zestria13

[zestria13]

Tales of Berseria and Zestiria: Part II

Something I think would be cool is if the Tales series had another entry in the same world as Berseria and Zestiria, where both Sorey and Velvet awaken at the same time and then travel together. It could be that Sorey somehow purifies Innominat at the same time as Maotelus, or that something disrupts Velvets and Innominat’s sleep, or another event. But, I think it would kinda be a culmination of their stories to have the Shepard and the Lord of Calamity work together, seeing as we have played both sides and seen the moral ambiguity present in their stories. Additionally, it would be possible to somewhat combine the teams from the previous games, as Velvet and Laphicet (Maotelus) would be involved as well as Sorey and Mikleo. It may even be possible that Rokurou is alive. I would love to see the interactions between Sorey and Velvet, and Velvet’s group with Edna, seeing as they traveled with Eizen. (I also would not be upset with a way to get Eizen back as he was, just FYI). Maotelus’s interactions with Lailah would probably be interesting too. And Zaveid would be such an interesting go between seeing as he interacted with both groups! Also, would it not be fun for the history buffs to run into someone who lived a thousand years ago and was involved in the events that completely changed the world they were born into? All in all, I’m saying that I really loved those games and would love to play again in that world with those characters, especially with another time skip and everyone trying to figure out what’s going on. Those character interactions would be awesome. So, uh Bandai Namco, could you make another one? Please? Because I would be thrilled!

[zestria13]

Final Fantasy 15 Thoughts (Spoilers!)

So, I just finished playing Final Fantasy 15 Royal Edition and I have many feelings about it. As I understand it, I have avoided many of the basic gameplay and story problems by buying the Royal Edition, which has all of the patches, dlc's, and fixes many of the bugs encountered when FFXV first came out. Oh, and I have watched the brotherhood anime and the Kingsglaive movie. Overall, my first experience with FFXV is much more complete than it was when the game was initially released (that is my understanding anyways). To be clear, I enjoyed playing FFXV (at least a good portion of it), but I have many issues with it too. One of my main issues with FFXV is the plot, especially the plot following the rite in Altissia. I have read many complaints about how dark FFXV gets after this point and how it becomes a very narrow, plot driven narrative as opposed to its earlier more easygoing and open world setting. To some extent, I agree with these complaints. This change in the game feels very sudden and forced to some degree. However, I personally tend to play heavily narrative games because I like deep, complex plotlines. This turn into a plot driven narrative is not my main issue, though it was, in my opinion, too abrupt a change in the game. My main issue following the events in Altissia, simply, is that the game wasn't as much fun to play after that point. For a game promoting the concept of brotherhood and comradery, that pretty much disappeared after the events in Altissia. Don't get me wrong, I understand the events in Altissia were traumatic for all of the characters and that caused most of the tension, but it was like we were playing with a different group of characters than we started with. All of the comradery seen previously in the game, from the pep talks, to characters interactions, to the short quips in battle (My fav was between Noctis and Ignis, the "You got my back" and "Always" in reply) had created this atmosphere of a team, of a brotherhood that was connected not just by duty, but by genuine friendship. 

But then Altissia happens, and the group just...completely falls apart. There is such an emotional whiplash between the first part of the game and the second part of the game, and its jarring. I honestly felt uncomfortable playing the game after the events in Altissia because the atmosphere was tense and strained, and the comradery present in the first half of the game became nearly nonexistent. Frankly, the game never recovers from this mood shift, and the rest of the game has a sort of sullen, discomforting feel to it. And I know people would argue that the brotherhood comes back together at the end of the game, but I would argue that true reconciliation never happens between the characters, instead making their comradery at the end a byproduct of their circumstances. They never truly deal with the problems created by the events in Altissia and afterwards. They just push them aside because they need to do so in order to work as a team and save the world. Now, is it possible that the remaining trio living in darkness may have dealt with their issues and figured things out, but we wouldn't actually know because we aren't privy to anything that happens during those 10 years. Maybe the game wanted you to understand Noctis's perspective in this way (though they don't really touch on how incredibly disorienting that time skip must have been for Noctis). However, the point stands that there was never really time at any point in the rest of the game following Altissia for the group to reconcile and come back together as a cohesive unit.

That leads me to another huge issue I take with the plot of this game. The ending. I know, already, there are people who will comment and say that "Not everything has a happy ending" and "The sacrifice was necessary to save the world", and so on and so forth. My issue with the ending comes back to the question of why. Especially after having watched Episode Ardyn, I just don't feel that the game gives us a clear cut reason as to why any of the ending needs to happen the way it does. Ok, so the sun goes down and doesn't come up after Noctis is pulled into the Crystal, which means demons have pretty much free reign and everything is much more dangerous. Got it. But why did the sun disappear? I know the game explains that there are organisms infected with the Starscourge that release a light-absorbing miasma, which are the cause of the lengthening nights (though you need to be fairly thorough in your examination of items to learn this). It also mentions the idea that the Oracle dying is related to the longer nights and the disappearing sun, though it never really explains why besides the fact that the Oracle can heal the Starscourge. While I understand that her healing those with Starscourge helps to limit the amount of miasma being put into the world, it seems rather unlikely that one person can ever hope to keep up with that demand. Also, we only ever saw Luna heal people who had not fully turned into demons yet, and I would assume that those people aren't giving off the same level of miasma as fully turned demons. And, we know those fully turned demons exist, in the form of demons the party runs into and the MT's that the empire uses. I'm just not sure it is believable that the Oracle, by themselves, is actually healing enough people to actually prevent the endless night in the first place. As for the other part of the explanation, how did those organisms proliferate to the point where it caused an endless night? Based on what we hear from characters in FFXV and read in the research notes, the appearance of the longer nights was incredibly rapid, which begs the question of why those organisms suddenly started infecting creatures and producing this miasma so quickly in comparison to any other time in the history of this world (as far as we know). All in all, I can't think of a solid reason given in the game as to why the endless night even happens, or perhaps, why it hasn't happened already. 

Moving on, after Noctis is absorbed into the Crystal, we do a ten year time skip. Back to my question of why, why did Noctis have to be in the Crystal for 10 years? I know he went in to gain the power of providence, but 10 years seems a bit excessive. Maybe that’s just me. Ignoring the fact that almost all of the living things in the world would have died without 10 years of sunlight, the fact remains that, in all likelihood, most of the creatures living in that world would have perished, either by being killed by demons or due to a lack of resources. In all honesty, there probably aren't many people alive by the time Noctis returns, and it’s hard to say if a civilization would actually be able to recover from that kind of devastation. Anyways, let's move on to what is my biggest contention with the plot. The prophecy. I have to say, I really, really dislike this plot point in the game. For one, it makes no sense. The true king, in this story, exists to purge their star of the darkness. Ok, cool, love the vague terms. But again, why? The darkness, which basically refers to the Starscourge, has existed for at least 2000 years at this point in the world. If the gods were so invested in this issue, why didn't they address it earlier? Why wait for a so called chosen king after at least 2000 years of this darkness ravaging their world? And what makes Noctis the chosen king? Simply because the gods said so? If that is the case, why didn't they choose a chosen king earlier? I know, after watching Episode Ardyn, that Ardyn was also a chosen king with the ability to absorb Starscourge from other people into himself. An ability, I might add, granted to him by the gods. But when Ardyn tries to ascend to become a king, the Crystal, where Bahamut resides, suddenly rejects him because of his ability (which, again, was given to him by the gods), and so he is rejected basically by the gods via the gift they gave him. Which makes no sense. As we know, this action leads to the circumstances we see in the game. 

To me, at this point, it seems that the gods on Eos are incompetent and create this prophecy in order to fix the problem they created. This seems to become more glaringly obvious when Bahamut tells Ardyn (in Episode Ardyn) that he literally is a pawn in their game to fix the problem they created. At its core, that is what makes me so very frustrated with this prophecy plot line. It seems that the characters in this game are no more than pawns being made to do what the gods tell them to do, and that everything in this world is preordained. Not only does that rake against my own beliefs as an individual, but it ruins the purpose of the game for me. If everything is preordained, then what is the point? It also hurts my perception of the characters as well because the characters, except for Ardyn maybe, never think to go against the determinations made by the gods, they just go along with it. They never stop to consider trying to find another way and instead simply accept their fates as is. I understand there is something inherently powerful and moving in sacrificing yourself to save others, but making it fate instead of an active choice lessens the impact. Noctis doesn't choose to sacrifice himself to save Eos, it is forced upon him. There is no sense of choice here, merely one of acceptance. The cruelty of Noctis' preordained fate disturbs me. Not only is Noctis just randomly chosen to die to save the world, but the gods see fit to inform his father of that when Noctis is 5. I cannot truly imagine the depth of sorrow and helplessness probably felt by Regis in being told that his son is basically a sacrifice. Undoubtedly, knowing that weighed heavily on Regis and I'm sure at times that knowledge put a dour edge on his time with Noctis. One of the saddest things about Noctis' fate is how little time he actually gets to live. I know he is technically 30 at the time of his death, but he really only lived 20 years. Not only is his life cut short, but he actually loses a third of it in the process of becoming the ideal sacrifice for the gods. To me, Noctis' fate is just unbearably cruel. And don't misunderstand, I actually like games that have darker themes and angst in them, but I think there is a balance in crafting stories and this story didn't quite find a balance. And the thing is, I think the creators of the game have acknowledged that too, as they have now created 2 alternative storylines where Noctis doesn't die and his fate is subverted in some way. Personally, I prefer the message given in the Final Fantasy 7 remake where the characters actively fight against a pre-determined destiny, instead of simply accepting their destiny as is. I have more thoughts on the subject of Final Fantasy 15, but for the moment I will end my writing here.

[zestria13]

Hey ornithology friends, any idea what kind of bird this is??

[zestria13]

Did you mean: Tales of Berseria

[zestria13]

I am infuriated. I am disgusted. And I am deeply frustrated. Recent events have shone a clear light unto deep rooted issues in our society. But, its not that we were unaware of them previously, just that many have chosen to simply ignore them. Honestly, I am not sure how to address these issues, and my feelings about my inability to be helpful, to change things, frustrate me deeply. I want to help change things. I want to support all people in our country, but especially those who are punished in some measure, simply because of who they are. Recent events involving African Americans in our country leave me feeling a potent mix of enraged and anguished. They have clearly revealed some problems existing in our country in an undeniable manner.

The event with Amy Cooper shows us that people are very much aware of the situation in this country. She knowingly used Christian Cooper's status as an African American man as a threat against him, something she wouldn't have done if she did not acknowledge that simply being African American means that the police are a threat to you. She knew, on some level, that even though she was blatantly lying about this man being threatening towards her, that her word would be viewed as being more believable. It is revolting that someone would purposely tell a lie knowing that it could end with putting an innocent person in jail, that it could end with injury to that person, or even that it could lead to the death of another person. There is no excuse for that kind of behavior. And it clearly shows us that people do know that there is a difference in the way police departments deal with different groups of people.

The shooting of Ahmaud Arbery shows us that there are people in this country that are discriminatory and are convinced that the existence of institutional racism in this country will protect them. I cannot, emotionally, understand how there are people in this country that feel as though people are inherently less than them simply because they look different from them. I understand logically how people come to find themselves in this mindset based on research done on the topic, but that as is far as my understanding can go. There is no part of me that understands how someone could knowingly follow someone and kill them, and still defend themselves.

The death of George Floyd shows us that how police departments treat African American people, and especially African America men, is undeniably different than how they treat other groups. It also shows us that this treatment exists for no excusable reason. Previously, police officers have had their actions defended, being excused from their actions because they were afraid for their life, or they thought the person had a weapon on them. That excuse does not exist this time. Floyd was not resisting arrest, did not have a weapon, and did not pose a threat to the four officers at the scene (each of whom was armed). That much is clear. And yet, in the video we see an officer kneeling on Floyd's neck for no discernible reason. It was not necessary to keep Floyd on the ground, and he certainly was not resisting at the time this occurred. I am not only bothered by the officer's actions, but by his mentality. Why was he kneeling on Floyd's neck? Because he could? Because he didn't think there would be any repercussions for his actions? Or maybe you would like to argue that he wasn't aware of how damaging his actions were. Except, Floyd was pleading with the officers saying he couldn't breathe, meaning that either the officer knew and didn't care, or that he simply chose to ignore him. And if you would like to argue that he didn't do either, but simply made a mistake and didn't realize it, then I would question your standards for our law enforcement. I am bothered by any of these mentalities and actions. This behavior is unacceptable for any member of our society, but especially for members of our society who are protected, in some measure, because of their job from the repercussions of such an action. And people across the nation are outraged because there is no defense for these actions, not this time. That is not to say that previous defenses for these kinds of actions were justified, but simply that people could use them because of a lack of clarity in these cases.

There is no excuse for racism in this country, and it is about time that we, as a country, acknowledge that together. I realize that not everyone will agree. There is almost never a full consensus on contentious issues like racism. I cannot, as a person, ignore this issue and pretend that it doesn't exist. It does exist. And it is fundamentally infuriating because we are all human beings. We all are the same species with the same basic genetic code. Skin color variations are simply a trait. Just like hair color, eye color, height, and an endless array of others. Skin color differences exist due to different amounts of UV radiation around the world. Humans located in climates with high levels of UV radiation have darker skin because it protects them from those high levels of UV radiation. Humans located in climates with low levels of UV radiation have lighter skin because they don't need the extra protection, and need to absorb that limited sunlight in order to have enough vitamin D. That's all it is. There is no real difference between people with different skin tones, just imagined ones. It is terribly frustrating that humans are constrained by bounds simply imagined by us in the first place. There is no reason to treat someone callously simply because they are different than you. It's a simple lesson, and its about time that we learned it.

[zestria13]

Pass the happy!🌻🌿 When you receive this, list 5 things that make you happy and send this to 10 of the last people in your notifications! (No pressure to do this if you don't like these vibes ofc op)

1. Reading📚

2. Being with my pets🐱

3. My friends💜

4. Listening to music🎼

5. Being a member of fandoms!🌟

Thanks for passing the happy!

[zestria13]

I’ve come to the realization that my parents, while being here for me physically, financially, and otherwise, they have never really been there for me emotionally. I love my parents, but I don’t rely on them emotionally. I don’t talk to them about my feelings very much, and I certainly don’t share my mental space with them. I think I’ve known this for some time, but haven’t had the words to actually express it. I’m frustrated. I don’t really have anyone to lean on emotionally. My dad acts like negative emotions simply don’t exist. He’s content to pretend that nothing is ever wrong. Even when it is. He doesn’t want to deal with negative emotions, so he doesn’t. Hard to really talk, have real talk about the deep stuff, with someone like that. And I don’t think my mom has ever understood the phrase of acknowledging someone’s feelings. She jumps immediately to judgment when I talk about feelings of any kind. I’m angry about something, she immediately argues why I shouldn’t feel that way. I’m sad about something, she immediately turns to the phrase “but you shouldn’t be sad”. I never actually finish talking about my feelings because she automatically has a judgment on them. And I’m left feeling angry because she can never just listen to me. Sometimes I just want to share my feelings, have someone acknowledge them, have an outlet. I’m not asking for advice, condemnation, or judgment about it. I just want to voice my emotions. But I don’t feel like I have any place to actually do that. And I’m just left feeling frustrated, so I don’t share my feelings. And then my parents wonder why I don’t talk about my emotions with them. If only they could understand how their reactions lend to that action on my part. Hard to see that happening as it is.

[zestria13]

I’m so glad Dolittle has continued the tradition of making Robert Downey Jr. into a mentor/father figure for children who don’t fit in and whose parents are gone. Oh, and who also live with their aunt.

[zestria13]

The Moral of the Lorax

Just watched the Lorax again. Though the book was published in the 1970s, it’s message rings startlingly clear today. If we do not take care of our environment, soon it will no longer exist. And we will be as the Once-ler, living in regret. Though it may feel like individually we cannot do much, even little things help. Even talking about it helps, because at least it brings attention to it. I encourage everyone to keep thinking about this topic, because it is too important to forget.

[zestria13]

[zestria13]

[zestria13]

This might be odd, but I think my favorite Star Wars ship at this point is Iden x Del. I love them, wholesome, beautiful, and badass.

[zestria13]

Interesting infographic posted by IFL Science debunking common myths!

[zestria13]

An interesting read!

[zestria13]

[zestria13]

[zestria13]

Writing Blurb

With a flash of lightning, his life was lost. And her purpose was lost with it. And everything was void. And they. Would pay. They would become prey.

I gained another alias that day.