X is for...

Xenogears!


So this was a video game that I enjoyed immensely, back in the day of the original Playstation. It was developed and published by Squaresoft, back before they became Square Enix (you may know them for a little series called Final Fantasy).


Xenogears is a dark, psychological, science fantasy game in the same vein as Evangelion. A combo based combat system that ranged from fist fights to fist fights with giant robots made for some interesting gameplay, and the story (which included reincarnations, memory loss, and the works of Nietzsche and Freud) was certainly complex enough to hold the attention. And even if the music was nearly identical to that of Chrono Trigger, it was still some of the best of its age.


You can read the plot synopsis as well as I can, but let me just say, this game had one of my favorite villains of all time, and if anyone ever asks you, "Do you desire power?" just say yes. You'll make some good guy very, very sad.

B is for ...

Beta!


Aren't betas awesome? You get to see content early, get to help with the creative process, get to tell lazy authors that breath and breathe are actually two different words and that no-one likes the phrase "gaping like a fish"...


So my hard-working beta readers are probably diligently working their way through my second book, pointing out how I shouldn't *spoiler* or *spoiler*, and that the relationship between *spoiler*, *spoiler*, and *spoiler* is incredibly unrealistic, especially when they end up in the *spoiler* without any *spoiler*, what with all the heavy breathing and barely concealed *spoiler*. Considering two them are women and all. So in honor of their noble sacrifice of time and energy, I'll share some of my current beta experiences.