The FFXIV Reddit Community is divided by the Dual Nature of Y’shtola Fanart
Scion of the Seventh Dawn. Member of the Circle of Knowing. Former leader of Night’s Blessed. Y’shtola has held many titles in her life as an adventurer in Final Fantasy XIV. She’s recently been searching for a new title: digital Helen of Troy.
On the FFXIV forum, Y’shtola fanart has been one of the most-viewed posts. You can see that four of the top subreddit posts for the month are about her. The first one is about her being called mommy in the FFXIV manga Eorzea Gakuen, while the three others are fanarts.
Y’shtola was not always the most popular Square Enix representative for FFXIV. She looks like a normal cat girl in her Conjurer appearance. Minfilia, however, consumed many fan artists during this time. She began to be known as a style queen in Heavensward. Her White Mage-style attire features the right amount of Zettai. (Look it up.
It’s her Shadowbringers ensemble. She swaps the white for a terrifying black witch look that has fans noticing. It’s like meeting an old friend after many years. You mention the glow-up in cordial ways while mentally biting your nails and refraining from commenting on how beautiful they are. Y’shtola, who has been rising to prominence as a style queen and has now taken the title of “Queen FFXIV Fanart”. While Yotsuyu and other princesses may challenge her for the throne, Y’shtola is the king of this town.
There is, however, a split in her fanart, possibly more than any other character. There are two types of Y’shtola fanart, as fans have noted. Both portray her as the controlled, taciturn scholar who seeks out the forbidden knowledge of the world. However, the one that is closest to her in-game appearance is more liberated in embellishing her physical attributes.
People who don’t like the portrayal of the second character tend to insist that fanart should be respectful of the character’s spirit. Reddit user Magical Hummus asks, “I’m not far in this story but was Y’shtola supposed to be a woman who’snot provocatively dressed?” These people believe that a less imposing Y’shtola is more truthful and brighter. Reddit user Beelzebulbasaur laments those who would block the path to the alternative Y’shtola. Others will be able to sit between the two camps and love the character as it is, while also appreciating the racier iteration or finding that there’s hornier than any other.
This dissonance in Y’shtola’s fanart eventually became a meme on FFXIV. The comments about the war are the most important. one Reddit user said, “Can’t wait to the inevitable war in comments.” My personal preference is to honour the character and not add embellishments. However, I am not going to make fan art.
We cannot end this war in the end. It existed before I wrote this article, and it will continue for aeons unless Square Enix makes Y’shtola look bad. At the end of it all, Alisaie is better than Alphinaud.
