Rain of August

1. This is a blog for adults only. This is non negotiable. If you are under 18 and if I find you following me, I will block you immediately. This is an adults-only space and I ask for that boundary to be respected.

2. I'm sapphic, my fandom interests are mostly sapphic and this blog is trans/ace/nonbinary/aro/bi/pan/lesbian/gay inclusive. If you are not - this isn't the blog for you.

3. Trolling, fandom sheriff behavior and hostility in comments or reblogs are not welcome here. I'm not dealing with your drama or wasting my time debating you, so take it elsewhere. TL:DR version: If you start with me, I'll finish it instantly by blocking you. We're not going there.

4. Do not tag me in posts asking for money. I'm not going to donate to anyone who hits me up on Tumblr, sorry.

I'm currently into FFXIV and post about it and other fannish stuff that comes into my orbit. I no longer play SWTOR but still appreciate good content about Lana Beniko and other characters I like.

When I played Star Wars: The Old Republic I wrote a guide for solo players, Rain Plays SWTOR. My goal with the guide was to help solo/story players navigate the game and break down some of the more challenging content they could do by themselves instead of grouping. As of May 2026 I've left the guide up, but please be advised that since I wrote it BEFORE 7.0, I don't know what may have changed since then.

I also wrote SWTOR fanfiction, which can be found at Ao3. My SWTOR OC info and worldbuilding is here. Fanfic index is at the top of the page. I don't have a FFXIV index yet, but I'm working on it.

My SWTOR OCs all have profiles here:

Viridana Dragoi (SWTOR version)

Other characters

Previously asked/answered questions and headcanon about my OCs

I am not a fan of the Jedi in Star Wars, with the exception of the ones in Luke's New Jedi Order from the original extended universe (you know, Mara Jade, Jaina, Jacen, etc.). If you like the Jedi, cool, groovy, I promise I won't come on your blog and bother you about it, but I just don't feel the same and I will not debate you about it. I try to post with #Jedi Critical and #Republic Critical when I can, so you can avoid posts which are, you guessed it, Jedi and Republic critical if you wish.

On Emet-Selch, Golems and מת vs. אמת

Contemplating various things here and there has made me wonder if the writers of FFXIV considered Jewish history and lore when writing and naming Emet-Selch. 

If you translate Emet-Selch''s name, the 'Emet' part in Hebrew, אמת, means 'truth.' Selch doesn't directly equate to a word, but I've read things saying it could be 'shelkha' (your) or 'selach' (forgiveness). So you would either have "forgive the truth" or "your truth." 

That's telling enough for our erstwhile frenemy, but then you get to other places the word 'emet' appears in Jewish lore: golems.  There's a lot to be said about golems and I am not always particularly happy with the name being used in video games and fantasy, but the word means something different now than it originally did and stories change over time and all. So we're not going to get into that here. What we are going to talk about is how a mainstay in a lot of golem lore is that they have the word 'emet' inscribed on their foreheads or on their chests. What if you need to deactivate the golem, temporarily or permanently? You take away the first letter, the א (yes, remember in Hebrew one reads right to left, so that is the first letter of the world) and that gives you 'met', מת, Which means 'dead.' 

The golem in many stories, like the Golem of Prague, started out as a protector and defender, but eventually caused so much carnage he had to be stopped. So roll that over in your mind again: Emet-Selch is the Convocation member in charge of the underworld. He later has a 'third eye' on his forehead, sort of like a golem mark. In Shadowbringers he seems to vacillate between cruelty and protectiveness. And, we learn in Endwalker, he missing a very crucial part of his memories that were deliberately taken away. 

End result...the Hades/Emet-Selch in Elpis becomes an Ascian who commits countless acts of mass murder and other atrocities. Truth turns to death. At the end of Shadowbringers, the Warrior of Light and Scions have no choice but to stop him.