r D e t a i l s

Smokes: no Drinks: now and then Drugs: none Mount Issuance: He is using different mounts, but his beloved Chocobo Tayo will always be with him! Been arrested: Nope

There you go! thank you for tagging me @zerelth & @ishgard! Sorry for the wait, I finally have time to answer it! 😁

Tagging @avirael , @gazihsah , @orion-bun , @pettyeti , @raenyr-nodea , @snotsloth , @shibaikyatto , @this-is-ris , @moonmoon-ren , @ilbers , @thewordkeep-ffxiv

I'm tagging also anyone who wants to do it, show me your OC's! 💕

[improvised-finish]

FFXIV Write 2024 - Prompt #22 - Free Day

Content Warnings: None

Spoiler Warnings: Mentions of the first hub city for Endwalker, no story events since this is an AU

Summary: In another life, two young foreign exchange students to Sharlayan meet and become fast friends on their first day of school. This is my Studium AU, where Lehon'a (rather than be the Warrior of Light) gets to venture off to the Studium to study Music & Cultures at the same time as G'raha Tia and Y'shtola. The three of them become friends and research partners, and perhaps more in the future! It's very loose, very tropey, and I don't have all the details ironed out, but I thought it would be fun to make a start at it! It's based on this GPose set from a while back.

Check it out below or on Ao3:

“Are you a new student as well?”

Lehon'a looked up from the book she'd been lazily attempting to read, an introductory tome on music theory. She'd seen it on the syllabus for a course in musicology that began later that day and figured she’d be better getting a head start, given her struggles with reading dense texts. Greeting her vision was a young Miqo'te boy with scarlet hair and mismatched eyes. 

“Yeah, pretty much. Just got off the boat a few days ago.” She hastily dog-eared the page she'd left off on and snapped the book shut, eagerly taking the first excuse to have a break. “How about yourself? Don't know I've seen you around.”

“Same story, just about. I've only just begun my studies at the Studium this year, after coming from–” The stranger cut himself off, as if remembering that something was supposed to be a secret. “From abroad.” 

Lehon'a sensed the hesitation and chose not to pry, despite her curiosity. She picked up her small pile of books off the bench and stood up, nearly matching the stranger in height. “My name's Lehon'a, by the way. Lehon'a Nhavareh.” As happened to many people who were familiar with Miqo'te tradition, she saw a bit of puzzlement in his face for just a moment as he tried to figure out what, if anything, that name might imply. Whatever conclusions he came to were left in the dust when he realized that he’d been standing in silence instead of reciprocating the introduction. 

“A pleasure to meet you, Lehon'a. G'raha Tia, at your service.” He bowed briefly as he spoke, and Lehon'a couldn't help but let out a small laugh. The formality was a bit dorky, but she also found it surprisingly charming.

“Well, G'raha Tia, it's been lovely, but I should be going to my next class so I'm not late.”

“Which course is that? I've got a history course of my own that I must attend shortly.”

Lehon'a fished the small notecard she'd prepared with her schedule on it out of her robes and squinted at the tiny print. “Looks like I've got history too, what are the odds?” She put the card back in her pocket. “Care to share the walk over?”

“I had just the same thought! I'd be happy to.”

They started off towards the Studium, an awkward silence lingering for a moment. Lehon'a decided to be the one to break it this time. 

“So what kind of study brought you all the way to Sharlayan?”

“History, as it happens. Mostly to do with the lost Allagan Empire that was in power during the Third Astral Era, many, many years ago. They had technology that's like nothing even close to what anyone has been able to recreate, and–” He stopped himself before launching into an extensive recounting of what he knew of Allagan history. “My apologies, I should leave the history lectures to the professionals.”

“Maybe when we have a bit more time, then,” Lehon'a countered, trying to show her interest more tangibly. “History has always fascinated me, though it's not what I'm here to study primarily.”

“And what might that be?”

“Music, and by extension, the traditions it gives rise to all over the world!” she replied, excitement tangible in her voice.

“I can see why history might still be of interest; it can certainly play a role in those types of cultural studies.”

“Mhm.” She nodded. “Playing music is something I've had a penchant for since I was small, but as I got older I grew more and more interested in documenting the traditions of my tribe. And then that got me thinking about what it might be like in other tribes, and everyone finally got tired enough of me asking a million questions that they collected enough gil to send me to school!” She let out a laugh. 

“What kind of music do you play? You'll have to show me sometime.” G'raha was trying to keep his enthusiasm contained, but it was plain to see that he seemed genuinely excited at the prospect.

“I'm a percussion player, mostly, so I doubt it would be terribly interesting to listen to by itself. Though I suppose if you knew anyone else who played an instrument, we might be able to have a little jam session of sorts.”

“I can't say I know anyone off hand, but I'll keep my eyes and ears open.”

Lehon'a tapped him on the shoulder in a moment of realization. “I almost forgot to mention; another fun side effect of playing drums most of my life is that I tend to “play” whatever surface happens to be nearby when my mind wanders, so if it ever bothers you, don't be shy about telling me.”

It was his turn to laugh a little. “I'll be sure to make you aware.”

They'd reached the door to the lecture hall, which G'raha dutifully opened for her, bowing again as he did so.

Lehon'a laughed again, with him and not at him. “You don't have to bow, G'raha. I'm just a student, same as you, not royalty or anything like that.”

He wrung his hands like a kid caught with a hand in the cookie jar. “Oh, uh… right.”

She noticed that it seemed to take the wind out of his sails a little. “I won't tell you to stop if it's what you want to do, that is. I just meant you shouldn't feel like you have to, on my account.”

He nodded and then followed her into the classroom, pointing out a couple of seats in the middle of the hall as a silent suggestion.

She gestured for him to lead on, and she followed right behind him to their seats, scanning the rest of the room as she did. Not much stuck out on a first pass, save for one thing: what looked like a case for an instrument of some sort. It was leaned up against one of the tables, next to where another Miqo'te with short white hair was sitting. Lehon'a made a mental note to try and catch them after the lecture to ask about it, and then sat down in the empty seat next to G'raha. 

She'd hardly had the time to get out a writing implement and a journal to take notes in before the professor had begun talking, getting the attention of the students. 

Lehon'a was a long way from the only people she'd ever known, but something about G'raha made her feel more at ease. Only the first day of class and I've already made a friend. Seems like a pretty good start to me. 

She began diligently copying the professor's words onto the page in front of her, and looked over to see G'raha doing the same, with a bit of added gusto that meant he'd already filled up a full page before Lehon'a had managed half of one. Maybe we can share notes too, she thought as she smiled to herself.