Dragoons and April 8th

Dragoons: Legacy of Sorrow

(Original Unabridged Post in my video game blog)

When I say Dragoon, many things come to mind.  To some, THE Dragoon is Kain.  Some of you will think "jump attacks", and/or the use of a spear, and both of these do identify the Dragoon in a Final Fantasy.  With a wider focus of the series as a whole, to me the legacy of the Dragoon is that of loss and sorrow.

To Dragoons it is the devotion to duty and their loyalty that is tested and ultimately leads to their plight.  The original Dragoon, named Ricard(Gareth in some translations) was devoted to his dead best friend's wife and child, but ultimately his duty as the last Dragoon meant that he had to leave them in service to the greater good. Its still too early to talk much about Final Fantasy 13(more people need to finish it, IMO), but Fang's devotion to duty means(( the death of millions, while disobeying means the death of her best friend))
(highlight the white text  to see the spoiler))  In Final Fantasy 9, we meet Freya.  Her identity is so wrapped up and mingled with her beloved, that when he disappears her life does as well.  Ward is the Dragoon of Final Fantasy 8, and it is through his actions that his best friend falls in love and then loses that love.  Kimarhri of Final Fantasy X loses honor which causes him to swear an oath of protection on Yuna, and this devotion that causes him to throw his tribal traditions aside, losing all of his family in the process.

There is one dragoon I have left out.  Cid Highwind is the one that bucked the trend.  He was everything that makes a Dragoon sorrowful.  He worked as a test pilot for evil Shinra.  Many of the missiles, rockets and destructive aircraft you see through the whole game are around because Cid helped them develop them.  His team is responsible for a lot of hurt in the world, and Cid did not care because he got what he wanted.  Why is he special then?  Well we are told from the start that his "loss" is that of being the first man in space.  This is a lie.  (( Cid's true loss would be losing Shera.  Dragoons are characterized by giving up everything for a "duty" of some sort, and in the end it was Cid's willingness to not give up Shera that lead to everything else being cast aside.  Cid was the only Dragoon to choose the love of someone over his sworn goal, and for that he is rewarded by getting both in the end, and ending up the least tragic of all dragoons to date.) Highlight the white text for spoiler reveal.

April 8th, 2014

I went out looking for Spring today, but its not really here completely.  I have gotten a few pictures of some tulips, and I've seen the pear tree blooming, but that's about it.  The last couple of days, the non-Spring weather had come back, triggering heaters and blankets, but the Sun came back today and tricked me.  Things are getting green, and the clovers are breaking out all over the place, but there's just not a lot of Spring to take pictures of yet.

Went to the local park that we've chosen to be "our" park.  Unlike the last few times, it was really busy today.  I was doing a "get gasoline and go to the park" combo, so I had to go later in the day.  Just about every sports field(like 9 of them, minus the tennis courts) was filled with people, and every pavilion had people as well.  The walking path was not very crowded, but I did see more people on it.  Its fine with me, I just feel awkward when I'm walking faster than someone else that is just walking, or someone that gets on the path ahead of me and it feels like I'm following them lol.  Thursday I'll be there much earlier.

In Rocksmith I am exploring the multitudes of amps they have modeled.  I'm pretty much a JTM45 fan that does heavier stuff by adding pedals in real life, so I have not experimented in game like I have the opportunity to.  I'm rather liking the Vox clone.  I've used the Vox-2x12 cabinet clone because I prefer 2x12's in general, but this is the first day I've really tried the head.  It has a bit more treble definition and "speed" to it than the Marshalls, so I find that it works really good with modulation effects, though it can sometimes over do them as well.  It reminds me of Mesa Boogie stuff, though I have not looked up if there's any real connection there.