Random thought about FF6
Celes means sky and Terra means earth, right? Never mind that Terra is actually Tina in the original Japanese script--we'll get to that a bit later.
Celes = Sky
Maybe it's just because the game developers were incluenced by that Amano drawing of Celes with a bird, but the game does seem to put Celes in the air in a lot of her important scenes (the balcony of the opera house, the cliff on the Solitary Isle, the rebirth of the Falcon, her nearly falling to her death in her ending with Locke). One of her major motifs seems to be falling/flying.
Terra = Earth
Meanwhile Terra is seen in a lot of earthy caves for her important scenes (Narshe, the Esper world flashback, the Sealed Gate, finding the Espers in Thamasa, even the side quest in the Ancient Castle). Her theme song is incorporated into the overworld theme of the World of Balance. If Terra = earth, then the Empire's actions against the earth--their deeper and deeper delving for power (literal delving, into the caves where Espers can be found) and their eventual ruin of the whole planet--are crystallized in the form of Terra, this girl who remembers nothing about herself but only knows that everyone wants to use her for something.
But once Terra taps into her Esper form, she flies a lot too...literally. It's almost like...even if her motif is earth, it's also about escaping it.
Earth and Sky Meet at the Horizon
Over the course of the game Terra's earth joins with Celes' sky. Celes starts high up there (revered general) and Terra starts down below (slave crown-wearing bio-weapon), and this power distance is very apparent in the first scenes we see them together, as in Terra's flashback to Gestahl's speech, where Celes stands with the emperor and Terra stands in the back. But by the end of the game they are in the same place, standing together, two women no longer forced to fight, but choosing to fight.
Cute fact: Celes + Tina = Celestina, an Italian name that means "heavenly." The last thing we see in FF6 before the end credits? Terra's hair streaming free as the Falcon soars through wide open skies.
This entry was originally posted at https://flonnebonne.dreamwidth.org/110340.html. Comment here or there - it's all good.
Celes = Sky
Maybe it's just because the game developers were incluenced by that Amano drawing of Celes with a bird, but the game does seem to put Celes in the air in a lot of her important scenes (the balcony of the opera house, the cliff on the Solitary Isle, the rebirth of the Falcon, her nearly falling to her death in her ending with Locke). One of her major motifs seems to be falling/flying.
Terra = Earth
Meanwhile Terra is seen in a lot of earthy caves for her important scenes (Narshe, the Esper world flashback, the Sealed Gate, finding the Espers in Thamasa, even the side quest in the Ancient Castle). Her theme song is incorporated into the overworld theme of the World of Balance. If Terra = earth, then the Empire's actions against the earth--their deeper and deeper delving for power (literal delving, into the caves where Espers can be found) and their eventual ruin of the whole planet--are crystallized in the form of Terra, this girl who remembers nothing about herself but only knows that everyone wants to use her for something.
But once Terra taps into her Esper form, she flies a lot too...literally. It's almost like...even if her motif is earth, it's also about escaping it.
Earth and Sky Meet at the Horizon
Over the course of the game Terra's earth joins with Celes' sky. Celes starts high up there (revered general) and Terra starts down below (slave crown-wearing bio-weapon), and this power distance is very apparent in the first scenes we see them together, as in Terra's flashback to Gestahl's speech, where Celes stands with the emperor and Terra stands in the back. But by the end of the game they are in the same place, standing together, two women no longer forced to fight, but choosing to fight.
Cute fact: Celes + Tina = Celestina, an Italian name that means "heavenly." The last thing we see in FF6 before the end credits? Terra's hair streaming free as the Falcon soars through wide open skies.
This entry was originally posted at https://flonnebonne.dreamwidth.org/110340.html. Comment here or there - it's all good.