ReadingLirael, As You Like It, The English Patient, Heart of Darkness, Suikoden III, Candidate for Goddess
Watching House, Rick Mercer's Monday Report, Gilmore Girls, Scrubs, Corner Gas, Aishiteruze Baby, Prince of Tennis, Hikaru no Go
Playing The Bard's Tale, Katamari Damacy, Curse of Monkey Island, Final Fantasy VI, Disgaea: Hour of Darkness, Pretty Barbie Dressup Party Final Fantasy X-2(group gaming)
Back-burner Star Ocean: Till the End of Time, Star Ocean: The Second Story, Final Fantasy Tactics: Advance, Baldur's Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast, Planescape: Torment, Final Fantasy VII
Obsessing Firefly, Erik and Ray, Impulse/Bart Allen, Ford Prefect, Monkey Island, Nostalgia.
Upcoming Things of Importance January 5 First day of classes January 14 Birthday party January 16 Jaryn and Matt Are Old Day
layout
Is by Meimi, that wonderful Goddess who brings joy and happiness to the hearts of Ingrids.
This time, Meimi brought joy by doing a layout of Isumi Shinichirou and Waya Yoshitaka, of Hikaru no Go. It is full of wub.
.
The Nickname Game
3/12/2004 10:02:37 PM
"Whoa, whoa. These guys aren't hip enough to be in here." "It's cool. We'll kind of muss up their hair a little bit." "That's not good enough. You can tie' em outside, like the others." - Charles and the Mac Guy, Penny Arcade.
So there's this nickname thing going around on who someone is if they call you something. So . . .
If you call me Ingrid you're almost everyone in the known universe.
If you call me 'grid you're one of the guys from Touring Star.
If you call me Startredder you're not very fucking bright, learn to read, dumbass. Also, you may think I'm a guy.
If you call me Death you're Matt or Shelly.
If you call me ST you're Noel.
If you call me Minion you're Stephen.
And if you call me Ingy, come here so I can beat your head in with a wrench.
The one and only, always and forever, Almighty Ingrid, Signing Off
Disgaea: Demonic Chaos
3/12/2004 05:08:14 PM
"'Maybe you're the evil genius behind it all, Ivan,'Miles suggested affably, 'clearing the chain of command of competition so you can have the embassy all to yourself.' Elli glanced at him sharply, to be sure he was joking. Ivan just grinned. 'Ooh, I like that one.'" - Brothers in Arms, Lois McMaster Bujold.
I need to stop sleeping in - I wasn't able to have breakfast or tea this morning, because I had to run to class.
On the bright side, I didn't fall on the ice. This time.
I'm not sure why I even bothered, because I was bored, as usual, in class, and with my stomach gnawing fiercely at me, I wasn't able to focus on sketching.
Played some Disgaea, this afternoon, and I'm still on Episode 6: Laharl's Challenge. I burst out laughing when Laharl, Flonne, and Etna arrived at the first map of the level to find the entire thing overrun with demons wanting to attack Laharl. Thankfully with the narrow entry ramp, only one could really attack at a time, and Laharl, at level 29, stood against them easily. He's still 3000 short for genius-level transmigration, though.
I should really try and get some work done tonight.
Ha!
As organized as a demon, Almighty Ingrid, Signing Off
Fight Club and Kingdom Hearts: I am Jack's Complete Lack of Eye-Hand Coordination
3/11/2004 09:51:33 AM
"Junior whines that heeeeeeeeeeee's the Keeeeeeeeeeeyblaaaaaaaade maaaaaaaaaasteeeeeer. Therefore he should get his way all the time and get to fly the ship, @%$#!!! and Goofy's sense of self-preservation be damned. What I wouldn't give for that ship to have a roll of duct tape in the glove compartment." - Sam, Kingdom Hearts Part 5, Videogame Recaps.
So last night Matt showed up outside my apartment, pawing at the door and demanding brains, which is definitely a good way to start the night.
There were buritos at Matt's place, so I was very well fed (damn good food, too - they always have such good stuff there) and Shelly made popcorn, which was also good. The popcorn was had while we watched Fight Club and good -lord- why has no one made me watch that movie before? It's awesome.
It prompted this (spoilery) conversation in the car on the way home.
Ingrid: It's that time of night when pretty much anything you say is really funny. Matt: It must be, because I haven't said anything in twenty minutes. Ingrid: It's the voices in my head. Matt: I am your Tyler Durden. Ingrid: ~laughs~ That makes sense, actually. You're crazier than me, you have a leather jacket, you wander around in sockless chaos, and you get more sex than I do.
After watching Fight Club and being thoroughly delighted with it, as well as treated to the joy of hearing Matt say "The Pixies are coming to town" we played Kingdom Hearts briefly. Very briefly.
It takes us a while to remember where the hell we were going after the trauma of Atlantica, since we haven't played in a while. Both Matt and I are on auto-pilot for the controls for -other- games (Dragon Guard for him, Final Fantasy X for me) so by the time we do get attacked. In multi-coloured space. By a pirate ship. On the pirate ship is the hallucinating Captain Hook, who thinks he hears the infamous alligator. In multi-coloured space. I can't help but be irritated by this lapse of logic, even though we're flying around in a ship made out of gummis, and we've already been swallowed by a giant whale. Riku's also on the ship, with Kairi, who looks . . . kind of like a sex doll. Sora and Riku exchance their usual "Oh god just shut up both of you" banter, before Sora gets dumped into the hold and lands in a tangled pile of limbs ontop of Donald and Goofy.
Ew.
Both of us have reflexes that are so shot to hell that we're kind of stumbling around, falling down holes, and having a really hard time doing simple things like go up a ladder.
We're also subjected to the pain that is Peter Pantsless (we put him in our party just long enough to swipe his stuff, because he sparkles and this game is gay enough already), Twink, and another brainless girl with a bad British accent.
I'm tortured with the sight of another head-humpin' Trinity, and proceed to be slaughtered twice by Sora's Riku-summoned doppleganger.
I should make it clear that I -hate- doppleganger battles. Not only are there irritating, but they frequently smack of unoriginality (both plot-wise - not that the doppleganger is ever explained - and design wise). At least the doppleganger you fight at the end of Quest for Glory III: Wages of War is a hideously mutated evil version of yourself. This doppleganger was just Sora after he'd had a can of black paint dumped on him. I toss the controller to Matt and, with much swearing, he kicks doppleganger-ass.
We both realize we're utterly burnt out and in need of sleep, so we call it quits for the night.
Drowning in a sea of wankers, Almighty Ingrid, Signing Off
And why the hell not?
3/10/2004 06:34:10 PM
"Die, hippy farm vampires!" - Torg, Sluggy Freelance.
I'm seeing some responses (not spoilers) to the more recent episode of Full Metal Alchemist.
I am, to put it bluntly, afraid to watch. You can guess Arakawa-sensei is going to put us through major pain and agony and unhappiness, and I love the series and don't want to deal with the unhappiness.
I should focus on the oncoming doom of papers, though. But first, I need to e-mail two my professors to see if the topics I want to write about are, well, topics I can write about. Maybe they'll say no, and I can go with an assigned topic.
Until then, for something completely different - it's a quiz from Geoff!
x. Starting time: 8:02 pm
X. Name: Ingrid.
x. Nicknames: 'grid, Death, O-chibi-chan, ST
X. Been so drunk you threw up?: No.
x. Been so drunk you blacked out?: No. Never drunk at all, in fact.
x. Ever helped somebody else cheat?: Not that I remember.
x. Missed school b/c it was raining?: It's water, fucktard, you won't melt.
X. Set any body part on fire for amusement: No, not yet. The tip of my braid almost caught fire once, though. It smelt bad.
x. Kept a secret from everyone: Of course.
X. Had an imaginary friend?: Plenty.
x. Ever at anytime owned a New Kids on the Block tape: No. I'm clean, clean. Mwaha.
------------------FAVORITES------------
X. Shampoo: Um . . . two-in-one stuff that comes in a green bottle.
x. Body wash: My mum gave me some for Christmas, but it smells, and I don't like smelly stuff. Plus, I think it gives me a rash.
X. Colors: Black.
x. Day/Night: I like early morning when the sun is rising, and late night.
X. Summer/Winter: Winter over Summer, Autumn over all.
x. Like anyone: I hate everyone equally. Except for J. K. Rowling. There's extra hate for her.
X. Known the longest: Well, aside from my family, -technically- Scott, but we aren't in touch any more . . . Stephen, I guess.
x. Hottie? What are you, twelve? Danny Strong, Moriyama Eiji, and Sakamoto Ma'aya, I guess.
X. Who's the loudest: Matt.
x. Who's the shyest: I don't think anyone's really shy. Jaryn's a hermit, I guess.
X. Who do you go to for advice: I try to make my own decisions.
x. Who do you cry with: No one. Fucktard.
----------IN THE LAST 2 Weeks------------
X. Cried: I think so?
x. Been mean: I hope so.
X. Been sarcastic: Yes. I've also breathed in the last two weeks. Would you like to ask me about that as well?
x. Missed someone: Yeah.
X. Hugged someone: No.
x. Fought with your parents: That would require exstensive communication with them.
X. Went to the beach at night: I hate beaches.
x. Read a book for fun: Yes.
x. Are you lonely?: I guess.
X. Are you happy: No.
x. Are you talking to someone online: No.
------DO YOU BELIEVE IN....-----
X. Love: No. A lot of fictional, idealistic bullshit.
x. The Closet Monster: When I was little I did.
x. What was the last thing that you said online?: I think I was yelling something at Jinxer about Erik not being gay.
X. What is your computer desk made of?: Some kind of fake-wood stuff.
X. What is your favorite state?: I like Maine.
X. Who do you want to spend the rest of your life with? I doubt I can put up with most of you lot for more than a few hours.
x. How many buddies do you have on your list: 22 on AIM, 10 on MSN.
X. How's the weather right now?: Warm and bloody wet.
x. What did you do last night?: Watched Firefly and Fucktard and Rick Mercer Queer as Folk, got free ramen.
X. What's the best thing that you find about the opposite sex?: You can make jokes with them about porn and most of them don't care if your apartment's a mess.
x. Favorite hair color in the opposite sex: Dark? I don't know. I don't care. Most people look fine with their natural hair colour.
x. How do YOU eat an Oreo? With milk, and tearing it apart like a small bug. That happens to be shaped like a cookie.
X. Dream car? I've always wanted Crowley's Bentley. But I'd settle for a car I'm able to drive.
x. What do you want to be when you grow up? World Dictator, although at the moment it seems like a choice between homeless bum and evil lawyer.
X. What are your future goals?: Not die.
x. Favorite music?: The Arrogant Worms is my favourite band . . . I like classical music a lot, alternative pop-rock, celtic stuff, Japanese pop/rock/techno/crack.
X. Least favorite time of the year: My birthday or December. Hard to decide.
x. Fast or slow?: Fast when driving with someone on a clear road, slow while walking.
X. If you could change your name, what would it be? It's just a name, man.
x. Do you sleep with a stuffed animal? They fell off the bed. I'm too lazy to get them off the floor.
X. Have you ever been in love?: No.
x. What will your first son's name be?: I don't want to be involved with another human being, let alone have kids. Tristan's a nice name, though.
x. Do you like scary or happy movies better?: Movies bore me.
X. Lust or Love?: I'm asexual, so neither.
x. Do you consider cheerleading a sport?: It's not a sport unless someone gets injured or large quantities of money exchange hands.
X. Do you want your friends to do this survey?: Only if they're as bored as I am.
x. When's your birthday?: March 31.
X. How old will you be?: Twenty.
x. Time done? 8:16 pm.
Wasting your time and mine, Almighty Ingrid, Signing Off
The Line Between Love and Obsession Isn't That Fine
3/9/2004 01:04:54 AM
"Damn you, naked alchemist!" - Scar, The Wacky Adventures of Mr. Scar!
Matt's car is alive, which means there will be hanging out once more. He's pimping a new Squeenix game he got, the name of which I can't remember. Dragon something? I'll ask him Wednesday. We're supposed to watch Fight Club, or something.
In other news, however, tonight was Fucktard night. Still bored . . .
Look. Guys. Fred's dead. It happens. You've lost your loved ones before. You can deal without going completely psycho and killing people and trying to sell your already sold soul.
I have to really like characters to suspend my cynical disbelief about love- it's as much a fiction as vampires are. I have to see it and feel it and the entire main cast being completely in love with Fred? I'm sorry. I wouldn't have bought it if it was Cordelia, and I loved Cordelia, Cordelia grew and changed and -had- a love that drew people in, even when she was being sarcastic.
Now, I don't have any problems with Fred. She's a sweet girl. But that's it. That's all. Just a sweet girl. It was cute back when it was just Wes and Gunn being guys over her, but expecting me to swallow the idea that Fucktard, Wes, Gunn, Lorne, and Spike - who's only known her for a few months - care more about her than almost anything else in the world? She's that wonderful and that perfect and great? Gag me.
I resent having the idea that Fred's great and perfect banged into my head. If they'd written her in such a way, and Amy Acker had performed in such a way, that she really was this wonderful character, if -we- were made to love her, then we wouldn't need to have it beaten over our heads.
Remember the first soldier down? Remember Doyle? Remember Cordelia and Fucktard getting -over- Doyle. There wasn't an entire episode devoted to OMG DOYLE'S GONE, there was sadness, real sadness, and there was moving on. This over the top "MY LIFE IS OVER BECAUSE FRED IS GONE" isn't moving, it isn't touching. It's annoying.
Wes? If losing Fred means there's no longer meaning in your life, in the world? Then you weren't in love. You were obsessed, and it's fucking creepy. No one should ever be that important to another person. Live your own damn life, you sad sad man.
I also resent the implication that Fred's death is all Gunn's fault. Yes, I think Gunn was stupid, for not realizing that he had that intelligence in him naturally, and it was just circumstances that denied it to. Yes, Gunn let himself be made into the muscle. Yes, he shouldn't have made the deal with Wolfram and Hart, but none of them should. Call my crazy, but I don't remember Gunn signing a paper that said 'This will allow something that will result in Fred's gruelling and painful death into the country'. I remember him signing a paper that allowed something he thought was illegal into the country. Not a good thing, but also not a 'Let's Arrange Fred's Death' thing. Everyone, including him, is acting like he signed Fred's death warrant. Cut the poor guy a little slack, will you? He's suffering under a double burden of guilt -and- sadness now, and it can't be nice.
With every episode in this arc, I'm becoming increasingly glad that the series has been cancelled. I'm just bored. I hate being bored.
Measuring tedium by the cupful, Almighty Ingrid, Signing Off
Disgaea: Random Things I Hate, Randomly
3/7/2004 12:40:48 PM
"You found us!" "I totally wasn't looking for a place to hide." - Torg and Sam, Sluggy Freelance
I have to remember to e-mail my mum with the news that the Arrogant Worms have started blogging. Check them out at Worm Blog.
For those who haven't figured it out yet, the Arrogant Worms are my favourite band and the best musical comedy trio ever. Check out the blog for their own account on the Saskatoon concert, and to find out about Chris' new pants.
--
I've got in the habit of going through minor item worlds in Disgaea on mornings when I don't have anything pressing to do, and this morning was no exception. I do, however, feel the need to point out two things.
I love the randomly generated item worlds, they're fun, and I love trying to neutralize the geo panels for sweet sweet bonuses.
However.
I -hate- item worlds that generate in such a way that enemies are on unreachable islands. Maybe they'll be reachable someday, when I have a character who can toss one of his fellows twenty panels, but at the moment, I have my thief, Theomund, who can throw a character -six- panels. This is doubly annoying if there aren't any warp panels.
I also hate 'no colour' geo stones. Maybe someday I'll stop hating them, when I figure out an easy way to neutralize them, but at the moment, they induce headaches, because I already have to spend about twenty minutes mumbling to myself to figure out how to neutralize a perfectly ordinary set of geo panels. The no colour effect does not make my life any easier.
As random as the item world, Almighty Ingrid, Signing Off
Final Fantasy X: Independent Thought Kills Babies
3/7/2004 01:27:51 AM
"'People played all day and let the machina do the work,' says Wakka. Sin's the punishment for their, well, sins. Although it's important to repent for their sins, Wakka is a bit pissed off that they have to atone for what people did long ago. He doesn't seem to see any problem with sitting around and playing with his blitzballs all day, or smoking weed, though. So he's a religious hypocrite. Never met one of those before."
Time for another quiet night spent bonding with Final Fantasy X (after finishing my translation of the first fifty-two lines of Beowulf - and man does it suck), but first, it should be made known to everyone, if you haven't heard already, that the new Sam and Max game LucasArts was promising back around E3 time, has been cancelled.
Tune in next week, when LucasArts rapes your dog on your grandmother's grave.
But, onto a different kind of pain - the pain instilled by wankers as I -finally- make it to Djose Temple.
Last time, we were going to rest in a delightful inn which just happened to be run by the Al Bhed. Me, I'm happy, because sleeping in an inn means the party of wankers isn't eaten by monsters which is, in theory, a good thing. Tightass, however, can't sleep (and apparently no one else can, either) and so he gets up and wanders around to find . . . that damn religious freak wanking on about how glad she is that the Al Bhed have nothing 'sacriligeous' in their inn.
I say, shut the fuck up, bitch, and be glad the Al Bhed are here so you aren't sleeping outside and being eaten by fiends.
Goddamn ingrate.
The pain continues as Tightass goes to have another moment with Yuna the Zombie . . . and compares her noble religious-y quest to his goddamn -sport-. This once more brings to light, and makes me wonder, why the hell is the main character of this game a jock. Now, call me crazy, but isn't your average videogame fanboy the kind of kid who got the crap kicked out of him by jocks in high school? (Not me - I was a crazy psycho student and tried to strangle and bite people back in junior high) And Tightass -is- the stereotypic jock - he's dumb, he has bad hair, he dresses badly but cleanly, more or less, he probably smells of sweat, and he's completely self-absorbed. Why on earth would the writers and game designers think that the average fan would -want- to identify with a dumbass like this? It's one thing to pretend you can identify with cold assholes who wield giant swords and answer to no one - you weren't beat up by them in high school. Tightass . . . is inexplicable.
. . . I'm done now.
There's more wankiness, and wanky heavy-handed foreshadowing that the Summoner who summons the Final Aeon to temporarily defeat Sin is DOOMED, before people finally get their asses back to bed.
When Tightass wakes up, he has a run in with the Al Bhed who owns the store and, once more, is a wanker. We find out that, if we collect Al Bhed primers, we might actually understand the gobbldygook these guys spout, but the fact is, the things are bloody hard to find. I have five at the moment, I think, out of I don't know how many. Suffice to say, when the Al Bhed language is translated on the screen for me, I see maybe one translated letter in five.
Really helpful, yeah.
After this, the chocobo eating monster some of the wankers on the road mentioned shows up and, since a bunch of -knights- can't take care of their own asses, we automatically have to go save the day. Joy, joy.
Personally, I think anyone who rides around on a giant chicken is just asking to have their mount eaten.
I kill the chocobo eater and continue on my way, with the benefit of a riding a giant chicken . . . for free!
Unfortunately, the progress on the giant chicken is halted by a blockade of Crusaders, and we get to hear Atobe bitch about it before she flounces off to have dirty roadside sex with Kabaji.
Lucky for the party of wankers, though, they're the main characters, and we wait around like lazy bums, and pump Crusaders for information about their plan (it involves machina, which is why Yevon hates them now) until Seymour the Pedophile shows up and makes the Crusaders let everyone through, so he can better molest Yuna at a later date.
There's . . . more walking, and we get to listen to Seymour the Pedophile make a dramatic speech to the troops that sends Wakka into fits of bigotted rage that a maester is turning a blind eye to the use of machina.
Wakka, honey, I love you, stop being stupid.
Seymour is creepy some more, Wakka continues to be indignant, and Tightass Has a Clue and actually picks up on Seymour's creepiness.
Yeah, I'm surprised too.
Seymour walks off, I get to kill stuff, and then we get a summons to go and meet Seymour, presumably so he can violate the young'uns in the party.
Joy.
The path is twisty and filled with annoying mushroom monsters.
I hate mushrooms.
The sudden onslaught of cutscenes means I'm going the right way, though (always a good thing to know, since I have a horrible sense of direction), as two of the Crusaders (Luzzu and Gatta) have a whiny little fight about the young one, Gatta, being left behind so Seymour has something to amuse him. Then, after Gatta runs away crying like a little bitch, there's a backstory packed cutscene about Wakka, Chappu, and Lulu, that ends with Luzzu getting punched in the face.
Before the happy face punching, though, Wakka dances around like a gorilla. -Then- he finds out that Luzzu convinced Chappu to become a Crusader, and therefore caused him to DIE HORRIBLY, and -then- we get the sweet face-punching action.
Luzzu runs off after imparting the angst, Wakka demands that he come back not-dead so there can be more administring of a smackdown, and we slowwwwwwwwwly progress to where Seymour is.
Very slowly, because first we have to watch Wakka try and assault some cannon machina and injure his foot like a total wanker.
Wakka, get your act together before I forget why I liked you in the first place.
Then, finally, we can go to the command centre where Seymour the Pedophile and another Maester are.
Auron is randomly hugged, stuff happens that lets us know that Seymour and the Auron-hugging Maester -know- the Crusaders and the Al Bheds joint mission is DOOMED and people are going to die HORRIBLY but they don't care.
Wankers.
The sinspawn that are supposed to be luring Sin escape and attack the party of wankers, and the battle's fucking difficult because the monster keeps regenerating these limbs that protect it's soft, fleshy stomach. I sort of kick it's ass eventually, though, although Tightass dies in the process, and then Sin appears.
Hi Sin!
Sin disintigrates the idiots fighting against it, including their chicken. No roast chicken tonight, I fear.
After the total destruction of the Crusaders, we get to fight against the sinspawn -again-, this time with Seymour, who kills it easy.
He's still a dirty pedophile, even if he makes the battle less painful.
Sin does some more damage, shit blows up, and Tightass wakes up, unconscious, on the beach, and wanders around, poking at corpses until he finds Gatta the Wanky, who's having a mental breakdown in a corner.
Tightass' response to someone he knows being in agonizing emotional pain? He goes to run out into the ocean after Sin.
Brilliant, Tightass, brilliant.
There's some random wankese and a flashback to Jecht harassing crybaby Tightass before Tightass is washed back onto the beach -again-.
Have I mentioned my hate for these flashbacks yet? HATE.
There's some more cutscenes once Tightass regains consciousness, including one of Seymour hitting on Yuna which involves the words 'pillar of support', which make me think of Tezuka and Ryoma.
. . . No . . . words . . .
Tightass talks to Auron, who repeats his favourite line, 'Sin is Jecht', about three times, and lets Tightass know that Sin/Jecht killed all those people just for Tightass.
Can you feel the love?
Basically, Auron spouts some stuff about all the death being there so Tightass could see it, and so that he'd kill Sin. Because Jecht is Sin, and he wants Sin to die . . . or something.
The game moves forward, and for whatever reason, Kimahri finally speaks, causing Tightass to gape like a stranded fish. Sadly, Kimahri doesn't say anything we don't already know, and his words cause Tightass to talk more.
I suffer.
There's random monsters, Auron tells Tightass not to repeat his favourite line to Yuna, and we finally get to the fucking temple of Djose.
We encounter the remainders of the Chocobo Knights and their solitary chocobo, who are now swearing to never stray from the teachings of Yevon by having their own ideas ever again, in the hopes that'll keep Sin from eating them.
Original thought is bad, mmkay?
In the temple, we meet up with another Summoner, his gay lover/brother, and his other brother who's basically walking Seymour bait. Yuna's shocked about there being another summoner already there, even though we've run into other summoners repeatedly, often in temples and . . . oh, nevermind, it just makes my brain hurt.
The Summoner and his lover stop us before we go into the cloister of trials to do another annoying puzzle, to drop a bit of foreshadowing about disappearing summoners on us, but then I can continue, and get the hell out of the main temple room. It's a really bloody annoying place, because there's lightning flicking everywhere and it gives me a headache. There's also gremlins jumping on everything, but they don't cause epileptic seizures.
After dealing with the annoying puzzle, we hang around the room for a bit, and Atobe and Kabaji show up. Atobe's a snarky bitch, as usual, while Kabaji tries to hump Auron. Kimahri tells Tightass to shut up and stop wandering around the room like an idiot.
I love Kimahri.
Yuna comes out, Atobe snarks some more, and once more the gaming session ends with Tightass going to sleep, because it's taken me too bloody long to get to Djose.
Sin eats babies, but Wankese kills me, Almighty Ingrid, Signing Off
