I appreciate Square Enix supporting LGBT rights in FFXIV.

[Theodric]

Yes, because having a character hugging another character in a field of flowers, a direct callback to two people in an relationship in a previous mainline game, is simply head canon to be ignored and carries with it no other reasonable interpretation other than they’re besties.

I think the field of flowers had more to do with the fact that Eden had been used to successfully begin the restoration of the First. It served as a light reference to FFVIII, certainly, but much in the same way as we didn't end up getting Ultimecia as an antagonist in the Eden storyline it wasn't an exact copy and paste of FFVIII's plot trajectory.

Furthermore, a relationship was directly established between Squall and Rinoa by the end of the game. Nothing is stated directly where Ryne and Gaia are concerned.

[KizuyaKatogami]

Yes, because having a character hugging another character in a field of flowers, a direct callback to two people in an relationship in a previous mainline game, is simply head canon to be ignored and carries with it no other reasonable interpretation other than they’re besties.





I think underage people can be queer and be written to be in relationships appropriate for their ages. I don’t think the same level of hand wringing happens in equivalent hetero relationships.

Please tell me, what signs there are that they aren’t more than close friends. The insight we’re given is they share food, go clothes shopping, and give each other friendship items. They both went through similar situations so it’s natural they would form a bond, but there’s nothing pointing that towards being romantic in any way. Ryne is the first person Gaia knows that’s around her age. It makes sense she’d get close to her and they’d have things in common. It’s a callback to a previous game yes, because that’s what ff 14 is about, callbacks. It’s simply a reference, nothing more.

[Caurcas]

Some 14 players are oddly caught up on ships. It's strange when there are far more interesting plot points and bits of story to engage with.

[Juzjuzz]

Yes, because having a character hugging another character in a field of flowers, a direct callback to two people in an relationship in a previous mainline game, is simply head canon to be ignored and carries with it no other reasonable interpretation other than they’re besties.

As you said there's two reasonable interpretations "gay" or "besties", that's not enough imo. To be sure if Ryne & Gaia are gay: it will be obvious and won't leave room for interpretations.

[Steinar]

You people are weird, seriously... To the point where I would 100% call the police if I saw any of you near my kids. Ryne and Gaia are both around 14yo, and you all can't seem to stop—somehow— seeing a sexual interest between them. From everything that we see, nothing points towards them having anything other than a deep bond and friendship going, and until something canonically says otherwise, that is a fact. I'm really disgusted by the way you people are behaving with this "shipping" stuff. By that same logic, Lyse and Papalimo probably were shagging eachothers brains out all day long, right? After all, friendship doesn't exist, it's all about sex— or so you creeps seem to think.

[Shiro--Tsubasa]

Yes, because having a character hugging another character in a field of flowers, a direct callback to two people in an relationship in a previous mainline game, is simply head canon to be ignored and carries with it no other reasonable interpretation other than they’re besties.





I think underage people can be queer and be written to be in relationships appropriate for their ages. I don’t think the same level of hand wringing happens in equivalent hetero relationships.

I wouldn't bother, people like this will jump through every hoop imaginable to avoid admitting that characters are heavily coded to be in a gay relationship. Using your example. They are blatantly using a romantic scene from a mainline game to convey the romantic intent, but those who are against the idea will try to excuse anything they can to avoid the romantic connotations. Which always makes me wonder. Why do they see one as romantic, while the other isn't. I think if you ponder on that enough it is pretty clear why. (there are literal memes about it)
Why choose that scene in particular, they could have done something completely different if they wanted to, but instead the devs chose that specific scene for a reason. The reason is obviously the romantic implications behind it, other wise they would have done it differently.

If it isn't, "There is nothing to indicate it" then it is "Stop shoving it down our throats!" or the equivalating romantic relationship to just sex which is incredibly shallow and sad saying more about them than anything.. or somehow being a certain age means they can't possibly fall in love or be attracted towards somebody... (funny how this is never a problem with b/g pairings in other media, dozens of tropes about it) Then there is my favorite moment when it is really undeniable, but still not confirmed. Then you get people saying both there is nothing to indicate it and stop shoving it down our throats at the same time. xD

I ain't even gay and I'm not even that big of a shipper in FF14 for anything that isn't WoL x insert NPC here, I just understand character-coding and literature analysis as well as cinematography analysis.

[EaraGrace]

Please tell me, what signs there are that they aren’t more than close friends. The insight we’re given is they share food, go clothes shopping, and give each other friendship items. They both went through similar situations so it’s natural they would form a bond, but there’s nothing pointing that towards being romantic in any way. Ryne is the first person Gaia knows that’s around her age. It makes sense she’d get close to her and they’d have things in common. It’s a callback to a previous game yes, because that’s what ff 14 is about, callbacks. It’s simply a reference, nothing more.

I think the field of flowers had more to do with the fact that Eden had been used to successfully begin the restoration of the First. It served as a light reference to FFVIII, certainly, but much in the same way as we didn't end up getting Ultimecia as an antagonist in the Eden storyline it wasn't an exact copy and paste of FFVIII's plot trajectory.

Furthermore, a relationship was directly established between Squall and Rinoa by the end of the game. Nothing is stated directly where Ryne and Gaia are concerned.

So it’s a coincidence that a scene involves one character holding another while desperately calling out for them to come back to them in a direct homage to Squall and Rinoa, which ends in camera pan as flower petals fly through the air, a song called “Love Grows” plays in the background and a rainbow colored pillar sits behind them? I’m not saying the plot in its entirety is FF8, but this dynamic?

https://twitter.com/ff_xiv_en/status...486250496?s=21

The 14 Twitter is even throwing hints like???

As you said there's two reasonable interpretations "gay" or "besties", that's not enough imo. To be sure if Ryne & Gaia are gay: it will be obvious and won't leave room for interpretations.

This is 100% not true. Ambiguous queer relationships are the norm for a lot of media. Yes clear representation is always best, but that’s not the world we live in unfortunately.

[Theodric]

I ain't even gay and I'm not even that big of a shipper in FF14 for anything that isn't WoL x insert NPC here, I just understand character-coding and literature analysis as well as cinematography analysis.

So you're not gay but still feel compelled to tell people who are actually gay such as myself how to read into something that is not explicitly confirmed? That's a little odd to me, honestly.

Personally I'm inclined to raise an eyebrow a lot of the more modern takes on 'literature analysis' because more often than not I find myself reading a book these days only to go and check reviews afterwards to see numerous people complaining about themes that were not even present in the story outside of their own head canon.

If some people want to read into a relationship as existing between Ryne and Gaia then they're free to do as much - but I'm not seeing the benefit in expecting everybody else to agree. Especially when the entire concept of 'coding' relies on pretending as if gay people always do and say things in a stereotypical way. Which...simply isn't true and isn't a mindset I can support.

So it’s a coincidence that a scene involves one character holding another while desperately calling out for them to come back to them in a direct homage to Squall and Rinoa, which ends in camera pan as flower petals fly through the air, a song called “Loved Grows” plays in the background and a rainbow colored pillar sits behind them? I’m not saying the plot in its entirety is FF8, but this dynamic?

https://twitter.com/ff_xiv_en/status...486250496?s=21

The 14 Twitter is even throwing hints like???

Yes, coincidences do exist and friends can care deeply and even love each other in a way that is entirely platonic. It also makes sense for Ryne and Gaia to call out to one another given what they had been through. As for the rainbow coloured pillar, that came about through the process of conjuring Primals in order to begin the process of restoration for the First.

As for the Twitter post, it's marketing - and I do believe that it is not written by someone who writes the actual lore and interactions between characters.

[EaraGrace]

Yes, coincidences do exist and friends can care deeply and even love each other in a way that is entirely platonic. It also makes sense for Ryne and Gaia to call out to one another given what they had been through. As for the rainbow coloured pillar, that came about through the process of conjuring Primals in order to begin the process of restoration for the First.

As for the Twitter post, it's marketing - and I do believe that it is not written by someone who writes the actual lore and interactions between characters.

You must admit that if someone does read their interactions before this differently than you have, that they would very logically not interpret it as being mere coincidence like you have? Or do you think that someone who doesn’t think it’s a coincidence, but a deliberate decision to include these things in this way, is just inserting head canon?

https://gfycat.com/fatherlyimpossibleglassfrog

Look at that coincidence

[Theodric]

You must admit that if someone does read their interactions before this differently than you have, that they would very logically not interpret it as being mere coincidence like you have? Or do you think that someone who doesn’t think it’s a coincidence, but a deliberate decision to include these things in this way, is just inserting head canon?

Everybody is free to read into it however they so wish. Yet with nothing explicitly confirmed combined with the fact they only knew each other for a short while I have a hard enough time buying into the idea of a deep and meaningful friendship between them, let alone a romantic one.

I don't think that there's a need for businesses to embrace representation for the sake of representation but I do believe that if they were to add LGBT couples to their games then they should be prepared just state it outright. Otherwise to me it would just come across as something left deliberately vague so that in some regions it can be played up and in other regions it can be played down.

As it stands, there's zero mention of them being anything other than friends. It may or may not be confirmed as being something more in the future, we'll see how it goes. It could be that both characters go the way of some of the other side quest NPC's who never show up again after their initial story arc concludes.