{"@attributes":{"version":"2.0"},"channel":{"title":"\u5948\u826f \u2665","link":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/","description":"\u5948\u826f \u2665 - LiveJournal.com","lastBuildDate":"Sat, 19 Mar 2011 20:49:26 GMT","generator":"LiveJournal \/ LiveJournal.com","copyright":"NOINDEX","image":{"url":"https:\/\/l-userpic.livejournal.com\/42958213\/3190167","title":"\u5948\u826f \u2665","link":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/","width":"100","height":"100"},"item":[{"guid":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/213242.html","pubDate":"Sat, 19 Mar 2011 20:49:26 GMT","title":"Spring Break Gaming Review: Dragon Age II and Homefront","author":"pyrefly","link":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/213242.html","description":"Crawling out of the woodworks for an obligatory video game review post.

It was Spring Break this week, and my one goal was basically to spend lots of time gaming, because that's something I have sadly little time for during school (except when we're required to play games for school, like we did with WoW, hahaha), and also because this month was actually the first time in like a year that games have come out that I actually wanted to play. (2010 was just a sad, sad year for video games.) And I got a nice, fat tax return, so it was basically a perfect combination of availability of time + money + games I wanted to play.

I guess I'll do Homefront<\/i> first because it's shorter: So I've been a major supporter of this game since I first found out about it, because it's made by Kaos Studios, a pretty small company right here in NYC. The fact that they could pull off a major triple-A title like this, in a city that just doesn't really have the infrastructure for anything but casual\/indie games because all of the funding for triple-A titles goes to studios in Canada and on the west coast, is pretty fucking awesome, and I totally want to support that. I met one of their game designers at a panel thing last semester and he was a cool guy and his passion for this project was so obvious. And I can't blame him: the concept for the game is great, in the sense that they manage to sell it so well. During the whole intro of the game and the first chapter, I kept getting chills because it was so real. I totally bought into it; I kept thinking, \"This could be the future.\" And that future, of course, is absolutely terrifying, and the fact that I had such a visceral reaction to a game concept is a testament to how well they were able to execute this idea.

So I wanted to love it. I really, really did. But it was too short for me to ever feel that strongly engaged. Especially because compared to the development of the game world, the development of the story and the characters was weak. The main character had 0 personality, the supporting characters were flat and stereotyped, and the main character's story was kind of just a typical shooter story. It felt under-developed. Not because it ended on a cliffhanger; I didn't mind that because plenty of games and good stories do, and it makes sense for the story to be played out over multiple games rather than concluded in a single one. But it was under-developed in the sense that I felt like I wasn't given enough time and opportunity to grow to care about the characters and their stories. With a strong concept like this, Homefront<\/i> should have been more of a story-driven and character-driven game than it was. Another way of putting it would be that the development of the narrative through the game (or the lack thereof) did a disservice to the rich game world they had created.

Which, ironically, is a perfect segue because the same could be said about Dragon Age II<\/i>, the other game I played.

I was initially pretty unexcited about DA2 when they released the trailer and some of the gameplay and story previews. The lack of character customizability (compared to Origins<\/i>) put me off, as well as the complete lack of relation to the story in Origins<\/i>. But I was won over by the promise of shinier graphics and improved gameplay, and in the end I told myself, \"It's BioWare. BioWare has never<\/i> disappointed me before.\"

Well, I was wrong.

Okay, maybe not quite. I hesitate to use the word 'disappointed' because I actually had a lot of fun while I was playing the game. They really did iron out a lot of the kinks in the gameplay, so the battles just felt smoother and more active and engaging, and more appropriately challenging, too. (To use game design speak, the flow channel was really well-designed.) And the graphics were definitely a lot better, as were the facial customization options. I constantly found myself thinking during the cutscenes, \"God, my Hawke is so hot. I bet nobody has a Hawke as hot as mine.\" (A sharp contrast with Origins<\/i>, where I was constantly thinking, \"God, my character is so ugly.\")

But then there was the story. And that was kind of the deal-breaker for me. My misgivings, unfortunately, turned out to be justified. It just really paled compared to Origins<\/i>, both because of lack of variety (like how in Origins<\/i> every location had its own conflict that needed to be resolved) and just overall epic scale. I initially was intrigued by the storytelling in DA2 because I wasn't quite sure where the story was going to go, because when you think about it, Origins<\/i> was very predictable from the beginning and had very few plot twists. Recruit help, stop Loghain, and slay the Archdemon; it's pretty much spelled out from the very start and there's no big surprises. But at least you were saving the world<\/strong>.<\/i> And in that respect, knowing it the entire time helped because whenever you got bogged down in a long, grind-y mission, you could tell yourself, \"But I've got to keep going. I need to save the world.\"

The story in DA2 was just never epic<\/i>. Ultimately, that's what its major failing boils down to. The whole game is just a series of quests (with most of the main quests feeling like side quests — without the delineation in the quest log I might have never known the difference) and trivial decisions that never really let you feel like you're in control of the situation or accomplishing anything meaningful. And then it all sort of comes together in Act 3, and you start to feel like maybe what you've done to get to this point mattered a little bit, but even then, the major climactic moment that leads to the ultimate unraveling in the endgame was not your doing\/not exactly your intention. And I do appreciate how you end the game by picking a side, unlike the endgame being about just beating one final boss regardless of how you have played the game up until that point, but the fact that you have to get through 30+ hours of gameplay before finally making ONE meaningful decision, when in Origins<\/i> you were making meaningful decisions all the time... that really kind of killed the game for me.

Besides the trivial decisions, the game also felt flat because it really only ever focused on one conflict, between the Mages and the Templars. Part of the richness of Origins<\/i>, as I said, was the fact that every location had its own conflict that you became involved in, and they were all really interesting, well-developed stories. And there were even some that weren't direct conflicts but that were just alluded to, like Ferelden's history with Orlais and the lingering effects of that occupation. Yes, I suppose it was nice that DA2 really did delve deeper into a single conflict and developed it further, but the fact that they just picked one and mostly ignored the rest of the lore they created? I mean, I suppose there was the Qunari side story, but in the end that still only served as another point of contention in the conflict between the Mages and the Templars. Merrill's story was really the only one that felt like it stood alone enough, but even that one was wholly unsatisfying because you never find out what happens with the mirror. (And don't get me started on the fact that because I chose not to sell out my friend, I was forced to slaughter an entire village of Dalish elves. WHAT THE FUCK. WHAT. THE. FUCK.)

I was also pissed off by the lack of evidence of my Origins<\/i> decisions in DA2. When they announced that the game was going to take place in a different location and in a different timeframe with different characters and many of the fans were confused and outraged, BioWare was all like, \"Don't worry! You'll see plenty of evidence of the decisions you made in DA:O reflected all around the game world.\" Umm, really??? Because I didn't see it. There were some vague references and a few NPCs and of course the cameos by Alistair and Zevran, but... really??? All of those meaningful decisions, and this is what I get?? It kind of reminded me of the end of Mass Effect<\/i>, when you make that decision about the Council and it feels like a Really Big Decision, and then you start Mass Effect 2<\/i> and it turns out that decision had very little effect on anything at all. But at least since you were continuing with the same character, it still felt important, because it was kind of like this moment that was significant in your character's personal history and development. But since you start DA2 with a completely new character, you don't have that same feeling of personal significance.

I did enjoy the characters, somewhat to my own surprise. I was annoyed with most of them in the beginning, especially Anders, because I worried that they were just trying to reinvent Alistair with his snarky comments. I do realize that Alistair was a hard act to follow, both in how well-developed he was in Origins<\/i> and the strong fan following that resulted. So I think I wanted to dislike him initially because I was like, \"If they wanted a character like Alistair, why not just keep Alistair? Why reinvent the wheel?\" But I think he managed to be different enough and develop enough of his own personality, despite some of the obvious similarities, so that I grew to really enjoy and appreciate him.

I actually hadn't intended to romance Anders, not because of how I felt about his character but because I was doing a female playthrough and I figured it would be more fun to romance him on a male playthrough. After being rather ambivalent about my other options, my character slept with Isabela, and I figured I would just stick with that. But then the whole thing with the mom happened, and Anders came up to Hawke's room to comfort her, and it was so surprisingly endearing, I decided to give up on Isabela and romance Anders. For a character to unexpectedly win me over like that is pretty awesome.

I also liked Varric, although I probably didn't play with him as much as I should've. My main party for most of the game was Hawke, Anders, Isabela, and Aveline. I probably wouldn't have used Aveline if she wasn't the only good option for a tank. I found her attitude annoying. Though, I probably felt about her the way I would feel if I actually knew her in person. Deep down I didn't dislike her, it's just her attitude that made me want to yell, \"Shut up, woman!\" a lot. I did support her with Donnic. That was cute. Awww.

Fenris was... I don't know. An interesting choice. In some sense I felt like Zevran was a disappointment — I thought that having a bisexual elf romance option would be fun and exciting, but they just made him so ridiculous with his Spanish accident and overtly sexual comments that it took all the fun out of romancing him. So in that context I like the different approach they took with Fenris. I guess I didn't really try to pursue him because his attitude toward magic didn't jive with how I was playing the game, and the fact that he tended to disapprove of most of my decisions kept me from bringing him along on quests, but I didn't dislike him.

Merrill did fucking annoy me. I actually considered her for a romance option at first (because of the reason above of why I initially ruled out Anders), but I quickly abandoned that because of how annoying she was. I did like her character design. But that didn't stop me from wanting to punch her in the face. A lot.

I was sad that Bethany pretty much got axed after Act 1 because Isabela\/Bethany is totally my new OTP. Would've loved to see more of their interactions.

I am so, so glad they decided to keep (and, it seems, even expand on) the companion conversations while you're walking around. That was one of my favorite features of Origins<\/i>, and something I do agree many RPGs miss out on — there's always plenty of interaction between the main character and their companions, but little between the companions. I love their reactions to each other, their banter and snarky comments. And there was definitely a ton of it in this game.<\/a>

One thing in DA2's favor, though: it's a lot more easily replayable. I played through Origins<\/i> 3 times, and I often feel like I should play it again because I did start the other 3 backgrounds and do want to develop those characters, but the fact that some of the major quests are so incredibly long and annoying (ie. The Fade and Orzammar) discourages me from picking it up again. I really do get this strong feeling of dread when I think about those missions. So I definitely appreciate how the main quests in DA2 are more \"bite-size\". I don't want to replay it right this minute, but at least the thought of it doesn't fill me with dread.

And I guess I'll reserve my ultimate judgment until I've replayed DA2 at least one more time. I actually didn't quite grow to love Origins<\/i> until I played through it more than once, either; that's when I really began to appreciate the nonlinear storytelling and the characters. But right now I would sum up my reaction with: \"BioWare, what the HELL were you thinking?! Why follow up such a richly detailed and fully customizable game experience with such a linear and un-epic one?! WHY?!?!\"","comments":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/213242.html?view=comments#comments","category":"gaming adventures"},{"guid":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/212860.html","pubDate":"Tue, 01 Mar 2011 16:33:56 GMT","title":"Hey, I'm still alive!","author":"pyrefly","link":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/212860.html","description":"Bringing back an old meme to update people on what's going on with me. In case you still care. I wouldn't be upset if you don't, since I know I haven't been around...

You know how sometimes people on your friendslist post about stuff going on in their life, and all of a sudden you think \"Wait a minute? Since when were they working THERE? Since when were they dating HIM\/HER? Since when???\" And then you wonder how you could have missed all that seemingly pretty standard information, but somehow you feel too ashamed to ask for clarification because it seems like info you should already know? It happens to all of us sometimes.

Please copy the topics below, erase my answers and put yours in their place, and then post it in your journal! Please elaborate on the questions that would benefit from elaboration. One-Word-Answers seldom help anyone out.<\/i><\/blockquote>

FIRST NAME:<\/b> Nara.

AGE:<\/b> 22

LOCATION:<\/b> New York!! I live in the Clinton Hill\/Bed-Stuy area of Brooklyn, though I spend the majority of my time at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts building in Manhattan's Greenwich Village area.

OCCUPATION:<\/b> I'm currently a full-time masters student at NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program<\/a>. I also have two part-time jobs, one signing out A\/V equipment to ITP students for their projects, and another as an office assistant for the Graduate Acting program one floor above ours, for a total of 23 hours a week.

PARTNER:<\/b> Nope! Single and quite happy about that right now.

KIDS:<\/b> Probably not until I'm at least 30, but I do consider having kids to be one of the most important things I want to do in life, and one of the things I most look forward to.

BROTHERS\/SISTERS:<\/b> I have a younger sister with whom my relationship is sometimes good, sometimes bad. I also technically have two step-brothers, ages 8 and 11, but we have a policy of mutual un-acknowledgment.

PARENTS:<\/b> My parents got divorced during my junior year of high school, things were complicated for a while, but they're mostly good now. You can read the tl;dr<\/a> version here if you really care. My dad's remarried but I don't acknowledge my stepmom as a parent. (She's not even old enough to be my mother...)

CLOSE FRIENDS:<\/b> I have some really good friends like <\/a>walkofeternity<\/b><\/a><\/span>, with whom I've been friends with since middle school, which is pretty awesome that we've known each other that long and are still close. I only have one friend from high school whom I'm still regularly in touch with, although I meet up with some others now and then when I'm back in Texas. As far as college friends go, I have one really close friend who wound up being like the little brother I never had, and I <3 him and wish I'd get to see him more often now that I'm in NY. In my final year of college, I also ended up spending a lot more time with my fellow students in the Design program, which turned out to be a good thing because a lot of them also wound up in New York. We meet up as a group pretty regularly, once or twice a month, and a few of us sometimes hang out in between as well.

As far as my program now goes, I have 2 really close friends, Gaby and Kevin, whom I spend the majority of my time with. They're awesome and fun and it's kind of like having the close college friends I never really had because I spent too much time in undergrad focused on my boyfriends. There's also a handful of people I hang out with pretty regularly at our informal gatherings and weekly Thursday Night Out (TNO), but I'm not sure I'd call them friends quite yet.

And of course there's my roommate Dannel! Who was actually my friend from CMU. We don't get to hang out that much because of our schedules, but we watch Nikita<\/i> together and have video game marathons every now and then, and sometimes we just have beer and eat pizza.

PETS:<\/b> The parakeet I bought for my mom before I left for college just died this past winter. :( Here at our Brooklyn apartment, we've thrown the idea of getting a cat around but that idea hasn't really gone anywhere (yet).<\/a>

3-5 THINGS GOING ON IN MY LIFE:<\/b>
  1. Grad school, obviously. It eats up my time, but I absolutely love it. I'm doing exactly what I wanted to do for the past 4 years in undergrad but never really found a community for. It helps that my program is crazy and unconventional and we get to do a lot of things you'd never think people would get to do in an academic setting and get away with it, but somehow we do. For example, I'm taking a class called \"Big Games\", for which we've had to play World of Warcraft<\/i>. And this week we're playing Assassin, water guns and all. And I'm doing a presentation on LJ roleplaying and <\/a>campfuckudie<\/b><\/a><\/span>. I'm having the time of my life, and it's awesome. ♥<\/li>
  2. Did I mention that we had to play World of Warcraft<\/i> for class? I may have put just a liiittle more time into that than was necessary for the class. But it helps that one of my best friends, Robin, and her husband both play. Although she roped me into the Refer-a-Friend scam<\/s> program and I upgraded my trial to a paid membership and now I feel obligated to keep playing even though it's no longer required for class. (But only until Dragon Age 2<\/i> comes out; then my gaming schedule will be occupied for a while. ;p)<\/li>
  3. 2010 was the year of sci-fi TV shows, but 2011 is turning out to be the year of historical k-dramas. It helps that so many of them are on Hulu now, I guess. As somebody said, though, they really are like crack... once you start a show, you just can't stop watching. So far I've watched \uc131\uade0\uad00 \uc2a4\uce94\ub4e4, \uc120\ub355\uc5ec\uc655, \ucd94\ub178 and IRIS. Okay, IRIS wasn't a historical drama but the reviews were so good I wanted to know what it was all about. And they were right! So good!<\/li>
  4. On a more serious note, a month ago today, I fractured my elbow slipping on an icy sidewalk in Manhattan. I was in a splint<\/a> for a week, and since then I've been wearing this badass looking brace<\/a> (although the novelty of the \"robot arm\" and \"bionic woman\" comments has kind of worn off and is becoming annoying). It's locked so I can't move my elbow at all, which, you can imagine, has made my life rather complicated and inconvenient and simple things can be quite difficult. I'm starting physical therapy today, which I heard will suck, but it's definitely necessary.<\/li>
  5. ...I dunno, being single and living in New York? Life is good. I really can't complain. ♥<\/li><\/ol>
    ♥ How are you all?","comments":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/212860.html?view=comments#comments","category":["grad school","gaming adventures","k-dramas","meme","rl woes"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/212561.html","pubDate":"Tue, 04 Jan 2011 01:53:30 GMT","title":"Holy Yuletide...!?","author":"pyrefly","link":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/212561.html","description":"I was going to do this before the reveal and then thank everyone again afterwards, but I was sick with some sort of stomach flu thing most of last week so I didn't even spend much time online until today. So anyway! Here is my amazing loot from     <\/a>yuletide<\/b><\/a><\/span> 2010:

    Unforseen Circumstances<\/a> was my main story, and it was basically exactly what I wanted for this request but was too embarrassed to ask for — a fic written like another episode of Stargate: Universe<\/em>, complete with most of the cast and even a couple of cameos from SG-1! I love Jack and Daniel, and Rush being totally the way rush is, and Matt and Chloe and their love, and... oh, everything! ♥

    Santa's Little Helper<\/a> was a treat written for me by the same author. A cute little ficlet about Eli providing some holiday cheer for the people aboard Destiny. :) My writer totally spoiled me!

    The Meanings of Dreams<\/a>, by <\/a>glitterburn<\/b><\/a><\/span>, is a gorgeously-written treat for my Chi Bi (Red Cliff)<\/i> request for Zhuge Liang\/Sun Quan slash. I was worried that I was the only one who shipped this pairing, but <\/a>glitterburn<\/b><\/a><\/span> wrote them pretty much exactly as I imagined them: cautious and insecure and avoiding direct confrontation by making their feelings known through letters, and it is wonderful and sexy and perfect!

    One Phoenix After Another<\/a> is yet another treat, for my Nikita (2010)<\/i> request! I wanted some Michael\/Nikita romance going beyond the obvious UST in the show, and I was treated to a beautiful, touching moment between the two of them that almost made me wipe away a tear. The writer perfectly captured their passionate yet doomed relationship, and I'm glad she managed to give this fucked up couple a moment's respite in their chaotic lives.

    I R&Red all of those last week, and then I logged onto AO3 today and was confused because suddenly there was yet another story on my gift list...?! Apparently a kind participant fulfilled my long-shot request, which makes this not only the first year I got more than one story, but the first year all 4 of my requests were filled!

    Endless Summer<\/a>, by <\/a>tangleofthorns<\/b><\/a><\/span>, is John Isner\/Nicolas Mahut tennis RPF slash based on their epic Wimbledon match this past summer that became the longest tennis match ever played, and it is heart-breaking and heart-warming all at the same time, and oh so hot! Not very explicit, but just enough to satisfy my slashy heart. Heehee!


    Thanks to everyone who contributed to this awesome set of stories that I didn't even deserve! ♥ I promise to do better next year.","comments":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/212561.html?view=comments#comments","category":["for me?!","zomg yuletide"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/212478.html","pubDate":"Sat, 25 Dec 2010 07:01:35 GMT","title":"But... but I was totally naughty this year!","author":"pyrefly","link":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/212478.html","description":"I just logged onto AO3 and apparently I'm getting FOUR stories for     <\/a>yuletide<\/b><\/a><\/span> this year?!

    Holy crap!<\/font><\/strong>

    And I figured I was on the naughty list this year because I had to default because my project got into the winter show and I totally didn't have time to write and I felt awful and... I DON'T DESERVE THIS BUT THANK YOU ALL OF YOU WHOEVER YOU ARE!! ♥ ♥

    I am going to be at my dad's all day so I probably won't get to read them until later, but I will as soon as I can!


    And to all of     you<\/a> not involved in <\/a>yuletide<\/b><\/a><\/span>, Merry Christmas!! ♥ I know I've been totally absent these past few months, but please let's catch up on AIM or Gchat or something soon. :D","comments":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/212478.html?view=comments#comments","category":"zomg yuletide"},{"guid":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/211969.html","pubDate":"Mon, 22 Nov 2010 04:57:33 GMT","title":"re:yuletide assignment","author":"pyrefly","link":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/211969.html","description":"...Wow. Interesting.

    And I don't mean that in a bad way. It's just. This year is going to be very, very different.


    Also, the first time I've matched a recipient on more than one request. I actually have options!! Crazy.","comments":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/211969.html?view=comments#comments","category":"zomg yuletide"},{"guid":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/211887.html","pubDate":"Thu, 18 Nov 2010 19:54:45 GMT","title":"Dear Yuletide Santa 2010","author":"pyrefly","link":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/211887.html","description":"Dear Yuletide Santa:


    First off, I feel like I should apologize for the fact that I'm not exactly the most stalkable person this year. I started grad school in September, and before that I was dealing with burnout and depression and a host of other things, so I haven't spent much time on LJ or fandom in general. I wasn't even going to do     <\/a>yuletide<\/b><\/a><\/span> this year, but then I realized it's become such an integral part of my Christmas (this is my... 5th year, I think?) that I couldn't imagine not<\/i> doing it.

    This year does mark a big change for me in terms of     <\/a>yuletide<\/b><\/a><\/span> fandoms; I've always focused on Asian fandoms and video games in the past, and this year my request\/offer list consists mostly of TV shows. After being so burned out and all of the other life changes I was experiencing over the course of the year, I kind of lost interest in some of the things I'd always felt passionate about and needed something new, so I started watching a lot of TV. I'm sure I'll be back to the Asian fandoms eventually (it's not that I dislike them), but I guess I just needed something different in my life for a while.

    Unfortunately I haven't really blogged about my interest in these fandoms the way I used to do for my Asian fandoms, and I hope that doesn't make things difficult for you. Feel free to ask anonymous questions through the Yule-mods. I'm probably also much more stalkable     on Twitter<\/a> than on LJ this year.

    Below is a reiteration of my requests, along with a few more details:

    Requests<\/h3>
    Nikita<\/i> (2010 TV)<\/u>: Michael\/Nikita, Sexual Tension<\/b>
    \"I love this show and this pairing so very much, especially after the past few episodes, so I'd be happy with pretty much anything. BUT, if I had to pick, I'd love for something a little more Michael-centric, about his feelings for Nikita. Maybe focusing on the theme of past\/present\/future; what their relationship was like before, what it is now, and what it might be in the future.\"<\/blockquote>I don't really have anything to add to this except that the episodes which have had a lot of Michael\/Nikita UST have made me melty-melt, so more of that please. :D Although I would be happiest if it moves beyond UST, too, and they finally kiss\/go further. As long as it makes sense in the context of the story, of course.
    In terms of other characters, I'm not too terribly interested in most of them. I do ship Thom\/Alex, but I'm not nearly as passionate about them as I am about Michael\/Nikita.

    Red Cliff<\/i> (Chi Bi)<\/u>: Zhuge Liang\/Sun Quan, Secret Admirer<\/b>
    \"I've watched this movie something like 8 times in the past year, and each time I'm struck by the scene when Zhuge Liang goes to the Southland court and sees Sun Quan for the first time. I don't often read homosexual subtext into movies and TV shows, but that was one moment when I definitely did, and I'd like to see it explored further. I do think these two have a compatible dynamic, what with Sun Quan's lack of confidence in himself and Zhuge Liang's remarkable insight into people. I suppose ideally I'd like a fic exploring their relationship as lovers would be preferred, but a platonic relationship\/deep friendship (letter-writing perhaps?) could be interesting also.\"<\/blockquote>I'm really in love with Zhuge Liang, so if you wanted to focus mainly just on him and only include Sun Quan as a minor character, that's a-okay with me too. I'm in the process of reading Romance of the Three Kingdoms<\/i>, and I'll (hopefully) have finished it by Christmas, so if you're thinking about going beyond Red Cliff<\/i>'s timeline, I should be able to understand. :)

    Stargate Universe<\/i><\/u><\/b>
    \"This is terrifying. I've never requested 'Any' for a fandom before because I've always had a specific pairing or character I'm interested in, but I love this show to death and there isn't any one pairing or character I like more than all the others, so I'm giving you free reign! There isn't even a particular subject or period in the show that I'd prefer. (Right now my brain is going OH MY GOD, a completely blank request?? Are you CRAZY??) All I'm going to say is that I don't ship any non-canon pairings so if you include any I'd prefer it to be toned down. Other than that, just write me the story you've always wanted to write in this fandom, and I'm sure I'll love it!\"<\/blockquote>Again, the blank request is super uncharacteristic of me, but I really do feel like this is the best show on television right now, so I will gladly take anything. Just to give you a better idea of my preferences, I do support Matt\/Chloe and I'm not really into Eli\/Chloe. I also support Camile and her girl hardcore! I find Rush a truly fascinating character; he might be my closest to a favorite, although I really do love all of them a lot. I haven't decided how I feel about Everett\/TJ or the Everett\/his wife\/Telford situation. Also, I have seen all of SG-1 and its spinoff movies, and I always supported Jack\/Sam, and I love it when Jack has a cameo.

    RPF - Tennis<\/u>: John Isner(\/Nicolas Mahut), Makeup Sex<\/b>
    \"What I'm looking for is actually John Isner\/Nicolas Mahut slash, after that epic Wimbledon match they played over the summer that became the longest tennis match in history. I've never been interested in RPF at all; I don't normally slash real-life people, but during that match my mind definitely went there. I definitely felt like their story should conclude with sex, although I suppose I would be okay with a platonic friendship story too. I guess in my mind they should be BFFs after this epic match, although sex friends would be even better, hehe.\"<\/blockquote>There isn't much to say here. I should probably be shot for making this request. OH WELL! THIS IS YULETIDE RIGHT? I actually searched for fanfic about this match-up for weeks after it happened and was surprised I couldn't find any. Also, just to clarify, the 'Makeup sex' was more in the sense of Johnny making up for having beaten Nico in the game, or something, not them actually being in a relationship in a fight and then having makeup sex. But I wouldn't be against that either!
    <\/a>

    Love,
    Piru (    <\/a>pyrefly<\/b><\/a><\/span>).","comments":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/211887.html?view=comments#comments","category":"zomg yuletide"},{"guid":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/211336.html","pubDate":"Tue, 06 Jul 2010 21:01:46 GMT","title":"ORANJE!!!!!","author":"pyrefly","link":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/211336.html","description":"

    damn, it's a good time to be Dutch
    :D","comments":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/211336.html?view=comments#comments","category":"soccer fever"},{"guid":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/210998.html","pubDate":"Wed, 23 Jun 2010 17:57:58 GMT","title":"Birthday Wish","author":"pyrefly","link":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/210998.html","description":"Dear fandom:

    My birthday is in less than 3 weeks, and right now I would like nothing better than some John Isner\/Nicolas Mahut slash fanfiction. Srsly. Is anyone else watching     this<\/a>? I'm not normally into RPF, but a match this epic deserves a smexy ending.

    Love,
    Piru.","comments":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/210998.html?view=comments#comments","category":"birthdays ftw"},{"guid":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/210457.html","pubDate":"Tue, 25 May 2010 14:59:37 GMT","title":"I fail at LJ.","author":"pyrefly","link":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/210457.html","description":"Right. So I sort of had an un-announced hiatus. Between final projects, packing, graduation, and the cruise I went on with my mom shortly after, there really just wasn't time to worry about LJ. But! I am back in TX now and I have little to do for the next month and a half. It's going to be quite glorious.

    Anyway, I could catch you all up on every little thing that has happened but I'm not sure how many people would care. In fact, why don't I let you vote on it? I'll blog about whatever people want to hear about.

    View Poll: Your Input<\/a><\/div>

    Also still to come: much-overdue writing update, and I really need to get a move-on with     <\/a>tanzaku<\/b><\/a><\/span>. Probably need to change up the schedule a bit because of my own summer plans. Will probably do that later this week. I need a couple of days to completely unwind first. Also I finally picked up my own copy of Assassin's Creed I<\/i> but of course that would have nothing to do with it. Nothing at all.<\/s>

    How are you all?","comments":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/210457.html?view=comments#comments","category":["college","hiatus","rl woes"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/210263.html","pubDate":"Wed, 28 Apr 2010 22:37:18 GMT","title":"New Amsterdam, here I come!","author":"pyrefly","link":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/210263.html","description":"I just mailed my deposit in to NYU to confirm that I am enrolling in Fall 2010. ♥

    In other news... final projects = DEATH. (1 down, 2 to go.)

    In other other<\/i> news... submitted my sign-up for     \"[community<\/a>hardmode<\/b><\/a><\/span>.

    Somebody remind me to get on     <\/a>tanzaku<\/b><\/a><\/span> this weekend, once I (hopefully) survive deadline #2.","comments":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/210263.html?view=comments#comments","category":["grad school","fanfic","college"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/210104.html","pubDate":"Thu, 22 Apr 2010 20:07:19 GMT","title":"MLIA. And by that I mean FML.","author":"pyrefly","link":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/210104.html","description":"Yeah I'm still alive, and yeah I'm about 10 days overdue on my scheduled writing check-in and maybe I'll have time to do that this weekend and maybe not. I've gotten really fucked over this year because normally final projects are due during finals week (ie. the week after the last week of class) but this year 2 out of my 3 classes decided to have final projects due DURING the last week of class (ie. next week). And I'm performing in One Night in Beijing (our Chinese cultural show) this weekend so the past week has consisted of a lot of extra rehearsals and things and I'm just generally really screwed. BUT. Anyway.

    Two<\/s> three things:

    1) Does anyone happen to be looking for an apartment in New York, or know if anyone who is and is looking for roommates? I think I've mostly made up my mind that I'm going to NYU, but I need to get the housing situation figured out.

    2) Is anyone from Houston\/TX planning to go to A-kon? I haven't been since high school but since I'll be in Texas for most\/all of the summer, I'll be able to go this year. I don't want to go all by myself though... Cons aren't much fun on your own.

    3) Is anyone else thinking about doing     \"[community<\/a>hardmode<\/b><\/a><\/span>? I'm pretty sure I want to do it but I'm having a hard time deciding what fandom to do. The one I'm leaning toward is really obscure and I'm worried I won't be able to find an artist. There's other fandoms I'd like to do but I'm having a hard time coming up with storyline ideas for those, so I need someone to flail at<\/s> bounce ideas off of.","comments":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/210104.html?view=comments#comments","category":["grad school","fanfic","college","cons","rl woes"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/209808.html","pubDate":"Tue, 30 Mar 2010 04:04:41 GMT","title":"Maker, forgive me for not writing any plot.","author":"pyrefly","link":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/209808.html","description":"Now that reveals are posted for \"[community<\/a>newgameplus<\/b><\/a><\/span>, I can officially announce that I was the author behind A Pack of Crumpled Sheets of Vellum<\/a>, a DragonAge: Origins<\/i> fic for \"[personal<\/a>kristalyn<\/b><\/a><\/span> (slightly better formatted version on AO3 here<\/a>). Surprise, surprise. Actually, this one would've probably been pretty hard to guess even if you knew all the fandoms I'm in because it's pretty radically different from anything I've ever written before. I suppose I have to thank this<\/a> Fallout 3<\/i> fic written for <\/a>yuletide<\/b><\/a><\/span> for the inspiration for the format.

    My recipient seemed to have liked it and I am very, very glad. Her request was very open-ended—anything about Alistair, and given that he was my favorite character from DA:O, at first I figured this would be pretty easy. (I also had the urge while playing the game to write a male!Warden\/Alistair story.) The reality was that I had a hard time coming up with a good plot, and I didn't really want to write PWP smut, so instead I opted for... neither plot NOR smut. Ahahaha. Hence the letter\/diary format. I guess I tried my best to make it a little funny despite the content being kind of serious. Alistair kind of gets made fun of and looked down on a lot so I wanted to focus a bit more on his thoughtful\/intelligent side (even though he never quite loses the over-eager puppy thing). I tried to throw in as many references to some of the funny canon details that only someone who's played the game would know, because I love that kind of stuff in gamefic. In the end... yeah, I don't know, I hope she isn't too disappointed I didn't really write any plot. :<

    Speaking of DA:O... I did another playthrough over the weekend, completely unplanned... I was playing Fallout 3<\/i> for a bit last week, and then I decided I was more in the mood for historical fantasy so I switched to Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion<\/i>, and then I realized I really missed the companions in DA:O and especially Alistair and his snarky remarks about everything. So I thought, \"Maybe I'll just play DA:O for a bit. Just a little while.\"—...and I ended up beating it in just under 40 hours. Marathoned it. This was my female rogue City Elf playthrough. I went for a chaotic neutral\/chaotic good approach because I wasn't in the mood to do a completely renegade run. I suppose I ought to do that next, just so I can unlock all the rest of the achievements.

    And, yeah. That's about all I have to report. Didn't really get any writing done but maybe I'll get to it this week. It's remarkably calm in terms of schoolwork, though it's clearly just the silence before the storm.","comments":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/209808.html?view=comments#comments","category":["zomg piru posted writing","gaming adventures","fanfic"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/209226.html","pubDate":"Fri, 19 Mar 2010 20:58:04 GMT","title":"asdfgh;jkl !!!!!!","author":"pyrefly","link":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/209226.html","description":"OH MY GOD YOU GUYS. OH MY GOD<\/i>.

    I GOT INTO NYU!!!<\/font>

    I. I can hardly even breathe. :DDDDDD","comments":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/209226.html?view=comments#comments","category":["grad school","piru ftw","rl woes"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/208971.html","pubDate":"Tue, 16 Mar 2010 06:02:03 GMT","title":"The home stretch has begun!","author":"pyrefly","link":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/208971.html","description":"Made it back to Pittsburgh in one piece. Surprisingly no flight delays despite the horror stories I'd been hearing from friends flying to\/from the northeast this weekend. I guess tacking that extra day on my Spring Break to save money paid off in more ways than one!

    Anyway, so today<\/s> yesterday was interesting because I woke up and decided I wanted to tack an extra section onto my     \"[community<\/a>newgameplus<\/b><\/a><\/span> fic because I wasn't really happy with it. EXCEPT I needed to run errands and pack and all that jazz. I submitted it approximately 5 minutes before I had to leave for the airport. Ahahaha. Better planning next time, please, self.

    Not so excited about school, but... 7 more weeks of class! Graduation is 2 months from today! :D It is hard not to be excited about that.","comments":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/208971.html?view=comments#comments","category":["fanfic","college","rl woes"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/208856.html","pubDate":"Sat, 13 Mar 2010 17:37:20 GMT","title":"ahahaha so, yeahh... *sweatdrop*","author":"pyrefly","link":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/208856.html","description":"Is anyone else a horrible procrastinator<\/s> a terrible human being<\/s> still working on their     \"[community<\/a>newgameplus<\/b><\/a><\/span> fic & up for epic WoD and spazzflailing in chat\/IM tonight? Hell, I suppose you don't even need to be working on \"[community<\/a>newgameplus<\/b><\/a><\/span> specifically, I just need another writer to co-motivate and flail with me.

    I. Haven't started, although I feel like I sort of have the fic all written in my head, I just need to write it down. My excuse is I needed to do more canon research? *sweatdrop*<\/small> AND I REALLY NEED TO FINISH TONIGHT because I have plans with 3 different people tomorrow and. Yeahhh. I suppose I could work on it Monday since my flight doesn't leave until 7pm, but I am hoping not to have to resort to that because I would likely PANIC and not put out very good work.

    LMK! ♥","comments":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/208856.html?view=comments#comments","category":"fanfic"},{"guid":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/208430.html","pubDate":"Thu, 11 Mar 2010 23:25:56 GMT","title":"It is I, the slayer of dragons!","author":"pyrefly","link":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/208430.html","description":"Hello, Spring Break! It's not hard to guess what I've been doing. But hey, it's been like 3-4 weeks since I'd had any time to spend on video games. (Whenever I beat ME2; that's the last time I'd had time to play anything.) So... yeah.

    I finally finished my first playthrough of DragonAge: Origins<\/i> yesterday. I'd started it and had gotten maybe halfway before ME2 arrived, so I hadn't finished it yet. So, that's what I did. A lot of epic marathoning over the last couple of days.

    I'd chosen for my first playthrough a male Elven mage origin with the Arcane Warrior specialization, which is highly typical for me except for the male part, but that was just so I could have the homosexual romance with Zevran. I must admit half the reason I'd bought the game was because I'd seen it was made by BioWare and thought, \"So basically it's Mass Effect<\/i> but with gay elves!\" Seriously though, the lack of male\/male romance options in ME and ME2 had always pissed me off, so going for my usual female<\/i> sword-and-staff-wielding Elven mage-warrior was less important than achieving this feeling of vindication. And it was quite satisfying, even if I didn't like Zevran nearly as much as Alistair and the \"sex scene\" was stiff and awkward.

    I played a primarily good-aligned game, making what would've been the Paragon choices in ME. The lack of an alignment meter kind of bothered me sometimes, or maybe not the meter itself but the fact that all dialogue options aren't always available to you unless you have a certain amount of Paragon\/Renegade points. The fact that you could be the goody two-shoes one minute and decide to betray everyone the next seemed strange to me. Maybe it's arguably truer to life, but still. It just seemed like being the good guy was just really unrewarding sometimes, like when you could demand payment for doing someone a favor and not lose any kind of alignment or approval points for it. I didn't figure that out straight away it was like... \"Well, shucks. I could've been getting more money all along.\"

    I chose to keep Anora as queen, did the ritual with Morrigan, had Alistair duel and kill Loghain, romanced Zevran, and chose to rebuild the Grey Wardens. I did sleep with Morrigan as well, to get the achievement, although I ended it with her as soon as she told me to pick between her and Zevran. I managed to end the game with everyone having high approval of me which I considered a pretty good accomplishment considering how hard some characters like Sten and Morrigan were to please. As for the other plot events, I sided with the Dalish, defied the Cult of Andraste, destroyed the Anvil, and backed Harrowmont as King. I half-regret the latter, when I read that Bhelen would've ultimately been much more successful and a progressive ruler. Oh, well.

    After I finished the first play-through, I went back and did all of the other origin stories. Though I'd like to play all of them to completion eventually, considering the 60+-hour length of the game, I'm not sure how likely it is to happen. The ones I am most likely to play are probably my City Elf (a female rogue) and my Human Noble (a female warrior). I did think that the Dwarven Noble origin was actually one of the most interesting ones, but overall I'm still not terribly inspired to do a full playthrough as a dwarf. We'll see, though.

    I did think that it seemed a bit out-of-place to have the player choose the character's class, since it seemed to me like based on the origin story, there was really only one choice that would make sense. The Human Noble is a warrior, the City Elf is a rogue, the Dalish Elf is a warrior, the Dwarven Commoner is a rogue, and the Dwarven Noble is a warrior. I felt like that was intended, and giving the player a choice seems arbitrary to me. Like maybe BioWare was trying to avoid criticism for not giving enough player control over classes, and they did this as an after-thought to appease us. It just didn't make a whole lot of sense to me, but maybe it's just me.

    Maybe I'm just miffed that there was only one origin story for mages. I understand that it was probably necessary given the world they had created and the relationship between mages and the Chantry, but... At the very least there should've been like an apostate mage origin, or something. I don't know. I just didn't like the mage origin story all that much and after playing through all of them I felt like it was arguably harder than the others (though it's hard to judge given how that's the only one I hadn't played recently), but I feel obligated to do another mage playthrough at some point because I missed getting the Blood Mage specialization and I'm curious to see how everything would be different as an evil mage.

    Speaking of playing as a mage, I do feel like I sort of cheated my way through the game with the way it allows us to control one of the four party members in battle. I pretty much used a standard party of Alistair, Zevran and Leliana for the entire game, and I always controlled Leliana in battle and had everyone's tactics take care of their actions. Not that I didn't love my mage, but I found it just wasn't as effective if I controlled him directly because I wasn't that good at timing my spell-casting (or just found myself pausing too often). The tactics ensured that he used all of the right spells when they were available, although it did seem to make the Arcane Warrior specialization rather useless since unless I didn't equip him with a staff at all, my mage basically refused to use his sword in battle. I gave a bow to Leliana and controlled her during battles, which got me out of both having to control my mage and face enemies head-on. It felt like cheating, but it was much easier that way.

    I thought the characters were perhaps also one of the not-so-great parts of the game. I don't know. I just didn't feel as compelled and passionate about them as I've felt about characters in other games. Alistair is the only character I really loved. I didn't mind Zevran so much although I wasn't fond of his looks, but at least his accent and his attitude reminded me of Ezio. Leliana also wasn't bad although the whole Chantry sister and the vision thing weren't my cup of tea. In fact, anytime someone started talking about the Maker or the Chant, I wanted to gag. Morrigan and Sten just pissed me off because they were so difficult to please, and it seemed like anything I said or did resulted in negative approval from them. Wynne's sanctimonious nature also didn't win a lot of points with me, although I suppose she meant well enough. I got Ohgren so late in the game that he's probably the most forgettable, but although I liked him better than Sten, he... He just wasn't very funny, and I suppose I always thought of that as dwarves' redeeming quality: being the comic relief. I kind of liked Shale and making fun of people for being \"squishy\", but she's not the kind of character I enjoyed enough to, say, write fic about.

    I also wish I'd known how important the Coercion skill is, especially early on. By the time I figured it out, I'd missed a lot of good opportunities, and even then it took me a while to build it up to the max given how you don't get a skill point every time. That was seriously annoying.

    The battles were... okay. I realize that I probably didn't get as much out of the battle system as I could have, but I also felt sometimes that it was too complicated for what needed to be done. There were too many talents and spells, and it was often too hard for me to remember\/figure out what the most appropriate one would be for a given situation, so I'd always just resort to the same 2 or 3 at most, which meant that all those other talents and spells seemed kind of like a waste.

    The final battle against the Archdemon was kind of challenging, though it probably would have been less so if I'd realized sooner that I could still call my army. I kept thinking, \"How am I supposed to take care of the hordes of darkspawn AND slay the dragon?\" — and then I figured it out and thought, \"Well, snap, this could've been over 20 minutes ago.\" Oh, well. I finished it, and I suppose that's what matters.
    <\/a>

    All in all, I really enjoyed the game. I'd have to say the most disappointing thing was the graphics. They weren't bad but they certainly weren't amazing — I guess given that this was my first game on my brand-new PS3, I wasn't as impressed as I could've been. I was very miffed by the lack of FMV cutscenes. I thought the trailer had been pretty misleading; I'd been hoping to see more sequences like that. The environment graphics were good — I guess the main thing bothering me were the people. They just always struck me as very... fake-looking. Also, I now totally see why people complain about BioWare's facial personalization system. It never bothered me that much in ME, but now I agree that it's very easy to unintentionally create a very ugly character.

    I'm still undecided as to whether I want to invest in Awakening<\/i>. Probably not until the price goes down, anyhow. I've decided not to buy Final Fantasy XIII<\/i> yet, for similar reasons; while I do not yet have an offer for a full-time job, I should do my best not to spend inordinate amounts of money. Also, need to focus on graduating and finding a job. After the whole ordeal with ME2, I realized that one of the bad things about getting a game when it first comes out is that then you feel obligated to beat it ASAP, and I can't really afford that kind of time right now. (Plus I feel like you rush through it in your effort to be the first of your friends to finish it, and that doesn't strike me as enjoyable.) I'd much rather wait until at least the end of the summer, when I'll (hopefully) have a job or at least an offer and have more time for gaming.

    I've decided I do probably want to invest in Fallout 3<\/i>, though, especially now that Amazon has it for only $18. I've only watched friends play, and only the first half or so, so I'd like to play it myself. I figure that although it's another game with a story, it should be a good shoot-some-dudes-to-blow-off-steam kind of game for when I get back to school. I do also want to do another playthrough of ME2, but I'm not sure how soon I'll be up for it. I loved the game, but it kind of burned me out. So Fallout 3<\/i> is next on my list.


    On a final note, I had a thought last night that DragonAge: Origins<\/i> is basically Final Fantasy X<\/i> meets Lord of the Rings<\/i>, and that makes Alistair the summoner Yuna. Someone should get that thought out of my head before it turns into epically awful crossover fic.","comments":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/208430.html?view=comments#comments","category":"gaming adventures"},{"guid":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/207976.html","pubDate":"Tue, 23 Feb 2010 13:55:11 GMT","title":"Unexpected disappearance.","author":"pyrefly","link":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/207976.html","description":"Yeah, I'm still alive, I'm just so ridiculously busy I haven't been able to pay attention to LJ or concentrate on anything fandom-related. There is so much going on with school and I'm getting about 5-6 hours of sleep at night at most. Also job search and all that jazz. I have a follow-up interview with the game company on Friday.

    The only fandom-related thing that I've done recently is watch my friend play the new Assassin's Creed II<\/i> DLC the day it came out last week. It was actually pretty good. The one they released in January was disappointingly short, and they should've just released them together.

    Also, the Olympics have been a little distracting. I have the tendency to have the TV on at home when I'm working to drown out my annoying housemates, so now I have it on the Olympics all the time. I never pay much attention to the Summer Olympics, but the Dutch are super obsessed with the Winter Olympics. The only winter event we're really good at is speed skating, but it's still fun to root against America in everything else, because that's how I roll. If you follow me on Twitter, you'll doubtlessly have noticed how passionate the Dutch are about speed skating. It's been going pretty well and if we get at least 1 more medal and Norway doesn't get any, the Netherlands will become the country with the all-time highest number of Olympic speed skating medals. We are currently tied for #1. With the men's 10km coming up today, I'm pretty confident we can do it.

    Anyway, chances are high I won't really post much until Spring Break, although there is a way overdue fic from a challenge I need to finish editing and finally post (I just haven't been able to concentrate on it, although I feel bad), and then I need to write my     \"[community<\/a>newgameplus<\/b><\/a><\/span> (which would probably be preceded by playing the canon because I. technically haven't finished it), and do some more serious work on <\/a>tanzaku<\/b><\/a><\/span>. asdf;ghjkl It's all a little too much right now.","comments":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/207976.html?view=comments#comments","category":["gaming adventures","college","rl woes"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/207707.html","pubDate":"Sun, 14 Feb 2010 05:30:39 GMT","title":"Happy Chinese New Year \/ Imlek!","author":"pyrefly","link":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/207707.html","description":"I wanted to post something special, since this is my favorite holiday. This is an excerpt from a prose piece I've been working on for submission to the Asian interest magazine on campus here, a (currently very rough and unfinished) series of autobiographical vignettes about growing up without a concept of race.


    It is circle time in Kindergarten. The teacher is having us go around and tell everybody what we did over the weekend.

    “I went to my grandparents’ house,” I explain, “for the holiday.”

    “What holiday?” the teacher asks with a patient and indulgent smile.

    “You know,” I say, puzzled that she does not automatically know what I am talking about. “The one with the food and the lanterns. And opa<\/em> always gives us money.”

    When I think about it, I am not even sure what the holiday is called. I have never heard it referred to by one specific name, and it doesn’t seem to fall on one specific day, although it’s always in the winter. But it is one of my favorite days of the year. The entire family gathers at my grandparents’ place, and we dine on a feast of fish and noodles and dumplings and shrimp crackers and rice cakes. It is the only time a year oma<\/em> ever makes egg dumplings, and she complains about it a lot, because it is a lot of work and there are so many of us to feed.

    There are no songs and stories on this day, but the house still feels like a magical place because there are small red lanterns and paper cutouts that bear strange characters in gold. When I ask my mother what the symbols mean, she says, “I am not sure. ‘Prosperity’, I think.” I think it is a strange way to write ‘prosperity’, but I do not say anything, because my grandparents’ house is always full of secret languages.

    Opa<\/em> wears a long red shirt, and he sits quietly in a corner looking happy and proud. The year before, I had slid into his lap and asked him, “Why are we celebrating?”

    He had smiled and told me, “Because it is Imlek<\/em>, and I just love this holiday. Back in Indië, they called me qiao sheng<\/em>, but they do not understand. This tradition is still important to me.”

    I had not understood his words, and anyway, I’d gotten distracted because oma<\/em> had just brought out the rice cakes, and they’re one of my favorite things in the world.

    “Oh, are you talking about Sint Maarten?” the teacher asks, and she uses it as a way to segue into an explanation of the origins of the lampionnentocht<\/em>.

    I scowl at her. Everyone knows that Sint Maarten and the lampionnentocht<\/em> are in November. But since nobody seems to know which holiday I am talking about, I keep my mouth shut.

    ***<\/div>

    There are at least 7 million ethnically Chinese in Indonesia, and they have been persecuted and discriminated against for a long time. The Indonesian government finally honored the Chinese population by declaring Chinese New Year a national holiday starting in 2003. My grandfather, unfortunately, did not live to see that day. He died in 2001.<\/span>
    <\/a>","comments":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/207707.html?view=comments#comments","category":["zomg piru posted writing","eww v-day","rl woes"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/207457.html","pubDate":"Sat, 13 Feb 2010 05:37:31 GMT","title":"Video Games Live WIN. Jack Wall is my hero.","author":"pyrefly","link":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/207457.html","description":"Oh my god. Oh my god.<\/i>

    Video Games Live was eargasmic.<\/font>

    It was so cool! So nerdy but so cool! I almost cried during the Assassin's Creed II<\/i> set, where they had a soloist and a choir and everything. (They also showed a cutscene that I don't think was even in the game? Must find out what it was!) They played \"Liberi Fatali\" from FFVIII<\/i> which was overwhelming and awesome and, IMO, more impressive than \"One-Winged Angel\" (one of their staple acts). Their Halo<\/i> set was neat — I'm not personally a fan of the games but I will acknowledge that the music is fantastic. I could've done with less of the retro\/old school stuff; they played a lot of the classics like Frogger, Sonic, Megaman, and of course Super Mario Brothers. They even showed part of an interview with Koji Kondo at some point when he said, \"I don't understand why people still want to listen to my music!\" Sure, it's a cult classic, but the video game scores being produced today are blowing the retro music clean out of the water. They did do two encore songs and ended the show with an AWESOME mix of Chrono Cross<\/i> and Chrono Trigger<\/i> music, featuring     Flute Link<\/a> on the flute. I nearly cried, it was such an epic performance to end on.

    But the best part?

    Despite having known about Video Games Live for a while and desperately wanting to go, I admit that I didn't know much about it, like the fact that Jack Wall conducts the orchestra. So when Tommy Tallarico walked in and introduced him and said, \"Jack just got done composing for a project that came out very recently. You might have heard of it.\" — I goggled and went, WAIT, THAT<\/u> JACK WALL?!?<\/i> Jack Wall being, of course, the composer for the scores of Mass Effect 1 & 2<\/i>.

    They played some of the music from ME1 and it was AMAZING and BEAUTIFUL because I own the soundtrack and I have listened to it so many times, and Hell I have spent so many hours on that game! But EVEN BETTER than hearing the orchestra doing a Mass Effect<\/i> set, they did a meet & greet after the show and I got to meet Jack Wall and he signed my poster! We talked about ME2 and I was babbling and gushing because I finished it earlier this week and my mind is still filled with Mass Effect<\/i>, and he was all, \"Damnit, I haven't had a chance to play the new game yet myself!\" He asked me if I recommended doing a Paragon or a Renegade playthrough first so I said Paragon, but that everyone should eventually try both.

    AAAAAAAAAAAAHHH this has so totally been the best week ever. Between having 3 days of no class and ample time to play and finish ME2, and rocking my interviews today, and the Video Games Live concert and meeting Jack Wall... EPIC WIN. ♥","comments":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/207457.html?view=comments#comments","category":["gaming adventures","piru ftw","muzak"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/206924.html","pubDate":"Wed, 10 Feb 2010 20:43:13 GMT","title":"I saved the galaxy (again).","author":"pyrefly","link":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/206924.html","description":"So I finished Mass Effect 2<\/i> last night. Considering I started on Friday afternoon and put in 50 hours of playtime total... I'd say that was pretty fast. These snow days have been quite convenient. 8) I'd been seriously pissed off that the one time I actually care enough about a game to preorder it so I could get it immediately when it came out, thanks to my POS computer, I was forced to start it 10 days late and most of my friends had already finished it by the time I finally got to start. But most of that anger went away when I started playing.

    I really, really liked it! I have to admit that, despite pre-ordering the Collector's Edition and everything, I had my doubts and worries about the game after they'd announced the initial plotline (working for Cerberus and going after the Collectors) and the fact that your crew is almost entirely new. I feared that it wouldn't tie into the first game enough (when the first game had been a clear set-up for future games). However, I am happy to say that everything came together nicely and I am very excited for Mass Effect 3<\/i>. (Current scheduled release is January 2011 although I am very skeptical about that.)

    Story<\/h4>As noted above, even though they said fairly early on \"We think the Collectors might be working with the Reapers\", I initially wasn't too happy about the storyline and angry about the fact that Shepard should be going straight for the Reapers but was being diverted to take care of the Collectors instead. But once I did the mission aboard the Collector Ship and found out the Collectors are really Protheans — my mind was blown; I had not seen that one coming — my fears were assuaged. I thought that was a very interesting plot twist and made me feel much better about the storyline.

    Working for Cerberus still pissed me off, since as a Paragon you say all these things like \"I'm not letting you order me around\" and \"I assemble my own team\" but in the end you're still basically going after all the missions the Illusive Man gives you and assembling the team he recommends. I do hope the working-for-Cerberus bit doesn't continue into the next game (hopefully not, assuming I've pissed off the Illusive Man enough by not saving the Reaper).

    I thought the ending was surprisingly good — the right mix of tying up some loose ends from this game and making it feel final, while leaving a clear path for the next game. I'm very curious to see how the big choices made (re: the geth and the Reaper) will play out in ME3. When I do my Renegade playthrough of ME2, I'll make it a point to choose the opposite of both decisions.

    As a side note, the Collectors creeped me the fuck out, and I'm glad they're gone.

    I read the Mass Effect: Ascension<\/i> novel a few months ago as preparation for my Yuletide fic and I was happy that the game did make references to the events in the book. I'd really been hoping to see at least a cameo of Gillian, though, and was sad that there wasn't one.

    Gameplay<\/h4>I feel like the game was a lot more difficult than ME1. Or maybe 'challenging' is a better word. I don't know. My perspective might be skewed since I had watched friends play ME1 before I played it myself, so I guess I'd developed mental strategies by the time I did my own playthrough. ME2, on the other hand, I was playing cold, not even using a guide. I was playing it on Casual mode (the easiest difficulty level) and still had a hard time sometimes.

    I felt like the combat system in this game was much more shooter-like than the first game, but maybe it's just me. It is worth nothing that this is the only shooter game I've ever played personally* (and yes, I realize that this isn't even a 'true' shooter because of its RPG-like elements). But I had a much harder time with the combat system this time. It seemed like you needed to aim much more carefully just to hit a target, whereas the targeting-assist in ME1 helped someone like me with no FPS experience deal with that weakness. Also the fact that you actually needed ammo. And in some areas finding ammo was frustratingly difficult.
    * I have watched my guyfriends play many other shooter games, though.<\/small>

    I also felt like there were much more enemies in all the areas, although that might be an illusion created by the fact that they would attack in waves. I don't know. I just know that occasionally I got seriously frustrated and pissed off when I was trying to move through an area and I'd take 5 steps and there would be another<\/i> wave of enemies to kill. I personally would've preferred a bit less fighting in the game. I do it for the story, not for the combat.

    I was also pissed off at first that they changed many of the key mappings. I'd gotten so used to 'E' being interact and 'SPACE' being pause\/HUD, and they didn't explain right away that 'SHIFT' was now pause\/HUD so I had a very hard time with the first few fights because my strategy for fights is definitely the RPG player's strategy: pause, plan actions, aim weapon, go. In a real-life battle, I would be killed while yelling, \"Where is the pause button?!\"

    I really hated the fact that you didn't get experience for each enemy or set of enemies you killed, but only at the end of a mission. I thought it was genuinely useful in ME1 that you could sometimes level up in the middle of a mission. I also didn't like the way they redid the skill points system. I did like that they basically worked 'Charm' and 'Intimidate' into your Paragon and Renegade scores, but everything else I thought was unnecessary. It was frustrating when you sometimes had to wait for so long to level up, and when you finally did, you couldn't necessarily even use the skill point you gained if you didn't have enough to get the ability you wanted.

    One thing I did really appreciate about the gameplay changes was the lack of the Mako. Piloting the Mako and driving around on the uncharted worlds was one of my least favorite things about ME1, and I really didn't miss it at all. I was pretty ambivalent about the planet scanning feature — I liked it because I felt like it made more sense, although it was kind of repetitive and tedious. (Mostly I was just pissed off because it seemed like the upgrades required more Platinum than anything else, but it was hard to find large amounts of.) Still, occasionally it'd be a nice way to calm down after finishing a mission with way too many fights.

    I'm not sure how to feel about the changes to the weapons\/armor systems. I felt fine about the armor, I guess, although I was sad about the fact that the DLC armor couldn't be enhanced or upgraded at all, so after the first couple of missions I never used my DLC armor again because it was just better to buy the separate armor pieces and customize your own. At first I was worried that not being able to control your allies' armor would be a problem, but it wasn't a huge issue. If they got killed a lot, it was usually because they were too stupid to get behind cover, and I blame that on the AI.

    Characters & Romances<\/h4>This was one of my biggest worries about the game; I'd really grown to like all of the characters from ME1 a lot, and I was upset when I found out most of them wouldn't be returning to your crew. Tali and Garrus were included, of course, but to be perfectly honest neither of them would've been my first choice for returning characters. If I'd had to pick two, it would've been Wrex and Liara.

    I ended up liking most of the ME2 crew members, though. I was ambivalent about Jacob and not a huge fan of Miranda (I think in Miranda's case it might have been partly the character design — out of everyone she looked the most 'fake' to me), though I watched the male!Shepard\/Miranda romance videos on YouTube and I have to admit it gave me slightly more of an appreciation for her. After reading about her extra dialogue during the final battle, I kind of wished I'd brought her along just to hear her stick it to the Illusive Man. Jacob just made me kind of go 'meh' the way Kaidan in ME1 did, and Kaidan at least had this kind of huggable, I-want-to-comfort-you quality that Jacob doesn't have (to me).

    Garrus was the first character I recruited, and also the one I decided to romance. (I guess that makes my Shepard a xenophiliac.) I'm a fan of Shepard\/Liara but to be honest my desire to stay loyal to her didn't outweigh my curiosity to find out what a turian\/human romance would be like. I'm not unhappy with my decision (given my lack of enthusiasm about any of the other options) but after watching all the other romance options on YouTube, I do feel a little cheated. Everyone else at least got a kiss, and what did I get? Foreheads touching!?

    I went after Mordin next. I quite liked him (I like how he's nerdy yet can hold his own in battle), and I liked his conversation options, especially the sex talk and the scientist salarian song.

    Then Grunt. I hadn't expected to like him in part because I was just so upset that Wrex wasn't playable, but then I realized it wasn't really fair to keep comparing Grunt to Wrex. He was a cool character in his own right. I used him for a few of the Loyalty missions when Garrus didn't seem like the best option.

    I did Jack after that, and was pleasantly surprised. I'd seen the announcements of her character and the revelation that she would be a romance option for male!Shepard, and at the time I'd felt like she was basically just fanservice for male players. There's a girl wearing basically nothing from the waist up and covered in tattoos, with a badass attitude, whoop-dee-doo. Big deal. So I thought. But surprisingly enough I liked her character (she kind of reminded me of Domino from the movie Domino<\/i>) and she and Garrus were my main battle party for most of the game, including the final mission.
    (As a side note, I brought Grunt along when recruiting Jack, not realizing he would have extra dialogue. I was very amused.)
    (As another side note, after watching Jack's romance option, it gave me even more appreciation for her. It makes me wonder if I ever did a male playthrough who I'd go for, Jack or Miranda. Miranda's sex scene is hotter, but Jack being vulnerable is sweet.)

    As part of the Collector's Edition, I had the Zaeed DLC, and I did his loyalty mission after that. The mission was interesting in that it gave you two different options, rescuing the workers or going after Vido, but other than that I'm not sure how to feel about Zaeed. He's an interesting character, sure. I like his design and his accent. I didn't like how Shepard can't even really have a conversation with him. All in all, he's pretty cool, but it didn't feel like there was really much use for him in the game, and I'm glad I didn't pay money for this DLC.

    Then I went after Tali, and I was glad to see her return. I'd been very interested when I'd seen in the promos that we would get to go aboard the Migrant Fleet, although I felt a little cheated because we didn't end up getting to see much of it. The Ascension<\/i> novel had painted a rich picture of life aboard the fleet, and I was really hoping to get to see it visually, but unfortunately no. I did think Tali's loyalty mission was one of the most interesting.

    I did Thane and Samara in short succession after that, and before anything else I must say I REALLY APPRECIATED that their loyalty missions did not involve any fighting, because I was so sick of combat by this point, orz

    I wasn't as excited about Thane as it seems a lot of other fans were. I do like that they introduced a new race, and the drell seem cool, especially with the solipsism. Actually, I didn't really have a problem with Thane, but I never would've considered him for my romance option. Maybe it was just that I'd waited so long to recruit him. I don't know. I was glad I'd decided to pursue the Garrus romance instead because I respect his relationship with his wife (even if she's dead) and crying men don't do it for me.

    I warmed up to Samara once I officially recruited her — my initial reaction was along the lines of, \"fuck off.\" Her attitude annoyed me and her character design (with the cleavage) didn't do it for me. But I was glad that she didn't turn out to be so bad, and I realized I was biased in that I'd much rather have kept Liara on my crew than recruit another asari. I killed Morinth, of course, but I'll probably kill Samara when I do my Renegade playthrough.

    Legion!! ♥ You know, I think way back when when I was looking at the promo stuff for ME2, I'd spoiled myself on the fact that you were getting a geth crew member, but I'd totally forgotten about it! Legion was pretty awesome. I especially loved when Shepard asks him about the N7 armor and he just stares and goes, \"No data.\"

    I was happy that Joker had a bigger role in this game (although that whole bit with him saving the ship from the Collectors kind of pissed me off). I loved his snarky commentary about the missions and the crew members, and I enjoyed his relationship with EDI immensely. I have to admit that out of any pairing in ME2, I'd probably be most interested in seeing Joker\/EDI fanfiction. Ahahaha.

    Voice Acting<\/h4>I had two complaints:

    Martin Sheen as the Illusive Man<\/b>: Maybe it's just that I've seen Martin Sheen in so many TV shows and movies and am so familiar with what he looks like, but I just felt like his voice didn't match the character design. I don't know. They just always felt out-of-sync.

    Adam Baldwin as Kal'Reegar<\/b>: I love Jayne from Firefly<\/i> and I was very excited that they gave Adam Baldwin a short role, but a quarian?! It just didn't seem to fit, when the quarians have that very distinctive accent with the rolled 'R', and there was Kal'Reegar with his standard American accent. I feel like they could've picked so many other characters that would've worked better for Baldwin's voice. I don't know. It was weird.

    All in All<\/h4>It might sound like I have a lot of complaints, but all in all the things I liked about the game definitely outweighed the things I disliked. It was just a bit of a rough transition because I loved the original game so<\/i> much and they'd changed so many things. But while I wouldn't argue that all of the changes were for the better, it was definitely a great game.
    <\/a>

    I am kind of sad that the game did disprove a lot of my ideas about krogan culture in my     <\/a>yuletide<\/b><\/a><\/span> fic, but there wasn't really anything I could've done about that. Oh, well.


    And finally, because it was just so great that the entire world needs to see it:

    ","comments":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/206924.html?view=comments#comments","category":["gaming adventures","thoughts on pairings"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/206298.html","pubDate":"Mon, 01 Feb 2010 05:57:06 GMT","title":"Piru on gaming, graphics, manga, \"home\", and dessert.","author":"pyrefly","link":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/206298.html","description":"Got this from     <\/a>glass_icarus<\/b><\/a><\/span>; I guess it's kind of like a version of this meme<\/a> except instead of asking whole questions you just give trigger-words. Let me know if you want to play. ♥

    1. gaming<\/strong>

    I've been into games for quite a long time; my family used to play a lot of PC games such as King's Quest<\/i> and Myst<\/i> together. Then I got into Pok\u00e9mon (just the Gameboy games). In middle school I saved all my money to buy a PS2 and got heavily into the JRPGs; FFVII was the first. Over time I've built up a pretty decent library of PSX and PS2 games; not bad for someone who's never really had much time for gaming, I'd say. I also own a PSP (high school graduation gift from my dad) and, as of ~2 weeks ago, a PS3. And since last year I guess I've come full-circle and am slowly getting back into PC gaming as well, mostly because of Mass Effect<\/i>.

    I enjoy games a lot more than other fandom media because I find it so much easier to become completely immersed in the fictional world. I like how the game creators pay so much attention to crafting all the tiny details of their 'verses, like in-game histories and codexes and complex international politics and the like, even if those things only barely come into play in the game's storyline. For fannish purposes, especially, I think it gives us such a huge playground to explore and play in... I love it. ♥

    2. graphics<\/strong>

    Haha, not sure what exactly you were hoping for this to trigger. I... guess I don't make a lot of them? It's weird because this is basically my major (or, well, a small part of it, but still) and since I started college I really haven't done any fannish graphics as a hobby anymore. I think it's too hard to tell myself, \"I'm *just* doing this for fun,\" and I get too caught up in thinking, \"Man, if my professors saw this [awful typography\/boring composition\/poor color choices\/etc.], they'd flunk me!\" I do admit to also having gotten annoyed with easy access to Photoshop leading to everyone thinking they can be a graphic designer, and thereby devaluing a design education. But that's another rant for another day...

    3. manga<\/strong>

    I love manga a lot better than anime, and if it weren't for me recently rewatching some old series (Rurouni Kenshin<\/i>, Excel Saga<\/i>) with the ex, I... probably haven't watched any anime since freshman year. Manga I do read pretty regularly (though it's mostly BL). I haven't been too good about keeping up with the ongoing shounen manga that I like (Gintama<\/i>, Air Gear<\/i>) and I keep meaning to but it... doesn't happen. I'm not a fan of shoujo manga but there have been occasional exceptions. Tuxedo Gin<\/i> was good (although I am clearly biased because of penguin-love), Love Monster<\/i> was surprisingly entertaining, Shinshi Doumei Cross<\/i> was bearable.

    4. home<\/strong>

    When people ask me the question \"Where are you from?\" I usually do a double-take and don't know how to answer. I prefer to say Europe but it's true I haven't lived there for the past 10 years. Sometimes I feel obligated to say Texas but I've never, ever felt at home there; from the time I got there I always wanted to leave. It's hard to think of Pittsburgh as home because even though I don't hate it here I think I've always known I wouldn't stay past college, so there's no sense of permanence here. Tokyo felt like home moreso than any physical place has ever done, but it's true that I was only there for a few months. I guess I usually come back to the \"home is where the heart is\" thing; my heart is with my mom and my relatives, so I answer, \"Europe, by way of Houston, Texas.\"

    5. dessert! ;)<\/strong>

    I am not a foodie. Not at all. A lot of my friends are, but I honestly could care less what I eat so long as it makes the hunger pangs go away. However! Desserts are pretty much the one exception. I have a huge sweet tooth and am obsessed with anything chocolatey, fruity, yoghurty, you name it. At restaurants, I often look at the dessert menu first. (Not that I always get a dessert; I usually have too small of an appetite to even finish my entree.) I also love making desserts — for family gatherings we have the tradition that everyone takes care of one dish, and I usually volunteer for the dessert. I love baking cakes and pies and custards and mousses and whatever crazy creative thing I can come up with. My favorite dessert to make has got to be cheesecake; a few years ago my mom got me a big cheesecake recipe book, and I've made it my life's mission to bake all of them someday.","comments":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/206298.html?view=comments#comments","category":"meme"},{"guid":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/205937.html","pubDate":"Sun, 31 Jan 2010 01:07:17 GMT","title":"Warning: Nosebleeds Imminent","author":"pyrefly","link":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/205937.html","description":"Somebody started the All the Single Ladies<\/b> (or All the Ladies You Wish Were Single<\/b>) unofficial celebrity girlcrush picspam. Since I have a lot of those, I figured I should contribute, also because most of my girlcrushes haven't shown up in other people's picspams yet.

    I am first going to start off with some multiracial actresses! Being a woman of mixed heritage myself, I can attest to the fact that being multiracial is often very, very, very, very, very hard, and I have a lot of respect for these women who have not only overcome their personal struggles with it, but have gotten the rest of the world to recognize their talent and beauty as well. I fangirl over these women and I have many of their pictures plastered all over my wall and I wish I was only half as gorgeous and talented as they are.


     <\/span>

    Crystal Kay<\/strong> (Korean, African American, Japanese-raised)<\/span>


      <\/span>

    Namie Amuro<\/strong> (Japanese, Italian)<\/span>


      <\/span>

    Devon Aoki<\/strong> (Japanese, Caucasian American)<\/span>


      <\/span>

    Kristin Kreuk<\/strong> (Dutch, Chinese-Indonesian) (like meeeee! except I am not nearly as pretty :<)<\/small><\/span>


      <\/span>

    Karen Mok<\/strong> (Chinese, Welsh, Iranian)<\/span>


     <\/span>

    Kelly Hu<\/strong> (Chinese, Hawaiian, British)<\/span>


      <\/span>

    B\u00e1rbara Mori<\/strong> (Mexican, Japanese)<\/span>


      <\/span>

    Olivia Munn<\/strong> (Chinese, German, Irish)<\/span>
    <\/a>

    Anddd now for the rest. These are mostly if not all Asian, because I guess that's how I roll? 8); Not that I think white women or women of any other race aren't beautiful, but they don't make me hot the way Asian women do, I guess.


     

    Zhao Wei (Vicki Zhao)<\/strong>


      

    Zhang Ziyi<\/strong>


      

    Jolin Tsai<\/strong>


      


    Van Tomiko<\/strong> (of Do As Infinity)


      


    Kwon BoA<\/strong>


     

    Sung Yu Ri<\/strong> (of Finkl)


     

    Kan Miyoun<\/strong> (of Baby VOX)


    All right, all right, we'll do one non-Asian person. 8)

     

    Leelee Sobieski<\/strong>
    <\/a>


    ETA:<\/b> OH WAIT! HOW COULD I FORGET!


      

    Olivia Wilde<\/strong>

    She makes me extremely hot.
    <\/a>","comments":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/205937.html?view=comments#comments","category":"meme"},{"guid":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/205570.html","pubDate":"Sat, 30 Jan 2010 08:27:47 GMT","title":"2010 is the year when all of technology fails me, I swear.","author":"pyrefly","link":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/205570.html","description":"So I made it through this fucking shitty week in part because I kept telling myself that at the end of it I would finally get to play Mass Effect 2<\/i>, and that that would make all my struggles okay.

    Today, I finally had time to start playing. I'd held off on even installing the game because I hadn't wanted to get tempted when I needed to get work done. LONG story short, it all started with an attempt to install extra RAM to ensure the game would run smoothly (I had 1GB which was the minimum system requirement; tried to upgrade to 3GB). In an epic misadventure akin to     this<\/a> xkcd, it ended up to where I can't even boot into Windows anymore.

    So, I've declared this PC to be a lost cause (okay, it's been struggling for a while but I really didn't think it was quite this bad) and have spent the past few hours researching Newegg for parts to build a new one. I'm not especially excited to shell out $500 for a new computer when I just spent $350+ on the PS3 and game, but I am justifying the purchase to myself with the knowledge that my laptop is also<\/i> slowly dying, and it's important to have a reliable back-up in case it does fail before I have a chance to replace it. (I'm hoping to put graduation money toward a new laptop.)

    At one point I was so frustrated and miserable I was nearly in tears, though. It's unusual for me to be so completely in love with a game to go to the expense of pre-ordering it and making sure I get it right when it comes out. And now, I still haven't gotten to play it.","comments":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/205570.html?view=comments#comments","category":["fuck this i'm going awol","gaming adventures"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/205400.html","pubDate":"Fri, 29 Jan 2010 16:22:23 GMT","title":"I feel like a new person.","author":"pyrefly","link":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/205400.html","description":"GUYS I JUST SLEPT FOR NINE HOURS. I FEEL ~*GLORIOUS*~<\/i>. I seriously don't think I've slept for more than 4 hours on a weeknight since the semester started.


    I did this meme a couple of years ago, but decided it'd be fun to do again now that I have lots of new people on the flist.

    Instructions<\/u>:
    * Leave me a comment saying \"Resistance is Futile\".
    * I'll respond by asking you five questions to satisfy my curiosity.
    * Update your journal with the answers to your questions.
    * Include this explanation and offer to ask other people questions.<\/i><\/blockquote>
    These questions are from     <\/a>zoi_no_miko<\/b><\/a><\/a>yuletide<\/b><\/a><\/span> last year and I do really like that pairing, although I'm not as passionate about it as I could be because that's not a fandom I'm into for the pairings.

    I am really into a pairing from a fandom probably no one has heard of, and I'm thinking of requesting it for either Tanabata or Yuletide. There's a Cantonese movie called so close<\/i> (Chik Yeun Tin Si<\/i>) that's reeeaaally femslashy and I totally ship Sue\/Hong. It's interesting because I'm not normally that into movie fandoms, but this is one I'd totally love to read and write fic about, because Sue and Hong have a great dynamic and lots of UST. (Also, I totally have a girl crush on Zhao Wei.)<\/small>

    2. What's the best part of fandom for you?<\/b>

    I finish a lot of media (especially games and manga) wishing there were more, that it would continue on. In the case of games, especially, I get really drawn in to the fictional worlds they create, and I want to explore it from every angle. For manga, I tend to be really into ones that are short and are not ongoing. So I guess fandom satisfies my craving for \"moar, moar!\" because by talking to people about it and writing fic and reading fic, we extend the life of the media beyond its original length.

    3. If you were a dessert, what would you be?<\/b>

    It would have to be something eclectic, a mix of a couple of different culinary influences, yet subtle and not too sweet. Maybe the green tea cheesecake described in     this<\/a> fic. XD

    4. What is your favorite user icon and why?<\/b>

    I have to pick one? I really don't have one all-time favorite because their use depends so much on the context. One of the ones I use fairly frequently that I love is     this one<\/a>, because it's so simple yet it really sums up how I feel inside when something shocking and painful happens. (And, Zhang Ziyi is gorgeous.) This one<\/a> is a recent addition that I love because the concept of Alta\u00efr going \"YAY!\" is just so ridiculous. I like this one<\/a> a lot but do not have much occasion to use it.

    5. Best Song Ever?<\/b>

    The song \"A Walk in the Clouds\" by Ti\u00ebsto has been my favorite for a couple of years now. I love the ephemeral sound of it, and it always reminds me of the trip we took to Yamanashi while I was living in Tokyo. Aside from that, \"Love and Warlords\" by The Shanghai Restoration Project has been a recent favorite. I love fusions of different genres of music, and the vocals in that one are gorgeous and haunting.


    I just need to survive work, yoga, 4 meetings & dance practice, and then I get to play Mass Effect 2<\/i> all weekend. YAY!","comments":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/205400.html?view=comments#comments","category":["thoughts on pairings","meme"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/205063.html","pubDate":"Wed, 27 Jan 2010 20:36:23 GMT","title":"IT IS HERE.","author":"pyrefly","link":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/205063.html","description":"
    \"It<\/a><\/center>
    Hell yes. ♥","comments":"https:\/\/pyrefly.livejournal.com\/205063.html?view=comments#comments","category":["gaming adventures","piktoors"]}]}}