HighSpecs Week

HighSpecs Week is happening September 23 to 29!

[yetipromparty]

Aranea doesn’t mind telling the whole world who her man is.

Not exactly an FFXV anniversary piece, but who cares! Happy one year! I started shipping Highspecs the moment that Steyliff Grove mission started. Haven’t stopped since.

[highspecsweek]

❤️

[ignisfluff]

Ignis Fluff Week Prompts

Hello, everyone!

Thank you so much for the outstanding interest in Ignis Fluff Week. I think, as a fandom, we will all need a lot of preparation and healing for Episode Ignis. I have put together a general theme and several prompts, though if the prompts do not speak to you, you are not obligated to follow them! Just try and make something that is soft, sweet, and fluffy for Ignis.

We just want him to be happy.

So, without further ado, I present to you the prompts for Ignis Fluff Week:

Day 1 Theme: Baby!Ignis + Ignis and his father figure + “This is my favorite.” + Scraped knees and boo-boos 

Day 2  Theme: Getting into trouble + Stealing the Regalia + Sneaking out + “Oops.” Day 3  Theme: Food, food,  and more food + Favorite meal + Baking vs Cooking + “That is how you make the perfect cup of Ebony.” Day 4 Theme: Canon? What Canon? + Fix the Ending + A Happier World (AU) + “Happy (Holiday), Ignis.” Day 5  Theme: Take a break + Best vacation ever + “Today’s my day off.” + Relaxing Day 6  Theme: Are you laughing yet? + Puns + Jokes gone wild  + “That is hardly appropriate." 

Day 7 Theme:  Free Day

In addition, if anyone would like to create some art for the banner/icon, it would be greatly appreciated! 

[mikia87-deactivated20220818]

Episode Ignis’s trailer killed me today. 😭 I just want Iggy to be happy!!!!!! So, here’s the base color version of my Highspecs baby art. I want to share it with all the victims of this trailer. My drawing is still not finished, but I don’t care!!!

[highwindhq]

When you wake up in the morning and artist Becky Potter has blessed the fandom with magical HighSpecs ❤️

[highwindhq]

Oh my goodness, I’m so touched! I came home to this beautiful gift from @idoru42 of the cross-stitched HighSpecs art she made 😍😍😍😍 I can’t believe she even framed it for me!! A post can’t express the gratitude I feel. I’ll be sure to pick up some goodies at KupoCon for you in December!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️ And if anyone is interested in Sally’s work, please go check her page! She makes such amazing XV pieces 😄

[nightyswolf]

“Close Comfort“

Helplessness, insecurity, anger, despair, sorrow… fear - Ignis Scientia was no stranger to these emotions, even though he had learned in the line of his duty to hide them better than most humans. He had learned to keep up a facade not allowing others to see how he felt. But hiding away his heart did nothing to undo the pain and now, with nothing but the never ending darkness to focus on, when he was lying awake in sleeping compartment of the train, these feelings rose to the surface like nightmares.  

With blind and sightless eyes, Ignis was lying on the small bed, trying to let the soft sound of Noctis’ breathing and the light snores of Gladio lull him to sleep, but he was too wide awake and too many thoughts were running through his head for this trick to work. Too much had happened in the last weeks and in the last hours and his mind just couldn’t stop turning around these events. And that he was still in pain despite the fact that his wounds had healed already, didn’t make it any easier. He had already tried to open his eyes and had succeeded but the headache had been really impressive afterwards and it hadn’t made any difference at all… he only knew now, that his left eye was a lost cause, while his right one was still sensitive to light. But he had also realized that it was easier to open his right eyelid than his left.

But all these musing didn’t help the blind strategist one bit and so he threw his legs over the side of the bed. He felt for the cane on the wall side of his small bunk and carefully stood up, that he wouldn’t wake Noct or Gladio. If he was going to feed that hamster that ran in circles in his head, Ignis could also do that outside of the train on one of the stone benches with the breeze in his hair and some fresh air. Silently Ignis slipped out of the compartment and made his way to the stairs that brought him outside again onto the platform of the train station of Tenebrae. While Noct had spoken to the retainer of the manor, Ignis had asked Gladio to take a walk with him around the platform and the surrounding area, that he could memorize the layout, so he could get around alone as well if needed. Ignis just hadn’t thought that it would be that soon.

Remembering the distances from the train to the individual places, Ignis made a careful step forward, passing by the passengers who were now stranded in this wonderful yet cursed country. Parts of the manor were still on fire and Ignis could smell the smoke in the air, just like he felt it scratching down his wind pipe. Using his cane as a guide he moved along the train towards one of the farther away standing stone benches. He needed a bit space to think and somehow this time he wouldn’t even be able to think in the midst of strangers, where he literally was alone.

Ignis breathed a sigh, when his cane finally found the bench and after placing his cane behind himself, he sat down and buried his face into the soft leather of his gloves for a moment. Since the loss of his sight, Ignis hearing had sharped considerably and it was easy for him, to follow the conversations of the other passengers on the long platform. The advisor knew, that a lot of them wanted to go home, but where should they go? Gralea was no option anymore… just like Insomnia was lost to him and his friends.

When a different set of footsteps drew Scientia’s attention away from the conversations of the other people and he concentrate on the sound that was approaching him slowly. He turned his head a bit to the side, starting to register different sounds as well, like the gliding of fabric over metal and leather, the soft scratching of metal against metal. A weak smile passed over his face. “I can hear you, Aranea,” he remarked and lifted his head, turning it into her direction.  

Aranea Highwind stopped for a moment, then she closed the distance between them and sat down onto her heels before the blind strategist. “Biggs was right,” she remarked. “You have the ears of a dog.”  

Ignis chuckled a bit, moving his head a bit that his sightless eye were - hopefully - on Aranea’s. “Not quite but close,” he replied. “It’s astonishing how fast the human body tries to adapt when one sense is lost.” “But it’s still pretty dangerous wandering around alone, when you don’t see where you are going - especially here with these narrow bridges and very steep cliffs. Where are the prince and Gladio?” Aranea asked.  

“Still in the train, sleeping,” Ignis replied. “I needed a few moments alone to think.”  

“Do you want to me to leave?” Aranea asked carefully and prepared to rise again, but Ignis shook his head.  

“Apologies,” Scientia replied softly. “I phrased that wrong.”  

Aranea smiled and although Ignis couldn’t see it, he could hear it in her voice. “You just needed to be away from your friends for a while, to sort your thoughts and maybe to test these senses of yours for a bit. Is that about right?” she asked.

Ignis let out a sigh. “That hits the nail pretty much on the head,” the royal advisor replied.  

“And your conclusion so far?”  

“That I have to learn quick before I become even more a burden to them, that I am already are,” Ignis said and Aranea couldn’t deny the bitter sound she heard in his voice. The commodore hadn’t been present at the covenant but she knew, that literally everything had gone wrong. She wouldn’t ask what had happened but she knew that the past events had cracked the four brothers apart in a way, they had never expected to be separated. “I told them I would stay with them, no matter what, but sometimes I wonder if it wasn’t just a selfish decision for my own sake, because I didn’t want to be separated from them.” Ignis head fell onto his chest and he wrapped his gloved fingers tightly together to still the shaking of his hands.  

Aranea shook her head before she carefully laid one hand onto Ignis shaking ones and lifted his head with the other one. “I don’t think you are a burden to them,” the commodore said softly. “Don’t ever think of yourself as one. If they would have wanted to leave you behind, they could have done it in Altissia already, but they didn’t. Ignis, I saw the dynamic in your group more than once - when you fought me, when I walked with you through Steyliff, when I battled the daemons alongside you.” Aranea stopped herself for a moment and her gloved and clawed fingers softly ran over the skin of Ignis’ cheek. For a moment Highwind was surprised, that Ignis allowed such a close contact and that she overstepped her own boundaries to offer it, but in this moment all rules seemed to be out of place and physical touch was the only comfort she could give Ignis next to words. “The four of you are one soul - if one part is missing the whole soul is incomplete, weak and vulnerable. Even if you would have asked them to leave you behind, they wouldn’t have.” Aranea stopped herself for a moment. “And this is the reason why I will search for the missing piece tomorrow.”  

“Excuse me?” Ignis asked confused.

The former imperial commodore chuckled. “I lead a similar conversation with your prince already and in the end I promised him to look for Prompto. Tomorrow, when you are leaving for the long trek to Gralea, I will go back to the point where you lost sight of your shortcake and will try to find him.”  

For one second Ignis was even more confused, surprised and slightly suspicious, but then he swallowed and looked up. “Why are you helping us?”

“Because the prince will need all of you to succeed and the prince has to succeed or this world will be gone in the next months, so in a way it’s in my own interest to help you,” Aranea replied. “Truth is - it’s in all of our interest that the stolen crystal is returning to his rightful owner, because the scourge of the stars will not stop on the borders of a country. It will infect the whole world and if we want to survive we have to stand together.”

Ignis gave the dragoon a weak smile, while her fingers were still caressing his cheek. “I doubt there have ever been words so true.”  

“Feeling better now?” Aranea asked softly.  

The royal advisor nodded. “Yes, I think so and maybe it would be wise for me, to give the matter of sleep another try.”  

With a nod Aranea rose back to her full height. “Then humor this commodore here and let me accompany you back to the train.”  

With a chuckle Ignis took his cane and got back to his feet. “Still worried I might meet an untimely end by accidentally stepping over an edge?”  

“You could say that,” Aranea replied. But despite her words Aranea left Ignis enough room to find his way back alone and she had to admit, that she was impressed how sure footed the blind strategist was. He found his way back to the train without stumbling and with very less moments, where he had to check the surroundings again to make sure he was still walking right.  

When they reached the train car, Ignis turned around for a moment. “You have my thanks, Aranea,” Scientia said softly.

“For what?” Aranea asked surprised.  

Ignis smiled. “For listening, for your advice and for your help with Prompto.”  

The commodore couldn’t help but to return the smile the royal advisor gave her, even though he couldn’t see it. “You remember that I asked you once when you healed me, if you are always this kind to your enemies and you said no, but that you are like this to your allies,” Aranea recalled and Ignis nodded. “I like to think that we can be more than just allies - that we can be friends.”  

“I like the sound of that,” Scientia remarked with a smile and a nod. “Take care, Aranea and sleep well. Who knows when we will get a decent amount of it the next time.”

Story and picture by NightysWolf

[highspecsweek]

(Hello! I'm a major highspecs fan and I have been struggling with an arm that is in a splint. I want to write for the highspecs week, but it's almost over. Do you guys mind if my submissions are late?

Oh no! Sorry to hear about your arm. And yes, feel free to still submit :)

[ardynoctweek-blog]

1 More Day til Ardynoct Week!

Begins on October 1, 10:00 am AST (UTC-3)

(Anybody else still frantically trying to complete stuff? Because I sure am!)

[highspecsweek]

Next up is Ardynoct Week—have a great shipping week y’all! 

[highspecsweek]

Thank you all!!

We just wanted to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone who participated in/liked/reblogged HighSpecs Week! We got so many wonderful submissions, more than we ever expected for this not-so-rare-pair. The week may be over, but keep the amazing art, fics, videos, and everything else coming if you love this pair as much as we do. 

And don’t forget to keep an eye out for other pairing weeks over the next few months! 

<3

[mikia87-deactivated20220818]

HighSpecs week : BONUS: HighSpecs Babies!

WIP : Older Ignis version with/without specs

@highspecsweek @unsteadygenius @sternentreue @highwindhq @aimakichan @highspecs

[dr3aming-of-stars]

Soup

Getting this fic out during the last day of highspecs week, even though this is the day 4 prompt that I wasn’t able to get in on time due to school, but better late than never, right?

Highspecs Week: Day 4 Illness / Shopping

Quick summary: Aranea takes care of a sick Ignis by making him some soup from a recipe in his notebook.

Word Count: 3454

Keep reading

[highspecsweek]

Last Day of HighSpecs Week!

It came so fast! Today is officially the last day for HighSpecs Week. But fear not—if you have something you want to submit and can’t get it in on time, tag us anyway when you’re ready. We definitely still want to see it! 

The final prompt: 

Day 7, Sep 29: Things Left Unspoken / Angry or Possessive Sex BONUS: HighSpecs Babies!

[mrs-ignis-ffxv]

I’ll Be Seeing You

@highspecsweek  Photo Collage and Mini-Fic for Highspecs Week Day 7, Sep 29th Prompt: Things Left Unspoken

Noctis, Prompto, Gladiolus and Ignis were ready to depart with Cid to Altissia at the break of dawn. As they were boarding their belongings, Cor approached Ignis.

“There’s someone here that wished to see you before you went.” Cor stood with his arms crossed. There was an uncomfortable look about his face. Ignis waited for more details from the marshal. Instead, Ignis noticed the slight lift of his chin. Ignis knew the direction that look meant.

Ignis hadn’t the slightest clue of who it could be. Everyone he cared for and had to be with were right there in that room; the hidden harbor underneath the Caem lighthouse. Ignis peaked around the corner, away from the attention of the others, and saw her: Aranea Highwind.

Instead of the queen of the sky, there she was hidden away underground, sea level, in the shadows, a foreigner in their cave kingdom.

“Hey Four Eyes,” she smirked.

She kept her helmet about her face hoping he wouldn’t notice the butterflies in her stomach. She waited a long while down there in the cold damp harbor, but she still felt rushed.

“Commodore.” Ignis was surprised to see her there. She was as stunning as she always was to him. He peeked behind him. There was a reason Aranea remained hidden. He wanted to honor her reasoning. But he couldn’t help but want the moment to be just for them. “Here to watch us set off?”

“I was in the neighborhood.” Aranea seemed like she was about to remove her helmet, but she crossed her arms instead. “Took some convincing the Immortal Cor considering how often we’ve battled it out not too long out.”

“But here you are.” Ignis wanted to pull her into the caverns and embrace her, but remained calm and steadfast. “I didn’t see your ship.”

“Just a quick Chocobo ride away.”

“You ride Chocobos now?”

“It’s the only way to travel for cheap ‘round these parts,” Aranea said.

“That means you went to the Chocobo post?”

Aranea pointed at herself. “I’m the new card carrier of the Wiz Chocobo Post Rent-a-Bird service.”

“Never took you for someone to use a flightless bird,” Ignis smiled.

“Hey, sometimes, high fliers need to come back down to the earth,” she said. “Or in this case, glide down.”

Ignis noticed Noctis and the others were fully aware of Aranea’s presence, but they kept their distance. He remained calm. “I suppose, Commodore, you wanted to give the king some final words of advice?”

“Uh, Four Eyes,” Aranea adjusted herself. She never used to be uncomfortable in her armor, but this was the first time she felt weighed down. “You… all of you are approaching the mouth of the Imperial lair. The closer you get the harder it will be to turn back safely.”

Ignis nodded. He knew the logic behind traveling to Altissia wasn’t quite sound. He went wherever the king was being led by the fates. He knew there was a reason to cross the seas, though even he wanted to remain on Lucian soil.

“The king follows the path of the Oracle.” Ignis sighed. “All the kings of history followed the path of the Oracle.”

“And you?” Aranea asked. “What’s your path?”

“I go with the king.” Ignis didn’t know why he felt offended by her in that moment.

“Look,” Aranea sighed, immediately sensing his discomfort. “I get it. It’s good to be sure. The king shouldn’t have half-assed people following him around. He’s lucky to have true loyal men around him. Good men. Great men.”

Aranea looked down hoping the shadows of her helmet hid her flushed face.

The sky was changing. The dark was shifting to dawn.

Oh Ignis. This is not how I want you to see me before you go, Aranea thought.

Oh Aranea. You are the last person I would ever scoff at, Ignis thought.

“Ignis, we’re going.” Noct called out.

Ignis turned and nodded, still surprised no one said a word about Aranea’s presence.

Ignis looked back at her. “Considering the Marshal allowed you to be here, I suppose that is a good sign the citizens will begin trusting you more.”

“Yeah.” Aranea kicked at the ground. “The citizens.”

The horizon was transitioning to a brilliant golden glow. Ignis never noticed the sheer paleness of her skin and the silvery smoothness of her hair until the morning light cast against her.

“How interesting,” Ignis blurted.

“What?”

“I have never truly seen you in this light before.” Ignis stepped closer; the world disappearing in the light of the sunrise.

Aranea wanted terribly to accept his words, but it was all too much. The journey belonged to the king and she was in the way. She was still a Niff to them. She knew they were all quiet knowing they still did not trust her.

I mustn’t have this brotherhood think Ignis is distracted by some woman. She turned away. “You better get goin’.”

“Aranea,” Ignis whispered.

“The sea can be rough. If you need to puke remember to turn your head with the wind, not against it,” she said.

The baggage loaded and the guys all on the boat, Ignis accepted this was enough. Until there was peace there couldn’t be anything more.

“I’ll be seeing you,” Aranea shouted.

“I’ll be seeing you,” Ignis echoed.

He boarded.

She didn’t look. She couldn’t look.

The children were the ones shouting their goodbyes to Noctis. Ignis knew not to expect the same from Aranea. He merely watched her until she was but a speck on the horizon.

I’ll be seeing you, my lady, Ignis whispered.

Aranea felt disappointed. “What was I waiting for?” She thought to herself. A hug? A handshake? A kiss?

But there was something else she felt: a goal.

As she journeyed to the surface using the lighthouse elevator, she felt a strong drive to go in the name of the King of Lucis. She hadn’t felt such a strong sense of motivation in ages that didn’t have anything to do with earning gil.

“He sees something more in me that the others don’t,” she said to herself. “If a dutiful man like Ignis sees I can do more, then I should do more.”

“I need to be better. If not for him, at least, for others.” She took off her helmet. “And myself.”

She embraced the morning light.

“The next time we meet, no more dance. No more hidden meanings.” Aranea knew it was time to take true action. “Until the next time we see each other, Ignis.”

Several weeks later: Tenebrae

She heard they were on their way. The world had gone to shit but it was far from over.

So much time she wanted to make up ever since Caem. She couldn’t wait to tell him everything she had accomplished. She couldn’t wait to tell him about her new mission.

She couldn’t wait to tell him what she wanted to tell him in Caem.

“You’re more than your duties. You’re more than a guard. I see you, Ignis. I see a quiet leader. I see a splendid soul. Let’s be more together.”

He felt a sense of pride hearing she was in the relief effort. He also felt down having to confess he could no longer see.

Ignis wanted to tell her more. He wanted to tell her everything. But his duties were so much more important now than ever.

He wished he said more that morning leaving Caem.

I wanted to tell you, Aranea. I wanted to tell you to come with us. With me.

We are better with you. I am better with you.

I wish I told you then: thank you. Thank you for helping me believe I could have a world outside of the current one. Thank you for helping me believe I am more than just my duties.

My love. Don’t let me bring you down. Soar! Embrace your new destiny. Be the new dawn of heroes in this age of darkness.

Oh but to see you once more. But it’s too late now. Dawn’s light has faded and is all but a distant beautiful memory.

[dragonpriestess89-deactivated20]

“…you look damn fine, Specs.”

–Confessions @highspecsweek @highspecs @ffxv @ignisscientia @araneahighwind

[idoru42]

Thanks so much to @highwindhq for coming up with a cheeky dialogue box. You just know that dessert with Ignis would be mind blowing. More blue stitches for me tonight.

[mikia87-deactivated20220818]

HighSpecs week : BONUS: HighSpecs Babies! 😁

WIP : Ignis 22 y/o version with/without specs

*I’ll try to post Older Ignis version tomorrow.

@highspecsweek @unsteadygenius @sternentreue @highwindhq @aimakichan @swabin10 @highspecs

[araneasgf]

In Plain Sight

HighSpecs Week Day 6 - Confessions / Virginity

Rating: PG

Word count: 3878

Summary:  Past experience told Ignis that telling his friends about his romantic interests was 100% a bad idea, but Aranea was starting to make it harder to keep this a secret.

Read on ao3