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Thoughts on Endwalker so far - I've finished the first trial (lv. 83) and have met the "pilots," who are adorable.
Written shortly after getting into EW/Old Sharlayan:
Current status: Baroouse is mad as hell at the twins' "father" because he believes that no good father would ever disown their children for following what they believe in. His own father encouraged him to leave when he finally admitted he wasn't happy there, and they stayed in touch as much as they could, right up until his death soon after the Calamity. The idea of a father disowning his children is horrific.
Also, Old Sharlayan is pretty enough, but he knows enough about the architecture from Idyllshire, and he doesn't care much for elitists... he's looking forward to being able to admit that he was the one who wrote - or in most cases, co-wrote - some of the recent academic papers that he'll probably catch a few people reading. (Eric credited him on the papers about battlegrounds, because Baroouse leaving him in the dark would've been OOC so he ended up writing him a letter coming clean about the duplicated data, and it went on from there. He's also written some papers with Alka Zolka and Y'mhitra about his research into Summoner and Scholar lore, and another about the infusion of aether into jewelry.)
Written while playing in Labyrinthos:
So it seems pretty obvious to me what the Forum is doing, if I'm not completely reading it wrong. They're building an ark. They want to put as much of the world's knowledge on that ark as they can and send it out in the hopes of finding somewhere else for them to live on. I don't know if they have a destination in mind or if they're just hoping. I'd hope the former.
It just makes me wonder, who are they taking with them? Just the experts? Are the gleaners, who worked so hard to get all of this stuff together, going to be left behind, because they're just workers and don't carry any special knowledge? I can't imagine they'd be able to move everyone in their nation.
(ICly, I think Baroouse, who remembers what happened with Omega, has some suspicions about what they are doing. Also he would've volunteered immediately to go to the Antitower himself to see what he can see, considering he's been there before - but they would've told him he was needed elsewhere, no matter how much he wanted to see what was happening for himself. This is one of the points when he really wished he could talk, because he would've interrupted that one Forum member who let something slip and pressed him for details, even if he knows now he wouldn't be able to get anything else out of him. He's not even that angry about not having their help - it's their choice to make, and he's used to having people not believing in him and having to change their minds. But the fact that they won't tell them what they saw and let the rest of the world make their own decisions? That's what's making him angry. It's not like it'll make any difference to the Forum's plans; they're already determined to do what they will regardless of what the rest of the world says.)
- I have not gotten the chance to see as much of Thavnair as I'd like, which is a pity. I don't have much to say about it, plotwise - I love the place, and so does Baroouse. Nidhana and her team of overachieving alchemists are just the best. Want to spend more time there.
- I don't know what the Eorzeans expected in Garlemald. Did they expect them to just... accept their help without being angry? A bunch of armed people marching into their homeland? (So many parallels.)
And yes... that storyline was difficult to watch. And painful. In a good way. I really kind of wish the game had spent more time on the human tragedy and hadn't had to cut immediately to more big bad plotting. I feel like Garlemald and the aftermath of its destruction could've been explored in more detail.
- I'm... honestly incredibly confused and impressed by Fandaniel's strength after the Zodiark fight. How did a sundered Ascian grow that powerful? How is he able to control a primal made up of the wills and hopes of three-quarters of his unsundered people, even not at its full power? How, exactly, does someone who only has as much of a soul as most of the people of the Source wield as much power as Emet-Selch, Elidibus and Lahabrea at their prime, if not more?
I really hope there's some kind of explanation for this.
- Re-reading what I wrote after Labyrinthos after learning the truth about the Moon:
So instead of building the ark, the Forum found out about the truth of the moon that Hydaelyn created for all humanity and have taken it upon itself to decide who lives or dies, presumably (judging by their attitude) absolutely fine with letting the rest of the world die on their hill trying to save it, never knowing there's another option?
...that's worse. They DO see how that's worse, right? Like taking the brownies your mom made for everyone and hiding them in their room, but on a much, much larger scale?
At this point, Baroouse is ready to punch Master Fourchenault in the face. The only thing giving him pause is Ameliance and her kindness - he has some hope that she'll be able to intervene given time - but after finding out that he's essentially allowing his nation to play judge and jury with the ENTIRE WORLD, and willing to disown his own children when they object to what he wants? Deciding who lives and who dies without telling everyone else there's another option, effectively lying to the world? Yeah.
We'll see what I think once the shit really hits the fan, which I understand is about now.
Written shortly after getting into EW/Old Sharlayan:
Current status: Baroouse is mad as hell at the twins' "father" because he believes that no good father would ever disown their children for following what they believe in. His own father encouraged him to leave when he finally admitted he wasn't happy there, and they stayed in touch as much as they could, right up until his death soon after the Calamity. The idea of a father disowning his children is horrific.
Also, Old Sharlayan is pretty enough, but he knows enough about the architecture from Idyllshire, and he doesn't care much for elitists... he's looking forward to being able to admit that he was the one who wrote - or in most cases, co-wrote - some of the recent academic papers that he'll probably catch a few people reading. (Eric credited him on the papers about battlegrounds, because Baroouse leaving him in the dark would've been OOC so he ended up writing him a letter coming clean about the duplicated data, and it went on from there. He's also written some papers with Alka Zolka and Y'mhitra about his research into Summoner and Scholar lore, and another about the infusion of aether into jewelry.)
Written while playing in Labyrinthos:
So it seems pretty obvious to me what the Forum is doing, if I'm not completely reading it wrong. They're building an ark. They want to put as much of the world's knowledge on that ark as they can and send it out in the hopes of finding somewhere else for them to live on. I don't know if they have a destination in mind or if they're just hoping. I'd hope the former.
It just makes me wonder, who are they taking with them? Just the experts? Are the gleaners, who worked so hard to get all of this stuff together, going to be left behind, because they're just workers and don't carry any special knowledge? I can't imagine they'd be able to move everyone in their nation.
(ICly, I think Baroouse, who remembers what happened with Omega, has some suspicions about what they are doing. Also he would've volunteered immediately to go to the Antitower himself to see what he can see, considering he's been there before - but they would've told him he was needed elsewhere, no matter how much he wanted to see what was happening for himself. This is one of the points when he really wished he could talk, because he would've interrupted that one Forum member who let something slip and pressed him for details, even if he knows now he wouldn't be able to get anything else out of him. He's not even that angry about not having their help - it's their choice to make, and he's used to having people not believing in him and having to change their minds. But the fact that they won't tell them what they saw and let the rest of the world make their own decisions? That's what's making him angry. It's not like it'll make any difference to the Forum's plans; they're already determined to do what they will regardless of what the rest of the world says.)
- I have not gotten the chance to see as much of Thavnair as I'd like, which is a pity. I don't have much to say about it, plotwise - I love the place, and so does Baroouse. Nidhana and her team of overachieving alchemists are just the best. Want to spend more time there.
- I don't know what the Eorzeans expected in Garlemald. Did they expect them to just... accept their help without being angry? A bunch of armed people marching into their homeland? (So many parallels.)
And yes... that storyline was difficult to watch. And painful. In a good way. I really kind of wish the game had spent more time on the human tragedy and hadn't had to cut immediately to more big bad plotting. I feel like Garlemald and the aftermath of its destruction could've been explored in more detail.
- I'm... honestly incredibly confused and impressed by Fandaniel's strength after the Zodiark fight. How did a sundered Ascian grow that powerful? How is he able to control a primal made up of the wills and hopes of three-quarters of his unsundered people, even not at its full power? How, exactly, does someone who only has as much of a soul as most of the people of the Source wield as much power as Emet-Selch, Elidibus and Lahabrea at their prime, if not more?
I really hope there's some kind of explanation for this.
- Re-reading what I wrote after Labyrinthos after learning the truth about the Moon:
So instead of building the ark, the Forum found out about the truth of the moon that Hydaelyn created for all humanity and have taken it upon itself to decide who lives or dies, presumably (judging by their attitude) absolutely fine with letting the rest of the world die on their hill trying to save it, never knowing there's another option?
...that's worse. They DO see how that's worse, right? Like taking the brownies your mom made for everyone and hiding them in their room, but on a much, much larger scale?
At this point, Baroouse is ready to punch Master Fourchenault in the face. The only thing giving him pause is Ameliance and her kindness - he has some hope that she'll be able to intervene given time - but after finding out that he's essentially allowing his nation to play judge and jury with the ENTIRE WORLD, and willing to disown his own children when they object to what he wants? Deciding who lives and who dies without telling everyone else there's another option, effectively lying to the world? Yeah.
We'll see what I think once the shit really hits the fan, which I understand is about now.
no subject
Date: 2023-10-13 08:39 pm (UTC)From: