#i daresay this is also why estinien respects and is friends with aymeric; aymeric is as much of a bright-eyed idealist as wol and alph

[the-rogue-mockingjay]

Weeping at the soft way Estinien looks at WoL and Alphinaud when he's asking them how they intend to deal with Fandaniel. He respects and values their ability to believe the best in people so much. Their boundless, fervent hope saved his life, gave Ysayle the chance to set things right and prevent bloodshed in Ishgard, and ended the thousand-year war. Not to mention the cure for tempering! (Though most of the credit goes to Alisaie for that.) Over and over they've dared to hope for the impossible, and it's saved so many lives. And WoL specifically gave Emet-Selch and Elidibus some measure of peace in their last moments, despite their ceaseless conflict and resentment- gave them a mercy and gift that many would have denied them.

It would be easy to mock or look down on WoL and Alphinaud for their compassion and empathy, especially for a character like Estinien who has been so cynical and jaded for a lot of his time on-screen. But no, he admires them for it. And when he warns them that there may come a day when their kindness bites them in the ass, when someone weaponizes their hearts against them, he doesn't say it in a "I can't wait to say I told you so" kind of tone, he says it out of concern for them. Maybe I'm just reading into things, but I feel that when he says this, there's also an unspoken promise behind it: "when that day comes, I'll be with you, and I'll help you navigate the aftermath".

They will hope, and they will reach out, and should the worst come to pass, Estinien will be there, lance in hand, to watch their backs and help them salvage the situation.

I love him for that.

#i got so many thoughts abt this it's turning my brain to static noise #man...... #i just. i love this #it's so good to see idealists and cynics having each others backs instead of being mean to each other as is the norm #i daresay this is also why estinien respects and is friends with aymeric; aymeric is as much of a bright-eyed idealist as wol and alph #estinien varlineau #alphinaud leveilleur #ffxiv wol #ffxiv #rogue plays ffxiv #heavensward spoilers #shadowbringers spoilers