BLOG (PERSONAL) -- My Marriages in Final Fantasy XIV

Since my sister's wedding is next week, I figured I'd (finally) make a post about all my marriages in Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. Yes, I said all. If you had been reading my blogs for the past six months or so, this wouldn't be a surprise. In Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, I have one main character and three alts. All my alts are married. My main character is unmarried, and probably will stay unmarried for the rest of my playing time.

One thing I need to stress right now: My alts being married to multiple people does NOT reflect how I am with relationships in real life!! Haha, it's totally the opposite (i.e. I would never marry multiple people at the same time, nor have multiple romantic relationships).  None of my marriages in-game are romantic.

After a failed attempt at trying to marry somebody I liked romantically in-game (and it came with a lot of drama and emotional pain for me), I decided that my weddings in Final Fantasy XIV, unless we romantically confessed to each other or something, will be friend weddings. Have it light and fun. And to make things clear (so I'm not misleading anybody), I'd say it's a friend wedding and ask if that's okay before actually buying the wristlets (depending on the wedding level, you could end up paying either $10 or $20 USD to get married in-game).

The only exception to that decision is my main character. She is reserved to marrying either somebody I like romantically or somebody I consider a close friend (who doesn't want to marry somebody else). And that is why I think she will probably stay unmarried.

A Few Observations About My In-Game Marriages

When you pay either the $10 or $20 level to get married in FFXIV, you can make some customizations to your wedding. You can change things like your entrance scene, exit scene, who is holding the bouquet, intro and outro music, etc. I find this pretty funny, but all my marriages in-game have the gondola entrance scene, kissing scene, chocobo exit scene, and the Hildibrand theme song. All my marriages were also platinum level (costing $20 USD to get married).

If I was to get married again, I would still have the Hildibrand theme song playing (it's my favourite track from the selection), but I would probably have the contract scene instead of the kissing scene. I like that the kissing scene is light and kinda ridiculous, but I also like the seriousness in the contract scene.

My Personal Stance on Marriage (in Real Life)

Before we start with the wedding pics, here is my personal (and most likely unpopular) stance on marriage: I see marriage as more of a public declaration/celebration of love and commitment. At its core, though, between the couple, I don't think marriage is necessary. I think if a couple loves each other and wants to spend the rest of their life together, that kind of love and commitment will come naturally. If a couple wants to stay a monogamous couple with each other, I'd like to think that would come naturally, and not due to the status of being married.

Don't get me wrong -- I'd still like to get married one day. I think it'd be a fun celebration (and I would also make it ultra geeky if possible). I'd just like to think that the transition from being lovers to being married would have no impact on how we treat each other. I just don't want to ever think things like 'he'd be more faithful if we were married', 'he'd treat me better if we were married', 'he'd drink less if we were married', 'he'd be more this', 'he'd be less that', or even thoughts like 'I'd be more social if we were married', 'I'd be more accepting if we were married', 'I'd be more this', 'I'd be less that' ... etc.

I'm certain that many of you do not feel the same about my view on marriage, and that's fine. This is how I personally feel.

And now -- to the wedding pics! And little blurbs about the grooms. My blurbs may make a lot of FFXIV references so non-FFXIV players might not know all that I'm talking about.

You can click on any pic to enlarge it.

Wedding #1

I think I chose the colours for the chapel.

Gondola entrance scene!

The Groom

I randomly met him while light grinding my Novus weapon with my main character (I was still on the North American [NA] server at the time). We were both in North Shroud close to the low level fates. I noticed he had a Novus weapon and asked if he was light grinding. He said yes, and after a while, asked if I wanted to party up. I said yes, and we grinded HM trials for about an hour.

Afterwards, he would send me tells from time to time about how his static was doing with the second coils. He wanted to recruit me, but I was always behind his static. I did get to run Turn 7 and Shiva EX with them once, which was an interesting experience. Before I transferred servers, I left an alt on the NA server so I could still play with my free company and friends. He still sent me tells while I was leveling my alt and offered to help with some of my dungeon queues (he mained a Paladin class so that was really helpful).

Now I just have to say: ugh, that moustache! I told him if he wore that moustache for the rest of the wedding, I would divorce him afterwards. At the time, I thought I was just going to marry once, so I thought, It's gotta be a lovely wedding!! I just don't like that moustache, hahaha.

Where We Are Now

He switched servers after some issue with his static (according to his friend), and then stopped playing FFXIV altogether. After he quit the game, I didn't feel any point in staying married, so I divorced him after that.

We've tried playing a couple other games after he quit FFXIV but there were a few issues -- like me not having the game (the only way I'd get to play with him was if his friend share played the game with me and gave me rights to control the game), or the multiplayer feature just wasn't working properly (like with Little Big Planet 3). 
 

Other Wedding Photos

Me with some mask. I figured, if he could wear a moustache 

for this opening scene, I might as well wear something for fun as well!

My character is so pretty! Hahaha.

The groom waiting for his ring. Check out the topless 

guest on the right side, haha.

Us with our rings.

Us flying to get ready to kiss. Yup. So ridiculous, hahaha. :)

My character and her pretty wings.

I like the way her hair moves in this shot.

Us on the wedding chocobo.

Wedding #2

I think we both decided on the chapel decorations.

Us on the gondola. I'm the Lalafell.

The "Groom"

He may not look it, but this character is a guy in real life. While my main character was still on the NA server, he joined the same free company as me and we somehow became really good friends. We often ran coils and EX primals together, as well as other things like Expert roulette, Alex maps, Syrcus Tower, etc. I remember spending a whole evening running Turn 7 just to try winning some gear (and we got them, yayy). Those were some really fun times.

I was willing to marry him with my main character, and I was really thinking about transferring servers (my main character was on Masamune at the time, and I even told my free company leader about it). In the end I didn't want to leave the free company or the server, so I stayed on Masamune (my main character is still there). I think it was a good call, though, because the groom ended up transferring to another NA server. I ended up creating an alt on the other NA server and leveled her to 50. I really wanted him to have the wedding he wanted.

For our wedding, I invited some of my friends on the first NA server and they actually came! They created alt characters and I helped escort some of them to the wedding chapel (since most of them were level 1 and the mobs around that area are level 15-20). It was an amusing and challenging task. Unfortunately, the giant gnats always got them at least once.

When the wedding came to the part where we could exchange vows, the groom actually had one! It was along the lines of "Thank you for being here". It was really touching and such a nice surprise. :)

Where We Are Now

We're still married, though I haven't been on the server much since the Heavensward expansion came out. My character is really behind on the story quests (especially since I'll want to level another class to 50 and continue the quests with that class). I will eventually get her up to speed, though. :)
 

Other Wedding Photos

My character. I changed her hairstyle before the wedding 

and came to the chapel in a snowman suit.

The groom about to send me the ring. The groom also changed 

her hairstyle before the wedding and came to the chapel wearing a goblin cap.

Me with the ring. Whee!

Me sending out the ring.

The groom with the ring, whee!

Kiss scene! XD

 

Us smiling on the wedding chocobo.

Us riding off into the sunset!

Wedding #3

The groom chose the decorations.

Us on the gondola. I'm the pretty Miqo'te (the kitty).

The Groom

Now this wedding came about very unexpectedly. This guy is actually real life friends with the first groom. He asked one day if I would marry him as a favour because he really wanted the wedding chocobo mount. He told me that other people he asked wanted the free wedding (you have to pay either the $10 or $20 level to get the chocobo mount). At the time, I had an alt that was level 30, so I thought, okay, that shouldn't be too hard to do (in order to marry, your character has to be level 50). 

The guy then offered to buy my wristlet as well (the bride and groom each have to buy their own wristlet in order to get married). I didn't think about it at the time, but I should have asked him if he wanted to marry somebody else who was already level 50 if he was going to buy the other person's wristlet.

Leveling up my alt to 50 was really painful this time. Even though it was 20 levels, it was my 4th time going through the same quests and motions. I don't think I could create another alt to level for a lonnnnng time, hahaha.

I did not invite anybody to this wedding since it was a favour to him. I moogle mailed all my wedding invitations to him and he sent them out. The wedding was surprisingly packed, hahaha.

And again: ugh, that moustache! I created a /slap emote macro with the text "pulls off <target>'s moustache" and used it on him after the gondola scene.

Where We Are Now

We're still married, though he's been thinking of transferring servers. If he does, I may end up divorcing him if he doesn't transfer back.
 

Other Wedding Photos

My character taking notice of the moogle.

My character grabbing the ring.

My character is so pretty. She was originally a Hyur (human), 

but the guy wanted to marry a cute Miqo'te, so I Fantasia'd her.

Uh oh... the groom's wearing gloves. If a character is wearing gloves, 

the ring won't show in the cutscenes. I guess it's some layering issue.

Us about to fly for the kissing scene.

Us after the kissing scene.

I really like my character's expression here.

I also love her expression here.

Thanks for reading! I honestly didn't think I would write so much... haha...

There will be no blog next week as I'll be too busy freaking out over my sister's wedding. I am the emcee for the family reception and I still don't know what to say for it, hahaha. Anywho, have a good week! :)