#ff 13 lightning

[todayimgonnaplay]

Today I'm gonna play Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII

Recently finished FF13-2 which had some nice improvements, but I think I'm in the minority for not liking the sequel hook tragedy ending it has. I don't mind sad endings, as FF has had more than one, but I had mixed feelings about the payoff for going through two entire games. I've sort of come to terms with it as I'm starting to see this trilogy has a pattern of fate going on. And now I'm onto the finale.

Immediately into the game I'm thrust into something I felt like I should've known but didn't even see at all. I'm not sure how effective that kind of storytelling is, but fortunately Lightning and Hope explain events of this game's premise quite extensively. I do like the option of being able to proceed through dialogue during cutscenes as I tend to read quick. I'm also seeing a revamp to Lightning's characterization that reminds me quite a bit of FF 7 Rebirth with Cloud, both characters having a sense of humour and exchanging banter despite being very stoic. It's a surprising but welcome change.

Another unexpected thing I encountered was its battle system. Revamped and unlike the previous two games, or even the series itself, I can see why people are divisive over it. I immediately wanted to hate it and just quit the game, but one of the reasons I started this blog is to give systems I don't like another chance and really get a feel for them. My assumption for this is that this was Square's first real decision to move onto the action genre and away from turn-based combat. I do appreciate their constant experimentation for the genre though. In terms of combat, the idea of eliminating numerous menus for navigation that (J)RPGs are known for, with quick inputs to do what you want to do. And to still keep that turn-based aspect, the ATB gauge still remains a thing for this title so that you can't spam your attacks or go full action mode. It gives you some time to think, but it's still not enough. I noticed throughout this trilogy that I often don't feel like I can rest and actually think how to fight off my enemies effectively. One method I can think of is to give enemies ATB gauges too and display them. It retains that turn-based aspect but also gives you time to heal and strategize. It's good that Libra and signs of weakness by building the Stagger is shown as a sign of what's working and what isn't, but having a pulse motion feels quite hard to decipher with all the action happening as well as the health info hovering above the enemies. FF 13's stagger bar has shown the best way to display this type of info. It was large and clear, and it was still effective in FF13-2 if it was thought that it was intrusively large. One thing to note is that this title has removed the Paradigm shift system, and now uses Schemata, which is like playing dress up on crack. I consider this to be my favourite part of the game, simply because I think dress up and customizing abilities and equipment is fun and freeing. You're not limited to specific pieces and you can mix and match, but I haven't mastered this system enough to see if that's effective or not.

I'm not a fan of the limited items you can carry. I've been in a few situations where I needed potions but ran out, or because I've been used to being able to consume as many as I want in the first two games, I forget to stock and therefore cannot take any. It doesn't help that there's a penalty for escaping from battle which is taking away EP which is used for other useful features, but fortunately I'm playing on easy mode, as the lack of penalties are closer to what the previous two games were like.

In terms of the overworld, I have seen a larger improvement in traversing around areas. The platforming is decent in most areas, and I like that I can finally jump off places to get off faster, which I couldn't do in FF 13-2. Areas are more populated, making it more lifelike and immersive. My biggest gripe is about the game's main feature (and, which is a time limit that's connected to the game's lore about the world ending in 13 days. You are able to traverse around until 6 AM in-game time, until you're automatically transported back to a hub. The only usable reason the hub exists is to confirm completion of an area and move to the next (and also giving some kind of life force to a tree for lore reasons), otherwise moving back automatically has not served its purpose for me, other than interrupt me. It also feels a bit tense to constantly have a clock ticking down, and I'm not really a fan of timit limit games at all, in fact I tend to avoid them. But again, I decided to give it another chance. Turns out it's good at helping me keep more focused to my tasks and making more careful decisions rather than me being reckless. There's also a way to slow down time by using Chronostasis, which replenishes by defeating enemies. You can technically spam that and play all you want.

Music this time is a surprising negative for me, the new tracks haven't impressed me so far, and I hear reuses of the previous titles, which has saved me from thinking more negatively about this, even though the same team has composed for this title too.

Character designs are quite interesting this time around when it comes to Lightning due to the dress up feature. I do like Snow's new look compared to 13-2 and it fits the current personality given to him. But like FF13-2, the rest of the old cast are not given new makeovers which is a huge letdown.

I'm still not sure if I'll continue playing this to the end, but I'll try to power through as much as I can.

Terms used exclusively in the game:

ATB (Active Time Battle) - A consumable gauge with divisions that allow you to do actions in battle

Stagger - A gauge that fills up based on effectiveness which allows you to deal more damage

Libra - A feature that checks enemy weaknesses

Paradigm Shift - A system in FF 13 and 13-2 that used roles with specific abilities

Schemata - A customizable system that allows Lightning to be a unique role based on equipment and abilities

EP (Energy Points) - A limited rechargable currency spent on special features, or items

Chronostasis - An ability that allows you to briefly stop time

[fire-of-the-sun]

NOCTIS' TRANSFORMATION ANALYSIS

"We carefully considered the path of Noct's life and sought a design that would convey his humanity with with the passage of time. I asked Naora-san to look at him as a real person and to depict his aging with realism rather than symbolism." - Hajime Tabata

The decision to age Noctis up from a 20 to 30-year-old not only enhances Final Fantasy XV's coming-of-age story of a young, unprepared prince transforming into a fully matured king, but also offers a unique insight into the choices made behind the external, physical changes intended to reflect said internal development. I've seen a lot of conversation about his altered appearance ranging from approval to confusion to downright rejection. So, as someone who enjoys analyzing faces and character design, I'd like to explore this change in depth. How did Noctis go from the stereotypical clean-shaven, spiky haired anime pretty boy to a rugged, masculine man? Were the changes too bold? Does he even still look like the same person? And what does his evolution say about other men in the Final Fantasy franchise?

FACE SHAPE

Noctis' face is symmetrical and well balanced with nearly equal thirds, the lower third of which increases slightly in length at 30. I drew over his jawlines as best I could manage as his hair is in the way on both and older Noctis' face is angled slightly downward, making these guidelines less accurate to compare but, even at a glance, it's not hard to see that his face and chin do widen at 30 to accommodate a squarer jawline.

It's normal for many men's jawlines to develop a little as they age but it typically emerges during puberty. At 20 years old, Noctis should probably already have the jawline he has at 30 or close to it. Of course, a jawline can be strengthened through various means but, unless Noctis was mewing in that Crystal for a decade, this change doesn't make a lot of sense to me, which makes it more of a stylistic choice to emphasize his older age and to add a notable dose of masculinity which naturally takes a step away from the younger, more 'feminine' appearing traditional Final Fantasy face type. Compare young Noctis or Cloud's face to someone like Lightning: the overall shape isn't too different and certainly a staple of the franchise regardless of gender.

EYES

(For the sake of better comparison, I've edited 30-year-old Noctis to have his natural blue eyes)

I've seen complaints that the change in Noctis' eyes makes him look less Asian. He is biracial, of course, and his features aren't and shouldn't be considered fully Asian, but I believe the reason behind this criticism is that, in the effort to contract and narrow his eyes to be more realistic at 30, his epicanthic fold is less visually obvious as his lacrimal caruncle are enlarged, which inadvertently makes his eyes look comparatively less Asian. This change serves to shrink his eyeball while taking up the same margins on his face with the length and even eye slant all remaining identical as far as I can tell, as is the overall shape and space between the eyes.

Noctis does maintain the same basic eye shape from childhood to adulthood, it just narrows as he ages which is completely normal. Despite the particular tastes of the Final Fantasy franchise, having larger eyes to depict youth is very common in animation of any kind with children bearing especially large eyes that shrink as they age. This was no doubt the intention here as well to depict Noctis' relative adolescence at 20 and continue to embrace their stylistic history of other Final Fantasy games.

I also want to note that his eyelashes are less thick and prominent at 30, which acts as yet another change for realism and a step towards a more masculine appearance.

NOSE

(Consult the previous images)

For many faces, the edge of the nose typically lines up with the inner corner of the eye which they finally do for Noctis at 30. As I've already stated, the margins of his eyes did not change, which means the alteration in nose size to be accurate to realistic proportions where it wasn't before contradicts the stylistic choice to purposefully give him a smaller, slimmer nose at 20. Also, though I don't have a comparison shot of his profile at both ages, his nose obviously not only increases in width but also length at 30 to match his altered proportions.

EYEBROWS

Where some changes are more subtle and feel like logical extensions of what came before, one of the more striking differences between 20 and 30 is Noctis' eyebrows as he loses the thin, manicured brows of youth and gains, well, more natural looking male eyebrows. I will point out that they appear lower on his face at 30 because he's tilted slightly downward and bears a more intense expression than the neutral pose at 20 which makes the exact angle a little harder to compare here but, that being said, I do believe they sit slightly lower on his face at 30 in general. Though they sit at essentially the same angle, the overall shape has changed a bit. Not only do they become thicker, they also frame the eyes more along the browbone which is very different than the sharp, nearly straight line of the brows in his youth.

Choosing to change his eyebrows so significantly is an interesting choice and perhaps one made not only to be more realistic and less like Final Fantasy characters of the past, but also to look more like his father as was part of their intention with his older appearance.

It doesn't necessarily feel like a choice borne purely from age either as Prompto and Ignis maintain their previous, thin eyebrows even in their 30s (as well as most of their other features). Instead, this alteration (among others) feels more in line with Gladio who, as the most traditionally masculine member of the group, similarly boasts thicker brows, a squarer jaw and facial hair, further proving that this is the direction they wanted to take Noctis as well.

LIPS

There's not much to say about his lips as they remain the same shape and are only lengthened a little. Typically, the outer corners of our lips correspond to near the center of the eye but, as his eye margins have not changed, the slight lengthening of his lips is yet another adherence to realism to better fit his adjusted features and widened face.

EARS

(Consult previous images)

Ears typically line up with the top of the eyebrow and the bottom of the nose and, though his photo at 30 is tilted more downward and this naturally changes the angle of his ears and makes them appear higher on his face, they seem to be proportional at both ages. That being said, based on these images alone, they do seem to change shape to me with the outer helix appearing to stick out farther at the top and taper in slightly towards his lobe at 30 whereas his younger ears appear narrower at the top, rounder overall and widest towards the middle. Our ears can change shape and size as we age, of course, I'm just not sure there would be a noticeable difference after only a decade, and they could have potentially been left unchanged in my opinion.

HAIR

"From their [characters] hairstyles and clothing as children to the expressions and posture they develop as adults, their individual traits and the way they change over the years all inform the looks we created." - Yusuke Naora

I think it's important to note that Noctis maintains the same basic hairstyle for the majority of his life from a child into his teens and early adulthood, which feels indicative to me of how it's meant to convey that he hasn't truly grown up yet. The abandonment of this style for the first time in his life at 30 reflects great inward change: letting go of the boy he used to be and becoming a new man.

Though his two hair styles seem vastly different at first glance, I love that the foundation of the first is easily identifiable in the second. The boyish bangs and choppiness at 20 help to emphasize his youth - an element that is largely abandoned at 30 in an effort to help him appear more mature as he adopts a rugged, unmanicured style that enhances his newfound regality. The formerly long and well-maintained face frame has been shortened slightly with loose strands left to fall randomly rather than sustaining a clean sweep over his cheeks. Where the bangs have gone, a few errant strands remain to fall across the left side of his face - a vestige of what once dominated the area (and a similar feature to Ardyn as well). The vertical, gravity-defying spikes at the top of his head have been abandoned entirely and left to join the cascade of hair falling down his neck at greater length and the spikes at the sides of his head have also been left to curl softly over his ears. The results feel inevitable for a man who has left his hair mostly untouched for a decade (with some tidying up) and a natural extension of what came before.

While we're discussing hair, I also want to address Noctis' beard. Love it or hate it, it certainly aids in helping him appear much older and kinglier (a direct reference to his father) and also acts as further evidence of his Asian ancestry as the texture and lay of the beard hair is noticeably different than that of his father's, Gladio's and the other White men around him.

SKIN

Barring the fact that older Noctis in this image (and throughout most of that chapter of the game) is usually very dirty with a face marred by sweat and grime, his skin tone is also noticeably warmer. I'm not sure why this change was implemented and allowed him to go from a paler skinned youth to a warmer skinned man (especially not having been touched by sunlight in a decade), but perhaps it's a result of his new power and another step toward realism as there may be a tendency to have Final Fantasy protagonists be paler skinned in general as a stylistic choice?

It also goes without saying that Noctis was given a few small moles at various places on his face to give him more realistic skin and not a flawless, porcelain doll look.

AGING

"We didn't just add typical aging details, but also referenced images of war veterans and actors to find the 'sublime' characteristics, from single wrinkles to hair tips that could express the magnitude of Noct's fate and life experiences. Also, in keeping with the father and son theme, we made it so you can see Regis in Noct's face, with features such as the beard bearing his essence." - Yusuke Noara

I believe the main narratively validated reason Noctis' appearance receives such a drastic change over the course of 10 years while his companions were barely altered, is no doubt attributed to his unique aging from the power he now possesses due to his time in the Crystal. We know that simply wearing the Ring of the Lucii has a physical cost even for those meant to wield it as it can scar and age prematurely. This led to Regis aging rapidly due to his overextension of power upholding the wall, looking arguably older than he should at just 50 years of age. It's also a marked leap from how he looked just 12 years prior. His black hair had been bleached to grey and his body composition clearly waned given his difficulty with mobility.

Having been imbued with such immense power for so long, it's no surprise that Noctis has also aged at an abnormal rate, perhaps biologically looking closer to 40 rather than 30, I dare say, just as his father appeared older than his actual age. This aging, of course, led to all the altered features discussed above as well as more visible fine lines under his eyes and slightly greyer hair, the latter of which is harder to notice in the main game, but a clear distinction made in the hyper-stylized Pocket Edition.

BODY

I've seen some comments lamenting that Noctis' older face makes his head look a little too large for his body. Though I'm not entirely convinced his head was actually enlarged overall, it could appear that way given his widened jaw and possibly neck that inadvertently produced a sense of disparity as his body remains the same as it did at 20 - the only thing that didn't change about him over the time skip.

We know Noctis was essentially frozen in suspended animation inside the Crystal for 10 years and was ostensibly sustained without food or water due to its power. However, time still clearly passed for him as Noctis' mind has matured just as his face, but his 20-year-old body is left untouched. It obviously doesn't make sense for him to have gained any muscle without exercising all those years, but I'd argue that altering his body by increasing his muscle mass even just slightly could have avoided the complaint regarding his head size as it'd allow his new face to match better as well as continue to support him feeling older and at peak strength given the Crystal's immense power now surging through him. A mild change here could have made a big difference, but this is just what I would have done.

CLOTHING

Let's quickly address Noctis' evolution via clothing as what a character wears is just as important in reflecting their identity as their physical appearance. Dismissing the optional outfits you can choose to put him in, I'll be focusing mainly on his default 20 and 30-year-old clothes as these are what the creators intended to best suit him in their respective sections of the game. This leap in style is as seemingly vast as his physical changes and helps to emphasize his growth just as much as his face, albeit with some base elements that are maintained such as the continued adherence to all black clothing (of course) as well as the use of a jacket and collar.

Young Noctis' appearance from hair style to clothing is obviously very youthful and not overtly regal - at least not to the degree you'd expect from royalty. Noctis clothes feel modern and edgy adorned with skull motifs, resulting in a style that feels a bit rebellious and incongruent with his father's pristine, kingly wardrobe and even that of the immaculately clothed Luna, both of whom are characters he's meant to emulate to fulfill his destiny. In this section of the game, Noctis isn't particularly ready for the role, as his clothing helps to emphasize.

As a 30-year-old, Noctis abandons the clothes of his youth and adopts a simple but dignified suit, granting him a more regal, mature and capable appearance which helps to enhance those newfound qualities. Where his wardrobe stood out before, his suit now feels in line with what one would expect of someone in his position, albeit not entirely distinct as Lucian royalty beyond the color - that is perhaps best represented in the kingly raiment he wears towards the end that acts as a direct reflection of his father and further showcases his tremendous growth and acceptance of his title.

THE PROGRESSION OF FINAL FANTASY MEN

I'm no expert on all the titles in the Final Fantasy franchise so forgive me if I'm off about any of this, but, as far as I've noticed, male Final Fantasy protagonists tend to share a similar appearance: young, clean-shaven, stylized features, spiky/over-styled hair with thin, and rather effeminate brows. Think of Cloud as the poster boy of this look. 20-year-old Noctis fits squarely into this category, making his leap outside of it due to a significant time skip (and design choices) an interesting one to examine as this has never been done with a mainline male Final Fantasy protagonist before.

On the other end of the spectrum, we have the latest protagonist, Clive (a character who also aged significantly in his game and ends up at 33), who stands out as a unique addition to this roster with his more obvious masculinity as depicted by his larger build and facial hair. Though still stylized to a degree in its own way, Clive and the direction of Final Fantasy 16 as a whole trend more realistic for the most part, avoiding the more typical stylization choices of previous titles and striking a new direction into more Western appealing territory as was the intention, but though he embodies these qualities to a more notable degree, he certainly wasn't the first attempt.

With a foot in both worlds, Noctis bridges the spectrum with his younger self being more in line with past characters like Cloud, and his older self acting as a prototype to pave the way for a protagonist like Clive. Time will tell if this series continues to lean into this new style choice and feature older, more traditionally masculine men or if we'll return to the classic, more overtly stylized, 'pretty boy' formula for its male protagonists. Regardless, Noctis' bold leap in age and appearance will always stand as a notable choice that helped pave the way into new territory for the Final Fantasy franchise.

CONCLUSION

As we've explored, Noctis' appearance changes drastically after the 10-year time skip. From his eyes, brows, nose, ears, hair and even skin tone, every feature on his head has been altered to some degree with the exception of his untouched body. Did he need to change that much, though? Honestly, probably not. As I surmised, most but not all of these changes felt entirely necessary or even logical based on the foundation of what came before but, rather, felt like choices borne of a new adherence to realism over past stylization in the case of his eyes, nose and lips specifically and a desire to masculinize him as evidenced by his rugged new beard, strong jawline and thick brows - all elements of which result in turning him into one of the most realistic looking protagonists in the entire franchise, in my opinion, even if the journey to get there arguably pushes the boundaries of normal age progression at times.

This departure from what came before was certainly a bold choice and not one that worked for everyone as I've seen some lament that such a dramatic change coupled with a sudden timeskip made him no longer feel like the same character, but I'd argue that change is also the point. By the end of the game, Noctis has grown and transformed in all the ways he needed and that's the purpose of the entire story and therefore a necessary choice in telling it. The creative decisions behind the changes are, of course, debatable. I for one really love the alterations and think the creators were successful in aging Noctis in a mostly realistic way that visually embraced his inner king by outwardly reflecting his father and also offering audiences a taste of something revolutionary for the brand.

These are just my thoughts. What do you think about Noctis' change in appearance and which age do you prefer?

Thanks for reading, if you enjoyed this, please reblog and/or like and check out my #ffmeta and #ffedit tag for more!

[psi-hate]

girl who is so normal and happy

[snvxiii]

War of the Visions FFBE The Art Works II - Final Fantasy XIII Scans

[rizzyun]

Happy birthday for my girl, love of my life, @rachasakawa <3

Lightning by me Fang by Rach Photo by Eckhardt Fotografia

[frickingnerd]

dating lightning farron

pairing: claire "lightning" farron x gn!reader

tags: wholesome fluff, established romantic relationship, soft/vulnerable!lightning, protective girlfriend

lightning isn't good with feelings of any sort, but especially not romantic ones! the princess of even starting a relationship with her is a slowburn!

once you're in a relationship with her; lightning still has her walls up high, but she already lowered them a lot more than she did for anyone besides you – not counting her sister!

lightning is incredibly starved of affection and touch, yet craves it desperately. so whenever she gets affection from you, she melts!

you occasionally catch her softly stare at you when you hold her hand. it's hard to spot at first, but her gaze softens when it lands on you and there's a little smile lingering on the corners of her lips

lightning still has her rough exterior, especially around others, but she quickly develops a soft spot for you and grows protective of you!

it's not just in battle that she wants to protect you! she also wants to protect you from that rougher side of her, so whenever she argues with snow, she'll cover your ears gently, as if to shield you from the ugly parts of herself that she secretly hates

lightning's friends are honestly a little amused to see her so soft with you, as they know her as a tough fighter! they can't help but grin amused whenever he soft side shines through thanks to you!

lightning quickly begins to consider you part of the family, so she wants you to get along with serah! of course, serah is nice enough to get along with everyone, but lightning still is anxious that you might not get along with serah

aside from you, serah is the most important person in her life! lightning doesn't need serah's approval for dating you, yet she wants it! but she has nothing to worry about, as serah adores you and quickly welcomes you into the farron family!

speaking of it, lightning also reveals her real name to you soon after she gains serah's approval to date you!

she still prefers it if you call her “light” as a nickname instead, but you're the only person she allows to call her “claire” as well…

[tealandbrynnstone]

Hey kingdom hearts please don’t give up on ff characters right as we reach 13 and 15's (and type zero's?) turn to appear in the series, especially right as we go into the part of kh that will make it very obvious that it’s related to/taking heavy inspiration from Fabula Nova Crystallis and kh4 is basically re doing versus 13.

[mixxyvizzett]

“FiNaL fAnTaSy 13 Is BaD” Yeah what’s your point

[oveliagirlhaditright]

...

The paradox ending (non-canon/bad ending/dream of Serah's) from Final Fantasy XIII-2 being very similar to the above scene from Kingdom Hearts II, that came out years before. A.K.A. I think this was a Kingdom Hearts II reference.

[enby-peep]

im watching legend of excorcism. tell me im not insane

[aberooski]

Even after all these years, and Noel being one of my favorite characters in Final Fantasy period, part of me still wishes they had ended it at 13-2 and committed to the idea that changing the timeline would cause Noel to disappear. Because even if the future changed to one where he still existed, he wouldn’t be the same person and our Noel would then cease to exist as a consequence.

[a-bluedream-posts]

Lightning by evandromenezes

[moonilit]

similarly, the sequels felt more of a fanfiction to me, ffxiii on the other hand is one of my favorite for the way the story progresses through conflict between the characters, how they move from not liking each other to if they are to die, they want to be together for it and drive the plot forward that way, it made the cast feel like a cast and not like collectibles of some sort, i cared about each one of them, and the ending was perfect, the themes landed and i was happy they were on the path of healing together

I really want to know the reason for ur answered, so feel free to let us know in the tags/comments because talking about it is the goal of this poll!

[ravioliage]

Illustrator is being an adobe product so i'm going to direct the energy to this post (commenter did nothing wrong just using it as a jump off point)

In general bringing up FF as an example for capital f Fantasy is a cauldron of entertainment. People don't remember the insane forum fights nerds have had since people could procure vBulletin and host gaming forums about if FF is Fantasy or not. Call FF8 Fantasy in front of a 2e Elitist. I dare you.

There is also an entire debate about western fantasy and eastern fantasy and everything inbetween and how it is really bad actually that Fantasy has been homogenized into what Americans think medieval The Europe was. but that's for a day when i do a Gingerwort Truffle Tea moment again. Which did lead to the creation of that mod.

Also I can't take any complaints about retcons in Veilguard seriously as I have played the FF13 trilogy. In LR they have two whole cutscenes where Serah and Lightning basically say "lol yeah we fucked up a lot with 13-2, so we are actively retconning what happened. 13-2 was a mistake and is a complete waste of time to play. literally nothing canonically happened in that game."

THAT'S a retcon. An unreliable narrator getting corrected, like Veilguard fuck you Genitivi, is not.

(LR is actually great people are just mean.)

Also we can't talk about retcons and Final Fantasy and toxic fans without talking about what they're doing to the FF7 Remakes. But even like, Melpert Vinesauce who is a giant FF7 fan was able to talk about Rebirth like a mature person. Holy shit imagine that. Finding some aspects of a game disappointing as a longtime fan and still having happy things to say about it. We introduced that concept to the avg veil crit poster and they went into cardiac arrest.

[frickingnerd]

friends with benefits with snow villiers

pairing: snow villiers x gn!reader

tags: smut / suggestive, absolutely in love!snow (simp), snow wants to marry reader, silly & wholesome fluff, rough when jealous

a/n: i am not immune to pretty boy himbos like snow 😔✌🏻 he's just so fine, i can't help it! so here's a treat for me & the other 2 snow fans on tumblr–

snow is incapable of not falling in love with you, when you moan his name so softly whenever he kisses you roughly!

snow assumed he could easily just hook up with you and remain friends but he caught feelings for you the first night you two spent together!

he's so obvious about it too and everyone around you two notices, even when your little friends with benefits affair is supposed to be a secret between you two

snow is absolutely addicted to you! it's not just your body that drives him wild, but your smile and the way your voice sounds when you say his name too

everytime you cuddle up against him, after a long night together, falling asleep on his chest, snow envisions his future with you

he can't just pretend like you're ‘just a friend’ to him or ‘just someone he hooks up with’! he's utterly in love with you and wants nothing more to be able to call you his!

even the thought of you with another man drives him mad and he can barely stand to see you talk with another guy, always worrying he could lose you to them!

you usually notice his jealousy, due to snow quickly dragging you off to the nearest secluded place and taking you even rougher than you're used to!

though the best times with snow are when he's all soft and gentle with you! kissing every inch of your body, praising you and mumbling something about how badly he wants to make you his…

[vampiric-succulent]

OUAW EP 53:

Spoiler warning!!! I’m being so serious right now as this is a pretty lore heavy episode. This contains spoilers.

Also, I am losing my MIND.

When they are in the Beneath and giving their stories to the Oracle: will Torbek ever get that back???????? That’s so important, it’s the entire reason he’s here, I actually don’t think this story will go on if Torbek is unable to remember the inspiration for why he’s on this journey.

Plot-wise I am WORRIED.

Does this mean that the other is just gone??????

This is so consequential like there are so many consequences for these actions YOU GUYS

also Frost’s story was SO SAD to have lost like that was so cool

Other notes: Nikkie is ofc the biggest Coalecroux shipper I love it, also there’s so much good chaos

This episode is a great mix of chaos and LORE

THE WOOD ELF—-

I. Forgot about the Speech Bubble effect that Torbek has. Holy shiiiiiiit. Andy you genius.

Frost being a proud nudist and Gricko’s legs being fused together is hilarious

“I TRIP AND LAND IN FROSTY’S LAP”

THE DUKE????????? DUKE?????????

Good god this is crazy. They all forgot the the goddamn Torbek lore and now they have to catch up but they’re NOT catching up and it’s so ANNOYING

Wait how much do they still know/remember????? UGH THIS IS SO FRUSTRATING

Knowing Rich, Kremy is going to tell a really emotionally important story relating to Gideon and then Kremy’s gonna forget it. Goddamn.

Ouch. Gideon doesn’t remember his dad anymore. Yikes. Can the Feywild stop stealing memories??

A hesitation about taking this memory? What, the other ones weren’t enough to warrant hesitation?

“Get on it, fanfiction” WILD

Something coming to the Inn at the End of the Road? Or just a scene of comfort OH SHIT OH SHIT OH SHIT HOLY FUCK OH MY GOD

TWIG IS BABA YAGA????? AND THE INN AT THE END OF THE ROAD IS BABA YAGA’S HUT???????? AND THE CAULDRON IS RIGHT THERE????????????????

WOAH. WOAH. WOAH. BABA YAGA STILLS THE HAND

Also does the fact that it’s a PUMPKIN tart mean anything????? Is the connection im making to the guy they took this quest from (Madrick Roslov, I think his name was) a valid one to make??????????

Twig is an agent of, or maybe is herself, Baba Yaga. This was foreshadowed? or shown? when they visited Morgana (the version of Zybilna that is stuck in time) and she “fixed” the Twig doll and told the party that it was made by her Grandmother, who was revealed to be Baba Yaga. I didn’t pick up on that.

Nikkie is SO GOOD at storytelling oh my LORD

Damn, Gricko. Damn.

OPERA TIME!!!!!! That’s where Burly is!!

Ohhhh. Opening Night. Mother of Puppets.

ONE MORE TO GO NO GUYS COME ON!!!!! ONE MORE!!!!!!!!!!!!! Level 6 is death, you guys would only be at level 4!!!!

YEAH THERE WE GO MEET CUTE STORY TIME— oh. Oh no he’s. He’s gonna forget it isn’t he. Fuck. RICHIE STOP

“But yknow friends to lovers is also really good” 😏😏

Oh I thought this was gonna be Coalecroux, but wow this works too

REMI GAROU / BARON SAMEDI IS DESCRIBED MIGHTY SIMILAR TO MR GIDEON COAL

TWIN BRAIN COMING IN CLUTCH RN

That was perfect. Thank god that it’s not a Coalecroux thing he’s gonna forget.

They’re all so GOOD at STORYTELLING ffs I’m going to lose my MIND

THE RED AND WHITE WAR AND THE JABBERWOCK 😮🫵‼️‼️ OPE nvm I was wrong

PEGASUS???? THE BARN OWL??????? 13???????

HUH NO COME BACK WHAT DO YOU MEAN

Wait. Okay. So the Barn Owl is of the King of Hearts (if I remember right, that’s what he turned into after the party first met him). The unicorn became Pegasus became the barn owl. The lightning storm, which we now know was an illusion, was involved. Red and White are here again, and we know the Red and White War happened. This is probably larger Dungeons and Dragons lore that I don’t know. I am REELING.

Goddamnit I promised myself I would do things at the end of this episode!!!!! I can’t just go straight to the next one but oh god do I want to