#my original point is he wasn't even from France. Which is really funny. I'm not that invested in vindacting him as being from my country

[anglerflsh]

Considering he was born just fourteen years after corsica got indipendence from Genoa in 1755 (and barely 15 months after France bought it in 1769 - the dates of acquisition from one republic to the state are a bit different) I'd say he himself was of italian descent at this point lol. It's also pretty obvious by looking at his surname but both his parents were born in italian-ruled Corsica

[tr1ck5]

Hi there. You know, I really hope you don't end up revealing that Rinoa lost her V card to Seifer or something. I mean in Chronicles Chapter 3 you already seemed to indicate that Rinoa had a lot of boyfriends and she may have gotten intimate with them, including Seifer — when the game itself never actually confirms if she and Seifer ever even dated: she tells Selphie (in Galbadia Garden) that she wasn't sure if he was her boyfriend, she wasn't sure if she was in love, and she didn't know how he felt about her; and in the Japanese version when Selphie asked her if she still liked him, she pretty much stated that she did not. Then some Dummied Out content has her admit to Squall (during their romance scene in the Ragnarok) that she hasn't longed to touch someone so much since Julia died and Caraway became too busy for her — pretty much indicating again that she was never intimate with Seifer or anyone else for that matter, and the only person she wants to be close to is Squall.

Then in the various Ultimanias, Squall is the only person who is ever referred to as the person Rinoa loves; Rinoa and Seifer's "relationship" is literally never mentioned.

Plus FF8 is a Japanese RPG meant for young impressionable Japanese teenagers made in the 1990s, the hug in the Memorial was such a big deal that it got its own FMV, and the kiss at the very end didn't even get a close-up (and based on the storyboards, it was almost not even going to be in the game at all). There's no way the Japanese developers were gonna make all these underaged characters* be intimate with other people, especially when the main couple was barely intimate with each other. Eastern views on intimacy were and still are way more strict than in the Western world.

(* And yes, I say underaged because, up until 2023, the age of legality in Japan was 20. So back in 1999, all the main characters, plus Seifer, Fujin and Raijin, Xu and Nida, Zone and Watts, were still considered underage, because they were under the age of 20. Granted, the setting of FF8 is based more on France and an idealized futuristic European society, instead of Japan, but that's a whole different topic altogether.)

I know that Chronicles is your story, but based on all of the above, and solely based on the above, I just don't think it would match up with canon really well if you write Rinoa as having been intimate with anyone before Squall. And please know, I'm not trying to criticize you or the story or anything, that is not my intention; I'm just trying to point out what canon has shown or indicated and what other supplemental materials have shown or indicated. If I came off as too critical, I do apologize, it wasn't my intention to offend you.

Hey anon! Let me just start by saying that, from the beginning of me writing Lion's Oath, I was very honest about changing some aspects of the original story, either to flesh out some interesting dialogues or scenes, deepen some lore and unravel some plot holes, or simply to inject some of my personal headcanons (see the whole soul bond thing, for instance!) So of course some things in it 'won't match up with canon' anymore, it's by design. That being said, if this can help alleviate some of your worries, I'm not planning on writing any kind of big dramatic 'reveal' or plot about Rinoa's past relationships, romantic or sexual. Who she lost her 'V card' to doesn't interest me in the slightest because (and I might be biased here) this isn't something that was ever a big deal for me. I find it a little funny that you mention love and dating (especially regarding Seifer): because sometimes sex is just sex, it's fun and it doesn't have to be soul-shattering or life-changing. As for her relationship with Seifer, I do believe there was something going on, based on the dialogue from the english localization of the game, which is what I'm basing my story off of: Rinoa: "I...really liked him. He was always full of confidence, smart... Just by talking to him, I felt like I could take on the world." Selphie: "Your boyfriend?" Rinoa: "I don't really know. I... I think it was love. I wonder how he felt...? Selphie: "Do you still like him?" Rinoa: "If I didn't, I wouldn't be talking about it. It was last summer... I was 16. Lots of fond memories..."

So I personally think the seriousness of their relationship was left to the imagination, and I mostly plan to keep it that way too.

The whole thing about the context in which FFVIII came out and its target audience just reads a little strange to me anon, because it's not something I tend to keep in mind when writing fan fiction about a 25 year old game. Hell, I'm definitely not the target audience for FFVIII myself. Of course the developers wouldn't write about teenagers being intimate, the game was rated T. And as you said it yourself, eastern views on intimacy were and are generally a lot stricter than western ones, but that is a hurdle of our own world, not the world of FFVIII. So this is where fan fiction shines, as it isn't limited to what is marketable or socially accepted so that profit lines go uppies. Hopefully I'm making sense here. As for Rinoa's characterization... I tend to view and write her as a curious, adventurous and bold woman. She has had to be; running away from your upper middle-class home to join a ragtag resistance group fighting against the tyrannical occupation of a city while being this young is not something that just anyone could pull off successfully. For the most part she is someone who knows who she is, what she likes and dislikes, is true to her beliefs and isn't scared of the unknown. It's for that reason that I also headcanon her as being quite sex-positive and open to experiences; hence her having had a head start on Squall in the romantic relationship/intimacy department. Again I might be biased by my own beliefs here, but I don't think it undermines or takes away from their current relationship at all! Not to mention that with the sorceress/knight bond they're sharing, I DO plan to write some soul-shattering, life-changing stuff, if ya get my drift. So, no offense taken anon! I think we just might have different ways of viewing Rinoa's personality, and that's perfectly fine. Hopefully this doesn't squick you too much out of reading my fanfic, but if it does, it's okay! <3

[deep-hearts-core]

2010 - final

originally posted 6/20/20

Spain Daniel Diges really held it together through the stage invasion, good for him! The staging is really weird though, with the dolls and stuff, it feels a little like a Nutcracker ripoff to me tbh. Daniel has a good voice but I'm really not sold on the song - like yeah he sounds good but the SONG doesn't. Norway My Heart Is Yours is such a good song... it was killed by being a host entry and by Didrik's obvious vocal fatigue though. I liked the simple staging but I feel like it could also have been done well with more activity onstage... this is very good and it remains very good but it's not, like, GREAT, the vocals were obviously not as good as they could have been and compared to the showbiz of 1. Fairytale and 2. the songs coming on either side it does look kinda boring in comparison. United Kingdom The live vocals here are so laughably terrible. Obviously the entire production is subpar - the only thing even mildly good was the setpiece - but those vocals... the backing vocalists were so out of tune and it's not like Josh was any better. And the song was just pathetic. Like maybe it might have been good in the 1980s but I doubt even that, and in 2010 it really was just dated. France I have mixed feelings about this one. The song is fun and so is the performance! Jessy Matador is really fun to watch, he's putting so much into his stage performance and it truly pays off. However, I don't like that the song was almost entirely sung by the backing singers. Like, at least give them feature billing on the song or something? They're good singers idk it just feels weird to me that Jessy was the one given full billing on this one and he didn't actually sing for like half the song. Germany Lena is so cute onstage and Satellite is so fun! Staging was nice and simple and allowed Lena to really show off her personality, the same way the song showed off her unique voice. This is absolutely a deserved winner! My top 39

Ukraine

Germany

Romania

Cyprus

Bosnia & Herzegovina

Denmark

Turkey

Russia

Croatia

Belgium

Georgia

Slovenia

Norway

Albania

Azerbaijan

North Macedonia

Sweden

Moldova

Ireland

Serbia

Portugal

Iceland

Slovakia

France

Finland

Poland

Lithuania

Netherlands

Estonia

Bulgaria

Malta

Armenia

Greece

Switzerland

Latvia

Israel

Spain

Belarus

United Kingdom

Voting/intervals I so love Graham Norton - he's funny, but he's also very respectful of the contest, and I think that's why he's become such an icon among the commentators in recent years. Every time they feature him on the broadcasts I really enjoy it. That whole "all of Europe dances along" interval was really cool! I do wonder how they managed to get that many people together in the places like Vilnius, Ljubljana, and a few others to just dance in the streets like that... not surprised by Germany though because they really like Eurovision over there and the Reeperbahn is like a Big Thing. The song went off too. The Polish spokesperson really said "These are the results of the Polish people, from Poland", like??? Watching this with German commentary is so funny because Peter Urban is just slowly losing his mind throughout the whole thing... he's been their commentator since 1997 I believe and so this was the best result Germany had seen since 2000 if I remember correctly... he's just "I can't believe it" and "wow they're coming in from all over Europe" it's kind of sweet actually. He was the same in 2018 with Michael Schulte too. Lena is so fucking adorable!!! Kissing Rybak, hiding behind the German flag, asking if she has to sing again... shes so baby I love her.

Thoughts after watching 2010 was a really strong year and I love watching it! Nadia, Erik, and Haddy all did a good job as hosts, the stage wasn't too big which is a fucking miracle at this point, I love the winner, I really enjoy most of the songs. Postcards were eh but Norway did a good job programming the intervals and I thought Share The Moment was a nice slogan.

[deep-hearts-core]

2019 - final

originally published 5/12/20

Thoughts before watching It's actually pretty time consuming to write down my thoughts after each song that performs, so for the finals I'm only going to really dissect the auto-qualifiers. If something really notable happens in another country's performance I'll note it at the end. Germany This was cute! A bit bland but honestly compared to some of the stuff Germany's sent in the past it was pretty good. Staging was good up until the end, then it fell apart a little bit. It seems that their voices don't blend well together either. I'd really like to see each of them represent again individually, seems like they'd have a lot to offer and this just wasn't the right time. Israel Certainly very heartfelt. I like the chorus, especially the last one, definitely has a lot of emotion in it. It's not a standout otherwise. United Kingdom Eh. It's alright. Not sure where I stand on this one - it's not a bad song and Michael Rice is certainly a good vocalist - but the staging was really bland compared to the other entries and there was just nothing that really sold it. France I LOVE THIS. First of all, I'm in love with Bilal, he's amazing and so personable. I'm eh on the staging but this was an amazing song and Bilal really sold it. I do worry for his voice though, he sounded kinda hoarse, but ultimately everything went off great. Definitely one of my favorites. Italy Damn. This doesn't feel like a Eurovision song, it's personal and targeted and well-produced enough that it's something I could almost hear on a radio. It's a good song! And Mahmood is a great performer. The staging wasn't my thing though. I don't know how they could have staged it better but something about the way they did it didn't resonate with me. All in all I really think this deserved top 10. Italy always sends solid stuff. Spain This one's just pure. Miki's having a great time, the audience is having a great time, we're all just having a good time! The staging, though... the autoqualifiers really dropped the ball on the staging this year which is especially rough because so many of the other countries really gave it their all. My top 41

Serbia

Norway

Russia

France

Australia

Netherlands

Azerbaijan

Hungary

Slovenia

Montenegro

Malta

Italy

Sweden

Germany

Switzerland

Poland

Estonia

Iceland

Czechia

Armenia

Austria

Albania

Romania

Israel

Latvia

Moldova

Lithuania

Spain

Denmark

San Marino

Greece

Cyprus

North Macedonia

Belarus

Croatia

Georgia

Finland

United Kingdom

Belgium

Portugal

Ireland

I did this ranking using this sorter, so even I'm surprised by some of my results! I didn't expect to have Azerbaijan that high and thought I'd have Greece and Cyprus a little higher.

Voting/Intervals The song covers were actually really fun, the performers made the songs their own with twists that made them seem very different from the original. I enjoyed it a lot (ESPECIALLY Verka doing Toy, that was just fantastic). Madonna is HILARIOUS but I'm still not sure why she's here. I thought Gal Gadot was a genuinely nice touch. Jon Ola: the juries have voted correctly Me, mutuals with Bruno on Twitter and a frequent visitor to the ESC 19 Wikipedia: lol no More spokespeople than I expected delivered their points in French. Was also pleasantly surprised to have the Irish spokesperson talk in Irish for a bit, and the Australian spokesperson greet the hosts in her native language. This is really a good year for non-English languages at Eurovision! Not @ the audience going "Greece" in unison before Hovig announced it himself, that was so funny. (And they also did it less loudly for Greece giving 12 to Cyprus.) I don't think there's anything wrong with Greece and Cyprus giving each other 12 points all the time but come on you can't deny that was the best way to throw shade. Tamara Todevska seems really sweet, I wasn't a huge fan of her song but she was so stunned to lead the jury vote. I think she got North Macedonia's best ever result so good for her, I'm happy for them! The Russia spokesperson literally playing the piano onscreen made me fucking lose it, as did the Greek guy playing it on the guitar. Oh, the BALLS on the Icelandic delegation. Jeez. I don't disapprove but.... damn. Like, everyone else in the Icelandic part of the green room had to have known about this which means they were all like "eh, seems legit" and let Hatari do their thing. We stan. Seriously, only 7 points from the public to Czechia? Not the hugest fan of Friend of a Friend but damn that was harsh. Thoughts after watching I agree with most of the results. I really like Arcade and I think Duncan's a very personable dude, and I'm certain the Netherlands had a great show prepared and will have something great prepared when it's safe to hold the contest again. I liked some of the production aspects of the show - stage design wasn't bad, I loved the postcards - and disliked others. Namely, I think the show would have been better were it only Bar and Lucy hosting, I felt like I was always cringing when Assi and Erez talked. And as I've said before I'm skeptical about some of the interval acts. Inviting Madonna... jeez. Israel was showing off - I mean, that's what all the countries do when they host but I feel like Israel put on way more of a show than was necessary and leaned into the "gay superbowl" stereotype of the contest. I'm queer myself so that's not necessarily a bad thing, but idk at times it means people take the contest a lot less seriously. Not sure when I'll start the watch for 2018 - maybe tomorrow, maybe I'll give myself a break and do it later in the week, I'm not sure. Until then!