tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20367390520881953182024-03-13T18:32:28.050+11:00Raph's BlogUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger96125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2036739052088195318.post-39353175044878509762014-02-04T21:22:00.001+11:002014-02-04T21:22:14.907+11:00Over the holidays...Over the holidays, one thing that happened was that I was able to get a new phone while in America, as part of a school group, a Lumia 510, which I'm using now, as I just realized I could do this. In America, we went to California, where we stayed at Knott's Berry Farm, going to the theme park there, as well as going to Disneyworld and later to Universal Studios, where we had a look at some of the sets on a tour, along with seeing some nice new types of rides, involving a surround screen and the car tilting, which I thought was great, and went to San Diego after that for a couple of days, having pizza and pasta mainly for dinner. In America, I noticed that there was alot of melted cheese on the food, which was very nice. After San Diego, we went to San Francisco, to stay with a host family for about a week. During this time, we were taken on a tour just about every day, and I especially liked going to Alcatraz, getting a new hat there, while we also went on the Midway, a retired aircraft carrier, where I got a new bag that's super handy. I was staying with another student at the host family's house, and we all went out to watch Jack Ryan at the cinema, and also went to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner once, which had a really long waiting line, but I had a nice cheeseburger. Actually, I almost always had a cheeseburger at a restaurant. I also got to spend a day at school in Livermore, where the other students were normal. Mostly. I noticed that Spanish is kinda like Japanese, too.<br />
Anyway, I got back a few weeks ago, and I'm in the mood to review anime. So I'll probably be doing some of that sometime soon.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2036739052088195318.post-23227508790754161272013-10-14T00:14:00.001+11:002013-10-14T00:16:11.868+11:00Clannad Analysis - part 1 - Tomoya OkazakiSo for those who know me, you know I love anime, and one of my all-time favorites is Clannad. On the surface, Clannad is your typical high school drama, wherin the main character, Okazaki, gets into all sorts of mischief and meets an excessive amount of cute girls. Now, after looking at Fitzgerald's <i>The Great Gatsby </i>as part of school literature, I've come to realize that there are a number of symbols used in Clannad, one of the most obvious being the snow, the lights, and the girl and her robot friend. But before looking at the symbols, I wanted to look at the characters involved. And where better to start than with the lead character, Tomoya Okazaki.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv8AqPAEFrBPDUpxcoHyqioX76q7lhQPuwZAauA8tw1pdtDqaRyMxCuMt6Ilr_IDl6XwSt_Uqh607Z-CECRCJFJzPQp8ue8kvn3d-LyCrk_lV8JTQUDRPUZyZ7j6vznGvGshNetLSdV3Vn/s1600/Nagisa-Ushio-Tomoya-kawaii-anime-34672134-1680-1050.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv8AqPAEFrBPDUpxcoHyqioX76q7lhQPuwZAauA8tw1pdtDqaRyMxCuMt6Ilr_IDl6XwSt_Uqh607Z-CECRCJFJzPQp8ue8kvn3d-LyCrk_lV8JTQUDRPUZyZ7j6vznGvGshNetLSdV3Vn/s320/Nagisa-Ushio-Tomoya-kawaii-anime-34672134-1680-1050.jpg" width="320" /></a>Okazaki (though it's his last name, everyone uses it) is introduced as a poor person. He turns up late to school, he fights with his father, he apparently gets into fights with other people, and doesn't have much faith in himself. Now, the main thing about Okazaki is that he seriously grows up, much more so than the majority of other characters, anime or not. We soon see that he's really not so bad, unless his compatriot Sunohara is involved. Then someone gets hurt, and it's usually Sunohara. But you realize that even those two are actually good friends, when they always stick together when it gets serious. So while Okazaki is actually willing to help others out, as he does almost everyone (that's the premise of the game Clannad is based off), he's still not as mature as most of the girls in the drama club (but moreso than Sunohara), and lacks understanding of many things. He doesn't want to listen to anything his father has to say, and tries to stay the drama club's founder and his more-or-less girlfriend, Nagisa's house. There, he meets her parents, who I'll also give a separate section, as they're very important people, and Okazaki finds what he pictures as a normal family, compared to his lone, drunkard father. They're fun, bright, and most importantly, they put their daughter above all else. After meeting Nagisa, he begins to get his act together, in what is perhaps an effort to impress her, although Nagisa is already portrayed as someone you don't want to let down, because she's so naive and believes in everyone. We begin to see the more dramatic changes in Okazaki during the After Story. The following may contain spoilers, though I'll try not to ruin all the moments for you.<br />
Okazaki's daughter, Ushio (yes, Okazaki also actually grows up and gets married, leading to issues with Nagisa's father, Akio) becomes Okazaki's lifeline when he goes through a hard time. He discovers how wonderful it is to be with her, and because of this, he comes to understand his father, and eventually makes up with him, and he also gains purpose, doing his best to help raise her. <br />
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I think I'll slowly get around to doing this series, though there's alot to talk about; the music; Nagisa's theme being one of the most important, the characters, the colour and settings, the symbols; the sakura, the snow, the lights, the hill, the some of the quotes; Tomoya's lines in the opening scene, the lines of Nagisa's play, and probably some others I'll think of while writing.<br />
If you're interested, <b><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgKzN3t7J48">here's a link</a></b> to the series on youtube. And whatever you do, don't watch the movie. It'll ruin the series and isn't very good at all. And <b><u>don't read the comments</u></b>, they can spoil the series.<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2036739052088195318.post-60106042498492233492012-05-16T10:22:00.001+10:002012-05-16T10:22:18.905+10:00I'm BACKI haven't posted for a long time. So, what's new in my life? Well, firstly, I was going to talk about my time playing League of Legends (LoL). LoL is a MOBA type game, that is, one that is based of DotA. It involves the player controlling a champion throughout the game, who gains in levels and items. In a standard game, there are five players on each team. They start in opposite corners of a square map, with three lanes connecting the two bases, one directly through the middle, and two running along the edges. Your aim is simply to destroy the enemy base. Each lane has three towers, and one inhibitor. Towers are tough, and deal alot of damage, and the easiest was to destroy them is to kill enemy minions, so that yours will go to the tower, take hits from it, while you destroy it. Each round usually goes for 40-60 mins. There are alot of good videos on youtube of these games. I played DotA a few years ago, but I stoppes because it was too confusing to play. LoL is alot simpler, with an actual tutorial to teach you the basics. It's also free to play, if anyone's interested in playing it themselves, which was one of the main appeals to me, being a fun F2P game.<br />
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Another game that I've taken an interest in recently is Soul Calibur, which is basically a 3D fighting game, involving two players who are in a small arena and have to beat each other. I'm currently saving for SC5, but I already have an interest in a few of the characters, mainly Tira and Ezio.<br />
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Which reminds me, in my next post I'll be having a look ar Assassin's Creed 2.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2036739052088195318.post-20197437700723835672012-03-25T15:22:00.000+11:002012-03-25T15:22:23.289+11:00My First Concert Last night, I went to my first concert, featuring Evanescence. We ended up arriving at about 7:30, though there were two other acts first, so Evanescence didn't come on until about 9:00. I have to say, it was really exciting, though it felt a little unreal, with me trying to get my head around that <i>the actual band is on that stage 50m away. </i>They played alot of songs that I like, including my favorite, Lost in Paradise. I remember feeling surprised (for some reason) when they played Bring Me To Life, which felt like the most energetic song. It was also unexpected (by me at least) that they played Swimming Home. It also felt a little cut off at the end; I felt like they should be playing more. The lighting was spectacular, especially during Your Star. You can find recordings of alot of the songs by going to youtube and searching "Evanescence Melbourne March 24th". I couldn't really get any good pictures, since I was using my horrible phone camera, which got blinded by the lights.<br />
WOOT!!! First concert was great!!!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2036739052088195318.post-4570804726044760692012-03-02T13:16:00.000+11:002012-03-02T13:16:14.057+11:00RunawaysSo now that I've been back at school for a month, I'm finally getting around to updating my blog.<br />
Over the holidays, I started playing League of Legends, went to Malaysia and Singapore for Chinese New Year. <br />
I've also decided to do a review of a particular comic book series, by Marvel, called <em>Runaways.</em> The series is about a group of kids who run away from home after they discover that their parents are part of a group called the Pride, and they want to destroy the world. Each of the kids finds or inherits powers or items from their parents, such as Chase, who finds X ray goggles and giant power fists invented by his scientist parents, or Moly, daughter of mutants, discovers that she is super strong. <br />
I particularly like this series because the characters are all interesting, and are different to most other superheroes in the Marvel universe, in that the don't have special names, except perhaps for Old Lace, Gertude's dinosaur, and they don't wear costumes, though Molly, who is much younger than the others, wants to. I found my favourite characters were Chase, because of his interesting (stupid) personality, Karolina, Nico, and Victor.<br />
I have only read up to volume six, by the way.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2036739052088195318.post-64733138728470676722011-12-09T13:46:00.000+11:002011-12-09T13:46:14.469+11:00UpdateSo now I've read up to a bit past chapter 200 of Yureka. I've noticed that the story seems to have stryed a bit from the original; where they used to go around playing Lost Saga, now they're out in the real world, trying to save Jahea. I have found the character, Row-the-Mighty, to be alot more interesting than I'd originally thought. I thought he'd just be "the guy in the red shirt", who dies at the start of a dungeon, or who just gets bullied by Roto. But no! Yureka is the one who gets bullied by Roto, and the necromancer from the doubles tournament is the redshirt. Row turns out to be one of the best players; he actually gets into the doubles tournament at the start, and comes close to beating Yureka. He also becomes friends with Roto, and play the FPS with him. He even attempts to hold the city by himself, and throws away his master-level to continue defending. He's probably actually the most heroic character, despite seeming like a loser at the start to the series.<br />
Also, my story is kinda progressing. I've managed to introduce the main characters. At the moment, actually, I'm trying to make an outline of a comic, for a spin-off that has nothing to do with the main story.<br />
Anyway, I hope to upload another drawing this weekend. In addition, I wasnt to do a review of Rusty Hearts.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2036739052088195318.post-17860615889108755112011-12-06T09:33:00.000+11:002011-12-06T09:33:38.491+11:00Reading many comics So recently I have gotten back into reading manga, after having finished my last book (I don't remember what that was). So I've read through the entire series of Rosario Vampire. Part 1 that is. It's about a boy who is enrolled in a high school for monsters, him being the only human there, as humans are forbidden to enter,and he would be killed if anyone found out. As soon as Tsukune (the boy) arrives, he is run over by a girl named Moka, who he falls in love with, and she reveals she is a vampire and bites him. It's actually a comedy series, where all the girls at school want to be with Tsukune for one reason or another, and they join him in the newspaper club, which is almost completely made up of girls who like Tsukune.<br />
Another series I've been reading is Yureka, or id_entity. This one starts off as a funny series, but later on it becomes alot darker. In the MMORPG, Lost Saga, Roto, a mage, and his friends Ah-Dol and Boromid are part of one of the most powerful groups in the game, which they call team Triple Threat. The first volume just introduces all of the characters, and in volume two, the story really starts. Roto (I can't remember his real name) finds a player's card, with Yureka written on it. When he gets home, he accidentally puts in the card, and finds himself playing as a girl. He spies on his friends, pretending to be Yureka. However, the next time he logs on, as Roto, he finds Yureka also there, despite the fact he still has her player card in his bedroom. After that, she becomes a permanent member of their team, though they never change their name officially.<br />
In other, non-manga news, I've bought myself a Dark Eldar raider, which I hope will let me get the wyches into combat without being gunned down by a punisher cannon. I also hope to upload anothe picture soon, maybe this weekendUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2036739052088195318.post-19635636869613634832011-10-16T11:55:00.000+11:002011-10-16T11:55:34.579+11:00The BirthdayYea. So apart from the drawings, of which I have a few more to post, I've got the Deluxe edition of Evanescence. My first self-bought album :D.<br />
It's very different from Fallen. My favorite songs are "What You Want", "The Other Side", "End of the Dream", "Disappear" and "Lost in Paradise". Can't find YouTube videos to link to, so you'll have to find them on the official site.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2036739052088195318.post-59301294135832943902011-10-08T21:01:00.000+11:002011-10-08T21:01:02.377+11:00Betrayed<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7wAVucl3wbam412q_D9UC1mi8enk0jFVEyYAs4FkHxOfnmP7niC0QqUmBfD3hdlgAyPzXD9zjOP8BokxrZcU2qW8Z9VgX8VAHNMNbV10MXwYhQLqMtA3g3yuhTr2lj45qn8ne8Yotjj4Z/s1600/Betrayed+shading.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7wAVucl3wbam412q_D9UC1mi8enk0jFVEyYAs4FkHxOfnmP7niC0QqUmBfD3hdlgAyPzXD9zjOP8BokxrZcU2qW8Z9VgX8VAHNMNbV10MXwYhQLqMtA3g3yuhTr2lj45qn8ne8Yotjj4Z/s200/Betrayed+shading.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div>I just uploaded a picture I call "Betrayed" to deviantArt. Personally, I like the black and white version better; it stays more noir-ish. It's my first picture with GIMP and/or a tablet.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2036739052088195318.post-37473248422965403782011-10-06T13:10:00.000+11:002011-10-06T13:10:32.121+11:00Some more hereI've uploaded more pictures to deviantArt. I'll try to find a way to post a constant link to my profile. I'm planning to try out a feature to increase the contrast, so you can see the pencil drawings more clearly.<br />
And, in my absence from facebook, I've found that two more Evanescence songs have turned up, <a href="http://evanescence.com/audio/endofthedreamlyrics.html">End of the Dream</a> and <a href="http://www.evanescence.com/audio/myheartisbrokenlyrics.html">My Heart is Broken</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2036739052088195318.post-76401873986785021312011-10-05T18:07:00.002+11:002011-10-05T18:10:36.225+11:00Drawings uploaded<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlOwjs0Wk_vSS7rvfcu4zsuEqZhbwwGX2JJE9sITnPs8Nj0rfsGzCamtn8vxFE6GiKN5uNIHb7WuilU-LZAfiH28-T_p6pbAGpEHhQ8z7OfGbdXxCsXeyA3JC9neURu4WIm2eH_2O9qmpR/s1600/Amanda+Leaning+cropped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlOwjs0Wk_vSS7rvfcu4zsuEqZhbwwGX2JJE9sITnPs8Nj0rfsGzCamtn8vxFE6GiKN5uNIHb7WuilU-LZAfiH28-T_p6pbAGpEHhQ8z7OfGbdXxCsXeyA3JC9neURu4WIm2eH_2O9qmpR/s320/Amanda+Leaning+cropped.jpg" width="256" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You can see the pencil better from below</td></tr>
</tbody></table><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD53yrT0J54Vm694vlRGOYblEh6uAJl2eTJwIrdG9HvqKg9UHlV9v7Ea2vq5_mSOLnavRDapLIYxP63_VxvNRVjBd4Hkk9_jCZ0uwnENWjUUtu8u7CFrOzNlMxB4vwj_nYKWWNsFEeDWAW/s1600/Amanda+portrait+color.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD53yrT0J54Vm694vlRGOYblEh6uAJl2eTJwIrdG9HvqKg9UHlV9v7Ea2vq5_mSOLnavRDapLIYxP63_VxvNRVjBd4Hkk9_jCZ0uwnENWjUUtu8u7CFrOzNlMxB4vwj_nYKWWNsFEeDWAW/s1600/Amanda+portrait+color.jpg" /></a>I finally uploaded some of my pictures to<a href="http://dragonlilith.deviantart.com/"> my deviantArt profile</a>. It took me ages to get the scanner working. I find if you look at pencil drawings from below the screen (or tilt your laptop back) you can see the pictures more clearly.<br />
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And, as some of my school colleagues sang this song, and it was hilarious, I have to share it <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yccM6dAnsho&ob=av3e">here</a>. In the performance that I saw, "Kayley" wore a bucket on his head.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2036739052088195318.post-22097223074362029162011-09-22T21:16:00.000+10:002011-09-22T21:16:30.428+10:00Bit of music updateAlright! Bit of an Evanescence update here. I've listened to the Open Door now, so I'll be putting up links to my favorites, including <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkJWzKB9Tyg">Cloud Nine</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5B8PdGPfErc&ob=av2n">Sweet Sacrifice</a>, not to mention <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSEpfWCJV28&ob=av2n">Call Me When You're Sober</a>. In addition, I've got a link to <a href="http://www.evanescence.com/audio/theothersidelyrics.html">The Other Side</a>, a song from Evanescence. And, while I was browsing, I also found <a href="http://www.evanescence.com/audio/madeofstonelyrics.html">Made of Stone</a>. The next album, for those who don't already know, will be titled "Evanescence".Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2036739052088195318.post-46257029538904768852011-08-31T20:18:00.001+10:002011-08-31T20:19:23.141+10:00Asperia's storyI've got some of my story written, in the form of a prequel to the story, about a girl called Asperia who is accused of killing several people, and later put onto the same station as the main character. Link is <a href="http://dragonlilith.deviantart.com/">HERE</a>.<br />
Just scroll down a bit, and you'll find my gallery. The series is titled "Asperia part X"Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2036739052088195318.post-63547947947562635722011-08-30T19:25:00.000+10:002011-08-30T19:25:07.580+10:00Refreshed, going againFirst, you MUST check out the new version of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02q8kPJn_e4">"Where Dragons Rule" by Dragonforce</a>. It's so great, loads more atmospheric, you can hear the background music. It's like the one from Twilight Dementia, only studio. The keyboard is much clearer, they have used a better outro that just fading out, and changed some of the riff a bit.<br />
Secondly, my story's first chapter is loads better than it was. I think everyone should rewrite part of their story, just so they can see what it's like once you've written part of it and know all the characters.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2036739052088195318.post-14739598038891303692011-08-29T17:35:00.000+10:002011-08-29T17:35:40.767+10:00RAGE!!!Godsdamnit! This stupid cleanup program deleted everything! I've lost my original save files for Titan Quest, which I managed to reconstruct with TQ Defiler. But what really annoys me? It deleted all my storywriting! WHY!!!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2036739052088195318.post-70231181042887156162011-08-14T12:06:00.002+10:002011-08-14T12:12:42.343+10:00New things, darned darkOkay, last Friday at games night we had a game based around one team having a Baneblade and the other a Stompa. Two 1/1296 chance things happened. The stompa shot the baneblade, getting 3 chain reactions (6s) and then rolling a 6 for the explosion type. It then exploded and wiped out our entire army. The the next turn the stompa repaired the two points of damage my Vindicare had done to it. The turn after, the Vindicare penetrated it, getting 4 chain reactions on the stompa and destroying it. It didn't wipe out <i>their </i>army though.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidRc8V4IPV_g4ZxE9qGVGslktnYAXme4jtkeKCuKWPY6eYiPjiELxK12T5dKJiI91wUmlJPlEqLi34KoXgf1UJ9GYenn3nHjIVFPQ2HTCkISMOVsqtWPDjrU0Fco-LFng1Poa1my5_Uf0O/s1600/Bird+scourge+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="143" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidRc8V4IPV_g4ZxE9qGVGslktnYAXme4jtkeKCuKWPY6eYiPjiELxK12T5dKJiI91wUmlJPlEqLi34KoXgf1UJ9GYenn3nHjIVFPQ2HTCkISMOVsqtWPDjrU0Fco-LFng1Poa1my5_Uf0O/s200/Bird+scourge+1.jpg" width="200" /></a> Next game I was allowed to try out 1000 points of Dark Eldar. I had 2 5-man Kabalite squads, a raider, a venom, 2 razorwing jetfighters, a talos, and 5 scourges. It was a 4 way battle, between me, Gray knights (Using a large squad of Paladins), Necrons (with the nightbringer) and tyranids. I got the first turn and went straight for the 'nids. I fired all 8 necrotoxin missiles, killing the entire gaunt brood and all but two Ymargil genestealers. The hive tyrant charged my scourges, killing one, and the leader with power weapon took a wound off the hive tyrant. My talos charged in, taking no damage from the tyrant and pulverizing it in return. My warriors fought a 5 man GK strike squad, and killed them after losing one of my squads to running off. The razorwings were saved numerous times by the flickerfield, night shields doing nothing. One of the Tyranid warriors was gunned down, while the other and the prime was attacked by the talos, who insta-killed the warrior, and took two wounds off the prime, who was then killed by the ichor injector. The prime used rending to take a second wound off the talos. On the last turn I managed to take 3 wounds off the nightbringer by firing every poisoned weapon and dark lance I had at it. Some rippers appeared behind the last two kabalite.<br />
I was extremely happy with the 80 points from the nectotoxin missiles wiping out almost two squads on turn 1. The talos was amazing, especially with the upgrades. I completely forgot to mount the warriors on their transports, though.<br />
I think I shall start a Dark Eldar army.I've always wanted scourges, because of their models, especially the wings. And a turn 1 annihilation is always good. <br />
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In other news, Evanesence has released their single, What You Want, onto iTunes, and I have added a link to the website and lyrics on youtube on my Music page.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2036739052088195318.post-86586751818341005002011-08-09T13:11:00.000+10:002011-08-09T13:11:25.186+10:00Angelby L.A. Weatherly.<br />
I picked up this book based on the cover art; it seems interesting to read about dangerous angels. Plus at that point I had a thing for angels. Anyway, this book is about Sam, an Angel Killer, and Willow, a girl who can tell fortunes. Sam is sent to kill Willow by the angels, who actually run the AK organisation, but he realizes she is not an angel, and rescues her from the angels when they come after her. <br />
This story is part action, part romance. It shows the way that Sam and Willow become friends, from being annoyed at each other for their own reasons. The story is told from several perspectives, the first-person being Willow, while Sam and the Angels are in third-person. Anyway, I'm going to be looking for the sequels for this book, one of which should be released sometime this year.<br />
Oh, and by the way,<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8100ZHWflo">Here is my new TF2 video</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2036739052088195318.post-29206890964638661462011-08-05T21:25:00.001+10:002011-08-06T17:49:54.774+10:00Assassins<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnGs_RE3YJXkKHTquPLNrtw5csrrm1qD7yNGAx4Yjd3JjtjF4gee1pUrktnW4rPAML4W6Tf-uchlbbLKcBw_ZpVQ2Mf0I-WEg_S_BOGo8xfI-ynuUYanz64QNHvJoT7G24THGst5x7-Wk-/s1600/05082011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnGs_RE3YJXkKHTquPLNrtw5csrrm1qD7yNGAx4Yjd3JjtjF4gee1pUrktnW4rPAML4W6Tf-uchlbbLKcBw_ZpVQ2Mf0I-WEg_S_BOGo8xfI-ynuUYanz64QNHvJoT7G24THGst5x7-Wk-/s200/05082011.jpg" width="200" /> </a></td><td style="text-align: center;"> </td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here you can see the battlefield. </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>About half an hour ago, I finished a large game at my local Games Workshop, where our team were allowed to take 1250 pts each. I didn't take quite that much; I took:<br />
<br />
<ul><li>Inquisitor Coteaz</li>
<li>Warband - 6 psykers, 2 servitors, 1 with heavy bolter, 1 with multi melta, 4 warriors, all with carapace armor, 1 with plasma gun</li>
<li>Warband - 4 warriors, all with carapace, 3 with flamehtrowers</li>
<li>Warband - 3 warriors, all with carapace</li>
<li>Warband - 3 warriors, all with carapace, 1 mystic</li>
<li>Vindicare Assassin</li>
<li>Callidus Assassin</li>
</ul>Our objective were as follows:<br />
1 VP for holding both (2) bastions (left in the picture)<br />
1 VP for killing the designated enemy commander<br />
1 VP for carrying the intelligence at the end of the game (located in the center crater, near a tall building) <br />
1 VP for keeping at least on scout* alive and on your team (Rhino is to the right of the picture)<br />
* Five scouts were placed in the Rhino wreckage, 4 with bolters, 1 with heavy bolter. Scouts were captured if a model came within 3 inches and passed a leadership test. The scouts would then join the unit. Scouts could be taken from an enemy unit by standing nearby. Scouts do not count as moving when they are attached, even if the leader unit did (unless the scouts actually moved).<br />
In addition, the intelligence in the middle was surrounded by spore mines with modified rules.<br />
On our team, we also had:<br />
<br />
<ul><li> 5 Grey Knight Paladins, with halberds, 1 with warding stave</li>
<li>GK librarian, with Level 3 and Quicksilver and Might of Titan</li>
<li>2 land raiders</li>
<li>1 land raider crusader</li>
<li>I dreadnought with lascannon</li>
<li>Tactical squad with missile and plasma gun</li>
<li>SM commander</li>
<li>Honor guard</li>
<li>Assault terminators, some with hammers, some with claws</li>
<li>Razorback with lascannon</li>
<li>Terminators with missile launcher</li>
</ul>From what I can remember, the enemy had:<br />
<br />
<ul><li>Guardsmen veterans with lascannon</li>
<li>Leman Russ Eradicator</li>
<li>Eldrad</li>
<li>Dire Avengers</li>
<li>Wraithguard (lots, like >8)</li>
<li>3 squads of fire warriors</li>
<li>Commander Farsight</li>
<li>3 XV8 bodyguard</li>
<li>Hive Tyrant</li>
<li>3 ripper swarms</li>
<li>Eldar Falcon/Wave serpent with bright lance(?)</li>
<li>Tyranid warriors, 1 venom cannon, 1 devourer</li>
<li>Genestealers</li>
<li>Gaunts, some with fleshborers, some with spinefists</li>
<li>Vespid Stingwings</li>
</ul>Onto the report, (or what I remember)<br />
The enemy got turn 1, even with Coteaz's initiative reroll. They blew up the land raider on the left, and destroyed an assault cannon on the other. The Eradicaor shot my psyker mob, killing a few of the warriors.<br />
The Tyranids moved forwards quickly, while the neutral scouts randomly moved towards the enemy lines.<br />
On our turn, I blew the eradicator to pices using the Vindicare's turbo penetrator shot. The Hive Tyrant was gunned down as well, awarding us a VP. My flamer mob, with only one surviving member, moved forwards and torched the crater with the spore mines and intelligence, killing all but one. My psykers blew themselves up, due to having to roll 3 dice from some Eldar rule.<br />
Turn 1, Imperials, 1, aliens, 1 (from holding the two bastions).<br />
In the neutral phase, the last spore mine blew up my flamer guardsman, and the scouts continued to move towards the enemy.<br />
The enemy Tyranids continued to swarm forwards, when we realized the rippers only had a land raider to chew on. The Dire Avengers piled into the crater, where the exarch picked up the intel, and they blasted my mystic squad, killing all but 1 warrior. The wraithguard took control of the scouts.<br />
On our turn, my Vindicare failed to destroy one of the bastions, and my last guardsman failed to kill an Avenger. However, the Assault terminators slammed into the Wraithguard, along with my three-man warrior squad. The warriors did nothing, but took advantage of the consolidation when the terminators wiped out the wraithguard. The Assault Terminators then took control of the last two scouts.<br />
Score: Imperials, 2, aliens, 2<br />
Turn 3, the last turn.<br />
There were no more spore mines, and the scouts were under our control, so there was no neutral turn.<br />
The aliens continued to swarm forward, though the Tyranids couldn't assault.The DIre Avengers held down the crater, while the guardians and fire warriors fired at the terminators. Commander Farsight and his bodyguard turned up, firing on our commander and his honor guard, killing all but the Commander and one guard. The Tyranid Warriors finished off my psyker mob, leaving Coteaz on his own. The second last scout was killed, leaving the heavy bolter on his own.<br />
On our turn, I tried to put as much fire into the Avengers. The Vindicare fired at the Exarch, who was only saved by the reroll to his cover save granted by fortune. I attached the scouts to my last warror from the three man squad, and they jumped into a land raider, guaranteeing us at least a 2 all draw. Not good enough. My Callidus Assassin had turned up, killing 5 fire warriors in a bastion using polymorphine, and the neural shredder killed the second last fire warrior. The last fled the bastion, allowing the Assassin to contest the bastion objective, allowing us a win.<br />
Final result: Imperials 2, Aliens 1. Imperial Victory!<br />
<br />
I have to say that the Callidus Assassin finally paid off, winning us the game. I actually only took her to fill up points, but she is definitely going to be in future games. I noticed there was a group of Vespids, who had hid behind the Tau bastion the entire game, and did absolutely nothing. This was one of the most exciting games I have played in a while, where we almost lost. We only had one scout left, and our commander was down to one bodyguard, and being hunted down by Farsight. I'm so glad I had a plan B for when the Vindicare failed to kill the Exarch (who would have dropped the papers, costing them a point).<br />
So people should really stop saying the Callidus is useless!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2036739052088195318.post-64879076861393265882011-08-05T10:50:00.001+10:002011-08-05T10:50:50.869+10:00Small UpdateI have moved all the music links from "Stuff..." to a new page, "Music".Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2036739052088195318.post-28771370670778558292011-08-05T10:33:00.000+10:002011-08-06T17:51:55.347+10:00The Griffin's FlightPart two in the Fallen Moon series.<br />
After leaving Eagleholm, and all his friends, Arren travels north, where he could live with other northerners. He and Skandar meet Skade, a griffin turned into a human as punishment for killing a human after they killed hers, because he was a northerner, like Arren. The two of them quickly become friends, and Skade tells Arren she is looking for a spirit cave that will remove her curse. Later, Arren is captured and made a slave, and has to find a way to escape from the slavery and find Skade and Skandar, as well as freeing the other northerners, so they wouldn't be punished if he escaped on his own. He meets his father, Cadrock, who is also sent to the camp after he is caught after his escape from Eagleholm.<br />
I found Skade to be an incredibly interesting character, and I liked her instantly. I like the way the author makes you like every single character, even some of the other slaves. You feel like they all have a story and a life of their own, rather than being miscellaneous unnamed characters. You also really want Skade and Skandar to get along, so that Skade can be with Arren.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2036739052088195318.post-28248014093978929042011-08-05T09:54:00.000+10:002011-08-05T09:54:51.487+10:00AngelsInterestingly enough, I have recently read two books titled "Angel" and have found a third. The first one, that I will review now, was written by James Patterson, and is the seventh novel in the Maximum Ride series. <br />
Now, I found that this book really began to pick up the series again, after the 4th to 6th books. This book actually makes alot more sense than Fang or The Final Warning, and is definately alot more interesting. <br />
After Fang leaves in the sixth book, he recruits a group of followers - including Max's clone. Max finds out (via his blog) and the groups all meet up to fight a a group that want to wipe out humanity to allow mutants to take over. Come to think of it, this seems alot like Magneto in X-Men. Anyway, Max and her new allies all manage to get along long enough to fight back, although they have troubles as the enemy can hypnotise others to join their cause, before getting the humans together to kill themselves.<br />
I found that this book definately made the series interesting again, and sets itself up for the last book in the series. The fourth, fifth and sixth books were not really continuous; they had one entire adventure which finished in the same book, unlike the first three that had the School as the enemies throughout all of them, giving you a reason to read the other two after the first. I think it may have been that the series was alot more interesting when people were acutally trying to kill them.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2036739052088195318.post-57292678475193058922011-07-16T18:34:00.001+10:002011-07-16T18:45:03.955+10:00First Class A few days ago, I watched X-Men First Class<br />
It seems to be a prequel to X-Men, about Professor X and Magneto (Erik). Anyway, I wanted to watch something over the holidays, and this was likely the best option. I thought that the characters were interesting, and I didn't realize that Beast was named Hank until near the end. I completely forgot. Erik and Raven were the most interesting characters in the movie, while Angel had my favorite powers. I also noticed that the whirlwind guy never speaks (or maybe I missed it?). I don't know alot about the X-Men; I only watched a few episodes.<br />
BTW, I updated my Stuff To Look Out For pageUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2036739052088195318.post-6569135011794916562011-07-16T17:59:00.000+10:002011-07-16T17:59:32.275+10:00Few updates...... and I haven't slept for the last 24 hours.<br />
So, I'll write whatever I think of.<br />
Two more songs:<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RrA-R5VHQs">Call me when you're sober</a> - Evanescence<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSvFpBOe8eY">Chop Suey</a> - System of a Down<br />
<br />
Second, I've had some time to try out some of the new TF2 items.<br />
The Diciplinary Action is loads of fun, but not actually very useful.<br />
The "Thousand and one Demoknights" set is great; you have the ability to ram someone AND crit him with your sword in the same charge.<br />
The Quick Fix is alot more appealing than it was in the Beta; now it has an immunity to slowdown on it's ubercharge, so you can combine it with a "real" uber to be invulnrable and non-knockbackable. I see little use in the new melee weapon for the medic, the amputator or the Ubersaw are way more useful, especially if you don't voice chat.<br />
I've played a few games on Nightfall, one of the newer Plr maps. I haven't played many plr games before, but I've found that the Pain Train can actually be useful; you'll survive longer than a scout and push just as fast.<br />
Degroot Keep has had a few plays. I like playing as a demoknight, on either side, and you can launch yourself up a rock in front of blu spawn to land on red battlements. And bowmen can set their arrows on fire using the braziers located around the castle and the aforementioned rock.<br />
<br />
Third, I played AvP while it was on sale on steam, for $10! The single player game was too short, and is not really worth replaying. And there are no multiplayer servers to play on.<br />
Fourth, I've almost got a start to my story. It's set on a moon base (not Earth's moon), and is about a person who is a relatively powerful mage. <i>Relatively. </i>She can sense other people's emotions, whether she wants to or not. So she goes for training on this station, to try to block out thoughts when she doesn't want to hear them.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2036739052088195318.post-36772844071741739332011-07-05T09:54:00.000+10:002011-08-06T17:51:34.804+10:00The Fallen Moon - The Dark GriffinThe Dark Griffin, the first in The Fallen Moon series, by K J Taylor, is about a man named Arren Cadrockson, who starts his story as Master of Trade at Eagleholm, along with his companion, the griffin Eluna. Grifiners are always treated with respect, even a northener like Arren. At least to his face. When a raid causes the death of one of the criminals, Arren and Eluna are forced to capture or kill a black griffin that has been troubling a nearby town to repay the dead man's family. When he goes to fight the griffin, he sucessfully captures it, but Eluna is killed while defending him. He takes the griffin to the arena at Eagleholm, where, due to his griffin having been killed, and being a northerner, he loses all of his satus, and his job as Master of Trade. Lord Rannagon declines having any knowledge of sending Arren to capture the griffin, and calls Arren mad, which almost everyone believes, because he is a northerner, and he let his griffin get killed. His friends, Flell, Bran and Gern, try to look after him, but when he tells them, Gern is killed in an "accident". Meanwhile, "Darkheart", the griffin captured by Arren, quickly becomes a favourite at the arena. Arren sets out trying to get revenge on Rannagon, who is also his girlfriend Flell's father.<br />
This book is very good at making you care for Arren, and hate Rannagon for causing Arren to lose his life ;! You also end up wondering if Arren really is crazy, at times, and I spent alot of time wondering if Flell would still love Arren if he tried to kill her father. Even Darkheart is and interesting character. You are also constantly reminded that this is also a very realistic story, that there really isn't anything Arren can do to prove he is right, and that Rannagon is competely serious about his threats. Gern isn't a "Jenkins" who dies before you even know anything about him, he is Arren's friend for almost half the book, and then you feel that the author will kill anyone in this story, when he dies.<br />
An extremely gripping book, and the series is definately worth reading.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2036739052088195318.post-18040820717968618402011-07-01T13:41:00.000+10:002011-07-01T13:41:37.496+10:00Levaithan I picked this book up after a reccomendation from a friend. In addition, the rest of my family, with the obvious exception of my brother, has read it already.<br />
The first thing that you notice when you read this book is the WW1 style map inside the front cover. In fact, throughout the whole book, there are excellent drawings that really help you to visualise the story. One of the first ones, of the stormwalker, was one of my favourite pictures. <br />
The story is set around two people, Derin Sharp, who pretends to be a boy so she can join the air force, and Alexander Ferdinand, the son of Franz Ferdinand. Derin comes aboard the Leviathan, a giant flying whale, when her tryout for joining the airforce goes wrong. Alex is woken up in the middle of the night by Count Volger and Master Klopp, and when he realises that they aren't going for a practice run, he accuses them of kidnapping him and lying to him. However, he soon discovers that assassins are actually after him to prevent him from taking the throne after Franz Ferdinand is killed.<br />
One of the main interesting points of this book is that the Entente have "Darwinist" creations, such as the Leviathan, or the fletchete bats, as part of their civilisation, while the Central Powers, or "Clankers", use steampunk machines, like the stormwalker.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1