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This is 100% what Meiko would do for anyone

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My brother is playing through the 7.3 Dungeon, and he goes "This villain is stupid. He's not 'weakening' me, he's warming me up!" And that's very Hiko of him.

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it's blurry but this photo my bro sent me of Hiko about to do the Crescent stuff perfectly encapsulates his character

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Mei can be quite generous, but with a healthy dose of skepticism that allows her to dodge most shady individuals' attempts at getting something from her.

A'kihiko is definitely over-generous and a bit naïve, which is why he ends up being the errand boy for most people, even if they mean well. He continues to be the shonen protagonist archetype, even well into Dawntrail.

How generous is your WoL? Especially to those they don’t know?

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E T H E I R I A L — ❝ [ . . . ] For we who walk before may lead those who walk after. Your road goes ever on, as does your story. ❞ — independent & mutuals only multimuse rp blog featuring y'shtola rhul ( & more ! ) from FINAL FANTASY 14.

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ready for bermuda triangle

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Earlier in her journey, Meiko was quick to kill anyone that threatened her or her allies. It was what she was taught! End them first. Her experience with Fray did not soften that resolve.

Towards the end of main Shadowbringers, however, Meiko... tries to be gentler. Tries to show mercy, to appeal to reason -- but often still has to use lethal force. By the end of Endwalker, Meiko is much less heavy-handed with her violence, especially when she's more public-facing as a Scion and Warrior of Light. But if you cross her, she'll end you. She knows she's pretty OP in Dawntrail.

What is your WoL's opinion on killing others?

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"Nah, 'course. Just -- we have tae manage both. The First is -- well. First." She hand a hand through her hair, and higher still, absently tugging on her ears. "Just -- afore this, 'twas all my brother's doin'. Aye, everyone did their part, but..."

Her voice trailed off. She struggled for a moment to put it into words.

"When Hiko was... called away, afore the conflict -- it -- none of ye were there tae see the morale disappear. The soldiers, e'en Raubahn. Eorzea's Champion, th'Warrior o'Light was gone. I was all that was left out o'all of us." Her gaze dropped to her lap. "We've saved city-states. Liberated nations. No small feat, mind, but... this is all that's left o'an entire world. And our own world's fate is atop that. Never mind that all o'you depend on me bein' able tae -- tae do whatever's asked o'me here. And I'll do it, I will, but goin' from nigh wee more than assistin' tae havin' all that on me... s'fuckin' terrifyin'."

“Saving the First is a top priority,” Thancred said in a no-nonsense kind of voice that left no room for argument. “Getting back to the Source is important, of course,” – they had left at a rather bad time, to put it lightly – “but the Exarch must have told you what Urianger saw.”

Another Calamity striking Eorzea, so close in time to the last one, a Calamity that would take the life of the Warrior of Light and his sister.

Thancred wasn’t interested in having his soul never reunite with his body, but he could recognize that it was more important to make sure the Calamity never happen. The lives of countless Eorzeans – including that of Meiko and A’kihiko – would be saved if they could just prevent the Calamity from happening in the first place.

“I don’t mean to say I’m not interested in returning to the Source, it’s just that...I can recognize there is more at stake than my corporeal form,” he explained.

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Meiko shook her head.

" 'Tween Kan-E-senna's assessment an' Krile's ministrations, we knew your souls went missin'," she answered slowly. "Which... is no what one wants tae hear. Bein' asleep's one thing, but lackin' a soul -- we knew 'twas a matter o'time until your bodies went cold." She paused. "...It's still that way, though. Krile an' th'others are doin' their best tae slow it, but..."

Her gaze dropped down to her lap.

"I need tae get everyone back tae th'Source as soon as possible. Savin' th'First is important, aye, but it won't mean shite if you're all lost in th'process. Eorzea still needs its Scions. An' its proper Champion."

“I imagine it was,” Thancred said sympathetically. He understood – the two years here before Urianger and Y’shtola had shown up were rough, despite the Exarch’s attempts to make it more habitable for him. “I, at least, knew what was going on. No comatose friends for me.

“Tell me,” he continued. “We all just dropped like flies, did we? And you had no idea what was going on?” No one had directly told him, but he was given to understand that his body laid on the Source, completely catatonic, along with the others’ – but not Meiko’s. She was actually here somehow; the Exarch had finally managed to get his target.

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"Aye, but... 'twas a sore few days. We lost Urianger and Y'shtola mere hours after losin' you as well. We were all beside ourselves." She paused, and then added, "Never mind th'fact that 'twas only Alisaie, A'kihiko an' myself at that godsdamned parley with Varis. The three least diplomatic o'th'whole lot."

She sighed.

"Wasnae five years, but it felt close enough. Even th'few weeks spent without all of you tae lean on was..." A fucking horrible time. Possibly the darkest period in her life. "... not good."

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Thancred fussed with the pot, adding enough coffee grounds for two in the appropriate place before the canister disappeared again into his bag. Just as quickly did it disappear did he produce two tin cups, generally used for water.

“Don’t know why anyone thinks coffee gets anyone sober,” he mused. “It has certainly never worked for me.”

He shifted, watching the brewing coffee for a long moment, reflection of the small campfire reflecting in his pale brown eyes. Did he feel forgotten? It was hard to say that. In a way, it had been very lonely here the first two years, even after freeing Minfilia and gaining a traveling companion. But the Exarch had assured him time worked differently here, and that he had to wait a good, long time before trying again to summon the Warrior of Light. If he was to be believed, how could Thancred blame them?

Besides, the Exarch had flubbed up the summoning three more times since then, and his friends had appeared one after the other. They had all taken up their own stations in this world – it was Urianger they moved to visit next – but at least they were here.

“Nah,” he said easily. “It must have been, what, a few tendays for you, right? I can hardly call that forgotten, even if it was longer for me.”

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Where do we even start...? What will happen if they don't wake up...?

Wishing to help, Selena rushed back to the Rising Stones after hearing how the other Scions fell into an unexplained slumber, even claiming A'kihiko. But, she found herself as stumped, helpless, and worried for them as the others.

Spotting the Dancer by one of the tables, she pulled up a chair to sit near.

"Hey... How are you holding up, Meiko?"

"I... " Mei tried to think of an answer. How was she holding up? She wasn't, actually. The only thing keeping her together was the promise that the Sons of Saint Coinach were busy finding a way back into the Crystal Tower's inner sanctums. That way, she could find whatever that hooded lad had left for her, and...

And what? She didn't even know what she would be going into.

"...M'just waitin'," she concluded after a moment. "S'not much else I can do, eh?"

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[ from @roguishgunbreaker ]

“Do you like coffee?”

Thancred was crouched in front of the fire, tending to the pot of water sat boiling above it. He had a tin canister in his hand, and the unrelenting Light reflected off of the bits of it not covered in wear and tear. He held it up for Meiko to see.

Everyone else was still asleep in their tents, slumbering away the rest of the “night,” if one could call it that. Thancred, ever the early riser, was up first, or perhaps hadn’t gone to bed at all, ‘twas that early – it was hard to say without seeing his bedroll.

“We don’t get it often, but I thought I’d break it out in celebration,” he went on. “It’s not every day I get to greet an old friend.”

"Couldnae say. Think I've had it a few times in Ishgard, but 'twas only an attempt tae sober me up. Didnae work, either. I'll have one, though."

Meiko had been surprised to see him when she dragged herself out of her tent. But maybe it wasn't all that surprising; Thancred had always felt like a wee restless soul. She sank down to sit closer to the campfire, leaning back on her arms as Thancred did whatever he needed to with the water and the cannister.

"Cannae believe s'been five years," she muttered with a slight shake of her head. "M'sorry, Thancred. I hope you didnae think we forgot about you."