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anneapocalypse · 2 months

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I have joked before that Stormblood feels like the writers thought they maybe went too hard on Major Character Death™️in Heavensward and so almost nobody gets to die. But looking back over the arc of the Scions as a whole, I think Stormblood through Endwalker are really the Scions learning (if slowly) that Heroic Sacrifice is not always the answer, and also growing closer to one another as people as a result. Especially for those of us who didn't play 1.0, I think it's so easy to forget sometimes that these characters just survived an apocalypse--and lost the guy who was the glue holding them all together. I think a lot of what feels like the Scions being cavalier with their comrade's life in ARR is the fact that they are all waiting, consciously or unconsciously, for their own Louisoix Moment, and they're so deep in that mindset that they probably don't even realize how it feels to an outsider, that understanding that they're all ready to die. Because when that moment does come, they all take it. Moenbryda takes it, Minfilia takes it, Papalymo takes it... and the rest are left to pick up the pieces.

And what do they do with those pieces? After Moenbryda's death Urianger goes on a very long arc where he starts mired in isolation and self-flagellation, but ultimately comes to see that turning to his friends for help is better than suffering alone. Alphinaud faces down the arrogance that made him so easy to manipulate and becomes better at working with others and not over and around them. Alisaie comes to terms with her grandfather's death and pushes those around her to see alternatives to sacrifice. Lyse decides to stop hiding, to live as herself, and to fight for what she believes in, ultimately becoming a leader in her newly-freed homeland. Thancred learns to better respect the agency of the people he loves while still acting as a protector. Y'shtola begins--slowly, and haltingly, but she does begin--to share her struggles with her friends instead of keeping everything to herself. G'raha, after years of secrecy and preparing to sacrifice himself, finds himself given a second chance and a new life to share with the people he loves. Estinien finds deeply meaningful friendships with people he would have once considered his enemy, and lets go of a life of solitude in favor of joining the Scions.

There's a reason the Scions don't really feel like a family in ARR. There's a reason that, to me, they do feel like one by Endwalker. Sometimes media will try to force a found family dynamic between a group of characters who don't even necessarily like each other very much; FFXIV lets the cracks in the Scions show early and then shatters them, then brings them back together in a long journey of reforging those bonds and making them stronger than they ever were.

#endwalker spoilers #shadowbringers spoilers #stormblood spoilers #heavensward spoilers #arr spoilers #ffxiv #there's probably something to be said in here about what happens in ultima thule #but tbh i am still processing that #so maybe later #afk by the aetheryte #ffxiv stuff

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nihilnovisubsole · 2 months

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phew! finally a weekend where i can set aside enough time to type up The Promised Endwalker Stream-of-Consciousness Post. i finished the base story... a month ago? but work has been busy, and i think tumblr benefits from me being quiet sometimes. anyway, what a ride. when you've been building up to the end of your arc for a decade, you want to hit it like an earthquake, and that's exactly what they did.

i think people love endwalker because it fires on all cylinders. it returns - in both story and vision - to the eorzea we love, and the dev team gets to show off everything they've learned. the dungeons and boss fights are dynamic and imaginative and colorful and bring the game's epic sense of scope to bear. the story callbacks are juicy. the music is orchestral again. we're back home, and we're saving the galaxy. what's better than this?

i love that we go to garlemald. i don't - i mean, you know, i don't like garlemald. i shouldn't have to qualify that. but it's hugely narratively satisfying to see the face of the enemy we've been fighting since the first few hours of ARR. you don't think about them when you're beating them up in castrum centri or ala mhigo. they're star wars bad guys. then you meet them on their own turf. you observe firsthand how they starve and cannibalize their own people to feed their obsession with state power and military strength. the wintry environment makes it seem all the more barren and desperate. my favorite part by far. i wish we'd spent more time there.

actually, on that note:

there is an argument that endwalker should've been two expacs. i've heard similar about stormblood - ala mhigo should've been the whole thing, and doma should've been either patch content or an expac of its own. the prevailing theory is that, after ARR, the devs are afraid of letting arcs run long. i can't speak to that, but i wouldn't have minded, that's for sure!

i won't pretend not to be biased. i've noted in many xiv posts that it hurries through its political plots to get to the magic stuff. i felt more conscious of it in heavensward and especially in stormblood. i made peace with it in endwalker. with dessert this good, who am i to complain? i can do small character drama on my own time. for now, the game wants royce to be a big damn shonen hero, and that can be fun, too.

speaking of characters, urianger and estinien have grown on me. this is the arc where, for me at least, the scions have congealed. they're all good, but with any large cast and custom player character, you tend to form the meatiest bonds with a few specific ones. i think royce appreciates urianger's cooler, more mature head. they're both so formal. he realizes she's someone he can confide in. i think she sees estinien as a gifted, but hotheaded whelp, which i find very funny. patience, child. stop sulking. do your breathing drills.

i love thancred's MGS sequence and in from the cold too. they're stressful, but i love that the team tried, you know what i mean? the fact that you can fight enemies in a pinch makes those duties way more bearable than some other games that experiment with stealth.

in from the cold as a whole, honestly. If You Know, You Know

all right, i can't avoid referencing spoilers anymore, sorry. there's a sense of classical tragedy to the whole elpis sequence. it's like watching macbeth or hamlet. you know how it's going to end, and you know you're powerless to stop it, but if they'd just made that different choice! but we had to leave eden. the warrior of light had to end up where they are to finish what elpis started. i don't do fate/destiny plots, but this? i'll take it.

i also knew what would happen going into ultima thule and still came away from it moved. it's strong writing. that's all there is to it. sure, the visuals are haunting, but the dialogue has to sell a gauntlet of difficult character moments, and it pulls it off. on the design side, there's some interesting intentional friction that forces you to linger in the zone and sit with its sense of despair. that part where you have to search the empty park for signs of life? oof

with the majority of the MSQ under my belt, i started sniffing around for what else there is to do ingame. i tried ninja. did terribly. i tried sage. did terribly too, but at least that gave me access to the healer role quests, which, ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°). the nier raids are gorgeous. i even did the controversial werlyt quests, and terncliff is so cute. i kind of wish we could have another story there!

what's next? i dunno! right now i'm burning through the hildibrand quests before i continue on with endwalker's patch story. the field operation stuff seems interesting to do after the MSQ, in a "hey, you saved the world, but we have more missions for you" way. i've also contracted Triple Triad Collector Disease, so that'll keep me busy for a long time.

all right. one last thing. Real Gamer Moments: i was in a mount-farming party recently, and i said that i sort of collected mounts, but only used the ishgardian chocobo. it's a roleplay thing - it's the chocobo royce took when she ran away from ishgard. one of the party members said "haurchefant would be proud of you." AUGH

#ffxiv #long post

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tallbluelady · 1 month

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Oh. Oh man. I never thought about how hard ShB must have been for Urianger, lying to Rowan above everyone else and watching her suffer, knowing he can't say anything. And then when it all falls down... Oh man, the guilt. How did that all go down? What was ShB like for them?

It's great, because Urianger made the decision to start actively courting Rowan while she was absorbing all the Lightwarden's light. The thought process: I can offer my heart as a hideaway through all the trauma of this! This won't end badly at all! What happened after is entirely up to her, and he fully expected to be dumped right after they returned home with the Exarch's death.

Something that I'm kinda looking forward to exploring more is the fact that Urianger underestimates how much his affection for Rowan grows and evolves when they reunite on the First. Like the Exarch, he has this idealized form of Rowan to think about for three years. Then she's back in his life and she's real. And not only is she real, she's more complicated and fun and interesting than a memory could ever be. He's been in love before and he thought he knew how it would effect him. But love is different every time, and with every person. By the time they get to Mt. Gulg (I almost typed Mt. Guilt lmao), he's starting to realize that he's not going to handle life well without her.

He buries his guilt in acts of affection or trying to humor Rowan and Ryne. Urianger is going to tell jokes (Rowan gets his sense of humor) and find flowers and trinkets to put in her hair. He's going to be the attentive healer after battle, and while he can't do much to fight the Light, he's going to do everything else. Because what else can he do? The plan must work. The Exarch worked for over 100 years on it...

But the plan doesn't work. The Exarch can't take the Light into himself and fling himself into oblivion and send them home. And now Rowan is cracking under the pressure that would be too much for any one person and now it's the person he wholeheartedly loves. He picks her up and runs down that mountain, probably teleporting down at least half the distance. The next time she's conscious she's out to get Emet-Selch's head and he can't stand that she would do it alone either.

And then she forgives him. He cannot fathom it, but the release on his heart is such a relief. He's ready to go to the bottom of the ocean to face the villain with her. And if we ask Rowan... that's all she ever wanted. Rowan doesn't back down from the monsters she's asked to slay. She knows she can do it, and she knows she's one of frighteningly few who even can. On the First, she is the only one who can face the Lightwardens and live. She'd just like some support for the other things, you know? It's why she was so receptive to Urianger in the first place - he's doing things, not just raging at the injustice. She's faced injustice before and people ranting at it never did her any good. The romance did comfort and shield her. He gives her White Auracite to vanquish Emet-Selch. He's supported her the entire time they've known each other.

After they defeat Hades they have to have a long conversation about it all. How it wasn't really the fact that she had to face something that could kill her that made Rowan upset, it was the fact that Urianger and the Exarch hid details about that would all entail. He vows to be more open, and luckily that was a thread that the writers decided to continue on through Endwalker. (On top of that, the whole situation colors their sex life as well, which is fun to write about.)

So yeah! I hoped you enjoyed my essay about my Wolship!

#aether and anatomy #rowan argentas #urianger #urianger x wol #woops that's over 700 words lmao #but the crux of it all is that rowan doesn't mind facing the monsters placed in front of her #she'd just like some help or support facing them #and maybe a smooch or two

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ooeygooeyghoul · 10 months

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Introductions

Hi, hello, nice to meet you. I'm Quaid, and this is the tumblr I have recycled into posting content about my lizard man. This will primarily be a FFXIV blog, as it's my current obsession, wherein I will post rambles, pictures, my art, and maybe a few other things, idk. I'll try to keep it organized with the tags, but the system is a WIP.

I've only got my main man here at the moment, but maybe I'll make some more heroes in the future! Might update this a few times, too...

Other socials - Twitter | Insta

ENDWALKED! - NOT A SPOILER-FREE ZONE!

Shiun Kazumasa - Primal | Behemoth

Warrior of Light - Main

B A S I C S | |

Primary Jobs | Warrior, Gunbreaker & Dark Knight

Guardian | Rhalgr, The Destroyer

Nameday | 18th Sun of the 3rd Astral Moon (May 18th)

Age | 25 years [ARR] - 30 years [EW/DT]

Height | 230cm / 8ft 6in

Homeland | Doma, Yanxia

Occupation | Scion, Sellsword, Blacksmith

Sexuality | bisexual, leaning toward men

Strengths | duty-driven, good at anything that requires physical strength, protective, unbreakable will

Weaknesses | Quick-tempered, stubborn as a mule, emotionally constipated, never asks for help, hides his hurts

Tags | #primordial flame: shiun kazumasa (main), #thaniun (wolship), #forgiven fury (Lightwarden AU), #wandering swordsmith: vulcan (ancient counterpart)

P E R S O N A L I T Y | |

An Au Ra whose face is always scowling or smirking, never anything in between. Shiun is brash, rude, and loud - fueled by constant rage. He acts almost purely on instinct and impulse, which causes his friends no small amount of stress. Don't be fooled by his prickly attitude, he's a true hero with a heart of gold. Devoted to saving and serving as many people as he can to the point of being self-sacrificing. Good luck prying any of his deep emotions out of him, he'd really prefer that those stay hidden.

B A C K S T O R Y | |

Shiun grew up in Doma during the Garlean occupation, so his early life was full of troubles. His parents were quiet artisans that submitted, which afforded them a fairly upper-class lifestyle. But Shiun was different in a way they didn't like. He got into fights with other kids, ignored his schoolwork, and was angry at the injustices he saw all around him. His family did everything they could to extinguish the fire in his heart, but he wouldn't be put down any further. After a chance encounter with a resistance fighter, he fought back against a Garlean soldier that had been harassing people in his village. The Empire didn't take kindly to that, and his family suffered for it. He barely escaped and was forced into exile at the young age of 9. Eventually, he made his way to the Azim Steppe and was taken in by a kind family in the Malaguld Xaela tribe. Scarred by his failed attempt at resistance and the pain it caused, he kept his head down and stewed in his anger for years. That is, until a voice called him to a distant land...

R E L A T I O N S H I P S | |

Alphinaud & Alisaie | practically siblings

Shiun is fiercely protective of the twins. He sees a lot of his younger self in them and has taken on a brotherly role with them. He hates that they've been thrust into this world at such a young age, and tries to urge them to just be kids every once in a while.

Thancred | lover

At first, Shiun couldn't stand Thancred. His overconfident playboy persona really got on Shiun's nerves, so he went out of his way to piss off Thancred, too. After rescuing him from Lahabrea, he stopped being so antagonistic. Over the course of the Dragonsong war, Shiun's feelings towards Thancred began to change, which REALLY freaked him out. So much so, that he pretty much ignored Thancred's existence throughout Stormblood while he considered things. He figured it out pretty quick once the Scions started getting yoinked to another realm. More on this later...

Y'shtola | voice of reason

Shiun appreciates Y'shtola's sharp wit and sharper tongue. She sees right through his bullshit and is often scolding him for his reluctance to rely on others. They get into banter contests a lot, which he rarely ever wins.

Urianger | jock & nerd

When they first met, Shiun couldn't understand a word Urianger was saying, but he learned to communicate with him over the course of their adventures. He's got a good friendship going with Urianger, where he patiently explains complex things to Shiun five times and Shiun helps him get better at socializing.

Tataru | ride or die

Shiun would die for Tataru. She continues to baffle him with her limitless talent towards anything other than combat, and he'll do pretty much anything she asks him to. To be honest, her ability to sniff out the truth and love of gossip frightens him a little bit.

Estinien | friendly rivalry

Despite being an axe-user, Shiun's skill with the lance is nothing to sneeze at. The two talk through their sparring more than they do with their words. Shiun was happy when Estinien decided to stop skulking about and join the Scions, but he still gives him shit about it.

G'raha | brotherly friends

When he found out just how much G'raha idolized him, Shiun was flabbergasted. He certainly wasn't used to that amount of admiration, and he found it difficult to deal with at first. But the hesitation faded away as G'raha accompanied him on more and more outings. Now Shiun thinks of him as a brother and irreplaceable friend, determined to make him into a hero too.

T R I V I A & E X T R A S | |

Favorite non-chocobo mount is the SDS Fenrir.

Favorite minion is gaelikitten named Potato.

Has a major sweet tooth he tries to hide from others.

Is really really bad at cooking. Don't taste what he makes for your own safety.

Actually really does like to fight (don't tell Zenos).

I tend to draw him pretty off model lol.

#ffxiv #ff14 #au ra #ffxiv oc #final fantasy xiv #primordial flame: shiun kazumasa #ffxiv wol #blog intro #wol profile #I'll probably edit this a billion times #anyway here he is #pinned post

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autumnslance · 1 year

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Thinking back on @voidsentprinces's post about Thancred's self-deprecation even after Endwalker and everything, and seeing some of the notes and tags on it...yeah, I think it's a huge reason he's a favorite of mine, as I identify with that so hard.

Thancred's always been described as an ace among the archons, even in some of his worse moments. He spent much of ARR as a victim...after working thrice as hard as anyone else, wearing himself down to the point of being snatched. He feels like nothing he does is good enough, that he has to keep pushing to be worth anything.

And even after, as his connections, his networking, his combat skills, his spy work, get his allies what they need and pull his comrades' butts out of the fire more times than can be counted...it's not enough.

It's easy to think he's just in the way and not needed in the current story I think; Estinien mostly has the tough strong combat guy angle handled, with Varshahn and Zero backing that up, and Varshahn can tank as well. There isn't a need for a spy. He certainly isn't much help on the magical side, which Y'shtola has covered with Urianger's help as necessary. And WoL of course can have everything else covered and backed up.

So Thancred takes some other work on, use excuses like too many Scions in the same space stretches the lie about disbanding the organization, cracks jokes that his long-time friends know aren't entirely japes.

As a much younger person, I had very little self-esteem and no real sense of my own skills and worth. I had some good friends who gently fought to show me otherwise, and I'm grateful, but it's still hard. Life's own natural setbacks don't help and can cause a spiral, an arrestment, a fear that "oh gosh they were wrong and I'm worthless after all." There's still imposter syndrome and thinking I'm coasting or barely keeping up even when given direct evidence otherwise; that I'm doing well, that people value my contributions and what I offer.

So I get it. Despite everything Thancred's been through at the side of the staunchest allies imaginable, to hells and back and beyond death even--there's always that voice. That fear. That disbelief.

I'm not needed. I'm not worthy--but they are.

That constant grounding of a very real mindset and traits, in such a fantastical setting and the impossible situations the character's been through, gives us something to relate with. It's a process many of us recognize and appreciate, and want to reassure him it's all right, we get it. And maybe, be the kind of pals that my friends were to me; "let us show you who we see, not what you think you are."

Of course Thancred's a fictional character, so we can't really, beyond our own fanfiction and roleplay. But it's a nice idea, and maybe along the way lets us heal a bit of ourselves, too.

#final fantasy xiv #thancred waters #endwalker #lyn meta #blogging #about me #about the blorbo

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aotopmha · 22 days

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At lvl 87 Endwalker quests.

The Venat duty absolutely destroyed me.

I was planning to get Elpis done this weekend, but I struggled almost an hour and an half (maybe even twoish hours, didn't precisely track it) on this duty until I, for probably first time while playing this game, turned down the difficulty of a solo duty, and I'm pretty exhausted, so the rest of Elpis is left for another day.

It's a fantastic encounter because it sells you just how powerful Venat truly is really well, but it's another bit of gameplay proof to me that the difficult content of the game probably isn't something that is for me (and makes me incredibly grateful for the lower difficulty options for solo duties).

(At the very least I know progging some of the Savage content and especially Ultimates would probably drive me up the wall.

Extremes, I do want to give a try because they generally seem less time-intensive and lenient. I won't *completely* exclude tougher stuff, but at the very least I know that kind of content would get unfun fairly quick for me because of what it is by nature.)

It's the orbs that got me with every class I tried; just couldn't get enough of them in time, but as said, I'm pretty grateful for the 'easy' button.

With this out of the way, I think there is actually a good amount to say about all of the lvl 86 and 87 content up to the solo duty.

It can be actually summed up pretty easily: it's all just a lot of characterization, but it is characterization for a bunch of different characters and essentially an entire culture. More than any other zone, I think it is the motivations and perspectives of the characters that matter the most.

You've got the friendship between Emet and Hythlodeus, the father-daughter relationship between Hermes and Meteion and as I see it a student-mentor (maybe?) relationship between the WoL and Venat.

Between these are less focused dynamics like Venat teasing Emet or the cute budding friendship between the WoL and Meteion.

Then we have the individual characterization for all of them, too.

But before I fully go into them, there is a pretty big general thought I have about Elpis:

It is fanservice.

It is such unquestionably, blatantly, unflinchingly obvious fanservice that it should bother me so much more than it does.

For crying out loud, the entire portion of the story starts with Emet filling you with his aether. They're fully indulging the Emet simps.

But it is also substantial and thoughtful every step of the way, and I think really well told, so I really like it.

So, I'll get into exploring all of the characters in their basics. You could probably an entire massive post about every single one of them, but I just want to go into them in the most concise, simple way for now.

I'll start with Emet-Selch. I think my favorite part about Emet in Elpis is how he reacts when he learns about his actions in the future.

He cannot comprehend how he could be so disrespectful towards the sacrifice of his brethren, while all across the questing during the zone, his actions especially show just how much he cares about the well-being of the Star and his brethren, and that is the exact reason why he ends up doing what he does.

The reason why everything happens is because of who he is as a character. It is fantastic character-based plot writing, which is kind of a trend across all of Elpis (and happens to be probably my favorite type of writing, I love it when things happen because of who the characters are).

It is delicious Greek tragedy fodder.

Next, I've talked a bunch about how I no longer think character arcs are the be all and end all of good character writing and I think Hythlodeus is probably the best example in FF14.

He is just a super fun and likeable good (tease-y) friend. And he doesn't need to be more as a character.

(And everyone loves him!)

Obviously he has much less time on screen than everyone else, and he would probably get old after a while if we had him for a bunch of expansions, but I think he is proof that all you need for a great character is a likeable base personality.

His teasing dynamic with Emet is super fun and his presence only emphasizes why what Emet does and believes in the future makes sense.

Next are Hermes and Meteion.

The more I think on it, the more I feel like they're the thematic core of the story. And both are also carrying another type of narrative I love: stories about feelings.

Technically you can argue all stories are to some extent about feelings because stories are kind of there to make you feel.

But to me Endwalker is specifically about mental illness, more specifically perhaps about depression and despair and overcoming it.

It's fascinating, every time I even type about these ideas, I feel an unease, as if it shouldn't be a big deal, as if I'm making a mountain out of a molehill but also as if I was judging people for it. I feel there is still an unspoken stigma to it.

But it is a very serious issue. I myself have struggled with these thoughts, and though I luckily have found my answer and have gotten better, I still see and feel that judgment and disapproval directed at anyone who is suffering.

"Just stop being sad!"

"It's not that big of a deal!"

And in that sense, I feel Hermes is probably the most real of all of the characters in Elpis.

Is he the anomaly for essentially experiencing depression? Is he the anomaly for not agreeing with the norm of just discarding animals, thus other lives on a whim? For not seeing death as "beautiful" as his culture does?

As someone who has been there, dismissing or simplifying Hermes' struggle rings false to me. This is what mental illness does, what depression does. Mental illness makes everything bigger, creates tunnel vision, so Hermes can't see the good around him and so turns to look for purpose elsewhere.

I remember seeing a video title along the lines of "Hermes should suffer more" or again talking points about him "just being sad" and while it might have been for clickbait purposes, I think I've seen sentiments along those lines a bunch of times and I feel like many people just miss the point of his character and maybe even have this opinion towards him because of how they view emotional struggles like this.

Obviously stuff like this is super personal and hits different for everyone, but fictional characters are also not real people; they serve a narrative purpose and in this case Hermes represents someone going through this kind of struggle.

Among other things, he is a general thematic symbol, an idea within the story.

Even if he had the most awful ambitions imaginable, what message would further torturing a character going through this kind of emotional struggle ultimately send?

The idea of fantasy as a filter exists for a reason; were it real life all of these characters, even the more heroic ones, would be morally abhorrent.

But fiction allows us to explore some of these heavy ideas within its safe framework. And you're not obligated to like art like this, either. I just think that's the brand of fantasy FF14 is going for and I fully read most stories within this framework and really enjoy them.

I don't need characters to be morally good for a story to be good, but I actually do also think Hermes is a pretty good example of a narrative distinguishing between the sympathetic and antagonistic parts of a character's actions.

You're not empathizing with him wanting to destroy the world. The entire point is to just understand where his perspective came from. That is the framing I see.

But again, a text can have many reads. In the end I just disagree with a bunch reads on Hermes.

But to move on from Hermes, I think if Hermes is the most "real", Meteion is probably the most tragic.

She is by nature essentially an empath. If Hermes is the adult suffering from mental illness, Meteion is the child feeling the consequences with no say on the matter.

Meteion feels what Hermes feels and those are often negative feelings; and when he sees Meteion suffer from it, he in turn feels guilty. And Meteion suffers from that in turn.

Hermes very clearly cares for Meteion, but he also ends up using her for his own ends just like the other ancients do creations. His entire reason for creating Meteion was for his wish to see other civilizations to be fulfilled. It's selfish. Hermes is not immune from his culture's principles.

And while it hurts him to hurt her, he still does it. It's a crazy good complicated relationship.

As I said, I think there is so much more to say, but I think I'll move on to the final pair.

Truth is, I'm not 100% sure what to label the Venat/Azem/WoL relationship because while teacher-student is a strong sense I get, I also get a very strong "simple friendship with a fellow traveler" feeling out of it.

I can see why the Emet/Hythlo or Emet/Azem/WoL ships are so strong, but I never got that sense out of Venat.

And I don't see the parent/child parallel that strongly either despite all of the mommy jokes.

I need to think on that more.

But what I do love, is characters that *love* the world.

Who unconditionally, fiercely love it.

Life is a miracle to her and so she aims to protect it with all of her being.

And she didn't use to think that way. It is the pursuit of knowledge that lead her to that conclusion.

And to me, that makes her a fantastic meta parallel to me as a player because that is how I grew to see FF14 as I saw more of its story and then got to eventually play it.

Because at first I wasn't interested in doing any of the side content, only the main story, but as I went on I became interested to the point of wanting to do the blue quests, then yellow quests, then tribe quests, and any of the side content.

My plan for Dawntrail is to really take my time and really take in literally all of it, down to eventually the least significant yellow quests.

It'll take time, but that is my eventual aim with the entire game currently.

I grew to love this story, this world and all of the characters in it.

I'm not sure if this is the meta intention with Venat, but that is how it worked out for me as a player.

"Has your journey been good? Has it been worthwile?"

She asks and while my most immediate thought is "gotta get that audience survey in there", a split second later, all can I think of is "yes".

At this point I have about 700+ hours in the game and the only bit of content I've disliked is traversing the ARR, HW and a bunch of the SB zones.

But going back to Venat, I like that despite being so graceful in image, she has fun and joy in her.

Her being the previous Azem is very fitting in that sense and is another aspect of her character that makes me view her as a adventuring friend.

My overall thoughts about Elpis so far are really that I love how well-defined the characters and the relationships between them are; it is a feast for someone like me who loves character-centric stories.

I look forward to what is coming next; really nearing the final stretch here and I look forward to covering it as I go through it.

#Final Fantasy XIV #Final Fantasy 14 #FFXIV #FF14 #FF #Final Fantasy #Endwalker #EW

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balladingbard · 1 year

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How the Unsundered Faced their Fates (and How It's a Lesson for Us All)

This is the first in more planned posts regarding the ending of Pandaemonium, so it will be hidden under a spoiler cut, but let's tie in some threads from both Endwalker and its raid series when it comes to the character arcs of Emet-Selch, Lahabrea, and Elidibus.

One of the most interesting parts of Endwalker and Pandaemonium to me is that every Unsundered (either in reality or through memory) got to learn what they'd become later on.

Venat learned she'd become Hydaelyn and sunder the world. Emet-Selch, Lahabrea, and Elidibus learned they'd become Ascians that would try to undo what she did through sacrifice and calamity. And yet, despite learning the future, every one of them had a different reaction, as well as how they handled their ends.

Let's look at them one by one:

Emet Selch: Denial and the Refusal to Heal

Emet-Selch learns of his fate through the Warrior of Light while in Elpis. Throughout the journey, despite helping them try to stop Hermes and Meteion from unleashing the Final Days, he says that he doesn't believe the WoL's story. It's too much to fathom as truth, and he refuses to believe that he'd give up in his duty. "You do not know me!" he says in spite. Of course, as history progresses, he eventually learns after his defeat that the Warrior of Light was telling the truth all along, and in the Aetherial Sea, he's forced to come to terms with an uncomfortable truth: the past he wants to hold onto is never coming back. No matter how hard he tried, the world he loved is gone. And frankly? He can't come to terms with it.

I remember a while back ago how Yoshi P mentioned that he didn't think Emet-Selch would ever want to be reborn, and as much as I'd love to see a reborn Emet, I tend to agree. Because this is the arc (and tragedy) of Emet-Selch. He is meant to represent the people who never heal from the past. Despite fighting for millennia to bring the people he loved back, he rejected the opportunity to live another life with Hythlodaeus and Azem's reincarnation ("I will not suffer to live again under Hydaelyn's magic.")

Whether Emet-Selch will be reborn or not, of course, is up to debate (I personally think Hythlodaeus is going to drag him into it regardless and we'll eventually see them again), but the lesson of Emet-Selch is clear: some are just unable to heal from the past, and in the end, it denies them a future.

Lahabrea: Acceptance and Distance

Lahabrea's memory learns of his fate while in the Aetherial Sea after a slip of the tongue reveals his role as an Ascian and the Warrior of Light is given the option to confirm it. Through Lahabrea's journey in the Pandaemonium series, we learn that he's blunt, logical, and to the point. So, when he learns that he sorta follows Athena's footsteps with the Heart of Sabik and goes full-blown Ascian mode, he accepts it. Despite the absurdity of it all, he essentially says, "Yep. That sounds about right. That's totally something I'd do."

The fact that he's able to accept his fate with such a calm demeanor tells a lot about his character. He's one that's willing to admit both his strengths and weaknesses, as well as accept whatever will come next. But how he reacts to his end is a bit of a middle-ground compared to Emet-Selch (and Elidibus, as we'll eventually see.) Rather than fight his fate, he accepts it. There's little to no emotion in it all. And as he's saying his farewells to the reincarnation of his son and the rest of the team, he brushes everything off almost...casually.

Everything is about the circle of history - what will be, will be. He played a part in it, yes, but now the cycle is about to begin again. And unlike Emet-Selch, he's willing to let go of the past, because that's how it's supposed to be. He's the type of person that has seen the chaos, tried his best, and is now shrugging his shoulders and saying, "Meh. Time to go to the next thing." The past is the past and the future is the future, but all of the memories are just part of a moving wheel that will always keep turning no matter what. Whether it's the Ancient world or the new one doesn't matter, as long as the wheel continues to turn. There's really nothing special about it to him.

Elidibus: Regret and Healing

Elidibus doesn't hear directly about his fate, but after listening about Lahabrea, and gathering a few memories from his own soul regarding the clash on the Crystal Tower, I believe he's smart enough to put two and two together. Elidibus is shown to be a clever detective of sorts, and his facial reactions when Lahabrea learns of his fate is quite telling as he's got a "pondering, yet surprised" expression as well. He doesn't get the chance to speak as Claudien awakens, but at the end of the journey, when it's just him and the Warrior of Light, he finally starts to share his thoughts.

Though his memories of everything but Pandaemonium are still hazy (due to Athena or some other factor), he mentions more than once about being "unburdened by regret" after thinking about his journey with the Warrior of Light. He knows that they become enemies. He knows he is an Ascian. His mention of regret, despite little being said, makes me wonder that unlike the other Ascians, he did feel guilty about what happened. Erichthonios even says, "Themis would never want to be your enemy." Though I have a post planned on Elidibus and who he really is that will be shared later, I think that his journey shows quite a contrast to Lahabrea and Emet-Selch, especially when it comes to the end.

Faced with the reality of a grim future, Elidibus (like Lahabrea) doesn't deny it outright. He accepts that the future is going to be grueling and that he loses himself. But unlike Lahabrea, he doesn't dismiss it as an ever-moving machine that keeps turning. He sees meaning behind it. As he tells the Warrior of Light, his becoming an Ascian essentially helped send them to the past to save the Star, and despite it being one act of many that led to Meteion's defeat, it mattered. And despite having regrets of all the pain he caused, that burdened was lifted because good was able to be wrought from it in the end, saving everyone.

Further still, we see Elidibus embrace the future. Not that he didn't appreciate the Ancient world and its past. But unlike Emet-Selch (who refused to see it go) or Lahabrea (who accepted whatever as long as the Star remained), Elidibus sees the new world and is excited for it, even mentioning how he liked the name of the Aetherial Sea for the journey it represented. He's the type of person that sees the bad that has happened but chooses to heal and grow from it. To learn how to make the world better and embrace the change because he knows that it's for the best. It's why we get that final scene in the sea, as well as getting that implied reincarnation that lets us know we'll probably be seeing him again (but more on that in a later post...)

Regardless, it's a good contrast between the three unsundered to see how they all differed in their response to learning their fates and facing their end. Like any good story, it gives us lessons to ponder for ourselves as well.

#endwalker spoilers #6.4 spoilers #pandaemonium spoilers #ffxiv #ffxiv spoilers #emet selch #lahabrea #elidibus #themis #final fantasy xiv #ffxiv lore #ascians #ffxiv ancients

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plounce · 4 hours

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rob plounce's ffxiv fic reclist

this will update as i continue to find stuff i enjoy. (it also exists as a page on my desktop blog!)

disclaimer: this is just stuff i’ve read that i’ve enjoyed! i have my own favorite characters and pairings, so my reclist skews heavily towards those. i’m not super into in wolshipping, so there won’t be much of that, sorry! i have not read everything in every pairing and character tag, so don’t take this as a comprehensive guide. these are just things that i liked and think are worth reading.

fics are noted with wordcount, pairing (or as gen), and rating (e = explicit).

spoilers ahoy!

scions

lost and found (8.8k, T). gen, light moenuri - you know how moenbryda’s parents basically adopted urianger after they basically abandoned him? this fic is about that. also urianger autism :)

while eating (2.2k, G) gen - more baby autistic urianger with bastard parents. sob. at least moenbryda’s parents are there.

foster (1k, G) gen - pre-canon, thancred overhears fourchenault and louisoix talking about him.

second impression (4.8k, T) gen - fourchenault is a bit more of a classist bastard than in canon and is a dick to thancred, but gets past it. mostly. thancred does his best.

the stars in their abundance (2.7k, T) gen - pre-canon from the perspective of g'raha’s mom in corvos!

cross (1.1k, G) gen - minfilia and thancred clean up the mess of thancred’s possession.

your song, carried onwards (4.9k, G) gen - thancred’s rescue of alisaie from the WoD in the hvw patches.

a stranger in the woods (4.3k, E) thancred/marcechamp - you know, the guy from tailfeather in heavensward? they hook up. thancred gets taken care of.

dust in your eyes (8.8k, T). background ships include wolchefant, wolcred, and haurchefant/urianger, but is mostly about thancred being a sad bastard who is always too slow, too late, and trying to be his best self but not totally succeeding. and haurchefant being a great guy. good character stuff.

how massive is the spirit in us (2.2k, G) gen - ryne character introspection… makes my heart hurt.

testing the waters (1.8k, G) gen - thancred teaches ryne to swim.

the shimmering light (2k, G) gen, light thanuri - urianger settling into the bookman’s shelves. fun il mheg worldbuilding.

almost crystal, almost ascian (10k, T) gen - minfilia and the exarch meet up a few times over the course of a century. their parallelisms. the horror of being “minfilia.”

off the hook, provisionally (974, G) gen - y'shtola talks to the exarch in the wake of 5.0 about his deception.

among the shelves (5k, G). gen - the twins and ryne hang out and talk about the other scions.

portentous news (842, G) gen - urianger’s first morning on the moon in the middle of endwalker.

adventures in unlikely friendship (23k, T) gen - wol+cred friendship! i really like these. the bozja one is delightful. passively-suicidal bestiessss

void parsley sojourn (4k, T) gen, light thanuri - urianger hotboxes the rising stones. very charming depiction of urianger as a weed nerd. makes me laugh and smile every time i read it!

there is (maybe) an ascian among us (11k, T) gen, minor side pairings - post-endwalker, the scions try to get to the bottom of a conspiracy about thancred, who just wants to grill for gods sake! comedy.

two scions walks into a bar… (26k, T) gen, but eventually thanuri - a series where the author intended to just analyze and write about thancred & urianger’s relationship as gen, but then slid into shipping lmao. covers ARR-early STB with a bit of post-SHB. great character work for both of them!

respite, despite (25k, T) thanuri - urianger pining from pre-5.0 to the close of endwalker… good pining, good urianger misery, good romance. wagh!

erasing all the lines in the sand (30k, E) thanuri - mutual pining, miscommunication, coparenting! bookman’s shelves fic.

(in parantheses) - (9.9k, M) thanuri - thancred’s ptsd over having his body used by lahabrea rears its head in shadowbringers.

trouble in paradise (2.3k, E) thanuri - transfem urianger!!!! :D :D :D great kind-of-an-asshole thancred character work. hurting each other but trying to fix it.

sole conundrum (412, G) thanuri - pre-edw garlemald scouting mission. urianger autism :D

three of swords reversed (3.2k, T) thanuri, moenuri - urianger dealing with grief over moenbryda and thancred in the later half of endwalker.

another sunrise (5.8k, T) thanuri - post-edw wanderings - urianger deals with a mystery, sudden solitude, and a crisis of doubt! ends happily.

take root in this barren soil (and grow back stronger) (7.4k, E) thanuri - thancred shares what the training regimen of a sharlayan spy entails, not expecting urianger to react so strongly.

to wander is a dream (46k, M) thanuri - post-edw. i don’t tend to enjoy hanahaki fics but this fic is so so so good. thancred being an emotionally stunted asshole, urianger being the world’s most beautiful martyr (for better or for worse), lots of fae stuff, both of them struggling to not be repressed.

why do we forbear? (9.3k, E) thanuri - modern au fake dating, which would usually not appeal to me but this one’s real cute. (currently unfinished)

ancients

on call (2.5k, T) hythades - emet-selch goes out of town, and hyth is asked to step in for a soul-seeing duty. and he futzes with emet-selch’s office.

mail run (840, G) hythades - “A young archival intern keeps finding completely legitimate reasons to do all the deliveries to a very specific Bureau of the Architect clerk. For no reason at all.” young love!

as stars to a sky (1.8k, T) hythades - little vignettes about life in the pre-sundered world.

the seat of destruction (13k, M) hythades - canon-divergent au where hythlodaeus is the one to take the seat of emet-selch, and the sundering still happens. my favorite ascian!hyth work.

affective memory (9.3k, T) hythades - pov from the shade of hythlodaeus as he wanders around emet-selch’s reconstructed amaurot.

for good health and opportunity (14k, T) pre-emetexarch - emet-selch visits the crystal exarch numerous times over the course of a century. frenemies!

other characters

“nero tol scaeva did nothing wrong”… (5k, G) gen - a bunch of job npcs try to arrest nero for driving without a license. goes about as well as you might think.

biohazard (1.1k, G) gen - nero hates valens’ ass. not because he has “morals” or anything he just thinks valens is a dogshit project manager.

left in the dust (3.9k, T?) cidnero - ARR nero finds amnesiac marques working in the lichyard. miserable little man.

adrift in memory’s fog (16k, T) cidnero - cid’s frequent bouts of amnesia have led to a patchy memory - enough where he forgets that he and nero were betrothed as teenagers. (trans cid!)

the troubled envoy (1.3k, T) gen - maxima’s diary entries during the stormblood patches, including his thoughts on his weird boss.

the last abandonment (1.9k, M) gen - maxima wanders the ruins of garlemald and reflects on his time in the garlean left. by the same author as above - i really rec all their maxima fics.

this cathedral where your face stains the windows (2k, G) ysayle/igeyrohm - “Someone had to teach Ysayle summoning.” great ysayle heresy stuff + toxic yuri.

this blessed day (80k, M) gen - lucia’s journey from a captured garlean spy to aymeric’s right hand. lucia……

cadavre exquis (6.4k, T) gen - emmanellain helps pack up haurchefant’s things at camp dragonhead ft ishgardian homophobia and an underground queer zine scene.

the lantern jar (19k, T) cirisadu - OH MY GODDDDDDDDDDD. this fic is so good. cirina and sadu growing close. lots of development of steppe spiritual traditions and beliefs.

duet (13k, T) estivrtra - estinien encourages vrtra to live more fully as a dragon. cool dragon stuff.

a view of you (14k, M) estivrtra - estinien gets fatally wounded, and vrtra keeps him alive via a great sacrifice (sadly unfinished, but what’s there is a great read)

veteran advisor (15k, E) vrtra/estinien/gaius - really great gaius character work here where he and allie are on vacation in radz-at-han, and the impact that has on both of them. but also? it's mostly about big!varshahn getting railed. good for him!

this home wrested forth (2.5k, T) gen - sidurgu from DRK quests and alaqa from WHM quests meet up and deal with some gridanian wrongdoing.

a fervent desire (111k+, E) sanson/guydelot - an incredibly in-depth retelling of the BRD quests. great work developing these characters and giving them really in-depth motivations!

and love you shall find (9.8k, E) sanson/guydelot - BRD quests, but what if sanson journals as an accommodation for short-term memory loss?

#chirps #ffxiv #thanuri #since there's a lot of that in here. eheheh :P

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mundmutter · 7 days

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I have a doc appointment the 24th and i'm reallllly looking forward to it!! with how actually productive and settled my mind has been, a bit higher and i'll be even more focused than before. Speaking of focusing

I'm planning on qistina being my highest active muse

choso will have to be moved to my multi, sasuke and the fandom are super dead dead so I'm gonna try to be active over there but if the fandom is too dead I may just move him to my multi as well. L'una I have to gather endwalker icons for him and more graphics so he'll be a big project for me and now there's the au-dabi I want to do. after he's done, I don't think I'll be making anymore solo blogs. just keeping to qissy, the multi, and 1 solo-blog might be all I can do. especially with everything else i'm doing

#― ooc. kosm coffee break!#tbd #yyyyyyyeah i wanna do a few things before bed #but just wanted to throw this out there

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akirakirxaa · 9 months

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FFXIV Write Day 3: Extra Credit

Rating: Teen

Wordcount: 771

Warnings: Major injuries, Endwalker Spoilers

Summary: Two dear friends decide to stay after all.

Master Post

Everything was agony.

Every breath, every muscle twitch. Akira had pushed beyond her limits before, but this was something else. Maybe if she hadn’t already given everything she had to stopping the Endsinger, this would have been nothing. Just another fight, another foe felled.

But she had. She had given everything and, despite it, she gave more. Chose to give more. And though the rival that had dogged her steps since — gods, it felt like a lifetime ago that they had fought at Rhalgar’s Reach — lay still and silent not a few arm-lengths away, she feared she would not be long behind him. She won, but at what cost?

She thought of her friends. Would they even know what had happened? How long would they wait before they realized she wasn’t coming? Would they even know where to look for her?

She gazed out at the endless sky. At least it was a peaceful place to die. She knew many who went before her that were not so lucky. She watched the sky as darkness gathered at the edges of her vision, until she could no longer hold her eyes open. A heaviness crept at the edges of her consciousness.

“Dammit, Hero!” She heard a familiar, an impossible, voice, and she tried to respond, tried to reopen her eyes, but she was just so, so tired. She felt a hand take hers, and she tried to grip it, to twitch her fingers, anything, but she just had nothing left in her.

The darkness surged, and she fell into the black.

~*~

Hades grit his teeth in frustration. How was he supposed to get any rest when she went around throwing her life away every time he tried? He called out to her again, but she didn’t respond, the only proof that she let lived the shallow movements of her chest.

He should just let her meet her fate. He should return to the lifestream and get on with his own well deserved rest. But somehow the idea of it just felt horrifically wrong.

The idea that she would just be left to rot so far from home rankled, and so here he was, going back on his own word that he would never accept Hydaelyn’s magic to continue living. And he knew, could feel, that if he didn’t return to the lifestream now that this would be permanent. He heard the quiet sound, not unlike that of teleportation, and calm footsteps that heralded the arrival of he whom Hades had been ready to burn the world down to get back.

“You don’t have to come with me,” the words were gruff, rueful. Hades would not deny Hythlodaeus the rest he also deserved after everything the Convocation’s decisions had put him through.

“I don’t have to, but I want to,” Hythlodaeus smiled warmly at him, and Hades couldn’t find the resolve to argue otherwise with him. Maybe he was too selfish after everything, but if he was going to stay, he would rather have Hythlodaeus with him.

Especially when there was no guarantee that Akira would even want him around.

He had seen the tears she held back when they left just before the final confrontation, but emotions were riding high, surely they were not for him.

Hythlodaeus brushed his hair back as he stepped forward, crouching on Akira’s other side and running a hand, hovering just over her body, along her. The healing magic glowed, stabilizing her though she still did not respond to Hades’ prompting.

“Do you know how to get to her ship?” Hythlodaeus asked, and Hades grit his teeth. No, no he didn’t. Their view from the lifestream, from their connection to Azem’s crystal, was not perfect. But just as Hades was about to go looking on his own, there was a flash and a small blue bird appeared before them, clutching a flat tablet in its claws. Hythlodaeus started towards it, but Hades stopped him with a hand on his shoulder, approaching instead.

It will take you to her friends, Meteion’s voice echoed in his head, and he snatched the tablet, still feeling less than charitable towards the creation. He passed it to Hythlodaeus with a quick “Hold this” as he stooped to scoop up Akira’s still disturbingly lifeless form.

This is not pointless she’s still breathing several of her friends are healers surely they will be able to fix this.

Hythlodaeus took one of her limp hands and, somewhat awkwardly one handed, pressed the largest button on the pad. The two ancients exchanged an apprehensive glance just as the tablet activated, and the three of them vanished.

#ffxiv #endwalker spoilers #hyth and hades stay au #rough draft #ffxivwrite2023 #ffxivwrite #oc: akira kirxaa #ship: the bitter truth #hythwolemet #hythlodaeus x wol x emet-selch #hythlodaeus #emet-selch #If I actually work on this more this would only be part of chapter 1 cause it's way too short for a full chapter hehe #my fanfiction #verse: an echo calling me

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sasslett · 2 months

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OC Name Meanings

tagged by @okami-zero, thanks!

Rules: Google and post the meaning of your OC’s name (if you made their name up or they go by a nickname, post an explanation of how it came to you)! bonus if you can find something for their last name too.

Well... this won't be terribly exciting but I'll share what I can!

Jess is typically short for Jessica, which means... "to see" in Hebrew? Fittingly, Jess is one of the more oblivious people you'll meet. Alternatively, it means "to see god" which is a tad more fitting, considering she's slain like every single god we've met in game.

Though her name is just Jess, not Jessica. When I have to give her a full name, on very rare occasions, it's Jesselya, but if that's canon in XIV I can't say.

The origin of me naming her Jess came about... back in 2011? I think? I was playing a DnD campaign with some friends and everyone came up with these huge elaborate fantasy names, so I rolled in with "Jess", sort of poking fun at them in a subtle way. And it's just stuck ever since, as has her origin of being a Plain Jane in a world of magic and wonder and names you can't even begin to pronounce.

In every universe in which she lives, she's an orphan, so last names were never really a thing for her. But since XIV requires them, I gave her the last name Shepard - nothing canonical for her at all, just a nod to my other favorite game, Mass Effect.

Varrus, on the other hand, isn't my character, but I'll still give his answer since it's silly!

My husband initially had rolled into XIV with his tabaxi DnD character, a Hrothgar, but he didn't really enjoy the bulk of the Hrothgar, so he used his free ARR fantasia, and, after experimenting with all the races, decided he liked Elezen best. But he had no idea what to name him - so, as a joke, he named him Varrus Vakarian, to go with my Shepard (there's no Shepard without Vakarian!). Obviously this was a temporary name, and we agreed we'd try to find something more fitting as we went.

But as we played, my husband really became attached to the alliteration of the V. V. name, and didn't want to give it up. We thought and thought and thought... and then Endwalker came about, and we learned Estinien's true last name, and everything fell into place (it was decided back in SB that Varrus was Estinien's cousin, and that's another story).

As established, I suck at tagging people, so I'm leaving this an open tag as well! I'd love to hear others' stories!

#sassbox #tagged #thanks!

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dumpy-dump · 2 years

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ffxiv villains

Nael Van Darnus is the english localization team's greatest adversary apparently the unhinged garlean legatus responsible for slam dunking the moon into the ground. she's a big fan of bahamut, sephiroth, and majora's mask, among other things, you see, and decided to incorporate her interests into her work. she dies but doesnt.

Gaius "such devastation" Baelsar is a verbose fantasy nazi who's favorite color is social darwinism. he dies but doesnt, after getting epically pranked by a kingdom hearts cosplayer. later, his many adopted lizard children die. this all causes him to suddenly realize that fascism is not very poggers. it's all very cool and makes sense, you see. gaius "garlean man's burden" baelsar was already slightly less racist than his peers anyway so he's basically a hero.

Nero's not a villain, he's just based.

lol Lahabrea 🍞🔑🗡

Thordan is catholic.

Nidhogg was totally valid actually, but he needed to speak to a dragon grief counselor or something.

Zenos is megatron but sad is a sadistic bishonen who based his whole personality on "the most dangerous game." he's a twisted fuckin cycle path, less a person and more a weapon for the emperor to wield (at least until late stormblood). he's mostly just doing what he was born and raised to do, yeah, but it's not like that makes it fine. he dies but doesn't, as overstaying one's welcome simply runs in his family. he then spends most of his time in early endwalker trying to invite the wol to a nice, romantic, candlelit fistfight in the wendy's parking lot, by pissing on the moon (of course). that, and doing a whole lot of napping, apparently (way to beat the boring allegations, zenos). he helped cause the apocalypse because he's depressed (and very, very battle horny), but it's not like depression makes it all fine.

lol Varis 🗡😱🪦

Emet-Selch is the ceo of fascism, and was a funny and extremely likeable villain who stole the show everytime he showed up, until he wasnt. he stalled in the grieving process and decided to make that everyone else's problem by comitting mass genocide (he kins nidhogg you see) across multiple worlds for thousands of years in an attempt to bring his people back. but he's depressed (about his own ppl, he didnt seem to feel too bad about the everything else), so it's fine. genocide is his coping mechanism you see (very relatable). he dies but still has a ton of screentime and importance even after death because overstaying one's welcome simply runs in his family.

Elidibus more like elidibitch, ayo! was the convocation's little pogchamp who was sacrificed to become zodiark's heart, instead of any of the older members of the convocation who could have made that sacrifice (no, no, by all means, let the lil guy do it). he keeps desperately fighting for reasons he doesnt even know anymore, all while donning his best ff1 warrior of light cosplay (you're doing great, sweetie!). he can also apparently help you travel back in time, even though that's not how that worked when they sent the crystal tower through time initially but yeah okay sure (i kinda already did the twinning broski, cid's funky time robot is gone, how are you doing any of this? dont answer that).

lol Valens 🥛🐄💪

Fandaniel is become zodiark amon hermes a mentally ill funky little jester who is fought three goddamn times, one of those times being in the afterlife after you've already killed him once. one might assume that he may be related in some way to emet and his family based on how he, too, overstays his welcome. but no, he's just one of emet's annoying coworkers. yet another twisted fuckin cycle path, he helped cause the apocalypse (twice technically), but he was depressed, so it's fine. one of two characters whose existence slightly detracts from the whole hope vs despair theme of endwalker (imo).

Meteion is Necron a sad space bird, there to act as an homage to other final fantasy games that also have some random last minute bullshit as the final boss, not acknowledging of course that that is usually one of the worst parts of all the games that do that (i like ff4 but zeromus mcpalpatine-reference is lame). she's trying to destroy all life, yes, but she's mostly just doing what she was born and raised to do, so it's fine. she's also there to connect to the hope vs despair theme, but that is slightly undercut by the player charitably helping a violently mentally ill man die his preferred death (but like in a fun way) right after the big hope overcomes despair moment.

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gaviicreates · 4 months

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Blanket of the Seventh Dawn - 2

Note: This post may contain spoilers up to FFXIV Endwalker.

Introduction: What is this project? Or, for the tl;dr - one colorway per Scion = Big Blanket. #blanket of the seventh dawn to follow along.

Krile Baldesion

Yarn: Arcane Fibre Works, "Oceanic Embrace" in DK.

"Unlike you and the others, I'm a few steps removed from the danger and excitement. The things you all get up to never fail to impress me. But by the same token, I can't help but worry. Not only for your safety, but...but for your happiness. After everything you've sacrificed, you earned it a thousand times over. From the simple pleasures of tucking into a hearty meal or... or collapsing into a comfortable bed...To the grand triumphs of visiting legendary lands or finding true love - you deserve all the joy in the world. There is so much that life has to offer. So much to be treasured and shared with those we hold dear. So promise me this: come what may, you won't give up on your own happiness. When you're out there, fighting tooth and nail, it's all too easy to forget. But in the end, your passions will be your greatest strength of all. Remember that." ~*~*~*~*~*~

A lengthy quote, I know, but an excellent one I couldn't bear to change. So attached I was from the very beginning, I wasn't sure how I felt when I learned of additional characters joining the Scions. All the while, Krile's earnest support of the WOL and their colleagues wedged its way into my heart throughout the expansions. Her constant assistance to the Scions during the events at the First is among the most poignant, and I feel so at home at the Baldesion Annex (Endwalker) where I am comforted by the aesthetic of those nerdy researchers I call friends. (I love them, truly).

For Krile's colors, I knew I wanted to honor the buttery yellow similar close to that of her gear, and when I found this sun on the ocean colorway the turquoise immediately reminded me of her eyes. Some of her adornments include silver, so the grey worked too, and this was one of the easiest choices for me. I adore how soft these colors feel together, so reminiscent of Krile's strength of heart, though she rarely sees it in herself.

I can't wait to see how she grows in Dawntrail! As for the next squares, stay tuned!

#ffxiv blanket #blanket of the seventh dawn #ffxiv spoilers #ffxiv #crochet #crocheting #granny square #scions of the seventh dawn #yarn #arcane fibre works #ffxiv krile #krile baldesion

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