Whinejournal [Dreamy Stupor]

Thu, 07 May 2009 11:20:43 GMT

I haven't posted in a million years, but I had to get this saved somewhere. The history of Exalted from the eyes of Anonymous.

#1:
Here's a history of the setting of Exalted, which may answer a bunch of questions and put things into perspective all at once.

Once upon a time, in the formless twisting chaos of the Wyld, there appeared the Primordials. The Primordials are impossibly vast alien beings with multiple souls. Imagine if Cthulhu was the size of Asia and you could meet and hold conversations with his kidneys, which had separate identities, and you kinda get the idea.

“The formless chaos that spawned us sucks,” said the Primordials. “Let's build someplace cool to live, rather than hang out here!”

And so they did. They made Creation, and nailed it down the Elemental Poles of Earth, Air, Wood, Fire and Water.

“This place isn't going to maintain itself,” said the Primordials. “Let's make a bunch of servants to run the place for us! We'll give them intelligence, free will, and hopes and dreams, and then keep them as slaves for eternity! It'll be great!” And so they made the gods. Some gods, such as the Unconquered Sun, Luna, and the Maidens, were build to be exceedingly cool and do lots; others were built to do stuff like make sure individual shrubs grew properly.

“Huzzah!” said the Primordials. “We have people to do the dirty work of running the place for us! Let's spend half our time playing the impossibly awesome Games of Divinity, and the other half running amok!” And so they did.

“This sucks,” said the gods, after moving the Elemental Pole of Fire back into place for 700th time after one of the Primordials went on a drinking binge and knocked it loose, causing untold thousands of deaths and nearly causing Creation to fall back into the Wyld. “We should kill those assholes and take their stuff.”

“Ha ha!” said the Primordials. “You can't kill us! When we built you, we programmed you so you could never attack us! Suck it!”

So the Unconquered Sun, who is the God of Awesome, came up with a plan. “Let's take those little mortals humans down there and give them incredible power. Then we can have them kill the Primordials, and then we can get at their Games of Divinity and play them ourselves!” So they developed Essence Shards, which are sort of like an additional component to the human soul that lets you do magic and super kung fu. Then they picked out the coolest people in Creation and instilled these Essence Shards in them.

“Are you planning on using those Exalted mortals to kill my asshole brothers and sister and take their stuff?” asked Autochthon, who was just about the only Primordial on the side of the gods, because most of the time it was his stuff that the other Primordials were breaking when they ran amok. Plus they made fun of him all the time.

“Um... no,” said the gods.

“Gee, that's too bad. I was gonna hook them up with ultimate weapons of Primordial-slaying destruction, but since you're not rebelling and all...”

“Oh, in that case, yes. Yes, we are.”

Meanwhile, Luna, goddess of the moon, managed to sweet-talk her Primordial hippy sugar mama Gaia into not fighting during the rebellion. “I'll do that thing with my tongue,” Luna promised.

“We have granted you the power to be totally awesome!” said the gods to their Exalted. “Now, go kill those Primordial assholes!”

“Aww, isn't that cute,” said the Primordials. “Those little humans think they can OH SHIT THEY'RE STABBING ME OW OW OW!” Half of them died.

“Don't kill us!” said the other half.

“Now you have to be our slaves for forever, ha ha ha!” said the gods, and then sewed them all up inside the stomach of the head Primordial, Malfeas. (Malfeas got turned inside-out and sewn into his own stomach, too.)

“You guys suck,” said the Primordials to the Exalted. “We hereby curse you so that you'll all turn into assholes someday!”

“Whatever,” said the Exalted.

“Well, now that that's over,” said the Unconquered Sun, who had since declared himself King of All Cosmos, “Let's go play the Games of Divinity all day! You folks we Exalted, you guys can run the world. Make sure none of our lamer siblings start acting stupid. Make sure I get plenty of prayers coming my way. Other than that, have fun!”

“Hey, I feel kinda guilty for helping kill my brothers and sisters and enslaving the rest,” said Autochthon. “I'm going to leave Creation to go brood for a few thousand years.”

“Have fun!” said the gods.

So the Exalted – particularly the Solars – ran the world. Having been cool to begin with and then granted badassitude by the God of Awesome, they proceeded to do all sorts of cool stuff, like build magical cities out of glass, make mountains float, and breed dinosaurs who pissed heroin. YES, SERIOUSLY. THIS IS SOMETHING THAT HAPPENS IN EXALTED. I'LL FIND THE PAGE REFERENCE IF YOU WANT.

Eventually, though, the Solars got bored and jaded and full of themselves. “We killed the Primordials and made all this cool stuff. Everything we do must therefore be right. Let's run amok!” And so they did.

“This sucks,” said the Sidereals, whose job it is to make sure that the Loom of Fate, which is sort of the engine that runs Creation, doesn't crash. “At the rate they're going, they're gonna kill Creation. Let's kill them and take their stuff!”

“Hey, we need your help,” the Sidereals said to the Dragon-Blooded, who were the least powerful but most numerous of the Exalted, who acted as lieutenants and aides and local governors and such. “Your asshole Solar bosses are gonna wreck the world. Can you help us kill them?”

“Figures they'd end up doing something like that. Sure, we'll help,” said the Dragon-Blooded.

“Come to our big dinner banquet!” said the Sidereals to the Solars. Then, when the Solars arrived, the Sidreals blew the place up, and trapped the Solar's Essence Shards in a magic cage so that no more Solars could be created.

“Yay, it worked!” said the Sidereals. “We'll erase all evidence of our existence and run the world from behind the scenes, while the Dragon-Blooded can do the dirty work!”

Meanwhile, the ghosts of the dead Primordials caught 13 of the dead Solar's ghosts on the way down into the Underworld. “Work for us,” they said, “and we'll give you incredible power, like what you had when you were alive!”

“What's the catch?” asked the ex-Solar ghosts.

“Well, you have to be our slaves and try to make everything, everywhere, die forever.”

“Deal! Let's get cracking!” And so were the Deathlords were created, super-powerful ghosts who want the world to die.

Back in Creation, the Dragon-Blooded had a conundrum.

"Hey, what the hell, guys?" The people said. "Those Solar and Lunar guys were fucking awesome! Why the hell did you kill them?"

"Um..." The Dragon-Blooded said as they came up with a solution. Eventually, one of them said, "...Because they were DEMONS possessing mortals! Yeah, that's the trick!" And so the Immaculate Order was invented, a religion that almost everyone in the Realm follows, which paints all Celestial Exalted as evil "Anathema". Wyld Hunts, groups of Dragon-Blooded, are sent out to kill Celestials and keep the status quo all status quo-y.

So while the Dragon-Blooded were doing a fairly good (although not nearly as impressive as the Solars) job of running Creation, the Deathlords were building a doomsday plague.

“Taste the bitter poison mixed from the ashes of our hopes and the tears of betrayal in the dark pit of our tortured souls!” said the Deathlords, presumably while wearing too much eyeliner, and unleashed their doomsday plague into Creation.

“This sucks,” said 90% of the people in the world, and died.

“Hey,” said the Deathlords to the Fair Folk, who lived in the Wyld outside of Creation and didn't like the idea of a place that didn't just change according to their thoughts. “Just about everyone in there's dead now. If you went in, ate the souls of the survivors, and tore the place down, no one could stop you!”

“Thanks for the heads up!” said the Fair Folk, and promptly invaded in force.

“This is bad,” said one of the surviving Dragon-Blooded to her friends. “Fortunately, I just remembered that there's a sealed-off control center for an ultimate magical doomsday weapon that the Solars made for defending Creation against exactly this sort of thing. Let's go on an epic world-saving quest to get in there!”

“OK!” they agreed.

And so they went. Most of them died trying to get past the defenses, but eventually, two Dragon-Blooded finally made it to the control panel.

“Please insert soul to activate this device,” said the control panel.

“What does that mean?” asked one, and then the other shoved her into the soul-extraction device.

And so this unnamed Dragon-Blooded, through an act of supreme badassness, gained access to Creation's greatest magical weapons systems and used them to blow up the Fair Folk.

“I hereby declare myself the Scarlet Empress and ruler of the world,” she said.

“Nuh uh!” said some, until she blew them up. This brought lots more people over to her side, and thus was born the Realm, which is the major power in the world today.

Still, some said, “You were just a lieutenant who got lucky and stumbled across some doomsday weapons. We still have some doomsday weapons of our own, and we'll fight back!” The Scarlet Empress wanted to blow them up too, but a lot of her weapons didn't reach and she was kind of afraid of a Mutually Assured Destruction scenario, so, despite the occasional invasion attempt, they remained independent.

And so things went for over 750 years, until fairly recently, when the Scarlet Empress just up and disappeared. Having named no successor, the entire Realm is now leaderless and gearing up for civil war to see who's gonna be the next one of the Scarlet Throne.

Meanwhile, the Deathlords discovered where the Sidereals has stashed their cage full of Solar shards. “Hey, we can warp those and use them to create our own invincible deathknights!” they said. “Let's go get that cage!” Unfortunately for them (and fortunately for everyone else), half the Essence Shards got loose. Now, once again, there are Solar Exalted.

And that's where the game begins.

#2
Exalted is a game where one of your main antagonists is Death, Creator of the Underworld. Except there's several of him, probably six or seven. Oh, and he's got 13 dread henchmen, one of whom was probably you at some point in time. Also, Hell has a personal grudge against you. Did I mention Magical America regularly trains and sends ninjas out for you? Personally? Ninjas specially trained in ass-kicking? And if that doesn't work, they keep giant robotic suits of armor on reserve. Oh, and the Transformers have united under Omicron and are invading. The Jedi have corrupted Heaven and usurped your rightful place as the Masters of Everything. Your ex-wife just dropped by, and she's a two thousand year old shape-changing man-eating monster now, interested in maybe going on a date next Thursday. Your best friend from your last life now seeks to cover all the lands of Middle Earth in darkness, if he can just find this damn ring. And your God has the world's biggest crack habit, and needs some serious rehab.

#No moar exalted ;)#

If anyone cares about how I'm doing, I'm currently working part-time in ADP Dealer Integrated (or international) Systems (or something, they changed the company name literally yesterday so can't be arsed to remember it yet) and have been living together with my girl for two years now.

Last game played: Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (awesome game)
Current games: Legend of Zelda - Twilight Princess (not-so-awesome game), loads of stuff on my Wii (If anyone reads this, come play sometime, it has awesome party games!)

RIP Gary Gygax

Thu, 06 Mar 2008 18:09:58 GMT

So long... and thanks for all the dice!

Mon, 12 Nov 2007 23:29:52 GMT

My desktop computer has died. Literally.

Total reinstall after a motherboard failure in the fall two years ago. After that just the gradual decline of any Windows machine. Last summer I plugged in a new motherboard and GPU, but for some reason I didn't have to reinstall. Probably a very bad sign, but it was during a LAN party so reinstalling wasn't really at the top of my TODO list.

Anyhow, it was only a matter of time before something collapsed. Unsurprisingly, it was due to a case of tiredness and haste and only semi-reading a query. "[insert random problem here]. Do you wish to reset the permissions on all drives? Y/N" Fool me, I just hit Y. I hacked it together but MSI was scrambled. Fuck. Today I had to reinstall Kerio, which failed to work. FOr some strange reason everything in my computer can be accessed by empty user, but not me. So I reset permissions on my drive C. A soft reset brings my computer up... and up... and up... and up...

Yay, the eternal boot syndrome. The cause? A sysinternals tool called autochk. Basically every time my computer starts, it checks for pagefile and systems dir synch. "Autochk not found. Skipping." Then a BSOD and reset. *sigh*

O well. At least my laptop works.

Yup, got me a new laptop this Saturday. Also remembered that it was time for my yearly LJ update. Lessee... I've been living with my gf for 6 months now, and our first anniversary came and went. Dreading Christmas and the shuffling around Finland that will commence. Still, happy about the laptop ^_^ *ahem* excuse the nerd speak, but Dual 1.6GHz, 2G memory, 512MB Mobile Radeon 1600, 100GiB HDD, WLAN, Bluetooth and a built-in camera. I wuv it.

Right-clicking a file and choosing 'send this to my cell over Bluetooth' kicks ASS. No more stupid cords to diddle with. Also, it plays Hellgate:London. Which is nice.

All's quiet in the RPG front. Our Zentharim campaign is kinda dead, but just started a new... dare I say, python campaign? This crazy Danish professor sent an e-mail to this mailing list I'm in, questing after players for an oldschool game, maybe D&D, maybe Warhammer FRPG. So I sign up, and yesterday we had our first session. D&D 3.5 but with minimal emphasis on rules, or as the DM put it, "as long as you know what you can do and make sense, it's all good". So the DM has a perfect british pronunciation and sounds more like Eric Idle than Eric Idle, with a sense of humour to match. I start to go along with some of the crazier aspects and as an end result the last third of our game session sounded and felt like a bloody Monty Python sketch. In a word, brilliant. Can't wait for the next one.

Sat, 21 Apr 2007 20:59:03 GMT

http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=106297

Drew Hayes dead at 37. He will be missed.

POISON ELVES has been one of the longest-running titles in the scene, Hayes's dialogue and artistic ability guaranteeing good responses by pretty much everyone who's read the series. It's been around... pretty much as long as I can remember. I liked the comic way back when and finally managed to read most of it through a few years back. Very talented, and very much loved around the world, he indeed will be missed.

So sigh, shrug, give the imp in your head a good shot of whiskey and raise a toast to his memory. NYAR.

hauko

Sun, 15 Apr 2007 15:13:53 GMT

http://www.ee.oulu.fi/~mage/bic/

Pitäis täs siivota~~

yawn

Wed, 28 Mar 2007 20:27:59 GMT

Väsyttääpä. Hemmetin koulukoodiprojektit.

On a brighter note, löydettiin Elinan kanssa asunto. Huhtikuun lopussa muutto, toukokuun alussa tuparit. Tarkempia tietoja myöhemmin, kaikki tietenkin tervetulleita ;)

Tue, 06 Feb 2007 21:44:54 GMT

Oulu, Kuivasjärvi, mitattu klo 23:17: -31.7°C, poutaa.

Brrh... welcome to the Finnish winter. The only season where 'freezing your eyebrows off' isn't just an expression.

Fri, 03 Nov 2006 08:51:21 GMT

This is for all you Neil Gaiman fans out there - "Ghosts in the Machines" - Essay for the New York Times by Neil Gaiman.

Yes, I know it's late. So sue me.

Fri, 27 Oct 2006 14:47:14 GMT

öblöblöö

Syysmyrsky, lunta sataa pimpelipom. Menis kotia nukkuun, asentelis uuden virtalähteen (passiivinen, ei perkele enää ääntä koneesta)... sit harkitaan mennäänkö häiritteen Mariaa tänään vai jättääkö huomiselle, on sillä sentään tentti. Mutku se ois lämmin ja sillä ois kaakaota joka menis hyvin tän minttuviinan kanssa :/ Vaikeeta.

Thu, 05 Oct 2006 13:47:39 GMT

*hauko* Tulipa logattua tänneki, puolisen tuntia aikaa ennen harkkoja.

Kai sitä jokasella opiskelijalla tulee se aika, ku pitää ottaa itteensä niskasta kiinni ja lähtee tekeen töitä valmistumisen eteen. Eipä oo ollu yhtään arkipäivää että oisin ollu kotona ennen kymmentä täs pariin viikkoon. Toisaalta siihen menee kyl ropetukset jne mukaan mut pitäähän sitä aina välillä palautua. :P

Muh, 5 päivää lokakuuta menny, tulostuskiintiöstä 27 jäljellä. Just tulostelin parisataa sivua sähkömittaustekniikkaa. Turska kurssi, mutta käytävä on. Kun sais viimoset roikkuvat kurssit tänä vuonna käytyä, ja ehkä pari muuta niin vois ens vuonna joko valmistua tai lähtee vaihtoon. Naganoon tahi Tokion teknilliseen se japaninopettaja yritti usuttaa, pitääpä otella selvää.

Opiskelijan uusi pelastus -- http://www.google.com/calendar/ . Missä tahansa käytettävissä oleva kalenteri pelastaa monilta sudenkuopilta. Nyt kun vielä jaksais laittaa tonne fysiikan "kyllä niissä muistaa käydä ilmankin" -laskupäivät niin hyvää tulisi. Mutta kun ei >_<

Kesä oli ja meni, töissä raksalla, hommasin pleikkarin ja uudet lasit. Irskigalleriasta löytyy kuvaa jos jotakuta sivistyksen eteläpuolelle muuttanutta kiinnostaa nähä ;) Kämppikset on ny vaihtunu kolmeen kertaan, ehkäpä tässä pitäis ruveta harkitsemaan muuttoa itsekin.

OMAKEn animeseminaari oli viime viikolla, go-työpajassa tuli taas roikuttua ja opetettua ihmisiä pelaamaan goota. Pidä siinäkin pokka ku 14-vuotias minityttö jolla on röyhelöä päällä enemmän ku laki sallii tuijottaa lautaa keskittyneenä. Ne goottinuket meni vähä yli hilseen, mutta jokaiselle omansa.

Samaa go-aihetta, alkeiskurssi alko maanantaina, 32 ihmistä osallistunu, yatta! Pääsin sitten viihdyttämään ihmisiä sen vartin verran ku laudat tuli myöhässä -_- Ens viikolle kuulemma puolenkymmentä tyyppiä lisää, kai sitä pitää kunnon luentotila hommata. ^^;;

Fri, 23 Jun 2006 02:34:47 GMT

Dear Diary,

today, for the first time in my life, I (tried to) hit on a married woman. We met at a bar, enjoyed some conversation and closeness, then when the bar closed I suggested we move to another fine establishment with beer and dancing. She agreed. When we went outside, I noticed the ring.

I am not sure what this makes of me. For one thing, I feel so god damned old.

Mon, 19 Jun 2006 22:22:06 GMT

Voi vitun vittu.

Sanotaanpa näin, jos on meikäläisestä koskaan kiinni saako Sysart jotain sopparia, niin vastaus tulee olemaan "ei vitussa". Nimittäin meikä haki niille töihin ja niiden "kyl varmaan tulee töitä", "ehkä tulee töitä" ja "ei tuu sit meiltä töitä" -viestien välissä oli se mukava väliaika jollon palo kolme harjottelupaikkaa alta ku luotin että siellä kyl ees sanottais suoraan.

Noh, kiitos ei mistään. Haistakaa vaan vittu tekin.

Fri, 12 May 2006 11:10:18 GMT

Hmmh, meme day.

1. Put numbers in the boxes instead of x's (example: 1, 2, 3, 4, ...)
2. Repost as "I have lived through ____ of these 158 things."

[1] I have read a lot of books.
[ ] I have been on some sort of varsity team.
[2] I have run more than 2 miles without stopping.
[ ] I have been to Canada.

[3] I have been to Europe.
[4] I have watched cartoons for hours.
[5] I have tripped UP the stairs.
[ ] I have fallen down an entire flight of stairs.
[6] I have been snowboarding/skiing.

[7] I have played ping pong.
[8] I swam in the ocean.
[ ] I have been on a whale watch.
[9] I have seen fireworks.

[ ] I have seen a shooting star.
[ ] I have seen a meteor shower.
[ ] I have almost drowned.
[10] I have been so embarrassed I wanted to disappear.

[11] I have listened to one CD over and over and over again.
[12] I have had stitches.
[ ] I have had frostbite.
[13] I have licked a frozen pole and got stuck there.
[14] I have stayed up til 2 doing homework/projects.
[15] I currently have a job. I wish.
[16] I have been ice-skating.
[17] I have been roller-blading.
[18] I have fallen flat on my face.
[19] I have tripped over my own two feet.
[20] I have been in a fist fight.
[21] I have played videogames for more than 3 hours straight.
[22] I have watched the Power Rangers.

[ ] I attend Church regularly.
[23] I have played truth or dare.
[24] I have already had my 16th birthday.
[25] I have already had my 17th birthday.
[26] I've called someone stupid.
[27] I've been in a verbal argument.
[28] I've cried in school.
[ ] I've played basketball on a team.
[ ] I've played baseball on a team.
[ ] I've played football on a team.
[ ] I've played soccer on a team.
[ ] I've done cheerleading on a team.
[ ] I've played softball on a team.
[ ] I've played volleyball on a team.
[ ] I've played tennis on a team.
[ ] I've been on a track or cross country team.
[29] I've been swimming more than 20 times in my life.
[ ] I've bungee jumped.

[30] I've climbed a rock wall.
[31] I've lost more than $20.
[32] I've called myself an idiot.
[33] I've called someone else an idiot.
[ ] I've cried myself to sleep.
[ ] I've had (or have) pets.

[ ] I've owned a Spice Girls CD.
[ ] I've owned a Britney Spears CD.
[ ] I've owned an N*Sync CD.
[ ] I've owned a Backstreet Boys CD.
[ ] I've mooned someone. (I never got this one)
[ ] I have sworn at someone of authority before.
[34] I've been in the newspaper.
[35] I've been on TV.
[ ] I've been to Hawaii.
[36] I've eaten sushi.
[ ] I've been on the other side of a waterfall.
[ ] I've watched all of the Lord of the Rings movies.
[ ] I've watched all the Harry Potter movies.
[ ] I've watched all of the Rocky movies.
[ ] I've watched the 3 Stooges.
[ ] I've watched "Newlyweds" Nick & Jessica.
[37] I've watched Looney Tunes.
[38] I've been stuffed into a locker/I have stuffed others into lockers.

[39] I've been called a geek.
[ ] I've studied hard for a test and got a bad grade.
[40] I've not studied at all for a test and aced it.
[ ] I've hugged my mom within the past 24 hours.
[ ] I've hugged my dad within the past 24 hours.
[ ] I've met a celebrity/music artist.
[ ] I've written poetry.
[ ] I've been arrested. (Was called to the police station once, tho)

[ ] I've been attracted to someone much older than me.
[ ] I've been tickled till I've cried.
[ ] I've tickled someone else until they cried.
[41] I've had/have siblings.
[42] I've been to a rock concert.

[43] I've listened to classical music and enjoyed it.
[44] I've been in a play.
[ ] I've been picked last in gym class.
[ ] I've been picked first in gym class.
[45] I've been picked in that middle-range in gym class.

[ ] I've cried in front of my friends. ...
[46] I've read a book longer than 1,000 pages.
[47] I've played Halo 2. (sucked)
[ ] I've freaked out over a sports game.
[ ] I've been to Alaska.

[ ] I've been to China.
[48] I've been to Spain.
[ ] I've been to Japan.
[ ] I've had a fight with someone on AIM/MSN/ICQ.
[49] I've had a fight with someone face-to-face.
[50] I've had serious conversations on any IM.

[51] I've forgiven someone who has done something wrong to me.
[52] I've been forgiven.
[ ] I've screamed at a scary movie.
[ ] I've cried at a chick flick.
[53] I've watched a lot of action movies.
[ ] I've screamed at the top of my lungs.
[ ] I've been to a rap concert.

[ ] I've been to a hip hop concert.
[54] I've lived in more than 2 houses.
[55] I've driven on the highway/been on the highway.
[56] I've driven more than 40 miles in a day/been in a car that went more than 40 miles in a day. (40 miles a day? Try 600)
[ ] I've been in a car accident.

[ ] I've done drugs. (Pot experiments...)
[ ] I've been homesick.
[57] I've thrown up.
[ ] I've puked on someone.(I was a dangerous kid.)
[ ] I've been horseback riding.

[ ] I've filled out more than 10 MySpace surveys.
[58] I've spoken my mind in public.
[59] I've proved someone wrong.
[60] I've been proven wrong by someone.
[ ] I've broken a leg.

[ ] I've broken an arm.
[61] I've fallen off a swing.
[ ] I've swung on a swing for more than 30 minutes straight
[ ] I've watched Winnie the Pooh movies.
[ ] I've forgotten my backpack when I've gone to school.

[ ] I've lost my backpack.
[62] I've come close to dying.
[ ] I've seen someone die.
[63] I've known someone who has died.
[ ] I've wanted to be an actor/actress at some point.

[ ] I've done modeling.
[64] I've forgotten to brush my teeth some mornings.
[65] I've taken something/someone for granted.
[ ] I've realized how good my life is.
[66] I've counted my blessings.
[67] I've made fun of a classmate. (We in Finland have this thing called Reilu Meininki)
[68] I've been asked out by someone and I said no. (He was cute, but... no thanks)

[ ] I've slapped someone in the face.
[ ] I've been skateboarding.
[69] I've been backstabbed by someone I thought was a friend.
[70] I've lied to someone to their face.
[71] I've told a little white lie.

[ ] I've taken a day off from school just so I don't go insane.
[ ] I've fainted.
[ ] I've had an argument with someone about whether cheerleading is a sport or not.
[ ] I've pushed someone into a pool.
[72] I've been pushed into a pool.
[ ] I've been/am in love. (Crush, yes. Obsessed, sure. In love? Not really)

Fri, 05 May 2006 11:16:40 GMT

Jaa-a, tänään sit sain tietoa et ois mahollinen harjottelijanpaikka vapaana ja sitten tuli kutsu haastatteluun ihan oikeisiin töihin.

Meikähän on tulessa <3

Fri, 05 May 2006 01:24:35 GMT

Well, I had nothing to do tonight and the new Exalted came out, so...

...Exalted 2nd edition. Let's see how they mangled you. Fair and neutral evaluation, free of preconceptions? Ha! Would I do that?

There were some moments of genuine amusement. How does "General Charm Package" sound to you? Or "Blazing Courageous Swordsmen Inspiration"? Or a topic “And I'll form the head!” I haven't gone through all of it with a fine comb yet (and won't), but the general appearance was ...interesting, to say the least. The stories between chapters (incidentally, one of the features I liked best in the original) are gone, replaced by pages of "art". Make that "comic strips". I hate them already. Instead of reading flashes of well-written prose, we get to see Harmonious Jade(& co) kicking the ass of everyone. Whoo-fucking-pee.

They haven't changed the world all that much, at first glance. The first chapter of the main book is still something I'd keep locked away from first time players (and several constant players, too). Yes, they put in each and every nasty little detail any storyteller would love to sneak up on her players.

--
(a quick word about the Storyteller's Companion before I dig into the mechanics changes -- which no one'll probably read, anyway)

The new SC had some interesting new tidbits on the various factions and seems to be what the original SC was -- a complete package which can be used to easily generate NPCs. BTW, I take back what I said about the charm packages. They're a stroke of genious, even if they do sound funny.

Interesting point, they changed the "~1500 years or so" to 3000. Apparently, the old Lunars and Sidereals got really, really old :D (no, scratch that, just one cartoonist who got the years wrong [scratch that, too. They made Solars live thousands of years])

I dislike most of the canon about Lunars, anyway, and this new edition hasn't brought much improvement. Maybe it's because they fit the Finnish mindset far better than they do the American, I don't know, but I'd like to give whoever wrote the Lunar section a good shake. They're the same uninteresting savages they used to be. *sigh*. At least the Lunar book had some chuzpah. Would you believe they changed Deadly Beastman Transformation into "Hybrid Form Charm" ? Shucks, I'd need at least ten minutes to come up with anything less interesting than that. Well, the SC is still mainly for the Storyteller's use, so I'll forgive those. At least I won't ever have to use the "Strike God" charm. *g*

Correction on the last, I can accept what the main book says. The Storyteller's Companion, however, is a complete disgrace. I await with fear Lunars v2. By the way, nowadays Solars live longer than Sidereals and Lunars.

I agree on some things, though The Silver Pact is not a deliberate organization. It is little more than a name that stuck when the eldest surviving Lunars looked upon the results of the Usurpation and realized that they would have to work together to stay alive. I do appreciate the utter BSness of "old" Sidereal/Dragon Blooded/Lunars. Geez, I wouldn't want to come across one of those when she's angry.

Also, still no decent stuff about Sorcery. *sigh*

(okay, on to the rules)
--

Intimacies -- Interesting. Might work. (“Intimacies” is a term for things your character cares about enough that it changes how the character acts—though not enough to be a Motivation. Characters start with a number of Intimacies equal to their Compassion)

Mmm, I can't remember. Did Solars start with 8/6/4? Well, they do now.

*g* They have "This trait is important in combat!" after every charm that is.

Integrity -- OK concept, hate the name. What was wrong with Willpower? (This trait is important in combat. Integrity allows the character to resist all forms of supernatural mental control as well as helping the character resist believing sale pitches or breaking under torture. Characters skilled in this Ability can resist all attempts to change their mind.)

War -- Ho-kay. Sadly, no one can apparently know how to fight weaponless without knowing Martial Arts. (This trait is important in combat. War gives a clear understanding of combat and military maneuvers. It covers both immediate tactics and long-range strategies and allows the character to assess the strength of enemy forces and to clearly direct troop movements. This Ability is central to all mass combat—when fi ghting as part of a unit, characters use the lower of the character’s combat Abilities or her War.)

Resistance -- They combined Resistance and Endurance. First gamewise decision that makes sense.

Craft -- I like it. They divided all craftmanships into five categories, according to the Exalted elements. (e.g. Earth: masonry, stone cutting, creating earthworks [creating buildings and large objects with stone or earth])

Trade -- Well, they included full conversion tables and "what costs what". I'm not sure I like this more or less than the old one.

Excellencies -- Interesting system. You basically have three different excellency types for each trait (ability). With an excellency you can (respectively) add dice, add successes or reroll. Yes, you buy them separately and the "regular" charms do something different now (like add actions, attacks or distance). This naturally allows you to develop a character's know-how even more intricately than before. Most of the time, they're also prerequisites for getting any of the "regular" charms.

Charms -- They're different, all right. More leaning towards the more powerful than the less. The excellency system allows for the "regular" charms to be more specializations than anything else. (e.g. Hungry Tiger Technique - This Charm allows the Solar’s player to count extra successes on the attack roll twice for the purposes of determining raw damage.)

Combat -- Ticks. Think "Heart beat". Basically, any given action takes X ticks. When you do something, you get X tokens. Everyone ticks at the same time, reducing one token. When you have zero tokens, you can move again. Works best with a large pile of tokens and people throw a token to the pile every tick. Simple and efficient. Does it work? Not too sure. Weapon speeds are hardly balanced, and the little pictures beside them are more silly than anything else (I laughed out loud at the "daiklave"). Kudos for the point-to-point explanations about combat, though.

Defence -- Your passive defence value (DV) is either a) Dodge (dex+dodge+essence)/2 or b) Parry (dex+skill+essence)/2, which is the difficulty of any attack roll your opponent makes. You have no active defence. Your DV is reduced by any actions you make (duh). Also, you have a Mental Defence Value (MDV) which is (Willpower+integrity+essence)/2. Works.

--

All in all, I found the new Exalted good reading, but I'm a bit disappointed at the direction it's going. Well, they're Americans. What can ya expect. Also, the comic strips are a disgrace.

Sat, 04 Mar 2006 23:27:57 GMT

Pistetäänpä tänneki itkua.

Elikkä, viikko sitten olin lähössä Helsinkiin pikkuveljen synttäreille, taisipa täyttää 11 vuotta, meikäläistä 12 vuotta nuorempi ollessaan. Noh, piti mennä perjantaina yöjunalla... 22:30 ei makuupaikkoja 23:00 ei makuupaikkoja 00:20 ei makuupaikkoja. Pääsinpä kuitenkin paarissa kattoon suomen pelin Venäjää vastaan (prkl hyvä olikin), ja sit goisiin pariks tunniks. 07:10 lähti la-aamuna juna ja siihen ehdinkin hyvin. Sit lippua ostamassa (junasta tottakai):

Jahas, ei käy Visa Electron. VITTU. Noh, konnari siinä ehottaa jos hyppäisin Vihannissa pois ja juoksisin rahaa automaatista. Taisi perkele katella ja naureskella ku harpoin maatille ja takasin. Ehdin kyllä, mutta just ku olin painamassa ovenavausnappia niin siitä sammu valo. Elikkä ei, sisälle et enää pääse ku juna liikkuu sentin minuutissa. Vanhoista ovista ois kyllä päässy, perkele.

Noh, mikäs siinä, heitin Vihannin asemalle pötkölleni (peitto & tyyny mukana), ja koisin. 10:37 piti mennä seuraava juna, ja sieltä tulikin - Rovaniemen laatat kyljissä. Aseman aikataulussa sit luki, että kakosraiteelta lähteeki. Jee. Juoksin sit junan ympäri -- vitut siellä mitään junaa ollu. Siinä sit ihmetellessä lähti tää "rovaniemen" juna -- ETELÄÄN päin. Iloista.

Siinäpä sitten vietin seuraavat pari tuntia Vihannin (varmaan ainoassa) paarissa, ja pääsin kuin pääsinkin Helsinkiin. Seuraavana päivänä sit Suomen peli Ruotsia vastaan. 'Nuff said.

Keskiviikkona takasinpäin tullessa meinasin tulla 22:30 Helsingistä lähtevällä yöjunalla. Mentiin sit iskän kans Pasilan asemalle, otin parit kaljat ja iskälle tuli hälytys (takapäivystäjänä). Katottiin molemmat et ok, "22:49 Oulu raide 5" taululta. Menin sinne harpoilemaan, ja mikähän kuuluu. "PIM POM, pikajuna äkspökspläh Rovaniemelle lähtee raiteelta seitsemän." Ja siinä meni. Kolmas juna viikon sisään joka lähtee nenän edestä, missä olisi pitänyt olla.

Sit keskiviikkona (Oulussa viimein) ruokaa tehessä siivilä lipeää ja makaroonit leviää ympäri tiskiallasta ja keittiötä. Ja perjantai sit menikin ilosesti flunssaa alotellessa ja matikkaan hajotessa. Potkasin aamulla suihkuun mennessä polveni ilkeästi, vieläki jäykkä. VITTUUUUUUH.

Näin meillä Vittuillaan Markukselle -viikko, miten teillä?

Thu, 23 Feb 2006 02:56:59 GMT

A lot has been said about how to prevent rape.
Women should learn self-defense. Women should lock themselves in their houses after dark. Women shouldn't have long hair and women shouldn't wear short skirts. Women shouldn't leave drinks unattended. Fuck, they shouldn't dare to get drunk at all.

Instead of that bullshit, how about:

If a woman is drunk, don't rape her.
If a woman is walking alone at night, don't rape her.
If a women is drugged and unconscious, don't rape her.
If a woman is wearing a short skirt, don't rape her.
If a woman is jogging in a park at 5 a.m., don't rape her.
If a woman looks like your ex-girlfriend you're still hung up on, don't rape her.
If a woman is asleep in her bed, don't rape her.
If a woman is asleep in your bed, ...

[Snipped for stupidity]

I pasted this for all you women who pasted it just to be supportive. Fuck you. You never stood in front of three other guys, just because you won the coin toss, your cock so stiff it never was before, looking down at the woman, looking at those hungry eyes, knowing she wants it. Knowing she wants it so bad, but she's drunk beyond thinking, and it's not right. So you slap her, call her a bitch, call her everything your mother taught you never to call a woman, to get her angry. Because you know what keeps you going after hope, after love, after dedication and all else is gone? Even through alcohol, any amount of alcohol? Anger, that's what. So you get her angry, ignore the tears, ignore what they make you feel, you call her a whore, a slut, tell her to get her panties on, her coat on, and get her out of the front door, and you don't care about the beating that's coming for you, because that's the right thing to do.

You don't know about any of that. So fuck you. Fuck all of you hypocrites. All you know is that you want your precious virtue kept together. That's all you want. Today I slapped another woman to get wake her up, get her off a bar's floor. I asked her to follow my fingers, asked her if she could get home. And do you think I'll be thanked or praised tomorrow by her or her boyfriend? Fuck no.

I'll be screamed at for interfering.

Fucking women. Can't live with 'em, can't kill 'em all, either.

Thu, 02 Feb 2006 03:16:34 GMT

Today's appreciation: Lidl. 2l of lemon ice tea for 0,79€ ,, 400g of sausage 0,79€ ,, 600g of minced meat 1,6€ ,, 2l of soda 1,4€ (with 0,4€ returnable bottle) ,, 1kg of pyttipannu(casserole with meat, potatoes and onions) 1,69€ ,, etc etc.

Foooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooood.

Also, what is it with people called Hanna or Henna. There are 31,447 people (including, but not limited to, 9 males -- go figure) called Hanna and 11,337 people called Henna in Finland. Why is it that I know over ten people with one of these names.

WHY ME?

Mon, 30 Jan 2006 13:50:49 GMT

Quote of the day: "Ah... you find it discomfiting to hear this form speak of dark desire? Do I make you uncomfortable?" "Very." "Lesson learned, Thanos of Titan. I am Death. I am not of comfort."

Thu, 26 Jan 2006 13:37:10 GMT

From amphelice -- List seven songs that rock your socks at the moment.

Allekirjoittanut - Vuosisadan Raggaustarina
Indica - Ikuinen Virta
Apocalyptica - Misconstruction
Danny Elfman - Kidnap Mr. Sandy Claws
Enigma - Return to Innocence
Gamma Ray - Razorblade Sigh
Teräsbetoni - Taivas Lyö Tulta

Thu, 19 Jan 2006 15:19:12 GMT

http://www.juzba.fidisk.fi/pakkasta.jpg

Brrh. -29 degrees C in here tomorrow. That's -20 degrees F, for the SI-unit deprived.

Tue, 17 Jan 2006 02:28:51 GMT

Today, another scrap of hope for mankind was lost.

http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt0383718/

I found out they are doing a W.I.T.C.H. animation >_< (well, at least it has Greg Weisman doing it). Yes, the teen witch comic that feels like it's polluted the minds of every female age 10 to 15. EVERY SINGLE GIRL I'VE MET OVER THE PAST TWO YEARS HAS TOLD ME ABOUT THIS SHOW. ARGH.

If I ever catch whoever was behind that comic, I will punch him in the gut for the benefit of all mankind.

That said, I might be persuaded to watch a few episodes of this show if sufficiently drunk.

Mon, 16 Jan 2006 16:00:45 GMT

A few months ago me and two of my friends went bird hunting. Although we didn't catch anything, we had a terrific time (ate and drank a *lot* ;)). So now my friends (who owned the cabin) brother decided that we should at least get to *eat* some since we didn't catch any. Yay.

So now I'm off to cook & eat a grouse (teeri).

The sad part, of course, is that I just had a dentist's appointment who fixed my chipped tooth by making a plastic replacement that's half again the size of the old tooth. So my mouth's all sore. So every silver lining indeed has a cloud.

Have amused myself lately by watching old Darkwing Duck eps. They do indeed rule. And there should be new Karin, Bleach and Lost in a few days. Studies picking up. I managed to clean up some last week. Anyway, I'm off.

Tue, 10 Jan 2006 23:55:08 GMT

Just finished Lost after about 26 hours after I started watching it (and a full day at school). Sleep sounds soooo good.

But DAYM, that show kicks ass. It's getting unhinged like all American shows eventually do, but so far it's good. I hear the second season's a bit disappointing but who cares. I want MOAR. NOW.

Inspired by Itsallies.

Wed, 04 Jan 2006 01:20:46 GMT

Welcome to the year 2006. This year will be the same shit as every other year, full of uncomfortable silences, nasty surprises and waking up in the gutter. More and more people will die in bomb explosions and wars, but you'll just skip over the news and maybe go 'ohh, that's terrible' while eating off your full breakfast table. Children will starve, be beaten and be ravaged by clergymen they're supposed to trust. More and more dreams will shatter and more people will fall into deeper and deeper abysses of pain and death.

You will meet up with many new people, most of whom are idiots or backstabbers but you'll hang out with them anyway because you're afraid of being alone. You'll look at others in your little group, wondering if this year someone'll realize people are laughing AT them, not WITH them. You wonder if you're one of those people. You're a little peg in a huge machinery that doesn't care. You don't matter, you never will matter and no one cares if you die.

Happy new year.

Whinejournal [Dreamy Stupor]

RIP Gary Gygax

*hauko*

*yawn*

Inspired by Itsallies.

hauko

yawn