“Things Every Southern Woman Should Know How to Make”

Image
Alice clicked on the headline, mildly curious about what yet another stranger thought should be in her kitchen repertoire. Pictures of China plates mounded with crispy fried chicken, greens, cobbler, and a pile of biscuits a mile high flooded the screen, all set off with a pitcher of sweet tea beaded with condensation. The table was set; an apron draped off to the side next to a box labeled “Gramma’s Recipes” in fine calligraphy. She closed the browser and put away her tablet. She was born a Georgia peach, but she couldn’t make a cobbler to save her life. Did that mean she wasn’t southern? Or maybe just not “Southern.” For Alice, there was no recipe box full of family traditions. Her younger years were filled with rental homes in different states and her father’s voice coaxing her toward a text book rather than a cookbook. Metalworking and fabrication held more interest than learning to flambé or sauté. Did it make her less of a woman that her cooking skills consisted of fresh salads
Post a Comment

Ramblings of Gamer: Kingdom Hearts III Part Two: Plug Much, Disney?


****SPOILERS AHEAD****






Kingdom Hearts started as a Final Fantasy/Disney mashup, and I loved it. I loved the incarnations of my FF favorites and how they were integrated into this strange new world that had me visiting Ariel in Atlantica and the Beast in Hollow Bastion. Somehow, they were balanced so that one didn’t overpower the other. That joy continued in KH2.

And then we got to KH3. And there was something conspicuously missing.

Where the heck did the Final Fantasy aspect go? Where were Cloud and Aerith and Sephiroth? What had happened to Leon and Cid? And why was everything so unapologetically pushing everything Disney?

Everything was Disney; the worlds (per the norm, fine), the summons (okay), but then the special attacks? Theme park rides in full neon lights? Really?

There was so much going on in this game when it came to battles, and some of it was completely unnecessary. With special skills, group skills, Rage form, weapon changes, and summons, the theme park could’ve safely been left in this world. I didn’t need a carousel or Splash Mountain to fight the Heartless. The skills of my Keyblades and comrades were quite enough. If I was in a pinch, or just wanted to annihilate someone quickly, I had Rage form and summons for that. The rides pulled me out of the battle more often than not, and though I usually skipped them, everything being initiated by the triangle button meant that I inadvertently triggered them when I really wanted to join Donald in a fireworks spree.

I think they could’ve cut the rides altogether, and that the summons would have been a good place to introduce some of the FF aspects we were missing. Characters who’d helped us in the earlier games could have come to our rescue—or even FF monsters like the Cactuar and its 1,000 Needles would have been great. Instead, we got the Moogle store and the Build-A-Cactuar in the Toy Story realm.

Disney was already there; more advertising missed its mark with me.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Writer's Voice Contest Entry

Image
Okay, now that I can breathe, yay! There's an awesome contest going on, and I got in by the skin of my teeth! Here's the details: “The Writer’s Voice” is a multi-blog, multi-agent contest hosted by Cupid of Cupid’s Literary Connection, Brenda Drake of Brenda Drake Writes , Monica B.W. of Love YA , and Krista Van Dolzer of Mother. Write. (Repeat.) . We’re basing it on NBC’s singing reality show The Voice, so the four of us will serve as coaches and select projects for our teams based on their queries and first pages. And here's my entry! INSATIABLE YA Contemporary Fantasy 68,000 words Query: Every night when the houselights go down, seventeen-year-old kinetic Charlie Brimm secretly feasts on the brilliant auras of the human crowd around him. Their music-heightened, upbeat energies replenish Charlie’s own rapidly depleted energy, keeping him alive and healthy—if not completely satisfied. Then Charlie meets bard-faery and rock singer, Len. On
Read more

The Writer's Voice 2013: LEAD ME BACK HOME

Image
Woot! I won the lottery! What lottery? The one that let me into the awesome Writer’s Voice contest, hosted by Brenda Drake , Cupid , Monica B.W. , and Krista Van Dolzer . (For all the details about this contest, click here .) Thanks, beautiful hosts, for letting us stick our necks out! Query LEAD ME BACK HOME is a YA supernatural, complete at 81,000 words. Sixteen-year-old Trisha Myles thought her sister loved her. But after her sister commits suicide, it turns out she wished Trisha never existed. Confused and guilt-ridden, Trisha takes her sister’s suicide note to heart and abandons her friends and old life to become a social ghost. Not existing is sort of peaceful—until a vicious bully targets her. She’s saved by Jesse Reagan; the one guy in Hoghfield, Alabama, who outranks her as an outcast. Trisha’s desire to live blossoms, but friendship with Jesse is more than she bargained for. When she sees the slashes on hi
Read more

Ghosts...and the Girls Who Love Them Bloghop and Giveaway

Image
Here's my entry into this party. If you like what you read, let me know in the comments, and if you really like it, leave the word VOTE in the comments! You can vote between now and Oct. 1st. Enjoy! Binary Socks dangled from the slowly rotating blades of the ceiling fan. On any other occasion, Carrie would have laughed. Not this time.She had witnessed the hurricane-like destruction Daniel had wreaked, and it was a testament to his self-control that she wasn’t hurt. He stood in the only clear spot on the floor, what had been the eye of the storm. All around him,the room was littered with debris. Glittering among the boxers and tees, change from his dresser top and splinters of mirror. His college diploma he’d gotten last week. Things he would never need. Carrie repeated the words that had brought out his rage. “Daniel, you have to move on.” “I promised I wouldn’t leave you. I keep my promises.” His form solidified as anger coursed through him. When it faded, he did t
Read more