About a week ago I believe I told you that I was trying out a writing community called Bibliofaction. Don't go. Most of the pieces were poorly written smut, which I expected to a degree after all I was looking for a Deviant Art of writing, but there was no system in place to rate works or sort through the bad ones. I will continue my search... Elsewhere!
I wanted to mention Google Wave. My friend who adores guinea pigs, in a totally no homo masculine way, mentioned that the internets were abuzz with this new leet software. I looked into it and I was actually impressed this time. Normally I don't approve of listening to hype, but I would advise everyone to keep there eye on this one. It appears to be a cross between an Instant Messenger and a Document sharer. It looks like its going to have a lot of functionality. The makers are kinda stuck up about it, saying they think it's going to replace email, psh yea sure. I do think it looks like a good product and if its free, hot dog!
Speaking of guinea-man, on Sixty's Blog he reviewed a bad game for a change of pace. Now I'm not competitive or anything, *glance left and right* but I think I WILL review a bad game. Okay, maybe a little competitive.
Sonic Heroes
Sonic and his many many obscure friends on a three dimensional adventure to... do... something... that involves Robotn- I mean EGGMAN!
Presentation - This game is in 3D, but the graphics are simple, way too glossy, and tend to clip, flicker and otherwise bug out. The music is annoying and the theme song makes me want to get a bucket and hurl and then find someone who likes this game and dump it on them. The cutscenes are clearly not synched up with the voice acting either, not that they'd be impressive if they were.
Presentation gets no points.
Entertainment - 3D Sonic has always struggled and this one is probably the best example. The controls are stiff, the homing attacks make you bounce all over the place, and weird camera angles for dramatic effect change your controls and make you fall to your death. Enemies in the game are no threat. Hitting one makes you lose like 10 rings or something, really easy to get back. Never the less, you will die all the time in this game. The game is almost nothing but platforms placed over endless pits of death. Even landing in deep water is instant death. Strange camera angles don't make avoiding this death any easier. An awkard team mechanic coupled with a leveling up system makes this game feel very not Sonic-esque. When gameplay is the mainstay of a game, like it usually is in platformers, you really can't afford to mess it up.
Entertainment gets no points.
Literary Value - heh, ha, ha ha, HA HA HA HA Ha Ha, Ha, ha, ha, hoo, whoo, yea, good one.
No points.
Respect - Sonic was a big name series and still has a large following, but even most fans of Sonic will still agree, this game stinks. This is not a highly acclaimed game, in fact its rather often the butt of many a joke.
Sonic Heroes gets NO RESPECT!
Sonic Heroes gets 0 rings / 4 and dies.
Final Notes - This is the only game that I wish I could get rid of. Most bad games I get I just sell, but my six-year-old sister is a hoog Sonic fan and being six she has no taste in games. The colorful graphics and repetitive theme song hypnotizes her young impressionable mind and she makes us play it for her sometimes. We've almost got it completely out of her system by hiding it in the back of our games case, but sometimes she remembers or finds it. As Roland of Gilead says, "For your father's sake," don't get this game.
Fall Break is coming up this week. I'll be with my family and I may not update until I get back. I'm not going to promise I won't, but don't be surprised if I don't.
I worked on my assembly language project today. Assembly language is probably the most cryptic computer language I've had to deal with. I have to use a reference card to remember the difference between load word and load immediate. I got it mostly done today all that's left is some debugging.
And then...
We landed the ship on the asteroid's landing pad. The place was an abandoned mining colony with old rusted digging equipment and space weathered buildings with faded Fraction Corps logos on them. (It looks like pac man)
"Nanobot Command, Astro-Shield, Personal" I commanded the nanobots to form a space survival shield to protect me from the vacuum of space and provide me with compressed air to breath. It's completely invisible.
Ash repeated my command.
She cut her hair back to its original short state where it comes down just below her ears. It is still completely green, apparently she didn't have the dye to get the blond tips she had before. Reminds me of Ryoko on Martian Successor Nadesico.
"Stop staring and lets get moving."
"Hey now, I'm the captain, I give the... orders."
She had already pushed off the ship towards one of the walk lines. The gravity on the asteroid is too low to really walk so the workers put up ropes along the surface they could use to pull themselves along with.
The barren cold surface of the asteroid filled with the ruins of a long gone civilization gave me a bad feeling. You have to think that people once lived and worked here every day. Now there was nothing but silence.
"COMM CHECK!"
"Lord! Ash, do you have to yell?"
"I'll take that as an affirmative."
"Yea, yea, affirmative. There's no one here, if your sis is hiding out here she's gotta be in the mines."
"Roger that, let's go."
"Aye."
We drifted into the darkness of the mines. As we got deeper into the cave we realized neither of us had brought a flashlight.
"I think we should go back."
Just then, the lights flickered on. Ash's eyes flickered on as well.
"She's here!"
"calm down, could've been motion detected or worse, could be someone else."
"Stop being pessimistic."
"Then stay on your toes!"
She stared at me for a moment with nothing but defiance in her puckered lips, but then she softened into a grudging compliance.
"Aye cap'n."
We continued down the mines until we reached a sector with a huge metal walkway leading deeper. The walkway appeared to be for using magnetic boots to simulate gravity, but there were still walk lines along the ground.
"What d'you think these metal walkways are for?"
Ash pointed down the cave.
"That."
I followed her gaze to a towering metal colossus with drills for arms. A mech, mining class, but big enough to impress anyone standing in its shadow. Nearly ten stories tall, its drills were at least two stories tall by themselves.
"I want one."
Until next time fellow pirates.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Friday, October 2, 2009
Disgaea
I'm craving a game that I can't play. One it's on PS2 and two I don't own a copy. Since I can't play it, I'm gonna review it, or something. Most of my friends, those who love the 80's and those who live off of chicken fingers, will not hear anything here they don't already know. This is mostly just for me to stifle my craving, hopefully.
Disgaea: Hour of Darkness
I'll use my normal format really quickly and then I want to get to the good stuff, as this is more commentary than review.
Presentation - Disgaea has beautiful high definition art during cutscenes and brightly colored over-the-top special moves. It may lack some in animation, but makes up for it and more in artwork.
Full-Marks for Pres.
Entertainment - Providing one of the most intricate strategy RPG systems I have ever seen with a plethora of levels, many of which are optional, you could literally play this game for hundreds of hours and still find new stuff. Trust me, I have a friend who's done it.
Entertainment gets Full-Marks
Literary Value - A heart-felt divine comedy with several plot twists and a fresh from the villain perspective. It may have a little anime cheese to it. But just enough to make it better and not hinder it.
Full-Marks for Story (seeing a pattern here?)
Respect - Now here's where I get picky with my review. This game is obscure, it used to be a lot more obscure than it is now. Now it's very in with the nerd crowd and the anime crowd. Popular? No. Well-known? Not really. Highly acclaimed? Definitely. It's not a perfect game, but it's damn near close.
Respect? Half-Cred. It's good enough for me.
Disgaea gets 3.5 exploding prinnies out of 4
Enough review, I just wanna ramble. Disgaea Commentary starts here. One of my favorite things about Disgaea was Item World. When you need to level up, Item world is there for you. Not only does it provide random dungeons to train your peeps in, but doing so makes your items better too. Also, Item World was chocked full of goodies to be had in case you were low on cash or needed some better gear.
It wasn't just easy pickings either though. If you went into Item World unprepared or picked the wrong item to jump into to, you'd find yourself over your head fast. Mr. Gency's Exits were a godsend, and made it so that even if you did get in over your head, you could still salvage the situation.
I think the combo system made the game ten times more fun as well. Both the physical attack combo and the stringing together several commands combo.
And the game was so funny. Even the battle system was hilarious. Your stats had practically no limits, throwing your teammates around was a strategy, and if you couldn't get a bill passed you could just beat up everyone who didn't vote for you.
Disgaea 2 and 3 weren't as good. Disgaea 2 would've gotten a 3/4 and I didn't play Disgaea 3 enough to know what it would get. I think Disgaea 2 made a lot of good changes to the game system, but the story was much weaker. And it didn't have the deep character development of the first one. I think Rozalin was the best character and she didn't have that much going for her. Despite Axel's attempts at being the next Mid-Boss, he couldn't quite live up.
I think the fact that you could use a ton of different strategies really helped Disgaea too. You could power-level Laharl to kill everything, or you could work with a huge rotating cast. You could pick your favorite characters and even mold them to your preferences to a degree. I made Flonne a gun user, best one I had, because I made her that way. She would've been much more suited to healing or working with a bow, but I said no, she's gonna pop some caps.
Last word, if you're reading this and you don't know about Disgaea, play this game. If you're reading this and you do know Disgaea, please send me a copy, a PS2, and million dollars, please?
I worked on some Visual Basic projects today. Visual Basic is really easy to use. It also seems rather limited in its capabilites, but I'm taking the class so I'm learning the language.
And then...
I used Googalaxy to search for leads to finding Lee, but the words of Sayoko still swam in my head. She had said that Lee had killed herself when she activated the weapon of mass destruction. Hey, Ash had died and she was standing over my shoulder right now. Maybe it was genetic?
"What's bothering you Keelhaul?"
"Sayoko said your sister was dead."
"Sayoko says a lot of things. Keep looking."
I could see I wasn't going to change her mind about this one. I found a chat on PirateLinks about someone saying they thought they saw Lee Edwards' spaceship landing on one of Fraction Corps asteroid mining bases.
Sounding like a good enough place to start.
The nanobots I picked up had the ship up and running. Her beautiful hardwood floors glowed in the unfettered starlight. Her completely useless sails fluttered in an artificial breeze. Really stunning and completely superfluous. The boards even creaked as you walked across them, just for added effect. The photon cannons were molded into age of exploration cannons with powder kegs next to it and everything.
The only thing it was missing... a crew. The decks were huge and completely empty. Thanks to the nanobots neural interface, I could pilot the ship all by myself, but it still needed a crew. I could use the extra hands too.
At least I had a first mate.
"And these, my lady, are your private quarters."
"So I can paint the walls pink right?"
"Well, you, I mean..."
"I'm just kidding. It feels weird to have a place to call my own. I've been on the road for several years now."
"You and your husband?"
"No, ex-husband, and he was too ADD with me anyway, sans travel."
(Cha-ching)
"By the way Keelhaul, you look a lot like him."
"Related maybe? What's his name?"
"Bob Citsrk?"
"Don't know him. It actually sounds like a name I'd use as an alias, but I've never met you before. I'd have to get really drunk not to remember getting married."
"Yea, guess so..."
"Anyway, get some sleep, we'll hit that asteroid tomorrow."
"I hope not."
Until next time fellow pirates.
Disgaea: Hour of Darkness
I'll use my normal format really quickly and then I want to get to the good stuff, as this is more commentary than review.
Presentation - Disgaea has beautiful high definition art during cutscenes and brightly colored over-the-top special moves. It may lack some in animation, but makes up for it and more in artwork.
Full-Marks for Pres.
Entertainment - Providing one of the most intricate strategy RPG systems I have ever seen with a plethora of levels, many of which are optional, you could literally play this game for hundreds of hours and still find new stuff. Trust me, I have a friend who's done it.
Entertainment gets Full-Marks
Literary Value - A heart-felt divine comedy with several plot twists and a fresh from the villain perspective. It may have a little anime cheese to it. But just enough to make it better and not hinder it.
Full-Marks for Story (seeing a pattern here?)
Respect - Now here's where I get picky with my review. This game is obscure, it used to be a lot more obscure than it is now. Now it's very in with the nerd crowd and the anime crowd. Popular? No. Well-known? Not really. Highly acclaimed? Definitely. It's not a perfect game, but it's damn near close.
Respect? Half-Cred. It's good enough for me.
Disgaea gets 3.5 exploding prinnies out of 4
Enough review, I just wanna ramble. Disgaea Commentary starts here. One of my favorite things about Disgaea was Item World. When you need to level up, Item world is there for you. Not only does it provide random dungeons to train your peeps in, but doing so makes your items better too. Also, Item World was chocked full of goodies to be had in case you were low on cash or needed some better gear.
It wasn't just easy pickings either though. If you went into Item World unprepared or picked the wrong item to jump into to, you'd find yourself over your head fast. Mr. Gency's Exits were a godsend, and made it so that even if you did get in over your head, you could still salvage the situation.
I think the combo system made the game ten times more fun as well. Both the physical attack combo and the stringing together several commands combo.
And the game was so funny. Even the battle system was hilarious. Your stats had practically no limits, throwing your teammates around was a strategy, and if you couldn't get a bill passed you could just beat up everyone who didn't vote for you.
Disgaea 2 and 3 weren't as good. Disgaea 2 would've gotten a 3/4 and I didn't play Disgaea 3 enough to know what it would get. I think Disgaea 2 made a lot of good changes to the game system, but the story was much weaker. And it didn't have the deep character development of the first one. I think Rozalin was the best character and she didn't have that much going for her. Despite Axel's attempts at being the next Mid-Boss, he couldn't quite live up.
I think the fact that you could use a ton of different strategies really helped Disgaea too. You could power-level Laharl to kill everything, or you could work with a huge rotating cast. You could pick your favorite characters and even mold them to your preferences to a degree. I made Flonne a gun user, best one I had, because I made her that way. She would've been much more suited to healing or working with a bow, but I said no, she's gonna pop some caps.
Last word, if you're reading this and you don't know about Disgaea, play this game. If you're reading this and you do know Disgaea, please send me a copy, a PS2, and million dollars, please?
I worked on some Visual Basic projects today. Visual Basic is really easy to use. It also seems rather limited in its capabilites, but I'm taking the class so I'm learning the language.
And then...
I used Googalaxy to search for leads to finding Lee, but the words of Sayoko still swam in my head. She had said that Lee had killed herself when she activated the weapon of mass destruction. Hey, Ash had died and she was standing over my shoulder right now. Maybe it was genetic?
"What's bothering you Keelhaul?"
"Sayoko said your sister was dead."
"Sayoko says a lot of things. Keep looking."
I could see I wasn't going to change her mind about this one. I found a chat on PirateLinks about someone saying they thought they saw Lee Edwards' spaceship landing on one of Fraction Corps asteroid mining bases.
Sounding like a good enough place to start.
The nanobots I picked up had the ship up and running. Her beautiful hardwood floors glowed in the unfettered starlight. Her completely useless sails fluttered in an artificial breeze. Really stunning and completely superfluous. The boards even creaked as you walked across them, just for added effect. The photon cannons were molded into age of exploration cannons with powder kegs next to it and everything.
The only thing it was missing... a crew. The decks were huge and completely empty. Thanks to the nanobots neural interface, I could pilot the ship all by myself, but it still needed a crew. I could use the extra hands too.
At least I had a first mate.
"And these, my lady, are your private quarters."
"So I can paint the walls pink right?"
"Well, you, I mean..."
"I'm just kidding. It feels weird to have a place to call my own. I've been on the road for several years now."
"You and your husband?"
"No, ex-husband, and he was too ADD with me anyway, sans travel."
(Cha-ching)
"By the way Keelhaul, you look a lot like him."
"Related maybe? What's his name?"
"Bob Citsrk?"
"Don't know him. It actually sounds like a name I'd use as an alias, but I've never met you before. I'd have to get really drunk not to remember getting married."
"Yea, guess so..."
"Anyway, get some sleep, we'll hit that asteroid tomorrow."
"I hope not."
Until next time fellow pirates.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
dA Today
I'm bored. Time for a new segment. Today I'll browse through Deviant Art and pull some of my favorites of the day. I may take some stuff made in the last week or so. I'll go with my top three today. I may do more or less next time.
Time to Fly
I like the sense of scale the author used in this piece. It reminded me of those commercials for Aion.
Dragon and Slave (Censored)
I, um, ahem, I thought this piece was well colored and... yea okay I thought it was kinda hot. Sorry about the censoring, but this is a public page that may be viewed by minors.
Kappa
I found this picture very frightening despite the lower detail. Artist did a good job with mood.
I didn't find as much as I was expecting to find. I got a hundred on a Assembly language exam I was dreading, so I'm happy today. Still busy though. I'll get it all done though.
And then...
I warped back to find myself safely six feet above the ground outside of the Fraction building. Falling six feet still hurts though. I shook it off and walked back towards the building.
The building was deserted, likely evacuated during the fight. I walked up and pushed the call button for the elevator.
Waiting.
The elevator doors slid open and I began to step into the elevator. I was kindly met with a pistol in my face. Luckily (or unluckily) I found that Ash was behind that pistol. She looked human again. Her hair fell straight to her waist and was solid green. She wore the tattered burnt remains of one of the guards' uniforms. Besides that she looked just like she used to.
She lowered her gun and ran up and hugged me.
"Thank you for bringing me back."
"It was nothing. You really helped me out of a scrape up there."
"I hope I didn't hurt you. I didn't know I could do that."
"Naw, so... can you do that whenever you want now."
('Cause it's almost time for the bad news)
"I don't think so, but maybe."
(Not good.)
"Well, I'm glad you're back, but I should be on my way."
"Take me with you. I could use your help again sometime, and I owe you one for bringing me back."
"You owe me one, eh? Well in that case I guess you could tag along."
"Besides I need to pick up the money from the refractor."
"I spent it."
Here comes the look.
"All of it? I needed that money."
"Just my share, just call us even, waddaya say?"
"I need you to help me find my sister."
"That sounds like work."
"I was going to use the money from that refractor to fund my search, but since you spent it, I guess I'll have to squeeze it out of you."
"Very well, but if we do this, you have to become my first full fledge crew-mate."
"I'm not sure I like the implications of 'mate' but okay, Ash Citsrk at your service."
(Oh yea, her husband, I'll ask her later.)
Until next time fellow pirates...
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Modern Con Man
I picked up this book called "Modern Con Man" and I love it. It's filled with bar tricks to impress people or win a few wagers. The whole thing is devious, but in a fun, harmless kind of way. The motto in the front of the book is:
"Do unto others... then run."
Some of the tricks I've heard of, like playing the game of Nim, but most of them I haven't and they don't require a lot of props either. Here's a simple example just to give you a taste.
Standing in line, bored? How about skipping the person ahead of you? Try this. Bet him that he can't stand on his right foot for ten seconds if you place him against the wall. You get to skip him if you win and if he wins, offer him a dollar or something. When he agrees, place him against the wall, but place him sideways so his right shoulder and right foot are against the wall. Timber!
I had an enjoyable weekend. A couple of my friends came over and we watch Lupin III: Castle of Caligostro. It's an old Myazaki film based on a TV series.
And then...
I stood on the top of the Fraction Building staring down the sights of three rifles trained on me. Ms. Sayoko stood behind them, her blue curly hair bouncing at her waist and plump red lips curled in an evil smile.
"The Refractor, if you don't mind."
"Funny thing about that, I just gave it to some ninja."
"Then I'll take those nanobots as compensation."
"How about I leave and take the bots and you just have a nice day."
"I wouldn't advise that. As soon as I saw you on the buildings cameras, I erected an anti-warp field that scatters objects leaving the area faster than the speed of light. It covers the entire roof."
"Where do you people GET THESE THINGS?"
Just as I was exclaiming about how unfair anti-warp devices were, the sun was fully eclipsed by the moon. At that moment, the pouch that had been holding Ash's remains began to get very hot. I quickly tossed it off in self-preservation. The guards took their guns off of me and aimed at the satchel that was now on fire. The pouch quickly burned to a crisp and the ashes fell out.
The pile of ashes writhed and grew. Embers spread out in veins branching out all over the pile. Then the delicate shape of a human hand burst from the pile as if someone was reaching out of a lake. The hand, black and crispy like the ash, grasped the roof, pulling itself from the invisible mire. A shoulder appeared, still black and crispy like the hand with the ember veins mapping out some alien terrain. Then the head pulled itself from the lake of ash, slowly and laboriously as if the lake was made of some thick syrup. Her hair was long and draped from her head concealing her face.
Then in a violent flail, she flung her hair backwards and thrust her crispy black bare chest into the air and gasped for breath. As the air rushed into her, the ember veins flared like a Boy Scout's campfire as he blew on it to keep it going. She continued her crawl from the primeval pits, one hip and then the next. Finally the last bits of ash gathered together to finish her long legs and burnt black feet. She paused a moment, rasping for air, her ember veins pulsing with every gasp.
Then she looked up. Three frightened gaurds and a carefully retreating Sayoko were in front of her. She let out a feral screech like someone trying to impersonate a hawk, and doing a pretty good job. She burst into flames, all the black crispy skin licked away by red hot heat. Then she lunged at the first guard. Her fingers clawed through his face, each cutting like a minature blow torch. The other guards fired their weapons, but each bullet passed through her as if she wasn't even there. Second guard. Third guard. She whirled around and looked right at me.
"Hey now Ash, it's me, Keelhaul?"
I knew this wouldn't work, but I was buying for time. I couldn't warp, the anti-warp field was still active. (Anti-warp field, really)
She began leaping towards me on all fours. As she lunged for me, I pretended to be knocked off. I was actually jumping. As I fell, I thought about how mad she was going to be when she found out that we already spent the refractor money. I wondered if she would have the ability to turn into that thing from now on. The ground was getting closer, this was a pretty tall building. I had to warp right before I hit the ground, that way if I warped back, I'd only be six feet in the air instead of sixty.
If I missed timed it, I'd end up as street pizza. Right... about... now.
Until next time fellow pirates.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Football, a critique
Today was a football game here at USC. It was a big one too. Us versus Ole Miss. I always hate the time from 4-6 on game days. All the frat guys are worked up, but none of them have left for the game. I don't get Football. Not football itself, I enjoy watching a good game a football with a group of friends. I enjoy school spirit. Feeling united together with people who live and work with you is a good thing. I just don't get why everyone goes crazy. I think there's something more to it, something more sinister.
I think there's a bloodlust to it. A craving for violence that can't be fulfilled in today's modern controlled society. The closest thing they have is violent sports like football. It's not even a craving for athletics, I know a lot of these fanatics that don't look like they've played football in years. I'm speculating of course, I don't have any data or anything.
I think most of it isn't even each person's individual violent nature, but rather a mob mentality that lets people drop there mental guards and go with crowd. They feel like it's okay to be ultra-violent because everyone else is too. I would not want to tick off one of these crowds. They could tear you apart and they'd all blame it on each other.
It's possible I'm overreacting, but let me tell you, if anything ever does happen with football crowd hysteria, something bad, I'll be right there with a big sign, "I told you so."
I actually do wish I went to this game though. One of my friends came down to watch the game. He might not even be able to stop in though, he had to go to the game straight from work and if he has to work tomorrow then he'll have to head straight home afterword. Like I said, I enjoy a good game of football, now and then, with some friends.
But tonight I simply play "Lufia and the Fortress of Doom." Hey, how about a microreview, there's not much to this game.
Lufia and the Fortress of Doom
Presentation - Very 90's RPG. Good for it's time, and still catchy today. Fun but repetitive music and colorful, simple graphics. Full Points
Literary Value - Four warriors battle the evil Sinistrals. I like how cheesy it is, but it's no work of art. (Just an expression)
Half-Credit
Entertainment - Old school JRPG, riddled with Step, Step, Battle syndrome. It does you the service of sending you back to town when you die with all your earnings, but items don't have descriptions and monsters are more of a chore than a challenge.
No-Credit
Respect - Lufia and the Fortress of Doom? My friend had played a remake, but I had to dig to find this game. Sorry Lufia, you get No Respect.
Lufia and the Fortress of Doom gets:
1.5 DragonEggs out of 4 - Below Average
If you're craving some nostalgia like I am, go for it, but this game is old school Dragon Quest style.
And then...
"Well Jack, it's time for..."
A kunai flew from his fingertips and stabbed me right in the leg.
"Not wasting any time I see."
"It's an anti-warp device."
"Say wha?"
"If you warp anywhere, I'll be drug with you."
He didn't want me to run away. That was actually one of my most likely options. This wasn't good.
"You got the nanobots?" I tried to pull the kunai out, no good, stuck in tight.
"There location is stored in my hard-drive. But you won't survive to access it."
"I wouldn't count on that."
One, two...
I leapt forward, he leapt forward, our blades clashed in the collision. I had one saber in each hand, he had only one katana that he two-handed. I dropped a blade and pulled my pistol.
Three, four...
He blocked both shots with his blade. I hate it when they do that. He rushed forward with blinding speed. I picked up my second sword.
I declare war.
It was all I could do just to keep up with the flurry of blows. He leapt backwards and stood at ready.
"This is all? Without your precious warping you are nothing. Why don't you warp? I would follow, but would I not be disoriented by the trip?"
I wouldn't count on that.
Ten, nine...
He began his barrage again. He was holding back. He could've killed me by now. I decided to try his theory out.
Eight, seven...
In the refractory, our battle continued. He did seem to pause for a moment to take in his new surroundings. I took an initiative.
Six, five...
Blocked, both strikes. Not enough, might as well keep it on the rooftop. Warping back he flew at me, familiar with this terrain.
Four, three...
"Two, you only have two places you can warp to? I underestimated you. I should've killed you back on Reeva."
He was right.
Two, one...
"But now you will die here."
I saw his blade readying into posistion. I saw the killing blow look in his eye. I knew I'd never see the actual strike, but I had no idea it would be because I wouldn't let it happen.
Blast-Off
Spinning, the planet was spinning. Swinging around its sun. Spinning like a top. The sun was spinning. The galaxy was spinning. The whole universe was spinning and I could feel it.
Everything was spinning.
But most importantly, something inside me was spinning. My head felt like it was splitting open. Mostly because it was. A blast of force had sent Jack spiraling backwards. Spiraling like the universe. My hair began to glow red, magma with a hint of yellow, red. I felt like crumpling to my knees, but I stood, no, I began to rise. I floated two feet above the rooftop with mighty gales torrenting around me and nearly pushing Jack back farther.
N.O. the force that I use to warp. Unlocked by accessing both halves of your brain. All of it, and then some. I reached into my hair. It melted around my hands like syrup. I reached deeper feeling for something, anything inside that might help. I found it.
A Gilmour Signature Stratocaster, black, six-stringed, electric guitar with a whammy bar and a pirate decal right above the bridge. I decided to call it, Davie.
With N.O. coursing through my veins and my musical instrument of death now gripped in both hands, we resumed our fight. He was still faster, but not by much. More importantly I was defying gravity. I was defying physics. My blows came and didn't stop coming. I couldn't feel the resistance of his sword against my guitar, all I could feel was...
Spinning.
I lifted my guitar for one final blow. I think I actually saw fear in Jack's eyes. His robot eyes actually quivered for a moment. He brought his blade up to block my blow. Perfect. I brought down the hammah, and smashed his sword in two. Jack dropped to his knees.
I pretended to obey gravity for a moment and stood over him.
"Where are the nanobots?"
"Kill me, just kill me and find out for yourself."
"Here." I tossed the refractor crystal from my jacket.
"What is this?"
A refractor crystal moron.
"Trade, give me the location of the nanobots and you can return to guarding this crystal on Reeva."
"They're on Reeva. Near the entrance to my facility."
"Remove the anti-warp device."
"It is deactivated. You can remove it later."
"Good luck."
I shoved the robot off the building with my foot. He jumped off the side and landed on another roof. My N.O. cooled and Davie evaporated in my hands. Jack wouldn't make it two days in that stale old power station. Something inside him, something small, had begun to spin. Life was awakening within his code. He'd drop the crystal off and move on, searching for answers to questions he didn't know.
"Quite a display, but you should hand over the crystal now."
Sayoko and three armed guards had me at gunpoint.
Until next time fellow pirates.
I think there's a bloodlust to it. A craving for violence that can't be fulfilled in today's modern controlled society. The closest thing they have is violent sports like football. It's not even a craving for athletics, I know a lot of these fanatics that don't look like they've played football in years. I'm speculating of course, I don't have any data or anything.
I think most of it isn't even each person's individual violent nature, but rather a mob mentality that lets people drop there mental guards and go with crowd. They feel like it's okay to be ultra-violent because everyone else is too. I would not want to tick off one of these crowds. They could tear you apart and they'd all blame it on each other.
It's possible I'm overreacting, but let me tell you, if anything ever does happen with football crowd hysteria, something bad, I'll be right there with a big sign, "I told you so."
I actually do wish I went to this game though. One of my friends came down to watch the game. He might not even be able to stop in though, he had to go to the game straight from work and if he has to work tomorrow then he'll have to head straight home afterword. Like I said, I enjoy a good game of football, now and then, with some friends.
But tonight I simply play "Lufia and the Fortress of Doom." Hey, how about a microreview, there's not much to this game.
Lufia and the Fortress of Doom
Presentation - Very 90's RPG. Good for it's time, and still catchy today. Fun but repetitive music and colorful, simple graphics. Full Points
Literary Value - Four warriors battle the evil Sinistrals. I like how cheesy it is, but it's no work of art. (Just an expression)
Half-Credit
Entertainment - Old school JRPG, riddled with Step, Step, Battle syndrome. It does you the service of sending you back to town when you die with all your earnings, but items don't have descriptions and monsters are more of a chore than a challenge.
No-Credit
Respect - Lufia and the Fortress of Doom? My friend had played a remake, but I had to dig to find this game. Sorry Lufia, you get No Respect.
Lufia and the Fortress of Doom gets:
1.5 DragonEggs out of 4 - Below Average
If you're craving some nostalgia like I am, go for it, but this game is old school Dragon Quest style.
And then...
"Well Jack, it's time for..."
A kunai flew from his fingertips and stabbed me right in the leg.
"Not wasting any time I see."
"It's an anti-warp device."
"Say wha?"
"If you warp anywhere, I'll be drug with you."
He didn't want me to run away. That was actually one of my most likely options. This wasn't good.
"You got the nanobots?" I tried to pull the kunai out, no good, stuck in tight.
"There location is stored in my hard-drive. But you won't survive to access it."
"I wouldn't count on that."
One, two...
I leapt forward, he leapt forward, our blades clashed in the collision. I had one saber in each hand, he had only one katana that he two-handed. I dropped a blade and pulled my pistol.
Three, four...
He blocked both shots with his blade. I hate it when they do that. He rushed forward with blinding speed. I picked up my second sword.
I declare war.
It was all I could do just to keep up with the flurry of blows. He leapt backwards and stood at ready.
"This is all? Without your precious warping you are nothing. Why don't you warp? I would follow, but would I not be disoriented by the trip?"
I wouldn't count on that.
Ten, nine...
He began his barrage again. He was holding back. He could've killed me by now. I decided to try his theory out.
Eight, seven...
In the refractory, our battle continued. He did seem to pause for a moment to take in his new surroundings. I took an initiative.
Six, five...
Blocked, both strikes. Not enough, might as well keep it on the rooftop. Warping back he flew at me, familiar with this terrain.
Four, three...
"Two, you only have two places you can warp to? I underestimated you. I should've killed you back on Reeva."
He was right.
Two, one...
"But now you will die here."
I saw his blade readying into posistion. I saw the killing blow look in his eye. I knew I'd never see the actual strike, but I had no idea it would be because I wouldn't let it happen.
Blast-Off
Spinning, the planet was spinning. Swinging around its sun. Spinning like a top. The sun was spinning. The galaxy was spinning. The whole universe was spinning and I could feel it.
Everything was spinning.
But most importantly, something inside me was spinning. My head felt like it was splitting open. Mostly because it was. A blast of force had sent Jack spiraling backwards. Spiraling like the universe. My hair began to glow red, magma with a hint of yellow, red. I felt like crumpling to my knees, but I stood, no, I began to rise. I floated two feet above the rooftop with mighty gales torrenting around me and nearly pushing Jack back farther.
N.O. the force that I use to warp. Unlocked by accessing both halves of your brain. All of it, and then some. I reached into my hair. It melted around my hands like syrup. I reached deeper feeling for something, anything inside that might help. I found it.
A Gilmour Signature Stratocaster, black, six-stringed, electric guitar with a whammy bar and a pirate decal right above the bridge. I decided to call it, Davie.
With N.O. coursing through my veins and my musical instrument of death now gripped in both hands, we resumed our fight. He was still faster, but not by much. More importantly I was defying gravity. I was defying physics. My blows came and didn't stop coming. I couldn't feel the resistance of his sword against my guitar, all I could feel was...
Spinning.
I lifted my guitar for one final blow. I think I actually saw fear in Jack's eyes. His robot eyes actually quivered for a moment. He brought his blade up to block my blow. Perfect. I brought down the hammah, and smashed his sword in two. Jack dropped to his knees.
I pretended to obey gravity for a moment and stood over him.
"Where are the nanobots?"
"Kill me, just kill me and find out for yourself."
"Here." I tossed the refractor crystal from my jacket.
"What is this?"
A refractor crystal moron.
"Trade, give me the location of the nanobots and you can return to guarding this crystal on Reeva."
"They're on Reeva. Near the entrance to my facility."
"Remove the anti-warp device."
"It is deactivated. You can remove it later."
"Good luck."
I shoved the robot off the building with my foot. He jumped off the side and landed on another roof. My N.O. cooled and Davie evaporated in my hands. Jack wouldn't make it two days in that stale old power station. Something inside him, something small, had begun to spin. Life was awakening within his code. He'd drop the crystal off and move on, searching for answers to questions he didn't know.
"Quite a display, but you should hand over the crystal now."
Sayoko and three armed guards had me at gunpoint.
Until next time fellow pirates.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Two Parts Gin
I've got this idea for a short story series and I'm going to go over the basic concept here.
"Two Parts Gin"
In a club downtown, they like to play a game. It's a game of trust, honesty, deception, and manipulation. You play it how you want, but in the end, there are only two winners. They lock up the club, you can leave but nobody gets in. Ten men dressed in uniform work their way through the crowd, talk to people, and then choose someone. They give this person a crystal vial. Two of these vials are filled with gin and the rest are filled with water.
The object is to find the person who holds the gin.
The rules are this:
You can't win with the gin you are given, you must find someone else's gin.
You only get one guess. If you're wrong, you get kicked out.
If you find the gin, you win and the person with the gin is kicked out. If the two people with the gin find each other, they win.
Beyond that, there are no rules. Anything goes; you can pretend you have the gin, you can bribe someone to find the gin, or you can seduce someone to find the gin. Hundreds of possibilities and everyone plays the game differently. The prize is your name on the wall, a commerative shotglass, and a toast from everyone left in the club.
I plan to use the setup to write about certain interpersonal dynamics between both strangers and people who know each other well. It might make a fun video game too. I may have to look into doing it that way.
I like the title. I love making titles. I watched a horror movie the other weekend called, The Dark. It was a decent horror movie with a strong background in Welsh legends, but the movie was poorly named. It could've gone with The Sheperd or The Flock. It even could have been titled Annwn and that would've made it more appealing than just calling it, "The Dark"
I think the title should reflect a main theme in a piece of literature or at least name something significant to the plot. Farenheit 451, very good title, it doesn't say everything about the book, but it doesn't have to. It catches a main theme and leads you into it. A Sound of Thunder, horrible title. The story's about time-travel and dinosaurs, and not weather. It's supposed to signify the sound of the gunshot, but why not call it, The Last Thing You Hear or something more fitting like End of the Trail.
I had a hard time focusing today. Not sure why. I was spacing out like crazy. I ordered some Lobster Bisque from the Soup Man and it didn't settle well with my stomach, that might have been part of the problem. I'll snap out of it for tomorrow. Today I'll just finish what I've got to do.
And then...
I warped back to Reeva. Stealing the Refractor Crystal was a snap. With all the amazing things out here in deep space, there are still few people who can teleport. Even less who use the power of N.O.
I took a bus back to Kattox. It was the day of the solar eclipse and the event itself was only an hour away. Climbing the Fraction Buildiing was going to be hard with Sayoko on the lookout for me. I staked out the front entrance.
A blonde secretary with her hair pulled back in a bun walked out of the building. She pushed up her glasses on her nose as she looked both ways to cross the street. She cradled a notebook in her arms like a child. I had found my key in.
"Hey there."
"Hello?"
"Looks like you've had a hard day of work."
"Yea, the paperwork really stacks... Do I know you?"
"You could if you wanted to. Can I buy you a drink?"
"No, I don't really have the time..."
"What if I bought you a car to go along with that drink?"
"A c-car?"
"A nice sports car with leather interior."
A couple of drinks and a Galaxus GT later...
"You know what we should do? We should sneak up to the roof of the Fraction Building."
"I could get in trouble."
"Yea, doesn't that sound fun."
*giggle* "Okay, okay, sshhh follow me."
As we ascended the back staircase of the building, swiping a few security doors with her card. I kept thinking about how this might be my last few minutes before I'm sushi on the roof of this building.
"Alright beautiful, I've got business to take care of, I advise you get out of here."
"But the roof..."
"Is a dangerous place for a girl like you, don't take this the wrong way, but I think we should just be friends."
I grabbed her key card and slammed a security door in her face. Heh, that's always hilarious.
I stared across the roof of the building. The shadowy figure of Jack Haley stared back at me. The wind blew gently across the building and both my brown leather jacket and his black headband billowed gently in the breeze. I walked toward the battleground and then stopped. Deciding another trip to Earth was in order.
Until next time fellow pirates.
"Two Parts Gin"
In a club downtown, they like to play a game. It's a game of trust, honesty, deception, and manipulation. You play it how you want, but in the end, there are only two winners. They lock up the club, you can leave but nobody gets in. Ten men dressed in uniform work their way through the crowd, talk to people, and then choose someone. They give this person a crystal vial. Two of these vials are filled with gin and the rest are filled with water.
The object is to find the person who holds the gin.
The rules are this:
You can't win with the gin you are given, you must find someone else's gin.
You only get one guess. If you're wrong, you get kicked out.
If you find the gin, you win and the person with the gin is kicked out. If the two people with the gin find each other, they win.
Beyond that, there are no rules. Anything goes; you can pretend you have the gin, you can bribe someone to find the gin, or you can seduce someone to find the gin. Hundreds of possibilities and everyone plays the game differently. The prize is your name on the wall, a commerative shotglass, and a toast from everyone left in the club.
I plan to use the setup to write about certain interpersonal dynamics between both strangers and people who know each other well. It might make a fun video game too. I may have to look into doing it that way.
I like the title. I love making titles. I watched a horror movie the other weekend called, The Dark. It was a decent horror movie with a strong background in Welsh legends, but the movie was poorly named. It could've gone with The Sheperd or The Flock. It even could have been titled Annwn and that would've made it more appealing than just calling it, "The Dark"
I think the title should reflect a main theme in a piece of literature or at least name something significant to the plot. Farenheit 451, very good title, it doesn't say everything about the book, but it doesn't have to. It catches a main theme and leads you into it. A Sound of Thunder, horrible title. The story's about time-travel and dinosaurs, and not weather. It's supposed to signify the sound of the gunshot, but why not call it, The Last Thing You Hear or something more fitting like End of the Trail.
I had a hard time focusing today. Not sure why. I was spacing out like crazy. I ordered some Lobster Bisque from the Soup Man and it didn't settle well with my stomach, that might have been part of the problem. I'll snap out of it for tomorrow. Today I'll just finish what I've got to do.
And then...
I warped back to Reeva. Stealing the Refractor Crystal was a snap. With all the amazing things out here in deep space, there are still few people who can teleport. Even less who use the power of N.O.
I took a bus back to Kattox. It was the day of the solar eclipse and the event itself was only an hour away. Climbing the Fraction Buildiing was going to be hard with Sayoko on the lookout for me. I staked out the front entrance.
A blonde secretary with her hair pulled back in a bun walked out of the building. She pushed up her glasses on her nose as she looked both ways to cross the street. She cradled a notebook in her arms like a child. I had found my key in.
"Hey there."
"Hello?"
"Looks like you've had a hard day of work."
"Yea, the paperwork really stacks... Do I know you?"
"You could if you wanted to. Can I buy you a drink?"
"No, I don't really have the time..."
"What if I bought you a car to go along with that drink?"
"A c-car?"
"A nice sports car with leather interior."
A couple of drinks and a Galaxus GT later...
"You know what we should do? We should sneak up to the roof of the Fraction Building."
"I could get in trouble."
"Yea, doesn't that sound fun."
*giggle* "Okay, okay, sshhh follow me."
As we ascended the back staircase of the building, swiping a few security doors with her card. I kept thinking about how this might be my last few minutes before I'm sushi on the roof of this building.
"Alright beautiful, I've got business to take care of, I advise you get out of here."
"But the roof..."
"Is a dangerous place for a girl like you, don't take this the wrong way, but I think we should just be friends."
I grabbed her key card and slammed a security door in her face. Heh, that's always hilarious.
I stared across the roof of the building. The shadowy figure of Jack Haley stared back at me. The wind blew gently across the building and both my brown leather jacket and his black headband billowed gently in the breeze. I walked toward the battleground and then stopped. Deciding another trip to Earth was in order.
Until next time fellow pirates.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Bibliofaction
Today I'm going to write about writing. well, actually I did that the other day too, but this time I'm writing about what I'm going to write. I went looking for a writing community and I found one that looks good. It's called Bibliofaction. I'm going to read stories from there and write some myself. Later I'll review the site here on my blog.
I spent most of the night doing homework and I'm bushed, so I'm not going to write much. In class today we learned about different colors of communicators. There are Blue, Orange, Gold, and Green communicators. I can't remember what they all are, but I'm sure you can look it up if you're curious. In physics, we studied about electrical resistance and stuff. Don't worry, I'll remember it when I need it.
And then...
I arrived on the bustling planet of Kattox. Yesterday, I challenged Jack Haley the ninja-robot to a rematch. I wagered a new Refractor Crystal that I was going to steal, and he wagered some nanobots, worth quite a bit more, that would be able to repair and maintain a wooden spaceship.
The capital city was full of people, and skyscrapers lined the roads. The tallest of all stood like a tower over all the other towers, the Fraction Corporation Headquarters. It was shaped like a pac-man from overhead and rose straight up without getting narrower. The idea was it was supposed to look like a fraction of a building, but it just looked like pac-man to me.
I would be heading there soon, but for now I needed to find a Refractory. It's a factory. For refractors. Anyway, it didn't take me long to find one. It was smaller and low-key, but it still had armed soldiers pacing the place. I waited until night.
I climbed up to a window. Locked. Not a problem, I pulled out my telewrench. It's a device that operates like a wrench but across a short distance using low intensity tele-kinesis. Very handy. I unlocked the window by fiddling with the lock on the inside through the window. I opened it just enough to squeeze through.
The factory was really just a large warehouse with a device that looked like a trash can with lights in the center. Security cameras all pointed towards the container. Panels on the floor told me that the building was installed with automatic turrets. As I was planning how to extract my prize I was distracted by a light coming from an overhead office.
I climbed around the side of the room and peered through the indoor window. A woman in a gray business suit stood talking to a hologram. I couldn't make out the tiny hologram, but the woman had flowing blue hair and looked extremely well groomed. She was rather terrifying. Her plump red lips were drawn into a cold smile and her eyes were black pools of malicious intent hidden under a shroud of lies. She had a nice figure, but she held herself stiff and kept her arms crossed in an unfriendly gesture while she was talking. I tried to listen closely to what she said.
"Police...my business...someone to blame...our business. So let me keep this simple. Find Lee before the police do or we will have problems."
"And Ash?"
"Her sister cares for her, but doesn't have anything to back it up. She lost her chance at power when she turned her daddy down. Ignore her. Lee is our priority now."
"Yes President Sayoko."
"Ah HA!" (that was me)
Yep, that was me. Why did I do that? I dunno. I guess I was really getting in to finding out her name. She looked right over at me, if she had brought a pistol I'm sure she would've shot me right there. I just waved. Then I made a mad dash for the crystal container. I yanked the thing open as the automatic turrets began rising out of the floor. They took aim and I heard the alarm system.
"DO NOT MOVE. IF YOU ATTEMPT TO FLEE YOU WILL BE FIRED UPON."
Then the woman slowly descended the staircase.
"Was this your plan? You were going to walk into one of my factories, easedrop on me, and try and run off with one of my crystals?"
"Who died and made you queen of Fraction Corps?"
"The late Mr. Edwards."
"Father of Ash and Lee Edwards?"
"The same. Although, Ash took her husband's last name of Citsrk."
Shoot. I had plans to tap that.
"Good to know. I'm supposing you're the reason that Lee didn't take over."
"No, the reason Lee didn't take over was because she was charged with the murder of an entire planet."
"Which she didn't commit."
"What makes you so sure? I assure you, their blood is on her hands."
"I find that hard to believe."
"Lee was head of Fraction Corps at the time. Tensions between the company and the people of Reeva were growing. Many on the board of directors had a vested interest in the people of Reeva. Many of the political requests of the people of Reeva would place allocated funds of the company into the Reevans' hands with no compensation for Fraction Corps. Fearing violent retalliation from Reeva. Lee herself did some covert research. She found a weapon of mass destruction in a Reevan government facility. She was found, but rather than let the Reevans use the bomb on Kattox she decided to detonate it on Reeva with herself."
"A tragic story, but can you back it up?"
"Ask anyone on the board of directors, but on the other hand you won't be able to, because you'll be behind bars."
"Oh yeah, about that."
I warped back to Earth.
Until next time fellow pirates.
I spent most of the night doing homework and I'm bushed, so I'm not going to write much. In class today we learned about different colors of communicators. There are Blue, Orange, Gold, and Green communicators. I can't remember what they all are, but I'm sure you can look it up if you're curious. In physics, we studied about electrical resistance and stuff. Don't worry, I'll remember it when I need it.
And then...
I arrived on the bustling planet of Kattox. Yesterday, I challenged Jack Haley the ninja-robot to a rematch. I wagered a new Refractor Crystal that I was going to steal, and he wagered some nanobots, worth quite a bit more, that would be able to repair and maintain a wooden spaceship.
The capital city was full of people, and skyscrapers lined the roads. The tallest of all stood like a tower over all the other towers, the Fraction Corporation Headquarters. It was shaped like a pac-man from overhead and rose straight up without getting narrower. The idea was it was supposed to look like a fraction of a building, but it just looked like pac-man to me.
I would be heading there soon, but for now I needed to find a Refractory. It's a factory. For refractors. Anyway, it didn't take me long to find one. It was smaller and low-key, but it still had armed soldiers pacing the place. I waited until night.
I climbed up to a window. Locked. Not a problem, I pulled out my telewrench. It's a device that operates like a wrench but across a short distance using low intensity tele-kinesis. Very handy. I unlocked the window by fiddling with the lock on the inside through the window. I opened it just enough to squeeze through.
The factory was really just a large warehouse with a device that looked like a trash can with lights in the center. Security cameras all pointed towards the container. Panels on the floor told me that the building was installed with automatic turrets. As I was planning how to extract my prize I was distracted by a light coming from an overhead office.
I climbed around the side of the room and peered through the indoor window. A woman in a gray business suit stood talking to a hologram. I couldn't make out the tiny hologram, but the woman had flowing blue hair and looked extremely well groomed. She was rather terrifying. Her plump red lips were drawn into a cold smile and her eyes were black pools of malicious intent hidden under a shroud of lies. She had a nice figure, but she held herself stiff and kept her arms crossed in an unfriendly gesture while she was talking. I tried to listen closely to what she said.
"Police...my business...someone to blame...our business. So let me keep this simple. Find Lee before the police do or we will have problems."
"And Ash?"
"Her sister cares for her, but doesn't have anything to back it up. She lost her chance at power when she turned her daddy down. Ignore her. Lee is our priority now."
"Yes President Sayoko."
"Ah HA!" (that was me)
Yep, that was me. Why did I do that? I dunno. I guess I was really getting in to finding out her name. She looked right over at me, if she had brought a pistol I'm sure she would've shot me right there. I just waved. Then I made a mad dash for the crystal container. I yanked the thing open as the automatic turrets began rising out of the floor. They took aim and I heard the alarm system.
"DO NOT MOVE. IF YOU ATTEMPT TO FLEE YOU WILL BE FIRED UPON."
Then the woman slowly descended the staircase.
"Was this your plan? You were going to walk into one of my factories, easedrop on me, and try and run off with one of my crystals?"
"Who died and made you queen of Fraction Corps?"
"The late Mr. Edwards."
"Father of Ash and Lee Edwards?"
"The same. Although, Ash took her husband's last name of Citsrk."
Shoot. I had plans to tap that.
"Good to know. I'm supposing you're the reason that Lee didn't take over."
"No, the reason Lee didn't take over was because she was charged with the murder of an entire planet."
"Which she didn't commit."
"What makes you so sure? I assure you, their blood is on her hands."
"I find that hard to believe."
"Lee was head of Fraction Corps at the time. Tensions between the company and the people of Reeva were growing. Many on the board of directors had a vested interest in the people of Reeva. Many of the political requests of the people of Reeva would place allocated funds of the company into the Reevans' hands with no compensation for Fraction Corps. Fearing violent retalliation from Reeva. Lee herself did some covert research. She found a weapon of mass destruction in a Reevan government facility. She was found, but rather than let the Reevans use the bomb on Kattox she decided to detonate it on Reeva with herself."
"A tragic story, but can you back it up?"
"Ask anyone on the board of directors, but on the other hand you won't be able to, because you'll be behind bars."
"Oh yeah, about that."
I warped back to Earth.
Until next time fellow pirates.
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