#new bodhum?

[historyandmyth]

the XIII-2 soundtrack is literally so catchy tho like what the hell

#i always forget how much i enjoy it #have you guys listened to paradigm shift? #worlds collide? #new bodhum? #plains of eternity? #knight of the goddess is so nostalgic #y o u t h i n k y o u c a n r i d e t h i s c h o c o b o ? #noel and yeul's themes are actually so emotional #every time i rediscover this soundtrack it's like i get a second wind

[pallisia]

What’s your favorite final fantasy track? (Also I love your work ^_^ hope you’re having a good day)

thank you! this is a hard question. there are so many final fantasies. can i just pick a favorite for each game i'm familiar with? i asked, but i'm going to do it.

ff5 - prelude to the void

ff7 - reunion

ff8 - liberi fatali

ff9 - danger in the forest

ff10 - decisive battle (extremely hard choice)

ff11 - autumn footfalls (cheating because i've only listened to this game's music out of context)

ff12 - eruyt village

ff13 - will to fight

FF13-2 GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD - new bodhum

ff14 - ...................

ff14: arr - the scars of battle

ff14: hw - rise (yes even with the cringe rap)

ff14: sb - amatsu kaze

ff14: shb - to the edge

ff14: ew - close in the distance (narrowly)

#txt

[adureus]

( 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐑 : @kazekamis / 𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐅𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐎𝐍. )

❛   Ah, apologies. Sergeant Farron.   ❜

Insolent. Fiery. There's a caustic emphasis to her newly acquired rank. News of the infamous Lightning Farron hadn't permeated every division just yet. The Sanctum —  their nucleus of operations — was the fount of all wisdom, activity, and authority. Information inconsequential to their duties was seldom circulated. Each division had been cloistered, committed to their assignments, concerned about their units and their units alone. Ignorance was to be expected — encouraged, even. Clive, however, was the defiant type. Intersection between contingents was rare ( though not unheard of ) ; peers exchanged hierarchies and intel, breathing anything beyond a birthdate or casual chatter was unusual — particularly among the grunts. Tonight, there'd been a disturbance at the cusp of Bodhum's perimeter — perchance she'd encroached unknowingly beyond her station ? Surveillance wasn't the security regimen's forte.

❛   To my knowledge, the Cavalry doesn't have a particular jurisdiction. So, my presence is expected. But yours ? Not so much.   ❜

#kazekamis #⸢ Hi pls bully him #⸢ I think he'll fit right in with the guardian corps #with the Cavalry ok ty ⸥ #— 𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐄. ╱ XIII. ❜

[akimojo]

i know the trope of dependent (or “useless” as they’re typically referred to as) female characters tends to get a lot of flak for very obvious reasons but i’ve been thinking about it lately and honestly i don’t think i mind the trope much at all, and the only problem is that it’s just.. never done right?

like ok, i can compare serah and kairi when it comes to this because i think it’s pretty clear they both fit into the trope, but the way they’re handled is very different 

in serah’s case, she starts off as being really dependent on others, lightning and snow especially, due to how she grew up relying on lightning while also being neglected of the emotional support she needed to learn to rely on herself. in xiii-2, after lightning and snow had gone missing, she doesn’t even try to find them herself or do much of anything other than just wait in new bodhum until they eventually show up again, which they don’t

it’s not until noel shows up and encourages her to take initiative, and even criticizes her complacency depending on what dialogue option you go with, that she finally realizes that she actually wants to go and that if she wants to be reunited with lightning, she needs to be the one to see it through, and that’s exactly what she does, all while developing more and more sense of agency as the game goes on

later on, when serah essentially sacrifices her life for the sake of the world and her soul manifests in the void beyond where lightning is, she acknowledges that everything she did throughout the course of her journey was all her own doing and that, despite her dying in the end, she was proud of herself for taking the initiative to finally meet with lightning again

and that’s what serah’s character arc is all about, it starts with her being dependent on others and lacking in agency, only for her to break free of her dependence and achieve her goal with her own effort, taking full responsibility for the consequences she faced

the thing about kairi is that she also has the same starting point where she is largely dependent on sora and riku, but her dependence isn’t as criticized within the writing as serah’s is, nor is there much reason for her to be that way in the first place as far as i can tell

i know i’ve talked a lot about how i really do believe kairi can receive character development and become less dependent on others and that’s because we’ve had so many moments in past games where she flat-out says she wants to do more and how she wants to become stronger and be sora’s and riku’s equals, and there have even been times where she has shown signs of taking initiative in fights, such as when she fought xehanort in melody of memory and, though she lost the fight in the end, she repeatedly got back up again and kept trying

the only problem is that nothing ever comes out of it. right when you think she’s finally going to be given more agency and have a bigger role as a character, that all gets stripped away from her at the last second. she’s still stuck at acknowledging that she needs to become independent, similar to when serah realized she had to start taking initiative, but never actually making progress on that front. it’s like her character arc keeps being delayed over and over again

again, i’ve realized i don’t personally mind the trope of having a female character be dependent on others, but it needs to be done right in order to not be a waste of character potential. i think serah is a good example of when the trope is done right, again because she grew out of her dependence, found her own agency and had a reason for being that way in the first place, whereas kairi doesn’t have much reason for her dependence and yet shows signs of developing as a character and has every opportunity to grow, but the writing continually wastes each opportunity for the sake of shelving her for seemingly no reason

#i wanted to ramble about this ajkgdfs it turned out a little longer than i thought #i guess the same could go for... pretty much any trope ever #obviously a trope is only good if its done right #but the whole trope of dependent female characters is rarely ever fully fleshed out #serah might actually be the only example of this trope that i personally think was handled the right way now that i think about it #aki stfu #final fantasy xiii-2 #kingdom hearts #kairi #serah farron

[ser4h]

001.   the seaside ,  as the sun is setting .

once , loneliness was a concept unknown. evenings would be spent with sister or with snow. both were gone now , and she was the girl left behind. each day was greeted with the same hope , she would see them again. to think other wise would be to give up, and that was something serah refused to do. faith. she had to give them that , place her trust. lightning was alive , despite every sign otherwise. something in her heart, an instinct formed from bond between sisters. she wouldn't have left serah behind , not like this. the shore had become a place of escape for her , greeting waves that rolled in like friends. it gave her comfort , a moment of peace. hours could be spent upon the sand , bright blue hues watching the horizon. it's a shared spot now she realizes , smile lights her face towards the other. ❛ are you settling in okay? ❜ new bodhum was no stranger to new faces , striving to make the place feel like home.

#aeyln #( i did something xiii-2 based ! ) #( but if it doesnt work i need to work on her bg3 verse <3 )

[houseofsannae]

3 and 4 for Make My Wish Come True?

Make My Wish Come True

3: What’s your favorite line of narration?

This is admittedly a bit of a cheap answer, but it's this:

New Bodhum -002 AF-

Reason being, it's the first two lines of the fic, and if you're familiar with the FFXIII timeline, just from it you already know that Naminé is two years too late for what she wants to do, simply from the date alone. It's a small thing, but it tickles me.

4: What’s your favorite line of dialogue?

"Not my fault Sunshine had the emotional intelligence of a sea cucumber."

This is Oerba Yun Fang talking about (her crush on) Lightning Farron. Years on and I still find it delightful

#kingdom hearts Ψ #ask prompt

[coruscantile]

Whenever I think of Destiny Islands it's like... what comes to mind is an archipelago. Environments a mix of various beach and island locations throughout Final Fantasy with a feel like La Noscea and islands like Besaid and Kilika (X) and places like Bodhum / New Bodhum (XIII) or Galdin Quay (XV).

You got the Main island where the city is and Play island where kids hang out of course. But you also have your ports and villages, modest seaside towns, the Costa de Sol area, your island where the main blitzball tournaments are held, etc.

#➥ profile. ┊ hc meta.

[jessjustplay]

Currently Playing Final Fantasy XIII - Update 1.1

October 7, 2022

I finally played more FF13 yesterday. I am currently in chapter 4, and WOW - a lot has happened!

I think I reached my first boss and all I can say is, thank God for potions! I was using Lightning as my "healer" to recover. I don't know how, but I won!

The next scene, I think, was a trip back memory lane to some place called Bodhum? I'm scared to Google things because I want to avoid spoilers (SIGH, I already saw one on my Steam program).

The fireworks scene was SOOOO CUTE!! Snow and Serah are adorable. I really like Snow. He is super cheesy but I love it.

After that, I learned about paradigm shifts and they are so cool!! They look really cool when you change between them. So much of my attention is on Lightning, it's nice that the other 2 characters are able to attack or heal on their own without me needing to tell them.

The next area is very different from the first few areas we have seen. It's all so BLUE! It's looks like snow, but I guess it's all crystal. I have no idea how they are going to get Serah out of her crystalized form, but when I saw that scene happening, all I could think was, "Man, Final Fantasy sure does love their crystals!" :)

Apparently everyone is now a l'Cie, which I'm still trying to understand what that means. The lore is rich in this game.

As the game goes on, I can't stop staring at the graphics. They are so beautiful! Everyone and everything looks so good. The humor and banter between Sazh and Snow is hilarious. They are a good way to balance Lightning's seriousness. Hope still can't form a sentence even if his life depended on it, so here's hoping he straightens up.

Vanille is very, very sweet. I am easing up on her. I wasn't a fan of her voice acting, but I am getting used to it. We met another girl, in a blue draped thing, and she also has an accent. I wonder if the FF13 developers just wanted a diverse cast. If that's the case, I can't be upset about accents! So I will learn to get used to them & appreciate the diversity. Also, whoever this lady is, she reminds of me of Freya from FF9 for some reason. (It's probably the big dragoon spear.)

Something that stumped me last night was the Shiva sisters fight. Apparently we have to prove our worthiness to the eidolons? First off, I love that they're using the FF9 term for summons. It took me 7 tries to figure out the fight, but eventually I got my new summons! The Shiva sisters look awesome! I wonder what other summons are in this game. (I wonder how they even work in battle??)

One thing I'll say, and I don't know if I said this in update 1.0, is that I love that my party heals up after each fight. It's so convenient! Also the crystal sphere thing is pretty cool. It's basically like FFX's sphere grid but different. I don't mind it, it seems easy enough to understand and it's also very pretty.

So far, I am continuing to enjoy my gameplay of this game!

#final fantasy xiii #final fantasy #currently playing

[historyandmyth]

Please get started on lightning returns lmao

[sputters and laughs] This is the funniest ask I've ever gotten, partially because I don't think you know what you're uncorking here, anon. I do try to keep negativity off this blog nowadays, but I'll oblige you this one time.

Salt beneath the cut, click at your own risk, dead dove: do not eat, etc etc.

Naturally, given how central Lightning is to this game, most of my grievances are with how she was treated and written, though I'll quickly note my other problems with the game:

The fanservice obvs. :U

The combat. Why did we do things like replace the fully functional stagger gauge with the weird audio waveform readout? Seems like a strange choice when XIII-2 had actually made noticeable improvements in terms of accessibility during combat (larger health bars, more readable text, etc).

The incredibly discordant and hard-on-the-ears soundtrack.

I don't usually harp on graphics because I don't really care about how pretty or "realistic" a game looks, but when the dev company boasts that this game is the "most complete and polished" in the Final Fantasy series (not the trilogy, the entire series), and then we get... copy-pasted trees... well, let's just say that that's objectively not the case.

The fact that all of the previous main protagonists don't play more prominent roles in this final installment of the trilogy is abysmal, and this goes twice for Sazh whose "character arc" has been recycled twice now.

The fact that we lose this wonderful world we've spent the past two games exploring and growing attached to is also abysmal! I hate stories where we lose magic at the end, separate the found family, etc etc. and LR is guilty of all of that. It's such a kick in the teeth.

Here's what I did enjoy about this game:

Masculine outfits. They all look great on her. And even better is when you run by NPCs and half the time they can't figure out her gender! (Really furthers the enby!Lightning headcanon I have for this game in particular.)

The fact that you can have Lightning take a jab at Etro during Noel's main quest lmao.

The guy in Luxerion that sings the New Bodhum theme.

You get to pal around with Fang in the Dead Dunes.

...And that's it, that's all I enjoyed.

And now, what I really hate about LR and how they wrote Lightning in general is... Lumina.

Do not get me wrong. I don't hate Lumina for superficial reasons like her personality or aesthetics. If she wasn't inherently tied to Lightning, I think I'd find her rather interesting. Her voice actor did a stellar job with her!

Instead, to me, Lumina's existence is a really hilarious admission from the writers they didn't know what to do with Lightning's character post-XIII. Lightning—who was shown in the first game to be incredibly self-aware, genre-savvy, and emotionally mature—gets reduced to a character that needs to have her "emotions" trot out in front of her as a little girl that harps on and harasses her for things like, I don't know, allegedly pushing her friends away?

Friends that never offer to help her in the first place, I might add. If they really wanted to drive home the idea that Lightning was being aloof, they had ample opportunities to do so. But instead all we ever have is Lumina telling us what Lightning's intentions supposedly are. Lazy writing at its finest!

Lumina also accuses Lightning of trying to be "as cold as the steel in [her] sword," which is a notion later tied to Lightning "locking away" her heart as a child which is just... a really funny retcon when you once again consider how emotionally mature she becomes in XIII.

We did this character arc before. And we did it to much better effect! The whole Lumina/Claire fiasco is one of the biggest walk-backs I've ever seen for a character's development, it's insane.

(I've already spoken at length about how Lightning's character is not the self-sacrificial type, either; you can search my blog for the word 'sentinel' if you want those posts.)

It's just sad, because there are ways they could've played with Lightning's character that would have made sense and been in line with the things she'd gone through up until this point. If you wanted to mess with her emotions, you could've written her as bitter, exhausted, and traumatized after her extended stint in Valhalla. This could have been a natural and compelling consequence of her time as Etro's guardian. It wouldn't have resulted in a terrible rehash of her first game's character arc either lmao.

Anyway there's a lot more I could say but I'm just gonna end it here. LR bad but could have been pretty good with a little effort, the end!

#ff critical #not my most eloquent post but it's been a long three weeks

[razieltwelve]

The Ranch (Final Rose x Pokemon)

The ranch is the pokemon ranch owned by Lightning and Fang. They built it following Lightning’s retirement from the position of World Champion, so they would have a better place to raise their family and their pokemon. It is located west of the Yun Mountains and east of Bodhum. The ranch is situated not far from an important crossroads where the roads leading both over and under the mountains, as well as through the forests, meet with the roads headed toward the coast.

The ranch’s primary purpose is to care for and raise pokemon. The objective is to offer an environment that is more structured than being truly in the wild but more open and free than being raised in a city or major settlement. Many of the pokemon at the ranch will one day leave to seek their fortune with a trainer. However, Lightning and Fang are very selective about the trainers who are allowed to take a pokemon.

Not just any trainer will do. A trainer must meet their stringent requirements and form a bond with a pokemon before they have a chance to take that pokemon with them. Even so, there is no shortage of trainers who try their luck although the overwhelming majority of trainers who succeed are those with at least a few badges or even a few leagues under their belts.

Apart from pokemon who are raised at the ranch, the ranch is also home to pokemon who have been abandoned, injured, or otherwise dealt a bad hand. Some of these pokemon will eventually resume their journeys with new trainers. However, some will live out the rest of their lives at the ranch in peace and safety. Temperament is very important. Lightning and Fang do not force pokemon to leave, and those that wish to stay (including those raised on the ranch) are welcome to do so. Even so, most do tend to leave when they meet a suitable trainer.

Pokemon from the ranch are highly sought after not only by trainers but also by families and other people who need a well-trained pokemon who is good around other pokemon. For example, the ranch raises Growlithe and Arcanine, and many of them have found their place as treasured family members and protectors. Likewise, more than one abandoned pokemon has gotten a new lease on life after meeting a much better trainer.

Although the ranch was originally only run by Lightning and Fang, it has grown over the years to the point that they no longer are the only people there. Apart from Lightning and Fang, there are a total of around a dozen employees who live there with their families. Each of the employees has a specific role that many have been doing for years (e.g., the same person has been in charge of watching over the Growlithe for more than twenty years).

Many of their employees have gone on to either move into one of the settlements along the road or have bought properties nearby because they enjoy the life style.

The ranch also offers a sparring service where trainers can bring their pokemon and spar against the ranch’s pokemon. This can give pokemon valuable experience since the ranch’s pokemon range from eager, young pokemon with little experience under their belt but plenty of enthusiasm to the monsters like Lucario or Bahamut, to say nothing of the pokemon in between (e.g., the veteran Rhydon that Lightning and Fang took in who won a league or two back in his day but who is happy to just teach younger pokemon in his later years).

Averia, Diana, and Taren all spent their formative years on the ranch. Although none of them end up moving back permanently, the ranch is eventually passed on to Victoria and Sigrid (Diana’s oldest kid and Averia’s second kid) who manage to get the wilderness around it formally designated a pokemon preserve that the ranch is in charge of protecting and overseeing.

#final rose #pokemon #fanfiction #lightning farron #oerba yun fang

[m65p3--finalfantasyscreencaps]

Final Fantasy XIII 2

#final fantasy xiii 2 #ffxiii 2 #caius ballad #paddra nsu yeul #paddra ballad caius #new bodhum #new bodhum 5 af

[ser4h]

017. a boisterous bonfire at the (beach)side - snow

she should be celebrating. so much around them is happening. it's easy to fake a smile when needed , the laughter that comes from her lacks it's warmth. thoughts are anywhere but here. instead they rest with her sister. lightning should be here , she should be right along with them. new bodhum was home , the place they always imagined. serah was convinced she'd love it here , finally a place she could find peace after everything. her entire life had been spent looking after serah. his voice , her name. it snaps her to the present , where she offers that same smile that doesn't reach all the way. ❛ sorry! i just was daydreaming again. ❜ the girl with her head in the clouds , she's always played that role well. the last thing she wanted was to cause snow any concern. he was her hero , the man who had done everything so that she could be right here. all those stories , she had been read to at night , like he had come straight from them. ❛ what were you saying again? ❜

#blighteds #( i love them so much sdfdsfds ) #( im feral )

[robvalentines]

“Noel is staring at Cocoon like he's seeing it for the first time.”

#final fantasy #final fantasy xiii 2 #ffgraphics #ffgifs #noel kreiss #mog #ffxiii #ffxiii 2 #new bodhum #FANILLE IN THE CRYSTAL PROTECTING US I LOVE THEM

[ffxiiicrystarium]

#mygrapix #ff xiii #ff xiii-2 #lr #final fantasy XIII #final fantasy XIII-2 #lightning returns #noel #noel kreiss #serah #serah farron #mog #moogle #new bodhum #ff graphics

[edenslostwallflower]

Does Leanna only love cats? No, she also loves Chocobos. And for some reason they really seem to like using her as a head rest. If things ever calm down, she’d like to have a house with a big yard to own a couple, and maybe some sheep too. 

#;; android; ffvii verse #ffvii chatter #in ffxiii she ends up doing just that in new bodhum #she has a little farm with all the chocobo and sheep from Nautilus

[notsogreatgamer]

The dialogue between NORA and Snow after Serah breaks up with Snow and Snow runs after her makes me believe that they were attached at the hip from the moment they met. Nearly every single one asks where Serah is when they see Snow alone.

Lebreau even teases him about it and promises to make them a celebration dinner whenever they get back together. She sees it as inevitable.

Which kind of makes me wonder why they are so okay with going off and doing their own thing for two years if their relationship has been established as the "always together" kind.

Throughout the first game, it is Snow that has the most belief in Serah and in their reunion. It is what he is fighting for.

So, why does he leave her behind in New Bodhum while he searches for Lightning? Why wouldn't she have gone with him-especially since the Serah we know is so headstrong and stubborn?

It certainly isn't because Snow has learned to let Serah go. We see that in Lightning Returns that he still holds her as close to his heart as he did in FFXIII.

#final fantasy xiii #serah farron #snow villiers #snerah