Tag Archives: FFXIV

FFXIV: Thancred

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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: 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: Unbreakable

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This chapter is of course named for the soundtrack of the Fractal Continuum – which is not the ARF, I am aware (the music of which is named Imagination). But while Imagination is all beautifully desperate and heroic and I love it, Unbreakable is one of the most kickass dungeon tunes in the whole game, maybe even my favourite dungeon theme (yes, even over A Long Fall (Twinning dungeon) – that name always reminds me of a ONE OK ROCK song…). Unbreakable makes me want to learn to play drums. But that’s gotta wait because I’m learning bass guitar first.

I wonder if Azys Lla is supposed to be pronounced in a Welsh fashion, with the double-L? Given that, for instance, the level 60 24-mans take naming inspiration from Gaelic (Mhach, Cu Chulainn) I don’t think it’s out of the question. In which case everyone’s pronouncing it wrong. : D

I feel like Thordan’s motivations weren’t really adequately explained in the game? Why he came to Azys Lla (so that his primal form could absorb the Warring Triad? I would have liked better clarification at the time, especially since you don’t fight the Triad until later patches), and what he intended specifically to do once he became a god. It would also have been nice to have a better idea of Lahabrea’s plan, but at least his goals are clear.

I enjoy the in-game canon that the WoL single-handedly one-shots Thordan and knights out of pure rage. (BFG Division starts playing) Continue reading →

FFXIV: On the Hunt

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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: 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: Hurry Up and Wait

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Okay so I was like “I’m just going to put enough of the DRK quests that people understand the DRK quests are happening, like I’ve been doing with the other class quests” and then I rewatched them and was like “I have to put them all in because I love them so much”. (Thank you Natsuko Ishikawa!!!) So… hope you like DRK quests because more are coming! XD

It’s time to proclaim that I think Heart of Steel by Beast in Black is an excellent theme song for Sid! I used it for the second fight. (Also I looked up ‘tramontane’, it’s a northern wind.) For the first fight, I used Nail of the Heavens, which might have been Vivienne’s in-game theme-song if not for the fact that everyone associates it with BLU now. (I don’t remember Vivienne’s exact glam, but I think it’s something like the Omicron fending top and gloves, the Abyss pants and boots, and the Chaos helm (the Abyss helm is more stylish, but it clashes with the Omicron top)) (also I’m not sure what sword she has right now, because as soon as she gets Cronus Lux she never uses anything else, but the Baldur Blade is pretty close in shape so let’s go with that) (who else misses Dark Arts?)

Also it’s terribly annoying to me that Alphinaud has finally deigned to reveal when Elezen get their second growth spurt, because it’s thrown off my own plans to LET MY CHILDREN GROW. (I haven’t played since 5.0 so no spoilers please but one of my friends told me the news.) Sooo while I was planning to have the twins full height by SB, and started dropping hints about it already, I have changed that to reflect my new knowledge.

Chapter 25: Hraesvelgr

 

Chapter 26: Hurry Up and Wait

Estinien had remained behind to stand lonely watch over Nidhogg’s lair, while the Warriors of Light and Alphinaud returned to Ishgard to find if Cid Garlond were in the neighbourhood. While the others scattered across the city, some to the Jeweled Crozier, others to the chocobo stables, Achiyo, Alphinaud, and R’nyath went to the manor – for as Honoroit said archly, “When it comes to – ahem – exchanging information of uncertain origin, Lord Emmanellain is something of a prodigy.” R’nyath had winked at the boy. He knew exactly what that meant. Continue reading →

FFXIV: Hraesvelgr

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Hey, I’m keeping a steady pace with these chapters. Maybe I’ll be done HW before EW comes out? (probably not, it’s longer than it looks)

I went and rewatched Castle in the Sky for the little bit of vocabulary in the middle.

Chapter 24: Primal Alliance

 

Chapter 25: Hraesvelgr

Achiyo had seen many incredible things in her life, especially after she’d come to Eorzea and found it safe to look outside herself, but the summit of Sohm Al had to be among the more amazing places she’d been. The floating mountain peak, glowing from below, was awe-inspiring from afar. She could not wait to ascend it and see what waited beyond. Continue reading →

FFXIV: Primal Alliance

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Was going to try to get all the way to Hraesvelgr in one go but decided to split it in half to reduce my (completely irrational) word-count anxiety. Which turned out to be an excellent plan.

Hey, if Ysayle knows that Hraesvelgr ate Shiva so their souls would be “entwined forever”, how come she thinks she’s Shiva reborn??? (Still, having a primal inside you and the Echo at the same time must really mess with your head. I feel bad for her. And then they fridged her. Not as fast as Moenbryda, but still! Ugh.)

I actually used Footsteps in the Snow to write the boss fight, because I like it better than Ravana’s themes.

Chapter 23: Loneliness

 

Chapter 24: Primal Alliance

Achiyo hurried through the streets back to the manor with Tataru’s anxious voice ringing in her horns through her linkpearl. All about her the streets were buzzing with urgency, which she feared stemmed from the same source – but she would know soon enough. Continue reading →