a little less of the facts,
a little more of the spirit

Before You Follow, I Guess

_{Last Updated: Jan 2025}

GaiusWol Hours all day, every day!

Join me in taking delight in small pleasures - such as being delusional about when Gaius will be relevant to MSQ again. Every special event you can find me with fingers crossed hoping he and Allie will show up again. Hatching-tide 2022 really spoiled me.My posts tend to be about...
- Gaius & GaiusWoL art / headcanons / rambling essays
- General musings about GaiusWoL + Baelsar family
- Typical FFXIV player posts about things that happen in game (not to the point of toxicity tho!)
- Screenshots & Videos of XIV
- Commission / Shop updates
- Spoilers are tagged for 1+ month with expac and patch numbers i.e, 6.5 spoilers, 7.0 spoilers, and so forthYou'll never see me talking about how much I hate a headcanon, character, some other thing people are hyped about, or being sour when other people get new content for their favorite character(s). There's already so much negativity and I'd rather not add onto that.I will not be posting about or referencing any fandom discourse.
_{Please do not bring up any discourse on my posts as there's a good chance I'm blissfully unaware of it lol}

Active Art Accounts

- MAIN: @ForgetsRotation.bsky.social
- 🔞NSFW: @SpicyRotation.bsky.social
- ART-ONLY ARCHIVE: @Fourteentheart.tumblr.comI am currently not keeping up with birdsite. I am still @ForgetsRotation there, however the account is locked as of this update.I don’t post much about my life outside of this game. I've updated my hypothetical F.A.Q. to include some personal non-game thoughts tho for anyone curious 😂

Brief Overview: Gaius & GaiusWoL Portrayal

My miqo’te WoL starts ARR in his late 40s and is early/mid 50s post-EW. Let me be clear that I am not an imperial apologist or war criminal apologist for Gaius (or anyone!) I just draw a lot of sappy art that takes place during / post his unlearning in my lore. I love drawing sappy and tender stuff! But neither me nor my character condones anything he has done. I would hope that is just assumed, but you never know these days, huh…Any art I draw of Gaius (or my WoL) and the Werlyt kids is STRICTLY familial.

Concerns & Curating Your Spaces - follow, unfollow, block free (FUB)!

If you ever have any concerns about what I’m drawing you’re free to DM me to ask for clarification, to enlighten me, or to voice your general concerns. Or just mute/block if you don’t want to confront me, no shame in it. I’m not going to contact anyone about being muted or blocked. (BSKY Edit: I have not, and will never, check who has me blocked to do anything about it. Block away and let me live in peace. ✌)If you are into certain things I’m not into I will just quietly block and move on.I cannot possibly vet everyone I interact with or follows my accounts, so blocks may not be instant.Minors DNI.Please don't follow just for a followback. It's nothing personal if I don't follow back (and if it is, well, I think we should respect that!) I enjoy chattering with most people even if we are not "mutuals"! Not being "mutuals" does not preclude us from becoming acquaintances and even friends. Likewise, if we break "mutuals" I won't usually unfollow since I'm following to perceive your posts whether you follow me or not.FUB free, baby!

_{Last Updated: June 2024}

"What do you post?"

Mostly art, thoughts, and headcanons related to Gaius & GaiusWoL.Might occassionally repost flagged NSFW on my main @ForgetsRotationYou will not see me discuss drama or quote repost anything related to fandom drama. I need that energy for GaiusWoL...On that note, I don't post much about my personal life either, good or bad. Except for maybe "I am in a meeting and want to draw Gaius and Miqo at the beach"-like thoughts lmao
_{(At the very least, I try to stick to this as I don't want my art accounts to become a personal blog lol)}I use my socmed to generally follow artists. I don't scroll socmed as much as I used to in my younger days and I've found that to be very helpful regarding my mental health. 100% recommend it! Don't take it personally if I don't follow back or unfollow. I may seem a little distant but it's nothing personal.If I ever become too much, or post content you don't like, I encourage you to curate your space! Nothing personal, and even if it was that's not an issue.

"GaiusWoL, huh..."

Yeah!! I'm living my best life thinking about that old man learning the error of his ways well into his 60s while a lively miqo'te in his 50s helps him along the way. It can be frustrating for Gaius at times, but he's putting in the effort and Makoh'to is there to light the way... (at least in my lore!) I have a lot of thoughts in general about working on being better for those who come after, and not working just to seek forgiveness / absolution... so many thoughts...I have written many casual essays about the topic. I try to tag these essays with [hc] in the post for easy curation. :)

"Your thoughts on art?"

As much as I (used to) joke about being "cringe", I actually do not care. I'm absolutely giddy every time I draw something I love. I'm not striving for technical perfection with my art, I'm striving for the pure joy I get when I create. I have been through enough to know to hold onto the things that bring joy. When I draw, I'm my #1 fan and the only person I am catering to! If others like my stuff, that's cool, but I could exist in a vacuum and still enjoy the content I create. This extends to most aspects of my life (I'm very optimistic), but with art it is the most evident lmaoI looked at some old art I did back in 2009 and laughed (affectionately) at how much enthusiasm I had despite my lack of technical skill. All I could remember was how much fun I had drawing all those things back then. That's what art is about!!A June 2024 update: I still feel all of this! I've always liked my art for what it is. Things I enjoy about my own work are the feelings between people I can get across. It's one of my favorite things to focus on and I enjoy exercising that through personal and paid work. :3

"Are you open to playing in-game with others?"

Usually, but it's very random. Sometimes I'm down to help with roulettes, certain farms, etc. Other times I am meandering and am just doing my own thing. If you see Makoh'to, Gaius, or any of the Werlyt children in-game feel free to send a /tell and say hello! :D If we've chatted a few times, feel free to ask for my personal XIV Discord to plan one-on-one time together or even just to chat. Keep in mind I am on Dynamis / Maduin if you'd like to play together!If I'm available I LOVE running Sorrow of Werlyt trials NM and EX! I'm quite rusty on synced EX mechs tho... Unsynced? Let's do it!

Art Trades

I'm not actively looking for art trades at the moment, but do let me know if you're ever interested! If I have the time and energy, we can work something out. I may not accept all art trades, but I'll be polite if I decline. :DWe don't have to be mutuals but I'd like to have chatted back and forth at least!

Regarding me commenting on posts...

Whether I follow your account(s) or not, I may comment on your stuff from time to time! I only say things I know to be true and sincere. If you'd rather me not comment on your stuff, please DM me or block, whichever is easiest for you. Otherwise, I may continue leaving comments, lol. I don't expect a response to comments, even in a form of a "like"! I just want to leave good thoughts and wishes on posts if I happen to have them. There is no ulterior motive when I leave comments - I do not have the energy to be sneaky when I'd much rather be upfront with my intentions lmao. When I'm feeling up to it I'll sometimes scroll through people's feeds and check-in on them even if I don't follow them.If I can be frank 😂 I kind of loathe "mutuals" culture. We can get to know each other without being mutuals imo! "Mutuals" do not automatically equate to "friends" to me. Idm if other people use that term for me or for others, but know that in my mind "mutuals" will read as "acquaintances". That's not some weird dig, just something about me. :v

If you want to chat...

I admit that Twitter/Bsky replies are my least preferred method of chatting, but I don't want to be difficult lol. I just love long form responses and I loathe when I have to break my reply into 10 different posts.IRL it's so much easier to casually strike up conversation, read body language, decipher tone, expression... I'd go as far to say I'm quite personable IRL if we're having a one-on-one, whereas in a group setting I'm more inclined to take a backseat and observe the dynamic before joining in. This gets mistaken as me being shy lolOnline, however, it's hard for me to gauge how well a conversation is going when one can't reasonably understand the intended tone in a text convo with someone you rarely speak to - and never spoken to via voice! Of course, the lack of all other physical tells as well. Online I can never tell if some people are talking to me as if I'm holding them hostage, but I would hope all parties involved are responsible enough to set their boundaries and be polite if they wish to disengage.One of my biggest fears is having someone unintentionally read into something, or misunderstand something entirely. Like this one time I had to clarify I was calling Gaius cringe (he is!), and not one of his fans... Please DO ask me if you need clarification on something I've said. I'm quite chatty when it comes to explaining my actions just because I want everyone to understand the how and why. 😊 I'd say I'm also pretty good at understanding how someone could misinterpret my online tone, wording, what have you... the ellipses make me sound ominous, but I am just trailing off in thought.Even typing all of that out feels wild. IRL we'd just casually talk and either hit it off or not. No need to over explain the process, but online I feel it is a bit necessary so people don't wonder if I hate them or something. I promise that most of the time I'm wholly indifferent or lean towards positive.If you're not put off by the short essay here, feel free to send me DMs on Twitter/Bsky and we can see where it goes from there! I can't promise we will always hit it off, but we can try! Please do not expect me to respond quickly even if you see me posting online!! There are days I'm very chatty and days where I'm just chilling by myself. And I have a job.
_{Twitter does a horrible job notifying me about new DMs sometimes so...}If you want some starter conversation tips, try talking to me about a headcanon we share! Or about the art process! If I don't reply for a while chances are I saw it and forgot, or didn't see it at all. I am easily distracted. 🙃These days I don't have the time and energy to have deep, lengthy conversations with everybody but casual messages back and forth are nice!Otherwise, enjoy me talking to myself in the form of Gaius / Mewlsar essays via my posts.

If you're looking for the online bingo hosting help doc...

You can find it here!I'd love to host another bingo party in the future, it's just a lot of work to run by myself. :')