The Very Big Final Fantasy XIII Thread

[krogothwolf]

I didn't really find his speech that out of place, considering Sephiroth was giving his speech as well, it seemed to fit then going all rageahol on Sephiroth because Aerith died. Also, Sephiroth called bullshit on his feelings, not his speech. It really wasn't immediate acceptence, it was more along the lines of things he'll be missing of her.

[bluestarultor]

Originally Posted by Smarty McBarrelpants

It's good to know that the adequate approach to troubling times is cathartic violence.
And oh no, I'm not doing what the villain thinks I should do! I must be doing things wrong!

Cloud in that situation: "Oh, no! A crazed megalomaniac who plans on destroying the world killed my girlfriend and is just standing there making triumphant speeches! I must make my own melodramatic speech and let him get away for no good reason!"

aggressive person in that situation: "Oh, no! A crazed megalomaniac who plans on destroying the world killed my girlfriend and is just standing there making triumphant speeches! God, this is my chance to take the bastard out, for my girlfriend and for the sake of the world!"

passive person in that situation: "Oh, no! A crazed megalomaniac who plans on destroying the world killed my girlfriend and is just standing there making triumphant speeches! God, no! Please, don't die! Talk to me! No! *sob* What do I do?"

This pretty bluntly sums up the reason the scene fell of deaf ears with me. Maybe taking Sephy out wouldn't have been everyone's reaction, but when you're that emotional, reason goes out the window, one way or another. To put it this way, what would YOU do if a guy shot your girlfriend in the face in front of you and stood there gloating? Probably not just talk to him. In my case, I'd totally have freaked out and tried to get in some last moments with her, and when the guy started rubbing my face in it, if she were clearly gone, yeah, I'd fucking FLY at that guy and wipe the smug grin off his face. Hell would be a reprieve if I had any say in it.

Originally Posted by krogothwolf

I didn't really find his speech that out of place, considering Sephiroth was giving his speech as well, it seemed to fit then going all rageahol on Sephiroth because Aerith died. Also, Sephiroth called bullshit on his feelings, not his speech. It really wasn't immediate acceptence, it was more along the lines of things he'll be missing of her.

I find it amusing that they both really thought it was an appropriate time to make speeches. Sephiroth has an excuse, because he saw it as a large step toward his ultimate victory and isn't quite sane in the first place. Cloud, on the other hand, at least had the excuse of having a giant glass ball thrown in his face previously, or having been under the influence of mind control, neither of which happened in this case. There was nothing stopping him from shanking the guy.

And, uh, yeah, Cloud DID accept the fact that Aeris was dead pretty much instantly. Seriously, only tries to wake her for three seconds, less than a minute until he basically throws her body to the floor to face Sephy. There was no tearful farewell between the two if she'd lingered on a bit, which she technically should have, given she was stabbed through the abdomen. There wasn't even the paralysis of despair. If he had been, he would have tried to interact with HER a bit more, rather than instantly turning his attention to Sephy and blaming him for killing her. Hell, looking at that, I was just as ready to call bull on his emotions as Sephy was. Describing his physical reactions to the murderer was not appropriate. It was almost like him counting to ten to give Sephy a running start. The scene could have played out one of two ways: either a tearful farewell where Cloud would have been utterly crippled by his sadness and Sephiroth wouldn't have been his main focus, where the battle would have begun with him still holding her, or a scene of hurt and anger where he would have actually tried to do something about it right away, realizing that she was gone. The final product was neither. Cloud was acting like Aeris was supposed to be his main focus, but she wasn't. He was angry at Sephiroth, but not enough so that he'd do something rash and vengeful. All he did was make a speech about how Sephiroth had killed her and linger somewhere in between without really committing to a strong emotional reaction in a believable way. It LOOKS like he's going to be crippled by his sadness, but then he suddenly drops her like she was nothing and just stands there while her murderer gets away.

[Professor Smarmiarty]

Originally Posted by bluestarultor

This pretty bluntly sums up the reason the scene fell of deaf ears with me. Maybe taking Sephy out wouldn't have been everyone's reaction, but when you're that emotional, reason goes out the window, one way or another. To put it this way, what would YOU do if a guy shot your girlfriend in the face in front of you and stood there gloating? Probably not just talk to him. In my case, I'd totally have freaked out and tried to get in some last moments with her, and when the guy started rubbing my face in it, if she were clearly gone, yeah, I'd fucking FLY at that guy and wipe the smug grin off his face. Hell would be a reprieve if I had any say in it.

I have suspicions that you are a cartoon character.