thebmatt

thebmatt aka Brandon || 42 || he/him FFXIV - Crystal DC - Goblin (Oldman Franks, Rheika Aliapoh, Fearless Willow, Dahkar Darkspear).

[thebmatt]

Welcome

HI there. Welcome to the tumblr where I share all of my final fantasy XIV writing, screenshots, and other fun stuff. 

Writing will be hosted both here and at the following locations Your Quest Log is Full - I also write about my thoughts on other gaming I’m doing. Mostly MMO related. There’s some World of Warcraft Short stories as well. Archive of Our Own

You can also check out my twitter, if you so desire Before we get started, some general links My Glamours on Eorzea Collection FF XIV Write 2021 Master Post FF XIV Write 2022 Master Post

And without further ado, let’s meet my team of Warriors of Light

Aleister "Old Man" Franks  Highlander Hyur

Summoner/Scholar/Machinist/Paladin/Reaper

Birthplace: Lordaeron, Azeroth

Franks loves magic, technology, and the science behind both. If he'd been born Sharlayan, he'd probably have multiple Archonates by now. He used to be very reticent about his past as a Forsaken on Azeroth, but time with his new found family, along with the return of his believed-dead wife, have caused him to open up more about his past as well as hope for the future, a hope he’ll now always fight for.

For more character details, click here Character Layers Ask The Old Man’s Current Weapons of Choice Tumblr Tag

Rheika Aliapoh Keeper of the Moon Miqo’te

Bard/Monk/Red Mage/Gunbreaker/Viper

Birthplace: The Black Shroud, a small Keeper community close to Gridania 

The team’s nominal leader. Rheika is charming and charismatic...most of the time. If you’re bringing pain and suffering to others, however, you’re gonna learn just how vicious a fighter she is. Rheika grew up facing the worst of the Gridanian culture’s discrimination, and she’s dedicated her life, and her choice of combat disciplines, to fighting oppression and protecting the innocent.

For more character details: Click here Character Layers Ask Rheika’s current Weapons of Choice Tumblr Tag

Fearless WIllow Sea Wolf Roegadyn

Warrior/Astrologian/Samurai/Dancer/Black Mage

Birthplace: Aerslant 

Fearless grew up in an emotionally abusive home, always told she was never good for anything. She learned to fight well with an axe, and fled home to Eorzea to make a life as an adventurer, adopting her “translated” name to hide from her family and to symbolize a new chapter in her life. Turns out she’s actually great at a lot more than that when surrounded by encouraging and caring friends.

For more character details, click here Character Layers Ask Fearless’ Current Weapons of Choice Tumblr Tag

Dahkar Darkspear Xaelan Au Ra

Dragoon/White Mage/Ninja/Dark Knight/Pictomancer

Birthplace: The Azim Steppe 

Dahkar’s tribe was slaughtered by beasts when he was young, and his mother took them to Eorzea to begin a new life in the Shroud. Though a Far Easterner by birth, he knows very little of the ways of his people. Somehow, despite his often destructive means of combat, he’s generally the straight man of this ragtag bunch of misfits. 

For more character details, click here Tumblr Tag Finally, I’ll list below a few other character development surveys I completed for the whole team below Hard Mode! FFXIV-Specific Hard Mode!

[questions-about-blorbos]

Reblog if it’s okay for people to inbox you questions, headcanon, theories, anything about your Blorbo

[thebmatt]

Not every day you run into someone in a duty finder group you only really know through tumblr! Thanks for a smooth run through the Clyteum @erickgage!

[thebmatt]

how many of you took a screenshot or other capture of this moment. I am guessing the amount is considerable.

[demilypyro]

wuk lamat was hated because she was a yuri girl in a yaoi game

[demilypyro]

when a male character becomes a central focus of the plot and has deep connections to other characters, this is referred to as peak fiction. the people love emet selch and thancred and even zenos. but when a female character does this, she is rejected. scorned. such injustice.... kicks a rock

[awawawawa-type-girl]

Genuinely I think a big reason for wuk lamat hate is that she's a hrothgar. I think if everything was exactly unchanged but she was a cute little conventionally attractive mi'qote, there wouldn't have been half as much hate. But bc she's a muscular furry woman people flip their shit.

[dragongirlteeth]

Also an important point.

Lamaty'i deserves none of the hate she gets and I will defend her to my dying breath.

Other VAs get cameos and big followings, Sena Bryer streams on twitch (@squidsena) to an audience of usually less than 50. She's been constantly searching for work because she participated in the VA strike.

[thebmatt]

WIP Wednesday!

Tagged by @blackestnight

Got no FFXIV writing to share, but I am once again doing what I did in 2024 and doing a character creation challenge. New TTRPG characters every week, with each month having a subchallenge.

My therapist pointed out that it was an excellent coping mechanism for my various mental health problems, so I'm exercising it again. Plus the 3rd party TTRPG creators I follow keep making cool things

For April I chose to focus on a new(ish) game I haven't done much with before in the form of Tales of the Valiant. I say "ish" because it is ultimately just an interation on 5e D&D, but they've made some unique subclasses I really like, as well as improved a few WOTC creations. Not going exclusively with this system for the month, the goal is to make at least one a week.

So far I've only created a warlock using the Elemental Regent patron, but it's only the first day of the month!

[thebmatt]

So for those who don't know I'm part of an FFXIV Podcast called A Podcast Reborn. One thing we've gone every year in March is a tournament to crown the best waifu and husbando.

And every year I have FOUGHT to get Aymeric a victory for the Husbandos only to be outvoted for one reason or another. I am a (mostly) straight man.

All of the belief and feelings I have that Aymeric should have long won this silly tournament we do comes from the folks I follow here that write such amazing WoL/Aymeric fic. I feel like I have failed you all for the past three years, but this year the tournament voting is half over and Aymeric is FINALLY one of the finalists.

I will try my damndest not to fail you guys this year. It should have happened long ago, but I am DETERMINED to right this wrong!

[thebmatt]

I DIDN’T FAIL YOU ALL.

Aymeric de Borel is the winner of the 2026 Husbando Hullabaloo (as presented by A Podcast Reborn)

He and Lyna (the winner of the 2026 Waifu Wars) join the illustrious list of champions….and also Emet-Selch who my degen cohosts voted to win last year.

[medi-melancholy]

it does admittedly bum me out a little when people see strawberry and immediately go "muscle mommy!!" or "dommy mommy!" just because she's tall or a femroe--she is in fact a 0 on the muscle slider, and she is not meant to be dommy in the slightest

literally part of why i made berry is because big and tall girls being allowed to be girlish and ultra femme and silly and cutesy is important to me, irl tall formerly-a-girl who has always felt out of place trying to express my love of cute and pink things--so when people immediately fall back onto the "all tall women are doms regardless of their actual personality" or "all femroes are supposed to be butch" brand of stereotypes it makes me :(

[medi-melancholy]

your 'dommy muscle mommy' has all the presence of a sparkly pink marshmallow peep and the consistency to match. she has more boob than muscle and brains combined. the only thing she's dominating is the quadruple tier ice cream sundae she just ordered for dinner. if you ask her to step you on there's a nonzero chance she starts tearing up because you are lovely and don't deserve to be crushed :( that sounds mean :( wouldn't you like a hug instead??

[xshrimpcake]

they get a bit closer each expac

[kazamajun]

Lyse Hext

[thebmatt]

So for those who don't know I'm part of an FFXIV Podcast called A Podcast Reborn. One thing we've gone every year in March is a tournament to crown the best waifu and husbando.

And every year I have FOUGHT to get Aymeric a victory for the Husbandos only to be outvoted for one reason or another. I am a (mostly) straight man.

All of the belief and feelings I have that Aymeric should have long won this silly tournament we do comes from the folks I follow here that write such amazing WoL/Aymeric fic. I feel like I have failed you all for the past three years, but this year the tournament voting is half over and Aymeric is FINALLY one of the finalists.

I will try my damndest not to fail you guys this year. It should have happened long ago, but I am DETERMINED to right this wrong!

[thebmatt]

Tag Game: Get to Know Your Mutuals

tagged by @blackestnight

1. Origin of your username? kind of boring. First name is Brandon, last name is Matthews. Someone in college abbreviated it as B-matt. It stuck and I typically use it as my social handle now except for a few locations where i use oldmanfranks 2. I will always order this food I was born and raised in texas and lived there til 2014. I grew up eating texmex and it remains my favorite food. If the option to order fajitas is there, I am TAKING it

3. Overused emoji: I tend to use 😁 after making a terrible pun. I use 💙 to send love to the spouse, or 😜 when I’m teasing her 4. Current favorite show/media/book TV wise I don't watch much these days except pro wrestling. I'm an AEW fan primarily, but I have some friends who have gotten into pro wrestling as well so we generally watch a lot of different things together. Book wise I am in the middle of Drew Hayes' second book from the Spells, Swords, and Stealth series, but one of my 3rd party D&D books I backed on kickstarter recently arrived, so I'm taking a break to read that. It's called Songs of the Spellbound Sea by somanyrobots, get it here if you want!

5. Song on repeat this changes like....daily, lately I've been on a classic rock kick, but Obikatiekat, Futakuchi Mana, & Zephyrianna's cover of Kingslayer has also entered back into that "must listen to a bunch of times" list lately

6. Last thing you hyperfixated on still hyperfixated on making TTRPG characters, primarily D&D and PF2E, and especially from a small group of third party creators. Been hyperfixated on this for the past couple years. My therapist says it's a good coping mechanism for my anxiety at least? 7. Oddly specific thing that brings you joy related to the above, typically when I make a character I do a simple combination of origins, how they got their powers/training, and what set them on the path of adventure. I typically go for setting agnostic as much as I can, but sometimes I'll make something for a specific campaign, either one of my own or otherwise. When I really nail a character concept that I can just see interacting with other characters from a specific table, it makes me hella giddy. 8. Phone wallpaper Lock screen - my lovely spouse.

Homescreen - a shot of the downtown denver skyline taken from the Denver Museum of Nature and Science

9. What smell makes you happy? A lot of food smells, especially baking ones 10. Morning, night or other type of person? I've become more of a night person thanks to the phenomenon known as Revenge Bedtime Procrastination

11. What's your work/profession? I work in Data Governance for a big manufacturing company. tagging: I am far too anxious to actually ask anyone specifically, so if you're reading this and would like to do it, consider yourself tagged!

[voidsentprinces]

...what if the next tank job is magitek garlean base and this is how we finally get Nero's hammer? And how they sew Nero back into the MSQ? Cause we need Nero in the MSQ. Where the fuck is Nero in my MSQ! HE'S THE MAIN CHARACTER OF FFXIV, YOSHI P!

[unionizedwizard]

ok everyone what's YOUR most unpopular ffxiv opinion? mine is that ARR is in my top 3 expansions + actually great as a whole

[thebmatt]

oh I have more than a few. Enjoy the tags.

[thebmatt]

Just a few screengrabs of some the many many incredible and gorgeous women we meet during the course of Dawntrail.

Okay yeah these two are my own creations, but I'm still gonna count them.

[thebmatt]

she so pretty

[mmhberry]

I’ve been redoing shadowbringers recently, and there’s something I want you to see.

I want you to look at this sandwich basket the exarch made for wol after returning from il mheg

looks delicious right ? now count each of them, if you count everything that makes 14 sandwiches

in this scene wol talks with ardbert (with the screen fading out), then goes to sleep. when they wake up we see that the whole basket is empty: this implies wol ate a basket of fourteen sandwiches in one sitting didn’t even put some on the side of later or anything do you know how hungry you’d have to be to eat fourteen sandwiches like that.

[thebmatt]