#ffxiv patch 6.3

[dragoon-mid-jump]

A basic and hasty meme about Myths of the Realm:

The Eorzean Pantheon circa. once Dalamud became a figure of worship:

[storms-path]

Day 15 - Presence (Extra Credit)

Sanda wondered, as she traipsed through the sweltering city, if Zero had adapted to feel the heat again yet. Dressed in such tight, dark clothing as the voidsent was, she’d surely be feeling it if she had. Sanda certainly was, even with the tactical (as she repeatedly told her sister) holes in her rearper’s garb providing some level of relief from it. Still, better to be sweating most of her fluids than freezing near to death in the icy wastes of Garlemald. Thankfully they would be headed into the relatively temperate Void again, rather than that frozen hell.

Provided Sanda could find Zero, of course.

She’d be lying if she said that she didn’t know why she specifically had been sent to corral the wayward reaper. Arashi, irritating big sister that she was, was attempting unsubtly to play match-maker. Whatever lingering doubts she had about the voidsent had apparently been quelled, but now she had flung herself too far in the other direction. Not that Sanda could deny the rush of… something she felt when around Zero, but she couldn’t help but feel a very different emotion that emerged from her bonded voidsent.

Hunger. She could practically feel Oscuro licking its lips whenever Zero was near.

That one is not your prey. And if you forget that, you’ll be starved of the aether you so desperately crave until your memory returns to you. She felt the creature shrink back in her mind. Oscuro described themselves as an opportunist. Sanda described them as a coward. They had fled back into the Void to avoid true death, and they had attached themselves to Sanda only after trying to ambush and devour her when she picked up her soul crystal. Fear was its only leash, so Sanda made sure to keep it tightly held.

Still, the conflicting emotions made it… difficult to voice them. Quite aside from the fact that Sanda didn’t even know if Zero remembered what romance was. She’d barely gotten the hang of trust, after all. Even then, she had to frame it as bargaining.

Sanda found Zero standing at the edge of one of the great bridges, staring down at the townspeople going about their days. Her face, as usual, was unreadable, but there was the slightest hint of a frown on her face. She seemed to sense Sanda’s eyes on her, for she turned towards the au ra as she approached. Zero’s lips curled into the semblance of a smile. Sanda tried to ignore the effect that small gesture had on her. Zero’s gaze soon returned to the people below her as Sanda approached, though.

“Everyone here is so… carefree.” The frown returned to her otherwise expressionless face. “Unafraid and unconcerned in spite of their weakness, and how easily their lives could be torn apart in an instant.” Sanda remembered the crimson skies, the people becoming monsters before her very eyes, the utmost despair claiming people at random, causing cascades of fear and pain, everything burning, burning, burning…

“You’re wrong.” The words freed themselves from her before she could stop herself. “They’re fully aware of how easily their world could end. That’s why they strive so hard to put it to one side. The people down there survived the Final Days. They’re so much stronger than you know.”

Sanda flushed, unused to such outbursts. Arashi must be rubbing off on me. Still, Zero appeared to have taken her words to heart. She looked upon the people of Radz-at-Han with more consideration. “Perhaps I was wrong. But still, such luxuries as these are lost to us. We have no hopes or dreams – not even the release of death. Only hunger.”

Oscuro stirred again, as if to remind Sanda of that last fact. Sanda shunted it back into its slumber. Zero was looking at her now, Sanda realised. As Sanda met her gaze, Zero tugged her hat down over her eyes, turning away.

“Zenos was the same,” Zero continued. “Lives were as tools to him, to be used and discarded at whim. In that respect, he was a voidsent at heart. But towards your sister, he behaved… differently. And I cannot fathom why.”

Sanda remembered Arashi’s words, her bitter declaration of herself as a weapon. She remembered the near-feral hunger that overtook the vaunted Warrior of Light in battle sometimes. She remembered Arashi throwing herself into the jaws of death over and over again. She said nothing. Whatever else Arashi was, she remained Sanda’s sister. She remained caring to a fault. She remained a woman of strength and conviction that Sanda could only dream of attaining. She was far from the monster Zenos had been, no matter what she thought of herself.

Zero took Sanda’s silence for a lack of knowledge rather than a lack of ability to speak. “But enough of that man. He is dead, and we are better for it. Why are you here? Is there something you needed?”

“We’re making ready to return to the Void,” Sanda replied. “I was sent to retrieve you, if you’re ready.”

Zero nodded. “Very well. As per the terms of our bargain, I will join you.” Then, more quietly. “Thank you. You’ve given me something to consider.”

Sanda had already turned around, so thankfully Zero did not see the blush rise to her cheeks. The pair returned to Varshahn in silence after that.

…

Zero had faced oblivion before. She had known the razor’s edge of its embrace. She had escaped it time and time again. So she knew, as she lay in the snow, that there was no escaping it this time. The same mistakes, the same ends. Again and again. What should I… What could I have done? Memories flooded back to her, of a time before the darkness had taken everything. A time where she had stood her ground… and failed. She remembered nothing else after that. The same weak light shone down on her now. The same darkness was waiting to end her, properly this time. Zero closed her eyes. At least she had bought those soldiers some time. A strange thought to have, at the end of it all, but-

[HELL’S INGRESS]

[GALLOWS]

The voidsent that had been readying its annihilating blast burst apart in a rush of aether. She felt, vaguely, another voidsent greedily devouring what aether it could as the wretched thing’s soul finally found peace. Then she felt someone pulling her to her feet, and an impossible warmth filling her body. “What…?” She opened her eyes to see Sanda supporting her. The two children were present as well. Alphinaud and Alisaie, her flagging mind provided. They were providing a share of their aether to sustain her. Fools. You’ll only weaken yourself. “You? What are you doing here?”

Sanda’s eyes were full of something Zero couldn’t place. “Oscuro warned me of another incursion, so I got here as quickly as I could. Don’t worry, Arashi’s mopping up the remainder of our share with Estinien and Y’shtola.” Concern. That was the emotion there. How strange, that Sanda should feel something so tender towards a mere voidsent such as herself. Stranger still, the odd rush of heat that began burning in Zero’s chest. A different kind of heat than before. Warmer. Stronger.

“Are you able to stand?” asked Alphinaud, the flow of his aether still steadily pouring into her.

“Never mind that, can you fight?” Alisaie blasted a winged voidsent out of the air with a blast of wind-aspected magic. Zero responded by reaching for her scythe, trembling though her hands were.

“Don’t push yourself.” Worry creased the edges of Sanda’s eyes. It steadied her, somehow. I will not fall here. Not while you yet stand.

“...All right. I will let it burn, this fire in my breast! Let it burn and rage.” Zero faced the assorted voidsent before them. “We fight together, Sanda.”

[shivasdarknight]

Disconnected 6.5 thoughts below the cut; I've only finished the alliance raid and msq so keep that in mind - also pandae stuff because I'm still miffed about it.

Honestly, it's just a lot of conflicted feelings. On one hand, I'm glad that Zero and Azdaja actually survived the patch; on the other, Zero has been removed from the story right as we were really getting to know her and get used to her being there and Azdaja barely has any presence or lines in her appearances. Tiny Azdaja cute, but narratively she was just...really just Vrtra's motivation and not much outside of herself and very hollow. She was also Golbez's weapon, and now that she's her own person again she struggles to communicate and the most we get is a thanks from her and "Radz-at-Han...home...". Like I want to be glad that they survived patch, but that's such a bare minimum desire considering how the rest of XIV has gone. While Zero got to stand more on her own and be her own person, I just can't help but feel like Azdaja was robbed of so much agency and ironically more so once she was free of her imprisonment.

The writing of this patch series has been all over the place and it's been hard to stay invested in it. 6.1-2 and this patch have been ig the best in terms of msq, but 6.1-2 are still significantly better than 6.5, and then there's 6.3-4. The pacing is all over the place - either lots of fluff, or you're being hit with so much all at once that it barely makes sense - and they're trying to tackle a lot of plot threads while not letting them play out or mature naturally. I loved Zero's arc, but 6.3, 6.4, and the first part of 6.5 all felt like the same story to an extent - like gaining the trust of the Garleans versus the Eulmorans, learning about friendship vs learning about trust and dependability. While 6.3 is the one that had Lapis Manalis and was overall a lot stronger since Rubicante, most of 6.4 felt like fluff that went nowhere. 6.5 still has that fluff problem but actually gets going - and what's frustrating! Is they have some genuinely interesting ideas in there that they don't really capitalize on!

We are presented with a treasure hunt that leads to the void and their turf wars. But instead of going into that, we have to now help with the Garlean reconstruction and making them seem like Oh So Poor Victims when they've spent the last expansions trying to colonize the entire star? Trying to wipe out the religions and cultures of various peoples on Etheirys? Now we have to play nice with them and treat them like fragile glass and give them trade routes and whatnot? Beyond the fact it continues ENW's problem of only showing Garlemald through the eyes of the upper class (problem that extends through all of our focuses, but this especially with the people who were ripped from their homelands and forced to work for the Garleans in Garlemald), it invalidates a lot of the genuine harm they've caused and obfuscates their role in the state of things. I wish this care and attention had been placed in Ala Mhigo instead, but here we are - doing with Garlemald what Ala Mhigo has been starved of for ages now. Oh and now we're back to the Archfiends, and now we're back to the Garleans, and now we keep throwing Jullus in here and the devs really really really want to make him and Zero a thing (the thought of it gives me Fucking Hives), and then we're in Sharlayan, and oh look an arbitrary FF4 reference, and now we're on the moon and now we're on the First, and NOW shit is finally happening.

Like my god, either condense this story into a concise proper trial series (like the Four Lords or Werlyt - honestly a Four Lords structure would've been perfect), or give this the proper attention it deserves as an expansion pack focused on the Void. The turf wars, the restoration of the Thirteenth - also where the fuck was Cylva?? I'm happy to see Gaia again and in a voiced cutscene, but where the fuck are Cylva and Unukalhai? They're literally relevant to it, you can tell Zero about them and vice versa and the most it amounts to is just "Interesting. Anyways-" and there's no progress on any of that. Both of their stories have just halted right when Zero's was gaining momentum and while Cylva's has been in limbo since the end of the SHB role quests.

And Zero. God, Zero. It felt like they were floundering with her for the longest time before they decided to make her follow Cecil's example. I'm glad she's alive, and I really do like the new design for paladin, but honestly the reaper stuff fits her way way better? Aesthetically and design wise, I get story wise that it was about her breaking from the confines of the darkness she'd been submersed in, but her old design was literally so much better orz As in more fitting, more interesting. Yeah ik I'm biased because I love the Vampire Hunter D look, but her immediate shift was just...weird. They floundered with making her the food motivated moe lead and then they just shoved that into her last second - the stuff with wanting to harness the light was fascinating, but it should've been brought in way sooner instead of an extended scene of people eating really hot curry. We were just starting to get into an extremely interesting character and then they went "Arc's over, time for everyone to go home without Zero (:". Yes, I'm now sitting here regretting the fact I didn't listen to my gut feeling about writing romantic stuff with her, especially since GWEN, but I'm mostly miffed from the point of. This is the first major ADULT female character we've had in a bit to be in the main party and now she's just back on the Thirteenth. And with Dawntrail and Tural coming up, we probably won't be seeing her for literal irl years - if at all. I know that not in msq is a better fate than dead, but between her and Lyse and Fordola all getting sidelined when they had the potential to carry some pretty serious story, it's just exhausting. Also the speed at which wolzero and yshtola/zero became predominant sapphic ships, then suddenly there's a lot of zero/jullus, yshtola and zero become increasingly distant with each other, and Zero is removed from msq? What the fuck?

People have been calling the Scions more one-note lately, which I agree. Estinien and Y'shtola were definitely the focus this time to build them up - which is great! I like how they're developing them! - but it seems like they only know how to do one thing with them when there isn't action, which is like. Research and nixie-related threats for Y'shtola, and training and squid with Estinien. Y'shtola has been at her most endearing and likable in these patches, and I really don't want them to strip her of what makes her fun. Estinien was also really good in 6.1 with that merchant (fight me, he knew what he was doing - he is not financially illiterate, he just doesn't give a fuck about material possessions), the stuff with the orphanage and him connecting with the children of Thavnair is really sweet considering his backstory, and he was really great with like Zero and Azdaja and how reliable he ended up being towards the tail end - but him just bailing last second? That fkn fanservice shirt scene? The constant squid shit i'm just. He's one of the most interesting characters that's still alive and relevant (hate that that's a factor in this) and the more they turn him into a joke character the more it feels like they're missing the point with him. Like you can still have him grow from his experiences and actually be fairly carefree without doubling down on food motivation or the "he's the dumb scion" - ENW portrayed that very clearly in all of his interactions with the Scions. Whoever is doing the 6.X patches doesn't seem to get that with the exception of moments like in 6.1 and the later half of 6.5.

I think the only storyline that I've really liked so far has been Myths of the Realm. Tataru's whole thing is fine, just really hated dealing with Gaius and Emmanellain. Sil'dihn Subterrane was fun, Rokkon is...tiring. Pandaemonium started promising and ended up leaving me feeling gross at the end. I wasn't really looking forward to Myths of the Realm because it started off with the implication that the Eorzean tribes' gods were "knockoffs" of the Twelve - but I'm glad they specified that it's more that the Twelve took influence from them but at the same time. We still have a pantheon of twelve extremely white humanoids that are supposed to represent the sum of their believers - and thats what they look like? I appreciate the Leviathan stuff in Llymlaen, but it's just disappointing seeing their designs if they're supposed to be a culmination of faith.

The story of Myths of the Realm was way better as it went on, though there are so many boring designs within it which includes gear. Obviously Azeyma, Halone, Llymlaen, and Nald'thal had really nice designs - Nald'thal's is beyond fun - but so many of the others are just Zeus knockoffs or Guys. Byregot, Zeus. Rhalgr, also Zeus. Althyk? Zeus. Or at least old greek man but so much of that Is From Zeus. And again, they're all so fucking white. Conceptually, Eulogia is interesting. In execution, it's...something. I don't hate it, I just wonder how it could be refined. I also don't really agree with this idea that people are saying the ending was just putting in a prayer answering machine because it was pretty clear as to what was happening? The gods weren't there to assist people directly, they were there as aetheric balancing for an unstable star. People worshipping them happened when people caught glimpses of them, and from there the religion came about and began to further and further grant them power. As that religion grew and so did their strength, they harbored aether they wanted to return to the start to help facilitate its stability and longevity - hence why they seek you out and hence the device. Y'know, the device that was meant to collect prayers and funnel it into the star so that they could be released and finally rest. They're a lot like Hydaelyn, but whereas Hydaelyn was conscious because she was directly made of Venat, these twelve were constructs based on their original selves. That they have this much autonomy - especially Oschon - was beyond the original plan and exists because of the faith of the peoples of Etheirys. That story in it of itself is honestly really compelling to me and I really like the conclusion as it makes sense that the remnants of the old world should eventually be laid to rest and allow for the people of today to live without the shackles of the past tying them down. It lets the Twelve actually get to live amongst the people they watched over as people themselves, since they're not really the people Venat worked with. My only thing is that Deryk's conclusion is what I'd wished Venat had gotten. I'm not against him getting that ending - it fits, it makes sense, I really liked it and him - but it feels weird that they meta-textually say that her entire spirit being decimated in your fight against her is a good thing when it just feels like murder in the context of the game. I wish we could've gotten to adventure with her and let her actually see the star she so diligently tried to protect. That Deryk gets to is great, I just wish Venat had been given that chance but we all know why he got to but she didn't.

Myths of the Realm is definitely one of the best stories in the 6.X series so far, but I don't think I can say it's like...any better than stuff like the Void Ark, Eden, Omega, the Four Lords, or even Eureka. At least it's better than Pandaemonium, though - which god. That shit is a mess. I'm going to spare anyone reading this the rant of how insidious it is that they included so many references to notable instances of rape/attempted rape in Greek mythology and named their antagonist after the target of attempted rape, or the fact that this series is a huge step back from Eden in how gd sexist it is (and god especially the fans of this and how they so quickly dropped Ryne/Gaia (who were already just an extension of thanuri) for erich and themis), or the fact that we got to watch Lahabrea immolate a woman ON SCREEN in a really GRUESOME attack that was only revealed last minute that she was secretly evil all along!! With no hints towards that!! So all our female rep is either evil or dead or both!!! No, besides all that, it shares msq's issue of horrible pacing and just a bizarrely written sequence of events that frankly should've been reversed - start with the threat, then go to Elpis to investigate said threat. There's so much fluff in pandae, we spend so much time meandering around, and things that feel like they're gonna matter just never get touched. Not to mention this should've been Erichtonios' story but instead Themis overshadows Everything. Erich never got voiced! In his own story!! And yet we wrap up Themis' story in a side quest series?? Pandaemonium, Kokytos, Themis, Athena, and Hephaistos all get voiced - but what about the fucking emotional core of the story?

Before anyone tries to come at me with the "if you hate it so much, just play another game" - I like this game. There's a lot I have found within the 6.X series that I like that has spurred my enthusiasm and creativity wrt my writing. Which makes all of this all the more frustrating and disappointing when they can clearly do better but then actively don't. They've fumbled the stories of some of their best characters - yes I am still pissed about Ysayle and the fact that Fordola's been treated like crap - and they continue to pace their stories poorly (which implies cram to me). It's really clear they want to be done with everything from 1.0-6.0 and have no love for that part of the game anymore - it's tangible. But it's such a shame that they're relying so heavily on FF4 to prop this part of the story up instead of the years of unexplored content they've referenced. And I'm saying this as an FF4 liker, all of the FF4 references were really heavy handed and obnoxious. So much for an "unpredictable story", it was probably their most predictable yet (PREDICTABLE=/=BAD AND VICE VERSA UNPREDICTABLE=/=GOOD, im just point it out because they themselves said that fans of 4 "wouldn't be able to guess where this was going" And Yet-).

I want to see them capitalizing on parts of the story where they did really well! Capitalizing on their good writers!! And the frustrating thing about this isn't that this patch was egregiously bad or anything, it was just meh. 6.0 and 6.X as a whole has just been very meh the longer I sit on it.

i oughta replay eden.

[bi-disastersoup]

Into the Void - Part 3

Things are getting a little weird, and some people are starting to take notice...

Spoilers for Patch 6.3 MSQ

Part 1 Part 2

(Part 4)

[kassil]

Schedule for the week:

Tuesday 19 Nov - 4p Pacific - FFXIV from the 6.3 patch

Wednesday 20 Nov - 10:30p Pacific - Switching to Core Keeper with Arcin3

Thursday 21 Nov - start TBD - Whispering Infinities, plants from across the Infinities

Saturday 23 Nov - 4p Pacific - Warframe with Keelasnep

[lavampira]

4, 16, 17, 26 for the ff14 asks?

ffxiv questions

ty friend!! 💚

4. favorite expansion?

shadowbringers!!!!!! the themes just hit me in such a profound way, and I love almost all of the fights whether dungeons, trials, or raids, so it still has a special place in my heart.

16. favorite primal?

it feels like a copout if I say hydaelyn, so I’m going with shiva, both normal and eden versions. I love her design and ties into the story!!

17. which patch did you start in?

I started the game in june 2022 so it was between 6.1 and 6.2, but I didn’t catch up on msq until a week or so right after 6.3.

26. favorite mount?

if I’m not riding around on the island gator then I’m probably on the garlond GL-II motorcycle c:

[darkandlightdance]

FFXIV 6.3

Or it could be a trap. It's obviously a trap. Whether or not it is actually her that he felt or not is in question. As is whether or not she is even conscious.

Well at least someone is being slightly cautious. Tertium reminds me of the earlier Garlemald quests and how fucked up they were.

It is very nice of the game to not make us pay teleport fees to reach the next stage in the quest. Unexpected but nice none-the-less.

Alisaie tries so hard to be grown-up but here she is pouting. Its cute.

Y'shtola, with all the fucked up things Fandaniel and Zenos did in the Tower I wouldn't put anything past it. Yes! Its a trap (of some kind).

Zero how can you be running low on aether when you are breathing it? The Source is abundant in aether. What are you doing that you're running low simply walking around?

I bet she's going to do more than just stand there. I think she's remembering how to be a person.

And I'm right. No matter how much she resists it Jullus was right to ask her to be careful. She's starting to act like us. Is this where she collapses from the trailer?

Is it possible to win the battle with Zero? And she has a point how big is the gate? Oh, her past seems so sad and lonely. And this time there's help.

She's remembering herself. Who she is beyond survival instincts, survivor's guilt, and ptsd.

Would not have guessed that Y'shtola and Estinien were the type of friends to share glances like that. The more adulty friends looking at their other friends and going "the kids are cute" type of looks. :)

And honestly Alphinaud did you really think that anyone would force you to stay out of this? Really?

Oh, that's the guy who was going to help Fire voidsent do something to us. As soon as I exit the dungeon the trap is going to spring isn't it.

Varshahn, dude, you're both dragons you know how your eyes work. You're wandering around puppeting that body with an eye. Having her eye does not mean she's dead…also it's the 13th death doesn't stick there.

Well that is a taunt to try and get us to attack the big guy. He seems pleased to finally die…Is that the plan move the voidsent somewhere they can finally return to the flow? Also that is an Ancient term why are you using it? How much of the culture survived on the 13th? Or how much did the Ascians bring with them when they decided to try a Rejoining.

Y'shtola, I'm not sure its trust though. She's working against millennium of survival imperatives but she is working outside their paradigm. I'm kinda worried about why.

I do like Zero's description of ceruleum, "liquid fire," very true and very evocative. I really hope nothing blows up all that ceruleum. Especially while we're in the same vehicle.

The shift between Varshahn and Vrtra when people are talking about them is interesting.

On the one hand Zero didn't agree to what Alisaie asked. On the other she didn't outright reject it as she would have done before these quests. Why are you changing? It seems like a good thing but I don't know what the ending of this is going to be.

Ah, he was a distraction while they got through our gate. Was I supposed to know what Khadga is? Did they tell me at the start of Endwalker and I just forgot?

And now we're being lured further into a trap. He's prepared the ground before we got there. Why are we not calling and telling everyone what's going on?

Cool motive still murder seems to be an ongoing theme. If you just want to return to the flow you could just ask, asshole.

Zero is getting character development! It doesn't really feel like much time is passing when you're doing these patches all at once. So her character development feels a bit fast but I'm pretty sure that over the course of months like originally intended it worked well.

Okay, last quest before I do the second set of Alliance Raid quests.

Wait, did he tell us to go to the 13th's literal moon? Because I remember issues getting to our own. And having to us Fandaniel's fucked up tower to get up there.

Why is Vrtra still bleeding? Shouldn't they have updated the avatar to no longer have great bleeding swaths from scale removal for the Warding Scales?

What the fuck. Are you the embodiment of the 13th's Zodiark? Why are you the one to make this decision? Why is Sister-Dragon awake and aware when before she was in stasis? Many questions.

[toraznaangieszki]

So this has 3 chapters now and I never updated that here! :D

Desires Untold Chapter 1 of ?

WOL x Zero fic occurring concurrently with 6.3-6.4

https://archiveofourown.org/works/48150283/chapters/121420231

[scyanako]

(REUPLOAD) FFXIV patch 6.3 drawings ✨

[asleepinawell]

Euphrosyne

[fantasydoctoratesquad]

wonder what he's thinking?

[quad-weave]

Rubicante

[scrollsfromarebornrealm]

Unexpected

Cut for 6.3 spoilers.  Zero’s take on Riven and co’s arrival in that cutscene.

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

Zero...wasn’t too certain of what to think anymore.   What once had been simple--wasn’t any longer.  She’d fully expected to die alone, like she had so many times before.  But this time it would be for good.

The same mistakes, the same ends.  Again and again.  What should I...what could I have done?

Always fighting alone, never anyone to help--not without demanding a price.

Who...?

The sudden sound of footsteps, of steel meeting steel, and a animalistic roar of pain.  Opening her eyes to see the sky-blue gleam of Riven’s cloak, the other woman and her friends standing between Zero and the voidsent army.  Zero could only stare in bewildered confusion, this wasn’t supposed to happen, it normally didn’t happen...

 They...came. 

We’re a little late, but we’ve come to help you.  A smile on Riven’s lips as she turned her head towards Zero, her voice warm and gentle.  Zero could only keep staring at her, speechless. 

And then from behind-more footsteps.  Riven’s other friends--rushing to her side, weapons out and at the ready. 

Sorry about that, got slightly held up.  Sebastian had said.

Winds are a bitch out in this neck of the woods!  Reinhardt added.

Voidsent were blocking the road, it took us a while to cut through.  Augustine adding his voice to the group, while Mathye nodded.  Zero gawked at all of them.  Something inside of her...it was beginning to feel warm and bright.  Like a fire had just been lit inside her.

They came.  They had all come--and they weren’t demanding payment.  They weren’t withholding help.  It was being freely given of their own free wills, and they had no problems in doing so.

I help them because I want to.  Because it’s the right thing to do.

But what do you stand to gain?  You didn’t answer the question.

Didn’t I?  I followed my heart.  What I got out of it came after.

Zero bowed her head.  The thought crossed her mind briefly--she could stand back.  Demand payment, restore equilibrium to this...whatever in the hells relationship that had spawned between her and these strangers.  She could not assist them--she’d almost gotten killed.  She wasn’t immortal on this world.  She could keep herself safe.  But with this strange fire burning inside her chest, the pain of those memories of that long-ago fight on the ice lessening--she wasn’t alone this time, somebody had come, someone had actually come...

That’s just the kind of people they are.  Makes sense they’d get along with someone like you, who tries to push others away.

Get along? I’m upholding my part of the bargain.  There’s nothing more to it than that.

Maybe...just maybe...she could trust these strangers.  She could...actually have comrades.  The thought made that strange fire inside her roar, filling Zero’s veins with unexpected strength. 

She wouldn’t have to fight alone.

“...All right.”

------

(and then later, this happened)

Riven: ...if you don’t shut the hell up right now Mathye: *loud draconic growl of Impending Doom*

y’all pray for Zero, they have been adopted by one smol agent of chaos, three ishgardians and one sharlayan.  A group of loons.

[mimble-sparklepudding]

Avoiding Spoilers :)

Due to various work reasons too tedious to relate I won't be able to play the patch until the end of this week. Hence I am studiously avoiding spoilers until then. So apologies if I am A) Slow in responding to messages and/or B) Not looking at certain photosets etc.

Thank you all for tagging patch spoilers. It is much appreciated. Not got a huge amount to look forward to currently, so it's nice to have patch things unspoiled!

[linc-karo-27]

Reading the God Reveal Lands Tremble (FFXIV 6.3) Patch Notes and noticing the Ilevl is 595 and I'm 590 with all Alagia gear meaning the MSQ really gotta give me the difference to pass the check because I have the highest gear I could get

And before everyone tells me the easiest way to gear: it ain't compulsory and it involves the Convocation I refuse to do it. They are boring sorry. 😌

UPDATE: sorted it lol

[vincentsnow-art]

Nergui patch 6.3 screenshot photo dump.