#ARR struggles with it at times but I think HW is really where it Worked | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

farfromdaylight · 20 days

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i try not to complain about heavensward. i really do. it's a beloved expansion. people love ishgard. i love ishgard.

however, heavensward FUCKING SUCKS.

listen. so much of heavensward's plot is either badly written or badly paced or both. if you play through it once and don't think about it further, it's a great game. if you even glance back at it, it falls apart like a house of cards.

Actual shit that happens in Heavensward (spoilers):

You fight against the Heavens Ward to prove you're not a heretic. Five minutes later you have to go back to Ul'dah to save Raubahn.

After several levels of exploring Dravania and reaching the Churning Mists, you finally find Nidhogg's lair. You can't get there. You turn around and go back to Ishgard.

While you're fucking about waiting for the manacutters to get done, you go get the sultana back. Literally the entire plot momentum built up from your big road trip across Dravania comes to a dead halt as you go back to Ul'dah.

You slay Nidhogg. You go back to Ishgard. You spend eight quests killing time until the Vault, learn that class warfare is a thing, and fight off one of the Heavens Ward, who BACKFLIPS AWAY FROM YOU.

Immediately after the Vault, you go fight a whale.

The Emperor of Garlemald shows up in the Sea of Clouds just to tell you that you suck.

At the exact moment Y'shtola would be convenient to the plot, she returns.

The archbishop gets to Azys Lla way before you, but helpfully waits until you get there before continuing the plot.

and so on. i'm sure there's more.

here's my problem with heavensward: individually, there are a lot of great plot elements in it. however, they are presented in such a fucking buckwild manner that a lot of them are diminished. let's take the Hilda section for example: it's great to learn about Ishgard's class struggles! Of course this is great worldbuilding! However the actual section where you learn about it feels like (and basically is) filler. You finish the Aery, learn a lot of important Dragon Lore, and come back to Ishgard. You then have to fuck about until you're a high enough level to do the Vault, and in that section you do some of the worst fetchquesting in the game. It is atrocious.

Are there things I like about Heavensward? Absolutely. I fucking love Ishgard. I think the overall worlbuilding is phenomenal. Dragon vs man is a compelling storyline. But my god, the plotting and pacing are SO BAD. You spend an unbelievable amount of 3.0 dealing with the Ul'dah plotlines of post-ARR when you should be fully immersed in Ishgardian politics. It would not have killed you to leave the sultana stuff for HW patch quests, guys.

The best comparison I can make is that it's like if in Shadowbringers, instead of seeing the Meanwhile In Garlemald sections, you instead had to just abandon the First and head back to deal with that shit right before fighting a Lightwarden. It brings the narrative to a dead halt. It just doesn't work.

And like, I get it. It's not easy to write a game like FF14. The fact that later expansions are as well-written as they are is frankly a miracle. This is a huge worldbuild with a ton of plot threads and it's incredible even half of them get wrapped up. But viewed in isloation, Heavensward is one of the most tonally inconsistent parts of the entire story.

#ffxiv #ishgardian salt mines #ffxiv meta #heavensward #this is all fresh off a ng+ rewatch i SWEAR TO YOU ALL THESE THINGS HAPPEN IN HEAVENSWARD #YOU REALLY GO FIGHT BISMARCK RIGHT AFTER THE VAULT #IT'S UNBELIEVABLE.

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lavampira · 8 months

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13, 16, 22, 23, + 30 for the wol questions? 🩷

[wol questions]

ty beloved!! 🖤

13. are they close with any of the other scions? who do they get along with the best?

minfilia and shtola were her closest confidantes in ARR, and shtola continues to be now, both of them academic-minded and inquisitive and caring in an outwardly detached way that works for them well. thancred was someone she struggled to get along with being too similar to each other’s stubborn and repressed qualities for a long time, but he’s become an older brother figure to her. the twins are baby siblings to her that she lovingly pesters and encourages in equal measure. raha and estinien are her closest friends, though, but for different reasons - raha is her soulmate if she’s ever had one, their lives so intertwined through distance and time, and his gentle insistence at being by her side as an equal to experience adventures and share her burdens while she encourages him to find his place as a scion now that he’s survived beyond his sacrifices and remind that he is an equal to her; estinien is a quiet support where he is always, always believing and trusting in her and willing to lend his lance when she needs, and she tries to be the same for him, simply two friends who know each other well and can coexist without needing to talk at times.

16. what does your WoL do to relax? what sorts of distractions do they seek? do they foster any bad habits as a result?

she goes home to decompress; whether to see her parent, sid and rielle, or her island, there’s something about returning to the sanctuary and comfort of not having to be the warrior of light, but just d’alia, the person. little trips into nature as well, pocketing plants for her scrapbook journal. makes herself a bunch of comfort foods. pretty much seeks quiet and solitude as distractions, nothing really wild, but it does make her a little reclusive and cagey for a time not wanting to be around people when she’s emotionally unstable and repressing it.

22. do you have a unique tale for their job class or is it pretty much like what it is in the game?

for the most part, her jobs are the same as they are in game, though I made her a novice arcanist ahead of joining the guild, and bumped her meeting troupe falsiam in kugane instead of during their eorzean tour. I do headcanon that her drk soul crystal holds more resonance with the real fray’s memories and part of his soul weaved with “fray”/esteem, given how potent a dark knight’s emotions are and the violence in his death that would leave an impression, and the fuckery involved with the crystal, too.

23. are there any side quest storylines that you're particularly fond of or think of as being canon to your WoL's experiences?

BIG BIRD CRASHING THROUGH THE DOOR DOT GIF

the firmament & ishgardian restoration quests!! it’s a lighter way to bond with francel after both of them taking haurchefant’s death hard, but also how she spends her time after the dragonsong war, helping to rebuild the place that’s become not only sanctuary but a real sense of home to her. also tales from the dragonsong war that recaps the HW journey and brings more closure about haurchefant and ysayle for her. that whole side questline with the saint mocianne’s dungeons since she’s a botanist as well.

some of the custom deliveries quests: the orphanage in idyllshire, the widows and orphans fund in rhalgr’s reach, assisting ameliance with supplies for the studium, and helping anden remember who he is with the pixies’ help.

some of the tribal quests as well: the moogles rebuilding zenith; not the full thing for the ananta, but the lead-up during the unlock involving m’naago’s dad and the seeker who wanted to battle him and become nuhn out of vengeance until he learned the truth of his own father; helping the pixies find purpose without seeing titania’s dreams; and everything for the omicrons with the café and elysion in UT.

the culinarian/alchemist questline at the crystalline mean is also canon for her as well; it’s so important to me that she helps the recovering amaro while dealing with the light poisoning.

the shb role quests, its master quest, and the follow-up mini questline are also everything to me and def canon for her experiences as well. no spoilers (holding you at gunpoint to finish leveling rdm + do the warring triad to access all parts) but OUGH.

oh god also that one gold quest that’s so easy to miss but you go with f’lhaminn to say goodbye to a place made for minfilia and leave a stone that was important to her after returning to the source from the first.

island sanctuary & mount rokkon are canon because I love how they bring her back to building a community for herself and her loved ones and exploring new places.

and the hildibrand quests are absolutely NOT canon for her but bring so much unhinged and lighthearted fun to me and I love them for it LMAO

probably so many more I’m forgetting, hey did you know I love a side quest !!

30. what was their highest point in shadowbringers? their lowest? what caused it?

highest: the very first night sky that she brought back, which is kind of sad because it was so early, but that first brief bit of hope that she was able to bring to the people there on the first was so meaningful to her.

lowest: the aftermath of mt gulg/crown of the immaculate, nearly transforming into a sin eater, thinking she lost raha again when he was shot, and the light returning to the skies - it felt like such a devastating failure and made her believe that she would die by the time she had to face emet-selch.

#crying i really had to put a cut because i could not hush about side quests #asked and answered #hythlodaes #oc: d'alia liveq #shadowbringers spoilers

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queenofnohr · 3 months

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Odeline Heaven's Ward Relationship Overview

Zephirin

Sympathetic to her plight, but ultimately has a job to do (pre-ARR)

Encourages the Ward to interact with her throughout the events of HW

Charibert

Wants to persecute her as a heretic sooooooooooooooo badly

(pre-ARR) If she smells Charibert coming, she'll veil herself back up bc she does NOT want to deal with him

(after revival) bites each other bites each other bites each other

Technically her savior

Though because he was the one who persecuted her "family," he was the one she had to fight in trial by combat (real rin vs medea hours; aka she wins not bc of her magic but by mana burst punching him in the gut)

literally "the one that got away" for him. his white whale. LOVES fighting her

Grinnaux

"look at this funny bitch"

Leans slightly neutral toward her, but thinks she's entertaining

Adelphel

Knew her as the weirdo who indulges Jannequinard during his tenure as a Durendaire knight

Wanted/wants (?) to fuck her ngl. He's 22. big shrug.

Gets along fairly well with her even though she rejects his advances

Thinks she's naïve despite being younger than her for thinking ppl don't break their vows of chastity constantly in ishgard

Even tempered, thought things would work out until the very end because they were friends :(

Paulecrain

Eyepatch to eyepatch communication

by that I mean he recognizes her as (somewhat) cut from the same cloth as people who'd struggled to get by in Ishgard

Gains some amount of respect for her after she bests Charibert in her trial by combat

While it isn't really surprising to him that an Au Ra would thrive outside of Ishgard, seeing her when she returns, he wonders how high she plans to climb wrt status

Slightly bitter at her position as House Fortemps ward in HW, especially after learning she's a Problem Child now

On her part, she wants to see him succeed because she does consider him a person (as with the rest of the Ward) and is frustrated to see him content with his lot as it is - when asked "Doesn't [he] want more?" he half-bitterly replies with, "Where else is there to go when you've made it into the Ward?"

Is so fucking confused as to why she rubbed elbows with Jannequinard for clout and she's just like. "He was the only one stupid enough to take me"

post revival, he probably grounds her a lot of the time like "even if you're warrior of light, you're still just a person"

Haumeric

Was On Her Side during her scandal and sent her to complete her schooling afterward; despite this, because of her past trauma, she distrusts his acts of goodliness

Her scandal is what made him seriously consider stepping down from the clergy

(post revival) "I can fix her" "I can make him worse"

Thinks she's a good Halone-fearing woman and thinks her "fall from grace" is a tragedy

unintentionally bullies Odeline after reviving over stuff like pointing out she cried over the Ward or unintentionally making her beg for cock

likes sticking his dick in crazy so, you kno.

Last Ward member she fucks

Guerrique

Likes to fuck with him

before she likes to fuck with him u kno? (post-Ward reviving)

He broke her arm on accident once and feels really bad about it so he sort of lets her behavior slide

Figures out her vibes faster than anyone else but doesn't comment because it's not his lane

First Ward member Odeline fucks bc she thinks he'll be an easy conquest. why would she think this. he's literally exploded a dragon's head with a swing and broken 22 of his axes because of his strength. the reason is she's a little stupid and has a god complex.

Guerrique asks if he should name a new axe after her after they fuck and she's just like .........

Noudenet

Classmates in the Scholasticate

Would bitch about her magic constantly, making her strive to get better

Thinks her mana bursting is big poggers though ("It was very imaginative")

Tells her to study with Charibert rather than Haumeric when she's learning magic from the Ward mages

Janlenoux

BLUE HAIR SQUAD

The only one who can make her calm down maybe a little (with his cooking. Real What's Cooking in the Emiya Household hours)

Technically knew her as the weirdo who indulges Jannequinard when he served House Durendaire

Ward members not listed I'm still cooking for! To be updated as I add more lore~

#odeline tag #long post

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autumnslance · 3 years

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would you be willing to make a masterpost of all your sharlayan research and headcanons? please please please and THANK YOU if you do

I can certainly try! A lot of my info is from what little we have so far, and my own fics are where a lot of my headcanons go to live, with little snippets about various characters here and there in my scattered lore posts, as well as stuff I’ve collected from other players.

Other Resources In Louisoix’s Wake - The twins’ official Calamity short story on the Lodestone. One Name, One Promise - Thancred’s backstory, from Limsa to Sharlayan training to his early assignment in Ul’dah and then early Shadowbringers. Mirke’s Menagerie - A compilation of lore info from in game, lorebooks, panels, interviews, short stories, etc. There are about 4 or 5 Sharlayan-specific posts @mirkemenagerie has made.

Encyclopaedia Eorzea - If you can get your hands on copies (physical officially; digitally is Unofficial so far as I know), I recommend it! They’re both good reads, though EE 1 is the one with a blurb on Sharlayan as a nation.

Posts by Other People - that I have collected Leveva Comment About Archon Loaf - Keeping in mind Sharlayan’s bad cuisine has been canonical for years per lorebook 1. They care more about ease of eating while studying, also seeing culinary arts as an academic field, not a practical daily exercise. Lorebook 1 Astrologian Lore - screencaps from the lorebook. Phaedra’s Teen Scion Sharlayan Antics fic - I am happy to take responsibility for inspiring @phaedra-mero to write this delightful scene.

My Own Posts Red Mage Research - Includes books from Gubal Library. Scion Ages - Pointing out the ages of the Scions, particularly the Archons.

My Fics - Sometimes there’s more HC musings in the Notes and Comments. I try to stay close to canon, at least as it is when the fic was written. Rogue’s Prelude - Multichapter, teen Thancred meets Louisoix, Yda, and Papalymo. Written a year prior to Thancred’s official ShB story above. Aetherology & Skulking Boots-Beginnings - Y’shtola agrees to tutor Thancred in how to speak properly as teenagers in the colony. Chin Up - Yda gives Thancred advice as youths in the colony. Dreams of Home-Lucubration - Yda, Lyse, and Thancred in the colony. Younger Sister - Thancred’s relationships with the Hext sisters over time. In Violet’s Wake-Louisoix’s Children - A Master Matoya PoV from StB patches. There’s a brief chapter with her and Y’mhitra in Dreams of Home, too. Excerpts from other posts - things that ended up as commentary on other threads, with some editing since.

From a thread that started off as about Thancred’s Gear from ARR to HW:

Sharlayan is a nation on an island NW of Eorzea proper; the Sharlayan everyone we know hails from was a colony that became a city-state a few hundred years back and part of the Eorzean Alliance, in the Dravanian Hinterlands, where Idyllshire is now. After the fall of Ala Mhigo and then the Battle of Silvertear Skies, the Forum (their ruling body) decided to abandon the city and return to the motherland, a process that took 5 years before they all just teleported out in a day. Except Matoya, and those archons that worked for Louisoix and that he asked to stay and go to the remaining 3 Alliance cities. This would have been 15 years before ARR/Heavensward.

The Students of Baldesion are also Sharlayan; the Isle of Val, their headquarters, being under that nation’s banner. Sons of St Coinach are another offshoot; Rammbroes (Crystal Tower raid story) was originally part of Louisoix’s Circle of Knowing (who eventually became the Scions), and Y’shtola’s sister Y’mhitra is one of the Sons and part of the Summoner storyline.

Thancred got involved as a youth–by trying to pick Louisoix’s pocket, and impressing the old man with his skills, and so Louisoix brought Thancred back with him to give the kid an opportunity for study. Yda and Lyse escaped Ala Mhigo, and with help from Papalymo, who was part of an effort to help refugees seeking shelter in Sharlayan, they ended up there, and Yda is the one who actually became an archon.

Most of the other senior Scions, so far as I know, are native to Sharlayan, either the motherland or the colony. The Leveilleur twins were born in the Hinterlands Sharlayan, but raised in the motherland, as they were less than a year old when the exodus happened. The university they and Krile attended is the Studium. Becoming an Archon seems to be a separate process not everyone goes through, and is a demonstration of mastery in chosen field(s) of study. That’s the significance of the tattoos some of the Scions have on their necks or faces.

Sharlayan is basically a nation particularly focused on academia; the trouble is, for the last couple decades, it’s been controlled by a faction of isolationists who would rather hoard knowledge and sit in the proverbial ivory tower looking down on non-Sharlayans, claiming others would abuse their knowledge, and that they should simply observe history and not try to affect it. Louisoix, Matoya, and the organizations they associate with (the Circle of Knowing/Scions; Sons of St Coinach, the Students of Baldesion, etc), think that viewpoint is stupid and go against it. A big part of the Astrologian storyline is dealing with Sharlayans who dislike Leveva’s family sharing Sharlayan astrology with outsiders, for example.

What sort of relationship Sharlayan and Ishgard had before the exodus isn’t really detailed much; both were pretty insular and focused on their own issues (like many of Eorzea’s city-states outside of crises), and the Dravanian threat at the time might have kept them pretty separated by land. Sharlayan was responsible for Eorzea’s aetherytes and keeping the aethernets working, though, and it’s suggested they still handle that post-Calamity to some degree. We pay fees for teleports because reconstruction and upkeep is pricey for all of the city-states.

The Isle of Val was the headquarters of the Students of Baldesion, Krile’s family and order, and was a Sharlayan institution. It’s destruction/missing status happened during the ARR patches, and Krile was saved by Hydaelyn as she has the Echo (as an aside: you can hear Minfilia talking to Krile via linkpearl in the background on the Enterprise after rescuing the Scions from Castrum Centri before Ultima, and she constantly refers to and worries about Krile after the Isle of Val goes missing, but then plot happened to Minfilia so we never see them together as friends). The Ascians seemed to have a hand in the Isle’s disappearance…but there’s story about the fate of the Isle of Val and the Students of Baldesion in Stormblood’s Eureka plotline.

As for the Archon Marks, if they do confer social benefits, aside from being an easily seen status symbol for some highly skilled & educated folks, it hasn’t been mentioned yet in concrete terms, though we know the rank has benefits (like access to forbidden lore). Mostly they are a way to tell at a glance who has obtained the rank. It’s like if people with doctorates had a tattoo of their degree symbol on them so you knew just by looking.

As of Shadowbringers 5.4, we know that to become an Archon a thesis is required, and it’s a great deal more work than a Studium graduate’s final thesis. It strikes me that Studium (which some of the Scion Archons also attended) is like undergrad or Masters studies, while Archon is a Doctorate level.

I personally headcanon that the arcane marks confer some minor, slowed visible aging and other vague magical benefits befitting their rank in Sharlayan society. Really, that’s a way for the devs to avoid new models and add to the confusion in 1.0′s intros and the running joke about Y’shtola’s age, BUT let’s come up with an in-world thing, too. There has to be some explanation for Thancred’s perpetual baby face when he’s not RPing a Mountain Hobo ;) Also we really don’t know for sure how old Matoya is. Just old.

Lorebook 2 Notes:

Mikoto Jinba (Return to Ivalice, Save the Queen storylines) worked on aetheric siphon research with Moenbryda, and at 29 is the youngest Raen with the rank of Archon in recent history. It was Jessie’s connections that brought her to Cid’s attention and got her involved in the Return to Ivalice story.

Ejika Tsunjika (Eureka storyline) went to school at the same time as Krile and Leveilleur twins, endorsed by Galuf Baldesion, who Ejika later chose to work under. He’s resentful of Krile and the twins as Ejika himself is of humble origins and had to struggle to get to where he is, yet hides his Archon brands with high collars as he refuses to believe himself unique or exceptional.

#Final Fantasy XIV #Lore #Sharlayan #Archons #Scions of the Seventh Dawn #Anonymous

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sarenhale · 2 years

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You wanted to see pictures of my special girl Deidre here she is

She's 5'4 and I've found two NPCs pre EW with her exact face and coloring combination . (Sky watcher infront of the immortal flames and someone sitting at a table at the bar in the crystarium) she's a solo white mage up until her Big Crisis at the vault where she disappears for four days and no one knows where she is (except Emmanellain who has connected the dots to her picking up dark knight and is NOT SAYING ANYTHING because She's the baby sibling of the house now and he's trying very hard to figure out how to be the older brother and older brothers keep things secret when they know it'll get each other in trouble right? Yeah? Right? Totally comparable to the vase incident when he was a kid-)

How did she manage to be a solo white mage up until halfway through HW? She watched her dad train other village kids to be lancers (mountain village above Silvertear Lake where the wood meets mor Dhona, VERY close to imperial occupation) and improvised close combat with her staff. Which Estinien witnesses while they're both coincidentally visiting Haurchefant during 2.1 (Haurchefant handled the Dragoon quest misshaps) and is just. Baffled. By the combination of actual technical parries and.... Hitting Voidsent like she's swinging a baseball bat. (Also the Eye responds to her but he's ignoring that because she's EIGHTEEN and already struggling with the one title she has and Haurchefant would Kill Him) So Estinien.... Doesn't teach her lancer.... But he does coach her in actual quarterstaff drills. And she does just happen to figure out how to use Aero to jump and earth to make a blade on her staff. New older brother gained.

Also. I haven't written the echo quite on your level with the building But. She is way more like Zenos than any of the scions really want to think about. She actually thought Hydaelyn was resurrecting her whenever she died because she wasn't done with her yet until Zenos ended up back in his own body (Her weird friendship with zenos in shadowbringers is a whole nother essay) but turns out!!! She just repossesses her corpse once her ambient aether makes it healed enough to live in again :). The Scions, save for Alphinaud (who finds out along with the rest of the Fortemps household and tataru when they have an argument after she finally returns to the manor post-vault), and Arenvald (who did the arr patch summonings with her and watched her stand in a bolt of lightning to save his ass and then die and then not be dead), only find out that Actually She Dies Kind Of A Lot when Esteem goes on a fucking RANT at them after the first encounter with Zenos because she's under Living Dead and trying to get medical attention but they think she's an Ascian. (Haurchefant knew the whole time. Haurchefant knew the moment she broke down crying when he asked how her battle with Garuda went. She had never died before that and no one else had asked, not since Thancred's panic after Ifrit)

Deidre is my CW Winchester and some day she Will kill me for it <3

OOOOH Miss Deidre is really gorgeous, and I love her story as well! The fact that she learned how to fight with her staff while being a white mage is genius actually, reminds me a bit of some monk moves that specialize on parrying and disabling their adversary, it's a really smart way to handle fights and I can see how it would work well for a white mage! I love your interpretation of her Echo too, it's always fun to hear other people's thought about the echo and Hydaelyn's blessings and how that affects their Wol. Of course how I could I not enjoy some good ol Zenos reflection! Thank you for telling me more about her ❤

#answered #ffxiv #love me some whm/drk shenanigans

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tiredassmage · 3 years

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For the ship asks, how about 12 and 20??

From the Ship Asks!

12. Character that you can only imagine in one ship.

I think I'll have to step outside of XIV for this one because I don't know if I can think of a XIV character I feel strongly enough about in this way because the general atmosphere of "nothing is set in stone for you, please interpret their relationships with your character as you wish!" And so many interactions in the game are written so well.

Marvel is the place we're going to have to go if we're going to talk about a character I can't ship any other way, and the debate around it and what I, personally, hate about how they have been handled in the movies is why I... no longer really care to keep up with most MCU happenings. But it's Clint Barton/Hawkeye and Natasha Romanova/Black Widow. I fell so head over heels in love with them that I just genuinely cannot imagine it going any other way. And lest I accidentally get embroiled in more than I bargained for admitting that, all I'll say is that I also can't get along with how they've been treated individually in the MCU, either. I can't really get into Natasha and Bruce, and I think both of them have been hideously sidelined and just... not allowed to be shown to their full potential too much for me to ever reconcile with the MCU as it is. I have not, for the record, yet seen the Black Widow movie, nor did I actually watch Infinity War and Endgame, and I don't really intend to amend the latter two just because of how I feel about how things went to get here. I've heard enough on the internet to know more or less what's happened with those movies. Black Widow I'd still like to maybe see at some point (it is the one on the list that I haven't really looked into plot details about) because it's finally here and I stupidly would still like to see what they finally did for her, but there's a part of me that will always feel like it's a bit of an empty gesture to give both of these characters any sort of focus now. A little too little a little too late kind of thing.

20. Ship you liked, but don't anymore.

Hmmmm, this one is... also a little tricky for me to think of in XIV-exclusive terms. It honestly might just be because I'm exhausted (my fan decided it's on its last legs last night so it kept waking me up threatening to fall apart or whatever, and I worked a morning shift today so that was Lovely) that my brain is just refusing to compute thoughts, but I don't... think I've had a ship in XIV that I've felt this way about? So, to give you something, I'll talk about a few almost-maybes I've had for my various XIV OCs.

I had, I think sometime around the time I was playing ARR or HW, toyed very idly and not very in-depth with the idea of Astor and Y'shtola because they have a somewhat similar mind for handling things. With the "hindsight" or further development and interaction shown since then and through Shadowbringers though, I ultimately don't think they'd ever work, and it wouldn't really show up in any of their interactions as an "almost," either. It came down a lot to the kind of interactions they might have had during Shadowbringers, and mainly to the way that I see Y'shtola as an incredibly logic-driven character. Astor, on another hand, is incredibly emotion-driven, and Y'shtola does not hold back anything. I think it'd end up hurting more feelings than anything and leading to butting heads rather than a romantic dynamic. Particularly in Shadowbringers, Astor struggles a lot with... a lot. And there's times where Y'shtola's biting honesty helps him, and there's times where it gets to him and wounds him... More in the kind of wounded pride or things you weren't quite ready to hear but needed to sense than anything that'd make them less of friends, but, anyway, the TLDR is that they're definitely better as friends, and I don't think there's enough from either of them that it'd ever really be a thing.

Minerva is a character I have not put a lot on here and I'm still wildly trying to figure her out, so it's debatable if anything lasting will really ever come of my struggle or if she'll just endlessly remain on the alt-pile, but on my list of potentials for her was Thancred, and I am still debating whether or not I want their almost-maybe-could have play out in full because I do like it. To keep it short, Minerva had a rough life and she's had to fight to survive most of it. Becoming a hero wasn't a thing she ever planned for, and it's sometimes still a little wild to her that... it's happened. She's aggressively against the idea of being used and objectified because she's, unfortunately, experienced quite a bit of it. Their dynamic interested me so much at first because I could see her being kind of taken by his charm in ARR, though, at the same time, his reputation isn't exactly a secret, and it's exactly the kind of reputation that would usually make her skin crawl, so it's something they would have had to work around and through. At the same time though, I could totally see him offering her the kind of genuine confidence building and admiration she'd deserve and... she really needs from a partner. But I think they'd ultimately hit a road bump in SHB that I don't think she could really let herself work around, and that's how he deals with Ryne and his grief for Minfillia. Yes, it's eventually handled better and it's something him and Ryne work through after a lot of coaxing, but I feel like it'd just be a bit of a too-close-to-home issue for Minerva that she'd never quite feel entirely comfortable with again. While it's not exactly a forgiveness issue or really her needing to forgive him, it'd... probably be the easiest way for it to be phrased is that she's not sure she can ever really forgive how he kind of took things out on Ryne when she didn't deserve it, and balked at accepting help. It'd kind of hurt her. I can't imagine them entirely not getting along after and I think they could definitely come to an understanding and work past it as friends, but I don't think she'd be able to maintain a relationship. But that's... a lot of theory for a poor girl whom I can't even figure out what kind of job I want her to main. 🤦 One day. One day I'll figure her out.

#answered #dot talk

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enzelffxiv · 5 years

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trial n origin!

ORIGIN: If your character is formally a Scion of the Seventh Dawn, how did they join the organization? If they aren’t a Scion, do they know of the Scions?

-WoL Imry technically started in Ul'dah, but with some variation. When she set off to become an adventurer at 17, she got off her parents’ ship at Vesper Bay and pretty much walked all the way to the city, doing some odd jobs on the way. (It was Akiv'a, my partner’s character, who ended up on the same carriage with the twins instead.) Joined the adventurers’ guild, etc.

However, at some point before the whole stolen crown business she took a quest that sent her to Vylbrand and met Akiv'a there. Whether it was fate or other machinations that the two of them both had the Echo–either way they ended up confronting the Ascian mage/golem together. They then split up and she returned to Uldah, finished the intro storyline, was recruited by Thancred (and Akiv'a by Y'shtola).

-the timeline splits here depending on whether she or someone else goes on to become the WoL. If she remains a regular Scion, she doesn’t get sent to Ifrit etc. Ends up nearly dying during the Waking Sands massacre. (That’s another story.)

-otherwise, if she doesn’t have the Echo she just keeps on helping out the Adventurers’ Guild. This is the timeline I’ve fleshed out the least since i wanted to keep it open-ended in the event i ever get the time or courage to actually rp with other people :p

And that segues into: (Spoilers thru Stormblood MSQ ahead)

TRIAL: Are there any duty instances that had a particular impact on your character (primal fights, dungeons, raids, etc.)?

-Imry & Akiv'a got sent on the mission that ended up in them confronting Ifrit together. The two of them still didn’t know each other too well, what with Akiv'a taking a while to warm up to people in general. However, when things went wrong and primals got summoned…

Ifrit’s flames triggered Akiv'a’s Calamity-induced PTSD, and he froze on the spot and dissociated badly. Imry managed to fight Ifrit alone with a spear she grabbed off an Amalj'aa, her protective instincts unconsciously drawing from her Crystal of Light and giving her strength she wouldn’t usually have.

That fight is also where she got the scar on her left cheek. (As well as some others on her shoulders and various other places, but the face scar is the most visible given that she tends to wear full armor.)

She insisted on carrying a barely-responsive Akiv'a back to Drybone and refused to leave his side until he was able to function on his own again. Their relationship was still a bit awkward, but that was definitely the turning point where they started to grow closer.

Interestingly, Akiv'a was able to confront some of his trauma in gaining his Ifrit egi on his own, and in some ways that summon has become his favourite. He keeps Ifrit out even when not in battle much of the time, and Imry…talks to it like they’re buddies. They’re both weirdos.

-at the end of Castrum Abania, in addition to injuring Alisaie, Fordola managed to give Imry a nasty concussion before fleeing, putting her out of commission for a time. Even with some excellent healers she was unable to help with the confrontation in the lab.

Used to being able to charge back in to battle after a few days of bedrest, she got extremely restless and ended up arguing with Akiv'a about going with him to fight Zenos. He, of course, was less than happy about the idea of losing another friend after everyone they’d already lost, and was shaken from seeing her so badly hurt. They eventually compromised by having Keten come along to watch her back, essentially. (I think we’re still working out the details of how that fight went because Zenos is way more interested in Akiv'a than her.)

-speaking of Zenos: the duties where he kicks your ass were extremely demoralizing for her. Imry takes her tank role pretty seriously, hence *gestures at entire DRK storyline and how Keten is a manifestation of her regret over being unable to protect her friends at the end of ARR*. Imry also doesn’t have a soul crystal of her own, which means despite her Crystal of Light she’s disadvantaged in that way. She joined the gladiator’s guild for a time and got some training from other various sources, but never did the Paladin quests, and eventually gave the DRK soul crystal to Keten so they could be independent. She has some natural conjury ability that’s boosted by her Echo & has used it to improvise her own techniques (various implementations of aether shields, using wind magic to toss her physical shield around Capt. America style…) but she doesn’t follow a formal discipline of any kind.

In contrast, while Akiv'a is less than half her size, he’s kind of a powerhouse; some of this is because he pushes himself way too hard and uses his aether recklessly, and has the tendency to go a bit berserk when angry. (being able to channel the elder primal who killed half his family and use it to wreak havoc on his enemies does interesting things to the psyche.) It’s very unhealthy but regardless, Imry compares herself to him without meaning to. Since HW she’s gotten better at adjusting and accepting failure, but she still struggles with it. And of course, Zenos is *meant* to knock the WoL down a few pegs…

That’s why finally beating him is something she’s so fixated on, especially because he represents the antithesis of all her personal ideals. She cannot understand him no matter how much she tries, the same reason he finds her completely boring. Subconsciously his fixation on Akiv'a, her best friend, and the fact that it seems to be reciprocated somewhat, is highly distressing to her.

In the end his defeat is highly unsatisfying and leaves her feeling more uncertain than ever. I’m quite interested in what SHB has to offer in that regard.

There’s a lot of context surrounding her state of mind; to be blunt, i write Imry using a lot of my own experiences growing up with undiagnosed ADHD, excelling in some areas and struggling badly in others, and the weight of people’s expectations. She’s young and impulsive and is used to getting by on her instincts and physical prowess, but devalues her own intelligence because she never had the patience for traditional book learning. Mid-SB is where she starts to progress in maturity and emotional regulation, and seeks out learning to balance her weaknesses, spurred on by defeat.

-On a lighter note…she got really fucking excited about the whole Four Lords thing. She loves fighting but she doesn’t like *hurting* people, which is a bit contradictory. But the concept of “hey fighting these guys will *help* them” was…right up her alley.

-she met her girlfriend, a sky pirate, during the Void Ark saga. :p

#enzel.txt #imry ceigwardwyn #rp meme #i may have gotten a little carried away #thankfully all the images were stuff I already had done lol

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bride-and-bride · 6 years

Text

Am I a Shitty Healer?

A Very Basic Guide To When You Will Feel Like You Suck But It’s Actually Just Hard

The first job I ever picked up when I started playing FFXIV was White Mage. And I loved healing in this game enough to keep at it, but I found that there were a lot of places where I found myself struggling and really questioning if I was any good.

AS IT TURNS OUT... that’s pretty normal! So lest you find yourself questioning if you’re fit for healing when you’re getting into it for the first time, here’s a bunch of points at which you’ll probably find you’re having trouble. Don’t panic and think you suck... you’ll get through it with a lil perseverance and practice!

In ARR:

Stone Vigil

Aurum Vale

Dzemael Darkhold

The very first time you end up in these dungeons as an at-level healer, you might find yourself thinking you’re in hell. That’s normal. Focus on making sure you have properly upgraded gear, particularly for your main-hand and body slot! Don’t skip your class quests, either... they offer skills that you’ll definitely need.

Specifically, Stone Vigil has difficult AoEs, Aurum Vale’s got a difficult second Boss, and both Aurum Vale and Dzemael Darkhold have rooms where it’s easy to aggro a LOT of mobs while also having hazards that can deal damage. It’s good to focus on where you stand and how you move!

(Keeper of the Lake also sucks at level, and is tricky even when you get it in roulettes later... again, focus on having up to date gear, and try to read up on the boss mechanics before you head in for the first time!)

In HW:

The Vault

Final Steps of Faith

One of these is a dungeon, the other is a trail, but both are places at which you’ll find the difficulty of healing jumping a bit higher than you might expect. For the Vault, it’s extremely vital to make sure you have properly upgraded gear... the 130 ironworks gear won’t be enough anymore! For Final Steps, it’s quite helpful to read about the fight ahead of time, and really make sure you’re familiar with your aoe healing spells. It’s easier now, but it can be intimidating on your first time none the less... luckily, you have a co-healer to help out!

In SB:

The Pool of Tribute

Bardam’s Mettle

Castrum Abania

The Royal Menagerie

The Pool of Tribute is a trial, and an early one which can be difficult in part because it USUALLY TAKES... quite a while to finish. The attack patterns are rather predictable but because it goes on and on, people tend to get a bit messier in the later stages. Keep an eye on your MP!

Bardam’s Mettle and Castrum Abania are notable because the trash pulls in them hit like a truck. This is pretty common in stormblood dungeons, but don’t be afraid to ask your tank to take one pull at a time, because some of the more innocuous looking pulls can be surprisingly vicious.

The Royal Menagerie.... well, just don’t get discouraged if you find it difficult, try to practice not getting too focused on healing to the point of losing track of the fight around you, and having sprint on your bars will prove a useful tool.

So How Do I Get Better?

I couldn’t say too much... I know I’m definitely always improving in my own healing, too, and I’m still realizing things that make my life easier. However, I think there’s some basic things you can do as a healer to help yourself improve!

Read your Action Descriptions Carefully!

It’s easy to miss details unless you actually take a good look at what your actions do, and it’s always embarrassing to realize you were missing something. For example, WHM’s Assize also restores an amount of MP when you use it... AST’s Essential Dignity does MORE Healing if it’s used on a target with lower HP, and SCH’s Rouse makes your Fairy immune to some status ailments (useful if they’re in the path of a Morbol’s Breath!) You should have an idea of what your stances do as an Astrologian or what Fairy Actions Scholar’s have access to!

In addition, several times you’ll get ‘2′ versions of your existing healing spells... and it’s important to take a look at how they all function, since it’s not a simple case of always using the highest numbered heal you have! Benefic I and Cure I both save you a certain amount of MP and can proc special effects on Benefic II and Cure II, and Medica I and Helios do more raw healing than Medica II or Aspected Helios.

Consider your Role Actions according to what you do!

Some of the Healer skills are extremely vital, and you’ll want to have on your bars most of the time... others are very situational, and can depend on what you’re going to be running and what your style of healing is! For example, most groups will expect Protect at the start of runs, and Swiftcast is an absolute must-have for quick raises in battles...

But Esuna is also an extremely useful tool, and having it quick at hand when someone’s paralyzed or slowed is a great help, and getting in the habit of looking for esuna-able Debuffs is a good one to have.

As for other role actions, it’s great to know that SCH’s Deployment Tactics also spreads Eye for an Eye, Lucid Dreaming gives you increased MP regeneration while it’s active, and Surecast actually prevents knockback and draw-in effects--all tools which can be very valuable in specific cases!

Know your Tank and Co-Healers

Being able to understand how best to work with different classes can make all kinds of runs a lot easier... and particularly in 8-man and raid content, knowing your fellow healers is vital! For example, any character can only have ONE shield effect on them at a time... AST’s Nocturnal Shields overwrite each other and SCH shields and vice-versa... if you’re an AST with a SCH, using Nocturnal Sect will give them a migraine and waste a lot of good healing, and if you have two AST’s the most effective way to go is to have one Nocturnal and one Diurnal healer!

For your tank, each one has a specific ‘last chance cooldown’ that acts differently. Paladin’s Hallowed Ground, for example, prevents ALL damage during it’s duration, meaning you can focus healing elsewhere... while Warrior’s Holmgang doesn’t prevent damage, meaning you need to try and get them back up before it ends and they’re in a bad place! Dark Knight is unusual... their Living Dead makes it so that if they would be killed, they’re instead put in a ‘Walking Dead’ state during which they can’t drop below 1 hp... but they MUST be healed for an amount equaling their full hp before the buff ends, or they’ll die, regardless of if they have hp remaining.

There’s other quirks and benefits you can find with all kinds of classes... from Monk’s Mantra which buffs healing, to Bard’s Warden’s Paean, which can esuna a debuff OR put up a ward to prevent one, to Bard and Machinist’s ability to help regenerate MP, to the different DPS casters being able to transfer a portion of their own MP to you. The more you learn about other classes, the more you can work in cooperation with them!

Know your Limit Break!

Before you hit 50, there’s a pretty good chance you’ll never end up using a Limit Break in a dungeon or trial. Afterwards, however... there will be times when the Healer Limit Break can be the difference between victory and defeat, and having it on your bar saves a lot of heartache.

The Healer LB 1 and 2 are unlikely to get used... but restore 25 and 60% of the entire party’s HP and MP, respectively. Healer LB3 on the other hand... restores full HP and MP to all party members and instantly revives any who are dead at the time! It’s important to note there IS a range on this... people who are VERY far away might miss out, and it locks you in place until the animation ends, meaning it’s possible to bring everyone back only to get caught in an AoE and fall yourself.

This got a lot longer than I meant to, and I’m definitely not any kind of expert... just a bug who really likes to ramble and sometimes gets the burning urge to write guides for things. Still... I think healing in FFXIV is fun as heck, and I can’t help but want more people to feel confident that they can do it, even if they find it tough here and there!

THANKS FOR READING THIS FAR, WOW!

#My brain slipped into hyperfocus and demanded I type a Lot of Words #and now it'd be a waste of several hours if I didn't hit post #but I'm kinda embarrassed

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largepotato · 7 years

Text

Stormblood thoughts

There’s current 1,064 players in queue.

I tweeted doing tthis earlier so I figured I’d write it while i wait to log in. I figured it’d be nice to give one coherent summary of my thoughts i guess, because i feel like talking to friends makes us kind of piecemeal our opinions together and are something imprecise or vague about what specifically we enjoyed or not, so organizing my thoughts on the game so far might be nice.

First, i guess, aesthetic. I think it did great, i think it made zones that are interesting, easily navigated and most of all coherent. So many of Heavensward zones just had this slight incoherence to them that doesn’t make sense to me, as a natural or even semi-seamless part of a broader geographical area. Obviously the limitations of the game make it such that we only see a small part of these regions, but stormblood managed to make it feel like the zones captured a part of a broader picture that feels natural intertwined with the areas that aren’t shown as well as its neighboring regions. It takes care to be mindful of its geography, the paths and routes feel detailed enough to be realistic, but not so mcuh that they’re a chore to navigate. It deos a better job than heavensward in encouraging you to explore the regions, but it also has lots of areas to explore with nothing significant there. Little nooks and crannies with a suprising amount of detail put into them, but nothing of actual substance. EAch zone feels different and captures its feeling very well, so overall i love the experience it has, but not w/o some issue.

The new gear provided is a mixed bag. The new gear introduced is all gorgeous and detailed in subtle simple ways that doesn’t make it feel overly wrought or cluttered for the most part. The recycled models are unique ones that I enjoy seeing again, but some were used too much or without sufficient changes to the model or the class it was on. I think the 67 dungeon is the worst offender of this, bc it is slight recolors of doman gear without any departures from the blue gear models or associated classes. The first dungeon being dyeable, the i270 and i300 green weapons being the same model, as well as several grey gear repeated from HW grey gear is also a bit bland. That some of the high end glamor gear is also now gatherer/crafter gear feels weird, but not being able to glamor that unto combat gear changes that. Most of this is outweighed by the new gear looking absolutely gorgeous, but it feel like lost potential in some ways.

Second, i guess should be plot. I’ll do things I liked, then disliked, then things i’m optimistic and looking forward to.

I’ll begin by saying I loved the plot as a whole. It delivered more than i was expecting in being this exciting journey to the east kind of quest. It managed to tie this kind of fantasy theme with something more earthly by having the back drop being a campaign to liberate nations long occupied, and it managed to do it in a way that was reasonably well nuanced. I wasn’t expecting much in terms of how it talked about ideas like occupation, and liberty, and rule, and cooperation with one’s occupiers, but I think it mostly managed to delivery in these regards. I think the dialogue was mostly really good at a mix of banter and serious deliveries, and I think it did good at using both ends of conversation to give characterization to people in the quests as well as your own character. Its overall quality made me realize the chaff that heavensward still had, despite that itself being a great improvement over ARR. For the most part, it had likeable protagonists who showed human flaws, villains who played specific roles as villains and served that ends well, and companions who grew and explored the same world and struggles as you did as a player character.

The things i didn’t like were mostly in a lack of conclusion, or willingness to come to certain conclusions and closure with the narrative and characterization given to the characters. Primarily, this is in characters like Yotsuyu and Zenos, but kinda sprinkled through out. The game is uncertain what it wants from these characters or what role they should play in the narrative, and sometimes feels like the ending is overly flattening or just a dramatic shift that weakens the impact of the personality cultivated over the course of the plot.

In Yotsuyu’s case, she’s presented as this self-determined and violent pragmatist who begins to be given a sympathetic background, that’s ignored for a dramatic one-dimensional ending (yes, i know i know). That it fails to give her opportunity to explore and understand her in a way that makes her and her collaboration with the empire more sympathetic is a huge short coming, and makes it feel wasted as a time to develop as a character.

Zenos is what i might see as a quinessential JRPG villain, with morbid and truly baseless, and irrational ideas of human violence and instinct, and in most cases this would just be boring, but his position and role makes this more interesting because of the power he commands and the influence he offers. How he manipulates and affects someone like Fordola and how he perceives his conflict with you is so out of touch with the reality of the rest of the narrative that it almost works because that divide is so clearly shown.... until the end, and you go to the menagerie, and he’s just... He monologues and becomes a dragon and you fight and none of what he did before make sense. His imperial position and rule and authority to command armies at his call are irrelevant, and his brutally primitive world view isn’t given a context except its own word. It becomes uninteresting to me, and never really gives a closure on why his view is wrong, only that in some ways he validates himself and dies.

In a similar vein, the game wants to make a parallel between Lyse and Fordola, as a characters who mirror each other, and all of the pieces are there, but the game doesn’t or isn’t interested in making something from it, but that may be somethin to be developed as more patches are released. But its also indicative as a whole where the game almost wants to say something or provide this kind of insight or even the vaguest of messages, and shirks away and fails to do so in any way, or with any substance. (This also brings up my disappointment in the Lakshmi detour, in that it is a regression in where the plot has gone with discussing the nature of primals and primal summoning, and the vaguest of messages that can be gleaned from the arc falls unto deaf ears of the main cast, and leaves a bad taste in my mouth, especially in the context of Lakshmi being a real hindu goddess that’s depicted with an all too similar appearance. Even with that issue aside, it fails to do anything interesting or substantive, even though every piece is supplied and presented within the game).

For all those grievances, this also means i have a lot that I want out of the game and that I think it has the potential to deliver on. The end of the quest begins to raise more and more questions on the nature of leadership, or rule and authority, and what it takes to provide these things. They’re situated there both at the beginning and the ending, and I think it has a lot of promise both for an overarching story and post-game , as well as exploration through side quests and so on.

I’m kinda running out of things to say that don’t feel like repetition, but thats that I guess. I could talk about mechanical things another time, but I wanted to put this down I guess. enjoy.

#Final Fantasy XIV #Final Fantasy 14

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autumnslance · 3 years

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Do you have any tips for getting into the headspace of a canon character? Because honestly you have some of the most on point characterizations I've seen

Thank you! I try, and when it came to fic writing it was definitely the thing that scared me most, “getting right” my depictions of the canon characters. For me it’s very much an exercise in Character Voice, as I feel it’s something I struggle with in my own OCs, making sure everyone thinks, feels, acts, sounds distinct.

This...gets long, cuz honestly, I don’t know how to explain it, as there’s no real conscious process for me; just things I do in general and as needed when coming up with scenes or longer fics. So mileage may vary, but I put ideas below the cut. I’ll use Thancred as an example, cuz Twelve know I’ve written too many words about that man and people seem to think they’re IC for him.

I think a lot about character motivations, how they’re shown in canon, and why/how they do things. How their history affects them and their decisions. How their relationships with others affect them. Keeping it as objective as I can while prodding with only the most basic of psychology and literary analysis.

I also tend to be a bit of a internal mimic, starting with voice and body language as I imagine scene and situations and how the character might look/sound/act as I pace or do chores or avoid work or whatever. Mimicking the game’s manner of using archaic terms and sentence structure when writing in general can help, too.

How we speak informs how we think. Eorzea has its own curses, slang, metaphors, turns of phrase, and ways of saying things. I researched thieves cant when writing “Rogue’s Prelude” which involved poking a bit into history and why such code developed in reality. There’s a lot of language and other references in game based loosely around real world history (the origin of the word “gun” for instance), so a little light research in related things helps verisimilitude.

Just all the info I can find on the character and the world they inhabit. Immerse in canon, try to keep fanon separate--though a few fanon theories or friends’ fics/art might also have some influence, if something resonates in particular with me and how I am reading what I see in canon. Talking things through with some other folks, bouncing ideas back and forth--even if we cordially disagree!--can also help see new perspectives or readings of the material. Keeping an open mind and willing to letting mine be changed when someone picks up on something I missed or interpreted differently.

Thancred has the benefit of having a lot of material in the story, being a main figure since 1.0 so I’ve looked up his entries in the lorebooks, the short stories where he’s shown up, and references to him in game/media--even cutscenes and info I can find from 1.0, especially the Ul’dah intros. This is in addition to rewatching cutscenes he features in (watching expressions and body language in addition to voice work), rereading quest text and dialogue he’s involved or even just mentioned in; how other characters see and talk about him is also important.

I also look at all the info I can for Limsa, particularly pre-Merlwyb’s reforms, as that’s where Thancred grew up and would have a strong influence on him. Run around and watch/listen to NPCs in that city; for example, many in Limsa are really casual about sex and talk about it a lot. So is it any surprise early Thancred is also casual about sex and acts a charmer as part of his cover? While also, as a Limsan trained rogue, quick to watch for and throw down on potential threats? Raised alone on the street, he was always watching his back, after all, and had some rough interacts, especially when a small kid--and all that left him wary, and cagey, and unable to express himself healthily emotionally, as we saw in ShB. His techniques were refined in Sharlayan, and his main motivation has become the protection of his Scion family.

I look into what I can for Sharlayan, as that’s where most of the core Scions are from, or at least educated, and since we don’t have much, overlay my own academic memories and knowledge on it (the idea of doing a thesis to get Archon rank makes sense to me and validates a lot of my headcanons about the city of knowledge and I wanna know if/what Thancred and Yda’s were now...).

This may seem like a lot, but really, it just sorta happens as I absorb info and take notes and screenshots for things that catch my attention for whatever reason, especially if I want to remember something specific. If I set a fic at a certain time or place, I go back and refresh myself on the dialogue/quests/etc around it.

When it comes to the actual writing, it’s not how I, Lyn, would react to a lot of things, nor how my OCs might react to things--because this is Thancred’s background, and his personality as we have seen in game over time. Separating myself and thinking about it from an outside, other person’s perspective, even if it’s not one I agree with or like. Trying to hear his dialogue in either Taliesin Jaffe or Peter Bramhill’s voices and the way they deliver Thancred’s lines (since I play and read in English).

And I have to consider when creating plot and how he would react to things depending on points in the canon. ARR Thancred is a bit different from HW Thancred is a bit different from ShB Thancred, after all. Sometimes I need refreshers on those parts of the story. And then how does interaction with my character(s) affect him, based on that backstory, that training, those ideas shown, how do I believably expand on that? How do I mimic him as I write, imagining the voice actors saying the lines and imagining the body language?

And the usual writing advice: just get the ideas down, and then go back, reread, edit and revise. Keep anything you cut as practice, to poke at later, maybe use in another idea.

Then yeet it into the void and hope it worked. I’m always pleased--and relieved!--when I get comments about how the characters feel and sound “right”.

#Anonymous #writing #blogging #about me #hope this helps?

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