Since it's been about two months since I've started working on Raine, and a very detailed outline of her story covers most of the first game already, I think it's safe to finally fully introduce her.
Ever since I've started FFXIII and quickly realized that whenever I wasn't playing, I was thinking about the game, I knew I would try making an OC. After some experimentation with backstories, I ended up with Raine. At first, I was exploring her reactions to the events of the game as a potential party member, and her relationships with the rest of the characters, but it didn't take long until I've come up with a solid foundation for her story, and I've been hard at work on her ever since, enough to put my FFVII projects aside for the time being. I can safely say she's already joined the list of my favorite OCs, and I hope to extend her story to FFXIII-2 and Lightning Returns, whenever I get around to playing them (soon).
Given the circumstances surrounding her creation, as well as my belief that FFXIII's strength lies in its characters, beyond talking events it's only fair to also cover about what lies beyond the surface, as well as how her story works with the game's themes, accidentally or not. I'm not sure how I'm gonna present her full story yet; if it's gonna be something like Aya's page or something completely different, or when that might happen, so I may as well let you in on some things now.
Raine Amaranthe is a rookie NORA member who has moved to Bodhum not too long before the Purge at the suggestion of her internet friend, Lebreau (thanks Lebreau). Given the previous experiences that made her leave her hometown in the first place, she's largely distrustful of people, and being new in the seaside town and her group of friends, she struggles with feeling like she doesn't belong.
She displays high proficiency in hand-to-hand combat, proving herself to Snow in person after he doesn't make a good impression and causes her to challenge him to a fight as a way to test her skills instead, to his reluctance. Taken aback by her speed and technique, compared to his reliance on raw strength, he ends up on the ground and welcoming her to the team. Her turbulent start with Snow causes her first days with NORA to be even more stressful than they should be, as she can feel other members' eyes on her.
Charismatic on the outside, reserved on the inside, at first Raine largely relies on Lebreau - now her roommate - for any warmth. At some point she meets Serah, who's already hanging out with Snow and therefore the rest of NORA, and they have a few friendly interactions, one of which marks the beginning of their friendship, which gives her hope that her new life can work out after all.
The day before the official start of the story, Raine gets caught by PSICOM after trying to run away with the other members of NORA, bound to board the same train as Lightning. Recognizing the soldier from her time in Bodhum and Serah's stories, she decides to keep close to her and Sazh, to stay safe and help her save her younger sister while at it, to Lightning's initial dismay.
After the group gets branded Pulse l'Cie, Raine takes it really badly and draws parallels between her current situation and previous experiences related to her identity. Put on a path with Lightning, who she's already acquainted with by this time, and Hope, who she recognizes from a pleasant interaction she had with his mom a few days back, getting progressively more worried about both, she's bound to bond with them and develop romantic feelings for Lightning, hopefully put her own differences with Snow aside, and conquer some of her own long-overstaying demons.
Themes
As a transfem, Raine fits the game's themes of hope and defying fate very well, as well as its themes of friendship and mutual support, though each of them presents itself in a unique manner compared to the canon characters, together creating something very personal for her.
Put on her last legs the moment she becomes a l'Cie, not only is she completely hopeless, but feels robbed of the life she had only started building for herself a few years ago. Having a target painted on her back, she can't help but draw parallels to her place in society as a marginalized person herself, which only emphasizes the hopelessness of her situation. She desperately tries to hold on to what's always been working for her - having a goal in mind and staying focused on it - and she relates to Lightning when she notices the similarities in her way of coping after Serah enters her crystal stasis. Still, all of her efforts are rendered insufficient and lead to further deterioration of her mental health, as seen through the development of her brand, being more accelerated than others', which eventually leads to her dramatic moment in Palumpolum, where alone, stranded and ready to call it quits, she encounters her Eidolon. Only after beating it, she decides to keep fighting as she has been for years by now, fully realizing the familiarity of her situation and settling on trying her best even if it leads to her death in the end.
Similarly, ending up in a new group of people, all branded l'Cie and put in the same situation as her - while at first doesn't mean anything to her, as she grows closer to them, meets Fang who instantly displays care for everyone, sees how Snow's presence positively affects Lightning and the others, and how everyone is there for each other, she's forced to reevaluate her distrust towards people that she's been defaulting to for years. This causes her to grow more hopeful over time, come to terms with her situation and feel like her place is with her new friends, whatever happens. With her newfound strength, later in the story she often becomes the voice of reason when others are in doubt.
Raine's personality and journey are further shown through more subtle things. Though capable of masking well, she becomes even further reserved after becoming a l'Cie. She seems to display maternal instinct when it comes to Hope, becoming another motherly/big sister figure to him as the story progresses, though she denies having it. As a result, she feels for Sazh's situation as well, yet she can't help but side with Hope and trust him when he talks about his father. For all of her history and proficiency in martial arts, she turns out to be a very delicate person - she ended up being quite similar to Tifa Lockhart in this regard - and still, she's disgruntled with Cocoon enough to side with Fang she's ready to destroy it herself to save Vanille and others, and she has her reasons for this as well. Her disdain for Snow put against times when she sees it fair to defend him is also supposed to further provide Lightning with a more level-headed view on NORA and Snow himself.
Her l'Cie brand is placed on the inner part of her right forearm, her Eidolon is Hades - a representation of death, based on an FFVII summon capable of powerful debuffs, for Raine to control it and use to her own benefit as she grows - and yet, mirroring her last name, her Eidolith takes shape of an amaranth flower - a symbol of endurance, immortality and eternal love.
a concept for Raine's outfit by Hal, based on how i imagined her, but with their own spin on her and insight to help me come up with something creative.
With every "!!" I get, I'll introduce you to an OC!
Today's blorbo thoughts are all about my Final Fantasy 13 OC, Riona Cassel!
(riona cassel, 14 years old; during ffxiii; art by @eldritch-goth)
So Riona's super tragic, as is to be expected of a Link OC (TM). At only 14 years old, she's a minor alcoholic and a major swordswoman, though I wouldn't say major in terms of how well-known she is. She's just unusually good for her age (due to immense amounts of practice to cope with a family loss).
She loves bonfires, candles, and playing rough with/teasing friends, but is also terrified of thunderstorms, crowds, and graveyards. She used to have a pretty good relationship with her parents until above stated family loss occurred, at which point there was a familial rift.
She's paired with Hope Estheim, but does not travel with him during most of the events of FFXIII. Instead, she goes on her own journey as a Sanctum L'Cie, tasked with ending the Pulse L'Cie 'tormenting' Cocoon.
(art by bakawomans @ DA)
More info below the cut!
This is the history I wrote for her on her Toyhou.se profile:
Riona was born to Ayla and Renast Cassel in early spring, five years before her brother Eythil. She was a quiet child, often considered shy as she stuck to her mother's skirts and avoided contact with anyone outside of her family. Even her father struggled to get close to her. When her brother was born, she took to him more than she had anyone else. She was quick to learn how to hold him and was instrumental in raising him, despite how young she was. Her mother was so proud of them both, especially as they grew and grew closer, often finding ways to work at home just to be with them.
Their lives were remarkably mundane for years. The most excitement came from Ayla's job as a military engineer, but even that seemed far removed from the family's suburbanite days. Things were good.
And then the accident happened.
Riona was only twelve, left alone at home with her seven year old brother. Their father was, as usual, at the office, their mother called away for work on a confidential project. It wasn't the first time the two had been left alone, but there had never been an issue before, so no one expected one now.
Eythil was a curious boy, though, and prone to finding trouble. More often than not, Riona had been able to deter him, but she was distracted. She no longer remembers what it was that held her attention, she only remembers turning back to see her younger brother reaching for a pan of boiling oil. She remembers the moment it started to tip.
They'd called her little rabbit as a child, quick and jumpy. She proved it that night, leaping at her brother with such speed that she was able to knock him away before the boiling oil ruined his face. Little splotches hit his neck, his shoulders, but most of the oil fell on Riona's arm, burning it horribly. She was too busy screaming to realize where her brother had fallen, and it took her a few minutes to realize he wasn't moving or responding to her distress.
Eythil had hit his head on the way down, pushed so hard that his skull fractured when it hit the ground. When Riona finally came to her senses, arm burning and tears flowing freely, she scrambled for a phone, calling emergency services and then her parents, as she'd always been told to. It wasn't enough. Eythil died in the hospital shortly after arrival.
Things between Riona and her parents were never the same. Her father was home less than before, which hadn't been much, and her mother became a shell of a person. Any interaction Riona had with the two was hollow, lifeless, and often sprinkled with "it should have been you." Eythil had been the light of their life. It was all too easy to blame his loss on their remaining child, the one who should've kept him safe.
Everything started to fall apart. Riona was left home alone more and more, and soon she found her way into her mother's liquor cabinet. She'd seen enough media to know that alcohol made things feel "better", even if it was unpleasant to drink. She was desperate enough to try it, and...and the cabinet had been left unlocked. It was if the universe was daring her, seeing how far she could fall.
Between the binge drinking, she threw herself into swordplay, her first and only love. There was something about the gleam of a blade, its easy movement as it sliced through the air. Nothing else could replicate the powerful feeling it gave her, and god, did she need to feel power in a life as powerless as hers. She was good at it, too, and only getting better. She had to be good at something, she told herself. She had nothing else to live for.
It's been two years since her brother died. She'll be getting on a train to Bodhum tonight, to see the annual fireworks festival for herself. She's not sure if she'll come home again. But maybe she'll find a reason to live.
(Riona full outfit ref during the events of ffxiii; art & outfit design by LockeOculus @ Twitter)
Long story short, after her younger brother dies in a tragic accident, her parents blame her for it. At twelve years old, she remembers that her mother always 'feels better' when she drinks, so she delves into her mom's liquor cabinet to 'feel better'. She practices her swordplay. She avoids going home.
None of it works.
At the Bodhum fireworks festival, Riona meets Hope Estheim and his mother, Nora. Both take to her immediately for different reasons, and Rio remembers what it feels like to be cared about by a maternal figure and what it feels like to have friends.
When the Pulse fal'Cie is discovered and the Purge begins, Rio narrowly escaped it unwittingly by leaving during the fireworks. She sees the news of the Purge on television but doesn't believe what the government of Cocoon says it is, unlike her parents, unlike everyone in town. She tries to go to what remains of Bodhum, but never makes it, instead making it to the outside of The Sunleth Waterscape, chosen by the fal'Cie in control of weather conditions, and inadvertently pushed into a group of Sanctum military folk with little instruction but plenty of imagery of unnamed folks dying beneath her hands.
She learns later that these unnamed folk are Hope Estheim's new friends, and that he is one of her targets as well. By the time the Pulse l'Cie group reaches Palumpolum, Riona has chosen to work against her Focus, despite the fate that her choice entails. She joins Hope and his group and fights against the Sanctum government and Sanctum fal'Cie to the end of that story (not given here for spoiler reasons, though you can go look it up yourself if you're curious!).
When the events of the game are over, Hope is returned to his father's care, but Riona is mysteriously missing. He wonders about her, but it isn't until Lightning goes missing (events of FFXIII-2) that he starts to search for the two women and try to bring them back from wherever they have ended up.
In truth, Riona hadn't disappeared like Lightning. She'd simply run away, in fear of having to admit to Hope or any of their friends what guilt she lived under (her brother's death and her initial Focus, now wiped clean by the events of game one), and chose to wander the world of Pulse alone. Throughout her teenage years, she occasionally gained new allies and worked with them for short periods of time, but the only person she consistently spoke to was Snow Villiers, living in New Bodhum on Pulse's surface. He kept her existence secret from Hope at Riona's insistence but constantly needled her to go to her friend.
Finally, one day, she did.
I've yet to finish writing this story to completion due to not finishing FFXIII-2 or Lightning Returns, but I do know that she and Hope end up marrying and having two children: Eythil Jr. and Nora, named after their deceased loved ones. Rio never makes up with her parents, who still choose to blame her for what happened to her brother, but she also develops a strong familial bond with Hope's father and Hope's friends.
(Riona during the events of ffxiii-2; art by @eldritch-goth)
ty for the ask sadie!!!
and to anyone who made it this far: ty for reading!! I hope you enjoyed! <3
