Know That I Am There, And That I Watch Over You Always.

Know that I am there, and that I watch over you always.

ℜ𝔲𝔦𝔫𝔢𝔡 𝔞𝔟𝔞𝔫𝔡𝔬𝔫𝔢𝔡 𝔭𝔩𝔞𝔠𝔢𝔰 𝔴𝔥𝔢𝔯𝔢 𝔰𝔦𝔩𝔢𝔫𝔠𝔢 𝔦𝔰 𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯𝔶𝔴𝔥𝔢𝔯𝔢,𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯𝔢 ℑ 𝔩𝔦𝔰𝔱𝔢𝔫𝔢𝔡 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔳𝔬𝔦𝔠𝔢 𝔬𝔣 𝔢𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔫𝔞𝔩 𝔩𝔞𝔲𝔤𝔥𝔰 𝔞𝔩𝔩 𝔞𝔯𝔬𝔲𝔫𝔡 𝔢𝔠𝔥𝔬𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔰𝔬𝔫𝔤𝔰, 𝔠𝔯𝔦𝔢𝔰 𝔰𝔬𝔪𝔢𝔴𝔥𝔢𝔯𝔢 𝔬𝔣 𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯𝔶 𝔰𝔦𝔩𝔢𝔫𝔱 𝔪𝔬𝔬𝔡.

O, come, be buried A second time within these arms

― William Shakespeare, Pericles

The sweetness of reunion is the joy of heaven.

― Richard Paul Evans, Lost December

quiz: character arc — sora.

Disillusionment Arc.

It’s hard to imagine yourself when you were young. Maybe you were meant to be a hero; maybe you could have been, in another world, but this world only made you sad. There seemed to be too many problems to fix—too much cruelty, and too many hard lines that you did not know how to soften. The world turns; it is bloody and hard, and you sit on your bed, thinking about the blood and the hardness… and everything you failed to do. I know it feels like you could sleep until the end of time, but I hope you don’t. I hope you lift yourself out of bed one day, not to save the world, but to peel an orange and to walk in a forest—to find all the softness you could not create.

link to quiz.

Identity crisis is one of the main focal points to Sora’s character development. It’s even harder when she needs to juggle between various titles and labels: from a baby adventurer-turned-Warrior of Darkness, to finding where her true loyalty—and sexuality—lie.

There were times that Sora just wanted to scream and leave. Why should she bother to save this world—repeatedly, even—only to be forgotten in the wind while the Warrior(s) of Light take all the credits? Why should she work so hard to keep the corruption at bay, while she has to prevent herself from being tainted inside out?

There were times that Sora just wanted to go to bed in silent tears, and never wake up to face the same horrors again.

Perhaps it’s fortunate—or unfortunate, depending on one’s perspective—that Sora has a veteran and mentor, Yiuno, to guide her along the way. Maybe that’s an understatement, when her relationship with the enigmatic Viera is clearly more than meets the eye…

(Re-posting old quizzes to this main blog for archiving purposes.)

quiz: ancient greek deity — yiuno.

Athena — Goddess of Wisdom.

In one word—sharp! You take pride in your skills, wit, and ability to work well with others. (And if you don’t, you should!) Things don't tend to get past you—you’re happy to forgive, but never to forget. You’re responsible and worthy of trust, and those who earn yours are lucky indeed. Remember: not every situation can be evaluated and through through with your head alone. Sometimes, the only way to know what’s right is to follow your heart.

link to quiz.

Yiuno’s patron deity is Halone, the Fury.

In Eorzean mythology, Halone is the mover of glaciers and the goddess of war, who commands the element of ice and is associated with the First Astral Moon. According to legends, Halone has a bitter relationship with Nophica, the Matron, due to her ambitions turning into bloodlust as she traveled across the realm with Oschon, the Wanderer. In the Myths of the Realm quest story, Halone’s depicted form is very much influenced by the fervent prayers exhibited by Ishgardians, resulting in her imposing stature and stoic personality.

In Greek mythology, although Ares is commonly known as the god of war, Athena’s military prowess and strong moral compass are associated with the intellectual and civilized side of war; as for Ares, he represents the brutality and lust for blood in wars (Homer’s Iliad). In many verses, Athena has lent her aid to numerous epic heroes, such as Hercules, Perseus, and later Odysseus. However, she can be fairly cruel to those who have incurred her wrath: in Odyssey, Athena punished Odysseus’s rival, Ajax the Great, by driving him insane and compelling him to massacre the Achaeans’ cattle while he thought that he was killing the Achaeans themselves. Even after Odysseus had expressed pity for Ajax, Athena had no remorse for what she did, eventually pushing Ajax to commit suicide out of humiliation.

Halone shares many similarities with Athena: of their appearance, they are both often represented with a spear and shield. (Interestingly, in the Euphrosyne alliance raid, the raid-wide damage during the interlude in Halone’s battle is called “Aegis of Halone” in Japanese, which is a reference to the name of Athena’s magic shield, Aegis.) Halone and Athena are both stern and dignified warriors whom many believes to be a symbol of victory in war. They both have an entire city (Athens for Athena, and Ishgard for Halone) devoted to worship them.

However, they also have numerous differences: Athena does not share a bloodlust for war like Halone, and she has little to no emotional connections with any of the Olympian gods. While Halone’s bloodthirsty nature is perhaps a myth created by Eorzean mortals to explain the relationships between the Twelves, Halone has shown care and concern towards Menphina, the Lover, who is regarded as a little sister to most of the Twelve gods.

Yiuno, too, shares many common traits with Halone and Athena. His actions and decisions are often driven by cold logic, very much like Athena’s cruel rationality. (He might have borderline bloodlust at one point, but that’s venturing into Yiuno’s dark and secretive past.) He can be brutally sarcastic (Athena), though he isn’t completely remorseless and still retains some capability to feel emotions (Halone). Like Athena, it will take quite a while to have Yiuno’s trust, but when you do gain his favor, he will become one of the strongest and most dependable allies you can ever hope for.

Oh, you might even earn a reliable big brother (or sister?) you never thought you’d need… just like Halone to Menphina.

(Re-posting old quizzes to this main blog for archiving purposes.)