i talked about this on my personal, but i'm talking about it again because it frankly makes me so upset — but one of the quiet tragedies of tai yang's life is the fact that, unless he is killed before any of his friends and loved ones, unless he is felled by another's blade … he will outlive every single one of them. there will come a day where he will help urianger and estinien to bury y'sthola, and thancred, and g'raha, and krile, and tataru — will be there when lyse and raubahn and lucia are laid to rest. where he will help alphinaud and alisaie plan their funerals, and will be there with ishgard to mourn aymeric. he will bury alphinaud and alisaie, his kid siblings, himself: may even one day be forced to bury his own daughter, ryne, should their timelines ever converge again, and he be forced to confront the reality of outliving his child. even erenville, who is a good century younger than tai yang, isn't safe as a fellow viera. and tai yang will push on despite it all, for those he has lost and those he may yet save, and yeah i'll cry about it —