Tag Archives: Aymeric

FFXIV: A City in Chaos

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Wow, it’s been nearly a year since I uploaded a FFXIV chapter? How!? I got stuck on these BRD quests but I felt they were important. (also work, yadda yadda, lack of energy, yadda yadda, cosplay yadda)

Gordon Lightfoot passed away since I last posted. I didn’t know his music as well as I should (and I should since 1: it’s gorgeous and 2: I’m Canadian), but I did know it a little bit, and I submit for your consideration Song for a Winter’s Night as a good song for Aymeric shippers.

I’m working on a Vivienne cosplay for Halloween! I tried to do it last year, starting with Cronus, but Cronus is a huge complicated scary project and I was still pretty burned out. I seem to be doing much better this year, I already have the chestpiece cut out of craft foam.

Chapter 32: Thancred

 

Chapter 33: A City in Chaos

“If you ask me, it sounds like naught but a faerie tale,” Guydelot said, folding his arms and glaring off at the gate of Tailfeather. “I’d wager that ‘heavens’ is just a metaphor for a natural phenomenon. We’ve hit a dead end – I say we return to Gridania for now and look for other avenues.” Continue reading →

FFXIV: Absolution

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It’s still strange to me how much of a cliffhanger 3.0 is compared to 4.0 or 5.0. Then again, 2.0 had a bit of a cliffhanger, with Bahamut’s roar, but even though Bahamut was in the trailer blowing up the world, it wasn’t like we’d already fought him once, and his quests ended up being the 8-man raids and not MSQ.

(Reminder: in the European medieval period, ‘small beer’ was not really considered alcoholic, everyone drank it, even children)

If you like Kekeniro and want to see much more of him from another angle, he’s a blatant expy of my tactician Ceniro from my FE7 fics.

With this, my 3.0 interpretation is complete. I’m going to take some time before getting into 3.x; I haven’t plotted out how the raids and 24-mans will fit into the timeline yet and I would like to just play the game again and see how it’s changed since… 3 years ago I last played? I’m not leaving forever, I’m really excited about the Dragonsong War, and Achiyo going back to the East in SB, and just how ShB is going to work with 8 WoL, to name just a few things.

Chapter 30: Unbreakable

 

Chapter 31: Absolution

Achiyo could not eat, could hardly drink a little water, so much was she filled with fear. It would not pass from her, no matter how she breathed, no matter that the healers all told her she was physically well and urged her to eat and regain her strength. She just couldn’t. Her stomach hurt, and not from any wound. Continue reading →

FFXIV: At What Cost

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Achiyo’s theme songs are Bibliophobia (for in-game tracks) and The Legend of Ashitaka (for out-of-game tracks). They maybe don’t fit the asskicking that happens in this chapter, but I thought it was worth a reminder. : )

As a pipe organist myself, the Vault’s soundtrack made me nearly cry with happiness when I first heard it because it’s so beautifully Baroque (I was seriously freaking out musicgasming all over the place haha). A videogame piece for organ that treats it seriously and not just a trope for “intellectual bad guy”! I mean, it doesn’t even sound specifically like videogame music, and I think that’s one of the great things about it. It sounds like heavy Buxtehude, tbh. IT’S SO SPARKLY. I really want the sheet music. I tried transcribing it myself but there’s so much reverb it’s really hard to hear a lot of the individual mid-range notes. Though it’s also so cool how when you go to higher floors of the Vault you hear less and less of it, just the bassy pedal notes that would naturally carry farther, it’s a great detail, I love it. I also appreciate how Soken weaves the organ into random other soundtracks (and bagpipes, my other favourite niche instrument, though I don’t play that) purely for the timbre.

And then I cried with sadness, obviously. Continue reading →

FFXIV: Victory Achieved

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Hey guys! I know it’s been forever since I uploaded… I’ve been trying to finish Devil’s Due, because there’s only 3.5 chapters left in that… but I’ve headed (deliberately) so far away from the source material that I’m basically writing original fic, and it’s really complex and hard and I’m too busy to brain it through. So I’m coming back to something more relaxing.

So you guys know the video on YouTube where (among other things) some people test the bite strength of a T-rex as portrayed in the classic Jurassic Park movie? Now imagine that strength test for Nidhogg. :3

I actually didn’t mean for Lilidi to get so involved? But she’s not the sort of person to sit around when people she cares about are in danger. I’m actually not sure how that’s going to develop! I didn’t make a plan!

Next chapter is the one everyone’s been not waiting for… Some of my readers have referred to it obliquely, saying they’re not prepared, and that was years ago… you prepared yet? Just kidding, no one’s ever prepared. (Liam O’Brian voice: you are not prepared– wait wrong game) Continue reading →

FFXIV: Guide Us to Victory

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I wanted to write in something resembling the big battle at the end of the trailer, because Heavensward’s trailer is one of my favourite trailers of all time, and that fight is exciting! My interpretation was also helped by listening to The Last Stand by Sabaton, which is about a different group of courageous-unto-death religious guys. Unlike those guys, the Ishgardians do survive though. It also gave me opportunity to insert shipping! Please let me know what you think!

I noticed when writing this chapter that my Miqo’te characters are overachievers compared to the others with the number of classes they’ve got. Oops!

Chapter 21: Brothers In Arms

 

Chapter 22: Guide Us to Victory

The tall grey halls of the throne room rose about Achiyo, austere and imposing. They were more austere – older, perhaps? – than the glimpse she had gotten of a vast cathedral filled with golden light higher up in the Vault. Cold light streamed down from pale arched windows, illuminating the venerable bearded man in his throne upon the dais. He was flanked by soldiers, a Heavens’ Ward knight, and Lord Commander Aymeric, but all of them stood upon the lower ground. She found the effect… lonely. Sultana Nanamo had never had so much separation between her people and her self. Continue reading →

FFXIV: Faith in Her Fury

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This chapter is obviously named for an OST track; one of my favourite tracks (a shame it’s only used for this one trial!) and one I absolutely needed for writing inspiration. Other OST used in this chapter would be Battle Theme 1.x, which is Chuchupa’s theme!

Only two more chapters left in ARR!

Chapter 16: The Tightening Noose

 

Chapter 17: Faith in Her Fury

 

As promised, Aymeric rode in haste to Camp Dragonhead with Estinien to meet with Haurchefant and the Warriors of Light. Lucia was already with them. Iceheart had shattered Ishgard’s outermost defensive wards, the Temple Knights had had terrible losses in the northwest, and he knew Commander Leveilleur was going to try and be clever rather than helpful. But his beautiful city was more direly threatened than any other time in their nation’s history, and he needed reinforcements. Any reinforcements. If but a single Warrior of Light were to come to their aid, well, it would be a start. But somehow he did not think they would turn a cold shoulder to his impassioned plea. And not simply because it was impassioned. Continue reading →

FFXIV: Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind

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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: The Beginning of the End

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The chapter I’ve been waiting for since I finished 2.0!! The Beginning of the End, huh? Don’t worry, we’re not even at HW yet, but this is kind of where I feel the happy fluffy 2.0 simple fairy-tale vibes begin to fall away to plunge us deeper into a typical emotionally fraught dramatic FF story. So I guess it might be more accurate to call it the End of the Beginning, but that’s less dramatic.

I’ve been reading about translations of the Japanese and it makes me concerned about presenting the best story here that I can (and also what I’m missing out on by only understanding English!) but in the end, since I do only understand English, I will have to make the best of what I’ve got. I’ve also edited the story about Nael, and about rezzing.

Chapter 12: The Sleeping Emperor

 

Chapter 13: The Beginning of the End

 

“So this is going to work perfectly and nothing bad could ever come of it, right?” Continue reading →

FFXIV: Business As Usual

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Chugging away on this, hoping to get up to HW by the end of the month. Of course, that means first getting through Bahamut (synced! if possible!) and Crystal Tower (will be tricky to fit in all my planned cameos).

Rinala and F’lhaminn kind of ran away with my imagination here, which I think is really sweet.

Chapter 7: Once a Hero

 

Chapter 8: Business As Usual

“Ul’dah is our home, Alphinaud!” Minfilia protested vehemently. “To cast aside everything we have built and start anew in that desolate wasteland would be beyond reckless!”

“Oi,” Tam said. “Mor Dhona isn’t a wasteland.” Continue reading →