#patch 6.3 spoilers

[ofthewhitewind]

alisaie’s unique little animations this patch were so cute

[asleepinawell]

excuse me???!!!?????

[under-the-blood-moonlight]

                                            𝔈𝔲𝔭𝔥𝔯𝔬𝔰𝔶𝔫𝔢

[starrysnowdrop]

Halone, the Fury

Goddess of War and Patron Deity of the Holy See of Ishgard

[ainyan]

Stop conflating love with sex.

Stop conflating love with sex.

Stop conflating love with sex.

The vast majority of love out there is in no way, shape, or form sexual. In fact, sexual love is only one type of love out of four (or seven or eight or ten, depending on what philosopher, psychologist, or florist you're talking to). There's the familial love of a parent for a child or a sibling for a sibling. There's the platonic love of a friend for a friend. There's the romantic love millions of asexual people feel for their partners, in which sex isn't even a consideration as to why they love them. There's the generalized love that one holds for the world, for mankind, for animals and plants and a thousand different hyperfixations that give you the same seratonin rush that hearing the voice of a loved one gives you. There's love for one's self.

When you conflate the concept of love with the concept of sex, you discount more than 75% of the forms of love that exist. You make love all about physical and chemical attraction, which suggests that love only exists as long as that attraction exists. Which, of course, by association sullies any other kind of love out there and gives rise to the constant incorrect beliefs that 'no, men and women can't be friends' and 'if you're not related, it's all about sex, so you're a pedo if you have a close underage friend' and 'asexual people can't have meaningful relationships because they don't have sex'.

(Spoilers for FFXIV's patch 6.3 below the cut)

There is a lot of debate out there over whether Square Enix misrepresented Menphina by making her younger-seeming than the other members of the Twelve - particularly Nophica, whose bounteous charms seem more in line with what many believe the Goddess of Love should look like. (Nophica is the goddess of fertility and growing things, folks - she looks exactly like one would expect - a fecund mother-figure.)

But to me, Menphina is the expression of Pure Love - the kind of love that doesn't hinge on attraction (physical, chemical, or otherwise), but simply on acknowledging that because something exists, it deserves to be loved.

She's a child's love for the world, in which everything is shiny and new and wonderful - yes, even those little stinging ants, or the muck on your shoe, or the monster under the bed.

She's the embodiment of how Mankind defines love - and that's why she's not some stacked, sensuous creature who brings one to climax simply by beholding her. Sexual Love is only a fraction of Actual Love, and so Sexual Love would only be a fraction of her emotional and physiological make-up. She's the love of family, of friends, of the world and of self.

She is the Joy of Love.

She's not a child. She's a grown woman who presents as young, because Love is Ageless, but is at its most pure in the eyes of Youth.

Why wouldn't Menphina be a young, bright-eyed, cheerful person with a hopelessly optimistic and positive view of the world?

That's what Love is. The ability to see past the bad and revel in the good inside.

Please stop conflating love with sex.

[toraznaangieszki]

𝕄𝕪, 𝕞𝕪, 𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕤𝕖 𝕖𝕪𝕖𝕤 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖

𝕀'𝕞 𝕒 𝕨𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕕 𝕚𝕟𝕤𝕖𝕔𝕥, 𝕪𝕠𝕦'𝕣𝕖 𝕒 𝕗𝕦𝕟𝕖𝕣𝕒𝕝 𝕡𝕪𝕣𝕖

[leonaquitaine]

FFXIV Glam: The Matron

Check it out at Eorzea Collection!

[thefreelanceangel]

I made myself sad.

[thebmatt]

I feel like everyone is sleeping on Nymeia. I get it, in a raid with both Nophica AND Halone, I can understand.

But that smile is giving me life.

Also the outfit is just *chef’s kiss*

PLUS SHE TURNS INTO THIS how can you not love her, I ask you.

[ritathesongbirb]

okay okay maybe the brainrot is real but is it just me or was Jullus crushing on Zero a little bit?? Like how dare you, sir that is my Wife??

[scrollsfromarebornrealm]

Unexpected

Cut for 6.3 spoilers.  Zero’s take on Riven and co’s arrival in that cutscene.

-------------------

Zero...wasn’t too certain of what to think anymore.   What once had been simple--wasn’t any longer.  She’d fully expected to die alone, like she had so many times before.  But this time it would be for good.

The same mistakes, the same ends.  Again and again.  What should I...what could I have done?

Always fighting alone, never anyone to help--not without demanding a price.

Who...?

The sudden sound of footsteps, of steel meeting steel, and a animalistic roar of pain.  Opening her eyes to see the sky-blue gleam of Riven’s cloak, the other woman and her friends standing between Zero and the voidsent army.  Zero could only stare in bewildered confusion, this wasn’t supposed to happen, it normally didn’t happen...

 They...came. 

We’re a little late, but we’ve come to help you.  A smile on Riven’s lips as she turned her head towards Zero, her voice warm and gentle.  Zero could only keep staring at her, speechless. 

And then from behind-more footsteps.  Riven’s other friends--rushing to her side, weapons out and at the ready. 

Sorry about that, got slightly held up.  Sebastian had said.

Winds are a bitch out in this neck of the woods!  Reinhardt added.

Voidsent were blocking the road, it took us a while to cut through.  Augustine adding his voice to the group, while Mathye nodded.  Zero gawked at all of them.  Something inside of her...it was beginning to feel warm and bright.  Like a fire had just been lit inside her.

They came.  They had all come--and they weren’t demanding payment.  They weren’t withholding help.  It was being freely given of their own free wills, and they had no problems in doing so.

I help them because I want to.  Because it’s the right thing to do.

But what do you stand to gain?  You didn’t answer the question.

Didn’t I?  I followed my heart.  What I got out of it came after.

Zero bowed her head.  The thought crossed her mind briefly--she could stand back.  Demand payment, restore equilibrium to this...whatever in the hells relationship that had spawned between her and these strangers.  She could not assist them--she’d almost gotten killed.  She wasn’t immortal on this world.  She could keep herself safe.  But with this strange fire burning inside her chest, the pain of those memories of that long-ago fight on the ice lessening--she wasn’t alone this time, somebody had come, someone had actually come...

That’s just the kind of people they are.  Makes sense they’d get along with someone like you, who tries to push others away.

Get along? I’m upholding my part of the bargain.  There’s nothing more to it than that.

Maybe...just maybe...she could trust these strangers.  She could...actually have comrades.  The thought made that strange fire inside her roar, filling Zero’s veins with unexpected strength. 

She wouldn’t have to fight alone.

“...All right.”

------

(and then later, this happened)

Riven: ...if you don’t shut the hell up right now Mathye: *loud draconic growl of Impending Doom*

y’all pray for Zero, they have been adopted by one smol agent of chaos, three ishgardians and one sharlayan.  A group of loons.

[asleepinawell]

Euphrosyne

[sangrefae]

there’s some kind of significance here but idk what

[starrysnowdrop]

Thoughts on Patch 6.3 MSQ, Myths of the Realm, and Tataru’s Grand Endeavor

Everything is under the cut! Avoid if you don’t want any spoilers!

So far, this was a solid patch overall, though I do think it feels a bit shorter than I would’ve expected. I guess I’m still not used to 6.3 not being the end of a particular expansion’s story arc, unlike 3.3, 4.3, and 5.3 was, and all of those were massive patches in terms of story. We are still in the middle of this arc about the Void and saving Azdaja so it feels shorter. This arc also feels much smaller in scale than some other previous arcs, but that’s not exactly a bad thing. After saving the whole star from literal oblivion and despair incarnate, it’s nice that the story right now feels different in that way.

I will admit, after 6.2, I wasn’t invested in the msq much at all, but 6.3 has made me a bit more invested, though not nearly as much as I feel that I should. Perhaps it’s because there hasn’t been that much build up and the plight of the people of the Thirteenth doesn’t hit me nearly as hard as the First did. I do think that most of the emotional beats that did really well are because of Zero’s character development and not the storyline itself.

Speaking of Zero, they’ve done a fantastic job on her character development and I’m looking forward to seeing more of her in the next patches. I’m very curious as to what they plan to do with her character. And I don’t know how most others feel about this, but boy did I get shippy feels from Zero and Jullus. I’m just here to say that I ship it.

Last point on the msq is that I’m wondering if any of this arc is going to carry over into 7.0 at all, or is this just a smaller story arc that is more self contained? I can’t help but feel like a lot of this seems like… dare I say, filler? I seriously hope I’m mistaken about that, but I worry that this won’t have much impact once we get to 7.0, whatever that might entail.

The highlight of the patch for me was Myths of the Realm. I’m enjoying the alliance raid series SO much right now, and learning more about the Twelve and battling them has been so much fun for me, and so has been my theories about their origins and their motive for fighting us. Euphrosyne is just as amazing as Aglaia was, and I’m obsessed with the fights, the gear sets, and the music. Literally obsessed with “Dedicated to Moonlight” right now, as I have the song on repeat on YouTube.

Oh, and Deryk is Oschon. It’s not even just a theory anymore to me. I’ll be way more surprised if he wasn’t. Same with what I think their origins are. The Twelve, plus the Watcher on the Moon, were the ones who summoned Hydaelyn, and they are making sure that humanity will be alright without them, now that Hydaelyn is gone and their duties are done. That’s my theory, and once again, I’ll be shocked if that’s not the case.

Lastly, this was my favorite part of Tataru’s Grand Endeavor so far, as I love the Four Lords and seeing Tataru with Hancock again was such a treat. Another npc x npc ship that I love. Oh, and Yume with the Flaming katana!!! Holy shit, can she keep it??? Like for real, seeing her with a flaming katana was so much of a serotonin shot for me, just perfection.

Anyways, that’s all I’ve got for now. Feel free to chat with me on your thoughts on patch 6.3! Do you agree with me, or am I just wrong about everything?

[ainyan]

I hate spoiling things, so if you haven't completed Anden's questline, go do that then come back and read this.

If you've completed Anden's questline, you know that he ends up being a male Viera and you go back with him to Rak'tika to visit the Viis in Fannow. While there, he meets up with his sister, who mentions how rare male Viis are and that if he doesn't want to be shagged rotten, he needs to run away.

Predictably, he runs away. Of course, he's been a bush for a hundred years, so I can totally understand that he needs some time to adapt before he decides if he wants to help sire the next generation of bunnies.

If your Warrior of Light is also a male Viera, they mention that they, meaning the village, would also welcome you - probably more than Anden, since you're an ally of Ronka and a great hero and all that rot.

Obviously, the WoL turns them down, but as I did the questline on Kyszarin, who not only has done his duty enough to have six children, but wants even more children, I kind of wanted to say yes. If you're a male Viera and the Viis of Rak'tika or the Viera of Golmore/Dalmasca asked you to sire children for them... would you do it? Would you headcanon it?

I've been tempted now and then for Kys to have a child/children with some of the Viis of Fannow, and even with Lyna. He'd have to get permission from Raine, but I'm fairly certain it would be forthcoming after some serious talk between the bois.

Male bunnies are supposedly super rare. I get why they don't proposition them on-screen, but what about behind the scenes? Are your bunny bois being chased? Or chaste?

[voidsentprinces]

Hraesvelgr and Tiamat hearing Vrtra’s call and feeling Azdaja somewhere briefly: