PixlBit

 Firstly, don't ever apologise for having a life. Sure, we missed you, but have fun! 

 Secondly: Game of Thrones. I don't think George likes suffering as much as he likes vulnerability, suspense and an extreme sense of justice. Characters die so you are concerned for other characters and invested in them more than you usually would be. Also, every character dies for a reason. Either their ideoligies don't exist in the world (Ned), they made really foolish mistakes (Rob), or they tried to impose power that they hadn't the right to (Danaerys' brother.) It also has real characters. In the show, Joffrey is the sum of all evil, but in the books he's more sympathetic. He's a spoilt brat who gained extreme amounts of power at a vulnerable age, and at a vulnerable time. He recently found out his entire existence might be a lie, that he might have no real right to the throne, and that his uncle is his father. That's gotta fuck a kid up. 

 It's the same with everyone. They all have beliefs, some good, some evil, but their actions all fall somewhere in between. That's what I really like about the series. 

 Oh, and I just bought the series for my grandmother. She just finished the first book and loves it :)

Heh, don't worry. The first sentence was for those who might had missed me.

Though that comment was mostly a joke, I do agree with what you said about the book (and by extension tv show). It uses the grey morality to great effect and characters who have classic fantasy traits (like Sansa's naivety and daydreams about stuff out LOTR) suffer a lot in a eviroment that is a bit more grounded in reality and even actions from those that are considered "heroes" are questionable, like when Arya and The Brotherhood were camping in an abandoned village and one of the members said that the Tullys (which so far were considered "heroes") destroyed it because they still supported Aerys and the Targaryen. Though I don't know man, I always found Joffrey a flat-out brat, in both book and tv :P

Damm, your grandma is very cool. Speaking of something similar, my mother is also reading the first book.

I know a Gamestop near me that still has a copy of Persona 3 Portable complete in the box. I think it might be a collector's edition or something. I'm so tempted to go get it.

If you have the money and the urge for Persona 3, go for it.

The Lord of the Rings books might be shorter, but I find them harder to read because of the way the are written, with so much exposition and details about maps and so on...which tends to slow the story progression down. A lot of older books are like this. GoT books are much easier to read, although it does have a lot of that exposition about the different houses and histories and such. Yeah, most people deserved to die on the show and in the books. They played a hand in their own demise. I like how in the first show/book there is foreshadowing with the dead stag and direwolf representing joffrey and ned. 

Persona 3 is so  good. Portable games are so much easier to pick up and continue then console/tv.

I think you're pretty much right about your statement on LOTR. They are of average lenght, but the exposition and descriptions make the book a heavy read. Still, A Song of Ice and Fire (because GoT is only for the tv show) does contain many exposition, but it is handled in a way that doesn't feel heavy and due to the how the books suck you in and don't let you go, is faster going through that series than LOTR. Besides, I like the exposition present on the books. They flesh the world the series take place.

I wouldn't say that they deserved to die as much as I think that their choices screwed them over. Also, the Red Wedding got foreshadowed in the second book when Dany visited the house of the eternals.

Yeah, P3P is very good. 

Also on the GoT books, not sure if it's the books or show but it seems to me that Lady Stark setup a lot of the deaths by kidnapping the imp while Ned was in King Landing. She comes of really unlikable to me in the book. She seems more sympathetic on the show, but I feel like she tried to assert too much power and caused problems because of it for her whole family.

I echo what Blake said. We know you will be around, live your life on the offline too.

Eh, don't worry, that comment was mostly made for those who might had missed me, but thanks for the comment anyway

I thought about starting up P3P, but I already played through it several times and there are other portable games I should play through first. 

Well, with the many games you should play, it's better to concentrate on the stuff you haven't finished lol.

hey, hope you had a great vacation!!!  I've missed out on all this Game of Thrones stuff, but I hope to get into it someday, 

Yeah, it was pretty good Snee.

A Song of Ice and Fire Snee, GoT is only for the tv series. If you want to get into it, you could always start with the first book and also the first season of the series.

I haven't been able to read for a couple years now unfortunately.  just can't focus.  I think it's my meds.  I wish I could though.  Can't really watch TV either.  but someday I will be again, and I will catch up on that stuff. 

Welcome back Alex! I'm probably gonna play Persona 3 (on PS2) again soon. There's only 2 more PS2 games in my ultra hideous backlog. I had got really far in that game at one point, but got stuck on a boss in the normal game, and a boss in Tartarus. I'm looking forward to playing Persona 4 too.

Thanks. I'm not having that much difficulty with Persona 3, but that's because i'm playing on the easiest difficulty setting, which is only challenging in some parts but it's mostly a walk in the park. Then again, sometimes I wish to also have a bit of challenge, since my first midnight boss (the one of the monorail) was beaten too easily.

Don't feel back about missing a week. I was MIA for most of December lol. But glad you're back 

I haven't read much the last couple years because life has been so busy but I started Mockingjay (the third Hunger Games book) recently and have made some decent progress. I read A Game of Thrones back in college and have since seen the first season of the show and picked up the other books but I haven't read them yet. I'm glad you didn't give any spoilers about the Red Wedding. At this point all I know is that something bad goes down and people die. I want to read more but it tends to be either gaming or reading...or blogging. So many choices 

Thanks, though that was adressed to those who missed me.

Heh, that was also how I learned about the Red Wedding, that something horrible goes down and bloody deaths happen. If you don't want to get spoiled on the Red Wedding (and other things from the book), then I suggest to not read Blake's and asrealasitgets comments.

Welcome back!

Thanks.

I'm with Blake. No need to apologize for "living",bro. lol. Still, it's nice to know you are back! As for George,he does write like he's a sadist sometimes. lol. But in most of his interviews he seems really nice. I think with ASOIAF he really wants to capture how messed up and backwards the medievel times were. He admitted a huge inspiration for the series was the historical War Of THe Roses. 

Eh, that statement was made for those who missed me, but thanks for the sentiment. That comment about George was mostly joke as I know he's a nice guy, but yeah, he really knows suffering. I think the books also capture very well how a Fantasy setting would work in something more grounded in reality and there's really no heroes or villians.

Vacation is good. moreso when you have a portable gaming device on hand just in case. It's no prob if you deleted my stuff, most of what I write may not be worth reading. So long as you don't feel the need to comment. I'm just happy if people read. But I'm more happier when people take time out to enjoy themselves from the interwebs.

welcome back though!

Thanks.

I knew I wouldn't catch up on all the blogs I missed, but I still regret reading and making comments on some of them. But thanks for the sentiment.