Folks, today we have a very special physical edition of Mail Bad.
Last week, I wrote a post about some of the most obscure Final Fantasy VIII merchandise. It ended with a plea to readers, about a particularly special FF8 mug:
Folks. This is a personal plea. I want this. I want this more than anything. If you know me, tea is something that is near and dear to my heart. I love exploring different teas, and I love collecting tea mugs that have personal significance to me. […] I am serious: if you have enjoyed this site so far and want to throw money at it, I want this mug. […] If you buy this mug, I will make a permanent post on this blog celebrating your heroism.
Dear readers… a hero came through, and his name is Nick.
Nick, another died-in-the-wool FF8 fan, came out of nowhere and sent this mug!!! He is unbelievably generous, and getting this in the mail has made my month.
Here’s what he had to say about FF8…
FFVIII holds a deep place in my heart because I grew up w/ very modest means in West Virginia. I played FFVII in my teens on PC (~4 yrs after release date) after my dad purchased it at a walmart clearance bin. I was hooked. We had a family PS2, as well. My parents stretched budget to get me the PS1 version of FFVIII for a present (from the same clearance bin of course), but we didn’t realize you needed a PS1 memory stick to save PS1 games on a PS2. We couldn’t afford one for many, many months so I ended up “rougelike”ing the game – I made it to Fisherman’s Horizon (post Norg fight) without dying or turning off the PS2.
Finally got the PS1 memory stick and 100%’ed the game.
Making it all the way past fucking NORG is a true act of dedication, especially in an era before you could fast-forward the game.
I promised to actually drink out of this mug once in a while, which I will do. I am also treating this thing like a precious gem and delicately cleaning it after each wash, with the long-term plan to make sure this gets saved so people 500 years from now will know that Final Fantasy VIII kicked ass.
I was cutting out caffeine today, so my first cup was a bag of Sweet & Spicy rooibos from Good Earth. It looked—dare I say tasted—like a Moomba.
