Catboy Musings

main is @chickadddddd, likes and follows will show under that name! Posting catboy and catboy accessories here~

[thecopperriver]

Been reading through the Encyclopedia Eorzea and having "history is written by the literate" feels about Gridania's history with the Miqo'te. The Elezen claim to have been the first settlers of the Shroud in the Sixth Astral age (aside from, you know, the Ixali) and had to live underground until they and the Hyur made a pact with the elementals after the Ixali were expelled. Only when talking about the Calamity of Ice (Fifth Umbral era), the Miqo'te are not only mentioned as travelling to Eorzea, they're returning to Eorzea after they had been driven (or taken) away by the Allagans. This is also backed up by G'raha when he's talking about his own homeland - the tribe that chose to stay to safeguard Allagan relics so they couldn't be abused. (nevermind how this fits with the Seekers learning about the Eorzean alphabet when they return and choosing tribe designations)

So if the Miqo'te returned to Eorzea during the Fifth Umbral era, and aren't mentioned to have left during the Calamity of Water, why are they not included in those living in the Shroud by the Elezen? It seems to be in order to write them off as poachers. "Gridanian archery itself emerged from a history of strife betwixt two traditions: techniques of the longbow, beloved of the Elezen, and of the shortbows, developed by the Miqo'te hunters. The Elezen sought to defend the forest, and clashed mightily with the Miqo'te, who poached its creatures for their meat." (oh no, carnivores killing creatures for meat)

and also "They reside and hunt freely in the Shroud, where for many years they came in conflict with the people of Gridania, who saw the Keepers as little more than poachers. ...and today many Keepers hunt in accordance with rules set by the Trapper's League ...Others, however, refuse to bend to these rules, poaching the woods and laying waste to the natural environment as they see fit."

This sounds a little like colonizers complaining that the indigenous people won't follow their new rules rather than the systems that had been in place for centuries, and a little like hunters/farmers complaining that the native predators wreck their sport/eat their livestock. We know that the elementals are well able to defend the forest themselves - they managed to banish the Ixali after all (who seem to have been living peacefully with the Miqo'te up to that point?) - so why have the elementals not done the same to the Keepers? And if you go to the one Coeurlclaw camp in the South Shroud, it doesn't look like the supposed poachers are 'laying waste to the natural environment'. If anything, this encampment is integrated with nature much more so than any of the other settlements we see.

All it boils down to is that the Elezen/Hyur see the (native) Keepers of the Shroud as being lesser - patted on the head when they bow to the 'civilizing' rules. The EE speaks of what Elezen and Hyur have invented, including language, and it seems that Miqo'te historically have not written things down. In this case, leaving the story to be told by those who would sideline them and their previous harmony with the forest and the elementals there.

[mightier]

fealty The half cape on the upcoming Little Ladies' set is sooooooooooooo cute!!!

[doyouknowlahee]

afk point yedlihmad

Far away

[nongunktional]

that said i think thancred's overall identity crisis read as-written, as a cis man, is still great on the long form. because he's the poster boy for toxic youthful masculinity early on (arr through post-stb) and it's VERY clear that some of it is real and some is an act, and which facets are which depends on who he's talking to. for example his jack-of-all-trades attitude is custom-tuned to let him jump on any grenade--it's real for the scions and an act for everyone else. whereas his womanizing is an act for the scions and real for everyone else (when it comes up in the rising stones in post-arr, he's super embarrassed that the scions are seeing this side of him).

so his pre-shb characterization is marked by performing masculinity for the right people in the right ways, running on an assumption central to his character: if he has no function, he's better off dead. yes, it's a self-image thing, but his self-image is centered around being minfilia's protector. in front of the world, he hides his need to protect her behind a nonchalant playboy persona because he's in some ways a little embarrassed by his own dedication. in front of the scions, he hides his need to be connected to other people (via being a bit of a slut, because it's easy for him) behind constantly volunteering for lone-wolf jobs that other people didn't realize were necessary.

this whole thing where he connects with his closest friends from a long physical distance (solo spy missions) while he connects with perfect strangers from a close physical distance (sex) is like... an incredibly coherent example and criticism of the ways you can perform cis masculinity. and it's all hinged on the fact that he's the Monster under minfilia's bed while lahabrea has him, and then she straight up dies under his care before he can recover from that--so he thinks that 1: he can't save his friends from the Monster and 2: he's directly culpable for bringing the Monster to their doors.

and then yknow. shadowbringers happens. and he graduates from youthful toxic masculinity to mature toxic masculinity, and his whole arc is about really truly discovering how self-harming his life philosophies have been up to this point. he changed them to suit the scenario of being on the lam, but their core never changes: he needs to physically distance himself from those he cares about and he needs to find that physical closeness with strangers.

lacking any good options for strangers, he just ends up getting close to ryne. he does it this time by teaching her the knives: he shows her how to get close to strangers so she can kill them. he says it's for self-defense, and he and ryne both believe that, but i can pretty easily fill in that gap to say it symbolizes his desire to keep her from wearing the masks he wears. unfortunately it's a bad plan, and his and ryne's main onscreen arc involves overcoming the damage he did with it (best-written part of shb to me). however, the reason he comes across so stable and healed in endwalker (compared to before; he's still pretty unwell) is that he DOES successfully conquer the Monster threatening ryne, in ran'jit. he never could do that for minfilia, because nobody ever came forward and offered themself up as the Monster. the closest he ever got was himself, when lahabrea had him. which is why it was so important that he basically died against ran'jit: both the Monster threatening ryne AND himself, who will always be a threat, died. she's safe. it's over. and then he lives with the catharsis of having died, and it's exactly what he needed to start actually living life as a human being.

and basically what im saying is that overcoming all those things really feels like an inflated allegory of my own and some of my friends' experiences with digging yourself out of masculinity-by-rote and creating a version of it that you actually want.

[nights-at-crystarium]

figuring out the body language unique to Vivi and Emet (and sneakily revealing his Azem in the last pic)

[snail-fever]

some snazzy cats

[nekohooch]

From the same brain hyperfixation as the Azem Summoning Circle Gown I bring you my latest nonsense!

I went to Chicago for the Distant Worlds Symphony concert and finally got pictures of my Halloween costume from last year!!

I’m Amaurot.

I spent an IMMENSE amount of time on this and it turned out gorgeously. I only had 1 ½ yards of the top fabric in my remnants and I had to do some serious finagling to get it to all fit in that width.

This was my final idea. For some reason it took forever for the dress to do what my brain wanted but I finally finagled it into shape. I didn’t bring the original crown to Chicago because it’s HUGE but it is wonderfully ornate and beautiful

The cityscape was honestly the easiest part (if not the most tedious). My scarf was my template and I traced over it onto a sheer fabric. Then I transferred that to some black Heat and Bond and I attached it to black chiffon and then cut out the city and finally ironed it onto the fashion fabric.

So. Many. Windows.

I then attached copious rhinestones and the beautiful squiggley trim that looks like the spires.

Honestly I would still bedazzle the fuck out of this but I’m gonna take a small break to work on my Titania cosplay.

So glad I got to bring another creation to life!!

[temporoyales]

A write up on my WoL's job and progression through the expansions- thank you to my friend Jay for sponsoring to let me finish this wip! I've wanted to finish this for ages but never had a chance!

Also posting some of the chibis separately- some of these I will probably print out physically in the future to trade stickers with other WoLs!

[robobesito]

Viera OCs

[robobesito]

FFXIV OCs

[snail-fever]

no new dt outfits means i take matters into my own hands

[jiinmalos]

ffxiv graphic meme — [ 1 / 5 ] npcs

g'raha tia —I want you to make me a promise. Be it across time or space, our promises have always connected us. And so I ask that you indulge me once more, that this won’t be the end.

[shengjianbaosuki]

[flowercrimsoncarnage]

His influence growing~

[fyllophobia]

[tsunael]

From my rotting body, flowers shall grow, and I am in them, and that is Eternity.

I don't have a fancy drabble for this, just an idea I've been chewing on for a long time inspired by this post.

The context: So distraught over Haurchefant's violent death, Tsuna casts some forbidden spell (raise?) and pumps an unsustainable amount of white magick into his corpse without a focus. She drains herself dry, and having used her own lifeforce (like Sylphie), she collapses.

Haurchefant's body doesn't stir, but it also doesn't rot. His body enters a sort of stasis like Niellefresne, and cannot move onto the aetherial sea. It's undetermined if this is ever able to be reversed. Strange, undying flowers sprout wherever he is placed.

They say flowers and mosses still bloom on the vault's roof, despite the inhospitable clime of Coerthas.

--

Raya-O-Senna: “Remember this, Tsuna: under no circumstances must you allow your anger and fear to overcome you. As practitioners of white magic─the magic of succor and solace─such emotions are anathema to our very existence.”

E-Sumi-Yan: "How─ What were you thinking, girl!? You know not what you do─what you risk! You are meddling with forces beyond your comprehension! Should you even attempt to use that spell, I will have no recourse but to strip you of the name of ‘conjurer’ and banish you from our halls! Do I make myself clear?

It is a rare and wondrous talent to heal without relying on the energies of nature. But such power is not born of true conjury. By all that we know of the art, it should not be possible for Sylphie to cast Raise. I shudder to think what would happen if she tried.”

[rinzukodas]

it's been 3 years and I'm still thinking about endwalker

you who is our future. you who is my final encounter. i wish to hear your words, feel your feelings, share in your thoughts. tell me this and tell me true.

has your journey been worthwhile?

our hands join 'round the meaning you sought, as time flows on toward tomorrow, all things intertwining beneath the sea of stars and pooling, coalescent, at the truth situated in its depths. well come and well met. even at the end, the terminus of fate's furthest reaches, the light of those who loved you shines across the expanse and fuels your resolve. even at the end, hope rekindles, catches into a flame that burns so bright it renews the ashes of fallen worlds and revitalizes that which was long dead. even at the end, you have something to hold on to.

has your journey been worthwhile?

through darkness and flame, loss and grief, and suffering beyond measure, you have seen many things. skies one could drown in. the heartbeat of nature, silent yet strong. and beneath it all--a people. people with warmth, with life, with laughter. whose lives held meaning, who placed their faith in things beyond themselves in hopes of seeing a better tomorrow, in striving toward a better future. you have laughed, wept, broken bread, walked alongside them. fought for them.

has your journey been worthwhile?

in a time away from time, an ephemeral fragment of eternity, in a garden high in the heavens within which the pinnacle of mankind's devotion toward innovation and ingenuity dwelt, you watched a kind, arrogant man handle dark flower petals with the utmost gentleness and tell you that he knew for whom the flowers wept. you watched his grieved smile and you knew that this was how the world ended, that you had found the answer to the mystery you traversed the fabric of time and space for. you wished, quietly, that there might have been a kinder way, as the man who would become your greatest foe in the far-flung future sent you and your god away, urging you not to squander his sacrifice.

has your journey been worthwhile?

well?