#save me ysayle..... save me..... ysayle save me

[demigod-of-the-agni]

The funniest thing about the Sohm Al dungeon is that when I did it for the first time I did it with the NPC party- Ysayle, Alphinaud, and Estinien. It was all going swell but I, a dragoon main, CONSTANTLY found myself trying to outdo Estinien??

like GIRL calm down he's just an NPC 😭 what's he gonna do, gloat about how he's going to kill all the dragons and pull out all the stops and use all the limit breaks?

...

HE FUCKING USES THE LIMIT BREAKS

THE LITTLE SHIT

AS SOON AS WE FILL ALL THE BARS HE JUST SAYS SHIT LIKE "TASTE MY LANCE" AND WHIPS OUT THE LIMIT BREAK AND I'M THROWING MYSELF HEADFIRST INTO THE GROUND SCREAMING BECAUSE YOU BASTARD I WAS GOING TO USE THAT ON THE FINAL BOSS

#no i did not actually die to the final boss im just being melodramatic #anyway temporary friendship with estinien is OVER #i cant believe i have to go through the Estinien Unbearable Varlineau arc before i get babygirl estinien #this motherfucker..... so fucking flashy all the time.... bitch i have more moves than you........ #it's only because of the level sync that sets me down a few skill levels otherwise i would be decimating this entire dungeon by myself #WITHOUT MR STINKY DRAGOON FUCKING IT UP !!!!!!!!!!!! #save me ysayle..... save me..... ysayle save me #but other than that i am genuinely having so much fun in heavensward. i love the little group we've made #ysayle and estinien at each other's throats <3 alphinaud trying to keep them from killing each other <33 wol just standing around #estinien varlineau #estinien wyrmblood #ffxiv #ffxiv wol #ff14 #ff14 art #hyur midlander #hyur #elezen #artoftheagni #agnigames

[noxtivagus]

i screamed.

#🌙.rambles #[ ffxiv. ] #i forgot abt the manga for a bit. GOT NERVOUS TO READ BCS I'LL GO. HDFKLASJDFLKSJDFLKADSJF YK #( apollo's watching over my shoulder n said to write that i'm ugly. like. artemis is ugly. sobs ) #oh my god. i can't read this. i just want to change all my pfps now n. be delusional. daydream. FUCK #EMET-SELCH YOU'RE SO UNFAIR 😭😭 #& yotsuyu ma'am you're so pretty pls step on me hahahaha #n then alphi my bb first year he's so adorable i love love love him so much. my bb boy my dearest #AYMERIC YOU'RE SO LOVELY N HAURCHEFANT YOU'RE SO PRECIOUS I'LL CRY #the rest of them too but. rn my brain. is in school mode. i cannot. handle this. rn. oh my god. help #GAIA N RYNE WAHH THEY'RE SO CUTE I LOVE THEM SO MUCH 🥹🫶🏼 #i'm enjoying this so much but i'm just skimming through to look at stuff #guys i love final fantasy xiv so much. #alphinaud at the end of the second chapter is so me actually #i froze when i saw emet-selch w the book. i have no words. oh my god. #GAIA N YSAYLE INTERACTION MY GIRLS I LOVE YOU BOTH SO MUCH 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 #i have. assignments to do tho lmfaoooo that's enough for now. actually maybe i'll just quickly skim to the end of this chapter #i'm too shy to add more pics bcs. the 4th chapter. BUT. ALPHINAUD SAVING THE LIL KID I'M SO IN LOVE 🥹🥹🥹🥹🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼 #alphi n alisaie. i'm emotional. I LOVE THEM SO MUCH 😭😭 alphi's soft smile there though.. i'm. so. in love. #alphi w the kid. alphi n alisaie. hdflaksdjfldk i love alphi so much my dear alphi :c #i want to ramble so much help me. but. SCHOOL. HFDALKDSFJDLKFJ SOBBING BYE #just some snippets from the manga yes. don't mind me

[starrysnowdrop]

Endwalked!

Thoughts on Hali’s EW Journey

Hali has officially finished her Endwalker journey! 6.0 is done and the 6.X patches and all the EW side content await! I have many thoughts about this, and it felt so different playing it through on Hali vs Yume, so I have an overwhelming urge to tell you all how it went!

Because I will be long winded I’m sure, plus the many spoilers, it will be under the cut.

First of all, I felt from the very beginning of the expansion that this felt like this was Hali’s story, and finishing 6.0 solidified for me that Hali was meant to be my main WoL and Hali’s Unsundered was Azem.

Why is that? Well, I had played through the entire MSQ on Yume before I even created Hali, and I can tell you that though I personally was emotionally invested in the EW story before, it still didn’t feel like it really fit Yume that much. She was not as connected to the events as Hali is, and in several ways. Yume is still way more connected to SB and ShB, as she is the one who takes on the light from the lightwardens and has permanent changes to her body and aether as a result of the light corruption, not to mention her connection to G’raha and all.

Hali, on the other hand, is absolutely the spotlight WoL of HW and EW. For HW, it’s her finally facing the fact that those she cares about can get hurt and even die, and sometimes there’s nothing she can do about it, ie: Haurchefant and Ysayle. Secondly, HW is when her story with Aymeric largely happens, of course.

For EW, it feels especially personal for Hali for a number of reasons. First, she goes back to her home of Old Sharlayan and Labyrinthos for the first time since she left home without a word to her parents. She sneaks into Sharlayan under an alias and wears a disguise, but she is still caught in Labyrinthos and must face her parents and the Forum for her being a fugitive. Hali is confronted with the knowledge that her parents were both directly involved in the plot to escape from the Final Days, which Hali has a hard time with. She is very angry that her parents kept the secret from her for her whole life, and she is also upset at them for trying to convince her to leave with them instead of staying and fighting for everyone. For Hali, EW is when Hali must face her past, and try to reconcile with her parents in order to save the star and make a brighter future for all.

Another element that is personal to Hali is her connection with Fandaniel, specifically her past life as Azem when she and Hermes were once in a romantic and sexual relationship. Though these two souls were once in love, they were torn apart and went on completely different paths. While Hali doesn’t have any romantic or sexual interest in Fandaniel or Hermes, she does get a deja vu feeling when she is around them, which she believes might be her soul recognizing his soul from their past lives. She feels sorry for how deeply in despair Fandaniel/Amon/Hermes was, and she wishes that she could have helped him, but in the end, she gives him hope that he can find the answers in his next life.

I also found that Hali is much more connected to dynamis than Yume is, especially when in her canon, Hali almost turns into a blasphemy herself after her confession of love to Aymeric and feeling an overwhelming panic take over her with Aymeric’s reaction. Hali feels her emotions very deeply and wears her heart on her sleeve, so her journey of discovering what dynamis is and then using it to keep the light of hope alive in Ultima Thule, and in her battle with the Endsinger, it all just felt so satisfying to play through. Not just her being a Warrior of Light, but Hali as a person went on this incredible journey of self discovery from her leaving Sharlayan and coming to Eorzea in ARR, to saving the star and finding happiness with the man she loves in EW.

Endwalker overall was incredibly enjoyable on Hali’s playthrough, but the one thing that rubbed me the wrong way was the last solo duty when the WoL fights Zenos. When I went through it on Yume, it felt so unnecessary, but it did not feel too jarring because of who Yume is, and she would understand Zenos. Hali, on the other hand, would not.

Why is that? Well, Hali is not a warrior like Yume is, as she’s first and foremost a healer. Yes she has some really powerful offensive spells and abilities that she can use to hold her own in battle, but it’s not her main focus nor her goal. She’s of the mindset that she’s there to ensure that everyone comes back alive, and she would not want to fight Zenos. In fact, she’d more likely try to bring him back with her and then let him go, because she not only would not want to fight Zenos and 1) kill him, 2) give him the satisfaction of a fight because why would she reward him after everything he’s done, and 3) she’s not going to put herself in danger once the Endsinger is dealt with. Hali is coming home to Aymeric in one piece damn it, and she just would not fight Zenos and take that chance of not keeping her promise. So yeah, overall I just hated the last solo duty on Hali’s playthrough.

I think that’s all the blabbing I’ll do for now. I just wanted to say that I’m glad that I got to experience EW all over again and on a character that really felt personal to me and who really was meant to go through that journey. If you made it this far, thank you so much for reading!! 💖

#ffxiv endwalker #endwalker spoilers #ffxiv 6.0 #ffxiv headcanons #hali aloke #oc: drops of jupiter #getting this out there before I start working on the swap gift and the prompt

[amdapor-keep]

im curious about npcs people would have liked to see more of and why.

reasoning for my choices under the cut:

Moenbryda: while I think that there was nothing wrong with Moenbryda's role itself- she came, she served the solution for getting rid of the ascians, she died for proof of concept- her two patch life and death was too quick for full impact.

Hilda: She was hyped up before her introduction as a revolutionary, working in the underworld to change the noble dominated nature of ishgardian society. Then, in the patches, when Ishgard is in the midst of unrest, undergoing changes in its social order as people doubt the nobility and the clergy because of what came out during the war, Hilda... is relegated to a bit part with the formation of the watch.

Ysayle: She has what I will continue to argue is the most nonsensical death in all of xiv, dying to random garleans on the way to azys lla. Alphinaud comments she would have made a great scion, and Aymeric comments that he would have liked her help parleying with the dragons. She was robbed.

Igeyorhm: She was the ascian that destroyed the 13th, not that we hear this from her. Heavensward would have been a great time to expound a bit more on the differences between the unsundered and the other convocation members. It also would have been nice if she had gotten characterization.

Things other people said in the tags:

Emmanellain: I was pretty satisfied with him as a character, but the fact he got brought up makes me wonder if other people feel that they could have done more with his character. I'd like to know.

Lyna: I agree that Lyna's lack of focus was a missed opportunity to give a voice to the normal norvrandt citizen. The residents of the first in our main cast, exarch and ryne, are far from average, and having Lyna feature more prominently would round out the characters perspectives

Cylva: Similar to Hilda. Cylva started the chain of events that lead to the flood of light because she was trying to save the 13th, but now that we have a plotline about saving the 13th, she's nowhere to be found. A little more understandable since she's a side content character, but still. They still have time to include her.

Handeloup: I wasnt expecting anyone to say Handeloup but I respect it. They made the argument that he should have been the heavensward paladin quest questgiver, and I think it would have fit with his inclusion in the stormblood tournament, and it would have tied the paladin quests more closely to ishgard, which would have been nice.

Widargelt: Similar situation to Hilda and Cylva. His whole thing in ARR was the liberation of Ala Mhigo, but now that they're liberating Ala Mhigo in msq- nothin. Justice for Widargelt.

Someone else: If you have someone else in mind I'd like to know. im curious

#ffxiv

[glacierbash]

*I break onto the stage of I dunno a local ffxiv lesbian convention and grab onto the mic, chased by 17 guards all with stun batons but before I’m dragged off stage I manage to say* YSAYLE SURVIVING THE FIRST FLIGHT OF THE EXCELSIOR BUT BEING IRREVOCABLY CHANGED. YSAYLE BEING TAUGHT BY IGEYORHM THE EXTENT OF WHAT THE ECHO CAN DO AND AS SHE PLUMMETS TO HER DEATH, ALMOST ALL OF HER AETHER SPENT, SHE MAKES A LAST DITCH EFFORT TO SAVE HERSELF. SHE PRAYS TO HYDAELYN, TO MOTHER— *the guards grab onto me but I fight them off* TO PROTECT HER, TO SAVE HER, TO FORGIVE HER AS SHE USES THE ASCIAN’S TRICK TO SAVE HERSELF BECAUSE SHE DOESNT WANT TO DIE SHES SCARED OF DYING AFTER EVERYTHING SHES BEEN THROUGH SHE DOESNT WANT TO DIE. YSAYLE REAPPEARING CHANGED AND ALTERED AND EVERYTHING ABOUT HER AND HER EXISTENCE IS DIFFERENT AND SHES COLDER THAN EVER BEFORE BUT AT LEAST SHES ALIVE BUT SOME TIMES SHE WUESTIONS IF IT WAS WORTH IT IF SHE SURVIVED LIKE THIS— *the guards start to drag me off but I yell* INSTEAD OF COMING BACK WRONG WHAT IF SHE SURVIVED WHAT SHE WASNT SUPPOSED TO AND SUFFERS ANYWAYS

#AUGHHHH I’m thinking abt her again. so many aus and headcanons in my head. #I just. I just want to think abt her morality a bit more. #because I think she’d willing to go to drastic measures to save herself if she had the option. #let alphy and our favorite dragoon deal with the pain. and then realize they grieved for no reason. #let people be happy she lived and then angry they went through all that pain for nothing. let her be permanently altered #let the trauma nearly break her but she stays strong because what else would she do she’s survived this much #etc etc etc do you GET it

[brineffxiv]

After a mad dash through the Thavnairian jungle, fighting off beasts on the way, we arrive in Palaka's Stand. The village is free of monsters, but the dead and dying are strewn about all over. We set about providing aid where we can.

Matsya's friends Mehvan and Qerasaf, and their child, are nowhere in sight. They were last seen heading towards Agama Temple, with a beast in pursuit. I agree to accompany Matsya to search for them while Alpinaud and Alisaie help heal the villagers.

We are too late to save Qerasaf, who has been mortally wounded. But we are in time to hear his dying words, and to console him, and prevent him from turning into a beast. He dies as himself. Matsya and I race to find Mehvan in the jungle between here and Palaka's Stand before she meets a similar fate, but we come up empty handed.

In the skies above Thavnair, Vrtra and Estinien find a brief moment of respite from fending off the hoard. Estinien receives a call on his linkpearl, and so it is that he and Vrtra both learn of the attack in Radz-at-Han, and Ahewann's death.

Vrtra is clearly devastated to hear of his friend and companion's death. This, on top of the fate of his people who turn into monsters, weights heavy on him. I feel for him.

Estinien bids Vrtra to rally, and to become the leader Ahewann desired him to be before his death.

Vrtra, though, fears that his people will see him as no different from the beasts. That they will be frightened of him.

Estinien talks to him of the Dragonsong War, and the pain and bloodshed from it. But he also reminds Vrtra that, even at the war's height, Hraesvelgr still carried Ysayle to battle, and lent me one of his eyes, that we might triumph over Nidhogg. Had he not done those things, the war would still rage on.

Ahewann was a true servant of the people, and he placed his trust in Vrtra.

Matsya and I again venture out into the jungle in search of Mehvan and her baby, this time with Alisaie and Alphinaud in tow. We do not find them, but do manage to rescue a great number of people who had taken shelter in one of the temples.

The people are by turns hopeful and despondent, many have lost family and loved ones. We fear that the more they dwell on the tragedy the more likely they are to turn into beasts.

Matsya reminds the people that they are in a place of worship, and to look to the words of their gods. Together, they recite some of the teachings, about the hardships of life, and it visibly helps to calm them.

This is a nice scene. Too often we see the ugly side of faith reflected in things like the primals, but here we see the people take solace in their faith and it provides them reassurance and comfort in their time of need...

I am put in mind of something my own god, Hydaelyn, said to me back in Labyrinthos, when she first gave me the elpis flower.

Just as we send the people we've rescued off to safety, Alisaie spies a beast in the distance that appears to be chasing something.

We catch up in time to see the beast grab Mehvan by her head and throw her bodily into the water.

I dive in after her, while Alphianud and Alisaie deal with the monster. Mehvan is dead. I rescue her child, and bring her back to Alphinaud for healing.

The baby needs more care than we can provide here. We have to get her back to Palaka's Stand.

But we've made too much noise! The monsters are closing in!

Matsya must take the child back to the village if she is to live. We will keep the beasts from following him.

Matsya is running as fast as he can, but the baby starts leaking black smoke - the sign that she is about to change into a beast.

He tries to keep both himself and the child calm by reciting the teachings that had so helped them earlier.

No! No. Matsya too is now leaking black smoke!

I have never been so scared for an NPC in all my life.

He continues reciting the teachings as he runs, and I am praying along with him. Run Matsya! You can do it! Keep going! Hydaelyn, help him, please!

No! Just as the aetheryte at Palaka's Stand comes in sight, two beasts emerge from the jungle.

Just as all hope seems lost, Vrtra and Estinien descend and crush the beasts where they stand.

Matsy's relief is overwhelming. I could cry too. But, the child is not out of the woods just yet.

Vrtra saves the baby. I do not know how, but I will not protest small miracles after all the bad that has happened.

Vrtra escorts Matsya and the child to Palaka's Stand while Estinien goes to catch up with us, and assist finishing off the beasts.

Before returning to the village ourselves, we retrieve Mehvan's body and lay her beside her husband, where their friends can perform the appropriate rites once it's safe to do so.

Once returned to Palaka's Stand, Vrtra prepares to reveal the truth of his role. So far, the people are receiving him well...

And if Nidhana (who arrived just in time to hear the revelation) is to be our example to judge by, I believe that all will be well! On this front, at least.

After checking on the villagers we rescued, and assisting Nidhana in passing out chai, we are confident that Palaka's Stand is in good hands. Now, to return to Radz-at-Han.

#ffxiv liveblog #rhesh'a tag #alphinaud leveilleur #alisaie leveilleur #matsya #vrtra #estinien varlineau

[elizabethrobertajones]

So I've been thinking about Fransi way too much, on account of now levelling up what was a side character in Frog's journey and becoming completely invested in a tiny rude farmer :)

Obviously the suggestion that your reaper avatar is your shard is incompatible with the suggestion Golbez (original flavour) is your shard from the 13th, both of which are now supported choices for the player to make and leave you rationalising the other option. And I picked the harder one since saying Golbez is your shard just means your pacted voidsent is some other guy.

I've been turning that over in my head, wondering what else he could be if not that.

Then it hit me that of course we know a handful of people with the echo so it's easy to quickly assign one of them to Golbez and maybe even just knowing them would be enough to manifest some weird shit.

Like, there's the ambiguity of if this was a past life for you or Estinien or just Your Weird New Bond with the dragoon job stone is what manifests Haldrath out of our dragoon stone in the level 50 Dragoon quest - I lean to it being our past life but it is pretty vague on account of the lore being so unknown to us at the time that we have no framework for this, vs like, even in SB patches when we learn about Tenzen we're sort of putting the dots together a bit more thanks to the Dotharl that this is a definite in-world mechanic. Although I'll always be mad everyone's so mean to Ysayle, who may absolutely not be Shiva's reincarnation but up until that point we shouldn't have been mean to her because we did know reincarnation was how souls worked in this universe, it just seemed to be very fringey to KNOW who you had been. And she still has a strong bond to Shiva regardless of not being her because of her echo memory of her. She may have made a Primalsona of her based on her expectations but at the end of the day I think they'd made a connection.

So there's fully a ton of reasons to think we could have reacted to Golbez's memory so dramatically, especially if he was a shard of someone we knew.

Then I was like, so who is that. Who is the best possible person for it to be.

Of course the whole theme of the story with him and Zero and the Thirteenth falling from a ton of mistrust and in fighting and manufactured war, and the crux of what may have saved them (well probably not but it created a What If) was Zero not daring to reach out. The whole story was about empathy and friendship.

THE most obvious soul to me to have been the shard of the person lumbering around in Golbez's armour trying to rally a dying world (while the Azem soul shard was off working a farm, oblivious) is the 13th shard of Krile with her hyper-empathy and friendship based echo.

#(not to mention it was her echo in Zenos which makes a full loop with Zero) #endwalker spoilers #6.0 spoilers #ffxiv #bounding frog #not mentioning her by name but this is the state of affairs to make her lore work :P #Sticking with this unless proved otherwise in an expansion or three

[yzeltia]

FFXIVwrite2023 5. Barbarous

Characters: U'rahn Nuhn, Zenos yae Galvus, Kriel Baldesion, Raubahn Aldynn, Violet Fisher, Y'shtola Rhul, Jannie Eyradoux Expansion: Stormblood Rating: T Notes: CW Blood

Anguish. Despair. Defeat. The roar of it Echoed off every wall of Rhalgar's Reach. 

"Useless. Useless. Useless."

U'rahn pounded erratically his fists into the muddied earth under him, eyes stinging with blood, dirt, and tears. Someone had come to him, probably Jannie to console him and get him to stop. He didn't.

"Pathetic also-ran"

Zenos's words were rooted in his brain. He hadn't stood a chance, easily brushed aside so the Garlean could cross blades with Violet. He roared and beat his fists into the ground again.

His knuckles were raw, covered in blood, but not his. He remained protected. Blessed by light. Shielded. Violet and Y'shtola though had been wounded easily and for all his glory. His pride as Nuhn. Bravado Warrior of Light…He was useless. A child even. Barely seventeen summers.

More and more, others were paying for his incompetence. It seemed it would be without end.

Noraxia.

Punch.

Aulie.

Punch.

Aba.

Punch.

Una.

Punch.

Liavinne.

Punch.

Allen.

Punch.

Ursala.

Punch.

Clive.

Punch.

Satzfloh

Punch.

Moenbreya.

Punch.

Haurchefaunt.

Punch.

Ysayle

Punch.

Minfilia.

Punch.

U’noloh

Punch.

Papalymo

Punch. Punch. Punch. Punchpunchpunchpunchpunch.

"Enough of the madness son!"

U'rahn felt himself rise from the earth. He snarled and swung blindly out before him, tail thrashing as his body ignited with the fires of hate.

"LET ME GO. I'M GOING TO AFTER HIM. I WILL KILL ZENOS!"

Despite his screams, he was simply shaken, ragdolled in the air before he found himself carried to the water's edge and thrown into its depths. He let himself sink, letting the chill of the small lake envelope him and temper his rage. He stayed until he felt his lungs scream for air.

Surfacing, he found Raubahn looking down at him, hand on his hip. "Are you finished?"

U’rahn folded his ears, unable to meet the General's gaze.

"Yeah."

The man squatted down then made a hook with his arm for U'rahn to pull himself up with. The wet Miqo'te huffed, not the slightest bit incredulous about what had been done to him. He worked to catch his breath while Raubahn's large hand rested firmly on his back.

"You did well, U'rahn. You saved lives. No matter what you tell yourself, no matter what else happens, remember that," the General stated, giving the warrior a firm pat.

"Now, is there not somewhere else you ought to be?"

U'rahn sniffled a bit, wiping his with his palm, mostly cleansed from the impromptu bath. "Yeah…"

He took a moment to collect himself then wandered through to where Krile had stationed herself. His eyes drifted to Y'shtola and Violet's bodies. He never thought either of them could be described as frail, but it seemed their esteem and rough edges had been shed with their damaged clothes. 

With a loud slop, he fell into a chair between their beds, resting his arms on his legs, head hung and eyes closed. Soon a pair of grieves passed by him then turned. Jannie delicately rested her hand delicately on his shoulder soon after. He leaned into her touch, crossing his arm to put over his hand before he felt Krile delicately pull his head and offer a motherly kiss on his forehead. Anger quelled, he let out a sob.

#final fantasy xiv #ffxiv #final fantasy 14 #ff14 #ffxiv oc #ffxiv miqo'te #u'rahn nuhn #ff xiv #zenos yae galvus #raubahn aldynn #y'shtola rhul #violet fisher #jannie eyradoux #ffxivwrite2023 #FFXIVwrite 2023 #ffxivwrite #cw blood

[twinkle-art]

i know this isn't the website where you posted it but your wol andromeda seems really cool. you mind saying a bit more about her

i would be THRILLED to tell you all about my beloved daughter. pics and exhaustive description below the cut

andromeda elo (or andromeda viator caecus) is, as you could probably sus out, my mixed garlean/roegadyn girlprince wol💗

she's very into the whole "embodying a super idealized image of The Hero" thing. some would say to her detriment. her decision to run away from her upbringing in garlemald and throw herself headlong into life as an adventurer was, initially, a pretty childish and impulsive one. then some stuff happened and now she's eorzea's champion so. that's pretty irreversible at this point

she's quite cagey about her past- despite hardly being the only garlean defector among them, she has it in her head that the truth of her identity would get in the way of being a perfect, uncomplicated symbol. and for reasons she's not yet willing to self-reflect on, the thought of losing that (totally definitely attainable) status is unbearable to her.

that said, if you spend enough time with her, you'll probably notice that her various stories don't quite add up or that the way she talks can be a bit strange at times. she was raised to be a proper lady, and even though she's rejected that box her whole life, it's not something she's truly free of, even as Thee warrior of light

she (by which i mean me, but i'm doing it for immersion) spent arr/hw as a paladin (it has the aesthetic she likes and isn't magic heavy- she grew up taking for granted that this was out of reach for her. but it's not.) then switched to red mage early on in sb after getting her shit rocked by zenos and having a full-on crisis of identity

the deeper Lore to her backstory is that her mother, lucretia eir caecus, was once an idealistic adventurer in her own right- in her time outside of the empire, she had a passionate affair with a man that she no longer speaks of. despite this, she ultimately found herself becoming the second wife of the head of a particularly stifling military family.

already bearing the mark of being an illegitimate child (and one othered by being visibly not-garlean among what i imagine was a pretty damn hostile environment, at that), lucretia raised her daughter strictly, believing that her keeping her head down and playing a more demure role was the only route she had to a comfortable life in their environment. naturally this didn't go over well with teen andromeda, who was just old enough to remember a time before her mother was so embittered and resigned to their fate, and resents her for it.

as for her father, i still haven't figured that part out andromeda knows next to nothing about him. she's not even sure if he's alive or not. her only keepsake from him was signed e. loetwilfsyn which, due to her not knowing a word of roegadyn, became bastardized into elo, the name she adopted in eorzea.

uhh this has gotten really long so here's some lightning round notes on relationships

she's a lesbian but i'm not sure she's properly sorted that one out yet despite a very long string of intense female friendships because her weird sense of identity keeps getting in the way

in ARR, she had a little crush on minfilia that had absolutely nothing to do with her as a person and everything to do with liking feeling like a dutiful little knight who answered to a woman who was authoritative.. but still gave her ample opportunity to feel like the big hero saving the princess. she thought this was normal

in HW, she was utterly taken by ysayle for slightly adjacent reasons. this went just as poorly as the first one. maybe worse.

has a DEEPLY personal vendetta against zenos for. you know. being both an embodiment of her homeland and being a real prince. except her animosity crumbles into primal, bone-deep fear in his actual presence

(i haven't actually finished sb yet so i'm jumping the gun with this last one but i'm too obsessed with it not to share)

emet-selch reminds her of her mom. it's going to be exactly as psychologically harrowing as that sentence suggests. please look forward to that it's gonna get really weird over here in about a month

i'm.. definitely forgetting stuff because she's been in the slow cooker of my mind for about. three months of playing this now and i feel like i'm starting to lose it. all of this is subject to be fleshed out further in the coming months. you're welcome, or i'm sorry

#ffxiv #andromeda elo #<- now that i've broken the seal and outed myself as a ffxiv player i suspect i might end up using that a bit #wrote this without explaining all of the. final fantasy stuff in it so sorry if anyone is interested in a more general oc sense #i'm pretty sure the bigger ideas come across

[riajade01]

Eyyy it's been a hot minute since I posted to this fic, but... LOOKIE! More adventures of my wol, Bitter Thornrose, in her Heavensward journey. Today she and Ysayle are bonding over Hydaleyn stuff. Kinda sorts. Okay they're squabbling like siblings.

Anyway. My next chapter is written, and I have ideas for the one after that so... maybe I'm back for a bit? If you need a refresher, Bitter, Estinien, and Alphinaud had just decided to leave Ishgard to find Ysayle and parley with the dragons. This picks up after Ysayle has joined their merry band and decided to try and tank Ravana despite not actually being a tank.

Days after setting off from Ishgard, Bitter found herself crouching under a barren tree outside Loth ast Gnath. As adrenaline faded from her body, various cuts and bruises from her duel with Ravana began to assert themselves in her awareness. With a grunt, she untied a water skin from her belt and took a deep drink, then offered the vessel to the woman next to her. 

It was a long moment before Ysayle noticed the gesture and took the waterskin in her pale hands. Still, her blue eyes were focused on the village where they’d fought Ravana, her frosty brows knit with concern. 

“I don’t understand,” she murmured, not for the first time. “I was - I am Shiva. And yet he barely broke a sweat swatting me down.”

Bitter sighed. “Drink,” she said, nudging the water skin a bit higher toward Ysayle’s face. Not that hydration would fix Lady Iceheart’s doubts, but she had taken quite the pounding during the duel and her body no doubt needed to replenish its reserves. It also saved Bitter the necessity of having a coherent reply.

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#ffxiv #ysayle dangoulain #warrior of light #look I feel sorta weird about Hydaleyn okay #not BAD #just... weird #no one ASKS if the wol wants Crystal Mom talking in her head #she just shows up and talks #and yes I've played through Endwalker #so I know The Spoilers #but I still feel weird

[witchfall]

dirt in the wound

4 - healing

[Heavensward-era. After the Ravana fight. Izzie, still coming to terms with the weight of their duties...]

It stings like a bastard, the cut on her cheek.

Pebbles and dirt grime the edges of it; the skin is splayed open from the detritus of crystal crushed under Ravana's spindly, insectoid feet. The slice had been perfectly even, a gift from his terrible blade, until her mortal body plummeted to the ground from the force of it.

The moment is slippery. Her mind doesn't want to find purchase on the pain, burning hot with aether and the taste of blood, but she'd thrown herself forward to shove Noel out of the way of his sword's arc -- and she supposes that must be the culprit for this particular injury.

There are stories for them all, but she'd be damned if she could remember them.

She is ruminating on the nature of this work when the cool touch of magic digs into the sting -- yanking out the infection, pulling together the torn skin like laces in a bodice. She gasps aloud and recoils, because that sure as hells isn't what Noel's magic feels like--

"I'm sorry. I--I apologize, I simply..."

Alphinaud's unusually stuttering voice brings her back down from the rocky climb unto panic.

She glares at him from her perch on a cold stone, because that is easy. That is the known dynamic. Fall back into it, like a dance, and prepare for his pirouette, for his haughty rejoinder about how he wouldn't need to heal her if she wasn't always like this--

He pulls back his gloved hand. His eyes, so beautiful and dark, are wide enough to form their own gravitational pull.

Her glare dies -- shocked into smoothening, her answering expression that of confusion.

"Please." His hand hovers in the air. She watches his long, delicate fingers. "I'm sorry. I normally would leave it to Noel's discretion, of course, but she is still with Ysayle--"

"Ask next time," she grumbles out. Her skin burns with heat. She doesn't know why.

It's not like he's never seen her hurt before. He has, plenty of times. Why does this time feel weird and different? Why does it feel like she did something wrong, in making him look so upset? This is her job. She did her job. She shouldn't feel bad.

"Yes, of course," he says, entirely too quickly. His relief crushes his shoulders down. "Of course, I wasn't thinking. Forgive me."

She closes her eyes as his hand hovers just over her cheek. Barely an ilm away. She could lean in and he would touch her skin -- which is a very weird thought to have. Why is she thinking about that? She shouldn't.

Maybe because, for the first time, he sounds their age instead of like the hoity-toity lordling he pretends to be around these Ishgardians. Around storied personages like the Azure Dragoon, who is pretending not to watch with amusement near a wet boulder.

She winces against the coolness of his aether, not at all like the soothing warm salt water of Noel's cure spells. He's like a river, washing the blood and grime away, eroding the crux of the world with the force of his will. The injury will fade because he demands that it shall.

"Why do you care, anyway?" she asks, before she can stop the words from tumbling out. "It's just a cut."

"It looks painful," he says quietly. "And you needn't scar from such a thing when it is in my capacity to mend it."

She bites her lip. "I...forgot."

She forgot that he can heal.

Because he'd never had to, before. He'd never been in the field with them before. But things are different now. There is no one else to rely upon, save herself, Noel, and him. They are all that is left of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn, or at least their warrior contingent, and that reminder kicks the air out of her lungs hard enough that she takes in a sharp breath through her nose.

All that is left. A barely of-age girl with more grit than sense, a barely of-age boy with more brains than wisdom, and a brilliant adult woman broken entirely by grief thanks to that fucking Crystal Tower.

"Sorry," she mutters.

He blinks. "Whatever for?"

She doesn't know. All of it? All of her snapping at him, how he's stuck with her again, how his delicate little lordling body has to drag through the mud with them, how she'd made him worry? "A lot of things," she decides, for the sake of her pride. "But this time for forgetting."

A breathless, choked, single giggle bubbles out of him. Tension snapping. "Quite easy to forgive, I assure you."

His hand lingers in the air for a split second after the chime of his aether fades away. Like he's considering something, and then at the last moment, decides not to.

Instead he says: "Would you like help with your hair?"

Her face flushes hot. Angry, right? What else could it be? Surely nothing else but that. "What's that supposed to mean?"

He is the one that recoils this time. "I just meant...! Well, you tangled it quite severely in your last engagement, I--"

"My hair is fine! Thank you!"

"It has blood and dirt in it!"

"What if I like it that way?"

This. This is more normal. This, somehow, is healing.

She feels a smile pull at her lips as he angrily fumbles a response in turn...a smile that only grows when he finally, finally seems to realize she's fucking with him.

He glares at her, face turning pink -- and she bursts into laughter.

And when he sees her laugh, his confused smile in return is...pleased.

A healing only she can offer him in turn. This is their game. Theirs. And no blade, no gil, no scheming in the night can take that away.

#twinwolweek #wolphinaud #alphinaud leveilleur #ffxiv #izzie nenelori #having fun with using these as writing exercises and to look into their canon hehe

[allycryz]

writing patterns tag game

Rules: list the first line(s) of your last 10 posted fics and see if there's a pattern!

tagged by @omgkalyppso and tagging anyone who wants to!

1. linger in the glow (WoL/Ysyale/Vrtra) "Nerys was overheated, overperspiring, and deliriously happy. "

2. wait for us, somewhere (WoL/Ysayle) "Farewell Nerys, thank you for showing me the way."

3. Umbral Projection (Geroldt/Grenoldt) "Other him weren’t bald."

4. A Place to Mend (Urianger/Haurchefant) "The Waking Sands are quiet, save for the gentle hum of enchantments cooling and purifying the air."

5. we'll touch every star in the sky (Miounne/Merlwyb) "Redolent Rose’s creation was made for the grand Ishgardian architecture surrounding her."

6. salt air and sunlight (WoL/Y'shtola) "Nerys awoke crying to a dazzling sun and a dry mouth and hands stroking over her face. "

7. Aim and Parry (Lyse/M'naago, Lucia/M'naago) “Here-”

8. Etheirys Was Quaking (WoL/Urianger/Haurchefant/Thancred/Y'shtola/Emet) “I beg thy forgiveness.” Urianger frowned at the piles of books crowding his room.

9. Vitrum (Haurchefant/WoL, Estinien/WoL/Aymeric, Y'shtola/WoL/Thancred) "Nerys cradles the unconscious form of her enemy."

10. The Soldier's Forfeit (Aymeric/WoL, Emet/WoL, Everyone/Everyone) "You are not tired of risk."

#ally writes #ffxiv

[voidsentprinces]

I wanna hug this man

Estinien: I do not require allies, I shall slay Nidhogg my self!

Estinien: Those heretics were nothing, though I must say your strength is impressive. Glad to see the rumors were true. We'll need your strength to save Ishgard.

Estinien: Slow down there, you started clutching your head. What ails you?

Estinien: My friend, it is plain that Hraesvelgr will not provide us peace. I need someone in the Aery I can trust. Will you help me find Nidhogg's nest?

Estinien: Thus the wyrm is slain...but something brings me at ill ease. Are you alright? What vision did you see? A vision of the past? I trust you as I trust my lancing arm. So I believe you completely.

Estinien: We've come this far, we must trust in Ysayle's own path and carve our own in Azys Lla. Let us not let her sacrifice be in vain!

Estinien: Please...kill me...before Nidhogg takes hold once more...

Estinien: No point in goodbyes, I'll meet them on the road 'ere long, no doubt.

Estinien: I see you're alive and kicking after I got you off the battlefield against Elidibus. Still not sure I trust your powers...someone could be trying to take you over like Nidhogg did me. I wouldn't wish to fight you.

Estinien: Tis good to see your knack for finding trouble hasn't blunted, my friend. Are you headed for Azys Lla as well? I have business with Tiamat.

Estinien: I shall count myself a Scion of the Seventh Dawn for the moment. I would trust no others to have my back, save Mother Hen, Aymeric.

Estinien: You're feeling ill, I'll get you some lassi.

Estinien: Ride the wind, I grand you my hope, my friend, use it to save our world from Meteion!

Estinien: HA! A journey to the Thirteenth! I am ever ready to join you wherever you go.

[jarael]

Wip Wednesday Whenever

Tagged by @lavampira . Tagging @sunlian and @hythlodaes and whoever wants to do it!!

Side note: Lily is the Scholar faerie!

Contains spoilers for Heavensward. Wolsayle.

Wake up.  Please wake up.

The Garleans' ships had done a number on Shiva.  Ysayle’s body was nearly still, save for her light breathing.  Oviine had done all she could for her physical wounds, but her girlfriend's body was weak.  She wracked her mind thinking of what to do next.

You can't leave me.  Please, Ysayle...your dream.  Our dream.

Fear and panic gripped her heart.  Tears welled in her hazel eyes as Oviine flipped through the spellbook's pages.  She knew she'd seen a spell once--

There it was.  She read it quickly.  It might hurt, but at least it wasn't necromancy.  That was wrong.

Lily looked at her master incredulously.  [Are you mad?  This sort of magick lead Mhach and Amdapor down their doomed paths.]

"I have to try," Oviine replied as she prepared herself.

[You best hope this works.]

Oviine began the incantation.  The magicks started their work.  It was then that Oviine realized what was happening--it was draining her own aether.  She watched it drain into her wife's still body.

I am doing what I must--but I have to live!

Oviine was beginning to panic, and collapsed with a yelp.  She rose, shaking, her glasses barely hanging onto her nose.

Lily rushed to her side.  [Master, art thou well?]

Oviine nodded weakly.  "I'll be fine, my friend."  She looked at her quivering palms.  Intricate runes now graced them, going up her arms and shoulders.  An unforseen side effect.

Then came the intended result.  "Oviine?"

Ysayle was awake.

#ffxiv #wolsayle #heavensward spoilers #fanfic #tag game

[glacierbash]

Actually I’m expanding on my Ysayle post. Spoilers up until endwalker.

But the biggest thing that gets me is ultimately how cruel her death is, compared to haurchefant. Yes. I know haurchefants death is brutal. But also, he doesn’t die alone. He is with the people he loves, with the person he is implied to love comforting him. His sacrifice is immediately soothed and he’s given comfort and reassurance, and his act is one of instinct.

Ysayle does not get that luxury. She does not get estinien and Alphinaud and the WoL surrounding her as she turns to Aether. She doesn’t get a moment where she can say “I’m glad I met you,” her only comfort is saying her final words as she plummets to her death, and frankly? That leaves a bad taste in my mouth! It feels less heroic sacrifice and more “woman who has had EVERYTHING happen from her chooses to off herself because what else is there to do?”

And her death is BRUTAL! I don’t care if there’s no blood, it’s fucking brutal! Pelted by attacks from a Garlean warship, fighting until there’s nothing left in her, and being fucking blown up, and then falling to her death? How is that not horrific! And there’s no chance to mourn her! Everywhere we go we’re reminded that haurchefant was loved by everybody, even you, but there’s no love extended for Ysayle! There’s no way to go “she was a friend,” just tell her story and that’s it. There’s no accounting for the fact she was there JUST as much as Haurchefant, was JUST as steadfast an ally, was JUST as dedicated to the cause as everybody else.

She makes me sad! Her death makes me so fucking bitter! It does not feel right, her sacrifice does not feel right, it makes me uncomfortable and bitter and if that’s what they were intending, then great! But ultimately I don’t think it was.

AND THEN. in the FINAL sequence of endwalker, when you’re walking up the steps and you hear the voices of people speaking? Guess who ISNT there! HINT. ITS NOT HAURCHEFANT.

I do not CARE that Ysayle was at the final boss of the aitiascope and saved us—that isn’t ENOUGH at this point. That doesn’t undo the fact Ysayle is just. Erased from the story. That they act like she didn’t matter or didn’t exist. Her death was unnecessary, and because of that fact, her death feels wrong. We do not get to mourn her, we do not get to acknowledge her, she dies and we move on.

The fucking end.

#hi. I’m like mad about the writing right now #it just. it bugs me! always and forever! the man will get so much more love and attention than the woman! #and again! I LOVE both these characters!!! but!!!!! holy fuck!!!! #I could talk for hours about how her death feels wrong and makes me extremely uncomfortable. #and like. yea I’ve read the side story. still doesn’t make me feel better!!! #sigh. sigh anyways. #this post is just. one big rant. #be warned.

[jefarawol]

It had been months since I had found out that my apa lived, if it wasn't for Estinien's strong present grounding me I never would have been able to process that he stood before me. Vidofnir and Ysayle did not know the history of him but that night they listened as we talked. He wanted to know all about my life, how I had grown and how I had come to be here. He asked of my anya and tesó, and he told me of his conscription. We talked about him coming to Eorzea and of Louisoix, to which he was amazed to learn of Alphinaud's relation to him. He was excited to learn all he could of his grandsires time in this land.

I asked how he came to these lands, to which he recalled the final moments of carteneau. He was prepared to give his life to aid Louisoix, but the great Sage thought otherwise teleporting him far away. Alone and in even more unfamiliar lands my apa carved the life of a hunter, resigned to live his remaining days as a wandering healer and hunter.

We rested that night in the Trine, myself curled on my fathers lap and in the morning we made to ascend to Sohm Al. Apa asked to join us, not that I would have left without him. he had no commitments to these lands and he would help where he could. He did not wish to involve directly in our conflict but as a healer his support would be appreciated.

True to her promise Vidofnir opened the way. W e knew the way forward would be filled with strife. The conflict between saving and killing dragons resounded between Estinien and Ysayle once more.

#FFXIV #Final Fantasy XIV #ffxiv hw #ffxiv hw retelling #hw #warrior of light #ffxiv aura #ffxiv gpose #final fantasy gpose #ffxiv screenies #FFXIV Screenshots #apa