Back on the Grid...and other stuff.

*holds envelope to forehead*

Rage-inducing cabinets, a last-resort tranquilizer, a dog paw on a stick, the stupidest plumbing system ever created, inherent social awkwardness, a milk-chugging contest, an overzealous plate-server, the boots of life,  a baby monitor that regularly instills fury, thousands of digitized words, and theories related to the effects of entropy on time.

*opens envelope*

Things I saw at or near my grandma's house Turkey, and my failed conquest therein. 

Well, I'm back.  Been back for a couple of days, actually.  I'm hoping all of you had some fine times with your friends and family this Thanksgiving, and had a good meal (or two, if you're the leftover-eating type like me).  As for my trip?  About what I expected, give or take.  On the one hand, there was a slew of unpleasant events -- the likes of which will keep me stained and impure forever more.  On the other hand, there were some good times to be had.

As I've explained before, the biggest drawback of those visits is that there's no internet access -- meaning that this blog goes into hibernation every time.  I've got my laptop so I can still write stuff (more on that in a minute), but gathering images and clips and posting becomes impossible, so...yeah, that's where I've been.  I'm finding that it's hard to get into the rhythm of checking net-related stuff once you haven't for a while, so even though I'm a perpetual engine of long posts, it's a little tricky getting back into the groove.  Doubly so when there are no I Hraet You chapters that need to be posted.

Well, whatever.  I've been working on some short stories that I've been meaning to get around to for a while.    So far, so good; I've still got work to do because I'm working on a "strategy" -- instead of plowing through one of them until it's finished, I'm working on one story until I reach (and create) a definitive stopping point.  I  plan to, and need to follow a three-act structure, and if I try this I'll not only get to keep each story's focus, but train my mind to handle multiple characters and tones at once.  AND each time I go back to a story, I'll be able to tackle it with fresh ideas and objectivity.  There's no telling if this strategy will work in the long run, combined with the question of whether or not those stories are actually GOOD, but...well, we just have to see how it goes.

Also of note?  It's NaNoWriMo.  I'm sure there are plenty of writing heroes out there that have wrapped things up on their end.  And so have I...sort of.  It was my plan to start working on a new project pretty much at the start of the month, but between finishing up IHY and posts for Halo 4 and Cloud Atlas, I was at the halfway point of the month and I'd suddenly realized I had a crap-ton more planning to do.  So that project is gonna go on the shelf until I can give it the attention it deserves -- because if I do it right, it may be the best thing I've ever written.  But even if that's the case, I've passed the 50k threshold thanks to all the stuff I've written for Cross-Up, with the short stories pushing me within a thousand words of the goal.  And with some other stuff in the works, I've earned a victory.  Sort of.  A win's a win, right?

And what have I got in store next?  Well, the Majora's Mask stuff is coming up, since I'm close to beating that game.  And you can likely expect some more stuff for the Spirit Showdown soon (the story arc in there is certainly taking shape).  But most of all, I think I've got more than enough material for one, maybe two multi-game Let's Discuss posts.  You can thank GameStop's generous deals for that; they had a buy two, get one free sale on used games, and my brother wanted to get in on that ASAP.  So in addition to a look at PlayStation All-Stars: Battle Royale, you can count on several other games popping up in the discussion.  And what a haul -- one of them is a game that (I presume) will inspire on cries of betrayal.  The second?  A good game.  A really good game, in fact, much better than its $8.99 tag would have suggested; so good, in fact, that it almost makes me want to shout "This.  This is what video games should be."  

And then there's that other one.  The one my brother picked up.  A game that I knew was coming, but in the end was powerless to stop...and my own twisted psyche beckoned for its corrupting touch.

The dark one has arrived.

...Nic Cage, you wanna take this one?

My sentiments exactly. Well, fine then.  If this game is in my grasp, it's my duty to put it through its paces.  But judging by the opening sequence...oh ho, man oh man, this is gonna be fun.

And that'll do it for now.  See you guys around.

...

And thus, as the suffering spreads, the boundary wanes.   Fear and despai and rage...continue to cultivate it, you fragile mortals. 

 Your time is near its end...