#Penelo is Sun

[mazziemay]

𝑬𝒎𝒑𝒚𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒏'𝒔 𝑬𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒕

[delflorias-steampress]

"You Sound as If You've Had Too Much Sun!"

From Lady Peneloe magazine, issue 55, 4 February 1967.

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[tarnishedxknight]

FFXII Week ~ Day 1 Prompt: "The past can bind a man as surely as irons."

{out of dalmasca} Disclaimer: This post may include canon-divergent interpretations of canon characters, info about OCs featured on this blog, and AUs that may not align with the canon plot/characters of FFXII and/or may contain triggering material.

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{out of dalmasca} This is one of the best and most meaningful quotes in the game. It definitely applies to the character who said it (Reddas), to the one he's saying it in reference to (Ashe), and then later to other characters he makes the same point with (Gabranth).

Note: The quotes I'll mention in this post were taken from the script as displayed on this site.

Here is where the quote occurs, at the Pharos, as the party is wondering whether Ashelia will choose to cut the Sun Cryst and use the nethicite shards she acquires to destroy the Archadian Empire:

Penelo: I wonder if (Ashe'll) really do it. Take revenge against the Empire. I mean, I know how she must feel. It's hard losing someone you care about. Vaan: Something we all got in common. Penelo: But, you know, no matter how hard we try, we can't change the past. There's nothing that can bring them back. Still, sometimes, when I close my eyes... I can see them so clearly. Reddas: Illusions of the past. You think to have cast them off, only to find them years later, unwearying, unrelenting. The past can bind a man as surely as irons. Cut the true path. But will she?

Obviously, Reddas understands more than most how a man's past can bind him as well as any physical restraints could. He was responsible for the Mist explosion that destroyed Nabudis, the capital of Nabradia. He used the Midlight Shard at Vayne's order, and has regretted the destruction and lives taken that day every since.

It's also relevant for Vaan and Penelo. They grew up with war in the background and lost their parents to plague. Vaan lost his older brother to war, since Gabranth killed him while impersonating Basch during Raminas' assassination. They have fond memories of their parents and some parts of their childhood, and maybe wish they could go back, but Reddas chimes in with that memorable quote to remind them that constantly looking backward can prevent you from moving forward in your life. The past must be let go of if one is to have any future.

And of course it's also relevant for who they began their conversation talking about, Ashelia. If she chose to use the nethicite on Archadia, she would be doing so out of anger and for reasons of revenge, again being controlled by her past. The true path forward, Reddas implies, is shedding all that anger and lust for revenge to accept something better.

Later on, when Gabranth makes an appearance, Reddas attempts to makes the same point again, even as Gabranth goads Ashe on in her desire for revenge:

Gabranth: Take what is yours. The Cryst is a blade. It was meant for you. Wield it! Avenge your father! [Ashe gasps, as Gabranth enters the room] Gabranth: Yes, it was I who wore Basch's face - who cut down the Life of Dalmasca. Lady Ashe! Your father's murderer is here! Ashe: You!? Vaan: And Reks! Gabranth: I slew your king. I slew your country. Do these deeds not demand vengeance? [Ashe drops the Sword of Kings, and firmly grasps the Treaty-blade] Gabranth: Yes. Good! Find your wrath! Take up your sword! Fight, and serve those who died before you! [At the end of Gabranth's line, he viciously slashes in Vaan's direction... only to be stopped by Reddas's blades] Reddas: A Judge Magister there was... 2 years past, he took the Midlight Shard and used it not knowing what he did... and Nabudis was blown away. Cid ordered this of him to learn the nethicite's true power. He swore such power would not be used again. He forsook his Judicer's plate, and his name. [Reddas steps back] Gabranth: Judge Zecht! Reddas: It's been too long, Gabranth. Reach out your hand, Lady Ashe. But that which you must grasp is beyond revenge, something greater than despair. Something beyond our reach. Try as we might, Gabranth, history's chains bind us too tightly. [Reddas attempts to strike Gabranth, but his blows are easily parried & he gets knocked down] Gabranth: No, we cannot escape the past. This man is living proof! What is your past, Daughter of Dalmasca? Did you not swear revenge? Do the dead not demand it?

Now... Gabranth is trying to push Ashelia towards violence and revenge because he was ordered by Vayne to pass judgement on her with regard to the level of threat she would pose to the Empire. If she chooses revenge, he's to kill her. But another reason why he becomes somewhat unhinged during this conversation, and even more when Basch joins in, is because he is a man most definitely bound to his own past. Gabranth can't move from perceived wrongs by Basch against him, by the grief of losing his family (and yes, that includes Basch, though he'd never admit it), and by all the suffering he's endured since then for which he feels Basch is responsible.

Gabranth can't let go of his past, and in some roundabout way, if he can get Ashelia to also give into her anger and grief, he doesn't have to. Because see? Anger, grief, resentment, and a lust for revenge are things that can't be denied. It's a way of almost justifying to himself in that moment his own rage-fueled behavior. There is also the matter of his nethicite poisoning, which may also be playing a role at this stage of the game (literally) in his erratic behavior. Lastly, one could also argue that maybe there is a shred of remorse in him for killing Raminas and/or framing Basch for it. Gabranth pushing Ashelia to get revenge on her father's murderer might be a form of self-punishment for him as well, in an attempt to give that unresolved part of his own past some closure.

Reddas pushes back against Gabranth's yes, let yourself go and do what you want! attitude, but sadly admits that, "Try as we might, Gabranth, history's chains bind us too tightly." Maybe for them, who have been steeping in their own regret, shame, anger, and failure for so long, it's already too late. But it's not too late, Reddas would argue, for the younger generation, for Ashe, Vaan, and Penelo.

There are other characters that are just as affect by - and bound to - their pasts, or at least feel they cannot escape them. Balthier still exists in the shadow of his father, even six years later, and still flees his history as an Archadian Judge. Basch still regrets his mistake decision to leave his family and homeland and flee to Dalmasca following the destruction of Landis. Fran, though she shows no signs of wanting to go back on her decision to leave the Wood where she was born, she is very emotionally affected by the fact that she can't hear its voice anymore, or at least not as well. Arguably, all the main characters are chained to their past in some way, usually by grief, regret, anger, or some combination thereof. It's a common, recurring theme of the game, and an important pearl of wisdom, for sure.

[freyayuki]

Final Fantasy Record Keeper Realm and Elemental Relic Draw Banners Part 7

Every 15 days that players log on to the Final Fantasy Record Keeper (FFRK) mobile game, they get 1 Realm/Elemental x 11 ticket.

These tickets can be used on Realm and Elemental banners for a 10 +1 pull that guarantees at least 1 relic that’s of 5-star or higher rarity. These tickets can also be obtained as special rewards from campaigns and limited events and the like.

Final Fantasy Record Keeper End of Service Announcement

Just before the Summer Sun 2022 Festival event was set to begin, an in-game message appeared, saying that Final Fantasy Record Keeper was gonna end its service on September 29, 2022.

Unexpected and unpleasant surprise doesn’t begin to cover this. I talk more about that in another post.

But I really wish that this didn’t have to happen. Don’t want to say goodbye to FFRK yet. There’s still so much that I want to do in this game. Sigh.

Anyway, I’ve already used up all of the Realm/Elemental x11 tickets that I had on hand since there was no longer any reason to save these. I talk about the results of my pulls using those tickets in another post.

It really sucks that the game didn’t even bother to update and refresh these banners.

And it would have been really nice if they’d adjusted the rates and/or made it so that players were guaranteed to get at least 1 6-star or 1 7-star relic from these banners. I mean, why not, right? After all, the game is ending already.

I’m trying to finish as much of FFRK’s content as I can before the end. I talk more about this in another post.

Some of the quests I’ve been able to clear include 1 Realm/Elemental x11 ticket as part of the rewards. Also got some tickets from clearing some of the missions in the Books of Trials.

Here are the results of my draws using those tickets:

Final Fantasy XIII Realm Banner

This draw gave me 2 6-stars. Then Dr. Mog appeared and turned 1 of them into a 7-star.

The 6-star I got turned out to be a dupe of 1 of the Awakened Arcane Soul Breaks (AASBs) of Noel Kreiss from Final Fantasy XIII (#ad). Was really annoyed when I saw the Soul Break Rank Up! screen. Noel’s AASB went from Rank 1 of 15 to Rank 3 of 15.

The 7-star I got was this boomerang.

This turned out to be the Synchro Arcane Soul Break (SASB) of Hope Estheim from Final Fantasy XIII.

It’s new and I actually have 2 of Hope’s AASBs so I’m really pleased to see this. Hope’s part of my magical and mind-based holy elemental team and my Final Fantasy 13 realm team so getting his Sync just made him even better as a DPS. IIRC, also have his holy Chain Soul Break (CSB).

Was really looking forward to being able to try out Hope in battle with his Sync but unfortunately, I ran out of time. Never got to use Hope’s Sync before the game ended.

Final Fantasy XII Realm Banner

This draw gave me my first copy of the Glint+ Soul Break (G+) of Penelo from Final Fantasy XII.

It’s new but not really pleased to see this because I’m pretty sure this is actually Lensable. Also can’t remember for sure now but I don’t think I even have a single BDL relic for Penelo or maybe I only have her AASB and 1 of her Ultra Soul Breaks (USB).

Either way, she’s definitely not one of my go-to healers. And now that the game is over, I’ll never get the chance to try out Penelo in battle.

Final Fantasy VIII Realm Banner

This draw gave me 2 6-stars. Then Dr. Mog appeared and turned one of them into a 7-star.

Was pleased when I saw Dr. Mog but that quickly turned into disappointment when the 7-star I got turned out to be a dupe of the Limit Break Overstrike (LBO) or Limit Break Over Flow (LBOF) of Rinoa Heartilly from Final Fantasy VIII.

Rinoa’s LBO, Angel Wing Permafrost, went from Rank 1 of 5 to Rank 3 of 5. Meh.

The 6-star I got was new but wasn’t really pleased to see it either since it was just a Glint+ Soul Break for a Final Fantasy 8 char.

Was so disappointed that I didn’t even bother taking note of who it belonged to. Since it’s a fist-type weapon though, this G+ most likely belongs to Zell Dincht from Final Fantasy VIII.

Final Fantasy VI Realm Banner

This draw gave me 1 5-star and 1 6-star. The 5-star turned out to be a dupe Burst Soul Break (BSB) for a Final Fantasy VI char. Since it’s a fist-type weapon, this probably belongs to Gau from Final Fantasy VI.

At least the 6-star I got was new. It turned out to be the AASB of Shadow from Final Fantasy VI.

Was really pleased to see this because I already have a few of Shadow’s relics. Have his Sync and his dark Chain Soul Break so getting his AASB just made him even better.

He’s part of my physical dark elemental team and my Final Fantasy VI realm team.

Pleased that I was able to use Shadow a bit more before FFRK ended although it wasn’t as much as I wanted. He was my dark Chain holder but with his Sync and AASB, I found that he can actually deal pretty decent damage.

Water Elemental Banner

This draw gave me 1 5-star and 1 6-star. The 5-star turned out to be my first copy of a Final Fantasy X char’s Legend Materia Relic (LMR).

LMRs have their uses but most, if not all, of them are already Lensable so meh. Wish I got something else from this pull.

The 7-star I got was the AASB of Arc from Final Fantasy III. Nice.

It’s new and pretty sure I already have Arc’s other Awakening plus a few of his other relics as well. Don’t have his Sync or Dual though.

Was planning to make use of Arc to help me with the Final Fantasy III Dragonking Dungeon quest. But I ran out of time so was never able to try out said quest before FFRK ended.

Also never got the chance to try out Arc in battle with the Awakening that I just got for him.

Ahh, really wish Final Fantasy Record Keeper didn’t have to end, at least not anytime soon. There’s still so much that I want to do in the game. And now I’ll never be able to do any of those things because it’s all over now. Sigh.

Conclusion

So what about you? Which banners did you use your Realm/Elemental x11 tickets on? How did your pulls go? What do you think about the rates on FFRK? What do you think about the fact that Final Fantasy Record Keeper is all over now? Feel free to share your thoughts and opinions by leaving a comment below or by reblogging or replying to this post.

Notes:

screenshots are from my Final Fantasy Record Keeper game account

[invisiblebounds-ffxiv]

FINAL FANTASY XII - Penelo Tribute

Music Theme  

[joulethieves]

So just realized the Garif would absolutely grow the most powerful insane dank weed in all of Ivalice. Like these guys smoke that shit 24/7 and offer it to welcome newcomers. So obviously they break out the good shit for the six wanderers, and, not wanting to be rude, Vaan is excitedly the first to take it. To Balthier’s surprise, Penelo follows. He can’t reset, so he takes a hit, followed by Fran. Basch and Ashe, not wanting to be rude, take a hit but simply hold it in their mouths before exhaling. The fallout to this is either absolute chaos or The Most Chillest Afternoon By Jahara’s Streams Under the Sun Ever

I like to think the latter, they deserve a relaxing day

[streetsteel]

Send this dum face  ⊙０⊙ and I’ll show you a canon muse I played/considered playing [closed I have like five more of these]

@infernalpursuit​ sent:  ⊙０⊙ !!

“We’re stopping here for the night.” 

“Huh? But we still have some time before sundown! We can get farther and camp there!!” Vaan interjects, but one look from Fran keeps him from adding more arguments as to why they could keep going and going until there was no more daylight. 

The kid’s energy is commendable, sure, but he’s a bit too hot-headed to make sensible decisions sometimes. Which is why it falls to... basically everyone else, if we’re being honest. 

“Certainly, Vaan, if you want to find a space to set up camp in the middle of the Tchita Uplands, be my guest.” Balthier sits on a flat rock in the small space that connects the Phon Coast and the aforementioned region. He slips a finger behind the strap holding his mules in place and removes them with a sigh of relief. He doesn’t need to lift those up to know there’ll be a river of sand flowing out the sandals—Balfonheim-style footwear is amazing in the Port, not so much for sandy beaches. 

Vaan grumbles something about being ‘proactive’ and walks off, followed by a worried Penelo who will certainly try to put some common sense into him. Better having a spot they’re sure is safe and good for camp than getting stuck with whatever they’re at when the sun goes down. 

“Are you alright?”

By now, he’s not surprised anymore when Fran sneaks to his side and only makes her presence known with words. She’s one of the woods-dwellers, and despite leaving the forest, her footsteps are still silent like snowfall. 

Balthier looks back at her, then gets back to business, clearing sand out of his sandals. 

“Never been better.”

The slight frown she gives him is also expected. She’s one of the rare people who can read him like an open book. She worries. They’ve never been so close to Archades in a long while. The return of the failed prodigy child sure took a long time, huh. 

“Fran, Fran, Fran, what kind of leading man would I be if heading into the heart of the Archadian Empire made me nervous?” He muses, tapping the end of his mules to make sure nothing was left in them. 

“A sensible, cautious one.” 

Ouch, touché. He looks back to her, eyebrows quirked upwards, a tiny smile tugging at his lips. 

“Would you ever use these words to describe a sky pirate, now?”

It’s her turn to look away with a snort. Balthier looks back towards the Tchita Uplands. He can’t see the city’s skyline yet, but he knows it’s there. Close. He can feel the nerves building up, but doesn’t voice it, doesn’t show it. 

Hell, maybe he can be a sensible, cautious man sometimes. 

FFAMRAN MIED BUNANSA/BALTHIER, FFXII STATUS: CONSIDERED A LONG TIME AGO

[sarasa-cat]

@aorin :  

Forgive me if I got the name of the series wrong. I believe it is called Invisible Sun. There's also the drabble series with paraplegic!Noah dumped in Penelo's care. I'm not sure if they are the same series so I do apologize if I got them wrong. But yes, I love them and have re-read them a couple of times. ♥️

Yes, yes, that is all part of the same series and same universe. I think I still have some of the draft chapters for Invisible Sun sitting somewhere in dropbox or google drive. When time allows, I want to organize much of my old fanfic and get all that is worth archiving onto AO3. That includes finishing and editing some of my old, mostly completed drafts that somehow got abandoned.  

[twlvie]

**LONG ASS FUCKIN POST INCOMING**

(read: tumblr mobile nerfed the readmore button)

i love my ffxii 'everyone lives but gets really, really weird au' because of some reasons

highlights: also, please read every part of this as if its' happening in a slice of life sitcom. that's how i see it and its also funnier that way

vayne is pronounced "dead" by the government (read: larsa telling everyone he's dead so he doesn't force himself to work) and lives in the archadian palace as a practical cryptid, zargabaath sees him once sneaking through the halls and almost faints because he thinks he's seen a ghost (after his 'posession' by venat his hair grows in white-grey, and he practically looks half dead once the mist leaves him, further cementing the fact that he looks like a ghost

venat personally obliterates the sun cryst and enjoys every second of it, they still attack gabs bcos they think he's trying to defend it tho. they later figure out that that was Not the case but ! whoopsies !! give it a few centuries and they will feel less bad about it

gabs now has to deal with two solidor scoundrels™,, and he is obviously in NO STATE... to deal with either of them because vayne is Absolutely Fucking Horrible at being dead and larsa is a literal child emperor who is doing his best

it's heavily implied that on vayne's Very Important And Official Visits To Draklor, For Political Purposes, Definitely Not To Hang Out W/ The Homies literally all he did was accidentally break really fragile machinery to the point that almost all of the staff knew not to let him touch anything

balthier inherits the family manse and it turns out no part of it functions ever. it's all highly mechanized but since The Father was practically living in draklor for the past 6 years it's fallen into a Bit Of Disrepair and nobody Quite Knows How to Fix It

vossler's life might be one small catastrophe to the next but he hasn't made an expression in like 10 years anyways so nobody can tell if it bothers him. basch might but if he does he doesn't mention it to anybody because gods forbid vossler INCONVENIENCES SOMEONE,,,

basch n noah get back on 'speaking terms' re: they literally make up lost time by being absolute rascals as if they were still 16 . this amuses nobody but ashe and larsa who think it's literally the funniest shit known to man.

fran becomes a viera ambassador after finally convincing jote that working in tandem with humes will help them as a whole. unfortunately she very often disappears for weeks at a time only to show up with a different, significantly more tricked-out hoverbike every time

anders/alexandra (balthier's mom, in hc,, where he got the pirate blood from) didn't die! whoops! just kind of disappeared after her private aircraft went down in the salikawood and was pronounced dead but nobody finds this out until far later and she just Shows Back Up In Archades one day like 'wassup ive been living in sochen and phon as a hunter for the past 8 years. sorry about your like whole childhood kid' and balthier just . . turns around and walks back inside like. this is enough bullshit for one lifetime ..

vaan gets a ship and names it the tiamat, penelo paints a dragon on the side of it, they become rlly mysterious sky pirates that work out of balfonheim [balthier voice]: they grow up so fast ............ :')

ashe brings in a bunch of the dalmascan lowtown kids and their parents into the palace in rasler's name, if vaan and penelo came from the slums and helped save all of ivalice, imagine what these kids could do for their future

rasler, raminas, and reks still die which makes me sad but quality of life wise i couldn't see a way to keep reks alive half dead and poisoned/raminas needed to die to progress the plot at all/rasler also had to die to let the plot advance and also like. ashe needed righteous anger in there im SORRY boys :'(

reddas helps vaan out a little bit and practically becomes vaan and penelo's dad. they love being pirates and since they're knew they get into some close scrapes but always miraculously get out of it fine... definitely not with the help of a certain pirate king...

[archadespirate-aa]

@silcncc​ said: "This place is overgrown."

          “It’s been here for a while, that’s certain.” He’s gently brushing vines off their place on the ground, his nose wrinkling in some form of dislike. “I think my ears have heard wrong- but I swear I had overheard someone saying there was something of value in here...” His attention shifts to the sky, a hand shielding his eyes from the blazing sun as he seemed to search for something that wasn’t there.

          “What do you think- should we head in without them?” Them being, of course, Vaan and Penelo. He had sent invitation their way to meet him here... perhaps Vaan had gotten lost? That would be unfortunate and, as terrible as it sounded, the two wouldn’t be able to find him. Gods know where they were coming from and where they may have gotten lost... No. Enough of that.

          “Nevermind, I’ve made up mine. Let’s head in. Finders keepers, right?”

[atopearth]

Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age Part 2 - Balthier, Ashe and Vayne + Overall Review

I am surprised at the assassination of Emperor Gramis, and I’m not sure what to think of it. I wouldn’t discount Vayne from being capable of killing his father, since really, killing him presents more pros than cons, especially considering his old age and his alignment with peace (like Larsa) rather than war and military might (that Vayne grew up with and believes in). In addition, with the greedy Senate constantly trying to put Larsa as a puppet on the throne, Vayne needs to solidify his rule if he wants to protect Larsa and the Empire imo. Tbh, with how Vayne seems to be, I feel like he wants to do all the dirty work and then have Larsa get to live peacefully or something. On the other hand, Gabranth seems rather loyal to Gramis, since he was giving him updates on Vayne. He also seems to be aligned with Larsa, it was kinda hard to watch him have to kill the other lady Judge that was on his side to prove his fealty to Vayne though.

Who would have thought that Balthier was once upon a time a judge for a brief time? And to think that his father is the Cid guy at Draklor lab obsessed with nethicite. I think it must have been pretty disheartening to see his father like that and even have to make the choice to run away instead of staying with him. I think I can kinda understand better why Balthier chose to continue to go on this journey with everyone. He’s been running away from everything all this time, he probably thinks that it’s about time he faced it all, especially when despite all his efforts to escape from his father etc, in the end he gets roped up with Ashe and them anyway. It was nice of Balthier to tell Ashe his story hoping that she wouldn’t follow in the footsteps of his father, and be obsessed with the powers of a stone to rule Dalmasca. Cid seems pretty interesting! Not only does he have Venat (one of the Occurians, a heretic though) beside him, but I thought his plan to lead the party to Giruvegan to get the nethicite/treaty sword was smart. Well, the party don’t really have a choice either way though even if it’s a trap, since they do need the power, and only Ashe could have been chosen by the Occurians to wield it (due to her having the Dynast-King’s blood). I have to say though, Giruvegan was an annoying place lmao, I honestly didn’t remember anything much about FFXII, but I definitely remember summoning Belias to get through, and I probably got lost the first time as well, because dang were those areas a hassle to get through lol. But seriously, you can tell with how the Occuria acted with Ashe that they see humans as beneath them, and they just want to use Ashe to destroy the Empire because they’re trying to forge a future without their “guidance”. Yay, I always love guests so it’s nice to have Reddas join the party to venture to the Sun-Cryst. It’s kinda interesting how big of a decision Ashe will have to make when she gets there though. Will she choose to destroy it and all the nethicite or will she choose to break a piece off of it to make nethicite strong enough to fight against the Dawn Shard etc? It’s kinda nice but also saddening that Balthier is leaving the Strahl (his airship) to Vaan if anything were to happen to him…

I thought it was pretty cool to see how so many people around Ashe were trying to influence her decision, especially with the appearance of Gabranth revealing why Reddas decided to come here with them; it’s because he was also an ex-Judge, and he used the Midlight Shard once upon a time and destroyed Nabudis. It was because of that, he wanted Ashe to not repeat his mistake. Cid is certainly pretty out of his mind due to his research and will to experiment, it’s kinda saddening that Balthier and the others had to kill him in order to stop him. At the same time though, I feel like for Cid, he feels sane whilst insane? Haha. Is this the first time a Cid in the FF games has been evil though? How interesting~ Didn’t think the Sun-Cryst would go crazy like that though, it was disheartening to watch Reddas sacrifice his life to break it using the sword, never really realised that anyone could wield the sword to break it though, I thought it had to be Ashe lol. Either way, a difficult end, but something that one of them had to do. To think that the Sun-Cryst awakened Bahamut though! That is something to look forward to. Terrible that the impending war is now practically happening now though, and Dalmasca will be the battleground. Larsa’s heart is in the right place, but Vayne is right, if Larsa wants to show and prove that Vayne’s methods are wrong, he needs to muster the power to show him that his way is right then. Vayne is ruthless but that’s how he’s survived all this time and protected Larsa. It’s not easy when he has to put his guard up against most of the people around him. It was pretty brutal when Vayne shot that laser and destroyed a few of the Marquis’ ships, the Marquis honestly really doesn’t have much of a choice but to rely on Ashe and party to stop Vayne from inside the Bahamut tbh. I guess it’s good that Larsa is helping them out lol.

Well that last bit leading to the ending wasn’t long at all! Legit just defeat Gabranth and then killed three forms of Vayne and you’re done! Anyway, I’m not sure how I feel about the ending because it felt kind of rushed. But I guess I didn’t mind it either. I really liked how loyal Gabranth was to Larsa, so it was kinda saddening to see him die, but I think it was great to see Basch fulfill his dying wish by succeeding him as a judge and thus supporting Larsa’s rule. I think it’s really interesting how they truly are twins in the sense that even though they were on different sides, their loyalty to their liege was very similar throughout the game. Honestly though, it’s hard to think of Vayne as an “evil” person, like yes, he’s done terrible things that has caused people to die, I don’t doubt that, but I think you can really understand his motivations? He’s always been protective of Larsa, so a lot of my impressions of what Vayne did kinda felt like he set up everything that came to be through his regime of violence was so that he could give the best setting for Larsa’s idea of peaceful negotiations between countries to come to be. With the state of the Empire as it was when Gramis was alive or even when he died etc, it was obvious that Larsa didn’t have the power and influence to achieve what he wanted, but through Vayne’s actions, people were able to see the contrast between them. Also, Vayne needed to ensure that the Occuria who still think they have the right to interfere and rule over humans had no more power in doing that, in order to ensure that Larsa in the future wouldn’t have to encounter such problems. Destroying the Sun-Cryst fulfilled that and I’m happy they were able to free humanity even if their methods were questionable. I think Vayne underestimated Larsa’s strength and conviction though, but I think he’d be happy if he was wrong about that imo. 

Anyway! Seeing Balthier the leading man protect Dalmasca by directing the falling Bahamut elsewhere with Fran was awesome! I knew he wouldn’t die, but I found it hilarious how later on, he just randomly took his Strahl back from Vaan and Penelo who were maintaining it hahaha. I also found Penelo’s new look really cute! Much better than her old look haha. It would be nice to see it as a costume in DFFOO! I find Ashe’s ending rather lonesome and saddening? She did everything to reclaim her throne and her people, and yet in the end, she loses the people she journeyed with to become Queen. I guess it’s normal though, and I guess like Penelo, I do hope that Basch can one day go back to be beside her. It’s nice to see that Vaan and Penelo get to be like Balthier and Fran, and travel together as sky pirates haha. I wish we actually got to see Balthier and Fran again though. Oh well.

Overall, honestly FFXII kinda renders the same feelings I did when I first played it, maybe it’s a bit more positive this time though! Like, really, I did enjoy the story but I definitely found the characters and their development lacking, mainly everyone aside from Balthier, Vayne and maybe Ashe, but then Ashe only really drives the story and doesn’t really thrive as a character so hmm. I feel like they could have added more scenes to really develop the others because I felt that I was just following along for the story, but didn’t really care for the characters. I still really liked Balthier’s personality and his background though and I find that the highlight of FFXII, especially when he interacted with Ashe and kinda told her about his past. But yeah, there were a lot of scenes I liked and I did enjoy it overall, but I’m not a fan of the gameplay either, so I kinda gave up on the side missions hahaha. I honestly took so long to finish the game because I just couldn’t get into it lol. BUT, I love how customisable the gambits are omg! It’s so crazy how much time I put into experimenting with them haha, but despite that, I found the gameplay rather tedious so I just went through the story. And yes, the story is really short imo, it felt like it would have been a great movie instead haha. Also yes, if FFVII Remake had even a tiny bit of these gambits, I think I would have cried in frustration less lmao. Anywho! Nice story, execution kinda choppy and short but still good, gameplay average, and characters just a means to an end. 7/10 imo haha.

[astoryisaloveaffair]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Final Fantasy XII Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Balthier/Fran Characters: Balthier (Ivalice Alliance), Fran (Ivalice Alliance), Vaan (Ivalice Alliance), Penelo (Ivalice Alliance) Additional Tags: Post-Ending, Angst and Fluff Summary:

It’s funny that it should be sunny, he thought. Usually at this point in the story, it’s cloudy and stormy as everyone laments the tragic death of the lost heroes. But I’ll take sun if I can get it.

[auronlu]

Every now and then I spend about a week rereading @twigcollins ' moments in another time series. It's an engrossing, engaging, fascinating, slightly AU reading of FFXII: what came before, what was happening behind the scenes, and all the party interactions the game didn't have time for.

The worldbuilding in this collection of fics is brilliant. It ties together so many details the game never fully explained, developing Vayne and Cid and Penelo and Fran and Balthier into more complex characters based on in-game hints and clues, extrapolating from canon and yet also applying some jaw-dropping additions to the story that really work.

(What was the Sun Cryst for, anyway? HOW did the Dynast King use the shards to bring peace? What was Cid trying to do? What was Vayne really trying to do? What was working at Draklor like? Living in Lowtown? Life before the war? The culture of Balfoheim? Etc, etc, etc. So much of the Ivalice and characters we love, with depth and context added in a way that feels true to the spirit of the world and game.)

I've ranted again and again about one fic in this series, A Kind of Integrity, Fran & Balthier's backstory, told from Fran's perspective. I LOVE THIS FIC. But there's much more than just that one story. There's one-shots, shortfics, and other multichapter stories.

There's a couple stories from Penelo's POV which I especially appreciate, because she's easy to overlook, yet she's tied into the everyday world and life of the city of Rabanastre, the lower classes and regular people caught up in these epic events.

There's also a great twist on the Vayne & Cid side of things to give them more interesting motives and a coherent throughline.

I love the way this series plays with multiple, conflicting worldviews of different characters -- it's not only Ondore slanting truth according to his own lights.

Oh, and there's some delightful hints of Larsa/Penelo; Larsa is aged up slightly in this AU to make that less awkward.

I know the next time I replay FFXII, I won't be able to help playing it with bits of this series in mind.

TL;DR: If you love FFXII, browse this series. There's stories of every length, and I suspect like me you'll find yourself sucked in.

[tarnishedxknight]

Headcanons: Gabranth's Physical and Mental Condition/Status From the Pharos Onward

{out of dalmasca} Not my day on the rp schedule to be on this blog, but I've finally finished watching the FFXII "movie" to refresh myself and I've got some things to say. It took me long enough to find time over several months to do it, haha, but it's finally done. For anyone else who wants a refresher or even if you've never played the game before, the movie I watched is here. It distills it down to important cutscenes, conversation, and major quests/battles that are essential to the main story. So if you don't want to play the game or just don't have the time, that movie will tell you everything you need to know about it! =)

Below the cut are some thoughts/headcanons I'd like to share after finishing the movie, while it's still fresh in my mind! Note: this concerns my version of Noah/Gabranth on this blog and will be very canon-divergent.

Having finished the movie, I've got some comments and headcanons I'd like to discuss. I also want to make sure everyone understands how I write Gabranth, because he's very canon-divergent. Because of the way the main FFXII game was chopped up when they decided to change who the main protagonists were, I've had to extrapolate, assume, fill in, speculate, and use a bit of imagination to explain a number of things that happened to Gabranth in the final phase of the story. I'd like to clear some things up as far as how I choose to write him and what I think was going on with him towards the end of the story and his life.

Also I realize now that I got some of the conversations mixed up with regard to timing when I was answering some asks of late, so... oops my bad. I haven't played it in a long time so some of the more important conversations were all jumbled in my head. Don't mind me, I'm just constantly putting the whole game in a mental blender and using whatever I want where I want, hahaha.

Okay. So. When they decided to create Vaan and Penelo and make them the main protagonists and focus instead of Basch and Gabranth, the development team removed the third act of the story, among other things, that detailed the story between Basch and Gabranth. That’s why it’s never said in the game that Gabranth has nethicite poisoning, or what the two brothers are even feuding about beside Basch who “fled our homeland,” as Gabranth put it. That’s also why the last part of the game seems rushed and thinner on story than the rest of the game, because they removed a lot of it.

Specifically, they removed a lot that occurred in between the battle with Gabranth/Cid at the Pharos and the final showdown on the Bahamut. Me and Noah's other mun ( @greyingeneral ) have tried to piece together what the rest of the story and missing details from that omitted third act might have been by looking at the manga, dev notes, Gabranth’s game mechanics, and his list of abilities/spells. Below is how I interpret my version of Gabranth based on everything I've researched and discussed with others as well as how I piece together the parts of the game in trying to fill the gaps where missing material once was.

At the point of arriving to confront Basch, Ashe, & Co. at the Pharos, Gabranth’s nethicite poisoning was catching up with him and addling his mind, hence his erratic and aggressive behavior. It is canon that exposure to nethicite makes one more aggressive (e.g. what happened to Bergan and Vayne). Gabranth was also reacting to the increase in Mist at the highest ascent of the Pharos. Just like the Bahamut absorbed the Mist released from Reddas destroying then Sun Cryst, so too would Gabranth’s body begin accumulating it too. He already has some Mist inside him from the nethicite poisoning he acquired in Landis. Mist… likes itself, heh. It will accumulate itself like a magnet, “sticking” to magical things or to things which already contain Mist and causing it to intensify. So Gabranth was feeling the simultaneously detrimental and invigorating effects of this increase in Mist exposure when he confronted the party.

Now… I headcanon that Gabranth actually died at the Pharos when Cid/Venat threw him against the wall. He heals fast due to the Mist in his body, but not that fast at that point in his life, and things can still kill him like they kill a regular human. My best guess is that he slammed his head so hard or maybe his back was broken from the impact of hitting the stone wall, and that’s how he died.

There’s a surprising amount of support for this in canon. First of all, that’s why you just… don’t hear from him again until later. He doesn’t help anymore against Cid, doesn’t confront Basch again, doesn’t try to follow the party, no one's talking about him anymore, nothing. Because he’s dead.

Second, if you look at his game mechanics before the Pharos and then after, his abilities and spells skew more towards magic than purely martial or weapon-based abilities, and he acquires a lot of magic and special abilities that are consistent with revenants and other undead creatures in the game. How do I know that? Because they match some of the abilities/spells of actual revenants, ghosts, wights, etc. that you can fight if you venture into the Necrohol of Nabudis. Which, I remind you, is full of undead creatures and people who were reanimated by the Mists that resulted from Reddas (then Judge Zecht) detonating the Midlight Shard. So, Gabranth was accumulating a lot of Mist from the charged environment at the highest ascent of the Pharos, he seems to just drop out of the story completely for a while following what looks to be a high impact blow to his head and back, and his abilities/spell list change from that of a Judge Magister to something more matching a revenant type creature by the time we see him again in the Bahamut… everything seems to add up that there's been a significant change in him.

But that’s not all. Basch’s reaction to Gabranth upon seeing him at the Bahamut is, “So, you have lived.” He sounds… surprised. Inasmuch as Basch ever shows emotion about anything, I mean that was… surprised… for him. XD But even so. Why would he be surprised? Because they already checked his body at the Pharos and knew he was dead. There’s a delay in between death and reanimation, so it wouldn’t have happened right away. And because Gabranth wasn’t in a full-scale nethicite explosion as the people of Nabudis, the Mist wouldn’t be quite as intense, so it might take longer to reanimate him.

There is also the question of how Gabranth got to the Bahamut in the first place, and more importantly, how he got there almost as fast as the rest of Ashe and her party. Aside from the fact that we never got told what Gabranth’s ship was, if he even had one (I gave him one, because come on), we never really see him move… anywhere. It’s always… sure I’ll go, and then… I’m there. XD But even if he woke up seconds after the party left, got on his ship, and immediately set course for the Bahamut… how did he know to go there? He was unconscious (or dead, or in-between life and death) during that entire conversation where they decided where to go.

One might say, well Vayne over on the Bahamut knew of Cid’s fate, so that means Gabranth must have gone to the Bahamut, beat Ashe & Co. there, and told him, right? Nope, it was Venat. Occuria can move damn fast, they’re incorporeal, heh. As the party was arriving at the Bahamut, Vayne already knew what happened to Cid and was saying things like, “What say you, Venat?” So Vayne was already talking to him then. Her? It? Did they ever say? I’m not sure, but regardless, heh. Vayne didn’t mention Gabranth at all, which means he might not have known what became of him, or he didn’t care, both are equally plausible. And when Gabranth next encounters Vayne, he’s… challenging him. So I don’t think Gabranth would have quickly run over to Vayne to tell him what was going on because at that point, his loyalties were 100% with Larsa and out in the open.

So how did Gabranth get to the Bahamut so fast? The party took him there. I headcanon that either the party, out of respect for the fact that he was Basch’s brother, or maybe Basch himself decided it, took Gabranth’s body with them and kept it on the Strahl. Maybe he was even laid where we see him lying at the very end of the game, where he later finally died permanently. They were merely saving the body for later burial or maybe for return to Archadia, and when they docked at the Bahamut, left the Strahl, and went to confront Vayne, Gabranth woke up shortly after that, now some sort of raised, in-between, revenant-like being but not realizing it, and left as well. Realizing where he was, his first thoughts would have been of protecting Larsa, so he would’ve been trying to find him and ran into the party along the way.

This also explains why Gabranth kept going after several devastating injuries. After being so badly injured at the Pharos as to be effectively taken out of the plot for a time, he comes back wounded and weaker but still able to fight. Basch & Co. beats him again, and he falls. They leave to confront Vayne, and Gabranth gets up again, and is able to fight Vayne despite the fact that he should be almost dead. After Vayne fatally wounds him (you can only kill a revenant with fire/explosion, decapitation, or bifurcation, and the consensus after reading various sources is that Vayne almost bifurcated Gabranth’s body at the waist with one of his attacks (I've seen it mentioned in more than one place but can't find a canon source), enough to kill him, but just not instantly), he falls and seems to die. Then later we see he’s barely alive on the Strahl, though this time when he “dies,” it’s permanent. The fact that he keeps getting wounded to the point of what looks like death but then keeps coming back is consistent with revenant game mechanics. They have regeneration abilities. So if he can just stay “alive,” his body will continue to regenerate itself. Only Vayne’s devastating attack on him at the end of the game is enough to kill him, with the effects of the wound (damage to major organs and bleeding out) taking hold faster than his body could regenerate.

So… is Gabranth alive, dead, undead, or what at the end of the game? I hesitate to say he’s undead. He’s not rotting, he doesn’t look undead, he still has his sanity despite being a bit unhinged at times, and some of the most specific undead traits and abilities that others have in the game, he doesn’t have. I do think he “died” at the Pharos, but he’s a special case. He’s been living with a low level of Mist in his body for more than half his life. I think when he wakes up after the Pharos, he’s something between life and death, an immortal maybe, more like a vampire. In defiance of death but no longer completely a mortal being. Not invincible, mind you, the rules of killing a revenant still apply, but I think… immortal. I think he will stop aging from that point, and if nothing manages to kill him, he will live indefinitely.

Then why do I write him as “dying” from ailments associated with his nethicite poisoning (lung issues, his cough, issues with his eyes and mental health, etc.)? Two reasons. First, that’s what he believes (but of an unreliable narrator situation going on here) and what all doctors who attended to him in Archadia believed because that’s the syndrome of nethicite poisoning usually entails. But people with nethicite poisoning usually die a lot faster, or they’re a lot sicker that he is. So...

...he’s definitely a special case, and I think it has to do with Ashe’s special brand of Dynast magic. I headcanon that the magic of the Dynast Kings is the only type that can fully and permanently heal/cure nethicite poisoning. When Basch’s own poisoning (he left Landis but was still exposed by the initial explosion) caused him to eventually fall deathly ill, a very young Ashelia who was still learning her magic made a child’s wish that her dear friend would get better soon and accidentally cast her first major healing spell, unwittingly curing him. What does this have to do with Gabranth? I'm getting to that, heh.

This heads right into another headcanon I have, and that is that Basch and Gabranth, as twins (identical, no less) share a soul. For all you MCU fans on this blog, it’s absolutely like Wanda and Pietro. They sometimes feel what is happening to the other or know what the other is thinking, and some things that affect one, can potentially affect the other. When Ashe cured Basch years ago, some of that healing bled through the bond and healed Gabranth without him even knowing. All he knows is that he woke up one morning feeling freaking awesome for no reason, lol. From then on, Gabranth became this strange combination of low-level poisoned, partially healed with ancient Dynast magic, still having Mist in his body, but living with this weird stasis of his body breaking down with Mist-caused illness and simultaneously regenerating itself also because of the Mist. So that very unique set of circumstances and characteristics resulted in Gabranth becoming… something no one has ever seen before.

So I consider him either back from the dead, kindof, or alive but with one foot on the other side, heh. Like... someone who's been touched by death, or who is forever changed by the experience of having experienced death for a time, like people who have near-death experiences and claim to never be the same again. Not undead, not dead, but not 100% alive either, not in the traditional sense. Like an immortal vampire without the blood-sucking, heh. He's his own being, heh.

Okay, now that I've explained that (if it made any sense at all haha), I just have some more comments on Gabranth's emotional ranting at the Pharos, specifically with what he kept saying to Ashelia. (If you want to watch the scene I'm going to describe, you can start here and watch until 5:30:35.) He seemed to be egging her on, to choose violence and revenge, and it begs the question... why? Does he want to kill her? Was he looking for a reason? And why would that be? He really has nothing against her personally and in the grand scheme of things, she wasn't that valuable of a playing card to him as far as his goal of stabilizing the Empire. Actually, goading her into using the nethicite could obliterate Archadia, so why... would he push her to do that? It doesn't seem to make a lot of sense, but to me it kindof does.

If you listen to Gabranth talk during this time, he's breathing really hard, like he's strained or he can't catch his breath. He also sounds angry, emotional, erratic, and volatile. All of that is because he's reacting to the Mist, although he really doesn't realize that. Despite him merely going there to assess where Ashelia's head is at and to pass judgement accordingly, he starts pushing her to choose revenge, saying, "Why do you hesitate? Take what is yours. The cryst is a blade. It was meant for you. Wield it. Avenge your father. Yes, it was I who wore Basch's face, who cut down the life of Dalmasca. Lady Ashe, your father's murderer is here! I slew your king. I slew your country. Do these deeds not demand vengeance?" When she picks up the sword, he continues, "Yes! Good! Find your wrath! Take up your sword. Fight, and serve those who died before you!

Ashe ultimately decides against using the nethicite for revenge, and goes on to say, "Even with power we cannot change the past. What is done, is done." To which Gabranth replies, "Yet without power, what future can you claim? What good a kingdom you cannot defend? You claim no need of power? What of your broken kingdom's shame? The dead demand justice!"

There's... a LOT to unpack in what Gabranth is saying. Personally, I think he's projecting all over Ashe. Read his lines again, but this time imagine he's talking to himself about Landis. Imagine he's talking about his own rise to power in Archadia, feeling he needs it to avenge the past, to somehow change it, because he's stuck in it still. Imagine also that when all his power is stripped away, deep inside, he thinks very little of himself. He blames himself for Landis, for his own perceived weakness. The fact that he would serve Archadia after it destroyed Landis deep down really disgusts him. The fact that he murdered King Raminas disgusts him. The fact that he didn't avenge the dead of Landis disgusts him.

Think about things in that context and read his lines again. They suddenly start to be a lot less about Ashelia and what she should do for Dalmasca, and start to sound a whole lot more like Gabranth itemizing his own failures, regrets, and self-loathing. It's almost like he's yelling at himself when he's yelling at her, as if to say... Aren't I a terrible person? I should be punished for the things I've done. I should be ashamed. What about my fallen homeland? I should have avenged the past and the dead.

And then of course the fact that Basch chooses that choice moment to interject only pours salt on Gabranth's wounds. Basch is the absolutely worst person to try and de-escalate the situation, because Gabranth is already agitated beyond what he can control because of the Mist. He's not going to calm down, he's going to rage against Basch. Mist doesn't just make you crazy and aggressive, it makes you emotional as well. It can bring to the surface things you normally wouldn't express.

Basch says, "Then I will defend queen and kingdom both." And then... Gabranth starts projecting again. "Hah! Defend? You? You who failed Landis and Dalmasca? What can shame hope to keep safe? Your shield is shattered! Your oaths poisoned those you would protect!" That's... All of that is Gabranth feeling like things are falling apart, like he's failed Larsa, like he's failed the Empire that he shouldn't really even be serving in the first place. He's poisoned all he would protect. But nope, it's Basch's fault! Everything bad in his life is Basch's fault because that original sin of Basch abandoning him and Landis so many years ago was what Gabranth felt ruined his peace of mind and his life forever. Nothing was the same after that and he became a terrible all person because of Basch. So he lashes out at him. It's... a whole lot of projecting, and frankly, ranting. He's not a well person at this point. It's almost like he's on a drug the way he's racing and raging. Sad, really. I feel badly for him at that point because there's so much pain in what he's saying but he just won't admit it. I just want to hug him, heh, he really needs it.

Alright, this post is getting long enough. XD If I think of anything else, I'll add to this, but I just wanted to get it all down somewhere while it was fresh in my mind. Feel free to comment on any of this if you like, or to use the information in it as fuel for threads, starters, AUs, whatever, as this is the main way I choose to write my version of Noah/Gabranth most of the time.

[adalheidis]

A redesign of Penelo for completion sake. I imagine she’s had to do a lot of errands in the desert and while obviously Dalmascan citizens don’t care for protections, I still wanted to give her a more functional garb that could help with the sun and the sand.

[invisiblebounds-ffxiv]

~ A little surprise! ~ F’raneh Yamir & Iris Valeth

Minwhile I’ve been finishing my Penelo’s cosplay I have a ninja style visit! A little Iris apear over my feet! Look at this cutie! Seriously, Iris made my day! :*