Batman: Hush

"Deep down, Clark's essentially a good person... and deep down, I'm not." - The God-damned Batman

Really, really good. Loeb has outdone himself again, I'd say Hush ranks up there with Year One, Arkham Asylum and/or The Long Halloween. Killing Joke still takes the throne, of course, but Hush gives it a run for it's money.

Strongest Impressions: What Hush does really well is weave an excellent tale of Intrigue. And what would Batman be without a mystery?

As such, here we see Batman as the modern-day Sherlock, and this essentially is an epic battle, both physical and of the wits, between him and his 'Moriarty'.

Admittedly, Holmes is still slightly better. Slightly.

Art: Jim Lee. Jim Motherfucking Lee. It is by my admission that I am not of fine enough taste to fully appreciate abstract art, which explains my lack of love towards most comics with unrealistic drawings (exceptions abound of course, Sandman, which thrives on madness, and Morrison's Arkham Asylum, even more so). Jim Lee creates a world where I am able to fully appreciate the 'realism' while still am able to inject my own abstract thoughts of shadows and ghosts into the pages. And his portrayal of Batman is pretty much perfect in my eyes.

Batman - Not really being that stealthy

Writing: Beautiful. The scene where Batman almost gives into rage, and strangles the Joker? Or "He Fell?" Here, we see Batman as a human, at his most intense, and we feel a cocktail of emotions. Joy, sadness, pity for the man in the cape. The ending was sublime, subtle without giving way to a moral story. The portrayal of Catwoman - sexy as hell. The relationship between Batman and Superman? Really well done.

Criticisms: Not many, but there are a few. A couple of plot lines end abruptly, a couple of questions are left cold, but that's how it is in the Batman world I guess. Catwoman was a bit too feminist, smacks of the "fat black woman" syndrome, (I don't need no man etc.)

Conclusion: Definitely worth the read.

Disclaimer: I really don't want to give scores, but it's hard to use any other method to quantify my views towards the work. So take this with a pinch of salt, it's a score taking into account my own tastes and my own opinions, NOT a score stating how good this is in a critical fashion.

87/100

Next: Fables vol3 - Storybook Love

Dota 2: From the Standpoint of the Novice

Let me start off with an admission. I am absolutely horrible at competitive gaming. The Urd-people of primitive Terra who have yet to grow opposable thumbs could probably get a better Kill/Death ratio than me. For example: what happens when you place me in a room with a insane rig, custom-made mouse ergonomically designed for the fastest actions per minute possible, connected to a 16-key well-designed pad meant to destroy all opposition? First thing I'll do is load up Mass Effect and read all the numerous codex entries for the Yog-race of Xenoth Prime (although right now, it would more likely be loading up Skyrim and trying to figure out what the hell happened to the Dwemers). Cutting a long story short, in terms of previous experience, I am geared explicitly towards the side of role-playing and "experience gaming" as I like to call it. That is not to say that I partake in neither more competitive games such as TF2 or any of the battlefield games, nor semi-competitive real time strategy games such as Company of Heroes, but I don't do so competitively. As having been part of my school team in Sports, I do understand the zone which a person enters upon having only one goal - the absolute and utter destruction of his enemy. And I can safely say that despite almost a decade of hardcore gaming, this zone has been rarely visited by me, if at all.

That is why despite playing Defence of the Ancients (DOTA) since it came out on the Warcraft 3 mod scene, I have never been any good at it. Having DOTA 2 cause such a stir in the community had, in fact, awoken a bunch of repressed memories - teammates shouting at me across the room, demanding to know where the hell I was during that gank, while I realized that my hero had been prancing about somewhere in the forests eating trees. As you can tell, playing with me was pretty infuriating, and to be honest, playing back then was pretty infuriating for me too.

So you probably would understand my trepidation as I opened the gift I received from one of my friends who had won the beta lottery for DOTA 2, (who shall be named here as The Frenchman). Having recently watched a bunch of Starcraft 2 (mostly due to the awesome casters such as Day9 and Husky), I was slightly more open to the idea of a proper competitive game, but I had no illusions as to what I was doing. I wasn't cracking open the seal to a world where I could live out my fantasies, nor was I taking part in a creative venture between man and machine. Not one bit. I was instead here to "kick ass and chew bubblegum", although I was pretty sure the gum was stuck somewhere in the back of my throat and the ass that was about to be kicked was solely mine. Furthermore, an incredible fear arose from the fact that now I would actually have to be responsible for the survival and well-being of my teammates, and that no, I couldn't do this easily by running about as the Medic with the left mouse button down and both my eyes closed. What my friends wanted as a fellow Beta player was most likely a lean, mean ganking machine, with eagle-eye vision of the mini-map and razor-sharp reflexes. Instead, what they got was me.

And so the games began, against bots at first as we grasped our way into understanding the new controls and mechanics (especially the shop system, which once you've understood it, is really intuitive). Entering the first game, by myself, with a whole team of bots, I was sorely trashed and as a result quite emasculated. Therefore, when the Frenchman and the Troll (my other buddy) came on, I was becoming REALLY doubtful about this whole endeavor. The game began, and I chose Tiny, the only hero I knew how to play with any modicum of what could be vaguely called skill.

Yet, as I saw my little maniac muscle his way across the ground, large, stony knuckles on his right arm dragging along the forest floor, a strange thing happened. Immersion. Deep, beautiful, wonderful immersion. I know this is strange, so bear with me, and allow me to explain. Let me take the example of Skyrim, which currently is the game with the deepest level of immersion I have ever experienced in my life (and have already sunk more than 30 hours into, with an eternity left to go). Immersion occurs there in the form of me, taking on the character of someone else that lives in my head. In Skyrim, I am a grizzled old war veteran who has turned against his fellow Imperials to fight for Nordic freedom. I transcend my own personality to fit the role of his. However, while playing DOTA2, I was immersed in an entirely different manner. As I began focusing on getting last hits, not getting ganked, and getting bigger and bigger (literally), I began to place myself in Tiny's small stone shoes. It was not Tiny causing an avalanche, it was me, it was not Tiny tossing a fellow hero onto the enemy DPS, it was me lifting my mate over my head and throwing him into a hated foe.

Then, as I cheered upon finally getting my Cuirass, and did a small victory dance by lumbering about (now at full size) the enemy towers, I realized something. I did create a story, a Bilsdungroman of maturing in power and skill - but instead it was me that was the hero. And that I realize, is competitive gaming. You are the hero of the game you play, it is based upon your skill, your tactical choices, your sheer attention paid to every single thing going on in the screen at any moment. When we finally pushed down the enemy Ancient, it felt as if it were the end of a main quest in any Bioware RPG. I felt fulfilled, satisfied, and looking at my items carried at the end, it felt like beholding my fully decked-out warrior at the end of Oblivion's main quest. Of course, in the next two games where we were promptly crushed by the bots (I was Leoric). But even then, I played this game with a new mindset, a new perspective.

This is what I love - after a decade of playing video games, I have discovered a whole new aspect of it that I have never encountered before. One that is exciting, that sends adrenaline pumping through your body, and leaves your pants at the edge of your seat. It will never replace role-playing games for me - as a natural storyteller RPGs are still preferable. However, competitive gaming is something I have decided that I will attempt to grow to understand, and maybe love, in my passion for gaming. This is why I now truly believe that competitive gaming may be considered a sport, it gives the same rush, the same desires and drive as any ball-game does, from the comfort of your battle-station at home. Some people say that competitive gaming only feels good to win, but the way I see it, it feels good to be trying to win. And that's enough for me.

Also, Pudge has a British Accent. That is pure gold.

My Armoury - Knives, Swords, Folds

Alright, I promised a glimpse into my home's armoury, and here it is so far. It's still quite sparse, I have barely started, but I've already collected a few choice pieces. Here they are below.

First an image or two of my entire collection.

From top to bottom, clockwise: Tailwind Assist United C. Folding Knife, Hunting Bowie Black-tone Blade, Wooden Training Longsword Waster, Authentic Greek Hoplite Xiphos/ Lakonia.

Authentic Greek Xiphos:

The Greek Xiphos was a back-up weapon utilized by the Greek Hoplites, who were mainly primarily spearmen, but were trained in the methods of short-sword fighting with leaf-bladed weapons. Remember the Spartans from 300? This is what their swords actually were supposed to look like. Attached to the scabbard (Wood and Leather) is the leather baldric straps, which you can see me wearing later. The leaf-shaped blade made it ideal for thrusting while allowing for strength behind each swing as the centre of the blade would be located at the portion below the curve.

Two-toned blades were commonly used as the centre portion would be folded over to increase strength and therefore have a different look to the edges, which were razor-sharp.

It's quite a short-sword, specifically used in the situation whereby the spearmen either lost their spears, or were forced to throw them, and allowed quick manoeuvres that would help them get into close range and eviscerate their foes.

The edges are sharp. Trust me.

You don't want to be stuck with this.

Wooden Arming Training Waster:

Used by entry-level learners of the Zweihander techniques utilized by German Swordmasters. Also can be used for Italian Fiore techniques.

This is a wooden training waster, a sword mimicking the shape and weight of the German Zweihander. I could have gotten the shorter and smaller one, but then I was training in Leichtauener techniques, so the great size of the Zweihander would prove fitting to my form.

Hunting Bowie Knife, Black toned blade:

Bowie knives are extremely useful, both in survival situations and in a fight, it's curved edge perfect for slashing while it's tip proves really good for thrusting. It makes up for the short range with the inclusion of a good cross-guard.

This one's pretty interesting. It's a classic hunting bowie, and it's a family heirloom. Harks back to the days of WW2, my dad used this as a kid hiding in the banana plantations from the Japs, probably was owned by his own dad.

The hunting bowie as seen with it's sheath, that can be both a belt or a thigh sheath.

Tailwind Assist United C. Fold-Spring Knife:

Fold-spring knives are technically allowable in Singapore. Technically.

Innocent and innocuous, isn't it? This is one of the most dangerous objects here, as all the blood on my left hand can testify. Trust me.

Not so innocent now... huh.

See those red marks? Blood. I was trying to do a spring-knife trick involving throwing and catching it, and missed. Sliced through the right part of my finger. Hurts like a bitch.

And this is why. Razor-sharp edge, spring-assisted folding and flipping, handy and able to draw in seconds. That is if you're not an idiot and cut yourself.

Me:

Yes yes, I know. Please don't take this like a stupid facebook or tumblr picture whoring myself out. If I did I wouldn't be indulging in such an incredibly geeky passion of mine anyway.

And here I am, decked out fully in my gear. The Lakonia (Xiphos) hangs off my right hip with a baldric tucked into my belt.

The Xiphos scabbard in it's position is flexible but still is firm enough to provide grip for a draw.

Yes, okay, a bowie knife and a xiphos on the same hip is kind of overkill.

Why does this look more dangerous than the bloody sword?

For a short-sword, it's pretty long. The xiphos is slightly larger than the roman gladius.

This is me holding the training waster in the Pflug Guard, ready to do a Zornhau Stroke.

This is the Roof Guard, which is perfect for entering into a downward Zornhau stroke.

This is the Ox Guard, which is used as an entry into neck or head strokes, which can be chained together by continually shifting from the right ox guard to the left and vice versa.

I fuckin' love this hobby.

On Hold

Am not gonna be posting for at least two more weeks, currently undergoing my exams. Will attempt to stay alive. On the bright side, am buying a Greek sword + Scabbard along with a folding knife OR the Spartan sword from 300 this Friday. Will update with pics.

Comparison between World War Two and Starcraft 2

Was just watching SC2casts.com between mugging history notes on the nature of WW2, and I noticed the startling similarities. In fact, for much of the war we can see what seems to be a triple-race 2v3v1 skirmish emerge.

First, we have the Germans/Japanese as the Protoss (which fits very well if you understand the ideology of the Nazi Party or that of the Protoss), which specializes in 'Lightning Warfare" whereby tanks/stalkers are gathered en-mass to strike at weak spots with maximised mobility (blink stalkers), then further adding into the mix infantry which is used to hold positions once the armour has cleared the area of the enemy (zealots/the army). You have the development of really good bombers (Stukas/Carriers), but at inefficient production values, and the underdevelopment of cutting-edge jet fighters (The Nazi Jet fighter developed near the end of the war, of which name I can't for the life of me remember/Phoenixes).

I don't see the difference.

Second, we have the Allies (USA, Britain and France) as the Terran, (again fitting well with the portrayal of both, blah blah winners write the history books etc.). Allies/Terran have slow initial production and lose easily to rushes, as was the case of France/the Red Terran/SlayersXBoxers. However, upon gathering enough momentum, their production values are massive, able to churn out vast numbers of well-armed infantry (Marauder and Marine ball o' death, with 3 Armour and 3 Weapons Upgrade/ The Normandy Invasion force). Their air force is weak initially, but if gathered in enough numbers and co-ordinated well with ground forces, it is able to dominate both sky and land (Banshees and Vikings/ The Allied air forces near the end of the war).

Lastly, we have the Russians, as the Zerg, which is fitting NOT only because of the huge numbers of Light meat-grinder infantry they have to play with. Russians/Zerg are weak initially again, having recently experienced a change in leadership (Kerrigan/Russian Revolution), and thus are easily taken down in the early game by concentrated rushes into the hatchery, and taking as much territory as possible (Denying creep/early hatchery rushes/Initial stages of Barborossa). However, they have advantage in specialized terrain (Russian winter/Creep Spread), and coupled with strong mustering of middle game supply numbers, are able to smash aside the earlier opposition if they traded land for time (3 Hatch strategy on Natural Expansion gathering massive amounts of Cracklings/ The fightback by Zhukov after Stalingrad). As with Terran/Allies, in the late game, their productive capacity and speed increases manifold, surpassing that of the Protoss.

So basically, what we have is in the early game, Protoss-Hitler generated a shit-load of early Stalkers/tanks, getting blink/blitzkreig as soon as possible, while trading the building of WarpGates/Stargates in the process of amassing a huge early army. Upgrades are lavished upon the stalkers, while a formidable infantry force of zealots/zealot-nazis are gathered too. With this, he smashes aside France/Poland, which is fumbling with building Gas Refineries and recovering from earlier mistake in mineral acquisition/Great Depression, and thus has only a couple of marines standing guard at the choke, with a few bunkers. The bunkers are quickly bypassed using the Blink Stalkers, and before long, France falls and leaves the game.

"All right, we surrender! Just don't destroy Paris/our Main!"

The same is repeated in Russia, not much later, but the Zerg are smart enough to retreat back to the Main, salvaging their gas refineries and command centres from their natural expansions, holding out at the choke on its main while exploiting the island of minerals gathered back in the Ural mountains.

Stalingrad, 1943.

USA Terran is on the other side of the map, minding it's own business when one of it's starports - Pearl Harbor of Intergalactic Asskicking, is attacked by Japanese Carriers/Bombers. That's when Blue Terran decides that some bad shit is gonna go down.

Protoss-Hitler is bogged down in Russia as the Zerg Creep begin to spread beneath his forces. The Russians/Zerg move much faster, and in a desperate attempt to force a GG, Protoss-Hitler attacks the Main. He loses, although it's pretty close at one point, and a Zerg counter-attack begins, with vast amounts of Zerg/Russian infantry, bolstered by newly-created Roaches/Hydralisks/tanks. Protoss-Hitler's force is driven back to mid.

Zhukov's/ZergSpanishiwa's Encirclement Tactics

Also, USA and Britain launch a force towards France's lost Terran Base, which had been previously fortified by Protoss-Hitler. However, the Expeditionary Force/All-In by the Allies have vastly superior troops, fresh and with Amour 3 Upgrade and Combat Shields, while it also boasts a massive amount of Siege Tanks thanks to USA Terran huge amounts of factories. As such, the Siege Tanks siege up and bash through the defences. Protoss-Hitler keeps up the fight, but eventually the defences at France's base are overrun, and the Allied force rolls into Protoss Main Base. Zerg smashes in from the top with it's counter-attack, destroying everything in its path. Protoss-Hitler realizes that he has been owned, and with a murmur of "GG, well-played" (or more likely "Fuckin' imbalanced Siege tanks") he slinks into a bunker and salvages it, self-destructing/shooting himself in the head. Germany rage-quits.

Terran Siege Tank, Armour 3 "Quick, take it out before it engages Siege Mode!"

Allies then turn on the Protoss-Japs, which are desperately holding out, determined to fight to the last, when two of its Natural Expansions/cities are taken out by Terran Ghosts/Bombers with nuclear bombs/nuclear bombs. As the two strikes wipe out massive amounts of probes/civilians, the Japs type "GG, WP" and leave the game. Thus, WW2 ends.

Nuclear Launch Detected. 200 Minerals, 200 Gas, 500 Damage, 160000 dead.

Yes, this is what happens when I unplug my com and don't play games for more than 4 days.

I Like Knives

Unfortunately, where I live (Singapore, NO that is not part of China nor is it anywhere near), there exists very annoying and convoluted laws regarding weaponry, replica or not.

This one's mine, pretty much a family heirloom actually, that was passed onto me. I like it, it's pretty practical too. Also, the addition of the bear onto the blade implies badassery in spadefuls.

Heres my wishlist of various replicas, I wish to have for my collection

Large Sword -

http://www.caesars.com.sg/web/index.php?go=products&cat=Swords,Medieval&pid=SH2250&pcou=9&pcur=5&vcat=Swords,Medieval

Can't go wrong with a Bastard Sword.

or...

http://www.caesars.com.sg/web/index.php?go=products&cat=Swords,Movie,LOTR&pid=UC1380ASNB&pcou=all&pcur=1&vcat=All

Come one, it's motherfucking Anduril. Flame of the goddamned West.

Normal-Length Sword -

http://www.caesars.com.sg/web/index.php?

go=products&cat=Swords,Japanese&pid=SH6003IGE&pcou=all&pcur=1&vcat=All

It's a katana. What else to say?

or...

http://www.caesars.com.sg/web/index.php?

go=products&cat=Swords,Medieval&pid=SH2374&pcou=all&pcur=1&vcat=All

A cutlass, modelled after one carried by officers from the Dutch East India Company. Colonial awesomeness.

Dagger -

http://www.caesars.com.sg/web/index.php?go=products&cat=Swords,Medieval&pid=BK1274&pcou=all&pcur=1&vcat=All

I hate to say this, cos it smacks of Nazism, but damn. The German Army in WW2, especially the Schutzstaffel (SS) were stylish as hell. Hugo Boss designers.

If you have any advice/criticisms of my choices, please do comment upon them. Cos I'm really gonna buy all of these, in the next two months or so.

What is this foolishness?!

Hi. Welcome to my abode.

First, let me lay it all out on the line. I love Geekdom and all its various facets.

1. I love stories, books, fantasy, science fiction.
2. I love games, electronic, board, table-top, those played with a couple of close friends in the twilight of being a youngling (that normally involved many painful injuries).
3. I love comics, DC to a larger extent, Marvel to a lesser ( I shall explain why in a later post, and no, I'm not saying that DC is better).
4. I love Graphic novels. Those can sear your soul as well as any great piece of work by acclaimed classical geniuses.
5. I love toys, collecting statues related to the other things I love, blowing a fat load of cash on them so they can sit on my shelf. Sometimes, I suspect that they come to life when I enter Dream's realm.
6. I like collecting various swords, replica guns, antiques, anything classy, that I can hang on my wall and eventually attempt to explain to others how I am not in fact a crazed slicing/dicing psychopath.
7. I love the crazy subgenres of geekdom, I love Steampunk and it's brass-tube, goggle-wearing madness.
8. I love table-top role-playing games, from classics such as DnD to Nobilis to Paranoia, et cetera.
9. I love collecting Warhammer 40k armies. Currently, I have one Dark Angel force, ready to go, and am slowly amassing an Ork WAAAAAAAGGHHH.
10. I fucking love Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.

... and anything else about being a Geek, I can probably come to love.

This then, is an avenue for me to chronicle my love for all things Geek, to showcase to others my various finds, and hopefully to hear from others about theirs. So if any of these appeal to you, maybe you should take a seat, and rest awhile at this humble abode of mine.

This is the seventh bookshelf in my house, the second in my study. It’s my favourite. No prizes for guessing which shelf makes it so. And yes, that is a statue of Morpheus, the Sandman.

FAQs:

1. What's so special about this place then?

Well, one thing I noticed is that there exists a distinct lack of sites by teenagers, or at least pre-adults as we like to be known as, related to Geekdom (probably something to do with social stigma or the other, I don't really care much about that). I'm 17 physically, probably 10 mentally, and I guess I'm here to plug this gap. I like writing, and I love all these things, so I decided, I might as well.

2. What will you be doing?

Basically, I'll post amateur reviews of various books, graphic novels, toys, video games, playing games, etc that I've encountered. Also, various treatises of philosophy about the meaning of life. But mostly about robot arms and shooting shit.

3. R u a faggot? u gay nerd! lol (or alternatively) Why are you such a nerd? I bet you're a neckbeard with no social skills, existing from his mother's basement.

Mother's attic, thank you very much. And no, I'm afraid you're wrong on both counts. Last time I checked, my significant other affirmed the fact that I am quite straight. When most people see me, a school athlete (Track and Field), and amateur boxer, the idea "NERD" doesn't really scream into their heads. In fact, when I do make it known that I am a geek, it mostly surprises others.

Has this affected my social life? Yeah, of course. It's hard to talk to others about the various intricacies of steampunk as a movement, or about the reason why Deus Ex: HR can be considered a spiritual successor to the original (because fuck Invisible War, that's why), when all they care about are TV shows and rugby scores.

Does this mean I don't have any friends? Nope, even though I don't share interests with many others, doesn't mean they aren't my friends. It's just that those I'm closer to generally are slightly geekish one way or the other. A social life does not have to be sacrificed for citizenship in Geekdom. I'm proud of the fact that I play DnD, that given the chance, I would dress up as the Heavy from TF2 and go to Comicon toting a foam minigun. (or a real replica metal one, since I'm indulging in fantasy here). Yet, I still have friends, and people generally don't mess with me about my Geekishness. And that's what I want to impress upon all Geeks. Be proud of your interests, of what you do and who you are. Even if you are wearing a badly-made spiderman costume.