Keywords relevant
....man I bet I could write a whole essay just on Laguna's feelings about Squall and WHY HE FAILS AT EXPRESSING THEM..... XD
do it
...
...right now?
yes.
Oh, where to even begin on this? I suppose a good place to start would be Laguna's thoughts on family in general. Now, first of all, FF8 tells us absolutely nothing about Laguna's life prior to us seeing him as a Galbadian soldier with Kiros and Ward. So, we can only imagine what his relationship with his family was before, whatever family he had. I doubt however in any case that he disliked his family or anything, but seeing as he became a soldier during his, err, particularly irresponsible phase, it's quite likely that he just sort of fell out of contact over the years and that was that.
Then came Raine and Ellone. And here we see that Laguna really, really likes kids. Possibly because he kind of acts like one himself, but that's beside the point. Which is that even before he's even admitted to himself he's developing feelings for Raine, he's more than happy to take on the "Uncle Laguna" role for Ellone, because he cares about Ellone, and not just because Ellone is the girl that the woman he likes is taking care of. Laguna just likes kids, and so easily and naturally latches on to the idea of caring for one, that when Ellone is kidnapped, he chases across literally half the world to find and rescue her. The protective paternal instinct is strong with this one.
Of course, after that, crap happens, and Raine ends up dying and Ellone getting sent away to an orphanage while Laguna's still stuck in Esthar, and can't do anything about it. And that's pretty much all Laguna knows or hears about it for a long, long time.
Seventeen years later, he's reunited with Ellone. And more importantly, learns he has a son.
Let me repeat that: he has a son. The guy who once risked life and limb and even took on freaking sorceress in order to save an orphan girl he and his wife took in has his own, biological son that he never knew about until now. Needless to say, this sort of revelation is going to stir up a lot of mixed emotions on the matter, but at his core, how could he not be thrilled? Laguna who obviously loves kids, who's extremely fond and protective of even an adopted kid, has a kid of his own, borne of the woman he loved.
However, matters aren't quite that simple as a father-son reunion. There's that seventeen year gap there, seventeen years when neither really even knew the other existed, a fact which is going to be particularly problematic for Squall, and Laguna knows it. In the game, he tells Squall he'd like to talk with him after the battle's all over, but then adds that if Squall doesn't want to hear about it, he'd understand. Squall grew up believing himself to be an orphan, so just what was Laguna doing all that time, and what gives him any right to insist on butting into Squall's life now? Et cetera.
The thing is though, this doesn't change how Laguna feels in the least. He's naturally a very amicable sort of person who's inclined to like people in general to begin with. And Squall is, well, family. And not just any family, but pretty much Laguna's only blood relation, and definitely his only biological child, ever. Laguna hasn't remarried in seventeen years, it's highly unlikely he'll ever have more kids. For a long time he thought he had none in the first place. Laguna cares about Squall for Squall's sake, of course, but no matter what Squall was like, Laguna would still care about him just because Squall's his son, and it's only natural for a father to care about his kid.
The problem is, of course, well, a couple of things. Laguna cares about Squall, but he knows that they can't make up for lost time, not really. Even so, he does on a certain level want to, or at least try. He's well aware that whether intentionally or not he messed up and thus missed out on his chance to raise his own son, but he's more than willing (and happy) to do whatever he can now. If Squall wants him to. Or at least, if Squall doesn't mind. But Squall is Squall, and Laguna barely knows him, and isn't exactly going to have an easy time of getting the antisocial teenager to open up to him, let alone convince him to let Laguna show that affection and care and concern as fathers do.
Which is the other thing- Laguna himself is not good at expressing his feelings, even when he's aware of them. He knew he was interested in Julia, but good luck on getting up the courage to do anything, let alone having any idea how to say what he thought. Even proposing to Raine, words failed him, and he asked after awkwardly working his way around to the point by simply taking her hand and slipping a ring onto her finger. In the right context, his inability to put words to his thoughts can be taken as cute or a bit of a charm point, but as often as not, in hinders him in saying what he feels to people. Laguna loves his son, no matter what, and wants to be there for him and protect him and spend time with him and all those fatherly things, but he's at a loss as to how to even begin dealing with someone he didn't even know existed for the past seventeen years. It's not for lack of interest, but just that he has no idea what Squall's comfortable, or if Squall even wants to deal with a father, or what's even okay to do in this sort of situation. The last thing Laguna wants would be to accidentally push Squall away, after all.
And thus, he continues to have ridiculously awkward and sort of skirting the issue conversations and interactions with Squall, all the while wanting to be able to do more, but being too uncertain to even try and risk too much. Laguna loves Squall, he just doesn't know how to say it. Let alone say it without being interrupted with an ill-timed legcramp.
do it
...
...right now?
yes.
Oh, where to even begin on this? I suppose a good place to start would be Laguna's thoughts on family in general. Now, first of all, FF8 tells us absolutely nothing about Laguna's life prior to us seeing him as a Galbadian soldier with Kiros and Ward. So, we can only imagine what his relationship with his family was before, whatever family he had. I doubt however in any case that he disliked his family or anything, but seeing as he became a soldier during his, err, particularly irresponsible phase, it's quite likely that he just sort of fell out of contact over the years and that was that.
Then came Raine and Ellone. And here we see that Laguna really, really likes kids. Possibly because he kind of acts like one himself, but that's beside the point. Which is that even before he's even admitted to himself he's developing feelings for Raine, he's more than happy to take on the "Uncle Laguna" role for Ellone, because he cares about Ellone, and not just because Ellone is the girl that the woman he likes is taking care of. Laguna just likes kids, and so easily and naturally latches on to the idea of caring for one, that when Ellone is kidnapped, he chases across literally half the world to find and rescue her. The protective paternal instinct is strong with this one.
Of course, after that, crap happens, and Raine ends up dying and Ellone getting sent away to an orphanage while Laguna's still stuck in Esthar, and can't do anything about it. And that's pretty much all Laguna knows or hears about it for a long, long time.
Seventeen years later, he's reunited with Ellone. And more importantly, learns he has a son.
Let me repeat that: he has a son. The guy who once risked life and limb and even took on freaking sorceress in order to save an orphan girl he and his wife took in has his own, biological son that he never knew about until now. Needless to say, this sort of revelation is going to stir up a lot of mixed emotions on the matter, but at his core, how could he not be thrilled? Laguna who obviously loves kids, who's extremely fond and protective of even an adopted kid, has a kid of his own, borne of the woman he loved.
However, matters aren't quite that simple as a father-son reunion. There's that seventeen year gap there, seventeen years when neither really even knew the other existed, a fact which is going to be particularly problematic for Squall, and Laguna knows it. In the game, he tells Squall he'd like to talk with him after the battle's all over, but then adds that if Squall doesn't want to hear about it, he'd understand. Squall grew up believing himself to be an orphan, so just what was Laguna doing all that time, and what gives him any right to insist on butting into Squall's life now? Et cetera.
The thing is though, this doesn't change how Laguna feels in the least. He's naturally a very amicable sort of person who's inclined to like people in general to begin with. And Squall is, well, family. And not just any family, but pretty much Laguna's only blood relation, and definitely his only biological child, ever. Laguna hasn't remarried in seventeen years, it's highly unlikely he'll ever have more kids. For a long time he thought he had none in the first place. Laguna cares about Squall for Squall's sake, of course, but no matter what Squall was like, Laguna would still care about him just because Squall's his son, and it's only natural for a father to care about his kid.
The problem is, of course, well, a couple of things. Laguna cares about Squall, but he knows that they can't make up for lost time, not really. Even so, he does on a certain level want to, or at least try. He's well aware that whether intentionally or not he messed up and thus missed out on his chance to raise his own son, but he's more than willing (and happy) to do whatever he can now. If Squall wants him to. Or at least, if Squall doesn't mind. But Squall is Squall, and Laguna barely knows him, and isn't exactly going to have an easy time of getting the antisocial teenager to open up to him, let alone convince him to let Laguna show that affection and care and concern as fathers do.
Which is the other thing- Laguna himself is not good at expressing his feelings, even when he's aware of them. He knew he was interested in Julia, but good luck on getting up the courage to do anything, let alone having any idea how to say what he thought. Even proposing to Raine, words failed him, and he asked after awkwardly working his way around to the point by simply taking her hand and slipping a ring onto her finger. In the right context, his inability to put words to his thoughts can be taken as cute or a bit of a charm point, but as often as not, in hinders him in saying what he feels to people. Laguna loves his son, no matter what, and wants to be there for him and protect him and spend time with him and all those fatherly things, but he's at a loss as to how to even begin dealing with someone he didn't even know existed for the past seventeen years. It's not for lack of interest, but just that he has no idea what Squall's comfortable, or if Squall even wants to deal with a father, or what's even okay to do in this sort of situation. The last thing Laguna wants would be to accidentally push Squall away, after all.
And thus, he continues to have ridiculously awkward and sort of skirting the issue conversations and interactions with Squall, all the while wanting to be able to do more, but being too uncertain to even try and risk too much. Laguna loves Squall, he just doesn't know how to say it. Let alone say it without being interrupted with an ill-timed legcramp.