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So I've managed to get back to FF12 after a long period of being distracted from it by other things. I've just entered the Golmore Jungle, but I think I'm critically under-equipped so I may have to level up and loot-farm in Ozmone for a while, and possibly even retreat to Rabanastre to buy gambits and technicks. (I invariably spend all my cash on bazaar goods and new weapons. Sigh.)

- I continue to love Balthier. He is exactly my type of charming rogue - shades of Setzer, really, only without the gambling - and moreover, he won me with language. I could listen to him talk all day for his voice, his delivery, and the way he uses words. Linguistic prowess is sexy!

- I... I hang my head in shame to admit this, but I don't really like Fran. Don't get me wrong, she's cool to look at and her voice is fascinating, but at the point where I'm at, it seems like that's all that's there. I just haven't gotten anything from her yet beyond "Sexy bunny lady! Sexy mysterious bunny lady who knows stuff about the Mist! Plus she hangs out with Balthier! Did we mention sexy bunny lady?" She's just - she's not accessible. It seems like she's there to be Cool and Exotic and Sexy and Don't You Wish You Could Have Her, Gamer Boy?

(Plus, the viera piss me off on principle, which is another rant, and kind of a shame because I want to like them.)

Honestly, I'm not even interested in the Balthier-Fran teamup so much as I'm interested in Balthier and accept Fran as part of the package.

Please, someone tell me I'm wrong. Tell me Fran is about to get awesome and interesting and be compelling as a character, instead of a bunnygirl fetish that can flip out and kill shit.

- Ashe, on the other hand, I can't get enough of. She's like the antithesis of everything that ticks me off about Fran - to the point where I can completely ignore her ridiculous costume because she is just so fucking cool. A strong-willed, self-determined royal who takes no shit, devoted to her kingdom and her people, making decisions with the weight of Dalmasca on her shoulders? Yes, I'll have that and a side of fries.

It's even better that no point is really made of her gender one way or another. She's neither sexualized (would lessen the impact of the Cool) nor desexualized (too far in the other direction) - she's just an awesome royal doing her damned best in an awful situation where thousands of people depend on her, who is also an attractive woman. I can't begin to say how much I appreciate that.

(Also, she's the only one in my party who got to the HP +500 augment on my board, so she currently has more HP than anyone. So I have gameplay bias too! XD)

- Basch. Oh, Basch. Oh, oh, Basch.

I - he falls into a couple of the character types that are guaranteed to hit my YES buttons. Oh, Basch. Sorry, can't be coherent here.

- v-vossler

- I squeed a lot when Larsa showed up again. HAHAHA YEY TINY ANDROGYNOUS NON-SUCKY BROTHER OF VAYNE

no seriously I thought he was a girl at first. there was a moment of severe cognitive dissonance when I learned otherwise. but either way dfghjkfjkh yay larsa!

- ... oh, Vaan.

I dunno, I really like Vaan. He's a cute scruffy dork, and we all know I love the dorks.

- It's weird, but I so far have no interest in any pairings. At all. I'm just not interested in any of these characters as sexual beings. This might be related to the fact that I could not write for this fandom, ever. But it might not. I dunno. As it stands, I just wanna see how their story plays out and I'm not interested in seeing any sex or romance. (Well, I mean, other than Ashe/Rasler, which may not entirely count. sfjkghfjk oh god Ashe I hurt for you)

- The little details in this game continue to thrill me. One that's sticking in my head right now is the conversation with the "Vexed Father" in Lowtown whose daughter won't listen to him. (Oh god poor Basch.)

- The Garifs are fucking cool.

- It's weird to see Ivalice moogles and how different they are from all other moogles, but they're so cute and awesome I don't mind a bit.

- Quickenings are AWESOME.

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I ... actually, I'm the opposite of you; I really like Fran, but I'm ... honestly a bit indifferent on Ashe. XD; Which is a shame, because I DO want to like Ashe, it's just that she seems to push all the character-buttons that turn me off her, rather than on.

As for Fran, I will confess one of the main reasons I like her is that she reminds me of Zoe from Firefly -- taciturn, no-nonsense, kill-you-with-a-shooty thing that keeps her captain from getting killed when he hares off into the idiotic situations. (Which is to say, I always picture it as: Balthier comes up with the dashing and cool ideas, Fran makes sure they happen without them getting killed.) ... really, it's the Zoe analogy, though Balthier's not really much of Mal or Wash. XD

Ashe on the other hand ... is Princess McTormented; this may just be how the game is doling her out, but at the point where I am (I'm about three or four plot points ahead of you), it seems like everyone is telling her: BY THE WAY, POWER TO CRUSH YOUR ENEMIES MAY NOT BE A GOOD IDEA. THINK ABOUT IT -- and she does, but I've yet to see her really hit a conclusion that makes me feel like she's really considered it. I don't feel like she's really growing as a character, for all that's invested in her -- she seems really stuck on her One Path.

I will admit, she's gotten a bit better; one of the scenes I recently got through made me go "good for you!" at her, but ... she's the Surly Little Toaster ~~my friend and I, we've named the whole party toasters except for Balthier and Fran~~ and unfortunately, she and Balthier still haven't broken out of their "stereotypical fantasy characters" schticks in my head.

(That's not to say I DISLIKE them; I just like the others more! Like Vaan. For the spunky street-rat type, he's refreshingly practical for the most part, even as he's idealistic.)

Hmm - I can see where you're making the Zoe connection (and that WOULD be an excellent reason to like her, as Zoe is made of awesome), but that kind of falls flat for me if only because Zoe is still somehow accessible, relatable, and I don't feel like that with Fran at all. Even when Fran is awesome - which I freely admit she is, I loved it when she went berserk on the Leviathan - it's in Fran-specific ways.

... that Balthier-Fran dynamic is probably spot on though. XD

On Ashe, hmm. Well, we'll see how I feel about Ashe after I get through the intervening plot points - possibly I may be swayed on her, I've been a little iffy on her actual personality from the start, but.

I think part of is is that she reminds me tangentially of Yuna - the two characters are very very different, but there are some similarities, and she reminds me of the things that made Yuna one of my favorites ever, so.

Vaan is great, though, yes. :D *ruffles his little woobie head*

XD I decided on the Zoe thing when a friend of mine was all how can you like Fran and not Balthier? DDDD: at me -- it's because it's because of that. XD And the thing is, I think part of Joss' genius IS his characters; FFXII is more of a story/plot/politics-driven game, and so all characterization suffers some from it. This doesn't necessarily mean the characters are BAD, it's just that with Firefly, Joss played a lot to his strengths and gave us really developed cool characters with teasings of plot ~~that never got realized~~; in FFXII, on the other hand, we're getting the opposite -- a grand overarching sweeping plot, and a lot of characterization is left as a sort of fill-in-the-blank and extrapolating.

(Somewhere, there is a sketch my friend drew of Balthier body-hugging a save crystal in joy and relief, and Fran going "........ that's nice" at him.)

As a strong and complicated female character, Ashe is pretty damn awesome; I won't argue that at all. But in some ways, the realisticness of her position is part of what sets me against her -- I really don't think, if she were somehow a real person and I were to somehow encounter her, we'd get along much at all. XD She's very interesting in that she's a female royal scion/chosen/destined one, and the inherent changes that come with that -- but I can still look at her and say "ah! she's the fallen heir trying to win back her throne" and ... those types never did go well with me; I always liked the unfettered ones best. XD

Though, STILL, I cannot tell you why Balthier doesn't do more for me than he does. D:

*nods* That is a very good point, yes. It's difficult to have it both ways; I mean, especially with the depth of world detail we're given. There's not much room for character detail. XD Still, so far it feels to me like Fran got particularly shafted.

(... I want to see that. XD)

Ahah, true. XD I guess there is that. She's not a very FUN person, no. I think, largely, I like her because she could be a role model - you could actually aspire to BE determined like Ashe, strong like Ashe, cool like Ashe... But no, not so much on the getting along with her. XD

And character type preferences will factor in, yes. XD (I keep meaning to identify the character types I like best and write an essay on it or something...)

Sometimes it happens. D: I expected to love Penelo, but I'm really indifferent to her and I can't tell you why. Maybe our minds will change? D:

I think, back when I first made the "what's so great about FFXII anyway?" post, someone (maybe

petronia?) commented that it IS very difficult to balance your story both ways -- especially one that is a finite single game. There was obviously a lot of thought and development that went into the world, and its structures and countries and politics, but because of that, I feel like the characterization did suffer. Which, of course, is I think what's making it so damn popular among the fanfic-writing populace, but I can say with completely honesty that I've felt no urge to fic for these characters, except for one very quickly used-up crossover bunny. For me, personally, I need a little more investment in the characters then I've gotten. XD

(I'll see if I can bug her to scan it. :D)

Honestly, I wouldn't want to be like Ashe -- she's too stubborn and dead-set for my tastes; I'm a Libra, and I waffle all over the damn place. XD While I know I CAN get bullheaded and set in my ways, I would actually aspire to be more flexible and adaptable in my worldview than I feel Ashe is, so ... yeah. XD But again, I think that's just a simple personality-clash going on; it's not that she's a bad character by any means, and objectively I do think she's wonderful. But PERSONALLY, I'm more likely to poke her with a very long stick and hightail it in the other direction. XD;

Penelo is the Cute Little Toaster. I try to encourage her! "Come on, you can steal from him! No, really, YOU CAN STEAL FROM HIM! ... honey, you were supposed to steal from him :(" sort of thing. XD I admit, I mostly like her for the way she can totally pwn Vaan without really trying. XD

I am right with you on the NO URGE TO FIC. I just have no ideas, and even if I did I'd pawn them off anyway, because Ivalice is not a sandbox I am comfortable playing in on my own. At all. The politics are fascinating and beautiful to watch, but - no confidence in my ability to try playing with them or anything connected to them, and no real urge to try. XD

(:D)

Quite understandable. XD She pushes the right buttons for me, and the wrong ones for you. It happens. XD

That is pretty cool, yeah. XD I just - meh. She's cute, but does nothing for me past that. It might be disappointment from unmet expectations, because I really did go in expecting that I'd adore her, and she wasn't the character I was hoping for.

... I do appreciate her in gameplay, though, because she has a lot of Channeling and a Cura gambit, and therefore has a habit of saving my ass.

[uses single Zoe icon for the hell of it XD]

It's not even the politics -- I would love to dabble in the politics, I just have no urge to work with the characters, and for me, politics is just as much a human thing as it is the greater whole; you can't have a country without its people, and if I can't get into the people, there's not much point in the politics. I'm content to have it as an interactive epico movie thingit. XD

But at the very least, we can both agree that Vaan is a cute sort of dorky dumbass. XD It's awesome!

Haha, Penelo and Basch are my #1 healers. Unfortunately my Balthier tends to die if you look at him skeevy -- I've got him mostly set to using spears/staffs/etc., which do a decent amount of damage if you've got the elemental sort, but means his defense is CRAP. [tear]

XD Different reasons, same ultimate outcome. I'm just as content to sit back and watch ~~and then get back to ficcing for KH2 XD~~.

Indeed! It seems we can always agree on the great big dorks, huh. XD

Haha, yeah for me it's Penelo and Ashe - though oddly it's Vaan who's got all the Channeling, so he's the one I pull out if I need to start raising everyone. ... oh dear. D: My Balthier's been sticking to swords and shields, though currently he has a silly-looking hammer. XD Which seems to do random damage, in the grand tradition of Big Bashy Things In Final Fantasy Games. so it's a crapshoot on how effective he is. :<

... I have to ask. What are the other Little Toasters? XD

Pretty much! Only instead of the KH2 ficcing, these days I'm tilting more towards HOLiC and Tsubasa. What can I say, I like morality tales and fluffy fantasy that suddenly explodes in your face. XD

Hurrah for the big dorks! ♥ I totally approve of those, see. XD

Totally give Balthier a spear or a staff at some point, and have him heal -- it's the most hilarious thing in the world; it looks like he's rocking the air guitar. XD I've been giving the hammers/axes to Basch, though, so in addition to being my other major healer, he is also my Tank Of Major Damage. Fran is distance/black magic/backup healer, and Ashe, Vaan, and Penelo rotate through daggers and swords, and occasionally katanas if I find 'em.

Well, our nicknames were as follows:

Vaan - the Brave Little Toaster
Penelo - the Cute Little Toaster
Ashe - the Surly Little Toaster
Basche - the Brave Big Toaster

Then Fran, who's Zoe, and then there's Balthier, whom we have dubbed Captain Tightpants, to go with the Zoe name. ♥

... w-will there have to be bribes to get you back to cornerverse? :< (XD)

I still think you may have influenced me with the dork love. XD NOT THAT I'M COMPLAINING.

Oooh, I shall have to. XD My Basch had a bow - actually like half the party did, for a while - up until I TRIUMPHED OVER THE OPTIONAL DEMON WALL AT LEVEL 17 HAHAHA and liberated the Demonsbane sword from the secret passage, at which point I gave it to him. ... Penelo seems to be filling a similar role to your Basch, I have her with an axe now. XD Fran is - exactly the same as yours, though I haven't actually bought much of the crapload of magic she's licensed. And I don't think I've ever equipped Ashe with a non-sword.

... hahahahaha that's great. XD

U-ummm. Bribery HELPS, though I will eventually go back to it! It just ... may take till Final Mix comes out? XD

Dude, DORK LOVE REIGNS SUPREME. Why do you think I still love GetBackers, despite all its completely illogical twists, turns, and deii ex machinae? XD

My roommate usually has him on guns, so he looks more dramatic -- and she was watching me play when I had him on a spear, and we just busted up laughing. IT'S HILARIOUS. XD I keep thinking maybe I should have Penelo with a harder-hitting weapon, but ... also, did I mention I'm lazy? XD

I've been buying magic pretty steadily, though; FFXII is one of the very few games where I DO spam offensive magic, instead of trying to keep things mostly physical. I WANT TO BUY HOLY DAMNIT, I KNOW IT'S OUT THERE SOMEWHERE. :<

It's the Toaster Brigade! :D I do like them, I just like to mock them possibly more. XD

XD Okaaaaay. ~~*can't talk; looks at WWY and Touching Ground*~~

BECAUSE IT'S FULL OF DORKS rite? 8D

XDDD

I should really go back and buy some magicks. And technicks and armor and... XD; I always go for the Biggest New Smacky Stick first! And then all my money goes away. :< I should really spend some time just lootwhoring to the point where I can buy the monograph that's been taunting me. AND SOME MAGIC, UH. a few hours in Ozmone should do it! :< ... anyway I have the feeling that once she can actually use her awesome arsenal, I'm going to appreciate Fran a loooooot more.

Well. What's character love without mocking? XD

... okay now I see what you mean about rocking the air guitar XDDDD

...Part of the reason I like Fran is that she reminds me of Chewbacca. Which. Probably doesn't help anyone but me. XD

But yes. With you on loving Ashe and Basch (and Vossler) and dorky Vaan, and the Tiny Smooth Imperial. (I assume he's so androgynous because he's twelve and has not yet actually completed puberty, but that's easy to overlook because, dude, he's so freaking mature-acting for a twelve-year-old.)

XD!

... Honestly, I think a very large part of why Fran doesn't do more for me is that I cannot fully accept the viera. I can accept that they're a race of nubile rabbit girls who are not in the habit of covering themselves very much; but then I think back to the cheery little note in the guide about their pointed feet and how they wear stiletto heels to maintain balance, and my suspension of disbelief explodes. That's the point where I go from "wow, viera are pretty cool!" to sheer disgust that someone got his bunnygirl fetish all over my videogame.

Fran would probably be much more interesting to me if I didn't feel like her entire race was a bunch of walking sex symbols. XD;

...ANYWAY!

Larsa has the double curse of being a Pretty Square Boy and not being done with puberty yet. XD But yeah, dude - physically twelve, mentally fifty or so. He's so cool. (It's safe to continue liking him, right? He's not going to, in a sudden plot twist, turn into a little bastard and betray everyone while laughing maniacally, right? XD I was scared to like him at first for fear of that, but he's just too cool for me not to.)

Go ahead and keep liking Larsa, by all means. :D

Awesome. :D *thinks about getting a Larsa icon*

(apologies for the RANDOM VIERA RANT WUT. that's been bothering me and it kind of exploded out. XD;)

Oh, no worries! I am bothered by the viera, too -- I just don't have much to say besides '....yup, bunnygirl fetish....' ;)

By which I mean 'yup, that's clearly playing to someone's bunnygirl fetish,' not 'yup, I have a bunnygirl fetish.' XD

XD

Yeah. It especially stings in a world full of things like Bangaa, and Seeqs, and Garifs, and Urutan-Yensa, and Nu Mou, and whatever else I'm missing. All perfectly credible fantasy races! And then there's the bunnygirls.

... I should shut up and take this to

canonrants. XD

Well, Fran gets some more character development in Golmore, but if you don't like her after that, then her characterization's pretty much a wasteland until really close to the end of the game.

Blah. Here's hoping for Golmore to change my mind, then, because I don't really want to not like her.

Fran is both TRAGIC and INACCESSIBLE. It kind of sucks for her.

I'll never like Ashe again after a part further in the game when I was basically just sobbing and headflooring (I play video games sitting on the floor usually) and going GODDAMMIT YOU IDIOT for like an hour. IT TURNED ME OFF OF ASHE. >: She did pull through buuuuut...yeah, don't like her for some of the reasons

nekokoban fleshed out, too.

Everyone else I love. I'm not a picky person with my character favorities 8D. ~~Except that I pretty much die whenever Larsa comes onscreen. LARSAAAA. *hearts;~~

My love of Larsa even precludes my ability to heartmark properly. ♥

*insert ear perk here* Fran is tragic? How tragic are we talking here? A little tragedy might be just the thing to get me interested. XD

... oh dear. I won't ask too much, lol spoilers, but about when should I be prepared to go owie?

Heee. XD I'm usually not either, really - I almost never dislike a character, not even Fran. For some reason FF12 is really hit-and-miss with the protagonists I really care about, but there's no one where I'm going "*sigh* Get off the screen and give Balthier some airtime, okay? :|" XD

~~UNDERSTANDABLE. Larsa is pretty damn awesome. :D~~

Yeah, you'll find out in Golmore, though it doesn't really go into it much...gah, you know what? I am going to MAKE YOU READ THAT REALLY LONG FANFIC. If I can find it. And then if you don't like Fran you never will because she just isn't fleshed out enough in the game, woes.

God he's such jailbait

XDXD OKAY~

... he really is jsaghk. he's worse than Sora and Riku.

Younger AND prettier, god.

... oh my god, I just noticed that Larsa has a dagger in his off-hand.

LARSA FENCES FLORENTINE.

WIN. XD

If you're at Golmore Jungle now, then you're getting to the viera village soon, where you'll find you'll probably either love the viera or hate them even more. I find it's kind of love-to-dislike thing for them, but afterwards Fran's character both makes more sense and gets more mysterious. If that...makes any sense. XD; I just love Fran and Balthier as a duo.

LARSA = ♥♥ So much love for the kid and his endless supply of hi-potions. XD

Really, I love all of the characters in this game so far. ~~Which may be why I'm avoiding the fandom for now...~~

XD Yeah, I'm hoping the village does something for me. I'll be sad if I come out of it even less kindly disposed to Fran.

LARSA IS WIN yes those hi-potions are very nice. XD You just keep saving my ass there, Larsa. Good work.

I like all the characters in FFXII a little, but Fran and Ashe are two of my least favorites. Which is weird, I guess, but whatever. Fran for the most part is just a sex symbol, though her story is okay, but there's not nearly enough of it. They don't really give her leg room to grow and her story is one of those barely-touched-on-for-one-part-of-the-game deals. She's supposed to be the wise elder, mist sensing member of the group, and she fails at doing it. I mean, they shorthand it to little quips and random bits of knowledge. I would have liked to delve into her mystery...

The one thing that redeems her is the fact that she delivers the best line in the game at the end of the game. Seriously, the line makes me squee. Also, paired with Balthier, she is awesome in my opinion because they're like two halves of the same person. I explained this ages ago during that interview thing, but it still stands. XD

Ashe just gets to me. I mean, I like strong women and all, but I just can't get into her character as much as I can with the others. Like I can't even think of a reason. She just repels me.

And, for your information, the game gets better and better as it goes on, so expect to be wowed. :]

...hell, I still haven't even done all the hunts or anything yet and I'm over 100 hours in. Easily.

Reading this made me want to go do that. XD

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