#endwalker !!!!! shadowbringers!!! the way the game uses the concept of hope is just always so beautiful and fascinating to me

[astrxealis]

sorry to ffxivlovepost always anyway Man the way the devs & game did so good in making an mc that is Basically a blank-slate for the players, and there's so many opportunities to make your oc However you like but. the game itself adds so much story and character to that blank-slate guy. amazing

#⋯ ꒰ა starry thoughts ໒꒱ *·˚ #⋯ ꒰ა ffxiv ໒꒱ *·˚ #i think abt this a lot. and also a lot of other ffxiv stuff LMFAO #it's amazing ..... drk is a huge example of this i think #bcs it plays into the guilt and whatnot the wol feels and all that. spectacular #endwalker !!!!! shadowbringers!!! the way the game uses the concept of hope is just always so beautiful and fascinating to me #and yeah bunch of games may have like. mc you create & design but not always can you like. ehvejfhsjf idk how to explain LOL #it is 4 pm i woke up 2 hours ago but priorly woke at 7 am after havingn a rlly. weird sleep. #to which my twin told me 'i wont tell u what time it is' as we went to sleep so it def was Really late #bcs we were going thru re2 and she was also playing games on steam i've been telling her to play #(to which i got her fav characters right and knew fr how'd she'd like the game LMFAO. twins amiright.) #actually that is also smth so fascinating to me bcs. i always have had someone w me in my life. i am literally never alone. #to which what i'm getting at here is Wow... it's like having a sleepover every single day. and i was a kid always sad never to have #sleepovers bcs my parents were strict (they r cool tho!) but i was a kid who wanted to experience all the kid things #but i didn't rlly but that's fine :P i am a grateful person LOL anyway back on track back on black #ffxiv... the game that u are..... #it's the 1st game that rlly actually made me invested in the ocs of others and also make a fully fledged oc that wasn't just originally mine #but for a fandom or something. and also it got me back into writing and Into making poetry and prose so. yeah. #it's amazing how much. oc x canon ???? yeah. ffxiv is so Wow #like eveyrhhting w themis or graha and how u can AAGGGHHH shit w your oc . so many possibilities #and that character. those possibilities. are already in game but also expanded by the player and the fanbade and #idk it's so beautiful to me WHAGHSGDJDH. and yes me saying themis or graha up there is self-indukgent bcs #both of them are so Insane it's so. insane!!!!! i will never forget what happened in abyssos in particular that Broke me #and anabaseios... :)) i cried so much it is almost embarrassing. and wow. asphodelos. wverything w themis just. yeah #anyway graha... self-explanatory if u know..... idk he's the character of all time to me. simply said. but themis is crazy bcs going thru ab #yssos made me think for a bit 'hey themis might be my fav character in ffxiv now' but No but also Wow. wow #kinda cute bcs me and my twin have a thing where she has a certain type of chara she likes and me too #so sometimes. most times. all times. we have our own characters we like anyway but sometimes they overlap but either the case we kinda #lowkey 'segregate???' idk if that is a good word but we do that w our fav characters. so like emet is her fav elidibus is mine. #and that was all the way in arrr alr and we barely knew spoilers so that's kinda crazy! anyway

[abimee]

i need to flesh out tock's lore more cause theres a lot of stuff that sort of floats around about her that i dont know if i want to make canon to her or not but i do want something concrete. especially in regards to her and luka cause endwalker brought some tasty ideas forth

like i personally really like the general comcept of her and luka's footsteps being out of sync in terms of parallels between wol!luka and wol!tock but their paths still paralleling each other, since mags started playing this game much earlier than me, but since we experienced endwalker together they momentarily came really close to this sort of nebulous/metaphorical/magical idea of their worlds "touching" --- they exist in each others lore as non-wol counterparts (luka in tock's lore is just a catboy back home who likes to go fishing and isnt an adventurer, and tock in luka's lore is a dwarf on the first who wants to write music about luka's adventures since she herself cant leave kholusia), but even their wol selves are interconnected in a way

ultima thule is where they truly get to "meet" in a way --- i do however like the idea that their paths became one earlier in endwalker though, but it was in ultima thule that these two seperate universes could collide since ultima thule is a nest at the edge of the universe, so its here where two distinct worlds could only ever truly meet. and thats where the depiction starts of Tock sort of "feeling" someone here

even though i technically experienced ultima thule first irl, i like to imagine Tock hearing an echoe (for the song, Echoes in the Distance) of someone else walking alongside her, and a sort of metaphorical foot path she follows after this apparition (coming back to Footfalls), and it gets loudest at Base Omicron. I always played around with the idea that the graha tia in Tock's universe of Shadowbringers who gave his memories to Tock's Graha was in some way connected to Luka, so Shadowbringers was where Tock first felt this sensation of someone beside her, since Shadowbringers was the endgame when i started playing. Its nothing either of them are fully aware of, but Graha is one of the "bridges" between their two universes that is papee thin yet there

and of course at the walk up to the elpis flowers I think that sensation returns, and simce dynamis is what manipulates ultima thule and made these apparitions of others appear, that the little piece of wol!luka that exists in wol!tock's heart made his existence manifest to her side, not as his own person/recreation of him, but more like dynamis drew down that barrier that these two from colliding, yet neither were fully present --- Tock was still in her timeline and Luka in his, but in ultima thule their footfalls briefly lined up and the two becames, as they say, "close in the distance"--- and as Tock walked herself up the path to meteion, luka was doing the same in his own timeline, and they briefly walked together through the hardest and final test of their hope

From there the concept becomes fuzzy because i always try to keep tock and luka as wols seperated so i dont wanna step on mags own oc lore, since luka is not mine and hes got his own rich and complex meanings for endwalker and ultima thule, but sometimes i like to think about what it wouldve been like if in that moment of using the azem stone and standing before meteion Tock saw Luka, the true Luka, for the first time.

but this is all again not necessarily canon because mags is always putting crazy good thoughts in my head and due to not writing down my endwalker thoughts and how. OUGH endwalker is im always reworking these ideas and moments because ultimately all i need is to know that where tock walks is the same path luka walks and they both walk forward together even if they dont know it. Because to Tock Luka is a catboy back home she needs to return to because hes waiting for her return with a warm meal and to Luka Tock is a dwarf on another start he needs to return to because she'll have a new song for him. But little do they know they are so much more to each other in places close in the distance

[miyakosora]

Endwalker - Autumntide Music Video an Essay

 Sometimes you just need a place to gush about something you are really passionate about. After a not-so-fun week of dealing with Covid I happened back upon the music video for Endwalker - Autumtide. So here is where I gush about how Final Fantasy ties all my favorite art-related things together. 

At this point, Endwalker has been out for over a year, and there are so many details in this music video I’ve still probably missed. One of my favorite things in FF14 is the concept of Hope. Everyone has a different story for their WOL, but no matter how grim the circumstances, there will always be our character, marching on through whatever trial we face. No matter how often we get knocked down, we get right back up and continue on. 

So Miya, how does this music video have anything to do with Hope?

Well skeptical Miya, the music video starts off with a younger woman mosing about her home. She’s aimless, fumbling with a bottle and looking at the dead plants in her space. She sings along to the lyrics -Fade away-. I like the idea of this woman not only being the player, not necessarily the WOL, but us the player. 

As the song and video continue on she passes someone reading Count Fortempt’s novel this is matched with the lyrics -Sorrow's silence, we needn't bear-. Next, as she is walking up an overpass bridge she sees a woman resembling Yotsuyu smoking a pipe on the bridge, -Every step we take echoes in our wake-. Finally, she’s alone in the park, tired and breathless from her day of searching. The sun is setting and looking up she sees a figure waving to her as they walk away -To forge ahead-. 

At the start of the video the protagonist is drawn by a glimmering light, and she follows it out of her home. Like I said she’s looking at everything in her house, and looking outside before finally, something draws her in, but we also get these flashes of an internal dialogue where she’s alone, upset, and anguished by this trial she’s going through. -Marching forward, left behind.-

Every step you take forward on any journey in life, you are going to leave something behind. This is true for not only your character as the WOL, but as you the player, and for the protagonist in the video. The woman could continue to stay in her house and that would be her story, she continues to stay and be sad and just fade away. For whatever reason, she chooses to leave and head outside and explore the world. 

There doesn’t seem to be a destination in mind for her, but she passes these characters along the way, and in doing so they mimic some of the characters we’ve left behind in the game. I find myself drawn most to the person reading the novel and how it’s matched with the lyrics -Kindred severed neverwhere, Sorrow’s silence, we needn’t bear.- Ironically, “A smile best suits a hero.” Kindred - family, severed - cut off, and neverwhere- no where. Now neverwhere also has me a little thrown for a loop because it’s the title of a Neil Gaiman novel (Why is it always Neil Gaiman). I would love to go on another deep dive just by that one word alone, but that might be a little extreme.

I’ll be honest I story-skipped Heavensward and Stormblood and went straight for Shadowbringers, (Look I started ARR before Stormblood, and then restarted somewhere before Shadowbringers. I’ll go back and do it at some point.) So I only know a little about Yotsuyu and Tsukiyomi, (that’s not true I’m obsessed with moon mythology). I love the image of her watching traffic as it flows around her at twilight. There is so much movement, but she’s standing still, and our protagonist is surprised to see her there. 

During these scenes, we see those moments of our protagonist anguishing by herself, before coming to the park and seeing the figure waving at her as they leave -Marching forward, left behind-. Then the protagonist is lost in a multitude of sceneries, continuing on her journey. -Should we lose our way, tired of all this pain- We don’t see her anguishing anymore, but there is a moment of weakness as she’s on the ground before looking up at this blinding white light. 

I’m slightly pausing here before I noticed something while writing this, in the last scenes we get a reflection of her shoes and how they are dirty and worn. -Forge ahead-. In the start of the music video when our protagonist first leaves her home, her shoes are white and clean if not brand new. Just like our character when starting this journey. Watching through they actually show the shoes quite a few times and how scuffed and worn they are becoming. Another thing I noticed towards the end before she’s leaning over in the dirt is how her hair has noticeably changed if not grown longer. This could just be unintentional, but I like that it shows the physical passage of time on this character. 

So Miya, I’ll ask again, what does this have to do with hope?

If you’ve played through Endwalker, you know the entire plot boils down to a bird with depression. Our WOL is the reincarnation of the last Azem shepherd of stars in the dark. We could see the story in a few ways. Our character could very much just be a tempered weapon for Hydalyn, we do cause a fair bit of trouble along the way…then we could ask what victory is worth this price. Do you sit in hopelessness and wait for whatever outcome, or do you go out and make a difference? It’s a very human concept, and it blends beautifully into meeting Venat and learning ‘Your answer’. 

The game started with a Calamity. If you play for an hour or through the entire game, you have your own reason for playing. A reason for living in this beautiful world. No matter what brought you to this point, it’s cannon not just to you, but to everything around you. No matter how many times something has pushed you down, you’ve gotten back up and overcome it. You might have just evaded the obstacle for now, but that’s part of life. Not every boss you defeat stays dead, just look at Zenos. Not every action you make will change the outcome of the scenario, look at Elpis and how we went there knowing we couldn’t change their future. 

Saying that though makes me want to reflect on Shadowbringers, and how one timeline’s wish to change reality was able to change reality in its entirety. It wasn’t impossible, only improbable.

And should you lose your way, tired of all this pain, don’t be afraid to forge ahead. 

Much love,

Miyako Sora

#final fantasy xiv #endwalker #ff14 #writing #essay #shitty essay #just rambling #maybe it's the fever talking #but i cried like three times writing this

[missingmywing]

Aymeric, G'raha, Thancred, Yusuke, Demyx

Yet another long one. Given who you put on the list, it's not surprising.

Aymeric, G'raha, Thancred, Yusuke, Demyx

First impression

Aymeric: “WHY IS HE SO PRETTY? He’s evil, he’s absolutely evil. There’s no way he’s not, he’s pretty and is in a position of power.” followed by you and red assuring me he’s not, and me very rapidly falling head over heels for him.

G'raha: This one’s a bit of a cheat since I knew most of his spoilers through art and comics well before I got into FFXIV, but my first impression of him in game in the Crystal Tower raid was “Oh my god, he’s a playful nerd and a snarky little shit. I love him, no wonder he’s popular.” (followed by being informed that most people liked him because of Shadowbringers, and didn’t really care for him in ARR which I was very indignant about. He’s just as fun in ARR as he is in ShB and beyond.)

Thancred: word for word “..... whomst is the pretty boy with silver hair in the main quest line? He's snarky, I like him.” And that very quickly jumped to “Oh I love him, he’s great.” and getting very excited whenever he showed up. There’s a reason he’s Etheria’s love interest from 1.0 - the end of ARR (when he decides to be an IDIOT alongside Y’shtola and they never recover because Heavensward happens). But I loved him from the beginning. The “flirty idiot is actually super badass spy faking it to get info” is one of my favorite tropes, so he hit just right from the get go. The fact that you could just barely see the switch from when he went from flirting to catch their attention to actively wheedling info from them just made it so fun. He doesn’t do that much anymore - he’s switched to a more serious way of spy networking (not that we ever get to see it) - but it was fun to watch in 1.0 and ARR.

Yusuke: My first impression that he was a pretty boy with no respect for boundaries or understanding of social cues. Awkward dork who didn’t know how to emote, and was almost certainly neurodivergent and horribly abused. Which I mean. Yeah.

Demyx: “I HATE HIM SO MUCH, HE’S SO STUPID JUST DIE ALREADY.” - yelled by my small child self before rage quitting Kingdom Hearts entirely for like, three years. Baby me did not understand the concept of leveling or properly equipping accessories, RPGs were just games where you hit things until they died. Once I came back to KH when I was a bit older and knew how to play I beat him on the first try and he quickly became my favorite Organization member for years. 

Impression now

Aymeric: I love and adore him, he’s so good. Someone please rescue this man from his office, I don’t think he’s eating or sleeping. He’d rather be anywhere else, adventuring with us, but he’d never turn his back on his duty. Someone take over for a week and give him a vacation. I’ll take him adventuring somewhere. It’ll be fun. (They won’t and he won’t, but I can dream…) But in all seriousness, he’s a wonderful character with fascinating backstory and political drama around him, and the fact that he’s remained a genuinely good and caring person despite Ishgard’s everything is incredibly impressive and is proof of how strong of a person he is.

G'raha: He’s still a fun dork! More mature and a little softer than in ARR, but that dorkiness and mischief and troublemaking are still there underneath it - he’s just been forced to rapidly assimilate a couple centuries worth of horror and misery and desperate fragile hope in the form of his future self’s memories so he’s not as carefree as he was. He’s not sad and tired like the Exarch was though - and I really like the dichotomy of it. It’s not a clean cut “oh yeah, they’re basically separate people” or “yeah he’s just past G’raha with his future self’s memories/the Exarch in his younger body” it’s… something a little in the middle. He’s more G’raha in some ways, more Exarch in others, and it’s not always easy to tell which has more influence, and I really love that - and I appreciate Endwalker calling attention to it.

Thancred: I still love and adore him so much. He’s so good. Went from big brother shaped for Minfilia to dad shaped for Ryne (and a little bit for Gaia, though we left before that could really happen). Self-sacrificing idiot, he’s almost as bad as Y’shtola and WoL about the “one death an expac” scares - ARR horrified me, and EW gave me a heart attack. SB and ShB weren’t as bad because I didn’t believe it for a second that he was dead, but they still gave me some unpleasant anxiety over his well-being. He cares so much, too, about everyone and it’s wonderful.

Yusuke: I still like him! He’s an interesting character to explore, and his dynamic with the others is fun. He’s not my favorite, but that partially because characters who kind of revolve around running gags tend no to be - he’s got a couple that the game uses a lot in the main line story, and I feel like it detracts a bit from some of his more serious moments? He can be serious, but outside of his Confidant everything after Madarame’s Palace feels a bit like his character is mostly used for comedy. Striker’s helped a lot with that, but… it just feels like there were a lot of missed opportunities for good character moments later on - especially with Haru and Akechi, and I’m not sure he ever really got full closure with Madarame.

Demyx: He’s still one of my favorites, but he’s fallen to the backburner a bit because I’m just waiting increasingly impatiently to ACTUALLY GET BACKSTORY. GIVE ME THE LORE NOMURA. I’VE CHANGED MY HCS FOR HIM FOUR TIMES NOW. I THOUGHT HE WAS UX, THEN I THOUGHT HE WAS DR. HE WAS NOT. SO IS HE MISSING LINK OR IS HE QUADRATUM. GIVE ME A N S W E R S

Favorite moment

Aymeric: Oh god I have to choose? There are so many. The first moment that he got to me was around Snowcloak, his “There are those who believe that faith is a renunciation of free will - that unquestioning devotion is required of all those who would live a life in service to the Fury. Such righteous fervor may well serve a knight on the front line - less so a leader of men. We are all at liberty to interpret the scriptures as we will. I choose to believe that the Fury would value the lives of Her followers over the deaths of her enemies.” THAT was what made me fall for him. Then there was his low-key dressing down of Alphinaud, “Do you know what sort of man becomes lord commander of the Temple Knights? One who comes from good stock. I did not, yet here I am. Now why do you think that is? Because I swiftly learned to tell the difference between words, deeds, and beliefs.” It’s great. So good. I love him. AND THAT’S JUST ARR. HW has so many good moments - his belief in us when we bring back Hraesvelgr’s story, his fury and indignation at the Archbishop for the lies to their people, his grief over Haurchefant, his parlay with the dragons, his speech to the people convincing them of the peace treaty, convincing Hraesvelgr to help… and then Stormblood has one of my favorite moments with him. The way he comes sprinting to your room the moment he hears that you’ve woken, and the sheer relief when he sees you alright… top tier fantastic. Especially when you add in his fond exasperation with Estinien. OH RIGHT AND THE HW SCENE WHERE HE’S CARRYING ESTINIEN FROM THE BRIDGE. It’s so good. He’s so good.

G'raha: Oh where to start. Crystal Tower is very well done by ARR standards, G’raha is such a fun and compelling character. His intro is great - the mischief, the drama, and his little grin when he finally introduces himself, it’s fun (I really loved his little prank/mischief making, though I’ve seen a lot of people who thought it was annoying which I still don’t understand). That shot where he walked into the tower as it closed made me tear up - it was so good even though it hurt. And then ShB, oh man his moments. That conversation with Vauthrey was nice, and the little trick with the glamour made me cackle, it was great. The “reveal” scene was amazing and awful. The scene post-Amaurot was beautiful. 5.3 was heart-wrenching from beginning to end, but the very last scene was… honestly very very close to my favorite. His stand and taking charge in Radz-at-Han was also amazing, but… honestly I don’t think anything can compare to his little speech in Ultima Thule. It’s just too good - a little philosophical and a lot heartfelt. It’s perfect.

Thancred: Oh noooo my favorite moment… honestly it might be weird to put it, but his post-Ifrit scene in Minfilia’s office in ARR is still one of my favorites. The quiet vulnerability and grief as he dropped his mask stabbed me right in the heart. It was such a simple and quiet scene, but it was so, so good. The fight with Ranjit is so so good, I love it so much, and the naming of Ryne scene is just… top tier. And Endwalker. That scene in Thavnair where he and Estinien are talking about Fandaniel, and nihilistic despair… It’s hard to say what my favorite is. There’s so many good ones.

Yusuke: Hmmmm he has several good ones as well, but both his awakening scene and the final confrontation against Madarame are tied for me. They’re both excellent, and really show off his raw, unfiltered emotions.

Demyx: Oh man the fight in KH2 is still one of my favorite parts of the game. For a flight that made me rage quit when I was little, it’s a lot more fun now (well. regular fight. his data fight not so much.) But the actual narrative part of it is so, so good. Demyx really shows his full character off in them. He genuinely tries to reason with Sora - it’s not his fault Sora didn’t get Roxas’ memories. But when Sora completely shuts him down, the switch flips and he goes “Fine then.” Secret badass who acts like an idiot until they have reason to stop pretending is my favorite trope, and Demyx definitely hinted at it in that fight. Also his line “Oh, we do too have hearts.” I know a lot of people say he was just deflecting to throw Sora off, but I really think he noticed and just… no one would believe him so he just shrugged and went whatever. He wasn’t gonna fight about it. But that whole scene before and after the fight are my absolute favorite moments of him.

Idea for a story

Aymeric: Aymeric will get a vacation, he will get a break and let the four houses run things for a week, Artoriel can run damage control for a week. Etheria’s going to take him on an adventure, it’ll be fun. Estinien and G’raha will probably dragged into it somehow. Aymeric will get to be a normal adventurer for a week, and get a break from politics to help people hands-on for once.

G'raha: We are going to establish a transportation connection with the First so G’raha, Thancred, and Y’shtola can see Lyna, Ryne, and Runar again. I just want a story of the Scions finally getting to return to the First, and for G’raha and the people of the Crystarium to interact with G’raha just being G’raha, without the mantle of the Exarch weighing him down. I want to see the nostalgia of him looking around talking to people, and the awkwardness of them not knowing how to address him while he tries to bite back the urge to give advice and recommendations about setting up the new government or cleaning up the world. He’s trying so hard not to take command again, and they’re trying not to put him in the position of command. Just… exploring the relationships of him and the First post-EW, and how they relax and find the balance. Not to mention everyone reacting to G’raha being an absolute dork, excitably chasing down adventure with Etheria and the other Scions with an eagerness that’s as endearing as it is different.

Thancred: So I know I've talked about this before, but I really want to write a fic where WoL's light blast in ARR untempers Lahabrea - but also somehow intertwines his and Thancred's souls so he's still stuck in Thancred's body. So now they have to learn to deal with each other, while Lahabrea feels saner and more stable than he has in several thousand years - plus he's completely cut off from Zodiark and he isn't quite willing to damage Thancred's soul further by trying to take control again, or accidentally destroy both their souls trying to escape. Lahabrea just "12,000 years. 12,000 years and it's come to this." Thancred is displeased and has to come to terms with this now, while trying not to panic Lahabrea still being there. It would certainly make everything after that more interesting.

Yusuke: I know there's a ton of these out there, but I really want to eventually write Yusuke painting the Thieves. Just a series of vignettes of him painting them truly as he sees them.

Demyx: I want to eventually write some of his time in the Organization, plus KH2 and 3, from his perspective. I'm waiting until we actually find out who the hell he is, but I really want to see his perspective on things.

Unpopular opinion

Aymeric: Hmmm I don't think I have any? No one's really said anything about him that I don't agree with.

G'raha: Potentially setting some fires here, but he's really not "uwu softboi wol simp". He's just… I know the fandom likes to make him this helpless simp, yaoi uke stereotype to the max, but he's not. He's very much his own person with his own strengths and personality, and while we might be an important part of his world we aren't the only important thing at the center of it. He's helping Krile rebuild the Students of Baldesion, and everything that comes with that. He might drop everything to rush to our aid should we need it, but he's not with us all the time because he does have other priorities. Personally I'm glad they're fleshing him out and giving him time to be his own character away from us. Characters whose entire personality and character revolve around the protagonist are boring.

Thancred: The playboy flirt act from ARR could not more obviously be an act. He drops it so fast in some scenes, why are people taking it at face value. Thancred is a walking guilt-complex with paranoid anxiety who puts on an act to get information and hide his emotions so he doesn't have to deal with them. This shouldn't be an unpopular opinion since it's literally canon - I'm almost positive all of this is stated in tact at one point or another - but I see people's takes ignoring this every time I go into his tags so I guess it is.

Yusuke: His gags, while amusing at first, get used too often, to a degree that it detracts a bit from his character. Not all of them! The awkward artist and the shenanigans therein are usually good for his character and can reveal a lot, but the "useless with money" thing stops being funny when no one addresses it seriously. If it were a gag that everyone was actively trying to teach him and he kept forgetting over something ridiculous I'd be fine with it, but the Thieves just roll their eyes and ignore it, which makes no sense and turns it from funny into concerning. I think it'd even be fine if they'd just stuck to one gag like most characters, but they gave Yusuke multiple and it just… it overshadows the rest of his character sometimes.

Demyx: oh don't even get me started. First of all the MoM theory makes no sense. It just doesn't. It serves no purpose from a narrative standpoint, and actively undercuts several other ongoing arcs in ways that wouldn't make sense for any of the characters (Luxu, primarily, but also Sora, Xehanort, potentially Luxord, and to a degree even Darkness.) I also don't think he's actually as much of a lazy idiot as he acts. There are times where he's downright scary - that fight in KH2 had a lot of undertones that haven't quite been addressed, but KH3 sure hinted at them with that line "I can be extremely imposing - when I want to be." That line was very validating after believing for years that he was a lot more dangerous than he presented himself - his attitude switch with that "Silence, traitor." was telling.

Favorite relationship

Aymeric: Okay as much as I love his relationship with both Lucia and Artoriel, and as fascinating as it is with Haurchefant, Estinien has to take number one (granted I’m not counting WoL into these, because I’m biased so it would be a given). He and Estinien have been best friends for over a decade, and it’s clear in every interaction - or even just how they talk about each other - how much they care for each other. It’s really nice to see, plus the little hints of them teasing each other (the fact that Aymeric actually wears the elephant costume…) even while they fiercely defend each other (Estinien snapping at our group for talking about rumors of Aymeric being a bastard, outright denying it, even though he knows it’s true, because he refuses to not defend his friend). They have so much care and trust for each other, even if we only see glimpses of it.

G'raha: Again excluding WoL, I have to say probably either Alisaie or Krile. He and Alisaie are such adorable friends - Alisaie mocks him mercilessly, but is the first to yell at him for putting himself in harm’s way even as the Exarch. And he doesn’t respond overmuch verbally to her teasing, but he does seem to lean into it and take it positively. He also tends to turn to her first of the Scions (aside from us) from what I can tell - though how much of that is friendliness and how much of it is concern for her aggressive recklessness I’m not sure. He and Krile have a long relationship as Students of Baldesion together (I mean she calls him Raha, come on), and every scene they’re in is also her teasing him and him shrugging it off casually. But it’s clear how much they respect each other, and it’s fun to see their relationship and speculate how they came to be friends.

Thancred: Ryyyynnneeee. Hands down, it’s so cute. He and Urianger are really sweet too, they obviously care a lot for each other, but… he loves her so much. It’s clear how much he adores her, and though he has a lot of trouble showing it for the first part of ShB, once his wall finally cracks and he’s willing to be honest with her it’s so, so clear how much he loves her. If we’d gotten to see more of it Ascilia/Minfilia might have been a contestor as well, but we never really got to see their relationship honestly - it was always through the lens of being a Scion. The hints of it were there, but what little we saw can’t stand up to what we saw between Thancred and Ryne in ShB.

Yusuke: Hmm it has to be either Akira or Futaba, because they’re both great. He and Futaba’s teasing and snarking each other is always fun, and it’s nice to see them bring out the quirky, argumentative sides of each other. His relationship with Akira is a lot more low-key, generally, unless he’s in full art mode in which that case his full eccentrics make their appearance. But even then, their relationship is generally very supportive and heartfelt and honest, and I really enjoy that. His relationship with Ryuji is also great, though we never get to really see much of it.

Demyx: lol what relationships, that would require screentime. But in all seriousness, I really like the potential of his relationship with Zexion/Ienzo - partially due to some interesting fics I’ve found over the years exploring their potential relationship as the youngest members of the Organization who don’t get taken entirely seriously. In terms of canon relationships we actually see, probably Vexen/Even. Their interactions in KH3 were hilarious, and certainly set the stage for some very interesting interactions going forward.

Favorite headcanon

Aymeric: If he had his way he’d happily give his position over to the four houses, ensure Ishgard was stable and would continue being stable, and then “retire” to being an adventurer with the WoL. If he could have gotten away with it, he’d have joined the Scions with Estinien in a heartbeat. He knows he can’t, but he can’t help the quiet yearning to escape his office and position of responsibility and take up arms with them. (He just wants to spend time with the people he loves and go on adventures. It’s selfish to consider, perhaps, but he’d be satisfied with that if he knew Ishgard would be safe and well.)

G'raha: G’raha doesn’t regret what’s happened to him, what he’s been through, and he wouldn’t erase it even were he given the opportunity. He may question who he was, doubt his own identity and sense of self at times, but he wouldn’t change it for a moment. He has too many memories of those he left behind in that broken timeline, and then the many he both saved and failed upon the First. He wouldn’t give those up for the world, no matter the pain or doubt they may bring.

Thancred: He remembers everything that happened while being possessed by Lahabrea. He doesn’t like it, and will deny that he remembers until his dying breath, but he absolutely does and he hates it. It was why he was so miserable in the latter half of ARR - not only was he responsible for the loss of over half the Scions, he was forced to watch it happen in front of him, and despite how much he fought and struggled he couldn’t break free of Lahabrea’s hold. He still hasn’t really forgiven himself for failing there.

Yusuke: Yusuke is ace and autistic, I will die on this hill. He doesn’t realize how things sound a lot of the time when he says something that could be taken the wrong way, and when someone points it out to him he’s usually “??? that’s ridiculous. please alter your world view to something less presumptuous.” He hyperfocuses far too easily and will forget to eat and sleep, to the point Futaba and the Thieves have alarms on their phones as a reminder to check in on him, and occasionally make sure he’d eaten that day. Futaba will hack his phone alarm, turn it all the way up, and then blare the most obnoxious music she can find to break him out of his focus.

Demyx: I have THREE DIFFERENT BACK STORIES WRITTEN FOR THIS ASSHOLE. He started off as being from Atlantica, then he was a Keykid in Anguis, then he was an upperclassmen of Xehanort and Eraqus. Right now I'm theorizing him as Yozora's Prompto that we didn't see in the Verum Rex trailer BUT WHO KNOWS. His relationship with Zexion in the Organization was mostly a series of trades, barters, bribery, and perhaps a little blackmail. Zexion was willing to let him hide from Saix or his missions in his labs - but Demyx had better have something to offer him for the invasion of space. Be it materials from off-world, retrieving something for him, or letting him run some tests on a magical theory he had, Demyx generally bribed his way into Zexion’s good graces. It’s created a bit of an awkward relationship post-3 - neither of them is sure how maintain a “normal” relationship of being friends because they’ve been cohorts at best the past several years. It’s taking some adjustment, and Demyx still tends to low-key bribe Ienzo into tolerating his presence. Ienzo doesn’t mind Demyx hanging around nearly as much as he did as Zexion, but… well he’s not one to say no to a perfectly good - and useful - bribe.

#character meme #character ask #ffxiv #persona 5 #kingdom hearts #aymeric de borel #g'raha tia #thancred waters #yusuke kitagawa #demyx #kh #i love all of them #give me characters and i shall gush

[inviouswriting]

Creator things

Dunno, but I feel this is a good platform, I also generally don’t care if people leave after any of my vents, but more to that thing about the leaks.

I am still in Lesson 22. If that says anything. I am technically still learning alot about each of the characters, their personalities, and what they bring for the story itself.

I know enough about certain points IN the story, but I am not “THERE” yet. I can know an outcome, but for me it is always the “getting there” that matters most to me. What choices do I make regarding an interaction with a character and how it might reflect later means alot to me in a sense.

I like stories that have different ways to get to their endings, but what matters is my initial choice in that moment. I’ll go back and see another option, but for me, my main choices I make are what are solid for me.

So... I really hate leaks. I hate unofficial notifications on stuff, or basically spoilers. I HATE them. I have to avoid spoilers for two games now because I don’t like second hand knowledge on them because I want to experience them. Like.. for ff14 I’ll be making tags specifically to block spoilers but for an expansion it kind of is what it is, some are gonna power through the entirety of the game, while others like me will take their time leveling and enjoying the story.

For spoilers I am reminded of when 5.3 was released and how one person I use to follow, the patch wasn’t LIVE yet for NA server and ugh... I had critical game changing things spoiled for me before I had a chance to play it myself.

I unfollowed this person, they used a unique tag, and they did it for clout. So that person is permanently blocked because of that.

So easy to say I really hate spoilers of any kind. They go against alot for creators who learn things in order to create story content for what we write of a series.

It’s like taking everything that someone has been waiting for, for months and then ruining it. Like you know the old leaks regarding HP and a pivotal point of that story arc.

Some people want to experience the stories as they’re released, and not have everything spoiled off the bat when information passes through their hands. Don’t do that... 

There are a few people for Obey Me! who post without fail any new leak or content that they manage to get their hands on. And alot of it untagged so those who wish to avoid the spoilers can’t. The same way there are still people who wish to see the anime without spoiled content because the developers and creators work hard on the series to bring it to us for all of us at the same time. 

My blogs are spoiler free except for some of the devilgrams I hint to. I do try to be vague as possible and not talk directly about them or write about them. Because there are those who don’t have them. But for the most part, everything else you read on my writing blog here is 100% original concepts I come up with. I don’t get inspired much from other people, if I do, I will always highlight my inspiration. 

I might take back what I said about one side of content I won’t write on, and touch a request sent to me because I feel comfortable to touch it now. Or I might do one better and forward it to another writer who might be able to write it and do it justice.

Just I always feel a little skeptic on my ability to write religious concepts because I’m Pagan... and I left that side a long time ago. But anyway.

My blogs, both of them, are spoiler free from actual story content.

Everything I bring and create is usually all my own. I will relate what is shadowbringer content and endwalker content. for my ff14 content... but for the most part in ff14 it’s all been my angel Kivera. She’s spoiler free unless you follow her actual lore. (I need to actually write her stories. But she rarely gets notice.)

I won’t share unofficial knowledge, and I hope many who follow me will respect those feelings too. I won’t discuss official names, images, leaks at all until they’ve been officially released. 

But this might make the developers tweak some things last minute too.

So for obey me, please respect the developers and creators in not sharing that information on the new characters. Otherwise I might ban/block people from viewing this blog for sharing that stuff.

#invi's rants #invi's psa's #I noticed that blog suddenly disappeared too

[kamedani]

FFXIV Yoshi P. Dengeki Interview

On February 6th, Dengeki and a number of Japanese media outlets had an interview event with Yoshi P following the Showcase. Here is the interview Yoshi P had with Dengeki Online as translated by me. The original interview can be found at https://dengekionline.com/articles/66986/

Section 1: Two Concepts for Healers and a New Melee DPS!

Dengeki: Sage was just announced as the new healer job in Final Fantasy XIV. Additionally, you announced that healers will be split into two concepts – pure healers (White Mages and Astrologians) and shield healers (Scholars and Sages). This is where we have our first questions for you. How are you planning on distinguishing pure healers and shield healers moving forward?

Yoshi P: From a balance standpoint, no matter if you play a pure healer or shield healer, we are making it so there won’t be a massive difference in power. Instead, the idea is we want players to have vastly difference experiences in gameplay.

 For example, in the case of Scholar and Sage, the way in which they apply shields will be different. The scholar play style is being able to attack, put up shields, and heal with the help of their fairy. In the case of the sage, their weapon, the noulith, isn’t a pet so the sage’s play style is going to be different. Our concept is that we want the Warriors of Light to experience that difference.

 Dengeki: So since there are going to be shield healers and pure healers, you are going to be splitting healers into two roles?

 Yoshi P: No, there is still going to be just one role for healers. So, of course, no matter what healer you play you can clear content. On the other hand, for difficult content, we feel it is good to have healers be separatable. If it gets confusing to not have a more clear distinction between pure and shield healers, we can revisit it.

 Dengeki: On the same topic, will there be any kind of change to fight balance by making pure healers and shield healers?

 Yoshi P: Up until Patch 5.3 we heard from a lot of players that healers had a fair amount of downtime on their hands. So, from Patch 5.4, we’ve planned for the more difficult content to put out a lot more damage more often. For speed clears we are planning for it to be harder to do with just pure healers or just shield healers.

We plan on continuing to make content with this idea in mind so content will be easier to clear if you bring one pure healer and one shield healer. Also, as I said at the Announcement Showcase, we are going to be changing the algorithm behind the matching systems like Raid Finder as best we can so it will put both healer types in a group.

Dengeki: So, for example, will the limit gauge build up differently if you have double pure healers?

Yoshi P: If we change specifics of how the limit gauge builds, it will have effects on other encounters where limit gauge building is a part of the fight so we have no plans for this kind of change.

Dengeki: With the idea of healers having more specialized roles, are there plans or do something similar to tanks having main tanks and off tanks?

 Yoshi P: Right now we don���t have any plans to make healer sub categories. While, for example, there is a sentiment that paladins are more suited for off tanking, the truth is they can fulfill both roles so we want to do something like this with healers.

 Dengeki: The four tanks are distinct from one another.

 Yoshi P: That’s right. While fulfilling the same role, each job has a different play experience. In the case of DPS jobs, they feel different based on their difficulty to control and different attack abilities.

 Dengeki: Speaking of the new jobs, you said the other new job in addition to sage will be a melee DPS. There are already four melee DPS in the game now. Compared to other jobs types, melee DPS is the most. Please tell us how you came to adding another melee DPS to the game and how will it be balanced with the existing melee DPS.

 Yoshida: When it comes to the amount of jobs types, say for example, in Patch 7.0 we add another tank, that would bring us up to five tanks. Increases in job types is something unavoidable as the game continues.

Furthermore, compared to other roles, a lot of people want to play DPS. Our thinking is adding a new DPS job is a must for an expansion disc so we went with melee DPS this time. At the current moment, dragoon is the only job that uses maiming gear so the new melee job will use it as well.

 Dengeki: On the topic of melee DPS, recent difficult content seems to be going in a direction that makes things more difficult for melee DPS. What are your thoughts about this?

 Yoshi P: We are aware of this on the development side. This is a dilemma shared by many long running MMOs. If you add a lot of mechanics to an encounter, that encounter becomes more difficult for classes that require movement and positionals.

 We are currently looking at each job’s skills and making adjustments accordingly. And we are, of course, making sure to balance it so ranged DPS won’t always have the easier time.

 Dengeki: Continuing our discussion of battle content, you said that you will be removing belts from the game. Will you be adding the stats lost from belts to other gear to compensate?

 Yoshi P: Belts and accessories tend to have lower stats on them so removing belts won’t have a very large effect. Still, we are working on moving stats so you won’t feel any change to your game experience. You don’t need to worry about it. You may, however, feel like something is a bit different after the numbers crunch we are going to do.

Speaking of belts, after what I said at the showcase about materia affixed to belts, I got a message from the development team saying that they are going to take care of the materia too. So, from Patch 6.0, you can go to a calamity salvager and collect any recoverable materia that was in your belts. Players won’t have to do any preparation in advance.

 Dengeki: After belts become no longer equippable, will we still be able to turn them in for seals or desynthesize them?

 Yoshi P: That will be unchanged. The only change there will be is we will add a description like “Once thought to protect adventurers’ waists” to the item description. (laughs)

 Section 2: Endwalker’s Main Color is Platinum!

 Dengeki: Next we’d like to talk to you about the logo for the new expansion. All previous expansions’ logos have been pretty clear in what they were trying to convey. This time, however, the logo feels more mysterious with elements like that thing that looks like a monolith on the left side of the logo. Please tell us about the concept for this logo and the ideas that went into it.

 Yoshi P: I can’t go into too many specifics on the logo so instead let me speak about the concept Mr. Amano made for us based on conversations I had with him. I spoke with him about everything we had done throughout the course of this Hydaelyn and Zodiark story and the theme of finding hope in despair.

 I first spoke with him in the real world meta sense of launching A Realm Reborn out of the despair of 1.0’s release. I also spoke with him in the in game main scenario story sense of finding hope in the despair of the end times and what is to come. I think the nuiance came through in this logo.

 Dengeki: So you are saying, the meaning of the logo will become more clear after having played the game.

 Yoshi P: I think you will have moments of thinking “OH! So THAT is what that means.” after having played. The only other thing I can say at this point is about the planet in the background. Is it the moon? Is it the planet Hydaelyn? You will find some of these answers as you play the story for 5.5.

 Dengeki: The title screens of each expansion until now has had one main color as its theme. What is the color for this expansion?

 Yoshi P: The color as I explained to the development team is platinum. The difference is a very small nuiance but the color is not white. I told them the concept of the red moon and explained that the theme color was neither the darkness of night nor the white of the morning. I told them the color is the golden color that illuminates someone’s face in that brief moment when the light first hits them.

 I could see on the faces of the development team that I was asking them to do the impossible again. Nevertheless, the logo is neither gold nor yellow. It sits on that fine line between both. It represents the final glimmer of light between the new dawn of A Realm Reborn and the darkness of night of Shadowbringers.

 Shadowbringers opened in a world without night. For this expansion we want to make something similar to surprise players. We are using the platinum theme as the base for some color adjustments for this expansion. So, if you remember all of this, you may be surprised when you see it in the story. (laughs)

 Dengeki: In the teaser trailer the Warrior of Light is now a paladin as his main job. Why is that?

 Yoshi P: To tell the truth, I agonized over what to make his main job. As everyone already knows I am a contrarian and I like to turn the story upside down and look at things from that different perspective to surprise the players.

 In Shadowbringers, for example, we started development with me coming up with the initial concept that players were probably getting sick of being called “Warriors of Light,” and “heroes” and instead would do away with the light and regain the darkness as Warriors of Darkness.

 This time, when we decided to write the final chapter of the Hydaelyn and Zodiark story, as is the case in all classic Final Fantasy games, I thought about the idea of hope. I thought about the desire I and many people have to carry hope as well as the desire to abandon hope. When I thought about who would be standing on the front line and shouldering all of that, I thought of a paladin.

 With that image rolling around in my head, I made the decision. Endwalker is going to be a title similar in scale to and on par with the ending story of any title in the Final Fantasy series.

 Dengeki: We may be getting a bit ahead of ourselves here but are we safe in assuming paladin will get some cool new skill to go along with all this? (laughs)

 Yoshi P: Since paladin already has Passage of Arms it is going to be hard to come up with a skill that surpasses it. Even still, every job is getting new skills players have been wanting. They’re going to be flashy and cool so as to make you like your job even more. We will do our best to meet your expectations.

 Dengeki: Let’s talk about new game experiences next. So far there have been new things added to the game like flying and swimming. Will there be something else like that?

 Yoshi P: Endwalker is made to give players the feeling of experiencing the thrilling last chapter in the Hydaelyn and Zodiark storyline on the scale to rival any other RPG. We are focused on giving players the ability to have this experience as their characters in the game world. To that end we don’t feel some new movement mechanic is necessary. We are creating an adventure that will take you through the air and under the sea.

 That’s one reason. The second reason is well… forgive me! I am out of ideas! (laughs) In this game we’re going to the moon and the development team first asked me if we should add in zero gravity. But that would be no different than swimming. You would jump once and just not land on the ground! (laughs)

 This game already has all the different modes of movement you would find in an MMO so if we forced something else in, it would be tedious. Still, if you have an interesting idea, please let me know and I’ll consider it. (laughs)

 Dengeki: Continuing with that idea, what kind of experiences can we look forward to on the moon?

 Yoshi P: For starters there are questions like what is the moon, what is going on on the other side and beneath the surface? (laughs) To be honest, I’ve been into astronomy for the past year or so and I saw two theories on the formation of Earth’s moon.

 So in response to some of these open-ended questions, this expansion will be about writing a story about the moon specific to our world. The moon in our story is a combination of concepts from the development team, the moon in the real world, and some things we made up. I hope you pay attention to it.

 Oh yeah, to any concerned Warriors of Light that may be out there worrying if there is an atmosphere on the moon, please relax. (laughs) That is explained in the story as well so please look forward to it.

 Dengeki: The music is a part of the experience that can’t be forgotten and it seems like Soken pulled out all the stops for the theme this time. What did you ask of him when making the soundtrack to this game?

 Yoshi P: I asked him to consider that even though this is the climax of the story, every single song cannot be a moving epic masterpiece. I asked him to make songs to match what was going on in the story at the time.

 To both Soken and myself, the main theme of Shadowbringers was quite invocative. The theme of the Crystal Tower is woven into it to give it that Final Fantasy feeling. But even if you take it out, it can stand as an unconventional Final Fantasy title by itself.

 Many of our players really liked that song so it gave us a lot of confidence. Taking a step forward from this point, I told him to make something that expresses the grand finale to the first adventure of our 14th Final Fantasy. Soken kept telling me what a busy schedule he has but he’s been working really hard and I hope everyone looks forward to the music in this game.

 Section 3: New Content and More Challenging Existing Content

 Dengeki: Now we’d like to ask you about the current game. Patch 5.0 introduced the Trust System and players have been enjoying using it. At the latest Live Letter you told us that in addition to Estinien joining the Trust System, new features are going to be added. Please tell us some specific things waiting for us.

 Yoshi P: After we launched the Trust System, many players started asking us to expand it to 8-man duties and past content. We, of course, want to make the Trust System work with all of our content for our players to enjoy.

 However, the Trust System requires specific programming for each dungeon so each character acts in a way you would expect them to. This costs a lot to do. So, we are currently exploring ways to make it work across more content.

 Right now I cannot give many more specifics about the Trust System such as when more will be coming. Please be assured we are working to find a way to expand it. All of the 6,0 dungeons, for example, will be playable with the Trust System. So, at the very least, there won’t be any issues with those dungeons so you can go into them with the Scions. Players who like to solo content can be assured of that.

 Dengeki: We are also interested in being able to do things at a relaxed place on the deserted islands. Will players actually be able to mount up and sell things to each other? Isn’t there a chance this content will ultimately benefit players who play the most?

 Yoshi P: We are making the deserted island content to be relaxed living content players can enjoy at their own pace without competing with others. I can’t say competition amongst players will never happen but there will be plenty of opportunity to enjoy playing by yourself with reduced interaction with others.

 We want to make it an area where you create and grow your own things and use them to collect rewards. Players can do things at their own pace without having to worry about other players affecting their progress. We are making something for players who even want to do farming without worrying about difficulty.

 You can think of it as a somewhere to spend time in a place you love with your favorite minions or even enjoy raising animals you brought to the island with you.

 Dengeki: Please tell us as much as you can about the new smaller scale PvP mode.

 Yoshi P: We are making content with new rules and maps as all new content. In our current PvP system, healers shoulder a lot of the burden. Wins and losses heavily rely on the healers so because of this huge responsibility, healers are in short supply and matching is quite difficult.

 The new PvP content is going to be less strict where any job can participate. We are making a role free system where each job will have some means of healing itself.

 Dengeki: So it is something more like The Feast than Frontlines?

 Yoshi P: If I had to choose, it is more like The Feast but in this mode you don’t just get points by defeating opposing players. We are adding more ways to get points like capture the flag to make more casual maps and a more casual playstyle. We are also making ranked and free modes that players can use to collect PvP rewards.

 Also, like I said at the Showcase, we are working on a system where the rewards will include things players are going to want other than just gear. I will have more information about this at the next PLL.

 Dengeki: There have been many posts on the official forums from PvPers who want PvP to be balanced separately for both large group PvP and smaller group PvP. Can they expect to see that in this upcoming content?

 Yoshi P: We are planning on implementing job balance adjustments along side small scale PvP. We are also currently discussing if we are going to keep The Feast as well but we haven’t reached a decision. But there is a high chance The Feast will get shut down.

 This is because we want to focus on fixing any issues with this new content based on player feedback. If we have The Feast running at the same time, it will split our resources so we would like to avoid that.

 Dengeki: In the middle of the latest Live Letter the topic of Hildibrand came up. When can we expect to see him next?

 Yoshi P: We actually saw him briefly in The Heroes’ Gauntlet in Shadowbringers so he must have somehow wound up there after we saw him last him in Stormblood. (laughs) The Hildibrand story had become kinda tedious so we took a break with it in Shadowbringers.

 We don’t plan on ending it, however. Hildibrand is a beloved character in our world and many people want to see his tale continue. Our development team has also recharged their batteries so we are going to provide players with something. Please look forward to his return.

 Dengeki: With the new expansion there is going to be a graphical upgrade to the game. Is there also going to be a change in the minimum PC requirements?

 Yoshi P: No, we are working hard on the PS5 version to make it look as good as possible but since this is going to be the final chapter in the Hydaelyn and Zodiark storyline, we decided not to make any major changes.

 I want to update the graphics engine at some point since the amount of data used has gotten quite great over these ten years. Also, we want to rebuild the data access system to support 4K graphical textures.

 Players have also told us they want their mounts to feel more alive but for that to work we will need to do a graphical overhaul. We are, of course, doing this little by little.

 Please remember that we work on schedules planned years at a time. We were able to fix some of our data center issues on this schedule over a long period of time fitting in work where we could. So, when it comes to updated graphics, it is something we want to do but don’t have much free time. It is quite a challenge to do as well so please be patient.

#FFXIV endwalker translated interview dengekionline