Go Squall Go! Go Squall Go!

[rionaleonhart]

I finished my replay of Final Fantasy VIII, by the way! I posted my miserable Squall/Zell fic almost immediately after finishing the game, but I've only just got around to sharing my last batch of notes from playing.

(Even if you end up as the world's enemy, I'll... I'll be your knight.)

It's a fucked-up thing for Squall to think, but this time around I'm enjoying how fucked-up it is, and the parallels it draws with Seifer. And the complexity of swearing to fight for someone even if that ultimately means you're actually fighting for the malevolent entity controlling her.

When I first played this game, incidentally, I thought Seifer followed Edea because he was under some sort of mind control. But, on this replay, I don't think he is? I think he's just confused and caught up in knighthood fantasies and possibly turned on.

Squall says to Laguna, 'I didn't like your attitude at all. But I understood the bond between the three of you.' I think that's interesting, given how much Squall struggles with interpersonal relationships.

'I wasn't paying close attention while they made me up to be this hero of the revolution, and I ended up being president.' I love Laguna.

Seifer seems to be hesitating before handing Rinoa over to Adel. And then Squall turns up, and Seifer immediately carries it out, now that he has Squall as his audience. He can't show hesitation or compassion or fondness in front of Squall; compassion is weakness. He even says, 'Watch closely, Squall!'

With a combination of Meteor junctions and strength-boosting passive abilities, I was able to max out Squall's strength stat at 255, which I don't think I've ever managed before! He was doing absolutely ludicrous amounts of damage. It felt great.

Zell's attack stat wasn't far behind. I actually stalled slightly in the final battle because Squall hadn't entered the fray yet, and I was concerned that Rinoa and Zell were going to obliterate the entire final boss sequence without him. It didn't feel right to defeat Ultimecia without letting Squall land an attack on her!

As a concept, time compression feels a bit underexplored, but the glimpses we catch of it are fascinating. I love the unsettling sequence in the ending FMV where time collapses endlessly into itself.

I'm so glad this game exists. It's always such a pleasure to revisit it. It's a mess; I can't argue with that. But it means a lot to me.

Comments

[rosa_heartlily]

I've always thought that Seifer was under Edea/Ultimecia's mind control - but I think he's more susceptible because of his romantic knightly fantasies.

[rionaleonhart]

I'm fascinated by the question of how in control Seifer was; it's a mystery! There are definitely some lines and actions that make me go 'that's not anyone else working through Seifer; that's just Seifer'.

Maybe there was some mind-control nudging involved, and the rest was Seifer furiously justifying it to himself. Of course he chose this path on his own. Nobody controls him; nobody tells him what to do. If he's here, it must mean he decided to be here, which means he's going to stick to that decision.

[lassarina]

^ I would agree with this.

Also I love the point about Seifer's behavior when he has an audience.

[kadrin]

My mother once said she was the enneagram type called "the world's enemy". It was the easiest opportunity for an FF8 quote I've ever seen in my life.

I'm with rosa_heartlily up there (I've forgotten how to usertag, it's been so long). The slow, puppet-like movement when she first gets him makes me think he's a little ensorceled, but he wasn't so much "mind-controlled" as "mind-lightly-poked".

EDEA: All these things I shall give to you, if you... SEIFER: Yes. EDEA: ...fall to your knees and worship me. I'm sorry, what? SEIFER: Yes. I said yes. Would you like me to say yes again? EDEA: ...It can't hurt. SEIFER: Okay. Yes.

[rionaleonhart]

I had no idea enneagrams were so brutal!

EDEA: All these things I shall give to you, if you... SEIFER: Yes. EDEA: ...fall to your knees and worship me. I'm sorry, what? SEIFER: Yes. I said yes. Would you like me to say yes again? EDEA: ...It can't hurt. SEIFER: Okay. Yes.

This is incredible and does nothing to reduce my constant low-level need for horrible Seifer/Possessed Edea fanfiction.

It's so good to see you here!

[thenicochan]

I adore (fictional) relationships where one person is willing to burn the world down, to stand up for someone who is doing bad and defend them in order to protect/defend/avenge their love... unf. There's something so wrong about people who would engage in those kind of actions, but I just... I'm here for it. Mystique and Destiny from Marvel, Dracula and Lisa from Castlevania, and, if based on my ending, Max and Chloe from Life is Strange.

I think Seifer's level of mind fuckery is kind of like Kain from FFIV. I think he's compelled to act on his baser instincts, and his desires are twisted to suit Ultimecia's whims. So, like, an impossible to quantify level of lunacy. (I'm also mid-key here for Seifer/Ultimecia wrongness... including when she's possessing the body of his extremely hot adopted mother)

The scenes of Time Compression at the end are so, so, so good. The game as it's best. The ballroom scene is peak horror. I'm also a sucker and love the flower fields with Squall and Rinoa leading into the happy ending too. Such a solid end segment overall.

[rionaleonhart]

Dangerously intense character dynamics are a lot of fun! The Winchesters' constant determination to let it all burn down in order to save each other was one of the biggest draws of early Supernatural to me.

(I'm also mid-key here for Seifer/Ultimecia wrongness... including when she's possessing the body of his extremely hot adopted mother)

My friends have the best taste. I was delighted that both necrophilia and I prompted possessed-Edea/Seifer at exactly the same time, down to the minute, in the Final Fantasy Kiss Battle.

The ending FMV really is excellent! (And, yes, particularly the horror of watching time collapse in on itself; it's so well done.) All the FMV work in Final Fantasy VIII is stunning, really; the opening is incredible as well.