#♘ META

[eqvity]

I'm re-watching older cutscenes to kind of reacquaint myself with Aymeric and Lucia's introductory appearances and Alphinaud's insistence that Ishgard rejoin the Alliance was pretty grating to sit through.

I get that Thordan VII's introduction was flanked by Ascians, so by that point the player is already like 'ooh, oh noes', but hearing that Ishgard is viewed as an opportunistic ally of convenience is so... meh.

Aymeric reiterates that Ishgardian politics don't presume to intrude upon other nations' conflicts, they're clearly busy with their own issues (the ongoing Dragonsong War *coughs*), the Ixal business is left to Gridania since they fall within Gridanian borders and we all know how Gridania is about outsiders to begin with- It just feels like you're supposed to be extremely suspect of them from the beginning. I have also seen fandom state they initially thought Aymeric or Haurchefant would betray the WoL/Scions before they started stanning either or both characters.

Maybe this is also supposed to showcase Alphinaud's arrogance in believing his Crystal Braves can solve every city-state's ills, but the 'join us=good for everyone' writing just gets very tiresome (including the later summit with Varis representing Garlemald) time after time.

I'm not denying Ishgard has some obvious issues, we've seen as much through the main scenario quests involving House Haillinarte, but taking such a critical stance of Ishgard from the get go is so mindnumbing to sit through and the idea that you can blanket-criticize another nation for being *gasp* insular is so obnoxious in general.

Part of it, I understand, is simply the nature of the game and some limitations of storytelling due to the medium? But at large, I'm just sick of those faux-altruistic values being lauded in general storytelling. I've seen and heard it so many times in real life too: US-centric 'global' politics and American civil rights movements, it makes me really tired and annoyed. Like "oh, do this for the good of everyone or you're not helping" or "if you're not with us, then you're a bad person" and ignoring all of the details and nuances involved with culture, history, and resources.

Well, at least I can see why Aymeric is certainly frustrated with the talk I guess, but I feel like his composure is not at all viewed as a positive trait and more 'playing his cards close to the table' or the like.

I don't know, I always thought Aymeric and Lucia were interesting characters and even when I was younger and playing through the ARR patches, I didn't default think they were bad people for outright stating what they had the manpower to do and not do- as well as being transparent about the exchange so they could have an eye on Midgardsormr.

I know it's 'dated' now, but arguably the later expansions still adhere to that kind of 'kumbahyah- everybody hold hands and play nice with each other' kind of simple-minded narrative.

Maybe it's because I initially started playing Warcraft, not to say Warcraft's writing is 'perfect and never flawed' *gestures at Sylvanas and Tyrande, to mention a few characters who were did real dirty by various writers*, but I just don't recall being as exhausted and exasperated about things as I become with FFXIV- unless the fandom's involved, but that's an entirely separate rant.

IT'S BORING, DO SOMETHING ELSE, PLEASE-

[mercypettigrew]

Peter Perseus Pettigrew 22 | Trans Man (he/him) | Elliot Page

[pinterest] | [aesthetic tag] | [intro]

wanted connections under cut.

Childhood friend: Someone who has known Peter for as long as he can remember. Perhaps they lived nearby the village he grew up in, perhaps their parents were friends of either his mother or Miss Josephine. Preferably someone pureblood and connected to the Death Eaters. They grew apart at Hogwarts as he cleaved himself to the Marauders.

Prophet-able Acquaintance: Someone he met through work, either a coworker or someone present for an interview he did the photography on.

[certain-death-awaits]

♕ Hello, I'm Kaj (pronounced Kai), and I'm 21. He/him. Light does not make right. All original posts have IDs or alt text. If you want to learn more about me, go to my main blog, @spoekelser. If you’re homophobic/transphobic, you may stay, but you risk accidentally falling in love with me.

♔ I frequently collaborate with my sister, @chiyoko-cherry. I am in the process of two major creative projects for Fablehaven; a Dragonwatch re-write, and an anime-style animation for Fablehaven called the Caretaker's Project (beware; most of the posted work is outdated). I also run the @fablehavenartinitiative

♖ Warning: If your ship is between a child and an ancient eternal being, I don’t like it, and that includes Br*ckendra. I explain why here. I don't like the narrative in Dragonwatch, and I believe the dragons should have been freed. I don't treat Dragonwatch as fully canon, even though I know it is. My Kendra would never side with the wizards. Warren wouldn't enjoy dragon slavery, Ronodin wouldn't sexually harass a child, Bracken wouldn't be intensely dull, et cetera.

♗ You can ask me to trigger tag something anytime, through DMs or asks. Currently used trigger tags are #tw paedophilia, #tw pedophilia, #tw grooming, #tw guns, and #tw bracken. I spoiler tag a book for six months after its release. Tags to block are #dragonwatch return of the dragon slayers spoilers, #rotds spoilers, and #return of the dragon slayers spoilers

♘ Blacklist the tags #discourse or #disc horse if you want to avoid seeing discourse. I try to avoid it, but my controversial opinions on the books frequently lead to conflict. Don’t ever send hate anons on my behalf; I’m perfectly capable of making my grievances known myself.

My original posts about Fablehaven all have IDs or alt text, to make the blog accessible for visually impaired readers. The posts belong to five categories, which are as follows;

⋆˙⊹ META which is theories and discussion of the books, including my series references in fablehaven

⊹₊✧ ART which is my art, or art I have contributed to significantly

˖⁺. ༶ TIKTOKS are my own tiktoks

❅ .⁺ HUMOUR which are mostly memes and jokes

⋆ ₊ ✵ OFFICIAL is for official content from Brandon Mull or Shadow Mountain Publishing, but it also includes DMs with Brandon Mull.

Other tags include

✦ NOT FABLEHAVEN for unrelated content that I use à la "blorbo from my shows"

✦ ASKS for asks I've received and answered

✦ TAG GAMES for fun picrews and such in which one tags friends and followers. you may tag me in these any time you want.

[bvlgae]

FFVII and related verses

Tenebrae remained a neutral nation free of the mako energy monopoly ShinRa holds over most of the world, until they came out on the losing end of a war with the neighboring Niflheim Empire. Ravus’ father concedes his territory to ShinRa in exchange for utilizing it’s military might against Niflheim.

Most of the natural flora and fauna are either used as raw resources (lumber, minerals, etc) or taken to use in early experiments with mako energy, which seems to be abundant in Tenebrae.

These experiments would eventually lead to a separate unit from SOLDIER called the Magitek (or, M-Tek) Knights: members of Tenebrae’s army wielding materia and technologically superior weapons than that of the previous generations of their trained combatants. Extreme mental conditioning and use of neural implants ensured that previous issues with the SOLDIER members would be circumvented.

Ravus acts as the High Commander of the M-Tek Knights, having been one of the first successful fusions of this new form of mako technology and performance enhancement based bio-hacking.

I thought I would expand upon this since what I have in my head is quite a bit more detailed.

I’d like to say that the M-Tek Knights were definitely within the midline stages of research and production before Sephiroth disappeared, but I am open to changing this for my mutuals. Experimentation involved delicate procedures, such as connecting nerves and other important parts of the body to foreign materials- Restoring the mobility and functionality of lost or injured limbs was a major breakthrough they managed to achieve- resulting in the first generation of bio-hybrids.

M-tek Knights have primarily been deployed to fight the invading forces from Niflheim, thus their presence in places such as Midgar and Junon were quite rare up until General Sephiroth is ‘killed-in-action’ (a lie meant to cover up the Nibelheim Incident). With their key figurehead now an enemy, Ravus Nox Fleuret and his retinue of M-tek Knights are effectively making even the remaining members of SOLDIER obsolete.

M-Tek Knights are ‘broken’ before they are reconstructed and this process involves anything from hazing to attack therapy, even psychological warfare. All of the weaknesses and foibles of a recruit are exposed before training begins, which is likened to smithing since they are taking the now raw element and reshaping it through hard work, extreme conditions, and skill mastery.

Some soldiers even are willing to sacrifice their original body parts in order to be outfitted with magitek enhancements- Eye sight, strength, endurance, speed, accuracy- all of these traits can be vastly improved through the use of magitek prothesis, as well as the use of nanotechnology. 

Nanites (nanorobotics) are introduced to the host’s system and allow M-tek technicians to monitor all of a knight’s vital signs, even their location across the planet. Nanite swarms can perform basic functions to repair injuries, such as producing platelets in order to stop bleeding. They are also able to release and regulate certain chemicals already present within the body: such as adrenalin, serotonin, and endorphins. They are also intended to prevent harmful diseases, though they are currently unable to remotely administer medicines.

M-Tek also heavily rely on the use of microdosing nootropics to those with mental illness and other chemical imbalances in the brain- Effectively stabilizing a recipient’s mood and improving cognition.

Ravus’ entire left arm is Magitek enhanced up to the shoulder, restored after they removed all of the damaged and dead tissue he sustained from having his arm horrifically burned during a skirmish with Niflheim troops back in his homeland of Tenebrae. He can load it with materia and seems to favor lightning aligned spells that he can generate to enhance his physical attacks. 

[underthercse]

-Lucia and Livia, c. 1544-

Both sisters were often being mistook for twins due to their close-knit dynamic, though Lucia proved to be more independent than her younger sibling when it came time to separate. Perhaps she felt it necessary to be strong in the face of grief and imparted similar advice to Livia- That she needed to be strong, proud, and not make any trouble for their respective sides of the family. To do otherwise would be to shame their parents’ memory.

Lucia was rasied in a house that excelled at espionage and assassinations, while Livia eventually became infatuated with Gaius van Baelsar and fought her way up to the ranks of the tribunus to remain by his side. The two barely saw one another as the years passed, growing more estranged due to the nature of their respective roles and chosen interpersonal connections.

[mercypettigrew]

Tag Dump

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[bvlgae]

I think about young Ravus a lot. 

He looks a little wide eyed to be in the presence of Regis, but he soon smiles when his sister approaches with Noctis.

WHATTA GOOD BOY.

Then... we all know what happens.

He’s just seen his mother die in front of him, got shot in the arm, and when he turns to the one man who has power to help them, he sees Regis fleeing with Noctis AND Luna, his only remaining family. He’s scared, in pain, and confused and all he wants is for Regis to help them.

Imagine you’re his age and witnessing this, how would you feel?

Not that it justifies his later becoming a controlling douche towards Luna and blaming Regis/Noctis/Lucis for like... everything that NIFLHEIM DID, but I can see how those feelings of resentment could have become twisted and convoluted over the years. Trauma and how people process it isn’t always logical.

I just feel like even under all of his arrogance, bitterness, and cynicism- Ravus is still kind of emotionally stuck back in that time and place. He obviously hasn’t dealt with it and it’s more than likely the fuel he needs to keep going and not give up, even if his goal is something as petty as revenge- at first. It’s what he needed at the time to keep grief from immobilizing him.

[bvlgae]

Le Pacte des Loups

The Brotherhood of the Wolves is an underground resistance movement within Tenebrae, originally founded by Ravus Nox Fleuret and a close family friend named Bastien Delacroix [Faceclaim: Ray Stevenson]. 

All propaganda and performative acts of rebellion are credited to a single (completely fictional) enigmatic vigilante known only as ‘Le Loup Blanc’/’The White Wolf’. 

Delacroix is Ravus’ right-hand man and serves as his 2nd in authority while the former prince continues to serve Niflheim. 

 Bastien and his core team of guerilla soldiers were once lumberjacks and rangers called Chausseurs, pledged with controlled deforestation and ecological conservation to maintain balance and encourage new growth inside Tenebrae’s borders. They have since unchained themselves from the imperial yoke and continue to recruit and militarize willing native citizens of Tenebrae, supplied with funds and resources from the Empire’s own pockets.