maybe just one more dance (that's as close as we get to true romance)

on to the casino!

2009-12-06T22:13:04Z

Another P3P recap post! I realise it's been a bit -- blame the alpha pig.

...and DA:O.

Okay. There's a big battle. I didn't bother watching it because, well, it bored me. They celebrated with sushi, took a picture, and then the Dark Hour fell!

...wait. I thought we got rid of the Dark Hour!

Uh-oh!

A bell starts ringing. Kirijo remembers that neither Ikutsuki nor Aigis are there, and gets suspicious. Mitsuru orders everyone to prepare for battle. Fade to scene change, and then we're at the school.

Junpei: Ikutsuki-san?
Yukari: Aigiso!

Takaya's leitmotif plays for some reason. Ikutsuki basically reveals what a dick he is, and the way the character portraits are set up, it looks like he's looking at the breasts of every female he talks to. Yes, we get it. HE'S A BAD GUY. Next he'll be galactic punting kittens into orbit or something. Ikutsuki continues to detail his evil plan, and everyone tells him how much he sucks.

Yukari gets angry when Ikutsuki confesses changing her father's video. We miss her awesome evoker moment, though.

Finally, Ikutsuki gets tired of this shit and activated Aigis.

Rather than being hand drawn, the scene of them on the crosses is fully rendered. Minako looks so at home, there. I guess SMT protagonists are used to being Christ figures. Kirijo appears, Ikutsuki orders Aigis to do something. Mitsuru yells out something that ends in -sama, so I'm guessing she's shouting "father"? I don't know either way. Ikutsuki continues to order Aigis around, and Mitsuru screams. I mean, really screams. She sounds like she's about to bust out of her binds and fuck Ikutsuki's shit up, that's how impressive it is. I'm not sure what she's yelling, only that she's really yelling it. Go, Mitsu!

Aigis begins to come to her senses, and... Ikutsuki's portrait pulls out a gun. AWETERRIBLE, I say. The number ten is shown, so I guess he's saying, "Ten long years... I've waited ten long years," or something to that effect. Kirijo's portrait pulls out his own gun and there is no tense Mexican standoff. They just shoot.

Mitsuru screams out what I'm assuming is "father" again. They still all seem to be on the crosses, watching helplessly from overhead.

Ikutsuki grins and says something.

Aigis, weirdly enough, doesn't make any actual sounds, but the world Alt appears in her speech bubble amidst Japanese characters. I have no idea what that's supposed to mean. Fade to black, bullet sounds, and then... they are off their crosses! Our squad of biblical figures have been saved! By the robot!

We hear footsteps, Ikutsuki makes some anguished declaration, and then the background switches to tower's ledge. He, uh, starts laughing, starts talking wildly and his character portrait has a bit of a blood coming from his mouth. He talks some more, laughs some more, and then I guess he jumps. The sad music kicks in, and the background goes back to the empty crosses. Fuuka actually says "Ikutsuki-san," in a mournful tone, or something. Maybe she's in shock.

We go back to Mitsuru and her father. Dead!Kirijo has his own character portrait, oddly enough. He looks a bit like Namatame. Mitsuru talks, and then starts to cry quietly.

...you know, there's nothing really funny about that.

Next time: Kyoto! I think we see the Springs from the girl's side. And... Ryoji's social link! (I'd buy the game just for that, yo.)

my cat says hi.

2009-12-06T01:11:40Z

Been playing Dragon Age: Origins. Yes, still. Have some tired thoughts.

Finished my first playthrough as a noble warrior; now playing as an elven mage... and a rogue Dalish elf... and a male mage (Morrigan, let me love youuuu~). Yeah.

The gameplay is a lot less painful the second time around, probably because I'm taking care to level up more. This game has an odd system -- level grinding is made difficult because the enemies are not regenerating or random, and you have to do sidequests to level instead.

This game has managed to achieve the difficult task of squicking me, though. Not by the excessive blood and gore, not by the vivid death scenes, not by the Darkspawn, not by the sheer creepiness of some characters, not by Loghain's gravelly voice -- but by the spiders. Damn them to Hades. When you do the mage origin, there's a part where you can go through some tunnels and hunt an infestation of giant spiders. By giant, I mean as big as a dog. Sometimes they'll come down from the ceiling with a horrible noise... sometimes they'll get the jump on you and do something that can only be described as rape imagery as they attempt to eat your face (all while making that horrible noise). And I can't stand it. I will cower behind my controller like a child. I have enough trouble with normal sized insects, and those don't try to kill you.

Both my elven mage and my Dalish elf look like Duncan's illegitimate elven love children. I'd write fic about it if the DA universe hadn't decided that elves procreating with humans beget only humans. (Unfortunate implications, much?) Being the spawn of the man who leads this faction of the Grey Wardens makes a bit more sense than being omg!so!speshul!, at least in my opinion.

Beginning to see the reason behind Loghain's actions (for you, Alex!). Still not sure what I think of the man, other than I probably wouldn't want my grandchildren being fathered by an idiot like Cailin either.

Sten is love. Stiff, wholly practical, unimaginative love. Probably my favourite character, unless you include Barkspawn (the mabari ♥) or the Toll Collector in Lothering.

I wish I could wear the mage robes. They look so comfy. (Yes, I ended on a high note. XD)

two-thousand something

2009-12-05T21:36:01Z

If the world were going to end on December 21, 2012, how would you spend the last of your days on earth and why?

Submitted By rainwizard

View 646 Answers

I would hijack a Bentley and drive it out of a plane, in the hope that I'd land in China.

this message will self-destruct.

2009-11-30T12:04:25Z

Dear work:

You're getting in the way of video games.

Stop it.

Love, churched.

i tripped and fell over the soapbox.

2009-11-29T06:15:15Z

I have done nothing the last three days but play Dragon Age: Origins.

On the surface, it's perfect. It's got: a battle system similar to FFXII's gambits; carefully cohered relationships based on approval scores through conversations, gifts, and displays of affection; a believable, if a tad simplistic, storyline; enough vague references to other media to amuse and delight me for a lifetime; Steve Valentine (albeit with no card tricks this time).

However, digging deeper than that has been a very tumultuous experience, neither wholly satisfying nor completely disappointing. Against my other attempts at standard "medieval" RPGs, it holds up well; Fable II was able to distract me with its fun voice actors and its lovely graphics for a while, before the glitches and the plot decay set in and Elder Scrolls: Oblivion was abandoned not two hours in due to the pissing off person that is the camera viewpoint and first person battle system. (I do not like first person ANYTHING, okay? It pisses me off. In video games, anyway. I want to be able to see the character as he/she fights, not see his/her arm jerk outward in what might as well be an epileptic seizure with a sword.)

The good:

→ The characters. Each one of them is well thought out and well fleshed out -- I love all the characters I'm supposed to love, such as Alistair and Wynne and Leliana, and maybe even the characters I'm not supposed to love, like Morrigan and Sten. The game doesn't try to insult the player by saying, "This person did a bad thing because they're ~conflicted!~, but they're good inside and are going to cry rainbow tears every night SO FORGIVE THEM, OKAY?". Instead it gives a much simpler but more truthful, "This is a person, neither wholly good nor bad. Take them or leave them."

The crowd may have gotten a bit too thick for me but each one was well defined and had their own personality, without needing to skirt each others' territory. You knew from the beginning that Alistair was ambitionless and maybe a bit directionless, too, or that Morrigan was a bundle of contradictions due to the isolationist nature of her upbrinding (both chafing at her binds and afraid of leaving), or that Sten was wholly practical and perhaps born without an imagination to see what could be rather than what is.

→ The fact that politics play a dominant role in the plot. I'm going to be a bit less objective and admit that I much prefer the driven plots of people to something big and epic, especially since big and epic is rarely shown through the eyes of the people who are in it. It creates a wall between the audience--or at least, this member of the audience--when we're told that this is big and important and omg!so EPIC, but we're never shown why. Political instability? That's much more prevalent to daily life. A nation without a leader can either sink or swim, but it's those tenuous moments between the two that define the nature of the story.

They do it well, too. But that's no surprise, since the story is inspired by George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series.

→ The origin stories, and the fact that these characters still exist after you switch your focus to the meat of the plot. In the mage origin story, you have a friend called Jowan who attempts to steal property from the Chantry, which governs the mages, so that he can run off with his love. Ultimately, it comes to light that Jowan is a blood mage, something he had lied out earlier on, and you are pulled from the tower of mages to be conscripted as a Grey Warden. A few hours of gameplay later, when you have all but forgotten about Jowan, you end up at Redcliffe Castle only to discover he is the magic tutor of the arl of Redcliffe's young son, and has gotten himself into even more trouble. Even if you didn't do the mage origin storyline, Jowan remains as the boy's tutor and you'll ultimately discover him in the Redcliffe dungeons no matter what.

→ The voice acting. While English accents in medieval-system structured RPGs is nothing new, it continues the pleasing tradition of differentiating nations and even species through accents we are all familiar with. Also! Steve Valentine.

The bad:

→ The game's constant habit of warning you about important, plot-changing events and/or difficult fights by stopping all gameplay to save the game for you.

→ The gameplay in itself. Some parts of it were incredibly fun but those managed to be interspersed with plotlines that dragged on too long. (I'm looking at you, Orzammar.) The game was unable to find a happy medium between long stretches of dungeon crawling and, well, everything else. (This is entirely subjective, however, as I did thirty hours of gameplay over the course of four days. My viewpoint may be skewed.)

→ ORZAMMAR. I had never been so glad to be done with a part of gameplay. Not even the water temple in Ocarina of Time was as painful as Orzammar. I could've done without the onslaught of giant spiders and the Broodmother, too. Branka and her lover's craziness make up for it, but only in a delicious mindfuck kind of way.

→ The so-called "canon" ending. The relationships you forge determine what sort of endings you get. For this particular example, I am going to talk about Alistair, who I chose to make the centre of the plotline my first go. He's the bastard son of the late King Maric, whose other heir (King Cailin) was recently killed in battle. Ferelden is left leaderless, excepting a young queen who claims to have pulled King Cailin's strings from the shadows for her duration as queen, and her father who rules as regent while the land is kingless.

Obviously a good solution would be to make Alistair king, wouldn't it?

Well, no. For one, Alistair has no desire to be king. He's an untried twentysomething soldier who has exactly thirty years left to live with no real schooling in political matters, and since he is Tainted (drank the blood of a monster to become a Grey Warden), it's unlikely he can even reproduce. There's the matter of his claim which is stronger than the queen's, who is only royalty through marriage and had no heirs either, but that doesn't exactly make him fit to rule.

However, my problem comes from the execution of how he inevitably becomes king. The so-called "best" ending is gotten by having a romance with Alistair, setting up the situation so he can succeed in the landsmeet and be decreed the true king of Ferelden, and then announcing that the PC will marry him and rule by his side. Never once does anyone say, "Alistair, do you even want to be king?". (Although, if someone had, I doubt he'd had given a straight answer, being who he is.) Basically, you succeed in scheming and plotting your way onto the throne, organising all events in your favour by saying what certain people want to hear and stabbing them in the back later on, and brokering back door deals in order to get what you need to get to implicate others.

All the while, the game seems to be shouting at you, "Alistair should be king! You should be queen! Anora and her evil regent father shouldn't be allowed to rule!"

I'm not really seeing much of a difference between the two sets of would-be monarchs. Granted, the queen's father is a douche of the highest order for abandoning his son-in-law the former king in the midst of battle when he was set to provide reinforcements (leading to the king's untimely death and the source of the civil unrest), but surely Anora, who does actually want the throne, could seize power from him. She's proven herself capable, cunning, and morally ambivalent. Everything the PC needs to be -- and is -- in order to make Alistair king, in matter of fact.

And through it all, Alistair spends most of the time running from his so-called birthright and trying to live the life his former mentor lived.

Kind of makes the PC seem like the cruelest of them all.

Thankfully, ruling alongside Alistair as king and queen is only one of the many endings you can get.

Overall: Not without its flaws, but probably one of the best RPGs of its kind in a while.

i am going to cough and fall over now.

2009-11-26T14:00:13Z

Happy Turkeysgiving, Americans of my f-list!

more of the more!

2009-11-20T00:54:56Z

Persona 3 PSP recap, part three.

Hopefully this one will include less brand new scenes I need to fumble my way through. All the storyline imported from FES I pretty much know off by heart, but new story pieces and S. Links brought in for P3P are a complete mystery to me. Apologies in advance!

(Only 4th October, because I am a tired president.)

October full moon! I mean... September full moon!

...what?

Mitsuru is fighting with a sword that is all crooked (like the sword of Shan Yu?) and Yukari's weird winter dress thingy actually looks really bad ass in battle. The things you learn!

Minako has a kind of middle pitch for her voice. My guess on who will VA her? Stephanie Sheh -- with her Kaguya or Metis voice, not her Mikuru or Kyrie voice. But maybe I just want to see more of Stephanie Sheh. Is it possible to have a girlcrush on a voice? Apparently it is. The awesome name doesn't hurt, either.

In battle, Mitsuru sounds identical to her English VA. It's kind of awesome.

The portraits used for the All Out Attack are brand new, and resemble the P4 portraits greatly. I think I prefer the FES version, honestly. These looks bizarre and unattractive. I was never a big fan of the P4 All Out Attack char portraits to begin with, anyway. The colours are washed out and not as vibrant as they could be, here. Minako looks amused, for some reason.

When you level up, you get to actually see the other chars level up, instead of just yourself. Yay!

Mystery solved! The person uploading the walkthrough vids labeled it as September full moon, but it's still 4th October. And you know what that means!

IT'S PARTY TIME!

AND BY PARTY, I MEAN DEATH.

After the battle, they all talk. Akihiko is all worried, makes his surprised!lesbian face again, and then wanders off. In the Port Island alley, we see Ken and Shinji. Raise your hands if you know the tune: "I'm going to make you remember what you did! I'm going to kill you!" "Fine, do it. But if you do... you'll end up just like me." Seriously, Ken, if you're going to kill him, can't you at least tell him the hat makes him look a chimp before you do? Anyway.

Ken says 10 for some reason... I can't remember him saying that in FES. I like his Japanese voice, though. Not so nasally.

The other SEES members go back to the dorm, find Ken and Shinjiro not there. Junpei's Japanese voice sounds a lot like Soujiroh from Hanadan, which is kind of awesome. Mitsuru finally gets her shit together and remembers that the fourth is THE DAY THEY KILLED THEIR TEAMMATE'S MOTHER, OH MY GOD, and orders Fuuka to find Shinji and Ken. Mitsuru gives some convenient backstory, and then Fuuka's voice does this awesome echoing thing (I seriously love her Japanese voice so, so much) and announces that Takaya is about to open a can of whupass on Shinji and Ken. Cue Mitsuru's boots.

Shinji's gained quite a few more portraits this time; there is one for when he's looking to the left, and one for him looking straight ahead. (There's also one of him smiling, one of him thoughtful, and the HULK IS ANGRY face still lives.) I'm still waiting for him to burst out with, "these are the old days, the bad days, the all-or nothin' days, THEY'RE BACK!" COME ON SHINJI, YOU MISS YOUR SPECIAL HOOKER FRIEND, I KNOW YOU DO. RAMPAGE OR SOME SHIT.

Blah blah blah.

Blah blah blah blaaaah.

FUCK YES TAKAYA. AND TAKAYA'S AWESOME LIETMOTIF.

Ken has some more portraits, too.

Takaya rats out Shinji on dying soon anyway, which makes HULK ANGRY. YOU WON'T LIKE HIM WHEN HE'S ANGRY.

Ken is suitably displeased, and his Japanese VA fucking sells it, man. I mean it. Whoever they got for this is so much less annoying than Mona Marshall. By much less annoying, I mean awesome. And much less annoying.

Some more blah blah blahing, and finally Takaya gets sick of this shit and shoots Shinji in the... spirit? I don't know. Takaya talks about Chidori, and shadows, and then smiles and kicks Shinji to prove what a bad guy he really is. HE KICKS BULLET WOUND VICTIMS, MAN. HE SHOOTS THEM AND THEN KICKS THEM. HE'S GOING TO H-E-DOUBLE HOCKEYSTICKS.

More talking, it is heavily implied Takaya kicks Shinji again and then OH MY GOD TAKAYA'S PORTRAIT PULLED OUT A GUN. I MEAN IT. YOU CAN SEE AN ARM AND A GUN. THIS IS AWESOME. I MEAN TERRIBLE.

SEE FOR YOURSELF.

He shoots Shinji again. Ken makes a lot of different faces over the course of half a second. Hulk... I mean, Shinji, makes various gargling noises because OMG he's in paaaain, guys! Nobooody knows the trouble he's seen... nooobody knows his sorrow. Twilight ain't got nothing on this shit. ANYWAY.

Super Boyfriend--I mean Akihiko--shows up and how could I tell it was Akihiko? Because of my Akidar. It's like gaydar, only more so. Takaya and his high feels flounce off (isn't he supposed to be barefoot, like all the other good hippies?) and Akihiko runs onto the scene. "Shiiiinji. Shinjiiii." "Aragaki!" "Senpai!" "Aragaki-san!" (That one's Junpei, and it sounds like he's growling, almost.) Shinji: "A...ma...da."

You know that one scene in Ever After, where Angelica Houston is so hurt and jilted by her husband reaching toward his daughter and not her when he dies that she forever treats his daughter like shit? But it's okay because the daughter becomes queen?

...I don't know what made me think of that.

Shinji says a bunch of stuff that is no doubt very heartwarming and inspiration ~~even though he's thinking about his Special Hooker Friend the entire time~~ which includes finally acknowledging Super Boyfriend. He then coughs a lot and apparently falls over, because everyone else is freaking out and Ken screams.

...

Happy Birthday, Shinji!

come play, children

2009-11-19T01:35:24Z

Taking requests at my writing journal here.

Maybe I'll finally defeat my terrible request track record!

how many memes does it take to get to the moon?

2009-11-15T13:55:00Z

Rules:
• 1. Put your playlist on random.
• 2. Post a line from the first 30 songs
• 3. Delete the songs when someone guesses correctly.

1. You say, "sit down, it's just a talk."
2. Through the anger and the sorrow, I just can't let you let go.
3. It was undeniably clear to me, I don't know why.
4. You and I, drunk again.
5. She was mysterious; I could not resist to save my life.
6. There is nothing wrong with this; you ain't commit no crime.
7. So your world's benign, so you think justice has a voice.
8. Pick a star on the dark horizon and follow the light.
9. If ever again, a greeting I send to you, short and sweet to the soul I intend.
10. Burn me, break me, any way you need me; all I want is you.
11. I'm highly animated even though I'm decomposing.
12. Between us is our kitchen, would you found my irritant's itching.
13. No sleep until I'm done with finding the answer.
14. Here come the morning that I say goodbye to you.
15. And if there's something wrong, who would have guessed it?
16. But these places and these faces are getting old.
17. You're stuck on a chain, you're towing the line.
18. I am the summoner of nothing in particular.
19. We're dead, we know just who we are.
20. Please don't mind what I'm trying to say, 'cause I'm being honest.
21. I've got nothing else to lose, I lost it all when I found you.
22. The first that she be spared the pain that from a dark and laughing rain.
23. So if think that you're the one, step into my ride.
24. I want to be your dream date, who takes away your breath; but I'm the man of your nightmares, the gentleman death.
25. I love God all the same, but all I want to do is get off.
26. He doesn't look a thing like Jesus, but he talks like a gentleman.
27. Want to fly to a place where it's just you and me.
28. I didn't want to seem too unkind so I just laughed and kept my eyes peeled to the door.
29. Let me go on loving you tonight.
30. Pretend you're anything just to be adored.

1. Reply to this post, and I will pick five of your icons.
2. Make a post (including the meme info) and talk about the icons I chose.
3. Other people can then comment to you and make their own posts.
4. This will create a never-ending cycle of icon squee.

Miguel! There is a .gif version of this icon where he plays his fiddle thing repeatedly while still maintaining that same expression, which cracks me up. This one is a poor man's version, but it gets the job done.

Because there's nothing like false advertising to renew faith in the Inaba news team!

From the very brilliant P4 comic by hiimdaisy. I chose it because the spaced out look on my girl Saki's face pretty much reflects how I feel 24/7.

The Skull Kid from LoZ; specifically Twilight Princess. The Skull Kid is one of my favourite bits of mythology from LoZ, especially with the implication that he's the same character in every game he's been in. My headcanon of him being in love with Saria helps, too - it'd explain why her song is everywhere he is.

Yosuke always comes prepared for any situation!

Again, from hiimdaisy's comic. ♥ A golf club is vital to the enjoyment of any video game!

I love Kou. That's probably common knowledge. If he was real, I'd probably be one of his in-game fangirls, constantly baking him cake. This icon, however, is another thing from hiimdaisy's comic, featuring my boy being very, very creepy. He loves them balls, after all.

i like my cat.

2009-11-15T00:16:35Z

My cat just laid sprawled on my stomach for almost an hour.

This would have been a lot cuter if it hadn't reminded me of that ridiculously narmy commercial where a grown man seriously says, "should you and I have a picnic?" to his overly affectionate cat. Then, apparently he goes to play golf.

Yeah, I don't get it either.

a short one tonight.

2009-11-12T00:06:20Z

P3P recap, part deux!

→ Floor 72 boss fight! During the Dark Hour, it looks like all the pink interface becomes green. Cool!

Minako's outfit is so cute - I'm not sure whether you do battle in street clothes automatically or if the player bought these clothes.

I noticed Minako uses the evoker differently than Minato. He would twirl it all stylishly and then shoot himself; she just swings her arm up to put it right at her temple, closes her eyes, and pulls the trigger. It has more of a "brace yourself" feel than Minato, especially since she seems to flinch every time she does it. She also puts one hand on her heart. Intriguing!

(No, Jes. Do not write fic based on how SEES members wield their evokers. Do not do not DO NOT.)

The whole thing about party member battle status being removed was false - the members still have smiley/frowny faces beside their names on the right hand side of the screen.

...Aigis sounds much less cute in Japanese. Maaya! You're letting me down! :(

There was another floor boss fight, but I got bored watching it and skipped to...

→ INABA! That's right. In August, you get to go to Inaba. You end up at Yasogami High, where some teacher I do not recognise greets you. The girl who I assume is the Chariot S. Link (she's wearing a sweatsuit like Kazushi did) gets all excited to see the soccer field. Yuko (YUKO! YUUUUUKO!) then shows up to harass Chariot or something. I don't know, I'm just really fucking happy to see Yuko. :D Chariot and Yuko flirt or something; Yuko gets upset. Maybe Chariot is talking about how much she wants to bang Kazushi? FIGHT FOR YOUR MAN, YUKO!

After the soccer field, Chariot and you go to the school entrance again. She is no longer wearing a sweatsuit. And then... LITTLE YUKIKO! Her hair is way too short considering how long it will be in just over two years, and her headband is white, but she's so adorable. Yukiko, Chariot, and Yuko talk about something... no idea what. Yukiko is probably explaining that she goes to the middle school but is running Inn errands or something? I don't know.

Yuko keeps getting upset... she must really miss Kazushi. D'aw.

Yukiko talks a bit more, and keeps getting nervous about something... sweat drops jump out of her hair. They make conditioner for that now, Yukiko.

After that, I assume you're at the Amagi Inn. P4 music is playing! :) Minako appears to actually be sharing a room with Chariot and Yuko, making me wonder if those three came to Inaba for some kind of sports tournament. So far, it's just been Minako, Yuko, and Chariot, so that's pretty much all I can think of. They talk, Yuko gets pissed and then... gets pissed again. She really needs to just stake her territory already. Dumb but well-meaning jocks are all hers!

After a breath interlude, Yuko and Chariot both change into their sweatsuits again. I notice Yuko's expression changes a lot, whereas Chariot is usually just neutral. Hm.

Chariot seems to leave and then... Kazushi! Hell yes. Chariot comes back, probably teases Yuko about flirting, and then Minako says something. There's a short bit where both Yuko and Kazushi have sweat drops flying from their head, indicating they are equally awkward. D'aw. Yuko smiles, ellipses a lot, looks sad/awkward again, and then Kaz comes back in all smiling and Yuko gets pissed. Someone's a tsundere! XD More ellipses, then...

...on to 2 August, the Sunday. You go back to Yasogami High again; Chariot, Kaz, and Yuko talk more. Yuko seems sad about something but Kazushi is smiling. Maybe they lost their big important game? Yukiko appears again, and joins the conversation. More conversing, Yukiko leaves, and it looks like Kaz and Yuko finally get somewhere! She's smiling, even if he looks embarrassed. In the evening, you go back to the dorm.

→ August boss fight. I like the new clock animation. There's lots of talking, and then you end up outside the abandoned military shaft. Its entrance is... wide open. Fuuka talks, and then... Strega appears! Well, two-thirds of Strega. Strega talks at you, you talk back, Akihiko makes his surprise!lesbian face, and then Strega locks in the shaft. Finally, you select your party and then go fight.

The battle part itself is kind of boring, so I'll just skip that.

wow i rambled a lot.

2009-11-11T01:44:17Z

I spent most of the evening curled up in bed, watching P3P walkthrough vids on YouTube. I got up to Yakushima.

(Added an apology: parts of this veered into Japanese details vs. English details territory. I just like comparing!)

→ I like Fuuka's Japanese voice a lot better than her localised one. It's a bit breathy, but not all monotone and suspiciously similar to Velma Dinkley.

→ For the July full moon, you get a romantic moment with Akihiko. I don't know if you can rig the teams so it's either Junpei or Akihiko, but for this one, it was Akihiko. You see a room (not the same room from FES) that's all purple with this giant white donut in the middle... I think it is a bed. The shower is running.

FLASH!

Creepy voice, creepy voice. I'm guessing from the way you're giving multiple options, Minako has to choose to break free of the lust spell the same way Minato did. Finally, out comes shirtless Akihiko! He sounds dazed and confused. His eyes widen, a !? pops up above his head, and he starts stuttering. He gets all frenzied, and then the door slams, I guess to signify him running back into the bathroom.

→ Strega is in the mix! It looks like the Junpei/Chidori angle is still going to be there, as the weird basement scene when she kidnaps him is still there. Chidori's frenzied shouting face looks a bit too much like Mitsuo's upset face, though. :\ Takaya's Japanese voice is... weird. He sounds too normal. He doesn't sound like the dramatic anti-christ he thinks he is, just a reserved twenty-something man. And Jin sounds... old. Neither of them sound anything like their English VAs.

→ Yakushima! :D

Like in the opening, instead of being hand drawn, it's still shots with sound effects and character portraits over top. Junpei still does his "Ya-ku-shi-ma!" in Japanese, though. It's cute. :3

Hearing Japanese!Fuuka say "Junpei-kun..." is so unbelievably adorable. I love Fuuka's Japanese voice! And she said "sugoi", a word I actually know the meaning of! Cower in the face of my fangirl Japanese! Exclamation point!

The Kirijo maids refer to Mitsuru as "Ojou-sama" instead of "Milady". I like that better.

Takeharu Kirijo sounds exactly the same in Japanese as he did in English.

Junpei said "beach" in English. D'aw.

Akihiko no longer seems to be rocking the speedo and t-shirt. He's shirtless in his character portrait, anyway.

Junpei is still doing his bit about dramatically announcing the girls as models when they show up in their swimsuits. I think Minako had something to say about that, since all her dialogue options ended in an exclamation point. Japanese!Fuuka is still adorable. She also refers to Mitsuru as Kirijo-senpai instead of Mitsuru-senpai.

Junpei and Akihiko both had a moment of panic over something. No idea what.

Minako looks so cute in a bikini.

After the beach, there's the Mitsuru and Takeharu scene. He still mentions the Nanjo group -- which is a P1 reference I finally understand! -- but the important text is in green instead of red. (I'm assuming the characters for Group and -jo are the same, because there's only one different character in both green parts.) Japanese!Mitsuru sounds a lot more hushed and respectful around her father than English!Mitsuru did. I always felt that English!Mitsuru sounded more like a kid caught with her hand in the cookie jar in this scene than anything, probably owing to a lack of any real discipline as a child.

The big scene in the projector room or whatever is still there, but it's kind of weird to see all these couches and no one sitting in them. Yukari's father sounds better in Japanese, too. He sounds like a young man, rather than an older Akihiko.

You still have to go babysit Yukari after her meltdown. It makes less sense if Minako and Yukari aren't in the "will they or won't they" phase of beginning a relationship, since Mitsuru is the leader of SEES outside of immediate combat.

The next day, the girls still do their walk in the forest before being interrupted with the news that a giant tank has escaped the lab. There is no indication that Minako is with them because... I don't know. Over to the guys, Junpei still convinced Aki to go through with Operation: Babe Hunt, which mainly consists of watching their portraits talk at you before being shot down by someone we can't see or hear. (NO ONE IS BELIEVING YOU ARE STRAIGHT, AKI!) Until... a still shot from Aigis' introductory animation!

Yay~!

Aigis' Japanese voice doesn't sound as (rightfully) stilted as her English one did, but her sentences don't end as much as just stop. I think I prefer her English voice.

Aki and Junpei both fail at hitting on Aigis. Her spidey-sense kicks into overdrive, and she... runs to a tree. There, she finds Minako... who has been there the whole time? I don't know. It's difficult to suss out with only portraits, especially since I don't actually know Japanese. XD ANYWAY. Aigis romances you at the tree, and Junpei and Aki run up, all mystified. Yukari appears and proceeds to get all jealous, hilariously. Maybe Minako is an even bigger pimp than Minato.

Ikutsuki tracks them down (how?) and brings them all back to the mansion, where Aigis joins the team!

...Aki says something so fast, but I think it might have been "Shinjiro". Probably not, though.

Ikutsuki makes these hilariously creepy "mmhmmmhmmm!" sounds when he talks. No need to sell the ick factor, dude. We got it.

Last day is more beach. Aki is all peeved at something; probably his epic fail on Operation Babe Hunt. Listening to Aigis' voice reminds me of how much I love Maaya Sakamoto, even if her Aigis voice is less robotic than Karen Strassman's.

Ikutsuki: SAAAANAAAADA-SAAAAAAN!
Jes: ...snrk.

I wonder if that was Ikutsuki's mating call. XD He seriously shouted it, reminding me of the sound a hippo makes when it yawns.

...and, that's it for Yakushima!

→ Shinji's HULK IS ANGRY face still cracks me up. His voice sounds weird, too. It reminds me of Marv from the Sin City movie. All Shinji needs to do now is have a suicidal rampage across town because he finally got a hooker to sleep with him!

Takaya is still ~~flirting with~~ torturing him with drugs. I assume this is the "more pet than an ally" bit, which means Shinji is still feeding information to Strega in exchange for pills... uh, are we sure we want to save this guy? XD I jest, obviously. I ♥ Shinji.

i used lots of words.

2009-11-08T22:48:52Z

Finished KH: 358/2 Days.

→ By the time I got to the end, I was kind of underwhelmed. Sad, but underwhelmed.

→ I found the interaction between Axel and Xion to be much more interesting than the interaction between Roxas and Xion / Roxas and Axel, only because there seemed to be something going on there that Roxas wasn't privy to. I don't 'ship them, but I won't deny that their rapport was kind of fascinating.

There's this one line towards the end, when Axel is clearly at the end of his rope: "You keep running... and I'll keep bringing you back!" or something to that degree. Axel's being jerked around by his need to follow orders and his inability to say no to Xion, like an older sibling or a parent who's desperately trying to instill discipline in a ward that'll have none of it. She runs off, he brings her back. She runs off, he brings her back. At one point, he lets her go, only to chase her and bring her back. In his mind, he's trying to be the rational adult figure, but he's reached his limit. He's not Riku; he can't run around for a year fighting everything with some noble notion to protect his friends while they sleep/continue on with their lives without him.

In a way, this brings a new light to his somewhat erratic actions in KH2 -- knowing everything he went through just days before, and especially how badly he and Roxas parted, makes everything make a bit more sense.

With Xion, well, her actions bell clearly through Axel's response to her actions. She's made by the Organisation as a Replica -- when she fails in her mission, she loses all sense of purpose. She becomes a mirror of Roxas, picking up what he's willing to give off. She's molded by the people around her, but nothing is ever good enough. She's just one person, a Replica failsafe. She finds solace in Roxas and Axel, but even that can't last. Finally, she turns to Riku; the Sora and Kairi in her coming out? I can't think of anyone else they'd rather run to in a crisis.

Roxas is Sora, so he'd have to inherit a good deal of Sora's inherent noble traits, even if it's easier for him to flesh out his more touchy, prickly side while in the Organisation. Axel and Xion may look to him to set a good example, but they'll never be him. That's why Axel chases after Roxas with such fervor in KH2, that's why Xion sets out to die at the hands of Roxas on Day 357 (that's how I interpreted her desire to fight Roxas, anyway). Before that, though, there's a great deal of messiness, frustration, and aggression that Xion and Axel fling at one another -- through fighting, then making up, then fighting again. Roxas remains untouchable, so when they lash out, they lash out at one another. Especially Xion, who faces most of what comes her way with a mixture of resignation and sadness; not much of a fighting spirit. Her desperate, selfish actions provoke Axel in the worst way, and he's not one for keeping his frustration/anger/hurt inward.

Wow, that... turned into an essay.

Anyway, yeah. That's what I read into them, anyway. Hence my interest!

→ Zexion had this amazing line in the beginning: "You don't have to do [it], just like I don't have to respect you." That one line managed to make my jaw drop with sheer ballsiness... and then he got killed off. Sadface. Larxene was pretty entertaining, too. I wish I had actually gotten to fight with Demyx more, rather than him just avoiding doing any real work.

→ The choice of worlds was a bit disappointing, especially since the storylines for the worlds were so... odd. I don't even think the Neverland storyline was wrapped up. I did like going to Halloweentown, though. ♥

→ The Organisation robes have got to be stifling in hot weather. I was hoping we'd see the characters wear something a little less awkward, at least when sleeping, but that may be too much for game mechanics to handle. I mean, Minato Arisato slept in his school uniform and headphones! (...I now want to write fic where Axel, Xion, and Roxas are stuck on laundry duty and have to take eighty smelly robes to the Twilight Town laundromat.)

→ I wish the KH games had New Game Plus.

→ I want an Organisation moogle for myself. He was so cute!

→ What did you guys think?

i'm a good little poor girl.

2009-11-06T01:19:18Z

I am now the proud owner of a Sony PSP!

Also... SMT: Persona: Revelations!

I can't play it yet because the PSP needs to charge up before it'll allow me to download the newest PSP software, but I'm still really excited.

Game recommendations, please! :D

tee hee!

2009-11-03T22:46:53Z

I haven't done this in a while! Stolen from fairandbright.

→ Post a list of up to 20 books/movies/anime/TV shows/video games/bands that you've had an obsessive fannish love or interest in at some time in your life.
→ Have your f-list guess your favorite character/member from each item.
→ When someone guesses correctly, strike through the item and put the name of your favorite character next to it.

★ ~~Persona 3~~ Ryoji Mochizuki, figured out by bouncywild and valorously.
★ ~~Persona 4~~ Kanji Tatsumi, figured out by lassarina.
★ Legend of Zelda
★ Final Fantasy VII
★ ~~Final Fantasy VIII~~ Laguna Loire, figured out by night_is_fallen.
★ ~~Final Fantasy X~~ Tidus, figured out by night_is_fallen.
★ ~~Final Fantasy XII~~ Larsa, figured out by night_is_fallen.
★ Gurren Lagann
★ ~~Code Geass~~ Gino, figured out by valorously.
★ ~~Ouran High School Host Club~~ Kyoya, figured out by valorously and bouncywild.
★ Death Note
★ Red vs. Blue
★ Pushing Daisies
★ Battlestar Galactica
★ Heroes
★ House
★ ~~Supernatural~~ Castiel, figured out by bouncywild and valorously.
★ ~~Doctor Who~~ Martha Jones, guessed by fairandbright.

HAHAHAHA.

2009-10-30T23:49:09Z

Dear Coldplay's Viva la Vida,

Please tell me why I crack up in hysterical laughter every single time you come up on the radio?

Is it because the Code Geass fandom one day collectively decided this song was their warcry? Was it because of the sheer amount of fanvids that popped up one day? Was it because this song really is just that funny? Was it because of valorously encouraging my weirdness? I'd really appreciate some sort of clarity in this matter.

Yours with laughter,

Jessica.

p.s. I USED TO ENJOY THIS SONG, DAMMIT.

hi howdy hello

2009-10-28T21:09:52Z

APPARENTLY I am doing NaNo this year.

By "apparently", I mean irishais waved a ~~dog biscuit~~ bookmark in front of my face and I leapt for it. I'm going to try my damndest, since I've already got a few pages of worldbuilding/character notes to go off of. XD

Friend me! I'm churched.

blah.

2009-10-09T02:06:17Z

Things to do tomorrow:
→ ~~Finish C.C. app, and create account for her.~~
→ Start and finish Larsa app, create an account for him.
→ Write Squall writing Squall/Tseng fanfic.
→ Clean desk.
→ ~~Haul ass at work. I slacked off majorly today.~~
→ ~~Contemplate writing.~~
→ ~~Figure out movie times for me and K.~~

Things to do this weekend:
→ Sleep.
→ Be showered with presents!

In other news, I am now twenty-one. Does that make me old? I feel like it does.

yaaaaawn.

2009-10-05T01:18:14Z

I ♥ ICONS.
</td> </td> </td> </td> </td> </td>

default	oldest	newest

saddest	happiest	angriest

cutest	sexiest	funniest

fave ship	fave fandom	fave animated

best quote	best textless	best stolen idea

use the most	favorite	bonus!8

How many icons do you have? Sixty-four.
Out of how many available icon spaces? 115. I keep meaning to fill up, but none are ever pretty enough!
If you could buy space for more, would you? Nah. I'm good as is.
Do your icons make a statement? Does your face make a statement?
What fandom do you have the most icons of? Persona 3/4, I think.
And the second most? Either Code Geass or Gurren Lagann.
What ship do you have the most icons of? Lelouch/C.C., with.. two whole icons. Yeah. I'm recalcitrant when it comes to revealing my 'ships.
Are your icons made mostly by other people? Yes. I'm lazy.
Do you make icons? No.
Are they any good? Your face.
Animated icons are... Like milk and cookies without a napkin.

DO ME.
This version of the coding can be found here.
(Minor edits were made including the insertion of an LJ cut-with-text by default.
Code was adapted from here.)

memelicious.

2009-09-26T19:32:08Z

I stole this from kay_willow.

NAME A FANDOM AND I'LL TELL YOU MY:
- OTP.
- Runner-up.
- Honorable mention(s).
- Crack pairing(s).
- Ship everyone else seems to like, but I don't.

I figure my fandoms are obvious, but if you're not sure if something is a fandom of mine, feel free to ask!

failure is not a choice.

2009-09-20T22:16:01Z

A writing meme, stolen from ypaladinofchaos. It's minimal work involved, so I'm... almost sure I can deliver this time! Maybe!

Give me a character/pairing and a prompt (prompt necessary), and I'll write you a one line story.

also, gero.

2009-08-25T18:17:49Z

There's gratuitous singing! And the Triforce has feet! WHERE HAS THIS BEEN ALL MY LIFE.

EDIT: Its sequel is even better. Ganon's outfit keeps changing and I cracked up when Majora just kind of shrugged and left through the wall.

i r confuzzled.

2009-08-23T01:55:29Z

Question!

How do people list interests that are more than four words? I've seen it on other people's profiles, but LJ keeps cockblocking me.

i call green.

2009-08-11T03:10:57Z

Huge headache. Huge, frelling headache.

Uh. Am about a little more than halfway through Naamah's Kiss. I just started chapter fifty-two. I may be a bit in love with Jehanne, and damn her to hell for it.

Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon arrived today. So far, it's incredibly fun - the whole mystery aspect is a lot less tedious than it was in P4 (sidenote, why do I always end up bashing P4? I love P4), and I'm really enjoying the general atmosphere of the Taisho era. The game was supposed to come with a Raiho plushie, but they apparently ran out. I sulked like a second grader - astrangerenters and zero_damage can attest to that!

Almost done the first season of Battlestar Galactica. (Apparently, this is going to be a fandom review-centric entry.) I spent most of it gushing over Laura Roslin's general awesomeness and was promptly brought back down when she started to be all, "blah blah I'M THE PROPHECISED RULER blah blah KARA GO TO CAPRICA AND GET THIS ARTIFACT blah." Maybe my atheism is clouding my ability to focus on the show's version of spirituality or whatever - hopefully that won't bother me too much, because I really do like it. The actors are all very good at getting the viewer to feel what they feel. Gaius Baltar cracks me up, as does Gaeta's fanboyish tendencies towards him. Ah, Gaeta. I love you for your voice alone.

Man, my head hurts. This might be a good time to take some advil.

i love this icon so, so much.

2009-08-10T01:10:20Z

The world is coming to an end!