#ffx-2 meta

[ageofzero]

Yuna is the antagonist of a potential Final Fantasy X-3, thank you for coming to my TED Talk

edit: okay I'll put it under a read more since it'll be a long post (but not as long as my entire conversation was), but what's promised is due.

Now that I have to make the post for real I had to do some wiki reading on what the actual Things going on in the novella were, and… well, a lot of my theorycrafting was based on incomplete and kinda inaccurate information. BUT I can’t read Japanese, the book was never released here, and I am going to go with rule of cool for a little bit of this even as I keep the stuff that sounds kinda dumb on the surface. I’ll be the first to say that Tidus exploding from a bomb he thinks is a blitzball is dumb (true), and Chuami thinking she’s Auron’s daughter is a dumb plot beat (petty), but I’m weaving this bridge and I’m not going to rewrite those. I am going to change some contexts and make them exist in a narrative that I hope is compelling. That’s my disclaimer, now I’m gonna get into it.

SO.

The scenario from the novella and audio drama is thus: Tidus died again in an accident, and Yuna brings him back. But he’s not back in the same way that the Fayth gave this dream a real living body at the end of X-2. The official term for it is “beckoned”, but I probably won’t use that to describe him based on my previous understanding. No matter if he’s beckoned or not, or whatever terminology you want to use, the thing is that Yuna summoned him back. She’s holding him to life, and he can never know. It’s been a year since the moment Tidus died, and Yuna has seemingly regressed into patterns that put her into what was once Yevon’s circle. Tidus is looking injured/weakened (“Chuami: It wasn’t just [Tidus’s] words that felt hollow. When I shook his hand, his grip felt weak and lifeless... I think he’s injured. Or maybe he’s sick or something.”), and people are looking to Yuna for help or information regarding the strange not-quite Unsent (the beckoned) that are appearing in places in Spira. Help she is not capable of giving. Wakka and Lulu are protecting her as she prays in Besaid Temple. The world is seemingly acting out, with a second shoopuf appearing in the Moonflow and its energies overflowing and drawing more illusions into reality. (“Yuna: The Moonflow energy is responding to the will of the living. It’s as if… we’re in the Farplane.”) And it’s more vivid than what the Farplane is capable of, even breaking the rules of “beckoning”. This is something new, something worse. Something worse enough to bring back Sin (which I thought was just me extrapolating a potential, but they actually mention it in the audio drama that it happens). Yuna promises the people that she will defeat Sin, but Wakka tries to keep her from being made to promise such a thing at first, which is an interesting choice (“Wakka: Yuna, let’s go back to Besaid. They’ll push this all on you… Sin is for summoners, in their minds.”).

Where does the world go in this present circumstances? Why IS Yuna seemingly content to do what chafed her in the Eternal Calm short movie and stay praying in Besaid and helping the elders who are lost now that Yevon as they knew it is in shambles? Why are Lulu and Wakka enabling and protecting her in that? Why is Tidus looking injured and weak and why is Yuna keeping him at arm’s length? Why does she tell him that she’s fallen in love with someone else?

I know the typical story beat interpretation is “Yuna told him that and pushed him away so he wouldn’t be in danger for what she needs to do, bc defeating Sin caused his death last time”. But hear me out. Yuna knows Tidus isn’t alive. She knows that revealing that information to him will cause him to disappear again. She’s actively summoning him back to life and he has no idea (but he must suspect something is wrong, even before Yuna formally pulls away from him, he’s weakening and he probably doesn’t feel right in his own skin). I posit that her maintaining Tidus’s life is what she’s really doing praying in the Besaid Temple. She doesn’t want to get involved with the Moonflow situation, the shoopuf or the overflowing energy of the Moonflow itself. She doesn’t even really act when seeing all the ghosts in the crowd, and actively stops Kurgum from acting (plausible deniability: she and everyone else decide that sending them in that moment would be the wrong call and riots would break out, but that density of ghosts means that’s a significant amount of pyreflies that could become fiends at any moment).

I posit that Yuna’s powers are working, that people close to her think her powers aren’t working (Lulu and Wakka), and she’s hiding it from everyone else. That her powers aren’t working because she’s currently using them to maintain Tidus’s existence. And this maintaining is breaking the Farplane in half, because she’s powerful but has no idea what she’s doing. (Why would she really know what she’s doing or the consequences? Who has any information of what she’s doing and what will happen if she does it?) I posit that Yuna’s love for Tidus is so strong that it corrupts her sense of right and wrong. X-2 is Yuna largely going on a personal quest, and incidentally helping people but separating herself from the title of High Summoner and doing something she wants to do. Rikku encourages her to do something for herself for a change right before she agrees and runs off to become a sphere hunter. She still saves the world, this time from an ancient danger Old Yevon buried and an Unsent is threatening to use (for love, notably), but she did it in the course of looking for Tidus. Who the Fayth return to life, who she hugs and is so so relieved to have in her arms again.

She’s not going to let him go, she couldn’t let him die again so much that she called him back to life.

(side note: I never truly knew how this happened so I had to consult the wiki page on the novella, and I suspect what original information I was working with was misrepresented and misinterpreted. I openly admit that the wiki page doesn’t really help me fully understand what happened, aside from explaining how Tidus ended up in proximity to a bomb. My understanding from someone’s explanation was that an Unsent summoner on the island Yuna and Tidus got washed up on after a storm told her she could call back the dead if she wanted, as a summoner. They’re all made of pyreflies, Aeons and Fiends and People and Unsent alike, and summoners are in the business of manipulating pyreflies. Either calling them from the Fayth to form an Aeon, or Sending them to the Farplane so they do not become Fiends. A summoner with enough power could summon someone back from the dead, could they not? And this Unsent summoner knew how it worked, and told Yuna how to do it. But I don’t know how real that scene could be, or how accurate it is to what’s written in the book. It’s my rule of cool moment, though, and I worked with that as my understanding when I made this theory. We have to make our peace with that, if you’ll allow me this extrapolation of Spira’s rules and a summoner’s powers.)

(The meme is Tidus kicking a blitzball and it turned out it was a bomb and his head gets blown off, but wiki says they ended up on a vision of a Besaid from 1000 years ago, and the bomb was something neither Tidus or Yuna had seen before and to them it looked like a blitzball. So, Tidus approached what he thought was a blitzball, wondering who’s ball it was, and it exploded as he reached it. I still think that’s really dumb but I’m not editing it out bc Tidus’s death creates very interesting consequences.)

So, if Yuna is summoning Tidus back to life, and she desperately doesn’t want him to find this out so she avoids him and pushes him away through any means necessary, but he’s still weakening and fading enough to be noticeable by people… perhaps also himself… Yuna returning to Yevon in some capacity could just as likely be her looking for a means to keep feeding power to this summoning she’s doing so she doesn’t lose him. And what kind of consequences does it have to do this? He’s being summoned, but he’s not actually an Aeon. He’s not an Unsent, he’s not just being beckoned. He wasn’t even real, he was a dream in a summon held together by the raw power of Yu Yevon turning into Sin. The Moonflow overflowing and seeing a long-dead shoopuf is the least of the consequences. The Farplane is delicate, it requires careful maintenance, and here Yuna is shoving her foot in the door and holding it open for a solid year! And no one knows she’s doing this! Spira’s past is full of history, some of that long-buried secrets that no one was supposed to find again. Sin wasn’t supposed to be able to come back, but the ghosts aren’t staying ghosts anymore (“Lulu: I mean Sin came back, right? What’s to stop anything else from coming back?”).

Even people who only know her by reputation seem to think she’s acting strangely (“Kurgum: I thought Lady Yuna was… a righteous person.”), because something is wrong and no one can put their finger on what. Who would have the pieces to put any of this together, and who would even suspect Yuna in the first place? She’s actively not getting involved in politics, she’s locked herself in Besaid, she seems reluctant to answer someone she worked with and should be amicable with now (Baralai).

I think the story should follow down this path, I think it should find Yuna at the end of it, once savior and now destroyer. She’s willing to let the world rip apart in order to keep Tidus, and I think that’s a compelling premise for X-3. The past surging forward like ghosts, vengeful and lost and wanted and terrifying. Who sides with Yuna (Wakka, Lulu) and covers up the problem? Who bands together to face down the High Summoner (Tidus, Rikku)? Who doesn’t know where to place their allegiance, or who changes sides when they realize the extent of what Yuna’s hiding? What does she do when she’s faced with her friends, and the person she loves so much, telling her to stop?

There’s a line in Eternal Calm where Yaibal (named in X-2 but not in the movie itself), after asking about whether or not she’d be joining one of the factions, if she’d be making a faction of her own. And I think in this potential X-3, she’s making her own faction through the actions of becoming antagonist. She’s made Wakka cover for her, she acts in a way that make Lulu and Wakka both protect her regardless of whether or not they know what she’s doing. I think it would be so fascinating to make this a conscious decision on her part. Things have broken so utterly, and she’s desperate to hold them together, and becomes the antagonist in the process.

Squeenix would never do it, they’d never be so bold as to make Yuna the antagonist and follow through on this trajectory of her lying to people to hide that she’s the one breaking the world in half (up to returning the ghost of Sin itself to terrorize Spira). Sin isn’t the final boss in this one, it’d have to be Yuna, we have to stop her and fix what went wrong. It’s not ever gonna happen, but I still think Yuna should be the antagonist of X-3.

[dankokaji]

Fandom: Final Fantasy X | X-2 | -Will-

Characters: Shinra, Baralai, Paine

Pairings: Hints of Baralai/Yuna

Rating: PG

Word Count: 3000

Additional Tags:

Post-FFX-2, Before -Will-, Meta, Worldbuilding, Fiend Tales, Shinra's Bestiary, Shinra's Adopted Now, Big Daddy Baralai, Auntie Paine, One Big Happy Family, Domestic Fluff, Slice of Life, Platonic Relationships

Summary: Shinra almost brought about the apocalypse twice in the name of research during Baralai's ill-timed, sudden disappearance under Shuyin's possession. As the Chancellor, Baralai takes responsibility, fostering him in the meantime to stall his sentence while the Spiran Council screens through his entire bestiary.

[A Companion Fic to Last Will & Testament. Takes place approximately six months before -Will-.]

[straane]

assorted tidus/yuna post x-2 headcanons vol. 3

pt. 1

pt. 2

it's been some time but why not cuz sudden major tuna mood?

- after Tidus's return, Brother gracefully backs off Yuna. that's right, for the first time in his life he does something gracefully. or rather… he thinks he's being graceful. at first he majorly overcorrects and basically keeps a 15 ft distance to Yuna at all times, while nodding eagerly at everything Tidus says and constantly bringing up his status as a legendary guardian, treating him with reverence almost while Rikku's over there like ”heeeeeyyy I'm no less legendary where's my respect”

- from there, things proceed awkwardly. Tidus has no context for this changed behavior and Yuna only vaguely realizes what's going and is too focused on Tidus/used to Brother being weird that things stay like that for a while and it's painful for everyone to watch. finally Tidus grows tired of Brother's obviously fake fanboy persona and makes a misguided bonding attempt by bringing up their first meeting on the Al Bhed ship, trying to go for a ”that's the stuff of legends, right? I'm just a regular guy that ya'll plucked from the sea and really I'm kinda embarrassing most of the time lol” angle. unfortunately this turns into them swapping stories about Brother's embarrassing antics instead, which they all obviously have and it's all in the spirit of good fun until Brother breaks out crying

- like. LOUDLY. and DRAMATICALLY. resident crybaby ™ got nothin' on this one. a truly FMV-worthy display

- so they all deal with their issues like adults in a long and thoughtful and mature conversation jk they never talk about it again and no embarrassing stories about Brother are related for the next 10 years

(note: I know there's that small scene in FFX-2 where Brother kinda already bows out and gracefully so but with that much focus given in the story on his very very bad and inappropriate crush on his f'ing cousin??? gawd Brother has an ARC in that game AN ARC he still has to deal with the mythical dreamboat boyfriend actually coming back to life and sealing the deal.) 

(note 2. I like other aspects of Brother’s character so out of respect for those I had to deal with this one lol)

- after the mandatory ”hela du saad oui's” Paine is perfectly content in observing Tidus with mild and idle curiosity, passively learning more about the guy in conversation, and privately and fondly appreciating Yuna's happiness. Tidus… sorta gets that she needs space, sorta tries to respect that, but more than once ends up challenging her closed-off-ness and sticking his nose into some very sensitive topics, some of which Yuna and Rikku have not dared approach. inadvertently, of course! he tries

- Paine herself is, of course, making some efforts at opening up a little more… but, at least one time, he goes too far, and she loses her cool and flat-out yells at him. Yuna and Rikku never find out what the conversation was about. Tidus thinks about it for a few days, feeling awful, but eventually his mind just blocks out the whole entire thing and they all deal with their issues like adults in a long and thoughtful and mature conversation jk they never talk about it again and no questions are asked about Paine's past for the next 10 minutes

- rly, eventually, Paine and Tidus become pals and they even have some inside jokes (resented by Yuna and Rikku)

- Yuna, secretly, and feeling a little silly, never gives up on her fantasy of going to see Tidus's Zanarkand. she hates the idea of only having seen it in a sphere shown to her by Seymour of all people, and sometimes before falling asleep she tries to imagine the rose-colored sunrise described to her by Tidus in such detail. it sort of becomes her happy place, one she is unwilling to share even with Tidus, because she is a funny little introvert like that sometimes and Tidus has actually witnessed the sight and she must use her imagination. so it's kind of a different place and it is hers and only hers.

- Wakka never calls Tidus “Chappu” accidentally. never ever. Lulu does one time. ONE. seeing the two idiots laughing about some blitz-related incident where they both almost died but also had the time of their lives, she tries to scold them and somehow winds up using both 'Chappu' and 'your brother' in the same sentence, both in reference to Tidus. then they all deal with their issues like adults in a long and thoughtful and mature conversation plot twist what if they actually do????

[silver-wield]

Is it true that Yuna and Tidus don't end up together after X2 ending? I read that eventually Yuna finds someone else. I hope that's a fake rumor or misunderstanding, otherwise this is gonna break my poor heart...

I think it's called FFX-will, maybe? Not sure tbf. Audio play or a book, I know there's something after X-2 where Tidus and Yuna go on a boat, have sex, get shipwrecked, argue and then Tidus kicks what he thinks is a blitzball but is really a landmine. He blows up and his head lands in Yuna's lap. And then there something about her rewriting time to bring him back, I think. And doing that resurrects Sin. Tbf it sounded like a total hot mess fan fiction, so I was shocked to hear it's canon.

I think Nojima got annoyed lol. I heard the suits were bugging him to write x3 because they wanted to cash in on the popularity and how new the va and graphics were at the time, but he didn't want to, so he gave them that lol. Seeing the meta messages in Remake I can believe it.

It's never been translated into other languages either, so I don't think it was very popular in the end, but even in Last Mission (also only in the original JP I think) we hear from Yuna that a resurrected Tidus is struggling to fit into a normal life and they're not sure how to be a couple without all the saving the world pressure on them. I think Rikku and Paine give her a talking to, but it's been ages since I saw the cut scenes, so I might be wrong about that.

[oveliagirlhaditright]

You know... A lot of people, for good reason, are talking about how KH might go in a Final Fantasy X-2 direction next.

And it might!

For one thing, the SoKai relationship in KHIII parallels TiYuna in FFX in quite a few ways.

And moreover... I was, like, misremembering the end of FFX for a minute there. I was thinking X ended with Yuna already getting ready to go on her quest to find Tidus, or doing anything active at all. But it doesn’t. It ends with a Yuna trying to give a speech to the people of Spira, but clearly being depressed over the loss of Tidus. KHIII ends with Kairi being depressed over the loss of Sora... with maybe some meta things there, perhaps hinting she might try to become like him the way Yuna tried to Tidus.

It could be nothing. But it could also be something.

[charismastaticarchive]

lulu ( & patricia ) hc/meta:

motherhood/maternal instinct in fiction & feminist analysis

if u read my content, you know that i like to have a bit of a leftist, feminist&genderfuck slant to all my writing and the analysis of all my characters. women in particular are never just women, and they’re always more than the fanservice and literary/video game tropes that are pushed on to them.

i want to talk, for a moment, about “cis” motherhood and a cis woman’s body, particularly a fictional/conceptual/symbolic one---from the perspective of a non-binary afab lesbian with psychosis who has experienced delusions and dysphoria about pregnancy my whole life. from my own personal perspective, mostly because of the aforementioned marginalizations and mental illnesses i experience.... pregnancy and motherhood are both terrifying. 

but i don’t really want to talk about that, i want to talk about the typical “cis” women characters with maternal instincts----and how i believe mothers in fiction can be portrayed as complex women without losing their personalities and personal goals, namely by choosing to believe that a woman’s experience with pregnancy, childbirth, and her family/romantic entanglements are as complicated and varied as she is---and believing her problems are not solved by a man, a child, or pregnancy and in fact, can even be excacerbated by them.

so to do show examples of simpler narratives that can be made more complex, i’m going to talk about two different characters of mine that are ‘mothers’ in canon----patricia, and lulu.

to start with, patricia is the archetypical dead anime mom. the only things that make her a special character to me are that: 1) she had an extraoridinanary amount of children in order to birth a ‘special’ child. 2) she was married to two men at apparently the same time. and 3) because of her wanting to see her own child, extreme tragedy takes place that she apparently is aware of when she asks the villains of the game---a man masquerading as her own brother included among their ranks---to help her.

now we could go the typical route. we could say that patricia is a mother---and of course she loves her  biirth children more than anything, and she wanted to see her birth mother instead of her step-child. (in addition to being a dead mom archetype, she makes a very excellent evil step-mother.) but her life is so much more complicated than her child. she has two husbands. her brother is one of the main villains of the game that tortures her child. there’s thing you can get into, hidden depths that can’t be explained by her just being a woman or a mother. perhaps she loved her birth children as if they were her only family bc she knew her brother no longer was her family, her parents did not believe she was any use to them other than a bargaining chip to becoming royalty. the emperor was old, and she was very young. perhaps she felt for the past ELEVEN pregnancies that only her children, made inside her body, were the only thing that were her own in that terrifyingly lonely castle. perhaps she wanted to see them because her second husband was just as patriarchal as the first, perhaps as self-consumed. perhaps she wanted to be more than a wife---and all she knew she could be was a mother.

there’s was you can write her as very complex, and even make the seemingly simple motivation of just seeing her birth child a symbol of a greater inner life within her, even though she’s not even mentioned on the black eagles route, and is only mentioned in passing in blue lions route!

and so, on to a much more complex example of my portrayals, because lulu is an actual canon character who we can  actually see in the canon of ffx and who is not just alluded to.

lulu is maternal, an ‘older sister’ figure to yuna, and a voice of reason the whole game who takes care of yuna and even wakka in a famililal context. she’s nurturing and kind despite her dark & gothic appearance, and even her puppets refer to her as ‘mother’ in certain unlockable cutscenes in the second game.

but despite this, this is not all lulu is. lulu is a wise guardian figure---but she’s also a fierce fighter that can get the most damage in your party. she’s knowledgeable about the world at large, she’s sensible to a fault and takes 0 bullshit. she’s deeply traumatized about the loss of her first love, chappu, and probably her second lost love, someone she tried to guard shortly before the game begins. despite the most important person in the world to her being her sister character in game, the second game pairs her up with wakka (her dead fiancee’s BROTHER) and ‘shows her’ having a child with him. i say ‘shows her’ because, the game uses the exact same model from the first game, and does not ACTUALLY show her looking pregnant before she has the child even tho she could supposedly give birth at any moment.

we can assume lulu wants to move on from all the death in her life---to a new life with wakka. but it doesn’t make sense that she would get over her trauma so easily, especially without yuna by her side. she lost her parents to sin, she lost chappu, and just because sin is gone, doesn’t mean that the church and all its teachings which she believed in for long hasn’t left a mark on her, or that the church being willfully wrong about how to save the world (and sacrificing so many people in the process) ALSO didn’t have an effect on her when so much of her trauma is related to that.

i think lulu as a mother figure fails. i think in this case of canon, motherhood is a copout for the character---who literally just wasn’t in ffx-2, because it would restrain yuna and not let her grow as a character as much, in the director’s own words. she’s ‘healed’ by wakka and motherhood, her agency as an active player in the story (and her sister’s life, the most important person in the world to her) is taken from her. we’re supposed to take it as FINE with lulu that yuna just left in the middle of the night and never came back even tho she told no one where she was going! she could’ve been dead!

but i think we CAN make the circumstances of lulu in ffx-2 more complicated, if we try. if we take lulu’s trauma seriously, and show that her circumstances effect her. if we make her relationship with wakka something of desperation---to try to make her life make sense, to try to inject new life into a world still full of death & ghosts. we can make her feel not connected to her body and her baby by not being able to ‘show’/’see’ the growth of her child inside her. and we can make part of the reason she wanted to have this child because she felt she ‘lost’ yuna, that yuna was growing beyond her---and she wanted to have someone to take care of, still, even tho she might never have the same connection with her child as she does with yuna---and that SCARES her. we can also note that as a wlw as i play lulu---she might’ve thought she HAD to be with wakka to ever find someone who could love her AND have children with her, and being pregnant with a man’s child making her feel lost from her body and sense of self---her love for both chappu, and for women.

final notes: this was about cis women, but i want to note that all motherhood can really be something beautiful. i believe that stories should be about LOVE more than anything, and the bond between mother and child---especially a trans mother who chooses their own child through adoption, found family, surrogacy, or having a child with their partner with a uterus---can be one of the most beautiful sources of love on this planet!

being responsible for another human’s life with always be taxing. but when it’s something you choose---knowing that responsibility, wanting to bear the burden of a human life, and actually seeing the goal of raising them for the rest of your life and seeing to it that they’re happy and healthy---that’s something that’s really special and wonderful, even if it’s something i can’t see myself doing.

still, i don’t think the story is EVER so simple as a cis birth mother in a nuclear family loving their child and their husband, and living solely for them. life is complicated. women are complicated, with rich inner lives! and that’s part of the thing that makes willful, ethical motherhood so beautiful----knowing that taking on the burdens of taking care of another person for the rest of your life, meaning that your life comes second, is such a. big step in giving up part of your self just to love someone, just to take care of them and be there for them as your child deserves.

it’s more complicated than that, obviously, but love is complicated! and if love is worth telling stories about, then complicated stories about women and the ways they love their children, each other, and themselves are even more important.

i don’t know how to end this so [dabs] i guess lol

[nochiquinn]

campaign 2 episode 58: the shade of it all

know what's cool about recurring chronic pain is when you wake up and you just HAVE IT and then you have it ALL DAY

ASH O LEE

sam's voltron shirt is swank

all I heard of that was "vote with your johnson" but apparently sam is dead now

"sleeping in" immersion broken

"you seem more alert than usual"

corpse disposal for rent

cad: I'm going with me

"does he need to shave?" "he always needs to shave."

"You're very portable; you can walk yourself anywhere you want to go"

"that's a stick"

it's mcree

travis' eyebrow is trying to escape

travis/fjord's face at "runt"

travis/fjord's whole face journey

fjordie

fjord is rude

orcdad

"even his advice had abs"

I want to know what's in laura and marisha's glasses, it looks fancy

I don't care how much art comes out for this character, I will picture Little Washu and nothing else

it's better than before when I was picturing wakka from ffx

mala: tw humans

is this sam's shark voice

what's in the book caleb

use ur abs to get work

laura and sam pay attention challenge

"roll high. ...I said high."

tal's face at that staff

gems good

angry pigeon

robe of vantablack

"I will PIMPSLAP YOU" "it was him!" "...you'll earn it at some point."

(what did tal say tho; he was very proud of himself)

"I got in the dick"

fuck yeah yeza

"meta medicine" where is sydnee mcelroy

they end up buying horny goat weed

a goblin a halfling and an aasimar walk into a shady potion shop

"matt made them himself!" "he has no life!"

man I wanna try to make those

I love one (1) halfling alchemist

rogues are whatever

mala: I too would give Ashley a 50% discount just bc she asked

THE BAILEY BRIG

"four men named bodo"

"I go extra" that's it, that's the campaign

it was "poof", wasn't it?

this will end poorly

luke baBY

"miss jester" <3

if nott dies after this I will fly to la and fistfight literally everyone

not just the cast. the whole city.

"a little all over the place but alright" my online dating profile

"I haven't looked in my bag in a while" me finding four-month-old recepits

ONE LAST TIIIIIME

everybody getting those mid-season character-development wardrobe changes

that is no one's reaction to biscuits ever. they use CLAWS to make biscuits.

I desperately need art of jester as a camp counselor

matt pls my drowsy pill is kicking in

it's that forest from the Frozen sequel

nott: this is your home. I have decided.

travis you've slept like twice in this episode alone, update your dingdang hp

fjord

FJORD

"I love you so much"

when your district manager starts chewing out your shitty store manager

liam why are you always like this

clay talking to the moorbounders is my new favorite interaction on this show

INCLUDING the five kobolds in a trenchcoat

do NOT goddamn start combat at 1:30 in the morning I will abandon this episode and go the fuck to bed

I dozed off. I warned you, bro, I warned you about 1:30 am

"I rolled a one" "SHE'S BACK"

[bloodfcst-a]

I was reminded that for FFX, FFXV, and DMC I actually have some verse-type assumptions/metas for Yuffie, so you can use those going forward if it’s applicable! You don’t have to, but they’re totally available as alternatives to use.

FFX/X-2

Yufi’s the daughter of a high lord of Yevon, residing in the main temple of Bevelle. Through discipline, she’s taken the role of nun, and has achieved the skill set to become summoner. If in a location where a sending is necessary, she can perform it. However, due to being disgruntled with how the Fayth are used and then discarded ( both the Final Aeon, and in general with summoners hardly ever returning to the Fayth once retrieving their Aeon from it ), as well as the plethora of lies the Church convenes to the general public, Yufi is not a practicing summoner. Instead, her pilgrimage consists of traveling to all temples, active and not, to listen to the Fayth’s stories. She is not a Yevon sympathizer, and has no racial bias. After the Eternal Calm, Yuffie joins the Machine Faction, desiring to not choose either side, and instead seeks the history of Spira (and a few treasures) by grasping it with her own hands.

FFXV

An ambassador of Accordo who, during the initial invasion of the country is sent to live with relatives in Insomnia. Due to her family’s high status and connections to the Royal Family, she has access to the citadel; but she has no inside privileges, such as the Advsior’s family or the Royal Guard. Prior to the invasion of Insomnia, Yuffie returns back to Altissia. As a member of the inner sanctum, she worships the astral Leviathan, and to some degree having studied the ancient language, can understand its words and intentions, even as it stays underneath the city. It can be assumed that when the Oracle comes to release Leviathan, she is apart of the staff assigned to evacuate citizens and to awaken the Astral from its ‘slumber.’

DMC

Yuffie lives in a rural community of shamans and spirit mediums who harbor positive relationships with those alive and dead. For spirits causing havoc, they provide exorcising services to those in need. As demons become more rampant, Yuffie takes up the sword weaponry to fight against spirits manifested in the spirit realm as well as the human realm-- the demons. She can be considered as a freelance demon slayer, though it is not her trade by default. She also can craft useful items, one-time weapons (explosives, poisons), and recovery items.

[usedtobewerealpacas-blog]

this post is a bit passive aggressive about things i have no stake in

Tumblr, let me tell you a story!

I got into fandom when I was fourteen. I was a wee baby child in middle school who loved Dragonball Z and had dial up, and somehow found ffn when looking for episode summaries for the cool episodes that hadn’t been dubbed into English yet. I have been in fandom ever since, floating from one to the other.

When I was fourteen, I was pretty intimidated by the older fans. Which, me being in eighth grade, was a lot of them. I did make friends, and by the time I was eighteen or so I fell into a pre-existing group in the FFX/X-2 fandom. A lot of them were older than me; a few in their twenties, one in her early thirties, one way up there in her 60s-70s. It was amazing. I’d never had friends outside of my high school peers before; I don’t have older siblings or older cousins. We did all the normal fandom stuff: wrote fanfic! Made icons! Made Livejournal rainbow banners for characters that in retrospect we probably blithely and ignorantly coopted from the LBGT community but were trendy in fandom circles back then!  Posted long and probably questionable meta posts! I felt included. I was part of a cool group of older women who were nice to me, patient with me, comforted me when I got into fandom scuffles on FanficRants. (This happened… more than twice.) I was going through a really rough time in my life, and I would unload on them; one in particular who I looked up to with just such intensity. She always heard me out. I knew she didn’t always take my side, defend me as much as I wanted, but she never made me feel small or wrong or like she didn’t care. There was some drama once, me and another girl had a huge fight over something I don’t even remember. She was friends with us both. I, being a dramatic teen, wanted her to burn bridges with the other girl. She did not. She replied “I spoke to her about it,” didn’t elaborate, and let me vent how upset I was as long as I needed.

It was invaluable to me.

Not at the time. At the time I was depressed, removed from my family and friends, living on the wrong side of the Atlantic and desperately homesick. I had passing thoughts like “I’m probably a  selfish friend,” the few times I realized that  I knew very little about these friends in comparison. They talked to one another; they wrote fanfic with one another. I knew that and was young enough to be jealous of it. But that was invaluable too. I didn’t  know about their drama, their husbands and jobs and their own anxieties. I didn’t know about, wasn’t invited to participate in, their smut fanfics and discussion of kinks. Other fandom stuff, sure. Not that. I was vaguely aware it existed, and I probably could have brought it up myself had I not always been a little intimidated by these Adults I was friends with, but they never brought it up to me. I was eighteen, an adult. I had certainly read smutty fanfic, made out with boys. But this is what was so valuable: my friends, my cool adult friends, allowed me to see them as the Grown Ups. As these fantastic cool women with no problems who I could cry to and lean on, who never ever burdened me with their own problems. They gave me the space to stay a “kid,” to experience fandom and participate in fandom and read their fanfics and get reviews on mine from them, all without the burden of needing to reciprocate. 

At the time, I probably would have gotten offended. “Why don’t they talk to me? I can handle it! I can learn about their problems!” I probably could have. I don’t know, but I doubt they were dealing with anything too beyond what I was. I don’t know, because they never did. Not because I wasn’t liked, wasn’t trusted, but because I was the baby of the group. I knew I was liked. I felt so validated, being liked by these people. I went to crazy lengths. Made dozens and dozens of icons of characters they  liked, just because, totally random, no reason, in hopes that they would enjoy them. If I got praise, you bet your ass I would do it 20 more times  for more. It was a terrible time in my life, but also the time in fandom I remember the most clearly.

Now I am the age a few of my friends back then. “Old” people in fandom get kind of a bad rap. There’s a definite skew towards teenagers, especially with some fandoms and media types. I always assumed I’d grow out of it, like I’d turn 20 and just be done with it all. Hasn’t panned out so far. And some of the bad reputation  is deserved; there’s something kind of weird about adults who mentally act as teenagers, who make friends with teenagers more easily. But the best friends I ever made in fandom were those older women, who took me in and kept up those boundaries, treating me both as an equal and as a teenager, who liked and respected me but never burdened me with anything outside of myself. Now that I  am that age, I understand just how amazing it was. It’s easy to forget, to go, “this person is really cool! So fun to talk to! I can’t tell she’s only X at all!”. I don’t know if that’s wrong or not, I am not here to be judge of the internet. All I’m here to talk about is the time that didn’t happen to me, the time I made friends with Actual Grown Ups, and what a fucking amazing experience it can be.

[pudgy-puk]

so, one thought i have been returning to frequently over the past several weeks is concerning zenos

and it is that not since og sephiroth has squeenix presented a villain so totally sexlessly and yet wound up with a very large and incredibly thirsty and eroticized fandom for them, and it makes me wonder if, since 4.2 and especially the 4.2 stinger is what it is, sephiroth’s meta trajectory over the compilation might be an informative and useful thing to consider

now, let me clarify my terms here

first off, what i mean by “sexlessly presented.” i do NOT mean anything about the character’s attractiveness, nor do i mean to say said character is asexual, nor do i say anything about the validity one way or another of sexy fanart/fanfic concerning the character. what i mean is that the creators of the work went to some lengths to avoid either presenting the character as sexual or in an eroticized way, positive or negative. just a big “mu” there on the topic of character sexuality. this is very much a doylist (out-of-universe) analysis rather than watsonian (in-universe) going on here, so i’ll go in further, and in doing so bring up the other final fantasy villains whose presentation cannot be described that way as counterexamples.

so! sex in the presentation of a character can refer to one of two (or both) facets, i’m going to phrase here in the form of questions: “does the work care to inform the audience about that character’s sexuality/sexual interiority?” and “does the work invite its audience to consider the character’s sexual attractiveness to them personally?” if the answer to either of those questions is “no,” that indicates the character was presented sexlessly. do note that all of this is concerning how the creators intended the character to be read, which is not the same as audience reaction; “i think [character] is hot therefore they were presented sexually”/”i think [character] is ugly therefore they were presented sexlessly” are not valid responses here. --in fact it’s important to note that presenting an “ugly” character in a sexual way is a common tactic to increase audience revulsion; presenting a character sexually doesn’t have to mean titillation or pleasant fantasizing. also important to note is that, for those questions, the answer to one can be “yes” while the answer to the other is “no,” and to further elucidate this, i’mma grab two other final fantasy villains as counterexamples, ultimecia and seymour.

ultimecia is, i would say, an example of the answer to the first question being “no” but the second question being “yes,” due to her character design and the long history of male gaze in visual works. cut of outfit, posing of character, angles of shots, yadda yadda, y’all should know this please don’t ask me to redo the past sixty years of film criticism in a tumblr post for free. and despite the eroticization of ultimecia’s character design, in the work there’s basically nothing regarding what she thinks and feels concerning sex, who or what she’s interested in if indeed she is interested in anything at all. (do note: for the purposes of this analysis, i do count explicitly confirming a character to be asexual as presenting them sexually; essentially because in so confirming it does inform the audience about the character’s sexual interiority). meanwhile, seymour is an arguable example of the reverse situation; the audience isn’t invited to think sexy thoughts about seymour (most of FFX fandom considers him ugly/repellant) but we do have something of an idea of the character’s sexual interiority because of how plot-relevant his marriage proposal and his relationship (such as it were) with yuna are. so yeah, in summary both characters are presented sexually though in very different ways. 

i would say that zenos is presented in such a way that the answers to both questions are “no”: the work offers no insight regarding the character’s sexual interiority, nor does its presentation of the character encourage sexual consideration in the audience. yes, zenos is handsome, with his long blond hair and striking features, but that is not the same. all we ever see of his skin is his face, he is always clothed in armor bulky and concealing--its silhouette obliterates that of his own body, disguises it to look like a Scary Monstrous Thing rather than anything sensual or fleshy. his motions and poses are intended to make the audience fear and be awed by him--his slow walk is to inspire dread and impress the audience with his power, not to seduce, when he stands he looms intimidatingly. within 4.0 itself, no other character is shown as thinking or feeling anything sexual about him--indeed, that’s explicitly shot down in the scene where nameless characters we understand to be bitter and jealous of fordola accuse her of gaining her position via sexual favors to zenos, which we know did not happen and have further reinforced later in her post-experimentation scene, with her in her underwear with zenos and aulus and it being totally serious and focused solely on the surgical aspect. similarly, zenos as a being with a sexuality is unaddressed--yes, there is fandom interpretation of his feelings towards the player character as potentially sexual, but 1) fandom does that with literally everyone and 2) thanks to characters like haurchefant and aymeric, we do actually have something of a model for what it can look like when romantic/sexual interest towards the player character is textual, and zenos don’t do it. so--strictly in the context of 4.0 text, yes, i would say zenos is presented near-totally sexlessly, both as a character for audience consumption and as an in-universe person whose sexual inner life is left unaddressed. 

and yet, like the last time squeenix made a villain a handsome man and presented him sexlessly, he’s gotten an enormous and enormously horny fandom. now, the compilation of ffvii has acknowledged and capitalized on this response, but it remains to be seen if the same will happen (or happen the same way) in the patches in the 4.x series. it’s interesting to me then that not only has zenos been “brought back to life” (i remain unsure if it’s the genuine article or some manner of magitek/ascian fuckery), but the same installment that did so also introduced asahi, frighteningly devoted zenos fanboy extraordinaire. this could go a lot of directions, it remains to be seen which one will be chosen.

[worldofcloti]

Long meta of Anon regarding Cloud, Tifa and Aerith [LTD]

Re-arranged it in order since this since the anon asks have the first one in the bottom of my inbox. Also separated the paragraphs. I have an answer under the cut as well. 

Anonymous said to worldofcloti: May I say something since we’re somewhat on the topic of ltd and fandoms? Prefacing this saying I’m definitely a Cloti fan and only a CT fan but I don’t deny Klerith (I think that’s how we’re referring to them here), at least not my version of them. In fact, I think they’re a necessary stop on the road of CLOTI’s relationship and helps bring them closer. Now this probably sounds cruel but please hear me out. I see Aerith as someone who has a very positive effect on every person she encounters(1)

This included Cloud, and Tifa, and the whole gang. In the beginning of the game Cloud is in a horrible mental state, we know that, he’s battling his demons. And Tifa can’t help him because she’s battling her own demons and she has an introverted personality. I think that’s where it’s necessary for Aerith to come in and help them. Both. She brings lightness to them. Helps guide them towards the light, fun, positivity, which they couldn’t do by themselves. And while it’s ultimately Tifa who (2) heals his mind, and could only be Tifa because of their past, imo Aerith pushed them towards this AND I also headcanon that she also gave them a push in the lifestream. Her character and actions also had an effect on Tifa helping her realize her feelings and to become more active in pursuing what she wants. I also think both of them loved Aerith albeit differently, but I don’t think that Cloud was IN love with her. It just did not happen in the game that I played.

I know everyone has their (3) playthrough and this was mine, there were no straight romantic Klerith scenes in my game but I think they had positive feelings towards each other. I think she will always be in his heart but not as this one true love. Cause even if she were alive I still don’t see how after regaining his self the boy from Nibelheim who did so much for Tifa for years, and Tifa who had feelings for him for years and then did so much for him would not end up together. But this is my interpretation. And I have (4)  no problem with others having another. My only problem is with the version where a 21yo Cloud must live the rest of his life alone waiting for death to reunite with the girl he supposedly loved, I have aversion to this strictly as a Cloud fan cause I find this incredibly cruel and selfish of fans, wanting for Aerith to be allowed to move on from Zack, but not giving same courtesy to Cloud. Tiduna and Noctluna are often mentioned as examples to strengthen this theory but I strongly disagree. (5)  

Yuna and Tidus only had each other as romantic partners. And while Yuna did wait 2 years she was too busy during that time to think of romance, and X-2 shows that she was ready to move on, one of the endings even has her moving on, and as much of a Tiduna fan as I am, if Tidus never came back I would never wish for a 19yo girl to wait for him forever. Noctluna, well, is one of the weakest FF romances tbh, not a good thing to be compared to, but even here we have both of them dying almost at (6) the same time. Yes, there’s 10 year time skip but he hasn’t lived that, he lived very little time without her. And both these examples have one huge factor not considered for some reason: TIFA. 

None of these pairs had a third person for whom protagonist had canonical reciprocated feelings for for years (whether he still has those or not are maybe up to interpretation but still important point) so the comparison falls moot for me. Not to mention if we parallel Tidus and Luna with Aerith for (7) their death, we can also parallel them with Tifa, e.g. for childhood feelings lasting for years. I might also mention my problem with compilation and AC. While for me it solidifies Cloti 100%, I still don’t like how it does it. I’m against the fact that Aerith of all people was used as a character whose memory brings depression to Cloud, to Tifa, children they’re raising. I think it’s a disservice to her and a cheap trick by SE in an attempt to bring her back and fan service her/Klerith fans.(8) 

Especially since in OG her smile was used as a motivation in before battle speech (where, btw, Tifa was the one who showed bigger understanding of her character). So I don’t see how or why use AC as a romantic evidence when Aerith is used for such negative effect on Cloud. This came out huge omg I’m so sorry. But anyway I wanted to talk about how I don’t fully deny Klerith even as a Cloti fan, but how my view of it differs from their fans, & I’m fine with everything except that one scenario. (9)

You brought up a lot of points and thanks for sharing them to us. At first, I’d like to say that I am limited to what I can say since this blog is strictly pro-Cloti and not about debunking Klerith evidence. Although, I unapologetic-ally rant about bad treatment of characters in the fandom. 

> I agree a lot on positive feelings. Aerith may have had a troubled childhood but she has become a well-adjusted adult, contrary to Tifa and Cloud with serious trauma and haven’t recovered from them [in Cloud’s case, it’s a full false persona]. Aerith is someone that added fun to the party, and she is the one excited to get out of Midgar and have an adventure. On the LTD side, I think Tifa would have waited for a longer time to make a move on Cloud without Aerith around, she definitely was a competition to Tifa.

> Aerith helping Cloud and Tifa  in the Lifestream is in the short story Maiden Who Travels the Planet. I think it’s canon, although a secondary source rather than a main entry.

> I agree that Tifa is the end game love interest, although I would say she doesn’t have an explicitly romantic scene either. On Aerith, as much as Cloud grieved for her, I don’t think they became intimate. 

> Parallels are generally a weak proof and more of just cuteness. I am limited to the rebuttal I can say in this blog but I hate if characters are misrepresented. Yuna moved on as early as FFX, especially with her speech about rebuilding Spira, having new homes, but never forgetting those who were lost. Just because she grieves for Tidus in FFX-2 it doesn’t mean she has no intention of loving again. I would also say that any couple compared to Noktluna is being insulted, because it is one of the worst written romances I have seen in a video game.  While I dislike interpreting the story based on guidebook quotes, Square Enix is has actually been explicit in some parallels with FF romances in the Cloti side as well: http://danseru-kun.tumblr.com/post/40338671251/cloud-and-tifas-feelings-for-each-other. You can search other “fanservice” tagged posts in this blog.

> I like your thoughts on what Aerith represents and AC being about grieving for her, but personally I see it as a natural emotional process. Cloud was not only upset because of Aerith, but also because of Zack and Denzel. Cloud is a mentally weak person and suffering some serious trauma and guilt for his past failures. Despite hitting a low point, I love how Cloud found strength in AC through the help of his friends, both the living and the departed. It ended on a very positive note for all characters involved. This is why I hate interpretations of AC as romance.

You might like my meta on Aerith here: http://danseru-kun.tumblr.com/post/141774984234/aeriths-journey-to-the-promised-land

[dankokaji]

Starting off 2024 with 2 new Yunalai fics, babyyy~

Rated: M

Fandoms: Final Fantasy X | X-2 | -Will-

Relationships: Baralai/Yuna, Tidus/Yuna

Characters: Yuna, Baralai, mentions of Tidus

Words: 1450~

Additional Tags:

Meta, Sexual Tension, Intimate Healing, Mana Transfer, Implied/Referenced Necrophilia, Hinted Spoilers for FFX-2.5: The Price of Eternity

Summary:

She comes to him every night, so that she may continue to dream.

Notes:

Rated Mature for sexual themes and dark thoughts, nothing explicit, and hints of Tidus/Yuna necrophilia (bc that's basically what it is).

Rating: T

Fandoms: Final Fantasy X | X-2 | -Will-

Relationship: Baralai/Yuna, hints of Nooj/Paine and Baralai/Gippal

Characters: Paine, Baralai, Yuna

Words: 330~

Additional Tags:

Overhearing Sex, Awkwardness, Poor Paine

Summary:

He used to tease her for doing it with Nooj after knowing him for barely three months. Now she caught them doing it in less than three weeks. Fucking hypocrite.

Notes:

Just a funny, little thing. XD Loosely connected to Last Will & Testament (but not really).

(And this one as a bonus from November 2023)

Rating: Mature

Fandoms: Final Fantasy X-2

Relationship: Baralai/Yuna

Characters: Baralai, Yuna

Words: 940~

Additional Tags:

Kilika (Final Fantasy X Series), Honeymoon, Sleepy Cuddles, Morning Sex

Summary:

They wake up the morning after a tropical storm, basking in the afterglow.

Notes:

Just shameless, plotless cute smut. XD

[straane]

assorted tidus/yuna post x-2 headcanons.

pt. 2

pt. 3

- tidus takes up Wakka's old job as captain/coach for the Aurochs. I mean, WHY WOULDN'T HE. like on day one on Besaid he was already coaching them with all that ”victory!” pep talk; not to mention how he encourages them to practice the Jecht shot on S.S. Winno; the position's open (Beclem who?); he's young and talented with youthful new ideas so therefore a dream employee (GET IT? CUZ DREAM and yeah); blitz is pretty much his only area of expertise in Spira (as of yet); and he totally doesn't mind playing for a less-than-sovereign team; and he wants to do everything the opposite of what Jecht did so; asfgasfdjhgsah no one ever talks about Tidus's relationship with and general amazing attitude towards the Aurochs. plus he's like the only person on the planet (the world? the Spira?) Wakka would HAPPILY pass the mantle to, the nepotistic lil' shit

- it's not an easy road to the top tho; the Aurochs still pretty much suck oft to the frustration of their new boss; but he's ever-patient with them and this is actually the one aspect of his life where he shows patience lol

- somewhere along the road; they do take the Cup (again... depending on what you consider to be canon in FFX). that's when he steps down as captain/coach (mentally exhausted) to pursue new adventures. Wakka doesn't approve; he's like ‘quitting at the top, ya? way to copy me, man' BUT the team keeps him as occasional reserve and he never misses an Aurochs game and in fact kinda steps on the toes of the new coach at times (who's a total rando, but a nice and capable rando)

- he and Yuna study Al Bhed together. Rikku tries to help, but isn't really cut out for teaching (Rin does a better job, and so does Paine, even. Gippal tries to slip in indecencies, and at the beginning of their acquaintance does manage to trick Tidus into using them as openers) fool me once, and all that

- let's get this out of the way: Tidus DOES NOT DISAPPEAR AGAIN; prematurely at least (hello biased Tuna trash here *zuko wave*)…. or does he??? I mean, given the extremely questionable state of his existence, I could see it happening, even just kind of randomly one day (and heartbreakingly so); I mean it's even implied in the so-called Perfect Ending (the one in Zanarkand). BUT THIS IS MY HEADCANON IT'LL GO THE WAY I WANT IT OR I'LL END IT HERE. so yeah. for the first few months of his renewed existence, Tidus and Yuna both kinda fret about it actually, like not that they’re in an acute state of worry at all times but they just kinda do and they both have nightmares about it happening (which they don’t share with the other...... cuz they don’t want them worrying and aasgfdg those dorks learnt nothing) 

- and while I'm at it, TIDUS & YUNA STAY TOGETHER. yeah... I dunno about you guys but I didn't spend thousands upon thousands of hours falling in love with and producing content of my OTP to have Tidus end up with Rando and Yuna with… Andom, I guess. so yeah, same biased logic applies here

- plus I seriously think they just… would. Yuna's got like no character flaws (yes she does) and she wound up falling for his, so… AND AFTER EVERYTHING THEY'VE BEEN THROUGH TOGETHER??? AND NOT-TOGETHER??? pls they're like the healthiest couple ever to grace our hearts & souls just let them live

- I could see Yuna getting (warily at first) involved with politics at some point. after the whole corrupt maester-led government/religious indoctrination mess, AND then the New Yevon vs. Youth League fiasco, idk, I think Spirans would just kinda naturally gravitate towards her, the High Summoner and all-around heroic figure, for wisdom and guidance. I could see her gradually growing into the role of Spira's very own Padmé Amidala with soft yet firm values and an iron will. and without the dying + homicidal maniac boyfriend (ily, Anakin) and I think her title would just be High Summoner. (kinda like how any elected president of Finland will forever keep the 'president' title – but there's only one current 'President of the Republic of Finland'. wow didnt expect to make this completely relevant comparison) but yeah it's not like she'd be a ruler or anything… just an important political figure and consultant adssgdghj I haven't completely figured out the Spiran state system post-X-2

- at some point, Tidus and Yuna go visit their parents in the Farplane… and as they both try very hard not to think about a certain blue-haired menace, they end up getting quite the jump scare and completely embarrass themselves (or they would’ve if anyone saw) then they in perfect synchrony pull themselves together and defiantly look their former nemesis in the eye and say absolutely nothing

[monicasancio]

🎃¡FELIZ HALLOWEEN!🎃 VIDEO COMPLETO al suscribirte a mi Canal YouTube, ¡GRACIAS! Recuerda que eres mi INSPIRACIÓN. Todo lo que hago, lo hago por ti... ¡Así que deja tus comentarios, preguntas y lo que quieres ver en mis próximos videos! 🎃🎃 También necesito tu AYUDA En compartir con tus amigos, que se suscriban + 👍🏼 + compartan... Y necesito unos consejos tuyos.He leído mucho, pero quiero tips prácticos que te hayan funcionado: 1) ¿Cómo pasar de acostarme a las 4 am 🦉a las 11 pm, recuperando el sueño y con la meta de 8 horas diarias. 2) ¿Cómo hacer un concurso de desarrolladores para la APP FIT FLOW EXPRESS? 3) GRACIAS, GRACIAS, GRACIAS 😁🦋 #FFX #fit #flow #ejerciciosconligas #sentadillas #sentadillaconligas #monicafit

[oveliagirlhaditright]

There is a part of me that thinks that Nomura might actually be willing to do a Kairi game--with her and Donald and Goofy--on a quest to find Sora... because of meta reasons, and things in the KH series that maybe hint at it (such as the III stuff: Kairi sitting on Sora’s place on the paopu tree, for the first time ever, after they’ve shared paopus and promised to protect each other... And Sora having just died saving Kairi, saying how she’s always torn away from him before he did so... so maybe now it’s her turn to look for the ‘always torn away from her’: Sora and she’s literally in his spot to do so... Also, Kairi wearing Sora’s clothes in KH Chi)...

But also because I feel like with FFX-3--which is definitely happening--FFX-2′s going to get retconned in a lot of ways (which I somewhat get, because many don’t think X-2 was a natural progression to X... which I’ll fight, but whatever. And X-3--Final Fantasy X ~Will~ and Final Fantasy X-2.5, that is--already feels like it’s trying to do away with the things that “othered” X-2 from X: Yuna being rebellious, Tidus being back, etc.).

And I feel like Nomura always liked X-2: They’re the version of Yuna and Rikku who are in KH, after all... Granted, that’s probably because X-2 and KHII came out close to each other. But shh.

So maybe Nomura’s like “Since in some ways we’re losing X-2... let me do something similar to it again, so we at least have that: Just probably with less girly-ness.”

And, yes: I know this is Nomura we’re talking about. I know there’s a good chance none of this is happening at all. But at the same time, let me dream for a moment dangit!

[lets-talk-ffbe]

Hi everyone!! X3 it’s been quite the while since I have posted a Spotlight on here and I’m SOOOOOO excited for these new units. SO *clap!* let’s look at an upcoming, GAME BREAKING unit, Rikku. First, Some basics about Rikku. She is a natural 4* support unit that can awaken up to 6*. She comes equipped with most of what a support unit would need to function in terms of abilities and uses them very well. She also can be used to support chains and damage. So let’s look at the pros and cons and see how to get the most meat out of you units. So Rikku, as I’ve said before, is support and I love how she plays it out. She is not a green mage and does not function as one at all but but not the type of support she worries about. She carries healing and damage support. How does she carry healing support?? As we know, some healers can not heal some status effects. The most deadly being petrify, which is counted as a KO when all allies are dead. Rikku has an ability, Al Bhed Potion, that can cure that, poison and silence, and heal a fixed amount of 1000 to all allies!! She also comes equipped with Mega Phoenix, a 100% AoE revive, and Hyper NulAll which can mitigate 30% damage for all allies and increase all elemental resistances by 40% to all allies. Though Hyper NulAll requires a turn of Synthesis to use it. Rikku also comes with attack support?? Yes she does with her Burning Soul, Tidal Wave, Winter Storm and Lightning Rod. They all do 9 hits to one enemy of their respective element and have the ability to start some good chain and elemental chains to stack some damage. But the main thing is Sunburst and Hazardous Shell. Sunburst is a fixed amount of damage(19998) to all enemies and Hazardous Shell damages and inflicts 2 random status ailments(30% all, 100% petrify) to all enemies. That’s some Setzer crap right there!! Rikku also comes with a good amount of passives with a 20% increase to her ATK and HP and a 10% MP increase, she can stack some good stats for a support character. Rikku also comes equipped with Lucky Girl, a 20% chance to evade physical damage and a 30% decrease in chance to be ST, and a 100% boost to her LB full rate which you will be using a lot. Hyper Mighty G is the move you will be trying to get to and will most likely be using the most. With an increase to DEF and SPR by 50% and a auto-revive(80%) to all allies. Yes… I will be using this a lot. Rikku is breaking the meta with these abilities and OMG I am excited about her arrival. But does this amazing unit have anything wrong with her?? Indeed she does but not to many. Rikku has a horrid equipment selection. Being able to just equip Throwing Weapons, Fists and Dagger for weapons, and L-Shields, Hats, Clothes and L-Armor for armor. Rikku also does not have any innate resistances which can be checked with equipment but shouldn’t be your main focus, depending on the enemy. Rikku also, as a support, can’t really raise stats like most support units but that’s something I can look over. Last but not least is her MP. “But Psycho?? She has a base of 160 and a 10% passive buff??” Yes she does but that’s enough to bring her around the 180 mark in MP and the abilities you will most likely use a lot cost around 20-40MP and Mega Phoenix cost 70MP.

In conclusion… GET RIKKU!! She is an amazing support unit that Global has yet to see and the fact that she is a 4* makes it easier to grab possibly the best unit in the FFX banner. 80% auto-revive and a 100% revive to entire team is a godsend in my book.

There is no doubt about it.. Rikku is a top unit in my book. She can cover things healers can’t do all at once and support the team so well with resistance raise, mitigation, chain support, and auto-revival. She is the fist that breaks the meta and this… starts what we call in Gacha… a power creep.

If your looking to use Rikku, and I hope you do, I would equip her with accessories like the Jeweled ring or something to get rid of paralyze and petrify for her. She is support so she can not be a decent healer by herself so I recommend using her beside a Dualcast Refia. Refia only because she has innate resists to anything that can stop a healer and can heal stone and all other status ailments as well as heal or revive and has Embolden to look over Rikku lack of stat raising abilities. So say if Rikku was to get hit by paralyze, sleep, or anything that would prevent her from doing her job you’d have a backup without worry and then Rikku can heal as well. You don’t have to Dualcast Refia but it helps tremendously and I wouldn’t use her if not Dualcasted. Other healers that would be good would be Rem and Y'Shtola though I don’t recommend Y'Shtola because she has no innate resists which can put you in deep crap. Rikku must have her defenses focused on as she is a support type character and not solely attack or magic. You want her to survive decently, not do damage. So anything like the Army Shield or Defense Bracer will do great. I also recommend giving her some MP material or the Golden Armlet to raise her Mp count a bit so she doesn’t run out so quickly.

I hope you guys enjoyed this spotlight. I’ve said it many times and I’ll keep saying it, Rikku is a MUST HAVE!! Other than that, I hope you guys have a great day and stay crazy my friends!!

(These are all opinions of my own. If you play these certain characters, do not take offense as I am not critiquing your ability or you as an individual but the character unit itself.)

(All art belongs to their respective owners. I do not own any of the art.)