"And then you'll punch a mountain... IN SPACE."
Finished Jade Empire again. Kotori's right - there could've been a legitimate movie-style ending, but after a whole game full of pretty visuals, they cut short and wrap it up with text. SOME text would've been fine, but they could've done a lot more with movies at the end. The Henpecked Hou act - which I totally missed the first time - was great, though. Then there was the bit with Dawn Star and Sagacious Zu and their acting careers, and then Master Li doing a parody of the Ancient Chinese Master shtick - hence the title of this entry. The game itself is beyond cool, though they should've rated it a bit more strongly. Yes, it's rated M, but only for violence and gore. There was a LOT of flirting and sexual innuendo in that game. I mean, a lot. And no mention of it by the ESRB. Nor did they acknowledge the possibility of homosexual or three-way romantic subplots. (I wooed both Silk Fox and Dawn Star this time. W00T!!)
Parents have been impossible to live with. I've been home almost a week, and they're already threatening to kick me out unless I get a job. Immediately. "Tried, but they're just not hiring" doesn't cut it for them. It's the truth in this town, but they're not going to accept it. They want results. Know what that makes me want to do? Go find a recruiter and see if there's any possible way I can re-enlist. Or even see if they'll support me through college and let me go the "commission" route. No one wants to hear it. It makes my stomach turn just to think it. But if I have no other way to get far away, FAST, there will be bloodshed.
Had a very sad, very stupid conversation today. Knew it was futile going into it. Not going to go into details. But I remind people of this: the law has a thing called "capacity to contract". That is to say, promises from people who cannot be expected to keep to them are not considered promises at all. This includes people whose wits are addled by inexperience, age, foreign substances, and insanity. If a person with an unhealthy mind swears up and down that they are not dangerous or will not hurt anyone, it is a nice gesture. It means precisely dick. This is not a matter of opinion. It is not a matter of perspective. It is truth. Liking a behavior does not mean that it is safe and good. For example, an obese person generally really likes to eat, and it is a habit no one asks them to give up entirely, but excess is bad. It is likely that it is caused by other problems, but the internal issues and the pleasure derived from binge eating reinforce each other, and it is a problem hurtful to everyone who observes it, whether or not the person in question cares about being obese. Therefore, when someone suggests getting help for the eating disorder before irreversable damage is done and lives are ruined, that person is not being a jerk. That person is not being intrusive, arrogant, or unfeeling. That person is trying to help, whether you want to hear it or not. Obviously, obesity is just an example, not the actual topic of conversation, but the analogy works very, very well.
Anyway, I could not trust myself to contain my rage at my parents tonight, so I fled. Went out to eat. Went to the movies. Saw Kingdom of Heaven. Very, very good. I enjoyed it immensely. It let out just in time to jump in front of the Star Wars line right as it was admitted. That means I got the Power Chair - the one that, in this theater, is the only one in the direct center, and the aisleway leads up to it, as if it were a throne. And I got it at the midnight showing of Star Wars III. Ph33r my l337 skillz. I very much enjoyed that movie, too. I think that a lot of the critical comments are coming from people who are being just plain too picky. Grievous was okay, for a freaky cyborg throwaway villain, but the character didn't deserve any more development. Would've detracted from the plot. Mace Windu's death? Yes, it sucks that he was just sort of lobbed aside like that, after horribly wounding the greatest enemy the Jedi had faced in a long, long time, but any more and he would've stolen the movie. It was supposed to be about Anakin's corruption, not about the sheer badass-ness of the Jedi. They were treading a very, very fine line with letting Yoda, the Jedi Master of 0wnage, be as unbelievably cool as he was - he came close to eclipsing the story all by his lonesome. Yes, it's true that the love scenes sucked, but then, I think it was more genuine for it - Anakin's lines were terrible, but how many of us glide through relationships like one coated in greased monkey shit? He was raised to be utterly devoid of emotional attachments, so his ineptitude fits. At least we didn't have to suffer through hours of it, at any rate. And the whole thing with Obi-Wan walking away as his "brother" burned? I thought it quite well done. He couldn't bring himself to finish the job properly, he couldn't stand to watch him burn, and he couldn't stomach the thought of his dear friend becoming the foul, twisted monster that he had. Of course, the first words Vader uttered upon his completion were mewling, plaintive cries for reassurance that the woman he'd nearly strangled to death hours earlier was safe, which only reinforces his status as a snivelling, fearful, indecisive wretch whose sole claim to coolness in the first movies was the voice of James Earl Jones. (Yes, Kotori. Search your feelings. You know it to be true.) But, all-in-all, a brilliant example of the "space opera" genre, highlighting its strengths while giving a bit of a nod to its weaknesses. Hail, Lucas! You are redeemed!
Oh, and I watched Spaceballs today, as was demanded of me. I must say, from all the insistance that I watch it, I anticipated something slightly less... I dunno. Lame and dull? It had its moments, but as a whole, I'd say that it's the low point of Mel Brooks' film-making career.
Parents have been impossible to live with. I've been home almost a week, and they're already threatening to kick me out unless I get a job. Immediately. "Tried, but they're just not hiring" doesn't cut it for them. It's the truth in this town, but they're not going to accept it. They want results. Know what that makes me want to do? Go find a recruiter and see if there's any possible way I can re-enlist. Or even see if they'll support me through college and let me go the "commission" route. No one wants to hear it. It makes my stomach turn just to think it. But if I have no other way to get far away, FAST, there will be bloodshed.
Had a very sad, very stupid conversation today. Knew it was futile going into it. Not going to go into details. But I remind people of this: the law has a thing called "capacity to contract". That is to say, promises from people who cannot be expected to keep to them are not considered promises at all. This includes people whose wits are addled by inexperience, age, foreign substances, and insanity. If a person with an unhealthy mind swears up and down that they are not dangerous or will not hurt anyone, it is a nice gesture. It means precisely dick. This is not a matter of opinion. It is not a matter of perspective. It is truth. Liking a behavior does not mean that it is safe and good. For example, an obese person generally really likes to eat, and it is a habit no one asks them to give up entirely, but excess is bad. It is likely that it is caused by other problems, but the internal issues and the pleasure derived from binge eating reinforce each other, and it is a problem hurtful to everyone who observes it, whether or not the person in question cares about being obese. Therefore, when someone suggests getting help for the eating disorder before irreversable damage is done and lives are ruined, that person is not being a jerk. That person is not being intrusive, arrogant, or unfeeling. That person is trying to help, whether you want to hear it or not. Obviously, obesity is just an example, not the actual topic of conversation, but the analogy works very, very well.
Anyway, I could not trust myself to contain my rage at my parents tonight, so I fled. Went out to eat. Went to the movies. Saw Kingdom of Heaven. Very, very good. I enjoyed it immensely. It let out just in time to jump in front of the Star Wars line right as it was admitted. That means I got the Power Chair - the one that, in this theater, is the only one in the direct center, and the aisleway leads up to it, as if it were a throne. And I got it at the midnight showing of Star Wars III. Ph33r my l337 skillz. I very much enjoyed that movie, too. I think that a lot of the critical comments are coming from people who are being just plain too picky. Grievous was okay, for a freaky cyborg throwaway villain, but the character didn't deserve any more development. Would've detracted from the plot. Mace Windu's death? Yes, it sucks that he was just sort of lobbed aside like that, after horribly wounding the greatest enemy the Jedi had faced in a long, long time, but any more and he would've stolen the movie. It was supposed to be about Anakin's corruption, not about the sheer badass-ness of the Jedi. They were treading a very, very fine line with letting Yoda, the Jedi Master of 0wnage, be as unbelievably cool as he was - he came close to eclipsing the story all by his lonesome. Yes, it's true that the love scenes sucked, but then, I think it was more genuine for it - Anakin's lines were terrible, but how many of us glide through relationships like one coated in greased monkey shit? He was raised to be utterly devoid of emotional attachments, so his ineptitude fits. At least we didn't have to suffer through hours of it, at any rate. And the whole thing with Obi-Wan walking away as his "brother" burned? I thought it quite well done. He couldn't bring himself to finish the job properly, he couldn't stand to watch him burn, and he couldn't stomach the thought of his dear friend becoming the foul, twisted monster that he had. Of course, the first words Vader uttered upon his completion were mewling, plaintive cries for reassurance that the woman he'd nearly strangled to death hours earlier was safe, which only reinforces his status as a snivelling, fearful, indecisive wretch whose sole claim to coolness in the first movies was the voice of James Earl Jones. (Yes, Kotori. Search your feelings. You know it to be true.) But, all-in-all, a brilliant example of the "space opera" genre, highlighting its strengths while giving a bit of a nod to its weaknesses. Hail, Lucas! You are redeemed!
Oh, and I watched Spaceballs today, as was demanded of me. I must say, from all the insistance that I watch it, I anticipated something slightly less... I dunno. Lame and dull? It had its moments, but as a whole, I'd say that it's the low point of Mel Brooks' film-making career.