Final Fantasy XIII--first thoughts

For me there are three key factors in a game, characters, plot, and world. Any one of these by itself can grab my interest and pull me along. Gameplay is there in the background, and sometimes it even prevents me from finishing (yes, I'm looking at YOU, Magna Carta: Tears of Blood!!), but it is not my thing. I need an interesting plot that I can get involved with and want to learn more about (is Ultimecia REALLY future-Rinoa?). Or a beautiful and complex world, full of life and history. Or, and this is the clincher, characters that I care about. I draw them, I chibify them, I ship them, I write myself into the plot. Yes, I will do anything to finish a game for characters that I love (FF II, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XII, Xenogears, Disgaea 2, Legend of Dragoon, &c...yes there have been a few^^).

Final Fantasy XIII had me interested from the time that the trailers started appearing at Japanese game shows. The world looked future-y but not too outer-spacey (that's where Xenosaga lost me). I began to look for character designs online, recognizing as I did some familiar FF archetypes. And at last the days were accomplished when the game was delivered unto me. Hmmm, ok, here we go!! Yes, well the screen type is so small. Should I buy that 64" plasma screen TV that I have been reinforcing my wall for? No, not yet. *sigh* I can squint. And my son is having the same problem with Atelier Rorona: Alchemist of Arland. Ok here we go again! Right onandonandon through a cattle chute. My, but this game is LINEAR! Will I ever get to wander anywhere except back and forth (without hair whips, TG). Anyway, the landscape is detailed, but does not seem alive. I have escaped the crystal lake, but a glance ahead in the guidebook shows me nothing but more cattle chutes!!

I am getting a grasp on the gameplay, so I don't think that will be too much of a problem. As long as there is a way for me to get super strong at some point, I will be ok. And, i do find that I am starting to care about the characters. All of them except for Snow. Mr. I'm-a-hero can take a hike, as far as I'm concerned. And, he's like 2 feet taller than anyone else on the planet. Light, Sazh, and Vanille are going to carry this game for me, I think. Light is the Cloud, the Squall of this game, the troubled loner driven by an inner code too strict for any person to live up to. Vanille is the Selphie/Rikku, the cheerful wanderer, full of life and enthusiasm. Sazh (Szah?) is my favorite; he is capable and kind, adapting quickly and willing to help others, as long as they do the minimum of acknowledging his existence. These three are the ones I am counting on to pull me through this game. I understand the plot a little better now, but it is probably best not to go into that, unless you want to play the game. All I can hope for now, is that the world gets a little more beautiful. And I am already shipping Sazh x Light.

Charmed and Oddshipping

Watching Charmed episode "Death Becomes Them" on WE. Poor Daryl!! I always felt that he was a part of the Haliwell extended family. but there he is, ignoring an important call from Paige. Well, if is just Paige after all, but still, he should answer and be there for them. Especially Piper. Why do TV couples have to be sooo normal, so vanilla? Even Cole couldn't stay in Balthasar-form. But I don't care about him. Ugh! As a true hearted Hank Williams III/Lady Gaga shipper, I know I am way out there in coupling my favorite media stars. I loved Katy Perry and Moe in the recent Simpsons episode! But my all time favorite TV couple (that I can think of just now) are Kif and Amy from Futurama.

Why do I like weird couples? It's probably hereditary. My Mom likes the human oddities on Discovery Health, and she can't seem to learn enough about Onkel Adi on History Channel. But normal is just so...so normal. Let there be odd and unusual couples, if only to give hope to all of us who reside just outside of normal. And, for the novelty! Most good traditional stories have been written, the archetypal scenes have been exhausted. Let us have something new! And a good Daryl/Piper fanfic!

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Pre-Christmas addendum: I was watching a Christmas themed movie this morning with a blonde Lauren Holly as a defence attorney protecting Santa's son Kris Kringle, Jr., on his first outing. They made a cute couple and I was really rooting for them. But WHO did she end up with? A police detective playel by Judd Nelson. Judd Nelson! The guy from Cabin by the Lake, who 'gardened' his victims... ugh! bah! ptooey! Left me with less holiday spirit than I started with.

Scott Pilgrim movie review

Just saw the Scott Pilgrim movie as my Black Friday treat. I have not read the graphic novels, so that was a plus. I read Miyazaki's Nausicaa before seeing the movie, and it totally ruined it for me. (Though the movie and I have since reconciled.) On the other hand, seeing the Harry Potter movie(s) without having read the books.....is not a good idea. Anyway, back to Scott Pilgrim and his wacky world. And I loved the wacky world, I really did. It was campy and game-y and full of manic energy. But the characters...ugh! Scott the slacker was very slack, until he burst forth into super game fight mode. Too unfocused, except for his attachment to Ramona. Aaah, Ramona, she was a total blank to me, and to Scott too, it seems. Who was she but a blank canvas for him to project his unrealistic and unresolvable desire for his Lacanian objet petit a. Knives by contrast was wonderful, obsessed to be sure, but she showed genuine character growth and would be well rid of both Scott and Ramona, who seem to flow into deserving each other without my caring one way or another. So, on the basis of the quirky energy and Knives, I will say that this movie is worth seeing at least once, and I just may give the graphic novels a page-through at the bookstore.

Prue and Piper and...(Charmed rant)

I love the first 3 seasons of Charmed. Like the 5 seasons of Buffy, they form a unity, after which comes the deluge. Prue was the oldest, ambitious and smart, fashionable and in charge. How smart? Just watch her match wits in the auction house. She knows her stuff! Yet she seemed somehow disconnected with her knowledge. How did she acquire it? All girl and all brains.

And Piper, the middle sister, the aspiring chef. I didn't approve of her transition to a club owner, but I tolerated it. She is the home-maker, the potential mother, stern, yet understanding...and willing to do the work. My favorite episode is season 1 episode 4. John Cho played a character whom I wish Piper could have developed a relationship with. And by the way, what was wrong with Officer Andy? And...whe Piper went to the church to ask obliquely about being a witch...well, that pastor and Piper.... But nooo, she ended up with Leo, who is a good guy, and I'm glad & all, but, sooo vanilla, sigh.

Phoebe...ugh, should have stayed in New York. And what's with that hair!? Pick a style (and a color)! But without her return there would have been no power of three, so I guess I will tolerate her presence. My ideal character developement would involve Prue rising to the top and running her own auction house (no photography!). Piper would run her own kitchen like Lenny Henry in Chef. And...well I suppose Phoebe could....aww, I don't know...stay in New York. Noo...

So I am going off in a strange direction. I want a show with two sisters, two professional women. With some romance (I'll accept Andy, but he must live!!), and Britcom humour. And lots of great food and historical references from the auction house.

One last thing, for Piper...NO Forehead!

YES!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~NO!!

Ozma and Ugu the Shoemaker

Deep in the shady sadness of a vale,
Far sunken from the healthy breath of morn,
Far from the fiery noon, and eve's one star,
Sat gray-hair'd Saturn, quiet as a stone,
Still as the silence round about his lair.

~Hyperion, John Keats

Ever since I read those lines more than 30 years ago, I have recognized and claimed the place of Saturn. It is far away from the "normal" world, the path of social expectations, a protected place of one's own in a world that seems at once hostile and uncaring. But a defined space that one can really belong, and be the unique person that you are. The place of an outsider, but not of self-pity. Rather, of self-definition, or the never ending attempts at such. A place not unlike the little rooms that are prepared for K in Kafka's The Castle. Rooms which are cozy and inviting, but rooms which he sadly rejects as he continues his futile search for the castle.

Ugu the Shoemaker, in L. Frank Baum's The Lost Princess of Oz, has created for himself such a saturnine space. But unlike K, Ugu does not want to leave it. He wants to strengthen it with all the magic that he can gather. But Ugu crosses a line. He begins to desire to impose his will on others. In the moment he impulsively kidnaps Ozma, his plan fails. He is not emotionally mature enough to deal with the introduction of this uncontrolable, random element into his lair.

Ugu has a great heritage in the city of Herku, his family had been users of magic for centuries. But he was cut off from this heritage, and forced to make a living as a shoemaker. We are all born with a fantastic heritage of art and literature, but life compels us to find a job, to make a living and be a productive member of society. Ugu discovers his heritage, and upon absorbing its implications, desires not to enrich his fellow citizens, but to flee and make an island unto himself.

In one night, Ugu gathers all the important magic of Oz, including one "item" not on his list, but probably the most important magical force in Oz, Ozma herself. He has planned for non-sentient magical items, what is he to do with a real magical being? He cannot deal with her, he cannot fit her in to his world-view, so he, being afraid, "disposes" of her.

At this point in the story, my imagination leapt into action. What should have Ugu done? What could have Ugu accomplished? So, for a brief time, I became a Ugu/Ozma shipper. a little three act play took shape in my mind.

Scene 1--Ugu's Study--Ugu reflects on his painful past as shoemaker, and on his recent accomplishments, obtaining the Magic Dishpan, various magic tools, Glinda's Book, and the Magic Picture. But there is also Ozma---what is he to do with her? He knows a rescue party is coming. Ozma is trapped. She sees that Ugu is a "bold and clever magician" but at this point can do nothing to oppose him. A typical Oz solution might occur to him--Ugu:"You will wash my dishes and clean my clothes!" Ozma:"Humph...I might as well be your wife!" Ugu:"AHA!"---and he goes off in the Magic Dishpan to gather a wedding party.

Scene 2--Ugu's Study--The kidnapped wedding party huddles together in fear. Carlo Luigi, the fat old Pontifex Maximus of Ev, is mopping his brow. Two inventors, William Ding XXI (whose ancestor invented the "Bill-Ding") and Arthur Q. Tillery, Esq. (who is working on a sort of tube-gun at the moment), cower behind a table. Then Ugu and Ozma enter in all their wedding finery. As the visitors gape in wonder at Ozma's beauty, Ugu lays out the situation. Carlo Luigi will perform the wedding ceremony and the two inventors will witness it. With much comic fumbling, the ceremony is performed, and the new couple withdraws from the assembled company.

Scene 3--Ugu's Study--The "guests" have been sent home and Ugu is back to work studying his magical books. But Ozma emerges in her nightgown, now strangely eager to assume her wifely duties. In fact, she just wont leave poor Ugu alone! Finally, the exasperated magician enchants his new bride into a peach and collapses on his chair.

Both in the canonical story and my frivilous contortion, Ugu cannot accept the physical manifestation of magic--Ozma--into his world view. Since he cannot come to terms with her, he is doomed to fail. There is something Jungian here, but I will not persue it. Just be careful with whom you bring into your lair.