sev liveblogs The After Years: Ceodore's Whiny Tale

[seventhe]

Yup, so I'm playing The After Years - not drunk this time! Success? - and instead of spamming my Twitter to infinity and beyond, thoughts shall go... Here.

- Ceodore is pretty whiny. Yup, life's hard, kid. Don't really care.
- sure King Cecil went to the Knight's Grotto. That's why we never heard of it, right?
- moon phase thing; I am undecided.
- at least the encounter rate isn't quite as bad as FFIV PSP -- that encounter rate seriously made me want to Thundaga my PSP and all of Squeenix besides
- the AUTO setting in this game is fucking amazing. Also convenient for those who drink-beer-and-play.
- what.
- if Wedge mentions THE GREAT KING ROSA AND QUEEN CECIL one more time, I will legitimately kill him in battle and leave him dead. Omg we get it. No wonder Ceodore has a complex~!
- I looooooove Ceodore's chanting sprite~~!!
- OMG CECIL AND ROSA ARE SO FUCKING GORGEOUS IN THIS GAME. Pretty much everybody can stfu about not seeing Rosa's tits; I for one am really happy to have a classy dame heroine not flaunting cleavage. She's soooooo pretty older. The message of "moms aren't sexy" is maybe problematic but you know what, sexy doesn't mean just skin. I find her little sprite soooo freaking classy and pretty, sorry. And Cecil is man-pretty too, omg, HIS HAIRRRRRRRR. <3!
- AWWW ROSA FOLLOWS CECIL. Also, eeeeeee family-bending angst, "run and survive for ceodore's sake", hi buttons nice to see you again
- Rydia (my cat) is snoring.
- CID WITH A WHITE BEARD, OMG YES FOREVER
- aaaaaaaaaand now I'm hungry; break time!

Comments

[whitemage]

but you know what, sexy doesn't mean just skin.

THIS. Especially for mothers, now that you mentioned it, because I often find myself in need of something in which I can chase my chicobo across the playground with wardrobe malfunctions. Not that I've ever had max exposure anyway, but picking clothing items that make me feel sexy and attractive have to be balanced with other priorities--none of them having to do with feeling "settled" or having "gone to seed" or being past my anything, except maybe my shyness at discussing sex and my sexuality!

(One of the added benefits of motherhood for women raised in a sheltered environment: once you've had a kid, it is pretty obvious you've "done it" at some point, MIGHT AS WELL ACKNOWLEDGE IT. Additionally, you've had to get to know your body inside and out, intimately, and it's changed so dramatically, amazed you in ways you could never conceive were possible--mothers and motherhood can have a wonderfully sex empowering factor if you let it.)

THIS COMMENT IS ALL ABOUT HOW I CAN'T READ

[safety-caesars.livejournal.com]

FAMILY-BENDING?! IS THAT LIKE A... BENDING POWER THAT CAN MAKE PEOPLE INCESTUOUS? CUZ THAT'S HOW I'M GOING TO INTERPRET IT.

I READ THAT AS "CID WITH WHITE BREAD"

I PREFER CID WITH MULTIGRAIN, TOASTED

Re: THIS COMMENT IS ALL ABOUT HOW I CAN'T READ

[first-seventhe.livejournal.com]

...YES. YES IT IS. FAMILY-BENDING IS ALSO WHAT SOMEHOW MAKES ME SHIP KAIN/CEODORE.

DON'T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT.

...I'M NOT SORRY

Re: THIS COMMENT IS ALL ABOUT HOW I CAN'T READ

[safety-caesars.livejournal.com]

COME TO CREEPY UNCLE KAIN..... YES......

Re: THIS COMMENT IS ALL ABOUT HOW I CAN&#39;T READ

[first-seventhe.livejournal.com]

IT'S LIKE FUCKING CECIL AND ROSA AT THE SAME TIME

*WARPED TO HELL*

Re: THIS COMMENT IS ALL ABOUT HOW I CAN&#39;T READ

[venefica-aura.livejournal.com]

HERE KAIN WE HAD A KID SO YOU WOULD STOP CREEPSHARKING US AND PLAYING "IT'S NOT GAY IF IT'S A THREEWAY" ALL THE TIME.

ENJOY.

Re: THIS COMMENT IS ALL ABOUT HOW I CAN&#39;T READ

[safety-caesars.livejournal.com]

LMAO YESSSS

[salarta.livejournal.com]

I feel the whole "Rosa, abandon me for Ceodore's sake" thing and the later events with Cecil both killed the right for FF4:TA to be considered a proper sequel, as both events critically cheapen important character development points from FF4 solely to give a chance for Kain to be put on a pedestal. There were alternate ways they could've gone with both cases, they chose the most insulting and I feel ones that made Rosa and Cecil both look weak and stupid.

But, I'll refrain from saying anything further as this is your LJ, not mine, and blah blah blah.

[first-seventhe.livejournal.com]

Well, I have only played this first, like, 20 minutes or whatever, so I'm not going to judge the rest (which I've a little bit been spoiled for) until I get there. XD But I actually find that Cecil asking Rosa to take care of Ceodore -- it feels like legit character development, Cecil trusting Rosa to protect their child. It's a big step from FFIV's entire "Rosa, you must stay behind! Rosa, you aren't strong enough to come. Rosa, I'll protect *you*!" to a more trusting recognition of Rosa's ability to care for herself AND their child, probably the most important thing in their lives. I think the dynamic between any two lovers changes when there's a child involved, and so far at least I'm willing to see where it goes.

I just also - I really like them building on the family angst bit. Cecil never had a family, and it was a big deal for him to call Golbez 'brother'; I am sure that has affected the way he looks t both Rosa *and* Ceodore, you know? And Rosa lost her father, but still had her mother growing up, and she saw Kain and Cecil both have no parents at all, and saw Rydia lose her mother... I definitely don't think it's as much of a stretch as you seem to. :P

Then again, I think I have a much more mixed opinion of Cecil and Rosa than you, both in general and as a lady gamer. XD You can totally disagree!

[salarta.livejournal.com]

Here's the thing: Cecil telling Rosa to abandon him in itself says to me "Hey, remember when I accepted that you want to stay by my side and support me? Well forget it, run off so I can potentially die." Making it about how Rosa has to "protect their child" comes off to me simultaneously as a lack of faith in Ceodore's ability to fend for himself, and as no longer valuing Rosa's desire to support him. On Rosa's end, it comes off as "Oh, okay, you know I want to support you but I'll do what you say." The whole scene, to me, completely undoes the pivotal moment about their relationship on the Lunar Whale, and if they REALLY desperately wanted to split the two up, all they had to do was something like have the castle crumble as they're going down a set of stairs.

Essentially, every single event of FF4 about building trust with their relationship was taken apart in that one moment to me. Cecil suddenly doesn't have confidence enough in his wife to support him enough for both of them to come out fine, and Rosa doesn't have the inner strength to stand up for herself until he sees the light.

In terms of intellect, it seems incredibly stupid to me that Cecil would tell Rosa, their most powerful white mage in the entire kingdom, to run off, and Rosa goes along with it. She could have healed and revived scores of soldiers, especially Cecil when Bahamut demolishes him. Keeping the most skilled white mage in the kingdom out of harm's way makes no sense either, because in the worst case scenario Rosa could have used Exit. By going along with this plan, they both deliberately decided Cecil's fate should be defeat and capture or death.

It's worse when you consider future events with Cecil and Rosa during the course of FF4:TA. But, I can't go into that as you haven't gotten there. :P


We can disagree, of course. But the reason why I said I was going to refrain from saying anything further is because I loathe FF4:TA with a passion due to what I consider very poor execution and usage of FF4's canon, to the point I don't feel it should count as a true sequel. I felt the characters had potential, but felt it went horribly wrong from the very first episode that came out. I also have misgivings about Rosa's robe, but not because she's not showing boob, it's because I get a sense that 1) it was response to backlash from haters saying Rosa looked like a whore in FF4DS, and 2) she was completely covered in a plain white robe to where even her face is almost covered specifically to push her into the unseen background while even-more-scantily-clothed Rydia and Rydia-ripoff-hair-color Porom got to steal the show. I'd have absolutely no problem with Rosa having more cover if she wasn't drastically reduced as a character in FF4:TA and if there were more to it than a bland, basic white robe.

You can consider me paranoid on that too, but I feel it's very accurate. And again, opinions, differences in them, etc. :P

[salarta.livejournal.com]

I can't edit so I have to do a new reply. :P

When I said "have the castle crumble as they're going down a set of stairs," I meant more or less that all they had to do was something like some ruins fall between them, ensuring that Rosa can't get back to Cecil in time to save him from getting defeated by Bahamut.