Answers from FFXIV Korean Anniversary LL

[Lunair]

So as a quick side-note before i get into the beef of my response, sensing AOE markers IS a lore-based thing, as it turns out, and was confirmed by Y'shtola's dialogue during the DT raids, especially explicitely when fighting a certain nutjob on top of a city. She straight up SAYS to watch the flow of aether and dodge accordingly, confirming that she can see them too, and as a result, she does every mechanic perfectly. Which is neat! It's kinda like the revelation that respawning at the aetheryte after falling in battle is canon too.

As another note, I actually have a theory on Fantasia, and it's based on what we know about Tempering and Corporeal Corruption.

Essentially, what we DO know is that if something is suffused with enough aether, it undergoes a process I refer to as "Corporeal Corruption", a state in which their physical composition and form dramatically shifts irreversibly. (usually.)

The thing is, we see repeatedly that this process can be guided by Tempering and similar phenomenon. Without Tempering or other psychological influences in play, Corporeal Corruption tends to just convert the subject into whatever aspect they were overaspected with, (such as what happens to the Black Mages without stones in the BLM quests) or if it's balanced aspect-wise, (and thus Unaspected) they Crystallize, ala G'raha Tia or gods plenty other examples like in Mor Dhona or The Burning Wall, but if something is directly influencing the target's sense of self, the corruption tends to result in something related! Leviathan made the Drowned, for example, and Anima made cthullu cosplayers.

This isn't just dependent on primals though! We see another example of this with the Ishgardian Elezen who underwent Dragonification! In this case, it's because of the Dragon's aether that's in their blood influencing their sense of self, but the end result is the same! they undergo a significant shift in physical form to match their sense of self, even if it's warped.

Based on what we learn later on about how the Ancients underwent transformations, the dots end up coming together! An individual's "sense of self", their self-image, determines their physical form when in an aetherically unstable state! This is also consistent with what we know about Anima being required for teleportation, (which IS still canon, NPCs like the guard outside Gridania's aetheryte still mention it.) and this is where Fantasia would come into play.

If we assume that Fantasia is, for all intents and purposes, a specifically made chemical that allows one to shift their sense of self, (A hallucinogen, essentially.) and then induces an aetheric destabilization in the consumer, following the above precedents, logically they'd undergo corporeal corruption into their ideal form!

[SKAshe]

Where are the full questions and answers, if I may?

I'm also curious to know if anyone has the full questions and answers. Just saw the FFXIV Discord was the source.

[RedLolly]

snip of fascinating info!

Fantasia being a hallucinogen that changes a person's sense of self into a more positive light while then destabilizing corporeal aether enough to make a dramatic physical change can have some either hilarious or depressing implications to us players that are "fantasia addicts."

[Remarus]

fantasia lore snip

Hi, hello, I am adopting this headcanon forthwith. This is a wonderful supposition on how it might work in-lore, especially considering we do have a merchant peddling them in-game and then see a Lala turn into a Roe.