Broken Blade is a 6-part OVA set in the (theoretically) far-future/alternate universe where everyone has "magic" and control "quartz," which is all an excuse for giant mechs fighting one another as our hero country attempts to fend off an invasion. We follow one young man, who is an incredibly rare Squib, and his adventures in a special, old golem that doesn't require magic to operate.
I probably sound flippant with the preceding statements, but that's due to one of my chief complaints about the show: it sets up a very interesting, very different background, but doesn't really explore it all that much, or at least not to the extent I wished it did. This problem is certainly not unique to this series; for instance, I would love to see a complete history of A Song of Ice and Fire, and it's almost frustrating how the past is only alluded to bits and pieces at a time. However, for whatever reason, this problem felt a lot stronger with Broken Blade, and wasn't even limited to the world that was developed.
With that said, Broken Blade has a lot to offer. To begin with, it's super pretty; very detailed world, well animated, and mechs that actually show the damage they suffer. The actions scenes are fluid and exciting, and intermixed well with non-combat scenes (with the occasional obligatory blatant fan-service á la Sigyn). The dialogue is well-written, the characters decently well-developed, and the plot isn't too straightforward.
All of the episodes worked well as episodes, with the exception of 5. For whatever reason that one felt pretty empty and meaningless to me, and I really didn't enjoy it; with that said, it's been explained to me that some questionable choices were made regarding that episode. And in addition, the final episode made up for the failures of 5, bringing the series back to better standing.
If anything, this show did remind me of why I usually prefer to watch shows after they are complete; it was sometimes easy to forget who was who or what was currently going on, especially during the long break between 4 and 5. Adding to this confusion is that the mechs aren't clearly colored to be one side or the other; they are definitely differentiated, but between the different models and squads, it's not always easy to tell at a quick glance which side is which and this is only exacerbated by forgetfulness between episodes. I'm sure if I re-watched the series as a whole this would disappear to a large extent, but I do wish the mechs' allegiance was a bit more clearly defined.
Again, my chief complaint with the show is it not carrying through with some of its 'promises' earlier on. The show sets up a number of interesting questions at the beginning: a love triangle, and old friend turned traitor, other issues regarding the past, the current political landscape of the world. They're all quite interesting and serve to draw the viewer into the universe quite well. The problem is that by the end of last episode, most of these issues have not even been begun to be addressed. Presumably this is leaving the ending open for future content, but the only thing really resolved at the end of last episode is that the kingdom has repelled the first invasion attempt... and that's it. All the other plot threads and questions about the future are left completely open and ambiguous. It's not bad, per se, but it's kind of frustrating to have a series "done" when it feels merely like a prelude to a greater work. If they do end up making more, I suspect this complaint will seem pointless, but at the current moment it's somewhat irking, especially because of how great a job they writers did setting this up to the point where I actually care.
If you're looking for a good action series, especially one with a Arthurian vibe or giant robots, Broken Blade is an excellent short series to pick up, as long as you're ok with many things being left unclear. It has a lot to offer and I have no serious complaints with the series as a whole (except for episode 5) and any faults it does have are eclipsed by its excellent execution of its other facets.
Oh, and naked girls in bed. Lots of that, as well :-P
-HTMC
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Friday, July 29, 2011
Finite: A Review of Deathly Hallows Part 2
Readers of the blog might recall my review of Part 1 of the movie adaptation of the final Harry Potter book, and how overall I was quite pleased with the result and interested in seeing how the second half turned out.
Overall, unfortunately, I actually felt like the second half was a bit weaker than its predecessor. I had actually had high hopes that by splitting the final volume into two feature-length films, the movies could finally take the time needed to fully develop the stories told in the books, but despite having 4+ hours of material to work with, this movie still felt rushed to me. Many scenes that were quite powerful in the books lost a lot of emotion and depth, in my opinion. For instance, the scene in the maybe-afterlife-King's-Cross with Dumbledore felt incredibly short, and without the exposition from the book felt like it didn't accomplish nearly as much. Likewise, Snape's memory sequence left out a ton of memories for the book, and to me at least it felt like his love for Lily felt a lot more forced without the evidence of their deep prior friendship.
Of course, something that's easy to forget and that I had to remind myself of is that the audience for these movies is not all like me. At this point, there are probably equal (if not more, I don't know the numbers) of people who have never read a single word of the novels who come to these movies. I'm sure when making creative decisions the directors and producers have to balance pleasing the diehard fans against the possibly greater number of people who won't be actively comparing every scene to its novel counterpart. The problem is after coming off the brilliant adaptation that was HBO's Game of Thrones, it's hard to go back to anything less.
With that said, there was some things that the movie did well. For instance, I was happy to see the way the battle was rendered. To actually see the castle exploding, spells flying everywhere, and absolute chaos was nice, considering such scenes are a bit harder to imagine from just reading. I do think it was overdone a little, since there was one point where Harry kept going through stairwells with students running everywhere (seriously, where were they going?), but overall it worked. The triumphant escape from Gringotts aboard the blind dragon also worked quite well; in general the actions scenes were good is I guess what it comes down to.
I think the biggest problem I had, honestly, is the host of minor, small changes they decided to make. I think I understand the reasoning behind all of them, but in general I didn't like the tone shift they introduced. For instance, making Griphook blatantly betray the trio and have the Imperio'd goblin fried felt wrong to me. Neville's speech against Voldemort also felt a little out of character. Having the Ravenclaw ghost know exactly where the diadem was (and what happened to it) but not do anything about seems odd. Having Voldemort feel the Horcruxes destroyed also sets a weird precedent. I think the biggest change I objected to though was the final fight: it felt like a over-hollywood-ization of a final scene, and Harry and Voldemort battle it out all around, which makes no sense given how much a superior wizard Voldemort is, and Harry only survived in the past due to dodging and/or Priori Incantatum. I also really enjoyed the final speech in front of an entire audience in the final book, and instead Voldemort just melts away after Nagini dies, which in and of itself seems odd. Again, I feel like it robs a lot of the importance of the scene when the main villain of 8 movies just kind of drifts apart with no major conclusion.
Again, though, not everything was bad. I liked how they added in the scene explicitly showing the destruction of the locket, and I actually like that they destroyed the diadem together instead of exposition-ing the fiendfyre. So while most of it I didn't necessarily care for, there were definitely bright spots.
Overall the movie fit into my general expectations for the series thus far: reasonably entertaining, but very forgettable and inferior to the books in almost every way. It was kind of interesting to see a photo posted on Reddit a week ago showing the main trio's actors when they first started, and the realization that they've been growing up at the same pace I have; it was very weird seeing young versions of them again. The main point though is that while I can see myself coming back to the novels years from now, and likely multiple times, I doubt I'll ever consciously choose to watch the films again of my own volition. Could they have been better? Undoubtably. Could they have been worse? Most easily. They're on the better side of average, and something that had to happen given the books' popularity and immense money-making capacity, and while I'm reasonably happy that we got a half-decent production, but I probably won't ever stop wishing a little that we had gotten something a bit better.
-HTMC
Overall, unfortunately, I actually felt like the second half was a bit weaker than its predecessor. I had actually had high hopes that by splitting the final volume into two feature-length films, the movies could finally take the time needed to fully develop the stories told in the books, but despite having 4+ hours of material to work with, this movie still felt rushed to me. Many scenes that were quite powerful in the books lost a lot of emotion and depth, in my opinion. For instance, the scene in the maybe-afterlife-King's-Cross with Dumbledore felt incredibly short, and without the exposition from the book felt like it didn't accomplish nearly as much. Likewise, Snape's memory sequence left out a ton of memories for the book, and to me at least it felt like his love for Lily felt a lot more forced without the evidence of their deep prior friendship.
Of course, something that's easy to forget and that I had to remind myself of is that the audience for these movies is not all like me. At this point, there are probably equal (if not more, I don't know the numbers) of people who have never read a single word of the novels who come to these movies. I'm sure when making creative decisions the directors and producers have to balance pleasing the diehard fans against the possibly greater number of people who won't be actively comparing every scene to its novel counterpart. The problem is after coming off the brilliant adaptation that was HBO's Game of Thrones, it's hard to go back to anything less.
With that said, there was some things that the movie did well. For instance, I was happy to see the way the battle was rendered. To actually see the castle exploding, spells flying everywhere, and absolute chaos was nice, considering such scenes are a bit harder to imagine from just reading. I do think it was overdone a little, since there was one point where Harry kept going through stairwells with students running everywhere (seriously, where were they going?), but overall it worked. The triumphant escape from Gringotts aboard the blind dragon also worked quite well; in general the actions scenes were good is I guess what it comes down to.
I think the biggest problem I had, honestly, is the host of minor, small changes they decided to make. I think I understand the reasoning behind all of them, but in general I didn't like the tone shift they introduced. For instance, making Griphook blatantly betray the trio and have the Imperio'd goblin fried felt wrong to me. Neville's speech against Voldemort also felt a little out of character. Having the Ravenclaw ghost know exactly where the diadem was (and what happened to it) but not do anything about seems odd. Having Voldemort feel the Horcruxes destroyed also sets a weird precedent. I think the biggest change I objected to though was the final fight: it felt like a over-hollywood-ization of a final scene, and Harry and Voldemort battle it out all around, which makes no sense given how much a superior wizard Voldemort is, and Harry only survived in the past due to dodging and/or Priori Incantatum. I also really enjoyed the final speech in front of an entire audience in the final book, and instead Voldemort just melts away after Nagini dies, which in and of itself seems odd. Again, I feel like it robs a lot of the importance of the scene when the main villain of 8 movies just kind of drifts apart with no major conclusion.
Again, though, not everything was bad. I liked how they added in the scene explicitly showing the destruction of the locket, and I actually like that they destroyed the diadem together instead of exposition-ing the fiendfyre. So while most of it I didn't necessarily care for, there were definitely bright spots.
Overall the movie fit into my general expectations for the series thus far: reasonably entertaining, but very forgettable and inferior to the books in almost every way. It was kind of interesting to see a photo posted on Reddit a week ago showing the main trio's actors when they first started, and the realization that they've been growing up at the same pace I have; it was very weird seeing young versions of them again. The main point though is that while I can see myself coming back to the novels years from now, and likely multiple times, I doubt I'll ever consciously choose to watch the films again of my own volition. Could they have been better? Undoubtably. Could they have been worse? Most easily. They're on the better side of average, and something that had to happen given the books' popularity and immense money-making capacity, and while I'm reasonably happy that we got a half-decent production, but I probably won't ever stop wishing a little that we had gotten something a bit better.
-HTMC
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
The Cycle of Fate: Decisions
His office seemed exactly as he'd left it; doubtless the servitors had cleaned it daily in his absence. None of the security systems seemed tripped, and the data terminal didn't seem to contain any urgent messages, for once. The inbox also seemed to have messages slowly trickling in as his retinue reported in their status.
All actually seemed calm, or as calm as any sector of the Imperium was. Naturally countless minor threats, cults, and conspiracies, but nothing too urgent, and more importantly nothing he needed to handle personally. He sat himself down at his desk, and withdrew the small data disks from him pocket and inserted them into the concealed ports.
Ghostly letters and symbols hovered above his desk. To anyone else it would look a confusing mess, but he read it easily enough: it was his personal cipher, which included not just substitution but also multiple languages. No cipher was perfect, but it was secure enough for the short time he had been transporting the documents.
He had transcribed the papers on the long journey through the Warp. One of them would have to be discarded utterly and forgotten, while the survivor would be submitted to the Ordo libraries as the official record of the mission. It would also serve as the template for his official report, a report he would have to submit soon; the Ordo officials were already hounding him, especially after the Astartes and the Assassin refused to speak of the matter. He sighed.
He brought one into focus. The paper spoke of a normal landing on a seemingly peaceful planet, only to be assaulted by huge, ferocious beasts that slaughtered the Guardsmen by the score and were immune to most of the weaponry on hand. It went on about the ordered retreat from the massed beasts, abandoning the transports to their ruin as they sought safer ground, and the seemingly endless march as the group quickly lost member after member with few kills in return. It spoke of the leadership of the Marines, as they controlled the frantic rabble of the terrified Guardsmen and attempted to still finish their mission; it spoke of the Assassin Veer being the first one to discover the weak points of the giant reptiles.
It went on at length about the various deadly flora and fauna the group encountered as they trekked across the planet, losing fewer and fewer Guardsmen as they became more adept with dealing with the various predators. It described when they finally found the crashed Imperial vessel that had likely been lost in the Warp thousands of years ago, and had impacted the planet, exploding its Warp drive and triggering the event. Satisfied, the group returned to their transports, only to find them wrecked by their beasts in the absence. The report explained the horrible slaughter as the group attempted to hold off the seemingly endless wave of beasts as they waited for the final transport to arrive, losing almost every Guardsmen in the process, with the rest dying of their wounds while leaving orbit, including the Librarian Oblinius, whose mighty psychic shield gave them enough time to escape.
It continued for several pages, describing the feats of heroism performed by all present, and recommending several commendations for the survivors, particularly Vindicare Veer for his tireless protection.
The report said many, many things, and in terms of specifics they were all completely false.
A knock at the door. A messenger entered, and politely but firmly informed him that the council was expecting his presence. The boy stood there, obviously expecting him to stand up and follow to the chambers. Instead he received a stark stare and an arched eyebrow; the page took the hint and left quietly. He would surely inform the council, which meant there wasn't much more time.
He tabbed over to the other report, which described the actual events of the mission. He had naturally been present for most of them, although was only dimly aware of what had occurred in the mountain towards the end. The Space Marines had been reluctant to speak at length about it, and while Veer had been quite pleased to relay the events to him (saying he was happy to talk about it before he forgot) the young man's enthusiasm was matched by his erratic story-telling ability, and discerning the proper narrative was somewhat difficult. Regardless of the clarity, the implications of the report were clear to him, and would be to the council as well.
He shut down the system, and extracted the two disks, taking one in each hand. It was a hard decision, to be sure. On the one hand, as prescribed by the Ordo regulations, his course was clear, and his duty more so. On the other hand, he had technically sworn an oath. In addition, while the Eldar activities were surely dangerous, he questioned whether it was a bigger threat than the myriad menaces that currently threatened the realm. Every ship, every soldier, every weapon was precious to the Imperium, and even the relatively small task force that would be required to eradicate the threat on the planet could be of invaluable assistance in half a dozen theaters he could think of off the top of his head. Then again, while he was an Inquisitor, technically the decision was not his alone to make.
His mind raced, calculating, analyzing, and doing everything but coming to a decision. He didn't have long, though: the page would be back soon, and likely with an armed "escort."
He opened a drawer and withdrew a small pistol and a pair of tongs. He grabbed the disk with the tongs, and held it out far away from him. With his other hand he pulled the trigger, and looked away as the searing heat disintegrated the data drive and melted the ends of the tongs.
For better or for worse, he had made his decision.
He exited his chambers, opening the door only to see the page's fist swing foolishly through the air as it missed the door that was no longer there. He made eye contact with the guard sergeant.
"Shall we?"
They took off in a brisk pace, walking towards a chamber that would ultimately decide the fate of a world. But really, he thought, what was one world amongst the thousands of thousands in the galaxy?
Perhaps nothing, he thought. Perhaps everything. Only time would tell what fate would bring.
(-HTMC)
All actually seemed calm, or as calm as any sector of the Imperium was. Naturally countless minor threats, cults, and conspiracies, but nothing too urgent, and more importantly nothing he needed to handle personally. He sat himself down at his desk, and withdrew the small data disks from him pocket and inserted them into the concealed ports.
Ghostly letters and symbols hovered above his desk. To anyone else it would look a confusing mess, but he read it easily enough: it was his personal cipher, which included not just substitution but also multiple languages. No cipher was perfect, but it was secure enough for the short time he had been transporting the documents.
He had transcribed the papers on the long journey through the Warp. One of them would have to be discarded utterly and forgotten, while the survivor would be submitted to the Ordo libraries as the official record of the mission. It would also serve as the template for his official report, a report he would have to submit soon; the Ordo officials were already hounding him, especially after the Astartes and the Assassin refused to speak of the matter. He sighed.
He brought one into focus. The paper spoke of a normal landing on a seemingly peaceful planet, only to be assaulted by huge, ferocious beasts that slaughtered the Guardsmen by the score and were immune to most of the weaponry on hand. It went on about the ordered retreat from the massed beasts, abandoning the transports to their ruin as they sought safer ground, and the seemingly endless march as the group quickly lost member after member with few kills in return. It spoke of the leadership of the Marines, as they controlled the frantic rabble of the terrified Guardsmen and attempted to still finish their mission; it spoke of the Assassin Veer being the first one to discover the weak points of the giant reptiles.
It went on at length about the various deadly flora and fauna the group encountered as they trekked across the planet, losing fewer and fewer Guardsmen as they became more adept with dealing with the various predators. It described when they finally found the crashed Imperial vessel that had likely been lost in the Warp thousands of years ago, and had impacted the planet, exploding its Warp drive and triggering the event. Satisfied, the group returned to their transports, only to find them wrecked by their beasts in the absence. The report explained the horrible slaughter as the group attempted to hold off the seemingly endless wave of beasts as they waited for the final transport to arrive, losing almost every Guardsmen in the process, with the rest dying of their wounds while leaving orbit, including the Librarian Oblinius, whose mighty psychic shield gave them enough time to escape.
It continued for several pages, describing the feats of heroism performed by all present, and recommending several commendations for the survivors, particularly Vindicare Veer for his tireless protection.
The report said many, many things, and in terms of specifics they were all completely false.
A knock at the door. A messenger entered, and politely but firmly informed him that the council was expecting his presence. The boy stood there, obviously expecting him to stand up and follow to the chambers. Instead he received a stark stare and an arched eyebrow; the page took the hint and left quietly. He would surely inform the council, which meant there wasn't much more time.
He tabbed over to the other report, which described the actual events of the mission. He had naturally been present for most of them, although was only dimly aware of what had occurred in the mountain towards the end. The Space Marines had been reluctant to speak at length about it, and while Veer had been quite pleased to relay the events to him (saying he was happy to talk about it before he forgot) the young man's enthusiasm was matched by his erratic story-telling ability, and discerning the proper narrative was somewhat difficult. Regardless of the clarity, the implications of the report were clear to him, and would be to the council as well.
He shut down the system, and extracted the two disks, taking one in each hand. It was a hard decision, to be sure. On the one hand, as prescribed by the Ordo regulations, his course was clear, and his duty more so. On the other hand, he had technically sworn an oath. In addition, while the Eldar activities were surely dangerous, he questioned whether it was a bigger threat than the myriad menaces that currently threatened the realm. Every ship, every soldier, every weapon was precious to the Imperium, and even the relatively small task force that would be required to eradicate the threat on the planet could be of invaluable assistance in half a dozen theaters he could think of off the top of his head. Then again, while he was an Inquisitor, technically the decision was not his alone to make.
His mind raced, calculating, analyzing, and doing everything but coming to a decision. He didn't have long, though: the page would be back soon, and likely with an armed "escort."
He opened a drawer and withdrew a small pistol and a pair of tongs. He grabbed the disk with the tongs, and held it out far away from him. With his other hand he pulled the trigger, and looked away as the searing heat disintegrated the data drive and melted the ends of the tongs.
For better or for worse, he had made his decision.
He exited his chambers, opening the door only to see the page's fist swing foolishly through the air as it missed the door that was no longer there. He made eye contact with the guard sergeant.
"Shall we?"
They took off in a brisk pace, walking towards a chamber that would ultimately decide the fate of a world. But really, he thought, what was one world amongst the thousands of thousands in the galaxy?
Perhaps nothing, he thought. Perhaps everything. Only time would tell what fate would bring.
(-HTMC)
Monday, July 25, 2011
The Cycle of Fate: Equipment or Lack Thereof
For the past month or so (I actually realize I have no idea what number tomorrow's session will be) I've been GMing a campaign of Deathwatch. Because of issues relating to plot and design choices, I've actually been refraining from analyzing the game from a GM perspective thus far, but now that the campaign will be over in one or two more sessions, it's probably safe to start talking about certain aspects of the game, and how it went.
One of the key ideas that was the genesis for this campaign was the Space Marine Kill-team crash-landing on a primitive planet, and having to go some time without their treasured equipment. Most of the players probably did not realize to what extent this would be true. The idea was to hopefully prompt an experience that was different from the previous 40k RPG campaigns, and also give a chance to use the talents and skills that weren't directly associated with combat. Did it work? Let's look.
One of the key ideas that was the genesis for this campaign was the Space Marine Kill-team crash-landing on a primitive planet, and having to go some time without their treasured equipment. Most of the players probably did not realize to what extent this would be true. The idea was to hopefully prompt an experience that was different from the previous 40k RPG campaigns, and also give a chance to use the talents and skills that weren't directly associated with combat. Did it work? Let's look.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Penance for Your Sins: A Review of Pet Shop of Horrors
I'm not quite sure how well-known or popular the manga series Pet Shop of Horrors is. Early in high-school I borrowed the first few volumes from one of my friend manga-sources, and quite enjoyed it, although I never finished the entire series (I think I read about 4 books). Therefore, when I recently completely randomly came across the fact that there was a 4-episode OVA of the series, I was definitely intrigued since I had all but forgotten about the fun little series. After getting ahold of it, I sat down for the hour and twenty minutes the show took to watch.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
I Put On My Robe and Wizard Hat: Sexuality and Morals in Harry Potter
I've definitely written some very geeky/nerdy posts in the past, but I actually don't think this one is quite as bad as the title sounds (I swear!).
Since the last movie has came out and there's a ton of talk of Harry Potter flying around, I figured now would be as good of a time to write down concretely some thoughts I've shared in the past but never fully articulated, namely on the topic of Albus Dumbledore's sexuality, and what it means for the series (I sweaaaarrrrr).
Some of you may remember way back in October 2007 when there was the very out-of-the-blue announcement from Rowling that Dumbledore was, in fact, gay. The reactions were predictably mixed, with some people outraged, others perfectly fine with it, and hundreds of posts going back and looking for clues; the media had a field hour. Personally I was a bit confused when I first heard the news, but gradually it began to bug me, and I wasn't quite sure why for the longest time.
Since the last movie has came out and there's a ton of talk of Harry Potter flying around, I figured now would be as good of a time to write down concretely some thoughts I've shared in the past but never fully articulated, namely on the topic of Albus Dumbledore's sexuality, and what it means for the series (I sweaaaarrrrr).
Some of you may remember way back in October 2007 when there was the very out-of-the-blue announcement from Rowling that Dumbledore was, in fact, gay. The reactions were predictably mixed, with some people outraged, others perfectly fine with it, and hundreds of posts going back and looking for clues; the media had a field hour. Personally I was a bit confused when I first heard the news, but gradually it began to bug me, and I wasn't quite sure why for the longest time.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
H^3^2: Revisiting the Hats Tournament
You may recall that around this time last year I attended my first ever hats tournament, Hats Hops & Hucks 19. I had quite a bit of fun and my team ended up winning, and so when I heard that #20 was coming up I was actually kind of hesitant. After winning the previous year, I kind of felt like anything short of another all-out win would feel like kind of a let-down. However, I remembered that I enjoyed myself quite a bit, and it turned out that a bunch of my friends were going (far more than last year) and thus there was a very good chance I'd have at least one person I already knew on my team.
With that in my, I threw my doubts to the wind (or something like that) and registered, and a week before the tournament found out the pun-filled, food-related team I was on was called "Bids in a Blanket" and that I had not just one, but two people I knew on my team.
With that in my, I threw my doubts to the wind (or something like that) and registered, and a week before the tournament found out the pun-filled, food-related team I was on was called "Bids in a Blanket" and that I had not just one, but two people I knew on my team.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
The Crafting of Worlds: The Shinto-esque Religion
I should be busy in the wilderness playing Ultimate, far away from the internet. However, I made a promise to myself about posting, so if all goes well the scheduler should be posting this at noon on Sunday, and hopefully it works
[As some of you may know, I am currently working with Matt on creating the world on which our fall D&D4e campaign will occur. We're still roughly in the initial stages, but making excellent progress, and I would naturally like feedback when possible. However, given the semi-public nature of this blog, I can only post things that would be potentially be ok if the PCs saw. Hopefully you will enjoy what I do post though, and I'd love any kind of feedback you can give.
The world is a tidal-locked, low magic world, more in the style of GRRM than Tolkien. There are 3 major countries, and 3 major religions (those three sets don't necessarily map onto one another).
The following is one of the three religions, the one modeled roughly after Shinto, with some various other elements thrown in. As before, feel free to respond in any way!]
[As some of you may know, I am currently working with Matt on creating the world on which our fall D&D4e campaign will occur. We're still roughly in the initial stages, but making excellent progress, and I would naturally like feedback when possible. However, given the semi-public nature of this blog, I can only post things that would be potentially be ok if the PCs saw. Hopefully you will enjoy what I do post though, and I'd love any kind of feedback you can give.
The world is a tidal-locked, low magic world, more in the style of GRRM than Tolkien. There are 3 major countries, and 3 major religions (those three sets don't necessarily map onto one another).
The following is one of the three religions, the one modeled roughly after Shinto, with some various other elements thrown in. As before, feel free to respond in any way!]
Friday, July 15, 2011
Guns Blazing: A Review of Halo Legends
I had been meaning to watch Halo Legends for quite some time, but for various reasons not worth getting into didn't for a long time, despite it even being available for instant streaming on Netflix.
However, I finally got around to it. Overall I'd say it was pretty good, but similar to the Animatrix, it's hard to judge the collection as a whole, since they are all quite different (not just in terms of tone, but also animation style, studio, etc.) Instead I'll be doing a series of short thoughts on each of pieces.
[Spoilers in all the following, so if you care, don't read]
However, I finally got around to it. Overall I'd say it was pretty good, but similar to the Animatrix, it's hard to judge the collection as a whole, since they are all quite different (not just in terms of tone, but also animation style, studio, etc.) Instead I'll be doing a series of short thoughts on each of pieces.
[Spoilers in all the following, so if you care, don't read]
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
The Crafting of Worlds: The Neo-Pagan Religion
First off, Happy Birthday to my Blog! You've come a long way, and picked up a name. But now on to Serious Business™.
[As some of you may know, I am currently working with Matt on creating the world on which our fall D&D4e campaign will occur. We're still roughly in the initial stages, but making excellent progress, and I would naturally like feedback when possible. However, given the semi-public nature of this blog, I can only post things that would be potentially be ok if the PCs saw. Hopefully you will enjoy what I do post though, and I'd love any kind of feedback you can give.
The world is a tidal-locked, low magic world, more in the style of GRRM than Tolkien. There are 3 major countries, and 3 major religions (those three sets don't necessarily map onto one another).
The following is one of the three religions, the one modeled roughly after neo-paganism, with a decently strong Greek influence. The others are a Shinto-like nature focused religion, and a monotheistic one in the style of Old Testament brimstone and fire.]
[As some of you may know, I am currently working with Matt on creating the world on which our fall D&D4e campaign will occur. We're still roughly in the initial stages, but making excellent progress, and I would naturally like feedback when possible. However, given the semi-public nature of this blog, I can only post things that would be potentially be ok if the PCs saw. Hopefully you will enjoy what I do post though, and I'd love any kind of feedback you can give.
The world is a tidal-locked, low magic world, more in the style of GRRM than Tolkien. There are 3 major countries, and 3 major religions (those three sets don't necessarily map onto one another).
The following is one of the three religions, the one modeled roughly after neo-paganism, with a decently strong Greek influence. The others are a Shinto-like nature focused religion, and a monotheistic one in the style of Old Testament brimstone and fire.]
Monday, July 11, 2011
The Cycle of Fate: The Second
He could appreciate the irony, at least. Not seconds before he had downed the third one, and had begun to feel confident he could take down the rest. It had taken several hours of careful stalking and patience, and things were looking promising, and then it turned out he might as well have stayed on the hill.
He dissolved back into the shadows and watched the orks practically disintegrate under the withering assault of the Marines; the dumb brutes likely didn't have time to even register the threat before meeting their demise. He also spotted the assassin sneaking towards the Stormraven, and was momentarily baffled. A closer glance revealed he was apparently without his Exitus weaponry: that would definitely explain it.
He grimaced. The temple operatives had a reputation of being fiercely attached to their tools, and Veer's were probably being hauled off to Emperor-knew-where by one of the dozens of orks who had made off with the transport's innards. Veer had seemed fairly stable, so perhaps he could still be used, but then again countless tales bounced through the ordo houses of psychotic assassins. He'd have to keep an eye on the young killer.
The Astartes seemed to be finishing up, and to his eyes seemed unharmed. Only one wearing armor though, and the rest seemed to only have one of two pieces of the wargear. More bad news. He knew that the Marines also set high store by their armaments and armor, and while he doubted they would do anything but their best, he was sure the loss would be weighing on their minds.
One problem at a time, though.
No sooner had the last ork been downed when the team rushed into the Stormraven, presumably to find their equipment. A grimace crossed his face; maybe the Emperor would smile and they would find something, but based off the amount of boxes that the orks had hauled off, he suspected not much was left within the transport. As he stalked forwards, he offered up a small prayer; they could use every bit of help they could get, if the ork presence was as large as he feared.
He briefly considered going in to help, but ultimately decided he probably couldn't do anything that the Astartes couldn't. Instead, he seated himself on a nearby log, and began mentally reviewing all of the facts and knowledge on orks he had accumulated over the years. One of the expired orks lay a stone's throw from his seat, and he blinked once. The now magnified corpse was easy to examine, and after some mental cross-referencing came to some conclusions that confused him. The skull formation and clan trappings suggested feral orks, as did the blade of the "choppa" and the fraternal interaction he had observed earlier. However, the slugthrowers they had employed looked startlingly more advanced than were typical of the feral subtype, and looked closer to the more traditional firearm employed by the "modern" ork.
An intriguing puzzle. Perhaps some genetic leap, or just genuine advancement? Maybe some spacehulk had crashed on the planet in the distant past, or conceivably there was another, more advanced culture on the planet... Earlier he would have discounted the possibility, but the Imperial survey team had stated there was no sentient life on the planet. While it was possible the orks had somehow arrived after the survey had been conducted, that seemed unlikely.
He had been unsettled by the limited amount of information at the start of the mission, but it was only now he realized how deep the well of ignorance went.
The Space Marines were finally exiting the wreckage, and he was pleased to note that they seem to have found a few items. He approached Veer, who turned around at the last second and greeted him. He stayed on the periphery while the Astartes discussed what to do next, unsure of whether he should interject. Eventually one of them asked his opinion, and he stated what little he could; he was as in the dark as them, for the most part.
Eventually they settled on a plan, and the Marines seemed confident enough, although he had a hard time imagining such warriors being unconfident. They struck off, and he trailed behind, hoping against hope that no more surprises were waiting in their immediate future. His mind turned back to the information he had absorbed over the past few hours, and his analytically-trained mind set to work. The stealthy movement came naturally, and only someone who knew him well could tell his thoughts were far, far away...
He dissolved back into the shadows and watched the orks practically disintegrate under the withering assault of the Marines; the dumb brutes likely didn't have time to even register the threat before meeting their demise. He also spotted the assassin sneaking towards the Stormraven, and was momentarily baffled. A closer glance revealed he was apparently without his Exitus weaponry: that would definitely explain it.
He grimaced. The temple operatives had a reputation of being fiercely attached to their tools, and Veer's were probably being hauled off to Emperor-knew-where by one of the dozens of orks who had made off with the transport's innards. Veer had seemed fairly stable, so perhaps he could still be used, but then again countless tales bounced through the ordo houses of psychotic assassins. He'd have to keep an eye on the young killer.
The Astartes seemed to be finishing up, and to his eyes seemed unharmed. Only one wearing armor though, and the rest seemed to only have one of two pieces of the wargear. More bad news. He knew that the Marines also set high store by their armaments and armor, and while he doubted they would do anything but their best, he was sure the loss would be weighing on their minds.
One problem at a time, though.
No sooner had the last ork been downed when the team rushed into the Stormraven, presumably to find their equipment. A grimace crossed his face; maybe the Emperor would smile and they would find something, but based off the amount of boxes that the orks had hauled off, he suspected not much was left within the transport. As he stalked forwards, he offered up a small prayer; they could use every bit of help they could get, if the ork presence was as large as he feared.
He briefly considered going in to help, but ultimately decided he probably couldn't do anything that the Astartes couldn't. Instead, he seated himself on a nearby log, and began mentally reviewing all of the facts and knowledge on orks he had accumulated over the years. One of the expired orks lay a stone's throw from his seat, and he blinked once. The now magnified corpse was easy to examine, and after some mental cross-referencing came to some conclusions that confused him. The skull formation and clan trappings suggested feral orks, as did the blade of the "choppa" and the fraternal interaction he had observed earlier. However, the slugthrowers they had employed looked startlingly more advanced than were typical of the feral subtype, and looked closer to the more traditional firearm employed by the "modern" ork.
An intriguing puzzle. Perhaps some genetic leap, or just genuine advancement? Maybe some spacehulk had crashed on the planet in the distant past, or conceivably there was another, more advanced culture on the planet... Earlier he would have discounted the possibility, but the Imperial survey team had stated there was no sentient life on the planet. While it was possible the orks had somehow arrived after the survey had been conducted, that seemed unlikely.
He had been unsettled by the limited amount of information at the start of the mission, but it was only now he realized how deep the well of ignorance went.
The Space Marines were finally exiting the wreckage, and he was pleased to note that they seem to have found a few items. He approached Veer, who turned around at the last second and greeted him. He stayed on the periphery while the Astartes discussed what to do next, unsure of whether he should interject. Eventually one of them asked his opinion, and he stated what little he could; he was as in the dark as them, for the most part.
Eventually they settled on a plan, and the Marines seemed confident enough, although he had a hard time imagining such warriors being unconfident. They struck off, and he trailed behind, hoping against hope that no more surprises were waiting in their immediate future. His mind turned back to the information he had absorbed over the past few hours, and his analytically-trained mind set to work. The stealthy movement came naturally, and only someone who knew him well could tell his thoughts were far, far away...
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Virtual Verve: A Review of VVVVVV
The Steam holiday sales are probably easier on my wallet than other people; to start with, I'm restricted to games that release on OSX, and furthermore set my price cap at around $5. So despite the multitude of offerings, it's rare that I see something that fits both my criteria.
However, one that did recently was VVVVVV, which was on sale for the incredibly low price of $2.50. The reviews were all positive, and although I wavered for a bit, there wasn't a downside to a game for that cheap, and after briefly playing the demo I semi-impulsively purchased the game.
However, one that did recently was VVVVVV, which was on sale for the incredibly low price of $2.50. The reviews were all positive, and although I wavered for a bit, there wasn't a downside to a game for that cheap, and after briefly playing the demo I semi-impulsively purchased the game.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Food for Fantasy: A Review of "Badass: Birth of a Legend"
Readers of the blog made remember me reviewing the first Badass book (cleverly entitled Badass: The Book). I quite enjoyed it, but the gigantic timesink that is A Song of Ice and Fire consumed all my reading time. However, I decided to take a short break before what is sure to be the huge pit of depression that is A Dance with Dragons, and decided I might as well finish off the second book by Ben Thompson of Badass of the Week fame.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
The Cycle of Fate: The Crash
Wait.
That was something he could do. Stillness was far easier to achieve, especially compared to the wretchedness of escaping the sizzling hulk of metal that had minutes prior been a transport.
Observe.
That was another thing he could do, something he had honed in his profession. He tried to take everything in: the cackle of flames and its associated stench were hard to ignore, but his training allowed him to do just that and focus on other aspects of his surrounding.
Analyze.
Obviously some kind of a sparse forest with large, thick trees on a slightly rolling valley. He thought that he could even make out some kind of reptile in some of the trees, although the wind and rain made him slightly less than certain. Although the smoldering promethium masked practically everything else, with his face close to the dirt he could take in the earthy perfume, and noted the slight differences that set it apart from other, similar worlds he had visited. The scans had indicated that the atmosphere and environment were not dangerous, and he had taken the usual cocktail of preventative medicines, but it was always reassuring to breath the air and not feel his lungs constrict, as had happened on Pneunym IV back--
Concentrate.
Slipping like that was unlike him. Perhaps the crash had disoriented him more than he had realized. He began to take a mental stockpile of himself. His weapons and equipment were miraculously intact; that had been the first thing he checked. Likewise he didn't sense any broken bones or ruptured organs, and his bio-signatures seemed to confirm this. Bruises and cuts everywhere, naturally, but he was long since past noticing or caring about such trivial wounds. After all, compared to the pain that cursed xenotech blade Inquisitor Bianchi had shoved up his--
Concentrate!
Now he was truly worried. This was entirely unlike him, to get so distracted in an emergency. He was supposed to be calm, supposed to be rational, supposed to be an observer, and one cannot truly observe when one's inner eye is someplace else entirely.
Focus.
That's what he needed to do. He drew his pistol and quickly checked it over before arming it, and likewise flexed his glove and was pleased to see it bend smoothly. He rechecked his surroundings, and was pleased to note that his survival instincts seemed to have functioned correctly despite the crash, as he was situated in the ideal viewpoint to observe his surroundings. He tested his mic again, but either his vox was completely broken or his allies were not currently in a condition to respond. Both thoughts were troubling.
Wait.
He pulled off his cloak to ensure the fires had not damaged it, and was satisfied to see that the cameleoline was undamaged. He flung the smooth, water-like material over himself as he laid back down, and felt it naturally flow to cover and conceal him. Unfortunately, the rest of his equipment would require a tech-priest to determine whether it still functioned; perhaps the one known as Ceros would deign to inspect the pieces. Something was missing, though, although he couldn't quite--
React.
The sudden movement would have made a less-experienced man jump, but he was trained in concealment by some of the best his ordo had to offer. Instead, he flicked only his eyes over to observe whatever had suddenly appeared, and only as he was pleasantly surprised to see his loyal familiar flapping towards him did he realize what had been missing. The crash had been fortunate indeed, and Kwoth quietly settled besides him and then held perfectly still. Some of the others questioned his choice of the psyber-raven, fearing it might prove too much of a conspicuous characteristic, but if they had seen how invaluable the little creature had been in coordinating the action that had resulted in such a decisive diplomatic victory over the Uwanäri they undoubtably would--
Concentrate!
His familiar flared its wings in response to the sudden surge of emotion, but he managed to eventually quell the feelings, although it was swiftly replaced with the unbearable weight of an emotion he rarely felt: uncertainty. The planning had not even considered such a catastrophe so early into the mission, and he never would have imagined being so completely cut off from the team. What the Marines would do in such a situation was unclear to him; his dealings with the Astartes prior to this endeavor had been marginal.
Observe.
With nothing else to do, he reverted to his base state. The fierce storm that had brought down the impressive bulk of the Stormraven seemed to be dying down and he noticed tendrils of smoke seemed to be rising from the wreckage. He felt a faint glimmer of his usual confidence begin to reassert itself; with such an obvious trail, he was certain the Astartes would be able to locate the crash site, and then things would be much clearer.
Analyze.
Of course, that meant anything else with even a remote amount of intelligence would also likely be honing in on his location. Although the survey stated no intelligent lifeforms had been detected, the storm that had created this predicament seemed thoroughly unnatural, and he was utterly certain that this remainder of this mission would be anything like he had expected. He would just have to wait, and hope his team appeared before anything else.
Wait.
That was something he could do.
That was something he could do. Stillness was far easier to achieve, especially compared to the wretchedness of escaping the sizzling hulk of metal that had minutes prior been a transport.
Observe.
That was another thing he could do, something he had honed in his profession. He tried to take everything in: the cackle of flames and its associated stench were hard to ignore, but his training allowed him to do just that and focus on other aspects of his surrounding.
Analyze.
Obviously some kind of a sparse forest with large, thick trees on a slightly rolling valley. He thought that he could even make out some kind of reptile in some of the trees, although the wind and rain made him slightly less than certain. Although the smoldering promethium masked practically everything else, with his face close to the dirt he could take in the earthy perfume, and noted the slight differences that set it apart from other, similar worlds he had visited. The scans had indicated that the atmosphere and environment were not dangerous, and he had taken the usual cocktail of preventative medicines, but it was always reassuring to breath the air and not feel his lungs constrict, as had happened on Pneunym IV back--
Concentrate.
Slipping like that was unlike him. Perhaps the crash had disoriented him more than he had realized. He began to take a mental stockpile of himself. His weapons and equipment were miraculously intact; that had been the first thing he checked. Likewise he didn't sense any broken bones or ruptured organs, and his bio-signatures seemed to confirm this. Bruises and cuts everywhere, naturally, but he was long since past noticing or caring about such trivial wounds. After all, compared to the pain that cursed xenotech blade Inquisitor Bianchi had shoved up his--
Concentrate!
Now he was truly worried. This was entirely unlike him, to get so distracted in an emergency. He was supposed to be calm, supposed to be rational, supposed to be an observer, and one cannot truly observe when one's inner eye is someplace else entirely.
Focus.
That's what he needed to do. He drew his pistol and quickly checked it over before arming it, and likewise flexed his glove and was pleased to see it bend smoothly. He rechecked his surroundings, and was pleased to note that his survival instincts seemed to have functioned correctly despite the crash, as he was situated in the ideal viewpoint to observe his surroundings. He tested his mic again, but either his vox was completely broken or his allies were not currently in a condition to respond. Both thoughts were troubling.
Wait.
He pulled off his cloak to ensure the fires had not damaged it, and was satisfied to see that the cameleoline was undamaged. He flung the smooth, water-like material over himself as he laid back down, and felt it naturally flow to cover and conceal him. Unfortunately, the rest of his equipment would require a tech-priest to determine whether it still functioned; perhaps the one known as Ceros would deign to inspect the pieces. Something was missing, though, although he couldn't quite--
React.
The sudden movement would have made a less-experienced man jump, but he was trained in concealment by some of the best his ordo had to offer. Instead, he flicked only his eyes over to observe whatever had suddenly appeared, and only as he was pleasantly surprised to see his loyal familiar flapping towards him did he realize what had been missing. The crash had been fortunate indeed, and Kwoth quietly settled besides him and then held perfectly still. Some of the others questioned his choice of the psyber-raven, fearing it might prove too much of a conspicuous characteristic, but if they had seen how invaluable the little creature had been in coordinating the action that had resulted in such a decisive diplomatic victory over the Uwanäri they undoubtably would--
Concentrate!
His familiar flared its wings in response to the sudden surge of emotion, but he managed to eventually quell the feelings, although it was swiftly replaced with the unbearable weight of an emotion he rarely felt: uncertainty. The planning had not even considered such a catastrophe so early into the mission, and he never would have imagined being so completely cut off from the team. What the Marines would do in such a situation was unclear to him; his dealings with the Astartes prior to this endeavor had been marginal.
Observe.
With nothing else to do, he reverted to his base state. The fierce storm that had brought down the impressive bulk of the Stormraven seemed to be dying down and he noticed tendrils of smoke seemed to be rising from the wreckage. He felt a faint glimmer of his usual confidence begin to reassert itself; with such an obvious trail, he was certain the Astartes would be able to locate the crash site, and then things would be much clearer.
Analyze.
Of course, that meant anything else with even a remote amount of intelligence would also likely be honing in on his location. Although the survey stated no intelligent lifeforms had been detected, the storm that had created this predicament seemed thoroughly unnatural, and he was utterly certain that this remainder of this mission would be anything like he had expected. He would just have to wait, and hope his team appeared before anything else.
Wait.
That was something he could do.
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Metareview: Thoughts on the "Mark Does" Websites
I think it's often easy to overlook how unbelievably vast the internet is. It's one thing to read the number of pages Wikipedia has, or hear how many hours of video is uploaded to YouTube every second, but I don't think anyone can actually comprehend how much content is stored across the world at this point.
This is compounded by the fact that at this point, my internet browsing habits are pretty circular. I check my emails and Facebook, read through the webcomics I like, look for updates on blogs I follow, browse Reddit's main page and the subreddits I actually care about (Starcraft, Gaming(news), RPG, Warhammer), etc. I even have almost a routine of websites I tab through when first logging on my computer every day.
Even though I visit a lot of websites through Reddit, I wouldn't really consider that finding new territory. It's easy to see the internet as consisting of a lot of content I purely don't care about (celebrity news gossip anyone?) or pages that I glance at for one second before moving on and never looking back (hello image memes).
Therefore it's always a very nice surprise when I actually find a website that I end up returning to and browsing much of the content, and I had just such a surprise the other day. A friend has recently started up a website where she blogs about reading A Game of Thrones and that she drew the inspiration from two of her favorite blogs, Mark Reads and Mark Watches. I was very much intrigued by the GoT project; I had just recently finished reading the series and expressing my reactions to a friend, and then turned around and talked to another friend as he started the same journey. I was very curious what another person would think of what I consider a fantastic series. Out of curiosity, I clicked through to the websites that inspired this venture, not suspecting that I would spend the majority of two days reading the content there. (Also, forward apologies for no pictures in this post)
This is compounded by the fact that at this point, my internet browsing habits are pretty circular. I check my emails and Facebook, read through the webcomics I like, look for updates on blogs I follow, browse Reddit's main page and the subreddits I actually care about (Starcraft, Gaming(news), RPG, Warhammer), etc. I even have almost a routine of websites I tab through when first logging on my computer every day.
Even though I visit a lot of websites through Reddit, I wouldn't really consider that finding new territory. It's easy to see the internet as consisting of a lot of content I purely don't care about (celebrity news gossip anyone?) or pages that I glance at for one second before moving on and never looking back (hello image memes).
Therefore it's always a very nice surprise when I actually find a website that I end up returning to and browsing much of the content, and I had just such a surprise the other day. A friend has recently started up a website where she blogs about reading A Game of Thrones and that she drew the inspiration from two of her favorite blogs, Mark Reads and Mark Watches. I was very much intrigued by the GoT project; I had just recently finished reading the series and expressing my reactions to a friend, and then turned around and talked to another friend as he started the same journey. I was very curious what another person would think of what I consider a fantastic series. Out of curiosity, I clicked through to the websites that inspired this venture, not suspecting that I would spend the majority of two days reading the content there. (Also, forward apologies for no pictures in this post)
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Beegu News Des!: An Announcement of Sorts
Today I spent a large majority of my day reading a blog (something I intend to return to at some point), and this naturally led me to think about the current state of this, my own blog. After some considerable thought, I've come to a decision that I hope to keep: I'm going to start blogging more.
Specifically, a quota for myself: once every two days. I feel like daily might be a bit too much, whereas every other day gives me a bit more breathing room and even time for editing.
There are actually a number of reasons for this, which follow below in no particular order.
- I enjoy writing. I don't think I'm even one of the best in my group of acquaintances, and I usually at least somewhat question how much/little other people enjoy the writing, but I like doing it, so I'm going to. I don't think I work up the energy enough for it enough, and by setting a deadline I hope to propel myself into doing it more.
- I need something else to do over the summer. I'm starting to get annoyed at how often I'm sitting there wondering what to do, and this gives me one more option.
- I have a large stack of ideas, some of which have been sitting around for probably close to 8 months now, and which I have not acted on probably due to just pure laziness or inertia or whatever. I should probably set a better precedent.
- It provides an outlet for thoughts, in a way. Not just for reviews, which I do enjoy writing, but perhaps more serious topics of discussion. I think I've been focusing on reviews because they've been easy (I watched something, now write down what you think!) but there have been other thoughts I've been having that I'd be interested to see responses to, like the e-sports post, and this seems a much more viable platform than IM or Facebook status updates, for instance.
- On the theme of reviews, I really should start writing longer ones. In looking over the last 3 Mini-Review Rampages, I noticed that the individual reviews kept getting longer and longer over the trilogy, which probably means I have a lot more to say about these pieces than I'm allowing myself. And at least one person has expressed interest in reading them, so that's enough for me :-P
- This last reason is probably the biggest one, in retrospect. Recently an epilogue was completed for last year's Dark Heresy campaign that I ran, which brought back a lot of fond memories. I ended up going back through Mister Flask's blog to reread the various hijinks the group got up to, and looking through the content and comments, it kind of struck home how our little circle of blogging has kind of died off.
I obviously can't make that come back by myself, despite how much I enjoyed the content of everyone's various blogs. What I can do is at least force myself to start contributing more regularly, and in a perfect world this might inspire the rest of you to follow, or at least compete :-P. I don't know how many of you actually regularly check any of these anymore, though.
I guess what it comes down to is I'm privileged to have a large number of very talented, very creative friends who are willing to express themselves via electronic medium, and while I feel my own material is never quite up to par, I'm happy to be a part of it. Whether it's Aaron's impressive ability to condense humor into unlikely places, Max's impressive analysis, Rome's excellent reviews, Jesse's expressiveness, or Matt and Kory's immersive fiction, I always enjoy reading all of your works and end up wishing there was more. So on that note, thank you.
So maybe this will have the desired effect, and maybe it won't. But regardless, after today you'll be a seeing a new post every two days on this blog, at least until summer's end (hopefully further, but I have no idea how hectic my semester might end up being). If I don't, I ask you to publicly harangue me in whatever fashion you feel appropriate. I do hope you enjoy though!
And to end with something completely unrelated but awesome...
-HTMC
Specifically, a quota for myself: once every two days. I feel like daily might be a bit too much, whereas every other day gives me a bit more breathing room and even time for editing.
There are actually a number of reasons for this, which follow below in no particular order.
- I enjoy writing. I don't think I'm even one of the best in my group of acquaintances, and I usually at least somewhat question how much/little other people enjoy the writing, but I like doing it, so I'm going to. I don't think I work up the energy enough for it enough, and by setting a deadline I hope to propel myself into doing it more.
- I need something else to do over the summer. I'm starting to get annoyed at how often I'm sitting there wondering what to do, and this gives me one more option.
- I have a large stack of ideas, some of which have been sitting around for probably close to 8 months now, and which I have not acted on probably due to just pure laziness or inertia or whatever. I should probably set a better precedent.
- It provides an outlet for thoughts, in a way. Not just for reviews, which I do enjoy writing, but perhaps more serious topics of discussion. I think I've been focusing on reviews because they've been easy (I watched something, now write down what you think!) but there have been other thoughts I've been having that I'd be interested to see responses to, like the e-sports post, and this seems a much more viable platform than IM or Facebook status updates, for instance.
- On the theme of reviews, I really should start writing longer ones. In looking over the last 3 Mini-Review Rampages, I noticed that the individual reviews kept getting longer and longer over the trilogy, which probably means I have a lot more to say about these pieces than I'm allowing myself. And at least one person has expressed interest in reading them, so that's enough for me :-P
- This last reason is probably the biggest one, in retrospect. Recently an epilogue was completed for last year's Dark Heresy campaign that I ran, which brought back a lot of fond memories. I ended up going back through Mister Flask's blog to reread the various hijinks the group got up to, and looking through the content and comments, it kind of struck home how our little circle of blogging has kind of died off.
I obviously can't make that come back by myself, despite how much I enjoyed the content of everyone's various blogs. What I can do is at least force myself to start contributing more regularly, and in a perfect world this might inspire the rest of you to follow, or at least compete :-P. I don't know how many of you actually regularly check any of these anymore, though.
I guess what it comes down to is I'm privileged to have a large number of very talented, very creative friends who are willing to express themselves via electronic medium, and while I feel my own material is never quite up to par, I'm happy to be a part of it. Whether it's Aaron's impressive ability to condense humor into unlikely places, Max's impressive analysis, Rome's excellent reviews, Jesse's expressiveness, or Matt and Kory's immersive fiction, I always enjoy reading all of your works and end up wishing there was more. So on that note, thank you.
So maybe this will have the desired effect, and maybe it won't. But regardless, after today you'll be a seeing a new post every two days on this blog, at least until summer's end (hopefully further, but I have no idea how hectic my semester might end up being). If I don't, I ask you to publicly harangue me in whatever fashion you feel appropriate. I do hope you enjoy though!
And to end with something completely unrelated but awesome...
-HTMC
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