FFIX – Part 33: A Place to Call Home

Summary: The village of the black mages. Longing for home. This section. THIS SECTION THOUGH.

Dead Forest

-We arrive at the lost woods type place from before and see the black mage running in.

-The sign no longer says “dead end.” It says owls are to the left, no owls to the right. (Hee! Maybe the Forest Owls live to the left.) The dwarves said that the mages are where no owls lives, so right we go.

-But the right path took us back to the entrance. Maybe the sign is lying. After all, there are owls standing above the right path. Let’s try left.

-Nope. Left is a looping path too.

-Oh, I see. Each time we go down one of the paths, one of the owls on the signs flies away. Scared away the last owl.

-AWESOME! There was vast dead forest in front of us. But it’s an illusion. The black mage opened what looked like a portal or pulled back the curtain and revealed fresh green trees, entering.

We follow.

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Black Mage Village

-HELL YES.

-The mages are terrified of humans! What the hell did Kuja do to this group?

-The music kicks ass six ways from Sunday.

-lol, everyone went their own ways.

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Life on the Run

-All the mages are terrified, locking themselves in their homes basically.

-Vivi runs looking for someone, ANYONE, to talk to. This is especially poignant since I learned that he basically grew up with a Qu.

-Dagger runs after Vivi, confused by the whole thing.

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Zidane in the Village

-He enters a shop. The black mage is named “Black Mage No. 239.” This makes me believe that the black mages were all created by Kuja, and that this particular village escaped and are making their own way. They are probably afraid that Kuja sent humans to recapture them.

VOY/TNG: Vs guvf vf gur pnfr, vg jbhyq erzvaq zr bs fbzr bs gur Obet nepf.

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Gourmand’s Nose

-Quina makes me sad in the same with that Vivi does. People always run from them.

-That hut has a chocobo on it. Why does it have a chocobo on it?

-Well, there they go. Quina smells something good.

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Visitor, Not Invader

-Dagger, trying to calm the locals down. They’re so scared of us.

-AH! They’re afraid ON BEHALF of Vivi, thinking that the humans used Vivi.

The black mages are like the northern water tribe with Kuja and the humans as the Fire Kingdom.

-She at least makes a little progress it seems. The mages hear her out. Maybe.

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Different Language

-Vivi finally gets to talk to them. The mages see that he’s sentient like them.

-They escaped from the Alexandrian cargo ships. Just wanting to live in peace, away from the humans. Reminding me strongly of the espers in FFVI.

-They have a bunch of cool black mage-dressed scarecrows.

-OH SHIT NM, THAT’S A CEMETARY

-Oh lord. They are so new to this world, and learned about death for the first time here, and it’s heartbreaking.

-This Black Mages learned about death from a “friend who knows everything.” Could just be a black mage who escaped earlier, but could be something more sinister.

-HFDJKLSFHDKLSFHDJKLSFDS THIS MAGE REALLY DOESN’T UNDERSTAND DEATH AT ALL.

HE WANT HIS FRIEND BACK AND I CAN’TTTTTT

-Vivi wants to know how the friend died. In a supreme act of trolling, one of the black mages starts to answer him and the screen fades to black.

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Around the Village

-Whatever it was, it freaked Vivi right the fuck out. He sprints away, past Zidane.

-The black mages say they just became aware one day. Not sure how. Like being born. Just woke up.

BLACK MAGE NO. 288: “…and there was a human body lying next to me…”

…………………………

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhh

wait

wait one sec

Is Kuja powering the black mages with harvested souls? Is this some Branka Anvil of the Void bullshipt going down? Jeeesus. I thought this was a lighthearted fairy tale romp of a game. Though I could be misreading this.

BLACK MAGE: “…his body was covered in blood.” Ok. Awesome. Seriously – I mean, it’s a traumatic way to wake up, just after you are made to commit murder, but it means that my initial “transposed human souls” theory is junked.

-This black mage continues to kill me with his musings on death.

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Life Cycle

-I think Quina needs to learn a bit about personal boundaries. They just busted into a home excited about this huge egg.

-Granted, they’re super adorable about their food excitement, and want to share it with everyone, but still.

-Chocobo egg!

-Aw! A chocobo mother dropped off the egg with them and they plan to raise the chocobo. Pretty hilarious bit of dialogue where Quina thinks they might be lying to keep the egg to themselves for eating. XD

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Around the Village

-Zidane catches up with Vivi in the inn. An inn where the mages are still too freaked by our presence to serve humans.

-Whatever Vivi heard, it was horrifying to him and he doesn’t want to share it. Even with Zidane.

-We rest.

-Oh. Not a full rest – a cutscene rest. That night, Vivi leaves the inn. Dagger wakes Zidane up to intervene, but Zidane (rightly, imo) just thinks Vivi needs some time to himself to sort things out. Respectful. I like it.

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Vivi at Night

-It’s hard to get over the beauty of some of the setpieces in this game. Vivi in the village at night, under the pink moon, is one of them.

-As Vivi stands outside alone, we still see Zidane’s dialogue with Dagger. She’s worried.

ZIDANE: “…a place to call home.”



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A Story: Seeking Home

-Bunk beds. Dagger on the top bunk. Talking to each other as they lie down.

-Zidane starts to tease Dagger a bit, as if he’s telling her a bedtime story, but very quickly the “story” becomes something real.

-A story about a man who wanted to find his birthplace. Zidane…

-We start to flash around to different places, and the first place is the harbor of Lindblum. A harbor without Mist.

-One day, “the man” left his adoptive father (Baku? No… who?) to find the answer. The only clue was a blue light he saw in his dreams.

-He never found it. Never found his birthplace. “How could he? His only clue was a blue light.”

-Yes, Baku was his adopted father. After the failed search, he returned home.

JESUS WTF. AND BAKU BEAT HIM??

-And then Baku smiled at him. And Zidane felt like he was finally home.

-Ok. Quick note. I’m choosing to interpret the “Baku beat him” segment as Baku giving just some friendly arm punches, nothing more than that, something to express how much he missed him without it being child abuse.

-Yeah. I like that better. It seems like he grew into unconflicted feelings about how much he loves his Tantalus home, so that’s how I’ll read this.

-And Vivi’s now seeking the same thing. Home. (Incidentally, this is Choco’s quest as well.)

-(And Freya’s.)

-(And Dagger’s. To find her place in her home.)

-(And Steiner and Quina and Beatrix and hell everyone’s more than a bit lost and looking to find their place in the world and I love this game so much.)

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Vivi at Night

-Vivi arrives at the cemetary. Asks the black mage who’s still here how many “stopped.”

-This black mage seems wiser. Knows about life and death.

-Most black mages “stop” one year after production?? Then how is Vivi nine years old? (Though it could just be that he LOOKED nine years old.)

-The black mage is afraid of death, but living in the village brings him joy. If you thought I could remotely begin to deal with this section calmy and stoically, you’d be wrong.

BLACK MAGE NO. 228: “The joy of living with them far outweighs the fear of death.”

-Perhaps Vivi is home already. And I’m not talking about the black mage village.

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The Next Morning

-A clue! Someone sighted a silver dragon in the northwest of the continent.

-Sanctuary is our next stop, the hidden place mentioned in Conde Petie where we now think Kuja may be.

-Dagger still wants to save her mother. I wonder. It could really go either way – they may be able to save Brahne and turn her against Kuja, or maybe she’s really evil at this point. I have no idea. I appreciate that.

-Everyone’s coming!

Vivi wants to see the world for the people in this village and report back to them. And Quina knows where the new eats live: on the road.

-Interesting! The mages are starting to develop individual personalities since they arrived in the village. What a cool detail.

-Time to wrap up in town and then leave. The Black Cat Synthesis shop has some awesome items, but I need components. Madain’s Ring needs Bone Wrist and Stardust Rod, and I need Bone Wrist. Reflect Ring needs Anklet and Madain’s Ring.

-Found my way into the rooftops! Literal eavesdropping time. Two mages say that No. 163 ordered “the usual,” but not sure what “the usual” is or what this is about.

-Found the Virgo coin.

-The Chocograph Piece has something new written on it: “Tho… who do not fear death, find one… the islands in Salvage… see what lies there.” Mysteriouser and mysteriouser.

-OMG THIS CHOCOBO HUT IS DECORATED LIKE A FULL CHOCOBO NURSERY.

I will DEFINITELY be back here to check on things.

-Mogryo the moogle is here. Got a letter from Stiltzkin. He’s heading towards Conde Petie.

-Ready to go.

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Next time: towards Sanctuary.

“I'm just an animal looking for a home
And share the same space for a minute or two.
And you love me till my heart stops
Love me till I'm dead…”
-Talking Heads