Tag Archives: Y’shtola

FFXIV: The Arrow

We’re back! on! track! Let’s goooooo

I guess canonically the WoD arc (3.4) comes before Zurvan (3.5?) but oh well.

Y’ever go to, like, a museum in Europe and look at those suits of plate armour with the chemical etching all over? Gorgeous. (This one’s from the Gravensteen in Ghent)

Chapter 43: The Demon of Meracydia

 

Chapter 44: The Arrow

Dinner with Aymeric was as lovely as it always was, Achiyo reflected as she sipped her wine. The food was delicious, and Aymeric’s company was as pleasant and heartwarming as ever. Though… she was finding the red wine a bit strong-bodied for her taste. She preferred the white wines, but that would apparently not go with the red meat, slow-cooked in exotic spices and more wine until it was nigh-falling apart on the plate… Kekeniro and Vivienne were with her this time; R’nyath, who often also came, was busy with Hilda, and Vivienne had put on a show of reluctance but agreed to take his place. The dogs, Tempête and Tonerre, lay on the rug before the fire, remarkably well-behaved. Continue reading

FFXIV: The Demon of Meracydia

So I might not have the spoons to play the actual game FFXIV right now, but I still have the spoons to consume content! So I finally read the Chronicles of Light and omg I love it (e.g. kicking my feet in excitement whenever Alisaie says something sassy). One thing I like is that since the stories often don’t reference any specific place, it’s easy to know and accept that Eorzea is far larger than the maps we get in-game (I’ve always known/had the opinion that game maps are miniature approximations of what reality could be, and there are many good reasons for doing that instead of trying to Log Horizon it and making humongous maps, but like Eorzea’s supposed to be the size of like Europe, isn’t it? So if you compare travel times across my chapters I’m sure they’re wildly inconsistent and that does bother me a little). I’d like to incorporate that more into my fic, but I’m so literal that it’s difficult for me to extrapolate. I also finally watched the Noclip documentary, and wow – I knew the overall story of 2.0’s creation, but I have even more respect for the team now.

Lol I don’t do mods but I appreciate the fact that this one exists (changes the collar of the Alpine Coat from a ruff to a stiff collar, much sexier on Aymeric.) Also I heard there’s a VR mod for FFXIV, I need a VR headset now lol. I’ve always wanted to be totally immersed in this world!

(Been watching Honkai Star Rail videos and taking inspiration from those flamboyant anime fight scenes lol)

No new armour for Achiyo, still using level 40 mithril set. I really like it. (She does wear a helmet now tho)

Chapter 42: So Much for Retirement

 

Chapter 43: The Demon of Meracydia

R’nyath prowled through the back alleys of the Jewelled Crozier one evening, hunting senses fully alert, yellow eyes gleaming. Behind him stalked Vivienne, an ominous brooding shadow, surprisingly soft despite her heavy armour and indelicate tread. Continue reading

FFXIV: Unraveling Hopes

So you probably guessed but this year’s NaNoWriMo is FFXIV fic! My goal is to get to the start of Stormblood.

Vivienne’s cosplay looks great! Photoshoot forthcoming! I had many moments where I was forced to improvise but I think I captured the five million details well enough. With this massive project done, I can… play more videogames, I feel I’ve neglected them.

I have been replaying FFXIV a bit as I mentioned before, and I have an alt in the middle of 2.x, and I’m noticing a few things I didn’t before – I think one reason why Minfilia chose to help the Domans and not the Ala Mhigans is that there are only so many Doman refugees to take in, their numbers are limited and finite. Ala Mhigo is right next door, so there can always be more Ala Mhigan refugees. (I’m also coming up with new theories and questions about the Echo, so I hope I can keep playing until EW this time.)

You may notice some dialogue is different from how it currently appears in the game. I’m going by how it was when I played it!

Chapter 34: The Void Ark

 

Chapter 35: Unraveling Hopes

“Our unknown third party was simply there… and then not there,” Krile had said about Minfilia’s disappearance beneath Ul’dah. Rinala shivered. She knew more or less all the details – the ‘unknown third party’ was Minfilia, and the place she had disappeared to was Hydaelyn’s side in the aetherial sea, but the way Krile had worded it… was creepy.  Continue reading

FFXIV: Thancred

Somehow, I wrote a chapter. It took a long time because I am chronically overstressed with work right now, and future chapters will probably continue to be slow (until the winter holiday season? I might write faster then.). But now that I put Scrivener on my tablet, I can write in comfy places, and even times when I’m not at home. It’s nice to be able to do that.

But exciting things have happened! First of all, Aentfryn talked to me and we worked out a character arc for him! I’m so glad, he felt a little pointless until now. I had wanted a contrasting character to all the young hot excitable heroes when I made him, but since he didn’t openly want any of the same things that they did, it was tough for me to figure out what his deal was. But he has an arc now, and that’s why we’re starting this chapter with him, to celebrate!

Another thing is that despite the game plot being absolutely thrilling and me wanting to show you the impact it has on my PCs, I need to not forget to focus on the relationships between the PCs, and between the PCs and NPCs, above all else (and not just the romantic ones). I want more bonding moments between all of these people! They’re friends, right?

Vivienne gear update! Yes, she is beginning the Anima Weapon quests this chapter, but also – I have decided that she’ll get her “character design” Omicron chestpiece at level 70, when you’re supposed to get it, so at this point in the story she should be wearing something like the High Allagan chestpiece, that’s also a pretty sexy tank chestpiece.

I’ve been playing through ARR on a new character and I’m really excited at the changes I’ve seen so far. Toto-rak isn’t the worst dungeon ever! Copperbell’s new bosses feel better too! The new piñata-less Rhitahtyn battle is so awesome I almost want to go back and rewrite my chapter! Castrum is beautifully streamlined! However, despite the mechanics of the new Lahabread battle being much more exciting, I can’t condone canonically killing (and rezzing) the WoL so soon in the story. We’ve been a zombie this whole time??? No, even if it highlights Laha’s ancient power and the WoL’s noobness, that doesn’t sit well with me.

Finally, I learned that I actually know more of the ARR voice actors than I thought! For instance, Urianger is the same voice as Fenris from DA2! (and Raubahn is Hawke : O ) And most importantly, Thancred is voiced by Taliesin Jaffe, under an alias in the credits! No wonder I thought he had a sexy voice in ARR! It’s a lot like his Percy de Rolo voice. I like Taliesin’s Thancred better than Peter Bramhill’s Thancred (his is a lot less sassy, imo) so now that I know who it is, I can just think of Percy. : ) Continue reading

FFXIV: On the Hunt

So my grandparents gave me a bonus gift this year, so I used it to buy like 5 FFXIV books, including the first Ishgard artbook and both Encyclopedia Eorzeas! I have no idea when they will arrive but since I think the Encyclopedias are being reprinted they probably won’t arrive until I’ve finished HW. Sure, all the info is also on the wikis, but it’s nice to have it in book form to flip through. (Also the Primals Blueray concert, let’s go!)

Vivienne isn’t actually ice-aspected; she’s Umbral Earth (Althyk, December birthmonth) and I headcanon that Fray is lightning-aspected. So when Alain mentions elements he’s really speaking more poetically.

Chapter 28: At What Cost

 

Chapter 29: On the Hunt

Cid had been enlisted into the chase, naturally, as the archbishop had left upon an airship heading into dangerous territory, and who better to aid them than the man with an airship and no fear of danger? The engineer was delighted to bear them on another adventure, and sailed them cheerfully into the Sea of Clouds to the far north. Continue reading

FFXIV: The Parting Glass

And BOOM goes the dramatic tension! Thanks for reading everyone! I’m going to take a break from writing for a bit to play Legend of Dragoon, but I’m sure I’ll be back with HW sooner or later!

Regarding the song Thancred and R’nyath sing at the beginning of the chapter: I was subbing for a choir earlier this year, and one of the pieces they were singing was ‘Quick, we have but a second‘ by Stanford, and I realized immediately that it fit this chapter perfectly. And I’ve been waiting for this one… Vivienne’s fight song is RichaadEB’s cover of Bad Apple!

R’inwa is actually a lot taller than R’nyath, I learned when making him into a retainer; his height is at max, and I think R’nyath’s in the bottom third of the scale.

EDIT: Vivienne’s soul crystal has broken for story purposes.

Chapter 18: Blushes and Blood Pearls

 

Chapter 19: The Parting Glass

The air in the Rising Stones was merry, despite everything that had happened in the last little while, despite the tension that Rinala felt in her chest like a distant thundercloud. But if the others were worried, though she suspected they were, she couldn’t tell from their demeanour. Perhaps they were pretending and putting on a good face, as the other folk at the banquet would neither know nor care about the horrible murder that had just happened, or the sinister plot behind it that no one would tell her about. She didn’t begrudge them maintaining her ignorance; she was terrible with secrets, only… she wanted to know what to be worried about, and also she was just curious! Continue reading

FFXIV: The Tightening Noose

Whew! Didn’t expect to end this chapter on a downer note but it seems like this one 5-page scene I wrote last month doesn’t happen yet and I’m now very confused about when it does happen. I’m feeling a bit down about the game itself in general, and I’m not sure how to fix it other than get Achiyo into HW so I can replay one of my favourite parts of the story.

Chapter 15: The Elder Primal

 

Chapter 16: The Tightening Noose

 

Rinala was away attending to a private matter, but Achiyo and two of her close companions had been sent to reinforce Captain Ilberd in interrupting a black market weapons deal at the Burning Wall… ‘Overkill’, Ilberd’s lieutenant had muttered with a grin, and they’d all chuckled a little, but the more allies present, the easier it would be to end without bloodshed, wouldn’t it? Continue reading

FFXIV: The Elder Primal

So life has been busy since I last wrote: between work, a dire cold, a (working) trip to Europe (trip pics coming out… between XIV stuff), and Shadowbringers, I haven’t had much time to write. However I’m determined to put a dent in the story now, as a lot of the writing I did do is recording thoughts on 5.0 happenings, so I do want to catch up to it sooner rather than later lol! Still going to take me years…

My spoiler-free thoughts on Shadowbringers now that I’m done: it’s SO GOOD! I love how the focus closes in from Stormblood’s sprawling war epic to a highly character-driven conflict, getting closer to people we already care about, the lore bombs (oh the lore bombs), the tension and drama (cried multiple times, screamed of excitement multiple times, will upload video evidence). That ENDING. My heart. Respect. I am not sure how I’m going to write it with 8 people. Also Soken is a GOD. Still. I’ve tried the new raid and I think it’s going to be the best raid yet; I don’t even remember much of FFVIII but the XIV plot is really intriguing. Still haven’t downed any of the EX primals, though I’ve actually made a go of it with friends and without, but I do want a weapon. Also, to fit the story, I fantasia’d to Vivienne! And also one thing that made me way too excited was a part where Alphinaud said words that inadvertently title-dropped this fic! I started writing this almost two years ago! I can’t believe it, it’s too perfect lol Continue reading

FFXIV: Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind

Snip-snap, another chapter; going to try to keep them shorter and punchier and more frequently updated after the slog that was Crystal Tower. I finished 4.56 MSQ, and watched the Shadowbringers trailer, and I NEED IT omg it’s so exciting. HW trailer is still my favourite piece of videogame cinema, I think, but ShB has brought the hype! And everyone’s gone goth, lol. So now I want to get Achiyo and this fic much closer to it! My goal has always been to hit HW in the fic before ShB drops, but we’ll see if I can’t get partway through HW too. And hold down my myriad irl jobs. And get Illinia up to 4.56 and Fantasia back to Rinala. And get Tam’s ilvl to 400. And a bunch of other things that I’d like to do but will probably not end up doing because that’s already a lot of stuff.

Chapter 13: The Beginning of the End

 

Chapter 14: Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind

 

“What did you think of them?” Rinala asked, on chocobo-back on their way to the Boulder Downs. “I thought they were both rather intimidating: so cold and watchful. I think we can trust them, though.” Continue reading

FFXIV: Life in Mor Dhona

Wait, I finished a chapter? Turns out Crystal Tower was turning out longer than I was expecting it to, even condensing the overly-convoluted plot (e.g. Nero’s here already) so it’s now two chapters. And we didn’t really get to the meat of the action in this one. It’s a bit self-indulgent with all the character relationship developing, but I’m enjoying it! Also if you play on Midgardsormr, keep an eye out for the names of my FC mates, haha!

That one line Thancred says is from way back when Alphinaud was investigating the Ul’dahn uprisings, but it was too good to not use at all.

Chapter 10: The Deep Dark Green

 

Chapter 11: Life in Mor Dhona

It was a bright, cloudless winter’s day in Mor Dhona when Achiyo rose from her bed in her room in the Rising Stones. The sun was silver through the window and she looked out upon the town for a moment. Everyone was just rising; the shopkeeps were setting up their stalls, the guards were changing at the gates, dogs were already chasing hens. There was a frost on the ground, and folk had to walk carefully across half-frozen puddles. The frost would be gone by early afternoon today, but Tam predicted snow before another sennight had passed. Continue reading