glamour is the real endgame

glamour, commission, & shitpost archive background #1 (picnic) by bloodsbane background #2 (angel) & icon by jay

[anneapocalypse]

Inspired by this post, WoL QotD! How did your WoL/OC's parents and/or guardians fuck them up?

(Alternately, if they didn't do that, what effect did they have on your character?)

[velvet-dusk]

They gave her an extremely over-developed sense of duty to the greater good, at the cost of her own happiness and well-being :)

(in fairness, this DID stop her from becoming a terrifyingly powerful evil sorceress, which was a very real possibility. but still.)

[omaano]

Thank you @ostentenacity for commissioning me for drawing this beautiful character for you! 🧡

[ostentenacity]

picture in honor of last clear of the patch :')

[velvet-dusk]

blue!

(prog outfit for next tier maybe?)

glamour plate --- Weapon: Ultimate Edenmorn Cane

Head: Makai Moon Guide's Circlet [Midnight Blue] Body: Seneschal Prince's Jacket [Pastel Blue/Midnight Blue] Hands: Appointed Gloves [None/Pumpkin Orange] Legs: Seigneur's Breeches [Pastel Blue/Qiqirn Brown] Feet: Demonic Thighboots [None/Qiqirn Brown]

Earring: Turquoise Earrings Neck: Augmented Crystarium Necklace of Healing

[ostentenacity]

YEAHHHHHHHHHHH

[ostentenacity]

NEW FAVORITE MOUNT

bonus: accurate simulation of what it feels like to be standing on the pvp tiles and have someone trap you into a corner

[ostentenacity]

dawntrail location/mount spoilers

HELL YEAH

[velvet-dusk]

Main Hand - Ultimate Anarchy (not shown)

-

Head - Troian Circlet of Fending

Body - Augmented Lunar Envoy's Jacket of Fending [Celeste Green]

Hands - Fierce Tyrant's Gauntlets [Aldgoat Brown]

Legs - Educand's Sailor Skirt [Celeste Green]

Feet - Fierce Tyrant's Sollerets [Aldgoat Brown]

-

Earring - Epochal Earrings of Fending

[ostentenacity]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Final Fantasy XIV Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Ryne & Thancred Waters, Ryne & Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Warrior of Light & Thancred Waters, Urianger Augurelt & Ryne (background) Characters: Ryne (Final Fantasy XIV), Thancred Waters, Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Urianger Augurelt Additional Tags: background Ryne/Gaia, very background Thancred/Urianger, Hurt/Comfort, Mind Control, mind control recovery, Relationship Study, Character Study, Shadowbringers Spoilers, Alternate Universe - Futures Rewritten (Ultimate), Families of Choice, kinda sorta Mitron & Ryne but also not really, Identity Issues, Camping, Wilderness Survival, Named WoL (FFXIV), Female WoL (FFXIV) Summary:

“Ryne, I—” Thancred sighs. “I told you about Lahabrea, didn’t I?”

Oh. Yes. He’s mentioned that once or twice. “A little,” she says uncertainly. “It was a long time ago, right?”

“Eight years ago,” he says. “Or maybe closer to nine. But that’s not…” He runs a hand through his hair and starts again. “In the immediate aftermath,” he says carefully, “I had a number of… strange experiences. Among them were recurring nightmares.”

Ryne’s stomach sinks. “What kind of nightmares?” she asks in a small voice.

—

Ascian possession has unpleasant and dramatic aftereffects - a fact which Ryne discovers to her dismay. Luckily for her, there’s another Scion with firsthand experience.

(An AU where the new Futures Rewritten Ultimate actually happened.)

[velvet-dusk]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Chapters: 7/7 Fandom: Final Fantasy XIV Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Alisaie Leveilleur & Alphinaud Leveilleur, Scions of the Seventh Dawn & Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), General Inter-Scion Friendship, Warrior of Light & Thancred Waters Characters: Scions of the Seventh Dawn (Final Fantasy XIV), Y'shtola Rhul, Emet-Selch (Final Fantasy XIV), Alphinaud Leveilleur, Alisaie Leveilleur, G'raha Tia, Urianger Augurelt, Ryne (Final Fantasy XIV), Thancred Waters, Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV) Additional Tags: Named Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), The Echo (Final Fantasy XIV), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, 5+1, (really it's 4+2+1 but who's counting), Shadowbringers Spoilers, Endwalker Spoilers, Canonical Character Death (mentioned) Summary:

Many denizens of the First spontaneously got the Echo upon seeing an illusory starshower - so why not the Scions? A peek at how it might have happened to (most of) the Scions while unearthing the mysteries of Amaurot.

Or: five times one of the Scions spontaneously developed the Echo, and two times one didn't. Not necessarily in that order.

[ostentenacity]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Chapters: 1/7 Fandom: Final Fantasy XIV Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Characters: Scions of the Seventh Dawn (Final Fantasy XIV), Y'shtola Rhul, Emet-Selch (Final Fantasy XIV) Additional Tags: Named Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), The Echo (Final Fantasy XIV), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, 5+1, (really it’s 4+2+1 but who’s counting), Shadowbringers Spoilers, Endwalker Spoilers Summary: Many denizens of the First spontaneously developed the Echo upon seeing an illusory starshower - so why not the Scions? A peek at how (most of) the Scions might have developed the Echo while unearthing the mysteries of Amaurot.

Or: five times one of the Scions spontaneously developed the Echo, and two times one didn’t. Not necessarily in that order.

[velvet-dusk]

echo - outtake

(This little scene is an outtake from a fic I'm working on polishing. It didn't fit, because the flow of the conversation meandered pretty far from the way I needed the scene to go, and eventually I cut this section entirely and replaced it with one that worked better. But I liked it enough to want to share it, even though it's short enough that I'm probably not going to post it on AO3. Shadowbringers spoilers.)

Once it had become clear that G’raha had fumbled and was continuing to fumble his summoning spell, he had told himself sternly that the Scions were not his friends. Not because he had any reason to dislike them—far from it!—but because he knew them far better than they knew him, and moreover he had stolen them from their rightful lives. No matter how useful their skills, no matter how generously they offer their help, the fact remains that he had done each and every one of them a painful disservice by bringing them to the First.

After their return from the ruins of Amaurot, though—after the second return of the night—G’raha is startled to realize that the Scions of the Seventh Dawn seem to regard him as… a friend?

“Of course we do,” says Thancred matter-of-factly, as the two of them examine one of the Crystarium’s shield generator nodes. Thancred may be no mage, but the generators are also partially mechanical, and with the Facet of Forging staff busy working on some project they refuse to tell G’raha about, he’s the next best choice for repairing fiddly machinery in the entire city. “Our inauspicious arrivals aside—” G’raha winces. “—you were doing what you needed to in order to defend the people under your care. We all understand that. Indeed, we all respect that.”

“I’m surprised to hear you dismiss your arrival so quickly,” says G’raha.

“Me, of all people?” asks Thancred with a shrewd sidelong glance, and G’raha’s ears go flat with embarrassment. “I won’t pretend it was an easy thing to get over. But, well, I like to think that all of us, I’m on the more pragmatic side of things. It was the right choice, and that’s what matters in the end. Wrench, please.”

G’raha hands over the wrench. “Knowing that someone is in the right and thinking fondly of them for it are two different things.”

“They are,” Thancred agrees, and smacks something in the generator’s guts with the head of the wrench. G’raha yelps in protest, but then the generator buzzes to life, and Thancred grins and tosses the wrench back. G’raha fumbles the catch and has to duck down to pick it up. “But the first can lead to the second. And luckily for you, it has. Though, if I may offer a word of advice?”

“Of course,” says G’raha, slotting the wrench back into its rightful place in the toolkit. 

“Y’shtola in particular dislikes feeling like a piece on the chessboard rather than a player. If, in the future, you ever come up with a scheme that you think might involve her, ask her for assistance in the planning stage and not a moment later, even if you think she won’t be interested, or won’t be able to help. She may have forgiven you for this one, but she’s better at holding grudges than I am.” Said with a playful wink, it would be easy to dismiss as a joke. But G’raha can tell that it’s a real warning—and, also, a real invitation, to be a part of the group and its various social dynamics, rather than an outsider looking in.

“I shall,” says G’raha, with sincere gratitude.

[oc-loving]

how would your oc reject someone's romantic advances?

[velvet-dusk]

Velvet is very open about the fact that she’s not interested in romance, so her friends know better than to try. If for some reason someone did try who ought to know better, she’d probably be somewhat curt: “We’ve been over this. I’m not interested.”

If someone who didn’t already know approached her in a courteous way, they’d get the “I’m not into romance” spiel first and the curt reply thereafter. If they’re rude, she skips the first step.

If people are pushy or grabby, she gives them five seconds (complete with out-loud countdown) to get out of her face before she starts breaking fingers. Some back off right away. Those who don’t usually change their minds after the first finger, but there was at least one occasion where someone tried to “tough it out” on the assumption that it was some kind of test, and was very unpleasantly surprised when, after running out of fingers on one hand, she pinned the other hand to a table and walked away.

[wol-questions]

(ShB/EW spoilers)

What species/monsters did your WoL create as Azem?

.

[lilas]

What kind of physical sensation does your WoL experience when they absorb light aether from the Lightwardens during Shadowbringers?

It’s like an internal pressure

It’s like an allergic reaction

It’s like an autoimmune reaction

It’s like a chronic pain

It’s like a numbness

It’s two or more of these sensations

The light aether does not impact my WoL in a physical way

Voting ended onAug 6, 2024

EDIT: open invitation to ramble in the tags about how you interpret this! :>

[anneapocalypse]

What's the state of your Warrior of Light's family of origin?

All living and they're in contact.

Some living and they're in contact.

None living.

All living but they have no contact.

Some living but they have no contact.

It's complicated.

Other/kickflips into a cenote

Voting ended onAug 11, 2024

Feel free to elaborate in notes, reblogs, etc!

For the purposes of this poll, "family of origin" means any family who raised them at any point in childhood, including adoptive family.

[velvet-dusk]

Velvet’s parents are alive (probably) but she was never particularly close with them - in her home village it was pretty normal for kids to be raised communally in a crèche rather than by individual parents. Velvet knows who her mother is but didn’t live with her past early childhood; she never met her father because he’s from a different village. She’s not torn up about this - it’s normal for her society, and the crèche minders (and later, the elder thaumaturges who first taught her magic) were plenty warm and caring.

Of course, she lost contact with all of them when she left home. She never wrote letters back, and no one wrote to her either - mostly because there isn’t regular mail service to tiny hinterland villages on the Hellsmountain, but also because even though she was generally well-liked, it was blatantly obvious that she was going to break at least one religious taboo of her people the instant she had a chance (namely, the prohibition of alchemy). She didn’t want to have to lie to her family, and they didn’t want to be lied to, and no one wanted a big ugly fight via letters - so no letters ever got sent.

If she went back now she’d be just another outsider - or at least, that’s what she believes. She’s not sure how to feel about it.

[lilas]

✨ 22 Dawntrail Inspired WoL/OC Questions ✨

A little list of WoL/OC questions based on the events of Dawntrail. Feel free to reblog so people can ask about your WoL’s experiences in Tural!

Though vague in places, this list contains many spoilers. Please be considerate of new players and tag with #dawntrail spoilers

—

Why did they agree to accompany Wuk Lamat to Tural?

What was the first thing they did when they arrived in Tuliyollal?

What was their initial impression of the four claimants? How did this change over the course of the story?

What is their impression of Gulool Ja Ja? Do they agree with his method of cultivating leadership?

How do they feel about Wuk Lamat looking up to them as a mentor figure? Did this attitude change as the story progressed?

How did they feel about competing against Thancred and Urianger?

Were they happy with the outcome of the rite of succession?

Why did they want to explore Xak Tural? Were they happy to have Erenville along as a guide or would they have preferred to explore on their own?

What was going through their mind when the dome dropped?

What were their first impressions of the Alexandrians?

What was their initial impression of Sphene? How did this change as the story progressed?

What was their opinion of the culture of recycling souls and the use of regulators? Did this change as the story progressed?

What was their initial impression of Cahciua?

How did they feel about the Endless?

What was their experience like in Living Memory?

What are their thoughts about the Key?

The theme of family and legacy is repeated throughout Dawntrail—did this theme resonate with your character? Were there specific moments relating to family that impacted them?

What important relationships changed or developed throughout Dawntrail?

What was their favorite location in Tural?

Do they lean more Tuliyollal or more Solution Nine?

If they had to summarize their journey in Tural, what would they say?

What are they doing now?

[lily-ohfally]

WoL QotD: What made you choose your WoL's name? Does it have any important meaning or did it just sound nice?

Follow up: Is it lore accurate? If it isn't, why not?

[velvet-dusk]

A friend suggested it to me and I went with it cause I thought it sounded nice. It wasn’t until later that I realized it was lore-accurate purely by accident!