I’m serious about this issue, it’s bad. Very bad.
Here’s an article by Lifehacker getting into the depth of the stuff, only making it a lot more understandable.
Basically, everything I said in my post, said way better. Hurrah.
[via lifehacker. (obvs)]
Brofist for getting an Icelandic singer to sing for the movie’s soundtrack.
Too legit.
[via io9.]
(aka. America)
A few days ago, the FCC released that they were going to allow corporate sponsorship online. What that basically means, is that if you use more, buy more, play more, or anything more, you pay more. Not you or me directly, maybe, but the content providers and distributors—YouTube, Google, Yahoo—and that’s not even going into the smaller digital content websites who rely on having efficient access to their content in order for them to profit from it.
This means that Internet Service Providers now have the power to limit, censor or block any content that they feel isn’t what they want being sent down their lines, so they can allocate their bandwidth allowances the highest payers, so they (the content guys) can get their shit sent faster down the line to the front end; the consumer.
Huffington Post—I know, it’s not the best source, but I’m gonna go ahead and jump on this bandwagon, if only for the moment—stated the three reasons why this is pretty much bullshit, and you can get the link right here to read more up on it, cause my voice is reason is probably not the best to follow, but don’t let that stop you from hearing me out.
Huff Post is really adamant about the ‘we demand free, equal internet you capitalist bastards’ and I’m not really opposed to that kind of mindset. To me, breaking it down into its bare bones reveals one thing—the big guys are taking advantage of the little guys, and leaving them in the dust. Where have we seen that before?
Oh yeah. All the fucking time.
But it’s different here, at least I think so. I’m not Internet economics expert, or a guru on Net Neutrality, hell the term is confusing as it is, but I know for a fact that the Internet is one big fucking thing, and the adverse effects of this move, while not apparent now, will be apparent later.
Very, very apparent.
My guess is a lot of lag, a lot of unavailable websites, and hell, we’ll probably end up paying even more for a set amount of bandwidth space we’re allowed to have per month. These are just wild guesses, but I use the Internet a lot, so I’m gonna assume these are realistic scenarios, and ones that will piss me off.
Net Neutrality, as I understand it (not very well), is the concept of data that is sent through the net—text, video, image, anything—should be charged, like a tollbooth, the same rate. The whole debate is a debate on discrimination of data, in that those content providers and distributors that are the main creators and handlers of that data are now going to have big giant painful things stuck up them by the carriers, who handle how that data gets to you and I.
At first, when we get the ‘message’ it really appears that we shouldn’t care, but the carriers like a cab service they’re at the control room, sending out cabs. Some of those cabs are shitty fucking '86 Daewoos, and other ones, that the carrier can afford getting to you because someone else is paying them a shitton, is a Bugatti Veyron and arrives in style.
Fuck that, give everybody an Accord to get them. Shit.
Politically, this is not right wing, but it’s not left wing either, I mean, government control and all, but it’s the wrong type—this isn’t social aid funding or welfare development, this is corporate sector involvement, not to limit big business getting in the way, but freeing it up so they can fuck with our lives.
So, anybody fancy a cup of tea?
All in all, I blame Obama.
No, I’m joking, but it is kind of his fault. The dude hasn’t really done much except be black and talk about shit that he’s gonna do.
And then not do it.
Fuck you, man.
It’s his Christmas present to the digital world, and it’s a day late. Typical.
Nah, he’s a cool guy, but still, I have to put my hands up in the air sometimes, and say:
Like seriously man, the Internet’s gonna die.
It’s gonna die, man!
I don’t want it to die. =(
[via 4chan’s /v/ board originally, but the thread’s gone now, losers.]
Another cross-dimensional confrontation between iconic characters from two very memorable universes? Yes, please.
I have the original Street Fighter 2 from Wii Arcade, and I found out I sucked within thirty seconds of playing it. All I did was choose Dhalism and stretch my arms really far cause it looked hilarious. Now you can do it in here with Super Skrull—though you can obviously tell it was a cheap way to get the Fantastic Four in without putting them in.
I digress, there’s a lot of new faces. New, awesome, stylistic distinctive faces, and they’re all beating the shit out of each other in these episodic trailers. I like how the heroes and villains from each kind of universe (eg. Chris Redfield and Wesker; points for whoever guesses who these guys are from) still have their thematic goals implied in the trailer. NEAT-O, in my opinion.
Also, while I prefer DC over Marvel, these Marvel heroes and villains look incredibly badass, especially Deadpool vs. Dante; ohmygodjizzonscreen-worthy indeed.
Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.
That means I’m excited!
Will I get the game? Probably not. I’ll just watch this enough times that I start dreaming fight sequences. Awesome.
Happy Boxing Day.
Seeing a post from The Witness Report today got me thinking, combined with my recognizing the post from something else.
The way the definition is designed is open-ended for a reason, the French are clever like that. Literally, it translates to ‘staircase wit’, when you leave an argument or exchange and then find something really good to reply back with and look smart, but alas, you’ve left the conversation and you end up really pissed off that you didn’t get to say it during the conversation.
Or, it could mean you’re talking to someone and can’t find any words to express what you’re feeling, and then you leave, and realize everything you couldn’t when you were facing her, or him, and your heart starts aching because you know you’ll never be able to find those words when you’re looking at her or him, and it hurts, probably a lot.
Those damn Frenchies.
At any rate, The Witness Report intrigued me after I read that post from a few days ago, because I saw some article on the internet about those kinds of words—words that have no equivalent ones in the English language; those that are untranslatable.
Everything I said prior relating to the base knowledge of that French phrase I just got from five minutes of Googleing—by no means am I actually knowledgeable in any field related to anything regarding this. But I’m just saying.
It’s pretty cool.
This link provides more examples of untranslatable words from around the world, with languages like German, Portuguese, Eskimo, Scottish, and others. Surprisingly not ‘l’espirt de l’escalier’ but I guess it’s special like that.
At any rate, check out the link. Good way to spend ten minutes on your Christmas Day. I had dinner yesterday, on Christmas Eve. Are we supposed to have Christmas Dinner the night before? My family always does, but we’re not white so I don’t think we’ll be socially reprimanded for doing such if its incorrect. But I always wondered.
Someone enlighten me. I’m now completely on a different path with this post.
Back on track. Untranslatable words. They’re a book on it too, apparently by C.J Moore called 'In Other Words’ that talks all about this language barrier shenanigans. Bet it’s worth the read.
Merry Christmas, kids. Go say something you can’t say in English to your family.
Also, Witness, this is a shoutout to you, Merry Christmas to you!
Bringing it back. You’re welcome.
Thought of You from Ryan J Woodward on Vimeo.
Each time I watch it I interpret it a different way.
Fuck yeah, art.
Also, Merry Christmas.
Who woulda thunk it?
I punched myself for typing that.
I like Star Wars. Adidas likes Star Wars.
Stop everything.
But it’s 8am in the morning on a Monday where it’s finally snowy outside and school is over, so it makes everything okay and if you say otherwise, well then I’m not going to like you very much.
No, I haven’t given up on this blog, I’ve just been busy with life so this little project had to take a seat on the bench while I take care of things that actually mattered in my life—despite this little project being, in reality, pretty important to my development of some sort or another, probably more so creatively than mentally or physically. Saying that, I’m gonna put it out there to anyone who reads this that I probably won’t drop this neat little thing for a while. That’s the good news.
You’d think there’d be bad news after saying something like that, but you’re mistaken and I just pulled your chain and you enjoyed it because I said so, I don’t know why I’m so hostile right now I’m actually enjoying my day so far.
So I’m gonna change things up a bit, and set a different tone for this post because It’s not going anywhere positive right about now. Let’s start with some questions you might have about my absence.
Where was I?
School. Ryerson University—yeah, I know, but wait—in Radio and Television Arts, so it makes it okay. More on that later.
You couldn’t post in your free time?
I could have, I just didn’t. Deal.
Are you going to make up for the posts you lacked in the last months?
That’s a stupid question, shut up, no I’m not going to.
So that settles that, and I can move on.
I’m throwing the idea in my head right now, but I might start writing again with those little fan-fictiony serialized stories about zombies or Star Wars or whatever pops into my head that I feel I should write about. Those might make a comeback, or I might develop newer stories and post them on here, adding to the piling writing cue I have set up for me, which really isn’t a healthy thing to have, I think.
Despite that possibility, I have a month free to decide what I’m going to do, which is a perk of being in a ‘university’ program.
If you know me, I’m a man of my word.
If you actually know me, you know that’s a lie.
At any rate, if I say ‘stay tuned on the blog for more posts’ I hope that you actually will follow through with that, because that’s what life is all about. The follow-through.
Or something.
Well, here’s a list so I can stop making things up as I go along.
Are you excited? (Y/Y)
I don’t want to say I’m back, cause that’s cheesy.
But I’m back.
A good camera + a good cameraman + a good post-rock band + a really damn good setting = a clear, specific atmosphere, and a very eerie feeling.
Who says stories need words, characters, or even a plot?
Guess what?! George Lucas is bored! You know what that means?
I know what it sounds like, but apparently it’s not set any time near the end of Return of the Jedi, which is ultimately a good thing. One, because that gap’s already been filled by the Expanded Universe that Lucas has left open to piles of writers to get their greasy hands on, and two, because its what everyone expects.
And while George Lucas is the maestro he is, the dude’s pretty pompous jerk. And this cow is a pretty fat one, and Lucas already has his eyes set on the milk. The billions of dollars of milk that would be extracted from this rumoured trilogy.
Still, it’s rumours. But the concept of a super-future version of Star Wars? Count me in. If you’re already a fan, why not, right? Little more lightsaber combat won’t hurt.
In the meantime, you got a 3D television series, an upcoming video game sequel to a previous video game, countless assloads of comic books, countless more assloads of paperback novels, compilations, omnibuses, universe guides, and other handy-dandy Star Wars fan food we get to occupy ourselves with.
Plus, that article tells of a live-action show. I have no idea what they’re talking about.
But it sounds juicy.
George, you’re never going to stop, are you?
Haven’t played a computer game in a month, my blood is turning black.
I forgot if I posted these a while ago, but god damn, these are awesome. Makes me want to do better in animation, but I know for a fact that this kind of talent is impossible to achieve. Take a look.
BOOK DIS ROTOSCOPING YO.
So, shut up and I’ll like you more, k?
[via. The Witness Report]
By the way, I’m compensating for the extreme lack of free-for-all blogging I miss so dearly; hence the enormous intake of random posts.
UGH, WANT.
Not even an iPhone, just the damn skins. And who doesn’t want a Boomer plushie?
One step at a time, though I did star with this shirt today:
[teefury]
I shall rock with this with the utmost badassery (once it ships in).
This blog has purpose! It hasn’t turned into my fanfiction showcase, I promise.
So, the progress of The Thing prequel’s been pretty sketchy for over a year now, and io9 tells me that it’s finally got some clarity to all the hubbub about when its going to release and how it’s going to be.
io9 reports that The Thing’s tagline has been changed—I don’t know what from, because I wasn’t following the development really at all (I’m a hack)—but it’s okay, because the new one is:
“Before it was unleashed, it was discovered.”
Does this have any weight to my opinion on the film so far? Nah.
Cool tagline though.
Seeing as The Thing is my favourite movie of all time, there’s no reason why I won’t be excited. Mary Elizabeth Winstead in a leading role? Eh, why not. Apparently most of the film will be in Norwegian too. Should I be worried? No, since I’ll enjoy it no matter the quality of the film. As long as I get to see a sequel.
But if I see any super 3-D computerized lame-o gore effects, I will rage. Nothing will ever beat fake blood, latex moulds, and mechanical puppeteering. Nothing.
Also, a date. April 22, 2011. Mark it down!
Or the head-spider will find you.
And we don’t want that, now, do we?
Really, this has become my only consistent television update, but whatever.
Dexter’s back, Glee’s back, Community’s back (I’ve missed the first two episodes, sadface).
But The Walking Dead is yet to come, and you bet your ass I will not being handing out, or receiving any candy on Halloween night because that series premiere will not be missed. By God, if I do, I am taking this blog down. I can’t handle the shame.
So, without further delay, here is the newest trailer;
[via Techland.]
As the article Techland wrote has already stated, the series is going to shy away from the default, every-day high adrenaline and fast-paced gory goodness of a regular cinematic or televised zombie experience. Instead, to stay true to the comics, The Walking Dead is going to go the sophisticated path and focus on the drama and the characters of the story.
Applause, because that’s what The Walking Dead is about anyways. And the producers of the show know a lot of about drama, and a lot about action, and once again I needlessly say my complete faith in their ability to adapt the graphic novel in a thematically honest, and visually compelling manner.
When you see those other failed undead-themed series a few years back; there was one specific one I forgot the name of (go figure), I have to notice that the hype this show is getting is really legitimate. I mean, it’s channel is AMC, and that alone gives it automatic credibility, and the graphic novel its adapting is already renowned in its medium. Really, what can go wrong? The worst I get is a zombie television show—that ain’t a bad deal at all.
Saying that, this series will still be fucking awesome despite a measly six episodes, but the second season’s already been greenlit, which makes me happy inside.
Michonne, I await your brutal, psychopathic arrival.
Get your machetes out people, the zombies are coming back, and coming fast.
Jedi Knight Zuyria. A long-time friend of Master Qui-li, she was the original apprentice of Qui-li's master. Strangely, she stuck with her position as a Knight, more willing to take orders from a trusted individual than to be stressed under a superior position. Humble and extremely diplomatic, she is often one who reaches agreements through persuasion (not of the Force). Apart from her demeanour, her skills lie in flying, becoming known throughout the Order as a prominent Jedi Ace.
Legacy (Part 3) - Jedi Master Shi'yi Qui-li
Dedicated to some friends of mine.
Jedi Knight Zee Baohe was Qui'li's first, and former apprentice, fresh out of a Knighting Ceremony, and still is getting used to not calling her 'Master' out of habit. A reliable one, but still acts like an adolescent. He is one of the most technically adept members of the Jedi Order. Already possessing the practical skills, it was Qui-li who was tasked with teaching him about loyalty and connecting with the Force as an entity, not a tool. While he maintains his light-hearted demeanour, when there's a mission, he's on it with the fullest dedication and determination.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Legacy (Part 2) - Jedi Master Shi'yi Qui-li
Two decades after the Second Galactic Civil War, the Galaxy and its inhabitants, at least for now, know peace that hasn't been seen since the fall of the Galactic Empire. The scars from the devastation these wars caused remains thoughout; entire planets wiped of life, immigrants displaced into overpopulation, and both the New Jedi Order and the Galactic Alliance thinned out of recruits.
As the beings of the Galaxy take the chance to recover from the warring, the New Jedi Order adapts its promise to the Galaxy; stop the forces of the Dark Side at their roots. With that in mind, the New Order scatters its best trained to the far reaches of the Galaxy, finding and stopping those who wish to conquer, destroy, and enslave. Even the smallest conflicts in the farthest systems are the Jedi’s top priority.
Guided by the light of the Force, the Order’s mission to prevent another Sith resurgence or a foreign invader from arriving is in the hands of each of these Jedi Masters, Knights, and Apprentices, together as one entity, to defeat those who still follow and revel in the path to chaos, darkness, and destruction.
------------------------------------------------------------
Jedi Master Shi’yi Qui-li is a seasoned warrior; despite the stability of peace in the decades after the last Civil War, she is still sent out to quell local conflicts—in galactic terms, that meant interplanetary wars, and invaders from other systems. To moderate the constant setting of battle, Qui-li spends her time in the archives, reading of her former master’s journeys, something she has done ever since his death years ago. Now, Qui-li has her own recently knighted apprentice, and knows that the tasks of a Master extend far beyond one’s own convictions.
When she is told of the conflict on Oncat, her master’s last known whereabouts, she discovers truths that risk compromising her mission on the planet: to finish what her master started. She must act as Liaison to the Oncati ruler, Princess Monka, the daughter of the King that Shi’yi’s master fought alongside in the early stages of the Oncati resistance. Facing a growing Nakireman expansionist force, and finding themselves on the brink of the next major offensive, the combined forces of the Jedi and the Oncati must save their planet and its people before time runs out.
It’s a documentary from CBC News’ The Passionate Eye about a 4th Grade Class in Japan, taught by an old man who thinks there’s more important things to teach than math and language.
I think that makes him a damn good teacher. Enjoy.
Yes, this is Star Wars fanfiction. No, I have not planned much of this out yet.
There will be a lot of stories, that much is for sure. I'm released prologues, or companion stories, introducing the characters that the main storyline will reveal. Some will be in the form of narrative, while others may be epistolary or in-universe format.
This is an extended universe, so I'll assume I have some creative liberties on making up planets, systems and species. Galaxy's big, so I can do I what I want.
No, I'm not going to join a Star Wars fanfiction community.
Yes, I am a loser. Deal with it.
-------------------------------------------
Two decades after the Yuuzhan Vong War, and the Galactic Civil War that followed, the Galaxy and its inhabitants, at least for now, know peace that hasn't been seen since the fall of the Galactic Empire. The scars from the devastation these wars caused remains thoughout; entire planets wiped of life, immigrants displaced into overpopulation, and both the New Jedi Order and the Galactic Alliance thinned out of recruits.
As the beings of the Galaxy take the chance to recover from the warring, the New Jedi Order adapts its promise to the Galaxy; stop the forces of the Dark Side at their roots. With that in mind, the New Order scatters its best trained to the far reaches of the Galaxy, finding and stopping those who wish to conquer, destroy, and enslave. Even the smallest conflicts in the farthest systems are the Jedi’s top priority.
Guided by the light of the Force, the Order’s mission to prevent another Sith resurgence or a foreign invader from arriving is in the hands of each of these Jedi Masters, Knights, and Apprentices, together as one entity, to defeat those who still follow and revel in the path to chaos, darkness, and destruction.
Ash Nelachi is one such master, and the Black Star is one such presence. Locked in battle on the moon Texus 3, the combined efforts of the Jedi and the Alliance fight to prevent a key relay point from being captured by the Black Star, whose efforts lie in restoring the glory of the Galactic Empire they once were a part of.
It’s called a Mega Trailer. Isn’t it the greatest?
I haven’t watched the first two seasons. Maybe I should start.
Starts tomorrow. I will not miss it, and by that I mean I may or may not miss it.
TV, is that you? I haven’t seen you for a long time.
My friend once said ‘In three words I sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on. We owe it to ourselves to make our days count. Keep living.’
She’s right. Life does go on, and you do have to make your days count. I haven’t really grasped the concept of moving on. Changing myself because everything around me is changing too. Am I afraid?
Maybe.
Am I ready? I don’t know. That’s the only real answer I have right now to any questions I ask myself considering my future; the years ahead and how tough or enjoyable they may be. I just don’t know, and its a painful thing to tell myself, but I don’t see another one popping up.
You tell yourself, ‘stop thinking so much’, ‘stop being so sentimental,’ just focus on the ‘positives.’ I wish that in some way, being emotionally distant to those I care about will make it any easier to change. To grow up. It’s all part of the process though. Always has been, always will be. It’s almost a universal truth, and at least that I do know.
So if I say we should stop thinking so much, I’m lying. Keep thinking. Continue to ask questions, because how the hell else are you going to find answers? It may take a couple months, couple years. It may be still taking time to find out what they are, but we find them. And then, you have nothing else to do but to ask another one.
And I guess that’s how you start changing.
Sentimentality is a bitch. But its a necessary one. Can I blame you for holding onto as many feelings as you possibly can?
No, I can’t. It’s not my place. I hold on to them too, because I’m scared. Not about losing them, but wondering what they’ll do to me. It’s counter-intuitive and stupid, but you don’t let those kinds of things go. You just don’t.
It’s the same with people, but unfortunately they aren’t distant memories in your mind, they’re personalities. Experiences. Support. They’re friends that you’ve done more than you can fathom with, and suddenly they go away. With a snap. Blink and they’re gone. And now they are what you wanted them to be, a memory, because that way, you can hold on to them.
When it hits you, it hits you though.
So, was I ready?
No. Not one bit. I can expect more of it to come though. What should I do? Brace myself? What with. Try to maintain the connection I’ve taken for granted for whatever number of years and savour its last days? No, I think I’m done with that too.
I’ve lost enough connections to see its uselessness.
So this is where my friend is right; life does go on, with or without you.
Are you going to catch up? Or stay in one place until before long everyone and everything has gone up ahead?
What you do is you deal with it. Take the pain, stop sulking, and deal with it. Life is unfair, you’re going to take bullshit from an endless amount of people, events, and circumstances. Things will look bleak, meaningless, and unimportant. Hell, you’ll feel unimportant. More so they you probably already do. You know why?
Cause that’s life. Fight it or run with it.
And you can take as many memories, feelings, sentiments and experiences with you.
When those people eventually leave, there are ways to keep them alongside you. When life beats you down, takes your wallet, and leaves you for dead, close your eyes and remember.
Why you’re running in the first place, trying to catch up. Why they left, you stayed, and nothing seems right. Why you can’t bring what you once were back to the surface, because its long gone. Why you changed.
By now, you’ve figured out the answers.
So open your eyes and ask, 'Any more questions?'
Read Wasted (Part 1) Here.
----------------------------------------
Run.
The three letter word that had been fixed in Yan’s ears ever since his childhood, ever since the First Event, ever since he knew how to think and move, talk and breathe. It was the only word that never failed him, and the only word he knew he could rely on.
It was the only thing Yan knew how to do, and soon it became the only thing he did.
He remembered the explosion, the scorching heat that blew his hair back and closed his eyes shut. Through the blazing heat that he could almost hear burning everyone and everything around him, he heard his mother yell with a thundering voice.
“Run.”
So he did. He ran as far away as possible. He turned his back on his people, his family, and his past. Yan’s eyes never opened after that explosion. He didn’t see where he was running—he didn’t know.
“Yan.”
He looked at Melanie, who had stopped the car on the side of the deserted road. He looked out the windshield, and a decaying corpse was a few feet in front of them. The flies buzzed around it and a few landed on the windshield and scattered around. Yan put a finger on the other side of the windshield, and the fly stopped.
“Yan!”
Melanie’s voice was muffled under a gas mask. She had opened her door and put it on, and was now staring at Yan as his trance with the fly was broken by her voice.
“Get out. We must clear the body off the road.”
“Yeah.”
Melanie had not spoken to Yan the three hours they had driven down the isolated two-way road. She had sneezed a few times; that made Yan smile but he hid it by continuing to look at the farmland as they drove past. Above the hilly terrain rose pillars of black and grey smoke from as far as Yan could see. His eyes glazed over as he thought about the piles of burning corpses. Reading their faces, expressions—trying to examine their last words, thoughts, feelings. Yan had a tendency to do that, in a past life. A life he ran away from.
A life Melanie was bringing him back to. Who is this girl? Yan knew of molecular biologists, even European ones, but one this young was strange. She was at most 25. Yan himself was only 28, and he had never finished university. The First Event occurred too soon for him to graduate, as the university was disintegrated, along with everything else.
Did she survive it? Like me? Yan’s eyes regained their focus and he passed one final pillar of smoke, this time he could see where it was coming from. Another corpse pile, bigger than any he had ever seen. Even from the road and speeding past it in the car, Yan could see the faces. He could see the pasts that were lived, the futures unlived, feelings and thoughts. Cries. Yan buried his head in his hands once again, and began slowly rocking back and forth in his seat.
Melanie looked at him. But before she could say anything, she saw the sign.
‘Welcome to New California. Population, 45 million.’
“Non plus.”
Three hours later, Yan was slowly out of his seat and opening the door, leaving the flies on the windshield.
“Gas mask.”
“I don’t need one,” Yan said with a dead voice.
They both approached the corpse cautiously. Melanie had her crossbow extended, aiming it straight at the corpse’s head. Yan paused six inches from the head. He bent down, and immediately, he could feel it.
“Marauders?” Melanie asked.
“No.” Yan stood up. “Something else.”
Melanie put down her crossbow and stared into Yan’s eyes.
“Not Gassers either. They wouldn’t leave it here.”
Melanie looked around the surrounding land. The hills seemed pitch-black, and the scarce trees fluttered their leaves in the wind.
“Quick. Before Ferals come,” Melanie said, shouldering her crossbow.
Yan complied and took the hind legs of the creature as Melanie took the front. Slowly, they dragged the creature, which weighed at least five hundred pounds, slowly closer to the edge of the road. The pace was stressful. Each fluttering of leaves, cricket chirp and gust of night wind made Yan sweat and dart his eyes in every direction. He looked towards Melanie, who was doing the exact same thing.
“Get in the car, hurry,” she said. Yan dropped the legs and jogged towards the car.
“Shit. Door’s locked. Keys?”
Melanie walked towards Yan and he saw the blood trial lead towards the side of the road behind her. She threw him the keys.
“Wait. When’d the corpse start bleed—”
Yan closed his eyes as he heard, and almost felt, the impact of the Feral against Melanie’s torso. The two hit the ground hard and Yan opened his eyes to find Melanie grappling with the Feral’s jaw, her fingers in between the Feral’s teeth. Yan saw the teeth. He almost lost it.
“Merde! Yan! Get—”
She couldn’t say anymore as the Feral was pushing her mouth down with its free claw. The other one was being held back by her boot. A muffled scream as Melanie was stuck holding the Feral’s jaws open, as the claw of it was slowly moving from her mouth down towards her neck.
Straining against the claw, she uttered, “Run!”
Yan loosened his grip on the keys, which were now bloodstained from the cut Yan gave himself, holding on to them as tight as he did. Swiftly, unlocked the door and put the keys in the ignition. Melanie got her boot on the Feral’s shoulder, and grunted as she pushed it off her with as much force as possible. She scrambled for the crossbow, which wasn’t anywhere to be found. Yan was panicking as the engine slowly churned into a rumble. The headlights were brighter than the sun. Melanie squinted, and the Feral’s eyes seemed to scorch with the headlights pointed right at it. It yelped as two arrows penetrated its gut and chest. The Feral shuffled back, but the impact stopped its petrified gaze into the car’s lights. It looked straight at Melanie who was shaking with the crossbow in her arms. Yan knew that look. She wouldn’t shoot. She couldn’t. Not with what she was staring at.
The Feral croaked its head up towards the sky, and inhaled despite the puncture in its lung filling it with fluid.
Yan thought fast. He pushed down the emergency brake. Switched into gear. And slammed on the gas. The Feral’s call was cut short by the front of Melanie’s car shattering both its legs, crushing its ribs, and finally smashing its head against the hard road. The car’s screeching stopped right beside Melanie, who was as frozen as Yan had been moments before.
“I’ll drive,” Yan said. The night was silent once again.
“Yes…” Melanie grabbed her head and entered the passenger door. She stared blankly at the dashboard as she sank into the seat.
He looked at her, and could tell.
“Don’t worry.”
“What…” She trailed off before she could finish the question.
Yan pressed down the gas pedal and began cruising down the road.
“It gets easier.”
She started laughing, sunken in her seat. Yan looked at her, confused. Laughing turned to cackling.
Cackling seamlessly melded into gasps for air, and tears rolling down her eyes.
Yan slowed down and looked down to see her face, almost limply hanging down from her neck. She heaved once to suck in some air.
Crap.
“Eh.” He lifted his right arm and patted her on the back. He held it there. Suddenly, he thought he might as well, and tried to awkwardly embrace her across the barrier between seats. She sank into his chest as much as she could, and he could feel the warmth of her face and the tears from her eyes on his shirt. He started stroking her hair, which felt softer than anything he had touched in days, maybe weeks. The car’s rumble lulled them as neither of them moved, and her sobs turned quieter, and her chest ceased heaving.
She sniffled.
“We’re not gonna die.”
Yan looked out the windshield, at the full Moon. Something croaked in his throat.
“We’re not.”
‘Last Mind Standing: Killbook of a Bounty Hunter’ gets a movie deal.
I approve.
[via io9]
Does anyone want to send me a copy of his upcoming illustrated book?
How many geeky blog posts do I have to do to make you understand I would KILL PUPPIES FOR THIS THING.
Okay, maybe not. But I’d do something drastic. Like start a Free Hugs Campaign.
Or something.
So am I excited?
You tell me.
I think I’ve found the answer.
If you’re too lazy to click the link, here’s some crumbs to lead you down that path.
He’s done art for the comic book, gaming, and film industry. He’s created dozens of characters. His art looks amazing. He is a digital art god.
He has a graphic novelcoming out, Last Man Standing, showcasing characters such as above who all look equally and uniquely as awesome. I mean, a Guitar Super Rifle (with Daft Punk & Run DMC stickers)? An Ex-Afroclad Rapper with his pet snake and Monkey?
Please.
Not checking this guy out is like slapping everything cool that has ever existed in the face.
-------------------------------------
PS. I've discovered that Dan LuVisi is behind a certain concept art created last year about a certain novel depicting a certain worldwide war against a certain undead, devouring, relentless enemy. In epistolary form. Certainly.
Mmmm. Concept art.
We’ll call it, ‘The Weiner.’
[via. dailywhat]
In all seriousness,
He seems like an earnest politician. Truly, I don’t think you can disagree that the point he makes is a sound one. And his point against the Republican Party is valid.
American politics, you never cease to amuse me.
Profound, minor heart-healing event of the day for me came when I checked up on the Official Team Fortress 2 Wiki, after I hadn’t visited for a while.
Right when I got there, this giant banner was on the front page:
I didn’t read the subtext, and only saw an smiling engineer tipping his hat to me, and the text ‘Destroy a wrench.’ So, curiosity got me, and I clicked.
Now a bit of backstory with Team Fortress 2. For those of you who don’t know, VALVe Software, creators of TF2, has always been a community-oriented game developer. Since their beginnings with the original PC Game, Half-Life, the player base on which VALVe has built an increasingly strong workforce has shown consistent dedication to the wants and requests of the community. Often, the people at VALVe adopt fan-favourite modifications (mods), or specific types of gameplay modes developed by gamers themselves within the game engine, as improved stand-alone games.
One mod, called Team Fortress from the game Quake, got interest from the managers of VALVe, who hired the modders as part of their team to create that stand-alone game, called Team Fortress Classic.
Old school and hardly remembered, it was the predecessor of the now popular PC game that is Team Fortress 2, released almost a decade later.
History brief over. Take a breather, you disinterested chump.
The point is, VALVe is one of the rare game developers out there who not only listen to their fanbase, but depend on them to shape their future products, plans, and direction to go towards. At least, from the three years I’ve played TF2, that’s the feeling I got.
That kind of mindset and company philosophy got embodied within the confines of Team Fortress 2 through the numerous ‘major updates’ released. The introduction of unlockable weapons, achievements, new maps, the dropping & crafting systems etc. The feedback was mixed, and so VALVe enacted changes. They also decided to theme them towards ‘class updates.’ In Team Fortress 2 there are nine playable classes, all with distinct and differing roles and responsibilities in-game.
The Golden Wrenches, to speak in layman’s terms, were the equivalent of the Crystal Skulls, a hidden Wikileaks Video, or the missing Eighth Wonder of the World. Within the Team Fortress 2 community, they were the idols of the TF2 universe, for an extremely condensed amount of time. As VALVe released through their blog, they introduced this new item as something to marvel at, cower under those who obtained it, and worship until the day of the update. It was Zeus' thunder, God’s hand, and VALVe’s newest method in immersing their fanbase.
Believe me, I saw its effects. I had played my fair share of TF2, and I saw some wrenches drop. They were mysterious to me, something almost forbidden to my knowledge. I didn’t know of what it could do. Then I witnessed it.
Those who wielded the golden wrenches turned their enemies into frozen statues of gold, frozen in their last motion. It looked fun as hell, and by God, I wanted one.
But they went quickly, as I played, a cross-server announcement would released immediately after another wrench was randomly found somewhere across the network of servers and thousands of players. They had gone quickly.
And the Team Fortress 2 community, as with any, was not happy that some were getting more than others. It seemed the entire goal of the Golden Wrenches—to mark the coming of the last, true, ‘Class Update’, had been skewed by the player base that VALVe devotes its entire existence to. Like past events, the community was torn. The Wrench wielders were given bad community press by those who were bitter. A vocal minority, thankfully, but it struck home to the Wrench wielders. They were nothing but lucky, who could blame them for that? More importantly, who could they blame for their luck?
The fingers logically point at VALVe, but the community knows better, after various debacles, stirring controversies, and compromises made all around. If one were acquainted with the VALVe player community, you would know about the protests by a now notorious player community that had members spearheading boycotts for Left 4 Dead 2, without any knowledge of its quality of gameplay, before its release, the various update releases of TF2, facing protest blockades by outraged community members—specifically the drop system and crafting system, drawing comparisons to turning Team Fortress into a dreaded MMORPG.
Still, frantic community members obsessed with obtained the Golden Wrench crafted their entire backpacks of unlockables, leaving no duplicates for gameplay use, in a futile attempt to once again, cheat the system and beat VALVe at the game they’re trying to encourage you to play.
No one is better at Team Fortress 2 than VALVe, I’ll say that much.
The damage was done, and easily forgotten. The 100th Wrench had dropped, the update released, and the new unlockables enjoyed my masses of TF2ers. The Golden Wrench was an afterthought. Those who had it enjoyed it, and those who didn’t spoke little of it anymore, as like babies attuned to being handed a new rattle or pacifier, they were now occupied with something else.
That is until this banner showed up.
It linked to this site, about a lone Wrench Wielder who decided his luck was too much to the expense of his fellow players. He decided that, to maintain an inner respect for himself as a TF2 player, the Wrench must be destroyed, as he thought it brought too much mental stress, bad emotions, and misplaced rage to be a good thing.
I won’t go much into it, because I want you to read the site for yourself, now that I’ve given you the necessary information to absorb it with. It truly is an altruistic notion.
I think he plays Medic a lot, other than Engineer.
His name is WiNGSPANTT, and he is destroying his Wrench, #31, for charity.
No, not an in-game charity, like MMORPG’s guild halls, vendors, and for all I know, gentleman’s clubs, this was an actual charity, called Child’s Play.
A charity known in the gaming world as the people responsible for giving the gift of gaming to hospitalized children in hopes to make their stays more than hospitable, but just a bit more enjoyable. It’s a charity that works alongside some of the biggest names in the gaming industry, and as well, much like VALVe, works alongside the gamers themselves, like WiNGSPANTT.
A guy who’s taken the initiative to bridge the gap between reality and the game to make a difference. Out of all the chaos of the last class update, Child’s Play has partnered with WiNGSPANTT and the Team Fortress 2 VALVe team to give awareness to his cause.
Sacrifice a wrench, donate some money, and make a kid smile.
Who knew? The community was giving back. Giving back something real, I might add, which is rare in a virtual gaming community.
To me, this is a cause and effect case study. I’ve said previously VALVe is a community-based developer, they do things for their community in order to better their experiences playing a game VALVe made. They do it more so than most other developers.
Maybe, in some sort of space-time rift anomaly, it occurred to a community member, maybe several, maybe even most of them, that this could work both ways. Some might say I’m reading too much into it, and its just another nice guy who plays his favourite game trying to do something good for people, which in itself, is a hopeful thing.
But the fact that it spread from something normally filled with animosity, and given the emotional history of the dedicated community’s behaviour towards the developer that gives them a lot more than, dare I say, deserve—it’s still surprising to me.
A pleasant one at that. I was getting tired of the constant whining of gamers who didn’t want this weapon buff, or were pissed this one was taken away. Why was the Pyro given more DPS? How come the Heavy unlock does so little damage? These aren’t side-grades, their upgrades! I’ll admit, I haven’t been totally in tune with VALVe’s changes, but I had no right, personally, to call out on any bullshit that was going on, because I knew there wasn’t any.
I wanted to say, loud enough so the edges of the internet could hear me, ‘Just play the damn game!’ That’s all VALVe wants you to do. And when you get bored doing that, you have something to play for—achievements, unlocks, clan matches.
The beauty of fully online games is the community it produces. That’s why they are among the strongest gaming communities out of them all. People assemble naturally for a common goal, and that’s true outside of gaming too.
It’s more prevalent in real life, sure, but what about this?
Using the virtual world to benefit the actual one?
I’ll be damned if I ever would have guessed.
WiNGSPANTT has made almost $4,000 dollars in the combined efforts of the community and Child’s Play. If you can’t help out, spread the word to others for the sake of giving a good name to the gaming world, and making someone feel all tingly inside.
