My Lulu Manifesto (repost)
Mar. 25th, 2013 05:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
auronluReposted from Tumblr, because Tumblr blows as a place to talk about anything or find anything you posted earlier.
Note that some of my comments derive from backstory provided by the Ultimania guide rather than from the game itself. Ultimania is a supplement put out by Square employees, rather than what really happened or what was said in-game. So I regard Ultimania as subject to fan interpretation and selection. Here's what I took from it.
ffvibe:
Me: It's right here: during the second confrontation with Yunalesca. Skip ahead to 1:10 or so. It stuck in my mind as well; Lulu's pitch rises, and her voice breaks. She doesn't sound like herself at all. It's one of only two moments when her voice changes like that in the game. (There's her sad little, “It is you, isn't it, Lady Ginnem? Forgive me...I was too young." And there's her pained response to Tidus' meltdown when he learns the truth about the pilgrimage: "Lulu, how could you? How could you? Isn't she like a sister to you?" "Don't you think we tried to stop her?She follows...her heart.") But even in the latter case, Lulu's voice doesn't crack or jump like it does here.
"This cannot BE. The teachings clearly state that Sin can be exorcised with complete atonement! It's been our only hope all these years!"
This is the moment when Lulu's faith breaks. Unlike Wakka, she was able to take in stride the fact that the church was corrupt and its officials a bunch of power-hungry bastards, because she's never had much faith in people — even in herself. But she still had faith. And, even more tellingly, she learns this not five minutes after she had just offered her life to Yuna for the Final Summoning. She was ready to die for that hope, and for Yuna.
ffvibe:
Me: This is very true. There's also the fact that Lulu is grieving for Yuna in advance. It's very hard to keep putting one foot in front of the other as a guardian, when you don't want your summoner to reach the destination she's chosen.
ffvibe:
Me: Beyond this, Lulu wants Yuna's sacrifice not to be a waste. Ironically, even more than Tidus and Rikku, Lulu has fought to stop this moment. Several years before, when Yuna said she wanted to become a summoner, Lulu had forbidden her to start the training. Yuna defied her, and you can bet there were some fireworks over that. When words failed, Lulu resorted to deeds to head her off. So Lulu became a guardian and went on pilgrimage with Ginnem... and failed. She watched a summoner die due to her own inadequacy.
When Lulu came back, Chappu decided to take up the Crusader's sword, even a gun, to protect her. So she may feel some guilt for his death, too, although she tries not to. ("It's pointless to think about, and sad.") As soon as Chappu died, Lulu headed out with Zuke one more time, once again trying to head off Yuna and beat her to Sin. We see that Lulu really did hope that Sin could be defeated once and for all.
Lulu had failed, again and again. She couldn't stop Yuna from becoming a summoner. She couldn't move heaven and earth to get rid of Sin before Yuna set out on pilgrimage. "All we can do is protect her along the way," was an admission of Lulu's own failure to stop this pilgrimage. It fascinates me that Lulu was able to be such a steadfast guardian to Yuna, when she had tried so hard to stop Yuna from leaving. Tucked away in Lulu's little asides and optional dialog, it comes through how much it's hurting her to go on this journey, although she's fashioned her grief into a sword on Yuna's behalf (and will smash Tidus like a bug if he gets in the way).
I wonder what would've happened had Tidus and Auron not been there. Auron was trying to let them make their own choices — to discover the truth for themselves and exercise the free will of the living, instead of the dictates of the dead — so he told them almost nothing. He trusted Tidus to ask all the important questions that believers couldn't. If Tidus hadn't rejected Yunalesca's initial spiel, charging up the steps and demanding more answers, would Yuna have accepted Lulu's offer to become her Final Aeon? Lulu might have used the same argument Auron did about letting Luzzu go to the front lines in Operation Mi'ihen: "Let him go. He chose this path as you did yours, when you became a summoner." Would Auron have intervened, or would he have let them make their own choices? I'm not certain, and I find that fascinating.
TL;DR Lulu is anything but apathetic. She's driven. But her corset, braids and belts suggest her current situation: she's all tied up, bound by love and loyalty into assisting her best friend's church-sanctioned suicide. Lulu's faith gives her no way out of that dilemma. No wonder she doesn't smile often.
Note that some of my comments derive from backstory provided by the Ultimania guide rather than from the game itself. Ultimania is a supplement put out by Square employees, rather than what really happened or what was said in-game. So I regard Ultimania as subject to fan interpretation and selection. Here's what I took from it.
Anon "Confession":
One of the most heartbreaking scenes for me will always be Lulu's shock that Sin could never truly be lkilled in FFX. It stood out to me because it's the only time she really yells in the game, and [is] not apathetic.
ffvibe:
I wish I knew exactly what moment this was so I could watch it to reaffirm my thoughts.
Me: It's right here: during the second confrontation with Yunalesca. Skip ahead to 1:10 or so. It stuck in my mind as well; Lulu's pitch rises, and her voice breaks. She doesn't sound like herself at all. It's one of only two moments when her voice changes like that in the game. (There's her sad little, “It is you, isn't it, Lady Ginnem? Forgive me...I was too young." And there's her pained response to Tidus' meltdown when he learns the truth about the pilgrimage: "Lulu, how could you? How could you? Isn't she like a sister to you?" "Don't you think we tried to stop her?She follows...her heart.") But even in the latter case, Lulu's voice doesn't crack or jump like it does here.
"This cannot BE. The teachings clearly state that Sin can be exorcised with complete atonement! It's been our only hope all these years!"
This is the moment when Lulu's faith breaks. Unlike Wakka, she was able to take in stride the fact that the church was corrupt and its officials a bunch of power-hungry bastards, because she's never had much faith in people — even in herself. But she still had faith. And, even more tellingly, she learns this not five minutes after she had just offered her life to Yuna for the Final Summoning. She was ready to die for that hope, and for Yuna.
ffvibe:
Prefacing my thought, I don’t think Lulu is apathetic. She’s a hardened and somewhat cynical realist. All stemming from the death of Chappu, of course. I have a feeling before his death she was still a little cold but her warmth was still visible and smiles occurred more often.
Me: This is very true. There's also the fact that Lulu is grieving for Yuna in advance. It's very hard to keep putting one foot in front of the other as a guardian, when you don't want your summoner to reach the destination she's chosen.
ffvibe:
I’m sure Lulu wants to assist in the defeat of Sin for all the regular and expected reasons, but I think on a small level she wants vengeance for Chappu. Being crushed, killed and washed up like a dead fish on the Djose Shore isn’t what you can consider a respectful death (of course no death by sin is, but her image of it is dreadful.)
Me: Beyond this, Lulu wants Yuna's sacrifice not to be a waste. Ironically, even more than Tidus and Rikku, Lulu has fought to stop this moment. Several years before, when Yuna said she wanted to become a summoner, Lulu had forbidden her to start the training. Yuna defied her, and you can bet there were some fireworks over that. When words failed, Lulu resorted to deeds to head her off. So Lulu became a guardian and went on pilgrimage with Ginnem... and failed. She watched a summoner die due to her own inadequacy.
When Lulu came back, Chappu decided to take up the Crusader's sword, even a gun, to protect her. So she may feel some guilt for his death, too, although she tries not to. ("It's pointless to think about, and sad.") As soon as Chappu died, Lulu headed out with Zuke one more time, once again trying to head off Yuna and beat her to Sin. We see that Lulu really did hope that Sin could be defeated once and for all.
Lulu had failed, again and again. She couldn't stop Yuna from becoming a summoner. She couldn't move heaven and earth to get rid of Sin before Yuna set out on pilgrimage. "All we can do is protect her along the way," was an admission of Lulu's own failure to stop this pilgrimage. It fascinates me that Lulu was able to be such a steadfast guardian to Yuna, when she had tried so hard to stop Yuna from leaving. Tucked away in Lulu's little asides and optional dialog, it comes through how much it's hurting her to go on this journey, although she's fashioned her grief into a sword on Yuna's behalf (and will smash Tidus like a bug if he gets in the way).
I wonder what would've happened had Tidus and Auron not been there. Auron was trying to let them make their own choices — to discover the truth for themselves and exercise the free will of the living, instead of the dictates of the dead — so he told them almost nothing. He trusted Tidus to ask all the important questions that believers couldn't. If Tidus hadn't rejected Yunalesca's initial spiel, charging up the steps and demanding more answers, would Yuna have accepted Lulu's offer to become her Final Aeon? Lulu might have used the same argument Auron did about letting Luzzu go to the front lines in Operation Mi'ihen: "Let him go. He chose this path as you did yours, when you became a summoner." Would Auron have intervened, or would he have let them make their own choices? I'm not certain, and I find that fascinating.
TL;DR Lulu is anything but apathetic. She's driven. But her corset, braids and belts suggest her current situation: she's all tied up, bound by love and loyalty into assisting her best friend's church-sanctioned suicide. Lulu's faith gives her no way out of that dilemma. No wonder she doesn't smile often.
no subject
Date: 2013-03-26 11:33 am (UTC)And those Ultimania books really chap my ass, especially the one for FF7. I disagree with a lot of that material.no subject
Date: 2013-03-26 12:58 pm (UTC)If you don't actually stop to think about it, you can do a real disservive to Lulu's character and her motivations. What's shown in the game is really merely the surface. FFX could have done a lot more with this; we could have gone to a lot darker places.
*this is also glossed over by the game -- most guardians are assumed to not come back. Sir Auron is lauded because Lord Braska brought the Calm, but also because he lived to celebrate it; is it a mark of shame for Lulu that she lived while Ginnem didn't, even though many Guardians don't come back at all on unsuccessful pilgrimages?
no subject
Date: 2013-03-26 12:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-03-26 04:06 pm (UTC)I think it is a source of shame for Lulu personally, although she's not one to wallow in self-flagellation. ("It's pointless to think about, and sad." her vehemence on that subject may be an attempt NOT to wallow.)
There's a few tantalizing clues in her occasional battle quotes. "I will not fail this time," in the Via Purifico springs to mind.
But I'm not sure whether there's a social stigma attached to guardian failure in general. At least in Besaid, which is a close-knit community, Lulu is still held in high regard; I recall one NPC telling Tidus to talk to Lulu, who knows everything about being a guardian, rather than to Wakka, who certainly doesn't.
Agreed about the game doing Lulu (and most of them) a disservice. You have to go back to the Farplane after leaving Guadosalam at different phases of the game to find out that Lulu speaks to -- or seeks -- Ginnem's ghost when no one's looking. Even the Cavern of the Stolen Fayth, which tells us the fate of Luu's first summner is incredibly easy to miss -- it's not obvious you can dive off the main Path of Plot Advancement and go under the bridge for a side trip. It frustrated me to see livplaysfinalfantasy's playthrough, where she was complaining about how very little development there was for Lulu, and she totally missed the Ginnem sidetrip. I think I missed it as well on my first playthrough.
The backstory about Lulu going on pilgrimage to stop Yuna's is only mentioned in Ultimania. The game shows Lulu has been on two previous pilgrimages, but never spells out her motivation... Maybe she just loves to travel, got fed up with being stuck on a backwater island, and went shopping in Luca's leather district? But we do know from Yuna's sphere/will in the game that Lulu flatly forbade Yuna to undertake summoner's training, and that Lulu was angry when she did it anyway. And we do know that Chappu became a Crusader to protect Lulu from Sin. So the puzzle pieces are there, but so scattered that you have to make a conscious effort to put them all together into a picture. It takes several replays for that picture to emerge. Character development should not be that hidden.
And totally agree with you about FFVIII. I actually like the Squall/Rinoa romance, but it pushes out other character development too much. (And I haven't seen supplementary material on FFVIII characters, so there I'm stuck with what I picked up from one or two playthroughs.)
no subject
Date: 2013-03-26 07:39 pm (UTC)But I guess it's the same with Auron -- if you don't find and watch all of the spheres of Braska's pilgrimage, and/or pick apart his past as a monk, you don't necessarily realise how far Auron has come?
It's a lot like FFVIII. The pieces are there, but they're hidden, and if you don't find them the supplemental characters are really just outlines (and even if you DO find them, they still don't live up to their potential).