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thevikingwoman · 2 months

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another letter reached Meryta before she sets out for the Rak'tika Greatwood

Fandom: FFXIV | Words: 786 | Read on Ao3

part 1 | part 2 | part 3

Meryta Khatin x Tansui | during A Little Faith | romance Rating: Teen. Letters, longing

LETTERS AND LONGING, PART 3

The next letter finds her at the Imperative. They’re looking for remnants of the Church of the First Light, but before she starts looking in earnest, the post moogle bounces into her view.

“I came all the way from Fort Jobb, Kupo! You better be grateful.”

She ensures it she is, and sends it off with her thanks and a plea to wait and rest at least a little, to give her a chance to write back. The moogle hums and agrees, scuttling off to rest in the shade. It’s not been long since she sent her last letters, but when she opens it, it’s clear Tansui has received his already. The moogles – or Feo Ul – must be working overtime. Perhaps it helps to be king.

Tansui congratulates her on her win, and she’s not sure what to make of that. She fights and she wins and it’s what everyone expects. It feels different in his words, however, his expectations more like support, and less like a duty. Like he seems equally proud and concerned for her, between his teasing words. Or perhaps that he wants her to win for herself, and not because anyone else expects her to. He sounds relieved too, and it feels good to know he’s concerned.

Tansui tells news from the Confederacy, a long story about a hapless captain unwilling to let go of his cargo when met with mostly newer recruits. Until one of them had put an arrow between the man’s feet, perhaps backed up by Tansui’s scowl. His letter downplays his own role, and she can feel how proud he is of the people he trains. It had turned out that the captain had spent his very last gil on his cargo, and in a vain hope of maximizing his profits had all but forgotten about the ruby tithe. The ship’s hold had been filled with Hingan furniture bound for Eorzea, and now the Confederacy is the proud owner of gleaming red-lacquered garden benches.

She imagines it, pretty benches in the sand. Mayhap they will pass them on to Doma in a trade, but truly she does not know if the Domans need them any more than the Confederacy.

She chuckles at the story, as she sits on the stairs as she reads. Thancred passes by, a curious look on his face, but he doesn’t ask. She should help with the search, but mostly the letter makes her want to go to him again. With his letters, she knows that he did not tire of her visits, that he wants her. The thought makes her happy, warmth coursing through her. He says as much too, that he misses her, that he wants to hold her, kiss her, touch her.

She looks at the aetheryte, the sparks of aether currents humming about it. It would be so easy, to throw herself into the lifestream, to see him. To feel his hands on her.

His lips.

The warmth of his skin beneath her fingers, his beard scratching across her chest…

Minfilia bounces up the ramp to her left, a white blur of motion. Meryta shakes her head. As much as she wants to, she can’t leave now. Not even a day’s rest here, and who knows if a trip will be an hour or a week on the First. Maybe soon, when they’ve met with Y’shtola, she can find time. Or mayhap when they’ve delt with the next Lightwarden.

She shudders at the thought. She’ll keep going, no matter how terrified she is, for the sake of those she can save, but right now her mind turns to Tansui first. His smirk and the challenge in his eyes. The affectionate words in his letters, and the appreciation in his hands.Curiously, she finds determination in thinking of him, a promise to see him again, her battles done. There’s a hunger to not only win for herself, or the scions, or everyone else; but so that she can go to him, victorious. She’ll never give up and flee a battle, that is not her nature, but this kind of longing is new.

Across the courtyard, Urianger braces himself against a heavy door. It’s probably stuck from disuse. He seems to have the task well in hand, as it swings open, and he disappears into the darkness.

She should write tonight, at least. She wonders what he’d think if she put her desires, her yearning, on paper, but she’s not sure she can find her words as easily with pen in hand as in her mind. He surely wouldn’t mind, his boldness always evident. She blushes, want running through as she think of his touch again, and tucks the letters into her clothing.

#ffxiv #ffxiv fanfic #final fantasy 14 #final fantasy 14 fanfic #wol x tansui #tansui wol #one more letter ah #getting confident #not quite admitting to herself how much he means #but we're getting there #meryta khatin #this is it !#for now #writing about meryta #viking writes #first published 2/25/2024 #ffxiv tansui

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autumnslance · 7 months

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LynMars FFXIV Write 2023 Master Post

This year's challenge completed! Congrats to everyone who wrote anything at all this month, even if just one prompt! Thanks again to @sea-wolf-coast-to-coast for 7 years of this!

Previous Years Master Posts: 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022

Anything wolcred ship-related is marked by an asterisk* as usual. Commentary and stats for anyone interested below the Read More.

01. Envoy: ARR; Aeryn makes her Grand Company choice. 02. Bark: Dark has the wrong pie thief suspect. 03. Free Day! 04. Off the Hook: EW; Lucia & Maxima explore their new HQ. 05. Barbarous: HW; Aeryn's frustrated by the land of her birth. 06. Ring: EW; keepsakes & memories of Aeryn's mother. 07. Noisome: Dark & Iyna contend with ubiquitous seasonal flavors. 08. Shed: EW; Aeryn answers Zenos at the edge of everything. 09. Fair: EW; Azem's brother tries to ensure the future has his aid. 10. Free Day! 11. Once Bitten Twice Shy: ShB Bozja; unwarranted concerns. 12. Dowdy: Backstory; Aeryn's always had Opinions about fashion. 13. Check: Iyna discovers C'oretta's personal business. 14. Clear*: ShB; semi-poetic sweetness of coming together. 15. Portentous: Backstory. Zaine speaks to Tanzel about a decision. 16. Jerk: EW; Aeryn meets an old friend as the Final Days loom. 17. Free Day! 18. Fish Out of Water: Shb: G'raha gets used to his new life. 19. Weal: EW; Vrtra sees to his people and their home. 20. Hamper: In a possible future, Iyna answers academic questions. 21. Grave: Legacy; Zaine Striker returns to his childhood home. 22. Fulsome: C'oretta sorts through her parents' old promos. 23. Suit: ARR; what the Scions wore that most fateful night. 24: Free Day! 25. Call it a Day: Pre-ARR; Iron Summer contemplating his daughter. 26. Last: EW; a final conversation between ancients. 27. Sole*: Post-ShB; Thancred vs the perils of Aeryn's flip-tastic jobs. 28. Blunt: Post-ShB; working with Gaius, like it or not. 29. Contravention: EW; "In from the Cold" violates laws of nature. 30. Amity: EW; Varshahn & Aeryn discuss Thavnair & Garlemald.

Only 2 short shippy prompts all month! All 4 modern girls got a couple spotlights, various family cameos and backstories, a future prompt as is tradition, Zaine had a few posts, a few NPC-only scenes, a LOT of Endwalker, and even Ancient Icarus got a story, tying into 2021's "Destruct" prompt and how/why the siblings' souls have been connected through time and reincarnations.

A few of these are alternate takes on scenes I've touched on before, but it's interesting what a new prompt at a different time can get one to say, how we change as writers in what we focus on and how we say it.

This comes in roughly 300 words shorter than last year, at 18,493. The week of the 18-22 I had off work for my birthday, and that had the most 1k+ prompts, with a word count nearly double the other 3 full weeks. While the longer prompts are good, I'm really happy with how so many of the short ones turned out!

I was again trying to be realistic about my time, energy, not pushing free write days...and also working on an original writing project on the side, so I actually did do more writing over the month, just not FFXIV related!

(Also why some of my responses were in just under the wire...)

But this was a good break and exercise from that other writing, and let me try a few new things.

And comparing to earlier years--especially 2017 and 2018 when I was getting back onto the writing horse and feeling out my OCs--I feel like my growth as a writer, especially to be more succinct yet still evocative when needed, is evident. I've gotten a lot of practice in over time, and this challenge is one of the things that helped me get to where I can write an original story on top of my fanfic!

Breakdowns for funsies: Longest: 21 Grave; 1,652 words Shortest: 14 Clear; 106 words

Between 100-500 words: 1 Envoy; 2 Bark; 4 Off the Hook; 5 Barbarous; 7 Noisome; 8 Shed; 14 Clear; 15 Portentous; 26 Last; 27 Sole. Between 500-1000 words: 6 Ring; 11 Once Bitten, Twice Shy; 13 Check; 16 Jerk; 18 Fish Out of Water; 22 Fulsome; 23 Suit; 25 Call it a Day; 28 Blunt; 29 Contravention; 30 Amity. 1000+ words: 9 Fair; 12 Dowdy; 19 Weal; 20 Hamper; 21 Grave.

I didn't look at the totals until the end; I only checked some of the shorter ones during the challenge to see if they hit my personal "500+ words" cut off for adding a Read More to the posts.

"Grave" honestly could have been a lot shorter; I started the plot too early, and much as I like Zaine making one last visit to his childhood Nana, for the purposes of the challenge, I could have just focused on going to the lichyard to save myself time and energy, and wrote about the visit on my own another time. On the other hand, it's done now!

Not sure which is a favorite; there's a lot I like.

As usual, these will be revised at...some point (some more than others, probably) and added to Ao3, in my various series and threads.

#final fantasy xiv #ffxivwrite2023 #Lyn Writing #Aeryn Striker #Dark Autumn #Iyna Cauld #C'oretta Khell #Zaine Striker #Scions of the Seventh Dawn #A Realm Reborn #Heavensward #Stormblood #Shadowbringers #Endwalker

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scionshtola · 9 months

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self-rec tag game

Rules: share five of your own fanworks (fic, art, etc.) Then, tag five more people to share the things they've made.

i was tagged by @coldshrugs thank you!! <3 i'll tag @lavampira @hythlodaes @thevikingwoman @ladamebrunette and anyone else who wants to do it!

✨Something you absolutely adore✨

"having a romantic picnic" (FFXIV) a valentine's day prompt for corishtola! a little picnic that doesn't quite go to plan. pre-relationship but there's been romance there since the beginning. i like rereading this one because i just think it's really cute

Y’shtola opened her eyes, and her hand closed over their fingers on her cheek. “There is no need to apologize. I enjoyed the rest, brief though it was. One could hardly argue that we do not deserve it.” “Oh?” Corisande said with a smile. She swept her thumb across her cheek once more and Y’shtola blinked, as if realizing for the first time just how close they were. “Did you not argue with me all morning about taking the afternoon off? Or was that someone else I practically had to drag from all the books she brought with her, ‘just in case?’” “Before you begin casting stones, pray tell how many books you brought,” Y’shtola said, a smile playing on her lips.

✨Something that was challenging to create✨

figure my heart out (Wayfarer) tbh the title is kind of a hint to why it was challenging lol Mirren's feelings for Aeran and how that leads to her making out with Veyer in public are very complicated!

Veyer kisses her, their body pressing her against the stone archway. They’re speaking to her in between kisses, but she can’t concentrate on the words, and not only because she is too preoccupied with their lips against her neck. The truth is you need me more than I need you, you always do— She pulls them closer, fingers clutching at their jacket. She wants this. She can prove to herself that he wasn’t right, that she doesn’t need him—someone who keeps things from her, someone who shot her—more than he needs her. She can go through with this, can keep kissing them, can let them lead her away from the gallery for more. If Aeran saw her right now, he would know, too. If Aeran saw her right now…

✨Something that makes you laugh (or smile, if that fits more comfortably) ✨

A Barn in a Blizzard (FFXIV) the very first ffxiv fic I wrote! it sets up the basis for Corisande and Haurchefant's friendship (Corisande being a regular visitor to the Camp Dragonhead chocobo stables) and their romance. The fic itself makes me smile but the title is a little joke based on the idea of Haurchefant being her "port in a storm" and it makes me laugh when I remember it.

He gestured to a nearby stall where Cilantro had burrowed down in the warm hay, snug in his fluffy winter barding. “He certainly seems well taken care of.” Corisande smiled. She loved to dote on Cilantro and did her best to provide him with everything he needed and more. “He cares for me enough to follow me into this weather, despite how much he despises the cold.” “A strong devotion, indeed,” Haurchefant said, glancing down at her with a smile. “You seem to inspire that in people.”

✨Something that surprised you (in how it turned out, how much other people liked it, etc.) ✨

“You’re still awake. Something on your mind?” (FFXIV) Corisande wakes up and finds Haurchefant still working, they try to keep him on task but he's got other things in mind...the surprise is that I did not intend for it to lead anywhere suggestive when I started writing but it did and I liked it! and there might be a part 2 on ao3

“A bit late in the day to be reviewing reports, isn’t it? Something on your mind?” “Nothing all too important,” he says. He straightens in his chair and grasps their fingers in his. “I was awake and thought to pass the time by clearing a few reports that seem to have fallen to the wayside.” “Do you do all your paperwork in the middle of the night?” she teases, pressing a kiss to his temple to make up for the jest.

✨Something you want other people to see✨

"slow dancing in the living room" (FFXIV) another Corishtola Valentine's Day prompt (I wrote most of my FFXIV fics in Jan/Feb lmao) I just like this one because of the Pining. and Cori doesn't even know it yet. and poor Y'shtola in love with the most oblivious person in Eorzea.

The song began to slow, growing soft and almost melancholic. Y’shtola drew away, fingers slipping from their grasp, but they tightened their grip before she could slip free entirely. She paused her retreat, tilting her head in confusion as she looked back at them. “Just until the end of the song,” they said, pulling her back toward them. She came easily enough, though she opened her mouth to protest. Corisande put a hand on her waist and she stilled under the touch. “I promise.”

#tag game #this was kinda hard adsjfgk #but ty for tagging me azia beloved <3 #i wanted to do all xiv fic but i only have 8 ajdfjgf so. had to throw a wfr in there plus i really like that one

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ferrocyan · 3 months

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top 5 memories!!

these are mostly abt my friends from my fc bc they make playing this game so much more fun and awesome (long post warning)

#1 so there's this guy in western coerthas whom you can challenge to a fight named alaimbert of the spiked butt. funny guy with a lot of butt jokes. one day i was leveling samurai and thought eh why not fight mr spiky butt? then i ate shit and died. and like. the moment i died i got a dm from a stranger. this player named "yuyu nekomata" was... asking me to join her fc?

fellas i have no idea how fc recruitments work. i don't know how this girl found me. so i thought. that this person. saw me get buttspiked to death. for no fucking reason, just being a shit gamer. and thought "yeah i want THAT guy to be in my fc, i gotta ask him to join right now"

i fucking lost it dude i laughed so hard i was fully crying. and then i said yes, ofc. best decision i ever made fr. also since i mentioned going to level my gatherers yuyu gave me like 10 sideritis cookies and i still have 6 in my inventory www

#2 i started playing in na actually, in coeurl, crystal bc dreamer was there and i wanted to meet him ingame haha. but the ping was horrendous and i could never avoid aoes. i started to suspect if orange aoes weren't actually unavoidable. i could only get through the hall of the novice "avoid aoes" training by using sprint (it has a 60 second cooldown!) and praying. and i thought man, i want to try raiding in the future, there's no way i can raid if i have to sprint out of every aoe. so i packed my bags and moved out to jp. basically just picked a dc and world at random? the english speaking jp server is elemental (literally every other indonesian ffxiv player is in elemental fml) but i went to mana instead. it's good out here though since mana has an active raiding scene and the queues are super fast :]

anyway the actual memory was when i remade my character and restarted arr and i went out into the world and aggro'd a monster AND I COULD STEP OUT OF THEIR AOE WOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOO avoiding damage has never felt so fucking good

#3 at a time when i couldn't play ffxiv, around after i finished base hvw but not the patches, i watched jocat's ffxiv stream vods on youtube. i kept watching until the last available video, when he'd finished the rak'tika section then detoured to do all the role quests. that was around endwalker's release so the guy was too busy streaming to upload the old vods. since twitch vods were only available for 2 weeks i skipped ahead and watched edw instead of waiting for more shb. i followed his streams to the very end, then went ahead and purchased ffxiv to finish shadowbringers on my own

i hadn't planned to play endwalker, for reasons. i finished 5.0, then i did the only thing left i wanted to do: the twinning. i wanted to jam out to a long fall, haha. and i did! it was a very fun run. i hadn't done alexander and omega yet so alex to me is a twinning boss first and foremost. the unlock quest's cutscene where we hear the message from the doomed timeline was so touching that i teared up. i felt satisfied. i was done with ffxiv! yay!

the story of why i decided to continue playing... is for someday in the future :)

#4 and so i did continue to play, and even finish endwalker. really though, the twinning wasn't the only thing i wanted to do. i wanted to try raiding, remember? and so i got to level 90, my first time at level cap, excitedly went to labyrinthos to try the pandaemonium raids, and

my item level is too low. noooooo!

i had no idea how to get gear. what the hell is a tomestone? why do i need so many of them?? i asked around to the raiders in our fc for tips. they told me some stuff about how to farm tomestones but i thought mannn that's gonna take so long though. so i went to the marketboard and bought the then-bis rinascita gear.

one of the guys i asked, koi, saw me at the sharlayan marketboard and went OH NO. i'd just bought the sabatons when he stopped me. koi told me, "this was supposed to be a surprise, but i'll say it so you don't waste your gil. actually yuyu has bought all the gear for you! please come to the fc house to receive it."

i was.. floored. i'd joined the fc while in the middle of playing shadowbringers, so it wasn't too long ago. i hadn't talked with anyone much, only saying hi when i see them pop in or out of the game. since i was too busy doing endwalker msq i couldn't play with the other members either (though we did go into the aitiascope and the mothercrystal together, it was such a blast). but they still gave me a ton of gear and raid food and gil for materia. man even now thinking about it i get choked up. these people are the nicest and i love them so much.

the time when i would have to stop playing ffxiv again was approaching, but i swore i would first clear at least the first savage trial of abyssos when it came out, to show my friends how much i appreciated their help. i'm still holding onto this promise now.

#5 savage is hard. oh my god is it hard. i have to admit to giving up because my internet connection is very unstable, i get a lot of lags and disconnects, and devour is an extremely unforgiving mechanic with lag. i only went back to high-end content with golbez. his trial is extremely attractive for me to prog because the mechanics are mostly forgiving and easy to learn. the only one that has me by the throat is void comet rain (void stardust? idk i learned this from jp resources so) since that one is unforgiving with lag lol. and it took me a good while to prog this trial. i gave up again when 6.5 released with a new extreme, zeromus, and went for that one instead. actually getting to see enrage for the first time ever was very motivating, but i just... i like golbez a lot. i want to clear the voidcast dais extreme first, as it was the new goal i'd set after p5s broke me. so i tried again! and

i did it baybeeee hahahaha! we were a "learn from the beginning" party that was supposed to go on for only 1 meal. but at the 30 minute mark we got to like 7% and i was the only one left alive and i was like no, no we can't stop here LET ME SOLO HIM! LET ME SOLO GOLBEZ I'M A WARRIOR I CAN DO THIS IN NORMAL MODE SURELY EXTREME IS NO DIFF(explodes to void meteor)

we put it to a vote if we want to continue progging, and everyone unanimously agreed. so one final pull! in which i fucking died to void comet rain like a chump! but we ended up clearing well before enrage!! yaaaayyy!!! i got my first ever endwalker extreme clear, and also somehow the weapon coffer despite being the only one (probably) who messed up. sorry everyone ;p all the luck goes to the most undeserving in the party! now i just need to farm the mount and the golbez minion from the lunar subterrane and i will have my full golbez regalia. this is my current goal www

anyway since we're already here have a bonus sweet memory, last christmas one of the fc members, kou, gave us all drawings of our wols! look at the gang all here /;w;)/

answer correctly or else i will have to write more smut to set things right

talking about the other fc members under the cut www

from the left that's koi, one of our serious raiders. the guy is such a troll, he taught me by force to play better bc when someone else dares take the tanking role from him he will run off alone and aggro everything in sight, cuz fuck you. he did also accompany me progging both p5s and golbez and taught me a lot about tanking and communicating in pf :]

second is yuyu, our most wonderful guild leader! she's sweet and kind and loves to shower the rest of us with gil from her billionaire coffers. she's the best. beside her is hoshi, who is a pretty cool person but she's been taking breaks a lot. she's our healer for treasure map runs and it's always hilarious w her there

the bunnyboy is skyler, our most chill and cool guy B) he's a vtuber on tiktok i think? he maintains our main discord server and is usually the one organizing fc events with yuyu. also the sage main who always takes the job to heal the rest of us tank-dps mains www

lastly beside tart that's kou! i hadn't met her a lot at the start and that was because she has a very serious raiding static. she did the omega protocol ultimate, THE hardest fight in ffxiv, on patch. it was nuts. she was in that dimensional rift 24/7 lmao. she's also an artist and always has the best glams and has gotten into gposing too, a real ffxiv renaissance man. kou does old extreme/savage content for fun and often gifts the rest of us special crafted weapons that glow. like the tsukuyomi sword, my beloved

there are other members but that's all for now! thanks if you're reading this far hahah

#tart the wol #long post #i would usually put something this long under a cut but i need you all to vote

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anneapocalypse · 5 months

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I'm always fascinated to learn about other writers' processes, so I hope this isn't too many questions! 😅 3, 11, 41, 46, 49

(For this ask meme.)

3. Answered!

11. Are you partial to a certain character/pairing or are you more equal-opportunity? If you are partial to any character/pairing, why do you think that is?

I certainly have my faves and I think it's generally pretty obvious who they are! At the same time, I like to explore new things and consider myself open to persuasion. Especially for canons with very large casts, it would be hard to limit myself to a single favorite character or pairing.

41. Link a fic that made you think, “Wow, I want to write like that.”

Vincit qui se vincit by @zelroyo-blog. It's got such gorgeous world- and character-building (one of my very favorite Fallout couriers I've ever read about). When I read it I knew I wanted not only to write that well but to engage with the worlds I'm writing in on that level. Truly one of my biggest inspirations over the years (and Zel if ever you happen to see this, it's been a long time but I hope you're doing well).

46. Do you prefer writing on your phone or on a computer (or something else)? Do you think where you write affects the way you write?

I much prefer working on desktop or at least on my tablet for anything substantial, but the phone will do for jotting down short scenes, dialogue, ideas etc. that might come to me when I'm away from it. I can write more volume on my phone if it's all I've got, but if I'm in the middle of a larger project I just prefer to be able to see more of it at once. It's harder for what I'm writing to feel grounded in its larger context if I can't click around and see the context!

49. What are you currently working on? Share a few lines if you’re up for it!

Right now I'm doing a little low-pressure challenge for myself that I'm calling 100 Word November, with the intention of getting myself back to writing regularly after a bad year. The goal is just to write at least 100 words per day, though most days I end up writing more, and it's been a lot of fun. It's all little snippets about my FFXIV character Ariane (and in particular it's a lot of Ariane/Urianger Shadowbringers-era stuff). Very unstructured and nothing set in stone, as I really don't plan on finishing or finalizing anything until I've reached endgame.

Here's a snippet from today! Mildly spoilery for Shadowbringers.

"’Tis fascinating the myriad ways in which the fae distinguisheth—” Urianger paused, giving her a sheepish smile. “Forgive me. Many a time hath Thancred admonished me for talking his ear off, as it were.” “Urianger,” Ariane said very seriously, “this is important, so listen carefully.” She wrapped both hands around her teacup, and leaned slightly forward, and he listened with all earnestness. “I want to hear everything about the fae. Everything. Should you ever doubt my desire to hear about something, you may ask me, ‘Ariane, would you like to hear about the intricacies of the customs of the fair folk?’ that I may assure you, my dear friend, that I do in fact want to hear all about it.” Urianger’s countenance positively glowed. “Thou art altogether too kind to me, my friend.”

#ask meme #fic writer meme #ask anne #ell vellan #fic snip #the stars are blind my love

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mintibunny · 7 months

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FFXIV Write, Day 28 - Blunt

Minti does a drug. Ryssthota observes - for science.

CW: Drugs, Hallucinations, Mental Health.

Logbook:

Documentation of the inhalation of one (1) crushed Morbol root, using "rolling papers" provided by the subject.

Intent: Determine if Blue Mage crystal ownership, combined with inhalation of root from a wild morbol root, will grant the inhaler the ability "Bad Breath."

Hypothesis: Morbol root inhalation will not produce new magical abilities in test subject. A hostile encounter is required for absorbing the morbol's aether.

Background: The Encyclopedia Eorzea tells us that "The morbol is a terrible beast that moves upon its slime-covered vines and roots. Highly aggressive, it kills both animals and plants with a combination of its noxious breath and ceaselessly flailing tendrils." (Manne 279) Of importance today is the "sweet-smelling gas" the seedkin produces, which Manne, in her Eorzea Geographic article "Morbol Physiology" (1565) says induces sleep by inhalation.

Blue Mages are spellcasters of infamous reputation, recently introduced to Eorzea and her sister nations by the supposed Mage "Martyn." Observers report that wielders of this magic, found outside the opposites of black and white magic, draw on aether from wild creatures. This enables them to, say, cast Shiva's icy bow attack, or dash forward as aggressively as Ifrit. The practice has become so popular that Ul'dah has opened a Masked Carnivale, a series of challenges for anyone interested in solving puzzling battle scenarios.

Test Subject: Our test subject for today is one Miss Minti Chocolate, a rava viera employed by Gage Acquisitions. She reports to be a semi-accomplished blue mage. "Something to do when I get beast tribe jobs," she told me before the experiment.

Method: Miss Chocolate will be seated in a colorful environment (the basement of Gage Acquisition's headquarters), given a "blunt" seasoned with crushed morbol root, and observed for five hours. Snacks and enrichment through a live aquarium will be provided as requested by the test subject.

-----

Hour One: Subject has fully inhaled the morbol root sample. Early reactions include repeated coughing; feelings of elation; lightheadedness; and repeated staring into the observer's eyes.

Subject comments: "You are so nice. I like your hair. Why is your hair short? It is moving back and forth. *sings* 'Back- and forth. Back- and forth. Our love goooooes-"

Hour 2: Coughing has not stopped, although there is a pause of five minutes in between bouts. Subject is fixated on the live aquarium, and is attempting to feed the "fish with Thancred's face" some of the provided snacks, specifically the bowl of peanuts.

Subject comments: "Nuts. Nuts. Macadamia nuts. Pistachios. Why do nuts taste like nuts? Nuts are nutty nut nuts. NUTKIN! Thancred has a nutkin. NUTS." (Attempting to relay the subject's emphasis on certain words.)

Hour 3: Subject is attempting to show me what a grenade's Self Destruct looks like. Gently redirecting her by asking to see a physical copy of her blue mage spellbook.

Subject comments: "Did, did, did you know you can *Self Destruct* in Kugane, and and and a *white mage* can resurrect you on that lamppost, you don't even need to climb the Tower-"

Hour 4 1/2: Subject has abruptly passed out on the floor. Help from Nyx and Apple Silverberg requested, to raise subject from floor and move them to their private quarters.

Subject comments: Subject is currently incapable of producing speech.

Conclusions: Will have to wait until Miss Chocolate wakes up. I am feeling quite lightheaded myself, and fear that I will begin to see Thancred Waters' face everywhere I look. Not that I would mind, but.

(Miss Chocolate put me up to this. This is partly scientific intent, partly for our mutual amusement.)

#final fantasy xiv #final fantasy 14 #final fantasy oc #ffxiv #minti wol #final fantasy viera #minti chocolate #Ryssthota #ffxivwrite2023

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starsandauras · 8 months

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Prompt 3: Hunt

FFXIV 30 Day Writing Challenge Prompt 3: Hunt (Extra Credit/Free Day)

“Thanks for your help today, Connor,” said one of the members of Clan Centurio, making Connor look up from cleaning his sword. “Really,” they insisted, a genuine smile on their face. “You’re always a welcome sight in the trains.”

Connor shrugged, even as the slightest smile tried to tug at the corner of his mouth. “I’m just trying to do what I can.”

The Clan Centurio member laughed slightly, bringing their hand up to their mouth. “Trying, you say,” they teased lightly. “I don’t think we could have gotten through half of what we did without you today.”

This time Connor did smile, though it was weak. “The spotters did find the most troublesome ones today, didn’t they?” he replied. He gave his sword one more wipe down before resheathing it and standing properly. “Sometimes I wonder just what they get up to, to find things like this.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if they let a few B ranks grow up just to have As running around,” the other half-groused, hefting their spear along their back. “They’re the more reckless of us, the spotters.” They looked Connor up and down, tilting their head. “Want any help back to Revnant’s Toll? You took quite the haul.”

Connor looked down at the skins and meat near and in his packs and shrugged again. “Nay, I can manage it.”

They hummed and collected their own loot. “Very well, see you next time?”

“If I’m free,” Connor said with a nod, and with waves exchanged the Clan Centurio member began the walk back back to town.

Connor sighed, shoulders dropping, and he turned to look behind him, eyes falling on the gleaming spire of the Crystal Tower. There was another sigh as he shook his head. “It would be more fun with you,” he grumbled, before he collected his things and followed the other, almost dragging his feet.

#FFXIV #FFXIVWrite #FFXIVWrite2023 #Warrior of Light: Connor O'Donnell #Did clan centurio operate in ARR areas?#I have no idea #I also do not care

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sodomhipped · 4 months

Text

total number of completed works? in how many fandoms?

37 fics (+4 chapter updates)

14 fandoms

16 stories (37,928 words) were for exchanges/challenges

total posted word count?

113,862 (36,313 more than last year!)

fandoms written/drawn in? and how many works in each?

trigun (10 stories + 2 chapter updates = 34,555 words)

final fantasy xiv (4 stories + 5 chapter updates = 23,651 words)

honkai: star rail (6 stories = 13,561 words)

vampyr (1 story = 10,650 words)

nu:carnival (2 stories = 8,972 words)

elden ring (1 story = 7,913 words)

sk8 the infinity (3 stories = 3,695 words)

an easy target (1 story = 3,050 words)

gungrave (1 story = 2,532 words)

sharp objects (1 story = 1,644 words)

the great gatsby (1 story = 1,110 words)

mozart l’opera rock (1 story = 1,049 words)

tokyo babylon (1 story = 1,009 words)

yes, no, or maybe? (1 story = 500 words)

were there any fandoms you didn’t expect to write/drawn in this year?

my two gacha games really surprised me this year! (and i am hoping to write more for both nu: carnival and honkai: star rail next year.)

what characters or pairings you wrote most?

variations on knives/wolfwood/vash (but i think vashwood was the leader).

did you write more or less than you thought you would?

way more! i ended up being more productive than 2022, which was my most productive year at that time.

what’s your favorite story of the year?

my personal favorites were

to whisper all night as the trees do (ffxiv; hythlodaeus/hades; explicit)

essence and éclairs (a creamy delight) (nu:carnival; edmond/olivine/eiden; explicit)

the half-extinguished light (trigun; knives & vash; teen)

What were your most popular stories this year (by kudos)?

suffocate the spark (trigun; wolfwood/vash; explicit)

take my halo, give your heart (trigun; wolfwood/vash; explicit)

to begin like this (trigun; vash/wolfwood/knives; explicit)

what story do you think is the most underappreciated or which disappointed?

i wrote a lot of small fandoms and pairings this year, which are always a bit quiet. that doesn't really disappoint me. the one true disappointment was expelled from rapture’s road (ffxiv; varis/carosa/regula; explicit), which was intended to be the start of a bifurcated series (one part plotty, one porny). because it is a rare pairing, i didn’t expect much attention. however, the day i posted, before there was any other interaction for the story, someone said something snotty about it—and it immediately murdered any interest i had to continue working on the series.

what story was the most fun to write?

cruelty is made of distance (elden ring; d/rogier; mature) was simmering in my brain for so long that it leapt onto the page once i started writing.

what story is the sexiest?

my personal choice is my first was in a cemetery, my first drink was in a church (trigun; vash/wolfwood; mature). even though it wasn’t explicit, there was one particular (sexy) mental image i was trying to write and i hope it came across.

what story was the hardest to write?

i really, really struggled with angels in suburbia (trigun; wolfwood/vash/knives; mature) and suffocate the spark (trigun, vash/wolfwood; explicit). for angels, it was for a reverse bang so i was extremely worried about letting down my artist and ended up starting over three times. with suffocate, i struggled for seemingly no reason at all.

what is your favorite line(s) from this year?

here are some faves (and, as a warning, there's a NSFW one in there):

“By all means, give me the menu of carnal delights,” Hades intones. The effect is undermined by the way his hips chase after Hythlodaeus’ unhelpful hand. - to whisper all night as the trees do (ffxiv; hythlodaeus/hades; explicit)

He never asks who exchanged money with whom. He assumes Tom paid Wilson and Gatsby greased the right palms in the judicial system, but he figures it's better not to know. It makes him feel sick to his stomach about the whole affair—but there’s relief, too. - a murderously simple thing (the great gatsby; gatsby/nick; mature)

Knives isn’t certain ‘brother’ is the right word to describe what they are to each other, but the word curls through him, warm and welcome. - the half-extinguished light (trigun; knives & vash; teen)

Every year, the orphanage had gotten bruised, unwanted fruits donated from a local farm, one allotted to each child. The man’s cunt reminds Wolfwood of those fruits—overripe, ready to burst open at the slightest touch. - the sword of michael (trigun; wolfwood/knives; explicit)

favorite title used this year?

the half-extinguished light (trigun; knives & vash; teen)

are there any stories you haven’t written yet but intend to?

so many! i’m still working on my ffxiv series, but for as-of-yet-unpublished stories, here’s my wishlist for next year:

some works for welt yang, including himeko/welt and caelus/welt (honkai: star rail)

kuya-centric (nu:carnival)

hotel sampo (honkai: star rail)

brand new hythlodaeus/hades (final fantasy xiv)

finishing my ex-vashwood big bang (trigun)

pregnant knives (trigun)

vashwood amnesia (trigun)

midosouji/onoda (yowamushi pedal)

finishing the many works hovering around 80% completion (trigun: livio/vash; ffxiv: sequel to the hythlodaeus/hades training series; a few sk8 stories…)

do you have any fanfic, original fic, or art goals for next year?

i am making a major career shift in 2024, which will be pretty time consuming and will impact my writing output. even so, i would like to have at least ten new fanfiction stories published and start working on some original work in earnest.

#dylan writes #annual wrap

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elliewiltarwyn · 3 months

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Top 5 memories!

i think i kind of cheated and put a couple of them in the top 5 mounts answer lol. but nevertheless! let's see what i can think of!

-------------------

5. Clearing savage raids with my static

i'll be fair and put this at the bottom because i already rambled about a bunch of them in the top 5 mounts post, but yeah, super meaningful to me. mmo raiding always seemed so out of reach in every other mmo i've played, so being able to not only challenge and conquer them in FFXIV but do so alongside friends has been some of the most rewarding feelings I've ever experienced.

4. the end of Endwalker

Endwalker MSQ in general, honestly, but the ending really put a fine point on it. I think I still would put Shadowbringers at the top, but Endwalker in general being about hope triumphing over despair just felt really salient at a time when it was really, really easy to despair over stuff happening IRL (both in society at large and individually). experiencing a story that just unambiguously unashamedly goes "hope is the most powerful force in the universe and it will win" is just. really nice.

3. attending friends' ingame wedding

i just think it's really sweet that you can do this ingame. i've been to a fair few (including my own! :V at one point, at least...) but my favorite was after a recent major advancement in the, ahem, crime technology scene, and we were just hanging out in discord and playing Among Us before the ceremony before actually going and seeing the super-cute ingame ceremony "as we see ourselves" and the whole thing just really felt like we were having an actual party. it was a good night.

2. Dark Knight 50 and 80 quests

still some of the most emotionally powerful moments in the whole game, and both resonated deeply with me, and maybe even helped me come to terms with parts of myself IRL?? when i was watching my best friend play through 50, there was a moment after the end where we both just sat there in silence and he eventually said "Damn, how do you even follow that up? Where do you go from there?" and the writing finds out ways of course. especially in Shadowbringers. but damn, if that ain't a mood. plus I'm a sucker for evil/dark twin/clone shit. >.> and turning that into "it's just you, trying to make you love yourself in the ways you never let yourself do before" was, again, kind of salient.

Patch 5.3 day

5.3 was the first time I was caught up and able to experience the new content on the same day as everyone else. i had also just managed to cap out DRK on Ellie, meaning she was finally the canon job I had decided for her. so going into the new MSQ content on that day, completely unspoiled, experiencing that part of the story alongside everyone else, as my canonical self, and ending up main tank-ing the Warrior of Light trial who is basically an encapsulation of all the heroic imagery across the entire damn Final Fantasy series... i've had emotionally meaningful moments that got to me in other games before, and some of them mean even more to me than this. but experiencing that tidal wave of emotions in that way alongside people just as into this shit as I was... i'm not sure anything else will ever hit in quite the same way again.

(it was also the day where, after I had finished the MSQ bit and just went to some random place to hang out and process it all, i got recruited into the FC where i met most of my ingame friends with whom I'm still friends today, so it was also a good day in that sense too ;u;)

thanks for the ask @sasslett!! i made it extremely emotional and sentimental and i'd apologize but i'm pretty sure that was exactly your goal :P

#ffxiv #final fantasy xiv #wol questions #ask games #it's “being EMOTIONAL ON MAIN” day i guess lol

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sea-wolf-coast-to-coast · 2 years

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FFxivWrite2021 Recap

This post is extremely overdue! I apologize! Last year was a particularly busy one for me. While y’all were exercising your creativity with the prompts each day, I was preparing for the birth of my first kiddo - a little guy who came 3 weeks early and before I had a chance to recap the challenge. Once he was here, I disappeared into first-time-parent newborn life for awhile. And now, I’m back! Thank you all for your patience and understanding as I navigated (and continue to navigate) a major life change.

Now, without further ado, let’s recap!

10,390 total entries were submitted in 2021!

This includes all entries that were submitted via the Google Form, including late entries (and excluding duplicate entries).

Which brings us to 31,556 total recorded entries since we began this challenge in 2017!

And, we had 80 volunteer artists in 2020!! Which means that there were 80 prize-winners!

A breakdown of the stats + announcement of the Participation Prize winners are below the cut ~

Want to see all public entries? Here’s a link to the Master Spreadsheet. This omits entries that people requested to keep private between them and I.

Total Participation Year to Year:

Prompt Participation by Year:

NOTE: The big dips are Make up / Extra Credit Days. Lots of folks choose to take a break over writing Extra Credit. Legit!

Prompt Breakdown by Week:

Submissions by Day:

NOTE: Day 7 was the day before the 24-hour deadline went into effect. Hence, the big ol’ spike.

Submissions by Platform:

Participation Prize Winners

Winners were selected via a random raffle dice roll made by each of the artists and span all online writing platforms, including Tumblr, Ao3, Google Docs, and others (like Twitter). This writing challenge is not a contest - no one’s work was being judged for length, skill, etc. The prizes are based on participation only!

Prizes are a simple black & white portrait of the winner’s character. Most are shoulder up but the artists are free to take liberties if they’d like. Prizes are not commissioned work, so ultimately it’s the artist’s choice for what they’d like to do for the piece. Some artists (not all) accept commissions and might be open to colorizing a prize piece, after it’s been posted, at their normal rates.

All of 2021′s winners have been contacted, and most prizes have been completed. As always, there are a few whose artists needed to drop out for personal reasons, and that’s ok! In those cases, the winners will be carried over into 2022′s pool of winners where another artist will pick up their prize and complete it. That being said, if you were a 2021 winner and you haven’t seen a completed prize yet, please feel free to reach out to me!

fjola-miret-njer

xivchaele

eikwoods

cheetah-smith-ffxiv

saesama

TristanLoupmont

three-fulm-thaumaturd

PlatyPaints

ffxivaltaholic

pocket-panda

way-to-the-future

Kyorgra

avablackstone

crossmusings

renzu-valra

Falindae

zoomizoomi

Sectanza

AppleCube

house-vexile

opheliaglorfindal

Houserosaire

katalinhunter

afreesworn

hyphen-yaeger

idyllshires

KA_Crittenden

mathemagiks

thecat-inthehat

NekoNomicon

faelune-home

Vegaether

lissette_txt

jlsigman

fantasy-of-iolite

ravencrossffxiv

efrmellifer

blacksnakeofkugane

Lacroix

Lokus

juntei

boricha

WriterRaven

whispersafterdusk

Rosh/Imadyn

brightrind

michikodhol

kewlthulhu

Jorshamo

Soparia

Deiicide

erickgage

sambadechocobo

snowbird-down

yokasaris

heartlyght

SableKitten

Caffeinated Mess

peachyraye

astraut

fair-fae

delightfulvoidstudent

biff-adventurer

ffxiv-swarm

emberfall

windupnamazu

tonburberryXIV

yaianse

storytellerarin

desert_ghosts

Vee

sonderwrit

blaze_eyes

ayakamizu_ffxiv

tae-ffxiv

reikomizuno

Meghan

theredshirtwholived

carbillya

eiricat

Congrats, winners!

We’ll see you next September for FFxivWrite2022

Rules & Info || Prompt List || #FFxivWrite2021 || kofi

#FFxivWrite2021 #FFxivWrite Recap

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burgiethewriter · 4 months

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Asks for a Fic Writer! 🔆

Tumblr really didn't want to show me this, the fiend, but I was tagged by @randomsquirrel (thank you!)

How many works do you have on ao3?

Oh only about 1,365 (6 if I remember to post another tonight)

2. What's your total ao3 wordcount?

2,676,845 I am very mentally well thank you for asking

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Whatever ones the brainworms are currently wiggling in. So currently it's ffxiv and ffxvi and a little dash of sso

4. what are your top five fics by kudos?

Breakfast NSFW Stranger Things steddie. Which is actually the sequel to the second most kudosed one but I guess we're all sluts for domesticity.

Monster in the Bed more NSFW Stranger Things steddie. The lines of kudos emails I got from those two were fantastic.

Sunny-weather Snuggles and now for something COMPLETELY different, SFW mlp appledash. I used to have this little tradition, I suppose, of starting a new '30 day otp challenge' for every ship I liked. Don't think I ever finished one though.

Garden Party which is another SFW mlp fic but this time rarijack (I love their dynamic).

Odd Tattoo NSFW wtnv cecilos, god knows why I gave it the mature rating. I actually had this on ff.net initially, it's THAT old. But wtnv is just that popular I guess (for good reason! Night Vale my beloved).

5. do you respond to comments?

I do now after sitting there making flustered noises for a good ten minutes.

6. what is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Funny thing about me, I never remember my fics. Ever. Legit I surprised myself one day discovering a stash of estimeric fics that I just. Don't remember writing. I feel like there was one though. It could be Frozen Wasteland SFW ffxiv which is about the bloody banquet at the end of arr which. Yeah. The saddest part is that I never went anywhere with it because then I started sb and met Lyse and um. Yeah.

7. what's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Starlight Kittens sfw ffxiv Lyseka I think. There are probably happier endings but that's the one that immediately springs to mind.

8. do you get hate on fics?

Sometimes there are weird 'this is so cringe wtf' comments but hey it's not my fault if they don't embrace the cringe.

9. do you write smut? if so, what kind?

I was called sin mother for a time for a REASON okay. All kinds, vanilla, kink, monster, you name it. Very much into a/b/o and monsterfucking but I keep overthinking it and that kills the mood so fast.

10. do you write crossovers? what's the craziest one you've written?

[hides the ffxiv/ffxvi one under the bed] I mean yeah. Craziest one was probablyyyyy the Gotham x SSO one. I can't remember what happened but I remember the crossover.

11. have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge but it's not like I go looking. Wouldn't surprise me if someone had stolen an sso one though, some of those kids man...

12. have you ever had a fic translated?

Again not to my knowledge but I also know that ffxvi is very popular in other languages so honestly I'm waiting for it.

13. have you ever co-written a fic before?

I swear to god I have but I can't find it (unless Jack posted it??? It was years ago though) but I suppose the Wild West AU also counts? Green-eyed Drake's Revenge was the last one (god I miss that era so fucking much I met some of the best people but also the worst but I just really loved being a part of such a big project).

14. what's your all-time favourite ship?

The answer probably would've been easier before I played ffxvi but uhhhh yeah it's Terence/Dion from FFXVI. Which you wouldn't know from my fics for that fandom (I keep getting distracted by other ships) but like. Canon gays. Hello. How can I resist. Ship that makes me go 'eeee' and then think about for a while after I see it.

15. what's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Haha what unfinished WIPs I don't have those scattered everywhere. I would like to actually finish Frozen Wasteland (linked above) someday but there's also a phoenixflareknight fic that I'm slowly pecking away at but it has no real plot or anything so I don't think I'll finish that. And the aforementioned ffxiv/ffxvi crossover.

16. what are your writing strengths?

Making anything look good, baby. Or so I've been told. Sheer determination? Dialogue maybe?

17. what are your writing weaknesses?

"And where is all of this action taking place?" Shrug emoji. Descriptions.

18. thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I think it's fine as long as there's a translation somewhere.

19. first fandom you wrote for?

Sonic. I don't think I published any of them though. It's probably better that way.

20. favourite fic you've written?

There are a few that spring to mind but I associate them with an ex-friend so ew but Lost and Found is the ffxiv/ffxvi crossover fic I do have published where I put my character and her sister and the arr-era Scions into the world of ffxvi. I love it and wish it got more attention but maybe the time's just not right yet, idk.

I tag @tiredassmage @trusted-friend-ffxiv and @sso-eden-dawnvalley

#writing tag #I love these things sm they remind me of the good old deviantart journal days

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randomsquirrel · 4 months

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Asks for a Fic Writer! 🔆

Well! I've been tagged by the very nifty @eemamminy-art, so how can I refuse? Thanks, mate! <3

1. how many works do you have on AO3? Only 41. It feels like more, but that's because I've got a couple of works that are obscenely long. Like, two series that are (so far) over half a million words, each

2. what's your total AO3 word count? ...1,524,864. That...is intimidating o_O

3. what fandoms do you write for? At the moment, just Stardew Valley and Final Fantasy XIV. I'd like to write for a couple more fandoms (like Baldur's Gate 3, as I am having a blast), but I just don't have the time as it is to work on the current series I have going D:

4. what are your top five fics by kudos? I don't have a lot of kudos on my fics because most of my works are long series with lots of chapters, so while they get quite a few hits and many return readers, only one kudos per visitor @_@ Friends With Benefics (FFXIV, NSFW), a spicy Thancred/Urianger one-shot that I really wanna revisit and turn into a mini-series :3c Sunshine on a Cloudy Day (SDV, SFW), a soft Sam/Sebastian work, one of my first ones, dealing with depression, and how it's hard to get people around you to understand that. Fortunately, Sam does :) Tales of Loss and Fire and...Love (FFXIV, SFW), a fluffy piece, just Thancred and Estinien being bros, having some drinks and bonding, before the Scions leave for Sharlayan. They have a lot in common, like shared trauma that they can finally talk about :( Formality and Debauchery (FFXIV, NSFW), the second of my Estimeric Week works, the prompt was "gala," so I decided that Aymeric had to figure out a way to get Estinien to join him at a high-society event, and did so creatively ;) Rose & Sunflower: The NSFW Chapters (SDV, NSFW), as my first Stardew fic series (Rose & Sunflower 1: The Music Within) was initially being posted to the SDV forums, before being cross-posted to AO3 several months later, I decided that any spicy scenes would have to have their own work so that I could keep posting on the forums. Thus, the NSFW Chapters are all of the naughty parts that couldn't make it into the "main" story. ...And gave me the chance to try a few "what if" ideas, too, that aren't "canon" to the rest of the story but are a lot of fun >:3c 5. do you respond to comments? Absolutely! Comments make my entire hecking day, and I love being able to interact with my readers, I'm just all, THANK YOU FOR EATING MY FOOD, I HOPE IT WAS DELICIOUS <3

6. what is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? An End to Hope (FFXIV, SFW), just for the challenge, for the second Estimeric Week event, I decided to see if I could actually do a "bad ending" fic. So this is what might have happened if Aymeric had been possessed by Nidhogg's eyes instead of Estinien >:D 7. what's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? I want to say the first book in my Rose & Sunflower series, since I was so chuffed to have completed a project I wasn't sure I could follow through on. But I had been going through a bad patch for a while when writing book 3 (A Different Perspective), and almost didn't finish it, as I lost the drive and physical ability to write for over half a year. So it was both a happy ending for both the characters and myself to see the entire trilogy completed ;_;

8. do you get hate on fics? Thankfully, no. So far I have been so fortunate to only have had positive and constructive feedback, and I treasure every person who has left those remarks :D

9. do you write smut? if so, what kind? Of my 41 works, *checks and does math*, 16 or 17 are smut/nsfw in some fashion, and is a lower number than I'd have expected. But again, I am prone to lengthy works, so while the number of dirty fics is relatively low, the lewd content per word is very high. All of it is m/m (so far), mostly 'cause the characters I'm working with just work that way. It's also diverse; some of it is normal pr0n, often there's poly/multiple partners, a bit of BDSM, and a few light kinks here and there. Heck, I forgot all I've done, 'cause now and then I go and backread things to check something and go "wait, I don't remember writing that! ...Hot" XD

10. do you write crossovers? what's the craziest one you've written? I enjoy writing crossovers, but don't do them that often. The best/craziest one is Ishguardians- The Factions of Coerthas, which, yeah, isn't so much a "crossover" as it is "Ghost in the Shell meets FFXIV," but it's more than just a futuristic AU. It was basically one lengthy excuse to flex with several of my personal knowledge sets, and was a heck of a challenge to get so many "moving parts" working smoothly, and I'm quite proud of it \o/

11. have you ever had a fic stolen? Not yet, to my knowledge, and I'm hoping it stays that way. Hooray, I'm too unimportant! :P

12. have you ever had a fic translated? I haven't had that, either. While my work is interesting, there's just not been enough interest in getting it translated/localized

13. have you ever co-written a fic before? Yet again, nope. I've got a few RPs with a couple of people, but as far as fics go, I've always been working on my own

14. what's your all-time favourite ship? OOF, that's a hard one. I've got a lot that make my brain go brrrr, but... Funny as it is, Elliott (SDV) and my OC (Lysander). I played Elliott's romance route the first time I played SDV because he looked like a sweetie (and an aspiring writer? Heck yes!), and was floored at how closely our respective stories/motivations/desires paralleled. I'd been wanting to pursue a writing career for ages as well, but never had the courage, so after completing his story and seeing him find success with his novel after we helped him get there, I smashed down my fear and gave writing fic a go, at the same time fully developing and fleshing out an OC I'd had a hard time properly giving life. And the success with that series gave me the confidence and experience to keep doing more fics, and eventually my own original works. I just got a second original short story accepted for publication last year, so yeah, those two will forever be precious to me <3

15. what's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? Probably "Rose and Sunflower 4." I've got a few ideas (technically, I have ideas for both a fourth AND a fifth book), but with work and life just being loopy, and lacking proper meds for ADHD and other things, I just don't have the spell slots at the moment. I'm also neck-deep in my FFXIV OC's lore, doing a crazy long series that follows his own version of the story, and that's taking up pretty much all of my writing time not devoted to specific projects for exchanges or events or the like :-\

16. what are your writing strengths? Action sequences, and character-driven dialogue. Again, "Ishguardians" was the opportunity to write an action film, more or less, and I have a surprising knack for not only snappy one-liners and comebacks, but also some deeply raw and heartfelt moments. I've got range :D

17. what are your writing weaknesses? I am shit at creating conflict. It's why I've not been able to get a writing career completely off the ground. I'm an engineer, a gamer, and a soldier; I solve problems on purpose! So deliberately creating situations that drive the plot and characters that doesn't feel contrived or "but this shouldn't actually be a problem/a thing" is genuinely difficult for me

18. thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? Done right, it can add to the work. I've done it myself, as while my OCs aren't necessarily multilingual, they have picked up a few phrases and the like, so now and then that gets used to convey something specific in a scene. My personal rule is that if I haven't taken at least Level 1 in a language myself, I don't use it. Because while I can use Google Translate or the like to get my result, I still want to check it myself to make sure it's got the right context/grammar/whatever, which can sometimes be lost with automatic translation. ...But, since I've done level 1 with about six or seven languages so far, I've got a decent range to work with ;P

19. first fandom you wrote for? Stardew Valley. I had tried to write for something else in the past, like, in the 90s, but I don't remember what it was, and I crumpled it all up/deleted it before I could post it anywhere, so it's all been (thankfully) memory holed and lost to time. SDV was my first true foray into fics and creative writing. Well, creative writing that I actually enjoyed >_>

20. favourite fic you've written? Again, oof, that's tough. It's a tie between R&S1 and "A Song of Memories," as both are my OC's stories in SDV and FFXIV respectively, but R&S was where I finally took the terrifying plunge into fics, and therefore started my career as an author. Conversely, ASoM is a goddamn epic, and all of my strengths as a writer, storyteller, and worldbuilder are on full display. The R&S series still holds up, and you can definitely see what the characters would "evolve" into in ASoM, as well as looking back and seeing just how much of R&S influenced them :)

Okay! Time to tag some d00ds so they can have their turn! @yaminohere, @burgiethewriter, @nateharmonica, and @nanasamantha, feel free to have at it! I had wanted to tag a few more people, but apparently I don't follow that many writers after all, and several of them haven't updated their blogs in a few years o_O

#writer asks #writing stuff #my post #writing #fanfiction #fanfic #writing memes

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autumnslance · 2 years

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LynMars’s FFXIV Write 2022 Master Post

Writings completed for this year’s daily challenge. As usual any of my ship-related content is marked with an asterisk (*) to seek or avoid as needed.

The goal this year was to write less than I have in previous years; to allow myself shorter scenes and not push myself on free days. To actually relax, have fun, and not stress about writing “enough”. To make my prose just as long as it needed to be.

Overall, I succeeded in said goals.

Breakdowns and commentary under the cut for those interested!

1. Cross - Two travelers’ journey over time & adventuring together. 2. Bolt - Iyna doing her duty as a rebel versus the Empire. 3. Temper - Midgardsormr keeps a promise to forge a hero. 4. Free Day! 5. Cutting Corners - Dark Autumn after a company officer meeting. 6. Onerous - Thancred & the Immortal Flames, post-Ifrit. 7. Pawn - Emelia obtains passage for her family to Thavnair. 8. Tepid - Zaine realizing he doesn’t belong with the Radiant Host. 9. Yawn - Aeryn escaping the Bloody Banquet through the tunnel. 10. Channel - C’oretta’s thought processes. 11. Free Day! 12. Miss the Boat - Urianger, Moenbryda, and regrets. 13. Confluence - Venat tracing the flow of fate. 14. Attrition - Ser Ompagne has a brief theological discussion. 15. Row - Dark versus a certain baby behemoth. 16. Deiform - Dark, Aeryn, Iyna, & C’oretta in Delubrum Reginae. 17. Novel* - Aeryn, Thancred, & a borrowed book over time. 18. Free Day - Memory* - Aeryn & Thancred discuss his possession. 19. Turn a Blind Eye - Lahabrea contemplates his mistakes. 20. Anon - Ryne learning two opposing definitions of the word. 21. Solution - 2 Azems discuss the plans for the Final Days. 22. Veracity - In a possible future, Iyna ensures history’s truth. 23. Pitch* - Thancred knows how to distract Aeryn when necessary. 24. Vicissitudes - Ascian viewpoints on their stolen mortal bodies. 25. Free Day! 26. Break a Leg - Iyna & C’oretta help the dancers at a recital. 27. Hail - An Estinien PoV of the final fight in the Aitiascope. 28. Vainglory - The Warrior of Light isn’t what Jullus expected. 29. Fuse - Tanzel thinks of ways to handle his stepchild’s temper. 30. Sojourn - A family of travelers, in 1 lifetime & perspective.

Totals: 18,813 words.

A bit more than my 2018 (around 16k), less than my 2019 (21.4K), and way less than 2020 and 2021. I was realistic about my time and energy, asked myself what is the core idea or scene I really want to get across, and any spot-editing was for tightening wording and phrases. I feel like it got harder to keep writing shorter as the month went on and my focus slipped--and I really got into a writing groove!

I could have definitely gone on longer for some of these, and do have other scene ideas and notes in the drafts. But for the 24 hour challenge I tried to keep them short, though they’re each as long as they need to be.

I did mean to put out old WIPs again on free days, but that time/energy factor combined with busy weekends, so I took them off. "Memory" actually came out of "Yawn" and was plinked at over the week before it went up for the 18th.

Only a couple wolcred fics this year; got in a good mix of NPCs and OCs, with Iyna taking a bit more of a POV spotlight in the non-Aeryn-focused stories, though all the girls got at least one. More Ancients and Ascians than I generally go with, though still made sure some favorite Scions got in there. And a bit more of Aeryn's family and backstory, as getting Thavnair finally has put that forefront in my brain.

I was hoping something would spark an idea for an Avengret chapter I feel is "missing" but I may have to resign myself to the fact that chapter doesn't want to be written as I continue revising last year's unexpected longfic. Thankfully this year's prompts were all standalones.

More Breakdowns:

Longest: 17 Novel, 2073. Shortest: 15 Row, 220.

Between 1500 - 2000: 24 Vicissitudes (1522), 29 Fuse (1678) Between 1000 - 1499: 18 Memory (1034) Between 500 - 999: 3 Temper (537), 8 Tepid (500), 10 Channel (586), 12 Miss the Boat (824), 13 Confluence (702), 14 Attrition (683), 20 Anon (839), 21 Solution (532), 22 Veracity (857), 28 Vainglory (864), 30 Sojourn (989) Between 200 - 499: 1 Cross (386), 2 Bolt (299), 5 Cutting Corners (445), 6 Onerous (488), 7 Pawn (300), 9 Yawn (375), 15 Row (220), 16 Deiform (375), 19 Turn a Blind Eye (277), 23 Pitch (481), 26 Break a Leg (462), 27 Hail (485)

General WoL: 1 Cross, 3 Temper, 13 Confluence, 22 Veracity I tend to default to feminine pronouns when writing Generic Default WoL.

WoL Aeryn (as an adult): 6 Onerous, 9 Yawn, 16 Deiform, 17 Novel, 18 Memory, 23 Pitch, 27 Hail, 28 Vainglory, 30 Sojourn

Wolcred: 17 Novel, 18 Memory, 23 Pitch.

Child Aeryn: 7 Pawn, 29 Fuse

Aeryn’s Family: 7 Pawn, 8 Tepid, 29 Fuse, 30 Sojourn

Other OCs: 2 Bolt (Iyna), 5 Cutting Corners (Dark), 10 Channel (C'oretta), 15 Row (Dark & Violet), 16 Deiform (Iyna, Dark, C'oretta, Aeryn), 21 Solution (Pandora), 22 Veracity (Iyna), 26 Break a Leg (Iyna & C'oretta)

Ancients & Ascians: 13 Confluence (Venat), 19 Turn a Blind Eye (Lahabrea), 21 Solution (Venat), 24 Vicissitudes (Lahabrea & Emet-Selch)

Other NPCs: 3 Temper (Midgardsormr), 12 Miss the Boat (Urianger, Moenbryda, Louisoix), 14 Attrition (Ser Ompagne), 20 Anon (Ryne, Ran’jit, Thancred), 27 Hail (Estinien, other Scions)

#Final Fantasy XIV #FFXIVWrite2022 #Lyn Writing #Aeryn Striker #Dark Autumn #C'oretta Khell #Iyna Cauld #Scions of the Seventh Dawn #Endwalker #Shadowbringers #Stormblood #Heavensward #A Realm Reborn #Backstory

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whitherwanderer · 7 months

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Year 5 Favorites for FFXIV Write

I finally dipped my toes into FFXIV Write in 2019, meaning this is the fifth time I've participated, holy shit. I like to mark some favorites at the end of each challenge, so I figured this year would be a good chance to go back and revisit some of the ones that have stuck with me. The 2023 ones are still pretty fresh, so I chose my favorites-among-favorites for this year.

2019 Masterpost

1 // voracious - Ardeth 8 // eyes and ears - Sif 15 // stretching miles (extra credit) - Sif (Roadtrip AU) 24 // unctuous - Ardeth

2020 Masterpost

12 // tooth and nail - Sawyer 21 // foibles - Sawyer 30 // splinter - Sif

2021 Masterpost

1 // foster - Sif 3 // scale - Ardeth 5 // penance (extra credit) - Sif (Roadtrip AU) 8 // adroit - Sawyer 20 // petrichor - Sif

2022 Masterpost

10 // channel - Nathalie 12 // miss the boat - Sif

2023 Masterpost

8 // shed - Nexianne 10 // ghost (extra credit) - Sif (Cyberpunk AU) 25 // call it a day - Sif

#[ ooc ]#ffxivwrite2023 #five times??#what the hell

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theimperialnuisance · 7 months

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FFXIV Write 2023 || FFXIV Write info\\Prompt list\\Character info \\Master post ||

Prompt 30: Amity

a friendly relationship

Character(s): Ciel Fyth, Malek Fyth, (belonging to @holy-halone) Elorra Lark, (belonging to @tokki-yue) Y'shtola Rhul, Thancred Waters Cw: none Word count: 1606 Notes: It's the last day! A nice lil wholesome fic to wrap up year 3 of this challenge for me! I finished with Ciel last year and honestly, this word is perfect for finishing with him again! Enjoy! Set in Shadowbringers around the lvl 74/75 quests! (also readmore for length cause oops, this got away from me XD)

It was of course business first when Malek and Elorra were welcomed into Slitherbough. The older Viera knew his younger brother would be here with Y'shtola, the Exarch had told him as much when they arrived but when he didn't see him wandering the camp, he couldn't help but worry. He and his brother had rarely been apart since their village was destroyed--Ciel didn't hold up well if he had to be apart from Malek's side for more than a night back on the Source, he couldn't imagine how well the younger Viera was holding up now since it had apparently been three years since his arrival to the First.

Y'shtola had told him that Ciel was doing just fine on his own but since he wasn't around the camp, he was most likely out on an errand for Runar. Malek had to force himself to keep his calm as Y'shtola explained to them about having to finish translating a text so they could use that to access the Lightwarden of the area but the only problem, it was in the possession of a rather aggressive faction.

“The encampment we seek is to the north, but it would be foolish to simply rush in.” Y’shtola had explained. “There isn’t exactly any amity between the Night’s Blessed and the Children of the Everlasting Dark so we have guards posted at Cleric to keep watch over them…they might be able to provide us some insight into their recent activity and we can decide the best course of action from there.

“But we must tread carefully–there is a chance we may encounter them along the way so stay close and stay alert. They rejoice in dealing death to others, claiming that in doing so they cleanse their victims of sin and usher them unto the sunless seas. I would rather not sully my hands defending myself against such madmen.”

“Wait a moment,” Malek interjected. “Ciel is out there right now by himself with the potential of these ‘madmen’ out there to ambush him?”

“He is more capable than you realize,” Y’shtola said cooly but with a tone of understanding. She had known the brothers for a long time and knew just how protective Malek was toward his younger brother and how much Ciel clung to him like glue. It was endearing to see such a strong relationship between them but the Miqo’te knew three years not by his side had given the younger Viera a much-needed leg to stand on by himself. Malek hadn’t had the chance to see that yet. “Trust me, whether we see him on our trek or not, he’s just fine.”

Malek wasn’t convinced.

The trek to the encampment was short and silent at first but the older Viera couldn’t help the anxiety knawing in his gut when they were ambushed by the Children as they got closer to their destination. There were only two of them so they were easily outnumbered and outmatched between himself and Elorra but they were extremely resourceful and powerful–Malek couldn’t fathom the idea of Ciel being out in the marsh somewhere facing them alone. As they sheathed their weapons, a yelp tore through the marsh and the Viera grew pale.

“Ciel!” Without bothering to wait, Malek dashed off in the direction of where he heard his brother’s voice, his heart pounding in his ears.

“Malek, are you certain?” Elorra asked as she easily caught up and matched pace with the other, Y’shtola and Thancred not too far behind. “That could be any of the guards at the outpost!”

“I know that cry anywhere.” Malek replied. “Dammit, I knew he shouldn’t have been sent out here alone!”

Malek and the others drew their weapons as they got closer to the clearing, the sounds of a fight growing closer. When they broke into the clearing, Malek was fully expecting to see Ciel in danger but instead realized very quickly that his assistance wasn’t needed at all as the last of the ambushers fell to the ground unconscious.

Ciel had his back turned to them so he didn’t quite realize the new company as he lowered his staff and wiped the sweat from his brow with a small sigh of relief. His ears twitched and he turned around, a smile brightening his face as Thancred and Y’shtola arrived, both of them also sheathing their weapons as they realized the threat had passed.

“Malek! Elorra!” The younger Viera wasted no time running toward his brother, wrapping both him and Elorra into a hug. “You’re finally here!”

“Thank goodness you’re unharmed.” Y’shtola smiled as Ciel released the other two and stepped back.

“We would’ve arrived sooner but we also got caught up with some trouble of our own,” Thancred mused as he looked around at six people still out cold on the forest floor. “Though from the looks of it, you did just fine on your own.”

Malek and Elorra exchanged curious looks with one another. “You—you took them all out?” Malek asked before he could stop himself.

“Yep!” Ciel beamed proudly.

“But we heard you yell,” Elorra added on, just as equally speechless as Malek was.

“Oh yeah, they sort of caught me off guard.” Ciel laughed as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. “The Children have been acting strange as of late so I tried to get a closer look, I guess that was a little careless of me. But I’m alright! I’m sorry to have worried you!”

“No, don’t be,” Malek replied sheepishly. “I’m impressed, really.” He exchanged a smile with his brother, feeling a sense of pride but the guilt for doubting him still lingered.

“As much as I would to continue this reunion, we only have so much time before they come around and we've got a mission to finish,” Y’shtola said as she turned to Ciel. “You mentioned that the Children have been strange–what have you seen?”

“Oh right,” Ciel sobered. “They’ve been breeding their venomous spiders in much greater numbers as of late. It stuck out to me because usually they’re just gathering ingredients for poisons from flora and fauna. It almost feels as if they’re preparing for something…”

Thancred frowned. “Any ideas as to what?”

“It could be anything, really.” Y’shtola replied. “If it meant the end of the Blessed, nothing would be too cruel or violent for them.”

“I’ve tried to make peace with them before but, it never really goes well.” Ciel chimed in with a shrug. "Shtola says it's pointless to even try anymore, but maybe one day there can be a friendship between us."

"But today is not that day," Y'shtola clicked her tongue. "We need to figure out a way to sneak in so I can access the tablet they possess so I can finish translating the text."

“Why don't we play their own game?" Elorra suggested. “Take advantage of their present occupation with the spiders and use it against them.”

“Oh! I’ve got it!” Ciel said suddenly. “If we were to introduce a threat to the nests where they keep them, the Children would be compelled to save them. Bees! They’re a natural predator–we set them loose on the nests and that would give us the opportunity to sneak into their encampment.”

“What a mischievous plan, I like it.” Thancred grinned as he ruffled Ciel’s hair. “With a bit of smoke, we should be able to subdue a few colonies long enough to secure their hives. I don’t suppose you have anything to use?”

Ciel smiled, gesturing to trees left of him. “We have smoke bombs at the outpost just over there, Valan and I made them earlier today.”

“Then it’s settled.” Thancred smiled as he rubbed his hands together. “Shtola and I will grab a few smoke bombs from the outpost if you, Malek and Elorra would like to search for beehives–I imagine they won’t take too kindly to your visit but once they’re knocked out, bring them back here and we’ll set the plan in motion. Two should suffice.”

With the next steps in place, the small group departed in different directions to go about their tasks. Malek hung back with Ciel for a few extra moments to finish his reunion with his brother.

“You know, I was worried,” Malek began as he stood by his brother’s side, looking out into the trees. “When I heard you had been here for three years already after you were spirited away, I thought you’d be in bad shape–but now seeing you kick some serious arse just now, it seems I owe you an apology for doubting you.” He turned to look at his brother who was listening calmly, a smile crossing his face. “Looks like you’re just fine on your own now, you don’t need me, do you?” he chuckled fondly.

“I’ll always need you,” Ciel chuckled as he playfully shoulder bumped his brother. “I just don’t need to rely on you as much anymore is all. The three years spent with ‘Shtola in Slitherbough really helped me learn how to handle myself better.”

“Is that so?” Malek replied, the sense of pride overwhelming him as he reached over to ruffle his brother’s hair affectionately. “I’m proud of you little brother and I’m happy to see you again.”

Ciel laughed softly and leaned into the touch. “Me too.”

He was still beaming as Malek pulled his hand away and they turned to face each other, a small quiet moment passing between them.

“Now c’mon,” Malek said. “We’ve got some beehives to find and some chaos to create.”

“Right!” Ciel laughed as they began the trek through the marsh once again.

(Thank you all so much for sticking with me through this month of writing! I know it’s a lot when my blog suddenly turns into a writing blog for 30 days but I’m happy to have had a chance to share the stories of my ocs, new and old and I hope you enjoyed the journey too! <3 I plan to edit and post all of the days on Ao3 and I'll reblog my master post with my afterthoughts as well! Now, time to give my laptop a break XD)

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