You Don't Even Have A Picture.
This video, in which two old men re-enact a YouTube argument about One Direction, is probably the only good thing ever to be spawned by the hell that is the YouTube comments section. I laughed extremely hard.
It also, although I didn't realise this at first on account of being terrible with faces, features one of the actors from my mother's play, which is on in Hammersmith until this Saturday! SO I SUPPOSE YOU KNOW WHICH PLAY YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO SEE IF YOU WANT TO GET HIS AUTOGRAPH.
There is a strong possibility that I have played Final Fantasy VIII too many times. I started it after completing Final Fantasy VII (at last! I thought I was doomed never to finish that game, what with malfunctioning memory cards ruining my first playthrough and my own malfunctioning memory meaning I completely forgot where I was supposed to be going on my second, but it finally happened), because it seemed a logical next step, and I was quite unsettled to realise that I knew every event of the first few hours in advance. I knew the gist of every conversation in advance. I knew the name of every monster on the island of Balamb, taking the Fire Cavern and Training Centre into account, and I can probably name quite a large percentage of the monsters in the wider world as well. (For context: I've just finished Final Fantasy VII, and the only non-boss enemies in that game I can name are 'Jumping' and 'Soldier (2nd Class)'.)
Final Fantasy VIII isn't my favourite game. It's not even my favourite Final Fantasy. But it has had an immense impact on my life; I think Pokémon is the only other work of fiction that's had a comparable effect. I have no idea who or where I'd be without it.
That isn't an exaggeration. This game helped me learn to empathise with other people; by presenting me with Squall, a character whose thoughts and feelings I could understand, it helped me realise that the thoughts and feelings of other people didn't have to be an impenetrable mystery. It's also indirectly the reason I started keeping a blog, and I currently live with a friend I made through Livejournal. Goodness knows what's going on in the parallel universe in which I never played it. I'm probably on my third Nobel Prize by now, considering all the time I haven't been wasting on things like blogging and videogames and friendship.
I love Zell's anxiety when it looks like you're about to take Selphie's shortcut in the field exam. 'Squall... You're not gonna... It's a cliff, man...' Bless him. He may not always think things through, but he can be surprisingly sensible sometimes, and his moments of concern always make me smile. I want to be friends with him.
To jump ahead in the game a bit: I think my very favourite dialogue option in Final Fantasy VIII is one that comes up when Squall and Rinoa are reunited, if you sent Rinoa to the missile base (I don't usually send her there, as you miss out on some scenes if you do, so - tragically - I don't often get the opportunity to see this):
Rinoa: I miss'd ya. ...You know, I thought I was gonna die at the missile base. ...That's when I really missed you.
Squall: .........
Squall: Why?
SQUALL.
It also, although I didn't realise this at first on account of being terrible with faces, features one of the actors from my mother's play, which is on in Hammersmith until this Saturday! SO I SUPPOSE YOU KNOW WHICH PLAY YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO SEE IF YOU WANT TO GET HIS AUTOGRAPH.
There is a strong possibility that I have played Final Fantasy VIII too many times. I started it after completing Final Fantasy VII (at last! I thought I was doomed never to finish that game, what with malfunctioning memory cards ruining my first playthrough and my own malfunctioning memory meaning I completely forgot where I was supposed to be going on my second, but it finally happened), because it seemed a logical next step, and I was quite unsettled to realise that I knew every event of the first few hours in advance. I knew the gist of every conversation in advance. I knew the name of every monster on the island of Balamb, taking the Fire Cavern and Training Centre into account, and I can probably name quite a large percentage of the monsters in the wider world as well. (For context: I've just finished Final Fantasy VII, and the only non-boss enemies in that game I can name are 'Jumping' and 'Soldier (2nd Class)'.)
Final Fantasy VIII isn't my favourite game. It's not even my favourite Final Fantasy. But it has had an immense impact on my life; I think Pokémon is the only other work of fiction that's had a comparable effect. I have no idea who or where I'd be without it.
That isn't an exaggeration. This game helped me learn to empathise with other people; by presenting me with Squall, a character whose thoughts and feelings I could understand, it helped me realise that the thoughts and feelings of other people didn't have to be an impenetrable mystery. It's also indirectly the reason I started keeping a blog, and I currently live with a friend I made through Livejournal. Goodness knows what's going on in the parallel universe in which I never played it. I'm probably on my third Nobel Prize by now, considering all the time I haven't been wasting on things like blogging and videogames and friendship.
I love Zell's anxiety when it looks like you're about to take Selphie's shortcut in the field exam. 'Squall... You're not gonna... It's a cliff, man...' Bless him. He may not always think things through, but he can be surprisingly sensible sometimes, and his moments of concern always make me smile. I want to be friends with him.
To jump ahead in the game a bit: I think my very favourite dialogue option in Final Fantasy VIII is one that comes up when Squall and Rinoa are reunited, if you sent Rinoa to the missile base (I don't usually send her there, as you miss out on some scenes if you do, so - tragically - I don't often get the opportunity to see this):
Rinoa: I miss'd ya. ...You know, I thought I was gonna die at the missile base. ...That's when I really missed you.
Squall: .........
Squall: Why?
SQUALL.