#nyelbert tag.

[yloiseconeillants]

Since you have mentioned that starting them I would like to hear what are you thinking about ShB role quests like the idea, characters or the plot 👀

I have literally like, opened the quests for healer, tank, and (just yesterday) physical dps, but I am apparently speed-running the caster dps quests. I am about halfway? through those at lvl 74 and my next quest is lvl 76.

I don't really have any opinions QUITE YET except that like, apparently I care about the Edgelords a lot more than I expected and I've used any dialogue opportunities I have to defend them.

Just from first impressions, I feel like I'm going to enjoy Healer quests, and maaaaaybe Tank quests (my very quick impression of Granson reminds me of Erasmus so I'm mostly thinking about Erasmus instead of Granson lmao), but I LOVE the Casting DPS quests so far. I'm so curious about how the other Virtues will manifest and I'm like

already crying about Taynor? Cerigg is a nice boy too. I have like 20 screencaps of Nyelbert's total of 10 seconds in the quests so far. I have nothing to say in my defense.

[abimee]

nyelbert did all of that for ardbert and got fucked up and died and he gets tagged as "misc npc" it kills me in a fit of laughter

[braveura]

WOO TAG DROP WOOHOO YEAAAAAHHH

[keju-doodlez]

FFXIV Shadowbringers characters portrait. The Scions and Ardbert's groupies~ (well... including my WoL Lucis~ ) ❤️ ❤️ ❤️

[autumnslance]

First Line

Saw some folks doing this and thought why not give it a try.

Rules: List the first lines of your last 20 stories (if you have less than 20, just list them all!). See if there are any patterns. Choose your favourite opening line. Then tag 10 of your favourite authors!

I’m going with actual “stories” or at least longer scenes, not just short blurbs or WIP scenes I’ve also posted lately for challenges/prompts. Also this goes back past FFXIV Write 2020, so going with the more polished works I posted on the free days and skipping those many prompts (much as I like most of them). Also using the Ao3 links for most of these (which means less visibility in search and tags), though a couple are on Tumblr only. The links go to individual works, though many are found in the “Unexpected” compilation thread I have for Aeryn & Thancred shippy nonsense, where they’re more or less arranged in chronological order. Still, direct linking to the specific chapters seemed the best plan.

I think I like best the ones that immediately give environment details, like “The Old Bargain” and “Sandstorm”, though there’s also something about “The First Day”’s first line that works for me.

1) Celebration: “There’s the hero of the hour,” Thancred said as he ambled over. The child Aeryn had been speaking with waved and dashed off, eager to share with his friends whatever secrets the Warrior of Darkness had divulged. Thancred watched him go, smiling, before turning back to Aeryn.

Shadowbringers 5.0 finale and how two warriors of darkness spend it.

2) Aetherytes: Thancred glowered up at the aetheryte. The morning light was obscured by a light snowfall, the blue glow of the device tinting the plaza. The knight handling the fees had a vague eye on him, but Aeryn was keeping the man mostly distracted with pleasant conversation and a thermos of Fortemps cocoa.

Thancred tries to hide his new condition from Aeryn immediately after Heavensward’s 3.1 patch.

3) Food: “Please tell me,” Y’shtola’s voice from behind Aeryn was positively acidic. “That you have eaten more than a muffin and a few pieces of fruit since our lunch.”

Aeryn is in a research frenzy and Y’shtola is annoyed she has to deal with it.

4) Dawn: Thancred hadn’t slept much.

Morning after the ARR 2.0 finale, kind of a sequel to FFXIV Write’s “Clamor”.

5) Flower: “What?” Aeryn demanded, snapping Emet-Selch’s attention down to her eyes; they were the hard grey of steel arrowheads as she glowered.

Emet-Selch has an unexpected memory thanks to Aeryn’s favored hair piece. Shadowbringers.

6) Indecent Whispers: The ceremony was lengthy, the lists and speeches interminable, and Aeryn struggled to not doze off. She shifted in her seat as the sermon continued.

NSFW for dirty language as Thancred quietly scandalizes Aeryn during an Ishgardian ceremony.

7) 15th Day of the 1st Astral Sun: Aeryn stepped through the mirror and into the familiar space of the Ocular, taking a moment to reorient herself after the rush of journeying between worlds. Once the vertigo had passed she left the Tower, the Crystarium guards greeting her as she crossed the Exedra. It took some questioning before she was finally pointed to where Ryne was currently; training with Captain Lyna just outside the city gates.

Aeryn gets a sentimental nameday present from her conveniently absent partner, post Reflections in Crystal.

8) Thancred’s PoV on 15th Day of the 1st Astral Sun: He always marked the day, even knowing that time was moving differently for her back in the Source.

I apparently had to write out Thancred’s perspective first to get the correct feel in the letters Aeryn read.

9) Girl Talk: Lyse and Aeryn fell on their backs onto the palm of Rhalgr, laughing as their early morning sparring session ended in a draw.

During Stormblood’s “Lady in Red” quest, two besties have a chat after their spar.

10) Only a Little Death for Now: He walked through the empty palace, heedless of the dark or cold due to the heated singing of his blood.

NSFW. Zenos having violent thoughts and finding a physical release for them. Shadowbringers patches.

11) Of Porxies and Pardons: “Oh my goodness!” Ryne squealed. “It’s adorable!”

After an off-screen fight post-Eden 8, Ryne and Gaia bully Thancred into talking things out with Aeryn.

12) Restless: Kugane’s lights were strange as they filtered in through the screened window. The little room was comfortable, and gods knew Aeryn was glad to be off the rocking seas and creaking ship, back on dry land.

NSFW. Aeryn’s got a lot on her mind and an annoying physical need to deal with as the Scions arrive in Kugane in early Stormblood.

13) Teach a Warrior of Light to Fish: A lazy day at the lake was exactly what they had needed, Renda thought, stretching on her towel. She rolled onto her stomach as she opened her eyes. Branden had cajoled Nyelbert and Cylva into some sort of ball game in the shallower water, Lamitt apparently refereeing from atop a rocky outcropping, the four of them laughing and shrieking as they splashed around.

Renda-Rae, Ardbert, and his fishing hobby.

14) The Old Bargain (original fic): The wind moaned across the swampy meadows, long grasses and rushes hushing the rattling cart that slowly moved down the muddy road, pulled by a stooped figure in a wide grey hat and long grey coat. The clouds hung low and dark overhead.

A lone figure acts as the go between for the mundane and fae worlds.

15) Realizations: Rhalgr’s Reach slowly recovered from the assault as the days passed. The bodies had been buried and all rites given, the living granted their too-brief time to mourn. Now came clearing the rubble, repairing what could be repaired, and somehow finding replacements for what could not.

Thancred talks to Y’shtola about his feelings for Aeryn in the wake of the assault on Rhalgr’s Reach in early Stormblood.

16) Sandstorm: The wind was kicking up, sand and grit blowing as they rode across the dusty old roads toward Drybone. Thancred looked up at the sky and frowned as the rented chocobos kwehed and shook worriedly. Aeryn looked to him, a questioning expression on her face.

Aeryn and Thancred on the way their investigations into Ifrit in early ARR.

17) The Parley: “We have time before these negotiations resume,” Merlwyb said. “I suggest we stretch our legs and clear our heads before meeting with the Emperor again, now we have a firmer strategy.” The others readily agreed.

Aeryn and Varis talk during the recess during the parley in “A Requiem for Heroes” end of Stormblood.

18) When Everything Changes: Zaine poked at a snail’s shell frozen to the top of the low stone wall. He guessed it had been stuck there before the winter had taken hold, trying to escape the cool rains of autumn. He wondered if the snail had found a new home, abandoning this one. He liked to think so.

Backstory from the pov of Aeryn’s brother, at five years old.

19) The First Day: Ryne had told herself she would not spend the first day sobbing, yet that was exactly what she did.

Ryne the day after the end of “Reflections in Crystal” in Shadowbringers.

20) Unsupervised, Again: “Ah, you’re back,” Thancred said as Aeryn came in the door, carrying a suspicious number of bags, considering the errand she had been on.

Aeryn got distracted while on an errand.

[abimee]

HI. SORRY FOR PUTTING THESE TAGS IN THE SPOTLIGHT but heres the thing is we DO know who unukhalhai is a shard of.

or i guess who unukhalhai shares as a shard of. and if implied canon is to be believed, there is only one shard of azem on each planet naturally, with The Source having us and The First having Ardbert.

but guess what. we've met another unukhalhai. it's nyelbert.

tthrough the magical DPS quest you find out about Taynor, the best friend of nyelbert who was casted into the rift between worlds and who was chased after by Nyelbert. Both once studied together in the art of opening up these void portals, and its talked that they had to attune their aether into one to do so, so they know each others aether well

and remember what hythlodaeus says about aether, and that its almost like a signature of someone since amaurotines seemed to usually look for each other by their aether (if they had the ability to spot it), and how even simulacrum hythlo recognized our incredibly weak aether in amaurot due to a color

eand look what taynor says when he forms with unukhalhais aether, when taynor was seemingly able to match him and open up a void portal with ease :)

"I Feel as if i Do remember it. Your aether is... familiar, somehow. But thats impossible, of course."

Whoever Unukhalhai is, he sadly isn't a shard of Azem, because he and Nyelbert are shards of the same person! :DS

[autumnslance]

FFXIV Write 2020 #4: Clinch

Frithik watched and tried not to chuckle as Aeryn attempted to figure out the knot he had shown her. “You’re making a common error,” he said after the third time she lost a hook.

She sighed. “I’m usually quick to learn things,” she apologized.

“For a proper clinch knot, you need to hold the hook and main line when pulling taunt after wetting it,” he said. “Holding the tag end won’t do it.”

Aeryn tried again, pleased at the knot that resulted. Frithik nodded in approval, and watched her cast her line.

“You’ve got it this time,” he said, setting his own bait and casting his line. They waited in companionable silence, water lapping at the base of the dock while insects buzzed. The day was warm if overcast; with luck there would be rain, bringing more fish near the surface.

“Don’t get me wrong,” Frithik eventually said after a few moments, slowly letting out his reel. “I don’t mind teaching the Warrior of Darkness herself how to fish, but what brought on the sudden interest?”

She didn’t answer for a time, looking out over the expanse of water so ironically named the Source. Bismarck dozed in the distance, the trees on his back blotches of shifting color.

How to explain that she had spent the last couple moons talking with a ghost, who had spoken with her not only about her worries of Lightwardens and Ascians, but about...everything else? About friendships, about choboos and amaro, about daring risks and missed opportunities? About hopes, and fears? About the hobbies that filled what precious little free time they had and kept them sane when the world seemed determined to tear its heroes apart body and soul--literally?

Ardbert had grown up on an island, large enough for a village, farming, and some trade. Fishing had been one of his fondest hobbies.

“I used to look out over the water and dream of what lay beyond the horizon line. One day I’d go beyond it, see the world that existed across the waves.” He chuckled in that ironic, self-deprecating way of his. “I did that and more, with my friends. Even got to visit your world for a bit. Should have taken time to cast a few lines while I was there; woulda been something.”

“If I’m going to sit for so long, I feel I ought to be reading, or writing, or painting, or...just..anything.”

“Well you aren’t just sitting still,” he countered. “After picking the right bait, and setting the line, you’re minding it, watching and waiting, and when you feel that tug on the line, it becomes a bit of a contest; not just who’s strongest, but who can be more wily.”

Aeryn gave him a skeptical look. Ardbert grinned back. “You’d be surprised. Fish can be smarter than you think. Besides, sometimes you just gotta...clear your mind. Be still. Let your eyes and thoughts wander while your hands do the work, until you get that tug. Even a smarty-pants mage like you has to let the brain rest.”

“So how well did Nyelbert take to fishing?”

An exaggerated, unnecessary sigh. “Oh he didn’t, the pompous arse.”

They laughed, his tinged with the old grief he could never seem to shake.

Ever since returning from the depths of the Tempest--ever since Ardbert had given himself to save her, his presence a constant, comforting warmth suffusing her head to toe--she had found herself drawn to the water, staring at the distant horizon line, mind wishing to relax from the myriad spinning ideas she normally fostered, hands twitching.

On her latest trip to the Crystalline Mean to deliver some medicines for Bethric she had lingered afterwards at the Facet of Fishing, until Frithik had noticed her hovering. When he asked if she needed anything, her hastily blurted request to learn how to fish had come out of nowhere, a surprise to them both.

Or had it come out of nowhere? Was it a surprise?

Her line jerked, and Aeryn began to turn the reel.

“Easy!” Frithik encouraged. “Easy now...almost...let it out a little bit...there you go...now back in...careful…careful...Aha!”

A flopping mackerel slapped at her arm as Aeryn grabbed it, and with Frithik’s help the fish was removed from the hook and tossed in the ice box. “Good work!” He practically purred. “You’re a natural.”

Aeryn shrugged sheepishly. “I have a good teacher.”

And a little help besides, always.