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saw the post made by @caffeinated-moogle and you already know i gotta yap about my [UNNAMED SHIP 1] and [UNNAMED SHIP 2]
Why did that specific NPC (or group of NPCs) make your shipping brain go "bing" like a microwave?
okay so for nero. it was shadowbringers. specifically the twinning. i'm a lore fiend and the stuff that's in that dungeon has me just ding like a microwave and then i was like "Wait i already liked nero he's fucking cool actually and not just my biased brain!?" and i was eating good (i pointed at the boilmaster and went "WAIT WAIT WAIT!!!!!!!" and i had to explain it to the VC i was in cause no one else remembered what it was)
for ysayle. i actually just always liked her since the moment she appeared on screen. she was an interesting character that i thought was well written. i am still not over her being killed off because the writers didn't know what to do with her
Did it have anything to do with player preference?
i think i have a thing for engineers. because nero gives me the exact same feelings i got for garrus in mass effect
ysayle? no. she doesn't touch on any of my preferences that i can think of
Did your WoL (or non-WoL OC) grab you by the face and say, "Regrettably, they're the one(s)."
it was actually the reverse for haellen, the more i thought on it. since i had a lot of friends who were talking about their WoL's crushes or romantic interests at the time, my response was always "Yeah i think haellen is just too married to her job" but the more i thought on it she just kind of like. FNAF teleported closer and closer before putting me in a headlock and going "Its nero. Write it"
I think it was kind of a 50/50 case for ysayle? i very much like "She could fix ophelia" with her nodding along with a "She could fix me" case and decided to just make ophelia's story a straight up alternate telling of the canon story
Was the decision immediate, or did you have to come around to the idea?
I think it took a few months for the haellen/nero ship. mostly because i was untangling her character and figuring out if she would even want it or if nero would even care (Servey says: Yes) and then it was a case of just figuring out how to write them actually committing to the relationship. its been re-written like 5 times now and i've finally settled on it and i'm happy with it
Ophelia was kind of a bisexual disaster pre-The Trauma:tm: so it came naturally. The flirting was very much present from the first friendly interactions and very well received.
Did it feel like work to maneuver your personal canon so they fit together, or did it just evolve naturally?
Honestly haellen's whole story is "Jane WoL" so she's very canon-compliant because "Its what a hero would do" (Haellens own words as-per my writing) so most of the story for the ship is in-between story or during game-downtime. i think the biggest thing is her taking one look at wuk lamat and going "I nearly died a few [time frame] ago and now i'm happily married and have a cozy deskjob with my husband by my side. W h y would i go to tural?" and so dawntrail just never happened for haellens story (Not due to any reasons. I haven't played it yet) Other than that i think its not been too much work to maneuver things around
Well... Considering the events of HW and what happens to ysayle?... Its uh, its been a lot of work lol
Are they your sole ride-or-die OTP, or are there AUs/alternate storylines where your WoL falls in with someone else? If so, what made you curious to explore those other ships?
I think its very much ride-or-die for haellen. I can't really see her commiting to any other relationships. I myself can say shit like "Well. It'd probably be y'shtola or urianger if it wasn't nero" but also "Haellen is way too committed to her work for a love life" nero is quite literally a "This was lightning in a bottle. The stars had to align for this to happen" and i don't think they would ever align enough for haellen to look at uri/shtola and say more than "These are my co-workers and basically family"
at least for XIV ophelia. Also ride or die. she is very firmly in the "I don't think anyone else is capable of loving me specifically (A monster)" and is fully convinced the only reason ysayle is here is because of the flirting before ophelia went off the deep-end. (completely ignorant of the fact that ysayle also could've been a monster)
Though... TTRPG ophelia is in the throes of a budding romance with another players character...
Alternately, for anyone who's chosen not to ship their WoL/OC with NPCs, why is that the case? Is it likewise player preference, or did your character hold up a giant sign with, "Absolutely not, thanks," scribbled on it when you tried?
N/A
If your WoLship is with another OC, what made them a better fit than any of the NPCs? Could your WoL have connected with an NPC if not for that OC's presence in their life?
N/A
I'm curious about platonic ships, too! (Those are often my favorites!) Whatever you consider the most pivotal or poignant connection(s) forged between NPC and WoL, be it friendship, familial, mentorship, rivalry, and/or so forth! What made that connection stand out so much that it's essential for your WoL's lore?
oh for haellen the entire scions are found family. the youngers ones 100% got adopted as haellen is the unofficial mom of the group (woo oldest person there!!!!) and the more elder members she definitely see's as siblings/similar. it also makes the writing a lot more fun when everyone is like "hey haellen you need to take a break okay?" because of the double extra found family dynamic. they are all the cool grandparents of her and nero's daughter.
Ophelia is the twin of haurchefant (seperated at birth for extra angst. someone didn't want edmont to have to deal with "More problems") so she of course has the fortemps family and haurchefant himself as pretty pivotal people in her life. she 100% has a softer spot for emmanellain too, very protective of him. She's also very protective of the other twins (Alphinaud/alisaie) since she knows how deeply losing haurche hurt her and she only knew they were related for a short amount of time. She can only imagine the pain that would happen if either of the twins died
also zenos. Ophelia 100% had a... Something that is platonic but in weird ways with zenos, and she definitely tried to talk him down from their final fight (I think the writing thing i have is her going something like "Give me ten minutes to convince you not to fight me. After that if you aren't convinced to leave with me... We'll fight until one of us dies to break our tie hm?")
edit: OH BONUS UNREQUESTED PICS BECAUSE NOW I'M THINKING ABOUT THEM BOTH
man i make haellen do this kinda pose a lot lol
Without taking new pics, post one of your OCs as:
Romanceable NPC you wish you could romance
Quest Giving NPC
The Final Boss
Then Vs Now: Haellen Orestes
hey uh this got away from me a little bit and there's a massive wall of text and old screenshots detailing my adventure through FFXIV. it gets a little personal cause man this game was with me through some rough times, and those rough times did kinda shape my experience. so uh... yeah tl;dr i yap a lot. do not ask me to talk about my experiences with media i WILL ramble
2) Who's your OCs best friend? How did they become best friends?
Man i don't even know with haellen. it would obviously be one of my friends OC's (grabbing them and cupping their cheeks cause they're wonderful and i love them) but man i don't even KNOW who would all class as her best friend outside of that.
ophelia is much more simple. ysayle (what is girlfriend if not best friend?) the twins. and emmanellain
Thinking about the idea of all the ascians seeing WoL!Haellen as this like. Milquetoast very bland yes man type character (because that's how she portrays being the WoL) and then Shadowbringers rolls around and both Emet and elidibus are like "CHILL LADY CHILL" as haellen sassily does her thing and rips them apart
Its my birthday today. Which. By proxy. Means it's her birthday too!
Have some older gposes to celebrate another year of me. And a canonical year of haellen