#i receive: your unwavering support and loyalty and good behaviour

[pinbones]

Only approaching/acknowledging mens issues when you think it'll stop them from becoming misogynists is biased and negligent, and will likely just make the prophecy self-fulfilling due to unaddressed male issues & lack of solidarity in shared spaces (that's almost every space, and certainly every space I'd feel comfortable in)

It's like that halfassed criminology approach that cops do but for feminists lol. Develop better theory challenge

[kingcael]

My dudes, I have been thinking about some stuff regarding plot and character development, particularly Yuna’s in FFX and how the two things are completely inextricable from one another, and how her guardians help her to not choose the Final Aeon. Read more if you want! (It’s long, OTL)

For the plot to work the way it does, every single relationship and character in Yuna’s life is integral, and cannot be replaced or removed. To have her go through with the Final Aeon would have to have a serious overhaul of several characters or some event that alters the storyline drastically. Just with the way the story goes, her guardians are the reason she chooses life. Yuna’s decision hinges on her experiences with her guardians, as well as with what she remembers and knows of Braska.

The obvious first integral character is Tidus, because he shows her a perspective outside of Spira. I think everyone else is stuck in their ways, ‘can’t see the forest for the trees’ kinda thing. But Tidus is learning everything as he journeys with her, and questions things and finds flaws in the system that either Yuna hadn’t considered questioning, or just accepted as the way things are. He is absolutely vital to her in terms of making her challenge herself and finding more strength than she even knew she had. Without him, she could easily choose the Final Aeon, just following the path she set for herself and letting the red carpet devour her. I like to think of him as a ‘tomorrow’ for her, ultimately, a new day that she could live past her predetermined time. It was something she probably never considered, and the reason she began to think differently, to think for herself. ‘It’s my story too!’ She refuses to let her destiny or fate or people’s expectations rule her after meeting Tidus, and truly becomes her own person. Even without the romance, Yuna receives Tidus’ love, and she becomes a stronger person because of it. I have always liked the bad ending in X2, actually, because of Yuna’s monologue at the end. Even without Tidus with her anymore, she chooses life. To me, that’s the most important part of her relationship with Tidus, is that he helps her to live. Without him, she may well have chosen the Final Aeon.

Or maybe not, because she also has Auron, and her memories of Braska. At first, I think she considers Auron as someone encouraging her to go die, he’s the rock and Zanarkand is the hard place. But after he consistently insists that she must make her own decisions, and respects her completely, she begins to realize exactly how her father must have felt during his pilgrimage. Her choice to live is because of her memories of Braska, and what she knows he wished for her, as seen in the Braska Sphere: “Do what you must do, the way you want to do it. Doors will always open themselves to those who do. Listen close, Yuna. Your future is yours to make. Live the way you want to. Whatever way that may be, you have your father’s full support.” She would see that Braska’s decision to go through with the Aeon was because that was what he thought was best, but she needn’t go the same way. “My father… I loved him. So I… I will live with my sorrow, I will live my own life! I will defeat sorrow, in his place. I will stand my ground and be strong. I don’t know when it will be but someday, I will conquer it. And I will do it without…false hope.” This is also incredibly important to her decision to live, because she is all to familiar with the aftermath of the Final Summoning. Seeing Auron every day would be a constant reminder of the pain she felt when her father died, and it would make her lose her footing in her path to the Final Aeon, wondering if she could leave behind all the people she cared about. Auron’s presence would remind her of her father, since he was the only other one who actually knew Braska as more than some legendary High Summoner. Even if Tidus wasn’t the same guiding hope to her, and she began to make the decision to get the Final Aeon in Zanarkand, I really don’t think Auron would have accepted it. This is one point where I think he wouldn’t let his oaths and vows get the better of him, and he would tell her everything, and would refuse to let her die like her father. It would be a betrayal to Yuna as her guardian, to disagree with her and not trust her decisions, but Auron swears loyalty first and foremost to Braska, and would override her desires with Braska’s. 

Kimahri is nearly as important as Tidus, because, while Kimahri doesn’t set Yuna down the path of questioning Yevon and the pilgrimage, he is the one who assures her that it is okay to do so. Kimahri is fiercely loyal to Yuna in the same way Auron was to Braska, and is a source of unconditional support in any decision she makes, be it for good or not. He lets her know, although silently, often, that she is allowed to diverge from the path and make different choices, because there is always someone there to support her. Because of this, I feel he would actually be her first choice to be her Final Aeon, despite everyone else’s volunteering, and would do it with no questions asked. But his unwavering support of her in her decision not to, is truly where his importance lies. Yuna says, “I’m not going back,” to which Kimahri replies, “Kimahri knows. Kimahri go first. Yuna is safe. Kimahri protect.”

Lulu would absolutely want to be the Final Aeon, which is actually part of the problem for Yuna. Lulu would choose death, and for Yuna, her influence could ultimately result in that. Of all the guardians, I think Lulu is the least helpful in forging a new path for Yuna, because Lulu is too focused on the end goal of reaching the end of the pilgrimage and defeating Sin. Her desire to actually finish a pilgrimage, to do what she perceives as her life’s meaning has already been denied to her twice, and so she puts all her energy into completing the journey with Yuna and helping her to defeat Sin, even though she didn’t want Yuna to go in the first place. While Lulu is a wonderful, patient and extraordinarily loving guardian, she is too caught up in the end, viewing their deaths as a salvation for them both. Guardians never survived past the end, historically (except Auron), so Lulu was prepared for that outcome, more than any of the others. She believes that with their deaths and with all the self-sacrifice she puts into the pilgrimage, that perhaps they have finally atoned for the sins of the past. “It’s been our only hope, all these years.” Lulu puts her faith in Yuna and absolutely believes she will defeat Sin, but that confidence Lulu has in Yuna becomes a bit strange to Yuna when she begins to choose life. She wants Lulu to choose life too, and hopes that in rejecting the Final Summoning, it might change Lulu’s perspective on her own life. Which I think it does, in the events of X2. In X, Lulu refuses to move on from Chappu, and the future she considered ripped away from her with his death, as much as she claims to have left him behind. She thinks like Yuna, that there is a time limit on her life, to the end of the pilgrimage. When they fight Yunalesca, she has an epiphany, that she too could choose life, and hope, and a new day. I always consider her relationship with Wakka and their baby as a solid representation that Yuna truly defeated Sin, especially in Lulu’s heart. Yuna chose life, in hopes that Lulu would too, and she did. I love it. (This may seem harsh on Lu, please know I love her and everything about her character TToTT)

Rikku works as a foil to Lulu, choosing hope and life from the get-go, though her methods aren’t very effective. Rather than guiding Yuna and showing her the path to hope like Tidus and Auron do, Rikku is a bit too heavy-handed, just straight-up kidnapping Yuna to derail the pilgrimage. Her heart is totally in the right place, but dealing with Yuna that way couldn’t change her mind. Yuna only viewed the kidnapping as a necessary trial on the way to the end. Though in doing that, Rikku does show the depth of her care and concern, something Yuna really needs. I like to think that it becomes apparent that Rikku was with the Al Bhed that kidnapped Yuna, since I assume Lulu and Yuna know, and Auron at the very least. The hug that Rikku and Yuna exchange on Gagazet was also something that contributed to Yuna’s decision, as she realized how deeply her guardians cared for her, and at this point she has already thrown out the temple and is thinking a bit more like Rikku. Though her mind isn’t made up completely yet as she says, “Tell Cid thank you.” to which Rikku says, “No… You can tell him yourself.” Rikku shows to the very end that she won’t give up on Yuna, even if she becomes less aggressive in her methods. At the end of the pilgrimage, I feel Rikku mirrors young Auron in almost every way, being overtaken by hopelessness and sorrow, and pleading for something different. When Yuna and co. watch the events of Braska’s decision, Yuna would have observed the similarities between Rikku and Auron, and the outcome of Braska’s decision. The Final Summoning just didn’t work.

Though Wakka and Rikku are often at odds with one another regarding ‘the right way to do things’, especially with Yevon, he is still important to Yuna’s journey because he shows how foolhardy blind faith in the church is. Tidus can see Wakka’s faith and resulting racism is ridiculous from the beginning, but it takes a change in Yuna’s point of view to see how foolish Yevon is. As her opinion changes, and Wakka’s doesn’t, she can see how deeply flawed Yevon’s dogma actually is, as it dictates Wakka’s behaviour. As Wakka struggles with the right way to do things, Yuna has a similar struggle, since denying Yevon would mean abandoning a lifetime of devotion and rules to live by. Wakka resists the change, until he can’t anymore, and realizes his friends are correct and throws a Blitzball at Lady Yunalesca’s face. 

In summary, the construction of the plot, and how everything went down is very reliant on the characters, and all of their individual motivations. I love Yuna because she acted as she saw fit, and changed and grew and became strong because of her guardians, but still reached her convictions on her own. To me, her most important trait is that she learned, and that she chose life. 

Yuna chose life.