Commas Sleeping in the Grass

Procrastination Doodles

tfw your best friend grows up into a buff, statuesque super-model

"it’s ok…you don’t have to do anything. i’ll take it all myself."

day of ragnarok

Fang & Vanille

i could’ve spent my evening working on an exam due in less than 15 hours but i didn’t

The Main Characters of the Final Fantasy XIII series - updated.

Who is your favourite?

cries about xiii every day with my vanille

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII - Cast

phoeny:

ライトニングサーガまとめ2 | sanokichi [pixiv]

the cradle will fall

I wish people noticed Sazh more. I love him. He was pretty much the smartest person in the group and THAT AFRO. I LOVE THE AFRO I WANT TO LIVE IN THE AFRO.

うちらに任せな | 東　涼子 [pixiv] 

New artwork for Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII revealed in this week’s issue of Famitsu. The key art confirms the reappearance of Caius Ballad and Paddra Nsu-Yeul from Final Fantasy XIII-2; and the first render of returning character Oerba Dia Vanille, seen wearing a veil and clasping her hands in prayer.

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII will be available for Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 on February 11, 2014 in North America, and February 14, 2014 in Europe.

The mighty Lightning Farron has never held hands in public before.

FFXIII ガールズ | longai [pixiv] 

Vanille and Fang’s symbolism is so great and I wanted to share some possible references here about these two girls.

They’re based on the Nordic myth of Ragnarok, in which when the end of the world comes, two humans, Líf and Lifthrasir, will sleep inside the Tree of Life Yggdrassil until the world becomes verdant and prosperous again, and then they’ll awake and repoblate the world with their offspring. You know Fang was originally planned as a male character, but Squenix said the only thing they changed was her gender, so it’s safe to say Vanille and Fang are a canon couple given that they stated they were paired up in origin.

Anyway. That’s the Nordic legend in which they’re based, fittingly enough given by the fact they become Ragnarok and then entered crystal stasis inside Cocoon’s pillar. But here I come with more references!

I wrote a short analysis about them in which I exposed Vanille and Fang’s symbolism with the sun and the moon. Their last names, “Dia" and “Yun", are direct references with sun and moon, “dia" meaning “day" in Spanish and “yun", as all Yuna fans should know, in Okinawan dialect - I think it was that - means “moon". Their earrings are shaped in the classic way to represent sun and moon: Vanille’s are rings, circles; Fang’s are, well, fangs, but their shape can be perfectly seen as a crescent moon as well. Not to mention their clothing, the traditional colors for male and female: Vanille’s pink and possibly white, and Fang’s blue and black. Serah and Noel also have this scheme in their outfits.

This analogy with sun and moon can be directly related to their fusion in order to become Ragnarok. This beast is called the Day of Wrath, harbringer of destruction… In ancient times, celestial phenomena like rainbows or eclipses were considered as a signal of incoming catastrophe. If Vanille and Fang symbolized sun and moon, then they merged and become one, that’s a quite clear allegory to an eclipse. And indeed, even though they wanted to save Cocoon and they did, Ragnarok’s appearance triggered the end of the world we’re gonna see in Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, since everything started with Etro’s intervention after it.

The position in which they crystallize clearly invokes the Yin and Yang. I guess you all know, this symbol represents the male and female perfect union, in which there’s a part of male in every female and viceversa. That’s the original meaning of it, and going further, it also bears an undeniable sexual context. You know, the union between male and female and becoming one. In ancient times, this was seen as a divine act, through which new life could be created. And in a sense, that’s what Fang and Vanille do. I believe there’s a subtle reference to this in the ending sequence, when they’re creating the crystal pillar. But it’s up to you to find it. And that’s not a pervert subtext at all: the fertility rituals were considered the most divine of all. It was something deeply spiritual.

Then, the last thing to point here is a biblical reference: their Eidoliths. Vanille’s shaped like an apple and Fang’s like a… well, fang. You see, in a metaphorical context, what happens when you merge a fang and an apple? That’s it: a bite. To an apple. I can’t help but see a connection with Adam and Eve’s myth. It could seem a bit wicked, but then you think about it: according to the Bible, it was that bite to the apple what kicked out humanity from Paradise. You think it through and remember how many times Cocoon was called a “paradise for humanity" in-game and out-game. And what happened to mankind after the ending of Final Fantasy XIII? You do the match.

Throughout the first half of Final Fantasy XIII before it is formally revealed Oerba Dia Vanille is a l’Cie from Gran Pulse, there are many points at the beginning of the game in which it is hinted that Vanille is not from Cocoon, and she even cheekily references her 500 year crystal stasis prior to the game’s events in the above conversation between her and Sazh Katzroy in chapter four.