Right now, you may be wailing and gnashing your teeth. If not, it’s likely you soon will be.
This article is an updated version of one I wrote for this site four years ago, “The Love Triangle of FFVII – An Analysis by Squall_of_SeeD.” It includes not only more thoroughly comprehensive arguments and counterarguments than before, but also scans of as many cited books and magazines as possible, along with copy-pastable Japanese text of cited Japanese sources — so that you may verify translation claims for yourself.
“Please, no more articles on the LTD,” you might be saying. Or possibly, “An updated version? WHY? It was painful enough the first time around!”
The reason, dear readers, is that the honesty and general credibility of this site — as well as yours truly — has been repeatedly called into question with regard to information presented in that original article and our “This just in: The Love Triangle Debate- over” article (published in January of 2010), as well as some recent translations from the new Final Fantasy 25th Memorial Ultimania Vol. 2 posted on our forum.
Accusing parties will not be named here, but I do ask now, should any future disagreement arise concerning translations — or the accuracy of information within this or any other article on TheLifestream.net — inaccuracies be demonstrated up front and fully explained. As well as accurate, please. Accusation alone and unfounded attempts to discredit are extremely insulting to those who have put their time and hard work into the articles here.
Furthermore, to attack one’s reputation is a grievous injury, not to be made lightly. Shakespeare himself recognized that one’s reputation is, perhaps, the most valuable asset they possess:
“My dear dear lord,
The purest treasure mortal times afford
Is spotless reputation — that away,
Men are but gilded loam, or painted clay.”
—”The Life and Death of King Richard II”; Act I, scene i, lines 176-179“Reputation, reputation, reputation! O! I have lost my reputation. I have lost the immortal part of myself, and what remains is bestial.”
—”The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice”; Act I, scene iii, lines 262-264
If attacking one’s credibility is injurious to the accused, how much more so must it then be to the accuser’s own reputation to do so without merit? It is my hope that those who have wrongly spoken ill of myself and TheLifestream.net will seek to uphold the dignity of us all in the future.
Speaking for myself here, I have spent far more time with the subject of the LTD than it warrants, and I intend this to be my denouement on the matter. That said, while I don’t intend to discuss it any further after this, if someone should approach me with information that conclusively renders statements I’ve made or conclusions I’ve drawn to be demonstrably false, I will be more than happy to discuss those details with them.
Otherwise, please don’t make a fuss just because you don’t like facts that have been reported here.
Thank you for your understanding in this, and for taking the time to read yet another long-winded diatribe of mine. Click below to enter the inferno:
●Dilly Dally, Shilly Shally — An LTD Analysis
Also, if you’re interested, discuss this article in our forums.
