#and an azem who knows the future and would very much like not to die

[astralartefact]

anyways, sometimes you design a 8 7-man-raid series for your shards to unite and fight their azem because reincarnation is a cage

[ahollowgrave]

thinking thoughts about odette's ancient

I think I'm very happy with her physical design (we'll see post DT obvi) but I'm still polishing what she *did* and also her name. I know that I do not ship Emet/Hades romantically with anyone, as much as I love a toxic ship. This old man does not do it for me that way. But I do think............................... I could make myself very sad if Hades viewed the Ancient as a daughter, whose return to the star came (too) early, and who he sees again in Odette. Who thrashes and kicks against him and tells him his plans are dumb and bad. And what if -- What if she didn't die too soon. What if she, instead, rejected his ideas of safety and the future and stood with Azem, stood with Venat. Which is why the names... the names. I went with Leuke originally because in Greek mythology (that I've read) she was nymph Hades 'fell in love with' and then stole away to the underworld. And upon her death Hades turned her into white poplar tree -- the branches of which Heracles crowns himself with. Leuke means white/white popular, Odette is very white-color-coded. White Popular trees are associated with resurrection. It makes sense. And while I know that FFXIV is *inspired* by RL elements and I can name my ancient Leuke and say she's a daughter to Hades and not a lover... But... He does have daughters. And Macaria blessing brave souls with gentle deaths is very fitting for darling Odette. And then we have to cover her JOB because they all have JOBS. I know she will work with Hades, that won't change. She's got soul sight -- her eyes are the same color as odette's purple one which is what she sees ghosties with -- and my original idea was that she was real good at finding and coaxing lost 'souls' into returning to the stream. but I don't think that could be her full time duty, surely. She could be a researcher of the aetherial sea, perhaps. She could be the one to help her fellows descend back into those waters from which all is born... much to think about much to think about!!! i just think emet clocking odette's soul as a sliver of his once-daughter would be a tasty tasty gut punch for me. Also like before anyone "HE WOULDn"T HAVE A DAUGHTER FIGURE" @ me: i do not care (: It's gonna be a toxic daughter/father dynamic with a lot of disappointment on both sides.

[xiv-wolfram]

Famous Last Words - Comic Script

Endwalker - lvl 90

Wolfram is dead...

CW: PTSD, Depression, mention of previous thoughts of self harm

Wolfram Saga Comics (Chronological)

This is the script for a future comic. Posting for those who don’t want to wait to get the story. Numbers indicate frame number. A/B mean a frame is split.

Everything is greyscale. Wolfram is standing at the falls in The Fringes near where his home village was. A literal hellhound stands next to him. Wolf looking around in confusion.

A) Wolf frowns - "What…is this?" B) Hellhound barks - "What do you think? You're dying."

A) Wolf surprised - "Dying?!" B) Wolf ponders - "Yes, of course - Zenos had to be stopped… right?"

Wolf worried, asks the hellhound - "Does this mean…I finally…" B) Wolf’s eyes tearing up, looking lost - "I finally killed myself?"

Hellhound snarls - "Of course you did this to yourself. You've been chasing death for years - too much of a coward to do it, expecting the world to. So when Zenos showed up and you were almost out of Aether you welcomed the challenge knowing full well it would be your end!"

Wolf worried/lost, a tear falls, looking away in shame, only half believing what he's about to say - "No-no that's not true! He's hurt so many people without remorse. Killing is a game to him. I couldn't let him return to Etheirys!"

Wolf looks back at the hound, quickly concealing his emotions and rubbing a tear from his eye - "…And why are you taking that form? You're no voidsent."

A) Hellhound growls as it begins to change shape. B) Younger (21 years old) Wolfram stands where the hellhound was. He's covered in scars and bruises and splattered in blood, tears falling down his face - "So you'd rather I look like this? The real you?"

Wolf clenches his jaw, glaring - "That's not what I look like - you miserable bastard! I'm more than that. I've changed. I’m -" Voice off frame - "Hey! Don't yell at him!"

A very tall woman with the same skin, hair, and eye color as Wolf stands beside the younger Wolfram. She addresses older Wolfram - "He can't help what he is."

A) Wolf surprised B) She smiles at Wolf!21 - "You poor boy…"

Azem hugs Wolf!21, smiling comfortingly - "You didn't deserve any of it, you know."

A) Wolf!40, annoyed - "He did…I did. We’re monsters." B) Azem faces Wolf!40, smiling with her arm wrapped around Wolf!21 - "Neither of you did! And you don’t honestly still believe that ‘monster’ bollocks do you? After everything we’ve done?"

A) Wolf suspicious - "Who are you?" B) Azem grins and winks "Spoilers! Let's just say I want what's best for us and thought you may need someone on your side…"

Azem points to Wolf!21 "Since this one isn't exactly the most helpful fellow. Is he?" Wolf!21 pouts "... helping his pain end is a kind of helping..."

Azem laughs and pats his head "Alright well that's not what we're looking for right now, dear."

A) Azem points to Wolf!21 addressing Wolf!40 - "I did not have all of this awful stuff happen to me…so I'm a good deal more impartial." B) Speaks smugly - "So how about you think of me as your untraumatized self - just with great tits." 

Wolf WTF face - "What in the seven hells is happening right now?!?!"

Azem smiles comfortingly - "You're deciding if you want to live, dear." Wolf!21 grins - "You're *finally* deciding that you want to die."

A) Azem, awkward smile - "Or rather, come back to life. You are very dead right now." B) She smiles - "But it doesn't have to stay that way!"

Color returning but still desaturated. A) Wolf confused - "That's…something I can choose?" B) Azem smiles warmly - "Well of course, dear! You've been choosing life every day for the past 19 years… longer, if you're being honest with yourself."

A) Wolf!21 rolls his eyes - "Or he's just too much of a coward to do anything else." B) Azem winks - "Does the reason matter if the result is the same?"

A) Azem looks at Wolf pointedly - "It does need to be *for you* though. Our heart-chosen will be alright if you don't return. He's stronger than that." B) Wolf beams - "He certainly is! And entirely too good for me… But despite what my younger self believes - I'm much better than I used to be…and with time I can continue to change."

Wolf smiles - "Well if it's my choice then I think I'd like to see -"

Off frame - "Oh stop wasting time! You already know the answer and I've little patience for your dramatic speeches. You *finally* open this door and it's to contemplate death?! You know you’re not alone in here, right?!”

Ardbert, angry, holding Wolf by the collar - "You useless fucking idiot! I've been trying to tell you. She's still there! She's trapped waiting for you! So I don't care about your bloody feelings - You're not going anywhere until you fix this! Reunite her soul on the Fir-"

Color returned. Wolf's eyes snap open as he gasps for air.

Wolfram Saga Comics (Chronological)

[soothingmind]

[Thou must Live, Die, and ... not Know. Azem & Emet, Final Days]

“You have the nerve to show yourself in times like these.”

Emet-Selch didn't move an inch as he felt a very familiar person approaching him. His gaze was yet still drawn into the distance, the darkened red sky covering everything and beyond the far reaches of Amaurot.

“Greetings to you too, Emet-Selch.” Luxu let out an elaborated sigh as they placed a hand on their hip, shaking their head. “I, for one, was hoping I could find you in these last few hours.”

That made him finally turn around and face Luxu, his face ever so stern like Luxu expected it to be. They reached for their blackened mask and let it hang off their neck. And as always their blue eye - ever gazing, ever watchful - glowed stronger than their other.

A small smile started to play on Luxu's lips as they held their palm above their chest, and with closed eyes they went for a small bow.

“I … just wanted to say thank you.”

“... Stop.”

“No, I mean it.” Luxu took a step forward and while Emet-Selch tried his hardest to avoid his gaze, Luxu never took their eyes off him. “This journey means a lot to me. I experienced a lot, saw a lot, laughed a lot - with you, Hythlodaeus, -”

The mention of his name made Emet-Selch grit his teeth and Luxu held up their hand before he could interrupt them with anything.

“What I'm saying is, I'm glad I ran into you all, and I'm glad I could call you a friend.”

“... Azem -”

Luxu turned away from him and took a few steps back, motioning their hand in a manner of speech. “But my journey - my mission - is far from over.”

A Pause. Too long for Emet-Selch's liking, as the world continued to fall apart around them.

“I will continue to watch.” Luxu eyed him again, and Emet-Selch could have sworn that their eye burned into him. “No matter what, I will see it to the end.”

Emet-Selch crossed his arms. The air became much thicker than before, for one last time Luxu's antics didn't make sense to him.

“... Why don't you come with us, then?”

Luxu chuckled and shook their head.

“My other selves will continue. And I hope when you do find them, you will treat them the same as me.”

Another pause. Slowly the realization dawned on him and Emet-Selch released his crossed arms. “Wait, you know about Venat's plan.”

“I was the first to know about it.” A smile. “And I know you and two others are trying to escape it.”

Of course they would know. Nothing ever eludes them! … Elidibus, when I see you next time - Emet-Selch was left with an opened mouth, unable to speak the words that ran through his head.

“But enough about that.” Again, Luxu motioned with their hands. “I actually … wanted to ask you for one last favor. … As a friend.”

After all they just had spoken about, only Luxu could have had the guts to take this conversation to this with Emet-Selch.

“There is a piece of me that cannot, under any circumstances, get sundered.” They took a step forward, closer, much closer than Emet-Selch liked them to be right now. “If it does, then all will be for naught, regardless of what we do now or in the future.”

He squinted his eyes.

“... And I want you to have it.”

Of course his immediate reaction would be to shake his head. Luxu hadn’t expected anything less, and so they continued to press on.

“You may recognize my other selves, but they may not recognize you. But if I maintain even just a sliver of myself in them, then maybe … the chance remains.”

Emet-Selch started to rub his temples with his thumb and pointer finger, covering his face with his palm. “You know you come to me with this at the worst timing ever.”

A half-hearted chuckle. Typical.

“I apologize, I couldn't have done that sooner. Besides, I …” Their expression turned a bit more grim, which Emet-Selch immediately noticed. “... this is not easy for me. And I thought long about who to actually ask in the end.”

Ah. “... I surmise you thought about Elidibus first.” This was hardly a secret as to why and Luxu nodded. It only made Emet-Selch shake his head once more. “What even is this piece? If it's so important that it can't get torn apart, then this is quite a secret you've kept all this time.”

Luxu took a deep breath and held firm their hand above their chest. They wished it would never come to this, but the time was running out and this decision was far from easy.

“An … entity I trapped in my heart a very long time ago, back in my home world.” Luxu never spoke much about their old world, but when they did, it was always with fondness. Much so these words Emet-Selch gathered them with the same good intention. “Me and my friends all trapped a piece of it in us, so it wouldn't initiate the destruction of the world. So …”

Judging by Emet-Selch's changed-to-worse expression, Luxu realized how ironic this all must sound.

“... Do you see now why I don't want it to split apart? Handled by the wrong person, or not handled at all, this could end up even worse than this.”

There were so many things Emet-Selch wanted to ask, he wasn’t even sure where to begin in the first place, let alone if there even was enough time for an explanation why they kept it to themselves all this time.

“Azem, this is quite a lot you ask of me here.” A harsh tone, but Luxu didn't flinch.

“I'm aware.” Their gaze faced the ground and they took a deep breath. “But … this is the only choice I have, if I want to prevent the destruction meant for one world.”

Emet-Selch let out a disappointing sigh and turned his head towards the distance again. The doom and destruction were unmissable, the fires and raging storms hailing down the sky just as far as the eye could see.

What else could be worse than this? What else had the power to eradicate all in its wake, if he wanted to trust Luxu's words?

“Hades?”

The call of his name sent flashes of warmth down his spine, emotions he did not think that would surface in these calamitous hours. He was their friend, he was the person they thought about carrying this burden they held on for so long. They went through so many ups and downs, laughter and antics, and in the end it was a bond he couldn't deny to be fond of.

He turned to Luxu again, his expression telling a tale of defeat, yet with a smile he couldn't hide.

“Alright, fine.” He held out his arms to the side. “I take it. Whatever you need to do, do it.”

Luxu shared the expression and went right into concentrating, closing their eyes to find the ability to draw it out as they held their palm firmly over their chest. The split wasn't easy, their heart had held onto it for so long that there was a notable tug that left them shaking, but thankfully the small orb entombed in dark swirls manifested in their hand right after.

“Don't worry.” Luxu's words were a bit shaky. “The gaol I created for it is indestructible, as long as it always stays together.” Again Emet-Selch wished they could elaborate more, but Luxu was already guiding it towards him. “Thank you, my friend …”

Gently Luxu placed their hand on Emet-Selch's chest, and with ease the orb found its way into his body. A colder shiver rushed through him, having him believe the whole ordeal worked.

Just as the feeling vanished Luxu collapsed right in front of him, grabbing onto his black robe to hold themselves steady -

“Luxu-!” And in his sudden panic, Emet-Selch embraced Luxu in his arms to prevent them from falling to the ground.

“... It appears this took a toll on me. I must apologize.” Luxu mumbled into the black fabric their face was pressed in, slowly regaining strength in their legs again. “But it seems this was a success.”

The success they spoke of could only be summarized by the hole they felt in their heart and the dark presence they now spotted in Emet-Selch's. Nothing he could handle, Luxu specifically picked him for that reason, and as for their own heart - well, it would only be a short while now.

Emet-Selch held them for what must have felt like several minutes. Time he held dear, a feeling and memory none would ever get to know, forever buried into his soul.

Luxu took a deep breath as they finally moved away from Emet-Selch's embrace, their smile ever present.

They both knew the time they now have together was short. To spend these last moments like this -

“... Would you mind staying for a few more moments?” Emet-Selch's words surprised Luxu quite a bit, but they nodded regardless. “Maybe you can tell me about your home one last time.”

With a chuckle Luxu joined his side, both of them drawing their gaze into the distance.

[abimee]

can you tell me abt ruhan and ryder? very cool guys 10/10

YOU BET I CAN

Ruyan is a 28 year old she/him agender bisexual and Ryder is a 24 year old she/her transmasc bisexual, they met when ryder was 8 and ruyan was 12 becayse ryder killed one of ruyans bullies on accident.

Ryder is actually from another timeline of Ruyans universe, and in a sense is that timelines Ruyan but in the sense that theyre both actually a piece of the same person from millions of years ago (a lady named azem). Ryder's world went to shit because in her timeline of events graha tia never woke up from the crystal tower abd the ascians won their fight to rejoin their star system. They took Ryder and fucked her up making her similar to an ascian where shes a soul without a body that cannot die and enter the lifestream unless under very specific bindings. they then just sort of let her go because they won so its not like she could do anything to them and sort of just fucked her up to see if they could remake their original self existence before just making another dead soul.

she then took her old body, stole a dudes vital organs, and used the knowledge disposed to her in her dead world to move over a timeline and ended up in ruyans. she then put her stolen organs into the body of a dead child who gave themself to their god to exit out of the reincarnation cycle and used the fresh organs to revitilize the body so it can age and "live" and ryder can create the false belief that she was a normal living child. and then she accidently killed one of ruyan bullies because she was a 20 year old champion of the world destined to fight now stuck inside a kids body trying to act like one while also having severe anger issues

ruyan is an abandoned child who under his family teachings believes that indulgence and wanting will get him punished by their gods because their ancestors indulged too much and now must deprave themselves to win back the mercy. hes very sensitive and tries to be bold but often gets picked on by kids for his belief that he is his communities reincarnated god as they believe that you can see the gods in certain peoples eyes and those two are destined to marry. but everyone sees ruyan as a crybaby and a strange child and he has little support to keep him strong until he meets ryder, who would kill for him

they protect each other and eventually at age 16 ruyan takes ryder away to try to form a new life elsewhere, eventually leading him to his current life in eorzea. cue the story of the game they exist in FINAL FANTASY FOURTEEN

ryder eventually resees her universe and beyond and sees all that wouldve happened if it didnt explode in her face, and even meets the man who let her world die and ruyan has a crush on him and ryder is so godsamn terrified of it because he broke her heart before her world ended and shes scared thats destiny in this tl and ruyan is very fragile since this is the first time hes ever fallen in love and she seems adament to believe graha is his soulmate. dude does the same thing and it ruins ruyans world for him

but its fine because ryder sees a part of the tl that never existed for her and a man shes never seen before who acts close to ruyan abd she recognizes that this means something. she can see things under the surface ruyan cant because she knows this story so when something is different or altered she chases the possible outcome and tries her hardest to push for ruyans life to be happy and joyful and for him to live on where ryder didnt. and he meets his future husband but he still believes hea destined with graha while ryder is eating cardboard because she can SEE how different ruyan acts towards this elf guy like hes not tense and shaky like he was with graha hes relaxed and pushy and laughs loudly and he can see the way the man returns every toch affectionately and ryder is basically experiemcing a movie where she knows how it ends and the snails oace writing is making her scream for it to just happen already

eventually she ought to let ruyan know of her existence as what she is and she does when ruyan himself learns he IS the god he thought he was, because his god azim was an ancient interpretation of this ancient being named Azem who lived in the first iteration of their world, he is a shard of her existence that split amongst the worlds born of the original world. and so he has to know that ryder is just a ghost of a dead existence and that she too is just a long forgotten veing grasping for the threads of life.

and eventually she does gotta leave. her time will be up one day and ahe cant keep living in a world not made for her, she just haf nowhere to go and nobody to hold onto but her time with ruyan had shown her all the love and joy in the world that couldve been and that she needs to accept that she cant have that. ryder is a trope i really like of like a cathartic bad ending, she is someone who will not get a happy ending and there are people in this world like that and to accept that and that she has to let go is very important to me. she has to disappear and let ruyan lead through his life and the universe made for him, but shes at least happy she got to help ruyan there, like it was fate for them to meet; one life for one world etc etc

and ruyan int fully alone when ryder disappears, because they both know that she wont just cease; her exist will be reborn, someone else in this universe will take her place, another ryder will come and the ryder of this timeline ia out there somewhere. there are flecks of her in this univers dug into the fabric of it and ruyan will forever see her presence where it left its mark; ruyan will hear her laughter in his own, see her silhouette in her faborite chair, see her running through a crowd and disappear before he can call to her. people pass him and he swears its ryder but they look nothing alike, ryder in people who do not answer to that name and do not recall a thing. even a Shade of Ryder lives in in amaurot, the hollow concept of her existence given refuge in the concept of a world that died long ago.

ruyan even eventually meets the person Ryder is reincarnated into, years later when hes married and wishing to have a child and he meets this aggressive, stubborn, obnoxious child abandoned to the orphanage by parents who died and a family that refused to accept them. the child calls himself Hildegarde and he pushes his classmates, refuses the authority of his teachers, he plays by himself and in that look of rage in his eyes does Ruyan see all the pain and sorrow of Ryder reborn into the world, the part of ther that gave her existence meaning and morphed into its own being seperates from azem, from being ruyans other, from being ryder. and with that Ruyan is able to see Hildegarde for what he truly is but a poor kicked dog that everyone refuses to listen to its begging and ruyan is able to get through to the child and show him that he can be loved and accepted and cherishes, even with fangs and claws and bites because

because its what ryder showed ruyan

[potassium-pilot]

Prompt 27: Benthos

Why am I back here again, Dia thought.

There was no reason, really. It felt right to her. Whatever the others might say of this place, whatever horrors she experienced here, Amaurot fascinated her. She traversed the city and listened to them, to her people…or to the people that she once knew, at least.

Why would Emet-Selch allow them their opinions still? Why would he not want them all to simply agree with the course of action taken by the Convocation? Would it have not made him feel more justified to rewrite history? These were questions that plagued her when she thought of Amaurot.

“This place creeps me out, you know”, Ardbert commented.

“Noted. Now where do you think we should go next?”

“Ishgard, if you would.”

“Before that.”

“Urgh, I don’t understand you sometimes. Why can’t it be as simple as, ‘This place is creepy and dark and made by an Ascian; perhaps we should avoid it.’”

She rolled her eyes. “It’s more than that, and you know it. This was…our home once.”

“No, it’s a recreation of Azem’s home. It’s dead, Dia. Dead and gone.”

“I’m aware of that, thank you. I also watched the Final Days and we’re apparently due for a repeat. That doesn’t mean that a recreation can’t be found intriguing.”

“It can if you let it.”

She kept walking past Macarenses Angle. Azem’s crystal seemed to pulse as she walked in the same rhythm. She seemed to want something, to add her own voice.

“Azem, no more kissy-face with Emet-Selch, I’m begging you”, Dia whispered softly as she gripped the stone in her inventory. She bound for a nearby bench, and took a seat. The familiar pull of the past taking her away embraced her.

*********

“On that note, I would like to draw this meeting to a close.”

Emet-Selch’s voice rang across the assembly hall. The fourteen stood in respect before he dismissed them.

Azem dreamed of the day they would finally intervene, recognize that their duty to the world has always been plain. The circumstances which led them to this point, however, devastated her. Her fellow convocation members, her friends, her family- all of them were in danger. She needed to protect them, and although the matter was grave indeed, it was strangely refreshing for her to see the Convocation finally acknowledge the threat at their doorstep.

The solution was anything but.

A dark primal concept?! Azem thought, They want to kill half of Amaurot to save Amaurot?! Unacceptable! That won’t save anyone! The dark primals only want more power, more aether! Their dark primal won’t rest until it’s consumed everything whole. I saw it happen with the other primal concepts, bless Lahabrea’s heart; I will not see this primal of theirs consume everything I hold dear.

To that end, she marched to the office of Elidibus, and knocked on his door.

“Enter”, he called.

She opened the door and greeted him with a typical wave and smile. “Can we talk? Just you and me?”

“I’m a bit busy at the moment, but I can certainly find the time for you. What do you need, Azem?”

Azem stepped forward and took her seat. “That was…a more emotionally charged debate than I was prepared for”, she tried to calm herself with humor, and Elidibus gave a light laugh in return. “Indeed. I suppose the Final Days do bring out a different side of all of us. You paid attention in a meeting for once.”

“I know. I never thought it would come to this”, she joked before asking in a more serious tone, “But…are you okay?”

“I’m better than okay. I have a chance here, Azem. We have a chance. We can save Amaurot.”

“But…can we though?”

“Azem, we debated this for hours. Half of Amaurot is better than complete engulfment.”

She argued the point as firmly as she ever could have, which meant little compared to the masters of debate she encountered regularly. Primals demand much and more, and drain power and aether. Dark primals demand sacrifice, in particular. Unfortunately, she exhausted all arguments in the assembly hall. She had no rational argument left within her to turn them away from such an irrational solution.

“And we’ll use what’s left to bring them back.”

She had also argued that what these primals can bring back will be nothing more than husks; the amaurotines would be long gone.

Especially Elidibus.

“But why you?”

“What do you mean, Azem?”

“Elidibus, if you become the heart of this primal, that’s it. There’s no going back. You’ll be consumed whole, left with nothing to show for it. The only thing that could even have a shred of you is…” she didn’t finish the sentence. She couldn’t bring herself to do it.

“If I use the power of the primal to recreate my form, as we discussed.”

Azem shook her head, her face growing hot. “Elidibus, that won’t be you. That’ll be a creature, an abomination with one sole purpose.”

“Better that than to leave Amaurot in the hands of calamity.”

Damn this mask, she thought as her tears stung her eyes. She stood up, and stepped to his side, making Elidbus turn to her and gawk at her clear breach of Convocation etiquette. She fell to one knee, and took his hands.

“Please, Elidibus”, she choked out through the lump in her throat, “I don’t want you to die. You’re so young. You have so much potential. You have a future ahead of you, my friend.” Her voiced shuddered before she begged him, “Reconsider, give me time to think of a better solution. Stand with me as I’ve stood with you before.” Her tears were contagious, as the young amaurotine felt his own well up too.

“I’m sorry, Azem. But time is so precious, so valuable. My future means nothing if all I hold dear is brought to ruin.”

Her tears dripped behind her mask and rolled down her cheeks.

“Damn it all”, she seethed, and ripped the mask of her face to wipe away her tears. The face she kept from her young friend for so many years laid bare in front of him.

“Elidibus, look at me.”

“I-I am…”

“No, I mean without the mask. Please. I may never have this chance again. I beg you.”

He hesitated.

He thought back through the years. He respected her, treated her like a sister as she treated him like a brother. They dined together, enjoyed their leisure time together, she knew his family as he knew hers. Yet through it all, he did not remove the mask in front of her. It felt akin to baring himself naked to her.

But when he stared into her eyes and witnessed the sorrow emanate from her soul, the choice became clear.

He removed his mask and revealed to her the hazel eyes and cherub cheeks he concealed. It only agitated her further to see the man- barely a man- that would become Zodiark’s heart.

“I will not sit by and align myself with this madness. I will not associate myself with the end of our very star. If the Convocation should move forward with the proposal to summon this dark primal…I will resign.”

His tears burned in his eyes, and he wiped them away with his hands. “Don’t do this, Azem!” he sobbed, “Don’t make me choose between my loved ones and my world!”

“I chose my world when I argued against the summoning. Your loved ones are in this world, Elidibus.”

“Don’t you see I have no choice?!”

“You have a choice, Elidibus, and I beg you to make the right one!”

“I will not forsake my duty, Azem!”

There, the line was drawn in fire. Azem and Elidibus stood on opposite sides of it, and watched the past burn.

She turned her back to him and replaced her mask on her face.

“Then it would appear our business is concluded”, she stated coldly.

The door opened and closed. The rustle of her robe as she stormed out was the last thing he heard before he sunk his head into his arms as they crossed on his desk and cried softly into them. The salt water stained his desk.

The memories flashed too quickly for Dia to keep up, but the last memory was clear; Azem clutched a white robe and red mask, and wept into the cloth.

********

The tug of the past released itself from Dia’s soul and she returned to Emet-Selch’s paradise.

“It would appear the burden of Azem has unveiled itself to you.”

Dia jerked her head to her right and met her gaze with Hythlodaeus.

“Hello, my new old friend.” She couldn’t help but smile. “Hello to you, Hythlodaeus. How are you?”

“I am well. Forgive me for startling you; I was merely curious as to how the stone fares with you, and if it grants you the wisdom I had hoped it would.”

She let out a light laugh. “Yes and no.”

The amaurotine hummed. “Helios was capable of balancing her impulsive nature with implacable wisdom. This made her a great fit for the seat of Azem along with her combat prowess. Perhaps this was why Hades loved her so; his impulsiveness rivaled hers, thus do I find myself at the bottom of the sea.”

“You know where we are?”

“It’s difficult not to draw conclusions when fish people occasionally wander in.” She shrugged her shoulders.

“Did you know Elidibus, Hythlodaeus?”

“Not as well as I knew dear Hades, but I knew him. Helios loved inviting him over for drinks, the occasional card game, and park outing. He followed Helios like a lost puppy, and it drove Hades crazy.” Dia laughed at his recollection. Hythlodaeus turned his head to face the ground in front of him.

“When Elidibus sacrificed himself, she lost more than just him. Hades was also corrupted to Zodiark’s influence to the point where he never appeared in the apartment again. She knew only sorrow, and I could only be of such comfort.” He moved his gaze to hers.

“Dia, I barely know you, yet I can see you’ve suffered great loss and sacrifice. I can only hope you can keep those you hold dear. I can only hope that you will live a happy life. Most of all, I can only hope that those who find you dear shall keep you close. Already do I find myself holding you dear…both of you.”

“What?”

“I speak of the other piece of you that resides within; a strange thing, it is. He’s not rejoined with your soul, yet he’s perfectly aligned with it”, Hythlodaeus explained.

“Oh good, it can see me. Just the thing to give me nightmares”, complained Ardbert.

“He need not fear. Much like Hades, I am gifted with the ability to see souls. I mean no harm.” Dia couldn’t help but find herself amused at his squeamishness with the amaurotines.

“I see. Thank you, Hythlodaeus.” She rose from the park bench. “As a matter of fact, I need to tend to the ones I hold dear now.”

“Of course. May we cross paths again soon, my new old friend.”

She nodded with a bright smile and prepared Teleport.

“Thank the gods we’re leaving”, praised Ardbert.

Cram it, she whispered.

***********

The night sky glazed over the Source. It was 10pm and Dia only just left the Syrcus Trench. She called upon her black chocobo to carry her to the Rising Stones. The doors flung open at her command and she walked past them with what confidence she could muster.

“Ah, Dia, I expected you to be in Ishgard. Is aught amiss?” greeted Alphinaud. He sat at a table near the bar alongside Alisaie and G’raha with a deck of Triple Triad cards.

“Oh, uh, well, I had hoped to speak with you in private, but if you’re busy…”

“Nonsense. I’m happy to make time for you. That said, must it be in private?”

She thought about it for a moment. “I mean…I guess it’s not anything particularly sensitive…”

“Anything you can say to Alphinaud, you can say to me”, Alisaie added.

“As well as I”, G’raha chimed in.

She didn’t expect an audience, but she was presented with little choice.

“Very well”, Dia took in a big breath through her nose and let it out through mouth. “I just want to say…I want you to be okay, Alphinaud.”

His eyebrows furled in confusion.

“Sixteen summers is far too young to be dealing with any of this. Hells, when I lost my fathers to the Calamity, I could barely keep myself together and I was twenty-five.”

“You lost your fathers to the Calamity?” G’raha asked.

This shocked the other two as well. For as long as they’ve known her, they knew surprisingly little of her past before she joined the Scions.

“It’s not the point. My point is, you have experienced so much loss, and pain, and betrayal. The people you’ve lost, the things you’ve seen; no one your age should be subjected to such things, and yet you are, and yet you grow stronger for it. I want you know that I see you, Alphinaud. I see you and I am so proud of you. But I don’t want you to bear it by yourself.”

Alphinaud wiped his building tears away with his sleeve. “I don’t bear it alone”, he explained, “I never have. I’ve had you. You’ve been my beacon when the light of the dawn grows dim. You’ve been an anchor to keep me aweigh where I would find myself adrift. We’ve shared these burdens together, and I promise, wherever we go, we will always share them.” She couldn’t help, but drop down and wrap the young one into her arms. The other two rose from their seats and piled themselves onto the pair. Dia and Alphinaud released the floodgates onto each others shoulders, quietly sniffling.

“We fight together. These burdens shall be lifted by all of us”, said G’raha, “Come what may, we need not fight alone.”

“Dia, in the past, you’ve fought these battles in solitude, but our future will be shaped by all of us fighting at your side.”

They enjoyed this rare moment of closeness together. Dia’s not one for sentimentality, but she couldn’t stop herself. She wanted him to know.

Elidibus, I’m sorry you were led to make such a decision and that Azem couldn’t be there. That you should bear the burden of the ancient world at such a young age is a tragedy no one should experience. But I will make it right with this one.

This one will not walk alone.

[charlottedabookworm]

it’s been almost two months i’m still reeling from endwalker and i want to write everything. so have this little (...not so little maybe) snippet of Set (+ ghost fren) in Elpis (no i’m not procrastinating working on my actual fics of course not) because i could have probably lived in that zone if the game let me

“So, this is Etheirys?” 

He doesn’t twitch, long since used to the grief-fuelled echo that comes to stand beside him.

“It’s- big, I suppose. Pretty, in a way,” a memory of Ardbert says, staring around him with a raised brow. “Not sure what all the fuss was about, honestly.”

Unable to help himself, X’tefh’a smiles. “Not every place can be Lakeland,” he murmurs beneath his breath and knows he should not. Every chirurgeon he’s been dragged to, his cousin included, has told him to ignore the hallucinations but-

Ardbert had spent a century, alone and unseen and ignored. Set cannot do that to him, not even to a hallucination dredged from the depths of his traumatised mind. 

“You aren’t wrong,” the figment at his shoulder laughs, leaning forward to gaze at the Ancients before them. “I just expected more, with the way Emet-Selch never shut up about the place.”

And he-

Set can’t say he hadn’t thought it; even if he tried to, his trauma-induced brain-to-ghost filter had just said it for him. Etheirys, what he’s seen of it, seems normal. Different from home, certainly, foreign in that same way the First was, except stranger still for how much everyone looked like one another.

Etheirys, Elpis, is just another place and he cannot reconcile what he sees here with the paradise that Emet-Selch had painted a picture of but-

He’s not sure he needs to.

No, Etheirys isn’t a paradise, it isn’t special, it almost certainly isn’t perfect but- “It was his home,” he says, a breath against the wind, because he knows exactly what it is one would do for their home. And this was home, for so many people. So many people who will die, at some point in a not-so-distant future, and they are happy and sad and alive and X’tefh’a aches with the knowledge that one day all of this will be gone.

Another home, taken.

His companion grimaces and opens his mouth and-

“Set?” Hythlodaeus walks up to him, his head tilted as his gaze tracks something to the side of him. “Ah, another of Azem’s familiar’s, perhaps? I didn’t know the man had such an interest in them; although perhaps I should speak to him, two familiars with such thinness of aether is a worrying trend- Set?”

“You-” He swallows, heart in his throat. He tracks the line of Hythlodaeus’ gaze. “You can see him.”

He stares directly at Ardbert. 

“Yes? Am I not supposed to be able to? Please do not tell me that your master has been trying again to fool our sight, Emet-Selch may actually kill him…” The ancient continues to speak, telling what should be a fascinating story of his childhood.

Set ignores him, staring at the hallucination. “He can see you?” He asks, stumbling over the words, tongue heavy and too big and his heart beating against his horns.

Ardbert, dead and gone and alive enough that Hythlodaeus can see him, smiles. “Aye, that he can.”

“You’re here.”

“Do I have somewhere else I should be?” Ardbert, Ardbert, mutters with a roll of his eyes, his arms crossed across his chest in supposed annoyance, but his eyes are soft and his warm is warm and-

He’s real, Tefh’a thinks. He’s really here. He never left and he-

He’s a ghost, he realises. Still trapped, unable to interact with anything, unable to speak with anyone but for Set and-

Hythlodaeus had noticed him. Had seen him; exactly like he had for him.

Hadn’t he had a similar problem, just hours before? Unseen and unheard and incorporeal, unable to interact, only to observe? 

Lightning shoots through his veins, as sure as a strike from Ramuh, and his thoughts whirl and coalesce and break apart like schools of fish upon the waves and he-

“I’m about to do something very stupid,” Set says and in the corner of his eye, he can see the Ancients still. He smiles, wide and giddy and oh, Raha is going to have so many words with me for this. “Do you trust me?”

His brother, twin of his soul, shakes his head with a fond grin. “Against my better judgement.”

He laughs, tilting his head back in the warmth of the sun. Closing his eyes, Tefh’a reaches into that part of himself he could still feel, shorn apart under the never-ending press of light, into that place where he can feel Ardbert, holding the pieces of his very soul together.

A deep breath.

He reaches and remembers, remembers aether curling around him and soaking into every pore of his body, strengthening his form until he stands solid in a time and world not his own. Old texts, read as a child fascinated with a world he didn’t remember flit by, and he calls upon all he can remember and-

Let form become function, he thinks and summons his lance.

The crystal, Crystarium crystal, hums with concentrated aether at the point of it and Set twirls the weight of it in his hand. “If you had the strength to take another step,” he speaks into the air, tasting the sudden weight behind his words. “Could you do it?”

He opens his eyes.

Flips his lance in his grip and holds it out.

“Could you save our worlds?” He murmurs and it is memory and ritual and spell.

Ardbert grins at him, confusion in his face smothered by trust that Tefh’a doesn’t deserve. “What,” he says, the script they’re quoting familiar as he reaches out. “All by myself?”

His hand comes into contact with the shaft.

Stops.

Holds.

Aether explodes between them for a heartbeat, two, until they stand there blinking spots from their eyes, lance held between them like a lifeline.

Tefh’a stares at his brother, more solid than he’s ever seen him.

“You!” Emet-Selch snarls but he cannot bring himself to turn to him. “What did you just do?”

“Tefh’a?” Ardbert asks, eyes wide with shock and hope and desperate, clawing disbelief.

His smile widens, giddy and bright and shaky, and he pulls his brother - his twin - in until he can grasp him in a hug. “I believe,” he murmurs into the desperate press of him. “I’ve figured out what they meant by a concept.”

The hume shudders in his arms, sobs and laughter intertwined. “Thank you.”

“What.” Hythlodaeus sounds utterly blank, Emet-Selch still fuming at his side. The Ancient is completely still for the first time since he had met him and his purple eyes are narrow and dark.

Set laughs, the sound scraping hoarsely at the back of his throat, and turns so he can smile at them. “This is Ardbert,” he tells them giddily as his cheeks ache from grinning so wide. “He’s my brother.” He says and knows it answers none of their questions.

He doesn’t care.

(He’s already told them the most important thing)

[usagi-mitsu]

📗Fanfic plot? 👀👂

THANK YOU FOR ASKING!

I have the whole plot of a detailled story about Solus zos Galvus' reign in my head: Starting with him as child and later young soldier (a branching story ark would then go off to tell the tale of my MCs from my "The Old Guard" story), how he became legatus, took over the republic, became emperor and up to his death.

The story would touch on how he would calculate every move he makes, with the inner workings of Emet-Selch's intricate planning laid bare. It would try to make sense of his relationships with his family: Wife, sons, (daughters,) grandchildren, soldiers and so on; while the man behind the curtain actually doesn't want to care for them, but does nontheless.

I would like to put especial emphasis on his relationship with his first born son, the one who dies long before the story of 1.0 picks up: In my head I've been thinking a lot about the possibility of Emet-Selch having revealed himself to said son, but unlike Varis, he does not react kindly to it and decides to dethrone his own father. Which doesn't work of course. And it would be even more tragic, if the soul of said son woudl have been Azem's shard, with ES thinking that he could perhaps have Azem back and on his side this time. Alas... the son has to die.

Later on it would also be explained how Varis became so "accepting" of Emet-Selch as his grandfather: A young Varis would be terrified at first, but catch himself fast - not only his life, but also the future of the country he so dearly loves would be forfeit, if he opposed this ancient being hell-bent on calling forth another calamity. Which would later play a part in him becoming emperor, as he knows things his opponents don't.

I would follow the developement of all things magitek and culture, the conquests and I would most definetly propose that Emet-Selch to some degree influenced/experimented on Zenos - to maybe propose an explanation of said princes dreams and special ... abilities.

The whole thing would culminate in a masterfully orchestrated war for the throne, which would not be depicted, but start at the very end of the last chapter - the moment when Solus zos Galvus dies, his mission fullfilled, Emet-Selch ready for sleep.

Again - thank you SOOOOO much for asking!!!!! <3

[themadchemist]

Original Arciela and Anais:

Arciela wasn't originally my FFXIV WoL (I had another one but I forgot all the details and couldn't find my old docs so I just reused the original Arciela), she’s an OC from an original story that I've had for years!

Set in a world where I merged all the Final Fantasy, Fire Emblem, Warriors Orochi and some other worlds into one XD.

Her appearance is the same for the most part, the OG Arciela looked like Anais in the past and WoL!Arciela in the future.

Just like WoL!Arciela and Anais, she was originally an alchemist and a powerful mage (a sage in FF jobs) who also into botany and cooking, which is why she had a big and beautiful graden and greenhouse where she grew her own fruits, vegetables and herbs for potions. The beloved healer of the town.

One day, she was summoned to the local orphanage to take a look at a new child they had, who had "strange" regenerative abilities, that turned out to be only healing magic, but it was strange that he could use such magic at a very young age nonetheless. She took him and raised him as her own, and mentoring him in magic along the years. He was a genius with magic and he grew up to be an exceptional red mage. His name was Kazenov (another old OC of mine).

One day, during a war, Kazenov was captured by the enemy who, knowing of his genius and mastery of magic, experimented on him and imbued his eyes with a spell that would let him turn those he looked at into stone, sucking their life energy out and using it for other purposes and locked his memories away in the process, to make it easier to control him later on.

Arciela, worried about her son, went out on her own to find him. Chained and blindfolded, she found him in a prison deep in a cave, where she freed him and restored his memories. The story of the mage who slaughtered an entire army in search of someone, of Arciela, reached the people in her town, who thought that she was only a healer. They began to fear her when they knew of her power and when someone who was spying on her, misunderstood her attempt to heal Kazenov's eyes for blinding him and ruining his eyes (the excuse they used to explain the blindfolds he wore in public, the nier automata ones) and told the people about it, they began to hate her.

After an accident while trying to cure Kazenov, they became immortal. They stopped aging and being affected by most diseases. While Kazenov became completely immortal, Arciela could still die but she could be revived and healed whenever water touched her body. The townspeople, witnessed her first accidental resurrection when rain touched her supposedly dead body and that was her cue to the town for good.

They wandered for centuries (which is why I decided that Anais would be Azem, because OG Arciela also helped the people she met on her travels), without finding a cure for both Kazenov's eyes and their immortality. Considered to be abominations, the gods of the realm sought to capture them if killing them proved impossible even to them.

In that battle, Kazenov used the power of his eyes too much and the excessive use turned him into stone as well. Arciela, thinking her son was dead, went berserk and as it heavily rained, she was unstoppable, earning the titles "Slayer of the Old Gods" and "Queen of Sin" (from the song Requiem from Code Vein, that, considering that the lyrics' translation is correct, fit Arciela really really well and it's used as a ballad about her in the story). It was only when it stopped raining that Arciela ran out of power, her body reaching its limit because of the quick and constant regeneration.

Knowing that she won't die no matter what and seeing no reason to live when she failed to protect her son, she surrendered. Unknown to her, Kazenov got out of his stoned state and he was able to control the power of his eyes afterwards, but he was also captured. Separated and chained at the edges of the world, Arciela wept for an eternity, and from her tears, a magical white tree sprouted (upon which Anais' tree is based) while Kazenov waited patiently to gather enough energy and power to save him mother. (he was locked up in a deep cave, that the people on that edge of the world, thought was haunted because no one who went in to explore returned alive. It wasn't really Kazenov who killed them but the traps that were laid for him in case he managed to get out.)

The death of the old Gods sent the world into a state of imbalance and some centuries later the old world crumbled and was destroyed. Arciela, being the only one with enough power and wishing to atone for destroying the world, created the new world from the wreckage and ashes of the old one and became a sort of a Goddess, but, still mourning, she decided to stay in her old prison, chained and hidden from the world, letting other "lesser Gods" run the world.

The others were worshiped and Arciela, after the people found records of her past, was hailed as the "Fell Goddess".

Her role in creating the world was unknown to the people save for an unknown author who wrote the true story, one that was probably killed by followers of the the other Gods. Thus, very few people knew of her true role. One of them is a noble knight who would one day accidentally find the path to the world of the Mother Goddess. (Another OC, whom Ser Ausbasch is based on, who's also based on Zenon Ausbasch from Romancing Saga Re: Universe).

This has gotten pretty long so I'll write the rest later.

[natsunoomoi]

More Lengthy Thoughts on 5.3

Spoilers under the cut. I can’t hold it in anymore and need to write it somewhere to let it out.

I’m sure like many others The Seat of Sacrifice really shook me internally. Some people started to feel for Elidibus. I did probably a little bit the moment when he forgot who he swore to to uphold his duty, but overall I still felt like he acted too much like a pompous dick so I didn’t feel that bad for him.

The only thing that pushed me a bit more positive is also the very reason why Emet-Selch is cemented as my favorite and that is that one moment in the trial when he shows up as his Amaurotine form to pull you from the rift before swaggering away. It’s not truly him because he’s definitely dead, but throughout 5.3′s story you see what he left behind for you. All of these things he must have planned and planted somehow. Maybe they were on a timer or something or he had some kind of a trick so that they only showed up for you and for you to find them and entrusted his Hythlodaeus with the Azem stone. He did all of this for you and to help his friend who lost his way and can no longer remember his purpose. The depth of his caring just broke me and saddened me even further.

And the big question for me and the main reason why I’m writing this post is because I am wondering when he planned this. When did he set all of this up? He obviously made the stones long in advance before and as someone who is pretty seriously depressed and burdened by the memory of his home he kept them secure and would be the best one to safeguard those stones and along those lines made the 14th one on his own as Hythlodaeus stated, but he planned them to show up for us. When did he decide that? He must have orchestrated for Hythlodaeus to find us around then too and to give us Azem’s.

And then at some point, he left that piece of himself to be ready to help us. That’s a huge how and when because we were in the Crystal Tower at the time.

Initially, I was thinking that perhaps he thought close to before we faced off against Vauthry he thought perhaps we may be worthy so he set all of it up just in case things would unfold where he would die. If he didn’t, then no worries nothing would activate and he could keep going. But if we were able to meet his challenge as the incarnation of his friend then he could finally rest in peace and rightfully we should be made whole if possible. That could definitely be set up around then at the last minute.

But what screws up that theory is the piece of himself showing up in the Crystal Tower.

He must have been planning it for a long time. Perhaps just observing in general what we’ve been doing with the death of Lahabrea and Elidibus asking him to return to his Solus body as a clone of his original. Tales from the Shadows indicates clearly he’s been looking for a way out and for another way for a long time. But with disappointment and things, he resigned himself to just sticking with the plan because nothing else seemed to be viable. Then we show up and miracles happen around us. 

There’s some bit of time between his reappearance as Solus and when he shows up before us, so perhaps he’s observing from afar. He can see who we are and perhaps is a little sentimental about it, but also a spark of hope flutters in his heart that maybe, just maybe his old friend can do it and stop the cycle. So he watches and as he was asked to step onto the scene to try to keep up the effort, he does so obligingly as there’s technically no better option, but just in case he thinks about an alternate plan involving befriending us. 

Obviously he’s probably talked with Elidibus before about the appearance of the Crystal Tower because he knows its origins and helped to set up the Allagan Empire as well back in the day, so he knows that it’s on Elidibus’ radar as a target for a possible place of showdown or something that they want to get their hands on. Taking that into account, that probably also influenced his decision to observe us up close and to cooperate and help us on our journey as a different approach to dealing with us. We probably swayed him a bit from our heroic acts on the Source that maybe we could do it, so he needed to start setting some stuff up just in case and part of that required access to the Crystal Tower. If he’s friends with Team Hero then he can have actual entry to it without issue and one of the moments he’s hiding from us or the Crystal Exarch before making his grand entrance to poke the bear a bit more in the Tower, he plants something that will trigger only in the right moment just in case in the future that he isn’t there. He had to have set this up during our travels with him. It’s possible he planted other small pieces of himself in other places just in case the showdown ended up happening there too, but still, he must have thought about it for awhile before to orchestrate it in that way.

His pain and the way he talked to us too. The stone perhaps is similar to the crystals that the Exarch’s soul and the souls of the Scions operates where the receiver has to be open to accepting it. So he talked a lot with us about our home, about who we were, and some hints here and there about our relationship back then. Small things here and there and knowledge into Hythlodaeus even that allows pieces of our story to come back to us so that we can accept our original seat. And even though he put us through a final trial against him, it was both a final test and also a way for him to show us and help us to remember our home and the legacy of our people and a way for him to basically be euthanized. He planned and set up everything including how he would walk away that one time just so that we could tell it was he who gave us these gifts.

Like the stones it wasn’t that surprising that he made those or kept them or that they’d be in Amaurot because he like made the replica city to basically revel in his depression and nostalgia. But the set up just for that final trial moment and to give us our stone, that had to have been his plan the whole time he was with us. If he was wrong then they’d win and they’d start the Calamity. If he was right though, it was big and important and the culmination of his love for his people and even that he felt for his friend would come to fruition. I’m just blown away about the amount of thought and planning that must have gone into that. Even caring not only for his people, but for us and even for Elidibus to understand his suffering and his obsession with duty. The hidden kindness he held to make this elaborate set of events so that we would be left with the best version of ourselves, but all of it in secret because we had to go into the Dying Gasp with us actually believing he was an annoying dick. This is a man who reveled in the enjoyment of the theatre and was an incredible patron of the arts when he was Solus and masqueraded several times as different people throughout the ages. He can act and act well he did to play the part of the villain while also leaving behind things to be of help.

But like Amaurot in itself he also like made recently like before you go in to the Tempest. He invites you there after you face off with Vauthry and are unable to contain the light and kidnaps the Crystal Exarch, but when exactly did he build it? It’s recent and the sahagin-like beasts there (I forgot their name) say that the water being moved and stuff has disrupted their society and blah blah blah. But how recently? It’s mentioned that the ruins look very similar to the city that appeared recently, but I’m having trouble remembering exactly when they say it showed up. But like he constructed it for us. He’s reveling in it, but he remade his home for us to see because of the above so that we would know. But more than just knowing, so that we could get our stone.

Also, on a sillier note, that shoebill. I’m on board with that shoebill being like his buddy or spy or something theory. I have a pet theory that since sometimes when he’s not like directly playing the part of a pompous Ascian bestowing small secrets upon helpless greedy mortals, he does just like he did in Raktika and like just hangs out in nature. In the forest the Amazon rabbit ladies said they found him sleeping under a tree. I totally believe that when he’s not in full Ascian get up, he probably just napped in different places or like sat randomly in spots that people wouldn’t really notice him but maybe an animal would. To that end, maybe one time he was like near a dock or something especially near Eulmore since he was instrumental in setting up Vauthry there. He was probably like chilling there or something and the shoebill happened to be near him and just randomly as people do sometimes when they’re with an animal, they talk to it. Like not even expecting it to respond or even to understand, but just like having a good dog companion that just sits with you, that shoebill sat there and listened to him ramble about this or that. Probably mostly mundane things. Maybe a little bit here and there about who he actually was or where he’s from, but mostly probably things that are not really that important. But after awhile he forms a bond with the shoebill and the shoebill comes back whenever he’s just sitting. Whether he actually trains it to spy on us or the shoebill just picked up on it like pets can sense a bit how their masters feel about someone, I don’t really know and we can’t be sure. But either way, that’s my head explanation as to why this animal keeps stalking us.

[natsunoomoi]

Endwalker Thoughts

Spoilers, so yeah.....

-I love all the Ascian areas so much. I love that we got to see more of their world as it was, and Eme-chan gets to be a bit redeemed to an extent in that some of the stuff Hermes did back in the day basically affected his trajectory and decision making. When we told him about the future, he was in disbelief and horrified by what he did/would do as well, but having forgot all we said because of Hermes, circumstances arose where choosing that seemed like a good idea to him. As Elidibus said, we can't actually change what came to pass because it's the past history of the world and things that basically must happen in order for there to not be a paradox, but I really wonder what Eme-chan would have done if he did remember.

-The meaning behind why Hades/Emet-Selch sticks so hard to Zodiark's plan I think lies with the fact that Hythlodaeus volunteered to be sacrificed. A precious friend believed in the plan and bet their life on it, and a friend whose judgement he does respect a great deal. Losing someone you care about dearly even as a friend though is the heart-wrenching thing that can make someone make the poor decisions that he made. To throw all other beliefs he had once held about what his duty should be out of the window. Like based on his own reaction to the story of himself, he didn't think that he would forsake the new life and be a megalomaniac like he became. What changed was probably the immense pain of for one, not knowing what we told him anymore, and Hythlodaeus volunteering. Losing someone who was his confidant and closest friend and person in his life, and having his other close friend basically stay away and remain neutral without explanation and ultimately becoming sundered is a very lonely existence. Emet-Selch strikes me as a person who is particular with the company he keeps and probably does not have many that he hangs around with, but those that he does mean a lot to him to the point that it would shake him if they were gone. Maybe he was more sane toward the beginning of them being unsundered, but the eons passing while being alone and not being able to speak to Hythlodaeus or Azem. I think that probably got to him. Even worse with Lahabrea slowly becoming more insane from body hopping and Elidibus not remembering anything and refusing to look at his crystal. It didn't really change their mission much, but that singular focus Elidibus had probably had a negative influence on methodology.

-I think also that it's a bit more clear that there's some amount of confusion on Emet-Selch's part regarding us. Like interest is there because we are Azem, but also I think some kind of confusion too because Azem gave up their seat. He is bewildered why they gave up their position on the Convocation and remained neutral between Hydaelyn and Zodiark and allowed themselves to be sundered. There's a mixture of pain and respect, and I think part of the reason that Ardbert also got roped into becoming a Warrior of Darkness and tricked was partly also because of that fondness. The First was more of Emet-Selch's pet and he would have some amount of interest in persuading them to join him instead of just defeating him. I don't doubt that possibly on the other reflection worlds that he probably had a hand in killing some of the WoL there, but I have a feeling that most of their deaths and losses were at the hands of the other Ascians and not necessarily him. I don't think he'd actually feel that comfortable with taking on his former friend head on. He fought us and lost to us for sure, but part of it was to teach us about what happened and to prove a point. If we happened to also die, then it'd help the overall plan and he'd have us back as his Azem that he knew anyway. He had so much ready though. He made the memory crystal of Azem without permission and set up a puzzle for us to find and learn more. I suppose in some way that recreation of Amaurot was also a kind of therapy for him too, but a lot of it seems like a teaching location to teach us about what happened. Who knows how many WoL he had invited there or how many times he tried to see and test if we were worthy and maybe even had that all ready for the first WoL to come.

-I kind of wish we got to see more of the sundering and like, see the unsundered's initial reactions to everything.

-I know the Ascian story is basically over now because 6.1 is start of the new journey, but like I still want more side quests and content in Elpis and in their world. I just want to know more. Like what are the names of the rest of the Convocation. Will we learn more about Azem? What did real Amaurot look like? Where was the residential district? How did regular Ascians actually live? Surely they all don't live in like dormitory places like in Elpis.

-I'm really annoyed in general by Fandaniel. Through the whole expansion you fight him 3 times. Like I understand why you fight him 3 times and one time was his past self, but still. JFC dude, get a hobby.

-Zenos is so creepy. Like earlier on I could see why some people liked him, but throughout Endwalker he straight up became a stalker and all of me is just like NO. He was a somewhat useful stalker at the end, but then he went back to being creepy with that last goddamn duty. ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?! I mean, I got through it and all that and you had a lot of extra lives because of your willpower and all that, but just the premise of it happening at all just annoys me and creeps me out.

-I'd like to think that since we have access to the Altiascope that even though the Ascians have basically moved on, that WoL goes down there into the aetheral sea to just talk to Emet-Selch and Hythlodaeus. I dunno if they'd go and reincarnate right away. I'd like to think mine would head down in there just to call them up to at least tell them they succeeded and they'd stick around long enough to see that happened.

-Also like, when we got to the moon I realized, "Oh, okay. So that's why the Ascians were always having their clandestine talks and meetings on the moon. Zodiark is there." But then later on I realized that wait, if they were always having their meetings on the moon, how did they miss the giant tower with the caretaker keeping their god secured in there or like the giant colony of rabbits hard at work for as long as they have been alone? Are they fucking blind or something? They didn't want to go attack that?

-I need to make more Eme-chan stuff for Animal Crossing. Need to get back in the game, but ugh I haven't logged in in a long time. It's like having another job and right now I'm trying to level my classes too.

-While I was waiting through maintenance earlier in the week, I was playing Pokemon Shield and the thought occurred to me that I wonder what the unsudered would say about Pokemon. Especially the weird ones like the sentient ice cream cone that evolves into two ice cream cones stuck together, or like the sentient ring of keys. Surely they would look at them and wonder who tf made these concepts right?!

-I wonder when the short stories will come out. I'm guessing it'll be called like Tales from the End or something.