Okay, sorry it's taken me a while but I really wanted to give the game a good run before writing up my review of it. Keep in mind that I have never:

1) Played ANY of the previous Fallout games
2) Played Oblivion but I have a friend who did so this is kinda half my review and his
3) Own a console so as far as controls go, I'm basing mine off of the PC

( With that said, ONWARD TO THE REVIEW! )

sure, they overprice stuff but who doesn't these days? which is why i wait to see what goes on clearance then make my move on stuff i like. stuff like this, which i think gtonizuka will approve of muchly. :3 got other stuff too but i think that was the main highlight.

but considering how lazy i am to check/write on my lj, facebook, myspace and...whatever else i have floating out there, it probably wouldn't. :D

anyways, first off, happy (now belated) birthdays to muimi07, himene and rahien! whoo~!

( second off )

( third off )

( fourth off )

thanks to Katin, i totally demand that everyone i know go out and buy a DS so we can all look like utter goofballs while playing this game:



and i need to post this because it's lawlz. i would just like to say that my mom did not freak out on me like that and we were smart enough to start in a parking lot first. XD



lastly, since i'm such a big fan and i couldn't resist, i totally ended up getting this. i SWEAR it's not for the panty shot, it's because it's neko with chibineko Ryuubi and Chouhi. :D i also preordered this sexy beeyatch because it is full of much sexy and cheesecake which i totally admit to wanting for it's cheesecakey-ness. can you blame me? :(

not like that, you pervs. :P

the whole 'search for a car' thing has been quite the roller coaster and as someone who still has quite the of a phobia of actual roller coasters, mental/financial roller coasters are even less fun and can stretch on forever. SO WANT TO GET OFF ALREADY.

so even though this car was okayed by the mechanic my mom trusts, at the second viewing of the car, my mom found two problems. the first was that the release levers for the back seats were broken/missing/DOES NOT WORK. uh, kinda defeats the purpose of me looking for a hatchback of this style. quite the problem. have no idea if it's something easily fixed replaced but srsly, how/why the hell of all the million bits on a car would THOSE break? it just kind of boggles the mind or at least my mind. second, the first time we saw the car, we had the windows rolled down because it was a bit warm but not so much that we needed the AC (and i tend to prefer fresh air to AC if weather allows it). the second time, i guess my mom and stepdad were inspecting the car while the windows were rolled up and doors closed and discovered that the car had a rather pungent smell to it. soooooo i started looking at craigslist again...

and saw this car. sure, it takes away the need for me to learn stick but dang if it doesn't seem like a sweet deal, especially in comparison to this other car i found, which we did take a look at and it wasn't BAD but definitely wasn't as shiny as the GTI, which we looked at right after. i mean, if you take into consideration that the Golf is at a dealership so it'd be $6998 plus all the sales tax and blahblahblah, actually turning out to be more like $7700 out the door, the GTI is total WIN over it. sure, it's got some rock dings on the front that i'd have to take care of prior to rainy season so's to not risk rust but other than that, it was a pretty sweet ride. 4 doors would've been nice but i'll live. it was more of the ease of people getting in or the down folding of the seats when i need the extra space but meh, i can definitely manage without. now just to see if it gets our mechanics approval. *crosses fingers* DX

now...to take the lappy to school/work with me or nay... 2 hour break between classes. groo~

01. Take a picture of yourself right now.
02. Don't change your clothes, don't fix your hair
03. Post that picture with NO editing.
04. Post these instructions with your picture.

there ya go. you can also see what a FF whore i am. at least for the pretty nee-chans. :x and god i need to cut my hair again already... =_=;

oof, shoulder/arm/wrist is pretty RAR at my playing Rock Band for a few hours straight with C&T. played a little drums (oh so much practice needed), played a lot of guitar (both lead and bass, didn't have the confidence to play past Medium tho) and tried my best at singing. of course, HAD to do crushcrushcrush and That's What You Get because i'm such a Paramore otaku. also tried The Kill - 30 Seconds to Mars, Any Way You Want It - Journey, Vasoline - Stone Temple Pilots, Roxanne - The Police and of course, More Than A Feeling - Boston. i'm sure i did a couple of others but that's what i remember.

dinrar was yum even though we weren't able to put down the drumsticks/guitars/mics before Ramen Halu closed for the day but that's okay! because there was still Shabuway! and i'd been craving shabu shabu something awful the past week or so so it worked out. SO GOOD. need to introduce C&T to Little Sheep in union city tho. ALSO SO GOOD. oh, and just for stormdragon and muimi07, Shabuway has negitoro don on their menu now. BAM! :D

in other news, i think my mom and i have settled on a really good car today. sure, it doesn't have a sunroof but i'll live because it has the aux/ipod in so HUZZAH! or should i say ARR! XD even tho TLAPD is officially over, i need to squeeze a bit into the post SOMEWHERE. anyways, the car was pretty shiny save for a few dings here and there, which i attributed to him having attending, thus having to park in, De Anza. it seems i'm fated to learn how to drive a 5 speed manual so what the heck. better now then never knowing at all. i'm pretty happy with the find even if it's not a brand new car. i really didn't care too much about it being new from the get go but mom really wanted to go for it for my credit and blah blah blah. anyways, will hope that our mechanic has time to check the car out tomorrow so we can get everything done this weekend and i can get a bit of learning in before school on monday...

OMGSCHOOLONMONDAYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUGH! XD i'm looking forward to my anthro class, which will be discussing magic, science and religion! in more detail!

'Explore the ways in which people have attempted to gain mastery over the natural and supernatural worlds beginning with prehistoric times and concluding with modern day society and the contemporary world. Cross-cultural study of the beliefs about the nature of reality, spirituality, death, magic, science and healing.'

doesn't that sound cool?! XD well i think it does. and it'll help with future project stuff possibly so yay! now to see if i need a book for that class. =_=;

also, Perfect World is a pretty fun free-to-play MMO. i has a big wolfie-man named Skollgard (which i think i will be using for the name of my new car as well...) as my main character right now and he's up to lvl 24. i have various lowbie characters of all the different classes but so far, i'm actually really liking my barbarian as he's able to tank but dish out pretty nice damage while he's at it. just waiting for more skills on my tree that draw aggro.

oof work in the morning. sleep needed. o/




I could survive for 1 minute, 19 seconds chained to a bunk bed with a velociraptor

anyone (know of anyone that might) need/want a part time job at the Apple Store in Palo Alto? we're hiring and i get $250 if people i refer get hired. :DDD

in other work news, it kind of surprises me just how many lesbians i work with. i mean, sure, half were pretty obvious but the other half was like '...really? o_o;' i dunno, growing up in the area, i was always surrounded by straight people in school so i guess it surprises me when i do meet people that are (openly) gay in the south bay.

and before any of you ask/suggest things, only one of them is single and while she's pretty cute and cool to hang with at work, don't think she's really my type. :P

possibly going for this car due to it being practically new, awesomely priced and very low mileage. no moonroof or aux in but i could survive without until i can afford to put them in after market. at least the aux in. there was another one listed on craigslist but mom is a bit wary since it'd be through an owner rather than a dealer, thus no financing/me establishing credit and no warranty. i figured i'd mention it to her anyways because it's lower priced, lower mileage and already has the aux in but if she prefers to go through the dealership, i won't throw a fit. either way, both are shiny. :3

also, kinda late but ate at one of the other izakaya places in SV, Saizo. still think Gochi reigns supreme as far as having more variety and overall taste but Saizo was pretty good. i'd say if you want to stick to the more traditional stuff, it's a good alternative. didn't seem to have the same foot traffic as either Gochi or Tanto but there were quite a few Japanese customers there so it must have a pretty decent stamp of approval with the j-community. my favorite bits were probably the honey marinated lamb skewers with garlic, bacon wrapped enoki and the Dewazakura sake my mom and i shared. really sweet and smooth, probably even more so than Otokoyama. proportions are a bit small but if you doubled them, it would probably be close to or equal to the proportions at Gochi, as well as the price. but yeah, definitely still like Gochi's more just because theirs seems more dinner-y and filling than Saizo's.

so being a fan of the game, i had decided to give the novels a try.

the first novel, Exodus, was pretty decent. it starts 18 years prior to where the game starts, which is pretty much the year that the St. Paul's Hellgate opened. you're introduced to 2 main characters, the first being Simon Cross, an ex-Templar who left to live a 'real life' above ground when he was a young man. the second is Warren Schimmer, a schlep of a Londoner that seems to live under the heel of anyone until the Cabalist learn of his abilities, now enhanced due to the arrival of the demons. i'm sure from just that, you can kinda venture what happens to each but then again, it's a game novel. if you don't expect it to be predictable to some degree then yeah... anyways, it was entertaining enough.

the second novel, Goetia, was...very rushed. SUPERBLY GLARING typos, missing words and other such things editors are supposed to catch. wtf guys? i mean, i know only fanboys will read it but c'mon...you could at least proofread the fucker, no? no? okay, fine. so the two guys are still around and a character that was introduced in the first novel but kind of stayed in the background for the most part for good reason. i <3 her and she is made of much awesome. and while the second novel isn't stellar, as i was reading, one thing DID make my day when i came across this name:

Lyra Darius.

oh fuck yes.

sadly, she shows up towards the end so i don't think she'll get much action in this book but considering she shows up AFTER her encounter in Temple Church with Jessica Sumerisle (it takes place 4 years after the first novel), i'm sure she had to take time out to recover from that with having an artificial arm and all. >_>; anyways, she does talk about that entire night and even mentions Keira Skyler, the Cabalist shown in the trailer. it was just kinda fun to get a bit more than what you see in the trailer and what Lyra tells you ingame regarding the entire incident.

some other honorable mentioned names in the novel were Avalon (nsfwlol), who surprisingly is a Sumerisle. o_o; maybe it was mentioned in the game somewhere but i surely don't remember it. i don't think she's necessarily the daughter of Patrick so maybe...Maxim? ugh, that would be most unfortunate if she was since Maxim is such a douche but meh, what can you do? anyways, her name was mentioned but she hasn't actually showed up. maybe in the next novel or the next series? i can hope. :3

in other news, taking the train to work was pretty nice and fairly relaxing. no worrying about parking or traffic. just kick back for 15 minutes and listen to some music. good deal. wish i had picked up the habit earlier. might've saved Chachamaru some stress but meh.

in other news, i think i'm starting to warm up to the Mazda3's more now. i kinda like the shape of them better than the older Matrix's and they've been showing up for a lot less than the VW Rabbits. they're pretty damn shiny and quite ZOOM ZOOM. :3 saw a pretty good deal on craigslist so will pursue it.

so i finally remembered 'oh hey, i have an iPhone which means i have an iPod which means i can totally get podcasts now...'

so far, i've subscribed to A State of Trance (Armin Van Buuren), Nocturnal (Matt Darey), Radio 538 (Tiesto), Trance Around the World (Above & Beyond) and two various house ones, OHM (Our House Movement), which is a bit more soul/funk oriented, and Summa Solstice, which is more chill/latin. i likes them all and am open to suggestions for others whether they're electronica, rock or whatevers. :D

car update: there is no car. yet. the money situation is really holding things up with me having no credit and so far, no one can cosign with me. dad tried to buy teh ubar camera for his new project and got denied so he thinks he'll get denied for the car, stepdad has teh awsum credit but isn't working so he's out and mom is working and a good credit but is being paid cash under the table so that doesn't count. still trying to figure out ways to work it but in the mean time, out of the cars we've seen, this and this are in the running, with the Rabbit being first. am slightly intimidated by the stick shift and bummed with the lack of an aux input on the Mazda3 but things i could adjust (to) later.

to the late Chachamaru, my dear white 1990 hatchback Acura Integra GS. you served me well over the past 8-9 years, getting me to work, over the Santa Cruz mountains on highway 17 to get back to Silicon Valley, Vegas, Los Angeles and even to Reno and back, on multiple occasions many times. sure, you broke down a couple of times but for the most part, you were a good and dependable car to someone who's probably not the best at taking care of her cars in the first place. i'm sorry i sucked at maintaining you in comparison to the person who owned you prior to me but know that i loved you nonetheless, even with the fart pipe and the constant scrapping when trying to go over speed bumps and on some driveways. :3

Already Missing You,

Me

- - - - -

uh so yeah, Chachamaru is dead. to be more specific, the engine is dead. blown. kaput. apparently the head gasket was cracked so yay oil and coolant/water mixing! so yeah, D-E-D dead. it just sucks because i JUST paid for the registration on the car. thankfully, i hadn't paid for the insurance yet but bleh...

so basically, the need to buy a new car has been put into overdrive so i've been trying to figure out what kind of car i want to get next. i really hadn't been looking into it because this was something that was going to happen once i finished school so i didn't really have any idea as to what cars are even really out there, save for the ones you see just about every where like Civics and such.

so i decided to ask one of the guys at work who seemed to be really into cars what he thought might be good for me. i told him i wanted something not too impossibly priced, had good/decent gas mileage, was fairly roomy for both front and rear passengers (because i know some of you suffered trying to ride in the back of Chachamaru) and would be good/had enough trunk space for roadtripping. all of his suggestions were hatchbacks of sorts, but not necessarily station wagons, like the Toyota Matrix, Mazda 3 and the VW Rabbit so i looked into those as well as a few of the other sporty hatchbacks from other companies.

i don't really know anything when it comes to car parts and what not but regardless, i'm liking the 2009 Matrix S the most so far. i like the way it looks over just about the others and has just about all i could ask for from a car, though i do like the versatility of the chair configurations in the Honda Fit (which also has a new 2009 model coming out), especially the Refresh Mode. unfortunately, it just doesn't look as shiny as the Matrix. :x the Nissan Versa looked pretty shiny until i realized that the rear seats don't fold down flat with the cargo space. or at least from the picture provided it doesn't look like they do. bleh, silly 'stylized' car pictures that don't show them in a realistic light... also, the trunk opening wasn't as wide as the one on the Matrix.

i dunno, i'm up for other suggestions or opinions regarding the cars i've mentioned. i think i do want to stick to having a hatchback of some sort for the storage space. i don't think i need something that's super sporty, which is why i probably won't for the Impreza WRX hatchback. ;3 but yeah, info prz~

oh, and Reno stuffs tomorrow. mebbe. :x

so i snapped a few pics of people in line for the iPhone at my store. darn camera on the razr sucks bawlz but i tried. this one was taken on my way into my shift and the other two were taken after i got out. it'll be interesting to see how long the line is when i get to work at 7am~ :3

so before we get to the good, let's trudge through the bad.

- ( that guy's asshole was puckered so tight, you could make diamonds! ...yeah, work grumbling... )

- ( man, south bay courts/city halls must LOVE getting my money... )

...i think that's all i have to bitch about for now so now to progress to the good shit.

- ( yay movie day and half-assed reviews! )

- FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES. ( g33k g4m3r grrl squeeing ahoy )

only other thing i have to report is that after training today, we officially saw that we had campers for the iPhone outside our doors. small group but DANG. they like had a complete set up! i saw a monitor at least but i didn't linger around to see where they were getting power or what they were hooking the monitor up to. i just hope they don't roast too much tomorrow. i totally should've gotten a picture of them though... maybe i'll get one tomorrow... XD

okay, no more covering for people at work when it'll turn out that i'm working 6 days in a row. it just seems to throw my karma energy into the twilight zone or something.

- i've been having some bizarre ass dreams that...aren't necessarily bad/nightmarish but they are kind of disturbing/unsettling on an emotional level. just...oddness i tell ya.

- my sales have suffered something awful. i haven't been able to approach customers at that key time where they're ready to ask questions that lead to BUYING. maybe it's because it's a holiday weekend and people were hoping for a sale of some sort from us but yeah... i saw desktops and laptops being sold, just none from me. :/

- i SERIOUSLY thought it was monday today. it FEELS like a monday to me. i think part of my mind is still convinced it's monday and i've been up for nearly 25 minutes. just blergh.

on the flipside...

- i WILL be going to see Paramore on the 28th in Reno. i missed they're SJ show so i wanted to make this one but it's not necessarily a trip i wanted to make on my own. going to the SF alone was fine but Reno? meh...it'd be like going to Vegas completely alone... DX so it seemed like i wasn't going to be able to go but thankfully my aniki in cheekawgoh (who got me into Paramore in the first place) wanted to see them live...and gamble at the casinos because he has 'money to blow' so i am going! whee~

i figure i'll drive up there the day before so i'll have a night/part of the day to rest before the concert, do the concert, get some sleep then drive back the next day. i made the mistake of driving to Angel's Camp for a rave and thinking i'd be alright for the night but i got tired SO FAST so i wasn't able to dance around and such as much as i liked so this time, i'm giving myself ample resting time. it's not as long of a drive as to LA or Vegas (so says google maps) but i'm sure it'll be plenty tiring nonetheless.

...so is there anything to do in Reno besides my concert, gambling and ski/snowboarding that anyone can think of? like any good restaurants to try or the like? i'll probably go to Circus Circus for old times sake and do the buffet there but anything else? :x

- this shiny should be arriving soon~ XD

groo~ i've been meaning to LJ for a while but either i was too tired, lazy, distracted by school work, distracted by a movie/tv show or distracted by a game. take your pick. so here goes the digest version. first, some good news...

( *does the FUCK YOU dance in Fry's direction* )

( *does the happy celebration dance in Apple Store's direction* )

( ugh...a year already? )

shit...birds chirping, sun rising. sleep needed. to be continued...

i get to work with this sexy bitch during the weekend.

SO.
FUCKING.
SEXY.

as i've said to some people already, if this camera was a woman, i would make sweet love to it in the rain.

just...
UNF.

i'm having fun just playing with the manual focus and being able to establish some sort of field of depth!

god, how i want one now...

something else to add to the 'if i win the lottery some day because this is over $1000' list. ~_~;

...stupid expensive hobbies/career interests. DX

ah well, at least it was totally worth the effort of staying up til 6am to finish my transcribing. i was the ONLY person in the class to turn something in, and while it wasn't perfect (it's a bit on the long side and i didn't have the time codes for when i wanted to end a scene but she forgave that because i told her that the examples she had didn't have them either so NYEAH~), i still got it in on time, thus...i got first pick at equipment today! \o/ i also snagged the shotgun mic this time instead of the handheld sennheiser, which is awesome but picks up WAY too much and i get a lot of empty air hiss.

...

[/end video art equipment fappage] :x

(i blame it on the sleep deprivation. at least some of it.)

wow, been a while, eh? :x first of all, happy birthday to themishi! :D

( xmas )

( new years/sick )

( aniki )

( school )

( speakers )

oof, have more to go one about but need to get ready to go to the new Curry House that opened in the bay area! XD mmm...curry... *_*

so i was browsing HobbyLink Japan  after oogling at the Kanu figurine i'm trying to decide whether or not to order, and i think i found something that's relevant to your interests. :D i'm sure you'll drool at it at first sight but be sure to mouse over the second picture and pay particular attention to the emblem upon the shoulder armor. i think you'll be pleasantly surprised. XD

you <3 me for sharing, yes? :D??!!?!?!!?1?!!/11!?1/1!?

oh yes, and switched out some icons for other ones, this one included. :3

also updated the macbook pro to Leopard since stepdad had to upgrade their imac to use it with his new iPhone. let's see how it breaks! :D

interesting Ebay bidding going on...

so you get Rock Band plus a fairly hawt looking Santa's Helper groupie? whoo! for (what is currently as i'm looking at it) $480? uhh...sure guys. you do that. i like games and i like girls but uhh...i'm not so in the money that i can do that quite yet. <_<; but hey, i'm sure SOMEONE will have a very nice holiday? n.n; i'll roflmao heartily if a GIRL wins the bidding. i might also ask for picture... *snicker* XD 

so i picked it up as it seemed like the thing to do prior to Halloween. it's a game with a concept/story drawn up by Clive Barker, after all. it's gotta have quite the scare/disturb the fillings out of your teeth to it.

unfortunately, the game has been more frustrating than scary. they expect you to do PRECISION shooting from the get go. hit these two spots on this monster while it's convulsingly lurching towards you along with 3-5 of it's buddies. btw, better hit those 2 spots before they reach you or else they'll EXPLODE and seriously injure/kill you/your squad members.

speaking of squad members, perhaps it's because i haven't had to micromanage npcs in a while but ugh...such a bother and it seems like they don't listen to me half of the time. i'll tell them to hold position, yet i'll see them running next to, if not AHEAD of me when i start moving. wtf? one good thing is while there's friendly fire, they don't seem to die from you shooting them. even in the head. of course, this might be because i currently have it on easy.

speaking of 'easy', i know there's generally a learning curve for any game but usually on EASY, it's like...EASY. this kinda goes with the 2 previous paragraphs but inbetween commanding the squad, shooting oncoming monsters, trying to hit those points on the splodey monsters, having to heal injured/fallen squad members as you're 1 of 2 people in a squad of 7 that can do so and hoping one of the splodey monsters doesn't feel like coming up behind you during the healing animation, it's feeling...not so easy. i like a challenge but typically, i'll go through a game on easy the first time through to see story/character development stuff, then go back to play it on normal/hard for the challenge. but yeah, it took me 4 or 5 tries to get past this one fight just because of all the splodey monsters, just...grrr...

a few other things that annoy is the utter lack of a map/compass/objective list to tell where the fuck i'm going/what to do. 'this is omega! we need help in the northeast sector!' cool! ass kickin' time! ...which the fuck way is northeast?! at the moment, i'm stuck at some big arena of sorts with 4 sphinx-like statues just...staring at them and the walls. i have no idea what to do. i even tried shooting all of my squad members in the head. yes, i really did. just...guh...

it's a shame because i do enjoy the stories that Barker comes up with but so far, Jericho isn't impressing me. if i can ever get past the stupid statues, maybe it'll improve but for now, i ain't holding my breath.

i'm tired as hell so i'll be slacking off on the paragraphs but i had to say that Hellgate London is made of absolute win. now that the NDA isn't in effect, i can freely gush about it. so far, i've tried out blademaster, marksman, engineer and evoker. blademaster is pretty snooze, evoker is alright but marksman and engineer are friggin' win. marksmen is better for teams while engineer is kinda like a marksman but with a small army of robots to help you kick ass. it's kinda like being a mastermind on CoV but without having to micromanage. at first, it worried stormdragon and me that engineers and summoners didn't really have control of their pets but after Jericho, i'll be sure not to take that for granted anyhore. also, NEVAR ENDING CLIP IS RABURII DESU! we'll be losing our beta characters but thankfully, leveling isn't that much of a pain, nor is raising money. it's pretty easy for anyone to farm for parts/money so hopefully there won't be an economy problem except for unique items. getting around is pretty easy as well. as stormdragon said, it really is what we were hoping to get out of Tabula Rasa but that got fairly convaluted pretty fast. so yeah, i'll likely be playing that along with CoH/V. inbetween homework, of course.