Summary: The truth of meol. The invasion of Eulmore. Lord Vauthry takes flight. Thoughts on mind control and a random Buffy/Angel rant.
Friday, August 30, 2019
Wednesday, August 28, 2019
FFXIII: Lightning Returns – Part 14: Wildlands
Summary: A chocobo girl finds her family. Lightning saves the dead. Entering the Wildlands.
Tuesday, August 27, 2019
FFXIV – Part 161: Ryne
Summary: Minfilia meets her ancestor. The Lightwarden of Amh Araeng. Ququshu’s tank nears full.
Friday, August 23, 2019
FFXIV – Part 160: Two Fathers
Summary: Bursting into Nabaath Araeng. Thancred and Ran’jit fight over who has Minfilia’s best interests at heart.
Note: to clearly avoid any queerbaiting, this title unfortunately does not refer to a queer couple.
Note: to clearly avoid any queerbaiting, this title unfortunately does not refer to a queer couple.
Thursday, August 22, 2019
FFXIII: Lightning Returns – Part 13: The Holy Clavis
Summary: Finish my exploration of the Dead Dunes. Fang’s undying love for Vanille. Grendel. The Secutors snatch the Clavis.
Wednesday, August 21, 2019
FFXIV – Part 159: The Trolley Problem
Summary:
Eulmore attacks the Crystarium with sin eaters. Beginning the hunt for
Amh Araeng’s Lightwarden by exploring the old mining country in the
west.
Tuesday, August 20, 2019
FFXIII: Lightning Returns – Part 12: Bared Fang
Summary: Into the Dead Dunes. Meeting the bandit leader and heading down under the sands. The expansive ruins.
Sunday, August 18, 2019
Friday, August 16, 2019
FFXIII: Lightning Returns – Part 11: Prison of Chaos
Summary: Confronting Snow in his Yusnaan palace to save his soul.
Thursday, August 15, 2019
FFXIV – Part 158: The Warden of Rak’tika
Summary: Qitana Ravel. Night returns to the Greatwood. The history of the Ascians. A glimpse of Garlemald.
Wednesday, August 14, 2019
FFXIII: Lightning Returns – Part 10: Center Stage
Summary:
Infiltrating the Augur’s Quarter. Lightning stars in the Slaughterhouse
arena and the play about the Savior. I love this session.
Tuesday, August 13, 2019
FFXIV – Part 157: The Fall and Rise of Y’shtola Rhul
Summary: A trap-filled tomb. Emet-Selch’s “helpful” side. Unlocking the way to the Lightwarden.
---
Look to the Stars
-Our goals now is to open the doors to the Qitana Ravel and reach the Lightwarden. First, we have to restore magic flowing in northern Rak’tika and open the Qitana Ravel’s doors.
-We explore the Ronkan ruins nearby. They draw inspiration from civilizations like the Mayans and Incans, that pyramid structure.
Statues are nearby: serpent, opo-opo, wolf, coeurl, colibri, owl. We have to channel aether into one specific one.
Riddles atop the pyramids hint at which one:
“Come together, share despair,
Go thy ways, dread burdens bear,
Mark the crown, heed its call,
Avert thy gaze, forever fall.”
I have no frigging idea. A prior quest gave some clues about Ronkan animals that might help, but even then nothing jumps out as super obvious.
Guess #1: “Mark the crown, heed its call.” Serpents were at the top of the animal structure. Alas, that’s the wrong guess.
Guess #2: “Come together, share despair.” Ronkans saw wolves as pack animals, symbolic of community and sharing… nope, fail.
Poor Y’shtola. She channels aether into each statue and keeps getting zapped for my wrong guesses.
Guess #3: I’m kinda stuck. Going a different way, apart from the riddle. What animal doesn’t belong in this group? The owl. It wasn’t listed in the previous quest’s pantheon.
SUCCESS! It’s the owl. [Non-rhetorical question: Why? What in the riddle pointed to owl?]
-The Viis Cymet rushes to us in a panic. Eulmore’s army has entered Yx’Maja. Thancred and some others are trying to fend them off.
OH SHIT I JUST REMEMBERED! This must be that section of the trailer wheter the forest was on fire, and “Master Matoya” said something like, “Until they return, I will hold the line.” I’ll bet Ququshu will press on alone to the Qitana Ravel while Y’shtola/Matoya helps with the defense against Eulmore.
I’m still not sure whether I regret watching the trailers. It was fun building hype before the expansion with the rest of the XIV community, but it robs some moments of their surprise.
---
Mi Casa, Toupasa
-Almet, Y’shtola and I head into the nearby pyramid, where the magic is still blocked from flowing. We have to return a small owl statue from elsewhere in the pyramid to the door.
-It’s a really fun mini-game. The rooms here have owl statues that face different directions, and when I run directly in front of them, they zap me and make me restart.
The trick is to map a path that carries the small owl statue through the room while avoiding the statues’ gaze.
I love that XIV is incorporating these mini-games! Riddles and puzzles and the like.
(Small plug: if you enjoy riddles in an MMO, I STRONGLY recommend trying “Secret World Legends.” It’s free!
It’s a phenomenal horror MMO set in the modern day, with some of the best atmosphere, dialogue, and puzzles in any game I’ve played.)
---
Legend of the Not-So-Hidden Temple
-It’s hilarious just how ANNOYED Y’shtola is with all these puzzles. “Can we get this over with?” Well buckle up, Y’shtola. We got more ahead.
-First is a section with Ronkan stone guards. They patrol in different ways. Gotta watch and evade.
-Next, a series of directional buttons on the ground.
This was used to great effect in the Halicarnassus boss fight in Omega.
-Finally, a MOTHER FLIPPING INDIANA JONES-STYLE BOULDER CHASE. This place is the literal best.
-One more sealed door… and Ran’jit arrived ahead of us. Rematch.
-He’s just as nasty as before. Our Viis allies manage to tie him up while I rush past towards the ultimate treasure: the Heart of Toupasa. Grabbing this lets the magic flow, and shuts down the Ronkan constructs.
-Just in time. Ran’jit was kicking the Viis’ ass.
-A Eulmoran attendant accidentally destroys the floor around us trapping us here. He even tries to bargain for his life, with an antidote to a Eulmoran poison they’ve been using on Slitherbough.
-Not that Ran’jit’s having any of that. He kicks the attending into the pit, 300 style. The antidote too.
-Y’shtola jumps after the antidote, hurling it back to me and PLUMMETING DOWN WTF???
No, I literally don’t believe it. They won’t kill off a character like Y’shtola so unceremoniously. She’s fine.
-Something I love about this sacrifice – cause even if she’s alive, it’s a sacrifice – is that she didn’t do this to destroy the Lightwarden, or defeat the Ascians, or save the world. She did it to save some of the Night’s Blessed she came to care for these past few years.
It’s a smaller scope of victory and all the more powerful for it.
-It’s just me and Ran’jit up here now, until Minfilia, Thancred, and Urianger join. Thancred knocks Ran’jit into the pit, confirming for me that it’s not a Pit of Instant Death.
I believe that Ququshu and the others would think Ran’jit and Y’shtola are dead, but in a meta sense, no way. Ran’jit and Y’shtola are probably okay.
---
The Aftermath
-Outside the pyramid. The pit seemed bottomless as far as they could tell.
-The Eulmorans and the Children have fled Yx’Maja. Some Blessed were poisoned in the fight.
-At least we have the antidote now.
Thanks, Y’shtola.
-Back to Fanow to deliver the antidote. Y’shtola’s fall hits the Blessed hard.
---
In Good Faith
-The Viis capture an intruder in their woods. LOL HI EMET-SELCH.
-It cracks me up how casual he is around us now.
-Ququshu thinks back to Y’shtola’s fall and remembers a gust of wind from the pit. I don’t remember that myself, but it happened quickly.
-This reminds Thancred of something from the end of “A Realm Reborn.” When the Monetarists took power in Ul’dah and attacked the Scions, Y’shtola escaped by teleporting with “Flow.” It pushed her into the Lifestream.
That’s probably where she’s drifting now.
EMET-SELCH: “Oh… very well. I’ll go and fetch her.” Ascian ex machina. Wants to prove himself to us.
-We head out to the forest. He starts up a ritual, and… wow. He does it. Yanks her out of the Lifestream.
I was expecting a twist, like him yanking out the wrong person, but nope.
-THE RONSO RUNAR IS SO HAPPY HE PICKS HER UP
-Y’shtola’s defining characteristic isn’t “sweet.” She’s often acerbic and biting. But thanks God FFXIV realizes that our defining characteristics are far from our only characterstics.
I love so much seeing her receive these greetings happily and warmly.
-So… Emet-Selch. He’s clearly doing this for his own ends, and manipulating us in some way. Thanks and all, but I trust him no more now than I did before.
---
Random Stuff Around Eorzea
An elite red sabotender:
The stone constructs guarding the Ronkan Ruins:
An owl who’s crotch is a human face:
I love when the game mocks the unvoiced protagonist:
---
Next time: the Qitana Ravel.
---
Look to the Stars
-Our goals now is to open the doors to the Qitana Ravel and reach the Lightwarden. First, we have to restore magic flowing in northern Rak’tika and open the Qitana Ravel’s doors.
-We explore the Ronkan ruins nearby. They draw inspiration from civilizations like the Mayans and Incans, that pyramid structure.
Statues are nearby: serpent, opo-opo, wolf, coeurl, colibri, owl. We have to channel aether into one specific one.
Riddles atop the pyramids hint at which one:
“Come together, share despair,
Go thy ways, dread burdens bear,
Mark the crown, heed its call,
Avert thy gaze, forever fall.”
I have no frigging idea. A prior quest gave some clues about Ronkan animals that might help, but even then nothing jumps out as super obvious.
Guess #1: “Mark the crown, heed its call.” Serpents were at the top of the animal structure. Alas, that’s the wrong guess.
Guess #2: “Come together, share despair.” Ronkans saw wolves as pack animals, symbolic of community and sharing… nope, fail.
Poor Y’shtola. She channels aether into each statue and keeps getting zapped for my wrong guesses.
Guess #3: I’m kinda stuck. Going a different way, apart from the riddle. What animal doesn’t belong in this group? The owl. It wasn’t listed in the previous quest’s pantheon.
SUCCESS! It’s the owl. [Non-rhetorical question: Why? What in the riddle pointed to owl?]
-The Viis Cymet rushes to us in a panic. Eulmore’s army has entered Yx’Maja. Thancred and some others are trying to fend them off.
OH SHIT I JUST REMEMBERED! This must be that section of the trailer wheter the forest was on fire, and “Master Matoya” said something like, “Until they return, I will hold the line.” I’ll bet Ququshu will press on alone to the Qitana Ravel while Y’shtola/Matoya helps with the defense against Eulmore.
I’m still not sure whether I regret watching the trailers. It was fun building hype before the expansion with the rest of the XIV community, but it robs some moments of their surprise.
---
Mi Casa, Toupasa
-Almet, Y’shtola and I head into the nearby pyramid, where the magic is still blocked from flowing. We have to return a small owl statue from elsewhere in the pyramid to the door.
-It’s a really fun mini-game. The rooms here have owl statues that face different directions, and when I run directly in front of them, they zap me and make me restart.
The trick is to map a path that carries the small owl statue through the room while avoiding the statues’ gaze.
I love that XIV is incorporating these mini-games! Riddles and puzzles and the like.
(Small plug: if you enjoy riddles in an MMO, I STRONGLY recommend trying “Secret World Legends.” It’s free!
It’s a phenomenal horror MMO set in the modern day, with some of the best atmosphere, dialogue, and puzzles in any game I’ve played.)
---
Legend of the Not-So-Hidden Temple
-It’s hilarious just how ANNOYED Y’shtola is with all these puzzles. “Can we get this over with?” Well buckle up, Y’shtola. We got more ahead.
-First is a section with Ronkan stone guards. They patrol in different ways. Gotta watch and evade.
-Next, a series of directional buttons on the ground.
This was used to great effect in the Halicarnassus boss fight in Omega.
-Finally, a MOTHER FLIPPING INDIANA JONES-STYLE BOULDER CHASE. This place is the literal best.
-One more sealed door… and Ran’jit arrived ahead of us. Rematch.
-He’s just as nasty as before. Our Viis allies manage to tie him up while I rush past towards the ultimate treasure: the Heart of Toupasa. Grabbing this lets the magic flow, and shuts down the Ronkan constructs.
-Just in time. Ran’jit was kicking the Viis’ ass.
-A Eulmoran attendant accidentally destroys the floor around us trapping us here. He even tries to bargain for his life, with an antidote to a Eulmoran poison they’ve been using on Slitherbough.
-Not that Ran’jit’s having any of that. He kicks the attending into the pit, 300 style. The antidote too.
-Y’shtola jumps after the antidote, hurling it back to me and PLUMMETING DOWN WTF???
No, I literally don’t believe it. They won’t kill off a character like Y’shtola so unceremoniously. She’s fine.
-Something I love about this sacrifice – cause even if she’s alive, it’s a sacrifice – is that she didn’t do this to destroy the Lightwarden, or defeat the Ascians, or save the world. She did it to save some of the Night’s Blessed she came to care for these past few years.
It’s a smaller scope of victory and all the more powerful for it.
-It’s just me and Ran’jit up here now, until Minfilia, Thancred, and Urianger join. Thancred knocks Ran’jit into the pit, confirming for me that it’s not a Pit of Instant Death.
I believe that Ququshu and the others would think Ran’jit and Y’shtola are dead, but in a meta sense, no way. Ran’jit and Y’shtola are probably okay.
---
The Aftermath
-Outside the pyramid. The pit seemed bottomless as far as they could tell.
-The Eulmorans and the Children have fled Yx’Maja. Some Blessed were poisoned in the fight.
-At least we have the antidote now.
Thanks, Y’shtola.
-Back to Fanow to deliver the antidote. Y’shtola’s fall hits the Blessed hard.
---
In Good Faith
-The Viis capture an intruder in their woods. LOL HI EMET-SELCH.
-It cracks me up how casual he is around us now.
-Ququshu thinks back to Y’shtola’s fall and remembers a gust of wind from the pit. I don’t remember that myself, but it happened quickly.
-This reminds Thancred of something from the end of “A Realm Reborn.” When the Monetarists took power in Ul’dah and attacked the Scions, Y’shtola escaped by teleporting with “Flow.” It pushed her into the Lifestream.
That’s probably where she’s drifting now.
EMET-SELCH: “Oh… very well. I’ll go and fetch her.” Ascian ex machina. Wants to prove himself to us.
-We head out to the forest. He starts up a ritual, and… wow. He does it. Yanks her out of the Lifestream.
I was expecting a twist, like him yanking out the wrong person, but nope.
-THE RONSO RUNAR IS SO HAPPY HE PICKS HER UP
-Y’shtola’s defining characteristic isn’t “sweet.” She’s often acerbic and biting. But thanks God FFXIV realizes that our defining characteristics are far from our only characterstics.
I love so much seeing her receive these greetings happily and warmly.
-So… Emet-Selch. He’s clearly doing this for his own ends, and manipulating us in some way. Thanks and all, but I trust him no more now than I did before.
---
Random Stuff Around Eorzea
An elite red sabotender:
The stone constructs guarding the Ronkan Ruins:
An owl who’s crotch is a human face:
I love when the game mocks the unvoiced protagonist:
---
Next time: the Qitana Ravel.
Monday, August 12, 2019
FFXIII: Lightning Returns – Part 9: Cries of the Dead
Summary: Saint Vanille and the gathering Chaos. Starting in Yusnaan.
Friday, August 9, 2019
FFXIV – Part 156: Killer Rabbits
Summary: Seeking aid against the Lightwarden from Ronka’s descendants. XIV’s summer festival, Moonfire Faire 2019.
Thursday, August 8, 2019
FFXIV – Part 155: Night’s Blessed
Summary: Two factions of dark-worshippers of Rak’tika. Murals of past heroes. Eulmore moves to protect the sin eaters.
TW: there's a quest that mentions spiders.
TW: there's a quest that mentions spiders.
Wednesday, August 7, 2019
FFXIII: Lightning Returns – Part 8: Gem
Summary: Clearing the Chaos in Noel’s heart. And in a hilarious and legitimately moving side quest, a cat owner copes with grief.
TW: pet death.
TW: pet death.
Tuesday, August 6, 2019
FFXIV – Part 154: Emet-Selch
Summary: Solus reveals himself. Meeting Y’shtola in the Rak’tika Greatwood. Night’s Blessed.
Monday, August 5, 2019
FFXIII: Lightning Returns – Part 7: Running Numbers
Summary: Finding the code. Disrupting the Cult of Etro. Shadow Hunter.
Thursday, August 1, 2019
FFXIV – Part 153: Terror of the Fae
Summary: Nu Mou and amaro. The 8-player Titania trial. The faeries’ horrific counterattack against Eulmore.
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