Let this be a lesson to never trust a walkthrough.

Recently I restarted Legend of Dragoon after realizing how much I missed and how freaking far behind I was in my characters’ development. (Yes, that’s where I’ve been. In my boxers, in front of the TV, hooked up to the PlayStation.) Originally, I’d used a walkthrough in a few places to give me a clue about where to go; however, this time I went by the seat of my pants. This time around I have more Stardusts than I had before, more items, and am finding myself flying through boss battles much quicker than I originally had. Kongol is still a bad ass, but this time around I opted to skip attempting to do the additions altogether and instead stocked up on attack items and toasted his Giganto butt.

As much as I love Kongol - that was cool. XD

Further into the game, and as if to underscore my assessment that I really should continue avoiding walkthroughs, I had a stroke of genius when I went to go against Jiango (big ass monster you fight in the bowels of Hellena Prison). I’d just opened a treasure chest containing a Sachet, so I tossed it at him.

As cool as my defeat of Kongol was, this was even cooler. LOL

I can’t wait to see how much easier Doel goes down this time!

I also have managed to max out most everyone’s Level 1 Addition and am working on - or completing - their level 2s. Well, all of them save for Rose (I just can’t get the freaking timing right for her) and Haschel - who I just got anyway. Albert, though, is tripping me up. I had Lavitz’s timing down, but Albert’s different style is completely different. Strange, considering he has the same exact stats as Lavitz. With Lavitz, I had to speed him up with accessories, but I had to take them off to be able to do anything with Albert. Maybe it’s just I’m used to the less intricate movements of Lavitz and it’s those extra, uber cool flourishes that am tripping me up with Albert. Bah - who knows, right?

Tell you how bad I’m into LoD - I’ve even been playing around with a Gary Stuish “Next Gen” type fic. Maybe pull an original out of my butt, just like I did for my Chrono Trigger fic.

……. I really gotta hurry up and get myself a job.

Effective immediately, Kaze the Kitten will serving be my personal secretary.

Her weekly salary will be 30 SCL (Standard Catnip Leaves) / hour with full benefits including Yogurt Lids, Fuzzy Balls, and Ear Scratchies.

Oh, don’t look at me like that. She’s a great office assistant! Not only does she know where the degauss button is on my monitor, she knows how to operate my speakers, cable modem, printer, and VoIP terminal. She’s quickly learning how to use the mouse and is an excellent typist. (I just need to figure out what language she’s typing in! Silly Me! I need to get bilingual.)

Oh, yes… Did I mention she has great taste in MP3s?

Kaze also seems to have an ever-expanding interest in PHP and HTML; she watches me work for hours at a time. I better watch out though, it’s always the cute ones who wreak havoc.

That might explain the odd things my computer might be doing. Clever girl, perhaps she’s installed a Key-Logger Program on my machine. Must be clever indeed, if my Spyware programs and HijackThis! have turned nothing up. I mean, gawd, she’s a mean little sucker when it’s time for me to stop for the day. She’ll freeze my computer up! That has to be proof in and of itself that she’s really a hacker in disguise. Thinking on it, I honestly am coming to believe that this kitten is probably too sophisticated to rely on any programs to do her dirty work.

Then again, if she’s turning into a little hacker on me, maybe I can have her overclock my system for me. Might be fun if I can ever get my machine back to gaming status too. She’s decent enough on my PlayStation that I can bet we could really do some damage on a good PC game. Hmmm…. possibilities.

I just have to watch out for shredded cables and I think I’ll be all set.