experimenting with new things. dreisseaux has always been insecure about their appearance. recently, they were gifted a fantasia from their wife as an eternal bonding gift, who so kindly retrieved the elusive elixir in order to combat these feelings. dreisseaux is nonbinary, and their feminine presentation has always been very important to their character. the change was written to be a heart-warming tale of growth and learning to accept oneself.
i started having trouble resonating with dreisseaux last year, and tried desperately to find a way to regain the love i had, which especially hurt to lose with them as my main ffxiv character. the key ended up being their appearance, giving them a softer body shape with intentional details (a stomach, stretch marks, curves, cellulite, etc.). it helped in the midst of struggling with my own body image, a long health journey with constant changes to cope with. it's silly, but a character written to be so flawless like their previous design began to make me uncomfortable. i didn't want to revolve around such an unfamiliar story whilst struggling with it in my personal life.
i've been searching for an outlet that allows me to share my experiences without having to post vulnerable personal stories, and finding that was a major goal i set for 2026. with this change, i think i've finally found it. body limitations in-game mean that most exploration has happened through writing, but i'm also happy with some scaling i've done (nothing pictured here). it may be a small change, but to me, it feels like a huge relief.
eternal bonding gpose taken by @rosendark! ♡
