#if this is completely gibberish i'm sorry lmao writing all in one go stream of consciousness

[liketheinferno2]

in talking about ffxvi you made the point that clive is a good DRK, from the standpoint of the emotional thing that that class's narrative does. this makes me curious, what's your take on What A Gunbreaker Is For, in an emotional narrative sense? i have my own thoughts but i'm not as good at organizing them, i feel like the major GNB characters we meet (squall, seifer, the bozjan queensguard) are serving in different kinds of bodyguard/knight roles but specifically invested in conceptualizing themselves as bodyguard/knight. it's like embodying a very specific masculinity (gender-neutral)

I haven't played gunbreaker or ff8 so you'll forgive me if I have very little idea of what the defining qualities of the class are beyond ffxiv's NPCS though this has made me interested. Gunbreaker as a bodyguard == finding their sense of self and duty in service to another person definitely tracks with Thancred and the Queensguard. I can talk to you about dragoon, paladin, dark knight and summoner more readily at least.... but it's hard to talk about any tanks without the originals? A lot of classic final fantasy jobs are story relevant in one iteration and just a weapon you hold in the next.

Dark Knight vs Paladin is a peculiar one to me because the first time you see either of them it's DRK that is a military force and PLD that is an independent self acceptance renegade with Cecil Harvey, but that positioning flips back and forth throughout the series. Less that holiness is good and darkness is bad and more that Paladins are (at least trying to be) noble protectors of people at large, chivalrous, willing to take blows for their friends or their cause. Can become a very negative set of traits with characters whose cause is unjust -- Beatrix or the Heavens Ward come to mind.

Dark Knight's defining traits are like... exchanging self preservation for power, turning the worst parts of yourself into strength, almost like spiritually impure outcast class even when they're backed by an official body in the setting? Like Clive is definitely a dark knight because he can't access any of his strength until he's ready to accept that the worst parts of him are still part of him (Cloud Strife is also like this!!!) but you also come up against a squadron of like Sanbrequois Imperial Dark Knights With A Capital D who are sectioned off and despised even within their own organisation because they do the things too horrible for the rest of them.

An aside but I think Clive is quietly dual classing because as I get through the crafting unlocks late in the game when he's turned into someone who's protecting his entire community and pushed forward by love of those people it's all classic Paladin arms. Dark Knight Paladin Summoner Blue Mage McSpecial Boy.

But anyway most of my thoughts on Gunbreaker is that assigning yourself bodyguard can easily turn into kind of a tragic codependent dynamic and Thancred in Shadowbringers is almost entirely about that. It's a lot more personal than Paladin -- this isn't someone motivated by what they think is the greater good but the good of their charge -- yet less self absorbed than Dark Knights burning themselves up for power? Shadowbringers Thancred is dependent on his loved ones to even function as a GNB because fun fact if you can't bring Ryne or Urianger into Trusts with him he won't have any of his kit that requires their magic to use. .. I suppose Gunbreaker at least in FF14 is about partnerships and a subjective personal sense of duty.

Also you're right about the masculinity thing lmao I don't feel butch enough unless I'm supportive and helpful to the people around me and I'm sure that's true of a lot of people. It's emotionally rewarding to be a pillar to lean on but you risk suffering in silence if you can't get out of that self-prescribed role when you need to.