One of my favorite things to eat any time of year is pineapple. August is the end of pineapple season, so we’re going to give it some love, gosh darn it. Of course, one of the best things you can possibly do with a pineapple during pineapple season is just buy a ripe one, cut it up, and eat it… But I’m one of those people who loves pineapple on their pizza, their burgers, and their thai fried rice. A tango dancer taught me this recipe at a milonga (read as “tango dance party”). It’s easy, requires very little effort, and is perfect for potlucks—because part of the reason this requires so little effort is that it’s a slow cooker recipe. All you will need is some pineapple (canned or fresh, up to you!), some barbecue sauce, and a bag of frozen meatballs of your choice.
Mix meatballs and pineapple to your preferred proportions (I do about half and half, so two cans of pineapple chunks to your one small/medium size bag of meatballs will do nicely). Then, douse it all in barbecue sauce. Don’t drown it, though. There’s a difference between dousing and drowning, and the difference is that the barbecue sauce has covered the surface area of all the materials in the slow cooker, but the other ingredients are not submerged in a bath of BBQ. Then, cook it for 4 hours on low, serve, and enjoy the delightful salty sweet of this dish!
This month I’m going to talk about media you have to plan for, just like when you decide to cook with pineapple. Some might say you would have to plan for any recipe, but pineapple is the sort of ingredient that either works or does NOT. You have to plan for it. Just like with choose your own adventure books and games with time limits, both of which we will be talking about today!
Choose your own adventure books were always something of a mystery to me when I was a child. I could never seem to figure out what I was supposed to do, and more often than not I got tricked into ringing a bell forever, accidentally became a cult sacrifice, or got gored by a unicorn. That was not the case with the new Gravity Falls choose your own adventure book, however! Although Dipper and Mabel and the Curse of the Time Pirates' Treasure! offers the reader plenty of terrible ways to die or mess up time forever, the book also allows readers to get back on the right track. The book begins with three paths. Dipper, Mabel, and Blendin can go to the future, the middle ages, or the old west. It’s possible to get a time key in each era, and it’s possible to unlock the final ending once you’ve got the time key. It’s just getting one that can be so gosh darn difficult.
When the children and Blendin arrive in an era, there are choices to be made. There are three things to choose from in the old west and in medieval times, but the future only has two choices—probably due to the mystery hidden within this timeline of events, but more on that later. One might think that only one choice would lead to finding a time key. In a way, that’s correct. Only one series of events within each era will lead to finding a time key. Fortunately for the reader, any of the choices available when entering an era have the potential to lead back to choosing from that menu again.
Say, for instance, you choose to battle the knight in medieval times. Battling the knight might not get you a time key, but the King will let you choose from the other two tasks he originally offered to Dipper, Mabel, and Blendin if the reader successfully wins against the knight. This is true of the three choices offered in the old west and the two offered in the future as well.
The planning aspect of this book comes in trying to find your way to the treasure. So many choices, but which one could be right?! If you’re a Gravity Falls fan, you’ll likely end up trying to make every choice once just so you can read the whole book. It means you need to plan to have an ample supply of bookmarks handy, but it’s a good way to approach the book—because even though you might find the time pirates’ treasure by finding a time key, you won’t find some of the more interesting endings or secrets hidden within the book.
The second piece of media I want to bring up is Final Fantasy: Lightning Returns. It’s one of the only games I ever bought the official guide for, and here’s why: the game is on a time limit. I know what you’re thinking, “A time limit? What are you talking about, this is a JRPG!” So was Majora’s Mask. But unlike Majora’s Mask, Lightning can’t play the Song of Time and return to the beginning of her three day period. Her game is actually set on a six day period (although you can create a seventh day by saving enough souls), and is designed so the player will come back and play the game again and again. But who really has time for replays in this day and age?
There’s a lot to cover in Lightning’s story. Anyone who’s played the first two games of the Final Fantasy XIII series knows there’s a lot of damage control to do, and on top of the major plot stuff there are plenty of sidequests! It’s a lot to work into a single playthrough—which is why the player must manage their time effectively.
The player also has to choose what Lightning is going to wear. You thought picking your outfit on a daily basis was a toughie, just wait until things like your defense, speed, and strength are linked to it! Some truly terrible clothing decisions can be made, and some lovely ones too—but it takes a keen eye, careful planning, and occasionally a credit card and tactical preorder for premade Final Fantasy throwback costume DLC. The player is allowed to have three outfits equipped at a time and can cycle through them in battle. Since Lightning is the only character the player has in their party (most of the time) it’s important that these outfits not only look good, but play a particular role in the wardrobe. Fighting something that’s weak to magic? Better cycle over to Yuna’s outfit from Final Fantasy X-2. Need something cut to tiny pieces? Cloud’s outfit comes with the buster sword.
The nice thing about having the guide for this game is that it allows the player to plan their wardrobe and their time in an effective manner to get the most out of the game the first time through. In a game with a time limit and no Song of Time to help me navigate around within it, I was truly grateful to have a plan going in.
What’s some of the media you’ve had to plan for in order to enjoy? Tell me in the comments!
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