#ask concept anything

[thelittlestancient]

Pirate AU

Are sky pirates okay? Because this is one I've actually contemplated writing!

Sky Pirate Captain Hephaistos? Yes please. That man *needs* some steampunk-looking gear. Observe:

2. Athena is the captain of a rival ship. They were married once, and the ongoing custody battle for Erich involves plentiful cannon fire.

3. Themis was touched (blessed, basically) by the supposedly-dead Hope-father (an archdeity) as a child--there's a mark on him. Pretty much only Temple Priests of the Twelve would recognize it. Athena also does, because she's been stealing the power of the also-supposedly-dead Life-mother (another archdeity).

4. Hephaistos is younger brother to Lahabrea, who is the king of a fairly prosperous nation known for their university of the arcane. Lahabrea and Meteor, king of the nation in which Themis was born, have been spatting over an Incident which occurred when Meteor was a student at said university--adolescent mischief which caused a bit of destruction, but no loss of life.

5. Themis is on his way to try and broker a peace deal between the two of them when his ship is shot down by Hephaistos' crew, who believe it's carrying treasure, leaving him their captive...

Worldbuilding bonus! 6. Once, the Hope-father and the Love-mother reigned over the world itself side by side, while their twelve children saw to the needs of the myriad races upon it (many of which went extinct in the mage-wars). One day an act of cruelty was committed--by whom, none could say, as both the Hope-father and the Love-mother claimed that the other had initiated the events. Their children split evenly between them--one of each element favoring his story, one of each element favoring hers. They set to fighting, and in the end, both Hope-father and Love-mother were destroyed.

Chastened by the depths to which they'd all sunk and the destruction they'd dealt to the world they loved, their children, now called the Twelve, made amends and set to restoring the land to rights.

But do gods ever really die, so long as someone still believes in them?

Can hope and love ever truly be extinguished from the world?

Thanks for the ask! This fic has been rattling around in my head for a good while now (close to a year!), somewhat inspired by a good friend's original novel (which is really good! go read it!). With his permission, I may yet file the serial numbers off of it and make it into an original work...

[thelittlestancient]

give me your thoughts on wol!elidibus. like, say he's not Zodiark's heart; maybe Emet is instead? he can be still one of the unsundered or a sundered reincarnation who gets his memories back or whatever, i'm intrigued by what you might come up with....and i don't think this is one we've talked about already

Oh wow, I have so many thoughts about Elidibus as WoL-adjacent or WoL/Azem companion, but I haven't really thought about this one in depth, and the reason why will be my first point! I usually let Loghrif be the Heart of Zodiark, here.

In spite of his earnestness, he's not actually that good at being Azem, and Elidibus' Seat gifts lend themselves to a very different style of WoL than canon affords us. He yearns for it, but he's no adventurer really: he'd be better suited to be a travelling magistrate.

That doesn't stop him from taking up the blade, the axe, the staff, the cane, the bow. He leaves the imprint of his knowledge on every job stone, and imbues his fighting styles with the memories of his Convocation brethren. Lahabrea, the Summoner. Emet-Selch, the Dark Knight. Nabriales, the Viper. Loghrif, the White Mage. Hythlodaeus, the Bard. Azem, the seeker of the new, the Machinist.

(The Heart forgets, but Elidibus remembers. There is none of Hades' mournful, yearning sentiment here: the memories of Elidibus are reflections in colorless pure crystal. What was and what will be are indistinct from each other. Elidibus lies between at what is, in his own mind less a hero than an arbiter of fate.)

The Black Shroud is a strange place for the Warrior of Light to make his home, but he swears the woods sing to him, and it's far enough out from the bustle of the city that the emotions of others encroach little on his mind, leaving him free to contemplate the state of the star when he is not otherwise required, a pale, white-robed figure standing alone in the misty forest, where even the sylphs do not go.

Above all, the Warrior of Light is hope, and hope is not merely what Elidibus knows how to be.

It is what he is.

Thanks for the ask! I prefer to think of him here as Zodiark's Chosen, rather than Hydaelyn's. Maybe a role-swap of Ascians and Scions? I read a wonderfully delicious AU of that once...

[thelittlestancient]

WIP Wednesday!

Tagged by @azems-familiar Tagging: whomever would like to do it! but I would love to hear what's on the docket from @ectojyunk and @feralkwe...

Since you all liked the Sky Pirates AU so much, have a piece of it:

The morning after their arrival, Hephaistos awakens to find King Azem standing outside of his cell, watching him.

"I spoke with Themis," the king says, voice soft, and Hephaistos can't help but brace himself. "He says you saved his life--risking your ship, your crew, and your own life in the process. Hardly the sort of behavior I'd expect from a ruthless pirate intent on my destruction. And yes, he told me about your letter."

"The woman who captured him, she was…" A dozen words cycle through Hephaistos' brain. "Mad," he settles for. "She lusted for power, with which she sought to control others. I do not know if such a thing is possible, but she wanted to steal his. Had I not intervened, she certainly would have tried."

"And the fact that your son was aboard her ship played no part in your decision?"

Hephaistos winces. "I--"

King Azem smiles at him, shaking his head a bit. "I would expect no less. You play a coward's role but you're willing to stand and fight when the stakes are personal enough--and you want them to be. The mask suits you less well than you think, Hephaistos, but you've sunk too much into the act and so I'll play along. I'll let you out of here on one condition."

"I was not expecting to find myself an open book, laid bare before a mortal enemy. What do you want?"

"Not what I want--Themis wants his diplomatic mission to your king, and I intend to see that he has it. I'll be sending along a letter offering once again to discuss reparations for my misspent youth to King Lahabrea and the possibility of a permanent ambassador, a hostage if you will, to his court."

"You intend to see Themis stationed there as a regular post?"

King Azem sighs. "I have…clipped his wings a bit, I fear. His judgement of me was harsh but neither unfair nor unearned. When he was first brought to me, I'd just lost my mother. She was assassinated by what seemed to be agents of King Lahabrea's at the time, but now I am no longer so certain--I fear some other power is sowing dissent between us for reasons of its own. Such is one of the things I wish to discuss with him. Perhaps he will have information that I do not; perhaps we will have an easier time solving this mystery as allies than as enemies. Regardless, I was a young king and a lonely one, and then Themis was there, speaking to me with a wisdom far beyond his young years and sharing her coloring. It was like I had a bit of her back, in a way, and I feared to ever lose it.

"But he deserves to seek his own happiness, rather than having his fate bound up so tightly in mine. An adventure to a foreign land--with a proper escort this time--will serve him well. Besides, he implied to me that he had already begun the process of, ah, establishing diplomatic relations, shall we say? And so my condition, my charge to you, is this: keep him safe. Protect him without stifling him, as I could not."

Hephaistos turns the king's words over in his head a long moment. "This is…"

"A mission. Whatever else you read into my words is on you." He winks. "The guards will free you when I'm upstairs--alas, security must be observed, even now. You'll be escorted back to your ship. Themis is packing now and will meet you there this afternoon. Let the dockmaster know what supplies you need for the journey. I will not have my ambassador traveling in discomfort."

[thelittlestancient]

2. a headcanon you weren't sure about at first but have come to like!

TRANS MALE LAHABREA

TRANS MALE LAHABREA

TRANS MALE LAHABREA

Specifically for modern AUs--I headcanon that Ancients don't really Do Gender like we do anyways, so it doesn't really apply there. And specifically trans male Lahabrea as being a product of the pre-modern trans culture I grew up in, given that he's older: the pre-WPATH transitioning guidelines including the Real Life Experience, the ubiquity and necessity of carry letters, his quiet-but-fierce stubbornness born of having to prove himself to every single medical professional he meets, the complex aggression cycles born of an era when hormone doses and their effects on the body were less understood.

The phoenix as ultimate trans male metaphor, the self reborn from own ashes: we bear our scars into our new lives, but we define ourselves by what we made of them, not by what losses they signify.

[thelittlestancient]

Look you are obviously the expert on Elidibus and Lahabrea (both halves of him). You are the first person I think of when I think of those characters and they are the characters I think of when I think of you. You can have Meteor too if you want him you're the only person I trust to make him not boring

you have been diagnosed with Recent Follower (What character do you consider me to be the authority on? This will tell me a great deal about how long you've Been Aware Of me.)

[thelittlestancient]

Nero! For the ask game.

Des and Nero don't have much in common, and you'd think as a result they'd just be very ??? at each other--but such is profoundly not the case. Des will never forget the way Nero stood up for them at the meeting in Gridania. They don't know much about engineering or Allagan technology, but they appreciate a good Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robot battle as much as anyone can and are very eager to be involved in the, ahem, testing stages of Nero's work.

For his part, Nero appreciates Des' fine motor skills as a GSM and willingness to help out with destructive testing (there's a lot of cowards when it comes to destructive testing with Nero, or at least so he claims). And they're willing to listen to him earnestly when he babbles on about his special interests, learning more and more along the way.

Des manifests their own weapons in combat, but if they didn't, they'd only carry stuff Nero made, because Nero has taken an interest in learning how they fight and what they need. They think he should set up shop and provide that to other adventurers; Nero doesn't think competing with Rowena is worth it. So they visit when they can, share stories and drink and lament the uprightness of the people around them, two chaotic souls in a world given to a very different, and far sadder, kind of chaos than they were meant for.

[thelittlestancient]

What are your character's thoughts on Nabriales? (I had to pick an ancient!!)

Diakone (Ancient Des) was passed over for Nabriales' Seat: while eminently qualified, Diakone was considered to be too much of a pacifist, and therefore antithetical to the nature of the Seat. They would end up as close friends and sparring partners.

Some of that mindset has bled over into Des; they're utterly fascinated by his methodology, but think he's far too eager for a fight, even in circumstances where fighting would be a detriment to the stated goal. A sound strategist, but a poor tactician, and up against the Warrior of Light, the latter would prove to be his downfall.

And a tragedy: he is no less bound to the nature of his Seat than Des is to the nature of the Seat of Azem. Sundering has weakened those bonds, but to prevail against it still requires an effort.

[thelittlestancient]

Top 5 locations!

Amaurot, The Tempest: This one was always going to be obvious, I believe. Macarenses Angle is still and probably always Meteor's home point.

Sapphire Avenue Exchange, Ul'dah: Once the red-headed stepchild of FFXIV's markets, the addition of the extra aethernet shard has turned it into a bustling hub, in my favorite of Eorzea's cities. This, more than Limsa, has become the heart of what I feel like actually living and trading in Eorzea would feel like.

The Azim Steppe: Yes, the whole thing. The music and environment here combines to make my favorite natural location in the game, and the contrast with the nearby austerity (in both color and life) of the Burn just adds to the beauty of it all.

Ala Mhigo: Again, yes, all of it. The landscapes are starkly stunning, especially at sunrise and sunset with the light rays refracting around the mountains and off the water of Loch Seld. The Lochs night theme, 'Old Wounds,' is my single favorite song in the entire game.

Just north of Anagnorisis, Elpis: L A M P. No really, they really stepped it up with environmental detail in EW, even if the zone aesthetics weren't particularly to my taste, and I'm very excited to see what they do heading forward into Dawntrail with the increased graphics requirements and the lighting and shader changes they're making. Elpis is where I go when I want to turn off the game music and turn UP ambient sounds, when it's a grey and dismal day outside and I need the sounds of the living world.

Thanks, @crrahsa-yamah 💜!