Tales under the New Moon #5: Whispers from the Dark

[PorxiesRCute]

It's fine. I don't believe in the nonsense idea that giving context and motivation to villains is "watering them down" or anything like that. But am I the only one who hates the way these stories are written? They're just so... translation-ese.

[Vyrerus]

Enjoyable read, a shame it brought us nothing we didn't already know. Definitely feels like a teaser for Heart of Sabik, as the writing team has tried nothing and they're all outta ideas, man!(kudos if you get the reference)

Only issue at this point is the same issue that has been. Black Auracite: Sabik is now(has been) tied to an alien, extradimensional entity. Which makes Lahabrea's cackling about, "A sliver of my god's power!" with regards to Ultima not make sense.

It might be interesting, what comes of this swirling skein, but it's just as likely to be what they can manage with limited time and staff. I don't feel excited.

[Glyphs]

Loved this! What a treat to get new Gaius and Lahabrea content in the year 2024... nice bits of characterisation, for them both. It's nice to have that thematic "handing off" for the Heart of Sabik between it's Pandaemonium-related stint, and into it's Weapons-related era.

I think it had a good enough balance of highlighting Gaius's "good" intentions, while sticking to his character theme of "good intentions do not mean good results". The traits they mentioned were mentioned during ARR, so I wouldn't say they were new, even if they do get mentioned a little more post-ARR... Moose put it well, that this dichotomy is meant to make Gaius an uncomfortable character, whether you enjoy the execution of it or not. The line about "had he belonged to a more religious nation, he would surely have been destined for sainthood” is so beautifully facetious.

Also liked the clarification on Lahabrea's memories - he didn't have a hard reason to have forgotten anything before now, unlike Emet-Selch and Elidibus did. Neat to see it solidified that the years just really did get to him, vague glimpses and feelings aside.

I'm just very happy to see these two get some content! :') It can feel bittersweet when the characters you like stop being relevant, especially when they're not the fan favourites, but today I got some food.

[Turnintino]

They're just so... translation-ese.

Well... that's because they are. And if they weren't, you know the anti-localization brigade would be up in arms about their own poor reading comprehension, as always, were they ever to discover it was anything less than a direct Google translation.

I'm being a little glib, obviously, but I do think this is done at least partially for clarity of intent. Localizing prose is arguably a more delicate process than localizing a script, since the entire story is in the text, with little to no other context to assist -- like fully animated cutscenes.

[unlimitedBLACK]

It was a solid five minutes after I had accepted, "perhaps the stories were delayed; perhaps we're giving it a year before doing Tural stories" before I considered connections to Ultima Prime Theory and perhaps subtle laying of foundations for it...but I'm with you, if for nothing but love of the game when it comes to conspiracy half-jokes that might pan out to come true.

Talk more about this Ultima Prime Theory; I'm a little new here, but between Pandaemonium and Ultima's role in FF16 I think there's more to this concept than just an opportunity for memes.

[mallleable]

Talk more about this Ultima Prime Theory; I'm a little new here, but between Pandaemonium and Ultima's role in FF16 I think there's more to this concept than just an opportunity for memes.

Moose's Ultima Prime theories might be different than mine, but I think they hinge on the fact Auracite, and Ultima The High Seraph do not originate from Etheirys, and even predate the sundering from what we know from the Pandaemonium, and Return to Ivalice raid series. So we have this potential cosmic threat set up for us that has 'always been there' Kinda like the Ascians, and could lead to something like a level 140 Ultima MSQ trial much much later.

How my mind has been cooked is that I think the Dimensional Key is another Auracite or a piece of some kind of Auracite based weapon, and that the reason why it had Azem's symbol on it is because one the Azems encountered it, and had to put a protective seal on it ages ago be it Venat, The Last Azem or the Azem before Venat. The idea is that Auracite/Ultima have been a thorn in the side of every Azem, and now it's the Warrior of Light's turn to take on that burden, and finish the job.

[Cleretic]

My appreciation for Gaius comes from a place of how uncomfortable it is to consider him. He really was his idea of benevolent/meritocratic, he really was his idea of just, he really was his idea of virtuous. What makes him interesting is that despite his antagonistic role, he often lived up to his own ideals early on - he truly believed the strong had a responsibility to lead the way, protect the planet, and rule the weak well. He also took it for granted that nobody else's perspective had merit, and if you went against his perspective you were either misguided and in need of a strong hand or an enemy of order to be ruthlessly exterminated. Why not continue to call attention to that second part every now and then when mentioning his "praiseworthy" qualities? lol

I think everything you've said is all right and good (can't fit it all in because of character limits), and is a big part of why I like this story; it's largely two people having complicated and weird internal feelings while trying to look like Big Men With Power to each other. And while for Lahabrea it's essentially importing his Endwalker backstory into his ARR presentation, which... sure, for Gaius I think it's a lot more interesting and a lot more important, largely by bridging the gap between his two eras in a clever way.

His turn after the events of the Praetorium always felt kind of weird to me. This is basically the Empire's top general, he's the most loyal and the most capable, while also being a very internally-motivated man; outside of extreme circumstances, he's the only person who can ever convince himself. Why would he turn coat after one loss that you can credit almost entirely to Magical Nonsense? Just from what we see in-game, he should have just dusted himself off, gone 'okay, no more magic rocks' and tried again.

But this scene does a lot for him there; Lahabrea running his mouth and evoking the Emperor while being unable or unwilling to answer basic questions is pretty clearly sowing the seeds of doubt in Gaius' mind, making him realize that there's something fishy going on. And Gaius' loyalty is actually less to the Empire and more to his internal image of how the world should be, so he isn't going to shrug that off. That, combined with the fact this isn't the only time they met (there's at least one implied meeting between them over the course of ARR before the Praetorium), makes the Ultima Weapon situation read more like a final straw for him. It's not just one mistake, it's a damning confirmation that something is wrong, as well as a climax to a series of silent humiliations.

Gaius is, as you said, a man out for atonement rather than redemption; internal validation rather than external. With that, I think this story reads as the first sign that his interior and exterior aren't lining up; not the first step on the journey, but that first doubt that later leads to him taking it.

[SannaR]

I'm tempted to explore aetherometaphysical theories associated with auracite/Sabik as a (then) receptacle of Athena's memory and crystalline accelerator one's desires / ambitions...but for the moment I'm think I'm focused more on a simple connection to Lahabrea's sentiments in Pandaemonium.

I think here maybe we see him on the other side of the looking glass - the moment he decides to reject the memories trying to resurface; refuse to consider them a sign that maybe he should look beyond the surface and Sabik as more than a mere tool. On this side of the mirror, he chides himself for this "moment of weakness" because - after the long years and all they have taken from him - nothing matters but his comrades, his goal, his duty, and his god.

Well the memories seem to persist and try to keep a hold on him until he thrusts it into Gaius's hand. Only then do they look to loose their grasp on Lahabreha. It could be that while not knowing if he had the heart until the Allagans made the Ultima Weapon and made it it's core how often or for how long it was in his possession. The story hints at least to me that he hasn't had it for a long time. Thus any influence Athena's memories and presence would have waned to the point of that it held so little sway over him. Including the part that he had forsaken after he murdered Athena and had not brought back into himself at the end of Pandeamonium.

That after he gave the heart to Gaius he could once again focus fully on his work. The same way he felt when he became whole once more and could be the person he thought his seat demanded him to be.