mysticalchopshopwerewolf

[mysticalchopshopwerewolf]

wacky woohoo pizza man

[mysticalchopshopwerewolf]

save me hairy nonbinary characters. hairy nonbinary characters saev me

[mysticalchopshopwerewolf]

i love you mirror versions i love you possession i love you cloning i love you simulacrums i love you shadow selves i love you digital copies of a mind i love you alternate timeline versions i love you tropes that play with identity and what it means to be a certain person

[mysticalchopshopwerewolf]

Artificial|Sacrificial

hello meet my freak (positive), he's a clone of amon and has all of the original's memories, but unlike the original, he actually has morals

[mysticalchopshopwerewolf]

FFXIV Sexyman Bracket | Semi-Finals Matchup 2/2

[mysticalchopshopwerewolf]

Marionette

[mysticalchopshopwerewolf]

Garlean Week - Zenos yae Galvus, Crown Prince NA KA TA, NAKATA, NA KA TA, NAKATA, I'M A PERRRRRRFECT HUMAN

[mysticalchopshopwerewolf]

Do you need a new body mod for your Warrior of Light? Just get Treche. You should get Cheebo. Download GoobyBod+. Just go get the YORB DT Update with IVCS. Then you can add Yet Another Bellybutton. You should try LemonYummy Tangerine with Jizzle hands. Get TBSE-Fuck with XXXXL Knuckle options. Just get Blimpy. You can download Blimpy. Blimpy has it for you. Blimpy has it for you.

[mysticalchopshopwerewolf]

"Her body was the lightest of them all"

[mysticalchopshopwerewolf]

You're never gonna catch me saying stuff like, "Zenos had to die, in the end. He'd just hurt so many people. 😢 It had to happen. 😢"

Because I am one of those people who look at the long trail of blood behind the Warrior of Light, and their characterization moments in HW, where they pursue vengeance, in SB, where they're like, "I'll kill your god even if I don't have to," in the entire Dark Knight questline, and I go, "Yeah, nah, we both should be dead, then."

The Warrior of Light forges numerous relic weapons that use the blood of people to give it strength, when you think about it, but nope. It's ZENOS who's the only monster here.

Sure, Jan.

[mysticalchopshopwerewolf]

Something I'd like to point out about Estinien.

When you first meet him, especially if you haven't run the Dragoon quests, or even if you have, it's easy to think he's this gruff, stoic asshole of a dragon slayer, right? But the interesting thing is, he's actually kind. A lot kinder than he first appears. And you can hear it in his vocal tones.

Given that he wears the helmet of his Drachen Mail all the time, we can't rely on visual cues. You really need to pay attention to his voice. And it really begins to show when we go with him to meet Lady Iceheart, Ysayle that first time.

He's stressed, he's trying to get Nidhogg to back off the city, and it seems like he's being stymied at every turn. But when Ysayle tells him the story of Hraesvelgr and Shiva, he listens. And says, "I believe you." He's running out of time, both literally and figuratively, but he's trying.

His voice is gentle and kind. To the woman who who broke the magical wardings on Ishgard and enabled a massive assault to occur against the city. He lost brother and sister Dragoons in that fight. He could have raged at her for it. Instead, he chose to listen and to be kind to her.

That kindness doesn't come from nowhere. He is literally putting his ass on the line, trying to make himself a bigger target to Nidhogg, to keep him from destroying the city of Ishgard. For the many people that he's never even met. Because he doesn't want to see his home burn again due to Nidhogg.

And then he gets told by Hraesvelgr that every Azure Dragoon has died before they reached two score and a half years. In plain speak, before they reach fifty years old. He's thirty-two. He's running out of time. And even though he's a man on a mission... he takes the time to teach Alphinaud to collect firewood and how to build a fire. Something that keeps being referred to as we go along.

Because he didn't have to do that. He could have just done it himself. But he did because he could see in Alphinaud, the little brother that he'd lost. So, rather than snapping at him, he teaches and guides him. Being a big brother. Showing kindness.

Hydaelyn herself says that Estinien is a man with a heart filled with love. And he is. His gruffness just hides how kind he can be.

[mysticalchopshopwerewolf]

[mysticalchopshopwerewolf]

I have always found it interesting that the WoL refers to Emet-Selch as not Emet-Selch but as Hades.

Sure, the journal entry is named Emet-Selch. But the first thing written there is that his true name was Hades. You also see this when you describe him to the Minstrel for his extreme trial.

Additionally, the description of the trial alludes to this as well. As when we talk about those we have faced in the First. We talk and refer to him as Hades. Which is also written similarly to the journal. Both of which were described/written by the WoL.

"Hearken unto a requiem for a hero fallen. A man who lived a thousand thousand of our lives clinging desperately to faint hope, never shirking his sworn duty to his long-lost brethren. A man who stood proud and did avow his true name on the threshold of the battle that would see him fall to his rival—the light to quench his shadow. Borrowing liberally from the funereal rites of the Night's Blessed, the minstreling wanderer weaves an elegy in that hero's honor—the tragic-yet-triumphant tale of a man and a battle that ne'er shall be forgotten."

You can also see this in the quest dialogue and while we cannot know the exact words the WoL used (as it is your own intrepretation of it) it is still clear that the WoL didn't refer to Emet-Selch as Emet-Selch they call him Hades.

For the WoL, this is about honoring the man who held steadfast to his ideas. Who fought for his loved ones just as much as the WoL does. Not the Ascian Emet-Selch. To honor and remember Hades as he once lived.

There is however, the matter brought up by the Minstrel: Why did Emet-Selch reveal his name to the Wol?

We do have a simple meta reason why: Hades is a recurring Summon across the Final Fantasy games. Using the name Hades is just natural to do so.

However, let's look at this from an in-lore perspective as well. For which we can look to what he says and speculate.

In the quest, Return to Eulmore, before leaving to Wright you can question Emet-Selch over the information he gives in the cutscene before. Revealing to us that Emet-Selch, along with the rest of the ascians encountered, is merely a title inherited. Their true names are hidden to take up the name and position of their seat.

You can, upon hearing this, ask him for his true name:

His reply to this is rather interesting:

There are a couple of things to note from his response. Firstly, he doesn't outright dismiss telling you his name, only says that eventually he'll reveal it. Of course, this hinges upon you living through your trials in putting down the Lightwardens and containing the light within, or simply dying from other matters.

But this would be disappointing for him. This dialogue ties into what he proposes to you later in The View From Above. To stand with him as allies. He doesn't propose this to the rest of the Scions, just the WoL. He dangles these threads because he wants them to reach back as Azem would. The WoL dying would be disappointing, and he would have to begin his search anew for Azem's soul.

We don't know if Emet-Selch has encountered Azem's shards before the WoL. Maybe he had or maybe he didn't. But it wouldn't change the fact that the WoL's death would have him searching again.

Even as he hurls insults upon the WoL for once more disappointing him, that is still Azem's soul in there. After all, his invitation to seek him out in the Tempest allows you to die with dignity. Everything he ever does is not let himself be alone and reach out to an old friend.

He wants someone else to remember it all. Who is more worthy of remembering it all than Azem?

Emet-Selch is a man of many masks. It is true, and his emotions are ever cloaked, but there are ever glimpses of them throughout Shadowbringers. Especially if it's Azem's soul prodding at him to reveal the layers underneath.

So in his final confrontation, when either the WoL dies or he, wouldn't it not be disappointing to leave the question of who the man underneath is all truly is? Perhaps even this even the last-ditch attempt to have the bearer of Azem's soul remember before either of you dies.

Emet-Selch yearns for his old friend to come back to him and remember. Just as much as he wishes shoulder the burden of remembering all of those that lived before. The WoL bears that last wish and remembers the man who fought for it all underneath as Hades. A man who once lived.

[mysticalchopshopwerewolf]

ride_the_rhythm.mp4

[mysticalchopshopwerewolf]

hot take but I refuse to believe that ARR g'raha was a twink. that man was an archer. give him more muscle. give him the tits and shoulders and archer back muscles he deserves

[mysticalchopshopwerewolf]

Wuk Lamat would never be criticized as harshly if she were a male character

[mysticalchopshopwerewolf]

When Thancred fights Ran'jit on the First, he goes invisible several times. Each time he does, he becomes weaker. I found myself puzzling about how he was able to go invisible when he can't cast spells, and rogue stealth is not the same as a true invisibility (Ran'jit would have had no trouble seeing through rogue stealth).

So I looked at the abilities and the debuffs:

Perfect Deception is the skill - it conceals him by restricting the flow of life-sustaining aether.

When he's using this skill, he receives the debuff Fading Fast, which places a strain on the body and will cause him to pass out if the debuff runs out before it's removed.

Okay.

At the end of the fight, Ran'jit has gotten wise to him and is able to see through his Perfect Deception, preventing him from using it.

So Thancred steps up his game:

Souldeep Invisibility doesn't just severely restrict the flow of aether - it completely cuts it off. Not only is he risking being knocked out - which would be death for him, because Ran'jit is not going to be merciful - but he's also damaging his body's vital functions. At this point, he's going to die from the strain, not Ran'jit.

But how does it work? Why does it work? How does severing one's aether cause one to go invisible?

Then I remembered: Thancred is a soul. His body is literally corporeal aether in a [pleasing] form to house his soul. His real body - his flesh-based body - remains back on the Source. So by cutting off the flow of aether from his corporeal shell, he basically causes it to dissipate temporarily.

Scary.

But now the question begs: How the hells did he learn to do this? Did he just think it up on the fly? Is it an adaption of a technique he uses when he has a flesh-based body? What does it do then? Can he still use it when he's in a flesh-based body? Can he still strain his soul to go invisible?

The rabbit holes you jump down when planning out a cute gpose scene. XD