#oc: lelesu lesu

[azems-familiar]

i didn't specifically take these for any prompts, but lalapril day 18: distance works quite well, don't you think?

i'll leave what she's looking for up to your imagination.

[sunderedazem]

Corrain and Lelesu, visiting a friend (a brother, a could-have-been lover)

Lelesu Lesu -> @spyscrapper

(They stayed until Alphinaud came and got them)

[azems-familiar]

won't anyone in sharlayan think of the poor lalafells when they build their aetherytes?

[azems-familiar]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Final Fantasy XIV Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Azem/Emet-Selch/Hythlodaeus (Final Fantasy XIV), Azem & Emet-Selch & Hythlodaeus (Final Fantasy XIV), Azem & Venat (Final Fantasy XIV), Emet-Selch/Hythlodaeus/Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Emet-Selch & Hythlodaeus & Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV) Characters: Azem (Final Fantasy XIV), Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Emet-Selch (Final Fantasy XIV), Hythlodaeus (Final Fantasy XIV), Venat (Final Fantasy XIV), Scions of the Seventh Dawn (Final Fantasy XIV) Additional Tags: how the FUCK do i even tag this thing, Ultima Thule (Final Fantasy XIV), Patch 6.0: Endwalker Spoilers (Final Fantasy XIV), Queerplatonic Relationships, it's tagged both & and / for a reason, i listened to "answers" on repeat a lot and it made me very sad, Canonical Character Death, it's Hythlodaeus and he's alive at the end so it'S FINE, Angst with a Happy Ending, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, the canon divergence is emet and hyth don't fuck off at the end, Amaurot (Final Fantasy XIV), no beta we die like literally all my favorite characters, Named Azem (Final Fantasy XIV), Nonbinary Azem (Final Fantasy XIV), Female Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), i have not finished the endwalker patch quests or all the related raids, so if my lore is off don't @ me Summary:

“Then give me an alternative, Seleukos!” he says, pushing himself upright to match them, face twisting. “Give me some other way, any other way! We as the Fourteen have a duty to this star and I, for one, intend to ensure there is still a star to have a duty to when this is all over.”

“To the star?” Azem asks, and laughs, disbelieving and jagged and aching. “What about the people? The lives? What use is the damn star without the life that makes it beautiful?” - None of them had ever truly had a chance, back then. But now here she stands, so close to silencing Meteion’s song of oblivion and proving Hydaelyn’s, Venat’s faith true, showing the world to a new future, and she wants - has, almost - to show them it’s still possible. A long time ago Emet-Selch asked her for an alternative, and now she can give him one. - Azem, Emet-Selch, and Hythlodaeus, in Amaurot and at the end of the universe.

[azems-familiar]

Character Associations: Lelesu Lesu

Fill out 3 or more symbolic associations for each category!

(art by minpage)

✴EMOTIONS/FEELINGS✴

Compassionate - for all those who struggle

Guilty - for the losses she couldn't prevent

Hopeful - that the future will be a better one, despite it all

Determined - to keep moving forward, to not let anyone down, to do her duty

✴COLORS✴

Gold - the color of her soul. warmth and light, a beacon in the midst of despair

Black - grief, despair, solemnity. for those we have lost

White - hope, peace, compassion, a caring embrace. for those we can yet save

Red - determination, anger, intense focus. to bleed is to live

✴SCENTS✴

Ozone - the tang of electricity, the pulse of magic in the air

Leather oil and soap - to keep her gear in its best shape

Fresh snow - the wide Coerthan mountains and their winter, her home

✴OBJECTS✴

Elpis flowers - the tangible reminder of her hope and her determination

Azem's crystal - the duty that spans millennia, binding her past life to her current one. promises made, promises broken, promises kept. legacy

Sturdy boots - her feet will carry her forward until she can no longer carry out her duty. her boots better be up to the task

Crystal of Light - Hydaelyn's Light, love, and promise, on a chain that rests above her heart.

✴BODY LANGUAGE✴

Sitting on tables - now you have to look her in the eye

Snarl - angry enough to let go of her control; someone's about to Find Out

Fidgeting with Azem's crystal - deep in thought, not quite sure what to say, or needing a reminder

✴AESTHETICS✴

A bird on the wind - fly high, fly free

The sunless sea of stars - [insert Urianger's poetic description here]

A set of scales - balance

-

thanks @calico-heart for the tag! these sort of things take so much thought but they're a ton of fun.

tagging.... @sunderedazem @gatheredfates @designsdefiance and idk any of my followers who see this and want to do it, consider yourself tagged by me :)

[azems-familiar]

i don't even care that they removed her glasses look at her i'm OBSESSED

[azems-familiar]

holminster switch.

ft. Corrain de Fortemps (@sunderedazem)

[azems-familiar]

i commissioned the lovely outheros to draw Lelesu as she appears post-Endwalker and this turned out so wonderful! if you zoom in you can see the scarring and damaged eye, and i love how her hair looks - the pose is so dynamic

[azems-familiar]

I wanted to give this a dramatic caption, but I just couldn't think of one. Anyway, if Emet-Selch got to her before Hydaelyn did.

[azems-familiar]

i got challenged to design Lelesu in heroforge and have spent a solid hour on this so: she!

honestly really happy with how this turned out, i feel like i captured the rdm vibes very well. (the wands on her back are the closest i could get to nouliths, lol. i tried.)

(edited because i FOUND the glasses on heroforge finally after i posted this, and obviously had to adjust.)

further edit: a friend introduced me to DECALS and i am going oooooo

[azems-familiar]

Character Arc

Yeah, this seems accurate. At the end of the day she fights for love of people, and that's what's most important to her.

Quiz link here

Tagged by: @thefreelanceangel

Tagging: @sunderedazem @sae-mian @improvised-finish @calico-heart @ectojyunk @orime-stories @thelittlestancient @thewitchofelpis

[azems-familiar]

Lelesu Lesu

Nicknames: Lele (but only if you're Corrain or Hythlodaeus)

Age: 27 during Endwalker

Birthday: uhhhhhh. 32nd sun of the first astral moon? i think? i'd have to open the game to check tbh

Race: Dunefolk Lalafell

Gender: cis female, though she's not particularly fussed about gender and wouldn't really argue being gendered other ways

Orientation: some flavor of greyromantic, exclusively attracted to men when she is, some flavor of ace spectrum, sex-favorable

Profession: Warrior of Light, Scion of the Seventh Dawn responsible for Ishgard (quietly), and on the rare occasion, guest instructor for the Temple Knights

Physical Aspects

Hair: long, black, kinky curls, with a light green dye in the ends

Eyes: dark purple. the right one used to be paler and now is solid silver from scarring

Skin: dark brown with warm undertones

Tattoos/Scars: some various minor scarring across her body, a large scar across her chest/abdomen; small thin scar across her right cheek/lips; scarring around her right eye. dragon tattoo along the left side of her face

Family

Parents: her biological parents are Ul'dahn merchant-nobles who own a mine of some kind in Thanalan. she's never been close with them and no longer particularly considers them her parents; instead, the closest thing she has to a father-figure is Edmont de Fortemps, who she has been very close with since early HW but especially once Haurchefant died

Siblings: Artoirel de Fortemps, via swearing brotherhood, which means that by technicality Emmanellain is also her brother. she's not as close with him as she is with Artoirel but she does care for both of them quite a bit. in universes where they're both there, she also considers Corrain to be her little brother and will sometimes refer to him as such

Grandparents: not really relevant

Others: her partners are Aymeric, Hythlodaeus, and Emet-Selch - post-EW she and Aymeric get engaged, and she has some kind of nebulous queerplatonic Thing going on with Hyth and Emet that is not fully defined.

Skills

Abilities: the red mage and sage skill trees, a solid grasp on conjury and some basic white mage skills (which she no longer uses), some of the early marauder skills. formal manners - she was raised among nobility - and some business management skills (Ul'dahn). basic needlework skills, a necessity for adventurers, and a solid grasp on survival skills

Hobbies: reading everything about magic she can get her hands on. swimming - she didn't have much opportunity to in Ul'dah and now takes every chance she can get. post-endwalker she's taken to trying to find a way to bring creation magicks properly back into the current-day star - yes, this is a hobby for her. possibly fishing? (these are still in development. partly because she is very duty-focused and has kept quiet about her hobbies.)

Traits

Most positive trait: her determination and dedication to her duty. between this and her kindness, which together alongside her love for Etheirys and its people are what keep her on the heroic path, even when she wants to falter.

Worst negative trait: probably a tossup between her tendency to wallow in guilt/failure and how she handles grief, which is poorly - she also has some struggles with anger that tend to get very out of hand when she's dealing with loss, which is what led her to pursuing a revenge quest against Thordan VII

Likes

Colors: reds, purples, blues

Smells: fresh bread, petrichor, pine trees, leather oil

Textures: anything soft and fuzzy, feathers, sand (both wet and dry; yes she loves the beach. yes she's a little insane)

Drinks: hot chocolate (though it reminds her of Haurchefant every time she drinks it now), coffee, chai

Other Details

Smokes: no.

Drinks: yes, on occasion, though she rarely goes beyond tipsy, and then only in the company of those she trusts absolutely

Drugs: nope

Mount Issuance: prior to endwalker, she basically exclusively used the black chocobo Hauchefant gave her, which also happens to be the chocobo she learned to ride on. post-endwalker, however, she usually flies around on Argos, though she'll use her chocobo when it's....uh, not necessarily appropriate to be riding around on a glowy golden dog from thirteen thousand years ago that can fly

Been Arrested: does being almost-deported in Sharlayan count? and there was the bloody banquet....

tagged by @gatheredfates (sort of) thank you! this was very fun, though it took me many days to do, oops.

tagging: @sunderedazem @akirakirxaa @designsdefiance @sae-mian and honestly idk who else of my mutuals/followers have or haven't done this yet, so if you haven't and see this and want to, feel free to tag me for it! i love seeing everyone's ocs

[azems-familiar]

okay, okay, under the cut: a loose conglomeration of lore about my Warrior of Light. aka my best attempt at summarizing the key emotional beats of five expansions, which is not a summary at all, and also giving a brief overview of my Azem

Warrior of Light

(art by moonlitalien)

Name: Lelesu Lesu

Age: 27 during Endwalker, 22 at the start of ARR

Pronouns: she/her

Classes: red mage, sage (dabbled in marauder and white mage before drifting away from them for various reasons)

Relationships: Haurchefant (briefly), Aymeric; queerplatonic with Emet-Selch and Hythlodaeus

some lore about her:

Lelesu was born in Ul'dah and grew up as part of the wealthy merchant-noble class that makes up its high society. She absolutely despised the neat box of a life her parents tried to keep her in, and ended up sort-of running away from home to join the Adventurers' Guild in Limsa Lominsa, cutting all ties with her blood family and picking up adventuring and an axe to strike out on her own, in search of the freedom to define her own life. She joins up with the Scions willingly, happy to help make a difference, especially when it becomes obvious that she's one of a handful of people capable of facing primals, but it doesn't become really personal until the massacre at the Waking Sands, where she loses most of the first people she genuinely called friends.

She gets pretty close with Haurchefant while they're in Coerthas the first time, and in the aftermath of becoming the Warrior of Light she treasures that connection because it's one of the few places she doesn't feel like she has to be the responsible, duty-bound Hero version of herself the WoL is. Even with, maybe especially with tbh, the other Scions there's that sort of distance between them, because they're her friends and her coworkers but they also expect the same sort of miracles out of her as the rest of Eorzea, through no fault of their own.

She's actually furious with Midgardsormr when he removes the blessing of Light. Has no interest in proving herself to him at first, because she blames him for Nabriales breaching the Rising Stones, which of course led to Moenbryda's death. Eventually the blame shifts to herself instead - she feels like if she'd been stronger, she wouldn't have lost the blessing to begin with. This is a theme that comes back during Heavensward, too - she was a white mage before she picked up red mage, and so when Haurchefant (who she was very much in love with) throws himself in front of that spear for her, she's the one who tries to heal him, and she fails. In some ways, she blames the loss of the blessing of Light and her own weakness for his death. If she'd just been stronger, been a better Warrior of Light, etc, then he wouldn't have died. And he should've known better than to try to protect her, Hydaelyn wouldn't have let her die. Etc.

For a while here she completely stops using white magic entirely, which is a problem - red mage is all about balance, using white and black magic equally, and without drawing on both kinds of power you can't perform certain abilities, plus it has a whole mechanic where the further off-balance you get the harder it is to cast in the opposite direction and fix yourself. So she's off-balance in her aether, and that makes her even more reckless and emotionally off-balance, and she's struggling to grieve and sort of stuck living in the moment of Haurchefant's death, which makes her quest against Thordan a kind of revenge quest. She isn't really able to start learning to move forward again and recovering from that loss until she spends a bunch of time helping Aymeric build the new peace in Ishgard and teach the people to move on from their broken past, and that slowly leads her to work through her pain and trauma over the months.

Stormblood is...not really very much in the way of character development, but it is where she kisses Aymeric for the first time, just before she leaves to go to Doma, so it gets an honorable mention.

On the other hand a lot of insanity happens in Shadowbringers. She gets a nice new facial scar courtesy of Elidibus-as-Zenos when G'raha summons her out of her body during that fight (Aymeric is Deeply Freaked Out). Once she's in the First, she's dealing with a whole lot of confusing emotions and instincts related to Emet-Selch - her first impression when they properly meet is both that it hurts to look at him, for some inexplicable reason, and also wariness, the kind you'd have for a rabid animal, because there's just something so Wrong to her about the way he acts. This goes along nicely with the instinct she has to trust him that also makes no sense, so she's running around trying to save two worlds from the same calamity while dealing with the most confusing emotional state ever. This doesn't get much better when she gives in and starts spending time asking him questions and just talking to him, in a way the rest of the Scions won't do, because he feels familiar to her, like she should recognize him but can't.

This gets a thousand times worse when she drags her shattering soul down to Amaurot-beneath-the-sea to rescue G'raha, feeling like an absolute failure of a Warrior of Darkness the whole time. Amaurot itself feels incredibly familiar to her and also makes her want to cry because of the immense feelings of loss it evokes, she's already attuned to the aetheryte in the depths (I do not care if this is lore-appropriate or not it's fun), she feels like she knows Hythlodaeus, by the time they confront Emet-Selch again she's half-demanding half-begging him for answers he won't give because he's deep in denial and also wants her to remember him herself. She breaks down crying when she's forced to kill him in the end and doesn't know why.

Endwalker is just....A Fucking Mess. She's so done with Zenos's shit, her duty keeps weighing her down, everything is horrible. The body-swap bit really messes with her for a while and it takes time to recover from. Plus the whole thing with Zodiark - she didn't want to kill Zodiark, just weaken Him so the Watcher could bind Him again. She didn't want to permanently kill all those souls! She recovers bits and pieces of memories whenever she uses Azem's crystal to summon people, enough to be able to tell Emet-Selch, Hythlodaeus, and Venat that she is a reincarnation of Azem, but she doesn't regain her memories in full until Ultima Thule, when she summons Emet-Selch and Hythlodaeus to help her against Meteion at the end. With those memories regained she's able to convince the two of them to stay with her and give the future a try; moving on is something none of them knew how to do before but she's had to learn to live through grief and come to terms with it anyway and she wants desperately to show them both how as well.

She considers Ishgard her home, and the Fortemps family as her chosen family - she's actually sworn brotherhood with Artoirel. And she considers herself Azem still, in the terms of Azem is a duty to the people that she has believed in basically since she became the Warrior of Light, and she won't let go of it.

In the final fight with Zenos at Ultima Thule, she very nearly dies, and he breaks her glasses against her face, severely injuring her right eye, among other things. Though she doesn't lose the eye it ends up solid white from scar tissue and she's completely blind in it - but she does end up learning how to see the aether through that eye alone.

Azem

(art by my friend nimrowen on discord)

Name: Seleukos

Class: black mage, has training with a sword thanks to Venat

Pronouns: they/them

Age: ohhh man idk probably somewhere around a century by the Sundering? don't ask

Relationships: queerplatonic triad with Hythlodaeus and Emet-Selch

if i get into my lore about them we'll be here all day so just read this fic I wrote full of the important flashbacks and whatnot instead

i also have a very fleshed-out AU where Lelesu is the WoL alongside @sunderedazem's Corrain, but this post will turn monstrous if i go into ANY details about that. so just know it exists and we'll both answer asks about it. lol

[azems-familiar]

Corrain:...Why do I feel like this? Wishing I could trust him?

Lelesu: ...I don't know, but I feel the same. Like when I look into his eyes I should know the man staring back.

(Corrain and the third screenshot both belong to @sunderedazem! All edits done by me)

[azems-familiar]

shepherd to the star;; warrior of light

my friend nimrowen on discord surprised me with this GORGEOUS piece of Azem and their familiar Lelesu (as she appears during the Elpis questline) and i am absolutely insane about it tbh. Lelesu (who i fondly call "the tiniest Amaurotine" whenever i put her in her Elpis robes glam) is perfect and Azem looks exactly like i pictured them in my head, and the little outlines that evoke their magic....the elpis flowers in the middle.....man

as a fun little side note, when i was coming up with a personal name for Azem, before i'd played EW, i almost picked "Elpis" because of its meaning about hope. a friend of mine who knew how the word would be relevant in the next expansion was like ....you might want to rethink that, so i did, and settled on "Seleukos" instead, but i do find it funny.

[azems-familiar]

this game is just pretty