Some Nooj Thoughts: January Blogging Meme

[owlmoose]

Today's prompt is from spindizzy: "Do you have any thoughts on Nooj and/or Paine that you want to share? (I'm particularly interested in your thoughts on him being a deathseeker, if I'm honest.)"

I have written rather a lot about Paine and Nooj, separately and together, over the years. My definitive word on the subject, if I have one, is probably the Paine/Nooj 'ship manifesto I published back in 2006. Of course, by the nature of that essay, it focuses more on the characters as a couple than it does either one of them individually, but I think it's still a good snapshot of my thoughts on them.

Nooj and his deathseeking ways are something I have thought about, certainly, although again more often in relation to how it affects Paine and their relationship than from his point of view. Given that it's one of the defining aspects of his character, especially in pre-game fic, it's impossible to avoid considering it. Other authors (particularly, in my experience, kunstarniki and rabbitprint) have delved deeply into the question of why Nooj sought death and come up with fantastic and creative answers, but my interpretation is rather more prosaic: he's suffering from PTSD and depression, stemming from his near-fatal battle with Sin and the difficulties of living with artificial limbs. Add in a healthy dose of survivor's guilt, and living in a culture that celebrates the ultimate sacrifice of the Summoners as the most important thing a person can do, and Nooj becoming a deathseeker is a logical result.

That last connection -- between Nooj and a summoner on pilgrimage -- is one I find particularly fascinating. There are a few indications in the game that people are uncomfortable with Nooj's suicidal impulses, and yet no one would even question those impulses in a summoner. I've often wondered if Braska took on his pilgrimage, at least in part, because of a death wish brought on by grief for his wife. Do people question summoners' reasons for going on pilgrimage? Or is it just assumed that the impulse is a noble one? Or is everyone so eager for a Calm that they don't really care why? Regardless, why laud a summoner and her guardians while looking askance at other fighters who chose to fight Sin to the death? It's a bit of a puzzle, and one I've never unraveled to my satisfaction.

Comments

[radish]

That last connection -- between Nooj and a summoner on pilgrimage -- is one I find particularly fascinating.

Hmm! Not being the biggest fan of FFX2, I've never quite given many of the X2-exclusive characters their due, and thus never made that leap.

Interesting analysis, and something to keep in mind when I eventually play the HD release.

[owlmoose]

I'm pretty sure I first came across that Nooj vs. summoner comparison in a Nooj/Isaaru fic by jurhael. It really struck me then, and I've poked at it off and on ever since, mostly in my collaborations with Ikon. I'll be interested to see what you make of it, when you replay the game.

[lassarina]

That's interesting, re: disapproving Nooj's suicidal impulses but not a summoner's. is it because Sin is now gone? Are people now desperately clinging to life in all forms?

[owlmoose]

Well, it's an interesting question. We don't see much of Nooj before the end of Sin, just the glimpses in the Crimson Spheres, and it's hard to read how people react to the suggestion of him being a Deathseeker in the places where it comes up. And then, in Nooj's sphere, clearly recorded post-Sin, you see him talking to Lucil about how he's not really a deathseeker anymore. So the evidence is pretty muddled.

Are people now desperately clinging to life in all forms?

It's an interesting point, yeah. In the FFX era, the point is repeatedly made that most everything in Spira revolves around death. "The spiral of death," as Auron calls it. But that seems to have changed by the time of FFX-2 -- except how much has it changed, really? You don't change a culture like that overnight.

[lassarina]

Well, Spira in X-2 (sorry, I last played it in 2004 and I don't remember it well; HD revamp will be fun!) is very much in transition and swinging the pendulum all the way the other way.

[spindizzy]

I hadn't thought of the connection between summoners and deathseekers, that's really interesting! (I kinda come at it from the perspective of Homeric myths - it's better to die in battle and be honoured for it than in pretty much any other way, which kinda worked with what we saw of An ancient history degree at work, I'm afraid.)

So, yes, this is an interpretation that hadn't occurred to me before but really makes a lot of sense! I really like it, and will need to ponder on it further.

I always imagined that summoners with a death wish were probably more effective - if you have something to live for, you're more likely to get to the Calm Lands and stop like other summoners apparently did. Plus, I think that it's considered that if you try to fight Sin without the Final Aeon (i.e. not as a summoner) you're throwing your life away? It's been a while since I played X, so I may be misremembering things though.