False Starts: Elvirus, Catwalk, and The New Order

The way I tend to write is by sitting at a computer, staring at the blank screen, writing whatever comes to mind, and then editing afterwards.  The consequence to this style is that sometimes I have ideas that don't pan out or that I just lose interest in.  These are some of them.  Somewhat amusingly, this one's actually a fair bit longer than a standard story update.


Elvirus Frankenscence Pizzaton:
I wrote the beginning of this story at around midnight during a sleepover at a friend's house.  So yeah.

A Different Old House Story

This was a story I wrote for an English class last year.  Perhaps not surprisingly, it was too goofy for my English teacher, so I got a somewhat lower grade than if I had written a story in which nothing happens except a guy listening to pipes go clonk and looking at the snow while thinking about how his life sucks and also lots of symbolism or something.

I never really liked big houses. So big and looming and threatening and... big. To be totally honest, they give me creeps more than my aunt Helga during swimsuit season. So, as you may imagine, when Billy Joe Williams challenged me to sneak into Old Man Grenard's house, I was not delighted.

The Captain's Log of Captain Frederick Stevenson, of Space, Table of Contents

This right here is a five part Let's Roleplay/First Impressions of the game FTL - Faster Than Light.  Fun times were had by all.

• Part 1

• Part 2

• Part 3

• Part 4

• Part 5

• Debriefing (Mini review and giveaway)

The Captain's Log of Captain Frederick Stevenson, of Space, Debriefing

Welp, that's that then.  Keep reading for a mini-review and another thing.

So, my overall feelings on FTL now that I've played it a bit?  Well it's pretty awesome, honestly.  Not a perfect game, but pretty awesome.  You may not have been able to tell from my static pictures, but the gameplay can actually be quite frantic, especially later on when you've got to deal with fires, hull breaches, invaders, enemy weapons, broken systems, oxygen management, and more!  Without the Baldur's Gate-style pause, from which you can issue orders to your guys, the game would be chaotically unplayable later on.

The Captain's Log of Captain Frederick Stevenson, of Space, Part 5

Let's do something a little different this time. I have FTL - Faster Than Light. I'd like to review it, but I need to play it more first. So come along on this first impressions/Let's Play as Captain Frederick Stevenson braves the treachery of space. I've played it less than an hour previously, so enough time to know how it works without having a lot of surprise spoiled for this. Part 5!

Captain's Log: Spacedate 1,411

The Captain's Log of Captain Frederick Stevenson, of Space, Part 4

Let's do something a little different this time. I have FTL - Faster Than Light. I'd like to review it, but I need to play it more first. So come along on this first impressions/Let's Play as Captain Frederick Stevenson braves the treachery of space. I've played it less than an hour previously, so enough time to know how it works without having a lot of surprise spoiled for this. Part 4! 

Captain's Log: Spacedate 1,396

Ugh, another nebula.  At least the Zoltan were pretty cool about letting us into their sector.

The Captain's Log of Captain Frederick Stevenson, of Space, Part 3

Let's do something a little different this time. I have FTL - Faster Than Light. I'd like to review it, but I need to play it more first. So come along on this first impressions/Let's Play as Captain Frederick Stevenson braves the treachery of space. I've played it less than an hour previously, so enough time to know how it works without having a lot of surprise spoiled for this. Part 3!  Also, sorry it took so long.  Next updates should come out much quicker.

Captain's Log: Spacedate 1,383

The Captain's Log of Captain Frederick Stevenson, of Space, Part 2

Let's do something a little different this time. I have FTL - Faster Than Light. I'd like to review it, but I need to play it more first. So come along on this first impressions/Let's Play as Captain Frederick Stevenson braves the treachery of space. I've played it less than an hour previously, so enough time to know how it works without having a lot of surprise spoiled for this.  Part 2!

Captain's Log: Spacedate 1,364

The Captain's Log of Captain Frederick Stevenson, of Space, Part 1

Let's do something a little different this time.  I have FTL - Faster Than Light.  I'd like to review it, but I need to play it more first.  So come along on this first impressions/Let's Play as Captain Frederick Stevenson braves the treachery of space.  I've played it less than an hour previously, so enough time to know how it works without having a lot of surprise spoiled for this.

Captain's Log: Spacedate 1,352

So, um, funny thing.  Remember how I said being stuck in one place all the time was boring?  And that I wanted to get out and see the galaxy?  Well the base got attacked by rebels.  Yeah, it sucks.  So we all split up and I ended up on this ship:

Album Review: Shadow Circus - Whispers and Screams

Album reviews are for, er, album reviews. Honestly I'm not sure what you expect me to say in this header. It's pretty self-explanatory.

Pst pst pst YAAAARGH pst pst pst YAAAAARGH

Video Game Storytelling Part One: Involvement and Affection

I'm not sure how long this article series will go on, as I'm not sure how much I have to say.  I have at least 3 segments planned, but I have a feeling I'll think of more while writing.  Also, this is a very long post.  But I think it's interesting! :D

Note: This post contains Bioshock spoilers if you somehow haven't heard about what the twist is.  There also Gemini Rue spoilers shortly after.  If you haven't played Gemini Rue, please avoid them because Gemini Rue is awesome and it'd suck to have the twist killed.

So, part one of storytelling: Involvement and Affection.  It's a pretty simple concept and it's at the core of every single story in every single medium: Getting us to care.  There is not a single piece of media produced which does not care about involvement, because involvement is the end goal of every piece of media.  No matter what messages you have, no matter your characters, no matter your story, the true measure of success in a medium is involvement.  That's not to say those aren't important.  They're building blocks.  Together message, story, and character combine and build upon each other to involve the consumer as much as possible.

The Old Farmhouse

This story was an experiment in the use of a (very) active narrator.  The story itself is fairly inconsequential, but it was pretty fun to write.  I want to do something with this sort of narrator again sometime.




An old farmhouse is always the perfect place for any kind of story isn’t it? Mystery, horror, romance, fantasy, an old farmhouse can fit into any genre and any story. This old farmhouse, in my story, isn’t much different from any other old farmhouse you might read about in your literature. Still, I’ll entertain you with a vivid description.

You Should Probably Play This: King of Dragon Pass

You Should Probably Play This is my positive review column.  In it, I'll review a game that I think needs more attention.  It may be an obscure oldie, something that was released recently with little fanfare, or something that was badly received on release but has since been made better.  This time: Steal cattle and crush the duck people beneath your heel, we're goin' to Glorantha

Frontier Tales: The Explorer and The Gunslinger

Another world building exercise, I do these a lot.  This time it was for "Frontier" a world that's a mishmash of non-medieval fantasy, light steampunk, and wild west.  This is a projected 8 story/vignette cycle, but only the first two are written at the moment.