rionaleonhart | I Didn't Turn Out Okay At All.

I'm early in the third disc of Final Fantasy VIII; I've just reached Esthar! I feel Final Fantasy VIII becomes weaker after disc two, but I'm still enjoying my replay.

Squall's matter-of-fact 'I don't think I was adopted because of the way I am' breaks my heart.

I like Irvine's argument that they might as well fight the sorceress because 'hey, at least it'll keep us together a little longer'.

'The save point is up and running, sir!' Balamb Garden students... canonically set up a temporary save point for the battle against Galbadia Garden? I have so many questions about the function of save points in-universe.

Zell offering to make Rinoa a replica of Squall's ring is very cute. The party dynamics that don't involve Squall are a little underexplored, with the possible exception of Irvine and Selphie, but I really like what we see of Zell and Rinoa's friendship.

(One of my favourite things about Final Fantasy XIII was the amount of attention it paid to fleshing out different relationships within the party. The sequences where characters travel in pairs aren't great from a gameplay perspective, as the battle system is at its best with three fighters, but they're excellent for strengthening party dynamics.)

Can't believe anyone ever looked at Laguna and went 'yes, you seem like the right person to lead us.' I suppose he's good-hearted and likeable, if not competent, and kindness might be your main priority if you want someone to replace Adel.

Wait, why did the Esthar soldiers let Laguna keep his machine gun if he's their prisoner? I feel it would make more sense if he was able to defeat them because Squall's presence let him use magic and GFs.

I have to wonder whether Squall would have concluded he was in love with any of his comrades if they'd fallen unconscious in Rinoa's place. I think he'd have had similarly intense emotions about suddenly losing any of them.

Except possibly Irvine; he's strangely dismissive of Irvine sometimes. I definitely think he'd have been upset if Irvine had been the one in the coma, but I don't think he'd have reached the conclusion that he was in love with Irvine, whereas I could definitely see that happening with, say, Zell.

Of course, the fact that other characters might have triggered the same feelings doesn't necessarily mean that Squall's feelings for Rinoa aren't real. Perhaps a universe exists where Squall/Zell happened instead, but that doesn't invalidate the Squall/Rinoa in this universe. The coma may have been the catalyst for Squall's feelings, but the fact remains that the coma happened and therefore Squall experienced those feelings.

Sometimes, people fall in love on account of the things that happen to them. I don't want to imply that the only 'true' love is some magical, immutable feeling that is guaranteed to exist between two specific people regardless of their experiences; I don't think that's how life works. There's an NPC couple at Trabia Garden who got together because they happened to be sitting next to each other in class on the day the missiles hit; I'm not going to go 'hey, your relationship's not real because it wouldn't have happened if nobody had fired missiles at your school'.

In conclusion, Squall/Rinoa is valid, but Squall/Zell is equally valid. Thank you for attending my lecture. Disclaimer: my argument is highly suspect because I know nothing about romance and I love Squall/Zell.

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In conclusion, Squall/Rinoa is valid, but Squall/Zell is equally valid. Thank you for attending my lecture. Disclaimer: my argument is highly suspect because I know nothing about romance and I love Squall/Zell.

I mean you’re the biggest Final Fantasy expert of anyone I know. I’m going to assume you’re right the way I assume my nephew is right about Legend of Zelda games.

I'm extremely pleased to be deemed an infallible expert on the Final Fantasy series. I officially decree that Final Fantasy XIII is a great game and the fanbase was wrong to reject it.

You're right and you should say it!

Counterargument:

No.

[...] but I don't think he'd have reached the conclusion that he was in love with Irvine, whereas I could definitely see that happening with, say, Zell.

"Yeah, Zell, you know, as a completely arbitrary and randomly chosen example." (I love your Squall/Zello agenda and also think your perspective on Squall's behaviour here is super valid and definitely jives with my own! But also: oh, you.)

With Zell in the coma, Rinoa presumably is conscious and having opinions about all of this. Excusing sorceress stuff here for a moment, how differently do you think things play out? I can't imagine Rinoa saying "sure Squall, we're worried about Zell too, but we need to focus right now", or whatever. Do Squall and Rinoa flee to Esthar with Zell together? Does Rinoa cover for Squall's absence to give him a head start?

Or does Rinoa's fear for Zell actually bring Squall right back around to stoic leadership? With Rinoa expressing all the things Squall can't bring himself to say, does he instead end up sinking back into playing the SeeD role as a way to shelter himself from his own turmoil?

IS ZELL A SORCERESS, RIONA????

"Yeah, Zell, you know, as a completely arbitrary and randomly chosen example."

look you can't prove anything

With Rinoa expressing all the things Squall can't bring himself to say, does he instead end up sinking back into playing the SeeD role as a way to shelter himself from his own turmoil?

Oh, wow, I absolutely love this. I think you might be right. If Rinoa's having feelings about this, there's no point in Squall wasting time by also having feelings about this. He just needs to stay focused. This is all fine and nobody's internally falling apart.

Zell is absolutely a sorceress.

Thank you! Can't wait to be awarded my honorary PhD in Final Fantasy VIII.

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I originally went over and talked to the 'The save point is up and running, sir!' NPC because he seemed to be interacting with the save point - he kept running on-screen, kneeling at the save point and then running off again - and I was so puzzled to see an NPC apparently saving. Given what he said, maybe he was checking it was operational, rather than saving his game, but in that case what is the save point supposed to do in-universe?

I've been puzzling over What Save Points Really Are in the FFX universe for a while, as there are a few moments in the game where there's some kind of explicit mention or interaction with them

This is a good observation and, unfortunately, also a troubling reminder of my clumsy effort to write save points into my Final Fantasy X-2 fic when I was fifteen:

Baralai rolled his eyes. “Touch the save sphere.” The ‘save spheres’ had existed for as long as anyone could remember – dating back to the original Zanarkand, some said. They were installed at strategic points throughout Spira and built into all new airships. Touching one would restore your energy and heal your wounds over a short period of time, having much the same effect as a good night’s sleep. Overuse of a particular save sphere, however, would weaken the magic and eventually render it useless – Brother had threatened Gippal with a slow and painful death if he ever used the airship’s Sphere.

Not that he paid any real attention to Brother’s threats.

Gippal obediently flopped onto the save sphere. The blue light surrounded him, and he smiled as his headache eased and tiredness lessened.

As far as I remember, I decided to include save points because I was sleepy when I started writing this particular chapter, which meant I wrote Gippal being sleepy, and then I went 'wait, crap, Gippal's got things to do in this chapter and I need to wake him up.' I have no idea why I decided to make them limited-use, though, or how save spheres are built into airships when it sounds like they're ancient artefacts people no longer know how to create.

I Didn't Turn Out Okay At All.

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