She-hulk SMASH!

I've been looking forward to her for quite awhile now and I had no hesitation in getting her but now that I did I don't feel much joy. I guess this game is getting old after all. Or maybe just prestigeing X-23 was too tedious. I better take a break anyway.

She's skantilly dressed but at least still doesn't look skanky like Rogue here.

@темы: Games

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King's Bounty: The Dark Side

It's been 5 months and I finally finished it. 69,9 hours of my life and another one to write this post and sort the screens. Honestly the last month or so it was just about finishing it. While I definitely enjoy the game mechanics and graphics I felt like the plot was just too long. Overall, compared to the Armored Princess the game felt somewhat raw and buggy. Maybe it's just me but I just don't trust Russian companies, they just aren't thorough enough. Especially 1C. I still remember them releasing Heroes III and IV in the 90's and 00's with horrid sloppy translation and tons of bugs.

Other things I found unsatisfying:

- while I liked the idea of playing as the usually hostile races the plot was all over the place and the ending was just dumb.

- the worst thing was that many quests were almost impossible to figure out on your own. Sometimes you had no idea how to solve them and sometimes you couldn't find the character you had to speak to to proceed. I bet everyone who played this had to use the forums every once in awhile. I also noted how multiple choice quests ended up in failed quests if you considered your options.

- the way the troops's special powers and effects affect other troop. For example, making fire elementals bleed or poisoning the skeletons should not happen.

- the ridiculous sexism - the female outfits and demoness animations were outrageous. I got itchy looking at Neoline's naked ass riding a horse and whatever. I also decidedly ignored the island of Amazonia because no matter how I look at it it's a rather blatant parody of feminists.

Despite my bias the game is still good overall but it could really use some revision and beta-testing.

@музыка: Marina & the Diamonds - Sex Yeah

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Me and mum were so desperate for distraction we watched Sex and the City. I think I lost a few points of my IQ. Then again it wasn't as bad as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

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I've got 2 stories that are almost finished. Not just that but a ton of artwork and even a longish trailer. I've been working on all of these the past few days. Yet, I have this fear that sort of makes me slow down and delay it. I know that once they're out there and I get my 5 comments it'll be over, lost in the cruel open digital space. My fanworks are really some of the things I am most proud of in my life. It's something very important and very intimate and in a way it's baring my heart and then facing rejection. My last work is especially intimate, I invested so much of myself into it. Of course I'll finish them soon enough but I also kind of dread the inevitable heartbreak.

@темы: fanfix

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Marina and The Diamonds

I'm in love. Her name's Marina. She is perfect.

It's been 3 days. Lately I have been craving for good music, especially after the recent NEWS and A9 songs. Ever since the one gulp of excitement that was A Fever You Can't Sweat Out there have only been odd gems here and there but now I feel like I found a mother lode. In the good ol' Welsh land.

I don't think it ever happened so quickly before. Listening to song after song and thinking "That's it". Perhaps I never had an artist who spoke to me so directly. She is definitely in league with Maria Mena and Melanie Martizez and maybe Gaga but she transcends them all. Sexy but not vulgar. Original but not shocking, dramatic but not sentimental, dark but not creepy. I have a feeling Marina just might be my favourite female artist ever. The music, the lyrics, the PVs, the looks - everything about her is flawless.

I have about 20 songs in my head right now and I can't even pick which ones I like best. They're all fucking brilliant. The three albums are made of purely good songs and they all have different appeals from youthful statements to mature rich flavour. When it seemed like everything has been said she came and filled a void that I never knew existed. Her visuals is flawless. She has so many images that are so different you'd have a hard time believing it's one and the same person.

It's that one feeling that I wouldn't trade for anything. It's like a gulp of fresh air, something that gives me life. It's so good that I want to savour it so I keep myself from listening to her too much.

@музыка: Marina & the Diamonds - Fear and Loathing

@темы: Artist

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I don't want fame or money or huge success. All I want is a normal quiet life, just feeling ok, having enough money to buy the necessary things. But lately that seems like a distant dream. Every thread I grab slips away and I'm sitting on the floor in apathy again. Tired of fighting invisible wars again.

@темы: myself

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I guess in the end I didn't even matter enough to say goodbye. Goodbye, Alex.

@музыка: Indochine - La Buddha affaire

@темы: address

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And here I thought music stopped speaking to me...

Everyday I feel the same
Stuck, and I can never change
Sucked into a black balloon
Spat into an empty room
But was it really worth it?
Did I really deserve it?
It happens when you're hurtin'
It cut me out the surface
Of my heart
Of my heart-heart-heart

Got bubble wrap around my heart
Waiting for my life to start
But everyday it never comes
Permanently at square one
When it's late at night-ight
I'm so dissatisfied-ied
In the wait for a empty life-ife
We hassle in the moonlight
In the light
In the light-light-light

I'm living dead, dead, dead, dead
Only alive-live-live-live
When I pretend-tend-tend-tend
That I have died, died, died, died, died, died
I haven't lived life
I haven't lived love
Just bird's eye view
From the sky above
I'm dead, dead, dead, dead
I'm living dead, dead, dead, dead
Dead

I lay back in a glittery mist, and I
I think of all the men, I
I could have kissed
I haven't lived my life, I
Haven't lived love, it's just
My thoughts of you from
From up above

"Living Dead", Marina & the Diamonds

@темы: lyrics

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@темы: video

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Hanawake no Yon Shimai

I kept delaying this one for over a year but deep inside I felt I'll end up watching it anyway. All of my bad predictions came true and more added. It gave me a ton of complicated feelings and then some more.

To put it shortly: it's a bad drama. The plot and the characters drive me crazy. For one, I don't think I've even seen a drama where I would want to shake every single major character hard screaming "GET YOUR FUCKING SHIT TOGETHER!" The Super-woman Takemi was pretty damn annoying and this whole "we're too pretty for people to take us seriously" drama was complete bullshit. I guess I did sympathize with Sakurako as someone living in her older sister's shade. If I hated her I probably wouldn't even be able to watch this in the first place.

I actually really dislike the whole genre of pseudo-comedy. The description says "comedy" but I don't think there was anything remotely funny in it. Manga-style ridiculous and exaggerated, yes, and not in a good way. Every time I think I might enjoy that kind of drama I fail. After the first few lighthearted playful episodes came a tragedy and then it got from bad to worse.

And then of course the worst part of it all: Shige playing an immature cheating asshole. You really want to like him because he looks like Shige but he's also a total douche so it turns into a perpetual internal struggle. I prepared myself for this or more like I tried but in reality it turned out a lot harder. Some episodes really fucked me up. I have to say Shige handled this role very well, a lot better than I expected. I think he was convincing and really good with expressing all of the emotions. And this is why it was even harder for me to watch him be an immature asshole. A hot immature asshole who is half-naked in every other episode. 243 fucking screens.

MORE

Character Introduction:

Papa - a pathetic cowardly two-timer who is so desperate to keep his family together he threatens his daughter's cheating boyfriend with bodily harm to keep deceiving her.

Mama - a mama. That is her personality. Possibly the only sane person in the family but she dies early on.

Hanawa Fujiko - a refined business woman who keeps getting torn between work and family and can't decide if she wants to get married and if yes to whom.

Hanawa Takemi - a woman of demonic charm, adored by men and hated by her sisters. She is supposed to be this character who is hated by many but is actually very gentle and caring on the inside. However, in the end she does some really stupid shit.

Hanawa Sakurako - The middle sister with very feminine looks and a catastrophic absence of any sort of self-respect. She keeps doting on her asshole of a boyfriend who treats her like shit and then emotionally manipulates him with threats of suicide.

Hanawa Ume - a shy art student who has the classic "I wish senpai would notice me" scenario and acts like she's 12.

Mashiko Shozaburo (what a fucking stupid name) - an arrogant womanizer who is actually just a hurt little boy whose mummy didn't love him so he uses women like underwear. Until he meets Takemi, that is. Then he uses everyone but her.

Yamane Katsuhiko - demoness' former husband who starts as a pathetic weakling (who never would have become a president of a major company), suddenly turns into a vengeful asshole, then gets back to being a pathetic weakling.


Story development

The first few episodes were mildly entertaining and I was kind looking forward to more. Then more came and from ep 3 to 9 it was all just various stages of disbelief. Then, ep 10 made so much sense it was almost alarming. It's like all of a sudden everyone began to act like sane and even sensible people. And then ep 11... At that point I had no idea what to expect. Thankfully, it was much better than I would have expected. Basically, I thought the ending was really stupid and yet it left me with an oddly satisfied feeling. I mean, at least Shou ended up with Sakurako, I would probably lose it if it was Takemi. I didn't believe it but I was still glad.

Of course, speaking sensibly, their relationship was pretty messed up from day 1 and I don't believe people can change the way they did so fast. Shou-whatever basically embodies a dumb female fantasy of an attractive arrogant man who won't take 'no' for an answer. Also, the way I see it the morale of the story is that, basically, if you surround as asshole who treats you like shit with love and care eventually it will work out. But that's speaking sensibly, the little girl in me was stupidly happy that they got together in the end.



Rating: 4 (just for the sake of Shige)

@темы: dorama

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The thing with dramas is whether good or bad they trick you into feeling like you actually have a life.

@темы: one-liner

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"In this moment she felt that she had been robbed of an enormous number of valuable things, whether material or intangible: things lost or broken by her own fault, things she had forgotten and left in houses when she moved: books borrowed from her and not returned, journeys she had planned and had not made, words she waited to hear spoken to her and had not heard, and the words she had meant to answer with; bitter alternatives and intolerable substitutes worse than nothing, and yet inescapable: the long patient suffering of dying friendships and the dark inexplicable death of love - all that she had had , and all that she had missed, were lost together, and were twice lost in this landslide of remembered losses."

Katherine Porter, "Theft" 1890-1980

@темы: quote/unquote

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I am watching Hanawake and I had this bad dream where there were NEWS and I thought this was my chance but Shige got interested in my older sister. Who just happened to come back home after a broken relationship. Ugh. She never stole boyfriends from me, there was never anything to steal but I still am unsurprised at this dream.

@темы: Dreams

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Sharing is caring or Thank you, Jo

This is a pile of mail and cards I received over the years. Some came from very far, some not too far and some handed personally. I don't keep in touch with most to the senders but I shall always remember them.

After all, the overseas packages hold a special meaning. The first two I got from a woman named Joanne. I didn't know her, never talked to her before. Then we shared a fandom of a British rock band. It was 10 years ago so dial-up internet was my curse. It was very hard to get any information, even music or videos. Once someone posted a PV of about 30 MB and it took me hours to download. As I mentioned it, she wrote to me. She said she'll gladly send me a few CDs and she did. I could hardly believe it. Later, she got her hands on a big collection of videos on 16 CDs that had concerts, performances and tv-appearances and she sent me those that I wanted. It was a real treasure. She payed the delivery too which was pretty expensive but she never asked for anything in return. Of course, I sent something to her too. At that time I was really touched, it felt like a favour I could never repay and I felt endlessly grateful. I don't really listen to that band now but I still have both packages (the two thick manila ones) and I shall never forget Joanne. It wasn't even about someone caring enough to do that for me. It was restoring faith in humanity, really.

Since then I received some more, especially last year. I received about 5 packages from far away lands, mostly through giveaways. The year was tough but having something to look forward to as I waited for the packages to arrive really helped. They were just cards but they made me happy. The envelopes almost felt warm in my hands. Then, there appeared another person who just offered a valuable present that I could never afford myself. I felt very touched and very appreciated and glad there are people like that in the world.

Sometimes little things like that, random acts of kindness really mean the world. It's not about giving someone what they want, it's making them know you care. I keep almost all of the packages I ever got, even the old and big and ragged ones. I can't bring myself to throw them away. To me they are filled with care and kindness and when I look at them I feel hopeful.

@темы: musings, people

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The Photo-Op

The only party I attended this year. International Women's Day Photo-Shoot at Marvel Heroes. There was one earlier with all the heroes so far and I liked the idea so I jumped at the chance when I saw this one. We managed to get all the girls including team-ups. It's a nice picture. Too bad there wasn't a cue so we could pose in time. Oh, well. After all, Sue is not a show-off.

The Thread:
forums.marvelheroes.com/discussion/179618/jgwr-international-womens-day-photo-shoot-marvel-heroes-version-costume-giveaway#

@темы: Marvel, Games

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She's been crying since yesterday. I could have written the whole scenerio down a year ago, maybe two. I knew one day this house built on a sand would fall apart and she'd be back here, to lick at her wounds. I don't want to say "I told you so", I take no joy in this. However, I haven't shed a single tear. My heart is cold.

@темы: family

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Mr. White short film or the review I might get hated for

When I first heard about the short film I was excited. I was even more excited when I learned that the idea belongs to Kato and the costume design belongs to Masuda. Shige's been talking about writing a scenario they all could play out years ago. However, I was surprised when I heard the general plot outline. I was expecting drama but it sounded like action/detective. I was even more surprised when I saw the previews. Rather than secret agents in slick suits I saw something akin to ghostbusters. As much as I love the boys, I think the whole thing was very random, too slow-paced and cheap-looking.

First of all, I really don't get the concept of saving children from the dark world of the internet. Though I'm not a fan of the genre to begin with I'd rather them fight criminals or even monsters. Secondly, in terms of pace the film was too slow. I think we all pretty much expected it to be an action-movie. However, what we got was more of a suspense with most of the footage being of our heroes sneaking through an empty school building which is not really all that exciting. I wonder if they even had any sсript at all because judging by the making they seemed to come up with most lines on the spot. There were maybe a dozen lines in the whole 20-minute film including the weak attempts at humour. It also appears like they shot most scenes from take one.

I was also very unimpressed with the CG and the black hooded villains. The gear and the net the captives were held in looked cheap. I'd say a lot of these problems were due to the tight budget. It's hard to tell how this looked in Shige's head but being the smart boy that he is he had to understand the difficulties they would inevitably run into. I suppose disliking the theme song didn't help either.

It's safe to say I enjoyed the making more than I did the actual film. In the end the only thing I liked is the costumes. Being completely honest, the only reason I bothered watching this was because the boys looked very handsome in uniform. Seriously, Shige, I am disappointed.

@музыка: Suede - The Power

@темы: NEWS.

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Nobody is supposed to feel so smug from just sending a package but here I am.

#I did a thing #two things actually #aced it #just like a real adult

@темы: myself

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Prospect of a post-mission sex=ruined by kids. Really made me think of that one Matrix!verse TVXQ fic. I like that train of thought.

My excitement is still low like a commoner's but at least Tegoshige still give me life and that means that not all is lost.

@темы: TegoShige

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Caring too much might be more of a curse than a blessing but not caring at all is the worst.

@темы: one-liner