#rdm probably

[avaritia-ffxiv]

I've legit lost all ability to play DPS tho, somehow. Tank I can sorta play, healers I can definitely play, but DPS? I'm a laughing stock nowadays.

Which isn't the greatest feeling when you're completely sweaty about your own performance, but when you can only make it to the freaking middle of the pack as a Viper, yeah I'm about ready to crawl under a rock and die of shame.

[ishgard]

Notes about his powers, physical capabilities, scars, etc. that he's gained (or lost).

After the Dome appeared Alphinaud worked tirelessly to provide aid to many people to the utmost of his abilities. In one instance, along with his carbuncle Druzy, he managed to pull some burning wreckage aside to free those trapped beneath, incurring painful burns on his hands. Though by now they have mostly healed, they were stiff and caused him much pain for many years. Signs of the scarring remains, and he only very occasionally suffers some stiffness.

After he'd been temporarily captured and attacked by Zoraal Ja, his nouliths were damaged and lost, as was his Moonstone. Though the latter was later returned to him, the crack in it assured his carbuncle, Druzy, would not be viable for extensive combat again. Though it does still provide some support, it is mostly a spoiled housebuncle. 😌

The injuries he incurred then included claw-made punctures close to his right shoulder blade, resulting in some long-term stiffness and pain, usually worse in colder weather/rain, and alleviated with heat. It is usually minimal enough that it has not terribly impeded him from wielding firearms - or he otherwise pushes through it.

After 'the Kyanite Incident', several new maladies arose:

His aether was rendered severely out-of-balance, flowing normally before 'freezing up' entirely, not dissimilar to symptoms of Levin sickness, but not quite to the intense degree. At it's worst, however -usually if he pushed it too far and used too much magick- it would cause intense stiffness of the entire body.

Kyanite's soul rejoined with his own, impacting his aetheric density.

He was caught in a deluge of souls attempting to be crammed into his body via Kyanite's broken regulator. The pain excruciating, his physical body briefly died.

His and Kyanite's consciousnesses vied for control of his body. Ultimately Alphinaud "won", but Kyanite's memories suffused his own, as Kyanite himself seemed to linger (not too dissimilar to the connection between Ardbert and Ahru, but more unpleasant on account of the less natural method/faulty regulator making the process messy.

?????

The recovery time from this was long, and henceforth he became known as 'Kyanite'. Though initially he at times veered between two sets of memories, causing great confusion, there gradually came a sense of quiet and peace between their two souls as they finally came closer into 'sync'.

During this period, you can definitely imagine it in a very Shadowbringers Ardbert way, in which Alphinaud is the only one cognizant of Kyanite's presence. Though, at times, even he himself would wonder if it was simply some lasting effect of great damage to his psyche. All the same, 'Kyanite' was a trusted confidant, and he mourned as Kyanite's consciousness gradually faded and found peace over the years.

There was also the little matter of... his resurrection. Though the specifics eluded him, while in that unconscious state drifting between life and death, the Phoenix appeared amidst all the distorted memories of their two souls, and- Well. He isn't sure. He feels a small flame, the subtle presence of it within him, and it terrifies him. The idea that he could be the vessel of a Primal? It was a power that resurrected him, and could have very possibly healed many of his other lingering wounds thereafter, but he did not dare tap into it for fear of the worst outcomes...

Instead it took many years for him to find work-arounds for his aetheric malady, and knowing precisely how much he can expend before he has to pull back- risking either debilitating withdrawal or tapping too close to Phoenix's power. Though not terribly different from their typical design, he created specialized nouliths to store excess aether in during his downtime that could supplement him in a pinch.

(Leaving the Dome and getting some basic treatment from Alisaie and her Porxie almost entirely remedy this. I imagine if he really, really pushed himself some signs might show again.)

He also became proficient in wielding firearms, in part augmented by the original Kyanite's memories of doing so. (Some basic technological prowess included as well.) Though he uses it primarily to more strategic ends, and it isn't his preferred mode of combat, he is quite skilled.

Though not on Ahru/Estinien/Thancred's level, he's a lot more physically fit. He's done quite a bit of heavy lifting with the reforgers, and generally made some endeavors to navigate his aetheric difficulties.

Still can't really swim though. Where would he have managed that?*

He did finally tap into Phoenix's power when he confronted Zoraal Ja before he attacked Tuliyollal, but even still his fear held him back from utilizing it entirely, but it did help him survive the encounter.

*Actually on the list of 'To Do's though after he gets out.

[elizabethrobertajones]

I was not expecting once I got my eyes on the Dragoon artefact gear to learn anything particularly exciting, or to think it was a new fave or anything. I was rather meh on the whole thing, really, and ready to hit the button to put my cool dragoon glam back on.

Anyway then I saw Little Dragon With Cool Shades

So I guess I have no choice but to love it.

sigh.

[sheyshen]

in better news today, i had finished the atma farm on vincent yesterday so i did some roulettes to get the whm relic for him and

I need to figure out a nice little glam that goes with that, maybe i'll do that tomorrow!

[leonleonhart]

his other main

[windupaidoneus]

i thinkkk tsukuyomi ex should be possible w two dps at lvl 100 now

[tovaicas]

god I wish I liked RPR more than I do

[hythlodaeus-mynewoldfriend]

debate on if i should make my rdm glam joshua themed

[gothmiqote]

playing ninja decently?? somehow?? i still don't Love it but phys/phys ranged dps is truly my happy place apparently lmao

[mimiyamiya]

Also finally got back to heavansward which is where I got to before I lost my account last time!

[seaseren]

I love rdm but god there is no other class I play where the lack of a countdown causes you to just drop every spaghetti. everything else is mostly "you technically aren't aligning your buffs optimally" or "wow this one ruin II cast really woulda made a huge difference" but rdm its like "haha idiot have fun scrambling to get uneven mana for your first melee phase while still getting it done in a timely fashion"

[writergeekrhw]

RHW, I know you were on Deep Space 9 at the time, but knowing the principals you probably have some familiarity with the topic:

have a question about the final season of TNG. I've heard RDM say that they simply ran out of ideas and everyone was spread thin, but to what extent did writers actively saving ideas for DS9/VOY come into play e.g. Braga claiming that he came up with the idea of the Vidiians during S7?

No clue. Like you said, I was on DS9 at the time and wasn't very aware of what was going on in the TNG room.

[windupaidoneus]

hildegarde has a really neat design! Do you have any more lore for him?? (I realise I’m saying this that the answer is probably “yes”, but I’d be curious to find out anything more!)

I hope this is alright to ask~

omg hello!!! thank you so much, & ofc ofc! i love to talk about him much to the detriment of anyone who followed me before i got into ffxiv LMAO

he's. so much. gestures broadly. raised in garlemald (adopted by a high-ranking family, this did Not go well for him), deserted during the 7th calamity at a whopping 21 years old & stuck around in gyr abania for some time on his own before making his way to the black shroud. stayed there for some time, got picked up by bremondt, & that's how his adventuring journey ✨ started! WOO!!

ok im gonna put the rest under a read more its a LOT of paragraphs bc i write a lot of paragraphs about him always. i still have a few unanswered asks that are unanswered bc i type too much & i had to go to bed before i could finish. it's scary down there

ALSO IM BAD AT BEING CONCISE one day ill have his lore doc written up all pretty & nice & itll be actually digestible. but for now!!

notable things about him: - strong affinity for magic (especially white magic for a long time. blm/rdm are now pretty much on par though) but can do anything. he learnt Everything so he could be able to help others in as many ways as he could - omnicrafter but strongest affinity for alchemy. bc of course - system, which honestly might as well be canon to the wol anyway like ardbert is right there. different headmates have affinities for different classes & all of them have dealt with emet at some point in their lives, directly or indirectly - hes! currently 38. started arr at 26. i try not to worry too much about the npcs' ages but there WAS a 4 year timeskip between 7.0 & 7.1 in his timeline - sibling dynamic with nero due to having known him since they were kids (well nero was a teen but same thing) - shapeshifting that is more out of his control than anything, remnants of the effects of the corrupted light on his body (also why he's got white hair & blank eyes, as well as gilded/whitened scales. which. i only recently added to his ingame design bc i was too lazy to work it out before OOPS) - oh also he has a prosthetic leg & a cybernetic abdomen. due to his um bad self care tendencies. his legs are digitigrade

at the start of arr & for a very long time hildegarde views himself as a fundamentally bad person as well as a monster, & to make up for it he needs to put himself in service of the "good people". he's a beast his allies can sic on their foes, & anytime he puts his wants first he is doing something Bad. he feels responsible for any deaths that happen in the sense that people who get too close to him just... seem to die. this is deeply rooted in his mind due to the siblings he lost back in garlemald, which were invariably pinned on him as the oldest of them. & it doesn't help that people do just keep dying on him!! & so yeah he puts himself in service of others at his own expense & anytime he "makes the mistake" of letting someone get close, or doing something because he wants to, it reinforces a subconscious belief that he will pay for it some day. (cut to shadowbringers) oobh he paid for it (joking. but he really felt it) [ now all of this is really funny juxtaposed with the fact he did go through the hildibrand quests as they were happening so he had like, these bouts of absurd & whimsy that were completely fine but the moment he hit the quest complete sound he'd return to lamenting his existence. it is how it is ]

oh and he did necromancy. up until mid-shadowbringers he was doing necromancy. well. researching it for the most part, as he was trying to find an Ethical way to bring back the deceased (haurchefant.) but because it utilised his own aether he gave up when said aether stopped being viable for much of anything & never came back to it. because the shock the events of shadowbringers caused him prevented him from ever going back to it. he also researched tempering & was trying to find ways to revert it but msq took care of that for him so he doesn't have to worry about it anymore ✨

im sure ive posted about shadowbringers specifically before for him but. gist of it is that due to his studies relating to tempering & magic in general, & the fact he is a white mage by trade to begin with, he realised something was very wrong very quickly. not the specifics of it but he notices the enemies happen to be casting the exact same spells as him, it gets in his head very quickly & he keeps doing it bc well he has to & it's fine if he has to be a sacrificial lamb of sorts teehee! (skips & hops) it also means he withdraws more than usual. doesn't talk much to ardbert about how he feels because he considers ardbert has gone through more than enough at this point. & this leads to himmmm leaning ontoooo emet. the most.

the entire arrangement sucks but by mt gulg he feels emet is the only one who sees him for what he is (a monster) & he's just about ready to give in & try to get to the tempest on his own. which i don't even think would've been possible but emet's suicidal tendencies are a topic for another post. amaurot is fucking agonising, as someone who can't deal with grief At All himself it's like seeing exactly the kind of shit he would do if he had the power to, it's the realisation emet & he are a lot more alike than he'd thought, & realising there is no way this won't end in Someone dying. & god. he's so tired. he's so damn tired of everyone dying on him. for him, because of him, he's sick of it. but it happens anyway. & while everyone celebrates he's so struck by it he ends up getting

really bad nightmares (unconventional approach to breaking down my paragraphs)

that very much could've killed him had emet not dragged himself back from the aetherial sea to play the role of himself in them. the emet present in these nightmares was extremely harsh & cruel, would've led to hilde hurting himself in his sleep. not necessarily something emet was happy to do but he did basically tell the scions they had to take care of his legacy or whatever so it would've been counterproductive to let the wol die. this is how they end up bonding with less like.. weight to it somehow, though it's very one-sided since hilde is not aware this is actually him for real inside his head. its a whole thing. thats already too many words. um well that gets resolved with the end of post 5.3 & um cut to post endwalker & emet is back to life through the 🔥POWER OF LOVE 🔥 (soul subconsciously pulled back into one of the remaining solus clones bc of the want to be there to experience life again this time with hildegarde. CORNY MAYBE. but ever the sentimental. it suits him.)

nowadays he's doing a lot better. he's fine with himself, he even allows himself to get angry sometimes! he's capable of recognising when he's not in the wrong, when he can say no, he even Has Fun. crazy stuff. !!! oh & he's also dating hancock. quite possibly one of the funniest things about him. he has kids. that's without counting all the ones he unofficially adopted or considers himself guardians of throughout the game. he needs to eat a lot bc shadowbringers fucked with his ability to absorb aether & he happens to really like food so it's another thing that brings joy into his life. dawntrail was real good for him in that regard.

um. ! yeah. that'ssss hildegarde. ! i left out a lot probably but this is already so much he's just so much 😭 my most specialest...

[tovaicas]

alright people with more jobs leveled than me which caster most appeals to a smooth brained melee main who’s generally allergic to castbars

[levin-stepper]

Portrait of an Adventurer

I've been wanting to show off my four favorite portraits and my adventurer plate so here they are!

Gotta say that the WAR and RDM are probably my top two, but I always put a lot of effort into my portraits even if no one else appreciates them

[clementine-kesh]

my controversial voyager casting take is that garrett wang is way more convincing at playing brooding and angsty than robbie duncan mcneill and rdm’s at his best when he’s playing sweet and dorky, ergo they probably would’ve been a better fit in each others roles