What's Love Got To Do With It (warning spoilers)

So I have a question for all of those people who've gotten to 70 and completed their job quests... did you enjoy the love story?

To clarify, a lot of the 60-70 job quests are love stories. I've done almost all of them except for MNK, SAM, and the Tanks. And out of the remaining only Ninja and Bard weren't love stories. But someone told me WAR is one too.

SCH - the love between a lala and a former lala
WHM - the love between mother and child
AST - the love between teacher/adoptive parent and student/adopted child
MCH - the love between brother and sister
SMN - the love between creator and creation(s)
BLM - the love between a lala and miqo'te
RDM - the love between rescuer and rescuee (this one is 50-70)
DRG - the love between star-crossed dragons (some serious Romeo and Juliet shite, lol)
WAR - the love triangle between 2 brothers and a girl they are both pining over.

And while the Bard one isnt some kind of love story, who doesn't feel the sexual tension between Sanson and Guydelot.

So I'm curious, why all the "love" themes in these quests?

Well the name of the expansion is Stormblood, so really all the love stories make sense.

Red Mage didn't really feel like a love story to me. I could very well SEE it becoming one, even a possible love triabgle since I swear the RDM dialouge choices are some of the more overtly flirty ones we have gotten so far, but it didn't seem like a love story currently.

WAR's was the worst thing I ever had to bear witness to, and Curious Gorge should've been kicked down a mountain a long time ago.

PLD's was fun... although I wanted to slap Aldis over the head for him succumbing to his wanderlust and leaving Mylla hanging.... again. (At least last time he had a legitimate reason for up and leaving her, given he was kind of an exile and all... he's been exonerated now though so that whole "oh I have to go and train and get stronger so I can beat the Warrior of Light" sthick doesn't gel with me.) :p

Poor Mylla. She really should just dump the jerk. But, that's love I guess... ;)

BLM - the love between a lala and miqo'te

I did this quest a while ago, but I don't remember any love stories.

The PLD quest annoys me so much, how can a strong woman be such a pushover.

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Originally Posted by Dortharl

The PLD quest annoys me so much, how can a strong woman be such a pushover.

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This trope at play I guess?

I agree though, Mylla is such a strong person... until Aldis shows up and suddenly her common sense goes out the window and she's tripping up on her words and stammering like a giddy schoolgirl in the presence of her crush... yet can't actually spit it out exactly how she means to him (and Aldis, the jerk, clearly knows it and plays on it. He's like Thancred if Thancred had continued to concentrate on the sword instead of daggers and crooning love songs.). ;)

I really enjoyed the level 60-70 BSM and ALC love stories.

I love the AST job quest story, but RDM's questline has so much action I enjoyed it more.
that said, this whole expansion is like the WoL as a matchmaker, the (sexual)tension is palpable in all 4 corners of the realm! xD

You're forgetting Drk: The love between a man and his ETERNAL, SEETHING RAAAGE!

DRK is pretty much a love story dedicated for those you lost, so yeah. I don't find it so bad, anyway, and war quests were probably my favorite of all quests I've done till now...

An hildibrand touch that isn't too much, an actual story... Sure, it wasn't nearly as serious as others were, but it felt like the devs really liked working on it, and I had fun doing them.

It makes perfect sense to me because Stormblood seems to be all about forging new bonds and reviving old ones. And what is love but another bond?

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Originally Posted by Eloah

WAR - the love triangle between 2 brothers and a girl they are both pining over.

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Theres no triangle. His brother wasn't romantically involved.

Sprinkles of love here and there doesn't make it a love story. For SCH, DRG, PLD and WAR yeah you could say love was the main driving point, WHM it's a big gray, the rest love is barely to not relevant.

I love the WHM one. Tears were had. It's a bit of a stretch to call it a love story, though.

Love makes life worth fighting for. Its one of the most powerful emotions that drives people to be heros. Its the light in the darkness. We are the Warrior of Light after all so it just fits well I suppose.

I can't really see how the summoner questline was about 'love'. I think you are overreaching more than slightly.

ALC's quests to 50 were honestly a big kick in the gut for me, feelings-wise, and I feel there is very little that can match it. ...Or, I felt that way, until I started working on DRK's quest. It's just as much of a kick in the gut, if not a little more so.

I enjoyed the SCH to 70 quests but I feel its love story is a little too underdeveloped. Maybe if we spent more time with our job teacher or did more quests that fleshed that story out, it would feel more natural, but the pacing is a little off for me.

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Originally Posted by Dortharl

I did this quest a while ago, but I don't remember any love stories.

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Lalai and the miqo'te conjurer like each other. Each quest basically ends with Shatoto telling him, in her own way, to just tell her he likes her. Plus you notice his speech pattern changes depending on which one he's talking to. And in the end Lalai pseudo confesses to liking him to.

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Originally Posted by Aster_E

You're forgetting Drk: The love between a man and his ETERNAL, SEETHING RAAAGE!

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I haven't done DRK, so I couldn't say.

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Originally Posted by Canadane

Theres no triangle. His brother wasn't romantically involved.

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I was just basing it on the info I was given. Haven't done the quests myself personally.

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Originally Posted by alimdia

Sprinkles of love here and there doesn't make it a love story.

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It's not the sprinkles but either a baseline or an over arching theme.

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Originally Posted by Meraii

I can't really see how the summoner questline was about 'love'. I think you are overreaching more than slightly.

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I admit I might be, but from what I recall and reread it was Sari's over attachment to his cteations that were a big part of his story, thats why I added it. Think obsessed collector. Sadly not all love is good.

Also no one has mentioned MCH, I'm sorta shocked.

DRK is a love story about loving one's self and accepting who you are, every last bit of it.

I really liked the WHM story line. It was very heart felt and sad.

So much love in job quests and the MSQ but thanks to SE my character will be forever alone *sob*.

Well I guess you can see SMN a bit about love. Or more like what can loss do to someone. (If I remember it correctly) And yeah dark knight is truly about accepting yourself.

So SAM is love between a master and their student then student to their duty?

WAR was more of a 50 shades lust story.

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Originally Posted by Dortharl

BLM - the love between a lala and miqo'te

I did this quest a while ago, but I don't remember any love stories.

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Whut? The WHM is actually in love with Lalai, but only admits to Shantoto xD

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Originally Posted by Eloah

So I'm curious, why all the "love" themes in these quests?

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Because only love will set you free. You're welcome.

Maybe Im missing somthing, but I havent seen 'Love Stories' in the classes Ive done (DRK, PLD, WAR, MNK). They have some elements of it, but its not really love stories.

Spoiler:

Warrior is a love story about a Roe who falls for a Xaela, and messes up his inner beast. They eventually get together. I dont remember a love triangle in the War story line for 60-70.

Also, DRK has no real Love story line. Not that I saw. Its an introspection story. Kinda.

PLD wasnt also really 'love' driven, though there were love elements in it. It was more about a bit of redemption for Aldis.

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Originally Posted by Melichoir

Also, DRK has no real Love story line. Not that I saw. Its an introspection story. Kinda..

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I would say a love for your fallen comrades mostly. Not love, as in "let's get married" love, but love like someone would have for their family and close friends.

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Originally Posted by alimdia

Sprinkles of love here and there doesn't make it a love story. For SCH, DRG, PLD and WAR yeah you could say love was the main driving point, WHM it's a big gray, the rest love is barely to not relevant.

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Also, if you call a story about two Siblings a 'Love Story' people are going to get a very different idea of what it's about.

Beyond that, the brother-sister dynamic is barely a factor in it really. It's more about finally giving Hilda something to do.

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Originally Posted by SicariusSeven

So SAM is love between a master and their student then student to their duty?

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It could be about duty too. But my main take away was him trying to find a way to honor his grandfather and master, and then upon learning the truth wants to do what he can to save his master. But a love of duty works too, I guess.

Edit: not sure if I misread or one of us wrote the wrong job, but it's not the SAM story its the AST story.

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Originally Posted by Avatre

I would say a love for your fallen comrades mostly. Not love, as in "let's get married" love, but love like someone would have for their family and close friends.

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Didn't do DRK yet, bit yeah basically that. Not all of these are about lovers but about general love; eros vs agape.

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Originally Posted by CosmicKirby

Also, if you call a story about two Siblings a 'Love Story' people are going to get a very different idea of what it's about.

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Okay then lets say a story about love. Plus, while the story is to give Hilda some screen time, the underline is her brother and her overcoming the preconceptions they had for one another, given their birth and station in life. It's about them accepting the other for who they are. And while I can't say from Hilda's perspective, Muscadain's final dialogue seems to hint he regrets not being there for her more; I guess he's the older sibling.

I meant to combine this with my other post whoops, lol

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Originally Posted by Eloah

I admit I might be, but from what I recall and reread it was Sari's over attachment to his cteations that were a big part of his story, thats why I added it. Think obsessed collector. Sadly not all love is good.

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Using that logic you could stretch the theme of love to cover most scenarios. Surely you could link every single thing back to being about love with that mindset.

To me, the summoner storyline was about knowledge and power. Sari imparted his knowledge into a book for future generations to learn the correct way to be a summoner. After a time through which he grew decidedly less pleasant a person, he decided to impart his knowledge into a machine as well. The book and the machine, both sentient, had very different outlooks on the teaching of summoning. You end up having to defeat the machine as it keeps summoning Sari-Egis, whereas you gain knowledge from the book once you prove yoruself worthy.

Waitttt, so the DRK quest line's not about winning over Eorzea's most tsundere male NPC and taking care of a tiny elf daughter with him? Damn, what game have I been playing this whole time??

In truth, I think what it boils down to is that most plots--in this game and everywhere else--hinge on the relations between characters, particularly on strong emotions between characters, such as love. In order to avoid the cliched "Good guy fights bad guy" happening over and over again, the writers have to branch into other types of relationships and conflicts between characters, which will almost always lead them to examining some form of investment, whether that's romantic, familial, or camaraderie. I'm not sure I'd go so far as to say that all the writers had a united theme and deliberately wanted to portray love/care type relationships (in whatever form) specifically for Stormblood; I think it's more that unless the writers really go out on a limb, love/friendship/etc. are just easy targets for short quest lines that are not allowed to impact the overall main story in any way.