Of The Black

𝔜𝔬𝔲 𝔠𝔞𝔫’𝔱 𝔱𝔞𝔪𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔰𝔭𝔦𝔯𝔦𝔱 𝔬𝔣 𝔰𝔬𝔪𝔢𝔬𝔫𝔢 𝔴𝔥𝔬 𝔥𝔞𝔰 𝔪𝔞𝔤𝔦𝔠 𝔦𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔦𝔯 𝔳𝔢𝔦𝔫𝔰

𝔜𝔬𝔲 𝔠𝔞𝔫’𝔱 𝔱𝔞𝔪𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔰𝔭𝔦𝔯𝔦𝔱 𝔬𝔣 𝔰𝔬𝔪𝔢𝔬𝔫𝔢 𝔴𝔥𝔬 𝔥𝔞𝔰 𝔪𝔞𝔤𝔦𝔠 𝔦𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔦𝔯 𝔳𝔢𝔦𝔫𝔰

𝔜𝔬𝔲 𝔠𝔞𝔫’𝔱 𝔱𝔞𝔪𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔰𝔭𝔦𝔯𝔦𝔱 𝔬𝔣 𝔰𝔬𝔪𝔢𝔬𝔫𝔢 𝔴𝔥𝔬 𝔥𝔞𝔰 𝔪𝔞𝔤𝔦𝔠 𝔦𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔦𝔯 𝔳𝔢𝔦𝔫𝔰

𝔜𝔬𝔲 𝔠𝔞𝔫’𝔱 𝔱𝔞𝔪𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔰𝔭𝔦𝔯𝔦𝔱 𝔬𝔣 𝔰𝔬𝔪𝔢𝔬𝔫𝔢 𝔴𝔥𝔬 𝔥𝔞𝔰 𝔪𝔞𝔤𝔦𝔠 𝔦𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔦𝔯 𝔳𝔢𝔦𝔫𝔰

So I roleplay a male au ra in a female model and had joined a Xaela rp discord channel. A member there asked if I could even do that when I answered that there were NPCs that were already like that. They didn’t believe me, told me I was lore bending by making a smaller stature male au ra, and suggested I make my character half aura half hyur instead. I told them I wasn’t going to change my character and I wasn’t asking permission to play my character how I was.

Here is an NPC that is cannonly a male au ra in the female model. You can find him at the north gate of Reunion.

They could be a teenager or a late bloomer (all the child male au ra are not much bigger than the girls. Maybe the height sets in at puberty.) They could have had stunted growth from health issues. Hell, poor nutrition and lack of food can significantly stunt the growth of real life people.

I would like to add to this post because I’m seeing a lot of rude people. There is a side quest in Reunion called “Stranger Danger” in which you are tasked in finding lost children and pointing them in the direction of what I assume is a care giver of the area.

Two of these children are a twin pair of the Himaa. This is the sister, as you can see, she is on the male model, the darker sclera being a very clear indication/giveaway. Her brother is 100% alike to her.

Given that there are multiple occurrences, not to mention a whole tribe of genderfluid, or at the very least, a tribe that is very accepting of gender fluidity via reincarnation (hello Dotharl), I don’t think this is a mistake or typo. I feel that xaela have other things to worry about other than who is using “the correct” pronouns.

Can we stop trying to police what others do with their own characters yet? Because all you’re doing when you tell someone they cannot play a certain thing while screaming ‘it’s lore bending!’ is making people feel invalidated (especially those of us players who are trans/genderqueer playing trans/genderqueer characters). Tiergan’s reasonings are also pretty on point, there can be a lot of reasons as to why someone would be smaller than what is considered “the normal.”

If you want to play a male character on a female model (or vice versa!) absolutely do it. Be it because you want to play a trans or genderqueer/fluid character, or whether or not you’re just sick of the obnoxious sexual dimorphism in mainstream MMO’s, or just want to play a smaller/larger framed character, do it. Don’t let someone try to police your reasonings for doing so, those aren’t the kind of people you’d have fun roleplaying with anyway. 

Introducing the Game of Dawn Thrones - a laid-back friendly Discord Server with the aim to bring together Xaela Roleplayers and help them make new friends and possible IC connections.  We’re accepting members who roleplay Xaela Au Ra, tribal or non-tribal, and mixed race Xaela. Roleplayers from any FFXIV Server are welcome to join. We have a number of channels to accommodate specific topics regarding lore, art, and finding RP, whilst also promoting relevant events, free companies, and linkshells. We’ve got plans to organise our own events too, so watch this space! 

Join our Discord Server for Xaela Roleplayers!

Feel free to message me or @rp-and-eorzea if you have questions regarding the Discord. Please follow the Read More for our Server rules. Thanks for reading!