#should i make her a l’cie

[snstse]

Originally, I wanted to give Gabriel—AKA a fal’Cie specifically built to be worshipped and used in Barthandelus’ plan to cause civil war by dividing humans via religion—a much more expanded role.

I wanted to make it a “good” fal’Cie in that it’s prime function to maintain/increase Cocoon’s population conflicted with Barthandelus’ plan to destroy Cocoon. Therefore, it branded Thea (and later, Estelle) with the Focus to save Cocoon’s people.

Given how stringent fal’Cie “law” seemed to be, I thought it’d be an interesting concept to explore. Obviously, Gabriel isn’t a “good” fal’Cie. It’s a machine that’s been personified by humans as “good.”

But I think a fal’Cie with a function to “maintain” Cocoon’s population would conflict with Lindzei’s ultimate goal to force Etro’s gate open via Cocoon’s destruction. I don’t think neither Lindzei nor Barthandelus would allow a glaring loophole like this to happen (nor are either of them 4D chess-level of brilliant to orchestrate something like this lol).

So, I scrapped that idea. Gabriel is still a fal’Cie whose primary function is to be worshipped as a deity of family, fertility, and future generations, etc.

It was also a little too complex trying to make Estelle a Cocoon l’Cie (which I mostly forced, ‘cause I thought it would be cool to have other Cocoon l’Cie outside of Raines; but I suppose it wouldn’t really make sense to raise a whole horde of l’Cie to defeat the Pulse l’Cie… the goal isn’t to eradicate them, after all) and to bend logic as to why her Focus didn’t conflict with the group’s Focus.

Also, I just don’t want to make Estelle a l’Cie anymore lol. I don’t want to write the scenes or draw them or design an eidolon (I still have to do these for Serah… and god that’s hard enough). I think her being a plain old human suffering from an inferiority complex stacked on top of inferiority complex is Fine.

I do worry that her being a human is a huge risk for her though. Like, Barthandelus could brand her with null-Focus and poof! Cieth time. Or, he could be completely sadistic, and brand her to fight against the group—resulting in her death either way.

I mean, I wouldn’t write that. But the annoying part of my brain keeps whispering evil to me and now I’m unsure.

Side note: l’Cie brands operate like pokeballs. Once a human is caught branded, they’re no longer able to be caught branded by other trainers fal’Cie.

[nottoxicfr]

So…

*steeples fingers*

FFXIII Rosegarden. I must know the inspiration aside from FFXIII being AMAZING (and my childhood) and also RWBY for the same reasons.

Scratch that, I must know everything. This is a crossover I never knew I needed.

I’m sorry this took so long! Seriously, my bad. If you have any questions, please tell me. I promise I won't take three months to answer this time

This will be long.

For inspiration, the short story is that I have a lot of Final Fantasy-RWBY AUs, for basically all the Final Fantasy games I think of regularly (7, 8, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16) and even in the scope of Final Fantasy 13, I have a 13-1 and a 13-2 and a 13-3LR AU. I also have a KH AU I've been working on.

This'll just be the Final Fantasy 13-1 AU, though I’ll link the other story details when I post them.

Just to run through a few things, just to set a baseline of how the world works. This is a Remnant where the world increasingly reveals elements from Final Fantasy 13, rather than a true crossover.

For example, the l’Cie and the Fal’Cie are the same idea in concept. The l’Cie are branded servants of the Fal’Cie, mechanical deities serving the Gods themselves. However, in this story, the l’Cie are a fairy tale to even Ozma, which means he only has a strange idea of what they actually are. Only l’Cie really knows what being a l’Cie entails.

A l’Cie is:

Someone who has been branded with a tattoo by a Fal’Cie, essentially the sign that they’ve been given a quest and a vision (a Focus) of what they have to accomplish

The tattoo slowly grows, setting a time limit for their quest. As it grows, the l’Cie also gains the ability to harness magic

However, if they fail to accomplish their task in time, they will be transformed into a monster, a Ci’eth

Someone who is branded naturally attracts Grimm to them, which makes traveling more difficult

Oscar is aged up here a bit, just a year younger than Ruby, and this takes place during a pseudo-Beacon Arc time period.

Oscar is the first l’Cie of the story. His brand is on his neck, under his bandage wraps. His Focus, his quest, is to awaken the slumbering Fal’Cie hidden around Remnant. They were put to sleep when the Brothers left Remnant and, for some reason, they’ve judged it time for them to awaken.

Outside of being a L’cie, he’s just a regular guy at this point and that makes it hard for him to get where he needs to go. For this reason, he hires Ruby to help him get to Forever Fall Forest, which is where he thinks the Fal’Cie he needs to awaken is.

The first arc takes place in Vale, where Oscar’s tremendous bad luck causes a trip that should only take a few hours take several days, which pushes him up the edge of his time limit. Naturally, this puts him in a bad mood, which makes him and Ruby have some friction between them. The situation is somewhat smoothed over when Oscar shows Ruby some magic and he vaguely explains that he needs to get to Forever Fall soon or he’ll die a miserable death.

Ruby distracts him for a little while by talking to him about her Team and asking him about his life. He worked on a farm for most of his life, his aunt died recently, and he’s always wanted to see the world. They fight several packs of Grimm as they hike and Ruby contemplates calling in reinforcements because, for some reason, Oscar insists he’s on a time limit.

They arrive in Beacon where they meet up with WBY and Team JNPR briefly, only to hop on a wagon heading to Forever Fall. Oscar is, at this point, seemingly kind of sketchy. To be fair to him, he’s basically dying.

The arc resolves when Oscar and Ruby plummet down into a sinkhole and find the sleep Fal’Cie of Forever Fall, Behemoth, who brands Ruby simply for being nearby. Now, aside from being paid, Ruby has been dragged into this race to awaken the Fal’Cie, much to the frustration of Oscar. He doesn’t feel comfortable with that, but there’s not a lot he can do but beg an uncaring Fal’Cie to unbrand her.

On the upside, Oscar is given an extension of his time limit and a new vision. He needs to go to the floating city in the sky (Atlas) next, which is where he needs to find the twin Fal’Cie sleeping there.

Ruby is branded as the second l’Cie. She has a brand at her collarbone, hidden under her shirt. Her Focus is to awaken the slumbering Fal’Cie as well, although she also catches further glimpses into the future that put an emphasis on encroaching darkness.

This starts the second arc, Atlas, or the journey to Atlas.

It kicks off when Ruby essentially runs away without telling anyone, under the assumption that once Oscar and her finish their quest, she’ll come back and explain everything. It’s not a very good plan, but she’s understandably occupied by everything that’s going on with her life right now. Ruby and Oscar try and fail to rent a car because they’re both underage. Following this, Ruby tries to buy them tickets directly to Atlas, which doesn’t work because travel to Atlas has suddenly jammed up. Instead, they have to take an indirect route from Anima (the Mistal continent) to Mantle, which takes a few more days but that’s fine.

Yang is, understandably, incredibly distressed that her sister seems to have given up her dreams of being a Huntress to chase after a boy she met three days ago. She reports this to Qrow, who tells Ozpin, who tries to get an understanding of what happened. Yang tells Ozpin about the weird stuff that she heard Oscar and Ruby talking about before, which entails something about Fal’Cie and l’Cie and the Kingdom of Atlas. 

She suspects Ruby has joined a cult and is, again, incredibly distressed.

As stated before, the words l’Cie and fal’Cie are like myths to Ozma. They’re messengers of the Gods and assistants to their angels and, most importantly, they’re almost synonymous with great change. Not good or bad, just big changes in the world. This rings alarm bells in Ozpin’s mind, though not to the point of overreaction.

Ozpin asks Yang to take Team WBY and go after her sister, just to make sure she’s alright and to try and bring her and Oscar back. Ozpin wants to speak with both of them over this supposed l’Cie business. Qrow says he’ll do some scouting ahead to search for them, hopefully, to wrap this whole thing up quickly. He’s not too fond of the idea that some kid swept Ruby away from Beacon.

Ozpin informs his inner circle about all of this, just to keep them updated. It seems like Ruby and Oscar are headed to Anima and then to Atlas, they’re talking about l’Cie stuff which is crazy because, etc…etc… He wants Leonardo to investigate Oscar Pine, he wants Ironwood to try and bring them both in and most importantly, Ozpin just wants to talk.

The lack of details makes Ironwood have a bit of an overreaction. The l’Cie are agents of change in the world and, with the Vital Festival on the horizon, it seems more likely to him that these “l’Cie” are probably going to cause a negative effect. He mobilizes some of his elite forces to capture Ruby and Oscar, as well as putting out wanted posters on Scrolls that these two people are wanted for questioning. It’s a bit of an overreaction, but in his mind, it’s better to be cautious when it comes to mysterious things that haven’t been heard of since Ozma was a child.

Leonardo reports this to Salem soon after, having defected to her not that long ago. Just as troubled by this reappearance of a fairy tale from her childhood as Oz was, she tells Cinder to go find them. She can kill one of them, but she needs the other one to question about what’s going on.

To summarize:

Yang, Blake, and Weiss are chasing after Ruby and Oscar from Vale. Qrow is also looking for them as a bird.

Ironwood told Winter and some of her troops to go to Mistral and cut them off. He also made wanted posters for them.

Salem told Cinder to go find Oscar, who told Roman to spread the word and find them.

Meanwhile, Ruby and Oscar’s air ferry to the port crash lands because, apparently, l’Cie magic disagrees with technology. They have no idea they’re being chased until Ruby sees a wanted poster on her Scroll, detailing that Oscar is a potential terrorist and Ruby is either an accomplice or a hostage. This causes Ruby to freak out and summon her Eidolon, essentially a summoned spirit meant to assist a l’Cie in the quest. She and Oscar have to subdue it before it attacks the people on the crashed ferry, because a freshly summoned Eidolon is naturally berserk.

Her Eidolon is Carbuncle, which basically takes the form of a giant wolf-cat when it is going berserk and is much smaller after being tamed. It has the ability to produce elemental dust from a gemstone in its forehead and is, generally, more of a support Eidolon.

They have to run now because Carbuncle managed to destroy a hefty part of the ferry while it was attacking them, which upgrades them from potential terrorists to probable terrorists, even if it’s only on accident.

This is as far as I’ve written properly because I’ve also been writing a dozen other things. As I said before, I have a lot of Final Fantasy AUs. However, I do have vague details on how things progress from there.

Ruby and Oscar run into Yang, Blake, and Weiss just as they arrive in the port town where they have to board a boat. They end up getting into a fight, Ruby verbally and Oscar physically, because of the miscommunications involved. It’s hard to explain being a l’Cie to someone who doesn’t have the context of apparently sleeping Gods under Remnant. For the most part, Oscar’s part of the fighting ends up being running away and casting magic, which baffles all three of the Huntresses (because of genuine magic) and ends up casting a Thunder (Thundara) spell too close to Blake. This knocks her out.

They board the boat, just barely managing to escape from Ruby’s teammates and there’s a climactic moment where Yang has to watch the boat depart without being able to chase after them. WBY makes plans to keep up the pursuit as soon as they can, with Qrow flying ahead to Mistral.

When Ruby and Oscar get to Mistral, where they’ll board another ferry to go to the north and then get on a boat, there’s a scene that plays out similarly to when Snow rescues Lighting and Hope in FF13.

Winter corners Ruby and Oscar in a plaza with her troops, putting handcuffs on Ruby, only for Yang to show up on a motorcycle and rescue both of them. Blake and Weiss provide supporting fire and they all escape to the rooftops to get away. This puts Mistral on high alert, which shuts down the air ferry, complicating matters significantly. Still, Ruby and Oscar are grateful they weren’t captured. At this point, Ruby’s brand is halfway developed.

They all talk things over and, although WBY don’t necessarily believe everything they’re saying, they decide to help them get to Atlas. Yang also frets over Ruby’s tattoo-brand, which feels relaxingly normal to the group.

While all of that is going on, Cinder begins to make moves towards Atlas, planning to take advantage of the chaos the l’Cie are causing to damage Atlas and capture them. Salem is contemplating what to do about the awakening Fal’Cie, who is purging the overpopulation of Grimm in the world.

Oscar summons his Eidolon, Pegasus, which can turn into a motorbike with wings.

Ruby falls off of Atlas, but is saved by Oscar in a Bullhead.

When they get to Atlas and awaken one of the Fal’Cie there, WBY gets branded as l’Cie. It’s kind of like a spreading curse, and eventually, it will reach JNPR too. That comes later on though.

One of the Fal’Cie is located under Mantle, Vulcan, and the other one is located on the under side of the island of Atlas, Venus. WBY is entirely branded by Vulcan, and Winter and Penny are branded by Venus (though this isn’t something RWBYO is aware of).

There’s only one more Fal’Cie to awaken after this, which is located in Vacuo.

-Oscar awakened the Mistral one

Ruby and Oscar awakened the Vale one

Ruby, Oscar, Yang, Blake, and Weiss awaken Vulcan, which awakens Venus

The last one is in Vacuo. JNPR and Oscar will end up awakening it by falling into a ravine (Woo!)

The final stage of the story reveals that the Fal’Cie want to harvest the collected souls of Humanity so they can use that power to evolve into a God themselves and follow after their creators. They despise Humanity and resent having to serve the inferior creations of the Brothers. Everyone takes a stance on what to do about that, though the main characters decide to fight that. This goes against their final vision, which tells them they are meant to assist in harvesting the souls of Humanity. This is called Humanity's Fall!

Pyrrha does get stabbed in the process and possibly dies, which relates to the RWBY x Final Fantasy 13-2 AU. I love interconnecting these things.

I love talking. If you have any questions or ideas about anything, please ask. Please. Again, my bad. It's been a rough few months.

[justmailuck789]

Lightis ‘The Witcher’ AU Headcanon

Ever since I was watching Netflix’s The Witcher, my life’s never been the same. I was hot and bothered by it, constantly thinking about it…I was dying for more lmao. Thankfully, there is a Lightis day dedicated to The Witcher, so I thought…why not make silly headcanons about it? I will say though my knowledge of The Witcher storyline and the lore of it is very lacking, so if I got anything wrong, please accept my humblest apology. A bit of a warning though: The headcanon is very lengthy and long. And by lengthy I mean I did it from the beginning and end, because I couldn’t help it to be honest 😅. Hopefully, the undercut will save you guys from reading such a long post. If not, I’M SORRY. Blame Tumblr. Without further ado, let’s start! @lightisdays2k @givelightningherharem

So instead of the existent of “witchers”, there are l’Cie folks living in the world of Eos. And let’s just say these l’Cie have… “superhuman” powers such as strength, prediction of the future, high intelligence, healers, skilled hunters, and more. Finding a l’Cie is pretty hard nowadays since they’re all typically humans. And yes, to identify a l’Cie is if they have their brand on the skin. Most of them cover it up though.

Lightning Farron is a known mercenary l’Cie, always travelling and looking for some gil to feed for herself and sister. Light will accept anything that involves beast eliminations. But because of her always killing beasts, actual hunters who do this for a living get irritated. So, there are a few hunters who are willing to seek her and have her head.

Now let’s fast forward to where Lightning was minding her own business with Serah. The two were trying to find some wood for the fire to use for the night when they hear someone calling for help in the middle of the forest. Light instructs Serah to go back to the tent and hide. The older Farron investigates where the cry is coming from. Lightning finds a lone woman struggling to fight off a big behemoth. The woman’s magic is defending her from the incoming bites and scratches, but her powers are quickly fading. So Lightning comes to the rescue and easily defeats the behemoth before it can eat the woman for dinner.

The woman is thankful for Lightning and asked what she wanted. Lightning has nothing she desires, but the woman insisted. She decides to invite Lightning and Serah over to an upcoming banquet with a neighboring country from Niflheim. This is when Lightning discovers she and her sister are going over to some royal banquet and finds out the woman is Queen Aulea of Lucis. And yes, Queen Aulea knew that Lightning is l’Cie (and Serah too).

So at the banquet, Queen Aulea is already exposing the fact that Lightning and Serah are l’Cie, a race that is thought to be extinct.

Let’s say there as an assassination attempt on King Regis in the banquet (they were probably Niflheim spies, but no one knows), but Lightning has yet again saved the royal family and putting that assassin behind bars. Thankful once again, Queen Aulea asks if there is anything Lightning wants. Lightning does not want anything but finding her “focus”.

Every single l’Cie that is breathing in Eos were destined to find their “focus”. If they were fulfill it, then that l’Cie will be granted eternal life by turning into crystal. Or if they fail/give up finding it, then they turn into a beast. But for the sake of this AU, imma say that the l’Cie were already granted eternal life without being turned into crystal, staying forever in their 20s-30s.

ANYWAYS…the element of surprise comes to play when Queen Aulea suddenly vomits in the banquet! “What did you do?!” Regis panicked. His Queen is pregnant, and it’s linked towards Lightning. Of course, I’m not saying Light is gonna be the mother of Noctis in the future, but he is gonna be connected towards her “focus”.

Destiny (and Serah) starts throwing clues at Lightning about the future of Lucis and the whole world, but Lightning coolly dismisses it because she thinks it’s all foolery.

12 years and 9 months later, Insomnia falls. Just hours before the fall, Lightning and Serah decided to visit Insomnia, after the two sisters had an argument about how the past events they got themselves into were just too coincidental to begin with: like how Lightning was unable to sleep that whole week, the vague words of a dying princess she was hired to kill. Lightning eventually agrees with Serah to accept the fact she and King Regis’s child were meant to be. However, King Regis refuses and puts Lightning and Serah in prison.

Once Niflheim invades Insomnia, Lightning and Serah escaped the prison. They both see that King Regis is dead, making it a very high priority for Lightning to search for the kid.

I KNOW IT’S STUPID BUT HEAR ME OUT--Oh yeah and maybe Serah turns into crystal after fulfilling her “focus” when she tells her sister to find Noctis, now that things are starting to get real.

Meanwhile, 12-year-old Noctis escapes Insomnia, his father’s words of “finding a l’Cie named Lightning, for she is your destiny”. Now I dunno if I want to add in Noct’s friends (Prompto, Gladio, and Ignis). …Maybe I should since it’ll be weird to have Noctis to be by himself. Don’t worry, none of them dies!

Of course, Niflheim does find out Prince Noctis is still out there, alive…and the emperor wants him dead.

At some point, Lightning and Noctis meets up. The real fun begins here because lklfkds. Lightning trains Noctis and the boys most of their lives. Of course, the beginning of training wasn’t too fun in Noctis’s eyes. Wooden swords? Fighting with dummies? LAME. Noctis wants some real training, but Light is so damn strict. She probably made him run about 3 miles and back to her home as punishment.

Noct will quickly learn that Light also has a soft heart. Light can be relentless with her kills whenever there were beasts or bandits within her property, it makes Noct wonder if she’s “human”. This all changes when he sees her tending to an injured black wolf pup. He thought she was gonna kill it, but she didn’t. She was nice enough to let him keep the pup since she can tell the pup is an orphan. Thus, Noctis affectionately names the wolf Umbra hehehe.

Along with the intense training Noct and boys were doing, there were also some cute moments within Light’s house. As a little boy with child-like tendencies, Noctis wanted to play in the beach near her home instead of training today. And because Noct was being so damn cute, Light couldn’t deny him and let him relax. He swore he saw her smile for a second.

And maybe…just maybe…Noctis started to develop feelings for Lightning. He shook his head, it’s only a small crush. I mean she is pretty and all, but she probably has a lover or something…right?

Then about 6 months later (after the beach time fun), some snitch pointed a finger at Lightning’s house, and a small Niflheim army marched over there. SHIT! Lightning cursed and woke Noctis and the boys up. The only thing Noct heard from her is “RUN!” before she clashed a sword with a Niflheim soldier. Noctis wanted to fight, too, but he was too young. So he and the boys fled off while Light fights off every soldier. And it took her a while, got a few injuries, but she survived. She tried to go look for him, thinking maybe he’d hid somewhere but he was nowhere to be found. Light searched high and low for him without any luck.

And let’s say Noct and the boys were caught, but Niflheim only got him in less than a minute because Noct somehow warped away from his captures and escaped with his friends. The boys never really did reunite with Lightning now that Niflheim knows Noct is on the run.

Years later, Lightning finally gets a lead of Noct’s whereabouts after looking for him in what it seems like forever. She wouldn’t know how old he is since it’s been THAT long the last time she saw him. He’s must be an adult by now…she guessed. She eventually learns that the young prince is looking for royal arms scattered around Eos and attempting to defeat Niflheim by himself and his friends (also reclaiming the throne as the rightful king of Lucis).

She would be so close in reuniting with him after years not seeing him, but he’s always a step ahead of her. While Noct is on his mission, Niflheim is also tracking him down. Being the last prince of the Caelum family, he is still connected to the Crystal’s power. And let’s pretend that Emperor Aldercapt can’t get his wrinkly fingers on the Crystal, so as long as Noctis is still alive, which is the reason why Niflheim is hunting him down.

FINALLY, Lightning and Noctis reunite in Altissia! Light would notice…Noct grew to a fine young man, as well as Prompto, Gladiolus, and Ignis. But their happy little reunion would be cut short when there’s word that the Niflheim army is approaching. And Noct and Light knew they wouldn’t be able to fight the army with only five people, so they need to round up few more people. Noct would be asking around the people in Leide region, Duscae, and Tenebrae while Lightning will be rounding up other l’Cie folks, Cleigne region of Lucis, and talking to first secretary Camelia in Altissia.

With the whole world of Eos fighting against Niflheim, the empire army gets a bit overwhelmed heh. The army retreats. But it’s not a celebration yet! Emperor Aldercapt is still alive, and Noct is determined to kill that old man now that he has the 13 royal arms with him.

LET’S TALK ABOUT THE DAMN ROMANCE NOW THAT NOCTIS IS OLDER YAYYYY 😘. Noctis actually wanted to reunite with her earlier, but things keep getting in the way. Maybe Light started to feel attracted to him too when she sees him for the first time in years. Even though he has physically changed, he’s still the sweet boy she remembers. Oh yeah don’t worry Umbra is here too!

In battle though, Noct is little too eager to fight and wants to go in head on with his warp strike. Light would be annoyed by it and the two would argue about how they battle. For example, Noct would sometimes overuse his Royal Arm weapon which drains him and make him vulnerable to attack. Light would be there to deflect the attack and give him a potion. And Ignis and the others would tell Noct he needs to be careful. To his defense, he forgets, but not when Light is yelling at him as if he just committed a murder and didn’t tell anyone.

Now there was a point where Noct and Light were doing a side mission where they were attending a masquerade ball because there is a former Niflheim spy wishing to talk to Noct and spill the tea about the emperor’s plan. The ball itself was beautiful. Light was beautiful in a dress. Noct couldn’t stop staring at her. There was that one time a drunk was stalking them and hitting on Light, that it made Noctis to kiss Lightning to show that she’s supposedly “taken”. The kiss was sweet. She realized…he’s a good kisser 😩.

They probably banged a few times too when the chemistry starts heating up. First time was when they were arguing after the fact a djinn escaped and Noct wanted to use it to grant three wishes 🤭. Light knew djinns are no joke, so she fought and freed the djinn, making Noct pissed hehe. Their second time was when Noct confessed his feelings to her. “You’re important to me…” he whispered in his sleep.

Pillow talk moments where he learns how she craves to be human again instead of being a l’Cie, how he promised her they’ll get rid of the l’Cie mark together, even though it look sexy as hell on her left shoulder 😉.

Romance aside, Noct, his friends, and Light now are gonna prepare to fight Emperor Aldercapt once and for all. They knew the fight is gonna be tough. The travel from Lucis to Niflheim will take them a while. The party created a plan to infiltrate the imperial palace. A group of l’Cie mages will create a magic barrier around the palace to prevent anyone from leaving and/or entering the premise. And if the backup tries to harm the l’Cie, Ignis, Gladio, and Prompto will be there to defend.

Noct and Light would be the one fighting Emperor Aldercapt. It was a tough fight. The old man sure can use his magic pretty well 😯. Noct was gravely injured at some point and was about to be killed when Lightning jumped in took the hit!

But…BUT. Time suddenly stops! Light meets Etro Herself in another dimension. Seems like Etro is mad that Lightning is intervening Noct’s inevitable death. But Light wasn’t going to let it happen because she loves him. Then Etro says something about Light’s focus, which is to make sure Noct doesn’t die and that he is crowned king. But because Noctis is gonna die, it’ll mean Light has failed her focus, but she’s not gonna have that shit. So you know what happens? She fights with Etro 😱. Light ended up winning and decided to let Noctis live and make Light defend the incoming blow once time resumes back to normal. Unbeknownst to her, she didn’t notice her l’Cie brand is gone.

At last, Emperor Aldercapt is defeated! Noct and his friends are now deemed heroes of Eos. Noctis wants Light to be queen, so they married and start rebuilding Insomnia to its former glory 😊.

[silverpinkett]

Shared Dreams Chapter 3

by ShadowAssault

Summary: They only knew each other from their dreams. Dreams that happened so long ago that neither of them were sure that they mattered anymore. They both longed to see each other again - even if it was merely in their dreams. Their logical minds told them that it was just a recurring childhood dream. Their logical minds could not comprehend the sight before them.

Chapter 3: 

Lightning awoke to the sound of her alarm beeping. She turned over and slammed the alarm button to silence it. The pink-haired woman promptly got up from her bed. Within 10 minutes, she had washed up, changed into her Guardian Corps uniform, made her bed, all while downing the cold leftover sandwich she had saved for breakfast. She made her way downstairs, where the smell of pancakes wafted from the kitchen.

“Good morning sis!” Lightning’s sister Serah greeted her from the kitchen.

“Morning,” Lightning replied.

“Did you sleep well last night?” 

“Mmm,” Lightning nodded. It was yet another dreamless night. She felt like her alarm sounded the moment her head hit the pillow last night. It had been awhile since she last had a dream afterall. That was years ago, when she was around fifteen. Yet she remembered those dreams clear as day. She remembered the young boy called Sephiroth, his trembling hands in hers, and the hug that was her last gift to him. She found herself wondering how he was doing, but then silently berated herself for being silly. 

He was just a made up boy in her dreams, probably some symbolic shit her young mind made up to help her cope with the loss of her parents. But that didn’t stop her from missing him. She didn’t want to admit it, but she was fond of her imaginary friend, and she wanted so badly to see him again.

                              _________________________________

Sephiroth awoke to the sound of his alarm’s shrill ring. It was the standard Shinra SOLDIER alarm – programmed to sound at exactly six in the morning for all SOLDIERs. He did not get up immediately, but instead counted ten seconds, after which the alarm would stop. 

He felt tired, as usual. Not physically, not exactly mentally either. He didn’t really know how to put it, but it made him want to go back to sleep, and stay asleep for however long it took for everything to be right again. 

Right. The word sounded funny in his head. When was anything ever right for him to begin with? Even his left-handedness seemed to be an outright mockery of that. The closest thing Sephiroth ever felt to right was her touch, her very presence. And even then, life was cruel enough to tear it away from him, after teasing him with a couple of pleasant dreams. Yes, that was all that they were. Sweet, innocent dreams that he should feel blessed to have in the first place. 

He found himself thinking about her again. As his body automatically performed the same actions he did every morning – showering, drying his hair, getting dressed – his mind wandered far from this world. By now Lightning would’ve grown into a strong, beautiful woman. He was sure of it, if he saw her in his dreams again, that is. But he had long given up hope on that. Seeing the women in this world, the fangirls who shamelessly threw themselves at him, just reinforced the fact that Lightning was just a figment of his imagination. Women like her did not exist in this world. She was too good to be true. 

She was just a made up girl in his dreams, probably something his younger self subconsciously made up to help him cope with the loneliness and pain he suffered under Hojo. But that did not stop him from missing her. He hated to admit that he had such trivial emotions, but he held her dear, and wanted nothing more than to see her again.

                              _________________________________

The world was crashing down. Quite literally, in fact. The flames of her last firaga greedily consumed not only Orphan, but also the room that was the core of Cocoon. Everything was up in flames. 

Everything was burning. 

Everything was burning. 

A maniacal laugh escaped from his lips as he watched Nibelheim being reduced to ashes.

                              _________________________________

Lightning awoke with a start. Where was she? The last thing she remembered was fire, fire surrounding her, the heat torching her skin and singeing the ends of her hair. Maniacal laughter…? 

She frowned and kneaded the bridge of her nose, willing the throbbing headache to go away. Her memories were a jumble now. She remembered hugging Serah before – or was it after? It had to be after. A farm-like place was burning, the grass fueling the hungry flames even more- no. Wait. The grass was… not burning. She was on Gran Pulse, which explains the grass...no?

“What the fuck happened!” she yelled in frustration. Her voice was raspy and her throat dry, making her supposed outburst sound nothing more than a weak whine. Coughing, she slowly propped herself up, and tried to stand. She felt weak, which was not something she had felt in a long time. That was when she realized that she was no longer a l’cie.

                              _________________________________

You could say that Lightning was thrown into chaos. Paradox, chaos, timelines. All these meant little to her. From the moment she set foot on Valhalla, she had been labelled a sinner. She resented it. It was unfair. Her whole life was. All she wanted was for her sister to be happy. Since their parents’ deaths, she worked relentlessly towards that goal. Training several years to join the ranks of Guardian Corps, earnestly working her way through the promotions – all that just to be rewarded with the brand of a l’cie. 

And she fought even harder as a l’cie. She fought for her sister, she fought for what was right, or so she thought. Yet in the eyes of Etro, she was a sinner. She was selfish to take the lives of others to better her own. Lightning didn’t really see the logic of it. So was she just supposed to sit back and await her own fate? 

The Eyes of Etro had shown her everything she “needed to know”. Serah trapped in an endless dream? She almost laughed at the absurdity of it all. But Etro was a goddess, and Lightning was nothing next to her. She was left with no choice but to be Etro’s champion. Besides, Etro had promised her something else. While Serah would be freed from the endless dream, Lightning would be gifted with them. 

A glimpse of the Lifestream – whatever that was, was all that Lightning needed to confirm her decision. 

“You know what you saw,” Etro had said, simply. 

Lightning did not reply. But she knew. For the first time in what seemed like forever, she felt his presence.

___________________________________________________________ Notes: ___________________________________________________________

That was...a bit boring heh. But I gotta power through the story bridging chapters before I can get to the good(?) stuff right? I didn't actually play FFXIII-2 because gameplay was shit, so excuse me if the flow of my writing gets choppy, because I am impatient and just want to write some sweet sweet angst. what.

[silverselfshippingchaos]

Yaag woke up early that day.

Well, he was always up early, but that was besides the point. Yaag was a creature of habit. He would wake up, work out, shower, get himself ready for the day. Rinse and repeat. It was a quiet process and he rather appreciated it. He could gather his thoughts that way.

This morning, however, was different. He still followed his routine, still followed the same workout, still did his hair the same way, still wore the same ribbon in his hair. But he realized that as he was in the process of tying soft, silver hair behind him with his go-to black ribbon (a gift from his mother) that Ash seemed to consume all his thoughts. This is pathetic...

Ash had begun working with PSICOM not too long ago, perhaps only a few months. She didn’t have the military experience that he did, and nor did she, as she so kindly put it, gave “a fucking shit” about it. She was, as she also put it, “good with people and at going beep boop on computers.”

Normally he would never even consider working with someone with such little experience, but she proved to be rather good at what she did, and always had the latest intel. She meant to only stay for a mission but... clearly it had been longer. She was quick to bond with everybody who worked under him, kind and approachable to all. She teased him, saying that they balanced each other out. He was as cold as ice, and she was... well, her.

Working together so closely, they were quick to bond. Yaag tried to keep things strictly professional, but he was no idiot. He knew what he was feeling when he felt his heart flutter as she smiled. He just tried to shove them aside. He didn’t have the time for such things. He was Director Yaag Rosch of PSICOM division, and he had things to do. He had to be stone cold, as unfazed as a brick because of just how many people relied on him.

But he needed someone to rely on too.

Yeah, to cut down all the fluff, Yaag crumbled. Fast forward a bit later, and they kissed. 

You know how it goes from there.

He leaned slightly forward into the mirror, adjusting his bangs ever so slightly. He gave himself a curt nod. He reached for his coat, fastening all the buttons.

Today was a very special one. Outside of Ash and the fact that he had just been ordered by the fal’Cie to orchestrate mass fucking murder, he had many things on his mind. This is... what is best. For Cocoon's present and future prosperity. He told himself.

He had received the reports the day prior. The progress on the Proudclad, what was supposed to be his personal airship. It was complete. He wasn’t a very emotional man in the slightest, and even when he wasn’t being PSICOM Director Rosch, he was still rather serious, and composed. But he felt excited! It was complete. Finally! Fastening his saber to his side, he exits his room, metal door swooshing closed behind him.

Ash was already up and seemed to be having a conversation with one of the pilots of the Palamecia, swiping through some documents on her tablet. She looks up at the sound of footsteps. She grins,

"Goooooood morning, Director!"

"Good morning, Ash." He gives him and the pilot a small nod, and the pilot leaves.

"I sorted through some of the reports on the Pulse l'Cie for you, you know. We've got some pretty cool stuff." She says.

"Fantastic work. Have them sent my way."

"Consider it done, babe." She steps a bit closer to him as she taps away on her tablet.

He smiles.

"You're smiling." Ash says, glancing up at him through her thick, red glasses. Yaag didn't smile too often, but it had begun to become an increasingly more common sight when they were alone.

Perhaps if Ash had never gotten closer to him and fell in love with the caring man under the tough surface, she would've assumed that he was some sort of machine. She wouldn't put it behind the Sanctum, and it would definitely explain his demeaner.

"Am I? My apologies."

She snorts, "Hey! Don't apologize for smiling! I think that your smile is pretty cute. Is there something in particular that has you in such high spirits?"

"Well..." Starts Yaag, "Yes, actually."

Not even a beat of silence. "Spill." 

“Perhaps I should just show you.” She nods, and Yaag turns around and begins walking deeper into the airship. 

Once they were out of sight from the others, Ash takes a gentle hold of one of his hands. He squeezes hers in response, thumb gently rubbing over the back of her hand.

“I’m sure you’ve heard about plans for the Proudclad, correct?” 

She nods, “Yeah, the spider-looking airship thing? With all the really complex guns? I saw some of the plans for it.” 

“Yes, and it’s... It’s finally complete.” He whispers. 

She jumps up a little bit, smiling. Yaag could stare at that smile of hers all day and never get sick of it. “Oh, that’s amazing!”

Yaag steps in front of a door and it opens automatically. Ash wasn’t quite sure where in the ship they were, considering the sheer size of it. Despite having worked there for quite a while, she had no idea what some of the doors lead to. Not her fault they all looked the damn same. Luckily, she had Yaag with her, who seemed to know the whole ship (and the whole army, at that) like the back of his hand. 

He steps inside and she follows. He stops in his tracks, completely starstruck at the sight before him. Silver eyes seemed to glimmer in awe as he raises a hand to stroke the cool, metal surface of the mech before him.  

“Gorgeous.” He says under his breath, and Ash smiles at the sight. Yaag was a difficult man to read - well, she supposed that he had to be, considering what he did for a living - but she loved seeing him like this nonetheless. 

The ship before them was large, nearing the ceiling of the large room. The metal was dark, seeming to match perfectly with the black tones of Yaag’s PSICOM uniform. It was planted on its legs in a rest position, the lights on the sides turned off. 

A man who Ash recognized to be a mechanic approached Yaag and handed him a thin remote after a small chat and a flawless salute. Ash didn’t hear the most of it, but she briefly heard something about new AMP technology being infused into some of the arms of the Proudclad. 

She had briefly studied AMP and was quite fond of it. She often wasn’t directly on the battlefield, though, so she never exactly had a chance to put much of it to use.

Yaag looked down at his hand and pressed the largest button the remote. Within seconds, he was... fading away? 

“What?” Ash questioned, but was quick to remember how teleportation tests were currently being run. Not only could it benefit PSICOM, but perhaps even all of Cocoon. They were constantly striving to make the already-peaceful life on Cocoon even better. 

Well, not really. But that’s what they told themselves anyway. The fal’Cie made the decisions around here. Humanity was useless and pathetic on its own. 

Not like there was anything they could do about it.

She was snapped out of her thoughts by the engines of the Proudclad whirring to life. It sits there for a few seconds, the arms moving around experimentally.

Wow.

After maybe a few minutes, Yaag comes out from the side of the machine. Ash runs closer to him.

“That was... Woah.” Is all she manages to stutter out. 

“Very ‘woah’ indeed.” Yaag remarked, “I’m rather proud of what the team has put together.” 

Ash chuckles. That was a first. Praise from Yaag was rare. Really rare. 

“So!” She claps her hands together excitedly, “This thing got Bluetooth?”

Yaag freezes in place, silvery eyes narrowing in something that could only be described as pure bafflement. He blinks wordlessly at her, and his mouth opens and closes a few times, as if trying to find the right words. But what were the right words?

“Ash.... Ash...” He shook his head, pinching his nose between his fingers, “Ash, this is a weapon...” 

“You’re not answering my question here.” 

“Oh my.” Yaag sighed at his girlfriend’s antics, but couldn’t help but chuckle a bit. She laughs, and Yaag can feel himself practically melting at the sight. Since when did he allow himself to get so soft? 

Ash smiles, and for just a moment, Yaag feels like nothing else matters in the world. All his problems and responsibilities gone. He felt happy. 

She takes a look at the display of her tablet and sighs, “I'm sorry, but I should really get back to work, Yaag.” 

He nods, “Yes, of course. I’ll be taking the new one out for a test flight as well.”

“Ooh, have fun! I’m just going to be wrapping up some reports. The Pulse threat is pretty good at running away.” She places a hand on his shoulder, “But hey, that’s alright. It shouldn’t take too long, so I can make you dinner tonight!” 

Yaag shakes his head no,  “Perhaps I can try my hand at cooking tonight? You’ve been working very hard, tracking down the l’Cie and all. And then again, you always cook. I rather enjoy your food, but I wouldn’t want to place anything else onto you. You deserve rest.” 

Ash shrugs as she walks away, but she’s grinning widely. “Thank you so much. Just don’t burn the house down, okay?” 

Yaag chuckles, “I don’t know if I want to hear that from you. You have... Well, a reputation of being clumsy, to put it kindly.”

“Not true!”

On her way out, however, Yaag didn’t miss her tripping. All he heard was a sigh and,

“You piece of shit! You jinxed me!”

He covers his hand with his mouth, trying to hold back laughter, “Such unprofessional language from this one...”

“I swear to god, Yaag, I am this close to-“

“What happened to working?”

“... Shut up.”

He smiles.

“Have fun.” He says, giving her a small wave as she (without tripping this time) leaves the room and heads back to her office. As for him, he simply stood there for a moment. His cheeks felt warm as his heart raced.

What a fool... I love her.

[secret-engima]

swiftyue

Please, I am begging you, have Hope as Ravus or a Nox Fleuret. He started a city and waited 300 years for Lightning, I cannot see him staying behind.

Me: Okay see- I did NOT know that bit about Hope since I’ve only watched some of the first game and the very ending cutscene of the last (I know, I know, out of order, but I wanted to know if it was a happy ending). But considering I love Hope and will never turn down an excuse to include him in a crossover like this-

-Hope isn’t ... quite sure what to think of being an eldest sibling now. Of course he LOVES his little brother Ravus, then later little Luna, but it’s ... it’s strange. Remembering being an only child.

-Remembering being Hope at all. His name is Zagreus now, a name he’s pretty sure his father picked because he knows his mother picked Ravus’s and Lunafreya’s names and they seem a little less ... strange. At least he’s talked everyone into calling him Rey as a nickname instead of Zag.

-He’s known as the odd one of the Oracle’s children. Always mature and vaguely distant, always a little too old for his age and looks.

-He’s also a living rule breaker, not by intent but just ... accident? Accident. Zagreus blames his past life for this (not that he can tell anyone) because it’s the only explanation he can think of for why he is the ONLY male Nox Fleuret to ever use magic. Ever.

-His mother’s shock had been a thing to behold the day she stumbled across him carefully healing the paw of one of the stray cats he’d befriended.

-It wasn’t just Oracle magic either. Because Zagreus remembers being Hope and Hope had always been very good at using elemental magic (it’s called elemancy now, which is ... catchy he supposes). It’s easy for him to twist the magic in his veins into the familiar patterns of ice or fire or lightning or wind.

-It all caused quite the stir, and people gossiped incessantly over the first “male Oracle” and what it might mean. Zagreus tried to ignore them and instead just enjoy his lessons with Mother (though the reverence she displayed for the Astrals, the stalwart faith in them as if they were gods even when she herself said they were only guardians ... it disturbed him. It made his magic feel a little too much like a Focus of old and thinking of Focuses made him think of his friends, of Lightning, and then his heart would ache from being alone).

-When Zagreus is 7, a huge stir erupts in the court over reasons other than Zagreus himself: the King of Lucis had had a child out of wedlock, a pale haired girl. More than that, he had named her his heir. Elpis Lucis Caelum, his eldest child born of another woman, was to be the Crown Princess. Zagreus’s status as a male Oracle wass temporarily forgotten in favor of this piece of gossip and speculation (why had he done this? How did Queen Aulea feel about a child born out of wedlock taking the heirship of what should have been her child? Did this mean the Queen was UNABLE to have a child and Princess Elpis had been a planned alternate conception?)

-Zagreus looks up from playing with his little siblings to stare at the news feeds and sees a solemn faced girl with pale hair and blue-blue eyes and something about the way she stands and stares at the crowd makes him think-.

-But no. Surely not. He’s not that lucky.

-Except when he’s 9, his mother is contacted by King Regis in hopes of answers, his 10 year old daughter (now eldest child) just used Oracle magic to aid Queen Aulea in her post-pregnancy complications. Zagreus thinks of himself, of the Oracle child who can use elemancy when none have before and feels something in him flare to life. He begs to go with his mother, pleads until she gives in with an uneasy glance at his unusual intensity (usually he is more laidback, more obedient, not wanting to make trouble for his busy mother).

-Queen Sylva and her eldest child arrive in Lucis two weeks later to meet with King Regis and his Crown Princess.

-Zagreus watches Princess Elpis like a hawk, sees her deadpan expressions and lazy movements, her too-old eyes and the way she bluntly says that she used healing magic because she wanted to. Magic is will. It’s not like it’s hard.

-And he ... he hopes. For the first time since he woke up with memories of being a boy with a Focus. For the first time since he realized he was all alone-.

-“Lightning?” He chokes out, heedless of the adults around them, too desperate to wait and think of a way to meet this princess alone.

-Her eyes snap over to him with laser intensity and for a moment he’s terrified she’ll say she had no idea what he’s talking about. Then her eyes narrow and she steps closer, “Where did you hear that name?” She demands, also ignoring the adults, who look like they want to interrupt but don’t quite dare, “That’s my preferred name, but the media was never told that. How do you know it?”

-Zagreus (Hope) licks dry lips and scrambles for where to start, what to think or say that would prove himself-

-“Sometimes,” he whispered, quoting an old, half-forgotten memory as he tentatively holds out his hands, “shadows will darken our path, we shall tremble in fear before the night. But we won’t be alone, we will reach out our hands...”

-Blue eyes widen in wonder and fragile, shaky hope, then slender fingers reach out and intertwin tightly with his, “And in the warmth of another hand holding our own,” she whispers back, “we will know hope.”

-He smiles past the tears dripping down his face, squeezing her fingers as she starts to cry in return, “Hey there, Light.”

-The girl who was once Lightning, once l’Cie, once warrior, once sister in arms, pulls him close and presses their foreheads together, “Hope,” she rasps past hitching breath, “I thought I was alone.”

-“Never,” he chokes out, fierce despite the quaver in his voice, “Never alone. Not this time.”

-Together they cry, wrapping their arms around each other and sobbing while the adults in their lives looked on in astonishment and confusion until Queen Sylva whispers shakily into King Regis’s ear, “Those Who Walk Twice.” And Regis has to sit down as they witness the reunion of two lost souls that knew each other a lifetime ago.

[nanakibh]

Trey's Request: Vermilion Bird l’Cie Note: This is a Kizuna sidequest for Trey.

[Setting: Crystarium]

Trey: Hello, Player. If you're free, could I have a minute of your time? There's something I'd like to ask of you. Trey: Actually, I'm studying the Vermilion Bird l'Cie, but the books here lack the things I'm interested in knowing. Trey: If you have the time, could you help me look into it?

Player choice: >Help gather information >Decline

Trey: Thank you. I made the right choice by asking you. Trey: Alright, could you gather information from "someone knowledgeable", "someone who's been at Akademeia for a long time", and "an instructor"? Trey: I know you must be busy, but I'm counting on you.

>If you talk to him again right away:

Trey: Have you gathered information about l'Cie like I requested? Trey: I look forward to hearing what you learn from "someone knowledgeable", "someone who's been at Akademeia for a long time", and "an instructor."

---

(Alternate Player Choice)

Trey: If you have the time, could you help me look into it?

Player choice: >Help gather information >Decline

Trey: Really? That's a shame... I thought this topic would stimulate your intellectual curiosity.

---

[Setting: Crystarium]

Quon: Do I know anything about l'Cie? Let's see... Quon: First, let me fill you in on the basics. There are two varieties of l'Cie: Primus and Secundus. Quon: Primus l'Cie have exceptional physical strength and Secundus l'Cie possess special abilities. Quon: Some Secundus l'Cie have powerful abilities, so there's no way to definitively say which type of l'Cie is the strongest. Quon: ...Well, perhaps we should end here for now. I've heard that Chairman Khalia is very familiar with the topic of l'Cie.

---

[Setting: Central Command]

Khalia: Are you studying l'Cie? Hm, that's admirable. I can tell you about the Vermilion Bird l'Cie, Lord Zhuyu. Khalia: He was once a member of Class Zero. It's said that he was the strongest cadet. Khalia: The Crystal acknowledged his strong desire to protect Rubrum and chose him to become a l'Cie. Khalia: Since then, he's protected Rubrum for over 100 years. Khalia: The reason the Dominion still stands is likely owed to Lord Zhuyu. You must remember to show him respect. Khalia: I've heard that Instructor Kurasame has a deep knowledge of l'Cie. I think it would be a good idea to listen to him.

---

[Setting: Classroom]

Kurasame: You're studying l'Cie? In that case, I shall tell you about the Vermilion Bird l'Cie, Lady Caetuna. Kurasame: Lady Caetuna has protected Rubrum in the service of the Crystal for over 500 years, making her one of the oldest l'Cie in existence. Kurasame: She is also the greatest summoner in history, capable of summoning forth all of the Eidolons that have been bestowed upon the Dominion. Kurasame: Even when Rubrum had been invaded by Concordia, she summoned a powerful Eidolon to repel the enemy forces. Kurasame: Although she rarely makes public appearances, she continues to protect Rubrum from the shadows. Kurasame: If you happen to meet her, don't forget your manners.

---

[Setting: Crystarium]

Trey: Player, how did your inquiries about l'Cie go? Trey: ...Wow, you managed to amass this much information? I see. This includes details I wasn’t aware of. Trey: Thank you. My knowledge has deepened. This isn't much, but I'd like to show my gratitude. Trey: If you have the chance, please help me with my research again sometime.

[rainbowserenity]

Fragments After

I finally got through it! Here’s some random tidbits I like from the book, guaranteed to give massive feels the next time the game’s played hahaha it’s fine

Here are the posts for Episode Zero and Fragments Before

- Caius comes and takes all the Yeuls away when they learn to speak, so a seeress’s mother will raise her in silence to prevent her from talking as long as possible :(

- the 3AF Yeul’s very first vision was of Lightning getting taken to Valhalla

- Lightning describes Pulse’s blue sky as “the color of hope” ;D

- after getting pulled into Valhalla, her first concern after Serah is wondering if Hope is safe

- she literally refuses the idea she could be dead, what a boss

- Lightning sees herself in her armor riding Odin as she’s trying to get to Etro and immediately believes she’s lost her mind

- she describes Etro as “if a smile could have a presence”

- Lightning isn’t very confident in her defensive magic because she always left that to Hope~

- Mog turns into the bow to help Lightning defeat Bahamut

- she believes that helping Mog was ~fate~ and then immediately compares meeting him to meeting Hope...

- “She’d seen him as a burden at first, but he had eventually become a trusted ally.”

- we never see Etro in game because “powerless human eyes” cannot see a goddess???

- Bhunivelze is a huge ass, what a surprise

- I’m 99% sure this is mentioned in-game, but Yeul was the first human and created in Etro’s image

- Mog’s “determination in such a tiny body” reminds Lightning of Hope

- she regrets being so inconsiderate to Hope when they first met and thinks meeting Mog is a kind of do-over

- MOOGLE FOREHEAD FLICK~  Light once used the same technique on a boy bullying Serah lmao

- Lightning believes the deaths of those she killed as a l’cie will torture her with guilt for the rest of her life :(

- 200AF Yeul calls Noel and Serah “a strange pairing” lol

- she also thinks Noel is cute

- wind and rain are more common in Cocoon after the weather fal’cie goes dormant

- Snow smuggles the Cactuar fal’cie to Cocoon in a bag

- Cactuar shows Snow visions that become clearer the more they hang out. He figures that clearer visions are based on mutual understanding, which I think explains why the vision the gang got from Anima was so blurry

- the fall of the Fifth Ark caused a dimensional tear??

- this tear leads Snow into the Historia Crux and dumps him in the Coliseum lol

- everybody knows Lebreau wears the pants in NORA

- Snow can’t picture Serah being a “great a fighter as Lightning”

- Snow gets shown a bunch of scenes in Bresha and some soldiers mention Serah. Then they say “those two” disappeared after beating Atlas

- when Snow realizes Serah had a companion, he thinks it was Hope

- “So Hope would’ve been the one to tell her Lightning was alive.”

- Snow believes that Hope would rather keep Serah safe than put her danger.... “Not unless Lightning herself had asked him to take Serah.”

- Snow sees a boutique display in 400AF with tons of accessories and says Serah could pull it off, but Lightning wouldn’t want to “jingle”

- Snow sees Cocoon fall and immediately screams for Vanille and Fang :(

- he then sees Serah fighting a black Bahamut (Caius?) and she’s killed from it?!

- this and a vision of New Bodhum in 700AF is what convinces him to become a l’cie

- Lightning’s armor reminds Snow of “lady warrior out of a fairy tale”

- she’s pissed at Snow for becoming a l’cie and grumbles that he never listens lmao

- Snow jumps around time periods because he activated an incomplete gate, lovable dumbass he is

- the giant flan smacked the Cactuar fal’cie off into the distance right before Serah and Noel showed up in 300AF

- after Snow fades, he ends up in the Coliseum and it sounds like he fights Gilgamesh

- 400AF Yeul was the one who liked to sing. Her mother taught her :’)

- Yeul can hear Fang and Vanille in the pillar, though it’s more a song than words

- she sees Hope standing in front of the pillar and notices he looks lonely, but “his eyes shone with strength”

- Noel’s determination reminds her of Hope and it’s why she approves of his journey

- Hope can silence people with a ~look~ lol

- Hope carries his boomerang around for good luck (which is why he randomly had it in 500AF)

- he knows how to hack computers

- he officially entered the Academy in 2AF, I guess when he was 16...gotta love that big sexy brain

- Alyssa went to a boarding school

- an Alyssa duplicate tries to shoot Hope

- he mentions the enemy “using illusions of people he cared about to upset him”.............................

- Alyssa’s roomie in boarding school was Elida...Hope’s childhood friend

- she says Hope is a “most likely to succeed” type lol

- Alyssa meets Caius while sleeping in the time capsule, like how Lightning visits people in their dreams. It’s how she gets that fake artefact >:(

- Alyssa calls Serah and Noel “simple” and then goes “Man, they really are Hope’s friends.” #fuckoffalyssa

- Hope basically knew all along that she’s a huge bitch, but kept her on his team because she’s so talented

- he visits that gravesite in Bresha 500AF where she’s buried, but doesn’t really know why he’s there, just that he “should” see it (this is when the paradox is corrected and nobody remembers Alyssa anymore)

- 500AF Yeul hated humans, partially because her mother didn’t want her :(

- she has a vision of Noel after the fall and realizes humanity will go extinct, freeing Yeuls from the curse

- she asks Caius to make sure that last Yeul lives a happy life....

- Caius shows up when 700AF Yeul is 13 days old haha

- Noel assumes Caius is “braggy” about his battle skills and hates him for that

- Noel’s grandmother knew Yeul would probably be the last seeress

- Noel had a friend named Yanny in their village and they’d take turns being the one to hold bby Yeul’s hand for the day awww

- Noel felt the kids in New Bodhum were “immature” because they were so carefree. by the time he was six, he had more responsibilities than most adults do, so he couldn’t even imagine a time where kids didn’t have to work so hard

- bby Noel pesters Caius for ages to get him to teach him to use a sword

- Yanny was that one kid who always piggybacked, getting all the credit and doing none of the work - but he put his full effort into hunting, making Noel resent him a bit

- Yanny was the one who first suggested a hunt for Yeul’s birthday feast. Noel refused to go & Yanny was killed (this was when they were younger, 16 I believe)

- Noel talks to his grandma about Yanny’s death, & she says the only way to resist death is to live to the fullest

- Yanny had a cousin, Rigo, who was just like Snow and died running into an Adamantoise STEELGUARD

- the stuff Noel says to Snow in Sunleth is stuff he wanted to say to Rigo

- Yeul had a vision of the gate of the goddess. She assumes it’s because Caius was going to Valhalla (but I think it references Noel getting taken there)

- Serah assures Noel that he and his Yeul will meet again, and he gets a sense of foreboding...

And with that sense of doom, now we wait to see if they’ll ever release an official translation of Tracer of Memories 8))

[reginrokkr]

✩ @agrothora​ wished upon a star: bubble bath [ Kurasame → Ace ]

News of the presence of a l’Cie standing in its last legs reached to Ace’s ears, indicating an urgency to seek them and see what little or big information he can get for a better understanding of the truth of Orience. To his surprise, the l’Cie was namely Nimbus of Milites, a White Tiger primus l’Cie he reminisces having fought many times, some of which he lost his life given the intimidating strength he possessed. What he would not expect is his willingness to speak and afford him an information the blond could only guess based on small evidences he has been finding along the way that confirmed his suspicions and added new questions that needed answers.

Cid Aulstyne was a man whom was cognisant of the reality Orience was facing as an experiment of the gods, reason why he sought to release the world from their clutches even if that supposed committing nefarious actions against other nations. Such was his wish to make a change that he overpowered his own crystal and with it, White Tiger l’Cies stood under his rule. As a l’Cie himself and thus subjugated to the crystal’s will, he had not much to do on the matter save for aiding Cid in whatever he could.

In moments like this, he should have imagined there was something amiss in Mother–– no, Arecia. Specifically when upon their arrival to Pandaemonium Cid referred to her as a harpy.

This would be a thought Ace would hold with himself for a while, pondering her true nature of possible divine origins until coming back to the luxurious residence Kurasame and himself have been residing in for a while, until the necessity to move onto a new place arose. All nagging thoughts were dispelled upon seeing the indigo haired man relaxing into the hot spring, this time decorated with peach petals Ace was mindful to recollect to give him a surprise. Or rather, a silent apology for his absence without awakening him first. He has gone through enough, he wished no more to drag him into his own problems too.

The kimono he tends to use for a better comfort falls down his shoulders, pooling on the base of his feet seconds before Ace ventures into getting into the comforting water himself. For his absence, the first thing that occurs to him is to approach the man from behind and envelop his frame with his arms. The lack of tension and shrinking tells him the man has grown accustomed to his touch even without making no move to acknowledge his presence–– even if he knows.

“You didn’t have to do this for me.” A gentle reminder which the blond responds with the press of a soft kiss atop his shoulder before pressing the side of his face onto Kurasame’s skin. “I know.” He whispers, lips curling in a subtle smile that the other mirrors as well. That’s how their relationship has always been: based on respect, loyalty and understanding. Though non-vocal or with no physical contact, these are ways of loving both have come to accept and be grateful for receiving.

Ace feels the first signs of Kurasame’s wish to move and so he allows him so, by weakening the hold so he may have room to turn in his arms. Sometimes, he wished to burn the man he considers the love of his life in the gentle fire of the phoenix to rid him of all the scars marring his body–– though said wishes would always be discarded with the fear that he might melt him or he wants those marks as a reminder of what he lived in times past. One of his hands slides upwards to touch with delicate finger pads the scars left in the wake of a terrible burn his face suffered, punctuating the loss of dear friends to him, he knows.

Blueberry irises shine with sentiments of love he professed millennia of cycles ago for him which Kurasame’s much colder emerald ones reflect in kind, further punctuated by taking him in his own embrace and pressing his forehead atop Ace in an intimate touch. At the very least, their weary souls can rejoice in the presence and love of the other to move through their lives until they are no more.

[duellicae]

yell for your muse to calm mine down . NONVERBAL MEMES | @krystallius​

there was a lot that had been bothering her , a lot in her mind & so many issues to resolve . lightning was prepared for everything . everything . but not for this . not for her own sister becoming a l’cie ; targeted and seen as an enemy by — well , by everyone that inhabited cocoon . 

they had been on the run for a few weeks ; barely escaping imprisonment ( or worse ) numerous times prior .

                                                                   ❝  light ? ❞

 there was little time left before they’d be discovered once more ; places they could hide or use as sanctuary only growing smaller & smaller ; only making lightning realise that perhaps , they should go down . down to the terrible world of pulse . atleast they would be safe from both psicom & sanctum there .

                                                                   ❝  light . ❞

they’d had to deal with . . monsters , most likely . and other gruesome things , as well as how terrible people had said it was outside of cocoon , down on pulse . was it truly the best option though ? there was no doubt it would be even worse down there , but atleast they’d be gone from cocoon ; from the sanctum who wanted her sister .

                                                                  ❝  light ! ❞ 

no , maybe it wasn’t —

                                                             ❝  C L A I R E ! ❞

serah’s voice brought her back to reality , noticing how clenched her fist was ; nails digging into skin of her palm as teeth were grinding . she was panicking while having been deep in thought about how to survive , how to ensure serah’s safety . and while to others she might’ve appeared as merely . . angered ; serah knew her too well & recognized there was more going on . only yelling her name seemed to snap lightning back to the present . 

❝  sorry . i guess i just —  i don’t know what to do anymore , serah .❞ there was no more reason to lie to her anymore ; she’d figure out the truth eventually & if that were to happen , it might’ve been too late . 

[fabula-novo-mundo]

Theonymy: On the Names of fal’Cie

The gods of Fabula Nova Crystallis (FNC) are, as the title of the mythology would suggest, multifaceted. This post will be the first in a series that attempts to analyse them from a polytheistic, specifically, a fictional or otherworld reconstructionist perspective.

Names are essential to storytelling. In the Final Fantasy series of games especially, names are drawn from many different cultures and languages, even within the same title: Nomura Tetsuya, the series’ lead character designer for the last 22 years, and one of the creative leads behind the original Fabula Nova Crystallis project, drew from Okinawan (“Yuna”, night; “Tidus”, sun), Ainu (“Wakka”, water), and Arabic (“Lulu”, pearl) while creating the characters of the Final Fantasy X series. These names often subtly allude to the positions of the characters or their future arcs in the context of the story or its themes, and understanding their etymology can frequently be illuminating.

This doesn’t hold a candle, however, to the significance of the names of gods, which describe their relationship with the world itself, and have their origins in epithets used to describe them by their worshippers. For example, the chthonic jötunn Hel, whose name derives from the Proto-germanic *haljō, from the Proto-Indo-european *kol-, “to cover/hide”, as one covers a corpse in the soil of a grave; or the Irish psychopomp an Morrígan, whose name either translates to “Great Queen” or “Phantom Queen”, as befits a goddess who manifests to doomed warriors; or Nebt-het, the netjert of death, whose name translates to “Lady of the Temple Enclosure”, describing her role in ritual.

fal’Cie

Firstly, the term “god” itself should be addressed. Often applied in english-language literature across religious traditions to describe a wide array of entities, it often fails to capture the nuance that culturally specific terms have for these entities. For example, in norse tradition, the word “god” is typically applied to the Æsir and Vanir, but not their enemies (such as the Jötnar) despite the latter often being of equal power and cosmic significance to the former two; additionally, the word often fails to describe the nuance of the word “kami” in Shinto tradition.

This word, kami, in fact is the term often used to describe the higher deities in the original japanese scripts of the Fabula Nova Crystallis franchise (this term became “god” in the english, of course), particularly concerning the most supreme living being in the mythos: Bhunivelze, the Shining God (Kagayakeru Kami), for whom the terms for lesser spirits in the mythology were considered inadequate or degrading by his historical worshippers.

However, being apathetic (at best) to the Shining One myself, i will use this term for him anyway: fal’Cie, the name for a living, material god in the various worlds of the setting[1]. In the rest of this post, and in subsequent writing, i will use the collective and singular term “fal’Cie” to refer to inorganic spirits in Fabula Nova Crystallis that are themselves descended from inorganic spirits.

The term “fal’Cie” itself deserves analysis. In the original japanese scripts, the kana for this term is ファルシ, “faruShi”, which is very nearly a correct transliteration of the english-language word “fallacy” — whose definition is of course “a mistaken belief or error in reasoning.” This will become incredibly important later when i discuss the nature of mythology and cult within the setting, but for now let it simply be noted that it is important that the term used for spirits in this world is nearly synonymous with the concept of “misconception.”

The related term “l’Cie” provides another avenue for analysis of the theonym. l’Cie, written ルシ, ruShi, are (formerly) human servants or slaves of fal’Cie. The term, especially in the original scripts, is pronounced almost exactly the same as the italian “luci”, or “light”, and when romanised, is quite clearly just the french word “ciel“ or “sky” with the last consonant shifted forward. Both of these concepts allude to the origin and master of all living fal’Cie and, indeed, all souls and Matter in the FNC, in the most exalted Lord of Light, Bhunivelze.

The fa- prefix that forms the word fal’Cie is then theorised by FNC fans to have its origins in the Latin famulus “servant,” in line with the origin of the “fa” note in solfège (Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So-La-Ti) from the Latin hymn Ut queant laxis. This would, fittingly, give us an etymology for the term fal’Cie that comes to something along the lines of “Servant of Light/Heaven.” Personally, i’m not sure how much merit this association actually has, convenient though it is, so i’d like to propose an alternate theory.

There is only one obvious association that the fal- prefix could have in west european languages. It has already been covered, indirectly, but bears discussing again: the word “fallacy” derives ultimately from the Latin fallere, “to deceive,” and the fal- stem in descendant romance languages still retains this association with falseness (french and italian, used in the “l’Cie” part of the word, are, of course, romance languages, which makes an italic etymology for fa(l)- the most likely). This would give “fal’Cie” the etymology “Heavenly Deception” or “Deceiving Light,” both of which could help elucidate the beings’ true natures.

It should be further noted that words in japanese containing the syllable シ (shi), which is a homonym for 死 “death,” often become associated with death by association: for example, the japanese numeral 四 “four,” also pronounced shi, is historically considered inauspicious.

[1] i am aware that in the brand change from Final Fantasy Versus XIII to Final Fantasy XV, the term “fal’Cie” was replaced with “Astral” as a term specific to the world of Eos, but insofar as these entities still exist as the crystalline descendants of the Fell Trickster Lindzei and the Hallowed Tyrant Pulse, the theonym “fal’Cie” is still correct, and i will use it when describing these entities in the context of the wider setting. The word “Astral” itself shares connotations with the celestial etymology of the original term, which hints at the Astrals’ true nature, even after the rebranding.

Pulse

Stout fashioned earth, that future might take root. — Analect I, “The Vanished Gods”

The first theonym i would like to address is the most simple. Pulse, the Terrestrial Potentate, is a male fal’Cie who is credited with shaping the physical world. Concretely, this means he is the entity responsible for the creation of, well, nearly everything that can be seen, touched, or otherwise mundanely sensed in the mortal realm.

His symbol is ten bidirectional prongs or arrows emanating from a central eye, five upwards, five downwards. In Final Fantasy XIII we find its analogue in the many-pronged double-headed spears of the Gran Pulsian l’Cie Oerba Yun-Fang, which makes it doubly clear that this symbol is supposed to be phallic, and possibly a symbol of fertility or rulership, an association strengthened by the fact that the Etro-venerators of the Kingdom of Lucis and the otherworldly leisure house Serendipity depict Hallowed Pulse as the King on their playing card sets, and give him the title “the Mighty Potentate.”

The origin of the english word “pulse” is Latin pulsus, both words to describe a beat, throb, flow or stroke. This highlights the deep connection that the Hallowed Pulse has to the mortal world and all parts of nature that lie within, as the source of and indicator for the terrestrial realm’s strength and vitality.

The etymology of pulsus can reveal more, however: pellere, to push, drive, affect, compel, expel, propel, repel, dispel, impel, strike, banish, or conquer. This helps us see the significance of the ten arrows as a symbol of force, power, domination, and divine kingship, and solidifies the Divine Pulse’s associations with violent rulership or tyranny. Pulse is very much the archetypal patriarch, and the domineering attitude of his descendant fal’Cie towards the mortals they live alongside reinforces this.

Lindzei

Sage turned mind's eye inward, seeking truth profound. — ibid.

The third and youngest offspring of Light, the etymology of “Lindzei” is much less transparent than her elder sibling’s, but by examining the Heavenly Ruler’s iconography and associations, it is possible to determine some likely candidates.

Analect II, titled “Lindzei’s Nest,” from Final Fantasy XIII, gives us the following from the perspective of a Gran Pulsian demagogue:

And lo, the viper Lindzei bore fangs into the pristine soil of our Gran Pulse; despoiled the land and from it crafted a cocoon both ghastly and unclean.

Lies spilled forth from the serpent's tongue: 'Within this shell lies paradise.' Men heard these lies and were seduced and led away.

O cursed are the fools who trust a snake and turn their backs upon the bounty of Pulse's hallowed land! For those who dwell in that cocoon are not Men, but slaves of the demon Lindzei.

Ye who honor Pulse: rise unto the heavens, and cast down the viper's nest!

The serpent imagery here would seem oddly out of place if it weren’t for the universal symbol of Lindzei used by his descendant fal’Cie and the mortal societies she patronises. Lindzei’s symbol is that of a statuesque feminine figure with exaggerated hips, arms, and a headdress, whose stylised silhouette strongly resembles a uterus and ovaries. However, seen from another angle, this extremely stylised shape also resembles the hood of a cobra. It is fitting that a fal’Cie who is so associated with duplicity and tricks would be represented by such a multifaceted symbol.

This gives us a clue to the origin of the first part of Lindzei’s name. The germanic stem lind-, seen in the english word “lindworm” (dragon) and in many other germanic words for “snake”, has its origin in the Old norse linnormr, ultimately deriving from Proto-germanic *linþaz “flexible.” This is by far and away the likeliest candidate for the etymology of the Fell Lindzei, and strengthens the already existing trickster archetype or Satanic associations the gender-ambiguous (yet highly feminised) fal’Cie possesses.

The other associations of the word *linþaz are also worth discussing. The english word “lithe” descends from *linþaz, and the concept of flexibility or bendsomeness is itself highly relevant to the nature of this uranic fal’Cie. Lindzei is, above anything else, noted for his “dark cunning,” her skill with words, and, in the history of the Etroites, is effectively considered the midwife of the mortal races, who cultivated the very first human civilisations after their Goddess’ death. Given that societies patronised by Lindzei’s offspring (e.g. Cocoon, Milites) tend towards being extremely technologically and politically advanced, as well as lacking in superstition or fear towards the natural world, this idea has significant merit.

Which brings me to the Linden tree. Originating again from *linþaz, the Linden in germanic cultures has associations with femininity, divine protection and fertility, as well as truth-seeking, jurisprudence and political deliberation in general. All these associations are relevant to Lindzei, who above all his siblings is associated with the political life of humanity, and to whose followers is the true salvator and protector of the mortal peoples from nature or Pulse’s violent tyranny.

This leaves only the suffix -zei, pronounced “zeɪ” as in “say”. In fact, the word “say” — being of ancient germanic origin in *sagjaną, whose descendants are frequently pronounced as “z” (e.g. german sagen, dutch zeggen (past singular zei)) — is my personal best guess as to the actual etymology. Lindzei being so strongly associated with language and society, it seemed natural to me that this would be alluded to in her name.

Overall, this would give an etymology for the theonym that comes to something along the lines of “Speaking Serpent,” very fitting for a Lucifer-esque trickster figure.

In Analect VIII of Final Fantasy XIII, Lindzei is given an additional epithet “the Succubus,” which strengthens the Trickster/Satanic archetype associations, and yet further feminises the fal’Cie who is so demonised by devotees of Hallowed Pulse.

In Serendipity and on Eos, playing cards depict Lindzei as the Jack, with a caption describing him as “the Solemn Ruler,” who is “commanding from his throne on high.” This solidifies the uranic and political associations that the fal’Cie has.

Etro

Fool desired naught, and soon was made one with it. — Analect I, “The Vanished Gods”

For the Infernal Goddess, who is barely acknowledged by most mortal cultures in the setting, the problem of naming is particularly pertinent. To most peoples, She is simply Death, the embodiment of their mortality — but to those of Her children (for all mortals are born from Her broken corpse) who venerate Her, She is also known as “Her Providence”. This epithet is in fact the only name by which She is known specifically in the version of Eos depicted in the rebranded Final Fantasy XV, where the remnants of Her crystalline soul provided the Lucis Caelum[2] dynasty with its magic.

The epithet “Providence” of course alludes to Her gift (or curse) of prophecy, and associations with probability/entropy — misfortune, and prudent preparation to stave it off in particular.

Given that the Crystal of Lucis is referred to as the soul of the planet Eos itself, and yet is also termed the “Light of Providence” by the Astrals, it is possible that “Eos” is in fact itself another epithet for Her Providence Etro. Eos, originally greek ἠώς, means “Dawn” and is also the name used for the hellenic thea of the Dawn herself. This word ultimately derives from the Proto-Indo-european *h₂éwsōs of the same meaning.

It may seem counterintuitive for a Goddess of the Underworld to be referred to as the Dawn personified, but it is worth noting that She is also associated with entropy and disaster and yet is still called Her Providence. As the Lady of Chaos, She may bring the dawn if She so chooses by drawing the darkness back into the Unseen Realm, and in fact this is the role She plays as the Queen of Valhalla and by protecting the people of Eos from the Starscourge (which is a manifestation of the Unseen Chaos).

Like many death deities in our world, it is possible that Her true name is so rarely uttered because of this fal’Cie’s deathly nature, and how tied She is to destruction, chaos and entropy in general — it is not uncommon for such terrible spirits to often be referred to with euphemisms to avoid invoking either their wrath or their destructive natures. Surprisingly, one thing both Pulsian and Lindzeian cultures agree on is their fear of or even hatred for this entity.

Unlike Her sibling fal’Cie, She is entirely absent from the mortal realm and Her influence can only be felt through the chthonic Unseen Realm which awaits Her children between death and rebirth. Also unlike Fell Lindzei and Hallowed Pulse, Her Providence bore no fal’Cie of Her own, as She was granted no divine gifts in life.

The concept of the Unseen Realm will be revisited later in this series, but for now let it simply be noted that She is depicted as the Queen on playing cards created by Her devotees, and referred to on the writing below the illustration as “the Veiled Goddess.” Personally, i believe this epithet refers to mourning veils, as well as the veil between the Visible and Unseen Realms which is Death — i.e., “Veiled Goddess” is a euphemistic manner of describing Her nature as the Dead and Death Goddess.

The actual name of this fal’Cie (if indeed She can be considered a fal’Cie alongside Her kin) is not even alluded to until the very, very, very end of the post-game in Final Fantasy XIII, and outside its two direct sequels Her name is even then seldom referenced except euphemistically. There are many possible reasons for this, but that’s a topic for another post.

Children of Hallowed Pulse scour earth, searching substance for the Door. Those of Fell Lindzei harvest souls, combing ether for the same. So have I seen.

The Door, once shut, was locked away, with despair its secret key; sacrifice, the one hope of seeing it unsealed.

When the twilight of the gods at last descends upon this world, what emerges from the unseeable expanse beyond that Door will be but music, and that devoid of words: the lamentations of the Goddess Etro, as She sobs Her song of grief.

— Analect XIII, “Fabula Nova Crystallis”

Etro, written エトロ (Etoro) in kana, has an extremely ambiguous etymology, as is noted by several fans of the setting. i will list what i consider to be the likeliest possibilities here, and describe the reasoning behind each as best i can.

Firstly is the french être ”to be,” triply relevant due to the presence of french and other italic languages in the FNC’s theonymy already; the nature of the Veiled Goddess Etro as mother to all human-kind, midwife of all re-born human souls, and as She who endows mortals with the formless heart that delineates us from our fal’Cie cousins; and, lastly, due to a possible connection with the etymology of Her cosmic antithesis, the Shining God Bhunivelze, which will be covered in the next section.

Second is the italian tetro “gloomy”/”grim,” which has obvious connections to Veiled Etro’s chthonic nature as She resides in the perpetual twilight of the Unseen Realm of Death.

Third, the Breton etre “betwixt,” whose etymology is entirely distinct yet is geographically proximate to the previous french. Veiled Etro, powerless in the world of Her birth, was  granted a power beyond any living fal’Cie in the Immortal Realm of Chaos, and used this power to grant this primordial force to Her mortal children in a perpetual cycle of death and rebirth, between one world and the other. Thus, the concept is relevant to Her nature.

Fourthly is the Proto-Indo-european *kʷetwóres “four,” an association that might be clearer when examining the numeral’s descendants, but which i am fond of as a potential etymology for Her Providence due to the association that the number has with death in japan, as discussed previously. The reconstructed *kʷetwóres becomes Latin quattuor, italian quattro, greek τετρα- (tetra-), Proto-balto-slavic *ketur-, and many others whose stems all resemble the name “Etro.”

Fifthly is the italian etra “heaven,” ultimately derived (via italian etere) from greek αἰθήρ (aether, transliterated into japanese kana as エーテル, “ēteru,” which is remarkably close to “Etoro”) which is a good way of describing the formless fluid nature of the Chaotic realm over which Her Providence Etro presides.

Last, but certainly not least, is the option that i personally find the likeliest: the Latin ceterus, or greek ἕτερος (heteros), both of which mean “other one,” both descended from the Proto-Indo-european suffix *-(e)teros — a suffix which means “one that is especially more than [prefix],” making fundamentally important word stems such as *ḱe- (here) or *sem- (one), into a general term for “that which is distinct from this.” This is incredibly important to understanding the Veiled Lady, who has largely been defined by being set apart from every other fal’Cie in Her lack of godliness, Her dominion over Chaos, Her cosmic opposition to the source of all living fal’Cie, and most notably, Her total absence in human culture or the majority of historical accounts concerning the world’s fal’Cie. Etro is the Great Other who is set apart from wider society, ostracised, scapegoated, and painted as a childish Fool or terrifying monster, regardless of cultural context or era.

Etro’s symbol is quite mysterious, as befits the Veiled Goddess. Similar to the etymology of Her name, there are many possible interpretations of Her sign.

The most obvious might be the image of a sprouting seed, which fits Her rebirth function and also matches the possible french etymology être.

The second is that of an eyeball cut in half longways, pointing downwards, which matches Her associations with prophecies and visions, as well as the world below. Etro’s Gate, the other of Her prominent symbols, which is the Door of Souls through which the dead and newly-reborn must pass to enter or exit the Unseen Realm, is also, notably, in the shape of an eye as seen from the front.

The silhouette also somewhat resembles an avian head viewed from the front, with the eyes near the base of the image, and this has immense importance to Her avian associations (the presence of (white — possibly swan) feathers is Her single most important omen/symbol after the Door of Souls). The softly-thinning curved prongs arguably resemble feathers themselves, or perhaps multiple sets of wings stretched upwards to the sky.

The fourth thing to note is the sphere of something fluid at the heart of whatever the image is depicting, which represents an organic flow of some kind, most likely the primordial Chaos that the Unseen Realm and the hearts of Her children are composed of. Within this dark fluid seems to be concealed some sort of staff or spike, which might represent a concealed blade or other weapon of some sort. Either way, this strengthens the already existing associations Her Providence has with concealment.

It might also possibly speak to the twin martial and spiritual functions, or, in DnD-esque Final Fantasy terms, physical and magical power — two things that are extremely relevant to Her Providence, who is so delighted by contests of violence. The fact that this dark fluid and the weapon concealed within are surrounded by the husk or wings/feathers of the symbol could either be an allusion to the Chaos that lies at the heart of every mortal (and Etro Herself), and the Unseen Chaos that Etro is charged with keeping at bay to preserve the Visible World.

[2] Note the connection to italian luci and french ciel here in the Latin Lucis Caelum, which are both referenced in the theonym “fal’Cie.”

Bhunivelze

Luminous lamented, for creation spiraled unto doom. — Analect I, “The Vanished Gods”

This supreme fal’Cie of light, “the god who rules all things,” and “holds the world in his palm” is in fact primarily referred to not by name, but simply as “God,” singular, monotheistic and absolute. He is also given many epithets related to light and the sun, such as “the Shining God,” or simply “Luminous.” All fal’Cie depicted in the setting, and thus, all Matter itself — everything that doesn’t stem from Chaos, to be clear — stem from this being’s great, near-absolute power as the self-made centre of all existence.

But his etymology is much less transparent than his realm. There are only a few narrow possibilities i have been able to find, and they are even then only tentative, so of the five entities discussed here i am most likely to revisit the Shining One at a later date.

“Bhuni-” may have an origin in the Latin bonus “good”/”right”, whose romance-language descendants often mutated the word into bun- stem words, all associated with correct morality. This has a credible link to Shining Bhunivelze’s associations with purification and correct action.

The second option i find more credible, myself: Proto-Indo-european *bʰuH- “to become”[3], which becomes Proto-germanic *beuną “to become” (from whence the english “be”/”been”), Kurdish bûn “to be,” Sanskrit भूमन्  (bhū́man) “world,” भू (bhū́) “earth”/”matter”/”world,” and particularly भूमि (bhū́mi) “limit”/”extent”/”foundation”/”earth.” As Bhunivelze is the foundation of everything that can be seen in the material realm, and possesses absolute control over all visible Matter, his name being to do with the world itself, or the concept of limits/extents, or even matter/substance itself, would be extremely fitting.

The concept of Bhūmi is particularly relevant. The word represents the earth element in Hinduism, and is embodied in the devi of the same name who is analogous to “Mother Earth” and is also known as Prithvi; however, the term Bhūmi is used differently in Mahayana Buddhism. Within Mahayana-thought, the bhūmis are the ten[4] stages of attainment that must be passed in order to reach bodhi, or enlightenment. This concept is most certainly relevant to the self-declared most enlightened being in all creation.

“-velze” requires some more work. In katakana, his name is written ブーニベル (Būniberuze), which could help with finding more candidates.

Firstly, the dutch/Middle german vels(e) (plural velzen) “rock” — it is arguably a stretch, but i think it bears mentioning due to the fact that the Lord Bhunivelze does in fact have associations with stone/mineral — not just in that he is the god of all solid Matter (something that i will discuss later in the series), but that he is associated with crystalline structures in particular. In Final Fantasy XIII-2, we are given the following Oracle of Etro, which is the first time the Shining One is actually referred to by name:

In the physical world, it contains within its form endless chaos. By the will of the deities, it gives birth to all living things. I speak of crystal.

The eternal dream world of the crystal lies within the Unseen World. Even the gods long to find their way to that place. In all crystal, the heart that shines most brightly is called Bhunivelze.

— “Bhunivelze’s Sleep,” Yeul’s Confessions

With Proto-germanic *beuną this would give Bhunivelze an approximate etymology of “Stone Coming Into Being,” “Stone Appearing,” or “Growing Stone.”

Second is the Hindi वली (valī) “lord”/”saint”, which is even more of a stretch than vels to be honest, but is worth mentioning. This would give him an etymology akin to “Lord of the Universe.”

The last guess i have for this etymology is the english “verse,” from Latin versus, based instead on the original japanese pronunciation. The reason i think this is plausible is due to the Shining One’s connections to the Biblical God, whose words speak creation into being. This would, with Latin bonus or Proto-Indo-european *bʰuH-, give the Shining One an etymology something along the lines of “Good Verse” or “Verse Coming Into Being,” both of which are quite fitting.

We can go one step further from “verse,” however: If we take Proto-Indo-european *bʰuH-, and the original japanese pronunciation, we can form Bhu-niverse, which is to say, the english word “universe” (ultimately derived from Latin ūniversus, “turned into one”) — a lot more plausible given the numerous Sanskrit bhū́- stem words listed above meaning “entire world.” This is the likeliest etymology for Shining Bhunivelze, in my opinion, and gives us a final meaning of “the World Coming Into Being.” This concept is incredibly relevant to the nature of Bhunivelze and Matter in general in Fabula Nova Crystallis, and will be discussed at length later on.

[3] Here the possible connection to the speculated french etymology être for Etro, also “to be,” which would highlight their shared cosmic significance as the ultimate light and dark principles.

[4] The number ten is incredibly important to the Shining One, who bears ten wings in his full manifestation and whose Latin-alphabet name (not coincidentally, the Latin alphabet is sacred to him) is composed of ten characters.

Mwynn

Maker forged fal'Cie, from fragments Maker's own. — Analect I, “The Vanished Gods”

Barely referred to except by the hints of hints even in the most hidden parts of the Fabula Nova Crystallis video-games, the majority of our knowledge about this most ancient of deities comes from the 2011 Square Enix video describing the central mythology of the entire setting.

Mwyn is a Welsh word with a dual meaning, the more common of which is neglected by FNC fans, so i will cover the less common first.

Mwyn is an adjective meaning mild, tender or gentle, which alludes to the Deepest Mwynn’s role as Mother to all creation, and particularly in raising Her offspring Shining Bhunivelze (in the Mortal Realm) and Veiled Etro (in the Unseen Realm) and instructing them on their respective cosmic positions as the wellspring of all Matter and the shepherd of all Chaos. Unfortunately, the etymology of this word is unclear, but it might possibly originate from Proto-Indo-european *men- “to think.”

Mwyn also means “ore” or “mineral.” Similar to the hypothetical bhū́mi and vels etymology for the Shining One Bhunivelze, this is relevant to our Deepest Mother Mwynn as the ancestral crystal of every soul and heart and speck of Matter that exists, as far as can be known. The etymology for this word is not much better-attested, though likely ultimately descends from Proto-Celtic *mēnis, meaning the same thing, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-european *(s)mēy(H)- “to cut”/”to hew.” The concept of cutting/hewing crystal is central to the almost parthenogenesis-like method by which fal’Cie (and, indeed, the ancestral mortals born from the Veiled Goddess Etro’s blood) are created, so i ultimately find both definitions of mwyn to be relevant here.

Unfortunately, there is only one depiction of the Deepest Mother available for analysis, but unlike Her chthonic daughter, who is frequently depicted badly wounded, sleeping/comatose or dying, She is depicted with Her body and all Her limbs intact; and within a great tapering double helix, a great disc — likely the universe — lies beneath the soles of her feet. This symbol is ultimately the logo used for the Fabula Nova Crystallis setting as a whole, and it warms my heart to know this long-forgotten Goddess receives some recognition in this form.

In time the gods departed, leaving all by their hands wrought.

Fal'Cie were as Man forsaken, orphans of Maker absconded.

— Analect I, “The Vanished Gods”

i dedicate this etymological analysis to The Dead Goddesses: to my Veiled Infernal Queen, Etro, and to my Deepest Ancestral Mother, Mwynn. We stand guard over your legacies still.

[pinnochiro]

pinn reviews - final fantasy xiii

episode three of my running series where lizz and i play through all the mainline final fantasy games in reverse, and then i write a long rambling review that i barely proofread.

tags, because i'm not sure i should put them in the actual tags or not - long post, really, really long post, review, spoilers

following our playthrough of final fantasy 15, the next game up on the plate to play was final fantasy 13, shifting us back a console generation and onto the ps3. if u aren't aware, ff14 is actually an mmorpg, as is final fantasy 11, so we will not be playing those (lizz already plays ff14 and she tells me its like 200 hours long to mainline lol).

ff13 has a bunch of background lore, so before we even get into gameplay or anything like that, here's a brief outline/reminder of what the world of ff13 is like.

final fantasy 13 is set in a floating paradise world called 'cocoon', governed over by a selection of god-like beings called "fal'cie" (fahl-see), who raised the world of cocoon into the sky above their enemies land below called 'pulse' after an ancient war. inhabitants of cocoon live in relative luxury with their needs provided to by the fal'cie, but are constantly told that they must fear the hellscape of pulse below them, and especially the pulse fal'cie and their l'cie (luh-see), who wish for their demise.

any human being who gets too close to a fal'cie, one belonging to pulse or cocoon, will be transformed into a l'cie, a superpowered thrall of the fal'cie tasked with completing a 'focus', a mission given by the fal'cie. if a l'cie completes their focus, they are rewarded with 'eternal life' in the form of turning into a crystal statue to watch eternity through. but if a l'cie fails to complete the focus, they are instead transformed into a 'cieth' (seeth), a crystaline monster who only knows to attack others. a l'cie has no real autonomy, and it is widely known that pulse l'cie under a pulse fal'cie are always given a focus to destroy cocoon - so any interaction with a pulse l’cie or anything at all from pulse is horribly stigmatised, and must be avoided.

with that baseline introduction out of the way, what is the plot of final fantasy 13?

ff13 opens with an absolutely rad cutscene, featuring an intense battle on a futuristic train with two of our main characters, Lightning and Sahz. as explained later in gameplay, a pulse fal’cie has been discovered in cocoon, buried under years of rubble from the ancient war between pulse and cocoon. and to make it worse, the fal’cie has created a l’cie with the mission to destroy cocoon. while the l'cie has been captured, any citizens of cocoon who were in the vicinity of the fal’cie or l’cie have been sentenced to a ‘purge’, advertised as a deportation of any “tainted” people to pulse. in reality, it’s exactly as something labelled a purge could be, just slaughtering anyone who could be close to the l'cie. on this train ride, we're introduced to almost all of our main party members, who i'll detail here.

lightnight - a former solider of PSICOM, the peace-keeping militia of cocoon, lightning has abandoned her military immunity to the purge and joined it willingly, in hopes of locating the captive pulse l'cie, her younger sister and only remaining family member, Serah. lightning is to the point and quick to anger, and likes to punch Snow in the face, which i find absolutely hilarious. she hates him not only for being a goofy rebel and her sister's fiance, but snow was also partially responsible for serah becoming a l'cie in the first place and setting off the whole chain of events. her weapon is a gunblade, which i thought were only a ff8 thing but apparently not.

sahz - a civilian who was exempt from the purge, but also joined it willingly. while openly one of the most upbeat and comedic party members, sahz is deeply depressed and suicidal. in the days before the purge, he took his young (like 8 years) son dajh on a trip to purchase a pet chocobo, his favourite animal, at a location nearby a cocoon fal'cie. when a mysterious pulse l'cie appeared and tried to interfere with the fal'cie, dajh managed to slip away from his father and got caught up in the conflict, with the cocoon fal'cie making dajh a l'cie to protect it. dajh was almost immediately scooped up by the PSICOM military to be used as a tool to locate the l'cie, and sahz blames himself as a failure of a father. sahz fights with two futurey-looking pistols, and is always bouncing during fights, which is very relatable.

snow - the leader of an anti-PSICOM rebel group called 'Operation Nora', snow is a complete himbo with massive tits, fighting against the purge imposed on himself and his friends. that isn't snow's only goal however, as he also plans to find and rescue his fiance, the l'cie serah. he's good natured and barely recognises when someone doesn't like him, and is trying his best to get onto lightning's good side so she will approve of his and serah's wedding. snow's weapon is his fists, and he frequently assumes the best way to deal with something is to just punch it.

hope - a fourteen-year old boy who is sentenced to be purged with his mother. they are rescued by Snow's group, and when they're under fire from PSICOM, hope's mother (also named Nora) volunteers to protect the group, but falls to her death in the skirmish. hope blames snow for his mother's death, as he was the one who incited her to fight back in the first place. hope fights with a silly little folding boomerang called an 'airwing'.

vanille - a mysterious girl who was part of the group of purge detainees rescued by snow. vanille immediately stands out as she dresses in a unique (and probably culturally appropriative) outfit and speaks with an australian accent, while everyone else is american. she seems confused by maps and the workings of cocoon, and tries her best to support hope. as you can probably guess, she is from pulse. her weapons are 'staffs' in the loosest definition, and she constantly makes anime sex noises, but i still like her. while vanille has an australian accent, the dialogue itself was very obviously written by an american, as she says distinctly american turns of phrase and the like that i, as an australian, have never heard being used here.

you cannot choose your party members for the vast majority of ff13, and a lot of the early game will shift you from certain party members depending on the scenario. you're introduced to each of the first five party members by the story switching between them all in the early hours, giving you their backstory and a handle on their classes and fighting styles, which is fine for the first three or so chapters but is tedious when you're on chapter 11.

our five main characters are all somewhat linked at this point, but it really all comes together when the five of them entire the sanctum of the fal'cie. the group comes together to find serah right next to the fal'cie, but as lightning and snow approach, serah immediately is turned to crystal for 'completing her focus'. getting closer to the fal'cie (as lightning immediately tries to kill it in revent) results in everyone present being transformed and branded as a pulse l'cie. the fal'cie comes crashing out of the sky and onto the lower levels of cocoon with everyone on board, where they receive their focus - a blurry vision of cocoon falling out of the sky that seems to suggest the destruction of cocoon, as is the mission of all pulse l'cie.

waking next to the crystalised form of serah, the group realises that they've all become l'cie, the sworn enemies of their home in cocoon. while lightning is sure that the vision they've seen indicates that they're to destroy cocoon, snow instead thinks their mission must be to save cocoon, because he can't believe that serah would want to destroy cocoon. he manages to find a single crystal tear as the group fights and leaves him, pursued by PSICOM soldiers.

at this point, i'll describe the combat, because while there is combat before this point, it's only when the characters become l'cie that the combat and the levelling system really become important.

ff13 runs on the active time battle system, which means that a character is given 'atb gauges', a little gauge that fills over time and only when the gauge is full can a character take an action. this is my first time playing a game with the atb that final fantasy is known for, and i've gotta say, it's really solid. much prefer this over the combat in ff15, but we all know that was a wreck, so. you can either have the game autoselect moves for you, or you input actions yourself, but in my experience the game is very good at autoselecting moves based on weaknesses etc, and the battle stays moving quickly the faster you can input things, so it's greatly appreciated.

in combat, you control one character, while the other characters are cpu controlled and will use the moves given to their role. every character in your party is assigned a combat 'role', basically a class, which gives access to different moves. the five roles are 'commando' a dps, 'ravager' a magic-based dps, 'medic', which is exactly what it sounds like, 'sentinel' a tank, 'synergist' which buffs the party, and 'saboteur', who debuffs the enemy. at the start of the game, every character has access to two roles, and can obtain more as the story progresses. each role has a pretty obvious combat usage, and to help players cover these roles in combat, the game has the 'paradigm shift' system.

each time you have two or more characters in your party, the different classes they are set on are called 'paradigms.' the paradigm shift system allows you to change a characters' role at any time in combat - so you can start a fight with a set out that might be commando + ravager, and then switch to sentinel + medic if your hp gets low, and then to saboteur + synergist to buff/debuff. you can set any combination of roles that you would like in the six available paradigm slots, and change through them at any point in battle.

the paradigm shift system is honestly, really, really cool. the amount of choice and options it gives you during a fight is really excellent, and it feels so satisfying to switch between different paradigms and unleash different moves, and then switch back to defensive when the enemy is about to attack. the cpu controlling the other characters is really solid as well in my opinion, healers will generally prioritise whoever the player is controlling over others, which helps you to avoid game overs. if you're smart about your atb, you can line up your actions to occur right after a teammate has done their actions, attacking while they refresh and then attack again, and pretty much stun-loop an enemy into submission.

the paradigm shift is honestly amazing, and i wish that more video games had an option to change cpu companions' behaviour on the dime. i would much have appreciated if in kingdom hearts, i could set goofy and donald to say, focus on dps or defense in certain situations.

i have only one complaint with the paradigm shift system, and that is that every time a paradigm shift happens, an animation of every character doing a little pose one after the other plays. this would be fine if say, the game didn't have a time-based critical hit system, which i'll talk about next. but even then, the paradigm shifts aren't too obnoxious in the animations and i didn't really have any problems with it until later in the game (at least, when i played. lizz also played the majority of this one).

in combat with enemies, the game has a 'stagger' percentage on the top of the screen towards the right. you can increase the percentage of this bar by attacking the enemy, debuffing it, taunting it as a sentinel, and when the bar is full, the enemy is 'staggered' and all your moves do critical damage. the percentage you have to hit to stagger an enemy is different for each type of enemy, with some starting at full stagger and some being basically invicible until you stagger them. the stagger bar is not stagnant thought, and will wind down constantly after any increase. certain roles, such as healer, will also actively make it harder for the stagger bar to increase, so it becomes a fight against the ticking down of the bar to get an enemy to full stagger, and then kill it with the critical damage you're given. as mentioned above, since this is a time-based system, the delay of paradigm shifts can cost you in certain fights. while most enemies don't have a stagger gimmick, some do, and they all tend to be obnoxious. lizz hated the pulsework soldiers, which take forever to stagger, and i wasn't exactly a fan of the giant hedgehog lizards that you have to stagger to even damage. if you can sneak up on an enemy, you get a 'preemptive strike', which will put an enemy at full stagger at the start of the battle, but the enemy ai is very punishing on what counts as being 'spotted' by the enemy and these are pretty hard to trigger deliberately. there are items that can make it harder for enemies to spot you, but the only way to have a solid supply of these is by purchasing them at the store, and the game does not give you gil for defeating enemies, so it's pretty hard to come by.

after a battle, you are rewarded with a sonic-looking victory screen and a number of 'CP', or 'crystarium points.' as we're very mature, lizz and i took to calling them 'cock points' instead. you can use cock points to level up a character's combat roles, unlocking new moves, hp bonuses, new passive abilities etc. i quite like the crystarium, it looks very pretty and its fun to slowly fill out the board of a character's moves. it generally doesn't matter roles you focus on, except for one goddamn fight with sazh which is basically impossible to complete under the time limit if you haven't levelled up his synergist where it needs to be. each character has a 'crystal heart', so all their hearts are shaped differently, like lightning's being shaped like a rose, sahz's like a chocobo feather and fang's like ... a bong, i think? we couldn't make it out.

anyways, you continue through the game. the story chooses which characters you get to play as, so you get to experience different combinations of roles in the early game, which pretty much sticks to two-character parties to get you used to the paradigm shift system before you're given a third. the characters travel separately, with hope going after lightning, because lightning hates snow and hope wants someone to commiserate, snow staying behind at serah's crystal statue, and sahz and vanille also taking off when they see PSICOM approaching.

hope confides in lightning that there's something he really wants to do to take revenge on someone before he's stuck in his new l'cie enthrallment, and lightning, not knowing that hope wants to just straight up kill snow, gives him a knife and says 'yeah kid get it.' hope names this his own 'operation nora', this time after his dead mother, Nora. at one point lightning starts to despair about the hopelessness of her situation, which triggers the first eidolon battle of the game.

eidolons (i don't known how to pronounce this - aye-dole-on? eyy-dole-on??) are the summons of final fantasy 13. in the lore, they are sent by a fal'cie to a l'cie whenever the l'cie begins to waver in their focus. an eidolon's goal is to kill the l'cie - either the l'cie dies, and the fal'cie is free of someone who isn't following their focus, or the l'cie comes out victorious and gains the power of the eidolon as a summon.

in combat, the fights against the eidolons just. straight up suck ass. they are time-based, so if you can't beat it until the counter is done, you're fucked. they're also really hard to stagger, so it takes fucking ages to get their hp down and then the battle ends because you weren't fast enough. hnnng.

anyways, every character has an eidolon which you fight and unlock over the course of the game. lightning's eidolon, odin, is one of my favourites because he turns into a horse with a big sword. i also like snow's, shiva, because it's two sexy women who like ,, scissor so hard they turn into a motorbike? idk it's hilarious. when you summon an eidolon, all your party members disappear and you fight alongside the eidolon. if you can max out the eidolon's gestalt gauge by fighting with it, you can shift to 'gestalt mode', where the eidolon does a transformers roll out and turns into something your character can ride, and they do combined moves. lizz and i could never really master this, the moves of the eidolons seemed to be weaker and not worth even summoning them so we just kinda,, didn't for most of the game. that's probably on us for not levelling them up or something? i'm still not entirely sure.

anyways, lightning and hope decide to head for 'palumpolum', which is hope's stupidly-named hometown, so that hope can tell his dad that his mother died. sazh and vanille head to a themepark called the 'nautillus' as they've both more or less decided to make the most of their brief time on cocoon before they're killed or turned into cie'th, and snow is captured by PSICOM, where he runs into our final party member, Fang.

fang is a tall and very pretty lady with a giant spear that she can use to kill you. i like her quite a lot and she is lizz's favourite. when you meet fang, you see very noticebly that she has a l'cie branding on her shoulder, but instead of the dark tattoo marking that the rest of the party has, hers is entirely burnt out and white. she's also australian and wants to find vanille, and teams up with snow to do that. she's being looked over by the leader of PSICOM, Cid Raines, who sets her and snow free as he has a secret hidden agenda.

fang, snow, hope and lightning all meet up in palumpolum, where a state of emergency has been called, and anyone who even comes near the party of l'cie will be sentenced to purge. still intent on trying to kill snow, hope attempts to but is stopped when snow rescues him from PSICOM and his expectations about if snow truly does care for the others he protects are challenged. hope makes it to his dad who convinces him that maybe murder is not the answer, but not before the four of them have to fight through a bunch of PSICOM, are treated like shit by the general population, and feel quite bad about everything. snow gets his eidolon and you fight jihl, a PSICOM lady with giant titties and glasses, before everyone escapes.

on meeting up with fang, she slowly explains a little about herself. she, and vanille, are both pulse l'cie, but she can't remember anything that happened before she suddenly woke up from crystal staus the day the fal'cie was unearthed near lightning and snow's hometown. this excites snow as he's sure this means he can rescue serah from her crystal prison, and fang says that they need to find vanille.

meanwhile, vanille and sahz are enjoying their time in nautillus, more or less. they follow around some chocobos and sahz talks about how he bought his pet chocobo for his son dajh, who loves them. i forgot to mention this before now, but sahz has a tiny pet chocobo chick who lives in his afro. its here that the player, and sahz, learn more about vanille. you see, when she and fang woke up from their crystal slumber, over 700 years had passed from their original mission. while vanille is hesitant, fang assumes that they must have been woken to destroy cocoon again, and suggests that they target the closest fal'cie they can. the two of them attack the fal'cie, and in the struggle, a young boy is caught up and turned into a l'cie to defend it - the young boy being dajh.

this is revealed when dajh appears, reuiniting with his father, only for them to learn that he is still under control of PSICOM. having completed his focus of locating the pulse l'cie, dajh turns to crystal, and sahz and vanille left with each other - sahz blaming her and himself for dajh becoming a l'cie, and vanille, wanting sahz to kill her as punishment for what she's done, both with dajh and earlier in the past she claims to have forgotten. at this point, sahz's eidolon appears, and despite their suicidal tendencies, vanille and sahz defeat it, although sahz is knocked out and the two are captured by PSICOM. i really, really like this plot beat. the dynamic between vanille and sahz, the two most upbeat characters, slowly disintegrating - its filled with that interpersonal drama that i love in shit like this. the only downbeat is that,, sahz's eidolon fight is the one i mentioned earlier that you have to grind for specific abilities to be able to beat, which sucks ass and it still killed us like. five times :/

to rescue vanille and sahz, the rest of the party breaks into the flying airship that they're being held on ahead of a public execution in hopes of quelling the public's fears of l'cie. after fighting through the airship and rescuing your friends, you come face to face with the primarch of cocoon, who is basically president pope, dysley.

its here that dysley reveals that he's not a human, but in fact a fal'cie himself named barthandelus. if you can't pronounce that, don't worry, lightning will say it every time that there is a paradigm shift during fights with him. barthandelus is one of the fal'cie that supports cocoon, but he actually hates the humans that inhabit it, which is shown when he just straight up kills jihl. barty doesn't truly care for cocoon at all, instead wishing for the death of all the humans in a massive sacrifice at the hands of the beast 'ragnarok', so that he can be reunited with the maker of the fal'cie. kind of like evangelion? except, since bart is a cocoon fal'cie, he can't actually make any moves against cocoon. instead, he's trying his best to manipulate the pulse l'cie he's found to do what he believes is the true sole purpose of l'cie - becoming the beast ragnarok and destroying cocoon.

you fight bart in a pretty long fight and the team manages to escape - but instead of fleeing to somewhere else on cocoon, a decision is made to instead get to Gran Pulse, (the long version of just 'pulse'), the supposed hellscape below cocoon where fang and vanille hail from. they hope to return to their home village of oerba (pronounced just 'erba') and find a way to defeat barty.

as it turns out, gran pulse isn't a real hellscape - it's just overflowing with violent monsters. this is the only open-world area of final fantasy 13 and honestly, it was really, really jarring. everywhere in ff13 up until this point has been linear, with enemies in fixed spawn points. this is honestly to the game's detriment, as it basically forces you to fight every single enemy to advance, which with the limited enemy variables, becomes really, really tedious. and it's on the surface of gran pulse that i must admit to you, dear reader, a secret.

y'see, lizz and i didn't actually finish playing through this game. we uh. we quit once we got a decent chunk into gran pulse and just watched a cutscene movie.

whaaaaat??

well, yeah. that's what happened. i'll be honest, i didn't want to, i wanted to finish the game like we'd finished final fantasy 15 and every other game we'd played together before that. but, i'd stopped playing long ago. i wasn't the one who had to do every single repetitive encounter and whittle down enemy hp with their stupid gimmicks and struggle through the loooong bossfights against bart and the rest. that was lizz.

and well, i guess this is where i get to discuss kind of a difference in gaming philosophy between myself and lizz. y'see, i've mentioned i'm bad at games. i'm not good at actually playing them, the entire enjoyment of a video game comes from the story, seeing the characters interact and uncovering the lore. for me, combat is never what i look forward to in a video game. it can certainly be fun, as playing with the paradigm system was for me in the first early or so hours when i did pick it up, but it's never the reason i'm there. in my head, combat in video games is basically always a slog you have to get through to get to the fun parts, which is seeing the story progress, learning more about everything and the situation that you're in. this is why i tend to give the controller to lizz - i don't like the fights in video games, i like the story. when i play through the games that i really like, like persona or kingdom hearts or fire emblem, the combat and fighting is always just a backdrop to the things i'm actually there for.

lizz has, a different philosophy. primarily, she wants her games to be fun. which is something that's definitely understandable. lizz enjoys playing fighting games and the combat, seeing how an enemy changes and learning their tells so she can properly avoid attacks and strike back with the most damage. she tells me about how she likes to unravel the 'puzzle' of enemies in other final fantasy games, where you learn through fighting them certain things that make it tick until you can finally defeat the enemy. and she prioritises having fun in a video game over most other things. if you're not having fun, what's the point in playing, really.

so you can kind of see what the clash here was - i wasn't playing, i was very invested in the story and as i always do, i saw the combat as a slog as it is in every video game that you have to get through in order to get to the better part. but to lizz, the combat isn't just something you have to get through, since being a video game, it actually takes up a very large portion of what you're doing. if she has to spend such a long time on something that's lost its spark hours ago, she'd rather just watch a cutscene movie of the rest than deal with that pain. and yeah, while initially i was like, can't you just struggle through the rest, i gave in. i'm just watching it instead of playing it, so the only change there would be that we were on youtube instead of the ps3. so yeah. we watched a cutscene movie of the rest of the game.

and honestly, that encapsulates the main downfall of final fantasy 13 - the enemies. the combat system is fun, it's inventive and it's something new. the enemies are. mostly just walls of flesh that you beat into the dirt to get past. and it's not like you can avoid them, because as i mentioned, they tend to be specifically placed in your way in the linear environments of ff13 so that you do have to face every single enemy in the game before you can advance the plot. and that. that sucks. you get sick of the sixth recolour of the little robots and the flans that fucking scream at you with sirens. no amount of mastery of the paradigm shifts makes it more fun to whittle away at a big enemy's health bar for 30 minutes, especially when the only way to get better at doing it. is to level up by doing it a thousand times over. it sucked.

but, i do really, really really like the story of final fantasy 13. i think it's extremely compelling, and since we did watch the rest of the game as a movie, i can continue the story for you.

after landing on gran pulse, fang and vanille get into an argument, and its made obvious that vanille does know what happened before they were turned into crystals, and fang tricks her into spilling it out really.

oerba yun fang and oerba dia vanille were born into the village of oerba on gran pulse, over 700 years ago. the ancient war between pulse and cocoon was still raging, and fang and vanille were selected to become l'cie to defeat cocoon by becoming ragnarok, a beast with the power to kill all the inhabitants. the two made it to cocoon and fought their way to the fal'cie, where they were then to become ragnarok together. however, as they fought their way through vanille became afraid of the power of ragnarok, and she ran away. fang tried to follow the mission without her and became an incomplete ragnarok, destroying the outer rim of cocoon and cracking it open, but without vanille she wasn't able to complete her focus. on their failure, the pulse fal'cie froze them into crystal stasis, where they remained as untouched statues for centuries until the interference of barthandelus unearthed the fal'cie on cocoon and awoke them again.

vanille is deeply regretful of her actions - on reaching gran pulse, they find out that no humans on the continent survived the war after their failure, and their families and homes were destroyed by cocoon. as fang can't remember the past, she tries to make her feel better by saying that she (vanille) was the one who failed to defeat cocoon instead of fang, and that it's her fault everyone died, but fang eventually gets the truth from her. this is shown when they reach oerba, now destroyed and with only a cie'th stone left with the record of what happened to the people.

meanwhile, lightning eventually gets over her hatred of snow - it wasn't solely snow's fault that serah became a fal'cie, and it was really the machinations of barty behind all of it. over the journey, she's come to realise that snow is a pretty good guy, and gives her blessing for the two of them to marry once they've rescued serah.

as a group, everyone decides that there's really only one thing that they can do - defeat barthandelus to save cocoon and everyone who lives on there, before he causes anything else awful to happen and kills more innocent people. they pledge to make their own focus, regardless of what the fal'cie want, and the party charges back into cocoon.

we're treated to another gorgeous fmv as they break back into cocoon where everyone summons their eidolons and pronounces themselves to the world, hoping to draw out bart. they fight through PSICOM soldiers under cid raines until they come face to face with him, where they learn that cid is a l'cie of bart's. under his orders he overexerts himself and fights the party, but they manage to convince him that he shouldn't live only for the fal'cie, and he helps them by ordering PSICOM to stop hunting down the l'cie before he dies in a final attempt to distance himself from bart.

the group makes it to bart, who talks big shit about how awful the humans are and how they're just parasites with no autonomy, following the will of the fal'cie on cocoon. the game is pretty anti-government, with themes about how the government doesn't really care for their people and will manipulate the media, and victimise certain groups for everyone to rally against before 'disposing' of them to keep public order. i thought that was pretty cool, i liked it.

anyways, you fight bart and he is killed, his body then transformed into the fal'cie 'orphan'. orphan is another boss fight, but the party is unable to defeat them. using their power, orphan separates vanille and fang from the rest of the group and attempts to goad them into becoming ragnarok again. when they won't back down, the rest of the party is transformed into cieth that attack vanille until fang declares that she'll become ragnarok again without vanille, effectively sacrificing herself for vanille.

unfortunately, despite her rage, fang can't become ragnarok alone - it's a two-person deal, even though fang refuses to let vanille help. but eventually, vanille gets through to fang and they manage to shatter the illusion of orphan, revealing that the other party members are unharmed. together, they fight through two stages of orphan until it is finally defeated.

however, without orphan, cocoon doesn't have a fal'cie to control it. the entire structure begins to fall from the sky, so fang and vanille, hand in hand, vow to become ragnarok together and instead use the beast's immense power to help cocoon, instead of destroying it. together, they create a crystal pillar that holds cocoon in the sky, permanently entrenching fang and vanille as crystals saving cocoon.

the rest of the party reforms as crystals on the surface of gran pulse, cracking out of their stasis and realising that fang and vanille sacrificed themselves for them. as they look up to the pillar, two figures walk towards them - serah, holding hands with dajh. everyone reuinites together, finally freed from the fal'cie's curse, as the credits roll.

so yeah, that was final fantasy 13. i really, really liked the story of this game - the concepts of fal'cie and l'cie are really, really intriuging to me and i love how the game explored it, the interpersonal drama between the characters and their growth over the course of the story. i'm sure i mucked up certain things or didn't get plot details entirely right but. hey. did you not see how fucking long this review is? cut me a little slack, alright. i tried my best, and i really liked ff13.

despite that, again, we didn't actually finish the game. i may have adored the story, but that doesn't take away from the repetitive enemies and how much it sucked to get through that towards the end. was it really that terrible? idk, it definitely took a lot more actual effort to get through than final fantasy 15, which at that point, was the limit of shit to get through. so if you don't mind it being repetitive, i guess you wouldn't mind.

before i finish up, i just wanted to additionally mention that the music in this game is fucking wonderful - i really adore the promise/serah's theme, which is the main menu theme, and 'lightning's theme', as well as many of the battle themes for just being so fucking catchy and fun. 'blinded by the light' was my favourite of those, but 'saber's edge' and 'eidolons' also really fuck.

the game's art direction is also absolutely on point - the character's designs are all unique and interesting, and the environments were beautiful - i really loved the crystal forest, the futuristic city and the theme park areas, they were just so bright and pretty-looking. only downside is that the npcs are dressed like absolute idiots, most of them are wearing weird bathing suit-looking shit, so that was hilarious. i also really liked the character designs of snow's fellow nora comrades, basically everyone who was designed by tetsuya nomura looked rad.

so overall, i think final fantasy 13 is rather excellent in so many regards - the lore, the characters and their motivations, the setting and the combat mechanics, so many of them are just really on point. but it also suffers from the enemies being pains in the ass, the map design forcing you to take on all of them, and the plot being a bit difficult to parse out at times.

would you like this game?

what's your tolerence level for grinding? that's basically the main thing to consider if you'd like to pick up the game. it's a very strong game that's brought down by what is unfortunately a rather major element, but if you're willing to suffer through that, i'm sure you'll enjoy it. othewise, if you're not willing to suffer through that, watch a cutscene movie. the story is great, and i wish more people talked about this game. i know it gets ripped on a lot, but like, this game is the shit. i loved it, i loved the characters, the music, the setting, so much of it. i think it's definitely worth experiencing, even if you're just watching the cutscenes.

final score - hope should have stabbed snow, only for it to just bounce of his massive titties / 10

next game - final fantasy xiii-2. that's right, this game has a direct sequel, and then another direct sequel after that. look forward to my review when we finish that one up, probably soon considering we're already about halfway thru!

[aesirfalling]

The Ark!Hope theory, or why LR is more tragic than you think

Lightning Returns is a very character-driven game. Perhaps you may not like the specific things the devs focused on for each of the characters or the main characters themselves, but LR really tried to explore the motivations and desires of its main characters, especially Lightning and Hope. Now, LR is notorious for a botched localization - the distinction between the concepts heart (kokoro) and tamashii (soul) is blurry and it’s unclear whether or not there are “fake” characters in the game (Serah and Ark!Hope come to mind in particular). My argument is this: Ark!Hope is the real Hope, he’s the Hope we knew from XIII and XIII-2 with his soul but without his heart, and he’s also the Hope that says farewell to Lightning on the last day and is saved by her from Bhunivelze. I think this interpretation makes Hope the most tragic character from LR by a long shot, and really adds to the complexity of LR’s Hoperai.

I owe a lot of the translated materials to @thegrudgeytonberry and @tensai-shoujo, and to them I give my thanks! Thanks also go to @imagiverse and @spheri for helping me think through this, and the XIII discord for tolerating my existence as I rant endlessly about XIII stuff.

Part I. Heart and Soul

So what are the differences between heart and soul?

A soul is the “essence of humanity,” linked to their memories. When a person’s soul is destroyed, everyone’s memories of that person will be lost too (see: the soulsong). Before Etro’s death, the souls of the dead would go through Etro’s gate to wait to be reincarnated, but after her death, they gradually accumulate in the chaos, leading them to become the mass that communicates to Lightning as “Cid Raines” and is nearly erased by Vanille. The souls of the dead maintain some sense of individuality as long as they are remembered by the living. In turn, the destruction of a dead soul erases the memories of that person from the living.

A heart is the “essence of a person,” linked to their emotions. Hearts are made of chaos and given to humans by Etro, and allow them to tap into the power of chaos and have the ability to challenge and even overpower gods. Yeul, who retains the same soul but gains a different heart every cycle, ends up being a “different Yeul” every cycle (the Yeul who likes flowers, the Yeul who likes to sing, etc).

Now, onto Bhunivelze. Bhunivelze’s backstory is basically all about how much he loves the pure living world and despises/fears the world of chaos and the dead. He doesn’t want to touch it at all or have anything to do with it, yet he recognizes that someone has to, so his living world will not be threatened by it. To this end, he believes the world of 1000 AF has become too tainted by chaos, and he must create a new world filled with 1000 AF survivors unburdened by memories of the dead. To keep this new world afloat, he will also recruit a new goddess, someone who can manipulate the chaos and keep watch over the cycles of reincarnation. Now...

In “Encounter with Bhunivelze,” Bhunivelze states that hearts (kokoro) are invisible to him, yet he fully intends to “purify” mankind’s souls (tamashii), showing ability to tamper with one but not the other. When Lightning asks after Hope’s heart (kokoro), he responds by crushing Hope’s puppet body and saying he cannot see human hearts, suggesting he has no idea where Hope’s heart has gone. However...

In the JPN version, Bhunivelze shares the same voice actor with Hope, thus speaking in Hope’s voice. This is different from when Anima “spoke” to the cast in XIII during their l’Cie branding, when Etro spoke to Lightning in XIII-2, and when Bhunivelze first spoke to Lightning when she awoke: in all those cases, the god/fal’cie did not possess a voice. They imparted their will through a psychic sharing of images and will. However, since Bhunivelze in the final fight spoke directly with Hope’s voice and spoke in very suggestive ways, I propose that he had taken something from Hope without knowing - Hope’s humanity, aka his emotions, aka his heart. 

Part II. The Farewell

Okay now some of you are probably all confused like whaaat? But what about the farewell scene? What about Hope’s soul? What exactly did Lightning do to save him? 

Okay so let me try to write a very brief timeline

831 AF: Hope ends up with/in (heh) Bhunivelze. He has his body, his heart and his soul. His heart is pretty beat up at this point due to all the rose-haired phantom shenanigans but he’s still an adult. Bhuni starts molding him in an attempt to understand mankind and to have a human avatar. (Don’t forget that Bhuni considers Hope a lowly human and cares only about using a remolded version of him as a vessel when all’s said and done: as a god, he can’t care less about Hope’s own motivations and desires, and Hope himself says in the farewell scene he’ll be discarded once he’s served his purpose.)

sometime on or before day 1 of Lightning Returns: Bhunivelze creates the Ark and drops a very emotionless Hope in it who has access to most of his memories but doesn’t understand who he is or why he’s in the Ark. This Hope has his own soul (memories) and body although they’ve both been tampered with. He can’t remember his love for Lightning, or his longing for his parents.

Final day of Lightning Returns: Hope shows up in an incorporeal form and states he’s there to say goodbye. He states that he’s outlived his usefulness to Bhunivelze and will simply disappear / be discarded, erased. He says (in JPN) that Lightning was right not to open up to him because “at the time, I was a pawn of Bhunivelze.” He then walks into the nothingness. I propose that the Hope we see here is what remains of the heart-less Ark!Hope after Bhunivelze has taken his body away (to use as his vessel once the doomsday clock tolls). He has left Hope’s soul alone to rot in the chaos because as Hope said, Bhunivelze doesn’t need it. Hope himself has a small glimmer of hope in regards to his soul (since he’s basically “dead,” perhaps it’d be saved by Lightning or the soulsong?) but he has no real hope for his heart, knowing that it’s gone, which is why he asks Lightning “if the dead will be saved, what will happen to my heart?”

During the fight: Bhunivelze destroys Hope’s body, but is then stabbed by Lightning in the head. Lightning’s protection knife, imbued with her own feelings for (and memories of) Hope, frees Hope’s heart and guides it to his soul. The whole Hope comes back to save Light and gets his adult body back in the new world.

Part III. Ark!Hope

Ark!Hope is the real Hope, and also the Hope we see in the farewell. There is a fake Serah, but there’s never been a fake Hope. When Lumina has that really confusing scene with Lightning where she accuses everyone of being “a lie,” she goes as far as to call Lightning a lie, too (along with Serah and Hope), but insists that “the only fake I knew was Serah.” Out of the three, both Lightning and Hope are “lies” because they are fragmented (Lightning with Lumina herself and Hope without his heart) but only Serah is a “fake” because she is a separate entity created by Bhunivelze to satisfy Lightning’s desire to be reunited with her sister.

But Aloice, Hope said in his farewell that he’s happy to be able to talk to her one last time, when he can be his true self!

It doesn’t necessarily mean he’s fake; he may simply be glad that he got to talk to her again as “Hope” after 169 years of being conditioned to be a vessel, or that he got to talk to her briefly as just Hope - not God’s eyes in the Ark - before he faded into the chaos. A deathbed conversation unseen by God, so to speak.

But Aloice, Ark!Hope didn’t sound like himself! It was just Bhuni talking through him with his memories!

But doesn’t Hope repeatedly tell Lightning that even if she was to turn against God, he’d be on her side? Doesn’t he basically tell Lightning the truth about Serah/Lumina without stating it outright (God extracted her soul from inside of you, perhaps you’re too close to one another)? Doesn’t he, on day 12, make the really ludicrous and weird promise to look for Serah in the chaos if for some reason he’d die before her? Doesn’t he straight up say there are memories of love God must have suppressed (in Adoring Candice)? Doesn’t he get really depressed on day 12 when this conversation happens:

Hope: It really feels like the end now. Soon it will be over.

Lightning: It’s been dying for 500 years.

Hope: I wasn’t talking about the world.

Lightning: Then what?

Hope: (quickly) Never mind. Time is short. Every minute is precious now. Let’s not waste any.

If anything, Bhuni should try to take control of Hope more and more as the days progressed, but if day 12 is any indication, Hope’s actually becoming more and more knowledgeable and emotional as the days continue to roll.

He’s been figuring everything out, including his own feelings, and his own supposed fate.

Hope’s always been on the intercom, after all. He may be God’s eyes, but he also sees for himself, and unlike Lightning, he’s not actually dense. He has access to too much of the world’s data and his own memories to not figure out why a child whose mantra was to decide his own fate has ended up alone in an ark serving the one true God.

After Hope saves Lightning, the two are shown floating through a white space while Lightning says her final words to Fake Serah. Fake Serah admits that she was a fake, that Serah’s heart was not inside her, but then says she could “imagine it”.

Fake Serah: I could imagine what the real Serah would feel. That’s how I did it. I tried to think the same thoughts as she would, and I imagined the love that she must have felt for you. God hadn’t given me a heart, but even so. I could dream. I was just a lie, a fake. But the feelings became real. I love you. I always have.

Bhunivelze hasn’t spared Ark!Hope his heart, but even so. He can dream. He hasn’t been denied any of his actual memories of Lightning, after all - the same memories that have gotten the real Hope’s heart to fall for her in the first place. He falls in love with her all over again, remembers empathy and compassion (except, arguably, that one hiccup with the fireworks in Yusnaan), and fights for all the same things the Hope we always knew would have fought for. Ark!Hope wins a game of chess against Bhunivelze even without the very emotions that took him so far through the first and the second game, and I’m just so, so proud of him.

[ffxiiicrystarium]

I  / II / III

Researcher #013 : Isaac Farron

Clearance lvl: 5

Aptitude: High Mana level.

Hometown: Eden

Status: Deceased

Relatives: None   Parents:  Deceased

Married to Chaleur Farron ( see file number 012-4 )

Children:  Claire Farron (3 yrs old )

Another child (unnamed)

Notes: He displays unique sense of wisdom && keen-intellect, although he is known by his colleagues for his friendliness && reckless behavior.

Journal entry Researcher #011

It’s a Ceith, an actual cieth. My hands are shaking right now as I write this. We we’re briefed about a finding in Vile peaks, a monster or something. We didn’t know it was like a monster-you tell your children-to scare them type of monster.

All thirteen of us broke in cold sweat; we knew this was a gag-order brewing in the distance. Even Isaac was wide-eye as we we’re up in the observation docks. I never saw him this, scared, yeah that’s the word. After signing about sixteen NDA’s all our phones && emails are tapped into, making sure we tell no one about this, but still letting us contact our family or partners so no one would suspect anything.

The only reason I can make this because I’m doing it old school. I’m writing, this is pre-historic war of TRANSGRESSION level. Everyone is doing it though, cause when you enter level 5 in the clearance of Eden, when you die, no one knows how it really happens or maybe they know something but not the truth.

 Journal entry Researcher #006

Isaac was right, this isn’t a PULSIAN CIETH. After harvesting its skin and doing biopsy and carbon dating on it, it’s proven that the crusted layer of dirt has no unknown particles.  

All minerals gather from the tissue sample was categorized as Cornelia’s earth layer, chocobo filth and alloy and metal particles from the crusted layer of Vile peaks.

If this thing came from pulse, our sensors wouldn’t be able to categorize anything at all.

Yet it did within five seconds frame.

I shared this information with the others, although it has absolutely no bearing with our actual research, this tells magnitude of what is actually happening.

Sanctum Fal’cie are making Ceiths, and whatever focus this one had was impossible.

 Journal entry Researcher #008

Being the youngest to make this trip should make me proud.

BS I wanna go home.

Morale is low cause all we do is run test and every time we are monitored! Imagine sleeping with camera feeding them what you’re doing.

Of course they don’t know I know, Isaac was right again to let us inspect all the stuff in our room.

I found a COMM device in my lap and a camera by the door knob.

And they keep stressing us to figure out how to un-cieth a person ??? do we look like Etro to you ? like Lindzei to you ???

That just supports our finding however that this person must have been a Sanctum L’cie, cause if it was pulsian we wouldn’t even bother.

Guess they don’t want the public to know that their Fal’cie are turning people to cieth, imagine the unrest of the populace knowing that the falcie are dishing out impossible focuses.

 Journal entry Researcher #013

I wanted to access the datalog for the WAR of TRANSGRESSION.

Something about Etro piques my interest. Centuries ago, a record indicates a crystallization process that was seen in the front lines of PSICOM’s defense squad when Pulsian invaders breached the outer shell.

I don’t know what ties that information to the cieth in front of me, but my gut feeling says there’s a thread. I have to follow it.

Cha always says to move on instinct anyway.

If a Fal’cie created a l’cie maybe a fal’cie can undo it ? and I’m not talking about secondary to primary level Fal’cie. I’m talking about the big three.

Sender: Researcher #001

To: GD

Elimination of Researcher #013 awaiting your approval.

He figured out that the Cieth was a Cocoonian citizen, even figured out it was a high schooler.  He is rousing us all to runaway although they would do it at 01:00 the next day.

Sender: GD

To: Researcher #001

And his family?

Sender: Researcher #001

To: GD

Negative, they know nothing. Upon examining all his emails and phone calls they only know that he is about to come home.

Not to mention it’s Chaleur Farron, if we kill her it would be way too obvious since she is well known in Eden.

Sender: GD

To: Researcher #001

Then they would be spared.

For now.

[torbjornfucks]

Final Fantasy 13

I’m a fan of jrpgs. They’re fairly satisfying to play and are a type of long-form storytelling that can be really interesting. I’m a big fan of the Persona series and Tales of Vesperia is one of my favorite games period. But despite my years of playing jrpgs, I’ve never really touched Final Fantasy. 

I always wanted to get into the series but always found myself getting cold feet before I started. Eventually FF15 came out and I played it but found it a really odd game. It wasn’t really Final Fantasy so I decided that I should play one of the older games. I thought about which game to start for a while: I knew that 6 was generally regarded as the best, but heard good things about 5 from my brother. I also read that 10 and 9 were good. But in the end, I decided to make my first real game in the series Final Fantasy 13. 

Okay, maybe it isn’t a real Final Fantasy. But it’s alright. I mostly started on 13 because it was one that I actually owned and out of a strange feeling of spite towards old school Final Fantasy stans. Like, “Fuck you, dad. I’m gonna play this game you didn’t like and I’m gonna think its okay.”

Let’s get this out of the way first: I don’t mind the linear level design. People like 10 and that game is linear as hell. The parts of 13 that I liked the least were the open world parts near the end. It wasn’t communicated very well that I was supposed to be wandering around and doing quests for crystals, so I quickly ended up getting bodied by random enemies. The open world segments also were the least impressive visually. Most of 13 has held up pretty well in terms of graphics, but most of Pulse is just the default Windows XP background as far as I care. It’s decent, but nothing special. The linear segments in Cocoon, on the other hand, look really good. The use of sci-fi elements is fairly divisive and I have my own conflicting opinions on them, but they look really nice at the very least. The cyber forest and and airship are two examples I’m particularly fond of.

The world that the game builds is fairly interesting as well. A futuristic Dyson sphere floating above a vast wild wasteland is a very compelling setting. Where the game stumbles a bit is with its proper nouns. I love it when games break out their proper nouns and throw around names like Torna and Aegis and The Architect (Xenoblade 2 is really underrated). FF13 has is fal’Cie. First off: bad name. Why isn’t the f capitalized. It also doesn’t evoke anything other than “weird.” This is reflected in the names l’Cie and Cie’th. What do these mean? What’s with the “Cie” part? I couldn’t tell you.

The verbs the game provides aren’t something special either. By that, I mean the combat. It’s fine enough, I guess. I mostly used the auto-battle command and got by just fine. Only occasionally I would have to actually input my own commands. Sometimes you’re able to use a summon and get to run around on a robot horse or a motorcycle or a car or whatever the fuck this is:

Then combat would be pretty fun. For a bit, then it’d go away. Also the fights to get these were stupid combat puzzles and none of them were good. 

Something else I’m less warm on is the story. I’ll be honest: the story didn’t really do much for me. So the main characters all meet up and get chosen by an immortal godlike being that gives them Magic Powers and a mission. They think their mission is to blow up the world, and that’s no good! But they have to complete their mission because otherwise they turn into a zombie. And if they complete their mission they turn into a crystal, so they’re basically fucked either way. So they run around, get pissed at each other for most of the game, but then they all meet up again to fight the pope and save the world. I mean blow up the world. They still do that, but only kind of. It’s weird. Despite all the bullshit, its a very standard story. Anime teens fight the pope. That’s every other jrpg. 

Something I totally didn’t expect to like at all were the characters. I knew going in that people really didn’t like Lightning. I had no hopes for Lightning at all but she ended up being a really compelling character. She’s a serious woman who put her job ahead of everything else. I loved how she acted as Hope’s guardian while the two of them were on their own. Everyone treats Hope like a stupid lost kid (because he is) but Lightning treats him like an adult. She treats him and his problems seriously, and he opens up to her as a result. The scenes with Lightning and Hope together are all really good. The main characters in general are all written well. I think probably the one exception would be Snow, who only realizes halfway through the game that the child he’s been patronizing the entire time wants to murder him.

It’s been almost a year since I played 13, so my memories of it are a bit shaky. But I remember playing through the whole game in about a week and feeling a little bit of satisfaction when I beat it. It might’ve been the spite again, I don’t know. But I didn’t hate it. I enjoyed my time with Final Fantasy 13 well enough.

I hope there aren’t any sequels that would make me change my mind about everything!

[fftype0novel]

More previews! I’m so sorry about the delays (they’re so long, can they even be considered delays??). I might try to hammer more out later tonight.

I think this is chapter 1. It’s been so long that even I’m not sure xD

Also: I’m fully aware that the Byakko l’Cie’s name was localized to something with a Q, but I’m too lazy to look it up at the moment. So her name here is Kunmi, with is a straight transliteration of the Japanese クンミ.

In the center of the huge arena 200 meters in diameter was fox-like thing made of iron. No, it was too big to be a fox. Its body looked to be over 5 meters in length. Its tails split into nine, which each emitted a green light.

“That can’t be the Crystal Jammer, can it…?”

Somehow, he’d imagined it was a lot smaller. But he could find nothing else resembling such a thing, so he supposed that was it. And its form was most probably not just for show. With those feet, it was no doubt equipped with the ability to move on its own.

Then, where is the l’Cie controlling it? As he thought, he looked around -- and spotted people in a corner of the arena.

“!?”

Ace could not believe his eyes. There were not just two, but three people. One was dressed in the uniform of the Byakko Army, wearing a helmet modeled after a tiger. That was probably Kunmi, Byakko’s l’Cie. A l’Cie’s power transcended human beings, but in most cases, their appearance was no different from a regular person.

And confronting that l’Cie were two people. They both were wearing the uniform of a Suzaku Cadet. What surprised Ace was those two people.

“Did they really make it this far to destroy the Jammer...even now that they are unable to use magic?”

Neither of them were members of Class Zero. One was a boy clad in a navy blue mantle wielding drill-shaped rapiers in both hands. The other was a girl clad in a pink mantle wielding daggers in each hand. The two of them were probably about Ace’s age.

Looking at them, Queen spoke up.

“They’re admirable cadets, but at this rate, they are going to be killed.”

Looking closely, their bodies were covered in wounds. Kunmi probably caused them. The girl was leaning against the wall of the arena, standing with difficulty. The boy was trying to protect her by standing in front, but it was clear that he was being driven into a corner.

“Should we go save them?”

“Yeah.” “Of course!” **

Ace and Nine answered Queen at the same time. The three of them then jumped off the wall. Landing at the same time, they broke into a fierce run. At the sound of their footsteps, Kunmi snapped around to face them.

Ace threw his cards, Queen swung her longsword, and Nine his lance, at the same time. However, Kunmi jumped clear over them and landed behind them.

Ace and the others turned around, protecting the two behind them. The boy shouted, “W-who are you!?”

“We’ll explain later. Leave this to us and run away.”

“But--”

“Just go! You’ll only get in the way!” Ace said vehemently. After a moment of hesitation, the boy took the girl with him and ran off.

Kunmi, who had been watching the exchange, said in bored voice, “And who’re you guys? More reinforcements?”

The voice that could be heard from inside the helmet belonged to a young woman.

** “Yeah.” is Ace and “Of course!” is Nine. Nine speaks roughly so it’s easy to tell him apart, but I haven’t figured out how to translate that to English fully.

Fun fact: I didn’t realize Kunmi was female for a long time when I played the game.

More fun facts: Ace, Queen, and Nine are often described as doing things “at the same time”. I don’t always translate the phrase because it would start sounding weird, but it seems to be a thing.