#bring it back to ffxiv land

[ubejamjar]

“We’re all falling and we need a place to hide—a safe place somewhere in the woods we can start a fire.” // ‘The Woods’ - Hollow Coves

[impossible-rat-babies]

not me still v crying over the omnicron quests !

[noxtivagus]

shadowbringers .

[jeredu]

Time for some FFXIV x Tales of the Abyss

Honestly, just go scroll through my media tab on twitter because there are so many.... SO many doodles and lore bits at this point.

Anyway Cato Nocivus. All-knowing bringer-of-harm. Jade wakes up sometime after the end of the world in an unfamiliar child's body, in an unfamiliar land.

Coerthas, before the calamity.

Rather, a child wakes up one day with a lot of memories he didn't have before. Most of them belong to a man named "Jade," and some of them belong to a younger man named "Ascella."

Jade wins out, Jade has several decades more life experience than the rest of them combined. He chooses a new name, leaning into his half-Garlean heritage with bitter irony. He can't use magic. Or, he can't use magic yet. Thankfully, this child has befriended an outcast dragonet. The two of them eventually leave Coerthas in search of answers (and Cato begins to micro dose on dragon blood in an attempt to circumvent this particular aetheric handicap).

He has yet to find a single other person who remembers a place called "Auldrant."

(Things happen, plots unfold, he ends up back in Coerthas and finds a frozen hellscape. The eastern highlands are gone. He finds a body in a dark alley and picks up a sword nearly as long as his spear. He pulls Haurchefant away from danger, but not quickly enough to save his arm.)

He ends a war.

He travels to another world.

He takes in FAR too much light for his soul to contain.

(more art and spoilers for endwalker beneath the readmore)

Cato: I suppose it is appropriate… I chose this name with eyes fixed upon the past, and so created a self fulfilling prophecy.

Y'shtola [thoughtful]: Nocivus. Injurious.

Urianger [firm, scoffing]: Thou bringst 'harm' as the root breaketh barren earth.

He joins with yet another fragment of himself.

He learns the truth about Lorelei)

He sees the end of the world again, through the lens of the past. A different end, swifter and violent, barely averted.

He is thrust out of his body. He leaps into the lifestream to wrest it back, and in so doing meets its keeper again. Hades. Hades chooses to escort him, lest the final hope for this world die with him.

He is tasked with slaying the most ancient god. He fears that doing so will bring destruction, but letting it live certainly WILL.

He travels to the past. He confronts a truth he has held within himself.

He is not the right person for saving this world.

But he is the one who is here.

(did Azem know? Did Themis? )

[coldshrugs]

hi Azia! since I'll probably never play FFXIV but want to gobble up everything you've ever written or will write for Io and Estinien, I was wondering if you could kind of summarize or describe the context for their relationship in the canon universe. what do I need to understand about their history in order to better appreciate the way they fit? how do they meet and what brings them together? are there some universal truths for each WoL that heavily contribute to who Io is (kind of like how Hawke in DA2 loses half their family, or every Shepard in Mass Effect is deadish for two years)?

no pressure to answer if you don't have the time/energy or just plain don't want to! ok thanks love you bye 💙

🧍

Hi Ells. I am so sorry....

Understanding Estinio

General World Lore: The story of XIV begins five years after a Calamity (an event of large-scale devastation that leaves the land and people struggling to recover). This is the seventh Calamity over a period of 13,000 years. Other notable world happenings are:

the Dragonsong War: a war between man and dragon that has raged in and around Ishgard for one thousand years

the more recent advancement of the Garlean Empire: Garlemald is a technologically advanced nation seeking to "unite" the world under its rule

Warrior of Light Things: The player character is almost a completely blank slate. Their appearance and combat proclivities are entirely up to the player! Their backstory is not really mentioned, and the only thing we know about them from the start is that they're an Adventurer, which in this setting is someone who wanders here and there, helping with whatever odd jobs they can in hopes of earning a living and maybe some local fame too. A little network of unionized Hometown Heroes. But some things hold true for most WoLs (headcanons notwithstanding):

They have a gift called The Echo. A few other characters have the gift, but it can manifest differently from person to person. The WoL's Echo allows them to visit scenes from the past, sometimes through the eyes of another and sometimes as a kind of bodiless spectator, usually triggered by high emotion from a person or place. It also has a few other functions.

They join the Scions of the Seventh Dawn, an organization that's a bit of an open secret, determined to stop Primal summoning (Primals are replications of gods, the will of a people made manifest, and they are powerful and destructive. If most people venture too close, they become enthralled). Recruited for their prowess in combat (or healing, maybe, if you're not Io) and apparent inability to be tempered by Primals, they, of course, become the team's most powerful asset.

Io Laithe is my WoL, a viera born in the Garlean-occupied region of Dalmasca. When she was 19/20, her home village suffered a violent raid, and her family was lost. She managed to escape and flee far to the west. At the beginning, she's around 29 and an accomplished archer, among other things. Io endures more loss over her story, friends and lovers, and she blames herself over and over. She struggles to lay down her grief and represses her anger for so long that she almost loses herself to it at one point, but she claws her way back with the help of her friends. She's soft-spoken, and reserved, but is also deeply kind and surprisingly funny. (This paragraph is short but I feel like I talk about her so much lmao. Trying not to gush too hard)

Estinien Varlineau was born to a family of sheepherders, in a small farming community outside Ishgard. When he was 12, his village was razed to the ground in a dragon attack. He found the charred remains of his parents outside his home (his dad had tried to shield his mom from the dragon fire). His younger brother was inside, trapped under a collapsed beam but already gone. He was the only survivor, and was taken in by a man named Alberic who held the title of Azure Dragoon (the most powerful lance-wielder in the land, but I'll spare you the specifics. There's dragon-y magic and a literal dragon eye that gives them powers. This was supposed to be quick omfg). Estinien swore to avenge the deaths of his family and trained with Alberic, eventually becoming the next Azure Dragoon. Eventually, he gets his vengeance, but the cost is so much more than he expects. At the end of it, he is begging for his own death, but his friends (the WoL included) refuse to let him go out like that and save him. He's since been on a journey of self-discovery; who is he without the drive to avenge those he lost, without his duty or his post? In personality, Estinien is blunt and abrasive, he cannot read a room (but he would like to leave it). He has a sharp sense of humor and often teases his few friends, he's extremely sentimental, he's very protective of the people he cares for, and can't stop himself from helping a kid in need.

Relationship Summary

They overlook each other at first. Io finds Estinien too harsh and rude. He thinks (since she is seeing Haurchefant at the time, who is... affiliated with a noble house of Ishgard) that Io is another pretty girl grabbing at coattails--surely not the "great warrior" he's heard about. And it takes a journey into dragon country for them to warm up to each other, when he learns she can easily hold her own, and she sees how protective and kind he can be to their traveling companions. They become friends and it's easier than either of them expected. They don't talk about their loss with each other though, not for a long time. Both hear the other's story from someone else, and it endears them to each other, an unspoken, invisible bond in addition to what they've already faced together. Just as Io saved him at the end of the Dragonsong War, Estinien saves her when she faces off against the might of Garlemald and almost dies. It's a long time before she gets to thank him for that, but when she does, it's around the time he agrees to join the Scions too. They spend more time together, and they become almost inseparable. And as the world hangs on the brink of what seems to be another Calamity, they quietly fall in love and almost lose each other again. Neither confesses to the other until things have settled down. But once the confessions are out of the way, they easily fall into warm domesticity. They spend the better part of a year mostly in one place, living together, working together, making the smaller trips they need to but always returning to a home base. Now, there's the itch to travel again. They just pulled a stint of traveling separately but ended up in the same place. He very much wants to continue roaming, and Io does too, but part of her is starting to think about a family. I haven't decided when or if they talk about this lmao. They love each other so much, but both have a strong streak of wanderlust, and both are legendary heroes who belong to the world as much as they belong to each other.

Why they compel me:

I don't know if you guys know this about me but I love to think about grief :> It's the shared trauma, the love transformed into anger, and how new bonds can heal someone. I did not plan for Io's backstory to be so similar to Estinien's, and even before I shipped them, their friendship was a highlight for me. I love that they do most of their recovery on their own. I love that they always come back to each other. Big fan of people who might not appear outwardly soft all the time, but are just SO mushy for their partner.

They are both symbols of hope for their people, for better or worse. They understand that about each other, what it's like to have some of your personhood stripped away so you can embody an ideal.

Estinien is impulsive and straightforward, Io is cautious and thoughtful. He pushes her, and she grounds him. They both relish the peace the company of the other brings, and they are more certain of the other's ability and resolve than they are of themselves. They are best friends, they are family, and they admire each other.

Some key reads, chronologically:

close quarters | oh no, she's hot…

oblivious | a mutual friend notices io and estinien seem… different.

what i see in you, i hope you find in me | io realizes she is not in love with zenos

pang | estinien has his own realization

see you in the morning | the night before they depart towards unknown danger, estinien tries to soothe a worried io

in this state | io is unconscious, estinien keeps watch

mustering | estinien tells io about his brother, the first time he's talked about him in decades

take another step off the edge | FIRST KISS!!!!

And then their tag is filled with gposes I've made, art I've commissioned, writing prompt fills, fics from the two AUs I've written for them, and tons of quotes or poems that fit their vibe. I'd share a playlist but I don't have a playlist... there are five now T^T BYE!! 💗

[dragons-bones]

FFXIV Write Entry #12: A Rescue!

Prompt: quarry || Master Post || On AO3 (coming in October)

---

Hunting with a trio of carbuncles is a fascinating experience. Well, it’s really one carbuncle with two more mostly learning under her direction, but Aymeric’s point still stands.

Galette, of course, takes point: finest nose and aethersense on three continents, after all. Roksana slides after her, reminding Aymeric strongly of a seal moving on an iceflow, the faintest chime of her giggles echoing in the back of his mind. Amandina lay draped over his left shoulder, too big now to perch on it, humming something Aymeric was fairly sure he’d heard from Rereha a time or two as she snuck around. Aymeric, of course, is at the rear, ostensibly serving as lookout but more accurately just enabling.

Galette’s ears twitch, and immediately they all pause; Aymeric, mid-stride, very gently eases his foot onto the floor. Roksana’s ears and tails go flat, and now she really does look like a seal.

Ivar wanders out of the library, a piece of bacon hanging out of his mouth and slowly disappearing as he chews and swallows it. He pauses, then turns to stare at them.

Aymeric grins. The twins valiantly attempt to not giggle and are mostly successful. Galette just stares with all the gravitas of being the eldest sibling.

My family is so weird, Ivar grumbles, and walks past them towards the kitchen.

Says the pyromaniac, Galette mutters. Ivar’s tails lash out of the corner of Aymeric’s eye, but the ruby carbuncle, for once, doesn’t raise to take his sister’s bait.

Galette turns back to the matter at hand, peering into the library. Roksana eels across the floor to poke her head under Galette’s. Aymeric leans forward, as does Amandina.

Synnove sits her desk, head bowed and propped up by one hand, a faint frown barely visible on her face. She is tapping her stylus against the desk, tappa-tappa-tap-tap, and stacks of papers sits on either side of her.

It was mid-afternoon, and his lady had been grading papers since just after breakfast. This intervention is necessary.

Galette flicks her right ear, and Aymeric carefully eases his way into the library along the righthand wall. The heavy rug there is able to muffle footsteps, and the floorboards beneath it aren’t prone to creaks from large footsteps the way the ones to the left are. Another flick of Galette’s ear, and a breeze begins to blow in through the open window, further disguising the presence of anyone else in the room.

Amandina begins her humming again. Roksana, unable to glide along on carpet, belly crawls instead, following after Galette as they go opposite along the wall from Aymeric and Amandina.

Aymeric ilms his way along the wall, until the right angle turn that allows him to begin his approach from behind Synnove.

His lady is still tapping her style rhythmically, but the frown has become a sly little grin.

Oh, well.

He swoops forward, and Synnove pushes her chair back just enough to give him clearance to lift her without banging her knees or shins against the desk. His lady still lets out a playful shriek, and he settles her in his arms with smug satisfaction.

“My lady,” Aymeric says in his poshest voice, “you while the day away in shadow and labor, when the sun shines brightly and the flowers dance in the breeze. How dare you squander Hydaelyn’s gifts?”

Synnove laughs, her breath briefly punting out of her in a wheeze as Amandina tumbles from his shoulder to land in her lap with a Hi, Mommy! “Oh, woe,” his lady says in her best mimicry of him, “I am but a slave to the needs of my masters! Whomever shall save me from my labors and show me the joys of the wider world?”

She tilts her head up, green eyes twinkling, and Aymeric lowers his head so they may exchange a sweet kiss.

Have no fear, Mama! Galette says, hopping onto the desk, with Roksana after her. She pauses, taking a moment to reach down and scruff her baby sister to help her up. That done, she continues, I have found a brave knight to bring you to the sun, and all the glories that await!

Synnove turns to stare at her eldest, a wry grin ticking across her face. “Got some pastries from Red Rooster Stead, didn’t you?”

YES, now let’s GO.

Galette picks Roksana up—Roksana now almost too big for it, but the white pearl carbunclet obediently tucks her arms and legs and tails close to make it easier—and leaps down, trotting imperiously towards the door to make her way to the patio. Synnove and Aymeric both laugh, and Aymeric presses a kiss to his lady’s hair as he follows after, prize safely in hand.

[morgana96]

On Elementals, Accountability, and Criticism

A few months ago, I made a post that gained a lot more traction than I expected. It started out as more of a joke about an ill-conceived mentality within the fandom, where certain players think their Warrior of Light should be allowed to kill off the Black Shroud's elementals.

But over the course of several days, my activity feed was suddenly swarmed with notifications. The post had unintentionally reignited preexisting fandom discourse about the elementals, Gridania, and flaws in the game's writing.

And before I knew it, I'd spent several weeks writing an essay about the elementals, since I wanted to use the opportunity to better explain my original post's stance.

While the original essay was posted as a reply, I feel it works better as its own post. I had a lot of fun researching and writing out my thoughts on this, and I hope it might contribute positively to the larger discussion within the fandom.

What is an Elemental?

To start off, I think it’s important to go over the nature of FFXIV's Elementals. I think understanding them physically and ecologically is crucial to understanding their place in the story, as well as proving that they’re existence isn't the unaddressed mystery some people think it is.

According to Encyclopedia Eorzea I & II, elementals are naturally occurring beings that are almost solely comprised of aether. They usually don't have the complex body structures seen in other lifeforms, and are considered "semi-intelligent" in regards to their level of sentience (E.E. II, pg. 269).

A misconception I sometimes see is that elementals are an exclusive entity to the Black Shroud. But the reality is that elementals exist in various forms all over Etheirys.

As the above reference pages show, there are various types of natural elementals, many of which players encounter regularly throughout various maps and instanced battles/dungeons. Furthermore, carbuncles, egi, and faeries are also classified under this category, as they are also constructs of pure aether — essentially man-made elementals.

Because aether is the "building block" for all life, lands rich with aether will be wellsprings of vitality, while areas where aetherial flows are disrupted or cut off see atrophy in the environment (Encyclopedia Eorzea I, pg. 8). The Black Shroud's simply an area known for its prominent and powerful population of elementals.

In Gridania, the Shroud elementals are associated with Nophica the Matron, their patron goddess. This is described as them having "been sprung from Her essence", implying that they are a part of her and enact her will (E.E.I, pg. 112).

However, it's important to remember that this isn't history, but rather mythology specific to Gridanian traditions (E.E. I, pg. 112). Both elementals and Nophica independently predate these traditions, and Myths of the Realm provides great insight into just how significant that time gap is. G’raha mentions that the Twelve were worshiped even back in the Third Astral Era — approximately five thousand years before the start A Realm Reborn (E.E. I, pg. 24). He also theorizes at the time that the Twelve are even older than that, which is confirmed by Eulogia following the completion of Thaleia.

The reason I even bring up Nophica at all is because of the frustration directed towards her by certain players. There seems to be a trend where fans forget to separate the true Nophica from her Gridania-specific myths, causing them to treating her like an irresponsible parent who refuses to discipline her young children.

But Nophica isn't the elementals' actual creator. They aren't actually a part of her, and nothing they do is by her will, the same way Halone never actually hated dragons and was deeply saddened by the Dragonsong War. Demanding that Nophica "control" the elementals' behavior is like demanding a forest ranger "control" the wildlife in a national park.

Personally, I've always viewed the elementals as animals deified in worship — an opinion I believe is supported by what we know about them from the lore. Associating nature, plants, and animals with the divine is a reoccurring part of real-world religions, such as we see with ancient Egyptian gods or koi in Chinese mythology. Gridanian reverence of the elementals follows a similar formula: a naturally existing creature becomes associated with the divine in specific cultures and mythologies.

How Does One "Talk" to Elementals?

As established in the lore books, certain types of elementals possess the potential for "communication". This is an ability usually exclusive to the following beings:

Spoken: Any intelligent creature that possesses an independent language that can be interpreted by another spoken of a differing genus, including but not limited to all of the game’s playable races and the myriad non-playable races (E.E. I, pg. 288).

Voidsent: Beings from the 13th shard of Etheirys who are warped by their shard’s umbral aether and the shard’s lack of ambient aether (E.E. I, pg. 296). This is a more conditional contender, as only select Voidsent have the ability to speak.

But this "communication" is significantly different from traditional language or spoken words. A difference Kan-E-Senna made clear during the main Heavensward storyline, when WoL and company approached her for help in rescuing Y'shtola from the Lifestream.

Kan-E's statement helps further clarify the biology of Shroud elementals; not only do they lack corporeal bodies, but also the common biological senses we associate with humanity. They don't have eyes (hence why Y'mhitra had to present as a aetheric reference to find Y'shtola), and they also don’t possess the auditory systems to perceive spoken words and languages.

Which leaves the crucial question: how do you "talk" to a being that doesn't possess the senses for that form of communication?

The answer is to utilize the only thing that the Shroud elementals can perceive: aether.

To help refresh my memory on this topic, I decided to replay the conjuror/white mage quests, along with referencing the encyclopedias for more regarding Gridanian Hearers. They made for great reference about crucial elemental lore, particularly the Gelmorran origins of humans "speaking" to elementals.

Because elementals don't actually speak and can't hear the voices of spoken races, "dialogue" between man and elemental is more like a muddled psychic connection. The term "Hearer" describes conjurors with a natural sensitivity to the elementals' aetheric waves — a sensitivity that the vast majority of the population doesn't possess.

While similar in their rarity and status as "gifts" in-universe, elemental sensitivity is uniquely separate from the Echo. The Echo's "power to transcend words" is a passive ability that can fully break most language barriers, creating an "internal understanding" of another’s intentions (E.E. I, p. 15).

Hearers, on the other hand, must actively manipulate aether when connecting emotionally with elementals. It took fifty years to develop this technique and requires more effort and proper training, but it's still not as precise or accurate as what the Echo's able to do. Any "words" a Hearer translates are rough interpretations of the elementals' intent — a well-known flaw in the process that's noted in the side story True of Heart.

Hearer sensitivity to the elementals can vary depending on the individual. Some are better at "listening" to certain types of elementals over others, like the guest instructors in the conjuror quests who instruct the WoL in their specialties.

Other Hearers are simply more attuned to the Shroud elementals' aether overall. Padjali Hearers usually possess the strongest sensitivities, which is why the Seedseer — the leader of the Hearers and the Seedseer Council that governs Gridania — are almost always Padjal (E.E. I, p. 116). But even Seedseers aren't viewed as infallible; their "conversations" with elementals are also, at best, interpretations. These limitations are why Kan-E chose to share the role with her younger siblings, and why protocol for the Seedseer Council is to share their readings with each other, as different Hearers can end up with different interpretations.

A lot of this information comes to mind when I consider how elementals interact with spoken races in the game. It seems quite clear that elemental communions are meant to be portrayed as imperfect. The average person within the setting doesn't possess the ability to "speak" with them at all. Even trained conjurors and white mages don't always succeed in their communions, since frightened/agitated elementals aren't always easily "spoken" to.

Because of these factors, it really doesn't surprise me that characters have been hurt/killed because of elementals. I absolutely think a situation like that would be horrifying to find oneself in. But to me, it's not the same kind of terror that comes from a deliberate attack of spite — more like the terror of being caught in a stampede that you know you have little chance of outrunning.

Why "Evil" Elementals Aren't a Thing

Discourse about the Shroud elementals is nothing new in this fandom, and I think it's pretty clear that I disagree with people who think their WoL would be justified in slaughtering them.

Are the elementals gentle and harmless little creatures? No.

But they're also not some nefarious supervillain cabal plotting the demise of humanity.

I understand that getting vaporized by an angry nature spirit is a terrible way to go. But I think the reason why elementals lash out tends to fly over some people's heads, so they just assume that everything they do is out of human-adjacent hatred or disdain.

As you might expect, elementals are extremely sensitive to aetheric disturbances. FFXIV has never shied away from bringing up the dangers of aetheric imbalance; too little aether can turn environments into barren wastelands like the Burn, while too much of a specific aspect can warp not only souls, but corporeal forms. Raya-O-Senna explains the elementals' instincts in the white mage quests, and how they value aetherial balance over anything else.

Given the nature of their existence, it makes sense that elementals would crave aetheric harmony above all else; corruption and stagnation could easily lead to not only the destruction of their forest home, but also themselves. Like many wild animals in the real world, the elementals will prioritize their survival; they'll lash out the exact same way an animal who feels cornered or threatened would.

The Shroud elementals also don't single out spoken races with this behavior. They dislike any aetheric disharmony, regardless of whether the cause of that is man-made or natural. The conjuror quests even show that their agitation can be caused by other elementals; they're just as vulnerable to aetheric corruption as any other living creature, hence why those that are corrupted must be purged in order for the forest to heal.

Despite this, there are many fans who are hostile towards the Shroud elementals, and the language they use to express that disdain definitely stands out to me as part of the problem. Whether labeling them as immature “toddlers" or comparing their actions to human abusers, these players tend to heavily vilify elementals, painting them as the intentional architects behind Gridania’s biggest problems.

But these kinds of descriptors can't — and shouldn't — be applied to ANY type of elementals. They're human descriptors. Including ones for human children that are based on understandings of human development.

To treat the Shroud elementals like "toddlers" is to incorrectly apply human traits to beings that don't possess them. They are not human children, nor is there any known "childhood" phase of their life cycle. They are not creatures that grow and develop the way that human children do; they are naturally formed clusters of aether, many of which are older than any of the game's living characters. They don't do what they do because they're immature, or lack a parental figure to teach them "right" from "wrong".

I also don't agree with comparing their actions to intentional abuse. Again, there are canon events of elementals attacking humans, and those events would absolutely be scary and traumatizing. But it's also scary and traumatizing for someone to be mauled by a tiger, or to permanently lose an arm or leg in an unexpected shark attack.

Elementals aren't children throwing an unpunished tantrum, or abusers attempting to control their victims. These comparisons inaccurately associate their animalistic traits with human behavior. A correlation flawed by the fact that elementals aren't humans and don't think like them.

Would you call a grizzly bear evil or abusive for attacking a human that startled it in the woods?

Would you call a swarm of wasps immature or childish when they start stinging indiscriminately, and for not recognizing the difference between the person who disturbed their nest and those who just happened to be nearby?

Would you use these terms to refer to any of the aggressive creatures throughout in-game regions when they chase after/attack you, all because you got just a little too close while on your way to another location?

We can't predict what wild animals are going to do or control how they react to our presence in their space. Once one perceives you as a potential threat or meal, you are at risk of being attacked. It's why part of the respect we should show wild animals involves keeping a safe distance and respecting their territory.

The simple reality is that Shroud elementals aren't, never were, and never will be human. They are nature spirits living far outside the realm of human society, and canonically don’t possess the same sentience level as any of the game’s spoken races. They're a naturally occurring species that are deified in Gridania's Nophica mythology. They're alive, but the lore and game show that they behave more like wild animals.

This is why it's kind of frustrating when fans demand humanity — and human morals — from the elementals. The same way you can't explain the human condition to a butterfly or a redwood tree, you'll also never be able to explain it to a little cluster of pure energy floating out in the woods.

Nature is beautiful. Nature is terrifying. It's the comfort of sunny day and a cool breeze. It's the destruction wrought by earthquakes and tornadoes. It's the budding life of beautiful plants and flowers. It's death in the piercing jaws of a predator, even if that prey is only a baby.

Nature is not bound by human concepts of morality or fairness. To expect it to abide by our rules is absurd, and to try and force it to is futile. And whether certain players like it or not, the elementals are irreversibly tied to that philosophy.

The Importance of Gridania's Self-Accountability

Like many others within the fandom, I find that the game's writing for Gridania has been painfully neglected compared to the other city-states. As a black fan, it’s vexing when fictional narratives don't handle the subject of racism with proper diligence and respect. While not every Gridania-related quest is bad, there are far too many that drop the ball; all too often, these quests fail to properly denounce in-universe prejudice, often to the detriment of the stories they’re trying to tell.

These problems are major motivating factors in my desire to rewrite several Gridanian questlines. I've made several posts about my ideas for a Lancer Quests rewrite in the past, and at some point, I hope to do the same for other questlines in need of reworks.

But while I'm desperate for the writing team to reevaluate Gridania's narrative, I find myself equally frustrated with the "Evil™ Elementals" crowd – mainly because I feel like they're failing to fully grasp the actual root of the problem.

The players I'm referring to are weirdly insistent on pinning all the blame on the Shroud elementals. In these fans' minds, it's these semi-sentient nature spirits who hate Duskwights, Moon Keepers, and Ala Mhigans, and they are the ones who instilled these prejudices into hateful members of Gridanian society.

Honestly, this stance has always been absurd to me, and I can barely understand how it came to exist. Especially since it’s so incompatible with the actual lore for the elementals.

I've already pointed out that the elementals can't perceive spoken languages, and that they "see" other life and living creatures the same way they "see" themselves — as aether.

Furthermore, it's canon fact that a Hearer's "translations" are not direct or word for word. They're readings are based completely on the Shroud elementals' aetheric waves, and this process shouldn't be mistaken for the Elementals knowing or understanding human words.

The names of different races and nationalities would mean absolutely nothing to elementals. They wouldn't perceive the pointed ears and tall stature of an Elezen, or the cat-like ears and tails on a Miqo'te. They wouldn't be able to tell the difference between Midlander and Highlander, Duskwight and Wildwood, or any other clan distinctions that in-game characters or players can.

The Shroud elementals aren't capable of telling the differences between any spoken races.

Which means that if a Hearer claims the elementals dislike a specific race or clan, that Hearer is unquestionably spouting a bold-faced fucking lie.

There was already a situation like this in the 60-70 Leatherworker quests, which several people brought up in the tags of my original post. After showcasing a taxidermy dhalmel to raise awareness about endangered species, the WoL, Atelloune, and Enion are confronted by Hearer Marmaduke (yes, that’s actually his name and I’m honestly still not over it).

Not long after his tangent, he orchestrates the unfair seizure of the dhalmel. But Atelloune, suspicious of his claims, had already gone to the conjuror's guild, exposing Marmaduke's claims of elemental anger as a completely fabricated event.

Some might say that this isn't relevant because Marmaduke's lie wasn't told with prejudice in mind. But in the end, his motivations really aren't the most important thing here.

He openly lied about the elementals being angry, and seemed to have full confidence that he wouldn't be called out on it. He actively took advantage of his position — and the trust Gridanian citizens place in the Hearers — to falsely claim that something was wrong and force his misguided opinions onto others. Hell, I'd even argue that his behavior qualifies as a microaggression, since Atelloune is a Duskwight Elezen who he accused of a "crime" that never even happened. Not being a full blown bigot doesn't make someone incapable of racist behavior or actions (just like in real life).

This is not an incident that should be brushed off so easily. Sure, Marmaduke might have admitted to his own wrongdoings and ignorance. But the idea that this is an isolated incident within Gridania — that it's never happened before and somehow will never happen again — just comes off as terribly unrealistic.

Gridania is a five-hundred-year-old nation. How many times in those five hundred years has prejudice warped "translations" of the elementals?

How many Duskwights, Moon Keepers, and Ala Mhigans have been accused of infractions that never even occurred?

How many Hearers have abused their positions for everything from politics to petty squabbles? And how many times has someone gotten away with telling these kinds of abhorrent lies?

These are the kinds of questions the writing needs to tackle more with Gridania. Exposing the cracks within their system — and how those cracks have caused harm to innocents — will help to trigger the development and growth the city-state still desperately needs. Throwing all the blame on the elementals will never allow Gridania's narrative to escape stagnancy. At least not in a way that will actually feel genuine or satisfying to explore.

I understand that most people aren't trying to absolve Gridania of wrongdoing. But whether they realize it or not, that’s exactly what the "Evil™ Elementals" mentality does.

To claim that the elementals "made Gridanians racist" is to disregard the deliberate and intentional actions of racist Gridanians. It minimizes their level of accountability and responsibility in fixing those problems.

A prejudiced Hearer is not a gullible victim being strung along by scheming or "evil" nature spirits: they are intentionally taking advantage of their standing in society to persecute people that they don't like. They know the elementals don't understand the concept of spoken races, ethnicities, or nationalities. They also know that most of the population can't "hear" the elementals at all: a fact that can be utilized to mischaracterize the reasons for their agitation, or even fully fabricate incidents of anger all together.

One of my favorite parts of Myths of the Realm was Halone’s personal advice to the WoL.

This statement is so appropriate for Halone, especially considering Ishgard's history. But it's just as applicable to any other worshipers of the various gods.

A Hearer misrepresenting the "will of the elementals" is in the same vein as an Ishgardian priest misrepresenting the "will of the Fury". The game has so many examples of Ishgardians trying to use Halonic doctrine to not only justify their ignorance on certain subjects, but also enact unfair punishments onto others — including their own countrymen. Similar situations of false invocation have happened in Gridania, particularly when specific races and immigrants are unfairly targeted because they’ve supposedly "angered" the elementals.

This is why many fans — myself included — will make comparisons between Gridania and Ishgard. The citizens of both city-states are deeply devout to their patron goddesses. But that faith has been regularly misused and manipulated to persecute innocents and maintain unfair systems.

The Holy See's theocracy sanctioned generations of pointless bloodshed in a war they didn't want to admit they started. The Inquisitors killed countless of their own citizens based on flimsy accusations of heresy. Temple Knights have attacked and slaughtered Au Ra because they ignorantly and incorrectly assumed they were connected to and/or descended from dragons. If Ishgard can commit to reform and reparations after a millennium of atrocities, then Gridania is just as capable of taking the same accountability.

What the writing team needs to do is rethink their Gridania-centric storylines: not only do future questlines need to show more growth and change in their society, but older quests that were sloppily resolved need to be reexamined and even rewritten.

I don't agree with the claim that the writers have "written themselves into a corner" with the elementals. There's plenty lore that could be used to finally push Gridania in the right direction: they've just failed to utilize it effectively and consistently. It wouldn't be an easy task to go back and rework so much content. But in my eyes, it would be a major step forward in repairing these narrative problems.

True accountability for Gridania is taking responsibility for their own mess. No excuses. No justifications. No "the elementals made me do it". They need to establish better safeguards for their people — especially their minorities — and better checks and balances to prevent and punish blatant abuses of power.

Changing their city-state for the better will require long-term effort and commitment to reform. Not someone's WoL causing a mass extinction — which would certainly do more harm than good — and then demanding an entire nation bend to that WoL's will and abandon their beliefs. The former is Gridania taking actual responsibility for themselves; the latter echoes colonizer rhetoric and the racist ideologies these players claim to be criticizing.

FFXIV Fans and Constructive Criticism

To close this out, I'd like to shift focus to a fandom trend I've noticed for some time now.

Final Fantasy XIV is a major source of comfort for me. Besides just being a fun game to play, it's done wonders for my creative motivation, especially when it comes to my WoL and the fun I've had in building her lore.

However, there are also plenty of things about FFXIV that I'm critical of. There are class and job quests that fumble their stories (or at least falter at specific parts). Characters like Moenbryda and Ysayle were squandered in favor of lackluster "shock value" deaths. Certain quests in past expansions have come off as tone deaf to their subject matters, so much so that the script feels insanely out of character for everyone in the scene.

Criticism is important. It’s not pessimistic or ungrateful of the audience to engage critically with media, especially when it's media they love. My criticisms of FFXIV's writing don't diminish my love for the game. If anything, I want the writing to be reevaluated and improved, and for the writers to learn to avoid the same issues in the future.

But constructive criticism — at least to me — requires certain responsibilities. Responsibilities that not everyone keeps in mind before making sweeping judgements.

A good example is a certain "critique" I've seen repeated many times, usually during Stormblood discourse that tends to pop up from time to time. It relates to Lyse (a character who's regularly hypercriticized), and players who dislike how the writers gave her Raubahn's rightful place as leader of Ala Mhigo and the Resistance.

A rather odd complaint to have, considering it's about an imagined event.

Raubahn is Ala Mhigo's head of state, as well as head of the Resistance forces. Lyse commands only one faction of the Resistance — the faction based in Rhalgr's Reach — because that was the one under Conrad's command, and he had no authority over any other faction.

In other words, these fans dislike a "writing choice" that wasn't made to begin with, failing to realize that the actual scenario is provided both in-game and in Encyclopedia Eorzea II.

This is just one of many examples where players will mistake false presumptions for canon. Someone will criticize the game for a plot point that never happened, and suddenly other players will like, share, and comment about how they also hated that thing that never happened.

Even on my original post, there were people making various claims about the elementals. Some were 100% accurate. Others were slightly off. Others still were flat out untrue.

In this fandom — and plenty of others — fan-created concepts have a bad habit of getting mixed up with the actual facts. I don't think most players do it on purpose; they're usually just trying to share their thoughts and opinions on the game, and that's something I'll never try to discourage. But sometimes, they'll simply accept something someone else said in good faith, or rely too much on memory for parts of the game they haven't played through in a long time.

Criticizing the writing's handling of Gridania is perfectly valid, and I've done plenty of it myself. But those criticisms need to be based on the writing's actual faults and mistakes: not on misremembered plot lines and assumptions. Complaints need to be backed up by actual examples from the game and/or other canon sources, and can’t rely solely on muddled memories of a play-through that happened months or years ago.

It took me over two weeks to put all this together. I spent hours replaying relevant questlines and reading the side stories and lore books, not to mention the time it took me just to write all of it down. But I did all that because I wanted to be able to back up my claims with evidence. I didn't want to leave out important context or dialogue that I simply forgot or missed early on. If I were to forget about key events and fill in those gaps with hazy recollections, I'd not only weaken my argument’s strength, but also be guilty of blaming a writer for something I misremembered.

No one's EVER going to remember everything that happened in FFXIV; it's literally impossible for a game this large and with so many characters and stories. The Unending Journey and New Game+ are fabulous tools to make up for this, as well as the dedicated wikis and websites created by our fellow fans. But all of those go to waste if players never bother to utilize them.

I'll always support constructive criticism in this and any other fandom. But good constructive criticism isn't just making loud accusations on social media. It's taking the time to revisit the story and take notes on the things that could be done better. It's providing evidence to support your claims and prevent misinformation from being spread as truth. It's addressing biases not only in the writing room, but also those harbored by fellow players.

Constructive criticism requires effort and diligence. A fact I feel gets lost in fandom spaces sometimes.

[tritoch]

the witch of the cave: matoya, y'shtola, and the night's blessed

long rambly and extremely unedited post about y'shtola and matoya, two characters i really feel like we don't talk about or take seriously enough. i think the popular (and in many ways intended) perception of FFXIV as a game about dramatic high-tension moments and attendant emotional catharsis makes it easy to overlook the fact that there's plenty of subtext to mine from, especially for characters like these two who can come off as somewhat reserved and also have very little screen time together. i find the night's blessed very helpful for thinking about them both. spoilers through endwalker below. tl;dr version of the post can be found by reading the bolded text below.

on my first playthrough the whole rak'tika thing felt very underdeveloped, and i still think a lot of the story beats are weak. here's y'shtola she's your last member to rejoin she has a new village now(?) and OH she's dead again WAIT she's back and then we're off into "zodiark and hydaelyn are primals" land and there's no time to think anymore about the night's blessed. but on reflection i think this works out okay imo because the night's blessed are only just barely there for plot reasons. they serve instead, like the outfit redesign, to establish the game's new baseline concept for who y'shtola is going to be as a character going forward. the night's blessed let the writing shorthand a lot of y'shtola's off-screen development and set her up as a powerful and extremely self-actualized person, using matoya as her foil.

in brief: matoya is implied to have lived her life prior to the sharlayan exodus constantly at odds with the (imo obviously sexist and hide-bound) forum. as a result, she was pretty isolated from and in conflict with much of sharlayan society, to the point that while y'shtola leaves with everyone else in the exodus to presumably matriculate at the studium and earn her archon's marks, matoya stays behind, with no company but her familiars.

and this is agonizingly sad, i think. 15 years alone in a cave. dravania's isolation means she has no one to talk to but frogs she has magic'ed and trained into familiars. little to occupy her but her work and her memories, and her memories of y'shtola are so painful to her she locks them away. even when y'shtola returns to eorzea after ten years away she can't find the time to see her until the scion's issues demand it (to be fair to y'shtola, getting to matoya overland means traveling through ishgard and dravania, and prior to the calamity they're totally occupied with that and afterwards there's the whole dragon thing).

(hey also this whole thing is even SADDER when read in light of the encyclopedia eorzea text that "the day [Matoya] begins to remember her students fondly will be the day that her work ends." she won't let herself take these memories back until she retires!)

they barely talk at their reunion, and while there's some brief honest fondness from matoya early on they soon turn to their characteristic deflecting and sardonic back-and-forth for what little time they get to talk, before matoya delivers a poorly-translated and confusing warning on aethersight and exits the 3.0 story. even by the time of shadowbringers, y'shtola can't bring herself to admit that when alone in a foreign land, she took on her master's name, and neither will straightforwardly admit to missing the other. in a game full of effusive and warm relationships between master and pupil or guardian and ward, matoya and y'shtola's relationship is warm, but specifically characterized by distance and deflection, consistent with how matoya has rejected (and/or isolated herself from) others her whole life.

that's not to say there's not love there, obviously, and not all expressions of love look or the same. but this is not how y'shtola behaves elsewhere. when she visits you at the annex in endwalker, she's quite sincere and direct there, coming to you with her concerns and stating plainly that doesn't want to see you harmed, making it clear she was actively worried about how you were doing. she even pre-emptively apologizes when she fears she's inappropriately joked about your misfortunes. she's also obviously much more direct and deflects less with the night's blessed themselves, or runar, or urianger after rak'tika, or zero. she can be funny or glib or arch, but she makes no effort to conceal how much these relationships mean to her, or how she feels at any given point.

y'shtola can be sharp, she can be sarcastic, she can go for the throat or be dismissive and imperious, but she's generally not those things with people she cares about in private conversation. for a woman who makes it quite clear that she cares a lot about the image she projects to others, she is never ashamed of her own feelings or afraid to voice them, but neither is she harsh or cruel. the one time she does the matoya-style thing of being so honest and brusque it tips over to backbreakingly blunt, it's to thancred in rak'tika, over her concerns that as the sole guardian of an isolated young ward, he isn't doing enough to affirm her as her own person or to be emotionally honest and supportive of her. i have some thoughts as to why that might be; you may be able to guess what they are!

so shadowbringers sets up a parallel for the player: remember matoya in the cave, having spurned sharlayan politics, left to pursue her research and guard the antitower, a solitary hermit for fifteen years? well here's y'shtola as matoya, in a cave, having spurned the lies and half-truths of two specific sharlayan men. she initially comes off alternately distant and brusque, unable to recognize you and perhaps changed herself. the fact that y'shtola's not just the local cave witch to the night's blessed ends up being a sort of narrative reveal, and her characterization as a beloved and respected leader who feels a deep attachment to the community in turn shows how much she's grown and surpassed her mentor. (and note in turn urianger, over there in fairyland pretty much actually doing the matoya thing except, in accordance with his whole deal, in a way that is both slightly healthier and much weirder).

and there's narrative payoff for this: y'shtola, having been fairly closed-off and mission-focused up until now, flings herself into a fucking pit and casts "hope this doesn't kill me lmao" the very second she learns the night's blessed have been harmed and she has a chance to save them (and that's not a romance thing; she has no idea runar's been harmed. she only knows the villagers of slitherbough have been poisoned, and an antidote exists). and from her (annoyingly obviously fake) death you learn that she isn't just valued and respected by the community, but has formed close enough relationships for people to feel real and deep attachment to her.

y'shtola notes at several points that she and master matoya dedicated their lives to the pursuit of truth above all else. but in the end y'shtola was also a student of louisoix, a man who far valued compassion for the plight of others above all else (and, not for nothing, he's not exactly #1 parent/guardian/mentor of the astral era either). in rak'tika, all the finest qualities of y'shtola reach a kind of culmination. the relentless pursuit of what is true and what is right, but as part of a healthy, caring community, without the isolating and painful pride of her mentor. and she sacrifices nothing of herself to attain this. she is exactly who she was before rak'tika, if anything a little more brusque. she's even still a little withholding about herself, noting that she cultivated an "image of restraint" among the night's blessed. but none of this interferes with her ability to be a powerful and respected and admired leader of a close-knit community.

and again none of this is really a critique of matoya, who i have enormous affection for as effectively the game's only representation (until endwalker) of an older woman in STEM. but she is a product of what her circumstances allowed: where matoya, as a sincere believer in truth, had only rivals in a deeply conservative and isolationist society, y'shtola, carrying forward the same principles, has friends and comrades in an increasingly open and free world. she turns her mentor's unflinching honesty from an alienating political weakness into a pillar of both slitherbough and the scions. matoya's self-imposed exile from sharlayan is, by her own acknowledgement, petty and in some ways goes against her own values. and listen you've gotten far enough in this rambling, we can all be real for a second: matoya is definitely kind of an asshole and went into self-imposed exile and sealed up her research because of a disagreement with the Forum over weapons development. y'shtola's leveraging the integrity and searing honesty she learned from matoya to far more altruistic ends!

i think a lot of players have a vision of y'shtola somewhere on a continuum from badass avatar of destruction to powerful and solitary archmage. and i agree that's cool as hell but i also think ffxiv is a game that believes, at its core, that community is one of the most important things in the world, both in terms of what it can do for a flourishing society and as a critical element for people to find value and fulfillment in their own lives. y'shtola developing her own close attachment to a community in shadowbringers is meant to serve as shorthand for how she has come into her own as a person and found a fulfilling and meaningful life in line with her ideals, living up to matoya's ideal of all knowledge existing to advance mankind. it is no coincidence that this happens at the same time as she goes from "a pretty good mage" to being consistently portrayed as one of the more powerful mages in the setting and the scions' magical powerhouse. the genre trappings and the character arc work in harmony.

i think what this means becomes a little clearer set against characters like thancred (who spends 5.0 getting to "can have a mostly emotionally honest conversation with his surrogate daughter and make her feel loved and valued") and estinien (who, after twenty years living in and dying for one walled city, had one of the worst months anyone has ever had and ever since can't be in the same place for more than two seconds). their permanent states as vagabonds reflect their lack of close ties (what with all the tragic death) and still-healing emotional wounds. by contrast, y'shtola has achieved the wisdom and grace to live life as part of a connected whole, and has found a way to bring her values to bear in all parts of her life and in her leadership of this community, in so doing improving the lives of herself and everyone around her. y'shtola doesn't settle down with the night's blessed as a natural progression of her life or as a precondition to her maturation, but instead is capable of forming this kind of attachment to the night's blessed precisely because she has developed the integrity and emotional honesty to live in accordance with her values. and she can cast LB3 meteor in cutscenes now.

and also, conveniently, this is done in a way that lets them shorthand/off-screen a lot of this arc and do the rest of it with very minimal screentime for y'shtola and it has an associated romance subplot and also conveniently she's immediately severed from this important community so she can stay footlose and fancy-free in the protagonist group and Isn't It Funny How Scion Women Settle Down Or Die While We Keep Accumulating Permanent Bachelors, I Just Think It's Funny. obviously none of this is above critique. but i think the narrative takes pretty seriously the idea that y'shtola is actually the team's most emotionally developed and mature member in a lot of ways and slitherbough is where a lot of that starts, and you can't understand all that without matoya.

[blissfulalchemist]

WIP Wednesday

Hello I come from the void to bring you some writing! I have been tagged over the weeks by @statichvm and @adelaidedrubman It is surprise surprise FFXVI based because that little universe won't leave my brain currently while it rotates new ffxiv material. But as always with this have a (sizable) variety pack of the two gals!

Alma and Joshua during the Rising Tide DLC

It’s quiet where Alma sits looking over the village and towards the sea, embracing the fresh, salty air and imagining what this place could feel like with the actual sun’s rays. Listens as the villagers go about their day as if it were any other and the scuttling of animals hiding among the lush forest. Content and lightweight she closes her eyes a moment hearing the soft footsteps of someone she knows well come toward her. She beams looking over her shoulder to watch as Joshua comes into view and sits next to her resting one arm on his bent leg with a near matching smile. “What brings you up here?”

“I was told I might have some luck finding you here.”

“Have I been gone that long?” Joshua nods, “Oh….I’m sorry. For worrying you and for not being around you like I should be.” 

“Don’t be. To be honest with you it has been refreshing to see you so exploratory once again.”

“I….I can’t be, not if I want to take care of you.” He takes her hand, criss crossing his legs, “I just-. This place is so….unique.” She looks back over the area, smile beginning to fade.

Joshua moves closer to her, bringing her hand to his lips, “What troubles you my dear Alma?”

“Hm? Oh nothing. It’s nothing, I’m fine.”

“Alma,” he pleads softly, “please, talk to me. You know you can tell me anything.”

“But-.” Her eyes meet his seeing them full of concern and feeling the warmth from his chest as he holds her hand to it. Alma takes a deep breath, “It’s nothing, really. More stupid than anything.”

“I shall hear it nonetheless.”

“I can’t help but wonder,” she starts, eyes straying back to the sea, “what would it have been like had my parent’s boat landed here. How different their lives could have ended up had the tides taken them north. While I know many outsiders didn’t last here for very long the way these people have reacted to the last thing I have of them, the journal documenting our family’s methods of healing, it doesn’t feel out of the realm of possibility that we could have been allowed to stay. So it begs the question….” Her words trail off in a question that doesn’t need to be said and one that makes Joshua’s heart sink as realization forms.

“You don’t talk about them….your parents I mean.”

She shrugs, “What is there to say on them? They died when I was young and I was then raised by Jote’s parents in the Undying.”

“Do you not remember them?”

“I remember enough. I remember the way my mother’s voice sounded when she sang me to sleep on the boat from Ash. The way my father’s eyes never lost their empathetic softness as he healed those that came to him. I even have hazy memories of my grandmother saying how much I looked like my father, but my eyes were that of my mothers.” She sighs, pulling her hand away, “Anything else I remember about them are things I wish I didn’t.”

Bit of an AU where Alma and Joshua met before the fall of Phoenix's Gate

“Miss Martha!” Alma says as she walks into the inn lugging a sack of grain. The sack almost covers her face making it easy to miss the uneven piece of wood. Tripping with wide eyes as she quickly regains her balance, “I think I may need some help.”

Cid laughs, walking over to take it from her, “Here let me get that.”

“Thank you.” 

“The abbot send that back with you did he?” Martha says with a smile, getting her some water.

Alma climbs up the barstool next to Cid, “Yes. Well kind of. I was only supposed to tell you about it.” The woman shakes her head with a playful roll of her eyes, Alma’s gaze settling on Cid. She looks him over, taking in the shadow of a torn off patch on his shirt and the small crest on the hilt of his sword reminiscent of the ones soldiers had when they would visit her grandmother on the other side of the sea. “Are you meant to take me home?”

“Pardon?”

Alma points to the hilt of his sword, letting the language of Ash come through, “You’re from Ash like me. Did someone ask you to take me back?”

He smirks, responding in the common tongue of the Twins, “Don’t think I’m allowed back,” he leans towards her whispering, “and something tells me you’re not keen on going back either.”

She nods following his lead, “Not without my-. Well this place is my home now. My parents said as much.” The young girl’s shoulders begin to hang, looking up at Martha, “Would it be alright if I came back down later for supper Miss Martha?”

“Of course, sweetheart, but first.” Alma stops her descent down the barstool, eyes fixated on Martha as she pulls out the paper wrapped package from the bag along with a letter that’s closed by a wax seal with the Archduke’s crest upon it. “This, along with the bag, came for you.”

“For me?” 

Martha nods, encouraging her to open the package first. “Was told it was from some boy named Joshua.” 

Alma’s face turns bright as she rips open the paper to reveal two leather bound journals and an unmarked letter on top of them. Her breathing stops as she gently puts the letter to the side and delicately runs her hands over the leather covers. “He-. He kept them….,” her eyes begin to fill with tears as she opens up one of them to find the years of notes, drawings, and instructions passed down for generations, “even after I got him in trouble he still….”

The two adults look into the journal finding the answer as to why she was excelling and surpassing what the locals were able to teach her. “These the journals you told me about?” Martha asks. 

Alma nods, looking into the next one as Cid flips through, finding it written not only in the common tongue of the Twins and Ashen, but another one he just can’t place his finger on. One thing is clear though within the writings, “Were your parents healers?”

“My whole family was. My mother used to tell me that the whole of my history was here in these journals. I was to follow in their footsteps….,” she says softly, voice growing thick, “they were going to teach me and we were going to become better healers as we learned new techniques and had access to different herbs and medicines….They said life would be better here.”

The first time Clive meets Barnabas on the field

With a yell Clive primes himself and rushes the king as the other three watch, limbs tense. The king easily evades the attack and kicks him back, the three jumping in to support him. Jill is the first to catch the king prime another attack, sprinting to give him cover. In a flash the red slash sings towards Clive. Alma’s heart stops for a moment as it makes impact. Ifrit’s power fading as he hits the ground limply. The thump jolts her back into action, sliding to his side, lifting his chest from the ground. Her arm slides under his arm and around his shoulders, his weight nearly crushing her back to the ground before Joshua joins her and the two begin to drag him towards safety. 

Jill yells at them to go before making the temperature drop and the sound of cracking ice before rising above them as Shiva. They make it a few more steps before the Dominant casts a wall of ice between them and Barnabas, her attention now singularly focused on the king. Alma and Joshua look up when they hear Gav call out to them, watching as Clídna jumps over the small stone fences towards them. She wastes no time in pushing Joshua from his spot, bracing Clive on her back as she wraps one of his arms around her shoulders, while her other arm moves Alma out of the way to grab onto his legs. With a quick shift as she stands Clive is securely laying across her shoulders, one arm crossed over her chest and held in place by the arm wrapped around his legs. 

The cursebreaker makes it look easy as she turns and rushes back to Gav, with Alma, Joshua, and Torgal following close behind with the fading sounds of ice and darkness clashing. “Gav! When we make it to the end of the street, I need you to help Joshua take him the rest of the way.” Clídna orders, “Alma, you and Torgal stay in front of them and lead any big mobs of Akashik away from them, got it?”

Alma nods as Gav asks, “And just where do you think you’re goin’ in the middle of all this?”

“To get Jill. I’m not leaving her alone, not again.”

Gav sighs, grumbling, “Well just don’t be stupid about it, alright?” She nods, slowing down into a darkened doorway, helping the men get situated, “You remember where to meet us?”

“Of course. Take care of him, I’ll be back!” With a final nod from Gav does the small group make their way towards the Ironworks in the outskirts of the city. The four of them are a few streets away from their destination when they hear the panting and heavy footsteps of Clídna approaching them, alone. She gives a silent shake of her head when their glances all ask the same question. She picks up Clive once more, pace never faltering as they make it to the doorway of the Ironworks. “Where do you two want him?”

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

By the time Mid comes to check on them, Joshua has pushed the cot right next to the bed, pillow in the space between his crossed legs that Alma rests on as he leans against the wall, fingers combing through her now loose hair. The healer stays asleep on her stomach to better reach out to the side and have her hand upon Clive’s chest, the man’s breathing strong and steady with more color to his face, her other arm wrapped around Joshua, and Torgal sleeping at her feet. He and the hound glance up at Mid’s entrance, putting a finger to his lips before waving her closer. She sits on the edge of Clive’s bed quietly asking, “Will he be alright? Shouldn’t he have woken up by now?”

“Alma and I can only mend flesh, but the spirit….,” he takes a deep breath letting his gaze focus on Alma, “The spirit must recover on its own.”

“So it's all up to him now ain’t it?” Joshua nods, Mid giving a small smile and nodding at Alma, “Is she going to be alright?”

He nods once more, “A good rest was all she really needed, but being a healer she makes for a very stubborn patient.”

“Ah, only way you were able to get her to sleep I see.” 

“Quite,” And nothing short of unusual for you my dear. He looks around trying to change the subject, “This place is remarkable. Outfitting it must have been no small feat. Why go through all the trouble though if I may ask?”Mid smiles, looking in awe at the Enterprise, “That beauty’s belly is filled with wonders the world in’t ready for. If the other guilds caught wind of what we were up to, they’d all want a piece.”

Clídna and Clive's first night together

Clídna’s footsteps are light as she weaves through the bunks to one man she knows will appreciate the contraband she has tucked away in the storage house. She finds him laying on his back with crossed arms and shaggy black hair obscuring his face even more in the darkness, at least she knows it won’t take him long to be dressed to be outside as he, like many others, wears most of their uniform to bed. She pokes his arm whispering, “Wyvern.” His eyes are slow to open but focus on her shrouded form, “Meet me in the storage house. I promise it’ll be worth your while.”

She says no more and slinks away to the quietest exit, leaving the door loose enough to open with a gentle nudge and not alert anyone else. Once out in the pale moonlight she straightens out inhaling the crisp fall air with a smile before glancing around for the all clear before rushing to the storage house. Thanks to her earlier work she’s able to navigate the maze of crates with ease to the back corner where no one would be able to spot them and where she pulls free two small bottles of wine that didn’t meet the emperor’s standards. Her body tenses when there’s a scrape at the door and soft firelight glows behind a wall of crates. 

“Clídna?”

She lets free the breath she’d been holding at the sound of Wyvern’s voice. “Back here.” He makes his way to her making the fireball floating in his palm smaller when his eyes land on her. He reaches for a clay bowl stored in the rafters and pulls a dusty rag from one of the broken crates to wrap around a piece of the broken wood. The two settle on the floor where the rag wrapped wood finds a place within the clay bowl along with the fire he used to guide his way to her. She smiles, handing over one of the bottles, “Can I interest you in some South Reach wine?” 

He laughs softly at her exaggerated tone taking the offered bottle, “And how did you manage to get your hands on these?”

“Let’s just say it pays to show interest in the kitchen staff once and awhile.” She holds out the neck of her drink, “So, cheers.”

He clinks his bottle against hers, “Cheers,” taking a swig of the smooth drink at the same time she does.

and finally Clídna being right as always

“Yet you still find it a bit weird, seeing him all grown up like this,” she laughs as he lets out a sigh and shaking his head, “It’s okay to admit it you know. You haven’t seen him fully since he was but an adorable child.” The two watch as the young man moves a stool a bit closer yet not sitting on it as he pets and scratches behind the hound’s ears, and Alma leans a bit closer giggling and batting her lashes as her crossed legs swing. “If it makes you feel better, sweetheart, at this moment in time the two are much younger.”

His brow furrows, “What do you mean?”

She nods her chin at them, “Just look at them. They’re flirting like teenagers(would they say teenagers like that????) in a marketplace.”

“So?”

“So it means they’ll act nothing like the refined young man and woman they front with you.” She points to someone unknowingly taking the stool from behind Joshua, his focus never leaving Alma as she goes on about something blushing and pushing her long hair behind her ear. The two watch as Torgal finds a place to lay where the stool once was and the couple staring adoringly at one another.

“I don’t believe that,” Clive argues.

Clídna cocks a brow before smirking, “You that confident Joshua won’t be stupid and oblivious?” He nods with a confident smile, “Alright then, I bet you five gil that he’ll soon trip over Torgal while still talking to her.”

“Okay, you’re on.” 

He holds his hand out, the two shaking on it as Jill walks up behind them still mostly dressed in her day clothes. “And what are you two doing out here?” She asks with a chuckle before kissing them both on the cheek and leaning on them both.

“About to make Clive lose five gil.” Clídna points to Joshua and Alma, watching as his hand begins to reach behind him for the stool no longer there. “In five, four, three….”

Joshua attempts to sit only to fall back, taking a step back to try and catch his balance. Torgal stands quickly with a yelp bumping into the back of his legs, taking them out from under him as he tries and fails to grab onto the railing. He falls back with a small yell into the table, his hand catching onto someone’s left over plate causing the food remaining on it to go flying and land on him. 

Alma jumps down with worry all over her features as Clídna and Jill laugh, Clive hanging his head in defeat hiding his smile and repressed laughter. The young couple look up at the boisterous trio, Joshua turning red when he realizes they had all seen what just happened and hearing their laughter grow when Torgal begins to try and clean up the food. 

Alma stands up, hands on her hips trying to look authoritative with her embarrassment also creeping up her neck. “Stop laughing! It’s not funny!”

Tagging: @belorage @florbelles @unholymilf @confidentandgood @strafethesesinners @leviiackrman @statichvm @adelaidedrubman @jackiesarch @shallow-gravy @shellibisshe and anyone else that wants to share!

[catyo90]

The Dragons Bride

Warning: None. The reader is an GN Elf. Thorin is a Dragon/Human AU. Inspired by: FFXIV Dragonsong. One-Shot (Song below so you can hear it. It's very pretty)

'Children of the land, do you hear Echoes of truths that once rang clear? Two souls intertwined One true love they did find Bringing land and heavens near'

The cave was cold and dim as you kneeled on the floor awaiting the moment for the creature to appear from slinking dark. Every heavy step you heard, was louder than the next. Tears pricked your eyes as you prayed to any Valar who would answer your plea.

A sacrificial bride, it would be your last day alive. At least that was what you believed awaited you.

Both smoke and dust started to fill the room as the behemoth of a dragon stood proud. You dared not to look past the veil you wore, but from the sight of the beast's massive claw, you noticed the scales shined like forged metal. The fire that surrounded it was warm, but not blistering, more comforting than anything. Your breath quicked as you felt the eyes of the dragon upon you. Eyes you could see through your veil, not gold but instead bore the hue of the sea in them.

'But flames that burned full bright soon fell dark Memories dimmed by shadowed hearts In the waxing gloom, did wane the lovers' moon Watching as their worlds drift apart'

You suddenly felt the veil slowly being lifted from your head, the weight of it becoming a missing part of you as you wished you did not have to look upon the beast just yet. Quickly your eyes closed as you felt the claw of the beast being brought to your chin, lifting your gaze to look at it.

Your eyes stayed closed as the claw slowly became smoother and soon felt not like bone but instead skin. The breath of the dragon was replaced by the calming voice of a man.

"Would you not look upon me, my love?"

'One soul's cry, a passion dwelling within Sacrifice, a final plea to her kin Yet this bond of hope, by treachery was broke Scattering her words to the wind'

You opened your eyes in complete shock as you felt your entire body shudder. You saw before no beast or killer that you were told you would find. Before you were the man you fell in love with all those years ago. His hair reached to his shoulders, a well-groomed beard, and eyes as blue as the sky during a storm. Your thoughts were flooded with memories of your time together as children.

'Swelling over long Seas of blood are a song And death an afterthought To those who fight for naught'

You were with him centuries before, back when the world was green and fair. He looked just as he did now, his beauty eternal. How could one compare to him? you thought when you first saw him. Little would you have ever known that your beauty was blinding to him and to him a treasure hoard couldn't hold a candle to you. Those peaceful days when men, elves, and dwarves lived in harmony and the shadows of the world were small and felt no fear toward them. Until His return. The lord of shadow, of Mordor. Sauron the deceiver. Lies and falsehoods separated your lands into an endless war. A war that you believed had claimed him when he was taken away from you, the last sight you saw was him reaching out to you as the guards of his land took him away to be sent to his death.

'A throne lying empty A reign incomplete Alone for eternity A pain without cease'

Both your kingdoms lay in ruin. The evidence surrounding both of you. All those you knew in the eyes before are gone. But here before you was the last remnant of those days. Your eyes started to fill with tears as you brought your arms around his mighty frame. Feeling his strong arms around you made you smile as the warmth from his skin both shocked and soothed you and the feeling of his breath beneath your hands made you realize that after all of these centuries, he was alive.

'Children of the land, answer this; Why must you turn to empty bliss? Tell me why break trust, why turn the past to dust Seeking solace in the abyss? Tell me why create a circle none can break? Why must you let go, the life you were bestowed? This I fear I'll never know Never know'

You both stood there knowing the cruel twist of fate. You lift your gaze to him to feel his hand take yours as he kisses the inside of it. You watch as he grabs from his pocket two rings, both of beautiful craft but look as if they could break with the slightest touch. A low hum comes from him as you bring a kiss to his lips feeling him slip one of the rings onto your hand as he kisses you once more. your hands become lost in his hair as his hold you even tighter than before, as if you were a dream about to fade away. He smiled into the kiss as you felt tears of joy stream down your face. He wiped the tears away as he brought your hand to his lips. A silent promise that he will never leave your side again.

[kilmiel]

The final days were upon us. The fabric of the star had begun to fray; its lands rent by tooth and claw. As the chaos spread, the star seemed doomed to unravel. And yet... there were those who stood in defiance of that fate.

With this one I can proudly say that I finished Inktober. For the 3rd year in a row. And it all was FFXIV related with following official Inktober promts. A bil later I'll make a post about my expierance in this year's challenge OwO

And several words about this art. I was thinking about fire and a friend helped a bit with idea. Here we can see a catastrophe that happened in ancient world before Sundering happened. I started Inktober with the shade of Amaurot and now I end it with the original city itself. With it's final days. And with the Final Days of this three being together... One will sacrifice himself when Zodiark will be summoned... The soul of the second one will be sundered in forteens shards... And the third one will live for thouthands of years with hope to bring his past and his beloved back...

In the end I want to say a LOT of thank you to all, who followed my Inktober and supporting me and my art. It means a lot for me ♥ And a little bonus - gli-i-i-i-i-itter OwO

[roegadynroost]

New Omijuki for 2024

So in 2023 we got the Omijuki added to FFXIV for Heavensturn and I absolutely LOVED it. When doing the quest this year, I noticed that at the end it tells you that there were 12 new option that you could get under "adventure". For anyone that was curious, there were 2 new Adventures under each tier of fortune, and I cataloged them for myself, so I thought I'd share them; Great Fortune -Forget not to take thy repasts, for thou shalt be blessed with encounters most auspicious. -Shirk not the offer of the august, for proffered hands forge new bonds. Good Fortune -Remain true to thyself, and new encounters shall follow. -Opportunity awaiteth in lands blessed by golden dawn. Fair Fortune -Heed the whispers of nature. On a faraway island shall you find solace and sanctuary. -Rejoice in the Twelve, and thy revels shall not go unrewarded. Small Fortune -Forge thy weapons anew, for thy pursuits shall reveal untold strength -In the land of the fierce shall thine abilities be tested. Bring thy full might to bear. Misfortune -Renew thy spirit beyond the horizon. -Thou shalt find repose where rabbits tread. Grave Misfortune -Fortune favors those who brave the shadows. -Hearken back to journeys past, for thy memories shall be thy strength. I love them all! I think my favorite was getting "Thou shalt find repose where rabbits tread." I think most of them are nods to Endwalk and things we may come across in Dawntrail. Anywho! Hope everyone has a happy 2024 and that they enjoyed looking at these.

[tadpole-apocalypse]

For Morgan x Astarion...at what point in the game's events did they start ~feeling~ for each other?

I know no one ever cares, but I am STILL SORRY for taking so long to answer this. Its an important question to me ; w ;

I bullied my partner into writing me a fanfic about this very topic actually, and while I am forbidden to share any excerpts until it is edited and completed (which won't be until after they finish Shadowbringers...ffxiv is ruining my life...) I am gonna bring up some of the plot to talk about Astarion’s feelings developing (as he was first to catch them).

In the Underdark, Morgan encounters the Sussur flower. She's never seen one, but has felt its effects on her magic before. Her wild magic surges were deemed too powerful and disruptive to her cult leader, and he shunt her magic off with a sussur enchanted item. Except, it didn't stop her wild magic surges at all, they queued. So when the item came off after 2 years of use, her compound and everyone in it was hit with 2 years of stored up wild magic surges all at once. The damage was catastrophic.

So feeling that same emptiness of her magic shut off sent her into a panic spiral, the longer her magic was shut off the more dangerous she became (oh gods another one of them capable of blowing up) and she was in such a state she could barely communicate and she looks to Astarion, the man sharing her bed, for support and he just...doesn't care. Tells her to get her magic back as he isn’t with her for her personality, and implies she’s useless to him without access to what makes her powerful.

Gale has to be the one to step in and be like, “oh dear don’t worry your connection to the weave will return here you look like you’re having a tough go of it, let’s step away from the glowing flower here…” and basically supports her first public display of emotional vulnerability with gentleness and empathy; all things she had wanted and foolishly expected from Astarion.

When she regains her composure she unloads on him, banishes him from her bed and tells him to find his own damn blood going forward. He ofc knows he fucked up bad when he can’t placate her so he tries to hunt on his own, but he finds the Underdark very difficult to find easy prey. He fails to hunt on his own, and the longer he goes without blood the weaker he becomes. He gets desperate enough to try to feed on rats again, but he can’t keep their blood down anymore. His senses get dulled, and he’s fumbling in battle more and more often.

After about a tenday, they’re finishing up their tasks in the Underdark before moving on through the shadow cursed lands, and everyone can see now Astarion is struggling. In battle and out. Now she’s had some time to deal with her emotions and feelings, Morgan relents and allows him to feed from her again. He goes cuckoo bananas on her blood and tries to do his suave lover performance but she tells him to be sincere and that she wants him to respond to her the way Gale did when she needs help, if this was to keep happening. She tells him she won’t put up with being talked to like that, again.

He agrees and says all the right things she needs to hear to keep providing him what he needs. But now it feels different, making these empty promises. Were they empty? What would it be like to be there for someone and support them? To be there for her? He starts to feel his first pangs of guilt and self loathing realizing he was acting exactly the same way he was when he was Cazador’s slave; no one told him to seduce and trick her but he did it anyways because its all he knew how to do to solve his problems. She wants something from him he’s never had to offer and when he tells her he can do that, he finds he wants it to be true.

[nianeyna]

I kept a bullet-pointed liveblog in a notes document as I played the new ffxiv expansion. now I have finally finished the story so I can share with the class without fear of someone responding to me with spoilers. speaking of which everything below is dawntrail spoilers, for the entire expansion, in case that wasn't clear.

⬇️ SPOILERS. FINAL FANTASY XIV DAWNTRAIL SPOILERS BELOW. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED ⬇️

Dawntrail Liveblog

- ok so the mean claimants are obviously not going to win, but catboy promise is a dark horse. also not ruling out "nobody wins"

- Urqopacha is super cute

- CAMPFIRE SCENE!

- Erenville's deal continues to be very mysterious no matter how much he contrives to appear to be telling us about it

- lol Erenville dialog: "I spoke too much" YOU BARELY SAID ANYTHING BABE

- Kozama-uka is sooooo pretty

- I like how the entire first dungeon was totally unnecessary since we would have got there FASTER if we'd just stuck around and helped Alisaie and Erenville repair the boat lmao. but that's not how the WoL does things!!

- CAMPFIRE SCENE!

- erenville lurking in the background... siddown boy lmao

- unknown dude: hey you uh... forgot something. yeah back there. come with me and get it this is definitely not a trap

- oh no it was a trap! who could possibly have predicted this??

- awwww, Koana. wasn't sure about him at first but he's just a cute little muffin isn't he

- wuk lamat getting all excited about eating the xibruq pibil was so cute omg. she just likes food!!! I appreciate that in a woman

- oh shiiiiit wuk lamat origin story?! dun dun dun...

- aaaaaand solo duty... ulp

- haha get wrekt

- CAMPFIRE SCENE!

- the mamool ja should look into tourism... this place is pretty as hell

- ok koana shooting the tablet was a pretty cool move

- have my doubts about the golden city being in yak tel... like if it was there why'd they go to xak tural then

- ok, I guess it... was there? or... the *entrance* was there... according to gulool ja ja, anyway...

- road trip alone with erenville be still my heart!

- out of context erenville quotes: "this is your first time, so let's take it slow"

- no need to apologize erenville... you can drag me into anything you want

- oh wow this is really fucking sad. wow. I wasn't expecting that!

- the ridiculous train plan is cheering me up a bit thank god (editor's note: it didn't last)

- sigh... there always has to be at least one zone per expansion that's all dark and gross-looking. did they sign a contract to that effect or something??

- I can't believe how mean this plotline is to erenville

- this is fucked up... this is so fucked up

- npc: "sorry to darken the mood" NO THAT'S FINE I DON'T THINK THE MOOD CAN GET ANY WORSE!!

- I want to rip Spene's crown off and push her off a cliff. her little I'm so cute and innocent and helpless act makes me want to puke.

- CAMPFIRE SCENE!

- if any more parents die in this story I am really truly gonna lose it

- YES finally we get to fight these horrible people. machine army. whatever.

- I hope the next trial is sphene... I want to kick sphene's ass SO bad

- well there goes otis which brings the fucking dead parent toll to at least 4

- finallyyyyyy made it out of heritage found... *collapses onto the floor of tuliyollal like a shipwrecked sailor reaching land*

- (ok obviously I've technically been back to tuliyollal while I've been doing these godforsaken quests but THIS IS DIFFERENT!)

- we didn't fight sphene but the prospects are looking really good for me getting to punch her in the face soon. probably not literally like we got to do with zenos, but I guess you can't have everything :(

- wow sphene really BELIEVES she's just a helpless little girl. fucking incredible.

- next expansion let's have a final zone NOT populated entirely by ghosts. change it up a little

- so should I count namikka and cahciua's deaths twice on the parent death toll scoreboard or what

- you know what I still don't get. is why the yok huy went to xak tural to look for the golden city. *why did they think it was there*? I mean heritage found is there *now* but it definitely wasn't hundreds of years ago!

- that face on the tower looks more like meteion than sphene tbh

- two more dead parents!

- I can't. believe. sphene erased herself before I could beat her ass. this is the most unfair thing that has happened in this expansion, and it is up against some STRONG contenders

- it's just not satisfying to pummel a weird robot that has none of her memories!

- oh sphene's SORRY? *loudest fart noise ever*

- it's a good thing wuk lamat is here to be nice cause if I had to do it I'd throw up

- "their lives remain unchanged"? uh.... we shut off the afterlife. which was a real physical place you could go to. I feel like that changes things a bit!

- I DID IT I'M OUT CREDITS ROLLED UP I'M DONE THANK GOD

First half I rate: 9/10

Second half I rate: 3/10

Overall I rate this expansion: 5/10 I guess

Up until the lightning dome appeared I was having a blast. after that the gameplay experience became one of gritting my teeth so I could get out and be done with it. all the alexandrian zones are dark and unpleasant to be in, which would have been bearable except the plot was literally nightmarish and any new characters I didn't hate either died or were already dead (except gulool ja, who's cute of course, but his story was still pretty upsetting in a different way). This is not to say the writing was bad, because I don't think it was. In the alternate universe where I was LOOKING for a tragic existential horror game I might have even really liked it. However I really really wasn't looking for that at all, so in the real world I feel pretty betrayed and upset. There's a line between "plot twist" and "false advertising" and I think they left it behind in the dust.

But hell, at least we got 4 campfire scenes.

[driftward]

Title: FFXIV Write 2024 - 17. Sally Characters: Solita Grey, Urianger Augurelt Rating: Teen Summary: If the naturalist goes forward blindly where the seer might see, whose fault might her untimely death be? Notes: Weird Wild West AU - A Desertwalkers story. This is definitely a rough draft I intend to expand later

Solita made her way in the back rooms of the Cat's Eye cabaret, quietly finding her way to a door that had no markings to inform what may lay beyond, besides a 'no entry' sign nailed to its front. A seemingly casual glance around showed nobody else was present, and with that, she slipped past it, and into the space beyond.

Here lay her particular coven. Acolytes to a once great man, gone now, but determined to continue his mission of peace in these lands nonetheless. Here is where her and her comrades often spent their time, sharing gossip and information with one another, commiserating in camaradarie, and plotting their own course of influence in these lands.

Urianger appeared to be the only person currently in, sitting at a table, adjusting some kind of orrery. He looked up at her briefly and nodded to her, which she returned in kind before finding a chair to throw herself into tiredly.

"Greetings, my Grey Lady. Another vexatious day?"

She waved a hand in the air. "I enjoy my contribution to our work and how I choose to pursue it, I truly do. But some days sorely test my patience, Urianger."

"Indeed. My ear is ever thine, shouldst thou wish it."

Solita, with perhaps somewhat exaggerated drama, draped an arm over her eyes as she tilted her head back over the chair's edge. Urianger chuckled.

"'Tis of no import. A final meeting with Miss Vauban. I find her curiosity nigh inexhaustible, but perhaps this latest survey of hers shall keep her out of my hair for some time."

"Indeed. And I suppose our Adventure Naturalist has gone forth on yet another sally of discovery?"

She lifted her arm just a bit to give him a wry look.

"Why, Urianger, you sound like an levinwave aetheric serial."

"Perhaps," he said with a grin. "Mayhaps I have been enchanted by thy stories of her ventures thus far, second hand though they may be. Her travels to the grasslands with nary an incident, and yet she had much to tell. And her drawings of the southern buttes were remarkable to mine eye."

"I suppose that if there is any value to my time with her, it is in that which she brings back from her travels. I shall keep my wariness and my weariness, however. 'Tis only a question of time until she proves to be a source of more trouble than value, I am certain."

"But sooth, her excursions have been without mishap thus far, I believe. And a wealth of information besides, to hear thee tell the tale. As well as new maps which hath proven boon to our own efforts. And she heeds thine advice. Is that not what thou have oft wished, in speaking of your clientele past?""

"She is a naturalist, Urianger. We've yet to have one come to town who was not the source of some manner of trouble that needed to be handled by one of us."

"One 'twas a fool, on his own merits. Another a braggart, and I believe you rid yourself of him before his grand misadventure. The last was a naturalist only in name, as I recall, and saw to her own end."

"And I am hoping this one will see to her own end. I only wish to forestall any further damage she might do, other than to herself."

"And what of the good she hath undertaken? You yourself have had cause to admit, she is boon to our work. Having naught our obligations, but her own thirst for knowledge causing her to seek out that which we ever do ourselves wish to know. Her traversal to the petrified forest provided us a wealth of information, not only of the practical, but of the esoteric and even the occult."

"Well, yes. Boundless curiosity. A sense of questioning everything. And I will grant that she is thorough with her work. Intrepid," said Solita, reluctantly.

"Such venom with which thou deliver thy praise. I wonder, what insult hath she given unto thee? And if it is sufficient to this vitriol, why not set her free? Thou has no need to keep her on as client, and yet thou continue to serve her in thine capacity as consultant. If she truly is so burdensome, thou might relieve thyself of her company."

"And risk another incident?"

"Risk of what, my lady? She follows thine advice, and is conscientious in her work. If ought were to befall her and doom her fate, I full believe it wilt be the fates themselves conspiring against her, or the folly of man in opposing her, rather than any fault of her own due diligence."

"Well," said Solita, reluctantly, "perhaps her exploration of the northern ceruleum field will prove one of us right."

"If thou hast advised her thoroughly, then I foresee little risk of ill," he said. But after a moment of consideration, he frowned. "...is that not where the Baroness Aurelia met her end?"

"Aye. If she had listened to me more carefully regarding the warding stones, she may still yet live, and without creating such aetheric agitation in the area. I suspect she did not consider whether her little experiment of setting fire to the ceruleum sinkholes in an effort to prove their purity would shatter said stones. And perhaps she felt herself immune to the consequences of foolhardy action."

Urianger drummed his fingers on the table, slowly.

"And of the rheums which now as a result call that place home? We may find them simple to handle, but one without the gift of suitable sight to peer beyond the curtain of material reality may not so readily be able to handle them until it is rather too late."

"If she has taken appropriate precautions," said Solita cooly, "then she will have no problem."

"Are not thou meant to be such precaution?"

"I have given her all the information she asked for."

"And yet denied her that which she needs."

Solita gave him a withering glare. "Are we now questioning how I comport myself?"

Urianger bowed his head, squeezing his nose between his fingers.

"...aye."

Solita sat up fully, and frowned at him.

"This woman hath done thee no insult, and indeed, has been of great boon. She has given you first refusal of her work, despite your contract asking for no such thing. She has shared fully her findings with thee. She heeds thee, and I believe, even sees you perhaps as mentor in these strange lands. That you have led her astray speaks not to her character, but to thine."

"She may yet prove trouble, Urianger. She minds me, to be certain. As did Aurelia. And all that you have said could be said of others. I will not be charmed by her. As you will surely recall, Aurelia herself was gifted with etiquette and charm."

"And yet as I recall, thou were never fooled by her, facade as it was. You are the seer, she whose vision pierces into the heart of truth, unblinded by any veil. Tell me true, doth Miss Vauban present facade or honesty?"

Solita looked away.

"...she is as honest as she is earnest. That is to say, she is plenty of both." She rallied. "But if it is not duplicitousness that shall lead her to ruin, than surely it is that naïveté she carries. I simply cannot believe anyone such as her could survive in a place such as this."

"And yet, she lives. You are not the only one keeping an eye on her, you know. We all know the risks of those who would turn to these lands for their own profit. And yet, Thancred thinks well enough of her. Jovial though he may seem, thou knows well his cynicism of people. And the deeds master says she has even been asking after that abandoned range outside of town. She has profited, but not at the expense of others. Indeed, she thrives, steered by our own seer and her own wisdom."

Solita just crossed her arms, and sank into her chair, head down, ears back, thinking.

Urianger's voice softened.

"My lady, I have never known you to waver in the strength of your conviction, whether in the pursuit of knowledge, the mission we have undertaken unto the service of this star, or in how thou 'comport thyself'." he said. "But I also have never known thee to prevaricate in the manner of facing thine own errors of judgement."

He smiled at her. "Howsoever rare they might be. But! I charge thee; why dost thou hesitate now?"

"Urianger, we don't even know her actual name!"

"And does she know thine birth name?"

"I make no secret of myself."

"Nor she of herself, I believe. The names we are given are oft no gift, but instead an obligation, unwanted and unwarranted. Thus do I charge thee, which is more true; that name which was given unto us, or that name which we make for ourselves?"

Solita's ears dropped, and she waved a hand to the side.

"You are very invested in this woman who you've not even met, Urianger."

"I do not wish to see thee sully thy reputation in a fit of perhaps excessive defensiveness over what thou seem, instead of who thou art. I know not her, 'tis true. But, I would like to believe I have come to know thee, my Gray Lady."

He leaned forward. When he spoke, his tone was gentle.

"Your talent is to see truth, of this world, of others, of yourself; but thus, thou knows how to hide from thyself. This distance hath kept you thus far. But I believe your turmoil, your unseemly agitation at this woman, beyond that which I hath heard from you regarding your many clients o'er the summers, is because thou now face a change. I shall gainsay you no further; only to say thus: whither you help her or not shall define and make its mark upon thee, more than it shall upon her."

Urianger kept his gaze steady on Solita for a moment longer, before returning to his orrery, carefully arranging its orbits and axis, fingers dancing along lines of would be destiny in his future augery.

Solita watched him. Warred with herself. Clenched and unclenched her hands. And looked towards the door.

"Gods, what have I done?" she muttered. "I must needs rectify this matter."

Solita moved off towards her room with uncommon speed. Urianger ignored her, and when she came back several minutes later, she was in an outfit rather more suited for the brushlands than for the cabaret, an ornate staff in her hand.

"Inform Thancred and the others as to where I am. If I am quick, I can catch up to her before anything untowards happens," she said. She headed for the door, stopping just at its threshold.

"Thank you," she said. "For helping a blind woman see."

"My Gray Lady sees the truth around her, whereas I merely intuit possibilities," he replied. "Thus we are always strengthened by the talents of one another."

Solita frowned, and nodded, and then she was gone.

Urianger reached into his orrery, and made a single change.

[maeve-is-annoying-about-books]

Dawntrail endpoint review

Or: Wow they really spent half an expansion setting up for this and I love it. You know the deal, spoilers and all. Random internet opinion machine go! ->

I feel like before I get into Heritage Found and Living Memory I gotta talk about Shaaloani. I'm really sorry but I feel like this area, above all others, is really reflective of how Dawntrail needed a hard editing pass. Just one.

To say it's bad would be a misnomer, but the area story as a whole is a little bit of a... a non-sequitur? We just got out of the Rite of Succession's big high point and now we're gonna visit Erenville's home but very little of what happens here relates to the story that comes before or after. A tweak or two and it'd flow a lot better, maybe a story more focused on how Koana's march of progress here affects people. This is a place balanced too far on the side of Reason, and perhaps Lamaty'i can send us here to add a little of the Resolve's flair and unite people. Or maybe I'd use it to focus more on reflection, and here we have something that really caught back my attention.

The trolley crew of the First are reflected here in the train crew and this? Was brilliant. It primed me to look for similar reflections in Alexandria's lands and was very rewarding and more than that I think it's a subtle show of the difference between souls and memories. The train crew are still the same intrepid enthusiasts at a core, true level. At least in terms of FFXIV's world, soul and memory are two different components of a person and the essential difference is demonstrated well with this tiny scene. I'd LOVE to have seen it more repeated across Shaaloani as the intersection between memories, souls, and even our environment.

Then Zoraal Ja happens, the bastard. He is the worst parts of the other three competitors for the throne combined. He always was, we just never see it because he's so obviously strong. There's no way he's insecure, right? But look again at his goal, he wants to unite the world, the only way he could possibly outperform his father and carve his name. He frames it as such a noble goal but the truth of it is what we see in the invasion. He is an insecure coward. He can't die for his cause like he demands others do. He's a piss-poor commander who only cares for terror. He borrows power from others and calls it his own. Lamaty'i thanks us, Koana accepts help, Bakool Ja Ja is at least indignant when his cohort joins the fight. Zoraal Ja is a sad man with a sad death. He'll devour those in his care if it means he can achieve his goal.

He never will. The blasted second head of his monstrous form says it all.

Sphene stands as the true counterpart to Lamaty'i. Wuk Lamat's arc wasn't finished when she took the throne, her plea to stay in Tural with her was proof of that. Like Sphene needing Zoraal Ja. And then, also like Sphene, she grows beyond this need and becomes more assured of her path, albeit it in a gentler and more loving way. If I were to put it in words, Sphene learned brutality from her dependence on Zoraal Ja, while Lamaty'i learns to be true to herself from the WoL's belief in her, thus bringing about the final acts for each, a diametric opposition both sides regret.

In the Dark Knight quests, the WoL (through their counterpart Myste) brings back the memories of others. Giving life to the thoughts of the departed. And it was just as unsustainable then as it is for Living Memory. We see how Myste has to constantly siphon living aether to perform this act and even then it's a vanishing and hollow thing. Most people who encounter our memories know they aren't really there. Living Memory is this act on a worldly scale. Living Memory devours life to produce itself. Living Memory is an eternal golden era perpetuated by feeding on the potential future and other cultures. It is, dare I say, colonialism made manifest. A foreign power who arrives without warning and takes and shapes a land and while it brings a higher standard of living, supposedly, the highest and most revered tier is beyond the reach or knowledge of most.

But. Living Memory is also a place to say goodbye. It's a heaven where you can rest easy knowing some piece of you will carry on and meet your lover again. Hang out with a long-lost friend. Make up with someone who became your enemy due to a mistake. It is an area filled with love and catharsis and beauty with a terrible price for its continued existence. But even if we found some way to infinitely fuel it, I don't think it would be any better of a place, because while your memories live on there, there is no one back in life who remembers you. No one to speak your name or trade a tale with. The people there are more dead than Gulool Ja Ja, a man who is remembered fondly, whose legacy binds disparate people together and whose wisdom guides a new generation. His hand still holds Lamaty'i's, even in death, while the Endless lose their place outside of this nostalgic world of twilight.

Just... fuck, dude. What an incredibly poignant story to tell, one that necessitated the story that came before. What a fitting one for the first expansion to come out after the TEN YEAR arc that led up to Endwalker. It's a story that asks itself how it can hope to stand up to the weight of a legendary legacy and takes its tumbles with aplomb to set the groundwork for a new tale to come. For a new generation and a new leg of the journey.