I saw spinach flavoured instant noodles in the supermarket today. Why does this exist?

FACTS...! AND! SCIENCE!

So, my friend discovered a website (tumblr?) called "psychofactz" which claims to be about psychology and facts. 

Ahaha what.
The facts in question (and me being sad and actually trying to bring real facts into them):

This one is patently untrue because well, it's a bloody survey, not a study. And it's about what men find desirable, not what type of woman is better at being a wife. 

Please tell that to all the PTSD sufferers out there. Oh, you're not laughing? You haven't suffered at all, OKAY!

Boredom leads to Creativity?

I'm a little bored right now, so I thought I'd take apart someone's bad writing. And self-aggrandizement, as will become apparent.
Ladies and Gentlemen, from the TV Tropes Writer's Block (which is allegedly a tool that helps writers) I give you Major Tom (Eye'm the Cutest!).
Enlarging the photo is suggested for maximum Eye'm the worstest.

Whatever the hell this is, it isn't good writing, neither is it an awesome moment. Unless it is that awesome moment where every decent writer on this planet secretly swears to kill all the hacks they find.

“Dig in right here and do not let them pass! The last transport is on its way!” Colonel Smith said as he hosed down the approaching Preyaran infantry with his M-5 machine gun. “You like that? There’s plenty more where that came from!”Mat, Tenchi and Daniel immediately ran over next to his position.“Sorry we’re late Colonel.” Mat said ducking behind the barricade with his rifle.“Better late than never Watkins!” Smith said as he glanced around for a count of his team. “Anyone seen Noland? Sasha? Viktor? Benjamin?”“I haven’t seen her since we pulled back from the motor pool! I think she got separated into the hospital.” Sergeant Major Sharon replied.“Great now I got to find Jessie. Watkins you just volunteered! Get in that hospital and find her and get her out of there! Yamanaka! Daniel! Get on the line and give us a hand!”

Firstly the punctuation is all wrong, and that is quite frankly the least offensive thing about this paragraph. This is allegedly an awesome moment. A hook for the reader. It is bloody boring.

Mat took off to the right intent on finding his missing comrade, the newest member of Assault Team Bravo, the 22 year old blonde haired, blue eyed, small chested Staff Sergeant Jessebelle “Jessie” Marietta Noland. Standing only four feet eight inches tall and weighing a mere eighty-four pounds she was the smallest member of the team ever, often mistaken for a child. But at the same time, she had proven herself in combat several years earlier at Tarsius and had passed full training for AT: Bravo.

I cannot even begin. Let me improve that for you because we clearly don't know everything about Jessebelle "Jessie" Marietta Noland.

Jessebelle "Jessie" Marietta Noland was a twenty-two year old, blond haired, but more platinum than yellow, blue eyed, like forget-me-nots and cornflowers and blue skies mixed together and really small chested because I love lolis. Standing at only four feet, eight inches, or 142.2cm and weighing merely eighty-four pounds, or 38.1017kg, she had a BMI of 18.8, which makes her barely normal and not fit for battle but that doesn't matter because she's got anime powers. She was the smallest member of the team ever, and often mistaken for a child but her parents, Ralph "Ray" Noland and Lucinda "Lucy" Noland nee Reed, did not think this a problem and encouraged her to play with the boys and learn to use guns. Why, they even thought it was cute! She once won a judo competition by throwing the other guy onto the next mat, so size clearly is irrelevant okay! She had proven herself in combat multiple times over like the time she dived through a pillbox with grenades in her clothes and survived. 

Disclaimer: This is ironic and I really don't write like that. 

More importantly, this is horribly wrong I can't mock it without gouging my eyes out. 

Meanwhile inside the hospital…“You think you elves got what it takes to kill me? Not a fucking chance! I am Jessie Noland and I have faced your kind before and sent you packing!”Jessie grasped her M-4 Breyl Automatic Rifle in hand. A large weapon, the Breyl stood nearly as long as she was tall at four feet in length and weighing in at fourteen kilograms. It fired a 20mm Minovski particle bolt at three hundred shots per minute with devastating firepower. Originally a Feyline weapon still used by them, the Breyl never saw much popularity in the Terran forces compared to the M-6 Ascendant Battle Rifle, but where it sees use it always sees a willing user.Two Preyaran Lancers opened fire on Jessie from a floor above her through the bombed out remains of the ceiling above her. She returned fire with a hail of eight shots downing them both. Three more Lancers popped out of cover above her to the left on another broken section of ceiling. She quickly shifted her Breyl over and gunned them down in a hail of fire.“Is that it? Really? Is that the best you can do?” Jessie yelled out as she fired on two more.“No.” A voice sounded from the ruins of the hospital.She rounded right catching sight of another Lancer trying to pass by above her and promptly buried him in a barrage of particle bolts. She shifted left to catch another target but this time when she pressed the trigger, the gun ran dry depleted of reserve charge. Jessie immediately reached for and drew her combat sword, a hand and a half weapon designed for close combat against the Preyarans.“Come on! Who else wants some!” She yelled out as she cast aside her rifle onto the ground.Four Lancers dropped down into the room she was in each having drawn their own swords.“Mighty brave of you Terran to draw on us like this.” One of them said. “We shall enjoy this.”Jessie reached for the combat knife on her belt and held it in her right hand opposite her sword.“Not before I enjoy this more.” Jessie quipped.

Elves? Lancers? Terrans? Where the fuck is this even taking place I cannot.
God why is this man telling us the specs of the gun how do they even matter? Bloody hell this really speaks for itself because it is genuinely awful. Oh and witty quips. Goddammit.

She flipped her knife onto its edge in her hand stepped her left foot forward and threw it at the opposing Lancers burying the blade in the rightmost one's right eye. That Lancer stumbled back in pain as she charged forward. She ran to the right catching the other Lancer on the right swinging and dodged the blade before countering with a stab into his chest. She turned backward running her sword through the Lancer with the knife in his eye and yanked it right back out holding it in a reverse grip in her right hand. The closest remaining Lancer charged, the second one close behind. The first strike came down and was met by Jessie’s sword as she turned backward and buried her knife in the other’s throat before yanking it back out. She turned again as the remaining Lancer tried to strike again deflecting the blade to the left and countering with a quick thrust into his belly.“I told you, not before I enjoy this more.” Jessie said to herself.“Impressive…most impressive.” A voice sounded from above.

No. This is boring as shit.

And this is just a taste of what I consider the Awesome Moments of Endless Conflict.

No.
---

I am in true pain right now.

It kind of depresses me when people ask if Hallelujah was the song from Shrek. I mean, Leonard Cohen is only one of the greatest song writers ever, and John Cale only invented several types of rock. No offense to anyone, but they (the former especially) deserve more recognition.

Also, I found out the real story behind Hallelujah today, and my mind is blown.
Two reasons:
1) People actually thought it was an ordinary love song (???)
2) Cohen was a conservative Jew, and his lyrics reflect that.

It really is interesting. Proof that a good song has a story behind it.

We were talking about random crap during a free class today, and I still giggle when I think about it.

We had TOK today - or to be precise it was a free but we weren't sure about that so we sat in class anyway. The story behind this being that our principal takes that class.
Somehow the topic shifted to my "illegal business activities" which are actually more to do with a video game I'm helping write for. How that is illegal I am yet to understand but yeah. My friends asked me my handle name for that project which I refused to give them - instead, I told them about Pleiades.

My real mistake was stopping at Pleia and then derping on the pronunciation.

Oh god I can't stop laughing.

We were talking about Aish and how I should rap about her (the AISH AISH BABY OOOH~~ rap), while one of these wonderful people offered to beatbox for me. Also, how I have a bitch (my dog :3), so me and my bitch can be playas and do the rap thang.

An Aish rap actually exists now. 

I finally got out of my house after ages and ages and went to watch the Iron Lady. It's a good movie, and Meryl Streep is brilliant as usual. It's also pretty neutral in tone, so even if you hate her guts (Thatcher I mean), it's very watchable.
Personally, while I really like how she's one of those rare "strong" women in history, I don't agree with a lot of things she said and did, and definitely not with some of her economic policies. I'm certainly not conservative in my beliefs and that makes me biased - though I can't claim that her policies didn't work at the time. But I could say the same for Indira Gandhi whose life would be equally good as a biopic in the hands of a good director.

On the bright side, I now only have 20 or so more movies left to go before the end of spring break. 

Lots of Random Stuff

Not that I'm an expert, but a Skype conversation I just had reminded me that I need to pimp some good music from Indian rock.

1. Junkyard Groove - One of my favourites. If I had to recommend any band from India, this would be it. It's Okay is an amazing song by them.
2. Parikrama - These guys are pretty famous all things considered. But It Rained is a good listen. 
3. Pentagram - I'm not a big fan of their style, but Voice is simply brilliant, and you should listen to it over and over again or something. 
4. Them Clones - I love these guys. The Bomb Song is really, really good. Good vocals and lyrics. Though that's about the same for all of the songs I've linked.

---

I had my french oral today. My final oral ever. I, uh, don't know how to feel about that, seriously. I decided, literally on a whim, to talk about African influences in French music, and ended up with the best excuse ever to blare loud music at midnight. 

"It's for my oral, OKAY!"

I've been listening to quite a bit of Raï as a result . The real result of that was discovering that a) Briggitte Fontaine had Arabic influences in her music and b)  I really like Cheb Khaled. He was the guy who came up with the slightly bizarre Didi (which has a Bengali version, amusingly enough), and - in my opinion sublime - Aïcha.
I need to take a teddy bear with me to my exams I think. Hugging things is surprisingly morale-boosting, if  the effects of embracing my schoolbag are anything to go by. I got through psychology with it in my arms okay.

---
My friend in Singapore has tickets to Death Cab for Cutie and I feel frustrated that we got Pitbull instead. Yeah, I'm not a fan of rap. I've been trying to listen to socially-conscious rap of late, since Nicki Minaj makes me want to kill something, and I've taken a liking to Das Racist, Mos Def and this one song by the Roots called The Fire.

---
 I've been playing Devil Survivor 2 on and off this week and it's a really good game. A bit difficult, but immensely satisfying. The soundtrack is really good too, so I'm a happy camper right now. I also got The Last Story while I was at it, and with a few tweaks, it had PS3 quality graphics on Dolphin (but never a real Wii) - it looks really good. Xenoblade was another pretty game, but it had awful character models, which LS clearly does not. Xenoblade was more captivating in it's first few minutes than this though. I haven't really gone OMG THIS IS SO COOL yet.
There's a scene in Devil Survivor 2 where a cat gets abandoned, and well, it near brought me to tears because I love animals I guess. Somehow, the way the whole thing was animated, along with them actually voicing the kitty (with the most pathetic, depressing meows ever), was just so damn sad. My entire reaction to the scene was "No oh no you don't goddamn it COOKIE! WHY WOULD YOU JUST LEAVE HIM THERE?!"
I hate people who abandon animals, because well, they're family. They love you and rely on you, and cheer you up when you're down. I can't even imagine losing my dog, even though she's old and stuff. If somehow, I could stop her from ever dying then I'd be really happy. She's visibly aging now. Bad back and what appears to be a messed up leg. Cataracts in both eyes and a depleted sense of smell. A little white beard and whitening muzzle. She's as beautiful as ever, but you can see that she's definitely on the wrong end of life.

Well, that was depressing. I need to go give her a hug now.

A Book Survey

A friend passed this on to me, so here goes.
---

1. Favorite childhood book?

Harry Potter by JK Rowling of course. I'm so young. 

2. What are you reading right now?

The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Supposed to be brilliant. 

3. What books do you have on request at the library?

Wish I had access to a library that wasn't my school one. Such is life. 

4. Bad book habit?

Dog-earing, and not using bookmarks. 

5. What do you currently have checked out at the library?

Nothing.  

6. Do you have an e-reader?

My dad has an iPad. I'm technically allowed to use it, though I haven't yet. 

7. Do you prefer to read one book at a time, or several at once?

Depends on the book. If it's heavy then I like to vary it up. Lighter books I finish in a few hours so...

8. Have your reading habits changed since starting a blog?

Uh, no. 

9. Least favorite book you read this year (so far?)

(2011) Shantaram, I think. God that was annoying. 

(2012) Inheritance by Christopher Paolini. I could not read it. My eyes literally slid off the page and gazed upon the sky in despair. It was awful. 

10. Favorite book you’ve read this year?

A Streetcar Named Desire. Fabulous play. 

11. How often do you read out of your comfort zone?

Quite often. I love trying out new genres and authors. 

12. What is your reading comfort zone?

Non-fiction, postmodernism, humour.

13. Can you read on the bus?

Yep.  

14. Favorite place to read?

My bed, under the blankets. 

15. What is your policy on book lending?

I'm good with lending.

16. Do you ever dog-ear books?

All the drat time. 

17. Do you ever write in the margins of your books?

Never. I hate seeing ink/pencil marks in my books. 

18. Not even with text books?

Not very often. I end up making notes on paper cause I remember better.

19. What is your favorite language to read in?

English.

20. What makes you love a book?

I like stories with complex or compelling characters. Language and style are really important for me also. I refuse to read books that treat topics like rape insensitively. 

21. What will inspire you to recommend a book?

Whether or not I enjoyed it.

22. Favorite genre?

Bildungsroman. 

23. Genre you rarely read (but wish you did?)

Biographical works. People are interesting, but eh, I don't like strange speculation over the drugs they smoed etc. 

24. Favorite biography?

Can't think of any. 

25. Have you ever read a self-help book?

It was about teenagers, and a little didactic and silly.

26. Favorite cookbook?

Huh?

27. Most inspirational book you’ve read this year (fiction or non-fiction)?

Nothing inspirational, I'm afraid! Only depression.

28. Favorite reading snack?

Peanuts.

29. Name a case in which hype ruined your reading experience.

Nothing in particular comes to mind. 

30. How often do you agree with critics about a book?

Sometimes, I guess? Some critiques of awful books are positive, so I can't really say. 

31. How do you feel about giving bad/negative reviews?

If it deserves a bad review then I shall give one. Honesty is how I roll. 

32. If you could read in a foreign language, which language would you choose?

Japanese might be interesting - though that's more to do with video gaming than books. 

33. Most intimidating book you’ve ever read? 

Anna Karenina by Tolstoy. So big and fat. Awesome though. 

34. Most intimidating book you’re too nervous to begin?

Hmm, nothing yet. 

35. Favorite Poet?

T.S Eliot is great. I like the romantic poets too. .

36. How many books do you usually have checked out of the library at any given time?

No libraries to speak of, except the school one.  

37. How often have you returned book to the library unread?

Never.

38. Favorite fictional character? 
Not from a book funnily enough. Estelle Bright from Trails in the Sky. She's one of my favourite examples of a well-written female character, and just so goddamn awesome.
From books, I guess I find Edmond Dantes cool, partly because of how elaborate and amazing his plan for vengeance was, and his redemption. 

39. Favorite fictional villain?

... I can't think of any. Voldemort I guess? It's been a while since I've read anything with clear-cut villains.
40. Books you’re most likely to bring on vacation?

My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell, maybe a few travelogues by Bill Bryson. Nothing too heavy or thick.
41. The longest you’ve gone without reading.

Regular books - a few months, thanks to tons of schoolwork. I do read the novels set for school pretty often, so it depends on which kind.
42. Name a book that you could/would not finish.

Inheritance (again). I refuse to look at that refuse. Also, Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai. I wanted to fling it out of the window in despair. 

43. What distracts you easily when you’re reading?

not much if I'm into the book. If it's not a good book, then even the spot on my wall is distracting - ooh it looks like a face!

44. Favorite film adaptation of a novel?

Lord of the Rings was amazing in scale - I think it lived up to Tolkien's vision. 

45. Most disappointing film adaptation?

Narnia. Even Liam Neeson as Aslan cannot save that series. The worst thing was The Voyage of the Dawn Treader turning, from a journey of self-discovery, to a typical good vs. evil battley thing. 

46. The most money I’ve ever spent in the bookstore at one time?

No idea. Never too much at once though. 

47. How often do you skim a book before reading it?

I look at the blurb and that's it. I don't like spoiling myself. 

48. What would cause you to stop reading a book half-way through?

Bad writing mostly, or if the subject isn't interesting enough and I get bored.  

49. Do you like to keep your books organized?

I'd like to, but I don't. I have books everywhere except the shelves. 

50. Do you prefer to keep books or give them away once you’ve read them?

Keep, mostly. I'm quite attached to most of my books. 
51. Are there any books you’ve been avoiding?
Not really, no. I don't usually read thrillers, so I guess I stay away from those. 

52. Name a book that made you angry.
Twilight and its spawn. Ne'er have vampires been so awful and writing so hilariously bad. 

53. A book you didn’t expect to like but did?
Madame Bovary. The cover put me off with her bovine stare and general demeanour, but the book was great.
Serious reason: Most unlikeable protagonist ever, except maybe Anna Karenina. I usually don't like books with unlikeable protagonists. 

54. A book that you expected to like but didn’t?
Shantaram. People raved about it all the damn time but I thought it was both pretentious and horrible. The author's Architecture of the Novel article sealed the deal.

55. Favorite guilt-free, pleasure reading?

Never guilty, kiddos. But I do enjoy Garfield and Calvin and Hobbes a lot. 

Free Periods can be disturbingly dull

I'm getting my exam papers back today, and stuck in school during a free, I've realised that I have truly reached the nadir of my school life. These days, a lack of homework has me scurrying for a calendar or some such, because it feels so... wrong.

I was reflecting upon my actions when I decided that I have to thank my friends and family for making sure that I didn't grow up to be too socially retarded. I believe I spent a better part of my time being an idiot and not really trying to reach out to others, which finally bit me in the ass three years ago. As such, the experiences from that time have helped me be marginally less horrible than then.

People also had a lovely idea that I would beat them up at the slightest provocation, which makes me sad. Maybe I've gotten rid of that perception (slightly), but that it existed is a cause for concern to begin with. Yes, I was a violent idiot, but the key word is : IDIOT. I'm also going to be arbitrary and blame 75% of this on anime, because that was raison nombre un why I couldn't find things to talk about with others. I'm not saying anime is bad. I'm saying that I was obsessed with it to the point that I had nothing whatsoever with which I could actually hang out with people about, and an unhealthy view of reality filled with tsunderes and slapstick violence.

This segues nicely into the topic of my friends. In that awful, awful era I had three friends. One grew up to be slightly crazy but awesome. One grew up to be not-at-all crazy but awesome. The last grew up to be completely insane and horrible. I cut ties with her finally after she insulted one of the friends I have now - that being the tipping point so to speak. I was so sick of her that it felt strangely cathartic. She's now stalking the other members of that group for a meetup over the summer. For better or worse she hates me now, so she doesn't stalk me, and I won't have to see her again.

I'm going to end this on a slightly amusing note. The last time I met with friend no. 3 (insane and horrible).

She contacted me on facebook saying:
"Hey I'm going to Mumbai! Wanna meet up?"
Being naive and foolish, I agreed to this enterprise. This was a very bad decision to make.
The plan: Go to Phoenix and dump her in Landmark after lunch. It was perfect. She'd look at the books. I would be happy.
What actually happened: She came with her mother. At the age of sixteen, she wanted to bring her mother with us. What. The. Fuck.

My first reaction was to go to my mother, take her aside and tell her in hushed tones that she is coming with me, or I shall run away forever. She agreed, out of pity.

The first time I saw her was special. I remembered her as small, twiggy and generally very flat. She wasn't any of those any more, oh no. Big, fat and with boobs. It was terrifying. I looked at her up and down and wept a little on the inside. The she turned around. On the back of her T-shirt was a message I will never forget in my entire meagre existence.

AISH AISH BABY.
.
.
.
.
.

I'd like to say it got better but it really didn't.
+

Hmm... I'm actually considering my first blog project so to speak, which is likely going to be me being strange and nerdy and liveblogging my next run-through of Trails in the Sky. Or a blind run of Last Story when it releases, whichever I feel like doing first. Last Story will be easy enough to screenshot for, though I'll need to set up stuff for Trails.

What to do. What to do.

----

On a more personal note, I went to buy new glasses. Spectacle frames are disgustingly expensive in India. Also, today I did absolutely nothing of value and that depresses me greatly.

I got some songs by Zaz and Ben l'Oncle Soul. They really are quite good and fill me with despair for the English music industry which is still going strong with people like Miley Cyrus and Bieber.

I Did Promise Content

I promised fun stuff, so instead you can read nerd stuff.

Today, I want to talk about Fire Emblem, a series of strategy games spanning 20 years or so, that I've been a fan of for the last two or three years, by Intelligent Systems. They're relatively well-known in the west, after leaving Japan's shores officially in 2003, and have a fairly impressive fandom.

The series also thrives on several factors often not common in the SRPG genre:

• Permanent death: You lose a character; they are lost forever. 
• This is being changed with the advent of Casual mode
• Huge armies with every character named (and hopefully with a backstory)
• Coupled with perma-death, the average player is prone to resetting every time they lose. The death quotes often being tragic do not help with this compulsion. 
• Breakable weapons
• Everything, including the UBER-weapon that you shouldn't use until the final boss, will break if used a certain number of times. Combined with limited funds, this can be a pretty wonderful resource management lesson. 
• This was changed in FE2 where weapons cannot break, and FE10, where certain super-spoiler events can stop weapon breakage. 
• Luck-based leveling
• Each unit has growth rates, and so their stats which, unlike most games, stay in the double digits, will go up purely based on luck - say a unit has a 35% growth in HP. They therefore have a 35% chance of getting a +1 to their HP stat. 
• The fun thing about this is that every game you play will be subtly different because even the godly units can get badly screwed by the Random Number Generator, or the RNG Goddess as known in common parlance. You might get an amazing unit one run, and the next one, that same person will fail horrifyingly as you weep in his wake. 

They are however more famous for some of the incredible bullshit they pull on you at regular intervals and the incredible satisfaction and fun you get from the games. It may seem a little strange - you aren't actively involved in the game. There aren't any super-sexy combat situations to mash buttons in. No guns, man. The graphics are passable, but not great, and most of the time the animations are going to be switched off because they get kinda boring after the 10000000th time. Myself, I love the series, though I haven't played all of the games yet, and not all of them at MAXIMUM bullshit mode.

I've played, out of the twelve released (soon to be thirteen), seven titles. I'm planning on starting an eighth soon enough, which I may chronicle on this blog. If I feel like it. These are (in order of number, name, translated title if applicable, system and highest difficulty withstood):

1. FE4: Seisen no Keifu [Geneology of the Holy War] SNES -> Normal mode
   This actually has a Hard mode hidden in the Config menu. I honestly had no clue about this until an LPer on SomethingAwful showed it off. The more you know, I guess. It also is one of the few games that literally sends a wave o'dudes after you every few turns, and it is amazing. 
2. FE6: Fuin no Tsurugi [Sword of Seals] GBA -> Normal mode
   My masochism has no bounds, but the units here are so bad that I balk at the thought of using them in Hard. Really, mediocre people in any other game are truly gods among men in FE6. 
3. FE7: Blazing Sword (prequel to FE6) GBA -> Prologue/Eliwood Hard and Hector Normal
   This one is funny because it has three mode of gameplay - a tutorial prologue called Lyn Mode, the regular game in Eliwood mode, and the regular game in Hector mode. The names of the modes are based of the main characters in each mode. 
4. FE8: Sacred Stones GBA -> Hard mode
   This is the easiest game for a reason. Hard mode is a joke. 
5. FE9: Path of Radiance Gamecube -> Normal mode
   There is no reason I haven't played Hard yet except lack of motivation. It's pretty easy too, in comparison to the other Hards. 
6. FE10: Radiant Dawn (sequel to FE9) Wii - Hard mode
   Easy is the Japanese Normal, Normal is the Japanese Hard and Hard is the Japanese Maniac mode. This was obviously Nintendo trolling the people who said the west got only the easy games. It's also unironically my favourite. 
7. FE11: Shadow Dragon (remake of FE1) NDS - Hard 4
   This is also funny because it has Normal, and then five degrees of Hard, which is basically another word for degrees of sadism. Normal has a prologue that tries to explain the setting to you, while Hard 1-5 do not. 

I'm planning on starting FE5: Thracia 776 soon enough, and once the patch for FE12 is complete, I'll go through that as well. I refuse to inflict 1, 2, and 3 upon myself because of how unpolished they feel to me now. I did try 2, though I gave up after being mobbed by Zombie Dragons. 

Anyways, enough of me ranting about my love for Fire Emblem. Such a cheesy title. Trust me though - if you like tactical games in any way, then this is a must try series. I'd recommend either 7 or 8 as a gateway, though 9 is just as good if you own a Wii. 

So, my exams are finally over. I feel a certain sense of catharsis coupled with the feeling that I'm failing Psychology. But it's okay. We're all failing together, because it's psychology.

I had an awful morning, and pretty much wasted my Saturday sitting in school because of a subject choice presentation in which I didn't get to present in the end. I'll post some fun content later. 

An Encounter in TV Tropes.

I'm almost through with mock exams, begging the question: WTF am I blogging right now for? I suppose I'm just really bored, and there's only so much time you can look at awful heart diagrams before wanting to keel over and die.

So, I spent some time on the TVTropes forums a little while ago. Handlename: SC Bracer, which is a) my initials and b) a bit of terminology from the Legend of Heroes RPG series by Falcom, which is the most amazing story-based RPG I've ever played, except maybe Xenoblade.

I knew about the site for a few years, back when it was cool and made fun of things like Twilight, Sonichu and FATAL (which I refuse to explain because it's highly NSFW). Sometime between then and now, the site took on this awful "no criticism" ever outlook on life, and became the world's biggest hugbox. Back then, it used to be about making fun of creeps. Now it is the creeps.

I lasted less than 48 hours on the site, which is hilarious because I was banned for pointing out that saying "women have less mass than men and should go to space because of that" was misogynistic. First they shut off my posting and made it impossible for me to visit the forums. Then I appropriately left them an open letter pointing out the paedos and creeps in the forums, which got my page locked and even my ability to delete my account removed. I don't really see the point of the latter, but eh, I suppose they need to make my life harder somehow.

I went there specifically because of the Writer's Block though, thinking, as I'd disappeared from that part of the internet for a while, that it was still sort of cool. I was wrong, for the reasons mentioned above and more.

Let me show you:

The first topic I posted in was the one asking what themes your work had. Now, I can understand not being absolutely sure about the themes in a work, because people do confuse the issue. I know I used to, before I started the IB English course. What was amazing/shocking/awful were posts like these:

COMING OF AGE, BITCH

And my eternal favourite:

I'm not sure I understand what a theme is, let alone how to determine the theme of a story. (I understand what a moral is, but I don't think that's the same thing.) That said, at a guess . . .

My pain and sorrow know no bounds. There are some other terrible examples of humanity in there, including one Major Tom who talks about his awful military novel filled with nonsensical details about guns and cherry blossoms amid character development (there is none). The setting of this novel is apparently Dreyerball (sp?), which reminds me of only one thing:

I hear they do work rather well.

I'll leave you with the most amazing quote of them all, from Natasel, who was highly offended during a series of PMs between the two of us, that I disliked misogynists and paedos. And proceeded to call himself one, which is why it was offensive. Well drat, I can't believe I offended you man. What about my sensibilities?

Ashamed that I did not think of females generally being lighter than males also means its cheaper to launch them into space.

^^^^^^ Ditto children.

Also, with them being smaller, it will take less air, water and food to keep them alive.

A space staion staffed entirely by little girl astronauts is the wave of the future?

This was right after my ban, so it took a little cookie deleting to be able to see this. Yes. If you get banned, all you have to do is delete tvt's cookies from your browser. It's so cute and badly done, I want to cry.

The King's Speech Soundtrack

In the absence of anything to write about, I thought I'd mention my immense love for Alexandre Desplat's work. As everyone should know by now, he won a Grammy for his work on The King's Speech, and was nominated for Harry Potter 7 as well. Too bad he can't win twice in the same category, because he deserves it.

The OST for TKS is one of my all-time favourites, and I can't rave about it enough. Think of any fantastic piece of music you may have heard of in the past few years, and then multiply that feeling by several thousands. There we go.

Lionel and Bertie

The album starts with this poignant track, which has a very subtle and gentle melody mingled with the strings, before gradually building up with a flute. It never loses the warmth from the first few bars though, and it makes a nice introduction to the music.

The King's Speech

One of my favourite tracks, it has a great melody. There's a sense of melancholy in it, mixed with a sense of hope.

My Kingdom, My Rules

Despite what the title might have you believe, the piece isn't at all obnoxious. It carries a slight sense of pomp, tempered by the instrumentation which is, again, understated and very well crafted. One thing about this soundtrack is that The King's Speech is constantly reused as leitmotif, even in the other pieces. It sounds familiar, but different as a result.

The King is Dead

It's appropriately sad, and sinks into the background while you listen. I find it to be one of the weaker tracks in the running, but really, that doesn't make it any less pleasant to listen to.

Memories of Childhood

Continuing the theme of deceptive names, this song is nostalgic, but melancholy in tone. It's quite long, but illustrates a certain sense of transience that fits in very well with Childhood.

King George VI

Another nice track that takes its time building up to a crescendo. It feels lonely and unsure, before the strings cut in with a strong melody filled with determination amidst apprehension. I can't explain it exactly, but it fits the king very well.

The Royal Household

This is The King's Speech, with the primary differences being the dynamics and length. A nice track really.

Queen Elizabeth

This amazing lady gets a nice song to herself. She's famous for being ridiculously brave and the song is indicative of her resolve in my opinion.

The Threat of War

I don't like this one all that much, but it sounds very tense and suspicious, the way I'd imagine the run-up to World War II was. It features a nice crescendo that is probably analogous to the tension before the war, which is rather nice.

The Rehearsal

This is my absolute favourite because of the difference in mood and theme from the rest of the soundtrack. It starts soft and hopeful, and then builds up with a very light flute and strings accompaniment and that lovely melody. A must-listen, no questions asked.

Fear and Suspicion

The King's Speech is rearranged once more, but is slower to start, and changes slightly towards the end in both melody and accompaniment.

There are also two more tracks in the OST, but those aren't composed by Desplat - rather, performances of Beethoven's 7th (II) and Piano Concerto 5th. Very nice listens, but I honestly cannot do justice to that sort of thing. My prose is sadly lacking.

You should be listening to this. Right now. You'll thank me for it later.

Well, so much for my first actual content post.

I'm out.

Hello World

I just started this on a whim, and maybe because I reunited with a few friends from when I was in middle-school. That was a fun conversation.

I guess I'm going to be blogging about my interests here, not to mention the odd internet trainwrecks I chance upon. Sometimes, I might even decide to be funny.