#dawntrail next

[drag00ni]

he lost his sprout

bonus

[actual-haise]

That new Machinist skill looks familiar

[wildstar25]

MiqoMarch Day 20 - Memory

Rare is it to see you so shaken. I can only imagine what thoughts must be consuming you at this moment, my love.

[tritoch]

i've seen a lot of people complain about the dawntrail final dungeon for being a thing that we have basically already done and i understand and in many ways agree with that complaint but i do think it varies from the usual in ways that are actually pretty compelling.

spoilers for dawntrail follow, natch.

like okay in amaurot and the dead ends and the lunar subterrane (okay this is definitely a well CBU3 has gone to too many times), the premise is the fights you're engaging in are all kind of historical. behold, the dooms of amaurot. tremble before ra-la, a real sphinx that actually existed once somewhere. face durante, just as golbez faced him in real life.

and accordingly, because all the fighting is supposed to match the energy of the dungeons, these are moments of panic and peril. the world is ending. the worlds are ending. the kingdom is on fire. there's a solemn villain voiceover to really drive the point home (we just wanted to play...on da amaurotine playground...). amaurot is falling and look how sad it is. every world died and look how painful it was. my best buddy golbez died and it was really sad. everything is Fucked Up.

what's really fun about alexandria by contrast, particularly in the first part, is that things are fine, actually! sphene's here (well, "heah"), and we love her, and she smiles because we smile and we smile for her :). oh no alexandria is falling and it's so sad and noble because of everyone's chivalric sacrifices :( oh yay we're rebuilding from the ashes :)

it's a beautiful, tragic, noble story. and the whole time no one's talking to you, not like normal. sphene's kind of reciting the lyrics to memory from cats listlessly but everyone in her memories is talking to each other, not to you. none of them are interacting with you. you're not fighting alongside her against her enemies or taking down conjured horrors from the past.

no, the whole time you're being reminded of one very specific fact.

You're foreign. You're not from here. This is not for you. This is not yours. This peace was not yours and never will be. This grief, this hope. You chose otherwise. You were offered the chance to be Alexandrian. You rejected it. Stay over there. Stay out. You are not wanted here.

in what i personally choose to interpret as a bit of dark comedy, when things start breaking down, it's literally one of the only words you still understand.

ultimately what distinguishes alexandria from amaurot or the dead ends (intentional "this is why i'm sad" slideshows made specifically for the warrior of light to experience) or the lunar subterrane (accidental memory recreation) is that you are choosing to invade sphene's memories. you are doing a cool little backdoor heist at the luxor casino by causing chaos all over the strip before you crawl through the vents to get to the mainframe or whatever.

but in the context of dawntrail, alexandria is the invading power, the rapacious techno-dystopia that intends to carry out forever wars so it can use the literal souls of its enemies to power its treat machines and which not so coincidentally spawned in north america. and alexandria has literally invaded both tuliyollal and yyasulani at this point. so the conceit of the memory guardians helps make clear the hegemonic logic at play. you are a foreign entity. you are not a subject of the state. your life has no value. you must be removed.

or, if removal proves impossible, exterminated.

[cutiepotata]

Cosmic Exploration, am I rite guys?

[hythlodaeus-mynewoldfriend]

Reunion

Returning in just the nick of time, Demos puts to rest his days of world saving adventures to start a new one closer to home with his wife Yugiri. Parenthood….

[sae-mian]

Follow confront the phantom stranger? > no > yes

================

[BALLAD] [DAWNTRAIL] [PART ???]

[elizabethrobertajones]

Canonical bunny hug.

(I know the weather transition didn't happen like that but NG+ isn't exactly generous with the transition to switching off the zone when technically Frog was halfway through Stormblood in the first screenshots :P)

(I just wanted to make them hug tbh. I may be back when NG+ comes here for real. Lamaty'i should be here to make faces in the background while G'raha and Krile facepalm.)

[zylphiacrowley]

Memories in Ruins

<previous - next>

[jollyart]

I was going through my folders to clear out some space and I have this screenshot from ffxiv that I titled "bruh" but the little icon preview was too small so i opened it out of curiousity:

[acrossetheirys]

Good afternoon, my fellow travelers. Today is the day!

We set out on our sixth and final journey tonight at 8pm (EST), but before we do, I'd like to go over what it is you might expect from this journey tonight. For those who are new, and those who may have forgotten!

First off, our Dawntrail walk will be starting on Zurvan, Materia at the courtyard of Vollok Shoonsa in Tuliyollal.

I will be waiting here a half hour beforehand, so if you'd like to show up early, you're welcome to!

Upon arrival, please come to see Ki'to Vashai and send me a trade. I'll hand over the snacks for tonight's break spots, and you can chill until we depart!

I try to give a bit of wiggle room for people who might be running late, but we will be leaving no later than 8:10 (unless something comes up that requires an extension, such as a last-minute relocation due to congestion)

If you happen to arrive any later, please send a /tell to Ki'to Vashai and I will send you our current coordinates! Just note that we will still be moving, so you'll have to catch up! Unless we're at a rest area, of course.

Speaking of, our rest areas tonight will be at Wachunpelo, Mehwahhetsoan, and the Arcadion. Each rest area will allow everyone a 10 minute break to hydrate, visit the bathroom, or just chat amongst one another!

The walk itself should take around 2.5 hours or so depending on our pace. That said, you're welcome to come and go as you please. We won't be offended, I promise!

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please send us a DM, or send me a /tell!

[rankaroid]

most spherical queen

[yoiyoms]

i like it when koana's mask slips a little. so cute :]

[wildstar25]

MiqoMarch Day 18 - Legacy

"This legacy I've inherited; these remnants of your Oblivion..."

[ahollowgrave]

@oneiroy was kind enough to help me restore Odette's gap! And I asked for a version for Selenite, of course (': Thank you so much for your help, friend!

[nivienne-grovant]

Junelezen Day 12 - Cloud

"...I understand" "Good."