Something in 5.3 MSQ felt off to me (SPOILERS)

[BlitzAceRush]

One thing not mentioned much is when Elidibus is losing it right before he transforms we get spoken to from "A voice from within" which is voiced by Ardbert and is responding directly to what Elidibus just said, to me this reads as either:
A: Ardbert hangs about but out of respect just keeps to himself unless he feels the need to say something.
B: He's mostly dormant inside of us but on some level is aware of what going on and certain things rouse him.
I like to believe it's A, I like the idea that as a reward for all he went through he, like Graha get's to come with us on our next adventures while not physically he'll be able to experience them as himself through us, it also gives another voice to us, which they like to use like with the Twins as given we don't have one of our own, it gives them something up until this point we as a character have lacked, some semblance of "inner thoughts"

I know some people dislike stuff like this, I personally love it, but I think we all need to remember that while we've a greater degree of customisation on our character we are still taking control of a set character, we can chose their race, gender and appearance but we are all still playing "The" Warrior of Light/Darkness.
A lot of complaints from ARR that even the devs still make jokes about was we were more the Warrior of Nodding and Fist punching over being a real character in the story, people called for us to do more, act more even have an actual voice over, but as this is a set story for every bit of that we gain it means we become more set in stone, we've gained some choice over what we say but more in a "You're going to say/do this anyway, but were you scarastic, sad, angry, happy e.c.t" sense.

You can rename Cloud in 7 or Tidus in 10, but no matter what we chose to call them, Cloud is still Cloud and will act the same, Tidus is still Tidus and no matter how we customise them, we're still the WoL/D.
Our character has come a long way since ARR and they've gotten pretty creative with making us feel more alive, while some like myself love that unfortunately you can't please everyone and for every bit of established character the WoL/D gains, the space for headcanon shrinks.

[Ilenya]

Oh God, the whole Tia/Nunh thing!! I was wondering if Graha would keep the Tia after being Exarch. It just didn't feel right to me. Also, gonna go tell Matoya where Shtola is. She should have visited by now.

In my head Y'shtola doesn't want to visit Matoya because she's afraid Matoya will see she went into the Flow again and spank her for it.

[DiaDeem]

- One thing not mentioned much is when Elidibus is losing it right before he transforms we get spoken to from "A voice from within" which is voiced by Ardbert and is responding directly to what Elidibus.

- it gives them something up until this point we as a character have lacked, some semblance of "inner thoughts"

- I know some people dislike stuff like this, I personally love it, but I think we all need to remember that while we've a greater degree of customisation on our character we are still taking control of a set character

- You can rename Cloud in 7 or Tidus in 10, but no matter what we chose to call them, Cloud is still Cloud and will act the same, Tidus is still Tidus and no matter how we customise them, we're still the WoL/D.

(Sorry for fragmented quote! I reached the 3K characters limit!)

That scene! Really disliked that moment personally. For our inner voice, I look at the role playing aspect of the game. You thoughts are your character's inner thoughts. That's why the whole Ardbert Speaks concept to me feels horrendously forced and really intrusive. It doesn't feel like my inner voice, but like some other entity invading my literal self, and something that feels closer to what an Ascian would do. I really hate it. I will not accept it.

Also big disagree about the point of us playing "The" WoL/WoD as a set character. When I play VII or VI, I know I'm playing Cloud and Terra's story, so the context for their identity is very different, even with a rename. XIV has always been about our characters and what each of us makes of an ongoing story in a truly living world. Take that away, and a big part of XIV dies with it imho. It's the big difference between avatar characters and set characters in an RPG. On a side note, the protagonists in the Persona mangas/anime are presented in a completely different context than in the games. There's no "Minato" or "Yu" in P3 and P4, and they're introduced as "Hero" in the games specifically. You get to name them and be them, because (just like XIV) these are stories where we are the main characters. It's my favorite form of role playing. If they robbed me from my character, I don't think I'd keep playing the game honestly, which is a horrifying idea I don't even wanna think about, as this game means so much to me.

You said it yourself though: You can't please everyone

Pull in one direction, some players will feel disappointed. Pull the other way, and another set of players will feel betrayed. Pull in a third direction and more players may be upset. So in reality, XIV's writers can only tell the story the feel is best, and as for us... here we are: discussing a game we love and how the story has touched us all in different ways. I just hope when the dust settles that everyone gets to be happy with their character and their own interpretations, I really do <3

-Viv

[DiaDeem]

In my head Y'shtola doesn't want to visit Matoya because she's afraid Matoya will see she went into the Flow again and spank her for it.

They're so alike though! Like master like student. I feel that in some ways, looking at Shtola is like looking at a younger Matoya and viceversa. I really love their relationship. Hope we get more of it in the future!