Arcadion & the Battle of 9002

Aikirees and I leaning against a chalkboard with 'Blog Stuffs' written on it.

The cousins went and crushed the final tier of the Archadion last night, and it was excellent. This was a solid tier as all four battles didn’t feel oddly harder than the other. It tends (at least to me and my experience) that the 3rd one of all tiers tends to be the ‘cursed’ one which is either more difficult for some reason, or just always rough to get through. I’d rank Arcadion as a whole probably 2nd or 3rd favorite set thus so far – I mean, nothing is ever going to top Alpha and Omega. Battle-wise, I’d say and easy 1st, but for story, 2nd or 3rd. Give them a go if y’all haven’t the whole tier (overall) will not disappoint.

Aside from that, been dealing with a whole lot of perpetual disconnects, which has been a battle in itself. I know the onslaught of DDoSes has probably had SquareEnix put up some sort of defenses, which is great, but I think it might be affecting players just trying to play the game. Trying something out as a recommendation, so we’ll see if that helps (really hoping). Some more net upgrades are happening next week, so we’re hoping that helps a bit too. It has(had?) gotten to the point where I was just going to hang it up and go back to Horizon: Forbidden West full time for a while.

Which isn’t to say I’m still chipping away at the titantular game and its story. Hitting the 90th hour now at max level with only 55% of the base-game done so far. It’s been a grand time there for certain. This weekend will be a lot less work-intensive so I can rest, but still more office at home things to do ideally with more Fallout Season 2 as well so should be good.

Y’all have a Happy Friday and kick tails this weekend!

Picking Through Pieces

Aikirees and I leaning against a chalkboard with 'Blog Stuffs' written on it.

This week really started off turbulent, and the incline is still slanting a bit upwards even now at midweek. Was hoping for more posts and updates this week, but between working on something else and the whirlwind of tasks that has come through, it just didn’t work out.

Even aiming for the Cousins to start Arcadion last night didn’t work out as starting the evening later than usual and some connection issues, that has gotten delayed. I think what we’ll do is just plan for the back-end of this week and just go for broke to at least start them. That way if it goes into the weekend it won’t feel like such a daunting task. One of my PC’s seems to have lost the ability to notice a bit of RAM, so going to investigate as to why. The system is approaching 20 years old, so if it’s a hardware failure, then that’s okay but not great.

Aikirees and I sitting on a bench in front of a fountain.

As from the post last week ‘What was to be Done,’ that marked the end of EOCA proper, but not the end of the FC itself. Kind of sort of been attempting to pick up some of the pieces left in the wake of the dissolving, but it’s taking more time than I’d have liked. It is getting there and is shaping up, but might need a bit more work. I needed to grief as it was a huge part of my Erozea life, and something I’ll never forget. As for the story about EOCA, well that’s probably going to be pushed into the lull between 7.55 and 8.0.

I think this weekend will be a lot quieter in terms of projects that require legwork, as I am still sore and tired from last weekend’s big project. Even if I were to get the materials ready for the next phase of the garage project, I’d put it off another week or so to take care of much needed other little things.

Happy Midweek y’all! Kick tails! We all got this!

Hnnnnggg

Aikirees drinking a tea sitting next to me, while reading a book glancing at her with the caption 'Monday Morning Weekend Recap' off to the left.

Argh! Okay. so. The planned project took EIGHT HOURS to do, so my whole weekend fell way behind. I think this weekend I’m just going to take a break and get some relaxing done and work in my home office instead for once. Every time I try and plan around something, it just backfires beautifully.

The actual project, as much as it was such a pain, went and works perfectly – so I am glad I did it, but boy howdy it was rough. After it was done, started the new season of Fallout, and that’s been a grand time thus so far. It’s already much better than the last season in terms of pacing.

Everyone got a good full week in Eorzea however, and that was nice to get back to that again. The community was pretty warm too, a warmth that I haven’t felt or seen in so long. It was really wonderful, and hope to see more of it. With the (possible) breather weekend coming up, might go ahead and finish off Arcadion as well… maybe. If not soon enough, or we’ll just weave it into the weekly routines.

Happy Monday y’all! Kick tails and have a wonderful one!

Some Momentum

Aikirees and I leaning against a chalkboard with 'Blog Stuffs' written on it.

Well got a few additional posts done this week, which is good to get some momentum back, but still a far cry from the five I was able to accomplish before everything went off the rails.

Weekend outlook is another project that ideally will only take a hour or so depending, which then gives me the rest of the time to start to catch up in the home office. That in itself is becoming a little bit dire of a situation, let alone the poor trains that have been sitting for a few months now, and that’s really not good for them.

Hopefully soon the momentum will be back into full swing and I can start to bring about some really backlogged items here. I think Fallout will start tomorrow evening as well (assuming season 2 is out now?)

Kick tails and happy Friday y’all!

Dragoon Flair

Me cheering on Aikirees in her new Dragoon outfit.

While in an effort to lessen the shoulder armors, Aikirees has been trying to figure out what to do for certain classes. Thanks to the 7.4 glam-break, she finally has the answer to her Dragoon utilizing the Monk’s Heavensward Tantra Chestwrap. The rest of her outfit didn’t really change all that much leaving a lot of dragon scales showing, especially on her legs. The final tie-in being the Gambler’s Gloves rather than what she used to use, which was one of the gatherer’s half gloves around level 40 or so.

I think she’s aiming for another outfit change in the near future, but at least for now she’s gotten more of her fuzzy charm out there while adventuring whether with me or on her own.

What was to be Done

Laureine looking up at me while I look over my messy desk at Eorzea Cartographer's HQ.

I kind of just got lost in time, standing there in the entryway to the office, staring at it all. Still piles of papers, letters, and notes all strewn across it. Flowers frozen in time and so many coffee mugs. It was always a mess, but it was my mess that I carried with me across three desks all the way starting back when I was still housed within the Aether Event Center’s manor.

Now it’s… all over, just a bunch of mostly fond memories. Ending the entirety of the map program was just simply bittersweet that had and continues to have even afterwards, unwavering support from a lot of the folks I’ve met over its 5 year run. I’d have never of guessed going to the Aether Event Center’s manor for that first big event would have led all the way to this moment, and here it is. It’s simply just over.

I really don’t know how long I stood there before I felt the brush of a horn on my arm. Had I not only not heard Miss Laureine’s approach and greeting, it wasn’t until she got my attention that it snapped me back into reality. I think she knew what had happened not even hearing the news directly. She knew I finally did it, and it was all from the way she interacted with me in that entryway. She gave me a side hug and really said nothing – a silent grieving moment between us within HQ. Aikirees was out and about and Lizz was fast asleep on the couch on the first floor (because of course), so it was really just us in that moment.

“…Thank you.” I finally said acknowledging Miss Laureine’s presence. This certainly wasn’t planned, and I really didn’t expect to linger there as long as I did. She nodded and turned to slowly head back upstairs to her tasks unknown to me. It sure was something, but now it all can rest, and I can adventure forward knowing for a time I was ‘uniting Eorzea, one map at a time.’

Leaving Holiday Mode

Aikirees drinking a tea sitting next to me, while reading a book glancing at her with the caption 'Monday Morning Weekend Recap' off to the left.

So there are holiday photos and posts incoming, but I’m still in the midst of trying to catch up on projects that have been weaved in where I can. Overall it’s been a really nice holiday and New Years, albeit incredibly busy – far more than years prior.

Finished season 5 of Strange Things, and cried something fierce: both because I’ve been watching it since it first came out when I moved to Florida and it was just a really good ending. Off to Season 2 of Fallout this coming weekend after another big project Saturday. Once these projects are all smoothed back out, then daily posts will return and I’ve missed them dearly.

Might be a really quiet week overall, but soon (if so) that should change.

Y’all have a wonderful first full week of 2026! Kick tails!

Entering Holiday Mode

Aikirees drinking a tea sitting next to me, while reading a book glancing at her with the caption 'Monday Morning Weekend Recap' off to the left.

Happy Monday y’all! The weekend was good overall, but just felt.. sped up? Like, almost everything that was planned on getting done, did get done, but in such a turnkey it didn’t feel good. As predicted as well, the new Arcadian matches are delayed probably for another week with it all.

Going into the holiday weeks, it’s looking pretty good. I have a couple of items to get this evening to finish it all up, and then I can just worry about finishing up work before the holidays. What’s a little bit annoying is the fact that both Christmas and New Years are on Thursdays, the office is pulling a technicality and not closing on either Friday – for the last seven years I’ve been trying my darndest to explain the importance of R&R, but it’s becoming an over exhaustive fleeting battle at this point.

Sans the new Arcadian, we did do the new Starlight festive event, and place some ‘classic’ festive music on at HQ, but right now is just trying to keep up with weeklies/dailies and the daily DDoS attacks, for in which I cannot understand how/why these are so severe for a game this big. Like… even World of Warcraft during Wrath of the Lich King I can’t remember ever being knocked off due to such a thing. Guild Wars 1 or 2 neither had this, and the other handful of online games from both Blizzard and elsewhere in the past I just can’t recall this ever happening. Supposedly it did in WoW early on, but was squelched pretty quickly.

Just… *sigh* maybe we’ll hear something eventually explaining the situation. Would at least help explain why it’s so bad. I guess just in the meantime it’s one more thing I need to schedule into the evening routines until it finally ends. It makes me wonder how 8.0 and beyond will go with this. Getting kicked off only to come back to a 3K+ queue due to one of these is not going to make for an enjoyable time…

I know, shouldn’t end on a downer, just something that’s been growing into a major bother with everything else happening. It’ll be a good and fun week ahead, and I hope y’all have a wonderful one as well! Kick lots of tails and lots of love.

The Trail has been Dawned 7.4

Me smiling while looking down with a lightning storm in the background.

Aikirees and I blew through the entirety of the Main Scenario Quest last night. Overall this was a solid patch and hasn’t wavered in that regard (yet). The last set of Arcadian still needs to be tackled, but due to holiday scheduling, that might be delayed out a bit further than typical.

I doubt I’ll do or mention much in regards to the actual story progression at this point, but possible in 7.5 or 7.55; just depends on how I feel about all of the post patches as a whole once it gets closer to 8.0. it is better, but we’ll see. I am looking forward to Arcadian once we all get around to it, and there’s that Monster Hunter Trial we’ve yet to even unlock.

More adventures await~!

The Trail is Dawning 7.4

Aikirees and I leaning against a chalkboard with 'Blog Stuffs' written on it.

The cousins, even with some valiant efforts, did not fully Dawn the 7.4 Trail in one evening. It’s rare as the last time this happened was 6.3(ish), but got far enough at the very least. This is just a quick general thought in regards to the pacing and content – not the story.

I’ve disliked a large portion of Dawntrail after Shaaloani (even two things prior regarding the dungeons), and have my criticisms of 7.1 and 7.2 for one or more reasons, but starting with 7.3 and now with 7.4, this is starting to feel right again. I’m not talking story (as that’s a whole different container to talk about), but just the actual content: the new dungeon and trial in particular. These both are just a lot of enjoyable fun and not a lot of overcomplications that I haven’t seen really since Endwalker. 7.3 did address a bit of this, but this patch nailed it.

I’m not sure what the new Heavyweight fights are going to be like (probably bonkers like the last set in a good way – mostly), but in terms of the MSQ content, this is finally fun and enjoyable again. Now if only we can get the playerbase’s overall empathy back to where it once was.

The Last Hurrah

Aikirees drinking a tea sitting next to me, while reading a book glancing at her with the caption 'Monday Morning Weekend Recap' off to the left.

The last full week of the year is upon us. The weekend was productive, and non-breaking of things; it didn’t go as planned per se however. The original plan was to just rest up a smidgen and get a little bit more 7.4 preparations in, but what happened instead was more catching up on tasks in the home office and holiday planning. So, good things still, but the catch-up is very real still. Lacking a solid day of writing isn’t helping things here either.

Next weekend is my big holiday one before the actual holiday, and with 7.4 coming out on Tuesday, will have to address some things prior that have come up. I got thrown a fairly odd curve-ball in relation to work that I’m still having to consider as I suspect it’s going to come up before the end of the year (or the department review) which could affect the future of just about everything I do. Not that’s necessarily supposed to sound ominous by any means, but there’s some weight to this decision making that echoes my first tenure in this industry, and was ultimately one of the biggest reasons I left initially.

Best not to dwell all that much on it right now, however – I’ve got a lot more experience and journeys under the ears at this point, so the outcome shouldn’t be the same again. Regardless of that, let’s make the last full week before the holidays and end of the year be stellar.

Happy Monday y’all! Kick tails! Here we go!

Family Weekend & Breaking Things

Aikirees drinking a tea sitting next to me, while reading a book glancing at her with the caption 'Monday Morning Weekend Recap' off to the left.

Last week went off the rails again, and still perpetually behind on planning practically anything for the foreseeable future. However, this past weekend was nice; the folks visiting Saturday evening – it was shorter than usual but nice nonetheless. The next time I’ll see them is Christmas and then New Years right thereafter.

Aside from the visit – most of the weekend was in a perpetual state of chasing catch-ups and not succeeding as well as needed. In the process, breaking another Linux system (albeit temporarily) once again. As much as I like Mint, the sheer amount of research required to do some of the more technical things is incredibly exhausting sometimes. I’ve been leaving myself a lot of text documents on the NAS though for when/if I need to reference these hurdles again in the future.

Last full week before Patch 7.4, and we’re basically ready for it, but just concerned with the amount of work hours how the first week is going to go. Ideally we’ll finish the MSQ the night it comes out and then plan getting to the new Arcadion (it’s going to conflict with the traditional holiday Rum Cakes baking). I know we have an ample amount of time to do these until 7.5, and this is the last tier of tomestones until 8.0, but would rather see the story sooner than later to avoid any unintentional spoilers.

Once I stop have self-inflicted technical issues (getting there!), planning out more story-driven posts will come back once again, and I am so looking forward to it.

Y’all have a wonderful Monday and week ahead! Kick some tails!

The Long Run

Lizicus looking out across the Azem Steppe during a sandstorm.

I hadn’t been planning on being absent for this long. It’s been a bit too overwhelming, even for me. The major issues that I was discussing back in August got addressed: new roof, all of the Windows 10 to 11 or Linux has been dealt with too. The bigger problem was hitting 6 days a week of work to deal with a large project that wasn’t planned or laid out well enough. This on its own caused a nasty bottleneck for everything else, for in which now we’re dealing with that fallout. By the end of this year, either this will be addressed fully or I’m arbitrarily taking back my personal time. I didn’t return to this industry for a 3rd time to do what I did in the 1st tenure that caused me to leave in the first place.

That being said, and with all of that happening, I did finish Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3, Hazbin Hotel Season 2, and all of Helluva Boss. These were all great seasons, and I do recommend them. Wicked Part 1 was superb of a watch too. The audio server project is still making additional progress by the week, and my skills using Linux have increased (even with breaking a couple of systems in the process – oops). So it’s not all been a whirlwind of insanity, but I do miss sleep. Office got a nice small overhaul as well when the new systems went in, and it’s a lot more cozy in there too.

I’d like to get back to posting daily here, and I got enough to do so, but I still haven’t had enough time to sit down and plan getting back into that just yet. The little blurbs I was doing are probably manageable right now, but I need a few hours over a weekend to sort everything else out.

Aikirees looking out over the Fringes.

Eorzea-wise. I just announced the dissolution of EOCA’s discord at the end of the year. It’s a really somber feeling, but it’s way overdue. The FC will continue onwards, but my retirement of doing cartography for Final Fantasy XIV is all but done. The fact that I was part of the community for so long and with so many warm regards was such a honor and a privilege. It would never have lasted as long without so many wonderful folks and friends who supported me through it all. One of these moons, I’ll finish up the story about EOCA, but that rough draft is pretty… rough to say the least, and some things have changed since then.

Aside from that, barely keeping it together with such a loss of personal time. Aikirees and I are hanging in there, as are the cousins but it’s really been dialed back (Miss Lizz is happy about the extra nap time, however). Hopefully soon we’ll be able to get back to taking care of more side things as opposed to just weekly tasks. Doing some of those weekly tasks is getting harder as it feels the community in certain parts is feeling far more cold than it ever has, even so now looking back on almost 7 years of playing.

Aikirees and I examining the submarine's progress in EOCA HQ's workshop.
This will be fully completed by 2030.

Let’s see, Horizon: Forbidden West is still moving along as well, 50% completion according to the in-game statistics, with 70 hours invested. I’ve been having a blast but certainly taking it really slowly. Started Sea of Stars again on PS5 as well – it’s just too good and definitely a recommend for a great story RPG with minimal grinding. That might be it for this long post for now; still have lots to thimble through and organize here. The Vieras’ adventures still continue in the background with Reinylla slowly approaching Heavensward now.

I’ll wrap it up there before I ramble on forever. Y’all have a really wonderful Monday and week ahead. Only 31 days left of the year now, let’s make them absolutely stellar!

Rained Out

Aikirees drinking a tea sitting next to me, while reading a book glancing at her with the caption 'Monday Morning Weekend Recap' off to the left.

The rough was dealing with another roof leak, which was found & plugged as best as possible during a rain storm, and then losing nearly all of my work time in the process.

The good was just about everything else. Family evening was really wonderful, and getting everything else done went fairly well but just not a lot of downtime – just consistently moving between tasks. Some server work got done, but still have to add a few more that I queued up over last week, but that I can worry about this weekend.

It’s going to be a very long week ahead. Y’all kick tails and have a wonderful Monday & week!

Good Riddance

Aikirees and I leaning against a chalkboard with 'Blog Stuffs' written on it.

I’m going to open with this article from the wonderful folks over at MassivelyOP and my only remark to it (and for anyone, and I mean anyone) who knows me is this, and forgive my vulgarity: Good. Fucking. Riddance. I have been very loud about how I absolutely loathe the modding community in Final Fantasy XIV, and seeing this coming to an end is nice to hear. Not Sorry.

With that rather out of characteristic vulgar quick-rant out of the way – it’s still pretty chaotic on the RL side, with me certainly bringing more work home for the weekend. Not as much, however, so I’ll hopefully be able to dedicate a little bit more to relaxing – there will be some server work too, which is always fun to do. Biggest hurdle now will be addressing what needs to be done, and very quickly, soon thereafter we get over a machine being down.

Hopefully everyone’s Friday goes wonderfully, and y’all have a weekend to match!

Bleeding the Midnight Oil

Aikirees and I leaning against a chalkboard with 'Blog Stuffs' written on it.

My concern about how this week kind of ballooned overnight with the project escalating into something far more obscene. My bigger concern is if any of this will overtake part of this upcoming weekend, which already has plans involving family. The work/life is really starting to kilt to levels where I left the industry the first time and that’s not good.

Hoping to swerve the course at least a bit today and tomorrow in hopes of it being a bit better. Ended up pulling yet another skilled injury the other day (if you know me, this is par for the course) which has made things a little bit more comically slower, but it is recovering just fine. Hoping dearly that this will all come to some sort of head right before Labor Day Weekend.

As for Labor Day Weekend itself, I might have mentioned visiting ‘home’ where Aiki and I started out in our adventures through Eorzea, but that might just depend on how things are going. The Rising Event comes back the 27th, which means the long ‘lost’ Aryiah will be visiting after being absent for almost a year. It would be nice to hang out at the Moonfire cruise ship sometime over this upcoming weekend (or Monday) with some/all of EOCA, but realistically I keep seeing that idea fleeting with everything upcoming.

Hopefully I’m incorrect to some capacity, but just have to see. There is a level of guilt that I’m continued to be reminded about throughout – it’s been linger a long time now, which hasn’t helped things, but not anything I have time to really address (or even explain) at the moment. Just have to keep moving forward.

Anyrate, y’all have a wonderful Friday Eve! Y’all got this!

Inquiries

Elizara watching attentively as Laureine crafts on an anvil.

It was a later part of the evening, near nightfall. Just about everyone had retired at this point to their respective quarters, homes, and couch in Lizicus’ case. Just the faint dim light and sound emitting from HQ’s workshop could be seen and heard.

Miss Laureine taking a little moment to finalize reports on the airships from their previous journeys through the Sea of Clouds, along with some minor repair work. While doing so, the sound of her hammer hitting the anvil to create the repair parts attracted only one person getting ready to head back to the familiar place Reinylla was sleeping: Elizara.

Laureine deep in thoughts & focus on her work hadn’t noticed Elizara enter the workshop, nor did she say anything to Laureine to let her presence be known. Instead, she cautiously walked close by and sat down beside her and just watched as Laureine toiled over the anvil. Once Laureine noticed Elizara sit down, she gave her a warm smile of acknowledgement before returning to her work. Elizara just continued to watch with sharp focus as she continued to finish up the repair parts.

Once she was all done, a small silence filled the workshop, with only the low humming of the navigation panel and project in progress’ HUDs making any sort of noise.

“Hey, uh–“

Elizara began to say while still sitting on the floor.

“Hmm, yes, Mistress?”

At this point Laureine had already gotten up to examine the airship console to oversee repairs.

“…what’s it like to have those horns and a tail?”
Laureine paused completely on her task to think a moment, but soon thereafter let out a soft humored sigh before finishing up right-quick. Without saying anything, she walks back over to where Elizara was still sitting; the look on her face was both curious and worried as she might have asked something overly offensive.

Instead, Laureine squats down, smiles, and curls her tail in front of the both of them.

“Here, Mistress.”

She holds the end of her tail out as an offering to Elizara. Reluctantly, Elizara holds it gently, feeling the warm scales across her fingers. She lets out a quick quiet laugh flashing a smile across her face, and then releases Laureine’s tail.

“I-it’s not what I expected, but thank you.”

“You’re very welcome, Mistress.”

Elizara excited fires off a handful of questions towards Laureine, and as best as she can answer them. They spend a bell or so doing this just sitting in the Workshop before the both of them retire for the evening. Elizara manages to safely make it back to where Reinylla is resting, as does Laureine to the quietness of her chambers.

It seemed to have been a good evening to help Elizara feel more more comfortable than she has been prior, and hopefully with that a good night’s rest alongside Reinylla.

Happy Moonfire Faire 2025!

Aikirees and I at the Moonfire Faire for 2025 with fireworks in the background.

Happy Moonfire Faire y’all! May y’all have an absolutely wonderful one this year!!

I think this year’s might be one of my favorites thus so far. The new ship combines almost all of the assortments of entertainment that Moonfire is known for and adds upon it! It kind of reminds me of the really fun and scenic All Saints’ Wake’s Sneaky Hollow they added a few years back but with the jumping puzzle included. The music on the boat changes at night time also to give it that nightly concert vibe; it’s really something to behold.

The event quest itself is pretty short, which seems to be the par for the course with all of the recent ones. There’s some folks who don’t tend to like this, but I’ve never really minded it being on the shorter side to be honest, and with a place to simply just hang out after the fact has far more weight to it personally. The outfit this year is basically a wetsuit with a hoodie and sandals, and it dyes really well – it’s really nice!

Moonfire Faire in general has always had a special place in my heart, and it was also when ‘Totally Not a Gazebo Day’ event happened, which that in itself was such a fun time. I digress, however, and I wish y’all the very best Moonfire Faire season, and certainly head on out to Limsa Lominsa/Costa del Sol to enjoy all of the festivities that the event has to offer!

Hoping to see this make a return for a few years if not more thereafter, as it is really fun nice place to vibe for the season.

Work Bleed Over

Aikirees drinking a tea sitting next to me, while reading a book glancing at her with the caption 'Monday Morning Weekend Recap' off to the left.

While not necessarily a negative, but there has been some work ‘bleed over’ into the weekends due to an overwhelming amount of work going on. It wasn’t overburdening, but just part of the weekend ordeal.

Overall, it was a pretty decent one – got some tasks taken care of while dealing with the usual weekend routines and maintenance. The NAS has been cleaned up and reorganized as well – including remote access, which has helped in regards to getting into it from work.

Started to watch the new season of Wednesday since I caught up for now on Strange New Worlds. I think this part of Wednesday is fairly short, so once that’s done, I’ll head back into Strange New Worlds. Some media server work in there for good measure and a little bit more crafting progress around Eorzea. With Moonfire Faire happening, it’s taken a little bit of all our time up.

The next couple of weeks are probably going to be absolutely chaotic, working on a semi-big project, but hopefully won’t take away too much from here, or personal life – we’ll see.

Happy Monday y’all! Kick tails! Y’all got this!!

Sisters’ Fashion Report Adventure LXI

Aikirees and I wearing long green tailcoats, with fancy top hats and Aikirees posing for the photo.

Episode LXI! – We now have hats, and I… think she thinks she’s the Cat in the Hat at the moment? I-I’m really not certain, but then again, there are times I’m really not exactly sure what (or where!) my sister is thinking about.