oculorb

[oculorb]

Very, very badly. She's almost incapable of thinking of her own wellbeing, and practically requires others around her to keep up with things like eating, basic hygiene, sleep etc. Without anyone to ground her, she becomes intensely task-oriented, and disregards everything else.

How does your WoL deal with being alone?

[oculorb]

Intensely forgiving, to the point where it's something of a character flaw. In her eyes, if true regret is felt for an action, there isn't even anything to forgive, which puts her into a lot of conflict with others. She drew arms against Hien when he tried to execute Tsuyu for crimes she didn't even remember. If she was a sin eater, her name would probably be Forgiven Mercy.

Of course, she is capable of recognizing when someone can't be forgiven, or doesn't even want to. But that's less of a grudge, more of a quiet determination to see them utterly dead.

Is your wol/oc forgiving, or do they hold a grudge?

[oculorb]

Depressingly low. She has a lot of difficulty assigning value to herself as a person, and like, a lot of people point out that she's essentially a living weapon for the Scions, but she lets them do that. Because what value does she have, if she isn't using her power and gifts to make the lives of others better?

She has different issues with her appearance, as much as she denies it she does like looking pretty. Which is why she develops some kind of intense self-loathing as her body becomes covered in horrid scars from her adventures. At one point she's made up, some attendants spending four hours trying to get her presentable, styling hair that's been cut with an axe, using makeup and clothes to hide every inch of scarred skin. She ends up looking quite pretty, and she can barely stand to look at herself in the mirror.

How is your wol/oc’s self esteem? Is there anything they’d change about themselves?

[oculorb]

Oqitei Qalli was 19 when she stepped off her Pa's fishing boat for the last time in Limsa Lominsa, although she genuinely had no idea how old she was at the time. Alphinaud guessed like 16-24, but she only figured it out years later when she returned to the Azim Steppe, where she was born. When the Final Days were over, she was like 24-25. A lot older, but still with a long life ahead of her.

How old was your wol/oc when they started this adventure? How old are they now?

[oculorb]

She's of the Qalli tribe, a very small nomadic Xaela tribe that very rarely leaves their haunts in the deep Tail Mountains. Doesn't really get more remote.

Where is your WoL from? Eorzea? Maybe they're not even from the Source at all?

[oculorb]

Unbelievably. She's an awful liar and hates doing it besides, her manner of speech literally conveys her emotions in voice, and she barely has a poker face.

Wolqotd 6/15/23

How easy is it to tell how your wol(oc) is feeling?

[oculorb]

Oqitei Qalli hates him. She loves him. He's her best friend, the only one who truly understands aspects of her she tries to bury, who encourages her to let loose and give in to who she is, to stop trying to pretend she doesn't enjoy it. He's her worst enemy, driving the world to ruin for some stupid game. He's her archenemy. He's irrelevant, because the things he has set in motion are so much larger than he is.

The fundamental difference between them is that while Oqitei does truly love the thrill of the chase, the feeling of standing before a god and not wavering, it's always fundamentally a means to an end. She a paradox, the world's greatest murderer who fights for a world where she's unnecessary. Zenos, meanwhile? To him, the battle itself is the end, to which literally everything else is the means.

The worst thing is, she loves fighting him. She knows him like he knows her, and the Battle of Ala Mhigo is one of the best fights she's ever had. They're equals and opposites, but underneath it, she knows she can't afford to lose. She's too important, and Zenos knows that too. It's why he ruins Garlemald and digs up things that should have remained forgotten - if he is the greatest threat there is, she would happily give him her life if it meant stopping him.

It's a mistake though. He overestimates his importance, and finds that while Oqitei despises and loves him, he's irrelevant in the face of the Final Days.

So there they stand at the end of the universe, truly alone. The threat is over. The world no longer needs the warrior of light, and Zenos Viator Galvus now poses a great threat to Eorzea's safety. That's what she tries to believe, anyway, until he tells her to dispel with that nonsense. Stop fighting for a greater good, he says, and fight for the thrill of the fight alone. And so she does.

How does your WoL feel about Zenos?

[oculorb]

Polite but firm denial. When she first arrived in Eorzea she got into a very brief relationship because she felt his happiness was more important than hers, until Y'shtola read the situation and scared him off. She was kinda distraught over it until Y'shtola told her in no uncertain terms that if she found out she was seeing someone who wasn't making her happy, she would be very pissed. The fear definitely helped.

How does your WoL react when someone is flirty towards them?

[oculorb]

Oqitei is... incredibly different from me. To pick one, she's likely the most determined person in the world, while I have all the willpower of a wet tissue.

7/16/23

Is there a trait that you gave your wol(oc) that is the opposite of a trait you have?

[oculorb]

Nope. The idea of being pregnant, of being a mother, scares her in a way literally nothing else does. Even if she wasn't asexual and terrified of intimacy she wouldn't want that.

Wolqotd 6/16/23

does/will your wol(oc) have kids? who are they?

[oculorb]

Keep herself busy, she doesn't really know how to just wait. Train or meditate if kept to one place, or go out and try to find someone who needs help if not.

6/3/23

What would your wol(oc) do during a long period of waiting?

[oculorb]

...yeah she's kinda focused ngl. She's got an unearthly amount of skill with an axe, is passable with a few other weapons, and can fight bare-handed but to call it monk fighting would be an insult to monks. No talent for magic whatsoever, she's tried to learn to heal but she has absolutely zero skill for it, if it's even possible for her.

how good is your WoL at various jobs?

Kyler

Kyler's backstory (that his amnesia has obliterated as a WoL) makes him fundamentally predisposed to combat, and also weaker with magic. He's able to manipulate aether and he learns, but it doesn't come naturally to him like physical combat does.

In between patches, he devotes the vast majority of his time to learning gathering and crafting disciplines. He adores these activities, and feels that if he never had the Echo, never became the Warrior of Light...he would have loved to make a living that way, in peace.

...but also I wrote him to be my big scary Overpowered foil to his brother and those vibes carry over LOL

Zane

Zane was raised on a farm, but has an incredible affinity for magic. Though he began as a Lancer, after he met X'rhun and learned Red magic, it led him next to Black. How naturally destructive magic came to him scared him, so he sought out White, after.

Wanna make one? Here's the Tiermaker and here's the twitter post from the person who put it together.

[oculorb]

The manta "Because no one else can, because no one else will," is one she often repeats to justify why she constantly throws herself into horrors alone, stands face to face with gods. Those who have the will do not have the strength to stand beside her, and those with the strength have not the will.

"Until I am dead or done, whichever comes last" - her answer whenever someone asks when she'll take a break and rest.

"The Empire is a beast that never sates, and it will feast until there is nothing left, and then it will devour itself." - A lesson she learned in ARR, and why she doesn't even try to negotiate with Garlemald. Any treaty would be temporary until they decide to break it. A related one is "Wait too long to stand and fight, and you'll find the beast has already eaten your legs," which she uses a fair bit during Stormblood.

"To ignore the plight of those one might conceivably save is not wisdom—it is indolence" - the quote of a man she barely had the chance to meet deep beneath the earth, but one she believes in whole-heartedly and quotes back at Fourchenault at one point.

WolQotD

I got a fun one today! Multiple prompts but answer as many (or few) as you'd like!

Does your WoL have a catchphrase? A one-liner?

Is there a quote your WoL is particularly fond of, not only to emulate but to repeat when someone needs to hear it?

Does your WoL have a mantra, or set if principles that can be summed up in a quote or catchphrase?

Let me know! As always, I am eager to hear what each of you have to say!!

[oculorb]

She tried to pretend it wasn't happening. She was strong enough to shoulder the burden, she had to be, because there was no one else. So she slew each warden and ate their light, even as it tore her apart. Even as the light of Innocence ripped her soul to shreds atop Mt. Gulg she tried to stop the Exarch from taking it, because she could handle it. She couldn't of course, but that's what happens when you've been the world's only hope for so long. You start to believe it yourself, start to believe that so long as you keep winning the battles, you can win the war, even as you bleed out where you stand. The light was her burden to bear, and if she buckled beneath it... Well, she quite blankly refused to think about that part.

In retrospect, she considers what happened atop Mt. Gulg sheer, utter failure, and it was all her fault.

During Shadowbringers, how did the light corruption after slaying the Lightwardens effect your WoL?

[oculorb]

Beyond the scars, it would be her voice. She's a Qalli, so she doesn't speak. She sings. Makes her stand out quite a bit.

I have had a less than ideal afternoon and so I head to bed with a wol question for you all ✨

what is your wol/oc's defining feature!

is it their hair or perhaps their eyes? the way they stand? what detail is it that makes you go "ah yes, that's them alright"

[oculorb]

Oqitei is intensely pragmatic when it comes to laws. She respects that they're necessary, but does not consider them to bind her. Rather, she considers whether the consequences of breaking them are worth it. Do Tataru's money crimes accomplish more good than they cause bad? And is the difference larger than the mess she'd cause getting Tataru out of there? Then yeah, she's supporting Tataru.

Tataru is arrested for money laundering in Sharlayan. She calls your WoL as her one linkpearl call, but when you arrive at the gaol she gives you incontrovertible proof that she did Serious Money Crimes. What does your WoL do?

[oculorb]

Everything apart from Warrior and Summoner, I tend to headcanon away job stones. She's very good with an axe, and the nature of her echo means she can call on some of the power of the primals she's defeated, less obvious than a Summoner but comparable to a Trance. Kind of rubbish with other weapons and has zero talent whatsoever for casting.

Is there a class or job that is completely not canon for your WoL - either they absolutely cannot or will not take it up?