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monk-of-figaro · 4 days

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Major thanks to @wsancho, who wrote up such a detailed and thoughtful post after I shamelessly begged them to do so. I think they always have really interesting and well-constructed insights into the Figaro twins.

I'd like to add some additional thoughts and follow-ups, if I may.

1. Which fanfic is this?

…The deal was that there’s an entire council at Figaro that would prevent Sabin from leaving, so he has to escape, and the royal guards are chasing after him. In these circumstances it makes sense that the bros wouldn’t stay in touch, since it would endanger Sabin’s freedom.

Okay, first I need to know which fanfic this is. I've read a LOT of Sabin fanfic, but this doesn't ring any bells for me at all. It sounds really interesting, though! Sabin having to literally escape his royal obligations like a prisoner on the run seems like a unique angle.

2. Edgar: Masks, Mommy, and Missives

Second, starting with Edgar, I love these kinds of insights into what his mentality and motivations may be.

… But his lips are sealed when it comes to what troubles him on a personal level, what he fears, how he’s feeling, cough his mommy issues cough.

Yup, I think it seems very Edgarish to keep most of his extroverted persona somewhat superficial. The wit, the charm, the womanizing… all these may be parts of him, but he perhaps amplifies them as a means of deflection or distraction. I mean, it's something he has to be good at in order to deceive the Empire for so long.

I'm sure almost everyone can empathize with how difficult it is to wear a "mask" for so long. Poor Edgar must be exhausted.

I never thought of him having "mommy issues", though. If his flirting and womanizing isn't actually a mask but a coping mechanism instead, then I guess that makes sense.

I'd be interested to know why you may think he has mommy issues. How are children affected - mentally, emotionally, psychologically - when their mother dies during birth? I genuinely don't know!

Sabin is not a person Edgar does casual small talk with. They can be fun and lighthearted, but when they talk, it’s real. […] I can imagine it would be exhausting for him to even attempt to write to Sabin. Either be shallow and sully the one real relationship you have, or be real and put him in the position you tried so hard to protect him from.

Hmm… I dunno. I can understand that there would be difficulty maintaining that kind of twin intimacy while they're apart, and fear that attempting to do so might in a weird way tarnish that intimacy.

And of course, the things Edgar would really want to talk honestly about are things that could compromise the entire kingdom should the message be intercepted. I don't imagine that the most secure way to send state secrets across vast distances is through carrier pigeons.

Assuming they truly maintained no contact, I could see Edgar (and Sabin!) instead writing each day to his twin in a private journal - a book of the correspondences he wished he could have sent, kept somewhere extremely private and secure.

There's an EXCELLENT fanfic by @rynling (who I can't believe I forgot to tag in my earlier Last Line Challenge! 😭) called "The Road to Mobliz", in which Sabin chronicles the journey that Celes and he make from Tzen to Mobliz in the World of Ruin. I'd never thought of Sabin as much of a writer, but after reading it I think I've changed my mind. Maybe his somewhat brash extroversion is somewhat of a mask like Edgar, or maybe he has trouble being verbally eloquent and finds writing to be easier to convey his honesty. Or maybe both.

3. Sabin's asceticism

Sabin’s ascetic training would require him to be secluded and undistracted.

I've often wondered about Sabin's "ascetic" training, and even his qualifications as a "monk". To me, being a "monk" connotes mental and spiritual discipline moreso than being a good martial artist or warrior.

(I love you Sabin no matter what!)

In-game, there's not much that Sabin does that exemplifies any of those monk-ish qualities. He's actually pretty impulsive, emotionally reactive, and kind of a glutton.

(Sabin, you are beautiful and perfect in every way! Never change a thing!)

You never actually see him meditate, or practice his forms, or abstain from… anything, really. The only time you see him abstaining from an indulgence is with the woman who was hitting on Cyan. He says he's not tempted by her because of his "ascetic training" - something he didn't seem to bother with while devouring everything in the Phantom Train's dining room.

If anything, explaining away his disinterest as "asceticism" feels more like a way to deflect scrutiny and avoid potentially uncomfortable follow-up questions.

(Sabin, you are a glimmering angel, and I think you should eat as much as you want and keep whatever company you want!)

All of the above is based solely off his in-game portrayal. Luckily, we have an abundance of excellent fanfics that add in layers of complexity, rebalancing his in-game character with the expectations of what being a "monk" would be. Without those layers, he'd probably be more accurately described as a "brawler" or "pugilist".

He needs to clear his mind from the family tragedy and from everything that’s going on in the world. And in Figaro. And how is Edgar managing? Could he be in danger just like his father? In his mental state is extremely easy to get lost in dark thoughts.

This… hmm… I'm not sure. Again, I feel like in the game, he doesn't portray the mental and emotional fortitude (I love you Sabin!) of one who can isolate himself so completely from his connection to Figaro.

As you say, he expresses knowledge about the current situation with the Empire a few times. In the original SNES version, he says that he's been keeping an eye on the state of things.

I'm unclear whether he says that part in the Japanese version, but in all versions he already knows about the Returner's hideout being in the Sabre Mountains.

Also in all versions, he expresses concern about Figaro becoming a puppet state (or, in the Japanese version, a "dog to the Empire").

So like you said, I don't think he's completely isolated from the outside world. Whether he's "watching the world from afar" or not, he seems up-to-date on the Returners and their current location, and seems to have a general knowledge of Figaro's current political situation.

His reaction to seeing Edgar is also somewhat nonchalant. Had they been truly isolated from each other for the past 10 years, I'd have expected a much more emotional reaction from Sabin. Hell, I would have expected an emotional reaction after being isolated for a single month!

But instead, he's just kind of like, "Oh, hey. What are you doing here?"

By contrast, he actually cries after finding Duncan in the World of Ruin.

This is why I think that Sabin and Edgar somehow kept in touch over the years. Had they truly not seen or heard from each other the entire time, I think Sabin would have had an emotional meltdown upon seeing Edgar again - especially considering that he thought Duncan had died shortly before Edgar had arrived.

But he’s determined to become the warrior he needs to be, and that requires detachment.

See, I think it's the opposite. I think maintaining contact is how Sabin keeps himself motivated to train harder. He and Edgar both know that Figaro cannot hold off the Empire forever, and by keeping in touch with his brother - who maybe does update him on some of the harrowing details - Sabin finds the energy and willpower to keep going. He's a person who has a lot of anger, and hearing from Edgar refuels his fire, allowing him to focus his anger into his training.

5. Champions

In one of his podcasts, Joe Rogan mentioned that the martial artist who becomes champion is the one that does everything right. They don’t skip training even if they’re sore or if there was a party and they stayed up late. They don’t party, they train and stick to their nutrition regime, no cheat days. If they were to slip, they would lose the fight, and even risk losing their lives or get handicapped. You’re not allowed to take one day off while your enemy is out there grinding and getting better and stronger. Sabin surely is aware of this.

Joe Rogan is a person for whom I have no interest in what he considers to be qualities of a "champion". He's a coward and a basic schoolyard bully who is unapologetically slanderous and hostile towards the queer community (trans people in particular), and uses his vast platform to amplify voices that are similarly so, directly putting this extremely vulnerable social group into even more danger. And he thinks it's funny (or, at best, inconsequential) to do so.

He's a person who punches down, rather than punching up. As such, the people he considers to be "champions" are likely people who enable, encourage, or emulate this gutless mentality.

If he cannot recognize and respect people for whom the world actively vilifies and tries to either kill or suppress, and yet who manage to live and laugh and love and thrive anyway; people for whom simply walking out of their house can be a dangerous act of defiant bravery on a level that most of us are incapable of understanding; people who risk losing their lives, their jobs, their family, and their friends because they have the courage to step outside the box of expectations… if that fetid bag of ballsack sweat can't recognize those people as "champions", then his opinion is worth less than that of my toe knuckle hair.

Even aside from that, this mentality of "never stop grinding" sounds like a surefire way to injure yourself, or to burn yourself out, or to develop a crippling obsession with perfection, or paranoia, or all of the above. Humans aren't built to be machines, and I strongly think that people who try to aspire to that cannot maintain it indefinitely. It's just another facade to put on to seem tough in front of your bros. What are these people like when they're not "performing" for the public?

Phew, okay, rant over. Now I can refocus on what we were actually talking about, which may not have been my toe knuckle hair. checks notes Ah, yes. Sabin. That's who we're talking about.

6. Self-Improvement

Self improvement does elevate a person, particularly when improving on something as primal as one's physicality. Sabin is in a far better state when we encounter him: he’s sure about himself, but before learning about the broken alliance, he was still unsure about his own usefulness to the kingdom. Edgar would have reassured him if they had kept in touch 🥺

Yes, I think you're right about this. In whatever way he managed it, he certainly became much physically stronger than he had been, and definitely seems to have an abundance of confidence - at least in his ability to handle physical hardship, labor, or fighting.

Yet despite this, he still questions his usefulness for helping his brother. I think a part of him still feels like he should be better at the political and diplomatic aspects of defending the kingdom, something that I feel was hammered into him by his father that he hasn't been able to overcome. He still struggles with that sense of what "responsibility for country" looks like, because as royalty he was being primed to become a politician, not a soldier. By the end of the game though, I think he's finally been able to accept that he can still serve his kingdom by being its literal muscle.

To bring up another excellent fanfic (another @rynling one! One I already wrote a post about! I swear they're not paying me!), "Every King Needs His Guard" presents a post-game world in which Sabin is helping Edgar maintain peace and security within the kingdom in a way that he could not do had he re-embraced his royalty. He understands that this is how he can best serve his brother and his country; by doing the dark, unsanctioned deeds that are required for unity within the kingdom as everyone tries to move on and rebuild their lives. It's upsetting and powerful each time I read it.

I could see a scenario in which they both try this for a while - they maintain correspondence but try keeping it somewhat vague, superficial, or flatly untrue in order to reassure their twin that everything is fine - but I think they'd both eventually see through their twin's facade, even over paper.

7. Conclusion(?)

Again, thanks so much @wsancho for writing up such interesting and thought-providing ideas! Even if I may not agree with everything (or maybe to put it more accurately, my head-canon differs in certain areas), it's very fun to read peoples' takes on the twins, their dynamic, and what may or may not have happened between them off-screen.

All of it - even things not in my head-canon - end up helping me expand my own vision of the world of FF6. 🥰

About those 10 years of Figaro separation

Coming from the exchange I had with @monk-of-figaro on this other post, I wanted to make a case for Edgar and Sabin having no contact during their 10 years of separation.

Fan theories can be made to come up with “practical reasons” for them to lose contact. In fact I wanted to reference a specific fanfiction, but I can’t find it anymore, and I don’t remember the title or the author 😵

...The deal was that there’s an entire council at Figaro that would prevent Sabin from leaving, so he has to escape, and the royal guards are chasing after him. In these circumstances it makes sense that the bros wouldn’t stay in touch, since it would endanger Sabin’s freedom.

That’s just one example that I thought was well justified, but my intent is not to come up with practical or strategic reasons. I’d rather ramble about what drives them emotionally, and I do think there’s enough emotional baggage to create an unspoken conviction on both brothers (individually) that would keep them from reaching out and directly checking on the other.

On Edgar’s side Edgar is very outspoken about the activities he’s known for: engineering, womanizing and kingly stuff; also he's quite vocal whenever he’s trying to guide and build people up. But his lips are sealed when it comes to what troubles him on a personal level, what he fears, how he’s feeling, *cough* his mommy issues *cough*. Basically the things that affect him on the deepest level are his own problem, and his alone. Makes sense for strategic reasons, but as it turns out, the only other people who could understand him are his dead father and his absent twin. Both of which are probably at the top of that list of “things” that trouble him.

He lost his father, longs for the mother he never knew, and there’s only one truly precious person left in his life. He has decided to protect Sabin at all cost from the danger of being a monarch of a kingdom under external threat, and from the psychological compromise that is required to become a cog in the machine of world politics.

In order to be what Figaro needed, Edgar relied on his ability to lie and manipulate, and he put on a face that was pleasant enough for the enemy. Edgar knows Sabin passionately despises all of this. Even Edgar himself despises this approach, but he’ll do what needs to be done. It’s hard to find oneself in the desperate need to become so fake (and drag an entire nation with that decision), but even harder when constantly reminded of what authenticity is.

Edgar holds Sabin in the highest of regards, particularly his morals. He even wanted (needed) Sabin’s opinion (comfort) about the validity of all these decisions.

Sabin is not a person Edgar does casual small talk with. They can be fun and lighthearted, but when they talk, it’s real. Edgar wouldn’t want to lie to Sabin about all that’s been going on at Figaro, but he wouldn’t want to be shallow about it either.

Here's a very enlightening quote about twin intimacy:

Additionally, twins are not used to superficial relationships and small talk. Unknowingly twins may want closeness and attention immediately and with practically everyone they meet. The new friend may feel as if their twin friend wants too much closeness and attention. The twin may feel a sense of emptiness in new relationships and long for their twin, who can understand them immediately, depending on the closeness that they shared in childhood and adolescence. Taken from here

I can imagine it would be exhausting for him to even attempt to write to Sabin. Either be shallow and sully the one real relationship you have, or be real and put him in the position you tried so hard to protect him from. Best to just let things play out on their own accord 😞

On Sabin’s side Sabin left Figaro and brought with him a lot of baggage. A great deal of what he needs to fix within are feelings of inadequacy and powerlessness, and he's fully committed to the path he's chosen.

Sabin’s ascetic training would require him to be secluded and undistracted. He needs to clear his mind from the family tragedy and from everything that’s going on in the world. And in Figaro. And how is Edgar managing? Could he be in danger just like his father? In his mental state is extremely easy to get lost in dark thoughts. But he’s determined to become the warrior he needs to be, and that requires detachment.

He has to be able to set aside all of his concerns and all of his demons. Monks can be pretty strict about seclusion, but regardless of that, it’s a type of training that is designed to break (and eventually strengthen) body, mind and soul. It would be heartbreaking for Sabin to disenfranchise from his family, because they are what fuels him to do this. Ironically, a heart has to break to become stronger, and this is what will define him as either a warrior or a quitter.

I don’t assume Sabin took it to that extreme for the whole 10 years, because when we encounter him, he does admit to be aware of Figaro’s situation.

But what good would it do to write home? The whole twin intimacy thing is valid for him too, but Sabin does have the ability to be more carefree (partly because he's not good at understanding his own emotions). But would he want to tell Edgar about his injuries, or the harsh conditions he’s been enduring? Edgar already has a lot on his plate, and Sabin would never bring to him anything that could make him worry.

Sure he would love to tell Edgar about all that he has learned, how hard he’s been training and just what a life-changing experience it is to build himself up to become his best possible self, and how committed he is to do what needs to be done when the time is right... And then it would hit him: can he really talk in such a light tone about his own situation knowing that Edgar stayed behind managing a situation that Sabin desperately tried to escape? That’s no longer the case, Sabin is ride or die. But he’s a warrior, not a diplomat, and for the time being Figaro is not going to war.

Can he write saying “I’m doing all these things to be of help. But wait, the help I can provide is nothing you’d want to use” 😞

I also want to bring up a bit of an anecdote from Jocko Willink that I think makes sense for both brothers. Jocko’s is a more extreme situation though:

He had been deployed to a war zone, and his wife asked him to send photos of his little space within the camp. He went and took a photo of his very sterile and crappy looking bed space. And he knew that he didn’t want his wife and kids to see that. So he took a few personal items and placed them around the bed, hung a few photos of his family on the wall (he basically made it look like in the movies). Took the photo, sent it and then put all the personal stuff away, because he cannot go to war and do the things a soldier does with the image of his family inside his head.

The brothers are doing things that are not shameful in any way, but the nitty-gritty details are just not something they would want to expose to the other. Their silence is both an act of consideration and a necessary evil to keep their focus. Neither brother really knows if they'll see each other again, or if the "right time" will come to seek justice or if they'll get to live in peaceful times again. So they keep working for when that opportunity comes. If it ever does ✊🏼😞

#ff6 #ff6 headcanon #sabin rene figaro #マッシュ・レネ・フィガロ #edgar roni figaro #エドガー・ロニ・フィガロ #figabros #フィガロ兄弟 #wsancho #thoughts from my brain

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monk-of-figaro · 6 days

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I'm starting to develop a head-canon where, despite the numerous times he finds himself submerged, Sabin always gets clumsily washed out by the water.

I’m surprised Sabin didn’t get swept away by the ocean and end up on the other side of the world, knowing him.

#ff6 #ff6 fanart #edgar roni figaro #エドガー・ロニ・フィガロ #setzer gabbiani #セッツァー・ギャッビアーニ #sabin rene figaro #マッシュ・レネ・フィガロ #celes chere #セリス・シェール #can sabin even swim #tayasigerson

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monk-of-figaro · 6 days

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Bloody persistent!

No Escape

This part is one of the instances where because of how the game does partys with only seeing the one character you get some odd impressions of what happens.

I can see Cyan just kind of going along with this, but Shadow and Intercepter i would think would be like "no, thats fine"

My fave part of this is that ghost just... hanging on. I am fairly sure that was the idea that promted this 🤣

I started this a year ago as a quick 2h draw, got so so frustrated trying to draw the guys i just stoped and put it aside for a year lol

I really wanted to finish this one though, so i picked it back up yesterday and finished it today. While there is more i could do to it, it started as a quick draw so i wanted to keep it to fairly short times.

My quick draws went from 2hrs to 5-6hrs in a year so... lol this was probably about 6hrs.

#ff6 #ff6 fanart #sabin rene figaro #マッシュ・レネ・フィガロ #cyan garamonde #カイエン・ガラモンド #uhhh... unnamed ghost #えと。。。名も無き幽霊 #artandsomethingcreated

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monk-of-figaro · 7 days

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About those 10 years of Figaro separation

Coming from the exchange I had with @monk-of-figaro on this other post, I wanted to make a case for Edgar and Sabin having no contact during their 10 years of separation.

Edgar holds Sabin in the highest of regards, particularly his morals. He even wanted (needed) Sabin’s opinion (comfort) about the validity of all these decisions.

Here's a very enlightening quote about twin intimacy:

I don’t assume Sabin took it to that extreme for the whole 10 years, because when we encounter him, he does admit to be aware of Figaro’s situation.

But what good would it do to write back home? The whole twin intimacy thing is valid for him too, but Sabin does have the ability to be more carefree (partly because he's not good at understanding his own emotions). But would he want to tell Edgar about his injuries, or the harsh conditions he’s been enduring? Edgar already has a lot on his plate, and Sabin would never bring to him anything that could make him worry.

Can he write back saying “I’m doing all these things to be of help. But wait, the help I can provide is nothing you’d want to use” 😞

I also want to bring up a bit of an anecdote from Jocko Willink that I think makes sense for both brothers. Jocko’s is a more extreme situation though:

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monk-of-figaro · 9 days

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Sabin "McBain" Figaro

I realized something recently about this artwork of Sabin by Yoshitaka Amano.

(Weirdly, there don't seem to be any high-resolution scans of this artwork, at least not that I could find.)

This artwork was the first time I saw Sabin, way way waaaaaaay back in the issue of Nintendo Power (👴) that featured FF6.

All this time, I had thought that this artwork was of Sabin climbing up a mountain. But a few weeks ago, I looked at this artwork again and Sabin is 100% NOT climbing up a mountain. In fact, I don't know how I could have thought otherwise for so many years!

Nothing about the terrain looks natural. Everything appears to be metallic, smooth, and industrial-looking. There are even plumes of dark smoke in the background. How or why I thought he was scaling a mountain is beyond me.

Given the world of FF6 - and given the unnatural appearance of his environment - I'd guess that he's in or near Vector. The other industrial areas of the world, such as Figaro and Narshe, are not portrayed with such grimness.

Interestingly, Amano's portrayal of Sabin varies; I feel like he's either depicted as a lithe, semi-brooding naturalist, or as a hyper-masculine, Rambo-esque drill sergeant.

I suppose in a way, both of those are aspects to Sabin's personality, but the Sabin in my headcanon leans more towards the former.

(I'll also note that Rambo-Sabin appears to have a receding hairline and seems to be shouldering a gun, and one of those feels extremely uncharacteristic for him.)

I wonder why Amano depicts Sabin in such differing forms. Certainly his portrayal of FF6 characters went through a series of prototypes (hello peppermint Interceptor), so was Rambo Sabin an earlier prototype or a later one?

Anyway, it blows my mind that I had mistaken the context of the first artwork of Sabin I'd ever seen. Even though that artwork portrays Sabin Schwarzenegger using his macho strength to climb... I dunno, a tank or something?... I still think of Sabin as being less militaristic and more agrestalistic.

And if he HAS to be compared to a hardcore army veteran action hero, it should only be Topper Harley.

#ff6 #sabin rene figaro #thoughts from my brain #agrestalistic isn't actually a word #watch hot shots part deux if you haven't #sabin isn't like that character at all; it's just a funny movie

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monk-of-figaro · 11 days

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The characters all look amazing here, and I particularly love Gau chasing Mog while seemingly flying through the air. 😂

But the thing I keep looking at is the AWESOME Ultros/Typhon table. I can only hope that it has a built-in "Sneeze" that acts as a self-cleaning function.

Link @mo_3345

The stakes! 🤯

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monk-of-figaro · 13 days

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UPDATE! The FF6 30th anniversary event - 「Prosit ! ～30年目の仲間に～」 - took place this weekend, and we finally got a picture of the coin cake (among others)!

There were also drinks named after Terra, Gau, Locke, Celes, Edgar, and Sabin. Edgar's drink is a royal Figaro blue color, which seems appropriate! I wish I knew what the ingredients were, and how they were chosen.

I hope everyone at the event had lots of fun and sold lots of their merch! ❤️

Fancake(?): magicfighters (via Twitter)

Similar to the double-sided coin that I bought myself for Christmas, magicfighters (a.k.a. まいむさん) designed another "coin" featuring the Figaro brothers.

"Coin" is in quotes because it's actually a design for a cake. This is for a 30th anniversary event for Final Fantasy 6 being held in Osaka called 「Prosit ! ～30年目の仲間に～」, which Google translates to "Prosit! ~Join us for 30 years~".

(Incidentally, if there are any FF6 30th anniversary events in the U.S., I'd love to know about them!)

Magicfighters really put in some cool details in the limited space available. I love how Sabin seems to have the series-recurring Tiger Fangs weapon equipped. And Edgar has his signature hockey mask. One can only hope he's ready to cut the cake with the matching chainsaw.

You can check out more of magicfighters works here:

https://twitter.com/magicfighters

https://www.pixiv.net/en/users/4393817

The Prosit anniversary event posts updates here:

https://twitter.com/ff6_prosit

http://www.yonkoma.com/ff6/

#ff6 #ff6_prosit #ff6 fancake

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monk-of-figaro · 18 days

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Non-CHWM FF6 Analyses

I would love watching a good, 20+ hour analysis of FF6 done by people who are not cis, hetero, white males. I myself am three of those four things, and even I am tired of hearing from these voices.

One FF6 retrospective that I listened to lately brought up Christopher Nolan and I just...

#ff6 #ff6 analyses #i'm sorry i don't need anything to be compared to nolan's joker

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monk-of-figaro · 21 days

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The boys! 😍

Happy 30th Anniversary to Final Fantasy 6!

Figaro brothers Edgar and Sabin

You can support me here❤️

#ff6 #ff6 fanart #sabin rene figaro #マッシュ・レネ・フィガロ #edgar roni figaro #エドガー・ロニ・フィガロ #figabros #フィガロ兄弟 #finalbiodevilhearts

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monk-of-figaro · 22 days

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Random FF6 Headcanons

I love reading peoples' posts about FF6 headcanons, and I've been thinking about what my own HCs are. The thing is, I can't roll them out like a list because I don't write them down and then I forget what they are. Sometimes they just pop into my brain.

So instead of writing a single post with a list, I'm going to start a post that I'll keep adding into as HCs pop into my head.

This particular HC came to me when I was driving home from work, and it struck my inner truth so hard I felt compelled to write it out.

So the HC that prompted me to rush home, haphazardly park my car, throw open my front door, run to the laptop, and immediately start this post is:

Relm thinks burps are funny, but Gau thinks farts are funnier

#ff6 #ff6 headcanon #relm arrowny #リルム・アローニィ #gau #ガウ #thoughts from my brain #truth is powerful #I'm more with Relm on this one though

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monk-of-figaro · 26 days

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Ah, yes! How cool that a character who seemed like just a one-shot temporary party member suddenly has an accessory named after them, which happens to be found in the exact spot Mog was standing? And the questions it brings up!

What was Mog's and Molulu's relationship? Why does Molulu have their* own charm, and why does it prevent random encounters? Does it repel enemies, or does it somehow make the party invincible to them? How, and why? What does that imply about Molulu?

(While writing this up, I found that finalfantasy.fandom.com indicates that Molulu is Mog's lover, according to the Final Fantasy Ultimania Archive.)

And what was Mog doing when you found him there? It's highly uncharacteristic for Mog to be standing still (try catching him while he's running around the airship!), and to be doing so in such a unsettling and depressing place during such a bleak time seems... poignant. Like he's holding vigil or something. What happened to all the other moogles?

So many open-ended questions. It's like the developers intentionally left fodder for fan fiction!

*Strangely, this is the third time within a week that the question about moogles and gender has come up for me. The question was prompted by this manga I came across, written by someone whose only handle is listed as よこいち.

Based on my limited Japanese, the manga begins by Locke calling one of the moogles by the wrong name. Mog corrects him, and Locke admits that he can't tell the difference between moogles. Mog says that he can't tell the difference between humans, and explains that moogle gender is indicated by the size of their pom pom (which all look the same to Locke and probably all of us).

As an example, he notes that our aforementioned Molulu is female while another moogle named Mogupū (localized as "Mogret") is male.

Mog then tries to infer how humans distinguish gender and gets... really confused. Don't even bother, Mog. It makes no sense to us either. 🤣

Indirect Storytelling

@tayasigerson's recent (and amazing!) art of Sabin and Gau with Tiger Masks got me thinking about ways in which games can offer means of indirect storytelling that standard literature cannot.

I'm no expert on linguistics or the English language, so maybe "indirect storytelling" isn't the proper term. Or maybe I'm wrong about my assertion in the first place. But to me, the fact that only Sabin and Gau can equip the Tiger Mask feels like there's a character trait that is implied but never stated.

Why is it that only Sabin and Gau can equip the Tiger Mask? What is the commonality between the two that nobody else shares? What does this imply about their characters?

I have my own theories, of course - thoughts about how they both embody the idea of "wildness", both literally and figuratively; or maybe how they each have a connection to "nature" that is stronger than other party members; or maybe even their connection to each other has something to do with it - but the fact that something as simple as who can equip an item can be used to hint at character or plot elements is pretty wild, isn't it?

The Tiger Mask isn't even the only example of this in FF6. Probably the most famous example is the Memento Ring, which can only be equipped by Shadow and Relm, and to my immediate recollection is the only direct connection they share in-game. Everything else about their relationship is implied through Shadow's flashbacks (which only connect them by showing he was in Thamasa with a dog at some point in the past) and through Interceptor's uncharacteristic affection for Relm.

Because Shadow and Relm are not shown to have any real relation or connection, and in fact speak probably less than a dozen words to each other the entire game, the fact that this seemingly-random pair are the only ones who can equip the Memento Ring is really special (and easily missable). If everyone could equip the Memento Ring, it would lose its specialness, and we'd lose a key aspect of the Shadow/Relm backstory.

The Memento Ring also adds additional context by its description:

Ring blessed by departed mother's love. Prevents petrification, zombie, and instant death.

Most Relics in FF6 don't have as much lore behind them as something imbued with a "departed mother's love", so the fact that only Shadow and Relm can equip this strongly implies they each have a connection to this "departed mother". There are even fanfics (like this amazing one from @azurefishnets - A Nameless Memento) that use the Memento Ring directly as a plot element for the Shadow/Relm/Strago dynamic.

A third implication can be drawn from the fact that the Memento Ring prevents all instant-death techniques. Why is that? How and why does a departed mother's love protect against instant-death? What does that imply about the mother's own death?

In addition to the Memento Ring and the Tiger Mask, there are other items that can only be equipped by specific people. Here are a few choice examples:

Royal Crown (Edgar, Sabin)

Red Jacket (Edgar, Sabin)

Snow Scarf (Gau, Mog, Umaro)

All the "Suit" costumes, like the Moogle Suit (Strago, Relm)

Some of those make some sense - like the Royal Crown - but others are kind of open to interpretation. Maybe it makes sense that Mog and Umaro can equip the Snow Scarf, but why can Gau, and why can't anyone else?

What about the Red Jacket? Does that have some connection to royalty, or is there something else being hinted at? After all, red is not one of the Figaroan colors; it's the opposite of blue, which actually is one of the Figaroan colors. And why does it negate fire damage? Is there some connection with the desert heat?

Anyway, sorry for the rambling post. It just struck me how cool it is that gaming - and particularly FF6 - has this unique method of conveying story that is not possible with any other medium, and that's pretty cool! FF6 is also the only game that I can recall that uses equipment to convey (or imply) untold elements of the story like this.

As if I needed yet another reason to obsessively love the game so much.

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