As Chrono Trigger is a legendary Role-Playing game, Chrono Cross is it's oft-ignored sequel. I can't see why, though, as pretty much everything about it is gorgeous and well thought-out.
But this is not the place to talk about the amazing music, the unique combat system, the metric arse-load of party members-- well, not all of them, anyways-- or the incredibly unique designs for six signature bosses.
No, this is the place where the words are looked at, the tale as told through what the characters say.
A bit of context, though. This game takes place across two different dimensions, one in which the protagonist, Serge, died as a child and one where he did not. In the alternate dimension, he encounters a few people of note, mainly Kid-- a thief who perpetually speaks in an Aussie fashion and who's main phrase appears to be "I'll kick your arse so hard you'll kiss the moons!"-- and Lynx, some sort of anthropomorphic puma.
It's with Lynx that things get interesting, when the plot starts developing besides 'hey how the hell do I get back to my home dimension and why am I dead in this one?' He has a cutscene where he slowly advances towards Serge, demanding that he comes with him. He ends up calling him the 'Assassin of time, the Chrono Trigger!'
But, what is the Chrono Trigger? Things are horribly vague, with no information being explained at all. It's only after climbing through Fort Dragonia that plot advances again, as Lynx takes over your body and shoves you into his. You're then unceremoniously punted to a place where time makes no damn sense, and after a short dungeon where you talk more with Harle, Lynx's former associate, a few more things become known.
For some reason, Lynx needs your body to complete his plan. Miguel, the lone resident of the Dead Sea, tells you that whatever happened fourteen years ago caused the split in dimensions, not necessarily your own death. In his speech, fate, something previously brought up on multiple occasions, is all capitalized, as FATE. He also states something about a system, something that FATE uses to control humans.
To get to Lynx, you need to beat the six dragon gods, in order to regain your form and follow him to the Sea of Eden, the Dead Sea's other-dimensional counterpart. Most of them mention something about breaking the chains of Fate. And here, Fate is capitalized, as though it were a person or a living entity. Could FATE and Fate be related? At this point, I'm saying yes, they could be. Things completely capitalized are normally acronyms for something, after all. Maybe this Fate is in control of the 'FATE' system?
If the 'FATE' system can control humans, the Dragon Gods line of 'A human seeks to break the chains of Fate?' makes a bit more sense. By defeating this Fate, and the potentially human-controlling 'FATE' system, chains of control over humans could be broken, letting them choose their own paths again.
But something else is bugging me. The Sea of Eden was supposedly sealed millenia previously by the Dragon God. Yet, there are six dragons. Did only one do it, or is there some amalgamation of all the dragons existing as one being?
As each Dragon God controls one of the game's six elements, I wouldn't be surprised if somewhere a mix of all the dragons did exist. Perhaps as the Dead Sea held a ruin from the future, the Dragons are living ruins from the ancient Dragonians that supposedly existed in the El Nido archipelago?
If so, then that just raises more questions rather than answer the few that I started out with. But I want to find out, so I'll just keep plunging ahead in this game until I find the answers. After all, why is Serge the 'Chrono Trigger'? And why does Lynx need his body to complete his plan?
...And, why is Fate capitalized in the Dragon Gods speech boxes...?
Thursday, May 7, 2015
Monday, March 16, 2015
Author Study-- Matilda (Short Version)
Words.
Cannot.
Hold.
My.
Love.
Oh my god this freaking book.
Whenever I'm in a mood where I despise reading (Thanks, last year's English teacher, who I'm calling they-who-must-not-be-named.) this is the book I pull out to remind me how amazing books are!
Oh man, this little girl is so much badassery wrapped into the bundle of a rather innocent five-year-old. Hnnnnnngh this little girl and these situations are very fantastical and fictional.
Just-- the scene with the chocolate cake! It goes on for ages and ages but-- there's so much goddamn LIFE in there!
And, and-- there's hidden lessons in there! At the end, at the end--! There's the whole unspoken lesson that family isn't by blood, it's by who you love...! Ahhhhhhhhh there are so many things in this I'm still processing!
Cannot.
Hold.
My.
Love.
Oh my god this freaking book.
Whenever I'm in a mood where I despise reading (Thanks, last year's English teacher, who I'm calling they-who-must-not-be-named.) this is the book I pull out to remind me how amazing books are!
Oh man, this little girl is so much badassery wrapped into the bundle of a rather innocent five-year-old. Hnnnnnngh this little girl and these situations are very fantastical and fictional.
Just-- the scene with the chocolate cake! It goes on for ages and ages but-- there's so much goddamn LIFE in there!
And, and-- there's hidden lessons in there! At the end, at the end--! There's the whole unspoken lesson that family isn't by blood, it's by who you love...! Ahhhhhhhhh there are so many things in this I'm still processing!
Sandman, arc VII
This is laaaate, but here's the next and possibly last arc of Sandman I'm writing about as things have happened.
So, this starts off with a very thick one-shot for the series' fiftieth issue. It's about the golden age of Islam, of all things, and takes place during Ramadan, one of that religion's holiest seasons. It explains the mythical wonders of Baghdad, how impossible the city is, and how it can't last. There's a surprising amount of mortality in this issue, as the Caliph currently in charge-- possibly the most well-known Caliph of old, even-- decides to sell of Baghdad in it's prime to Dream.
Then the ark starts, with the inn at the end of the world. It's a whole bunch of people, and they sit around in this impossibly inn waiting for a storm to end. It's a collection of people from the end of various worlds, and a notable thing is that they all tell boy's tales, from ships on the sea to a city of the dead.
The end, though, well.... The storm preceded a funeral, with Destiny in the lead, and Delirium and Death at the back. There were all sorts of creatures from Dream's domain there, so....
I'm thinking that Dream has died somehow.
Ahhhhhhhhhhg I want to know what happens next.
So, this starts off with a very thick one-shot for the series' fiftieth issue. It's about the golden age of Islam, of all things, and takes place during Ramadan, one of that religion's holiest seasons. It explains the mythical wonders of Baghdad, how impossible the city is, and how it can't last. There's a surprising amount of mortality in this issue, as the Caliph currently in charge-- possibly the most well-known Caliph of old, even-- decides to sell of Baghdad in it's prime to Dream.
Then the ark starts, with the inn at the end of the world. It's a whole bunch of people, and they sit around in this impossibly inn waiting for a storm to end. It's a collection of people from the end of various worlds, and a notable thing is that they all tell boy's tales, from ships on the sea to a city of the dead.
The end, though, well.... The storm preceded a funeral, with Destiny in the lead, and Delirium and Death at the back. There were all sorts of creatures from Dream's domain there, so....
I'm thinking that Dream has died somehow.
Ahhhhhhhhhhg I want to know what happens next.
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
Sandman, Arc VI
Awhman, guys. Awhman. I'm still a buzz about this nine-issue-long arc because metaphysics. I loooooove it when metaphysics show up in writing, it's just-- it makes me so happy! I just want to run in a little circle out of pure joy~!
Anyways, this arc starts off with Delirium of all ethereals, just wandering about in a 1980'sish city, I think it's London. As usual, she's the embodiment of delirium, but she's thinking about her brother, the seventh Ethereal the readers have only heard whispers of in previous arcs. So she's a little bit out of it, and manages to work her way into a, well. I think it's a gay bar/BDSM club. But in that area, she runs into Desire, who's just doing their thing. Delirium, after returning to his realm, discuss the missing brother. As Desire wants no part in this, she attempts to talk Despair into it, but she's having none of this either and so Delirium wanders back to her realm for a while.
Over with Dream, though, he's just gotten dumped by another girl and so he's standing out on a balcony while it rains in his realm. Non-stop Abrahamic-god-flooding rains, seeing as they last twenty one days before Delirium shows up in his realm, and she's being adorable as Dream's wyvern gate keeper is swinging her in his mouth. A rather exasperated panel of Dream later, and now Delirium's discussing her plan to find their seventh sibling with Dream.
In the end, Dream agrees to help, if only to clear his mind of the person who just dumped him. Things progress, but everyone who knows what might have happened to the seventh ethereal-- who I'm not naming because hahahahah read it yourself-- but they all end up dying or just becoming not themselves.
This quest of theirs continues with some rather entertaining panels that really should be entertaining and some flashbacks of their sibling. Really, though, dream, why'd you think it was a good idea to let Delirium drive, even if Matthew the Raven was there topanic give advice? I've seen better driving in LA Noire, and that's saying something.
Also, more minor characters show up once more! Orpheus returns, and he's still just a head sitting there not doing much of anything. And so many old gods are minor characters! There's Pharamond, a Babylonian god, Ishtar, and Bubastion, although she's growing weak and frail.
Eventually, they find the seventh ethereal. And I really, really want to talk about what he says, but-- spoilers! I may tell some things, but I can't tell them all. I can say that the character changes in this are astounding. At one point Delirium becomes a bit depressed and gloomy. At that point, her usually rainbow speech bubbles become shaky with scrawly letters-- more so than usual, and the only colour to them is a thick gray border with white.
And at the end, time moves on. The tone, due to events, is sorrowful, but at the same time, well-- there's always creation. Things fade away with time-- everything does, but-- new things come up to replace the old.
Two sides to one coin, huh...?
As usual, though, Mr. Gaiman manages to weave an incredible tale full of shifting tones and tiny details that may mean nothing by themselves, but when as part of the whole add a new layer onto things.
Anyways, this arc starts off with Delirium of all ethereals, just wandering about in a 1980'sish city, I think it's London. As usual, she's the embodiment of delirium, but she's thinking about her brother, the seventh Ethereal the readers have only heard whispers of in previous arcs. So she's a little bit out of it, and manages to work her way into a, well. I think it's a gay bar/BDSM club. But in that area, she runs into Desire, who's just doing their thing. Delirium, after returning to his realm, discuss the missing brother. As Desire wants no part in this, she attempts to talk Despair into it, but she's having none of this either and so Delirium wanders back to her realm for a while.
Over with Dream, though, he's just gotten dumped by another girl and so he's standing out on a balcony while it rains in his realm. Non-stop Abrahamic-god-flooding rains, seeing as they last twenty one days before Delirium shows up in his realm, and she's being adorable as Dream's wyvern gate keeper is swinging her in his mouth. A rather exasperated panel of Dream later, and now Delirium's discussing her plan to find their seventh sibling with Dream.
In the end, Dream agrees to help, if only to clear his mind of the person who just dumped him. Things progress, but everyone who knows what might have happened to the seventh ethereal-- who I'm not naming because hahahahah read it yourself-- but they all end up dying or just becoming not themselves.
This quest of theirs continues with some rather entertaining panels that really should be entertaining and some flashbacks of their sibling. Really, though, dream, why'd you think it was a good idea to let Delirium drive, even if Matthew the Raven was there to
Also, more minor characters show up once more! Orpheus returns, and he's still just a head sitting there not doing much of anything. And so many old gods are minor characters! There's Pharamond, a Babylonian god, Ishtar, and Bubastion, although she's growing weak and frail.
Eventually, they find the seventh ethereal. And I really, really want to talk about what he says, but-- spoilers! I may tell some things, but I can't tell them all. I can say that the character changes in this are astounding. At one point Delirium becomes a bit depressed and gloomy. At that point, her usually rainbow speech bubbles become shaky with scrawly letters-- more so than usual, and the only colour to them is a thick gray border with white.
And at the end, time moves on. The tone, due to events, is sorrowful, but at the same time, well-- there's always creation. Things fade away with time-- everything does, but-- new things come up to replace the old.
Two sides to one coin, huh...?
As usual, though, Mr. Gaiman manages to weave an incredible tale full of shifting tones and tiny details that may mean nothing by themselves, but when as part of the whole add a new layer onto things.
Tuesday, February 3, 2015
Sandman, Arc V
Alright, so this arc is similar to one of the earlier arcs, as in it's a collection of one-shots. So, I'll be fawning over each in their own aspects for a while, while trying not to spoil anything.
First One-Shot
Okay, so this one starts off pure gold. It's a grandfather and his granddaughter bickering over a story being told. This is pretty much a universal conversation, and if you replace TV with Facebook, then hey, the tale's set in the modern era. Things I liked in this tale-- holy hell the tiny details are glorious again. Freakin' Baba Yaga shows up. And, if you read things carefully, that ending packs a punch. But seriously, the details in the story are really fun to notice.
Second One-Shot
First of all, young Marco Polo in the desert heading back to the current leader of the Khans. Second of all, holy crap that world mechanic. Imma borrow it for the novel-thing I'm writing. But yeah, Marco Polo gets lost in the desert and runs into his future companion and Fiddler's Green (Yay he showed up again~!) in the middle of the desert. They have a chat, and then the dream ends. But oh man, the characters. They all had their own personality to them, despite this being the first time most of them have shown up. And then the actual time this tale happened in-- in the very beginning of arc I! Also, damn that art style. I hadn't though of using thick lines to produce shadows like that.
Third One-Shot
So, this brings back Daniel, the child born in dreams that Dream himself claimed as his own. He's dreaming, and somehow his dreams places him on the outskirts of Dreams realm, where he runs into a Gargoyle, Matthias the Raven, Cain, Able, and I think it's Eve of all people. So, the child and the group of story tellers enjoy tea-time in Able's house of Mysteries. (Complete with Matthias getting a rat instead of crackers.) They each tell a tale, Cain speaks of a mystery of crows, Eve speaks of the story of Adam and his three wives, and Able, well.... He tells a child-friendly version of how he and Cain ended up working for Dream. And oh my god my heart at his imagining of a much younger Dream and Death. Oh my god they're so cute and I probably shouldn't say that but eh. Freaking adorable tiny Dream and Death. But still--! Throughout each tale, you can hear the voice of the story-teller behind them. Cain's seems harsh, Eve's is slightly meandering, and Abel's is a soft tale that children can hear and not realize it's about him being the first murder victim.
That's what I've got for now. For any new person reading this blog, I do ask that you at least skim the older posts.
First One-Shot
Okay, so this one starts off pure gold. It's a grandfather and his granddaughter bickering over a story being told. This is pretty much a universal conversation, and if you replace TV with Facebook, then hey, the tale's set in the modern era. Things I liked in this tale-- holy hell the tiny details are glorious again. Freakin' Baba Yaga shows up. And, if you read things carefully, that ending packs a punch. But seriously, the details in the story are really fun to notice.
Second One-Shot
First of all, young Marco Polo in the desert heading back to the current leader of the Khans. Second of all, holy crap that world mechanic. Imma borrow it for the novel-thing I'm writing. But yeah, Marco Polo gets lost in the desert and runs into his future companion and Fiddler's Green (Yay he showed up again~!) in the middle of the desert. They have a chat, and then the dream ends. But oh man, the characters. They all had their own personality to them, despite this being the first time most of them have shown up. And then the actual time this tale happened in-- in the very beginning of arc I! Also, damn that art style. I hadn't though of using thick lines to produce shadows like that.
Third One-Shot
So, this brings back Daniel, the child born in dreams that Dream himself claimed as his own. He's dreaming, and somehow his dreams places him on the outskirts of Dreams realm, where he runs into a Gargoyle, Matthias the Raven, Cain, Able, and I think it's Eve of all people. So, the child and the group of story tellers enjoy tea-time in Able's house of Mysteries. (Complete with Matthias getting a rat instead of crackers.) They each tell a tale, Cain speaks of a mystery of crows, Eve speaks of the story of Adam and his three wives, and Able, well.... He tells a child-friendly version of how he and Cain ended up working for Dream. And oh my god my heart at his imagining of a much younger Dream and Death. Oh my god they're so cute and I probably shouldn't say that but eh. Freaking adorable tiny Dream and Death. But still--! Throughout each tale, you can hear the voice of the story-teller behind them. Cain's seems harsh, Eve's is slightly meandering, and Abel's is a soft tale that children can hear and not realize it's about him being the first murder victim.
That's what I've got for now. For any new person reading this blog, I do ask that you at least skim the older posts.
Tuesday, December 2, 2014
Sandman, Arc IV
This entire arc starts off with one question, a few pages in. Lucifer, what the fuck are you up to?
And now, let me add to that. He's retiring from being Lucifer, king of hell to just Lucifer, wandering fallen angel who doesn't have any remaining connections to the place. Hell, he even leaves the key to Hell itself with Dream.
Who's promptly mobbed by all sorts of diplomats trying to get it for their own purposes. From all sorts of mythology, including two of God's angels, Remiel and Durma. I'm fairly certain about that. This arc is mainly filled with diplomacy, and the subtle kind at that.
It's at this point I realized what an utter dick Lucifer was to Dream in giving him the key. Dream doesn't want to deal with this shit, but nope! Here he has a metric arse-load of delegates wanting the key to hell.
As before, this tale is freakishly well written. Maybe one or two of the supporting characters is weak, but the main characters and the antagonists ring stronger than ever. I'd love to say more, but this is just one of those things where if I say too much, I'm spoiling it for others! And I don't want to do that, this arc is good!
...I will say that the end left me in tears, and Dream grew up a bit in admitting he was a butt in the past.
And now, let me add to that. He's retiring from being Lucifer, king of hell to just Lucifer, wandering fallen angel who doesn't have any remaining connections to the place. Hell, he even leaves the key to Hell itself with Dream.
Who's promptly mobbed by all sorts of diplomats trying to get it for their own purposes. From all sorts of mythology, including two of God's angels, Remiel and Durma. I'm fairly certain about that. This arc is mainly filled with diplomacy, and the subtle kind at that.
It's at this point I realized what an utter dick Lucifer was to Dream in giving him the key. Dream doesn't want to deal with this shit, but nope! Here he has a metric arse-load of delegates wanting the key to hell.
As before, this tale is freakishly well written. Maybe one or two of the supporting characters is weak, but the main characters and the antagonists ring stronger than ever. I'd love to say more, but this is just one of those things where if I say too much, I'm spoiling it for others! And I don't want to do that, this arc is good!
...I will say that the end left me in tears, and Dream grew up a bit in admitting he was a butt in the past.
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
Sandman, Arc III
Alright, so this arc is interesting. The first four issues are short stories, really, and the last two are the start of another story arc. There's a lot of things going on, and as in the previous arcs of the world the details are stunning.
The first tale deals with the youngest of the Greek muses, Calliope, and issues going on with her being trapped in the human realm.
The second is one of my favorites-- A Dream Of A Thousand Cats. It's a tale that revolves around entirely around cats. Cats cats cats and more cats. I shan't spoil the ending-- I'm trying not to do so because wow I want y'all to read this-- but I ask you one question: What do cats dream of when their legs twitch in their sleep? Is is mice, or something else...?
The third short is also good. It's the first performance of A Midsummer's Night Dream, by Shakespear's troupe of actors themselves. Dream holds the performance on Midsummer's night, in a field, and the fey themselves join them. Oberon, here called Auberon is there, along with Titania and all sorts of other characters. Puck is there, even Titania's attendants Peaseblossom, Moss, and Cobweb are there. It's really fun.
The fourth short is already faded in my mind, but I do remember that it is a good tale.
And then the fifth and sixth issue roll around and whoa. Damn. I was not expecting this to happen. Alright, for starters, almost all the Eternals are brought together, and wow they're a dysfunctional lot. Dream and Death passively fling shade at one another, Desire is a sass-master, Despair is just. Standing there doing her thing, whatever that may be, Delirium, a new introduction, is scatterbrained and creates things to un-create things. Destiny just stands there, following his set path in his eternal life.
Desire and Death actually manage to talk some sense into Dream via snarky remarks and a heart-to-heart, and Dream desides to fix a wrong he made a long time ago. So, after gathering all his creations, saying farewell to a friend, and saying a few last things to his closest companions, he heads off to hell. Again. And, from some scenes seen earlier, Lucifer of this Hell's Trimurative is not pleased. Dream humiliated him last time, and he wants revenge.
BUT IT'S A CLIFFHANGER.
AND OH GODS WHYYYYYYYY.
I want to keep reading, but I can't.
This cliffhanger was initially only a month,
I've heard there was one cliffhanger which was a killer that had a gap of about two/three years.
Yeeesh.
I can't wait until I get to the next arc.
The first tale deals with the youngest of the Greek muses, Calliope, and issues going on with her being trapped in the human realm.
The second is one of my favorites-- A Dream Of A Thousand Cats. It's a tale that revolves around entirely around cats. Cats cats cats and more cats. I shan't spoil the ending-- I'm trying not to do so because wow I want y'all to read this-- but I ask you one question: What do cats dream of when their legs twitch in their sleep? Is is mice, or something else...?
The third short is also good. It's the first performance of A Midsummer's Night Dream, by Shakespear's troupe of actors themselves. Dream holds the performance on Midsummer's night, in a field, and the fey themselves join them. Oberon, here called Auberon is there, along with Titania and all sorts of other characters. Puck is there, even Titania's attendants Peaseblossom, Moss, and Cobweb are there. It's really fun.
The fourth short is already faded in my mind, but I do remember that it is a good tale.
And then the fifth and sixth issue roll around and whoa. Damn. I was not expecting this to happen. Alright, for starters, almost all the Eternals are brought together, and wow they're a dysfunctional lot. Dream and Death passively fling shade at one another, Desire is a sass-master, Despair is just. Standing there doing her thing, whatever that may be, Delirium, a new introduction, is scatterbrained and creates things to un-create things. Destiny just stands there, following his set path in his eternal life.
Desire and Death actually manage to talk some sense into Dream via snarky remarks and a heart-to-heart, and Dream desides to fix a wrong he made a long time ago. So, after gathering all his creations, saying farewell to a friend, and saying a few last things to his closest companions, he heads off to hell. Again. And, from some scenes seen earlier, Lucifer of this Hell's Trimurative is not pleased. Dream humiliated him last time, and he wants revenge.
BUT IT'S A CLIFFHANGER.
AND OH GODS WHYYYYYYYY.
I want to keep reading, but I can't.
This cliffhanger was initially only a month,
I've heard there was one cliffhanger which was a killer that had a gap of about two/three years.
Yeeesh.
I can't wait until I get to the next arc.
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