Ragnarok
-They’re safe inside the ship.
-lol poor awkward squall
RINOA: “Give me a hug.”
SQUALL: “(…?)”
Squall wants to skip all this. I know that’s not the direction they’re going, but I wouldn’t mind ace Squall. Like, at all. He forgoes the hug.
-Rinoa can’t believe she made it. The fact that she’s alive is a miracle.
-A roar erups. Wtf kind of eldritch abomination is THAT? Shout out here to my friend, Erin Lynn Jeffreys Hodges, ELJH!
-HOLY SHIT I WENT BACK TO THE OTHER ROOM TO SAVE BEFORE MOVING FORWARD AND ANOTHER OF THESE SHOGGOTH THINGS WAS THERE AND SCARED THE CRAP OUTTA ME
-It’s a “Propagator.” It nearly obliterates me with heavy hits and status effects, but Squall barely survives with a last minute Renzokuken.
-This is one of those moments where level scaling hurts. Squall is 68, Rinoa is 29.
-Playful music here.
-Wtf happened? All my junctions are messed up now. …lol whoops, nah, just switched with the wrong characters. Squall was junction-less.
-The monsters are Propagators. Very Lovecraftian.
I’m currently listening to a podcast on “The Mountains of M******” and these feel like they jumped straight out of that story.
-Wandered around the ship and took them all out.
-A report found on the ship says that they’re all one entity but must be killed “systematically.” Huh. There are eight of them. (Reminding me of the 8 legendary dragons from FFVI.) We have to kill the pairs with the same colors.
-Got em all! We arrive at the cockpit.
---
Ragnarok - Cockpit
-The Esthar airstation radios us to Rinoa’s delight.
-Interesting! The Ragnarok has been lost for 17 years.
-Esthar ground control guides Squall through the landing.
-Some pretty music kicks in. With vocals! Some real cognitive dissonance for me since it’s so STRANGE to get vocals in Final Fantasy. While not a huge fan of the song, it’s a cool change of pace.
-They’re in low grav now. Swinging around and dancing.
-I like Rinoa a lot, but tbh the romance here is a bit uncomfortable. It’s incredibly one-sided. She keeps pushing herself on Squall and he seems uncomfortable and she continues to do so.
I don’t really know how to navigate this, how to feel about this. Like, I’m sure they’re setting it up as him being interested in her but shy or awkward about it, but he’s said “no thanks” enough times that the music and charm here makes me… I dunno, hesitant?
He gives off some signals that he likes her, but his verbal and body-language “no” is clear enough that again, I’m hesitant.
Even if he’s interested but reluctant, it’s uncomfortable to see anyone clearly disengaging (regardless of what they may internally think or want) get those signs overridden. I may well be over-thinking what are simply awkward first steps in a mutually-desired relationship. What do y’all think?
-Though the more this conversation goes on, the more I’m okay with it. I won’t delete the above paragraph because those concerns are still present, but Squall is more engaged and affirming now.
-He mentions that he just is unused to being touched or held. Doesn’t remember his parents, but remembers Ellone.
SQUALL: “Ellone was there to hold my hand.”
RINOA: “Made you feel safe and secure?”
SQUALL: “Sure. But she left. Just disappeared. I’m afraid… Afraid of having that feeling of comfort taken away.”
RINOA: “You were afraid of losing us. Is that why you kept your distance?... Squall, you’ve missed out on all the good things in life. You’ve missed out on so much.”
This whole conversation is just fascinating. It’s nuanced and complex and hypnotic.
-Rinoa liked being held by her mom, and by her dad before they grew apart.
-hahahahahah she tells Squall that he gives her the most happiness and comfort, “and annoyance and disappointment too!”
-She worries what things will be like when they’re back on earth. He brushes it off.
-She’s worried also that people will be angry at her. Who? The Forest Owls, for abandoning them? I doubt it.
-Esthar Ground Control checks in. No word from the Lunar Base of course, and they’re collecting the escape pods.
-HFDJLSFHDLS????????????????
?????????????????????????????????????????
HJFKLA_?????????
Rinoa’s is a sorceress? She’s “become” a sorceress? What in the sweet fuck is happening? I don’t understand. It can’t just be a side-effect of possession. If so, how does Esthar on the ground know that Rinoa is a sorceress by name?
-Esthar wants to arrest her. She’s freaking out. For the first time probably in the game, Squall approaches her.
Hugs her. Comforts her.
-Slow fade to black.
---
Black
-A deep (but not demonic like before) voice starts in on the “fithos” stuff.
-Not sure whose perspective we’re getting, but someone is talking about being at a crossroads, and having “fallen for you.” Probably Squall.
---
Esthar?
-They disembark.
RANDOM ESTHAR DUDE: “Sorceress Rinoa. Hyne’s descendant.”
-They want to “seal her power.” Hopefully this is just what Edea wanted, and not, like, imprisoning her forever. Hopefully painless. Rinoa’s up for it.
-Rinoa confessed that it was Ultimecia inside her (which Squall already knew), and that her goal is time compression.
-Huh. In a time compressed world, only Ultimecia would survive. That sounds like a boring existence. I assumed she’d rule over EVERYONE living together, not nobody. Rinoa doesn’t want to be used again by Ultimecia, and submits to Esthar.
-They start to depart without Squall for the Sorceress Memorial. He runs to stop her temporarily. She tries giving him the ring back, and he asks here to keep it. This is intensely sweet.
-She leaves.
---
Damn. Quite a session. I’m still confused on the Sorceress Rinoa thing. Did she always know she’d be a sorceress? Did Ultimecia’s presence convert her into one? If she was, why wasn’t she casting spells this whole time? Did she use her power to make Angelo the most adorable pupper in the FF series this side of Interceptor, or was that natural?
These are all rhetorical. I’m sure I’ll learn the answers in good time.
---
Next time: Squall alone.
