iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

whys windup graha tia here

100

in a way he is saving the star so i guess we oughta be greatful

Zenos yae Galvus: I came only to remove that which ruins my sport. I will not have my prey stolen by your petty wars and cowardly weapons.

210

WHY'D VARIS JUST BREAK A BLADE THATS HALF WAY IN HIS STOMACH!???? GIRL TAKE IT OUT????

100

my takeaway opinion abt the exarch is you fucker you killed g'raha tia???

100

but ☝ to enjoy shb you have to give a fuck abt stb. my decree.

i think it gets remembered better than the previous expansions entirely bc it didnt have the same pacing issues that plagued the others (arr is too long and has a lot of tedious quests, hw is oddly fast paced?, and stb opens so so slowly) and this does make it far easier to play in 1 week. lol

i remember through the tempest section in one night, not unlike this, but without knowing anything that was going on and oh my god. dude. shb kicks ass

idk if it's obvious from the fact i finished the fucking expansion in One Week but i do really like shadow bringers.

ARDBERT NOT AS THE WARRIOR OF DARKNESS FUUACK

ardbert walking towards his companions, his clothes aren't dyed jet black as they had been, and his axe isn't bloody.

the same scene but showing ardbert's axe better

the same shot, but you can properly see ardbert's party waiting for him. they also have their clothes in unaltered colors (not all black)

anyways speaking of cool: id been using glamourer to change kenji's hair color for the last stretch of quests. for some reason in this shot, and ONLY in this shot, it broke. here's what kenji had looked like for comparison.

kenji staring at ardberts axe. his skin is paler than usual, but his hair is dark brown with red highlights, and his right eye is dark brown. his left eye is half closed, and white.

kenji paler than usual, his hair is lighter brown, with white highlights. his right eye is yellow.

100

it lives in my memory as being fucking awesome and it is in fact. fucking awesome. i think its held out as the coolest ending to an expansion. doesnt mean its the best but it does mean its the coolest to me

100

THE ENDING OF SHADOWBRINGERS KICKS ASS

100

forgot emet-selch tells you he fucked

100

bits from the scions i felt compelled to screenshot...

Alisaie: There's always hope if we look for it─I saw it again and again as you tore those veils of Light from the sky.

Alphinaud: So come, let us travel it. Drag me through wonder and danger, as you are wont to do, and I shall endeavor not to slow you down.

Y'shtola: Thus would I return the favor. Do as your heart decrees, without hesitation or regret. And that is all I will say on the matter.

100

and sure enough the next quest is shadow bringers.................. oaughhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

100

wanted to try talking to them before accepting the next quest and ouagh

100

i was thinking wow these ramps are pretty steep, it must be hard to walk up them and if theyre for accessibility it must be too hard to self operate a wheel chair up these then remembered how the ancients were abt disabilities. they did not make an accessible city

this is so haunting to me. just the whole concept of being bound by who you were sundered from... its scary to me.

Hythlodaeus: Hm hm hm... Your connection is hardly a coincidence. In our time, the two of you were one─the color of your souls tells the tale.
Hythlodaeus: A hue that distinctive cannot be mistaken, no matter how thin the soul is spread.
Hythlodaeus: Hah! This is just the kind of fate I might expect for one such as he. Surely Emet-Selch has recognized the hint of “him” in you...?

did not know abt this . u guys sacrificed what 3/4ths of the remaining people alive after tons of people died to make zodiark, and then a bunch more people died to make hydaelyn?? no wonder theres only 3 unsundered ascians you guys were feeding everyone to primals

Hythlodaeus: ...Yet oh how the star had suffered. So many species lost. The land was blighted, the waters poisoned, and even the wind had ceased to blow.
Hythlodaeus: Once more did our people give of themselves to Zodiark. Another half of our race sacrificed to cleanse the world; to ensure that trees and grasses and myriad tiny lives would sprout and grow and flourish.

100

this line has lived in my head since i first read it. fuck all else from shadow bringers apparently but this specific line has haunted me for years.

Hythlodaeus: A stray thought would have been enough. “Hythlodaeus will realize the truth,” for example. We were...close friends once, you see...

100

isnt emet-selchs job to deal with death? what must the amaurotines think abt the child asking if they can talk with him lol

100

wolcanon for kenji but i keep joking that kenji is everyones little brother so. emet-selch making amaurot where everyone treats the scions like children...

100

forgot what the ancient voices sounded like and it did make me jump

100

dont worry the only ghosts down here are- actually theres a lot of ghosts down here.

Alphinaud: We're on our way at last!
Hm, it seems far darker down here, but I'll not start at a few shadows. ...We are moving as a group, yes?

100

just fucking kill me

Alisaie: It's a hollow dream, when you think about it. Even if they manage to rejoin all the worlds, they'll never bring back the ones who were lost.

Alisaie: But would I have done any different...?

100

actual important note from my first play through: i didnt know who gerolt was. so grenoldt was just some weird guy.

100

y'shtola is being very chill considering shes just found fucking massive nigh-unbreakable ancient remains. i would be beside myself.

100

its cute that there's a way to go "where am i meant to be?" if you've picked up on the aether currents past locations and if u really are just entirely lost . which might happen bc like every other shb area the tempest is fucking massive and empty

100

rlly nice bit of navigation in the tempest, when y'shtola says lets look for buildings that match this mural and the game doesnt give u any map directions, if u use the aether current compass it'll point you toward it, since aether currents are nearby msq points.

100

distinctly remember on my first playthrough i didn't get any of what was going on in the tempest. somehow.

100

ANOTHER DEATH CAVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

100

the tempest theme rules. i love u tempest theme

something i like abt xiv is the wol's insistence on adventure isnt unique to them. bc the worlds full of adventurers, bc its an mmo where the PC is an adventurer. its very cute to me

100

this and something ardbert said earlier abt remaining calm so the light doesnt overtake them again.... its so dire out here and yet the wol cannot be stopped. on account of being an adventurer

Ryne: There's nothing I can do to cleanse you of the Light's corruption...but I'll do everything in my power to keep it in check.
Ryne: If the Wardens' aether overwhelms you again, you will become a sin eater, so please, save your strength for when it really matters.

if not for the deadly poison which killed them i imagine their body parts would be taken and used in a similar-ish manner to those of saints in real life. holy talismans

100