Kor and Minfilia for the NPC ask game!

Have your followers send you NPCs and you describe your OC's feelings/relationship to that NPC! I was sent Minfilia three times! This ask and two from @sayonaramidnight and @hythlodaes. Frankly, I think you all just want to hurt me because I do have a lot of thoughts about Kor / Minfilia. There's a trigger warning here for suicidal ideation / planning; please proceed with caution.

Kor loved Minfilia. She never got to tell her that.

It's a guilt nestled deep in her breastbone, not as keen as her sister's but no less pronounced; it echoes in the laughter of her friends, the quiet of a late-night hour and wherever the wild roses bloom. She loved her so keenly, the first person she really opened up to after her Lily died, and she lost her just as quickly.

I've written about it before, but Kor never saw her Echo as a gift. She never wanted to be a Scion, let alone a Warrior of Light, and always viewed the responsibilities as burden she bore because Hydaelyn was absurd enough to give it a woman who wanted to die. When she met Y'shtola and the other Scions she had just backed out of trying to throw herself down down to the cliffs beneath La Noscea, and she recklessly abandoned her station under the belief she would join the crew long enough to learn as much as she could about the Echo — to undermine it — then take herself out.

In waking there was only apathy, and her nights were full of nightmares.

But Minfilia? Minfilia was good. Far kinder than Kor deserved, and she knew it. She stood in the Sands while this ratty Captain waltzed through her door, reputation preceding her — all jagged edges and gnashing teeth — and accepted her all the same. She took her hand despite knowing the wolf could bite and said to her, "I validate your anger. What happened to you wasn't fair."

Minfilia always believed in Hydaelyn's light, which was always a point of contention between them, but she never pressured Kor to do more than what she wanted. If she wanted to walk away and abandon the Scions, that was her right. If she questioned her leadership or balked against her judgement, she would allow her — but she was always patient in explaining her reasonings and reconciling Kor's anger. She was allowed to feel like the Echo was a burden, she was allowed her anger and her grief. Minfilia also had the Echo, but she was not so naïve as to think it was a gift for everyone, and she would not shackle Kor to it no matter how much the realm might need her.

Kor only knew leadership through two lenses: fear or duty. She was respected as a Captain because balanced the weights of tough and fair, yet she believed her crew only followed her because they had limited choice. Minfilia taught her that it was possible to lead through kindness.

To lead through love.

There were many nights spent in the quiet of The Solar, quiet hours in the din. With drink in hand the two women would simply talk. Of duty, yes. But also about how they felt about the world and their places in it. Minfilia would get so passionate talking about her hopes for Eorzea and it nearly made Kor believe in it too.

Because she loved her. Not like a lover, but in the way a soul reaches out to another and says 'oh, I know you'. In the way Minfilia could ask Kor to die for Eorzea and she'd answer "How? By your blade or mine?"

Yet she believed in Hydaelyn's light. That was always a point of contention between them. When she called Minfilia answered, and Kor was left behind.

She was a confidant the woman needed, taken from her all too soon. But the lessons she gave her Kor did not forget, and they were the foundational point for her loyalty to the Scions.

I love you, I love you, I love you. You deserve to love too, Kor. You deserve to know love.

But I still haven't found what I'm looking for...

The team is all here together at last, for what feels like one of the first times ever!~

From screen left to right: Omen (@ex-garlean), Lorenza (me, @fell-court), S'ria (@snow-system-wol), K'pheli (@crystal-verse), and Nimda (@soothingmind)!

Broken Pieces Shine: Chapter 1

Rating: Mature

Fandom: Final Fantasy XIV

Relationship: Emet-Selch/Warrior of Light, Azem/Emet-Selch

Tags: Named Warrior of Light, Female Warrior of Light, Au Ra Xaela, Suicide, Character Death, Bad Ending, Shadowbringers Spoilers, Lightwarden AU, Depression, Soulmates, Reincarnation, Possession, Body Horror

Summary: The Warrior of Light is out of options, and ventures to the Tempest alone to bargain for her friends' safety.

@minarcana from here

Urianger knows that Calem is not the type of person to be kind to himself. Someone should be, though; he deserves this much. A gentle treatment. It seems that this was... not quite inevitable, but unsurprising to happen. Urianger is carefully holding Calem's jaw, leaning where their foreheads are touching.

He kisses Calem brief and soft, making it perfectly easy for the other to duck back if he wants to. Hardly more than the ghost of a gesture. Because how is he supposed to.... ? "Calem, my dear companion." He draws away a little, brushes his thumb over Calem's cheek. "I wisheth not to overstep my bounds, or thy comfort. But I wisheth as well to show thee this sort of affection. What is it that thy comfort may avail of me?" He is allowed to be so close, but still— is it too much if he asks for further? Already he wishes to kiss Calem again. He wants to see him blush, if...

Well, maybe that's getting ahead of himself.

___

Urianger was one of the people he trusted most. Probably the one who understood the most about him too. He was so much to Calem, though he didn't always understand it.

The kiss was still a surprise though. As soft and gentle as it was it left him breathless. He wasn't used to softness like that. He leans his cheek into Urianger's hand, lifting his own to keep it close.

The Elezen takes a step back and Calem's heart drops, he follows him, hands dropping only to snake around and up to be at Urianger's waist. Claws lightly tickling the bare skin, no attempt to hurt. He was more than a blade with the advisor.

"Would you do that again please?" He asked.

TRAVELLING EORZEA: OTHARD

So ... not Eorzea. But "travelling Etheirys" didn't ring as nicely. Those were actually made before the Coerthas line, fun fact! My deepest apologies for poor Teddy across these photoshoots, I can't remember the name of the braid mod for him and I keep forgetting to put his character data on myself. He's stuck with default elezen hair #106.

2/??

teehee

disclaimer: this verse is, essentially, a general koharu-is-not-azem au verse. it is not her main verse and i will not default to it in co-wol interactions. it must be requested (ie. literally just say "hey this [meme/starter/etc.] is for halmarut verse"). while this verse was crafted with the intention of having an alternative to her main verse (in which she is azem) to give more options for co-wol interactions (as i do not have a non-wol verse and have no intentions of making one), it is not strictly a co-wol verse. it's an au like any other. if i feel that this verse is being taken advantage of in order to pedestal your wol as the sole main character while turning mine into a support/side character, i will not hesitate to restrict it to friends-only. this is meant to be a collaborative verse. collaborate. i want to plot with you, i don't want to plot for you.

Astraeus -  In Greek mythology, Astraeus (/əˈstriːəs/) or Astraios (Ancient Greek: Ἀστραῖος means "starry") was an astrological deity. Some also associate him with the winds, as he is the father of the four Anemoi (wind deities), by his wife, Eos.

---

I officially designed Cassius’s Unsundered self, Astraeus, who is nonbinary.  They use any pronouns but I typically refer to them as they/them.  Astraeus was known for being a shameless flirt and for having magic that resembled starlight.  They were extremely fond of Hades and the two had a fairly obvious relationship, though Hades tended to keep silent about it.  It’s said when the Final Days came to Amaurot, Astraeus was on the front lines alongside their lover, trying to keep the hordes of beasts at bay while others could flee.  Astraeus favored felines and would often make cutesy kitten familiars that would attack Hades’s feet.

hey its ascian!asclepius who is a shard from some… other shard… LKJALSKFj

he remembers fragments of his life in ancient times. bc of this he just takes up the name asclepius tbh, not rlly caring for his old life and not bc im too lazy to figure it out

they thought he was emmerololth’s reincarnation due to him remembering quite a fair bit about ancient times and having a talent for medicine and so he got dragged along 

they found out p fast that he wasn’t and so he’s just… serving them. reluctantly.

he’s basically wondering why he exists rn bc he rlly doesn’t wanna LKJASKLFJ

he’s in gathering gear btw he’s living his best life as a fisherman unless ascians drag his ass around to do Something

he goes along with it bc he doesn’t actually wanna die he’s just depressed T__T however he just tries to avoid the Big Tasks and dramatically fails stuff on purpose if it involves taking life

he’s actually p powerful? like, he has talents in healing magic, is v proficient in swordsmanship, and knows beeg destructive magics

he doesn’t have his prophetic vision! he more-so has dreams about his life in ancient times, though its often v choppy.

he does have his soul sight tho! albeit he can only see the colour of souls.

I love you.

((Again, I don't usually post shipping screenshots here, but I really think I popped off with this one.))

DANSE MACABRE

( shared with senetaf and -insert url once tora makes a blog- )

Outwardly a funeral parlor that offers burial services but operates highly illegal activities behind the curtains. There are many precious treasures to be found in corpses, especially soul stones, wherein they are sold for a high price at the auction house. They are usually replaced by replicas so as to not arouse suspicion and these duplicates will then be turned to any family relatives of the deceased. Really, morbid job, yeah ? Assassination is part of the job to continue operating without risk of expose, and probably one of Mavis’s strongest suit in this whole operation. It was not a job he liked, but it wasn’t one he’d outright hate either. After all, especially in the early days, he’s pretty in need of money and that gets him a little bonus.  Charon’s toll - sigils given to trusted clientes and will automatically be destroyed upon death. Ferryman’s coin - currency used in place of gil for trading with this market.

Broken Pieces Shine: Chapter 2

Rating: Mature

Fandom: Final Fantasy XIV

Relationship: Emet-Selch/Warrior of Light, Azem/Emet-Selch

Tags: Named Warrior of Light, Female Warrior of Light, Au Ra Xaela, Suicide, Character Death, Bad Ending, Shadowbringers Spoilers, Lightwarden AU, Depression, Soulmates, Reincarnation, Possession, Body Horror

Summary: Akira's having to come to terms with her fate.

Then Let Me Be Evil

You never wanted to hurt anyone, but the world never gave you a choice. You did the best you could with what you had, but every innocent mistake you made was held against you when it counted, every crossroads led you down the wrong path no matter which way you went. No matter what you did, the odds were stacked against you. It wasn't fair, and you are sick and tired of being told what a monster you are for things out of your control. Well, fine. They want a monster? YOU'LL GIVE THEM A MONSTER!

Fornax (@verysmallcyborg) and Ryss got the same answers, so we decided to answer that one together. They are certainly not villains in their WoL-verse, and I wouldn't quite say that pirate captain Ryss and her devoted hunter / guard dog Fornax are evil but... they certainly have looser morals than their WoL selves >:)

And the answer does fit, since it's more or less the road they would take if odds had been against them, and they could never become warriors of light. It's not the path they wanted to take at first, but the world's hardly fair, is it? They'll become the most feared duo on these seas if it's what it takes.

Tagged by @the-white-snake, thank you!

I feel like everyone has been tagged already... but if you want to do it, here's your cue!!

What type of villain are you? Here's the quiz.

WIP Wednesday

Thanks to @ammoniteflesh and @crackinglamb for tagging me last week, and @delicatefade for tagging me this week! I'm very happy to be back to writing and have something recent (though rough) to share.

Tagging with no pressure: @ialpiriel @chocochipbiscuit @farfromdaylight @dreadfutures @warpedlegacy @rakshadow @skyeventide @nirikeehan

Current WIP is "Harsh Light," an FFXIV Haurchefant/WoL fic, big Heavensward spoilers so under a cut.

This is right after Haurchefant's death. Ariane is having a Bad Time.

***

She did not know what she had expected, when she at least shut herself within her guest suite at Alphinaud's urging, but it happened all at once. The scent of him still lingered in the room, in the bed they had shared, its clothes still rumpled from the night before, tossed back when they arose, and not remade. The cups from which they had drunk hot chocolate only a night before had been cleared away—the loss itself a violation, an obscenity—but the book they had been reading together lay on the low table between the sofa and the hearth, still marked at the page where they had left off, before a chapter Haurchefant would never hear her read.

A wild sound of grief made its passage up from the very depths of her soul, neither sigh nor scream but something primal, and with it the ice shattered.

Ariane curled herself into a corner of the sofa—the bed was unthinkable—and wept into her knees, and then into a sofa pillow whose brocade cover would need washing later, scream-sobbed uncontrollably and seemingly without end.

When she found herself quieted at last, her throat and her eyes sobbed raw, she thought perhaps she had nothing left in her to weep, and then she saw him again, that bloody smile, and the way his hand had reached for her at the last, and her tears overtook her again.

"I don't want it," she rasped at last, into a silence punctuated only by the ticking of the ornate wooden wall clock. She barely had voice left to pray, but her parched lips formed the words all the same. "Do you hear me?"

There was no answer. No whisper in her mind, no migraine blur of the Echo either. Only the soft ticking, and her ragged breath.

"I don't want it," she scraped out again. "If this is the price of the Blessing of Light—if you're going to take everyone I love, over and over again, then I don't want it! Do you hear me? I don't want it, I don't want it, I don't…"

The staff of House Fortemps, though unprepared for such circumstances, were nonetheless well-versed in the art of discretion, and moved through the manor's corridors as silently as temple mice, pretending they could not hear through closed doors the cries of inconsolable grief for the House’s lost son.