your last ally in all the city-states is an elf who would unironically lick the sweat from your armpits in front of the entire congregation. he begs his dad to let you couch surf. one of his brothers admits to your face that he wished you would die
two members of the swiss guard arrest your children so you punch them in the neck until the judge says you're free to go. the pope personally calls you to apologize for the trouble
ilberd tries and fails to hotbox you to death
a hot elf wife takes you on vacation to a nest full of cool bugs
anytime there's a serious moment estinien challenges the tone of the scene by pulling a giant novelty eyeball out of his pants which is played 100% straight every single time. not a single soul questions this or reacts in surprise
the prettiest elf in the world gets arrested trying to yell at his dad
Occupy The Vatican Right Fucking Now!!!!
the pope stances on the deck of an airship and flies away into the sunset after his eunuch traumatizes you
the emperor of garlemald shows up to call you a dipshit, leaves, and then you don't see him personally again for 1.5 expansion packs
we summon a naked catgirl and the first thing tataru does is give her a pair of louboutins and put a bow on her little kitty tail. she is the most deadly serious person in the entire organization
you take a quick detour to visit the angriest woman who's ever lived who calls you and everyone you're with a pointless dumbfuck moron shit idiot (affectionate). then she gives you a gun she invented that sharlayan banned for being too cool
theres a flying allagan war crimes factory full of broken robots who think you're stupid. an entire legion of garleans are abandoned here to form a feral colony with the escaped lab animals. the robots make fun of them
the dad of all the dragons on the whole planet calls you his favorite in front of his real child who he hasnt talked to in 4000 years
an evil wizard tries to get revenge on you for killing his cousin but the pope loads his soul into a bong and takes the fattest rip. the next time you meet him you mostly learn about how much his wife bullied him
estinien picks up a second eyeball. surprise development!: there is an angry dragon ghost living in the eyeballs
thancred gets punched in the face
you watch two dragon brothers fight because one called the other's dead wife a foul and trifling hoe
you save your friend through the power of friendship, and littering. as soon as he feels better he jumps out of a window and doesnt talk to you for two years
the guy from the box art wont stop trying to kill you because he is actually john videogames: astral traveler
after 15 hours of wondering what happened to all the scions and learning just the ones you've been able to FIND were flung into the afterlife, you discover lyse and papalymo are fine. they werent even hurt. they have been playing desert dress up with the ala mhigans while youve been freezing your pussy off trying to end a multigenerational religious war with the dragons and depose a corrupt head of state. they tried to send one letter and then gave up
the consequences of littering catch up with you. in eorzea, the fine is $Giant Dragon
Not only is the game awesome. The community is awesome for these matter of fact and slightly unhinged breakdowns for a matter of fact and at times slightly unhinged game.
when I was in high school I had a literature teacher who had a policy of unlimited extra credit. All you had to do was read a book by a notable author (his discretion) and have a little chat with him after school to prove that you read it. No limits, no need for variety (one month I decided I really loved Kurt Vonnegut and just read everything of his I could get my hands on).
Yes, I was tearing through books constantly, and talking to this teacher at least weekly. Because even though I always loved reading as a kid, literature was always a very weak subject for me in terms of a teaching-to-standardized-test school setting (I just do awful on "what color were the curtains" type multiple choice questions. Those details don't stick in my memory THEY JUST DON'T). But that didn't matter for this class. I could just read my way out of any bad test score. I have always had fond memories of how I "fudged" my way through that class and "abused' the extra credit policy.
I was thinking about it again today, and only just now realized that he absolutely tricked me into being well-read, while my teenage self thought I was totally getting away with something. THAT MOTHERFUCKER. I hope he's doing well.
aymeric has got to be the funniest character ever. notable pretty boy. serious and stern in appearance. has clawed and scraped his way up ishgardian society to gain the power needed to enact reform. has immense political connections. an expert in diplomacy and manners. attends formal events on the regular since it is required of him. a skilled dancer who is the talk of noble women. is voted in as lord speaker and is in charge of the temple knights. is by all means the ultimate catch who could have anyone he wants.
and yet! he does not like doing Any of this!!! he is still single in his 30s. he wants to quit his job and see the world, but won’t because he feels morally obligated to stay. despite having his pick of anyone in ishgard, he becomes enamored with the adventurer who not only arrives in ishgard as a fugitive, but immediately gets in trouble with the heaven’s ward and crashes into ishgard on the back of a dragon more than once.
he is the cause of awkward silence at alliance meetings on more than one occasion due to how passionate he gets, and he fumbles around when asking wol to dinner and can’t keep his emotions in check around them.
his adoptive parents (who were by all accounts a nice elderly couple) have passed on and the only family he has left is his birth father who mocks him for his idealism and does not love him; he is visibly ruffled when this is used against him in a debate. he loves sweets and gets excited about the starlight celebration and volunteers to hand out gifts to children. he has a dodo omelette recipe he uses to convince lucia, the literal garlean spy he spared, about the joys of cooking. this does not work.
he walks around on guard duty in a neon blue elephant suit for reasons we can only speculate about. what the fuck is wrong with this guy (affectionate).
I really love the duality of the character and how fleshed out and complicated he is. He is at most times a walking contradiction. And yet it all makes perfect sense. Superior writting on the part of the Square Enix team. I love that they made him serious and skilled but also has a sense of humor and doesn't take himself to seriously. Would have lived to see Estinen's reaction to finding out Aymeric is wandering around Ishgard in the suit he sent him as a fuck you. And that no one in Ishgard has figured out it is Aymeric.
also saw an nj transit bus complete the most perfectly executed jersey slide straight across two fully packed lanes of traffic at peak rush hour on 495 heading towards the lincoln tunnel with nothing but sheer audacity and the power of a single thumbs up that he stuck out his window. everyone in my car applauded him.
That completely tracks. Wonder if Aymeric knew what Haurchefant was actually sending... I head cannon that Aymeric took this time with his little crush on my WoL because he got the idea that Haurchefant's romantic feelings for her was reciprocated (even if it was not).And of course Aymeric is the friend that doesn't court your dead friend's girlfriend.
So, one of the things I love about Dawntrail is the way the four competitors are introduced and framed.
Spoilers ahead.
We meet Wuk Lamat first. She's the reason we're here. But we'll come back to her.
So then, Zoraal Ja. He doesn't speak a single word throughout his first appearance. Even when approached, the first, and only, thing he does is tell his lackey to talk for him.
Look at what Erenville says about him when he exits the palace to the cheering of the crowd:
Erenville: Zoraal Ja. The First Promise and commander of the Landsguard. Sareel Ja, the palace seer. As he was so careful to remind the crowd, Zoraal Ja is indeed the natural child of Gulool Ja Ja.
Alphinaud: And “Resilient Son”? Is that another title, like the First Promise?
Erenville: After a fashion. Common knowledge has it that two-headed Mamool Ja cannot sire children… Yet Zoraal Ja was born all the same, with the Head of Resolve's features and the Head of Reason's scales─an extraordinary example of life's unyielding resilience.
Alisaie: And a warrior's reticence. He says little, but the way he moves… I know a hardened soldier when I see one.
Erenville: He's a natural swordsman─a gift he inherited from his father. Some even say that the son has already surpassed the sire.
Should he come to power, the First Promise means to employ that martial prowess in the conquest of foreign lands. For this, he and his supporters have been labeled expansionists. This puts him in direct opposition to Wuk Lamat, who advocates for the preservation of peace. You may recall that she spoke of a claimant who “cannot be allowed to rule.” That is Zoraal Ja─the warmonger.
Zoraal Ja is clearly framed as the favorite by all of Tural to win the contest, but look at how Erenville describes him. Every compliment is instantly returned to his father. He's the Resilient Son, whose impossible birth was a miracle only Gulool Ja Ja could have managed. Look, see how much he resembles both his fathers. His sword skills are great--he inherited them from his father.
He resents his siblings because they, being adopted, are granted nothing by nature. Everything they get from their father is learned. Not innate. Koana's studies and Wuk Lamat's people skills are theirs. He doesn't see Bakool Ja Ja as a threat because they're too similar. All that makes both of them special came from their parents. But Koana, he sees as a threat or a useful tool. Koana has been recognized for what he's done on his own.
He's the perfect example of the pressures of the first-born child, even though we never get the impression that his father puts any pressure on him at all. It's the public who puts the full weight of their expectations on him, purely for a quirk of birth. Everything's expected of him, but if he succeeds it's not because of him, but because he's his father's son. Which is maybe why he refuses to engage with the people at all.
That's… going to come back to haunt us all later.
Then there's Koana. When Bakool Ja Ja insults his older brother, whom he desperately does not want to win this contest, he immediately jumps to Zoraal Ja's defense. The supporters who approach him don't have anything to say about him at all, they just want cool stuff. Bring us trains and airships and magitek doodads! He escapes from them as awkwardly as humanly possible. And note how differently Erenville describes him:
Erenville: Here we have Koana, the Second Promise, who spent time as a pupil at Sharlayan's own Studium.
Alisaie: Now that you mention it, I think I did see him in the halls once or twice. There was nothing to suggest he was Turali, much less from a royal family.
Erenville: That was by design. He forewent his usual garb and took an Eorzean name to avoid attention.
Alphinaud: So it was Koana who introduced the dirigibles. And the railway, too, given what we just heard…?
Erenville: In furtherance of his goal: to enrich Tuliyollal with every bright notion he learned of in Sharlayan. He is the hope of those who prize innovation. As aloof as he may seem, Koana and Wuk Lamat actually get along rather well. They bicker and banter as only close siblings do.
He was a student at the Studium, but we don't hear of any other achievements there. No graduating with honors. No inventions of his own. His accomplishments are mostly… being a royal, and therefore in a position to get other people's ideas implemented in Tural. And he seems to feel that. He doesn't want to be noticed, doesn't want to be lauded, won't take the encouragement of his followers, and doesn't promise them anything because he doesn't feel like he can.
He is very much caught in the middle all the time.
Between his love for his brother, who doesn't love him back, and whom he knows can't be allowed to rule, and his sense of duty to his nation. Between his feelings of inadequacy and his fear of failure. Between Tural and Sharlayan. Between his beloved baby sister and the contest that makes them rivals. Between his ideals and reality.
Perfect middle child.
Then we get Bakool Ja Ja. The outsider.
We know from the Dawnservant's introduction of the rite that historically only two-headed mamool ja were allowed to rule. He is set up, then, as the symbol of the old order.
And the moment he steps outside, the crowd goes wild.
He isn't the Dawnservant's son, but he is, as far as most of those onlookers are concerned, the next Gulool Ja Ja. The person who reacts most negatively to his appearance and bravado, tellingly, is a boonewa. A member of one of the clans that actually makes blessed siblings. That's… that's going to be meaningful later. Unlike the two claimants who preceded him, nobody asks him for anything. His supporters don't support him because they think he can help them. They support him because of what he is.
Erenville's description of him is notably brief:
Erenville: The chosen of Mamook, Bakool Ja Ja. Winner of the recent martial tournament, and the only claimant not of the Dawn's Promise. His strength is undeniable, but…you see how he is. A few devoted Mamool Ja are his only supporters.
Krile: What would he do with the throne should he win it?
Erenville: His policies and so forth? I doubt he's thought much beyond winning the contest itself.
But one thing seems certain: if he does become Dawnservant, he will see the Mamool Ja exalted as the ruling class, and all others forced into subservience.
And yet… he's not the one Wuk Lamat was afraid of winning. Which is somewhat prophetic foreshadowing, really. Bakool Ja Ja is the only claimant who has no thoughts of the future. He has to win this contest because he exists. That's it. That's all there is.
He has to win because blessed siblings always win. If they don't… then why should they even exist?
That's… yeah.
And finally, Wuk Lamat emerges from the palace. With her mom.
If it wasn't clear before that she's the baby of the family, the fact that she makes her grand public appearance as a contender for the throne with her nursemaid should be a clue.
We have, at the moment that Erenville asks if we're sure we really want to be part of this, so far seen her wander off distracted in Sharlayan, get panicked by a talking bird, eat her weight in barbequed monster, and get extremely seasick. The one thing we know she wants out of this contest is to stop Zoraal Ja from starting a war the second he takes the throne. She is doing this, not because she wants power or has a vision for Tural, but because she opposes a bad vision.
She is so much the underdog in this contest that most of the crowd left before she appeared, assuming the show was over, and what's remaining is standing within earshot gossipping about how pathetic she is compared to the others.
Wuk Lamat is constantly in someone else's shadow. Her father. Her elder brothers. That random guy who got in here somehow. Sphene, when we get to Alexandria. She's invisible, and she seems to feel like that's just how things work. Even the soldiers who meet us at the docks need to take a minute before they realize who she is.
Erenville doesn't say anything about her, though he has a few words about how her supporters are mostly the elderly who remember the war. (I would imagine that includes a lot of non-elderly shetona, too.) But he doesn't really have to talk her up. The Reigning King of Dry Understatement may have insisted back in Sharlayan that they are not friends, merely long-standing acquaintances, but when she asked him for advice about finding allies for the contest, he recommended a god-slayer. Talk about fixing the fight. Not just recommended, he dropped what he was doing and went back across the ocean to recruit them. He could have pointed her at the Students of Baldesion. He was working with them already. Instead, he came back to Sharlayan and asked the Students to go get WoL. A person he knows is capable of crossing the entire universe to avert the apocalypse and also, for some reason, stopping to catch stray marmots along the way. He really wants her win. He just won't quite say that out loud.
"As you just witnessed, Wuk Lamat has no great army of supporters. Not yet, at least." Oh, Erenville.
Is it a date if you both agree to go out and it just so happens to be Valentione’s Day and you both happen to really like each other but neither of you do anything to acknowledge that?
[Modern | Bookshop AU. | wc 7046 ]
Remember your own sage words, Guydelot, you'll need them later.
The preview pic on these quest cards is so iconic
Sanson just Sansons and expect everyone to be on board his plan without questions. He's got a lot to learn, our favourite Captain...
Guydelot shrugging at Sanson is so endearingly charming
Two dudes standing ten feet apart because reasons
Guydelot is very empathetic
Sanson thinks what Guydelot does is flirting, but Guydelot is actually fairly neutral about all this lol
Everything for the mission, even the discomfort of the people you were requesting help from. I don't think Sanson heartless, but he is prone to disregarding other people's feelings when he wants something.
Sanson sansons again. They're actually more alike than they think, Sanson just doesn't see it that way because his communication style is so different than Guydelot. Guydelot is the heart while Sanson is the head.
They can't even look in the same direction asdghasgdfad
Mission!!! Sanson you need to chill
Gods, the emotion going through Celaine right now at this hopeful request...
I do love that they have multiple definition of this song that sends souls into the heavens. Actually a neat detail.
This is the first time Sanson realised his shortcoming and maaaaaybe he should think a bit harder about his requests.
Sanson earlier realised Guydelot's tactic might have merit, and now Guydelot is realising that Sanson too can be correct about some things.
The infamous line!
I have a feeling that neither Sanson nor Guydelot had super deep friendships prior to this. They're super young, and from the way they conduct themselves so far they don't really promote kindling a deep connection with other people (alternatively, they should just kiss already)
Guydelot is a simple man, and just because he's flirty and doesn't take his sanctioned duties seriously, it doesn't mean that he isn't without heart or that he is wishing ill towards his comrades. I think this is super important because Sanson attributed all of Guydelot's failings to his reputation — it wasn't until he had fought and travelled alongside him (and probably have moments off screen) that he slowly change his perception of the bard.
Also side note, there are definitely a few days in between this scene and Tailfeather. It's not the shortest of walk through snow!
Gotta say, I love FFXIV's dedication to making its main straight couples just straight-up parodies of stereotypical hetero relationships.
The Chais seem at first like "Fat, stupid, overbearing wife and her whipped, henpecked husband who regrets marrying her" , but once you get to know them you realize they really do love each other, Chai-Nuzz is just like, depressed and has no self-esteem, and when Dulia-Chai "pushes" him to something, it's because she knows him well enough to know he wants to do or say something, but isn't letting himself. Also the only comment he ever makes about her being fat is that she is just as beautiful as when they first met. Dulia's "stupidity" is also portrayed as her being ill-suited to the sort of situations she's put in early on, but she has her own strengths and moments to shine, and her simple view of the world inspires the solution to a massive problem.
And then the Leveilleurs are "strict, paternalistic, cold authority figure and his inexplicably kind housewife", but Forchenault really does have a heart, and is just under so much fucking stress all the time, and he tries his best to make up for the incredibly cliche "bad father" situations he gets put in by the literal coming of the apocalypse, and Ameliance is like, a clever, slightly ruthless mastermind who is really genuinely into Forchenault's "stubborn old goat" thing. She talks about her husband like some girls on here talk about like, Saul fucking Goodman.
This is a Lyse defense post, as I've just replayed 4.1 and I am full of emotions about her!!!!
People always complain about how "stupid" Lyse was for letting the Qalyana attend the peace talks in Ala Mhigo and it blows my mind how it's just taken at face value as naivety when she is clearly and boldly stating all through stormblood and its patches that she wants freedom for everyone
this part was from the end of the peaks section of stormblood, level 69 or so in msq, right after she's been instated as the acting commander of the resistance and the weight of it all sits on her! Raubahn shows her his old home and talks about her father and all that he stood for and fought for, and this is how she responds! ;0;
And here she is in 4.1-- she's struggling with her position as a leader in Ala Mhigo (a leader, not the leader-- important distinction) but she's still holding true to her beliefs! That no matter how despised she is she wants to do right by everyone and see everyone free!!
Even Fordola, who she has fought with and been so angry with for her actions (you know the scene-- murderer! butcher!! traitor!! poetic cinema and then they KISS)
And she even tries to mitigate any possible incidents by asking the Qalyana to surrender their jewelry to prevent a summoning!!
Also RE: "Lyse shouldn't be running Ala Mhigo" not only is she not but she also makes it clear that she is not looking to install any leader!! That Ala Mhigo would follow Ishgard's lead and become a democracy with its own house of commons
And although Lyse is a vocal representative for Ala Mhigo, she makes it clear that there are other leaders making up the Ala Mhigan government (as was mentioned above) and that Raubahn will be commanding the military forces/remnants of the resistance and not her
Anyway this isn't a particularly thought out post or anything!! Just one of the more common criticisms of Lyse I see online that is completely based on shit people made up because they don't like her or don't like stormblood more generally. Which I think then gets passed around because a lot of people forgot how the msq went in 4.X or just skipped through the msq quickly because so many regard it as "bad".
In conclusion: Lyse good. Raubahn good. Stormblood good. Please replay 4.1 in new game+ or something, you'll be pleasantly surprised!!!
Honestly I think that Lyse is one of the better written characters in game and I head cannon her of one of the closest friends of my WOL. She shows progression as a character. She has strengths and failures. She is well balanced. Does she get it right all the time? Hell no. But she tries. Her failures are based in her idealism. But she is also pragmatic enough to know that she is idealistic and that may lead to failure. But she tried ANYWAY. Her motivations are deeply personal and reveled slowly over the course of Stormblood. And if you catch it and retrospectively look at her actions and feelings, it all makes excellent sense.
