#5.0 Healer changes

[starrysnowdrop]

Shared Soul: Hali’s Shards

So I’ve been thinking about this topic a lot, and I really want to eventually have a list of all the shards of Hali’s soul… ahh well, it would be the shards of Urania’s soul technically speaking. I don’t have a full list yet, but I have some that I’ve decided on already, and I wanted to share those with you now.

Note: Because of Hali’s canon story having multiple Warriors of Light, my headcanons for Hali’s shards greatly differ from those in the MSQ with the default WoL. Also, due to the ongoing storyline, these might change in the future with new developments.

Unsundered: Urania, Seat of Azem

Urania was Hali’s past self at the time of the Sundering; therefore, Hali and all of the other shards are pieces of Urania’s sundered soul.

Source: Hali Aloke, Warrior of Light, 8 times rejoined

Hali being the sundered soul of the Source, is the one that most closely resembles Urania, though she differs from her in several fundamental ways, most notably she will not deny herself the happiness that she desires in her life for the sake of duty like Urania as Azem had done. Unlike Urania, Hali has found her happiness in adventuring, helping others, and building a life together with Aymeric.

First: Lamitt, rejoined during ShB 5.0

Unlike the default WoL’s shard of the First being Ardbert, Hali’s shard is Lamitt, the healer of Ardbert’s group. Lamitt and Hali actually have a lot in common, with both being outsiders from their homelands, having a desire to help others through the healing arts, and they both are in love with men who have no idea what their true feelings are, well until Hali confesses to Aymeric that is. Lamitt never gets the chance to tell Ardbert. She does get to live on through rejoining with Hali at the end of 5.0, and Lamitt is thrilled that Hali gets to have her happiness with her lover.

Seventh: Aerith Gainsborough, rejoined in 7th Umbral Calamity (Bahamut)

Though Hali herself is unaware of any of her other shards that rejoined with her during each calamity, the most recent shard to rejoin with her before Lamitt was a young woman named Aerith who had lived on the Seventh and was rejoined during the Seventh Umbral Calamity. Aerith was a healer who brought joy to all who knew her. She was kind, caring, and sweet, yet feisty, passionate, brave, and strong-willed, all traits that her Source counterpart shares.

Tenth: Tidus, rejoined in 6th Umbral Calamity (Water)

The shard that rejoined back during the Sixth Umbral Calamity, centuries before Hali would be born, held the soul of a young man named Tidus who had lived on the Tenth. He was a famous Blitzball star, but most notably he was a guardian to Summoner Yuna who he had fallen in love with and was willing to give his life for. Same as his Source counterpart, he was kind, brave, outspoken, outgoing, and a bright ray of sunshine in a world in desperate need of joy and laughter.

Thirteenth: Durante, AKA: Golbez, alive

Durante is the shard of Urania’s soul on the Thirteenth who took on the name and armor of his dear friend Golbez after the original Golbez was corrupted by the darkness. Durante was a knight from Baron who tried to save the world during the Contramemoria along with Golbez, but he brought ruin to the world he tried to save instead. His unflinching resolve to save his world no matter the cost, but doubting himself that he could never be the hero that his friend was, are traits that Hali shares, and Durante is a reflection of what Hali could become if she went down a dark path.

That’s all I have for now! I’ll add to this list in the future when I decide to add more! Subject to change if we get more information on the other shards.

Published: 11/30/2023

[novankenn]

Altered Destiny

= Eight =

(So through the poll, which can be found on the Chapter Page, my readers would like to see this Jaune in a more of a Healer/Cleric style role, over that of a Tank/Paladin one. So Chapter 4 has been revised to suit. Thank you to everyone who participated. I will be using powers and feats from D&D Neverwinter as I don't have access to any significant materials from D&D 3.0/4.0/5.0)

Glynda sat quietly watch the worst student of her class, tossing and turning in a restless sleep. Occasionally she would mumble something, though it was too low and Glynda was too far away to catch what she was saying. Not that Glynda was paying attention. She was more focused on what to do with Jaune.

From the short amount of contact with her, Glynda knew there were going to be several issues, the main one being Jaune's own acceptance of her situation. Talking with a professional would help, but Glynda doubted it would be fully successful.

Her mind then wandered. She took in Jaune's new body. Her body was slim, lithe even, but it was complicated by her now new proportions. Her hips were fairly wide, plus her bust was quite substantial. Jaune was going to have issues with her balance, probably even walking was going to require a process of practice.

Glynda thought back to the stumbling dash to the bathroom. Jaune had barely remained on her feet. The previous Jaune had been improving, Glynda saw it. His confidence was growing daily, and his ability to actually spar, to counter and fight was blossoming, but now. Glynda was afraid these changes were going to shatter Jaune.

As Glynda was watching her sleeping form, Jaune found her self in a strange place. She was standing in a flower filled meadow. All about her waits tall tulips and daisies. The sky was a myriad collection of reds and purples, like one would see at dusk. Seeing no one, Jaune started to walk. The tall grasses and flowers gently brushing against her hospital gown, clade form.

Above the light faded, and stars began to fill the indigo sky, and still she walked. Slowly, as the light faded and the field of flowers took on a more dream-like quality, she saw a pair of figures seated yet floating in the air, almost as if they were seated upon the very tops of the flowers.

Figure One: Ah, there you are, Jaune. Welcome. You must have many questions, ask them, as I have the answers you seek.

Figure Two: So this is the mortal for whom you rewove the threads for. Interesting...

Jaune: What is going on? Why?

Figure One: We have brought to this space between realities to answer your queries. To ease your mind, my child.

Figure Two: As for why my sister's actions... you have potentially great fates ahead of you, niece. One that was not to end with your... foolhardy choices that day.

Jaune: I don't understand.

Figure One: That is to be expected, daughter. Much has changed for you, and more is to change. Your metamorphosis is yet to be complete.

Jaune: Huh? What does that mean?!?

Figure Two: Perhaps we should introduce ourselves to your child, sister.

Figure One: Yes, that would be prudent. Daughter I am Selune, Goddess of the Moon.

Figure Two: And I am her twin, Shar Mistress of the Night.

Jaune: What is going on? There are no such names on Remnant. There is just the Brother...

Selune: Yes, the brother Gods... petulant children, unworthy of their place as this world's patrons. When they left this world to its own devices, they left a void in the astral plane.

Shar: One that is drawing the attention of other entities and beings like us. Entities both benevolent and malevolent.

Jaune: I... what did you do to me?

Selune: Your choices that day ripped the tapestry of your life, you shredded your possible futures... futures that depend on your survival, so I rewove your fabric, and spliced your frayed life thread back together

Jaune: I... I... I don't understand? Tapestry? Life Thread?

Shar: Perhaps it would be better, niece, if you asked the true question you seek answers to.

Jaune: ... why am I now a girl? If you did whatever it is you did... why have I changed?

Selune: Your life thread was frayed and was not strong enough to hold the weave... so I pulled from the ether a thread of possibility.

Jaune: Huh?

Selune: Threads of Possibility are those you have no choice about, no control over, unlike threads of Fate. They are chances such as your gender at conception. If you were a multiple birth, and similar such requirement for life.

Shar: Your thread that determined you as male was weakened to the point it broke. My sister had to grab another thread to save you...

Jaune: And this thread...

Selune: Would have been your life thread if you had been born a female. Your life as a male had ended that day at the bottom of the chasm. Your male body broken beyond repair... to save you and your potential...

Shar: You had to be refashioned as female.

{Table of Contents}

[flyingcookierambles]

welp whole day maintenance so ill post these for fun.

a silly SAM glam with a watermelon and bokuto (wooden practice sword) glam

also i finished the mail shadowbringers msq a few days ago and am now on 5.1 stuff with eden and nier raids. and i was playing with a friend and they were like. “why are you still a sprout?” lmao. when my playtime is this -

65 days is 1560 hours btw ^-^ “ (this was a few days ago so the time is....increased....). but like. to be fair. the game’s free trial is wonderful and i played on just arr + hw for like an entire year prior to switching to paid and am also trying every single class, even crafters/gatherers, so like. i think i’ve got my money’s worth lol.

neneko x ec gameplay natural ^

behold the emo bnuuy boy from the sage quests. loifa my beloved.....

neneko croissant ^

i feel like my minion roulette is going to cycle between ardbert and raha now that ive done 5.0 lol. catboyfriend and ghost boyfriend my beloveds i really liked them :)))

i decided to change my hair and at first it was so weird but im slowly getting used to it lol (silly wol oc hc reasons as well bc that lightwarden energy was intense enough to give free instant hair bleaching lol)

also my wol standing next to short ppl being like why are you short

the twins and ryne and g’raha are so tiny and cute i wanna squish them lol. also me to thancred: why are you short. im the same height as urianger tho i think lol

finished the tank healer and ranged dps role quests too. i like reeq he’s very squishy lol

im so glad that i for dumb lore reasons decided to be a dark knight and do the final 5.0 dungeon amaurot on duty support/single player msq with the Scion npcs. even tho i had to go a bit slower than usual bc i dont trust the healer ai/alphinaud and urianger, i got to take as much time as i wanted to admire the scenery. amaurot the open world city area and the dungeon are so so beautiful i loved them both.

it was fun :) also the golden elephant pulled out a matching golden cronus lux and i was like :O

[angry-healers]

5.0 Astrologian Changes (Opinion)

You all know I main this so might as well start here first.

My initial reaction: Shocked and scared.

This was the reaction like a lot of AST mains and honestly it simply comes from the fact that nothing was wrong with AST. There was just something wrong with WHM’s core ability to compete with us in raid level content. So naturally, it would feel like we’ve been gutted for no reason. And honestly I was fearful of that. My biggest draw to AST was the card shuffle. Six situational cards that I could pull and use in different pieces of content. However here’s where the problem lies. 

Because all competitive players care about are numbers.

As such, the only card they considered useful was Balance in 99.9% of situations. Not just in raid content but outside of it as well in the content I actually do. Ever been barked at for giving a Bard who just expended Foe’s a few ewers to help them have it up again? Because I fucking have. And after thinking about it this way as well as assessing the surprisingly few situations I would use anything but Balance and Spear, I realized that hey, you know what this card change is actually a step in the right direction even if it is simplified. At least with the simplification (sorry elitists), newer players who want to get into the class will be able to do so with more ease instead of having to fish all over the place for guides on how to use the cards and who benefits from them most.

So after having 8 hours at work to really think about these changes and settle on them, I’m honestly okay with it. The shuffle effect is still there. You still have buffs to pick choose and stack in order to make the right combination for our new Divination skill. They’ve simply removed the annoying problem of trying to get a beneficial card and ending up drawing nothing but spires for an entire dungeon. RNG is nice but it does not make an intuitive/complicated job in the long run.

Now, cards aside, I am still offended by the reduction in our regen durations as well as the loss of Celestial Opposition (in its original form) and Time Dilation. One thing I adored was being able to extend the length of my regens by a significant amount and using those burst regens to give myself a semi-mitigated window where I’m able to DPS without worrying about the tank dying. That was one of my favorite things to do. The lower duration and the lower potency of Collective Unconscious is likely to change that unless CO’s regen double stacks over AH and AB regens then it’ll likely go unnoticed. 

(Forgive me for not knowing a few things I only watched a few general videos to get my toes dipped in. I am not a fan of 100% in depth videos because I do want to play the job myself and not rely on the words of someone who dug in completely.)

But again, the loss of CO and TD and the semi-nerfs to our regens down the board are not cause to call the job ruined. We can all call it ruined or perfect after we’ve really played with it.

All of THAT aside. I’m literally 0% concerned about DPS. Because I do not care about having an “intricate DPS rotation”. That is for actual DPS to have. The purpose of my DPS is to weave it between my support skills or spam it when I have no need of those support skills. We are fine and we have two new upgrades. I find complaints about the DPS across all three healers to be pointless because, again, you’re a healer. Your DPS kit is supposed to be boring because it’s not your primary job to be doing DPS. People don’t play healers to DPS. They play healers to support and for the support kit. Not the DPS kit. if you want a DPS kit, play a DPS. Unless you’re some cryptid who does it for the queue times and the aesthetic then honestly I can’t help you.

For now my opinion is: Worried, but waiting.

The changes bring it theoretically in line with the rest of the healers (especially WHM), but it lost a lot of fun toys in the process hence the anger and frustration from AST mains seen across the board. From an observer’s point of view, some of these changes were needed in order to...well basically stop every other type of healer from whining about how Balance should be removed from the game. In the end, however, it isn’t. We still have Divination and over all damage buffs. So yeah. A little worried due to lost toys, but waiting to actually feel the playstyle.

Coming up next: SCH.

-- Mod Mhi

[counterbalance9]

I really wish Square would stop nerfing AST and make the job fun to play again

[tae-ffxiv]

Okay so... some thoughts on healer changes I had. I guess there’s been a lot of salt going around, luckily I’ve stayed out of most of it. But that doesn’t mean I haven’t thrown my own every now and again. I’ve mained Scholar since Stormblood dropped so of course I had my own thoughts. And... they aren’t exactly what I’d expected.

From the time of the announcement in the liveletter that healers would see a fair chunk of changes, and that more emphasis would be put on the healing part of the role, I’d heard some people were unhappy. I was a little too, but I decided rather than lament it, I’d just be... cautiously optimistic. I thought if anything, it might end up like a Summoner situation, people around for the Stormblood launch might know what I mean. The changes might be pretty bad at first, but would probably get improved upon over a few different patches. 

In truth, I was considerably salty about the Summoner changes. And I’ve been rather surprised, I’ve been notably less salty about the SCH changes... BUT...

I was a little unhappy with them wanting to emphasize the healing part of the role, but really decided to roll with it, “ehhh, not sure how I feel about that, but I guess it makes sense”. At this point I still feel about the same. I don’t mind having to heal more.

What I do mind is that part of the reason I stuck with SCH, even after capping the other two healers, is because I enjoyed the way it felt to play. I still prefer its healing ‘style’ to the other two (although I’ve yet to hit 80 on WHM or AST, so that could change), when it comes to how DPS works as SCH... It felt unique, and the changes kind of removed that feeling. I still like healing as a SCH, but I’m not a fan of DPSing any more. And frankly? If it’s not recent content, I find I’m not healing very much at this point. Which leaves me to DPS. 

So, that’s where my disappointment with the SCH changes lies. I feel it took some of the flavour out of the job, and now it feels a touch more generic.

And honestly? I’ve similar feelings when it comes to AST. 

I 100% get why the made the changes that they made to the cards. Aside from when there was a BRD in the party, the main card people wanted to see was Balance. So? Just make everything give a direct damage buff. Makes sense. BUT... I really liked the little bit of extra thought that came with the old system. Who should the card go to? (Yes, I’m aware that I still have to pay attentions to ranged/melee cards, but still...) Should I eat the card and turn it into a buff? It really made it fun for me. Not to mention I will really miss the way that Lord/Lady of Crowns used to work. I loved the instant, flat damage that you got from one, or the (albeit small) insta-heal you got from the other. I’m a little sad to see them also turned into damage buffs. 

At the end of the day, though, I get why they made the changes they did and I’m willing to accept them - perhaps reluctantly in some cases. 

But it also won’t keep me from missing the old playstyles for each of those jobs. Because that’s really the source of disappointment for me. They were a lot of fun, and now they feel kind of ‘meh’. Again, I haven’t finished leveling AST, so maybe I’ll find it more fun once I hit the cap. I don’t know, but I guess I’ll find out.

Still, I don’t want to focus on the negatives, so let’s look at some stuff that I enjoyed right from the start:

First: The effects for Biolysis look super cool. So does the icon. Also I love the little spin they added to the animation when you use it. I just like Biolysis. There’s a part of me that wishes it had a shorter duration just because I want to use it more often. 

Second: Also loving that extra shield from Critlo (I’m not able to recall what it’s called right this moment). Love how it doesn’t conflict with Galvanize, so things don’t get too messed up even if you have another SCH in the party. 

Third: Malefic IVs effects are really pretty. It just really like casting Malefic IV. (I hope that’s the right number...)

Aaaaand Fourth: CONGRATULATIONS AST, on finally, FINALLY being able to cast an AoE before level 50. I will not miss AST being the only healer without an AoE below 50.

Okay, I think that’s all I’ve got to say on the subject, at least for now. Not much point to this except I’ve had some Thoughts, and felt like screaming them out into the void. 

(Oh, also, as much as I don’t like the way SCH DPS style has changed, Art of War is a cool name for a skill, the icon looks cool, and I think(?) I like the animation. I’m usually too surrounded by mobs to really actually see the animation and I keep forgetting to use the skill outside of combat and actually pay attention.)

[noctisroyalrebel]

FFXIV 5.0 Changes To Class Skills (Small Summary)

I am sure many players are aware of the changes that took effect with the 5.0 update for Shadowbringers. But I recently discovered that not everyone is indeed aware of these changes. So let’s begin!

NOTE: Bear in mind that my screenshots are based off both my main character’s levels and my alt Noctis’s levels.

Tank Classes

•Quite a few actually shared similar skills between them, but let’s cut to the chase! Paladins lost quite the amount. They no longer have Flash, which it means you can no longer use it to keep mobs off the party, you will need to use other methods to keep the mobs focused on you. Sword Oath/Sword Stance is no longer available either, so your attacks are solely reliant on your combinations and strategic thinking. Rage of Halone has been replaced with Royal Authority as a whole (if you are Lv60)

With Dark Knight, you didn’t have much to lose at all, in fact? if anything it became stronger, as per my experience on Noctis and some friends who can vouch.

Healer Classes

•Much of the skills for Healers were rounded to share similar skills but this one in particular, is White Mage.

You can see here that we White Mages lost a great bit of our usual skills. But, fret not! with the loss comes great pros! our actual healer skills are bumped up in potency and effectiveness. Yes, we ALL lost Protect, we knew that was coming. For us White Mages, we also lost Aero III. Adapting without the use of Protect is actually very beneficial, I work better as a healer now than I did when I had Protect in my hotbar.

DPS Classes

•Many had shared skills between them as well, but there are still many pros than cons.

Samurai lost an abundance of skills, but I see this as a good thing. Losing the ability to kill off their enmity forces them to take part in helping their Tanks.

Ninja also lost quite a bit, but I repeat as above, they do not need all those crossed out skills. Taking away enmity decreasing is rather a blessing, because the Tanks will not become overwhelmed and lose battles with everyone pitching in.

Black Mages lost one important skill that they had; Erase, which gave them the ability to relieve their party members of status ailments. Now? it’s all up to the healers to use Esuna to relieve their parties of status ailments.

Machinist lost quite a bit as well, but they actually had some amazing skill changes that make their roles about the same strength as a Ninja. However, though their skills may have gone through refurbishing, do not tread lightly.

[raelly-writing]

👀👀

( send me a 👀 and i’ll post a snippet of art/writing that i never got around to finishing this year (r.i.p) )

:3c Well, two snippets! One 5.0 and one somewhere 5.3-5.5.

First one between Y’shtola and Thancred during the celebrations at the Crystarium at the end of 5.0. Got stuck on the dialogue since I haven’t written much of Y’shtola, nevermind from her perspective.

---

“With the way you are looking at her, half the Crystarium will catch on to the two of you by night’s end.”

To his credit, Thancred did not startle when Y’shtola spoke up just before approaching the table he had taken to momentarily occupy.

Though some of the finer details of his form were lost to her aetheric vision, she saw him turn his head to give her an incredulous look at her as she gathered her skirts around her and settled down in the empty chair next to him. “I have not the slightest idea what you’re speaking of.”

“Feigned ignorance suits you ill,” she rebuked him.

Thancred raised an eyebrow. “I’m merely keeping an eye on Ryne and the twins.”

Y’shtola snorted. On her way over she had caught sight of the young Oracle’s bright form, flanked by the familiar shapes of the twins, in the opposite direction of where he had been looking. “Yet your gaze and steps trails after someone else, looking for all the world like a lost puppy.”

“Hey now, Shtola-”

“You’re even drinking water,” she observed, the lack of alcoholic scent directly from his vicinity a dead give-away.

Thancred shrugged. “Thought I’d change things up for once.”

“I’m certain Urianger’s needling has naught to do with your decision.”

There was a sour look on his face as he gave her a sidelong glance, then his eyes softened slightly and the corner of his lips curled with a teasing smile. “Won’t Runar miss you, master Matoya?”

Clicking her tongue, she tapped his arm. “That’s enough cheek from you, thank you.”

Snorting, he shook his head. “You’re the one who came over here and began interrogating me.”

“Not interrogating,” she replied as she crossed one leg over the other and rested her elbows on it while letting her eyes sweep over the throngs of people celebrating the night’s permanent return. The familiar bright blue hue of Viana’s aether, no longer obscured and overwhelmed by the searing Light, was easy enough to spot, shining brightly amidst all the other shapes. “Merely thought I’d take this opportunity to voice some friendly concerns in regards to our dear friend.”

She could all but sense Thancred grow tense and still next to her. His voice was even and neutral as he replied, “Here to voice your disapproval, are you?”

----

Second under the cut.

I’d hoped I’d be able to finish this one up after 5.4, but Thancred got shooed out the door so swiftly that I’m holding out for 5.5 to give me the appropiate “returns to the Rising Stones in the middle of the night” context. >_> I liked the thought of making AST one of Viana’s canon jobs, but just on a very... basic “Forever level 10 skill-wise”. I mainly just wanted to give her some magic theory, since her other jobs are DoW focused and it fit in nicely for her to start learning some Astrologian skills and magic theory from Urianger due to everything in 5.0 (I headcanon the twins helped out with the Magic DPS and healer role questlines). ... I also like the Neo-Ishgardian healer dress and wanted to write something silly for why she has that particular outfit and Thancred catching her wearing it.

---

Fishing out the spare key she had given him from his inner coat pocket, he quietly unlocked her door. Her chamber lay silent as he slipped inside and closed the door behind him.

Too silent, in fact.

A small frown creased his brow as he quietly stepped deeper into the room and looked around the ornate Far Eastern wood screen - a gift from someone, she’d once said - that customarily partitioned off her bed from the rest of the room.

The piles of pillows and blankets were untouched, the covers still neatly tucked in. No one had slept in that bed tonight.

Thancred felt a small but potent pang of disappointment. Most likely she had been called off somewhere on an urgent matter, as was wont to happen.

Well, there was nothing to be done about it. Tataru and Alphinaud would tell him in the morning where she’d gone, he was sure. Sighing, he turned on his heel and was just about to head back out the door for his own room when he caught sight of her gunblade lying on her desk with its maintenance kit beside it. He stopped at once, a curious frown back on his features. Looking around he found her katana sitting on its customary stand and her axe hanging off a pair of hooks on the wall.

“What the-?” he murmured to himself. She wouldn’t have left without any of her weapons.

Just then, there was the sound of a key turning in the lock, followed by a dull thud as someone on the other side pushed their weight against the door. A pause. Then the sound of it once more unlocking.

“Seven Hells, I swear that I locked-” Viana froze the moment she saw him, her eyes going almost comically wide in surprise.

Thancred’s eyebrows rose as he took in her appearance, the surprise he felt not mitigating the heat that instantly crawled up the back of his neck. A dark leather corset hugged her body, with familiar looking bits of gold jewelry twinkling in the low light like little stars against the dark blue cloth of her dress. 

A moment of silence stretched out between them.

Clearing his throat, he smiled and gestured towards her. “Were I to check the hallway, would I find Urianger knocked out and robbed off his usual adornments?”

Viana’s shoulders, bared by the cut of the dress, sagged when she exhaled. “Funny,” she replied dryly while she stepped inside and closed the door behind her, turning the lock. Tall boots covered her legs, though even in the dim light of the room he could see the tantalising glimpse of bare skin at her thigh.

[longsightmyth]

Aaaaaaaaaand here’s what I’ve got so far for the current readthrough of ToD for fragments etc. Sharp eyes will note that it has taken me over a year and I still haven’t finished the reread. It’s just very bad, okay? Cut for dash mercy.

June 21, 2018 – page 4 

 0.61% "Apparently the problem with Adarlan conquering everything was not the conquering, but the fact that they had an evil dictator in charge.

I mean, in fairness, the evil dictator probably didn't HELP, but in the kind of person who considers conquering a symptom of BEING an evil dictator, so?"

June 21, 2018 – page 15 

 2.27% ""That Sartaq was here... they had to have known, then. Well in advance. That she and Chaol were coming."

That reads like I hit the space bar on my iPhone a couple too many times but I swear to you that is exactly how it's written in the book. I have changed NOTHING."

June 21, 2018 – page 16 

 2.42% "I'm also still confused about why the captain of the royal guard was sent as an ambassador instead of staying to administer the royal guard."

June 27, 2018 – page 19 

 2.88% "There are so many fragments, y'all. So many."

June 27, 2018 – page 27 

 4.09% "For once the angst feels earned here (we know that Nesryn cares and works for the wellbeing of Rifthold and her family and we've seen it). Do I wish there were fewer Drama Fragments? Yes. Still, I'm glad we got this bit from Nesryn's PoV and for once it wasn't All About Celaena OR A Boy."

June 28, 2018 – page 30 

 4.55% ""My Tumelun. The words told enough about the prince's closeness with his sister."

First of all, OBVIOUSLY. Second, there really is a way to say this as if Chaol is thinking it and not as if you are explaining to the reader. For instance:

"My Tumelun. They had been close, then."

BOOM."

June 28, 2018 – page 30 

 4.55% "I've harped on this before, and while it's permissible for Kashin in his grief and/or naïveté to have blind spots ("no one within our lands would be stupid enough [to murder Tumelun]") Chaol has no such excuse and neither does the narrative."

June 28, 2018 – page 31 

 4.7% ""...Aelin had hard lines that she did not cross. Killing or harming children was one of them."

Let me refer you to that time in Heir of Fire where she threatened to burn an entire city's population alive and we were from her PoV so we know she meant it and she SAID IT WITH A SMILE."

June 28, 2018 – page 31 

 4.7% "Also that time she threatened to burn up the population of Rifthold."

June 28, 2018 – page 31 

 4.7% "Oh yeah also that manor house she said she'd kill the entire population of if even a tiny word got out about her presence or previous presence there. That place had kids too. I'm pretty sure we saw and/or heard them playing in the yard."

June 28, 2018 – page 31 

 4.7% "Just because she hasn't threatened or hurt a SPECIFIC CHILD for SPECIFIC REASONS does not mean that she doesn't harm or (in fairness threaten to) murder children. That's just three examples off the top of my head."

June 28, 2018 – page 33 

 5.0% ""Had not even considered that the shadow of Morath might have already stretched this far."

Chaol, per Queen of Shadows the Valg, whose stated intentions are to destroy the world and rule the ruins, have been out and plotting since BEFORE YOU WERE BORN. You're an idiot if you didn't consider them using over twenty years of time to, oh, WORK TOWARDS DESTROYING THE WHOLE WORLD AND RULING THE RUINS."

June 28, 2018 – page 33 

 5.0% "Then again the series never considered that before this point either so maybe I should cut Chaol some slack?"

June 28, 2018 – page 35 

 5.3% "This reads like a dude wrote it, and not a dude who thinks women are actual people."

July 9, 2018 – page 37 

 5.61% ""Until an unknown healer's daughter from Fenharrow [who had only been training for two years] was approached by healers old and young, who had trained their entire lives, for her advice and assistance."

Look."

July 9, 2018 – page 37 

 5.61% "If this was portrayed as 'they needed somebody with a hella lot of magic and guided her through things' that would be one thing, but are you telling me this chick is in her second year at the magical equivalent of medical school and all of the surgeons are coming to her for surgery advice?"

July 9, 2018 – page 37 

 5.61% "I think I commented on this last time but still:

"There were two such vials on the desk now, clear orbs atop silver feet fashioned after ibis legs. Being purified by the endless sunshine within the tower."

You'd think I made a mistake typing with my phone, right? Hit the space bar twice maybe and added an accidental period?

I did not. That's a direct quote from the book."

July 9, 2018 – page 44 

 6.67% "Are Renia and Hassar married or not, please make up your mind, book. Here Renia is referred to as Hassar's lover but I think later on it says wife without any marriage happening in between so like."

July 24, 2018 – page 53 

 8.03% ""Chaol had barely slept.

Partially due to the unrelenting heat, partially due to the fact that they were in a tentative ally's fraught household, full of potential spies and unknown dangers- perhaps even from Morath itself - and partially due to what had befallen Rifthold and all he held dear.

And partially due to the meeting that he was now minutes away from having.""

July 24, 2018 – page 53 

 8.03% "This is what happens when you rush books, don't listen to your editor, and use second drafts at best."

July 24, 2018 – page 53 

 8.03% ""Chaol barely slept that night. It could have been the unrelenting heat, it could have been the spies and unknown dangers of the house - or of Morath. It could have been the news of Rifthold, and the lack of news that followed. It could have been all of it.

Part of it was definitely the anxiety over the meeting that had yet to begin."

**jazz hands**"

July 24, 2018 – page 54 

 8.18% ""They'd asked him about the butchering of the slaves in Calaculla and Endovier at dinner.

Or the oily one, Arghun, did. Had the prince been among Chaol's new recruits to the royal guard, he would have easily gotten him to fall in line thanks to a few well-timed shows of skill and sheer dominance. But here, he had no authority to bring the conniving, haughty prince to heel.

Not even when Arghun wanted to know...""

July 24, 2018 – page 54 

 8.18% ""...why the former King of Adarlan had deemed it necessary to enslave his people. And then put them down like animals. Why the man had not looked to the southern continent for education on the horrors of the stain of slavery - and avoided instituting it.

Chaol had to offer curt answers on the verge of being impolite. Sartaq, the only one of them beyond Kashin whom Chaol was inclined to like, had finally tired..."

July 24, 2018 – page 54 

 8.18% ""...of his older brother's questioning and steered the conversation away."

Holy mackerel is there a lot to unpack there, but first of all: Arghun for president, y'all.

Second, king is improperly capitalized there. Have fun with that.

Third, why is Arghun the oily conniving one for being like 'yo why the hell did y'all keep slaves?'"

July 24, 2018 – page 54 

 8.18% "Fourth, it might be poor diplomacy on a technical level, but honestly Arghun and the SC contingent have all the power here. They don't have to worry about being polite, because what are Chaol and Nesryn going to do, leave? (they probably wish they would)"

July 24, 2018 – page 54 

 8.18% "Fifth, Chaol, suck it up. You participated in and helped to continue a regime that not only practiced slavery but encouraged it. I have no sympathy for your hurt feelings about being called on it. Aren't you supposed to be anti-slavery? Shouldn't you be going 'look man it sucked and was wrong. I know that. You know that. The new king has ended the practice even if he apparently hasn't considered reparations.'"

July 24, 2018 – page 54 

 8.18% "But no, Arghun is the one in the wrong here apparently?"

July 25, 2018 – page 57 

 8.64% "I'd forgotten Yrene's 'honey-colored' hands."

July 25, 2018 – page 66 

 10.0% "Still unsure why a medical professional won't just say the word penis."

July 25, 2018 – page 70 

 10.61% "Okay I got one mention of male healers existing. Apparently it's almost exclusively a female gift. Why? Who knows. Not the book.

Nothing mentioned about any cultural stuff surrounding it either."

July 25, 2018 – page 71 

 10.76% "I'm starting to wonder if the author just hasn't realized how self-aggrandizing things sound when written in third person limited or first person?"

August 26, 2018 – page 82 

 12.42%

August 27, 2018 – page 86 

 13.03% "Sure of course it's a weakness to care where the only other member of your diplomatic envoy is and if she's gone missing. Of course. It's obviously not just common sense or competence. Why are the 'politics' in these books such nonsense."

August 27, 2018 – page 87 

 13.18% "Other people have commented on this, but if everyone here is human why does the book keep calling everyone males and females."

August 27, 2018 – page 88 

 13.33% ""See how he trips over himself," Arghun muttered over Duva, her husband, and Chaol to say to Sartaq.

 That makes it look like Arghun is a married woman talking over her husband, when I know that Arghun is an unmarried man. You have to specify in this case. Or you could, you know. Name your characters."

August 27, 2018 – page 89 

 13.48% ""Kashin shut his mouth, ever the trained soldier.

And somehow Chaol knew-that fast-that Kashin was not being considered for the throne."

First of all, SOMEHOW? You detail why in the next sentence."

August 27, 2018 – page 89 

 13.48% ""...he seemed decent, though. A better alternative than the sneering, aloof Arghun, or the wolflike Hasar."

Interesting how being wolflike is positive when it's men but negative when it's women.

Also, Arghun for president. He's the spymaster dude who talks to the viziers. Obviously my vote goes to Arghun."

August 27, 2018 – page 91 

 13.79% "I hate how Chaol lecturing Nesryn about coming in late morphs into him patronizing her about how they're fighting to make Adarlan safer for her specifically.

Listen, dickface. She's the one who apparently had ROCKS thrown at her in Adarlan. Let her enjoy walking around safely.

Also I hate that he's lecturing her about coming in late."

August 27, 2018 – page 97 

 14.7% "So. I appreciate that Yrene tries in this one instance to be considerate of Chaol's wants/needs, re: his disability. I appreciate MUCH LESS that it is here specifically in an attempt to contrast Yrene and Nesryn. I wouldn't even be super mad about that except that Yrene is only considerate of Chaol and his wants/needs, re: his disability when Nesryn is around to be contrasted against."

August 27, 2018 – page 97 

 14.7% "It only counts as a character trait if it's consistent, and it isn't. Instead it's used as a way to shame Nesryn, when Yrene does the same and worse to Chaol multiple times but is excused because 'she means well.'"

August 27, 2018 – page 99 

 15.0% "This is SO STUPID she is a healer DOING HER JOB why does it MATTER if she goes into his bedroom?"

August 27, 2018 – page 103 

 15.61% "This is a tiny thing in the grand scheme but "pure as sea-foam" made me laugh because I live in Florida and there is a lot of sea-foam. Almost none of it is 'pure'."

August 27, 2018 – page 109 

 16.52% "I don't care how many times it shows up. I am going to mark The Hand of the King/ The Hand of Adarlan with a red tab labeled ASoIaF EVERY TIME."

September 27, 2018 – page 113 

 17.12% ""You must enter where you fear to tread."

Uh-huh."

September 27, 2018 – page 115 

 17.42% "So while I like the idea of this scene with Yrene and the other healer, the fact remains that it has taken more than 100 pages to show us something that is ostensibly a fundamental part of Yrene's character, and from what I remember we have precious few other scenes of it later."

September 27, 2018 – page 115 

 17.42% "The trait? That Yrene has a drive to help people."

September 27, 2018 – page 117 

 17.73% ""How many meals had he himself been positioned by the doors, or out in the courtyard, monitoring his king? How many times had he laid into his men for slouching, for chattering amongst themselves, and reassigned them to lesser watches?""

September 27, 2018 – page 117 

 17.73% "Okay first of all, as THE (singular, only) captain of the royal guard your place is the organizing, hiring, and inspecting of the Royal guard, not the actual guarding except for special occasions, at which point you would be with the king as the visible face of the king's protection."

September 27, 2018 – page 117 

 17.73% "SECOND. You have never 'laid into' guards for chatting or slouching. You have in fact completely forgiven them for ABANDONING THEIR POSTS WITHOUT NOTICE because somebody else said it was fine. Your response? "Okay just don't do it again.""

September 27, 2018 – page 117 

 17.73% "I repeat, they abandoned their posts because a general from a conquered land told them it was fine, leaving their king completely open to attack, and you told them 'okay just don't do it again'"

September 27, 2018 – page 117 

 17.73% "Am I harping on this? ABSOLUTELY. Chaol's inner turmoil loses all emotional punch because he and the narrative are LYING to us. Instead of pulling my heartstrings, it just makes me angry.

This is also why Maas is the queen of the retcon, by the way."

September 27, 2018 – page 117 

 17.73% ""No sign - none - of any wicked force, whether dispatched from Morath or elsewhere. No sign beyond those white banners to honor their fallen princess."

I had no idea the wicked forces had a fallen princess, single separate two-sentence paragraph.

Also, it should be 'the white banners'"

September 27, 2018 – page 117 

 17.73% ""There was no sign of wickedness, from Morath or elsewhere - no sign but the white banners that honored the fallen princess."

It's not HARD, book."

November 30, 2018 – page 121 

 18.33% ""A summer storm galloped in off the sea just before midnight."

This one might be petty and I freely admit it, but that's kind of a funky way to put that."

February 11, 2019 – page 121 

 18.33% "I'm back!

I'd forgotten how awful the em dashes were. Like, I remembered they were BAD, I'd just forgotten HOW bad."

February 11, 2019 – page 123 

 18.64% "Picturing Kat's face in the section with Yrene and the 10,000+ year old document being touched with bare hands is what keeps me going y'all"

February 11, 2019 – page 127 

 19.24% "For someone ostensibly skeptical, Yrene sure does take every illustration in the book literally instead of even considering the possibility of metaphors or, like. Science."

February 11, 2019 – page 129 

 19.55% "The irony of Yrene being better at situational awareness and planning what around her could be improvised weaponry than Celaena, who ostensibly taught her these things, is not lost on me.

It's lost on the book though."

February 11, 2019 – page 132 

 20.0% "Why does everyone in these books have a capitalized Heir"

February 11, 2019 – page 132 

 20.0% "Also, the Heir Librarian as a title sounds stupid (no that's literally the title, not even Heir to the Librarian or anything)"

February 11, 2019 – page 132 

 20.0% "All it would take was a week observing the library to know it never closes and Bob's your uncle the 'closing toll' of the library bell jig is up.

I'm just saying."

May 4, 2019 – page 144 

 21.82%

July 22, 2019 – page 145 

 21.97% ""Either your lack on consciousness during that initial healing kept you from feeling this sort of pain, or perhaps whatever this is had not... settled."

Or Sarah Janet needed More Drama."

July 22, 2019 – page 146 

 22.12% "I forgot that apparently the valg magic and therefore Chaol's injury persists because it's feeding on his self hate or whatever.

See kids, all you have to do is be happy and believe in yourself and your disability will go away."

July 22, 2019 – page 146 

 22.12% ""It was all he could do not to shrink from that frank gaze."

Why not her frank gaze? Like, it's not grammatically incorrect - the sentence before says she's staring at him, it's referring to a gaze mentioned before - but I don't think it's strong writing."

July 22, 2019 – page 146 

 22.12% "Have Yrene own her frank gaze or have Chaol associate it with her directly instead of disconnecting it. "It was all he could do not to flinch from her frank gaze."

YMMV I guess."

July 22, 2019 – page 147 

 22.27% ""Yrene's face was an unreadable mask that would have given Dorian a run for his money."

Maybe it's my own failing, but Dorian has never been described as expressionless or unreadable in my memory, or at least not enough to stick out."

July 22, 2019 – page 148 

 22.42% ""Since [Nesryn's] hair fell only to her shoulders, he had difficulty braiding it back"

French braids are a thing, even if I'd object to them being called French braids in these books."

July 22, 2019 – page 150 

 22.73% ""A land claimed by a conquering nation, yet loved and nurtured."

Not you too, Nesryn."

July 22, 2019 – page 154 

 23.33% ""There is beauty in my father's lands," the prince went on while Kadara ripped into that monstrous carcass, "but there is much lurking beneath the surface, too."

Sigh.

"There is beauty in my father's lands," the prince went on while Kadara feasted on the monster, "but much lurks beneath the surface, too.""

July 23, 2019 – page 161 

 24.39% "Love how Yrene explicitly says "add lots of honey" but is then judgy because Kadja added too much honey."

July 25, 2019 – page 162 

 24.55% "There's this thing we have where we consider the endurance of pain a virtue, somehow. Even if you agree with that, bad people can still have virtues.

Yrene starts rethinking Chaol's morality because he 'did not break' over the pain when her magic was trying to heal him.

Tldr: pain endurance is not the sole province of good people, and enduring pain doesn't make you good"

July 25, 2019 – page 164 

 24.85% "Why ARE the valg only trying to kill Yrene if she has the same healing gift as other healers?"

July 25, 2019 – page 164 

 24.85% "Okay also my disability is not Chaol's disability etc etc but the narrative is poo-pooing on Nesryn and Kadja for helping him into bed when he's so tired he can barley talk, because Yrene would have made him do it himself.

Like, honestly? That makes Yrene sound an awful lot like somebody who would go 'you're out of spoons? Do it anyway'"

July 25, 2019 – page 166 

 25.15% "Look y'all much as I dislike Yrene on a personal level she isn't WRONG for clearly having 'personal reservations' about Chaol's 'former role in the empire'.

He not only benefitted from but actively worked to keep the aforementioned empire in power. He got FRUSTRATED when the king wouldn't let him guard the king effectively. He wasn't even just some dude off in the hinterlands: HE WAS THE CAPTAIN OF THE ROYAL GUARD."

November 4, 2019 – page 176 

 26.67% "In all seriousness what is Sarah Janet Maas' beef with the word 'the'?"

November 4, 2019 – page 176 

 26.67% "WHITE

FUCKING

HORSES"

November 4, 2019 – page 178 

 26.97% "How does Yrene have a good seat and yet bounce everywhere and keep grabbing the saddle horn"

November 4, 2019 – page 184 

 27.88% "Oh yeah. This part."

November 4, 2019 – page 184 

 27.88% ""The skin was leathery - as warm as her smile."

The one time you use 'the' it's in a place that detaches the reader from a living breathing human's human-ness? HER skin, book. HER skin."

November 4, 2019 – page 186 

 28.18% "The page (well, this and the one before) that made me hate Yrene."

November 17, 2019 – page 187 

 28.33% ""She means well, my Yrene."

That doesn't matter when she literally asked a disabled man to help her with something and when he got there PROCEEDED TO LECTURE AN ENTIRE YARD ON HIS DISABILITY WITHOUT HIS PERMISSION, WHEN HE LITERALLY PHYSICALLY COULD NOT LEAVE.

And to the best of my recollection she never apologizes."

November 17, 2019 – page 187 

 28.33% ""Her instinct is to teach other people" How lovely maybe she could do that without LITERALLY HOLDING A DISABLED MAN THERE AGAINST HIS WILL.

"But Myth, she didn't mean to! She just wasn't thinking"

LITERALLY MY POINT"

November 17, 2019 – page 187 

 28.33% ""But Myth, the author didn't mean to make it like that" Maybe if she'd bothered ASKING a single disabled person instead of watching some youtube videos she might have LEARNED."

November 17, 2019 – page 190 

 28.79% "And look. I applaud people learning how to defend themselves and teaching others. HOWEVER. Chaol has only taught soldiers, and aside from that the idea that one or two sessions allows you to master several self-defense techniques is unlikely at best. It takes time, it takes repetition, and it takes someone who had more than one morning's instruction herself.

Just saying."

January 4, 2020 – Shelved as: assassin-rolls-do-it-better

May 30, 2020 – page 191 

 28.94% "It’s hard to tell with this author what distance we are in the narration. Feyre and Yrene both make snide little comments about people not caring or not doing something (in Yrene’s case, Chaol not smiling at her after her despicable behavior, in Feyre’s case Nesta not getting her a gift). I begin to suspect we aren’t supposed to see this as the character commenting on the event but the narration."

May 30, 2020 – page 191 

 28.94% "UNFORTUNATELY the books are written in close POV’s, Feyre’s in first and Yrene’s and Chaol’s in third. The result is that whatever the narration says is coming from the character.

This is a long way to say that Yrene continues to be terrible."

May 30, 2020 – page 193 

 29.24% "I don’t have enough orange tabs for this"

May 30, 2020 – page 194 

 29.39% "Yrene says here “[until that moment] she hadn’t felt like a barnyard animal” and I am not an expert but that seems like a Bad Thing to have about one of the only black women you haven’t killed off, Book."

May 30, 2020 – page 195 

 29.55% "“Did I do something to you today?”

*squints*"

May 30, 2020 – page 196 

 29.7% "I’m not going to pretend that Nesryn’s reaction here is perfect, but the book is trying to pretend it’s terrible and it’s not? She’s excited that Chaol can ride, she talks to Chaol directly about it, and immediately accepts that he can and says excitedly that maybe they can go see her family together. The initial disbelief might be disconcerting for some people, but she does several things Yrene does not."

May 30, 2020 – page 196 

 29.7% "As I said, she speaks directly to Chaol about his abilities (something Yrene doesn’t do), asks if he wants to do something together (permission is something for OTHER PEOPLE to Yrene, apparently, at least in regards to revealing someone’s medical information and literally moving people without their permission) and is immediately EXCITED that he can do something Chaol has specifically said he missed."

May 30, 2020 – page 196 

 29.7% "For the record these are all low bars to clear, but for all the book tries to contrast Yrene and Nesryn’s reactions to Chaol’s disability and how he works with and around it in Yrene’s favor, NESRYN IS THE ONLY ONE WHO CLEARS THE BARS.

But I’m supposed to be upset that she’s surprised that Chaol rode when he hasn’t been able to lately? Through a city that he’s never been to before? Without telling her?"

May 30, 2020 – page 196 

 29.7% "Not only are these two the only members of an embassy, they are romantically involved. OF COURSE SHE’S SURPRISED ALL OF THIS HAPPENED WITHOUT HER KNOWING ABOUT IT."

May 30, 2020 – page 198 

 30.0% "At least she apologizes FINALLY but also says that it’s because so few people come in with his injury that she wanted to show her students.

So then you ASK, Yrene, what is this bullshit?"

May 30, 2020 – page 199 

 30.15% "“She hadn’t considered - his feelings. That he might have them.”

Excuse me, what?"

May 30, 2020 – page 199 

 30.15% "Yrene is worried that if she leaves the ‘rift’ between her and Chaol will never be repaired because “Healers and their patients required trust. A bond.”

It’s too bad you have repeatedly fucked that up with unprofessional, unthinking, and downright cruel behavior then isn’t it, Yrene?"

May 30, 2020 – page 199 

 30.15% "I’m sure some people reading this statuses will think I’m being too harsh, but let me explain: Yrene is a healer who has dealt with this kind of injury before. That’s why she was textually assigned to Chaol. Yrene is not a family member who knows nothing of medicine or patient treatment and is feeling her way through learning how to respectfully assist someone with a disability."

May 30, 2020 – page 199 

 30.15% "Yrene is a PROFESSIONAL, she keeps telling us. She is The Best. She has dealt with this before.

There is literally no excuse for accidentally doing this. Had Yrene been a new healer tossed into this because she just happens to have magical power enough for it and was still a student, I would buy that she maybe hadn’t had the experience to think about it. If she was portrayed as a consummate professional who..."

May 30, 2020 – page 199 

 30.15% "...did not care about her patients’ feelings so long as she healed their bodies, I would buy it.

She isn’t. The book keeps trying to tell me she is The Best because of temperament and skill and power, but it fails to realize that doing so puts Yrene in a terrible light because all of those things mean she should KNOW BETTER."

[kalendraashtar]

Do you have a masterlist of all your fics by chance?

Sorry for the delay, sweets, but here you go - my complete masterlist in a single post!

*Ficlets/One-Shots*

Testament of Light - Claire and Jamie meet in therapy (Angst) [tw: suicide; tw: depression]

Happier - Song ficlet for Ed Sheeran’s Happier.

Promise - Song ficlet for Ben Howard’s Promise.

His Name is Home - Ficlet inspired by the movie “If I Stay” and Claire’s illness during ABOSAA (Modern AU).

Tales of Us - A story about legacy. Outlander Secret Santa 2016.

House of the Undying Fire - Claire is a pristess of Vesta and Jamie a Gladiator (Rome AU).

Promise Not To Fall - Claire and Jamie meet in Prague (Hooker AU).

A Deserving Suitor - Roger is dating Brianna and now has to face the hardest test of all - meeting Jamie Fraser (AU).

Mistress Fraser’s Wondrous Concoction - A small moment between Claire and Jamie during the year spent in Lallybroch after France (previous to the Battle of Culloden).

Worthy of Love - How Mandy came to be Amanda Claire Hope MacKenzie.

Nurse Randall - Claire was born to be a healer. But how did she find her calling, training as a nurse during WWII?

Fatherhood - Short tales about Fatherhood from Claire, Frank and Jamie’s voices.

Motherhood - Short tales about Motherhood from Jamie, Brianna and Jenny’s voices.

*Fanfics*

Something Beautiful - Claire Beauchamp, successful emergency physician, secretly harbours feelings for her best friend’s fiancé, Frank Randall. With the help of her long time friend, neighbour and confidant, James Fraser, she is forced to search her heart until she finds something beautiful.

Part I - Duck, Part II - Eat The Sky, Part III - Haircut,Part IV - Glasgow, Part V - Spinster, Part VI - Ae Fond Kiss, Part VII- Tease, Part VIII - A Rush of Water, Part IX - Law of Cooling, Part X - And Then We Start

Ficlet I, Ficlet II, Ficlet III

Something Beautiful II - Sequel to “Something Beautiful”. After their friendship has been set afire, Claire “Sassenach” Beauchamp and Jamie “Duck” Fraser navigate their budding romantic relationship, until Claire realizes it’s time to make a bold choice.

Part I - Knickers, Part II - Wicked, Part III - Pros and Cons

Scotia - An AU based in Myths and Legends. Outlander Secret Santa 2017.

Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI, Part VII, Part VIII

Scalpel & Needle - Jamie and Claire are surgeons working together but they can’t see eye to eye. However, a secret admirer has found a special place in her heart.

Arc I: Incision

Part I - Rivalry, Part II - Pipes and Drums, Part III - The Enemy of my Foe, Part IV - Mass Casualty, Part V - Breathless and Shirtless, Part VI - Confessions of an Empty Glass, Part VII - Second Best, Part VIII - Hot Appendix, Part IX - Commotio Cordis, Part X - Scalpel, Part XI - Best served cold, Part XII - Tourniquet, Part XIII - The Beauchamp Method, Part XIV - The Healer, Part XV - Date, Part XVI - Firsts, Part XVII - Malpractice, Part XVIII - Needle, Part XIX - Freehand, Part XX - The Morning We Met, Part XXI - Heart-shaped, Part XXII - Jealousy, Part XXIII - Chief of Surgery, Part XXIV - Keys,  Part XXV -And He Knows That  

Arc II: Deep Tissue

Part I - Zero-Sum Game, Part II - Ribcage, Part III - Tethers, Part IV - Sin-Eater, Part V - Tell It To The Moon, Part VI - Moment of Tangency, Part VII -Inked, Part VIII - The Woman, Part IX - Portree, Part X - Skylight, Part XI -STD, Part XII - Deep Tissue, Part XIII - Suture

Scalpel & Needle (Christmas Special) - Nutmeg

Cordis - Part I - Rollercoaster Man, Part II - Wallflower in Blue, Part III - Want, want

Call Out My Name (Figure Skating AU )-  I - Friday I’m in Love

Broken Crown - Spies AU - 1.0, 2.0, 2.1, 2.2, 3.0, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 3.6, 3.7, 4.0, 4.½, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5, 4.6, 4.7, 4.8, 4.9, 5.0, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, 5.5, 5.6, 5.7, 0.0

The Teacher - I, II

Stealing Tomorrow - Jamie and Claire were young and in love – until their relationship came to a heartbreaking end. After fifteen years, when Claire comes back to Scotland and her path crosses again with Jamie’s, they have a second chance to prove that they are meant to be together. (Modern AU)

Chapter 1 - In media res, Chapter 2 - Forget Me Not, Chapter 3 - As We Were, Chapter 4 - They All Come Rushing Back, Chapter 5 - Boston Calling, Chapter 6 - Sins of a Lover, Chapter 7 - Find Me, Chapter 8 - Master of Me, Epilogue - Tomorrow Is Now

A Lifetime of Her - Throughout their early years, Jamie and Claire meet at crucial points in their lives, supporting and healing each other. Eventually, Jamie realizes that Claire alone holds all his heart – but it might be too late to find his way to her.

Part I - And in my chest you know me best, Part II - In slow motion the blast is beautiful, Part III - You don’t know how lovely you are, Part IV - It’s only the air you took and the breath you left, Part V - But we’re still sleeping like we’re lovers, Part VI - My kingdom for a kiss upon her shoulder, Part VII - You bleed just to know you’re alive, Part VIII - Please teach me gently how to breathe, Part IX - I’m walking after you

My Brother’s Lass - What if William Fraser had survived and Jamie Fraser had to compete with his own brother for Claire’s affections? (Canon divergence/AU)

Part One - My Brother’s Lass, Part Two - Homecoming, Part Three - Northern Lights, Part Four - Let me down, gently, Part Five - Love Unspoken, Part Six - This Truth Won’t Set You Free, Part Seven - The Cicadas’ Song, Part Eight - No Time For Us, Part Nine- The Ballad of a Thief, Part Ten - The Flapping of a Butterfly’s Wings, Part Eleven - The Red Prisoner, Part Twelve - Redeemed

Constellations series - Are some people truly meant to be together, unexplainably attracted to each other? In each small story, Jamie and Claire meet – in different places, times and circumstances – and fall in love.

Orion, Sirius, Crux, The Second Sighting of Sirius, Andromeda, Sirius Supernova, Betelgeuse, Perseus, Cassiopeia, Columba, Phoenix, Draco

College AU (Cassiopeia’s sequel) - Modern AU with Claire and Jamie in College together.

The Captain, Anamnesis, The Flood, Orphans, Requiem, Our Shared Skin, Rivals, Daisies & Thistles, Fairplay, He Who Loves Him, To Build a Bridge

Beauchamp Riots - Modern AU. Jamie and Claire have been best friends for five years. When Jamie announces his impending marriage, Claire is forced to finally confront her true feelings.

Part I - Pretzel Logic, Part II - Two Can Waltz, Part III - Dresses & Question Marks, Part IV (Finale) - Morning Glory

This Man I Chose, A Marriage of Equals (Andromeda’s sequels)

Bean sídhe - Claire is the Bean sídhe, a legend in the Scottish Highlands. Loved by some and feared by many, she leads a mysterious life. But when her path crosses Jamie’s, both their lives and the clans are forever changed (AU).

Chapter 1 - Bean sídhe, Chapter 2 - Tormented , *Missing Moment 1* - Claire falling in love with Jamie, Chapter 3 - Burn, Chapter 4 - Betrothed, Chapter 5 - Bare, *Missing Moment 2* - Claire muses about her night with Jamie, Chapter 6 - Punishment, *Missing Moment 3* - Claire’s assault, Chapter 7 - Darkness, Chapter 8 - Soul of my Soul, Chapter 9 - Machinations, Chapter 10 - Blood, Chapter 11 - Crann Tara, *Missing Moment 3* - Jamie yearns to be a father, Chapter 12 - Guardian, Chapter 13 - Witch, Chapter 14 - Promises we can’t keep, Chapter 15 - Death, Chapter 16 - Tree of Life, Epilogue - Faith

Dreaming of Past and Future Days - What if Claire went back to Frank before being taken to Fort William? Would she regret her choice and find her way back to Jamie? (Canon divergence)

I, II, III, IV

*Drabbles*

The Lure of the Sea - Claire thinks Jamie died in the Euterpe.

How She Came To Love Him (College AU universe)

Two Hearts (Sirius universe)

The Chanter - Whimsical short tale.

[thevoilinauttheory]

Wondrous Tails of FFXIV: Prompt #3 (SFW Version)

Wondrous Tails of FFXIV Prompt #12: Learning Secrets (kind of? mostly?) Characters: Maximiloix Voilinaut, Emet-Selch Setting: Crystarium | Inn Room Content Warnings: Heavy 5.0 Spoilers

--

“Tell me about myself, I am quite curious as to what you know - how well you know - about me.” Maximiloix folded his arms over his chest, raising an eyebrow at; what the Scions would call; his “new friend”. Or, an old one, if he was to believe the Ascian’s words. “Oh, I know a great many things, but I can say for certain that you have barely changed. Only the slightest hint forged by your experiences as a mortal.” There was a speck of disappointment in Emet-Selch’s voice as he spoke those words. His voice softened to a bare whisper, speaking his thoughts aloud - yet to know one in particular. “Frankly, I would have preferred you to have been different. This all would have been much easier.” “What was that?” Maximiloix dropped his arms to rest on the table in front of him, leaning forward to further listen to the stories about to be shared. He was met with a heavy sigh before the words were spoken. “...Philokrates was a man of intelligence and… solitude. Despite having shelter in our fair city, he hid himself on the outskirts amongst the brush and foliage. Preferring the comforts of the objects and life created by hand rather than by magic.” Emet-Selch hummed in deeper thought. “I cannot say why, when he was fascinated with bettering himself in many - if not every - way. His actions continue to be an enigma to me. Regardless. He was a professor in the studies of phytobiology. An…” The words did not come easy, while they were not incorrect, they were not the ones he was looking for. “...alchemist, of sorts, I suppose. He was. Kind. Unfortunately. Ignorant with a thirst for knowledge. Annoyed easily. He loved his work with many passions, cared for those around him… and yet, he preferred to be alone.” The man let out an uncharacteristic soft chuckle to his next thoughts. “...He did not get his solitude when he joined the Convocation. Constantly, he was pestered about his behaviors, how he managed to get so far with so little. But that…” A sharp inhale. “...He was Azrael, the Healer.” Maximiloix listened with such interest - did he truly not change? For eons, he had remained the same in every incarnation? The questions were written on his face, as Emet-Selch answered them with nary a word from his mouth. “Granted, your lives have always been filled with...monotony. Always seeking more, never getting it. A fisherman, a miner, a slave and servant - always, you started at the bottom. With our purposeful rejoinings, you have become who you are now. Surprisingly close to your whole self. Not quite there. No, you are not as powerful, not as selfless or thoughtful.” “...Rude, if you ask me.” “I did not, now quiet, unless you wish for me to stop.” Maximiloix let out a sigh of his own, leaning back to listen further. “The title, Azrael, I do not know if you could call it a part of the Convocation as much as it is… a subsection. A part, but is not required for the whole. His job was to keep peace and give comfort in times of unrest. The Healer’s purpose… is to provide comfort. Difficult choices that many of our kind would rather not make. If there is one who cannot be comforted by medicine or magic, he is the one they seek to bring them gentle death. If there is one consumed by rage and fear, he is the one they seek to face them.” A deep exhale. “If there are… ideas that are not safe, he is the one they seek to to talk them down. To bring other solutions. He failed. He failed, then… disappeared. He failed to convince the Convocation, and then… there were two. Us.. and them. And him.” His voice got increasingly softer, full of anger and sadness, as he finished - the memories lingering for much longer than anyone would hope they would. Those final words rung true in Maximiloix’s ears.

And him. He failed. It was us, against him.

The inevitable was to happen. The backstab. He awaited it. But soon… history would repeat itself. It had already begun. It was them against him.

[elfyourmother]

Working on Dark Knight since I’m really digging the changes they made to it in 5.0, and I just got the dreaded Aurum Vale on level roulette. this is literally the first time I’ve ever tanked it. I have cried tears of blood healing so many inexperienced, careless, and just plain Bad tanks in there. so I girded my loins and tried my best and took it slow pulling in that first awful room

Not only did we not wipe in the whole dungeon even 1 time, I basically soloed the second boss bc the healer and dps all died to the first big swing. They all ran back cheering me on from behind the barrier and when the boss finally dropped, the Samurai said “damn I know what my next job is now”

[tamamoland]

man I hope they undo all the healer changes they made in 5.0 whenever 6.0 drops dancer is cute and all but it’s a DPS and that is absolutely not the role I want to be playing

even if it *is* a support class it’s not engaging at all the way controlling both my scholar and my fairy at the same time was or the way planning and playing around my card draws as astrologian was

it’s like every patch they suck away a little bit more of what I enjoyed from the classes and as much as i loved the shadowbringers storyline it’s just. made it incredibly hard to play ever since they took away my fairy controls and then took my second fairy and cleric stance dancing and then took away a bunch of unique abilities from every class in flavor of generic ones and then took all of my card mechanics away

it’s kind of depressing

[kusinka]

Reasons I love Shadowbringers

Well, I finally managed to put my thoughts into words - yes, after nearly half a year after the release of the Final Fantasy XIV “Shadowbringers” expansion! First of all, I have to admit, that after finishing the expansion (the 5.0 patch) I had “ withdrawal“ syndrome - I was so hooked by how well the story was told, that I constantly was thinking about lore/story days after. I had it a few times already with some books (like The Three-Body Problem or Xenocide) - I loved them so much and they impressed me so much, that after finishing them I couldn’t stop thinking about them. Shadowbringers gave me the same “obsession”, so it’s an  even bigger plus for me, that it was some impactful :)

The world concept:

The concept of the world flooded and almost destroyed by Light was very intriguing and I enjoy exploring it as things were similar enough yet not as same as on the Source. Who would guess, that Light, which normally we would associate with something good (as opposed to the Void) was such scary and destructive force and was able to create such monstrous abominations?

There was something terrifying in the constant daylight and I’ve got thrilled then we returned the night for the first time! Plus Crystarium is my new favourite main city!

The main story in each zone:

I liked the fact that zones were so different from each other and they offered us a different “main theme” - pixies, some ancient Indian/Aztec-like ancient civilization.

Every time I entered the zone and started its story, I was like “meh, ok let’s see how it will go”, but more we progressed, the more I liked each story and setup of the zone/environment! Also I think all zones were well matching the story/theme of each zone. :D

Not, to mention then we meet Alisaie and the whole thing with Tesleen happened - holy molly I wasn’t mentally prepared for THAT! Or at least not in this way... I haven’t expected that SE would drop such scene so early in the story, but it convinced me IT WILL BE GOOD later and I wasn’t disappointed one bit! :)

The character progression:

I think the time difference between the Source and First, served well for the character development. It gave the reason and background to change characters personality a bit - after all, they spend between 1-5 years on the First and time passed, they had their new experiences, problems, struggles and friendships. Also, they matured (omg I love Thancred and Twins even more! <3) a lot and I liked it then we meet them again and noticed some changes about them. PS. I still have love/hate feelings for the Thancred’s scene after his fight with Ran'jit - it had the perfect mood and setting, but I was screaming a big “no, no, no way, no, I will hate you forever if you...” (I cried ok? no judging!) all the time and my friends laughed at me as they knew me enough to know how I’ll react - after all Thancred is my husbando :D

Amaurot / Ascian lore bombs:

Do I have to explain it to anyone who finished Shadowbringers? xD

I never liked Ascians, never - I always found them annoying “the typical bad guys” and when I saw Emet-Selch I was like “oh no, yet another annoying Ascian”, but SE played it well… and I loved it.

We went to the final zone and bum, here you have it - their background story, their tragedy - seeing them in the phantom city (tho it was just recreation from Emet) start to “win us over”.

The more we learnt about the Ascians and Ancient Amaurotian civilization, the more intrigued I was (and probably like most of the players' xD). Finally, Ascians were not only faceless (but still masked!) villains, but they became villains with some “reasons” (tho still it didn’t change a bit they were a bunch of madman murderers).

And we had Emet-Selch - you can pity Ancient Amaurotians and their cruel fate, but not Ascians - nothing can excuse their actions and genocides. You pity them, you feel them, but you can’t forgive them nor forget. I was amazed by this story, especially since I looked at it with annoyance at the beginning of ShB. xD

I just loved the phantom city, it’s architectural style, the music and instance... the instance was just perfect and gave me gooseflesh - we had very nice instances in FF14, but never I saw the instance and trial which were so perfe4ctly matched with the corresponding story... it was just perfect continuation and ending. Every time I got Amaurot as an instance in Expert Rullete I’m thrilled every single time (also I’m amazed to see all these environmental interactions - falling walls and buildings, mass destruction and planet seem from above)! :D

Yes, I was crying and I truly belive Ishikawa-sensei deserves the Oskar xD I was so happy and touched to see she received the standing applause - she deserved it <3

Music:

I haven’t paid too big attention to the music in the game - usually, I had my music on Spotify playing, but this time it was different and I was enjoying ShB OST a lot. Probably, it’s because I immersed myself in the story so much, that the music was the perfect complement and helped to build the overall atmosphere of the world and story.

In Shadowbringers I like almost all BGM - the exception is general battle music... I had to turn it off XD

My favourite BGM is (spoilers in links!):

the final zone of final zone music <3

the final trial boss phase 2 music (tho first phase is nice too!)

boss fight music (in normal instances)

solo MSQ duty music

But Sokan-sama and Music Team made such an awesome job, that I enjoyed BGM so much that I can’t wait to get Shadowbringers OST.

The new classes:

Honestly, I wasn’t super interested in the Dancer - as I always preferred healers as main and magical DPS as my DPS alts - and both Bard and Mechanist didn’t catch my interest before. But I have to admit, now the more I play it and more I learn the encounters and class roration (tho I’m still far from being perfect and at full class potential level) - the more I love it!

Also, my only tank was Dark Knight, so I knew I wanted to try Gunbreaker (especially that now Thancred husbando is one <3) and I really like the style of Gunbreaker (”flashy-almost-like-DPS tank).My beloved Astrologian, was “kind of broken” after the expansion release, but after some changes it feels much better - still love it and it shall be my main! <3So currently my main is Astrologian, DPS alt is Dancer and tank (tho I rarely play tanks) Gunbreaker! :)

All in all:

I expected a good expansion, but it excided all my expectations - I enjoyed the story and the world a lot and can hardly wait to see more misteries and story of the First and the Amaurot to unfold in the upcoming patches! I hope SE will keep good storytelling! <3 

[angry-healers]

5.0 White Mage Changes (Opinion)

Initial Reaction: Yeet

I honestly have no opinion on WHM other than the gauge changes which were sorely needed. 4.0 Job Gauge aside, I loved the way WHM played from 2.0 all the way until now. I’m glad to see it is not changing much in that regard. It’s unfortunate that their raid utility amounts to being able to solo heal a fight theoretically (which is probably...yeah no), but that’s not and never will be my focus as a player. 

This is another class that I’ve been seeing a lot of DPS complaints about, too, which is really confusing because WHM has continuously received some of the best healer DPS burst skills in the game. It’s also prettier now. Like have you seen Glare? That spell is gorgeous. Anyway, WHM has also recievef Afflatus Misery based on Afflatus healing usages which are granted from the new Lily gauge and nourish the new Blood Lily at the bottom. basically two spells that should just replace the use of any other spell in order to charge that binch as fast as possible because Misery is also gorgeous as heck.

Of all the healers, WHM has retained a clean identity for a long time. It’s just people don’t like what that identity is and that’s unfortunate really. Makes me wonder why they continue playing it. I do get loving something so much that you want it to get better but honestly, I played 2.0 Summoner and I have never once quit that job in all 6 years that I have been playing this game. Ya’ll have 0 idea was absolute diligence truly is. Ya’ll don’t know the fun of needing to bank Bane several times across a group of mobs because it only reached a maximum of four targets. Ya’ll don’t know the feeling of healing dungeons as SCH and having whole parties just abandon you as soon as you load in because you’re not a WHM. Ya’ll just don’t know.

Anyway, I don’t really have much to say about WHM as a whole. I personally like it. Raiding is not my thing so that tier of concern goes over my head quite literally and I honestly don’t care for it. Even if I did, I still wouldn’t understand because I am not competitive. I don’t have the drive for “perfection” like some groups have in their need to get the lowest kill times. I’m satisfied with literally just downing the boss and honestly if more people had this mindset, then there wouldn’t be this issue of certain jobs being locked out of PF parties. But you can’t stop people from wanting to have the best numbers and all the power to them for going for it and wanting more out of it. But just know that WHM has always mattered. It’s not the dev team’s fault that players are excluding it. That’s 100% player choice due to the fact that all content in this game is designed to be killable by any combination of jobs including duplicates.

Final Reaction: Yeet

That’s all on my opinions on the matter. Overall I’m going to try and sooth myself with other games while i wait this final month before ShB finally drops. I’m really excited for just about everything in general.

-- Mod Mhi

[jukemaid]

til 5.0 changes come up, you’re not as sturdy on dps stance. you just aren’t. there are people who CAN pull off tanking in it, but the odds are it’s not you, because they actually know what they’re doing and it doesn’t cause the healers an issue.

you’re not as good as you think you are having aggro means nothing if you can’t survive the autoattacks without me babysitting you.