Recently I've been sucked into a webcomic. I'm not sure why it would be called a webcomic, really, it's more of an action/adventure drama. Let's just call it a webtionventurama.
Anyways, after finishing Problem Sleuth on Andrew Hussie's site MS Paint Adventures, I started the only other comic he hasn't abandoned: Homestuck.
It starts off with the reader meeting four normal kids thrown into a game that's part MMORPG and part certain death. They build their way to portals in the sky a la The Sims, fight monstrous enemies akin to those in over-the-top JRPGs, make dubious allies, and repeatedly break the space-time continuum.
Then, the real story begins after John dicks around with his sylladex for an entire act. A second cast of characters is introduced, then a third, and the entire plot becomes so insanely complicated that there is a wiki site just for this webtionventurama and Hussie's other works. It's got me hooked something terrible even though the story is starting to devolve from "Hey, that was a really cool twist!" to "Hussie, you are just being a raging douche." And really, after perusing his Formspring accounts (yep, he currently has two with over 1200 questions, plus a Twitter account) and reading his increasing amounts of self-insertions, I have to agree. Andrew Hussie actually is a raging douche. A raging douche with a good story. Now if he could write it without stopping every few updates to stick his middle fingers to the whiniest of his fans and lord his ego/author-god-powers over everyone, I would wholeheartedly agree that this story is absolutely amazing.
Now what?
Well, to be honest, I do believe that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so I've been putting together a Homestuck trolls cosplay group. I plan to have my Karkat costume done for Anime Detour '11, and I'm helping my friends with their Eridan, Equius, and Sollux costumes. To be fair, I'm just helping Sollux with his horns and arm-coverings, and he's doing a lot of the screen-printing for the shirts. It's gonna be pretty fun.
So what's the problem?
Hussie doesn't draw his trolls with unnecessary features. Like ears. Or fingernails. Or noses, sometimes. So a lot of the fan drawings of them show the trolls with pointy ears and yellow fingernails (to match their candycorn horns.) Do I follow the fans here and shell out a couple more bucks for latex ear tips? Or do I try to hide my ears and just match my nails to my skin? Does it even matter?
This is what cosplay does to me.
I finished my nubby horns the other day, and they look really cool. I'm not sure how I'm going to do Eridan's massive horns without them becoming piles of horn-shrapnel, but I'm sure I'll figure something out.
But, back to the things you care about...
As far as the plot goes, something I really like about Hussie's work is that really obscure things will tie into each other, things you don't even notice until someone points them out. His characters have so much depth to them, even the villains, and sometimes the character you least expect to do something will do exactly that. I don't truly dislike any character at this point in the plot, even if I do like some more than others. And lastly, it's always interesting, no matter what's happening (past the first act, which is kind of a slow introduction to things like technical game mechanics.)
On the other hand, Hussie seems to be making decisions as to what happens next based on what will make his fans as angry as possible, as a way to show that he can do anything he wants and his readers are powerless to stop him. Maybe the actual plot was created before any comments made by his rabid fans, but his self-insertions have been somewhat offensive as of late. If he were nicer person to the fans that pay for his merchandise and pass around word of his webtionventuramas, he would be the full package.
I guess that's what happens when you're a raging douche with a good story to tell.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Thursday, August 12, 2010
It's like chess. But, y'know, with aliens.
If Big Tobacco needs help finding new ways to get and keep people addicted to their products, I'd advise them to talk to Blizzard. Somehow, Blizzard consistently manages to put out games that will not settle until they have forced their way into your brain, taken root, and carved out a section with the other necessary activities; right between "breathing" and "eating." It's what Blizzard has been doing for years, and they've done it again with StarCraft II.
At some point I intend to do a final review for the game, but as of right now I feel that I'm really only qualified to post some initial impressions. In a game as massive and fully-featured as this, it'll take a lot more hours than I've currently logged to objectively judge the game. But, allow me to reiterate what the rest of the gaming community has been screaming at your face since launch: The game is good. Not mind-bogglingly (<---, holy crap, "Bogglingly" is a word?) innovative or groundbreaking, but rather incredibly polished and refined, with attention paid to even the smallest details.
I've been playing Real Time Strategy games for most of my life, and so far StarCraft adheres closely to the traditional formula of "HERE'S YER GOONS, GET SHTUFF SO YOU CAN MAKE MORE GOONS TO KILL YOUR OPPONENT'S GOONS." Which isn't a bad thing in the least, provided you enjoy that style of play. Where StarCraft DOES differ is in the finely tuned balance between the 3 different races. If you've played an RTS game in the past, you know that it really doesn't take long to identify the races/civilizations/factions/Hamster swarms that are actually good enough to be competitively viable. With Starcraft II, Blizzard takes the "Less is more" approach; only 3 races, but balanced so well that they all can become a force to be reckoned with in the right hands.
Even with so much attention paid to the multiplayer balance, Blizzard doesn't skimp on the single player, either. The campaign is lengthy and enjoyable, offering a surprising variety of mission types and objectives. Sadly, the storyline so far has been rather generic, and I'm pretty sure when it came to character designs, some Blizzard employee jumped up and yelled emphatically, "RAMBO IN SPACE," for each and every one. Myriad achievements are available for unlock in both single and multiplayer, and both single and multiplayer statistics are kept track of under a unified character profile. Plus, the replays feature is easily manageable, and the Leagues and Ladders section is easy to navigate and thoughtfully laid out.
If you're looking for a game that offers incredible depth, an unmatched competitive scene, and a satisfying single-player portion, and don't mind a sequel that sticks pretty close to the original, you could do a lot worse than StarCraft II.
Buy Starcraft II. Because Tychus Findlay needs lots of money to supplement his diet of cigars and pure testosterone.
At some point I intend to do a final review for the game, but as of right now I feel that I'm really only qualified to post some initial impressions. In a game as massive and fully-featured as this, it'll take a lot more hours than I've currently logged to objectively judge the game. But, allow me to reiterate what the rest of the gaming community has been screaming at your face since launch: The game is good. Not mind-bogglingly (<---, holy crap, "Bogglingly" is a word?) innovative or groundbreaking, but rather incredibly polished and refined, with attention paid to even the smallest details.
I've been playing Real Time Strategy games for most of my life, and so far StarCraft adheres closely to the traditional formula of "HERE'S YER GOONS, GET SHTUFF SO YOU CAN MAKE MORE GOONS TO KILL YOUR OPPONENT'S GOONS." Which isn't a bad thing in the least, provided you enjoy that style of play. Where StarCraft DOES differ is in the finely tuned balance between the 3 different races. If you've played an RTS game in the past, you know that it really doesn't take long to identify the races/civilizations/factions/Hamster swarms that are actually good enough to be competitively viable. With Starcraft II, Blizzard takes the "Less is more" approach; only 3 races, but balanced so well that they all can become a force to be reckoned with in the right hands.
Even with so much attention paid to the multiplayer balance, Blizzard doesn't skimp on the single player, either. The campaign is lengthy and enjoyable, offering a surprising variety of mission types and objectives. Sadly, the storyline so far has been rather generic, and I'm pretty sure when it came to character designs, some Blizzard employee jumped up and yelled emphatically, "RAMBO IN SPACE," for each and every one. Myriad achievements are available for unlock in both single and multiplayer, and both single and multiplayer statistics are kept track of under a unified character profile. Plus, the replays feature is easily manageable, and the Leagues and Ladders section is easy to navigate and thoughtfully laid out.
If you're looking for a game that offers incredible depth, an unmatched competitive scene, and a satisfying single-player portion, and don't mind a sequel that sticks pretty close to the original, you could do a lot worse than StarCraft II.
Buy Starcraft II. Because Tychus Findlay needs lots of money to supplement his diet of cigars and pure testosterone.
Monday, August 2, 2010
And they said Rome couldn't be built in a day.
How do magnets work, anyways?
This weekend was a conglomeration of friends, missing bobbins, slushies, acrylic paint, sore feet, and 11-tiered cravats, otherwise known as Anime Iowa. It was a great time, with tons of friends to hang out with and a crapload of derping around. Our room was a bit confusing, with seven of us jammed into a small four-person room at a Super 8. The contents of the room could be adequately modeled with the use of quantum theory; things may or may not exist at any given time. Take Mafimano's fedora feather, for example. It went missing in the middle of Thursday evening when we arrived, and the room was scoured a couple dozen times a day. Nobody found it until it was mysteriously laying in the center of the room as we started packing up on Sunday morning. Several things hid in my Scandinavia cloak - a bobbin of brown thread, my glasses case, a second blanket. My bright yellow mini Nalgene water bottle went missing at least once every 15 minutes or so, and my computer power cord was on the other side of the room even though I'm pretty sure I never took it out of my bag.
And then there was the cat poop. But that's a story for a later post.
And now, I might finally get to the point...
I've been working on my friend's Rome cosplay for ages. I will admit, there are a few things I wish I had time to fix, like the pauldrons, the sun patterns, and the medallion velcro. They weren't exactly bad, per se, I just felt they were a bit sloppy on my part.
The Hetalia photoshoot was before the Masquerade on Saturday, at 1 PM. We woke up at 10-ish (I had been up until 5 fixing last-minute things on her cape) and then I immediately began getting everyone else ready for the photoshoot.
Everyone else:
From left to right: Prussia, Sweden, Mafimano, Austria, Canada, Denmark, and the Roman Empire is down in front.
Enjoy the B Team's derpy faces. >:Db
Not pictured: Finland and Germania. They were being awesome and manning their AA tables.
I helped Denmark put on his wig cap (he has kind of a big head, lol) and pin it into his unruly brown hair.
This hair.
(Also note the adorable Denmochi made by Cynical Pie.)
Here is Denmark without wig cap.
Not exactly bad, it just looks kinda funny to have brown hair sticking out from under the blond. Not that I'm one to talk, I couldn't procure a wig cap for Anime Detour and had a bit of brown hair sticking out from under my Prussia wig. But hey, I fixed it now.
Then I helped with the wig, which ate about a dozen or so bobby pins. And then I did his makeup.
I got him to wear concealer, 2 kinds of foundation, and guyliner. And he pulled it off scarily well, even if he has the twitchiest eyes I've ever worked with.
The end result:
Nobody say Adam Lambert. I think he's just making a funny face. I couldn't find a better picture. My bad.
Then came Sweden.
This man had 156+ ounces of Slushie at the convention. Mafimano, Denmark, and myself couldn't finish 52 ounces between the three of us. We got 3/4ths of the way through, and then Sweden actually finished the rest. But anyways.
He actually came into the bathroom (AKA the sweatshop) and said "I want to be pretty" in his mock-serious Sweden voice. There was much lol-ing, and then out came the creeper Sweden face.
WARNING: DO NOT LOOK AT THIS PICTURE IF YOU HAVE A WEAK STOMACH, ARE TAKING MEDICATIONS THAT COULD CAUSE AN UNSAFE DROP IN BLOOD PRESSURE, ARE PREGNANT, NURSING, OR MAY BECOME PREGNANT.
THIS IS THE PART WHERE YOU CRY.
He doesn't wear a wig (he does anime-version Sweden with his brown eyes and brown hair) so I just did his makeup. Same as Denmark's. Now, if you've ever put an eyeliner pencil next to the eyeballs of a man nearly a foot taller than you, you'd know that I was very, very nervous. He's very intimidating; if you didn't remember, I'll remind you here that he cosplays Sweden. He makes weapons. He carries around a knife or two. He can pick up Denmark and myself at the same time and haul us around. Like I said, very intimidating. I got through with one undereye, and started on the other. I'm not sure what happened, but suddenly, there is a very manly yelp, and I realized I've just stabbed him in the eye.
Here I will skip to after I stopped apologizing like Colette from Tales of Symphonia. If I didn't know how extraordinarily nice our Sweden is, I would have been groveling. I felt terrible. Also, I wanted to keep my limbs.
He blinked twice, and was fine. It was the biggest non-reaction I've ever participated in. Apparently, Sweden has hardier eyes than Denmark.
So, after another fifteen seconds of "Are you okay?" "Yes." "Are you sure?" "Yes." I finally finished that eye, a lot more careful this time around.
I gave him an encouraging (if a bit sheepish) thumbs up, and then Rome started freaking out about her costume. I had fixed a rivet just that morning, and when the paint finally dried, I helped lace her into her breastplate. Then came the pauldrons. I had about thirty seconds of pure terror when I thought I had made them way too big. I quickly realized I was trying to put them on too far forward, and because I had made them as working pauldrons, they kept sliding open to encase her upper arm.
I didn't want them to do that, and I was running out of time, so I reverted back to my duct tape talents to fix it. Thank goodness Sweden carries around duct tape with those knives. Usually, I am completely against using duct tape in cosplay, but this was an emergency, and I was fixing something that was moving and shouldn't have been.
Then I velcroed on the medallions that held the cape on. I'm so glad it worked, I did a little happy dance. Thank goodness Mafimano and Germania had a roll of extra velcro each, because I ran out.
As soon as Germania had finished Rome's makeup and wig, nobody could tell she was a she. For example, she was going into the women's bathroom when a staff member rushes her, yelling "Stop! You can't go in there!"
She proceeded to squeak until the staff member turned bright red. "Oh, you ARE a girl. Sorry." And then walked away.
She then got in the bathroom, and all of the girls stopped mid-sentence to stare at her. It was the most awkward thing she'd ever done, she told us later.
The finished product:
This is (Derpy-face!)Rome. I put him together in a day. What now, non-believers? >:D
She came running down the ramp to the photoshoot area, cape flapping. People cheered. Doves flew. It was beautiful. One girl told her she looked exactly like in the anime. I cried tears of joy. More doves flew overhead. Angels sang. Atlantis resurfaced and the bottom-dwellers there passed out some sort of Atlantean wine and threw confetti everywhere.
Or something like that.
All in all, Saturday of con was hectic and stressful and awesome. I can't believe I've made it as far as I have.
Now if you'll excuse me, Denmark has a dress I need to get working on. (Thanks, Cynical Pie, for the awesome Paint additions that were made to this photo found on the Anon Meme~)
You'd better believe it. This is what happens when you lose a bet with me.
This weekend was a conglomeration of friends, missing bobbins, slushies, acrylic paint, sore feet, and 11-tiered cravats, otherwise known as Anime Iowa. It was a great time, with tons of friends to hang out with and a crapload of derping around. Our room was a bit confusing, with seven of us jammed into a small four-person room at a Super 8. The contents of the room could be adequately modeled with the use of quantum theory; things may or may not exist at any given time. Take Mafimano's fedora feather, for example. It went missing in the middle of Thursday evening when we arrived, and the room was scoured a couple dozen times a day. Nobody found it until it was mysteriously laying in the center of the room as we started packing up on Sunday morning. Several things hid in my Scandinavia cloak - a bobbin of brown thread, my glasses case, a second blanket. My bright yellow mini Nalgene water bottle went missing at least once every 15 minutes or so, and my computer power cord was on the other side of the room even though I'm pretty sure I never took it out of my bag.
And then there was the cat poop. But that's a story for a later post.
And now, I might finally get to the point...
I've been working on my friend's Rome cosplay for ages. I will admit, there are a few things I wish I had time to fix, like the pauldrons, the sun patterns, and the medallion velcro. They weren't exactly bad, per se, I just felt they were a bit sloppy on my part.
The Hetalia photoshoot was before the Masquerade on Saturday, at 1 PM. We woke up at 10-ish (I had been up until 5 fixing last-minute things on her cape) and then I immediately began getting everyone else ready for the photoshoot.
Everyone else:
From left to right: Prussia, Sweden, Mafimano, Austria, Canada, Denmark, and the Roman Empire is down in front.
Enjoy the B Team's derpy faces. >:Db
Not pictured: Finland and Germania. They were being awesome and manning their AA tables.
I helped Denmark put on his wig cap (he has kind of a big head, lol) and pin it into his unruly brown hair.
This hair.
(Also note the adorable Denmochi made by Cynical Pie.)
Here is Denmark without wig cap.
Not exactly bad, it just looks kinda funny to have brown hair sticking out from under the blond. Not that I'm one to talk, I couldn't procure a wig cap for Anime Detour and had a bit of brown hair sticking out from under my Prussia wig. But hey, I fixed it now.
Then I helped with the wig, which ate about a dozen or so bobby pins. And then I did his makeup.
I got him to wear concealer, 2 kinds of foundation, and guyliner. And he pulled it off scarily well, even if he has the twitchiest eyes I've ever worked with.
The end result:
Nobody say Adam Lambert. I think he's just making a funny face. I couldn't find a better picture. My bad.
Then came Sweden.
This man had 156+ ounces of Slushie at the convention. Mafimano, Denmark, and myself couldn't finish 52 ounces between the three of us. We got 3/4ths of the way through, and then Sweden actually finished the rest. But anyways.
He actually came into the bathroom (AKA the sweatshop) and said "I want to be pretty" in his mock-serious Sweden voice. There was much lol-ing, and then out came the creeper Sweden face.
WARNING: DO NOT LOOK AT THIS PICTURE IF YOU HAVE A WEAK STOMACH, ARE TAKING MEDICATIONS THAT COULD CAUSE AN UNSAFE DROP IN BLOOD PRESSURE, ARE PREGNANT, NURSING, OR MAY BECOME PREGNANT.
THIS IS THE PART WHERE YOU CRY.
He doesn't wear a wig (he does anime-version Sweden with his brown eyes and brown hair) so I just did his makeup. Same as Denmark's. Now, if you've ever put an eyeliner pencil next to the eyeballs of a man nearly a foot taller than you, you'd know that I was very, very nervous. He's very intimidating; if you didn't remember, I'll remind you here that he cosplays Sweden. He makes weapons. He carries around a knife or two. He can pick up Denmark and myself at the same time and haul us around. Like I said, very intimidating. I got through with one undereye, and started on the other. I'm not sure what happened, but suddenly, there is a very manly yelp, and I realized I've just stabbed him in the eye.
Here I will skip to after I stopped apologizing like Colette from Tales of Symphonia. If I didn't know how extraordinarily nice our Sweden is, I would have been groveling. I felt terrible. Also, I wanted to keep my limbs.
He blinked twice, and was fine. It was the biggest non-reaction I've ever participated in. Apparently, Sweden has hardier eyes than Denmark.
So, after another fifteen seconds of "Are you okay?" "Yes." "Are you sure?" "Yes." I finally finished that eye, a lot more careful this time around.
I gave him an encouraging (if a bit sheepish) thumbs up, and then Rome started freaking out about her costume. I had fixed a rivet just that morning, and when the paint finally dried, I helped lace her into her breastplate. Then came the pauldrons. I had about thirty seconds of pure terror when I thought I had made them way too big. I quickly realized I was trying to put them on too far forward, and because I had made them as working pauldrons, they kept sliding open to encase her upper arm.
I didn't want them to do that, and I was running out of time, so I reverted back to my duct tape talents to fix it. Thank goodness Sweden carries around duct tape with those knives. Usually, I am completely against using duct tape in cosplay, but this was an emergency, and I was fixing something that was moving and shouldn't have been.
Then I velcroed on the medallions that held the cape on. I'm so glad it worked, I did a little happy dance. Thank goodness Mafimano and Germania had a roll of extra velcro each, because I ran out.
As soon as Germania had finished Rome's makeup and wig, nobody could tell she was a she. For example, she was going into the women's bathroom when a staff member rushes her, yelling "Stop! You can't go in there!"
She proceeded to squeak until the staff member turned bright red. "Oh, you ARE a girl. Sorry." And then walked away.
She then got in the bathroom, and all of the girls stopped mid-sentence to stare at her. It was the most awkward thing she'd ever done, she told us later.
The finished product:
This is (Derpy-face!)Rome. I put him together in a day. What now, non-believers? >:D
She came running down the ramp to the photoshoot area, cape flapping. People cheered. Doves flew. It was beautiful. One girl told her she looked exactly like in the anime. I cried tears of joy. More doves flew overhead. Angels sang. Atlantis resurfaced and the bottom-dwellers there passed out some sort of Atlantean wine and threw confetti everywhere.
Or something like that.
All in all, Saturday of con was hectic and stressful and awesome. I can't believe I've made it as far as I have.
Now if you'll excuse me, Denmark has a dress I need to get working on. (Thanks, Cynical Pie, for the awesome Paint additions that were made to this photo found on the Anon Meme~)
You'd better believe it. This is what happens when you lose a bet with me.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
If you like good books and aren't busy for the next 2-3 years...
One of the single most overused words in today’s culture is “epic.” Don’t believe me?
I love you Kirby, but "Epic" you are not.
In my opinion, few things truly merit being described as epic. One such example that without a shadow of a doubt earns the label, however, is Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series of fantasy novels. For how long the series has been around (The first book came out in 1990, if I recall, correctly), I find that the vast majority of people, even among those who actively read fantasy books, are unfamiliar with it. This needs to change. If you enjoyed the Lord of the Rings, Jordan takes what Tolkien established and blows it out of the water. I won’t try to describe the plot to you here, simply because there's no way I could possibly do it justice, suffice to say that the series contains everything you could possibly hope for. Yes, even crazy Asians with Southern accents . Not kidding.
The major barrier preventing people getting into the series is its length, which I suppose can be construed as good or bad. I mean, I will admit that sometimes there's an aggravating amount of detail that makes you want to yell, "I DON'T CARE WHAT KIND OF DRESS SHE'S WEARING OR HOW SHE DID HER HAIR TODAY." On the flipside, the character development of this series is absolutely unparalleled in any other series. Even before one finishes the first book, the reader feels truly attached to the characters, and cares about what happens to them even if they don't LIKE them necessarily. And in a world that's as fleshed out as this, it's easy to become lost in thought about all the potential scenarios and outcomes of certain events. (Can someone say FAN FICTION?)
Initially, Robert Jordan only set out to write a trilogy of fantasy novels. It didn’t take him long to realize he wouldn’t be able to finish the story he had started in a mere 3 books, so he soon expanded it to 6 books instead. Well, 6 books didn’t prove to be enough either. Alright, 10 books. Nope, still not enough? OKAY, 12 BOOKS. THAT’S IT. Sadly, shortly after Book 11 was published, Robert Jordan passed away before he could finish his series. Needless to say, fans were pretty distraught, especially after coming so far with the characters and the story. Fortunately, Jordan had kept extensive notes on the series and his plans for its conclusion, in addition to having told his wife and editor Harriet his intentions as well. A new fantasy author (Brandon Sanderson, author of the Mistborn series and a whole bunch more great books) was hired to work with Harriet to finish the series with one last book. Upon seeing the extensive amount of notes and just how much needed to be brought to a conclusion, Sanderson decided he couldn’t finish in 1 book. So now he’s writing 3, with the next scheduled for release later this year. There were mixed opinions among fans. Some of them were thankful that at least the series was getting a conclusion, while others starting jumping and growling like angry puppies at the prospect of someone else finishing Jordan's life work. Despite the anxiety among fans, the first book by Sanderson (released last year) soon allayed their fears, as if soothing the anxious puppies with a delicious Milkbone. (Boy I hope that analogy makes as much sense in text as it did in my head. Not that it made much sense there either.) In any case, the book was GOOD.
So, even though the series may require you to trundle around a wheelbarrow full of books, it truly is worth it. Look up Eye of the World (the first book in the series) and give it a shot!
On a completely unrelated note: In her last post Inanity discussed my Mafimano costume, which is nearing completion. I hope to have pictures of it up soon so you can see what Inanity and I have been up to. :)
I love you Kirby, but "Epic" you are not.
In my opinion, few things truly merit being described as epic. One such example that without a shadow of a doubt earns the label, however, is Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series of fantasy novels. For how long the series has been around (The first book came out in 1990, if I recall, correctly), I find that the vast majority of people, even among those who actively read fantasy books, are unfamiliar with it. This needs to change. If you enjoyed the Lord of the Rings, Jordan takes what Tolkien established and blows it out of the water. I won’t try to describe the plot to you here, simply because there's no way I could possibly do it justice, suffice to say that the series contains everything you could possibly hope for. Yes, even crazy Asians with Southern accents . Not kidding.
The major barrier preventing people getting into the series is its length, which I suppose can be construed as good or bad. I mean, I will admit that sometimes there's an aggravating amount of detail that makes you want to yell, "I DON'T CARE WHAT KIND OF DRESS SHE'S WEARING OR HOW SHE DID HER HAIR TODAY." On the flipside, the character development of this series is absolutely unparalleled in any other series. Even before one finishes the first book, the reader feels truly attached to the characters, and cares about what happens to them even if they don't LIKE them necessarily. And in a world that's as fleshed out as this, it's easy to become lost in thought about all the potential scenarios and outcomes of certain events. (Can someone say FAN FICTION?)
Initially, Robert Jordan only set out to write a trilogy of fantasy novels. It didn’t take him long to realize he wouldn’t be able to finish the story he had started in a mere 3 books, so he soon expanded it to 6 books instead. Well, 6 books didn’t prove to be enough either. Alright, 10 books. Nope, still not enough? OKAY, 12 BOOKS. THAT’S IT. Sadly, shortly after Book 11 was published, Robert Jordan passed away before he could finish his series. Needless to say, fans were pretty distraught, especially after coming so far with the characters and the story. Fortunately, Jordan had kept extensive notes on the series and his plans for its conclusion, in addition to having told his wife and editor Harriet his intentions as well. A new fantasy author (Brandon Sanderson, author of the Mistborn series and a whole bunch more great books) was hired to work with Harriet to finish the series with one last book. Upon seeing the extensive amount of notes and just how much needed to be brought to a conclusion, Sanderson decided he couldn’t finish in 1 book. So now he’s writing 3, with the next scheduled for release later this year. There were mixed opinions among fans. Some of them were thankful that at least the series was getting a conclusion, while others starting jumping and growling like angry puppies at the prospect of someone else finishing Jordan's life work. Despite the anxiety among fans, the first book by Sanderson (released last year) soon allayed their fears, as if soothing the anxious puppies with a delicious Milkbone. (Boy I hope that analogy makes as much sense in text as it did in my head. Not that it made much sense there either.) In any case, the book was GOOD.
So, even though the series may require you to trundle around a wheelbarrow full of books, it truly is worth it. Look up Eye of the World (the first book in the series) and give it a shot!
On a completely unrelated note: In her last post Inanity discussed my Mafimano costume, which is nearing completion. I hope to have pictures of it up soon so you can see what Inanity and I have been up to. :)
Monday, July 19, 2010
I Have Been Productive, Otherwise Known as "the Apocalypse"
Long time no see, intertubeland! I haven't updated for at least two weeks, have I? Whoops, my bad.
Well, I have much news for you follower-types. I have been working on my leatherwork like freaking crazy for the past two months, and I'm nearly done with both Teutonic Knight Prussia's suit of armor, and Ancient Rome's breastplate. I really just have three more bracers left to create, as far as I know: two for Ancient Scandinavia, one for Ancient Magyar. Rome's medallions are next on my list, followed by the two belts that rest on the bottom of the breastplate near the piece we affectionately call the "Crotch Protector."
I'll put a tutorial on basic leatherworking here once I can use the camera. Heck, I might make a whole new post just for talking about that breastplate. I remade the entire thing, and it is fantabulous, if I do say so myself.
Now that I know how to work with leather, I started asking around to see if anyone worked with plate metal. As it turns out, a friend or two of mine does work with plate, and is willing to teach me. Soon, I'll be making my own suits of steel armor just for the heck of it.
...That's pretty cool, I think.
I got purple contacts for Austria (and by extension, my planned Norway and Finland cosplays) and they look really cool! For those of you who are interested, I got a pair of quality colored contacts from this site, http://www.youknowit.com/ , for about $25. Their selection is fairly good, but for the random colors you just have to have but can't find, there's also this site: http://www.cosplaylab.com/proshop/cosmeticlens.asp . They sell every natural and slightly unnatural eye color under the sun, every pair for just $35. While the first site doesn't require a prescription, the second site does, even for lenses without a prescription. Beautify your eyes for the cost of a wig! Correctly-colored eyes really brings life to an already good cosplay.
Next up is the Terminator eye I'm slowly assembling. I still need to head to Axman (or is it Axeman? I don't remember) to pick up a switch and a battery case that can hold 2 AA batteries. That's right, after blowing up one LED with a 9v battery, I discovered that LEDs can run off of 2 AA batteries. My next step, after grabbing the switch and case, is to go out and find a skull mask and a ping pong ball.
I will try to put in a tutorial here after I have all the pieces and, once again, have the use of a camera.
Mafimano's cosplay is very nearly done, he just needs his hair curl (a la weft and sewing) and a cigar to wave around like a rich hitman. I also still need to spray paint his Nerf pistol (still, Inanity, still?) and attach a red feather to his black fedora. I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to do that. He's got his black suit with red shirt and thin black tie, his black leather gloves he's borrowing for me (I'm confused as to how they can fit him, since his hands are twice the size of mine, but hey, I won't ask questions if it works), and I taught him simple cosplay makeup.
Guys, do not be ashamed of wearing light costume makeup to a convention. You actually look more professional, and less blotchy and oily, especially in photographs. It's like being in a theatre production: even the men wear some makeup.
I bought about 60% of my fabric last Monday, and I managed to save almost $40 on polar fleece by picking it up during a 50% off sale at Hancock Fabrics. It's more navy than slate, but it looks very nice against the blue and brown of my tunic fabric. I also picked up a cloak pattern while I was there, and the tissue is now all over my living room floor. Washing the fabric was interesting as well; I was given two old bedsheets to use however I wanted, and I decided to try to make my Teutonic Knight cloak and Rome's under-manskirt out of it. It has a few blotches on it, but I can just cut around those, right? I bleached the crap out of that thing, and still, these little orange stains persist. As soon as the pattern is all cut out, I'll have to pin it down to these sheets and make sure I'm not going to have to buy a million more yards of white fabric for my cloak.
Tip for buying fabric: bring tons of reference pictures to make sure you are getting exactly the color you want.
A friend of mine from Anime Detour 2010 found me on Skype yesterday to tell me he's making me a 4 foot broadsword and several knives for my cosplays. I found it quite comical when he asked "How long do you want these knives? Is two feet long enough?" I nearly died, because seriously, the man cosplays scary Sweden without even needing to try, and he's so freaking nice! But two foot knives? My mouth flapped open and closed a few times, and then I said "...Anywhere between 6 and 8 inches is plenty long, thank you" because I try not to be a jerk. >>;
Anyways, he's letting me paint them, too, so i can put pretty little details onto the hilt all I want! I'll be using Cynical Pie's tutorial here: http://cynicalpie.blogspot.com/2010/07/pen-is-mightier-than-sword.html to try to make my paint job look as professional as hers.
Tomorrow, my amazing friend Paige (whom I commissioned my Austria maid dress from) will be coming to my house to help me pick out some overcoat fabric for Magyar and also help me cut everything out. Then on Wednesday, my wonderful grandmother (who's helped me on every other cosplay, it seems) will be helping me sew everything. I'm going to try to run over to Tandy Leather Factory on Thursday and do all of my leather painting/staining/sheening that day, and then do acrylics on Friday morning. If all goes as planned, I will be done with all of my cosplays by the pool party on Saturday, save for minor painting and a few props.
And really? The only thing I'm worried about is boots. Maybe I'll go diagram those suckers out today. Right after I carve some leather medallions and finish those lower breastplate belts.
And find that darn camera to make some tutorials.
Well, I have much news for you follower-types. I have been working on my leatherwork like freaking crazy for the past two months, and I'm nearly done with both Teutonic Knight Prussia's suit of armor, and Ancient Rome's breastplate. I really just have three more bracers left to create, as far as I know: two for Ancient Scandinavia, one for Ancient Magyar. Rome's medallions are next on my list, followed by the two belts that rest on the bottom of the breastplate near the piece we affectionately call the "Crotch Protector."
I'll put a tutorial on basic leatherworking here once I can use the camera. Heck, I might make a whole new post just for talking about that breastplate. I remade the entire thing, and it is fantabulous, if I do say so myself.
Now that I know how to work with leather, I started asking around to see if anyone worked with plate metal. As it turns out, a friend or two of mine does work with plate, and is willing to teach me. Soon, I'll be making my own suits of steel armor just for the heck of it.
...That's pretty cool, I think.
I got purple contacts for Austria (and by extension, my planned Norway and Finland cosplays) and they look really cool! For those of you who are interested, I got a pair of quality colored contacts from this site, http://www.youknowit.com/ , for about $25. Their selection is fairly good, but for the random colors you just have to have but can't find, there's also this site: http://www.cosplaylab.com/proshop/cosmeticlens.asp . They sell every natural and slightly unnatural eye color under the sun, every pair for just $35. While the first site doesn't require a prescription, the second site does, even for lenses without a prescription. Beautify your eyes for the cost of a wig! Correctly-colored eyes really brings life to an already good cosplay.
Next up is the Terminator eye I'm slowly assembling. I still need to head to Axman (or is it Axeman? I don't remember) to pick up a switch and a battery case that can hold 2 AA batteries. That's right, after blowing up one LED with a 9v battery, I discovered that LEDs can run off of 2 AA batteries. My next step, after grabbing the switch and case, is to go out and find a skull mask and a ping pong ball.
I will try to put in a tutorial here after I have all the pieces and, once again, have the use of a camera.
Mafimano's cosplay is very nearly done, he just needs his hair curl (a la weft and sewing) and a cigar to wave around like a rich hitman. I also still need to spray paint his Nerf pistol (still, Inanity, still?) and attach a red feather to his black fedora. I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to do that. He's got his black suit with red shirt and thin black tie, his black leather gloves he's borrowing for me (I'm confused as to how they can fit him, since his hands are twice the size of mine, but hey, I won't ask questions if it works), and I taught him simple cosplay makeup.
Guys, do not be ashamed of wearing light costume makeup to a convention. You actually look more professional, and less blotchy and oily, especially in photographs. It's like being in a theatre production: even the men wear some makeup.
I bought about 60% of my fabric last Monday, and I managed to save almost $40 on polar fleece by picking it up during a 50% off sale at Hancock Fabrics. It's more navy than slate, but it looks very nice against the blue and brown of my tunic fabric. I also picked up a cloak pattern while I was there, and the tissue is now all over my living room floor. Washing the fabric was interesting as well; I was given two old bedsheets to use however I wanted, and I decided to try to make my Teutonic Knight cloak and Rome's under-manskirt out of it. It has a few blotches on it, but I can just cut around those, right? I bleached the crap out of that thing, and still, these little orange stains persist. As soon as the pattern is all cut out, I'll have to pin it down to these sheets and make sure I'm not going to have to buy a million more yards of white fabric for my cloak.
Tip for buying fabric: bring tons of reference pictures to make sure you are getting exactly the color you want.
A friend of mine from Anime Detour 2010 found me on Skype yesterday to tell me he's making me a 4 foot broadsword and several knives for my cosplays. I found it quite comical when he asked "How long do you want these knives? Is two feet long enough?" I nearly died, because seriously, the man cosplays scary Sweden without even needing to try, and he's so freaking nice! But two foot knives? My mouth flapped open and closed a few times, and then I said "...Anywhere between 6 and 8 inches is plenty long, thank you" because I try not to be a jerk. >>;
Anyways, he's letting me paint them, too, so i can put pretty little details onto the hilt all I want! I'll be using Cynical Pie's tutorial here: http://cynicalpie.blogspot.com/2010/07/pen-is-mightier-than-sword.html to try to make my paint job look as professional as hers.
Tomorrow, my amazing friend Paige (whom I commissioned my Austria maid dress from) will be coming to my house to help me pick out some overcoat fabric for Magyar and also help me cut everything out. Then on Wednesday, my wonderful grandmother (who's helped me on every other cosplay, it seems) will be helping me sew everything. I'm going to try to run over to Tandy Leather Factory on Thursday and do all of my leather painting/staining/sheening that day, and then do acrylics on Friday morning. If all goes as planned, I will be done with all of my cosplays by the pool party on Saturday, save for minor painting and a few props.
And really? The only thing I'm worried about is boots. Maybe I'll go diagram those suckers out today. Right after I carve some leather medallions and finish those lower breastplate belts.
And find that darn camera to make some tutorials.
Friday, July 2, 2010
You don't need to be more accurate, you just need to shoot more bullets.
Violence is never the answer. Guns are.
Firstly, I must admit to procrastination. I should have finished spray painting my Nerf guns a while back.
In my defense, it rained a lot recently. I only own one of the three guns I decided to spray paint, so that doesn't help either.
I own a Nerf Vulcan, one of the bad boys that people love to mod for extra firing speed and ammo capacity. I still need to put a few more coats of paint on it and get a strap to hook it over my shoulder with. If I'm really feeling ambitious, I'll paint silver accents onto the gun. Pictures to come~
The gun I'll get the most use out of is the Nerf Scout, which looks like a big 9mm pistol. Not only will I use this for my Terminator Austria costume, but also for Intrigue's Mafia!Romano outfit (Mafimano for short). Then I can also use it for my boyfriend's planned Wesker cosplay. (Boy, am I ever pumped for this. Not only is Wesker my favorite Resident Evil character and one of my all-time favorite video game characters, but this means my boyfriend will finally get to experience the cosplay scene. And I get to go with him as another Resident Evil 5 character, the "plague doctor.")
Long story short, that gun will get a ton of use. I might even repaint it as a Vladof shock repeater pistol for my planned Mordecai cosplay. (Woot woot Borderlands!)
I also plan on buying an off-brand Buzzbee Lever Action Rifle for Terminator Austria. It was in the movie, guys.
Deadlines draw near...
In other news, we have just hit the one month mark before Anime Iowa. You know what this means: finish up those costumes! Start your acne regimens! Make a shopping list with things like "deodorant" and "shampoo"! Do 200 crunches a night for those sexy abs! Drink tons and tons of water, until you pee clear.
No, seriously, this hydration strategy will make you so much more comfortable in the heat of a summer convention. Take it from a girl who was in one of Minnesota's top marching bands for four years of her life: drinking water and eliminating pop from your diet will keep you feeling good during all that running around.
In marching band, we wore full head-to-toe wool uniforms, and were expected to practice in the sun for hours on end. We alternated between rapid marching and returning to an earlier spot to repeat our routine, and standing stock-still with perfect concentration, the sun beating down on us and heat rising from the black asphalt below us. In other words, it was really freaking hot. Drinking water for a convention will have the same effects: fending off the ambient heat and the heat from your costume, and keeping you from getting tired as quickly. It has the added effects of keeping headaches at bay and keeping you pleasant. One of the first signs of dehydration is grumpiness, which just ruins everyone's fun. So pee clear.
I, for one, will drink plenty of water for the rest of the month. However, I'm also an avid pop-drinker, so I'll have to cut that carbonated high-fructose corn syrup out of my diet for at least the last two weeks of the month. That should be plenty of time for my body to cope with the lack of caffeine. Hopefully I don't crack mentally because of the strain.
Who you won't see at AI, or, why anime conventions are like high school
We have a dropout this year at AI. My friend who was going to be France and Ancient Gaul can't come anymore. She's been having some weird mini heart attack things, and the only day she can get her chest checked out is during the weekend of AI. So, while I mourn this loss, I am also glad that she's mature enough to keep her priorities straight. Her health is always more important than an anime convention.
Excuse me while I go make my list of planned cosplays even longer. Le sigh.
Firstly, I must admit to procrastination. I should have finished spray painting my Nerf guns a while back.
In my defense, it rained a lot recently. I only own one of the three guns I decided to spray paint, so that doesn't help either.
I own a Nerf Vulcan, one of the bad boys that people love to mod for extra firing speed and ammo capacity. I still need to put a few more coats of paint on it and get a strap to hook it over my shoulder with. If I'm really feeling ambitious, I'll paint silver accents onto the gun. Pictures to come~
The gun I'll get the most use out of is the Nerf Scout, which looks like a big 9mm pistol. Not only will I use this for my Terminator Austria costume, but also for Intrigue's Mafia!Romano outfit (Mafimano for short). Then I can also use it for my boyfriend's planned Wesker cosplay. (Boy, am I ever pumped for this. Not only is Wesker my favorite Resident Evil character and one of my all-time favorite video game characters, but this means my boyfriend will finally get to experience the cosplay scene. And I get to go with him as another Resident Evil 5 character, the "plague doctor.")
Long story short, that gun will get a ton of use. I might even repaint it as a Vladof shock repeater pistol for my planned Mordecai cosplay. (Woot woot Borderlands!)
I also plan on buying an off-brand Buzzbee Lever Action Rifle for Terminator Austria. It was in the movie, guys.
Deadlines draw near...
In other news, we have just hit the one month mark before Anime Iowa. You know what this means: finish up those costumes! Start your acne regimens! Make a shopping list with things like "deodorant" and "shampoo"! Do 200 crunches a night for those sexy abs! Drink tons and tons of water, until you pee clear.
No, seriously, this hydration strategy will make you so much more comfortable in the heat of a summer convention. Take it from a girl who was in one of Minnesota's top marching bands for four years of her life: drinking water and eliminating pop from your diet will keep you feeling good during all that running around.
In marching band, we wore full head-to-toe wool uniforms, and were expected to practice in the sun for hours on end. We alternated between rapid marching and returning to an earlier spot to repeat our routine, and standing stock-still with perfect concentration, the sun beating down on us and heat rising from the black asphalt below us. In other words, it was really freaking hot. Drinking water for a convention will have the same effects: fending off the ambient heat and the heat from your costume, and keeping you from getting tired as quickly. It has the added effects of keeping headaches at bay and keeping you pleasant. One of the first signs of dehydration is grumpiness, which just ruins everyone's fun. So pee clear.
I, for one, will drink plenty of water for the rest of the month. However, I'm also an avid pop-drinker, so I'll have to cut that carbonated high-fructose corn syrup out of my diet for at least the last two weeks of the month. That should be plenty of time for my body to cope with the lack of caffeine. Hopefully I don't crack mentally because of the strain.
Who you won't see at AI, or, why anime conventions are like high school
We have a dropout this year at AI. My friend who was going to be France and Ancient Gaul can't come anymore. She's been having some weird mini heart attack things, and the only day she can get her chest checked out is during the weekend of AI. So, while I mourn this loss, I am also glad that she's mature enough to keep her priorities straight. Her health is always more important than an anime convention.
Excuse me while I go make my list of planned cosplays even longer. Le sigh.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
I can't let you do, that, Dave
One of my biggest tasks for this summer was to build myself a gaming PC. Thankfully, I have friends who have substantially more experience in this area than I do, so I wouldn't be left with a motherboard in one hand and a CPU cooler in the other, flailing around like a nerdy seal, and probably making similar noises, too.
The endeavor started out as planned; my best friend and I made a trip toMicro Center
By the time I left, I had enough computer parts to choke an orca whale, had blown my entire paycheck, and had a smiling and greasy best friend still trying to convince me to now purchase a surround sound system.We got back to his house, and began assembling the beast. It took a substantially shorter amount of time than I imagined (perhaps largely due to his proficiency in the area), and before long things were starting to come together. But, of course, as “things” are often wont to do at their first chance of escape, difficulties soon set in. My friend had to leave for work, so I was now on my own. After somehow lugging the computer to my car, and then from my car to the basement of my house, I was ready to start. Before he left, my friend had assured me that all I needed to do was pop in my RAM, install my OS, and I would be good to go. I had naively nodded in acquiescence, when in fact I should have began shaking him violently until he did it himself, because I had forgotten one key fact: MICROSOFT HATES N00BS. Sure enough, upon attempting to install my operating system, I was alerted by a nice, shiny error message that my Product Key had expired. I was not aware that such a thing could even occur. Furthermore, I quickly discovered that one of my sticks of RAM was dead. Well, not COMPLETELY dead. Just mostly dead. But dead enough to necessitate more RAM.
Thankfully, once my RAM and new Windows 7 Product Key arrived, my computer began to behave. It is now functioning as an obedient member of my household, and I intend to put it through its paces today. Furthermore, now that it’s up and running, I can trade my old gaming PC to Inanity in exchange for cosplay wigs. Sounds like a fair trade to me!
I can't help feeling that, every time I have a PC related issue, I'm actually waging my own personal battle against Bill Gates. I have started to develop a bitter animosity towards the man, and for absolutely no justifiable reason. It doesn't help that he has to be all Goody-Two Shoes, "I'm helping kids inTanzania
The endeavor started out as planned; my best friend and I made a trip to
By the time I left, I had enough computer parts to choke an orca whale, had blown my entire paycheck, and had a smiling and greasy best friend still trying to convince me to now purchase a surround sound system.We got back to his house, and began assembling the beast. It took a substantially shorter amount of time than I imagined (perhaps largely due to his proficiency in the area), and before long things were starting to come together. But, of course, as “things” are often wont to do at their first chance of escape, difficulties soon set in. My friend had to leave for work, so I was now on my own. After somehow lugging the computer to my car, and then from my car to the basement of my house, I was ready to start. Before he left, my friend had assured me that all I needed to do was pop in my RAM, install my OS, and I would be good to go. I had naively nodded in acquiescence, when in fact I should have began shaking him violently until he did it himself, because I had forgotten one key fact: MICROSOFT HATES N00BS. Sure enough, upon attempting to install my operating system, I was alerted by a nice, shiny error message that my Product Key had expired. I was not aware that such a thing could even occur. Furthermore, I quickly discovered that one of my sticks of RAM was dead. Well, not COMPLETELY dead. Just mostly dead. But dead enough to necessitate more RAM.
Thankfully, once my RAM and new Windows 7 Product Key arrived, my computer began to behave. It is now functioning as an obedient member of my household, and I intend to put it through its paces today. Furthermore, now that it’s up and running, I can trade my old gaming PC to Inanity in exchange for cosplay wigs. Sounds like a fair trade to me!
I can't help feeling that, every time I have a PC related issue, I'm actually waging my own personal battle against Bill Gates. I have started to develop a bitter animosity towards the man, and for absolutely no justifiable reason. It doesn't help that he has to be all Goody-Two Shoes, "I'm helping kids in
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Pokemon (and their effects on my sanity)
Everyone needs goals in life, I keep telling myself. So here I am, setting some goals for the summer that don't involve cosplay-for once.
Abomasnow Approves
My summer goal for the pokemon side of my mind is thus: to breed one of each pokemon in OU that I could use on a team (bar the legendaries like Azelf and Celebi. Screw that, I'm not restarting my game, Syncro-catching the dumb things, and then starting over because the nature or IVs are terrible. Patience may be a virtue, but I have little.)
Here's the list of OU pokemon I'll be breeding:
Aerodactyl - I just need to get it from Fire Red.
Blissey - I'm stuck on breeding these, actually.
Breloom
Bronzong
Dragonite
Dusknoir - I might be able to get one from Intrigue.
Electivire
Empoleon
Flygon
Forretress - Got one!
Gengar - Got one!
Gliscor
Gyarados - All finished except moveset. Thanks Intrigue, she rocks!
Heracross - Got stuck breeding these once, but I'll try again.
Hippowdon
Infernape - Got one!
Jolteon
Kingdra
Lucario - Stuck on this one too. Stupid Riolu won't evolve.
Machamp
Magnezone - Intrigue bred these a while ago, I wonder if he has any usable remnants.
Mamoswine - I'm sure I can steal one from Intrigue.
Metagross
Ninjask
Rotom
Salamence - Done, but moveset isn't.
Scizor
Skarmory
Smeargle
Snorlax
Starmie - Got two! One Modest, one Timid.
Swampert
Tentacruel
Togekiss
Tyranitar - Working on it. Working on making one of every Smogon set, actually.
Umbreon
Vaporeon
Weavile
38 total, 32 to go, not counting those Intrigue might have. Good luck to me. This is intimidating.
I figure, with a good pool of pokemon to draw from, I can make diverse teams to keep my team members a secret, even from close friends. I aspire to be like KillerNacho on youtube, who just whips together a team in nothing flat and beats everyone with it.
But I should go, since my stomach is sounding more and more like the neighbor's lawn mower. Did I mention their lawn mower is broken and bubbles out oil? Lovely thought, I know. So maybe I should feed it. Or yell at it. And maybe do those things to my stomach as well.
Abomasnow Approves
My summer goal for the pokemon side of my mind is thus: to breed one of each pokemon in OU that I could use on a team (bar the legendaries like Azelf and Celebi. Screw that, I'm not restarting my game, Syncro-catching the dumb things, and then starting over because the nature or IVs are terrible. Patience may be a virtue, but I have little.)
Here's the list of OU pokemon I'll be breeding:
Aerodactyl - I just need to get it from Fire Red.
Blissey - I'm stuck on breeding these, actually.
Breloom
Bronzong
Dragonite
Dusknoir - I might be able to get one from Intrigue.
Electivire
Empoleon
Flygon
Forretress - Got one!
Gengar - Got one!
Gliscor
Gyarados - All finished except moveset. Thanks Intrigue, she rocks!
Heracross - Got stuck breeding these once, but I'll try again.
Hippowdon
Infernape - Got one!
Jolteon
Kingdra
Lucario - Stuck on this one too. Stupid Riolu won't evolve.
Machamp
Magnezone - Intrigue bred these a while ago, I wonder if he has any usable remnants.
Mamoswine - I'm sure I can steal one from Intrigue.
Metagross
Ninjask
Rotom
Salamence - Done, but moveset isn't.
Scizor
Skarmory
Smeargle
Snorlax
Starmie - Got two! One Modest, one Timid.
Swampert
Tentacruel
Togekiss
Tyranitar - Working on it. Working on making one of every Smogon set, actually.
Umbreon
Vaporeon
Weavile
38 total, 32 to go, not counting those Intrigue might have. Good luck to me. This is intimidating.
I figure, with a good pool of pokemon to draw from, I can make diverse teams to keep my team members a secret, even from close friends. I aspire to be like KillerNacho on youtube, who just whips together a team in nothing flat and beats everyone with it.
But I should go, since my stomach is sounding more and more like the neighbor's lawn mower. Did I mention their lawn mower is broken and bubbles out oil? Lovely thought, I know. So maybe I should feed it. Or yell at it. And maybe do those things to my stomach as well.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Salutations, Internet community!
I'm rather unversed in the proper method of correctly addressing large groups of anonymous people, so please bear that in mind as you read through my first clumsy effort at blogging. I recently read an old German proverb that stated something to the effect that "Beauty is the best introduction." So, I've clearly already failed in that department. Let's see if I can salvage what's left.
But I digress. (You caught me, I only said that so I could feel like Blathers from Animal Crossing. I may begin asking you to turn over your fossils and fish later on. Just a heads up.)
At first I thought it would be worthwhile to do some sort of self-introduction, but the more I think about it, the more I realize the best way for you doodz to get to know me is just through my future updates.
The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
So, I'll start things off right now by discussing E3, which is, as I'm sure some of you are aware, the single greatest week of the year. For those of you who aren't familiar with it, E3 stands for Electronic Entertainment Expo, and it's the largest video game tradeshow of the year. Essentially, it's a massive celebration of everything that I care about, with the climax (for me) being Nintendo's press conference. I'll discuss some of my personal highlights:
Announcement of the 3DS: Seriously, this thing has the potential to be even bigger than its predecessor, if such a thing even bears contemplating. Touch Screen? Check. 3D screen? Check. Graphics that rival the Wii? On a handheld? Check. Announcement of Zelda, Mario Kart, Animal Crossing, Nintendogs, Star Fox, Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, Dragon Quest, Resident Evil, and pretty much every game you could want for the thing? HOLY EFFING CHECK.
Announcement of the new Zelda: This is a shoe-in for almost all "Best of E3" lists, regardless of who you talk to." Before I saw Skyward Sword, I had two main wishes. 1) That it's art style would be more in the line of Wind Waker than Twilight Princess, and 2) It would change the venerable formula of "Dungeon-->Weapon-->Boss-->Overworld quest, wash, rinse, repeat." Miraculously, it seems like both my wishes came true.
Kirby's Epic Yarn: A Kirby game? Yes please. A Kirby game that appears entirely made out of yarn that somehow manages to make Kirby even more adorable than he already is? DAY 1, INTERNET, DAY 1.
There are dozens and dozens of other E3 factoids I could spend the better part of a week discussing, but I'll spare you, since there's more I wish to cover.
PLEASE LET ME SHOW YOU THEM
Inanities beat me to the punch with her Pokemon teams, but not to be outdone, I'd like to go through a team of my own.
When I started competitive Pokemon, I realized that my first goal would simply be raising a fairly well balanced, competitive team of my favorite critters, before I inevitably got sucked into crafting teams with strategy solely in mind. So, here it is:
Lead: Crobat. You know you're talking to some sort of freak when their favorite real life animal is a bat. Perhaps I say too much. Nonetheless, Crobat is a solid lead, and using its speed alongside moves like Brave Bird and Super Fang can leave a dent in even the bulkiest Pokemon it finds itself up against.
Physical Sweeper: Arcanine. Yeah, yeah, I know, Arcanine is vastly outclassed by many other Pokemon as a heavy hitter, but are any of them as awesome looking as Arcanine? Or as loyal? Yeah, I thought not.
Mixed Sweeper: Kingdra. Dang, but I love this thing. With its Swift Swim ability and carrying Rain Dance, get prepared to be hit hard and fast. Regardless of whether you're physically bulky or specially bulky, Kingdra's prepared.
Special Sweeper: Magnezone. One of the few electric types that actually appeals to me, Magnezone occupies a valuable position on my team. It has phenomenal typing that lend it resistances to 13 of the 17 types, and the use of Magnet Rise alleviates its ground type weakness.
Bulk: Umbreon. My single favorite Pokemon in existence, and a considerable threat, too. With my Cursebreon set, I find I am fairly capable of withstanding almost anything that gets thrown at me while taking my time and setting up the Curses I need to decimate the opposition.
Physical Tank: Dusknoir. Awww, yeah. Who doesn't want a big beefy ghost like this on their team? While quite a heavy hitter on his own, I find that the synergy between Dusknoir and Umbreon is not a force to be trifled with. If Umbreon is about to faint, I simply Baton Pass into Dusknoir, who is able to utilize Curse's benefits just as well as Umbreon. Dusknoir's Attack and Defense skyrocket, and the decrease in Speed is not a bother in the least. What's that? Dusknoir is going to attack second? THIS ISN'T NEWS.
Well, I would like to offer my sincerest thanks to those of you who stayed with me to the very end. That's right, all two of you. Now, if you'll excuse me, my poodle is making retching sounds, which means he may have found my Sour Patch Kids again. Until next time!
~Intrigue
Epic Pokemoning Discussion
Aside from all the cosplay I've been doing, I've also been making competitive pokemon teams.
Here are the tools I use:
www.smogon.com-A guide for all things competitive pokemoning. Has a list for all tiers, pokemon, strategies, suggested movesets, suggested natures and their pros/cons, and EV spreads for every strategy.
www.serebii.net-Like a pokedex on steroids. It lists what level pokemon learn every move, methods of evolution, location, egg and move tutor moves, egg groups, EV points given, and all base stats, including pokethlon.
http://pokemon.marriland.com/diamond_pearl/team_builder/-This helps to visualize your team's strengths and weaknesses by type, and can be extremely helpful when trying to choose between two moves for a moveset.
Sometimes I also go on gamefaqs and look for an EV training guide, because they often list EV hotspots.
My buddy and I create teams in a strange way: I do the breeding for correct nature, egg moves, good IVs, and occasionally correct gender. Then I trade all my babies over, and he EV trains them, gives them the agreed upon moveset, and usually gets them leveled up to about 30 or so. Then we split off and each finish leveling on our own, depending on who's using the pokemon. Somehow, each process takes about the same amount of time unless I hit a breeding rut.
I'm currently working on two competitive OU teams and 2 double-battle teams.
One double-battle team was created to combat our friends' Slaking + Victreebel w/Gastro Acid strategy, and the other is a really cool Hail Stall team that's still missing two members.
My OU teams are being made to crush my friend's team. He isn't competitive, really, but that doesn't mean I'm not a tad nervous about losing. I only got into the competitive stuff a few months ago, so I'm crossing my fingers.
I'm not nearly as thorough as Smogon, I'm just giving my opinion on how the listed pokemon work well together and explaining how I use them. For further information on any pokemon or any strange vocabulary I might use, please refer to Smogon first and foremost.
My Pokemon Bring All the Nerds to the Yard
OU Team 1:
Gallade-I've always enjoyed the typing this guy has, and he makes a great anti-lead with extensive coverage from moves like Night Slash, X-Scissor, Close Combat, Ice Punch, and Psycho Cut. For my anti-lead Gallade, however, I added Taunt and Destiny Bond to take out anything using entry hazards, and Shadow Sneak to help against Azelf who resists my STAB move, Close Combat. There isn't a lead in the game that Gallade can't counter with at least Destiny Bond if predicted correctly.
Gliscor-He's usually my dedicated Stealth Rock-er, and with Taunt and Roost, he's just a general annoyance to the opponent. He also has Earthquake for the solid punch it packs against most of the metagame. His typing means he can switch in on several opponents and get a Stealth Rock set up on the switch.
Breloom-I saw the Spore SubPunch moveset, and this entire team was created around it. Something all of my teams invariably have is a pokemon that's so annoying it frustrates the opponent. This is it for this team.
Magnezone-One of the only things I have trouble with is Steel types, and with a Scizor on about 47% of all competitive teams, why not have the best steel-killer in the metagame? Even Steel-types packing Earthquake fear Magnezone, because it can use Magnet Rise and Substitute to stop even Metagross from damaging it significantly. Steel types lacking Shed Shell have to take as many hits as you choose to deal out, and you can choose to switch out whenever you want. He works well with Gliscor, who dodges an EQ aimed at Magnezone and uses its own EQ in retaliation.
Gengar-He's immune to the popular EQ, and has a terrible HP stat, so the SubPain Split set can beat even a stalling Chansey. His access to Shadow Ball and Focus Blast while hiding behind a substitute makes him tough to counter. He blocks Rapid Spin and Explosion for the team. He's just mean all around.
Gyarados-Every team can use a heavy physical hitter, and I've had a Gyarados on nearly every team since my Red version. He has access to a wide range of physical moves, like Waterfall, Bounce, Stone Edge, Ice Fang, Crunch, and EQ, and stats to back them up. However, every Gyarados likes a boost in Attack and Speed. This can be passed to him by another pokemon, but I like to have each pokemon be able to do its thing alone, in case it is alone. So, this Gyarados has his two physical STAB moves, Waterfall and Bounce, and supports itself with Taunt and Dragon Dance.
OU Team 2:
Weavile-Fake Out. Bam, the opposing lead's Sash breaks. From here, I can taunt opponents who want to use entry hazards or set up on Weavile, and take them out with either Night Slash (mostly for Azelf leads) or use Counter after taking a hit from the likes of TTar or Hippowdon.
Togekiss-Remember what I said about using really annoying pokemon? Well, Togekiss with Serene Grace and Air Slash has a 60% chance of causing the opponent to flinch on every single turn. Add in Thunder Wave, Nasty Plot, and Roost, and the opponent may very well give up if they have nothing to counter with.
Lucario-A Swords Dance Lucario is nothing to scoff at, especially after everything's been paralyzed by Togekiss or poisoned by the later-listed Blissey. Close Combat and Ice Punch hit most opponents for massive damage, especially after a Swords Dance or two. Extremespeed rounds off this set with a strong priority move that hits everything bar Ghosts for dependable damage.
Gyarados-Usually I wouldn't have two physical sweepers on one team, but I have a bit of a fire weakness thus far, and opponents don't usually predict more than one physical sweeper on a team.
Blissey-This is actually my Stealth Rock-er for this team. I enjoy throwing off the opponent nearly as much as annoying them, and between Softboiled and Toxic, I can outstall most of the special-based metagame besides. Smogon suggests using Seismic Toss for steady 100 HP damage every turn, but it has to be tutored onto a Chansey in Emerald and traded over. Instead, I'll be using Ice Beam to scare off the dragons and TTar who are overused even in OU.
Salamence-I've always wanted a Mixmence to switch into in tight spots, and this baby is exactly what I need to solidify this team. He covers his Ice weaknesses with Brick Break, has a dependable recovery move in Roost, and can blast away the bulky ground types and fire types I'm fairly weak to with Hydro Pump. Almost no opponent will see that move coming, and even on Salamence, it packs a mighty punch. The last move he has is Draco Meteor, because when the going gets tough, the tough smash the life out of their opponents.
And Now for Something Completely Different
I'd like to talk about Forretress, who is often overlooked. He is possibly my favorite lead, with all three entry hazards available to him as well as Rapid Spin, Explosion, and Payback to counter the ever-present Azelf leads. He's super sturdy, surviving a hit from just about anything that isn't fire, and has a steel type to counter common Azelf counters like TTar and Weavile. Forretress easily lays down Stealth Rock or a layer of spikes on the switch, and can usually take a hit from whatever else switches out.
There is one setup I use so often that I've christened it the "Beatrice" because she was my first Forretress.
Moveset: Stealth Rock, Toxic Spikes, Rapid Spin, and Explosion.
Strategy: STEALTH ROCK-TSPIKES-TSPIKES-RAPID SPIN IF NEEDED-EXPLOSION. My teams tend to be slow stall-type teams, so having two layers of Toxic Spikes down is extremely helpful against pokemon who try to outstall me. With this opening setup, we both lose one pokemon, the difference between us being that he has Stealth Rock and 2 layers of Toxic Spikes on his side of the field, and I have an open field and I've only lost something I planned on losing from the start. It's my annoying defensive pokemon, because that's exactly how I play. Even if it doesn't work exactly, I'll still get some entry hazards on the field, and that was the point in the first place.
Spread the bulky bagworm love!
Now, I'm off to win a bet and work on my boots. Keep it real, internets. ...Or something like that.
Here are the tools I use:
www.smogon.com-A guide for all things competitive pokemoning. Has a list for all tiers, pokemon, strategies, suggested movesets, suggested natures and their pros/cons, and EV spreads for every strategy.
www.serebii.net-Like a pokedex on steroids. It lists what level pokemon learn every move, methods of evolution, location, egg and move tutor moves, egg groups, EV points given, and all base stats, including pokethlon.
http://pokemon.marriland.com/diamond_pearl/team_builder/-This helps to visualize your team's strengths and weaknesses by type, and can be extremely helpful when trying to choose between two moves for a moveset.
Sometimes I also go on gamefaqs and look for an EV training guide, because they often list EV hotspots.
My buddy and I create teams in a strange way: I do the breeding for correct nature, egg moves, good IVs, and occasionally correct gender. Then I trade all my babies over, and he EV trains them, gives them the agreed upon moveset, and usually gets them leveled up to about 30 or so. Then we split off and each finish leveling on our own, depending on who's using the pokemon. Somehow, each process takes about the same amount of time unless I hit a breeding rut.
I'm currently working on two competitive OU teams and 2 double-battle teams.
One double-battle team was created to combat our friends' Slaking + Victreebel w/Gastro Acid strategy, and the other is a really cool Hail Stall team that's still missing two members.
My OU teams are being made to crush my friend's team. He isn't competitive, really, but that doesn't mean I'm not a tad nervous about losing. I only got into the competitive stuff a few months ago, so I'm crossing my fingers.
I'm not nearly as thorough as Smogon, I'm just giving my opinion on how the listed pokemon work well together and explaining how I use them. For further information on any pokemon or any strange vocabulary I might use, please refer to Smogon first and foremost.
My Pokemon Bring All the Nerds to the Yard
OU Team 1:
Gallade-I've always enjoyed the typing this guy has, and he makes a great anti-lead with extensive coverage from moves like Night Slash, X-Scissor, Close Combat, Ice Punch, and Psycho Cut. For my anti-lead Gallade, however, I added Taunt and Destiny Bond to take out anything using entry hazards, and Shadow Sneak to help against Azelf who resists my STAB move, Close Combat. There isn't a lead in the game that Gallade can't counter with at least Destiny Bond if predicted correctly.
Gliscor-He's usually my dedicated Stealth Rock-er, and with Taunt and Roost, he's just a general annoyance to the opponent. He also has Earthquake for the solid punch it packs against most of the metagame. His typing means he can switch in on several opponents and get a Stealth Rock set up on the switch.
Breloom-I saw the Spore SubPunch moveset, and this entire team was created around it. Something all of my teams invariably have is a pokemon that's so annoying it frustrates the opponent. This is it for this team.
Magnezone-One of the only things I have trouble with is Steel types, and with a Scizor on about 47% of all competitive teams, why not have the best steel-killer in the metagame? Even Steel-types packing Earthquake fear Magnezone, because it can use Magnet Rise and Substitute to stop even Metagross from damaging it significantly. Steel types lacking Shed Shell have to take as many hits as you choose to deal out, and you can choose to switch out whenever you want. He works well with Gliscor, who dodges an EQ aimed at Magnezone and uses its own EQ in retaliation.
Gengar-He's immune to the popular EQ, and has a terrible HP stat, so the SubPain Split set can beat even a stalling Chansey. His access to Shadow Ball and Focus Blast while hiding behind a substitute makes him tough to counter. He blocks Rapid Spin and Explosion for the team. He's just mean all around.
Gyarados-Every team can use a heavy physical hitter, and I've had a Gyarados on nearly every team since my Red version. He has access to a wide range of physical moves, like Waterfall, Bounce, Stone Edge, Ice Fang, Crunch, and EQ, and stats to back them up. However, every Gyarados likes a boost in Attack and Speed. This can be passed to him by another pokemon, but I like to have each pokemon be able to do its thing alone, in case it is alone. So, this Gyarados has his two physical STAB moves, Waterfall and Bounce, and supports itself with Taunt and Dragon Dance.
OU Team 2:
Weavile-Fake Out. Bam, the opposing lead's Sash breaks. From here, I can taunt opponents who want to use entry hazards or set up on Weavile, and take them out with either Night Slash (mostly for Azelf leads) or use Counter after taking a hit from the likes of TTar or Hippowdon.
Togekiss-Remember what I said about using really annoying pokemon? Well, Togekiss with Serene Grace and Air Slash has a 60% chance of causing the opponent to flinch on every single turn. Add in Thunder Wave, Nasty Plot, and Roost, and the opponent may very well give up if they have nothing to counter with.
Lucario-A Swords Dance Lucario is nothing to scoff at, especially after everything's been paralyzed by Togekiss or poisoned by the later-listed Blissey. Close Combat and Ice Punch hit most opponents for massive damage, especially after a Swords Dance or two. Extremespeed rounds off this set with a strong priority move that hits everything bar Ghosts for dependable damage.
Gyarados-Usually I wouldn't have two physical sweepers on one team, but I have a bit of a fire weakness thus far, and opponents don't usually predict more than one physical sweeper on a team.
Blissey-This is actually my Stealth Rock-er for this team. I enjoy throwing off the opponent nearly as much as annoying them, and between Softboiled and Toxic, I can outstall most of the special-based metagame besides. Smogon suggests using Seismic Toss for steady 100 HP damage every turn, but it has to be tutored onto a Chansey in Emerald and traded over. Instead, I'll be using Ice Beam to scare off the dragons and TTar who are overused even in OU.
Salamence-I've always wanted a Mixmence to switch into in tight spots, and this baby is exactly what I need to solidify this team. He covers his Ice weaknesses with Brick Break, has a dependable recovery move in Roost, and can blast away the bulky ground types and fire types I'm fairly weak to with Hydro Pump. Almost no opponent will see that move coming, and even on Salamence, it packs a mighty punch. The last move he has is Draco Meteor, because when the going gets tough, the tough smash the life out of their opponents.
And Now for Something Completely Different
I'd like to talk about Forretress, who is often overlooked. He is possibly my favorite lead, with all three entry hazards available to him as well as Rapid Spin, Explosion, and Payback to counter the ever-present Azelf leads. He's super sturdy, surviving a hit from just about anything that isn't fire, and has a steel type to counter common Azelf counters like TTar and Weavile. Forretress easily lays down Stealth Rock or a layer of spikes on the switch, and can usually take a hit from whatever else switches out.
There is one setup I use so often that I've christened it the "Beatrice" because she was my first Forretress.
Moveset: Stealth Rock, Toxic Spikes, Rapid Spin, and Explosion.
Strategy: STEALTH ROCK-TSPIKES-TSPIKES-RAPID SPIN IF NEEDED-EXPLOSION. My teams tend to be slow stall-type teams, so having two layers of Toxic Spikes down is extremely helpful against pokemon who try to outstall me. With this opening setup, we both lose one pokemon, the difference between us being that he has Stealth Rock and 2 layers of Toxic Spikes on his side of the field, and I have an open field and I've only lost something I planned on losing from the start. It's my annoying defensive pokemon, because that's exactly how I play. Even if it doesn't work exactly, I'll still get some entry hazards on the field, and that was the point in the first place.
Spread the bulky bagworm love!
Now, I'm off to win a bet and work on my boots. Keep it real, internets. ...Or something like that.
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