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sapphire-weapon · 10 months

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In an attempt to organize all of my thoughts and finally get this shit out of my system, I wrote up a complete, comprehensive listing of all of the things I loved about Final Fantasy XVI, all the things I hated about it, and all of the things that were equal parts good and bad.

Massive spoilers abound here. Hopefully, by the end of it, it’s easier to understand why I’m so stuck on this game and why I can’t really settle on a firm opinion of it being good or bad.

FFXVI is an excellent game, except for all of the ways that it sucks.

BAD

- Some quality of life issues. The inability to pull up the world map from town or the middle of a zone was huge for me. Having to fast-travel to an obelisk to go to the actual exit of a zone just to go somewhere else was an extra unnecessary step that didn't need to happen. The inability to switch your button inputs was obnoxious, too, and hitting R1 to dodge never came to feel natural. I also hated that I couldn't turn off certain elements of the HUD. Just little things like that, here and there.

- The treatment of female characters leaves a lot to be desired in this game. There are only four major, named female characters in this game: Jill, Anabella, Benedikta, and Mid. The only one who didn't get cheated/fucked over by a lack of care from the writers was Mid -- and, wouldn't you know it, she has the smallest role of the four of them.

I'll go into the whole thing with Jill when we talk about her character specifically, but Anabella is basically like "what if Cersei Lannister was explicitly a Nazi and then, instead of having a dynamic character arc, she just killed herself?" Anabella's entire character motivation is literally just "because eugenics" -- and, as a result, basically all of her character dialogue is centered around that point. The game never goes into who she is as a person outside of being a Nazi bitch. She has one interesting conversation with Clive towards the end of her role where she surprises the audience (and Clive himself) by saying "It should've been you [, not Joshua, to be Phoenix's Dominant]! Why couldn't it have been you?" but then the conversation gets cut off because the Bahamut fight has to happen now.

And the one window of opportunity where it looked like her character was going to get deeper -- when she looks at Joshua and yells "I will not let you take me, shadow!" and makes us think that maybe she's not actually a Nazi and has been Ultima's thrall since maybe before Clive was even born? Instead of going into it, she just kills herself and then is never mentioned again outside of "hey remember that time when mom" stories.

Benedikta didn't fare much better. She was actually a really great character with a fantastic role back when the theme of the game was still "the consequence of unchecked power and anger in the blind pursuit of vengeance" -- but as soon as the game decides it's suddenly not going to be about that anymore because fuck you, you kind of just have to look back on Benedikta and ask "What was the point of her, actually?"

And Mid, again, is fine -- but she also doesn't do a whole lot. She's your token engineer/genki girl character rolled up into one. Think X's Rikku but with more actual charisma/likeability and no battle prowess so she never actually joins your party. And she doesn't even come in until halfway through the game.

And that's it, that's your female cast. There are other side characters like Charon and Vivian -- and Charon is great for a myriad of reasons -- but they're still just minor side characters.

- Eikon battles. I know that this is going to be the most contentious thing I say in this write-up, so let me just say that I am already aware that this is actually mostly a me problem. For whatever reason, my particular blend of astigmatism and ADHD made it almost impossible for me to follow anything that was happening on screen during an Eikon fight, with the exception of Garuda and Titan. Everything else was just too much happening all at once. And the very final Eikon fight you do? I could not make heads or tails of ANYTHING I was looking at because of the color palette, and I just kind of had to mash buttons and hope for the best.

But that's the only part of it that's a me problem. the rest of it is legitimate criticism. We need to talk about all the stupid bullshit that actually happens in those fights.

We need to talk about the fact that Phoenix and Ifrit did the fusion dance in outer space while fighting Bahamut. Because that shit almost made me turn the game off and never turn it back on again.

I don't care that it happened, necessarily. I care how it happened. That whole time, I just kept repeating in my head "thirteen years. Clive thought Joshua was dead for thirteen years. THIRTEEN YEARS. THIR.TEEN.YEARS. HE HAD REGULAR TRAUMA FLASHBACKS ABOUT IT. HE ALMOST KILLED HIMSELF OVER IT. AND THIS IS WHAT'S HAPPENING ON MY SCREEN RIGHT NOW BEFORE THEY'VE EVEN SAID HELLO"

The entire game is so serious and grounded and somber and gritty, but the second an Eikon fight starts, it's suddenly Dragon Ball Z, and we're expected to just go with it. And I mean, I love Dragon Ball Z. I've been in that fandom for over 25 fuckin years. But the Eikon battles were so tonally dissonant from the rest of the game that it was immersion-breaking and jarring every single time. Clive and Joshua actually have the dialogue exchange of "What can we do against that kind of power?" "We'll just have to believe in our own." before even having the "holy shit you're alive" conversation.

THIRTEEN YEARS.

THIRTEEN FUCKING YEARS.

I can't. It was awful. But this also ties into...

- The story/story structure in general. I've talked about this before. Used the analogy "if you took the cast of Uncharted and put them into Indigo Prophecy" but I've actually thought of one better. FFXVI is like a version of Silent Hill 2 where, halfway through the game, James reunited with Mary because she wasn't actually dead at all, and then the two of them teamed up to fight god. But then she died for real right before the ending. But then she came back again after, so it's still fine, actually.

That's Final Fantasy XVI.

The entire first half of the game is a red herring. It's bullshit. It's garbage. Throw it in the trash and forget about it, because the game sure as fuck did. FFXVI sets itself up to be a game about the person that Clive has chosen to become in the wake of his horrible trauma in a world that has taken so much from him. Then, at about the halfway point, the game goes "jk that horrible thing that Clive's entire personality has been shaped around never actually happened" and all of Clive's trauma symptoms literally disappear and are never brought up or alluded to ever again. Now, suddenly, the game is not about his personal quest of self-discovery -- but rather is now just Diet Supernatural: a story about the bond between two brothers who have to face off against god and defy their own fate.

cool.

And Clive and Joshua never talk about it. There's never a "hey what have you been up to for the past eighteen years?" conversation. No. After their super short-lived tearful reunion, they just immediately start interacting as though the two of them have always been together and they both know each other super well inside and out, despite the fact that the last time Clive saw Joshua, Joshua was eight fucking years old. And now he's a 26-year-old twink who's carrying an eldritch horror around in his chest and who lowkey wants to fuck Cid's daughter and is possibly bisexual and also wants to fuck Dion. And the last time Joshua saw Clive, Clive was a fifteen-year-old Good Boy who was a proper role model and just wanted to be loved and noticed. And now he's a 33-year-old former serial killer (and the "former" part is even questionable) who killed literally hundreds of men and then tried to kill himself in an attempt to avenge the murder of Joshua, which never actually fucking happened.

coolcoolcool.

I hate this fucking game.

But I also love it.

GOOD

+ The game gave me on-screen naked Clive not one, not two, but three different times. And of those three times, two of them ended up being sexual in nature. And the other one is uh... him naked and in chains, screaming and cursing and crying. thank u Yoshi-P. thank u.

+ Every character that's not listed on the "both good & bad" list, but I need to give a special shout-out to:

+ Ultima as a villain. His general vibe gave me the heebies in a way vidya villains haven't in a long time. His character design is phenomenal, his voice actor knocked it out of the park, and he has just enough of a background that you get where he's coming from, but it's not so over-explained that you wind up wanting to take his side instead (which has been a pitfall of Final Fantasy games in the past)

+ Music/sound design is excellent

+ This game is a graphical marvel. There's no disputing it.

+ Maps are a perfect size and make the world feel real

+ Worldbuilding is probably the best I've seen in a Final Fantasy title, if not in video games in general. Every nation in Valisthea felt distinct. Every location was fully thought-out, had its own history, and made sense. This is the only game that I have ever, in my 33 years of life, actually walked around every single town instead of running. I was that immersed in the world.

+ The combat system -- though I would technically list this as "good but with room for improvement." I disagree with Ryota Suzuki's opinion that this is the best combat system he's ever made. It's not. DMC5 is better by leaps and bounds. If FFXVI had an expanded abilities section that allowed you to put points into getting new moves and different regular melee combos (in addition to all of the Eikon abilities that are already there), then the combat would be Suzuki's best made. It's still great, don't get me wrong. But as someone who came into this game with a Devil May Cry background, my only options for regular attacks being Square, Triangle, Square+Triangle, Square+X and then nothing else was... lacking. Give me more of Nero's moveset, and that's the winning formula right there.

BOTH GOOD & BAD

Jill Warrick + fantastic concept, design, acting, and dialogue - underbaked and shoehorned backstory - shoved out of the story at basically the zero hour to make room for a male character

Personality-wise, Jill is one of the strongest-written women in Final Fantasy. Full stop. She stands shoulder-to-shoulder with greats like Aeris and Yuna in the sense that she feels like a real person with her own strengths, weaknesses, likes, dislikes, vulnerabilities, courage, causes that she fights for, moral lines she won't cross, etc. etc. Very rarely does she just feel like an extension of Clive, or like she's only there to service his character arc/characterization (except towards the end, but we'll get to that later). She's likeable and consistent, and the game does a good job of making you want to be with her. I love her, and I want to be her when I grow up, but until then, I'll settle for just being her friend and braiding her hair at sleepovers.

Unfortunately, Jill's greatness pretty much only extends to her personality. They tried to give her a war criminal background, but the writers didn't really seem to care about it too much. She has an entire gameplay sequence/arc dedicated to her trying to confront/settle her war criminal past, but the game never really goes into what, actually and specifically, she did? Sure, she was put out onto the battlefield and killed a lot of soldiers, but she keeps referring to "horrible things" that she's had to do, and the game never decides to tell us what those horrible things actually were.

We're told that the guy who was keeping her captive also did horrible things -- worse things than Jill, herself, even had to do -- but we don't get to learn what these things are, either. We see him about to human sacrifice two kids, but is that really all it was? Child murder? Honey, it's war. Child murder happens. From the way Jill talks about it, it sounds more like horribly violent sexual assault and gruesome, drawn-out torture, but... shrug, I guess. We'll never know. We're not allowed to know. All we're allowed to know is that Jill just has to kill him, and then her past will be settled. So she kills him. And then her past is settled.

And she has to settle her past so that she can feel justified in standing at Clive's side until the end of his fight... but then she's not allowed to do that. Because the story is so shitty.

At the halfway mark, when the game stops being about Clive's journey of self-discovery and starts being strictly about ~brothers~, Jill gets shoved out of the story in order to make room for Joshua to step in. The game uses the contrivance of Clive taking Shiva from her in order to justify Jill's disappearance from the narrative, but there's two big fucking problems with that:

1. Dion had Bahamut taken from him by Clive, too, and yet he still retained his Eikon powers because he just believed in himself really hard -- and we have no reason to believe that Dion's will is any stronger than Jill's. Jill went through an entire arc of making sure she was able to stand as Clive's equal, and then... nope. 2. You can re-recruit Jill into your party in order to do sidequests and explore the world with her before leaving for the final Ultima battle, and she still uses all of her fucking ice powers.

So, there's no actual reason for her to be excluded from shit other than "shut up it's about brothers now." The game even has the audacity to have Joshua say to Clive "we need to remind Jill that she's still one of us." How about this, Joshua? How about Clive and Jill should be the ones reminding you that you're one of them, since you only came into this story halfway through it and didn't actually build up a bond with either of them in adulthood like they did with each other???

Truly, horrendously awful. Jill should've been at that Ultima fight, and I will die on this hill.

Dion Lesage + INCREDIBLY compelling story overall + excellent emotional pull, strong personality + best gay rep I've ever seen in a game, I think. the fact that he's gay is actually the least interesting thing about him. - does not get enough screentime for how important his character is

I'mma just say it. Final Fantasy XVI should have been a deuteragonst setup akin to Yakuza 0 where you swap back and forth between Clive and Dion, because Dion is way too important to the story to get as little attention and screentime as he does. His struggle with being the only person with any power still in the Empire who has a sense of integrity is super interesting, as is his inner conflict of trying to reconcile who his father used to be vs who he's become. Dion Lesage answers the question nobody asked of "What if Faramir of Gondor was a gay dragon who actually staged a coup?" And it's just excellent. His frustration and his anger paired with his sense of justice and empathy makes him so incredibly compelling.

And even after the political side of the story winds down in the wake of the chaos and bullshit that's being wreaked on the Ultima side of things, Dion is still crucial to the plot. Clive could not have won against Ultima without Dion. And to not go into that more -- to not go further into Dion's drive to continue moving forward, or his vision for the Empire and the world and what he personally feels like he owes to humanity and how all of these pieces fit together -- is so disappointing. There's an obvious emotional void where more of Dion's character story should be.

If we do ever get DLC for this game, the very first thing we should get is a Dion DLC.

Joshua Rosfield + just an absolute delight of a character personality, probably one of my favorites in the whole game + interesting concept - has absolutely no business being in the story at all past the tutorial

I don't normally like Joshua's character archetype. "Somber, mystical twink" has never been a type to do it for me.

But Joshua is incredible -- because they actually allow him to be more than just his archetype. Most times, the somber, mystical twink is only every allowed to be somber and mystical. That character's role is to be the arbitrary keeper of magic bullshit. You're meant to want to protect them, but they don't have a whole lot going on beyond that particular purpose. But Joshua is allowed to joke and laugh and be angry and romantic -- just be an actual person.

One of the best scenes in the game is when he hauls off and just decks Clive right in the face. It's so shocking in the best way possible. He's not angry because of plot reasons getting in the way of his somber, mystical bullshit. He's angry because his brother pissed him off -- because, sometimes, people do shit that just pisses you off. And for tiny little twink Joshua to not use magic, but to just rear back and swing at the 250+lb slab of beef that is Clive and shout at him for being an asshole just felt so real and so human, and I felt so connected to him in that moment.

And the scene where he and Mid meet for the first time -- fantastic. Incredible. Amazing. Wouldn't have changed a single thing about it. Especially when Mid goes around giving everyone hugs later on and she kind of hesitates before actually committing to hugging Joshua. Love it.

Joshua is a character that is full of very pleasant surprises that make him feel multifacted and real. And so, when he does do his somber, mystical bullshit -- I actually cared and found it interesting. I found myself rooting for him and invested in the things he was learning and how he was piecing it all together. I was super into his secret hunt for Ultima and the fact that he was housing an eldritch horror in his chest.

There's only one big problem with Joshua: his continued existence in the story makes the entire narrative shit. And that's not his fault. But it is the reality.

I love Joshua Rosfield. I would fucking go out with him if he asked. I would give him his own game if I could.

But he should've never been written or allowed to exist, for all of the reasons I listed in the story section of the "bad" column.

And that just fucking sucks.

Clive Rosfield + I love him, your honor + I absolutely love him + I want him to make tender love to me in the black of night under a full moon as the sound of the ocean waves crashing against the sand fills in the empty space around us, just as he did with Jill - his entire character concept gets fucking deleted at the halfway mark of the story and is never seen or referenced again

Clive is special. He's the best example of positive masculinity this side of Kazuma Kiryu. He's not just a power fantasy; he's a caretaker and a brother and a son and a friend and a boyfriend. He cries visible tears on-screen at least half a dozen times in this game. He's allowed to be vulnerable in a lot of different ways. He's willing to say the words "I love you" in front of other people. His cries for help are genuine and real -- when Clive talks about suicide, he means it.

But he's also a killer. And he's myopic. And stubborn. And ruthless. Clive is a self-centered man who doesn't actually care about himself at all, and he tends to warp the world around him in his destructive selfishness. And I say all of this as praise for his character, by the way.

Both versions of him are great -- tortured Clive and brother Clive.

The issue is that there's two versions of him, and there really shouldn't be.

I won't keep beating the dead horse that is FFXVI forgetting what its own story is about and completely changing course halfway through, but the character that suffers most because of that decision is Clive. If you connected with him as a fellow trauma survivor, you're going to feel very alienated by him in the latter half of the game when he's suddenly not anymore.

I'm not saying that Clive should've been in a constant state of trauma throughout the entire game -- I'm saying that all of his trauma symptoms shouldn't have just disappeared and been forgotten about. Even with Joshua returned to him, that doesn't undo the damage that he sustained over the course of thirteen years of his life. Or, at least, it shouldn't. That's exactly what happens in the story, but it shouldn't be that way. The fact that he never even had a line akin to "I can't lose you again" when he's holding Joshua's lifeless body at the end was mindblowing. Clive didn't blame himself or hearken back to any of that old hurt at all, and I don't know how no one on the entire dev team didn't point this out. Because, as a result of that, his reaction to Joshua's death doesn't feel sincere.

It almost feels like the devs had two different versions of the game written up -- one where Joshua stayed dead the whole time, and one where he was never meant to have been dead at all -- and then they mashed the two of them together for the final product. As a result, Clive actually feels like two distinctly different characters sometimes. There's not an obvious throughline for him that there is with someone like, say, Cloud, who also had to go through a similar journey of trauma processing.

Again: both versions of Clive are great. But he should only have been one character with one continuous arc; not two different character concepts rolled into one.

Clive & Jill's romance + built up slowly and carefully over time; the bond feels real + very real in the sense that they're both in their 30s and are still just kind of aimlessly trying at a relationship, but not really sure where to go or how to get there + Jill's love for Clive literally saves his life during the ending - their romance is the excuse the writers used to delete Jill's importance in the story towards the end

Because of the way that the story plays out, it almost comes off like Jill's entire purpose was to build up a romance with Clive and nothing else. Like, they have a whole game's worth of bonding and development and all that other fun shit -- but the second she finally sleeps with him, she's out of the story. She's done.

I trust I don't have to explain why that's a problem.

So, they have this weird thing going on where they are simultaneously the best and the worst romance in Final Fantasy. The building of their relationship is incredible; the way that they bond and interact is organic and genuine. And they even actually get to be an actual couple in this game, which, to my knowledge, didn't really happen in any other Final Fantasy. They don't just have the one Big Romantic Kiss; they have several over the course of a pretty wide swath of time. Clive takes Jill out on a date and asks her where she wants the relationship to go. Like, actual real boyfriend shit happens.

It just happens at the expense of Jill's relevance in the narrative -- which just straight-up isn't fair.

Oh, and if you're not sure what I mean about Jill's love for him saving his life, go here.

Ben Starr (Clive)'s voice acting + absolutely stand-out fantastic in full cutscenes - so horrible in sidequests it felt like he was given no voice direction at all. every single line of dialogue is delivered exactly the same. every time. and it's a fucking shame, because Clive is actually hilarious, but the botched delivery of the lines does not convey it.

A "more mature" Final Fantasy + the blood and sex and brutality was great and helped the characters feel more like actual real people. letting the characters curse was also great, but - bro tone down the swearing. it's cartoonish, after a while. almost started to feel like the writers were having a competition to see who could use the word "fuck" the most amount of times in a dialogue exchange. they used "fuck" for literally everything, when probably a "shit" or a "damn it" would have been better. and this is coming from someone who says the word "fuck" all the fucking time.

Sidequests + when the stories in the sidequests are good, they're GOOD. like, REALLY REALLY GOOD. - when they're not good, they're awful time-wasters and - there's no way of knowing whether a quest is going to be important/compelling or a waste of time when you start it, so every initiation of a quest is a roll of the dice - the actual activities you do during the quests are MMO-tier fetch quests or quick combat quests, which, to be fair, is also the same as the substories in Yakuza -- but the thing about Yakuza substories is that they're so over-the-top ridiculous that you don't notice that you're just performing very basic actions. the bad/boring sidequests in XVI really make you notice that that's all they are.

And that, my friends, is the summation of the strange paradox that is Final Fantasy XVI. Simultaneously one of the best and one of the worst games I’ve ever played.

#final fantasy xvi #ffxvi spoilers #i don't expect anyone to actually read this whole thing #i just needed to get it out #for my own sanity

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girlbob-boypants · 4 months

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still in the midst of it but I'd love to hear your thoughts on the stupid nanamo shit if you feel like expanding on it

GOD. GOD!!

Okay this is gonna go under a readmore but holy fuck that entire questline really highlights everything I fucking HATE about StB and Ul'Dah

FUCK that Godfrey guy for bragging that he's a good person for EXTORTING REFUGEES because it gave them jobs and earned him money

AND THEN THE GAME SAYS SHE LEARNED THE RIGHT LESSON AND I GET TO SIT THERE AND WATCH A WHITE #GIRLBOSS WORK WITH ANOTHER CAPITALIST TO EXTORT A NATION RECOVERING FROM AN OCCUPATION SHE BENEFITED FROM BECAUSE OF THE RRFUGEE LABOR

At least when Gridania is like "well our religion says we can't even provide medicine to outsiders" they're ACTUALLY treated like that's bad by the game!!!

And this just. AGHHHHHH. the fact that you spend all this nonsense time following her around and get to have no opinion?? Like at this fucking point in the story we could've just had Alphinaud BUY the salt harvesting gear AND establish trade routes with Ishgard who would desperately need salt for food preservation given how fucked their life is by eternal salt. But noooooo. We have to watch a child shaped national leader learn she can help Jeff Bezos get richer by putting a group of oppressed people in a position where they have to give up a portion of their work forever if they want to ever recover.

At least Alphinaud was there to make sure the contract wasn't extortionate. Something Nanamo didn't care about because her entire goal was to prove she could take care of herself. The fact that she openly extorted her alleged best friend's people and didn't even check to make sure that guy wasn't going to make the contract fucked up is so???

I wish I did poison her actually. Then I'll blender the entire council of rich fucks after. Bahamut nuke.

ALSO THE FACT THAT THIS IS ACTUALLY RAUBAHN'S STORY BUT IT FOCUSES ON A WHITE WOMAN LEARNING TO EXTORT PEOPLE TO PROVE SHE CAN BE SELF SUFFICIENT JUST SO THEY CAN PUT HIM IN THE ROLE OF CITY STATE LEADER AKA SIDE CHARACTER WHO ONLY SHOWS UP DURING SCENES TO BE REALLY BORING AND GO "You have my support" OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT

Welcome to Stormblood where the people who should matter and get character arcs don't but we'll sure as fuck make sure Fordola, Lyse, and FUCKING NANAMO are all treated as sympathetic characters you want to see succeed.

#girlbob.txt #i hate this entire expac so much you have no idea it fills me with rage

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sparklecryptid · 10 months

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Remember all those au where Bahamut picks Regis' bastard as his Chosen King? I don't think we have one of those for Luche yet :)

you've activated my 'its improbable but FUN' trap card!

warning: major character death

It shouldn't be like this. Luche should not be staring down her uncle on a battlefield. Ardyn should be in Niflheim somewhere. Safe in an extravagant penthouse that looks more like an antique shop.

It shouldn't be like this. Luche shouldn't be weighed down by light and magic. She shouldn't be bleeding light. She shouldn't be bursting at the seams with what would kill Noctis.

She isn't Noctis. She is Luche Lazarus, Commander of the Kingsglaive, bastard of a King who doesn't care for her. Luche isn't Noctis. She is not as noble as him. Not as self-sacrificing. Luche knows her duty and she knows it well.

The Ring never chooses her for a reason. Luche cannot withstand the judgment of two thousand years of kings and queens.

Luche isn't Noctis. She is never chosen by the Ring. Is that why the curse forced on her ancestor had flared? Is that why it had poured all the light and the magic and might that should have gone to Noctis into her? Is that why she is suffering now?

Because of a Ring?

Luche hates this. She hates it. The future is cracked and broken and Luche is fighting a man she has never felt anything but love for. The future is cracked and broken and Luche has never gotten to know the man in front of her as she would have liked to.

The future is cracked and broken and Luche still has a duty.

It is a different duty than what she thought but it is still her duty.

She brings one of the blades of her kukri's down and cuts through Ardyn's chest and into his still beating heart.

Ardyn's sword finds it's way into her stomach.

The battlefield bursts into blue-white light and the night that had shone over them for the past three days turns to dawn.

"I'm sorry," Luche says with her last breaths. Someone calls her name. She hopes it isn't Tredd. "I'm sorry."

#a darkness born in youth verse #its fine they get better. later. in an improbable fix it where shiva and luna rushed over and healed the two #everything is fine.

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icharchivist · 8 months

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As someone who thought that the Lucius just had a bunch of nicknames, I’m somehow just now realizing he’s three different people??? :(；ﾞﾟ'ωﾟ'):

i'm sorry to make matter worse, but i think you meant Lucilius... because Lucius is another character who's completely unrelated to the bunch.

But yeah there's three Luci- characters whom we nickname the Lucifaces who have the same face (and same voice actor), which makes things confusing for everyone who's not used to it.

The long story short is that they're clones of one another.

Lucio is the Original

On the left is his real appearance, his real name being Helel Ben Sahar. He's one of the two Speakers of Bahamut, the God of this world. He's basically one of the most powerful person in existence. On the right is his newish appearance, and now he uses the name Lucio as he pretends to be a stage actor to infiltrate our crew. The crew knows something is fishy with him and MC saw his powers in action, but very few people knows about his real identity. He flirts with Sandalphon sometimes but Sandalphon can't stand him.

Personalitywise he's defined by the fact he's teasing and mysterious, and overly loyal to God, despite the fact Bahamut has been ignoring him and his calls for the past few thousand years.

Lucilius is his clone.

No one knows the circumstances behind Lucilius's existence. He's an Astral, one of the immortal people of the stars. He himself didn't know he was a clone if not for the fact he was plagued with dreams of Lucio's life, which made him believe God was tormenting him personally. So he developed a God Complex, coming up with plans to destroy the world and take God's place. He was beheaded by Lucifer during one of his apocalypse plans, and thousands of years later, Belial set up a plan to behead Lucifer in order to sew Lucilius's head on Lucifer's body to bring him back to life. Thus the second zombie look. Currently, Lucio has locked him and Belial in an interdimensionnel prison called the Rainbow Dimension in order to stop them from going on rampage, after Sandalphon stopped their last attempt at destroying the world.

Personalitywise he's cold, mean and calculating, the only person he ever liked was Lucifer, and no one else. He hates God more than anything in the world.

(as a side note his Japanese name is Rushifaa which is the actual way to pronounce "Lucifer" i Japanese. GBF!Lucifer is pronounced Rushiferu, a variation on how Lucifer could be pronounced by accentuating the "r" ending)

Lucifer is Lucilius's clone.

In his convoluted plan to take down God, Lucilius created the very first Primal Beasts. One of the very first (the second one after Belial, in fact) was Lucifer, whom he created to be the idealized version of himself. Lucifer was made to oversee evolution itself. he was considered the light of the skies. Because Lucifer was meant to look over evolution, he was able to evolve himself enough past his programing in order to see Lucilius's destructive way and behead him when his apocalypse plan was threatening to destroy it all. He then watched over the skies for thousand of years before being murdered and beheaded. In his last breath he passed down his powers to Sandalphon, his official replacement and the one person Lucifer always yearned for the presence of, and because of that Sandalphon often has dreams of Lucifer's memories. And because of this bond, he hasn't fully moved on to the afterlife, stuck in between worlds, watching over Sandalphon.

Personalitywise he's kind, caring and dutiful, though a little dense. Also he created coffee. God likes him. Literally Bahamut put Lucio and Lucilius on mute but he actually talked with Lucifer recently-ish and values his opinion. Which is kinda hilarious.

So those are 3 drastically different people, but they are clones of one another with various degree of knowing about it. All of them have also very unique relationship to Sandalphon and it's why the real test is "put Sandalphon in a room with them, you'll know who is who in due time"

So those are the three Lucifaces: Lucio, Lucilius, Lucifer. Three different people. Not to confuse with Lucius who has absolutely nothing to do with those guys.

It's easy once you know i swear!

The more you know then?

#ichareply #pandapillow #ichafantalks gbf #ichablogging wmtsb #here. Lucifaces crashcourse.#also sorry if the Sandalphon description is weird on Lucifer's part but Lucifer legit called him that #the other thing i could have said is that Lucifer also called Sandalphon his one and only solace #but like. if i'm talking about Lucifer's relationship with Sandalphon this ask would be out of control #i already find it incredible i managed to keep it mostly short.

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captainofthetidesbreath · 11 months

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it's kinda really funny, outside of specific issues with his followers, speaking very broadly to which gods people dislike, people always choose Pelor as the main target hate on and to make the central representative of all issues with Vasselheim and the main proof that the Prime Deities are bad (bc i guess can't handle stern and stoic) when we don't even know the name of the Dawnfather's temple in the city bc it was never directly mentioned to exist until these past couple episodes.

and as far as disliking his deal, Pelor and Melora are very similar gods with slightly different framing and very different iconography. their domains have incredible overlap, and Pelor is positioned as the OTHER nature god after Melora. their temperaments are even similar in most ways, nurturing but wrathful!

the temple of Bahamut is often positioned as THE important one in Vasselheim throughout the campaigns, and Bahamut isn't even a fun god! he's very boring! he's also very stern and stoic! we should pick on HIM more lmao! where are my Bahamut haters! jokes jokes

#this is nonrebloggable bc. the god debate is just TOO fraught in the fandom and this is like jokingly incendiary but incendiary nonetheless #Critical Role things #CR

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xenodile · 1 year

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A while back, I decided to do a proper write up of my Stormblood Fix AU where I address my issues with the story while trying to stay as close as I can to canon. I’ve been working on it bit by bit for several months and I’ve got it to a point where I’m for the most part happy with it.

My basic thought boils down to the entire 61-70 section needs to be just Doma, and then Ala Mihgo is addressed in an extended post-game. Like it doesn’t fit nicely in the usual x.5 patch cycle or even the standard number of dungeons/trials but sacrifices must be made.

So first off, I’m begrudgingly leaving the 3.5 patch and Baelsar’s Wall unchanged because I haven’t planned far enough ahead to account for Papalymo being alive. Overall, the set up is the same. Ilberd unleashes Shinryu and frames the Eorzean Alliance for attacking Baelsar’s Wall, the Alliance moves into Gyr Abania.

The biggest tonal shift is the Scions’ motives. Though the Empire is the enemy of all Eorzeans, the Scions aren't soldiers. Their goal is Shinryu, and the danger a primal on the level of Bahamut presents to the realm. However, Shinryu and Omega’s abrupt disappearance into Garlean-held Ala Mhigo after their clash will make any kind of investigation extremely dangerous.

Lyse is in favor of taking the fight to the Empire and assisting the Resistance in freeing Ala Mhigo, and by extension making it easier to search for Shinryu.

Alphinaud has sympathy for the Resistance and the people of Ala Mhigo, but fresh out of Ishgard and the Dragonsong War he cannot in good conscience support instigating a new war, regardless of Ilberd’s actions.

Alisaie tries to meet them in the middle, carve a path through the Garlean ranks and cut off the head of the snake. It worked well enough against Ultima Weapon, Thordan, and Nidhogg, and the Warrior of Light already has two Legatuses under their belt, what’s a third?

The WoL has the chance to agree with any one of them, or say they’re unsure as a fourth option.

Y’shtola, Thancred, and Krile are all of the mind that it’s too early to make a judgement call. Too many unknown factors in regards to the Garleans forces, Shinryu itself, and even the terrain of Gyr Abania. Each of the three approaches has its merits and its dangers, and there is no pressing need to come to an immediate decision as Shinryu appears to have gone dormant following its battle with Omega.

Thancred offers to begin scouting Imperial territory, while Y’shtola and Krile will set about learning more about the land from those in Rhalgr’s Reach, leaving Lyse, WoL, and the twins to take to the field for the standard Fringes/Ala Ghanna starting quests.

Zenos’s introduction mostly goes the same, but a greater focus is on Grynewaht directly telling of how he failed and was the sole survivor of his squad, to which he is reprimanded by his superior, whom Zenos kills after his whole “The XIIth Legion is no place for cowards that hide in their castrums” bit. The biggest change is Zenos must keep the helmet on the whole time, we do not see his face, just the scary horned skull helmet, and he takes note of Grynewaht mentioning that the WoL was among those that attack the Garlean patrol. He has heard of this eikon slayer, the peerless hero of the savages, and wonders if perhaps he has finally found worthy prey. Zenos promotes Grynewaht for his tenacity, transfers him to Doma, and urges him to hone his skills further. At this point, Zenos addresses the rest, and opens the floor to the assembled captains/commanders how they should respond to the presence of the Scions and Eorzean Alliance in Gyr Abania. Fordola speaks up, and that sequence goes the same.

The attack on Rhalgr’s Reach plays out the same, save for the WoL’s duel with Zenos. The crown prince is surprised and intrigued that a single person is able to match him blow for blow, and yet he does not feel any intense drive to live, the furious hate that he’s come to expect from enemies of the Empire. Also Zenos can just DO magic, that’s why he’s so insanely strong compared to everyone else, he’s the only Garlean that can actually manipulate aether. Zenos and WoL fight to a standstill, culminating in Zenos’s blade snapping in half after the WoL blocks a particularly heavy hit. Raubahn arrives with the Eorzean alliance forces, and Fordola begs Zenos to retreat, and he begrudgingly does so, irritated that his hunt has been interrupted.

With the Resistance crippled and Y’shtola critically wounded, the Scions have to reconsider their options.

Alphinaud moves to withdraw from Gyr Abania, as it was the Scions' presence, especially that of the famed Eikon Slayer, that brought the Empire’s wrath down on Rhalgr’s Reach.

Y’shtola’s injuries are too severe to safely move her, so Krile opts to remain and see to her treatment. Thancred also elects to remain so he can continue scouting Gyr Abania, and hopefully locate Shinryu while the rest of the Scions figure out a course of action to actually reach it.

Back at the Rising Stones, WoL, Alphinaud, Alisaie, and Lyse consider what to do next. Getting directly involved with the Resistance put more people in danger, just as Alphinaud feared, and defeating the Legatus seems less viable having seen Zenos’s monstrous strength firsthand. A new approach is necessary.

It’s then that Tataru chimes in that perhaps going after Gosetsu and Yugiri might be the way to go. She’s no tactician, but she's overhead a lot of chatter from the Domans about how there's only a token Garlean presence, and the Domans specialize in covert action in small group, better suited to how the Scions themselves operate. Alphinaud agrees that drawing Garlean attention away from Gyr Abania will do much to ease the hunt for Shinryu, but is wary of getting involved in another liberation movement after the disaster at Rhalgr's Reach. The gang discusses it, and then heads to Kugane like usual.

Events in Kugane play out the same, WoL, Lyse, Alisaie, and Gosetsu make for the Ruby Sea, Alphinaud remains in Kugane to gather information and build connections.

Things progress as usual til the group finds Yotsuyu in Isari, demanding tribute from the poor villagers and ordering they divulge any information they have on Hien's whereabouts and the Resistance, reminding them that withholding information is treason against the Empire. Rather than Gosetsu going in alone to buy time, Lyse is reminded of Fordola's troops beating a villager in Ala Ghanna, Gosetsu is perturbed by WHO the Viceroy is, and Alisaie can't stand to sit idle when she can do something. The group rushes in to defend the villagers, WoL and Grynewaht go another round, forcing him and Yotsuyu to retreat.

While the element of surprise is gone, it feels good to be able to save people. Before the party departs however, Alisaie proposes investigating the Ruby Sea further. With the Scions' cover blown already, they'll need allies and information, and it wouldn't do to leave Isari unprotected after they stuck their noses in things. Of particular concern are the Kojin of the Red, who are openly allied with the Empire. The gang agrees to disrupt the Red Kojin and organize the defense of the Ruby Sea before going further. Things go pretty much the same as usual, Alisaie takes point and the gang goes between the Confederates, the Kojin, and Sui no Sato getting everyone on the same side and agreeing to look for one another while the Scions draw the Empire’s attention in Yanxia.

Violet Tides and Kurenai’s questline are mandatory because I said so, and also Kurenai takes up the role of healer for the dungeon in duty support. With things taken care of in Sui no Sato, the gang goes back to Tamamizu, and then Soroban and Bunchin send them to hit the Isle of Zekki where we get the Susano fight.

Instead of all the faffing about, the party of WoL, Gosetsu, Lyse, and Alisaie just fight Susano, who challenges them to battle and doesn’t permit the Red Kojin to interfere. The gang triumphs, and the Red Kojin begrudgingly allow them to leave having earned the kami’s favor.

Susano appearing just because of the treasures and not actually being summoned by anyone has Alisaie and Lyse spooked, because up to that point it was believed primals always needed a person to give them form. With business wrapped up in the Ruby Sea and everyone on the same page, Alisaie breaks off from the group to go back to Kugane and inform Alphinaud of the new information while WoL, Lyse, and Gosetsu rendezvous with Yugiri in Yanxia.

Meanwhile, as the party splits up, Yotsuyu and Grynewaht arrive at the Isle of Zekki to reprimand the disobedient red Kojin. Yotsuyu extracts information on the Scions from the Kojin, and confiscates a number of treasures, including an impressive katana and a lunar mirror.

In Yanxia, WoL, Lyse, and Gosetsu head to Namai and things play out the same, where the villagers are fearful and urge them to leave. They meet up with Yugiri at the House of the Fierce and discuss the situation. Yugiri delivers Hien's ultimatum, his sword or his head, whichever the people want, and set about determining the mood of the people.

It's bad. In the course of exploring Yanxia, the gang gets a history lesson on Doman culture, learning of the oppressive control of the nobility, the ideals of fealty and honor unto death, and how they choked the life out of the common folk even before the Empire invaded. Gosetsu also speaks from experience that there are a massive number of Doman conscripts abroad, and those in the mainland fear for their compatriots safety if Doma rebels again.

Meanwhile, in Kugane, Alisaie finishes sharing the findings on Susano when a message arrives at the Ruby Bazaar inviting a representative of the Scions to the Garlean embassy. Deciding it's better if Alphinaud keeps his cover, Alisaie elects to go, and there meets privately with Yotsuyu.

Yotsuyu is well spoken and courteous with Alisaie, but remains guarded. Yotsuyu tries to explain the futility of opposing the Empire, and requests the Scions cease assisting the Domans. When Alisaie refuses, Yotsuyu says that if Alisaie really wants to protect her brother and the WoL she'd be better off currying the Empire's favor. She goes on to say that she understands Alisaie's position, to feel powerless and second best compared to her "perfect" brother, and that serving as an Imperial spy would give Alisaie the leverage to make real change happen, as Yotsuyu herself can demonstrate.

Alisaie doesn't reject the offer outright, stating she needs to think on it first, mostly to hide how shaken she is by Yotsuyu knowing so much about her at their first meeting. She returns to the Ruby Bazaar and relates what little she learned to Alphinaud, omitting Yotsuyu's offer, speaking only of the Viceroy's uncanny knowledge of Alisaie's personal history and her request that the Scions stand down. Alisaie then departs for the Ruby Sea, to reunite with the others.

Back in Yanxia, the WoL, Lyse, and Yugiri have had little success in rallying the people's spirits. The mood is dour everywhere they go, either with resignation and acceptance of Imperial occupation and Yotsuyu's cruel whims, or fear of a return to the old ways, where landed nobles could use common folk like chattel. The people have simply given up.

Gosetsu in particular is much less boisterous than usual, especially whenever Yotsuyu is mentioned. Lyse is surprised to see his spirits dampened so, and prods at what is bothering him. After a bit of coaxing, he finally regales WoL, Lyse, and Yugiri with a tale from Doma's heyday, of a poor sickly peasant girl whose parents died of illness and poverty, only for her aunt and uncle to beat and abuse her while forcing her to work as her neighbors looked the other way. How the beautiful young girl caught the eye of a wealthy noble from Lord Kaien's court, and so he bought her from her "parents" to be his bride and paraded her about the court, all dressed in fine clothes to cover the marks he'd leave on her. After the nobleman died, his young bride simply disappeared, never to be seen again, until now, to exact her terrible revenge on the country that abandoned and tormented her.

The group is stunned, Lyse in particular taking the news hard. She had been grappling with how Fordola could betray Ala Mhigo and side with the Empire, so hearing of Yotsuyu's past, she begins to understand how someone could have no attachment or even resent their homeland.

Yugiri is still determined to fight and unwilling to let Hien sacrifice himself, and fortunately, the Empire makes a move on Namai and we get the sneaking mission with Yugiri. That plays out the same, and saving the people of Namai convinces them to open up at least that of COURSE they want to be rid of the Empire and live their own lives, but they just don't have the people, the weapons, the anything to make a rebellion possible. They can't risk their lives and the lives of their families on a hopeless cause.

That's enough for Yugiri to be satisfied that they can truthfully answer Hien that the will to fight remains in the hearts of Doma’s people. The party reconvenes at the House of the Fierce and discuss their next move as Alisaie arrives. She shares information she learned from Alphinaud and Yotsuyu, while Yugiri shares what they’ve learned of the situation in Yanxia. Upon hearing Alisaie’s account, Lyse has an epiphany. Recounting her own familiarity with the WoL and Minfilia’s experiences, Gosetsu’s testimony, and Alisaie’s account, Lyse suggests that Yotsuyu may possess the Echo, with her supposed poor health in childhood being her gift awakening, and explaining how she could learn so much about people so quickly.

While the revelation does give them more to consider, there’s little they can do about Yotsuyu herself at this juncture. Yugiri suggests it’s time to find Lord Hien, now that they have an answer to his ultimatum. Alisaie volunteers to remain at the House of the Fierce and help coordinate the Rebellion’s limited forces and correspond with Alphinaud about what resources they’ll need. WoL, Lyse, Yugiri and Gosetsu set forth to the Azim Steppe, where Hien has been hiding.

MEANWHILE, at the Royal Palace of Ala Mhigo...

Zenos sits on the throne, regarding the katana he broke during his duel with the WoL at Rhalgr’s Reach. Fordola attempts to discuss strategy with him, but fails to gain his attention. A messenger arrives bearing word from the Acting Viceroy of Doma. Rebel forces have taken action against the Imperial garrison, and Yotsuyu requests Zenos bring reinforcements, as Doma is still technically under his rule. Not to make an offer without incentive, Yotsuyu adds in that she wishes to pay tribute to the Crown Prince that can only be delivered in person.

While initially unconvinced, the messenger continues, stating that the Eorzean insurgents known as the Scions of the Seventh Dawn have been sighted in Yanxia, the Warrior of Light among them. This grabs Zenos’s attention and causes him to consider Yotsuyu’s offer. Fordola is taken aback that Zenos would just leave when the Scions’ absence from Gyr Abania means the Alliance and Resistance forces are ripe for the crushing, and Fordola pleads with Zenos to seize the opportunity to stamp out the Empire’s remaining foes.

Zenos chides Fordola, stating that she is free to do as she wishes in his absence, but striking at the Resistance now will give her no satisfaction. Chasing the Resistance when they’re wounded will make her seem fearful and desperate, inciting further insurrection. She would be far better served by waiting until they have gathered their strength and rallied their spirits, ready to throw themselves entirely upon her blade and destroying them utterly. Only by laying low her foe when they are the peak of their rage and power will she get what she wants, or so he says. Zenos makes ready to depart for Yanxia, eager to see what tribute Yotsuyu has prepared for him.

(It’s also critical that we the audience do not see Zenos’s face in this scene. His helmet is off, but every angle is posed in such a way that Zenos is being seen from the back or his head is obscured. More focus is placed on Fordola as she reacts to Zenos’s words. At most we get a glimpse of Zenos’s eye reflected in the broken sword as he talks about facing a foe at their full strength.)

Lyse, WoL, and Gosetsu arrive in the Azim Steppe and rendezvous with Yugiri. Events here mostly play out the same, the gang meets Cirina, get introduced to the Xaela, and finally find Hien.

Yugiri relays what they learned in Yanxia, that the people of Doma yearn for freedom from the Empire, but lack the strength to face the might of Garlemald. It will fall on what limited forces still muster under Hien's banner to defeat the occupying forces. Hien is in agreement, assuming that to be case even before he spoke with Yugiri. As their leader, it falls to him to save the people of Doma, not demand they give their lives in his service. Before they can leave the Steppe however, Hien must repay his debt to Cirina and the Mohl by helping them win in the Nadaam.

Events in the Steppe play out mostly the same, Lyse hangs with the kids of Mol Iloh and grapples with the meaning of "a country" as she tries to process Yotsuyu's past, Fordola's actions, and her detachment from her own Ala Mhigan heritage due to living in Eorzea as a Scion. Deals with a bit of internal bias as she initially thinks the xaela kids have a difficult upbringing out here on the Steppe, but sees them happy and content with their nomadic lifestyle, realizes her idea of what makes a nation and a culture are biased by her time in the Eorzean city-states. Meanwhile WoL, Hien, and Gosetsu go hunting and help prepare dinner like usual.

After dinner, we get the scene of Hien and Gosetsu sparring, and Gosetsu calls Hien "Shun", his childhood name.

At this point, WoL has an Echo vision. In it, they see a younger Gosetsu, his hair and beard still dark, supervising a younger Hien speaking with a girl in fine clothes that looks uncannily like a younger Yotsuyu. She and "Shun" are chatting cheerfully, until a Doman noble walks in and calls Yotsuyu away, her expression darkening as she diligently obeys, and the noble, clearly drunk, grabs her by the arm and roughly leads her away. The young Hien is frustrated at the sight of the Yotsuyu being taken away, and moves to speak up but Gosetsu stops him.

No matter how detestable he may seem, the noble is an honorable man that has served Lord Kaien for many years, and it would be ungracious to butt one's nose into the domestic affairs of such a prestigious house. Hien grimaces in dissatisfaction as the WoL returns to the present.

WoL explains what they saw and asks if Hien knows Yotsuyu. Sheepishly, he confirms, he and Yotsuyu were of a similar age when she was brought into the court, and was her only friend in those days. It is why he first gave his ultimatum to Yugiri. Yotsuyu is as much one of his subjects as any other Doman, and the cruelty she faced at the hands of her family and the nobility weighs on his mind. He worries about how he will lead Doma should he return, refusing to become the kind of ruler that allows or fosters the treatment that Yotsuyu went through, wanting to build a better Doma but not really knowing how.

As the Nadaam draws closer, WoL, Lyse, Gosetsu, and Hien go through Bardam's Mettle and get their yols, and meeting Sadu and Magnai goes the same.

While Lyse and Hien are prisoner at the Dawn Throne, they discuss their respective concerns about their cultures. Hien fearing a return to the old ways, Lyse wondering what it means to be Ala Mhigan now that it's been an Imperial province for so long. They come to the conclusion that it falls upon individuals like them with the strength to fight for what they believe in to inspire others. Hien will personally shape Doma into a nation its people can be proud of, and tells Lyse that he believes she is capable of the same.

At the Dotharl camp, Gosetsu comes clean about his crimes in the Empire's service as a conscript, and his own desire to seek death to atone for not only failing Kaien and Hien, but all the people of Doma that looked to him for protection, including Yotsuyu.

Meanwhile, in Yanxia...

Alisaie sets out from the House of the Fierce to scout the the surrounding area. At least, that is what she claims. In truth she has arranged a clandestine meeting with Yotsuyu, to tell her that WoL and co. have gone after Hien in the Azim Steppe.

Thinking she's won, Yotsuyu applauds Alisaie making the right decision to side with the Empire. Alisaie corrects her, saying that she's telling Yotsuyu this to give her a chance to surrender.

She's thought on Yotsuyu's offer, and decided against. She knows she's weak, feels powerless and angry, but she has seen what people are capable of. She believes in her brother, the WoL, their friends, they WILL succeed. And knowing what she does of Yotsuyu's past, she tells her that things need not end in bloodshed. Alisaie knows what it's like to feel helpless and alone, at the mercy of fate as she lost everything that was good in her life. But rather than give up and wallow in anger and grief, she clung to the memories of the good and fought to change things for the better. She reminds Yotsuyu that as someone that was so hurt by the old system, she is the best qualified to change things, and it's not too late to seize a better future.

Yotsuyu lashes out at Alisaie, angry and humiliated that Alisaie called her out so hard, spitting venom about how Alisaie is a privileged brat that could never understand Yotsuyu's hate, and she will never let go of it. Alisaie leaves Yotsuyu, warning her that if she wants a fight she'll get one, and no amount of forewarning will save her when the Scions come knocking. Yotsuyu is left glowering as Alisaie departs before regaining her composure as a messenger informs her that the Crown Prince's airship has arrived.

Back in the Azim Steppe, it's time for the Nadaam. It starts with a brief solo duty that leads to the second trial, consisting of a three phase three way fight between players, Sadu, and Magnai. The battle culminates in WoL and Lyse holding off the khatuns while Cirina claims the ovoo for the Mol.

Cirina is declared Khagan and the other tribes defer to her and the Mol as the new authority of the Steppe. As Cirina humbly accepts and gives thanks to Hien and company for their assistance, Grynewaht and a massive regiment of Garlean troops and war machina arrive, demanding the immediate surrender of the Scions and the Domans.

Hien is preparing to surrender himself but Cirina steps forward and declares that she speaks for the xaela, and the ones Grynewaht seeks are her honored guests. When he persists, Cirina rallies the tribes, asking if warriors of the Steppe will allow invaders to intrude upon the sacred Nadaam and threaten the Khagan's allies.

The combined Xaela forces route Grynewaht's army, sending him fleeing back to Yanxia. From there, we get the regular send off. The gang says good bye to Cirina, and she promises to confer with the khatuns about sending aid to their new Doman allies. WoL, Lyse, Gosetsu, and Hien return to Yanxia to plan the attack on Doma Castle.

As the group enters Yanxia however, Yugiri arrives bearing urgent news. The Crown Prince and the Viceroy have been seen outside Doma castle with only a token escort. The mood immediately turns grim as everyone present recalls how brutally Zenos put down the Ala Mhigan Resistance and previous Doman rebellion.

Hien is undeterred, reminding everyone that the House of the Fierce is still secure, and they need only be patient until Zenos leaves Yanxia again to make their move. Yugiri however, is of no mind to wait and believes it would be easier and safer to assassinate Zenos and Yotsuyu than go through with the plan. Hien advises against doing anything rash, but Yugiri won't listen and leaves. Lyse and Alisaie ask WoL to go after her and try and talk her out of it, because regardless of how they feel about the plan, they've seen what Zenos can do firsthand and know that Yugiri trying to face him alone is tantamount to suicide.

Upon catching up with Yugiri, she confesses that even if doing so goes against Hien's wishes, her honor as a shinobi will not let Hien risk his own life in the attack when she could defeat his enemy here and now, and her pride as a Doman demands justice for Yotsuyu's and the Empire's crimes against her people.

Rather than discouraging her, WoL can say they have their own reasons for facing Zenos again, that they too want payback for Rhalgr's Reach and Y'shtola, or that as a friend, they won't let her do this alone. Yugiri is surprised and relieved to know the WoL will have her back.

Night falls, and Yugiri and WoL get ready to ambush Zenos and his retinue. Yotsuyu is obviously tense and sticking close to Grynewaht while Zenos is out at the front, alone. One by one Yugiri silently dispatches the guards, before making her move on Zenos himself. Zenos blocks the attack effortlessly, commending Yugiri on her technique and the fire in her eyes, but laments she has not the strength to give it meaning. Zenos repels Yugiri, and Grynewaht springs into action to stop her from attacking Zenos again, as the WoL steps out to face the Crown Prince.

Zenos is pleased to see his quarry alive and well, musing if their travels in the fallen nation of Doma have stirred something in them. Hate? Or perhaps something more.

WoL has the option to respond with wanting revenge for hurting their friends, confronting Zenos for the sake of Ala Mhigo and Doma, or that they have their own reasons for wanting him dead, to which Zenos responds with amusement, disappointment, and intrigue, respectively.

During the solo duty it plays mostly the same as the initial duel in Rhalgr's Reach, but WoL clearly has the advantage. Zenos's health drops faster and he is taken aback by just how much stronger WoL has gotten since their last encounter. At around the 40% mark, Zenos stumbles and begins laughing. He unsheathes the Ame no Habikiri and the music changes. In phase 2, Zenos gains significant damage resistance and the frequency of his raidwide and AoEs increases to the point that it is not possible to avoid everything. The fight continues until the player is reduced to 1% health or Zenos is brought to 15%. The entire time Zenos is clearly enjoying himself, cackling and goading the WoL to fight harder.

Regardless of how the battle ends, in the scene that follows Zenos clearly overpowers the WoL and sends them reeling. Even bloodied and his helmet broken, Zenos is the unambiguous victor of the duel. Yugiri breaks away from fighting Grynewaht and his guards to come to the WoL's aid.

Zenos is panting and tears off his broken helm, throwing it to the ground. This is the first time the player sees his face. He speaks in glowing terms of how ferocious WoL has become, and how he was right to put faith in them, before giving his "Live, hero." speech, and turning to leave. Yotsuyu orders the remaining guards to finish the WoL and Yugiri off, but Zenos countermands her, stating that their business here is done, and all troops are to return to Doma Castle. Before Yotsuyu can protest, Alisaie, Alphinaud, and Lyse arrive with reinforcements from the House of the Fierce, and Zenos mockingly warns that the Viceroy seems to have overstayed her welcome. Yotsuyu bitterly warns Alisaie that she now has proof of how her hero will fail her, and that it's not too late to surrender, before she too takes her leave.

Alphinaud is almost in tears as he heals the WoL, and scolds them for being so reckless because he wasn't there. Alisaie teases him for worrying so much, and he shoots back that she was practically frantic when he arrived.

The party returns to the House of the Fierce, and Yugiri apologizes for disobeying Hien, to which he replies that he is just happy she's unharmed. Now that everyone is settled in again, Lyse calls attention to Alphinaud's unannounced arrival, and asks what brings him to Yanxia. He explains that he heard of Zenos's arrival ahead of time via his connections in Kugane, and realized things in Doma must be coming to a climax, so he began making preparations. We get a brief flashback montage of Alphinaud in various parts of the Ruby Sea as he explains that by working with Hancock, he was able to strengthen the foundation that Alisaie laid and secure the Confederates, Kojin, and Sui no Sato as allies to the Doman Liberation Front.

With the addition of a fleet and the Kojin, the chances of actually cracking Doma Castle seem greatly improved, and spirits rise at the House of the Fierce. Hien's return is met with great celebration, and some small amount of worry, as Hien is surprised to find that a significant portion of the Liberation Front are former nobility, and many expect to return to their previous authority once the Empire is ousted.

Hien needs time to think, so he leaves the House of the Fierce to visit Monzen. Lyse goes after him, worried about him being alone so close to enemy territory. Hien contemplates his history, that of his people, their culture, and what it means to be Doman. How so many fight to regain what was lost in the occupation, but he cannot in good conscience restore if they win. Lyse voices similar doubts, admitting that it was her Ala Mhigan heritage that motivated her to push the Scions into conflict with the Empire, but she doesn't really know what Ala Mhigan culture is, and that her father and sister, the residents of Little Ala Mhigo, those in the Fringes, and someone like Fordola that lives in the city proper, can all have very different versions of what being Ala Mhigan means. She regrets that trying to build a better future means doing so on the ruins of these other ideas.

"Ruins" gives Hien a flash of inspiration as he looks at Doma Castle, and he tells Lyse that he's figured out how they will take it. The two return to the House of the Fierce. Hien gathers the Liberation Front to make an announcement. They’re going to destroy Doma Castle.

The castle is too well guarded to facilitate infiltration, and they don’t have the resources to outlast the entrenched Garleans in a siege. Trying to preserve the artifice of the past will cost lives in the present, and that’s not a sacrifice Hien will make. If Doma is to have a brighter, better future they must let go of the past, and the greatest symbol of Doma’s inequality must go with it. There’s a lot of rumbling of discontent from the older members of the Liberation Front, but even Gosetsu speaks in favor, saying that it is long past time for the nobility to repay the debt they owe to the commonfolk they failed so long ago.

As if to vouch for the young Lord of Doma, the screeching of yols heralds the arrival of Cirina, Sadu, and Magnai. Cirina says that having discussed with the khatuns of many tribes, they have agreed that it is in the best interest of all people of the Steppe if the belligerent Garleans are expelled from their neighboring nation, and so the Dotharl and Oronir have pledged a number of fighters to assist the Domans.

The House of the Fierce is abuzz with activity as everyone prepares for the coming attack. WoL heads back to Kugane to meet up with Tataru and get Cid's manual so that Alphinaud can assist with deactivating the magitek gate, Hancock is coordinating with Rasho and Soroban as to how the Confederates and Kojin will blockade the Castle and secure the Enclave, Hien and Lyse talk with the xaela leaders about shutting down the Imperials' air support.

Meanwhile, at Doma Castle...

Zenos stands on the balcony overlooking Monzen, contemplating his now broken helmet. Behind him, Yotsuyu is prostrated, apologizing for her failures to curb the rebellion sooner, swearing she will crush the insurgents, and so on, but Zenos interrupts her, saying she played her part well. He believed she had, in her hatred, completely snuffed out the will to fight in Doma, and is pleased to see otherwise. Yotsuyu hopes this means he will stay and help, call for reinforcements, reward her loyalty with protection...but he does not. Zenos states plainly that he and the troops he brought will be returning to Ala Mhigo, and it falls upon the Viceroy to see to her own fate. Fight, kill, and survive, or die and whet his prey's bloodlust. He cares not which. Yotsuyu breaks and asks him as a friend to save her, which he does not dignify with an answer. Grynewaht attempts to comfort her as Zenos departs, but she lashes out at him, tears in her eyes, saying that the Prince's orders were clear. They are to fight, unto the death, and she will not be a flower waiting to be plucked, as she clutches the lunar mirror in her hand.

We go back to the House of the Fierce where final preparations are made. Hien and Gosetsu raise a glass to victory or death come tomorrow, Gosetsu thanking his master and the Scions for their beliefs in him and a chance to make things right.

The next morning, the siege begins. Alphinaud leads the Shinobi to capture the moon gate so the Confederates can secure the Enclave, the Xaela take to the skies and bring down the Empire's airships, and WoL, Alisaie, Lyse, Hien, Yugiri, and Gosetsu enter the flooded Doma Castle. Yotsuyu watches from the balcony and waits, eyes cold.

The party defeats Hypertuned Grynewaht, shocked at what the Empire has done to one of its own, and proceed up to the balcony chamber at the top of the castle where Yotsuyu has taken refuge.

Hien confronts Yotsuyu, demanding her surrender and an end to the conflict. She refuses, disinterested. If she fights, she'll die, if she surrenders, she'll be executed, even if she escapes, she'll be branded a failure by Zenos and disposed of. At least if she fights to the last, her death will be on her own terms.

She fires on Hien, but he deflects the bullet and closes the distance. As she fires again, he cuts the shot and disarms her. She hisses at him to do his country proud and finish her, but he sheathes his sword.

Hien kneels down to eye level with Yotsuyu tells her that honor would demand her death, but that is not his way. The old ways fall with Doma Castle itself, and he would give her the chance to live that she was denied all her life as a daughter of a new Doma, a better Doma than the one that destroyed her. The party each steps up in turn to ask Yotsuyu to listen to Hien, that there is always time to change things and be better, that no matter what mistakes and wrongs we commit, culminating in Alisaie asking her if this is really how she wants things to end, or if she's willing to have faith.

Yotsuyu falters, speechless and reeling. Finally, Hien and Gosetsu apologize. They admit they saw her pain and looked the other way in the name of honor and "propriety", and they were wrong to do so, asking if she will forgive them, and accept the chance they offer.

Yotsuyu doesn't immediately answer, looking away and trembling. Then, her voice seething with anger, she asks if they really think they can fix everything with just a few kind words while she's powerless and at their mercy. She asks if they were so repentant, why they never bothered to look for her in the years after she was sold to cover her husband's debts? Why did it take destroying everything they ever worked for to get them to suddenly grow a conscious and admit their failures?

It was by her action, her will that she clawed her way out of the hell that Doma trapped her in, and be it her parents, her husband, her owner, or Hien, she will not suffer to live by another's "kindness" ever again. Her fate is hers and hers alone. She pulls out a magitek remote and hits a button, detonating charges throughout the castle, and it begins to collapse.

Hien gives the order to retreat but is stopped in his tracks when a naginata of ephemeral light thrusts towards him, narrowly missing his heart. Yotsuyu rises from the floor, clutching the lunar mirror with conviction in her eyes as the skies darken. She is shrouded in radiant light as she manifests Tsukuyomi, and declares that no one shall escape the castle alive.

The Tsukuyomi trial plays out identically, only with memories of Hien and Gosetsu coming to her aid to defend her from the shade of Zenos instead of just Gosetsu.

After the WoL defeats Tsukuyomi, Yotsuyu collapses, her hair turned white. The battle against the moon kami has cost the party precious time to escape, and the roof finally gives out. Gosetsu catches the collapsing ceiling and tells Hien to get Yotsuyu out. Hien protests, refusing to leave his old friend behind but Gosetsu insists that Hien must not give in to anger and grief. If he is to build a new nation, it must start with saving Yotsuyu. The party has some rushed good byes and escape, as Doma Castle collapses on Gosetsu.

Hien is grief stricken as he comes to terms with Gosetsu's death, and his wish that Yotsuyu be given a chance to live in a new Doma. The mood is melancholy as the Scions reconvene with their allies and explain what transpired in Doma Castle. From there, things play out the same, Hien puts on a brave face to address the people of Doman Enclave, telling them the new nation they build will not be one of nobles and kings, that he would be their protector rather than their master, meanwhile Yugiri and the Shinobi discreetly get Yotsuyu to a secure room within Hien's new estate. Celebrations are had and credits roll, then post credit stinger has Zenos looking up at Shinryu, contained by Omega in the Royal Menagerie, talking to himself of how he eager he is for his and the WoL's next meeting. Alphinaud goes back to Kugane to do what he does best, Alisaie and Lyse remain at the Doman Enclave to help people adjust to life without Imperial occupation.

Now we move into the post-game, or rather, part 2 because as I said before, Stormblood dearly needed more time to let everything going on in it cook, similar to how Heavensward and Shadowbringer's post-games up to patch x.3 was really just a continuation and finale of the plot started in the x.0 MSQ.

So, Yotsuyu finally awakens after the battle with Tsukuyomi in Doma Castle, and everyone is taken aback when she remembers nothing, her memory a blank slate. There's a discussion about what to do with her because yes it was Gosetsu's last wish that she be shown mercy, but it doesn't change what she did as Viceroy and seeing her may cause unrest among the populace, but they can't exactly keep her locked up forever. The matter of her amnesia is also a worry, since it wouldn't be right to hold the innocent "Tsuyu" responsible for what the Viceroy of Doma did. Before any kind of decision can be reached, Alisaie gets a linkpearl call from Alphinaud saying that an Imperial airship arrived in Kugane and an ambassador has requested an audience with the Scions at the Garlean embassy.

Lyse, WoL, and Alisaie are all a bit weary of speaking with a Garlean politician after assisting in Doma's revolution, but head to Kugane all the same. Once there, the party goes over what to say, make sure they don't do anything to incriminate themselves, basically let Alphinaud do the talking.

At the Embassy, the Scions are introduced to Maxima, of the Populares. After a bit of initial tension, Maxima explains he is here to negotiate peace between the Empire and Doma in the wake of the rebellion, but he wished to consult with the Scions as a third party given their history of conflict with Imperial forces despite their shared interest in destroying primals. Everyone gives their most level headed take on the Empire and its foreign policies and why the Scions have been opposed to them, which Maxima takes in stride. He shares his own history of touring the provinces and being appalled by the treatment Imperial citizens face just for not being Garlean, citing Doma as proof that the current Imperial model is unsustainable. Maxima goes on to share the goals of the Populares as a political group, seeking to empower the citizens and establish peaceful connections with other nations. Maxima then says that Gaius van Baelsar was one of their more prominent supporters, and his reign in Ala Mhigo was a huge step in the right direction for the rights of provincial citizens.

This takes everyone off guard, Lyse in particular, who speaks up about the awful treatment that the people of Gyr Abania face, and their opposition to the Garlean occupation.

Maxima takes a moment to consider, surprised himself by the news of tension in Ala Mhigo. He then divulges a bit of history on the relations between the two nations prior to the Imperial occupation. How Garlemald had quietly assisted the Resistance in the form of funds and materiel, and aid to civilians all while His Radiance Emperor Solus maintained a cordial relationship with the Mad King, enabling the Empire to maintain a presence in the capital in spite of the Ala Mhigan king's rampant paranoia. When the Resistance overthrew the king and began infighting over leadership, Garlean forces stepped in to establish order. To the more radical elements, it was seen for the foreign takeover it was, but many welcomed beneficent Garlean rule after suffering under the Mad King. From there, van Baelsar and van Darnus made their moves on the rest of Eorzea, and the outer reaches of Ala Mhigo got less attention due to their proximity to the Black Shroud.

Lyse pieces together how this lead to the difference in perspective between Ala Mhigans in the capital that grew up with an Imperial education and security like Fordola, vs those on the outskirts like her that only saw the Empire as tyrants.

Alphinaud is grateful that Maxima is willing to share so much, but questions what he hopes to gain by divulging such secrets to enemies of the Empire. Maxima reasons that such information is commonly taught to Garlean children in school, and is not something to hide. If anything, His Radiance encourages the study of history so all can understand the necessity of the campaign and the good that Imperial rule can bring to others, and the danger that outsiders pose, such as the sabotage of the Ultima Weapon.

The WoL's interest is drawn when Maxima's account of the Praetorium neglects all mentions of Lahabrea, saying it was Ascian influence that caused the devastation that broke the XIVth Legion.

Maxima is shocked, having never heard of any such beings as Ascians. This triggers a discussion over glaring discrepancies in the Scions' accounts and the official military reports, as the group piece together that the existence of the Ascians had been carefully expunged from Imperial records and their actions attributed to the "barbarous nature of magic-tainted savages".

The group realize it is highly likely that the Empire's foreign policy may have been influenced by the Ascians specifically to sow chaos that lends to the summoning of primals. Maxima is shaken to his core, and announces he must return to Garlemald with all haste to investigate the Scions' claims. However, his mission is unchanged, and he leaves the Scions with a proposal to deliver to Hien. A prisoner exchange between the Empire and Doma, to calm the waters after the revolution, and recognize Doma's independence and sovereignty.

As the Scions return to the Ruby Bazaar to mull over what they've learned, a missive arrives for Tataru from Eorzea. As she reads through it, she reveals it is a coded message from Thancred, saying he's located Shinryu and requesting the gang return to Gyr Abania. The course is clear.

The Scions go to the Doman Enclave and give Maxima's message to Hien, as well as the startling revelation that the Empire may be under Ascian influence. Hien is wary of trusting the Empire, but for the sake of returning the many Doman conscripts home, will consider the offer and discuss with his advisors. Yugiri speaks up, and asks if Hien would permit her to go with the Scions. Having left when Gosetsu arrived and been unable to assist in the hunt for Shinryu, she feels she owes it to her friends to see their mission through now that hers is finished. Hien agrees, and sends her off with his blessing. The Scions say goodbye to their Doman friends, then go back to Kugane to make the journey back to Eorzea, sans Tataru, who elects to stay in Kugane and work her mercantile magic.

(Tataru here offers the quest to unlock Hell's Lid, with the trigger for her financial venture being recovering all that was spent to set up the Doman Liberation.)

The Scions reconvene in Rhalgr's Reach, where Y'shtola has recovered from her injury and is back on her feet, and even Urianger has stepped in to lend what aid he can in the hunt for Shinryu. Everyone shares what they've learned from their time in Doma, and Thancred explains he's confirmed Shinryu is in Ala Mhigo proper, contained in a magitek field. Knowing first hand from the Meteor Project and Warring Triad that the Empire and sealed Primals is a recipe for disaster, the Scions are resolved that they'll have to help the Resistance if there's to be any hope of stopping the Primal.

The Scions confer with Raubahn and Conrad if there's been any progress in Gyr Abania and how they can help. They go on to explain that things have been quiet and Imperial patrols are few and far between, almost like the Empire assumes the Resistance was broken by Zenos's initial attack. As a result they've had plenty of time to regroup and rebuild, and rumors of the Doman Liberation have spurred many to action in other provinces, keeping Imperial forces distracted and divided.

From here, the Ala Mhigo story proceeds as normal, with a few changes. The Scions are witness to Fordola messing up and killing the Qalyana Matriarch's daughter after her forces are routed at Castellum Velodyna, and the subsequent summoning of Lakshmi. Fordola escapes during the panic as the WoL steps in to deal with the primal. As Lyse, WoL, and the twins recover at the Peering Stones with M'naago's family, they talk about why Fordola would take a Qalyana hostage when they've been model Imperial vassals, and they come up with it being a result of Fordola being cityborn and Garlean-educated, and thus out of touch with the non-hyur members of the Ala Mhigan community, confirming what they learned from Maxima.

When Lyse, WoL, and the twins return to Rhalgr's Reach, they get the news that a number of Imperial agents infiltrated Resistance headquarters while the bulk of their forces were occupied at the bridge and abducted Krile. All are shocked and their motivation to fight is reaffirmed. Alphinaud stops and wonders however, what the Empire could be planning, as trading such a vital strategic location for a single prisoner hardly makes sense from a tactical perspective. Urianger offers that it may have something to do with her Echo, given the interest Zenos had shown in both the WoL and Yotsuyu.

Meanwhile, Fordola reports her defeat to Zenos, preparing for the worst. Zenos chides her for failing, but says it ultimately is of no consequence, as her bumbling served another purpose, revealing that Krile has been captured by his personal guard. When Fordola questions how a single captive is going to help them secure Ala Mhigo's future, Zenos cryptically answers that stoking their foes hatred will make them vulnerable, but only if Fordola herself is willing to seize the opening at any cost.

The combined Resistance and Alliance forces move into the Peaks and set up in Ala Ghiri as usual, questioning why the Empire would leave the town unguarded, but not looking a gift in the mouth. Things proceed at Specula Imperatoris, culminating in Fordola bitterly carrying out Zenos's order to fire on Imperial forces to hit the Resistance, and as before, Estinien intervenes and damages the cannon before it can fire again.

The group reconvenes at Ala Ghiri to lick their wounds and take stock of their losses. Conrad names Lyse his successor before dying, much to her surprise, but she swears to do him proud.

Estinien arrives shortly after, to the Scions' surprise. He explains that he had been travelling in the Far East when he caught wind of a terrible wyrm that wrought havoc on Eorzea, and came to investigate. If the player has done the level 70 DRG quest, it will be referenced here. WoL and Alphinaud explain the deal with Shinryu being born of Nidhogg's eyes, and Estinien decides he's going to stick around and do his part to deal with the primal, as anything Nidhogg related is his responsibility. (Alisaie is absent in this scene, preoccupied with something else, to preserve her and Estinien not meeting until post-ShB.)

The gang set their sights on Castrum Abania and taking out the giant cannon before it can be repaired, and the Scions set out.

Meanwhile, we cut back to Ala Mhigo where Fordola delivers her report of the battle at Specula Imperatoris to Zenos through gritted teeth. Still hurting from the loss of her friends, she blames the Resistance for continuing to prolong the bloody war when she and other loyal Ala Mhigans have only been trying to preserve their future. When she remarks as much though, Zenos descends upon her, demanding she drop the pretense and say what she really wants. That’s when she snaps and admits that she wants to kill all the Resistance for ruining things. That she’s angry and spiteful and wants to make the ingrates pay for looking down on her and other cityborns for being happy with their lots in life.

With her rage exposed, Zenos offers to grant her the power to capitalize on her fury, a taste of the power that even the Warrior of Light cannot match. Fordola readily agrees and that’s where Aulus steps in and she undergoes the Resonant treatment.

Back in the Peaks, the gang moves in towards Castrum Abania. Estinien and Yugiri run interference on the outside while Thancred, the twins, and WoL plan to take one route, and Urianger, Y’shtola, and Lyse take another. Dungeon proceeds as usual, and both parties meet up at the cannon control room.

Fordola angrily tells the Scions that life in Ala Mhigo was perfectly good until the Resistance started making a mess of things. How Ala Mhigans were respected and trusted Imperial citizens until the greedy rurals started refusing to pay their tithes, stealing from supply lines, and killing soldiers. How she and the Skulls were trying to save Ala Mhigo and redeem their culture’s place in the Empire by being loyal and dutiful soldiers, and they were succeeding before the Scions stuck their noses in and destroyed everything they worked for.

The fight goes the same as before, Fordola’s Resonant powers let her go toe to toe with Lyse and Alisaie at the same time. Fordola wounds Alisaie and escapes, and the Scions take Castrum Abania.

The Scions fall back to Rhalgr’s Reach to see to Alisaie’s injury, and discuss what the hell just happened. Everyone comments that Fordola’s abrupt leap in skill and strength is unnatural, and Lyse in particular describes Fordola as somehow knowing what she was going to do ahead of time. Urianger has the eureka moment and wonders if somehow Fordola has gained the power of the Echo, and if so, it may explain Zenos’s interest. Alphinaud adds on that Krile was particularly gifted at “hearing” the emotions and intentions of others, and Fordola’s ability to “see” her opponents moves before they happen may be a manifestation of the same trait. Y’shtola connects the dots and suggests that if Zenos has the ability to forcibly confer the Echo on others, it is likely he has undergone the same process, and may go some way to explain his inhuman strength. Furthermore, if they can find where Zenos gave Fordola her “gift”, it may lead them to Krile.

The WoL takes a moment to check in on Alisaie, who is understandably frustrated that she lost and needed to be saved again. Despite Alphinaud’s fussing, her wound is not so severe that she cannot fight again, but she will need some time to recuperate. Urianger meanwhile, makes plans for how to deal with Fordola, and Estinien goes on ahead to try and pin down Shinryu’s location for himself.

Lyse and WoL have their moment on the Palm of the Destroyer, Lyse gets her new outfit, talks about how she still doesn’t feel like she’s ready to lead the Resistance, but for the sake of everyone that believes in her, she’s going to step up, and knows she has the WoL and the Scions to put her on the right track if she starts to slip up. Good vibes all around.

The lead in to the battle for Ala Mhigo remains the same. The Alliance forces mass in the Lochs to prepare for the siege, Urianger continues his experiments with a countermeasure for Fordola’s Resonance, Thancred and Estinien go ahead to scout the city, Alphinaud, WoL, Lyse, and Y’shtola investigate the settlements to gather intel.

Thancred finds a way in, Estinien confirms Shinryu’s location, Scions get the key, and Urianger produces his mystery device. The plan is all set, and the Scions share their intel with the Alliance. Scions infiltrate Ala Mhigo and open the door, Lyse and WoL confront Fordola, using Urianger’s funny doodad to overload her artificial Echo.

Rather than have Lyse call Fordola a traitor, the scene where Fordola is captured focuses more on Fordola’s crushing realization that despite everything she and her friends have sacrificed, they’ve lost. The Ala Mhigo they believed in is going up in flames around them, and the Resistance has seized the city. Even if the Scions are defeated by Zenos, he doesn’t care about them, and he never did. Lyse is resolved but still sympathetic. She understands that Fordola truly believed she was fighting for Ala Mhigo’s future, and the peace and prosperity that that the cityborn knew under Imperial occupation is as much a part of Ala Mhigo’s culture and history as the Mad King, the Autumn War, the Fist of Rhalgr, and the Resistance. Lyse promises Fordola that the future will be brighter, and that those lost will be remembered.

With Krile rescued, and the Scions reunited, it’s time to take the fight to Zenos. Instead of Hien swooping in with the Doman forces, Yugiri vouches for the Scions and de-escalates the situation with Hakuro and the lupin, and Estinien fills the role of decimating the Garlean air support while the Scions enter the palace on foot.

Ala Mhigo dungeon happens, we got all the Scions available for duty support since the plan for them is to ignore as much of the Imperial forces as they can and beeline to Shinryu in the Royal Menagerie.

At the end of the dungeon, Zenos gives his usual spiel and goes off, and WoL tells the Scions they’ll deal with Zenos and Shinryu alone. Everyone objects saying Zenos is too strong. WoL has a few options to explain themselves: The risk of Tempering is too much, they need to face him alone for their own sake, asking the group to have faith in them.

Alisaie is the first to vouch for the WoL, followed by Alphinaud, and they convince the rest of the Scions to go back up the rest of the Eorzean alliance. Everyone says their piece, wishes the WoL luck, and Alphinaud and the Scions depart. Alisaie gets a parting moment where she makes the WoL promise that they’re coming back, before she too heads out.

Royal Menagerie sequence is unchanged. Same Zenos speech, same options, same fight.

Zenos is beaten, Lyse hears him explain himself, how everything was solely so he could finally have a foe worth fighting, and he cuts his own throat.

Ala Mhigo is freed from the Empire, the Resistance raises the Ala Mhigo flag, credits roll as Lyse gives her “monsters are made, not born” speech as the camera shows Yotsuyu and Fordola. Post credits, we get the stinger of Gosetsu fishing on the island out at sea.

Now we move into the ShB lead in. Lyse officially leaves the Scions to stay as Commander in Ala Mhigo, Alphinaud, Arenvald, and WoL have their silly Skalla adventure, Urianger heads back to the Waking Sands to further study a strange thinning of the land’s aether that he had observed prior to his arrival in Gyr Abania, and Estinien disappears into the night as per usual.

Alphinaud helps catalogue the Mad King’s hoard and assists with getting the Saltery trade set up with Nanamo and Lolorito, and we get the crowd calling for Fordola’s blood. Lyse settles the crowd same as before, talking about how taking revenge won’t bring anyone back, and Fordola deserves a chance to be better. Finally, Raubahn and Nanamo have their moment to say goodbye as Nanamo dismisses him as Flame General so he can stay in his home.

To finish things off, we get the Lakshmi duty with Raubahn and Lyse organizing the meeting of community leaders to decide the future of Ala Mhigo, including the Tempered Ananta. However, rather than it being some clown shoes nonsense of “all the guards were tempered and crystals were hidden in the throne room” the Qalyana that summon Lakshmi sacrifice their own lives to power the summoning, and Lakshmi produces like, a wall or something to barricade everyone in, necessitating Arenvald tagging in Fordola. She gets her moment, the day is saved, everyone’s grateful that you were present to pull them out of the fire.

With things just about wrapped up in Ala Mhigo, it’s time to return to Doma, as Yugiri receives a message from another shinobi that Hien has at last received word from Maxima regarding the prisoner exchange. WoL, the twins, Yugiri, Y’shtola, and Hakuro depart for Doma. Krile is still recuperating from her captivity and experimentation at Zenos’s hands, and Thancred stays in Gyr Abania to help Lyse keep on top of things and watch for any suspicious primal activity.

Upon arriving in the Doman Enclave, Hien welcomes the Scions and the returning lupin conscripts, then gets to business, recounting the letter he received from Maxima. In it, Maxima explains that his proposal was met with some opposition in the Garlean senate. While some are open to more diplomatic peace with the “independant provinces”, others are critical of peace being a show of weakness, especially in light of the recent Ala Mhigan insurrection. In particular, a rival political group known as the Telophoroi have been pushing against peace at every turn, as they seek an end to conflict worldwide via total Garlean dominance. However, the leader of the Telophoroi, one Asahi goe Brutus, has surprisingly agreed to meet with Hien and discuss terms instead of stonewalling the Populares further.

Upon hearing the name, Alisaie remarks that “Brutus” was Yotsuyu’s Garlean given name, and Hien confirms that Asahi is the same brother that manifested as a hateful shade when Yotsuyu manifested Tsukuyomi. The group cannot help but be suspicious, but Hien is determined to see it through, as it is his responsibility to bring home the Doman conscripts in Garlean custody if he’s able.

But there is much to be done before Ambassador Brutus arrives. Alisaie means to inquire after Yotsuyu and see how she’s doing after the whole Tsukuyomi thing, to which Hien talks about how she’s been well behaved, but laments his inability to actually let her out of his estate lest the sight of her cause unrest. Already there are rumors of the late Viceroy’s ghost haunting the Enclave from citizens catching glimpses of her in the windows or when she occassionally wanders out after dark.

Yugiri vouches that “Tsuyu” truly has forgotten everything and is effectively not the same person she was as Viceroy, but remarks that it is cold comfort to those that suffered under her reign. Hien too has to bite his tongue, recalling Gosetsu’s parting words that she deserves another chance and struggling with his own desire for revenge for his friend and mentor’s death. Alphinaud offers some consolation that the right thing is rarely the easy thing.

Y’shtola speaks up, inquiring about the aether thinning phenomenon that Urianger spoke of and noting that she has noticed the same in Doma with her aetherial sight. Hien mentions the Burn and its lack of aether, and Y’shtola asks to investigate it. The Scions head out for the Burn and we get the dungeon.

It plays out as usual, we find the Allagan shield generator, and Y’shtola sees an aether current leading back to the Azim Steppe, so the party heads back that way, while the twins break off. Alisaie returns to the Enclave to check on Tsuyu, while Alphinaud heads back to Kugane to see how things are going with Tataru and Hancock.

We get the same events in the Azim Steppe, WoL duels Sadu, Y’shtola emasculates Magnai, we find out the Burn is where Azys Lla came from and thus predates the rise of the Garlean Empire and Emperor Solus using it to justify his imperialism.

Before we can explore that historical inaccuracy further however, WoL gets a linkshell ring from Alisaie. Tsuyu has gone missing.

Y’shtola opts to remain in the Steppe to continue studying the Allagan device in the House of the Crooked Coin. WoL and Hien return to the Enclave with all due haste and reconvene. Yugiri explains that Alphinaud returned from Kugane with urgent news, having learned from his contacts of a giant Doman samurai resembling Gosetsu that was recently seen in the Ruby Sea. Tsuyu reacted strongly to his name, but the twins and Yugiri were preoccupied with discussing what to do and their amnesiac charge escaped the Enclave.

Fearing what will happen if Tsuyu is seen out and about, the gang sets out for Namai to find her before it is too late. WoL and Hien arrive in Namai shortly after Tsuyu, who has already drawn a crowd.

Tsuyu is frightened and confused, unsure why everyone is angry or afraid of her. Some of the crowd call for her blood, demanding retribution, and she doesn’t understand what it is she’s done wrong. Azami, the little girl from earlier in the Doma story, comes to her defense as Hien arrives and explains who she is. The people are unmoved, beseeching Hien to punish Yotsuyu for her crimes and the sake of their lost. Hien grits his teeth and considers it for a moment, before refusing. He restates his belief that the old laws of honor would demand blood for Yotsuyu’s actions, regardless of circumstances, but that is not Hien’s way, and he will not execute an innocent, nor would doing so undo any of the pain of the past.

The crowd disperses, accepting Hien’s decision, and tragedy is averted. Before the party returns to the Enclave, Jifuya, prominant member of the Doman Resistance, stops them and asks for a word with Hien. WoL recognizes Jifuya as someone they interacted with during the Doman Liberation, as well as one of the voices that called for a return to the old ways when the Empire was removed.

Jifuya asks Hien if he can speak in private, or at least, away from Tsuyu. Yugiri and the twins escort Tsuyu back to the Enclave while Hien, WoL, and Jifuya go to the outskirts of Namai to converse discreetly. Jifuya opens up that he was Yotsuyu’s master, the one who bought and put her into bondage as a courtesan after her husband died, and requests Hien’s permission to leave Doma. Hien is outraged that a slaver was among his ranks, but Jifuya retorts that he has ever been a loyal and true ally of Doma, as a noble and then as a soldier. Honor dictates that his service earn him clemency, and if Hien will not respect the old ways, then this new way of mercy and forgiveness that compels Hien to forgive someone as wicked as Yotsuyu demands he let Jifuya go as well. Or is the young lord of Doma a hypocrite?

Hien stumbles, but before he can say anything, a familiar voice rings out, asking Jifuya if seeking to escape the consequences for his crimes is truly the actions of an honorable man.

Gosetsu walks in, using his sword as a cane, limping as he goes. Without missing a beat he approaches Jifuya and asks again, if he is so honorable, why was he among the first to incite the crowd to call for Yotsuyu’s blood, why would he flee if he had done no wrong.

Jifuya falters, looking for an escape, sheepishly saying that he only did what was common for the time, he cannot be blamed for what one stupid girl did in response. Gosetsu sternly states that Doma’s fall was brought about by selfish old men like them that cared more about their pride and honor than the people they were meant to serve, and that same honor now demands they repent for their failings, in whatever way their victims see fit.

Jifuya attempts to run, stating he refuses to be at Yotsuyu’s mercy for what he did to her, but before he can escape, Gosetsu draws his blade and cuts him down. Gosetsu himself falls to his knees after his strike, saying to Hien that he seems to have slipped, and hopes the Lord of Doma will forgive his retainer’s clumsiness.

Realizing that Gosetsu has spared Hien from having to publicly go back on his principles, he obliges and helps Gosetsu back to his feet. The trio return to the Enclave and Gosetsu is welcomed home. Yugiri and the twins are apprised of what transpired with Jifuya and Gosetsu regales the party with stories of his adventures following the collapse of Doma Castle. All the while, Tsuyu dotes on him, fussing over his injuries and making sure he’s comfortable, which he finds unsettling.

Yugiri explains to him what became of Yotsuyu, and her new life as Tsuyu. Gosetsu dryly suggests the mercy fate has shown them both must be the work of the kami, to be forced to live on in spite of their crimes, to atone by bearing the weight of a guilty conscious. Gosetsu’s injuries combined with his age are too much for him to fight as a samurai again, and he needs assistance in his day to day, and Tsuyu has no memories of her old life, only that she committed a terrible crime she cannot remember or even who she hurt.

MEANWHILE, IN GARLEMALD, we get the conversation between Varis and Elidibus, with the stinger that Elidibus is up to something.

When we next pick up in the Enclave, Hien has received word from Maxima that Ambassador Brutus’s ship is en route and should be arriving soon to carry out the prisoner exchange, and potentially a proper ceasefire between the Empire and Doma. Last minute preparations are made, including keeping Tsuyu hidden, given the bad blood between her and Asahi. The only other concern is a strange increase in activity from the Red kojin of late, given they had settled down since the Empire left Doma and Susano was defeated.

Asahi and his retinue arrive alongside Maxima, he is welcomed to Hien’s estate as an honored guest.

Contrasting with Maxima’s prior letter, Asahi seems positively thrilled with the idea of the prisoner exchange and peace between the Empire and Doma as equals. When questioned about the politics of his party, the Telophoroi, he says that the militaristic stance is born of precaution, not hostility, and so long as Doma does not seek further conflict he has no reason to pick a fight. But that does entail the return of all Imperial prisoners...including the missing viceroy, his “dear” sister Yotsuyu.

The group is shocked that Asahi is aware of Tsuyu’s survival, and Yugiri tentatively explains that she lost her memory after the battle of Doma Castle, and was given a new identity for her own protection. Hien states that Tsuyu would likely not wish to leave Doma to go with a stranger to a strange place, and Asahi, surprisingly, agrees. She is a Doman citizen now, through and through, though he would like to see her for himself, if time permits.

Back to business, Asahi says that in addition to ceding prisoners and pursuing no further restitutions from the Empire, Doma and its people must never again summon eikons. Alisaie speaks up, saying the people of Doma never summoned to begin with, which prompts Asahi to mention Susano and Tsukuyomi, TWO summonings by Doman citizens in less than a year. WoL disputes this, as Susano manifested without being summoned by anyone, and Tsukuyomi was called by Yotsuyu, the Imperial Viceroy.

Asahi insists that these are semantics, and it was ultimately Doman religious practices that gave rise to the primals. The Empire will not demand an end to all worship, only that such “incidents” be prevented.

At this point, Asahi suggests going around and touring Doma a bit, estranged as he is from his homeland by his time in Garlemald. Hien, Yugiri, WoL, and the twins escort him around Yanxia, from the Enclave to Monzen, Namai, and Castrum Fluminis. It’s there that we get the encounter with the Red Kojin attacking Isse and Azami, and the gang rushes to the rescue, Asahi included.

With enough excitement for one day, the group returns to the Enclave, and Asahi retires for the evening. Afterwards, the group plus Maxima discuss how odd the whole situation is, Asahi knowing of Yotsuyu’s fate and her summoning Tsukuyomi at Doma Castle, the unusual actions of the Red Kojin to travel so far inland, especially on the same day Asahi arrives, the bizarre change of heart compared to Maxima‘s initial report. Something is obviously strange, but no one can quite pinpoint it, and Maxima hopes it is simply nerves.

The next day, Asahi sets about preparations for the prisoner exchange at Castrum Fluminis, but as before, requests he be allowed a chance to meet with his sister. Hien tentatively agrees, not wanting to jeopardize the safety of the Doman conscripts by refusing, and the group travels to Castrum Fluminis with Tsuyu in tow.

From here, things play out more or less the same, Asahi surprises Tsuyu by bringing out their parents, and Yugiri notices a number of suspicious crates that Asahi’s retinue seems to have brought with them. Asahi and his forces fall back to the fortress, leaving the WoL with his parting vitriol and the Echo vision of his first meeting with Zenos, and Tsuyu is very agitated following the unexpected reunion with her parents. At this point, all involved are aware the prisoner exchange is a trap, but for the sake of bringing home the Doman conscripts, they’ll have to follow through for now and just be ready to react to whatever scheme Asahi tries to pull.

The next morning, Hien’s estate is throw into a tizzy as Tsuyu has disappeared overnight. Yugiri takes responsibility, saying that she had grown lax in her observance as she became more accustomed to Tsuyu’s every day routine. With the airship bearing the conscripts on its way, there’s no time to dispatch a full search party, and Hien asks the WoL and the twins to investigate while he travels to Castrum Fluminis.

WoL and the twins split up and search for Tsuyu, WoL goes to Monzen and finds the bodies of Asahi’s parents and gets the Echo vision. Tsuyu, having regained her memory, cannot live with the guilt of being shown such kindness and mercy after what she’s done, and plans to kill herself when her parents arrive and begin harassing her. She turns on them and murders them both, then Asahi arrives on the scene and congratulates her on the miraculous recovery. He tells Yotsuyu the plan to regain her place in the Empire by summoning Tsukuyomi again at the prisoner exchange.

WoL meets up with the twins and they rush to the Castrum proper to warn Hien. They arrive just as the Doman conscripts are being brought through, and Alphinaud calls out that it’s a trap. Asahi seems shocked at their arrival, but carries on, giving the signal for Yotsuyu to show herself. The crates Yugiri identified are opened, showing off a number of crystals, and Yotsuyu uses them to once again turn into Tsukuyomi.

Asahi cackles madly, laughing that a Doman citizen has summoned an eikon in direct violation of the peace agreement in what can only be called an act of war. His victory is short lived however, when Tsukuyomi runs him through with her lunar swords, voice seething as she recounts that he more than any other she hated, her own brother that beat her and used her, never protecting her from their parents, leaving her to suffer as he reaped the benefits of her abuse and enslavement. As Asahi chokes on his blood and curses her for being the one Zenos chose over him, the transformation fades, and Yotsuyu collapses, the lunar blades holding Asahi aloft disappearing as he plummets to the ground. Yugiri and the twins run to Yotsuyu’s side as Hien and Wol look over Asahi, with his last breath saying that Zenos will come for them and avenge him.

WoL gets the Echo vision of a somehow still living Zenos giving Asahi his mission to sabotage the prisoner exchange, and shares what they learn with everyone present.

Alphinaud is bewildered, asking how Zenos could have given the order when Zenos died at the Royal Menagerie, to which Maxima reacts with shock, saying that the crown prince is alive and well at the Imperial capital, already recovering from the wounds he sustained at the Ala Mhigan insurrection. The contradiction presents only one possibility. An Ascian has taken possession of Zenos’s body.

In spite of everything that has occurred, Hien asks Maxima if they intend to go through with the prisoner exchange. Maxima agrees, as the ambassador’s plan was as much of a shock to the Populares as the Scions, and he still believes in the mission.

Yotsuyu then awakens, her hair evenly split between black and white, much like Tsukuyomi. She is unharmed, if exhausted by the summoning, and bitterly asks what the Scions intend to do with her now that she’s finally had her fill of revenge. Hien states that her amnesia was her only defense against the peoples’ ire, and he may not be able to protect her if she remains in Doma, to which Yotsuyu replies she has no desire to remain anyway.

Alisaie offers Yotsuyu join the Scions, as they’re always looking for people with the Echo, and it’s a politically neutral group far from Doma. Yotsuyu wonders aloud how long Alisaie has been waiting to turn Yotsuyu’s initial offer on its head, to which Alisaie only smirks.

Yotsuyu makes no commitments, as she will need time to decide what she wants now that her life is actually in her own hands for the first time. Yugiri escorts her back to the Doman Enclave.

Alphinaud then addresses Maxima, asking what he intends to do now. With the news that Zenos may be an Ascian, he must return to Garlemald forthwith and resume his investigation, and regrettably, it might not be wise to bring the Imperial prisoners back to the capital in such circumstances. Hien volunteers to help see the prisoners back to their homes with the help of Doma’s shinobi, as most of them are foreign conscripts anyway, and with the Ambassador dead on Doman soil, the prospects of peace are well and truly off the table.

Alphinaud volunteers to join Maxima in the journey back to the capital, believing he would do more good helping the Populares fight the Ascians politically and potentially prevent further conflict at the source. The WoL has the option to encourage him, stay neutral and advise caution, or disagree with Alphinaud’s decision as too dangerous.

Regardless, Alphinaud and Maxima depart, and the WoL, Hien, and Alisaie return to the Enclave. When they arrive, Yotsuyu and Gosetsu are waiting for them, both in new outfits. “Tsuyu” states it’s better if she let go of her old name for good, and Gosetsu declares that the two of them are going on a pilgrimage of atonement, to understand where they belong in the world as a pair of sinners who were denied honorable death. Tsuyu comments she’ll keep Alisaie’s offer in mind, and the two depart.

At the same time, a yol arrives dropping off Y’shtola, who explains that her research in the Steppe has reached a satisfactory conclusion. WoL and Alisaie tell her about all that has transpired in her absence, and she grimly wonders if Alphinaud has not made a rash decision. On a happier note, she says that she has undone the stifling of aether caused by the Allagan device, and it is possible the Burn may recover in time.

Hien thanks the Scions for their assistance, and swears he will pray for Alphinaud’s safety in the coming days. He then asks if they can deliver a letter of introduction to the Eorzean Alliance, pledging Doma’s friendship. The Scions graciously thank Hien for his friendship and hospitality, and depart for Eorzea.

From here, things proceed pretty much as they do in the original story.

Thancred, Krile, Lyse, and Urianger are updated on the Zenos situation, and his grave is confirmed to be empty, as we get the shot of the unknown Elezen soldier watching in the distance. Thancred departs for Garlemald to find out what’s going on.

WoL and Alisaie deliver Hien’s message to the Eorzean Alliance, pledging Doma’s support against the Empire, Maxima and his unit arrive in Ala Mhigo, and the WoL and Alisaie learn of the attack on their ship and how Alphinaud went off with the mysterious Shadow Hunter. We get the introduction of Emperor Solus and the big reveal of Garlemald’s founding.

Thancred returns, bringing grim tidings of imminent conflict with Eorzea and retribution for the Ala Mhigan and Doman rebellions. As Thancred delivers his report, the mysterious voice happens and he goes comatose. Alisaie and WoL return to the Rising Stones to tell Urianger and Y’shtola, who soon follow suit.

WoL and Alisaie travel to Doma together one last time to let Hien know what’s coming, he informs them that he has been in contact with Cid and the four of them head out to burn to get the Allagan shield up and running to protect Doma while the army travels to Eorzea to assist the Alliance, Gaius delivers Alphinaud’s comatose body to the Scions and warns of Black Rose. WoL and Alisaie return with the Doman forces then take some time to check on the Scions, visit with Matoya and Krile to diagnosis what’s wrong, visit Ga Bu in Limsa, then attend the big meeting with Varis and the Alliance leaders prior to the battle of Ghimlyt Dark, and the 4.5 story plays out unchanged.

And so that’s my edit of Stormblood, how I would modify events to keep things mostly the same, but tie the narrative together a bit more smoothly and keep things consistent. The big points I want to focus on are developing both Yotsuyu and Fordola, giving them more screentime to actually understand and sympathize with them before the game tells you you’re just supposed to, giving Zenos more build up as a character, making Lyse’s growth as an individual more pronounced, and removing or reording some events I felt were particularly unsavory or jarring with the rest of the story. And of course, Yotsuyu lives so she can do stuff in the future. If you’ve made it this far, thank you very much for reading, I hope you enjoyed my ideas for how Stormblood could be improved as a story.

#David plays FFXIV #Stormblood #Final Fantasy XIV

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theworldbrewery · 1 year

Note

Do you know where I can find a stat block for a God

There are very few official resources for god stat blocks, at least for 5e D&D.

My guess is that PCs aren't technically supposed to be able to fight and win against gods. Giving a god a statblock--that is, turning it into a creature with an AC and hit points and saving throw bonuses--makes a god fallible and beatable. If you don't want your players to be able to fight and win against a god, do not give the god a stat block. The existence of a statblock limits what the god can do in combat and creates the possibility, however small, that they could lose.

If you do want players to be able to potentially challenge a god once they're very high level, there are a few ways to craft a god's statblock.

The closest D&D gets to having a godly stat block are the Aspect of Tiamat and Aspect of Bahamut stat blocks from Fizban's Treasury of Dragons. It's unclear to what extent we should understand these stat blocks as "godly," Take a look at those two statblocks and consider using them as a baseline from which to develop a new and reflavored divine being. This is probably your best bet, since all you've really got to do is change damage types and attack flavor to suit your new god.

The second way is to build a god from mortals. I have my own method for building a god stat block, which involves starting from a level 20 NPC stat block and adding new features like additional ability score points, a legendary resistance that recharges each round, and a certain level of damage resistance/immunity. I basically run this "upgrade" to godhood like granting levels to a Sidekick NPC per the rules in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything. This option is good for more elaborate god creation and more control over specific elements if pre-existing stat blocks feel too limiting for you.

(I'm being deliberately non-specific here because I have players who follow this blog and & I'd hate to ruin the surprise about how their potential fight with Bane might go.)

Gods should also not be easy to kill regardless of how powerful your players are, so one feature I recommend is that when a god is brought to 0hp, their physical form discorporates and they can re-form in their divine domain. Giving your homebrew god special legendary actions and other features that fit in with their domain is also crucial; if all the god of the forge can do is throw off a fireball once a round or hit with a flaming maul, it's not much different from battling a powerful paladin. Ensure that your homebrew god has unique, tactical powers that draw from their domain.

#homebrew #build god then we'll talk #d&d

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gridanian-red-mage · 8 months

Text

At the Bottom of a Mug

Summary

While the newly named Warrior of Light Arielle Solinar is running errands, her chocobo Mina catches wind of something that she thinks is worth investigating. Which leads them to a certain bard who doesn't quite have all of his wits about him.

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[Aaaand here's the first Arielle fic of several more that are to come in the future! (This one's a little long.😅) I actually have quite a few things written containing Arielle in my Word docs, so I'll be posting more of those here as time goes on and as I get further into the expansions. But anyway, this generally takes place before the move to Revenant's Toll, so roughly about 2.1-ish. I hope you enjoy!😊]

(AO3 version)

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“All right, so we’ve delivered that odd letter, took down some pests in the area, wrapped up that small squabble from earlier, and helped with another delivery for that nice elder,” Arielle listed. “Have I missed anything?”

Mina shook her head.

“Good. I would hate to have missed something.” Arielle sighed. “Having dealt with three primals in near succession and helped Alisaie with Bahamut for the time being, on top of the tasks we’ve just completed I think we’ve had quite the busy handful of days.”

A tired kweh.

“But we’ll probably have something needing our attention at the Waking Sands, so we can’t rest just yet today.”

Mina sighed.

“I know. I’m tired, too. But the faster we get there the faster you’ll be able to have some of those fruits I bought earlier.”

“Kweh!” The bird reared up excitedly to take off only to stop abruptly, cocking her head as she listened. She then made the chocobo’s equivalent of a confused expression.

“Something wrong?”

Mina chirped to confirm before gesturing not too far ahead of them.

“The Coffer and Coffin?”

“Kweh!��

“Lead the way, then.” As Mina headed off, Arielle began to ponder. She combed through her recollections of everyone they had helped just recently, carefully going over what she had been asked to do and where she had needed to go. She even retraced her steps from a few days ago. But as far as she knew they had done everything that was asked of them. “Are you sure we haven’t forgotten anything?”

“Kweh!”

Arielle hummed. “All right. If you say so.”

A few minutes later they had arrived, and she dismounted before leading Mina to a spot off to the side. Glancing around, she didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, nor did anyone seem distressed. But Mina usually had a good sense of her surroundings, so she didn’t really have much of a reason to wave Mina off.

Upon heading inside, Arielle could see that business was just about as typical as could be. Patrons were behaving as . . . they usually did in a place like this, and—

Wait. Almost immediately she recognized one of the men at the bar. “Thancred?”

Surrounded by at least four women and enough mugs for her to know it was far too many (even if they probably weren’t all his), was the man himself—getting very tipsy giggles out of the women with a slurred quip.

“Arielle!” Thancred practically beamed. “Wond’ful t’see you, as always!”

“How long have you been here?”

“No’ long at all. In’t that righ’, ladies?” At least three of the women burst into giggles.

“An’ jus’ who’re you s’posed t’be?” the fourth woman, an Elezen, questioned.

“Someone who is taking him home,” Arielle replied. Thancred reached for another mug only for her to take it out of his reach. “I think that’s enough for now, Thancred.”

“Ever th’stern one,” he joked, right before hiccupping. That pulled a sigh out of her.

“Come on, let’s go.”

“We were here first!” one of the women whined. “Especially me!”

“He’s, um . . . a very busy man and has many things left to do,” Arielle explained.

“He’ll be too busy to leave once I get him alone!” another woman replied, giggling afterwards.

“Well . . . he’s. . . .” Think, Arielle. Think of something to ward them off. She straightened up. “He’s been especially busy with me recently.”

All four women made an assortment of disappointed noises loud enough to turn some heads, making Arielle wince.

“I knew he was too good to be true!” a Miqo’te woman sobbed.

“Ladies, please,” Thancred tried to assure. “Thr’s plenny o’ me t’go’round.” Another hiccup.

Arielle tried not to cringe. “Of course there is.” Three of the women in the group pouted in various ways while the Miqo’te continued to sob. “I suggest the four of you find other suitors elsewhere.” But before the women could protest, the bartender stepped in.

“Go on, ye heard the lass. I won’t be havin’ any fights ‘round here, especially a cat-fight.”

“Ahh ’Shtola—as pow’ful asshe isss rad’nt,” Thancred declared as the women shuffled off.

“Yes I completely agree,” Arielle said. She turned to the bartender. “You have my thanks, Roger.”

“Don’t mention it,” Roger said before sighing. “Sod’s been ‘ere for bells. At first he was mutterin’ into his mug all serious-like—”

“I w’s not muttering,” Thancred argued. Another hiccup.

“But seein’ as how it was his business I let ‘im be. An’ before long, one mug led to countless others, an’ now he’s in a right mess. I suggest ye take ‘em to the closest inn ‘round here.” He leaned in. “Between you an’ me, I think he needs someone to talk to.”

“Thank you,” Arielle said.

“Y’really should res’ ev’ry now ‘n then,” Thancred said.

“So says the man who overworks himself.” She began to help him up. “Come on. You’ve been alone long enough.”

“I c’n walk jussf’ne, Arielle Solinar.” Another hiccup, making Arielle frown.

“How much did he spend?”

“Don’t ye worry ‘bout that,” Roger replied.

“Roger—”

“Yer friend’s more important than the coin.”

“At least let me pay for half.”

The man sighed. “Fine. Half, an’ that’s it.”

Arielle handed over the amount before taking her leave, and she could feel a few pairs of eyes on her. Once they were outside, Thancred squinted at the change in lighting, and Mina kweh’d cheerfully only to cut herself off. Upon noticing his current state, she gave a curt but concerned look.

“Ih seems Mina’s unhappy t’see me thi’ time,” he said. “I s’posed I must’ve u’set ‘er.”

“She’s just worried about you. We both are.”

“I’ma grown man, Ar’elle. I c’n handle m’self.” Mina made a noise of concern before lowering herself down. “Riding u’ fron’ fer once, I see.”

“Mmhmm.” Arielle positioned Thancred before mounting herself, making sure she had her arms around him just securely enough.

“Care t’tell me where we’re goin’?” He tipped to the side a bit, and Arielle readjusted him.

“The Quicksand. Or at least the Hourglass. I’ll not be letting you go back to the Waking Sands like this.”

“ ‘T’will be good t’see M’modi again.”

“And I’m sure she will be happy to see you as well.” Arielle could already picture the woman chiding him should she manage to spot them. “Easy now, Mina.” She shook the reins, and Mina went off at a steady pace.

“I’ve had many a w’mn witheir arms ‘round me, m’ny ‘o them not quite as fair as you.”

Arielle held back a grimace. “Yes I’m . . . very much aware of the women you’ve charmed.”

“I do r’m’ber a Miqo’te th’was very frisky, whish remns me of an’ther exceptionally fair lady ov’at. . . .”

She half listened to him while occasionally keeping him upright, making sure to give short replies every now and then to appease him. She knew she had made sure to check on him during his recovery from his possession alongside the others, and every time he would assure them that he was fine and merely needed some rest. Then he was finally returning to his duties, and she had gently reminded him to take it slow.

He takes so much responsibility for so many things. . . .

“. . . an’ oh th’r’ther tall woman fr’m Limsa—v’ry fr’ward in’er adv’nces.” Another hiccup.

I really hope he doesn’t do this again. . . .

~ ~ ~ ~

Finally, after several subject changes and mood swings that thankfully did not include anything too extreme, they had crossed the Gate of Nald and arrived at Ul’dah. Thancred had eventually fallen silent only minutes beforehand, and Arielle wondered if he had either exhausted himself or was stewing. In fact she wasn’t exactly sure which was worse.

The sun had already started its descent, so it was likely that the Quicksand and the Hourglass would be busy. Assuming he didn’t decide to talk to every person inside, they could just slip right in and find a room.

I really hope there are some rooms available.

“I’r’mber f’nding you here,” Thancred mentioned. “St’ndin’ up fer tha’ woman. . . .”

“It was the right thing to do,” Arielle replied. “I couldn’t let her be treated like that.”

“. . . You’ve a good hear’ Ar’elle.”

“And so do you.” The trio arrived at the Chocobo Station, and Mina lowered herself to let Arielle help Thancred off.

“Good evening. Rough day, eh?” the Chocobokeep inquired.

“Somewhat.” Mina gave a greeting to the Keep.

“And a good evening to you, too.”

She sighed at Thancred hiccupping again.

“Thancred!” two women cooed as they waved.

“Ladies!” Thancred practically beamed into Arielle’s ear as the women came up to them. “How l’ng’s it been?” But before the women could say anything else, Mina loudly and testily kweh’d at them, making them jump. “Mina, be nice to—”

She repeated the noise, successfully scaring the intruding duo—or at least to her they were intruding. And when they looked over their shoulders, she ruffled her feathers with a curt noise as if in warning.

Thancred sighed. “Som’t’mes I wonder if Mina wans me all t’herself.”

The Chocobokeep blinked a few times while Arielle laughed awkwardly, and he cleared his throat. “J-just for the night, miss?”

“Two nights, actually—in case we need the extra rest,” Arielle replied, and Mina gently nuzzled her and Thancred as if she had not just scared off two passersby. “Good night, girl. Be good for me, all right?”

With a quiet kweh Mina nudged the pack on her saddle with the fruit inside.

“All right, hold on.” Arielle glanced between Thancred and Mina in thought before having him lean on the bird.

“I’c’n stan’ b’m’self, you know,” Thancred argued.

“Frankly not,” the Chocobokeep muttered, but was quickly silenced by Mina’s hard look. She adjusted herself accordingly to properly support Thancred as Arielle fed her a couple fruits. Afterwards she nudged the pack again with a chirp.

“I’ll give you some extra ones in the morning, but right now Thancred needs to be looked after,” Arielle promised. Mina seemed to contemplate for a few moments before giving an agreeable kweh, and Arielle scratched the bird’s chin. Once things were settled, she continued their journey on foot. “We’re almost there, Thancred.”

“You h’ve m’c’mplete trus’,” he replied, hiccupping mid-sentence.“An’ you b’sure to let Mina know th’same.”

“Don’t worry, I will.”

It wasn’t long before they entered the Quicksand, and Arielle readjusted Thancred to make him seem as normal as possible. As she expected, Momodi was already occupied with quite a few patrons and then some. A few adventurers Arielle had helped out once or twice waved to her, and she waved back, although she winced once Thancred decided to again yell into her ear unintentionally.

“Momodi! Rad’nt an’ fair as always!” he announced, every pair of eyes in the room now on them, including Momodi’s.

Nophica help me, here it comes. A nervous grin worked its way through as Arielle appeased his apparent desire to speak to Momodi. And hoped she didn’t regret her decision.

The Lalafell placed her hands on her hips. “And hello to you too, Thancred.” She let out a sigh. “All right, where’d you find him?”

“Central Thanalan,” Arielle said.

“Coffer an’ Coffin, I wager?”

“Yes. If it weren’t for Mina I would’ve likely passed right by him.”

“Good bird, she is. But anyroad, I’ll leave you to keep an eye on this one, then. Should be a couple o’ rooms available over at the Hourglass.”

“Thank you. And, um, if . . . anyone asks for Thancred or me, please don’t say anything. I know he’ll send a few people into worry with how he is now.”

“Mum’s the word. Now go on an’ get him some rest.” Arielle nodded.

“C’m now shurely we could spare a mom’nt to—”

“I’m doin’ you a favor, Thancred. Can’t have you embarrassin’ yourself any further.” The duo then made their way over to the innkeeper (or rather Arielle tugged Thancred along before he could say anything else).

“Good evening,” she greeted. “I was told you had some rooms available.”

“Indeed we do,” the innkeeper replied. He glanced between the two of them. “How long will you be staying?” The arrangements were made for at least a couple of nights, and the two were finally able to step away from any more curious eyes.

Arielle closed the doors to their room with a brief sigh. “Are you all right? Do you feel ill?”

“‘M fine, Ar’elle,” Thancred said, leading her to frown. Upon being led to the bed, he unceremoniously plopped onto it.

“Try not to move, all right?”

“O’course, Miss S’l’nar.”

Moving aside the book and quill on the table, she began to place her smaller weapons onto it, keenly aware of Thancred’s gaze. She let out a breath as she removed her very well-used gloves, flexing her fingers for a bit. She supposed she was due for a new pair, but that was a problem for another time. Her current ones could last her a bit longer until then. After all, they have lasted her a pretty long time.

“Y’should be th’one to claim th’bed. I’ss only proper.”

“I’ll be just fine.” Her mind drifted to what she had asked of Momodi. Tataru’s probably worried. It is getting late. . . . “I’m stepping out for a bit, so don’t move.”

“Aye!”

Arielle left the room, leaving the doors open a crack as she made use of her linkpearl. And it barely took a minute before her call was received.

“Arielle?” Tataru asked.

“Yes, it’s me.”

“Oh, thank the Twelve! I was beginning to think something had happened to you! Is Thancred with you? He said he had ‘another matter’ to see to before he continued with his work, but I haven’t heard from him since.”

“Yes, but he’s . . . in an odd state, to say. He’s not hurt, but we won’t be returning to the Waking Sands until tomorrow, the day after at the most.”

“. . . He overdid it, didn’t he?”

“. . . Somewhat. Mina and I found him in Central Thanalan. With company.”

Tataru sighed. “And here I was thinking he was in trouble. . . .”

Arielle peeked through the crack, and Thancred was now more or less laying properly on the bed save for one leg hanging off the edge entirely. I think I prefer this kind of trouble over the other kind. “I’d rather the others not begin to worry, especially Minfilia, so. . . .”

“Don’t you worry. I’ll take care of everything.”

“Thank you.” Once the two disconnected, Arielle entered the room.

“I’ma right messs, ar’nt I?” Thancred said after a couple moments.

“As of right now, somewhat.”

He sighed a bit loudly. “T’think I could cont’nue to b’in such a state. . . .”

“You have not continued to be a mess. You’ve been strong and supportive.”

“It’s ne’er enough,” he retorted instantly. “I’m never enough to acc’mplsh what needs to be acc’mplishh.”

“Yes, you are, and I’ll not have you thinking this way.”

Thancred snorted. “I’m supposed to be f’ster than the enemy. T’keep Minfilia an’ th’others safe. An’ I’ve left you to burn before Ifrit more than once.”

Arielle furrowed her eyebrows. “More than—” She stopped herself as she remembered talking to him at the Waking Sands. She knew she had seen a trace of remorse in his eyes after he had told her about Ifrit’s return. “We’re all safe, and you did not leave me to burn. You—”

“Arielle can’t you understand that had you not held the Echo you would have been put to death with the others?! A kind woman whom I’ve dragged into nothing but countless trials and near death!”

Her fingers curled, and she found herself avoiding his unfocused but tormented eyes. He was right, and she knew it. Without the Echo, she would’ve been tempered like the rest of the people with her and put to death. “. . . Neither of us could have predicted what would’ve happened. But I would not have put someone I felt was a good person at fault, regardless of only having known you for a short time then. So . . . I do understand.”

“Frankly I don’t think you do.”

“And frankly, I think I do, Thancred Waters.”

“Really? And what of all the suffering I caused—”

“While you were not yourself. No one faults you for anything you did. It was Lahabrea who did all of those things. And I most certainly do not blame you for supposedly ‘leaving me to burn’ and any other troubles you think you yourself have caused.”

He let his head hang, and she leaned forward a bit to keep within his line of sight.

“You are a good man, Thancred, and you strive so hard to protect those around you. Sometimes too hard. But I would not have any other person for a friend.”

He chuckled to himself, albeit bordering on a slurred snort. “‘F’I didn’t know any better I’d say you were a bard, putting m’el’quent words t’shame.”

“I meant every word.”

“You always do.” He tilted toward her, and she caught him before sitting him upright. “’M a mess. . . .”

Arielle resisted a frown. “Try to get some rest.”

Thancred sluggishly situated himself as she rose. Undoing her hair, she ran her fingers through it before settling onto the floor. And when she glanced to him, he was already asleep.

I wonder if I’ll be able to find some tea for him in the morning. I think the brew I have in mind should help with any lingering grogginess he should have.

She fingered the pendant of her necklace, wondering if he would remember anything that had happened within the past small handful of bells. At best he would likely have foggy bits here and there—or so she assumed. I suppose only time will tell.

~ ~ ~ ~

Thancred had still been asleep even after she had gotten ready for the day and requested the tea for him. She had expected the knocking to rouse him, but it would seem his sleep was deep this time—which probably should’ve been expected. And he hadn’t shifted positions at all, so she deemed it safe to assume he wasn’t going to remember much of the previous night.

As she prepared the tea, she briefly glanced to him. Assuming he didn’t feel sick to his stomach, he would likely need something in it, obviously. Of course, she knew he was probably going to want to throw himself back into his work, but not if she had any say in that. Besides, she had given him another day to rest, so he’ll probably at least accept that.

Fruit should be fine for him for now. And for Mina. I did promise her extra. . . .

Once she was finished, a groan brought her attention back to him, and it was followed by a louder groan and him massaging his temples.

“Where. . . ?” Thancred rolled onto his back and draped his arm over his eyes, attempting to clear his mind and block the sunlight flooding in from the window for a few moments before rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Registering the bed he was on, he sat up as quickly as he could, ignoring the wave of dizziness that hit him. He looked around the room for a bit in confusion before his eyes finally landed on Arielle, and immediately dread flashed across his face. “Oh gods—!”

“No no no no, you’re fine!” Arielle quickly assured.

“Agh, not so loud, please!”

She winced. “I’m sorry.” She watched him miserably swing his legs over the edge with a groan.

“Please tell me I did not do what I think I did.”

“You didn’t. I brought you here after Mina and I found you.”

He sighed in relief. “Thank the Twelve. . . .”

She studied him for a bit. “How are you feeling?”

“Well, my head is pounding, but I seem to be well enough.” He sighed again. “You’ll have to excuse my . . . less-than-gentlemanly behavior. I’m sure I was an absolute fool.”

“Well . . . um . . . I’m sure it could have been worse.”

“That does not give me any sort of comfort.”

Arielle frowned. “Well you were certainly very talkative. And moody. And . . . surrounded by women. But I managed to shoo them off.”

“Ah. I think I remember some displeased voices, although the memory is a bit muddled.”

Arielle briefly glanced down. “Why did you go off on your own like this?”

He hunched over, resting his elbows on his knees and trying not to squint. “To be honest, it was never my intention. But, when one’s mind wanders to less than cheery thoughts, it’s almost all too easy to drown it all away.”

She frowned again. “. . . You still feel at fault. . . .”

He didn’t answer her for a few moments, barely recalling himself lashing out and kicking himself. “. . . If you were in my place, wouldn’t you?”

Arielle briefly closed her eyes. “. . . I think I would. And I know you would tell me the same things that I’ve said to you. The others would likely agree with me. But I know that I cannot imagine the torment you must have endured while Lahabrea had your sense of self in his grasp.” She frowned. “I wish we had found out sooner. . . .”

“Then, I suppose you would expect hearing your own words coming from me, Arielle Solinar.”

“I think I would, Thancred Waters.”

He gave her his usual smile, and his eyes caught the tray of tea behind her. “I suppose that’s rather cold by now.”

“Oh!”

“Agh!”

“Sorry.” Arielle went to give him his cup. “I thought it would help clear your head of any remaining drowsiness. It should still be warm, I think.”

Thancred took a small sip. “And you are correct. You have my thanks.”

“It’s not too strong, is it?”

“Actually, no. It’s perfect.”

“Good.” The two sat in silence for a few minutes, Thancred trying not to wince at the clinking of the cup and saucer as well as the sunlight coming in from the window (and why it did not have any godsforsaken curtains was beyond him).

“This has an odd taste to it.”

“It’s good for you.”

“Is it supposed to be musty?”

“Yes, now drink while it’s still warm.”

Thancred refrained from grumbling as he did as told. She’s like a mother hen.

A few more minutes of silence went by, and he was beginning to taste another odd flavor in the tea. But he decided to keep his mouth shut.

“Thancred.”

He looked to her.

“If there is anything you need from me, or if there is something bothering you, call upon me. It doesn’t matter what I may be doing or what time it may be or if you think you would be a bother. I want you to lean on me, or if not me, then one of the others. We’re friends.”

“The same goes for you. But, I will try to remember that.”

Arielle smiled at him. “But we won’t be setting a single foot outside this room until you are absolutely well.”

“Arielle—”

“Thancred.”

“There are things that—”

“And I’m aware of them and have also let Tataru know that we won’t be back until today or tomorrow. Everything’s taken care of.”

Thancred frowned. He hated to admit it, but powering through his blasting headache and his temporary oversensitivity to light and sound wasn’t the best idea. He wouldn’t want to worry everyone any further, especially Arielle given what she had already done for him yesterday. “There is no arguing with you, is there?”

“No, there is not.”

He sighed in defeat. “All right. I’ll be staying put, but that includes you as well. It’s only fair since you are in such high demand nowadays.”

“. . . Fair enough.”

“And, some curtains would be lovely.”

Arielle glanced to him partially squinting and then the window. Ah, right. He’s a bit sensitive to light now. “Well I’m no weaver, but I’ll see what I can do.”

#Final Fantasy XIV #FFXIV #ARR #A Realm Reborn #FFXIV Wol #Thancred Waters #Momodi Modi #Tataru Taru #Alisaie Leveilleur #Minfilia Warde #FFXIV fics #Arielle Solinar #Mina the chocobo #Red Mage Fics #Minfilia and Alisaie are only mentioned but I'll tag them anyway.#I've never written a drunk person before. T-T #So there may be some errors in this that I'll probably fix later.#On another note I'll eventually be making a writing master list in the future that I'll be linking to in my pinned post.

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thecloudstan · 1 month

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(Prt. 1) I just checked your blog and saw you replying in real-time to my messages. XD OMG, YES! I completely forgot to mention his iconic "I guess we can't be friends" line ASDFGHJKL. There's honestly so much to say about Cloud and Rufus because, let's face it, Rufus has been underappreciated and overlooked for YEARS (and the Turks, too, while I'm rambling again, but that's for another day...). Back in the OG, I get why that is because of his stereotypical portrayal and lack of screentime.

Anonymous asked:

(Prt. 2) Added to the long stretches of time between the FFVII novels/other titles through the years and plot demands focus on main party, it's such a SHAME that a lot of fans just haven't read the novels or guidebooks because they provide SO MUCH depth to Rufus' characterization/growth from being a wannabe fascist dictator to fighting for the planet because of GENUINE REMORSE and DESIRE TO PAY HIS DEBT BACK TO THE PLANET. Sure, he's still looking out for Shinra, but hey, that's business.

(Prt. 3) And despite all these years, I am SHOOK that there's so many out there that haven't realized despite whatever differences Rufus and Cloud have, THEY REALLY DO HAVE A LOT IN COMMON. When I got into FFVII and started seriously exploring and paying attention to these characters, it really struck me how much Rufus and Cloud are ACTUAL FOILS to each other. And all the Remake trilogy is doing just bringing into the main games than shoving into the novels that half the fandom hasn't even read.

(Prt. 3? I'm losing track fast because I'm on A ROLL! XD) Because I'm anonymous and YOU'RE A WONDERFUL PERSON, Heich, I feel safe for saying something that some may take issue with and you don't even have to agree with me since I was DONE with shipping discourse when I was 13 and differing opinions should be respected. I 100% BELIEVE that Rufus would make a better romantic partner for Cloud than literally ANYONE ELSE in the series. Yes, that includes T*fa and Aer*th. Why, you ask? See next part.

Rufus and Cloud both love their mothers (Rufus's mother died when he was young) deeply, and don't have much of a relationship with their fathers (Cloud's father was too much of a "free spirit" and got eaten by fiends, as stated in ToTP, and Cloud knows what his mother tells him; Rufus's father was neglectful, and Rufus grows up hating/resenting him, as stated in OtWtS). Both hide their loneliness growing up by acting stoic and cool, and they carry this in their adult lives, too.

Both of them grew DESPARATELY trying to be somebody important and prove themselves to others. And for those who don't know, Rufus DOES crave his father's acknowledgement since he was a child as stated in the novels (he still hates his guts, of course). By the time they're both adults, they even know how childishly rebellious they acted, but they still struggle with their insecurities and loneliness. Again, Rebirth is making those two points in particular VERY OBVIOUS outside the books.

Okay, anon, I wanted to answer your first group as an aggregate this time so it would all make sense. I'll put my reply under the cut so the post doesn't get too long!

It's true, so much of Rufus' history and then character development is hidden behind a wall-of-entry, so to speak, and that does suck. You really just can't get the full depth and breadth of him as a character, especially as he's being fleshed out in Remake/Rebirth, without that background. Or, at least, you'd be missing a lot.

I don't want to focus too much on who is 'best' to ship Cloud with, I'm not here for that and I think the reason I love this world so much is because of the strength and uniqueness of the interpersonal relationships. I think the people around both of them are integral to their lives and development, 'yes men' or otherwise. That said, I do believe they're good foils to one another and that it's a great ship. Considering the people who are left after Meteorfall and then Bahamut Sin, I can't say I'd be entirely disappointed or shocked if Cloud and Rufus did not become closer allies...and then closer other things are possible. Which is the only window I need 😈

What I'm really interested in with Rufus is the exploration of this desire to pay back what Shinra owes, how deep it could go, how his own near-death experiences shaped him, and how the people close to him followed whatever path he decided to take, regardless. It really is a lot like Cloud's story. He takes his group down an extremely dangerous path, unbeknownst to him (and them), and everyone suffers for it, but the intense bond they have, the ability to forgive and see a bigger picture, keeps all of his loved ones close and still believing in him.

I have more to say but it's in response to your next group of asks, so I'll pick up once I draft that reply! Thanks so much for the fun analysis, it's really so validating to have someone to talk to about this specific ship/topic!

#stanswers #Anonymous #ff7 #ff7r #ff7 rebirth #ff7 rebirth spoilers #ff7r spoilers #final fantasy 7 rebirth #final fantasy 7 rebirth spoilers #final fantasy vii rebirth spoilers #rufus shinra #cloud strife #ruclo #strifra #rukura

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sbrn10 · 2 months

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I continue to do nothing but play games 2024 (obvs some spoilers for games mentioned):

Final Fantasy 16:

- My god Maehiro hates women so much.

- The overall plot started interesting but then unfortunately devolved into nothingness. I still don't understand what the point of Ultima is supposed to be as a villain. The pacing is atrocious - it should have been at least 30% (possibly more like 50%) shorter. Lots and lots of this meeting should have been an email happening.

- Give me back turn based party combat, Squeenix you fucking cowards.

- Anyway, mostly the only thing left after that 35 hour journey is that the Eikon designs and battles were epic af. Which is unfortunate, but also... I mean. Epic as FUCK. Bahamut battle goated.

- Still, would not recommend overall.

Life is Strange: True Colors:

- Long overdue check off my backlog, and it was delightful. The VA for Alex is pitch fucking perfect (as were Steph and Gabe, tbh), and the music is great (overly on the nose use of Creep notwithstanding). I have the main menu music on loop right now as we speak.

- Ryan is the most attractive straight man I have seen in games in a WHILE, which, okay, possibly a very low bar but he's genuinely sweet. I mean, not that I kissed him, because Steph is infinitely more interesting, but I'm just saying. I liked him. This was the most surprising thing to come out of True Colors!

- However, Steph is definitely my D&D obsessed girlfriend who is somehow both the smoothest, most direct cause of some DC corporate suit's gay awakening but also the most useless lesbian on the planet. A+ character on all counts.

- Tbh I'd forgotten a lot of the capital p Plot stuff that happened in LiS 1 and Before the Storm -- this franchise is fucking nuts. True Colors is somehow the least wacky entry and I literally said "what the fuck" out loud at the end of chapter 1 because it was such a tone shift. But then I remembered that I had forgotten LiS 1 literally involves rape, suicide, drug abuse, multiple counts of murder, terminal illness, and possibly wiping an entire town off a map to save ur gf so...

- Anyway, I have a weird soft spot in my heart for Life is Strange at all times, so take this with a grain of salt: pls play this game right now.

No Case Should Remain Unsolved:

- DO NOT TAKE THIS WITH ANY SALT WHATSOEVER: PLEASE GO PLAY THIS GAME RIGHT NOW WITHOUT KNOWING ANYTHING ABOUT IT (other than it's a mystery VN/adventure game that will take about 1.5~2 hours and you should go into it blind).

- No, but seriously, it's very good.

#musings

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secretgamergirl · 1 year

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The Entire Plot of Final Fantasy 14, with all the expansions, and some serious analysis of how good it actually is. (Part 2 - Post-ARR)

Quick heads up, there’s gonna be a bit of saucy language in a screencap of a famous quote when I get down to Shiva.

When we left off, we had just finished enduring a bunch of long-winded speeches from main villain of the thing Gaius van Baelsar, beat him up, beat his robot up, and killed some loser calle Lahabrea who at the time was possessing some loser called Thancred. And I mean I say we, but the whole point of this series of blog posts is I played this whole game to summarize it so that you, someone who theoretically values your time more than I do, can follow people’s conversations without sitting through a real freaking slog of nothing plot. You know what though? You’re going to humor me here a bit. You’re gonna get this whole damn speech.

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I honestly have kind of a love-hate relationship with this speech. First off like I said the game is structured in a way that you hear it a LOT. Normally, there’s a quick little cutscene when you enter a dungeon, another as you reach the boss, and one after beating the boss. Social etiquette says you stop and wait for anyone there for the first time to watch the cutscenes, but in this final dungeon there are some extras and they are LONG. So apparently it used to be a thing where people would just go screw it, skip those, and you’d finish your big imperial general speech to see people killing the guy who gave it and doing their victory dances, and the fix was to make just these ones in the final couple areas unskippable... and also give people huge bonuses to XP and end game loot tokens if they replayed them, so, everyone who plays the game has heard this like 50 times any any other scene probably once.

Also the content of it is worth commenting on. We get a pretty good grounding of where the evil empire is coming from, philosophically (and again, it’s pretty much just fascism), their wannabe Roman thing where they build crappy sheet metal roads everywhere they go, their regard for the rest of the world as a bunch of primitive savages, and hey credit where it’s due, from there end there’s no lines drawn between the various races that count as “human” and the ones who arbitrarily don’t (because he doesn’t count any of them as human... side note “pure-blooded” imperials have “a third eye” or at least claim to, from where I sit they just have a weird habit of embedding gemstones into their foreheads). There’s also a bit in here about “your leaders” being just as bad and doing the whole god summoning thing which... really feels like a 1.0 thing.

See there’s this whole Zodiac of 12 gods, you pick one as a patron when making your character, and in that end of 1.0/intro movie cutscene, Louisoix does in fact do the standard summoning thing, and that actually really should come up as an issue. Spoiler alert though, the writers totally forget about this until the end of the 4th expansion when they have a character break the 4th wall to remind you that not-for-lack-of-trying but they haven’t resolved EVERY dangling plot thread and “the twelve” we’re still gonna get to. Also honestly, every head of state you deal with seems to be a pragmatist with no real use for religion (except Kan-E-Senna with her weird communing with elder tree monster gods thing), and while your party, AKA the Scions, do have kind of a religious bent, it’s all about Hydaelyn the Mother Crystal, the big space rock from the start of the game which also gives you some divine intervention in the final boss fight. Anyway for now we’re hand-waving the importance of any of this because one of the moons exploded, Bahamut busted out, blew up like half the world map, and sure Louisoix did some sort of summoning thing but whatever he summoned was only around for a few seconds and everyone present has a big convenient memory gap mainly to avoid the question of whether people playing in 1.0 days are still canonically that character or not, so it’s fine.

Post-A Realm Reborn

So that brings us to where we are when the very long credits finish rolling and you get slammed with like 5 interim patch teasers, most notably the one where there’s an incredibly loud roar you can hear a couple countries away to remind you that we never did address the whole world-ending-threat-that-is-Bahamut thing. On top of that though, a truckload of sidequests open more or less at once, and everyone wants to talk to you, but really the most important thing is you unlock your own Amano art style Magitek Armor and when you’re riding around in it it plays Terra’s theme, and there’s even a big snow field with a town in the distance right near where you are.

Once you’re done being a big FF6 nerd, and also over the initial novelty of having flight unlocked across the board for every base game area, allowing you to get around MUCH faster and see the jank low poly cliff tops that show these early maps absolutely weren’t designed with the assumption you could fly over them later, yeah there’s a lot of new content to check out. Just doing some quick math, before going into the endgame stuff, there are all of 7 (9 if we count the two endgame ones) mandatory dungeons and 5 optional ones, to which we are adding another 17 (only 2 of which are mandatory), and that initial count of 3 standalone boss fights against summoned gods and our final boss Ultima Weapon, we suddenly have another 22(!) boss fights added into the mix (5 of those mandatory), between stuff clearly left on the cutting room floor, lead-ins to the first expansion, and fun optional side content. And these counts are all before factoring in the randomly generated rogue-y dungeon I honestly still haven’t touched, and the “raids,” where as tradition in every one of these between-expansions periods, we have one area where there’s a string of about a dozen 5 minute bops exploring a storyline with a mix of breezy mini-dungeons and boss fights for 8-player parties (the standard size for standalone boss fights from here out), and a set of 3 sloggier dungeons you chaotically stomp through in a ridiculous 24 person mega-party. There’s also nearly no filler quests between all these new things unlocking, so the “it gets better after 50″ crowd aren’t lying or suffering from Stockholm syndrome, the game does suddenly open way the hell up the second those credits roll. BUT we’re here to talk about the plot.

So our first major concern is that no seriously, we introduced a bunch of these bad for the environment, bad for the radicalization aspect god summons we didn’t get around to killing, and need to get that done with. Oddly we start with the wildcard that is... Good King Moggle Mog XII. So moogles are a thing, this being a Final Fantasy, played here as kinda pixieish magical creatures we retcon in the first expansion most people can’t see, which is kinda weird because their main role is delivering mail for people. They also hang out in Gridania just kinda being cute and useless. Anyway they summon their god. Or, technically, they summon a recreation of a real world historical figure who they revere like a god but... yeah that still counts. So we get this weird bit where golly gee gosh we didn’t know this was bad to do, but we have to call in the designated god exterminator to fight a whimsical cartoon bunny-cat-fairy thing while listening to a delightful little song that is 100% stealing the tune of This is Halloween. It’s an entertaining change in tone from the usual stuff.

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Next we have Leviathan, but being a big sea monster you need to build a custom boss battle barge to even get to, we’ve got some buildup there, which is largely spent trying and failing to make Ascians interesting, explaining how they’ve been teaching the local fish people their trick of being bodysnatching immortals in a fun show don’t tell way, where Merlwyb shows up to lend a hand, just shoots their high priest, and he immediately takes over the body of the next mook to the left, and then just ultimately gets eaten by Leviathan because, again, human sacrifices also help them with the whole aether hoarding thing. It’s entertaining, there’ll be a quiz later. Thancred also shows up during this, doing a bunch of sick ninja flips and stabbing people, because they realized, if a bit late, we really should do something to make you like the guy who got possessed and needed rescuing. It’s something.

This also ties into some future expansion foreshadowing, where this boatload of refugees arrives from Doma (wait, the Samurai city from FF6, with Cyan, that Doma? Yes) and everyone is making this big deal about how hard it is for anyone to take them in. Then eventually after a lot of hemming and hawing they get introduced to Merlwyb and she’s just like hell yes I’ll make room in my cool pirate city for the elite ninja rebels, why the hell did you think I wouldn’t? There’s also a bit where their leader hides her face out of fear of being seen as a monster, but really it’s because she’s a not-yet-introduced race, which... playing today is available for PCs right out the gate so it seems extra silly when we get the reveal.

Anyway, Ramuh’s kind of an unimportant speed bump, so is Odin, but Shiva is kind of a special case. There’s a whole cult/terrorist organization who are fighting on team dragon in that whole elves vs. dragons war going on up north, following someone who goes by Lady Iceheart and claiming to be the reincarnation of Saint Shiva, who... OK have you seen this thing that’s been floating around the internet for years?

That is actually a very specific reference to the backstory for the whole first expansion of FF14. This terrorist gal has access to secret knowledge that despite this whole war with dragons that’s been going on forever in the region, way back when it was first settled some elf lady fell in love with this big dragon and everyone lived in harmony until sometime later when some elves decided to just be huge jerks and kill one of the more important dragons. The elf pope has been covering that history up forever and insisting dragons are evil and aggressive. Terrorist gal (Ysayle) believes herself to be the reincarnation of that historical dragon-banger, and has an interesting trick where rather than externally summon a god, she personally transforms into one... and really that kinda seems to be the way to do it because if you don’t count the “I am the reincarnation of this historical figure” bit she seems pretty rational and survives boss fights against her in big ice lady form. But yeah this is all Heavensward foreshadowing. Mostly you’re just following around as her and her gang do terrorist attacks on the city off the north edge of the map (Ishgard) and slowly piece her motivations together.

But wait hold up what’s up with Bahamut? Funny story, most people who play this game don’t ever get an answer to this. What’s up with Bahamut is the subject of the first “normal raid,” The Binding Coil of Bahamut, which due to being tuned crazy hard but not showing up in the random lottery for crazy hard quests means parties for it basically never happen and you’re probably never going to see it unless you think to dip back for it later when you’re massively overleveled and turn off the normal level-adjustment thing. Which is a shame because it’s quite neat honestly, and serves as a general hub for resolving outstanding 1.0 plot threads. This also makes it weird and confusing if you’ve never played the version of the game that hasn’t existed for over a decade.

So... OK this is something I need to get into now anyway. While the retroactive overarching narrative covering this isn’t properly fleshed out until we’re a few expansions deep, the world has a very long history with a bunch of apocalypses generally called “Umbral Calamities” in it. 7 to date, specifically. Most of these really aren’t touched on, but #4 involved this ancient civilization called the Allagan Empire who were basically a bunch of ridiculously overpowers science wizards with absolutely no concept of ethics who left a bunch of rad ancient artifacts lying around. Flying continent, core modules for giant robots, cloning facilities, monster making projects, giant crystal tower, they got around. They also declared war on like whoever and were into slavery and such so they butted heads with the dragons way back when.

Dragons incidentally come from space. Their home planet got more or less destroyed by rampaging death robots, and one particular dragon called Midgardsormr (whose corpse is the most visible landmark in Mor Dhona, the area with all the imperial fortresses, thanks to a cool 1.0 cutscene) took all his personal eggs and just flew across space to find a better place to raise his kids. This mostly worked out well but Allagans gotta suck, did a lot of killing and enslaving, the dragons got desperate and did the summon thing, here’s Bahamut. He’s a real big chonky dragon god... and knowing that killing him would just lead to him getting summoned again, they did the sensible thing and built a big artificial moon as a prison for him instead. That came crashing down and busted open at the end of 1.0, and the good news is that whole bit does apparently end up with Bahamut dead after all. But, the Allagans are way into failsafes, so their pan for any eventual Bahamut summoning s to line the prison walls with torture chambers imprisoning a ton of dragons so that should Bahamut die they will of course immediately resummon him back inside the moon prison which can just restrain him again.

So... when I mentioned Alisae, one of the twins, has her own thing going on? She’s finding the main bulk of this wreck while trying to work out what happened to her grandfather, so, yeah big giant roboty moon chunk full of tortured wall dragons and a half-revived Bahamut. Also while you’re in there you find out Louisoix is less dead than advertised... but also he kinda went and turned himself into the god Phoenix and became a huge jerk, and the main imperial antagonist from 1.0, Nael van Darnus, who incidentally was kinda the one responsible for the whole “hey let’s drop the smaller moon on these primitive jerks in Eorzea” thing that lead to the whole game ending apocalypse. Nael kind of isn’t mentioned ANYWHERE in the game as is besides this raid chain, but apparently there was this whole thing with people assuming she was a guy and so it’s a big surprise to people that she isn’t here, but also she’s totally Bahamut’s slave, and has this dragon winged boss form, so it’s a bit “hey, congrats on your transition, that’s a cool new fursona you have to.” And a boss fight that’s a pain even if you are massively over-leveled. But yeah, major figures from 1.0 die, Bahamut gets a proper boss fight, you shut the whole place down. And again most people skip just ALL of this.

So... the other thing about Nael is she apparently had this very special gunhalberd (the Empire kinda loves hybridizing their weapons with guns see) that was all powered up in the process of bring-down the moon shennanigans wand for some weird reason is called Bradamante. This tied into this late in 1.0 questline about this idiot detective named Hildibrand Helidor Maximilian Manderville (Hildy for short), and his also an idiot catgirl sidekick who likes explosives. They got up to some wacky hijinx back there which end with Hildy taking Nael’s ridiculous weapon and accidentally blasting himself up to the falling Bahamut prison moon with it. He of course survives this by virtue of being a wacky comedy character prone to slapstick stuff, and has a whole long sidequest chain in each of these pre-expansion periods having various wacky shennanigans. Also his dad is like the most supernaturally strong guy in the world, the owner of... we just straight up brought in the Gold Saucer from FF7, frequently hangs out in his underwear, and moonlights as miniskirted-FF14-Santa once a year.

The Hildy stuff is WILDLY polarizing. Either these comedy quests are the absolute greatest thing in the game, or the absolute worst thing depending who you ask. Personally I think they’re pretty great overall even if some of the running gags get old fast. This is running long again, so let me see how quick I can cover the major points of this outing.

So you’re introduced to Hildy partly by way of there being a bunch of zombies off in the desert clearly imitating his whole deal. Turns out he was presumed dead after being sent into space and frozen and crashed back down and was buried, and when he crawled out of his grave he was pretty out of it, so, honest mistake. Anyway the zombies really like him and make him their king. Once that’s all cleared up he takes a new case where someone is going around stealing various priceless antique weapons from people. Also on the case is this actually competent detective named Briardien who kinda sorta works in a Miles Edgeworth sorta way, and this big friendly guy, Gilgamesh from FF5. He suggests maybe calling him “Gil” for short, and Hildy procedes to spend the next forever introducing him as Greg.

Conveniently Gilgamesh doesn’t need an excuse to be here since just kinda randomly showing up in other Final Fantasy games looking for cool weapons has been his personal running gag/superpower forever. He’s very nice and we’re doing this real idiot plot so things stretch on for an impressively long while before anyone pieces together that the big weird looking guy stealing priceless weapons everyone’s looking for is, in fact, he big weird looking guy with like a dozen weapons strapped to his back who’s been helping look for the thief. He doesn’t make the connection himself because from his perspective he never stole anything and just won all these in duels where the other person forfeit. Also he misses his friend Enkidu from 5 and named a chicken he dyed green after him. Eventually of course you end up confronting him about this while he’s checking out the biggest bridge in the world, because that song has a name, and also at one point he’s sitting next to a big pile of crystals missing non-chicken Enkidu so, a summon happens, you fight’em as a team.

Also somewhere along the way in there... Ultros from FF6 just kinda randomly shows up, along with his pal Typhon. Here there’s less of an excuse for the cameo. We literally go with “a wizard did it.” Someone was trying a summoning ritual or something and out popped this weirdo.

There’s a bunch of other convoluted stuff in this plot line, involving a face-changing thief and the eventual reveal that Ul’dah was not in fact originally the home of the horrible little capitalist scumbags, and they in fact took it over after releasing some kind of zombie plague on the original citizens. Which is a hell of a detail to only come up in the wacky comedy side stuff. But yeah, in the end, you get fun boss fights against these wacky comedy characters from 5 and 6, a lot of shenanigans happen, and Hildy kinda gets smacked off into the sky to show up again next time.

So, hey, that bit I mentioned with the Allagans making a crystal tower, AKA Syrcus Tower? That’s the huge-party raid set. It’s also just... straight up the end game of FF3. Emperor Xande, Cloud of Darkness, Amon, Doga, Unei, gang’s all here. Full disclosure, while I have played FF3, I played the 3DS port, which kinda sucks, and got to be such a slog at the end that I didn’t quite get to the pile of reference bombs we’re dropping here. Playing all of 14 is already kind of a heavy load, OK? Other entries in the series are totally on the to-play pile. But... yeah. We’re basically just straight up saying that the Allagan empire is straight up the empire from FF3, those are historical events for this game. Or a minor variation anyway. While we’re at it we’re also dumping a bunch of FF6′s backstory with the warring triad on them, they built the Ultima Weapon... “the Allagans” is the answer to a whole lot of questions. Oh and the reason we have all these named FF3 characters around is they were into cloning. And interdimensional stuff.

Anyway, big weird tower, it’s hard to get into, this big dorky catboy nerd named G’raha really wants to do some archeology though, so, Cid is on the case. There’s a bit of technobabble and grabbing magic rocks from all over, you mostly get in, but there’s a retinal scan/magic blood test. Fortunately, also on the case is Cid’s on-again off-again boyfriend/rival Nero who you... probably don’t recognize at all, because he doesn’t show up wearing his big ridiculous red helmet from his time as one of the 4 main imperial general types. I guess this technically makes him the first character who couldn’t be bothered to stay dead (or is that Hildy?), but honestly when you fight him there’s a big deal of him just kinda being gone right after the fight, so him making it out before the Ultima Weapon goes and casts Ultima and vaporizes the whole fortress seems reasonable. But yeah, he’s a semi-evil semi-nazi nerd who’s super jealous of Cid and it’s super super clear that they used to date. And will again. He’s here to try and turn over a new leaf somewhat and help get the weird tower open. And also around really conveniently are (clones of) Doga and Unei who pass the DNA scan so, hey, door works, in you go, go fight a bunch of FF3 bosses.

Eventually you kill the... clone of the evil emperor from 3/the Allagan Emperor, but oh no, we’ve got a portal to hell, AKA The World of Darkness, AKA the Void, AKA the 13th. Anyway yeah, we’re doing the full FF3 end game, gotta fight that Cloud of Darkness, gotta have some Nero oscillating between villainy hey I can use hell powers to be the greatest scientist and oh no gotta help get everyone out of here stuff, and by the end of it Doga and Unei end up giving G’raha a magic blood transfusion which boosts his own secret Allagan royal bloodline powers he secretly had and once all the hell portal/giant pile of clones stuff is sorted out, he ends up locking himself inside the tower to try and work out what the whole deal is with it.

Now at this point I need to go on a little tangent because like... he’s a catboy. FF14 in general is really unclear on the matter of whether the various playable races are separate species, or if everyone’s human and just, hey, this is a world where some humans are really tall or really short or have cat ears and tails or whatnot... but the implication here seems to be the latter? Which also gets me wondering wait, when people go around using “whoresons” as an insult... is that an in-universe slur against catboys? Because NPC wise, catgirls and sex workers match up shockingly close to 1 to 1, and when the game first launched playing as a catboy wasn’t even an option (pretty sure G’raha is introduced in the same patch allowing them, also female orcs).

Also I’m just kinda using my own informal names for all these, so, real quick breakdown for clarity. Our essentially human races save those introduced in expansions and their canon names are:

Humans (Hyur)- you’d think they’d be the default but mostly they seem to come from fantasy Tibet (Ala Migo) and fantasy Japan (Doma) which have both been under imperial occupation forever so they tend to be refugees/generally down and out.

Elves (Elezen) come from the city of Ishgard in the country of Coerthas to the north, where there’s a jerk pope and a bunch of noble houses full of jerks. A lot also live in Gridania, in the Black Shroud forest.

Horrible little capitalist scumbags (Lalafell) come from Ul’dah in the country of Thanalan and no for real they are the worst. Canonically there are maybe half a dozen in the whole world who aren’t corrupt merchants basically or actually in the slave trade, colonialists, crime lords, scuzzy pimps, or just general gross creeps. I’m sorry if you play one, individuals can be cool, but culturally yeah they’re awful.

Orcs (Roegadyn) big usually easygoing folks whose names are either Welsh or ridiculous mountain puns like Curious Gorge. A couple are major NPCs (Merlwyb being one), otherwise they seem to all be either chill retired pirates or fresh-faced adventurers.

The other orc of note is this woman named Moenbryda, who is introduced in one of the most astoundingly “we want you to instantly fall in love with this new character and feel like she was part of the gang all along” ways I have ever seen. So all the scions are just super super thrilled to see this giant woman with a giant axe who’s a giant nerd and has this “I am emphatically not straight” old friend swing by, and I mean yeah I’m not going to say she isn’t pretty instantly likeable (I mean she’s basically just a spare of my character).

Unfortunately I’m pretty media savvy and it immediately struck me that the only possible reason to try and get players to instantly fall in love with a character being introduced out of the blue like this is because the writers are really jonesing to do a big tragic death and aren’t willing to sacrifice any of our existing characters for it. I’m really compressing this down for this summary, and she’s probably actually around for a chunk of this free patches span equal to everything I’ve mentioned so far, but, yeah, that’s totally what she’s here for. Shame, really. We’ve still got a bunch of not really established yet Scions around, could have killed one of them and brought her in to fill the seat, but no.

There’s a whole big run-up to this though. Short version is there’s another one of those Ascians going around causing trouble, and big splashy end of game cutscene power aside, they tend not to stay dead when killed. So Moenbryda and Urianger (the m’lady dork in the hoodie) have a science jam session and make a special Ascian-killing device that basically makes both the target and the user’s soul explode. There’s also a bit in here where forgetable Ascian villain of the day kidnaps Minfilia, just full damsel in distress style. It sucks. Again like everything involving Ascians sucks. They’re terribly written undeveloped villains and every time one shows up we need to stop dead for a ton of exposition on what we’re even trying to do with them now. But yeah, end of the day, Moenbryda shows up, is cool and likeable, heroically sacrifices herself to kill a super unimportant villain and rescue just the worst character, everyone is very sad, especially Urianger. We move on.

Or at least in this summary we move on. In game there’s like 3 or 4 plot threads all kind of advancing at once since this was all added in over multiple patches and, yeah, it skips around and opens up some. The next important thing though is Midgardsomnr, the cool dead snakey dragon up on the tower? According to the new pals from Ishgard you met dealing with the whole Lady Iceheart thing, he’s maybe less dead than advertised. This is honestly a property dragons seem to have in general, and this dragon in particular. They don’t really seem to particularly follow the rules on the whole alive vs. dead thing. You can kill’em, it’s pretty inconvenient, but they’ll hang around as a ghost, possibly powerful enough to manifest a new body, and then you can suck out all their ghost juice and they’ll just take a nap for a while. This would be a pretty annoying thing to get into if we were setting up a new antagonist or something, but... Midgardsomnr is actually a pretty solid pal. Mostly he notices that all your divine plot armor that lets you go fight bosses and not get mind controlled has lost its juice, and offers to do a weird soul pact thing with you to cover you until that gets recharged. Plus he knows you’re going to spend the whole next expansion dealing with his kids. He also manifests this tiny cutesy version of himself you can equip in your little pet slot to hang out for the next expansion or two, who still has this deep booming powerful father of all dragons voice, so, that’s great. If weird and confusing.

Anyway, one final major plot thread to get through before the next expansion starts properly. So one thing we’re trying to do here is actually establish real character for the Scions here since they’re our in it for the long haul supporting cast. Thancred gets to hang out with ninja pals and stab a fish cult, doing some snarking, Urianger gets to be said about Moenbryda being dead and also really do the big science nerd thing beyond everyone else’s exposition dumping, Minfilia is just a lost cause, the damseling was kind of the final straw. Next on the list though is Alphinaud, the twin you officially have in your little group. He’s got this big idea that after having saved the whole continent from an evil empire and several rampaging gods, you could probably get more done as an organization if instead of just being one semi-professional god exterminator and a little over half a dozen research nerds, you had maybe your own whole private military force, independent from what are technically three city-states’ private armies in a longterm alliance. Not a terrible plan on paper, none of the heads of state have an issue, so you help recruit a bunch of vollunteers from all over. And you actually snag existing NPCs from various bars and outposts and stuff, and end up with your nice little blue uniformed pals standing guard in places and doing little missions.

Then political problems start cropping up. Mainly, a couple of those horrible little capitalist scumbags are staging some kinda coup in this weird convoluted way where on paper they’re improving life for those human refugees all over but it’s kind of a front. Have I mentioned yet I kinda love these guys as villains because they all have these goofy names like Pittlety Dittlety and it’s impossible to take them seriously? There’s also an issue where it’s becoming increasingly clear that oh hey this private army you recruited off the street might have some people in it who are kinda corrupt and working against you. Whoops. And again, this is all kinda running parallel with these other plotlines, it’s not like things go horribly the INSTANT you form your army. It’s like, at least a week later.

Anyway all the political machinations come to a head with you getting invited to a big heads of state party in U’dah to talk about future plans, getting Ishgard into the alliance mainly if I recall, stuff like that. Somewhere in there, the Sultana pulls you aside to her personal chambers to split a bottle of wine and tell you how she’s planning to get onto that short list of little capitalist monsters I actually like by abdicating her throne and establishing a democracy, so this corrupt as hell merchant council can’t run things any more. At which point the poison in her glass kicks in.

So things get real serious real quick. Dead head of state, you’re the prime suspect. It’s actually a coup staged by some awful little merchant lords. Her boyfriend/bodyguard Rauban the big ex-gladiator finds out what happened, knows damn well who’s actually responsible, cuts some little piece of garbage’s head right off while everyone’s having dinner. Oh hey, one of the highest ranking people in your personal army who are here running security is also in on all this, for the... honestly pretty understandable reason that he’s one of those fantasy Tibet refugees and the little piece of garbage was pushing for more rights for them. They fight, he cuts off Rauban’s arm. The other two heads of state kinda go “you know what? We should probably go,” which, yeah, fair. Meanwhile the whole place descends into chaos, and hey not only are you being framed for the murder, you kinda... did bring in one of the actual people who did it and all his personal goons, so, it’s time for you and your pals to get the hell out of here while basically pursued by an army.

There’s a big escape sequence, lot of those “I’ll hold them off, go” moments, most of your party goes for this last ditch “this teleport spell is almost definitely probably safe” exit, you get out on foot, end up meeting up with the same caravan driver who brought you into the game to begin with from parts unknown, and the only people you can confirm made it out besides you are Alphinaud, and Tataru, who I don’t think I’ve even mentioned yet? She’s the Scion’s secretary/bookkeeper and really not relevant to anything until you’re fleeing the country with just her and Alphinaud. Super major character from here out though so have an image. Anyway, you’re bound for Ishgard, because you did make some friends with some people up there, and they’re a super militarized isolationist nation state. Good place to lay low, and credits roll on this interlude.

So... wow that was MUCH longer of a write up than I expected it would be. Things actually move fairly briskly through all this, so you’re likely to run out of plot before you run out of fresh new dungeons/bossfights/grinding those tribal quests out. Part of what all the glacial pacing in the base game does though is repeat a bunch of setting history and groups-of-guys-whole-deals at you like 20 times, so things do at least end up pretty damn firmly anchored, plot wise.

I still wouldn’t call the plot for this end of things good though. Most characters still have nothing really established, villains don’t especially exist before they’re relevant, the whole “how to kill an Ascian for real” bit is really long-winded and doesn’t actually really come up again past there. And... I guess this is a “spoiler” of sorts for a post or two from now, but you know what else doesn’t come up again? This whole exciting coup/criminal status thing. Like mechanically you can just turn around and head right back into Ul’dah like nothing happened, which... it would suck if you couldn’t because you have to for a third of the class quests and such, but even long-term plotwise? Post-Heavensward turns out the other coup orchestrator just wanted to preserve the status quo, the poison put the Sultana in a coma rather than kill her, and he just kinda... walks the whole thing back all no-hard-feelings. Terrible decision. Nothing really sticks besides your party getting scattered around and Rauban being short an arm from here out.

Anyway, if you’re digging this whole plot summary project or just, you know, want to help me remain alive, Patreon link?

We’ll be picking this up probably tomorrow with, as they say, The Award-Winning Heavensward Expansion (which if I’m honest I didn’t actually like that much).

#final fantasy 14 #ff14 #final fantasy xiv #ffxiv #greg #look don't blame me lalas are basically the british OK

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