#final fantasy xiv: shadowbringers

[dawntrailing]

FINAL FANTASY XIV (2010-2024)

[wolpromptaday]

#WOLpromptAday

April 30, 2024‬

What’s your WOLs most anticipated idea of the new world? Are they looking forward to the cuisine? New regions to explore? New minions to collect? Fighting yet another god while interferening in yet another political crisis they have nothing to do with? What’s the daydream?

[angel-oftheday]

The Angel of the Day is...

Innocence

From Final Fantasy series

[aotopmha]

It is done.

[magistera]

Feast PVP Armor Art | Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers

[hon3ym1lktea]

My favorite part about Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers is when you. W. When you bring those shadows.

[tigger8900]

When the bad guy is fat

Spoilers ahead for Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers and Shadow Speaker by Nnedi Okorafor. The shadows are a coincidence. This post is about fatphobia.

I just finished reading Shadow Speaker this morning, and I was so frustrated by the ending. I loved the themes, how the characters were morally gray, and as always with her work the magic was incredibly done. And then I was introduced to the main antagonist, who was very fat. And in every description(of his appearance, his clothing, the way he moved, etc) the book did not stop reminding me that he was grotesquely fat until he exited the narrative. Why was this necessary? The rest of the story was so good, and then we get to the end and...we get this.

It reminded me a lot of when I first played through the Shadowbringers expansion, on FFXIV. Before I say anything else, I want to be clear that I loved the shit out of that expansion. It's about a world that was brought to the brink of inevitable extinction, where some of the population has banded together into a city(Eulmore) where they wait out their final days of existence in luxury and excess. The leader of Eulmore, Vauthry, is the main antagonist for the first part of the story, and he is also incredibly fat.

Unfortunately google images is full of photos that have been manipulated in some way, whether it's manual editing or reshade effects in people's games. None of it really looks like how he looked in my game. So I'm going to send anyone curious over to Quazii's playthrough video to check out Vauthry's first appearance. (As a side note, if anyone is interested in first-time let's play content, Quazii's playthrough of FFXIV is fantastic. He brings such a joyful attitude of discovery and wonder. In an internet where so many streamers turn to aggression and toxicity to boost viewership, his videos are like a breath of fresh air. Go watch them. It's wonderful to watch him discover this game.) Anyway, back to the topic.

Now, before anyone @'s me, this makes sense in universe. I'm honestly not opposed to the idea of a city that gorges itself on excess in the face of inevitable doom, nor a leader that has done so to an extreme. My problem with it was twofold: firstly, the characters in Eulmore are the first non-Lalafell characters we ever see in the game that are anything other than slender or athletically muscled, and secondly, the way Vauthry is *shot* in most of his cutscenes is clearly meant to invoke disgust at his physical form. His fatness is part of his evilness. We catch glimpses of horrors between his folds. His gluttony is depicted as making him monstrous, first figuratively through obesity and then literally through transformation when we fight him.

Can we stop writing characters this way? It's lazy. Fatness should not be used as shorthand and as a form of diversity should be present throughout, not applied to single characters in order to demonstrate negative character traits. Vauthry would have been a disturbingly evil opponent just by the facts of what he'd done, without so much of the focus being on his physical appearance. And I despised the chief of Ginen the moment he was compared to Ejii's father, no description of his weight necessary. I know Okorafor can write nuanced trauma-shaped characters without resorting to fatphobia, because she did it with others in the same book! It's just so disappointing, especially when the rest of the story is so good.

[cyazurai]

It's time for Dez (@daisydezem) and Mhu to go through the Eden raids. Naturally, gotta get a picture in this area while we can!

[nonameffxiv]

i just realized i'll have to fantasia into a lalafell when i get to shadowbringers, because there's no way in the seven hells i'm not including the unnamed npcs in the dwarven houses

[kezzart]

In no particular order, but Photo dump of drawings from twitter to here.

[dawntrailing]

He who held out hope for Azem's return longer than any.

[wolpromptaday]

‪#WOLpromptAday‬

‪April 6, 2024‬

Has your WOL ever gone emotionally overboard and succumbed to a desire for revenge? How far did it go? What (if anything) stopped them? What was the outcome and how did it change them? Did someone get hurt in the process? Tell the story! ‬

[angel-oftheday]

The Angel of the Day is...

Forgiven Obscenity

From Final Fantasy series

[sarakipin]

This Ivan Bilibin inspired piece was made for Lost in Cult and their issue on the Final Fantasy series! It features cover art by Yoshitaka Amano, interviews with game devs, and much more! Go check it out!

[45liza109]

♦️.