Revelations from Tales from the Twilight

[Iscah]

I wonder what race Lorens would be? I looked up the name and it says it's Swedish/Norwegian/Danish and an old Scandinavian form of Laurence, while my naming dictionary book just places it as Swedish – either way, it isn't a naming heritage generally drawn on for any of the usual races.

Midlander seems like the catch-all group, but they do still have their own naming source (Anglo-Saxon/Celtic) and I'm not sure whether the fact that Laurentius is a definite Midlander name helps or hurts the likelihood of Lorens being one too.

There's the "unplaceably European" naming scheme for the Ilsabardian Raen group as well. I wonder if they'd go the route of dropping newer races into old settings? Or perhaps those are regional Hyuran names to begin with.

[Mieck]

3/5
Set with the Sun

I didn't think we'd ever hear from real Yda again, and certainly not in connection with Fordola. It feels a little strange, because I think Fordola might have recognised Lyse's similarity to Yda - maybe would have even remembered hearing the name at that final meeting - but for none of this to have come up in 4.0 or since, makes me reach for the dreaded R word. Or at least look in that direction.

Conversely, it is good to get an idea about the moment of Yda's death, what sort of person she was, how quick thinking she was (which makes the contrast with Lyse even starker).

Other random thought. I'll have to re-read the first story, but the 2nd and 3rd line up with the colours of the expansions. Blue - Ishgard, Red - Stormblood. Two stories left to go...

[Yuella]

Spoiler...

That one's weird and felt like a retcon. Why didn't Fordola tell Lyse that she knew Yda?

[Enkidoh]

Spoiler...

That one's weird and felt like a retcon. Why didn't Fordola tell Lyse that she knew Yda?

Yeah, I feel the same - especially

that once Fordola got the Resonance she would have certainly seen glimpses of Lyse's past, and yet... said nothing. Not one word, despite this story supposedly stating it was Yda who convinced Fordola to become the bitter pragmatic survivalist over everything else that she ultimately became before the Liberation. Sure she has her stubborn pride and all, but pride and stubbornness can only carry you so far. Hell, given Fordola's attitude and personality pre-heel-turn, I doubt wouldn't have passed up the opportunity to use that knowledge to mock Lyse or at least throw her off during their encounters prior to the final battle in Ala Mhigo, and yet, she did not do that either. It just.... seems odd.

That and the story made it out Yda's Sharalyan tattoo was of Ala Mhigan design... unless it stated she had a facial tattoo when she had none at all, at least, when compared with her model in 1.0 (an old Gridanian story cutscene in 1.0 showed her without her mask apparently without any facial tattoos and the Sharalyan one was on her neck after all). It comes across as another odd retcon.

This is an interesting story, but these retcons to shoehorn in Yda into Fordala's backstory just seem a little... off I guess.

[HiraishinNoJutsu]

Story 3/5

Set with the Sun

Lyse: "Yda died six years ago, on a mission to smuggle refugees out of Ala Mhigo. They say she was overwhelmed by imperial soldiers when she stayed behind to save a little girl. She was so strong... There must have been a lot of them."

Really enjoyed this one. Fordola isn't my favorite character but I do still enjoy her interactions with other characters. Also really tragic to see how her gang of friends really loved and cared for each other and Zenos forced her to snuff all of them out.

[Garnix]

story 3/5 thoughts.

And with that, they keep making sure they do not deny or confirm that Yda really died on that day.
Also, I don't think it is a retcon. I wouldn't be surprised if Fordola gets to see Lyse's past in an upcoming cutscene.
I guess it depends what you classify as a retcon in this game.

[Rosenstrauch]

Well, this was interesting. Story #3.

I get the feeling folks around here treat "retcon" as a bad word. It isn't, or at least shouldn't be. "Retcon" is a portmanteau meaning "retroactive continuity". In layman's terms, a retcon is a development in a serial work of fiction that alters past events. They can be annoying, certainly, especially if those writing the story lean heavily on them out of a combination of laziness and capriciousness—World of Warcraft is infamous for this. As for this, though... yeah, it feels like a "retcon is a bad word" retcon.

It is nice to actually get to see the real Yda, and does a decent job of differentiating her from her sister while still remaining consistent with the past characterization of "Yda"—which helps sell the idea that Lyse was pretending to be her from 1.0-3.5. And any additional time with Fordola is welcome to me. But it's kind of hard for me to buy that having her spirits uplifted by Yda randomly chancing on her after her father was brutally murdered, spending a few weeks getting the little sister treatment from her, then watching her sacrifice herself mowing down wave after wave of Garlean soldiers so Fordola could escape with her life would be what inspires her to join the XIIth Legion.

Especially since the story as it was worked fine: Her father was brutally murdered by restless Ala Mhigans while the Garleans stood by and watched. She joined the XIIth Legion to get revenge on the former and force the latter to acknowledge her efforts. Having all that pushed apart to make room for this story just feels... off, I guess?

It was a nice story, though. And while it's probably nothing, I can't help but notice that, though the story acknowledged her death was guaranteed, it avoided actually saying Yda died. It would be pretty silly if it turned out that Yda was actually alive as a prisoner or something this whole time, after the whole "actually Yda was dead all along" retcon.

[Iscah]

I agree with others here – I don't mind retcons if they work, but this feels overcontrived.

[Garnix]

What if Yda is "The Dreamer" ?

[Anonymoose]

Set with the Sun

I read two lines before I panicked, lol. ("Oh, no.")

Yotsuyu and Fordola are a complementary pair. Following the popular fallacy of "villains are either true monstrous evil or made-monsters if not redeemable", depending on your own ethical epistemology (intent vs. outcome) they occupy opposite slots. They were written to inspire passionate opinions and debate, so I expected this week's discussion to be a wild ride.

And then, "I'm Yda." ("Oh no.")

And yet, in the end, I think I'm willing to defend this one.

Except for the part that says she joined the XIIth legion. She almost certainly joined the XIVth and ended up in the XIIth to her dismay. There has to be a near-zero chance Zenos yae Galvus and his force of close-to-the-throne Optimates made Fordola rem Lupis a Pilus Prior of her own cohort of their legion because it was there own idea rather that he inherited them from the XIVth and found them amusing to toy with.

EDIT: And Sounsyy just shot me some quotes of the Tribunus Militum saying as much, lol.

Rosenstrauch brings up a good point that I always try to highlight: there's a difference between an addition-retcon and a subtraction-retcon. If you add new information that you just made up and it reframes "what we knew before" so that it becomes "what we thought we knew before" - that's still retroactive continuity (additive). People hate subtraction retconning - resolving contradiction by straight up changing or deleting "what we knew before". Addition retcons are are a skill that this dev. team uses regularly, and often brilliantly. Half the time you're thinking, "Wow, they planned this all along!" ... They didn't; they addition-retconned it.

Anyroad, OP updated.

Conversely, it is good to get an idea about the moment of Yda's death, what sort of person she was, how quick thinking she was (which makes the contrast with Lyse even starker).

I think both Yda and Lyse are presented as quick-witted when it comes to fighting, immediate tactics, and emotional matters, and just about nothing else, lol. Even when we saw echoes of "the real Yda" in 1.0 (I say this because I don't think they knew they'd retcon her into Lyse back then), she had the same disposition.

That and the story made it out Yda's Sharalyan tattoo was of Ala Mhigan design... unless it stated she had a facial tattoo when she had none at all, at least, when compared with her model in 1.0 (an old Gridanian story cutscene in 1.0 showed her without her mask apparently without any facial tattoos and the Sharalyan one was on her neck after all). It comes across as another odd retcon.

Is this accurate? If I remember right...

...even in 1.0, Yda was wearing a kagura mask and we just saw her neck and hair from unseen angles while her face was still covered. I read this story as saying the real Yda, beneath her mask, had a side-eye tattoo not unlike the one she got at the end.