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.

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!

Day 7

I'm probably going to stop the "Day Number" title.  It makes it easy to title these ...very few blogs, but it also means that I'm acutely aware of how little I post, and that makes me self-conscious.

Anywho, I've been reading a lot lately, because being a substitute teacher allows for a lot of free time, and I can't rightly watch TV while making sure 20 high schoolers don't rape and murder each other.  So I read.  I finished The Wheel of Time series for the 2nd time total (as in, I've read every book at least twice.  Some of them a few more.)  The next book on my reading list was The Game of Thrones, however, because it is now on TV, that means that lots of people want to read it.  And I don't really want to buy the series until I know that I'll like it, so I want to get it from the library.  So...at the moment, the first book is actually waiting for me at the library.  However, when I first put it on my list, I was 32nd in line for it.  So in the meantime, I read the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series.  Which was surprisingly excellent.

If you didn't watch the movie (and I believe that statistics state that you didn't...) you kind of know what it's about.  The 1st series stars Percy Jackson, and his friends, who are all (or mostly) demigods, half-human/half-god children of the Greek gods.  It's a very averagely written series that is totally engrossing.  Reading only while subbing, and in between plan periods, lunch, talking to students, and actually teaching, I read about a book in a day in a half.  Rick Riordan is the author, and there are 5 books in the first series, all of which are told in 1st person perspective from Percy.  He (Rick, the author) is also writing two other series, Heroes of Olympus (which is technically a sequel series to Percy Jackson and the Olympians, in that it uses the same characters and locations, and expands upon them, adding in Roman mythology to the existing Greek) and The Chronicles of Kane (which is Egyptian themed, and takes place in the same universe as the Olympus series, which they subtly reference, but takes mythology from a slightly different angle).  Heroes of Olympus and The Chronicles of Kane are each only 2 books into a 5 book planned series (which means that there are 2 H.o.O. books and 2 C.o.K. books, for those of you that are slower), but all three series are pretty good reads for people who (like me) where big mythology dorks in their earlier years.

Right now, I'm working through the Hunger Games trilogy.  My old roommate recommended it to me a while ago, and I put it on my list, but it took me a while to get to.  It also had a huge waiting list at the library, so one day while I was in Wal-Mart, I noticed that they were selling it for less than $7, so I went ahead and got the first book.  I was still reading The Chronicles of Kane, so I didn't get to it for about a week, but as soon as I started it, I couldn't put it down.  The first book was super good, so when I finished it, I went to Walmart and bought the other two.  I had mixed emotions about Catching Fire.  I felt like it introduced a whole lot, but I also felt like it moved at a snail's pace.  I haven't finished Mockingjay yet, but...I'm struggling with it.  I made a mistake by thinking about the Twilight series, and now my brain won't stop making comparisons between Katniss, Peeta, and Gale, and Bella, Jacob, and Edward.  I feel like Katniss from the first book was full of personality and spark, but third book Katniss just feels ...bland.  Her whole life revolves around Gale and Peeta in the third book, and...that's it.  She sleeps and worries about her two boys...just like Bella.  The first book was excellent, but after that, I just feel like the series has dragged.  I mean...it's still good, I'm still reading the books, and I plan on seeing all of the movies, but my brain will not delete the Twilight comparisons.

So yeah.  Between that and playing more Dragon Age, that's really all that's going on in my nerdy world right now.  What are you reading right now?

Day Two

I'm terrible at updating.  This is something you will learn, and while I make no promises (or even moves) to update more often, I will at least say that I'll try.

Anywho.  I've been doing a read through of the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan (and Brandon Sanderson, but...I don't like his parts that much).  Robert Jordan started the series, wrote the first 11 books (and a prequel!), and then died before finishing the series.  One book left.  So the publishers and Robert's wife picked Brandon to finish the series, but there was so much story left to be told that Brandon broke the last book up into three more books.  Well...it's still one book, just being published in three volumes.  And each "volume" is the size of one of the regular books.  So...three books.  That is 15 books, plus a guide to the series that has been published so far.

Guys, this is excellent reading.  I've read each book before, but never back-to-back like I am this time.  It's so weird the stuff that I pick up on now that I KNOW what happens, and how long he(Robert) has been foreshadowing some of this stuff.  The prequel wasn't written/published until after the ...6th(?) book, but even it has foreshadowing, and not the *hint hint nudge nudge* kind.  The "Oh wait.  Really?  This character has been this way for the whole series?  I'M FOURTEEN BOOKS IN.  HOW HAVE I NOT NOTICED?!" kind of way.  There are multiple theory sites, and a Wiki, and a few blogs, and multiple websites all dedicated to keeping track of everything that happens in this series, all the characters, interactions, love connections, prophecies, EVERYTHING.  It's so wonderful, and a continuity nerd's wet dream (read:  mine.)  I'm one of those people who finds something with a complicated backstory (but one that still makes sense) and just DIVES in.  It's one of the reasons I love comic books, and HATE it when they "reboot" everything, or declare that "nothing will be the same."  Because shit like that caused everything to mess up in the first place.  But that is another post for another time.

Back to the Wheel of Time.  I'm going to try to give you a bare bones rundown of the series and major characters, but ...well...if you ever start reading, you'll understand.  Needless to say, SPOILERS.  I mean...it's stuff all happens (or is seriously set in motion) in the first three books, but still SPOILERS.

There are five (later six, arguably eight or 9) main characters.  Rand al'Thor is the MAIN main character, the prophesied savior of the world, but also someone who is supposed to pretty much destroy the world while trying to save it.  The Dragon Reborn. There's a metric shit ton more backstory and development to him, but I'll just say that he's a Savior/Jesus character, and kind of a slut.

Mat Cauthon and Perrin Aybara are the other two legs of the main male character tripod.  They and Rand are ta'veren, which in the world they inhabit means that they are people who the world does actually revolve around.  Things have a habit of going their way, even if they don't see it that way.  For our purposes, being ta'veren means that they are Main Characters (as the Xanth series would say) and therefore too important to die.  Yet.  If I were going to classify them as D&D characters, Rand would be a Warrior/Mage dual-class (first Warrior, then added Mage, you'll see.)  Mat is a fairly typical Rogue, but uses a spear-type weapon instead of any real Rogue-y weapons.  Also, he's really really REALLY lucky.  Perrin is a ...Warrior/Ranger, I guess...dual-class (but like...actually dual-classed, like every race except humans can be.)  He's a hulking brute who has an animal connection (and is my favorite character of the males...).

Ah, the females.  Firstly, there is a slight dispute as to which females are considered "main" characters.  Wikipedia lists three, I would consider arguments for two more, but for the first book, there are really only two.  The third cameos in the first book, and doesn't really become a presence until the second book.  Same with one of the extra two.  The last extra doesn't even show up until the third or fourth book, but she's still fairly important.  Anywho, the two females are Egwene al'Vere and Nynaeve al'Meara.  Egwene is Rand's first love interest, and an (eventual) Aes Sedai (which are the female magic users of this world).  Nynaeve is the village Wisdom (the female equivalent of the Mayor politically, but also the town doctor kind of person), and also an (eventual) Aes Sedai.  I can't say too much more without giving things important plot details away, but I will say that Egwene is my favorite character of the females.

The other one, and the extra two, are Rand's other love interests (I TOLD you he was kind of a slut!), and all interesting characters.  There aren't uninteresting characters in this whole series.  Robert Jordan is just an excellent craftsman like that.  And there are also a metric shit ton of secondary characters, and minor characters, and mentioned characters, and you can very easily get lost and sidetracked, but IT IS A WORTHWHILE READ.  I PROMISE.  I started this series ...sophomore year of high school, and I graduated college in Dec 2009, and am STILL in love with this series, and am constantly fascinated by it.  Seriously, check it out.  At least the first 11 books, and the prequel/the ones that Robert Jordan wrote.  Because Brandon Sanderson has done an admirable and unenviable job of closing out the series, but there is just a significant tone change that I personally don't like that much.  However, I am so dedicated to the series that I'll finish it out, even if it turns into Twilight-level garbage.

Wheel of Time, Robert Jordan.
prequel- New Spring
#1- Eye of the World (also published as two books From The Two Rivers and To The Blight)
#2- The Great Hunt
#3- The Dragon Reborn
#4- The Shadow Rising
#5- The Fires of Heaven
#6-  Lord of Chaos
#7-  A Crown of Swords
#8-  The Path of Daggers
#9-  Winter's Heart
#10-  Crossroads of Twilight
#11-  Knife of Dreams
#12 volume 1- The Gathering Storm
#12 volume 2-  Towers of Midnight
#12 volume 3-  A Memory of Light (not yet published)

Seriously.  Go read them.  They're about 800 pages per book, but SO WORTH IT.

Also...I'll probably do a few posts about the series as I blog more, so...you'll know what I'm talking about.