Novini

Vini

There's a certain gravitas to Novini when she's in the middle of a shoot. It contrasts well with her bubbliness when she steps off the stage where her pictures are being taken, using the newest magitek cameras. Except for occasional pauses to have the snapshots taken, she's constantly on the move, twisting and pirouetting into her next pose - I had never realized, until I saw someone at it, how like a dance it all is. She's sweating by the time she gets through, and takes the water I offer her, gratefully.

We're in Ul'dah, where most of her shoots are done; Vini is an Immortal Flames woman, through and through, though she candidly admits that it's simply because they have impeccable design choices in their Clanwear, and General Raubahn Aldynn has been a crush of hers since she was young.

Beckett: Not that you aren't still young. [Laughs] I'm not going to get in trouble for this, am I?

Vini: [Laughs] Please, I'm going to still be looking as fresh as a daisy twenty years from now. Oops, Lalafell genetics!

Beckett: Speaking of, let's just get the Arkasodara out of the room, shall we?

Vini: Oh boy, here we go. [Laughs]

Beckett: We've got people saying Lalafell are children... Lalafell can't do this. Can't be here. Venues actively blocking them from attending.

Vini: Yeah. You're asking me what I think? How I deal with it?

Beckett: A little of column A, a little of column B.

Vini: It's gotten a little more difficult to be who I am, that's for sure. A few years ago, people weren't so loud and crass about it. I remember days when I would get complimented left and right, that I looked cute, beautiful, sexy -

Beckett: Which you do, let's be clear!

Vini: [Laughs] Which I do, yes, thank you! But nowadays it feels like people talking to me want to hide it, or don't like to be seen with me normally. I'll be honest - it hurts. But you have bad apples everywhere. The squeaky wheel gets the grease and all that, it's just a few loud racists - let's call them what they are - wanting to spew their toxicity. Let them. I've been alive for, well, let's say in the realm of 25 years... plus or minus but definitely plus a few, [she winks] and I'm an adult. Like, legally, I am, and have been. My looks have nothing to do with my physical age. To try and push otherwise is simply disgusting, especially when it's only ever we Lalafellin that hear it, and not the valid Miqo'te and Au Ra and others out there that are short and flat, and while I may be a lover of the beauty in the odd or unconventional, trash needs to stay in the bin. I encourage people to not put up with that judgmental attitude. We're all here to have fun, why spend your life trying to bring someone down when you could build them up?

Beckett: Is that why you got into modeling?

Vini: It's not the only reason, but I'd say it's a big one, if not the big one. Someone out there has to be strong, has to stand up and say 'Hey, you can call me bean, popoto, all of that, but you can't take my life away from me, you can't make me a child when I'm not one'.

Beckett: Another reason that you've mentioned a few times in other interviews is - and please, stop me if this is too painful for you - you wanted to continue for your child...?

...why spend your life trying to bring someone down when you could build them up?

Here she smiles in a very bittersweet way.Vini: Yes. My little Kivava. She was going to be my first, with my second husband. She passed a few days after she was born, but in the precious time I had to know her, she was a vibrant, beautiful soul. I definitely do a lot of what I do in her memory.

Beckett: I'm so sorry for your loss.

Vini: Heartbreaking doesn't begin to do it justice. It was five years ago and it still colors my world. But we continue on for those we've lost. It's the best way to honor their memory, I think. It's not as if they're entirely gone, you know? They're just in a place we can't easily see, or reach.

Beckett: It's not the first time you've dealt with loss.

Vini: No. I lost my first wife to the Calamity. My first husband and I realized we worked better together as friends. And my second husband sent me seperation papers when he left, after Kivava's passing. I haven't seen him since. He has to deal with his loss in his own way. I can respect that.

Beckett: What's your stance on relationships, on family, after all that?

Vini: Well, I still want to be a mother, though I'm not sure the time is right yet. I'm not sure if I'll ever fully be able to settle down, romantically that is, I am intensely poly - those Bayaqud lot on the Steppes have got it right! [Laughs] But, you know, I'm open to whatever the Crystal sends my way. I can't not go with the flow, that's just how I'm built.

Beckett: You are a follower of Menphina.

Vini: [Broad smile] All day, every day, and the Lover does right by me. I can't complain.

Beckett: And what about the Traders? Certainly they're blessing you as well. You're associated with several fashion labels.

Vini: I'm not sure if the Traders would be happy with me, actually. [Laughs] I'm all about low-cost accessible clothing that looks and feels high-end, and will last. I want everyone to feel good about themselves. I don't want people to have any fear about how they look in a certain trend, or it falling out of style... nor do I want people to fear a price tag!

Beckett: You do quite a lot of work with Redolent Rose of the famous Weaver's Guild, don't you?

Vini: Yes! Rose and I are grand friends. We often collaborate in my endeavors to make fun, flirty, and as I said, accessible fashion.

Beckett: Would you say that any of your inspiration comes from your homeland?

Vini: My homeland...?

Beckett: Well, yes. I'll be honest, your past up until the Calamity is a bit of a mystery, Miss Vini. I did some digging. You've never really talked about where you are from, and your accent is most unusual... Ala Mhigan, perhaps?

Vini: [Grins] Oh... is it? I guess I had never really noticed... ☽☾