O o o f.

It was hammered home over and over throughout the Ala Mhigo arcs of Stormblood that the greatest horror of the imperial occupation was the Garleans taking the children. Gaius had a direct stake in this, and not just because he was the legatus: he was directly responsible for the Crania Lupi, a group that portrayed to a T the intergenerational trauma of imperialism.

So no, I don't appreciate that the Weapon story is trying to retroactively paint Gaius as "not as bad as other Garleans" while setting his character up for some kind of redemption and/or sympathy from the fanbase. Doubly so because you just know these new kids are probably just going to keep getting picked off to serve a story not about imperial evil but about Gaius' shitty manpain.

This isn't about "they ignored Ala Mhigo again" - this is about the fact that the Ultima Weapon isn't Gaius' legacy. The Crania Lupi is Gaius' legacy. And the Ascians didn't make him do that shit.

There's so much more I'm angry about - Livia, Fordola, even Cid - but I'm really tired.