#( &&. c rambles | ooc )

[archaiclumina]

FFXIV is part of aetherpunk in this essay I will...

No but really haha.

One of my recent reblogs was about the fusion of tech and science fiction elements with fantasy elements in FFXIV. I mentioned in the tag that the genre term for this is actually aetherpunk! Which I already mentioned think fits the game perfectly c':

Anyway, for those interested in learning a bit more about aetherpunk, I thought I'd put together this itty bitty reference document for people wanting to explore it more. And also maybe hearing why I classify XIV as part of it 人´∀｀)

At it's very simplest, aetherpunk can be explained as:

the genre of fantasy/sci-fi that features magically enchanted weapons, armor, and machines. a style of design and fashion that combines magic or enchantments with clothing and armor.

Thanks wikitionary, for your continual service to fiction and fandom terminology o7

Back in 2013, a Duck Prints Press staff member wrote up a fantastic little explainer for what the subgenre is, and what you can consider to be aetherpunk. The full version is linked below, but I think this excerpt will probably really speak to XIV players! Also new players, please read with caution, there are some minor spoliers for the game's narrative ahead!

Aetherpunk, the genre, explores what the world would be like if, rather than finding out aether was simply a confused explanation for how energy moves through space, we discovered that it was a real element, something we could both detect and harness. The nature of the aether isn’t what makes aetherpunk what it is. Rather, it’s the exploration of the development of society from the turning point when we discover that the aether is real—how that changes the world, the people, the past, and the future.  Aether, the invisible force, can be everything and nothing. It can be magic, or it can be material. In some disciplines, like alchemy, it’s both. Aether is made of faith. It’s ephemeral, often immaterial, and only visible once the viewer knows what they’re looking for. It can cause disaster or provide beautiful, clean energy for wondrous technologies. It can be a source of progress or of fear. But in the end, it’s still a thing that must be discovered and cultivated. It can’t be forced into existence.

Another thing which the staff member very accurately points out is what is quintessential to a form of media being classified as part of a '-punk ' subgenre

For a story to be classified in a punk genre, it typically requires two key elements: a distinctive type of technology (whether social technology like myths and lore or physical technology like steam engines, diesel-powered airships, or nanobots) and a point of view about that technology.

I'm sure we can all agree that there is absolutely no doubt the introduction of distinctive technologies, both mythological and technological, and the way people in the world relate to these changes, play a huge role in the narrative of FFXIV. (Looking at you Allag, and also looking at you Garlemald. And looking at you Skysteel and the discovery of the MCH class. And also looking at you entire lore of the First and the mythos your people created to cope with the introduction of Ascian knowledge and the resulting Calamity it caused... need I go on? haha)

I think the final point that really hammers home XIV's place in the genre, and which I think also supports the ground for a lot of the great lorebending the community does (such as this post, also floating around on my dash recently) is this:

Aetherpunk, as we’ve described, is born of magic, and thus the technology to use it focuses on cultivation and focusing energy rather than on producing something by force.

A large portion of the conflict in XIV's narrative is exploring the differences between these two elements. From the times of Allag, to the magi of Mhach and Amdapor, all the way to the current Era and our soiree in the past on Elpis and in Pandæmonium, the consequences between using force over cultivating a balance with the natural element of magic present in the world is a continuing theme the game explores.

Which, in my (very) humble opinion, makes it a perfect fit for the aetherpunk subgenre, and also makes it make perfect sense when some of us expand on the technology that the game already presents us with via our head canons. It's hard to put "cyber"punk elements into "steam"punk stories and vice versa, but elements from both of these subgenres can fit neatly inside aetherpunk — the quintiessential element of magic being what powers technology creates a lot more opportunity than static period or post-apocalyptic based takes you can see in other -punk genres.

Anyway, that's my little rant over c': hope for those who hadn't heard of the term before, this provides a bit of background and maybe even a springboard for exploring a really cool subgenre of print and online fiction, films, videogames and tv shows!

#rare ooc #lorebending #kinda i guess #ffxiv rambles #this is just like my opinion tho man #anyone is free to disagree ofc c': #minor spoilers #arr spoilers #heavensward spoilers #stormblood spoilers #shadowbringers spoilers #endwalker spoilers

[amanda-rinn-cant-sell-mandarins]

Hello!!!~

I'm Amanda Rinn!

I married my lovely husband, and once he left I could not confine myself to the island any longer, I had to find him once again!

Please, Wish me luck on my everlasting journey, for I will not give up hope! ooc stuff under the thingy!!!

guess whos back, back again!!! #Amandas rambles #Amandas time in jail :c #me and my husband<3 #ooc rambles #ooc thoughts Run by @keysinthecouch . again

#jrwi riptide #jrwi rp #amanda rinn #jrwi amanda rinn #amandas rambles #amandas time in jail :c #me and my husband<3 #ooc rambles #ooc thoughts #jrwi show #just roll with it #jrwi podcast

[trustgained]

Hot take; people should RP in-game more bc it's fun.

aNYWAY uh.... tiny starter call? Maybe-? Just specify a muse if you're a multi-

#;;I would do so for Zero if I could recreate her in-game :c #;;But I can't so that's where I've kept all of Junko's stuff #;;I don't think I'd ever RP my WoLs here again tho tbh #;;But that's why I do in-game ujyhtgre #;;Anywho nap #[⛏] ooc | rambles.

[ravarui]

//Thank god I learned to do proper research during my studies of journalism, cause: The things I research for my threads. I learned more about ships and how they are build than I ever wanted

#look it's me! - ooc #mun talks #//in case anyone was wondering what I was doing #//not drafts #//everything so rcmancedawn and isutoburu get a proper tour of a certain ship c: #//I love our verse with all my heart #//thanks for listening to my rambles

[galaxy-lilies]

currently missing tftsmp hours

#i really need to make a c!karl inbetween + other side drawing i just realized i never did #ooc #indie rambles #indierambles

[radiantnatura]

inbox call! like this &. i will send you some memes from your tag, please specify a muse!

#⋄ ⊰ ooc. › deax rambles. ❜ #since this is the best way to get threads started with me c:

[misteria247]

Pssst

Here’s the official AO3 page for ShellShock ✨

https://archiveofourown.org/works/43692789

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH-!!!!

*following and subscribing rn omf omfg omg yessssssss*

#oli talks #ooc #muns ramblings #mindless ramblings of a madman #asks #ask and you shall receive #teenage mutant ninja turtles #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rise of the tmnt #tmnt #rottmnt #tmnt/rottmnt crossover #Shellshock au #shellshock au (not my au) #SCREAMING AND THROWING THINGS #F U C K Y E S

[loiyaltie]

I'm 5 pulls away from forcing gep to come home. it's come to this.

#ooc. [ captain's orders / mun rambles. ] #( i got my 5* on today's pull and it was clara again so E1 Clara and no gep :c ) #( I'll be about over the weekend I've been getting a work thing done & dropped a starter call on my multi )

[blue-rick24]

how do you guys have the fucking strength.

oW

#seriously #i think i’m a wee…burnt the fuck out #I NEED TO PLAY METAL GEAR #AND SLEEP #rick and morty season 7 #rick and morty thoughts #WRRAAGHH I miss my bestie #ramblings #venty #txt #ooc #:C #Im so uncoordinated here lately #The problem with fiction is I have to IMAGINE it up . NO WAY HELL IM EEPY XD #YAWNNSS #my post

[thvrpe]

i'm re-watching tvd before they take it off netflix and it's really making me want a vampire!xavier verse

#( &&. c rambles | ooc ) #like ???? the angst is real

[devinevirtue]

Nevermind it's almost 1am and I am sleepy and have to be up in 6ish hours.

#╰ *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧ 【☆】 ooc ramblings / asks. #// i just wanna write :c #// aaaaaaaaaa

[aphthiton]

ooc. hektor's death— ( cw )

taking from both the iliad and ajax ( play ), hektor did not immediately die with the stab wound inflicted upon him on the lower neck / upper shoulder ( subclavian artery ). as he had time to speak to achilles, delivering a prophecy unto him, he was bleeding out. losing feeling in his arms / hands as he was pulled over the chariot, it was but a small mercy when the achaean army gathered around him to inflict upon his body a series of not too deep stab wounds in less than vital areas. this only helped his death faster, but not quick enough as achilles pierced through hektor's ankles, threading ajax's gifted belt through, and then attaching hektor to the chariot. taking less than ten minutes all ( yet feeling almost an eternity to the trojan ), hektor was then dragged to his eventual death, trying not to choke on blood that was fast to pool within his lungs and throat. what came back to the camp was a corpse, aphrodite and apollo would soon set about protecting come nightfall.

#char. study » hektor #transferring from a rambling ooc post to a more 'official' hc #let me know if i need to tag this tho #also the il/iad says the windpipe area. but since im taking from the play as well i just keep to where it first says #'area that joins the neck to the shoulder' and mash it with the play c: #if i get the science wrong mb im not a doctor nor have i ever been stabbed in the neck before #i just read science papers and went 'yeah that tracks' gjhfjhg

[bythetale]

here's a starter call. 📝 comment with a preference or i will gladly randomize it.

#may approach for plotting purposes. c: yooo. #ruben rambles: ooc.

[lattehearted]

B.yleth / B.althus underrated!! Their C support alone is very very good!!

#spouse number 11 is gonna be the k.ing of g.rappling himself #but like their c support? chef's kiss #bc so much of b.yleth's life is them doing stuff bc its expected of them #even after the war like. fuck am i never wrote them as being the archbishop #it doesnt fit as a character choice they'd ever make #neither does being ruler of f.odlan but i digress #being told to be the head of a religious organization you didnt know anything about beyond the name #just because you're the goddesses chosen one and pseudo granddaughter of the dragon pope???? #literally why not s.eteth #why not m.ercedes god forbid the n.abateans control everything #anyway ramble over b.altie and b.ylie underrated #( ooc ; christina rambles )

[cinghialefedele]

ngl tesla actually wanted to feel jealous abt it at first, but it fizzled out v quickly, he truly enjoys seeing how happy of a couple quilnoi is

#『ooc』 dulo rambles #tbd #also the sandwich fantasies....... #tesla vc: n i c e #he did wanna be a lil hater at first tho #but then he realized he was fond of quilge too lmaoooo so its all good in his book

[kitaishi]

i don’t really have time to write on here so me posting isn’t a sign of anything but i appreciated(tm) the trailer yesterday setting up ti/fa having more focus/being more relevant during the events of disc 1. after remake, i was kind of expecting tifa to not really have her own stuff until part 3 but it’s nice being proven wrong.

i said this on discord but sep.hiroth gaslighting cl.oud about ti.fa makes so much sense (and the jpn and french versions of the trailer makes it clear that he’s talking about how he killed tif.a in nibelhei.m). playing up on how ti.fa and cl.oud have terrible communication (lol) before the lifestream sequence because of ti/fa’s hesitation/confusion on what’s going on with cloud/nibelheim and clo/ud suppressing memories of z/ack is a great idea! those things are already in the OG - from sephiro.th gaslighting both ti.fa and cl.oud at the northern crater (which i’ve written about lol) + sephi.roth making himself look like ti.fa). copying something i said on discord:

sephiroth constantly gaslights cloud in the OG and makes him do things he normally wouldn't do such as give him the black materia, beat aerith, etc. maybe they'll with the idea of cloud kind of being paranoid due to the gaslighting and then with sephiroth's influence - does something he wouldn't do (edited)[5:45 PM]like i don't think cloud would inherently believe anything sephiroth would say to him but, he has jenova cells. he can be influenced

and man, we’re even getting the cut content from the OG where ti/fa tells a.eris her version of events. i may have been a bit excited about that.

i’ve always been team a.erith/a.eris living - my other blog is all about it - but i also think that the whole ‘she has to die to save the planet’ stuff has always been a terrible misconception when really. she can summon holy (and the lifestream too imo - which i feel like remake subtly reconfirmed) alive. whether aerit.h lives or dies, clo.ud will always end up handing the black m.ateria over to sep.hiroth. he’ll fall into the lifestream. and if that opening of the trailer is za/ck’s timeline then it seems to be implying that without cloud around to reunite with ti.fa, join avalan.che, meet a.erith, etc., bad things happen(tm).

if rebirth ends where i hope(tm) such as meteor being summoned and cloud falling into the lifestream, this is going to be so exciting. i love the setup of the third part really expanding on the search for cloud and saving him in the first act. ti.fa will have to help repair his memories of course, it is something only she can do due to their past but ‘finding’ clou.d shouldn’t be as instant as it is in the OG - especially because I think a.erith will be around too so there will be other story bits going on too. :)

anyway, one day maybe i’ll write about tif.a, clo.ud, and memories. both of theirs are FUCKED but it is also something that inherently bonds them together. strange, isn’t it.

I made it this far, believing in the memories we shared. This isn't happening! It's too cruel!

......a sealed up secret...... wish...... Tender memories...... no one can ever know......

#/ #★ . ━ ❛ ooc . #this is me rambling. and yes i quoted ti.fa at the end; real ones know #and yes i aggressively censor everything b/c this fandom is annoying #man it is funny seeing shippers be like clo.ud loves t*fa confirmed!! #and it is like my man literally said there's not a thing he doesn't cherish; he loves all his friends #with that said; it's funny that remake of all things is finally making me like cl*ti without a heavy * on the side lmao #what a time to be alive