#once again introducing my wol

[berryzawati]

Layla Encyclopaedia Eorzea III entry?

[thefandomexpert]

ok. dawntrail opinions

Overall I enjoyed it! my expectations were met, which is about all i can ask for coming off of the arr-ew epic. I do think they had some issues trying to ‘recapture the vibes’ though. There are several points where things are introduced as direct analogues to things the wol has experienced (provided you’ve done the earlier expansions) when they should have been left as their own, new experiences.

The most obvious of this is Zoraal Ja being stated, in game, to be a Zenos-equivalent. Which he is NOT. Zenos would never think about the consequences of his actions that much, his point is he doesn’t HAVE a reason. he says himself in ew: ‘would you hate me less if I had a good reason?’ that’s zenos. he’s there to make you confront how you view morality in that sense: what’s a ‘good enough’ reason to commit atrocities? if there is a ‘good enough’ reason, what if someone decides the line is somewhere else than you do? Zoraal Ja could have been a neat parallel where he does have a ‘good reason’ for turning to violence, but this, and the other major interesting thing about his character (ie. his relationship to his father and adopted siblings) is completely glossed over, ignored, and unexplored in favor of keeping him just a super strong ‘unknowable’ enemy. he’s a zenos equivalent only if you understand neither characters beyond their very basic plot purpose and it pissed me off they’d make the choice to POINT THAT OUT in a game that’s kind of made a living on making you examine grey morality.

Similarly, the last quarter of the expansion was a direct parallel to the decision we make in late shb and ew regarding the ancients and stopping the ascians. I feel like they felt like too many people were sidestepping the fact that we made a moral choice at The Dying Gasp; ‘they’re already dead/they’ve made villains of themselves.’ In removing the timeline fuckery of elpis and solidifying the shades in the amaurot equivalent, the alexandrian plotline seems to try very hard to corner you on those fronts and impress upon you that while the correct decision is to fight for your right to exist, it is a heavy decision and you Are Destroying Things, other people’s potential futures, in doing so. Again, I think this was well done (having whole areas of pretty assets erased after like 2 questlines in each one? bonkers. props to them.) but it was SO close to the ascian plotline it started to get distracting. like. They have Cahcuia say the ‘remember we once lived’ line. I love her (favorite va of the expac too) but why would you do that. get my grandpas words out your mouth rn. dead serious. This was a time for discussing the difference between permanent, remotely stored ‘memories’ of the departed and the fallible but active task of having the living population remember those they’ve lost, but instead they just. again, ignored the new interesting thing and decided to make sure you remembered the major plot line of the major villains of the past 10 years. like i love my ascians but if you wanted to do that you could have had whatever minor ascian enacted the lightning calamity be around!!! fuck!!!!

anyway the people who think wuk lamat is lyse 2 are just straight up wrong tho. They are NOT parallels they have the exact opposite character arc What are you Smoking

[ungrateful-cyborg-moved]

On Minfilia

When you take Minfilia at face value, she’s honestly a good character. And her writing is consistent enough that I can’t completely say that the way the community reacted to her was due to it but at the same time... it kinda is, in my opinion, and most of the arguments given to “hate on her” by people are mis-attributed griefs with the storytelling itself or the gameplay.

(The way some choose to mis-attribute it speak more of those people than of the story or devs, though.)

To me, Minfilia is a just and kind woman, if a bit politically naive, who tries her hardest to fill in the shoes of Louisoix when it’s very much not what she signed up for in creating the Path of the Twelve. It’s a hell of a role to take on at 22 (time of the Calamity, since she’s 27 in ARR) and she did an admirable job with it. You can understand why those who’ve known her for a long time feel like she’s incredible, given the facts.

But if you’re not a Legacy player, you don’t know those stakes, you don’t know her, and she doesn’t know your character either (she recognizes Legacy WoLs from what I've gathered).

So your actual introduction to Minfilia goes like this: you get told by Momodi that a secret organization is interested in hiring you and to go to Vesper Bay. You go there and speak to Tataru.

A summary in two screenshots:

The named Scion depends on where you started: Thancred for Ul'dah, Y'shtola for Limsa, Yda and Papalymo for Gridania. It's not Minfilia who recruits you, it's them. She just gets to make it official because she's the boss and got the last word.

And not only that but you've traveled to the town, then get to pass three doors (and two loading screens) in total before meeting her: to enter the building, to go to the basement and, finally, to enter her office where she's talking to the main Scions.

Which seems entirely trivial but I feel like it create a pre-existing distance before you even get to meet Minfilia.

In the Solar, she introduces herself, then immediately puts some distance between you and her by walking behind her desk—ironically while telling you that you're amongst friends—and starts her speech about the Scions, the Echo, the Primals and the fact that your Echo is especially strong. A speech she ends with this (notice the crossed arms—distance, again):

The next cutscene is about the perks of the job, settling once and for all that your relationship with her, even though she calls you friend, is transactional and hierarchical.

Which is fine, I'm not complaining. But she's our boss, which sets her apart from every other character in the story, Scions included.

The next hours are literally spent executing her orders, going back and forth between Vesper Bay and wherever she sends you (and we didn't have the aetheryte tickets until patch 5.3) until she gets abducted.

We meet quite a lot of NPCs who tell us that she's a great diplomat (something we didn't get to see so far since she doesn't accompany us on our diplomatic mission to talk to the Sylphs about Ramuh) and talented to bring people together (which is probably true but always happens off screen). We don't get to see it until well after they made her go from our boss to a damsel in distress we need to save.

To quote Erenville: first impressions last.

Especially when the story doesn't give you opportunities to change it for hours of gaming time.

She's not as passive as people tend to remember, but they botched her introduction to non-legacy players, in my opinion.

So I can't say it's entirely fair to pretend there's no reason to dislike her, or at least to not care much about her. There are other characters who play a similar role to her up to a point: the Exarch for example. But the Exarch goes, literally, outside to meet with us. We get to see him deal with Ranjit and the threat of Eulmore. By the time he needs saving, we've seen what he can do, even discounting his help in the first dungeon. I don't think he would have received such a warm reception if he'd just been waiting for us passively in the Ocular for the first half of Shadowbringers.

It's worth mentioning that the writers were working on the 1.X patches at the same time they were writing ARR, though. And to me, it feels like they either forgot or didn't care that new players wouldn't have a pre-existing rapport with Minfilia.

After all, Louisoix tells her in one of the short stories to wait for "one who bears the light". When we meet her in the Solar, we doom her: her role was to serve as a bridge between 1.0 and 2.0. To wait for us.

And we're here now.

(I don't think they meant to keep her around, even without the general disliking of her that players had—and that's probably why the twins were here from the start.)

[ragnarokalypse]

I am usually a lurker. I don't really post anything...ever, anymore, but I am so incredibly disappointed by this expansion that I felt the need to chime in my sentiments, just to get it off my chest.

I am one of the few people that loved ARR, before the "streamlining." I was hooked in the first 10 levels and the game had me in a stranglehold all the way through Endwalker. Everything after 6.0 was...eh...but I love the game so I stuck with it. I also loved Stormblood, and I've walked away from Dawntrail loving it even more, because hoo boy, does Wuk Lamat give me a new appreciation for Lyse.

I don't have a problem with low stakes. I don't have a problem with fetch questing, building my reputation, and just generally doing menial tasks even when people should be acting with a little more urgency. My beef with this expansion isn't that it's "new", "low-key", "a reset", or anything like that. My beef is Wuk Lamat.

This entire expansion is basically the Wuk Lamat show. The WoL does not really forge any new relationships, they don't really explore anything, they don't really do anything, and when they do, it's hijacked by Wuk Lamat. I swear I think my character was introduced by name to a citizen maybe...once. Instead, we have to sit there watching Wuk Lamat do everything that I want to do in a story that is supposed to be about the character I've spent years investing time and emotional effort into. I want my character to be the one making friends, exploring new cultures, and building a positive reputation with the people. When the first half ended and we FINALLY got to go do something without her, I was excited. I was willing to forgive the first half because it felt like the REAL journey was just getting started.

But nope, back to Wuk Lamat. Back to her being the main character and my character, the character I actually love and have painstakingly developed over years, being sidelined. In the final battle, I was again excited because FINALLY, a good old fashioned WoL vs The Enemy showdown. But what's this? Oh, Wuk Lamat again. In the epilogue, everyone celebrated for three days and three nights to "hail the Dawnservant's victory." Like, what? She shows up in that last 20% and gets the credit? Excuse me? I don't dislike Wuk Lamat even if I do deeply dislike her type of character, but I do resent the massive amounts of space she takes up in what is supposed to be my character's story.

Maybe I'm selfish, maybe it's just a me problem, but I play MMOs to tell stories about characters in fun worlds that I get to craft to my liking. If I wanted to play a game of pre-existing characters and watch/experience their journey, I'd go boot up literally any other Final Fantasy game. I have seen people liken this expansion to World of Warcraft, and I agree, to an extent. However, even though WoW doesn't have your character be center stage, I have always felt like the world was expansive enough for you to tell your own independent stories in the background. I have a whole host of characters in the WoWverse that I've developed over the years, and I never felt like I was held back from being creative because of the overarching narrative choices made by the game because, ultimately, my character was not a central figure and I could do what I wanted.

Here, I'm trapped. I can't say my character is off doing something else because she's literally tied to Wuk Lamat through the entire expansion and the shard key will probably be important later. I went through 3 days of cutscenes and walked away with pretty much nothing that I feel inspires me creatively or gives me any new material to build my character's story. Instead, I'm left feeling like I'm having to struggle to explain why she's being so passive and out-of-character. Is it trauma? Is she drunk? You got me. I'm still figuring it out, and figuring it out is a struggle that I have never experienced in this game. It isn't fun, which kills the creativity even more.

I might have been more forgiving of the story if it were reframed around the characters I actually care about and I got to experience the world instead of sitting back and watching Wuk Lamat experience it for me, but as it stands, I didn't really enjoy any of it save the American old west town where we got to hang out with Erenville, blissfully Wuk Lamat free. I swear they're the only people in the story that actually talked to us and learned our names. I think the best example of how little I enjoyed myself is in how many screenshots I took. I took almost 3,000 screenshots throughout my first Endwalker playthrough. Here, I took less than 100.

I will continue to stick with XIV for a while to see where it goes from here, but if this is the new story direction and philosophy - tell a story through other characters first - then I may just have to sadly resign myself to the fact that my character's story ended with 6.0, and go off to greener pastures where I can craft characters and build stories in ways that are more to my liking.

Overall, 1/10. I can't even rank it amongst other expansions because even the lowest ranked expansion for me is one that I love. Dawntrail is in a league of dislike and resentment all its own.

[elf-simp]

Roundup - "NPC" OCs

Hi, I've finished DT but I'm still ruminating about it and my main OCs so in the mean time I might as well reveal the "secret OCs" I was storing for later. As the title says these guys are "NPCs" so they're not major players for the ongoing stories of my other OCs nor is their lore as expansive. But lets get them introduced anyway starting from the left and going right.

First up, Marcus Fortiramus, Madeline's brother. He's a pretty simple guy. Well mannered, usually keeps to himself, and worked an office job prior to the events of post-SHB / Endwalker. The main thing that stands out about him is that he's always been extremely supportive of his sister, even when she started going insane and left garlemald for 20-ish years! He was a little slow to warm up after they met again though. Mostly because He was not expecting his sister to marry a demon, nor was he expecting to be the WoLs uncle.

Next is "Ronaldy", Beauchene/Tsuwamono family retainer, expert botanist, and giant cinnamon bun himbo. He dropped into the picture pretty early on since he used to (still does) work under Madeline for her apothecary business. Though his roll (and pay) has become significantly greater since those early days. Kingdom and Castle found him in Elpis once. No one is sure how he got there but by god was he excited.

And lastly Hollow Bones, Lominsan born-and-raised treasure hunter and professional asshole. Seiei met him when she took her first boat ride to Limsa years ago. The two didn't really hit it off as pals, per say, but they did get to do a little bit of talking and became decently acquainted. The thing that really brought them together though was the fact that—once they had arrived in Limsa—they both often took on the same odd-jobs/mercenary work. Seiei swears he's a nice guy when you get to know him.

[aerithium]

FFXIV Endwalker Review!

*Spoilers Ahead*

★ Score: 10/10 ★ Date Finished: May 30th, 2024 ★ Final Thoughts: I'm not entirely sure words can describe how I feel about this expansion. I feel as though my haste to get through the expansion speaks volumes, completing one of the longer expansion in just over a week. This expansion is the (nearly) perfect finale to every single one that lies before it, there was no better way for this story to end, and begin again. The overall story flows perfectly, with very few moments of "low" energy. Each of its own quest lines serve greatly to the overarching story of the expansion, my favorite being the time the WOL spends with the ancients. To be there with characters that are once your enemies and allies, yet before they even know, creates strong emotions and the entirely seperate world is easy to fall in love with. The area designs overall are fucking phenomenal, each on is so different from the others and have their own beauties with in. The characters, both new and old, are so incredibly written a factor of media that means the most to me. I've felt this in the previous expansions but it seems to shine well here, each close ally of the player's is their individual person and they are all so different from one another. Such as the ways they talk to their allies, the player, and the choices they make during the expansion. The new characters recieve this treatment as well, and have great development across the expansion's story. My only problems with characters rely with the twin's father, who has a distinct moment that I felt didn't align with his overall writing as a character. The music in this expansion also utterly smashes the music from all the expansions before it. And I mean SMASH. Every song is so perfect for the moment in game that it plays, and the music is used in a way that truly amplifies the events that unfold in the story. The ending of the expansion leaves so much to look forward to without making anything feel incomplete, which solidifies the end of the current story arc but still leaves much to look forward to in the next expansion. I was seriously just blown away with this one. That's the only way I can put it. Following up to talk about the post Endwalker content, the story overall didn't have me as roped in but its rather hard to follow up the expansion that Endwalker is. The existing characters were still as great as ever (I'm lookin at you Estinien) and the newly introduced characters were very enjoyable. Zero's character development across the post-EW quests was really well done and you could slowly see her begin to make more sense of human feelings such as trust. The dungeons and trials were also fantastic, some being among my favorite in the game. The Dawntrail build up quests are small but they do a great job of ramping up the players hype for the coming expansion and feeds into the spontaneous nature of everything. This side content alongside post-EW (normal and alliance raids) were also really awesome, getting to spend more time in Elpis and meet more of our former enemies was just what I wanted and then to get to learn more of the Twelve. It was the perfect time to expand upon their existence after both Hydaelyn and Zodiark's defeat. Finally, the music is actually insane for these set of patches. I constantly found myself jamming out to the music in the new content I was doing. The post content has only further solidified my desire to give Endwalker the 10/10 it deserves.

[ofcoffee-andletters]

FFXIV Write Day 17 - Sally

Notes: Do not mind anything being said in this little one-shot :) everything is fine and this does not imply anything.

Poly!WoL implied

Sally : an action of rushing or bursting forth especially : a sortie of troops from a defensive position to attack the enemy ————————— A miqo’te stares ahead, he sees the casualties to the side, and then considers his options as the pile continues to grow, his brow furrows and he feels a bit frustrated — this wasn’t supposed to be that hard of a mission, or so he thought initially.

As his last little mammet soldier falls down, he hisses — tail standing and becoming way more fluffy, in a defensive manner as he stands over the table that sports a name of ‘Lord of Verminion’ — clearly feeling offended at the game right now, “Stupid little shite game—…!”

The miqo’te leaves the Gold Saucer that day cursing under his breath about how that game was unfair and he was commanding his little mammet troops perfectly fine, and that the enemy was stupid — soon after, commissions across Eorzea for personalized mammets began to pop everywhere.

Surely, both incidents had nothing to do with each other… ———————— “…That’s bold of you, my friend…” An unconcerned voice says, the tone is dangerous, almost like a predator ready to pounce onto his prey — and yet it held no actual threat towards the figure across the table.

Said figure’s ears twitch in reaction, not gracing the ex-Emperor of Garlemald with anything else to show that he had actually heard his words, then he makes a move on his side, smiling pleased and crossing his arms. “I don’t think you can survive that, Zenos~” There’s almost a purr coming with his words.

The blond garlean frowns and squints, his body language changes as he moves his body forward and towers a bit more over the table — his attention fully over the game of strategy and prowess of mind he is engaging on with his friend, “…That’s quite the risk, you’re letting your defenses open…”

“You won’t have enough units if you keep using so many to stop me from reaching the crystal.”

“…That is not the single way to win, I can also win if I decimate your forces completely.”

Brucie huffs and then points at the Verminion table — one that was now in his house — “I fail to see how you’re even going to do that…I have enough defensive units!”

As the two great minds engage in a debate about how is clearly having the better strategy, from the door frame another miqo’te observes and sighs — defeated — before walking downstairs towards an amused Elezen, “…They’re going at it again…” G’raha Tia says.

“That means we’re not going to see them at all for the rest of the day…and, we need a new shelf.” Haurchefant comments and looks over to the side.

There were already many shelves filled to the brim with mammets, plushies and varieties of books — but since Brucie had introduced Zenos to Lord of Verminion, well…mammets had become even more of a constant, just appearing in the house everywhere.

Both men sigh.

…They do appreciate their beloved Warrior of Light showing new hobbies to Zenos but, it’d be nice if they both didn’t end extremely fixiated over the same thing to the point they end up buying a personalized table only to play at home…all day.

“…I will make dinner…and plan how we’re going to drag them away enough so they eat something…” Haurchefant says, defeated.

G’raha is already walking towards the door, “I shall inform mistress Tataru that we will need another Mammet fitted shelf for Brucie’s hobbies…” and so, the miqo’te leaves.

…They do prefer to deal with these kind of troubles, an every day day filled with silly issues and easily fixed new little troubles. It means life is good, for once.

[akirakirxaa]

Final Thoughts on Dawntrail

Final thoughts on MSQ. There are some positives that I will open with, but as I do have many criticisms and overall did not have as good of a time as I've had in other expacs, I will put it under a break. This will also be quite long.

I will start off by listing some of the things I enjoyed. I liked the overall themes of found and adoptive family, as well as family in general. Most of the plot threads and cutscenes around these themes tended to be quite good. I will admit, I bawled like a baby when they introduced baby Gulool Ja to Koana. I also very much enjoyed the plot revolving around the milalla and honestly wish there were more; I love Erenville's mom a lot as a character, but I feel like she took up comparatively a lot of narrative space when Krile's parents were much more plot relevant. I also liked Bakool's character arc as I'm just a sucker for the bully becoming a big well meaning lug. This is another plot I wish we'd gotten more about since, once we left the woods, we never see him outside of combat again; I'd have liked to see him struggling to connect with the people in non-life threatening situations and learning to not react to everything with violence.

Unfortunately, that is the end of what I actually enjoyed without a "but" that isn't "I'd have liked more". I am so sorry, but by the time I got to the end I did not like Wuk Lamat anymore. The sheer amount of time we spend with her and the sheer amount of that time spent on the same exact speech again and again grated by the end. There were some moments where she really shone though, and that's why I'm putting this to poor writing and misuse of her character than her character actually being bad. I loved her in the whole bit with Zarool Ja, and during the Rite it was fine because her learning to grow up was the point. Which leads to the second thing I really did not like; that we existed to be a camera for her story. 99% of the story could have happened even were we not there, and the last 1% is honestly iffy. I understand letting her have her time, and despite finding it excruciatingly dull to my tastes, the rite was fine and she should take point during it since it's to test her abilities. But...there was not one moment where we got to be the hero. Not one. Hell, in several cutscenes I could barely even see my character because it's her show the whole time. Even at the end, where it finally matters that we're here, because we have the magic crystal that lets us call backup and stay and fight...it still didn't, because she just broke into the fight anyways. Once again, we might as well not even be there.

"Well what's the problem with that!" I hear you cry, and the problem with that is this is a Final Fantasy. I'm here to play the protagonist. I'm not here to control the camera while the writer's NPC does everything. She can be the main character of the expac, but I should not be able to remove my character entirely and have everything go the exact same way. Literally any scion could've done the same things we did while we drank on the beach and nothing would change. A great example of this was when Gulool Ja Ja was killed. Not only did we just stand there and not even attempt to interfere (this could have been a good moment to push the difference of another culture by having an ally stop the WoL), we barely had any reaction at all to it and were covered up most of the time by NPCs. At that point, just have us not be there, have us out protecting civilians and we arrive too late. We've had cutscenes from other PoVs before where we show up right at the end (for good or ill) so no excuse.

I very much did not like any of the plot around Alexandria and Living Memory. It strikes me as that meme of "can I copy your homework?" "Sure, just change it a little so it doesn't look the same". Tell me if you've heard this one before. Immortal being, unable to bear loss, creates a city full of the memories of their lost loved ones in a recreation of their former home. They want to sacrifice the people of the Source to restore these loved ones. When we try to reason with them, they tell us that they cannot give up on their fallen loved ones and refuse to move on. They show us their memories of their loved ones in their former home. At the end, they turn into a big damn monster that we fight. We're close to losing when an ally falls from the sky to our aid. When we win, they ask us to remember.

It's knock off brand Shadowbringers.

Not to mention it seriously feels like the writer forgot while doing Living Memory that, not only does no one remember these people we're erasing, but their souls were eaten so that people can not worry about, idk, falling pianos and such. These people literally just do not exist anymore and we are now the only people who remember them. What's worse, there are probably millions more people we didn't get to meet that we still erased, so they're just gone forever. That's...literally the opposite of the plot of Ultima Thule from EW. We, in this case, are playing the role of Meteion, and not a single Endless seems to have an opinion on it outside of Erenville's mother and Krile's parents.

Never mentioning Dynamis really bugged me too. I was kinda hoping that Wuk Lamat's "specialty", the thing that set her apart, was maybe she was just very good at subconsciously wielding dynamis, letting her easily befriend others and draw greater strength when she needs it. But, like many many pieces of lore, it's never even suggested. In fact, if a piece of lore was in EW, you can almost guarantee it isn't mentioned. Like the boy with a lightning aether imbalance. We literally have the cure for that, but say nothing at all, not even to our allies when we meet back up. I'm hoping this will be addressed in a later patch since it was specifically pointed out (chekov's gun and all) but still. It felt over and over that things we learned in ShB and EW were glossed over at best or outright ignored at worst. The pacing of everything after the dome appeared was strange; some parts went too fast, then some went on forever.

Unfortunately, this comes in as my least favorite expac. Even below SB, which I famously dislike. I'm hoping moving forward we'll see some more interesting stories that once again require us to be present to be told, and I am curious about why the key bears Azem's symbol, but I will not be rushing to play through this expac again any time soon. And will most likely be tweaking the scenes in anything I write to make more sense, flow better, or actually require Akira's attention.

[asteriasfallingstarsandtears]

What if WoL instead meets Emet for the first time in Eulmore? As a former Garlean resident she'd recognize the Emperor's face, but she also knows that there are doubles at this point on the First. The chances of the very old and very dead Emperor being on the First being incredibly slim in her mind.

And this person, whoever he was, was very much not an elderly man.

This HC also requires the Chais to not accept the WoL when they enter Eulmore, precipitating the need for another sponsor or needing an alternative means of staying for investigation purposes.

(wish I had a little gpose to go with this but sadly not)

“How strange, so very few take in the sight from up here.” She hadn't noticed anyone else here when she had come here.

She turned to apologise for disturbing him but when she met his gaze she found she couldn't speak. Something about him was familiar, even more familiar than G'raha felt. It was impossible that they would have met, though she would have said he looked like the late Emperor of Garlemald. She had met other look alikes since her arrival here, not exactly the same as those she had once known on the Source. It was possible there was a reflection of the Emperor here. She didn't even know what year it was here, it could be the equivalent of his youth now here.

She shook her head, trying to concentrate again. She was babbling to herself, trying to justify what she saw. It was simple, really.

She wasn't on the Source and no one here, save those very few from the Source, were their counterparts.

“Did anyone tell you it's quite rude to stare and not introduce yourself?” His brow raised and he crossed his arms, looking annoyed save for the twitch of his lips. For all his seeming annoyance, he seemed to be fighting off laughing.

She licked her lips, trying to breathe. “Forgive me, sir. I did not know this balcony was occupied, I will leave.”

“Must you? Merely make up for your rudeness.” He strode towards her, leaning easily on the rail beside her. “Your name, for a start, and an explanation of why you might be out here, sad and dressed thus. Is this not the happiest place in all of Norvrandt?”

She snorted. “Happy for some.”

“True, there are a number of rather unhappy people below.” His lips curled up in a smile. “Now, will you make me guess?”

There was no way for anyone to know her here, and despite his being a stranger, she felt at ease with him. Far more at ease than she had in a very long time. Not since Haurchefant’s death, anyway. “Mina.”

“Mina.” He repeated, looking amused. “Hardly a common name amongst your folk. I'm sure there is quite a story about it.”

“Nothing so exciting, save I wasn't raised amongst my kind.” She wasn't lying, she hadn't been. She knew what her name would have been, but it did not follow the Mystal traditions, so it wasn't worth repeating here. “As for why I'm out here, my would be patrons have rejected me. It was but a moment of weakness.”

Also not a lie. It was easier to tell a kernel of truth always.

“Ah, you are new to this fair city. No wonder you do not feel the joy and exaltation so many others here do.” He gave a dramatic wave of his arm and rolled his eyes. “And so, you find solace on…” He peered over the rail, seeing only the sea before them and the crystalized wall of Light. “Emptiness?”

“Perhaps the decadence inside was overwhelming.” She shrugged. “I'll have to return eventually, if only to enjoy what brief time I've left.”

“Hm, you'll give up so easily?” He leaned on the rail.

“Hardly.” She grinned. “I've options, I'm told. Something called the Honeybee?”

He scowled. “Surely not, not you. You would be unimpressed and bored of the seductions that happen there within hours. It's hardly a challenge.”

“Maybe I don't want a challenge, the world's tough, and an easy life sounds…” she had trouble keeping a straight face. She knew exactly what the Honeybee was. She would be bored. “Well, the world doesn't always give us what we want.”

He didn't say anything about that, only tapped his fingers distractedly. She was about to excuse herself, claim she wanted to see the city before her removal or find her father even. She didn't want to, she enjoyed their small exchange, but it was a distraction and she only had so much time.

“I could sponsor you.” She stared at him, mouth slightly open. They didn't know each other, there was no reason for him to. Unless he had taken her suggestion of the Honeybee as a sign she was receptive to other things. She wouldn't oppose it, he was nice enough looking, seemingly well toned for what must be a relatively sedentary lifestyle here and despite the exhausted black rings and other signs of middle age below his eyes, his face wasn't so bad. “I've need of a companion and it would give you some protection against the less savoury types of Eulmore.”

“And in exchange?” She asked. If she didn't like the terms, she could say no. If he refused to accept her answer, she didn't need weapons to defend herself, they only made things easier. What little time she had spent here had taught her that nothing was free, even the food supplement moel came with the understanding of obedience.

[mosthuggableffxiv]

As Promised: The Ardbert Essay

(specifically the one that didn't come from a wiki)

Full text below

Alright, fine, 8 paragraphs? Honestly, I should've seen this coming. But here's the thing, mod. My original Ardbert submission was just his Wikipedia article copied and pasted. I mean, what more could I say? His story and pain speaks for itself, and for that reason, I thought there was no better propaganda for Ardbert than who he is. But I see that is not enough, and so, I am responding with a fully fleshed out essay of at least 10 paragraphs.I hope it goes to show the lengths to which I, @teridani, believe that Ardbert Hylfyst needs a hug. (Or, depending on your interpretation, "is the most huggable". More on that later.)

When Ardbert first appeared in patch 3.1, it was a mysterious hook meant to drawn us players in. Who is this guy? Why is he speaking with the Ascians? The Warriors of Darkness appear as a threat. When Ardbert first introduces his group, dear mods, I laughed. I was playing through the game with a friend and I found it hilarious that they would be called "warriors of darkness". It's not really any sillier than "warriors of light", but the idea that our enemies, our RIVALS, would just use that name was... so silly. I did like their style, though.

I was a bit frustrated at the return of the Ascians once again. You must remember, dear mods, that I was playing through the entirely of ARR just recently! I was binging the story! And the early Ascian characterization left a lot to be desired. So, here I was, believing Ardbert and his crew were nothing more than Sunday cartoon villians-of-the-week, here to end the world just because. This initial reaction is important for you to understand how big of a switch first impressions were to where I'm at now.

Ardbert himself seemed to relish in this role early-on. He fell into the role of a villain easily, casting aside any doubts towards his goal. He had to. Look what being a hero had brought him and his friends. Still, a degree of hesitation persisted. Ardbert didn't really want to hurt anyone. He never did. He says himself, "We were just adventurers trying to make our way. An odd job here, a favor there—we never aspired to be Warriors of Light." His feelings towards being a hero, I believe, mirror his feelings towards being a villain. Swept up in the tides of fate and tragedy, there were no other paths left for him.

Urianger was the one who brought up the idea of luring out the Warrior of Light, casting the realm into chaos with their death. Of course we have the blessing of hindsight to understand that Urianger never wanted them to come to harm, but Ardbert steeled his resolve and set forth. All he said was that he would make it quick. A mercy in its own right. There is no way Ardbert didn't see a reflection of himself in the WoL, an echo of the same unsundured soul. Through his eyes, eventually any hero who espouses the virtues of *one* element, be it Light or Dark, would doom their world. It seemed a choice between two paths with the same end: doom the Source now, or later. The only difference is how many he could save by doing the former.

Over the course of the finale to his Heavensward arc, Ardbert reveals the missing pieces to the puzzle to us. How he and his friends took their lives just to have a chance at saving their world. As heroes to their world to the very last, they participated in the ultimate sacrifice. I believe I do not need to remind readers of this line. "We did everything right, everything that was asked of us, and still—still it came to this!" How could you not want to give this man a hug? When you think of the pain, regret, grief, and anger he must be feeling? When you see the blind unfairness of the world rest entirely upon him?

In the end, the most heartbreaking thing was when the Warriors of Darkness placed their trust in Minfilia and Ardbert simply asked if she could take them home. They had failed, it was all up to someone else, and at the very end without any other choice... They chose to go back to their home that they destroyed. If only Ardbert could've passed on with his friends, at the very time, perhaps he would have felt some degree of finality. Some measure of redemption. But instead, they were gone along with Minfilia, and he was left for a hundred years alone.

Whether he whispered or screamed, not a soul could hear his voice. His body and mind were barely held together by the time the WoL came to the First. Devoid of hope, he still followed the WoL and watched as piece by piece, sky by sky, night returned to the Norvrandt that he alone beared as his mistake. Ardbert was denied, again and again, any chance of redemption. The only person who could bring hope and joy back to him was the WoL. Of course he was more than willing to sacrifice himself once again at the end of it all—for such a person, he would be willing to do that and more.

I also promised to speak more on his huggability, so I will do so here. First, we look at his height. As an average height Hume, Ardbert comes in around 5ft 9in, or 175cm. I can't attached a picture here, I don't think, but if you find a height comparison tracker and input the 50% height data of each race, I believe it will be of use to you. I used the Male 50% sliders because I'm nonbinary and I get to make the rules here. Au'Ra: Ardbert comes up to shoulder height, a perfect height to rest his head upon your clavicle and wrap his arms around your waist. Roegadyn: Oh baby! How couldn't you hug him? Ardbert comes up to a Roegadyn's tit- I mean chest. There's a reaction image somewhere on the internet about this very thing. I'll leave it up to you to find. Miqo'te: At 5ft 5, Ardbert is slightly taller than the average Miqo'te, and you can rest your head extremely easily on his shoulders. As he wears traditionally Warrior attire, this means nice, high quality leathers and soft furs. Of course, he'd take off his shoulder pauldrons for you. Elezen: The average Elezen can rest their chin perfectly atop his head. I believe that says all I need to say. Viera: A Viera is slightly taller than Ardbert, and but not overtly so. At this height, neither person would have to bend or stretch too far: they would fit like puzzle pieces. Lalafell: For this, not only will I note that a Lalafell could be completely wrapped up in Ardbert's arms, but I ask you to remember one of the other best characters of Shadowbringers. Lamitt wouldn't fall for ANY person who wasn't extremely huggable. Her endorsement says it all. Hrothgar: A Hrothgar and Au'ra are only 2 inches apart, but ther's something more I would like to note. Ardbert has both scruffy hair and facial hair! Like whiskers and fur of his own, he would be a perfect nuzzling companion.

So! For the true hero of the First, for one who gave us the push we needed at the end, who has suffered more than any person should ever have to, I believe we owe it to Ardbert to give him a hug. And also, we owe it to ourselves to hug him, regardless of our height, because as proven time and time again in the story... Ardbert loves you. Thank you for reading.

[woltourney]

ROUND 2 / SIDE A / POLL 2

Posey (@motley-ember) v. Eleutherios (@trans-estinien)

Posey:

q. What is your WoL name and pronouns? a. Posey, he/him!

q. What is your WoL's species? a. Hrothgar

q. What is your WoL's class? Or classes? a. Paladin! (Additional note from submitter: Culinarian)

q. What data centre/server are you on, if you want people to find you? a. Phoenix

q. Tell us a bit about your WoL! a. Posey is a big softie and massive himbo who loves cooking, but loves his friends even more. He was trained by his grandmother in the art of the blade, and enjoys using all of his skills for the good of the world! The food that he makes is said to be better than what is served to the Sultana in the royal palace.

q. Why should YOU win? (Answer IC!) a. I don't really care if I win, but I thought this was a good way to make new friends! My Baba said that I should put myself out there more!

q. Anything else you wanna add? a. He's gay and he has a pet teacup pig. He WILL try and become friends with anyone and everyone.

Eleutherios:

q. What is your WoL name and pronouns? a. Eleutherios, He/Him

q. What is your WoL's species? a. Unsundered Ancient

q. What is your WoL's class? Or classes? a. Currently (as of 5.3 onwards) Eleutherios' main job is Dark Knight

q. What data centre/server are you on, if you want people to find you? a. Eleutherios Azem on Sargatanas, Aether!

q. Tell us a bit about your WoL! a. Have you ever thought "Huh, I wonder how the story of Final Fantasy XIV would change if Azem was never sundered?" WELL DO I HAVE THE WARRIOR OF LIGHT FOR YOU! Introducing Eleutherios! The lovable Azem who spent his days travelling Etheirys, caring for its people, and annoying the Convocation. Until everything fell apart, of course. On the eve of the Sundering, he denounced both the Convocation and Venat, choosing to find his own path to end the Final Days. Paths that didn't involve summoning gods or killing half of the star's population and then some. But Venat and the others had chosen their courses, and fate had been set. Now, Eleutherios should have died when Hydaelyn broke the world. But he did not. Why? Well, because of the timeline splitting in two. When? When a traveller from the future arrived in Elpis to learn the truth of the Final Days, of course. This traveller? Eleutherios himself. Hydaelyn had spared him from Her spell, making him Her chosen, in the same vein as the Unsundered Ascians being chosen to carry out Zodiark's will. Eleutherios believed the Ascians' plan to restore the world to what it once was foolish. Their people were dead. Nothing can fix that. They just have to push forward and make the best of the future they've been given. But his fellow Unsundered couldn't see this, trapped in their ideals of what the star should be. They needed to see it for what it is. But how could he expect the Convocation to do that, when the only one of them who ever seemed to care about the individual lives of the people was him? So someone has to fight for the new life springing up across the star. And thus began his great work. He's risen up to be the Warrior of Light countless times, over and over, for eons. With each Rejoining marking another failure. Time and time again he had to watch as everything he fought for was reduced to ash. Once, twice, seventh. It seemingly never ended. But what choice did he have? If he didn't fight against the Ascians, he was practically working for them by letting them get away with these atrocities. And so he carries onward as he's always done. But unbeknownst to him, this time was different. This time he meets the Scions of the Seventh Dawn. This time he travels to another Shard and manages to prevent a Rejoining. This time he isn't alone to face the second Final Days. This time, everything will finally be ok.

q. Why should YOU win? (Answer IC!) a. "Well, I'll be honest with you, I don't mind if I win or not. I just like participating and getting to know everyone! Oh, and I'll promise I'll hold back, for their sake. Though if they're Warriors of Light I'm sure they'll all hold up just fine! But if you want a serious answer about why I specifically should win, then…" [Eleutherios takes a moment to think.] "I should win based off of the fact that I have eons more experience in this whole 'Warrior of Light' business than the rest of them do. I've been at it since the Sundering! Not to say that my many, many years of experience is needed to be a Warrior of Light, or that I'm better than the rest, which couldn't be further from the truth. I think we all stand equal, sundered or not."

q. Anything else you wanna add? a. I have so much more lore for Eleutherios and I had to cut down this introductory essay by a LOT. I'm currently working on an extended version which covers ALL of his lore. If you want more Eleutherios content just send me an ask on tumblr, or scroll through the [#eleutherios (azem)] and [#unsundered azem au] tags! I'm always happy to talk about him!!

[inouvasplace]

B A S I C S

Name: Makoto Nagae

Nicknames: Mako, only used by his wife. Anyone else that has tried has never done so again.

Age: Adult, getting to be around his 40’s by now.

Nameday: in game it's the 30th sun of the 1st astral moon, but this has never been rp’d in any way

Race: Duskwight Elezen (he used to be au ra, but a potion of his wife's making has changed that.)

Gender: Male

Orientation: Pan (I think, after googling) he falls in love with the person. (Bonded with Iswhi Nagae - monogamous)

Profession: WoL, Body Guard, and general battle trainer. Specifically good in sword and shield battle, as well as weapons free combat.

P H Y S I C A L     A S P E C  T S

Hair: White, long front bangs and a smaller ponytail on the back. He used to have highlights in his hair, but has generally forgotten all about it so now it’s just pure white.

Eyes: A deep blue

Skin: Quite tanned for a duskwight, without many of the gray tones that they are known for. Iswhi believes it comes from him being an Au Ra to begin with, so his skin tone is mostly the same as it was back then.

Tattoos/scars: This man has a lot of scars, the most noteworthy one is one that goes across his face and an extremely deep and lengthy one basically looking like someone tried to cut out his spine at some point. His body has several other scars, but what stands out is that he has Au Ra scales. These are created by his wife, and infused with Aether.

F A M I L Y

Parents: Both his parents are still alive and well and live in Doma. He had introduced both of them to his wife, and they have a generally good relationship. They always worry, because he is always off fighting someone.

Siblings: Nope, only child. But he does consider Imyril his brother, but then not by blood

Grandparents: All have passed away due to age by now. But his fathers father was the one that taught him his hand to hand combat style and the two were always very close.

In-laws and Others: Iswhi’s parents are both dead so he never met them. Other than that he has a few people he calls friends, Imyril, Inouva, Hauru and Khalil. Unlike most WoL’s he doesn’t really see the scions as friends but colleagues. He cares for them, but don’t expect him to tell them that. Pets: A large fluffy dog that his wife gave him.

S K I L L S

Abilities: “Street smarts” meaning he often notices the things others don’t. He is very adept at reading other people, the smallest things. He is very known for his prowess in combat, and most will go to great lengths to avoid confrontation with him when they realize who he is. Is surprisingly agile for someone as tall as he is. 

Hobbies: Eh.. slowly learning to read, does that count? He mostly hones his combat skills really and I am not sure that it would count?

T R A I T S

Most Positive Trait: Honesty, you will hear his honest opinion of everything. He does not sugarcoat at all. 

Most Negative Trait: Honesty/Bluntness. Not many can handle hearing the blunt un-sugar-coated truth, and it tends to not go down well. L I K E S

Colors: Mostly Black or white, on occasion a light brown. 

Smells: The sea, something about that smell you get on a beach he loves. The scent of Blueberries is special to him, it reminds him of his wife.

Textures: Anything soft and light, as he spends so much time in armor, these materials feel light and soothing.

Drinks: A chai tea his wife makes for him.

O T H E R    D E T A I L S

Smokes: No.

Drinks: Water and Tea. He doesn’t really care for anything else.

Drugs: Only the ones his wife has made for him. Due to the punishment his body has been through it does need the hand. Mount Issuance: A now large cat that was once given to him by his grandfather. It was a little one, but has grown to be more than big enough for him to use him as a mount. Ishwi has created the cat's black battle armor, to keep it from harm when being used in battle.

Been Arrested: Nope

Tagged by: No one, I just felt like working on my characters some

Tagging: @mahvaladara and anyone else that wants to

[peachy-aryn]

Dawntrail Discussion below. Spoilers for areas, characters including the WOL, and dungeons/trails.

This is going to be quite long so bear with me💀

I just finished Dawntrail and i can say i thoroughly enjoyed it. I liked the fact that we weren’t the main thing for once. Being a mentor figure was a fun way to go into the expansion. You’re still highlighted as an extremely powerful character. There’s more than one occasion where a characters says something about your strength and how your the biggest threat out of your group. But the idea that you and the scions have done your deal of saving the world (and while you do that in this expansion on a smaller level) and now your sorta a mentor figure for Wuk Lamat was really fun for me.

Plot wise it is a little boring at the beginning, i quiet enjoyed going to the different locations and learning about all the cultures and stuff and i love how that was such a big part of the story! It does take a while to really lift off. 95 is where it gets really gripping and interesting i think, whenever the succession is over. It just builds from there in my opinion.

Character wise, i loved the new characters introduced, Wuk Lamat was a extremely lovable character and seeing her love for her people and her want to learn about all the different cultures and really know about the citizens of Tural was extremely heartwarming to see. The other characters were also super fun! The development the others go through in this story is nice! For two of them atleast, looking at you Zoraal ja. The idea that they all want to prove themselves and don’t truely know how to do it is something i think a lot of people have experienced! Bakool Ja Jas character was a really fun one to see expanded on! His story when we get to his home area was such a good addition. Ended up really enjoying his character.

Also loved the amount of Erenville we got, his lines and facial expressions cracked me up. I love how he is just some dude the entire time and doesn’t fight. The cutscenes and dialogue when we got to the last three areas, Heritage found, solution 9, and Living Memory, with him and his mother were fantastic. I’m ngl i shed more than a few tears when we were shutting down the things in living memory and his mom disappeared.

The areas are fantastic this expansion, once again. Each area is such a good place! Especially the area where Bakool Ja Ja is from! (can’t remember the name). Living memory is also such a heart wrenching place.

The dungeons and trials are a lot of fun as well. The last trail is literally crazy and the mechs are insanely fun. I had been calling it all along that Sphene was going to be the last trial in the game and she did not disappoint!

All in all an extremely enjoyable expansion, i cannot wait to see what the future brings for the next part of the story! Now onto role quests, lvling classes, and getting Aether currents!

[tenuuchlegch]

Okay, to start off what I especially love about Odtsetseg's and Estinien's dynamic, is mainly how it developed in the HW expansion. You see, my wol is no melee dps thus she did not go through the lancer/dragoon quest line like others did. Rather the post-ARR scene is where they were first introduced to one another, and from that point they kind of unintentionally helped with breaking some biases they had towards the other's culture or people. Both parties came from worlds/settings that were historically at odds after all. From the moment he stepped in that door though, xaela found herself intrigued by this seemingly aloof fighter. It was not love at first sight mind you, but she did feel he was more skilled than others so there was a near instant respect there.

Then they traveled to end the Dragonsong war, while au ra felt she could do nothing with that situation involving the eye, there were some attempts made to take his mind off it and enjoy the simple moments. They may have been brief or some even unsuccessful, but auri woman figured it would be better than to have his mind be so clouded all the time.

Then he info-dumped his whole tragic backstory to all of them and Odtsetseg was shocked. Despite all her past experiences, xaela never once considered that she would encounter an Eorzean who... at least had a very solid idea of her pain. It was a revelation that kept her up late that night, playing the morin khuur in a mournful tune. I'd like to think that Estinien approached her as well and she actually started talking about the fall of her tribe for the first time with him. This was such a big step for her, because up until that point she never really talked about it or her past in general. There was just so much pain behind it, she did not know where to begin.

I would like to think it was at this moment that there partnership/friendship truly cemented, as they became a 'ride or die' duo would go through hell and back in order so they may not face further tragedy. Odtsetseg even cracked a jest when she saw the dragoon's face for the first time. Gasping dramatically, before saying "Estinien, you are beautiful!"

Now for Stormblood. While the two did not canonically have direct contact with one another, I do think Estinien may have been encouraged by Odtsetseg's friendship to check out the steppes more. The dragoon also frequently preoccupied former Hotgo member's thoughts, though she did not think much of it at the time.

As for post-ShB, when I tell you Odtsetseg was both surprised and relieved to see the dragoon again. She was just dealing with so much stress, with Elidibus shenanigans, the scions' safety and the whole debacle with Emet Selch weighing heavily on her mind, it was a lot. So seeing such a familiar and friendly face made her overjoyed. She even tackled-hugged the elezen before he exited Mor Dhona, in happiness. Naturally, she was completely onboard with him becoming a Scion and was really impressed with how he handled Tiamat.

Then there came EW and OH BOY- did those feelings hit her like a truck. Even if he was fairly new to the Scions' whole situation, his perspective was such a nice change of pace for her compared to all the trauma/chaos ensuing. That particular night in the Baldesion annex is when she finally realized 'oh crap. I have a thing for him' and it only got worse from there. She was devastated, when Estinien disappeared at Ultima Thule. However she could not let despair overtake her, so au ra merely shed silent tears as she squeezed Alphinaud's hand. Luckily, things worked out in the end.

It was during the whole void arc post-EW that Odtsetseg got into the mindset of "I need to ask this man out once, or I WILL die." Even if he says no, Odtsetseg figures it's better than to let these... feelings she developed fester.

[autumnslance]

Sheep-obsessed Pixie: It looks like my sheep have caught a whiff of that grass you're carrying. Come on, let's be having it! Sheep-obsessed Pixie: Ooh, it smells so good that I might have to sample some myself! Did you know, these little darlings are descended from sheep who once lived high in the mountains? That would explain why they love this grass more than any other. Sheep-obsessed Pixie: So, Anden, what do you think of your flock now? Sheep-obsessed Pixie: Oh, you're not familiar? Anden was a shepherd who used to live on a cliff overlooking Longmirror Lake. He really loved his sheep, and stayed to care for them in Il Mheg to the very end. Sheep-obsessed Pixie: Kind-hearted as we pixies are, we decided to turn him into a lovely leafman! This way, he can watch over his flock forever and ever… Sheep-obsessed Pixie: Anyway, that's enough stories for one day. You'd better get to Uin Nee to tell them I won't be requiring any more assistance for the time being. Oh, and by the way, thank you. I almost forgot to say that.

In the 74th and 75th Producer Live Letters, they teased a new Custom Delivery Client--a leafman of Il Mheg named Anden, and the question of if he can become human again.

One of the Dreamspinners daily quests, "Amazing Graze", includes a leafman in the stable of Lydha Lran. The pixie who's taken over the flock sends the WoL to a high mountain pasture for particularly tasty grass for their charges. On returning, the pixie briefly "introduces" the WoL to Anden and explains his story, as a dedicated shepherd who stayed "to the very end."

Like the Marchioness, Anden's transformation seems to have been one of admiration and mercy on the part of the pixies.

[abimee]

hey!! i was the anon who messaged you last week abt enjoying your ffxiv ocs even before i played the game!! ik i’m a new follow but i remember seeing some of your ffxiv art on my dash in like, 2020? early 2021? and being so intrigued by it at the time that i went through your entire tag for tock even though i had no idea what final fantasy was…

when i was doing the crystal tower quests with my friends & met graha tia for the first time, i was like “oh! i know this guy, i saw a comic about him once!” and had to go and track it down for them. that two-panel comic lived rent-free in my head for two!! years!! i guess lmao.

anyways i am so glad you’re still creating ffxiv art & that you have even more ocs now! i can’t wait to learn more abt them, especially as I play more of the game… finishing hw and being able to understand what this comic was about made me so emotional!! i’m about to start shadowbringers so i’m super excited to Learn More & to read through your oc tags again once i understand everything.

also since you said you’d like to see my WOL here she is!! truly lalafell are so fun to play.

a fellow lalafell player... feels so rare to meet another one, i do content with a xiv discord me and my bestie made and im the only one this low to the floor i feel like im surrounded by trees aaaa

thats really amazing to hear that you saw and remembered that really old tock comic as well.... i hope you really enjoy shadowbringers! my personal favorite expansion is the latest one, Endwalker, but shadowbringers was originally my #1 favorite and introduced me to my all-time favorite character (who you'll meet waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay later in the patches but hes a really funny addition..... i like him so much i cosplayed him for a convention ha). theres a lot of good music and characters and plot beats going on in shadowbringers and some of my favorite content is in there (like the lvl 73 trial i believe it is? and the dungeon before the final trial at the end of main MSQ... i still scream when I hear it's music), and I hope you enjoy it too!

and thank you for being so sweet about my wol ocs.... would love to hear more about what your wol is doing and how shadowbringers goes for them, it really is the expansion worth the hype and i love hearing how other people's wols feel about the events in it especially when it starts hitting lightspeed of WHAT? halfway through aaaa