Replaying FFX-2, Ramble on Homosexuality in Spira, and Story Buglets

[dagas_isa]

Yes, completely and totally replaying FFX-2, not from a New Game Plus (and God knows I've got some uber ones), but from the beginning, with the goal of getting 100% along the way. The Spira story bug is rising, as well as the rant bugs, and my general adoration for Rikku/Paine.

I don't know why I like that pairing. I suppose it just makes sense, at least as much as Rikku/Gippal or Paine/Baralai and it appeals to my inner lesbian. AND in my little imaginary fic universe, I can plot out Rikku and Paine's feelings better as a couple than I can in their straight pairings.

The question of course is in the expression. I can't write fluff; it comes out sounding false, so I usually focus on one characters thoughts or those characters connected to the world.

And thinking about Rikku/Paine in Spira makes me realize that Spira itself is not likely to be homophobic. The game makes the assumption that the vast, vast majority of people on Spira are heterosexual, yet there's nothing in the game that even seeks to condemn homosexuality.

Look at the teachings of Yevon. Nothing is never mentioned about modesty in dress; just look at how some of the followers of the religion are taught. Most of what Wakka-the-religious-fanatic talks about is a hatred of machina, Al Bhed, respecting the temple's authority, and hard work. Sexual morality and conduct doesn't seem to be nearly so big a deal.

I'm sure there are homophobes in Spira, but their revulsion is likely something personal, not something they are taught by authorities. I'm also definitely sure that there are Spirans who do value heterosexual family and production of offspring, Besaid Island, for example. Just look at how eager everyone on Besaid was when Lulu had Vidina. The villiage pretty much is a family, and they welcome new members. Besaiders might look down on someone who chooses not to have a child, or who enters a situation where they cannot have children, but I don't see them condemning anyone outright based on sexual preference.

Then there are people like Cid, who probably doesn't care if most people are gay, but sees such a trait in his children as yet another form of rebellion. Cid values being looked up to and leading people, but he's made some pretty unpopular/bad decisions regarding the Al Bhed and his children. Not to mention with the rise in social status of the Al Bhed in Post-Sin Spira, they no longer have the need to band together. Rin's dream of making his own home, the fact that the predominately Al Bhed machine faction is now one of Spira's largest employers of former Yevonites shows this. In the end, I can see him dreaming to see at least one of his children married well to someone of the opposite sex and giving him a grandchild who will look up to him, even though that's an improbability.

So, while there are some problems that go along with Rikku and Paine being together romantically, I don't consider it to be the point where it has to be the center of a long drawn out plot about how the world rejects them and their kind of love (not to mention, I find those sorts stories about gays and lesbians to be really, really tiring), just those lingering side problems, like how to deal with her father, and the annoyance of people who don't know better automatically assuming heterosexuality.

A personal note: I read/write shoujo-ai to explore my own confused feelings, and thus I write what interests me. Love between women interests me. Portrayals of persecution does the opposite, especially because most are terribly one sided.


So, to sum up the entirety of that rant, I feel this urge to write an extended Rikku/Paine story, but don't want to make it exclusively Rikku/Paine. Which means I need a plot. I've got a couple vague themes, but they definitely need fleshing out and somehow put together in a coherent story.

1. A lack of Sin and a growing reliance on technology is making the 'magical' phenomena of Spira disappear.
   
2. Rikku and Paine become sphere recorders looking for lost memories among the ruins of Zanarkand
   
3. Someone seeks to create a world for Aeons and dying magic.
   
4. A faction-neutral sphere library being set up somewhere.
   

Anyway, it's late, and I'm tired, so I'm gonna finish watching the Hana Kagari video (song is seriously catchy), and then go join Muu for the the sleeps.

Comments

[prettygothgirl.livejournal.com]

Yevonism also had a grip upon the school system. They were the ones that taught children and what better way to indoctrinate someone than to get them while they are young. America has been doing it for years, as has Japan, Palestinians etc and so forth. Even if they were just teaching the children how to read, write and do arithmetic, some indoctrination of the religion is going to seep through and teach the children their morals (revere your elders and ancestors, don’t murder, don’t steal, it’s all right for Summoners to die in the fight against Sin…) Yevon also did marriages. They were there, cradle to the grave. Plus, they gained new converts through the Guado and the Ronso. There had to be something there for entire cultures to shift over to it en masse.

And by no means did Yevonism die out after Yuna destroyed Sin, in fact that was a major part of the problem. They got a new name (not a very creative new name), new leaders and a new creed, but deep down they were still the same Yevon. It’s hard for a coeurl to change its stripes just by adding New to the title. The new goal of New Yevon was to help those who were scared and frightened after the defeat of Sin and the discovery of the fact of how corrupt Yevon had been. Deep down, they still had the same goal, control of Spira, which was why the Youth League was formed. New Yevon refused to share the history collected by sphere hunters and (spoiler alert) if you make your way to the bottom of Via Infinito and talk to Trema (the Leader before Baralai) you’ll discover that he has actually destroyed the history spheres because he believes the only way Spira can go into the future is to erase the past! He decided to do it quickly rather than over hundreds of years. (end of spoiler)

You say that the temples were deserted and abandoned. You’re thinking of Djose, which is rather off the beaten path (and I think we had some map cut there too). I wouldn’t be surprised if people stopped coming there. The Guado were in Macalania woods and the Humans were rushing to get to the Moonflow. Of the other temples that were deserted, most were already empty in the first place, Baaj (in the middle of the ocean), Remiem (hidden, cut off by an avalanche), Zanarkand (now a tourist attraction), Cavern of the Stolen Fayth (also a tourist attraction) and Macalania (fallen into the lake, such a pity). The other temples were still in use, which was another major problem. Besaid had a Priest on duty and people still visited, as it was right in the middle of ‘town’. Killika Temple was a refuge for the New Yevonites who couldn’t bear to leave in a Youth League dominated town and Bevelle was the headquarters for New Yevon and needed to be protected because their stewardship of Vegnagun was not complete. And Djose technically wasn’t abandoned. It just had new owners that’s all, Al Bhed being the opportunistic people that they are. Because there were people in these temples and around these temple it was important to go in and fight the ‘heretical’ aeons controlling the fiends so people weren’t hurt. If these temples had been abandoned then this wouldn’t matter! The fiends could have kept pouring out of them until the encroached on cities and towns and must be destroyed and people wouldn’t even know until they went looking for the source of the problem!

You seem very focused on one aspect of the game. There was a lot more out there that was developed than 120 hours you play through.

I hope I made my points a little clearer and didn’t come off as a prig.

[dagas-isa.livejournal.com]

Not at all. I don't think we'll ever quite agree on the issue, if only because we interpret evidence differently, but you state your points intelligently and I can see where you're headed.

New Yevon might share a name with Yevon, the priests might still be called priests, and they might use some of the temples as headquarters, but I still believe New Yevon is a political faction, not a religious faction.

The way Spira is set up in FFX-2, people react differently to the changes brought about by the Calm. New Yevon is the faction for those who are unnerved by the change. Their motto is 'One thing at a time' which promises some changes, but slowly. They're sort of the force of stability in Spira, while the others are forces for change.

The Youth League is founded as an opposition to New Yevon. Where the first faction maintains the central authority found in the first game, the Youth League stands for bringing authority back to the people. The spheres are central to this debate, as they represent a lost knowledge, even truth, and whoever has that essentially has a source of power.

I've seen the Trema cutscenes, although I don't think what Trema says represents what the current leaders of the New Yevon party believe. The idea Trema presents is the theme of FFX-2 taken to extremes. If what he says is true, Yuna needs to give up everything in her past, including Tidus, in order to shape her future in the best way possible.

His destruction of the spheres might have really stemmed from that belief, but it's also a strategic decision on the part of New Yevon. If knowledge is the main currency of power, at least right now, destroying spheres will make sure that their enemies don't get it. It's never mentioned in the game, but if someone in New Yevon watched those spheres before they were destroyed, they'd have a double advantage on the Youth League, as far as knowledge is concerned.

As for the temples, the ones that are still being used are used for non-religious purposes. The Al Bhed aren't worshipping Ixion (although I'm sure they have no qualms using the natural electronic energy there). New Yevon doesn't use the temples to worship; rather, it's a practical decision to use ready made buildings, already controlled by supporters than to build their own, or take over a non-supported structure. In Besaid, Beclem has no qualms with burning down the temples to get rid of the fiends, and though the rest of the people aren't so eager as he to see it burn, they would have still accepted it if it were a necessary end. Had it burned, would there have been other temple rebuilt there, or would something else have taken it's place?

I don't know about the Ronso, but the Guado converted for one reason: Jyscal became a Yevonite. I don't know if anything exists to say why he did, but once Jyscal became a Yevon convert, the rest of the Guado followed his lead. One of the things about the Guado shown in FFX and X-2, is that they are a very obedient people, who absolutely depend on their leaders to guide them. They willingly followed Seymour into genocide and in the first part of FFX-2, they are utterly unwilling to take action to protect themselves or keep Guadosalam.

I admit I don't have access to anything like a translated Ultimania Guide or the fortitude to translate the one I do have, so a lot of this is based on my own conjecture with what was shown in the acutal game. I simply imagine Spira being a certain way because that's how the FFX canon makes sense to me.

Otherwise, I'm enjoying this discussion, and I hope you are too, and not just trying to correct some incorrigable retard. =D