#margrat

It's the CBC Black History Month Challenge!!!!!!!!!

sqex recently failed to adapt a winning player hairstyle design, one with coils, into the game. i think all of us were pretty disappointed when they claimed they didn't have the technology to do it right. it's good that they want to try again someday. but until then i think it'd be nice if we allowed ourselves to imagine the characters of ffxiv with Black features even if they can't look that way yet in game.

if you haven't done custom deliveries yet in endwalker, may i suggest you give them a try? it's a great questline and Margrat is a brilliant, nerdy Black woman. without her effort and knowledge (and titanic amounts of coffee, judging from her energy levels) our heroes would never have reached the ends of creation to save the universe. but moreover i think she's just so charming… she is not just an engineer and scientist but an advocate for her fellow workers. and while she's already beautiful, i thought she would be beautiful with natural hair, too.

Now for the important part. To my Black followers: You belong in science, engineering, and professional spaces. You belong in stories. You belong in games!! And you belong just as you are. You are not too dark; your natural hair is not dirty or unprofessional or "too hard" to draw or model. The art you touch is enriched for your presence, and the places you're shut out from are the poorer for your absence. It's a question of effort and a question of Black presence in creative spaces, and I'm angry that we can't make a character who looks like this in FFXIV. So until (and even after!) you can, I hope you let your imagination run wild and invite yourself into every space that lacks your magic. I love you!!

"When you and your fellows launched the Ragnarok and took to the heavens, you…placed your faith in our work. Maybe you didn't have a choice. Maybe that was truly the last option left to mankind. But you─and the rest of the Scions onboard that ship─meant everything to us. Your safe return…meant everything to us. We all gave the Ragnarok strict instructions, you see. We told her to spare nothing in bringing you back. Even if it meant falling apart in the process. …And the old girl listened. Belated though the fanfare may be, allow us to officially welcome you home, [WoL]. You are and always will be the pride of Labyrinthos."

"...We made it home alive, thanks to you."

MARGRAT I LOVE YOU!!!!!

I don't like that the game leans towards treating her like she's overreacting. Margrat is 100% in the right here- she and her fellow researchers deserve better working conditions!

(aka sometimes I must give the walnuts my friends/the people what they want. sexy times under the cut!)