Meme!

[seventhe]

Stolen from churched!

Post one of my fandoms and the number of any of these questions (as many or few as you like) and I'll tell you the answer!

Note #1: If you want 'all', just say so. ;)
Note #2: Pick any fandom I know well enough!

1. The first character I fell in love with:
2. The character I never expected to love as much as I do now:
3. The character everyone else loves that I don’t:
4. The character I love that everyone else hates:
5. The character I would shag anytime:
6. The character I'd want to be like:
7. The character I'd slap:
8. A pairing that I love:
9. A pairing that I despise:
10. Favorite character:
11. What are my five favorite things about the fandom.
12. What are my five least favorite things about the fandom.
13. Who are my five favorite characters.
14. Who are my five least favorite characters.
15. What are my five favorite pairings.
16. What are my five least favorite pairings.
17. Which character are you most like.
18. What is my deep, dark fandom secret.

Comments

Re: FFX!

[first-seventhe.livejournal.com]

Squall was a dick in FFVIII! It's totally true. As much as I love the guy. He was a dick. He was mean to Rinoa, unfair to Zell, he told Quistis to talk to a wall, and he basically spent tons of time moping around after Seifer's ass.

I think Paine has a lot less angst to her. I actually liked your comparison to Auron -- they both have pretty significantly tragic stuff in their past, but they manage to operate on a day-to-day basis without moping or dwelling in it and they can still bring the snark on occasion, too.

Re: FFX!

[pearlrose86.livejournal.com]

You said it, not me, but that's kind of why I don't care for Squall so much. He does get some decent development, but ...early game Squall. Oh my. There is a lot of potential for throttling there. He's so very unlikeable.

Clearly they needed an Auron-factor in X-2. I sort of got that impression from Paine, which was why I did a ...for real now? when the developers brought up the Squall comparison/basis for Paine. Erm.... really?

Any other interesting insights you're dying to share? Just call me your current captive audience. xD;;;

Re: FFX!

[first-seventhe.livejournal.com]

Well, Squall's a good driver for the game as a whole, because he changes the most of anyone, which is nice when you're playing a protag who does different things. But still, he's no sweetheart. XD

Haaaaaaaahahaha I can talk about FF characters for days. Queen of absolutely useless opinions, that is me! :) Let's move on to FFIX. Your thoughts?

Re: FFX!

[pearlrose86.livejournal.com]

IX? IX? ::resists urge to squee:: IT'S MY FAAAAAAAAAAAVORITE.

...okay, capslock outta the way... I love the game. It's my favorite in the series. I adore Zidane, and think he is perhaps the most awesome FF hero ever. He reminds me of Edge with a little Locke and a dash of Edgar for good measure. He's an actor! That steals! And is badass. With daggers!

Dagger/Garnet - I call her both. Good heroine. Shy, but with a steel backbone. She manages to surprise the hell out of me sometimes, and that is why I like her. He cares a bit too much about how others perceive her, but it makes her real.

Freya knows when Zidane is bs-ing and gets right to the heart of the matter, Steiner tries so damn hard, Beatrix is badass, Vivi needs a hug, Quina wants to eat! Amarant is kind of a hardass. Eiko is kind of bratty, but it makes her real, and she's so lonely that it breaks my heart. The characters rock in this game. Cid, version IX is so utterly clueless and there is Hilda to take no slack. Kuja is the most faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaabulous villian this side of ever... and oh, the characters! Tantalus is kickass, hi-hi dorky thieving actors!

The game itself is a homage to nearly every FF game in existence, which means there are tons of in-jokes and cross-references and other neat, trivia-worthy material.

The plot itself in interesting, gets a little head-bangy about 2/3's of the way through, but it's an FF game. The ending fufills my heartwarming quota for forever, but there's enough silliness to ease the drama... it's got a good mix of annnngst and giggles.

OKAY. As you've probably noticed, I can go ON and ON about IX, breaking comment limits with a single fangirly rush! So, have you played this one? Did you beat it? Do you like it? You hardly talk about this one, so I am dying of curiousity, Sev.

Re: FFX!

[first-seventhe.livejournal.com]

Haha! FFIX is another game I enjoyed but rarely write for! I have played all the way up to the final boss, I tried about 12 times to beat him, then I gave up and watched the ending on the internet because I was just at too low of a level and didn't feel like level grinding any more. HA HA, INTERNET, MY SHAMEFUL SECRET IS OUT.

I've actually tried to pinpoint why I don't write very often for this game, and I'm not sure why. I loved all the characters, but I rarely feel like I have anything to add to their stories...? Maybe? Hmm. Have to think on that one.

Since it's female characters that usually catch my eye first, I'll start there. Garnet I found very interesting, because she falls into the stereotype of princess / white mage / summmoner/sorceress / not physical attacker / etc, and yet her character has a lot of soft, steely determination and quiet strength. She's not a pampered princess, by any means.

Freya is my absolute love. I don't really know why, because the game does nothing for her except set up a heartbreaking story and go nowhere with it, but I loved her. She's sensible, she's snarky, she's finicky, she's funny, she's heartbreaking and heartbroken. I liked her a lot.

Eiko falls into the "too cutesy children" category, but yet she's also spunky and awesome! And Beatrix is basically hot, but I also really like female Paladin-types.

Re: FFX!

[pearlrose86.livejournal.com]

...I uh, didn't beat X. Watched the last fight and the ending on YouTube. So uh, yay for sharing guilty secrets!

I am curious. I'm glad to hear you like the game because I like finding more people who appreciate the game, but you're so quiet about it! XD;;;

I think you've hit the nail on the head with Garnet, I kind of tend to overlook her "stereotypical" qualities, because even though she's a terrible fighter, that quiet strength as you put it, makes me like her. I really like quiet strength, it's a good way to describe her.

Freya gets no love, even in the darn game, and that makes me unbelievably sad! She's snarky and sensible but she's still a woman. She's sad about the loss of her home(s), the loss of her love, and these things don't weaken her. I love Freya because she's unashamedly female, but still tough and strong and sarcastic like whoa.

Beatrix made me smile throughout the game. Even when she's beating on the party, I knew she'd be one to watch. She's a great character on her own merits, and it's like, oh yeah, she's a female, a paladin, a warrior, one-eyed, and relatively young. She also develops over the course of the game and my deepest unfulfilled wish from the game is that she never got to be a permanent party member.

Eiko is cute and spunky, and waaaaaaaaaay too young. But she's been through a lot in her young life, and she carries herself so well despite that. In a couple of years, I predict her to be spunky, sarcastic, and an all-around force to be reckoned with. :D

Re: FFX!

[first-seventhe.livejournal.com]

I often find I'm not as drawn to FFX fandom as I am to, say, FFVIII or others. And I wonder why! I think part of it is just the distinct lack of a character I can relate to, on some levels. In FFIX, the characters are very much defined by who/what they are -- and because that's a weird sentence, I'll explain: Garnet's a white mage and a princess, and a lot of her personality comes from that. Steiner's a knight, and his personality comes from that. The classes also seem to define their personality traits. Whereas in a game like FFVIII, say, Quistis is a Blue Mage, but her personality is just like any other random person you'd meet in a military academy. So... I don't know, for exploring characters it's a little more relatable.

I loved Beatrix. I loved having a noble enemy who was also female, and not just some hardass but stunningly beautiful AND ALSO SHE BEATS THE SHIT OUT OF YOU. I would have loved to have her in the party permanently, definitely.

Zidane I liked, although he also did the good-hearted spunky/happy thing a little too much... but that's what your main character is for! And once you find out about him it's hard to believe he is so carefree with everything.

Re: FFX!

[pearlrose86.livejournal.com]

To each their own, definitely, apparently Because I love the bits and pieces of the characters and enjoy meta-ing the pieces out of them.

I kinda get where you're coming from, actually -- and VIII's great for Entirely Too Underdeveloped Side Characters, main cast aside. But I like of like it because of it? In spite of it? It's hard to explain -- maybe because I do relate to Dagger a lot. Not for the big picture she is a white mage, princess straight out of a Disney movie -- but in the little things -- her shyness, the fact she loves plays, literature, that kind of desire to go out and see the world of hers? That was so me in high school. Maybe I'm making more out of her than what's there, but I won't complain.

Beatrix is awesome. And vicious. ^^;;;

I love Zidane because he does the goofy happy spunky thing. He is suave... but not. And good with kids. And likes razzing on the Tantalus guys. The dynamic of Tantalus interests me to pieces and I wish I was more confident in my writing to try writing some pre-game antics of theirs. I see a lot of potential there.

You're Not Alone! is probably one of my favorite scenes from the game, because you see Zidane snap a little. He doesn't have the family he searched so long for -- but wait -- he does. He built up this family of his through his relationships and his friends and by being a bighearted goofball, and every time I hear the guitar riff, I grin a little more. Zidane is ultimately the character I like best from IX -- perhaps from any FF -- and I wonder if I would have been interested enough in the game to keep playing it all the way through (it is one of the few games I have beaten) if I hadn't wanted to keep cheering for Zidane.

Re: FFX!

[first-seventhe.livejournal.com]

I actually think part of it is the fandom friends -- I don't have as many friends who are active in FFIX fandom, which is why I tend to have more wild and crazy ideas for other fandoms. And this is partially why I am enjoying this conversation! XD It's a game I haven't thought much about because I have been so focused on others, but definitely not for a lack of love for the game itself.

I like Zidane's interactions with everyone -- they're so telling. He protects Garnet and yet stares at her ass. He pokes fun at Steiner. He plays with and flirts with Eiko. He cares for Vivi. He snarks with Freya and gets hit. His entire dynamic with Amarant. He's one of those characters where his interaction with the others is one of the most awesome things about him. And Tantalus! I would love pre-game Tantalus fic. That would be fantastic!

Re: FFX!

[pearlrose86.livejournal.com]

There is no fandom for IX. This is why I get entirely too giddy when someone wants to talk about the game! And thanks for obliging me, I guess? I'm really thinking about why I like it so much, and in that way, I feel like I'm more able to validate my appreciation for the game. I also like talking to someone who's not a rabid fan of IX because it means I have to give semi-logical reasons for why I like it, not ...oh, just because, you know why!

Zidane is an actor, a bit of an open book, but not completely. He's kind of prone to moron moments, mostly because of his inability to spit out what he's really feeling when it's time to be serious. Especially when it comes to his feelings. He's kind of a goofball like that.

But I do like the way you've hit on the dynamics of his relationship with the party members. He treats each of them like they're important, Vivi especially, He's very much the cheerleader throughout IX. I think that fact makes it ever so much more poignant when he needs the people he's established bonds with to remind Zidane that he is a good person. They have to remind him that where you come from doesn't shape who you are. His relationships with Tantalus, with the party members, with the people in Lindblum, that's what has made Zidane who he is. And I like the message the game gives in that sense.

Oh, Zidane. I can meta on him for hours, as he is very much a favorite character of mine. He's just so interesting because of how he treats everyone. He's nice to everybody, but he has this established way of dealing with everyone in a specific manner. He's got a lot of sides to his personality.

Aw, shoot, that means I'm going to have to try something. (I apparently can give myself bunnies, too.) Maybe something short to see if I feel capable of handling it. I still feel like I'm making baby-steps into fandom fanficcing. I need a little break from fluff, and Tantalus pre-game glimpses in time might just be the ticket.