✨ 🎉 🎊 🏡 🎊 🎉 ✨

Zel's Weekly Digest

Week 16 - February 27 - March 4, 2024


Naoh and Zel fighting Tsukuyomi



Insomnia and Moonlight


So one thing Naoh and I have in common (well we have a lot of things in common, it’s why we’re friends) is that we both are chronic insomniacs. We end up awake at the witching hour together pretty often, of course sometimes we play our Critically Acclaimed MMO together.

Such as when they messaged me about a terrible DF party they got, so I hopped on to help them out.

They asked if I wanted to try tackling Tsukuyomi EX again, now that we knew the fight. Of course, I was down. We went in as WHM and DRK, since we knew what we were doing now, and it was a breeze.


Naoh and Zel fighting Tsukuyomi. The red full moon is behind Tsukuyomi in this shot.

I still love this fight so much. It’s easily one of the prettiest trial arenas in the game, especially the effects and the phase change. Thematically it’s right up my alley too. I’ve always had a fascination with the moon, and the moon bunny myth of japan is incredibly adorable. Add on to that that I’ve always loved spider lilies. It’s a little ironic that my favorite flowers are incredibly weeby but it’s not really even for weeb reasons. Spider lilies just look cool as heck, and the symbolism for them in japanese culture just makes them even better.

A fun little in-character tidbit about Zel: her signature white spider lily hairclip (the one from the Garo event) is actually from Tsukuyomi, and turns red as she gets closer to being able to call the blood lily. It’s too bad I can’t make it show up in game, but I imagine it in my head.

Still no doggo, and I didn’t get any remnants from desynthing either. Oh well.


Naoh and Zel fighting Lyngbakr in the Aetherfont

We also did a few dungeons, to help Naoh get back into the swing of healing.





Blue is the Warmest Mage Color


If Mag is online, there’s a 75% chance he’s going to want to do something Blue Mage related. There wasn’t a whole lot in party finder, but there was someone running Aurum Vale for spells, which is a pretty easy one. So we joined, him as a blue mage and me as a white mage to help with res and heals. After that, we decided to hit up more ARR dungeons and honestly had a blast.


Zel and party fighting on the stairs in Pharos Sirius

It’s been a while since I’ve done some of these synced. Haukke Manor HM went smoother than most of the DF runs I’ve gotten, and Qarn HM was fun too. I’ve been in parties where people had no idea how to handle the Sabotenders.


Zel and party standing around emoting in Lost City of Amdapor
Zel and party walking through Sunken Temple of Qarn Hard Mode

We also took on a few trials, and forgot that we needed to get the white mage moogle to cast pomcure, and ended up killing everthing too fast at first. Eventually we slowed down and got the spell.


Zel and two others fighting Good King Mogglemog. They are dancing in the circle of Moogles during the phase change. Mag is standing off to the side.

Eventually we needed more people to be able to do some of the harder trials, like Shiva EX and Garuda EX.


Zel several blue mages frozen by Shiva during the phase change

I had a lot of fun, I always enjoy helping people out. Plus I was able to sneakily give some people an EXP bonus with my mentor bonus. I never have my crown out though because I don’t really like the reputation that a lot of mentors have in the game. That and it just feels pretentious to have a little crown next to my name.

We also ran through some dungeons to get some spells that I was missing. I think my BLU portrait looks pretty cute!


Zel's Blue Mage adventurer portrait. She is standing in the idle weapon drawn pose for blue mage, with a rose border and a blue background.

Also: presented without context:


Dialogue from Magris Ashenford: kill eggies first then when she does it murderlise




Manderville Mania



A scene from the Manderville relic quests finale. The NPCs involved are dancing the Manderville in a circle around Zel while they glow blue.

I’ve been putting off finishing my Manderville relic because I’ve been so disappointed in the lack of a true relic grind. Everyone else seems more than happy with the new system, but I liked the older relic grinds. I even still go back and do some of them from time to time.

I’m also just not that happy with the end result either. Yes, its pretty and it looks cool, but it’s just not my aesthetic or cup of tea.

I love the color changes though. Very flashy.


Zel posing with the Mandervillous Cane. It is glowing blue.
Zel posing with the Mandervillous Cane. It is glowing pink.

For now though, I’ve glammed it to the Bunny cane. The quest story itself was entertaining though, at least. A lot more story and lore put into each part than most of the previous entries. Except Eureka. That's its own whole thing.


Zel talking to Godbert and Julyan Manderville. Godbert's Dialogue says: All in all, this has been a most satisfying experience. My thanks again, and I look forward to our next mutually beneficial encounter!

It most certainly was not satisfying, Godbert.





PVP progress



PVP series malmstone screen. Zel is currently at rank 22

Only a little bit more until I've got that coffer and I'm home free! I've still got lots of time before the Series is over, but it'll be one less thing to worry about as I prep for Dawntrail!





Finally Some Good Luck


And my biggest announcement of the week: I finally got a house in Empyreum!

Behold!


Zel's house, now in the Emperyum ward. The screencap is shot from above at an angle, showing off the Moogle exterior and a few of the outdoor furnishings.

Clan Nutsy’s Hunter lodge has moved to Ishgard, Kupo!

I almost completely forgot to check the lottery tbh. I only really remembered offhandedly while fussing with the company submarines. My heart was pounding pretty hard after I teleported and saw that the house was still showing as vacant, and was fulling expecting to be running over to collect my gil. I literally let out a high pitched squeal the moment I saw the “You won!” prompt!


The lottery annoucement. It states: The winning number is 12! Congratulations! You are the winner of this lottery. Finalize your purchase and claim your plot of land? Plot Available until 9:59 am 3/4/2024.

I’ve been wanting Ishgard housing for years and years, and I’ve been trying to get one since Empyreum came out, but never had any luck. I gave up for a while, placated by the fact that despite having a spot I didn’t love, I at least had a spot next to my partner’s house. But since he lost his old plot a couple weeks ago, I decided to be more proactive again, and it payed off!

There’s two major reasons I wanted an Empyreum plot so bad, aside from lore reasons for Zel. The first is that my old house was right in front of someone that I’m not on good terms with, to put it lightly. The second is that Shirogane is incredibly popular, and I’m honestly not that attached to the area myself, but I know a lot of people would LOVE to specifically have a Shiro house, and I really hope my old plot can go to someone who will love it with their whole heart.

There’s another reason that’s a little more on the practical side. Our FC house is also in Shiro, so now I have a cheap teleport to Ishgard to go with the cheap Kugane teleport. My apartment is in Lavender Beds, which rounds it out pretty nicely.


A shot of the inside of Zel's house, the Clan Nutsy Hunters' Lodge. There is a lot of furniture crafted from monsters and primals, as well as a showcase full of dolls and figurines.

I’m glad I took some screens of my old house, it helped a lot with putting everything back where it was. It’s not exact, but I quite like what i’ve done with the place. I had a couple of new additions, and that ended up eating the last of my item slots, but it was worth it.




See you next time!


Zel and Xarale sitting on a sheep rug in front of the fireplace in Zel's house. Their backs are to the camera, and their dog pets are behind them, looking at the camera.



Posted 2024/03/07

Week 15 | Week 17



Home | Back to FFIXV | Back to Weekly Blog