Another (much shorter) Lahabrea post!
I haven’t completely finished FFIV or played FFIV: The After Years . However, I have ruthlessly spoiled both games for myself because that’s how I fucking roll lol. This post has spoilers for both.
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*Makes fun of Lahabrea, he is now my favorite character*
Tell me, for whom do you fight? 🤔
How very glib , 😑🙄and do you believe in Eorzea? 😏
Eorzeas’ unity is forged on falsehoods. Its city-states are built on deceit, and its faith is an instrument of deception. It is naught but a cobweb of lies🕷🕸🙄 - to believe in Eorzea is to believe in nothing. In Eorzea, the beast tribes often summon Gods 🙏🙏🙏 to fight in their stead.
Though your comrades only rarely respond in kind
- which is strange, is it not? Are the twelve otherwise "engaged"? 💍 I was given to understand they were your protectors. If you truly believe them your guardians, why do you not repeat the trick that served you so well at Carteneau, and call them down? 😏☎️🔇 They will answer, so long as you lavish them with crystals 💎 and gorge them on aether 💦😳. Your Gods are no different from those of the beasts - eikons, every one 🤡🤪. Accept but this, and you will see how Eorzeas faith is bleeding the land dry. Nor is this unknown to your masters, which prompts the question - why do they cling to these false deities? What drives even men of learning
- even the great Louisoux 🎓
to grovel at their feet? The answer? Your masters lack the strength to do otherwise! 🤣 For the world of man to mean anything, man must own the world. 👉🌍👈To this end, he hath fought ever to raise himself through conflict, to grow rich💰💰💰 through conquest🛡⚔😡. And when the dust of battle settles, it is ever the strong who dictate the fate of the weak. Knowing this, but a single path is open to the impotent ruler - that of false worship🙏👑🙏. A path which leads to enervation and death 🤡😰⚰. Only a man of power can rightly steer the course of civilization. And in this land of
cReEpInG mEnDaCiTy, that one truth will prove its salvation. Cum Come, champion of Eorzea, face me! Your defeat shall serve as proof of my readiness to rule👑! It is only right that I should take your realm, for none among you has the power to stop me! 😎😎😎
Brewing storm A speedpaint video of this will be available at my Patreon on august 1st!
I read your two analyses of Lahabrea and I'm really fascinated by the links you drew for Emet-Selch and Elidibus as well. I was wondering: what do you make of Emet-Selch's comment about him, in the tale Ere Our Curtain Falls, that "it became clear that he was the most suitable candidate for Zodiark's heart"?
Thanks a ton tenkuu!! :D Really glad you enjoyed the analyses!
For folks who might not recall offhand, this is the quote from Ere Our Curtain Falls :
That's the sort of person Elidibus was; eager to fulfill his duty, he also respected and admired the Convocation more than any other. To many of us, he was as a younger brother of sorts. And when it became clear that he was the most suitable candidate for Zodiark's heart, it mattered not how strong our resolve... There was none among us who did not waver. Before the detailed discussion on how Elidibus may have related to Therion (viewable here ) I potentially would have been unsure how to answer this. We know as of Eden 5.4 that Loghrif was another contender for the role as Zodiark's Heart but that Elidibus was ultimately selected.
On behalf of the Convocation, I bid you welcome to our order. At times you will stand with us. At times you will stand against us. All that you might steer mankind and the very star upon their true course. For yours is the seat of Elidibus, the Emissary, and by this name shall your every action be guided. This quote comes from Lahabrea, as we know Elidibus was the last/most recent addition to the Convocation. I think data mining confirmed, but even if it didn't the person's title is literally Convocation Speaker and we know that Lahabrea held that title.
Based on the connotations attached to the first and second Beasts of the Apocalypse from Biblical Revelation (which are in-turn linked to the First Beast/Lahabrea and Therion/Elidibus respectively) I suspect that at minimum following Archaeotania's escape there were misgivings about the plan for Zodiark. It was Lahabrea's concept and Lahabrea was not able to contain Archaeotania. Whether due to fear, weakness, or limited adaptability in high-stress circumstances—Lahabrea failed. Added to this, Azem rejected the Zodiark plan so strongly that they departed the Convocation entirely. The public had reason to doubt at that point in time.
Elidibus being the Emissary, the one who specifically stands to challenge and oppose his colleagues as needed, taking upon himself the role of sacrifice is a huge statement to the people. His entire position is fixed around coming up with and presenting counterarguments, of placing limitations and challenging assumptions to ensure any path taken is thoroughly vetted. For him, specifically, to give his life is the highest declaration of trust and confidence anyone on that star could have given. If anybody could restore faith in the Convocation and their plan it was him.
Added to this though, there's a very quiet unspoken question in Emet-Selch's quote tied to Elidibus' admiration for the Convocation. It's compounded in an additional quote shared by Lahabrea and Igeyorhm.
LAHABREA: Reviewing the records yet again? Really? You worry too much, Elidibus. This dedication to your duty verges on obsession.IGEYORHM: To think some thought you ill-suited for the role. How wrong they were. But come, turn your gaze outside the window, my friend. The rains have ceased, and we have been graced with another beautiful day.I'm explicitly stating that this is Lahabrea because 1) Convocation Speaker, there's no one else it could be 2) I think data mining confirmed the identities of both characters explicitly. I do not have these links but @Igeyorhm on twitter IIRC has records for this? In any case, I remember there was also a translation that explicitly had Igeyorhm specifying Lahabrea had been the skeptic about Elidibus’ appointment. She said this while standing directly next to Lahabrea, and he did a kind of slow turn and stare at her as she said it because girl was teasing him lol.
I mention this though, because regardless of who doubted Elidibus’ fitness for the role it did happen… and I actually think we have all the tools available to determine why.
Elidibus having the level of love, devotion, kindness, and admiration he does for his colleagues risks him being potentially blinded in his responsibilities to play devil’s advocate. If he goes easy on them, if he doesn’t challenge them as strictly as he needs to, there is potential for his responsibilities to remain unfulfilled and for the direction of the Convocation (and broader star) to go off the rails.
In this specific instance, Elidibus chose in all his power and influence as the man who questions and challenges, to align himself with the Zodiark plan being promoted by the rest of the Convocation. If he’d challenged that he could have caused serious division and question, but he not only gave his support—he specifically gave his support so completely that he gave his own life to it.
This aligns perfectly with the role of the second Beast relative to the first in Revelation. That Elidibus’ beast is Therion makes me suspect he had his own doubts and anxieties about his decision before the sacrifice, and wasn’t sure whether his full commitment to this plan would be steering the star toward salvation or ruin.
So yeah, basically I think the reason Elidibus was perfect for the role was because his opinion was by nature the hardest to win in his function as Emissary. If it was necessary to restore faith for the public he was the one who could and needed to do that.
Anonymous asked:
I am unsure if you take prompts for analyses, but I would be very curious to hear any thoughts you had on Sin Eaters, Innocence, and any consistent theme you have noticed in what they could be "Forgiven" for.
My personal proto-theory is that each of the sins is something that might potentially detract from being completely obedient to Innocence, and while I'm aware that I haven't fully explored this theory, I would appreciate seeing your thoughts.
OH! This is actually really cool--I've never gotten a spontaneous analysis prompt before! :D Questions about existing stuff I've done sometimes, but I don't remember if anyone's asked about other areas in the past. My thoughts on Sin Eaters, Innocence, and the Forgiven title might be a little simpler in some ways but I'll try to touch on them somewhat. ^^
With everything I say below, I also want to actively encourage people to share thoughts/perspectives because I do think there are elements I'm missing that involve more thought/structure.
First, I'm going to bring in a few Lightwarden images so we have all that information readily available.
As bonus pictures since the Eros and Innocence ones aren't so clear:
(Eros has pink toe beans, my god.)
First, I do want to mention that while Innocence/Vauthry are our final Lightwarden and distinct for being both man and Sin Eater both--I don't actually consider him as elevated above the other Lightwardens in status. For that reason, while I do have thoughts about what the titles "Forgiven X" allude to I don't think Innocence/Vauthry are what defines those titles. For that matter, I don't think Eden/Mitron/Artemis define them either being as he's basically out of his mind by himself in The Empty. Imo it has more to do with how Light is defined, both as a primordial element and in philosophy. I'll loop back to this later though.
On the Lightwardens, imo they map onto the Greek forms of love. I think historically there were seven, some people have tried to add on an eighth but imo that one is a stretch and not really authentic.
The forms are:
1) Eros: Romantic, passionate love 2) Philia: Intimate, authentic friendship 3) Ludus: Playful, flirtatious love 4) Storge: Unconditional, familial love 5) Philautia: Self-love 6) Pragma: Committed, companionate love 7) Agápe: Empathetic, universal love All of these are true and sincere in nature. We also know that the concepts were literally used as reference for the Lightwardens because three of the five are outright named for them. In my opinion though, all five map onto the concepts and the Warrior of Light had potential to become a sixth.
We know Philia, Storge, and Eros already. Titania imo is clearly Ludus. Innocence is interesting because he claims to be acting in a capacity as god or ruler, but in practice he is a corruption of Philautia. Philautia also makes sense for Innocence on a few other levels--one being that there's a concept of Utopia or innocence as a womb-state floating around philosophy. I can't remember the origin precisely offhand (maybe Jung???), but it amounts to finding peace, perfection, and tranquility through total lack of experience or life itself. The idea of finding Utopia or returning to Eden is paralleled with a return to the womb, an unbirthing, a rejection of what exists and regression to a proto-child state. I've also seen discussion of how in society both historically and even today, there are authoritarian groups who aspire to a form of Utopia through the pattern of controlling or eliminating experience that might lead to conflict or question. Ideas must be isolated and sheltered instead of tried against alternative viewpoints to determine truth. This very much tracks for Vauthry and his behavior. He sees his stance as the sole truth and form good can take, with any alternatives being insulting or outright evil necessitating destruction. There's also room to look at Innocence as a stage in early human development/Freudian Id before empathy, theory of mind, or morality have developed. So in terms of Innocence as corrupted Philautia, it would track that Vauthry loves himself to the exclusion of all else.
(Note: Mitron wanting to retreat from the world with Loghrif somewhere that time and external experience couldn't effect or hurt them was absolutely him wanting to return to the womb too for Utopia. He'd hit a point where existence itself was painful and he couldn't take it anymore, but he was terrified of being alone.)
Also, Vauthry literally has a baby head poking out of his pec.
It's worth mentioning, I'm not really sure how to assess the Lightwarden designs for symbolism? Innocence can be argued to parallel representations of archangels in artwork. Titania is clearly a fae creature as per the story, and there's some neat IRL lore surrounding the concept of fae creatures (sylphs, mermaids, fairies, etc.) as not having souls in Christian tradition. FFXIV didn't go for that angle, but it is interesting as a juxtaposition. I also want to mention that I think for Titania specifically, we get corrupted Ludus in the Lightwarden/arguably some of the fae initially, then true Ludus in Feo-Ul.
But yeah. I have total faith that the devs had purpose and references in the design choices made around Storge, Eros, and Philia. Eros in particular is too weird/specific in having two wolf heads and a mandrill combined with a serpent tail. That's not intuitive so I'm very sure there's some allusion being made, I've just got no idea what it is. Likewise I think I remember there was some detail of Eros having originally been an elf hunter or something before transforming, but I don't remember where I saw that detail and can't swear to it. I have zero memory of a romance story attached though.
I think the Warrior of Light would have become Lightwarden Agápe had the stand against Emet-Selch failed. Interestingly, I actually think that either Elidibus or Mitron may have adopted the role of Pragma. Mitron would make sense in the context of companionate love for Loghrif/Gaia, but Elidibus makes sense in the context of companionate love for Emet-Selch and Lahabrea.
In terms of primordial Light and Sin Eater names, I think it ties to Light specifically as order, stasis, law, black and white morality, those who are seen/official/known, and rigidity. By contrast Darkness would be chaos, change, freedom, moral grays, those who are unseen/anomalous/unknown, and mutability. Neither is inherently good or evil, and the Warrior embodies both at different points within Shadowbringers while fighting Emet-Selch and Elidibus. Likewise in the context of Hydaelyn versus Zodiark, I think that each primal uses power possessed to forge its opposite effect on followers.
So Hydaelyn as a being of order, stasis, law, black and white morality, and rigidity, champion of the seen/official/known, creates in the world chaos, change, freedom, moral grays, mutability, and the unseen/anomalous/unknown. Zodiark as a being of chaos, change, freedom, moral grays, mutability, champion of the unseen/anomalous/unknown, creates in Ascians order, stasis, law, black and white morality, rigidity, and a sense of being seen/official/known. They're a yin-yang, essentially.
When it comes to Light in the context of unnatural purity, there is no compassion, allowance for human frailty, or understanding of life. It is wholly without empathy, sees itself as the sole arbiter of morality, and will ruthlessly condemn all in opposition.
In that context, you have "Forgiven Cowardice" as this force's condemnation of those who flee in terror for their lives instead of accepting Light as truth. "Forgiven Ignorance" is likely ascribed to those who balked due to being afraid and confused, "Forgiven Folly" goes to those who know but disagree with what Light stands for, "Forgiven Disobedience"/"Forgiven Violence"/"Forgiven Rebellion" all stand for those who actively resist or fight back, etc. It's how another person's humanity and behavior are viewed through the lens of someone who disagrees and views all dissent as an offense or mark of moral failure.
I hope this helps, and again would like to invite anyone with additional thoughts or references to feel free to add!
Another thing I'd like to add, from an IRL perspective, is that sin-eaters are a bit of a religious tradition. It's an overarching umbrella term for the religious practice of eating a ritual meal to consume a deceased person's sins. This was to absolve the original recently deceased person from their sins, thus potentially giving them a peaceful afterlife by the transference of that sin to the living sin-eater. When I was studying cultural anthropology as a hobby in university, I think it was associated the most with Wales, English countries bordering Wales, and Welsh culture in general? But it's a sort of ritual that we see all over the place; those mentioned are just the most common (common enough to give us the general umbrella term).
(Placing full analysis behind a read more, just for folks' dashboards)
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These are COMPLETELY BADASS analytical additions--thanks a ton mahri! :D I didn’t know the IRL history of sin eaters or the traditions surrounding them, but I do think you’ve nailed a lot with this.
illegiblewords Follow As a general note, I think people need to re-discover the art of discussion and healthy debate/disagreement.I don’t assume during analysis that people will always agree or that I’ll be correct about everything. I try to back up my points so folks can see I’m not being sloppy or careless lol, but also because I figure it shows where I’m coming from. That way the conclusion I’ve reached makes more sense. I think a lot of people have this idea that discussion or debate is about one side being right while the other is wrong, and I’m just not about that dichotomy. To me it’s cool that fiction gives room for a broad range of interpretations, and depending on the lens something is viewed through your narrative can come across very differently.I think there’s been a push in the West lately that you MUST convert others to your way of thinking, and dissent is another person trying to convert you. From such a standpoint debate, discussion, and analysis are framed as threatening things where somebody is trying to take your manner of thinking away to replace it with their own. There’s zero regard for how you thought originally and your agency is under threat. I really dislike that whole premise. I’d even go so far as calling it destructive.Part of the beauty in humanity is that we have such different ways of looking at the world. By exchanging and comparing ideas our understanding is deepened through perspective. Whatever we choose to internalize comes from our having weighed a point and found it adds something of value. Even ideas that aren’t adopted as personal preference can be handled with respect for the insight they offer along with the alternatives they present. Understanding is valuable in itself, even if you hold a different stance.Being able to have conversation where agreement is possible but not mandatory, where respect is understood as independent of agreement, matters a lot imo. Learning how to address difference with politeness can help de-escalate conflict and lead to more positive interactions on the whole.Sometimes you’ll encounter somebody who has a hugely different way of viewing things. One particular conversation I remember hinged on whether a society really was utopian or near-utopian in nature, versus being secretly dystopian. I was for the utopian reading while my conversation partner was firmly dystopian. It was a major influence in how we each read characters/situations. There was a point I said something to the effect of “I don’t agree with this reading, but if the situations you described are in play that would absolutely change my interpretation of the subject.” I think the person I’d been speaking with had this idea that all readings took her dystopian assumptions as fact and were therefore operating from a position of trying to justify dystopian bad action. Being able to acknowledge the difference in reading/understanding and how looking at the material from distinct premises changed opinion helped keep the conversation in good faith.Idk, this just struck me basically.
illegiblewords Follow Anonymous asked:I am unsure if you take prompts for analyses, but I would be very curious to hear any thoughts you had on Sin Eaters, Innocence, and any consistent theme you have noticed in what they could be "Forgiven" for.My personal proto-theory is that each of the sins is something that might potentially detract from being completely obedient to Innocence, and while I'm aware that I haven't fully explored this theory, I would appreciate seeing your thoughts.OH! This is actually really cool--I've never gotten a spontaneous analysis prompt before! :D Questions about existing stuff I've done sometimes, but I don't remember if anyone's asked about other areas in the past. My thoughts on Sin Eaters, Innocence, and the Forgiven title might be a little simpler in some ways but I'll try to touch on them somewhat. ^^
With everything I say below, I also want to actively encourage people to share thoughts/perspectives because I do think there are elements I'm missing that involve more thought/structure.
First, I'm going to bring in a few Lightwarden images so we have all that information readily available.
As bonus pictures since the Eros and Innocence ones aren't so clear:(Eros has pink toe beans, my god.)First, I do want to mention that while Innocence/Vauthry are our final Lightwarden and distinct for being both man and Sin Eater both--I don't actually consider him as elevated above the other Lightwardens in status. For that reason, while I do have thoughts about what the titles "Forgiven X" allude to I don't think Innocence/Vauthry are what defines those titles. For that matter, I don't think Eden/Mitron/Artemis define them either being as he's basically out of his mind by himself in The Empty. Imo it has more to do with how Light is defined, both as a primordial element and in philosophy. I'll loop back to this later though.
On the Lightwardens, imo they map onto the Greek forms of love. I think historically there were seven, some people have tried to add on an eighth but imo that one is a stretch and not really authentic.
The forms are:1) Eros: Romantic, passionate love2) Philia: Intimate, authentic friendship3) Ludus: Playful, flirtatious love4) Storge: Unconditional, familial love5) Philautia: Self-love6) Pragma: Committed, companionate love7) Agápe: Empathetic, universal loveAll of these are true and sincere in nature. We also know that the concepts were literally used as reference for the Lightwardens because three of the five are outright named for them. In my opinion though, all five map onto the concepts and the Warrior of Light had potential to become a sixth.
We know Philia, Storge, and Eros already. Titania imo is clearly Ludus. Innocence is interesting because he claims to be acting in a capacity as god or ruler, but in practice he is a corruption of Philautia. Philautia also makes sense for Innocence on a few other levels--one being that there's a concept of Utopia or innocence as a womb-state floating around philosophy. I can't remember the origin precisely offhand (maybe Jung???), but it amounts to finding peace, perfection, and tranquility through total lack of experience or life itself. The idea of finding Utopia or returning to Eden is paralleled with a return to the womb, an unbirthing, a rejection of what exists and regression to a proto-child state. I've also seen discussion of how in society both historically and even today, there are authoritarian groups who aspire to a form of Utopia through the pattern of controlling or eliminating experience that might lead to conflict or question. Ideas must be isolated and sheltered instead of tried against alternative viewpoints to determine truth. This very much tracks for Vauthry and his behavior. He sees his stance as the sole truth and form good can take, with any alternatives being insulting or outright evil necessitating destruction. There's also room to look at Innocence as a stage in early human development/Freudian Id before empathy, theory of mind, or morality have developed. So in terms of Innocence as corrupted Philautia, it would track that Vauthry loves himself to the exclusion of all else.(Note: Mitron wanting to retreat from the world with Loghrif somewhere that time and external experience couldn't effect or hurt them was absolutely him wanting to return to the womb too for Utopia. He'd hit a point where existence itself was painful and he couldn't take it anymore, but he was terrified of being alone.)Also, Vauthry literally has a baby head poking out of his pec.So we have that.It's worth mentioning, I'm not really sure how to assess the Lightwarden designs for symbolism? Innocence can be argued to parallel representations of archangels in artwork. Titania is clearly a fae creature as per the story, and there's some neat IRL lore surrounding the concept of fae creatures (sylphs, mermaids, fairies, etc.) as not having souls in Christian tradition. FFXIV didn't go for that angle, but it is interesting as a juxtaposition. I also want to mention that I think for Titania specifically, we get corrupted Ludus in the Lightwarden/arguably some of the fae initially, then true Ludus in Feo-Ul.But yeah. I have total faith that the devs had purpose and references in the design choices made around Storge, Eros, and Philia. Eros in particular is too weird/specific in having two wolf heads and a mandrill combined with a serpent tail. That's not intuitive so I'm very sure there's some allusion being made, I've just got no idea what it is. Likewise I think I remember there was some detail of Eros having originally been an elf hunter or something before transforming, but I don't remember where I saw that detail and can't swear to it. I have zero memory of a romance story attached though.I think the Warrior of Light would have become Lightwarden Agápe had the stand against Emet-Selch failed. Interestingly, I actually think that either Elidibus or Mitron may have adopted the role of Pragma. Mitron would make sense in the context of companionate love for Loghrif/Gaia, but Elidibus makes sense in the context of companionate love for Emet-Selch and Lahabrea.In terms of primordial Light and Sin Eater names, I think it ties to Light specifically as order, stasis, law, black and white morality, those who are seen/official/known, and rigidity. By contrast Darkness would be chaos, change, freedom, moral grays, those who are unseen/anomalous/unknown, and mutability. Neither is inherently good or evil, and the Warrior embodies both at different points within Shadowbringers while fighting Emet-Selch and Elidibus. Likewise in the context of Hydaelyn versus Zodiark, I think that each primal uses power possessed to forge its opposite effect on followers. So Hydaelyn as a being of order, stasis, law, black and white morality, and rigidity, champion of the seen/official/known, creates in the world chaos, change, freedom, moral grays, mutability, and the unseen/anomalous/unknown. Zodiark as a being of chaos, change, freedom, moral grays, mutability, champion of the unseen/anomalous/unknown, creates in Ascians order, stasis, law, black and white morality, rigidity, and a sense of being seen/official/known. They're a yin-yang, essentially.
When it comes to Light in the context of unnatural purity, there is no compassion, allowance for human frailty, or understanding of life. It is wholly without empathy, sees itself as the sole arbiter of morality, and will ruthlessly condemn all in opposition.In that context, you have "Forgiven Cowardice" as this force's condemnation of those who flee in terror for their lives instead of accepting Light as truth. "Forgiven Ignorance" is likely ascribed to those who balked due to being afraid and confused, "Forgiven Folly" goes to those who know but disagree with what Light stands for, "Forgiven Disobedience"/"Forgiven Violence"/"Forgiven Rebellion" all stand for those who actively resist or fight back, etc. It's how another person's humanity and behavior are viewed through the lens of someone who disagrees and views all dissent as an offense or mark of moral failure.
I hope this helps, and again would like to invite anyone with additional thoughts or references to feel free to add!
#ffxiv#shadowbringers#sin eaters#vauthry#mitron#final fantasy xiv
illegiblewords Follow crrahsa-yamah asked:Hi, I was looking at your Archon Thesis: Lahabrea post and I spotted a very small error where (under the Sephirot section) you attributed Chesed to red. In fact, it's blue. Geburah (which you didn't write the color of) is the one that is red. (continued)In fact, though there's nothing connecting this particular sphere with Lahabrea in particular, he's a very good exemplary picture of what Geburah is all about when it comes to the standard of unflinching, perfectionist ideals that absolutely do not exempt himself. Geburah's attributions to fire are along the lines of alchemy/purification, burning out the dross of one's own faults, that sort of thing-- justice often turned *inward*. (Action doesn't become externalized until Tiphareth and below.)Hi! Thanks for mentioning the color mix-up with Chesed and Geburah! I remember when I originally took my notes I combined two secondary sources rather than picking from Sefer Raziel directly, partly because I'd been traveling and partly because admittedly sometimes secondary sources are a bit easier to digest. Have Sefer Raziel, just didn't reference it for those notes. One reference I used was Stealing Fire from Heaven by Nevill Drury and I thought the color bits were from there, but when I checked no dice. So it must have been my internet source, and straight up I've been struggling to re-find it so I suspect the mix-up came from there. My bad! Will correct.
VERY INTERESTING ON GEBURAH AND ALCHEMY THOUGH, what you said does absolutely track! Out of curiosity, would you happen to have source/reference recommendations tied to kabbalah? I’ve been self-teaching with all of this and it would be very helpful!
illegiblewords reblogged centaurianthropology Follow One thing I would love to see fandom get away from is an obsession with canon. So many fans seem unhappy when what they wanted to see doesn’t become canon, and I am here to tell you that this is exactly what fandom should be for! Canon is great and all, and if you’re jiving with it, fantastic. But if you’re not, if canon veers in a direction you don’t enjoy, or there are just aspects of canon that aren’t your thing, then fandom is exactly the place you should be able to disregard them. Explore whatever rabbit hole you like. Create alternate timelines to suit your tastes, ship non-canon ships, ship all the ships, end things differently. Do what you like, and stop getting hung up on what canon says. Fandom should be about pursuing your joy, even if (and often especially if) that joy veers of the well-trod canon paths.Canon is a guideline that brings us all together. It’s not the law. It’s not the only path you can walk. Please, I’m telling you, the sooner you give up canon fundamentalism and embrace the fanon that makes you happiest, the healthier and happier everyone is going to be in fandom.frostmantle Follow Canon’s more what you’d call guidelines than actual rules.GIF by micomplicatedillegiblewords Follow Canon is an imaginary story made by human beings just like you, to keep in your head or not as you prefer. There’s value knowing and finding inspiration in canon since it’s a shared touchstone on the material, but the story that lives in your head is your own business.There are people who try to use canon like a club to brute-force others into holding ideas they want exclusively. It’s authoritarian and alienating. You can persuade people to adopt an idea sometimes if you do a really good job of presenting it, but none of us has the power to reach directly into someone else’s brain to control their thoughts. Nor should we.The beauty of fanon is that it gives people options in what stories they hold close to their hearts. Our need to entice readers encourages effort and value for quality.
illegiblewords reblogged nozomikei sydsir Follow nyascians 2inspired by this tweet
illegiblewords Follow Anonymous asked:hello, im trying to read your archon thesis, but the blog background is hurting my eyes. good theories though!Hey dude! Sorry about that! I had that theme for years, but if it's causing a problem it's not working. Switched it to something with less contrast. Dunno if what's there now will be the permanent theme, but hopefully it'll make for easier reading!
Thank you for checking the archon thesis out, I'm glad you've been enjoying even with the eye strain!
illegiblewords Follow Anonymous asked:I want to make it approximately five thousand percent clear: your character analysis picece on laha is one of the greatest things I've ever read on this whole cursed site.Please write more like it.:D Thank you so much dude!!! <3 <3 <3 I'm seriously thrilled you liked it and that the analysis resonated with you so much! I really love the guy a lot but he is SO SNEAKY with his characterization, so being able to share that with others means a lot to me.
On the note of sneakiness, I did do a part two in the analysis (like a lunatic) that is similarly huge lol. Idk if you saw already or not but if you would like some more and haven't caught it yet I can actually point you there for more content! I definitely will be analyzing in the future just because there's so much incredible material in FFXIV as a game, and I'm sure Endwalker is only going to deliver more on that front. ^^ Really appreciate the interest!
Wishing you a wonderful day, and thanks again for the message!
illegiblewords Follow Lahabrea#lahabrea#ascian#ffxiv#ff14#final fantasy 14#final fantasy xiv#gpose#ffxiv gpose#ff14 gpose
illegiblewords Follow Maerec Provost#hyur#final fantasy xiv#final fantasy 14#ffxiv#ff14#ff14 gpose#ffxiv gpose
