Favorite Gay Nerdy-Type Persons

So...I can't think of anything really interesting to post today.  So instead I'm going to post pictures of my favorite out celebrities that have some sort of nerdy-type cred/following.

5.  Jim Parsons

photo credit- Maxim Magazine.

HE FINALLY CAME OUT! And yes, I do enjoy The Big Bang Theory.  Diss my nerd cred all you want, but I can enjoy both Community and The Big Bang Theory.  But yeah.  I've always found myself attracted to Sheldon.

4.  Zachary Quinto

I...don't know where this one came from.  Google Image.  But Sylar was really the only reason I watched Heroes for as long as I did.  I didn't make it through the 3rd season, but I stuck with it for much longer than I should've, all because of him.  (Yes, he came out, too!)

3.  John Barrowman

There are other/hotter pictures of him out there, but I just love Ianto so much that I needed to include one of them both.  But yeah.  Captain Jack Harkness.  Yes please.

 2.  Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka

My favorite celebrity couple.  Just...they're adorable, and I love them.  I want their lives.

 1.  Sean Maher

Ugh.  Simon Tam.  Yes please.  Forever and always.  I only wish that Google Images had had a better variety of his shirtless scene from Firefly.  Because...just...yes.

Did I leave off your favorite?  Let me know!

Marvel Movie Marathon

So, I assume that whoever reading this is a living person.  Which means that you've heard of The Avengers.  Whether or not you knew that it came out on May 4th is up for debate (but by the power of Thor, I hope you knew that.)  What you probably didn't know was that in select Regal theaters across the country on May 3rd, a Marvel Movie Marathon was hosted.

The theater closest to me was offering Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Thor 3D, and Captain America 3D, before the midnight premiere of The Avengers 3D.  Plus a free small popcorn, and 20 additional Regal Crown Club points.  For $35.  An excellent deal, I thought.  And was proven correct.  (Other theaters showed The Incredible Hulk between the Iron Man movies, I've heard.)  It started at 2:15, so I went and bought my ticket at 11:30, went to Chick-fil-a for lunch, and walked around Wal-Mart until I got bored by 1:15.  So I went to the theater early to get a good seat, spent an extra $2 to upgrade my small popcorn to a refillable large tub and used my mom's refillable soda cup, and was the 6th person in the theater.  So we sat there for 50 minutes, and more and more people filed in, the excitement brewing as my geek boner rose and rose.

Now, the theater I was at is the Pinnacle 18 at Turkey Creek, which has stadium seating and very comfortable seats.  It's divided into two levels, the lower level being the undesirable level where you have to crank your head up the whole time, while the upper level is more eye-level, and the front row of the second level has a nice railing in front of it where patrons can rest their feet during and before the movie.  The front row of the second level is obviously prime seating, where most of the early arrivals got there early to sit.  And that's where I was.  Until about 10 minutes before Iron Man started, when there was a fairly sizable amount of people there.  Maybe...60-100 people in a 200 seat theater.  The theater manager came in and told us that there was a slight snafu, and that we'd have to go to the theater next door for the first two movies (the 2D ones) before returning to our present theater for the final 3 movies.  And she smiled and said "but it's a bigger theater, so that's good, right?"  Fuck you, lady.  I got there 60 minutes early to secure a good seat for myself, one where I had a leg rest, and empty seats on either side of me.  It was an ideal setting.  Until the bitch made me move.  And some jackasses that had shown up 5 minutes ago, and had to sit in non-ideal seats all collectively decided to run to the new theater and claim all the good seats.  The people in the current good seats all collectively thought "Fuck you!" and dashed to the new theater and tried to claim good seats, as well.  I believe that we all got seats on the good row, but my seat in the original theater was closer to center, and I was pissed.  Which was a VERY unfortunate way to start the Movie Marathon of Awesome.  I ended up sitting next to a pair of geeks who actually knew what they were talking about, more so than I did at least, so that was alright.

Then the Movie Marathon of Awesome began!  Iron Man was awesome, as always.  But can we just take a moment and talk about Robert Downey, Jr.'s eyes?  Oh my god.  They're like pools of beauty.  I mean, he's just a sexy man in general, but his EYES!  I could barely deal with it.  I'm just glad that my inner geek repressed my external gay in that environment, because I probably would've freaked out the guys around me.  I'm always surprised by how charming Gwyneth Paltrow is.  I mean, I'm not one of the legions of people who hate her, but I don't feel strongly towards her.  I just forget that she can be charming.  She was kind of a bump on a log during the Iron Man/Iron Monger battle, but ...I guess that couldn't have been helped?  But yeah.  RDJ's eyes.  Wonderful.  Everything else, same as always.  Wonderful all around.

Iron Man 2...had a hardware issue.  We watched about 30-45 minutes of it, before it quit.  We were pissed, until they offered us free 3D tickets and unlimited soda refills until 8.  Then they moved us back into the first theater for Thor 3D, and the same douchey dash for the front row happened, but I still got a seat on the front row.  With the same guys that I had sat next to for the two Iron Man movies, coincidentally, so that was cool.

Thor 3D was alright.  I don't hate the movie (that special place in my heart is reserved for X-Men:  The Last Stand), but it's not one that I love, either.  Thor is not a hero that I'm very familiar with, so it was nice to get to know him and his mythology a little more.  I love Natalie Portman and Kat Dennings (when she's not in that pile of shit 2 Broke Girls, at least) so having them as supporting characters was a plus.  I thought that the Earth vs. Asgard dichotomy was interesting, although I could've gotten to know Lady Sif (who was Jessie from Kyle XY, and will always be in my heart) and the Warriors Three a little better (especially the blonde one with the doofy mustache, mmmmm...).  Plus...Shirtless Chris Hemsworth.  Nothing wrong with that scene, except that he put his shirt back on.  I wish that Hawkeye had had a bigger part in the movie, and I thought they missed a HUGE opportunity to introduce Luke Cage.  The huge black guy that fought Thor when he was breaking into the SHIELD facility to grab Mjolnir.  You know how easy it would've been to just say "Luke Cage is down!  Clint, take your shot!" and BAM!  Yet another Avenger introduced.  It wouldn't necessarily fit in with Luke's comic book character, but you know what?  Who cares.  It would've been awesome.
My other big issue with Thor was that I didn't feel like he learned anything.  I felt like the "massive character growth" that made him worthy of harnessing the power of Thor wasn't true growth.  It felt cheap to me.  And I didn't like the fact that Mjolnir flew to him.  If it flew to anyone worthy of commanding the power of Thor, then theoretically, it should never have landed, as there ARE worthy people on Earth, if the comics have proven anything.  Also, as much as I love Natalie Portman, I wanted Thor and Lady Sif to hook up (like they do sometimes in the comics...).  But that might go along with my desire to get to know the Asgardians better.  I hope they spend more time in Asgard in Thor 2, and manage to bring back all four of Thor's allies.

Captain America 3D presents a problem.  It was an excellent film, I loved Chris Evans both skinny and hunky (but obviously the hunky was awesome, even if the shirtlessness was brief).  Hugo Weaving is a god among actors, and I've loved him in everything I've ever seen him in.  The problem is, we spend the whole movie getting attached to Sharon Carter and Bucky and ...the ...captain whose name I've forgotten, only for Cap to spring 70 years in the future.  If Cap 2 happens like the comics, then Carter had a daughter who looks and acts just like her, and is Cap's age, so Cap falls madly in love with her.  And Bucky will be back as Winter Soldier, the Big Bad of Cap 2.  Hopefully.  It was a good movie, don't get me wrong.  I just went into it knowing that I was going to get attached to a bunch of characters that couldn't show up in any sort of sequel, and it made me sad, because I liked most of them.

And then we get to the Main Event of the Marathon.  THE AVENGERS.  WAS AWESOME.  Joss Whedon is one of my favorite creative-types (director, screenwriter, showrunner, what have you), and I love comic books, and have at the very least enjoyed all of the "prequel" movies.  None of the Avengers featured in this movie are my favorite Avengers, but I don't despise any of them.  I don't looooove any of the actors (except the EXCELLENT Cobie Smulders!) but again, I don't hate any of them.  In fact, I'm pretty warm towards Scarlett.  She's been in a few things that I like, and she's very pretty and actually a good actress, not just a pair of tits and a nice ass.  And I've already spoken about (or at least alluded to) how attractive I find Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, and Robert Downey, Jr.  But Jeremy Renner blew them all out of the water.  I'm a huge ass fan, and there's a scene where Captain America, Black Widow, and Hawkeye are walking, and the camera is behind them, and my eyes immediately went to Hawkeye's ass and never left.  In that one moment, he became my favorite (I also have a thing for archers...), and I need to rewatch the movie so I can fall in love with Hawkeye all over again (luckily, I have that free 3D ticket...).

But seriously.  The Avengers.  Go see it.  Love it.  Thank me later.  Or don't.  It's up to you.  But you should really go see it.

I'm Still Alive, I Promise!

So...It's been like 3 months...not much has changed, either, sad to say.

Update in gaming- Last month, I finished yet another play-through of the Dragon Age series, this time as a female Dwarven Rogue in Dragon Age:  Origins, and all DLC that is associated with it, and a male Mage in Dragon Age 2.  It was not a terrible play-through, but I've done it a couple of times, so nothing really noteworthy happened.  I had intended to romance Leliana in Dragon Age, but I ended up romancing Alistair, and then I intended and succeeded in romancing Anders in Dragon Age II.  Woo...

Then I decided that it was past time to finally learn to like the Mass Effect series, especially since Mass Effect 3 had just come out.  I own Mass Effect 1 and 2 already, so I decided to power through them and try my hardest to like them.  Unfortunately, I am a dumbass, and I couldn't find Mass Effect 1.  So I decided to suck it up and play Mass Effect 2.  Which was the best decision of all time. 

I am terrible at shooters, and prefer using Magic-based characters in RPGs, so I tried to stick to a character class that was like the Mage.  The Adept.  And it was AWESOME.  Adepts use powers in addition to weapons, AND you can arc the powers so that they go over barriers and shiz.  Which was especially awesome because the reason that I suck at shooters is because I have terrible aim and unsteady hands.  So I played through Mass Effect 2 and some of the DLC, and got addicted.  After beating it, I finally found Mass Effect 1 and was...let down.  I liked the companions more (because they were more specialized and more similar to the classes that are available to Shepard), but HATED the gameplay.  You can't arc the powers, and the Mako was an invention from Hell.  It's just...the worst.  And they put some Mako action in EVERY SINGLE LEVEL.  It is just awful.  But I powered through it, and was rewarded with transferring my character and decisions to Mass Effect 2, and having my own decisions transferred over to Mass Effect 2 GREATLY increased my love of the game.  And then I bought Mass Effect 3, and transferred my Mass Effect 1 and 2 character into Mass Effect 3, and LOVED it!  Except that I accidentally romanced the wrong character.

Funny story 'bout that.  See, in Dragon Age:  Origins and 2, and in Mass Effect 1 and 2, you can romance multiple characters at a time.  At some point, if you've progressed enough with more than one character, the two characters that you've been romancing will confront you and make you choose one.  Based on previous interactions, I assumed that the same thing would happen in Mass Effect 3, and I feel that it was a fair assumption.  So I had my male Shepard romance the two male romance options, and got super excited to watch the two dudes fight over my dude.  Unfortunately...they took out the love-triangle option, and I was unaware, so I romanced the dude that I didn't want to end up with (as the dude that I did want to end up with was unavailable, and I felt like flirting) and ...ended up with him.  Which wasn't awful, but it was not the desired outcome.  I was then presented with the option of starting the whole character over again (Mass Effect 1, 2, and then finally romancing the correct person in 3) or just playing 3 again and fixing my mistake.  And...I chose the wrong option, restarting the character.  I thought about playing a different class or going Renegade this time instead of Paragon, and...I just HATE THE MAKO too much to play it again so soon.

Not...that any of you really care.

In other news, I'm in the chorus of a production of Verdi's Othello.  And...that's fine.  And...oh yeah, Things I'm Reading!

I've finished the Song of Ice and Fire series (as has been published by now, at least), and really enjoyed it.  Now I'm trrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnngggggggggg to get through the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but GOOD LORD I am having a hard time doing this.  I'm used to Jordan's and Martin's style of super flowery prose, and over descriptiveness, but Tolkien's prose is just ...too much.  I don't know why, but I am having the hardest time getting through it.  It probably doesn't help that I think Gandalf is an asshole (a post for another time) and it took Tolkien took 337 pages to introduce his best character, Strider/Aragorn.

But...there's not a whole lot else going on right now, I guess.  I'll go more in depth about my newly passionate love for Mass Effect later, and I'll probably post why I think Gandalf is an asshole and not worthy of everyone's praise eventually, too.  So...stay tuned for those, if you want.

I Watch Far Too Much TV...

For those of you who don't know, I live at home right now.  And...my parents are on vacation in Australia.  So, I'm home alone a lot.  And watch a lot of TV anyways, so their being gone has only allowed me to watch SO.  MUCH.  MORE.

The shows I usually watch have all come back, and I've caught up on all of them.  In like...a day.  So there have been some new shows that I've been watching.  My mom really enjoys Revenge, so I watched the latest episode when I had to record it for her, and then caught up as much as I could on it with OnDemand, which was only a few more episodes.

Revenge is a pretty rich kid drama, much along the lines of (I assume) Gossip Girl, 90210, The O.C., etc.  And I've never watched any of those, so I assume that they're super trashy.  And so is Revenge.  But it HIGHLY appeals to my gay sensibilities.  Mostly, super campy and uber-dramatic.  And there's some gay/bi dudes, so it's pretty cool that way, too.  It is in no way a "good" show, but it is definitely entertaining.

I also started watching/got caught up with SyFy's Being Human on NetFlix.  I had watched a few episodes earlier in the year, actually ON SyFy (go figure!) and I had watched the first episode of the British series on NetFlix, so I knew what I was getting into, but it still seemed like a really interesting concept that I wanted to watch more of.  And it is an interesting concept.  I think...that they focused more on the drama of the show, and it kind of brought the enjoyment level down quite a bit.  If the producers would embrace the SyFy camp factor of a bunch of their other shows (like Eureka or Warehouse 13), and used a bit more of the comedy skills of the actors, I think the show would be EXCELLENT.  My favorite scenes of the first season were when the three roommates are just sitting around cracking jokes on each other.  If the show had more of that, and less ...vampire gangs fighting for control of Boston, I think the show would be really way much better.

I'm also (presently, at this very moment) watching Merlin.  I had started to watch it last year, and couldn't get over the Smallville feel of it, but I'd heard lots of good things about it, so I decided to give it another shot.  It has grown on me some (but it probably helps that I'm playing PSP while watching.  Yay ADD!)  What's really helping is the hoyay between Merlin and Arthur.  (Hoyay stands for Homoeroticism!  Yay!  It refers to when audience members infer homoerotic subtext in interactions with two not gay characters written by writers who are intending nothing of the sort).  But really, guys.  If this were HBO or Showtime, Merlin and Arthur would be GETTING IT ON.  They've almost died for each more times in the first season than Pete and Myka have in the entirety of Warehouse 13.  And not in the heroic sense.  In the "please don't kill the person I love" kind of sense.  It's touching.  Like Sam and Frodo.

So...yeah.  That's what I've been doing.  Anyone have any suggestions for what I watch next?

Trip Through Time

So my first experience with an XBox comes from my little brother.  My family has always been a Nintendo family, we got a Super Nintendo when I was ...6, I think, and then got a Nintendo 64 when that came out, and a Gamecube when that came out, and my mother even camped out at a Wal-Mart to get us a Wii (even though none of us asked for, or even wanted, one).  Sometime during high school, we also got a Playstation 2, and a Sega Dreamcast, albeit a while after the Dreamcast stopped being popular.  I went off to college, and when I came back for Christmas Break, my youngest brother had gotten himself an XBox, and a few games to go with it.  One of those games was Star Wars:  Knights of the Old Republic.

I don't know if I've shared my love for Star Wars yet.  In fact, I'm almost positive I have not, but that is a post for another time.  I DO know that I've shared my love for RPGs, though, so the joining of an RPG and Star Wars was like crack for my little nerd heart.  I devoured that game like a voracious old man who just discovered Viagra and hookers devours well...Viagra and hookers.  However, Christmas Break came to an end and, since it was my brother's XBox, I had to bid adieu to it until summer break.  But glory be! when that came around, he had obtained Star Wars:  Knights of the Old Republic II:  The Sith Lords.  And if I devoured the first game like Viagra and hookers, I devoured this one like a nursing home located in between a pharmacy and a strip club.  It was an unhealthy obsession.  I think I played through KOTOR2 about ...3 times over the summer, playing as different characters, using different romances, and making different choices every time.  Much like I did with Dragon Age:  Origins (see my old blog post: http://adayinthelifeofanerdygay.blogspot.com/2011/07/day-three.html ).  Unfortunately, it was my brother's XBox, and he did not really appreciate me using it so often.

I went back to school, and came back home for Fall Break.  I noticed that the XBox was free, found the KOTOR2 box, put the disc in, and booted it up.  Only to find that the game wouldn't play.  Baffled, I pulled the disc out and wiped it on my shirt, thinking that maybe the disc was just dusty.  Still no luck.  Confused and a little angry that my addiction was so close and yet so far, I pulled out the disc again, and glanced at the back.  And was HORRIFIED.  My brothers had scratched up the back of the disc so that I couldn't play it anymore.  I couldn't be TOO mad, as it was not my disc, nor my XBox, but I was PISSED.  And have been looking for the game ever since (it was not a new game when Dan got it).  Now, I didn't look very hard until October 2010, when my friend Chad sold me his 360, but I did look.  And this weekend, I FOUND TWO OF THEM!  Now, I am a cheapskate, so I got the cheaper of the two ($23 vs. $35), and booted it up!  Minus an occasional sound-glitch, it works just fine!

I started a game as a Jedi Consular (the mage), but I'm not really feeling it.  In the Dragon Age series, I usually play the Rogue, so I'm thinking that I'm going to restart as a Jedi Sentinel, because I like skills, and they're somewhat useful.  But playing this game after playing Dragon Age:  Origins is ...unsettling.  It's not just the graphical difference (with KOTOR being an XBox game, and Dragon Age being a 360 game), but I just see lots of improvements that KOTOR could make, if they were still making KOTOR games.  Not that The Old Republic MMORPG bullshit.  Just a few simple tweaks.  Getting rid of used dialogue options would be a big help.  Being better able to customize my character's looks would be nice, too.  Among many other things.  Things that, if Bioware were to make a new KOTOR game, they would fix on their own, based off of what Dragon Age and Mass Effect have done.  IT WOULD BE AWESOME.

I'm...really tired...so...I feel like this post was a bit more ADD than my other posts (which, to be fair, are all pretty ADD).  I apologize for that.  Also, it occurred to me about halfway through this post that all of my posts have been more Nerd-based and less Gay-based, so...maybe I'll do a more gay-oriented post next time.  I make no promises.

Also, what older games have you played lately?  Or do you only play newer games?

Christmas Surprises

Yeah, yeah, Christmas was like two weeks ago.  I'm lazy, get off my back.  I'm going to talk about the games that I got for Christmas, and I needed a decent chance to play them all before I wrote about them.

Everyone have a good Christmas?  I sure hope so, because I did!  Some dress shirts, a few sweater vests, 8 Disney movies (Beauty and the Beast, Tangled, Up, Wall-E, The Incredibles, Toy Story 3, Sister Act, and The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe!), and 3 video games.

Game 1:  A present from my youngest brother- Final Fantasy IV:  The Complete Collection for PSP.  Final Fantasy IV is probably my favorite RPG of all time.  I first played it on an SNES emulator that we had on our computer, but it was called Final Fantasy II at the time.  I later figured out that it was actually IV, and then it came out with Chrono Trigger as a bundle game for the Playstation.  Then they released it on the Game Boy Advance as Final Fantasy IV Advance.  Then again on the DS, but with 3D graphics this time!  And finally on the PSP as Complete Collection.  FF4:  TCC is actually 3 games in one, the Advance version of IV with updated graphics, the sequel to IV that was released in different chapters, called The After Years, AND a short little interlude between the two.
     Now...the problem with the fact that this is one of my favorite games is that I've played it a lot.  So...I know how to beat it, strategy-wise.  Also...occasionally, when I know a side quest is available from a certain point on, I will undertake that side quest ASAP.  Unfortunately, the side quests typically require me to be a few levels stronger than I typically would be in a normal RPG.  But since I know this game so well, I tend to speed through the main storyline, so I tend to be a few levels (just one or two, nothing major) weaker than I should be.  So...I'm stuck at a part where I can continue the main storyline and lose a character for a good bit, and then only have 4 characters when I go on these side quests, or I can struggle through the arduous process of leveling, which isn't usually a problem...when I have no other games to play.  However, I have the two after-game adventures that I've never played before, PLUS a few other games that I got for, or around, Christmas.  So I'm having a hard time staying focused on beating this game.

Game 2:  A present given to me by my younger brother, but really from my parents- Batman:  Arkham City for the XBox 360.  Now...I love me some Batman.  I love comic books, and superheroes, and video games, so this seems like a game right up my alley, right?  WRONG.  Now...I do enjoy this game, I'm just bad at it.  I like superhero games with teams that are more RPG-like.  For instance, the X-Men Legends games, the Marvel:  Ultimate Alliance games, and Justice League Heroes.  Games where I control one hero, and the computer controls 1-3 other heroes and we join forces to kick ass.  Those are superhero games that I like and am good at.  Action games where I have open world maps and open-end quests, and combos to learn are games that I do not excel at.  But...I own this game, and Arkham Asylum, and I asked for both of them.  Even if I never get good at them, they are games that I am proud to own.  Plus, I downloaded Catwoman, Nightwing, and Robin for Arkham City, so eventually...I need to be able to play as them.  Even if I die a lot.  But eventually (I keep telling myself that) I will play them, and be good at them, and will fall in love with them.  For now, they are that person across the food court that is wearing awesome clothes and talking to awesome looking people that I am totally in love with, but will never have the courage to talk to.

Game 3 (and 4):  A present ACTUALLY from my younger brother- Tales of Symphonia:  Dawn of a New World for Wii.  This is a game that I am actually really enjoying.  I'd never heard of the Tales series of games, or if I had, I had never paid attention to them, but I'm really enjoyed myself while playing this.  And then it dawned on me that this is a sequel to a Gamecube game, and (like many Wii sequels to Gamecube games, slash- The Fire Emblem games) there is a transfer option, so that the Wii game is ...made better/easier/whatever by things you did in the Gamecube game.  So I returned X-Men:  Destiny (which is a TERRIBLE game that I will review in a moment) and one of my dad's birthday presents (that he already had!) to McKay's and FOUND THE GAMECUBE GAME!  So I've been playing through that, and am really enjoying it.  I keep feeling like I'm at the end of the game, but thanks to my occasional glances at strategy guides and the fact that there is a second disc, I know I'm not.  But if you like Final Fantasy games, Super Smash Bros, and/or the Fire Emblem series (for some reason, Tales of Symphonia just feels like a non-strategy Fire Emblem game to me, I don't know why) then you will really enjoy these games!

Game 5:  Something I got for myself a few weeks ago, it just happened to be in December- X-Men:  Destiny for the XBox 360.  THIS IS SUCH A TERRIBLE GAME.  I'm sorry.  I love the X-Men.  They were my REAL introduction to nerdy things.  The 90's cartoon changed my life.  If I ever get a tattoo, it will be the logo from one of the X-Men movies, with the X in a circle looking all metallic-y, on my shoulder blade.  I.  LOVE.  X-MEN.  But this game SUCKS.  First- in all the press stuff I'd ever read about the game, everyone talked about the freedom of choice, and how you can choose to be an X-Man or a member of the Brotherhood.  Maybe I didn't play far enough in the game to get to that choice, but the only chances I got to choose were side missions, nothing affecting the reality of the game.  No matter what side I picked, I did this mini-game, and then I was back on the main quest.  You get to choose one of three brand-new characters, and once you pick your character, you pick their powers, and all of their upgrades.  Which, I initially thought would be cool.  If only the powers didn't suck. 
     I am a person who would (in real life) prefer a power that allows me to stay at range and beat the crap out of people from a distance, like telekinesis or energy manipulation.  Something along those lines.  However, I have found that in games, especially those action games that I am no good at, choosing long-range powers/weapons tends to put you at a disadvantage, as you have no teammates to distract the enemies while you pick them off one by one from afar.  No, all of the enemies come straight towards you, and if you have a long-distance power, you are forced to flee from them and hide behind things and generally fight very cowardly, and it is annoying.  However, I also usually hate playing as "bruiser"-type characters.  So the power choices were Energy Projection (long-range), Density Shifting ("bruiser"), and Shadow Manipulation (something in between, OR SO I THOUGHT).  Figuring (correctly) that EP and DS were what they were, I initially chose Shadow Manipulation.  After you choose your power, there's a very brief cut-scene showing your character rescue some civilians using their powers.  My guy initially teleported, like Nightcrawler, and I thought "FUCK YEAH, I GET TO BE NIGHTCRAWLER!"  FALSE.  It was more like Wolverine.  But without the healing factor.  And you can't teleport, like the game TOLD YOU YOU COULD.  So I played for a while, and got annoyed.  They kept introducing these mutants, letting them fight with you, but not in any sort of controllable way.  There's one level where you free Surge, Colossus, and Quicksilver, and the four of you are on your way to escape.  But your three comrades are all doing their own thing in battles.  PLUS THERE ARE NO HEALING PACKS AND LOTS OF SHIT TO BE KICKED OUT OF YOU.  Enemies occasionally drop health orbs, but that does me little to no good if I wasted 50 enemies and didn't get hurt, and then a super enemy comes out, kicks my ass, and then drops an orb that heals 5 health of the 230 that he just took away from me.
     Sorry...I get pissed.  This game makes me pissed.  But it had lots of things going for it!  It has an impressive cast list, and the potential to introduce lots of casual fans to more obscure/modern X-Men characters, like Northstar, Surge, Pixie, and Caliban.  And the way they kept talking about putting an emphasis on choices, I thought it would be more like an X-Men-themed Dragon Age or Mass Effect (which would be HELLA FUCKING AWESOME, Marvel and Bioware- TEAM UP!)  Alas, it was not, I was sorely disappointed, and SUPER PISSED.  So I gave it back to McKay's and got a good game instead.  And...am seriously thinking about writing a nasty letter to Marvel, because that shit was unacceptable.

In Which I Write!

So, I've been reading a lot lately.  I've talked about that a few times.  Well, I finished The Hunger Games, and then started the Song of Ice and Fire series (also known as Game of Thrones).  It took me a little over a week to read the first one (A Game of Thrones), and I started the second one (A Clash of Kings) on ...Friday, I think...?  Anyways, it's a pretty enjoyable series, and I am genuinely intrigued by it, but I'm having the hardest time reading it.  I think it's because each chapter is told from a different point of view, and 99% of the time, the POV of the next chapter has nothing to do with the POV of the previous chapter.  And almost every chapter ends with some sort of cliffhanger, big or small.  And then the next chapter picks up somewhere completely different, often times with the "cliffhanger" having been resolved off-screen, and it turns out it was not a big deal.  It just kind of bothers me a little bit, and it gives me no real ...desire to finish the chapter and get to the next chapter to see how this plot line resolves or expands.  And because you get POVs from most of the main characters, you tend to like most of the characters.  Even though most of the characters are enemies, or at the very least rivals.  It both destroys the drama, and makes it more real.  Which is a hard thing to do.  Also, on occasion, it feels a little like a porno.  Not THAT often, but often enough that I will feel uncomfortable reading it while I'm subbing.  But it is a good series, and I am enjoying it.  I'm just having a hard time getting through it.

Which brings me to what I've been doing all night!  Writing!  I've had this kind of fantasy world living in my head since high school.  Junior year, at least.  So, it's been a while, and I've always intended to write it down, but every time I get started, I get frustrated with myself for not having thought out everything.  So this time, before I start writing the plot, I'm trying to figure everything out.  History of the world, mythology and religion, how magic works, politics, character histories, everything.  Aside from a little bit of mythology, I haven't really thought about this stuff before, so it's been really enlightening.  I've had the characters and basic interactions down for a while, but with everything I've made up tonight, I'm going to have to change a few things.  Which is fine, just little tweaks.  I'm actually really excited about the direction that this project is taking this time through.  I'm not sure if I'm going to try to get this published or if this is just going to be for fun, but this will also require me finishing it, and I don't have the best track record of finishing my projects, unless they are food- or class-based.  Wish me luck on finishing this one!