Went out. Had pizza. It was really good, but I didn't get as much writing done as I'd hoped.

: I started to get into the Internet in the dial-up days too and now I watch
: YouTube before bed instead of TV.

Youtube is basically my in-browser playlist. I've discovered a lot of good artists with it, and I've just learned that classical music is really friggin' awesome.

: ;/

What's it like to go from ordinary to extraordinary? What's it like to go from peak human to something that can bend rebar in its bare hands and move like greased lightning with a tailwind? What's it like knowing that if you become this demigod of war, you can never retire? The Spartan augments can't be reversed and the UNSC can't afford to let tissue samples get out where they can be reverse engineered. So what's it like to make that leap?

New Blood merrily whistled its way past that.

What was the founding of the Covenant like? How did these two bitter enemies come together and forge an empire that lasted for 3,500 years? How did the Elites live with the shame of disassembling the Forerunner artefacts for their own use, and how did they come to adopt the Prophets' faith?

Broken Circle's fragmented narrative was about anything but. Ussa 'Xellus fled so fast, it's almost as if John Shirley was doing his best to avoid dealing with those questions.

What did the Forerunners leave at their last refuge? What great machines were left there? Could the installation meant to strip mine planets and make more Halos also house the great machinery that reseeded the galaxy? What was left on the Ark?

According to Hunters in the Dark, a bunch of wildlife and a comically insane Monitor.

Last Light was quite fantastic, and I wish there'd been more discussion of it here. Not sure what we would talk about...

But I have acquired footage of Veta Lopis and Team Sabre in action:

: sad
: specifically a sort of lips squished to one side and brows furrowed face,
: that says "you make a convincing and depressing point,

Of course I have a convincing point. Have you ever tried whining without one? It's boring. Nobody listens to you.

: why do you have to do that and also why do you have to give up?"

Because making convincing points is what I try to do. The depressing part just comes naturally.
Because five years is a long time to wait for 343i to change course.

I stick around because you guys are my friends. It's hard to leave this place.

: and to be clear, I'd still like to see whatever thesis it was

Wasn't a thesis so much as a disjointed ramble that I started at several points in the middle with the intent to fill in the beginning and the end later. Turning it into something coherent and worth reading would take more time and investment than I'm able to give at the moment.

However, word on the wind is that we'll be getting more news about Halo Wars 2 this spring. Expect to see something about the original from me.