•|| Shake the Heavens ||•

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In at interdum erat, non scelerisque libero. Duis blandit nulla et diam ultrices, in ullamcorper dolor sodales. Mauris lobortis velit sit amet elit malesuada, in rutrum turpis rutrum. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Quisque non libero convallis, faucibus nisl porttitor, ullamcorper lacus. Pellentesque elementum massa id magna ullamcorper, sed eleifend odio venenatis. Mauris tristique, sem at eleifend dapibus, magna elit ornare nisi, sit amet porta ante nibh ac quam. Duis tempus nisi convallis leo rhoncus tempor. Curabitur condimentum ipsum felis, at interdum nisl cursus hendrerit. Curabitur quis diam ultricies, tincidunt orci sollicitudin, viverra tortor. Integer mollis dui ut suscipit porttitor. Quisque aliquet nunc at est tincidunt gravida. Maecenas at leo vel magna tincidunt ultricies ut sed justo. Nunc fermentum nec tellus at varius. Sed at metus dignissim, pretium purus in, commodo erat.

Serah Farron is an optimistic, intelligent, kind, and determined woman. She's been through some very dark times and difficult journeys for someone her age, but despite how dangerous, tiring, or tough the going has gotten or might become she tries to keep a positive and bright outlook on things. She was given some blunt advice by a good friend and now understands the real meaning of refusing to simply give up and wait to die. She wasn't always this way, though, and it wasn't all that long ago that she struggled with severe depression, collapsing under the weight of events.

Let's start at the beginning.

OVERALL
As a child Serah was the youngest in a family of four. She had an older sister named Claire, a mother and a father all living together in the city of Bohdum on the artificial planet known as Cocoon. Their father died when Serah was still fairly young and their mother passed away from an unspecified illness later when the girls were older. I know that this is more history than personality, but I mention it because it all serves as a major turning point in Serah's life. With the death of their mother Claire became the only family that Serah had, and the other way around as well. She changed her name to Lightning and took on the role of the caregiver, the provider, and Serah's sole protector. She began to shut out her emotions and Serah had to learn to adapt. Seeing how hard Lightning was working to provide for the two of them Serah began to fill the role of the support around the house, cooking, cleaning, and doing what she could to look after Lightning in other ways. Whether she was always more practical minded or became this way after the two were orphaned isn't entirely clear, but none the less that's how she grew up from that point on.

Practical, but still a sweet girl by nature, Serah was and remains very curious and eager to learn as well. She's usually mature, soft spoken, and gentle but she does have a limit to how much she can take. When her temper is pushed to said limit she "goes from smiling angel to angry ogre" (direct quote from her traveling companion, Noel Kreiss), one who can stand her ground and command the likes of monsters. She's the kind of person that learns how to understand others by observing either from up close or from a distance, as that's something that she's had to do for years while she watched Lightning build up wall after wall to shut people out and her own emotions in. Even though it's something that she learned out of necessity it's also something that Serah has come to enjoy doing. It's not just people, either, she likes being able to just relax and take life in. She doesn't ask for much in life. After all that's happened already she's simply learned to enjoy the little things and to be grateful for what she has and what she can attain by her own strength.

All of this might lend an appearance of having wisdom beyond her years, and maybe that's true depending on who you ask, but it's simply Serah's ability to understand others helps her with knowing what to say and when. She's learned that sometimes giving someone space, or stepping back away from things to look at them from a distance is the better answer.

One glance at Serah can tell you that she's the friendly type. She has a lot of patience and generally she's very accommodating of others, but she shouldn't be mistaken for being a doormat. She is still a Farron, after all, and apparently they're all fighters in some way. Her older sister is as stubborn as they come and the man she dates who later on becomes her fiance is a hard-headed hero type. Serah knows how to speak up for herself and she's not shy about being firm about it either- at least so long as your name wasn't Lightning.

She'll tease and joke with people that she's familiar with, Lightning included. She's not afraid to get a little sassy with people, something that might be especially important given the gravity of her task. Through it all, even though they're all risking their lives (especially with Serah's visions) she never stops smiling and trying to keep things light hearted. At one point in the game you discover a skill that allows Noel and Serah (whoever is in control) to throw Mog to retrieve hard to reach treasures and hidden items. Mog, clearly distraught at the idea of being tossed around like a football, pleads to Serah to help him out and she replies with a teasing "Good luck!". I'll point out that if Mog was in any actual danger she would have stepped in, it's probably just that we find out later that moogles in XIII are apparently afraid of flying too high despite being perfectly capable! She knows more than a few puns, too (at least I think it's reasonable to assume that she was the one supplying the puns during the joke telling mission/quest, a reasonable conclusion since it's still early on and Noel doesn't seem like the type for puns, but maybe I'm wrong). She even goes as far as to greet Lebreau with "Good morning, Kupo!" and teasingly offer to let Yuj try on her new dress as some of her dialogue options. It's true that they should be taken with a grain of salt, but they do seem like the sort of things that Serah would do if you follow her character progression.

It's more of a gameplay thing, but Serah is also pretty affectionate with animals. She's not afraid of stray cats and openly praises and helps her monster companions in battle, worrying over them as much as she does Noel. You can hear both Noel and Serah encouraging them during fights with phrases like "What a good boy!" and "You deserve a treat!".

When they arrive in Serendipity she encourages them to have a look around. Several games are available here and this could almost count as headcanon but I believe Serah and Noel spend at least a few hours relaxing there and just unwinding after days of era-hopping. Similarly they visit both a futuristic city and a village of hunters on Pulse and while the player is in control of Noel Serah can be seen wandering off to talk to NPC's in the background, or sitting down and just enjoying the scenery.

SKILLS & INTERESTS
You wouldn't guess by looks alone that she's become an incredibly formidable fighter because really she's very slight in frame and has a very unassuming appearance. She just doesn't look very strong. On top of that she'd grown accustomed to being protected if danger did show itself, simply because the two most important people in her life were always there, always jumping in or showing up to save the day and didn't need to learn how to fight until it was time to rebuild on Pulse. Surprisingly Serah showed a quick uptake with weapons training at that point. She picked up on the knowledge of how to use them quick enough, but when left weaponless on the battlefield she used to cringe away from danger. Not anymore. There's a fighter's spirit belied by that sweet and fragile looking exterior, and that came out in full force once she picked up her journey with Noel.

Before the events of the first game sent everything to hell in a hand basket Serah had an interest in studying history. Her interest in the Vestige would suggest that her interest specifically lies in architectural history (or perhaps the history of artifacts, ancient history, or Pulse artifacts and Pulse itself instead) in particular and had plans to attend university at Cocoon's largest city (Eden).

Like most people Serah needs to know that her existence actually means something. She wants to know that she's making a difference in the world- hopefully a positive one. She wants to help others regardless if that means teaching them, fighting for them, or just being there as support for them. Life on Pulse, though, that makes that a challenge. The problem there was that since Serah was the only one that remembered the timeline as it was supposed to be and refused to believe that Lightning was gone people began to accuse her of all sorts of things. Some said that she was just in denial, didn't want to face reality. In a way they were right. Serah couldn't really move on. More than that, though, Serah struggled with questioning her own sanity for a long time. As the only person who was questioning the timeline as it was (among other things, like the sudden ability for people to use magic, and people who had feared Pulse their entire lives suddenly just being okay with moving there) and as she was already being questioned and criticized for pushing the Lightning issue she just clammed up about it. She has a great deal of compassion for Alyssa later when she finds out that she's going through the same thing and she immediately relates to that pain- as well as feeling personally responsible for Alyssa's friend's death, maybe even understanding what Alyssa's dreams mean.

Anyway- she became increasingly distressed by all of this. She didn't know what to do or how to fit into their new life without her sister around. She wasn't a fighter, she wasn't a medic, and even though she still had Snow (her fiancee) the lack of purpose just fueled her feelings further.

Later Serah talked to Snow about her interest in possibly becoming a teacher in order to teach the children the recent history of Cocoon's fall to survivors (now settlers). It's worth noting that because of the altered events of history (including Lightning's unexplained disappearance) Serah was still in a bad state of depression at this time. Building the school was Snow's attempt at helping to draw her out of that (and to a degree there was SOME improvement), but it turned out she was a TERRIBLE teacher for a good while as her students thought that their time could be put to better use and Serah was failing to convey the importance of learning the history and the story leading up to the fall of Cocoon. It was one night while she was out running that she came across one of her distraught students that Serah realized she had a purpose and understood that her students were in fact relying on her in a way. Things began to improve after that, slowly but surely. It was also around this time that Snow set out to try to find Lightning, denying Serah's wish to go with him. So there she stayed until Noel's arrival.

Later on Serah expressed that it took Snow's and Lightning's departures for her to find her own identity, to make a niche for herself and settle down on a path, but it didn't take long for her to blossom after setting out.

RELATIONSHIPS
She's clearly accustomed to Lightning's straight forward way of dealing with things with complete finality, and as close as they are because of their loss even Serah still felt fear of her sister's rejection. Though Serah understands Lightning rather well it doesn't appear to be mutual. The air between the two is one of patience and protection, with Serah often times following what Lightning thinks is best and for the most part Serah would have avoided being willful or difficult. The relationship shows improvements during XIII-2 in the few instances we see it in action, but anything else is more relevant to "Lightning Returns" and I won't go into that here.

There was one point of contention between the sisters, though. For however much Lightning runs the household she did eventually either consent to Serah and Snow dating or accepted that Serah was going to make her own choices in life (my money is on number two).

She understood the loss, sacrifice, and personal changes that Lightning endured following the death of their parents and tried to give the elder Farron room to do what she felt like she needed to do while still looking out for her in her own way; actually, the same could be said of anyone that Serah befriends. She's practical and thoughtful, and so long as her head is clear she's often looking out for the well being of others ahead of herself. Lightning's gift from Serah was a very nice survival knife to help protect her while on duty. It was also Serah's plea that convinced Light to take her own birthday off work.

Snow and Serah are an excellent balance for one another. He anchors her through her darkest points, at least enough that she doesn't resort to doing anything drastic. When she tried leaving him to face her solitary focus alone he refused to give up on her, instead proposing to her and swearing to stay by her side no matter what happened. It's his devotion that made her realize that she wasn't alone and gave her the strength to fight against her focus.

Like him she's always trying to look on the bright side, see the good in people instead of the bad, and determined to do the right thing and protect others. She even goes so far as to try pushing him out, breaking up with him after becoming branded (and she really puts up a good act considering how shaken she must have been by then. Instead of sounding afraid she just comes across as being blunt and to the point. Stating that "It's over." and "It's not your choice, it's mine." when he tries to talk her out of it.).

Unlike Snow (at least the old Snow) Serah is very practical and doesn't usually rush into things headlong without considering the danger first. This has changed a little since XIII-2, where she's become a little more fearless, but not actually reckless. One thing that hasn't changed is the fact that she's content to be swept up in his energetic attitude. In some ways she already acts like his wife, scolding him teasingly when he's late or careless, not at all afraid to rely on him, trusting, too. She becomes incredibly angry and frustrated, yelling at Noel after discovering that Snow had been branded. The outburst that follows is raw and emotional, easily the most potent instance of Serah losing her control in the entirety of the game. She angrily asks who could be so stupid as to let himself be branded, knowing that succeed or fail their life is over. She speaks from first hand experience, having just told Snow and Noel earlier about what it was like to turn into crystal. She does explain that she thought she had good dreams during that time, and that she was able to hear what was going on thanks to Snow carrying her crystal tear- but it's clearly a brave front. When she thinks that the same fate might befall Snow she becomes terrified for him, and at the idea of losing him. She loves that big lug and takes strength from that bond that they share. Corny as it might be, he's her rock. Really Serah cares deeply for all of the people around her but Snow is one of the closest in her heart.

The members of NORA house, Snow's adopted family, became like family to Serah as well over time. At first she was surprised that they thought of her as such because she considered herself simply an acquaintance of theirs through Snow, but she not only comes to see them as family but begins to live with them. As mentioned before her relationship with the village children began to improve before Snow left to find Lightning, and even though it seems like Gadot and the other members of NORA don't really take her skills too seriously they all clearly still care a great deal about her and respect her as a person as well as Snow's fiancee. They pick up where Snow left off, trying to look out for her and keep her from falling back into a serious depression with Snow's absence. They even go so far as to get her a pet cat to look after on top of having her students. Judging from the easy banter and teasing dialogue options available throughout the New Bohdum 3AF level of the game it becomes apparent that Serah and NORA have opened up to one another over the years.

Then there's Noel. Noel is the young man who turns up riding in on the crazy meteorite, the one who takes her along on the journey in search of Lightning, and the one who eventually shows her how to fight and survive in the wilderness. They more or less have no other choice than to rely on one another, but we're never given the sense that it's done so out of simple obligation. They form a team, along with Mog, and come to care about and look out for one another. At some point early enough on- in Serah's own words -Noel stops being "That boy from the future." and has become family to her. I would definitely describe the relationship as that of brother and sister, with both being protective over one another.

Along the way of their travels Serah comes to care about him and his fate more and more, worrying after him like an older sister might.

I'd love to get into her relationship with the others but there are a lot of them (Mog, Sazh, Dahj, Hope, Fang, and Vanille) and this is already pretty long, so I'll stop here! What's important to note is that for the people who are dear to Serah and the people who rely on her she'll always try her hardest to do right by them and her own heart, regardless if she knows them well or not.

BECOMING A L'CIE & JOURNEYING THROUGH TIME
Becoming a Pulse l'cie was the worst possible thing that could have happened to a person, especially Serah, for so many reasons. Like most other people Serah needed a little help to come around and face the situation, but I think it still speaks volumes of her character that she was able to. To face all of this with seemingly only one person willing to stand by her side demonstrates a lot of strength. In the course of one week she was confronted with becoming a Fal'cie slave (a l'cie), and the terrifying probability that she was expected to destroy her home world and kill everyone she loved. There was also the realization that either way, either failure to or succeeding in completing her focus meant that she could never be with her loved ones again. With help from Snow she accepted the reality of her situation and then bravely challenges it, and won. She didn't know if she'd become a Cei'th or crystal when she defied her focus, but she did it anyway, prepared to accept the consequences for her choice, even if it meant doing it alone, but I doubt she ever considered herself to be truly alone after that talk with Snow, and his proposal-- a reminder that she had people that cared about her no matter what her fate turned out to be.

The journey reveals more and more of Serah's strength, and gradually over time it becomes much more outwardly apparent until even the way that she carries herself is more confident.

While her outward demeanor is still sweet and considerate of those around her she also begins masking her fears of not being able to do what they've set out to do, as well as her initial fear and confusion over the visions that she has and what it means each time she has a new one. And even after discovering that the visions will eventually lead to her own death she persists in the mission of changing the future for the better. She wants to give Noel and everyone else a world where humanity doesn't dwindle out of existence, where Noel doesn't have to be alone and Yeul doesn't have to keep dying because of the paradoxes.

Possibly driving her on in this is the lingering remorse that she feels for the incidents leading up to the Fall of Cocoon. Even though another would have taken her place had she not gone into the Vestige Serah still feels largely responsible for the events of the "Purge". The Purge was a military operation in direct response to the Fal'cie being discovered after Serah wandered into the Vestige. During the operation all inhabitants of Bohdum (including tourists and visitors) were shuffled onto trains and slotted for execution under the guise of being simply banished to Pulse. A lot of people died that day, and more people still in the days that followed. When all was finally said and done it worked out in the end, but Serah shows signs of still carrying that heavy grief in her heart when she, Noel, and Mog encounter Alyssa and hear her harrowing story. She wants to try to atone for what happened, even though she's not sure if they ever can she'll still try.

So for the sake of making things right for the future Serah helps others, even problems that have little to nothing to do with her own. And though she does look to Noel a lot at first, ends up following him around a great deal, that too eventually begins to change as she gains even more confidence in their mission and gets the hang of navigating the paradoxes and time itself. Her insecurities and uncertainties of finding the people she's set out to look for fade with each new era. She doesn't want to see anything bad happen to Noel or the people she loves; that's why she'll risk her own life to change the future and assure that he has a place to be around other people, to be happy instead of alone

By the time we reach the end of the journey and the last gate closes in XIII-2 Serah has grown in a lot of ways. She goes on and faces her death knowing that they tried their hardest and doesn't regret it, only asking Lightning to remember her for what she tried to do, rather than what she couldn't.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Donec vestibulum purus ligula, quis tincidunt dolor placerat quis. Nulla sagittis, magna vitae tristique dictum, mauris arcu cursus lacus, quis porttitor orci tortor et risus. Nunc pharetra eros at laoreet ullamcorper. Fusce non nulla sed purus hendrerit facilisis eget at leo. Interdum et malesuada fames ac ante ipsum primis in faucibus. Aenean eleifend rutrum egestas. Proin sed diam dictum, eleifend quam a, cursus orci. Sed lacinia est non sem rhoncus fermentum. Morbi vitae luctus augue, semper auctor purus. Curabitur pulvinar turpis vel augue tincidunt dignissim. Aenean malesuada quam mauris, sed mattis augue tristique non. Duis vehicula purus non mauris pretium, non dignissim massa laoreet. Donec fringilla augue non convallis sodales.

In at interdum erat, non scelerisque libero. Duis blandit nulla et diam ultrices, in ullamcorper dolor sodales. Mauris lobortis velit sit amet elit malesuada, in rutrum turpis rutrum. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Quisque non libero convallis, faucibus nisl porttitor, ullamcorper lacus. Pellentesque elementum massa id magna ullamcorper, sed eleifend odio venenatis. Mauris tristique, sem at eleifend dapibus, magna elit ornare nisi, sit amet porta ante nibh ac quam. Duis tempus nisi convallis leo rhoncus tempor. Curabitur condimentum ipsum felis, at interdum nisl cursus hendrerit. Curabitur quis diam ultricies, tincidunt orci sollicitudin, viverra tortor. Integer mollis dui ut suscipit porttitor. Quisque aliquet nunc at est tincidunt gravida. Maecenas at leo vel magna tincidunt ultricies ut sed justo. Nunc fermentum nec tellus at varius. Sed at metus dignissim, pretium purus in, commodo erat.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Donec vestibulum purus ligula, quis tincidunt dolor placerat quis. Nulla sagittis, magna vitae tristique dictum, mauris arcu cursus lacus, quis porttitor orci tortor et risus. Nunc pharetra eros at laoreet ullamcorper. Fusce non nulla sed purus hendrerit facilisis eget at leo. Interdum et malesuada fames ac ante ipsum primis in faucibus. Aenean eleifend rutrum egestas. Proin sed diam dictum, eleifend quam a, cursus orci. Sed lacinia est non sem rhoncus fermentum. Morbi vitae luctus augue, semper auctor purus. Curabitur pulvinar turpis vel augue tincidunt dignissim. Aenean malesuada quam mauris, sed mattis augue tristique non. Duis vehicula purus non mauris pretium, non dignissim massa laoreet. Donec fringilla augue non convallis sodales.

In at interdum erat, non scelerisque libero. Duis blandit nulla et diam ultrices, in ullamcorper dolor sodales. Mauris lobortis velit sit amet elit malesuada, in rutrum turpis rutrum. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Quisque non libero convallis, faucibus nisl porttitor, ullamcorper lacus. Pellentesque elementum massa id magna ullamcorper, sed eleifend odio venenatis. Mauris tristique, sem at eleifend dapibus, magna elit ornare nisi, sit amet porta ante nibh ac quam. Duis tempus nisi convallis leo rhoncus tempor. Curabitur condimentum ipsum felis, at interdum nisl cursus hendrerit. Curabitur quis diam ultricies, tincidunt orci sollicitudin, viverra tortor. Integer mollis dui ut suscipit porttitor. Quisque aliquet nunc at est tincidunt gravida. Maecenas at leo vel magna tincidunt ultricies ut sed justo. Nunc fermentum nec tellus at varius. Sed at metus dignissim, pretium purus in, commodo erat.