Clover

I'll be there with my lalafell! Nonopi has the wrong idea of what this event is about.

Clover is in a private plot with some Spanish Friends, and their "quest" is taking them to Ishgard, so she'll naturally follow. K'mih isn't going to Ishgard. She might not even know what Ishgard is *laughs*. One of my Au Ras (also a part of the Spanish personal plot) lives in the lands beyond Ishgard. My other Au Ra... I have no idea of what she'll do, haha.

I use Tumblr on a daily basis, and I must say that I never notice any drama. Granted, I can't check every single entry from the FFXIV tag, but still, I don't understand where the idea that Tumblr is a dramafest for immature people came from (?_?) Most of the things I see are people posting screenshots and having fun. As for this case in particular, I can't comment because I don't know what it's about.

New emotes, male bunny ears, new chances for my friends to get their desired FC house. The hype isn't leaving anytime soon. Thank you for sharing the link!

Clover stood up from her crouching position and took a watering can that rested nearby. The story continued. [...] "My grandfather had always been passionate about tales. He knew thousands of them even back then, so he used to share some with the flowers as he worked in the garden. To anyone else, he could seem to be talking to himself, but he believed that any good gardener should always speak to the lives under their care. One day, a flower seemed to make a mention about one of his tales. ‘I wonder if the prince would have picked me,...had I lived longer,’ she said, and something moved inside his heart. Wishing to see if he could really make a difference in a flower’s last thought, my young grandpa started focusing on a newborn. It wasn't that he neglected the others, but that little flower was the one he looked at the most, the one he spoke to the most. After a few suns, it was her time to go with the most brief, albeit not the least meaningful of thoughts. She said 'Thank you', before she joined the flow of aether. [...] Watering the new seeds, Clover smiled slightly to herself. "Grandpa told me once that grandma, the woman he would meet little more than a year later, was actually his second love." She looked back at Andre once more. "What do you think the miracle was? That a flower was able to love him, or that he was able to love a flower?"

But it doesn't sound like lore, that's the problem. Their explanation to the sudden friendliness towards Au Ras is that they "designed them based on demons, not dragons; because of this, they won't be persecuted". What kind of lore breaking explanation is that? So if I played an Ishgard character and someone asks me why I'm not against Au Ras, all I can say is "see, but their designers have told me that they're unrelated to dragons"? This becomes even more bizarre when the Au Ra designs themselves have the words "race_dragon" attached to them, or are displayed together with real dragons. In any case, my problem is that there's a lack of real IC reason for Eorzeans to not relate Au Ras to dragons. Considering that Ishgard is very closed-minded and unfriendly, it becomes extra odd. It feels like they simply want players to feel that their character is the most respected/loved, so they will force their way out of any possible conflict with said character. It's not only strange, but it's also not fun at all in my opinion. I am not going to do anything with the community, but neither I'm going to miss the chance of enjoying some serious conflict in my private RP with friends. That'd be a huge waste.

Surprising...I would have though that it doesn't matter if they are more demonic, people's ignorance and prejudices don't favour the truth of something. But I imagine SE don't want players to feel disheartened by playing characters who are shunned by the NPCs you are the hero of. This is not fun at all, and it makes no sense anyway. Yugiri covered her face because Eorzeans don't know what an Au Ra is. I doubt Ishgard, always isolated Ishgard, knows better. If doesn't matter what Au Ra's real nature is; no one can figure that out at first sight, especially when the very explanation about their lore states how easy it is to mistake them as dragons. Just like I don't follow the whole "I'm the hero, watch me shine" part of the lore, I don't want to lose the chance to get interesting conflicts with Au Ras. Not doing so feels weird, forced, and sugar coated anyway.

Thank you! I just created the alt for my future second Au Ra. Still open!

I think that every character can be different and unique, just like human beings. It doesn't matter if there are tons of individuals from the same race; that has never been a problem for a character to stand out. (Also, let's not forget that, from the sounds of it, there are tons of people who aren't actually going to rp a true Au Ra or the Au Ra lore, which makes it even easier for the true Au Ras to stand out).

((Music for the tale.)) She nodded, smiling slighty. When her eyes returned to the soil, the story started. [...] “A long, long time ago, when my grandpa was 20 years of age, he spent some time working as a gardener for a rich businessman from Ul’dah. It didn’t take him long to realize that the lalafell’s garden, which was neither too big nor too small, was filled with flowers he’d never seen before; he called them the Whispering Flowers. A flower’s lifetime is very brief. They only last a few suns before their petals lose their colours. Just a few suns to understand the world and gather a thought; a single, brief thought from their experience as physical beings, whispered at the very last moment of their lives. ‘I thought the world had faded forever,' said one, 'but then I saw the sun rise again…' ‘After helping that bee with my nectar, I was glad I was born,’ said another. When he noticed this, my young grandpa brought a notebook with him and started writing all the thoughts he could hear from the fading flowers, so that their memories would still remain even after they were gone." [...] Her smile had become more noticeable at that point. Clover looked at Andre and spoke again, her eyes filled with thoughts of her grandpa. "But the importance of the garden didn't end there. Would you like to know what he did one day?"

Happy late birthday Yoshida!! Your characters are celebrating it with you.

Impressive, indeed. Not like I'm complaining about the current games, though.

Absolutely! Of course we need people like understudies, managers, etc, but at least you're coming! Now I'm also looking for someone to be the OOC cameramen, taking pics of the event and one recording the play entertainment for YouTube. Aah, I'm sorry if I can't contribute much to the play itself. English is not my first language and I think I'd fail at any role. Besides, spectators might also be needed ^^ For what it's worth, I'll be taking screens for sure. Screenshotting is my life, so you can expect (hopefully tons of) screens from me.

How did I miss this?! If this event is EU-friendly, I'll be happy to bring any of my characters as an spectator! I've love to see how the performance unfolds, it's a very cute idea.

At first, it was surprising to hear Andre say that he'd never planted anything before, for he seemed to know what he was doing for the most part. But then Clover remembered that Andre was actually a noble from Ul'dah, something that had been quite noticeable even when he'd tried to keep it a secret. It was no longer a surprise to consider that nobles wouldn't engage in activities such as this. And as much as she liked tending to her garden, she didn't think that nobles missed out on many interesting things, for so did normal citizens as well. There were many other interesting things Andre had learned as a noble, she was sure. The girl helped her friend with a few indications about the fertilizer, but other than that, she let him enjoy the experience without interruption. Engaged in such tasks they were when he noticed the book. As Clover's eyes moved to the mentioned object, a brush of melancholy seemed to colour them. "Its pages are still blank..." she mentioned, turning her attention to the soil once more. She continued explaining. "One of grandpa's biggest treasures was called the 'Book of Memories'. Sadly, it was lost with the Calamity... So I have decided to try to create a new one. It might not be possible, but..." Timidly, her eyes travelled to her friend once more. "You have not heard the story... Would you like to?"

I'll re-host a EU-friendly event in a few more days after this one. SDFSFDFG W-will you do that? I'd be very thankful. Count me in!! >_<

Clover is 100% Gridanian and I love anything that's done in Gridania. But I tend to be asleep at 4am, so this event is sadly not for me. orz

Ah, that was right. As Clover listened to the story, she kept imagining how it might have felt; quite an adventure, but Andre needed something different at that moment. The scent and peace of home, perhaps. Like Xydane, Andre would come back to Gridania to rest. Home... The girl observed him, watched the way his eyes closed and his hand sought the touch of some small seeds. She smiled when their eyes met again, slightly as she always did, and nodded. She wouldn't ask further about Andre's adventures. It was somehow clear to her that he hadn't visited her to return to Fallgourd Float; he needed to be there, in that garden, with soil and seeds replacing the cold hardness of his sword.

Um, I like playing young characters (teens or early twenties) that still have many things to discover, because I find adults boring, plain and simple. I don't know much about cliches, but I guess that if you play tons of characters, some of them are bound to share some traits sooner or later.

The Tia hadn't given too much of a reply, other than a half annoyed sound that was supposed to mean "yes". The way his new traveling companion looked back to the camp didn't go unnoticed, but he didn't comment on it. It wasn't like he could read the thoughts that were crossing the girl's mind anyway; not this time, not ever. His most immediate guess was simply that she had started feeling homesick, mostly due to the fact she'd be forced to spend the next suns with someone like him. That he wasn't pleasant for the huntress was a fact K'rahto acknowledged very well, but then again, this trip hadn't been his choice. After what felt like a long pause, the birds finally started moving, taking them away from their new home. A new world awaited. [align=center][END OF SCENE][/align]

Clover will likely be very curious and might stare at them from afar. K'mih will likely be very scared. Being a secluded tribal miqo'te, she's quite unused to other cultures, even more to one she's never heard of.

Because this thread needs some Au Ra as well, here's some Rune.

I love plots myself, which is why I don't engage in casual RP in FFXIV. Sadly, most plots people have organized happen at insane hours for us EU players, so I missed the chance to get my main character into one. The only time I truly enjoyed slice of life RP was in an Aion pure RP private server, and that was only because tons of things tended to happen everyday while your character was doing their everyday things. In an official server, however, you know that nothing is really going to happen unless you force it.

This is my favourite thread right now, I love looking at what everyone came up with! The creator is so much fun that I've made a third Au Ra, though this one is random and I won't actually make her in-game.

Quoted for truth. There will always someone who complains. Also, this isn't a matter of "adding", as people are complaining about the whole aesthetics of the race and how they wish the (especially female) Au Ras looked completely different. I'm even reading complaints about how the current female Au Ras don't suit the lore; why not? o_o I don't have any sort of trouble seeing female Au Ras as warriors. they look agile and fast for one, and you can't determine their strength based on looks alone. Following that logic, lalafells should simply be removed from the game. Last but not least, this is a Japanese game, and you're going to find tons of Japanese elements (and aesthetics) on it. Nothing to be shocked about, really. If the next race they release is based on bulky, hairy, and plain ugly beasts, you won't find me complaining about it in every single thread. I'll simply understand the race suits other kinds of tastes that aren't mine, and that the race will be good in whatever way SE chooses it to be, so long as many other people are happy. I really don't understand why there are still arguments about how the Au Ras should have been different; no, they should have not, many of us love them this way. Edit: Sorry, posted this before reading the mod's post >_<; I guess I exploded a bit there.