#yeah so beloved mutual who issued me this challenge in the first place and also said that there are fewer jake twirls
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Christian Kane twirling props: a series. Part 9/?
The Librarians Season 1
#christian kane#the librarians#jacob stone#christian kane twirling props: a series#if eliot's thing is knife twirls then jake's is axe twirls#and yeah jake twirls a hell of a lot more than eliot#considering there are 10 episodes and 14 twirls (15 if you count the promo one at the start)#yeah so beloved mutual who issued me this challenge in the first place and also said that there are fewer jake twirls#LIES!#lies i tell you!#(but i still love you anyway)#ghostly'sgifs
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So Why Should A Hero Be Moral?
The idea of a guy with super powers doing incredible things wasnât invented by either Japanese anime, western comics, or some obscure 1920âČs writer somewhere. No, no, it goes as far back, at least in terms of written record, to Platoâs work known as âRepublicâ. We find it beginning with the description of an âancestor of Gygesâ. And if you know that name...you know about Gygesâs Ring.
See, this ring makes you invisible if you slip it on. Using the ring, this man got into the kingâs palace, seduced the kingâs wife, killed the king with her help, and became the new ruler. This story is told to pose a question to us. âDo people actually love justice and goodness for its own sake, or do they do it because they realize if theyâre unjust, thereâll be consequences for their actions?
Glaucon, the narrator, takes an âImmoralistâ viewpoint. If ANY such person had that kinda magic ring, theyâd behave in the same way. NOBODY would ârefrain his hands from the possession of others and not touch themâ. Well, this is quite the question. Would you do that? Should you do that? But it goes further. Glaucon also claims that if there were any people with special powers so committed to doing good that theyâd still seek to be just, the rest of us would despise them and regard them with contempt. Why? Because if anyone who had a license to do whatever the hell they thought refused to do wrong or lay their hands on others things, the reaction would be âWhat the hell are you, stupid? You moron! You can do f--king anything and youâre not doing it?â
So Glaucon challenges Socrates in âRepublicâ. If you want to make a really convincing argument for why people should seek to BE good and not just APPEAR good, well, then show that the life of a person who is truly just but thought by others not to be so is superior to the life of someone who is ACTUALLY unjust, but has a good reputation. We have to compare the lives of people who are genuinely good vs the people who pretend to be so, but are thought of, outwardly, as good.
This is quite the challenge. So then...why SHOULD someone with superpowers or powers of any kind be good at all? Why should people, in general, be good? Not just appear good...BE good? Well, Plato presented a person, in Republic, as being someone who was thought of as unjust and suffered accordingly despite being good...and that person maaaaay have come from personal experience. After all, his beloved teacher was Socrates, a wise, brilliant and formerly well-known and cherished philosopher...who people turned on thanks to trumped up legal charges by claiming he was âcorrupting the youthâ and other BS claims. So a real, genuine, actual good person DID get thought of as being a stupid ignorant fool and letâs all boo and hiss him and then execute him via the state.
But weâre not in Ancient Greece, so letâs try to call on someone a LITTLE more modern. Kierkegaard the German Philosopher! He said that humans are called upon in life to, well, live a live of universal love. We are called by God to love our neighbors as ourselves, and nobody really falls outside that category of âneighborâ. Itâs kinda like the idea of âWeâre all brothers in Christâ.
OBVIOUSLY this isnât even close to being an easy task, Kierkegaard says we need to overcome natural selfishness, and the inertia that pushes us toward the satisfaction of our own desires when those desires conflict with the good of others. This is the âfirst dangerâ. The first obstacle to goodness, justice and love. If you CAN overcome this, you can then face the external issue...a âdouble dangerâ. What is that?
Kierkegaard says that the big struggle involves first the personâs inner being struggling with themselves, then with the world outside. Because we donât live in a world where itâs easy to love one another and to be just, after all.
So a moral person has to engage in a certain amount of self-denial. Only THEN can you overcome the firm pull of selfish desire. But then we have to contend with the world because the world isnât gonna be so nice to us. We may admire sainthood from a distance but facing real, actual virtue can be...disturbing to folks. Think of, say, figures like Gandhi or Dr. King or Harvey Milk or Nelson Mandela. Oh sure, people may ADORE them now but at the time they were alive, folks severely hated them in a lot of places. They were controversial figures who incurred a lot of criticism and in many cases for many beloved figures today...they got murdered for their efforts.
And the temptation of double danger and the like isnât necessarily the temptation to be a supervillain. Take Spider-Man. Peterâs on his way to see MJ perform. He promised heâd see her. But...uh oh. Some guys are robbing an unfortunate in an alleyway. And...well, heâs Spider-Man! Heâs got to help them! So he ends up missing her performance because he had to save people. This wasnât a temptation to use his powers for financial gain or anything. It was a choice between using your powers for good or...well, just having a normal, private kinda life. Heâs tempted to be ORDINARY, not evil. A lot of us kind of experience this. Most of us arenât tempted to be villains. We wanna be free to pursue our own individual happiness is all.
However Peter also experiences the second danger because J Jonah Jameson, head of the biggest paper in the city, is ALWAYS shouting how Spidey is a menace. Menace! MENACE! Despite Spider-Man saving his life multiple times, AND his son, AND NYC, AND the World over and over...
But no. MENACE!
The good news is the average NYC person doesnât seem to fear Spider-Man. Unless Joe f--kinâ Quesada is writing the story or the episode because yeah, THAT isnât tired and played out. But such a thing is a good example of the double danger. Either they cynically refuse to believe in his goodness...or they call him a chump behind his back. Just as Glaucon said they would.
But what does Plato say in response? Well, Plato says that in the long run weâll be happier both in life and in death, if we live in accordance with justice by turning our attention to the good. Morality reflects the true, deep character of the universe. Those who are committed to the good are committed to what is profoundly and eternally true. Itâs no accident this viewpointâs seen as religious, writers from St. Augustine to C.S Lewis have viewed his metaphysical version of the world as very much congruent to their own faith.
Itâs also a matter of mutual responsibilities. Tobe a parent or a son or daughter or husband or wife or a citizen of a state means you have duties to the other. Certain obligations are just part of those kinds of relationships. It doesnât just merely become grounds to love doing good but to enforce morality across wider stretches and turn it into duty.
For example, driving at a moderate speed is a good thing to do, but we also further enforce this as a legal obligation with speed limits. We donât just have a moral duty to do the right thing, but a legal one at that. And thatâs before we get into any kind of open religious reason for being good. Ultimately, Kierkegaard makes the argument, much like Plato, that humans have a simple reason to behave good. Because our own deepest and ultimate happiness is found by following the path of neighbor love.
But of course, now we get to an opposing viewpoint that has sprung up a lot. The concern of UTILITARIANISM. Let me paint a picture for you of a comic featuring Batman. The Joker is on trial for poisoning stamps. People lick them and they die. This time...the Jokerâs found guilty and is going to death row. He is, in fact, going to DIE. And nobody could really argue that he doesnât deserve it. Even though Iâm almost completely against the death penalty...
Itâs the goddamn JOKER. There are SOME exceptions to the rule. Some people who, absolutely, one hundred percent, would be too, TOO dangerous to let live and whom everyone else in the world would be better off if they were dead, whoâve proven, even if they were unarmed and had nothing but a glass of water...would smash that glass of water, cut the throats of everyone around them and then grab your gun and shoot you.
But...hereâs the thing. THIS time...the Jokerâs innocent. Batman knows he didnât do it.
So...what should he do? A lot of us, and Iâm tempted myself, would say, well, âLet the motherf--ker fry in the chairâ.
Letâs think up another possibility. The Green Goblin has lassoâd an irritated dishwasher. Heâs soaring on his Goblin Glider, the poor guy being dragged behind him, screaming all the way, he gets broken ribs and everything. Luckily, Spider-Man saves him. Now, what nobody knows is the guy was a disgrunted employee who had a gun in his pocket. He was gonna unload it into the first asshole in the diner he worked at because he was sick and tired of being underpaid by a cruel boss, picked on at work, and he just one day has decided heâs had enough. With what he WENT through now though, he gives up on his plan, destroys his gun, and signs up for an anger management course.Â
So was what the Green Goblin did the right thing? Well, a UTILITARIAN would argue yes, it was. But surely thatâs not correct, dragging a rando around Fifth and Main with the intention of traumatizing the guy and maybe even killing him just to use him as bait for his nemesis is CLEARLY an evil act, even if it UNINTENTIONALLY produces a greater good.Â
So who do we turn to now? Letâs try Immanuel Kant. Kant maintained our fundamental duty is to act in a way that satisfies whatâs called the âcategorical imperativeâ. A formulation that states we should ALWAYS treat people as an ends in themselves, not MERELY as means. This comes down to treating people as always having intrinsic value, and never just using them for our own purposes as if they just had INSTRUMENTAL value. But remember, performing an action in accordance with the categorical imperative alone isnât enough to make it good. You have to do it because it is your duty to do it! If an action treats an individual as an ends in and of themselves and the person performs the action regarding such individuals in way that indicates theyâre following their duty of treating people appropriately, then their action is good. So treat others first as people, not as means to an end, and do it for the right reasons, not for selfish ones. Itâs your duty to yourself, to others in Kantâs eyes.Â
So what are these âdutiesâ though? Now we get into the weeds. Thereâs positive and negative duties. Positive is stuff like tending to the sick. Feeding and clothing the poor. Negative duties are obligations to REFRAIN from doing things that harm people, like assaulting an innocent person or maliciously lying to them. By doing our positive duties, we treat people as ends in and of themselves by showing them respect, and weâre fulfilling our negative duties by avoid treating them as merely a means.Â
Spider-Man dives into this sort of thinking a lot. Itâs classic line âwith great power comes great responsibilityâ is an admonishment for people to be careful with the powers they have. Those who have power have a duty and an obligation to help those in need. Boiled down simply, its answering the question of âBut why be moral at all?â For one, if you fail to do your duty, there will be negative consequences that affect you, directly or indirectly. But then again, this can be questionable. Sometimes reason one isnât convincing in a world where evil can easily bring profit and virtue none at all. So whatâs the second reason?
Because itâs right.Â
People like Kant and FH. Bradley, another philosopher, have brought this up. Appealing to someoneâs self-interest in the name of getting them to do a moral duty is basically missing the point. Them doing it for pragmatic or selfish reasons means theyâre not behaving morally at all. You have to do the right thing BECAUSE itâs right. Not for some self-interested reward. But what if weâre given very strong reasons to do the wrong thing? Then doing the right thing would be irrational. So we have to make sure weâre not being irrational in doing the right thing.
So if reason one and reason two donât work...is there a third reason? Well, yes. Letâs go back to Plato. Plato says âItâs the only way youâll really have piece of mindâ. According to Plato, a personâs soul consists of reason, of appetites, and the âspirited elementâ. Reason includes the conscience, and reason MUST govern the soul or the soul is discordant, lacking in harmony. But thereâs plenty of people who donât approach life from a dominantly moral perspective, so does this idea work? After all, even many morally upright people face temptation at some point, or give in occasionally.Â
Artistole had another answer. Virtue is its own reward. Being moral is a greater benefit to you than any benefit you might obtain at the expense of your good moral character. Unfortunately that doesnât seem necessarily true,, the rewards of perfect virtue do not always compensate compared to the rewards for wrongdoing. So then whatâs next?Â
Reason five! Doing good pays off in the long run. Now, if youâre a religious person, you may already know about this answer. Itâs very similar to reason one. But we donât have to accept it. It calls for some strong metaphysical positions about the nature of reality.Â
But then again, maybe itâs not a singular answer that IS the answer. Maybe the multitude of reasons given here are good enough. Maybe itâs a little of them all that explains WHY heroes should behave in a moral way. Why people should be moral and good. Ultimately, how you choose to answer the questionâWhy be moralâ...thatâs up to you, and hopefully, you can be proud of the answer you give.Â
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Stargazing Zine Contributor Spotlight
Get to know the contributors that are a part of Stargazing: a Sheith AU Fanzine! Next up is @amorremanetâ, who did a roleswap AU fic!
A special thank you to Andromeda Zine for allowing us to borrow this concept!
Amorremanet
âKeith says, âNothing is worth Shiroâs pain.â I say, âYeah okay, honey, you can take care of him when Iâm doneââ
Amorremanet on AO3 @amorremanetâ on Tumblr
Your piece for Stargazing has Shiro and Keith with their roles reversed: Keith on the Kerberos mission and Shiro as the half-Galra Garrison washout. Â Without giving away too much beyond what has been shared in previews already, can you give us some insight into the inspiration behind this AU, and how you picture it changing up the events and interactions of canon?
Role-reversal AUs are a favorite trope of mine. All AUs offer the opportunity to explore pieces of the characters that might not come out as easily in more canon-adjacent fics. What I love about role-swap AUs, though, is the creative challenge of exploring how the âcoresâ of the different characters can both change and not when theyâre literally placed into another canon characterâs shoes. As for how the swap in âThe Oncoming Stormâ changes things, the Galra reveal would also go very differently, because Champion!Keith would fight Allura harder in defense of Shiro than canon!Keith does in defense of himself. But most of the changes that I see coming in this AU are subtler at first, and end up having some cumulatively huge effects. For instance, I think Shiro would still be the Black Paladin at first, while Keith would still be in Red. But that changes the eventual build-up to the Galra reveal: Shiro canât fight Zarkon head-on and hear the, âYou fight like a Galraâ line, as canon!Keith did; he would have been ejected by the Black Lion. That line is easy enough to transfer onto Sendak during their fight in âThe Fall of the Castle of Lions,â because itâs something that heâd say (and with Sendak, heâd probably mean it as a compliment). But the significance of that fight changes if Shiro is running into a fight with someone who has such a huge advantage because Sendak hurt Keith, Shiroâs beloved. This changes Shiroâs astral plane confrontation with Zarkon, and it all adds up to a very different Galra reveal. The worst part of it for Shiro, though, would be feeling responsible for Keithâs trauma. He blames himself for âpushingâ Keith onto the Kerberos mission, but for him to be a member of the species that harmed Keith? In canon, Shiro doesnât blame Keith and loves him fiercely. But sadly, Shiro wouldnât show himself that same understanding. So, yeah. A mix of obviously big changes, and little ones that add up to big ones.
I was going to ask you about your favorite minor character in Voltron, but given the contents of this fic, it's not exactly hard to guess! Â Tell us a little bit about why you chose Iverson as a major character in this fic, and how you went about developing his character.
A: In fairness, I love a lot of the minor characters! That said, I do have an Iverson bias, and I feel like he gets a raw deal. He can be abrasive. His first scene is him chewing the Garrison Trio out. While doing so, he says things about Keith and Shiro that can sound pretty negative. This makes it easy to write Iverson off as a jerk, even a villain. That reading of him doesnât hold up for me, though. There are several reasons why not, but his relationship with and treatment of Shiro are the most telling, for me. He doesnât blame Shiro while talking about the Kerberos mission. Iverson doesnât mention Shiro at all, which is strange when heâs so direct about everything else. Then, when Shiro crashes, Iverson is present in the med-tent for unexplained reasons (which could be personal). When speaking to him, Iverson uses the name, âShiro.â This isnât a super-intimate nickname (Lance uses it despite not knowing Shiro personally before Team Voltron). But if Iverson were sticking to protocol, heâd call Shiro, âLt. Shiroganeâ (or similar). Before anything else, Iverson tries to reassure Shiro that heâs safe. He only makes the call to put Shiro under because they donât know what his prosthetic arm can do or not (which is a fair concern). The way Iverson talks about this sounds regretful, too. He doesnât like drugging Shiro, but his options are limited. Thatâs how I see Iverson in general. Heâs in some difficult places, facing dangerous and high-stakes situations. He isnât a monster; heâs just a man whoâs trying his best with very limited choices and seemingly insurmountable odds. Which is how I tried to portray him in this AU, too, Also, I have a Shiro bias, and canon!Shiro doesnât have very many non-Keith personal connections before Team Voltron. The way Iverson treats him makes me think Iverson might have been one of them. And I liked exploring that possibility in this fic.
After reading that, definitely consider me a convert.  It's always fascinating to see different trends and countertrends in fandom.  Related to that, you've mentioned that you've been indulging in fandom between frantic work on your thesis, which is⊠also about fandom?  What's the premise there, and and how are you bringing your own experiences as a fan into your academic work?
A: My MA thesis is about fandom, yes! Itâs been through a few different versions before ending up where it is. First, it was going to be a more traditional academic paper, focused about how fans write about LGBTQ experiences and issues in fics/headcanons, and focused on trans and/or non-binary representation in particular. (I worked on this version in 2013-14, so there were even fewer trans fics/hcâs than there are now. Also, the main fandoms in it were Supernatural and Teen Wolf, not VLD.) But my schoolâs program in womenâs/gender studies has three options for the final project: the thesis; the practicum (basically, an internship where you write a paper at the end); and the creative project (which still has a research component, but isnât). In a required class, our prof had us list ideas for how we could pursue our interests in all three of these options. The creative project that I came up with was, âI mean, I write fanfiction? I guess I could do that.â I expected my prof to tell me how ridiculous this sounded. Instead, she got excited about that idea, which got me excited. Which got my poor advisor excited (especially because my original fic ideas were for HP, which is her pet fandom). Then, everything got derailed by IRL drama for a while. But now, Iâve written my fic (âBut boys spring infernal,â my overgrown monster of mutual pining Sheith) and Iâm finishing the paper about it. In general, the project is about the LGBTQ and feminist potential of fanfic, with a focus on hurt/comfort and AUs, which are sadly under-researched. Aside from canon-divergence fics, AUs especially get a raw deal. Most fan studies scholars write them off as original fic with fandom characters pasted on. That bugs me both as a fan who loves AUs, and as someone who sees the field of fan studies stagnating because we arenât adapting as fandom evolves. So, Iâm bringing my fannish experiences into my project because they are the project (or a pretty big part of it). In addition to the research that went into this, thereâs an autoethnographic element to the paper. I have to write about the process of writing BBSI, as well as the different personal experiences that went into the fic, and itâs been fun but incredibly challenging. On the other hand, I got to cite Legit Sourcesâą like Michel Foucault while justifying my love of long-haired Shiro. Thatâs probably my personal peak of questionable academic arguments, and I probably shouldnât be so proud of it? But I am.
Long-haired Shiro, the Shiro we all deserve. Â Also, I am totally jealous that you've gotten to write fanfic for a school project. Final question! Â After reading your piece, I think I ascended to another plane of existence. Â I absolutely loved it. Â So I have to ask for your blessing: may I have your fic's hand in marriage?
Oh my god, fgkdhf, thank you! For that compliment, for letting me babble about this fic, and for giving me the chance to write for this zine. As much as I love this role-swap AU idea, âThe Oncoming Stormâ might not have gotten to exist without Stargazing giving me the push to actually write it. (Which I could write another long answer about, because I find the different levels of communal writing/collaboration that go on in fanfic so fascinating.) With that said? You absolutely have my blessing to marry this fic. Iâm so glad that youâre so excited about it, and Iâm excited about getting to read everyone elseâs fics and see the art pieces when the zine comes out! <333
You can pick up your own copy of Stargazing here! Â All profits will go to the Center for Victims of Torture.
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The interminable generation war of the PokĂ©mon fandom is not something Iâm inclined to wade into, not least because I am one of those strange individuals who play the games in part for their stories and worldbuilding. As reliably underwhelming as those attributes of any given game in this franchise may be, itâs nonetheless evident that Gamefreak puts some effort into elements of the franchise that arenât competitive tournaments or Battle <name of building>s or gimmicky mini games. Sometimes.Â
As such, in the spirit of my modest contributions to the FE and Zelda fandoms on this blog and as further proof that I am capable of judging aspects of video games aside from the desirability and inferred sexual prowess (or lack thereof) of their men, here follows my current opinions on each of the regions of the main series...so nothing about Orre or those Ranger spin-offs or whatever. And yes -Â regions rather than generations, so the remakes will be grouped with their originals.
So. Very. Blaaaand. As with Archanea from Fire Emblem and the NES Zelda games I can respect the historical significance of the Kanto games; hell, unlike FE and Zelda I was actually following the series back when RBY were in their prime...and yet they are so unremarkable. Kanto feels utterly devoid of distinctive personality despite appearing in all of the first four generations, and even today thereâs really nothing I can say about it beyond the relatively realistic villain team and the emphasis on modernization in contrast to Johto. Supposedly, anyway...itâs more like Kanto cares less about historical preservation which I suppose is probably the closest these games comes to commenting upon the real world inspiration for the region. Combine this with a contentious roster of PokĂ©mon - some are great and still hold up today, some are meh, and almost all of them get disproportionate amounts of exposure and new toys in later generations, for better or worse - and an infamously loud fanbase wearing some very thick nostalgia goggles and youâve got a setting I have no interest in revisiting. I absolutely wouldnât put another round of remakes past GF, thoughÂ
(But having the protagonist and his rival hook up in their later years was a nice twist.)
Not much more developed than its predecessor, but the Johto games benefit immensely from throwing in Kanto as a bonus (sort of) postgame region, both for the aforementioned contrast and for the additional content. Sure, the level curve is kind of screwy, the PokĂ©mon could be better (Johto has my least favorite starter line-up, for instance), and Kanto feels half-formed in Gen II, but itâs not bad for what it is. I like that these games are set three years after the first ones, in that it conveys a sense of the passage of time - something that would only get more vague as the series progressed. Iâm not much interested in the nods to Japanese culture and folklore strewn throughout Johto, but at least the region is identifiably Japanese. Also, the implementation of elements like a day/night cycle and days of the week appeal to me, even if in practice theyâre more annoying than anything else. And I know the entire internet agrees with me, but HGSS did substantially more for Johto and Kanto than FRLG did for Kanto. Thatâs kind of sad, honestly.
While Iâm bringing up remakes, I would however like to disagree with most of the internet and say that ORAS were good remakes - good enough to where I could actually finish Alpha Sapphire when the original left me so unimpressed that I actually stopped playing the series outside remakes until Gen VI. The beloved Battle Frontier (which doesnât seem all that interesting? Someone explain the appeal of this thing to me) may be missing and you canât re-challenge gym leaders and various other things you can only do in Emerald, but on the flip side the story development is much improved and better paced - yay for convenient cutscene warping - and the Delta Episode provides a decent postgame capstone. Whatâs more, Hoenn is absolutely beautiful in the remakes, looking as lush and tropical as it ought to and no longer bogged down with water routes that are a slog to traverse or much backtracking. Soaring is a wonderful addition as well that shows off the region and cuts down on HM usage, and the DexNav is excellent for reducing the tedium of catching them all (or some approximation thereof when stupid things like event legendaries and untradeable-on-GTS version exclusives still exist).
I havenât even mentioned the villain teams. I know full well that Tumblr is ahead of me on this one, but they are so gay. I picked up the gayer version with Matt outright professing his love for men (somewhat ruined when you consider that heâs talking to a ten-year-old...ick), but via extensive research *ahem* Iâve learned that Omega Ruby has its moments too and that Teams Magma and Aqua are best enjoyed as a pair. Their goals may be patently stupid, but they all learn something at the end of the day and can go home and have an orgy together. I havenât even mentioned the Steven/Wallace subtext one of my mutuals cued me into, which is sweet revenge indeed for Emerald fanboys whining for years about femme Wallace with his predictable team becoming champion in that game. Itâs enough altogether for me to forgive the game for constantly teasing Brendan/May - because obligatory heterosexual romance doesnât have to wait for a little thing like puberty.
The only region for which I canât really give a full assessment. I started a playthrough of Platinum on emulator, but the game felt so slow and clunky that after the second gym (which Iâve read is an especially dull and pace-breaking stretch) I couldnât bring myself to play any more. Iâve watched speedruns and video reviews of this game, and theyâve only confirmed my initial opinion and caused me to hope that most of Sinnohâs copious issues will be addressed in the inevitable remakes. The over-reliance on HM slaves (poor Bidoof...), unintuitive region layout, periods of severe environmental slowdown in the form of marshlands and deep snow, and other factors do not appeal to me at all, and while I know Platinum fixed this particular problem I assume that the Diamond and Peal remakes will not have to contend with a limited roster as they did. The characters could do with some work as well: Barry seriously needs to calm down, I still donât know how to feel about Fantina (will she be Kalosian? What about in the Japanese and French versions where sheâs apparently from an English-speaking country?), and Cyrus really doesnât work as the charismatic leader heâs built up to be. Say what you will about the Hoenn villain teams or Team Flare having idiotic goals, but at least I can say what those are. I still got nothing on Team Galactic caring about Prof. Rowanâs evolution research or stealing energy or what have you. Sinnoh is severely in need of a second - or third, I suppose - draft.Â
Confirming that Volkner and Flint are a couple would also be nice. Just throwing out ideas.
When I downloaded White and Black 2 for emulator I didnât expect to be very impressed by these games. Unova is the MURICA FUCK YEAH region, as we all know, and I shouldnât have to point out to my regular followers that that fact alone would be enough to unfavorably prejudice me against the place. And yet, in spite of that, it works for me. A big part of that is that Louisiana is absent from this loose celebration of the US as interpreted by Japan; thereâs an oil baron dressed like a cowboy, a Californian or Hawaiian surfer bro, a gay (or straight hipster, hard to tell these days) artist with a loft gym in Castro the Village Castelia City, a Southern mammy for some casual racism that was actually too casual for international release, counterparts to Coney Island, Broadway, Hollywood, and American sports, and numerous PokĂ©mon like the Trubbish and Vanillite* lines inspired by the shallow consumerism that passes for culture in the US, but nothing representing my own stubbornly French state. Iâm actually warier about the bizarre attempts to insert bits of medieval and early modern Europe into the region via PETA-by-way-of-the-Knights-Templar (what) Team Plasma and the trio quartet of legendaries based on les Trois Mousquetaires. Did whoever came up with those not get the memo about where the series was going next?
With that said, although Iâm not as enamored with N as some people his characterization was if nothing else a step up from anything that had come before. While Ghetsis and Plasma make no damn sense aesthetically until the sequels they are intimidating villains who raise serious questions about how humans treat PokĂ©mon...that are naturally never considered in their full complexity because friendship or something. As I stated with Johto I do like the sequel model of region development since we get to see how Unova has changed over two years. I also appreciate the season mechanic that only appears in these games for lending some variety to the geography, though in execution itâs kind of a pain.
*But hey, Iâm thankful at least that this is I think the only region that lets you catch (decent) Ice types before lategame. I will absolutely take the ice cream with a face.
Perfect, or rather just imperfect enough to perfectly capture the essence of France and its culture in this silly world of fantasy cockfighting. Unashamedly biased I may be, but as Kalos gets a lot of hate online I feel the need to push back against popular opinion a bit. X and Y were in my opinion the first games where GF really went all in on characterizing a region, because everything from the preoccupation with aesthetics (Character customization! Dog Furfrou grooming! Petting and pampering your PokĂ©mon! Meticulously kept jardins Ă la française! Serious philosophical discussions on the fleeting nature of beauty! Team Flare...ok, never mind, theyâre kind of dumb) to the discerning restaurant culture to the general ambivalence toward glorious and gloriously wasteful institutions like monarchy and their lavish chĂąteaux feels so familiar to me. And how could I forget the Fairy type, a type tailor-made to vex the sort of posturing bro gamer sorts who somehow maintain their bro-ness while openly playing PokĂ©mon. Could any region but Kalos have delivered that so beautifully? Well, now that I think about it, are the Japanese aware that the French are characterized as feminine in the English-speaking world? Regardless, I could go on, but this post is long enough as it is.
As I said before, Kalos isnât entirely without flaw. Team Flare might be a hair less ridiculous than Team Galactic, but that isnât saying much. The troupe of rivals, such as they are, arenât much better, and others like Sycamore and most of the gym leaders are woefully underutilized. The Kalos PokĂ©dex is overstuffed, and while I enjoy its subdivision into three regions that not-so-coincidentally recreate the Tricolore it is nevertheless a pain for those who like to fill up the Dex as they go along in a game. The developers were still clearly learning how to deal with the camera in a 3D space as is evident in certain areas like Lumiose, and certain features like the roller skates are awkward to use. Not the Exp Share, though - call me a lazy casual, but that thing makes team-building so much easier and actually incentivizes doing so rather than just relying on one overleveled PokĂ©mon with good coverage to solo everything. Oh, and we never got a PokĂ©mon Z, or more importantly an extension of the map that would include southern France. PokĂ©-Gascogne, please, Game Freak.
Really, itâs hard for me to criticize X and Y because I quickly come back to everything I love about the place. Iâm actually replaying X right now, inspired as I was by this project and lacking anything else to play before USUM comes out next month. Speaking of which...
I may not have any personal attachment to Hawaii, but I have to give GF serious props for taking the best gameplay and worldbuilding elements of Kalos and replicating them on an even greater scale. Alola is a vibrant and extensively-realized setting for a game, and Iâm not even taking into account that weâll be getting an AU version of it or something like that in the upcoming games. Sun and Moon fascinate on their own with their deep characterizations that touch on such surprisingly dark topics as child abuse (in a variety of forms) and the failure of community and, er, social programs, or whatever youâd call the Island Trial and the whole sending-ten-year-olds-out-to-enslave-wild-animals thing this universe has going on.Â
There arenât really any duds in the cast, either: Kukui is drool-worthy, Guzma and the rest of Team Skull are thoroughly silly and also thoroughly sad, most of the kahunas and trial captains are entertaining in their own ways (special props go to Nanu, Kiawe and his hiker boyfriend, and Acerola the fallen aristocrat whoâs entirely too perky about it), Lusamine is a demented mother figure so of course I find her compelling, and Hau...taught me what a malasada is? Itâs basically a Portuguese beignet, from the sound of things. Lillie is the real star however, and I donât understand why some fans criticize the games for making the story more about her than about the player character. One of the biggest drawbacks of silent protagonists, and especially silent protagonists that never emote, is that itâs difficult for them to be a part of character-driven storylines, and in a first for the series unless you count N in BW Sun and Moon are exactly that kind of story. Lillie gets a voice and a distinct place in the world and in the lives of the other major players in the narrative, and she has a development arc that follows along with but stands independent from the standard one followed by this protagonist and all others in this series. Meanwhile, the player character...is from Kanto, and is Kukuiâs cousin, and Kukui is probably fucking their mother. Thatâs pretty much it.
Iâm a little less enamored with the Ultra Beast plotline as itâs a little too sci-fi for me, and Aetherâs presence and purpose in Alola feels unexplored, but thereâs still a chance that USUM may woo me on either score. Iâm fairly indifferent on the Mega Evolution vs. Z-Moves argument, and I can take or leave Alolan forms - except Ninetales *pets* - but SM made one substantial gameplay improvement I absolutely adore and will hate to see be removed from future games: ride PokĂ©mon. No more HM slaves, yay! Compound that with surfing between islands and some new areas and theyâve sold me on the next games. If the story is as radically different as trailers seem to be promising I can only hope that itâll be just as engaging as the first time around.
So, if I had to provide a tl;dr by dint of a simplified ranking, itâd probably go as such:
Kalos > Alola > Hoenn = Unova > Johto > Kanto = Sinnoh
Iâd expect Sinnoh to get bumped up a few notches in remake form, but otherwise thatâs about right.
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FF8 - A weird romance story, poor character development and hero is dead/dream theories
I am officially done with FF8...after 93 hours of gameplay. Seriously. This game is not long by any means but getting everything done in the game is so goddamn tedious. And I wonât even mention the 10k enemies killed achievement. Considering you donât meet big groups of enemies and the fact you usually meet 3 enemies and letâs say one battle takes 30 seconds:
10k / 3 * 30 / 60 / 60 = 27 HOURS
Achievements shouldnât be about super tedious actions like that. I can get collecting all the cards, especially since as long you get rid of the random rule in all regions, winning the matches is quite easy. And I got my 100 win about the time I was doing the Queen of Card side quests so clearly you donât need to spend so much time doing it and the matches are vastly more entertaining since you have to think at least a little bit. I have all stats junctions, auto-haste, and Mad Rush so that I donât have to mash the V button. It was still a very boring process. The only challenge was Omega Weapon given the damage amount and frequency but after spending 3 fucking hours in the final dungeon I was so done I just used Hero (which makes characters invincible) and laughed my ass off maniacally seeing 0 damage popping above my squadmatesâ heads. I kinda wish I cast Aura on Selphie and used The End just to troll it even more, lololol. The same problem goes with 100 lvl Chocobo achievement. Walking Boko not that bad since you can automatize it a bit and Chocobo Worldâs window is tiny so you can easily make some other stuff in the background. ...That being said, considering that if you are really unlucky (like me) and you get the worst possible Chocobo ID, you CANNOT beat the Evil King. Like wtf. I tried it 20 times until I read that there is no way in hell I can win. Still, going all the way to level 100 is really tedious even once you encounter Moogle.
Okay, now that I vented my frustration out, letâs discuss the bits I have mentioned in the title.
The romance
Itâs impossible not to speak about the romance in FF8, given how itâs given the spotlight in the last disc and a half. It would be all good and dandy if the romance was well executed.
But it isnât the case.
Donât get me wrong, I can enjoy me some romance. Even if I some pairs are NOPT for me, I can still acknowledge that the progression of the mutual attraction made sense. For example, Aerith was clearly made the main romance partner for Cloud in FF7 (although there is a lot of complication with how he processes the world, the fact her bf Zacks died and she can tell it right away thanks to her abilities, or that Cloud adopting Zackâs personality traits and achievements because he is too ashamed of his own, he got serious case of Mako poisoning and so on, and so on), or Lockeâs affection towards Celeste was made very clear in FF6.
The main problem with FF8 romance is just the sudden shift in Squallâs attitude towards Rinoa. I wasnât much of a fan of her or her pushy behaviorism so I picked pretty much all cold options towards her I could. But then she falls into coma and Squall pretty much loses his shit and obsesses over her. It would be fine in case of a normal romance escalation but it looked ridiculous since merely two scenes before Rinoa was literally hanging on the edge on a cliff and Squall just tells Zell to take care of it and had to be told by Qustis to go save her to actually do something.
During the battle of the Gardens Squall had so much responsibility pushed on him by Cid (yeah, letâs make him the head of the whole organization. Oh? He qualified into being a SeeD member only two weeks ago? Even better! Because fuck being a responsible adult and taking care of your students) that he was more worried about the well-being of other students (who had no battle experience of any sorts) and possible destruction of a place he considered home than saving his âbelovedâ from falling down an being violently blended into tiny pieces.
I am surprised that Rinoa was able to hold up for so long tbh.
At any rate, this âgo and help her, I have to take care of all other responsibilitiesâ and âI want to hear her voice again. I want her to call my name again.â is pretty much a 180-degree turn and since the game does not present you with any choices in this situation, those two attitudes towards Rinoa are canon.
But I said that it was two scenes before, so what happened to Rinoa and Squall between those events?
Well, not much. But itâs important to note how out of place the scene I will describe now was.
Imagine you have saved the girl from your squad but you are not done yet. There are still screams and explosions happening in your close proximity and you know that you have to defeat the opposing army to save people who are part of your âhomeâ. You run through the battlefield with your squadmate at your side as you see your other members of your âhomeâ fight off the soldiers to the best of their abilities.
And then you move to another screen where your squadmate stops you to talk about your ring. Your favorite ring you gave to another of your squadmate (Zell), since he asked you and you agreed under the condition that he will fucking return it later. And then Rinoa is all bubbly, merely seconds after she was hanging from a fucking cliff, people are getting injured and are risking death just one screen away, and says that she wanted to ring since she would like to have the same one. And then says âbut then people would get a wrong idea.â while she is clearly saying it flirtatiously.
Of course, by this point Squall even muses that his whole squad is obviously trying to get them together. He doesnât say how he exactly feels about it but it comes across with his usual annoyance when someone is bothering him.
He is still lukewarm towards her at best and after some battles, she falls into a coma for plot reason and Squall goes bonkers. He goes even more insane later considering that allowing Rinoa to be sealed until they deal with Ultimecia would be a safer (and more comfortable for him) choice which is why he initially agrees to it until Quisits scolds him and tells him to help her.
Given Squallâs dismissal of Rinoaâs affection, it seems more that he gave into peer pressure more than anything and partially into his fear of being left alone. The reason why Squall joined SeeD was in order to find his missing sis and this desire was strong enough to remember it, even with the excessive usage of GFs; he had forgotten that he was in the orphanage with his other companions (all, except for Rinoa), that Edea was their matron and his sisâs name but this desire to find the one person he loved the most in the world has stayed with him. It also caused him to have some serious issues with keeping people close in fear of losing them and desire to stand on his own since he was terrified that he will be abandoned and left to his own devices.
Squall does go through some interesting character development, donât get me wrong. I did enjoy seeing him come to care for his companions and his awkward attempt to be verbally supporting which is clearly not his forte. This awkwardness was actually quite fitting since you cannot change overnight and it felt that it was happening naturally, meaning that the desire to open up and care for other people came straight for Squall rather than from the outside. I enjoyed the worry and care Squall shows towards his squad throughout disc 2 and during the visit to the Trabiaâs Garden thoroughly and this could have easily been the complete focus on Squallâs character development since none of it seemed out of character at all.
Of course, things arenât âbadâ just on Squallâs end. Squallâs live long rival called Seifer was Rinoaâs romantic interest. Or at least he seemed to be, it wasnât explicitly stated, but since they didnât spend much time together, her way of speaking indicates that he was her crush. So she had to deal with fighting against her possible crush while she was looking for certain character trait in Squall to fit how she viewed Seifer; similarly how Aerith wanted to see Zacks in Cloud (unaware that her secret desire is actually what is going on in the story, lol).
Seifer did have some similarities with Squall but the game made the point of making them clear opposites. Both use the same weapon but have different fighting styles, both have scars on their faces (they gave the scars to each other at the beginning of the story) but their angle is flipped, both become the sorceressâ knights at some point in the story, both have charisma and leadership capabilities (although Squall feels uncomfortable being a leader with his limited experience). At the same time: a. Seifer wears all white while Squall wears all black, b. Seifer has blonde hair and Squall has brown hair, c. Seifer defies authority, Squall follows it, d. Seifer is open with his emotions and has no problem expressing it, Squall keeps to himself and has a hard time showing care or affection, e. their character card values are flipped, f. Seifer is aggressive, Squall is passive unless provoked.
The specific trait that I saw Rinoa trying to influence throughout the game is Squallâs problem with expressing emotions and keeping to himself. The thing is that, in the story, it didnât seem like her pushiness was really doing anything else that makes Squall close even more while his companions like Zell or Selphie gave him space which made him feel comfortable and slowly change without realizing it. This is why the dynamics between Squall and his squadmates from Edeaâs orphanage was really interesting, even if they werenât interesting characters themselves except for Selphie. Speaking of which...
Character Development
Many characters came across as either very hollow or unpolished for some reason.
I still donât get why exactly did Seifer help Ultimecia. At first, it seemed to be some kind of mind control but by the time disc 3 rolls in, itâs clear that he is serving her out of his own volition. Why did he side with her? Why was he willing to hurt Rinoa in order to do so? Why was he okay with butchering the Garden he grown up in? Was he aware that if Ultimeciaâs plan succeeds, only she would be able to live in the time compressed world? Did he want to break the world?
Ultimecia isnât a very complicated villain either even with the limited information the game provides. The most we can get about her motives are from the speech she gives in Deling City. She mentions that she is now hailed by the lowlifes that condemned her for generations. It would be interesting to see just what she went through and what made her hate other people so much (like of Sephiroth looking down on people and burning Kalm without more information would make him feel very shallow, but because you learn that he despised Hojo and he pretty much went insane after he realized that he was a product of an experiment, he went through losing two of his close friends, etc.).
Zell is Zell, lol. Hot-dogs, fighting and (a mutual!) crush on the girl from the library. It was cool that he offers to protect Edea while Squall is away so there was that. Itâs disappointing that he didnât talk to his parent about being adopted which I think would be an interesting addition to his character since he joined SeeD because of his grandfather. His accessory making came out of nowhere just to serve as part of the whole âRinoa: I want to have a ring just like Squall, *heart*.â so letâs not talk about that. It would also be interesting to see him confront Seifer on equal terms given how it turned out he was his lifelong bully.
Irvine is a bit forgettable but he played a vital role in revealing that everyone in their groups is connected (except for Rinoa) and this actually explained well why he wasnât able to assassinate the sorceress. He was probably made a bit vague on purpose too since when Squall is thinking about his companions when they were younger he muses: âSorry Irvine, you are just too forgettable.â lol
Quistis is defined the most by being a serious character but it was disappointing that she step aside as soon as Rinoa get into the picture. She was also the one who pushed Squall to be closer with Rinoa the most from the bunch. Not that I ship Quisits x Squall, but she says that her affection was most likely an unaware attempt to fill in a role of Squall's sister but given how obviously she wanted his D and was open about it, I think that it was just a statement to distance herself. She also is good at card. Not better than me tho.
I actually liked Selphieâs character, even though she was a bit too hyper for my taste in many moments but seeing her reaction when the Gardens were threatened by Galbadiaâs missiles and interactions with the members of her Garden really added up to her character. She might be an idiot. But she is mine idiot. Lol. Same goes for Laguna. Itâs sinful to be so lucky and so stupid and the same time. She also comments close to the end of the game that she is surprised that Squall and Rinoa got together since they are complete opposites and she didnât believe that her pushy approach would work on Squall but ultimately she is happy for him. I wonder what her personal info says, the computer never got fixed. And I wish I knew what GF she has junctioned when she was younger.
Squall was clearly the most covered character and so long I ignore that horrible romance, I have no complaints. I didnât expect to like another moody and broody Square Enix protagonist but he touched upon many interesting things in his inner dialogue and I canât help but sympathize. I also had a wild guess that Squall is Lagunaâs son (I had others like when I found Timber Maniacs issue about Lagunaâs visit to Esthar, I joked to myself he probably became their king. How right I was. Lol. Also, Esthar was hands down the most interesting city.) so it would be funny to see some interactions between them and Ellone but because the game focused on the romance it was mostly swept under the rug. Itâs disappointing that despite Kriosâ saying that they should sit down and talk about it once Ultimecia is defeated, the game does not give you an option to do that. T~T
Rinoa. Ughhhh. Her character had potential but because SE decided to focus on romance, so her character was just not well rounded. The most interesting thing about her is that her mother was Squallâs father crush for a long time and since I am a fan of two people not ending up together but their children do, it was a cool concept but itâs left as a very obscure thing since only one NPCâs dialogue mentions her. Thinks that could have been talked about instead of focusing on romance: What exactly caused a rupture between her and her Father? Can their relationship be mended? How does she actually feels about being a revolutionist? How much itâs about genuinely wanting Timberâs independence and not acting to oppose her father? Another thing about her character is that she has a dog named Angelo but they have little to no interaction. Angelo seemed more like a GF than a part of the squad, especially since you have little control over summoning so I saw him fewer times than I have seen Odin. Which is sad. And there is Watts and Zone who are helping her but after they end up on the White Seed Ship you donât really hear about interactions between the three of them so it makes all of them even less dimensional than they already are.
Squall is Dead theory
My first attempt that finishing the FF8 ended with disc 1 since I couldnât find the rest in my brotherâs big CD collection so when I stumbled on the theory recently, I thought: âwell, it was shocking to see him die for me back then. I expected he died to be honest which is why I wanted to play the next disc as soon as possible, lol. I would be interesting to see if itâs true.â
But the theory does not appear plausible to me. The cool thing about the hero is dead theories is that they are some elements introduced that you are familiar with or they make enough sense for you to go with what is happening but at the same time there is this sense that something is wrong. Those might be just short hunches. I didnât find THAT much weird as long as I ignore Squallâs failed attempt to get back to Edeaâs Orphanage during the time compression.
But letâs examine some clues people put together to support this theory.
1. Why Ultimecia wouldnât kill Squall? And why would she have a newbie interrogated instead of Quistis?
I think that it might be just pure luck + possible Seiferâs intervention. The icicle pierced Squallâs left side of rib cage so he avoided pretty much instant death via heart piercing and given the rivalry with Seifer, he could have asked Ultimecia to keep him since he can torture him later (which he does with obvious eagerness and pleasure). Itâs also possible that Ultimecia didnât find him to be a huge treat and even didnât know or care how long Squall was a SeeD/didnât bother with that. It was only important that he was one and that she needed to know what SeeD is in order to protect herself. Killing him would be risking losing additional information, besides even if he had no information, he could always be tortured to make others wag their tongues. We do not know how resourceful Ultimecia is but she took Seifer as her knight soon she laid her eyes on him so it doesnât seem to be too farfetched. Still, Seifer was running the show in the prison so he picked to torture Squall first to stroke his ego and fulfill his sadistic desires.
2. Why there is no wound after Squall wakes up, why would Ultimecia heal Squall to full health just to interrogate him?
Itâs difficult to interrogate someone if they are bleeding to death. She also didnât have to heal him to full health, just enough to make sure he doesnât die while he is knocked out for however long he was.
3. Why are Moombas talking? Itâs a really strange element to be added, especially how lions are important symbolically to Squall.
Itâs probably to give a clue that Squall is Lagunaâs son early on in the game. We learn later that Moombas can recognize people by the taste or smell of the blood so since Squall is Lagunaâs son, itâs probable that he smells at least a bit like Laguna. As far as symbolism goes, I think that the point is symbolism but it doesnât necessarily mean that itâs a projection of Squallâs admiration of Griever. It seems to be, again, a clue that Lagunaâs little boy is like a lion ;)
4. NORG the master of the Garden. Why he is never talked about again after he is defeated? Also how weird is having a yellow, slimy thing fund SeeD? Edea and Cidâs marriage comes out of nowhere.
I do not understand why this question was brought up. Cid does comment that he approached/was approached by NORG to gather funding to fund SEED and sometime after the battle you met some other Shumi tribe member and tells briefly that NORG was consumed with greed which made him the black sheep of their tribe. Itâs pretty much the same thing that Cid says.
As far as the second question goes, not that weird. Itâs a FF game after all. It has fat chocobos, tiny minotaur throwing a bigger one, synchronized chocobo dancing, dodgy sex hotels and so on.
5. Too much, âperhaps itâs fateâ.
I donât think itâs too much. After we learn that everyone (except for Rinoa) was in the orphanage their fate as SeeD is to kill sorceress is clear (which has been founded by Edea, another sorceress), Seifer and Squall are fated to fight (they were rivals since childhood with Seifer taunting Squall and him falling for it because he wanted to stand up on his own) and Squall leading the Garden doesnât make much sense to me since even when Squall meets Edea in the past he doesnât introduce himself as the head of the Seed but just as a member. And I still think that Cid shouldnât have thrown everything in his lap just because, but I think that he is just irresponsible which is why he sent out Squall and his squad to deal with Edea.
6. âJust stay close to me.â
âSpeaking of a perfect fantasy, the romantic storyline of Final Fantasy VIII is just that. The romantic plotline, which many fans consider to be the most successful element of the game, is completely fabricated for Squallâs personal satisfaction.â
Stop, the romantic plot is a horrendous atrocity and I question the sanity of anyone who says that it was a successful element of the game, let alone a most successful XD Itâs as much of a crutch as it was for SAO. Well, maybe a bit less. Hard to tell, I have been avoiding SAO on purpose and I donât want to hear about it again just to compare the two.
I donât think that Rinoaâs affection is weird in the dream-like-way. She is overzealous in my opinion but Squall has some similarities to Seifer that could have drawn her to him (I only question why he responds to it the way he does after coma happens). Rinoa does dislike Squallâs cold and introverted personality initially and later on you can see that she is trying to mold him to suit her liking. If it has been all a dream, Squallâs dream no less, why not make her like him the way he is? Why have the dream version of Rinoa try to change him?
âThe relationship Rinoa and Seifer had is never again mentioned, except by Seifer in the form of taunts during battle.â
Actually, it is mentioned even if dismissively when Rinoa and Squall are returning to Earth. I DO think that jumping from Seifer to Squall is a stupid, immature decision but I donât think itâs that far-fetched. As far as Seifer being an alright guy to complete villain post Squallâs possible death, I think that itâs just really bad writing. You can see it with the majority of the characters in this game.
7. The end.
I do admit that the final cinematic was some weird shit. I mean...
Sweet dreams everyone.
Okay, but as far as why only specific scenes are replayed over and over again, I think that those the scenes of most significance to Squall. He fought with Rinoa and there was this weird flirting on her part throughout the game but definitely the very first time he met her, he was thrown out of his element which is why the ballroom was of such significance. Squall doesnât feel comfortable with dancing so being pushed into it out of nowhere definitely caused him a lot of personal distress, something that itâs easy to recall. Same goes for Rinoa in space, by this point he developed an obsession with her and was terrified she was going to die, had there been a cutscene with here laying in the hospital bed, we would most likely get it as well.
âIf this was really how the game was meant to be interpreted, why did they make the âdreamâ so subtle?â
I think people are just giving to much credit to this game ^^; Some things are way too elaborate for it to be a dream and others can be explained logically even if you play by the âdreamâsâ rules. The weirdest thing that did happen in the game was Laguna âdreamsâ but those were happening before Squall âdiedâ and Ellone is the very first person you meet in the game. I also find it funny that Squall would dream about having Laguna as his father, he just didnât seem like a good material for one until you get the âdreamâ from his stay in Winhill and Squall didnât like him at all and think she is a moron. And by FF standard, the rest doesnât seem that crazy tbh.
âThe ending is like recapping the game on acid.â
Oh, thatâs for sure. (*look at the picture above* *shudder*)
I guess I will type what I liked/didnât liked.
+ Laguna, Selphie, Squall
- Romance
+ GFs
+ draw system (tedious but it was cool to have no mana to worry about)
+/- GF system (there should be more slots for abilities)
-/+ Music (not memorable but okay, one song during the final battle was cool)
+ Triple Triad
+ PuPu Quest
- the lake quest (way too vague)
- confusing graphic (no option to mark passages or ladders like in FF7 led me to a lot of confusion since I either didnât realize that you can go to x room or that there is a lever/rope I can pull. It is caused by rending interactive elements with the background which makes them difficult to distinguish. Chrono Cross handled it well since the interactive objects were rendered similarly to the character models).
- fuck 10k kills achievement
-/+ if you miss Occult Fan III you cannot ever get it (luckily you donât need it for achievement or to summon Doomtrain)
+ Selphieâs limit break, lol
+ Gilgamesh getting payback for Odin, lol
- too easy (fight against the final boss was laughable and I was only using attack command).
#okay#I am done#I don't see any reason to replay this game#it's just too tedious given what you get in return#I still adore Laguna#lucky moron#I can't be bothered to proof read this#I spent way more time than I should have on this#never touching it again#ff8
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