#ffxiv 1.0 ishgard

[before-calamity]

A Very Close View of Ishgard

When trying to teleport into Dzemael Darkhold, I accidentally typed the wrong coordinates, and ended up...floating in the air.

There are a couple of interesting things about this.

First of all was the fact was that there was collision here - usually, warping out of bounds in a game means that you simply...fall into the aether.

What this means is that either they were lazy and made the whole plane have collision, or that there is some remnants of land here that was removed.

But, it also seemed like I wasn't able to move anywhere, as if I was stuck in a wall. So, I had to use teleport and teleport back to Camp Dragonhead.

So a lighter post today, but something I thought I'd bring up.

[stars-and-clouds]

All of Coerthas Map (pre-calamity)

I was using this as a reference in my fanfic for Estinien’s backstory and thought it might help others too!

The picture is from this blog page. It is not mine. The blog also has some 1.0 information that might be useful for some writers.

Edit:

Map is originally by: @chrysalisthoughts

[estinininininen]

oh gods i thought the people who held up 1.0 images of estinien in funky lighting and said "see clearly he was duskwight! estinien was originally a duskwight elezen" were just coping because duskwight estinien would be rad as all hell. but i didn't see it, he just looked in shadow in the pictures they were using until i found an actual 1.0 cutscene and

he was TOTALLY duskwight?!?!?

c'mon there are now four wildwood scions (all with white hair!) and no duskwight main characters and unrealistic skin tones are COOL and SEXY

We were ROBBED

and yeah i know ishgardian elezen are technically like a separate clan that migrated before the split, but the game uses wildwood models for most of ishgard. but ysayle has a duskwight model. how interesting would it have been if a big part of ishgard's class division and closed borders was also cause of duskwight leaving gridania over time because racism and settling in rural coerthas.

estinien struggles in ishgard socially and drops his family name even though he's fighting for their vengeance. ysayle and estinien both instantly raise their hackles at each other an extra level when alphinaud unthinkingly implies they at least have a few things in common cause they're both duskwight, not realizing this is super demeaning from a noble wildwood elezen foreigner, but alphinaud is young so they turn their frustration against each other. (the wol slaps their own forehead for alphinaud.) estinien privately thinks she's proving all the negative stereotypes true and ysayle rolls her eyes at how much he's bought into holy see propaganda about his own clan. hmmm well actually maybe the ffxiv writers weren't well equipped enough to write it and not fumble it 😬

[ablekable]

Going insane about Duskwight Estinien & Ferndale

Around 9 months ago I started playing FFXIV and I decided to play a duskwight and unfortunately you don't see many duskwights (and I only just did the ShB trials and Lancer quests so for a while my frame of reference was that one random duskwight getting bullied at a tavern in ARR and Mother Miounne) BUT I very recently learned that one of my favorite characters Estinien was definitely a duskwight in 1.0 (not explicitly stated but his skin tone is way too pale for wildwood/ishgardian and also had a greenish tint)

So for funsies I very quickly adopted this hc that he's still Duskwight, but I didn't really expand on it too much. It wasn't until I was talking with a friend about my WOL (Lunelle) that I mentioned that I might have messed up and not given Lunelle a duskwight last name and his response was just "just make them Ishgardian." Initially I dismissed the idea because despite the numerous elezen in Ishgard I didn't remember any of them having duskwight features nor did I think any of them would identify with wildwood or duskwight anymore which is a problem as being duskwight is important to Lunelle's identity. So Ishgard itself was out of the question but what about other places in Coerthas? (The ShB trials actually helped me a lot here because I frequently thought of the duskwights in Gyr Abania so some of them going to Coerthas didn't seem too farfetched.) That's when I thought of Estinien again and by extension I thought of Ferndale. I'll admit that I haven't dug too deep into anything about Ferndale aside from where it used to be on the Coerthas map. From what I can gather all we really know is that it was a small settlement outside of Ishgard, Nidhogg attacked it, and Estinien is the only survivor. There's a lot we don't know about Ferndale (nor the other settlements that were destroyed in the same rampageas im pretty sure Alberic mentions multiple) which turns out to be great for me because I get to make up almost whatever I want. So enter my very self indulgent headcanons: Ferndale was a settlement of duskwights & Coerthas had other settlements of duskwights Not necessarily relevant to Ferndale but I also hc Ysayle as a duskwight because she uses a duskwight model and I love her. (And what other reasons do you need really?) This also gave me a reason to think about how Lunelle and Estinien would interact with each other. Not to mention I love being self indulgent and the idea of them being childhood friends was too cute to pass up, but rambling about those two (and another Ishgardian elezen I adore) is for a later post.

[missingmywing]

Aymeric, G'raha, Thancred, Yusuke, Demyx

Yet another long one. Given who you put on the list, it's not surprising.

Aymeric, G'raha, Thancred, Yusuke, Demyx

First impression

Aymeric: “WHY IS HE SO PRETTY? He’s evil, he’s absolutely evil. There’s no way he’s not, he’s pretty and is in a position of power.” followed by you and red assuring me he’s not, and me very rapidly falling head over heels for him.

G'raha: This one’s a bit of a cheat since I knew most of his spoilers through art and comics well before I got into FFXIV, but my first impression of him in game in the Crystal Tower raid was “Oh my god, he’s a playful nerd and a snarky little shit. I love him, no wonder he’s popular.” (followed by being informed that most people liked him because of Shadowbringers, and didn’t really care for him in ARR which I was very indignant about. He’s just as fun in ARR as he is in ShB and beyond.)

Thancred: word for word “..... whomst is the pretty boy with silver hair in the main quest line? He's snarky, I like him.” And that very quickly jumped to “Oh I love him, he’s great.” and getting very excited whenever he showed up. There’s a reason he’s Etheria’s love interest from 1.0 - the end of ARR (when he decides to be an IDIOT alongside Y’shtola and they never recover because Heavensward happens). But I loved him from the beginning. The “flirty idiot is actually super badass spy faking it to get info” is one of my favorite tropes, so he hit just right from the get go. The fact that you could just barely see the switch from when he went from flirting to catch their attention to actively wheedling info from them just made it so fun. He doesn’t do that much anymore - he’s switched to a more serious way of spy networking (not that we ever get to see it) - but it was fun to watch in 1.0 and ARR.

Yusuke: My first impression that he was a pretty boy with no respect for boundaries or understanding of social cues. Awkward dork who didn’t know how to emote, and was almost certainly neurodivergent and horribly abused. Which I mean. Yeah.

Demyx: “I HATE HIM SO MUCH, HE’S SO STUPID JUST DIE ALREADY.” - yelled by my small child self before rage quitting Kingdom Hearts entirely for like, three years. Baby me did not understand the concept of leveling or properly equipping accessories, RPGs were just games where you hit things until they died. Once I came back to KH when I was a bit older and knew how to play I beat him on the first try and he quickly became my favorite Organization member for years. 

Impression now

Aymeric: I love and adore him, he’s so good. Someone please rescue this man from his office, I don’t think he’s eating or sleeping. He’d rather be anywhere else, adventuring with us, but he’d never turn his back on his duty. Someone take over for a week and give him a vacation. I’ll take him adventuring somewhere. It’ll be fun. (They won’t and he won’t, but I can dream…) But in all seriousness, he’s a wonderful character with fascinating backstory and political drama around him, and the fact that he’s remained a genuinely good and caring person despite Ishgard’s everything is incredibly impressive and is proof of how strong of a person he is.

G'raha: He’s still a fun dork! More mature and a little softer than in ARR, but that dorkiness and mischief and troublemaking are still there underneath it - he’s just been forced to rapidly assimilate a couple centuries worth of horror and misery and desperate fragile hope in the form of his future self’s memories so he’s not as carefree as he was. He’s not sad and tired like the Exarch was though - and I really like the dichotomy of it. It’s not a clean cut “oh yeah, they’re basically separate people” or “yeah he’s just past G’raha with his future self’s memories/the Exarch in his younger body” it’s… something a little in the middle. He’s more G’raha in some ways, more Exarch in others, and it’s not always easy to tell which has more influence, and I really love that - and I appreciate Endwalker calling attention to it.

Thancred: I still love and adore him so much. He’s so good. Went from big brother shaped for Minfilia to dad shaped for Ryne (and a little bit for Gaia, though we left before that could really happen). Self-sacrificing idiot, he’s almost as bad as Y’shtola and WoL about the “one death an expac” scares - ARR horrified me, and EW gave me a heart attack. SB and ShB weren’t as bad because I didn’t believe it for a second that he was dead, but they still gave me some unpleasant anxiety over his well-being. He cares so much, too, about everyone and it’s wonderful.

Yusuke: I still like him! He’s an interesting character to explore, and his dynamic with the others is fun. He’s not my favorite, but that partially because characters who kind of revolve around running gags tend no to be - he’s got a couple that the game uses a lot in the main line story, and I feel like it detracts a bit from some of his more serious moments? He can be serious, but outside of his Confidant everything after Madarame’s Palace feels a bit like his character is mostly used for comedy. Striker’s helped a lot with that, but… it just feels like there were a lot of missed opportunities for good character moments later on - especially with Haru and Akechi, and I’m not sure he ever really got full closure with Madarame.

Demyx: He’s still one of my favorites, but he’s fallen to the backburner a bit because I’m just waiting increasingly impatiently to ACTUALLY GET BACKSTORY. GIVE ME THE LORE NOMURA. I’VE CHANGED MY HCS FOR HIM FOUR TIMES NOW. I THOUGHT HE WAS UX, THEN I THOUGHT HE WAS DR. HE WAS NOT. SO IS HE MISSING LINK OR IS HE QUADRATUM. GIVE ME A N S W E R S

Favorite moment

Aymeric: Oh god I have to choose? There are so many. The first moment that he got to me was around Snowcloak, his “There are those who believe that faith is a renunciation of free will - that unquestioning devotion is required of all those who would live a life in service to the Fury. Such righteous fervor may well serve a knight on the front line - less so a leader of men. We are all at liberty to interpret the scriptures as we will. I choose to believe that the Fury would value the lives of Her followers over the deaths of her enemies.” THAT was what made me fall for him. Then there was his low-key dressing down of Alphinaud, “Do you know what sort of man becomes lord commander of the Temple Knights? One who comes from good stock. I did not, yet here I am. Now why do you think that is? Because I swiftly learned to tell the difference between words, deeds, and beliefs.” It’s great. So good. I love him. AND THAT’S JUST ARR. HW has so many good moments - his belief in us when we bring back Hraesvelgr’s story, his fury and indignation at the Archbishop for the lies to their people, his grief over Haurchefant, his parlay with the dragons, his speech to the people convincing them of the peace treaty, convincing Hraesvelgr to help… and then Stormblood has one of my favorite moments with him. The way he comes sprinting to your room the moment he hears that you’ve woken, and the sheer relief when he sees you alright… top tier fantastic. Especially when you add in his fond exasperation with Estinien. OH RIGHT AND THE HW SCENE WHERE HE’S CARRYING ESTINIEN FROM THE BRIDGE. It’s so good. He’s so good.

G'raha: Oh where to start. Crystal Tower is very well done by ARR standards, G’raha is such a fun and compelling character. His intro is great - the mischief, the drama, and his little grin when he finally introduces himself, it’s fun (I really loved his little prank/mischief making, though I’ve seen a lot of people who thought it was annoying which I still don’t understand). That shot where he walked into the tower as it closed made me tear up - it was so good even though it hurt. And then ShB, oh man his moments. That conversation with Vauthrey was nice, and the little trick with the glamour made me cackle, it was great. The “reveal” scene was amazing and awful. The scene post-Amaurot was beautiful. 5.3 was heart-wrenching from beginning to end, but the very last scene was… honestly very very close to my favorite. His stand and taking charge in Radz-at-Han was also amazing, but… honestly I don’t think anything can compare to his little speech in Ultima Thule. It’s just too good - a little philosophical and a lot heartfelt. It’s perfect.

Thancred: Oh noooo my favorite moment… honestly it might be weird to put it, but his post-Ifrit scene in Minfilia’s office in ARR is still one of my favorites. The quiet vulnerability and grief as he dropped his mask stabbed me right in the heart. It was such a simple and quiet scene, but it was so, so good. The fight with Ranjit is so so good, I love it so much, and the naming of Ryne scene is just… top tier. And Endwalker. That scene in Thavnair where he and Estinien are talking about Fandaniel, and nihilistic despair… It’s hard to say what my favorite is. There’s so many good ones.

Yusuke: Hmmmm he has several good ones as well, but both his awakening scene and the final confrontation against Madarame are tied for me. They’re both excellent, and really show off his raw, unfiltered emotions.

Demyx: Oh man the fight in KH2 is still one of my favorite parts of the game. For a flight that made me rage quit when I was little, it’s a lot more fun now (well. regular fight. his data fight not so much.) But the actual narrative part of it is so, so good. Demyx really shows his full character off in them. He genuinely tries to reason with Sora - it’s not his fault Sora didn’t get Roxas’ memories. But when Sora completely shuts him down, the switch flips and he goes “Fine then.” Secret badass who acts like an idiot until they have reason to stop pretending is my favorite trope, and Demyx definitely hinted at it in that fight. Also his line “Oh, we do too have hearts.” I know a lot of people say he was just deflecting to throw Sora off, but I really think he noticed and just… no one would believe him so he just shrugged and went whatever. He wasn’t gonna fight about it. But that whole scene before and after the fight are my absolute favorite moments of him.

Idea for a story

Aymeric: Aymeric will get a vacation, he will get a break and let the four houses run things for a week, Artoriel can run damage control for a week. Etheria’s going to take him on an adventure, it’ll be fun. Estinien and G’raha will probably dragged into it somehow. Aymeric will get to be a normal adventurer for a week, and get a break from politics to help people hands-on for once.

G'raha: We are going to establish a transportation connection with the First so G’raha, Thancred, and Y’shtola can see Lyna, Ryne, and Runar again. I just want a story of the Scions finally getting to return to the First, and for G’raha and the people of the Crystarium to interact with G’raha just being G’raha, without the mantle of the Exarch weighing him down. I want to see the nostalgia of him looking around talking to people, and the awkwardness of them not knowing how to address him while he tries to bite back the urge to give advice and recommendations about setting up the new government or cleaning up the world. He’s trying so hard not to take command again, and they’re trying not to put him in the position of command. Just… exploring the relationships of him and the First post-EW, and how they relax and find the balance. Not to mention everyone reacting to G’raha being an absolute dork, excitably chasing down adventure with Etheria and the other Scions with an eagerness that’s as endearing as it is different.

Thancred: So I know I've talked about this before, but I really want to write a fic where WoL's light blast in ARR untempers Lahabrea - but also somehow intertwines his and Thancred's souls so he's still stuck in Thancred's body. So now they have to learn to deal with each other, while Lahabrea feels saner and more stable than he has in several thousand years - plus he's completely cut off from Zodiark and he isn't quite willing to damage Thancred's soul further by trying to take control again, or accidentally destroy both their souls trying to escape. Lahabrea just "12,000 years. 12,000 years and it's come to this." Thancred is displeased and has to come to terms with this now, while trying not to panic Lahabrea still being there. It would certainly make everything after that more interesting.

Yusuke: I know there's a ton of these out there, but I really want to eventually write Yusuke painting the Thieves. Just a series of vignettes of him painting them truly as he sees them.

Demyx: I want to eventually write some of his time in the Organization, plus KH2 and 3, from his perspective. I'm waiting until we actually find out who the hell he is, but I really want to see his perspective on things.

Unpopular opinion

Aymeric: Hmmm I don't think I have any? No one's really said anything about him that I don't agree with.

G'raha: Potentially setting some fires here, but he's really not "uwu softboi wol simp". He's just… I know the fandom likes to make him this helpless simp, yaoi uke stereotype to the max, but he's not. He's very much his own person with his own strengths and personality, and while we might be an important part of his world we aren't the only important thing at the center of it. He's helping Krile rebuild the Students of Baldesion, and everything that comes with that. He might drop everything to rush to our aid should we need it, but he's not with us all the time because he does have other priorities. Personally I'm glad they're fleshing him out and giving him time to be his own character away from us. Characters whose entire personality and character revolve around the protagonist are boring.

Thancred: The playboy flirt act from ARR could not more obviously be an act. He drops it so fast in some scenes, why are people taking it at face value. Thancred is a walking guilt-complex with paranoid anxiety who puts on an act to get information and hide his emotions so he doesn't have to deal with them. This shouldn't be an unpopular opinion since it's literally canon - I'm almost positive all of this is stated in tact at one point or another - but I see people's takes ignoring this every time I go into his tags so I guess it is.

Yusuke: His gags, while amusing at first, get used too often, to a degree that it detracts a bit from his character. Not all of them! The awkward artist and the shenanigans therein are usually good for his character and can reveal a lot, but the "useless with money" thing stops being funny when no one addresses it seriously. If it were a gag that everyone was actively trying to teach him and he kept forgetting over something ridiculous I'd be fine with it, but the Thieves just roll their eyes and ignore it, which makes no sense and turns it from funny into concerning. I think it'd even be fine if they'd just stuck to one gag like most characters, but they gave Yusuke multiple and it just… it overshadows the rest of his character sometimes.

Demyx: oh don't even get me started. First of all the MoM theory makes no sense. It just doesn't. It serves no purpose from a narrative standpoint, and actively undercuts several other ongoing arcs in ways that wouldn't make sense for any of the characters (Luxu, primarily, but also Sora, Xehanort, potentially Luxord, and to a degree even Darkness.) I also don't think he's actually as much of a lazy idiot as he acts. There are times where he's downright scary - that fight in KH2 had a lot of undertones that haven't quite been addressed, but KH3 sure hinted at them with that line "I can be extremely imposing - when I want to be." That line was very validating after believing for years that he was a lot more dangerous than he presented himself - his attitude switch with that "Silence, traitor." was telling.

Favorite relationship

Aymeric: Okay as much as I love his relationship with both Lucia and Artoriel, and as fascinating as it is with Haurchefant, Estinien has to take number one (granted I’m not counting WoL into these, because I’m biased so it would be a given). He and Estinien have been best friends for over a decade, and it’s clear in every interaction - or even just how they talk about each other - how much they care for each other. It’s really nice to see, plus the little hints of them teasing each other (the fact that Aymeric actually wears the elephant costume…) even while they fiercely defend each other (Estinien snapping at our group for talking about rumors of Aymeric being a bastard, outright denying it, even though he knows it’s true, because he refuses to not defend his friend). They have so much care and trust for each other, even if we only see glimpses of it.

G'raha: Again excluding WoL, I have to say probably either Alisaie or Krile. He and Alisaie are such adorable friends - Alisaie mocks him mercilessly, but is the first to yell at him for putting himself in harm’s way even as the Exarch. And he doesn’t respond overmuch verbally to her teasing, but he does seem to lean into it and take it positively. He also tends to turn to her first of the Scions (aside from us) from what I can tell - though how much of that is friendliness and how much of it is concern for her aggressive recklessness I’m not sure. He and Krile have a long relationship as Students of Baldesion together (I mean she calls him Raha, come on), and every scene they’re in is also her teasing him and him shrugging it off casually. But it’s clear how much they respect each other, and it’s fun to see their relationship and speculate how they came to be friends.

Thancred: Ryyyynnneeee. Hands down, it’s so cute. He and Urianger are really sweet too, they obviously care a lot for each other, but… he loves her so much. It’s clear how much he adores her, and though he has a lot of trouble showing it for the first part of ShB, once his wall finally cracks and he’s willing to be honest with her it’s so, so clear how much he loves her. If we’d gotten to see more of it Ascilia/Minfilia might have been a contestor as well, but we never really got to see their relationship honestly - it was always through the lens of being a Scion. The hints of it were there, but what little we saw can’t stand up to what we saw between Thancred and Ryne in ShB.

Yusuke: Hmm it has to be either Akira or Futaba, because they’re both great. He and Futaba’s teasing and snarking each other is always fun, and it’s nice to see them bring out the quirky, argumentative sides of each other. His relationship with Akira is a lot more low-key, generally, unless he’s in full art mode in which that case his full eccentrics make their appearance. But even then, their relationship is generally very supportive and heartfelt and honest, and I really enjoy that. His relationship with Ryuji is also great, though we never get to really see much of it.

Demyx: lol what relationships, that would require screentime. But in all seriousness, I really like the potential of his relationship with Zexion/Ienzo - partially due to some interesting fics I’ve found over the years exploring their potential relationship as the youngest members of the Organization who don’t get taken entirely seriously. In terms of canon relationships we actually see, probably Vexen/Even. Their interactions in KH3 were hilarious, and certainly set the stage for some very interesting interactions going forward.

Favorite headcanon

Aymeric: If he had his way he’d happily give his position over to the four houses, ensure Ishgard was stable and would continue being stable, and then “retire” to being an adventurer with the WoL. If he could have gotten away with it, he’d have joined the Scions with Estinien in a heartbeat. He knows he can’t, but he can’t help the quiet yearning to escape his office and position of responsibility and take up arms with them. (He just wants to spend time with the people he loves and go on adventures. It’s selfish to consider, perhaps, but he’d be satisfied with that if he knew Ishgard would be safe and well.)

G'raha: G’raha doesn’t regret what’s happened to him, what he’s been through, and he wouldn’t erase it even were he given the opportunity. He may question who he was, doubt his own identity and sense of self at times, but he wouldn’t change it for a moment. He has too many memories of those he left behind in that broken timeline, and then the many he both saved and failed upon the First. He wouldn’t give those up for the world, no matter the pain or doubt they may bring.

Thancred: He remembers everything that happened while being possessed by Lahabrea. He doesn’t like it, and will deny that he remembers until his dying breath, but he absolutely does and he hates it. It was why he was so miserable in the latter half of ARR - not only was he responsible for the loss of over half the Scions, he was forced to watch it happen in front of him, and despite how much he fought and struggled he couldn’t break free of Lahabrea’s hold. He still hasn’t really forgiven himself for failing there.

Yusuke: Yusuke is ace and autistic, I will die on this hill. He doesn’t realize how things sound a lot of the time when he says something that could be taken the wrong way, and when someone points it out to him he’s usually “??? that’s ridiculous. please alter your world view to something less presumptuous.” He hyperfocuses far too easily and will forget to eat and sleep, to the point Futaba and the Thieves have alarms on their phones as a reminder to check in on him, and occasionally make sure he’d eaten that day. Futaba will hack his phone alarm, turn it all the way up, and then blare the most obnoxious music she can find to break him out of his focus.

Demyx: I have THREE DIFFERENT BACK STORIES WRITTEN FOR THIS ASSHOLE. He started off as being from Atlantica, then he was a Keykid in Anguis, then he was an upperclassmen of Xehanort and Eraqus. Right now I'm theorizing him as Yozora's Prompto that we didn't see in the Verum Rex trailer BUT WHO KNOWS. His relationship with Zexion in the Organization was mostly a series of trades, barters, bribery, and perhaps a little blackmail. Zexion was willing to let him hide from Saix or his missions in his labs - but Demyx had better have something to offer him for the invasion of space. Be it materials from off-world, retrieving something for him, or letting him run some tests on a magical theory he had, Demyx generally bribed his way into Zexion’s good graces. It’s created a bit of an awkward relationship post-3 - neither of them is sure how maintain a “normal” relationship of being friends because they’ve been cohorts at best the past several years. It’s taking some adjustment, and Demyx still tends to low-key bribe Ienzo into tolerating his presence. Ienzo doesn’t mind Demyx hanging around nearly as much as he did as Zexion, but… well he’s not one to say no to a perfectly good - and useful - bribe.

[caffeinatedingenuity]

You know..  Watching/reading a lot of FFXIV Lore shows the Empire was not really as ‘pure evil bad guys” as they are made out to be by most, They are just the current nation being an aggressor, and not sucking at the task. Looking at the history of all the city states they all tried the same thing more or less at one point in time, It was just the Empire ended up doing the whole conquest thing better. It is pretty clear that if not for the rise of the empire as a common enemy, the eorzean city states would likely of been at war with one another eventually for one reason or another. I mean, even during the rise of the empire as a threat they were, and still remain, not that noble if you pay attention. ( More below if you feel like reading )

Dig around the games lore, None of the eorzean city states are really that much of a heroic white knight they are often made out to be by most, and are really rather gray at best. Heck, Look at how they treated the beast tribes. 

Uldah? Pretty much a mafia run city state focused on wealth and excess greed, with everything that entails. Check into their past and it is even worse.

Limsa? Pirate run city state, who only recently decided it was in their best interest to start trading with other nations instead of raiding their ships for plunder. at least for now, or so long as your on their do not attack list.

Gridania .. Probably the least aggressive of the main Trio. Has it’s own issue, but not as glaring as the other two. Feels like they would prefer to be just isolate from the rest of the world if the world would let them.

Ishgard? I mean..  Have you played HW at all? Generations long war of genocide just to start off with, and a lot of other stuff.

Ala Mhigo? Lets see here.. Ontop of a lot of other issues..  Why did none of the other city states offer aid to Ala Mhigo when the empire invaded? Oh, Yea...  Not long ago they tried and failed to go to war with the three major city states in the name of conquest . Guess what? when the empire came to do the same to them, the other three city states of eorzea were more or less; “Yea.. Nope, good luck with that. “

Taking a look at Garlean lore/motives ( Yea they have their own flaws regardless here. )

Gaius believed in uniting the world via the empires conquest ( As did many ). If one paid attention to the story, He was against bringing Dalamud/Bahamut to the world as a weapon during 1.0 MSQ, even overlooked the WoL & Co going after the VIIth legion so they could stop the whole thing. He in general disapproved of any notion of mass destruction in his campaign (See all the Ultima memes.) , and instead he ( at the time. ) believed it was better conquer a nation, then absorb it into the empire and reform them rather then destroy it out right, even if it took longer to conquer them. ( Honestly, I feel Gaius is by far more interesting a character then most the Scions/Heros )

Many other Legatus had notions of making a better world for those they knew and acted in ways they believed best to accomplish such.( Even the VIIth had a notion such as this before becoming tempered by Bahamut in 1.0. )

Hell, Even Varius was shown to care about his nation, and detested the notion of his own son, Zenos, becoming emperor because he knew his son did not care at all for Garlemald and it’s people, and Yea, Look what Zenos ended up doing in the end.. More? Go actually pay attention to the Bozja storyline. The IVth legion, while it had it’s own issues and pretty horrible individuals in it, Had some almost noble motives behind some of their actions. While it has some pretty corrupt members, it also had quite a few who were actually pretty good folks, and, had the roles been reverse, and they were on the side of Eoreza instead, most would of been cheering for as heros instead of villains and their less noble actions overlooked.  We could of honestly swapped the roles here;. If you were playing from the empires POV ingame, - You’d see a bunch of reckless bigoted magic wielders who treat those who can’t use magic like they were little more the beasts. - Reckless city states frequently fighting among one another, often preoccupy themselves with wealth in excess/greed, and use magic without concern for the mayhem it’s unchecked usage may cause. - Treat the local beast tribes so horribly that they keep summon unstable magical creations of mass destruction just to wage wars against the aforementioned reckless magic wielders.. - Said citystates often cause mass destruction themselves. ( Have you seen all the ruins in Eorezea? Yea, a lot of those were from either wars between themselves, or using magic recklessly. )

In the end.. Not saying the empire did not do some pretty horrible things, and those who did such should face the repercussions of their actions.  but remember that in every war there are ‘good’ and ‘bad’ individuals on both sides, and who the ‘Good’ and ‘Bad’ Factions are honestly only depends on the point of view of which one you are in.

[tahri-nhupuju]

I do genuinely love how every FFXIV trailer lies to you in some way or another.

Like, unless you played in 1.0, the characters in the ARR trailer just fucking die.

Heavensward shows what appears to be Hresvelgr attacking Ishgard, when he's the number one anti-"attacking Ishgard" dragon.

Stormblood shows the WoL fighting Garleans in Kugane. Where you're not allowed to fight anyone and Garlemald has an embassy. (Bit of a stretch, but bear with me)

Shadowbringers takes this to the next level by straight up showing you shit from an ALTERNATE TIMELINE! Like iirc this trailer dropped pre-4.55, so the trailer starts with you beating Elidibus at Ghimlyt, and then you get to that scene and YOU LOSE!

Finally, Endwalker goes HAM on this by showing a scene set in la noscea starring the WoL, but it actually takes place in the magna glacies and stars G'raha instead. It also shows the WoL fighting Terminus on the moon, when the Final Days never spreads there. Not to mention the fucking logo isn't even the fucking moon!

I unironically love this to be clear. The overall arc and vibe matches and it keeps you on your toes.

Plus it's fun going back and spotting the differences.

[semi-imaginary-place]

ffxiv 4.0 the ruby sea

strange decision that kugane and the ruby sea are connected by that blue dot line instead of a gate guard or ferry like you walk onto the other half of the dock and are in kugane, weird.

lyse... you can swim if you want but why am i swimming there. ah two idiots bobbing in the ocean

both the red kojin and the wolfpeople work for garlemald

well she had quite the intro. established immediately several characteristics, that she is very cruel, she holds domans in contempt, she's physical pleasure/sensation focused. "We can't. Not now." no this is a great opportunity to assassinate the viceroy she's got like a dozen soldiers we can take her. it'll throw doma's government into chaos and if zenos comes that means he isn't in ala mhigo which frees up operations over there. "they'll kill the villagers" see you need to think like a dps: killing you enemies is mitigation.

"we need to keep our presence hidden" dead men tell no tales.

ahh so the confederacy has no military power they're a glorified fishing village. the unused weapons, the moored boats.

im too tired right now but this discussion is interesting. wait for a weaker garlemald even if it costs comrades

i think killing yotstuyu would be easier than killing all the red kojin. if the red kojin are mercenaries seeking treasures their contract can be bought out

diving is pretty cool you can really see the budget for stormblood. modelers did two areas for 1 map. i wonder if its some sort of technical limitation thats stopping the camera from going above water.

wait. why is the turtle village connected to the aethryte network run by the ... i think it was lolorito's company

the underwater stuff just might make the ruby sea my favorite area in the game. I love all the folklore references. and sui village isn't even the only village there's an entire kingdom of raen down here and i love it. raen are just the merfolk/ningyo of othard i guess. kinda weird that they let us in the secret village to begin with, i mean 1.0 and 2.0 players couldn't even get into ishgard

i was just thinking about secret mermaid friends.... and yugiri is one. yugiri was literally some kid's secret mermaid friend…

magatama, mirror, and sword uhhh im forgetting my japanese mythology there's some significance here.

i was just going to talk about primals and red blue. the kojin are depicted just like how beast tribes are in eorzea. you have the bad primal summoning ones and you have the good ones in a different color. really the primals wouldn't be a problem but for the tempering.

the whole kami thing is a localization. my guess is that they added it to make hingan sound more foreign?

why would you bring you treasures on to land where the garleans are

just how big is the undersea kingdom and how old? and why do it, doma, and hingashi share names and a language. By the name hingan I'd expect it to originate in hingashi. is it a trade language and lingua franca like eorzean? is doma a splinter colony of hingashi. further thoughts from when i read encyclopaedia eorzea ii: https://semi-imaginary-place.tumblr.com/post/653912554050027520

[voidsentprinces]

Looks like Duskwight lads and ladies are the cryptids of the FFXIV world, I mean why wouldn't they be? Wildwood pretty much have two major settlements Gridania AND Ishgard is basically an entire expansion about them. Yeah I know there is a difference between Ishgardian and Wildwood Elezen but like...that feels like splitting hairs. Meanwhile, we have one major Duskwight locked behind a Shadowbringers side quest whose entire backstory is told in a single screenshot of him standing next to the tree in Ala Mhigo and a burnt down Praetorium. Duskwights have an unreleased dungeon from 1.0 and Palace of the Dead.

Meanwhile, the catboy/girl game has a lot of cat boys and girls. Not too big a surprise. Bigger surprise is theres more of them than the more often memed upon Lizard Folk.

[chiclet-go-boom]

Ishgard 1.0

[before-calamity]

Gates of Judgement & Ishgard

Imagine a temperate Ishgard, still full of snooty and racist Elezens who mistreat the poor! These are the Gates of Judgement, which lead to the Steps of Faith that lead to the big city.

In 1.0, you couldn't go through the Gates of Judgement, and there's not even an area inside, like there is in 2.0. The theory was that both Ishgard and Ala Mhigo were supposed to be in 1.0, but they got cut because of time.

So, now, this glimpse of temperate Ishgard is all you can do.

[valentine--heart]

Camp Dragonhead FFXIV 1.0

[eremiss]

Lore & References

Maps, scripts, quests, and all kinds of other tools! (the list is getting long!)

Maps & the World

Map of Hydaelyn + New World (7.0 - x) -- A huge map of Hydaelyn including the New World/7.0 areas, with major locations labeled in English.

Map of Hydaelyn (2.0 - 6.x) -- A huge, high-rez map of Hydaelyn labeled in English. The map doesn’t have Golmore Jungle labeled, but it’s north of Valnain. (The map for Endwalker/6.0 is almost exactly the same except for the design of Garlemald. That version can be found here, but with Eorzean labels)

Labeled Map of Southern Othard -- A labeled version of the map shown during the Post-4.0 Rabanastre questline

A Realm Remapped -- Per the site: “A Realm Remapped is a collection of all maps and locations in FINAL FANTASY XIV including FATEs, Treasure maps, Vistas, Aether Currents and more!“

Lore & Other Stuff

*PSA - Any/all lore-related posts likely contain spoilers!*

MirkeMenagerie -- Extensive FFXIV lore and reference blog, including lots of in-game dialogue and passages from the Encyclopedia Eorzeas. Many long posts with LOTS of great info!

Eorzean Umbral and Astral Eras -- Timeline of Eorzea's various eras and calamities, made by @stars-and-clouds. (Tumblr post)

FFXIV 1.0 Archive -- Main quests, side quests, class quests, scenarios, NPC text, and newspapers archived from 1.0, by @MirkeMenagerie. (Tumblr post)

Full Main Scenario Game Script - A transcription of Main Scenario cutscene and quest dialogue, written by @Eriyu. (Tumblr post)

Botanica Eorzea -- Extensive and in-depth GoogleDoc of all of Eorzea’s plants. Original Doc made/maintained by @tinolqa. (GoogleDoc) Tumblr post about it Here, for reblogging/saving purposes.

Encyclopedia Eorzea Vol. I  -- A post with a link to a PDF version of Encyclopedia Eorzea Vol. 1 (PDF)

Central Coerthas + Ishgard Levequests -- 116 page PDF with links to the GamerEscape pages for the quests. From @Kokiri. (Tumblr post)

Housing stuff

Floating Furniture Guide -- How to float furniture (on PC and PS4!)

Minimum Furniture Height Guide -- This spreadsheet tells you what the ‘minimum float height’ is for each piece of furniture (how high up it needs to be before it will stay in place, rather than coming back to the floor when you reload the room)

Housing SubReddit - Inspiration and ideas abound!

FFXIV TexTools** -- Modding framework and tool for mod creation and installation. Most TexTools mods have to do with WoL- and clothing-related mods, like different hairstyles, body shapes/features, and reskinning armor (the dress in this pic is a TexTool mod.)

TexTools XIV Mod Archive** -- Searchable archive of mods that are installed/used through TexTools. There are NSFW mods, but you must be logged in to view/access them. (Requires TexTools)

FFXIVQuickLauncher** -- Custom launcher for FFXIV that allows plugins and mods.

Burn The House Down** -- Housing plugin that allows for more furniture placement options without having to use glitches and exploits. (Requires FFXIVQuickLauncher)

MakePlace** -- FFXIV Interior Decor Simulator. Standalone tool to preview, edit and share housing layouts for all housing types! Also has a (optional) plugin to import your MakePlace house into FFXIV and set it up in-game! (Plugin requires FFXIVQuickLauncher, MakePlace itself does not)

**FFXIVQL, TexTools, etc... are third-party plugins, addons, and mods that that you’re using at your own risk. MakePlace is a 3rd party program. FFXIV doesn't support plugins, mods or addons, especially NSFW ones, and is not involved in MakePlace. Don’t get yourself banned!**

Misc

Island Sanctuary Rare Animal Tracker  -- Timers for rare animal spawns on the Island Sanctuary, plus maps of their locations.

Hairstyles: One , Two -- All the unlockable/buyable hairstyles available in-game, and where to get them.

Eorzea Height Guide (By Ren) -- Guide to min/max heights for all races, in both feet and cm!

Eorzea Collection -- Catalogue of all armor/clothing/gear, and player glams.

Garland Tools -- The base site for Garland-related pages, including Garland Data (FFXIV database that includes quest dialogue, item info and crafting lists) and Garland Bell (timers for DoL nodes)

FFXIV Crafting -- For crafting information & planning. Full recipe book, equipment profiler, crafting calculator, and levequests. Also allows users to create a list of recipes to craft and turn it into a shareable grocery list of all the materials needed via the Crafting List button (this feature only seems to work on the full site.) Pro tip: When items in the Prerequisite Crafting section are marked as completed, their components will automatically be removed from the materials list.

[echthr0s]

ffxiv wol questions #1 (dayir edition)

Why did they pick their first class/job? What about the job they main now?

largely because of eir Allagan Heart, Dayir is inherently inclined towards the summoning arts, but ey did not become aware of that until eir first encounter with a primal (whom ey consumed in an intricate and probably-not-for-the-eyes-of-younglings dance that ey performed with guidance from, uh-- okay, that's a slightly more complex story, I'll get to that another time). as suggested by what I just said, eir first learned discipline was actually the art of dance, which ey picked up partially from eir home culture in the Steppe (where dance is heavily ritualised) and partially from eir time in Thavnair before ey travelled to Eorzea. they don't dance the Kriegstanz like Troupe Falsiam do, but the effect is often similar. what I will say is that the kind of dance Dayir does earns em a lot of gil in high-end pillowhouses from Ul'dah to Ishgard and beyond.

incorporating the summoning arts into eir dance was a foregone conclusion, and eir skill with aether manipulation (it gives em an edge with healing magics, and illusion-shaping is something ey sometimes do for fun) is not to be slept upon either. we do end up with a bit of a Yuna-but-make-it-sexy vibe in the end, because there are definitely necromantic elements to what ey do as well (just ask Emet-Selch). I think if ey were to just choose a job to represent eir complex and myriad talents, ey would just use "dancer", because dance is the foundation of everything for em. but that would erase a lot of context.

ultimately, Dayir's skillset is under constant evolution because ey pick up new knowledge and deeper understanding of eir own abilities everywhere ey go, from Eorzea to Doma to Sharlayan 1.0 to the past to the literal fkn edge of the universe, lol. not to mention what ey learn from the various individuals who commune with em from across the aetherial sea and beyond.

and this is to say nothing of eir more "mundane" exploits, jobs in the literal sense -- ey have been modelling for various ateliers since ey were talent-scouted in Thavnair, ey perform in shows of varying complexity and risk for kink-oriented pillowhouses, and ey may not have the wealth of time and focus to dedicate to becoming an accomplished craftsman but ey have a great eye for materials and artistry and have been the catalyst for many a lucrative trade deal. [unnamed viera OC] is definitely the more skilled in mercantile matters, but whilst she's shrewd at the brass tacks portion, it's Dayir who has the eye for the goods in the first place.

[cloudyyoungjaes]

Semi coherent timeline  bc why not also spoilers to up to part of Shadowbrings (specifically Titania fight)

also character homeworld references Gaon, Soohyun- Source, Gridiana Yohan, Elijah- The First (a shard/world), though in the Source (Gaon’s world) Elijah is in Old Sharlyan while Yohan’s backstory involves him being in Lima Lomnisa

MHJ, Sunah, the rest of Sunah’s company- Ul’dah

Pre “before the meteor falls”: Yohan and Elijah travel to the Source after the apparent death of his brother and his allies. Gaon’s parents are still alive and Gaon is Vibing (with Soohyun)

Before the Meteor Falls (aka ffxiv 1.0): Gaon’s parents are dead, Yohan stars planning his Shit to restore the First (also taking revenge on the Ascians for condemning his world to eternal light). Gaon is around 20 when this happens, Yohan 35. MJH mentors Gaon in being a paladin. Sunah sets up her Shit after seeing Yohan for the first time.

A Realm Reborn (proper/base), so like 5 years after: Gaon travels to Ul’dah after getting recommended to the Gladiator’s guild except it’s to teach trainees (except that’s under a guise for MJH to bring Gaon to Ul’dah). MJH asks for Gaon to investigate the Scions of the Seventh Dawn. Gaon meets Yohan though joining the Immortal Flames and Yohan being in the Scions. Primal threat is happening and it’s up to Gaon to slay them. Yohan joins Gaon bc yk, world and whatnot (also closer to getting to the Ascians). Primal threat is resolved but THEN the Garelan empire strikes and the Castrum/Prae combo happens. Also, somehow Jinjoo got possessed by Lahabrea (aka Labread).

Post ARR: Crystal Tower series happens, the Crystal Braves are formed, a lot of shit is happening with Sunah plotting against the Sultana and framing the Scions for the Sultanas apparent Death. Sunah makes an Ultinatium that, if Yohan returns to her (Yohan doesn’t even REMEMBER who she is) then she’ll spare the rest of the Scions. They said ‘fuck that’ and ran to Ishgard. Oh yeah and before the shit that happened in Uldah happened, the Scions have met Aymeric (my beloved), and Haurchefant. But yeah they (Yohan, Gaon, Alphanauid, and Tataru) are Running to Ishgard. Heavensward Base/Proper: Dragonsong War is happening and somehow Gaon has to resolve it. They meet Lady Iceheart and Stink Man (Estinien) and yeah Dragons Do Happen and Wow Ishgard What the Fuck! Turns out Ishgardian history is false AND fucked up because wow the elzens of that time decided to murder a dragon for their eyes. And blamed the dragons for killing humans in retalitian. Gaon and Yohan fight an old man (the archbisoph) and his 12 hoes after one of the hoes kills Haurchefant (and Gaon cries over Haurche, my FUCKING BELOVED).

Post-Heavensward: They’re trying to negotiate with the Dragons and whatnot and it nearly gets ruined by Estinien (who is possessed by Nidhogg) and eventually they have to fight Nidhogg (AGAIN). Meanwhile the Resistance (the Radical side, not the one ‘Yda’ and Paplymo are on) are trying to take Ala Mhigo back and Ilberd had the BRIGHT idea of trying to summon a Primal. The Gang found Omega and used it to contain Shinryu....except Omega is out there somewhere while Shinryu is down. Somewhere. Juicy (Zenos) makes an appearence.

Stormblood: Hey so Gaon and Yohan are trying to free Ala Mhigo but also Doma because hey if you can free Doma, you can free Ala Migho. You also get to fight ~Juicy~ and also that President from TDJ is the uhhh Viceroy of Doma except he’s trying to control it with sunah controlling him like a puppet on strings. Yeah Doma is free and Ala Mhigo is also free.

Post-Stormblood: Yeah so Juicy turns out to Not Be Dead (but he still is. kinda. thanks Idle Bus you ascian). That President lost his memories and then by his ex-wife he turns into the Mood God Primal (different name, unsure on who is the moon god/dess of Korean Mythology), and also wow all out fucking war with Juicy-Not-Juicy taking the field after a fight with the Attuned!comander (i forgot her name whoops sorry </3). That’s when the Scions’s souls start being transported to the First and eventually GaHan go to the First bc of the Crystal Exarch.

Shadowbrings Proper: hi im on this expansion <3. Yohan and Gaon go to the First and help defeat the Lightwardens. Turns out, Gaon’s the only one who can absorb their Aether and NOT get corrupted. What fun. K shows up in ghost form and just. Wanders around with Gaon. Talking about his life after the Titania fight was over. That’s all you’er getting for now <3

In between: Gaon also obtains the following Soul Crystals (besides Paladin): Machinst, Monk, Reaper. Yohan also obtains the following Soul Crystals (besides Ninja): Monk, Reaper, Sage, Red Mage. Gaon also took up all of the Disciple of Land and Disciple of the Hand classes and he’s having A Time. GaHan have also been participating in many celebrations and whatnot. Also they did the Return to Ivalice storyline and the...sigh....Mrch storyline (my fucking detested). They have also faced Omega in their Scapes. Somehow...they got caught up in Hildabrand quests...and are having a time. Fun...