Winterwolf

Seems funny. "I'm just ****ing with you, dad." That kid is from that Disney cartoon My Friends Tigger and Pooh. If there only was "I'm just ****ing with you, Pooh."

Hmm... Yule Goat=Joulupukki? Anyway, God Jul everyone.

Okay, just watched it. Yeah I know I'm late. But I have to wait much less for the next two-parter than you guys. Here are my random impressions, all very randomy. Enver Gjokaj is my new God! Seriously awesome. He's like the new Nathan Fillion, only he's Enver. There's just no way to describe it. This episode reminded me of a Buffy quote "It's about power." I loved it how they are all working together... somewhat

Estonian connection with finno-ugricness was destroyed by the 19th century estonian national romanticism movement. We have couple of traditional people still left (Kihnu matriarchy and Seto's) but since the powers that be are more interested in investing in mainstream estonian identity with 1930's being turned into our mythical Camelot, most of our finno-ugricness exists only in the halls of academy to be studied by anthropologists, sociologists and other historians. Then again, it's not like Tolkien's much loved northwestern spirit existed in his contemporary England either. It was also restricted to academy's and universities like that, which Tolkien as an academian had access to. It's quite common that people most of the time more or less live in the contemporary global culture, and then comes a writer who gives ancient ethnic stuff a new and interesting spin and it suddenly finds a new life. That is one thing that separates Tolkien from most fantasy writers - Tolkien was a romantic nationalist, other fantasy writers hike around in aboriginal burial grounds and dream of sexy elves in bikini's and of dwarves with scottish accents and of orcs who are mean. What Tolkien birthed has had somewhat disastrous results to his intentions, but fortunately there are movements inside the fantasy genre that want to break out from it's self-limitations. Already a purely celtic fantasy would be something completely different. Celtic stuff is not to be confused with pretty sad irish lass playing a sad celtic tune on her magical fiddle in sad mystical mist of the land of the mystical misty maidens. I mean real celtic stuff, the celtic world of pre-roman conquest, the one which Terry Jones always blathers about. Cut Rome and make it a universe of it's own and it would be unique and refreshening. Kinda losing track here. Are there any finnish films exploring this kind of world? I saw a finnish film about a girl who loved wolves, it was pretty run-of-the-mill children's film, but it had a very unique flavour to it which I liked.

Depends on your definition of western hemisphere. Tolkien said his world was northwestern europe in spirit. That's one of the roots of our modern-day fantasy. Tolkien was an anglo romanticist and his work largely is an anglo romanticism. Most of our fantasy is basically anglo romanticism. Norway is part of this Tolkien's northwestern spirit. But if we go north from Norway to... northern Norway, The Northern Europe - we get shamans, spirits of the land, crazy bear cults, skymoose dancing with Aurora Borealis, nomadic people living in eternal darkness in winter and in eternal sunlight in summer and stuff like that. Here's a semi-fantastical movie depicting that northern scandinavian world - Ofelas. Should be a treat for people who liked Okku.

Quest for Glory III is as close as you get to an african fantasy. It does a pretty good job. Of course you'll be playing ridiculously white aryan male, but that's the series thing itself - a ridiculously aryan male has adventures in german fairytale fantasy world, in arabian nights fantasy, in african, in transylvanian and finally in ancient greek fantasy world. What you get in Quest for Glory III is an egyptian-arabic style great city, kind of an equivalent to muslim civilization in africa, then you get the tribal village(s) and life and then more ominous pseudo-shamanistic leopard people. The series is an rpg, make no mistake of that, but it's style is off-the-wall humor mixed with serious drama. Of course I haven't played it in years so I can't verify how it does on the racist stereotype scale but... by my memory at least I'll say it was and will be probably the only professional game doing african fantasy, and it did it pretty great and affectionately. Some of these guys, they can't seem to differate between african fantasy and a white man's great adventure taking place in disneyland africa of funny primitive people. But I know what you meant. It's not exactly Kiriku... why is that only the french are interested in exploring different settings... but it's pretty good and worth a try if you're interested to see how african fantasy has been done in games. At least from what I remember. Quest for Glory of course always uses the general and more superficial parts of the local folklore when it creates it setting... but can you afford to be picky? You can check it out yourself in these . Speaking of french people doing interesting stuff, one game that got mentioned Sokal's Paradise is a french game about Africa. But not Kiriku again, though very atmospheric. It probably will be a long time before the rest of the world starts to know about Ashanti Empire and stuff like that. That's something I'm interested in personally. But slowly and diligently we few will one day break the white man's dominance of our dreamworlds. Death to the White Man!!! Edit: I just now noticed your post in where you pretty much state that you're aware of QfGIII. Sorry for wasting your time.

Gjallarhorn - Suvetar

I think Adelle wants to have hot wild sex with Paul. Victor as Kiki made my life. And Paul's "You got a problem?" - pure gold. But, it kinda felt like too stand-alone. Sure there was a nod to Epitaph One. But Instinct and Vows had more mytharc in them than this episode. Essentially this was Haunted, but with much better execution. Boyd should get more screentime.

Yeah, Eliza was phenomenal in Instinct. That was beautiful. I guess how much one likes Dollhouse depends on how one understands the show. So this is my rant on how I understand the show. Everyone's a doll. Every person constructs him/herself an identity and calls it his/her real nature. But the so-called real person - Caroline for example - is as fake as any person the actives are given. But when the actives are stripped from their own lies - turned into Eden-like Adam/Eve like people - in that stripped form is when their true nature has a chance to appear. True, as actives they are given the lies of powers that be as identity's to be... but so is every person in the world. Your local church authority gives you your religious identity, your local peer group you are attracted towards gives you your political/national/whatever identity... and so on, basically everyone lives a lie. The dolls are just the mirror image of society under a magnifying glass. But in that stripped form their true being emerges. Alpha's true being was wrong, before he got wrong. But Dollhouse is about how Echo finds her true being - enlightenment. She's like that guy in the cave who decides to sit in an opposite direction and discovers that she's in a cave, because she now saw the opening. Firefly had a quote about how government's consist of few people who are ungoverned. There is also this side to Dollhouse, where rich ungoverned people enjoy the working class as their pleasure. Damn, now I sound like lord of flies. Well... anyway, they do enjoy the dolls as their pleasure, but so are the common non-doll people being enjoyed by the ungoverned few. Since Whedon doesn't do black/white we are also shown the sad, lonely and vulnerable side of these ungoverned few... so that's why we (well some of us who probably really dig the show) feel sorry for all those sad rich people. And this brings us to another Dollhouse issue. The touching human connection that goes through the masks, into the true nature. Like that moment in Vows where Adelle touches Victor's face and forgets herself. Or when Sierra touches Victor's face. Or how Echo gives herself under Ballard's guardianship in a very self-aware manner. Or when Echo feels sorry for that fat guy and gives her the female care at her own Echo will. Instinct was about a human emotion that's stronger than the identity mask. By the way, does anyone also think that Sierra looks very similar to Jaheira in BG2? Anyway, being a rant it probably doesn't make sense and few will read it... but, yeah, that's how I "understand" the show. Also as a reply to the stuff Purkake said. Remember Firefly's episode Out of Gas? The one where we finally get Mal and the ship. And it was so amazing when in the end it turned out that the used ship salesman recommended the other ship but Mal fall in love with Serenity? And then finally all those pieces fell together and it was like the best thing ever. For me, Dollhouse is Out of Gas - so far, a 15 episode long Out of Gas. And I enjoy seeing how the pieces fall together.

Suddenly I feel very scared.

Bitter Suite. Season 3 was awesome.

It's not as good as firefly. Not in the same category at all. Dollhouse is better than Firefly. In Firefly's days, Whedon was still too rough. Fray, Buffy - the way Whedon played around with tropes was too obvious. It was always surprising... but in that Fray, Buffy 7th season, Firefly time... these surprising things were shared between the shows. So something might have been surprising, but the reaction was soon... "oh, okay... yeah that's creative Whedon but the pattern is too similar to your other work, turning tropes around is what you do... but I'm just like have had too much of your "subverting tropes" style, because you subvert them in a too similar way". Firefly suffered from that it was one of the many gazillion projects Whedon had in early 00's. Dollhouse however is Whedon improved. Now he knows how to hide his tricks better. He isn't so "hey I so ass-raped that cliche" anymore. It's a more quiet calmer show from an older Whedon. On the other hand... the younger Whedon also played around with the tv format itself like with Buffy in Once More With A Feeling. It's very unlikely that Dollhouse will have that near 4th-wall breaking moments. I know Fray is a comic book, so shut the **** up whatever wisecrack you are who you now what to point it out that Fray is a comic book.

And it matters how? Sean Connery is always Sean Connery. He like played a lithuanian soviet submachine commander in a scottish accent. And yet, for that movie he was that lithuanian soviet commander. And Jim Carrey is always Jim Carrey. I'm not going to watch Truman Show and say: "But Jim, you're so similar to how you were in Liar Liar." A series/movie is a separate independent thing from other series/movies. Besides, Faith and Tru are different from Echo. Just watched the second episode. Loved it. Whole maternal instict theme... I dig these sort of things.

So just watched the first episode of second season. **** yeah! So now I want to rant. About stuff. To those who say: Oh my God, Eliza sucks so much... none of her characters are different... this show is stupid. Look bitches and half-brains, Echo is Echo. The whole point is that beneath the exterior masks lies the true person. The True Person never changes, but The True Person can pretend to be someone else. Caroline is also a mask. So that's why Eliza's character's are similar because she is only playing one character. Take Whiskey for example... in Epitaph One, she was wiped clean of her persona and yet she still was similar to Saunders... the same silent sorrow... that's because that silent sorrow was in her True Person and why clean Whiskey sadly haunting the halls of Dollhouse was very similar to Saunders. **** this bitches... you all have played the ****ing Mask of the ****ing Betrayer. Dollhouse deals with the same subject. Mask had the same "are we the masks we wear or something else" theme. In Dollhouse, we aren't the masks we wear, but something different, something deeper. The recurring theme in Dollhouse is human connection that's stronger than the masks... moments that go directly to the soul... through the mask, when mostly it's just the mask speaking to the mask. There are various examples of it. Okay enough about that... I want to watch the second episode soon. So the episode. Topher/Whiskey = awesome. I'm kinda torn about the Echo's episodical assigment approach. I didn't like that episode where Echo is someone's dead mom... and this episode kinda seemed to go that route, but... I loved Paul/Echo moments. I'm also drunk. So I don't know who angered me, but someone did. So, yeah.

A Song from Rhapsody. Rhapsody was an unknown musical jrpg for PS1. One of the few jrpg's I love. Very saccharine and cute, yes... but funny and heartwarming.

Gabriel Knight Oh I loved when QfG4 did this Those were some special nights. I'm somewhat confused by Aubrey Hodges but I absolutely adore QfG4's soundtrack. Conquests of Longbow theme Glastonbury Tor from Conquests of Camelot I just love that Conquests series musical feeling. I guess that's all Mark Seibert. Anyway, something from non-Sierra too. I generally prefer the colder disturbing touch of Serpent Isle, but I just couldn't find it. Oh well... I loved how Ultima Underworld II was a midquel between U7 and Serpent Isle. All those interesting worlds... that LSD-inspired world for example, and such a tragic undertone to it. Back when Guardian seemed to be cool. Unfortunately that arc was ended in a most dissapointing way possible. Oh well.

Well, right now we are entering a period of November, December and January, in where we get about 6-4 hours of daylight. So yeah. On the other hand, in summers, the sun never completely sets for us. This is Helsinki at midnight in June (I guess). So we're pretty much happy in May, June and July. Wake up anytime you want, the sun's still in the sky. However, slowly the nights will get dark again. And then suddenly the mornings and evenings are dark. And then... if you work or go to school, you'll never see the sun. And even if you're unemployed, those couple hours of dim daylight won't do anything good to you either. Because in December, the daylight sun is always the evening sun. It's like the winter is judging your soul, to see if you have enough life strength and willpower to be worthy enough to see the sun again. However, I think it's just not the sun but also our puritanical background. The Scandi's have a lutheran background themselves, that much I know but I'm not certain, but estonians got a pretty thorough workout by puritans (herrnhuterians) in 18th century, which ****ed up our psyche big time. I think it's safe to assume that the Scandi's got a similar puritanical workout. We are all wonderfully non-religious now, there ain't probably a more secular region in the world, but puritanism still has a large influence on us. You don't have to be religious to be ****ed up by puritanism. Technically, the puritans were an anglo sect, but the herrnhuterians were pretty much the same thing. All that "happiness is a sin against God" mentality. And so the sons of our great-great-grandfathers passed that inability to be happy to us. Add that cultural baggage with a fickle sun and lots of drinking... and you've got yourself a killer suicidal coctail. At least my theory. Perhaps it's just the sun. The Scandi's can offer their own theories to correct me, if they wish.

Best. Game. Ever.

If you would have invested in your "druid skills" you could have become one with those squirrels. As in your mind is now in their mind, and then you all drink tea and sing happy family songs, while rainbows and bluebirds dance and sing. I think it's probably an easter egg. I didn't try it on other animals so I don't know if it's a feature in itself.

Strange. Perhaps you played it on console? What about the art and level design?

Translation: The female politician is Kreia-Ravel. The skinwalker thing is a dab at Avellone, since all his games have elements of cannibalism in them. "So you kill a lot of people and it feels like you are feeding from their essence... like their deaths make you stronger somehow." Is a dab at how Kotor 2 explained level-up's. "She then reveals the secret - you are that skinwalker president guy. Your memory was removed once you were forced to wear the skin of some random white trash guy and you were made to believe like you were some spy agent working for the government, while actually you have been the government for past centuries. " Is a dab at Torment and Mask of the Betrayer. "And now you have to kill her for some unexplained reason. " Is a dab at Kreia. "So you kill her. And now it gets really weird. Turns out that she is also that skinwalker president guy. You are both that guy. But you are her hunger. It's very fuzzy.... I think there might be some plotholes here. " Is a dab at both Mask and Kotor 2. How in Mask you was two people in one and how Kotor 2 got pretty confusing in the end. "You are like that cannibalistic hunger turned into a person. And that's why killing people makes you stronger. You are a hole in the fabric of reality, consuming all that stands before you. You are the opposite of life... not death, but the nothingness. You have become the primal nothingness. Life doesn't die with you, it just has never existed once it meets you." Dab at Darth Nihilus and how you was actually Darth Nihilus and he just a faint shadow of you. "Before she dies she mentions how beautiful you are to her. And then you leave." Kreia joke. And that's how Kotor 2 ended. "I have a feeling that the non-obsidianite world will just not get it and that it might be ridiculed. But... as confusing as the storyline was, it felt awesome." Is a dab at how Obsidian is like the Joss Whedon of game writing world. Few get it, and we fans might not get either... but we enjoy it nonetheless. Also a hidden dab against Kotor 2 apologists. Basically, the post is a musing on Chris Avellone's writing in general, a parody of it, and a wondering about what if AP just shares too much with Obsidian's past games and how peculiar it would be then. Also, I really did play it in my dream.

Drats! It seems you already have taken up the role of a drunken jester who makes clever jokes that hide the cleverer joke beneath. Joke so layered with jokes that only a deeper meditation will reveal the unobvious beneath the obvious exterior. I think I have to find a different forum, because you and I are not each other's alts. Nope. It would be too suspicious. And I am an individual.

So I managed to play Alpha Protocol in my dreams. Here are my impressions. First things first. Art design. The screenshots that Obsidian shows are a lie. The Art Design takes it's cues more from Mask of the Betrayer kind of thing. Some locations were like... there was this place that resembled the best parts of Wall of the Faithless, Korriban and Malachor 5. I know Korriban and Malachor 5 are considered to be examples of bad level design, but I'm talking about the visual side, not how you were allowed to move in them. The level design was very smooth. It was a dream after all so it felt like I could go anywhere. Combat for some reason in my dream was in first-person. I guess the third-person thing is also a lie by Obsidian. I'm not an expert to judge first-person... all I can say is that it felt pretty damn real. Now to the storyline. Now this was weird. There's this female politician and... Well the thing is that there was this President guy and he went to some unholy site in nearby Iroquis Confederacy lands. Unholy because it was the land of Skinwalkers. He contacted those skinwalker spirits because he wanted to have eternal life. He wanted to know how to become a Skinwalker. So he did. And it meant that after one of his skins died or was released of power, his skinless body waited in the dark halls of White House for the newly elected presidental candidate to come and then he attacked him, ripped his skin off and weared it as his own. "Democracy is for suckers!" And then he ate that dead guy. So technically he was a king that lived forever, just with different faces. So when you start the game you don't know this. There's this female politician who gives you assigments. You pretty much have to eliminate all things that stand against her presidential candidation. So you kill a lot of people and it feels like you are feeding from their essence... like their deaths make you stronger somehow. So she becomes a president and then tries to kill you. You get pissed off, kill a lot of people and then stand before her. She then reveals the secret - you are that skinwalker president guy. Your memory was removed once you were forced to wear the skin of some random white trash guy and you were made to believe like you were some spy agent working for the government, while actually you have been the government for past centuries. And now you have to kill her for some unexplained reason. So you kill her. And now it gets really weird. Turns out that she is also that skinwalker president guy. You are both that guy. But you are her hunger. It's very fuzzy.... I think there might be some plotholes here. You are like that cannibalistic hunger turned into a person. And that's why killing people makes you stronger. You are a hole in the fabric of reality, consuming all that stands before you. You are the opposite of life... not death, but the nothingness. You have become the primal nothingness. Life doesn't die with you, it just has never existed once it meets you. Before she dies she mentions how beautiful you are to her. And then you leave. I was generally surprised by the storyline. It wasn't what I expected at all. But I think Obsidian tried to do some social/political commentary with this. I just didn't get it. I have a feeling that the non-obsidianite world will just not get it and that it might be ridiculed. But... as confusing as the storyline was, it felt awesome. There were also partymembers. Liara and Wrex with tentacles. Discuss.

Game: Martian Dreams Developer: Origin Designers: Warren Spector, Jeff George Genre: RPG Year: 1991 I'd truly be surprised if anyone wasn't already interested.

Setting must be plain weird. Thus I vote for Lexx rpg. Imagine this with Chris Avellone and George Ziets doing the writing. It will be epic. And the music... oh god the music.