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stormbabylore · 8 months

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Job Transitions: Lancer -> Dragoon

Continuing the topic of whether or not I follow game canon for the transition from Aeryn's starter classes into her specialized roles with lancer/dragoon! (Dragoon was Aeryn's rage class for a while, so there's a lot to unpack here...)

I have tagged copiously, so hopefully you're not even SEEING this if you're avoiding spoilers, but disclaimer just in case:

Many very big spoilers below for both the dragoon class quests and MSQ from ARR, HW, and post-HW!

D R A G O O N

Just as in the canon story, Aeryn reached the peak of what Ywain felt she could learn from him in Gridania, such that he sent her off in search of Alberic in Coerthas. She met with Alberic and briefly trained with him, but I imagine that training was stunted by her status as an outsider: the other dragoons didn't really teach her anything, despite commending her ability to somehow hold her own in their "tests." She still had that first encounter with Estinien and felt the pulse of power from Nidhogg's eye, but she would not have met with him again, nor forged any kind of partnership with him until it happens later in MSQ. (Estinien, for his part, might have kept a peripheral eye on her after that initial meeting, curious about her progress and her odd connection to the eye - but no more than that.)

Realizing her studies weren't getting her anywhere, she gave up on training with Alberic circa late ARR, when the story would have been pulling her every which way across Eorzea and, eventually, shattering her emotions with the events just prior to Heavensward. She would certainly have visited Alberic to check in from time to time after seeking refuge in Ishgard - may even have seen in him a safe, familial sort of company similar to what she shares with Cid - but she did not further her training with him at that time, preferring, instead, to continue working with the bow.

The build-up of so much internally repressed pain and loss (her own vague past losses, Moenbryda, Wilred, Nanamo, the Scions, and the recently learned horrible truth about the dragonsong war) was already too much for her by the time Haurchefant died, and his death served as a true breaking point. She feared further loss, feared failing those that yet remained so much it cracked her resolve; and from that broken place stemmed the notion that her timidity in battle was to blame. If she could get better at close combat, as Ywain had always encouraged her, perhaps she would be strong enough and close enough to protect her allies. She briefly gave up the bow and sought out Alberic again. Her struggles to connect to magic on the Source didn't impact her ability to channel the power of the dragon once she really tried. She easily felt it (and its rage) churning within and used that to power through her grief - albeit in an unhealthy way.

Because the stronger she grew with her spear, the angrier she became, and the less she held back - to the point that she showed far less mercy in battle, especially when truly provoked. She also strove, to a fault, to keep others out of harm's way, often to her own detriment. On the surface, she convinced herself she was honoring Haurchefant's memory by fighting in the ancient manner of his countrymen while striving more fiercely to protect those who remained.

Deep within, though, she was more discontent than ever.

As far as the existing class story with Alberic and Estinien, I deviate to suit my timeline. She and Estinien had already formed a tenuous bond of sorts (or at least shared a mutual respect as fellow warriors) by the time of Haurchefant's death, so when Aeryn took up the lance again, it was at Estinien's side as they continued their pursuit of Thordan. He was able to contribute to her training just as much as, if not more than, Alberic; and he, more than anyone, recognized the danger of her self-detrimental wrath. So along with teaching her to better utilize her strength in battle, he taught her methods of embracing and channeling her emotions - of calming her rage - under the pretense that it would help prevent the power of the dragon from ever claiming her. As such, he was one of the few to genuinely help her cope with her grief and begin to heal, though she didn't realize it until much, much later.

Urianger also played a big part in her healing. Once they were properly reunited alongside the events of rescuing Raubahn and waking Nanamo, she resumed studying the stars under his guidance (by which means Aeryn learns astro lore even outside my astro AU). There's a line in the astro class quests about the spear that she would hear from Urianger, instead of from Leveva - likely when he comes to Ishgard before their venture to Azys Lla:

"The spear fills us not only with the power to overcome our enemies, but also the compassion that is necessary to grant those same enemies mercy."

Hearing this opened her eyes to her need to grow through her own grief and anger. That realization, combined with the techniques learned from Estinien and the patience of her friends and allies who remained ever supportive, helped her eventually regain a sense of balance in both herself and her fight: knowing when to choose the bow and when to choose the spear.

After Estinien lost himself to Nidhogg's shade, Aeryn found she could sense his presence through her own connection to the eye(s) and sought Alberic's guidance, thinking she might use that ability to find and save him, as she promised Alphinaud. She reasoned that if she could get close enough to draw some of the eye's power into herself, it might divide Nidhogg's strength just enough for Estinien to regain control and be rid of the eyes once and for all. But she worried that the connection might work in reverse - that Nidhogg might see her coming. Alberic then offered himself as bait, revealing to Aeryn the truth of his past - and of Estinien's.

The finale of the class quest is close to canon - just much later in the MSQ. Aeryn battled Estinien, tainted by Nidhogg's shade and lured by the knowledge of Alberic's betrayal that had been festering alongside his rage for many, many years. Aeryn managed to fend him off and withstood drawing enough of the power of the eye into herself to briefly overpower him in the fight, but it ultimately proved not enough to defeat Nidhogg, who escaped while still in control of Estinien, allowing post-Heavensward events to happen as they do in canon.

Though the plan ultimately failed, the fight pushed Aeryn to achieve her full potential as an azure dragoon, able to draw on the power of the dragons without succumbing to their ancient rage - a balance that proved essential for her in the post-HW story. Her journey to that point gave her a unique perspective that earned her the trust and regard of Hraesvelgr as well as the strength to bear the brunt (with a little supernatural assistance) of severing Estinien's connection with Nidhogg's eyes. She could not still be owned by either her grief or her anger at that point, or she would herself have been forfeit to the otherwise consuming power of both dragons' eyes.

Well... that was a lot! I had more work to do to fit dragoon into Aeryn's canon than I realized, especially with the odd timing of those class quests alongside the MSQ timeline. Hopefully it all makes sense!

/beam

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windupsanson · 2 years

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So SE gaves us

Depression makes you evil (Fandaniel/Hermes)

Being a quiet book kid with bad parents and trauma makes you evil (Zenos)

And let’s not dare to forget, my favorite arr character, being part of a minority discriminated against makes you evil (although he sort just committed minor theft first, everything gets worse later) (Foulques)

Also you are dead in all in the worse ways also possibly in hell. Only one of those characters got some ending respect and it was Zenos.

SE fucked up.

#lancer quest spoilers #lnc spoilers #ew spoilers #endwalker spoilers #sb spoilers #shb spoilers #behold my issues with the game #worse tropes

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phobos-voidwalker · 2 years

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Yet another day thinking about Foulques and how he deserved better

Honestly thinking about rewriting Aoii's story a smidge to keep her grumpy lancer tutor around

#aoii shio #lancer quest spoilers?

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poupon · 1 year

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FF14 lancer/dragoon quest line spoilers

I’m playing the stupid armor game right now

#ff14 #spoilers #ffxiv #dragoon #lancer #idk my bffs the bitchy elves #foulques #estinien

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vaalthus · 4 months

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Mighty Mechin' Snugglerangers (spoilers)

Ah the foreshadowing

The years of delivering snugglegrams and being a guinea pig are taking their toll...

Okay I'm convinced these guys are supposed to be trope refrences to the five man band sooooooo, I want to guess uhm you're the leader.

You're the big guy

You're the heart or the emotional core, easy one I know

And you're the lancer dude.

...And yes I know that was only four!

I swear every pure white transformation has got me on edge which I don't consider to be a case of too much paranoia given what we know powers these suits.

Got to love the commitment to making them explode like in the shows.

Ah but it's time to get to the real meat and potatoes of this quest

The cultists, or at least a cultist, have returned and they seek to revive Odium.

What makes me curious about all of this is this a single cultist or potentially a prelude to potentially the main band collaborating together once more to revive yet another dark entity to achieve their end goals.

Regardless, lone wolf cultist or not, it make sense that Odium is thir next big target for revival given that he was known as a being of pure hatred and selfishness but more importantly is Odium's potential identity as an Infernal, existing in opposite to Love whom is speculated to be a Celestial, as inferred by the remnants of his weaponry, the bane of harmony, which has a design that bears a striking resemblance to Exalted tech and its ability to give off entropic qualities, something Infernals were known for.

Either way it seems clear the next couple of Hero Heart Days are going to focus heavily on Big Daddy's backstory as Valentidus the hero and quite likely Love as well as Odium was her adversary.

#dragonfable #hero heart day #dragonfable spoilers #dragonfable lore #I imagine there's going to be a run-in with Odium's heart eventually #We always knew the cultists would be back but is this really just one or all of them?#perhaps even a schism amongst their ranks?

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morgana96 · 1 year

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What Went Wrong with the Lancer Quests?

(Warning: Lancer Class Quests, Rogue Class Quests, and other Minor ARR Spoilers Under the Cut)

When I first started Final Fantasy XIV, I already knew I’d be maining Dragoon. Estinien is my favorite character and the one who drew me to the game in the first place, so my interest in the job was well cemented before I even picked it up. And while I like to play all the other jobs as well, Dragoon has remained my favorite to this day, and the one I play on the most often.

Which is why it’s quite ironic that I think the Lancer quests are some of the worst in the entire game.

It didn’t really hit me how bad the questline was back when I did it as a sprout, especially since it was my first one. But several years and many job quests later, Lancer stands out as tragically inadequate, even compared to some of the other class quests from A Realm Reborn.

Based on what I've seen from other players, I'm hardly alone in this opinion. But rather than just complain about it, I want to take a close look at the questline. It’s a good opportunity discuss the story’s key issues, as well as suggest new ideas for a potential rewrite.

To prepare for this, I’ve recently replayed the questline so that I can give an accurate and proper review. I doubt anyone who actually writes for this game will ever see this. But I'd still like to put my thoughts out there, especially since it can lead to good discussion about how the game could be improved overall.

Problem #1: The Plot Puts Too Much Focus on the Wrong Things

Writing a good story requires an understanding of balance. Characters, plots, and themes need to work together in order to create a strong narrative, because when even one of these elements is lacking, the entire story gets dragged down. This is exactly the situation I think is plaguing the Lancer quests; instead of a balanced narrative, it throws way too much focus on its attempted theme, neglecting the characters, pacing, and plot and leading to an ineffective story overall.

The main theme the story tries to convey is the idea of courage vs recklessness; in their training, lancers are encouraged to harness their sense of courage in order to face dangerous foes, while not slipping into reckless behavior that could end up getting themselves or others hurt/killed.

Now this in itself isn't a terrible lesson or anything. The problem is that the Lancer quests put way too much of the narrative focus on it. Everything the characters do and say feels like it revolves around this attempted theme, leaving them feeling like broken records instead of engaging and enjoyable characters. The WoL also spends most of the storyline having to complete various “tests of courage”, both those assigned by Ywain and those that Foulques forces them to join him in. It starts to feel repetitive rather quickly, especially when that’s all that’s being offered in terms of “plot”. And because the plot and characters are so underdeveloped, the theme being pushed so desperately just comes off as an annoying hindrance by the end.

The finale only emphasizes the problem, as the truth behind Foulques’ actions is revealed with barely six minutes left in the story. Many years ago, he was a lancer in the guild, and participated in robbing the guild with several friends and compatriots. But when he felt guilty and tried own up to it, the other accomplices framed him as the sole criminal, resulting in Foulques being subjected to anti-Duskwight prejudice and eventually imprisoned, while the others faced no consequences.

This sudden revelation leaves the player with unanswered questions and unresolved issues. Who and where are Foulques' ex-friends and co-conspirators? Are they still out there continuing to profit from their clear corruption/prejudice? Why isn’t there a more significant reaction from the guild to the truth behind this scandal being revealed? Why was such a significant plot point introduced with barely any time left in the story? And why did Foulques spend six quests throwing the Warrior of Light and others into random peril instead of, you know, actually trying to get revenge on those who horribly wronged him?

In my opinion, the story needs less repetitive theme pushing and more focus on the past guild robbery and those involved. Instead of random lancers-in-training, Foulques’ main targets should have been his former co-conspirators (perhaps going as far as to kill them one by one), and the WoL would have had to work with Ywain to discover the motive behind the attacks. This would be a much more engaging plot to watch unfold throughout several quests, and it would add some much needed intrigue and character growth in a nearly lifeless narrative.

The theme of “courage vs recklessness” can also still fit into a rewrite. Foulques would probably still judge the entire guild as “cowards” due to the cowardly actions of his former friends. He might also consider his recklessly vengeful actions “true courage”, regardless of whether innocents were caught in the crossfire or not. Meanwhile, Ywain could take the satisfying step of righting the Lancer’s Guild’s past failures; by finally holding the other conspirators accountable - and acknowledging that the guild must do better from now on - it would drive home that having the courage to admit to mistakes is just as important as courage in battle.

Problem #2: Foulques is a Poorly Written Character

I’ve actually seen a lot of players talk about Foulques over the years. For a minor character introduced so early on, he has quite the cult following, and I think it’s safe to say that I’m not alone in thinking this character deserved better.

To be honest, I don’t really like canon Foulques. But the reason I dislike him is mainly because whoever wrote him did a pretty horrendous job. He had potential to be an interesting and complex villain, as his justifiable anger about the wrongs committed against him could have warped and twisted his moral code. But instead, he spends the quests acting like a presumptuous jerk who thinks hazing lancer recruits will prove he’s the pinnacle of “true courage”.

The backstory they created for Foulques is honestly one of the most sympathetic in the game. But again, it isn’t even revealed until the back end of the final level 30 quest. Until that moment, you get ZERO explanation as to why Foulques is doing what he’s doing. No clues, no subtext, no steady and satisfying reveal - only a rushed exposition dump that feels disconnected from the character’s personality up until then.

You can’t just drop a complex and nuanced backstory at the last second and call that good writing. The upbringing and backstory of a character is integral to the character’s overall personality, much like how it is for real people who grow up and experience different circumstances. Yet somehow, Foulques’ backstory feels like an afterthought, dropped at the last second instead of integrated naturally.

Again, the best way to remedy this is to refocus Foulques’ motivations and actions. Adding the other co-conspirators as secondary antagonists would allow them to become the main targets of Foulques’ rage. Meanwhile, the background characters in the lancer’s guild could be collateral caught in the crossfire of his goals.

Furthermore, featuring these false friends as characters would be a good chance to show the consequences of not punishing them. Based on how they treated Foulques, there’s a good chance several - if not all of them - went on to continue their corruption in other ways, especially if they felt confident that they could keep getting away with it. If these further misdeeds were to be revealed, it would further show that the Lancer’s Guild’s actions failed not only Foulques, but the later victims of the co-conspirators.

Problem #3: Ywain is Underutilized

Ywain’s probably not someone brought up often when it comes to people’s favorite NPCs. In fact, I’ve seen certain players actively hate him because they consider him complacent in what happened to Foulques.

But honestly, I think Ywain is as much a victim of the story's bad writing as Foulques is. It’s not like he knew about all of this and was conspiring to hide the truth from the WoL/others or something. He finds out about Foulques' history in the literal final moments of the story, and because that history was thrown in so haphazardly late, his reaction is haphazardly rushed and poorly written in turn.

Overall, I think the biggest problem with Ywain is that he feels like he’s hardly participating in the story at all. Technically, he is the other main character in the WoL’s journey to become a lancer, and should be an important part of the plot. But instead, Ywain is a largely inactive presence; he spends most of the questline standing in a single spot of the guild and telling the WoL to go off on their own somewhere. He’s stationary both physically and in terms of development, which I think was a huge error in judgement on the part of the original writer.

I can’t help but compare this characterization issue with one of my favorite class quests: Rogue. Jacke, V’kebbe, and Perimu don’t have the issue Ywain does. They join you on various Rogue’s Guild missions, fight with you through several instances, and regularly banter with you and each other so you get a good idea of who they each are. Hell, these three even continue to help the WoL long after they graduate from Rogue, becoming allies with the Doman Ninjas and providing them with intel and extra manpower when needed.

The Rogue Quests did a much better job of utilizing their NPCs than what we see here. It’s practically impossible to become invested in a character that feels so removed from the plot itself. It’s no wonder Ywain gets forgotten - and even hated - when the lancer story gives him literally nothing to grow on. Instead of letting him be an actual character, the narrative regulates him to a one-dimensional mouthpiece used to assign the next set of tasks.

My frustration with the in-game writing only grew when I learned Ywain’s backstory from the lore book. Back when he was still a Wood Wailer, he and Landenel (the Wailer Captain at Camp Tranquil who was in Company of Heroes) were very close friends. At some point, a lack of judgement led to Landenel making a serious mistake - one that would have gotten him in a lot of trouble, and would have been exacerbated by the undeserved disdain Landenel often faced as the son of a known criminal. But wanting to protect his friend from unfair treatment, Ywain took the blame for everything and was kicked out of the Wood Wailers, though his name was later cleared and he was given the guildmaster position.

Ywain essentially did for Landenel what the co-conspirators refused to do for Foulques. This could have been an excellent way to give the two a comparable history, and if anyone would be insulted by the betrayal Foulques faced, you’d think it would be Ywain. But once again, this all goes to waste because the Lancer Quests never bring up Ywain’s history. I can’t understand how such relevant information ended up being ignored and left out, especially since it could have helped flesh Ywain out and allowed him to understand Foulques a little bit better.

In an improved version of the Lancer Quests, Ywain needs the narrative room to develop. He needs to be more involved in the plot and the tasks set for the WoL, so that the player can actually get to know him instead of just going to him briefly for their next assignment. He and the WoL should learn about Foulques history at an earlier point in the questline, and given his history with Landenel, it would make sense for him to be sympathetic. Ywain doesn’t necessarily need to agree with Foulques’ methods or means of revenge. But creating a common ground between them would greatly improve the nuance of both characters.

~~~

Thank you so much for taking the time to read! I plan to post my rewrite ideas sometime in the near future, but until then, I’d love to hear other people’s thoughts about this questline and its storytelling.

If you enjoyed my writing, please consider sharing and leaving feedback!

#Final Fantasy XIV #FFXIV #Lancer Quests #Foulques of the Mist #Ywain Deepwell #Long Posts #My Writing

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lorecannonrobban · 1 year

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Narmer speculations

Beware. Probable New War spoilers by association ahead - During the New War in our descent towards a tomb we in another form helped reseal, and later in the beginning of one of our favorite clones’ part in the Veilbreaker quest, we are met with some environmental curiousities. All of us will taken note of the veiled Grineer working towards the goals of Narmer alongside the empire’s custodian Sentient forces, but as we move deeper into the facility we find the bodies of Grineer not quite like the living slaves we surgically cut through.

These Grineer are garbed in a uniform of black and yellow/gold, quite unlike those veiled lancers and troopers who largely keep their old attire. And most curiously, unlike their apparent commander Ka-Nuteru, these clones appear to lack a Narmer veil of their own. While we later in the Plains of Eidolon encounter a Narmer Commander wearing the same colors and an ornate veil, these ones have none in their immediate area. I admit, the possibility exists where the Stalker might have taken them, perhaps for his benefactor’s examining of their structure, but I cannot help but imagine these clones may imply another stage in the growth of Narmer.

What if these troops were part of a project by Erra and Ballas to transition past the need for full-scale use of the veils by their armies of cloned drones? The veil is a mighty strategic tool for the purpose of making mankind docile, but it would not be a stretch to think that cloning and educating a new batch of Grineer to be loyal to the will of Ballas and serving alongside the Sentients as auxiliaries similar to the old prime Grineer soldiers followed the Dax into battle in the last days of the Orokin Empire. This move could be construed as a step to roll back the progression that became the Twin Queens’ empire and supply an additional military asset and workforce for reshaping the system. Looking at the design of their helmets I am unable to tell if they are made for ease of putting on a veil if the need arises. It is possible that, with default loyalty to Narmer, their other gadgets assisting their likely education by Deacons and other ”believers will work just as well for maintaining a perhaps more economical and subservient force, and if Narmer’s reign(which look to have gone on for some few years perhaps) had gone on for longer, the Grineer blinded by the veils might have succumbed to time and deterioration to a point where eventually our friend Kahl might have been faced with a generation of brothers that would have been considerably harder, if not impossible, to save, and perhaps the Queens might have not been able to reassert their control over parts of the system once the Narmer control signal seems to have shattered at large from the confrontation at Sol.

#warframe #warframe spoilers

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rjmhereunderprotest · 2 years

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I Survived the "Voltron: Legendary Defender" Fandom Ship Wars

I've seen my fair share of fandoms, and the subsequent warring that can go on within them. Shipping tends to be the primary focus of a lot of it, and that was no more true than "Voltron: Legendary Defender" and I'm reliving my experience with it because shut up.

I literally was only in this whole thing because, as the Megas XLR theme song states, "I dig Giant Robots", which is true of pretty much everyone. I wanted a fun space opera quest with giant friggin robots that was done better than the anime from the 80s. The prospect of former members of the crew of Avatar: The Last Airbender being on the project sweetened the deal. And for a time it was good... and then it all imploded because idiots had to ruin it.

This was honestly the dumbest dip in fandom engagement I've ever seen and it was all over shipping and seriously stupid fucking people. A series if idiotic actions that led to compromises at the creative level that severely undercut the end product. Everything that transpired in the run up to the series finale, from the 7th Season onward, perhaps even before that, you can trace to one thing... the Shipping War between which dude Keith, the Red Paladin, should fuck. His older mentor Shiro, who turned out to already be in a same-sex relationship, or Blue Paladin Lance... the literal Lancer of their five man band.

Oh it got ugly fast, Shiro was too old for Keith, they were reading too much into rivalry of Lance and Keith, accusations of pedophilia, nasty screaming about whether they'd LET these characters be gay, I watched it all and rolled my eyes thinking "Who gives a flying fuck?" Let's not even get into how the fandom treated the potential female rivals for Lance and Keith's affections. Allura and Lance shippers were a lesser front in the war of words. The main screaming matches were between the slash ships, but there was always a little ire reserved for anything hetero. I remember how desperate they all were to find a way out. To prove that Space Azula, Acxa, was not into Keith, maybe even his sister.

For a while it stayed like this, angry fans on reddits and twitters and tumblrs and forums of all sorts. Then the shippers did the big No-NO, what EVERY fan sooner or later seems to forget. You bring this drama to the attention of the creators... and you involve them in it. Suddenly it's no longer about preferences, it's about fans making demands of the creative team. "Make us Canon or die!" And it probably wouldn't have been so bad if the Voltron Team wasn't so active on social media, but they were! Poor sweet summer children, were they ever.

Any tacit support for one side over the other was seen as damning condemnation. How DARE the creatives speak about their own preferences? Or ideas? Or lend credence to that side over the others! Maybe they're pedos too if they seem to want Keith and Shiro to be together. How dare they dismiss all this evidence of Klance and ruin their whole super important character development that is clearly integral to the story about the intergalactic war against an even empire utilizing a giant robot.

I just did not care for ANY of this. I was paying attention to Pidge exclusively at this point as her story was far more engaging and or interest than over some stupid romance most people had made up in their head. And I felt that getting on the asses of the creators to bend to one side of the other was becoming more and more fucking disrespectful. Let them tell their story, ya jerks, stop trying to force them to tell what you want. Just write fanfics if you're that desperate.

Then... someone did something VERY stupid. Well, two someones actually. During a tour of Dreamworks Animation, someone thought it would be quite "corking" if they allowed their fellow "high school chums" a look at some classified storyboards and sketches. A few neat little spoilers online that they snuck out of the tour on a hidden camera. Clever little scamp, posted it online... and instantly drew the ire of Dreamwork's legal department. Net wide, Dreamworks demanded the removal of the spoilers. But one moron thought it would be a brilliant fucking idea to keep them up... unless demands were met.

"Make Klance Canon and I'll take the spoilers down!"

The idiot's understanding was, since other sites had the pictures, that they couldn't be liable for stealing anything. They didn't take the pictures, they just had them. So really, if the other sites were going to be pressured into removing the material, they could keep it up and use it as a form of protest. To make their stupid ship real.

Other people told them, that's fucking blackmail, that's illegal. And eventually that thought stuck.

Yeah ya did, Sunshine. People thought these two fans were one in the same, but from every indication it seems like it really was two people with the "blackmailer" likely being a really stupid kid who took advantage of a situation without realizing that their plan was gonna potentially land them in a ton of legal trouble. But the damage was done at this point. Because once fans start threatening to ruin ALL of your creative plans, that's when the higher ups get involved. That's when shit has to change and drastically.

To summarize what happened, from what most people have gathered, a lot of story points, ideas, plots, etc. got up ended by all of this. They had to alter their original ideas because the fans had fucked it up by going overboard. Now, whatever plans they had for the series were basically thrown out the window in favor of a new direction that NO ONE LIKED!

Allura and Lance get rushed into a relationship, Shiro's husband dies and he finds a new one some rando background dude. Any potential Keith romance is just thrown out because both sides are already losing, might as well not anger them more, oh and then lets kill off Allura next just as quickly as we finalized this relationship. EVERYBODY LOSES and it's all because a bunch of shippers could not fucking chill!

And I just laughed, I just had so much fun watching the rest of this trainwreck slide into the on fire tire fire on the garbage scowl before sinking into the sea and hitting an unexploded atomic warhead from a sunken sub! They all went ballistic, every single fan just fucking went off at once in a screaming angry tirade of abject total failure. But I was mostly cool, because Pidge got a great ending and I didn't care about anything else at that point. So out of ALL the fans of Voltron, I won. I won along with every Pidge fan and I was more than happy to watch the rest burn. And fuck'em anyway, they did this to themselves. Let them all shriek and screech and run around mad at the creators. They made themselves so fucking toxic, so goddamn impossible to deal with that I'd have probably done it sooner were I in charge and probably worse.

I'd have had Auxia kiss Keith full on the lips while she lifts one of his legs to lightly straddle her while both Shiro and Lance look on giving thumbs up and hugging close their own significant others. Shiro's would've been a dude at least because I'm not so cruel as to throw away LGBT representation. But still, totally would've done that shit in like season 5. Trust me, I would've drunk the angry screeching of everyone because they all deserved it at that point. ALL OF THEM. I have no sympathy.

Voltron: Legendary Defender is a lesson for fans the world over. Shipping is all fun and games when you keep it that way. Write fanfics, share your headcanon, create all the racey sexually explicit dude on dude, girl on girl, human on tentacle monster, etc. art you can paint or sketch to your heart's desire... but leave the creative team out of it. It's ultimately their story, not yours. And believe me, most of you here and Tumblr played RIGHT into all that shit because I know at least a few of you fucking did this.

As for me, to prove I'm not completely above it all, I'll pony up. I had one Voltron Ship, one I actually liked, supported and was totally cool with knowing it was never gonna happen. And it's not any of the ones you think... I wanted Lance to get with one specific person. Well, not person, fish-person.

Plaxum! That's right! I wanted Lance to end up with the Mermaid Revolutionary voiced by Mae Whitman! Because fuck it, Mermaids are fucking awesome and you can try however you fucking want to ruin the fantasy of mermaid love under the sea with your fish biology lessons, I know for a fact you're all wrong because if anything, mythical mermaids are more akin to sharks than regular fish and SHARKS actually DO have sex. The males have TWO big fat ones down under in fact, so what does that say about mermaids?

So in conclusion this has been a very long winded way of me justifying my mermaid fantasy and possibly grossing a lot of you out. I have no regrets and if any remaining Voltron Fans want to take issue with it, tough. The show's over I can make up whatever I want. Namely that Lance eventually returned to Mermaid world and had a hundred or so babies with Plaxum, because I live in fanfic land and you can't drag me out of it if you tried!

I have now thoroughly wasted ALL of your time. Good day!

#voltron legendary defender #shipping #Lance #Keith #Shiro #Fandom Entitlement #Lance/Plaxum Supremacy #I'm still Winning

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dezemberzwolf · 2 months

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Ff14 for 3 and 5, and zenos with 6 and 8

fandom ask meme!! ask me.... memes >:3

thamk u ilu....

3. which scene I would like to erase from the universe and why.

it technically was erased from the universe via retcon but every time someone mentions to me about the original moenbryda minion desc. that implied urianger was creepy towards her it makes me want to bite the writer again. also yknow what?? the lancer quest where foulques dies. my boy deserves to live so many other random ass shitty npcs get to live. like ok foulques was a dick but like he was a dick because every he knows decided to be racist at him and he HAD a POINT. like maybe some people deserved a stabbing. and yet 'known canon rapist npc ungust' gets to live? im sure theres 800 other things ill think of later bc its not as if the game is free of weird narrative choices, but ill be real. most of the time theres something where im like "this shouldnt Exist" i just vaporize and rewrite it in my mind LMAO. hear me out about werlyt

5. the scene from it that lives in my head rent free.

everything urianger has ever said in his entire life and also 90% of shadowbringers. its really good. for no particular character reason i think a whole lot about when you and the scions go to storm eulmore and u walk in on vauthry and ryne immediately screams 'no, make him stop' bc hes eating a pile of meol and i know. i know. in my heart. that if it wasnt gonna be too heavy gore and a bunch of graphics, the story intended that to be read as him ripping into and eating that lion sin eater that always sat in that exact spot. i know in my heart they ran in on him mid transformation eating a lion raw with his hands. i know this. shadowbringers is normal and fine for everyone involved.

also yknow in endwalker after [6.0 SPOILERS BEGIN] meteion reveals thancred is dead, urianger speaks and she immediately turns to him and goes 'youre full of loathing and dont even know why you still exist here'. that fucks me up every day. do you know how much has to happen for urianger, whose entire motivations this entire time is that he loves people so so much, to Actively Loathe you. to Hate a scared child. and he hates her because she killed thancred. and he doesnt know why its never him who gets to be the one sacrificed. im fine thats fine [END 6.0 SPOILERS]

6. the scene that I think shows just how awesome they really are.

The final fight with him here he speaks to the wol "not as a hero, but as an adventurer", and asks if your journey was a blessing or a curse. I like zenos because he is very much an exact foil for Laurel and that scene just shows that. hes aware of how close they are, and he cares.. he wants to know if someone 'like him', as the wol is, ever actually had a chance to live a life that could be enjoyable. he's trying to connect this entire time the only way he can understand you... i get if people dislike zenos. tbh im like, zenos agnostic outside of the context of him and the wol LOL but. i think at the end hes able to show that he really truly did connect with the wol. he managed to make a bond and some kind of understanding.

at least, with a wol like laurel.... with my other WoLs its like "YOU DONT GET SHIT GO AWAY!!!!!!" poor zenos. anyways him calling you an adventurer instead of a hero at the very end is neat. he cares about you he wants to understand very badly. he loves laurel hes her princess ok in this zenoswol laurel essay i will,

8. a headcanon I have about this character.

theres so much horny zenos fanart and i respect this i understand where it comes from but im also like. this man does not practically know what sex is and cannot flirt. he has only the hunt. if he fucks he does it almost by accident and it started as a fistfight or he has to be instructed into it. he has never seen pussy before. the wols gotta give him a diagram bc he understands concept but not execution. hes got other priorities.

also in In From The Cold when he possesses the wol the actual first thing he does is fall flat on his face because the center of gravity is way too different and hes not used to walking. and laurel specifically is lightly digitigrade and trekking around the snow in stiletto heels zenos gets into her body stand dramatically and then immediately eats shit because what the fuck how are you standing up like this.

#buzzings #im holding you in my arms

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aotopmha · 6 months

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I'm having a blast with FFXIV about a week in.

So, FFXIV spoilers.

The advantage of having watched many playthroughs of the game because I fell in love with the story so much is that I get to skip anything I think that dragged on for too long.

I'm at lvl 34-35 MSQ, just defeated Titan and even with the skipping I really felt the drag of the Company of Heroes quests.

(The fight was good, but was way too little payoff for what you have to go through to get there.)

The big positive people always list with A Realm Reborn is that it lays the foundation for what comes after, but the Titan quest didn't even do that.

The Company of Heroes is a footnote that I think is barely given minor mentions after A Realm Reborn.

In comparison, the very first Ascian we see mentions creation magics, the Ala Mhigan fight for liberation is actually a really consistent plot thread throughout the entire story so far, even the Lambs of Dalamud at least get explored in a minor way down the line.

On the other hand, the plot thread that involves Gridania and the elementals kind of goes nowhere as well. Gridania is the most poorly handled of the three city states in my opinion, where Limsa and Ul'dah get some fantastic material to have them progress and grow past their racism.

It's unfortunate because I think aesthetically Gridania is the prettiest of the three. I've liked going through Gridania's environments the most - in that sense I don't regret starting with Lancer.

And of course, there is everything with the empire and that setup.

Laurentius, Riol and several characters at Little Ala Mhigo all become of some importance for the finale of the expansion and perhaps beyond.

Finally, while I get to skip what I don't care for, I also get to look at stuff playthroughs might skip out on, like the smalltalk between characters between quests.

I really like seeing Arenvald this early on, for example.

So yeah, even if it's not perfect, ARR absolutely lays some important foundations for what comes after.

All that aside, somehow, I don't know how, just hitting your main three damage buttons is incredibly satisfying for me.

Maybe it's that the better fights also have you dodge stuff, but I enjoy my three stabby buttons on Lancer.

Wish I had an AoE of some sort, but I do not expect any kind of satisfactory combat gameplay loop from MMOs to begin with.

My biggest experience with MMOs has been Runescape and I know that game has its own high skill ceiling, but it never did anything for me in its most base form when it comes to the actual combat gameplay.

I do not associate MMOs in general with good "gameplay" so to say, just as "second monitor" gaming, something to do while listening to a podcast or something you occasionally log in to see a number go up while running around aimlessly in a virtual sandbox.

And I think you can do that with XIV, too, but XIV very much feels like a "game", game to me.

You can technically spam your one button to get through everything, but engaging with the systems is much more fun (and quicker).

Aside from MSQ, I've dabbled in the Gold Saucer content, which is a collection of minigames and while I'm better at some vs others (Air Force One vs the Leap of Faith type of challenges or Fall Guys), they're a blast, too.

You absolutely can see the scuff in here at all points, but it's fun enough where it doesn't drag the game down for me.

I can't wait for the Heavensward stuff and getting Dark Knight unlocked.

(I really hope I like tanking because I'm unlocking it due to my love for the job story of the class. Tanking is supposedly fairly easy, at least, but I want it for the fancy armor and fantastic lore above all. Lancer/Dragoon is my fave out of the ARR starting classes because it just looks cool, too.)

All of my encounters with other players have been mostly neutral to positive, but I haven't gone out of my way to talk beyond thanking for dungeons and the like.

Conclusion: game fun, I recommend.

Btw, did you know that the critically acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV has a free trial that includes the entirety of A Realm Reborn AND the award-winning Heavensward and Stormblood expansions up to level 70 with no restrictions on playtime?

#Final Fantasy XIV #Final Fantasy 14 #FFXIV #Final Fantasy #FF14 #FF

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herequeerexitentialfear · 7 months

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I am the softly falling snow

my first ffxiv writing about my wol! spoilers for heavenward post the vault as well as the dragoon level 60 quest, and the beginning of stormblood, although all are vague and the second and third are one line each. warning for grief [you know what im taking about] title taken from 'do not stand at my grave and weep'

the observations and musings of solider of camp dragons head as he watches the warrior of light.

The near silhouette of dragoon armor on top of a black chocobo moved over the white snow towards the observatorium. The unusual size of bird and warrior alike marked it as the warrior of light and her favored mount, probably pounding towards Ser Bale and another of his tasks.

The soldiers of dragons head camp had seen her make that trip many previous times.

Once, the large warrior bursting from the atherite and calling her mount from the stables before running though the gate full speed had caused alarm (and laughter, wild affectionate laughter that these walls no longer heard.)

It still did, as the wide eyes of the fresh blood paired up with him showed. But it could yet be awe of the near mythical woman, someone who became so quickly a hero of ishgard.

He remembered her when she was a lancer still, wandering through the snow, sprinting, terrified of the monsters she now slays with ease, towards the domineering walls of the camp, where the glow of the atherite peaked over the towering stone.

(Still remembers her and her friends shivering bodies crawling through the snow, the near blizzard obscuring them until they got close, frozen to the core, hearts heavy with grief and anger, heroes of eorzea no more, just another group of people seeking refuge)

Still remembers secretive meetings, a parade of notable people that they were sworn to silence about, in and out of that door- a needless gesture in the face of their loyalty to the commander. (still remembers his commander reactions to those meetings)

Despite himself, he is smiling. Memories of the same journey, of when she would stop before pounding down, or even her slow ascents back up towards the warmth of the keep (towards the warmth of the seat of command and the hidden away room and the man within) after grueling missions to prove herself a dragoon.

She doesn't hesitate anymore. Doesn’t pause, just whistles and then moves. She summons the chocobo on the atherite platform, not even reveling in the leap from atop it before doing so.

There has been a lot less joy in Dragons Head. The other outpost’s celebrations of the end of the war and final defeat of the dread wyrm were noticeably louder, the stone walls here still suffocating in grief.

He found himself wondering if that quiet celebration and suffocating loss was matched in the infamous headquarters of the knights dragoon. Although, they were accustomed to the high death toll and constant grief that marked the years post calamity long before. It hurt to think of the heroes' fellow dragon slayers moving exactly the same, already accustomed to drowning in loss, unchanged even after the horror that befell their leader, and the death of Ser de Vimaroix.

And yet the veil was slowly lifting here. The new soldiers that accompanied the new commander, uncertain around the solemn faces, reminding them of how hospitable these walls were meant to be. The slow acceptance of what happened, the creeping pride in the future he helped create.

A flash of fire shakes him out of his musings, one of the stone giants falling to the heroes first attack. She pauses as the corpse collapses into aether, possibly in shock at how quickly the stone beast fell to her spear, before sprinting towards the next one, to slay it too.

The next one suffers the same swift fate, with her now mere yalms away from the gate.

She enters slowly, and he hurries to the other side of the battlements, not wanting to lose sight of her.

She walks into the commander's room, pulling closed the door behind her. He lets out a breath he was unaware of holding.

The fresh blood stares at him, eyes wide, before shaking his head and continuing patrol. Evidently the young soldier thought him quite mad, but given the other eyes glued to their armored friend, he was not alone.

The door opened again, the warrior walking out, before… standing still. She seemed almost regretful, the opposite of her confident step in. A shared glance with the guard by the door confirmed his worries.

No doubt when their shifts were up, he would hear the whispers of what happened in that room.

The snow had already drowned her footprints, and was threatening to settle on her hair, before she moved.

Moved towards the alleyway between the buildings.

Moved towards the door.

His heart ached for her.

After she entered, he waited. Eventually he restarted his patrol, yet still glanced towards the alleyway more than he should have.

In the end, he only saw her exit when he was climbing down after his shift had ended. Her solemn face mostly hidden by her helmet.

The helmet she wasn't wearing when she walked in.

It did little to hide the tightness of her lips, but he had seen dragoon after dragoon hide emotional eyes behind mithril visor - there's a reason the warrior wearing the helmet with the visor up had been a surprise, her fellow warriors all either forgoing the helmet or hiding behind it.

He silently wished her well and for her heart to be at ease. Their commander wasn't the only person they were missing, but she had been taken from them in an entirely different way.

Still it comforted them all, these little glimpses of her, to see her alive, still running, still fighting, growing ever stronger.

He hoped it would be a sight he saw until they were both old and gray.

He knew that with the way she threw herself into cause after cause, with the whispers of her fighting garleans in the dessert, his hopes, the hopes of the whole camp (the hopes of their commander) might be betrayed.

Yet still he hoped.

#thebirdwrites #ffxiv spoilers #ffxiv #my attempt to distract myself from ffxiv has failed #but hey! wol writing!#i cannot be bothered to check how to spell all the special words.#she makes me unwell #this actually happened #i was doing my dragoon hunting journal thing #and then decided to pop into dragons head #.... yeah #yeah.

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stormbabylore · 8 months

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Job Transitions: Rogue -> Ninja

A friend of mine in game asked an interesting question some time ago about whether or not I follow game canon for the transition from Aeryn's starter classes into her specialized roles, and that's been really fun to ponder!

I'll split this up into a few posts, because it's liable to become quite long. For starters: rogue and ninja!

(Very minor class quest-related ARR spoilers behind the cut!)

N I N J A

For the rogue/ninja quests, the story of the class is canon for Aeryn - but the class itself is not! I adore the rogue questline and its characters with the entirety of my heart, and early rogue is probably my very favorite class to play. I was sad it ultimately branched into ninja, because although I find the characters for that story equally compelling, I find the class and its mechanics far less so. It looks really cool, don't get me wrong! But something about the flavor of rogue just appealed to me more, and I didn't want to skew away from that aesthetic, regardless of how much I enjoy the ninja lore and characters!

As I was already committed at that point to Aeryn being an archer main with lancer on the side, it didn't seem terribly realistic that she would also somehow become a ninja. So I ultimately decided on a path of adopting the rogue/ninja story for her lore without canonizing anything else.

The way I play it, Aeryn got on the radar of the Dutiful Sisters and was approached by Jacke, perhaps after he'd heard about her from various informants across Limsa. After assisting Jacke and his crew on a mission and getting caught up in their competition with Milala, they forged a bond of friendship and mutual understanding, such that the Sisters felt comfortable calling on Aeryn now and then for aid, trusting in her skill and discretion. Some of them (V'kebbe and Underfoot included) taught her to wield a set of daggers as well as how to maneuver in the shadows, but only as a backup means of defending herself in situations when carrying her bow or lance would be too conspicuous. In this way, the rogue story happens more or less canonically, just with Aeryn along for the ride in more of a sniper capacity as archer. She grows to love her silly little rogue family without necessarily becoming one of them.

Likewise, Aeryn does not truly become a shinobi. She does get some twinge of feeling from the soulstone she returns to Oboro; and I believe Oboro likewise has some glimmer of insight from the stone as it passes from her to him, such that he suspects she might join them. But in spite of his optimistic attempts to invite her into the fold, it seems Aeryn is incapable of learning the mudra. Try though she might, the mystical natural magics of ninjutsu simply will not resonate with her. (I feel she would be blocked from this in the same way she is blocked from most magic in Eorzea.) However, she picks up rather quickly on the physical techniques that Oboro and Tsubame teach her, expanding on the skillset taught by Jacke and his crew. And like with the Dutiful Sisters, her bond with the shinobi becomes one of friendship. She is invested in their mission - and forcefully involved due to Karasu's interest in her as Oboro's little "horsebird chick." Whether at Karasu's meddling or at the request of Oboro or Tsubame, Aeryn joins them on their missions as bard, and thus the storyline progresses much as normal - with just a dash of added sneak-sneak.

So Aeryn does technically progress from rogue to ninja as outlined in canon, but without ever actually picking up the class. She participates in the story and adopts extra skills but remains bard/lancer. As a result, Aeryn learns to move more gracefully/quietly as well as to work with her surroundings to mask her presence in a way she never quite learned from Ywain, Luciane, or any of her other mentors. She already knew quite a bit about close-combat, particularly hand-to-hand, from Ywain; but the shinobi and the Sisters helped her learn how to fight with small weapons when needed, including the best ways to incapacitate someone in those circumstances (both fatally and otherwise). She canonically starts carrying daggers at all times for situations when it might be more cumbersome to have her bow or spear along, such as when crafting or gathering. And she is considered an honorary member of the Dutiful Sisters and a friend to the shinobi, to the degree that she is often involved in their adventures. But that's the extent to which the rogue/ninja class is "canon" for her.

That's all for ninja! More class lore to come!

/ponder

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new-old-friend · 9 months

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#4 Lancer & Dragoon

Before starting, I think I should add some spoiler alert and rating, since in the future it will be also some 🔞 content (probably). Obviously all my stories are based on actual facts happened in game, so they contain spoilers about the MSQ.

Rating: T (Slightly profanity here and there)

Spoiler Alert: It mention some characters and facts about the Lancer's Job Quest.

Having said that, I hope you like and enjoy this new chapter 😊

He had the chance to look more closely to that lance, and Kane was almost tempted to ask who was the person who created that weapon. Unfortunately, the man carrying that lance was just a rude human being that bumped into Kane's shoulder without even apologize, and releasing just a grumpy "Humph.".

The Scions of the Seventh Dawn were an Order formed by a numerous group of peculiar people. M’kenzie, Lena, Carina and Kane met some prominent members of the Order in their first assignments: Thancred Waters, Ida Hext, Papalymo Totolymo and Y'shtola Rhul. These people, intrigued by the adventurers personalities and gift, invited the fours to join their Order, or at least, to talk with the Antecedent.

The Antecedent was none other than a young hyur woman by the name of Minfilia Warde. She explained what was the purpose of the Order and almost begged the four adventurers to join their cause. Almost, because the moment Carina recognized the man she saw in Ul'dah a few week searlier -an elezen with the name of Urianger Augerault-, she instantly accepted Minfilia's request for everyone. "Alright, count us in," said Carina smiling at the elezen.

Minfilia looked at the other adventures, who were chuckling at Carina's reaction and nodding in agreement with their friend's answer. "It would be an honor to fight for this cause," said Kane.

Minfilia sighed of relief. "Thank you very much, everyone. I'm sure that with your help our battles will be much easier." The Antecedent smiled. "Now, I suppose the journey from Ul'dah was tiring, and so I have you prepared some chambers. Our receptionist, Tataru, will show you your rooms."

"Thank you, Antecedent," said M'kenzie bowing.

"My friends call me Minfilia."

"Well, then thank you Minfilia," said Carina all excited. And with that, starting right from the Antecedent, she hugged all the Scions to say them goodbye, lingering in particular on Urianger when it was his turn.

“Well, that was unexpected,” said Thancred crossing his arms.

When Carina released the poor, puzzled elezen, she winked at him smirking, and then left the room following her friends and Tataru.

“Urianger, my friend, you are stealing my job,” said Thancred giving a pat on his shoulder.

“Beg thy pardon?” The elezen had his jaws completely opened in shock.

“It's pretty obvious that Carina likes you. A lot.”

“I…”

“What?” said Ida surprised, “Did Urianger just ran out of words?”

“Seems like that,” replied Minfilia chuckling.

After several battles, numerous reports to Minfilia, and the acquisition of a title they didn't feel up to, the four adventurers -now The Warriors of Light- decided it was the moment to take some time to go on with their training and learn something new.

And so they did. M'kenzie concentrated his studies on Black Magic; Carina ran into a guy with a big axe on his shoulders and decided to follow him up to Limsa Lominsa, where, eventually, she joined the Marauder's Guild; Lena followed Carina to Limsa to make sure she didn't get into some big trouble -again- not knowing that trouble would instead follow her and bring her into the Rogue's Guild.

As for Kane, under Urianger's suggestion, he traveled to Gridania to became a Lancer.

Gridania was a city completely different compared to Ul'dah, or Limsa Lominsa: she was surrendered by greenery and filled with music. Sometimes too much greenery and even more music for Kane’s taste, but in the end it didn't matter: Gridania was the home of the Lancer’s Guild, and he swore that nothing could've ever come between him and his fate.

Except he couldn't find the Guild. He toured all Gridania for half a morning before he could finally found it. Unfortunately, neither he nor his friends had much sense of direction, which was a significant problem for a group of adventurers. And if his terrible sense of direction wasn't enough, he got distracted by a fascinating elezen with silver, long hair. He was carrying a magnificent lance on his back, and for a moment Kane didn't know if he was excited for the beautiful elezen or for his lance. But maybe for both.

"Good morning, Madam. I’m looking for Ser Ywain,” said Kane talking with a woman at the reception of the Guild.

A midlander hyur walked outside the door hearing his voice. “Who wants him?”

The viera clear his throat. “My name is Kane Kira, I heard that Ser Ywain could teach me how to hold a spear without impaling myself in the endeavor.”

The man chuckled quietly. “And who told you that?”

“Urianger Augeault.”

He nodded. “I’m Ywain. If it is Urianger the one sending you, then I can help you out.”

It took just a couple of weeks of training to Kane to became quite proficient with the lance. “A natural talent,” said Ywain one day. “One I’ve only seen once before you.”

Those words filled him with pride and curiosity, and he often asked himself who could it be that other person so well versed with the lance.

“Ser Kane?” All of a sudden, his thoughts were interrupted by a maiden called him and knocking at his door.

“Good morning my Lady," he said after opening the door. "What can I do for you?”.

"Good morning to you, Ser Kane. I have a message from master Ywain; he's waiting for you at the Lancer’s Guild."

Having to deal again with his terrible sense of direction, and after wandering around for about ten minutes, Kane somehow managed to get to his destination, not before being distracted by an elezen, who was coming out from the Lancer’s Guild. He was the same elezen he has seen his first day in Gridania. Same demeanor and same lance, and an armor just as impressive as it was his weapon.

"Really?" Shouted the viera, turning towards him. Rain was pouring heavely over his white hair and fluffy ears, but Kane didn’t care; the only thing he wanted was an excuse to punch him in the face or, even better, skewed him with impunity. The man stopped for a moment, turned himself in Kane's direction and stared at him. Or at least it was what Kane thought in that moment because the guy's eyes were entirely covered by his helm.

Kane crossed his arms waiting for a move; the elezen did the same and like this, they stared at eachother for a while.

Both stood still as statues, except for Kane's hair and ears that were moving in the light wind of Gridania. His violet eyes were piercing the elezen's helm, so much that at one point the man finally turned his face and body in another direction.

"Ugly bitch," shouted Kane at the man.

The elezen's back suddenly straightened. "Ugly?” He whispered to himself, pouting and blushing at the same time. Then he left the aerea of the Wailing Barracks swaying his hips, and Kane couldn’t help but notice that, at least, the elezen has a really great ass.

"Master Ywain, who was that walking pile of arrogance?" Said Kane, once entered into the Guild's establishment.

"You mean the elezen? Estinien Wyrmblood, the Azure Dragoon of Ishgard."

"Never heard of him."

"It's one of the best warrior of-"

"Alright, I don't care. Too much pomposity in just one sentence, it can't get better." Said Kane, tapping the bottom of his weapon on the ground. "To me he is just an ass."

The man chuckled "It's a shared opinion. But, you know, both of you have the same elegance in your combat style."

"Are you trying to offend me?"

Ywain smiled. "Perish the thought! You’re getting a little too good with that lance, for my taste. And since I'm attached to my life, I’ve no intention to pester you."

Kane sighed. " I'd like Folques to think the same. Anyway, why did you called me?”

“Folques.”

“AGAIN?" The viera snorted. "Seven hells, can I kill him?”

"No."

#estinien knows he is a bitch #but ugly?#final fantasy 14 #ffxiv #scions of the seventh dawn #report to Minfilia #Lancer job quest #my fanfic #ffxiv fanfic #wolstinien #urianger x wol #new-old-friend

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was-it-really-worth-it · 1 year

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Game 224 - Final Fantasy XIV by Square Enix

What did I think it was at first? This is a review of of the critically acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV, which includes a free trial that includes the entirety of "A Realm Reborn" AND the award-winning "Heavensward" expansion up to level 60 with no restrictions on playtime. FFXIV's newest expansion, "Endwalker", is out now.

Now that this is out of the way...

A year ago, my husband was really into this game and I wanted to try it so we could play together. I hated it so much I quit within the first hour, but they convinced me to try again a few weeks later. And now, it's been a year and I just finished the main plot of the latest expansion. I'm going to try to very gently sketch out the plot and avoid major spoilers for Endwalker, but I may accidentally spoil other expansions as it's all a blur at this point.

How was the character creator? You must assign your character as male or female, but you can choose from a multitude of classes (some combat, some not), races, appearance options, and outfit choices. I chose to play as a male Viera, and I have two classes at the level cap - one is dancer, and one is white mage. I'm working on lancer now!

I tend to prefer more feminine outfits on my bunny boy, and there are quite a few I can choose from! Some, however, can't be worn on a masculine frame which is a total downer.

I did enjoy that I could get married in the game! I married my RL spouse and it's the only wedding we got to have because of Covid. The perks are nice and it was a fun way to get my friends together, so that's a special memory I'll always have in this game.

How was the game? There's quite a bit going on here! The MMO gameplay is at the core of the adventure, and as the plot propels forward it spins through a variety of genres. You go from being a lowly adventurer to a hero on a cosmic scale, and on the way you build lots of relationships with figures in the world.

One of the things I really enjoyed about the narrative was how thoroughly planned it is. There are frequent callbacks to previous sections of the game where information gets expanded or revisited in a new light. They do a great job musically with this as well - motifs from other songs frequently pop up at significant story moments. As a whole, the music here is really well done.

You really get to love the characters - and because the story is so extensive, they really are able to show growth and development in the core cast. There are several plot twists and character changes that completely took me by surprise - a common refrain of my friends was "I couldn't wait for you to get to X part and see how that played out."

There's a really substantial main story that is carried through with typical MMO-style questing. The dungeons and raids are also like other MMOs I've played, though I appreciate that enemies telegraph their attacks a little more than in other MMOs I've played. I really feel like online raiding has taken the social niche that square dancing once held.

Each class feels a little different, and that's even without touching the crafting and gathering classes as I have not. There's also some farming sim elements that I haven't done yet. Housing is a huge part of the game - I didn't like it as much as I would in like The Sims, but my husband loves it so much.

What did I not love? My main quibble is with overworld questing. Unfortunately, I can only play solo for sort stretches of time on the main quest - the types of quests are a little repetitive and they get tedious. Go talk to someone, sit for a lore dump. go talk to someone...I usually nod off a little. The dungeon design is really fun and I wish there wasn't so much silly "go talk to x" design in the way.

The art assets are also starting to show their age a little, and closeups on pixelly textures aren't a cute look. The animations get better as the expansions go on, but a lot of the game isn't as pretty as most modern games.

At 23 days, 16 hours and $30 for the whole game plus $15 per month, was it really worth it? I really enjoy FFXIV, but I don't think I'd still be playing without a community of friends. If you have a social group that's into it, give it a try! I have definitely gotten my dollars worth!

#final fantasy #final fantasy xiv #c reviews #square enix #gaming

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