The holidays are coming up next week, so there is no better time than now to do an appreciation post for one of (if not the) greatest Final Fantasy VIII fan artists out there. I am a huge appreciator of the artwork by Skribleskrable (Tumblr link or Bluesky link if you prefer!), and I have been for years. They have art that ranges from super adorable, pretty hot, and incredible comedic situations between characters. They’re also an appreciator of Squall’s original face and hair, which makes them A++++ in my book. Their love of Final Fantasy VIII and the characters really shines through in their art, and I am always so jazzed when they post new art. You should absolutely follow them on social media if you’re a fan of Final Fantasy VIII (and if you’re not, why are you here????)
All that being said, they do have a series of holiday-themed art that I’d love to highlight!
First, we have Rinoa decorating Squall for Christmas. She’s wrapped him up in lights, thrown a hat on him, and in the holiday universe of Skribleskrable, Laguna and Ellone gifted the Moomba and gunblade ugly sweaters for them both. Look how cute they are! This would absolutely be a canonical interaction between the two of them if they were in this situation, and you cannot convince me otherwise.
Since I already brought it up, here is the art of the whole gang in their holiday sweaters from Laguna. You’ve got some inspired choices here, really. Selphie’s got the moogle, Seifer’s got cactuars, and Zell has some chocobos. You also get a full view of the moomba and gunblade sweaters on Rinoa and Squall. The greatest part of the art is Laguna in the Santa sweater though. He absolutely would.
We’ve also got some duo art pieces for the holidays. Here is Rinoa and Selphie with a pile of gifts. Selphie continues the tradition of her wearing a Santa hat, which feels absolutely correct. I wonder what they’re gifting the gang? Ammo? Martial arts gear? Moomba plushies?
Here is another cute Rinoa and Squall art for the holidays. The sweaters are back!! They’ve also swapped the hats from the last art. I do love how Skribleskrable always captures the dynamic of Squall and Rinoa in these. I’ve mentioned before in my writing that Squall is never going to completely break out of his shell, and I think the RBF is permanent…but I think he isn’t as miserable as he looks.
I have always LOVED this one. Selphie and Irvine are so cute here. Irvine having antlers and lights on his cowboy hat is so inspired, Selphie once again rocks the Santa hat, and look at their intertwined arms!! I love how Selphie is making a little Santa beard with Irvine’s scarf, and he looks so happy to just be there. I love these two together, and seeing them doing cute holiday activities makes me so happy.
Bonus round!!! This one isn’t EXACTLY holiday themed, but it’s still great. I absolutely love the idea of Selphie taking Irvine out on a sledding adventure. She is the chaotic one in this duo, and he is always happy to let her pilot the ship (figuratively). He might have bit off a little more than he can chew here, but you know they’re going to get to the bottom of this hill and talk about how fun this adventure was.
Once again, please please please follow this artist! They’re such an incredible artist, and their love of the series is crystal clear through their art. They’re definitely one of us.