#really wish I could play more Scion

[thrythlind]

Characters played in TTRPGs since 2000

I probably won't catch them all, there've been a few games in the last 23 years.

Definitely didn't catch all of them, but here's quite a few. Campaign

D&D 3.5

Angwiel - snake-person (elf mechanically) Sorcerer/Cleric

Jhessail Crackstone - wererat (hengeyokai mechanically) Paladin/Rogue

Kya'Rei L'Di'Shinabon - Drow Ranger/Cleric

Yroling Xian'ri - hengeyokai cleric

Teryna - human (reincarnated fox familiar) ranger

Lheru - hengeyokai (spider) druid

D&D 5e

Shui Baenre - half-drow Lore Bard acolyte (child of Liriel Baenre and Fyodor of Rasheman) - Phandelver

Aisha Yethtai - tiefling knight in silver battlemaster - Storm Giant's Thunder/Dragon Heist

Weary - tiefling monster slayer - Curse of Strahd

Zihu - Yuan-ti Celestial Warlock (ancient couatl) Acolyte - homebrew

Zohuital - Yuan-ti Celestial Warlock (lillend sisters) Hermit - homebrew

Ranveig - scourge aasimar soldier valor bard - homebrew

Kanti Messner - Changeling Lore Bard/Celestial Warlock (Book of Exalted Deeds) - homebrew

Aramis Hopps - Harengon Drunken Master/Mastermind Charlatan - homebrew

Caress Melani - Yuan-ti Ancients Paladin, Courtesan of Sharess - Phandelver/Hoard of Dragon Queen

Proper Ruin - Yuan-ti Battlesmith, Lyceum Scholar - Netherdeep

Mariah the Blue - Variant Human Draconic Sorcerer city investigator

Nesali - yuan-ti archaeologist Beast Barbarian, full of anxiety and self-esteem issues - Candlekeep

Nishan Domine - yuan-ti mercenary Totem Barbarian, tranquil fury, battlefield redecoration

Pathfinder

Ide Shika - Human Fighter/Chevalier - Rise of the Runelands

Ahriah - Tiefling Witch - Homebrew

Fabula Ultima

Only - Rogue/Tinkerer/Wayfarer - An uplifted harpy trying to uplift her species.

Scion 1e

Sang-Yoon Koga - The Trickster Fox, Las Vegas magician, daughter of Susano'o.

Juri Como - Daughter of Benzaitan, The Great Mangaka, "Social Ninja", Expert at Obfuscating Stupidity

Delilah Samson - Child of Loki, shapeshifter, illusionist, ex-cop, private eye, assistant to Hel (in her guise as a mortal lawyer)

Sa - Dark avenger, brutal slayer of criminals. [redacted]

Scion 2e

Lily Watson - Child of Inari, brat, tomb raider, reckless and selfish

Hilde Sifgard - Child of Sif, youtube daredevil

City of Mist

Patricia Althius - war vet, PTSD, vampire vigilante, daughter to a family of war profiteers and generations of shady dealings. Rift of Count of Monte Cristo/Lamashtu

Random - lab rat, feral teen, Rift of the Movie Monster, non-binary and ace AF

Indira Yi - Rift of Arthur Dent, streaming journalist, improbably lucky.

Fate

Katrina Stnad/Voivode Valeria Draculesti/The Wallachian - doctor, martial artist, ex-terrorist. Steampunk/Dieselpunk game.

Irene Breholm - Divine Blood game, dhampir, sidhe, born to the Breholm Sorcerer family... kinda a big civilian dork in over her head.

Jocasta - Sorceress, librarian, daughter of a Greco-Japanese crime family who just wants out. Constantly getting kidnapped.

Hero System

Megumi Morisato, aka "Greyskin" - dimensional phaser, tank, really damn hard to bring down, geeky fangirl with lots of superhero historical knowledge and trivia.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Cadynce Baker / Nya'd'cebrac - demon of blessings and protection, one sister of a paired set of demons, her sister being the spear to her shield. Professional game designer.

BESM 3rd

The Wallachian - see Fate, that campaign started in BESM and moved to Strands of Fate later.

Himura Tai-Wen - NSFW campaign, oni lady with lots of girlfirends ended up ascending to higher plane of existence.

Water Tribe Swordsman whose name I forget in Avatar game

Shadowrun

Keina Isawa - Oni shinto magician, wanted to be an idol singer, ended up a shadowrunner instead.

Lacey Chambers - human adept (social/pistol) spy, burned

Leyti - Finnish Changeling (foxlady) mystic adept, bar owner, fixer. uncertain on the name

Legend of Five Rings - 4th Edition

Moto Hotaru - born a scorpion, trained a shinobi, married a unicorn, became a diplomat, died to the Kargat, but tricked them into doing things that scuttled their operations in the area.

Chronicles of Darkness

Emma Terreal - Sin-Eater/Geist, bank accountant suffocated in a bank vault during a robbery.

Suzume Armitage - A young woman unknowingly a creation of magic.

Annika Walsh - engineer working on the space elevator

Key 13 - (Shadowrun setting with CofD rules) street samurai with experimental soul-active implants.

One-Shots/Short-Runs

Monster of the Week

Whisp, The Libram of Whispered Prayers - The Talisman, a sentient magical book who can take human form.

Persia Mason - The Changeling, a teenaged gorgon living at a secret agency for monitoring supernatural things.

D&D 5e

Meesha Canidae - Shifter Merchant Diviner, socially awkward but unaware of it.

Valaine the Morbid - Shifter Swarmkeeper Entertainer, a bat shifter with a swarm of bats she performs shows with

Yuina Kendrick - a bitchy jurogumo (custom lineage) from Urban Arcana who got stuck in Ravenloft... and deserved it.

Kori the Storyteller - dhampir Spirit Bard, a dreaming soul animating her comatose body.

Erased - Variant Human Sage Undying Warlock (angel of death), absent-minded scholar who accidentaly got her name erased from reality.

Eve Niah - Halfling Undying Warlock (amused lich) with a bone whip, weirdly very cheerful

Cael - wood elf gorgon sorceress, former servant with memory problems.

Mutants and Masterminds

Queen Snake - doctor, martial artist, ritual mage, awakened snake-like powers when an experimental treatment mixing magic and medicine was injected into her during a hostage event.

Masks

Serpent Princess - The Beacon, daughter of Queen Snake, very eager to be a great hero and huge flirt.

One-Ring

High elf sorceress pre-gen character, forget the name

Apocalypse World

Nameless - doctor and gunfighter with snake-like mutations, seeking revenge on the one who changed and maimed her.

Fight with Spirit

Maeve Dumas - born to a martial arts family, secretly part of a competitive dance team

[itsmaferart]

SPY x FAMILY x CHAIR Vol. 7~8~9

SxF Vol 7 · Damian Desmond - Willow Chair

The Willow Chair was designed by Scottish architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh in the early 20th century. The chair was originally designed for use in The Willow Tea Rooms Company, a cafe and tea room that Mackintosh also designed in Glasgow, Scotland. The chair was part of a larger collection of furniture pieces designed for this company.

The concept of tea rooms was popular in Victorian and Edwardian times, and was considered a meeting place for the upper middle class.

The design shows a progressive approach to design, suggesting that the chair is at the forefront of creative thinking and is sleek, modern and curious. It stands out for its simplicity in geometric patterns. The chair features straight, minimalist lines in its structure, with curved wooden elements at the top to provide head and neck support.

A distinctive feature is its triangular backrest, which extends upward from the arms at an acute angle to create a sleek and elegant silhouette. The seat also features an elaborate lattice pattern, made from hand-woven wicker, which adds texture and dimension to the chair.

I’m Damian, scion of the Desmond family! I’ll be a politician one day and protect this country!

I love the way the dimension of the chair in disproportionate to Damian's body, who is clearly a kid with a very big precedent behind him, a very big ego and pride in possessing the last name Desmond, and it projects very well the way it makes Damian look more imposing for his age while giving you a look that continually judges you, adorably.

Damian is someone who projects himself from greatness, and his constant yearnings to be a recognized figure such as his family, even so, his childlike soul continues to exist.

However deep down, behind all the Desmond pride (Reflected in the chair) are his yearnings to really have fun and enjoy his childhood wanting to play with his balls, read manga, play with dinosaurs. He is definitely a little boy with a lot behind his shoulders.

SxF Vol 8 · Franky Franklyn - Eames Lounge chair & Ottoman

The Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman were designed by Charles and Ray Eames in 1956, an American designer couple.

It was created from the idea of a "comfortable as a glove" chair, with an ergonomically molded seat and back shell combined with a plywood base. It was originally designed for the Herman Miller furniture company.

It was designed to provide comfort and relaxation, elegant and attractive that will complement any living space. The chair features clean, simple lines and a minimalist structure that emphasizes its elegance and ergonomics. The base is made of plywood, bent in several layers and smoothly polished to give it a smooth, refined finish.

Can we talk about how relaxed and cool Ostania's best informant looks? I love how the combination of this chair reflects Franky's relaxed but refined personality, a genius at his job even if often not properly appreciated. However, we can see his details, a bit messy, his taste for money, some good cigars, some confidential envelopes.

It's interesting when you remember that Franky seems to hate the handsome, moneyed show-offs who seem to be very lucky, even though he wishes he was one. He is simple and laid back, with a classy side and a profitable bottom line.

SxF Vol 9 · Becky Blackbell  - Coconut Chair

The Coconut chair was designed by architect and designer George Nelson in 1955 who was the design director for Herman Miller.

The chair was inspired by the designer's tropical landscape during his visit to the Fiji Islands. Nelson observed a group of children playing with one half of a coconut shell and realized that the shape and curve of the coconut shell could be harnessed to design a comfortable, modern chair. It was created as a highly engineered piece of furniture that offered a high level of comfort.

Although originally designed as a lounge chair, the Coconut chair is suitable for any space, from offices to homes. The stainless steel tripod base is an attractive design element, its fine details such as the apparent stitching on the upholstered

"You and I should be best friends"

I like how both the Coconut chair and Becky could be described as elegant, sophisticated, avant-garde and with a lot of personality. Despite her young age, we know that Becky has a very definite personality, sometimes with a very volatile and fanciful imagination.

Unlike many Spy x Family characters and their respective chairs, the elements are usually placed at the back or bottom with respect to the chair, always covered by some slight shadow, reflecting those elements that characterize the respective personality.

However, all of Becky's things are clearly displayed and stacked with bright colors. We know that it refers to all the riches and luxuries Becky has, as well as her passion for fashion and shopping.

But also, it's a way of expressing how authentic Becky is and how she's not afraid to show her true personality without having to hide it.

You can read the previous review here!

You can read the next part here

[hazelkjt]

Long Distance

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Still playing around with the idea of WoL!Hazel falling for Zero. If I were to write her to be with someone I'd want it to feel organic from both sides. Unfortunately, there isn't much to infer about Zero's preferences in a partner without going SUPER into headcanon territory...so fuck it. Headcanon it is. Maybe Zero started feeling adoration towards Hazel at first because the Au Ra was part of the group that changed her life. Perhaps she could find Hazel's dreams of traveling the world endearing, especially after finding the Source so fascinating herself. Maybe Zero would appreciate Hazel's confidence in her to be more than just a Voidsent like she thought of herself as. Perhaps she is secretly grateful at how fast Hazel was willing to look past her status as essentially a demon and see a person, and this endearment and gratitude could bloom into something more as she stews on these emotions she hadn't felt towards another in centuries, if ever.

Conversely, Hazel would immediately be endeared to someone who looks past her role as the Warrior of Light, even if it was a little bit of an accident. Someone just as inquisitive and while maybe not as adventurous, someone still with a want to learn of the world around them. Someone who won't be afraid to tell her to be selfish and think of herself from time to time. And while there are certainly other characters that fit that sort of description Hazel herself wouldn't want to burden anyone with being in a relationship with the "Warrior of Light". She might not like the title but she carries it nonetheless, and wouldn't wish for anyone to share in that burden. With the world finally saved and her beginning to allow herself to just be an adventurer again, only now would Hazel really think about finding a partner. And at this point she would see all the Scions as "family" already. After getting to know them for so long they'd all be more than just friends to her, but not in any romantic sense. So while beginning to search for a partner she just so happens to meet an extremely hot Voidsent lady? Who has a heart of gold underneath the cold exterior that Hazel would see as a challenge to get her to open up from? Yeah, Hazel would be smitten almost immediately. Especially given her outlook on romance coming from the Oronir rendition of the Azim and Nhaama myth (she's a Kha but always preferred that interpretation).

...Didn't mean to write a college essay on my shipping thought process but here we are.

[eorzeanflowers]

10 Fandoms, 10 Characters, 10 tags

Basic rules: choose 10 fandoms that you are part of/support, and choose a favorite character from each of those. Then, tag ten folks!

Tagged by: @miqojak Ty for the tag!!! Sorry it took a hot minute.

Tagging: Uhhhhh, @terminuspride, @fair-fae, @alannah-corvaine, @voidsentprinces, @healerstail, @ahollowgrave, @alicelufenia, @starrysnowdrop, @briar-ffxiv, @driftward

Now to the list! In no real particular order cause I really just drift from thing to thing.

Penny Polendina (RWBY)

I love my quirky little robot girl. She's the absolute best, a brilliant fighter and very emotionally intelligent. She is such a cheerful ideal, someone who tries to see the best in people. She knows when they've gone too far and isn't afraid to stand up for what she wants! Which is the whole core of her little arc. Being a weapon given a soul and all. It is a beautiful story of a little girl who cares so much and wishes to be able to just... be that cheerful little girl without the weight of the world. Its just so sweet.

Honorable mentions: Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang, Oscar, Neo

2. Kafka (Star Rail)

In all honesty she's the reason I'm even playing Star Rail. She is such a mysterious character, with a voice to die for. Yes, Hoyoverse characters tend to be rather shallow (that's a gacha game for ya), but Kafka just hits everything I love in a character. Her character short when she was fully released is... *chef's kiss* just amazing. I will admit, every time she does her ult in game I join her in saying "Boom." ^_^;

Honorable Mentions: March 7th, Stelle (Trailblazer F), Seele, Bronya, Jingliu

3. Lyse (FFXIV)

Shocker, the leading lady of Stormblood is still my favorite? Honestly, all three of the ladies from Stormblood are the trifecta of favorites. (Lyse, Fordola and Yotsuyu) The various storylines that cause them to interact is such a delight. I wasn't too bothered by the whole "Yda was my sister" thing, cause well, Yda was barely in the game post ARR... And like, it was always Yda and Papalymo. Never just one or the other. So when Lyse got the chance to shine and actually take center stage, I was smitten. She's tough, gentle, sassy, collected, brilliant, a bit silly, and more. Such a well written character. I'm still upset she left the scions tbh. Could've added a little hair color diversity by a little bit. :P

Honorable mentions: Aymeric, Hilda, Erenville, Zero, Y'shtola, Thancred, Ryne, Gaia, Minfillia

4. Gideon Nav (The Locked Tomb)

Ok, seriously, this series grabbed me by the throat and would not let me go. Gideon is such a lovely first viewpoint (and I adore all the viewpoint characters). She takes no shit, talks a lotta shit, and can fight a whole heck more shit. The way she interacts with Harrow at first, then the other Necromancers and their Cavaliers is such a delight. Sure you hate Harrowhark so much Gideon, why are you obeying her command to not speak a single word to literally anyone else, hmmmmmmmmmmm?????? Also the gay panic that Gideon seems to have on the regular is just. Great. I don't want to speak too much more on Gideon, cause this series is just great and you should read it.

Honorable mentions: Harrowhark Nonagesimus, Nona, Camilla Hect, Ianthe Tridentarius, Coronabeth Tridentarius.

5. Raiden Ei (Genshin Impact)

Last time it was Eula, now it is Raiden Ei. It is always a toss up between them, if I'm being honest. Ei is just... such a sad puppy? XD Its the best way to describe her. So trapped in her own past and trying to do what would best preserve her sister's memory... She's just SAD guys. Yeah, she may not be the best governing force for her nation, and she indirectly killed a lotta people with her retreating away and leaving a puppet behind, but we the Traveler showed up and fixed things! Also she gets two amazing boss fights, I honestly wish I could do the story one again but I ain't working through Mondstat and Liyue again. >.>;

Honorable mentions: Eula, Alhaithem, Deya, Kamisato Ayaka, Zhongli, Nahida, Navia, the Wanderer, Wriothsley

6. Karlach (Baldur's Gate 3)

KARLACH IS THE BEST AND SHE IS SO SWEET AND LOVELY AND SHOULD NOT HAVE TO GO BACK TO HELL OR DIE OR [redacted]. She is such a lovely goofball that even shows platonic love if you don't romance her and I really think that is great! Her arc tying into Gortash was delightful, bringing her much more into the story instead of just a bystander like a couple of them. (Like out of all the origin companions Astarion barely has any connection to any of the major players in the story, he's pretty self contained tbh.) Her sweetness, the way she says she's gonna eat dirt if you leave her camp, and her cheerful demeanor are just.... Amazing. I'm really running out of words for Karlach cause she is my favorite. I'm gonna have to start BG3 up again and actually play my romance run of her soon.

Honorable mentions: Shadowheart, Wyll, Astarion, Lae'zel, Dammon, Orin, Jaheira, Minthara, Isobel, Aylin

7. The Doctor (Doctor Who)

Ok, a bit of a cop out since, you know, they are the star of the show. BUT COME ON. The Doctor in their various iterations have been so enjoyable. My personal favorite is Tennet's 10, but Capaldi's 12 is a strong second. Its just a good show to binge at times. There are a lottta good episodes, a few really bad ones, but overall its a good time. The scene at the end of the special where they rescue Gallifrey is still one of my favorite scenes in the whole franchise. And hell, the Archeologist is based (loosely) on them, so how can I not include them?

Honorable mentions: DONNA NOBLE, Rose Tyler, Clara Oswald, Bill Potts, Me, Strax

8. Xion (Kingdom Hearts)

Have I mentioned I love tragic characters? Xion is literally the definition of tragedy, with all the problems with her just existing lol. Her presence in 358/2 Days really made the game for me. Roxas was kinda bland and having someone that was similar in age (like Sora, Riku and Kairi were) to interact with made it all that much better. AND SHE GETS THE HAPPY ENDING. Eventually. Boy is it a long road, but that's Kingdom Hearts for ya.

Honorable Mentions: Kairi, Namine, Riku, Sora, Aqua, Terra, Master Xehanort, Isa, Lea

8. Lucina (Fire Emblem)

I really wanna pick someone else in all honesty, but Fire Emblem has a worse problem than Hoyoverse games in their bit characters. :/ Lucina is a strong character that really delighted me when I played Awakening. She's such a surprise that it really helps make that Fire Emblem my favorite. She's got a good supporting cast too, with Robin and her dad Chrom, but Awakening was really her game. Chrom was kinda there just to be her dad lol

Honorable mentions: Robin, Chrom, Ike, Mist, Soren, Sumia, Erika, Marisa, Lyon, Elincia

9. Trevor Belmont (Castlevania)

Full disclosure, I have not played his game, in fact the only two castlevania's I have played both feature non Belmont's as the lead players (Portrait of Ruin and Order of Ecclasia). But the way Trevor is in the show, OH BOY. He is rough, he is blunt, he is smart, he is SOOOO dumb, he is loyal, he is a fighter, he never gives up, HE IS JUST GREAT. He's also one of my biggest Bi panics when he shows how much of a badass he is in episode, I think, 4 or 5 or later? Its been a hot minute since I watched that series. When he first uses the flail weapon that I forget the name of.

Honorable mentions: Shanoa, Jonathan Morris, Charlotte Aulin, Sypha Belnades, Alucard, Dracula

10. Aigis (Persona)

Aigis is a super cutie and I love her interactions with the female protagonist. I really wish P3 wasn't such a long game and Aigis actually showed up a little earlier. She's just a doll! I do need to try and find a copy (or emulate) FES to play the storyline with her as the lead singer. Its just so rough to get thru P3 I just lose motivation. T.T I've made it to the vacation part with the female lead, like, three times and no further cause my motivation tanks. WHICH IS WEIRD CAUSE THAT'S WHEN YOU MEET AIGIS. Its just too long for me I guess. XD

Honorable mentions: Teddie, Female lead P3, Male lead P4, Yukari Takeba, Mitsuru Kirijo, Akihiko Sanada, Fuuka Yamagishi, Shinji Aragaki, Junpei Iori, Chidori Yoshino, Elizabeth, Theodore

Not gonna lie, kinda struggled to find a full 10 franchises to pull a character from. My mind just goes blank when asked my favorite character from X place. Names escape me and everything. XD But as you can see, I love robot girls, strong girls, mysterious girls, tragic girls, a fail man, and traveling weirdo.

[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.

[trans-peridot]

FFxivWrite Day 4: Reticent

Saw this prompt and immediately knew it would have to be Urianger. Didn't know what, just knew who. In the end I settled on Tayfun's perspective of a certain scene in post-ARR. Spoilers for that, naturally. Urianger's dialogue is verbatim from the game, everything else is my writing.

Tayfun had never seen Urianger cry before. Perhaps simply because he’d never had cause in her presence, perhaps because of the dark goggles always obscuring his eyes. But more importantly than either of those reasons, because he went above and beyond in playing his emotions close to his chest. She had never seen him happy before, or angry, or really show any emotion. Alright, there had been one time. When Moenbryda first arrived in the Rising Stones and tackled him with a hug, Tayfun had gotten the briefest of glimpses to a rare Urianger emotion: flustered. Oh, Moenbryda...

Tayfun had never seen Urianger cry before. And even as he was speaking his soliloquy on her death, his voice remained as level as ever. But she could sense the effort he was putting into keeping it that way. “...Knowingly did I deny my friend the comfort she craved. And now she hath gone to her rest with doubt still in her heart.” Tayfun finally realized why he spoke like that. If every word was so strategically selected, emotion couldn’t sneak into one’s delivery.

“Urianger, you may wish to know what she said in her final moments. She spoke to Louisoix, said she finally understood his choice. She said, ‘In death there is life.’ I think she made her choice because she had cleared away that doubt.”

“Speakest thou in earnest? Did Moenbryda truly come to understand Master Louisoix's will before the end?” Tayfun had never seen Urianger cry before. On his face must have been the legendary Goggles of Reticence. “The realization hath set her free. She may now find the peace which hath for so long eluded her.” He remained stonefaced. “Oh, Moenbryda... My dearest... How I shall miss thee...”

“But her very last words weren’t to Louisoix. The very last thing she said was... She said, ‘Farewell, Urianger... you daft old coot.’ Her last thoughts were of you.”

Tayfun had never seen Urianger cry before. But as she studied his face, she could have sworn she saw a single drop of moisture slip past his defenses. “My lady Minfilia. I would mourn Moenbryda in mine own way. I beg your permission to return to the Waking Sands.” Tayfun knew that quaver all too well. He couldn’t hold it in forever and he needed to get out now before they saw him feel something. He didn’t even wait to hear Minfilia’s reply in the affirmative before he turned to brisky escape the eyes of his comrades.

For a moment Tayfun considered going after him, offering a shoulder to cry on, telling him he didn’t need to hide his feelings from his friends. But Tayfun had never seen him cry before, and that was clearly on purpose. Though it pained her to admit it, the best thing she could do was allow him to grieve alone. There were enough scions still in the room with her who would want her help, anyway.

[why-raven]

quiz: tragic play character — yiuno.

Misunderstood Villain.

Prepare for an onslaught of both the most dehumanizing and hateful takes, and flood of thirst comments. You’re chronically misunderstood; whether or not you’re actually evil is debatable. You may be acting out for revenge, to defend someone you love, or even just to protect yourself—you’re a pretty jaded person. You don’t trust or even really like most people—perhaps you did, at one point, but that part of you is gone, and you don’t go a single day without grieving it. You think a lot about what your life could have been. You’re stuck in the past—you’re angry and maybe you don’t even want to be, but this is the only way you can see to survive. You’re open, but less in a trusting way and more like a wound. You don’t like to let people see you, but the hurt spills out of you before you can stop it. You’re impulsive, even as you try hard to plan and prepare. Maybe someday your side of the story will finally be heard. Until then, you can convince yourself that being hated is safer anyway.

link to quiz.

Oh, wow. What an eerily accurate result.

Yiuno embodies many aspects of an anti-hero: be it common tropes (ex. Dark and Troubled Past), or tip the scales further into extremity (ex. Psycho for Hire and Femme Fatale), it’s really fun working on his characterization… as much as I struggle to comprehend his complex, multilayered nature.

I dunno if people see him as a misunderstood villain—guaranteed, this guy literally kills for a living, and he was a war criminal at one point (as a major participant during the Magi War in the Fifth Astral Era). His unique physical condition has twisted his perception of time, like he’s stuck in a psychological limbo akin to a living hell, for eternity. While the idea of eternal life has been explored many times in the game (both the MSQ and mostly the ARR side-quests), to an immortal like Yiuno, only death can bring him true peace.

Oh wait, sounds like Emet-Selch much? Not really—for one, Yiuno does not crave for the past (in fact, he wished he could erase it and start over again), and he doesn’t believe in utopia. While Emet tried to justify his genocidal acts as a “necessary ritual” to reclaim his lost paradise, Yiuno doesn’t even bother to sugar coat the war crimes he’d committed. Though Emet (in Shadowbringers, not Endwalker) did humor the idea of giving the current world a chance as he observed how WoL and the Scions tried to save the First, he never stopped to show outright contempt for the Sundered, calling them lesser beings unworthy of existing. Yiuno, however, never harbors any form of racism or social prejudice towards anyone—on one hand, he sees people as, well, just people; on the other hand, he may appear to be rather apathetic and detached (and hence why he could kill people as willingly as Emet, but for different reasons).

It also didn’t help that his childhood was equally fucked up. Born into a clan with an unconventional (and controversial) family system and societal rules, Yiuno grew up pretending to be a girl for many years just so that he could stay together with his twin sister for as long as possible. This twisted upbringing gave him a rather unique outlook to gender and sexuality—while he identify himself as biologically male and is very much aroace, mentally he feels disconnected and sees them as mere labels. It’s hard for me to explain in a way that people can understand, without radical folks jumping the gun and dissing me about “misrepresentation” and stuff, so I won’t go into details here. (If you want to know more, feel free to ask me in DMs!)

I guess the last line rings true—perhaps it’s easier to hate him for no reason at all. I mean, unless it’s his soulmate Y’shtola or the energetic curious child Sora, very few people have the patience and time to learn more about a walking history like Yiuno.

[jules-m-scribbles]

Scions of Syralth AU: Arthur raised in the palace.

Big brainrot over this AU lately. In this version, Arthur is captured when his mother is killed, and Hjalte raises him in the palace. So his and Toni’s love story ends up being more of childhood friends to lovers rather than: Arthur hits Toni with a rock and Toni immediately is in love.

Arthur heard the distinct click of the lock. He turned to look around the lush greens and flowers of the inner garden. A stained glass roof covered it, letting sunlight twinkle down. No windows faced down to it, just grey stone covered in Ivy.

He was still in a cage, even here.

“Man, you really can’t do anything,” Toni’s voice piped from a hammock strung between two trees. Arthur started, then bowed.

“Your highness. I wasn’t aware that you were here.”

“I have my own keys, so don’t worry about breaking the rules. I’ll lock you back in here when I’m done,” Toni said, sitting up. Arthur sighed, taking out his notebook and walking over to a different tree and sitting down. “Couldn’t you just magically open the door if you wanted to?”

“Yes.”

“So why do you let yourself be led around like a child?” Toni asked. Arthur bristled a bit. Why did Toni always tease him? “Oh come on, you can’t always be content.”

“I am content with my life. It isn’t safe for me to leave the palace,” Arthur replied. Toni scoffed a bit. “And my magic isn’t a toy. If I use it improperly, I could really hurt someone.”

“You couldn’t hurt a fly,” Toni replied, swinging out of the hammock and coming over. Arthur rolled his eyes as Toni put his hand next to his head.

“Your highness, you’re being inappropriate,” Arthur said, trying to move away, his ears turning pink.

“You make it too easy,” Toni replied, his other hand resting on the ground on the other side of Arthur. Arthur’s fingers gripped his notebook and he bonked Toni on the head. “Hey!” He yelped, falling back a bit. Arthur grinned a bit.

Toni sat back up as Arthur took out his pencil.

“Seriously though, don’t you ever want to leave the palace?” He asked, scooting beside him. Arthur shrugged.

“What I want and what’s best for me are separate and distinct. Uncle knows what’s best. I’m safe here,” he said, looking up at the stained glass ceiling. Toni huffed a bit.

“But are you actually happy? Not content, happy,” Toni asked. Arthur paused.

“I told you, I am content.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

Arthur sighed through his nose.

“My needs are met, and I don’t want to be ungrateful to Uncle, but…” He trailed off, playing with his hairbeads. “I want to fly,” he admitted. “I want to see mountains, I want to feel the ocean on my feet. And, and I would like to fall in love or to even just kiss someone.” he added, looking down bashfully. Toni smiled and caught his chin with his hand, thumb tracing over his lips. “Your highness?”

“We’ve known each other for 9 years, can’t you call me by my name once?” Toni asked. Arthur flushed. “If you do, I’ll make one of your wishes come true.”

“How can you do that?”

“I’m the prince of the Barlosian Empire, don’t doubt my power,” he teased. Arthur’s ears turned red. Lila above, why was Toni like this? And why did he get so flustered by it?

“Toni,” he finally said softly. Toni grinned, and leaned in, kissing him gingerly. Even though he kind of expected it, it still left him breathless for a moment and he tensed before relaxing. Toni’s thumb traced over his cheek as he pulled back. “Toni,” he repeated, all flushed and giddy as Toni leaned in and kissed him again. Kissing Toni felt right, it made his heart flutter and his breath quicken. Toni pulled back again.

Wait, he realized. Toni was a prince, he couldn’t just be kissing a prince. They both could get in trouble. He should be studying and Toni should be getting ready for a meeting or a date with a noblewoman. They had responsibilities.

“I-“ Arthur paused. “I, I should go,” he said, standing up too quickly.

Taglist:

@rosewinterborn

@stupid-elf

@synobun

[gatheredfates]

Soon I say. Then immediately head over here. I have no chill today. I already lightly poked at your characters before asking.

So first question. Koret. Echo. Okay those aren't really questions but tell me about the Echo and her. How does she experience it? She sees it as a curse so I imagine it gets in the way. But what exactly does it let her do? Or do to her?

:)

Koret and the Echo have a very complicated relationship.

In truth, her feelings on the Echo depend on what verse I'm playing her in, because her WoL verse has a very circular relationship that she's only just coming to terms with, whereas her general/in-game verse doesn't have that same kind of closure.

I'll break it down into those parts but I'll pop it under a read-more, only because I tend to get carried away when talking about her.

I may drabble these at some point.

Warrior of Light

Kor, point blank, did not want to be the Warrior of Light. She made it known to the Scions very early in the piece that the only reason that she was allying with them was because her secondary option was killing herself, and she'd prefer to take out Hydaleyn before she did. She was not a kind or palatable character in early ARR.

The thing was, the Echo was nothing but a horror. Her very first manifestation of it showed her sister being murdered and thrown to the brine beneath La Noscea, and she could do absolutely nothing to stop it. She was on her ship at least two days away from port, having just had a major argument with her, and in no place to warn or protect. Her death was an inevitability she could not stop.

Kor has a complicated relationship with her sister. She was protective in the same way she could be possessive; she wanted to shelter her from everything, even at the cost of her experiences, and part of that she felt was the reason she ran into her father's arms when he promised even an ilm of protection. Kor's treatment was more akin a raw nerve — jagged edges and white-hot reactions — and, while her heart was in the right place, a creature raised on rage and trauma learns to extend the same in kind. There were times where she was not a good person, or a good sibling, and those are things she has had to reconcile in Lily's death.

That makes her angry. This anger, this hate, influenced everything she did. What was the point of The Echo if it couldn't stop the one thing she so desperately wished she could avert? She didn't want the people of Eorzea to look at her like she was a hero. If she could carve The Echo out and give it to them malignant and squirming, she would have. If they wanted to be the hero and risk life and limb, they could bloody well have it. All she was interested in was undermining whatever sick individual(s) thought she ought to be the 'chosen one'.

It didn't even occur to her that she was softening over time. Every time she did, it felt like there was another blow — another obstacle — she and the Scions needed to overcome. Rage became resignation, she told herself; even if she'd risk life and limb for them.

It's not so much the Echo does anything to her, no more so than a regular WoL. A lot of the time her visions come to her in dreams, or in strange, intangible pictures she needs to decipher, but they don't hurt her. In Stormblood, she comes to the terrible realisation she had been relying on The Echo when Zenos took her eye, and that causes her outrage all over again.

It's a Catch-22. She didn't mind The Echo when it allowed her to kill her father, but despised using its clairvoyance. It merely showed her that all her thoughts about him were right.

There's a lot in here that I could unpack that would make this already really long reply longer than it already is, but I'll cut to the chase. Elpis was eye-opening for her. Meeting Venat changed her perspective. Events within Shadowbingers had already given her a more sympathetic look towards the ancients and the cruelty of fate, but coming face to face with the person she told herself she hated... she didn't hate her. She simply could not hate her. In telling her the story of how she had come to be, she also had to tell her about her sister.

It was that horrible, gut-wrenching realisation that she needed to ask Venat to only give her The Echo on the night her sister died.

She needed to see that she died, to feel the weight of her death, before she would do anything. Where Lily alive, she wouldn't become the Warrior of Light. If she didn't see her death, there would be no rage to live for — no constant push to adventure and endure for her 'revenge'. Venat had to inflict the worst horror for the greatest kindness, and she did it knowing Kor ( or, more apt, Kore — her protégé, inheritor of her seat ) would hate her.

She did it anyway.

What's crazy about all of that is I made up the former part of Kor's story in Stormblood. Everything beyond that was just a happy accident, and it feels right for it to come full circle in that way. Fate had to play out a certain way so she and others could chart their own course. She needed to live because she deserved to live.

Minor footnotes are that I did drabble parts of it here. I'd like to revisit it at some point but... it's there.

In Game/General Verse

All the stuff surrounding Lily still applies. Kor simply never sought out the Scions. Instead, she was pulled off the brink by Crow and ushered keenly into Firelight Trading Company.

Kor... doesn't like The Echo. That's not a shock. While it gives her the future-sight to predict storms and keep her safe, it's also the little bastard who likes to give her a play-by-play of her friends and loved ones' lives.

There's a indescribable level of mortification that comes from trying to respect peoples' boundaries and their trauma, only for The Echo to conveniently say 'hehe, let's tell you anyway!' in nightmares you can't escape from. It feels invasive and spiteful to her, even if those it affects knows it's not her fault. She wouldn't want people to see into her life, so why is it fair she gets to?

Obviously, I'm very mindful of the power The Echo holds, and I'm deliberate in reinforcing that it doesn't give Kor any advantages in regular roleplay. It's just there for ~flavour~.

However, in both verses she wrecked her ship on Leviathan because she couldn't be tempered and got her just rewards from The Maelstrom. That was probably the best thing that came from it.

[brineffxiv]

We gather in Limsa Lominsa, awaiting the boat that will take us to Sharlayan, where we will reunite with Krile and set about attempting to solve the many problems that face us.

Hoary Boulder and Coultenet stop by to see us off and to make sure we've got everyone's well wishes and assurances that they'll take care of things while we're gone. And so, with mixed feelings of excitement and trepidation, we set off!

Be still my heart! Is that the voice of Emet-Selch!?

It is him, isn't it?? Oh, I have missed you terribly. Are you narrating this expansion? How? You're dead. Oh, I might cry.

Oh no, now I'm definitely going to cry. Why is the sad music playing!?

Goodness, Tataru couldn't spring for a cabin? Even a bunk? We've just got to sleep here on the floor? Maybe I will go for that walk.

Uh...

Oh, my God.

Hydaelyn. I... have some questions. I feel. Somewhat betrayed. More so on behalf of my friends, than myself. For while it is true you have never - that I know of - done wrong by me, I have complaint over how you have treated my fellow warriors of light and your oracles.

A hard choice, to be sure, but I wanted to know more than I wanted to rage.

And now I wish I had chosen the other answer. No, it is not clear to me why now. Why not before, any of the times before? Why not tell us yourself? Why did you not reveal the truth about yourself and the "servants of darkness" ? Why did we have to find out from Emet-Selch what was really going on here? Don't you think that was a little bit important? If you wanted me to trust in you, why have you never been forthcoming with me?

No thanks to you.

And that's another thing. I realize, as a primal, you are bound by the desires of those who brought you forth, from that moment in time. But. What would be so bad about the restoration of the old world? The way we are supposed to be? Why fight so hard to preserve the broken remnants of an accident?

Now, certainly, in the present, we are peoples worthy of living on. But why initially? In the immediate aftermath of the sundering, before we had rebuilt, why not help put the world back together? Was your drive to subdue Zodiark so strong that you could not consider anything that would bring him power?

It seems to me, that as the fight went on, the Ascians became increasingly more in the wrong. But at the start. From where I stand. You were the villain.

Why do you value me so highly. That you would expend the effort to say these words to me when you left Ardbert to languish in perpetual solitary confinement for over a century? When you allowed a succession of Minfilias to fight and die without a word? When your neglect forced the champions of the First to turn to the Ascians for help to save their world? They gave their lives and you wouldn't even speak to them!

I am so mad. I am so very angry with you. I do not understand, and I am furious that you would expend the effort to speak with me just to tell me we're in danger. No duh. We've got a rogue Ascian determined to reenact the Final Days. A problem we wouldn't have if I hadn't gone and killed off the people who were keeping him in line.

If that's supposed to make sense to me I have to tell you it doesn't. How in the world am I supposed to find out what you promised in another age.

I can tell you care about me. You maybe even love me, as a mother should love a child. And I think there is a part of me that reciprocates. That Rhesh'a loves you too. But we cannot see past the injustice of it all. A mother should not pick favorites among her children.

Ahh and now we arrive at Sharlayan. Endwalker is shaping up to be a doozy; I'm already emotionally exhausted.

I am. Unprepared.

Eeee! New city! And Emet-Selch is introducing it to me! Happy happy day!

What happens if we get refused entry? Do we have to get back on the boat?

Right, got it. No talking about the Scions. My lips are zipped.

Ah, yes, I should get around to playing Eureka at some point...

Haha omg. That was... SO long ago. Even longer for G'raha. He went away and lived an entire life and more in the meantime.

I've always wondered what was behind the placements of Archon marks? Clearly the neck is standard, but Urianger chose to put his on his face for some reason? And the pictures I've seen of Louisoix show him with his on his forehead. Hmm... Things to think about.

Trust Fourchenault to have made things difficult. At least Alisaie and Alphinaud aren't precluded from entering. Thankfully it seems that being disowned didn't revoke their citizenship.

I am an Artisan, thank you very much. I didn't level all my DoH/DoL skills to 90 by Stormblood for nothing now.

AHAHAHA! Poor Estinien. He can't think of a job.

Thankfully, Krile arrives to the rescue. Estinien is officially a mercenary. And we are now free to explore Sharlayan, myself with G'raha and Krile in tow!

And here is where I must stop the post, as I have hit my max image allotment, lol. Welcome to Endwalker.

[lavampira]

D'ALIA + JOBS

an epiphany struck me on how some things could work better in alia’s canon if I retcon red mage despite how much I love playing it since there’s a sort of venn diagram between summoner, dark knight, and dancer with simulacra, funky soul crystal activity, and dynamis, all of which she enjoys studying their concepts/application and how they intersect, and reworking the timeline leaves little room for where red mage had fit into it, besides not really wanting her to be adept in more than 3 combat jobs across the years anyway.

PRE-A REALM REBORN: botanist, culinarian, arcanist - alia took to botany and cooking from a young age, later helping her parent with his restaurant and garden as she grew older. as an adventurer, she became interested in arcanima, and learned the basics of arcanist studies by the time she began to hear hydaelyn and the echo awakened; it’s why she chose to seek out the guild when she traveled to limsa lominsa.

A REALM REBORN: summoner, botanist - not only was it a natural progression as an arcanist into studying the once thought lost allagan art of summoning, but it guided her path as a scion in her own right, using it to study more about primals and aid the scions’ cause. she also assisted the botanist’s guild in restoring the land after the calamity (and something she wished she could one day resolve for her home region of mor dhona, too).

HEAVENSWARD: dark knight, summoner - her strength as a summoner lent to how powerful she became as a dark knight and how quickly she latched onto the residual aetheric energy left behind on fray’s soul crystal, along with the split simulacrum of herself, but she also took to what she learned with an even more purposeful sense of justice.

STORMBLOOD: dancer, dark knight, summoner - crossing paths with troupe falsiam in kugane led to her joining their ranks and duty to uplift spirits to prevent people from falling to despair, especially while tension ran high resisting garlemald’s oppression. she continued to lean on her skills as a dark knight particularly when facing zenos and as a summoner in dealing with more primals.

SHADOWBRINGERS: dark knight, dancer, culinarian - the primordial light affecting her aether also affected her ability to cast, so she summoned less as she took in more light, and she privately sought shtola’s council on it while stuck on the first, too. she relied more on fueling her abyssal magic with her emotion as a dark knight, but also similarly utilized what she’d trained as a dancer with influencing emotion without aether per se. she also aided the crystalline mean in caring for the recovering amaro.

ENDWALKER: summoner, dancer, dark knight - once cured of light poisoning, she was able to return to summoning, but she had to grow reaccustomed to it; however, it came in handy dealing with the lunar primals. and who better to deal with blasphemies than a dancer trained in the kriegstanz to combat the totentanz? but ultimately, her sword and peace that she made with her inner darkness remain integral to her.

POST-ENDWALKER: alchemist - in addition to the same combat from the prior expansion, she also spent more time in the studium and especially thavnair to study alchemy; vrtra’s simulacrum and the alchemists’ creation and upkeep of them sparked her interest in particular.

on a side tangent, there’s a very shy part of her that’s awed and envious of her fellow scions who studied at the studium and/or became archons, and though she isn’t necessarily gunning for a title or recognition herself even while hanging around sharlayan in her early post-ultima thule recovery, she does privately hope to publish some of her research on dynamis, soul crystals, and simulacra or organize it into a thesis one day, if it’s ever a possibility.

[scarlethoodi]

Now that my emotions have settled and I’m more levelheaded- though I unfortunately don’t own a physical copy of the book to reference back to- I want to discuss why I think Bree’s root, being at Volition, her screaming at Vera-the hole and most importantly her cutting off contact with her ancestors and on a “lesser” scale denouncing Arthur. Anyways I wish I could re experience that moment when she screamed after Vera and broke through Volition’s barrier with her power surge.

The way I see it Bree doesn’t truly hold any negative feelings toward Vera but her frustrations were warranted. One daughter at a time for all time meant that while Vera was able to save her child (in a sense) she made her line just that- a line. The line of Vera is essentially a cord that will always snap on itself before restarting; there are no aunties, uncles, cousins, etc. The trauma Vera held being a slave is one that Bree will never understand-which she did acknowledge- but Vera didn’t have to face what her daughter, granddaughter and future ascendants had to afterwards. Because not only were they blood marked but also scions of Arthur (side note: Erebus was playing chess not checkers) which most didn’t even know about. I especially think of Jessie who tried the most to learn her powers but the fear of the Shadow man was practically debilitating. And then there’s how young a lot of them would’ve died- like we know Faye went to college and had a career so from the moment she became pregnant her life was on a time limit and she fortunately got 16 years to raise her daughter and be a wife and mother and Bree’s not having babies anytime soon on her journey to learning her powers so she’s safe but one of the ancestors didn’t even get to meet her daughter.

And as drastic as it may have seemed, Bree did exhaust all her options and the only thing left that would’ve connected her with her ancestors is their fear which would’ve hindered her especially now that she left with the Hunter-Erebus. And one of the main critics I see on Goodreads is that Bree didn’t care about her Root work or the community which is such an odd thought process, especially when she was always working with those powers just as much as Arthur’s- hell even more because it’s were her abilities as a medium and immunity to mesmer came from it’s just that her Root was only for defense making it harder for her to use. She cut her connection because there was nothing left that could be offered to her just like she cut her connection to Arthur because there was nothing left she’d get from him (besides he tricked her). I think the short stay at Volition despite how it ended was needed to truly demonstrate how much power Bree had within her from both sides of her lineage-which is really just one side because her ancestors were scions as well.

I think the best way I can think of it; Volition as a place for the descendants of the enslaved specifically root crafters was still such a separate thing from Bree’s power because we’re constantly told that blood crafted is a demonized power combine with how the Order does things with their oaths and ancestor lineages-taking/keeping instead of offering/borrowing the powers Bree had was always in some sort of contrast with other root crafters like Mariah and Patricia

Final point Bree had to distant herself from everything because as a median she was always in risk of possession and if she couldn’t properly put a lid on that while she’s going through training she’d probably get possessed again. Though I think between this and her Root work I’m excited to see where the story goes with her training

[meowww-ffxiv]

Yukinko's second lover who was colloquially known as The Big Deal by the Scions because he wasn't going to use the guy's mountain name in front of strangers--

Krile asked him about this guy as idle conversation while they were on their way around doing the feats, in Dawntrail. "There isn't much to say," Yukinko began, and then spent an hour just talking about him.

The last time Yukinko spent an hour talking about anything, he'd been taking bets about how faithfully he could recite Gaius van Baelsar's speech. If he was going to talk for more than 5-10 minutes about anything to anyone, it was probably going to be a paid service.

But this guy?

The Big Deal, according to Yukinko, had known him since childhood. Their mothers were friends -- one of the few friends Yukinko's mother had, considering she was kind of the village failgirl. "He always puffed up his cheeks and got upset when I would sneak away to play with the other non-Viera villages," Yukinko said. "Yet he would lose every bout whenever we tussle. I do not mean to say that he was going easy on me; the boy was just weaker. And then he would always run off, red-faced, not even once letting me help him up. How then was I to know he would be courting me?"

And it was an unnecessary courtship too, Yukinko said. While he'd been allowed back into his clan, Yukinko not staying for any long amount of time meant he wasn't a wood warder, and so was quite outside whatever customs and practices that would have applied to one such. Yet, The Big Deal insisted on dueling. And he was far stronger now, but come on. Yukinko spent forty years fighting. He lost at least a dozen bouts more.

He never stated what he intended, either. There was custom tied to that -- men who wished to court one another could only bring it up once they had proven superiority in combat -- but still. Really.

"Wow, he sounds so dramatic," Krile said. From what passing horrors she had known of Zenos, she believed Yukinko had some fatal peacock-y tastes in men. But she didn't say that.

The Big Deal had what Yukinko used a phrase from Nagxia to describe: "a paper-thin face". Though he appeared aloof and arrogant to most people despite his achievements, he would turn red and start stuttering whenever things weren't going his way.

Alisaie scrunched her nose up. "Are you sure those symptoms don't develop just around you? Alphinaud had meltdowns in front of his crushes when he was younger, too."

"Alisaie!" Alphinaud screeched loud enough for Erenville to cover his ears.

Yukinko gave this serious thought. "It's possible," he eventually admitted, and sighed. "He watches over a territory well known for its natural aether springs. Many auspices and terrible beasts ascend to a higher form there, so it was extremely dangerous. Even against them, he was unusually strong, and himself had been courted by all manners of martial arts sects and covetous lords from Nagxia and Yanxia. Yet he remained in the mountain -- waiting for me, he said. Knowing full well I can never return."

"But you did return," Wuk Lamat pointed out, who was extremely invested in this high romance at this time.

"I did not do it for him. And I did so with another's child in tow," Yukinko replied. "At first, I thought he simply wanted to vent his anger. The Big Deal was a traditionalist, and domineering besides. What's the word? An 'asshole'."

"Mmhm," Krile said. "Okay."

"You have vexingly bad tastes in men," Alisaie rolled her eyes.

"Come now, let us give this suitor some credit," Alphinaud protested, very invested and indeed feeling a little kinship with this Big Deal guy. "I assume the courtship went somewhere?"

Alisaie scoffed. "What's this slander? As if Yukinko would fall for some bru--" She stopped herself, then corrected: "For another brute."

Yukinko said nothing.

Oh, no, Alisaie thought. Oh hell no.

She hated being right. Why did she have to be right? Yukinko did have vexingly bad taste in men. Another one?!?!

"He did win a duel against me," he said eventually, so calm and mild.

"And did he speak his mind? He did confess, right?" Wuk Lamat asked.

Yukinko nodded.

"And you told him to beat it," Alisaie supplied.

"That doesn't look like the face of someone who told the village 'big deal' to beat it," Erenville said.

"Be quiet."

An agonizing pause later, Yukinko said, "I thought he was quite adorable, standing there with his red face and twitching ears, stuttering so much he was incomprehensible. I had to stand up myself, he was in no state to help me. And then he tripped over himself as he finally realized he should help me... Just like when we were children. Even when he wasn't running away, he was such a mess."

Wuk Lamat squealed.

"In my village, a wedding usually follows," Erenville said.

Yukinko shook his head. "He will not leave the mountain, and I will not stay. We agreed on this. Having waited for me besides, he was sworn to his duty. If he had been so vapid as to have me for his sole reason, I wouldn't have respected him so much."

"It doesn't sound like you respected him that much to begin with," Alisaie muttered, only for Krile to elbow her.

Yukinko actually laughed, a low and sweet sound so soaked in fondness that answered the unspoken question and washed away any doubt anyone might harbor about this... this unknown, faceless wood warder with the silly moniker of "The Big Deal".

The conversation drifted off after that. Alisaie grilled Yukinko a few more times about this guy, just so she could know about him, you know? And yes, she did learn other things about him.

He was handsome and tall and even thought of as a fairy by some of the non-Viera tribes whenever his hunts caused him to descend the mountain. He was once an archer and spearsman, same as any in their tribe, but his encounter with a certain learned martial artist had him trained in a straight sword in the style of Nagxia's "immortals". He had dark hair and dark eyes, and wore it long in the same style as his shizun's, as a show of respect. It made him odd compared to their fellow wood warders', but The Big Deal was firm about it.

He was also not as shit at magic as Yukinko, and so had properly carved a bonding stone for him -- a talisman of polished gems and glinting black stone, tied in elegant knots of simmering red furs from some fierce mountain beast. Yukinko wore it on his obi, its cerulean hue an elegant contrast against his favored purples and reds.

"What did you give him?" Wuk Lamat asked. "Maybe we can find some souvenir for him in Wachunpelo."

"I gave him a hairpin," Yukinko replied. "Made with real flowers enchanted never to fade. He is quite vain about his hair and wears a high top-knot, so it seemed a gift that'd suit his tastes."

But he did take her advice of buying souvenirs from Wachunpelo for this... this Big Deal guy. That Alisaie was kind of miffed she would likely never meet. But maybe that was for the best? He sounded like a really annoying Alphinaud, and she'd been there when Alphinaud was annoying.

And THEN she had to realize for herself that Yukinko was suffering from morning sickness. Alisaie wasn't dumb. She put two and three together and decided yeah, good to hear about The Big Deal, but probably better they wouldn't meet.

[messedupessy]

Ok so I finished Dawntrail a couple of days ago, and I got so many thoughts about it, things about it I loved, things I didn't vibe with, thoughts of what I both hope and fear will happen next, so prepare for a ramble as this will prolly get long xD MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR DAWNTRAIL DOWN BELOW!!!

Where do I even begin? I got so many throughts about literally everything it's hard to decide where to start, but think I will start with what I loved with this expansion overall and then go from there:

The graphic update is so good, everything looks so nice, the new zones and towns are amazing, all the zone music and music overall this expansion is a fucking banger there is no music I dislike which is amazing, the dungeons and trials, except for the last two for me, was so good, fun mechanics and bosses that is harder but not impossible! Most of the characters were so good and interesting and I loved to get to know them all!

But one issue I had with the expansion as a whole and not just the second half of it, where pretty much all my issues are tbh, is that the voices or rather the voice deliveries this expansion was really weird for the english voices, it felt like the voice direction or the mixing was very off and every character was affected. Like there were several moments Graha or any of the other scions spoke and I got all ??? that's not how you usually sound like what is going on?? And then there is Wuk Lamat, love her voice af, but there were many moments where I felt she just needed to push a bit more especially in emotional moments, her crying is fine but when she needed to get loud and yell it just didn't work, but I feel it's more because of the voice direction and mixing than the actual voice actor. And she isn't the only one though and this has been a issue I feel since the patches for Endwalker, something is really off!

And not to mention that the translation and subtitles are very off, they gotten so very bad since the patches, as my older sister plays in japanese but with english subtitles, and she understands japanese well enough to notice when the characters says more than is subtitled which really sucks. And there was allot of that in the patches, an example when Zero says to thank everyone she says their names in japanese but not in english, and there were moments here in Dawntrail that happened too, don't remember them atm tho since it was a bit since me and my sis talked about it, which sucks, feels like we who play in english are missing out on things all because things just isn't translated properly.

Then there is the msq, I absolutely adored everything until lvl 95 after the first story was done where we crowned Wuk Lamat dawnservant etc, mostly everything between 90-95 was perfect to me, great pacing, great characters, fun bosses and dungeons. The small critiques I got is that we barely spent time at the moblins they didn't even get any voice scenes, and that I wish the like rivalry we were meant to have with Thancred and Urianger thanks to them working for and supporting Koana instead of Wuk Lamat could been stronger. I would had loved a instance of us maybe fighting or just something more there.

And then there is the whole trading part with the Pelopelo, forgot their names the small duck faced ppl, where you are meant to trade things up for more expensive stuff, loved it love the UI they had for it and so on but wish they could gone a bit further with it, like they could have let us fail properly and mess up for example, that if we choose wrong here and there we would been forced to start over at a certain point, just something more there and it would been perfect!

But those are the only things I had issue with when it comes to the first part of the expansion, now to the second where most of my grievances lies and also my fears for what will come next:

First of shiiooni the cowboy place, the story there was truly what you call filler, which I get we can't always have something high stakes thing happening, not always needed either and things was brewing in the background, but I wish there had been more to the story there just it was very bland, something more could have happened there and instead it feels a bit like a waste of a zone even though I like the zone itself very much! Just something more happening in that zone could been really good but no we got like nothing. Connected shitall with the characters there except for our reflection versions of the trolley people they made me so darn happy!

Then the attack at the city happened, wonderfully fucked up but why did they have to kill off Guloo Ja Ja?? Think that's how you spell his name, but Papa simply I love him he was and still is one of my fave characters from this whole expansion, and it feels they went with the way too easy route to just let him get killed for drama, it always happens with fathers who are done and give away their position but i am so tired of it he could just gotten really hurt instead it would done pretty much the same give or take, you don't need to kill off someones dad to give them motivation to kill their own brother for doing so! He had already butchered a bunch of the towns people Wuk lamat did not need more motivation to go for it, and if he just needed to be put out of comission so he wouldn't solve shit too quickly then just hurt him a bit and shit would been fine, it just sucks and while the death scene was good it just frustrates me, let the parents live for once!!

But anyway then there is the dome, 30 years passing etc, loved that whole thing wonderfully messed up but here we meet the sole character that ruined the ending for me personally, Spherne or however her name is spelled. The idea of her and her story is great, but the execution of her character did not work for me at all, and it could been easily fixed if at the end of her instead repeating the same old "sorry for killing your ppl" she could had tried to tell something about herself but maybe failing etc, just said something to give her more character than "I love my people above everything else and I will kill anyone who harms them and I will keep them alive even if it means killing others", that was her whole personality there was nothing else there and it could been fixed so easily by her just admitting to it? If that makes sense? She was just so very bland and could been so much more and I get it she is just the memory of a person long dead but just give me something more, and then there is her design it is so bad if they just pulled back a smidge it would been fine!

After meeting her I feel the rest of the msq ends up so rushed, which like technically makes sense since we in a hurry to stop zorol ja think it was spelled mister first promise boy, but it made it so for me at least, that I didn't get a chance to connect with the new characters properly, didn't get to know the new villain at all, which could been on purpose since wuk lamat and sperne is kind of opposites, but it just didn't work which makes me so frustrated because it could worked so well!

And not to mention, a thing I didn't think of until my big sis mentioned it and how frustrated she was about it, is the whole electric sickness happening there! We have a cure for it we can fix that but there was no mention of it or anything where we could go oh hey we have a cure for this since its the whole thing from the first and tempering we could gotten Aisaie summon Angelo and help the sick boy but no, nothing! This better get mentioned/fixed in the future story patches or I will go insane!

Fuck we could had brought it up to Spherne and made her situtation more complicated but no!

And then there is Otis, I loved that guy but he was instantly taken away and killed we got no time so spend with him except for in the Living Memory later on but that wasn't truly him and it just sucks, wish he had been around longer and things didn't get so fucking rushed here!

Loved the trial for Zorol ja tho it was great, loved how it subtly explained why he was how he was, and while I would had loved having more of it outside the trial before we killed him etc it still worked out and made sense, love his son so much he is so good and I adore that blue baby! But I want to know who his birth mother is, who the fuck is Zorol ja's birth mother?? How was he born even though it is said two headed maamol ja can't have kids? Or is it just so darn rare he just ended up been the first ever? Game please explain gkejngke!!

But then comes Spherne and fucks shit up, which would work if her whole character wasn't as bland as a wet salty cracker! The whole of Living Memory was amazing i cried so much, the zone is amazing the music the progress of it was great, the whole message of everyone dies and life goes on hitting me way too hard.

But then there is the dungeon and Sphernes trial, the fights etc is fine and the visuals great, but thanks to her constant talking in the dungeon and its her we fight it just it's just so meh, she needed something more and now she will be part of Wuk Lamat's story forever and it sucks! Also I am still irritated that she kept calling Wuk lamat by her family nickname like please that was so rude, but I also get why Wuk lamat didn't protest proepr but still! It would been more interesting if like wuk lamat was like no u can't call me that and spherne been apologetic etc, and then later at the end wuk lamat lets her call her by that, just something!

Ok so rant over there but now we get to what my hopes and fears are for the future story, as now we got a fucking mguffin that can open portals to other reflections! Which we luckily know shit about except Kriles people had it but that's all luckily since they didn't know shit about it either, and I hope it stays that way for at least another expansion as it feels we are rushing the whole "find a way to other reflections" bit way too much, it already felt a bit rushed in the endwalker patches, but now we got a mcguffin and I am worried about it!

As while I want to visit other reflections, be able to visit the first with the scions again etc, I don't want to do that just yet! There been too much of reflection stuff in the story, I want a break from that and focus on other parts of the world we haven't been to, like Mercedia, Graha's home land, the Roegadyn homeland etc, I want to wait and let Y'sthola work more on finding a way, as I fear this mcguffin will make things way too easy and solve this whole thing, I want the story to wait, let us do other shit while this storyline can be like in the background a bit, and not the focus! And then it can blow up and be the focus again! I feel we need a break from it and I fear this will be the focus of the patches that is going to come.

After all the best part of the msq for me was when we just enjoyed ourselves in the new world and places we got to explore, where there was no mention except some smaller references and the reflections was not in the focus. I just want a break from it let it brew and stop rushing it!

But I am hopeful that this is something that will take awhile, since we literally have no clue what or where the mcguffin even came from or what it is, so I hope this will mean that it will take awhile, and that we can focus on other things like the electric sickness in solution 9 and their whole messing with souls there! I want clarification on if Alexandria etc is from the reflection from the second umbral calamity or not, as the hints are there as it would make sense, but I do not want to focus on traveling to any reflections for now. I want to explore other things so badly get to do new things and not reflection stuff please.

The only exception to any reflection focus is if something gets fucked up and the WoL gets sent to a reflection alone, with no one there to help us while the scions etc tries to find and contact us, that is the only reflection story I will be ok with getting at the moment as I want things to go wrong more and not feel as easy as it feels currently when it comes to travelling to the reflections!

Ok so think I have gotten out all that I wanted to say, sorry for any grammar or spelling mistakes but I can't be bothered to fix shit, thanks for coming to my ted talk and feel free to chime in with your own thoughts and so on would love to chat or clear up any misunderstandings, as I know I am not the best at explaining stuff at times xD

[arcademyth]

top five relationships?

in no particular order,

thancred & urianger for sure, my only scion-related dawntrail wish is that we get more thanuri moments because they are just. so. chef's kiss

cid & nero are the divorcees of all time and i LOVE them for it

i really love the sibling energy between alphinaud & alisaie, and also between alphinaud & estinien. i think what i'm trying to say here is one of my favorite relationships is "alphinaud being an annoying but well-meaning brother to people"

zenos & WoL...... not necessarily a specific WoL (though i've certainly spent a lot of time thinking about how each of my WoLs would interact with zenos) but just like. the parallels between zenos and the generic WoL and the ways it makes them play off each other. i could go full pepe silvia on this but i will refrain

i'd like to take this moment to spread some rarepair propaganda, do you have a moment to talk about our lord and savior aymeric/haurchefant, (no seriously though why do i never see content of these two, it's SO obvious to me)

[twilightmalachite]

Altered - Heaven and Hell 11

Author: Akira

Characters: Eichi, Hiyori

Translator: Mika Enstars

"I worry that some day, that “another you” will rise up, kill, and devour you."

Season: Autumn

Location: Yumenosaki Academy Student Council Room

⚠️ This is an import from a unproofed Twitter Livetweet!

Hiyori: You’re talented at justifying yourself, Eichi-kun.

But, I understand your motives now.

It’s unfortunate, but you and I are similar. Our upbringings are similar. We’re scions of millionaire households with enough wealth to play and live out as many lives as we’d like.

Eichi: Isn’t the Tomoe Foundation in decline, though?

Hiyori: Oh be quiet. The important part is that we’re on the privileged side of having.

You, as annoyingly clever as you are, understand that—

You’re aware of that, and perhaps you even have a conscience over it. Every day you eat three delicious meals and lay in a luxurious bed every night.

There are children in the world who are dying of hunger and thirst that cannot get ahold of a single meal in a day.

We are privileged.

You understand that, and can’t bear it.

Typically, you can’t be cognizant of another person if they are far away.

If there’s a story in the news about a famine or a disaster, people don’t feel for them because it’s irrelevant to themselves.

They may be read with interest as if they are fictional stories, but there’s a disconnect to the reality in which they live.

But, you’ve reflected on that. You’re someone who is sensible.

Even if never brought to the forefront of your mind, you’ve probably always been thinking about it subconsciously.

It’s this sense of guilt that is what drives you now. Perhaps from the struggles and anguish you felt when you were young, innocent, and good.

Now that you’ve grown and acquired strength, it’s bursting forth.

That’s the source of these revolutionary ideas and hollow idealism you speak of.

Or, did I interpret it wrong?

Eichi: …I wonder. Even I don’t know.

You and I are different. My soul is rotten. Whereas because you can love and be loved, your soul still shines healthy.

Eichi: Because of that, the interpretation you gave of myself is probably wrong.

I’m not that good of a person. What I said earlier was just a pretext, in reality I don’t really care how unhappy the incompetent and poor are.

It’s none of my business.

I hope you’re not interpreting me in good faith now, Hiyori-kun. That’s the cruelest thing you could do.

I trample on these sin-less geniuses out of my own selfish desires, inferiority, and hatred.

Do I need more of a reason? Rather, even if I had good motives, whatever they might be, they would not justify what I have done and will do.

Ever.

So do me a favor, Hiyori-kun, and please don’t show me any sympathy.

You and I are different. Unlike me, you aren’t a filthied.

Ever since we were kids, Hiyori-kun… I’ve envied you the love you had for your friends and family—and for having been loved back.

Hiyori: And so because of that, you hope for me to remain the ideal image you’ve always longed to be?

Aren’t you arrogant? Actually, if that’s the case, I wish you hadn’t involved me in all this in the first place.

You are contradicting yourself. Your words and actions don’t make sense. Something, someplace has divided and split away.

And I worry that some day, that “another you” will rise up, kill, and devour you.

You’re the first friend I ever had, y’know.

Eichi: Are we friends? What makes a friend, actually. …Tsumugi once brought up something similar.

Hiyori: You really don’t know anything, Eichi-kun. Perhaps even more than Nagisa-kun.

Hiyori: What makes a friend, huh? A friend is someone who you can laugh with every day, as you talk about useless things with, go karaoke and shopping with…

You already have so many great things, yet you always want something fluffy you’ll never be able to have.

I’ve said this a million times already, but you really are an idiot, Eichi-kun.

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