it is established in the ruby dragon dream sequence that laguna (presumably at the beginning of his military career) was trained to use blade-type weapons in addition to conventional firearms. dissidia duodecim further supports this fact by permitting laguna use of likewise equipment, giving him a wide selection of melee and ranged accoutrements. however, given that laguna comes across rather hazy on the proper form a swordsman should take when playing his role as sorceress’ knight, we can infer he didn’t make use of his training (and probably let it collect dust somewhere in the back of his head if it didn’t fly in through one ear and out the other lbr).
kiros and ward both use melee weapons: the katal and harpoon, respectively. yes, harpoons are thrown, but as seen in ward’s battle animation, they must be retrieved. dissimilarly, bullets are fired and forgotten, which is perfect for a man like laguna, who isn’t fond of battle, but doesn’t hate it enough to leave before distinguishing himself as a soldier and making squad captain.
despite his claims to the contrary, laguna actually isn’t much of a pacifist. he was not conscripted into the war — he chose to enlist (and why not when your nation’s military is arguably the strongest force on its continent and then some? add in steady pay and the promise of seeing the world and the good may outweigh the bad). the subject of enlistment isn’t touched upon in canon, however theatrhythm curtain call describes laguna as a mercenary instead of a plain soldier and in ffviii laguna never laments the state for landing him in a war that he doesn’t agree with, etc. this implies a certain level of personal responsibility and agency (or blatant indifference, who’s to say).
(note laguna isn’t actually ever paid to kill anything outside of his time in the galbadian forces. in winhill, his morning run is a way of protecting the community; when searching for ellone, he’s a journalist and actor; during the estharian uprising, he’s paying back a debt to the people who helped him first. these just aren’t mercenary jobs.)
anyway, the machine gun allows laguna a modicum of detachment from his work. he isn’t squeamish and he lacks a holier-than-thou inclination, but he would much prefer taking someone down from a distance than having to cut them down with a sword. the latter method is a touch too intimate for his tastes, which is why he elects for a machine gun during basic training. though it is his staple, it should be recognized he is more than proficient with a variety of firearms.
he doesn’t seem to be motivated, in terms of completing the assigned work load. at the very least, he had ceased his incessant conversation, allowing her to rest for– - … or not.
“…WHAT?”
damn her, && damn seifer for believing that rejoining the Garden would be a beneficial course of action. her tone is flat, completely void of inflection; she finds no joy [&& hope to find no joy ] in his answer.
❛ you say, con-grat-ulations! ——heh. pretty good, huh? ❜
IT’S REALLY THE best he can do off the top of his head, and while it could’ve been worse — could have started with ‘ a cactuar, behemoth, and t-rexaur walk into a bar ‘ — his inbox is devoid of their long-awaited file, so the humor can’t be helped. something’s got to pass the time, to eat up the silence. simper still fixed, he clears his throat, tapping out a quick sos in the body of a new e-mail. sends.
the goal is not to drown them in love. it’s to give them love they can dive in, come up for air, and swim freely in. a boundless kinda love. —iambrillyant (via iambrillyant)
