Ashelia ;;

{ indie, selective Ashelia B'nargin Dalmasca of FFXII: Zodiac Age }

[northswain]

@hanoikari​ | meme

❛  buried in your bones, there’s an ache that you can’t ignore.  ❜

Such a thing could not be wholly be denied, could it? No more than, as had been stated, it could indeed be ignored. Questioning grey eyes turned to the woman - had she known, somehow been able to tell?

“Perhaps it is not something that should be, lest we forget what has brought us thus far.”  

[northswain]

@blthiers​  |  FFXII Meme

❝ Our paths keep crossing, yours and mine. It’s more than just coincidence. ❞

“If not coincidence, then what would you choose to call it?” Of course, it was not a bad thing, the way they seemed to find each other; and she certainly did not complain of it... but she did not know quite how she felt at the possible implication of there being some invisible hand of fate at play, ushering them together. Had some form of destiny been guiding the paths of those she cared about - and loved - thus far in her life, then perhaps she had endured quite enough of its influence. 

[northswain]

honorisen​:

“Yeah, no kidding!” The strike at his newfound acquaintance was enough to force Zack’s grip on his blade to tighten as he fought to reign in every instinct that was yelling for him to rush headlong into the fray. The creature was an unknown to him, but as SOLDIER, the unknown had always seemed like his problem to deal with.

“So, what’s the point of even being out here with this thing to begin with?” he’d snap back, never once taking his eyes off the oversized reptile and its nearly ground shaking hiss as it sat. Zack could only imagine it was readying itself for another lash. “You weren’t really gonna try to take this thing down on your own, were you?”

“These paths have been unsafe to tread of late, in a large part due to the likes of our serpentine friend here. Traveling through without encountering at least one of them would be a rare feat.” Or, require the use of an airship - but even then there were some places that still could only be reached on foot or by Chocobo, and vipers had a habit of springing out from their burrows at the first sign of any unexpected company.

He would be right, that the creature was preparing to lash out, but this time it was not a forward strike. Instead, it drew itself upward in a display of threat and whipped with dual-spiked tail in a circular slash, as though to show both of them it meant business. Blade brought up in defense glanced across scales, sparking as though she had crossed swords with the beast as the impact forced her half a step back to steady herself. “That was the plan, yes.” Though her being alone had not been. “To retreat now would only mean retracing my steps to return later, would it not be better to push through?”

[vgosts]

Visit Original Link

The Royal City of Rabanastre / Town Ward Upper Stratum - Hitoshi Sakimoto . Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call.

[northswain]

WHAT LOVE INTEREST ARE YOU IN A DATING SIM?

The sweetheart with an enigmatic dark past

You're always polite and kind with others. That makes people feel comfortable around you and many would consider you a close friend. However, you seldom feel connected with those around you. You feel like they don't know you, the real you, and they never will because you'll never allow them. It takes a great amount of time and trust for you to show yourself as you truly are, because you repress most of your feelings and desires, and mask them with a calm and collected personality. It just seems easier that way, safer. But remember that if you bottle everything up, it will explode one day, maybe in ways you aren't proud of.

tagged by: @deliverant​ (Thank you! <3)

tagging: [insert your url here]

[ohisms]

𝑻𝑯𝑰𝑺 𝑰𝑺 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑮𝑹𝑬𝑨𝑻𝑬𝑺𝑻 𝑺𝑯𝑶𝑾 !   (  lyric sentence starters based ‘pon the greatest showman ost. some lines may have been edited for better use.)

❛  buried in your bones, there’s an ache that you can’t ignore.  ❜ ❛  it’s freedom.  ❜ ❛  the sun can’t stop us.  ❜ ❛  it’s only this moment, i don’t care what comes after.  ❜ ❛  it’s here, right in front of you.  ❜ ❛  this is where you wanna be.  ❜ ❛  this feels like home.  ❜ ❛  i don’t care if they call me crazy.  ❜ ❛  we can live in a world that we design.  ❜ ❛  a million dreams are keeping me awake.  ❜ ❛  however big, however small, let me be part of it all.  ❜ ❛  share your dreams with me.  ❜ ❛  say that you’ll bring me along.  ❜ ❛  you’re just a dead man walking.  ❜ ❛  leave behind your narrow mind, you’ll never feel the same.  ❜ ❛  no more living in those shadows.  ❜ ❛  once you see it, you’ll never be the same.  ❜ ❛  you cannot be afraid.  ❜ ❛  right here, right now, i’ve put the offer out.  ❜ ❛  i know you see it.  ❜ ❛  live a little crazy.  ❜ ❛  risk it all.  ❜ ❛  don’t you wanna get away from the same old part you’ve gotta play?  ❜ ❛  i’ve got what you need.  ❜ ❛  i hate to tell you, but it just won’t happen.  ❜ ❛  so thanks, but no.  ❜ ❛  i admire you.  ❜ ❛  i’ve got what i need.  ❜ ❛  is this really how you like to spend your days?  ❜ ❛  - but i guess i’ll leave that up to you.  ❜ ❛  you set off a dream in me.  ❜ ❛  take my hand.  ❜ ❛  towers of gold are still too little.  ❜ ❛  it’ll never be enough for me.  ❜ ❛  i’ve learned to be ashamed of all my scars.  ❜ ❛  i know that there’s a place for us.  ❜ ❛  i am brave, i am bruised, i am who i’m meant to be.  ❜ ❛  this is me.  ❜ ❛  i’m not scared to be seen.  ❜ ❛  we are warriors, that’s what we’ve become.  ❜ ❛  there’s nothing i’m not worthy of.  ❜ ❛  you know i want you, it’s not a secret i try to hide.  ❜ ❛  i know you want me.  ❜ ❛  don’t keep saying our hands are tied.  ❜ ❛  who can stop me if i decide that you’re my destiny?  ❜ ❛  what if we rewrite the stars?  ❜ ❛  say you were meant to be mine.  ❜ ❛  it’s up to you  &  it’s up to me, no one can say what we get to be.  ❜ ❛  the world could be ours.  ❜ ❛  you think it’s easy?  ❜ ❛  we’re able to be just you  &  me within these walls, but when we go outside you’ll wake up  &  see that it was hopeless after all.  ❜ ❛  how can you say you’ll be mine?  ❜ ❛  i’m not the one you were meant to find.  ❜ ❛  it’s not up to you, it’s not up to me.  ❜ ❛  it feels impossible.  ❜ ❛  you know i want you, but i can’t have you.  ❜ ❛  a man remembers who was there for him when the glitter fades  &  the walls won’t hold.  ❜ ❛  what remains can only be what’s true.  ❜ ❛  if all was lost, there’s more i gained  -  ‘cause it led me back to you.  ❜ ❛  those were someone else’s dreams.  ❜ ❛  when i stop and see you here, i remember who all this was for.  ❜

[kaschra]

Final Fantasy XII Quickenings - Ashe

[northswain]

@honorisen​  |  liked for a starter

Frost laden shield was lowered from whence it had been held aloft, as the tip of her sword dipped to grace blades of grass that had yet been left untrodden by boot and scale alike. The large leaden viper that now coiled between them had momentarily stilled its advances, attention now drawn between her and the newcomer on the scene, as though trying to decide which prey to pursue. Ashe did not intend to allow it the opportunity to choose either of them.

“I would advise caution,” she called across to him with a word of warning. The sound of her voice called the creature her way, its hooded head whipping toward her with a hiss and snap of fangs - and the princess once again readied her guard. “These creatures are faster than they look.”

[northswain]

@magnumbullet​​  |  FFXII Meme

❝ You’ve let your eyes betray your heart. ❞

“Have I?” It would not truly come as a surprise. While Ashe could be reserved when she needed to be ( such royal countenance befitting of a princess had been taught to her at a young age ), it was often easy enough to tell if something was troubling her. Especially now, when there was much to occupy her thoughts. Those same eyes then lifted to look upon the face of the stranger robed in scarlet - whose own gaze she found not to be anywhere near as revealing as hers had apparently been.

“Might I inquire as to what it is they have revealed to you?”

[northswain]

shadowborders​:

@northswain​ ( sc )

Layers of fog and mist cloud their vision, the Feywood a natural obstacle to the city of yore. It’s not the only thing heavy in the air; Dr. Cid’s taunts and the mysterious presence of the one called Venat made him feel trapped in someone’s web. This was true for all of them, but truest for the princess who took lead, cleaving with a conviction yet not clear to him through the nebulous road ahead despite the cloudiness in her own gaze. It worried him- all of them, even if he was the only one to speak up.

“Your majesty?“ Basch began, voice kept humble and low but clear enough to catch her attention. “What’s on your mind? You appear distracted.“

It would be easy for one to get lost, here, in the Feywood - and in a sense, Ashe had done just that, though not in terms of their navigation. It was within her own thoughts that part of her wandered, turned about and caught between everything that had happened in Archades and the multitude of questions of what was yet to come along the path that lay ahead.

It was Basch’s words that finally managed to pull her from troubled introspections, her gaze at last lifting from the drifting mist that had previously been drawing her focus. “Perhaps I am...” came quiet admission, accompanied by a soft shake of her head, as though in futile bidding to dispel thoughts plaguing her. “In truth, it is the nethicite... and what is to be done with it. Should the doctor's words ring true, there will be much to be decided.”    

[robvalentines]

Ashe // requested by @themadtaitan

[northswain]

illunaris​:

@shardheir

Balthier’s brows arched as he watched a very generous amount of ​Balfonheim’s best Salamander ale getting poured into Ashe’s cup by a waitress. “Princess. Are you trying to set yourself on fire?” He had great doubts that Ashe was used to such a strong drink. 

“I can assure you that is not my intention.” Ashe reached for the cup to draw it closer, but did not lift it just yet. Instead she paused, tracing her fingers along the side of it, feeling the gradual change in temperature as it radiated through the glass. Indeed, it was not her usual fare, but it had merely been a matter of the establishment's selection. “Have I reason to be concerned?”

[northswain]

gainsborro​:

“  it’s  kinda  pretty  —  i  mean  —  in  a  dark  and  scary  kind  of  way.  ”  her  eyes  settle  back  on  the  sky  with  very  little  in  it.  she  could  hardly  see  anything  ,  but  somehow  she  still  felt  at  peace  in  it’s  gentle  solace.  “  don’t  know  ,  maybe  you  can  call  me  a  little  crazy  for  thinking  this  way  ..  but  ..  guess  if  i’m  gonna  confide  in  a  stranger  ,  i’d  like  it  to  be  you  tonight.  it  feels  like  the  universe  is  ahead  of  me  now  and  all  i  can  do  is  try  to  grab  it  ..  like  the  planet  has  something  to  say  to  me  and  there  is  a  door  that  i  cannot  reach  yet.  maybe  someday  i  will.  i  hope  you  find  your  door  too  eventually  ..  the  planet  says  we  all  have  one  after  all  —  ”

There was something about the stars that Ashe found almost comforting - even setting aside all symbolic associations to the divine. They were ever-present, seeming to travel along their skyward paths with the passage of seasons only to return once more to where they began, like celestial clockwork. It was strange, in that sense, to be standing under a sky so vacant of their light. “The planet... has something to say?” The words were repeated in question with curious interest, having recalled to her in some ways the manner in which Fran and the other Viera had spoken of The Wood. It was with a slight incline of her head that she turned to the woman beside her. “Your outlook seems reassuring, I certainly would not see fit to call it crazy. Rather the opposite.”

[catiuapavel]

Final Fantasy XII character art by Akihiko Yoshida. Those artworks can be seen during the credits.

I finished the game yesterday and I was dying to know if HQ textless versions of them existed somewhere on the internet since the game has been out for a long time. Sadly my search wasn’t satisfying… But you know what they say “If it doesn’t exist then do it yourself.” Editing the text out of these pictures took a huge amount of screenshots and a huge amount of hours but now I’m happy to share the credit artworks of FFXII, restored as best as I could.

[northswain]

blthiers​:

      ❝  princess.  ❞  forthright voice,  echoes in the deepest parts of the zertinan caverns,  noted is the apprentice thief off in the distance dusting off a jar he hopes is full of treasure.  potions,  mayhaps but nothing worth keeping for long.  ❝  i trust when you say you only wish for my accompaniment as you journey forth on your righteous quest,  that you alone shall raise a blade but you are not truly alone in such …  ❞  digits point in vaan’s direction,  head first in the open container.  ❝  he,  for example.  he will follow you and defend you,  fight for you,  whether you say so or not   he fights for you,  for dalmasca and for someone he lost. ❞

balthier lowers his arm.  hand gracing betelgeuse by his side.  ❝  you have a foebreaker,  an archer,  a mage at your side.  you have a gunman.  you have us all for your cause and for your kingdom.  so respectfully,  allow us to be your swords  and  your shields when appropriate.  you will not endure lonesome,  and you will not fight lonesome. ❞

@northswain​   /   i wanted to continue that ask so badly.

Though part of her might still have wished to counter, to once again affirm her stated position, she found herself silent as her gaze followed his outstretched arm to where Vaan continued his search with a youthful eagerness. ‘He fights for you, for Dalmasca, and for someone he lost.' Weighted, were those words, as she knew all too well that feeling of loss... Her father... Rasler... Ashe fought for them as much as she did for her kingdom and its people. She could hardly ask that he not follow the same path that she herself pursued.

Yet therein also lay the root of her reservations. The sword of Dalmasca had always aided her allies, but its princess questioned; in calling them to her own aid, would she need risk losing them, as well? “If that is your wish, then I would be glad of you, of all of you... but...” It was here that she paused for a moment, a soft sigh before she looked once more to him. “Surely you see the path ahead, its many twists that cannot be seen beyond from where we stand. In a similar fashion, I know not the full measure of what I would be leading you into.”  

[northswain]

// Thinking about that one piece of artwork in the credits with Little Ashe hugging an adolescent Chocobo and just looking so happy. That’s definitely the face of a girl snuggling a beloved pet, and now I’m just imagining the adorable 'what if' of an even tinier Ashe being given a Chocobo chick and the two of them growing up together. 

Ashe having a little bit of a soft spot for Chocobos, is essentially what I’m getting at here.

[northswain]

@blthiers​  |  FFXII Meme

❝ Are you asking me to be your sword, to strike where you might not? ❞

“I would not ask such a thing of you, Balthier.” Dove grey eyes looked to his, her words both soft-spoken yet affirmed. “Nor would I of anyone. Should there be need of my sword, I would rather it be moved by my hand. Were I not willing to strike, would it not be better to stay my blade?”  

There she paused, with a slight shake of her head. “No. I would not wish for you to fight in my stead, I would only ask you to do so by my side.”