Tales From the Shadows Updated (SPOILERS ABOUND)

[Iscah]

It is not that I do not like G'raha, he simply... does not resonate with me. :'D

I'm the opposite, character-wise. Raha resonates for me while Emet fails to.

I can appreciate Emet's place in the story but there's no emotional connection there for me.

[Cilia]

Raha is pure sweetness and heartwarming, while Emet is more bittersweet and heartbreaking.

It really just depends on taste.

[Vyrerus]

So, I'm glad the playerbase brought up the Qarn fire and fruit symbols. The Flame of Magic and the Fruit of Knowledge. It's another rung on this wonderful double helix of a story. It could be that Azem was not only giving a flippant excuse to engage in heroics, but said heroics included saving not just literal grapes, but the knowledge housed on the island itself.

Also I've been having fun between queues, and also in the lulls at work.

[Iscah]

I think my thing with the grapes is the underlying implications.

Make a fuss about it = Azem made a really stupid fake excuse one time and is not allowed to live it down.

Not important = Azem made these kinds of excuses so frequently that this is not a remarkable occasion.

I just find the second version funnier.

But yes, it does seem to be referencing the Qarn tablets (on a balancing scale, no less) now that it's been pointed out.

[Ilenya]

Maybe Azem is usually better at making excuses than this time?

[Draginhikari]

It's pretty clear Azem was pretty much of the black sheep of the Convocation. Like their shard, us, they seem to look for any excuse to travel, to fight, and to help those that need it. I image the issue with the Convocation like many governing entities have a bad habit of getting caught up in large scale problems to the point where smaller issues are ignored or considered beneath their consideration. Hell, we don't even know what the conditions of the rest of the ancient world was like outside of Amaurot.

[kujoestars]

I had a lot more to say when this story came out, but second half of a giant exam and a few days of burnout recovery later, my steam has fizzled and everyone else has already said what I wanted ro say

EXCEPT FOR ONE THING:

I legit was confused by Emet “forgetting [his] mask”and facepalming because I don’t see how that would make a difference since it’s a facepalm. And I highly doubt he was literally slapping it on because Ancients had their masks on 24/7 when they’re out and about at least.

Then it occurred to me that the Ascian sigils (which logically would also be the sigils of the Convocation) ARE technically masks and......most of the time they manifest it by waving their hands down in front their faces. They can also make the masks directly appear without gestures so it fits the translations where he just made it popon his face.

So Emet straight up accidentally facepalmed his sigil into manifesting in that moment and dear sweet innocent Elidibus thought it was a deliberate gesture of solemn understanding akscnddjsnjdcjsd

That image is STILL tickling me hard, HAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAA.

I am living for SE making Azem-Hyth-Emet sitcom an actual thing. Hilariously, I ended today’s gaming session with a run through Qarn, and I am loving the idea that the Flame and the Grapes on the scale is Emet NEVER letting Azem live it down and left it there to make fun of their shard should they inevitably come across it. Because of course even sundered, Azem will ALWAYS be sticking their nose where it doesn’t belong and get all up into other people’s businesses.

Not sure why people are taking the grapes thing at face value like Eli did, but I am pleased the snarky WoL reactions are very canon compliant. Best part is, I always picked similar options given a choice so that resonates perfectly with me. -w-

On the encore thing, I honestly hope we’ll still be catching Emet again later on since I think it’s clear it was his actual soul that arrived to save us in SoS. And while the White Day short is probably semi-canon at best, I feel there are some hints of truth. Which would mean that DaiHien is canon Emet is still chilling somewhere in the Lifestream and observing the show from the wings.

I eagerly await what 5.4 will tell us about the next expac.

[ObsidianFire]

Last one! https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodes.../#sidestory_08

Dang, everyone gets a happy ending!

[Rannie]

And it shows that an

alternate history was taken. Here's to the whole new ffxiv multiverse

[Vyrerus]

So Midgardsormr gets to flex his full power in that timeline, 200 years after the end of Stormblood. Hmm. I wonder if ours will come back sooner.