Loran’s Games Blog!

Hi all, my name is Loran Payne and I am a huge nerd :) I love all sorts of video games (although I primarily play MMOs,) Sims, Slime Rancher, FFXIV (basically ANYTHING final fantasy :3 ) and a lot of TV shows and movies! (I would write more here but I have limited space D:< )

[petite-guignol]

One thing i really like in FFXIV is the characterization of Azem... a wanderer who travels far and wide, whose insatiable curiosity means they can't keep their nose out of anyone's business. someone who's always quick to offer help, no matter how insignificant or cosmically important the problem. fearless to the point of recklessness, up for anything but especially if its ridiculously dangerous. Driven by a desire to go everywhere, do everything, learn everything, make a friend out of everyone they meet. They even kind of incorporated the fact that the actions of a human-controlled character simply wouldn't make any sense when viewed from an in-universe perspective by making Azem this sort of whimsical and unpredictable character, someone whose opaque motives often confound and infuriate those around them even as they inspire fondness.

idk, as a characterization specifically of the player and their role -- a strange, capricious, joyful creature whose boundless love for the world and everyone in it draws them into story after story -- it's extremely affectionate and sweet, but still manages to ring true.

it just kinda makes me smile when i think about it.

also as a concept it's sort of like, "what if nyarlathotep was nice", which is very cute, also very accurate to RPG players, and extremely funny

[ecosystem-administrator]

Listen, l i s t e n, every few months or so I get reminded of this scene that happens after Aymeric drives a bunch of angry rebels out of The Vault, and I go completely feral with emotions

Edmont tells Aymeric this won't be the last time that happens if the current political climate continues as it has been, and that he needs to make sure to take care of their people and of himself, then drops this line. and just walks away.

Aymeric is standing there stunned and awkward trying to be appropriately honored by a grieving father who's also right about the politics of the situation, and apparently unlike Edmont has probably not forgotten that Artoirel is right there.

Artoirel steps forward behind Aymeric to follow his father, but before he passes the point where Aymeric could see him

he stops still and turns his head, obviously conflicted and gathering himself, and the camera focuses entirely on his face even though he hasn't got any lines in this scene at all. the father he respects and admires is obviously not bearing up well under all the recent changes, and just all but adopted a surrogate for the beloved son he's recently lost without even acknowledging his eldest son's presence. not even so much as a look. his father needs him now more than ever. his father is taking him for granted and always has.

he probably daydreamed as a child about the relationship he might have had with Edmont if Haurchefant wasn't there to be the favorite, and now he has the bitterest proof that it would never have been better, is not going to get better.

and he still walks after his father, away from Aymeric and Lucia and the gathered Scions. Edmont never looks back to see if he's coming, but he is. someone still has to hold this family together.

The Fortemps family are so fucked up you guys. the drama of it. it just makes me gnash my teeth and wail every single time.

[ecosystem-administrator]

@talesofamelody AUGH, I had completely forgotten that line since it's obvs not in the Unending Journey, but tbh it just makes everything worse! Because yeah, that's a shitty thing for Artoirel to have said! but it shows where Artoirel's mind is - in that moment, heading into the Vault to do combat, he's mentally lining himself up against the memory of Haurchefant.

And he came back, and they accomplished everything they set out to do! And Edmont... doesn't say a word to him, and instead is comparing Aymeric to Haurchefant instead. Granted, Aymeric was the one in more danger because he was going in still injured, and these rebels didn't pose nearly the same threat as the Heaven's Ward, but not even a single nod of acknowledgement to being glad that his actual son made it back out of the building unharmed? This soon after losing Haurchefant there, you were worried, right? ...right?

And, and! Obliquely, the follow-up demonstrates that Artoirel has grown and matured, because unlike his relationship with Haurchefant, this dynamic doesn't sour his relationship with Aymeric. They continue being able to work together without a trace of resentment, Artoirel is if anything more concerned about Aymeric's health than Aymeric is (because Aymeric is still terrible about minding his own safety and well-being). How much of that is guilt over how he treated his brother is debatable, but at the very least it's clear that he's grown up enough not to continue placing the blame for his father's favoritism on the favorite who didn't ask for any of this.

...there might need to be fic that comes of this...

[petite-guignol]

i dont have anything in particular to add to this conversation except that i'm glad someone else is thinking about this because: here is a meme i scrambled to make in 2015 directly after watching this go down. when it was current storyline.

you could say it's been on my mind a while lol

[bob-artist]

Brotherhood of The Orb

[bob-artist]

[worldformula]

you don’t know what you’re asking for.

[farfromdaylight]

[stellaretic]

thanks to all the dawntrail criticism, i’m rapidly learning that what other people think of as “pacing issues,” i think of as necessary time spent getting acquainted with a new environment, its history and the folks that live there. what they felt was a slog, i felt was the equivalent of going on vacation and submersing yourself in rich, previously unknown cultures.

so basically what i mean to say is i have a true adventurer’s spirit and everyone who gripes about this expansion’s pacing is a loser. (SORT OF a joke. but also not really. but also really. but also n)

[liketheinferno2]

replaying heavensward

[underwherequestionmark]

[a-kind-of-merry-war]

I am going to [remembers that suicide jokes are bad for my mental health] stand in a hole and rotate until I slowly drill down into the soft, loamy earth, burrowing through the core of the planet and out the other side where I pop out in australia and get a gay little drink with my friend

[noccolibroccoli]

So I had a hysterectomy today (hooray!) and I brought along my stuffed orca, Shamu, as a comfort object. And everyone i interacted with during my pre-op was like "Oh! Who's this?" so I was telling them all about him, how he's been with me since I was 9 and gone on every single vacation and road trip, and they were telling me about their own stuffed buddies (one lady said she still has hers after 40 years!) and all of this while I was signing consent forms and providing a list of the things I'd brought with me, you know, small talk.

So then a nurse comes over and goes "Okay, I've got some stickers I'll put on your things so we know they're yours" and I'm like "OK cool" so she puts a sticker on my coat and stickers on my bags of clothes and then she turns to Shamu and I'm like "oh I guess he gets a sticker too"

But no. She pulls out a hospital bracelet that's an exact copy of mine and slaps it on his tail, like so:

And i was delighted by this, so I took a picture to send to my friends, who were equally delighted, and were cracking me up with their reactions (like so:)

Anyway, they take me back and put me under, and when I awake groggily a few hours later it takes me a minute to get my bearings, so I don't notice Shamu at first. But then I realize he's tucked up next to me in the gurney, so I grab him, and my hand touches gauze.

And I'm like "huh?" so I look at him and I realize

They gave my fucking orca a hysterectomy

[ceeberoni]

you have to understand the glass shattering over my head i felt when THIS was the first message i saw from noa after his surgery

[peachdoxie]

I love talking with neurotypical people about my executive dysfunction because I'm like "yeah there's this invisible wall in my head that I'm incapable of getting past no matter what I do and it stops me from doing things" and they're like what the actual fuck

Meanwhile other neurodivergents are like

[theautumnaldemon]

Are these anything

[ruinedchildhood]

[miggylol]

[nook-of-songs]

[aceoftwos]

[archmage-lleweneth]

[accessibleaesthetics]

Very Silly Concept: a show called "Accessibility Nightmares" but it's structured exactly like Kitchen Nightmares. An accessibility specialist goes to different establishments and helps them make their businesses more accessible.

The accessibility specialist asks why the door at the top of the small set of stairs has a wheelchair symbol on it. The owner replies that's the accessible bathroom. The camera zooms in on the specialist as they process this information.

A customer with a service dog comes in to a restaurant. The hostess tells them they don't allow dogs. The accessibly specialist looks over at the hostess like

And there are web accessibility episodes too. The accessibility specialist stares at the white text on the light pink background of the home page like

The specialist asks why not a single product picture has alt text, and the business owner says "Well I mean, it's makeup, why would a blind person be shopping for makeup?" The specialist just

The specialist asks the web designer how a screen reader user is supposed to complete the captcha portion of the password reset process when there is no audio alternative. The designer admits they don't know.

[soup-sorceress]

Anyone else still inspired by Okami *checks watch* uhh 19 years later?

[nights-at-crystarium]

"what's the point of life?" glad you asked! it is of course to experience ffxiv shadowbringers and then never shut up about it