straightforwardly (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
straightforwardly) wrote2016-05-30 03:29 pm
straightforwardly) wrote2016-05-30 03:29 pm
099 | in which I post an entry many days after it was written
► One bright side about my relative lack of internet is that I’ve been able to get around to reading books and playing video games that I’d never gotten around to before during my free time. Of course, there’s a limit to this— with books, I only have those that I already had on my phone / that I can pick up for free because I am not going to buy a ebook when I already know that I greatly prefer physical copies, or that I can get from my library’s online library, and with video games, I’m limited to those portable games that I brought with me or, hypothetically those that I have on my computer.
Still, I’ve managed to chip away a bit at my backlog, to my delight. I’ve already read, in addition to a truly ridiculous amount of romance novels (I don’t know why; I’ve always read romance novels, of course, but usually I’ll read two or three, then return to my one true love, fantasy), Ivanhoe, Moby Dick, and am now nearly halfway through Les Miserables, which so far might be my favorite of the three, though I’ll have to admit that Ivanhoe did a better job of not running around with really, really long digressions.
Though, I have to say, I actually don’t dislike the digressions. Every time one pops up, there’s a period of brief annoyance— get back to the story!— but then I inevitably get sucked into what Victor Hugo is saying. I kind of wish that I’d have gotten chance to study this novel at college, because I think it would have been really fun to pick apart everything Hugo was saying in a discussion.
Also, Graintaire/Enjolras. I’ve never been involved with the Les Miserables fandom (though I have read two fics in it, one which was a Jean Valjean/Javert time loop fic, because I will read time-related phenomenons in any fandom, and one which involved a talking bear, and which I would have said was terrible if I hadn’t gotten the sense that it was deliberately aware of what it was doing), but there are three—no, four— points that I’ve gathered about it. One, the fandom is a cesspool. Two, people ship Javert/Jean Valjean. Three, what may be a greater amount of people(?) ship Graintaire/Enjolras. Four, no one can characterize anyone correctly in fics. Oh, and there are too many modern AUs.
ANYWAYS. This whole lead-up was merely to say that I just finished reading the portion of the novel where Enjolras & co. are introduced, and if I hadn’t already known above facts about said fandom, I would have said that I can see why people ship Graintaire/Enjolras. I wouldn’t say that I’m quite there myself, precisely, but the description of why Graintaire loves Enjolras, combined with Enjolras’ not just being indifferent to him, but actively disliking him, is a dynamic that definitely works for me.
► I also mentioned video games above. I haven’t been playing quite so many video games as I’ve been reading books, mainly because it’s much easier to put a book down at a moment’s notice than it is to do the same with a video game, but I have finally gotten around to playing Pokemon Alpha Sapphire.
The short version of my thoughts on it: I finally understand why so many people love Hoenn so much, though Sinnoh still holds first place in my heart; I have so many feelings about Steven, and Steven/May; that Delta episode was pretty amazing, though the mention of the Draconids made me laugh, have Escaflowne flashbacks, and made me half-expect to see Zinnia sprouting angel wings from her back; it had great gym leaders, a pretty good Elite Four, and, in general, I was just really charmed by it.
► Now, I’m playing the GameBoy Advance version Final Fantasy V, which I bought used at GameStop many years ago. As some of you may know, I came pretty late to Final Fantasy as a series, which is kind of odd, considering how much I love JRPGs. I played my first Final Fantasy game, FFX, in 2010, and then played FFIV in 2012, and that’s about it, as far as the series goes. That is, I did play a bit of FFXI on my friend’s account, but I don’t really like online games, and ignore those entries in the series.
Over the years, I’ve also picked up copies of FFI and FFII, both on PSP (which I, unfortunately, didn’t bring with me), FFVII and FFVIII on PC, FFIX on PS1, and FFXII on PS2, but I haven’t gotten around to playing any of them yet. ...Which means, now that I think about it, that I own more than double the amount of Final Fantasy games that I’ve actually played.
Enough babbling about this. Here’s my thoughts on FFV.
I have to admit, my thoughts on the plot (and job system ♥) can be easily summed up like this: “It’s Bravely Default all over again!” To be fair, it’d be more accurate to say that Bravely Default is like FFV than to say that FFV is like Bravely Default, but as I played Bravely Default first, I can’t help but think of it as being the other way around.
(Brief side-note: I, as some of you might know, deeply love Bravely Default. I also haven’t been able to play Bravely Second, seeing as region-locking is a thing with the 3Ds and I’m not exactly in my home region at the moment, nor will I be for quite some time. I mention this only so I can ask that no one mention any spoilers.)
So, I admit that most of the time when something plot-related is going on, I’m mentally mapping it to a possible parallel in Bravely Default. I’m not particularly invested in it, I admit. Right now, I just finished the bit with the Water Crystal, and there’s at least two more crystals to go, presumably, so there’s still a chance for it to hook me, but for now, I’m mostly playing it for the pleasure of the old JRPG experience.
The characters haven’t been too much better, though there have been some standout moments. I like Bartz’s design, but otherwise, he’s felt pretty bland to me, and I feel absolutely nothing in regards to— the old man. Galduf?It’s definitely not Gandalf. I think the fact that I can’t actually say what his name is with any certainty spells out my feelings on the matter perfectly.
Faris, though— Faris is a delight. I kind of adore how she keeps rushing in to save Lenna. My current theory is that they’re going to turn out to be sisters, seeing as how she must have some sort of connection with Lenna, considering how she mentioned that Lenna had the same pendant as her. Also, both of their sprites have pink-ish hair. But I think that I could also ship them very easily, seeing as how Faris seems very determined to be Lenna’s knight-in-shining-armor, haha. And I found it very sweet how Lenna seemed to be returning the favor, when she stopped Faris from rushing out after Slvyan when she(?) went off to die. ♥
As for Lenna— so far, I can’t say that she strikes me as being any more unique as a character as Bartz or possibly-Gadulf is, but, perhaps unfairly, I still like her better? Part of it is definitely because I’ve been enjoying her relationship with Faris, but part of it is also simply because I do have a bigger soft spot for her character type than I do for that of the men.
As for jobs: I have Lenna as a Monk/Thief; I started her off as a Thief first, but I decided to give Monk a shot, and seeing as how she hasn’t been able to successfully steal something for quite a while, and that I do rather like the amount of damage she’s been doing as Monk, I think I’ll keep her that way for now. Possibly-Galdulf is Black Mage/White Mage right now; I think I’m going to be switching him between the two classes for the time being.
I’m having a harder time settling on what I want Faris and Bartz to do. I know that I want Faris to be doing something physical— hello, pirate captain— but I’m not sure what. I first had her a Knight, then very, very briefly as a Thief, and then as Monk. I’ve just set her as a Beserker, but haven’t used it in battle yet, so I don’t know what it’ll be like. As for Bartz, I also started him off as a Knight, then switched to White Mage, and now he’s a Knight again. I might try out Mystic Knight on him; we’ll see.
And...that’s about all I have to say on the game, for now.
► This was all written on 23 May, by the way; the biggest change since then is that my DS isn't charging for whatever reason, so I haven't been able to get further on FFV.
Still, I’ve managed to chip away a bit at my backlog, to my delight. I’ve already read, in addition to a truly ridiculous amount of romance novels (I don’t know why; I’ve always read romance novels, of course, but usually I’ll read two or three, then return to my one true love, fantasy), Ivanhoe, Moby Dick, and am now nearly halfway through Les Miserables, which so far might be my favorite of the three, though I’ll have to admit that Ivanhoe did a better job of not running around with really, really long digressions.
Though, I have to say, I actually don’t dislike the digressions. Every time one pops up, there’s a period of brief annoyance— get back to the story!— but then I inevitably get sucked into what Victor Hugo is saying. I kind of wish that I’d have gotten chance to study this novel at college, because I think it would have been really fun to pick apart everything Hugo was saying in a discussion.
Also, Graintaire/Enjolras. I’ve never been involved with the Les Miserables fandom (though I have read two fics in it, one which was a Jean Valjean/Javert time loop fic, because I will read time-related phenomenons in any fandom, and one which involved a talking bear, and which I would have said was terrible if I hadn’t gotten the sense that it was deliberately aware of what it was doing), but there are three—no, four— points that I’ve gathered about it. One, the fandom is a cesspool. Two, people ship Javert/Jean Valjean. Three, what may be a greater amount of people(?) ship Graintaire/Enjolras. Four, no one can characterize anyone correctly in fics. Oh, and there are too many modern AUs.
ANYWAYS. This whole lead-up was merely to say that I just finished reading the portion of the novel where Enjolras & co. are introduced, and if I hadn’t already known above facts about said fandom, I would have said that I can see why people ship Graintaire/Enjolras. I wouldn’t say that I’m quite there myself, precisely, but the description of why Graintaire loves Enjolras, combined with Enjolras’ not just being indifferent to him, but actively disliking him, is a dynamic that definitely works for me.
► I also mentioned video games above. I haven’t been playing quite so many video games as I’ve been reading books, mainly because it’s much easier to put a book down at a moment’s notice than it is to do the same with a video game, but I have finally gotten around to playing Pokemon Alpha Sapphire.
The short version of my thoughts on it: I finally understand why so many people love Hoenn so much, though Sinnoh still holds first place in my heart; I have so many feelings about Steven, and Steven/May; that Delta episode was pretty amazing, though the mention of the Draconids made me laugh, have Escaflowne flashbacks, and made me half-expect to see Zinnia sprouting angel wings from her back; it had great gym leaders, a pretty good Elite Four, and, in general, I was just really charmed by it.
► Now, I’m playing the GameBoy Advance version Final Fantasy V, which I bought used at GameStop many years ago. As some of you may know, I came pretty late to Final Fantasy as a series, which is kind of odd, considering how much I love JRPGs. I played my first Final Fantasy game, FFX, in 2010, and then played FFIV in 2012, and that’s about it, as far as the series goes. That is, I did play a bit of FFXI on my friend’s account, but I don’t really like online games, and ignore those entries in the series.
Over the years, I’ve also picked up copies of FFI and FFII, both on PSP (which I, unfortunately, didn’t bring with me), FFVII and FFVIII on PC, FFIX on PS1, and FFXII on PS2, but I haven’t gotten around to playing any of them yet. ...Which means, now that I think about it, that I own more than double the amount of Final Fantasy games that I’ve actually played.
Enough babbling about this. Here’s my thoughts on FFV.
I have to admit, my thoughts on the plot (and job system ♥) can be easily summed up like this: “It’s Bravely Default all over again!” To be fair, it’d be more accurate to say that Bravely Default is like FFV than to say that FFV is like Bravely Default, but as I played Bravely Default first, I can’t help but think of it as being the other way around.
(Brief side-note: I, as some of you might know, deeply love Bravely Default. I also haven’t been able to play Bravely Second, seeing as region-locking is a thing with the 3Ds and I’m not exactly in my home region at the moment, nor will I be for quite some time. I mention this only so I can ask that no one mention any spoilers.)
So, I admit that most of the time when something plot-related is going on, I’m mentally mapping it to a possible parallel in Bravely Default. I’m not particularly invested in it, I admit. Right now, I just finished the bit with the Water Crystal, and there’s at least two more crystals to go, presumably, so there’s still a chance for it to hook me, but for now, I’m mostly playing it for the pleasure of the old JRPG experience.
The characters haven’t been too much better, though there have been some standout moments. I like Bartz’s design, but otherwise, he’s felt pretty bland to me, and I feel absolutely nothing in regards to— the old man. Galduf?
Faris, though— Faris is a delight. I kind of adore how she keeps rushing in to save Lenna. My current theory is that they’re going to turn out to be sisters, seeing as how she must have some sort of connection with Lenna, considering how she mentioned that Lenna had the same pendant as her. Also, both of their sprites have pink-ish hair. But I think that I could also ship them very easily, seeing as how Faris seems very determined to be Lenna’s knight-in-shining-armor, haha. And I found it very sweet how Lenna seemed to be returning the favor, when she stopped Faris from rushing out after Slvyan when she(?) went off to die. ♥
As for Lenna— so far, I can’t say that she strikes me as being any more unique as a character as Bartz or possibly-Gadulf is, but, perhaps unfairly, I still like her better? Part of it is definitely because I’ve been enjoying her relationship with Faris, but part of it is also simply because I do have a bigger soft spot for her character type than I do for that of the men.
As for jobs: I have Lenna as a Monk/Thief; I started her off as a Thief first, but I decided to give Monk a shot, and seeing as how she hasn’t been able to successfully steal something for quite a while, and that I do rather like the amount of damage she’s been doing as Monk, I think I’ll keep her that way for now. Possibly-Galdulf is Black Mage/White Mage right now; I think I’m going to be switching him between the two classes for the time being.
I’m having a harder time settling on what I want Faris and Bartz to do. I know that I want Faris to be doing something physical— hello, pirate captain— but I’m not sure what. I first had her a Knight, then very, very briefly as a Thief, and then as Monk. I’ve just set her as a Beserker, but haven’t used it in battle yet, so I don’t know what it’ll be like. As for Bartz, I also started him off as a Knight, then switched to White Mage, and now he’s a Knight again. I might try out Mystic Knight on him; we’ll see.
And...that’s about all I have to say on the game, for now.
► This was all written on 23 May, by the way; the biggest change since then is that my DS isn't charging for whatever reason, so I haven't been able to get further on FFV.
no subject
— I got into playing Pokémon at Hoenn, and have been a fan of the games, since that time, so the ORAS remakes have been a joy for me to play, though I find them a bit too easy compared to the originals.
— Final Fantasy V is my favorite of the GBA FF releases, as well as my gold standard for rereleases in general (because I love the goofy translation). The game and I go back farther than that, though; I originally played it in emulation (the RPGe translation) in the late '90s. One of the hardest games in the series, and pretty light on story, but that version of the Job System is amazing, and the game has some really awesome moments when it gets serious. (Considering where you are, you will know when this happens; I won't spoil it for you.)
— If there is a way for you to keep your DS plugged in while playing, that is the best way to keep going when the battery fails. My original (2004) DS has been that way for ages.
no subject
- I've been playing Pokemon since Pokemon Red, but didn't play the Hoenn games the first time around because kid!me was, for whatever reason, exceedingly bitter that they'd made it so you couldn't trade your Pokemon from Red/Blue & Gold/Silver over to the new Hoenn games. By the time the Sinnoh games came around, I got over my bitterness, and fell back in love with the series, but I never managed to get around to playing in Hoenn until now. On one hand, it's a pity that I've missed out on it for so long, but on the other hand, ORAS is so pretty, that it's nice that it was my introduction to the region.
- Ooo, now you're making me regret even more that it's not working out with my DS, haha. I can't comment much on FFV's story, as I'm sure I haven't run across those moments you mentioned, but I definitely agree about the job system. It's already so much fun. ♥
As for my DS, it's not actually the DS in question that's the problem— it's the charging cable. At least, I'm fairly certain it's the charging cable, as there's this weird nick in it. My DS can hold a charge, but I can't actually charge it, if that makes sense.
no subject