The Playable and NPC Female Characters of The Last Hope and Till the End of Time

As we come close to celebrating Mother's Day in the U.S.A., I thought I'd spend the weekend commemorating the day by taking a look at the women from The Last Hope and Till the End of Time and trying to determine who would embrace motherhood, who would be wary of it, and who would overall make the best mother. I'll start with Reimi Saionji but will follow in no particular order.

Reimi is definitely one who would embrace motherhood after getting over her dislike over her own body and with the skewed vision that raising children will be easy. She likes to play at mother, but she's not completely mentally prepared for the changes motherhood would bring her. I feel she'd have a fear of passing on her ability of resisting diseases and other physical ailments to her children. I don't know if she'd ever see it as a good thing right away, but eventually she might. Children do get sick a lot, which helps to bolster their immune systems.

At some point, though, Reimi will question her desires about having children. Children are messy, and if the mess is something she can't get a handle on, it shortens her temper. She can't stand Lymle drawing symbols on the floor of The Calnus, and complains that, with the addition of Meracle, it's becoming harder and harder to keep The Calnus clean. But then, after a couple of "short-circuiting", she'd get a handle on what she'd deem a rampant mess.

I won't say she'd be a bad parent. I do think that she'd rule her household with iron fist and have expectations for her children. The thought of how she'd raise her children is something akin to a militaristic view.

Next on my list is Lymle. Given that she's so young in appearance in the game makes it difficult to gauge whether or not she'd embrace motherhood in the same way as Reimi. I do think that Lymle would embrace motherhood, partly because it would be expected of her. There would be some amount of pressure on her to marry and bear children due to her strength as a symbologist, one adept at fire spells. That's something her society wouldn't overlook.

Between Reimi and Lymle, I'd say Lymle would be the one more mentally prepared for children. She's held onto that particular area of her youth for a number of years. She'd know what to expect and how to treat them. Given the kind of lifestyle she lives, it wouldn't be too difficult for her to adjust to motherhood and to be able to teach. (She's shown teaching some local children how to call forth blooming wildflowers in her ending.) Her expectations of her children  . . . I teeter on whether they'd be or low. I don't know if there's testing among her people to find out who can or can't be a symbologist. But I do feel that, if any of her children didn't inherit her symbological abilities, she wouldn't be disappointed in them. It would be something that's, "Okay, so you can't do that. We'll find something that you can, and I'll love you anyway".

Third is Sarah. Oh, wow. Yeah. Sarah. I don't know how it works with Featherfolk, if the men take on the last names of the women they marry or if the women take the last names of their husbands.

I think Sarah would be in about the same position as Lymle when it comes to children. She'd embrace it, but in part because it's expected of her to do so. Like Lymle, she possesses strong symbological skills, and it'd be something her clan would want to see passed on for generations to come. Also, the same as Lymle, while there'd be disappointment if any of her children didn't inherit her abilities, it would be, "Okay, so you didn't inherit that ability. What else are you good at?" and the children would find a different purpose.

Between Reimi and Sarah, I think Sarah would be a better parent. Sarah has this personality that just allows for her to accept the strangest of nuances. I've heard that becoming a mother changes a woman, but I don't feel it's that severe of a change, where the woman goes from sweet, slightly clueless, and accepting to a 180 of mean, spiteful hag.

I now come to Meracle, who I think would be the surprisingly good mother. While I do believe that every woman I'm profiling for this would be loving and fiercely protective, I think it would be amplified in Meracle. I say that because of her feline nature. Not all queens (what female cats are called, in case you didn't know) are capable of being good momma kitties, but I feel that Meracle would be among those that would. Her instincts as a feline wouldn't allow for her to be otherwise. While it may not be something she'd consider, she'd embrace it with her entire being and woe to anyone who messes with her babies.

Eleyna Farrence is one who would be a reluctant mother. Knowing that she'll become one doesn't necessarily mean she'd embrace the concept the way that Reimi (or anyone else like Reimi) would embrace it nor would it mean she's mentally prepared for the changes it'll bring her. In talking with my own mother, my aunts, cousins, and friends who've become mothers, one thing they agree on is this: Just because you know what you're getting into and you're prepared for the changes that are about to come doesn't mean you truly know or that you're truly prepared until the big event has happened.

Eleyna would be an interesting mother. Her brusqueness wouldn't vanish completely. I believe it'd be softened some, but she'd still be the strong, independent, and slightly rude woman that she is.

Myuria would just be a mom. Plain and simple. I think she'd want to become one after she found someone who could make her happy the same way her deceased husband made her happy, and, for some people, having a child or children with the one that s/he loves is an extension of that happiness. Myuria wouldn't be one to fantasize about becoming a mother, like how I think Reimi would fantasize about it, but it's something she'd consider and discuss at length with her partner. She'd do her research, too, and at least find a way to mentally prepare herself as much as possible for the changes that will come to her life as a result of having a child.

Sophia Esteed would be like Reimi Saionji when it comes to embracing motherhood. She'd not be completely mentally prepared for the changes in her life a child will bring, but she'd be a little more prepared for the clean-up that comes with very young children.

I don't know if she'd be as strict with her children as what Reimi would be. And, yes, I can see Reimi as a loving but very strict mother. Sophia would be a bit more relaxed. Her kids would be able to be kids, but they'd still have certain expectations on them.

Maria is the only one who I don't see as embracing motherhood. At all, or at least not with anyone other than Fayt, and even then I'm not sure she'd want to be a mother. The first child would be one of those "I didn't want you so I wasn't planning for you in my life" kind of pregnancies.

Maria is quite the hard one to gauge. She isn't as hard as Eleyna, but at least Eleyna has the gift of foresight and so she'd know what she'd need to do and when. The problem with Maria is she's emotionally stunted and socially inept. I feel that motherhood would be something Maria would avoid because she does, on some level, know her limitations when it comes to socializing and emotional attachments. I believe she's smart enough to realize that, while it might be expected for her to become a mother, it wouldn't be the smartest thing in the world for her to become. For anyone to say otherwise, that it would be "good" for her, would be not true to Maria's character. Ultimately, given my interpretation of Maria's personality, she'd come to hate the child for bringing about such drastic and unwanted changes in her life.

Nel is another one who might not consider motherhood. She's a warrior first, caregiver maybe third or fourth. Unlike Maria, she'd be able to care for a child the way a child needs, but her becoming pregnant would be the result of an unexpected tryst with someone. Nel is married to her work. Her duty comes first in her life.

Of course, if Nel thought she'd be unable to care for a child, she might be the one to consider giving her child away to someone else who could. Nel is the type of person who would want to do right by any child to which she could give birth.

Clair Lasbard is one who I'd guess would have mixed feelings. Part of her would marry and bear children in order to please her father. (Adray is quite intent on finding a suitable man for his daughter to marry.) Part of her would want to marry and have a child simply because it would be hard-wired into her system. She, like Nel, would do what she'd need to do in order to provide for any children of hers.

By the same token as Sarah, Lymle. and Eleyna, I feel that for both Clair and Nel, because of their abilities in symbology and their skills as warriors, there would be some pressure for them to bear children. It is because of their societal construct. Granted, they live in a kingdom where women are the main authority, but even other women understand that there are some physical and symbological traits that they want to keep alive in their society.  While symbological abilities are also inherently rare among them, they would still want to see what could be produced from a woman with such skills, and still find something else for the child to become in the case where symbology isn't inherited.

Peppita Rosetti probably, until meeting Fayt (and becoming insanely smitten with him), never thought of having children. She's fourteen years old and preparing to become an intergalactic star. As I don't get to really knew her all that well in the game - I prefer to try and recruit Nel and Albel - but she does have a crush on Fayt. A crush, however, doesn't mean she's thought about having children or will ever think about having children. I think she would, though, because having children would give her the family that was denied to her. While she shares some similarities with Maria - orphaned, raised by others - Peppita isn't as emotionally stunted or socially inept as the leader of Quark. Nothing against Cliff or Mirage in how they took care of Maria but an organization that can see battles isn't the same as growing up in a performance troupe. They were treated differently so, even if Peppita ended up pregnant from a tryst, she'd be able to adjust to motherhood better than what Maria could.

Second to last on this list is Blair Lansfeld. I don't see her becoming a mother, either, or even entertaining the notion. She wouldn't be opposed to the idea, in my mind, but it wouldn't be something she'd actively seek. She and her brother are very similar. They both dedicate themselves to their work and probably put in some very long hours. Because of that, any children she would have would be cared for by a nanny.

Finally, I come to Mirage. Strong, beautiful, intelligent, quiet . . . every redeeming quality in a woman that a man could and should love.

I think she'd make an awesome mom.

Really, the only one who I think would make a terrible mother out of this particular cast of women characters is Maria. It wouldn't be because she wouldn't love her children. It would be because she doesn't have the patience required to deal with them.

Of course, one can never tell what kind of a mother a woman will make until she becomes one.

Tomorrow will be celebration for one of the established mothers in the Star Ocean universe, Ryoko Leingod and the weekly schedule.