#mysidia adoptables

[eeyes]

i bought a domain for my family to share i couldnt delibrareate what framework to use cuz im trying. to accommodate Pet Site on it. but i finilly decided on slim framework 4 + twig templates + doctrine. so im trying to figure out how that all waorks but i need to set up a homepage on my new domain

i will be honest neocities has SUCKED In recent years their server goes down constantly with no warning/maintenace logs. both your site frontend and the site editors. so visitors cant even access your site at random and its been happening more and more. like wtf is the issue. i used to pay for premium but like its not worth it at $5/mo..... just switch to a dedicated server host!!!!!! its actually cheaper unless you specifically want more than like 10 static sites. im using hostinger.

also hostinger used to have 000webhost which is ran my test site and they nuked it >:( so i switched my test site to infinityfree. which is running lovely. and support seems responsive there and helps you figure out how to work around free account limitations, like no domain e-mail.

anyway i was working off an old pet site framework called mysidia addoptables from like 2011 (last release was 2021) but recently i decided i cant work with it anymore it's too janky, dated, and just messed up 😅 i love the community that still hangs around it but the code is FUUUUUUCKED. so i'm starting from scratch...

this is also still my firsrt foray into php but mysidia has taught me BAD HABITS.... i literally have a folder of screenshots where i just screencap the code and soyjak at how bad it is. (why did you install smarty template and htmlpurifier and then... barely use them..........)

ANYWAYS. all my pet site progress is no longer very easy to catalog cuz it's just boring code. but by god it's easier to figure out how to roadmap it now that i'm not working with the stupidiest base code. i guess you can look at these upcoming pets tho :^) (wont be released til i draw all their other painted forms)

[estinininininen]

okay ffiv has obvious themes like brotherhood and forgiveness but so so so many separate parts of ffiv suddenly snap together beautifully if you take the theme of parents and in loco parentis: adoption, guardianship, teachers. people taking responsibility for those younger or weaker. not fully as parents necessarily but what they need in that moment. and how they and the protectee address it when they fail at that duty.

the king, cecil, and kain. cecil remembering the bodies of pacifist mysidians and realizing that's not why he became a dark knight. cid has his own daughter but finds time to check in on cecil, unmoored from his royal foster dad. kain wanting to feel closer to his birth father. rydia's existence. tellah and anna. cecil and rydia, who have lost everything they can protect except rosa, not knowing how to help edward make this realization in his own grief, only how to hurt or belittle him. rosa mentoring rydia to learn fire is honestly rosa's strongest characterization moment outside of kain and cecil drama hours. yang looking over the bodies of the junior monks he was teaching. yang jumping in after rydia without hesitating. leviathan we learn later taking in rydia. cecil returning to mysidia. cecil looking down at palom and porom saying i'm sorry you want literal children to climb the holycursed zombie mountain?

i kinda like to think that was the first test and cecil didn't even realize. if he hadn't spoken up about how weird it seems sending kids well maybe he's just faking being contrite and following his own moral compass now because if you don't know palom and porom can nuke half the mountain on their own that would be extremely weird. ah yes, the elder says, moving his hand under the desk from the 'eject' button. don't worry about these two they'll be fine. :) cecil quickly realizing the two brats are all but carrying him up the mountain he thought he needed to protect them from.

that is all just the first act

except for kain's whole thing boiling over under the "brotherhood/jealousy" theme, moments that fall outside "guardianship" are i think generally less memorable, or if not set up well feel forced to me, like plain readings of the love triangle, yang and cid's sacrifices (versus palom and porom's, ouch), cecil not explaining adequately why rosa and rydia need to stay behind aside from not wanting the girlies on his implied suicide run. i'm sure i'm also forcing this interpretation a bit

[diremore]

The Trial of Communion (31159 words) by diremore Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Final Fantasy XVI Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Dion Lesage/Joshua Rosfield Characters: Dion Lesage, Joshua Rosfield, Shula (FFXVI), Famiel (FFXVI), Clive Rosfield, Jill Warrick, Benedikta Harman Additional Tags: Alternate Universe – Canon Divergence, includes FFXVI – Echoes of the Fallen DLC elements, includes FFXVI – The Rising Tide DLC elements, Fake Relationship, Arranged Marriage, Strangers to Lovers, Soulmates, Dion grows up in Mysidia, Explicit Sexual Content

Summary:

Growing up among the Motes of Water and under the shadow of Leviathan’s wave, Dion believed that keeping Bahamut hidden and tamed would always be his foremost duty. But when a venomous bite dooms his adoptive brother to a slow and painful death, Dion must venture out of his home for the first time to challenge an impossible trial and plead with Joshua Rosfield to save his brother’s life.

Phoenixflare Discord's Secret Santa gift fic for DarkNuriko.

[iyliss]

sorry if this ends up making no sense or sounding redundant but I keep thinking again about Cecil's characterization and how Dissidia actually presents it quite well.

I don't think labelling Cecil as either good or evil or nice and mean makes any sense. Especially when referring to the massacre of Mysidia, his flaws wasn't that he was evil or anything, i'd rather say it's a form of selfishness.

Cecil is really emotional and cares a lot about others, more than he cares about doing the actual right things. When he is emotionally insecure, he doesn't actually think of what is the right thing to do. He'd rather kill innocent than upset his adoptive father, he'd slap a grieving man because he is scared, all of that. He only betrayed the King when it involved someone else he cared for (Kain) and was a choice impossible not to make (it litteraly is about killing a young kid with his own hands).

His redemption is kind of more about recognizing other people's feelings and accepting that some people indeed feels negatively about him... and also acting fairly to these feelings instead of focusing on his own. Hey, even Kain's trial makes it clear that Cecil's fault in their relationship is that he cared more about what he immediately felt (seeing Rosa and protecting her) than who around him actually needed support.

And. Well Dissidia really portray all of that? It's in regard to his relationship with Golbez so obviously it changes every result but Cecil still display that same flaw. He'd rather put Firion in an awkward situation than see that what he wants to believe isn't true. He'd attack Golbez because he worries for Kain despite Kain himself not showing any difficulty. And his entire arc in cycle 13 is about actually understanding Golbez instead of focusing on his own insecurity. It just that this time no civilian were harmed.

[zottower]

I'm going to play Cecil's advocate, and say that the fact that he's an orphan is often overlooked by fans who prefer to focus on the story of the redemption of the sinner. However, the game insists quite heavily - I would even say clumsily - on the filiation theme. It is perhaps an unusual experience, and fortunately so, but according to my research, people abandoned at birth often suffer from not knowing where they come from. It's difficult to understand, you would think, as long as they have loving adoptive parents, it should be fine, but it's often said that they have this imperious need to know their biological origins whether it is to draw inspiration from it or to take the opposite path to move forward in life : and some say that those who do not know their past have great difficulty making decisions for their future.

There are armies that were created with stolen children because an identity problem, a lack of history knowledge contributes to make people obedient. For example, the janissaries … The fact that it's not a supernatural identity problem doesn't make it less important to me. Yes, Cecil isn't magically brainwashed as Kain, Golbez, Cloud, etc … but he's a bit brainwashed as a person. He was not educated as a political elite, but as an captain who isn't encouraged to ask questions. He was mainly taught about ethics, maybe battle strategy, but that's all. And the story goes like this : he hears a voice that calls him his son, gives him a sword and some light, and there, he can now be an other man, with new perspectives in life. There is this theory that maybe King Baron and KluYa were friends, or love rivals, or that Cecilia was Baron's sister or something … What if KluYa was a political opponent to King Baron that the guy managed to send to exile from the castle, and then he saves Cecil because he still admires his old enemy, but actually he's using this child as a weapon because you know, he has this ruthless baronian culture ? To be frank, I think that the most problematic thing in FF4 is Baron as an agressive and authoritarian political entity and that the lesson is never learned and that it never changes. When Cecil comes back in Baron, there is this feeling that there was a collective failure. And personnally, I buy this, that the fault is everyone's, not just Cecil's, that the problem is the vertical political system of the kingdom. There are no control to this absolute power. No question, no rebellion possible. When Cecil comes back from Mysidia at the beginning of the story with the cristal and his remorses, Kain doesn't propose him to join start a revolution with the Dragoons and the Red Wings. Rosa doesn't encourage him to flee and hide, so he can't be used by the King to do his dirty work. Cid is just angry that the King has evil plans, but he goes back home to get some rest, so he can work even more to build more battle airships. I'm a bit unfair here, he certainly comes up with the idea to hide the Enterprise at this moment. But he has no good suggestion for Cecil.

Nevertheless, frankly, next to Cloud, I think that Cecil looks like a goody-two-shoes who whines as soon as he does something wrong because of his six-years-old naivety (that I find adorable ... for a fictional character). As for og Cloud, I remember my brother and his friends playing ff7, laughing while choosing the worst lines to be mean to Aerith and Tifa (giving the flower to Marlene to troll Tifa, telling Aerith that when he saw her the first time, she was drunk in the slums …). And of course they gave the girls horrible names. Teenage boys … are ... dummies ... Cloud takes part in a terrorist attack without worrying about the consequences, and he does it for the money. The fact that they are worried about casualities is an FF7 Remake innovation, so that the game can have a greater audience. We can find circumstances for him, but og Cloud is a quite problematic : he's a punk, he's transgressive and I'm sure that's why he was so popular in the first place. Just as Cecil can be popular for some people because of his emo spiked demonic first armour and his dark knight job.

To me, Zidane is less problematic. But it's maybe because he has such a positive and generous personnality to counter his womanizing tendancies … and I belong to a generation who is used to see problematic fictionnal relationships as a very romantic thing, like in Gone with the Wind or Star Wars. I might find the fact that he and Garnet are a bit young "problematic", lol. And Tidus and Squall, hu, they're teenagers, they are chemically pure compounds of problems and complexes. How could they be a bit problematic ?

I Don't know Clive … é_è I've seen one or two scenes of the game on YouTube … I'm not sure it's for me.

Actual most problematic Final Fantasy protagonist:

In the running: Cecil, Cloud*, Squall, Zidane and Tidus aren't strong contenders here but you could get them for technicalities (being a professional thief, disrespecting the local religion) and Zidane for sexual harassment, Lightning.... For unnecessary roughness, being blackpilled and being a poor role model. Yeah, we'll throw Lightning in there. Clive**.

Not including:

Bartz, because he's a perfect angel

Terra, because anything bad she did was while she was under the influence of the slave crown

Noctis. I guess you could ding him for being a monarchist or being a brat, but, like, becoming king on a technicality in order the end the monarchy forever gets him a pass imo I could only really get him for jokey stuff and/or having a bad attitude, very understandable given the situation.

Vaan is so nothing as a character I almost completely forgot him. He's a thief. He believes the propaganda, I guess. Meh. I suppose I could assert that Ashe is the true protagonist of Final Fantasy XII, and while she seriously considers doing some very bad things she doesn't actually do them so I'm not putting her in here.

*most of the bad stuff Cloud did was due to brainwashing and mental illness so I don't think he's a strong contender but he definitely Did Some Stuff

**Clive is the goodest boy but he did fight for the evil empire (under duress, as a slave) and I guess the bit where he cut off Kupka's arms was a little fucked up, and depending how you interpret it (i.e., the way Joshua interprets it) what he does with Jill's powers is a little fucked up. Also ranks as one of the imo more personally scary FF protags (mostly due to genre/tone differences) so that adds him, like, a point. Somewhere.

[starduststarcrossed]

Dunno if I told anyone here, but I adopted a kitten last week. Been spending time with her so she doesn’t feel lonely in a brand-new environment. SO and I ended up adopting her litter mate as well, leaving them inseparable. :] More time for drawing YAY.

. . . . Anyway.

Serah Farron (FFXIII) and Porom of Mysidia (FFIV: TA) clothes’ swap-thing because ... why not? Lol. 

[magpiejay1234]

Defeated the main storyline with Zeromus, now I got stuck at Lunar Ruins because I missed the save point. Oh well. Further thoughts on FF4 GBA

*Cave of Trials is definitely a later addition, not because it literally is an addiiton for this version of the game, but it is also antithetical to the Sakaguchi approach. Not the bosses for the ultimate-ish weapons of the additional player characters. Specifically, there are 7 levels of this dungeon. In all other dungeons in the original version of the game, you only have 5-6 at the very worst, except for the Lunar dungeons.

Nonetheless, it was very enjoyable, and I managed to grind better here than on Lunar surface, which was quite harsh. I still used the “canonical” party of Edge, Kain, Rydia, Cecil and Rosa because the IGN walkthrough recommeded it as such, though.

*Of all of the ultimate-ish weapons, the one that surprised me most was Triton’s Dagger. I didn’t know Palom could use daggers, though considering both FFI Ninjas and Edge can use Black Magic, it makes sense.

The Triton part of the dagger is also interesting since Palom cannot use water magic, but it is meant to reference his final scene with an unnamed girl (Leonora, according to the After Years). Of course the After Years made them a couple essentially, of course.

*It feels weird to see King Giott and Luca in both the Mysidia Tower and the final celebration for Cecil’s wedding. Other NPCs, particularly those in Troia don’t show up. Granted, Luca will eventually become an actual playable character in The After Years, but it is interesting to see how SE decided to squeeze the ending for more creating more content. Again, very anti-Sakaguchi, but also very Pokémon/Digimon/Yu-Gi-Oh!.

*And Zemus, as many people pointed out, you either believe he is a Diablus ex Machina, or a moral anvil to hammer in the “Fascism is bad” theme. Granted, for a JRPG series, FF’s anti-fascistic streak is actually unique, since most other Japanese media tends to be very pro-fash (you can look around Tumblr to see why, or just read early AoT criticism).

I’m more weirded out by his design. He doesn’t have legs, and according to the Yoshitaka Amano artwork of Fusoya, neither does he. But in the DS version, Kluya clearly does. From what I can understand, the Lunarians in the original game were meant to be more like a mixture of Asian dragons and comets, and both Fusoya and Zemus fit the bill. But Kluya is just a dude with animé blue hair.

Speaking of Kluya, the original translation seems to imply Kluya has been on earth for at least a few centuries, and having many progeny. But in the DS version, it is implied he had a traditional marriage with Cecilia, and only two kids, after centuries of wandering. I’m not sure if I like this later reinterpretation, because it makes me feel Kluya only found value in humanity after finding a chick who looks like a Lunarian. IDK.

*Going with the crystal retcon in The After Years, the Lunar crystals have not only kept Zemus at bay for so long, but they also actively help your party. So yeah, I don’t think the retcon works as well as I previously thought it did.

*The game obviously has a lot of Judeo-Christian symbolism in addition to the Star Wars references. Some of these are clearly deliberate. Others are NGE-levels of visual and textual flair. I planned to do a deep dive ages ago, but there might be a lot missing stuff from the later versions I might miss. So if I do a post like that, it will be less of a compendium and more of an overview.

*For the endings of each character:

**Tellah surprisingly shows up at the final battle, which wasn’t something I expected. The final battle overall obviously inspired the final battle against Giygas with all characters praying for your success and recovering your party.

*Edward actually lives up to being a good king after his father’s death. Edge doesn’t, because he is very horny. 

*Yang being the King of Fabul after the king’s abdication feels weird, because I don’t think it was set up really well.

*Cid is still stuck at Baron. I thought he would be a bridge between Dwarves and regular people, but I guess the dwarves already have the village of Agart. I didn’t notice that he was the best man in Rosa and Cecil’s wedding, which is cute.

*Porom is the one that instigates people in Mysidia to pray for Cecil and the gang, which is interesting. I guess Sakaguchi and Takashi Togita (co-writer of the game) really liked the character. 

Palom, as mentioned above, becomes a chad at the age of 5 somehow (Leonora at the point of this game is apparently 7, even though her sprite is clearly shorter. Again, Palom is a chad.) With him, I always think of him as a Bumblebee-type character, a character designed for the younger children in the audience to relate to. Games after FFIV would keep this tradition, but it feels weird to see here since Palom would become an edgelord like Edge in The After Years (despite technically following on Tellah’s footsteps.)

*Rydia remains with her new adoptive family. But I feel weirded out by Leviathan’s comments regarding Rydia’s beauty. This wouldn’t pass by censors in this day and age.

*Of course, Cecil and Theodor’s(aka. Golbez) closures are meant to parallel Kluya and Fusoya. Theodor ultimately decides to go into cryogonic sleep with his uncle (The After Years would put a kibosh on that, though), and Cecil takes on his biological father’s morals while taking his adoptive father’s role as the King of Baron. Symbolism aside, I really like this. Cecil was a character in need of a cause, and Theodor was a character in need of a connection with his past. 

Not to mention, if he decides to return after the all the shit he done under Zemus’s influence, he will be crucified by at least 50 people. So there’s that as well.

*I’m still stuck at Lunar Ruins, but I really like the face on the moon joke. Speaking of the moon, I wonder if the humanoid enemies in the Lunar Subterrane inspired the Maenad in the After Years. Anyway, that’s for another time.

[lunarianborn]

A Famitsu magazine published in 1992 came out with lore and info about the story of FFIV, which was released a year before. In this document, and in the obscure ‘Settings’ Book - which dwells in info of all main characters of the game, Cecil is described as an orphan, taken in by the King of Baron when two-years-old. This particular always confused me. In more recent retellings of the tale, Cecil is seen being adopted by the King when still a newborn -- I always thought the age of two to have been a mistake. Apparently, truth lies deeper than that haha, as I recently found out on a old japanese archive/site.

In the 1992 magazine, Cecil is indeed described as a foundling of 2 years of age - and for a good reason. He actually was, back then. Back in the original version of FFIV, Cecil’s backstory wasn’t truly told, and all we are aware of are mere snippets told by either Fusoya or Golbez himself. To fill the hole, apparently, an interview was published with an answer to Cecil’s story before being adopted. It’s old, now completely retconned by modern games and lore... but it’s interesting, because the story of his (and Theodor’s) past, in this outdated version, does sound like the beginning of a fairytale... a story for children. Here’s a translation.

“ Two young brothers lived alone in a small house near the woods of Fabul. One was a 12-years-old boy, while the youngest sibling was 2-years-old. The brothers had lost their parents a while ago, and the oldest child had soon began helping around in the city armory, to earn money in order to take care of his brother. One night, he noticed one of the moons had started glowing red and heard an eerie voice coming down from it. “You are brothers with hidden powers. Join me! Let us conquer this Blue Star!” the voice spoke to the children. Feeling scared and in danger, the older brother took his sleeping sibling in his arms and ran away from home. But that voice didn’t stop chasing him. After a while, the moonlight and its rays wrapped the oldest child’s body. Invested by the light of the red moon, the boy started floating mid-air and was soon sucked by the moon. Before being kidnapped, he hid his younger brother amidst some grass. The following morning, the child was picked up by the King of Baron, who was passing through that forest, and adopted. ”

While seeing it as an early-draft of what the true story of Cecil’s childhood would have later become, it’s nowhere as impactful as the newer story makes the circumstances of his birth and adoption come out to be. First, the fact the ‘fairytale’ has the siblings live in Fabul make zero sense... plus, Zemus kidnapping Theodor via moonlight rays has something poetic in it, but makes no sense either, in the long run: FusoYa had imprisoned Zemus for a reason, he couldn’t do much BUT subjugate Theodor’s mind and make him do his bidding (all because of the Lunarian blood in his veins too). To physically kidnap young Theodor would require great strength... or magical powers -- the one thing he was prevented to use thanks to FusoYa and all Lunarians with good intentions. And you’re telling me FusoYa didn’t notice the most powerful Lunarian on the moon doing such a thing to his own nephew? I think mind-control is something, potentially, a tad more discrete to abuse without peaceful Uncle Moon knowing.

Nothing of this version of Cecil’s past remains true. Cecil was adopted days after birth and found near Mysidia, Theodor was not kidnapped and taken to the moon but simply had Zemus teach him, mentally, black magic in a far-away corner of the world, alone, and never worked in an armory, and so on... still, I kinda like the fairytale vibes this first draft of the story held. 

[randomkposts]

Up the down way

So I once wanted to write a FFIV AU, with a very different universe and an OC Callian Jackson. here was my attempt at note taking.

Callian is here in the story as Kain and Rosa's best friend. Kain and Rosa are dating, and with Callian here, there is a different dynamic to their friendship, as Kain has two girls teaming on him to do things, and is probably not left alone to brood as often as he would like, among other things. Callian is mostly here, because Cecil was being raised elsewhere, and Callian is a girl who lost both her parents in the war, and chose to take up the way of the dark knight, and passed it, becoming good enough to be a Captain of the red wings. She is not a cannon clone of Cecil or Kain, though she may take some elements of the roles, she is ultimately her own weirdo in the story. I do not intend her to be an expy, and hopefully she does not come off as a Sue either.  Cecil is still in this story, just obviously not here in Baron. He'll probably show up briefly soon. The characters will not be as you remember, because the blue planet they grew up in is not the one we are used to, and there are some odd consequences to that. The social chemistry of the world is different, and so are they.

Is a bit of a parody and an AU Alice in Wonderland style, in that the characters can be downright odd.

Plot:  When Callian Jackson's invasion of Mysidia goes wrong, she is sent to be a delivery person as atonement. Callians invasion likely went wrong because of a stray berserk spell, and her soldier's went nuts on the people. Never less, a good commander should rise above that, and accomplish the mission, keep the men's respect. Kain, wondering what Rosa was talking about, Comes into the room to ask, and ends up getting sent alongside Callian to Mist. ---

The scene starts with Callin quietly but furiously questioning her men,  and her men too ashamed to say anything to her, beyond monster warnings. She begins, quietly, and intensely angry, getting details about the mission , until a monster attack distracts her, much to their relief. To the king, she is quietly upset, trying  to hold her temper. Kain wanders into the room, and gets sent along. She does let it out when Rosa comes to her room, as Rosa often serves as an outlet.

Differences from IV: Kain is dating Rosa, and is not nearly as broody or secretive in part to having two woman who would pester him if he was off. Rosa is a lot more outspoken, and has Scrying abilities, as well as being Paranoid of Troians.  Callian had a crush on Kain, but when Rosa asked him out, they talked about it, and Calians happy for them. I think in the original, Cecil was a peacemaker who asked Rosa to leave Kain alone,even when he deserved a chewing out.

Day two: They leave the castle with a  feeling of Destiny in their hearts. At Baron, Calian goes and finds stuff with "treasure hunter senses", and Kain goes to buy supplies, (bartering , an act learned from Rosa).  While Kain contemplates sporks, he runs into fan-girls and an eager dancer, and helps Calian take a tent from a river when he jumps. Once out of Town, the two decide to train like mad, then ride  the Chocobos to the mountain , so they go south. They earn goblin and cocatrice. Meanwhile, at the castle, a Scrying Rosa sees them going the wrong direction, and decides to catch up with them using many Hermes sandals, and remembering why using too many items outside of battle is bad (made her more susceptible to the illness later). Meanwhile, Callian and Kain reach the grove after fighting enough battles with goblins to win the summon , and grab Chocobos. When Rosa arrives after, she sees  a black Chocobo and uses it, much to the pale haired man's upset utterances. -(Yes that is Cecil, Lol)-She flys over the mountain and lands , deciding to rest in the grasslands. Meanwhile Callain and Kain arrive at the mountains, and take a rest instead of going in and facing zombies. (Rosa tells many horror stories) They get through the cave fine, and decide to rest in the tent before entering Mist.

Day two, part two: Well rested, our hero's enter the cave and run into porcupines and the dragon of Mist. Kain is not fond of attacking Dragons, so they try to run, only to have to kill it anyways.  Entering the village, bombs attack from the Carnelian Signet .Rather than Come to the logical conclusion, Callain concludes its a test and she is meant to be foiling a ninja plot , and begins shouting orders and getting people to safety "taking command" of a chaotic situation.She decides to evacuate. Following orders, Kain goes to help a little girl, who- furious her village is being invaded- summons Titan, separating Kain from Callian.  Meanwhile Rosa, believing they would be taken to Kaipo until they were transferred to Fabul and shipped to Troia, wanders around outside of Kaipo, trying to find the blasted place In the desert. She runs into Tellha, who informs her she is not the Mage he's looking for.

Day three: Kain wakes up, and decides to find a place for the little girl he accidentally orphaned to sleep, and perhaps be adopted. So he goes to Kaipo, a neutral city, and more importantly, close.  In the middle of the night, three Guards come for Kain and Rydia. Kain sends them away stating Calian asked him to watch this kid. The Captain then asks if Rosa was here, since she has been missing and that their  purpose here was a search party. Kain offers to take over the desert search party, much to their relief, and they go. Kain is glad that encounter could be solved by negotiating, as that was one of Callins competent Captains. Meanwhile Rosa collapses at Kaipos gates.

The next day, Rydia wakes up and can't remember the attack, or what she's doing here, and asks where her mother is. Kain informs her that her mother is dead. She is quiet after that. They hear some rumors about a girl with desert fever, and some more about the prophetic chick Anna who everyone had talked about the other day when they were looking for an inn. They find Rosa and discover she was the one with desert Fever.  Kain goes off to find a sand pearl, and Rydia comes with him. In fact she refuses to leave him, very assertively. Kain gets Rydia some weapons. Rydia proves competent at Healing, and distracting monsters with weak attacks for Kain to counter. They use this strategy since Kain can't jump and leave her. Beyond battle, Rydia is quiet and unobservant in terrain. Kain has to hold her hand to prevent her wandering off.

Randomly added note.(Edges difference in attitude comes from a more comprehensive training due to an attack on the palace he almost died at. He is quieter and more ninja like.)

R.A.N2(Edward is determined to get the prophet who tried to save him back! He is more determined than sad.)

R.A.N3( Palom is already a sage, spellwise. He had to learn some cure magic until someone gave Porem a cure staff. The problem with the twins is that they are five year old prodigies, who are probably pushed because of paranoia over Baron. They have some issues. Palom has high standards, is hypercritical of himself, and uses lots of false bravado. He needs the rest of the world to believe he's awesome.  Porem has a terrible bedside manor, and anger management issues, so carries a cure staff, so when she hits people, it heals them. They are quite nervous about teaching her hammer style fighting, even if she might be good at it, because no cure hammer has been invented. )

RAN 3.5: (Kain has to protect them on his way up the mountains. That means covering and countering the attacks directed towards them in battle, taking breaks for them, and giving them piggybacks. He also gives Rydia piggybacks. The trip up the mountain is a long and grueling journey. PS: Write a story about Cecil and the twins climbing the mountain, frame as elders revenge)

Finally Kain and Rydia arrive at the cage and meet Tellaha.

Rn4( Tellaha can see the future. Or at least possible outcomes of the future. Kain being here, makes him realize something is different, but he can't quite remember what. He has trouble differentiating between what is a possibility and what is real, leading him to sway between right for the wrong reasons, and completely off base. He seems to believe in the original timeline at the moment, and may leave on a quest for Cecil. Tellah is also amnesic, and can not remember past Anna's eleventh birthday)

Rn4.5 (This world's Anna is kind of Joan of Arc, and Callian’s main opponent, and they will clash more throughout the fic. Callin kind of sees her as worthy adversary, and keeps her alive, but gives her to Kain so she doesnt have to explain it.)

Tellaha informs  them they are late, much to their confusion, and they enter the cave. Throughout the cave, they find several potions, and pieces of dark knight armour and a sword . Kain notes he does not have to worry about getting Callin a birthday present now. Tellaha focuses on teaching Rydia thunder and ice spell words, as fire will not be very useful in an water cave. Rydia tells them the smell of smoke terrifies her.

Kain and Tellaha reconsider their plans to have goblin for dinner, in favour of smoked goblin. Then again, fire keeps away Zombies. Kain and Tellaha debate the merits of fire as they continue through the cave.

(RN5: Rosa has a crazily complex family tree that includes, but is not limited too, Tellaha &Anna, Palom&Porem& Sheila[ Yangs wife]. It debatably includes Rydia. Maybe. Callian of course has no idea of this when she sits down and tries to relate to Rosa just how odd this is.)

(RN6: Rosa hates Troians. Troia, in this universe, are the Amazonian-esque city. They are fierce magical archers who steal or entice men into their castle, in an attempt to sire strong warriors. As a magical archer (white) Rosa is often accused of being one, and has grown a tad resentful. It doesn't help that Rosas family is from Mysidia, Barons former close ally [before the attack], who is traditionally rivals with Troia. Kain has huge respect for ninjas, like Callain has for monks )

After a brief rest, Tellah attacks Kain, asking where they are, who they are, and what happened to his daughter. Kain reminds them of the current quest, and Tellah asks where Cecil is. Kain asks who Cecil is, and they continue  on through the monster packed cave, to face the Octomamoth. Kain has to keep to the strategy of defending Tellaha and Rydia, and countering the monsters attacks, while Tellaha and Rydia put their lightning based attacks to good use. It's a fairly long and painful battle, but they emerge victorious. Upon exiting the cave, they see an attack on Damcyan in the distance. They go to investigate.  

Upon entering Damcyan, they meet Calian at the entrance, with Anna unconscious. Tellaha is out of it.  Calian asks if they have seen Rosa, as she has gone missing. Kain affirms they have, and that she has desert fever, and they need a Damcyan person to get a sand pearl. Callian tells him, that although she still feels disturbed with Baron actions of late, she's happy to report, there were fewer casualties, her men were controlled in temperament, and once the tactician was knocked out, resistance fell apart. She believes Anna may be a genius tactician, and brilliant leader.  

Upon seeing the tactician Anna, Tellaha attacks Callian, accusing her of being a spooney bard who ran off with his daughter, married her without permission , and got her killed.

Callin tells Kain to keep his companions under control, and get their stories straight.  She also insists to Kain she is not a lesbian, and that she better leave if he wants help from the Damcyains. Before going, she tells him she found this among Mist, and gives Kain the bomb item hoping it will be useful to him.

Kain tells Tellaha he was attacking the wrong person, and they should go inside. They see people bringing a either pot downstairs to the wounded, and begin healing them. Rydia and Tellah spend time helping with magic, and Kain uses first aid, and helps with moving people downstairs. Eventually he comes across Edward mourning his mother and father. Kain, having some tact, leaves him alone for now. Once the cleanup is done, they begin moving the bodies Kain comes up, to talk with Edward. (Rosa has had him come on talks to patients families and he and Callian have also done so to their soldiers families).  Kain is still quite blunt, but has learned some thing about talking to grieving people. Sorta.

They have a talk, and he manages to convince Edward to both help them get the sand pearl, and warn Faboul, once his kingdom is better. Rosa being a healer is mentioned. Rydia has no outburst. Once a second for Edward is appointed, they go to move out. Tellah yells at Edward asking what he was doing with his eleven year old daughter, and is asked what he is talking about by Edward. The only Anna he met was the glorious savior of Damcyan.

Tellah gets mad and runs off, much to Kain and Rydias discomfort. Finally they set off for the anitolin den. Much to Kains annoyance,  he is still the group shield. The Antoilon is not a difficult foe, and after many battles they earn not only the sand pearl, but the elusive rainbow jelly for Edward, who is not going to give this one to Callain.

(RN7 Callain is crazy prepared in some ways.  She insists on fighting many monsters with Kain outside of town, to stock up on items & Gil harvester as an ability.  She and Cid had airships capable of invading the moon, that were destroyed by the red wings, because they left them with the RW in preparation to invade the moon. She also has oddly convenient timing, and a love of training people, with a dream to fill the bestiary. She buys every weapon, shield, ect.  It's why Kain had Goblin on him. )

They then battle their way out of the cave,  and take the hover across the shoals. They fight a few battles and get cockatrice summon.

Rydia is pleased. Rosa is revived.

The story goes on, but I haven't moved far past that point.

So some explanations and headcanons to make sense of this verse

Baron is at war with Ebalan. The crystals being stolen and the army, and Callian’s explanation of “foiling a ninja plot” are tied to this. The war started over a catastrophic failure in marriage negotiations.

Rosa is the current heir of Baron. She is tied to the lineage of the throne through her grandmother, a princess who married a mysidian mage, who had her mother, who married a dragoon in Barron. It was a scandalous story back in the day, although it is kept on the down low now that the king has fathered no children, and they are at war. Kain is looked at as the future ruler, because of this. Politics will play a part, particularly during the Fabul castle invasion.  Also Rosa needs to be depicted with more muscle please, she wields a bow for crying out loud. She should be soo buff.

There are rumors that Calian is the heir. Callian plays along with this to protect her friend.

Calian is loyal to her friends, but she is also loyal to her country and the people she leads. She is not leaving on Kain’s quest because she intends to take care of the people back home. I wanted to contrast the personal reasons of Kain being an antagonist from cannon, and avert brainwashing. She’s not as blind as she pretends to be, and comes up with some very bizarre explanations to others in the intention to subvert the malice in her orders. She won't be able to look away forever, but in the meantime she can use “alternative explanations” to do things like prevent Mist from being a genocide, or win Damcyan with less casualties ( Anna of Arc was a pretty big factor in this too). The surviving summoners will play a part later.

Who cast the Berserk spell is a small ongoing mystery. (The brainwashing is not contained to Baron)

At this point in the story, Rydia is amnesic, and I tried to include some realistic symptoms of that. She is also under the impression that Kain is her previously unmet Dad, who came for her after her mom died, and does not remember the invasion, probably the trauma from it. The “Kain is secretly my dad”  is not revealed until after the Faymarch, because it had no reason to come up, and it's pretty hard to dissuade her of it after she has lived with it for years.

Oh, heres some older notes

-“Honesty, my first attempt went from crack to serious, to crack. Like at the beginning, I decided there's no way the mages should be that easy to defeat, so I decided that a berserk spell had been cast on half of both armies. Of course, it's a pretty chaotic battle between being turned into frogs or pigs , and the fire spells, the mages berserking and everything. So, Calian decides, let's complete the objective, get in, get the crystal, get out.

So once she recalls her troops, she is on the airship, and trying to figure out WTF happened. Of course back home!e, she is responsible, and the king is questioning her competence there. He sends her on a milk run to deliver this ring to some nowhere village in the mountains.

Like in canon, Kain comes along.

Rosa talks to her to try to cheer her up that night.

The next day they go to town. Kain goes shopping, and Callian goes Item hunting. When Kain runs into a crazy dancer fangirl, he jumps off a bridge and finds Calian contemplating a tent in the water.

They decide it would be better to catch a Chocobo. Of course they run into so many goblins there they find a goblin summon. (Ffiv has a ridiculously low drop rate) . Then they set up a tent outside the cave.

The next day, they face the dragon, accidentally kill the summoner. Then they find out the purpose of the ring was to summon bombs on the village. Callin interprets it weirdly...

"It is an Ebalanese ninja plot. I must do what I failed last time and take control of the situation. Command it. Kain, help me evacuate."

So, more villagers survive, but Rydia still summons Titan

The nation of Barron is being taken over by Golbez, who is also possessed. He had the king brainwashed, then disposed of and replaced, and Barron is now making war for crystals of other nations, and bombing the village of summoners, and in cannon Cecil and Kain agreed this is not the king we want to work for. Then they are separated by a magic earthquake, and end up on opposite sides of the mountain.  Cecil is left caring for the child whose mother he inadvertently killed, and Kain is presumably taken back to Barron and brainwashed.

In this one , Kain will be with the kid, and Calian will be back in Barron not brainwashed, (yet,) but loyal and willing for the time. She's a capable captain, and as long as she is loyal to home, well someone needs to lead the army.

Like Cecil, she's friends with Kain and Rosa. Unlike Cecil, Kains group dynamic is changed, because I sort of get the feeling that Cecil let Kain brood too much. Like Kain and Cecil were said to be BFF\Rivals, but the game didn't really show it much. There was a love diagram with Kain crushing on Rosa, who was dating Cecil, so I get the feeling that tension was never properly talked out in Cannon, because Kain kind of behaves like a creep towards her when brainwashed,  and then apparently stays on a mountain for 30 years post game. Some shit needs to be said here.

So yah, different dynamic here

So Cailan takes Cecil's role at first, being captain of the red wings, Kains Rival, and generally regarded as essential for being a knight. She worked hard to get there, and is pretty competitive. Cecil is still around, and will show up later, as a different person with different teachings.

She is loyal to her home country and her troops, and that will get her into trouble and scapegoat in the long run.”

So Cecil. Here Cecil is still a dark knight, who grew up the apprentice of the wandering dark knight whose armor we find around the game, and is mentioned in Fabul. As an apprentice to someone who the dark knight class is a family style, he has a lot more battle techniques and equipment then in game. He is investigating why there are increasingly frequent monster attacks,  and trying to find out why the world is out of balance.

Edward sincerely admires Anna.

Anna and her father have hereditary clairvoyance. It takes a toll on them as they age. 

[ashenartwork]

Finished a ref of my FF2 S/I Asha.

They’re a white mage from Mysidia that’s not actually all that great at white magic, but thanks to rigorous training and determination are at least average at it. 

Um, I guess storywise Firion and his group would find Asha living on the island where the Mysidian Tower is located. When the Emperor’s army had started showing signs of invading other kingdoms, they offered to go there and stand watch over it in case someone bad tried to go after the Ultima tome. 

Asha would be able to tell that they’re telling the truth about needing the Ultima tome and mention someone else showing up not too long ago with the same goal and offer to help them through a small bit. They would follow Firion’s group for a few floors, and then part ways with them and head back to the entrance.

Once Firion’s group returns, they find Asha waiting at the entrance. Asha begins to ask if there was anyone else that came down with them but stops halfway through as if they already know the answer. They then ask to accompany the group back to Fynn as they have no reason to stay on the island anymore.

and in my au where no one dies and everyone is happy, minwu adopts asha because he is my dad and i love him

[eeyes]

i swear i'm only making a pet site to acquaint myself with php i'm not getting attached *fingers crossed behind my back*

[estinininininen]

Okay. Okay. One more thing before I let Palom and Porom introduce themselves. I've gotten a lot of imagination and fanfic mileage out of people in Mysidia being aware of paladin-age, and people going up the mountain but Cecil being the first to do it successfully. The Elder says that before he goes up. He doesn't know anything else.

Mt. Ordeals is FFIV's simplified version of some very intense theological shenanigans. Something something high places, something something fathers and sons, something something anointed warrior-king. Christian players see Christian parallels, but the Literal, Actual Fighter aspect reminds me more of Jewish prophets and judges. Moses and David could be huge bastards but also played ball with the G-man upstairs. It also ties in with Cecil's Moses-adoption and being the younger son, the victor in so many Jewish stories (Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses)

In-story, is Kluya pulling strings? Did he introduce the challenge centuries ago? Is it something that was here before the Lunarians? Did someone (Bahamut?) realize the grading rubric was a little too strict and adjust for a bell curve? I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS.

[glarehand]

wait where's it say that firion is from salamand? i thought he was from fynn in game and mysidia in the novel

i googled it (having to specify that i wanted firion salamand ff2 bc searching firion salamand gives u fire salamanders) bc i wanted to make sure it wasn't just a hc i'd made up LOL and the wiki says that the novel states he was born in salamand but moved to fynn when he was adopted into leon and maria's family

[gaminglikeits1991]

Top Games within each Genre

Platform:

Sonic the Hedgehog

Developer: Sega

Platform: Sega Genesis

Now known today as Sega’s mascot (like Mario is to Nintendo), Sonic is a global icon. The blue, anthropomorphic hedgehog who has the power of extreme speed is on the run, attempting to stop the evil Dr. Robotnik from collecting all  seven chaos emeralds as he turns all the animals of the land into evil robot minions along the way. Sonic is the only one who can stop him with his super sonic speed!

Sonic the Hedgehog was just the beginning for Sega’s new mascot. He has been featured in 70+ games and even had all sorts of toys, accessories and even comics made after him.

Role-play:

Final Fantasy IV

Developers: Square, Tose, Sting Entertainment

Platform: Super Nintendo Entertainment System

Cecil Harvey, the captain of the Red Wings of Baron has raided Mysidia to take the Water Crystal. The Red Wings of Baron question their kings order after completing the raid as they disagree with stealing from the Mysidians. The king is angered by their questioning and Cecil has his title as captain taken away.  He’s told in order to gain the king’s trust back, he must team up with his childhood friend and adoptive brother, Kain Highwind to venture to the village of Mist. This is just only the beginning for the the two brothers are they begin to uncover what truly happens within the kingdom of Baron.

Action-Adventure:

Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

Developer: Nintendo

Platform: Super Nintendo Entertainment System

In the midst of the night, a young boy named Link, a citizen of Hyrule, is awakened by a telepathic message from the Princess Zelda, begging for him to come rescue her from the castle’s dungeon as she has been held prisoner. As Link is about to leave on his quest to save Zelda, he finds his Uncle with a sword and shield in his hands. He tells Link not to follow him as he goes to pursue Zelda himself and that it would be dangerous if he followed. Being the hero he is, Link disobeys his Uncle and makes his way to the castle’s dungeon only to find his Uncle gravely wounded, begging Link to save the Princess and run. Though, it’s not all that easy as it sounds...Link must stop Agahnim from re-opening the Dark World and reviving the demon lord, Ganon who will wreak havoc on the land of Hyrule. His only chance of doing so is by obtaining the Master Sword and recovering the Triforce. 

As the Legend of Zelda timeline is not exactly chronological and linear and more so “this game is what would happen if _____ occurred!”. A Link to the Past takes place after the 1998 game Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and is meant to be what happens if Link was defeated by Ganon. Pretty neat concept!

Fighting:

Street Fighter II: The World Warrior

Developer: Capcom

Platforms: Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Arcade game

A very straight-forward, 1v1 fighting game. It overshadows its predecessor Street Fighter so much that its often forgotten about. Due to its success at improving the game overall. The visuals were iconic just by themselves, arguably having the best and most recognizable “character select” screen. They had also expanded on having more than just 2 set characters (but technically you could only play one due to the npc playing the other when you were on single player...) and introduced 6 more characters. These characters were different in nationality and in their fighting styles which made it completely unique and added a more fun experience overall (they also had one of the first playable female characters). The creation of a single player tournament also  added a completely new feature to the game, having the player face off against 1 of 4 new boss characters to determine their final position in the tournament. It also introduced the combo move system which is now used in many games today. 

Street Fighter II: The World Warrior is still seen as one of the most iconic arcade games today as it was so wildly successful. Arguably (but not really), it is the most important game of its genre.

[concluded-illusions]

Edward throws fuckin wild beach parties.

It's just a bunch of drunk children, on the beautiful beaches of Damcyan or Kaipo, Edward and a band are playing music.

There has been a 100% decrease in Wild Eddy Beach Parties in the past 17 years due to, Baron briefly being ruled by an Evil Turtle disguised as the king, and a dude being told by a guy in one of the moons to bomb Damcyan. It's just not fiscally responsible to throw wild beach parties while you are being crowned King and also the castle is being rebuilt.

But there are tales, of a prince with a beautiful voice, and some wild ducking beach parties. Maybe someday, Wild Beach Party Eddie will return, but for now, it it just a tale that parents tell their children at night, to show them how fuckin sick they were as youngins.

Ceodore hears about these wild parties while on supply duty with the Red Wings. He tells Ursula when they hit up Fabul. Ursula tells Leonora and Palom while they're traveling for sage training. They tell Porom when they get to Mysidia. Porom mentions it to Luca who's there with Rydia and Cuore doing some magic training. Edge finds out because of course he's with Rydia and Cuore. They visit Damcyan, and ask Wild Eddy about his Wild Parties.

Edward says, that if they ever call him that again, he will have them escorted out. But only for like five minutes.

"What happened Wild Eddy, why are there no more Wild Eddy Beach Parties... t m.?"

And Edward says "I'm an adult with more responsibilities than to throw parties and get drunk to cover up the depression?"

"But Wild Eddie. Your parties were legendary. Surely. You can throw 1 (one) more. One more Wild Eddie Beach Party."

And Harley says, "The anniversary of Damcyan's reconstruction is coming up, if the party is open to everyone in Damcyan and Kaipo, and you charge an admission fee, then you can throw a Beach Party. But I am going to leave you if you call it Wild Eddy's Beach Party."

And thus, Wildward Edward's Beach Celebration was put forth.

It wasn't the wild Beach Party from 20 years ago. Everyone has grown up since then. It was perfect. Final Beach Party.

They will have 15.

But it was time to pass the beach party torch. King Edward had no heir to pass the party crown onto, but now that he and Harley are totally fucking married, fight me, it could be time to find a sweet fuckin orphan, and make him heir. But that could be put off. Because this was the Beach Party foretold in legends.

Uh.

Then Edward and Harley adopt a kid or something. And they carry on their Father's tradition of Wild Beach parties, only when there is a good reason for there to be a beach party, so that Damcyan does not go totally bankrupt. But the economy is great around party time every year, because the money is moving, and Damcyan and Kaipo's greatest export is party time. Or something, I don't know anything about the economy, I'm a dumbass who does nothing but talk about final fantasy all day while on a bed letting the depression fester.

Anyway, Edward was wild before the writers of FF decided to kill his wife and refuse to let him mourn her death, and I will make him happy post canon because he didn't deserve to be king and be unable to move on because the old people who live in the castle do nothing but bring Anna up. I will fight the sun for this boy.

[magiskpets]

INVENTORY REHAUL LET'S GO