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RETURN of the blog

Hello! I feel like I tend to write these revival posts more than other posts. But then again, my original Prolifiction blog I started the Christmas BEFORE I started university. That's a damn long time ago, considering I've now graduated and am currently doing my masters. How time flies when you're not consistently updating your blog.

I've finally decided to suck it up: I tried doing health & fitness. I tried doing games. I sort of tried but didn't really do reviews. I couldn't do any of those separately. So, I'm going to go with the long run of my old blog in which I updated frequently-ish for a LONG TIME, and just write about whatever suits me. Which is all of those things.


Also gonna throw in a layout change at some point. Need something to distract me from snacking.


Health wise:

• Currently doing HFLC, which is essentially keto, and following The High Fat Diet by Zana Morris. As of this post, on day 3, so expect some musings soon and definitely a halfway, and fullway update.
• Back to lifting, doing a legs/cardio/tris & bis/legs/back & chest/cardio split at the moment. 
• Also started going to Barrecore classes (expect a review!) 

Media wise:

• I've seen a lot of films since I've last written. I'll probably write a few words on a few of them.
• I'm so out of touch with music now, but I know the song order capital play when I'm in the gym off by heart pretty much. I'm such a charts baby now, with a lil' Joyce Manor on the side.

Games Wise:

• I got Tomb Raider definitive edition for Valentine's day (bless!) So I should write a review. Dragon Age: Inquisition got put on hold but it's fine because in all honesty I've had two words written down in a draft thoughts post for about three months now.
• FINAL FANTASY TYPE-0 HD HAS BEEN DISPATCHED TODAY so let's face it, see you all in two weeks! (Just kidding, I'll post, I'll post.)

What is IIFYM and how it changed my outlook on food

So, the first thing that probably popped into your head when reading this (unless you already know,) is "What the HELL is IIFYM?" To answer, it's an acronym: If It Fits Your Macros.

Annoyingly, I am not going to explain this yet and instead, go into an alternate introduction.

Like many, many people, I am very "into" healthy eating. With the health and fitness industry reaching a huge mainstream boom like it's the 80s again, eating organic/paleo/vegan/gluten-free (yes, I know about coeliac's disease, hush, I'm making a point) has never been so popular. Health food stores are in bigger business than ever1 I

Whilst it's always a wonderful thing to make a positive change to your lifestyle, unfortunately it's not always as simple as just throwing away your donuts and waltzing into whole foods and emerging a brand new person. It takes some dedication, and research, to change your lifestyle.

When I started out trying to eat healthily (this was last year,) I found such an abundance of information on the web. So. Much. Information. Of course, and unfortunately, the sad thing is anyone can upload things to the internet, and they don't factor in that people have different goals, body times and different backgrounds.

For instance, I started out seeing that yes, white carbs were bad. Goodbye to pasta and rice. Then even brown pasta wasn't really that good. I reluctantly said goodbye. Everything had to be low-fat of course, don't be silly, the less fat the better! Then came the discovery of "clean eating" and the notion that if you ate ONE chocolate bar you would ruin everything and never have abs but you could also have everything in moderation EXCEPT don't have too much sugar and - you get the picture. Conflicting information gets confusing, and I spent a good year trying very hard to limit my foods to what was deemed "healthy and acceptable," feeling frustrated when I kept eating chocolate and kept snacking on "unclean" foods.

For the most part, I eat pretty healthy, and always have. Following the cacophony of information I'd found online and in books I'd read, I was able to maintain a relatively healthy diet. However, I was eating the right foods, but not necessarily in the right amounts, and for someone who was (and still is) weight training quite hard, it didn't really allow me to perform at optimum level. Furthermore, my "must EAT CLEAN" mentality was beginning to get depressing and I was starting to feel restricted in what I could and could not eat. Even when I applied the "everything in moderation" rule, I still felt guilty having a snack - which is terrible as I am the world's biggest serial snacker. And this is where IIFYM came in to save me.

So what is it?

IIFYM.com has a much, much better description and explanation than I do, but I'll keep it simple here. Essentially, your macronutrients are the nutrients your body needs in large quantities for energy - protein, carbs, and fat. IIFYM operates under the philosophy that as long as you eat the correct percentages and amounts of these, you will be able to maintain/lose/gain weight according to your goals. That sounds super easy doesn't it?

The reason IIFYM (or flexible dieting as it is also known,) is so amazing, is that it's so personalised. You, as the person, are free to adjust and change your macros however you wish in order for your body to function optimally. I've found in the past, when my carbs are too low, I lack energy. Therefore, I can pop them back up and it means my fats are more limited, but I'm functioning a lot better. Super useful.

And I haven't even covered the best part. The reason it's called If It Fits Your Macros, is because you can eat it if it fits your macros. Want two slices of pizza? Fine. Pop it into your fitness tracker and see where that takes you (carbs and fat will go up) Therefore, for the rest of the day, you should watch your carbs and fat and make sure your protein matches. It's like a maths matching game, but one where you can eat cake and feel great. Suddenly, something so simple made sense to me: yes, I knew vaguely in my head that if I had a bar of chocolate, I should eat healthily the rest of the day. But the thought of actually checking my macros (mainly because I had no idea what they were,) just did not occur to me.

No reason for this gorgeous cookie bar to be here. I just miss it and want to make another, that's all.


That's not to say you can overeat on junk food or binge eat - but, due to it's nature as flexible dieting, it just allows you more freedom in having treats and dealing with events such as going out to restaurants. I no longer panic about eating out, scouring menus to choose the healthiest option. I may look in advance, but just so I can plan the rest of my day. Because of the flexible nature, and because I'm still relatively new to it, I also don't beat myself up about it if my percentages or numbers are off. As long as they're in the correct vicinity, I'm happy, and it's great to have an idea of what I'm putting in my body to fuel it.

Therefore, I've found that even though IIFYM promotes that you can eat what you want and still achieve your goals, I've found it's actually had a positive impact on my snacking and eating, just by making me more mindful of what I'm consuming. But not, like before, in a way where I felt trapped, but it's given me an awesome freedom of choice. Yes, I can go for the high carb and fat option for lunch, but I'll have to have a protein shake later to hit my protein goals. Which is fine.

I tend to try and fit my whole days around my crazy quest bar consumption. High protein and carb? Perfect for my macros.


Of course, going over your goals is the same as overreating on your calories (which makes sense as your macro goals in grams should match up to your calories.) It's all about mindful eating and becoming more informed about what you're putting into your body. You'll find that once you start, you'll start becoming more knowledgable, and you'll pick up quickly knowledge of what foods you need to balance out your fat, or protein. IIFYM.com is a great resource and the best place to start, but loads of healthy food recipe blogs and recipes in general also now post macros - if not, it's super easy to pull out of the nutrition - just look at Fat, Protein & Carbs!

So where to start?

The best thing to do is go to IIFYM.com where they have an online calculator for you to figure out your optimum levels - if you're not sure, 40/40/20 carbs/protein/fat is a good place to start. I usually work at 45/35/20 carbs/protein/fat for mine, just because my body runs so well on carbs, and based on my TDEE (which you can also calculate there,) 35% protein based on my calories and 1g protein per lb I weigh works. It may take some playing around with to get there!

Next, is to pay attention to your macros. Unless you want to write everything down, I would use myfitnesspal, or your tracker of choice. You can enter your goals, including your macros, on here and you'll be able to view your percentages in a neat little pie chart! So useful!

Is it for everyone?

Of course not, nothing is for everyone. This happens to work for me, and it makes and keeps me happy as it's been the first time in a long time I've felt both in control, and at ease of my food. Tracking my food, but not in a neurotic way, somehow makes me feel more relaxed and I feel like I am making more informed decisions about what I'm eating, and feeling better for it.

I also physically feel better - by finally realising I wasn't eating anywhere near enough protein for my activity levels, let alone carbohydrates, I've adjusted them and lowered my fats and I'm working out stronger and better than before. I have tonnes more energy and feel less sluggish as well.

If you have a tendency to get obsessive about numbers and tracking, I would be wary. However, because I don't insist on having my percentages down to the perfect %, I've found it more liberating than just not tracking and constantly stressing about that damn chocolate bar I scarfed down at 8am this morning. Again, knowledge is power and I feel more powerful with it!

What do you think? Would you/do you use IIFYM?

[1] Sales of organic products have increased by 4% https://securepayment.soilassociation.org/page/contribute/organicmarketreport2015 

Girls: Should you even lift?

(Originally posted on EatMoreCake)

Forgive me the vast generalisations, but let’s start out with a stereotyped, hypothetical scenario: you walk into the gym. What do you see? Muscle-heads spending their apparent entire lifetime checking themselves out in the mirror? Check. Men in muscle tees hogging the heavy weights? Check. Girls solely on the cardio machines? Check. Now, there’s nothing wrong with checking yourself out in the mirror (team narcissism here) and there’s a little wrong with hogging the weights. But asides from these presumptions, let’s focus on the women. Because if there’s something I’ve learned in the time I’ve spent frequenting both gyms and online fitness communities, it is that girls are always (a) partial to cardio, because they are (b) reluctant to lift. So, to quickly answer the titular question: YES. Yes, you should absolutely lift, and, as a girl, I’m here to tell you why.

The most common answer that I’ve heard when enquiring is that many of us are afraid of lifting weights because that’s what “makes you bulky”. Here, we are comparing ourselves to the men in muscle tees, which is exactly where we have gone wrong. To clear this up quickly: lifting weights will NOT make you bulky… unless that’s what you want. Yes, female bodybuilders exist, but – like with most things in life, sadly – women aspiring to that kind of body have to work far harder than their male counterparts to achieve it because, to put it simply, they have to force their bodies far past their ‘natural’ points. So, unless you are deliberately lifting to achieve that look (and you’d know it), you will not look like a female bodybuilder.

So what are the benefits of lifting weights for women? What does lifting actually do? To explain briefly and rather unscientifically, lifting weights usually consist of a repetitive motion using resistance (either from a machine or your own body weight), which then trains a specific group of muscles. That sums it up really; lifting weights trains your muscles. Yes, it makes them bigger but also leaner, which is what makes you toned. There’s also the super cool fact that muscles burn more calories than fat! So unlike with cardio, which only temporarily boosts your metabolism, you can sit around and do nothing all day and still be burning more calories.

That’s not to say, of course, that cardio doesn’t do anything for you. Cardio is great for getting your heart rate up and for burning fat and calories whilst you are doing it. Certain exercises such as swimming and running will also work your muscle groups and tone your body, so I’m definitely not saying to avoid cardio. However, in order to tone more efficiently and effectively, it is recommended to combine both cardio and weights. Cardio will temporarily boost your metabolism and get your muscles warmed up and ready, so it serves as a great warm up before a weights and resistance session.

Although the number of women I’ve seen doing weights and resistance has increased in the gym, it’s still far more common to see men on the machines, which brings me to the second most common aversion to lifting – that some of us just don’t know where to start. It can certainly be intimidating when you walk into what is usually a male-occupied area and slyly read the instructions for each machine in order to pretend you know what you’re doing. A great idea is to ask a friend who knows their way around. Don’t forget that all the people expertly using their machines now once had no idea what that terrifying death trap in the corner does.

Of course, you can just not use machines at all. Body weight resistance moves are a great way of using your own body weight to tone your muscles and you don’t even need a gym – just a bit of space. Moves such as press-ups, squats, and all their variations and combinations are great because they focus on specific muscle groups and are high intensity- a great starting point for developing your muscles.

Do a little research, ask a friend and next time you drag your hungover self to the gym for a good, cleansing workout, try to incorporate a few weights and resistance moves – you’ll feel the difference! To summarise, it’s not as hard as you think. You can have more effective (and shorter!) workouts, and you’ll permanently boost your metabolism! There’s clearly no reason not to lift weights, is there? (Except for the next day. When you can’t really move. No pain, no gain?)

Alpha Sapphire: First Impressions

Last Friday, I raced home, pushed a few people down the stairs running to my tube station and opened the post box with such a frenzy that I almost tore the door off. For it was finally the UK release of Pokemon: Alpha Sapphire, and sure enough, my copy was waiting for me after waiting impatiently all day at home.

Sadly, I haven't even had that much time to play it. Me and my team have just landed on Dewford. Nevertheless, am super happy about getting to replay my favourite game again with pretty 3DS graphics. Please excuse my awful photos; my home WiFi won't allow my DS in and I haven't been bothered to change it yet. I PROMISE I WILL so I can show you everything nice and shiny.

SO, what are my first impressions?

 It's hard writing on this game as I'm unsure what to compare it to - Pokemon Sapphire or Pokemon X. Naturally, there are staggering differences from Alpha to standard Sapphire. I'll focus mostly on X as it's what's freshest in my head and probably the best comparison considering the massive development differences since Sapphire - which came out in 2002, if you can believe it!!!

 The game looks impressive and slick as ever. I found the change from Black to X (that's the way I did it..) quite dramatic, as, for the first time, a Pokemon game felt less like a Pokemon game and more like Animal Crossing. It's hard to pinpoint why Alpha Sapphire feels more like Pokemon again; maybe it's the familiarity with the Hoenn region, maybe it's because I've played X as a way to ease myself in. Despite that, the point of view is more comfortably third person and more 'Pokemon' - although they still play around with angles and point of view, it doesn't feel as extreme or different as X.

My arrival at Dewford

 The game still follows on a lot from the new developments from X. EXP share is given to you early and it gives EXP to all your Pokemon. It also doesn't split the EXP gained as much, making it a lot easier to level up your whole team, making it more akin to a generic RPG. Likewise, your Pokemon also gains EXP (full) even if you catch a Pokemon. Whilst this helps in encouraging people to try and catch them all (after all, you don't lose out on some potentially good EXP,) it again, makes it a lot easier - so far, my Pokemon are already at a higher level than they previously have been when I've played this game on my good old DS Lite.

 The battle system is similar, yet again, to X. Haven't experienced any mega evolutions - in fact, they haven't even been mentioned in game yet - but the animation is still an incredible step up from the older DS lite games.

 In fact, the biggest new feature - excluding the nav/dex updates which change with every game - that I've found so far in my small playtime of just over 2 hours (pitiful I know... I had a busy weekend, okay?) is the new 'sneak' feature. Again, much like an RPG, you can now sneak up on Pokemon. Whilst previous games had the rustling grass hinting at a rare Pokemon, you now get a notification on your DexNav screen (a magnifying glass pops up) and you get a sound and the silhouette of a Pokemon will pop it. It'll either be an uncommon Pokemon, or a Pokemon with a rare move. They do seem to be quite frequent however - I ran into an endless amount of Slakoths in Petalburg Woods.

SO, moving onto what is often, asides from the graphics, the biggest change between each Pokemon game. The navigator system. From memory, (because there have really been a lot of Pokemon games,) this came into play in the original Ruby and Sapphires under PokeNav (developed from the PokeGear, which was a communication device.) Now, we have the PokeNav Plus, the new, updated version which makes full use of the DS's dual screens.

The DS is used SO much better in these later games than it was previously. The first Pokemon DS games, Diamond and Pearl, used the bottom screen well in battles (basically as they do now,) but failed to make the bottom screen that useful outside of battle. They've now finally done what I've always wanted them to do, and included the map down there. No longer do you have to rummage through your bag in 'key items' for your 'town map' (okay, they stopped that a while ago, I know.) Instead, you have the option, under AreaNav, to have your map there all the time!

Another pretty useful feature is the DexNav. Here, it shows the kinds of Pokemon that can be found in an area. From what I've worked out (I didn't pay attention when the guy telling me what it did was talking all too much,) most of them only show up after you've encountered them. Still pretty useful to quickly remember what turns up where (and it does show silhouettes of Pokemon you can encounter so unless you completed missed 'who's that Pokemon' as a child, you should be able to figure it out.) I'm not sure if it shows you ALL the Pokemon you can catch (including rare ones,) but I'm hoping it doesn't as it'd take away some of the fun in entering a new area and having something surprising jump out at you. This is also the thing that has the magnifying glass pop up on.

PlayNav combines the few in game 'apps' that were the main players in X's bottom screen - Pokemon Amie and Super Training are both there, as is the Play With Others app (which name I can't remember and that I won't check.) I tried these out a bit in the last game but am never that into mini-games, (only exception is the captivating 'Mesal Gear Solid' which was in Ape Escape 3, and which I played entirely in Japanese.) I also don't really play games to interact with people (I am the online gaming nightmare,) plus I don't have any friends with Pokemon and/or a 3DS, so haven't tried out any online features.

Lastly installed on there (for now...) is BuzzNav, which is basically their version of the radio app in the PokeNav. Instead, it's a news app that gives you little stories and updates - mine's currently showing the kidnapping of Peeko. There's a capability to do stuff with others with a DS on it, but since, like I mentioned, I don't know anyone with one so haven't tried that yet.

Basic features aside, let's get started on my lifeblog journey: so, who's my team? I've gone for my usual starter of Torchic - because BLAZIKEN is the only starter Pokemon given the prestigious rank of UBER on Pokemon showdown. Because it is literally that badass. Chiklet (YES of COURSE I name all my Pokemon silly cutesy things) has just evolved into a Combusken.

I've also picked up PEEBO (my alternative to PEEKO, who I fell in love with in the anime)

Peebo was the main player in my battle against first Gym Leader Roxanne, which was pretty easy. Despite a Rock Throw almost taking him out in one hit, Peebo managed to obliterate with water gun. Rock gym as the first gym is always pretty simple.

After some evening wandering, caught a Shroomish (Blum,) who I will evolve into my poison heal powerhouse that is Breloom. I LOVE Breloom. Thoroughly underrated Pokemon. Although I'm pretty well equipped to handle Brawly (Chiket still has peck,) and of course Peeko's Wing Attack should have no problems, I'm sure Blum will be able to throw some moves.

Anyway, that sums up my little bit of gameplay and some fairly long-winded first impressions. Stay tuned for Brawly's imminent beat down and I'M ON DEWFORD I CAN CATCH AN ARON NOW!

Celebrating the Mage

[Note: classes are serious business in RPGS. The mage can go by many other names/variations i.e. medic, healer, etc etc but let's class it as "magic user" in this. Also note that this is based on my experience of games and there are OF COURSE, countless and countless games I haven't played with all various other types of magic and users. This is very general, but I'd love to learn more so throw comments at me!] 

This is the first part of my little series of articles on YOUR BASIC RPG CLASS CHARACTERS.  I wasn't really thinking about posting something like this, until I got into a little argument with Vanille in Final Fantasy 13 (it was very one sided,) which basically went along the lines of "VANILLE STOP HEALING YOURSELF HEAL ME FIRST IF I DIE, WE ALL DIE." So, despite Vanille's downfalls as a medic, let's celebrate the mage! I will be discussing some of the different types of mages I've come across and what I like about them/why they are great and should definitely have a place on your team. BRAWN, MOVE OVER.

Offensive Mage
Depending on the game, magic users tend to be very important and also very awesome in most RPGS.

Super super cool re-render by John-Lozano on Deviantart

 I've learnt through gaming that most games like systems and rules - which is great, because I love learning them. In class/job based RPGS, you thus tend to have abilities limited to certain jobs. Your soldier may be able to use some simple magic, but it's going to be your mage that does the real damage. In games that let you choose your own jobs, thus, it makes sense for you to have your character with the highest magic power be your mage.

 And games like you to have to strategise and carefully form your party. That's a whole part of the fun of them really - carefully thinking through who you will need to defeat this boss. High physical defense but weak magic defense? That's where your mage comes in.

Magic also (usually - again, this is all presumption) is element based, meaning it can come in many forms. Whilst this is fun because it gives you a whole range of moves to choose from, it also allows you to be tactical in fighting your enemy: what are they weak against? What will deal the most magic? Games have always been about strategy, and magic is especially great because it opens up whole new realms of strategy that physical combat can't often give.

And you will undoubtedly at some point face an enemy who can barely be touched by physical moves. STAND ASIDE LADIES AND GENTLEMAN, THE OFFENSIVE MAGE IS HERE.

Status-Dealing Mages
A lot of the times, these will be clumped in as either offensive ('black') or defensive ('white') mages. Final Fantasy: Tactics had their 'green' mage as the status inflicter. These mages (or these moves,) are used to protect your team, or destroy the enemy through status effects.

I never really used to use them before (oh, naive young me,) preferring to finish off battles quickly and mostly with an all-out offense. Particularly difficult battles, however, can definitely be made easier if you're clever with your defensive and offensive statuses.

Defensive statuses can be amazing against tough enemies - ESPECIALLY when you can use them several times and boost your defenses up to ridiculously amazing. Offensive statuses, however, are often looked past because at the end of the day, they take up round time and often it's easy to get into the mentality that you should may as well just keep attacking head on with big damage, as opposed to little draining damage. However, little draining damage, as you probably know when you've been inflicted with it yourself, is a complete and utter pain! Successfully casting a poison, sleep or slow on your enemy will just make the battle so much easier for you.

Final Fantasy XIII (I KNOW, I keep banging on about Final Fantasy but this is basically 70% of my thoughts on a day to day basis) ramped up the status mage by having two roles: SYNERGIST and SABOTEUR. Syn boosts the party/protects the party, whilst Sab casts nasty magic to slowly drain and well, sabotage, the enemy. Whilst it is a bit of a pain having the roles separate, I've also found it incredibly useful to have a sab/syn team, as it tends to make it much easier to get those bosses with ridiculously high def/hp but also strong attack.

So, status based mages perhaps aren't as effective in everyday ~ random encounters ~, but use them properly and save them for the sluggish matches and they will become at least 40% easier, probably.

Healing Mages
And perhaps the biggest one to celebrate - the blessed medic. Anyone who's faced any overpowered bosses with ridiculous attacks that take out 90% of your HP in one go know to worship the medic. If it weren't for them throwing constant cures/heals etc at you, you would have been knocked out a long time ago.

The only sad thing for medics is that - well - they essentially have only a supporting role. Sure, it's super important and a lot of the time you can't do without it, but for pure mages who can literally only do white/healing magic, you imagine it would be...well... a little boring. Systems that allow you to switch out and change your party in battle handle this well, but when a battle isn't particularly difficult, the healing mage often just sits back.

I NEVER understood why Atoli of .Hack//GU: Rebirth wanted to be a magic and follow my dumb ass around healing me.

Naturally, the best compromise is a general mage who can perform black and white magic, and a system that allows you to prioritise healing when it's needed (whether you choose it yourself in turn-based or set conditions that allow this.) A lot of games do allow all characters to use not just healing spells, but all spells. This is really the best case scenario, even though limitations on how many moves/attacks you're allowed to have may make it very difficult for you to make a decision!

Unfortunately, for some other games, this is just TOO GREAT and puts way too much power in one character. FF compromised by creating the 'red mage' class - a mage who could perform both types of magic but was limited to only performing low level magic. Super useful early on in the game, but given that you'll find a need for high level curing spells later on, it's always worth investing heavily in a good white mage. 

The original medic

 So what have we learned from this summary? Mages are very cool.

Not only that, but they are an integral part of any RPG, and many systems would fall apart without them. Furthermore, there is SO MUCH potential with mages and magic in games and so much more out there than my measly observations on a few games. Go forth and explore!

What's your favourite system of magic?
What kind of magic do you like using most?
What's the best mage class/who is the best mage in a game you've come across?
What game has used magic the most innovatively?

Shoot!

Love, 

Revival!

*Throws revives*

Welcome back blog! I've decided to resuscitate my blog because (a) I need somewhere to vent about Final Fantasy XIII (which I'm replaying) and (b) to celebrate the monumental occasion that is happening next week... the release of...

TA DA!

So excited for my version to land in the mailbox next week! 

To start off with, I will be logging my Alpha Sapphire adventure. Gen III of the Pokemon games has always been my favourite (I had Ruby on my GBA, decided to change things up going with Sapphire this time.) I will, however, not be changing things with with my starter, which is a given: TORCHIC! Because -

Really looking forward to what the game has to offer. Despite feeling slightly too much like I was in Animal Crossing for the first part of it, I grew to love X's interface. The graphics really are a big jump up and I'm excited to see how Hoenn translates over.

Also looking forward to seeing if I can destroy Watson in one go this time (WHY did I always have trouble with him in the past? We'll find out now...) 

Exciting reason (c) for me restarting my blog and taking it in a general video game based direction, is the forthcoming arrival of my birthday PS4! Dragon Age: Inquisition SHALL be ordered in short time. The real wait, of course, is for Final Fantasy XIV but we'll see if that actually does end up coming out at some point next year. And let's not even think about Kingdom Hearts 3...

So basically, I'm super excited to be launching this as a platform for me to rant about things I love to rant about. I'm already very eager to post about THE WEIRDEST GAMEBOY KNOCKOFFS I HAVE COME ACROSS AND PLAYED (living in Asia has exposed me to some weird knockoffs...) 

 UM.

... as well as some detailed analysis of some of the most difficult fights I've faced (hopefully with input from others, I seem to stupidly struggle with some really simple bosses but manage to easily defeat others - each to their own, I guess!) Best villains, most shocking parts of storylines (Yes, Aeris, I know,) and most importantly, a RANKING OF THE BEST CHOCOBOS.