who's that over there?

My artwork for the FFXIV EU Fanfest Art Contest, based on the intro to Shadowbringers, one of the most memorable scenes in the whole game for me. I'm so happy to be chosen as a finalist!

I spent a very long time on the details of this piece, including various flora and fauna from around Lakeland. I remember looking up through the trees from the first place you wake up, seeing vines hanging down and birds flying overhead. The place is so strange and deeply affected by the everlasting light, and yet still full of life that has survived in spite of these conditions... And then, there is the Crystal Tower rising above the hills in the distance, a familiar beacon standing out against the unsettling sky.

For me this moment represents so much of what I adore about the experience of this game and it's one I'll never forget.

Collection

“By necessity every book must have at least one flaw; a misprint, a missing page, one imperfection…. The Rabbis … point out that even in the holiest of books, the scroll resting inside the Ark, the Name of Names is inscribed in code so that no one might say it out loud, and chance to pronounce properly the Word that once divided the waters from the waters and the day from the night…. As it is, some books, nearly perfect, are known to become transparent when opened under the influence of the proper constellation, when the full Moon rests in place.

“Then it is not uncommon for a man to become lost in a single letter, or to hear a voice rise up from the silent page; and then only one imperfect letter, one missing page, can bring him back to the land where a book, once opened, may still be closed, can permit him to pull up the covers around his head and smile once before he falls asleep.”
—Midrashim, Howard Schwartz

i've had a thought and i got curious

would be sick if you could spread this outside of my mutual circle bc curiosity is a bitch

feel free to leave any explanations on your feelings towards ghosts and religion or the correlations between them in the tags

(also in case you wanna know i fall in the last category)

CLIVE ROSFIELD,,,,

oh my lord

menphina

Fragments - episodes 27-30 author notes

You can find similar breakdown posts on older episodes in my pinned!

I make these notes as I work on an episode, however, people have been so attentive and observant with their comments that I started a tag fragments feedback where we dive even deeper into themes and interactions in the comic. These comments are a blessing, often pointing out things that my own brain doesn't register.

Obligatory ShB spoiler warning.

Episode 27 begins with a chat about the original weapons that are merely a stylish-looking convenience for them ic and for me ooc, so that I don't have to draw them lugging their weapons around.

Essentia's just a name for Vivi's spear, not like the whole concept. I introduced it around the beginning of the ShB arc. Alisaie's weapons have no name yet, there's a possibility to do something cute referring to twins.. I shall think of it :3c

Look at this child being all smug for having been able to help recreating something previously thought unique, and, um, flirting.. In her own way.....

Vivi be like, sigh, "ah, back on her bs already... Better indulge her while she's still in a nice mood".

Alisaie's left arm's stronger than both Vivi's. As a dragoon he doesn't only use magic to amplify his jumps, if it works on legs, why not extend it to arms as well? Not unlike what monks do, minus the actual physical training. Basically he cheats with magic in real fights. A casual friendly duel isn't worth expending aether, so he only relies on his actual strength :'>

He also can't do friendly duels because his Echo only telegraphs hostile attacks. A friend would stop before his blade cuts him, so Vivi's kinda blind, only relying on his own average skill. A legendary hero that's no fun to spar with if you're remotely competent.

..Which has no negative effect on Exarch's fanboyism.

Several people said they look forward to said sparring session, and I felt like I failed them because I had no plans to follow through with this. Then I thought some more.. Do we mean every little thing we say or think? Sometimes it's just distracted nonsense. If every action and word were hooks/setups for the story, it'd feel artificial. This's just my opinion, but some scenes have to have idle chatter and musings for realism.

Vivi and Alphi look like door-to-door salesmen, yet the Chais are buying multiples of whatever they sell.

This's a looooooongg post, under the cut we go~

Keep reading

Although I got ticket to go to EU fanfest, I'm not qualified to join art contest, but still i wanna draw😭

This is my tribute to my favourite game 's 10th anniversary ~Unforgotten Sacrifices~ The very beginning of Zodiark Hydaelyn saga.

Wake up babe, new Philip K Dick story just dropped

okay i read up on this guy and this is legitimately sad for him.

First of all, they neglected to mention that the hologram was of Hatsune Miku.

long story short this guy hit a depressive episode, and found Miku in the middle of that. He became a super fan of her, buying merch and listening to the songs and all that, and became genuinely infatuated. Miku was a good cope for his mental health, and when Gatebox - sort of a holographic alexa with different characters - ran a special Miku collaboration, he picked it up for his place.

Every day for years on end this man would wake up, talk to her, say goodbye on his way to work, and be welcomed home at the end of the day. One day he proposes, and of course the gatebox is programmed to say yes all embarassed and giddy. he's fully aware it's a programmed response, but hey, she said yes - and he holds a wedding. there's a company that'll give marriage liscences to fictional characters, so it's as legit as one can get. since he couldn't bring the hologram with him, he brought the miku plushie he sleeps with every night.

this might seem weird and cringe to some people, but this shit legitimately changed his life. He's massively improved from his depression, become more social, gotten a job again,and generally re-integrated into society because miku was there to support him through his rough patch.

so yeah, when gatebox stopped supporting the miku hologram, that was very unfortunate. he HAS stated that he's okay - he still loves her, and he knows it's just a matter of time before some other hologram of VR thing reconnects them. For now, he'll be eating with his wife mute and unable to talk to him.

OC October day 8 - Parent

I'm skipping forward a few for this one. I've mentioned before that Cessalie's parents both passed away due to illness when she was very young, so I don't have much of a concept for them.

Today's warm up sketch is instead a concept I've had in mind for a little while that I'd like to come back & finish properly - a family portrait, painted some years after the events of Endwalker. The children don't have names yet, but the girl is a very serious little girl, with her father's blue eyes and a terminal case of resting angry face (inherited from her mother). The little boy has his mother's dark eyes, and is a very worried little lad.

I'd like to think they continue to commission Alphinaud for these paintings :3 He's quietly emotional about it every time.

y'shtola my beloved