The Gift of the Galliard

Icon says it all!

2009-07-28T19:02:42Z

OH HELLS YEAH!!

I am now the proud owner of a WACOM Intuos 4! Today's new LJ-Icon is my first official published work with it! Snag it freely but plz to be givin' me credit, thankee. Also I feel a need to thank the people over at www.myspacegens.com/handler.php for make such an awesomely free, easy to use Animated GIF generator. There's lots and lots o stuff I am still newbish at, but their program made creating this ridiculously simple for me.

So now, combined with some new software that came with said tablet, Nick and I going to go to town with our art practice. Happy Dance and more EPIC SQEEEEEEEE!!!!! We will surface later with new pictures on DeviantArt. Links will be posted when we're ready to unveil our terrifying projects, muwahahaha!!!

Ooooooooooooooh... SHINY!!!

2009-02-11T16:46:46Z

!!!! ATTENTION ALL BOOK-GEEKS WITH THE SLIGHTEST INTEREST IN TECHNOLOGY!!!

Holy Shoes!!! I just found the most Awesomesauced thing for people like us EVAR!!!!

Kindle 2

Check it out NOW!!! That's an ORDER!!!

By the by? This is sooooooooooooooooooooooooo very on my wishlist of geekery. This goes right up there with the WACOM Cintiq 21ux

<Hangs head in shame> Mai tastes... they bees expeeeeeeeeeeeensive!!

Ms. Meyer, put down the keyboard and step away....

2008-10-20T18:41:21Z

Today I was reading xlormp's new parody of the second book in the Twilight series. Her parody of the first book was made of win and awesomesauce, and this new one is gearing up to be equally hilarious. So I'm reading and giggling along, and then suddenly, the next several chapters consist of just one word (in this case the name of a place), then the story got back on track. Now the use of places as titles was explained well within the context of the story, but a couple of us who follow this blog have never actually read the Twilight Books, so we were a little confused about what this was referencing.

Then a helpful fellow reader explained:

"They're mimicking the thing that Smeyer ~~used it to avoid writing hard stuff~~ did in the second twilight book after Edward left Bella and she couldn't cope so all it was, was chapters saying "January, February, March... etc etc..."

-nightfalltwen

And I promptly died a little inside. This is what I wrote back when I recovered:

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

You. Must. Be. Kidding.

PLEASE TELL ME YOU'RE KIDDING!!!

This is the way modern literature ends,

not with a plot,

but a calendar.

WTF?!! Wibble.

I'm all for creative expression here people but... this... this is... Nevermind, there are no words for this. The ONLY saving grace is that because this drivel exists, xlormp can continue to write amazingly fun and fabulously amusing parodies. But dear gods it's positively terrifying to think how popular the source material is. [hides from the crazy people]

All that said, I will be going to see the movie when it comes out, with graphiteslog. We are going to MST3K the hell out of it! Before that time, I have to try and get her to read the parody, so she can get some of the jokes I know I'm gonna be making. It would absolutely freakin' rule if the movie turns out to be crappy enough to earn itself a place on the real MST3K.

giftofgalliard @ 2008-10-09T00:35:00

2008-10-09T04:48:18Z

Ok so I did it. I clicked a link at hearts_blood's blog and became infected. Yes I caught a virus. Oh stop worrying, your files and address book are safe, your computer will not be hijacked. It's your brain you should be worried about. Why? Well, I'll tell you. But don't say you weren't warned.

Your challenge is to write crossover fanfiction combining The Matrix and Star Fox.
The story should use a character dying two days before they were going to retire as a plot device!

Generated by the Terrible Crossover Fanfiction Idea Generator

See I told you. Now, just because I'm feeling devious and evil....

See the little red link?

Don't ever, under any circumstances, click the little red link.

BUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

The unholy idea has been placed in your mind! Resistance is futile!

And speaking of unholy ideas, the one spawned by my visit to the little red link will be forthcoming shortly.

The Game of Love: A Gamer-Geek's Fairy Tale*

2008-09-23T15:34:33Z

It was October 2000, and I worked at KB Toys as a sales associate. Being a geek and a tom-boy, whenever a mom came in spouting something about needing this action figure or that game, the 30-and-40 something managers would always direct them to me, because I knew this stuff. It also meant I was the one who kept the games in order when we got a shipment in. I had fun with it and life was good.

One day in walks this guy, who I guess to be somewhat older than myself, asking for a copy of Master of Orion II, a PC game I was unfamiliar with at the time**. I had just done a rearrangement of the shelves, and hadn't seen it, but then again, I wasn't looking for it. I said as much to him, and bid him go over the shelf himself. He didn't find it, and started asking me about console games instead.

Right away I recognized the titles he'd asked about as RPGs, which were and still are, among my favorite genres. So we started talking about games, a conversation that lasted a good 20-30 minutes, during which he demonstrated himself to be exceedingly understanding and polite as he shuffled aside for other customers, waiting for them to go before picking our thread back up again. We also learned that we lived about ten minutes from each other, and enjoyed many of the same types of games. Sometime during this, he glanced down at his watch and realized he was going to be late for his haircut appointment if he didn't leave soon. But he asked me if I'd like to hang out after I got out of work.

"Sure, I'd love to. I get out a 5:30... Oh shoot, well it'll have to be a short hang out, cuz the bus that takes me home gets here at 6:00."

"Ah, well that's okay."

"However..." I started tenatively, "Since you live so close, would you um... mind terribly taking me home?" I was only hesitant because I didn't want to impose too much on the first meeting.

He looked a little shocked at first, and I was afraid I'd blown it, but then he said, "Yeah, sure... I can do that. We'll swing by my place and pick up some games first."

"Cool! And thank you! See you in a bit!"

"Yeah, meet me in the Food Court," he instructed as he walked out.

"Will do!"

After work, I went down to the Food Court to meet my new friend. We wandered for a little bit, and he introduced me to the role-playing section of the bookstore. My parents had been brainwashed by the media into believing that D&D would turn me into some sort of mass murdering zombie, much to my infinite annoyance and constant arguing to the contrary. That said, to be around a real D&D geek was a dream come true for me.

After an hour or so, we decided to head back to his place to pick up the games he'd mentioned, and I also got to meet his mom briefly. Then it was off to my house. During that trip I learned that he was also a computer guru, and I was further fascinated. He went on for about ten minutes about hardware and how it works, then realized I hadn't said anything the whole time, and became rather sheepish.

"Oh, uh.... I'm probably boring you to death aren't I? Sorry."

I laughed, "Not at all! I'm learning... keep talking."

"Really?! Okay..." back to the techie diatribe he went.

When we got to my place, I introduced him to my grandmother, who lived with my folks, and my younger brother. They both properly assessed each other as cool, and the rest of the evening saw the three of us eating pizza, drinking Coke, and playing video games until about 11:30.

When he did pack up to go, I walked him out to his car. We decided we'd have to have more of these gaming sessions in the future, and made a plan for the next weekend.

And the one after that...

And the one after that....

And by mid December we decided it was time to start being more than friends. He took me to his company Christmas party, and afterwards to see the Dungeons and Dragons movie. That was our first date.

Now it's 2008 and we're still together, still very much in love, still gaming (a tour de force in any cooperative game), still geeking (His and Hers computers, both self-built). And all of it because he wanted to buy a video game. I love you arclayn.

*Author's Note: This is a true story, as many of you who know me personally are aware. I wrote this in response to a report I saw on The Escapist: www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_168/5275-The-New-Social-Lubricant

**Author's Note: I have since become acquainted with the awesomeness that is MOO II.

Gary Gygax: The man who needed an editor.

2008-09-01T01:34:14Z

So as many of you know, arclayn and I are avid gamers, both video games and role-playing. And we both have incredible respect for the roots of those hobbies. However, every now and then, in even the most devoted and filial fan, there comes a point where you are reminded exactly why the game in question developed beyond those roots. At some point, Shigeru Miyamoto realized that a limited number of continues was a headache for Super Mario Bros. players, and that rule was scrapped. And the players rejoiced. Likewise, should AD&D rp-ers thank the cosmos that Ed Greenwood and Co, took over writing the manuals for Dungeons & Dragons, because while Gary Gygax may have started the thing, the man couldn't write to save himself, nor his unfortunate players.

Now, Gary Gygax, (may he rest peacefully, far from the Plane of Shadows), was without question a singularly brilliant man, who knew an awful lot about a metric crap-ton of topics. He was well equipped mentally to come up with the basis for a very detailed, very complex system of rules that could govern fantasy role-playing. That by no means implies he was equipped with sufficient skills to write it down and publish it as is. There is almost no organization; all three core rule books read from start to finish as if they were his steady stream of consciousness spilling out all over the page, and dripping unpleasantly on to the floor. Sentences go on for...ev...er without a punctuation mark to be had. Huge, unwieldy words, not to be found in anyone's common usage, frequently find themselves shoved up next to each other in rapid succession, making for larger, even more awkward sentences. Tables and charts are referenced, often with absolutely no mention of where they are to be found, and quite often they are not even in the same book. Indexes, Appendices, and the respective Tables of Contents are quite often vague, misleading, incomplete, or all of the above. All this leaves player and Dungeon Master alike scratching their heads, as they are now itching with one burning, all consuming question: "Huh?"

Now, all that having been said, there are very few actual poor ideas to be had in the books. What almost all the flaws in the rules boil down to is that Gary overthought them ad nauseum. It really is possible for something to be too thorough, too meticulous, and that's what happened here. He was trying to make the rules simulate real physics, and life in general down to the very last detail, and I've seen that mistake far, far too often. It is a fantasy role-playing game. Real world details went out the window when you invited dragons into your forests and kobolds into your cellars. Physics took a vacation when you decided that men in sufficiently pointy hats and staves with crystals on the end could shoot little missiles of light out of their fingers that always hit their targets and hurt a lot. It's almost as if Gary forgot he was writing for a game: The idea behind almost any game is to, for a few hours at least, to abandon the confines of the real world, and most importantly to have fun. Had Mr. Gygax made use of an editor, it's quite possible that First Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons would have succeeded in that role for a good many more people.

Ah well... now to go convert my character to 2nd edition. Yes, THAC0 maybe a bit clunky, and it would have been nice if they could have decide universally whether high numbers were good or bad, but at least when I kill a kobold, my DM doesn't have to spend an hour trying to find the proper table to figure out what loot I find on the remains of the yipping beast.

Yay! My pairing has pictures!

2008-07-12T16:39:28Z

So I've been working on my own elemental Operator pairing to fit into the Sapphire & Steel universe.

Drum roll please...

Tada!

Meet Silicon and Quartz!

Ok, so many of you will immediately recognize the handsome dude I've cast in the role of Silicon. He is of course, Christian Bale. However I'll be down right shocked if anyone, anyone at all can name the lovely lady I've decided to use to portray Quartz. I'll give you guys a hint, she's a Celtic singer. That is in fact the reason I chose her, I was positively in lurve with her voice, and when I saw her face matched the concept I had for Quartz, I simply couldn't resist. ~~Anyone except~~ hearts_bloodis allowed to guess at this one. She has an unfair advantage because she helped me find the pic! (After about a week or so I'll post the answer for those inquiring minds who want to know, if nobody's guessed it by then.) Her name is Joanne Hogg and she's the lead singer for the Celtic rock group Iona. However, I learned of her through her work on the Xenogears/Xenosaga Ep. 1 soundtrack. She did 4 songs total between the two games, including the themes for both on the english versions, and they were absolutely beautiful.

Anyway, I'll be posting more about this team as I figure it out and get it written down in a manner that is readable by someone besides myself. As to when they'll be appearing in their own feature... well I have to go back and watch S&S again first. I have an idea of where I'd like them to start out, but I have to check some details first...