I know there’s folks that have a lot of fun roleplaying established characters and maybe the calculus is different for them, but I try to create characters that feel like people, and the WoL as written is a sanitized, anodyne imitation of a person.

And frankly, I don’t think the box of a person that the devs constructed - laid out by lines they supplied you, reinforced by the dialogue and actions of the NPCs - feels as real to me. The WoL is a good soldier, cares about all the right things, marches to the next fight that someone else picked.

The Warrior of Light is a clearly defined individual with a discrete range of response and behaviors to a given situation. I think you could certainly have fun cramming a person to fit and play in that box, but when you break that box, you’re not playing the Warrior of Light, that’s Someone Else.

Sometimes, I wonder how Vander finds time to do anything else. The number of monsters he’s run through only slightly exceeds the number of kids (literal and relative alike) under their thumb with nowhere else to go. He sets them up with new lives, work or tutelage, and keeps up with them.

Vander is an experienced sailor, and he’s learned to navigate by the stars in many places, as well as learning tidal patterns and how they relate to the phases of the moon.

Shame all those useful little lights are up there in The Bad Place.

If Vander ever sees him again, Wawalago’s getting shot out of a cannon.

As for Jaaster, he has no interactions with the Hildiverse, but he will punt that stalker pervert into the sun.

He gets anxious when he notices other people noticing this behavior - he grew up in Coerthas, you don’t want to stand out for possible heresy - so even now he tries to Be Normal and refrain, but it’s reflexive for him so he often forgets and does it anyway.

Vander talks to ghosts and breathes fire, he’s a nightmare.

Now and again, Jaaster tilts his head to listen or stare at “nothing”. By itself, it seems unremarkable. When hounds are with him, and they all do it in sync? That gets people talking, as do the other ways his mannerisms match theirs.

Vander? Well, sure, those wanted posters look like him, but the names are different, and they look so much older than he does, so that couldn’t be him…right?

Yeah, no, he openly plays with fire far too much to be considered anything but. He just happens to be fun, too, mostly.

Jaaster doesn’t have that reputation. Most folk know him as a carpenter who raises hounds, a good sport with anxiety. The first inkling that he could be dangerous usually comes slowly, like lifting a loaded wagon to swap out a broken wheel by himself, or jumping from ground to balcony to hang out.

Considering the pro wrestling of it all, I would bet money that the car was pulled directly from Eddie Guerrero.

Considering the puroresu of it all, this also means there is a non-zero chance that before there was Tyrant, there was Black Tiger.

Jaaster’s handwriting is average, at best, and definitely worse now that he hardly practices. A lot of times, he just runs and talks in person because he’s faster than any delivery service.

Vander’s, on the other hand, is immaculate. Exacting detail is important in arcane workings, so this is easy.

And sure, there’d be a portion of the player base who would hate that, and go on about how their WoL would never kill or what have you, but let’s be honest, those people have never hesitated to ignore canon before, so let them pretend on this front, too.

I’m not looking for any grimdark, ‘rip and tear’ tone shift, but no matter what we do, we have people absolving us of wrongdoing or responsibility, or finishing the job for us so we keep our hands clean. It’s infantilizing.

I understand Yoshi-P doesn’t want the twins to age, but let us be grown.

Treat the Warrior of Light like an adult with agency, and let them own what’s being done in the course of the story.

This isn’t Dawntrail slander, a supporting arc is fine, but we’ve killed gods & toppled kingdoms. Instead of keeping our hands clean with proxies, let us own that.

Vander excels at keeping track of where he’s walked as well as navigating by map or stars, so he does not get lost gracefully. He’ll pitch a fit, stomp and throw fire around, then interrogate whoever comes looking for the source of the (controlled) blaze.

It’s immature, but he’s never lost long.

Jaaster was born in Western Coerthas, out in the woods where the border with Dravania gets real murky.

I built out an underground city for Vander because Duskwights were given nothing and Gridania would have been hell. He doesn’t know where it is on a map, but his guess is under coastal Paglth’an.

Most animals are cool in Jaaster’s book, even the ones he hunts, but the wolfhounds he raises are family. Can’t go anywhere without them.

Vander doesn’t think about wildlife except as possible hazards. As for pets, unless they are active workers, he disdains them with few exceptions. Pointless.

Both Jaaster & Vander are non-WoLs.

Jaaster just wants to help his neighbors. The fact that he leaps like a dragoon & has four open chakra is incidental.

Vander keeps his world deliberately small. If he doesn’t, he will end up fighting old wars that everyone else thinks are settled.

I thought about making Jaaster a Warrior, figured his upbringing in the woods away from other folks gave him barbarian vibes. I decided that he’d keep some of that outlander vibe, but not the mechanics, since his family is very much Not That.

Also, I’d have had to tank, and nooo, thank you.

Jaaster’s mom never told him about her family, and she was deft enough at redirecting his attention that he stopped thinking about it very early. His Sharlayan grandparents played roles in his summer schooling that he hated, and they have Designs regarding him that he knows nothing about.

Vander grew up in a magocracy, then became a pirate captain in limsa before merlwyb, so knows how to play the game, and he is very comfortable treating nobles as equals, at best.

Jaaster used to fear and resent the nobility in Ishgard. He doesn’t fear them anymore, and it shows.

Jaaster scratches behind his ear and babbles on tangents. He also fidgets, but he’s always restless, it’s just more wiggly.

Vander taps and twitches his fingers, which initially seems arrhythmic unless you’ve seen him cast magic, and you recognize it as muscle memory, spellcraft in abstract.

People leave pretty high-functioning ghosts where he comes from, so he’s not precisely worried about it, but it’s a strong motivator for him to keep getting stronger.

When Jaaster thinks of death, he can spiral over what he’ll lose, how people will hurt, all of that, but when it’s go time, he gives dying zero thought. Thinking gets in the way of what needs doing.

Vander’s sole concern about dying is how complete a shade he leaves to watch over his loved ones.

Vander’s mother taught him his first language, then he learned Eorzean by reading shipping manifests, cargo slips, menus, everything he could get his hands on ‘til it became second nature. Every language since has been self-taught, easy.

Jaaster’s parents split those duties, dad with the reading (with lots of active learning) and mom with the writing so he could label all the important ingredients and tools in the house. Did pretty well with him.

If anyone’s gonna cool off after Jaaster gets involved, it’s due to his friendly demeanor, but he flusters easy, so if actual diplomacy is called for, he is not your guy.

Vander is exceptional at reading and directing the energy in the room, but keeping peace can be so boooring…

Vander comes from the Bart and Lisa school of fighting. He’ll be out there swinging his axe and throwing his fireballs as hard as he can. You’re the one who decided to get in the way, so whatever happens is your fault.

Jaaster doesn’t fight with honor because that’s how people get killed, and he’s painstakingly careful to pull his punches so that doesn’t happen. The closer a foe sits to wealth and power, though, the more difficult it becomes to remember that, and the strikes get faster, harder, and bloodier.