Couple of mystery stories for you this week. Yes, they're set after the Avatar series finale. No, they're not 'serious' continuations. I'm just hoping they're fun to read. And they don't have any shipping.

Yet.

So... I'm twenty-one now. Old. Old and not yet drunk. I'm not where I want to be as a writer, but recently - and I'm not saying it's a function of age, but of social interaction - I've had reason to sit down and work more often. It's not bad. I'm finding that using a desktop is helpful since I'm not distracted. Anyway, it's late and I'm planning to put something good in the old microwave, so good evening and good on you.

Why does it seem like every time I set my TiVo to record reruns of Avatar, Nickelodeon has changed their schedule to show iCarly at the last second? Miranda Cosgrove's too-plucked eyebrows fill me with dismay each time I see them.

You know what has made me happy recently, though? The oldschool Cylons that made an appearance in Battlestar Galactica: Razor. The way they moved and talked and fought was so much cooler than the modern designs. Sorry, Six, that's just how I feel. They all had tons of personality, even if that personality was entirely made up of saying 'By your command.' I seriously thought we'd never hear that phrase again after the pilot and it made me sad. But now I am happy. Huzzah.

Plus, Gold Cylon was there! He hasn't been on TV in years! Good to see that actors of his age can still get work after a long time out of the business.

Now, I'm busy writing original, personal material at the moment (I'm obligated to be an actual writer sometimes, it seems), but every free minute I spend thinking about more Avatar ' past ' fics. Always with the Avatar stuff. I'll be driving to get groceries, and then as though from the back seat (of my mind) Aang will say 'Hey, you know what would be cool? A story about how they figured out I was the Avatar!'

And then Toph sits her chair up and says 'But what about when I met the badgermoles? You planned to do that one!'

And Katara will turn off the radio to say 'Not before you explain about how we grieved for my mother!'

Kids, if you can't shut up I'll turn that car right around and nobody will go to Wendy's. For serious.

Stuff's wrong with me.

Oh, I must also link you to my longtime accquaintance Lauren's pictures of a festive nature. Ho ho, and also ho. [link]

So, I’ve played Mass Effect.

It confounds me that this game, whose title is based on the physical idea of a dynamic, expanding universe full of seen and unseen energy… is boring. Lifeless. The package advertises a big, interesting galaxy to play around in, but there isn’t one. There’s just a lot of mention of one, and you never see it except as a map inside your ship.

This sci-fi setting is neither compelling nor original. There are a few species, and all of the members of these races look and act exactly the same as each other. It’s sad. It’s lame. And the action is… well, it’s not action. It’s something terrible, like an inert abstraction of what action is supposed to be.

It’s as though somebody took the mechanics of Gears of War and tore out the grittiness, speed, intensity and gore. It could be compared to a laser tag simulator, except that instead of fun light-up vests your team’s wearing skintight future pants that look awful. The guns are quiet, the explosions are distant, there’s no blood or even damage indication – even when you drive the noiseless, wonky APC things are muted and tedious. This game plays like it was made ten years ago, with graphics that render slowly and then offer lackluster details (for example, I can see each of my character’s facial hairs but have no idea what his weapons look like). That lack of depth, coupled with the sheer unnecessary length of it, is going to keep me from finishing the game. It just doesn’t make me care enough.

I have, at no point while playing it, said or thought ‘that’s cool’ about anything. Usually a good logo screen is enough to rivet me. These marathons of technobabble and cultural details about bland alien societies aren’t gripping, and I say this as a guy who’s willingly watched and read thousands of hours of science fiction and is proud to be called a geek.

BioWare, what happened? I’ve played good games made by you. I have loved games made by you. But this here, this isn’t a game – it’s an abortive role-playing session where people don’t get creative. It’s not Star Wars. It’s not Star Trek. It’s not Brin or Heinlein or Scott Card or Moore or Eick or any of the sources can I see you’ve tried to draw from. It’s something that tries to be all of them and fails, and I don’t know what to do with it except put it away and play something else.

Still trying to put up more work that I didn't write with the intention of sharing - the point not being to get faves or views, but to let people I know see how I practice. This one's an odd, inane bit of fanboyism that involves Teen Titans and DC Comics. Don't worry if you read it and dont 'get it,' there isn't much to get. I'm just a goof.

Kids, tonight I saw the most horrifying thing I've ever had the displeasure of laying eyes on. It rattled me in ways I'm not sure I understand and I don't know if I should bother you with the option to look into my psyche, but I can't stop thinking or talking about it. And please don't read it if you're scared of being scared, because it's about fear;

It was a very old picture, taken secretly, of a woman being executed. That's all the specifics I'll give, because it was awful. I've seen people die before, but I've never seen anyone being directly killed by others, and that photograph makes me hope I never do. You could only make out one of her eyes, but it was like staring into the dark place we're all headed and knowing that it's staring back. Because it was a person's eye, and yet it was death's own gaze at the same time, fixed on me and everyone else in the world.

I need to get back to work. I've gotta do what I can do, even if it's just writing pulp and articles (and goofy fanfiction) that have a piece of what I am in them. 'Cause that stuff can get taken away. It's just hard to be reminded of it.

I gotta go hug my family, now. There's nothing like a little death to make you happy with life.