Alright, let me paint you a picture.

You are out in outskirts of a rich, affluent city, sun beating down on you and making use of what little shade you can of the tents. You are surrounded by people who have been denied entry to the city for whatever reason -- you can think of this as the outside of Ul'Dah if it helps visualize, but really the actual city doesn't matter.

You have a thread and needle on you, and as a Master Craftsman you do your work diligently. Still, despite your skill at weaving all the most beautiful and powerful garments, this is the sixth blanket you've woven just today. None of them are difficult or even complex to make, it's simple, tedious work.

You know you're not getting paid for this, you are, after all, a volunteer. You don't really have a penny to your name right now -- your habit of working for the people who need it, free of charge, oftentimes means your pockets are empty; and in knowledge of this, you've taken three different commissions from rich idiots who can afford to pay the most exorbitant prices for the most meaningless things. You need to finish these commissions by the end of the week, and it's difficult, long and complicated work, and you know you won't get paid at all if you fuck up.

But you also know that some of the materials you were relying on to finish these commissions have been delayed. Rumors say it was a bandit attack, or maybe a beast attack. You know in the back of your mind these goods came from a settlement that is often ignored by adventurers and mercenaries. The people in it are too poor to pay for their services. You know in the back of your mind that if you don't do anything then it's more than likely no one will. Every second this problem isn't resolved, someone else has a chance of getting hurt -- or worse, killed.

You know you'll likely have to go gather the necessary materials yourself. You're lucky you have a trusty and quick chocobo to facilitate the process. You're also keenly aware that making him sprint his way across the continent in an evening is not healthy for him, and that he does it without complaint because he loves you. You don't want to overwork him, so you're letting him take a few more hours of rest and pampering before you inevitably have to overwork him again.

You're also keenly aware that if the rich and powerful and privileged of this city cared even a little bit -- hell, pretended to care -- then none of this would be happening. These people would have comfortable blankets and full bellies, the roads would be well protected from beasts and no one would feel that piracy was their only option. You glare momentarily at the walls of the city, you can't help but snarl a little. You briefly contemplate walking into a rich person's house and bringing the guillotine's blade straight to their neck.

You sigh. You know someone else will just take their place. You know you'll hurt someone innocent in your rampage. You know that nothing will fundamentally change through individual action. You know that systemic changes are the only solution, and that those can't happen if the people can scarcely survive, let alone fight.

So you turn back to the blankets you are weaving, despondent and defeated. This is probably the eighth time just today you've successfully gone through this entire logic chain. You know you'll do it again. You can't help it.

"Sir?" You hear a small voice coming from your side, you turn to see a child, hands behind their back. You smile. "What do you need?"

"I always see you around here, making us blankets, passing out food, helping ma with what she needs..." The child seems shy, they stumble a little over their words, either this is not their first language or they hadn't had the opportunity and time to properly learn yet. You briefly consider volunteering as a teacher. "And you always make such pretty music, and tell such good stories!" The child's face beams a little, and their arms swing forward, showing you what they had in their hands. "So I wanted to give you this, as thanks!"

In their tiny hands is a rock, blue and sparkling in the afternoon sun. Briefly, you realize that you don't remember this kid. Was he there in your last little impromptu concert? When you last weaved your magic as storyteller, bringing people energy and fire through your words? His face blurs in your mind, lost among thousands and thousands of other faces of children you've seen in your life. You've been in this exact situation dozens of times -- if not hundreds -- and the child could have been any one of the countless faces who have thanked you over your lifetime, the actors interchangeable in this role at this scene.

And yet, with a smile on your face, you take the rock from the child's hands, gently, keenly aware that your single Hrothgar hand is larger than both of theirs combined. "Thank you, I really appreciate it." You ruffle the child's hair with a smile, and they giggle back, leaving with a spring in their step.

You look at it briefly. The rock is pretty, but worthless as it is. You could cut it better and make a decent ring out of it. Would the child realize you did that if you gifted them the end result? Maybe you should give it to someone else, just to be safe. You're sure there's some fiancee out there looking for the perfect ring to give to their beloved, or perhaps someone who just wants to own something pretty for once in their life.

And yet, past all of your pragmatism and rationale, past all of your assessing of how to best use every resource at your disposal, past the anger at the powerful, past the knowledge of the brokenness of the system, past your exhaustion and anxiety over your work, the guilt over putting your chocobo through his paces, past your duties, past, present and future...

You look at the rock. Someone out there, with their own struggles and their own hardships and their own story, they found something pretty, and thought of you -- how to thank you for what you've done. A stranger whose name you don't know, whose face blurs among thousands others in your mind even now, thought that the best thing to do in this moment of their limited time on the planet, was to thank you.

And you know that this child isn't thinking any of this at all. They've probably put half a second of thought into this action, a kindness born of a whim. In a week, they'll likely forget about this, just as you've forgotten their name, just as you've forgotten the countless acts of kindness and help you've done through the ages. Tiny, short and to this child, practically insignificant.

But you will remember. Just as all the people you've helped remember the moments you've forgotten. The ways your story, and your actions, have impacted their lives and their tales. The life of someone out there is just a little bit better because you exist. In this vast, empty, cold and uncaring universe that seems keen on inviting pain and suffering to all those who live in it, your infinitesimally small acts of kindness made a difference in someone's life.

So, you pocket the stone, grab your thread and needle again, and get back to work on that blanket, whistling as you do. This is what makes everything worth it.

Q: If you had to pick any one song from the game to be your WoL's theme, which one would you pick?

(You are allowed to pick any song, including boss themes and other themes that are already associated with an NPC.)

A: 

Falling too fast for the fear to embrace me
A voice from the past screaming "There is no end now."
Am I a slave to my fight?
Am I doomed to repeat this?
Again and again and again and again and--
Falling too fast but the fall will not break me
A voice from the past echoes out like a drum roll
There's no more goodbyes
And I'm tired of waiting
I'll open my eyes
One more time, one more time, one more time

Return to Oblivion is William to a T. Acknowledgement of the cycle they're stuck in. Acknowledgement of the pain it causes him. Refusal to let that stop him.

Q: Did your Warrior of Light choose this life? Why/Why not?

A: A simple question with a complicated answer. If you asked William the question, he'd say yes without hesitation. As my post on his theme song alluded to, he got tired of waiting for the world to be better, so he decided to make the world better.

But as I also alluded to in the headmates post, he has an Overwhelming Sense of Justice. He cannot bring himself to stop caring. This isn't "sunken cost" fallacy, he does not have the emotional capacity to quit. Similarly, as soon as he got into the mindset and found an opportunity, he did not have the emotional capacity to not get into this life.

So, I suppose the answer is that Literally and from a storytelling standpoint, yes, he chose this life. Thematically? No. This was going to happen in one way or another. It was, I suppose you could say, his nature.

Q: How has your WoL/OC's appearance changed over the years/expansions? Do they still look the same, or have they aged noticeably?

A: This isn't really the point of the question, but William has changed considerably over the years. After all, he has a personal stash of Fantasias that he uses to keep himself young.

He was born in Meracydia, a Keeper of the Moon Miqo'te, and over the years he has changed his body to be basically anything you can think of. Any race, any gender, and yes, he has even taken on the form of the Tribals at one point or another - although never the Ixal, since while he's not in the know of their origins, he has seen Iksalion back when he was enslaved by Allag, and he would very much rather not.

He used to take a Fantasia every 40-50 years, restarting his life in a new location, with a new body and a new name, in order to keep himself young. However, ever since the Sixth Umbral Calamity, when he buried himself in his laboratory, changed himself to a male Hrothgar and did those Dynamis experiments on himself, he has had significantly less need of them. His aging has slowed. He has no idea whether that's a direct cause of the experiments, or the fact he used Fantasias not to change his body but just to reverse his aging so much that it kind of stuck.

He hasn't really bothered to change his body since the 6th Calamity though, finding that he's really fond of his form as a male Hrothgar, especially this particular body.

Q: What is your Warrior of Light's relationship with violence? How eagerly do they employ it?

A: William uses it plentifully, though it's carefully applied. Violence is, first and foremost, a display of power, and sometimes that's the only way you can get your point across.

But also, William knows how to be brutal. If, for example, he needs to get rid of a mercenary group, murdering their leader is an extremely cruel, brutal, flashy way in front of all of them, and doing so efficiently before they can react, is a surefire way to get them to flee in terror. Take one life brutally, so you may spare all the others.

This is the Boreas way of thinking - violence as a means to an end. This is unlike the Hadred way of thinking - violence as the end unto itself. Whereas Boreas would tear someone's throat out with his own teeth to send a message, Hadred would squeeze someone's windpipe just to see the eyes pop out of their sockets as the victim's life slowly fades away, before moving on to the next victim.

Q: What effect did the fall of Dalamud have on your WoL?

A: William was in Ul'dah during the Calamity. He was helping people get to shelter, he was dragging those whose hopes were completely gone. He brought order to an understandably chaotic situation. For that day, and that day only, William's mind cared little for who he was actually helping. The rich and the powerful, or the impoverished and weak. He had been in disaster situations before. He had the experience. It never gets any easier.

But when he saw the moon descend and Bahamut break out of it, for just a single moment, he dared to ask if this was it. He had, through sheer luck, survived the fourth umbral calamity. Through preparation, survived the fifth. Through defiance, survived the sixth. And now, he knew he would survive the Seventh. He didn't really have another option.

But for that moment, he dared to ask himself "how many more?"

The seventh umbral calamity didn't remarkably change William's life. But it did make him aware of how far he has come. And how far there is yet to go.

And, indeed, how little a world-shattering event truly changed.

Q: What will your Warrior of Light do, once their strength is no longer needed?

A: If William can ever truly decide that his strength is no longer needed (there's always someone to help, someone to kill, some injustice to fix), then I imagine he will hang up his weapons and his tools, take up his lyre, and become a dedicated storyteller, teaching others of as many of his lessons as he could. Maybe he'd write a book, a memoir and a biography. Although he acknowledged that, with as long of a life as he had, it would likely be the longest book series in history.

But most importantly, he would destroy his remaining stash of Fantasias, and finally allow himself to age peacefully. He would die of natural causes, likely surrounded by the faces of the many people he's helped over the world.

Q: Did your WoL/OC feel sympathy for Bahamut and the Dragons of Meracydia?

A: William is not privy to the truths of the Calamity, since he did not participate in the Coils and knows about as much about the whole deal as your average Eorzean does.

If he were to be told the tale, or otherwise learned it, he would absolutely feel sympathy for them, especially as a fellow Meracydian.

That said, I think that sympathy would be shown more inwardly. Outwards, he likely would reply with "Yet another distressingly good argument for why the 4th Umbral Calamity was a good thing. The Allagans sure gave us a lot of those."

Q: Is there any point in canon your WoL would have behaved differently?

A: if William had been at the banquet in Ul'Dah (in the WoL's role), Raubahn would've gone "you go on ahead and flee and survive" and he would've responded with "as much as I respect you Raubahn, I want to do some murder too" and immediately jump Lolorito. the only monetarist that would survive to see the next dawn would've been godbert.

if he had been there as himself though, he absolutely would've jumped to help Raubahn and the Scions fight, though he likely wouldn't have gone on a murder rampage, he most definitely would've prevented Raubahn from getting captured.

Q: What's the special thing your WoL likes to do in the quiet moments? Read? Cook? Work on an ugly holday sweater?

A: Sing. He has a good singing voice, but he sings for himself. He finds a secluded spot, one where he thinks there will be no audience, and he sings. He sings the songs of people he's met before. He sings their tales. He sings his own songs too. Sometimes, he even practices his own, gender-neutral version of "Dedicated To Moonlight".

He doesn't like having an audience when he's doing this though, because then he feels like his songs have to have meaning, teach something, or inspire. When he needs to relax, he specifically wants to not care about any of that.

Q: What is something your WoL/OC did that they regret?

A: Missed this one yesterday! But for William, it's never returning to his native Meracydia. For all his talk of helping people and changing the world for the better, his work has been extremely Eorzea-centric, and he does regret not going to Meracydia and doing things there whenever he has the chance.

...But also the place is filled with a lot of complicated emotions for him. He knows his family is long gone, but he didn't have a good relationship with them, largely because of the culture they subscribed to -- and in his experience, that culture hasn't changed in the intervening millennia. "Gods given right", and all that.

Q: What is your WoL's fondest memory?

A: William's fondest memory is the time he spent with Ahim'soh¹, his dragon companion, whom he met during the time of the great flood after the sixth umbral calamity.

After the fall of the cities of magi, William survived by going to high ground. He climbed a mountain, and spent most of the time in his personal pocket-dimensional laboratory doing the Dynamis experiments on himself. By the time he was done - since time between shards is weird - the flood was still very much in full swing, but he met a Dragon who had been roosting nearby. They became fast friends, and slowly, he learned the art of the Dragonsong through that dragon. Ahim'Soh taught William how to turn emotions directly into song, something William was now uniquely qualified to do, after the aforementioned Dynamis experiments.

Using his Echo, William also learned how to turn other people's emotions into song, and importantly, song that could be heard and understood by people, not just by dragons.

The time he spent with Ahim'soh was a delightful few years. And is the primary reason why he refuses to ever forgive Ishgard's role in the Dragonsong War.

1. From the dragonspeak dictionary, "Ahim" is time/age, while "soh" is "to tire".

Q: What does your WoL/OC not realize they've forgotten?

A: Two major things:

• Hadred, the part of himself that constitutes all his pent-up hate, includes (and is primarily driven by) hate of the self.
• He can be his own audience in his storytelling.

These are the two most important things he has forgotten. The latter of which would likely be the defining factor of him finally not being a sadboy anymore.

Q: Does your WoL/OC have a trinket, garment, or accessory that they seem to always be wearing? Why is that? Do they just like the look of it, or is there some sort of personal sentiment attached to it?

A: While not quite what the question asked, I feel that William's fur pattern fits the idea (especially since he made his body with Fantasias after all). He is extremely fond of his fur pattern, the black fur with red spots resembling large rose petals give him a weird sense of body euphoria. It's one of the main reasons why he never really stopped being a Hrothgar after the 6th Umbral Calamity.

Q: What would your WoL/OC like to receive as a gift?

A: It's not so much what as from whom. Any genuinely heartfelt gift coming from someone he helped is heartwarming to him. Even something as simple as a compliment on his music/singing voice.

...That said, books. Autobiographies or scribe works in particular. He likes adding to his little archive.

Q: Pants?

A: If he can ever get away with it, for William, the answer is always no pants.

Q: What is your WoL/OC's favorite sport? (If none - recreational hobby also works)

A: He isn't particularly fond of any sports - though he does at least know the rules to a couple - so I'll be talking about his recreational hobbies. And considering the fact he's a storyteller and a bard, you'd think it'd be something like songwriting, right?

Wrong! It's Chocobo ranching! He actually really likes taking care of chocobos whenever he can, a love born of the necessity and want to spoil his own chocobo rotten (to compensate for all the hard work he has him do). He just enjoys taking care of the birds a lot, and he'd like to think that he's gotten quite good at taking care of the birds.

Q: Have there been any books published about your WoL? If so, then were they official historical/biographical or fiction? If the latter, then what genre and quality? Have they read it?

A: While I have never particularly thought about it, yeah, there likely would've been. He's been so many different people over the years, after all, and some of these people were actually important. I'm sure a poet or scribe or someone would've wanted to write a biography about one of his many identities. William likely would've kept an original copy of each and every single one of them, and kept them alongside the other books he collects, and translate them to each new language he learns.

Thinking about it, his personal library is likely an anthropologist's dream at this point. Too bad that most of them would not believe him if he said he was "authentic well-preserved fifth astral era writing both untranslated and translated" in his library. It took the 7th Umbral Calamity for archeologists to even believe that the Allagans were real, after all.

Q: What does your WoL/OC miss most about home?

A: Home? You mean, Eorzea? He practically never leaves the place!

Ah, you mean home as in, his special pocket plane? He visits it plenty enough, he doesn't spend enough time away from it to miss it.

Oh, you mean home as in the place he was born in? Meracydia?

[flashes of that time he was scolded by his family for trying to sing Dedicated to Moonlight]

He does not.

Q: Which of the tribes does your WoL/OC have the best relationship with?

A: William thinks the Qiqirn are absolutely fucking adorable and cannot get enough of them.

Similarly, he is very fond of the gobbies. He visits dravania occasionally to work with the hunters of Tailfeather, and he always makes a point to visit Idyllshire when he's there. It's such a nice place.

And while he isn't fond of their focus-on-martial-prowess deal, or the fact most of them were apparently tempered by Ifrit until recently, he's definitely had a sexcapade or two with the Amalj'aa over the years.

(#the amalj'aa are hot okay) (#pun absolutely intended but also it's just true)

Q: When your WoL/OC is having a bad day, how do they cheer themself up?

A: Depends on the kind of bad day. If they're just annoyed, or generally feeling down, William will likely go to a place that needs a lot of charity - like the outskirts of Ul'Dah or Quarrymill - and start an impromptu concert. Seeing people's reactions to his songs always cheers him up.

If he's tired, he will just stay in his little pocket dimension. The body will sleep in his room, while his three mental chunks - Boreas, Sebastian and Shaktir - will go do whatever around the pocket plane, relaxing as they can. In these circumstances, Boreas usually just takes a nap, Sebastian reads a book, and Shaktir cuddles with one of them.

If he's angry, then he puts that energy into something productive. Usually he goes to the hunters of Tailfeather and asks if they need a hand with something big, and failing that, he usually goes do Miner or Botanist things. Hitting something hard with something heavy at least gets his anger to even out in the end.

Q: Put laundry away in the dresser or pull it straight from the hamper?

A: The important clothes, the fancy clothes, the stuff he doesn't use much, the stuff he needs to look pretty, those get put away in the dresser and aired out occasionally and taken care of meticulously.

Everyday clothes, working clothes, that kind of stuff? It has never seen a dresser in its lifetime and if he has any say in the matter, never will. Pull it right from the hamper and get dressed.

Q: If someone zapped your WoL with an aetheromatic auger, what loot would they drop?

A: Four statues - one of a dragonet, one of a wolf, one of a housecat, and one of a large, weird silhouette with a vaguely vulpine shape. The dragonet statue is laughing and having fun, the housecat looks bored and is almost falling asleep, the wolf is strapped with a belt and a sword, but stands proudly. The silhouette of a fox stares - always at you, even if you turn it around, it will be looking at you after you close your eyes. It will stare at you. Forever.

Sweet dreams.

Q: How well does your WoL sleep on average?

A: Terribly, he needs to actively dissociate to sleep comfortably. Fortunately, that's something he can do fairly easily due to his Dynamis thing, so in practice it's not that bad, but if he's in a situation where he can't split, then he tends to have very bad insomnia.

Q: It's karaoke night and your WoL/OC is pushed onto the stage! What in-game song are they singing? (And what real world song would they belt out if given the chance?)

A: Depends! A Karaoke night is for fun, so likely a dancier song. eScape, The Tireless One, Amatsu Kaze (he can speak hingan!) and Twice Stricken are all options! Maybe In The Balance if he was in Ul'Dah and felt like fucking with the Syndicate a bit. If he was feeling spicy (or drunk), he'd definitely belt out his gender-neutral version of Dedicated to Moonlight, though.

Real world song though? Assuming he knew how to speak my language, he'd either sing this amazing fanmade version of Digimon's Butterfly, sung in Portuguese or, if he had a partner to sing with, the ever classic Águas de Março.

Q: What job(s) does your WoL/OC use primarily, and what made them take that path? Disciples of Land and Hand are very much included here! (submitted by @SacchiHikaru)

A: William has lived for a very long time, so obviously he's gotten a lot of experience and knowledge on several disciplines. Mining was what he did as an Allagan slave, so that is where he started, though eventually he also plied the Blacksmith's trade. When a world is in transit from one Calamity to the next, scavenging and surviving against local fauna are common necessities, and weapons help with that.

With time, however, William grew exhausted of just creating weapons for other people to murder each other with, weapons that would, whether intentionally or otherwise, be used against people that he had come to trust. Simply not making them wasn't enough, for the alternative was being murdered. No, he needed to learn how to protect himself. The axe was the first weapon he raised, channeling the inner anger he felt at the various injustices across the world.

Time passed. His expertise with the axe grew, and his familiarity with the Blacksmith's anvil grew as well. He found himself taking to leatherworking and armoring, two disciplines vital to the survival of any combatant. But though the Armorer's trade can be sustained by his mining, the Leatherworker's trade can only be sustained through hunting. When he realized that hunting game was too difficult with simply an axe, he used his axe to chop wood, and turned that wood into instruments to learn the carpenter's trade, and from that, to make the bows and arrows that would hunt the game whose skin would fuel his leatherworking, whose ivory would fuel his goldsmithing, whose meat would fuel his belly.

But what to do with the fur? Life was a precious thing, and though he needed to take lives to survive, it seemed disrespectful to the dead that he would at all waste resources by not using every part of a kill. The fur he now had access to gave him the means to enter the weaver's trade, though only haphazardly, and it would take many years before he would become an expert.

And when you've got so much fresh and prime meat to work with, it doesn't hurt to learn how to make it taste good, does it?

When the Fifth Astral Era came, with the cities of Magi, was when William truly took to learning the weaves of magic. An apprentice one life, a learned scholar the next, an archmage several lives later. He learned the secrets of the flesh from the Nymians, the secrets of stasis from the Amdaporii, and the secrets of destruction from the Mhachi. Becoming a medic through White Magic, and an all-arounder through Red Magic, were simply natural conclusions. And for much of his research, alchemical components were required, so he needed to learn the Alchemist's trade too.

His old Axe and Bow now felt superfluous, though he kept them around even so. Though his axe didn't get much use, he realized that he could turn his old bow into a lyre, and then thought to himself: why not learn how to sing? Why not learn how to play? Everyone needs a hobby, right?

When the Sixth Umbral Calamity came, and the world was flooded into oblivion, William climbed to the heights of a mountain in order to survive it, and spent the next few centuries applying what he had learned from all three cities in his little pocket plane. I've spoken before about the Dynamis experiments he performed on himself, so I won't elaborate too much on them here. Suffice it to say, with the end result leaving him unable to fully control Aether, he had to find new manifestations for his magical abilities. And when he earned a dragon friend and found that his new Dynamis-enhanced body resonated with the Dragonsong, he jumped at the chance to make himself a better Bard.

He also learned how to fish because when over 90% of the known world is submerged you kinda need to in order to not starve.

Now, on the Sixth Astral Era, William learned that his new Dynamis powers allowed him to summon weapons created out of his own emotions. Boreas, he called the part of himself that yearned for Justice, and so he took to the road of an Adventurer, one capable of wielding the Axe, the Bow, the Staff, or the Rapier, and switch seamlessly between all of them.

And eventually, he would take his final weapon: the Scythe. A symbol of intimidation to avoid conflict whenever possible, and a tool to give quick, merciful deaths when it was not. There was no point to suffering when your life would end anyway. He could at least make it painless.

And that is more or less the story of how William, over the course of several millennia, became an Omnicrafter, Omnigatherer, Reaper, Warrior, White Mage, Red Mage and Bard. He considers his Bardic profession his "main" one, nowadays, though he uses his combat prowess to help those who have been forgotten by others, his Omnicrafting to earn some money and provide for those who need it, and Omnigathering to fuel his Omnicrafting needs.

Though, of course, due to his unusual implementation of the arts of each of the combat discipline (Dynamis-based instead of Aether-based), he gives them different names: Harvester, Berserker, Redeemer, Bladesinger and Reveller.

 

Q: If your WoL succumbed to the light and became a lightwarden, what would their sin eater name be? (eg. Forgiven [Blank])

A: God, this one is hard to pin down. Forgiven Spite is the closest one, but that doesn't quite fit perfectly. Forgiven Sacrifice and Forgiven Martyrdom give the wrong impression, and Forgiven Misanthropy has the correct vibe but sends the incorrect message. Forgiven Denial, maybe?

I feel like only something like one of these mcfuckhuge german compound words would be able to perfectly fit.

(Not that William was ever at threat of becoming a Sin Eater, since he's never been to the First, but I'm going with the prompt here because it's a fun exercise.)

[Later]

Thought some more about this, and I think the answer would be Forgiven Philanthropy, but using Philanthropy in the classic meaning of the word ("Love of humanity", as in, the opposite of Misanthropy.)

Q: Author/character dynamics aside, would you and your WoL get along?

A: God, absolutely. The two of us would get along phenomenously, for multiple reasons.

Only as a sort of "let's hang out for a day or two" kind of deal, cause his whole thing would get tiring after a while, even for me. It would be a very fun relationship, but far from a healthy one.

Q: What's your favorite aspect or feature of your OC/WoL? What about them makes you such a fan?

A: Man, where to even start? William's character explores a million different subjects that I am Completely Normal About, the nature of Identity, the Nature of one's Nature - and how mutable or immutable that is - both an agreement and a refutation of Endwalker's thesis, queerness, the role of power and responsibility, and how "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few" is an extremely destructive method of thinking when applied carelessly, while simultaneously still being true, and both the pros and cons of immortality.

So I guess the answer to "what about them makes me such a fan" is that "this is a story living at the intersection of literally every single one of my narrative obsessions". Par for the course with an OC, of course, but still.

Q: How does your WoL/OC speak? Slowly, quickly, quietly, loudly? Do they have any particular accent? Any other quirks of communication?

A: William speaks a little quietly, to compensate for the fact he's a big Hrothgar man and his voice just carries very well. He doesn't have an accent or anything of the sort, but he can't help but flirt, if only a little, with men that catch his interest (which usually means other hrothgar men).

i have this interaction in my mind between the WoL and William that goes like this:

WoL: "I'd like to know more about you."

William, if the WoL is a woman: "I'd be happy to exchange stories over drinks after I'm done with work."

William, if the WoL is a dude: "I'd love to know more about the famed Warrior of Light myself. Wanna go grab some drinks?"

William, if the WoL is both a dude and a Hrothgar: "Well, if you're a gentleman and buy me dinner, we can see where the night takes us."

Q: How does your WoL/OC stay in shape? What's their exercise routine like?

A: I don't think William needs an exercise routine, per se, because he's the kind of person that hates being idle. Turns out constantly hunting monsters, or crafting things at a forge, or tanning leather, and so on, will keep you in shape!

That said if he has an more sedentary week (such as, for example, he has to deal with paperwork), he does at least try to take breaks from the paperwork to do more of the more active stuff, if only to ensure he doesn't grow rusty.

Q: Many of us enjoy talking about who we ship our WoL/OC with. Is there anyone your WoL/OC ships?

A: These kinds of things are generally far from William's mind. What other people do with their love life is their business, not his, after all. Obviously, if someone confides in him, or if he catches wind of some new relationship among the people he helps, he will root for their success, and give aid whenever he is able (though he is not great at giving advice to matters of the heart, he can at least listen.)

That said he once met this Hrothgar man when he was visiting Sharlayan, Boric, and though he only spoke with him for a couple minutes, he left that conversation with a simple impression of Boric: "You need someone to fuck the anxiety out of you, stat."

Alas, Boric is also a bit too oblivious to William's flirting, and he didn't stay in Sharlayan long enough to get his point across. Maybe one day.

Q: Does your WoL/OC have anything they want to get off their chest? What is it?

A: In the hypothetical scenario where William would actually admit any of this to himself?

"For everything I do, for all the good I do, and for as far down I hide and lock Hadred down, I cannot deny the fact that at the end of the day, I fucking hate myself, and I fucking hate everything.

I hate the universe that lets bad things happen to good people. I hate the people that keep pointlessly harming each other no matter how much time passes and how many civilizations break because of it. And I hate myself because no matter how much I try, I can't bring myself to stop caring.

How much easier would things be if some power from on high just fixed all our problems? How much easier would things be if people stopped hurting each other pointlessly? And how much easier would things be for me if I could just. stop. caring?"

But I can't. I can't stop caring. And I can't change the universe. And I can't change people.

Fighting and working as much as I do hurts me immensely. But I can't bring myself to stop. And I know that. And so I keep, generation after generation, century after century, Calamity after Calamity, helping whoever I fucking can, even though I know that people will keep hurting each other, and at the end of the day, nothing will fundamentally change.

I am, by nature, a tyrant. All idealists are. And I love people. That is my biggest weakness."

Q: It's a quiet cozy day where your OC/WoL gets to relax. What is their comfiest outfit?

A: Naked.

Q: What games is your WoL/OC good at, or at least which ones/what kind do they play frequently, if at all? Card games and board games most certainly count, but you can also include anything Gold Saucer-adjacent here.

A: William has always had a knack for poker, and any game that involves lying, as he has enough life experience and pattern recognition to be able to catch people's tells very easily.

That said, he tends not to play them anymore. Since he did those Dynamis experiments on himself, he's become preternaturally aware of the shift in other people's own Dynamis, and he feels like that'd be cheating.

That said, invite him to a game of strip poker. You will both have the time of your lives.

Q: What was your WoL/OC’s favorite zone to discover as they were going through the MSQ?

A: William has a melancholic fascination with what's become of the Coerthas Western Highlands. He knew Coerthas when it was lush and green, and seeing what it's become gives him both this sense of loss and this cathartic sense of contemplation. He really enjoys being there.

Q: What song, and what stanza specifically exemplifies your WoL/OC's antithesis. Their 'mirror universe' self? What lyrics embody the version of themselves that is the opposite of their ethos?

A: 

Say good night!
To the weakness that you hide behind!
Leaving the lies, leaving the fear
Inside
Never once were you truly alive!
So scream all you like, no one can hear you.

This one took a while to think about, admittedly, but it has to be The Tireless One (it was actually my gut answer, but I tried to think of another option and this was the only one that stuck).

If William is a character that cares so much about life and its beauty that he hates the entire universe for creating suffering - to the point of his own detriment - then mirror universe William is someone who cares about others so little he doesn't even consider them as people, instead seeing himself as the only one worthy of existing and being happy.

And there are obvious parallels here. William is very much willing to reshape the entire universe to fit his will, as is Athena, but Athena wants to mold life in her own image, while William wants to create a universe with no suffering.

"I am, by nature, a tyrant. All idealists are."

Q: The Ironworks have invented a new form of entertainment - video games! What is your WoL/OC's favorite video game?

A: As a whole, I'd guess Baldur's Gate 3, tbh. I think it encompasses enough different aspects that it would be his favorite game.

That said, each of his aspects would have a different taste. Shaktir would fall in love with simple and comfy visual novels like Tennis Ace. Sebastian would utterly love Baba Is You. Boreas likely would enjoy any game of people fighting against oppressive systems towards heroic ends, while also allowing you to be a Bastard (so I think he'd prefer TTRPGs tbh).

Q: The Ironworks video game industry has taken off! They have taken the opportunity to create a fictionalized adaptation of the Warrior of Light's adventures titled "Final Fantasy XIV" (the XIV, of course, being reference to the fight against Garlemald's XIVth Legion).

Your WoL/OC is now playing this game. Tell us about your WoL/OC's WoL/OC.

A: William made a Hrothgar that looks exactly like him but focuses entirely on the MSQ, and is always woefully far behind the content curve. He keeps copious notes of "questions [he] need[s] to ask the WoL if [they] ever meet" which he never expects to actually use.

Q: Oh no, your WoL is in a horror movie! What kind of horror movie is it, and do they survive?

A: Well, considering that this

...is the depiction I have of Hadred, I'd say that the answer is that William would likely be the monster (well, Hadred more specifically), and whether he'd survive depends entirely on whether he's going against the Warrior of Light.

Q: Who is your WoL/OC's "partner in crime", that person who will always stand by them through thick and thin? 

A: William has had a couple of partners over the years, but the one that's stuck with him the most (and the only one he feels he can trust unconditionally) is his Chocobo, Horus. Saved the little guy as a chick, named him and gave him a preternatural lifespan alongside a method of direct communication (turns out Chocobos are smart enough to talk! they just don't have the vocal chords to do it!)

Horace stays by William through thick and thin. "Come hells or high water", as the Nymians would say. William loves spoiling Horus, but also feels like he has to compensate for all the work he makes Horus do when gathering materials and so on.

They are very good friends, even if Horus knows William will get himself killed (or worse) one day, he will stay with William until that day comes.

Q: What is your WoL/OC's worst, absolute most garbage take?

A: Either "The Fifth Umbral Calamity was a Good Thing, Actually" or "The Seventh Umbral Calamity didn't actually change that much in the end."

People would 100% be justified in jumping down his throat for the latter, but the former is a hill he's willing to die on (not really but you get what I mean).

Q: If one with the Echo was near your WoL/OC what memory would they likely experience? Would it be a good one or a bad one? Major or insignificant?

A: They probably would receive so many different visions that they'd be overwhelmed and collapse on the spot. We are talking about someone who's been alive for 3k+ years.

While I can't point to any one particular experience they'd have above all others, it'd likely be of the negative sort, as William's negative experiences are the ones that marked him the most.

Q: What is the fate your WoL/OC fears the most?

A: Losing themselves to Hadred and that being the source of a lot of meaningless and preventable deaths.

(And because I'm me, that's definitely the kind of thing that will happen in his personal story arc at one point or another.)

Q: Your WoL/OC is now an Archon (yes, even yours. no I don't care that you don't think they would be qualified, they're an Archon now). What did they write their thesis on?

A: An extensive and comprehensive analysis of the Mhachi, Amdaporii and Nymian understanding of aether and aetherweaving, as well as methods to interweave all three disciplines together into a more cohesive and better whole. This likely would include three chapters (one for each) talking about the civilizations in some depth and enumerating constantly about how you need to be abundantly fucking careful with the knowledge inside the tome because at least in my headcanon the Amdaporii managed to create a spell powerful enough to destroy someone's soul (and the Mhachi atrocities are already well documented ingame).

It would also contain a chapter briefly mentioning Dynamis and the limitations it imposes on Aetherweaving, as well as possible methods to bypass these limitations where possible.

The reason this would be his thesis is because that's what he spent the entire 5th Astral Era doing: going from one civ to the other, changing lives and bodies each time, and learning their deepest secrets with magic so he could use the combined knowledge of all three to become the best mage he could possibly be. This all culminated in the 6th Umbral Calamity, where he spent most of the time in his own pocket plane (which he managed to create because of all his accumulated knowledge) doing Dynamis-related experiments on himself. This was very much his "mad scientist" character arc.

And this would be his thesis so he could actually put down everything he learned that is good, and enumerate and extensively warn readers of everything he learned that is actively harmful. I imagine the book would get him the highest accolades in Sharlayan and revolutionize several forms of anthropology and magical studies, but would nonetheless be eventually put in the Forbidden Books list, because it likely would contain information that is just that dangerous when misused.

Q: Many people across the star look up to or even idolize the WoL. Who does your WoL/OC look up to or idolize?

A: No one. Not in the sense that he thinks he's better than anyone else, but William has had enough time around people to realize that at the end of the day, everyone is just a complete fuckup bumbling through life and faking it until they make it, with no actual idea of what they're doing.

It's just that sometimes these people also see something they deem wrong with the world, and decide that this cannot stand, and then proceed to do something about it.

And while that might sound inspiring, "something they deem wrong with the world" can be anything from "the existence of poverty" to "the existence of different races" or "the existence of people that are not me." He largely puts it all in the same category, and he makes a point to not idolize anyone.

It shouldn't be a surprise to you if you've been following my responses, but William has an exceedingly cynical outlook on life despite all the shit he does to make it better.

THAT SAID if he were to ever actually meet the Warrior of Light, and actually have a fully comprehensive heart-to-heart, I imagine they'd start to idolize them, against his best wishes. This is because I see (my) Warrior of Light as someone who understands All The Shit They Go Through and yet can still greet tomorrow with a smile, and is fully capable of quitting if they ever feel like the burden is too much.

And it's that last part that would make William envious of them. Because William wishes he could quit. But he can't. And it's his own damn fault.

Q: It's been a bit. We have a lot of new people hanging out. Introduce your WoL/OC! Give us the brief lowdown!

A:

William was born a Keeper of the Moon Miqo'te, in Meracydia, during the Third Astral Era. When the Allagans invaded the land, he was one of the "lucky" few that were conscripted into slavery instead of dying or worse. Against all odds, he managed to survive from his early teenagehood all the way to being elderly, only to see the Allagan Empire die out as a result of the 4th Umbral Calamity.

By sheer luck, William managed to find an Allagan train that had derailed as a result of the calamity, its occupants having either died or abandoned it. Inside, he found a crate of potions that were capable of altering one's body, and upon imbibing one, he found himself returned to his youth.

Because of this great stack of Fantasias, William was able to survive long past his natural lifespan, seeing the rise and fall of the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Astral Eras. With time, he would learn to defend himself properly in several different disciplines, he would learn to craft and to weave magics, most notoriously able to seamlessly transition between the great cities of magi of the Fifth Astral Era, under a new body and a new name each time.

Once the Sixth Umbral Calamity hit, William had learned all he could of the Mhachi, the Amdaporii, and the Nymians, and had become an Archmage in all three cities. Weaving their understanding of Aether together, he was able to create what he called a "pocket plane" - in reality a very tiny version of a Shard.

Inside the pocket plane, he would create what would become his permanent abode, and his permanent laboratory. While he could easily be considered a master at Aetherology, he knew of another energy that interacted antagonistically with Aether, but that was itself nonetheless useful. Though what the 5th Astral Era called this energy has been lost to time, in modern days, we would know it as "Dynamis".

William performed several Dynamis experiments on himself, choosing to enhance his ability to weave Dynamis in any way he possibly could. This was partially a way to pass the time while the Great Flood subsided, but really, this was his "mad scientist" phase.

The end result of the experiments was, alas, not what he had anticipated. His ability to weave Dynamis increased into unheard of levels, but his ability to weave Aether was severely diminished as a result. As a side effect, his ego was fragmented into four parts; though this would prove to be a blessing in disguise, as he quickly learned that he could effectively "detach" these parts of himself into distinct bodies, allowing him to be, in a limited way, in several places at once.

These parts are:

• Shaktir, the Heart; emotions, kindness, the childish desire for everything to just be okay, and a forgotten hope. This little guy takes the form of a golden dragonling, or sometimes of a snake-like dragon (think Alte Roite, but golden).
• Sebastian, the Mind; cleverness, analysis, knowledge, wit. This giant smartass often takes the form of a black housecat, but sometimes prefers to take on the form of a large panther.
• Boreas, the Spite; ideals, combat prowess, the "Fight" in Fight-or-Flight, and of course, Spite. Takes the form of an blue and grey furred wolf carrying a longsword in its mouth. When William takes to combat, he summons Boreas and reshapes him into whatever weapon he needs for the occasion.
• Hadred. As the name implies, this is his hatred, though for what exactly, he wouldn't be able to tell you. Hadred takes the form of a fox made of shadow and smoke, and is often "chained" within William's mind, ignored, but very much not forgotten.

In present days, William has ceased swapping bodies and only occasionally uses his remaining stash of still-way-too-many Fantasias to return to his youth, now in the body of a large Hrothgar man. He spends his days doing volunteer work for the refugees of Ul'Dah -- weaving clothes/blankets, helping with funerals, staying with the elderly and the sick, and volunteering at soup kitchens. Occasionally, he puts on an impromptu concert for the people, weaving his magic of storytelling as a bard to help brighten their days.

When he's not doing volunteering work, he's likely helping the hunters of Tailfeather with some large monster that's invaded the ecosystem recently, or volunteering to some far-off village to save them from issues that other adventurers would consider "beneath" them, or that the villagers cannot pay. Since he does so many things for free, he tends to spend whatever semblance of free time he has working on commissions for the rich and the mighty, as his crafting abilities are themselves borne out of centuries of experience and refinement. The money he makes here exists to help his philanthropy.

That's about as much of a "brief lowdown" I can give about him. I love my sad overpowered little immortal hot lion boy.

Q: If your WoL/OC was a Youtuber, what would be their Content(tm)

A: William would be how to videos of a million different types. Several different "how to cook decently to keep yourself fed quickly and with minimal effort" videos, knitting, house repair, DIY versions of several basic appliances and furniture, and so on.

His videos would include a full written version of the guide and an image guide (in the description), to cover all possible learning methods. His videos are simple, well edited, and to the point.

Not sure if he'd be popular, tbh, though I imagine the algorithm wouldn't like his occasional anti-monetarist rants.

Q: Did your WoL/OC make time for love in their life? Whether that's for a lover or someone they consider a friend or family, or even a beloved companion animal or machina, did they make room for love?

A: William has had proper lovers in his very, very long life, but while he doesn't begrudge the time he spent with them, his heart still aches when he realizes that loving someone, to him, means mourning their loss. He will most certainly outlive them.

Maybe this is why he keeps mostly to his Chocobo companion nowadays. Raised from a chick and given Dynamis experiments, Horus is capable of speaking the common tongue and communicating very clearly. William loves him, and wants to pamper him as much as possible, even if he knows Horus will one day die, at least he can make sure that the bird's lifespan is at least comparable to his own.

Q: Your Warrior of Light/OC gets to make one decision that the rest of the star must follow. What do they decide?

A: A law has been enacted:

Q: If your WoL had to fight themself (a simulation, some dark magicks, a dream...), what would run through their head as they did it? Would they love or hate it? How would both sides look once the fight was over?

A: The obvious answer for William is that this would be a fight against Hadred but it also doesn't work thematically or... even mechanically for him in any meaningful way.

So fighting his hypothetical Perfect Copy would be a strangely... disconcerting experience for him. His mind would be flipping between his usual focus of combat and going "...is this what I look like to other people? Is this what I am? Is this what I do?" and then immediately responding with "Yes. Yes it is. It changes nothing."

It wouldn't be a happy time for anyone involved. I imagine that neither of them would be standing by the end, though I don't think either would be dead.

Q: Does your WoL/OC wear affirming clothing and/or prosthetics? (such as binders, breast forms, packers, etc)

A: ...does the fact William goes around either barefoot or with custom-made shoes everywhere because of his digitigrade feet count?

i mean he certainly wasn't born with those, it's a result of his fantasia usage, so i'm going to say it counts.

Q: What is your WoL's living situation like? Or what would it be like if you could afford a house?

A: I've spoken about this before but, William doesn't have a fixed residence per se, or rather, not one in the physical world necessarily.

After his time studying in the Fifth Astral Era, William created a little pocket plane for himself -- a miniature shard between the shards, unbeknownst to him -- and made that pocket plane into his permanent residence. He can open a portal to it at any time he wants, with minimal effort.

At first, it was simply his laboratory, but over time it got converted into something more generally useful, especially during the Sixth Umbral Era where a large portion of it was made into a laboratory for his Dynamis Experiments. He has a personal room, a large ass library, and a pantry that he keeps well stocked -- things rotting is of minimal concern, both because he puts things there that just keep well, and because the pocket plane just doesn't have as many of the environmental factors that would cause rot in the first place, although it is of some concern.

Over time, it has basically turned into a well-furnished castle between the shards, although not a lavishly furnished one. It could shelter about 40 people quite easily, but mostly it's him that stays there, and only in his personal room, his library, or occasionally the kitchen and the pantry. Very occasionally, he dips into his laboratory.

Despite all this, he actually lives relatively modestly, and a lot of what people would consider "grand" about his pocket plane is just the result of it organically growing over several centuries.