In Memorandum – RIP Sorya: Introducing Sorya

Introducing Sorya

That Edgy Nerd Who Tries Too Damn Hard

…except when it matters in life.



Sorya Aethendrelle:

Soundberry

Songwriter / Vocalist
Sound Designer
Music Producer

Scribberry (novelist & worldbuilder)
Snapberry (photographer)
Foodberry (cooking & baking)

Server admin / Front-end developer


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Sorya has been playing video games pretty much her whole life & she played FFXIV from 2014-2018.

She was a founding member of Artnia, but was inactive for a long time, and she remains on hiatus from FFXIV.

She is an active member of the Artnia community on the Discord server.

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Written by…

Sorya

Welcome to Sorya’s……

Um. Never had a blog before (or wanted one, lol). It probs shows. Don’t use social media much. Got an insta with no posts that like 4 friends & a few Korean bots follow.

Idk why either, tbh?

Had FB for like 9 months coz I was bullied into getting it by some irl friends*. Deleted it coz that shit is straight canc— er, ohright, friendly & welcoming tone. Yup yup Vany, I can do that, sec. *^*

Ehh, so I’m social af, I really am. I’m on like my 5th Twitter account, that’s how social. Not sociopathic, nope nope, whoever told you that is a fucking lia —

Oops. This ain’t how it was supposed to go. What do I talk about here, hum…?

Okkkk, I got this: I’m mostly human I guess. Kinda? Ain’t into vore, who told ya that? Low-key weeb (duh). Vany’s parasitic evil twin.

I, uh….

Fml, this feels like standing up in front of class. Ain’t even a teacher to troll, rip. Just imagine I wrote somethin funny here. Or laugh awkwardly with me. Moving on.

I know a couple things. Somewhat educated, a lot miseducated. Not exactly wholesome but so not fujoshi, stfu. >.>

As for what I wanna be when I grow up, imma start a Patreon clone—oh hey, I just realised ‘Patreon’ sounds like when Eevee becomes your Daddy. Winkleer. My jokes only get better, btw. Hard to believe, right?

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…uh, Pagething, I Guess?

So, I was saying, imma start a platform where y’all can sub (normally I like it the other way iykwim ;o) and thank me for existing by paying me directly in chocolate. Ripples, tobys & balls. Gotta get dem balls!

The most beautiful moment in my life so far has been learning there’s a 4.5 kg toby. Not gonna rest until that’s in my mouth.

Btw, ripple > flake > bueno is the hierarchy, don’t @ me. Lindt balls #1 tho. I am all about truffles.

Hey, the new coffee dairy milk is hella good. 8/10, would recommend.

It amazes me that there are ppl who do this shit like, weekly, and never run out of crap to say. All my skillpoints went into shitposting.

Sooo. This has been my autobiography. You know me as well as my family do now, gz. (Jk… kinda… eheh >.>).

Jfc, your life must be dull. af. if you made it this far. Go do something else, fool. But thanks for listening with your eyes. It’s amazing that we can bond like this using inappropriate body parts in spite of the distance between us.

Btw that’s also how it started with me and Vany. Tho Vany’s still searching for that ultimate wrong body part. Iykwim. ;3

Aight, so when do I move in? Imma put hair swirls all over your bathroom walls. And ew, no I won’t clean them, pls. But I cook well & I’m only violent sometimes. It’ll be bliss. Hit me up & let’s do this.

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Sorya’s Interests

Sorya is interested in a whole bunch of crap coz she is a massive goddamn nerd.

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An accordion of delights awaits you below, if you’re really that frikkin bored.


Or else you can…

Music

So, obvs making music is a big thing for me & I cover that elsewhere. But ofc I love listening to music too. I vibe a lot of stuff, from classical to jazz & blues, folk, prog rock, punk & metal, EDM, pop, and most of all hip hop.

Tbh, idgaf about genres. Hate genre silos & gatekeeping bs. Most interested in the spaces between & the peeps who chart their own path.

Special shout out to BTS. 소리질러! They are a great example of artists whose work spans & borrows from many genres.

They also kill it live (saw ’em 3 times so far). The pic behind here is made outta a photo of my Army Bomb (BTS lightstick).

For western music, first mention goes to Run the Jewels. El-P’s dusty dystopian shit has always been my jam even before RTJ.

Chocolate

Y’all know this is the true #1. It’s only 2nd so I can look like I have proper interests. Soooo much to say about chocolate. Without choco, there is no Sorya.

The biggest of tobys is #lifegoals. I like everything from 80% dark to caramelised white. Actual white “chocolate” is not chocolate. Idc what you think.

Ruby choco is super nice. Tastes kinda fruity and NOT LIKE BACON, VANY.

Really wanna try the Japanese kitkat flavours. The bars look so prettyyyy. Also wanna go to a proper Lindt store one day, since there ain’t one anywhere near here.

If you wanna talk hot choco, best slide into my DMs. >;3

Cats

Had two cats growing up, and always wanted one since moving out. We finally got Yuki, and she was a dream come true.

Tragically, she had an undiagnosed heart condition and we lost her at only eighteen months old. I still miss her so much every day.

We weren’t gonna get another, since Yuki is irreplaceable. But we were struggling a lot with how empty the place suddenly felt, so in the end we changed our mind.

Sumi & Suki, pictured here, are Yuki’s little sisters in spirit, and now instead of being too quiet, it’s crazy here. :3

Writing & Literature

So when I say literature I mean bad puns, obvs. If you think you got game, step up & get knocked the f- out, bring it. *^*

I guess I like reading actual books (well, ebooks, it’s 2019 lol). Atm, most of what I read is online & mostly non-fiction but I go through phases.

I write speculative fiction & enjoy building elaborate (some might say byzantine ;o) secondary worlds. Probs even more than the writing, tbh.

Mainly work at novel length but have written poetry & shorts, novelettes, novellas, all the things. Then I decide they’re shit and sit on ’em forever.

Photography

Since I don’t have access to any of my decent photos (they’re on my half-dismantled old PC), this section ended up fucking lame.

“Hey I enjoy photography, have a shitty low-res version of one of my fav old pics.”

I had to blow it up to like twice the size for it to fit behind here. So it looks like ass. But the original’s pretty nice, imo.

One day I will get access to all my old photos & screenies again. I don’t get out much to take photos atm coz ill, meh.

Culinary Arts

Same prob as above here. I ain’t been cooking or baking for quite a while coz of health crap, and I can’t find any decent pics of stuff I made. Probs my old PC has some, idk.

This pic is just one of my jambalaya that Vany passed over to me.

I mostly just make stuff up when I cook, rather than following recipes & stuff. I enjoy the creative aspect of food. But obvs I use recipes when I gotta.

“Culinary Arts” is a bit of a misnomer for most of the random crap I make, tbh. :3 But it all tastes goood.

Server Administration & Front-End Web Development

So, I’ve always been into tech stuff. My dad taught me how to build PCs & stuff when I was little. I run one web server atm but it’s just a modest lil one made outta my old netbook, lol.

In the future we are planning to upscale & self-host a lot of our various sites and stuff, I guess. Just need a diff internet package first. >.>

I really enjoy developing front-end stuff with html & css (not so much js)—the design aspect esp, but the coding is fine too. I’m pretty hyped for css subgrid, which is in the firefox nightly builds now iirc.

Doing this page required a new set of skills tho, working within the limits of WP’s Gutenberg editor to show what can be done.

Video Games

I mean, the interests are not really in ranked order here. But obvs, I wouldn’t even be here if I didn’t love games, right?

FFXIV is the game I have spent the most time playing (upwards of 400 full days, lmao, it’s terrifying). Jaded FF fangirl I guess. Not a SE stan tho, but I still throw way too much money at them. >.>

If you know what the game in the background is then you know what is probs my “fav” game (along with FFVII at least), even if i don’t really do ranking and “favourites” tbh.

If you know what the scene in the background is, then congrats, you get some free insight into the depths of my psyche and self-perception. ;3

Linguistics

I’m a huge linguistics nerd. There are lots of examples on Discord of me boring everyone about it. I’m fascinated by all aspects of language, speech & writing.

I’m also lazy af tho so I never bothered to learn a second language (*third, I speak Scots & English) properly. I… can read hangul… tho? D:

I sorta half-assedly know Latin, I guess, albeit shittily. It’s my biggest influence probs in the main languages I create.

Yup, told ya I was a nerd, lol. I do conlang a bit (sometimes a lot >.>) when I am worldbuilding for stories. I just enjoy it & find it relaxing, plus it teaches me more about irl language too.

Philosophy

Idk if I like philosophy or if I’m just too plagued by existential angst not to be drawn to it, eheh. Either way, it’s another sometime fascination. I’m always thinking about why I’m here and what reality even is.

Btw, bonus points to anyone who (a) knows who this is behind here & (b) sees the connection with another pic elsewhere.

So, being real, I kinda whirl around the bases of existentialism, nihilism & absurdism, but, true to my postmodern milieu, I can never settle on a path or resolve any meaning.

When I feel impelled to seek wider meaning I look for solace in Platonic & esoteric-mystical philosophy, but the rest of the time I’m a cynical valueless shitter. :3

Social Sciences (History, Sociology, Psychology, Economics, etc.)

These are not sexy subjects, mhm ik yup. But, but… they have a lot to say about how & why peeps act the way they do. I always want to understand everything I can.

I’m not someone who finds it easy to be like “meh, I don’t need to know”. I always need to know. Otherwise, what am I even doing here?

History is so full of wild stories, as good as, or better than fiction. Social sciences in general ain’t about being right but they are our best stab at figuring out why we and others do the things we do.

And I mean, as someone who writes fiction, there’s a whole lotta ideas & inspiration to take from all that stuff.

Natural Sciences (Earth Science, Astronomy, Chemistry, Physics)

I studied Geography & Environmental Science at uni. Went on to do PhD in Marine Geoscience before health forced me to quit. That’s why I chose the wave as background.

My work used to involve subaqueous landslides & the destructive tsunami those often cause.

I’ve spent a lot of time reading about the other sciences too, just coz I find them so interesting & they teach me so much about how the world works.

When you wanna create secondary worlds in fiction, then, the better you understand the irl world, the better you can approach creating others, imo.

Visual Arts (Anime, Movies/TV, Video, Drawing/Painting, Sculpture, etc.)

Not a hardcore anime nerd like most of y’all but still enough of one, I guess? Most strongly into stuff that’s overblown, pretentious & semi-incoherent coz I feel an affinity then.

Same goes for my taste in all forms of art, I guess. I can’t draw or paint or whatever so I’m in awe of people who can & I love seeing their work. It’s inspiring & makes me wanna do the stuff I can do too.

One of the things I like most about being here in Artnia is that I have the privilege of getting to know other artists, seeing what they do, talking to them about it.

Same is true at home, since Vany is super good at photorealistic digital art & also talented with traditional art (acrylics, watercolour, pastels, etc). She even made a pumpkin look like Yoongi using a blunt knife. ;O

Futurology

So, this section was not just an excuse to squeeze in another reference pic, honest. More bonus points for the peeps who recognise what it’s taken from, tho.

Thinking about the future & reading the thoughts of peeps who specialise in that is something I do quite a lot anyways.

Cyberpunk is big mood for me. I wanna think stuff like automation, 3D printing, social justice, etc., might lead to a future where ppl work less & create more, but…

…I kinda feel like we’re headed for some dystopian shit where the hyper-rich just use & abuse us more instead. o.o;

Cryptocurrency & Blockchain Technology

Leading on from the above, one thing that could help to democratise our currently undemocratic societies a lil in future is blockchain tech.

When implemented right—which everyone is still working towards—it offers the means to take away power from centralised authorities & institutions like banks, stock markets & corps.

Part of the reason the mainstream economy has been slow to catch on is coz it poses a threat to their hegemony, (also why some of them are also looking at ways to control & monetise it).

A lot of ppl don’t want that to happen. Done right, blockchain can offer a decentralised internet where we can say goodbye to http, server farms & huge data centres.


Sorya on FFXIV

(=Why I Am Called Sorya)


Sorya on ArtniaFC.com

The name Sorya was taken from a character in one of my books, tho I’ll probs change that since I’ve become Sorya myself now.

Me & Vany call each other by our IGNs a lot, and we confuse ppl irl sometimes if we forget to use our real names, lol.

Artwork of Sorya by Arch (Cotton Doll of Phoenix server)
Portrait of Sorya by Arch Ash
(Cotton Doll of Phoenix server)

This artwork of Sorya that I use here as my profile pic was given to me as a surprise birthday present by one of my best friends, Arch (she’s with us in the screenshot behind here). I guess that woulda been in 2015. Feels like so long ago!

Arch was the bard in our Coil raid group on Phoenix. Do you even gotta ask what I played? Nuke all the things, just don’t ask me to move. >.>

Ark & Maido were also in my Coil static. I mostly think of Maido as a tank coz of epic T9/T13 shenanigans. Same as I mostly think of Ark as healer even tho he played other stuff for longer with us.

But yea, Arch is an amazing artist, and this pic is one of my fav things ever, it’s sooo beautiful and captures Sorya’s vibe so perfectly.

On here I am basically Vany’s bitch assistant. I bring the same reliability and sweet, docile demeanor that got me sacked good results in all prior jobs.

So, if you have a problem with anything here on the site you can just go fu— um, just go find me or Vany & we’ll help you out.

Sorya on FFXIV

Sorya Aethendrelle is my main on FFXIV. Burninating all the small plot cottages in the Ishgard and the Brume. *^*

  • Elezen Duskwight
  • 1st Sun of 4th Umbral Moon
  • Rhalgr, the Destroyer
  • Starting City: Ul’dah
  • Starting Class: Thaumaturge
  • Immortal Flames

I joined FFXIV and created Sorya on the Phoenix server in, like, Jan 2014. No-lifed it through ARR, raided all of Coil with peeps who went on to become my besties (plus a bunch of others who idek any more, lol). In terms of game content, I most enjoy raiding, but making such lasting friends has been the best thing about playing.

I switched from Phoenix to Odin server with Vany in Aug 2017 and we raided Delta & Sigma in a team with Rheia and Pooh. Ark and Maido (V’enyk) from my old team (and our old FC) came over from Phoenix and joined Artnia in time for ShB.

Vany and I remain on hiatus from the game, tho, but we’re very active on the Discord server. My FFXIV timeline is below.

Sorya Aethendrelle of Odin server, Lodestone picture
Sorya Aethendrelle (Lodestone)
(opens in new tab)

Sorya Joins FFXIV (Jan 2014)

So, at first I was terrified by all the actual humans walking around. As a rule I don’t like ’em. >.> Only joined coz the OST was so good & I wanted to play the story (well, I wanted to fight a 40-ft flan but SE missold me again e.e). Swore I wouldn’t play past the free 30 days. Fail.

Being Really Shit (Early 2014)

Had a lot of fun levelling to 50, joined my 1st & 2nd FCs (long story, lol). Got my choco stuck on a flaming torch in Coerthas and ended up with a new best friend. Did my first Alliance raid (CT, a.k.a. Labyrinth for y’all nubs) & pulled the whole first room (as BLM) coz I panicked. 23 ppl got locked out & mocked me while I got rekt.

Coil Days & Forming New FC (Mar 2014 to Mar 2015)

Some of us formed a 3rd FC (even longer story *^*) & we ended up making our first raid group. No way I can sum up all the fun we had in Coil here, tbh. Goooood times. Our team went from shit to legit, we beat Bahamut’s ass. T9 was the most fun fight tho, and the hardest. We also left the crazy FC we were in and started a chill one of our own. It was our 4th FC in nine months, but this time we were in charge of it.

Heavensward (Summer to Winter 2015)

HW will always be best xpac, don’t @ me. Best atmosphere, best story, best music. Had so much fun levelling with the Turks, our Phoenix FC. Story even made me cry, welp. Never raided coz most of us had a lot going on irl; our team had more open spots than members left, and by the end of the year we were….

On Hiatus (2016 to May 2017)

Few of us played again until Stormblood came out.

Stormblood (Summer 2017)

Vany and I levelled to 70 on Phoenix, but very few of our formerly active group were still playing. Stormblood itself was okay, but nothing more than meh. I think either Ala Mhigo or Weeb Paradise shoulda been held back for the future, plus the main antag is weak af.

Moving to Odin & Raiding Again

Vany & I moved to Odin server & joined a wonderful FC run by Noms. We formed a raid team with Rheia and Poohbah etc. for Deltascape & Sigmascape, and we had a looot of fun. Best part was def O7S, better known as Nipple Daddy. No explanation needed.

Birth of Artnia + Sorya On Perma-Hiatus?

Noms & Vany got together and launched the Artnia community, and although I remain on (maybe permanent, idk?) hiatus it has been super nice to see everyone on Discord enjoying Shadowbringers so much. Even more so it’s lovely to see what kinda vibrant and perv uhh, *perfectly cosy place the Discord has become.


Audio Production


So yes this is cool

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Something Interesting

Blah blah blahdi blah meh

Something Else

Flalalala fafadi fa feh


Cats!

We have three cats. Only two of them are still with us in the flesh, but Yuki will always be with us for as long as we’re still breathing.

I was always a cat person, even before my family got two cats when I was about seven years old. I don’t mean cat person like the girls y’all fetishise in Eorzea. Nor do I mean a furry with hairy human tits (seriously Bethesda, they’d have six and Argonians would have none, smh; guess the rule of titty wins out over physiological sanity). At any rate, you get the point. I like cats. A fuckton.

We got two cats, and they quickly became my best friends. Cats are way better than people. If they wanna hurt you, they’ll just draw blood there and then, no bullshit. I respect that. If they wanna cosy with you, they just do it, as opposed to humans who either get the wrong idea & take it too far, or else they get passive aggressive with you coz they think you’re playing mind games. Spoiler: yes I am. Plus, very few of the cat demographic voted for Brexit or Donald Trump (aside from a handful of sad neutered males, lel). So basically, cats are superior in every way to human beings.

Yeahso, I lost one of my two cats when I was sixteen—not long before I left home in fairly unpleasant circumstances, & I wonder if the two things were somehow linked. I missed my other cat a lot, but she lived a lot longer & eventually I got to visit her once I patched things up with the family. Vany grew up with cats too, but when we moved in together we’d both become allergic so we didn’t think we’d be able to have a cat again. We decided to try a Siberian, tho, since there’s some evidence they’re lower in allergens. Which is what led to us getting Yuki on 2nd Feb 2018.

Yuki

Yuki—or Hatsuyuki, to give her full name, which we never used—was born on Nov 6th 2017. The first pics we have of her were taken at six weeks by Vany at the breeder’s, but we weren’t able to touch her or bring her home until Feb 2nd, when she was 12 weeks old.

The breeders asked us to give her a Russian name for their breed registration stuff (coz Siberian I guess), so we called her Porosha (поро́ша), but for her everyday life with us we chose a Japanese equivalent, Hatsuyuki (初雪), shortened to Yuki.

She was is a golden/tortoiseshell tabby with white, possibly bimetallic idk. She’s soooo smart, she could open doors so we had to jam socks in ’em if we wanted to keep her out of a room, lol. She was super respectful of mealtimes tho & would wait patiently to be given something after we’d eaten.

She loved to play hide-and-seek with me. We would creep up on each other from either side of whatever we were hiding behind and if I jumped out first I would grab her and she’d roll over. If she won, she’d cuff me on the nose with her soft pads—a few times she knocked my glasses off, it was so funny. I really miss her playful intelligence.

If I was sitting at my desk, she would run up to me and stretch up to grab my elbow, which she’d tug on and/or pat with her paw like, “Come play, come playyy!” All through every single day she’d do that randomly. :3

When we got her spayed, the vet said she’d be groggy & would probs sleep a lot and be quiet for a few days. Yeahnope, within a couple hours of waking up she jumped from the back of a chair & somehow managed to cling on to the top of my book cupboard, and I had to sprint across the room to catch her before she fell and burst her stitches, lol. She did the same from her cat tree later. >.<

She was super inquisitive. She had to sniff and snuffle everything & anything super thoroughly, esp if it was new. I used to carry her around in a little box that she loved jumping into. She’d dive in and crouch down & I’d sneak up on her and pick it up then I’d carry her around the house and let her snuffle all the high-up things.

She was my little best friend. She followed me everywhere. She always seemed so healthy. She was super lively & energetic, she loved to play & chase stuff. There was never any sign that anything was wrong with her.

Then, one awful night she was just… gone… in an instant. Worst night of my life. ;___; Am still not ok, tbh. Have lost ppl before but nothing hit me as hard as this. It’s almost certain that she had a congenital condition no one knew about.

Eighteen months old, ffs. ;_;

We called her our kintsugi girl. Coz she came into our lives at a real bad point & set about repairing our hearts with little threads of gold.

That awful night our hearts shattered worse than ever. But we feel like she’s still helping even now—picking up the fragments & sealing them together, just like she did before.

We love you, Yuki.



    Thanks for visiting my page, I guess

    …now that you ‘know’ me, you should probs try to stay as far away as possible. If not dw, I will probs ignore you anyways.

    If you ain’t bored enough yet, you can go back to:

    Or I guess you can leave a comment below. Since everything is futile, why the fuck not, right?

    Peace. ^.^/


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