Frequently Asked Questions

To avoid possible questions asked an e-mails I'd prefer to ignore, I've composed a list of "frequently" asked questions that somewhere someone has wondered.

Why did you start this site?

For those of you wishing not to read my about I.F. section, I.F. was started mainly because I had the information and the evidence to prove I had deep knowledge on the original Final Fantasy game. There were not any websites devoted to Garland out there, so I made one. But, while updating the FF1 side of the site, I also made small posts about annoying things my friends did. Over time, of course, I've moved more to the personal side, but still occasionally shell out something Garland-esque.

Why does this site's layout suck?

For years I was able to maintain my site using a very simple layout, which was often contrary to the kind of websites I designed. The layout sucks simply because I want it to, and I put more emphasis into a better backend than a showy frontend. Because of my compulsive desire to keep up with the Joneses, the design is now tableless, but that doesn't mean I want to make some stupid "Web 2.0" design that looks like every other Wordpress site out there (notwithstanding that Web 2.0 doesn't mean anything, and it's just another buzzword made by business graduates), so instead I give you a simple design that reminds you that you can lick balls if you want some cookie-cutter, heavy-on-the-gradient, low-on-content design. If I wanted to tell you about my philosophy on dating, SEO, and my random trips to places you don't care about me going to, I'd make a blog.

Where did To Our Chaos come from?

It came from the notion that Garland would forever be around because of his time loop mechanism (in the end of the original Final Fantasy). In this situation, Garland lived by a thread, and upon his return, that altered the universe as he and the Light Warriors knew it.

When does TOC update?

I don't know. Whenever I have time to make another episode. As the series progresses, you'll find that the art is more and more original, which means I spend more time on each episode making the characters, the backgrounds, the story, and if I'm lucky, the music. If you think I'm neglecting the series, I'm not. I plan ahead, so the series isn't just going to die at some cliffhanger moment. I just have to have time.

Why do you hate [some topic]?

I probably don't. A lot of things I hate I really don't, or not as seriously as people think. Most of what I write about that annoys me truly does annoy me, but not to the point where I hate everything, even though I do.

Has anyone written you hate mail?

To date, only one person has ever written anything in response to what I wrote. Most feedback I get is from friends, and generally positive. If they don't give me any feedback, that usually means I've offended them, but they won't argue with me. I'd like to keep it that way, but there was also a point where I thought I would be playing Final Fantasy III DS for a long time--it took me about a week to beat it after dragging out me playing the game, so my standards aren't high.

Who does the artwork/design/programming?

With the exception of my counter, I programme everything on this website. I design all the artwork. Comics are done with MS Paint, and text is laid over in Photoshop. This site is done entirely by me, and it has been that way since it opened in 2001. Updates and such are all done alone by me. I do not accept requests/ideas. Even my "audience" throws a few ideas here and there, but updates are influenced entirely by my own observations.

What do you use to design your website?

Originally I used a WYSIWYG (WebSphere) editor that I ended up using the HTML tab to design anyway. Around 2004, I moved to just using a text editor (Crimson Editor) when I started using more php. Now I use jEdit until someone convinces me to use better text editors. I switched to text editors when I was unable to recover the software thanks to my (former) school, and I continued to use it simply because I like text editors better than WYSIWYG editors.

Who has influenced your writing?

In terms of satire... a lot of cartoons, the Onion, various Internet-based writers (Maddox clearly), some published authors, and high school. Of course, sometimes I'm just bloody sarcastic, and my updates may not be so much a humourous account of an event so much as it is an assertion that an event or idea is stupid.

What's with the name?

I made it up.