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Stupid ass ship chart for Don & Urianger except I rarely write out her personality so this kinda helped lmao Template here!

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How it feels commenting on a mutuals post like a grandma and fumbling the interaction

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Radz-at-Han ✨

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You know, you really gotta hand it to XIV for insisting that interspecies relationships are taboo and then making it so that almost all the top NPC ships are interspecies

Thancred/Urianger, Urianger/Moenbryda, Y'shtola/Runar... I think only Estimeric is two of the same race

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Coming Out on the First, or, Ramblings On Why I Adore That Big Elf Nerd

Spoilers to 6.1

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What the heck my tumblr has apparently turned into Urianger Thoughts sooooo let’s lean into it and go!  I imagine someone else has probably written this already, but again I’ve been sitting on these thoughts for a year and what is tumblr for if not to scatter ideas like glitter stars across the just-swept floors of fandom? Yes, Urianger’s my favorite character because he is the most empathic and emotionally intelligent of the Scions. He reads as an hsp, neurodivergent, and aspec af kinkeeper like me. Yes, on meeting him I immediately went THIS NERD SHALL BE MY WOL’S BFF because we both escaped from bullying to books, picking up language quirks from our reads (he fantasy-Shakespeare, me Wodehouse) and he is eminently extraverdoptable. Anyone who is excited to gift me a free lecture on interesting topics at the drop of a hat is my kind of people, because this is also how I show affection. I relate to him a ton. And the very clever way the Scions are written encourages you to project yourself on the ones you relate to. But I still have questions.

Where is he from? Who is his family? While the Sharlayan segment of EW was gorgeous and immensely satisfying, I feel like I don’t know any more than I did before. Did Moen’s parents and Louisoix raise him? Is he a Sharlayan orphan? Was he raised in a wealthy family like the Leveilleurs, or more modestly? And how in the heck did such a sensitive soul begin a career in espionage?

I haven’t played 1.0, but according to the wiki (bold mine): “Urianger was involved in the reestablishment of the Grand Companies of Eorzea, which continued to combat this threat. Urianger acted behind the scenes, having been branded a heretic by the Garlean Empire, and their pursuit of him distracted them from doing greater harm to the city-states. In spite of his seclusion, Urianger appeared at most Circle of Knowing gatherings, and even accompanied their leader, Louisoix Leveilleur.” Soooooo he’s been Roadrunner-trolling Garleans then shouting MEEP MEEPETH and running away??

Math time: if 1.0 starts 5 years before ARR, and Urianger is 29 in ARR, he’s roughly 24 in 1.0. In the clips I saw on youtube at any rate he sounds like he’s already experienced in running interference, so I imagine he’s been at it a couple of years or so. And if he finished up puberty with his growth spurt at age 20 (maybe lasting a year or two?) it sounds like pretty much his entire adult life he’s been on the run from the Empire.

It didn’t sound like he had a spymaster, either, which could explain a lot about why he tends to act on his own without telling anyone, why he was so confident playing double agent with Elidibus, and why he managed to pull off the incredibly high-stakes things he pulls off. He’s literally a pro. It also implies that in addition to being reserved he wears the outfit as part of his role, and is just heckin Method about his acting (like when you first meet him and he realizes he doesn’t have to put on the Mysterious Prophet act for you and corrects himself.) 

And then there’s the First. Suddenly he’s whisked away to another world with zero Garleans. No one is hunting him. No one knows his face. For pretty much the first time in his entire adult life, he’s not on the run. And he blossoms. As he starts his 30s he finally has the chance to figure out who he is and what he wants. I don’t know if it was Louisoix who gave him the spy assignment but while he was good at it, it wasn’t a good fit emotionally. We start to see him pull away from it more and more in this beautiful arc where he sets aside clothes that hide him from identification, and magic that can be used as a distraction. He goes full nominative determinism with astrologian (augury = telling the future) and becomes not a spy, but a healer, embracing the soft heart at the center of his character. As he relaxes more we see more of the things that make him him, like that dry, quirky sense of humor. This also reads for my headcanon as the timeframe when he accepts himself enough to fall in love with Thancred.  When Obergefell vs. Hodges came down, I was 30. While there was still more work to do, things felt….different. It felt like a different world full of change and optimism, kind of the sensation of opening a window in a stagnant room. And in that fresh air I was able to come out to myself and start the process of coming out to everyone else. And like… when you come out as LGBTQIA2S+ it sounds like you’re coming out as a category (for me, demipan) but in a lot of ways you’re setting aside the mask society’s pushed on you and saying here I am, I’m just me. And that’s what Urianger does, and one of the reasons he’s so precious to me. For the first time, he accepts and celebrates who he is, fully, as a person. And his loved ones do, too.

When you meet him on the First he echoes his Mysterious Prophet introduction to you and then reintroduces himself, confidently and mischievously asking how you like the true him. He knows you love him and will accept him, and when someone comes out to you in the knowledge that you’ll celebrate them it feels like such an honor, y'know?

And when he returns to the Source, Garlemald is in such a state that it’s safe for him to drop the assigned prophet act and be his true gnc astrologian self. His struggles with “honesty” really sound more to me like struggles between the expectations of this obligatory spy role and his authentic self. I’m still annoyed that when he is excruciatingly hard on himself I can’t just wrap him up in my arms and tell him he’s okay, he did the right thing.  Then in EW we see his rejection of spying and of being who other people ask him to be come full circle, where he honors his own needs (”I followed my heart”) and learns to place healthy boundaries with the Loporrits. (I literally hollered to my wife “OMG Urianger learned to set boundaries!!” and we cheered, haha!) Moen’s parents affirm and validate his growth in That Scene. It makes me wonder again who put him up to spying and why he went along with it. Ultimately he comes of age at 32 by accepting himself, asserting himself, and learning to be gentler with himself. And that’s beautiful. 

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we’ll see each other again i’m certain of it

Keep reading

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Playing House: Man, Woman & Child in Il Mheg

*Spoilers; dialogue and screenshots from 5.0 and 6.0 below.*

On the surface Il Mheg is immediately appealing, awash in rainbows and flowers and inhabited by childlike beings. By being a land of magic and wonder, Il Mheg represents new opportunities and freedoms. But its eternal spring is also naivety and avoidance. These tensions play out as characters struggle with the patriarchal tropes of the domestic sphere.

DISCLAIMERS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: 1) This is best read alongside #crystevatower, jacob's exercise in a psychosexual reading of Shadowbringers and Endwalker. In order to keep the post coherent I have to re-tread a lot of things he's already talked about. 2) This analysis applies the lens of a transfeminine urianger, and if that raises your hackles, I ask that you bear with me.

In Il Mheg, all three characters (Thancred, Urianger, and Ryne) escape from something while they are there. The something is a little different for each of them. It is a refuge, but also from things they shouldn't be avoiding. The home the bookman's shelves provides grants needed relief and shelter, but the roles it confines them to also keeps them in stasis, pun intended.

Thancred (Father)

Though characters in MSQ keeps telling us that Thancred's problem is an inability to accept that Minfilia is gone, I don't think that's true. Thancred is instead struggling to resolve the role of patriarch and protector with so many historic failures; his own, Ran'jit's, and his guardians'.

Thancred: This isn't a matter of fate, Urianger. It's about choice. And I've had years to decide where I stand.  Thancred: Minfilia has spent too long in chains already. I would not shackle her again by making my hopes known. - 5.0 quest "On Track"

Thancred plainly hopes for Ryne to live. He is more aggrieved by the fact that if Ryne takes up Minfilia's legacy, she will have to fight the Lightwardens. He wants to put off the question of whether or not Ryne will take up that responsibility not because it means losing Minfilia, but because that responsibility killed the last girl who had it.

He understands that death as a failure of himself, a failure he is not willing to endure again or subject another young girl to, and he is paralyzed because there is no future ahead where Ryne does not die or take on grave personal danger.

Thancred was the one that connected Minfilia to Louisoix and the Scions, to The Mission, as his mentors did to him. He is perhaps reflecting that had he known what it would entail, he wouldn't have chosen this, and he wouldn't have wanted Minfilia to choose it either.

Thancred: It is for her to choose what shape her destiny will take. It is for me to stay silent. To protect her, teach her, and stand by her. That, at least, I can do for her. - ""

For all he speaks to his gratitude towards Louisoix and his Sharlayan master, the man he is belies it. This is a person deeply suspicious of and resentful to male authority, crystalized in the fight against Ran'jit where he overcomes those doubts in order to embrace a role as Ryne's father. He no longer sees Minfilia's life, and death, only as masculine failure, but as feminine victory. He sees a future for his daughter and embraces it, whatever may come.

But if that were enough, the story would simply end there. It doesn't, and it isn't.

Urianger (Mother)

Some people will have a defensive reaction to the idea of calling Urianger a mother, or a woman, in this context as homophobic or heteronormative. Whether or not you can suspend your disbelief and get on board with a transfeminine Urianger, I hope you can at least notice the tropes she is being subjected to and how she reacts to them.

Thancred and Ryne retreat to Il Mheg, and go to Urianger as a soft place to land. And she is that. The shelves seem an idyllic comfort compared to their life on the road pursued by Eulmore's soldiers. Ryne is excited to see her, and Urianger treats her warmly, calling her "my dear." There is real happiness and safety here, but also stagnation.

Urianger: I attempted to broach the subject before. Mine intention was to ensure no words remained unspoken between them[...] Alas, in the end he refused to heed my counsel - 5.0 Quest "Have a heart"

Regardless, the Urianger we meet in Il Mheg is euphoric, smiling, joking about her fair features. Compared to the ascetic, practical man Urianger claimed to be on the Source, the Urianger we meet is changed. Transformed, even. (We can even tell her "I almost didn't recognize you..." you're making it too easy, FFXIV!)

Urianger is neither ignorant of nor indifferent towards the problems in Thancred's and Ryne's relationship. She confronts Thancred, and reminds him of and encourages him to speak about the things he would rather avoid. Thancred will accept her hospitality, but he won't take her advice. Why not? And why does she tolerate this?

Urianger: A time will come when they must face the reality of their circumstances. But I have faith that all will be well in time... - ""

It's important to note that while Thancred fears men as guardians of children, he doesn't feel the same way towards women.

To Thancred, the presence of a woman, a mother, is what makes a home. If Urianger was a potential father to Ryne, Thancred would have regarded her with the same suspicion he carries for male parents. Instead, she takes on the role of F'lhaminn, representing "warmth and tranquillity."

Urianger's existence doesn't challenge Thancred's positions on patriarchs and fathers, because Urianger is not a father to Ryne, and not a man. And that is exactly why she accepts this role; it's her own refuge.

Urianger is getting to be a mom, for just a moment. Maybe not even a good one. Maybe one stuck within a passive role. But to be a mother is blessed relief compared to the role the Exarch has put her in, which hangs over her dreadfully. Urianger lights up when she addresses Ryne, and buckles over or crumbles to her knees when she confronts her deceptions. Being a mom has its limitations, but it is at least authentic to her and her desires. Like Thancred, she is using the domestic sphere in order to escape an identity anathema to her sense of self.

I hesitate to outright call Urianger an enabler, because she is boxed into place by various sexist/transphobic forces. Thancred's suspicions towards himself are why he's ignoring her, but it's the patriarchal nature of their arrangement that gives him the ability to do so.

Ryne (Child)

Ryne is 16, two years away from adulthood but still a child. She has spent the last three years of her life with these two parents, consistently if not continuously. They have both tried to allow her to be a "normal" girl, and she clearly feels attachment towards both of them regardless of their failings.

But she's not a normal girl. She has a destiny, one she's going into badly unprepared. 

What's naive about the Waters-Augurelt family in Il Mheg is not, I should be clear, its queerness or Urianger's womanhood or the safety of a home. Its an idealization of the nuclear family, particularly motherhood, as an escape from trauma. Ryne wants what anyone would want; for both her parents to be present, engaged, and connected with her. Patriarchal norms won't accomplish this; they are the very heart of everyone's trauma.

That Urianger's faith was rewarded in the end doesn't change the fact that if he had just listened to her outright, Ryne would have been saved years of sorrow. Thancred's opinions towards women as passive providers of safety and comfort are to blame, and that he has awakened to the personhood of daughters and sisters is not the same as feminist consciousness. (We see him nearly return to his womanizing habits during the Crystarium victory celebration, stopped by Urianger's nagging-- or so he claims.)

Ryne can't live out Thancred's idealized version of childhood; the home he never had and wishes to give her through Urianger is insufficient to answer the questions hanging over her. 

When Ryne says, "I wish he'd just say it─just say that he hates me! That he wishes I was dead so that she could return..." I don't think she really believes it. I think what she is trying to get Urianger to say is, no, no, of course not-- Thancred loves you, we both love you.

And while she deserves to hear it, what is valuable about Ryne is not just that she is loved by her parents, though she is. It's that she has value all her own, and in her own identity, a life lived beyond the hopes others have for her.

Urianger: Were she here, she would not suffer thee to languish in sorrow. She would tell thee to seek thine own path, thine own purpose. Urianger: It is a truth which I myself was slow to learn. Yet a truth it remaineth. - 5.0 quest, "Have a Heart"

While this wasn't what Ryne was hoping to hear, it is enough. The connection is felt, deeply.

Minfilia: I don't know about the world...but I never asked to be saved. Minfilia: However much it hurts, and however hard it gets, it's my life, and I want to live it on my own terms! Minfilia: And those “mad fools” you want me to abandon? The ones I've traveled with, fought with, and may one day die with─they feel the same. Minfilia: So no, I will not be deceived! No matter what you say, I refuse to believe it's all for nothing! Minfilia: They're everything to me. All I have and all I need. And I would gladly do anything for them. Minfilia: Let us pass, or kill me. I'm not leaving here without them.

Brides, Mothers

If Urianger's narrative ended with her passive victory, her faith rewarded, and her family gathered happily around her, then that would be straightforward praise of the family unit as they had arranged it. Instead, we complicate her domestic role by mirroring it, revealing her unhappy dealings as the Exarch's "Accomplice." (Y'shtola also calls this an "Infatuation," doubling the romantic associations.)

Y'shtola: Urianger─I know full well, after all these years, that you have only the best of intentions [...] But that does not make it any easier to put my faith in a man so infatuated with secrecy. - 5.0 Quest, "An Unwanted Proposal" < SEE!!!! SEE THAT QUEST NAME??? I'll calm down

Her relationship with G'raha is another unequal partnership, where Urianger carries out the commands given to her. It isn't until Endwalker that we fully understand just how painful Urianger found her obedient role.

Urianger: In her hour of need, I did naught. Dutiful disciple of Louisoix, ever looking to the greater good... Urianger: Had I shut mine eyes and bid her live instead, mayhap she would be with us today. Urianger: Selfish wants born of everlasting regrets. Most days I put them from my mind, but could think of naught else when asked to swallow the same bitter draught. Subterfuge and sacrifice. Mayhap the right, moral choice, but one I regard with great trepidation. - 6.0 Quest, "Back to Old Tricks"

When she says "dutiful disciple," it's bitterly, her hand clutched into a fist.

Far from completely passive and accepting, from infatuated, Urianger is unhappy to be merely selfless, merely dutiful, even as she is happy to be a woman. As Venat tells her, her heart never wavered; but it isn't Louisoix she is purely loyal to. Nor is it Thancred or the Exarch. Her greatest loyalty is to something higher.

Urianger: In truth, I can no more ignore the plight of this world than I can choose to stop breathing. And thus do I labor─for those we have lost. For those we can yet save. - 5.0 quest, "A visit to the Nu Mou"

Hydaelyn: For duty's sake, thou hast been bound by truths unutterable, time and time again. Yet thy heart hath never wavered, as thy companions will attest. - 6.0 quest, "Her Children, One and All"

She demands recompense from G'raha later at Ultima Thule, understanding that he incurred a debt with her, that her submission to his plans was not merely natural or to be taken for granted. G'raha, like the domestic sphere created in Il Mheg, was naive in his romantic notions, in the roles he gave Urianger (and others) to play.

Remember that line Urianger said? "She would tell thee to seek thine own path, thine own purpose... It is a truth which I myself was slow to learn. Yet a truth it remaineth." But when, exactly, did she learn it? When in SHB did she not walk the path given to her? Where did she stray, and why?

Rejecting narratives, no matter the comfort or permissions they may provide, help us to truly become our authentic selves and show up for those we care about; something Urianger has continued to advocate for in Dawntrail, and likely beyond.

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colored sketch c0mmission done for vorpalslayer_ !

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Soft kitty, warm kitty…

for @sarellathesphinx <33

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[FFXIV] Unhinged Scion headcanons to consider:

- Alisaie makes it a point to torture Estinien.

- Somehow, Alisaie would beat Thancred in a fist fight.

- Estinien stopped trying to understand what Urianger says because it gives him a headache and he'd rather not snap at the guy.

- G'raha's tail fluffs up when he's startled or mad. Y'shtola's does not. In fact, you usually forget Y'shtola is even Miqo'te. This says a lot about their personalities.

- Krile & Tataru like to bake. Thancred, Estinien, G'raha, & Lyse are sneaky midnight bite stealers.

- Estinien is only like 50% literate.

- Tataru is stoned the entire time.

- Urianger hates pants.

- Alisaie likes to snoop through people's belongings when they're gone.

- The wine Y'shtola drinks isn't even good wine it probably comes in a box.

- Lyse's intrusive thoughts are constantly telling her to dropkick Papalymo (like she did that Namazu)

- Sometimes, when no one's looking, Alphinaud puts like 8 sugar cubes in his tea.

-Instead of normal snoring, G'raha makes like a half-purr half-snore noise when he sleeps.

- Estinien drinks juice straight out the carton.

- Alphinaud keeps an extremely detailed diary.

- Sometimes when Thancred runs out of clean socks he steals a pair from Urianger's room. (He wears sandals anyways, he won't notice)

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I made a Bluesky for spicier shots ✨

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I'd put Don somewhere in the Black Mage quests as a side charcter :D

She was a Xaela orphan who's adoptive parents moved to Eorzea, so it's already weird to see an Au Ra in Ul'dah. I like to think she enjoys that the big hats & hoods draw attention away from the horns & face lmao. But seriously, its time to learn how to be the ultimate turret/nuke/glass cannon. Don Won tries to vaguely warn you about what you're getting yourself into with the void, but has sworn not to say such things outright until you finish your training. She's particularly versed in the logistics of Black Magic, so Lalai sends you to her to learn more about voidgates and the creatures that pass through them. She uses magicks to track down a particularly large planar fissure for you to practice killing more powerful voidsent.

What reward do you get?: This cool ass crystal hat that def isn't a crime tool. It's a canon hat now cuz I said so. Location: amongst the shelves of the Thaumaturge's Guild (Arrzaneth Ossuary, Ul'dah) 🔮Quest Title: What Lies Beyond✨

What kind of NPC would your character be?

Tagged by @amalthea-felsblood Thank you<3

What kind of NPC would your character be? Where could you find them?

Merchant - What would they sell?

Quest Giver - What's the quest? One off or chain? The reward?

Companion - How do you unlock them? Do they have a specific companion quest line?

Romanceable? What's the reward?

Regular NPC - What's their dialog?

Quest Giver - Riona Kaeleer can be found hanging around by the back door of the Machinists' Guild

Quest Type - Job training

Level Req - 90+

Unlock requirement - Completion of Endwalker and Ever March Heavensward (Magic DPS role quest)

Quest - Cleanup Duty

Acquisition - "Hey there hero." Riona greets you with a smirk, knowing you already have an idea of what's going on. Despite ending the threat of Profane Fafnir in Ishgard and saving the entire star, a hero's work is never done. Reports have come in from the Convictors that there are some roaming blasphemies still terrorizing patrols in the Western Highlands. They've picked off the smaller ones but there are still blasphemies of concerning size. Better able to keep distance from the creatures, the Convictors have reluctantly asked for the machinists to assist in ending the threat so it's best to go out and meet them.

You meet with Dominiac at the Convictors' camp. He informs you there are still three large blasphemies stalking the roads. They're not sure if the blasphemies were other priests or perhaps dragons. But it is of little consequence. The creatures are terrorizing man and dragon alike.

Look for unusual disturbances out in the Highlands and eliminate any blasphemies you see. Points of interest are a dead wooly yak, a tree with enormous claw marks and a shattered ice commander. All will spawn a blasphemy to kill.

"Easy work, huh?" The blasphemies gone, you meet back up with Riona at the Machinists' Guild. She hands over some new components for your Automaton Queen as a reward for a job well done.

Rewards

Title - Sharpshooter

Skill upgrade - Automaton Queen duration 12 seconds -> 15 seconds, attack potency increase by 10

Facewear - Sharpshooter glasses, visor toggle will flip up the eye cover

Tagging if you feel like doing it: @otherstuffstuff @arasnealashandr @windup-scholar @shiratamako and anyone who wants to join in

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The Gangs all here

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IDK anything about photography I just be posing the blorbos

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Therapist: And what do we do when we're sad?

Me: /gpose.

Therapist: No.

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“Em dashes are a sure-fire sign that a work is AI!”

I’m holding your hand when I say this. Where do you think AI steals em dashes from. Where does AI steal from. AI didn’t invent it. It has been stolen from Real People who use the fucking em dash—it’s a staple punctuation, ESPECIALLY high level academic writing.