I do not particularly like playing Final Fantasy or RPG games because they seem to be linear in a sense. The idea of saving the world, the traditional command input battle system, and so forth seemed quite unappealing to me. I mean, doesn't it get boring getting random battle triggers out of nowhere? Especially when the enemies are level 1 and you're level 99. It doesn't seem very fun for me. Saving the world X amount of times isn't very fun either. Well, I guess it depends on the context of it. Whenever I do play an RPG it's primarily for the story. It not, it's because I have nothing better to do.

The thing that got me interested in Final Fantasy XII is primarily Basch. In particular "A Man Branded as Traitor" was what caught my attention. When I read that I knew right away he wasn"t one. It"s just a hook to get readers their attention, and half the time it isn"t true. Square Enix has a horrible reputation in doing this. For instance Valkyrie Profile 2, while reading the character profiles in the manual and within the game you can practically guess what happens in the game. As for Basch, it could be considered a bit "revolutionary" for a bad guy to be part of main party and the Final Fantasy franchise being such a successful one, I didn"t think that Square Enix would have taken the chance of seriously doing so. They did make a profound statement in saying that Basch was a "traitor" and comments on why he may be with the main party before the game was released in Japan. However, like I said before, it"s just something to catch the reader"s attention and get them ready for a Non-Nomura Final Fantasy epic.

Final Fantasy XII isn't particularly my favorite game, but I could say that it's one of the few RPGs I like. The environments are terribly interesting. I love watching the other people shop, or seeing them running around doing their own business. It"s different compared to stationary NPCs and the ones that just walk in a loop. It is because of this, Final Fantasy XII gives the game a reason to have a pause button. Battle system is great because it enables me to leave the room and perhaps get something to eat as the characters are fighting hoards of monsters, and also it"s a game where summons aren"t relied for every fight. It is because of these things that Final Fantasy XII made it into m list of favorite RPGs. It gives it a uniqueness compared to the traditional RPG which people often think of when they think of "Final Fantasy". Not that there"s anything wrong with it, but to me it is what makes the series a bit "dry".

I actually wasn't interested in Final Fantasy XII until I saw Basch. I clearly remember that Basch was the last character to be released in the lineup for the Official Japanese Final Fantasy XII site. The infamous "Man Branded as Traitor" title that was given to him was what triggered my interest in this character. As I said before, when I read this it was more of less given that he isn't a traitor.

I don't know, I sort of became a bit crazy wanting to know why he was labeled a traitor. So, when I found the Japanese script I was rather happy. I actually read it at work during my break and what not. When I did finally learnt the reasons why, for some reason I didn't' feel satisfied. However after playing the game, I think I've some what have things settled.

I think it's that fulfillment you get from reading a good book, and wanting to read it again to see what you've missed while reading it the first time. I don't know, for me Basch does seem a bit stereotypical, but he seems incredibly interesting as a character. I wanted to do him some justice, and since I haven't made a Final Fantasy related website before why not do one? Five years ago I wanted a Final Fantasy fansite site but I wanted to wait for the "perfect" character to make a site of. Someone I won't lost interest in after a few months. Initially it was Vincent Valentine from Final Fantasy VII for nostalgic purposes, the site is actually in shambles in my computer, but I seemed to have lost interest of him after Dirge of Cerberus was released. I really don't know, there was just something about Basch and his story and how it seems to have resemblance to other stories I like.

I actually had alot of trouble finding a proper name for this site. Originally I wanted it in English, but then I thought that using a name of a constellation would also be neat. Originally this site was going to be named "The Hundredth Meridian" after the Tragically Hip song. However, I had spelling problems with "Meridian" because "Meridien" (in French) sounds so much better. As things progressed I came across "Carpe Diem". In other words "Seize the Day". I tried finding things that would fit Basch with "Carpe Diem" because if you think about his character, it really does work, but making it sound legitimate was a bit problematic. After searching though things I found that whenever I see that image of his arm raised (see the image on the right), I see "Carpe Diem" in it. Thus, Carpe Diem it came to be.

  Project Started: June 6, 2006
  Prototype Upload: November 11, 2006
  Site Open:
  Average hits per day:
  Hosted: Flora-Fleur.net

Yes, here it is. A Basch layout. I actually don't mind it. With exception to a certain things. For starters, this layout was created by a random "texture" I tried making. Originally it was blue, bright green, and neon yellow. As you can see, that color combination is very odd. I liked it, but I didn't want to blind visitors, so I had to make them more mellow. You can still see bits of its neon glory though. So, with that done, I needed an image. I wanted that image of the Basch sketch on the layout badly, but I didn't know where to find it. I saw it in a book or a magazine scan, but I couldn't figiure out which one it was from. So I was hoping that the Collectors Edition Final Fantasy XII might have it in the art gallery, and let's say that I was very happy. I screen capped it, erased random body parts and there it is. A gimped Basch. A lot of the people who was fortunate enough to see this layout before it was uploaded publically, they all asked me one question "why does Basch not have a left leg?!". The reason is because I actually deleted it by accident. The entire left portion was deleted by accident, and I liked how it turned out. I tried making his left leg all half erased, but I couldn't make it nice enough, so it was left untouched. The next thing is the classic Chloe Sworl. As you can see it's horrible. It like died on the layout. I completely forgot aboutt he sworl and put stuff over it and it just looks very out of place. However, if I take it out, the layout will look very plain. It makes me a bit angry to see that the sworl isn't very "out there", but hey at least people will know it's mine when they see it? Stylistically, this site is mirrored after Sotto Voce. Yes, this is called stealing. Don't steal unless it's from yourself. Okay? I also stole that sworl from my epic Vergil sworl layout which ended miserably. So yes. What is "stealing" art ideas called? I know that in literature it's called intertextuality.

Some of you may be aware that I name all my layouts. This one is called "Inland Sea".

The subtexts of the links throughout this site were either thought of by myself, or are from lyrics of songs by Matthew Good, Matthew Good Band, The Tea Party, or Matt Dusk.

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