god do they rub in Bestiefant, this hurt in my paladin feels
I think they did a good job of making it impactful without making it seem cheap, though. I had an emotion! I do want to see about progressing enough to possibly get the shield as a cosmetic option, since I think that's a thing? It would definitely be in-character for Silas to use Bestiefant's shield :'(
So, end of Heavensward!
First off, I'm a sucker for the RPG convention of "all the friends you've made along the way come to see you off as you head towards the final battle." It's not really realistic or sensible a lot of the time, but it's a trope that I really like and never fails to give me goodfeels.
And, I have to say, Lady Iceheart won me over in the end. I wasn't a fan of her initially because I thought she was an obnoxious martyr/blind idealist, although I softened a lot once she realized resurrecting Saint Shiva was a selfish fantasy. It was kind of a complex thing, storytelling-wise, but I thought they handled it well. I also appreciated that Trashspikes was respectful of her after that point, and I was satisfied with how their relationship ended up. They never have a big heart-to-heart and a breakdown where they understand each other through the power of friendship, because they're both just too broken and stuck in their ways.
It was a satisfying conclusion! I would say my complaints of the expansion aren't things I think are necessarily wrong, they're just parts of the medium that aren't to my taste. I think the entire Ul'dah subplot/storyline is incredibly clunky and preachy, I was a little frustrated by derailing to recruit Hilda and thought the poor-vs-rich undertones were equally clunky, I knew it was coming but still sort of sighed exasperated when Trashspikes inevitably succumbs to Nidhogg's influence, etc. Just parts of the story that didn't work for me.
I do appreciate how so far at the end of each main storyline the game has been like, hey, just in case you forgot, this is a Final Fantasy game, so it is time to glow and punch with the power of goodness and light LET'S GOOOOO
ma'am this is a botanist quest please sit down
me @ the entire level 50-60 paladin quest chain
I was exaggerating slightly for comedy but I did think the 50-60 paladin quest chain was, well, it was bad, it didn't make much sense and added some weird lore where paladins have to do some kind of dumb Highlander "there can be only one" thing? but it doesn't actually make any sense because we see paladins working together in other circumstances and idkkkkkk
Got these cute screencaps of my bun son though 
also the level 50 goldsmith quest goes off the fucking rails and I was 100% here for it
I have never hit the "yes" button so hard in my life
Also I got blue mage to 50!
Post-Heavensward is progressing well! I'm still working on getting everything to 60 (although I'm content to leave blue mage at 50ish for a bit); I'm still having some internet/lag issues which limits my ability to level my healer, specifically, since while having a bit of lag as DPS on leveling dungeons really isn't a big deal, having a bit of lag as the healer can cause a wipe. I've got my Bard in the mid 50s, though, and my Machinist not too far behind. Next time I play I have red mage quests to do, which is very exciting! OTP go smooch!!