Distrust

She feels her throat drying up, her knees trembling ever so slightly while she waits for a certain ‘Markus’ to show up. Markus. What kind of a name is Markus anyway? It doesn’t sound very mysterious. If he was really as good in his job as he claims to be, he could have chosen a better name.

Watchdog. Why not Watchdog? She makes a mental note to suggest this to this man, Markus, whom she hired over the internet.

Her hands found their way inside her bag. She pulls out a pen and twirls it between her fingers, throws it from hand to hand, twirls it again.

“You can kill someone with that.” Markus sits in front of her.

“I, uhm—“ she stopped. All powers of speech abandoned her. For a while she feels stupid and betrayed. But then again, isn’t that why she called Markus in the first place?

Markus neither smiled nor frowned. This was business. He pulls out a folder from his bag and places it on the table. She looks at it as it taunts her. Inside that folder were things she may or may not want to see. She feels sick. No. Not now. Not yet. You don’t know anything yet, she reprimands herself.

“I have to ask you first. Standard procedure, you understand,” Markus said. “Do you want to continue with this?” his eyes revealed nothing.

Do you? Really? A moment of reluctance fades as quickly as it came. She nods.

One by one it all came pouring out of the folder: photos of children, of a woman, of a home. Receipts, tickets, a marriage certificate. It spreads on the table like a disease. A brief shock. Disbelief. She closes her eyes to make it all disappear.

Then finally, acceptance.

“So this is how it feels” she says. “to be the other woman.”

Bookstores in Megamall: I am disappoint.

Reading a book while commuting is like being accompanied by a real person on your way to work. It makes the whole ride to the office less dreadful.

Once I was accompanied by Thad Beaumont and let me tell you, he gave me my most violent morning to date. I also recall being accompanied by Dolores Claiborne, she talked a whole lot but it was fun because when she talked about Vera Donovan, I felt pity, fury and terror all at the same time. When Clay, Alice and Tom joined me in my early morning commute to work, I was inspired to raise zombies in my workstation for Halloween.

Whenever a character is about to say goodbye, I feel sad and panicky. I start thinking of another book to read. I am no literary connoisseur so I tend to stick to the authors I’ve developed a furious admiration for. That will be King and Gaiman. I read other titles too but these two guys are the ones who occupy the most space in my desk.

I recently finished the whole of Sandman and it was awesome. Morpheus is the best companion of all because he brings a whole army of other creatures and characters for me to play with.

Which now brings me to my next target: Wicked. I was dead set on getting Wicked after work. I heard Elphaba and Glinda are awesome commute-mates. I went to Megamall and headed straight to Powerbooks. I wanted to maximize the card thinger I got from there. After making me wait for 20 minutes:

Powerbooks Girl: Sorry, out of stock
Me: Oh… really?
Powerbooks Girl: May dadating naman po. Gusto niyo magpareserve?
Me: Kelan dadating?
Powerbooks Girl: Hindi po namin alam eh.

Uhm… whut? I turned my back on her and went to National Bookstore. I was surprised with the number of graphic novels they have in stock. Then my eyes traveled and found a whole shelf full of Gregory Maguire books.

Mirror Mirror… Lost… Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister… Son of a Witch… A Lion Among Men…

…That’s it? They had everything except Wicked. Great. I felt so sickened right at the pit of my stomach that I wanted to either throw up or cry. I thought of buying LXG or Swamp Thing or V for Vendetta instead since I have been planning to buy those anyway… but it just wasn’t the same. I had an appointment with Elphaba, it just felt wrong to be with someone else. So I went to the nearest bookstore: Bestsellers in Podium.

Eureka! They have it! So now I’m a happy sorbetera. I was so happy, I took Kingdom Come off the shelf as well. I’ve been meaning to read it since… oh I don’t know, three years ago? Two years? And since Bestsellers didn’t have V for Vendetta (why is everything fucking out of stock!) and Kingdom Come was just 700php, I took it!

Yay! New companions!

Recorded Nightmare.

I was a part of this group. I don’t know how or why I became a part of it but I just did. We were made up of oddballs with strange little quirks. One of the members of the group looked like Finn from Glee. Anyway, we were moving around in a group. There was this guy, he was tall and slender and pale and has blonde hair. We get to see him sometimes and whenever we do see him, I will be covered with this feeling of dread and terror which I really don’t know why.

Then after a while, I found out why I was so terrified of him. He created us. He created the group. Through a flashback, I found out or ‘remembered’ that he talked to each one of us before. And it was because of him that we were grouped together. We were his social experiment and now is the time that he collects his specimen.

He started killing us off, one by one. It’s not a very kind death either. One time while the group was underwater, he pierced this person’s throat. Pierced. He didn’t slit the person’s throat. He pierced it and then he let that person bleed and choke on his own blood until he was dead. I forgot how he killed the others but we couldn’t escape him. We were forced to travel with him because if we escape we would be in for a more painful death.

The last straw came when this guy I’m apparently close to was the next target. The pale man took us in a sushi restaurant and all of a sudden an image flashed in my mind. I realized that the pale man was going to skin this guy’s face alive and he was going to turn it into sushi. I panicked and the sheer terror almost killed me but I tried my best to be calm.

The pale man stood up and asked Finn to come with him to the kitchen. I could see it all in my head, how it was going to happen. He was going to push Finn’s head on a chopping board and start slicing his face off starting from his forehead. I was so terrified, I couldn’t scream. There were other people in the restaurant. Drawing attention towards myself will put me in an even bigger shithole and nobody will be able to help me anyway so I kept quiet.

The pale man got out of the kitchen and a waitress followed him. She was carrying several plates of sushi that looked like nata de coco. I found it weird that a human’s face will be all white and fluffy. He told us to eat. I excused myself and told everyone I wasn’t hungry. So I stood up and went outside to ‘get some fresh air’.

As soon I stepped out of the restaurant, I made a run for it. I was running through huge crowds, pushing and hiding behind them, hoping that the pale man will lose sight of me. But… everytime I turn to look, he was always there, staring at me. No matter how hard I try to run and hide, he was just standing there staring at me with his cold, beady eyes.

Then finally I came to this apartment. There was a quirky family that lives there. They seem like the bunch who used to be rich but was now forced to squat in the city. I came there and I saw Finn. I cried and thanked the heavens that he was alright.

Now this is the part where it becomes fuzzy. All I remember now is that the pale man targeted someone else. And that I had a talk with him about ideologies and the importance of hope in human life.

Then I woke up with a splitting headache. >.<

What I Hate about (not always) being Fat.

I have just had about enough of people going “Oh my GOD, you’ve gotten very FAT!”

Here’s the thing, my weight goes from fat to not-fat like a friggin’ pendulum. When I lose weight, some people notice and compliment me for it but when I gain weight, hot damn, the whole world makes sure I never forget it.

So… yes, I’ve gotten fat again. Work and part-time has made me turn to food for comfort. Seriously, the only thing that keeps me sane in a terrible, terrible work day is chocolate. That, or a bag of chips.

But then of course I am blessed with a body that gains weight twice as fast as it loses them. So all those little snacks I stuff my face with during break time came out bulging in all the wrong places.

Sometimes I just wish I have always been fat. I hate the feeling of constantly surprising everyone I see. I’m fat. I have always been fat and will forever be fat. So please. I wish people would stop pointing out things I would not have wanted to hear repeated over and over until I’m pushed to try bulimia again. Haha.

—–

In other news, my best guy friend has recently started his own webcomic. First of all, I do believe in his artistic skills. He may be a crass, sarcastic jackass sometimes but he sure can draw! Though right now, he’s still practicing inking and coloring. Second, I believe wholeheartedly that he is funny. Just fuckin’ hilarious. I swear. I am not even trying to be sarcastic. He really is funny.

This webcomic he fondly called “In-Game” is a story about a bunch of people playing MMORPG. Think .hack//SIGN only humorous and light. It pokes fun at MMORPG culture and how players REALLY interact with each other in-game and how real people get so absorbed in the game they’re playing that it eventually takes over their (offline) lives.

READ IT AND LOVE IT: http://seraph.nagashiko.com/

Thank you guys. Please read it and encourage my friend by showering him with compliments. haha! But seriously, if you read Questionable Content, Octopus Pie and Anders Loves Maria (which I do, religiously) please give In-Game a chance.

Dragonica Review for the Unfamiliar

In the world of Dragonica, an evil dragon terrorized the land and was successfully subdued and sealed; never to be heard from again. For a while, the citizens of the realm were at peace. However, as with any story, man’s downfall will be attributed neither to beast nor dragon but to man himself. A witch decides to take matters into her own hands and did what is expected of a villain, she freed the dragon.

Now it is your duty as a young warrior to train hard and stop the wheels of destruction.

Sounds familiar? Sure, it might sound like just every other MMORPG out there but familiar does not equal bad. In Dragonica’s case, ‘familiar’ is a nice little treat.

Fast Action
Dragonica has succeeded in what other games failed to do. That is, to perfect arcade style MMORPG. The treatment is light and the material is easily digestible. You can be a warrior, a mage or a thief. Simple enough, yes, but you don’t need exquisite and complicated job classes in this game because further complicating it will only ruin the fun. Arcade style games should be fast and fun. If it takes you more than a day to figure out how the game works and how your character can get stronger, then that game isn’t doing its job properly. Point-and-click games take 3 seconds too long as compared to the comfort of arcade style gaming.

The Learning Curve
With Dragonica, new players feel like they have been playing the game for ages! It’s that familiar feeling; that easy to grasp concept of hitting the enemies with, well, everything you’ve got. There isn’t much to learn that you don’t already know. Dragonica has released the player from the excruciating task of carefully calculating his basic attributes. This is perfect for both the casual player and the hardcore player who wants to sit back and just enjoy. Stressing yourself out with comprehensive stat calculations can really dampen the spirit. Dragonica offers you fun without the bulky hassle.

Calculated Cuteness
Does this all mean that Dragonica is a mindless game? Of course not. Instead of stat calculations, you are made to think about skill combinations. Everything is about proper timing and combo. Hitting enemies without being interrupted is already a daunting task and this keeps you on your toes. The cute graphics makes everything easy on the eyes and at times, even hilarious.

The combination of these elements and the fact that IAHgames definitely knows how to value its community makes Dragonica a game that can be enjoyed by everyone. Whether you’re a hardcore console gamer or a stubborn point-and-click player, Dragonica offers you a haven of fast-paced action and adventure. The fact that you get to play cute characters is just a very convincing tilt to their favor.