Conor - FFFF

First, a snapshot. This is a picture of the Final Fantasy Friends Forever crew. This is a picture of us embarking on a quest, a quest that we would ultimately fail. Here we are beginning our attack on Final Fantasy VIII. Eliot's starting, as per usual, Brian is hard at work guiding Eliot's metaphorical cock, and I'm looking focused. This is one or two hours into an approximately 50 hour ordeal. Two days later we would walk out of my basement, disappointed, tired, and slightly more fat, but this is a picture of us at our best. Me at my best, anyway.

FFFF began on homecoming night. After hanging out and playing tackle tag at Laura Shull's house, I headed home. Classic Brian and Eliots plans fell through and we all ended up on my couch downstairs, semi-snuggling and chatting. Brian, Eliot and I were a friendship waiting to happen. Brian and I had made jokes constantly about being best friends, and Eliot was someone I was always painfully aware SHOULD be my friend. That night, the stars aligned, and we discovered something together. We found out that we all wanted to be this guy.



Cloud Strife - Age, 21. Bloodtype, AB. Game, Final Fantasy VII. What might be the greatest game of all time.

Cloud's just a guy. He's just a guy from this town called Nibelheim. This town has like, 6 houses, an ominous mansion, and no apparent source of food. I don't remember if there are any bathrooms in this town but I doubt it. Cloud has some issues that he comes to terms with throughout the course of the tale, but more importantly, he can swing ridiculously large swords, and he does so with gusto. With improbable gusto.

Final Fantasy VII was the first video game I ever got into. Really, really into. My brother introduced it to me when I was seven, and I beat it that year. I spent probably around a hundred hours with Cloud, Barret, Tifa, Red XIII, Yuffie, Vincent, Cid, and probably something like 25 with Aeris, before she *spoiler alert* bitched out on us. P.S. I cried when I first learned over her bitching out.

Final Fantasy was my childhood. I loved the characters, I loved (and barely understood) the stories, and I loved the music. (more on the music later) You know how you feel when every character you liked in Harry Potter dies in the last book? By the end of a Final Fantasy title, you've spent probably around 50 hours with the heroes. You care for them. You care what happens to them.

Homecoming night I found out I wasn't alone. Homecoming night I found two kindred spirits, and we planned our journey into our past, and our future. We planned on conquering the Final Fantasys, one by one, together, as a team. AND SO WE DID.

FF VII? CHECK. FF VIII? CHECK. FF IX? CHECK. FF X? CHECK. FF XII? uhhhhFF XIII? CHECK.

VII, VIII, and XII we weekended. Weekending Final Fantasy is one of the best things I've ever done. It's beautiful. It's a social experiment that alternatively tears us apart and brings us together. The rules are simple: beat a Final Fantasy over the span of three days. One person ALWAYS needs to be playing the game. It's the unspoken rules that really matter. If a strategy guide is available, one of the off duty players should guide the players cock, making him aware of the upcoming goodies and baddies. Sleep in shifts.

FF weekends are an interesting social bubble. Brian, Eliot and I are truly a team. We work well together. Mainly. Eliot makes things weird, I throw tantrums, and Brian remains pretty classic. (Oh! The name Classic Brian was born during the FF VIII weekend. Claaaaaaaassic.) I fall asleep, Eliot either plays really really well or really really badly and Brian just keeps us classy. Honestly, Brian is the glue. Without him, it wouldn't work. Eliot is the best at strategizing, I'm the prettiest, and Brian keeps us from falling apart. Our friends come, too. Nick is constantly there, questioning us and being a mean robot. Andrew Rogers is there, playing other video games and supplying me with the laughter. The people I love the most bring food. Lots of food. By the end, the basement is a black hole of filth and trash and friendship. It's beautiful, and I honestly can't think of anything I'd rather be doing right now.

AND NOW AN ANNOUNCEMENT.

SUMMER 2012. Brian, Eliot and I are planning the finale to our friendship, and our quest.
WE ARE GOING TO BEAT 12 FINAL FANTASYS IN 24 DAYS.

There is nothing else in my entire life that I'm looking forward to more.This is going to be one of the defining events of my entire life.

Call us crazy. Call us anything you want. Call us the FFFF.

P.S. Look here later today when I edit this post and add more about the music in Final Fantasy! Here's a sneak preview: I like it a lot.