FFXII was actually the first Final Fantasy I played but it took me twenty years to finish it. When I replayed it in order to finish it, it was like meeting with old friends I had forgotten about. So now I’m really excited to delve more into the story.
I really love the grief underlying a lot of the plot and the intricate worldbuilding. I like how the party grows to know each other, but also the clear sense that this is not forever. They will always be connected, but maybe not together.
This ship sneaked up on me this time around. Basch cuts such a tragic figure: every kingdom he serves falls and he doesn’t even have his honor to fall back on. In the end, he learns to embrace his new life by stepping into his brother’s shoes and that must be one hell of a mindscrew.
Meanwhile Balthier has long decided to step away from his old life and just create a new self, no strings attached. But the past still tracks him down. So I’d love fanwork playing with that contrast and with how both of them think of sacrifice and duty.
This one, however, I have always loved. That ending, his letter, the ring he gives her back! Just extremely ridiculous swashbuckling things.
I adore Ashe. I love her journey: letting go of her grief, of her anger, and embracing her duty in a different way. I love thinking about how she must have been when she was younger and more innocent. Her resilience, her aloofness. I just love her a lot.
She’s so dutiful I like the contrast with Balthier who walked away from duty however he could. So I’d love to read fic where he’s a refuge away from her duties and her work.
I love their partnership so much! The way they don’t need to talk, how they check each other’s worst impulses, and how they’ve built a life together. They’re each other’s home no matter where they are.
Fran’s decision to leave her people is so interesting and drastic, and the regret she talks about with Mjrn adds a wrinkle to that decision. Yet she seems content and happy anyway.