Storyflash: Avatar

Hmm...recently, I haven't had a lot blog about. Nothing especially interesting, anyway.

But this is something I've done before, I think. Anyway, this is an idea I came up with while walking home from school one day. It underwent a process known as snowballing - meaning more and more bullshit accumulated until it became a proper story idea.

Unfortunately, like all of my story ideas, it is a BIG idea. Like, HUGE. So, this idea probably won't make it to paper, or even to MS Word. But whatever. Thinking of stories is more fun than actually writing them.

Onto the crux of the story, which I will present in three parts. Please ignore the names. They just sound cool. You are, of course, welcome to try and fit it into the story somehow.

1. Sapphire Mind.

This part starts off with Lt. Surgens. Or rather, Ian Shearer - Lt. Surgens is, after all, nothing but the name he uses for most of this MMORPGs. Shearer is a particularly avid gamer, and has been playing MMORPGs since he was 10. Since then, his characters have always been within the top 50 ranked players in any major MMORPG. His favourite class is a Warlock/Sniper (depending on the genre) and he loves using Wind Magic/AP rounds.

One day, Lt. Surgens or Shearer (let's call him Shearer for now), is met by a couple of blacksuited men from the FBI (think MIB), and is taken to a secret facility (isn't it always) out in one of the smaller atolls in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. When he reaches there, Shearer is introduced to the rest of his "team".

They are:

1. A well-known manga artist
2. A martial arts expert
3. An engineer working for Boeing
4. A level designer from Blizzard

The actual identities of these men [or women], are of course, left up to the guys who actually write the story.

Together, they make a team of five, and are shown around the small atoll and notified of the basic geography of the surrounding islands. After being introduced the land they will be staying in, the five men are taken to the Headquarters - a giant Aircraft Carrier situated about twenty miles from the islands themselves. There, they are introduced to Captain Oliver Runt, and informed about the entire situation.

Apparently, three days ago, the US Military's scientific research base on the nearby islands was raided and several pieces of sensitive equipment stolen. The raiders were quickly chased by the military, but all efforts to recapture them and the stolen equipment have failed. And of course, the Captain can't call down airstrikes upon the atolls because it would be stupid to risk destroy the instruments. So, the military has called upon five unlikely heroes to save the day.

Of course, it begs the question of why the military would entrust such an important job to a bunch of misfits who couldn't fire a gun nor make head or tail of a map. Naturally, Captain Oliver has predicted the question would arise, and so the five are directed to a "Testing Room" where they are met by Dr. Manx, a strange, quirky (aren't they always) scientist who is involved with the research that was being conducted.

Apparently, the scientists were working on an instrument known as the Imagination Transpirer. The name is pretty much self-explanatory. Supposedly, whatever the user thinks with be realised. There are, of course, restrictions, including the fact that whatever the user thinks must be possible in real life, although the degree to which it is possible is...limitless.

For example, in real life, with the correct amount of force, you are capable of melting a rock with nothing but friction alone. The Transpirer allows you to do that, but using only the force of your mind. Of course, the Transpirer also allows you to protect yourself from any side effects of your spells/abilities/mind, so the molten rock won't actually harm you. It will, however, harm anyone else, even if they have Transpirers.

The reason why the five of them were chosen was because of their creative minds. Those soldiers who were equipped with the Transpirer at first were easily beaten by their opponents, because most of the Soldiers didn't have the imagination to use the Transpirer effectively, using it only to increase their sight range, accuracy, etc. The raiders were capable of destroying them hands down. A terrible waste of a Transpirer.

Thus, the five of you were assembled to provide the right amount creativity required for this mission. However, just creativity is not enough to prepare you for a chase after several hardened criminals. Even Commandos need years of training before their first missions. You guys are gonna have only 5 days before you are sent out into the field.

Immediately after that, the five of you are taken off to hone your skills at the use of the Transpirer. Since each of you have very different areas of expertise, you are taken to train separately for a few days before meeting back again.

Shearer quickly gets used to the Transpirer, and realises that his forte is striking the air so hard that it causes a gust of wind to slash through even the hardest objects. This is obviously a result of playing too many MMORPGs as Warlock with Wind Affinity. However, this time, too many games is a good thing, because Shearer adapts to the Transpirer quickly and eventually invents many new abilities.

[WRITER NOTE: Now, the Transpirer is obviously an instrument of...interesting qualities. It is up to you - YES YOU - to come up with a unique way of portraying this instrument. It could have side-effects such as memory loss, or using it could feel like you're having constipation. Or it could feel like you're having an **gasm. Up to you, heheh. Nothing too disgusting though.]

Anyway, back together as a team, the rest of the group shows off their unique abilities to the others, and the Team Coordinator - a subordinate of the quirky Dr. Manx teaches them on how to use their abilities as a group, as well as introduces them to the idea of the a Group Transpiration.

The Group Transpiration is an especially difficult process, because all of you must think of the same thing in order it to happen. Of course, smaller scale Group Transpirations can occur, but the larger the group, the power of the Transpiration increases exponentially. There are many other factors, of course, but that's the general trend.

So, after practicing for a bit - and failing miserably - the group is ready to take on the raiders. The group is airlifted onto the island, where they are given some rations and several weapons (daggers, handguns, flashbangs, etc.) and left to fend for themselves.

This is where the free-for-all part comes in. Each of the members of the team have vastly different abilities, and even Shearer's abilities are not pre-set. Also I haven't really got a feel for the group dynamics, which is pretty unusual considering that I usually do for most of my story ideas. All I can say is that off the top of my head, there is no romance (SHOCKING.), the martial arts expert is a tsundere (fierce, kick-the-other-guy-in-the-balls-woman), the manga artist is a weirdo, and the Blizzard employee is a bastard. Shearer's closest friend is the Boeing Engineer, and his worst enemy is the Blizzard employee.

In any case, the story continues with Shearer and his fighting and chasing down the enemy raiders. The entire group begins to level up, until a point when a surprise attack by the Raiders (who also have access to Transpirers) manages to land a Group Transpiration, obliterating the surrounding landscape. The original group (let's call them the Hunters to prevent confusion) is separated from each other and quickly move on to the other islands on the atoll.

The story itself is pretty vague at this moment. This is, of course, where the writers can come in and inject their own story material. Who are the Raiders? What are they like? What abilities do they have? When the Hunters are separated, can they keep in touch (ie, presence of radios, etc.), and do they reunite? When writing about the Hunters, will you focus on all of them at once? Or maybe just Shearer and his efforts to fight against the remaining Raiders? What kind of style do you want to use? A Glen Cook, dark, mercenary band tone? Or maybe a Melty Blood kind of tone? It completely depends on you.

In any case, most of this part of the story involves fighting the Raiders on the island. During this time, the Hunters (or at least Shearer) begins to suspect that something is very wrong with the entire operation, especially after ten days have passed. The fact that the Raiders still haven't left the island via air or sea is not very believable, and things are getting a little rough since most of their food supply has been used up.

It all finally comes down to one final confrontation with the Raiders after the Blizzard employee manages to get off a signal flare before he is obliterated by one of the Raiders. The remaining Hunters rush towards the area, firing their long range attacks before falling upon the Raiders. However, the Hunters are in no state to fight the Raiders, and everyone except Shearer and the manga artist is killed by the Group Transpiration unleashed by the Raiders.

Shearer and the manga artist (let's give him/her a name...Katsura will serve my purposes) are only alive because of their jobs - both of which involve a lot of coming back from the dead/fighting in seemingly impossible physical conditions. So, both Shearer and the manga artist continue to fight in a five against two battle, and against all odds, manage to take down at least two of the Raiders.

However, sheer pluckiness was never a good bet when faced with uneven odds (not even in manga), and the manga artist eventually falls to combined fire. The Raiders unleash a final Group Transpiration, and Shearer is killed.

Okay, so that was the end of Part 1. To be honest, I wanted to write all three parts into one blog post, but seeing as one part has already taken up a huge amount of space, I think I'll save the other two parts for another time. And just in case you were wondering, yes, you can change the ending of Part 1 - which I admit leaves the reader going a bit "WTF Just happened?" But you know...make it believable, that's all I ask. Then again, when the story is about hikkikomoris and manga artists and Blizzard employees, I can't really ask for a believable story, can I?

Alright, finally, just to assure you guys who actually still read the blog - the next few parts are still going to be related to this one, to make for one big-ass story. Damn it, I have an overactive imagination.

Demons and the Forces of Darkness

Welcome to the Frankenstein Talk Show! Today, we're going to discuss a very controversial topic: Demons and the Forces of Darkness!

Firstly, as all good talk shows do, we must define our terms, correct? Luckily for us, this isn't a topic in which we will spend all our time playing around with meanings and the meanings behind the meanings!

Force of Darkness: Anything that serves the 3V1L ones.

Demon: Anything that isn't a force of darkness but serves the 3V1L ones.

So, armed with our definitions, let's march onwards to victory, crushing, burning, pillaging and letting loose Chery-...Mike Jacks-...forces of darkness on the world.

So, let's discuss. What makes the 3V1L ones evil? This is actually quite an interesting question. Some might remember a post long ago about the nature of evil in this day and age, and I have to say that I must once again state that Evil is no longer about controlling, destroying, and blasting the world to bits. After all, just reading/watching this talk show already spews about a billion tonnes of CO2 into the air.

But don't worry, as a geography student, I can tell you we won't die yet. Not for another ten years, at least!

Anyway, continuing our line of thought, Evil is no longer about world domination, but has thrown all its skill points into Manipulation, Persuasion, Illusion and Cripple. Yup, we are all being subjugated by these dastardly skills, and as everyone knows, ORB EFFECTS STACK. Not only that, but you can't dispel orb effects either. That's terrible.

Anyway, something else that makes Evil...well, Evil, is the fact that they cast these spells on their own units as well! That's why there are a multitude of media out there promoting the image of the good Demon, or the helpful, miserable, lonely force of darkness.

And unlike the normal media that Hollywood churns out (incidentally, Hollywood is a nest of 3V1L. Some suspect that Hollywood is a double agent, or even a triple agent. But we can't be certain), good Demons and Forces of Darkness do exist. Of course, this also means that they look like one hell of a ************.

Good demons are probably more common than you think. In fact, demons probably suffer from the same problems that humans do, ie. Exams, Romance, Meaning in Life (there's gotta be something more than scary the pants off that old lady down the street). It's even worse when a demon falls in love with a human, because that often results in sappy romance novels about love that is never meant to be (these are oft mistaken for forces of darkness, but I assure that is a misconception).

Forces of Darkness are a different matter though. These servants are generally mindless beings who have been bent to the wiles of their masters. This bending of will is generally due to the fact that the guy has a weak mind and falls prey to insults, jokes and various other insinuations, causing them to go insane and start doing things that forces of darkness usually do. Like arcade machines.

In the end, Forces of Darkness really can't be blamed for anything. They are like tools that do their master's bidding and...and...

Oh screw this, I don't know what I'm talking about. Never mind.

Getting back to the subject at hand, perhaps it is time to start rethinking our view of demons and other servants of the 3V1L ones. After all, we have to remember that demons are in fact very gentle creatures despite their appearance. You have to get to know them, and then learn about them before judging them. The "do unto others what you wish them to do unto you" works for demons as well, kaes?

As a parting shot to one of the longest and unintelligible talk shows in a long time, let me just say that Demons and Forces of Darkness appear differently to different people. The spell of Delusion and Illusion does that to you. You gotta be careful these days.

Ripped Off

Yeah, the title says it all.

Okay, so it isn't exactly accurate. I didn't actually get ripped off, but I nearly did. Here's what happened.

Walks up to shop aunty, ask to buy two cans of Soya Bean Milk.

Let A = Aunty, M = Me. (Too much math for me)

A: "Okay, that'll be $1"
M: "...what?"
A: "$1"
M: "...are you sure?"
A: "Yeah? Anything wrong?"
M: "Isn't this stuff supposed to be more expensive? Like $1 per can?"
A: "No, it's $1 for two cans. It says so on the card."
M: "No, it doesn't, look."
M takes up the placard and shows it to A.
A: "Ah there, see? Canned drinks @ 50 cents"
M: "No, look closely. The 50 cents is the previous line."
A: "Huh. Really."
M: "Yeah, look. Canned drinks & Milo @ 90 cents"
A: "Oh dear, I see."
M: "Yeah, so I owe you $1.80, not $1."
A: "Ahh, so sorry."
M: "Yeah, please don't do that again. This stuff ain't cheap, you know."

Man, it was a good thing I was alert, or else I could've been 80 cents richer.

This day was a good day.

Today was a bad day.

Firstly, I was sniffling all the way to school, especially having been suffering from a flu and fever and all sorts of ailments for the past few days. I must admit I became a druggy for a few days - popping 18 pills a day is bad, no matter what your disease.

Then we got locked outside of class for a few moments, because SOME DUDE TOOK OUR KEY. Oh well, not like he's gonna be reading this blog (if he does, he'll probably beat the shit outta me, so that's okay). Went back into math class and immediately got insulted by the first person I met a.k.a. the Lord of Darkness a.k.a. Cheryl.

Got back to doing math, and realised that I got fooled on the first question. I AM SUCH A FAILURE, I said to myself. Aloud. And the Lord of Darkness said, "Yes, you are." And there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth. Second question = 3 careless mistakes. Oh god. At least I managed to do the rest of the questions properly.

Physics was next, when I learnt that I barely passed the practice practical. I was quite sad. AT LEAST I BEAT KUANG. =)))))

LangArts. LangArts is never good. 'Nuff said.

Recess ----> I had fun then! Walked around with Seng Wei and role-played a homeless drug dealer who likes to sell Panadol to IB Druggies and has a handheld boombox. Tried to introduce Seng Wei to my friends BUT FAILED. T_T

More maths. Yeah, I pwned this time.

Then EE meeting. Learnt that my EE was crap. I was very sad. ;_; Have to rewrite sooner or later.

After a series of complicated and strange events, I found myself running down the road towards school. This was mostly because I was bored, and also because I was two seconds from missing my bus. While running, I said "Hi" to one of the old ladies running for the bus, and told the bus captain to wait for the old lady. =D

Meanwhile, had fun talking with friends on the bus, and psychoanalysed Wull's survey. Hurrhurr, YOUR TOK IS SCREWED. Too bad Levin left so fast. T_T

Got back home, finished Written Commentary, Physics Prac and writing blog post. After that, I played a bit of minesweeper and looked for Touhou Pics, and cursed at the lack of a good Clannad Subber. Listened for Sore ga ai Deshou another 2 times, before going to sleep.

It was a good day!

My Brother...

...Is A Slacker.

...Is A Manga Freak.

...Is An Advanced Diver.

...Likes driving four-wheel drives in the desert.

...Is Crazy about Konata.

...Loves Who's Line Is It Anyway.

...Sleeps at 10.30 everyday.

...Listens to Symphonic Metal.

...Watches anime whenever he can.

...Likes to drink B33R.

...Is a holy man.

...PWNS THE EPIC SHIT OUT OF ME IN O-LEVELS.

Jonny = L1 = 6

Matty = L1R5 = 7

Hmm...If I try hard enough, I might get a SINGLE-DIGIT SCORE.

Gratz to my brother. AND TO MY TUITION. HURRHURR.

This is the Life.

Windows closed, curtains drawn, light on, fan on, door closed

Bath finished, in pyjamas, hair frizzled, feeling refreshed.

Comp's on, chatting with 7 different people, Sore ga ai Deshou's playing, Google Earth running, EE's wasting, watching anime.

Topographical map in one hand, drawing maps with the other, a bottle of coke by the side and a bag of chips on the other.

If this isn't the life, I don't know what is.

Runaway Train

Call you up in the middle of the night
Like a firefly without a light
You were there like a slow torch burning
I was a key that could use a little turning

So tired that I couldn't even sleep
So many secrets I couldn't keep
Promised myself I wouldn't weep
One more promise I couldn't keep

It seems no one can help me now
I'm in too deep
There's no way out
This time I have really led myself astray

Runaway train never going back
Wrong way on a one way track
Seems like I should be getting somewhere
Somehow I'm neither here nor there

Can you help me remember how to smile
Make it somehow all seem worthwhile
How on earth did I get so jaded
Life's mystery seems so faded

I can go where no one else can go
I know what no one else knows
Here I am just drownin' in the rain
With a ticket for a runaway train

Everything is cut and dry
Day and night, earth and sky
Somehow I just don't believe it

Runaway train never going back
Wrong way on a one way track
Seems like I should be getting somewhere
Somehow I'm neither here nor there

Bought a ticket for a runaway train
Like a madman laughin' at the rain
Little out of touch, little insane
Just easier than dealing with the pain

Runaway train never comin' back
Runaway train tearin' up the track
Runaway train burnin' in my veins
Runaway but it always seems the same.

I really like this song. It describes, down to the last detail, my loss of sanity.

Stupid EE.

Too Much Time On My Hands

Well, now that I have returned to normal school life and some semblance of a brain order, it is time to talk about random stuff that has no meaning whatsoever. That is, after all, what a blog is for: to talk crap. Or to get arrested for making racist comments.

Anyway, it is time for me to figure out one of the most puzzling and perplexing questions in my sorry little life. The fact that I have WAY WAY WAY WAY too much time on my hands.

Actually, this particular habit has been bothering me for some time. Read: Since Sec 3, where it really reared its ugly little head. Somehow, despite the loads and loads of homework and we had during our Sec 3 and Sec 4 years, it somehow seemed that I had more than enough time to do it. In fact, I had so much time to do it, I could still sleep at 10.30 every night. PM, before anyone tries to find a loophole.

What the hell. That isn't possible, okay.

Seriously, take a look at this chart.

5.30 Wake up + Breakfast + Bath
6.00 Go to School
7.00 Reach School + Run Around like a Ninja Swordsman
7.30 Assembly
8.00 Classes Start
~11.00 Recess + Run Around like a Mage with Berzerk
2.40 Classes End + Go Home + Sleep
4.00 Reach home + bath + lunch
4.30 Reach com + watch anime + browse blogs + Run Around like a Assassin with +2 Poisoned Daggers
7.00 Dinner + Bath + PAJAMAS TIME
8.00 Start Work + Talk cock + Sing song + Play Hearts
9.00 Yawn
10.30 Sleep

Am I the only one who thinks this doesn't make sense? I mean seriously, who yawns at 9.00? And who the hell completes all their homework and essays and stuff within 2 and a half hours? It doesn't make sense. Hmm...suspicious.

In any case, this habit of suddenly managing to do all my homework quickly has earned me a reputation for having 36 hours in a day, something that I certainly do not have, or, if I do, I spend it sleeping.

Things get a little more suspicious when you realise that IB ends at 4.40.


5.30 Wake up + Breakfast + Bath
6.00 Go to School
7.00 Reach School + Run Around like a Ninja Swordsman
7.30 Assembly
8.00 Classes Start
~11.00 Recess + Run Around like a Mage with Berzerk
4.40 Classes End + Go Home + Sleep
6.00 Reach home + bath + Dinner
6.30 Dinner + Bath + PAJAMAS TIME
7.00 Reach com + watch anime + browse blogs + Run Around like a Assassin with +2 Poisoned Daggers
9.30 Start Work + Talk cock + Sing song + Play Hearts
9.45 Yawn
10.30 Sleep

Okay, so something got even wronger. Wtf nice spend only 1 hour on work. Heck, this is screwed up. Well, no matter, it all works out in the end.

The problem is that it isn't supposed to work out. I'm supposed to be a heck of a lot more busy than I am right now. Geez, I think that it's still more slack than my Sec 3 and Sec 4 years, something that is dangerously wrong. I mean, I got scolded today because I haven't been to LKC Library for work purposes.

AND I ALSO GOT SCOLDED BECAUSE I DON'T DESERVE A 7 FOR CHINESE, BUT A 5. DAMN YOU HERRICK. DAMN YOU PING.

Okay, gotta go. I have to yawn now.

Lack of Tissues

As doubtless Herrick will testify, my mom scolded me the other day because I stole the tissue box from her bathroom. And I have to say that it was completely not my fault. I just ran out of tissues in my room.

But I guess the think that really irked her was the fact that I had used about 100 tissues within the span of a single week.

And there can only be one culprit. It is a particular game known as CLANNAD.

Well, the name is probably alien to a lot of people, but I can tell you that it is a very very very very very very very sad game, and that everyone should play it because it will make you CRY.

Okay, so maybe that's just me. So sue me.

But heck, CLANNAD is a like a drug. You just can't stop playing the game even though you know you'll be up until 12 midnight crying your heart out. Geez, I've never cried so much in my entire life. It has completely destroyed the little chemistry, mathematics, geography and physics knowledge kept safely in the archives of my head during the holidays.

Originally, my brain looked like this:

Chem, Chem, Phys, Math, Chem, Geog, Chem, Screwing around, Chem, Chem, STOP THAT PING, Chem, JARREL YOU BASTARD, Screwing around, Screwing around, HI NUBBY

Now, it kind of looks like

Screwing around, Play game, STOP THAT PING, JARREL YOU BASTARD, Screwing around, NOOOOOOOOO KOTOMI, HERRICK GIMME WALKTHROUGH, Chem, Screwing around, USHIO ;_;

Yeah, so my brain got thrown about quite a bit.

Can't wait to play After Story again!

Grannys and Nukes

Just this morning, while going shopping for trash bags with my great-grandma, I realised something very, very important.

Great-grandmas are like nukes!

Why? Well, there are quite a number of ways in which they are similar to each other. In fact, off the top of my head, I can think of several. Yup.

1. If you have one of them, you will receive international attention from anyone and everyone. International attention increases exponentially if you have increasing numbers of both.

2. Both of them require utmost attention - they are, after all, very very important to you. If you don't take care of them, then people will come running to you to ask you cease ownership of said item/person and give it to them, whether or not they are terrorists, U.N. Peacekeepers, or Old Folks Home representatives.

3. If you leave them lying around here and there, diplomats, U.N. Peacekeepers, grandparents and parents will be all over you.

4. And of course, if you drop either of them, you're quite screwed.

Okay, I'm bored now. Gotta go continue writing.

Hang on, I think there's a U.N. Peacekeeper outside my window.