"What of Eurydice?"
Jun. 17th, 2013 09:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
raajThe memory of Anthy out of reach, outside of Utena's ability to help, dangling in the air as her body was pierced by countless swords, is still fresh in mind. Months have passed, and Utena keeps putting one foot forward, but her heart and mind are stretching out to cover a distant expanse.
She doesn't know where Anthy is. Still the Rose Bride? Still the sacrifice? So pierced by hate that she thinks she has to be another person's tool?
Utena is not afraid of the world, and she makes certain to stay in it, in this new school. She wants for Anthy to be able to find know this world isn't one to be afraid of because she can meet her in it.
But, in the end, Anthy had slipped away--no. She had LET Anthy slip away. Why should the other girl trust her as a prince, then? As a protector? She'd tried so hard, and yet not been quite enough.
Her mind turns in circles until it has done a full rotation, pointing back to where it came from, and Utena finds herself staring down a transfer form to request acceptance to Ohtori Academy.
Going back means more duels, if the revolution is still being sought after. It means more pain, if Anthy continue to be the Rose Bride. --But of course it means more pain, because Anthy suffers every moment she is the Rose Bride.
Utena sits down with the transfer form and steadily, aching, fills it out, every moment remembering the pain of those million swords. Her penmanship is as smooth as her finest swordstroke. Her teachers likely would have been surprised to see it.
She wonders if Akio will kill her, should she go back, but maybe he'll try to seduce her first. More likely, her request will be denied outright and she'll have to live with the regret of having failed Anthy.
What Utena wasn't expecting was for the secretary's desk to suddenly be vacated, the chair swinging just slightly. How could that be? She'd never heard the secretary leave.
"Utena."
Her head snaps up in shock--and she almost turns around, but then reminds herself she shouldn't be so surprised. Of course Anthy might be here. This office itself was connected to Ohtori Academy. But to be discovered like this, for Anthy to be here like this...Utena could not be sure what to expect. Was Anthy here under Akio's direction? She had to be. Why would she be here otherwise? Then whatever she said, Utena could not take it to heart. For both their sakes. This is the beginning of another round.
She keeps her head pointed away, trying to find her composure. "Long time no see, Himemiya. Have you been all right?"
"Mm. But you don't seem so well, Utena."
"Really? I'm just put out that that secretary's disappeared to who-knows-where..."
"Perhaps she had somewhere to be."
Utena knew enough now to consider the possibility of Anthy giving the woman somewhere to be.
"Have you heard the legend of Eurydice?"
"Eurydice?" Leave it to Anthy to ask a strange question. Eurydice is a strange name, too. "I can't say I have..."
"I suppose her husband is the better known one. A gentle player of the lyre, Orpheus," and this foreign name Utena does vaguely recognize as it comes curled from Anthy's lips. "The poor man ventured down into the underworld to retrieve her. His touch on the string, keen with grief, was such that he lulled the hound of Hades to sleep, and the god himself was moved by the song. He agreed to Orpheus' request to let his wife return to the realm of the living, on one condition. She would follow behind him, and he must never look back at her, until they were both fully within the lands of the living again.
"Of course, the story is a tragedy."
Her fingers twitch, or her hands loosen; she's not sure exactly how she moved, but the form has fallen through her hands to the floor. Utena doesn't move, doesn't bend to pick them up. She can't. Doing so might chance a look back at Anthy, only to see nothing but a shed skin of fabric left behind by its vanished owner. Except--that's too simple. It can't be her task is as simple as not looking at Anthy, whose words have reassured her so far that she is here.
...Here, in the transfer offices. Utena's heart grows cold at the thought. Perhaps this has been a test all along, and she has already failed, looking back to the school with doubt that Anthy had emerged from her coffin.
"Anthy...don't tell me..."
"Utena." A hand snakes onto her arm, and Utena startles in surprise, but still she forces herself to not turn around; some part of her still grasps to the hope that she can salvage a chance by not looking back physically. "This tale is always told from Orpheus' point of view. But what of his wife? What of Eurydice?"
Anthy's arm turns to catch Utena under the shoulder, pinning her ever so lightly into place. She has to fight not to tense, not to turn around. She doesn't mean to let her throat tighten either, but it happens too quickly for her to stop. It feels like a trap she doesn't want to escape.
"What of Eurydice?" Anthy asks again, her tone smooth and deep.
"She was let down," Utena answers. "He didn't save her. She followed him all that way... I'm sure she had many hopes. But he couldn't be her prince. Wouldn't she hate him for it?" Do you hate me, that I couldn't be yours?
It sounds like dread confirmation when Anthy leans into her shoulder with a small chuckle, and for a split-second Utena expects a blade in her side to drive the point of failure home one last time.
Then there is wetness on her back, and Utena arches in surprise. "Himemiya?" It's a whisper with so little breath behind it. In an instant she whirls around, forgetting the thought of a test, the fear of a blade, only believing that her friend is hurt. She catches herself just as she goes to hug the other girl-- but then she does anyway. If looking back was the test, she's failed. She's failed so many times over. How could she look away from Anthy?
At least for this instant, her friend feels real and substantial. Here with her, and not just the empty cloth of a dress. There is the warmth of skin to feel, the weight of long, thick hair.
"Utena, you would comfort me even now?" Anthy murmurs. "I have been Eurydice. I have waited, waited, waited in my coffin, never truly believing I would be rescued. And I drew you deeper and deeper into an underworld of magic and deceit. But still, even when you knew all the dangers, you came in deeper still to save me. All I had to do to be free was follow you. But I didn't give you the smallest sign that I was behind you, following. So for me, you looked back into a nightmare once more." She lifts her head up, and her face is one that stuns Utena, as it's so unlike the mild girl who tended the roses: there are tears in her eyes, yet a small smile that is at the same time twisted up, thorned against any retorts that might come her way. She's not wearing her glasses. "I think, Miss Utena, if Eurydice hated anyone, it was herself. For putting someone she loved through a nightmare, and for not making the slightest move to reassure them that the efforts they'd gone through weren't in vain."
"But-- you said it was a tragedy," Utena says. She feels like she's teetering, not knowing how to take Anthy's words. Well, that's one thing that hasn't changed, then. "I-- Orpheus..."
"Utena," Anthy interrupts, and reaches up a hand to her cheek. Belatedly, Utena realizes she's been crying herself. "Did you think you were Orpheus? You bargained with no one."
***
I didn't know how to handle the Utena-sama (or san) / Utena / Miss Utena myself. Miss Utena felt too stiff to do every single time, Utena too casual, honorifics were kind of ech for both mixing languages and because I'm not even 100% sure what would be most appropriate for Anthy, I think I blanked if she used something different at the end.
Then there's the setup in general. To be honest most of this comes from the talk of coffins and me having had Orpheus' legend more on the brain for months and months now thanks to an interesting game called "Don't look back" (which I haven't actually beaten--attempted, but not beaten--but watched a youtube playthrough of). And then the fact that Orpheus legend really IS always looked at from the view of Orpheus, so it seemed kind of fun to flip it around: how did Eurydice feel about what happened?
Plus it seemed weird that it took months and months for Anthy to actually leave. Utena definitely sparked something in her, but maybe it took a while to actually manifest as resolve. ...Which, I can see as if Utena does remember the school and all, that being well enough time for her to become truly convinced she had completely failed Anthy given the tone of her comments after Anthy slipped away and the way she pretty much had a heroic bsod after losing the duel to Touga. So. ...That's how the fic got writ.
She doesn't know where Anthy is. Still the Rose Bride? Still the sacrifice? So pierced by hate that she thinks she has to be another person's tool?
Utena is not afraid of the world, and she makes certain to stay in it, in this new school. She wants for Anthy to be able to find know this world isn't one to be afraid of because she can meet her in it.
But, in the end, Anthy had slipped away--no. She had LET Anthy slip away. Why should the other girl trust her as a prince, then? As a protector? She'd tried so hard, and yet not been quite enough.
Her mind turns in circles until it has done a full rotation, pointing back to where it came from, and Utena finds herself staring down a transfer form to request acceptance to Ohtori Academy.
Going back means more duels, if the revolution is still being sought after. It means more pain, if Anthy continue to be the Rose Bride. --But of course it means more pain, because Anthy suffers every moment she is the Rose Bride.
Utena sits down with the transfer form and steadily, aching, fills it out, every moment remembering the pain of those million swords. Her penmanship is as smooth as her finest swordstroke. Her teachers likely would have been surprised to see it.
She wonders if Akio will kill her, should she go back, but maybe he'll try to seduce her first. More likely, her request will be denied outright and she'll have to live with the regret of having failed Anthy.
What Utena wasn't expecting was for the secretary's desk to suddenly be vacated, the chair swinging just slightly. How could that be? She'd never heard the secretary leave.
"Utena."
Her head snaps up in shock--and she almost turns around, but then reminds herself she shouldn't be so surprised. Of course Anthy might be here. This office itself was connected to Ohtori Academy. But to be discovered like this, for Anthy to be here like this...Utena could not be sure what to expect. Was Anthy here under Akio's direction? She had to be. Why would she be here otherwise? Then whatever she said, Utena could not take it to heart. For both their sakes. This is the beginning of another round.
She keeps her head pointed away, trying to find her composure. "Long time no see, Himemiya. Have you been all right?"
"Mm. But you don't seem so well, Utena."
"Really? I'm just put out that that secretary's disappeared to who-knows-where..."
"Perhaps she had somewhere to be."
Utena knew enough now to consider the possibility of Anthy giving the woman somewhere to be.
"Have you heard the legend of Eurydice?"
"Eurydice?" Leave it to Anthy to ask a strange question. Eurydice is a strange name, too. "I can't say I have..."
"I suppose her husband is the better known one. A gentle player of the lyre, Orpheus," and this foreign name Utena does vaguely recognize as it comes curled from Anthy's lips. "The poor man ventured down into the underworld to retrieve her. His touch on the string, keen with grief, was such that he lulled the hound of Hades to sleep, and the god himself was moved by the song. He agreed to Orpheus' request to let his wife return to the realm of the living, on one condition. She would follow behind him, and he must never look back at her, until they were both fully within the lands of the living again.
"Of course, the story is a tragedy."
Her fingers twitch, or her hands loosen; she's not sure exactly how she moved, but the form has fallen through her hands to the floor. Utena doesn't move, doesn't bend to pick them up. She can't. Doing so might chance a look back at Anthy, only to see nothing but a shed skin of fabric left behind by its vanished owner. Except--that's too simple. It can't be her task is as simple as not looking at Anthy, whose words have reassured her so far that she is here.
...Here, in the transfer offices. Utena's heart grows cold at the thought. Perhaps this has been a test all along, and she has already failed, looking back to the school with doubt that Anthy had emerged from her coffin.
"Anthy...don't tell me..."
"Utena." A hand snakes onto her arm, and Utena startles in surprise, but still she forces herself to not turn around; some part of her still grasps to the hope that she can salvage a chance by not looking back physically. "This tale is always told from Orpheus' point of view. But what of his wife? What of Eurydice?"
Anthy's arm turns to catch Utena under the shoulder, pinning her ever so lightly into place. She has to fight not to tense, not to turn around. She doesn't mean to let her throat tighten either, but it happens too quickly for her to stop. It feels like a trap she doesn't want to escape.
"What of Eurydice?" Anthy asks again, her tone smooth and deep.
"She was let down," Utena answers. "He didn't save her. She followed him all that way... I'm sure she had many hopes. But he couldn't be her prince. Wouldn't she hate him for it?" Do you hate me, that I couldn't be yours?
It sounds like dread confirmation when Anthy leans into her shoulder with a small chuckle, and for a split-second Utena expects a blade in her side to drive the point of failure home one last time.
Then there is wetness on her back, and Utena arches in surprise. "Himemiya?" It's a whisper with so little breath behind it. In an instant she whirls around, forgetting the thought of a test, the fear of a blade, only believing that her friend is hurt. She catches herself just as she goes to hug the other girl-- but then she does anyway. If looking back was the test, she's failed. She's failed so many times over. How could she look away from Anthy?
At least for this instant, her friend feels real and substantial. Here with her, and not just the empty cloth of a dress. There is the warmth of skin to feel, the weight of long, thick hair.
"Utena, you would comfort me even now?" Anthy murmurs. "I have been Eurydice. I have waited, waited, waited in my coffin, never truly believing I would be rescued. And I drew you deeper and deeper into an underworld of magic and deceit. But still, even when you knew all the dangers, you came in deeper still to save me. All I had to do to be free was follow you. But I didn't give you the smallest sign that I was behind you, following. So for me, you looked back into a nightmare once more." She lifts her head up, and her face is one that stuns Utena, as it's so unlike the mild girl who tended the roses: there are tears in her eyes, yet a small smile that is at the same time twisted up, thorned against any retorts that might come her way. She's not wearing her glasses. "I think, Miss Utena, if Eurydice hated anyone, it was herself. For putting someone she loved through a nightmare, and for not making the slightest move to reassure them that the efforts they'd gone through weren't in vain."
"But-- you said it was a tragedy," Utena says. She feels like she's teetering, not knowing how to take Anthy's words. Well, that's one thing that hasn't changed, then. "I-- Orpheus..."
"Utena," Anthy interrupts, and reaches up a hand to her cheek. Belatedly, Utena realizes she's been crying herself. "Did you think you were Orpheus? You bargained with no one."
***
I didn't know how to handle the Utena-sama (or san) / Utena / Miss Utena myself. Miss Utena felt too stiff to do every single time, Utena too casual, honorifics were kind of ech for both mixing languages and because I'm not even 100% sure what would be most appropriate for Anthy, I think I blanked if she used something different at the end.
Then there's the setup in general. To be honest most of this comes from the talk of coffins and me having had Orpheus' legend more on the brain for months and months now thanks to an interesting game called "Don't look back" (which I haven't actually beaten--attempted, but not beaten--but watched a youtube playthrough of). And then the fact that Orpheus legend really IS always looked at from the view of Orpheus, so it seemed kind of fun to flip it around: how did Eurydice feel about what happened?
Plus it seemed weird that it took months and months for Anthy to actually leave. Utena definitely sparked something in her, but maybe it took a while to actually manifest as resolve. ...Which, I can see as if Utena does remember the school and all, that being well enough time for her to become truly convinced she had completely failed Anthy given the tone of her comments after Anthy slipped away and the way she pretty much had a heroic bsod after losing the duel to Touga. So. ...That's how the fic got writ.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-07-29 10:56 pm (UTC)I thiiink there was one that was closer (and feminine as well) but in the face of my imagination possibly outright inventing Lovecraftian horrors that don't actually exist, yeah, any of the shape-shifters would be right for that aspect.
Cloud wants to be co-host on the Home Improvement/mechanic show... well, no, really he just wants to play with some of Cid's projects once the cameras are done rolling (and Cid probably curses him out that if he wants to mess with machines he'll get his ass in front of the camera. And SMILE, DAMMIT! ...this sounds like a weird show in itself) and oh, er, yeah, Yuffie's run does seem like it'd be a brief run before hitting pesky legalities headfirst.
But hey, Tifa would own the food network with a cooking/wine show.
(...Imagining a scenario where Reeve goes slightly insane with 'Inspire' and creates a whole Sesame Street-style cast on his own and then toddles off to sleep for three days straight while everyone just. stares. And the puppets are getting to work on their own and no one is really quite sure if this is better or worse than the initial Loveless takeover, Reeve this isn't quite natural WHAT HAVE YOU DONE)
(no subject)
Date: 2013-07-29 11:24 pm (UTC)(There could easily be a more feminine match for Jenova in the expanded Mythos; Lovecraft was not great on female characters or female Elder Gods. But then even if there's not, Jenova feels like she would fit in the pantheon without any problems (the fic 'The Guardian Amulet 2' despite being a comedy crossover does at least use the idea of the malevolent shape-shifting force from beyond the stars in each game having a common ancestory - and while this gets a bit weird due to the comedy, it has a kind of right feel)), and the Mythos is built up on new additions, so a made up one/using Jenova is actually just as valid as any published creature.
...got side-tracked.
Really laughing at Cloud helping Cid like that - and now I have visions of him filming his own segments while on delivery of testing something in the wasteland from a static camera angle. And everyday Cid tells him he has to smile more. And not keep triggering the Chocobo lure as that running gag was fun at first, but this is a tech show not the animal lovers show (/Cloud puts in a request for a caring for your chocobo show).
Heh - I was wondering if Tifa doing cookery was too obvious, but yeah, she would own that/filmed on location in the Seventh Heaven.
REALLY like the Reeve idea though with the Sesame Street style cast (need all the cute plushies we can find. Even Moogle girl's), and in between filming the animated puppets start helping with WRO work and yeah - everyone is worried about if this is better or worse then Loveless... What has he done!?
(Oh, and the Turks run a late-night poker channel - Reno under strict instructions he's only allowed to assist with factual things - no more fictional forays).
Weird idea now of Yuffie's second show being a warped agony aunt in a role she hates, which also gets rapidly cancelled.
And! Naturally, Aeris cannot resist getting involved, but isn't going to be obvious - so there is a rumour about setting your TV to a certain channel (maybe 777 or 555) at a certain time of day, you can hear someone humming happily, and sort of make out a flower garden...
(that or the two of them like to show up briefly in the background of other shows for blink and miss it - "Nah, can't have been" moments)
(no subject)
Date: 2013-07-30 02:06 am (UTC)Haha Cloud just can't help the chocobo lure, sorry Cid (at which point he is banned from wearing it...and I'm now picturing the Chocobo Sage hosting the chocobo care show which makes it somewhat surreal to watch as he'll forget what he was saying/change tracks mid-sentence. Eventually the crew learns to focus more on the chocobos he breeds than what he's saying--and maybe get Cole from the Chocobo farm involved to parse his advice)
Tifa doing cookery IS sort of obvious, but then so is Cid and machinery. She could probably do something teaching martial arts too but it is sort of the oddity of compilation that she's never seemed to show any inclination toward that. (A less obvious but still plausible possibility, I think, would be some sort of "wonders of the world" show-- remembering the sights of AVALANCHE's travels she enjoyed, reprising her first job as a guide, and maybe a bit of a homage to a dear friend who loved nature herself. Buuuut I imagine this would be more a mini-series sort of deal than a regular show, as she wouldn't want filming to take her away from Seventh Heaven all the time. Part of why a cooking show works so well, really.
Then again with compilation travel times, there's really nothing to worry about)Haha, I have to admit I was really taken with the Reeve's Sesame Street once I thought of it too--it's got that toy cuteness of Cait Sith, the public service Reeve would want to provide via educational entertainment for young children... and that niggling worrying aspect of just how do Reeve's animatronic minions work. Easy to see them helping out with WRO work too, because being overtaxed by work is probably why Reeve went slightly manic in the first place! (And his human staff, while cautiously appreciating the stuffed help, take care to make sure more of his work gets delegated so it doesn't happen again...)
lmfao the poker channel would eventually run into a scandal because everyone thinks Reno's cheating (...even funnier if he actually isn't)
Zack and Aerith getting involved make me think of weird moments during Cloud's show where he seems to be getting annoyed but none of the crew can tell why so they try to give him more space... and then he just finally snaps out "Zack, stop that!" and they all think he's crazy until they're reviewing footage for the show. The camera caught Zack and Aerith doing little things the whole time.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-07-30 08:05 pm (UTC)Haha - yeah, Cid's banning the lure if Cloud wants to continue to help out on his show. And the Chocobo Sage sounds a great idea for the chocobo care show - and so surreal (at some point whoever's in charge (thinking Nanaki as of right now) turns to his assistant and asks who okayed him to present something and air it. And the assistant is bewildered and thought that Nanaki had). Hehe - yeah I think they'd draft in Cole to make more sense of what he's on about/give the show some semblance of struture.
Ah - very true, Tifa is as obvious as Cid with machinery. You're right that the martial arts teaching feels it should be an option, but doesn't quite seem to fit with her character post-game. I kind of like the idea of her doing a travelogue though/linking that back into her past as a guide - and definitely the homage to a dear friend. But yeah, very much in short bursts so she doesn't want to be away from the Seventh Heaven for too long. Heh; yeah the Compilation travel times kinda negate the issue).
For some reason in my head the other cast of Reeve's Sesame Street cast (...I want to say something *other* then Loveless Avenue, but damned if I can remember any other street names. Assuming I haven't just made that one up) is largely based on Lulu's weapons from FFX. Definitely liking the high-minded aims of Reeve there too; educational entertainment with cute mascots - and likely only Avalanche/the WRO remain nigglingly curious about how Reeve is capable of producing the mascots, and so fast... and with the ability to help around the office. And yeah the other staff while grateful for the help are going to ensure that doesn't happen again...
Hehe - yeah, Reno isn't cheating on the poker show, but people just assume...
Haha! Oh I really like that suggestion for the moments where Cloud looks annoyed but no one can figure out why/thinks he's crazy until they revisit the footage and see the two spirits messing around...
(no subject)
Date: 2013-08-01 07:52 pm (UTC)HAHA I wanted to say Loveless Avenue myself before remembering they're trying to get rid of that; I think it's a common fanon street name if not actual canon (and want to say it's come up in Sinnatious fic). --Ah, wikia to the rescue; it's a location name in at least Crisis Core, so canon. That said I can see since they're trying to get rid of that they desperately go for any other name (...now picturing the puppets, being fairly simple in logic and knowing
their puppet lord and masterReeve has had enough of Loveless, just go for the exact opposite in meaning: Welcome to "Love Street"! AVALANCHE, on the side watching the set's construction, gets to hear Cloud remark "it sounds like a place you'd find in Wall Market". Cue looks at his entirely straight face, like he doesn't even realize how inappropriate his remark was to make about a children's show, and then cue the first pow-wow with the puppets because he's right, it does sound weird).(no subject)
Date: 2013-08-01 08:21 pm (UTC)Haha! Good point, calling it Loveless Avanue after the current mess is just asking for trouble (and I am going to be dubious about that even as a canon name; it would seem to suggest either that Loveless was somehow inspired by the location, or that the play has been around so long and is so popular that the street was named for it. Either way, that feels iffy).
(actually there was a neat Midgar subway map someone produced a while back - with a few annoying caveats like the train lines connecting to the lower plate at the edges of the upper-plate seemed completely opposed to in-game depiction - but otherwise had a whole host of station names. Though after a while those turned into FFVIII onward references)
Really like the puppet's simplistic inversion of the title, and Cloud's deadpan/oblivious remark, and then the new hastier discussion of how to retitle the show (dammit, FFVII if only you have at least *one* other street name. Aside from Wall Market) as he's right...
(no subject)
Date: 2013-08-04 05:10 pm (UTC)Oh! I think the map came up before, when we were talking about the number of train stations in Midgar. The VIII onward references sound cute XD (and hey, gotta get names from somewhere)
...I got really excited for a moment, thinking "there's street signs in Costa Del Sol!"...but now that I look at the one picture on FF wikia, I can only make one of the four directions out, and it seems to just be "world" (pointing out toward where you'd get to the world map)...er... XD
(no subject)
Date: 2013-08-04 06:19 pm (UTC)Ah! Yeah I probably did mention the map before. And somewhat foolishly I don't think I saved a copy of it anywhere. And true - the names will have to be sourced somewhere (and I was borrowing from FFVIII for the Wutai soap opera anyway...)
Ack! That's annoying for Costa del Sol - though a neat possible source. There is a possibility though, since some of the background art was done by a famous studio (who's name unhelpfully escapes me) a load of it was printed in an artbook... Unfortunately depends very much if they did that location or not.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-08-04 06:23 pm (UTC)I'll have to load FFVII again sometime (I've been messing with bits of XIII when in the mood for the combat system) and see if the sign's clearer in-game.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-08-04 06:25 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2013-08-04 06:44 pm (UTC)Ah - I'll also check if the modded PC version is any clearer too (unlikely as the forced upscale looks a bit smudgey in places which is unfortunaely inevitable). How far through XIII have you gotten again out of interest?
(no subject)
Date: 2013-08-04 07:04 pm (UTC)XIII--after establishing a separate save at the beginning of chapter three because the first two chapters absolutely drive me NUTS to play through (both for boring game mechanics, and I realized I just cannot tolerate NORA, even Lebreau's attitude isn't that great because they're all on that "YEAH WE'RE SO AWESOME HAHAHA SCREW PLANS ONLY SNOW WILL STOP AND FEEL BAD AFTER A BUNCH OF PEOPLE DIE" kick), but anyway after establishing a separate save for that I'm back up to chapter 6 with Sazh and Vanille in the Sunleth Waterscape. And I think I've said contrary so I should note that Sazh actually does say he put himself on the Purge train. There's still no note about how he had to slip away from military trackers himself to do that, and his attitude in chapters 1&2 still seem pretty inconsistent with his whole goal being to destroy the Pulse fal'Cie, but he does say that.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-08-04 07:05 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2013-08-04 07:42 pm (UTC)Haha - yeah poking fun at Genesis is far too enjoyable.
Ah, that does make sense as a good start point for XIII once you're past most of the tutorials/actually have paradigms available (I never got that far, but it was so tedious to replay the start and for no one to have any kind of ability other then attack/area of effect attack at that stage). Ack; yeah fair about about NORA as well, and yeah Lebreau's on that mindset as well...
Ah, interesting about what Sazh does reveal why he got on the Purge train in chapter 6, but then its still a bit iffy given how easily it was to forget he said that - and as you said, he's still completely inconsistent with his behaviours in the first two chapters. And it does sound like there was more missing of his backstory then should really have been allowed - whether they knew they were doing the novella or not.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-08-06 05:12 pm (UTC)(It didn't help in the flashback with Snow and Serah, which is a doozy, that there's an inconsistent bit where, while Snow is looking for Serah, the beach has a fair number of visitors; once he finds her to talk to, though, it's...empty??)
(no subject)
Date: 2013-08-06 09:50 pm (UTC)I do find myself liking XIII's actual story more then my first encounter with the game, its just its not very well told or structured. And the lock-down on the party/abilities really shouldn't have been so enforced (the oddest bit will always be that the game would mandate both party make-up (which the FFs have done for a while so that's fine. It's when it was dictating party leader for seemingly no real good reason when there were only two members).
Haha! Yeah I remember that bit with Snow on the beach. That seemed badly programmed/someone really wasn't paying attention. Actually I'm always curious as to why that wasn't entirely cut-scene as there was very little to do other then talk to Lebreau and then Serah.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-08-08 02:56 pm (UTC)>_>
seriously I barely use Eidolons, just give me Quake for when I pre-empt enemies and I'm happy.
I think that scene isn't cutscene because while the only necessary thing to do is talk to Lebreau and then Serah, you can go and talk to Gadot, Maqui and Yuj and get a bit more insight into how NORA was on more ordinary days; for example talking to Maqui shows he's sort of the mechanic of the group and gives him an actual use, because it wasn't very apparent at all during the Purge why he was there (this is actually a good thing where it was in the datalog but they didn't just use it as a crutch and do tell-with-no-show); Gadot shows that he knows Snow's moods pretty well, Yuj... .....Yuj talks fashion. So it's kind of nice that they do that and I think that's why at the same time they had other people on the beach; it'd look pretty dumb of Serah to "run away from Snow" and go directly to NORA's hangout, but with other people it's less 'their place' and just a public area and she could have thought she'd be left alone to not make a scene. Granted, she's dating Snow who doesn't give the impression he'd care about a scene if he was desperate, but.... anyway then the cutscene is dumb because they have to either be inconsistent with the brief gameplay segment or have them talking about stuff people would panic over in a very public place. :/ I DON'T GET IT. It would have made more sense if Snow had found Serah there but had to coax her into talking to him and when she finally relents, she insists on somewhere private.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-08-08 06:56 pm (UTC)Ah! I think I completely missed that you can talk to the rest of NORA like that. That's quite cool that there is more you can find out about them like that, and yeah it does make sense for Serah to run away to a public place where she can avoid a scene. Though... yeah, Snow isn't the type to be concerned or worry about anyone else's opinion if he does cause a scene in public... But yeah, it does feel like a really odd place for that reveal/your idea of insisting on going somewhere private makes a lot more sense (...there is a running theme with jettys/piers in XIII thinking about it; there's Serah's reveal to Snow about the brand in that cut-scene, the replica one is where Snow leaves Serah to search for Lightning in XIII-2, the dream version is where Serah is offered the paradox ending of her perfect world without Noel, I *think* its where the portal out of New Bodhum 700AF is. Not sure where I'm going with that, but there are a lot of emotional impact scenes set on or around that similar structure)