Let's do a DEEP DIVE of Alphinaud Leveilleur from Final Fantasy XIV. Alphinaud is one of my favorite characters because I relate to him so much! It really hurt to watch him make this HUGE mistake but when you hit rock bottom, there's no where else to go but up. 🟣 TIMESTAMPS - 0:00 Alphinaud's Dreadful Mistake 1:37 SPOILER WARNING to the end of Heavensward 1:57 Who is Alphinaud Leveilleur? 8:37 Alphinaud Pitches His Project 14:28 There's NO STRATEGY 31:20 He Just Wants to SELL MERCH? 42:39 It All FALLS APART 49:15 The Worst Superpower 57:17 It was all his fault BUT!
I think that Alphinaud was given a seat at the table, not because of his accomplishments, but out of respect for his grandfather Louisioux. Each of the Eorzean leaders made it clear to him that he had no idea what he was doing or what he was talking about in their own way but ARR Alphinaud was too arrogant and self-righteous in his cause to really listen. He had the attitude of "well, if they wont' do it then I'll do it myself no matter what it takes, I just need to convince people to follow me." Alphinaud makes many, many diplomatic errors while in high level negotiations and he really only accomplishes anything because the people he is negotiating with are good people or respect his grandfather enough to give him a chance. He stands on a moral soapbox and gives no thoughts to what each individual country may be facing within their borders while demanding they support him just because it's the right thing to do. He does the same thing with Ser Amyeric and Ishgard. I love the pirate queen making it clear that he had no idea what he was talking about. "My concerns are that of Limsa, then the alliance, and then the world. In that order. Anyone who does not know this has no place at this table." Alphinaud has the naive idea that everyone is going to work to save the world, same as him, and all he is doing is chasing after his grandfather's legacy at this point in the story. He is effectively a college graduate who specialized in theory who also happens to be really, really smart, but has no experience in the real world and how things actually work, and got manipulated and tricked by people a lot dumber than he is but far more experienced. I doubt that Alphinaud would have accepted that his Crystal Braves were corrupt and cruel until they put that knife to his throat, he was so caught up in their accomplishments and some genuine progress with negotiations with Ishgard.
"He is effectively a college graduate who specialized in theory who also happens to be really, really smart, but has no experience in the real world and how things actually work, and got manipulated and tricked by people a lot dumber than he is but far more experienced." I couldn't have said it better myself lol 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 But this is why I love him so much. I think he has the most humbling wake up call out of all the FFXIV characters.
I think Alphinaud has a point sometimes too. Many of the leaders later admit they were selfish, cowardly, and too willing to accept the status quo. The issue is that you can't force people to see this, even if you aren't a young know-it-all boy. Guilt will never get people to act. Alphinaud is clearly too self satisfied in his demeanor at first. He understands what must be done, and sees the surface level issues. He knows what is right. Like a gifted high-schooler he thinks the solution to every problem is easy, but fails to see what is underneath. He often picks on an aspect of the problem and thinks he can guilt people into helping him. Nowadays it's so nice to see him lead the charge and put himself on the line as an example. He doesn't try to guilt but inspire. He doesn't let his station, size, name, or even family pressure stop him.
i think the thing that really sealed Alphinaud (and Alisaie) for me was Ameliance and her dynamic with Fourchenault i'm already a sucker for parental stuff, but the entire thing is a spitting image of me and my own parents (i learn everything the hard way #firstbornproblems 🙃) while the twins demonstrate incredible growth and maturing throughout the story, the relationship between them and their parents makes it all make sense initially i felt like both twins were a bit on the spoiled side, prancing around over their depth, but we (eventually) learn that it wasn't lazy, detached raising, but rather both parents realizing their kids are just like them and must learn some of life's lessons the hard way, i don't know. maybe it's just me but i think the entire Leveilleur family is what truly makes the twins incredible characters (disclaimer: i'm a massive fan of maternal figures in stories, especially Japanese stories, so this is all incredibly biased because i adore Ameliance. lmao)
I think an apt analogy to your question about why anyone thinks we need a "Grand Company of Eorzea" when Gridania already has a robust military force would be asking why we need UN military peacekeepers when the United States has an army of its own. (Perhaps that analogy doesn't work quite as well when you're American, since you might trust your own military more than the rest of the world does, but as someone living outside the United States, trust me that we don't want to rely exclusively on US military might to police the whole world.) At that point in the story, Eorzea is only a loose political alliance of independent city-states banding together for the purpose of resisting Garlean control, so a neutral military force dedicated to dealing with issues surrounding summoning Primals would serve a very different function than Gridania's military, which is very occupied dealing with the Garlean threat at their doorstep. As to why the Scions can't deal with all of this themselves, you already alluded to the notion brought up in the game that the problems facing Eorzea are more than the Scions alone can handle. The Scions aren't really soldiers-they're scholars, first and foremost, and the things they're investigating are beyond the purview and capabilities of your average soldier. Think about Urianger leading a military force: his high-minded explanations about aether and Ascians aren't going to register with rank-and-file troops, but all of the Scions are expected to be able to keep up with that sort of information. At least that's MY way of rationalizing all of this. I don't think the idea is quite as misguided as you suggest earlier in the video, though I definitely agree that the implementation was very flawed as you point out in the rest of your video. Thanks for this exploration of this part of the story! It's been years since I played through it myself, so it was nice to go back and look through some of it step-by-step again.
your analogy regarding the US army and UN army is quite good tbh. I'm always thinking about why all the Alliance Leaders left us after the Bloody Banquet even though the scions was having a good relationship with them. And then I realised I was too naive about the politics world. Cause when I look at the situation, of course it's a natural choice for every Alliance Leader to leave Ul'dah as fast as they could due to the incident as presented as a revolution or I would say 'civil war'. Imagine in Europe where UK, French, Italian prime ministers join a party hosted by Austrian government, and suddenly there is a civil war. Of course everyone will try to leave the country. I love all the Leaders in the game so far, including Aymeric. He understands his role so well that, especially for his people, he's willing to sacrifice his own friend. And trust me, with a circumstance between us and his people, he won't hesitate to choose whom. We all need to remember that Aymeric was willing to shoot an arrow against Nighog-possessed Estinien, his closest friend and ally, without hesitation of course. He even said sorry afterward to Estinien, but given the choice again, he would do that again. Aymeric is borned as a true leader, just like other city-state ones. Remember that they would try to help Alphi with his crystal braves idea but they will never fully support it, because they still need to care about their people at their own city. To me, the world is actually alive with characters with their own personalities. It's not like other games where we, as main characters, say anything and everyone needs to listen to us. Because if I was in their perspective, I might do the same.
Love your input! I totally agree about the Grand Company of Eorzea (there's more I want to say about this but it would be a spoiler so I'll save it for a future video). It's the Crystal Braves that I felt could have been... tightened up a bit more. 😅 Thinking about it all as divisions makes sense. The Scions are doing recon and intel and they provide info to the Grand Company of Eorzea that puts the plans into action.
We're totally on the same wavelength because I am outlining my next video at the moment and I just wrote a whole section about this exact thing! How Aymeric was willing to forsake Estinien-Nidhogg in order to save his people. It's an interesting contrast against Alphinaud, who had just discovered his new purpose after the whole Crystal Braves thing being that he wasn't willing to sacrifice friends for the sake of a cause, even though Aymeric was. And like you said, each character has their own motivations and personalities, even if we're all on the same side. That's why I love this game so much!
I just wanted to comment on your belief that they should have only recruited "like minded" people. Reinshark had already done a good job of explaining what the function of the Crystal Braves was, but the key thing to remember is that they were raising an army and not starting a business. I can, without a shadow of a doubt, tell you that there are a lot of people in the armed forces that are not there because they are patriots of whatever country they belong. And with every armed force on this planet, they don't "need" people who believe in the cause. They "want" people who will follow orders. What motivated them to want to join usually doesn't matter. Now if someone shows signs of mental instability, they'll get turned away. But outside of that, they want to bolster their numbers. I did like listening to your thoughts on Alphinaud and at the beginning of the game, I just wanted to smack him more times than I could count. But his growth through the entire game is so well written. Looking forward to your next video. 😁
I love that you chimed in with this because you're so right haha. Being that I'm very business minded, that's how I see everything. But you're right. For armed forces, the value that people bring is being able to follow orders and manpower. They're not there to make decisions. And yes, Alphinaud's growth is my favorite specifically because of this whole thing. I just finished HW on New Game + and gahhh, I'm just so proud of him already!
I think all of the recruitment questing is meant to show us that we don't really have a lot of great choices for recruits-most of the capable, loyal warriors are already enlisted in other divisions at this point, so we're left with less-than-great choices for the Crystal Braves. This is all paid off narratively with the rebellion-Alphinaud is definitely making mistakes, and forcing the player to go through that series of quests where you're rejected by several promising fighters and HAVE to recruit whomever you can helps the player relate to Alphinaud's position and understand why he made the mistakes he did. (I really love these questlines where you have to consider the plight of the common folk and see that solving the world's problems isn't as simple as just beating up some monsters-accordingly, I quite enjoyed Stormblood.) The Braves' rebellion is less a surprise twist "gotcha" and more of a classic tragedy where good intentions, optimism, and a touch of hubris lead to a predictably terrible result.
Watched this over a couple of days because I've been so busy, I'm having trouble concentrating on watching anything right now. Really tired. It's not you 💜 But listening to your story and comparing it to Alphinaud's is taking me back to my days as a co-founder/organiser for a music event in my town. I came up with the concept, I got in touch with someone who I knew could help me make it happen. Only for them to turn out to be a total snake who ripped it out from under me and kicked me off the team after a few events. Claiming that I wasn't pulling my weight when they had failed to follow through on training me in the areas I was lacking like we initially agreed. Then that person took all the credit and said the event was all their idea. I was so upset and disappointed because it was something I was so passionate about; An Emo Tribute show for All Ages, held every school holidays so the young kids who always missed out on over 18+ shows had something to look forward to. Still upset about it to this day. That entire storyline really fucked me up but I really liked that it kinda knocked Alphinaud off his high horse. You really see him grow from that point on. Sucks it had to be something so horrific to do that though.
That sounds like an awesome idea but ugh, sucks how it all turned out. People just suck sometimes -_- and you really don't realize until you learn the hard way. Hope you catch up on all your stuff! 💜
It’s vindicating to learn there are others who share my heartfelt adoration for Alphinaud Leveilleur! I’d thought the majority opinion about him was he's a write off and, to begin with, I nearly did that. My initial impression wasn’t favourable. “Hoo boy, here we go; here’s another Mary Sue/Gary Stu type who can afford to be arrogant because he’s the grandson of a pivotal, legendary hero - that everyone worships because of their sacrifice - and he’s been coddled and groomed ever since his silver spooned birth. A noble upbringing, top-tier education and every opportunity to prove himself to people of influence and leaders of nations. An idyllic idealistic mindset hellbent on saving the world and creating a perfect utopia with a sickly-sweet silver tongue and that pristine adamantine plot armour he must certainly adorn…? This will be a cut-and-dry, black-and-white story as per usual. Wait, WHAT? That’s NOT happening? Alphy, what’s happened mate?! Why is EVERYTHING you’ve done going down the toilet?! This isn’t happening! This can’t be happening! Wow, this is happening… but your heart was in the right place. Hang on a minute. Cheer up Alphy, we got this bro! We’ll salvage this. We’ll scrape together your precious morals and your can-do attitude! Haha, I can’t believe you got us EXILED from the place you’re supposed to be saving! That takes talent!” Let’s just say Alphinaud is a refreshing subversion of expectations. I knew he had flaws, those were obvious. I wasn’t convinced that those telling the story were going to recognize those flaws and punish him for them, nor as harshly. I felt like a cautiously-optimistic, apprehensive mother-bird when Alphy attempts to fly. Watching him plummet and smack headfirst into rock-bottom was a gut-wrenching experience I will never forget. Flaws are all-important to a memorable, incredible character and Alphinaud’s flaws aren’t tacked on as an afterthought, like they so easily could be. They define him and redefine him. They redefined my impression of, and perspective on, FFXIV’s story. I was particularly amused with his inability to communicate effectively with his female peers (and how Krile reminds and teases him about such) in spite of how effective a communicator he can be in his element. A flaw even within his strength is just... the crème de la crème of character building. Magnifique. Alphinaud has a tendency to pick himself up every time he gets knocked down, think, rethink and attempt an adapted tactic. Like how he taught himself to draw to impress the girls in his life. It's a moment when he failed, considered his mistakes, decided on a new strategy and put his plan to action. It's this process of his growth that happens time again which inspires me to do the same. He may need to backtrack and retread but he's always learning as he does. He may be a trainwreck which somehow gets back on the train tracks, but he's my trainwreck damn it! Don't you say a bad thing about him! I was surprised to learn I’m interested in what politicians have to say, when they’re honest and genuine and truly want to make changes for the better. Shocking, really. I didn’t know how much I craved having a politicker’s opinion and perspective on matters. He’s a breath of fresh air. I’m keenly excited to see how events unfold from here - I’ve only begun Shadowbringers. Hanging out with Alphy has been a rollercoaster already so where could it possibly go from here? Thank you so much for your video Heather. This is the kind of FFXIV content I love. Keep at it, keep doing what you’re doing. I’m looking forward to your deep dives on the other characters! Liked and Subscribed, my new favourite TH-camr!
L-O-L I loved your commentary! 😂👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 And inspiring is the perfect word. It’s why I love him so much because he is so relatable, flawed, but determined, resilient. And OMG, you feel this way and you’ve only started Shadowbringers? Please come back and tell me what you think after you’ve caught up!! And also, your last paragraph totally made my day. 😊 Thank you so much for your kind words!!
That boss playing solitaire story certainly stirred up some memories for me haha....... I like this deep dive you're doing and I hope you apply this to more characters! I agree with you about Alphinaud as well; he really missed all the red flags but he really was incredibly sheltered. That also begs the question as to why no one called him out on it, however.
I always liked Alphinaud. He was a bit full of himself but in the beginning he made all the right moves. And he was, until the crystal braves debacle, was always right. Add that to him being a teen and yeah him being so full of himself just came with the territory, especially when he's proven himself to be as, or more, resourceful than the adults around him.
Alphinaud is such a fuck up it's impressive. If he were doing this shit maliciously he'd be an evil genius. That his fuck up was so impactful and unintentionally disasterous is awe inspiring.
This is one of the most greatest game to ever exist I play start to finish and I'm waiting to get to access to the new expansion this has the best story to understanding the base of the game and it explains so much how this came at one point almost fell and could have been scrapped but made a turnaround and turns the most popular game to exist
Alphinaud’s arc is one of my favorites parts of FFXIV. I use to hate him at the start of my FFXIV journey and by Endwalker he is one of my favorite characters!
When are you gonna do a thorough flip through of the art book ? It's insane how almost no one else on youtube did a review for the art book when the demand for it is super high. I would give my kidneys to see that awesomeness.
Really enjoyed this video! I felt like this kind of analysis is something that's been missing in the FFXIV content space. Side note: As you were talking about the red flags while recruiting the NPCs to join The Crystal Braves, it felt more and more like that story that Koji Fox mentioned about 1.0 in the documentary. He can see the car crash that was 1.0 coming, but he and his team couldn't do anything about it. Of course, that could just be me making those two connections. lol
![The Complete Story of Destiny! From origins to Shadowkeep [Timeline and Lore explained]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/9mbDXvDNqTU/mqdefault.jpg)
![The Complete Story of Destiny! From origins to Shadowkeep [Timeline and Lore explained]](/img/tr.png)
Let's do a DEEP DIVE of Alphinaud Leveilleur from Final Fantasy XIV. Alphinaud is one of my favorite characters because I relate to him so much! It really hurt to watch him make this HUGE mistake but when you hit rock bottom, there's no where else to go but up. 🟣 TIMESTAMPS -
0:00 Alphinaud's Dreadful Mistake
1:37 SPOILER WARNING to the end of Heavensward
1:57 Who is Alphinaud Leveilleur?
8:37 Alphinaud Pitches His Project
14:28 There's NO STRATEGY
31:20 He Just Wants to SELL MERCH?
42:39 It All FALLS APART
49:15 The Worst Superpower
57:17 It was all his fault BUT!
I think that Alphinaud was given a seat at the table, not because of his accomplishments, but out of respect for his grandfather Louisioux.
Each of the Eorzean leaders made it clear to him that he had no idea what he was doing or what he was talking about in their own way but ARR Alphinaud was too arrogant and self-righteous in his cause to really listen. He had the attitude of "well, if they wont' do it then I'll do it myself no matter what it takes, I just need to convince people to follow me."
Alphinaud makes many, many diplomatic errors while in high level negotiations and he really only accomplishes anything because the people he is negotiating with are good people or respect his grandfather enough to give him a chance. He stands on a moral soapbox and gives no thoughts to what each individual country may be facing within their borders while demanding they support him just because it's the right thing to do. He does the same thing with Ser Amyeric and Ishgard.
I love the pirate queen making it clear that he had no idea what he was talking about. "My concerns are that of Limsa, then the alliance, and then the world. In that order. Anyone who does not know this has no place at this table."
Alphinaud has the naive idea that everyone is going to work to save the world, same as him, and all he is doing is chasing after his grandfather's legacy at this point in the story. He is effectively a college graduate who specialized in theory who also happens to be really, really smart, but has no experience in the real world and how things actually work, and got manipulated and tricked by people a lot dumber than he is but far more experienced.
I doubt that Alphinaud would have accepted that his Crystal Braves were corrupt and cruel until they put that knife to his throat, he was so caught up in their accomplishments and some genuine progress with negotiations with Ishgard.
"He is effectively a college graduate who specialized in theory who also happens to be really, really smart, but has no experience in the real world and how things actually work, and got manipulated and tricked by people a lot dumber than he is but far more experienced." I couldn't have said it better myself lol 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 But this is why I love him so much. I think he has the most humbling wake up call out of all the FFXIV characters.
I think Alphinaud has a point sometimes too. Many of the leaders later admit they were selfish, cowardly, and too willing to accept the status quo. The issue is that you can't force people to see this, even if you aren't a young know-it-all boy. Guilt will never get people to act.
Alphinaud is clearly too self satisfied in his demeanor at first. He understands what must be done, and sees the surface level issues. He knows what is right. Like a gifted high-schooler he thinks the solution to every problem is easy, but fails to see what is underneath. He often picks on an aspect of the problem and thinks he can guilt people into helping him. Nowadays it's so nice to see him lead the charge and put himself on the line as an example. He doesn't try to guilt but inspire. He doesn't let his station, size, name, or even family pressure stop him.
i think the thing that really sealed Alphinaud (and Alisaie) for me was Ameliance and her dynamic with Fourchenault
i'm already a sucker for parental stuff, but the entire thing is a spitting image of me and my own parents (i learn everything the hard way #firstbornproblems 🙃)
while the twins demonstrate incredible growth and maturing throughout the story, the relationship between them and their parents makes it all make sense
initially i felt like both twins were a bit on the spoiled side, prancing around over their depth, but we (eventually) learn that it wasn't lazy, detached raising, but rather both parents realizing their kids are just like them and must learn some of life's lessons the hard way, i don't know. maybe it's just me but i think the entire Leveilleur family is what truly makes the twins incredible characters
(disclaimer: i'm a massive fan of maternal figures in stories, especially Japanese stories, so this is all incredibly biased because i adore Ameliance. lmao)
I think an apt analogy to your question about why anyone thinks we need a "Grand Company of Eorzea" when Gridania already has a robust military force would be asking why we need UN military peacekeepers when the United States has an army of its own. (Perhaps that analogy doesn't work quite as well when you're American, since you might trust your own military more than the rest of the world does, but as someone living outside the United States, trust me that we don't want to rely exclusively on US military might to police the whole world.) At that point in the story, Eorzea is only a loose political alliance of independent city-states banding together for the purpose of resisting Garlean control, so a neutral military force dedicated to dealing with issues surrounding summoning Primals would serve a very different function than Gridania's military, which is very occupied dealing with the Garlean threat at their doorstep.
As to why the Scions can't deal with all of this themselves, you already alluded to the notion brought up in the game that the problems facing Eorzea are more than the Scions alone can handle. The Scions aren't really soldiers-they're scholars, first and foremost, and the things they're investigating are beyond the purview and capabilities of your average soldier. Think about Urianger leading a military force: his high-minded explanations about aether and Ascians aren't going to register with rank-and-file troops, but all of the Scions are expected to be able to keep up with that sort of information.
At least that's MY way of rationalizing all of this. I don't think the idea is quite as misguided as you suggest earlier in the video, though I definitely agree that the implementation was very flawed as you point out in the rest of your video.
Thanks for this exploration of this part of the story! It's been years since I played through it myself, so it was nice to go back and look through some of it step-by-step again.
your analogy regarding the US army and UN army is quite good tbh. I'm always thinking about why all the Alliance Leaders left us after the Bloody Banquet even though the scions was having a good relationship with them. And then I realised I was too naive about the politics world.
Cause when I look at the situation, of course it's a natural choice for every Alliance Leader to leave Ul'dah as fast as they could due to the incident as presented as a revolution or I would say 'civil war'. Imagine in Europe where UK, French, Italian prime ministers join a party hosted by Austrian government, and suddenly there is a civil war. Of course everyone will try to leave the country.
I love all the Leaders in the game so far, including Aymeric. He understands his role so well that, especially for his people, he's willing to sacrifice his own friend. And trust me, with a circumstance between us and his people, he won't hesitate to choose whom. We all need to remember that Aymeric was willing to shoot an arrow against Nighog-possessed Estinien, his closest friend and ally, without hesitation of course. He even said sorry afterward to Estinien, but given the choice again, he would do that again. Aymeric is borned as a true leader, just like other city-state ones. Remember that they would try to help Alphi with his crystal braves idea but they will never fully support it, because they still need to care about their people at their own city.
To me, the world is actually alive with characters with their own personalities. It's not like other games where we, as main characters, say anything and everyone needs to listen to us. Because if I was in their perspective, I might do the same.
Love your input! I totally agree about the Grand Company of Eorzea (there's more I want to say about this but it would be a spoiler so I'll save it for a future video). It's the Crystal Braves that I felt could have been... tightened up a bit more. 😅 Thinking about it all as divisions makes sense. The Scions are doing recon and intel and they provide info to the Grand Company of Eorzea that puts the plans into action.
We're totally on the same wavelength because I am outlining my next video at the moment and I just wrote a whole section about this exact thing! How Aymeric was willing to forsake Estinien-Nidhogg in order to save his people. It's an interesting contrast against Alphinaud, who had just discovered his new purpose after the whole Crystal Braves thing being that he wasn't willing to sacrifice friends for the sake of a cause, even though Aymeric was. And like you said, each character has their own motivations and personalities, even if we're all on the same side. That's why I love this game so much!
I just wanted to comment on your belief that they should have only recruited "like minded" people. Reinshark had already done a good job of explaining what the function of the Crystal Braves was, but the key thing to remember is that they were raising an army and not starting a business. I can, without a shadow of a doubt, tell you that there are a lot of people in the armed forces that are not there because they are patriots of whatever country they belong. And with every armed force on this planet, they don't "need" people who believe in the cause. They "want" people who will follow orders. What motivated them to want to join usually doesn't matter. Now if someone shows signs of mental instability, they'll get turned away. But outside of that, they want to bolster their numbers. I did like listening to your thoughts on Alphinaud and at the beginning of the game, I just wanted to smack him more times than I could count. But his growth through the entire game is so well written. Looking forward to your next video. 😁
I love that you chimed in with this because you're so right haha. Being that I'm very business minded, that's how I see everything. But you're right. For armed forces, the value that people bring is being able to follow orders and manpower. They're not there to make decisions. And yes, Alphinaud's growth is my favorite specifically because of this whole thing. I just finished HW on New Game + and gahhh, I'm just so proud of him already!
I think all of the recruitment questing is meant to show us that we don't really have a lot of great choices for recruits-most of the capable, loyal warriors are already enlisted in other divisions at this point, so we're left with less-than-great choices for the Crystal Braves. This is all paid off narratively with the rebellion-Alphinaud is definitely making mistakes, and forcing the player to go through that series of quests where you're rejected by several promising fighters and HAVE to recruit whomever you can helps the player relate to Alphinaud's position and understand why he made the mistakes he did. (I really love these questlines where you have to consider the plight of the common folk and see that solving the world's problems isn't as simple as just beating up some monsters-accordingly, I quite enjoyed Stormblood.) The Braves' rebellion is less a surprise twist "gotcha" and more of a classic tragedy where good intentions, optimism, and a touch of hubris lead to a predictably terrible result.
That last sentence, yes yes yes!
Watched this over a couple of days because I've been so busy, I'm having trouble concentrating on watching anything right now. Really tired. It's not you 💜
But listening to your story and comparing it to Alphinaud's is taking me back to my days as a co-founder/organiser for a music event in my town.
I came up with the concept, I got in touch with someone who I knew could help me make it happen. Only for them to turn out to be a total snake who ripped it out from under me and kicked me off the team after a few events. Claiming that I wasn't pulling my weight when they had failed to follow through on training me in the areas I was lacking like we initially agreed. Then that person took all the credit and said the event was all their idea. I was so upset and disappointed because it was something I was so passionate about; An Emo Tribute show for All Ages, held every school holidays so the young kids who always missed out on over 18+ shows had something to look forward to.
Still upset about it to this day.
That entire storyline really fucked me up but I really liked that it kinda knocked Alphinaud off his high horse. You really see him grow from that point on. Sucks it had to be something so horrific to do that though.
That sounds like an awesome idea but ugh, sucks how it all turned out. People just suck sometimes -_- and you really don't realize until you learn the hard way. Hope you catch up on all your stuff! 💜
It’s vindicating to learn there are others who share my heartfelt adoration for Alphinaud Leveilleur! I’d thought the majority opinion about him was he's a write off and, to begin with, I nearly did that. My initial impression wasn’t favourable.
“Hoo boy, here we go; here’s another Mary Sue/Gary Stu type who can afford to be arrogant because he’s the grandson of a pivotal, legendary hero - that everyone worships because of their sacrifice - and he’s been coddled and groomed ever since his silver spooned birth. A noble upbringing, top-tier education and every opportunity to prove himself to people of influence and leaders of nations. An idyllic idealistic mindset hellbent on saving the world and creating a perfect utopia with a sickly-sweet silver tongue and that pristine adamantine plot armour he must certainly adorn…? This will be a cut-and-dry, black-and-white story as per usual.
Wait, WHAT?
That’s NOT happening? Alphy, what’s happened mate?! Why is EVERYTHING you’ve done going down the toilet?! This isn’t happening! This can’t be happening!
Wow, this is happening… but your heart was in the right place. Hang on a minute. Cheer up Alphy, we got this bro! We’ll salvage this. We’ll scrape together your precious morals and your can-do attitude! Haha, I can’t believe you got us EXILED from the place you’re supposed to be saving! That takes talent!”
Let’s just say Alphinaud is a refreshing subversion of expectations. I knew he had flaws, those were obvious. I wasn’t convinced that those telling the story were going to recognize those flaws and punish him for them, nor as harshly. I felt like a cautiously-optimistic, apprehensive mother-bird when Alphy attempts to fly. Watching him plummet and smack headfirst into rock-bottom was a gut-wrenching experience I will never forget.
Flaws are all-important to a memorable, incredible character and Alphinaud’s flaws aren’t tacked on as an afterthought, like they so easily could be. They define him and redefine him. They redefined my impression of, and perspective on, FFXIV’s story. I was particularly amused with his inability to communicate effectively with his female peers (and how Krile reminds and teases him about such) in spite of how effective a communicator he can be in his element. A flaw even within his strength is just... the crème de la crème of character building. Magnifique.
Alphinaud has a tendency to pick himself up every time he gets knocked down, think, rethink and attempt an adapted tactic. Like how he taught himself to draw to impress the girls in his life. It's a moment when he failed, considered his mistakes, decided on a new strategy and put his plan to action. It's this process of his growth that happens time again which inspires me to do the same. He may need to backtrack and retread but he's always learning as he does. He may be a trainwreck which somehow gets back on the train tracks, but he's my trainwreck damn it! Don't you say a bad thing about him!
I was surprised to learn I’m interested in what politicians have to say, when they’re honest and genuine and truly want to make changes for the better. Shocking, really. I didn’t know how much I craved having a politicker’s opinion and perspective on matters. He’s a breath of fresh air. I’m keenly excited to see how events unfold from here - I’ve only begun Shadowbringers. Hanging out with Alphy has been a rollercoaster already so where could it possibly go from here?
Thank you so much for your video Heather. This is the kind of FFXIV content I love. Keep at it, keep doing what you’re doing. I’m looking forward to your deep dives on the other characters! Liked and Subscribed, my new favourite TH-camr!
L-O-L I loved your commentary! 😂👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 And inspiring is the perfect word. It’s why I love him so much because he is so relatable, flawed, but determined, resilient. And OMG, you feel this way and you’ve only started Shadowbringers? Please come back and tell me what you think after you’ve caught up!!
And also, your last paragraph totally made my day. 😊 Thank you so much for your kind words!!
That boss playing solitaire story certainly stirred up some memories for me haha....... I like this deep dive you're doing and I hope you apply this to more characters! I agree with you about Alphinaud as well; he really missed all the red flags but he really was incredibly sheltered. That also begs the question as to why no one called him out on it, however.
Thank you! I had a lot of fun making this so I’m sure I’ll do them for other characters! 😄
I always liked Alphinaud. He was a bit full of himself but in the beginning he made all the right moves. And he was, until the crystal braves debacle, was always right. Add that to him being a teen and yeah him being so full of himself just came with the territory, especially when he's proven himself to be as, or more, resourceful than the adults around him.
Alphinaud is such a fuck up it's impressive. If he were doing this shit maliciously he'd be an evil genius. That his fuck up was so impactful and unintentionally disasterous is awe inspiring.
This is one of the most greatest game to ever exist I play start to finish and I'm waiting to get to access to the new expansion this has the best story to understanding the base of the game and it explains so much how this came at one point almost fell and could have been scrapped but made a turnaround and turns the most popular game to exist
An hour long video hearing Heather talking about one of my favorite characters? Yes please!
I love Alphinaud as well his growth throughout the game is phenomal
Alphinaud’s arc is one of my favorites parts of FFXIV. I use to hate him at the start of my FFXIV journey and by Endwalker he is one of my favorite characters!
The Crystal Braves messed him up so bad, his voice completely changed after the banquet. 🤓
lol! 😝
When are you gonna do a thorough flip through of the art book ?
It's insane how almost no one else on youtube did a review for the art book when the demand for it is super high.
I would give my kidneys to see that awesomeness.
The Endwalker one? I wasn’t planning to but maybe I can do it on a livestream 😄
@@HeatherJustPlay oh please do that would be sweet ❤️🙏🏻
Really enjoyed this video! I felt like this kind of analysis is something that's been missing in the FFXIV content space.
Side note: As you were talking about the red flags while recruiting the NPCs to join The Crystal Braves, it felt more and more like that story that Koji Fox mentioned about 1.0 in the documentary. He can see the car crash that was 1.0 coming, but he and his team couldn't do anything about it. Of course, that could just be me making those two connections. lol
Yay thanks for watching! And yes that is a very interesting parallel 😅