-Indulgence-

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by XanderDWulfe

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"I do what I want! You have problem!?"
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There are few simple pleasures in the world like Quina Quen. While the character exists as a large point of contention for most, I've loved this joke of a character since the moment I saw them. Despite their lack of narrative drive in the story I'd still wager that Quina is important to Final Fantasy IX in an odd way. Quina, to me, is important like how Tom Bombadil is important to The Lord of the Rings. Someone who is simply is an example of what the world would lose should our heroes fail -- people that simply live and enjoy life in the most simple of way.

Yes, In a game full of existentialism and questioning one's own reality, Quina stands in abject defiance of all those theme by being unashamedly themselves. Yet at the core of it all, isn't that the point? To be true to one's self and be as they want to be. Quina, in their own rejection of the very themes of Final Fantasy IX manages to embrace it's true message of living life no matter what!

This is all a lot of fancy talk to say I like the big funny frog monster!

As is usually the case with these things, this initially started as a much smaller project that bloomed into something much larger then itself. Going in I knew I'd tweak some character designs, that was a given, but I had assumed Quina was perfectly fine...until I actually started drawing them! I then realized how much I could add, spurred on mostly by Yoshitaka Amano's concept art. While I don't think Amano's art fits the overall look of Final Fantasy IX, there is always something enjoyable about just how weirdly expressive his art is and Quina is one of those great examples in just who whimsically wild it looks. I like the idea of Quina, much like Kefka, is just a character that fell into a bunch of old doilies and turn that into an outfit. It instantly makes them more recognizable as the weird comic relief and breathes some life into a design that I honestly didn't really take into account was very simple before drawing them. Maybe I went a little too far, but I think it works for Quina and I'm pretty happy with it and as the only person alive who likes the character, I think I have authority to say that!

(DISCLAIMER: I know I'm not the only person to like Quina. I'm one of only two people that like them!)

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