Thursday, July 30, 2009

Robot Vampire Unicorns...IN HIGH SCHOOL

On fanficrants, someone explains why your robot unicorn high school AU story makes no sense. Especially when you add vampires. Because the more implausible crap you add on, the more you have to explain.

BTW: I think this quote by me is amusing "Everyone in Fruits Basket is whipped for Akito, but not in my personal canon, whipped by Akito"

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Saturday, July 25, 2009

I learn a lesson

Apparently if you have any triggers you shouldn't read fanfic. You know folks, G rated fanfiction exists. It's not all rapey mcdeathy mcwhoreswhoreswhores. [here's the whole warning wank response post.]

I try to warn as much as I can, because while I may enjoy writing fanfiction full of every terrible thing I can think of, I know that some people are having a hard time and want to read a pick me up with their favorite characters in it. It doesn't do me any good to not warn that my story is full of terrible things and bring them down. People who love stories full of terrible things want to be able to read my depressing stories too.

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Friday, July 24, 2009

Epic Suck on EA's Part

EA decides to take the focus off crazy things like games or quality to focus on some stupid booth babe contest. I'm sure that causing some asshole to harass the booth babes even more, leading to possible law suits and also turning off female gamers[I hate the term girl gamers. I'm 25, I am not a girl gamer. I was maybe a girl gamer at age 10.] and dudes with any sense in their heads. You know what gamers care about? FUCKING GAMES. Shut up about stupid sexist objectifying contests and bring me some fucking games.

Also notice that even though casual games are said by some to tilt too far in the direction of girliness[personally I don't care about wedding or baby themed games just as long as the mechanics are solid, and prefer blood and violence to be related either to the story or to have a purpose], the companies aren't encouraging us to sexually harass men for a free wine and dine dinner!

You know why I play casual games? Not only because the whole easy download without worries about spyware thing comforts me, but because they have to pump out games without this bullshit. Screw you, EA.

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Sunday, July 19, 2009

Casual Game Blather

People debate casual vs hardcore games. This guy says we should talk about games as far as their genre, not as far as being 'hardcore' or 'casual'. I think many hardcore gamers would be lost as far as casual game genres. Time management or hidden object might get a 'huh' from hardcore gamers. I'm a hardcore casual gamer, btw. I loved Diner Dash Tycoon, but thought that there should be a hard mode. I'm certainly a tourist in this taxonomy. I don't compete to be the best at a game, because I know I can't compete. I'll be tired of a game way before I get anywhere near good enough to compete at any level. When I replay a game, it's because I want to experience more of it- I replayed Persona 3 so that I could unlock some more costumes and see more of the social links I had bypassed, not so much that I could say that I had done everything in the game or that I was somehow the best.


I love playing casual games, especially if there's a new twist or if the same old gameplay is executed really really well. I have several casual game mechanics that bother me. I hate sliding customers into stations- what, they can't walk? and I also dislike hidden object games. I also love games in which I can micromanage things. Bigfish is pissing me off with hidden object games every day now, BTW. I need games that can be played in bursts now, because even though I only work 30 hours a week, that means that sometimes for 3 or 4 days in a row, I don't get to game more than 15 or maybe 30 minutes. I don't even have kids!

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The Epic Lightness of Full Metal Alchemist

I'm on volume 15 of Full Metal Alchemist. My library only has up to volume 16, which looking at the releases is a pretty good showing for a library. I'm glad I wandered into the manga section of my library- Riza and Mustang's relationship gets much more development, we have new characters from stereotypical China, but once we see one cut off her arm(!) for a mission and another allow his body to be taken over, I don't mind so much, even though there IS a miniature panda.

All in all, this is the sort of thing we need more in American comics. Good solid action, strong female characters that AREN'T running around in bikinis[note that Riza wears the same uniform that other soldiers wear], and a unified story line.

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Friday, July 17, 2009

A Long Time Ago

A Long Time Ago annoyed me within three seconds of opening it. If you can customize the character's skin color, why can you pick from only white, slightly tan, and very tan? I'm fairly light skinned, and I can't even create a character my color. Shame on you guys!

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Sunday, July 12, 2009

Thanks for the Transphobia!

And btw, japanator guys, crossdressing and gender bending anime characters are popular in America. We have Fruits Basket, a very popular series with about three cross dressing characters in it, Ouran is also loved. Persona 4 also has a cross dressing character in it. The video game market has progressed a little, since the shocking inclusion of Cloud dressing up as a woman in FF7. I think it's good for that sort of thing to be acceptable in western gaming, because that game looks really cute, and if people don't agree with cross dressing, they can just play the many other games that don't have any gender bending characters. I wish the Nana games would be translated over here too.

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Code Geass

I was worried about Code Geass because I thought 'it looks like a CLAMP manga', but when I picked up the two volume ones from the library, I was pleasently surprised. I was worried it would be inbred like most CLAMP items are nowadays, with all their crossovers, AUs, and fangirl winking, but it at least tried to have a plot without all the LOOK, FANGIRLS! crap.

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Thursday, July 09, 2009

Thanks to the Internet

I learn that blackface in booths is not a good idea.

I read the first two volumes of Full Metal Alchemist and noted that the story has diverged from the anime already! Also, I read Yotsuba vol 4, and enjoyed it more than I thought I would.

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Wednesday, July 08, 2009

Fangasm

People continue to overthink Fruits Basket, as I finally get chapter 132 in a good translation. VIVA AWESOMENESS! I still think Tohru saved the day using romance[the curse broken because the cat could form a new bond], but the fact that she was willing to do something besides 'love' makes her all good in my neighborhood. I especially liked the acknowledgment that not everything is going to be peaches and cream after the curse.

Sadly, I can't write any fanfiction lately. The story I've been writing needs to be broken up into two or three stories, so I'm pretty sad about that.

In other Fruits Basket news, a guy notes that Fruits Basket is really a story about a cycle of generational neglect and abuse. Personally from what I remember of the anime I don't think that theme is brought out enough, and so we end up with the fluffy stigma, and even worse....fluffy!Shigure. NOOOOO

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Monday, July 06, 2009

Overthinking Fruits Basket

I enjoy overthinking shoujo manga. Of course, there are many yummy spoilers for the Fruits Basket manga here I've long thought about the counterpoint of Akito and Tohru. They both have rather masculine names, there is a black wing motif associated with Akito and a white wing motif associated with Tohru, and there's of course, the matter of sexuality. I don't think it's a mistake that Tohru is a pure virgin who blushes and gets flustered when Kyo tells her that they've kissed before, and Akito 'resorts to using her womanhood quickly', in the words of Shigure, who is just one of her lovers.

It's an old archetype- the pure virgin of light vs the experienced witch who is associated with darkness. Akito often speaks about darkness too. She is shown telling Yuki that he is on a pitch black path and saying that her life is dark and so her room has to match. There's also the divide between optimism and pessimism. In volume 2, Hana, Uo and Kyo discuss how Tohru doesn't see her life as a glass half empty. In a scene just a bit later, Shigure talks about how someone thinks his CUNNING PLAN will fail, and someone says "I know full well when my glass is half empty". If one did not know the rest of the story, this would be confusing, but taking a glance at it now, that's certainly Akito saying that[note the hairstyle and kimono, those of you following along in your manga].

Of course, in the manga, Tohru eventually 'wins', but hey, there's always fanfiction.

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Friday, July 03, 2009

The Unicorn Wolf of the Zodiac

So accurate. Except for of course, mean Akito makes Hatori erase the unicorn wolf's memories of her deep love for Yuki, and Shigure also rapes the unicorn wolf because he's just a rapist like that. Oh that dog, he'll rape anyone.

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Wednesday, July 01, 2009

Otakin Bring the Lulz

Hehhee, otakin. I can understand being a huge nerd, but you need to try to keep it on a *squee* level not on a I was jigglypuff in another life level.

I noted that the library had what seemed like 22 volumes of Prince of Tennis, but I couldn't find volume 2. So I borrowed Wolf's Rain instead.

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