half-written essays are half-written
Dec. 16th, 2018 08:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
volpishso.... at what point do i accept that a meta just Isn't Going To Happen?
//gestures vaguely at progress made thus far
brought to you by: 'i just wanted to have a traditional fairytale romance otp but the deeper i got into it the more sense it made and now i'm emotional'—and other fangirl problems.
//gestures vaguely at progress made thus far
something that really fascinates me about lunoct is how gender roles work for them.
how, on the surface, noctis is the hero and luna is the support, the healer. how noctis is a crown prince with a country to rule, in power, while luna was stripped of her title and kept captive for years. how luna refers to him with only the greatest respect while he's casual and familiar with her as anything.
and then you push a little deeper and realize that if this was a chess game, noctis would be the king, and luna would be the queen. he's barely started his journey. he's the chosen one, the key, the linchpin. it's all over if something happens to him. luna is the one fighting the war against the scourge, setting up the pieces and clearing the battlefield for noctis to traverse. luna is the one with mobility in the game, the power. she can fight the demons that no one else can touch. she's vital for the strength she wields.
and then you keep going and it comes back around. she was so happy to marry him. she was going to be a bride. she was going to wear a designer wedding dress and have a massive ceremony in a gorgeous city notable for how romantic and fashionable it is. maybe neither of them chose it, but she was going to marry one of her oldest and dearest friends. a slice of disney-worthy happily ever after before the end of the line. she was going to have 'every girl's dream' granted, and she was thrilled about it.
and then (and this is a point i saw someone else make on tumblr, but)—they're friends. they trade a notebook full of crayon doodles and stickers and pictures back and forth. it's a bubble of peace where she gets to be a kid, that kid that her life never quite allowed her to be. and noctis meets her halfway. noctis, who's surrounded by guys, who grew up in a male-dominated space, who lost his mother before he was old enough to remember her—he can put down that unavoidable toxic masculinity and send her notes with hello kitty-style stickers and chocobo postcards.
[stuff]
and—this is another point someone else made on tumblr—he probably admires and respects her a lot. she's older and smarter and cooler [more stuff]
i had more points:
- luna is under such an absurd amount of pressure that i think she really needs someone big and strong to hold her and bring her flowers and show off for her. she doesn't need to be protected because she's delicate (she's made of titanium or something, i swear), but because the mental/emotional load and isolation and even physical burdens on her are insane. let her wonder 'where have all the good men gone and where are all the gods.' let noctis be luna's hero, goddamnit.
- and noctis... while he's 'in power', it's politics. it's fake smiles and paperwork and cajoling a ruling council into making changes. it's public appearances and shaking all the right hands and thinking about border tax. that's the world he was born to, the 9 to 5 job he's held since childhood—and it's not real.
- just as much as i think luna might need someone big and strong to hold her and bring her flowers and protect her and show off for her, i think noctis might need someone to hold and bring flowers and protect and show off for. someone who will think he's big and strong and a hero.
so... i kind of feel like they started at traditional gender roles, and that, given the chance, they might have walked right back into them with open eyes, because that's what they need from each other. the hero and the healer, the prince and the princess, the protector and the damsel.
how, on the surface, noctis is the hero and luna is the support, the healer. how noctis is a crown prince with a country to rule, in power, while luna was stripped of her title and kept captive for years. how luna refers to him with only the greatest respect while he's casual and familiar with her as anything.
and then you push a little deeper and realize that if this was a chess game, noctis would be the king, and luna would be the queen. he's barely started his journey. he's the chosen one, the key, the linchpin. it's all over if something happens to him. luna is the one fighting the war against the scourge, setting up the pieces and clearing the battlefield for noctis to traverse. luna is the one with mobility in the game, the power. she can fight the demons that no one else can touch. she's vital for the strength she wields.
and then you keep going and it comes back around. she was so happy to marry him. she was going to be a bride. she was going to wear a designer wedding dress and have a massive ceremony in a gorgeous city notable for how romantic and fashionable it is. maybe neither of them chose it, but she was going to marry one of her oldest and dearest friends. a slice of disney-worthy happily ever after before the end of the line. she was going to have 'every girl's dream' granted, and she was thrilled about it.
and then (and this is a point i saw someone else make on tumblr, but)—they're friends. they trade a notebook full of crayon doodles and stickers and pictures back and forth. it's a bubble of peace where she gets to be a kid, that kid that her life never quite allowed her to be. and noctis meets her halfway. noctis, who's surrounded by guys, who grew up in a male-dominated space, who lost his mother before he was old enough to remember her—he can put down that unavoidable toxic masculinity and send her notes with hello kitty-style stickers and chocobo postcards.
[stuff]
and—this is another point someone else made on tumblr—he probably admires and respects her a lot. she's older and smarter and cooler [more stuff]
i had more points:
- luna is under such an absurd amount of pressure that i think she really needs someone big and strong to hold her and bring her flowers and show off for her. she doesn't need to be protected because she's delicate (she's made of titanium or something, i swear), but because the mental/emotional load and isolation and even physical burdens on her are insane. let her wonder 'where have all the good men gone and where are all the gods.' let noctis be luna's hero, goddamnit.
- and noctis... while he's 'in power', it's politics. it's fake smiles and paperwork and cajoling a ruling council into making changes. it's public appearances and shaking all the right hands and thinking about border tax. that's the world he was born to, the 9 to 5 job he's held since childhood—and it's not real.
- just as much as i think luna might need someone big and strong to hold her and bring her flowers and protect her and show off for her, i think noctis might need someone to hold and bring flowers and protect and show off for. someone who will think he's big and strong and a hero.
so... i kind of feel like they started at traditional gender roles, and that, given the chance, they might have walked right back into them with open eyes, because that's what they need from each other. the hero and the healer, the prince and the princess, the protector and the damsel.
brought to you by: 'i just wanted to have a traditional fairytale romance otp but the deeper i got into it the more sense it made and now i'm emotional'—and other fangirl problems.