#we didn't clear DSR but we had a good time

[zahnffxiv]

we had a good first night!! 👀✨

[shivasdarknight]

The...the devs admitted to killing Ysayle because they didn't know what to do with her? We were denied Scion Ysayle because they figured the best way to handle being at a loss for her was to kill her off?????????

Y e a h. And there's a bit more to it when you look at some of the behind-the-scenes stuff beyond her, but yeah that was it. Instead of shelving her for later (like they did with Estinien), they just killed her. Despite talking about how she qualified as a scion and would be a good ally, and despite all of her present relevancy especially with Thavnair and Vrtra. Estinien is a good enough example of how they saved a male character for later, but they went further and killed Zenos but brought him back through - need I remind - the Echo (ik his is a resonance but regardless), which Ysayle had, and kept him around for two more expansions (more minor in one, but regardless he lived longer than she did).

The devs did this to Yotsuyu, as well, but the thing about Ysayle that makes this one so telling is that she is one of three characters designed by the same person to die one after the other; those being Moenbryda and Haurchefant, who were all designed by Natsuko Ishikawa, the writer of the rog/nin & drk job quests, the Doman half of Stormblood, and MSQ for Shadowbringers and Endwalker. She - as the only main female writer on the team - has gone on record saying that the deaths of those three in quick succession felt targeted. And out of those three, it's only Haurchefant that gets to remain relevant, has a permanent grave, gets emotes and allusions to him, and DSR is centered around saving him (while Ysayle is alive by consequence) because Yoshi-P likes him. Sections where Oda takes over (eg parts of post-stb involving Yotsuyu and Tsuyu) plus the post-arr to hvw stuff is where it's really clear something went fucky here. They have stated they didn't know what to do with Ysayle, but her death in conjunction with Moenbryda's - as both were designed by Ishikawa - along with their lack of acknowledgement in story reeks a deeper level of sexism on the devs' parts.

So, yeah. She's dead because:

The devs didn't know what to do with her, so they just killed her off - had she been a man, she would've just been shelved (like Estinien)

It seems to be something personal as she's the third of Ishikawa's characters to die immediately after introduction, especially since the only man in the group gets tons of focus while Ysayle and Moenbryda are sidelined constantly

It's only during content written by Ishikawa that we see allusions and direct references to Ysayle (and Moenbryda) and it feels like the devs are trying to ignore what they did and just move right along. If the fucking Resonant and what that Sahagin priest did to stay as a soul and around could keep Zenos and a Sahagin Priest alive, then there's no excuse with Ysayle. And I'm saying this as someone who is actively writing a fix-it fic tackling many of the aspects of her character that they just left unresolved and unexplored - like this isn't even getting into the fact that Estinien has had 4 different stories going into his background and where he's been this whole time, while Ysayle's only story was just a beat for beat rehash of her death scene.

Also, as I feel it needs to be said since this Is tumblr: my bringing up any male characters is not a condemnation for anyone Liking said characters. Estinien's one of my favs in this game, but the guy was wrapped in death flags and he's still around as of 6.4?

Really?