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dagas_isaI will look upon this time as one of the best in my life. These past couple of weeks have been...wow...
I think I'm falling in love with Muu again. I'm not sure how he's coping with that. Maybe it's that I can spend actual time with him now, whereas during the quarter, I really, really could not. Or it could be that something about this season turns me into a total sentimental ball of wibble. He's sooo cozy though. =D
I'm loving the season. It's snowy here, which is apparently one of those weird events in the Seattle that requires a 'pocolypse' suffix to describe it's impact on the community. Since I was smart and did all the shopping before the really bad snow came, I've been inside, enjoying the view outside the silding door, with the snow, the pine trees, and the little kitty footprints. The nice thing about Christmas is that there are a lot of little things to do, which don't have to get done, but are pleasing enough to do. I love shopping for my small small list of people, cards, baking stuff (spiced pecans ftw).
Beyond that, there's FFX, where I have reached the final battle in the hike-to-Zanarkand portion of the game. A few things that have struck me about this play through: One: Auron's idealism. I don't think I noticed it so much during my first few playthroughs, but going through, there's subtle hints. For one thing before the Yunalesca battle, Auron is the one who gives the rallying cry when they choose to fight Yunalesca. Another thing that sort of got me, before the second Seymour battle, is that yeah, he's telling everyone to run away, but when Tidus, Yuna, et al. choose to go back for Kimahri, this time I read Auron's expression as being pleased that Yuna and Tidus chose to go back and fight instead of doing the expedient thing.
The other thing I've been mentally debating: Was the Ronso Genocide on Gagazet necessary to the story? I don't know why I'm so focused on that compared to say the Sin Attack on Kilika, Operation Mi'ihen, or the destruction of Home. Well, I can see the importance of those three events to the plot of the game. The Killika event establishes Sin as a serious destructive force that kills babies. Operation Mi'ihen establishes that Sin is not just an entitity that can be blown up, and it's a turning point in the mood of the game. The destruction of Home introduces the Airship, gets our intrepid heroes from Bikanel to Bevelle in time to crash Seymour's wedding and watch as Yuna saves herself.
Now for the Ronso Genocide, I'm not sure what purpose it serves. Is it supposed to show how evil Seymour is, never mind that we've already seen several examples? Yeah, I get that it's in character for Seymour, since his life philosophy is "If you are offering me your life, I will have to take it." So maybe him not killing off (almost) all of the Ronso would have been OOC. But either the action itself or the game's treatment of the event lack the dramatic punch of the other disasters. It sort of becomes just another murder of Seymour's, and not, you know, the loss of an entire race.
Maybe it's only my affinity for the more animalish races in Final Fantasies, but going through again, I'm really disappointed at how something that big gets pushed aside, for little things like Yuna finding out that Sin is Jecht, and Underwater Cave Puzzles!, and Fayth Walls. Eh...
So, becauseabsolutely everyone one person my adoring audience is highly anticipating it: The first part of my original story Axis is up. Anyone who wishes to go through and point and laugh at it is perfectly free to do so.
I think I'm falling in love with Muu again. I'm not sure how he's coping with that. Maybe it's that I can spend actual time with him now, whereas during the quarter, I really, really could not. Or it could be that something about this season turns me into a total sentimental ball of wibble. He's sooo cozy though. =D
I'm loving the season. It's snowy here, which is apparently one of those weird events in the Seattle that requires a 'pocolypse' suffix to describe it's impact on the community. Since I was smart and did all the shopping before the really bad snow came, I've been inside, enjoying the view outside the silding door, with the snow, the pine trees, and the little kitty footprints. The nice thing about Christmas is that there are a lot of little things to do, which don't have to get done, but are pleasing enough to do. I love shopping for my small small list of people, cards, baking stuff (spiced pecans ftw).
Beyond that, there's FFX, where I have reached the final battle in the hike-to-Zanarkand portion of the game. A few things that have struck me about this play through: One: Auron's idealism. I don't think I noticed it so much during my first few playthroughs, but going through, there's subtle hints. For one thing before the Yunalesca battle, Auron is the one who gives the rallying cry when they choose to fight Yunalesca. Another thing that sort of got me, before the second Seymour battle, is that yeah, he's telling everyone to run away, but when Tidus, Yuna, et al. choose to go back for Kimahri, this time I read Auron's expression as being pleased that Yuna and Tidus chose to go back and fight instead of doing the expedient thing.
The other thing I've been mentally debating: Was the Ronso Genocide on Gagazet necessary to the story? I don't know why I'm so focused on that compared to say the Sin Attack on Kilika, Operation Mi'ihen, or the destruction of Home. Well, I can see the importance of those three events to the plot of the game. The Killika event establishes Sin as a serious destructive force that kills babies. Operation Mi'ihen establishes that Sin is not just an entitity that can be blown up, and it's a turning point in the mood of the game. The destruction of Home introduces the Airship, gets our intrepid heroes from Bikanel to Bevelle in time to crash Seymour's wedding and watch as Yuna saves herself.
Now for the Ronso Genocide, I'm not sure what purpose it serves. Is it supposed to show how evil Seymour is, never mind that we've already seen several examples? Yeah, I get that it's in character for Seymour, since his life philosophy is "If you are offering me your life, I will have to take it." So maybe him not killing off (almost) all of the Ronso would have been OOC. But either the action itself or the game's treatment of the event lack the dramatic punch of the other disasters. It sort of becomes just another murder of Seymour's, and not, you know, the loss of an entire race.
Maybe it's only my affinity for the more animalish races in Final Fantasies, but going through again, I'm really disappointed at how something that big gets pushed aside, for little things like Yuna finding out that Sin is Jecht, and Underwater Cave Puzzles!, and Fayth Walls. Eh...
So, because
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no subject
Date: 2008-12-21 07:39 am (UTC)-- They kill and bring the Crusaders under control
-- They marginalize and prevent the Al Bhed from centralizing or beginning to gain power/influence
-- Seymour destroys the Ronso. I get the imrpession that while he was working alone, Maester Mika had that in mind somewhat... he mocks and laughs at Kelk, as if he is now "not part of the plan."
-- Bevelle and the temple throws their weight around. First Yevon takes firm control of all the temples in Spira so that Yuna is hunted anywhere she goes. The Crusaders, the traditional guardians of Luca, are thrown out, and the Warrior Monks take over (the place which seems to be a bread and circuses hub for the whole world). Then, after things go from bad to worse, the warrior monks ABANDON Luca -- much to the distress of the natives -- and every other place they were guarding, including the Mi'ihen Highroad, to guard Bevelle.
In short, I think the genocide of the Ronso plays into one of the many sub-plots of the game, the theme of totalitarian maesters cementing control, eliminating opposition and chaotic elements, and generally destroying the world Yevon's supposed to be saving.
Also, of course, it gives Kimahri a plot bit. Lulu gets hers in the Cavern of Stolen Fayth. Kimahri gets his on Gagazet. Wakka gets the tournament and the whole thing about Chappu. Trying to make sure something significant happens for all the characters isn't easy!
To me, I tend to think of the Ronso, Al Bhed, and Crusaders as different aspects of "the good Spira that we're trying to save, whom Yevon has utterly shafted."
no subject
Date: 2008-12-21 07:41 pm (UTC)Within the context of the game, the Ronso genocide makes sense, as both an example of Seymour's philosophy and Yevon's attempt to quash rebellion (would that also explain the somewhat recent inclusion of the Ronso and Guado into the Yevon clergy, since previously both were/are isolationist races?), yet the treatment of the event by the game bothers me.
As far as I see it, Kimahri's plot point "ends" with his defeat of Biran and Yenke, as that gives him closure, just as the defeat of Lady Ginnem and her departure to the Farplane gives Lulu closure and the blitzball tournament/Wakka's visiting Chappu on the Farplane give Wakka closure. The Ronso genocide opens up a whole set of issues with Kimahri, that the game did not have enough room to deal with effectively.