#like terra and celes can

[sunsetzer]

I am choosing from now on to headcanon Setzer as an unknowing descendant of the magi because slot makes no sense unless there's magic involved, and in the absence of any canon explanation I've made up my own.

[deathberi]

FINAL FANTASY VII EVER CRISIS: FINAL FANTASY VI CROSSOVER ↳ Aerith x Tina/Terra • Cloud x Locke • Sephiroth x Edgar • Tifa x Mash/Sabin

[prettycottonmouthlamia]

Something I noticed as a young adult and budding trans woman are that games with character customization, or at least character building in some way, are very overwhelmingly two different options: men only, or men and women only. Very few of these games were women only, and I kind of jokingly refer to them as "games that would have cracked my egg".

Now I want to preface this with two things: one, this absolutely could be a matter of the genres I was in; and two that not every game that has male AND female options is doing so in a way that is lazy and there are several which make the gender choice impactful in meaningful ways. I want to refute these to a point because I know they're going to be brought up.

First, I mean as a kid I typically played RPGs. I wasn't the type of person who absolutely was only in the "macho" genres that were out there, and I mean I played a shit ton of Final Fantasy 6 and 13. RPGs with female protagonists are very real (and was a big reason why FF13 failed with the Youtube reviewer crowd), but there are basically none with a customizable female only protagonist. In addition, even despite this, why the fuck does genre matter? If your video game genre makes sense for a customizable character, it can make sense to have a female only game in that genre!

Second, this isn't necessarily a point about whether customizable female characters exist in the space at all, but this is a point much rather about how male protagonists are considered the default, and a male protagonist default usually informs A LOT about the game design and the world built around that character. In addition, for every game that gets this right, there are usually five more that don't, and the female character is treated functionally identically to the male character except they have to Ctrl+F all the times they use "he" in the game's script. This is why you get games that are aggressively heterosexual but because they did relatively zero work integrating a female protagonist, they accidentally give off big lesbian vibes. It's the same principle for why the representation for your game shouldn't only be paper-thin bisexuality.

Games with female main protagonists are often notably less common than ones with male main protagonists, and many times, this is buffered a bit by the addition of an ensemble cast. What makes FF6 and FF13 notable amongst their peers, including games like FF16 which have "female protagonists", is that the strongest female protagonists often form the narrative core of the story. FF6 has a large ensemble cast, but it is the struggles and efforts of Terra and Celes that drive things forwards, and to go into how Lightning, Fang, and Vanille form the narrative and emotional core of FF13 is a subject to an entirely different post. But like they still exist.

So many games have self-insert male characters compared to female ones. I'm genuinely surprised when I find a game with a character creator that only has a female protagonist. It is something that says a lot on the general sexism and misogyny in gaming spaces, how the male video game player is still considered the defacto default audience, and how worlds often aren't considered through the lens of female characters, or even just the perspective of a female player.

But on a more personal note, it's just...sad. Genuinely. I probably would have realized I was trans a few years earlier than I did had there been games like that out there and more in the public consciousness. So many games provided a cover in having a male option (and especially since so many of these games are aggressively heterosexual lol, looking at you Mass Effect) that I never needed to confront my feelings. It makes me feel bad than even to this day an entire audience of players aren't really considered as important.

Why can't we have games for us, you know?

[hubristicassholefight]

Preliminary Round: Final Fantasy

Propaganda Below cut

Alisaie

When she first shows up she's wearing matching outfits and wielding matching grimoires with her twin brother, but when she properly joins the game's main cast it becomes clear that she has swordswoman energy so incredibly strong that as a magical prodigy her chosen fighting style is "manifest sword out of aether and then hit people with it." She later simplifies this to merely wielding a sicknasty crystal rapier; As we know, fury and compassionate outrage are more powerful under when concentrated, which makes this tiny elf sword nerd a volatile pressurecooker of heroism. She's here to care about the little guy, make frustrated noises, and charge off to solve and/or cause problems, and truly what else is swordswoman energy about?

She wanted to use a sword so bad she summoned one made of pure magic, before a friend gave her an actual sword because he was worried about the toll summoning a sword made of pure magic was having on her, I love her and her brother so much. One of them is trans (they did the identical but different-gender twins thing). At one point Alisaie mopes because her and her brother didn't get new outfits when everyone else did. She then jumps off of a balcony because she saw an opportunity for adventure. Canonically doesn't like pickles on burgers (she put them on someone else's plate!! the scandal!!)

Lucia

she fights with a sword and shield— very classic paladin flavor. she’s achieved and maintained high ranking status for her combat prowess!; nobody is immune to hot lady knight especially when she is over six feet tall and in full plate armor tbh . easily the hottest defector from the evil empire in xiv. also she can pilot a big robot so that’s automatically a point in her favor imo

Mylla

She's the leader of the gladiator's guild. Gladiators are the class that use swords and shields. She kind of gets sidelined once it upgrades to the Paladin job for a bit, but then they went 'no Mylla and her guild are cooler than these idiots' and did a tournament arc

Lightning

She uses a Gunblade. A sword thats also a gun. Said to be very rare because it takes so much skill to use. Does lots of slashing and backflips. Later becomes Champion of A God and sword fights a guy for eternity. Later becomes champion of a Different god and uses lots of different swords; She is dramatic and has lots of character growth and is awesome.

Agrias

She has the class Holy Knight which enables her to use Holy Sword techniques as long as she has a sword equipped, which pretty much makes her the most powerful swordfighter your party can recruit (with the exception of Cidolfus Orlandeau, who has her skillset plus extra); You meet Agrias at the start of the game, and it's a few chapters before she joins your party permanently during which she gets quite a bit of screentime. This is significant, since Tactics lets you dismiss any character that's not the protagonist, and consequently the story is written to not assume you have any particular character in your party except for guests, meaning Agrias gets more story time than most characters that join your party.

Paine

starts out as a swordfighter with a big sword with a skull design. #girlboss; ffx-2 is a Wild Ride already but that they gave us a goth lesbian with a sword as our third party member was a great choice. i love her and also ffx-2. it's underappreciated.

Terra

Swords are one kind of weapon she can wield. Her ultimate weapon is known as Apocalypse.

Celes

She was turned into a Magitek knight by the Gestahlian Empire which she betrays. Swords are one kind of weapon she can wield. Her ultimate weapon is a sword known as Save the Queen.

[thephoenixcave]

FF6 Art Masterpost (updated Sept 2024)

I'm Julia. I've been in the fandom a LONG time. Here's a selection of stuff I've done and made over the years, for your browsing pleasure.

Search the tag #the phoenix cave or #thephoenixcave to see art, comics, and merch all jumbled together.

Animations & Voice-over Mini Comics

Lizzo "Boys" FF6 30th Anniversary Tribute, completed (2024)

Locke asks how you spell "Fenix" (2024)

Locke is Struttin' (2024)

Lizzo "Boys" WIP 8/23/24 // 8/18/24 // 7/28/24

Sabin Loves Banana Bread (2024)

Terra the Beautiful Gorgeous Angel (2024)

Setzer doing a hip thust dance WIP 7/24/24

Animation Practice: Terra turns her head (2024)

Happy Birthday Edgar and Sabin- Aug 16 (2023)

Terra's Daily Affirmation (2024)

Setzer's Daily Affirmation (2024)

Mini Comics

Edgar x Terra Mini Comics (Edotina)

"I Don't Like that Belt" (2024)

Sketch- little kisses (2024)

Edgar Wants Attention (2024)

Edgar Steals a Book- sequel to "attention" (2024)

Blue Ribbon - NSFW (2023)

A Coin Story Part 1 (2022)

A Coin Story Part 2 (2022)

Learning to Dance Long Version (2021)

Learning to Dance Short Version (2021)

The Road to Narshe Part 1 (2021)

The Road to Narshe Part 2 (2021)

Cheer Up Kisses (2021)

Movie Night (2021)

Walking Together (2021)

Ice Cream Part 1 (2022)

Ice Cream Part 2 (20--)

Ice Cream Part 3 (20--)

Ice Cream Part 2 old version (2020)

Teamwork (Fighting the Dragon) Part 1 (2021)

Teamwork (Fighting the Dragon) Part 2 (2021)

Sleepytime in Purple (2021)

Terra Gets Drunk at Christmas (2020)

Not Edotina Mini Comics

Gerad Part 1 (2023)

Gerad Part 2 (2023)

Sabin Needs a Towel Part 1 (2023)

Sabin Needs a Towel Part 2 (2023)

Opera- Locke and Celes Swap Places Part 1 (2022)

Opera- Locke and Celes Swap Places Part 2 (2022)

Opera- Locke and Celes Swap Places Part 3 (2022)

Opera- "Oh Noo You've GOT Meee" (2022)

Relm's I'm With Stupid Shirt Part 1 (2022)

Relm's I'm With Stupid Shirt Part 2 (2022)

Character shirts - Casual Day at Kefka's Tower (2022)

Sexy Jail (2022)

Relm and Sabin Kitchen Duty (2022)

Casual Day at Kefka's Tower (2022)

Scott Pilgrim Tribute (2022)

Opera- Ultros's Note (2015?)

Opera- Celes Keeps her Boots (2015?)

Opera- Celes Joins the Battle (2018?)

Opera- Setzer Pink (2018?)

Locke Rescues Celes from South Figaro (20??)

Art (an incomplete list)

Early Morning In the Figaro Marketplace (2024)

At the End of a Rough Day (2024)

Just You, Me, and the Fireflies (2024)

The 30th Anniversary Tribute (2024)

The Swing Feat. Celes (2023)

Terra Coming Out of Her Well to Shame Humanity (2023)

Esper Terra is Deamy Soft Pastel (2023)

Animated Gifs 1

Animated $12,000 magitek cake

Animated Kefka I Could Kill Someone (2021)

Locke's Selfies

T-shirts - Terra Locke Sabin and Sleepy Edgar (2022)

T- shirts - Edgar's 6:10:50 shirt and Celes (2022)

T- Shirts - Terra's Mom Shirt (2022)

T- Shirts - Setzer's Ante Up Shirt (2022)

FF6 Band - Celes the Diva (2022)

FF6 Band - 80s Glam Rock (2022)

FF6 Band - Terra on lead vocals (2022)

Terra Baking (2019?)

It's 6:10:50 Somewhere Shirt

Edgar Has a Phone

At Home With You (Red Figaro) (2020)

Sabin at the Farmer's Market

Sprite Redraws Locke

Locke Moons Celes

Esper Terra shakes her ass on White Snake's car

Esper Terra can't stop laughing

Terra Animation Test 1

My favorite Edotina

FF6 27th Anniversary Pic

Good morning Locke (2016?)

Get the Newsletter (2021)

Edgar's brain is rebooting (2022)

Stuff you can buy

Available at www.thephoenixcave.com

Activity Sheet - Setzer's Item Hunt

Holographic Stickers

Celes Paper Stickers

Terra Paper Stickers

Resin Magicite Earrings

Terra notebook

Chocobo Enamel Pin

Linked Character Charms

All Cast Pencil Pouch

[wandringaesthetic]

Incredibly objective ranking of Final Fantasy protagonists in order of hotness:

Clive - he is so attractive. I am constantly distracted by how attractive he is. And he's the goodest boy. And he has a beautiful voice. Everyone in this game is so attractive.

Cecil - I am basing this off his Amano art, his SNES menu portrait, and a secret third thing that exists in my head. He is attractive in a way FF villains are later, like you put both the "masculine" and "feminine" slider bars aaaalllll the way up. And after all, who is more good looking than a person whose face you can imagine differently depending on your mood.

Terra - much like Cecil, she looks like your dream girl, but she has to be hauntingly, ethereally beautiful, right? Celes might be hotter but her theme song isn't the world map music now is it.

Noctis - Prince Charmless, etc. you think he'd be this serious, broody guy but then he opens his mouth and you find out he's a lot nicer than you'd think but also a huge dork, which could be a positive or a negative, depending. Still, I would go for probably any of his friends before him. He is mostly this high on this list for me because I am incredibly fond of Ray Chase's voice

Lightning - you'd think it would be for "step on me" reasons, but. I actually imagine her getting quite endearingly flustered in any kind of spicy situation.

Squall - he's allegedly based on River Phoenix and Gackt. Unfortunately, he is hot. Also weirdly one of the more competent people on this list. Were he a real person he would have a very quiet but intense energy and very piercing eyes. Also a bit of a dick, which is a plus or minus ten to attractiveness depending on mood and preferences.

Cloud - really it all depends on how you imagine things and whether he ever gets comfortable with himself. So. I think. You're dealing with either something pretty awkward or the most fuckable twink in video games.

Tidus - his picture is beside "himbo" in the dictionary. Would, but I'm not proud of it.

Bartz - big himbo energy much like Tidus. Unlike Tidus, I think probably pretty average looking to maybe "really cute if you squint." Very positive and calming energy. Might be asexual, though.

Firion - based on his character portraits I think he's a pretty handsome guy, but unfortunately there's just not much of a personality to latch onto there

Zidane - because of the art style I cannot find anyone in this game attractive with the exception of Beatrix.

Vaan - someone come get this lost child. His washboard abs will not save him from the fact that he has no personality beyond being slightly annoying.

Uncategorizable:

Warrior of Light I: this guy is either one of six 8 bit sprites or the guy on the box art. If guy on the box art, probably near the bottom of the list. Theoretically physically attractive in the same genre Cecil is, but without any sort of personality to hang it on. Does the platonic ideal of heroism fuck? I am thinking not.

Warriors of Light of XI and XIV - Schrodinger's hotness. Your OC is precisely as hot or not hot as you like.

Warrior of Light III/Onion Knight - similar to above but also they are children

[the-ertceps]

Ancient Castle Allusions

Recently I've noticed some interesting things about the Ancient Castle found while submarining in the World of Ruin. Some exposition... During the War of the Magi, somebody, presumably a mage, attacked the castle and petrified Odin as well as the human queen, who had fallen in love with Odin despite human-esper romance being taboo. When exploring the castle, you can take Odin's magicite to the queen where it will transform into the magicite Raiden. If you recruit and take Terra to the castle, she will remark on the queen's diary, realizing the parallels between the queen and Odin and Madeline and Maduin. On its own, this is already pretty interesting for Terra and her family. Her life and conception were not as abnormal as she once thought. She surely has less reason to fear herself. But it's unsaid why the castle was attacked in the first place, so was it because of the forbidden romance? If Terra were to consider as such, it may be why her sentence trails off ("Love between a human and an esper..."). However, there's something else that really intrigued me. The sprite used for the queen is a grayed out, petrified Celes in her opera dress. Now, obviously this was used to make the sprite distinct from other generic female NPCs while also saving cartridge space. But wouldn't it be fun to consider the narrative implications regardless? The immediate thought I had was that the queen represents Celes and Odin Locke. Celes's fondness for Locke goes against how she was taught to behave and feel as a soldier, not to mention he's with the Returners. The themes of forbidden feelings are especially poignant with the sprite being of Maria, the character whom upon playing Celes realizes her new situation. And Odin sacrificed himself to protect the queen as well, like how Locke nobly and tragically promises to protect Celes. Maybe, if you want a crack theory to play with, you could say the queen is Celes's ancestor. With Odin and Locke having these ties, perhaps the queen also represents Rachel. With both Odin and the queen being petrified, it's similar to how Rachel was placed in stasis and Locke... in sort of an emotional stasis, if you think about it, unable to move on from her. They both lost something that day, but the queen giving Odin the strength to ascend to his Raiden form does remind me of Rachel's spirit urging Locke to move on. And for those still caught up on the human-esper relations... Perhaps Celes always had an admiration or fascination (or feelings for) Terra, what with her natural magical powers, regarding which Celes may feel shame after learning how Magitek is created. I could go on with this line of thought, but I think that's a post for another time. Oh, did I mention Celes's ultimate weapon is called "Save the Queen"?

[anthuan0]

Final Fantasy VI time!

I actually had a pretty rough relationship with this game. Even though I recognized WHY people would like it so much, it just personally never hit me. I stopped in the middle for about 6 months. But, after going to couples therapy (watching videos of people who loved the game) It ended up clicking, and I finished the game.

Gameplay

I wasn't really the craziest about the game play. I love the active time battle system, and I'm surprised more games don't use it. But it really only shined during boss fights, which it gave a sense of urgency to, but the moment to moment game play was a bit dull. I did, however, love each characters unique gimmick. Putting in fighting game inputs for Sabin, or just straight-up busting out the slot machine for Setzer was really fun even if, in the latter's case, it never did anything haha.

Also the encounter rate is the worst thing about the game oh my god.

Characters

I actually got really attached to the characters and I could ramble about the characters for like half an hour but I'll give my highlights.

I loved how Celes and Terra mirrored each other. I liked how Terra was someone who had no purpose to begin with due to being a slave her whole life and eventually discovering who she is while Celes thought she had a purpose, serving the empire, realizing she was wrong and now she has to figure what she really wants. I found it very compelling.

I loved the genuine bond between Sabin and Edgar. Edgar using a double-sided coin to trick Sabin into accepting his freedom was amazing. And I found Edgar genuinely funny (except for that one scene with Relm) And Sabin is such a bro I love it.

Cyan was my favorite character for a while. Going into his mind to fight his trauma was really cool. But that scene on the ghost train where he has to watch his family get away while his powerless to stop it. Chills.

Shadow, I don't even know what to say about Shadow. The way they did his story by slowly showing you the nightmares he has every time you use and inn was genuinely creative. And you can really tell he's wracked by grief and regret. And his ending on Kefkas tower. Woah

Mog

And those were some of my hilights for the character’s I have more to say. But I'll save that for later.

Story

The story was a lot more clever than I gave it credit for originally. I have to give it credit for how honestly well it handled its ensemble I'm retrospect. Yes some characters got lost in the sauce like Relm and Strago, but I still felt like I knew them fully by the end. Also it going from a linear "defeat the evil empire plot". To exploring the hopeless post apocalypse while slowly gathering up your power to defeat a sick, pathetic man turned God was so cool. And the world truly feels so hopeless. That scene with Celes on the little island where she has the last shred of hope she has left be torn away from her, was genuinely one of the most well-done tragic scenes I've seen in any RPG I've played.

Conclusion

I genuinely feel stupid for not initially getting this game. Finding it underwhelming. I realize now just how influential it was, and why it's so important to so many people.

[mettasing]

tbh at first i was really happy about ffviiec ffvi event like yippee maybe it's like dffoo it can be interesting (i don't know jackshit about ec specifically aside from what my acquaintances show me). then i watched the first part. then i sat and thought.

why should i be happy about another dumbification of already unrefined (cuz of time and constraints) plot that's still made with love and attention and deserves to be its own story? why should i be happy about characters being reduced to pretty skins with some nice stuff like terra's theme on the background and of course of course another use of dancing mad in trailer (that specific version of it)? why should i be happy about only two characters (three if we're lucky + rip dffoo) being remembered – and usually written as forever damsel in distress and mr badguy moustachetwirler?

cuz people are telling me i should be happy. "you see? ffvi is so fucking overrated, everyone remembers it, they made an event in ec". yeah, and didn't even give cloud or sephiroth celes skin. SKIN.

[sunsetzer]

Edgar has two hands, one for Locke and one for Setzer. "What about Celes though?" I hear you ask. Well, you see, she's busy holding hands with Terra.

[tangocardiaca]

Strago: There, this should do it. Locke: What happened? She was breathing like crazy. Strago: The magic in our Terra was too chaotic. It can have some side effects. Her heart was beating too fast and irregular. Celes: Will she be alright? Strago: I used Ramuh and his lightning powers to set Terra's heart to right rhythm. It took two shocks to do it, after first shock, her heart was quivering. Fortunately after the second one, she came back to regular heartbeat. Those magicites were very helpful in controlling the power of electricity, or she would not be able to survive. Celes: Terra... Strago: She'll be okay, but now she needs rest. Source: terra branford (final fantasy and 1 more) drawn by kirishima_satoshi | Danbooru (donmai.us) Original creator: Kirishima Satoshi

[silver-wield]

Toriyama will make sure Tifa only gets trash male-inspired outfits for as long as he has any say in the matter, so time to face the music. The only reason he didn't give Celes to Aerith to continue pretending clerith is canon is because Terra is also the special magic girl uwu and that no doubt tickles him. Honestly, I'm shocked Tifa's Bahamut outfit was so good, but Nomura probably stepped in or something idk. Anyway, hope EC continues to flop and we can all move on from this trash game. I have no hope for part 3's marketing to honor Tifa's importance to the story of FF7, so thanks EC for reminding me to keep my expectations real low.

I knew they'd make her Sabin and excuse it with "she's the monk!!!!"

Well, Cloud ain't a thief...

I really hope for the sake of people's own mental health that yall uninstall from this garbage. It doesn't make people happy, it shakes cash outta you like a bully holding you upside down by the ankles, and you deserve better.

The way people justify staying plugged into a game that's making them miserable comes off with very abused phrasing. Games are supposed to make you happy. Just because you spent "all this money" or think "Tifa looks good in anything" shouldn't overlook how anxious yall are before skins drop and how angry and upset you are after.

And the best way to protest against se isn't with angry emails, it's by denying them profit.

[monk-of-figaro]

Fanfic: Midheaven (by wsancho)

For this month of October 2024, the month of the 30th anniversary of the release of FF6 in North America - as well as the Final Fantasy 6 Artober 2024 event organized by @artandsomethingcreated - we've been gifted a veritable abundance of fanfics by @wsancho, someone who is arguably even a more hardcore Sabin fan than I am.

I've already read five of the works she's posted and have thoughts about all of them (one of which will likely merit its own Tumblr post) but the fanfic I want to talk about right now is "Midheaven," which can be found on AO3. At 24,167 words, it's a lengthy read, made even heavier by its premise.

From the story's summary:

Sabin died, crushed under a mansion in Tzen. The Returners attempt to stick to their initial mission, but the loss weighs heavily on some of them. Cyan is particularly concerned about Edgar, seeing him attempting his same coping mechanisms with no luck. They become close, sharing more than their grief for Sabin.

CONTENT WARNING: The story features non-explicit sex scenes between men, although for some (me), that's a selling point.

After reading the summary, I really had to steel myself before starting the story, not because I was worried about the writing, but because I knew the writing would be really good. Like, if I'm going to read a story taking place in an alternate universe where Sabin dies and the entire party is dealing with the grief in their own ways, at least have the decency to write so badly that I can't get emotionally invested.

Unfortunately, @wsancho's writing is superb, and my emotions have been crushed, burned, shattered, pissed on, and flung into the sun.

Rather than going into tons of detail about the story, I'm going to share some of the many snippets I highlighted.

There will be some spoilers ahead, so be warned (although I try to post just enough context for the quote to make sense).

While on the boat that takes them from Nikeah to meet with the rest of the group in Narshe, Sabin to speaks to Cyan and Gau:

"No one outside of my intimate family circle calls me René." Then he smiled warmly and lightened his tone. "That's how important you are to me. I count on you, and you can count on me."

I think this is the first depiction I've read of the scene where Sabin shares his "secret name" with Cyan and Gau, forever cementing them as part of his chosen family. Beautiful.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

An exchange between Celes and Edgar:

"I thought you would want to visit the grave. Or even move his remains to Figaro, so he will be at home." "My brother is a citizen of the world. The whole world is his home."

Edgar understands, more than anyone else, even as it breaks his own heart, that Figaro is no longer Sabin's home (if it ever even was). And given the choice of keeping him close or honoring his freedom, he chose to honor his freedom. The selflessness of true love.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Terra, reflecting on Sabin:

She remembered when they visited the Returners' hideout, and he reassured her. She already trusted Edgar, and by hearing Sabin speaking so fondly of him and being so kind to her, she felt safe and welcomed. And when they fought Ultros and managed to make the creature flee, Sabin went out of his way and jumped into the river to keep fighting it, just for her, and for the first time she felt like her feelings and safety mattered. And every single time that Sabin fought like an unstoppable force of nature, it made her feel like she and her friends could accomplish anything.

I think that Terra meeting Sabin had a profound effect on her. He was perhaps the first person she had met - certainly after the slave crown was removed, but perhaps even throughout her entire life - who was authentically himself, no masks. Someone who had no ulterior motives towards her, who didn't place upon her the expectation of being a great weapon, or a "ray of hope", or even an object of romantic/sexual desire. He was compassionate towards her simply because he's a compassionate person. He was honest with her because he's an honest person. And in treating her like a "normal" person, she finally began to feel like a normal person.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Edgar:

"Terra, my most exquisite flower, I would be so lost without you."

This just made me grin. @wsancho really nails the romantic flair with which Edgar speaks to… well, everyone. I'm an aromantic person, but even I might melt a bit at being called an "exquisite flower."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gau, during a discussion of whether Edgar would ever seek a queen:

"In Veldt, queens kill mates. Big Brother, get no queen!"

Of course Gau would contextualize everything with his knowledge of the animal kingdom. 😂

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cyan, soliloquizing to himself about Edgar's increasingly severe night terrors:

"Alas, we cannot enter thy dreams and slay thy demons as our comrades slayed mine.

Fucking fantastic line.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Right before Edgar leaves for Figaro Castle, he beseeches Setzer not to go back to Daryl's tomb, to which Setzer replies:

"How come you get to live inside your tomb, but I don't get to visit mine?"

Another fucking fantastic line.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

An exchange between Cyan and Edgar, the latter of whom is unfamiliar with the role of a retainer:

“This is what I live for. The late King of Doma did release me with his last dying words. Then my wife and son did release me ere they made their way to the afterlife. After our victory against Kefka, I have claimed justice for all of them, and I have fulfilled my purpose. Now must my life be repurposed.” “How did you serve your previous lord?” “Forgive me, King Edgar. I have been released, yet I still honor the privacy of the King of Doma.” Edgar smiled, satisfied. “Perfect answer, Sir Cyan."

Another character portrayal that I feel is spot on. Cyan is, above all else, for better or worse, a man of honor and duty.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Edgar, reminiscing on Sabin's impatience when dealing with politicians:

Edgar was realizing how cathartic it had been to watch him go off on people.

Yeah, that would be cathartic. I want to see Sabin tear into some politicians as well.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This was me limiting the number of quotes I pulled, by the way. With the story clocking over 24K words, there are many amazing nuggets to choose from!

Anyway, brace your hearts, then read the story. Then send @wsancho your therapy bills.

(Thanks for the amazing story, @wsancho!)

[terraxcloud]

Final Fantasy 6 drawing by Nomura that was found around 2013. Can be found in the FFWiki.

An additional image of Cloud's prototype is under the Mog section.

This version of Cloud was used to create Squall - the reason why the FF6 Opera featured so much in FF8.

You can see that the characters are unfinished. Relm's hair is straight, Terra doesn't have a ponytail and has a circlet on her forehead instead (she doesn't have her earlier short hair at least), Celes has a piercing (which became Cloud's), Strago has a mohawk, Lara is Strago's wife but didn't make the cut just like Cloud (his original name is unknown), etc.

When this image was put on the internet, people began referencing a very early 1994 V-Jump interview with Sakaguchi where he said that the main character was originally Terra as a male. Well, Cloud takes a lot of stuff from Terra, so maybe it was a half-truth. Many also latched onto the idea that it was originally Squall, but appearances are deceiving. Squall was made after this prototype of Cloud as Squall & Rinoa's relationship is a modified version of the storyline that was cut in FF6.

This is why the symbols of shooting stars, orphans, witches, angels, a flower field, and the late game promise are found in it. Some of these things seem to have come from FF7, but it's older than that.

Another character that was made after this prototype of Cloud is Leslie from FF7 Remake.

Leslie's talk with his Fiancée is about Cloud (as the FF6 main character) talking to Terra (as her earlier prototype?). Did you wonder why Cloud reacted so strongly to his story? This is why.

It's similar to the ending of Loveless as Cid originally said at the end of OG FF7:

"When the sister of the lead asks her lover, 'Do you really have to leave?" And the guy says, 'I made a promise. The people I love are waiting.' '...I don't understand. Not at all. But, take care of yourself.' 'Of course...I'll come back to you. Even if you don't promise to wait. I'll return knowing you'll be here."

Tifa immediately mentions that Leslie's necklace means "Reunion".

The ending of Loveless isn't the beginning of that storyline. It started in the FF6 Opera, which is actually about Terra saying that she'll wait for Cloud to return. Yes, it's sung by Celes, but it's actually about Terra. The character who represents this FF6 Opera/Loveless thing is Aerith (who also lost her love). Aerith borrows Celes' opera design and her theme song starts exactly like the FF6 Opera main theme.

Regardless of how few people talk about this, it's far more important than anything in the game. Honestly, the entirety of FF7 may have been crafted around this one thing. The game's theme is "Loss", and the game keeps reminding Cloud of what he had lost.

All main themes of FF7R are in Terra's words. I know that confuses everyone, but I promise is makes much more sense seeing it this way than it does forcing the meanings into the other characters of FF7. What character hasn't yet met Cloud in any timeline? Well, maybe they're not in the game yet.

I'm not sure if Rebirth will be the one that'll reveal this "secret" to the light, but I'm sure that any hints it gives out will start to be noticeable. The main portions of FF7 Remake to include these "hints" are Biggs/Wedge/Jessie, Marle/Mireille, Betty/Oates, Tifa/Aerith, Leslie's sewer mission, and the Sector 5 slums, although there are many other random things. Moogles are used as a symbol for Terra, which is why it appears heavily in the area that highly implies her, The Children's Hideout.

Oddly enough, it's well known that FF7 was made with elements from FF6 and Terra herself, yet no one has ever asked why? I guess no one played Dissidia.

Yes, there are hints in games last decade that Terra would make a visit to FF7 land, even get attacked by Sephiroth. They're very subtle, but if you can pay attention to patterns you'll notice them. You just have to find out what Cloud does in every game and it'll make sense...it really is that simple! It has nothing to do with canon, since what the developer thinks is not what the fandom thinks, and the best hints are found in the games no one will readily believe in.

[bbs-backlog-challenge]

Fin or Bin: Final Fantasy VI (PR)

The most common debate seems to be whether 6 or 7 is the best Final Fantasy. I think 7 typically wins the popular vote, but the older fans lean towards 6 more frequently. Another common debate is whether FF6 or Chrono Trigger is the best RPG on the SNES. Standing shoulder-to-shoulder with two of the most beloved video games of all time, you can reasonably assume FF6 is probably pretty good.

I have in fact played this game before- its SNES iteration specifically, but that was 20 years ago and mostly framed around teenage boy discussions of whether Terra or Celes were the more attractive (Celes, obviously). Since it's been given a new lick of paint and an updated translation and I'm all grown up and have matured beyond such silly discussions, it definitely gets a place on the backlog.

I wonder if it's because the original already looked great, but of all the Pixel Remasters this one has wowed me the least. The OST is similarly fantastic but I don't know if the direction it was taken is correct- the original had a lot of electronic-sounding tracks in it, most notably the boss theme, which have been rendered with violins for the PR. It sounds great but it doesn't sound right, if that makes sense.

Six is by far the most gimmicky of the PRs, introducing a lot of extra Stuff that was dropped for later games. Things like pincer attacks and each character having to run away from battle individually only happened this one time (thank goodness, in the case of the latter), and I'm not sure why it was walked back on. Each character also has their own gimmicky way of operating, no two working quite the same way, and some are more worth putting up with than others. It's kinda funny that for most characters there's basically no point using the standard Attack command when their personal gimmick will do more damage for free. Edgar can Attack a single target for middling damage, or use a crossbow to attack every enemy on the field and deal approximately twice as much damage to each, for the low cost of buying the item once. Usually you have to put some effort into breaking the game, but FF6 does it for you!

Fin or Bin:

I do miss the communal aspect of playing through along with a friend whose every opinion is incorrect and needs arguing down. (And also, y'know, to talk about story beats with and stuff.) That is lacking from this playthrough, though that obviously isn't FF6PR's fault. This is the last one remaining of the first ten that I haven't played through in my adult years. Maybe once I've Finished it, I'll put together a tierlist. I'm sure that won't be controversial at all!

(Steam)

[the-ertceps]

Does anyone else wonder what it would be like if other characters had extended optional sections/dungeons in the World of Ruin? Cyan has the Dreamscape, Strago has Ebot's Rock, and Shadow has the Coliseum. Even after characters like Cyan and Locke get plenty of relevance and depth in the World of Ruin (I especially appreciate Cyan's relapse into grief and how he struggles with an unhealthy coping mechanism and projecting onto others), they have further resolutions that you can seek out. I just wonder what it would be like for other characters? There are plenty of optional moments like with Sabin and Duncan or Terra's additional dialogue in the Ancient Castle (the story of which might I add has some interesting parallels to Terra, Locke, and Celes, and maybe I'll write about it later) or Gau meeting his father, but if only there had been more cartridge space and production time to create specialized areas to finalize each character's story after re-recruiting them. It would be especially nice for the side characters who have little relevance to the main story. A dungeon for Mog where you learn what happened to all the other moogles (the Moogle Cave is seemingly intact---though who can say what with reusing assets and all---so what happened to them?), but maybe the location is very small and cramped and you can only bring small (Mog, Relm, maybe Strago) or Imped characters. Or a snowy labyrinth for Umaro with various Undead enemies (bone sculptures come to life?), maybe similar to the Fanatics' Tower (where Umaro is decently useful) where consistent physical attacks are their biggest vulnerability. Maybe Umaro could have some dialogue about art if you take him to Owzer's Mansion. Maybe Master Duncan requires Sabin endure a lengthy trial or maybe just a fun boss fight before he learns his ultimate Blitz technique.

I really liked what the Advance version did with the Dragons' Den and how you can find each characters' ultimate weapon there. But I'm not sure if the more dungeons idea would work in a modern game, say a remake, because it's a slow and archaic method of gameplay and storytelling (but it's my personal taste and I like it, lol). Though a winding maze filled with puzzles and constant random encounters might feel painful and sluggish today, that *was* the gameplay back then, so those are the mechanics I'm thinking in. Anyway, just a little yearning for more FF6 in my life! If anyone's made anything like this or does in the future, let me know!