Daily Shaarli
May 11, 2024
Father Ted star Dermot Morgan told of how he was looking forward to getting out of the dog collar and possibly returning to the comedy circuit, in an interview given just days before his death yesterday.
Dermot performed “Getting Morganised” (standup?) as part of the ContemporEire festival in Dublin.
An evening of standup raising funds for Amnesty International. Dermot opens the performance.
At this time, Dermot was making “regular contributions” to RTÉ radio programme Studio 10.
In 1985, Dermot was presenting a radio show on Saturday mornings (possibly called “Guten Morgan” (source: review of The Dermot Morgan Special)
Call it, they said when they reached the plains. Summon the aeon, and vanquish Sin. But he could not call her, knowing she was his mother, and knowing she would be used for nothing but the renewal of this spiral of death.
When Izeel’s father suggests that she marry her friend and fellow warrior monk Auron, it seems like one of Bevelle’s better arranged marriages; but Izeel is already in a relationship, and is adamant that she won’t marry a man she doesn’t love.
If there’s any time, any place, that might permit some relaxation, it’s now, here, on this beach.
Several years after Yuna’s mother decides not to visit her people, the family moves to Besaid. Braska and his wife find their marriage under pressure, faced with suspicion in their new community, their teenage daughter’s rebellious behaviour, and Braska’s nascent feelings for a dear friend. When Yuna declares her intent to take the summoner’s pilgrimage, the stakes are raised, and they find themselves not content with the mere defeat of Sin, but actively trying to destroy it.
The most promising of the young warrior monks of Yevon gradually learns that some things are more important than his career. Pre-pilgrimage.
Now that it’s just the two of them, Celes begins to pay attention to Sabin, and to how he and she can support each other.
If you don’t look twenty-six and you don’t feel twenty-six, are you really twenty-six at all?
There were always a few bizarre things going on back home, mostly stories your mate told you that never seemed like they could be true, but none of my friends ever had anything this weird happen to them. After I moved up-country for uni a couple of years later, I never heard about anything like it ever again.
It will be good to have a guardian who is less invested, Braska thinks. Auron disagrees.
Only three of the party go to Kefka’s tower. Magic vanishes from the world before Locke has a chance to revive Rachel, and reuniting with his friends doesn’t go smoothly. Having failed both his quests, there seems little choice but to succumb to despair.
Celes, before and after her first period spent with the Returners: her arrest in South Figaro, and her return to Vector.
Sabin takes his freedom, and leaves the castle, but the people who control Figaro are determined not to let him get any further. Wounded and grieving, he battles through the pain in the only way he knows.
Celes considers what she knows about her companions. There’s something different about Locke, but she can’t work out what it is.
On the difference between fiends and the unsent:
“The dead need guidance. Filled with grief over their own death, they refuse to face their fate. They yearn to live on, and resent those still alive. You see, they envy the living. And in time, that envy turns to anger, even hate. Should these souls remain in Spira, they become fiends that prey on the living.”
I watched the FFX kabuki. It was very cool! I definitely felt as if I was missing out on a lot by just watching it in our wee gaming room while also attempting to grapple with certain overly ambitious handicrafts, because it was clearly meant as an Experience: go to the theatre, spend the whole day there (the full performance lasts about six hours), have some tenuously FFX-themed food, buy some official merch (I’m still disappointed that I never managed to get hold of the Braska standee they were selling at the performances).
Today in “questions only I would ask”: how tall, exactly, is Braska? The FFX Ultimania apparently tells us that Auron and Jecht are 182cm and 190cm respectively. But there’s presumably no information on Braska, although fortunately in the spheres from his pilgrimage we do get a couple of shots where he stands beside one of his guardians. Based on these, we can measure Braska against Auron, or against Jecht, or indeed both. We have to make sure both characters’ feet are in shot, firstly so we can be sure they’re an equal distance from the camera and that there aren’t any proportion issues; secondly, to calculate the relative difference in heights.
It’s a good time to be a FFX fan who plays FF mobile games, because not only have I spent many hours over the past few days playing WotV in an earnest attempt at maxing ✨My Boy✨, but also over in DFFOO it’s finally time for BRASKA!!! Or, I guess not, as apparently he’s still not playable yet, even though the events of the chapter literally make reference to him fighting alongside Jecht and Auron … looks like I’ll have to wait another week.
Started reading FFX-2.5: Le prix de l'éternité, aka the novel that everyone hates. I think I did skim over the extremely sub-par English translation a while ago, but seeing as the French version is a properly translated one and, er, I can actually read French, I realised that was not the optimum way forward.
I stand by my interpretation that Braska goes on the pilgrimage because he’s suicidal. Nobody makes reference to this ten years later, but why would they? Everything everyone (except Auron) knows about Braska’s motivations comes from two sources: Yevon’s official narrative, and Yuna’s memories of her father. Given the nature of Yevonite society I don’t think it’s a huge leap to suggest they would be highly offended by the mere notion of depression and suicide and would want to sweep that under the carpet as soon as possible. As for the other, Braska surely wouldn’t have been telling his seven-year-old daughter about how much he wanted to die. Not to say there’s no truth in “my father wanted to make Spira’s sorrow go away”; I’m sure that’s a valid reason for his pilgrimage as well. I just think going through with it allowed him to achieve that while also fulfilling the personal goal of putting an end to his own existence. He’d been disgraced and rejected by his people for the sake of his marriage, and now even his wife was gone, and … he was a very lonely and miserable person, who decided that becoming a summoner would be the most profitable way of ending his life.
This is some kind of fansite, I guess? It’s just a place to keep stuff of various kinds about Auron, number one blorbo since 2021. Maybe one day I’ll try to articulate why I like him so much; until then, here are some miscellaneous things.
When my father died, on February 28th, 1998, I wasn’t with him. He was in London and I was in Blackrock, with my brother and some friends. In my mind he could as easily have popped out for a newspaper and a late-night pint as have collapsed at home in the company of family and friends. I can only assume he died, and that it wasn’t a very sick joke on his part, although I wouldn’t put it past him. He was a brat that way. Since then my relationship with him has become an irresistible detective story, where I keep looking around for the essence of him, discovering more clues. But every time I think I’m getting close to him I realise I’m not. Twenty years on, here’s what I know about the ex-Dermot Morgan, who shuffled off this mortal coil to join his heroes Dr Chapman, Dean Swift, Lenny Bruce and Marty Feldman in the choir invisible.
Dermot Morgan’s new stage show, a nervous coalition of bitingly witty political satire and iffy observational humour, is a curious beast indeed.
Going by the sources below, there appear to have been two separate iterations of this show, in 1994 and 1995.
Morgan is a disconcerting man with whom to spend time because, while offering the most articulate of conversational skills, he also gives a running critical commentary of his performance in the conversation itself, which (deliberately?) makes it difficult to layer interpretation of your own.
Tidus asks Yuna if she’s an Al Bhed speaker. Tidus voudrait savoir si Yuna parle al bhed.
That’s right, post #2 has hit 40 pages so it’s time for a brand new post! Share the gossip about our favorite up-and-coming SOLDIER First Class, Shinra’s cutest, Zack Fair!!
Might as well give the poor creature another chance at life – as long as nobody’s looking.
Emma’s family advise her to evolve her partner Pokémon. She’s not so sure about the idea.
Olivier survives the events in Twinside, and is freed of Ultima’s possession. At last, he might ask his brother about the glorious dragoons.
The discovery of the Macalania butterflies leads to a revelation about Yuna’s childhood that surprises a few of the party members.
Discovering the nature of her friends’ relationship makes Yuna realise her own loneliness; but there is a solution.
Vargas’s relationship with his father deteriorates as he begins to forge a connection with Sabin. But that isn’t the whole story, and over the years he comes to realise that Sabin doesn’t understand him either.
Cuthbert’s up in court against an obnoxious lookalike of himself, and his lawyer wants him to dress for the occasion, and this is all too much for a simple cake to handle.
A time machine sets out to make a friend. The friend in question has but one dream: to get a law degree.
Celes’ things keep going missing. When she realises why, she’s surprised to find she can relate.
Tifa goes on an adventure with Aerith at Gold Saucer. They get more out of it than Barret and Cloud do.
Fic writers often depict Braska as a white mage, perhaps because Yuna is as well and perhaps also because summoning seems to be the preserve of white mages in FF9. In the mobile games where Braska is playable, though, he’s more of a black mage: in FFRK, iirc, he was a black mage with fire affinities, and the same is (was? ☹️) true in DFFOO, where he has a couple of white spells (Curaga for one) but these are outnumbered by black ones. In FFBE, he appears to be some kind of support unit? It looks like most of his abilities just apply buffs, but I also never play this game and don’t really know what’s going on.
Some very dedicated trawling of the internet a few months ago led me to MintArisu’s collection of FFX character models, which includes various excellently obscure entries such as the shoopuf and several varieties of fiend. Today, the need to know the answers to such burning questions as “does Braska wear a wedding ring?” and “what is the exact configuration of beads hanging from Auron’s belt?” finally got the better of me, so I downloaded the Auron and Braska models and XNALara and had a look at them.
After last week’s teaser, fave number two finally became playable in DFFOO yesterday morning, and I spent a good hour in a hotel room in Poland diligently maxing him. Once again, I have a lot of unnecessarily pedantic quibbles with the actual storyline of the chapter, but will save those for the conclusion of this thrilling saga (a fascinating read, I’m sure) – this post is just a few notes on Braska as a playable character.
Ok, so you know how a lot of priests in FFX wear weird white semi-fingerless gloves? Do they not vaguely resemble the kind of gloves people would wear to treat arthritis?
There are a couple of places online that list Auron, Braska and Jecht’s lines from the final battles in FFX-2, but nowhere seems to have the complete list, and the lists I’ve seen have a number of lines that are misattributed. It must be really difficult to transcribe them from the game, where there are all sorts of other noises going on and the lines are only triggered by specific conditions. Going through the actual sound files (is clearly overkill but) gives a much clearer impression of who says what, so obviously, that’s what I did.
Do you like slash? Do you like suffering? Do you like celebrated but old videogames that are no longer especially present in public discourse? Then read on, friend, I’ve got a ship for you!
The lines from this part of FFX are “It’s all right. It’s been long enough. This is your world now.”, while the official subtitles from the kabuki are “I’m fine. I’ve kept Braska waiting for ten years. The world belongs to you all.” The first and third of those sentences aren’t significantly different between the two versions, so I used the lines from the game for those because they sound a bit more elegant and are better known; the kabuki’s version of the second sentence was the reason I made this gifset in the first place! Tfw your OTP’s shippiest moment in canon isn’t technically canon and only actually involves one of them in person … sigh.
Since my first son was born in 2015, I have been trying to understand my new role in the absence of my own father, Dermot Morgan, who today will be dead 20 years.
Twenty years on from his death, Dermot Morgan’s place in Ireland’s public consciousness shows no sign of fading.
The back bar of The Clarence, Dublin’s most fashionable hotel, is a symphony of muted pastel colours and stark furniture. A fire burns cheerily in the grate, despite the May sunlight streaming through the window. There’s nobody here but me at 1.30 on a Friday lunchtime, which is a little alarming for the management (the place is owned by U2) but may be just a symptom of the new Irish Renaissance, in which no cool Dubliner would be so old-fashioned as to go for lunch in a pub. Among the myriad incarnations of the Renaissance (the Shamrock Economy, Boyzone, Mary Robinson, Riverdance, Angela’s Ashes, Irish theme pubs, Ballykissangel, Neil Jordan, The Leenane Trilogy on Broadway) one of the most striking has been the success of Father Ted, the Bafta-winning sitcom whose run came to an abrupt stop after three series.
“Actor and comedian Dermot Morgan returns to his home city of Dublin after a year’s exile in Surrey. Can the craic tempt him back for good?”
Dermot performs the spoken parts on Que Sera Sera (We’re Going To Italy), side A of this single released by the Dublin City Ramblers.
I have no information on this record, other than that it was a Dolphin release in 1988 and that this image (from Our Father) was on the cover.
“It’s remarkably satisfying to spin, though,” Braska murmured. “Reminds me of a game we used to play at Home.”
Jecht watched him suspiciously. “You – no way. You used to play spin the bottle?”
Clive expects to become a man on the morning of his first mission; he doesn’t realise it actually happens the night before.
She can’t wake one of her guardians and ask them to keep her company – but an aeon, perhaps …
Yuna is convinced that becoming a summoner is her destiny. Wakka and Lulu take longer to persuade.
Braska agonises over how to tell Yuna he is taking the pilgrimage – but it turns out that she understands his vocation.
Auron can allow himself to be gentle when he’s sure Jecht won’t remember it the next morning.
After Tidus learns the truth about the pilgrimage, Auron is disappointed in his other companions.
“You can drive?” he noted curiously.
Auron glanced down at his own hands on the steering wheel, looked back up at Tidus, and said, “Apparently.”
Getting swallowed by an enormous creature was the last thing Sabin expected. Edgar finds it particularly difficult.
Tom Nook works too hard but things turn out ok with some help from Isabelle and his true love.
This is intended as an index to the recorded voice lines of Final Fantasy X. The audio files themselves are not stored here, but can be downloaded in WAV format from The Sounds Resource.
Tidus’ mother is dead, therefore she appears on the Farplane. However, Tidus’ mother is also not a real person. So dead dreams appear to be just as able to manifest themselves on the Farplane as actual people.
Back in November the young Auron costume was announced for DFFOO and this obviously made me unreasonably excited. At the time, the delay between JP and GL was consistent enough to make it possible to predict the exact day the content would be released in the latter. Young Auron was supposed to be arriving early last month; I had been hoarding materials since he was first announced so I could obtain and max his new weapons and boards, pretty standard stuff.
Still trawling through every single file from the FFX voice lines – I’ve just made it to the Via Purifico. A few lines have come up that didn’t make it into the final game (either the Japanese or English versions); I don’t pretend to be so familiar with the whole script that I can spot them instantly, but one component I am extremely familiar with is the content of the spheres from Braska’s pilgrimage, and it turns out that the scene where they meet Jecht in the prison has not one but two sections that ended up being cut.
The Final Fantasy Wiki says the following about the Al Bhed:
A mechanic called Alb created a race called Bedohls, humans who could not use magic but excelled at wielding machina … The surviving Bedohls became known as the Al Bhed, a corrupted mesh of their original name and their creator's name.
More headcanons about Braska, less unremittingly Sad and in fact somewhat tongue-in-cheek featuring just a little bit of angst (because, a. me, b. Braska) – by the time he starts his pilgrimage, he hasn’t had his hair cut by a professional for at least eight years because everyone in Bevelle goes out of their way to snub him, and this for some reason includes the, er, barbers’ guild, all of whom are devout followers of Yevon I guess? Anyway, the reason Braska keeps his hair completely covered up isn’t because of some kind of religious thing, it’s because he’s been cutting it himself for years and he’s terrible at it. (fun fact I say this as someone who has been cutting their own hair for the last three years because going to ladies’ hairdressers as a GNC person is an extremely uncomfortable experience, and … let’s say it’s an adventure)
There are a lot of lines in FFX that are meant to add tasty bits of backstory to the experience, but sometimes they just don’t work.
