#leviathan ffiv

[estinininininen]

*takes deep breath* first fanfiction posted online in nearly twenty years. Final Fantasy IV, i dunno how many words, probably around 2000? unbeta'd. just after the sealed cavern debacle. Cursing and referenced violence. Edge POV, but it's actually about Cecil, Kain, and Rydia:

-

Kain's betrayal has split them into pairs: Cecil and Rosa, and Edge and Rydia. They each stare at the others as if they have gone mad.

"He's not usually mean, or, or, or cruel like this! You've known him for long enough to see that!" Rosa says.

"I don't know him at all," Edge says. "Bastard always hid his eyes and never talked to us!"

"He was struggling against the spell," Cecil says. "He didn't mean to do this. I'm sure of it."

This pauses the argument, because Cecil is the only one sitting hunched over, resting to recover from blood loss. Edge stares down at him. He feels his face twisting with many emotions that will be obvious even behind the veil. Pity, anger, disbelief.

Quiet until now, Rydia pipes up. "He's not like you, Cecil. He's not good deep down."

Rosa turns away and does not try to hide or stop her tears. Cecil huffs at Rydia, for a moment almost like an indulgent parent unable to scold a child, instead of the focused holy warrior Edge has grown to rely on. Considering what little he knows of Cecil and Rydia, the thought of him patronizing her, on behalf of this Kain guy, for a moment it makes Edge want to - want to smack Cecil, or bundle Rydia in his cloak and take her away. Snatch that holy headband right of his pretty face and huck it in the lava.

There is some great sin hovering over him and Rydia, and also Kain, Edge knows. None have answered when Edge questioned what it is, what Cecil did to her, how Kain fit into it. Rosa deferred to them. Each said what amounted to, That's for the others to share when they're ready, and even if Edge weren't a ninja he'd know that was a desperate trick to hide from the problem. It was only a step removed from "Ask your mother," and then being told "Ask your father."

Edge had wanted to ask the Eidolons. He was going to, but then he saw how Queen Asura and King Leviathan looked down at the two Baron men, bowed low and motionless before them, far longer than necessary. He decided not to, and told himself it was for diplomatic reasons, not wanting to test the new connections between Eblan, Baron and the Summons. It was not because he was scared reopening that wound would get him or the two fools blown to bits. Not at all.

Into the puckered silence, Rydia says, "Well, he's not. Kain's not a good person. I haven't forgotten what he . . . what he said to you at Mist."

Cecil's head snaps up. "What?"

"He threatened you," Rydia said, whispering. Her eyes are looking at Cecil and also at some distant memory. "He threatened you, he told you to kill me, and it was before he was under Golbez' thrall."

Rosa turns back to them, jaw dropping. Edge is certain he's done the same, but he's a terrible politician and can't hold his face so he's not sure.

"I was seven," Rydia says. "I was a child, and you were the one who did the right thing, and Kain wasn't going to so, so I don't, I don't want to hurt you or Rosa but he is not a good person-"

"Rydia!" Cecil says. "Rydia, no, that's not right-"

"I had ears, Cecil," Rydia says. "I was seven but I could hear you." She curls her fists at her side. Rydia is not actually quick to anger, Edge realizes. All the bantering and frustration she has with the prince of Eblan is nothing compared to how furious she is now. She is just as quiet when ready to kill.

But Cecil is still going on. "That's not what happened. No. No!" He shakes his head. "He was threatening me," he says.

Total silence falls.

"He was threatening me," Cecil says, and hangs his head.

"What?" Rydia says.

"What?" Rosa says.

Cecil looks up, open his mouth, then checks himself, slaps his hand on the ground, and looks back down.

"Will someone please explain to me what the hell happened at Mist?" Edge says.

Rydia's brow furrows into little lines that even in the strange moment Edge can't help but find cute. He is not prepared for what Rydia says next. "Kain and Cecil killed my mum's Eidolon, which killed her," she says.

Edge looks toward Rosa, who does not seem surprised.

Cecil sighs. "We were ordered by Cagnazzo, pretending to be King Odin, to open the way to Mist and deliver a package. He ordered us not to open it until we arrived and presented it to the town leaders for all to see. It was a bomb ring, and Golbez must have been watching us for the moment to set it off."

Cecil is good at compartmentalizing and military summaries, but Edge see this is hard for him. He rocks backwards and looks up at the stone ceiling of the cave entrance. "The first blast ignited almost the whole town, and then living bomb monsters came out of the ring and began hunting down the survivors. Kain and I were safe in a small circle near the ring, but smoke was going to kill us if we stayed or tried to help anybody. So we ran."

Edge looks towards Rosa again. It is still knowledge she has heard before. Rydia's face is like glass, still and smooth but ready to shatter at a moment.

Cecil continues. "On the edge of the village we heard a girl crying next to a dead body. Bombs were still flying behind us, and people who left the town were chased down. I think the only reason Kain and I lived still was because of the ring protecting us from its effects - but I don't know. I will keep guesswork for later. The girl cried that her m, her moth-"

Cecil swallowed and lowered his face to wipe his eyes with one hand.

Rydia spoke. "I told you she died because someone had killed her summon."

Edge fears for a moment the paladin has cracked, because Cecil laughs. "Well, you were saying that to - to anyone who passed by, more like. It's really been ten years for you, hasn't it? Rydia, I'm sorry, it's not been so long for me, and I can still-"

"Keep it together, man," Edge says. He thinks this was the right thing to say, it's not right for Cecil to need comfort from Rydia, but Rydia's focus for the first time snaps to Edge and almost burns a hole right through his skull. He withdraws. Rosa sits down next to Cecil and puts her hand in his.

"Tell me what you mean by Kain threatened you," Rydia says.

Cecil says, "Kain said we needed to kill you. The king wanted you dead. And he drew his lance. That's what you remember?"

"Yes," Rydia whispers.

"I was between you and Kain. He was preparing to attack me if I listened to him and tried to hurt you."

Rosa gasps and says, "You wouldn't have done that, Kain knew that-"

Cecil cut her off. "No, he didn't know that. When it came down to it, I was a dark knight who had just come back from kill- . . . from murdering civilians in Mysidia and stealing their crystal. I had told Kain and everyone I saw in Baron that I felt it was wrong but I had still done it."

Cecil stops and Edge knows he is about to roll around in his guilt like a pig in mud, but the story is not done. Rydia cuts off Cecil's reverie. "You pushed Kain back," she says. "Away from me."

"I pushed Kain back and said I wouldn't hurt a child. Kain said that he thought I'd say that. I don't think you heard that. Kain's an ass, I'm not denying that, but he thinks quick. The fire was there, bombs were flying, and you seemed ready to bolt. If he wanted to save you, Rydia, he couldn't wait for me to figure out my loyalties. I had the bomb ring."

Rydia exhales through her nose. "And you hadn't realized yet this was what Cagnazzo intended."

"Until Kain said so. If I . . . if I had been alone and saved you . . . Well, I wouldn't have made it that far, Kain is the only reason I . . . but if I had been alone, and thought, halfway through returning to Baron, 'I can't come back with this child' . . . I'm not sure what I would have done . . . "

Edge snaps.

"You silver-haired bastard," he snarls. "You would have killed her?"

He will not forget Cecil's expression for a long time. "The king was the only father I had ever known," he says. "I didn't think I would ever kill people begging me to just leave, but I did. I already had. For him."

"You are fucked in the head," Edge says.

"Yes," Cecil says.

"I knew you were the dark knight that attacked Mysidia, but wow. And what, you think a different guy who says he's your father cancels out this shit? Wipes the slate clean?"

"No," Cecil says.

"Would you do whatever I asked if I said I was your father?" Edge says.

"Edge," Rydia says. "It's between me and Cecil."

Edge continues, because he can't stop the fire building behind his eyes, and if he doesn't speak it will come out as something even worse. "Holy dipshit," he says.

"Right," Cecil says.

"Edge!" Rydia says. "Shut up and leave him alone. This is the part I've worked out with him already. Numerous times. You're not my, my protector or whatever it is you're trying now," she says.

"What? You think that - that I'm trying to - ? That is the last thing on my mind," Edge says. "There's too much at stake, here, way more than I realized when I first met you lot, and it turns out the man I've been trusting, everyone's been trusting, to stop Golbez is an asshole who couldn't figure out it's wrong to kill a child without his even bigger asshole friend pointing it out?"

"Edge, you're not listening. He did figure it out," Rydia said. "Wait, no, I mean, he didn't really need to ask that question. Of course he didn't. He's Cecil. Have you met him? Haven't you noticed he gets upset if he has to kill a bug?"

Cecil opens his mouth to say something. Rosa hushes him.

Edge's calm center of ninja training is gone. He is gone. His parents are dead, Eblan is in ruins, and Golbez has all but won. He has found emotional limits he didn't know he had and smashed through them like a rampaging chocobo. He yells, "Well I am definitely not flirting with you just because I'm a little concerned! That the man! Who ruined your life! Is here and you don't seem to care-"

"He did ruin my life," Rydia says, as if talking to a child. "And then he saved it." Then she crossed her arms and stared Edge down.

"Rydi-" Cecil says.

"Cecil," Rosa says, in the tensest tone Edge has heard yet from the white mage. Edge sneers down at her. "Well I'm glad someone has him on a leash," he says, and turns to leave the sealed cave.

"Where are you going?" Cecil asks.

"Fuck you!" Edge says. He starts walking. But he feels, dripping at the back of his anger, something like beginning awareness he has . . . not overreacted, but overstepped some boundary with Rydia. He will not call it a "mistake," yet.

"Edge," Rydia calls out to him. "Don't go far."

-------------------------------------------

Rydia shakes her head after Edge leaves. "What a . . . What a baby. I don't know the word for it."

"He'll calm down," Rosa says. "I think."

They are silent for too long, and it is jarring when Rosa speaks again. "Do you want me to step outside?" she says. "If you two need to speak?"

Rydia looks at Cecil. "I don't think so, no," she says. "I love you, Rosa," she adds. It is Rydia's way to be open and calm with her feelings, and say them when they occur to her, more Eidolon than human in manners. Rosa is still startled enough that she doesn't say anything besides, "Oh, I uh, I love you too, Rydia."

The weight that Cecil always presses down on himself to move forward has come back. "We shouldn't spend too much time here. The wound has closed and the potion helped the bloodloss. I can recover on the Falcon now."

"Don't push yourself," Rosa says.

"We must tell King Giott. We have all but lost," he says.

"I can't believe that about Kain," Rydia says. "You really think that, that he decided he was going to fight you that quick?"

"Ah," Cecil says, as he shifts to stand up. He presses a hand to the wall. He feels much older than just turned twenty-one. In hindsight, Kain being ready to fling himself against Cecil at a moment's notice looks bad. His thoughts swim. He is not sure if he has improved Rydia's opinion of Kain at all now.

"I wish you had told me earlier," Rydia says. "I would have forgiven him, if he asked. And now he's gone . . ."

Dancing under the stones of their feet, deeper than the foundations of the earth, is the ever-present knowledge Rydia has not said the words "I forgive you" to Cecil yet. Or maybe that is just him. He hopes Rydia has not assumed he already knew if she does or not. He has not asked her.

After today he is not sure he can.

[st-highwind]

...so three (3) of you were nice to me and i blacked out and word vomited two documents of scene mapping and worldbuilding. my ideas are still jumbled, so here's what i have ambitions for as copy-pasted from ren and I's dms:

long post, all non-canon, lots of blabbering, but i'm happy about it below.

reworked dark crystals, new dungeons, and new archfiends! archfiend names are open to constructive criticism lol

- mist pass: the still-in-progress passage that workers of both baron and damcyan attempted to construct after the collapse of the mountains per Rydia's titan summon. soldiers and workers kept disappearing, so eventually damcyan and baron just quit sending people there and deemed the place cursed. time passed as cecil and the crew ventured to try and save more crystals, and holy elemental creatures began making their home there. this includes Seraphitz, archfiend of light, a creature in possession of the light crystal that was corrupted by its holy power.

- adamant mines: different from whatever was in tay bc screw tay. the crystal of energy is kept well hidden in the labyrinthine mines that connect to the underworld as a sort of back entrance. the adamant ore is difficult to harness amidst all the lightning-elemental monsters, thus the mines are largely abandoned. ghostly automatons trudge around poorly-lit tunnels with too many corners, all of which condense and lead to statigge (stati-jey), archfiend of thunder and guardian of the energy crystal.

- serpent's lair: a winding undersea shipyard (in an underwater passage connecting the overworld and underworld) littered with many a ship lost to the sea. it is suspected that this was cagnazzo's domain, forgone as he took control of baron under Golbezemus' command. the deeper the party travels, the colder the air grows and the more ice monsters begin appearing. ghiaccio, archfiend of ice, has seized control of the area and is not keen on trespassers.

- the sealed cave: it pretty well stays the way it is, except the demon wall boss happens on the way *to* the shadow crystal, the prize of the dungeon. after the crystal is acquired, the party is revitalized by the crystal (and are confused by such) only to find malnotte, archfiend of shadow, waiting for them outside where the demon wall was originally fought.

other ideas:

- the tower of zot is actually a dreadnought protected by heavy winds from barbariccia, which is why it can't be seen on the world map. when barbariccia destroys the place after her defeat, the dreadnought falls into the sea off the southern coast of troia. it can be explored as an optional dungeon later (ruins of zot).

- something new has to happen with mt hobbs. it's so big with so little significance. i need to concoct something to happen there.

- i also want to revise travel mechanisms. i now need something for underwater travel, or perhaps rydia and leviathan can work something out and he can big snake bus the party down to the ice dungeon or ruins of zot. chocobos imo are underutilized, esp the black chocobo, as well as the hovercraft from edward. we get not one not two but THREE airships and only three narrative-required deviations from airships to reach dungeons.

- the devil's road should not be a mini-dungeon like in tay, but instead function similarly to teleport in ff2: the party loses significant health after passing through. it's killed people before, those who passed through and didn't possess the vitality, and that's why it was sealed off.

- if anyone has an ffiv oc, please let me know!! i want to write them in!! i want to give more life to the villages and towns. i already intend to write in some friends here on ffiv tumblr as shopkeepers, innkeepers, or just townsfolk!! you wanna be a hummingway? be a hummingway!!! LMK!!!!!

this is only a few ideas i have. please let me know your thoughts!

[wordlesslyjenneh]

Some thoughts on mind control

After reading @bettycrockersspoon latest chapter of the anthology, Devil’s Road (which you should go read right now!) it got me really thinking of the different types of mind control and manipulation we see in FFIV, and how their effectiveness reflects the type of person each victim is.

End game spoilers for Final Fantasy IV:

Starting with Kain, the first mind control reveal. Tellah’s use of Meteor temporarily weakens Golbez and interrupts his link to Kain, which suggests it’s a spell that Golbez maintains, at least passively if not actively. Although Kain admits he had at least autonomy while under Golbez’s control, it’s not defined how or how much.

When Cecil tells Kain that it wasn’t his fault because Kain was under Golbez’s spell, Kain tells Cecil, “But... a part of me inside was awake and yet... I just stood by and watched.” (GBA version) and then to Rosa, “Not all of what I did was because of Golbez's spell. I just wanted to keep you...to keep you by my side.” (DS version).

I believe Kain was tempted into his mind control by promises of finally defeating Cecil and proving to Rosa that Kain is the superior choice. He tells her, “…you'll see soon enough that I am superior to Cecil.” (Gba) and “I am more than Cecil will ever be. You'll see that soon enough.” and seems to think this will actually work.

Kain’s second round of mind control is less subtle; Golbez is actively pulling strings and directly controlling Kain, despite Kain’s attempt to resist. However, is he still tempted by what Golbez has to offer? If Kain brings Golbez the last Crystal, what more could Golbez dangle as bait? It’s interesting to ponder.

Now Yang, our second victim of mind influence. Did Yang truly have amnesia from the shipwreck and was convinced by Baron/Golbez to join? In the Baron Inn, Yang and other guards are being rowdy, and the villagers complain about their behavior, so much so that the innkeeper gives you a free night for taking care of them. That doesn’t seem like Yang’s character at all.

Yang claims he “remembers little” after Leviathan’s attack but my theory is that he has chosen not to remember. I think Golbez influenced his amnesia in a way that made Yang vulnerable to suggestion; it is easy to do something awful if someone with authority is telling you to do it. (See the Milgram Experiment for a real-life example).

Remembering his actions while working for Baron forces Yang to realize he is a man capable of darkness. I don’t think Golbez had any meaningful “control” over Yang in the same way he did Kain, but Yang wants to forget: losing all the monks to monsters at Mount Hobbs; the siege of Fabul and the horror of facing both Baron soldiers and monsters; and not being able to save Rydia from Leviathan. These are all Yang’s failures, and they must weigh heavily on him. Enough to embrace amnesia? Perhaps.

Finally, Golbez, who inspired all this rambling. What version of influence did Zemus have over Golbez? In the DS version during Golbez’s flashback, we see Zemus offering Theodor what he wants – to be rid of baby Cecil, who had just killed his beloved mother. Made vulnerable by his grief, Zemus encourages Theodor’s hatred of Cecil while belittling Theodor, and then gives him permission to abandon his brother. It bears some similarities to how Kain is controlled/influenced, having some control but being unable to stop themselves from doing the terrible acts.

However, Golbez does not seem to remember who he is, as Yang. FuSoYa commands Golbez, “You have to look deep inside yourself!  You have to realize who you really are!” (GBA) and then casts a spell. Does the spell make Golbez remember what he had forgotten, or did it interrupt Zemus’ influence enough for Golbez to remember on his own? The difference matters.

If the spell only brought back Golbez’s memories, that means Golbez interrupted/started resisting Zemus’ control once he remembered. Golbez continues to hear Zemus in his mind but chooses to ignore it as he and FuSoYa venture to Zemus’ prison at the core.

If the spell interrupts Zemus’ control, then Zemus was actively blocking memories and Golbez now remembers who he is because of that interruption. I think this is less likely because I don’t think FuSoYa has that kind of power to stop one of Zemus’ spells.

The descent into the core is dangerous, especially for those susceptible to darkness. When you first enter the Lunar Subterrane, Kain’s thought bubbles wonder, “This wave of hate—does it emanate from Zemus?” Edge also seems to sense something from Zemus (which could be a post in of itself!) but the others do not feel it.

How would have Golbez experienced the Lunar Subterrane? Would Zemus’ influence have been more intense because of Golbez’s inner darkness and how enmeshed Golbez and Zemus were? Did Golbez fight every step of the way to keep himself from falling under Zemus’ control again? I think so.

Ultimately, I think it’s a combination of both the desire to forget and Zemus’ corrupting influence encouraging him to hate that turned Theodor into Golbez. As a half Lunarian, Golbez is both more powerful than the average human, but also far more vulnerable to Zemus. Golbez chooses to hate and forget because it is easier than facing the truth of his childhood trauma: sometimes bad things just happen and there’s no one to blame.

All of this is to say I really want to give Golbez a big hug because I think he especially needs it. Again, go read BCS’ Devil’s Road! I read it in the morning and spent all day thinking about it, hence this ridiculous essay.

Thoughts? I’d love to hear them!

[solradguy]

I went all the way through the Mt Ordeals dungeon (FFIV) after the dude in Mysidia was like "there's something spooky in them hills" and once I got to the end there was nothing I could interact with lol So I had to slog all the way back out because APPARENTLY Cecil's TELEPORT SPELL cannot TELEPORT out of Mt Ordeals because they LINED THE WALLS WITH LEAD OR SOMETHING. Whatever

After that I went and got the Asura, Leviathan, Odin, and Bahamut summons. The Bahamut fight was fun. He literally just kills himself if you use reflect on his turbo laser.

Dumb bastard 👇

Dumb bastard 👆

I found a rat tail in a box. Enamored with the idea of Cecil opening a beautiful wooden chest, seeing a severed rat tail, and putting it in his pocket. Filing that into the same part of my brain where I've stored "Cecil will put his hand directly into a fire if you interact with one." Instead of, you know, just observing it. He doesn't have to put his hand in there but he does. I love Cecil Harvey The Moon Man

[jieanette]

So I recently played FFIV and I just need a moment to talk about how much Cecil had been through in this game so far

((spoilers for FFIV, tagged it so you guys are free to block it))

Rn I'm on my way to Mt. Ordeals (Cecil's persona arc lmao) so I don't know how much he's gonna go through later on.

1. Cecil had to face guilt for slaughtering the Mysidians to get the crystal as ordered by his king, and when he questioned the king he got immediately demoted.

2. He then had to leave for a mission for the king and realized that mission was to literally commit genocide against a whole village and had to realise the fact that he just killed a child's mom and that child now hates him. Now that's a toughie

3. Find out that his crush/lover (Rosa) got herself desert fever, and while going to find the cure he discovered he got replaced by some guy (Golbez) and that he destroyed an entire kingdom.

4. AFTER he healed Rosa he then finds out that he was considered dead in the eyes of Baron.

5. Tries to do the right thing by warning the other kingdoms about Baron taking the crystals but failed. And to add that, Cecil finds out that his best friend, Kain, betrayed him and fought him (got his ass beat). Rosa gets kidnapped by Golbez soon after

6. Tries to go back to Baron to get answers but gets dragged into a whirlpool by Leviathan. Got himself stranded and had to seek refuge in a town called Mysidia. Yup, the same Mysidia where he murdered people.

7. Now everyone there (understandably) hates him. Dude gets turned into various animals and is being treated like a devil.

And that's all the things I've seen so far.

...Cecil, are you doing alright over there?

[annaminijayan3dblog]

Academic Blog 3

I’d like to use what we learned about gender theories and the male gaze from our lectures to analyse the character Rydia from Final Fantasy IV (1991). Games have often represented women in problematic ways, usually by hypersexualising them. This makes it difficult for players who identify as women to relate to the characters resulting in a decrease in the female player base.

The character Rydia is a summoner character who is initially introduced as a little girl from the village of Mist. As a child, she wears a yellow skirt over a bodysuit accompanied by a cape. After her village is set on fire and the Mist Dragon is killed, Rydia is left orphaned. Although she resents the main character Cecil and his companion Kain for accidentally being the cause of this unfortunate incident, she joins their party after they gain her trust. During their journey together, Rydia gets swallowed by Leviathan and is assumed dead.

Espritduo (n.d) FFIV-amano_rydiachild.jpg

Later in the story, Rydia is revealed to have been alive. She was taken to the Feymarch where she developed her black magic. Although she was only gone for a short time, she had grown into a young woman due to time moving faster there. She rejoins the party when she saves Cecil and his party from the shadow dragon by summoning the mist dragon. At this point in the story, she seems truly free from her resentment towards Cecil and is only focused on her noble goal to protect the world from Golbez and his dark forces. This version of Rydia is seen wearing a green leotard with low cleavage and slits on the sides exposing her hips. She also had long green sleeves, knee-high green and gold boots, and a long green cape. Yet these aspects of her design did not make her hypersexualized design any less obvious.

DrakeyC (n.d) RydiaDS.png

Rydia can be considered the most powerful summoner and one of the most prominent characters in the game. Although she is an active member on the battlefield with other members of the party, she is not seen wearing a suit of armour like her male companions. Even a strong character like Rydia with a tragic backstory and character development is reduced to a pleasing appearance for males in the game. As Gill wrote, “In today's media it is possession of a 'sexy body' that is presented as women's key (if not sole) source of identity. The body is presented simultaneously as women's source of power and as always already unruly and requiring constant monitoring, surveillance, discipline and remodelling (and consumer spending) in order to conform to ever narrower judgments of female attractiveness.” (Gill, 2007) Many female characters who have the potential to be as good as the main characters have been reduced to objects for the male gaze. Even in her design as a child, her skirt does not fully cover her lower body which can be quite problematic.

It is my responsibility as a games artist to represent everyone in a proper way that does not lead to an ‘enfreakment’ of the characters. Sengun, Mawhorter, Bowie-Wilson, Audeh, Kwak, and Harrell (2022) define virtual enfreakment as the ‘grotesque amplification of identity attributes based on cultural, ethnic, and gender prejudices, which objectifies and demeans some groups for the pleasure and consumption of others.’ Female characters are often depicted as support characters and their designs often appear very sexist. Although Rydia is a powerful character, there is an instance in the story where she is asked by the main character Cecil, to stay behind with the other women due to the reason that it’s not safe. This perpetuates the negative idea that women are weak. ‘Feminist literature on virtual environments and games has also described the

harmful effects of stereotyping and erasure in detail, and how even when female protagonists are included in games, their roles are often limited.’ (Sengun, Mawhorter, Bowie-Wilson, Audeh, Kwak, Harrell, 2022, p.3). In my practice, I would like to make female characters who are not sidelined and design them in a way that brings out their personality and experiences.

References

DrakeyC (n.d) RydiaDS.png, Final Fantasy Wiki. Available at: https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Rydia?file=RydiaDS.png [Accessed: 4 December 2023]

Espritduo (n.d) FFIV-amano_rydiachild.jpg, Final Fantasy Wiki. Available at: https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Rydia?file=FFIV-amano_rydiachild.jpg [Accessed: 4 December 2023]

Gill, R. (2007) Gender and the Media. [Accessed: 4 December 2023]

[orionwynnter669]

UNPOPULAR NSFW OBEY ME OPINIONS

I'm joking ofc. Idk if these are really unpopular opinions, but they're my opinions. But anyway yeah NSFW below the cut 18+ minors gtfo dni pls and ty

Lucifer

Tbh I wouldn't even consider fucking him if it weren't for the bdsm.

The only one I'd ever call Daddy

I want him to call me good boy while he rearranges my insides.

Mammon

Is a switch

Goes from arrogant top to whiney bottom.

Is the only reason I developed into a switch

He makes me wanna make him beg

Could call me "My Precious" to be sweet and I'd bust out laughing, LOTR got me by the nonexistent balls I'm sorry.

Leviathan

If it's not the hc where he's got two dicks in his demon form then I don't want it.

You can try convincing me he's a sub.

I won't believe you.

It may take a lot to build his confidence enough to get him going

But once he's going you won't be able to walk straight for a month

Definitely a fan of those fics where you cockwarm him while he's playing FFIV

DP Monster Fucker right here.

Satan

I'm more of a dog person when it comes to pet names, but I'd let him call me kitten unironically and get away with it.

Discord mod mf

Would probably use the same pet names as Lucifer. I know it, you know it, if either one of us say that to his face he'll probably explode.

Also only wanna fuck him for the bdsm

Asmodeus

You already know. Kinkiest mf on the list. Knows everything and every position. Could go on for hours, make you cum countless times, and not even be done with foreplay.

He'd make me feel so good about myself and my body, knocking out every one of my insecurities. The idea of it is just so soft and wholesome.

I'd learn to love my body while he's busy leaving his marks all over it

And the aftercare is *mwah*, chef's kiss

Beelzebub

My favorite. A fucking unit. Man works out and it shows.

No it's not just because I have a size kink be quiet

The only one I'd let eat me out

And yes as he does you bet your ass I'm over there droolin on his cock.

Adorable in the streets, fucking menace in the sheets

I can go on for hours but I don't want to be too blatant with my favoritism. I'll save that for a different post

Belphie

I want to be clear. I don't like degradation.

That said, he can call me a slutty whore and I'd let him get away with it.

The only one I'd let be mean to me

Threesomes with Beel are a major plus

Literal cuddle fuck

Diavolo

Now this one

This one is because I have a size kink

I don't care about royalty or any of that

I'm mainly just curious to see how much his cock would bulge out my stomach

Barbatos

This man can do whatever he wants to me I don't even care

He's incredibly intimidating, but also so fuckin fine

I'd be scared and horny at the same time ngl

Would treat you like royalty by day

Would treat you like a fuck toy by night

Solomon

I don't remember where I saw it.

I don't remember when I saw it.

But I saw someone make fan art of him summoning tentacles.

That's really all I needed tbh

Man's freaky in ways I can't even imagine

Simeon

He's hot. Absolutely.

But I would not fuck him

I will simp to high heavens, but I won't fuck him.

Unless he's into it then idk it could go anywhere tbh

[machoestofmen]

Ogopogo

I run a lot of games in my own Final Fantasy x Pathfinder setting, and amongst the NPCs is a sea serpent, named and designed after the Leviathan palette swap from FFIV. For my setting’s lore, she’s the same species as Leviathan himself, but she is far younger; she has a few thousand years to go before she attains godhood like him, and she’s only forty feet compared to his quarter-mile length.

However, she is good friends with a pirate captain named Jackie Killigrew, who keeps her crew in line when it comes to the sheer amount of jewelry Ogopogo has on her. Jackie lets her wear a solid third of the jewels they all get, in terms of value, and while the crew complains, they don’t act on it. After all, what are some sailors gonna do against a marine dragon that has steel-hard scales, spits water twice as hard as a fire hose, and has some control over the tides?

[diaxyz]

Happy 26th anniversary to FFIV! <3  You can find the B/W version of these and others sketches in my FF sketchbook “Waltz for the Moon :) <3 http://diaxyz.tumblr.com/post/162481600227/finally-waltzforthemoon-is-here-o-one-of

[estinininininen]

okay ffiv has obvious themes like brotherhood and forgiveness but so so so many separate parts of ffiv suddenly snap together beautifully if you take the theme of parents and in loco parentis: adoption, guardianship, teachers. people taking responsibility for those younger or weaker. not fully as parents necessarily but what they need in that moment. and how they and the protectee address it when they fail at that duty.

the king, cecil, and kain. cecil remembering the bodies of pacifist mysidians and realizing that's not why he became a dark knight. cid has his own daughter but finds time to check in on cecil, unmoored from his royal foster dad. kain wanting to feel closer to his birth father. rydia's existence. tellah and anna. cecil and rydia, who have lost everything they can protect except rosa, not knowing how to help edward make this realization in his own grief, only how to hurt or belittle him. rosa mentoring rydia to learn fire is honestly rosa's strongest characterization moment outside of kain and cecil drama hours. yang looking over the bodies of the junior monks he was teaching. yang jumping in after rydia without hesitating. leviathan we learn later taking in rydia. cecil returning to mysidia. cecil looking down at palom and porom saying i'm sorry you want literal children to climb the holycursed zombie mountain?

i kinda like to think that was the first test and cecil didn't even realize. if he hadn't spoken up about how weird it seems sending kids well maybe he's just faking being contrite and following his own moral compass now because if you don't know palom and porom can nuke half the mountain on their own that would be extremely weird. ah yes, the elder says, moving his hand under the desk from the 'eject' button. don't worry about these two they'll be fine. :) cecil quickly realizing the two brats are all but carrying him up the mountain he thought he needed to protect them from.

that is all just the first act

except for kain's whole thing boiling over under the "brotherhood/jealousy" theme, moments that fall outside "guardianship" are i think generally less memorable, or if not set up well feel forced to me, like plain readings of the love triangle, yang and cid's sacrifices (versus palom and porom's, ouch), cecil not explaining adequately why rosa and rydia need to stay behind aside from not wanting the girlies on his implied suicide run. i'm sure i'm also forcing this interpretation a bit

[st-highwind]

To keep up the momentum for my ffiv au, I have decided now is a good time to make a post about Thrush's Lunar Trial.

Background and shoddy artwork included!

Content warnings: Transphobia

A bit of background first: Thrush's big struggle is with their identity and the relationship they had with their family. Overbearing narcissist mother, emotionally absent father, a hateful older sister and a brat younger sister-- Thrush left. They left, changed their name, their appearance (magic top surgery and some cool scars). They refuse to go back to Troia on their own volition. When they wash ashore back in Troia anyways after Leviathan capsizes the Fabul ship, they are forced to confront not the whole family, mercifully, but their older sister Oriole who has become an epopt. The encounter doesn't go well. Oriole curses at Thrush, scorns them, and threatens to use force to return them to their former body. Thrush flees after Oriole swore a life of physical labor as punishment for abandoning their family (as familial ties in Troia are hugely important).

Thrush was very secretive about their origin/past to the party, so having it all revealed so unceremoniously and messily was rather traumatizing. They behave like a hunted, cornered animal for a time.

So Thrush's trial, of course, takes place in Troia. It opens with Thrush approaching the town's edge, cautious and carefully scaling a heavily-leafed tree so not to alert any bystanders. There is some sort of promenade going through the town and they count seven epopts walking in their procession down the street-- upon further investigation, they find it's a coronation ceremony for a new eighth epopt. Thrush squints to try to make out faces and feels their stomach drop when they finally see who the new epopt is: it's them, but it's not. It's her-- Lark, not Thrush, grown into a beautiful and talented white mage, is being guided through the town in epopt's robes with their family smiling brightly and proudly.

(Lark, the newest epopt)

In their bewilderment, Thrush falls out of the tree. They hit the ground and their vision blurs as the scene changes. When their vision clears and they're back on their feet, they find themself shoulder-to-shoulder in a town in Troia's town square. They nudge their way to the front of the crowd and it's an even more soul-crushing scene: a wedding. Not just any wedding, but that of Lark and Kain. Kain, clad in his Holy Dragoon armor, overcame his darkness and had fallen in love and has now wed a powerful yet graceful white mage, just as he wishes to in the real world. Lark meets Thrush's eyes and it's insidious. Kain and Lark, dancing slowly as Lark flaunts the glimmering ring on her hand and Kain's blessed armor gleams in the sunlight. They spin and suddenly Kain stares at Thrush, his gaze swimming with contempt and disgust, a gaze Thrush is too familiar with but never coming from him.

(Holy!Kain and Lark’s wedding)

Thrush turns to run away, tearing through the crowd, and once they make it out, the scene changes again. The final scene change throws Thrush into the epopt's chamber. Instead of epopts, however, it's their party members. Cecil, Rosa, Rydia, Edge, and Kain, except he is still in his Holy armor. Completing the circle is Lark. To keep this part brief, it's a nightmare: one giant circle of negative self-talk expressed verbally by illusions of their closest friends. The illusions play into their fears of their loved ones lying about caring about them, being useless, etc.. Lark is especially brutal: "I am everything you could've been but were too spineless to become."

Thrush fights diligently to remind themself that this isn't really real, they're on the moon inside ancient ruins, the party is waiting outside. Lark definitely isn't real because Thrush is real. Slowly, as Thrush calms down, the illusions begin to disappear. At the end, only Cecil, Kain, and Lark are left, and as Thrush stands and readies their scythe, the illusion fades fully, revealing a trio of Lunar Sylphs as a boss battle.

I haven't exactly decided what the prize of Thrush's trial is, I haven't gotten that far. I'd love to hear peoples' thoughts tho!! Please!!!

[kurararambles]

Inktober #4: The Last Summoner (FFIV)

Lately I’ve been playing this game, and so far Rydia and Kain have my favorite character designs. I wanted to draw her with Leviathan, but I don’t really remember how he looks like, and my phone wasn’t cooperating, so he looks more like a mix of Leviathan and the mist dragon.

[magpiejay1234]

Defeated the main storyline with Zeromus, now I got stuck at Lunar Ruins because I missed the save point. Oh well. Further thoughts on FF4 GBA

*Cave of Trials is definitely a later addition, not because it literally is an addiiton for this version of the game, but it is also antithetical to the Sakaguchi approach. Not the bosses for the ultimate-ish weapons of the additional player characters. Specifically, there are 7 levels of this dungeon. In all other dungeons in the original version of the game, you only have 5-6 at the very worst, except for the Lunar dungeons.

Nonetheless, it was very enjoyable, and I managed to grind better here than on Lunar surface, which was quite harsh. I still used the “canonical” party of Edge, Kain, Rydia, Cecil and Rosa because the IGN walkthrough recommeded it as such, though.

*Of all of the ultimate-ish weapons, the one that surprised me most was Triton’s Dagger. I didn’t know Palom could use daggers, though considering both FFI Ninjas and Edge can use Black Magic, it makes sense.

The Triton part of the dagger is also interesting since Palom cannot use water magic, but it is meant to reference his final scene with an unnamed girl (Leonora, according to the After Years). Of course the After Years made them a couple essentially, of course.

*It feels weird to see King Giott and Luca in both the Mysidia Tower and the final celebration for Cecil’s wedding. Other NPCs, particularly those in Troia don’t show up. Granted, Luca will eventually become an actual playable character in The After Years, but it is interesting to see how SE decided to squeeze the ending for more creating more content. Again, very anti-Sakaguchi, but also very Pokémon/Digimon/Yu-Gi-Oh!.

*And Zemus, as many people pointed out, you either believe he is a Diablus ex Machina, or a moral anvil to hammer in the “Fascism is bad” theme. Granted, for a JRPG series, FF’s anti-fascistic streak is actually unique, since most other Japanese media tends to be very pro-fash (you can look around Tumblr to see why, or just read early AoT criticism).

I’m more weirded out by his design. He doesn’t have legs, and according to the Yoshitaka Amano artwork of Fusoya, neither does he. But in the DS version, Kluya clearly does. From what I can understand, the Lunarians in the original game were meant to be more like a mixture of Asian dragons and comets, and both Fusoya and Zemus fit the bill. But Kluya is just a dude with animé blue hair.

Speaking of Kluya, the original translation seems to imply Kluya has been on earth for at least a few centuries, and having many progeny. But in the DS version, it is implied he had a traditional marriage with Cecilia, and only two kids, after centuries of wandering. I’m not sure if I like this later reinterpretation, because it makes me feel Kluya only found value in humanity after finding a chick who looks like a Lunarian. IDK.

*Going with the crystal retcon in The After Years, the Lunar crystals have not only kept Zemus at bay for so long, but they also actively help your party. So yeah, I don’t think the retcon works as well as I previously thought it did.

*The game obviously has a lot of Judeo-Christian symbolism in addition to the Star Wars references. Some of these are clearly deliberate. Others are NGE-levels of visual and textual flair. I planned to do a deep dive ages ago, but there might be a lot missing stuff from the later versions I might miss. So if I do a post like that, it will be less of a compendium and more of an overview.

*For the endings of each character:

**Tellah surprisingly shows up at the final battle, which wasn’t something I expected. The final battle overall obviously inspired the final battle against Giygas with all characters praying for your success and recovering your party.

*Edward actually lives up to being a good king after his father’s death. Edge doesn’t, because he is very horny. 

*Yang being the King of Fabul after the king’s abdication feels weird, because I don’t think it was set up really well.

*Cid is still stuck at Baron. I thought he would be a bridge between Dwarves and regular people, but I guess the dwarves already have the village of Agart. I didn’t notice that he was the best man in Rosa and Cecil’s wedding, which is cute.

*Porom is the one that instigates people in Mysidia to pray for Cecil and the gang, which is interesting. I guess Sakaguchi and Takashi Togita (co-writer of the game) really liked the character. 

Palom, as mentioned above, becomes a chad at the age of 5 somehow (Leonora at the point of this game is apparently 7, even though her sprite is clearly shorter. Again, Palom is a chad.) With him, I always think of him as a Bumblebee-type character, a character designed for the younger children in the audience to relate to. Games after FFIV would keep this tradition, but it feels weird to see here since Palom would become an edgelord like Edge in The After Years (despite technically following on Tellah’s footsteps.)

*Rydia remains with her new adoptive family. But I feel weirded out by Leviathan’s comments regarding Rydia’s beauty. This wouldn’t pass by censors in this day and age.

*Of course, Cecil and Theodor’s(aka. Golbez) closures are meant to parallel Kluya and Fusoya. Theodor ultimately decides to go into cryogonic sleep with his uncle (The After Years would put a kibosh on that, though), and Cecil takes on his biological father’s morals while taking his adoptive father’s role as the King of Baron. Symbolism aside, I really like this. Cecil was a character in need of a cause, and Theodor was a character in need of a connection with his past. 

Not to mention, if he decides to return after the all the shit he done under Zemus’s influence, he will be crucified by at least 50 people. So there’s that as well.

*I’m still stuck at Lunar Ruins, but I really like the face on the moon joke. Speaking of the moon, I wonder if the humanoid enemies in the Lunar Subterrane inspired the Maenad in the After Years. Anyway, that’s for another time.

[elfyourmother]

@cheshirepirouette re: your tags on the Sophia gifset, if you need somebody else’s permission (and you don’t lol but) please please go ham

Cutting for yammering at length on how I do Triad summoning (and summoning in general) in my verse

I’ve added a ridiculous amount of jerry rigged lore with Summoner for Gisele just because I’m just really dissatisfied with the hand waving they did to explain how fucked this Job is in terms of flavor. I know I’m always going on about what an FF oldhead I am but with other Jobs in this game IMO they managed to capture the feel of the Job in how it plays (even broken ass unfun Monk at least feels like an FF Monk), but Summoner “feels” like Bahamut flavored Affliction Warlock to me the way it plays and not anything like a traditional Final Fantasy Summoner.

It feelsbadman and I mean I try to give them the benefit of the doubt because the central conceit of Summons being Bad in this setting means they kinda painted themselves into a corner for how the WoL could ostensibly be a Summoner. The thing is, the egi deal was a really clever solution to that problem but they just don’t utilize it enough. As a fan who literally grew up with the series it felt fucking awful to literally be told i only get 4 summons 1 of which isn’t even a traditional/iconic summon, the opposite of the “you get to be a Final Fantasy hero!” experience that defines this game to me. Tf you mean I can’t summon Ramuh or Leviathan in an FF game??? Cait fuckin Sith could summon Leviathan if you slapped the materia on him, ffs, but WoL can’t???

Granted getting Phoenix helped this a lot, for me, but with no Job quests in ShB we got no actual story or lore or exploration of that (and don’t get me started on the level 80 trash we got) it was bizarre from a story cohesion standpoint and if you never ran Coils—as a lot of newer players haven’t—you literally get no explanation in game for why you can suddenly do that

anyway Gisele can summon Egis of every Primal she’s ever faced because I said so. But I am 100% ok with that and believe it’s lore compliant no matter the mechanics-induced hand waving, because I am always erring on the side of WoL Exceptionalism. It’s my guiding principle when it comes to “is it feasible for Gisele to be able to do this?” questions in large part because the game lore is practically built on it in general, but specifically in the Summoner Job quests when you’re training the newbies it’s stated outright that WoL’s command of Allagan summoning is light years beyond the recruits. But for instance as one example Gisele and Ysayle both summon Lakshmi-Egi and I have her as defensive in nature, she heals just like her Esper did in FFVI

So that said I don’t see why Warring Triad trances would be off the table, it’s been a long time since I leveled SMN but iirc we know that Dreadwyrm Trance is a thing because Bahamut’s essence is just too fucking powerful to draw out like a standard egi and the trance thing is the answer to that. The Triad are Elder Primals on Bahamut’s power level so I don’t see why not, a WoL who fought them would have been drenched in that and the whole point of that storyline was their power was seeping out and they needed killing so. Yeah. That’s how I justified it.

FTR Gisele can trance all three of them and in fact Goddess Tranced right into summoning Demi-Sophia at one point during the Elidibus fight. I lean toward her using Goddess most just because the concept of Balance is one of Gisele’s major character themes and it’s ridiculously fitting for her imo.

In some old old shared FF multiverse stuff I did, I created these Amazon tribes who were the ancestors of the Troians in FFIV and their shamanesses would essentially “summon” by being horsed by the summons (I treated them as spirits in this). Every tribe had their guardian spirit, and that was the summon their shamaness would call down. While possessed, they would show physical signs for the duration—Bahamut’s shamaness would get fangs and wings for instance. Shiva’s would get blue skin, etc.

I know that Dreadwyrm Trance doesn’t technically work the same way but that’s how I’ve basically interpreted it and the other trances I use in my work and I call back to this idea by having Gisele bear physical signs of the trance—Bahamut gives her wings! (It’s how she saved Ysayle) And so does Phoenix. At minimum she gets some kind of funky cool aura. Because Rule of Cool.

[party-of-rpg-muses]

Mun Plays Final Fantasy IV: The After Years

Man, it’s been a long time since I did these. I kinda took a break when I ran into some trouble, but when I finally wanted to return, my laptop crapped out. I also couldn’t play on my Mac, so I had to wait to get an ACER gaming laptop.

Okay, where I left off, I was on Yang’s story, when Baron invades Fabul. I ran into trouble when Kain appears and I have to fight him with Ursula. I kept losing and that was when I took a break. When I started playing again, I decided to grind a bit before continuing with the story again. However, when I reached the part where I play as Ursula fighting Kain, I was a bit more cautious. And after a few turns, Yang appeared, basically telling me that I wasn’t underleveled, but I just had to hold the fort until backup arrived.

Regardless, the Wind Crystal is taken, causing Yang, Ursula, and a few monks boarded a ship to travel to Baron. But on the way there, they meet up with Edward, now king. I won’t lie, it was nice to see him again and he seems to be doing well all these years later, but I’m sure he’s still somewhat upset about what happened to Anna and Tellah. But anyway, monster showed up and the ship was forced to dock on the Adamant Isles to get Palm Oil. I won’t lie, after a while, I got tired of fighting, so near the end, I just ran from all encounters. Not that things were hard, there were just so many that near the end and the Adamant Isles Forest was so lengthy, I got sick of fighting.

But at the end, I managed to find the Palm Oil with Ursula and the monks, but fought an Adamantoise. The moment it appeared, I knew I was in trouble, since these things are usually late-game enemies with absurdly high defense. Thankfully, Yang showed up and Ursula learned Tenketsu. It too a while, but I managed to defeat it. However, I used a Hermes Sandal on Yang in hopes of getting an edge against this boss, only for a monk to deal the finishing blow right after the item was applied, so there’s that.

But back on the ship, while the ship was sailing, a mysterious whirlwind appeared. While the game fades to black as the tale ends, I knew it was Leviathan.

After that, I started Palom’s Tale. Good to see that kid has grown a little, but he’s still a brat. Heck, I think he’s even more of a brat than before, chewing out the sailor and his crew. It was rather nice to see Troia again. And I got to meet with Leonora. But I made the stupid decision of finding a ton of gil, only to spend it on an item I actually didn’t need. I didn’t even get much back when selling it again. I made my way to the Tower of Trials before saving the game and turning it off.

I returned a few days later, picking up where I left off. Palom may be even more of a brat than before, but he’s definitely wiser, teaching Leonora how to use Black Mage. And it was heartwarming and somewhat tearjerking seeing Palom speak about Tellah. I scaled the tower with Palom one-shotting almost all enemies before Leonora had to fight the Guardians by herself. I struggled when reaching the 3 Mini Blue enemies, which would deal massive damage, sometimes defeating her before I even got a turn. After a bit of grinding and game overs, I realized that I was on the Full Moon phase, which strengthens Black Magic. I waited until the next phase, which made things easier. Long story short, I made it to the top and returned to Troia, only for Baron to attack. Of course, Palom refused to believe Baron, let alone his old friend, Cecil, would do attack another kingdom and try and take its Crystal like Golbez did.

With Earth Crystal in hand, I made my way to the Troia Castle Waterway Safe Point, saving the game before turning it off. I returned a few days later and made my way through the Waterways, once again having Palom do a lot of heavy lifting while Leonora either does follow-up damage or occasionally healing. I eventually made it out the other end. I took time off to make my way into town, buy some gear and made my way to the Pub, along with the King’s Bounty Pub. I won’t lie, it was funny seeing Palom suffer at the hands of the old lady dancers. I then went into the Dressing Room and found the Lustful Lali-Ho magazine, but upon showing it to Leonora, she threw it away, much to Palom’s chagrin.

I made my way north towards the Chocobo Forest and found a Black Chocobo, which took Palom and Leonora to the Lodestone Cavern. I remember that from FFIV, where I fought the Demon Wall. But I saved the game and turned it off.

[tirix887]

Final Fantasy Record Keeper Final Fantasy IV Last of the Red Wings | Ceodore Guardians of the Feymarch (Apocalypse +)

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Difficulty : 220

Boss: Leviathan & Asura (Apocalypse +)