croik

So I went to see Hannibal Rising tonight. I'd just watched Silence of the Lambs a few nights ago, and I have to say, I found the idea of a young, smoking-hot Lecter very appealing. Love that dimple, baby. What's not to love about a cannibal, anyway?

My non-spoiler reaction to the movie is that it was okay, but there were a lot of things conspiring against it to make it...not okay. I was satisfied leaving the theatre but not thrilled. Despite the commercial hype it didn't strike me as terribly gorey (am I desensitized?). Not as bad as some of the horror that's come out lately, for sure. Half-visible cannibalism isn't quite as bad as blind cave men chewing out throats, or rusty barbed wire rape, I'm sorry to say.

For a man that's supposed to be pure evil, I was expecting a little more creativity, and less sympathy, really. Still better than Hannibal, though. Oh, and Gaspard is totally hot. I'd cannibalize him, if you know what I mean. >3

( And now for spoilers )

Valentines Day is coming up, and because I have too many ideas for fics to actually work on any of them (whoops) I thought I'd do some V-day drabbles. Or just porn, you know, whichever.

So if you want a Valentines Day drabble, or just have a suggestion, reply here with fandom and pairing :D. If you ask for a fandom I don't know I'll let you know by responding with haiku porno. Nothing says, "Sorry, can't do that," like 17 syllables of naughty.

I've been doing more gaming lately but I think I'll wait until after Yiazmat to update on that. But I will say Hotel Dusk is well worth getting, and a great game. More thoughts on that when I'm not doing battle with my sinuses.

From last spring until November I didn't really play anything but action games and Phoenix Wright, and now I've got three RPG games going. Crazy O_o.

In FFXIII I've just passed the 160 hour mark, making it...probably the longest running single file I've had for an RPG (or any game). All that's left for the final Clan Ranking is filling out half a dozen common monsters (I got all 80 rare - anyone know where the damn Wild Snakes are??), Omega (FUCKER), and Yiazmat. My guys are all at level 75 but I'm gonna wait until at least 80 before going back into that goddamn Crystal. Stupid Omega ;_;

In FFIII I'm getting ready to go to the Crystal Tower at the end. I've got a Dragoon, Devout, Ninja, Summoner team (I haven't decided yet if I'm gonna bust the Summoner to Sage, the Summoner class is kinda boring and limited). Honestly, I haven't really enjoyed the game all that much. It's...pretty tedious, really. The best part of it is the artwork in the player guide. I might sell it back when I'm done.

I'm also several hours into Shadow Hearts, the first one, on loan from a friend. But...ugh, it's not much better than FFIII. The Judgement Ring keeps me from falling asleep while playing but that's about it. It's not god awful, but I can't think of anything positive to say. If it doesn't pick up by the time the cravat dude shows up, I'll probably give it back.

On a final note...I've got the pre-order site on watch, but if I don't nab a spot in line for the Limited Edition GS4 Super Box Set, every one of those "I'm getting it just for the sake of having it" fannies had better lay low come April 12th. Theft via internet just might be possible by then...!!! >O

So just the other day I was complaining to TK about movie critics (every review for The Descent complained about it either being too feminist or not enough, which, regardless if you like the movie or not, is a ridiculous reason to put down a HORROR FILM). And then Jekka sent her this FUCKING BEAUTIFUL review of Snakes on a Plane. Which, I'll add, I just finished watching a few hours ago, for the third time. Here's a snip of brilliance:

For this reason, I feel SNAKES is more emotionally and culturally important than the recent WTC or UNITED 93. It's using a horror movie to help us cope with the imcomprehensible horror of 9/11. And it also triumphantly reminds us of the fact that there hasn't been any successful plane-related terrorism since 9/11. Not even pissed-off poisonous snakes in a confined environment can bring down the U.S.A.

U-S-A!! U-S-A!! U-S-A!!!!!!

( And the rest, originally from Netflicks, which I can't link 'cause I don't have an account there )

I can't confirm if it's in jest or serious, but either way my amusement is unending.

So, anyone know a place / person from which I can get a layout for my journal? I'm in a phase and I want an Ivalice-themed journal. Maybe using this pic from Vagrant Story or this slightly spoilerish pic from FFXII (post Phon Coast). They're not the best quality, might need resizing...

Help? Suggestions? :D?

EDIT: Changed my mine. Now it's gotta be This pic from the new FFT port.

It breaks my heart a little ;_;

I beat FFXII last night :D (84 hours, and I'm still planning to go back for the rest of the hunts).

Final thoughts? I loved it. There were a few things that kept it from being TOTALLY MIND-BLOWING GAMING EXPERIENCE, OMG!!!! But overall it was better than I expected (given my luck with Square games lately) and I thoroughly enjoyed every bit it. Balthier was my clear favorite early on, but I also really liked Larsa and Gabranth (aka Wiegraf 2.0) and by the end just about everyone had grown on me. I can't think of a single character I disliked (unlike the last couple FF's - Zell, Quina, Eiko, Lulu etc etc).

One shot from the credits even choked me up. Can you guess which!? (Need artbook ASAP).

So in short, the game looks fantastic, the music was great, the voice acting was some of the best I've heard in a video game, the liscence board was addictive, the gambit system was great once I got the hang of it, and the story kept me going up through the end. The various FFTactics and Vagrant Story references made it even better.

Is it the best FF I've ever played? HARD TO SAY. Now that I can't bear to look at FFVII and my interest in FFIX fizzled soon after I beat it, I think it definately earns a place as best "numbered" FF game. But Tactics has been my favorite game ever for a long time, and even now that I've had it for nearly 10 years it's still the game I replay most often. I started a new file of it just this past summer getting ready for the return of Ivalice. If I pick it up for another 80 hour run sometime several months from now, then I'll know.

But of course, I still have some issues with it XD

( One complaint and a few irks - spoilers )

And now I'm playing Vagrant Story again! With my old save it's my 7th time time through, and it took my just over 3 hours to get to the halfway point of the game. I'll beat it tomorrow. Oh Ashley, how I missed you and your assless pants!

I've wanted to do an Ivalice crossover fic for the longest time - maybe it'll happen this time, if I think of anything (not until One of Every Color is finished and up, I promise!). But I think if I put Delita, Guildenstern, and Balthier in the same place I'd explode from successive cranial orgasms.

But damn, I'd die happy.

Every once in a while I get a new review for one of my music videos. But when I checked today, I found the BEST REVIEW EVER, for my Far Too Wrong (Trigun) clip. It reads:

"The only reason you're getting a 2 instead of a one is because the lip-syncing was very well-done. I thought the content was very tasteless."

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

In case you're curious and don't know what I'm talking about, the video is on youtube (spoilers for Trigun episode 24). Because that's what Youtube is for--posting stuff you didn't make.

Not that I mind, since it says Croik in the opening anyway (it's up there under a dozen different names, along with some of my other videos). I should probably just post all my videos up myself. It'd be easier than amv.org probably... SOMETHING TO CONSIDER.

Meanwhile, I'm playing FE9 before I get FF12. Nasir is a butthead :(

So who's doing Yuletide this year?

For anyone not familiar with it, I'm talking about the Obscure Fandom Secret Santa Project. Every year around holiday times Yuletide starts up. Everyone who wants to join submits requests for fics they'd like to have written for them. Then they submit a list of the fandoms they are will to write fics for. Internet magic matches them up, and the outcome is a Secret Santa fic!

The catch is (as the title indicates) that all the fandoms allowed to participate have to be "obscure". The criteria is something like "has less than 500 fics on ff.net" or something. It's a fun way to get fics for fandoms you don't see often. I've been in it for two years, and both times I was really pleased with what I wrote and received (ironically, both years I got a fic from the same person XD).

Apparently they're starting the fandom list over this year--everyone is going to get to suggest 6 fandoms, with characters, to go onto the Big Fandom List (rather than comb over the list from last year). I'm planning on nominating Phoenix Wright, Okami, and Shadow of the Colossus for sure. What I'll end up asking for among those...no idea :O

It's too bad Ouran already has 50,000 crappy drabbles up, that would have been fun to request this year.

Anyway, if you like to fic, come join :D

EDIT: The nomination page is up here

Okay, so whenever there's a case of fanfic plagiarism (or other plagiarism) one of the first things the culprit usually says is "maybe I read the line, and INTERNALIZED it, and later repeated it without realzing!" My reaction to this is usually "NO WAI" but here's an embarrassing story:

( Embarrassing writing story )

In other news, for some reason I joined a Drakengard forum full of retards.

( No really, I know that's not PC, but some of them are as mentally challenged as Nowe himself )

I'm heading out tomorrow for the yearly family camping trip :D. Unlike last year we'll be old-schooling it in a tent instead of the camper we almost rented. TK and I are preparing by bringing earplugs. Send the good weather our way!

I'll be back Friday night so seeya all around!