#late night lore thoughts

[caendtowntrash]

Late night thought but I was thinking about Endtown and Dino mutants. In Endtown the answer for why they exist is ‘lmao cartoon’ but for Topside Tales I’ve been leaning more on the fact animals were disappearing and the mutations started as a connection.

So why dinosaurs? Ever seen Jurassic Park? In this retro-future inspired setting with flying cars and laser guns you mean to tell me NOBODY cloned or made dinosaurs?

[pistachi0art]

More Ben fam stuff I believe I have neglected to put here

[sygneth]

Echoes lore time! (And also my random DE thoughts about Harry's place!)

Reading the last page, you might have had a feeling we're going to see the inside of Harry's place soon, and you were right!

So to make everything clear (and because, in the first place, I had a place with a very specific plan in my head when I've been writing scenes at HDB's) i drew a lil cheat sheet.

(Yes. I like to make building plans. A lot.)

I believe Harry inherited this place, and thus he owes it. And also, this is why it's in a not-the-worst of tenement houses and in not-the worst standard. It was a place where they used to live with Dora, and I think he made it a sanctuary of a kind after she left. He never moved anything from its original place deliberately, and so the place slowly started to become a decaying memorial of a nonexistent relationship.

Harry's place is a whole big meta topic to explore and I feel like there is a lot to it in terms of the psychology of a place.

Assuming that he is still living in the same place as he used to when with Dora, oh boy. The bad days, when every single thing reminded him of her. The remorse, the memories, the past. A scratch over the floor, where she tripped while dancing. Her favourite mug, or rather the few pieces of it, after he broke it in a fit of rage. An empty space after a painting that she loved so much. The scratched wall over the bedhead. The bed itself.

Then, the better days, when he tried to take care of his apartment, but some things were already damaged beyond repair. The plants died, he could buy new ones, but he knew that, sooner or later, they'd share the previous one's fate. The ripped carpet, stained furniture, cracked tiles. Could be replaced, but sooner or later they'd share the previous one's fate. A scratched floor. The scratched floor.

And then, rather sooner than later, the days become bad again.

I don't think Harry liked to spend time at his place. Especially in the bedroom. Especially when he wanted to quit. There was too much past in there, staring at him from every corner, every crack of the floor. I think a good deal of his past relapses might have been caused by this place. Sometimes a forgotten something he found while cleaning it up, sometimes just the space itself, soaked with memories.

(And to all my faithful readers of Echoes, I just want to let you know I read every single one of your tags and comments and it always makes my day <3 Thank you for that everybody, and if I don't always reply to the comments, I want you to know I do read them and I do appreciate them a whole whole lot, life is just very overwhelming sometimes)

[larkspurglove]

Messy spoiler heavy Aventurine appreciation post

I am so so so so so so so in love with him it’s unreal. Anyway.

I am SOOOOO happy he’s got a present and active role in the story so far. I’m used to my favs in Hoyo games not showing up a lot because they’re either ‘side characters’ who’s lives are usually expanded upon in limited time events or they have a Deep Dark Secret Past and as such they don’t get screentime because their past is Too Much. Can you tell the deep dark secret past is about Luocha and Jingliu ANYWAY

Even if he’s a bit of a bastard, I genuinely enjoy his personality. I find it funny that he’s a gambler yet supposedly doesn’t put himself in situations where he could end up with the short end of the stick. It’s contradictory and stupid to believe you’re above bad luck but I love him anyway. He’s smug and clearly has an eye for charming his way into favour.

Not to mention he’s smart and in a way his gambler persona plays into how he acts. He keeps his proverbial cards close to his chest, and doesn’t let on what he doesn’t want others to know, only stepping into the fray when he knows (or believes) he can’t lose. Penacony as a whole seems to have heavy themes about deception but that’s besides the point.

The whole talk about his past is interesting too, from the tattoo that appears to be an actual word (and possibly a way of the IPC branding him?!), the implication his home planet is full of ‘wolves in sheeps’ clothing’ like how Kafka is from a planet where its residents physically cannot feel fear, him being an orphan??? and the implied debt he has towards the IPC. I know deep down below his smug exterior there is a sad traumatised man.

His dynamics with the other characters is entertaining too. From his underlying distaste for the more diplomatic characters (Himeko, Sunday), the passive aggressive banter with Sparkle and Ratio (although Ratio is just straight up condescending at times) and the way he’s very clearly trying to manipulate the trailblazer onto his side.

As a final note, he’s actually short compared to a good majority of the male cast. The hat adds a decent amount of height I did have a photo of him next to Luocha for a better reference but I forgot to save it, so take this Ratio screenshot instead.

[flockoff-featherface]

i just. sometimes i think back about devil may cry again. and. damn. like dante and vergil barely got to be actual children, vergil's obsession with power comes from his insecurity about being supposedly unable to save his mum and dante and. they were so young, they should've been able to play around as kids and enjoy their childhood. the fact that both of them just. lost their parents so quickly and had to find their ways in this godforsaken world alone.

it's so interesting to me how dante uses his taunts to like. lower his anxiety. he runs through fights making jokes because he's always scared. and i'd go as far as saying that on the other hand, vergil is just scared for his brother. the whole "im better than you" thing? it's always read (to me) as "i gotta make you strong enough but also i gotta unlock all my power so i can protect everything i love" but just gone too far. like he's taken it really to an extreme, obviously, but i do think it started out as genuine fear that he wasn't enough. these men for real just need therapy. all of them need therapy someone get the dmc gang THERAPY.

OH. AND ANOTHER THING. THAT FINAL FUCKING FIGHT IN DMC3 BETWEEN VERGIL AND DANTE. i like to think it's always been dante trying to bring vergil back from "POWER". like the "we are the sons of sparda" part is very much a "fucking wake up and look around you can do so much better" and vergil is so far gone that genuinely his response is "our souls are at opposites, brother. i need more power." which is such a personality defining statement from him. But the part that hurts most? When Vergil cuts Dante's hand on his way down to hell. He reaches out for his brother.

AND OOH. BEFORE I FORGET. lady saying to nero (not an exact quote bc i cannoooooot remember it) "you'll never be able to recover from killing your dad don't do it" isn't just a "no dont do it nero". DMC3. SHE'S SPEAKING FROM EXPERIENCE. she knows what it's like to be in neros place on dmc5, and. i just feel like sometimes we look over lady and her past. she went through so much too, like imagine being like 16/17 (?) and having your dad be like "yeah holup lemme go open the gate to hell come here daughter lemme k word you so i can open the gate to hell" and have to actually go out and stop him. and like i guess even with dante and vergil there's an element of "oh they're half demon they. kinda. expect this shit in their lives" LADY ISN'T. she's 100% human and has been through so much.

and like when that's put in perspective, it really makes me enjoy the games more. like, growing up playing the games it was all "wahoo haha pizza haha motivated haha gun-trick-sword-trick-gun-trick" and now it's all "man. more of my favourite characters are just. traumatised people who have really gone through the worst shit ever."

anyway. ro lore dumps about devil may cry again. maybe if i get time mid coursework i'll add more lmao we'll see 😔

But yeah. Sometimes even a Devil May Cry. Ouch.

[tlgtw]

//Spoilers for Everything in AC6: Fires of Rubicon//

The Meaning of the Motif of "Borrowed Wings" and how G5 Iguazu Exists to Reinforce It

What seems to fly over everyone's heads about G5 Iguazu is that the point of his character is how 'deciding upon a goal and having the willpower to strive for it, no matter what' is literally as important as the line between life and death.

You need to find a purpose for yourself that you personally believe in. Cause no matter how grand or how petty that purpose is, if you don't have one... you die!

With whether or not you actually succeed at that goal being completely irrelevant... to your conviction for it.

(Something, something, it's the ambition that you're living for, not whether or not you get the accolades at the end.)

A moral proclaiming the importance of "deciding upon a purpose of your own free will, and then pursuing that goal no matter what setbacks you encounter" is all nice and easy when you're main character e621, who experiences no setbacks because, as the player, you're necessarily going to be strongest fighter in the galaxy.

But it's pretty obvious how trite that is on its own, where your only canonical character trait is that you always win no matter what.

And so, Iguazu's purpose narratively is to show how, beyond any ounce of doubt whatsoever, that 'winning' is not a relevant part in what makes "having a purpose" so important, or so necessary.

In essence: It's what makes Iguazu live.

Start of the Game: Volta and Iguazu both want to beat up Michigan.

- Volta gives up, and then he gets sent by Michigan to die at the Wall.

- Iguazu deserts. And he does not die at the Wall.

After Gallia Dam he send you hatemail to say that the Redguns will scale the wall, but Iguazu himself doesn't even approach the Wall after this. As G4 Volta's last words reveal, he deserts before the operation is attempted.

Iguazu *himself* watches from the sidelines, costing him no less than an almost certain death like Volta's.

And the reason Iguazu changes his mind about scaling the wall with the Redguns is because, after Gallia Dam, Iguazu decides upon his purpose. His personal conviction.

Iguazu personal goal becomes -> He wants to kill you.

We love pathetic boys.

But the reason Iguazu deserts for the sake of this new goal is specifically because he wants to become stronger than 621, and not want his obligations as part of the Redguns to get in the way of this goal of his, he goes independent.

--- Correction ---

Iguazu deserts the Redguns at Watchpoint Alpha, prior to the death of G1 Michigan. He doesn't desert the Redguns at the Wall, he only goes Away WithOut Leave. The reason for which he goes AWOL being to take independent work, as we see an example of at Grid 086. Outcomes of everything are still the same, I just mixed up the order.

Also;

Volta: "Iguazu, listen, like, Michigan really like cares about us...! It's like we're part of his family, man, just give him a chance."

Volta: *Gives Michigan a chance*

Volta: *Gets killed under the leadership of G1 Michigan*

It's really funny but sad.

It's also really funny and sad how effective at Yank-bait G1 Michigan was.

But it's illustrative of how effective it is to break down someone's expectations and feelings of self-worth to legit 0, such that empty platitudes like simply saying the right words, like the names of the expendables themselves or to bring in the medical teams after a battle (as if they wouldn't have come otherwise?), will leave such an impression that they think you really do care about them--even in despite of how worthless they obviously are~!

And all at the same time as your direct actions and orders lead them straight to their meaningless avoidable deaths.

What could be more cost-efficient for your employers than soldiers who're literally suicidal for you, right?

Ha!

--- ---

And not only does this decision directly lead to Iguazu not dying at the Wall, but, no longer squeezed under G1 Michigan's boots, G5 even directly improves as a fighter.

This is shown in how his AI differs between his fighting at the Gallia Dam--where he's overly defensive, constantly having his shield up, despite wielding two guns.

And then, later at the Grid--where he actually fights aggressively like his AC's loadout is built for.

The second major encounter with Iguazu is Watchpoint Alpha where he either fights you directly, and dies there. Or he hires Coldcall to kill you, and survives elsewhere. Again, this is an instance of Iguazu's legitimate determination towards his chosen goal directly separating him from life and death.

When he hires Coldcall, Iguazu focuses on his goal, and let's go of distractions like his personal pride and image.

Ridiculous, right? Iguazu letting go of his pride?

But consider how it's directly Iguazu's personal feelings that lead him to facing 621 personally. He doesn't *just* want to kill you in that instant, he wants the glory of killing you as well.

But the accolades at the end aren't what makes it worthy to pursue a chosen goal.

Iguazu wants 621 dead. And when he hires Coldcall, this is him coming to terms with pursuing his goal, regardless of his personal setbacks. Iguazu faces the fact that he personally wouldn't be able to kill you. And, because he comes to term with this setback, he finds an alternative method that would still lead towards fulfilling his chosen purpose.

To confirm, of course, Iguazu's purpose is really dumb and terrible. But it's not whether one's chosen purpose is 'a good goal' or not that the value of pursuing it comes from. The value comes from it being one you decided for yourself, as opposed to, for, for example, by a corporation's profits. (Not a coincidence narratively how Balam's forces, united most in their complete idolization of G1 Michigan, following *his* word no matter what even knowingly to their deaths, are the deadmost losers in the story.)

Unlike for example e621's chosen conviction, or Rusty's chosen conviction, (Also no coincidence narratively that G1 Michigan, who only exists as the weapon of his corporation and put out a bounty for his own assassination--expressing how he has no personal plans for the future and literally wants to die--is guaranteed to be taken out by either of these two, no matter what.)

It's not the loftiness of a goal that determines if it's of worth to decide upon one of your own free will and pursue it in the first place.

The 'value' of pursuing a goal is unrelated to what that goal itself is.

What makes pursuing a goal valuable, is the conviction.

You don't have to be smart. You don't have to be emotionally mature. You don't have to be a good fighter. You don't even have to be brave.

You just need to choose your purpose and follow it.

This is what the motif of 'wings' and 'borrowed wings' are all about in the story as well. It's about pursuing a goal that was chosen by someone else, versus pursuing a goal that was chosen by you yourself.

"They choose what to fight for, and take to the skies in flight."

"One cannot fly on borrowed wings" in this case literally meaning that if you pursue a goal not because you want it, but because someone else wants it, it will directly lead to your death.

Criticizing their "borrowed wings" is what Ayre and Rusty chastise the RLF for for solely repeating slogans and "not bothering to think [for themselves]."

And Iguazu, deciding he doesn't care about how he'd be seen by others, and only caring for the goal itself to be accomplished. Survives, where Coldcall dies in his place.

Coldcall, a far superior fighter to Iguazu. Dies, instead of Iguazu, because he was flying for Iguazu's purpose -> Fighting on borrowed wings.

Etc etc "this is hell, we're in hell!" and so on and in the Alea Iacta Est true ending of the game Iguazu, outta nowhere!, becomes the legit Final Boss of Armored Core 6.

How the hell did this 4th-gen AC pilot, otherwise a completely random nobody without a purpose not given to him by his employer, get to outer space and stuff, right?

Well, consider how the complete rando that was e621 does the same: Their personal conviction.

"But Iguazu only got to become the final boss out of dumb luck," right? ALLMIND chose him for little else but that he was the only old-gen Augmented Human that was still alive. If ALLMIND wasn't there, he couldn't have accomplished anything, so obviously it can't actually be meaningful.

But how would 621 have escaped Institute City without being rescued by Carla? How would we have escaped Arquebus re-education without the AC that Handler Walter secretly assembled left for us?

And, most relevantly here since this is the Alea Iacta Est route itself: How would 621 have known about V.II Snail planning to ambush you in Institute City without ALLMIND herself's very assistance?

C4-621 is, at a glance, just as much a recipient of dumb luck as Iguazu.

But thematically, it's not pure happenchance.

It's the results of the both of these characters continuing to fight for a cause they chose to believe in, no matter what.

So Iguazu survives. He survives the hijacking of Watchpoint Alpha by ALLMIND. And he even goes so far as to survive the hijacking of his own brain by ALLMIND, taking over the final boss even after being assimilated.

"What essential difference made ACs superior to unpiloted craft?"

The answer is simple -> One cannot fly on borrowed wings.

Unpiloted craft can never have a purpose that is actually their own. They exist only for the person who's wings they borrow--who's purpose they serve--who built them.

That's why piloted ACs are better. *Not* on borrowed wings, in this case, they can fly higher.

For C4-621, that chosen goal is to achieve Coral Release. (Since it's is still the mission you yourself choose that finally puts you on the Alea Iacta Est route or not, it fits within the theme of free will. Even though, as a videogame, there's an obvious limit to just *how* much free will the player is actually able to express. Within the story, however, when 621 chooses the mission to begin the path to an ending, that's them deciding for themselves 100% that's that the goal they want to achieve, no matter what.)

For Iguazu, that chosen goal is to kill you. (The goal he wants to achieve, no matter what.)

And so, because he was not flying on borrowed wings. Iguazu survives fucking everything. Stupid wings, yeah. But that just shows: What matters is only that they were his own.

Even against the most powerful super duper AI mastermind that ALLMIND was, the biggest loser on Earth, G5 Iguazu, survived.

Where even she is made to give way to Iguazu's conviction -> Killing e621.

Hammering this point home is why "I'm only here for what *I* want! I don't care about ALLMIND's goals, just my own!" is basically the only thing Iguazu says across like 2 entire 3rds of the final boss.

Iguazu's chosen goal is not ultimately successful.

But it wasn't whether or not Iguazu ultimately killed 621 in Rubicon's exosphere that lead to him not dying at the Wall like G4 Volta, or at Watchpoint Alpha like G1 Michigan and Coldcall, or upon the destruction of his physical body by ALLMIND.

It was his conviction that lead him past those things. His WINGS!

He chose what to fight for, and he fought for it.

On the wings of his free will, Iguazu flew above even the very clouds of Rubicon itself.

And that's why he was the Final Boss.

The only thing able to finally kill him being the person with a conviction even greater, C4-621.

(As a sidenote; Taking account of the main moral of Armored Core 6 really puts into perspective how many trillions of times it gets repeated explicitly across the game lol.

VS Rusty, VS Rusty when he calls you "power without a purpose," VS Cinder Carla, VS Handler Walter, Ayre's description of what the name "Raven" is literally supposed to mean, etc.

They all talk about how you've chosen your path and you'd made sacrifices to get this far and you finally have a conviction that is your own and how big a deal that is and so on.)

[siblingshuffle]

Sibling Shuffle Lore Facts

Heyyy

Sorry it’s been a little while longer than usual

I haven’t had a lot of time to work on The Darkman Problem (it IS still coming) but I feel a little bad that it’s taking so long when it’s ultimately like 3 panels that I just haven’t had much time to work on. I’ve got time right now, so it should be coming really soon, but, uh… yeah.

Anyway, have some lore in the meanwhile!

Rock has a room at Light Labs. He doesn’t stay often or for very long, but it means something to Rock that they have it at all. 

Roll knows how to roller-skate. Kalinka has been trying to teach her how to ice skate any time one of them visits the other. (They’re also ((kinda)) pen-pals for most of the year! And by that I mean they send frequent emails to one another.)

Tango has done that thing that cats do where they lay across your computer keys. To literally everyone at Light Labs. On many occasions. 

Bass is barred entry from every arcade and bowling alley in the city , following The Incident™️. He’s actually pretty proud, seeing this as an accomplishment.

Tempo lets Rhythm do her hair sometimes while she reads off memes or Reddit stories she thinks Rhythm would find funny.

Time Keeps Slipping still happens in this universe. Here, Blues was sent back to the lab after realizing he was running at like 12% battery (since he got that "weird/sometimes-painful sensation" in his left arm, and he usually gets that more often when he’s at a lower charge). That’s when he was stopped and taken by Oil Man, though, meaning Blues was exhausted and honestly not feeling too great for that arc.

Piano has a theory that Wily might have gotten her and Bass's IC chips mixed up while making them, but has too big of an ego to admit this mistake. She has one of those cork boards with pictures and red string all over about it. (Bass doesn’t really care.)

Beat can be carried like a basketball under one arm. This is usually when he’s in recharge mode (in which he can slide his wings inside of his body, thus letting him be carried like that more easily).

Power-saving mode will gradually disable non-essential functions in a Robot Master the closer they are to 0%, such as the ability to speak or eye-screens lighting up. They might move a bit slower than if they were functioning at 100% charge, and behave as though tired. Power-saving mode activates automatically in Robot Masters that find themselves at 20% charge or below.

Dr. Light and Dr. Wily both have “worlds best dad” mugs. The difference is, Light’s mug was a Father’s Day gift, and Wily bought the mug for himself.

[yandereunsolved]

This may sound weird, but I've never heard of anyone bringing the concept up before. What about Hylian sign? I don't know if I have specifically stated it in any of my fics yet; definitely my wip's though.

I have always headcanoned BOTW Link (Wild) as almost completely non-verbal and hard of hearing due to all the loud battles he has been in. Wouldn't it be cool if instead of seeing Link idly standing there in the game, the characters were interacting using some form of Hylian sign with subtitles for us to read? 

I just genuinely think it's such a cool concept, and if it's come up before, please let me know. I just think it'd be a cool way for LOZ to normalize sign. Especially since their main character seems not to speak in some of his games.

Personally, my number one headcanon of it is that Hylian sign existed and then was forgotten by most. It's been kept alive by people in small villages, but the Royal Family doesn't know it.

It'd be really cute if Link taught Zelda and his companions (depending on the game) some Hylian sign in a cutscene or two.

Thoughts?

[noxx-33i]

Hhhumannized rocket anyone?? Ive been drawing a lot of the phighters designs these days and im having a blast with everyone!!!!

[qsmp-yaoi-island]

I miss qFoolish fed lore... qFoolish fed lore save me...

[faustinio27]

Faustine is the type of person who, when she sees Poppy, will run to give her a hug by twirling her in the air, will kiss her on the cheek, will get a big smile just by being with her, and will protect her body and soul even more than with her other friends, but keep saying there's nothing romantic between them

[sailorenthusiast]

So, I just had the weirdest idea when looking at posts about Boothill. TLDR, what if Arlecchino is the reincarnated form of Boothill’s daughter? There’s the fact that Arlecchino is most definitely some kind of alien who isn’t native to Teyvat. Then there’s the Perinheri novel, which details a potential origin for the House of the Hearth, including references to descenders and themes of rebirth. Not to mention the similarities in their character designs… Idk. Just my brain doing the Pepe Silvia meme after midnight.

[ioniansunsets]

do you think Aphelios looks at the eclipse in wonder and reverence like oh yeah the temple is here! time to say hi to my sister in her spirit temple for a few seconds before she leaves again or does he freeze and get a ptsd induced panic attack as he looks up at the sky thinking back to when he lose his sister all those years back and how hopeless he felt in the darkness of it all

edit 1: ok wait not all lunar events trigger the temples return so lets strike that out its just angst.

[avirael]

FFxivWrite 2023

Day 26 - Last

Rael and A'viloh had just returned to the Waking Sands from their first shared mission for the Scions of the Seventh Dawn and left the Solar after speaking to Minfilia, when they had an unexpected encounter.

Rael wanted to stock up on a few things and A'viloh decided to accompany them down to the common room when suddenly a voice called out for him from the other side of the room.

"A'viloh?", a Miqo'te stepped towards him and eyed A'vi incredulously. "I can’t believe it’s you! I heard the Scions talk about a recruit with your name but couldn’t imagine it would really be you!"

The man caught A'viloh off guard. He looked a good bit older than A'vi, had dark hair and wore an eyepatch over his left eye. A'viloh was sure that he had never seen him before in his whole life, so the fact that the man seemed to know him was pretty confusing.

"I’m sorry.", he said shyly. "Do we know each other?"

The man laughed at A'viloh’s reaction. "No, I am sorry! Of course you don’t remember me. When we left for Gridania you were only a few months old…"

A'viloh‘s thoughts were racing but he still hadn’t managed to connect the dots, so he just stared at him quizzically.

"Sorry, sorry…", the man laughed. "Let me explain. My name is A'aba. I‘m from the Antelope-Tribe from the South Shroud. You know you were born there, don’t you?"

A'viloh nodded slowly. "I know but I can’t remember anything of the place... Wait, this means you knew my parents?"

"Knew your parents?", he repeated with a chuckle. "Your father, A'vanoh, he's my uncle."

"Your uncle?… then you are my cousin??", A'vi asked in surprise.

"Yes! I recognised you immediately. You look exactly like your mother! Just like Temi!"

This confused A'viloh. He certainly did remember that his mother had long red hair and green eyes just like him but her name hadn’t been Temi. "My mother’s name was A‘tahja.", he retorted with furrowed brows

"Yes.“" A'aba nodded not seeing the contradiction.

"But then who‘s Temi?", A'vi asked.

Now it was A'aba‘s turn to look surprised. "You don’t know about her? I can’t believe your parents never mentioned her."

A'viloh shook his head.

"My father was an adventurer and worked in Gridania a lot. He took her and me to the city for training when we were thirteen years old, shortly after you were born, so it makes sense that you can’t remember A'temi.", A'aba explained. "But I thought your parents would have told you that you have an older sister."

A'viloh gasped. "A sister??" He felt like a chocobo had kicked him in the guts. "A living older sister?"

He needed to sit down. He remembered that he had an older brother and a younger sister but both of them had died the day their parents and the others had been murdered.

"I can’t promise she‘s still alive but the last time I saw her she was fine. After Carteneau we went separate ways, I decided to join the Scions but she wanted to see the world. So she took a ship to Old Sharlayan instead."

"Old Sharlayan…", A'viloh repeated absentmindedly, still processing the information that he may still have a sister.

"But how did you end up here, A'viloh. When we heard that the tribe had split up and left the Shroud we went looking for your parents but you were long gone. We found a small group of remnants from our tribe in La Noscea but they told us that your parents had left the Shroud towards the South, towards Thanalan. However we couldn’t find any trace of them there…"

A'viloh nodded. "I think we lived in Wellwick Wood for a while but then moved further to the South."

"To Southern Thanalan? We never expected you would have traveled so far! Why would you? There’s nothing out there but sand. Maybe we gave up too soon…", A'aba explained.

A'viloh shook his head. "I don’t know for sure what father hoped to find there. Maybe he had tried to reach the sea or go to Ul'dah and got lost on the way. We should probably have stayed at Wellwick Wood."

"Maybe we would have found you then but on the other hand the Calamity would probably have killed you there…", A'aba pondered.

A'viloh sighed deeply and looked to the ground. "They didn’t live to see the Calamity. We were attacked by Amalj'aa in Southern Thanalan. I’m the only one who survived…"

"Oh!", A'aba exclaimed but then nodded slowly. "I‘m sorry to hear that… but, to be honest, we already feared something like this might have happened. Otherwise we would never have stopped looking for you..."

"I don’t think that would have made a difference.", A'viloh offered to comfort him. "You probably wouldn’t have found us in time. I was only five years old then."

The other Miqo'te looked more shocked than comforted at that. "So young? What happened to you then? How come you're here now? Please, tell me everything."

They sat down and A'viloh started to explain, from the first things he could remember as a child until how he grew up at the Forgotten Springs. He left out Laqa and their unfortunate watery detour though, and skipped right to going to Ul'dah. Alone the thought of all of that still was very unpleasant to him, much less talking about it…

"I‘m so glad that you're alive and that I found you. It's good to finally know what happened after we left. A'temi would be so happy, if she could see you now!"

"A'temi…", A'viloh said silently, testing how her name sounded in his voice and how it made him feel. Tears started to prick at the corners of his eyes and he wished he could meet his sister right now. "I always thought I was the only one who survived, the last one of my family. I can’t believe I have an older sister… and of course a cousin!", he added quickly and looked up to A'aba.

His cousin just grinned at him and ruffled his hair. "Welcome back to the family, Viloh!"

[starry-wren]

okay but character story things: two transgender people are childhood friends before they transition. one moves away for a long time and comes back to their old school in high school. by this time, they have both transitioned and look completely different than how they did before and they have different names. they don’t recognize each other at first but then they become good wholesome besties again :)

good idea or no?

[dashiellqvverty]

i apologize to all my mutuals i promise i will be normal but there is a part of me regressing to my 15 year old self reading an archived livejournal pete/key manifesto for the first time at 12am on a school night