An Expanding Universe

Did you know I have another blog?  I didn’t. I totally forgot about the new blog I started almost a year ago: An Expanding Universe.  It was meant to host the exact type of entry I wrote last time.  Oops.  Next time, blogspot, next time.

And there will be a next time.  I’m thinking about my next post now.  However, there’s not a whole lot of content on the other blog (or this one for that matter) as of yet.  As in, there are two posts and one of them is a Hello World.  Oh well.  STAY TUNED FOR FURTHER UPDATES.

A Fan’s Reaction to Mount and Blade: With Fire and Sword

This is the first time I have actually sat down to write a review of, or rather a reaction to, a video game.  I say a “reaction to” because I’ve logged less than 10 hours and therefore I have not gotten the full experience yet.  With a game like one of the Mount & Blade series, you have to spend a lot of time playing the single-player campaign to really experience it all.  I think I’ve played over 50 hours in Warband, and I still enjoy running around the map doing my thing and definitely have not seen every aspect of the game.  Also, I am not a video game developer, nor am I a critic.  I just play ‘em and sometimes have opinions.

I have been quite a fan of TaleWorlds’ Mount & Blade series for some time.  For those of you that are not familiar with the Mount & Blade series, they are a set of open-ended RPGs focusing on medieval mounted combat (hence the “mount” in the title).   You create your own character and lead a band of heroes and soldiers in a world wrought with war (you get to decide who makes up your army and how many soldiers you take along).  The games prior to With Fire and Sword took  place in a semi-realistic fictional medieval land called Calradia.  When I say semi-realistic, I mean that there’s no magic, and that the characters mostly stick to what we would consider the societal norms of a medieval realm.  Though the Mount & Blade series lacks the polished feel of other sandbox-like games, they are probably the most accurate RPG representation of a medieval world I have encountered.  Granted, I haven’t encountered that many games that focus on realistic medieval mounted combat.  But if you enjoy exploring a world of lords and ladies and carving a name out of the war-torn land for yourself — these are some niche games that are worth a shot.

On to my observations about the newest installment of TaleWorld’s signature series, which by now, came out a couple months ago.

Mount & Blade: With Fire And Sword!

…Novinha?

From Speaker for the Dead and the later books in Orson Scott Card’s Ender series. I have mixed feelings about her. I love her and I find her obnoxious at the same time. Honestly, *SPOILER ALERT (for… Children of the Mind? I think)*

Peter Peep

Here’s a little (and by little I mean VERY LITTLE) peek at what I have been working on for the past week. It’s unfortunate because it’s pretty much just a bunch of floating head from the Ender’s Game series but I’m enjoying working on it.

Not really much of a blog post, but I’m focusing more on the drawing bit right now. Sorry!

Ender’s Game (C) Orson Scott Card
Art (?) by me

Hello Again

Hm. I haven’t posted here in quite a while. In an attempt to post here more often, I am going to broaden the category of media I shall post here. It will include scribbles (drawings).

Here is one (along with a bit of background information) I have posted elsewhere already, but it’s a funny little hello.

Drabble

First thing in the morning, after rolling out of bed and still rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she turns me on. Then she leaves me hanging. Just leaves me to do my own thing as she goes to shower, dry her hair, put on clothes and makeup. Just leaves me to boot.

Oh, we’ve had some good times. We’ve surfed so much I can barely stand the sound of the waves of information anymore. The ocean of knowledge, common, eccentric, and just downright wrong greets us every day. I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t a part of the vast wealth of data, the bits lapping at the edges of my memory. But I digress… However, this ocean is not without its sharks. I swear, I’ve never seen someone so angry when told their partner has a virus. It’s not my fault, it just happened! After all, I didn’t go surfing alone, now did I?

She was all fun and games before then, and I don’t think she’s forgiven me yet. She just turns me on and leaves me hanging. Sure, we go surfing but it’s not the same. She found this other guy, Norton. He follows us everywhere and asks us a ton of questions. Sometimes she answers him faster than I can even recognize what he’s asking.

She does spend a lot of time with me though. We sit in front of each other a lot, even if she doesn’t ask me to do anything. She sits quietly and all I can do is whir, bemused, content and eager, waiting for something, anything from her.

But alas, she leaves me again, too often, and without a goodbye. Leaving me here sighing, spinning, and thinking. Unable to function without her touch.

- Ode to an Electronic Companion

Dive (3rd Draft)

Dive (3rd Draft)

The air outside crept through the doorway as my grandfather closed the sliding screen door behind him. He took out his simple white handkerchief and swatted his face with it once, twice, and then rubbed the back of his neck as he walked around the kitchen table, his off white dusty sneakers squeaking with every step on the tile. He moved to the obsidian black refrigerator and pulled out a plastic half gallon of two percent. Shuffling around the island, he reached up and grabbed a glass.

Expedite (100 Word Exercise)

Expedite (2nd Draft)

The walls around me are polished rock, the scintillating colors of minerals interrupted only by the rusting steel bars that held up the tunnel. My dog Sunny, a petite Golden Retriever, licks my hand and weaves around me. I take a few steps farther than the last time. I glance back to make sure no one followed us and hold up a fist. Sunny sits and tilts her head. I latch my helmet into place, the air tank gasping as the bottom of my helmet seals with the collar at my neck. I go through the door; Sunny waits behind.

A sonnet and some…

Choirs (3rd Draft): A sort-of sonnet

Goodbye Fredericksburg (1st Draft): a 30 line free verse

Inside Outside (5th draft): a sort-of-haiku

Midsummer Classic (2nd Draft): a sort-of-haiku

Coalesce (1st Draft): a sort-of-haiku

Hello World Indeed!

As a computer science major, that sentence made me laugh so hard.  Every time I learn a new language, what is the first thing the books have us do?  Output “Hello, World!” to the screen.

Now, to business.  I am taking an introductory class to creative writing this summer.  I have produced some works, rough drafts mind you, and would like to publish them here.  I hope to get some good advice, and critiques.  At least, now I know I have a place to point my English teachers and all those people who go: “oh, you write?”.

Although I have just made this blog, I have to go and actually do some of that creative writing work I was mentioning.  Poems don’t write themselves.  Or do they?

Ioae