Day 36a: Progression of Final Fantasy Males

Day 36a: Final Fantasy Male Leads FINAL FANTASY VII This was the first Final Fantasy I played, so I guess I'll start here. (Plus the fact that it's the first in the series to move to a Playstation console. ) Well, first off I know what you're thinking. The graphics suck. But, actually this game was considered one of the best graphic games back then. So don't be too turned off. The guy's name is CLOUD STRIFE and he is very famous in the Final Fantasy realm. Back then, the animators tended to create characters very very specific to their gender roles, thus the fact that this guy has very manly features. But, since the game was not graphically advanced enough to add enough detail (persay a mouth or nose) to his form, I wasn't too attracted to him. FINAL FANTASY VIII The next guy's name is SQUALL LEONHART and he is the most attractive male lead in any of the Final Fantasy series. Actually, I think he's the most attractive of any male in the series. Once again, Square-Enix sought to create a character with very protruding male characteristics (yes!) Thus, he is shown to be very fierce in many of his poses. I just chose to select the poses that weren't so fierce, cause then he looks really cute. Hottest Final Fantasy character ever FINAL FANTASY X This guy's name is TIDUS. I have to admit, when I first saw this image on the video game container, I was like "Wow, this guy is cute." Well, unfortunately this is his most outwardly, manly appearance. This character was certainly a deviation from the previous Final Fantasy leads, which all had very gender-specific appearances. Tidus, for instance, has many more feminine facial features, deviating away from the narrow chin and rugged face. He also acts a bit more "flamboyant", especially when he's talking. Talk about hand gestures...... His personality is also a lot more open, which is not at all bad, but it didn't have that "I'm a loner, but I'm tough" kind of feel that the other two [Cloud Strife and Squall Leonhart] had. He's a pretty likeable person though, and I think he has the best personality of them all. In fact, he might be my favorite Final Fantasy character...... FINAL FANTASY X-2 First off, let me just say that this game is NOT a good representation of the series. This was quite honestly a sham for the series, so if you're planning to buy a Final Fantasy game, DON'T get this. Not only that, but it DOES NOT have any male leads. The leads are actually three females! These three are just the supporting characters, and even then they aren't too hot. However, this game really allowed Square-Enix to disperse their originality in the characters more, so you could have Nooj, the tough rugged guy, Baralai, the more soft-spoken feminine type, and Gippal, the clowny, cut guy. Overall, however, not enough male leads. FINAL FANTASY XII OH BOY, this is where Square-Enix animators definitely changed their approach to drawing characters. This guy's name is VAAN. Square-Enix animators completely deviated from the traditional strong masculine character, and definitely wanted to emphasize much more feminine characterists. Just look at any snapshot of him in the game or an official wallpaper. For one, his isn't clothed in a traditional "tough guy" uniform, with his vest hanging loosely from his bare chest. It almost makes him look very gay, lol! He also isn't portrayed as very muscular. His hair is definitely a more feminine hairstyle to go with his feminine face. I am NOT SAYING he is a girl, but I'm definitely telling you that the animators wanted to create a character that had major female and male characters, almost to the point of creating someone almost unisex in appearance. Now, you may ask "Why would Square-Enix do this?" The obvious answer is that they want to appeal to a bigger crowd, persay the female gamers. While I do think it's a very clever idea, I don't think it helped too much. Especially since this game didn't sell nearly as well as it's predessesors, but that could be Final Fantasy X-2's fault, so Anyways, I didn't like these characters. They were SOOOOOOOOOOOO generic and 2-D in personality. I mean, there wasn't even a love story!!!! That was the saddest thing about the game. No one was madly in love with the other, and they all just went along like a bunch of strangers on this stupid quest. I really really really didn't like this game, sry The other guy was Balthier; he isn't really a main character, but he's worth mentioning. This guy was pretty cute, although I didn't really like his voice too well, no offence. It's just that I would have preferred him as a sweetheart, not always the wise-alec he was in the game. Idk, he's still pretty good-looking though....

FINAL FANTASY XIII

This game hasn't come out yet, but judging from the screenshots this looks awesome. I need to get it. This guy's name is SNOW. I am so happy that the company is returning to it's more masculine-orientated characters, cause honestly, Vaan was just plain annoying the whole game. He looks like such a badass. What a hottie.

FINAL FANTASY XIV It's amazing how Square-Enix works so far in advance. They're already planning the next set. This guy is TOO hot, omg. I'm seriously swooning over him, and this time I don't feel as weird/guilty cause this guy looks soooooooo real. He almost looks like Chace Crawford, right? Anways, I hope he's involved in some big love story, cause then he might become a very famous male character. ------------------------------------------FINALE---------------------------------------------- Hottest Male Character: Definitely Squall. His really rugged looks make him look very hot, and adds onto his whole ego appearance. Not only that, but he seems to have the ability to switch from being "tough-guy hottie" to "cutest guy in town." I mean, all he has to do is smile and it's like wow, u are soooooooo cute. However, I will say that the guy from FXIV isn't too far from my radar... Best Personality: Definitely Tidus, although only for a lead. (I like Cid and Red XIII's personalities the best.) He is very upbeat, and he's very good at displaying leadership, even if he doesn't fit in as a typical general-guy. I think what he does best is boost morale and encourage everyone, which is nice. Plus, he is such a sweetheart with his lover, vowing to protect her to the very end. It's beautiful. Worst Overall: Vaan. Hated, hated, HATED him. He wasn't a lover, a guardian, etc. He was simply an adventurer with his own dreams, which made me kind of sad. And his personality was so 1-sided. It was always "Let's get from point A to B", but that may be because of the minimal amount of dialogue in the game compared to the others. I just didn't like him.

Day 36: Video Game Hottie

Day 36: Video Game Hottie Can you believe they are already planning Final Fantasy XIV?! The 13th one hasn't even come out yet. But, oh well. I think one of the reasons why he is so attractive is because they really emphasized his manly qualities. I mean, if anyone's played Final Fantasy X (Tidus) or Final Fantasy XII (Vaan), you'd know what I mean. The animators at Square-Enix really did it this time; he is really hot. And I don't feel awkward anymore thinking an animated character is hot cause this guy looks real. It's almost like a picture. Enjoy....

Week (All in One Entry)

Dear Journal, So yeah, sorry I didn't update in such a long time, but I've been kind of "off." I've been kind of stressing with the new approach of the school year. I know that I still have 3 weeks until it officially starts, but I still have sooooooooooooooooooo much stuff to prepare. Green club, ACT study, SAT Subject Bio study, Job Applications, blah blah blah..........and oh yeah, the stupid COMMON APPLICATION that my sister and my dad have been pushing me to do all summer. Basically, it's an application online that many colleges use as a standard for any high school seniors who want to enter their college. So far, I haven't really decided which college I want to go to, and I hope ppl stop asking me!! But, yeah, this week I just got done with my job training at Kumon Learning Center. If you've ever heard of Sylvan, it's pretty much the same thing. Here was my schedule this week: Monday "J" Level Math Factorizations Tuesday "L" Level Math Logarithms, Exponents, Integrals, Determinants Wednesday "K" Level Math Graphs, Quadratics, Cubics Thursday "M" Level Math Trigonometry, Lines, etc. Basically, the manager of the store wanted me to come in every day this week (except tomorrow) to train for higher-level math. It was really really really retarded, cause I had to learn this stuff 2 hours a week and it was HARD. Basically, they threw a dictionary-thick book at me full of these stupid math lessons, and after 2 hours was over, I had to take a really dumb 20-30 question test and get at least 95% (1-2 wrong) to go onto the next section. The only redeeming thing about it was that there was a college graduate teaching all of this stuff, who majored in Mathematics. Her name was Jamie and she taught me and two other guys this higher level stuff. It actually made the experience slightly enjoyable because she was a really down-to-earth girl, so it wasn't so overbearing. As for the other two guys, they were really nice too, although unfortunately I'm pretty sure none of them were gay, either. So yeah, just today I took my last test, the "M" test, which btw was frickin hard!! It's basically all the useless math you never learn in school that they teach you. Jamie was really nice though, and she let a few wrong answers slip by cause she understood the whole tobackle I was in, and cause she knew I WASN'T GETTING PAID! So yeah, after I "passed" I was so relieved and then I went home. -------------------------- Meningitis Vaccination So yeah, on Monday I got a Meningitis vaccination, which wasn't too bad. After I got out of training, my mom drove my sister and I to the clinic, where I got a big needle stuck in my right arm. It didn't hurt too much; in fact, I don't think it even hurt at all. It just had an unpleasant twitch. I then took 5 Dum-Dums out of their candy basket even though I'm pretty sure you're only supposed to take one. ----------------------------------------- Fever And then Tuesday, I woke up with a really bad fever. And I was like, "WTF? Why do I have a fever?" But then a second later I'm like, "Duh, it's cause of that vaccine." So Tuesday didn't go too well, cause I had to go to Kumon Training and do stupid Logarithms and Determinant crap with a fever. It was really really stupid. ----------------------------------------- Back-Ache And then Wednesday, I woke up with no fever, but then I had sever back ache! (I know, I sound like an old man.) And I'm honestly not one to always moan about this and that, but my back really really hurt! That day when I went to Walmart and IKEA, I swear every few seconds I had to twist my torso to alleviate some of the pain. It hurt that bad. When I got home, I went straight to bed and slept for 11 hours, and now I'm fine!!! So yeah, today (Thursday) my back felt way better and I finished my level "M" test, so now I'm officially done with Kumon Training. Jamie helped me out a lot too, so she was a huge help. And I think I'm going to the beach this weekend cause it'll be 90 degrees!! WHOOO!!! But, at the same time, I feel kind of bad cause I'm two of my friends were looking to spend time with me on Saturday. I hope everyone else is doing well; I think if there was one word to describe me, it would be a combo of lazy and busy. Is there such a word?!?!?!? -Sincerely, Kaoru16

Day 34: Summer Reading List

Day 34: Summer Reading List

So I recently went to Barnes and Nobles to buy some books with my "birthday money." (Whoo!) Basically, I bought.....

Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)

Lord of the Flies (William Golding)

A Separate Peace (John Knowles)

Quamut's "How To Go Green" => These two are

SparkCharts "Environmental Studies" AMAZING btw.

My sister got me....

Walden (Henry David Thoreau)

Civil Disobedience (Henry David Thoreau)

Selected Essays, Lectures, and Poems (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

Candide (Voltaire)

The Prince and the Pauper (Mark Twain)

WOW!! Those are a lot of books. I doubt I'll have time to finish them, cause guess what?!?! My other cousins from California are coming over. Ugh.....it's not that I don't like them. It's just that I can't handle having so many people over. Plus that means I have to take care of them again, and this time they're really small children. Kids are nice to be around, they're cute; but not for 2 weeks!

Anyways, I have a Summer Reading List that includes some of those books. I've been slacking and haven't been reading much, lol.

Books from Barnes and Nobles

Oh, and this right here is my "To-Do" List, meaning I HAVE TO do these things. It's kind of like my summer resolution. Notice how the first thing says "Plan Recycling Club" cause I'm president next year (not bragging,....)

(Notice first thing on list. I know my priorities!!)

Ok, this is my final final note. I promise. These guides are worth mentioning cause any environmentalist will appreciate them. It basically gives you basic/intermediate tips to make your life eco-friendly. I'll blog about this a later day!

Feeling of Emptiness

The day before my cousins left..... we were all crowded around the dining table. There was me, my dad, my mom, my two sisters, Yen-Lu, Yen-She, and Buo-Re, eight people in total. With eight people, it's hard to imagine that nothing went wrong: a small arguement, people losing their temper, hateful feelings. But, to my surprise, that's exactly what didn't happen. We were having the time of our lives, the day before they were leaving. And it made me really happy, because moments like that are so rare in my life. Reading about shugo's entry "How I Lost My Cousin" reminded me of memories I have that are to say the least, frustrating. I also used to have two cousins I was very close to. There was Charlie, who was like my older brother. He was 6 years older than me, but that never stopped him from hanging out with me. I guess he was a pretty "tough" kid, the typical bad-boy, but he never was like that around me. Always kind, taking me out to see the city; it was very strange for such a young adult to do these things for me. And then there was Jay, who also was my young adult cousin. He was always so excited to see me and take me places. I think he was undoubtedly my closest cousin growing up. Now, everything's different.......it's not complete shit, but I definitely don't talk to them as much. They're not as excited to see me, and I'm not really excited either. I think it's because I changed a lot as a person. Like I mentioned in my very first blog, I drifted away from my happy medium as a small child. A lot has happened to me, a lot of broken relationships tore me up so much I almost lost faith in friendship, but that's for another blog. Basically, times change, and so do people. The other day, I was walking by Northwestern University in the afternoon. The sun was shining soft rays against my rough skin, the birds were tweeting, the trees were swaying with green undertones. There could not have been a more perfect day. Then this soft breeze flew through, and it caressed my face like a person brushing their hand over me. And in that exact moment, I just felt everything was "right." There was nothing wrong, no feelings of despair or loneliness or frustration; only peace. A calm wind blowing over me under the summer sun. I wanted time to stop right there; I wanted that wind to blow forever across my face. I wanted the sun to shine forever, for the trees to never lose their green hue. But the reality is that time can never stop, and so that wind eventually stopped blowing, and the sun eventually went down. Maybe I'm an idealist, call me a madman, but I damn well know what I'm talking about. I know perfectly well why this memory is so important to me. It is what I've been looking for my entire life. The feeling of eternal peace and calmness, where there is no pain. Does such a state of mind, or better yet, a state of place exist? The Buddhists say that suffering can ultimately be avoided with the correct mindset, while the Christians say that suffering is inevititable in this world full of sin. I guess since I'm Christian, the only thing I can do now is wait. Nothing is going to speed up my death, (unless I purposely kill myself), but I'm waiting, patiently for that day when I'll go to heaven. The place where there is no pain or suffering, only peace.

Day 33: My 17th Birthday!!! (YEAH!)

Day 33: My 17th Birthday!!! (YEAH!)

17 YEARS OLD!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!! The celebration started at 7:40 P.M. My parents, my two sisters, and my three cousins (Buo-re, Yen-Lu, and Yen-Ling) were crowding around the table around me.

I took about 10 pictures of the cake cause it looked amazing. I'm glad my parents got me that cake, cause those are my favorite blend of colors. Anyways, then the lights were dimmed and they all sang me Happy Birthday! Around halfway, I knew I was about to blow out the candles, so I began to think of my wish.

What to wish for.....what did I truly want? Another video game? Another pet? The next instant, I knew what I wanted. What I had wanted quite possibly my whole teenage life. I closed my eyes very tight, and then I whispered it in my head. "I want to meet someone who will love me. A guy who I can love back, and who I can make very happy. I hope I'll find him soon, or at least I hope I find a genuine friend." Then I blew out the candles with a breath of desperation. Then came the darkness, followed by my sigh of relief, and of hope, and then came the clapping and the shouting..... - I really hope my wish comes true, cause it's the first wish I've ever made on my birthday. Either I was too young to even remember my wish, or I wasn't given a cake and ended up seeing a Broadway show instead, or even sometimes I forgot to wish for something. But today, I meant that wish with my heart. And I know wishing isn't everything, but it sure beats no even trying!!!

----------------------------------

PRESENTS

My parents gave me $200. Why yes, I'm a spoiled brat. I even took a picture of it with the camera I got for Christmas.

I think the best gift I got, though, was the four books I got from my sister. It was also a huge surprise, because my present was a rectangular box, and that could be anything.

The second I opened my present, my head felt lightheaded cause I was honestly so happy. There lieing before me was Henry David Thoreau's "Walden and Civil Disobedience". Oh my god. My sister knew how much I loved Thoreau. I was so ecstatic to see the book in front of me. What was even more uplifting was that lieing beneath it was Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Selected Essays." (Emerson, btw, is credited as being the founder of the Transcendentalist movement in his literary piece Nature.) There was also "The Prince and the Pauper" by Mark Twain and Candide by Voltaire. Although I didn't really know them too well, I certainly was excited to read such intellectual books.

I really want to remember this birthday specifically because I know a lot of people gave their time to show me that they love me. And it wasn't by doing something extravagent, like taking me to some faraway vacation spot or buying me some extremely expensive gift (although $200 cold cash is pretty sweet!) Everyone was really nice to me, and put a lot of effort into making this day special.

I hope to remember today, so that next time I get angry or bitter at them for hurting me, I'll recall that beautiful cerulean cake they bought me on July 2nd to show how much they loved me.

Summer Pets: Vegetables, Worms, and Cats??