(no subject)

TV Commentary:

Life Unexpected- ( spoiler cut )

Lemme just get out of the cut for a moment. Man, I don't know why people who want to cut themselves off from the masses like that and live like pauper hippies who think they're so effin' cool piss me off so much. Its less the hippie part and more the thinking the rest of the world is crazy, let's just live off on our own, and screw everyone else attitude they have. I don't know why I take that so personally. Actually, I think I know what it is. In fiction, I seem to favor far-reaching empires and alliances. Like in Firefly, I think, what's with these people who want the Alliance to leave them alone, denying the benefits of such a governing body so they can live a meager existence out in the boonies?! And people attribute it to me being kinda fascist. But the problem is, I'm against things like gun control and censorship (when its done in a legislating morality sort of way, not a state security way), so its like, what do I want draconic enforcing of then? People should be free to do what they want without the government interfering, but they should be utterly loyal and accept the government in their lives? Aren't those two concepts antithetical?!

But now that I think about it, I think its more an in-group/out-group dynamic thing. Its like if a bunch of people crashed on a deserted island and were stranded, and the majority decides to live a certain way, and a couple of people were all, "eff that, we're going off on our own!" Which is fine and dandy, but now their group is competing with the bigger group for resources, and how can either group trust that the other group won't eff the other over if its in their best interest? And that's just one more problem to worry about. Or how about this analogy- It really pisses me off when people are all, "Man, this country sucks, if it gets any worse, I'm moving to X". To me, its like being on a ship that has a leak. People are struggling to fix the leak before the ship sinks, but these people who say they're gonna move are basically saying, "Screw you guys, I'm getting the hell out of here!"

And there's nothing wrong with not wanting to drown, but what about everyone else on the ship? Not everyone can leave that ship. And not everyone wants to leave that ship, because they like that ship. But its not fair of me to say, "Hey, don't you leave this ship because you're worried about drowning because the ship is still sea-worthy and I like it but every time someone leaves its less so", but at the same time, I kinda feel they're being all, "Screw this, seeya!" And I'm taking it personally, even though I doubt they're personally condemning me. But the problem is, when they start referring to themselves as an "us", and the rest of society as "them", I can't help but thinking the converse, that they're the "them" to normal society's "us".

Owel, I've babbled enough about this, back to the commentary. ( spoiler cut )

Make It or Break It- Finally, some reveals I've been waiting for are revealed! ( spoiler cut )

(no subject)

So today's Fat Tuesday, which means tomorrow's Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. Which means meatless friday's. Which was kinda a pain when I was a finicky eater when I was young. But now that I actually eat fish somewhat, I usually alternate between sushi and cheese pizza. Well, I guess I also have fish salads. But dang, now that I've moved, Boneheads is no longer close by, which was by far the easiest place to get a salad with salmon or what have you.

Actually, I guess I have more than sushi and pizza. There's grilled cheese samiches, though those aren't as good without bacon or as the buns of a bacon-cheeseburger. And pasta I guess, like fettucine alfredo with or without fried fish. Dang, and since the closest Friday's closed, I can't have their grilled salmon pasta either!

But getting back to thinly sliced bread grilled cheese samiches as buns, I like that, but I also like the Luther and its krispy kreme glazed donuts for buns. I wish there was a way to combine them. Actually, maybe do a big mac type 3 bun thing, with the outer buns being krispy kreme donuts, and the middle bun being a grilled cheese samich? But that would also make it a double bacon cheeseburger, and that may be just too big to put in your mouth- two krispy kreme glazed donuts, a thin-sliced bread grilled cheese samich, two all beef pattys, cheese, bacon, and what ever other fixings and condiments you put on it? Sure, you could eat it all separately, but what would be that point?!

(no subject)

As I've said before, I'd like to try the Mass Effect series if I had the time to dedicate the appropriate amount of time. I mean, sure, I have time, but not the amount of time I'd want to give it. And I guess one of the problems is having to play the first one for certain story paths to occur in the second one, so you have to play one game to play another.

For example, ( spoiler cut )

But I digress, it wouldn't be too bad if the games weren't different play styles. I mean, the original Mass Effect is close to other Bioware games like the KotORs or Dragon Ages, where its still an RPG. ME2 however, is basically a shooter with RPG elements. In fact, if you choose to be the Soldier class, you basically are playing it as a shooter, relying on your aim and reflexes to get the job done, relegating the special stuff to the rest of your time squad. There's no increasing your hit percentages, you're basically leveling up your physical stats to enhance your survivability, but in terms of killing, that's all you.

It seems to me it and the Vanguard (which is basically a soldier with less firepower but with cooler biotic tricks and focusing on close combat, i.e., a Jedi-type) seem to be the more popular classes I've seen being played, since it involves less thinking and more killing. The Sentinel seems more support-ish (but with the defensive stats of a tank), which is fine if you're into that, but some people aren't in to playing the support role and relying on the AI to make the best of the advantages you're giving them.

The engineer, adept, and infiltrator all also seem to require you to be a little more creative in how you play, which may be a little too much thinking for those more drawn to the shooter rather than RPG aspect of the game. Plus, as much as I love sniping and invisibility, it takes work, and a lot of times never works out as smoothly as you want it to in actual game. Like in "sneaky" games like the Assassin's Creeds, Metal Gear Solids, and Splinter Cells, when a plan comes together and you set up the perfect sneak kill, its a work of art. The problem is setting it up like that. There's always the chance of messing up before your plans come to fruition, and you end up with an ugly kill that gets the job done, and you end up having to fight your way in and out anyways, so you feel like you wasted all this time sneaking and trying to finesse it when it woulda been just easier to go in guns blazing and brute forcing the matter.

I mean, the finesse way is cooler, and people want to do things in a cool way, but some people just aren't as skilled as others when it comes to it. It sounds like the newest Splinter Cell tries to get around that with its marking system- where you stay hidden, then "mark" several targets, and with a push of a button, you quickly do a bunch of cool-looking 24-ish sneak kills in succession without having to be as dexterous. Which I'm definitely curious how it will be received by gamers. Because on the one hand, some people might like the simplicity, but those with l33t gaming skills might not like the "dumbing down" of the game.

Anyways, back to ME, I think the best thing about it is the whole paragon/renegade thing and being able to play a saint, a dick, and anything in between. So instead of you just being along for the ride, you feel like you really are making the choices in the game, for better or for worse. Interestingly enough, I'm kinda curious how many people play it the way they feel they would act if they were such a character, how many people just want to be an evil SOAB, and how many people are used to playing the good guy so they try to be the shining example of goodliness, a paragon of heroism and virtue. Like, are they choosing choices that resonate with them, or do they pick choices they think will get a certain outcome?

I think that's what gives the game replay value, being able to go down these different paths. Of course, for me, I would find it hard to make the choices I don't like, "just to see what happens", because they just wouldn't feel right to me. ( spoiler cut )