Can we get a dialog option to flirt with the Crystal Exarch? [mild spoiler]

[Iscah]

Yeah no, you're reaching far.

I got no impression of any of that.
It's just admiration. Plan and simple.

We're his hero, if you remember the part where we had the beautiful one on one talk. He explained how the tales of a certain someone filled the hearts of every child and man at camp fires to give them hope.

It's fine if you wanna pretend it's some kind of romance undertone but it's not.

And about saving our lives, any of the scions would have done that if they could.

Actually I'm pretty sure the "WoL filling everyone's hearts with hope" thing was when he was explaining the truth to Urianger. The large-scale reason for the whole mission and why so many people were involved in making it happen.

Our one-on-one talk involved more "it would make me so happy to go on an adventure together and ride the eternal winds with you", which honestly is easier to spin as a romantic proposal than hero-worship, at least when directed towards my character. (Not because I was looking/hoping for it but because it seems unmissable to me - though of course it could still be platonic friendship.)

But again that interpretation also depends on the character he's talking to, and how you think your character related to him - both previously in CT and now.

On another note entirely, should we count the ability to just walk up to G'raha post-MSQ and say his name at him out of the blue to *be* a flirt? lol Also, its a bit odd they're phrasing it as "Call him G'raha Tia" as opposed to actually telling you a line you are saying. Is the WoL really just walking up to him and he's all "Oh, you're back already? Is anything amiss?" and the WoL just stands there, thinks about it a sec, and goes "G'raha Tia." and... nothing else? lol

Not that his body language when you do it isn't more than enough of a response to make it worth it, of course. lol

Haha, yes it's definitely a bit odd!

Maybe you were about to tell him something, got as far as saying his name and then his reaction derailed your train of thought?

In FFXIV it seems to be NO problem if a character is straight, gay or lesbian. There are lots of references to show you that it's not important which gender do you like to love.
Two examples: The two guys for the dungeon-quest "Palace of the wanderer (hard)" (if that's the english name, don't know). They are a hyur and a miqo'te, both male and obviously a couple in love. And they tell you that they have problems at their home because they're a couple. But not because of the fact they're both male, but because of the fact that they're hyur and miqo'te.

I'm a bit unsure about that one actually. People use it as an example a lot, but actually I think it's more ambiguous. (Script is here)

In two separate parts of their dialogue they:
1. point out that being different races doesn't make them any less of a couple, and
2. say they both had to leave their birthplace because they were "different"

People have put those together and assumed that therefore being an interracial couple is the issue in their case, but it's not actually said. You could equally be meant to read between the lines and gather that actually it was another kind of "different" that was seen as the problem. Unless it's more clear in Japanese.

[xxvaynxx]

Kind of ridiculous how some people see intense hero worship and a drive to save someone from destruction as "romantic". You need to remember that (heavy spoilers)

During the giant talos questline when you speak to him, he mentions bonding himself to the tower to extend his life indefinitely so he has a chance to complete his work... keep this in mind.

After defeating Innocence, during the flashback scene with G'raha and Urianger, G'raha mentions that in the original timeline Cid and co. had spent the remainder of their lives searching for some way to stop the 8th Umbral Calamity (concluding that saving you, arguably the greatest champion their world has ever known, was the only way) and ultimately failed, but their work was left for future generations to follow. It had taken the survivors two centuries to awaken the Crystal Tower from stasis, and by extension, G'raha, its caretaker, and he was still a very young man at that point. He doesn't say how long he was working with the ones who woke him before he shifted the Tower to the First so I won't take that into account, but the shift was imperfect and placed him nearly a century before he intended to arrive, so tack on one hundred years to the plan.

G'raha states quite clearly to Urianger that the only thing keeping those who hadn't sunken into despair going were the tales of the WoL... and G'raha read/heard them all. Remember the end of the Crystal Tower questline? Before the tower is sealed, he tells you he'll be eager to learn of your exploits whenever he wakes up... that he knows you will be remembered for the hero you are.

Literally, what made the survivors get up in the morning and push on was hope, nothing more, nothing less. All of this obviously affected G'raha deeply, and ensuring the future never came to pass was pretty much his singular focus. That's... incredible, when you think about it, to be so driven; he made himself immortal to carry hopes and dreams of others, not giving a damn as to how long it would take, or that death would await him at the end... a heavy burden.





...Boy, he wasn't kidding. All of that was over three centuries in the making, and he labored for around a hundred (possibly more) of those years trying to save you. While I wouldn't mind a flirt option or something theoretically, romantic feelings clearly aren't the case here.

In the end, you weren't just a hero (and friend! CT quesline!) to him; you became his hero. ...'Scuse me while I grab a tissue.

Pretty much this what I have been trying to tell some of the peeps here.

Only way to flirt with him is your fan fics.
Because it ain't happening in cannon.
Like...I want to flirt with yugiri but that's never gonna happen...

[Alleluia]

Pretty much this what I have been trying to tell some of the peeps here.

Only way to flirt with him is your fan fics.
Because it ain't happening in cannon.
Like...I want to flirt with yugiri but that's never gonna happen...

You seem to be under the mistaken impression that you're not being understood. You are. I, and those who agree with me, just disagree with you that romantic feelings isn't a valid interpretation. It is. I've explained why I think it is, and your responses have basically come down to "Well, I don't think it is." which, good for you, I guess? That does not make you right and me wrong, mainly b/c there is nothing that denies my interpretation from also being accurate. At least not yet. If/when they give him some line that says he's not into us, or he stops treating us like he has, or he tells us he's married to his tower, or something super specific like that, then you can wallow in your rightness all you want. Till then, we're all just expressing our preferences btwn equally valid interpretations of a relationship dynamic in a video game.

Actually I'm pretty sure the "WoL filling everyone's hearts with hope" thing was when he was explaining the truth to Urianger. The large-scale reason for the whole mission and why so many people were involved in making it happen.

Our one-on-one talk involved more "it would make me so happy to go on an adventure together and ride the eternal winds with you", which honestly is easier to spin as a romantic proposal than hero-worship, at least when directed towards my character. (Not because I was looking/hoping for it but because it seems unmissable to me - though of course it could still be platonic friendship.)

But again that interpretation also depends on the character he's talking to, and how you think your character related to him - both previously in CT and now.

All of this, basically.

Haha, yes it's definitely a bit odd!

Maybe you were about to tell him something, got as far as saying his name and then his reaction derailed your train of thought?

lol Headcanon accepted.

[Schwarzwind]

You seem to be under the mistaken impression that you're not being understood. You are. I, and those who agree with me, just disagree with you that romantic feelings isn't a valid interpretation. It is. I've explained why I think it is, and your responses have basically come down to "Well, I don't think it is." which, good for you, I guess? That does not make you right and me wrong, mainly b/c there is nothing that denies my interpretation from also being accurate. At least not yet. If/when they give him some line that says he's not into us, or he stops treating us like he has, or he tells us he's married to his tower, or something super specific like that, then you can wallow in your rightness all you want. Till then, we're all just expressing our preferences btwn equally valid interpretations of a relationship dynamic in a video game.

I could not agree more than that. The Exarchs relationship with the WoL is totally up to player interpretation. There is no right or wrong here. Which is so great about FFXIV.

[IamBetterThanYou]

No. None. Zero.

[Iscah]

I will add that even when we just had the Crystal Tower storyline (and no expectation of seeing him back again), it felt like my character connected particularly well with him... not in a romantic way, but still what could have been a close friendship or eventual romance, cut short by his call to destiny. So having him back again and acting like this really plays into that idea I already had - and might still take the 'tragically cut short' route if it does turn out that he's only still here because we haven't resolved the bad timeline and erased him from existence yet. If he really is only here until that happens, that means it's actually impossible for both of us to survive...

(I think I'm starting to spin this as more romantic the longer I think on it. Just romantic, mind you - not anything beyond that. And still waiting for the full story before I make too much of it.)

I guess it's also partly that my mindset with the story is that all my characters (currently four) are in there together, and character interactions 'belong' to whoever it would work best with, even though I'll see it happen to each of them individually. So if the NPC interactions don't seem right for one person, I just think "yeah, actually they're having this conversation with X" and don't need to come up with an alternate take on it. This story is definitely Aurelie's - I couldn't see G'raha having quite the same relationship with the others.

[Alleluia]

(I think I'm starting to spin this as more romantic the longer I think on it. Just romantic, mind you - not anything beyond that. And still waiting for the full story before I make too much of it.)

I feel like this is where I am at the moment, too. It has potential and I just want to see how everything plays out over more content.

And I'd like to say something saucy at him once just to see him die of a heart attack. Maybe. lol

Just basically bouncing in my chair like a fidgety Exarch, waiting for 5.1 now. lol

[NessaWyvern]

I am rather worried for him though, the last time we had a character that wanted to be with the WoL, (talking about the Haurchefant, that flirted with the WoL in the JP cutscenes),
they ended up dying. (I blame his ilvl 1 shield).
And we already know G'raha would give his life for the WoL, so things do not bode well for him :/

[Granyala]

I am rather worried for him though, the last time we had a character that wanted to be with the WoL, (talking about the Haurchefant, that flirted with the WoL in the JP cutscenes),
they ended up dying. (I blame his ilvl 1 shield).
And we already know G'raha would give his life for the WoL, so things do not bode well for him :/

SE wouldn't dare.... :<

What irked me most about H's death was that my cat just didn't do anything. I'm a friggin white mage, one of the most powerful you'll find in the realm with years of combat experience and she doesn't even attempt to heal him, merely gets all teary eyes... guess Benediction was on CD.

[Iscah]

(I blame his ilvl 1 shield).

From playing Thordan EX, I have concluded that the actual issue is that he did the mechanic correctly but nobody else knew to join him for the unmarked line stack. ;_;

What irked me most about H's death was that my cat just didn't do anything. I'm a friggin white mage, one of the most powerful you'll find in the realm with years of combat experience and she doesn't even attempt to heal him, merely gets all teary eyes... guess Benediction was on CD.

More seriously, I have to figure that there's a point where a good healer knows that a healing spell won't do anything except prolong the person's suffering - and a mortal wound bleeding crystalised aether is probably it.