♪Hindmost devils, early to rise ♪  ♪Sing come twilight, sleep when they die ♪  ♪Heaven's banquet leavened with lies ♪  ♪Sating honor, envy, and pride ♪

I made this piece as a sister piece to the Heavensward poster I made last year.

Finally at home...

the kids are alright!!!! 🥹🙌

Emmanellain‘s suggestion for the Ishgard restoration project: a former poor kid‘s opinion

Another Emmanellain related post just reminded me of something that has been on my mind for a long time: Emmanellain’s suggestion of including some entertainment and luxury during the Ishgard restoration project.

Of course he got dismissed by Honoroit and Francel (even if the latter later came around), because obviously Emmanellain makes only dumb suggestions. But as someone who grew up poor, let me tell you that this suggestion and the response it got hit hard.

As a kid/teenager, my family never had much money. We mostly had food, but everything else was always a struggle. People in my school knew of course because when we had to write an essay on our family car, I had to tell the teacher that we didn’t own a car, and when there were class trips I either wouldn’t go in the first place, or I wouldn’t spend any money during them - I‘d bring my own food, not go shopping etc.

Others knew, too. Family members, neighbours, teachers etc.

Why am I telling you this? Because all these people have told my mother or me off for buying unnecessary luxuries. These luxuries included, among others:

pets (we had a dog who for many years was my only friend because I was bullied in school)

yoghurt (as in, a simple normal yoghurt cup, cheapest brand even)

a new purse (one in ~ 5 years after my mother‘s old one broke)

a fridge ("It’s winter, you can just buy bread and pepperoni and store it out on the window sill.")

Even writing this right now makes me angry. All of these complaints came from people who grew up with well off parents of course.

So let me tell you, someone saying that poor people deserve nice things would have meant the world to me. That I don’t have to be grateful and content with having the bare minimum. For YEARS after I became an adult and got a job, I‘d still buy the cheapest food possible. I discovered smoked salmon through a friend and loved it, but I never bought it because it was expensive. I’d barely buy myself anything for hobbies and when I did, I felt guilty. I bought a single book and a single video game in three years because it had been so engrained in my brain that I don’t deserve more, that spending any coin more than necessary was a sin. I could have bought some smoked salmon, a book and a game every month with what I was earning, but that would have meant spending money on my own happiness, and that was a big no-no.

So to whoever thinks that Emmanellain suggesting some joy & fun for the poor people is stupid/funny/ridiculous, go spend a few years living like that and then come back to me to talk.

Wholeheartedly agree. And they exaggerated his comic relief stupidity, for lack of a better word, to the point where it became outright ridiculous. I remember a scene where everyone was gathered in Garlemald and he, of all people, was the only one shivering and wrapping his arms around himself. Seriously? The guy from ISHGARD of all people is the one whose teeth chatter? I didn‘t realise incompetence made you more vulnerable to cold weather, huh.

And what also bothered me was how WHEN he showed his kindness - which in my opinion is his biggest strength, more than his gossip and diplomacy skills - no one bat an eye. The spoiled brat noble son gave up his warming potion for a stranger, an enemy even, and still everyone treated him like a big loser crybaby.

I will never be over how Endwalker just destroyed Emmanellain's characterization. They needed a waifish, damsel in distress comedic relief character, and they just ignored all of his 3.x character development to do it! They just slapped him in there to be a pretty boy noble who doesn't want to be there, when post-Heavensward Emmanellain is so much more than that.

Like yes, that's very much what he was at the start of the game. He didn't want to fight, or take life particularly seriously, and he wasn't really good at the things his family wanted him to be good at.* He was flighty and immature and completely willing to just go through life riding on the coattails of his brother and getting by on his family name. No one expected much from him, and he was perfectly content with that status quo. He is a comedic caricature of a pretty boy noble there, so incompetent that he's assigned his own houseboy to keep him in line.

But all that changes post-Heavensward. He's thrust into a position where suddenly he has to take charge, and make decisions, and he's not ready for it. He makes the wrong call, and he blames others for it, as he's always done. And then he experiences the consequences for his actions. And it's still someone else who suffers for them! It's Honoroit who gets beat up, not Emmanellain himself! But it forces him to own up to his shortcomings in a way he's never bothered to before. (Thancred's fist and the imposing WoL certainly help with that too, of course.) He's given an ultimatum, and he steps up!

And of course he's not going to magically become a clone of Artoirel and get super serious and become an amazing knight. That's not who he is, and that's not where his skills lay. But he's trying. When you talk to him after that, he tells you about his training regiment, and how he's still not much good with a sword and how he'll never be like Haurchefant, but he's working on it, and he's training regularly and not skipping out on it like he used to. And when he takes over Camp Dragonhead, he treats the role with all the gravity it's due. Even Artoirel says he's impressed with him and how seriously he's taking it!

And then he shows back up in Endwalker and it's like they've just erased all that character development and turned him back into a useless ponce. He's not there because he wants to be, he's there because his brother commanded it and he had no choice. And, idk, but the Emmanellain I'd come to love wouldn't have stressed that so hard. Even if it had been Artoirel's suggestion, even if he knew he wasn't suited for the task, 3.x Emmanellain would have taken the role seriously and done his best in whatever capacity he can. While still being a flirty comic relief character.

Like, I love Emmanellain and Sicard, but damn I wish they hadn't destroyed my boy to bring them together.

*However, that doesn't mean he wasn't good at anything, or that his skills were useless! He's very adept socially, and he knows all sorts of rumors and all sorts of people. We see it during the riots in 3.1 in particular, where he knows people who knows people. There's merit to being a well connected gossip in high society! Just because he's not good with a sword doesn't mean he's useless! And he himself goes through a whole arc of self discovery where he realizes his skills are, in fact, skills.

I've released some HW emotes! They're available on Etsy, itch.io and Patreon and I hope you like them :D

happy hatchingtide to everyone [:

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the squad

The Martyr Saint Haurchefant 

Part II of my HW boys stain glass pieces! I meant to post this earlier but I forgot haha. Honestly I got a bunch of notifs for my Aymeric one that were so nice today out of the blue that reminded me to post this one. So here’s our sweet boy Haurchefant in stain glass!

Here are the other two: Estinien and Aymeric

Pictured: a cat who will never accept another drink ever again.

(I cannot believe how rarely things just go Normal when someone eats or drinks onscreen in this game, seriously)

House Fortemps Manservant

Firebending!

I was too excited! Much like with waterbending, there'll be a bonus tomorrow!

One last sticker design before I hibernate :)

I love this sweet boy.

Let’s also not forget the other way around: I‘ve found fandoms because of friendships ♥️

Reblog if you've found friendship because of your fandoms.