Y'shtola's "Marketing Armor"

[TheMightyMollusk]

And yet somehow, I feel like most of she does could have been said and done by Raubahn. He too is a character growing from being just a grunt from the coliseum to leading a nation. Nanamo and Raubahn sort of make each other redundant. They're both leading the nation at the same time, only they eat away at each other's screentime.

And now Raubahn has been moved over to Ala Mhigo (which, I have to note, was also partly on Nanamo, since he was waffling about it). We'll have to wait until the plot moves back to the Source to see how that works out for them.

Of course, now Raubahn is taking screen time from Lyse instead, but given how.....let's say, divisive her character became in Stormblood, I've yet to see anyone complaining about it.

[Alleo]

And now Raubahn has been moved over to Ala Mhigo (which, I have to note, was also partly on Nanamo, since he was waffling about it). We'll have to wait until the plot moves back to the Source to see how that works out for them.

Of course, now Raubahn is taking screen time from Lyse instead, but given how.....let's say, divisive her character became in Stormblood, I've yet to see anyone complaining about it.

It just makes no sense to me. They built up Lyse as being the one to lead Ala Mhigo..even kill of the old leader and not promote the other one that worked much longer with the restistance just because Lyse had a certain person as father..and now instead of using her and showing good leadership they use Raubahn instead..It could have been Lyse who calmed down the crowd, but no she was not able to do it. And then later messed up with the tempered ones too.

Honestly she really is a character that right now has no story relevance at all.

[TheMightyMollusk]

It just makes no sense to me. They built up Lyse as being the one to lead Ala Mhigo..even kill of the old leader and not promote the other one that worked much longer with the restistance just because Lyse had a certain person as father..and now instead of using her and showing good leadership they use Raubahn instead..It could have been Lyse who calmed down the crowd, but no she was not able to do it. And then later messed up with the tempered ones too.

Honestly she really is a character that right now has no story relevance at all.

Which puts her in line with Kan-e-Senna, Merlwyb, Nanamo, Aymeric, and Hien, with their stories largely completed and thus mostly only show up in "gather the leaders" scenes. Raubahn shows up the most because he's pretty much the face of Eorzea's military.

[rachcouture]

If the intention is to tell a serious and compelling story, then character death is a necessity.

If you're a poor excuse of a writer that can't come up with a more creative way of ending a story arc than pulling a tired George R.R. Martin.

For people who are invested in the serious aspects of a story, it negatively impacts the story to know that there is no tension at all

And there's a thousand ways of building tension that don't involve killing off key characters like a literary sociopath.

The thing about tensions outside of death is that they are usually far less permanent.

Death is quick and final. Outside of those left mourning, there's nothing to go forward with. It's a dead end narrative street. Compared to something like exploring a character's deep-seated trauma and/or existential crises, it's a bargain bin option largely reversed for hack creators with little in the way of imaginative agency. This is the exact reason why I was so upset with how they handled Yotsuyu; killing the darling was a waste of a much better story to tell.

So you think that any of the examples you listed really ripple outwards as much as death? Guess you don't get impacted the same way by death in the real world either. You can always focus in more on a bad thing happening, and make it the pivotal element in your story, but death sticks around, even without you writing more on it. We don't dwell on death overlong in the story, because it is depressing by nature. The game doesn't like to keep a gloomy tone.

I've lost a number of loved ones over the past several years. Yes, it hurt, but I know they're at peace now, and don't have to experience any more pain, rather it be physical or emotional. You know what still hurts, though? The state of the world today, and being powerless to do anything about it in the face of wannabe authoritarians with more money than good intentions. People that might be homeless soon—family and friends included—courtesy of a virus that could have been largely avoided if actual action had been taken. World events like the above adding to an already extensive rapsheet of emotional trauma, chipping at mental health so poor that some days, I tell myself I don't want to wake up, because I'm so exhausted of all the hate, the violence, the disregard for the lives of others because they're not white, or straight, or masculine, or financially privileged, or whatever non-issue someone heartless and cruel decides to turn into a societal pinata; things I, my loved ones, and admired idols have been flogged for at one point or another.

There are things far more painful than death regardless of how much you want to trivialize them.

Anyway, Y'shtola is fabulous, and she isn't going anywhere as the game's mascot character. None of the other scions are, honestly. No amount of backseat writing is going to change that.

[Vyrerus]

Death is quick and final.

You know what still hurts though?

How about watching my father fall apart at the seams as he enters into his "golden years," without his life partner, because pancreatic cancer caused a very painful, prolonged death for my mother? How about watching my good friend Melelik's wife crumple to her knees at his memorial service, because he was her reason for living. My co-worker now bereft of her best friend, because his lungs were compromised by a car wreck, followed up a year later with him contracting COVID-19. What's left to me, as I experience these people change right in front of me? They will never be the same. You are a cruel person to trivialize death and the pain it causes and the pain that spreads from those it brings pain to directly.

Your opinion is meaningless to me until you can truly empathize with holding a loved one as they slowly and painfully die in your arms. Because I have, several times. There is nothing more painful than that in this world. The things you speak of, the things that eat away at your mind, those are things we despise, because they lead more people to die.

As for wanting it in stories, as I've said before, it makes the story more believable and relatable. Especially when the story revolves around world ending violence and scenarios that are supposed to be dangerous. If they never kill another Scion, in relation to the story elements they barrage us with, then the story will lose its luster.

And we don't know if they won't, because the story's not over, and it's not going to be over for quite some time. So, we'll see.