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shivasdarknight · 9 months

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#wolqotd So I haven't really made a decision on a ship for my Wol/NPC. How did you guys decide on who you wanted your Wols to be with? Was it a certain moment? Or just something that made too much sense?

So, as a forward: I did not go into this with any ships in mind. When I first started to think about Surkukteni as a character, some of that came to mind but I was already midway through Stormblood. Misaki was barely a character, and I'd only just started to play around with ideas for Katsuro - the others were just...not there or just hollow shells (Sera and Teo weren't, Gwen was on Crystal, and V'ahnie is. non existent).

Surkie was always meant to be sapphic. When I first started writing her, I knew I wanted to lean into sapphic stuff but I wasn't set on her identity just yet. This all came with developing her character because I found that it was easier for me to figure out romantic stuff once her character was actually concrete. This is also how I ruled people out.

Yugiri was a first consideration mostly because I personally thought she was cute, but the Steppe Arc made that difficult to stomach so she was no longer a consideration. This was also when I was lamenting the fact that Ysayle's canonically dead because she would've been perfect.

I go off of chemistry and narrative similarities, so the first thing that actually clicked was one I didn't want to click: Surkie/Estinien. I was still pissed at this douchebag for Heavensward and how he treated Ysayle, and again I was really hoping for something sapphic but was getting frustrated that out of the entire cast that was still alive, it was him that actually worked really well with Surkie. Similar narrative points, similar drives, easy rivals and competitive dumbasses. They embodied a lot of the stuff that I enjoyed in ships - especially m/f shit like Ashitaka/San - and I kinda compensated for a long time with them being FWB but not officially together.

Aymeric was thrown in there as a why not, but that developed into a very different kind of relationship that I was off and on with until I settled on their coworkers dynamic and working through shared issues - it also clicked more when I finally said Fuck It and made Aymeric trans. The deciding factor on keeping him in her relationship was the fact that they began to have chemistry once I stepped out of the usual modes people take with Aymeric and focused on coworkers, queerness, and frankly politics.

It's also for this same reason as to why I kept G'raha out when he used to initially be in there. At first I thought it was fun that they had parallel desires - she was an adventurer wanting to get into archaeology, he's an anthropologist (archaeology is under anthropology) who wanted to be an adventurer - but the more I developed them the less they worked out? Like yeah, similar desires and all and he's a political figure but they only really work as friends. Them being romantic felt like I was acting out the usual tropes and I couldn't really feel out any chemistry between them. Friends, absolutely. Romantic partners? ...Eh.

AND THEN I GOT OVER MYSELF ABOUT STICKING STRICLY TO CANON LMAO

So anyways, Ysayle.

I had a lot of hangups about what to do with her because I only got more attached the further I got away from Heavensward. Everything that she stood for resonated greatly with Surkie and the lack of her in MSQ - especially when it was relevant - was deeply apparent. So eventually I just got kind of sick of writing her as a was and began my rewrite. Shipping her with Surkie just kind of came naturally as that way into sapphic stuff I'd wanted initially, but I didn't want her entire thing to be based around being in a wolnpc ship, yeah? Like. She's still Ysayle, she's still got her own stuff.

The decision to have Surkie have feelings for her is yet again chemistry, but the deeper relationship and narrative emphasis - such as perpetually reincarnating soulmates - came later on as I built Ysayle up and even made her an ancient self in Khione. I made Cylva her shard, and that got elaborated in Surkie's fling with Cylva. Philomène is her Fourth shard that interacts with Saoirse. Macchi is her immediate past life and ties her to both Bahamut and Tiamat.

The more I fleshed this out, the more the relationship became entwined with narrative nonsense about cyclical relationships that end in tragedy except this one with Surkie and Ysayle because Surkie fought against the script. This became the core ship because of how intrinsically tied it is to the story even though both can stand on their own. So much revolves around these two - trauma or otherwise - and yeah it's the most important thing in the story.

Venat comes attached to that as the lover of Charon (Surkie) and Khione (Ysayle). I'd seen some people do stuff with Venat/Ysayle (which I Adore) and thought it could be fun to include Venat in the stuff with surkysayle. Venat and Surkie had some nice similarities and chemistry, and I wound up really liking the idea that Surkie and Ysayle have Venat's traveler's mark because that connection back to Charon and Khione. So beyond just chemistry, it ended up deeply affecting the wider story. It's another core ship that comes into play much later on.

Heustienne is new and it's mostly because I wanna give her more spotlight. Also, Ysayle/Heustienne is cute. I still don't know how she fits in with the Engaged Quad (Surkie, Estinien, Ysayle, Aymeric - Aymeric proposed right as they left for Sharlayan), but I do know that she's at least with Surkie and Ysayle. It's definitely also fun as she stands as one of the three folks affected by the Dragonsong War with ties to the Knights Dragoon that all got aetherically fucked somehow - Estinien obviously, but also Melisande who's an oc of mine. Having her with Surkie and Ysayle fits a lot thematically, especially since I'm making her a Scion and engaging with ENW.

Yotsuyu was originally in Surkie's relationships due to how similar they are (and also because I like Yotsuyu/Ysayle), but that similarity wound up being what made me reconsider. Seeing as Surkie's captain/father is Doman, I don't think she could look past what she did even if she feels for Yotsuyu. She's sympathetic, keeps her alive, and helps her start a new life elsewhere but I don't think she could find herself romantically involved whatsoever.

That's where Melisande comes in. Melisande is a bastard of Ishgard who loathes her homeland and has no desires on ever going back - she'd rather see them burn. In this way, she and Yotsuyu are Fucking Perfect, especially in terms of Yotsuyu post-everything as they try and negotiate what to even do without necessarily redeeming Yotsuyu? Like, she's hurt but she's also horrible. And who better to love her than a horrible woman like Melisande?

I think I just liked the idea of Katsuro inbetween thanuri, especially with how his weirdness is actually understood by Urianger, and Thancred is very patient with him too. The schemes, the secrecy - it just kinda works? I like their ups and downs too. G'raha is a thought, but I'm still working on that. It's not really a "fuck it we ball" situation because I think they look good together, I tend to sit on this stuff for a while before making it a serious ship. So I'm bouncing around ideas of how Katsuro would interact with the Exarch, the fact that I've got G'raha having a huge crush on Katsuro (which will be there regardless of if they're together or not), trying to like...ig feel out if they've got chemistry or not? Scenarios, conversations, trying to see if there's any conflicting shit. Katsu's stint with Emet sure would count, but that also affects thanuri anyways and that was a case of Katsu being horribly manipulated. So we'll see where that goes for G'raha.

Gwendoline is with Y'shtola, Nidhana, and Zero. I didn't have her with anyone for a long time because originally it was an oc named Skuld, but that felt hollow? Like just trying to pair people together who weren't with anyone yet. Especially when Surkie and Gwen have great chemistry and history, but that's oc / oc. The more that I began to develop Gwen and have her more involved in things, the more I began to like her having this long relationship with Y'shtola as practitioners of forbidden magicks and deeply curious individuals who both enable each other but also hold the other accountable. Y'shtola has turned into a really nice partner for Gwen mostly because they're able to deal with the other's bullshit and can see right through the other. They've been together since Y'shtola's return in Heavensward, which has been fun considering the immediate challenges and then Stormblood, but regardless she's a very loving partner and I enjoy their banter (which is what sold me on it). She's also perfectly fine with Y'shtola having a partner in Runar, even if they have to discuss it after they reunite. So yeah, Runar is a metamour and there's nothing there between Gwen and him (also she's like. a lesbian.). He's just a nice guy who helped take care of her girlfriend.

NIDHANA WAS ME BEING A TINY BIT PETTY LMAO I ADORE Nidhana and was getting tired of people just constantly picking the most random ass men to ship with, so I just scooped Nidhana up and threw her between Gwen and Y'shtola. Again: eccentric researcher who meshes well with both of their interests. She would be SO into Gwen's necromantic research and just a good fit for these two. Yeah, it does result in 3 people who can't take care of themselves or sleep at reasonable hours, but they're fun and that's what counts!

Zero is a recent addition for Gwen and Y'shtola. This one's mostly built on them helping her acclimate to the Source. This one only works because Gwen has taken a long time to get where she's at presently. If this were ARR, it wouldn't work. Gwen and Zero are built on Gwen's other relationships, notably with Surkukteni. This one is one that I've recently started fleshing out mostly because I like the idea of Zero building something new with Gwen and Y'shtola. I just think they're cute together. Chemistry is tougher with this one as Zero's slowly growing into her own character, but I like the idea of her working through internalized issues and trauma with two people who are extremely patient with her.

basically it's just a lot of chemistry and weighing the benefits of how it would impact the narration and characters or not. G'raha didn't bring much to Surkie but seems to be better fit with Katsuro. Ysayle adds a lot of dimension to Surkie and her interactions, while Yotsuyu is better suited with Melisande.

I'm constantly changing things because polyam fun, but like. Idk, I just think it's fun to play with chemistry and see how people grow with each other.

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