ria_oaks | FF ramblings

I happened to check Rpgamer.com a few minutes ago and noticed that FFIII:DS comes out today (I haven't really been keeping track...). I'm probably just being too over-emotional, but this day feels rather historic in the RPG world - the last Final Fantasy that wasn't released in the US is finally here. I checked, and it's been approximately 16.5 years since FFIII was released in Japan - well, better late than never, I guess. XD I mean sure, I played it years ago on a translated ROM and I won't be buying this version anytime soon (lack of a DS... and lack of time to play. woe.), but it's still cool to think that it's here. It's sort of a pity that the original version of the game will never make it here, most likely (how hard would it have been to include the orignal version in the new game, really...?), but the new version looks pretty spiffy. Hopefully I'll get to play it someday.

3 FF games in the past 2 weeks, 2 of which are new to the US (FFXII and FFIII:DS) and one of which only ever made it here in a mangled fashion (FFV Advance) - makes me miss the days when I could play all the time... I haven't really been into gaming as much the last few years, largely because of a. lack of time during school, b. other interests take up my free time, and c. i'm lazy., but I still get excited hearing about games and still want to play when I get the chance. I'm way behind on all the games I'm playing, but I still plan to ask for either FFXII or Disgaea 2 for Christmas (leaning towards the latter - FFXII will be easy enough to find for years to come, and it'll get cheap fairly quickly, whereas Disgaea 2 will start disappearing soon...). I am sorely tempted by FFXII, though - it's been getting fantastic reviews, and hell, it's FFXII! We've been waiting for this game for years, and it's finally here... and I really can't justify the time or money to get it. Part of me, too, is still a bit uncertain about it - but most of the reviews have said that the game is nothing like (and much better than) anything we've seen of it to this point, including the demo. I plan to give it a chance eventually, but can't do it yet.

And... I'm procrastinating. Back to my Farscape paper... it's due tomorrow at 9, so I need to get moving. Up to 5 pages, need about 12 - and I'm still blathering on about the context, haven't even gotten to analysing the series itself! Ehehehe. baaack to work.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It really didn't seem like it. They went in with this tiny little vial of holy water; if they knew it was a demon roadhouse they would've gone in strapped to the teeth in weapons. It seemed like they (the husband) were just planning on following Envy into the bathroom and quietly exorcising him there.

Yeah, maybe you're right... I dunno, I'm just going to assume that they didn't know to prevent me wanting to bang my head against the wall. XD And you're right, it doesn't make sense that they'd just walk in so unprepared.

see a lot of this stuff on the Women's Network, where the female protagonist usually has it all together and everything, but by the end of the movie she's almost always held hostage or in some kind of trouble, and she almost always gets bailed-out by the male protagonist. It's definitely something not exclusive to Supernatural.

True enough. *sigh* It always seems to happen, yet the men usually save themselves. And the women. -_- It's definitely not exclusive to SPN, no, but it's still a problem on the show. Hopefully they're working towards correcting that by introducing Ruby and Bela.

With the new female characters on the show, I'd imagine that there's going to be a lot of back-and-forth going on, in regards to who saves whom. I get the impression that these new characters are a response by Kripke to the fans who have those complaints (but then again, Kripke says he's been planning this particular season from the start).

Yeah, ditto. Course, it's funny (annoying) how many fans are now whining that they don't want any girls on the show (generally speaking I think these are different people from those complaining about the gender issues, but...) I think Bela will be an interesting addition, anyway. Ultimately it depends on how Kripke handles them - he's proven before he can introduce at least some new characters effectively, and that the boys aren't the only interesting characters, so...

As for the comment by Dean, meh. As wrong as it may be, that's one of the ways young boys tease each other. Seriously. So it might just be a sign of immaturity on Dean's part (I mean, in the very first episode he called Sam a bitch). I'm not so sure that the writers are using Dean as an oulet for their misogynistic views to trickle out.

I know they do, but ultimately the blame for that lies on how they're raised in our society. They're taught that girl=weak, and therefore calling another guy a girl (or a fag) is the worst insult. It goes hand in hand with the whole "guys can't be emotional" thing, etc etc. Funny considering that most of us girls like a man who's in touch with his so-called "feminine" side. XD Anyway, I don't really think that they were purposely making Dean misogynistic or anything, and I know it was just a joke. But underneath that, it does indicate some fairly disturbing things about our society... it's not about the writers' own feelings or even Dean's, it's just indicative of a larger problem. I don't mind those kinds of jokes to some extent, but sometimes they just grate. And that comment, to me, was less of a crack at Sam being weak and more of a crack at girls being bad fighters. I dunno, maybe I'm looking into it too much, but it kinda irked me... *sigh* I don't think Dean actually thinks that, but...

(continued below, stupid LJ)

I dunno. I usually take everything with a grain of salt (especially TV shows), and think that some people just like to nitpick at certain issues just for the sake of nitpicking itself; that they have nothing better to do. I agree there's an issue, but if they like to spend their time complaining about the show, they aren't really doing anything to solve the overall problem at hand; one day Supernatural is going to end (;_;) but the issue will still persist.

Oh, it's true enough that some people can't just enjoy a show and spend all their time complaining, but otoh I don't see anything wrong with enjoying a show while still being critical of certain aspects. I love SPN to bits, but I still acknowledge that it's not perfect and there are areas of improvement. Sometimes I think I'm most critical of the shows I love because I know they can be better. Shows I hate I just kinda rant about briefly then shrug and move on. Anyway though, I also think that dealing with these types of issues on TV is often important, and that TV shouldn't be pure escapism. Not to say it can't be, or that TV should be some kind of soap box, but I think truly good TV is entertaining while still dealing with the issues we face in everyday life - including issues of race and gender. Look at Buffy - entertaining and fun show, but it was also very much done to challenge stereotypes of women and 'make the blond victim in the vampire movie the hero'. Who knows if TV can actually make a difference, but I think it's worth trying, and I certainly don't think it should be making things worse. (and hell, TV can indirectly make a difference - look at the Serenity Equality Now screenings! $113,000 raised this year for charity, all because of a TV show. Yes, we rock. XD XD)

None of which is to say that I think SPN is all that bad when it comes to gender/race issues. I think it could be better and it's problematic at times, but it's still a heck of a great and fun show. But what can I say, I find enjoyment in getting meta about television. :)

FF ramblings

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