Just an LJ

A blanket apology

clanker_the_discworld_fanatic@hotmail.com — Sat, 17 May 2008 14:20:18 GMT

At one point I said some cruel things about people I respect, and now I regret it. Sorry.

Whine whine whine

clanker_the_discworld_fanatic@hotmail.com — Thu, 15 May 2008 14:19:48 GMT

So my Internet connection keeps dropping out for no reason, Windows Movie Maker crashed when I tried to edit off the last couple of seconds of a video I recorded off DOSBox, the words "View Available Wireless Networks" will be embedded into the right hand corner of my screen until the next time I restart, my keyboard occasionally doesn't let me perform complex functions like copying and pasting or using apostrophes, and sometimes just totally locks me out, and my mouse just stopped working. I think I need a new computer. Maybe one that can run Rayman 2! I still love that game.

Good thing I don't need much money at the moment and can afford a new second hand computer. I think I'd rather have a job, though.

Did someone say pawty?

clanker_the_discworld_fanatic@hotmail.com — Thu, 15 May 2008 01:00:21 GMT

This definitely trumps having breakfast and getting dressed, oh yes.

Details about the first episode of Strong Bad's Cool Game For Attractive People, Homestar Ruiner, have been released. Also a video of what would appear to be the start of the game. After watching it, I just wanted to start sabotaging Homestar's chances in the race to the end of the race.

With this, and the Australian release of Brawl being pushed back further, June's going to be the best month ever. Provided either Nintendo doesn't stagger the release dates in different countries for no reason, like everything else they've released ever, or the PC version is available at the same time as the Wii version. Why, Nintendo? Why?

Also, the winners to the tagline contest were chosen at random, apparently

:(

clanker_the_discworld_fanatic@hotmail.com — Mon, 12 May 2008 13:48:34 GMT

:(

(Nothing in particular happened, but I don't think my mood's going to improve soon)

clanker_the_discworld_fanatic@hotmail.com — Sat, 10 May 2008 03:46:38 GMT

Hey, see if you can solve this puzzle my brother posed. I can't.

You have to get a marshmallow across a river. The river is ten metres deep, one kilometre wide, and is very fast flowing. The marshmallow is made of gold, and will exploded on contact with the water. The river alternates between being filled with water, and being filled with lava. You can't use the bridge because it burned up when the river first turned to lava, and you can't give up and go home because your home is on the other side of the river. There is no crocodile living in the river to help you if you're wearing its favourite colour. What do you do?

Also, a dream I had. At the start I was willingly helping a monster to be a monster, but that's not the part I'm willing to talk about. Later in the dream, I found out that damned, a roleplay I applied for about a month ago and will probably find out if I got in soon, actually does allow Homestar Runner characters. Which it wouldn't, because the canon isn't dark enough. There were even people playing Homestar Runner characters. Which characters tended to vary whenever I checked. I distinctly remember there being a Coach Z at one point, but later the characters were definitely Homestar, Strong Bad, Strong Sad and The Cheat. Which are the characters I'd've wanted to play the most. But I still wish it was true, because that would've been awesome even if I didn't get the character I wanted.

Law of Roleplay Sequels

clanker_the_discworld_fanatic@hotmail.com — Fri, 09 May 2008 14:23:28 GMT

I was writing out my Internet life story on the hrwiki forums, and I got up to the roleplay series I was in in 2002/3. And that's when I realised that roleplay sequels always make less sense than the originals. Or are exactly the same in every way, if I recall some of the roleplays on the KND forum correctly.

I shall call it Shwoo's Law of Roleplay Sequels! I'll be famous! (Is joking about the being famous part if it's not obvious)

I have never seen a roleplay sequel that doesn't fit that, with the only exception I can think of being the CAPTURED/FORTH/DEMON trilogy I did with Nathalie and Numbuh Double Zero. RPG and RPG 2, WARPED and DISTORTED, CHEER and whatever the sequel to CHEER was called, Anime Roleplay and Anime Roleplay 2... I'm not sure why this is, but I think it's something to do with the normal things being exhausted in the original plot, maybe? Or the players being more comfortable with each other after playing through a whole roleplay and are more likely to introduce weird things because they know the other players wouldn't be too freaked out by them.

CAPTURED, FORTH and DEMON stayed about as coherent as each other, except for a rough patch towards the end of FORTH, because the plot of FORTH was obvious from the events of CAPTURED, and the plot of DEMON was extremely obvious from the events of FORTH. Also, with people I roleplayed with a lot, the stories we did in the generalised, non-specific OC continuity tended to make less sense than the others, even if they weren't sequels to anything in particular. We were continually reaching for new ways for the characters to be portrayed to keep them interesting, I think. Unless someone else can think of a better reason for Numbuh 239 randomly deciding to take a trip to the future with Numbuh Six and Numbuh 88 when she shouldn't actually know how to make a functional time machine in such a short time, let alone ones that can take return trips.

Or maybe I have no idea what I'm talking about and should go to bed.

In other news, I'm more interested in the quite dark backstory to the villains in the Homestar Runner anime type story than the story itself. It practically writes itself. Pity it's so spoilery, and pity I had to change the characters' names because it bothered me to think of all this dark stuff as Homestar Runner related. Ah well, at least it's fun to write.

Hiatus from Internet = Not going very well so far.

I didn't eat enough today

clanker_the_discworld_fanatic@hotmail.com — Thu, 08 May 2008 07:52:47 GMT

I'm doing it again, aren't I? I'll never be able to talk to people properly. I'll always to mess it up and say and do the wrong thing every time. I try my best. I really do. :(

But anyway, enough vague self pity. I just beat Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations, and now seems like a good time to ramble about it. :D

I see that with young Phoenix filling the role of Larry Butz, Larry himself was going to have to try a different approach. Now he appears to be the sort of character that hits on everything that moves, even nine-year-old girls. Also, I laughed so hard when he said that being selfish, antisocial and lazy didn't make him a loser, it made him an artist. Well, you know you have to be lazy to get through art school! That's why they call it school! [/sarcasm]

Gumshoe. <3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3 I believe that sums it up. Every time he came on screen, I just wanted to hug him so badly. <3<3<3<3<3<3<3

By this game, I'd decided that the English language localisation of the games, which are explicitly not located in Japan, are actually in some made up country that was colonised by both the English and the Japanese during the nineteenth century... Or something. I've forgotten when Japan reopened their borders, and I was concentrating more on the cases than the locations. I'm pretty sure America doesn't have a lot of ancient Japanese style temples lying around, among other things. But then Franziska von Karma comes in and starts talking about how they're totally in America, like some sort of German Bandit Keith. Totally jossed my theory.

Godot's metaphors confuse me. Also, he made me want coffee. I don't even like coffee. And his reason for hating Phoenix seemed really weak. "Mia's death is your fault! Because, uh, you should've followed her around every minute of her life with a can of Corrupt Corporate Executive Repellent! Yeah!" Whatever, Godot. Cool music, though. I could listen to it all day.

I really like Dahlia Hawthorne's music. It's so relaxing. I like that it fits the image she projects instead of the way she really is. It's really... I don't know. I probably should've eaten lunch today.

In the fifth case, when "Iris" turned out to be Dahlia, I realised when Maya was straight away, and it was frustrating to watch Phoenix being all "But... Maya can't be dead!" for so long. Phoenix. Dahlia is dead. Didn't you ever wonder who was chanelling her? He figured it out eventually, though.

I guess they weren't trying to hide the Diego/Godot connection in case four? I was spoiled to it beforehand, but his theme music even started up at the end of the case. It must have been deliberate. Phoenix figured it out, and he only read the case file.

Jean Armstrong made me laugh. I'm not the type to decide that every character ever is gay because they act a bit camp or are close to someone of their own gender, but Jean Armstrong was so gay. When he was on the witness stand, he hit on every other visible character except Maya. It was pretty funny. He also referred to everything with "la", even male characters and words that are masculine in French. I couldn't tell whether that was because he sometimes refers to himself as a woman, or because the people who localised the dialogue are even worse at French than I am. I don't think Tigre would appreciate being called "La Tiger", even if he did know what it meant.

Speaking of Tigre, his yells last for ages. And what are those smashing noises while he's yelling? Does he carry around a punch of pots so that he can bang on them to augment his roars or something?

I don't really know what to say about case two. The robbery to murder thing was interesting, but the TV Tropes Wiki spoiled that for me ages ago.

Um... I really liked the opening to case five. It really felt like the ending to a series of related stories. Which it was. So it was quite well done.

I liked playing as Edgeworth for a while. It was a nice change from being Phoenix all the time, and it was interesting to be able to see into his head. And more Gumshoe is never a bad thing. Also, when all those Psyche-Locks appeared on Larry and Edgeworth was like "NOOOOOOOOO!" reminds me of my own frustrations with the Magatama. I never know if I have enough evidence to use it, unless Phoenix explicitly says that he has enough evidence now.

The ending was great, like it usually is in these games. I'm going to have to pretend that Apollo Justice is AU when I play it, though. I want things to improve even more for Phoenix...

Wendy Oldbag appearing in the credits: A++++. I love Wendy.

Fiction: My antidepressant. No I did not mean to say "fandom" there. Trust me.

clanker_the_discworld_fanatic@hotmail.com — Tue, 06 May 2008 13:47:44 GMT

I wasn't going to say anything because I thought nobody would care, but just in case someone does, I'm taking sort of a break from the Internet. Forums are easy so I'll very likely post on those, but anything else will be... patchy.

Why, YouTube? Why?

clanker_the_discworld_fanatic@hotmail.com — Sat, 03 May 2008 14:33:09 GMT

I was watching this short film before bed, because it's been known to make people regret watching it before bed. I wanted to see whether it would scare me, because scary films usually don't.

It was leaning towards mildly disturbing when YouTube decided that it was finished loading the video even though there were a few minutes to go. I tried loading it again, and it stopped even earlier. Now I'll definitely sleep tonight. And my powers of not being frightened by scary movies remain unproven.

But I know what happens in the end, and what kind of folk tale is that? The kid didn't even do anything!

clanker_the_discworld_fanatic@hotmail.com — Sat, 03 May 2008 10:45:30 GMT

I'm going to try starting a Homestar Runner forum. There's a lack of good ones at the moment, so I think I might have a chance to not crash and burn. Maybe?

I think if I just create a good looking banner and advertise it everywhere I can, then the rest will like as itself. If I'm lucky.

Well, even if it fails, I'll have more of a right to whine about there not being a good Homestar Runner forum at the moment. Even if I lose, I win!

I'll link to it when it's finished. At the moment I'm still stressing over what colours to use and what boards to make.

clanker_the_discworld_fanatic@hotmail.com — Fri, 02 May 2008 06:41:01 GMT

Got this meme from chakramchucker

The top 106 books most often marked as "unread" by LibraryThing’s users. As in, they sit on the shelf to make you look smart or well-rounded.
Bold the ones you've read, underline the ones you read for school, italicize the ones you started but didn't finish, strike through what you couldn't stand. (I also truetyped the ones I'd never heard of. I could've done something else to the ones that are in my house right now, but I though that might be going a bit overboard)

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Anna Karenina
Crime and Punishment
Catch-22
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Wuthering Heights
The Silmarillion
Life of Pi: a novel
The Name of the Rose
Don Quixote
Moby Dick
Ulysses
Madame Bovary
The Odyssey (I've read a few novelisations, but not the original)
Pride and Prejudice
Jane Eyre
The Tale of Two Cities
The Brothers Karamazov
Guns, Germs, and Steel: the fates of human societies
War and Peace
Vanity Fair
The Time Traveler’s Wife
The Iliad (Again, I read a few novelisations, but not the original)
Emma
The Blind Assassin The Kite Runner Mrs. Dalloway
Great Expectations
American Gods (I just haven't got around to this one yet)
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
Atlas Shrugged
Reading Lolita in Tehran: a memoir in books
Memoirs of a Geisha (Seen most of the movie)
Middlesex Quicksilver
Wicked : the life and times of the wicked witch of the West
The Canterbury Tales (Been meaning to read this one, just to see what it's like)
The Historian: a novel
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Love in the Time of Cholera
Brave New World
The Fountainhead Foucault’s Pendulum Middlemarch
Frankenstein
The Count of Monte Cristo
Dracula (I'm not sure whether I finished it or not)
A Clockwork Orange
Anansi Boys
The Once and Future King (I've been thinking of reading this one)
The Grapes of Wrath
The Poisonwood Bible: a novel
Angels & Demons (Uh, the Dan Brown book? What's this doing on this list?)
1984
The Inferno
The Satanic Verses
Sense and Sensibility
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Mansfield Park
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
To the Lighthouse
Tess of the D’Urbervilles
Oliver Twist
Gulliver’s Travels (I saw a movie of it a long time ago. I don't really remember it, though)
Les Misérables
The Corrections The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (It centres on a stereotypical autistic boy! How could I not have read it?)
Dune
The Prince The Sound and the Fury
Angela’s Ashes: a memoir
The God of Small Things
A People’s History of the United States: 1492-present
Cryptonomicon Neverwhere A Confederacy of Dunces
A Short History of Nearly Everything
Dubliners The Unbearable Lightness of Being Beloved Slaughterhouse-five
The Scarlet Letter
Eats, Shoots & Leaves
The Mists of Avalon
Oryx and Crake: a novel
Collapse: how societies choose to fail or succeed
Cloud Atlas The Confusion
Lolita
Persuasion Northanger Abbey
The Catcher in the Rye (Some people said that Holden was a really annoying protagonist, but I felt like I could relate to him)
On the Road
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Freakonomics: a rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: an inquiry into values
The Aeneid (Novelisation!)
Watership Down (But I've read Firebringer, which I hear is a total ripoff of this book. Does that count?)
Gravity’s Rainbow
The Hobbit
In Cold Blood White Teeth
Treasure Island (I've only seen the Muppet version)
David Copperfield
The Three Musketeers

clanker_the_discworld_fanatic@hotmail.com — Thu, 01 May 2008 04:59:00 GMT

I actually... uploaded some videos to YouTube. Wow. I think I'll embed them here! They're both from Commander Keen 4.

Paddle War! Which is very similar to Pong. I quite when I got up to six points, but when you get 21 points, you get a little message saying that you won. Not very exciting.

This is a secret area in the first level that I only found out about today. Now I'm suddenly curious about whether or not the water in Lifewater Oasis is reachable too. I always assumed it was there for the scenery.

Boring gameplay video post over.

In which I play video games all day. Might as well enjoy it while I can

clanker_the_discworld_fanatic@hotmail.com — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 13:04:55 GMT

I didn't feel up to doing anything not timewasting today, so I started playing the third Phoenix Wright game.

So apparently three years before the first game, Phoenix was a clone of Larry Butz. I understand that he felt strongly about D... About the girl whose name I can't spell and don't feel like looking up at the moment, and didn't want to believe she was evil and a murderer, but... The game world already has one Larry Butz, and it doesn't need another. He was kind of childish and not at all like he becomes in three years time. And the way Payne's hair fell out when Mia suggested that he take some possibly poisoned cough medicine to show his trust in his client... I didn't get that at all. It was weird.

I haven't got to the trial of the second case yet, and I think I know who the thief is already. Not the murderer, but I don't even know who's been murdered yet, so I think that's understandable.

After I turned off the DS, I watched some YouTube videos of old games I used to play. Rayman, Rayman 2, Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure, Commander Keen 4: Goodbye Galaxy, Jazz Jackrabbit, stuff like that. Then I wondered whether the music would work again if I ran Commander Keen or Cosmo on DOSbox. It does. So... I'm never calling you back. Doo hoo. In case you don't understand cryptic Homestar Runner reference speak, which seems likely, I'm going to go play those now. Bye.

Words

clanker_the_discworld_fanatic@hotmail.com — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 11:15:24 GMT

I'm getting tired of my icons. So I'll just stick with this one for a while. I made it myself on MSPaint!

I'm running out of things to ask the Tarot. Reading it is strangely addictive. As I was pulling out cards to represent Homestar Runner characters because I was running out of things to ask, I got The Fool for Homestar. That was pretty funny.

Apparently you can only have 1000 images in a sub album on Photobucket? Who came up with that rule? And why didn't anyone tell me before I took 1400 screenshots of the Neverhood? Some of those are repeats, but still. Well, it's pretty easy to get around. Just have to make another sub album.

Applied for a job today. This shouldn't be as stressful as it is. And by stressful, I mean totally incapitating. ...My mum had to help me. I think I need help with my anxiety.

If you have both me and capslock_hsr friended, no I'm not listening to this song on repeat. Just the album it's on. But I wouldn't mind listening to this song on repeat. I really like it.

clanker_the_discworld_fanatic@hotmail.com — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 11:09:13 GMT

After a long and hard day hiding from... being social and getting any work done, I suddenly want to dig out my old Japanese textbook from year nine and do some work from it. So I think I will. If it is my lot to want to learn things all the time, then I suppose I shall have to bear it. (martyred sigh) I seem to be on a Japanese kick at the moment.

And a vaguely Japanese related note, I think I've been taking the Homestar anime thing too seriously and should lighten up a bit. I was never quite delusional enough to believe I was creating great literature, but... I'm a bit too much of a perfectionist. I'm just doing it for fun, the world won't end if I can't figure out how to make the dialogue less stilted. I guess. I've just never got so much interest in a fanfiction project before, and I don't want to mess it up.

Uh... check out bsc_snark. It's awesome.

It's getting cooler

clanker_the_discworld_fanatic@hotmail.com — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 14:42:36 GMT

I'm sitting wrapped in a blanket, and it's totally necessary. (No it's not) The only time I haven't been craving a hot shower this week is when I've been having one. Or at the gym. It's weird. Maybe I should clean out the bath and try a hot bath or something.

The leaves are turning red and it's really pretty. I know they do that every year, but most of the time I just look at the ones on the ground.

Whee, cartoons

clanker_the_discworld_fanatic@hotmail.com — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 07:28:27 GMT

Maybe I should make a folder in my pictures folder for fandomsecrets pictures. But I do delete them from my computer once they're posted, so it'd be pretty empty. Hmm.

I've been watching the Dreamstone a lot on YouTube lately. It sort of half appeals to me now, not like it did when I was little. The bad guys are about a hundred times more interesting than the good guys. Although I have a soft spot for Rufus, I'd much rather watch Frizz and Nug complain, or Zordrak yell at Urpgor for telling him something he knows but the audience doesn't. There's some actual conflict there, while the good guys don't seem to have flaws.

Although Rufus daydreams too much, and in the pilot this gets him into trouble more than once. But in the actual show, he seems to have got over it. And the Dream Maker apparently wants the Dreamstone to be stolen, with his alertness and the security precautions he takes, but nobody calls him on it as far as I know, so it's probably not intended to be a flaw or a source of conflict.

No I am not overthinking a children's cartoon. If anything, I'm overthinking what makes a story enjoyable.

clanker_the_discworld_fanatic@hotmail.com — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:49:51 GMT

I'm so lazy tonight. Why am I so lazy? I don't think I'm going to get any work done the way I'm feeling now.

I even wrote up some extra stuff in this entry and decided not to post it because I'd need to upload a picture to Photobucket.

Well, I shouldn't stress myself out needlessly. I'll just spend the rest of the evening reading Babysitter's Club snark.

clanker_the_discworld_fanatic@hotmail.com — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 01:11:55 GMT

While I was waking up, I felt extremely anxious for no reason! Over and over and over! What fun!

I also dreamed that I'd dreamed that I was the Brothers Strong's mother. Which was a lot cooler.

And now maybe I'll eat something or get dressed. That time at the top of the entry is a total lie. (No it isn't)

clanker_the_discworld_fanatic@hotmail.com — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 07:35:08 GMT

Preordered Super Smash Bros Brawl. Yay. Just a week and a month before I get to play it.

This xkcd comic makes me laugh every time I think of it, and it's been a while since I first saw it. It's exactly the kind of thing I'd come up with.

I just found out that, on a forum he frequents, my brother has the same quote in his sig as I used to. Freaked me out. The quote's from A Trekkie's Tale, the fanfic that originated the term Mary Sue.

I don't care what anyone else says, this icon is adorable.

clanker_the_discworld_fanatic@hotmail.com — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 06:51:01 GMT

Watching this movie I'm watching, the pilot to the Dreamstone TV series, makes me really happy. I'm glad it's been uploaded to YouTube. I don't think I appreciated the Urpleys when I saw this series the first time around.

I've been so stressed out, I think this is a good way to try and relax. But maybe I should still apply for that job I'm supposed to apply for while I'm watching it. Even if it's only going to be temporary.

Can I get any nerdier?

clanker_the_discworld_fanatic@hotmail.com — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 05:06:38 GMT

So apparently you can do Tarot readings for fictional characters. This is awesome.

For example, Strong Bad holds onto the past a bit much when he doesn't need to, however, everything's going right for him thanks to the effort he's put into getting what he wanted. (The Hanged man reversed, Eight of Wands, the Chariot)

Harry Potter, on the other hand, has lost a lot of his stuff, but the bad times are finally over and he'll do well in his future career thanks to the skills he's gained. (Four of Pentacles reversed, Ten of Swords reversed, Eight of Pentacles)

(laughs)

(laughs some more)

clanker_the_discworld_fanatic@hotmail.com — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 12:24:29 GMT

So of course now I'm not tired. When I should be in bed. And I think I'll go to bed. I feel bad about wasting this awake time, but... I should at least try to keep normal hours.

But first, I need to put one of my characters through a litmus test. Not because I think he's a Stu. I know he's not. I just wonder what the test would give me. I love how inaccurate they can be.

EDIT: Hahahaha, I got "kill it dead" on the stricter test. The lesson is, don't make any character ever a survivor of horrific abuse, no matter how messed up it may have made them.

Why would a character being unable to form intimate relationships make them more of a Sue/Stu? I don't understand.

I'm sort of awake now

clanker_the_discworld_fanatic@hotmail.com — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 10:00:36 GMT

I've been really tired all day. I didn't want to do anything. Except do a bunch of Tarot readings because I have a book of my own now to interpret them with. I've been finding that stuff too fascinating lately. But anyway, I haven't had a good night's sleep in days. Hopefully I'll have one tonight.

clanker_the_discworld_fanatic@hotmail.com — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 13:38:24 GMT

The land of recorders and no internet was freezing cold and filled with patronising people. Just because I look about fourteen, that's not reason to treat me like I'm five.

It was pretty fun though, I guess. Interesting change. I really should be in bed right now.