Tag Archives: Tam

FFXIV: For Ala Mhigo

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Oops, extra long chapter! Well, it’s the season finale. I adjusted the gatecracker battle, because the Garleans would be rank fools not to put cannons on top of their walls, just letting the Alliance waltz up unopposed except for a paltry handful of flying machines. (I’m sure part of that is game render limitations, so I’m just breaking the limit.)

Tidbit that didn’t make it into the story: I headcanon the Temple Knights were training with the Immortal Flames in Thanalan for a few months to acclimatize to the arid environment. Also they’re on double water rations so no one sweats to death. Even if Coerthas used to be warmer, it’s not like it was hot. It’s like Scandinavians going to the Mediterranean – you can’t just throw them in there and expect them to operate as normal.

For Zenos fight I had to rely on an old standby boss-fight-inspo song: Blue Skies and a Battle from FE3H (which I haven’t played because I don’t want to play such a sad game).

I would really love for Ala Mhigo to have a hub city zone (like Ul’dah or Kugane) using the dungeon tileset, those textures are PRETTY.

Chapter 63: Reunion

 

Chapter 64: For Ala Mhigo

Tam tried to take stock of the last hour. Fordola was in Alliance custody. Krile was safely behind friendly lines, with Urianger. Urianger speculated that Fordola had been given an artificial Echo through those experiments on Krile, and his device, inspired by Alisaie’s testimony, had been to disrupt it. Rinala had arrived and Raubahn sent her to give his sword Tizona to Pipin, and Tam had gone along to hang out. Now how did Tam get from Pipin to… wolfmen, again? Continue reading →

FFXIV: Reunion

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Yesssssss the return of the king, as the memes say!

I’d kind of hoped to put in Raubahn’s flashbacks in the previous chapter, to pair up his memories of Lyse’s father with Achiyo’s last Echo involving her ‘father’, but eh the pacing ended up not really working out.

Thancred’s line about leather waistcoats… research tells me is a Monkey Island reference (to go with the ridiculous breath holding). (I’ve played several of the Monkey Island games, but it’s been quite a while. That sort of puzzle game isn’t really my cup of tea.)

Chapter 62: Legacies

 

Chapter 63: Reunion

The first thing to do was to warn the army of the experiments they’d encountered. The Empire did like building sinister laboratories everywhere they could – they’d built one beneath Doma Castle, for kami’s sake – and if they were creating machines that were part-beast, or worse, part-Spoken in one place, they could be creating them elsewhere. Or who knew which of their experiments had been approved and put into production. Their very horror would grant them an edge, let alone their combat capabilities. Everyone needed to know. Continue reading →

FFXIV: Legacies

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I forgot how long the Radiata bit was, and I couldn’t figure out how to abridge the WHM quest, so this is likely the third-last chapter of 4.0.

TIL that ‘cermet‘ is a real thing?? Man I know a little bit about a lot of things but I didn’t know that. I thought FFXIV made it up for the Garleans to use.

Estinien’s cannon-slaying is probably the best moment in all of Stormblood. He’s the Azure Dragoon, after all. (Jocat guitar sting)

Chapter 61: Bitter Dreams

 

Chapter 62: Legacies

Rinala walked through the forest of the Fringes, head down, tail low, lost in thought. Trying to figure out how her life had fallen down around her. How she had lost herself to the point that she couldn’t do her job anymore. That the Scions didn’t want her around anymore. Continue reading →

FFXIV: Bitter Dreams

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I know people have complained that several characters post-ARR are basically whole new characters, and I think it’s true. I feel Lyse got the better end of the deal in the character development hand-outs; she went from ‘bubble-brained comic relief’ to ‘oh crap I have to adult now, it’s scary but I’ll do my best’. Maybe it’s a bit too drastic, but you know what ARR was a bit cartoony overall so I don’t think it’s out of step with the general tone shift. But Thancred went from ‘mischievous perv with an angsty side’ to ‘Batman’, and not even a fun Batman like Estinien. And just to reiterate… I really don’t like his haircut and chin scruff. (Alphinaud’s character development is, of course, perfect, so needs no discussion.)

Chapter 60: The Fall of Doma Castle

 

Chapter 61: Bitter Dreams

R’nyath ducked through the press of soldiers, looking for his fearless leader. “Achiyo! Hey, hey, over here!”

She turned, startled, from where she had been talking to Raubahn. “R’nyath? What is it?” Continue reading →

FFXIV: The Fall of Doma Castle

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Soundtracks for this chapter include not only Gates of the Moon, the Doma Castle dungeon theme, but also Thundering Chariot from Honkai Star Rail cuz Chinese boss fight music is funnnn : D (interesting they both involve traditional plucked string instruments, Western orchestral body, and an electric guitar for added gritty texture?)

The inside of Doma Castle has gotten glowed up with the lighting enhancements! It looks great!

My tablet keyboard has been increasingly unreliable the past couple months (especially the E and L keys); I’m pretty good at spotting typos but I’m not perfect so if you see something, feel free to point it out.

Chapter 59: Flames of the Past

 

Chapter 60: The Fall of Doma Castle

Achiyo had just finished her last gear check and was rising to leave the Scions’ dorm in the House of the Fierce when she heard her name called. “Achiyo-chan? Where are you?”

“I am in here,” she answered, and Tori appeared at the door, looking flustered with all her children around her. “Is something amiss?” Continue reading →

FFXIV: The Naadam

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If you have not yet become aware of how cool Mongolian throat singing is, please check out Batzorig Vaanchig on Youtube. (If you like folk metal and you don’t yet know the Mongolian band The Hu, you should also check out their music!)

I was a little surprised by how many people were specifically looking forward to the Buduga, especially because I completely forgot they existed until I started writing this chapter. So, uh, in the interest of giving the people what they want, the T rating is getting stretched a bit. (and maybe something else is gonna be too-) Enjoy. :3

Chapter 57: Endless Sky

 

Chapter 58: The Naadam

Achiyo was not impressed by the current situation. Hien had suggested that they go with the Oronir and Budugan warriors, saying: “If all goes to plan, they will be fighting for us soon enough. What say you? Shall we go and greet our comrades-to-be?”

She was not yet sure that it was a mistake. She did not have the political knowledge or foresight to see whether this endeavour would benefit them in the end or not. And simply because Magnai of the Oronir was the most irritating, arrogant, unreasonable, heavy-handed, egocentric, tyrannical clod of a leader she had ever met was no reason to not see it through, since Hien and Kekeniro had agreed on it.

But she was not safe, her friends were not safe, and if it came to a fight it would not go well for them. And she did not know how to change that. Continue reading →

FFXIV: Endless Sky

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There are a lot of nice little story bits in the Azim Steppe, like when Lyse tells some kid what a ‘nation’ is, but… I don’t have a lot to say about them.

Honorifics are a bit tricky for me in this part. The English dubs/subs translate the titles and honorifics to English for ease of the unfamiliar, even for characters who would probably use them (it would make perfect sense for Yugiri to call Hien “Hien-sama”), so how weeby culturally appropriate for the implied in-game culture do I want to get by putting some of them back in?

I’ve been listening to the J-rock band Cidergirl again recently, and I think the lead singer seems to have a voice type very much like the Miqo’te voice type that R’nyath has. They did the opening song, Cinderella, for the anime Komi Can’t Communicate, which I enjoyed very much, but they’ve got more super-happy music, and R’nyath is specifically adopting Saityen.

Chapter 56: The Second Duel

 

Chapter 57: Endless Sky

The Scions, the Doman Liberation Front, and the villagers of Namai did not retreat far at first. Nearly everyone was in high spirits, talking animatedly. Isse was fairly bubbling with excitement, his face alight in a way Achiyo had not seen before. He looked so young and kind when he smiled. “Can you believe it? We faced the crown prince himself and lived to tell the tale! You’ve no idea what this means for us. Everyone’s talking about getting more weapons and armour and… and… And we’re not going to stop until we’ve taken back our homeland!” Continue reading →

FFXIV: The Land of Dead Hope

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Kurenai and Hisui are the Natalie Portman and Keira Knightley of FFXIV teehee

I’ve been arranging FFXIV soundtracks for piano. If you wanna see, search for my username on MuseScore.

Chapter 54: The Ruby Depths

 

Chapter 55: Land of Dead Hope

The Scions did not leave the Ruby Sea immediately. While Achiyo, Gosetsu, Kekeniro, and Lyse conferred on their next course of action, R’nyath led some of the other Scions back beneath the waves to Sui-no-Sato, even though he wasn’t really a fan of having a wet tail. First of all, they needed to thank Yugiri’s parents properly for their help, and he’d gotten Achiyo’s approval for it. He had even bought some gifts for them off the Confederates, delicacies from Kugane – probably stolen, but… who was to say at this point? Secondly, R’nyath smelled problems that they could help with, Shiosai definitely had some secret stress hanging over him. All his years of adventuring experience told him so. Continue reading →

FFXIV: The Ruby Depths

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I’ve been away for much longer than I intended, and it’s uncertain how many chapters I’ve got in me atm. I partly blame HSR, but honestly have you seen Mydei? I don’t normally go for bulky-muscly guys but I’m making an exception for the blatantly obvious thirst trap, he can flatten me onto a mosaic-tiled floor/wall/bath any day of the week. He could tell me to get on my knees and I’d call him ‘my king’ as I did. Or Mydeity. (also may I point out he’s got plot elements similar to Aymeric – patricide to save the kingdom much?)

I got bitten by a plot bunny shortly after writing the previous chapter of this story, so many moons ago, so I wrote a Japanese-inspired fairytale called Ambassador of Ishgard in which Achiyo is a dragon. I recommend it if you haven’t seen it yet, it’s fairly short and has some cute moments!

I got Vivienne’s gloves and greaves done for her cosplay, but Cronus is only half-done. Which is more than before, and gosh the LEDs are gonna look super sick when it is done. And I still think I want to do a helmet eventually.

Chapter 53: The Ruby Sea

 

Chapter 54: The Ruby Depths

The Confederacy leadership lived in the shadow of Heaven-on-High, and there was no need to climb the tower to visit them. In fact, no one knew how to enter the tower.

Tansui was there, the Confederate lieutenant who had granted them passage back on Sakazuki, and he brought them to the captain of the Confederacy, a tired-looking Roegadyn in his thirties named Rasho. But they would not aid the Scions, no matter how much Chuchupa swaggered or Lyse pleaded. The Garleans had not yet turned to destroy them, and they would not hasten that day by openly declaring defiance. Even when, not three bells later, word came to Rasho that Confederate sailors had been captured by Garlean-allied Kojin, they would not act. Continue reading →

FFXIV: The Ruby Sea

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Love the Ruby Sea night music, Westward Tide : )

Been hard at work on my Vivienne cosplay again – I’ve just about completed a pair of Abyss gauntlets! Next up, Abyss sollerets… wish me luck… T_T

I’ve also been reading the books written by Kyota Ko and they’re fascinating! And paint a pretty grim picture of normal peoples’ lives. In our peaceful modern day, Yotsuyu’s actions seem outrageous, but when you read about thousands of historical people dying in (for instance) revenge plots, or to pre-empt revenge plots, she actually seems pretty tame. But I don’t think we could stomach too much real life in this romantic fairy tale, mixed with real heartfelt emotion though it is, so I’m not changing the plot or anything.

Chapter 52: Going Home

 

Chapter 53: The Ruby Sea

‘Safe’ in the offices of the East Aldenard Trading Company, Hancock explained the situation: no one would find easy passage to Doma at this time. Things were not as Achiyo had left them. The Ruby Sea was controlled by a group known as the Confederacy, and she vaguely remembered them; the merchants she had sailed with before had paid them a toll, the Ruby Tithe, to cross the straits. She did not remember much more, for it had not been her business, and was glad Hancock could explain things in full. Continue reading →