About that smirk...(spoilers)

[Amiaze]

-sniop-

You're right that her not being present had a good explanation, which I'd forgotten. However, I don't think that her smirk was a slip-up of graphics. I rewatched that cutscene to be sure that I didn't see it incorrectly. Tataru walks away from you and, after you walk away, she stops, turns, seems to frown, and then smirks. And she isn't the only NPC who does this. During this point in the game, stopping and smirking at the Warrior of Light as s/he walks away is the player's indication that said person is about to screw them over. Her wording was also terribly foreboding.

I might also add that the chimerical gear that she gets for Y'shtola is, according to the NPC that gave it to you, "impossible to come buy unless you have big balls or deep pockets, and that friend of yours didn't look like she had either". Were it just to upgrade Y'shtola for aesthetic purposes, I wouldn't really pay attention to it. But having another NPC point out the impossibility of it sends off a red flag for me, especially considering that the area that you would have to farm chimerical hides from, if I'm not mistaken, is Azys Lla, far before you can reach it. How, exactly, did Tataru come by said gear without our help?

I also find it strange that Tataru is the only character that retains the blind optimism and jolly behavior that characters ARR in HW's much darker atmosphere. This would make since if it were someone that had stood out more, such as Yda, but we rarely ever really dealt with Tataru. Yet a good amount of attention is placed on her ARR-style blind optimism, such as her constant singing and dancing (and even changing emotes depending on when you see her) in the Forgotten Knight. The only time FFXIV pushes background characters to the foreground is when their character is about to change or play a major role in the story, similar to how Yda's mask was given focus in a quest shortly before it cracked in half.

Sorry that I'm arguing nuances and semantics here, but her characterization really seems suspicious when held against circumstance and what other NPCs have said about her.

[Kaiser-Ace]

I might also add that the chimerical gear that she gets for Y'shtola is, according to the NPC that gave it to you, "impossible to come buy unless you have big balls or deep pockets, and that friend of yours didn't look like she had either". Were it just to upgrade Y'shtola for aesthetic purposes, I wouldn't really pay attention to it. But having another NPC point out the impossibility of it sends off a red flag for me, especially considering that the area that you would have to farm chimerical hides from, if I'm not mistaken, is Azys Lla, far before you can reach it. How, exactly, did Tataru come by said gear without our help?

Who said she didn't have help? She could have talked her lover boy Wedge into tracking down a few rouge chimeras (And there are a few poking around since they were over world enemies in 1.0 Mor Dohna) then get him to blast it with a weapons grade Magitech Cannon. Pretty sure as head over heels as Wedge is for Tataru he'd be willing to do just about anything just cause she asked.

And being love stricken combined with commandeering a Garlond Ironworks Magitek Armor would probably give him the reckless disregard for his own safety to go Chimera Hunting as well as the firepower to come back alive and pelts in hand afterwards.

[JeniLinsky]

Who said she didn't have help?

The girl hangs out with the WoL... and in my time wearing that hat, I've killed at least two Chimera... one in Cutter's Cry, and one in the Relic Reborn questline. We know Tataru has DoL classes; she may have gone out and skinned the carcasses after I was done, thinking that she'd surely find some use for the skin!