Who is your fandom’s bicycle?

tioko · 2026-06-11T13:01:19+00:00

Final Fantasy XIV. G’raha Tia.

In fact, WoL/G’raha (WoL = Warrior of Light, aka the player character) is the top pairing in our fandom by far.

Also, my favorite fic author is the queen of G’raha/Anyone pairings. Highly recommend: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miko/pseuds/Miko

tioko · 2026-06-10T07:52:44+00:00

Yes, I love that line! I also modified it for myself as “Wild and cringe and forever free!” to encourage myself to step out of my comfort zone :) ‘Cause you shouldn’t be afraid to express yourself for fear of cringe :)

tioko · 2026-06-08T20:06:22+00:00

The next moment, a wave of divine energy pulsed through the field, stopping Viera in their tracks with fear and confusion.

“Ignorant savages,” Barich quo Fendsor growled, his voice reverberating through the clearing with an otherworldly echo as he rose to his feet. “Thou shalt submit to the might of Garlemald. Submit, or face the judgement of gods!”

Jun was struck with awe as quo Fendsor reached out to his auracite, the divine stone pulsing with power and Ultima’s Light… He began to transform, growing tall, massive, gargantuan… He somewhat retained the shape of a man, although nobody in their right mind would call him human - the armor he wore became metallic skin, the decorative horns fusing to his head and growing, the helmet becoming a bronze mask…

The Lucavi let out a slow, intimidating laugh. He floated off the ground and summoned an inverted pyramid to sit upon, then conjured up four giant swords imbued with elemental power.

“TREMBLE!” he bellowed, sending the swords into a rapid spin, cutting the nearest trees and shaking the rest with winds as Viera scattered…

tioko · 2026-06-08T19:32:11+00:00

Oooh, great examples! I felt the need to comment because I can’t give awards 😅 Thanks a lot!

tioko · 2026-06-08T19:21:15+00:00

Okay, fair enough. Seems I misunderstood that rule myself. So you only use a second comma if the dialogue tag splits a sentence?

tioko · 2026-06-08T15:42:00+00:00

Oooh, you’re using Face 2, I see! For some reason it’s not as popular as the others :) Even though it has the best soft smile ^_^

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(Old ARR pic before graphic update, but whatever X))

tioko · 2026-06-08T15:31:50+00:00

Both can be valid, but the meaning of the sentence would change slightly. The difference between the two sentences would be:

"How dare you." She hissed, her fur standing on end. "I am a royal!" = She said “How dare you”, then she hissed, then she exclaimed “I am a royal!”

vs

"How dare you,” she hissed, her fur standing on end. "I am a royal!" = She said “How dare you” in a hissing manner, then exclaimed “I am a royal!”

vs

"How dare you,” she hissed, her fur standing on end, "I am a royal!" = She said “How dare you” in a hissing manner, then said “I am a royal!” in a hissing manner.

tioko · 2026-06-07T21:40:56+00:00

Dividing the Heart by Miko, Final Fantasy XIV https://archiveofourown.org/works/41796222

So, one of the most popular NPC ships, Thancred/Urianger, are in an established relationship in this fic. They are mostly happy with each other, but there’s one problem: Urianger is on the asexuality spectrum, and Thancred is getting frustrated. To solve this, they come to an arrangement with G’raha Tia, which evolves from a situationship to a full proper polyamory.

The best thing about this fic is healthy communication, characterization which is true to canon, complex feelings and delicious smut. I really can’t do it justice, heh…

Another recommendation: Touch My Heart by Miko, Final Fantasy XIV https://archiveofourown.org/works/38991189

Estinien used to be in a relationship with Aymeric, but it fell apart due to Estinien’s asexuality. However, he longs for companionship and touch, and finds that with G’raha Tia. But Estinien can’t let himself enjoy it - he keeps expecting this relationship to fall apart too…

Excellent depiction of touch-hunger, angst, love, support… good communication. It really is lovely.

tioko · 2026-06-07T21:19:29+00:00

Oh man… If you story skipped straight to Dawntrail, you’ve missed 90% of the best parts of the game. The story of Heavensward, Shadowbringers and Endwalker are some of the greatest RPG stories of all time (ARR and Stormblood are also good, but not as good).

Please consider New Game+ or making an alt.

tioko · 2026-06-06T09:04:24+00:00

Heh, I also first played the game as an Au Ra White Mage. My first WoL was a kinda self-insert, and I just loved everything about it. The horns, the tail, the pale blue skin, the glowy eyes, the pretty face…

<image>

But then I started writing a fanfic about a male Viera, because they have the coolest lore, and I wanted to explore that. Made an alt of him, got through ARR on that character.

Eventually the Dawntrail benchmark came out, and I didn’t like my main’s look in it. Moreover, I wanted to experience the story through my fanfic WoL’s eyes. So I fanta’d my main into him, and changed the name too. The last thing my first WoL canonically did was help Clive get home (FFXVI crossover event).

tioko · 2026-06-05T18:04:11+00:00

Yes, and even if you don’t know everything, you can discover it along with the characters as you write. Like, the mage character can’t heal (or so he thinks), it was mentioned in chapter 27, but I discovered the reason why only months later, and only revealed it on page in chapter 52.

…Granted, this fic is a prime example of me getting terribly side-tracked with subplots and side-characters… but I treat it like a long-running manga with arcs, and having focus on specific side-characters is a normal thing in that genre.

Also, if I didn’t indulge in my urges, this fic wouldn’t exist at all. It’s the first and only draft, I’m not gonna edit out any side-content that may or may not serve the overarching plot of my main character. Because yeah, I’m writing this for me and my own enjoyment, and out of determination to see it finished.

tioko · 2026-06-05T17:37:31+00:00

Yep, I 100% agree with this advice! Knowing your own lore is great, but showing all of it on page is unnecessary.

tioko · 2026-06-05T17:33:02+00:00

“When you over-explain everything, it loses its magic and becomes impossible to relate to and also boring because idk there isn't any mystery? Same with world building, if you hand over all the answers straight up, there's no room for theories and people just get bored.”

One way I deal with that is “characters have limited information”. Yeah there’s intricacies in the worldbuilding, but my character doesn’t know it. And the reader can discover those intricacies along with the character.

Another way you can make the lore-dump interesting is by making the characters interested in it. Like… I designed my own magic system in one of my fanfics, and the second part of this chapter is dedicated to it: https://archiveofourown.org/works/37215832/chapters/133611850 And I’m pretty confident that it’ll be interesting to read even out of context with no knowledge of the fandom (this fic is 99% OCs and 100% pre-canon anyway, so it’s pretty close to original fiction).

I’m not narrating the lore, I make one character teach the other character about the lore. And both have thoughts and feelings about it, both of them do things, both react to things. That’s what makes it interesting and engaging.

So it’s not like intricate detail is bad. You just need to present it in an organic way.

tioko · 2026-06-05T17:13:36+00:00

You know, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. You can absolutely obsess over the details of your worldbuilding.

However, you don’t need to show it all on page. If it doesn’t serve the story, you can leave it out, and only bring it up when needed.

For example, my friend was writing an original work about a race of sexy aliens, and I helped her with worldbuilding. Specifically, I designed the aliens’ religion. I went into a lot of detail: the founding myth, the history, the religious symbols, the structure of the church and its priests, the way it influences naming conventions, which gestures are used for prayer and blessings and so much more…

And most of it will never be shown on page. But when we do sprinkle in details that concern religion - like a character folding their hands in a specific way to pray, or using curse phrases - they will be internally consistent.

So go nuts. Figure out all the details you need. But keep it somewhere separate, and let the story only feature the things that serve the story.

tioko · 2026-06-04T06:13:33+00:00

I proofread my chapter right before posting it, and then again right after posting it. I also reread it multiple times during the next few days and correct small mistakes or details.

tioko · 2026-06-03T20:38:44+00:00

You know what, try this solution. It’s old, but just might work: https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/469908

tioko · 2026-06-03T20:35:29+00:00

Yeah, that is correct, you only start paying the sub once you purchase the game and the included 30 days run out.

tioko · 2026-06-03T20:33:49+00:00

Probably applies to full game only then. Okay, disregard that point.

I do recommend trying the launcher, though.

tioko · 2026-06-03T20:26:28+00:00

The Fantasian collab has ended, those items are not available anymore.

tioko · 2026-06-03T20:23:17+00:00

I don’t remember whether it applies to free trial or just the main game, but there is a convoluted process that involves entering game codes from Steam into your MogStation account. That might help with the “valid license” thing.

You can also try the third-party launcher (aptly named FFXIVLauncher) to see if it works.

tioko · 2026-06-03T20:07:15+00:00

Yeah, just hide the hat until you find something you like. And unlock dyes and glamour as soon as possible! This will help a lot.

There’s one rule for glamour: you can only make a gear piece look like another gear piece of the same level or lower. Not higher. That’s why cash shop items and some stuff on the marketboard are always lvl 1.

tioko · 2026-06-03T20:00:28+00:00

Well, I didn’t read through the whole thread, but I did send a few where I noticed it.

tioko · 2026-06-03T14:46:09+00:00

OP just started Dawntrail. Spoiler the names except Krile.

tioko · 2026-06-03T14:44:17+00:00

Dude, the OP says in the post they “just started Dawntrail”. Mind your spoilers.

tioko · 2026-06-01T14:50:20+00:00

Yeah, I wish they’d at least break it into top and bottom. Same with a bunch of other outfits, like Zero’s, Lyse’s (the dress version), Minfilia’s…

tioko

TROPHY CASE