Okay, so I quit drinking caffeine around Lent--I was having trouble staying awake at the Wired offices, and my energy level was a roller coaster. So, after the initial withdrawal period (no headaches for me, woot...) I found that my energy level was much more consistent throughout the day, and caffeine remained an option, though unused... sugar (a trick Hodge-Podge taught me) was usually enough to keep me up when a deadline loomed.
What does this have to do with anything? Well, Tuesday night, Hodge-Podge and I went to join Hamusutaa for a rousing night of card games and... more card games. Which meant that dinner, when it finally rolled around, was a voracious affair that took place at a Carl's Jr. at midnight. I was thirsty, so I figured it'd be okay to take a few sips from Hodge-Podge's Diet Coke before heading home and drinking something real.
Big mistake. Here I am at 3:30 AM, and I'm not tired at all. Heck, I think I'm vibrating, even. I've played all the Magic online that I can stand for a night, I've beaten Memories Off 2nd (the source of today's screenshot... an interesting story that I'll tell later in this rant), and I've read all the baseball results twice. So all that's left is writing a rant, which I should do to make up for lost time anyway.
So, on to subjects I promised I'd talk about in previous rants, but didn't get to due to family obligations.
The first is Anime Expo. All in all, Anime Expo went okay--the first two days were great, with Karaoke Without Honor or Humanity taking third place in a hotly contested sing-off. We didn't win nearly as much swag as Kevin did for his amazing run in the anime music video contest, but hey--we had a lot of fun, and I got to sing without having to wait in line.
One great story to come out of Anime Expo was the Dokkoida cosplayer that Seiya and I saw manning the Genom booth. We watched Dokkoida avidly when it was on the air (and we watched episode 8 at least 10 times each, because it's funny as hell) and fully plan on buying the DVDs when it comes out. So we stopped by the poor, lonely Dokkoida costumer, who didn't have people gathered around him(?) for two very important reasons: one, he wasn't giving out any swag like the other booth bunnies, and two, he was a he and not a scantily clad she. But we had to give him props for wearing a costume that looks like someone poured blue PVC on a baby and put a diaper over it, so we went over to the guy and told him he rocked. Heck, we even tried to shake his hand. Things got really weird after he shook Seiya's hand.
He made a "wait a sec" gesture with one hand, then reached into the diaper and pulled out a Dokkoida antenna topper. As Seiya and I stood slackjawed, he handed us each one, and THEN shook my hand (with the same hand that reached into the diaper, I might add). Our business done, we walked off bemusedly staring at the spoils of Dokkoida's diaper. And for the rest of the week, just the sight of the smiling Dokkoida head was enough to make us collapse in helpless laughter.
Maybe you just had to be there, watching a cosplaying booth monkey reach into his diaper for the goods.
Then again, maybe you shouldn't've been there, it was Speshul with a capital SH.
The problems with Anime Expo mostly involved the Masquerade, which seemed horribly run... but that's a story for another time. I know too many cosplayers and masquerade staffers, and they know the story better than I do.
And, as a sort of kicker to the whole experience, I ended up buying MuvLuv because a friend of mine thought the character designs were cute. Or maybe that was why I promised I'd play Tea Society of a Witch, I'm not sure. Either way you cut it, I ended up buying one H game and committing to playing another. I place full blame on my friends, who don't know Japanese well enough to play visual novels. I don't know it well enough to slog through real novels, but most H games aren't advanced enough to require much thought anyway. I mean, it's the old joke--how much do you have to translate moaning? (Me, I usually hold down the skip button and turn my head... but that's the Catholic guilt in me talking)
So I guess I'm the closest thing they have to a translator, or something. Anyway, I would like to assert this: I am NOT the porn master. Left to my own devices, I'd play visual novels to improve my vocabulary. Case in point, the aforementioned game Memories Off 2nd, which, instead of making me vaguely embarrassed, has forced me to read Chinese folklore to understand the whole story--or at least, the Japanese versions of Chinese folklore, which muddies the water a great deal.
I mean, you believe me, don't you? I'm just a clean, innocent boy deep down, slapped with the title of Porn Master by people who see me play one H game and assume that I like them. Just because MuvLuv made me laugh my ass off.
Sheesh. No respect, I tell you--you play ONE H game that has an awesome mech combat system (and, it must be noted, is coming out in a all-age form for the Dreamcast) and everyone thinks you like them. I mean, just because I search for a strategy (H) game across over a dozen game stores and three cities doesn't mean I like them, alright?
Okay, okay, I admit it, I like some H games (not all) because they're an excuse to indulge in old-school gaming. Baldr Force was a top-down mech combat beat-'em-up in pure form, Daibanchou was a world-conquering simulation, and Giga's upcoming Duel Savior is a side scrolling combofest that Hodge-Podge and I can't help but drool over.
But that doesn't mean I like H games, dammit, or that I'll play H games for you! I'm an innocent little boy!
You believe me, right?
