Sorry to write such a lengthy reply, but when I see an opportunity to deep dive about ffxiv, I take it. Before reading any of this, know that I don't think you're wrong, nor is your preference to more grounded writing. I honestly kind of agree that final fantasy needs to steer itself back to it's older writing a little bit, but I think ShB is a huge exception to this rule.
Tl;dr ShB is 98% a metaphorical narrative that is meant to be the exploration of a silent protagonist's trauma, both experienced and witnessed.
The reason why for ShB's two dimensional world is because ShB is meant to be more metaphorical story telling than direct and realistic. While the events are all canon, every piece is chosen deliberately to tell a narrative of grief and the ways one overcomes it. The story doesn't exist to tell the environment. The environment exists to tell the story.
The protagonist is taken from the middle of a horrific war to a completely different world. One that is still bleeding from a natural disaster of untold proportions. One full of fear, loss, and so much pain. Already, this environment lends itself to a looser narrative, as it is mostly unbound by the rules and conventions of all that comes before it.
The main villain of the narrative is a character who refuses to move on from a similar tragedy as the first. An entire world lost in a blink of an eye. Everything he knew and loved warped beyond recognition. He represents the negative method of coping with tragedy by glorifying and living in the past.
Eulmore represents valuing momentary bliss in blindness. Instead of using their wealth and resources to better the world and themselves, something that is hard and takes effort, they would rather indulge until the end crashes around them.
The WoL also represents a negative way of coping within the narrative, putting too much upon themselves with little to no help. Though they have comrades surrounding them and accept their help in certain ways, they do not inform them of the poison that festers inside as the Warrior attempts to handle what is considered to most impossible. The Warrior's friends notice this change in Warrior, but they can only do so much to help. Little by little, burden by burden they fall apart.
The Warrior breaks as they are told that they have no fight left to fight. No life left to live. Everything they've done to this point was fight for others, even as the pain of it festered within them. If they can't handle the burden of that pain, if they can't continue the fight, why are they alive? Emet-Selch tells them that the light will not be denied. Rise up in madness and fury.
But Ryne, the character who we know has struggled with suicidal ideations, who has struggled with purpose and identity, the only one who has been able to help the Warrior maintain themself tells them to hold on. There they ask themself, if you had the strength to take another step, could you do it?
The Warrior accepts the help of others. Accepts that they must share this burden to have the strength to bear it. Just as Minfilia stated: "Not even the most valiant heroes can stand alone. Only together may you change the fate of two worlds."
In conclusion all of ShB (and Endwalker honestly) is meant to represent what humanity can accomplish should they accept grief and aspire to overcome it in a manner that is healthy and lasts, even should it be a struggle. Hence why Eulmore changes so drastically, and why those of the lower class are willing to accept it, especially when they're already proving to take steps in the right direction (fixing the elevator and trying to stop Vauthry).
And just to put this out there since I hear this a lot, I personally don't find the change of Eulmorean citizens to be that unrealistic when you consider:
1. The habitable world is currently the size of a dorito chip
2. That these are all people who were working until just recently. Vauthry's complete rule over Eulmore is a recent development all things considered.
3. They just lost their main method of control (Vauthry and sin eaters). The Eulmorean army is canonically on the useless side. With no way to maintain power over the dorito chip, it is only natural for the wealthy to cut their losses and attempt to maintain what they have, even if it means adapting.
4. Even with everything said above... these motherfuckers still didn't change that much all things considered lol. None of them wanted to take charge and unanimously voted on Chai Nuzz dealing with it.
Anyways, I could say a lot more, but I'm tired and this is already probably too long and unsolicited as is... even if this abbreviated because there's actually a lot more I could say about the Warrior, the burden of light, and their strong connection with Ryne.
The only other thing I will say is that despite what others say, I do believe this was 100% planned and intentional since 2.0, at least vaguely. I will say that a lot of the hints of this though are lost in localization. But some still remain if you look out for them, mostly surrounding Midgardsomr, Hydaelyn, Elidibus (the one most lost in localization), a lot of HW, and optional content that involves the Garland Ironworks.
Anyways, if you read this, thank you for coming to my tedtalk.
Some modern AU Temieri sketches I made based on my friend @scriberat 's College AU (the last one is technically part of her Adventurer AU, but I feel it can work)
Claudien cracks open the door, squeezing through it with his precious cargo. He silently eases it back shut behind him, knowing just where to ease up for the door to not squeak.
The room is warm. Every heater in their dwelling has been relocated to this central space, to better insulate it from the winter storm setting record lows through the Sharlayan Isles.
Setting the bag down upon the ground, Claudien wriggles free of his thick outside coat, hanging it by the door. It covers a bit of the drafty crack, adding to the room’s fortifications against the cold.
Shedding layers, he approaches the room’s core, a bed piled high with blankets and pillows. Underneath, the bulge of a humanoid form is just barely noticeable.
He sets the bag down upon the nightstand, sliding under the covers and trying not to lose too much of the warm air.
There’s a squeak as he leaves it open too long, and he murmurs apologies.
The charmed warming rock she’s curled around has begun to lose its charge, so he reaches towards it, brushing over an arm in the process and somehow finding the tip of her tail, before channeling aether and replenishing the spell.
There’s a muffled chitter, and he smiles. “There’s food, when you’re hungry. Grabbed your favorite- Dodo and dumpling soup.”
In lieu of a verbal answer, the lump under the covers latches onto his arm.
Claudien laughs softly, squirming closer until he can wrap himself around the already curled shape. Her horns brush against his shoulders, but she doesn’t seem to mind, so he pays it no heed.
With two under the covers, it warms further, keeping out the freezing chill, even as the wind howls, leeching cold from windowpanes and walls.
Erichthonios crawls into her blanket nest, wriggles into the space between pillows. Gently wraps his arms around her and pulls her into his chest. He holds her firmly yet gently, as if by his arms alone he could keep out the world’s woes.
Sleepily, Aurora wriggles around to face this new heat source, and uncurls to stretch alongside him.
She’s on Erich’s chest when he dozes off, carried up and down with every breath that fills his chest. She’s flesh and bone and scale, but to him she seems as light as a feather, instead of the weight that pulls at her heels.
He’s soft, and warm. Her horn is awkwardly stuffed between them, the pressure noticeable but not worth giving up the heartbeat that resounds within it. His strong, healthy heart.
It’s entrancing. Comforting. The sound sits in her chest and in the back of her head, filling spaces where unpleasant thoughts would gather.
Her mouth starts to turn up at the edges. She’s already slept, but between the warmth and comfort, her eyes begin to drowse shut. There’s a fragile, liquid warmth in her chest, slipping through her grasp when she looks at it too closely. So instead, she lets it be. Lets it buoy her into just being, but.... happily so.
In the gentle darkness, in love’s embrace, she rests.
[MAJOR SPOILERS] up to the end of 6.0:
Elidibus knew the future, and how translation harmed it's impact.
I posted this on twitter, but almost no one saw. As such I'm uploading it here, not only because I can go into more detail, but because I think this is one of the most important aspects to Elidibus' character that I never see anyone talk about.
Elidibus knew the future. This has been DIRECTLY stated since 2.55... but what you may not know is that this has been indirectly hinted at (more explicitly in Japanese) since Elidibus' first appearance in 2.1. In this sickly written 'essay,' I will be sharing with you all an incoherent babble of Elidibus' story, along with major changes in the English translation that diminish the legitimacy that he knew the future before becoming Zodiark.
Please note: Tl;dr version is at the bottom, for this post IS long. Tl;dr implores you to at least look at the images provided below.
Let us begin not at 2.1, but rather 5.3. The most important translation difference in my personal opinion. It is your climb up the crystal tower, and Elidibus stands before it's throne. As he awaits your arrival, he ponders the crystal in his hand. The crystal of the Exarch's memories... memories of a possible future.
For those who may not be able to see the images above, I will summarize the difference. While most of the translation is the same between Japanese and English, there is one major difference.
In both versions, Elidibus looks at the Crystal and calls it worthless. A possible future is the same as the past. It is fated to fray, fade, and disappear. In English he follows this with "Leaving naught but a gaping void..." Meanwhile, in Japanese he says "Within me as well... could such a thing have once dwelled, I wonder?" (keep in mind I'm trying to keep the translation here as exact as I can, including the awkward structure, as I want it to be easy for people to compare my translation to the original text.)
I think this is very... very interesting. While I, at times, adore Square Enix's liberties in translation (otherwise we would not have the absolute banger “The rains have ceased, and we have been graced with another beautiful day. But you are not here to see it.”), I think this was an interesting moment to take liberties.
What's done is done however, my main focus on this essay is not to criticize the translations though. It is just to inform what I believe is true about Elidibus' character. As such, I will no longer be addressing translation differences beyond providing them for context.
So let us move on to discuss the very interesting implications this has, using the short story "Ere Our Curtain Falls"
English version:
"Will you not look at your crystal?" I asked.
When Elidibus was still Elidibus and Lahabrea still Lahabrea, we had collected all of our memories of the Fourteen and committed them to crystal, that those who would take our seats one day might learn. Elidibus would, I was sure, find much within to help him remember─yet he shook his head.
"I am Elidibus. So long as I remember my duty, that is enough. Aught else I would only lose again in the course of this timeless struggle...and if these memories are truly so precious, pray do not ask that I forget them twice."
The last part in Japanese:
"I am Elidibus, and I remember what I need to do, and how to accomplish it. That is enough. Even if I remember this or that, I will lose it again in this continuing battle. If it is an important memory, don't make me forget over and over again."
(Link to Japanese story, which you can switch into English, at least on desktop, at the top right of the page)
Elidibus thinks a crystal that holds memories of a possible future is worthless... and he refuses to look at his own memory crystal... how interesting... very very interesting.
As a quick refresher of the important things that occur next: You fight Elidibus and put him in the crystal tower. The final days begins again. Left with no one else to turn to, we go to speak to Elidibus at the crystal tower. He remembers us in the past, and knows where he must send us... which is something that can only be done THANKS to him being sealed in the crystal tower.
And now I feel we can move on to OUR beginning of Elidibus, aka 2.1. Though there is a LOT of text that I feel should not have been altered, I only translated what I feel matters most to me. A specific piece of information that had it's implications completely altered, and the implications that Elidibus goes out of his way to TEACH Minfilia about the ascians.
(I will only transcribe the translation.)
"Was I not passed down in folklore? Well, it has been thousands of years since I last appeared in this world. Can't be helped.
You all are the ones who defeated the priest of the abyss. I thought you understood a few things about us but...
We are immortal beings. When we posses a person, even should you destroy the dark crystal, our existence won't be destroyed.
I am the mediator. I have no desire to fight you all. Today, I came only to tell you that. Let us meet again."
Kiiiiind of strange that he would just casually tell us that they can't be defeated like that. What is there to gain in giving away such a secret? Perhaps he's cocky... or perhaps there's more.
to recap what matters in the next patch, 2.2: The sahagins are preparing to summon Leviathan. Y'shtola spies on them, and hears them speak of how they're going to ascend in power (a parallel to things Elidibus said to Minfilia.) We decide to investigate, and witness the Sahagin priest ascend into "immortality," before watching his essence be absorbed within Leviathan, with him questioning why the emissary/white robed one seemed to have tricked him.
Now keep in mind, before this patch, it's already established that Lahabrea is the one to promote primal summonings, AND that Lahabrea is back. What reason would Elidibus have to no only promote the summoning of Leviathan, but to risk teaching immortality to the Sahagin priest, especially when he KNOWS the scions are in direct opposition to not only to the ascians but to primals? And for this to be one of the first things he does, after thousands of years of not appearing in our world, and AFTER he approaches Minfilia to speak of seemingly only non-sense. What, oh what could be the purpose?
"My power... it's being taken... I'm being absorbed by the great water god? Did I... not become... immortal? White robed one... what... is this?!"
It is thanks to this "slip" in Elidibus' decision making that we learn that the ascians are in fact NOT immortal. They are simply beings of aether that have not dispersed. They can be ABSORBED within something, and when that something is destroyed, they don't return. It is directly thanks to Elidibus doing this that we learn not only how to defeat him and his brothers... but also that we can seal him away in the crystal tower.
Surely this is just coincidence, right? There's just no way. Clearly this is all set up to be a piece of sad, tragic irony right?
I take us now to the very final cutscene of 2.55. Though there are differences in translation, I find them mostly negligible. As such I will speak referencing the English translation.
The final cutscene features Lahabrea and Elidibus. Elidibus appears within Lahabrea's shadow to speak of Nabiales' death before the camera changes, placed in a cage and peering into the other side where Lahabrea and Elidibus stand. The bars of the cage separate them, though the darkness makes it hard to see.
Elidibus says that the warrior of light is becoming too strong. That they must make haste to stop them. He suggests Lahabrea head to the northern lands, and Lahabrea agrees and departs.
Urianger appears from the dark behind Elidibus, wishing to know why he has been summoned. To which, Elidibus says the he wishes to speak of fate.
Now why does he do this? As a reminder of what comes next: We defeat Lahabrea, Igeyorhm, and Thordan. This leads to there being no calamity on the source ready to absorb the 1st after it succumbs to light, and the Garleans having access to Azys Lla, meaning they have direct access to the warring triad.
All of this happens at the very end 3.0. However, this conversation between Urianger and Elidibus happens in 2.55. Even should you try to argue that it doesn't take place exactly when it's shown to us, it does HAVE to happen before the mid point of 3.0 at a minimum considering Lahabrea is obviously alive in this cutscene, and more than likely happens before you cross the bridge into Ishgard.
The only thing left to truly note when it comes to this topic is that all of this is reinforced in 3.1 with cutscenes in the Great Gubal Library (2nd to last cutscene of the patch)
"This is thy proof? The Gerun Oracles? Apocrypha."
"Our fates were ordained long ago, Archon. The Garleans are no exception. Nor the Triad. You know what must be done.
In conclusion, Elidibus knew Lahabrea would fail, and that he would need Urianger for not only the warring triad, but to get Minfillia to stop the flood of the first. It was a fate ordained long ago, for we are in a soft timeloop.
Now you may ask, how can you explain him knowing to do this despite his memory loss? If this is all the case, why does he fight us at the crystal tower so genuinely? To be blunt, I cannot give you a direct answer, outside of what is stated above. Elidibus seems to know on SOME level 'some' kind of goal. Specifically saying "I know what I need to do, and how to accomplish it."
Does he directly state what this goal is? No. Ultimately everything above can only be counted as speculation, but personally, I am of the mentality of "why show us this if it's not meant to mean something? Why does Elidibus do something that has already been established as another character's role? Why would THIS be the first thing he does in our world for thousands of years? Why have a character do this if it's not meant to mean something? Especially when THIS something (teaching immortality) leads to the DIRECT consequence of being sealed in the crystal tower, which is our ONLY way to go THAT far into the past to know about Meteion?"
When did he learn the future? That also would be speculation, but as Emet-Selch states, the memory crystals were made before the Zodiark's summoning. If they are truly eluding to his crystal holding memories of a possible future, and the Japanese version of Ere Our Curtain Falls specifically states that he's been losing himself and his memories since the moment he fell from Zodiark to help the convocation, then chances are high it's before the summoning. Who told him would be pure speculation, but the most likely answer is either Venat, Azem, or the Warrior of Light.
And before anyone brings this up, no, I do not believe the writers are going to drop every character related to Zodiark and Hydaelyn just because we're moving on to a new chapter. The consequences of the past will continue into the future. While the ancients may no longer be the FOCUS of the story, I doubt we're never going to see them or interact with the past ever again. They will more than likely be explored further in side content ([SPOILERS FROM DAWN TRAIL TRAILER] given Solution 9 has text in Proto-Alphabet, aka the alphabet of the ancients... yeah... um... don't think our explorations related to the ascians and the past are over.) [SPOILERS OVER]
Now, I still haven't worked on translating 4.X, so I will make no comments towards it and any information it might hold in terms of Japanese Elidibus' views on not only the world, but of the future. Perhaps when I have time to translate it I will make a follow up post. I will also be posting some of my smaller translations from twitter to tumblr in time.
Tl;Dr:
Elidibus thinks a crystal of a possible future is worthless. He refuses to look at his own crystal. Because his crystal was made before the sundering, he knew the future at least before that point.
Elidibus taught us indirectly how to seal away ascians, and summons Urianger to help him before there is even a CHANCE of knowing he'd need him unless he knew the future.
With this in mind, it's clear to me that Elidibus guided our path into sealing him into the crystal tower so that he could make the time portal and secure the soft timeloop we're in. Though chances are HIGH this is all subconscious the entire time because of memory loss.
That late Monday night at 2am, when you first introduced the idea of bondage to Claudien, is a night that he'll never forget. Not only from the memory of your beautiful figure adorned in chains, but from the feeling he had seen you like that in a past life… Restrained below him, wriggling as he bound you ever tighter. He began to lose himself in his train of thought until you wrapped your legs around him, bringing him back to this life. [Bondage, body worship, creampie]
The joy of discovery and the comfort of familiarity.
As a researcher, Claudien was most fond of the former, happy to contribute to the the well of knowledge for all living beings in the world to help better society with.
And yet, while tonight served as a delightful lesson in uncovering new facets about his own interests, the more he gazed upon you, the more he couldn't help but feel as though he had experience something similar with you before.
The sight of you beneath him, your skin bathed in moonlight while your body was bound in silver chains, your pleasured expression hot with scarlet heat--he was left mystified when clasping the cuffs to your wrists felt almost like awakening some form of muscle memory.
He wanted to savor this moment, to study your current vulnerability. While he heeded the call to the realm of science, he gazed upon you like an artist to their very own masterpiece.
Yet hearing the breathless moan of his name on your lips and the clink of silver as you writhed beneath him, all while your thighs hugged and squeezed around his waist in a plea for him to keep going prompted less speculation and more action immediately.
With a groan and a shudder, Claudien leaned down to capture your lips in a kiss right as he continued to pump away in and out of your core, his tempo driven by the need and desire to flood you full with his hot seed.
When your mouths parted, he couldn't help but offer you a sheepish yet ever affectionate smile.
"You'll have to forgive me, love. I think I could get quite used to seeing you bound so magnificently like this from now on."
Being the savior of the universe and all, it can be hard to take a step back and let yourself indulge in personal pleasures. It's becoming such a problem that even an ancient like Erichthonios can see that if you can't manage to restrain yourself, someone else is going to have to do it for you. Luckily for you, restraining others happens to be within Erichthonios' realm of expertise. (Shibari + edging + praise)
"It's awe-inspiring in a way--that someone as capable and mighty as you could be so sensitive..."
in the same way that Erichthonios trailed off, so did his fingertips as they glided along your skin, brushing ever so slightly along the thin yet sturdy chain that was currently clinging onto your body, effortlessly keeping you bound, your arms tied behind your back, your thighs made to be kept parted wide.
You remained seated on his lap, leaving you prone to have his fingers continue to caress your skin, his magic to adjust the chains around your body as need be, and so he could proceed on with pumping his cock in and out of your core at whichever pace he saw fit.
For now, he was mostly content with remaining sheathed fully inside of you, his movements halted. How he craved nothing more than to pound inside of you relentlessly while having your hands claw at his shoulders and your legs hug around his waist.
Yet a lesson must be taught.
If denying your orgasm time and time over was what was needed to demonstrate the importance of balance between work and pleasure, then so be it.
While he shuddered as he felt you writhe on his lap, he proceeded to bury his face in your neck for kisses as he gasped,
"But it's this contrast that's so admirable--so lovely--about you...! If there's anything, anything I can do to protect this balance between your strength and your heart, I'll gladly pledge myself to do whatever is needed...!"
