Eyes on Final Fantasy Forums - Blogs - Formalhaut: Moonlighting by Formalhaut http://home.eyesonff.com/blog.php/37510-Formalhaut-Moonlighting The Eyes on Final Fantasy Forums are the premier place for Final Fantasy fans to meet and discuss this classic video game series. Join our community today. en Fri, 15 May 2026 10:01:40 GMT vBulletin 60 http://home.eyesonff.com/images/images_neoclassic/misc/rss.jpg Eyes on Final Fantasy Forums - Blogs - Formalhaut: Moonlighting by Formalhaut http://home.eyesonff.com/blog.php/37510-Formalhaut-Moonlighting <![CDATA[Firion's War Camp Journal]]> http://home.eyesonff.com/entry.php/5983-Firion-s-War-Camp-Journal Mon, 22 Feb 2016 17:05:13 GMT
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Day 1

"We're members. Me, Maria and Guy. The Princess initially refused to let us join the rebellion. Said we were young. Nonsense! The average age of the heroes of the land is about seventeen, and I have come from a humble origin. I am perfectly suited to this rebellion!

Well, we were never one to listen. We went and searched for Leon ourselves, infiltrating Fynn in the process. We didn't find him, but instead we found a truly shocking scene, a man, mortally wounded, in the tavern. While men lying prone in a tavern would not be out of the ordinary, the sight of blood was not. It was Scott, prince of Kashuan. He was run through with a sword. He didn't have long to live.

Such is terrible fate of war. People die. How the warmongers tend to innocently forget this. I will end this treacherous war, and I will stop the Empire. Fortunately, the princess were impressed with our stealth, and we are now members. We've just set-up our tents and bedrolls. I wonder what we will be doing to assist?

Day 8

"I never imagined a war camp to be so noisy. Everywhere, there are resistance fighters sparring. The clattering of swords masks the beauty of birds chirping the morning tune. This is the soundtrack of war, it seems. So far, the resistance is consolidating efforts around the region. It is still young, we can't be too hasty and march onwards against the Empire.

The princess has royal advisers and diplomats. She's using her contacts to draft in experts. An army can't fight without a blacksmith to supply their swords, or a tanner to craft their armour. But equally important is commerce and trade. Her diplomats have sent envoys to negotiate trade agreements. Not too many would be willing to fund a resistance openly, but many surrounding towns are sympathetic, wary also of the Empire. I've overheard underground, secret transports coming through during the night. No names, no identification. But it's clear where they came from. The villages and towns fearful of the Empire and what it could do. We owe it to ourselves to receive their generous donations.

After all, an army cannot march without food."


Day 19

"A few wounded in today. Scouts, caught spying on an Empire outpost. They'll be fine, I think. But still, their wounds didn't look pretty. Me and my friends have been training while the camp infrastructure develops. It is quite incredible: by using a spell repeatedly, I become more adept at using it. Maria has been spamming Fire over and over. Guy is content with smashing training dummies. He has been told off about that. Soon, we'll be sent off on a mission of our own.

Commerce is being restored, slowly. Blacksmiths are useful, but so too are alchemists, physicians, builders and carpenters. A warrior would be useless without a team of alchemists supplying him with potions and herbs. The camp needs development and fortification should the Empire attack.

I'm glad of the influx of trade and skilled men and women at any rate. I may be a good warrior, but I'd be happier with a potion within easy reach.

Day 22

"Success! Princess Hilda summoned me, Maria and Guy to discuss battle plans. We have been told to supply a source of Mythril, to better equip our soldiers. Iron will do against common bandits, but the Empire is advanced; swords and armour crafted from mythril doesn't rust. It cuts sharper, and protects sturdier against blows.

The town of Salamand lies not too far from our current location. Scouts in the area have reported strange mining operations within the town; it must be the Empire's doing. If we shut down their operations, we will be dealing them a large blow, and helping ourselves in the process. Princess Hilda chose us due to our experience in small-team infiltration. She is not wrong; I get nervous with teams larger than four.

She's sending Minwu, her loyal physician and magical advisor, with us. He's nice; he was the one who saved my life after I was attacked by Black Knights. His knowledge of rare ores will be valuable, and he is a mage of no small talent. Maria could learn from him.

We set off tomorrow. I hope that we succeed."
]]> Formalhaut http://home.eyesonff.com/entry.php/5983-Firion-s-War-Camp-Journal The other Half http://home.eyesonff.com/entry.php/3646-The-other-Half Thu, 05 Jun 2014 23:16:12 GMT

I've sort of let my blog go somewhat, and I didn't really like many of the entries I wrote in it, so I deleted the vast majority of them (I'm left with three now).

So what's been going on in my life then since my last blog entry? Frankly, a whole bloody heap. Probably the most obvious thing was University this year. After nine months, my first year is finally over and objectively, it has gone pretty well! In terms of academics, I've done fairly well - I've averaged just about 70% on the nose.

But the real highlight have been socially. I've met some fantastic people along the way, but chief among them, is my boyfriend, Sam, who I absolutely love with all my heart. It's mine and his first ever (and hopefully only) relationship, and as of this post, been over eight months. I'm focusing this blog post on him, actually, because I've mentioned him plenty of times around EoFF. I realised that not many people may not know who he is, or how I met him, and I'd simply be repeating the story for ever and ever!

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Me and Sam at a Student Church formal - love photo booths!

So how did I meet him? For that, we have to travel right back to the beginning of University for this. It's September 2013. More specifically, it's the 16th of September. It is the evening after I moved into my halls of residences on campus. In the University chapel (yes, we have an actual chapel on campus and it is fantastic!) there was a Christian Union freshers event going on - some music night starring... someone with a guitar.

It was at that night that I met Sam, but only for awhile. It was a good night though. I then met him randomly throughout Freshers week, but nothing major. On Saturday, we had a great time waltzing around Freshers Fayre, and by that point, I would have called him a friend. On the Sunday, the Christian Union held the weekly series called 'Church Search': basically, each week for several weeks you turn up early in the morning to visit each church in turn and find out what suits you best. Me and Sam went to the same church, and as an aside, it wasn't that good. After the service, me and Sam decided to spend the day walking around Winchester, as by this point I've not really explored the city that much. It was precisely during the walk that Sam asked me out. To say I was shocked was an understatement, I was speechless for several seconds. In the end, I stammered out a yes.


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Me and Sam, with the vista of Winchester in the background

And the rest was history really. I met his parents just three weeks in to our relationship, which was a pleasant surprise - the whole 'meet the parents panic' shtick was redundant and it was a great first meeting. In fact, since then, I've met the majority of both his immediate and primary extended family, and they are lovely people. Hopefully they view me in the same way!

We've had two anniversaries so far - our first month, and sixth months, and as you know by know, rapidly approaching our first year. It's actually somewhat scary. I am naturally shy, timid almost, and I'm in a gay relationship, which lets face it, not everyone approves us, particularly from people of my faith, and it has been difficult, to say the least to reconcile that. And also, I guess, not to care. But I suppose I care too much about what others think of me.

But enough about that old nonsense! Sam is also special in another way - so far, he's the only person in real life that is aware of EoFF. I don't tell anyone about me being a member here, primarily because they'd think I'm a geek or a nerd, two archetypes I try very hard to avoid. I'm trying to convince Sam to join EoFF - he hasn't played Final Fantasy before, but I think he'd like it here, if only for the GoT thread!

And that's basically me and Sam in a nutshell really. No doubt I'll be blogging about our first Anniversary - that is, if I keep this blog up.


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Action Shot!
]]> Formalhaut http://home.eyesonff.com/entry.php/3646-The-other-Half The New SimCity: A First Glance http://home.eyesonff.com/entry.php/1157-The-New-SimCity-A-First-Glance Fri, 25 Jan 2013 21:15:43 GMT



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It looks like something from a Disney movie, but never fear. This is in fact a screenshot of the latest in the Sim City franchise, after a pretty incredible ten year absence. To be honest, I forgot all about Sim City, but the news have sparked new interest in me, and if you are a fan of any of "The Sim" series, so will you. But first, some of you may be wondering what the hell I am on about. Well, the Sim City series or game began way back in 1989 on the PC, and boy was it different. Name: SimCity 1989 Gameplay Image..jpg Views: 20235 Size: 59.5 KB
My, that's quite the gridlock there
Naturally, the series has progressed from there, and as of the future release of this new game, there will be a full six games. But what has remained constant throughout the entire series is that the game is up to you. There's no real "story" to it; play it how you want. If your a fan of nurturing your sims with managing your environment, transportation and education, then credit to you. If you prefer a "Jenga" style game where you build your city then destroy it by invoking God's wrath, then by all means! This latest game, slated for release in March of this year, continues with the tradition of it's predecessors, but enhances it with a fresh modern facelift. Perhaps the most striking difference is Maxis's new GlassBox game engine, and it allows you to visualise data in a very professional way. Do you remember those graphics that News programmes sometimes use to illustrate statistical data about how badly your country of origin is doing? Well the GlassBox engine does just that! Things like energy, wealth and even sewage can be tracked.
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It certainly looks slick, and will help aid more "visual" players who may find it harder to truly grasp numbers. SimCity also helps new players with the new neighboured city approach. Basically, your city will exist alongside two others, and you can trade resources, purchase electricity and the like. If your city is struggling, a friendly neighbour may very well save your hide.Another new feature is specialisation. Whereas before, your city was just a generic creation, now you can focus your city on focusing on specialising it as a tourist hotspot, or as a thriving business city. The latest SimCity game also expands upon the online gameplay. While SimCity 4 touched on it, this one first begins by allowing you to collaborate with other users with resources and other stuff. Negotiating an exchange of fuel for example becomes more interesting when it's between two humans, not an A.I. There are other benefits too: the whole "cloud" business is utilised once again; your city is stored in the cloud when your offline but continues to trade with other cities while your gone traversing in your own. Neat idea. However, one thing about this multi-player aspect that I am concerned about is that you have to be online at all times, even to play single-player. Fans of Diablo III (which is mainly single-player with some multi-player to it) were less than impressed whenever the servers went down, even if they were playing single-player.Name: Diablo DRM Errors..jpg Views: 19324 Size: 46.8 KB
Oops!
One potential problem I could see is me working nicely on my city, only for the server to go all wonky, and me consequently losing my progress. It's only a small concern, and I am sure that Maxis have thought up of contingencies, but I do admit "always-on DRM" does sound slightly annoying. Still, with the benefits of staying online in SimCity I guess it's worth having. To conclude then, this latest SimCity game certainly appeals to me. I love tinkering with my own creations and letting my happy Sims travel around the city. Some may call it escapism, I call it letting my creativity flow. Questions still abound of course which is to be expected with a game yet to release, but the details that have flooded so far have certainly reignited my love for all things simulation. But don't just take my word for it. Below, a video by the creative director of the game. It definitely does more than my simple text can.
So, are you getting excited? ]]> Formalhaut http://home.eyesonff.com/entry.php/1157-The-New-SimCity-A-First-Glance <![CDATA[Formalhaut's EoFF Year In Review]]> http://home.eyesonff.com/entry.php/1123-Formalhaut-s-EoFF-Year-In-Review Mon, 24 Dec 2012 00:31:37 GMT Attachment 38991 (http://home.eyesonff.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=38991) Hello everyone! I hope your holidays are going swimmingly. The purpose of this blog entry is to simply reflect on my time here since September and just to congratulate each and every member I can think of for making my...
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Hello everyone! I hope your holidays are going swimmingly. The purpose of this blog entry is to simply reflect on my time here since September and just to congratulate each and every member I can think of for making my time here so far feel great and special. I sincerely hope you've enjoyed my blog posts so far and I wish you all a merry Christmas


So, I left the shores of EoFF around the year of 2008. I can't remember quite the exact date but I do remember it was hardly amicable. I very briefly went through my user notes and I was horrified at my behaviour. I can't quite remember what exactly it was I did, and frankly I don't want to face the horror but these two notes probably sum it all up:

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Someone delete each and every user note. Their like a scar.

Not meaning to be philosophical, but perhaps it was a good thing that my internet connection cut out for over two years. Maybe it was exactly what I needed to mature enough. Who knows. To be perfectly honest I'm still a terrible terrible person and as Raebus said I probably do fail at life but at least I fail at life with dignity. Not like a twelve year old screaming over spilt milk.

So I came back to EoFF this September and it was a rather low key affair. A few members waved high, like Goldenboko and Psychotic and Jiro, but it was quite a small welcome back. Not that it bothered me, I wasn't hopeful for much. But I must have arrived in quite fortunate time, because I came in time for the EoFF Olympics!

And what an event it was. I was part of Team XIII, though you'd be forgiven for thinking I was the ONLY member of Team XIII. Either way, I somehow single handedly earned three triple golds and also embarrassed myself with the worst singing I have ever known:


I also wrote a wonderful essay on the efforts of Minwu, and why he was the most unfortunate death in the second Final Fantasy. And finally, I somehow managed to guess all of the esper symbols correctly. The Olympics definitely allowed me to become slightly more well ingratiated with the community. However, I still have a long way to go.

The next big event was the Mafia game. Now, I have never played Mafia in my life, so again, I wasn't hopeful of doing well. I predicted maybe a day two or three exit.


I lasted to Day Nine. Out of Ten.


I was as surprised as he was. I really outdid myself in my lying, and I was surprised my FBI Agent role-claim went as well as it did for so long. It was such a poor lie. I proved myself to be a credit to my Mafia team and even though we did lose the overall win was to the Mafia, which was my main goal anyway. I also did a bang up job of keeping the Office of Evil nice and tidy. Here's the final repossession order by Fantasia Council:

To all it may concern,

The following weeks have been a turbulent one for all involved in this quiet village of Final Fantasia. Much bloodshed has been wrought, and it is brought to my attention that a certain gang known as the "Yakuza" has been one of two factions that are responsible for this. As of 27th November 2012, the pet store known only as "The Woof-Father" is officially repossessed under direct order of the Fantasia Council, including Chairman Jiro and myself.

Using what little resources we have available including police forces from neighbouring villages across the county, we have managed to repossess the entire building from the mock pet store to it's upper offices, of which are heavily booby-trapped. Animal welfare officers ensured all animals were rescued all relevant products were disposed of. Heavily trained officers proceeded upstairs, and began clearing out the area in case more "Yakuza" lay hidden. It is ascertained presently that there is no members of this gang left standing.

Using intel gathered from various sources, it is understood that the following members of the "Yakuza" are as follows (It is wise to assume these are aliases):

- Blank: Appears to be the ringleader. Declared deceased.
- Relm: Informant for gang and also liberal arts college student. Deceased.
- Luneth: Sharpshooter, trophies suggest previous competitive success. Dead.
- Penelo: Notes indicate she handled day to day runnings, and looked after animals despite Marshall Law being declared, meaning all shops were shut. Somehow wrote messages on gang's internet communication system even after death. Because of this, the Penelo who was lynched is an imposter and the real Penelo is MIA.

To conclude, the Repossession order is in effect, and this self declared "Office Of Evil" is officially shut down.

[M] Stilzskin
Chairman of Final Fantasia Council.

Alas, the Mafia game ended, but not to worry! There was even more stuff to deal with during my return. I know. What a time it was to return. Both Ciddies came and went, and while I didn't win anything from the EoFF Ciddies, that's O.K as I didn't really expect anything. Keep your expectations low and your be disappointed right?

What was good though was the satisfaction of making speeches for Award Chocobo for the Anniversary Ciddies. I loved making all four speeches and am amazed I was given the honour of making speeches. The speech makers were selected via invitation and was strictly confidential. That in itself was amazing, but being given the honour of Best Character. The top Ciddie. As a wise Moogle once said:

Quote Originally Posted by Moogle
Holy Smurf!

And then I finally come down to the equally amazing Secret Santa game which had just ended today. While at first sign-ups were slightly slow and I feared it would be condemned to the "less than 10 replies" thread bin like the majority of my created threads, imagine my surprise when I got [strike]fourteen[/strike] thirteen Santas to produce lovely presents! Seriously. Check the thread. The effort they all went into it far surpasses any effort I made formatting it all into a thread. Seriously, a ten year old could do my job just fine. Still, I loved Boko's praise!
Quote Originally Posted by GoBo View Post
Dear god, I love that trip so much! Thank you stranger!
Quote Originally Posted by GoBo View Post
:love:

Formalhaut, this was excellently run. My hat is off to you.
And with that, sans the last week or so, that is the end of my EoFF Year in Review. The next segment is essentially just a huge list of thank you's for making my time here amazing so far. I wish all of you the best of Christmas (Or other religious festival) and a great New Year!

Special Thanks

​
Jiro For being a lovely, lovely Australian. The best thing out of Australia since Crocodile Dundee.
GoBo For being a great developer and site leader, being enthusiastic and lavishing praise as if it was going out of fashion.
Loony BoB Being a great forum leader. Enough said.
Lockharted She is a rising star and will do even better than I will here on EoFF. She will go far. I assure you of this. Also, she's a right darling with those frontsite articles!
Chris EoFF's very own flirt. And I wouldn't have it anything else.
Citizen Bleys Similar to GoBo really. Great job with the WILTY game Bleys!
Faris For keeping me entertained during my illness mainly, and being awesome in general. Thanks for the hyper potion!
Shlup For packing the Anniversary posters like Hermes, sending them off so we can marvel at our amazing luck.
Laddy For being strong and having an adorable avatar.
Del Murder & Miriel For being EoFF's most cutest couple in my eyes. Their both perfect for each other and are a credit to the site.
Deviant Artists For the epic artworks during the Anniversary Ciddies, and in general for being an extension of the lovely compilation of EoFF.
Pike For being a great site leader and running the EoFF twitter feed. Great job Pike!
Sephex For not committing suicide after not winning a ciddie. AGAIN.
All Site Staff I know I can't remember everyone, so this one is a catch-all, basically thank you guys. Without you, none of this would be possible. Thank you all!
Tifa's Boobs Basically for being a great member of EoFF and for having four of those green rep things in less than a year! Some members of EoFF have been here since 2001 and not obtained that many. I don't know how she does it. She's clearly a strong member of EoFF with strong views and I can't wait to hear more from her.

Formalhaut's blog is taking a brief week's break, and will be back in the New Year. Fresh new content will be continued as Formalhaut loves doing these blogs. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

And sorry for the annoying space gap. Do not know how it happened...
]]> Formalhaut http://home.eyesonff.com/entry.php/1123-Formalhaut-s-EoFF-Year-In-Review What it means to be an EoFFer http://home.eyesonff.com/entry.php/1015-What-it-means-to-be-an-EoFFer Sun, 21 Oct 2012 18:15:41 GMT
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You might not know me much, but I've been an EoFFer here since 2007. That seems like a world away, and I've matured plenty since I called myself "Balthier Rocks"

Seriously, that's just an awful name.

Anyway, due to unforeseen circumstances, I was torn away from my laptop for over a year, and during that time, I completely forgot all about EoFF. It's not that I didn't care for it, during my time as Balthier Rocks I made a few friends, and I like to think vaguely recognisable as a member.

But it just wasn't an indelible part of my life. And that's a good thing. No one wants to be severely depressed for not posting in a internet forum for a while, and if you do, then you need some serious help.



"Well doctor, I just couldn't cope after my WOW subscription ended. I was heartbroken"

The thing is, is that while EoFF and other internet pages are not necessary for a wholesome and full life, it certainly helps.

Human beings require social interaction; hell, we go nuts if we haven't spoken to people for even a few hours. All of this goes to explain why people go here. No one is forced to, but it really helps us interact with friends.

"But Formalhaut!" I hear you say. "Shouldn't we be talking to people in real life, rather than through a screen!"

You have a good point. In today's society, we have been disconnected with everyday contact. We text, call, look of EoFF. Everything we do today has something to do with technology. And it's so easy to misinterpret these electronic messages. As this cracked article writes, context gets lost.

Me: Hey, do you want me to bring over that leftover chili I made?
Him: No, thank you

According to the author, his friend often used "No, Thank you" when being ironic or sarcastic. His friend, as it turns out, had no room in his fridge.

At this point, you might be disheartened with the internet, but actually, on occasion, it can prove incredibly loving. The EoFF poster competition is proof of this.

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Our EoFF family is a special family. We really care for each other. Just take a gander at the poster thread I mentioned above. Look at all the happy faces!

So what does it mean to be a EoFFer? Do I need EoFF in my life? Truthfully, no I don't, but then that's like saying I don't need meat in my life. I could be a vegetarian, but then I miss out on steak. And life just isn't worth living without steak.

Yeah, I'm comparing EoFF to a steak.



"This is the air I breathe! You don't understand!!"
]]> Formalhaut http://home.eyesonff.com/entry.php/1015-What-it-means-to-be-an-EoFFer