#final fantasy 10 spoilers

[mothonice0]

When your FF ideal type is always ‘the ambiguously fated very much dead one’

[rayless-reblogs]

For the character ask meme, how about Yuna and 14, 18, and/or 25?

Absolutely!

14: Assign a fashion aesthetic for her:

Hm, my first thought would be something like geisha core or flowercore, but I'm not sure those are actually aesthetics. A Google search tells me geisha core is more traditional, and while Yuna's canon outfit definitely takes inspiration from a kimono, I think it's too experimental for that.

And looking at a breakdown for flowercore/bloomcore on the Aesthetics Wiki (a thing!) that doesn't sound right at all. I think I'm also making a mistake if I only focus on her original canon outfit and neglect all the different dresspheres from FFX-2.

So one of the first things that strikes me when I look at it that way is that Yuna's outfits really exemplify the free-spirited, ethereal, 70's-inspired look of the early 2000s. It's a video game, so things are exaggerated, but when I look at her Gunner outfit, I see the soft peasanty blouses, the fringed leather belts, and the ruffles of 2002 or so. And let's not forget the low-rise jeans and tall boots. I'm not sure this is what most people think of when they say Y2K core (it's not a velour track suit), but to me, this is extremely Y2K.

Her Songstress outfit gives me a similar millennial vibe -- a ruffled 70s-ish blouse, the waterfall effect, the pleated miniskirt.

Her outfits also feel very flowing and organic, so I'm going to go with something like... Oceanic Y2Kcore.

18: A canon relationship with the character you admire:

One of the strongest elements of FF10 is the close bond the party shares, and that all centers on Yuna. And it's hard to pick a favorite there. I like how Rikku probably doesn't even know her cousin well, and she realizes she's always going to be in the minority when it comes to arguments about religion and philosophy, but she still leaves her home to try to save Yuna. I love Kimahri as the big stern, but loving, bodyguard. And I think Auron and Yuna have an intriguing dynamic; Yuna must have spent so many years imagining her father's journey with Auron, and she meets him with so much respect. But I wonder how it might have shaken her to see what he was like in reality. He's not antagonistic, he takes very good care of her, but I doubt he was what she expected.

But the first relationship that popped into my head was Yuna and Lulu. Lulu's just as stern and forbidding as Kimahri and Auron, but I like that the game takes time to show her being soft, sort of like a sister, but also very much like a mentor. I can imagine Yuna growing up looking up to Lulu so much, and while she doesn't try to imitate Lulu, I have to think Lulu had a huge role in forming her personality. The idea of Lulu loving Yuna so much, and then choosing to guide her to her death -- while Lulu herself has already failed at this on another pilgrimage -- is heartbreaking. They both must be so strong to undertake that, and to carry it out with a smile -- or, in Lulu's case, a slightly more neutral frown. Quiet strength like that (even if their choice is questionable) is something I really admire, as I'm much more likely to do something difficult kicking and complaining all the way.

25: What was your first impression of this character? How about now?

I can actually faintly remember the first time I saw a FF10 article in... PS2 Magazine, I think? And they had Yuna's classic character render pictured. I remember not liking her outfit, but I thought it was cool she had two-colored eyes. At that time, I'd only been playing JRPGs a few years, so I was pretty familiar with FF, but didn't have a huge pool of other heroines to judge her against -- Rosa, Terra, Aerith, Rinoa, Garnet. I think I was intrigued by her, but not very enthusiastic.

I came to really, really like Yuna after playing the first game, but being very disappointed by her evolution in FFX-2. I felt like they'd traded that quiet strength that had spoken so loudly to me for a shallower, more conventional action-based heroine. It soured my feelings on the character for a while.

But more recently, I'm over that. I understand what they were trying to do with FFX-2 -- show this character who had been utterly shaped by cultural expectations finally breaking free. It's not how I would have written her development, but I'm more at peace with it. And I still really like her from the original game. As for the post-FFX-2 canon, it honestly baffles me, the direction they've taken things in. I tend to just mentally stop things right at the best end of FFX-2 and just leave it there.

Also, now I love her original game outfit.

Thank you for the ask, this was fun!

meme here

[birues]

The days of our years gone,

Our souls soaked in sin.

[emblazons]

this is the most Kingdom Hearts!Sora walk I've ever seen Joshua I'm CRYING

[the-anime-man]

A view of the City of London from Bank junction and the Royal Exchange. Photographer: Tom Skipp/Bloomberg

[asleepinawell]

From here, we press onward to the Isle of Ken. I myself shall proceed on foot.

[zylphiacrowley]

Erenville: I'm not enjoying myself.

Narrator: He was enjoying himself immensely.

[taviacoolcat]

i cannot believe how much of a bitch clive was to joshua when joshua was like "wow who would have thought all four of us would be walking together again like we used to :)" and clive immediately comes in with the sass of one thousand cunts and is like "enjoying this are you? when other people are in danger rn?" LIKE LEAVE HIM ALONE HE'S STILL A BABY

[azure-steel]

For real though, I'm so upset. So so upset, like the scene was so fucking small and I just... couldn't get back into the game at all after that point lol...

I get attached to fictional characters so very easily, and just seeing Roche there and him being so OUT OF IT and Hojo... man I fucking hate him. I hate him so fucking much and more and more each time that greasy fuck head appears on screen.

I know it's just a story, and these characters aren't real, I get it, and I feel kind dumb for letting that one small snippet upset me but it did, because how can someone hold such disregard for another human being? To me, it makes no sense unless you're batshit insane, which Hojo obviously must be.

I just... I want Roche to be okay... and I know he won't be now. Please Squeenix, I beg you from this point, give me a bit more about him? Give me a lil lore into who he was before SOLDIER took him. Don't just destroy this character for no good reason before letting us see just a glimpse more than just a mad biker guy with a big mouth.

I love him... :C

[oveliagirlhaditright]

Parallels between Final Fantasy XVI and Final Fantasy X: in that Jill and Yuna both had shitty fates because of the systems of the worlds that they live in--and would have died because of them (and both girls are willing to go on journeys to change the status-quo, even at the cost of their own lives)--but at the end of the games, it's the guys who die instead. But not, like, completely in a "I want to die instead of you or bear your burden" kind of way. But because they find new ways to completely break the systems and change the worlds for the better, but the cost is Clive and Tidus have to die for it, as no good deed goes unpunished.

[daily-rayless]

I think these are my top 10 favorite games

I say it with some doubt, because these aren’t exactly based on mathematical criteria. Particularly when you get to the top three, those could switch order at any time. But here we go, I gave it a try.

(As always, me liking a game isn’t me endorsing everything about it, because I have criticisms for all of these. Also, these are my favorites, not what I consider the best 10 games I’ve ever played.)

10. Final Fantasy 7

A classic, a well-developed story that doesn’t drag, memorable characters, beautiful music, sharp narrative moments with a few twists and turns that are great on the replay.

9. Final Fantasy 4

I played this originally on the SNES and it was the perfect starter JRPG. A compact but emotional story starring a hero with a relatable personal conflict. Also beautiful music.

8. Soul Nomad and the World Eaters

A strategy RPG that is simultaneously zany and dark, it features an unrepentently devious companion character, a story that builds in intensity, and a lengthy alternate evil route.

7. Transistor

One of the most stylish games you’ll ever play, it starts with a murder, includes both revenge and romance, and features exquisite in-universe songs.

6. Horizon Zero Dawn

Along with its strong story, atmospheric score, and commanding protagonist, I just find traveling the beautiful, expansive open world to be a lot of fun.

5. Persona 4

At times breezy, at times thoughtful and melancholy, it’s a murder mystery with plenty of swerves, fun characters, great music, and a distinctive 1970s aesthetic.

4. Fate/Extra

A death tournament that ticks through the bouts, but isn’t necessarily ticking towards the hero’s salvation. You partner with one of three mysterious spirits, and all of them are interesting and extremely likable, despite some troubling gray morality.

3. Persona 3

Particularly the Portable release, which offers deeper characterization for all your party. The moodier, broodier sister to P4, it’s full of both angst and humor.

2. Suikoden 3

A complex narrative that allows the gamer to view events from multiple viewpoints, with three strong protagonists. Though less well known than Suikoden I and II, it rounds out the original trilogy, exploring arcs that were established as early as the first game.

1. Tales of the Abyss

A desperate but ultimately hopeful story, its strength is in its player cast and antagonist cast, where both sides feature dubious and sympathetic motives and there are few morally simple solutions.

[bluerosesburnblue]

The last we talked about Final Fantasy XVI, you'd just seen someone get punched by a certain someone. Are you any further now? Like, have you seen the ending of the game? And if you have... I guess the developers of Final Fantasy XVI have said that this game has so much lore, they could make a sequel with it, which is most definitely true. LOL. Who knows if they'll ever actually do that (if so, it'll be very far off), but if they do, what do you think it'll tell? What would you want it to do?

I have indeed seen the end of it by now! To be honest, I kind of have mixed feelings on the plot of the game as a whole. Love the characters, Clive especially is now one of my favorite Final Fantasy protagonists, but I can't help but feel that the game is a little disjointed in spots. They advertised it as the story of Clive's life spanning three eras, but those three eras don't have equal weight and end up coming across as Prologue #1, Prologue #2, and The Actual Game if that makes sense given that you've actually played the game and I've only seen other people play it. And, honestly, when I think back on it, I kind of liked what Prologue #2 with Clive in his late 20s was putting forward the best out of all three sections

I liked the darker and more personal angle that they were putting down, with a story about a man whose latent powers went berserk and he ended up hurting someone close to him, desperate for revenge without realizing that the one he wants revenge against is himself. But then it feels like they resolve that angle very fast and everything after that is a very classic "god is evil kill god" Final Fantasy plot. It's a well-done version of that plot to be sure, and I can really respect how well they tried to capture the feeling of old-school Final Fantasy games, but given how much of the marketing was about this game being darker and more mature, to me it felt like the themes got almost less mature as it went on, going from personal grief, this desperation to rebuild, the price of revenge, etc. to a more generic "free will good" story

Spoilers from here on out

That said, the developers are correct that there's so much lore, and to me that's the best part of the game. I've always found stories that heavily feature elemental-themed areas a lot of fun, like Avatar: The Last Airbender or One Last God: Kubera, so this game giving each summon a specific element and, for the most part, keeping it one summon/element per faction was really interesting to see brought to light. I think the fact that they touched on different factions viewing their Dominants differently was a good start, I just wanted to see a bit more of it on-screen because again, like I said, they started doing that at the beginning, but then it kind of got completely overwhelmed by the "Ultima wants Clive to have all of the Dominant powers" stuff and then never bothered to really look back at how the people felt about losing their nation's Dominants (also they way that they handled Clive taking the powers was kinda weird? Like, Dion carries on just fine and can still transform but Jill gets benched? What?)

Ahhhhhh I just... I almost wish that Ultima had just been an interesting background element and that the game as a whole had focused more on the infighting between the nations and Dominants and Bearers, rather than the other way around. I just found Ultima so generic and uninteresting, and that the game focused too much on making Clive this Super Awesome Chosen One because of it, when I found he was at his best when he was just a kind, awkward man struggling with this unprecedented power he was stuck with and the trauma it brought him

Because to be honest, at the start of the game I wondered if, maybe, what was happening was that they were gonna pull some classic Final Fantasy Dark World stuff and have it be that every Eikon had a dark counterpart. So Ifrit would be the Dark Eikon of Fire to Phoenix's Light Eikon of Fire and they could have used other classic FF summons as the Dark Eikons, like Garuda vs. Sylph. And the Light Eikons could bless people with their power like how Clive had the blessing of the Phoenix, while the Dark Eikons could steal powers. But, no, it's just Ifrit being Super Special and everything. Also... why... was Joshua the only one who could seemingly bless others with his power? Dion couldn't give Terrence a Blessing of Bahamut or anything and give him some light powers? Jill had to let Clive absorb her Shiva powers rather than blessing him with them becauuuuuuse...? And, man, it could've been so interesting if they had a sideplot on Anabella trying to force all of the Dominants to bless Olivier to match Clive or something. Or maybe not even a sideplot, that sounds like I would've liked it way more than the Ultima stuff because of how much more personal it has the potential to be and the game could've been a race to take the power of each Dominant before Olivier could get their blessings. Olivier was so underutilized

As for the lore, I think they do a really good job fleshing out Bearers, so really if they had more to look into, it would be the unanswered questions. Like, we know that Valisthea is only one continent on this world (Cid isn't originally from there, and IIRC neither was Barnabas's family), so what are the others like? Where is Leviathan? Are the theories that the Medicine Girl was Leviathan's Dominant, just not yet awakened, true? (Also, if Ultima needed Clive to have all of the other Eikon's powers, why were we even allowed to skip Leviathan? Shouldn't we have had to track them down? Why did they end up lost?) If the truth is that Ultima's people descended from another world and created humanity, then where did the idea of the Goddess Greagor come from? And what about the legend surrounding the star, Metia? Is Metia magical or is it just a cute legend thing?

Hmmm. If they ever did more with FFXVI, it would have to be a prequel, wouldn't it? Because I think where it left off was exactly where it should have, with some hope for the future and the world moving on, bittersweet with all of the losses that it took to get there but worth it all the same. (I know that there's a lot of theories about who "Joshua Rosfield" is in the end, and I actually prefer that it's ambiguous. Whether you think Clive succeeded in bringing Joshua back at the cost of his own life, or that Clive took Joshua's name which is the one that I think has the most in-game hints to it, or even if you want to think of a third option like one I've seen where Clive survived, but the "Joshua Rosfield" in question is actually his and Jill's son named in Joshua's honor, sacrifices were made and hope remains)

So I think the route with the most potential might end up being a Cid-centric prequel about what life on other continents is like. And I would never complain about more Cid, especially in regards to how he was chosen by Ramuh and what about how things are on other continents is that made him so averse to how Valisthea does things. I think that Cid is really something special due to his status as an outsider looking in on Storm and Ash and how his different perspective compared to everyone there is such a catalyst for what happens in the plot and it's a real shame that most of what we get of Cid is posthumous. So if FFXVI was to get its own sub-series, that's where I'd take it

[incorrectndyingflamequotes]

Jote: My future partner must be brave, strong, intelligent, successful and organized. Joshua: *steps on a caterpillar and proceeds to drop to their knees and sob while apologizing profusely* Jote: That one. I want that one.

[birues]

"You've commited the cardinal sin of boring me!"

[devolawrites]

every time i go to write something substantial about my feelings about ff16 and the concepts of generational trauma and expectations put forth by family and religion, and the idea of free will and identity, my heart explodes into confetti and balloons bc instead i just want to cry about clive and jill and torgal and gav and cid and charon and GOETZ THE BEST LAD and joshua and jote and DION and waughhhhhhhhh

[charlottedabookworm]

How many fix-it ideas for ff16 do you have already?

considering i'm only like 10 hours into the game, only a handful lol

from what i've seen so far, defo that time travel fix it that I've mentioned before, with older clive ending up saving elwin at phoenix gate while still knowing absolutely nothing about the second dominant of fire cos he's fresh out of slavery

i also think it would be funny to do something with cid and clive and one of cids shortcuts that somehow ends up with them in rosaria before everyone even leaves for phoenix gate and just- intervening in that all before it even happens

also got a vague idea of maybe clive, a few years pre canon (three? to make it 10 yrs post the night of flames maybe?) spotting margrace in his cloak and just- deserting the imperial army because the only reason he's alive is to get justice for joshua but then the bastard disappears again and oops clive has already deserted so he's trying to stay alive and hunt this guy down and anyway he ends up with cid earlier than in canon and frankly I don't know enough about the overarching plot of ffxvi yet to actually say if that would change anything