eighthphase

I, ever-curious, decided to look through my brother's GBA "collection". Imagine my surprise when I found that a good third of the games in it were actually mine! Most of them actually really sucked, so he can keep them, but I was not happy upon learning that the Phantasy Star Collections cart that I had so desperately searched for was with him all along. (Ironically it's the one cart I actually replaced, so he gets to keep it, since I don't need two. But still, it's the principle of the thing...!

Yesterday I finished Atlas Shrugged. I need time to collect my thoughts about it (and I'd like to have my actual computer with it's whole keyboard...) but I'll throw up a post about that once I've thought things through.

Today I started reading A Game of Thrones! Little did I know that the first book of A Song of Ice and Fire, which I had seen countless TVTropes references to, had been sitting in my mum's headboard for as long as I can remember. (Seriously, though, that particular printing has existed since 1997 and I'm pretty damn sure we've had it since 1997. And yet my mum only just started reading it earlier this year... and gave up on it, which is why I've got it now.)

Tomorrow I begin college. I don't know what to think, or even really what to expect. I only have two classes tomorrow, with a huge block of time between them during which I can't really leave or go anywhere (since I don't have my license, and therefore can't drive myself anywhere) so I get the feeling I'm going to get to know the campus really well, whether I want to or not. Well, either that or I'll end up making a beeline to the library and holing myself in there doing ~*~research~*~ for my stupid Atlas Shrugged essay.

I don't think I've mentioned this yet, but every time I type "Atlas Shrugged" I want to type it "Atlus Shrugged" because I'm more used to seeing the game company's name than the titan's name. It's really weird and I end up doing it basically every time.

Where the hell has today gone? It feels like it's about noon, but it's like four o'clock. /:

I like gloves as an idea. I mean, they keep your hands warm and protected, and they sometimes even look cool, too. What's not to like? Then I actually wear gloves, and I remember why I don't like them. I mean, I have short fingers, so I buy gloves and they never fit properly. And if I ever have to perform a task involving any kind of dexterity at all while wearing gloves, well... it just doesn't work. I can barely even write while wearing gloves. That's just pathetic.

On a completely different note, my brother just texted me asking if I wanted an Xbox 360. I don't. He's being rather persistent about it, so I'm thinking maybe it's free or something /: I mean, okay, so I can think of like three 360 games I would like to play. Two of them got better PS3 ports! And anyway I have like a million JRPGs so I really don't need more of them and anyway I heard Star Ocean 4 wasn't even that good, Infinite Undiscovery was like Radiata Stories, which I didn't like, and Tales of Vesperia is... a Tales game. Not much to say about that. And anyway, he knows that if he comes home with a random video game console I would rather it be, like, a Wii or a Dreamcast or something like that. (We've had discussions about it. Is that weird?) I mean, maybe he was trying to impress me with his hookups or something. I'm not really impressed. (Although I guess I could take the 360 and then sell it and use that to buy a Wii. Or maybe just a new PSP; mine was making horrible screeching noises the other day :| )

Also, I find myself in possession of new music! Well, it's not really new, it's more like some music I ripped of my brother's iPod and some pre-laptop CDs that I found (and one not-pre-laptop one that I just never ripped). Ani's always complaining about how I'm "forgetting my heritage" or some shit like that whenever I'm too entrenched in anime or j-rock, so two CDs' worth of Wicked Tinkers should appease him. (I wish I could find the first and fourth ones; I know we have them somewhere but hell if I know where.) Plus I'm sure there's nothing better than Nana Kitade followed by bagpipes, right?

Now if only I could find that hip-hop remix of the Super Metroid title music, I would be totally content for the day.

edit: And then I went and cleared out all the extraneous playlists from my iPod. I mean, if I want to listen to, say, just Fall Out Boy or just Metroid Prime songs in iTunes, then I need a playlist just for that. But if I wanted to do that on my iPod, then I could just go through artists or albums or whatever and pick through it. So now I don't have like a million playlists on Balmung, and now I don't have to scroll through a million playlists to copy stuff onto my iPod (in iTunes I have most of them in folders, so I don't see them all the time, but you can't do that on an iPod). I actually feel productive today!

My internet is doing weird things, even though it shouldn't be. \: It's really annoying, because it's being so weirdly slow that it won't load Youtube videos. I just wanted to watch Lyrical Nanoha, damn it! ):

Almost done with the heartless doll; I just have to sew the arms and legs in place, and then embroider the eyes and glue them on. I'll do that... probably not tomorrow, since I'm going to the library and then to da's (I think), so maybe the next day.

Also, I'm annoyed with something else. All the emails I'm getting from GameStop are saying that there's an art folio that comes with Other M if you preorder it - well, I shouldn't say "all," because there are only two of them: one from a couple months ago, and one from yesterday. Except that, when I got the one from a couple of months ago, I asked if their was a preorder bonus for Other M the next time I went to GameStop, and the guy there said no. So I didn't preorder it. But apparently there really is, so I want to preorder the game so I can get the folio, but I don't have the money for it, because I didn't preorder it a couple months ago, and so haven't been saving for it.

I mean, maybe I can trade in my PS3 games. I doubt I'll get much for DMC4, but FFXIII should get me a bit, right? Of course, it's pretty ridiculous to be metaphorically digging into couch cushions looking for spare change just to get a preorder bonus for a game on a system I don't even have, but... Metroid concept art! D: (And anyway, I made all that fuss about FFXIII, and I don't have that system, either.) And anyway, if Shiki decides that she likes Metroid enough, maybe I can give it to her. Not in an "Oh, well you can have this useless thing," kind of way... although I always feel like that when offloading things I don't want/can't use on my friends, anyway... even though I think I've only done that like once, and that was because mum bought me a game I already had. ...or something; I don't really remember.

Although doing the maths I think I actually can afford Other M, if I trade in those two games for store credit. a;ldkgj;aldkfjl;sd not that I should be thinking about that, damn it. I should stop typing this post and just go look for a Zero Mission guide so that I can get Shiki past where she's stuck. And then go to sleep, because I actually have to get up earlier than ten-thirty in the morning tomorrow.

And another nervous breakdown, worse than yesterday's (or should I say Sunday's? It is technically Tuesday, now) and about the same topic. Mum's granted me another day, even though we both know that she shouldn't have; then again, when you've watched your daughter working relentlessly for five hours and then she comes into your room after midnight freaking out because she's not sure she can fill another two and a half pages and manage to not sleep through half of tomorrow, I guess you're a bit more lenient.

I did almost get through page twelve. I just... I've already written almost everything I can think of about transgender discrimination and I still need more. I'd write more about the Gwen Araujo case if I could find more information about it, but the only source that's really popping up is Wikipedia, and Waller would kill me if I cited that (I mean, even the article says it needs more citations, so how can I know that it's truly reliable?). I'm kind of kicking myself in the shin for not paying more attention when her murder was in the media (even though it's been almost eight years, and I was nine), because maybe if I remembered more about it I could write more.

I'm not going to waste tomorrow morning; I don't want to go through this again. I'm going to finish my paper, and then have fun, whether that comes in the form of reading more or playing Portal.

Which reminds me, Portal is free through Steam until the 24th, I guess Valve is being generous because they announced Portal 2 earlier this month. Steam is also free, so that's pretty cool.

Earlier (around nine or so, I think) I had an idea for a post about slash fiction v het fiction v yaoi fiction and why I'm more compelled to read what I do, but I was saving it for tomorrow so I could concentrate on my paper. Then while I was researching Don't Ask Don't Tell, I actually started crying reading some of the letters soldiers affected by it are sending President Obama, asking for his help in repealing the law, because their stories were so moving. (I'm still teary and shaky now, but it's mostly the stress this time. And a little bit reading about Gwen, I have to admit.)

Even though my personal philosophy on this and a lot of things basically amounts to, "Your right to express yourself ends at the tip of someone else's nose," which would imply a good deal of apathy about... a lot of things, I really do believe what I'm writing in my essay. I really do believe that discrimination, for whatever reason, is wrong; that same-sex couples deserve the right to marry, with all the legal implications that implies; and that many of the atrocities committed in the name of intolerance should never have happened, and should never happen again. I can't say that I'm not affected by the viewpoints of my parents, and that I don't buy into stereotypes just a little, and that I don't display intolerance myself, sometimes; but I am open-minded about the world, and I'm not afraid to apologize when I'm wrong or offensive, and I do try to be a decent human being. I just wish the rest of the world - hell, even just the rest of the country - could say the same thing.

And now this has turned into a Blog Post like I was trying to avoid. I don't even know how much of this is coherent... I should just go to bed.

My cat is dumber than a fucking dog, but I love him anyway. /has been letting the fleabag sleep in her room all week

Also, Valkyrie Profile 2 hells yes! I'd love to get the first one, also, but I don't have $80 to spend on a PSX game. /: That's okay, some dumbass on Amazon is trying to sell his used copy (in 'acceptable' condition, apparently, not even very good or great) for $999.99. Yeah. Even the douchebag selling his brand-new, factory-sealed copy is only asking like $575.

(If you can't tell, I'm not a big fan of buying a game and then never opening it and just sitting on it for ten years. That shit is not cash. ...okay, so if it's your second copy or something then I guess it makes sense, but christ, games are meant to be played, not stared at on a shelf.)

Just started playing Super Metroid! :D (It worked this time, so that's ace.) I just died... literally right after you get the bombs. D: