Mass Effect: Extinction

I've started a new FanFic called Mass Effect: Extinction. You can read it over on FanFiction.net

Mass Effect: Extinction
Commander Shepard's actions, while done to safeguard the Galaxy, have resulted in Galaxy-wide chaos. Now, with the Reapers closing in, Shepard must unite the Galaxy's waring factions if she has any hope of stopping them.

This story stars a version of the Shepard from my previous FanFic who made a few different choices over the course of ME2. I'll reveal those different choices throughout the course of the story.

Mass Effect 2.5 is going strong. Not as many readers as I'd like, but much more than I expected. I'll be wrapping up Episode 3 this Friday for anyone who wants to read it.

So I had an idea to write some Fan Fiction for Mass Effect. It's essentially how I'm bridging the gap between Mass Effect 2 and 3. It will likely contain references to upcoming bridging DLC that BioWare is coming out with as well as an abbreviated Lair of the Shadow Broker chapter or two. Not a whole lot of focus on Action, but with Drama and Humor galore.

So, without further ado, I present Chapter 1 of:

Mass Effect 2.5

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Entry 217

Personal Log, Shepard, Leanna, Commander, Normandy SR-2

We made it back through the Omega 4 Relay. I didn’t expect to be able to say those words. I fully expected my previous entry to be my last. I’m cancelling the letters I’d scheduled to send to Liara, Ash and Anderson. I’m a little relieved too; they all seem a bit too sappy.

Miranda is busy working on her report. I’m not sure what she’s going to do with it now that we’ve left Cerberus. I can barely imagine the strength it must have taken to turn her back on the man who saved her and her sister from her father. She’s a much stronger woman than she gives herself credit for, genetically engineered or not.

In all, everyone seems glad that I destroyed the base. Grunt even thought it was funny. Legion made a comparison between my choice and the one his people made. He says we’re more alike than he realized. What he doesn’t know is that he inspired me to make my decision. If we continue to build our Civilization on the backs of Reaper technology, how are we ever going to stand on our own two feet?

The rest of the crew’s fine. Jack’s being her usual “chipper” self. Mordin’s already moved on to his next project. Hope it’s a cure for Thane. I’m worried that without more exercise, the Kepral's Syndrome will get worse.

I’m afraid Garrus might be minimalizing his accomplishments. He led that second fire team and probably saved Tali’s life. If something were to happen to me, I trust him to be the one to finish what I’ve started.

I still question the wisdom of having a thief living on our ship. I swear, every time I go down there, her “personal collection” has gotten a bit bigger. Jacob’s spending a lot of time with her, but I’m not sure if he likes her, or just considers her a drinking buddy.

I’m glad Samara hasn’t left yet. When she first joined, I got the impression she’d take off immediately after we returned through the Relay (assuming we got back at all). She’s staying on the ship though. She said she can “Continue to follow the code while onboard the Normandy”. I hope she sticks around. She seems lonely.

Tali seems to be holding up well. I wish everyone had her strength. I’m surprised she hasn’t tried to contact the Migrant Fleet since we’ve been back though. She seems to be spending most of her free time around me instead.

I also want to make a Note in the Logs about Zaeed Masani. Zaeed led the Distraction team that bought us the time we needed to make it through in Samara’s biotic bubble. The team made it through alive because Zaeed took every shot the Collectors fired. In the end, it seems his stubbornness wasn’t enough to keep him from death. Regardless of how he lived, Zaeed Masani died a hero. In his honor, I will make sure his ex-partner Vido is brought to justice.

At this point, I’m unsure of what to do next. Part of me wants to warn the Council about what is coming, but I don’t feel like shouting at a bunch of idiots. Plus the way the Turian Rep does that whole air quotes thing just bugs me.

I can’t face Liara right now. She’s on her whole Vengeance kick and I can’t deal with that. I need to feel happy for a while. I just wish things could go back to the way they used to be between us. The feel of her skin against mine. The way we…

Dear god I’ve got to get off this ship. I’m setting a course for Omega. I’m gonna get drunk.

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You can read the rest by Clicking Here.

The Daily Blur

I can't believe that May is almost over. Here it is, 3 weeks into the Summer and I haven't even started on anything I was going to do. Well this week I'm changing all that. I'm making a conscious decision right now that I am going to get started on every one of my projects this week.

Project #1: Getting a License
This Summer I will be spending as much time as I can relearning how to drive. To start off, I need to get my permit which means passing the written driving test that I haven't taken in forever. Shouldn't be too bad though. I'm more worried about when I take the actual driving portion of the test. Fortunately, I should have plenty of opportunities to practice driving this Summer.

Project #2: Learning to Draw
So for a while now, I've had this idea for a webcomic. I even made two strips of the comic using pictures made in The Sims 2. Unfortunately, I learned that while getting a computer program to look the way you want is easy, getting it to do what you want is hard. I stopped trying to make comics, but the idea stayed with me.

Recently, I took a class in game design. After a few classes, we suddenly found ourselves without an artist. Unfortunately, none of the remaining class had what could be considered traditional artistic skills. Thankfully, we did have some free sprites we could manipulate into backgrounds and we used simple designs for the creeps and towers.

My Mother is an artist and I have started wonder if I am missing out on something that I in fact can do. These events have made me determined to learn how to draw. Of course, it's not like I could take a class to learn this. What I want to do isn't something that can really be taught. Instead, I intend to teach myself. I will discover my inner artist by starting my webcomic again. This time, it will be hand drawn. I just need to get my hands on some tracing paper and I will start drawing. (I will be penciling and Inking by hand but I'll be using photoshop for colors).

Project #3: Get Back on Track with Weight Watchers
So yeah. I haven't been to a Weight Watchers meeting since May 1st. I gained weight that week and I haven't been able to stick to the plan for more than a day at a time since then, I'm almost sure that I'm back over 200lbs. and I'm afraid that I won't be able to lose it again. I need to start exercising and I need to relearn how to control my cravings. Far too often I've had the desire to eat large amounts of unhealthily prepared meat and followed my urges. I keep sleeping in on scheduled meeting days thinking "I'll go to the next one". Well I need to go now. And I definitely need to start working out again.

Project #4: Games
After all the projects listed above, "playing games" doesn't seem like such a big deal. Well it is to me. I have a number of games that I likely won't have much chance to play once the school year starts back up.


Well, that's all I got for now. Later!
-Ben

So Many Games, So Little Time

You know, I really hate the fact that I have to work and go to school. If I could cut out work, then I'd be able to take the time I'd normally be working and do my homework. Then I could take the time I'd normally be doing homework, and focus on myself. I guess I'm just feeling a little overwhelmed right now. I've got to pass both my classes, keep showing up to work, stick to this diet I'm on, get a job for the Summer (because I won't be getting as much Unemployment as I did last year), and still find time to have a relationship with my family. I don't think I can keep doing the comic right now. I'm going to finish up the arc I'm on and then take a hiatus until the Summer.

Wii Rock

I picked up Bully: Scholarship Edition for Wii today. I'm not going to play it yet though. It's not like I enjoy buying games that I can't play, but there is a story behind it. I reserved the game when I first bought my Wii, and I decided when I started making weight loss goals that this game would be my reward for loosing 10 lbs. Needless to say I'm still a bit short of this goal, but it was either buy it today, or loose the $5 deposit I put on it. I figured the best compromise would be to buy it now, but not to play it until I reach that goal. So now it's just going to sit there, mocking me.

Speaking of games, I had a few ideas I wanted to get out of my head and this seems like the perfect venue to do it. I want to see Rock Band for the Wii. Not the one that the other consoles have though. I've always felt that the only bad thing about Rock Band was the song list. It's not that I think the songs are bad, it's just that I don't usually listen to those songs. It seems to me like most of the songs (on the disk anyway) are mostly Metal and that's just not appealing to me. Not to mention there are some other ideas I'd like to see. So allow me to present my idea.

Rock Band: Greatest Hits.
[for Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, and Wii]
Immerse yourself in the greatest hits done by the greatest bands. Now, not only can you rock like the bands, but you can look like them too. Make your own fantasy band by playing as members of real bands! Make Steven Tyler your lead singer, Carlos Santana your Guitarist, and Ringo Starr your drummer! You can even download other band members and individuals into your game! The game contains songs actually done by the artists you're playing as.

Suggested Band List:
Aerosmith
Kiss
Beatles
Gorillaz
And Many More

Wii Exclusive Features:
Rock Band: Greatest Hits will have several features exclusive to the Wii (as compensation for not starting out with a Wii version). The Rock Band Guitar will be similar in setup to the Guitar Hero version, but with the added Rock Band functionality. It should be compatible with the Guitar Hero controller for the Wii as well. The Drum set will be nearly identical to the Drum Set for other Rock Band games, with the exception of a slot for the Wii Remote to slide in, making it a wireless drum set. Hits will support a USB microphone but there will also be two other methods as well. They can either use a Microphone or Headset that plugs into the back of the Wii Remote, or they can use the Nintendo DS (the DS headset is recommended). Users of the DS will notice that the words also appear on their DS as well as the TV. Wii gamers will also get exclusive characters, the Mario crew. Wii gamers will be able to choose from Mario, Luigi, Princess Daisy, Princess Peach, Wario, Waluigi, Toad, Toadette and of course, Bowser. These characters will be available for all band positions and have their own signature instruments.

Anyway, let me know if my idea strikes a cord with you. (Get it? Strikes a cord? Oh, nevermind)

Later!

Comic

My first Webcomic is up over at Ingaged. Go over there and check it out. Don't worry, I'll wait.
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You back yet?

Hey! You're back! What did you think? Keep in mind that it is my first. I figured I'd just start out by introducing the characters. Check back next Friday when I actually try to tell a story.

In other news, I weighed in today. Didn't loose much, just 0.4 lbs. I think I need to get back into working out. I'm going to the gym tomarrow.

Anyway, that's all I have right now. Catch you later.

Sneak Peak

Hey everyone, I don't have much time, but I thought I'd give everyone a sneak peak at my new comic. Since I don't have much artistic ability, I'm using The Sims 2 for the characters and settings. Here it is:

I plan on updating on Fridays so the first comic should go up in two days. Looking forward to it.

Ben

To Be...

I've lost 3.8 lbs! Well, as of Friday anyway. Honestly, I'm a little stunned. I mean I haven't been working out as much as I should. I guess the diet really works. This makes for a total weight loss of 6.2 lbs, which means I've hit my first goal of 5 lbs. I rewarded myself for reaching my first goal with a new (for me anyway) game: Fable. I have to say it's pretty fun. So far I've already created 2 characters. One's a nice, compassionate warrior; the other is a greedy, morally ambiguous "Battlemage".

In other news, I'm now an Uncle. My sister-in-law recently had a baby girl. She was born premature, but the doctors say she'll be fine. I'm going up to visit her this Sunday.

I'm also starting a Webcomic. This should be interesting as I'm not a good artist. It's called Ingaged. Look for the first panel sometime this week.