A Final Fantasy (et al) post to welcome you to the glory of Friday (if you don’t have weekends off then may this hopefully brighten the midst of your work week) with more located here!
I was planning on posting the other “half” of last week’s best dressed question, but today is the Shameful Narcissist’s birthday, and she is going to be shamefully narcissistic and give you the chance to join in the (hopefully harmless) narcissism, too! I figured it was appropriate to post a more introspective question on the day I celebrate my existence (So. Much. Cake.)
What character do you identify with most?
I’m going to try to keep this light, but Final Fantasy brings up some really deep and involved emotions with me. There are two characters I most identify with in the FF universe, one more than the other. Ironically, the character I most connect with is male and the other one is female, but the reason is similar.
Left picture is entitled “Lucrecia and Sephiroth…2″ by roman-ranman. I’m hoping the picture of Garnet is accurate for my memory. It’s supposed to be when she sees Bahamut attack Queen Brahne’s fleet.
With Seph I can 100% understand why he was pissed off and fucked up, because “mommy issues’ will do that to you (I really detest that phrase, but I can’t come up with a better one), especially when whom you think is your mother died in childbirth, but turns out not to be dead, but is instead hooked up to a reactor in the town your employer (whom you hate) sent you. Yeah, that would ruin anyone’s day.
I never have simple emotions. If I’m angry, I usually feel guilty about it, and if I’m sad/depressed, there’s almost always some anger beneath it. The reason Sephiroth snapped makes perfect sense to me, because even the strongest person has their breaking point, and people who are really aloof and standoffish usually are for a reason. They’ve more than likely been emotionally manipulated/abused and they’ve learned to contain their emotions because they’ve been used to hurt them before. Unfortunately, this doesn’t really help you deal with them, it’s just a way to suppress/push them down, which means they’ll just ignite in a torrent later. I know some people could say I’m reaching, but that’s what I took from that situation partnered with the fact that he thought his mother was an alien eldritch abomination that’s known for its manipulative abilities and mimicking loved ones. Yeaaaaah, because my brain works the way it does, I’ve thought of scenarios and had lots of horrifying nightmares, but I still love VII, because it speaks to me on that desperate, despairing come wrathful level.
With Garnet, there’s, well I don’t want to say “not real mother” paradigm because if you adopt a child, you are their real parent. I guess it’s more of the combination of her losing her birth mother and having her adoptive mother become a stranger to her. Brahne was the only one she knew, and before she was influenced by Kuja, the assumption is that the queen was loving and responsive. It’s…kind of the opposing situations to VII. Brahne was the one that was influenced by an alien mind whereas Sephiroth was influenced by an alien mind he thought was his mother.
Either way when Garnet sees her mother die on the beach and is unable to speak for an undetermined amount of time after that, it really got me, because something similar happened to me. Granted, my silence only lasted for about an hour, but I understand what it means to be too shattered to speak. When I read reviews about IX castigating the character of Garnet for being “useless” during that time in the narrative, I knew it came from people who were more concerned with gamplay than what Final Fantasy is really about. If I happened to use Garnet when she would often miss-cast a spell due to concentration issues (which I often have), I was never annoyed about it. One, you can always use Eiko, and two, for fuck’s sake, she saw her mother die on a goddamn beach!
So hopefully my two most identifiable characters weren’t too much of a downer.. One who exemplifies rage, the other silence in revealing the mechanisms of despair.
Alright, I’m very curious which characters you most identify with and why. Let’s discuss in the comments and you can go as deep or as shallow as you like! If you identify with someone because they’re technically minded and you’re a techie, too, let’s hear about it!
The Shameful Narcissist Speaks 
I’m going to be incredibly childish and say none of them because not one character has the same hair as me!
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I’m writing my “part 2” article on representation and this made me laugh so hard!!
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It’s never boring in my comments section :p
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I see nothing wrong with this conclusion. It’s because your hair is following the laws of physics, though Squall isn’t TOO far away :p
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That’s my cosplay sorted out for the future then!
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To be honest, I think you could pull off a pretty good Squall!
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So long as I don’t have to try to slice my eye out for “authenticity”!
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That’s what makeup is for! You could always go for the Harry Potter lightning strike :p
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Vincent Valentine, bebbeh.
Not really though. More like Cid, on his clumsy days.
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Bahaha love it. Vincent is to Final Fantasy what Edward (barf) is to Twilight, but Vincent is better. MUCH better.
Which Cid? And you gave me an idea for another FFF question 🙂
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Cid Highwind. A guy who really wants, but can’t quite get it right. Add some Red XIII in there too (wishful thinking from my side)
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Cid’s story is so heartbreaking, and maybe because I’m a VII fanatic, but I also think of that Cid whenever I hear Cid…or I think of my cat whose name is Cid hehe. He wasn’t just a crusty old man for the sake of being a crusty old man. He had an seriously heartbreaking back story. Whenever I played VII I’d smoke like a chimney, because after every battle Cid was in, he’d take a drag from his cigarette. I wonder if they’ll keep his smoking in the remake.
I loved hos Red was definitely supposed to align with Native American motifs. I mean his theme song sounds heavily influenced by that. I could never decide if he were more dog or more cat though he does have sort of a lionish look to him. Actually…he kind of reminds me of the saber toothed tigers in Ice Age now that I think about it.
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The effects games have had on our decisions (or illusion of it) is awesome 🙂 I like to think of Red as a canine, bit that’s in the eye of the beholder. Both my dogs have had a prominent mane, most likely due to early influence by FFVII ❤
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I think they kept his species ambiguous for just that very reason! (It also fits in with the ambiguity of the game in general). He could either look like a reddish lion-like creature or he could look more wolfish/canine. It’s pretty clever on their part.
Aw puppies! I’m curious what type of dogs they are. I have two cats, but I’m a major animal lover.
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The first one, now running in the eternal fields, was an awesome mutt. My current is a Kleinspitz. Adorable walking fur-on-the-couch-machine 🙂 Had a cat once too. A great personality in that one
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What a fantastic name. Cats are such characters. My one, Kin-mei, is king of the house, while Cid (who is totally named for the Final Fantasy character of course) is the court jester. Kin-mei is part Siamese and, well, they’re kind of geniuses, so I’m used to that caliber of intelligence in a cat since I’ve had him since 2003. Cid falls off windowsills and doesn’t seem to understand gravity. I love both of the wee beasties so.
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Aw 🙂 They sound great! I can’t imagine a life without a furball in my home
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Thank you for sharing your thoughts on these two amazing characters. I know blogging is a great way to express my pent up feelings, and this probably wasn’t an easy topic for you to write about. I had a huge problem with bottling up painful emotions in the past. You are very correct. They will manifest themselves into very dangerous behaviors. Teenage and young adult me has blown up in anger on several occasions because of this. Poor Garnet 😦 I didn’t know her story was so tragic. IX is definitely next on my list after VI.
Warning: Lightning related ramblings incoming (as usual). Feel free to ignore me!
So yeah, Lightning is definitely the character I most identify with (surprise, surprise). She’s as cranky, stubborn, and fiercely independent as I am. She hides her painful emotions behind a mask of indifference and would do anything to save the people she cares about. When she’s overwhelmed, she shuts down and pushes people away. I’ve done that so many times IRL… Also, I’ve always been a tomboy who really hates “girly” things. Lightning seems to be the same way too. Oh and I also have a military background like she does. I was in the Canadian forces Army Reserve Infantry for 5 years over High School and College. I never got sent anywhere since the Reserves here is just training to protect home soil (unless you volunteer to go overseas). During that time, I was pushed passed my breaking point, fired real machine guns, thrown live frag grenades, and got to experience many solider related things. It’s not easy being a female in the military here since you are expected to keep up with your naturally stronger male colleagues. Ultimately, that life wasn’t for me, but I’m happy I got to play part-time soldier for a bit 🙂 Those are memories I will always treasure (even the miserable ones).
I also look up to Lightning’s character. I want to be as strong, beautiful, and awesome as she is. I’m an only child, and this will sound incredibly lame, but she is kind of like the protective big sister I wish I had. Serah doesn’t realize how lucky she is, haha.
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D’oh! I should’ve marked the spoiler! D: D: D: I have to remember to do that. It doesn’t spoil THAT much of the game, but it’s still a pretty intense part. I think I put all of my “don’t give away spoilers” energy to when I was talking to you about FFIV before. I legitimately wrote out a MAJOR one and then deleted it because I remembered you hadn’t finished it.
I was actually looking forward to your answer on this, because I knew it was Lightning hehe. I mean she’s your favorite character; you’d mentioned she was your role model before, and you just got a tattoo of her on your arm!
Yuuup, she’s your typical INFJ. I do indifference and also random, often morbid, humor, because you cannot show them that you care. They’ll use it to hurt/get to you. I often refer to myself as a hermit, because the world gets to be too much and I have to be alone to regroup.
Omg you’re pretty much the incarnation of Lightning :O AND you’re an ex-soldier :O :O *mindblown* It sounds similar to Switzerland. It’s kind of funny that people as in Americans have this point of view about Canada, but Canada has a very well trained military and they’re no one to mess with. American is all about bluster and show, but it’s always the quiet ones :p Even though I’m anti-war, I have nothing but respect for soldiers, because I can’t do that. I don’t have the physical stamina/skill, though I’d love to get nearer to that point. I used to be able to run, not fast, for a decent amount of time so it’s possible. I”m of the opinion that you don’t go looking for trouble, but if trouble decides to seek you out, you have a way to repel it. I know in the states, they don’t allow women on the front lines yet due to concerns about hygiene *rolls eyes* and I’ve always found it interesting that women are considered “weaker” than men, but if a woman goes to the gym to do strength training, people will tell her not to bulk up too much. Um, so what you’re saying is women CAN be just as strong as men, but due to aesthetic reasons, they can’t. Then I think of Ronda Rousey (I think that’s how you spell her last name) and how she would kick anyone’s ass lol.
I don’t think it’s lame at all! Fictional role models can be just as important if not more so than real ones, because the fictional ones will always be there no matter where you are. There have been numerous studies that show that we have real feelings for fictional characters. They may not be real, but our emotions about them definitely are. I get really angry/upset when people talk badly about Sephiroth (which happens a lot since he’s considered the villain), and I used to feel so stupid about it because he’s a fictional character, but then I found that one article about how your feelings for them and stories are totally legit 🙂
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Haha, no worries! 🙂 I like knowing little plot details like that. It encourages me to hurry up and play the awesome games that have been out for a very long time now.
Thank you! I honestly really enjoy having someone to ramble about Lightning to, haha. But yeah, no one ever needs to know I care. It makes me so vulnerable! I’m much more comfortable in my own space so that’s where I spend 99% of my free time.
“Omg you’re pretty much the incarnation of Lightning” That is seriously the nicest compliment anyone has ever given me 😀 The Canadian Forces are actually pretty badass. Our training is intense and we have many battle hardened veterans to learn from. Never ever underestimate the quiet ones, haha. I’ve never worked with US Soldiers personally, but many of my old colleagues did during exercises. They had nothing but good things to say. 🙂 I’m also very anti war, but sometimes there is just no other way. People are dying horribly at the hands of inhuman terrorists, and negotiation just won’t work on those monsters. At the end of the day, the army is sent where the dickhead politicians want them to go. I may or may not agree with the reason why, but I never blame the brave men and women who put their lives on the line for us.
I’d like to say I was an awesome G.I. Jane, but I was definitely more of female Private Pyle from Full Metal Jacket, lol. I frequently fell behind everyone else, but one of my buddies always dropped back with me and pushed me to keep going. Men and women are treated 100% equal here and are expected to be on the front lines too (“hygiene issues” are irrelevant). I’ve spent 5 days living in a trench during Basic Training and that certainly gave me a new respect for what veterans endured during the past world wars. But yeah, the reality is that men have 40% more muscle mass than women do, so we have to work harder to achieve the same strength level. I’ve heard stories of sexual harassment type issues cropping up, but all the men I personally worked with were upstanding dudes who helped me become someone stronger. One of my female friends went Regular Force Infantry and she has done several tours in Afghanistan. She can outmatch any male or female on the battlefield and has earned everyone’s respect. I realized the army’s team mindset was not for this introvert. They basically own you and can send you wherever they want. No thank you! I want my own space, haha.
Oops, sorry for rambling all over your blog, haha. I’m really glad you seem to understand how important Lightning is to me! I know I get very defensive, angry, and/or sad when I see the rage trolls attack Lightning’s character. I’m okay with lighthearted teasing, but that “unfeminine Cloud clone” or “PMSing protagonist” is very special to me so people better tread carefully. 🙂 Oh and thanks for pointing me to that Mary Sue article a while back (I think that was the name of the website. memory = terrible). It really helped me feel less embarrassed about looking up to a fictional character. The feels are real, and than’t all the matters I guess!
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Between the INFJness and now the military background definitely! I can see why you look up to her like a big sister. She’s a great role model, and I think she’s even better because she’s not perfect. Flawed role models are way more realistic, because it gives you something to relate to. Looking up to Superman is great, but it’s not going to do you much good in terms of something to live up to hehe. Now granted I had to take my, er, role model and “create” a better ending for him, because his ending sucks at least for him, but the foundation of the story is what drew me in.
I’d like to think at some point it will be like Mass Effect in terms of that kind of equality. I actually much prefer Fem Shep. One Jennifer Hale has an amazing voice, and two, it just…fits for me for some reason. They hygiene thing is kind of bullshit. They say because women have periods, we can’t be on the front lines, but I’m pretty sure we’re advanced enough in technology that that’s easily taken care of. It’s a bit of a BS reason. I’m so happy you had a good experience, but yeah, any kind of military outfit is very social. I mean it has to be.
Rage trolls attack lots of characters, but they do seem most vehement around Lightning, and it’s because the trolls are normally dudes who are pissed off that Squeenix made a strong, female character who isn’t just the stereotypical “strong, female character.” She’s complex and could kick their asses. They get pissed because they see it as women take over their favorite things like video games and movies (think Rey in Star Wars) when in reality there are still WAY more male characters still, but when you’re used to being the only outfit in town, evening the playing field seems like an insult. I get annoyed with the trolls with Sephiroth because it’s usually guys making fun of “mommy issues,” and it’s actually in a similar vein. Either you’re not good because you are a “girl” (Lightning) or you’re “girly” (Sephiroth)…neither of which I get, because either one of them could mop the floor with the guys spewing these insults! I think because they’re fictional and not real characters, they feel comfortable behind their computer screens *shrug* The “unfeminine” and “PMSing” are ALWAYS the go to insults for women, because it’s the WORSE thing that we can be. I remember one of the things they were saying about Hillary Clinton was “Omg she’ll get her period and start a war!” Um, one, she’s 69 years old so she’s post menopausal, and two, WHAT? It’s been shown time and time again that when women are in positions of power, things are better for everybody. Well there you have my feminist rant :p
I loved that article. It gave me validation I sorely needed.
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I played through the FFXIII Trilogy before I knew what MBTI or INFJs were. I instantly connected with Lightning’s character when I noticed she had the same hidden emotional chaos I have, plus the military background. She makes tons of mistakes, but she learns so much about herself by the time the credits roll on Lightning Returns. I felt like I grew with her character and that whole trilogy was an epic journey that meant the world to me. I was actually quite sad when I knew it was time to move on from the games, but I felt better about who I was. It was like for the first time ever, someone understood me (even if it was just Squeenix’s character development team, haha). I will shamefully admit that there were many sisterly moments between Lightning & Serah that made me want to cry while hugging my TV screen. I think being both an only child and a INFJ has contributed heavily to my feelings of being alone in the world. My parents have always been there for me, but it’s just not the same as having a sibling to grow up with and watch over you. Wow, that got deep… *stuffs overly sensitive heart back in its fortress of indifference* At least I got spoiled a lot! 😀 Oh and I absolutely loved your ending to Sephiroth’s story in Northern Lights. I would love to see Squeenix turn that into a game or DLC someday.
When I get to Mass Effect, I will definitely be Fem Shep. BS is right! That has never been a problem for female Canadian war heroes.
At least the Great General has a large loyal fan base to help him against the rage trolls. The majority seems to want to lynch Lightning, and her trilogy, for everything that went “wrong” with modern Final Fantasy games. Any rare person who likes her is too sacred to voice their support in fear of getting flamed into oblivion, me included. You’re so right and I want to give you a high five for that epic rant! There are only TWO actual female protagonists out of all the main Final Fantasy games. Why the hell are they so threatened by that? XV is a beautiful bro fest that has much more emotion than the entire FFXIII trilogy, apparently. They are back in the spotlight again, but I guess Lightning is so strong they still feel threatened enough to keep bashing her. Great you have a story you can connect with again. I’m happy for you, but FFS try to understand that I connected more with FFXIII as an introverted female gamer. Not every damn video game story has to cater to the raging “majority” of white male introverts who hate their real lives.
Uh, sorry for my mini rant… I think my new tattoo ink is seeping into my brain, haha.
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This is why fictional narratives are so important and so powerful. You never know who they’ll really speak to or who they’ll really resonate with. There’s this awesome tumblr about FF secrets or something like that. It’s similar to post secret, and it’s just people writing little cards with pictures about Final Fantasy things. There’s one with a picture of Sakaguchi saying, “This man saved my life.” It’s why people need to be careful with what they deride and what they bash. You have no clue what that might mean to someone. A person might be using that as their lifeline. It might be the one thing they can connect with or the one place where they feel understood, and you never know when it’s going to happen. I had no idea when I played FFVII the impact it would have on my life, but I remember the moment it happened with Sephiroth and Cloud (actually Zack) were in Nibelheim and Seph asked Cloud if that was where he was from/where his mother lived, and Seph said his was dead, I was like “Oh crap. I care about something.” Granted it wasn’t Cloud but Zack so that conversation might have never happened in reality, but you get it. Then when Sephiroth just snaps, I understood how that could happen and even before I read anything about him, I just felt so bad for him, because I mean for someone like that to be driven to the breaking point, there had to be some kind of outside influence. I actually worry about myself sometimes, because I have some pretty horrifying/terrible thoughts, and it makes me wonder if I’m just an awful, terrible person beneath just waiting to snap. So there! Deep stuff from me so you don’t have to feel weird and alone in it 😉
You actually hit on one of my MAJOR pipe dreams. I have this fantasy (ha!) about someone from Squeenix randomly finding Northern Lights and contacting me to talk about making it into a movie or DLC, and they ask me to write dialogue for Sephiroth’s meeting with Lucrecia, and of course I agree though I cry like throughout the whole project. It’s a shame, and not just because that would be amazing, but because they want to keep him a villain, even though they give other ones redemption arcs AND in Dissidia (which I don’t know if you can count it as canon) Cecil says about Sephiroth, “There’s sorrow in those wintry eyes,” sooo that’s something. I’d also love if Squeenix would allow published fanfiction like Star Wars, Star Trek, and a bunch of other franchises do. They could take a percentage and make more money, but I suppose if they want to preserve the integrity of their narratives they can’t. Though if they EVER decide they’re accepting story submissions, you bet I’ll send in NL!
Have you ever found any Lightning groups online? They HAVE to exist, and yeah, you know if Lightning were a male, she wouldn’t get half the hell she does. People might still have an issue with how the game was pulled off, but people have issues with FFVIII, but I see more love for Squall than hate, and FFXI had major problems, but I don’t see the hate for that. And the two is arguable! Lightning is definitely the main character of XIII, but the only other one could possibly be Terra from VI. I think she and Celes are the mains of that, but again, it’s arguable because there are so many characters.
White dudes are seriously threatened because they see themselves losing power, which they are, but they’ve had most of it, so them losing it is a good thing! It’s like when you’re used to 90% of the pie and you’re being forced to only take your fair share, that’s seen as being jilted. Status quo is a hell of a thing.
There need to be MORE stories about female introverts. Like you have that ONE thing. ONE Final Fantasy out of over ten that have a main character that’s like that. It’s like we can’t have anything. It’s why I give so many props to BioWare, because they just don’t care. Andromeda has a huge female cast and Mass Effect is just fantastic in the representation area anyway. Most of the human characters are female and/or people of color. Like BioWare is like “Ef you to anyone who doesn’t like it,” and you really don’t hear many complaints. I think there were some grumblings about Andromeda because of that, but the critiques I’ve heard from people I care about e.g. Cheap Boss Attack have nothing to do with that and are valid even if I might not have the same issue.
Now I’ve ranted. Touche!
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I never realized just how important fictional stories were in my life until recently. That sounds like a very heartwarming tumblr place. I think owe Motomu Toriyama a similar card. I don’t expect everyone to love everything, I just wish they could be more respectful for that reason. I know I certainly tread carefully when discussing stories that don’t necessarily click with me. I think I’m still confused about that whole Cloud is Zack thing, haha. I do appreciate you sharing your story with me. I am also troubled by terrible/horrifying thoughts so you are not alone there either. I think its natural to have those thoughts. It’s like instinct. What makes us human is understanding they are wrong and not acting on them. But yeah, it certainly makes me feel less weird knowing someone else cares a lot about another amazing fictional character 🙂
If one of my pipe dreams of becoming a multi billionaire author ever comes true, I promise I will turn your dream into a reality. Right after a proper FFXIII-4 is made of course, haha.
The only pro Lightning groups I’ve come across change her into something she’s not (a more traditional “girly” character) and/or stick her with some awful fan fiction pairing I hate *cough* Hope *RAGE*. Not everyone has or needs a love story… I’m intrigued by the SephLight thing you told me about though. I do intend to check that out soon! *giggles*
That is one of my big pet peeves actually: “Ugh, Lightning thinks she’s better than everyone else. Squall is so cool though! He’s like my bro.” It goes back to my theory that female introverts are seen as moody bitches, while male introverts are often seen as the aloof badasses. In addition, this shows me that the dude who made the comment really connected with Squall’s character because he felt alone in the world as a male introvert (a great thing!). I wish they could understand that I feel the same way about Lightning as a female introvert. *sighs* I really need to play VI soon.
Props to BioWare indeed! I think Square Enix hurts themselves by trying to cater to the angry demands of fan trolls. I can’t express how happy I am with Guerrilla Games for making Aloy the main character of HZD. She also speaks to me as a female introvert and everyone else seems to like her too (unlike my favourite pink haired shero 😦 ). They really took a chance with that since it is a brand new IP. I also like Lara Croft’s modern image but have yet to try those games out yet. There are definitely improvements happening, but there’s still a raging battle against those white dudes clinging on to dominance. I just want everyone to be equal. Is that such a terrible thing???
Honestly, my opinion doesn’t matter and I usually don’t express it because it’s not worth dealing with the rage troll drama. The haters will hate and the trolls will troll, no matter what I have to say about it.
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I think everyone is still confused about the Zack Cloud thing lol. It’s purposely meant to be confusing, and Cloud is an unreliable narrator, but then again he literally can’t have any idea what’s going on. I actually wonder if there was some kind of memory transfer that happened when they were in those tubes. Huh, never thought about that before. Zack does tell Cloud he’s going to be his living legacy, so there may be something to that.
I really blame this on the fact that YA is so prevalent, but there’s this need to pair every character with someone, and some people don’t have any desire to be in a relationship! Like in VI people constantly try to pair this one character, and it’s unnecessary, because this character has never shown any inclination to want to be with anyone. The SephLight ones sound interesting because the characters have a lot of similar traits, and I think it would be really interesting to explore that. They’re more similar than Sephiroth and Aeris, but I think the general and the flower girl complement each other. I have a feeling him and Lightning would try to one up each other unless they were put into a situation where they’d have to work together. I’m hoping at least one of the stories is well written and gives them both their owed due.
Why is it Squall who’s moody-broody as they come is so cool, but Lightning thinks she’s better than everyone? I mean you argue and say Squall thinks the same thing, also there’s a good chance Lightning just IS better than everyone, and there’s no thinking about it. I also think that might be an INFJ thing, because, er, well, sometimes the brain does go there. It’s weird, some days I’m like “I’m queen of the world! Bow to me, minions!” Then other days I’m like “Wut is existing? Why am I doing it all wrong???” It is the weirdest unity of opposites ever. It irks me when people can connect to a character, but not understand how you could connect to another character that has similar traits, but you’re right. Guys are allowed a pass at their introversion, where women are seen as stuck up bitches ugh. I don’t want to talk to you. Stop telling me to smile. Leave me alone. Yet no one can see the disparity in this.
I think characters like Rey and Lightning, too (even though people bitch and moan about XIII) helped pave the way for Aloy. The fact that you can be a female Shepherd in Mass Effect, and I’m pretty sure Andromeda’s main character is just female also helps. It’s becoming more mainstream despite the trolls trying to stop it, because they’re “losing their rights” *rolls eyes so hard she sees the past* Sadly for any equality to be achieved, some people have to give up the overabundance of power they have, and they don’t want to do that because they’re so used to it, it’s just the norm to them, but again, times are changing whether they want them to or not :p
I played the original Tomb Raider so much I’d still see it when I went to sleep. It was fun, but it made me neurotic, because I HATE jump scares, and that game has a lot of them.
I think as a Lightning expert, your opinion matters a lot because it’s informed, but they’re not worth your time. It isn’t worth it dealing with the rage trolls who are going to act that way because they’re behind a keyboard that conceals them enough to spout their vitriol. Though I’m still really surprised there are NO decent Lightning sites (well…besides your blog) that doesn’t try to shoehorn her into a relationship.
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Oh and since people keep saying Lightning is a copy of Cloud, does that mean she’s Zack too? 🙂
I like your YA theory. If Seph and Light are BOTH written correctly, I think I would enjoy reading how that works out, haha. The only other ship I think I’d be okay with is Gladiolus, for strictly superficial reasons since I haven’t played XV yet. I think Lightning prefers to roll solo though, and there’s nothing wrong with being single. Some people just like being alone.
Next time I get in a conversation like that I’m so going to use the “Well, that’s because she is better than everyone else” line, haha. I get the same way! Some days I can conquer the world. Other days I don’t even feel worthy enough to crawl out of bed. I find that extroverted women are the worst for judging me like that.
That’s a great way too look at it – my second favourite shero is popular because of all the fightning my favourite shero did for her right to be a protagonist 🙂
I think I’ve just been letting the raging “majority” get to me. Toxic people always bring out the worst in me (that goes for on and offline). Like you said, nothing enrages the haters more than FFXIII. They seem to dominate the internet forums, but I did a little wiki walk and noticed Lightning is actually widely loved by professional critics. A few don’t get her character and say she’s just boring fem Cloud (one is ironically a female reviewer), but they mostly have positive opinions of her. I also discovered that Lightning won Square Enix’s “Best Female Character” Japanese poll in 2013. There has to be some group online that likes her as much as I do, for who she is. Regardless, she will always have a special place in my heart, blog, and arm. That’s really all that matters 😀
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I could see myself crushing on Gladiolus if I were going to have a fangirl crush on any of the boys in XV. Lightning seems like a solo gal to me, too. A relationship would just slow her down. I kind of feel the same way about VI’s Celes even though she’s canon coupled with a thief character, because Final Fantasy loves Star Wars tropes lol.
It really amazes me that female protagonists still aren’t that common and/or if they are more common, there’s still resistance to that. Also there are already unfortunately stereotypes/shoehorning of them, which is annoying, and lest I forget, it’s perfectly okay for guys to know how to do everything e.g. Luke Skywalker was somehow or another an expert pilot and shot because he had the force, but Rey is great at things because she lived on her own/had to take care of herself and she has the force, but for some reason she’s a Mary Sue. Like we have to have an explanation that’s airtight for the reasons why we’re good at anything, and this bleeds into real life, too. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to “prove” I’m a “real gamer” *rolls eyes* Or how often I’ve been accused of just liking VII/Sephiroth because he’s “pretty.” Yes, I am attracted to him, but it’s so much more than that. Its like guys get to be fans of things without question, but we have to show our credentials. WP is the first and really only place where I’ve never been questioned if I make a comment or write an article.
I’m trying to learn to scroll past, because most of the time it’s not worth the effort to tell someone they’re wrong, they wouldn’t understand why they’re wrong anyway, and they don’t have the background knowledge to know why they’re wrong (omg this sounds SO stuck up lol), but anyone who tries to say “girls don’t play video games” is not going to be convinced they’re wrong by anything I say, so it’s not really worth it to engage. I have too many games in my backlog :p
Yup! FFVII is critically claimed, too! That counts for something for me, though I’m also wary of critics since some insist games are a bastard medium grrr, but hearing it from progressive ones does make me feel validated. Anyone who says she’s a fem Cloud is only looking at the facial structure of the characters and not their background. Cloud was the way he was due to experimentation, memory issues, and other stuff. You’ve told me Lightning’s whole MO was to protect her sister. She sounds more like Anna or Elsa to me. I really detest when people try to talk about something that’s deep in a shallow way.
Also now that you have a tattoo, anyone who trash talks her to you is just a douche. If someone is willing to spend money, time, effort, and pain to have a character permanently etched into their skin, that character obviously means something to them! It’s a great place to keep your shitty opinion to yourself.
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I’m not gonna lie, I almost bought the Play Arts figure of Gladi-oh-my, lol. I will wait and see what his personality is like first before I commit to a fangirl crush on him 🙂
It’s like we have to be the best at everything to be considered competent too. I am seriously grateful for finding this amazing WordPress place. I have never run into any of that drama here, yet.
It’s not stuck up, it’s the harsh truth, haha. There’s no sense wasting energy trying to open sealed minds. I ran into the “girls don’t play video games” attitude a lot when I played WoW. It was just assumed my fem Night Elf was a dude IRL. I just gave up trying to convince people otherwise, lol.
I feel like such a hypocrite – I only love the professional critics when they validate what I love, haha. Cloud and Lightning are completely different characters, but Cloud was sort of the rough foundation for Lightning. Motomu Toriyama basically told his designer to make her “strong, beautiful, and sort of like a female version of Cloud”. He has also said that “Lightning really is her own person.” and their similarites are only with personality and the military background. There’s no doubt in my mind that they are both INFJs. But yeah, Lightning would do anything to save Serah and her entire world, and that’s what she stays focused on. I just feel sorry for Cloud and/or Zack’s whole situation 😦
If that doesn’t say how special my shero is to me, nothing will. I’m betting at least one of those douchebags would love to troll me into oblivion if they found out I had a tattoo of her. That’s what my “Snow punch” ability is for 😀
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I’ve only seen pictures of him, and he’s clearly the hottest member of that boy band. I’m “glad” to have made that observation lol.
Omg I feel the same way about professional critics. If they disagree with me I try to poke holes in their credibility, but this has also lead me to wonder if the ones who agree with me aren’t credible either. Gah, it’s a never ending cycle of hunting for validity. I’m better now, but I think Ebert at one point insisted video games couldn’t be art, and I thought, “Well you’re an old, white dude. What do you know?!” Honestly, I thing critics often miss the forest for the trees. They’re so busy looking for certain things that they miss something integral that makes the movie work. Every story has its flaws, but I truly feel that certain integral motifs can not necessarily cancel them out, but make them much less important in wake of what the story is trying to convey. I wish I could think of a good example, but I’m sooo tired today. I had to go to a funeral, and despite the first syllable, those are no fun. It was my dad’s best friend since he was eight, a man I knew my entire life who was pretty much my uncle (that’s what me and my siblings called him), and I’ve just been thinking about it all day. It’s been a long time since I’ve been to the funeral of someone I’ve known that long, and it’s just weird (I guess?) to consider someone I’ve always known is now gone. Ugh, feelings! *swats them away* I need a flyswatter for things like this. Oh, and being a super empath at something like that is crappy, too. I have the annoying habit of crying when I see other people cry. So. Irritating.
*ahem* I don’t really think of Lightning as being that similar to Cloud besides the face thing, which honestly is just how Squeenix operates. She’s no more similar in personality to him than any of the protagonists are to each other, and since they ALL have similarities, people can take their “Fem Cloud” descriptions and shove them. Squall is probably an INFJ, too, and I think I decided Sephiroth was as well. It seems to be a common protagonist type for Final Fantasy.
I love that it’s now being called “Snow Punch” 😀
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Nowadays I consider ANY review (professional or not) just someone else’s opinion that I may or may not agree with. To me “professional” just means they get paid to do it, not that their opinion is better (I don’t usually care for the same things that an old white dude does either, haha). Had I known about all the FFXIII rage drama beforehand I may have avoided it, and I can’t even imagine where I’d be now without that epic trilogy 🙂
I’m so sorry to hear about your family’s loss 😦 I have been to several of those definitely NOT fun events over the years. Ow, the feels… That environment is truly brutal for overly sensitive INFJs. I can almost feel everyone’s grief added to my own, plus it’s draining since I’m with a group of people. I usually go into “misunderstood bitch face” mode where it looks like I’m cranky and being silent, but I’m truly just trying not to breakdown into tears. Honestly, I’m not going to them anymore. Everyone grieves in their own way, and a room full of upset people just makes the situation harder for me. I like to be alone to deal with my sadness.
*quickly changes subject* I have to admit Squeenix did get a little copy-pasta-y with their facial structures. It really irks me when people call her a failed fem Cloud too, like she was suppose to be exactly like him for some reason *sigh* This discussion is so awesome by the way! It inspired me to write half of a defense post for Lightning, haha. It will never get posted on my blog, but it’s fun to write. 🙂
I should also shout “SNOW PUNCH!” when I execute that move, haha.
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That’s all it is! There are some opinions I value over others, but at the end of the day even if it is an informed opinion, it’s still a though that’s mired in your own preferences and life experiences, and I consider that for myself, too. I wouldn’t be half as head over heels for VII without my life experiences, and it’s the same for you and XIII. Looking at it from that point of view really opens my eyes to why people might like what they do. I couldn’t agree more, and it’s why I kind of give a side eye to the Oscars even though they totally favored Frozen, which is one of my favorite movies. It kind of means less in a way, because of they way they pick their movies. Like they gave 12 Years a Slave the Best Picture Award, but none of them even watched the movie! Um, yeah, that’s great that you’d favor it and all, but it really makes the award seem less meaningful. I honestly defer more to my favorite theorists on things, because they tend to delve deeper and find the hidden meaning and cultural/societal implications of things.
Likewise I’m happy I found FFVII when I did, which was maybe a year after it came out, so I wasn’t even spoiled from the, well HUGE spoiler lol. Today I’d probably still like it, and I’d be angry I hadn’t found it before, but I’d have to wade through all the BS from haters. Honestly, I really dislike when people hate something just because it’s popular in order to appear edgy. I actually have no probably checking out things that ARE popular, because most of the time it’s decent and worth my time. If I hear a bunch of people talking about it, I’ll usually give it a chance. I don’t have that hipster ideal lol. I’ll also check things out if people whose opinions I respect mention, but I hate the “well this is too popular so I’m not going to bother” attitude. No one cares how cool you are! I’ve been wanting to write something about things that are popular that are good, things that are bad, and the same for things that are unpopular.
Ugh it so is. I’d much prefer never going to a funeral ever again, and because my mind is how it is, I think about the future and how death is just inevitable. It sucks because I’ll just be sitting there petting my older cat, and I’ll start to think that in maybe five years I’ll have to say goodbye, and there’s just no way to stop that. Ugh. I’d love to just deal with the aftermath of death on my own, too, but that pesky obligation. At the very least I was there to support my father and brother who I was sitting next to. He got really upset when he saw my dad was upset and a few other times. Then you know how something will make you laugh in an inappropriate place? Omg, I was so mad at him lol. He started laughing when this lady got up to sing some song she wrote, and OF COURSE I started laughing, too, and thinking “Is murder appropriate at a funeral?” I absolutely suck at not crying unless I do the “This doesn’t bother me!” thing. At funerals since everyone else is doing it, I know it’s acceptable, but outside of that, omg I hate it. I cry when I get frustrated, too and/or really angry. It’s like can my emotions not leak out of my face! This is VERY inconvenient D:
It sounds like Squeenix fell into the trap most creators do where they start recycling things hehe. It’s because white dudes can’t imagine anyone NOT wanting to be exactly like themselves lol. Her being a failed fem Cloud means shes a successful NOT fem Cloud, and that sounds like a win in my book :p Also, omg they’re TWO DIFFERENT CHARACTERS. They might have similarities, but all Squeenix characters do. I mean there are definite character archetypes, and people who spout that nonsense are too ignorant or shortsighted to notice that, and I’m saying the latter with my extreme legitimate myopia (the glasses are not just so I look boss)
You should! I’d hope you would maybe one day consider posting it. I’ve been thinking of posting a Defense of FFVII, because at the time I was sick of dealing with detractor trolls.
You should say it like “It’s no punch!” before you punch them to take them off guard 😀
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Emotional connections to games make me so biased toward them. It’s possible the FFXIII trilogy does really suck but I love it because of the special connection. Oh well! *shrugs* Ugh! I personally despise all those grandiose award shows. To me its just a bunch of famous people getting awarded for silly things that don’t matter in the grand scheme of our world. Not to mention how rigged they probably are, haha.
My FFVII experience was sadly ruined by knowing that HUGE spoiler. The hate for FFVII does seem to be the people trying to be edgy by hating on something that’s popular. By contrast, the hate for FFXIII seems to be mostly people climbing aboard the hate bandwagon that was set in motion by those damn rage trolls. They think it’s cool to hate something everyone else seems to.
Yep, those scary thoughts about mortality have caused me a great deal of distress in my life. When I was a young adult, so many panic attacks were triggered by those death related thoughts. It literally felt like I was going to drop dead on the spot, plus I live alone so it was just me freaking out by myself. That was not fun… I credit Lightning with helping me overcome my issues. I know she’s not real, but she gave me a spark of hope that I draw on whenever my darkness starts to creep up on me again. Now that she’s permanently etched on my arm, I feel invincible, lol. Oops, sorry! *stuffs overly sensitive heart back in its box* Inappropriate laughter is so hard to contain! I agree that rage tears are also very inconvenient.
It’s just so annoying. A group of people hate her for being like Cloud, and another hates her for failing to be Cloud. SHE’S NOT CLOUD AT ALL AND WAS NEVER MEANT TO BE! Open your eyes rage trolls. No one is EVER satisfied either. FFXIII is too linear and FFXV is too open world. If I were Squeenix, I’d just stop listening to rapid fans and do whatever the hell my creative teams want to do. I also have glasses and agree they are boss 🙂
I think I sound too much like a cranky fangirl, but I’ll see. I’m honestly not very confident about posting anything… I’d love to read your FFVII defense!
I’m so going to do that to the next rage troll I meet, haha.
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But see it DOESN’T suck because it was good enough to make an emotional connection with someone. That’s valuable and matters, and whenever someone tell me they have an emotional connection with a narrative, I reexamine what I think about that narrative (if it’s one I didn’t like or particularly care for). It might not be for me, but I can’t deny it’s value. Now of course there’s Fifty Shades and Twilight, which might emotionally connect with people due to abuse. But to tell you the truth I think they both DO have value, just because they shine light on major issue in our society, because so many women glorify these abuse paradigms grrr.
I honestly think if Lightning were a guy the game wouldn’t get half the hate it does or if Snow were the main character or something like that. Lots of white dudes feel threatened by a strong female character because *gasp* we may not need them anymore! This is really clearly shown in our concepts of virginity. You’re a virgin until you have sex with a guy, soooo lesbians who’ve never done so are still virgins? Also the whole concept of virginity is terrible anyway. Your value is determined by that? Nope. I have to admit while I wasn’t a rage troll, I did listen to some of the detractors and was annoyed at Squeenix for supposedly sacrificing story for visuals, buuuut I kind of started going that direction in FFXII, which doesn’t have a strong main character at all. I really hate how I’ll STILL fall for things like that instead of checking them out myself, but then when I’ll post about wanting to play FFXIII, I’ll get people telling me “not to bother.” Um, can you shut up with your shitty opinion? Did I ask for it? This is also usually from my one friend who liked the dress sphere in X-2 so I really shouldn’t trust his opinion :p
The FFVII hate is either that or they didn’t get it or they didn’t care to get it. It’s one of those games that you won’t get everything out of the first or even second time you play it. Hell I’ve done nothing but think about it for the last 20 years, and I’m STILL finding new revelations. Some people just want to be entertained and not think, and FFVII doesn’t lend itself to that at all. Yeah, you can think Cloud and/or Sephiroth are awesome, Tifa is hot, Barrett is a bad ass, and Vincent is a sexy vampire, but if that’s all you’re getting out of the game, why are you even playing? Oh god, I’m shocked I didn’t hear about that spoiler before I played it, but it was only about a year after it came out so people were still being polite, and the internet wasn’t as big of a place.
I really don’t get how people don’t understand that that’s what fictional characters can do for you. You can ALWAYS look to them for guidance because the stories they’re in are their stories, but that means you can visual how they’ll act in other situations and what advice they might have to give. Lightning’s main goal was to protect her sister, so she has a protective if dominant veneer to her, so I can imagine she’s have some awesome, if blunt, advice to impart. I don’t know if you’ve read or seen Hunger Games, but that was the main character, Katniss’s, MO, too! Her sister was picked in the first book, and Katniss volunteered to save her. I won’t give anything else away, but I was absolutely shocked at how graphic that trilogy was for a YA book.
They’re just looking for excuses t hate her and it’s all bullshit. It’s like the hatred Hillary had to deal with. People hated on her for her voice, her pantsuits, her coldness, her arrogance, her ambition, but if she’d been a man, she’d be president right now, and then they’ll look you in the face and deny that! Men who are ambitious are driven and CEO material. Women who are ambitious are “bossy” and bitches. I hate the double standard to freaking much. Ughhh right?! You can’t win. They bitched about XIII being linear, now XV is too open because they complained about how linear XIII was (but from what I heard that perfectly paralleled the plot). That adage is true: You can please some of the people all of the time, all of the people some of the time, but never all of the people all of the time. I’d do the same thing because some fans will like it; some won’t, but it’s like listening to your favorite radio station. You might not like every song, but you love most of them.
One of the reasons I wrote Heart of Darkness was so that I’d have a response for Sephiroth haters, and it’s why I want to write the FFVII defense for the same reason. Though at this point, I kind of feel like those people aren’t worthy of my words, and I’d just walk away *INFJ out*
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I have no doubts some of the haters would drop off if Snow was the main character. You’re so right! I never thought of it like that. Squeenix wanted the player to focus on the story in FFXIII so that’s why they made the path through the game fairly straightforward. I was so caught up in the, what I thought was, epic story, that I didn’t even notice it was so “linear” until I read the online hate fest, after I beat it. I’m a weird person I guess. I just wanted to hurry to the next cutscene/boss battle to see what happened next. Squeenix’s plan seemed to work on me, but I can see how other people wouldn’t care for it. I’m so glad I went into the FFXIII trilogy without knowing anything about it. I fear I may have been corrupted by the hate bandwagon (it’s so easy to fall into that).
I think FFVII went over a lot of people’s heads. It’s probably the most complex story I’ve seen in a video game so far. I’m really looking forward to the remake so I can hopefully catch a bunch of the stuff I missed on my first playthrough.
I’ve actually never seen or read Hunger Games yet. I’m not really big on YA but it’s definitely something I should look into!
That stupid double standard is so annoying! Men are always seen as badass bosses, and women are just being “bitches”. I definitely think XV’s “too open” world was a knee jerk reaction to the FFXIII linearity bitchfest. I also think that Squeenix did a subtle troll to all the haters by including Cloud’s outfit in Lightning Returns, lol. I wish more developers went with their hearts instead of what they think will sell the best. Nintendo seems to be the bravest with that.
If you have fun writing it, I say who cares if the words never reach the sealed minds of the hate troll crowd. I’m a master of the #INFJDoorSlam (I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not, haha)
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I couldn’t agree more. Especially considering I’ve heard that Snow is some important person’s son, so they’d be like “Ah yes, this is excellent.” *rolls eyes* What gets me is they’ll say “We can’t identify with women/minorities.” Um…we’ve been identifying with characters that are like you for decades, soooo that sounds like you lack empathy if you can’t identify with someone who doesn’t look like you.
Have we talked about how the fans will never be satisfied? XIII is linear and they bitch. XV is open world and they complain, but the majority of Final Fantasies are linear! With VII you’re stuck in Midgar for most of Disk 1 and, um, the end of it is something totally unpreventable, though granted tons of people complain about that, too. I call them the Phoenix Downers and try to ignore them. The whole reason it was linear is to show something that VII also brought up, “There’s no getting off this train.” You can’t escape fate and you’re often pulled along a path that’s not of your choosing. I think that’s wildly clever.
I’m the same. I play Final Fantasy for the story. I like exploration and side questions sure, but the whole reason I play FF is to “hear” an epic tale. That’s what the series is about. There are tons of open world games that are more RPGish as in you play a role instead of following along a role like Skyrim is like that I believe.
VII sailed over lots of peoples’ heads. It’s more complicated them some of the books I’ve read and not just the simple/shallow ones. In all honestly while VII is my favorite story, A Song of Ice and Fire is the best I know, and that’s because it has the same paradigms as VII, but it has more examples of them. I look at it like this. If you have two ACs on a hot day, your house/room will be pretty cool, but if you have seven ACs then it’ll be freezing cold. Each AC is equal to the other, but having more makes the house/room cooler. VII is the two ACs and Song is the seven (omg that’s confusing lol). Because it has more examples of the same great thing, it’s the better story. Like I said, I STILL catch things I missed the first hundred times I thought about it lol. *wishes for that DLC that’s never going to happen*
I’m super picky about YA, and in fact it’s not one of my favorite genres, but when it’s good, it’s good. Hunger Games is one of the best. I thought I mentioned my FFVII is a dystopian YA theory, but I don’t recall lol. The main characters are in their early twenties for the most part, and it takes place in a dystopian world. FFVIII is DEFINITELY a YA “novel” hehe. It makes sense considering the demographic it was geared towards.
I love that they did that with Cloud’s outfit lol. It’s odd though. With Squeenix they seem to pander to the wrong people. Like they don’t seem to care about their core fan base. They’re probably trying to draw in the newer gamers, which is why they’re making VII more of an action RPG *rolls eyes again* not realizing it’s the older gamers who got them where they are and will support them.
I think it’s a good thing. Those people aren’t worth your time.
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You just keep on thinking you know FFXIII plot details… I’m not saying anything 🙂
One of my coworkers has played all the FF games, except XV. He likes FFXIII as much as the other games too. I was talking to him about the FFXIII hate online. He laughed and said they are ALL linear when you think about it. I’m playing FFIV still and I can say it sure feels “linear” to me. That’s not necessarily a bad thing so I don’t understand why people bash XIII with this. Phoenix Downers is the perfect was to describe them, lol. I’ll just say that if Lightning wants to get off the train, she will. It doesn’t matter what fate is planning. 🙂
I really hope Squeenix doesn’t screw up the FFVII remake by taking it in a wild new direction… *fingers crossed*
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XV has one vote on the poll hehe. I don’t think it’s going to win. I was talking to another friend about that yesterday. She WAS really into, but didn’t like that there wasn’t a ton of story and it was too open world. My point exactly. Oh, and she dropped a HUGE spoiler on me lol. But I kind of figured it was going to happen, because I’m pretty good at figuring out patterns :p Then we got into a discussion about characters’ heights because that’s what I do at work in the afternoon. There are SO many damn discrepancies with FFVII. Apparently Zack and Sephiroth are supposed to be the same height, but the Great General looks quite a bit taller in Crisis Core, but according to her other friend they screwed the heights up. Um, this is Squeenix, the MAKERS of the game. Did they mess them up or is it a discrepancy? There’s apparently this ultimate guide that says they’re both 185cm, which is like 6’1″ But I’ve heard Seph is anywhere from between 6’1″ and 6’6″ It pleases me to think of him as taller, so I’m going with head canon accepted here. I hope they don’t change anything to make it “edgier.” It’s already edgy! They announced Cloud’s voice actor today; it’s the same guy from Advent, but I really, really hope they do what they did with WOFF and offer a Japanese subtitles option. I’d pay more for that!
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XV hasn’t been spoiled for me, yet. It’s my plan to start it after VI, whenever that happens. Sephiroth seems more like a 6’6″ when I picture him when reading someone’s fanfictions 🙂 I don’t remember how Cloud sounded during Advent Children. I bet the rage trolls are surprised Ali Hillis isn’t his voice actor (I’ll stop now, lol). The Japanese voice actors seem to convey the emotions of their characters more accurately, even though I have no idea what they are saying.
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I’m going with that head canon, too. My friend is way more concerned with canon stuff than I am, but since Squeenix flip flops on things, it’s hard to tell what is and what isn’t *shrug* In my head Aeris is around 5’1″ and Sephiroth is around 6’6″ and I like that mental image of their height discrepancy, so I’m going with it! I also use my figurines for visual aids, and he’s head and shoulders taller than she is.
I never heard what he sounded like in English lol. I’ve only ever watched Advent in Japanese, because the thought of English dubbing makes me want to cry. Ali Hillis? I do not know this name hehe.
Right?? I think so, too. It’s because that’s the language it’s written in. I think that way for anything. If I can watch it in its original language, I go for that.
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Happy birthday (even though I’m a day late now)! I hope you really enjoyed your day! ❤
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That’s okay! The birthday weekend is still in full affect and danke!
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Okay, so I’m trying to be all Final-Fantasy-educated so I can have literally anything intelligent to say. Maybe Yuna? I saw a few clips on YouTube of her when I was trying to get into Final Fantasy a few years ago and figure out which game to start with, and I just liked her. She seems like the kind of person who has a lot bubbling beneath the surface and takes her job seriously, regardless of what’s going on inside her head. Take from that what you will 😉
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You have hit the nail on the head with Yuna completely. She has a TON going on below the surface and her job is her life. I have so much respect for her character, and that whole X narrative really warrants a replay in order to fully appreciate it. Granted I feel that way about all the Final Fantasies, but X really exemplifies what it means to start in media res, and replaying it with the perspective of what happens is just paramount to fully understanding what did.
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Hm, maybe I’ll put FFX on my to-watch list, then. You’ve definitely sold me on it!
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Happy belated birthday! I hope it was wonderful. 🙂
I think I probably identify most with Tifa. I tend to keep thoughts and feelings bottled up (yet another INFJ, ha) like she does.
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Thank you lady! I hope you’ve been enjoying your summer. It’s certainly been hot enough already.
Whoohoo! Join the club. I’m seeing there are a LOT of INFJs on the interwebs. It seems to be the best meeting place for us lol. Tifa could definitely rival Elsa in the “conceal don’t feel” department. This is reminding me I want to do that whole astrology/personality thingy for Final Fantasy, too. I just keep thinking of more questions for Friday!
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Those topics would make for interesting posts! And summer is so close . . . finals start next week, so I’ll be buried in law for just a little longer.
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Squall because I am not a big talker. During my teenage years I would use the phrase “whatever” quite a bit to end conversations.
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I know it’s become almost trite now, but when they were first released it really wasn’t that common to have such introverted main characters, and I think that really spoke to a LOT of people. Most MCs were hero-like, adventurous, boisterous, and outgoing, but Final Fantasy had the often shier, more reserved, what we’d call emo characters nowadays leading the pack. Representation is important, and I think that showed the less outgoing set that you could be a hero, too. Super important.
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I’ll try not to make it too deep, but I consider you my friend, so I’ll share some. 🙂 I identify most with Vivi. I’ve grown up feeling like an outcast for most of my life. It wasn’t until college and meeting my wife and changing my life around that I’ve felt better about myself. Vivi is shy and not confident in himself. And to be honest, I’ve felt that way for a long time, and even now sometimes. Definitely still shy! 😛 He goes through a lot and learns about himself and his kind, and I’ve had to learn a lot, and it hurts sometimes. But I continue trying to move on, especially with the help of friends much like Vivi has Zidane and the party. By the way, this is an aside, but I’ve also cosplayed as Vivi before. 🙂
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I knew going into this question that it could get a bit deep/personal (it certainly did for me), and I figured people would share what they felt comfortable sharing!
Vivi seems like the perfect character for you, because I can definitely see a shy character who’s encouraged to come out of his shell. This is one of the reasons I love Final Fantasy. It shows that you can accomplish anything with friendship and support, which are such integral lessons, and I really IX shows this brilliantly. Nobody would’ve been able to make that journey on their own; they all rely on each other. Even though I’m introverted and a bit of a hermit, I still have my support/friendship network. I might not always have the energy to deal with people face to face, but knowing that a friendly person is just a text or a message away means everything.
I’m truly touched and flattered that you decided to comment something a bit deep/personal. I figured I’d bare my soul a bit to hopefully make it easier for other people. Ah I’d love to see that cosplay if you’re willing to share it 🙂 I wound up finding this little figurine of him because he’s Hungry Goriya’s favorite character, too!
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Of course! I shared because I feel comfortable and consider you my friend! 🙂 Thank you for sharing as well! It’s incredibly brave of you. That’s an excellent favorite character to have! 😉 I think I’d be fine sharing it, though finding the pictures might be harder because it was in a time before iPhone cameras, haha! I might actually have them up on my Book of Faces though, haha.
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Oh what did we do before we carried around cameras in our pockets lol. I’m so amused by the memes about school where teachers used to say “You have to know arithmetic, because you won’t have a calculator with you all the time!” Well…
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