capriccio-ffxiv

[capriccio-ffxiv]

The final boss of Akademia Anyder, Quetzalcoatl, was created by the Words of Lahabrea as a means to combat looming threats. It was so powerful that it required the summoner to channel their very soul, and is believed to form the basis of the ritual to summon Zodiark.

[capriccio-ffxiv]

@selene-ffxiv and I play A LOT of Puzzle Games / Walking Simulators -- I took them through Obduction, they've taken me through The Room series (no relation to the films, lol); we went through Superliminal together, we're BOTH big Myst fans (and really need to go back and check out the user-created content for Uru Live!) -- and I just keep thinking, our Azems (tbh Selene's 'the' Azem, but Hyperion's her First Officer, basically) would absolutely make horrible space-warping puzzle boxes as gifts for Emet-Selch and Hythlodaeus.

Emet would outwardly bitch and moan about this HORRIBLE PUZZLE BOX which has TRAPPED HIM in a SITUATION while secretly being intensely enamored of the entire thing. Enrichment in his enclosure. He's going to complain the entire time, but every time he solves a puzzle he'll be like haHA! NO MATCH FOR MY SUPERIOR INTELLECT.

Hyth is like "haha neat" and doesn't put any effort into actually solving anything, but manages to accidentally brute-force several puzzles (... put in by SelHype for this reason) much to Hades' consternation.

Both of them put in silly little symbolism to represent their friends. Hyperion is Sunshine; Selene is Moonshadow; together they're Eclipse. Venat's Starglow/Earthglow. Hades is Gravekeeper. Hyth is Hypnos/Sleepwalker. Sappho is Poet and Lover. Etc etc.

... and then I think to myself, did Emet-Selch keep a little puzzle box? Even after Selene 'disappeared', and Hyperion outright defied him? Kept it in his pocket, unsolved out of spite?

... was (in our story, at least) that how he got the Azem Crystal? In our story, Hyperion made it -- a solid representation of that Calling magick, which happened to be in the shape of a memory crystal because that was the simplest way to store it. It has a twin, made by Selene, for her precious, brilliant Sunshine...

At first, it was the way they called to each other. But when a stranger in Elpis showed Hyperion the very crystal he made, but from twelve thousand years hence... he gave that stranger the crystal Azem had made for him. "You know who this belongs to," he said.

So.

Did Emet-Selch keep that box? The last thing Azem gave to him, before she left without a word? In the dust and despair after the Sundering, as the broken crawled on their bellies, did he solve it, for lack of anything better to do?

Did he see Azem's First Adjutant in each twist and turn, in the angles of the cuts, the casting of the gears? Did he weep for his daughter student friend Azem when he held the treasure the puzzle hid in his hands?

#oc: hyperion #oc: selene

[capriccio-ffxiv]

So I've been debating on trying to actually post the stuff I roleplay/write about Ellie on here, but I've been meaning to try and gauge the best way to do so.

Either way both are time consuming but I wanted to know what method of storytelling everyone else prefers doing, what are the benefits of one over the other, etc. (Also I apologize for the lengthy poll time, I really wish they'd add other day options beyond just one day vs a week :sigh: )

#writing. im VERY good at writing #and i dont have the spoons/brains to learn modding & amnesis and whatever #and im not great at vanilla gpose either #tho 90% of what i write is just for me & Selene #but that's ok bc it makes me happy ^_^

[capriccio-ffxiv]

[capriccio-ffxiv]

Y'shtola: The Great Scriptures of Ronka! Been dreaming of this since I was but a lass. WoL: ...dead guys? -- Y'shtola: Do you swear? WoL: Every damn day. -- Livia: Any last requests before we kill you, adventurer? WoL: Yeah, loosen the noose and let me go. -- Asahi: HEY, SAVAGE! IT LOOKS LIKE WE HAVE THE CHOCOBOS! WoL: HEY! AMASSADOR! LOOKS LIKE YOU'RE ON THE WRRROOONG SIIIIDE OF THE RIIIIIVVEERR!!! -- Y'shtola: It seems he was a sorcerer of eld in his time, a Paragon of Ascians. Equipped with the most dangerous of magicks. WoL: Yeah cool...question, why doesn't he like catboys?

[capriccio-ffxiv]

We are more than just the pain.

[capriccio-ffxiv]

Sketch commission from the lovely @zanarkand-s !

[capriccio-ffxiv]

F!Emet-Selch 💜

[capriccio-ffxiv]

divine offerings

a few more because i had... many.mine

[capriccio-ffxiv]

hey you know who i realized i never saw in clive's getup when everyone was going around putting every NPC in clive's getup

[capriccio-ffxiv]

#i sometimes /disappointed at him #ffxiv endwalker spoilers

[capriccio-ffxiv]

Porque no los dos?

... Holy crap

At one point I speculated that Fandaniel's throwaway comment about Zenos being a case where Emet-Selch "finally succeeded" was about Zenos' corporeal aether being as dense as an Ancients'. Not his soul, but his body at least being 2x as dense as the average Source inhabitant (and 14x as anyone from a Shard).

One of the big reasons for the Sundering was that extremely aether-dense people can't interact directly with Dynamis. You can hear Meteion bc your aether is so thin. People turn into monsters bc Dynamis overwhelms and consumes their Aether.

What if Zenos cannot directly interact with Dynamis. At all.

What if THAT'S why everything seems dull and boring to him? There's a whole spectrum of emotion & feeling that he straight up can't feel because his booty too fat his corporeal aether is too thick. But he's still a sundered soul, so part of him still needs Dynamis to feel connected to other people (unlike the Ancients who seem fine?). But his corporeal aether blocks it. The same way that Zodiark's shield kept us from hearing the Endsinger for all those centuries (& by extension the whole universe really), Zenos' thicc aether literally prevents him from feeling connection to others.

This explains why he so easily no-sold the WoL. In addition to supernaturally thick aether, he's also mostly immune to our Power of Friendship crap.

... Mostly.

Because obviously the Ancients still weren't immune to the Endsinger, her effect was just different. They didn't turn into monsters, but their imaginations turned on them, causing their creation magic to manifest ravenous nightmares. In the same way, some part of the WoL's Dynamis was so potent that it broke through. And that's why he became so completely addicted to us. We're literally the only person with powerful enough Dynamis that he can feel any connection at all.

[capriccio-ffxiv]

Ancient Transformation

I know how we all love to meme on how it's stated transformation is seen in the Ancient society, but I also tend to think it's one of those cases where the actual meaning of the passage has been, well, meme'd a little too far.

(Like how the devs have had to go out of their way to point out Estinien does bathe, guys, it was aetheric alteration to his armor, and he does regularly wear armor which might lead to funk and helmet hair but he likes to be clean when it's off.)

Let's look at the actual passage in the Elpis quest "Their Greatest Contribution" where they're trying to help the charybdis fly (bolding by me):

Hermes: I shall transform and fly with it, helping it to manipulate wind until it finds its wings. Troubled Observer: What!? Y-You needn't go to such lengths… (Emet-Selch notices the WoL's confusion) Emet-Selch: You don't know? But of course not… Emet-Selch: Transformation is an art in which one manipulates a vast quantity of aether to construct another body around oneself. Emet-Selch: In practice, this allows one to assume any conceivable form, and thereby transcend the limits of one's flesh. Emet-Selch: Yet convenient though it may be, transforming in the presence of others is considered vainglorious in the extreme. As uncouth and unseemly as running about robeless. Shameful. Emet-Selch: Am I to understand you make a habit of this? Hermes: N-Nothing of the sort. It's just that, when transformed, I can wield the wind and fly. Hermes: It may seem excessive, but what is our shame next to the lives of these creatures? Hermes: They deserve a chance, and we owe it to them to do all in our power! Emet-Selch: Be that as it may…

What everyone tends to focus on, of course, is his analogy of "running about robeless" and equating that it's the same as nudity. Which makes for funny memeing.

But look again at the actual description of how transforming is seen:

Yet convenient though it may be, transforming in the presence of others is considered vainglorious in the extreme.

"Vainglorious" is the adjective of "Vainglory" which Merriam-Webster defines as "excessive or ostentatious pride especially in one's achievements; vain display or show; vanity."

the "uncouth and unseemly" part isn't so much the nudity part, but the showing off. Visibly boasting about one's power and strength by displaying one's transformed state.

So why the nudity analogy? Well, for one, is it actually discussing nudity, or walking around in outfits/ways that don't conform to societal standards? Ancient society seemed to be striving for an egalitarian system, which their magics made easy enough, though there's still stratification of some kind (based on peoples' roles). But the robes and masks are an attempt to produce a visual equality among members with variable magical skill (and that would otherwise be seen via those transformations if they indulged in them). It's about the conformity (for better or worse) to community.

The other reason I can think for that analogy is how common Ancient Greek inspired words and names in Amaurot's world are. And what many people also equate to Ancient Greece, aside from the tales of the Olympians, is the myriad artwork, often in various forms of athletic bodies in competition, whether war or sports. While there's plenty of fully clothed/armored imagery, classic nudes are common imagery in popular culture and not even in a sexual way; they're showing off their prowess as athletes and warriors.

(The third possible reason is Emet-Selch has ever been a Dramatic Bitch Like That and tends to the theatrical in his wording, even at his most traditional and conservative.)

Emet-Selch's concern abut Hermes transforming is because it's considered bad manners to just transform on a whim--because it would indicate he's a boastful show off, or reliant on his transformed state, or otherwise cavalier about societal norms--which however one reads the line about transformations, would, from Emet-Selch's view, be a bad look for a potential member of the Convocation!

And the poor charybdis observer is all too aware that a member of the Convocation is standing right there, boss! Even if this is something Hermes does at times in extreme cases to aid their creations in his role as chief, this is not the best time to break out the transformation, even for the sake of a troubled creature.

And of course we do eventually see Hermes in his transformed state, and just how capable he is at manipulating wind magics in it.

In the end, the question of transforming for something as simple as the charybdis's struggles strikes me as yet another indicator, despite his mentor's nomination, that Hermes was not Convocation material despite his role as Elpis's chief; his shaken state post-Ktisis would be seen as a reaction to the "accident", and he likely knew how to mask (in the social emotional sense) and give the right answers despite his own depression and doubts. And with none but Venat remembering what else happened in those days at the facility, he managed to obtain the role anyway, now that he believed his Meteion project to have failed.

#to me i feel like a transformed state is also an ultimate “unmasking” #a very “what you are in the dark” thing #in a society where you are NEVER supposed to be an individual #to the point that Emet-Selch's fond memories are nearly featureless #that's the ultimate transgression #to show one's true face #i also love the idea that transformed states vary significantly based on the person's mood & current situation! #i imagine for instance that Erichthonios *can't* transform save when he's panicked and half-brainwashed #Elidibus' transformation changes SIGNIFICANTLY when he has his memories back

[capriccio-ffxiv]

it was past pataphysical

[capriccio-ffxiv]

'Everyday I see more of you in myself. I can feel your soul within every bell of every day. Once I returned from Elpis, and saw myself in a mirror I really only could see you. How can I know you and yet not at the same time? How can I be nostalgic for someone I've never met? For a weapon I've never held? For a home that I've never entered? All I know is I am haunted, not maliciously of course, but... haunted all the same. When I take out Azem's crystal and hold it against my skin, close my eyes, and just breathe I can smell them all, I can taste all my shards, I can feel the jagged edges of my own soul and know it is overflowing with blood. You're standing beside me through all this right? ...Right?' -- an excerpt from Zee's journal from post Endwalker

(full pictures of them cause theyre very cute and I love them)

[capriccio-ffxiv]

little Elpis background ruminating 🔹 (giving myself a reason to try to draw these two)

[capriccio-ffxiv]

(however, this result also does work for Illyria)

Shit, I meant to take this quiz for my OCs, but, uh, it hit too on the nose for me

https://uquiz.com/quiz/h13VpA?p=1291596

#oc: illyria capriccio