Actually a lot of it is people starting to talk about you talking, and then just talking about final fantasy games with no regards to spoilers.
It's not like there is a general 'talk about final fantasy' thread that I'm aware of, so when people are reminded of these 20 year games and see an opinion about it, they want to get in on that opinion having.
I think the spoiler thread wasn't started at the beginning of the run though - according to the first message, it began when this thread was already one whole year in, and not coincidentally, shortly after the let's play moved into FFVI. Somehow, that's the point when the spoiler discussion became such that a new thread for it was needed.
Throughout all of this sequence I was kind of wondering what Rinoa sees in him, because yeah, Squall came up with an imaginary animal with the Coolest Appearance, called it a "lion", gave it a name, and then completely stopped thinking about fleshing it out any more, just settling on "strong". Not just "strong", but "really strong". And when pressed, he adds "proud".
Not even any examples of how strong it is, or what it can do. Just "really strong".
Squall/Rinoa remains the central relationship of the narrative and the way it's developing slowly, over time, in a way that highlights both characters' qualities and issues is one of the game's stronger points… If you can manage to grab all the missable content without which it wouldn't hold together. I'm struggling to imagine the game at this point if, say, I had fucked up the concert and left Rinoa out of my party at several points where she gets missable dialogues or cutscenes. It's rare to see devs design missable content in such a way that missing it doesn't just leave you without some power-ups or some optional worldbuilding or lore, but in a way that actively makes it suck by crippling its central romantic arc.
I remember the romance in this one was a bit divisive when it came out, with some people really liking it and some people hating it. At the time I chalked it up largely to people's different feelings on romance and while I imagine that's still a big part, I have to wonder if some of the divided opinions were because people were essentially experiencing different stories and for some people the story was a lot worse and the romance was bungled, because they missed a bunch of scenes that would have made it feel more natural.
People didn't tell you ? The day you will finish this LP, you will have to read the entirely of the spoiler topic and make a review of it. That's why we are putting everything we can put inside to give you contents to discuss in the future. It's our sacrifice for you.
(in reality, things are mostly about "can't wait that Omi reaches this point", discussing about things who are coming, and sometimes some bonus things about FF)
So, @Omicron how do you feel that despite all their shared Edgelord and failgirl powers, Seifer was the one that had Friends, and a sort of girlfriend , and so seemed to have been socially more aware then Squall?
So, @Omicron how do you feel that despite all their shared Edgelord and failgirl powers, Seifer was the one that had Friends, and a sort of girlfriend , and so seemed to have been socially more aware then Squall?
So, @Omicron how do you feel that despite all their shared Edgelord and failgirl powers, Seifer was the one that had Friends, and a sort of girlfriend , and so seemed to have been socially more aware then Squall?
Squall at the start of the game is withdrawn and lonely, but to that loneliness and isolation there is an arrogance that other people can feel. He is, constantly, judging others and himself as failing some lofty and imaginary standard he's set up for them. Squall is introverted and quiet as well as edgy, but even though people can't hear his internal monologue, they can tell from the way he looks at them that he thinks they're frivolous, or annoying, or don't think about being SeeDs in the specific way he's determined is correct. He won't talk to anyone about his cool lion fursona OC until forty hours in to the game because, on some level, he realizes that it's kind of embarrassing, and he's afraid of being uncool. Just like a 00s era Sonic fan who would be afraid of admitting to a normie friend that Shadow is their favorite fictional character because they might think it's 'cringe.' Squall at the start of the game is plagued by hesitation and self-doubt, but they're rooted in a sort of inner conviction that he is above it all, and to the extent that he self-deprecates, it's because he's failing some greater idea of himself.
Meanwhile, Seifer is an asshole, but he's outspoken. He will insult you to your face, and so you never have to worry that he is secretly dressing you down in his inner voice. There's a kind of charisma to it; if Seifer hasn't decided he dislikes you personally (as he does most people), then it's easy to be seduced by the shit-talking, gunblade-wielding badass who is fully willing to make fun of everyone else with you. He's also not at all embarrassed about the more edgy or romantic sides of his personality; he won't tell anyone that his dream is to become the sorceress' knight, but that's because he thinks that dream is a cool secret to be dramatically revealed at an appropriate time, not because he's too embarrassed to say something cringe. To be clear, Seifer is still intensely dislikable; his social circle is small and his reputation is poor, but the social circle he did gather is because he is more sincere than Squall is.
It also can't help with how actively Squall pushes people away, at least initially. Look at Quistis, and how hard she was trying to get him to open up back in the beginning of the game - he rebuffed her time and time again, all while continuing his internal, judgemental monologue. Any normal person would look at that and be fully justified in deciding it's not worth their time; why should they be the ones to put all the emotional labor to try and get this one person to open up, who barely wants them around? Squall has been steadily getting better, but I think it's impossible to blame the people who must have tried to get closer to him, seen the emotional walls he's put up, and immediately walked away.
Meanwhile Seifer, I have to imagine if he's decided that he likes you, you'd know that right away, and you're right in that there's something intoxicating about the guy who's an asshole to everyone except a select few people, which you're a part of. And there has to be some level of reciprocation on Seifer's part, beyond just seeing his social circle as groupies or friends of convenience, for them to be so ride-or-die with him for so long. You have to wonder what exactly that dynamic was like.
I imagine that Seifer's dynamic was what a bad boy shonen social group looked like from the outside. Without Protagonist centralized moral myopia in play, the hero is just an asshole. Whose antics aren't rewarded or ignored.
It also can't help with how actively Squall pushes people away, at least initially. Look at Quistis, and how hard she was trying to get him to open up back in the beginning of the game -
Squall was fairly justified in not opening up to the teacher hitting on him while he possibly was mentally filing her as "annoying older sister" the whole time without being sure why.
Not entirely justified, but of the two he wasn't the core source of it being an awkward mess.
I'm rather entertained by the thought that this whole story has sort of been an extended "the obvious protagonist kid has been mind controlled to be a monster, so the backup edgy loner rival has taken the lead". Only we actually get the edgy longer rival as the core viewpoint protagonist as they unite the quirky group.
Look at Quistis, and how hard she was trying to get him to open up back in the beginning of the game - he rebuffed her time and time again, all while continuing his internal, judgemental monologue.
Yeah, no. In that case, Squall was 100% justified. She was his teacher, in a military academy. Quistis trying to get into his pants was a problem twice over.
I always found it telling that he only rejected her openly, instead of mentally, only once he'd become an actual SEED outside her chain of command.
Yeah, no. In that case, Squall was 100% justified. She was his teacher, in a military academy. Quistis trying to get into his pants was a problem twice over.
I always found it telling that he only rejected her openly, instead of mentally, only once he'd become an actual SEED outside her chain of command.
If you guys want to pretend that had anything to do with Quistis hitting on him rather than Squall's actual, told and shown on-screen multiple times, issues with fear of emotional attachment (and the hurt that comes from relying on people and losing them which he copes by trying to turn himself into an emotional mercenary machine) then sure that's your prerogative.
Because from what we see nothing in his rejection in of her attempts at connecting with him has anything to do with her apparent romantic interest compared to "how dare you try to make an emotional connection with me! I am a strong independent lone wolf who don't need no friends (and I'm afraid of losing people again but I won't admit that part even to myself)!" and it would still be the same rejection even if the writers didn't make Quistis (believe she had a) crush on him.
If you guys want to pretend that had anything to do with Quistis hitting on him rather than Squall's actual, told and shown on-screen multiple times, issues with fear of emotional attachment (and the hurt that comes from relying on people and losing them which he copes by trying to turn himself into an emotional mercenary machine) then sure that's your prerogative.
if quistis was the shy introverted student with a bunch of issues who is always monologuing in her head and squall was the slightly older (but not threateningly older just like one year) cool and brooding gunblade-wielding teacher who is really more like a TA who keeps taking her on field trips and explaining to her how magic works and helps her beat up monsters by being several levels higher than her and showing her how to bind monsters to her will and also he has a badass scar that he got from a honor duel with his nearly-as-hot rival that he only talks to her about on the night of the prom ball while standing at the training grounds balcony, then i am sorry to tell you this but final fantasy 8 would have made ten billion dollars by selling outside its intended demographic and every non-lesbian woman on this forum would cite it as a core memory and formative experience
if quistis was the shy introverted student with a bunch of issues who is always monologuing in her head and squall was the slightly older (but not threateningly older just like one year) cool and brooding gunblade-wielding teacher who is really more like a TA who keeps taking her on field trips and explaining to her how magic works and helps her beat up monsters by being several levels higher than her and showing her how to bind monsters to her will and also he has a badass scar that he got from a honor duel with his nearly-as-hot rival that he only talks to her about on the night of the prom ball while standing at the training grounds balcony, then i am sorry to tell you this but final fantasy 8 would have made ten billion dollars by selling outside its intended demographic and every non-lesbian woman on this forum would cite it as a core memory and formative experience
if quistis was the shy introverted student with a bunch of issues who is always monologuing in her head and squall was the slightly older (but not threateningly older just like one year) cool and brooding gunblade-wielding teacher who is really more like a TA who keeps taking her on field trips and explaining to her how magic works and helps her beat up monsters by being several levels higher than her and showing her how to bind monsters to her will and also he has a badass scar that he got from a honor duel with his nearly-as-hot rival that he only talks to her about on the night of the prom ball while standing at the training grounds balcony, then i am sorry to tell you this but final fantasy 8 would have made ten billion dollars by selling outside its intended demographic and every non-lesbian woman on this forum would cite it as a core memory and formative experience
