#julia heartilly

[ryllen]

i always find it the funniest that ff8 has the biggest chance of entire story being canceled if their parents just ended up marrying each other's initial crush

[pencilequipped]

Worked pretty hard on this one! It was originally just going to be an Ultimecia painting but then I started wanting to encorporate more and more of the time compression element, so suddenly I was doing a gigantic collage. There's over 60 smaller paintings in the background of various scenes, characters, creatures, etc. There's so many I could have included. I'd love to know what scenes I should have added from anyone who sees it, there's a lot I regret not putting in there.

I also did a piece thats more of a collage, just to showcase some of the art as it is quite small on the main piece (so it's still the same art, just rearranged). Final Fantasy 8 is one of my favorite games of all time and i think it's one of the best in the series.

[ethernalium]

Laguna, Kiros, Ward and Julia for Magic The Gathering

[kennycrows]

Dreams of Laguna Illustrator: Solan

[emilicorail]

Son is being so judgemental

[flourish-of-steel]

Single cover art

[angelosearch]

Overthinking "Eyes on Me" and it's 3 AM and here is my crackpot theory with cited sources:

In an interview with Nobuo Uematsu, Final Fantasy VIII’s composer, in the 2005 Ultimania Omega, Uematsu says Celine Dion was considered for the Final Fantasy VIII theme, “Eyes on Me” (GameFAQs). This fact has been rolling around in my head since I learned it a few weeks ago. I started to listening to “Eyes on Me” with fresh ears. Sure, I thought, I could imagine Celine Dion singing this. It would be great.

Tonight, I was listening to Celine Dion (to be completely transparent, stoned) and “Eyes on Me” doesn’t just sound like something Celine would sing. It is a Celine song. Sonically, it sounds a lot like “My Heart Will go On” (1997) – especially the opening of both songs. Listen to them back-to-back.

Also similar in sound is “Beauty and the Beast” (1991).

I wish I knew more about music theory to explain what else sounds similar about these songs. But anyway.

It’s not just that these songs are sonically similar to “Eyes on Me.” The vibe is the same. The love stories, especially the ones told on her “most critically and commercially successful album” Falling Into You (1996), have the same intensity and drama as Squall and Rinoa’s love story (Wikipedia).

And isn’t that what Final Fantasy VIII (1999) is all about, an epic love story? Look at the logo. It’s literally Squall and Rinoa holding each other. The other Final Fantasy logos are not like that.

Celine is at the top of her career in the mid-to-late 90s. She is internationally known as the “Queen of the Power Ballad” (MTV). She tours in Japan in 1998 on her “Let’s Talk about Love” tour (that’s the album my “My Heart Will Go On” is on) and her tickets sell out in a day (Wikipedia).

And this videogame, where the love story is the focus, has the special opportunity of being the first Final Fantasy with a full-length live-recorded vocal track, something Squaresoft had been wanting to do for years (finalfantasy.fandom.com). This is a moment that needs to blow people’s mind.

Celine Dion would be the perfect choice for this song, from a marketing perspective. I believe she was a strong contender for the performance, and, honestly, I think they tried to get her but couldn’t.

Why do I believe they shot their shot with her and failed? Okay, this is where I go full conspiracy theory.

Because the song was such an integral part of the game, the developers wanted Julia to share similarities with the actual singer of the song. This is why, in the final game, Julia was animated to look like Faye Wong (finalfantasy.fandom.com).

But it turns out Julia has some things in common with Celine Dion. Celine started her career singing in a piano bar. Like Julia, she became an instant success with her public debut. Celine first got famous singing in French, and while I know she is French-Canadian, I find it interesting that Galbadia has a lot of French symbolism. Deling City, where Julia performs, has the Arc de Triomphe after all (finalfantasy.fandom.com).

Those are the strongest comparisons. But also, for your consideration:

The first song that she recorded ("Ce n'était qu'un rêve" which translates as "It Was Only a Dream" or "Nothing But A Dream" – also Final Fantasy VIIIish title) was sent to René Angélil who first became her manager, and, later, her lover. He was 26 years her senior. To me, this has a lot of tonal similarities to Julia/Carraway’s relationship.

Does anyone else think this red cut-out Versace gown at the American Music Awards in 1993 kinda looks like Julia’s dress? Even if not, look through Celine Dion’s outfits from the 90s. This is the kind of thing she would have worn, and also red seems to be her color (BAZAAR).

Final Fantasy VIII also SEEMS like it was heavily influenced by “My Heart Will Go On” and/or Titanic in general. I think there’s a reason there are dozens of “My Heart Will Go On” Final Fantasy VIII AMVs on YouTube – The song fits the game perfectly. Have you SEEN the official music video for this song? I don’t know, I see lots of parallels.  

Some of the most romantic scenes in Final Fantasy VIII either take place on a balcony or in view of the ocean, just like in Titanic. Titanic has a dance scene too, though I cannot speak to how similar these are. This seems too outlandish to be relevant but I am going to throw it out there: River Phoenix, who Squall’s facial features were based on (Wikipedia), was considered for the role of Jack in Titanic (IMDb). Maybe the developers wanted a “Jack” of their own.

And DO NOT GET ME STARTED on the Final Fantasy VIII/Beauty and the Beast parallels. I’m just going to link to these gif sets: [x] [x]

And then in FREAKING 2007 Celine Dion comes out with, GET THIS, “Eyes on Me.” But it’s a completely different song. So if you Google “Celine Dion Eyes on Me,” you can’t find anything about them considering Celine for the videogame theme under all the other search results. CELINE WHAT ARE YOU HIDING?!

So here is my stupid conspiracy: I think the game was written, at least in part, as a love letter to Celine Dion in an attempt to do anything to get her to sing for them. I am pretty sure videogames did not have big artists featured at the time, and she was literally the artist of that moment. It would not be easy to convince her to work with them, so they put in Celine easter eggs to try and get her to agree. Because imagine how much bigger Final Fantasy VIII could have been if they could say Celine Dion was attached to it? Hell, I am pretty sure my mom would have played it if that was the case.

I know that the story is that they went through CDs and Faye Wong was the top choice—and don’t get me wrong, she did a great job, and she still made the song super famous—But I just think this is A LOT OF PARALELLS to just ignore.

All I am saying is, what the fuck is Final Fantasy VIII about if not “The Power of Love”?

Thank you for coming to my TedTalk.

[translucentchick]

FF8 Doodles