General Nerdery Retrospective

Ah, what an experience it has been, writing for this blog.

While not my first rodeo, this blog has been my most prolific one to date and the most fun.

Sure, not every article has been a gem and the half-hearted introduction post as well as the late-night navel-gazing on the nature of Undertale were cringe inducing in particular, but by and large I had a lot of fun.

On the other end of the spectrum, I have articles that I was proud of, in particular the ones on Nerdy Noms and Geeky Libations.

  Writing these helped teach me that sometimes, you just gotta have fun with writing, and that not every article needs to be an attempt serious, world-shattering or helpful and that if you can channel that feeling of fun, you'll get some good results and enjoy the process better.

Unfortunately, I didn't learn much in the way of keeping up with a weekly blog, other than that sometimes, you just have to do it. Blogging is a commitment, at least if you want an audience and/or a good grade in class and sometimes it clashes with other commitments like work or other classes or finally beating Resident Evil to prove that you're still not traumatized from when your dad made you play it as a child.

...

That being said, this was an overall good experience and I did learn a little about myself and the craft of writing from blogging. I'd definitely blog again and will probably do so soon, maybe even under the same name. Till then, seeya.

Also, here's the T-Rex I promised.

Hi!

A Toast to the Drunken Moogle

Drinking and nerdery, is there a better combination? What's better than arguing about Yoshi's status in Mario (friend? servant? domesticated animal?) while having yourself a Yoshi cocktail or discussing why Aerith needed to die in Final Fantasy VII over a glass of Phoenix Down?

While there are many places on the web to find yourself a recipe or ten, none can even get close to the amount of concentrated alcohol and awesome that is...

Established in 2009, this Tumblr-based blog of alcoholic recipes has since become a veritable compendium of geeky libations.

Despite the name, The Drunken Moogle has more than gaming-based drinks, with cocktails inspired by a variety of titles ranging from "Avatar: The Last Airbender" to "The Hunger Games".

The site has taken a bit of a break lately, with the newest cocktail posted being April 1, 2015- understandable since they have been working on a book since then.

Even with the almost year-long hiatus, the archive has more than enough recipes to keep even the most intrepid (and nerdy) mixologist busy.

Here are a few of my favorite cocktails from The Drunken Moogle:

Yoko Kanno

Rye Whiskey, Sake, Cointreau with just a dash of Peychaud's brings this smoky, complex cocktail to life, based on the legendary composer Yoko Kanno, more specifically, the "Cowboy Bebop" soundtrack. So turn the lights down low, put on "Adieu," and sip this one slow. Cigarettes and bitter memories are optional and highly recommended. 

Subspace Speed Pass

If you want a hard drink but want to skip on the pathos, the Subspace Speed Pass is the way to go. This "Scott Pilgrim" themed shot is based on Ramona Flowers and much like its inspiration, it is quirky, adorable and will hit you over the head like a gigantic mallet. Parfait Amour, Midori, Blue Curacao and vodka give this tall shot a deceptively girly look and a kick that will knock you on your ass if you're not careful. Just like Ramona Flowers!

Bloody Alice

Based on "American McGee's Alice," this cocktail is a modified Bloody Mary that substitutes blackberry brandy for the vodka and omits the worcestershire sauce. Also, substitutes the standard celery stalk with a stainless steel knife. After all, we're all mad (and drunk) here.

Stardust Reverie

Borderline diabetes inducing and endearing, this is the perfect cocktail for people who like drinking and hate the taste of alcohol. This combination of Pop Rocks, Japanese Star Candy, Soda, Vodka make for a visually striking drink that is also incredibly tasty. Just remember that it's an alcoholic drink though, and take it easy on these, lest you wake up to a barrage of rainbow colored stars.

Nerdy Noms

From Lembas Bread to Nuka cola, we've all wondered just how some of the more interesting foods in fiction tastes like, but with the following websites, you don't have to.

Below are sites that provide  recipes for some our favorite fictional foods, allowing you to finally try it for yourself, as well as my favorite recipe from each one.

Gourmet Gaming

Though this Tumblr-based blog hasn't been updated in a year, it has quite the archive of foods based off of or taken directly from various video games. What sets this blog apart is that it has a suggested difficulty rating for each recipe, denoted by 16-bit hearts rating from a half-heart (the easiest recipes) to five hearts (the hardest).

The site has a gamut of recipes across all skill levels, so weather you want to start out with the "Sims Autumn Salad" or advanced enough to handle the ubiquitous Cake from Portal, Gourmet Gaming has something for you.

As a bonus, Gourmet Gaming has some alcoholic libations for some of the mature gaming set.

My Favorite:

Beyond Two Souls - Asian Beef

Mmmmmm...non-specifically Asian...

 While "Beyond Two Souls" is an average game at best, this dish, inspired by a scene in which the main character has to make dinner for a prospective boyfriend, is quite tasty and at one and a half hearts, is quite simple to make.

The Geeky Chef

Branching out from gaming-based edibles, we have the Geeky Chef. There are recipes from Star Trek, Harry Potter, My Little Pony and more. Though the recipes are mostly desserts and drinks, there is the odd entree or hors d'oeuvres. If you like what you see, the site also has an associated cookbook with additional recipes. Also, the site takes the odd submission now and then, so if you have an idea yourself, you might be able to see it on the site.

My Favorite:

Lembas Bread

Perfect for fueling the Fellowship.

 

 You can't beat the classics and it's hard to get more classical than "The Lord of the Rings" by J.R.R. Tolkien. In the book (and movie), the Elves of Lothlorien gave this filling bread to the Fellowship of the Ring, to help them on their journey.

Feast of Fiction

The most prolific fictional food resource, the Feast of Fiction is a Youtube channel that features weekly videos of the hosts Jimmy Wong and Ashley Adams making nerdy noms in true cooking show fashion, with the help of the occasional guest or two. If you have trouble following along with the action on the screen (like a normal person), fear not, the recipe and instructions are right in the video description. Has a blog that is now mostly defunct, with entries from 2012 and older here.

My Favorite: 

Toriel's Butterscotch-Cinnamon Pie

Ahh, the signature dish of everyone's favorite goat mom from the surprise 2015 hit "Undertale". It might not recover all your HP, but is sure to be good for your SOUL. 

So, with several world's signature foods at your fingertips, you can add some geeky variety to your cooking repertoire or maybe even get together your own Feast of Fiction, either way, happy nomming!

Top 5: Tips For Your First Nerf Outing

So, my birthday happened recently and to celebrate, I got some buddies together and we had ourselves a Nerf War!

That's right, we hit the park and turned it into a flurry of flying foam darts, running, hiding, dodging and shooting like a real-life game of Call of Duty with less weed and jerks.

While I did have a kickass time with my friends, I did notice that we made some rookie mistakes that took a little bit of the enjoyment out of the game. Here's a few tips so you can avoid some of the pitfalls we encountered.

1. Stay Hydrated! - Common sense dictates that if you're gonna do a physical activity for an extended period of time, you wanna drink plenty of water and this is especially true when you're out in the hot sun! Bring a cooler with ice cold drinks and call it neutral ground! Also, while not necessary, maybe finagle a water-bottle holster or so you can drink and mow down chumps and drink water, staying Tacticool all the while.

2. Do some research - While you don't need to obsessively look up various Nerf guns and compare them all (though you can!), you want to at least look up any blasters you're interested in to see any issues it may have. Showing up with anything that looks interesting could backfire as jams, misfires and general lack of performance can abound if you pick the wrong weapon.

3. Test your gear - Looking up your stuff isn't always good enough! Don't buy your guns and hour before the event and hope it will all turn out alright. There's a distinct chance that you're setting yourself up to be pelted by a foam firing squad when you find out about a quirk in your Nerf gun in the worst time. In a particularly bad case, two players (both on my team!) had issues with their blaster, a highly recommended one at that, jammed throughout the day. They eventually found how to deal with it, but it was too little too late.

4. Know your limits - If you plan on going to the nines and dressing like a Nerf operator, with all the Tacticool slings, holsters, vests, pouches and many blasters, try to keep in mind how much all that stuff weighs. I'm personally at fault for finding this one, thinking I could keep my mobility with three blasters, a spare clip as well as some pouches and clips. The stuff seems light going on and even walking around in, but I was not prepared to do full sprints while holding the flag and it cost us. As a corollary to the above, try putting on the gear you're gonna have the night before, maybe jog around a little. Better to learn the night before than the day of.

5. Plan a break - If its your event, make sure to plan a break! Even if you have boundless energy, everyone else might not. You're doing a lot of running, shooting and dodging, after all. Breaks between rounds are ideal, since one side can ride the high as they get ready for the next round and the losing side can regroup and figure out what to do next. If it's not your event, well, hope that they have breaks planned. If they do not, then you need to take care of yourself and just try to find ideal times to take a break. They might lose you for a few minutes, but it beats losing you for the whole game due to exhaustion.

Bonus tip!

Bring a lot of darts - Seriously, you go through them quick, even indoors. You can recover your darts from the ground, to be sure, but it's much easier to have a pouch of ammo ready. Outdoors, extra darts become even more important, since you'll be losing darts left and right.

Suggestions: Black Lagoon

For anyone who likes the works of Quentin Tarantino, old-school Chinese crime dramas or kickass gunfights, I cannot recommend Black Lagoon hard enough.

From the title, one might guess that this anime is about swamp-dwelling creatures, but in reality, it is about Lagoon Company, the main characters of Black Lagoon.

Lagoon Company, a group of pirate mercenaries consisting of Revy, a kill-crazy berserker with two pistols, their captain Dutch, the cool-headed captain and Benny, the smarmy hacker/electronics guy along with their newest addition, the Japanese salaryman in the wrong place/wrong time who joins them Rokuro "Rock" Okajima

From the first episode to the last (currently) as well as the five episode OVA, the show is a fun-filled romp of gun-fights, swearing, and general kickassery that doesn't sacrifice a good plot or insult the viewers intelligence.

The show wears its influences on its sleeves, from the staring-down-the-barrel shots on the first episode mimicking Jules and Vega from Pulp Fiction, to the creepy season two premier that just screams Stephen King, to a character who is basically The Terminator in a dress, as well as a ton of other sly nods to its various film roots.

If you haven't already seen Black Lagoon and its OVA: Roberta's Blood trail, you are doing yourself a disservice by not going to do so immediately.

Even if anime isn't your thing, Black Lagoon carries on the fine tradition of anime that bridge that particular genre gap in the way that Cowboy Bebop and Trigun did before it.

In fact, it's also one of the rare gems that is way better in English than it is in its original language.

Left to Right: Benny, Rock, Revy and Dutch. Picture provided by Wikipedia.

Lunar New Year Steam Sale!!!

The Lunar New Year sale is going on over at Steam, and in fine tradition, they have many fantastic deals that paradoxically leave your wallet even lighter than if there weren't a sale.

Instead of buying in bulk and getting many games you probably wont even play, here's a few standouts in the bunch:

Undertale - $7.99 (-20%) - Yes, it's only two dollars off, but it was a fairly cheap game that you should have bought a long time ago, anyway! This ode to old-school JRPGs brilliantly turns the genres tropes on its head with the ability to not kill anyone. Its short playtime belies a heavy game, you can play it between AAA titles and its replayability means that its well worth the original cost, nevermind the discount.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - $29.99 (-50%) - Chances are, you've already bought this, but if not, now's the time to buy it. This critically acclaimed title puts you in the shoes of Geralt, a monster slayer in an open-world action-RPG. If you're willing to shell out a little more, you can get the game and the Expansion Pack, which features two adventures with over 30 hours of extra adventuring for $55.23 (-35%). There's also a mod that turns the whole thing into Yu-Gi-Oh.

The Walking Dead / Season 2 - $6.24 (-75%) - At $6.24 a pop, it's quite the deal to get both seasons of The Walking Dead. A brilliant point-and-click adventure that's somehow more intense than most AAA shooters and yet still playable by almost anyone (who can stomach the grief, anyways), you can really beat 75% off for such a series. The Walking Dead is episodic in nature, with your decisions carrying over to later episodes and later, Season 2. You can also grab The Walking Dead: 400 days for the low, low price of $1.24 (-75%), which essentially functions as DLC for Season 1 and a bridge between seasons.

Left 4 Dead 2 - $3.99 (-80%) - Ah, Left 4 Dead 2, the figurative soundtrack of my teenage years. The co-op zombie-slaying survival race shooter formula never gets old. While the game is getting on in years, robust modding support adding maps, campaigns, weapons, skins and all other sorts of goodies means that there's still a lot to see and do. Just make sure to bring some friends along, or you're going to have a bad time.

Life is Strange (Complete Season) - $11.99 (-40%) - One of my favorite games of 2015, I really can't recommend this enough. That it's almost half off is just the icing on the cake. It's a a point-and-click game, in a similar vein to The Walking Dead, but with teenagers, hipsters and time travel instead of zombies. About the same amount of despair, though. It lacks The Walking Dead's polish, but it has a lot of heart with a well-thought out cast that explores the various bits of high-school melodrama we may have all experienced at some point.

These are just a few gems that are on sale right now. Anything else at a particularly good value right now? In any case, better grab the sales while you can, 'cause it ends at 2/12 at 10 AM.

Fallout 4: Adventure Alone or with a Buddy?

Fallout 4 is a game about choice. Whether you're a smooth talker or a trigger-happy psycho, a stab-happy serial killer or a 22nd-century cowboy, a ninja or a walking weapons platform and everything in between, you can do it all.

One of the more important choices you can make is whether you're really a Lone Survivor or whether you have another gun (or spiked bat, or chainsaw sword, or nuclear rocket launcher) watching your back.

Both have their advantages: having a buddy means double the firepower, having a pack mule and a friend with a particular set of skills that you may not, as well as full use of the Inspirational perk, which buffs companions. Also, a +5% Exp. gain isn't too shabby, either.

Being alone means that you don't have to worry about having an ally blow your cover while in Stealth (lookin' at you, Strong) or walking into your shot and getting hurt, as well as full use of the Lone Wanderer perk, which requires you to be alone.

A lot of the benefits come from the related perks, Inspirational (for companions) and Lone Wanderer (duh).
 Roughly, the benefits are as follows:

(We'll assume you're at level 50)

Lone Wanderer:

- Take 45% less damage
- Carrying Capacity + 150
- Deal 25% more damage

Inspirational:

- Companions deal 20% more Dmg.
- Companions +25 Carrying Capacity
- Companions immune to friendly fire, +20 Resistance/+20 Energy Res.

On one hand, going it alone means a host of powerful buffs for you.

You take almost half damage and can carry a lot of stuff. The 25% damage boost is also nice, since it stacks with the boosts you gain from Sneak Attacks and perks like Mister Sandman, Cloak and Dagger, and Ninja.

However, if the buffs that Inspirational gives seems trivial in comparison, keep in mind that the impact of having a companion is not.

Having an ally deal 20% more damage might seem smaller than the 25% more damage you deal with Lone Wanderer, but keep in mind that arming your ally with a similar or better weapon than you have effectively doubles your damage output.

25 more carry capacity is certainly smaller than than 150, but keep in mind that 150 is the smallest carrying capacity that a companion can have. The range of carrying capacity among the companions is 175-275 (Paladin Danse is 210 unmodified), with all the relevant magazines and armor modifications.

So, do you tackle the wasteland alone or with a friend? I recommend a buddy, of course! Practical reasons aside, the Commonwealth is huge! While this means many things to see, fight, and discover, not every square inch of it is adventure. It helps to have a buddy along to break up the silence of travel or exploration when you've had enough of the same few tracks from Diamond City Radio. They can also open up new avenues of adventure, as some of them have personal quests that you can complete.

On the practical side of things, they also function wonderfully as pack-mules, with their huge carrying capacities to enable your hoarding and while they might occasionally blow your cover, they also work as meat shields or distractions. Not to mention that companions have a magazine almost dedicated to them, the Live & Love series, which buffs them even further.

However, if that's not the story you want to tell or just find their (sometimes repetitive) dialogue annoying, then you can have the best of both worlds.

Want to be a one-man army AND have a buddy watch your back? Then bring along your faithful canine companion, Dogmeat!

He doesn't count as a companion, so you get all the powerful buffs that Lone Wanderer gives you, but you still get someone to carry your stuff and attack your enemies. He also has a perk dedicated to him (Attack Dog) that allows him to grapple with enemies and make them easier to hit in VATS.

Sadly, other than the immunity to friendly fire that Inspiration (Rank 2) gives him, Inspiration has no effect on Dogmeat.

But hey, he wont judge you for murdering everyone in Diamond City in your underwear.

Top 5: General Tips for League of Legends Ranked Play

So, the Season 6 of Ranked play for League of Legends has begun, and many people across the world (including myself) have begun the epic struggle to get to Gold.

Anyone who has made this attempt before knows that it's a frustrating slog as you fight not only the enemy team, but sometimes (most of the time), you have to fight your own teammates as they show you perhaps the ugliest side of the League of Legends community.

Which leads me to the the best advice to getting through ranked:

1. Don't fight your teammates. They might feed and piss you off. Bottle it up. Let it go. If they goad you, ignore them. In fact, if they don't stop, mute them. If they're being jerks to troll you, getting into an argument in them means they win and your gameplay will suffer from it. If they are sincere, then all the vitriol they are spitting is not only affecting your performance, but theirs. So, tell them they're being muted and then mute them. If anything else, you're not distracted with the temptation to respond and throw off your game.

They're your teammates, as much as you might hate some of them, you ultimately win or lose together. So work with them, or at the very least, don't let 'em being you down. If you keep that in mind, then the following advice becomes much more effective.

2. Try to be in good condition when you play Ranked. Obviously, you probably shouldn't play if you're drunk or high, no matter how good you think you are inebriated. Also, you should feel like you're in good condition. Well fed, maybe with a decent amount of sleep and not emotional. Some caffeine can help enhance your performance, but don't get reliant on it. Don't drink too much of it, either, being uncomfortably energetic does not help your performance any.

3. Stick with what works. Ranked is not a place for experimentation. Anyone who screws around with weird builds and/or characters they've never played is probably good enough to get to Gold no matter what they do or are trolling. The latter is more likely. In any case, Ranked is a tough enough place. You don't need the handicap. If you want to try something new or sharpen your skills with champs you're not good with, Normals is a much better environment. The enemies will be of comparable skill and the risk will be much, much lower. It's tempting to play champions that are strong in the meta right now, but what good is it if you just feed with that champ anyways?

4. Try to play around your team. Remember, you're all working together. Even if you don't like your teammates immediately, you can work with them as early as the champion select. Look at who they are picking and play champions that compliment the group or fill in gaps in your composition. Got a Yasuo mid? Play Alistar or Jarvan IV for the sweet, sweet synergy. Got a team of Bruisers, Juggernauts and Tanks? Pick Kog'maw or Vayne and be the hero your team deserves as they play 'Protect the Hypercarry'. No one wants to play Tank? Pick one and be the wall between the enemy and your team. Whether well-rounded or specialized, having a team comp can give you a leg up on the opposition, who, on most accounts will be a mish-mash of champions that don't necessarily work together.

5. Never give up. It's cheesy, but true. Sometimes, you just need the grit and determination to stick a game out, even when it looks hopeless. Even if you can't win, at least try to treat it as a learning experience. Who knows, if you learn something that is effective even when you're at a disadvantage, imagine if you used it in a game where you're not. Of course, never giving up doesn't just apply to single games, but all games. Ranked is a slog, but if you decide to stop, then you don't have a chance to move forward. It's okay to take a break and recharge, however. Sometimes you need to step away briefly to come back well-rested and ready to kick ass.

Hopefully, these tips help you rise to Gold and even beyond! Good luck and happy hunting!

Undertale, Stephen King and the Nature of Choice

(Edit: Added some stuff, since I forgot about a fairly pivotal moment in Undertale)

 Toby Fox's Undertale is currently the darling of the internet, streamed by countless Youtube streamers and invading tumblr blog rolls since its release on Sept 15, 2015.

And why shouldn't it be? This homage to classic JRPGs like Earthbound is full of quirky charm that makes it instantly likeable and a depth belying its simple style. It's aesthetic is retro, but has modern mechanics to make sure that you never feel idle. All around a killer soundtrack with the best 16-bit tunes this side of Final Fantasy VI.

It also has one of the most novel concepts in recent gaming history: you don't have to kill anyone. It is that conceit that flies in the face of RPG conventions. After all, who doesn't have fond (or not so fond) memories of killing their way through random enemies to gain enough power to beat particularly tough boss?

But, the ability to spare enemies that makes Undertale one of the most unique games in recent memory.

The ability to, mind you.

Not that you have to spare your enemies but that you can.

*CAUTION: MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR UNDERTALE AND STEPHEN KING'S THE DARK TOWER BELOW. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED*

And its in relation to the choice of mercy or murder that the game draws most of its depth. It's a short game, especially for a JRPG. Depending on which characters you kill or spare affects the events in the game and ultimately, the ending. Ending requirements roughly break down as follows:

Pacifist - Do not kill anyone. At all. Plus some other stuff.

Neutral - Kill any combination of creatures and bosses, but not all of them. This ending has the most variations.

Genocide - Kill everyone and everything. Leave no stone unturned and no monsters unstabbed. Kill all the bosses and kill random encounters in every area until they stop coming.

What really makes things interesting is that the game remembers everything, across multiple playthroughs, and certain events will trigger dialogues hinting that the some characters know about the multi-timeline nature of the game.

In fact, short of reading a walkthrough, getting the Pacifist ending is impossible, with most first time players getting a variation of the Neutral ending. At the end of the Neutral ending, however, you receive hints on how to get the Pacifist ending.

The order usually goes: Neutral -> Pacifist -> Genocide. While Genocide has no requirements and can be pursued as a first ending, it is highly recommended that you save it for last (or indeed, not at all) as getting it while irrevocably change the game for future playthroughs.

Assuming that the player beats the game once and then again to get the Pacifist ending, you are left only with either variations of the Neutral ending or the Genocide ending.

Or you could stop.

You have your happy ending after all. Everyone is on their way to an ideal future, the player character included. A character even warns you that you are the biggest threat in the world, since you have the ability to reset everything.

But you can go through with it, knowing that you will everyone's happiness.

It's not enough. You have to know what the other endings hold. Eventually (or immediately), you find yourself in a Genocide run. After all, you've heard stories, right? Of epic boss battles not available in other routes.Of background information only available on this run.

You just have to know.

One of the things that makes Undertale so brilliant and how it highlights the nature of choice and the consequences of those choices. You chose to start everything over and to kill everything in sight. After a Genocide run, the game tells you "You think you are above consequences". It knows you're not. You know you're not. Not even in this game world.

Starting a new game requires you to trade your soul to the entity at the end of the Genocide run and doing so corrupts your save file. Your next playthrough is changed in subtle ways to let you know that you are not you anymore and when you try to fix everything, try to give everyone their happy ending, you cannot. All because of your curiosity.

A similar case can be found in the Dark Tower books by Stephen King. In the last book, Roland makes it to his goal, the titular Dark Tower. As he stands at the final door, the story goes to his last surviving companion, Susannah.

She finds herself in a place where all her friends are alive and she has a perfect life, where she can move on and finally be happy.

It is here that Stephen King, as himself, directly tells you to stop reading. That everyone is happy and that turning the page will only make things worse. He also acknowledges, with a hint if irony, that he knows you'll turn the page anyway.

Similarly, the last (and toughest) boss in Undertale's Genocide run ruminates on the nature of the player and how you keep going no matter what, because that's just how you are. And you wont stop until you reach the end, no matter how many lives you ruin.

Because you just have to know.

And so you turn the page. And Roland makes his way to the top of the tower, every room a moment in his life and at the very top a door. He opens and has time for a brief moment of horror before he finds himself at the beginning of the first book.


Both The Dark Tower and Undertale do something amazing. They make the consumer complicit. It is not the fault of the story that you kept going, but your own. Even though the prospect of forbidden knowledge is strong, you could have still stopped.

But, it's all so tempting, isn't it?

And you have to wonder...

"Since when were you the one in control?"

Photo from http://knowyourmeme.com/photos/1023712-undertale

Introductions

Hello! My name is Chris and this is my blog, General Nerdery!

This blog, as the name implies, is all about all things nerdy: anime, gaming, sci-fi, fantasy and occasionally, even some real science!

There'll be laughter! Tears! T-Rexes! And of course, reviews, previews, ideas, opinions and musings on, in and around the universe of nerdery!

Other awesome glimpses into Nerd World:

http://io9.gizmodo.com/ravenloft-returns-in-the-new-dungeons-dragons-module-1753575391

http://www.destructoid.com/review-resident-evil-0-hd-remaster-332496.phtml

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/votes-are-exoplanets-get-new-names

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2016-01-14/ghibli-when-marnie-was-there-anime-nominated-for-oscar/.97555