Writer's Building Block

So I've been getting into writing recently...a lot more so than when I last mentioned.  No, I'm not going to be that person who's all "writing is life" and takes themselves too seriously (hipsters; that's what I'm getting at).

Pretty soon I'll start using words like 'introspective' and 'contrived'.

I enjoy writing.  Discovering new people, new places, all while having a hand in creating them; it's brilliant.  This new habit of mine also gives me a stronger appetite for good stories.  Books, film, television, video games -- I don't really care where they originate from.  It explains why I've been able to follow the nerdiest of things and still love it all (ie Star Wars, LOTR, Doctor Who, Marvel and DC comics); I've always craved a well-written tale.  Guess it shows how God works throughout a person's life, even without them knowing it.  I don't mean to be presumptuous, but I hope this means He's been preparing me to be a writer.

Or this.  Probably this.

Anyway, I'm working on something right now, and it took me some time to figure out how the main character speaks/acts (early 20s, antisocial, super villain).  It's written in first-person and I'm still not happy with her narration...but I'm blathering on about nonsense.  The point is, even though it's frustrating and I'm new to it, writing remains a fun nut to crack.  Try it sometime!  Maybe in November?


Stay colorful,
                     Meimei

Femshep is Disappoint

Hahahahahaha!  Hohohohoho!  Gu...guffaw?  That's a thing right?

Anyway...

If you're wondering what I'm laughing about, just look at my previous two posts.  The Mass Effect 3 ones.  Fans of the franchise who've played it will know why I'm type-chuckling; for the rest of you unenlightened individuals, I'll humor you.  *Warning:  I WILL be talking about ME3's ending, so SPOILERS WILL ROBINSON!  SPOILERS!*

WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO THE (insert curse-word adjective) ENDING????!!!!  (insert slew of profanities in multiple languages, some involving Casey Hudson's mother)

Yeah, video game enthusiasts are aware of what I speak.  They have their opinions, whether or not they liked the ending (I say ending in the singular, because the only difference was the (insert more all-caps swearing) THREE DIFFERENT COLORS!)  But a kajillion million websites, magazines, and bloggers like myself have already contributed to the mass (get it?) hysteria of all-caps debates and critiques of the game's ending.  And yeah, I'm burning myself here.  I just want to vent, if it's alright.  Even if it isn't, you're not here to say nay, so I'm going to go ahead and write my thoughts on the matter.

First off, it's my favorite video game of all time.  But wait you might say.  I thought you hated the ending?  All-caps, man.  Not a good sign.  Good point, hypothetical reader, and let me explain.  I complain because up until the last ten or so minutes (where the WTF began), I was loving it like so many McDonald's slogans.  I laughed, I cried, I cursed at the villains and rejoiced when I reunited with old characters.  None of that is exaggeration, by the way.  And the ending, when I said my *choking sob* final goodbye to Kaidan...man, this was the first, and thus far only, game I've ever cried during.  EVER.  Powerful writing, when combined with stunning graphics and more-than-decent gameplay, made a game I was prepared to name my first born after.

So what the Hell?  As an astute video blogger said, (and I paraphrase) did some random person just walk in, with no knowledge of the series, and write the ending?  Literally NONE of the decisions I made during my 90 or so hours of gameplay (that's just my canon femshep) made a friggin difference in how the game ended, or whether or not Shepard lived (hint:  kill off whoever you want, because the only thing that saves you is THE DAMN MULTIPLAYER).  Not cool, and not the multiple personalized endings we were promised.

Yeah, I know, Indoctrination Theory and such.  And when I heard about it, I flipped a mental desk.  I was all Hell yeah!  Space magic is DONE!  SCREW YOU STAR CHILD!!  I literally flipped off the screen when that kid showed up (in my other two playthroughs--the first time I was too confused, thinking I had made a bunch of wrong choices up until that point) (I was still under the assumption my decisions mattered). 

I didn't do this, though.  I strictly aimed for the face.

But what's all this talk of "We're proud of our work" and "We just want to clarify the ending" and "We didn't know people would want closure in their ending"?  Does this mean no Indoctrination?  Sh*tty ending stays?  My best-case-scenario includes BioWare saying "Just kidding!  You guys figured out the Theory sooner than we expected, so we just said all that 'artistic integrity' crap to throw y'all for a loop.  Oh, and we're making ten more games in the ME universe!  Enjoy!!"  Fine, I don't need the last part (but what if they did?  That would be awesome! provided the endings didn't suck), but I really hope that's what they're up to.  I don't know, if anyone has thoughts, feel free to comment in a censored, polite manner.

If you made it this far, then thank you for reading one of a bazillion trillion rants.



Kaidan salutes you.

Stay colorful,
                     Meimei

Just Buy It

So, I got Mass Effect 3 on Tuesday...

Yeah, I'll let you know when I return to reality.  For now, just go buy the whole trilogy, and I'll see you in about a month.



Stay colorful,
                     Meimei

Pumped

I won't lie to you--I've been replaying Mass Effect 1&2 for the past month.  And I haven't stopped searching for updates on the third game coming out March 6th, watching trailers, reading interviews of developers, and reading books about the ME universe like it was part of my curriculum (don't even ask what this obsession has done to my school life).

I'm learning the science of the FUTURE!!  That counts for class credit, right?

Mass Effect isn't the idol in my life.  It's a game--a fun one, too--but just a game.  Though after I talk about how excited I am for the release of Mass Effect 3, you may not believe me.  I'm not a crazy fanatic, I promise!  Though I'll warn you, the lingo I'm going to use may only make sense if you've played.

BioWare made this crazy fictional world, pushed me into it, and essentially dared me to play through the game as many times as I could in as many different ways as possible.  Challenge accepted, because I've played through the game three times and I've only brushed the surface of this 'universe'.  One canon Paragon-ish FemShep and two Renagade Sheps (Man and Fem), about 150 hours, and a whole lot of late night gaming has prepared my mind and body for Mass Effect 3, but let me tell you about why I'm really excited...(even if you don't care to hear) (also, spoilers)

I Killed a Lot of People

I love that BioWare made a game where actions have consequences, rather than just allowing somebody to shoot up the place and walk away, a la Grand Theft Auto.  I don't love how this fact was only made known to me after I failed to talk a crew member out of going crazy-- he subsequently got shot by another soldier.  I learned this lesson again after I had to leave someone behind to get blown up.  And after I saved thousands of soldiers rather than three politicians and their crew.  But I did save some bug-looking aliens!  I did something right there, I think.

Now it's time to see how that'll turn out.  In the second game, that crazy-now-dead alien's brother came into power, and I don't know if I trust him.  Aliens think all of humanity is made up of racists because those thousands of soldiers I saved happened to be human, and the politicians weren't.  No alien race is going to want to help take back Earth now, I bet.  Damn bug people better pull through for me in the third game, because I have a feeling nobody else will. 

Yeah, they look reliable.

The Gang's Back Together

Granted, Wrex died, Ashley was nuked, and Liara is always trying to get in my pants, but other than that I'm happy the old crew will all be together again.  Yeah, two of the three I actually liked were with me in the second game...okay, fine, you got me.  I'm thrilled Kaidan's back, alright?  I couldn't be more excited about the fact that he's back with my canon FemShep--even though he was a douche to her in the second game.

"Why didn't you contact me?"  I was in a coma, dumbass.

How he got promoted to a higher military rank than me is something I'll never know; he died at the drop of a hat in ME1.


Saving the Day in Style

I'm not the kind of person who spits on developers if they don't make something to a specific high-res standard; I still play old clunky games, if they're good of course.

This is the Uncanny Valley.

But hey, the third Mass Effect shows a lot of improvement from the first game (made in 2007).  I would show you the difference between ME2 Shepard and horseface ME1, but I promised myself I would never think back to how bad the character creation process was.  My point is that they came so far from first installment to sequel, and I'm pumped to play in an even awesomer looking world.  Oh, and to get Shep a new hairstyle.  Aaand I think I'm a little involved...

They're my frieeeeends!

Yeah, I think I'll go...talk to people.  Or something.



Stay colorful,
                     Meimei

Lazy

I'm pretty damn lazy, I tell you what.  I have so many assignments due tomorrow, it's insane--not to mention history and math tests I need to study for to make up the bad grades I started the semester with.  And what have I done to prepare for this?  After track practice (which could be a lot better if I bothered to run in the off season) I got home, ate some french bread, put some songs on my iPod, and now I'm writing a blog.  And I'm so tired I think I'll go to sleep in fifteen minutes.  Probably sleep in a half hour, if I feel like it tomorrow.  Which I will.

I'm taking a nap.  See you guys in ten hours.

There is no end to how apathetic I can become towards school work (I also just realized that I can never use my real name because colleges cannot accept me after that statement).  I hate being told what to do if the reasoning is "because this is what the education system wants" or "you'll get into college with this" or "dry humor isn't the best marketable skill--you need to learn how to read".

This could be the Magna Carta for all I know.







I've become an unwilling student.  Yikes, I ought to change that, considering the fact it's my junior year and I've been bombed incessantly with mountains of superfluous knowledge I have to cram into my brain.

You think there's no superfluous knowledge?  Maybe you're right, but I go with the Sherlock Holmes method:



A man should keep his little brain attic stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his library, where he can get it if he wants it.

No words from a fictional character have resonated with me more than these.  I abhor math (but I'm actually pretty good at it) so I won't have a career in that field.  If that's the case, why do I need to learn trigonometric functions and memorize the graphs for sine, cosine, and tangent?  But I digress.

The point is, I'm lazy, and I need to shape up. *note:  this post was finished and published two days after its genesis because the author is that lazy*

Stay colorful,

                     Meimei







Oblivion

Life punches you in the face with its lessons whether you like it or not.  Doesn't matter when or where, experiences eventually culminate to form practical bits of wisdom.

A penny saved is a penny earned, b*tch.

Playing video games is typically not a way I expected to learn something about myself, but after reading some stuff about revealed personality traits, I decided to take a look at myself after playing Elder Scrolls IV:  Oblivion.

Sir Nerdwick of Antlerhead

1.  I view people as inconveniences
There was a point in the game where you have to close an Oblivion gate (a gate to Hell, essentially) in order to save a certain city from the demons pouring out of it, thereby gaining the support of the city's leader.  There's a catch though; the leader's son--we'll call him Suicidal Dumbass--ran into the gate with his friends from the club he made up his group of "Knights".  I didn't really care for rescuing him, until his dad promised good stuff if he came back alive; and if I've learned anything from full sized candy bars on Halloween, it's that rich people give out good stuff.

Get that bite-sized crap out of here.

I went through the gate and found Suicidal Dumbass and his one friend--he tells me all the rest died (surprise).  We have to travel to the main tower and destroy the gate so we can leave, but Suicidal Dumbass has his own battle plans.  By battle plans, I mean he runs head on with his friend without waiting for me to help him.  I did try to keep him alive, but as we got closer to the end, they both fell in battle.  The very first thing I thought?  Finally!

Then I danced upon their not-yet-dug graves.

They were cumbersome to me, like two toddlers with swords that I wasn't getting paid to watch.  After I celebrated their deaths, I respectfully dug through their remains, took their money, and closed the gate myself.  Didn't care about how his father would handle the death of his only son, or what would happen to the city now that its extra defense would be gone.  They were burdens to me, nothing more.

2.  I would rather die than take crap from people.
I was riding along a road to get to some castle, when some thugs stopped me.  "Pay up, or else."  When I had $25,000 on me and they were asking for $100, it seemed more like a donation than a mugging.  However, there was no way I could let them take my money or look at their smirking faces as I rode away.  Now matter how much of a disadvantage I was at, I chose to fight, spending some valuable healing resources in the process--things that cost over $100.  Why do it, then?  Because there is no way I am going to let someone take advantage of me, even if they are fictional.

Another case would be when I accidentally stole something in a market (trust me, it's possible) and the police force jumped on me like they'd found the medieval Adolf Hitler.  This was early in the game, so I had no money to pay my bail.  Upon telling the soldier I'd cooperate, he smiled and said, "That's too bad.  I was hoping you'd resist arrest."  I promptly reloaded my game, stole the same thing, and resisted.

Loot at that stupid, mocking face of his.

I lost (there were literally coming from all parts of the city), and had to reload my game--careful not to steal anything--but at least I didn't have to look at some cop's smug expression.  I would rather die a thousand video game deaths than take that.

3.  I'm a poacher.
Imagine riding along on your horse, when, oh no! the battle music starts playing.  Enemies must be nearby.  Wait, no worries bro, it's just a crab trying to pinch the leg of your horse.  You could easily outrun it, however, it did scare you into thinking there were more bandits chasing after you, and you've already got off your horse to fight.  What do you do?

What did I do?

I drew my sword and killed the crab.  You know what I did after that?  I went running down the coast line and killed every crab I could find.  I was mad at those stupid things getting in my way all the time, and I snapped.

Revenge is a dish best served in the carcass of your enemy.

I didn't even take the sort-of valuable crab meat off of them--that wasn't the reason for the slaughter.  I wouldn't have done that to in-game people; that'd be psychotic.  No, I just went on a crab-killing spree because a video game had broken me mentally.  No big deal.

Video games are therapeutic.  Yeah, that's why I play them for hours on end...therapeutic...


Stay colorful,
                     Meimei

Elton John

I liked Elton John as much as the next person who'd listened to him while he was active.  I like Benny and the Jets, Your Song, and I love Crocodile Rock.  The awesome piano playing and somewhat vague lyrics make for good songs.

But I listen for the man himself.

Now, much like a long-term guy/girl friend relationship, a revelation of attraction has come into play (attraction to the music--no one needs to tell me he's gay).   I've come to realize I really like Elton John's songs.  I was just listening to some of his greatest hits on iTunes, and I'm grinning like an idiot at Rocket Man--singning along, even though I've only heard the song in a movie once or twice.  And why not?  They're catchy, and in my opinion, well written pieces.  I plan on taking our relationship a little furthur by purchasing more songs for my cracked iPod.  Don't ask, I'm just too cheap to buy a new one.

If I can make out the album cover, it still works.

Stay colorful,
                     Meimei