#Least on balmung it is

[blackbirdffxiv]

.

Not me entertaining the idea of possibly opening my own little RP place in DT.

I originally tried to do something but after talking with a friend, realized my ideas probably never panned out because I tried to do way too much for a place I'd essentially be running by myself.

When in reality: I should be going simple, and doing something that I enjoy for FUN, versus for the perks of reputation that came from a "unique concept" which, tbh, now looking at it, is just a recipe for disasters because of the possibility of bad apples who don't like to follow rules.

So possibly in Dawntrail, once things calm down, depending on my spoons, I may or may not be opening a tiny bar in Ellie's house; nothing special, just a small place people can come and hang out with their friends in a calm, neutral setting.

No ERP services (though it may be 18+ only cuz I ain't babysitting anyone's kids), no gil or even in-game items traded, just focus solely on RP in a setting where folks can just chill.

TLDR:

Old itch for possibly starting my own RP place is coming back, might explore things post-dawntrail's release. It wouldn't even be weekly, more like bi-weekly for a couple hours. And hey, it'd be a good thing for Ellie to do now that she no longer has a murderous hungry voidsent rustling around in her body (and is now somewhat normal again) EDIT: I meant the FC house not my personal :dead:

[placesyoucallhome]

Been thinking about this guy lately 🧛‍♂️

[dragons-bones]

so I got really lazy during 6.4 about keeping up with my Splendorous Tools and then when I wasn't doing prog with the static I was off playing Palia, but then the crafting hyperfixation hit me yesterday, so.

gonna be busy until Dawntrail.

(final Splendorous Tools quests at least cute as fuck, Grenoldt/Mowen 4eva)

[ask-dgs-221bbakerstreet]

Can’t believe Klimt is mentally healthier than Kazuma is right now. Klimt is being open with his emotions and accepting the comfort of his brother. While Kazuma is a brick wall.

they are responding to trauma very differently sgshdhf

[journeys-endxiv]

Greetings!

I started a new blog @journeysend-xiv for my upcoming cafe. However, I lost the password to the email tied to the account which meant I can't access that account anymore. Thankfully I haven't posted much in that account, so I don't feel the loss too much. For those that follow that original account, thank you very much and I hope you can follow me once more! I'm finally working on content for this blog so I will be posting a bit more consistently.

[fourtharbiter]

October 5th, 2013.

Ten years ago today, the first formal Grindstone event happened on the Balmung server in Final Fantasy XIV. The game had only relaunched as A Realm Reborn a month and change earlier, but already the roleplaying community was coming together to establish, well, a community.

Originally started by the Eorzea Free Trade Company as a more low-key place for roleplay, there were only two rules if you wanted to participate: No killing, no magic. At the time, the community at large didn't really have a ton of lore to go on; Everything was new and exciting and not everybody had the means to level everything all at once. The ceiling for what people wanted to express in the play space was so high you couldn't really see it from the ground, and that's exactly where the Grindstone was designed to exist.

Let the High Mages have their omnipotence and unimaginable power. We just wanted to fight.

...I say "we" as if I was there from the beginning. I wasn't. I only heard about it some time later, and to demonstrate how immature I was as a roleplayer at the time, I thought the idea was kind of absurd on its face. Rolling dice to see if you succeed? That's entirely random! It's unfair! That means... GASP! I might LOSE to someone I feel I shouldn't! It's a mentality that I (and many others who got a better grasp of what the point of the event was) would grow out of. It wasn't about winning. It was about the writing.

Within the first year there was the expected churn of organizing and hosting an event; Volatility between players and factions, the fact that a weekly schedule in primetime meant your Saturdays were locked down if you wanted to stay consistent, real life getting involved and forcing absences or changes. Sigyn Shieldbreaker gave way to Sindl Arahan. Sindl gave way to a loose coalition of people familiar with the rules. For a brief period of time, the future of the event was uncertain. That's when I figured "Hell, I can do this."

Ta-da.

I have a lot of extremely fond memories at the Grindstone. I've got a lot of not-so-fond memories, too. More than that, so do a laundry list of other people. The Grindstone means a lot to me, but the fact that it also means so much to other people is really what makes me proud of what the event has achieved over the years. Strangers met and became friends. Sometimes more than that (I would still like an invite to the wedding when it happens). Stories were etched, characters were developed. People who had no idea what roleplaying was about walked by, saw a crowd and hung out. Every night was anyone's night, and everyone has a story to tell.

A fishing rod. A frying pan. Arrows tipped with paint. Someone fighting with hair brushes. Impossible come-from-behind victories. That time someone fighting for the first time winning the whole show. The several dozen times that happened, in fact. The time that one guy wrote "attaks with all his mite" and nearly won the night. That hand that got cut off. That lady who emoted giving birth on the sidelines. That kid who kept trying to fight. "FOOOOOORE!"

If you attended the Grindstone at any point of the years, at least one of those probably just touched a memory. That's the thing I keep thinking about as we're on the cusp of this event turning ten years old. Ten! The Grindstone's seen three US presidents, five English Prime Ministers, outlasted the Confederacy by twofold! Children who were not yet conceived when the first fights happened are now old enough for you to talk to and have a conversation with.

The list of names involved both in front of the curtain and behind it is entirely too long to name, or even recall. At least for me. I'm incredibly proud that folks have volunteered their time and their nights and their energy and efforts to make sure the Grindstone exists and will continue to do so. I'm happy that so many people, even if they only showed up once and didn't really like it, at least got to experience it. They got to take something away from it. The Grindstone got dropped into the middle of an extremely large lake and boy did we make some ripples.

Today is October 5th. It's not a date many people could recall many details about, but for me it's always going to be special, even if I wasn't actually there the first night. I hope that everyone who got to experience the Grindstone in their own way feels that way, too. That sometime when the air is just right and someone notices it's a Saturday night, that they can just know that the Grindstone is happening in the same place it always has been.

Everyone night is anyone's night. This coming Saturday, it's everyone's night.

[nozomikei]

Alrightyyyyyyy! I need some help from my lovely FFXIV community members!

I've finally finished up my feedback about the face changes in the graphical update, but I can't post them on the official FFXIV forums myself because of that pesky old profanity permaban. I'll post it all here, so if one of you beautiful and wonderful people could copy and paste it over to the thread I'll link below I would really, really, really appreciate it.

It's been about 8 years since I could post there so I don't know the situation for posting images, but if you need me to host them someplace so you can use the necessary html, just let me know!

This was the thread I was hoping to post my feedback in, but if you see more that it would be helpful to add parts of it to or a different one you feel it's better suited for, feel free to paste it there as well!:

Add whatever note you want at the front to clarify that this is just a post made on behalf of another player! My own character info is: Nozomi Kei on the Balmung server, Crystal DC, NA

Feedback starts under the cut~

I'm going to try to cover everything I can find wrong and pray that at least the biggest issues are addressed, otherwise I may have to retire the character I've played for almost a decade. I will be talking primarily about face 2 male Duskwight Elezen, as that is what I play. Some of these issues might be present in all Melezen faces or isolated to face 2, but I wouldn't know unless one of you here has talked about it.

First, an issue several others have mentioned:  Face 2 Duskwight suddenly having the textures of a Wildwood; eyebags being especially noticable and unwanted.  I chose my character to be Duskwight specifically because I didn't want the eyebags.

Actually something seems off with all of the textures on face 2 Duskwight?  My previously powder-smooth, even-toned skin now has a mottled, almost artifacted appearance, same with the skin on the lips which have both mottling and oddly darkened edges on the lower lip especially.  The eyelid textures seem to have just straight up been placed wrong, with part of the weights snagging a section of the eyebrow down and leaving a notch during blinks.  The eyebrows also look like maaaybe they were misplaced and that's why they're thicker for some of us, because they're being stretched over a different area than intended that is bigger than their previous real estate.

The obvious texture stretching aside, the new eyelid has removed my faint eyeliner, and changed the gently pink lid to the same jaundiced beige as areas like the forehead. Eyelids are naturally pinker in real life because of the thin skin amd abundant blood vessels. This ties into the larger observation I've made about the changes to face skin textures for 7.0, which is that their color now looks unnaturally one-toned and even more lacking in the natural hue variation of living skin than the current faces.

A note on the eyebrows and lips that is more of a suspicion than confirmed, but I'm starting to feel like these features have just been outright homogenized? Perhaps in order to make applying morphs easier? Several people have made mention of their brows being straightened out and/or thickened. The elderly faced gentleman on page 12 posted by Cio had his magnificent, shapely brows reduced to mundanity. A lot of unique lip shapes are being changed in a consistent direction. The 'standard' shape is a strong cupid's bow on top with very pointed peaks, color wrapping around the corners of the mouth, a wide and shallowly curved underside to the bottom lip, and less fullness overall. Some are seeing their gently rounded peaks made pointy, others are seeing skinny-in-width bottom lips widened, folks with broad upper lips are being thinned. My little lift in the center underside of my bottom lip was flattened

My lips are also now weirdly dark by default, and trying to colorcorrect the unattractive mauvish beige leaves me looking like I'm wearing heavy lipstick. I think part of this is the change in how lips handle lighting, and part is the bad texture that was swapped in, plus the harsher edges to the liplines where previously there was a gentle, natural transition.

At first I thought I was imagining it before I imported my current settings, but now I am sure when I say my cute and small triangular ears whose shape added to the sharpness of my face have been made bigger and rounder. I made the smallest, most Tolkien elf ears I could because I wanted them to be subtle and elegant. This reshaping has added to the myriad changes that mean my character no longer looks like the same person.

While I can see changes to my beloved hook nose I will concede that at least in profile the shape is nearly identical. Like others observed there has generally been a lessening of the details that made the nose unique. Raised ridge, bigger septum, nostril shortening.

I'm going to try to list things out, starring the things that I think are issues that especially need to be changed/fixed because they are errors rather than just somewhat expected (if unwanted) differences caused by increased poly count and modelling changes.

☆☆• Face 2 Duskwight face textures have been swapped for Wildwood textures?

☆• Lips have been reshaped

☆• Eyebrows have been thickened

• Ears have been made bigger and more rounded in the middle and lobe regions

☆• Lips are darker by default which causes issues with lipstick

• The edges of lips have a hard edge instead of the previous gentle transition

☆• The bizarre 'milk mustache' above the upper lip

• My chin has been made bigger and more round in profile

• My lower lip has been plumped.

☆• Mottled skin textures, especially on my cheeks

• Very flat lip lighting/sheen

☆• Elongated dark smudges about 2cm long on either side of my mouth?

☆☆• Texture issues in eyelid region (very visible during blink animation)

• Harsher, darker eyelashes (not thicker from above though??)

• Lack of eyeshine and dark upper iris making my lids appear lower and changing my default expression

• Angular facial geometry in cheeks seems smoothed which changes the harsher look of the race (possibly just the faulty benchmark lighting)

• Hair lighting has changed; seems more matte, less hue variation between lit and shadowed areas

___

Changes I've seen in other players:

• Face skintone now seems very one-note and unalive

• Waxiness

• Harsher eye makeup that appears too dark or stark

• Removal of texture detail that was unique to individual faces, especially in eye regions

☆• Moon Miqo fangs drastically shortened

___

In seeing all of this unfold I've been dismayed to notice a lot of the unique charm of faces across the board being airbrushed away, from subtle shading in eye areas on various viera faces, to expressive and quirky default expressions being toned down and made more average in Elezen girls and Miqo girls, to wrinkles disappearing from older faces, to facial topology that created personality via cast shadows being rounded and smoothed and lightened into nonexistence. The result is consistently a more calm, mature, generic look. A lot of female characters' makeup has turned weirdly harsh, sharp-edged, and dark so that it more closely resembles stage makeup, both eye and lip. Then the awkwardly single-toned skin tops things off with me left feeling that very few looks are 'upgrades' even when the owner is happy with the result.

A couple side notes: Something odd is happening to the hairline on this style near the middle? Looks like an error. My racial gear necklaces have changed from a visible leather texture to some unidentifiable line-y texture?

[dukeofishgard]

I posted about it on Twitter and it seems a lot of ppl also agree with me, but it is super bizarre to me, as I start poking at new venues to possibly visit to RP at with Duke (he and Dracyn are overdue for a date night) the sudden influx of venues that charge actual gil for their food and drink.

This was pretty unheard of during what was, imo, the "heyday" of FFXIV rp, particularly on Crystal/Balmung. It was always "gil is for immersion only, tips appreciated!" And oftentimes Dracyn and I would tip oocly because the venues we'd go to were not only cool, but even on busy nights the people running them would take the time to interact, and oftentimes remember regulars who'd make it a point to come back weekly, and that was 10000% worth both the experience and to let the roleplayers know that they were doing an awesome job.

But charging people 5k per drink, for what (especially if it's ends up busy.) amounts to someone roleplaying handing you a drink, is absurd lmao. If you have to charge people to roleplay with you - i honestly wonder if you're roleplaying because you ... enjoy roleplaying? And considering most people are gonna have their characters sit and chill, 2-3 drinks will wind up being 15k actual gil, and again. For what will likely be a completely a bare bones interaction because there's venues also charging for table services upwards of 50k+ gil (per hr) for personalized unlimited drinks and service. The server at the bar is gonna be swamped and they're not gonna give a damn about actually engaging in roleplaying with visitors cos they're gonna be overwhelmed!

And I get it - nobody is forcing anyone to go to these venues (tho I had a friend who went to one, was told it was not real gil paid for drinks, and then... were told to cough up the gil as they left lol.) and I've written off a few already despite my initial interest.

But it's a very odd thing for me to see, especially as someone who's been roleplaying for 20 yrs, not including XIV rp.

And also the pricing is *absurd*.

Again, 5k for a drink, and its not even like they're crafting and handing you an actual in game item in return. (Those venues are even more rare, but I could understand that a little more as they're giving you actual items in return.) But 5k gil for a fake drink? That doesn't even make sense on a monetary level.

Like, for reference - I run events for FFVII twt rp. Here's the menus for our 7th Heaven Night:

And while I joked to my fellow mods/admins who help run the events that we should put our cash app up when we do the events (a joke). These prices make more sense than charging 5k gil for:

"/em hands <player name> a triple deluxe rainbow titty twister supreme on a coaster."

Like huh?

Ultimately it makes me sad, and again - i recognize that I do not have to patronize these venues (and won't) but it also just - why? Roleplay isn't a job. We're all writing make believe, and I was under the impression - because we all love writing. Or at least, that's why I roleplay. And as someone who's worked in venues, and has been given ooc tips out of nowhere - that beats the hell out of nickel and diming players for the "luxury" of roleplaying with me/at my venue. Because then you know they're not doing because you're breaking their kneecaps - they did it because they enjoyed the experience.

Ok rant over.

[cactusxwren]

serving up God in a burnt coffee pot

wanna come meet everyone's least favorite bartender? of course you do. if you ask real nice, she might even make you a drink. Rhela will be working the bar tonight [Sunday] from 7 pm PST to 10 pm PST. Come say hello.

Shady's Crystal - Balmung

[gray-morality]

We’re up to no good, ya want in?

■ Datacenter | Crystal – Balmung

■ Playtime | Approx. 6 pm to 10 pm EST

■ You must be 21+ | Mature themes RP

This is a rather specific kind of LFRP post. The goal is to find 2 or 3-ish (or more, who knows!) people to RP and plot with (alongside with my RP partner).  I (we) are open to plot or event ideas, character hooks, pre-established relationships/rivals, you name it. What we’re looking for:

Thavnair-centric - It doesn’t matter if your character is not Thavnairian or spend times outside the region; tbh our own “adventures” take us outside this nation regularly, but we always come back to Thavnair or, more specifically, we work FOR (the betterment of) Thavnair.

Morally gray - Don’t mistake this for evil; However, we’re not completely good either. Sometimes you have to bend the law, or walk carefully under it, in order to survive (or become the lesser of two evils). We try to help others, or ourselves, but life has a way to hand out lemons by the crates and making lemonade ain’t cheap.

Flight before fight - We tend to play more like civilians and a lot of our stories revolve around white collar crime. Not that our characters can’t handle being in a fight, but if it comes to that (and if the opportunity is there) I know of at least one of us that will try to run for it before engaging in combat >_>;;;; *cough* Hunting beasts and monsters, however, is something else entirely.

Lore compliance, realism and low power - This is our brand. We don’t want people who can solve everything single-handedly, who have enough IC wealth to buy off a whole residential district and pull all the favors, or can heal everything with the snap of their fingers. Where’s the fun in that? We like to eat dirt, chew it and spit it out (not for all three meals mind you, it lacks proteins).

Love for writing - And we mean that in the broadest possible way. It includes plotting, writing events and stories for our characters. They can be very centric to one or many characters - we’re all about character development - or to a group (we have Jijivisha). If you just want to sit and enjoy the chocobo ride, look elsewhere, ‘cause we ain’t even got any chocobos.

The small prints

■  Our RP style is turn-based para/multi-para and, speaking for myself, I’m not especially a fast typer AND English is not my native tongue (so I sometimes get stuck on a word or another and it gives 5 more minutes of waiting on my post xD)

■ We RP mature themes; and by that we don’t mean hosting orgies every weekend. As we roleplay characters of gray morality and part of the criminal world, harsh language and swearing (especially Fakhri), gambling (ehh Fakhri’s bread and butter lol), heavy use of alcohol (coughtFakhricough), smoking legal and not so legal substances (Guess who?), drugs (Starts with an F) and violence are all part of that package. We obviously respect people’s boundaries if a topic is sensitive for them. Also if you haven’t noticed, Fakhri is trash and Seda is the more respectable of the two.

■ No Discord RP. Multiple factors at play with this decision and, while there are very rare exceptions, just assume it’s not happening.

If you read through all of this, consider me amazed xD

This may all seem like a lot but me and my partner are actually quite laid back. We’re both adults with a career and obligations and we know what it is to get home tired, or not having the energy nor the time for the game on any given day, or week. This is why we highly value good communication and we respect each other’s time. Now, why only seek 2 or 3-ish people to RP with? We firmly believe in quality before quantity and, hopefully, having a tight-knit group is all we’ll need to weave stories and have fun. Think of it as a tabletop group of friends. As a final note, me and my partner both enjoy the PVE aspect of the game so if that’s something you enjoy as well, bonus kudos to you and let’s climb HoH already!

Also, liking rats is mandatory.

Fakhri Man’tik

■ alcohol, fogweed and gambling. Leaving the Primeval Forests behind, only to wake up one day in a dark alley, between a pile of trash and a rat. Even the cards couldn’t have foretold that he’d take that wrong turn, right into a world of crime, taking some of humanity’s vices as his own. But it seems the spirits (or a rat) took pity on him after all...

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

CAARD | https://fakhrimantik.carrd.co/>

TUMBLR | https://gray-morality.tumblr.com/

Seda Ballard

■ bad decisions, ambition and wanderlust.  Making a name for herself as a walking encyclopedia of Eorzean tariffs, imports, duties and taxes - and how to avoid paying them - her ink-stained fingers dancing through many account books. The path can be quite dark when one has no qualms where the money comes from. Good thing she met with someone who can hold a lantern to light the road ahead…

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

CAARD | https://catscratching.carrd.co/

TUMBLR | https://catscratching.tumblr.com/

[luck-and-larceny]

LFRP - MALIKA (MAL) BAJIHRI

Malika is easy-going, flirtatious, and up for any challenge where a risk or gamble is involved. She’s also incredibly reckless, impulsively throwing herself into one bad idea after another just for the thrill of seeing how Nymeia will ultimately spin her fate.

THE BASICS –––

Name: Malika (Mal) Bajihri

Age: 27

Nameday: Mal doesn’t actually know her own Nameday and, if she did, she wouldn’t give it out; she’d make a new one up every time she was asked. Her actual Nameday is: 17th Sun of the 5th Umbral Moon (October 17th)

Race: Keeper of the Moon, Miqo’te

Gender: Female

Alignment: Joyfully dancing in the rain on that fuzzy line between Chaotic Neutral and Chaotic Good and never committing to either

Relationship Status: Polyamorous; she has surprisingly committed, serious romantic relationships with Evander Winsome and Kestrel Vylbrand . Given her general aversion to commitments, the longevity of these relationships is impressive!

Server: Balmung

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE –––

Hair: Black as night, though she often adds colorful highlights to it. She will dye her hair for jobs she needs to disguise herself for.

Eyes: They’re so dark blue they’re nearly black

Height: 62.4 inches (5′2″)

Build: Unlike many of the adventurers and otherwise hard-working individuals that she associates herself with, Malika is certainly not a muscular goddess carved from stone and steel. In fact, while she is extremely dexterous, she’s a bit softer than her allies. Combat is not her strong suit; She prefers to talk, sneak, or run her way out of conflict. While she stays fit, her body betrays that fighting and hunting are not her pastimes of choice.

Common Accessories: At least one weapon that she hopes not to use (typically daggers), an instrument (usually a wood flute), lockpicks, gambling items (a bit of gil for wagers, playing cards, several sets of dice), a deck of arcanum cards, a hardsilver needle and some thread, a silver pinky ring that spins, a silver swan necklace, and a few small trinkets of sentimental value (not all of them her own).

PERSONAL –––

Profession: Malika would say that she doesn’t have one. She does street performances as a musician and acrobat and engages in high risk wagers at the Gold Saucer. Realistically, Malika… doesn’t have one. She is a thief (pickpocket and infiltration) and con-artist.

Hobbies: Getting into trouble, running headlong into trouble, leaping straight into the arms of trouble. Also: sewing, music performances (flute, harp, lute, singing), fortune telling (sometimes legitimately!; usually as a grift), acrobatics/gymnastics, drinking, getting places she should not be, taking things she should not take, games of chance, flirting, running away, collecting stuffed animals, mercilessly pranking and humiliating the rich and powerful

Residence: Malika does not have one place that she stays and that is by design. But the place most like a permanent home, where she returns to time and again, is a daycare/healing resort in the Mist housing ward.

Birthplace: She doesn’t know. She assumes The Shroud. That’s where she was stolen away as a child anyway.

Patron Deity: Nymeia, the Spinner. And she’s surprisingly devout regarding the goddess’ more fickle aspects: chance, luck, and wagers.

RELATIONSHIPS –––

Spouse: Nope. The only way this will ever happen is if it is for a con or for a joke.

Children: Nope. Nopety nope nope. Nada. Nope. Never.

Parents: She has no idea who her parents are. Similarly, she has little knowledge of Keeper culture in general as she was not raised in a tribe. She was found by a wandering performance caravan when she was a toddler.

Siblings: If she has actual siblings, she doesn’t know. But she has “adopted” a kid sister, a hyur named Maeryn. And she would kill for Maeryn if she had to.

Other Relatives: Shrug.

Pets: Oh no. Malika is not responsible enough to take care of pets. Don’t give her any.

TRAITS –––

* Bold your character’s answer.

Extroverted / In Between / Introverted

Disorganized / In Between / Organized

Close Minded / In Between / Open Minded

Calm / In Between / Anxious

Disagreeable / In Between / Agreeable

Cautious / In Between / Reckless

Patient / In Between /  Impatient

Outspoken / In Between / Reserved

Leader / In Between / Follower

Empathetic / In Between / Apathetic

Optimistic / In Between / Pessimistic

Traditional / In Between / Modern

Hard working / In Between / Lazy

Cultured / In Between / Uncultured

Loyal / In Between / Disloyal

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION –––

Smoking Habit: Not usually, she might do it socially every now and then, but it has no particular draw for her otherwise.

Drugs: Not all drugs and not regularly– but, yes.

Alcohol: Oh,yes. Definitely yes. She loves drinking and often does not have the willpower to stop herself.

RP HOOKS –––

Thief: Has someone told you that they have something “unstealable” in an “impenetrable” location? That person definitely wants someone to steal that thing or get into that place. Malika is willing to help with that. Despite being a thief, she dislikes gil and will often do jobs for the promise of mementos rather than money. She specifically wants to do jobs that stick it to those who wield their wealth disparity as a means to exert power over others. Want to do crime? Let's do crime together!

Gambler: Malika believes in Fate, but she also believes that she can gain favor with Nymeia by “keeping her spinning.” She thinks of gambling, dares, taking risks, and the like as a means to court luck and favor with Nymeia by keeping the goddess from getting too bored. It keeps Malika from being bored too! She will accept almost any offer of a good gamble or game of chance. Want to gamble? Let's gamble together!

Con-artist: If you want to interact with Mal, look like an easy mark. From fake fortunes and prophecies, to crafting situations where she can just pickpocket something off your character, Malika is a troublemaker. If she introduces herself by any other name that her actual one, she's scheming. **OOC note: I have her do this so that RP is fun; Malika wants to take advantage of the kindness of strangers, but I don't. This is also the OOC reason why she replaces stolen items with different items. You can tell me if you don't want to deal with this (in fact, please do!)

Never met a bridge she didn't want to burn:  Malika is an unreliable, chaotic, impulsive mess of a Miqo'te. She has stolen from a lot of people. She has conned a lot of people. She has left destruction in her wake. She is also not particularly cautious. If you want to RP someone she stole from, whose place she broke into, or anything like that, I'd be happy to!

Ask for help: She doesn’t really want to get involved in other people’s business. She’ll ignore a problem if she can. But if you ask her for help she will usually begrudgingly be that help. She will definitely help you if you need to escape from authority. She thinks her inability to say ‘no’ to someone in need is a weakness; it might actually be her one redeeming quality.

Talk to her at all: Malika is the cliche curious cat. She finds people fascinating. She enthusiastically throws herself into learning about others and is happy to chat up exactly, oh, let me check my notes… that’s right… everybody.

CONTACT INFORMATION  –––

Contacting me here on tumblr or finding me in game is the best bet. If you see Mal out in the world, please say hello! I’d love her to make more friends (or rivals, depending on what you think would be fun!)

I do have a Discord and I do RP on it. I don’t give that information out right away though. I’d like to interact in game or through tumblr a few times before I feel comfortable giving that information out.

I work a lot so I'm not always around. Sorry!

Other Notes –––

I love doing crime RP, but Malika isn't especially violent and does not particularly want to be involved in violent crimes (Read as: She's so very self-interested that she is especially interested in her self not being injured). If she accidentally gets in over her head, that's fun! But, primarily, she prefers mischievous, petty crime and she's not going to willingly get involved in violent/torture crime stuff. We don't need to have intricate plots for me to have fun. We can just sit around on top of roofs or inside of restaurants having our characters just chat too. I find that just as fun. I'm really easy-going. Here's a link to her Carrd if you like! It has more information if the novel I wrote here somehow isn't enough.

[klint-vanzieks]

Forgive my lack of progress on the commission, sir- I’ve been busier than expected lately. But I’m glad you liked my writing, at the very least. I hope I did you justice, at least a bit.

If you’ll indulge me a question, do you have a favorite flower? I promise, there’s a reason I’m asking, even if I can’t tell you why just yet.

-Dubhán

Mr. Ó Muircheartach-

You did more than a fine job with your biography. I do hope the inclusion of personal stories was to your liking. It was... quite nice, to think on better times. Take as long as you need with the commission: it's not as though I'm going to get any more dead.

Irises, although I don't know why. They grow wherever Balmung leaps, and they have become a favourite alongside the hyacinths and spider lilies that remind me of my brothers.

Yours in the meadow,

Prosecutor van Zieks

[thewapolls]

So, it's kind of well known that the original Wild Arms had some real janky "translation" issues, most of which actually accounted for transliteration from Japanese phonetics back to various original languages, rather than true translations from Japanese. Not the least of these being almost the entire big boss line up of Zeikfried, Alhazad, Lady Harken(she was the one who was fine actually) and Belselk, being mishandled from "Siegfried," "Alhazred," and "Berserk." (don't worry we'll come back to some of those later)

But one extra bit that gets sort of swept under the rug is Zeik Tuvai, Zeikfried's surprise final boss fight, where the mangled villain pries himself free from the amalgamation with the more conventional JRPG godmode "final" boss Motherfried to try and take the heroes out with him in a kind of suicide bombing run. (at least in the original where he's clearly been half absorbed and merged with his weapon, tearing his own body in half to escape, spinal cord still trailing behind him. Alter Code F seems to just be his own ascended dragon/angel form? Although he does appear to have taken Mother's heart with him when he escaped)

But that name, "Zeik Tuvai," also retained in the Alter Code F remake, is written in Japanese as, SHII-GU-TSU-VA-I[ジーグツヴァイ] which is very clearly meant to be the Japanese approximation of "Sieg Zwei." As in "Sieg(fried) Two."

But backing up a bit, his name, Siegfried is of course a reference to the Norse hero Prince Siegfried(aka Sigurd) of the Volsung saga, immortalized in various poetic, musical and theatrical works of the German and Scandinavian regions for centuries. Also just very well trafficked in Japanese pop culture as The German mythic hero of choice to reference.

And while we're on the subject of Seigfried... His "sword," the Dark/Demon Spear, GRAM-ZANBER (GU-RA-MU-ZA-N'-BAA[グラムザンバー]) as officially romanized in Wild Arms 5's art design, and originally localized as "Glumzamber"(which for the longest time I just sort of assumed was a sloppy juggling of Gloom Saber back and forth between English and Japanese) appears to be a reference to the mythic Seigfried's legendary sword, Gram(aka Balmung) crossed with a contraction of the Japanese zanbato[斬馬刀]: lit."Horse Killing Sword" referring to a type of giant sword used specifically as an anti-cavalry weapon, appropriate for Gram-Zanber's size.

And the sword Gram is specifically featured as a highlight of Seigfried's slaying of the greed corrupted dwarf turned dragon, Fafnir. Fafnir is Which is of course the boss dragon in Wild Arms 3 that Seigfried merges with to become his final form, Dragnaseig. Incidentally some form of Fafnir has been present in nearly every Wild Arms game, but not always as plot relevant or even as a boss monster.

In the original Wild Arms a monster, mistranslated in English as "Fafneil," appears in the same final dungeon that leads to the ZeikTuvai fight, but as a regular random encounter and without any comment or explanation. It is also a recolor of existing Drake monsters elsewhere in the game. This design appears to have been the loose basis of the Wild Arms 3 redesign.(notably the Wild Arms 2 model looks entirely different from either)

Oh and if it wasn't already clear the associations of Siegfried and the Volsung saga are why the villain Volsung, filling a hierarchical role similar to Siegfried's in Wild Arms 5, also wields his own conspicuously labeled version of the Gram-Zanber.

[faerie-apples]

THE BASICS –––

Name: Ashilanna

Age: 32

Nameday: She’s not really sure. She knows it's about summer time.

Race: Wildwood Elezen

Gender: Female

Alignment: Neutral Good

Marital Status: Unmarried

Server: Balmung

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE –––

Hair: Honey Blonde

Eyes: Bright Blue

Height: 6’3

Build: Tall and Lithe

Common Accessories: Red Scarf, Travel Bag 

PERSONAL –––

Profession: Ash doesn’t really have a profession. She does what is needed for the upkeep of her homestead.

Hobbies: Cleaning, homesteading, long walks, swimming in rivers and ponds

Languages: Eorzean Common

Birthplace: South Shroud

Patron Deity: Nymeia

RELATIONSHIPS –––

Spouse: “No, I haven’t quite had that fortune.”

Children: “I wonder if my animals count…”

Parents: “My parents passed a long time ago, but they were wonderful.”

Siblings: “I am an only child.”

Other Relatives: “My parents were also only children.”

Pets: “I have some chickens, and some local wolves have a tendency to sleep on my porch.”

TRAITS –––

Extroverted / In Between / Introverted - Ash doesn’t always seek people out but when she comes across them she is not shy to strike up conversation.

Disorganized / In Between / Organized - When you rely on yourself and nature to stay alive being organized enough to have the resources needed for every season is a necessity. 

Close Minded / In Between / Open Minded - Ash enjoys learning things about anything outside of her scope of view.

Calm / In Between / Anxious - She’s so calm sometimes it's unsettling.

Disagreeable / In Between / Agreeable - It depends on the topic at hand.

Cautious / In Between / Reckless - She lives alone deep in the woods and runs into strangers all the time. That tree isn’t THAT tall…

Patient / In Between /  Impatient - She’s EXTREMELY patient.

Outspoken / In Between / Reserved - She’s a quiet girl who doesn’t like to fuss a lot.

Leader / In Between / Follower - She has to lead as she needs to be able to know she can take care of herself and the things that need to be taken care of.

Empathetic / In Between / Apathetic - Empathy is one of her best qualities.

Optimistic / In Between / Pessimistic - As is her optimism. 

Traditional / In Between / Modern - Ash takes a traditional hand to her homesteading, but is absolutely open to more modern approaches.

Hard working / In Between / Lazy - All she does is work. Rarely does she take a day off.

Cultured / In Between / Uncultured - She is as cultured as she can be living alone in the woods.

Loyal / In Between / Disloyal - You’ll never find a more loyal friend. 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION –––

Smoking Habit:  “I would prefer not to, but I do keep some on hand in case I need to trade them for something.”

Alcohol: “I am offered a drink sometimes when I visit the inns.”

RP HOOKS –––

Ashilanna is a forest dweller. A little wisp of a woman. Has a tendency to be unfindable when you want her, but there when you really need her.

The Hunters Friend: Ashilanna cannot bring anything down larger than a rabbit. Ash will always seek out hunters for trading.

“Are you lost?”: Ashilanna is known to come upon people who have skewed from their path, and will set you back on the correct one.

Forest Dwellers Friend: If you’ve lived there long enough you have come across her, or at least heard of her. You know she is safe to approach for helping or trading.

CONTACT INFORMATION  –––

You can contact me here or on Twitter @fae-apples. This character is an alt so when I am online you can more than likely find me on my main Mandalina Tristelle. 

Notes –––

I am a parent and I have to manage my time wisely. It is far better to schedule a time for RP rather than just have spontaneous. I am, for the most part, always free after 9PM EST, but can be a little flexible if asked in advance.

[haljathefangirlcat]

Nibelungensage (& Adjacent) Music Masterpost

Or, what happens when you already have a full (if loosely-based) opera cycle to listen to and, in the great tradition of objectively-flawed-but-still-iconic animated classics from your childhood, still ask, "Thank you. But what else?"

Part 1 of Hopefully At Least More Than One to come. Genres range from rock/metal to folk to techno to Stuff I Wouldn't Really Know How To Classify. Can't guarantee all of the songs listed here will be to your taste (after all, not all of them are to my taste, either) but some are, imho, real bangers.

Nibelungenlied (full album) - German Oak

The Song of the Nibelungs (full album) - Wotan

Die Nibelungen (full album) - Årabrot

Drachenblut - (full album) Mystic Circle

H​ô​rt m​î​n Sagen (full album) - Angur

Wigant (full album) - Stainless Steel

Nibelung (full album) - Siegfried

Balmung - Siegfried

Rheingold - Siegfried

Siegfried - Siegfried

Drachenherz - Siegfried

Die Treuewacht - Siegfried

Am Isenstein - Siegfried

Hagen Von Tronje - Siegfried

Hagen the Cruel - White Skull

Kriemhild Story - White Skull

The Killing Queen - White Skull

The Terrible Slaughter - White Skull

Etzel - White Skull

Attle and Bleda - White Skull

Sigurdlied - Faun

Brynhilds Lied - Faun

Brynhildur Táttur - Faun

Dragon - Corpsepain

Hagen Von Tronje - Corpsepain

Nibelungenlied - Wergeld

Der Ring des Nibelungen - E Nomine

Nibelungen - Nico

Siegfrieds Song - Julian Lehmann

SGFRD Dragonslayer - Feuerschwanz

Brunhild - Saltatio Mortis

Brunhilda - Dziewanna

Hagen Von Tronje - Saxorior

Das Hildebrandslied Teil 1 - Menhir

Das Hildebrandslied Teil 2 - Menhir

Hildebrandslied - Transit

[drunkenmoogle]

Drunken Moogle (Bar Night)

Hope you been lucky enough to find one of our vouchers for a free cocktails.

Pick any one from our menu: https://www.mooglesite.com

Tonight, we're open for our usual fun, drinks and games.

Saturday 25th March 2023 9pm UK time Balmung, Lavender Beds, Ward 12, Plot 33

Tonight's Game - Topper

Feel like you can handle your booze? Or at least better than the next guy? How many shots of dark rum do you think you're good for?

Challenge a competitor to a drinking contest by stating how many shots you think you can down. You can up the stakes to however many you like. Whoever bids the highest is the Topper and starts off with the first shot.

Then each of you take turns downing shots. If the Topper reaches their goal, they're declared the winner. If their competitor can't keep up, the Topper wins. But if the Topper can't down their shot, they lose.

Playing the game: /random for each shot (starting with the Topper, then alternating). If you roll under 300, you lose. If the Topper reaches their goal, they win.

Then, we'll gather all the people up that won a round and pit them against each other for a chance at some prizes.