#Out of Garlemald

[sealrock]

because @thefrostflower 's tags wouldn't leave my head

[aethris-art]

I saw one of those "draw your comfort characters like this" posts on twitter, and decided to draw 3 dudes who all make me uncomfortable for different reasons. Original image under the cut

[tokidokifish]

a couple of emmy memes i realized i never posted here but still like

[picaroroboto]

the thing about Solution Nine is that you get used to it - my brother who also plays disliked it from the start because of the aesthetic clash, but I had no such problem. okay it's a little less comfy than other endgame cities because it's main hub is literally a shopping mall, but I like the music and the vibes and the purple, and the NPCs are all pretty happy and chill.

and then you remember or realize that. oh yeah the Alexandrians are happy and chill because they've all got chips in their brains that delete memories of the dead within minutes of their passing. they're refugees from an electric apocalypse but they can't really come to terms with that because they're not equipped to deal with grief.

the people are no longer under threat from Zoraal Ja and his army, and outsiders can come and go as they please, but it is still a dystopia.

[redwylde]

Imagining Silver accidentally accelerating modern technology roughly two centuries faster than it should've progressed because he keeps telling Tails about the innovations from his time.

Tails: I'm at a loss.. I can't figure out how to improve this device any further.

Silver: You mean you haven't discovered [insert crazy maths and chemistry here] yet?

Tails:

[asleepinawell]

if hyth had been an ascian he would have greatly benefited everyone on all sides because he'd have been 100% onto fandaniel's bullshit early on and just have calmly murdered him without a word said

elidibus: where's fandaniel

hyth: he was planning to kill zodiark and restart the final days so I fed him to a morbol

elidibus: what

hyth: what

[voidsentprinces]

I know the whole Horde and Alliance thing works for Warcraft but I am happy that doesn't exist in FFXIV. There is something pleasant knowing there is never going to be an expansion about Grand Alliance in fighting. Like the most we get is, "No one faction of the Eorzean Alliance can control Carteneau so they occasionally get together in one of several random locations to let their soldiers get in a slap fight which usually devolves into Immortal Flames and Gridania punishing each other for racism and the trappings of a capitalist society while Maelstrom is somehow always on point. But sometimes suffers for their colonial values..."

[coldshrugs]

"My siblings? Please don't ask about them. That was a long time ago, but some wounds are not so easily healed."

Io before she was Io, and her siblings Viveka and Arvid.

[myreia]

FEBHYURARY XI: RAID

Acrid smoke lingers heavily on her tongue. Ash chokes her lungs, searing the insides. Her blue and gold uniform is stained and torn. Aymeric’s scarf—a parting gift, was it that long ago now?—trails in the wind, its tattered hem fluttering pathetically behind her. The raid came quickly, overwhelming them in minutes. She is furious she didn’t see the signs beforehand. And so, battered and bruised, her eye stinging from blood that drips from a forehead wound, she stakes her broken lance into the ground and pushes herself up onto one knee.   The monster—impossible in his strength, his size, his speed, an enigma forged of blood and steel—approaches her from behind. Slow, methodical, each step foretelling her doom. But he is not a monster, not to her. For she knows exactly what man lies beneath that armour and she hoped she would never encounter him on the battlefield. Fool.   She knows exactly what face lurks beneath that helmet. She had the dubious honour of fighting the crown prince many years ago—a test of strength and a battle of wills to prove the worth of her fellow savages. When their contest ended in a draw, he told her the memory of their fight had seared itself on him like a brand. Permanent and eternal. Few managed to make such an impression. Her reward? Sanction for her unit to operate—a unit she would later massacre during her defection. Does he still remember? When he glimpses her unmasked face, what will he see? Eorzea’s champion or the Garlean defector? Both? Neither? She licks her dry lips, tasting salt and iron, and hefts her lance, the first embers of vengeance flickering in her heart. It will not end here. In crimson it began… and in black it will be complete.

[gatheredfates]

SKINNING THE CHILDREN FOR A WAR DRUM.

[azems-familiar]

HE LIVES

[squapejuice]

Her Sword.

Her Solace.

[withheartsaligned]

a homecoming, of sorts.

[deus-and-the-machina]

ffxiv garlemald discourse is so funny because people will go "ugh people just cant stand it when things aren't black and white" and then you look at how the empire are portrayed in stormblood and shadowbringers and its like hm. that seems like a pretty intense and accurate display of violent imperialism to me! Wow I wonder why people in this day and age may find it hard to feel sympathy for them or even hate them on principal. god its such a mystery.

the games like 50/50 to me on how it tackles these themes because I actually like the garlemald arc in EW, I think it has a lot of horrific and powerful scenes depicting how self destructive fascist propaganda and beliefs are, but I also think it doesn't go far enough on some fronts. the garleans' xenophobia is most notably and obstacle to getting them to accept the contingent's help, which is what they're there to do,

but there's never an admission of harm from any garleans on the uuuuuuuuh massive amount of war crimes the nations around them are still suffering from they're just kind of like "we misjudged you...but you actually wanted to help us all along" like yeah thats great now can we get you all some deprogramming because you keep talking about returning to your prime and glory days and I think we need to unpack some stuff you really SHOULDNT return to. im not even really talking about EW proper but the patches where things are a bit more chilled out and people are recovering.

It feels like they wanted to have their critique of imperialism and also have things end with the beauty of human connection and reaching out and these things just don't mesh well because hey a lot of your modern day audience is not gonna like having to treat people yelling xenophobic things at the cast and your character with kid gloves after you showed them hours and hours of the awful things these people's beliefs have done. especially in the present day hoo boy.

[mrpinchy]

i have all the ffxiv xpac stuff muted until i finish msq but man i can already feel the discourse lmao

[impossible-rat-babies]

"i know you never intended to be in this world..." "I mean, belonging to it. there is so much to admire, to weep over"