A couple of things

[sylviaviridian]

First, the quiz meme that's going around:
Mingle2.com: Free Online Dating70% GeekMingle2.com - Free Online Dating

Not as much as my boyfriend, but not bad, either. (Okay, I cheated a little on the Slashdot question, but after all, it only asked what the slogan was, not whether I knew it off the top of my head. I also counted tabs instead of windows

Comments

[daruki]

-3-

Though indeed, Yuan trying to kill Kratos off for half the game has been a bit dot dot dot-ing, for it has to be done in order to release Origin. And Yuan went so far as to take Lloyd in order to get rid of Kratos [back to Kranna, since Lloyd is obviously the most precious thing he wants to see succeed then], so it kinda makes me squint. I know that there is the possibility that they’ve looked - well, Yuan looked, since Kratos was at Mithos’ side - to find an alternate way to release Origin in order to not lose Kratos, but if it did, it sure wasn’t that apparent. And the totally nowhere scene in Treant. If it was really possible for Yuan to heal him so easily after releasing Origin, which is the ultimate goal in which why Kratos must die… Then - … I’m tempted to say why didn’t they try it before if it was that easy, but I’m going to go instead with “why, and how, so convenient”. ToS is really… happy, I think, compared to some other Tales. I think I would have liked better if Kratos died, if nothing just to get the message that “Sacrifices must be made, and nothing in life is THAT convenient”. Now admittedly, they looked positively MARRIED after releasing Origin, but one line always confused me greatly. I’ll… look the EXACT quotes up.

Lloyd: Da… …Kratos. Are you really okay?

Kratos: …Looks like I failed to die once more.

Lloyd: You stupid jerk! You can die any time! But when you die, that’s the end.

Yuan: You want him to live in eternal damnation?

Lloyd: Who said anything like that?! What will you accomplish by dying?
Nothing! There is no meaning in dying!!

See, Yuan just SAVED Kratos who should have died upon Origin’s release. The guy was pretty much suicidal throughout the game anyway, so Lloyd, idealistic and stuff, tell him that he must keep on living.

And then Yuan’s line that disagrees with Lloyd. “Damnation”? In my understanding, it’s as if he asks Lloyd “You want him to live forever? But that’s like pure damnation!”

…

Hello? You just saved him. Which stopped him from dying. Haha. Er, yeah… Contradiction much? … >___>;;; That always confuses me outrageously.

But that aside, what bothers me the MOST is that after THAT, Yuan goes poof and is never seen again. I mean, if you spend all that time with the Renegades and trying to go against Mithos… As much as you would trust Lloyd’s party, if it were me, I would want to BE THERE. At the final battle, say. All my life I’ve tried to get my fiancée her eternal sleep and snap the boy outta his unrealistic dreams. And where am I at the REAL END? Nowhere to be seen. So basically, I view the Treant scene a way just to keep Kratos alive while keeping the drama “I need to die in order for you to save the world” and give Yuan a scene since Namco just might get sued if they killed Kratos off even though they managed to kill Leon off and nothing happened; the guy’s still as popular as ever. There’s also the BALANCE in my mind, since Zelos dies if you take Kratos back. So why not vice-versa? PLUS, if you don’t take him, all he does is stand in Dirk’s house being ghey, and be all dramatic with Lloyd before going BAIBAI forever on Derris-Kharlan. Granted, the “Don’t die before I do, Lloyd… my son!” scores 100/10 for dramatic effect, but if all he does is stand in Dirk’s house before ditching me for Derris-Kharlan in the most cheesy ways possible if he lives, then I’d rather him DEAD. -___-;; AND I DEMAND TO KNOW WHERE THE HECK WAS YUAN IN THE END.

…

Oh snap. …Sorry for spamming your page. Really, you see what I mean when I say I type too much? I’m quite amazed by the fact that I didn’t feel anger or frustration or anything of the sorts when I typed this, though, so it should be free of most of my prejudices and fan-revulsion. Hopefully my points actually made sense and stuff. >__>;

...And this, these are my two-cents on all three pairings. If I offended, I apologize, for it is nowhere in my intents. -Bows- And… I really outta thank you for reading through all this, too… -Sweats-

-Skips off to attempt a lame essay for ZK do homework-

[sylviaviridian]

Hey, I never said I understood everything about how Yuan thinks. There was probably something he had to do regarding the final disposition of the Renegades or something...in addition, of course, to the fact that the game couldn't fit more than eight members in your party, which is the real reason he couldn't come along.

Yuan stayed behind on the planet to guard the Great Tree, according to Meowzy. I think that's sweet and tragically romantic.

You've made some excellent points, and it's a pleasure to talk to you. No need for apologies, I'm difficult to offend, and I love having lots of posts to respond to on my entries. ^_^

I'd be more than happy to write up rants for some less-popular pairings as well, at some point. I ship lots. ♥

[daruki]

Hm. But that would still be a poor excuse. I've known people who complains about characters like Presea and Regal, and it's not senseless hate either. It's because their character scheme feels so rushed, their excuse to join the party so clichéd and rhetorical and the interactions so slim (at least compared to the other characters) that it might have been as well to not add them at all. I don't really agree with Presea (and Hien Messoujin in PS2 is a god-sent, from what I've heard), but I guess... It's a bit like that for Regal, I think. He interacts with Lloyd, but stick with Presea most of the time, which makes his overall interactions poor (oh, and the fact that his personality resembles Kratos' minus the whole Cruxis fiasco). I am in the opinion that Fujishima was high when he designed Regal, and as much as he might excel in battle, people who are more drawn to characters' physical appeal and storyboard development tend to overlook him more often. I think he would have made a very dandy NPC, but at any rate, his overall character could really get some extra work time and development.

Er, kinda trailed away with your mention of "8 characters". Sorry ^^; And nah, it's okay, I wasn't expecting you to come up with THE ONE YUAN TRUTH either. I just wanted- well, I would have loved to know where he was when you fought Mithos for the last time, or when the Seed was planted and Martel/Mana came back. >__>; The reason why he ends up feeling like a plot-device as well... >_<;

I try to make up for my own failings and at least keep a clear head on pairings I squint on while waiting to have more years/experience on me so that it would crack open my own tolerance... ^^; But I've definitively learned from you as well. -Nods- Kinda have a clearer idea though, now that I've at least peeked at the other side of the medallion. And sure, if it actually makes you happy. ^^; I tend to write a lot, and I know it... x_x And it's most likely a good thing that you're more mellow. ^^; I try not to let personal prejudices and fandom-founded emotions get the better of me, but it happens. I think you'd make a great mom. ^___^

...Sorry, feel free to ignore the last part. ;;; -Wonders what it's like to be so tolerant- Thanks for lighting things up! -Bows-

[sylviaviridian]

...Oops, I should warn you, you've stumbled on one of my hot-button topics. See, I won't defend characters or pairings with large fanbases very strongly, because there's just no point; I'm not likely to enhance their fandom by doing so. Small corners of the fandom or unjustly unpopular characters, however, do tend to set me off. To translate: I may be ambivalent in my defense of Kratos, but I will protect Regal's small fanbase with everything I have.

I don't find Regal to be cliche, or no more so than any of the other characters, and he has every reason to want to help Lloyd, throughout the course of the game. It's true that he and Presea didn't get as much screentime as I would have liked...and that's aggravated by the fact that they're both naturally quiet and therefore don't speak up as much as, say, Zelos and Sheena. But they have every bit as much reason to be there as Genis and Raine do, as far as plot purposes go, and if you look into it hard enough, you can find a lot more depth to both of them than you'll encounter in the course of the normal storyline. This is especially true if you choose either of their paths.

Yuan did end up feeling like a plot device by the end, but that's hardly the fault of his character. Blame the writers, and make something up if you don't like what happened. Heck, write yourself an ending to the story in which Yuan *did* come along. I'd read it, and I know a lot of others who would, too.

^///^ I'm always glad to help...and thanks. I don't plan to be a mom for years yet...what you're seeing is more than likely years of experience with being the oldest of four sisters, and older than all of my first cousins as well. I identify a lot with Raine's role because of that.

[daruki]

Oof. If I offended, then I'd like to apologize. -Tried to sound matter-of-facty-ish and state the reasons why Regal is less appreciated- I had to confess that I'm one of these that didn't feel the pull from him as a character, and while I could say the same for Sheena (she felt bland, honestly; missing that one ting that makes all the other characters different and interesting on the characterization plan), she still, undeniably, looks better... ^^; And easier to fight for me. But... Yes ma'am. -salutes-

Tales is a godly series already IMO, with good story, characters and awesome real-time battling system. So I suppose it wouldn't be right to expect them to be perfect in characterization... And be glad of what we have? ^^; Ahhh... I think I lack the motivation and will to write something of the sorts right now, though. ;;; I already write exclusively on whim (how some people manage to update 4 times a week will always remain a wonder to me- one in which I confess to be not that curious to find out), and I know my writing is very rough and down-to-earth (blame it on the essays, where I had to list EVERYTHING up to prove my point, while fics are much more interesting when some things are left unsaid)... ;;; So I need to work on that. Though my stuffs' length would most likely turn people away anyway... ^^; -Writes too much, and plans like 10k words per chapter for the ZK fic that MARTEL BLESS if she actually manages to get the prologue done-

It was really a big help, honestly. =O I feel more tolerant, but that's because I haven't come up across any fanstuff of the pairings yet. ^^; But I THINK I have a firm enough hold if the fandom feline creature starts hissing again... Though I expect it to hiss less now. ^^

...Oi. o_o -Is only child and has one cousin- No wonder. XD; Though it is really easy to relate under that situation... But your patience, tolerance and softness really feels motherly and, stuff. ^^; -Gets too cheesy to be able to say anything else- And nyo, thank YOU for broadening my horizons without having to choke it down instead, ^___^ ♥

[noble_noble]

(Too lazy to log out of her rp journal)

You didn't offend, I was warning just in case I worded something too strongly and offended you. I know the reasons why people dislike Regal, or at least the ones they claim, and the ones they claim tend to be pretty shallow. To be perfectly honest, I didn't see the appeal in his character right away, either, but I got drawn in bit-by-bit as I did research and read rants, and now he's one of my favorites. I think what impresses me the most about his character is how kind and gentlemanly he is. This is mildly surprising even in a noble from Tethe'alla - we see in other parts of the game how petty most of them are - but from a man who's spent eight years in prison? That shows some amazing strength of character.
(For me, the ones who never really drew me in were Lloyd, Genis and Sheena.)

What I've seen of your writing is of excellent quality as far as I'm concerned, and as a reader of Tales of Twilight, I'm not about to object to long chapters. (I like to write a lot, too, although I tend to write more for essays than I do for fiction; with fiction, I prefer to say as much as possible with as few words as I can, while in essays I spend extra time belaboring my points so as not to be misunderstood.)

^_^ I'm always glad to help someone else. Thank you for the lovely compliments, and you're quite welcome for the help and discussion. ♥

[daruki]

Nah. I noticed that only people sensitive about x subject gets offended when spoken of, so I usually wave my hand, apologize, back out and mentally note to never mention said x thing again in said person's presence. ^^; It avoids unnecessary conflict. >__>b

Oi oi... Hopefully more will "see the light" someday... including me. ^^; Though it is a very good point... His love for Alicia might have something to do in it... -Speculates-

Lloyd is an idealistic. Genis is a brat, but with enough persona and kiddy wit to laugh at Lloyd and Zelos. But Sheena seemed just... THERE, an even bigger tag-along than most. She just crushed on Lloyd and slapped Zelos around (__< But really, I've learned alot just from these posts. >___>; Alors merci beaucoup!~ ^^