Why FFX-2 is Actually a Pretty Good Game

RLN:
currently listening to: Jack by Pixie Lott, but covered by Seohyun (서헌 <3)
Ughh I'm under house arrest because I'm sick (thanks to the frickin' photographer *sigh*) and I haven't been outside in like daaaaysss. On top of that, I watched a depressing Doctor Who episode and I read a terribly depressing, but also moving book called Peony in Love by Lisa See. She is an amazing writer.
You know, a lot of things have been happening to me, I feel like, so maybe I'll just write a blog post about all that sometime.
I've been playing 358/2 Days again and Roxas makes me want to write in a journal again. Maybe I stopped all those times because I dumped so much into it, but I like his; they're just simple, informative, but also expressive.
My favorite part of last week is performing Gangnam Style in front of like 1000 people, that will always be a fond memory ^.^
So yeah that's what I've been doing while away--Gangnam Style!!!....and a few other things, of course.
RLN over.


Whoa, what a plot twist--someone actually liking X-2!
Alright, I admit I actually hated it, at first. I was disappointed by all the changes and wanted the old Yuna and the old Spira (and the old music) back. However, I quite like how it's turned out. Well, except for most of the music, but not much we can do about that, can we?

First, Yuna didn't actually change as much as I thought she did aside from appearances. Yes, she's sort of trying out new behaviours she admires (emulating Rikku and Tidus at times), but she's still a people-pleaser, still withdrawn and reflective, still self-sacrificing and kind-hearted, similar vibe. If anything, I really like how she turned out because she kept all her best qualities from FFX, but developed a more adventurous spirit and became more outspoken, too.

Also, I love the songstress theme they've added in. The opening cutscene was visually beautiful and I just loved everything about it. Actually, it made me want to jump onstage and do the same (oh, if only I could sing--and not sound choked up in front of people at that).

Plot-wise, I definitely did not think it was filler in any way. Yes, it was very sidequest-centered, but I thought that was quite fun, personally!
I really love the idea of going on all these different adventures while traveling on an airship. Also, sphere-hunting made me think of treasure-hunting, which is also another fun little theme. The Celsius is pretty cool though and I totally wanted to be part of the Gullwings (Your Friendly Neighborhood Gullwings!!!--another thing I enjoyed) so I could just, well, do this:

Well, anyways, back to the plot. I really liked the story of Lenne and Shuyin, and actually felt very sad for them. I loved them, and one of the new characters, Gippal and I totally ship him with Rikku oh I just said ship didn't I? and I really like Baralai too. Nooj is...well, he's alright. I like the whole trio thing a lot, though. I just realized they all parallel each other. Yuna is to Baralai as Rikku is to Gippal as Paine is to Nooj.
I love the chemistry between YRP! I don't know why, but I like when they act like normal teenagers/early twenties, so they're a little childish and give each other high-fives like normal friends XD. It sounds small, but these little details are left out a lot.

Random battle quotes:
Yuna: Gimme a Y!
Rikku: Gimme an R!
Paine: Gimme a break.

Rikku: I'm gonna kick you in the spleen...
Paine: Spleen...???

Yuna: It's so big.
Rikku: Whoohoo no more climbing!!!!!
Paine: Could you please focus?

Yuna: Bring it!
Rikku: She's sure getting into this.
Paine: She's trying.


Okay, that's a few of them lol

I thought the conflict between two factions three if you count machine faction... was interesting, and realistic. I appreciated the mix between plot and a sort of do-your-own-thing thing.
Additionally, something new happens through every playthrough because there is just so much detail. (It's so hard getting to 100%!).
And, like every Final Fantasy, I get some inspiration out of it from, well, everything you've read above.

30th Musing: Characters I Admire (VI)

So this post's character is....

Laguna Loire from Final Fantasy VIII!

MBTI type: ENFP! (most likely)
(I'm actually trying to not use any MBTI types on my character posts until I've gone through them all.)

Here is Laguna in one of his best moments!

Here is Laguna in one of his not-so-best moments!

Honestly, I just love this guy. And now my rambling about him starts.
I really don't have a starting point. Okay, I'll just get inspired by those pictures up there.

I really love the sincerity and realism they put into his character! He started out as just another soldier traveling along with his two friends, Kiros (I love his snarkiness.) and Ward. He sort of bumbles along, doing stupid things (as pictured above) that anyone could do, really (yes, I'm drawing from personal experience teheh).
One small quirk that I loved that was also very realistic was that his leg would cramp up whenever he was nervous. He had a cute little crush on Julia Heartilly, a singer and pianist who played regularly at the Deling City hotel (so of course Laguna frequented it often). As he got up the nerve to approach her, you'd see "Oh, my leg's cramping up!" and then he'd hobble away as Squall said, "...Sad." Also this happened when he was nervous in battle.

He's just clumsy in general. I think my favorite is when they have to make an escape by jumping off a cliff into water. He pushes his two friends first and is then like oh, you guys are so brave! as he proceeds to just climb down it. I guess it's karma when he loses his footing and falls all the way down anyways. It sort of sucked for him though because he needed a lot of medical attention afterwards. Scene as seen below (pun intended).

Another favorite moment is him starring in a random movie. That was just an amusing part of the game...

But besides all of his funny, clumsy moments, he can truly be an inspiring character. After he fell of the cliff, he washed up in a small town called Winhill and was cared for by a woman, Raine, and an orphan girl, Ellone (Elle for short) about five years old. Eventually, they became like family to him and he would do anything to protect Elle from monsters or the army looking for children her age to be the next sorceress (part of the story plot, by the way). He would go to any length for her, fighting whoever stood in his way and really became like a father to her. Even when she grew up about...twenty years? A bit less? Well, even then, she still called him "Uncle Laguna." He calls himself the "Monster Hunter of Winhill" and calls Raine his commander and Ellone his assitant commander.

Laguna's dream was to be a journalist (the pen is mightier than the sword!) and make money with his travel articles. (I really want to do that--just travel all over the world and write about my stay). However, he became president of the isolationist country Esthar instead...

It happened as, some events later, ended up being captured in Esthar, which was still ruled by the sorceress. While captured he ended up agreeing to join the resistance against her. Somehow he comes up with a plan to capture the sorceress and seal her and her powers away for good (as long as close surveillance and many seals are kept on it).

For his bravery and triumph, he was elected leader of Esthar!

Then, the main characters finally meet him as they must defeat a new sorceress tyrant who has the power of Time Compression! And to overcome this, he has a short little spiel about how to not be lost in it.

Yes, I think I'll stop there... ^^

29th Musing: Tumblr Types

RLN:
So, I am far more positive than last post! It helps that I had in an audition in which I didn't leave feeling terribly or sort of "down" about. (I think the acting went quite well, though my voice was dreadful. However, I think they considered the fact that I lost my voice a few days ago. At least, I got into it and acted while I was singing though and that's pretty important, right?
Anyways, currently listening to: the Nutcracker Suite Op.71 :)
RLN over.

As I peruse tumblr obsessively, I've noticed that there are five distinct types of people who go on tumblr and I'll list the specimens here:

The Artists: comes in two subgenres--the Writers and the Photographers who post artsy stuff made to express themselves and/or inspire others, pretty self-explanatory

 The Intense Ones: people with all the feelings. Their posts will probably depress you. Some accurately represent life's trials and tribulations while others may be a bit melodramatic for your taste. Somehow people tend to be 500 times more emotional on tumblr than anywhere else.

The Fans: comes in two subgenres--Fandom Worshippers (99%) and Celebrity Worshippers (1%). Many are crazy and rabid, so caution is advised when approaching. However, if you're going through an obsessive phase, going through pages upon pages of said obsession can be quite gratifying.

The Activists: Once again, these posts may depress you. Oftentimes, they have an important message, other times it's "like this post to spread awareness" which is better than doing nothing, I guess--at least they're still spreading the message, while others are a bit extreme.

The Floaters: People like me who go on there and usually reblog instead of posting. (However I might be edging into the Fandom Worshippers XD). Their blog page consists of whatever strikes their fancy and they don't really get sucked into it even though they might spend two hours just scrolling through Avengers or Kingdom Hearts gifs.

Well, that's what I came up with, but if you have any more, tell me!