Final Fantasy Flash #6-7

Even though this is Flash #6, I have added 7 because it is my birthday today and I am 67!🎂 As an aside, I have now joined the full version of the Final Fantasy game. 

For those who have been following along, my life took a dramatic turn five months ago. A long-term relationship abruptly ended and I moved from one county into another. With that move, my eBay business ended and donated nearly all inventory to thrift. A grand-daughter entered my life and I now care for her once a week. 

My craphting projects also ended not with a bang, but with a whimper. The last quilt I made was for Mila, the grandbaby. I do not foresee quilting in my future. The last garment I completed was also for Mila but it is too big for her to wear right now. Sewing has also come to a screeching halt. Hand sewing was also ended after trouble with both hands. 

The three main interests in my life now are gardening, tap dancing, and playing Final Fantasy. I didn't intend on becoming a player of that game but there are only so many YouTube videos you can watch during the summer heat waves. It also helped that I was able to attend the Final Fantasy Festival in Anaheim. While I did not understand all of the activities that went on, I did get the gist of the game. 

I am almost to level 30. This is the latest getup for my character, Greercourt. Guess you need a hat to protect you in battle so I opted for the green beret. In fact, I used a glamour prism to add the green dye to the original black and white outfit. Had to have the fingerless gloves, just had to. 

I have added Volunteer to my resume. My first gig will be at the local Summer Spectacular as a worker in the Beer Garden.🍺 So looking forward to it. Now I can enjoy it by donating my time to the event, people watching, listening to the live bands, and watching the fireworks.🎇

Happy Birthday to me! A Round Table Hawaiian pizza is scheduled for lunch, and country line dancing in the evening.  

Update to post: When this post first went live, my page views which hover around 1,000-2,000 per day, showed a number of 49,000+!! Gotta be a glitch. Whatevers I will take it, an internet social media gift. 

Mila Country Music YouTube playlist

Red, white, and blue cowboy boots spotted at Lee's Feed in Shingle Springs, California. Perfect lead-in to the country music YouTube playlist. 

I started playing YouTube videos of music playlists from Mila’s baby books. There was ABC to ZZtop - rock classics, and AB to Jay-Z – hip hop. 

I would like Mila to experience art, music, and dance. This A-Z YouTube Playlist is Country/Western. Good ole Wikipedia had a list of country music performers listed in alphabetical order. I chose my favorites to play for her.  Some are from many years ago when I was immersed in the CW boot-scooting scene. 

A            Trace Adkins  Honky Tonk Badonkadonk

B            Garth Brooks Friends In Low Places

C            Johnny Cash Ring Of Fire

D            John Denver Annie's Song

E            Steve Earle Copperhead Road 

F            Flatt and Scruggs Foggy Mountain Breakdown

G            Lee Greenwood God Bless The U.S.A.

H            Merle Haggard Mama Tried

I              Burl Ives Ghost Riders In The Sky

J             Alan Jackson Chattahoochee

K            Toby Keith As Good As I Once Was

L             K.D. Lang Trail of Broken Hearts

M           The Mavericks All You Ever Do Is Bring Me Down

N            Willie Nelson On The Road Again

O           K.T. Oslin Come Next Monday

P            Dolly Parton Jolene 

Q           NA

R            Marty Robbins El Paso

S            Ricky Skaggs Country Boy

T             Randy Travis Diggin' Up Bones

U            Keith Urban Somebody Like You

V            NA

W           Tammy Wynette Stand By Your Man

X            Lil Nas X Old Town Road

Y            Dwight Yoakam Guitars, Cadillacs

Z            NA

Next up for the YouTube playlist is Alternative.💥

Final Fantasy Flash #5

So glad I have my insider son to guide me along on this game. I had accepted side quests that were unnecessary to my progresss. He abandoned those for me that made no sense to continue. 

The Fan Festival in Berlin on July 25 and 26, 2026, will be live-streamed on Twitch and YouTube. Anaheim was my first live event, this Berlin event will be my first live stream.  

I am learning there is a whole culture dedicated to capturing images of their character within the Final Fantasy framework. I can see why. The backgrounds are top notch. My character is close enough to what I look like that I can imagine myself in those amazing online worlds. 

Look at the lighting, and the perfect symmetry in the face. She will never age. I could play this game for the next 20+ years and there will be Greercourt forever young. 

Here is an interesting question, if there are game bots, wouldn't it be possible to have your character live on forever in an online world such as Final Fantasy? 🤔

Final Fantasy Flash #4

Once you plough through the initial MSQs (main scenario quests) of Final Fantasy, it does get more interesting. You become more successful at critter crunching. Rather than a magic wand, I now have a magical staff. Throwing spells and rocks are the main forms of combat at this level. (20+).  

Outfit change yet again. Getting closer to how I really want to express myself in character. The shrug is a nice touch. Pose is from a dance move. Next up is to capture facial expressions and head tilts. 

There are so many incredible backgrounds to grab on screen shot. In the image below, my character had on the hempen hat (ugh). You get a glimpse of the thigh-high boots.👀

Can we talk about the dialog boxes when your character interacts with NPCs? (NPC = non-playable characters) You would laugh if you saw how close I have to get to my laptop screen WITH my eyeglasses OFF (I am horribly near-sighted) to read the text.👓

My hair is long IRL. I would love to sport longer hair as Greercourt (my character). There is a way to modify or use MODs. I won't venture there as I want to stay within Square Enix approved items. 

There is so much to this Final Fantasy world. I am sure I am just scratching the surface. I learned that one can employ a Game Bot to automatically quest, gather, fish or combat on your behalf. I could see where that could be useful for fishing, boring as it is. 

Added fish gourd to my garden ornaments. Just couldn't resist him! 

Final Fantasy Flash #3

Tried to keep my novice costume but son and the game called for the recommended get up to keep from getting killed by critters. I look like a female monk. This is not my style but if it gets me through the quests. Not happy about this when others are looking so flashy. Can't even see my platinum hair! 

Went to the casino area of the game and was not impressed. Most areas of the casino are empty. Sort of backroomish, creepy. I am drawn to other players and their activities. Am kicking around joining the game so I can chat with other players. 

There are times I have been stuck in the game - battling with spiders trying to retrieve surveyor stuff, trying to get to the top deck of a ship. The only tools I can tell at this level are a magic stick and throwing rocks at critters that attack you. 

There are emotes, a way to express yourself while idle. I am particularly interested in the dance emotes. In one quest, my character fulfilled a request for an Irish Step Dance. This video demonstrates Riverdance. 

The upcoming 100 degree summer heat means I will be stuck inside and spending a lot of time gaming. Another aspect of the game that is fascinating is the graphic artwork seen throughout all of the worlds. Visually stunning. 

The background music can be described as ear worm hole. I tend to turn the volume way down unless critters attack me, then I want to hear what is going on, and it isn't music. If there were a place in the game one could hear The Primals, I would hang out there FOREVER.💟

Final Fantasy Flash #2

Must admit I get discouraged by all of the running around one has to do as a Final Fantasy character. This is my first online role playing experience so this is all new to me. Why was everyone running? Related question, why was everyone standing around the Aethernet crystal? 

Answer to question no. 1, I believe all the running is to get from one place to another in the quickest method possible. There are "lands" one has to travel through and as you progress through the game different lands open up. 

Answer to question no. 2, all the standing around occurs when the real life player steps away from the game and wants to hold their place in the game. There is no deduction for "standing around." 

The reason I mention the Aethernet crystal is that is the place where you are revived after a critter kills you. Around that crystal numerous characters pass through or hang around. I have yet to figure out how to sit on one of the benches. I don't think Sprouts are allowed to sit. 

A Sprout is a newbie player. I am still playing in the trial version too, so that limits certain actions within the game. 

My son, being very much a fan, told me he had to go "make some food" to earn gil aka $$$$. 

A YouTuber suggested finding a willing Sugar Parent to sponsor your shopping sprees. Why is this seeming more and more like real life? What would be required in return? I hate to ask.

Was finally able to upgrade from the pilgrim outfit to this robe-like getup in mukluks. The otter backpack was earned during the You Otter Be There limited quest. 

Going to hang out in the FF casino for awhile. Maybe get me some smokes. I've yet to see a character smoking a cigarette, drinking, or eating anything. Maybe that isn't part of the game? 

All Planted and Headed to Italy

All of the vegetable plants are in place. There are 4 tomatoes, 3 peppers (habanero, jalapeno, mini bell), a Crimson Sweet watermelon, and a struggling artichoke. The fabric planters worked well in the interim. I will eventually replace those with galvanized steel planters. 

How the L shaped planter looks in the garden area. On the 90+ days of summer, I also moisten the straw around the planters.  

Working hard toward performance level tap dancing. I am starting to improve after two months of three days a week of instruction. If the steps could become second nature to me, then I could add some flare to the routines. The group I am practicing with might have a public performance in the near future. 

I have also applied as a volunteer with our local community services organization. There is an upcoming 25th Annual Summer Spectacular event at the lake end of this month. They sent out an email blast on a call for volunteers, and since I attend a number of events at the center, my name probably came up. 

Took a trip to the local travel agency and booked a trip to Southern Italy and Sicily for the end of April 2027. I tried to do the internet stuff but found it frustrating. So much better to sit down with a REAL PERSON and talk about something so important as a vacation. It will be the first of many trips I hope to take now and into the future.