So I got back late last night from seeing the great American eclipse. I went to a national forest down near Carbondale, IL. For those who don't know, I live in a suburb of Chicago. The drive there and back was terrible, and traffic was abysmal. My family and I arrived there at about 11:00 at night the day before and we set up tents along the road by a small clearing. I admit I didn't sleep much. Too much noise. I woke up really early and got ready for the day.

So now that the mundane stuff is out of the way, let me try to explain how the eclipse went. I made some viewers out of solar filters designed for a telescope, since my eclipse glasses were counterfeit. The viewers worked quite well. The partial phase of the eclipse started at about 11:53 AM local time. As the minutes went by, I saw little bits of the sun start to disappear. It started in the upper right of the sun's disc. Over the course of about and hour and a half, the sun slowly shrank to a tiny crescent. Bit by bit, the sun vanished. As the sun went away the sky got dimmer and dimmer. The darkness was unlike anything I've ever experienced. We've all seen the sky dim when it's cloudy out, or near sunset. This was different. It wasn't like a cloudy day because the shadows were still clear. It wasn't like sunset, because the shadows were the normal length for 1:20 PM. As totality got closer, the color of the light seemed to change. I can only describe the light as silvery looking. Everything had a whitish, silvery tone to it. It's really hard to describe how it looked if you haven't seen it. It looked like those harsh white lights in a warehouse or stadium.

About 20 seconds before totality, the light suddenly went from equivalent of a cloudy day right down to just after sunset. In literally seconds the light everywhere just went away. It was like someone turned a dimmer switch all the way down to the lowest level. The last bit of the sun vanished and it was time to take off the glasses. At about 1:21 PM totality began. Words cannot adequately describe what the total eclipse looked like. There aren't any adjectives to properly convey how I felt. It was the most amazing, incredible thing I have ever seen in my entire life. I literally, actually mean that. Nothing I have experienced before compares to the total eclipse, and I don't think anything I'll see later in life will compare. It is just that fantastic. There was the solid black disc of the moon in the middle, a bright white ring around the moon, and the corona surrounding it. Seeing the sun's corona was simply amazing. I saw the thin white wisps of gas surrounding the sun, but that doesn't describe it well. You can see picture online of the corona, but they cannot convey what it's like to see it in person. The only way I can describe it is that it was like looking at the face of God. Nothing can possibly compare to it. If you didn't see the total eclipse in person, you need to see it next time. If you thought it wouldn't be a big deal, you were wrong. If you thought it wasn't worth the time or the hassle, you were wrong. If you thought just seeing the partial eclipse was good enough, you were wrong. I cannot stress enough how incredible the experience was. The first thing I said was "Holy shit!". Lucky for me, there's another total eclipse in 2024, and it will also be visible in Carbondale, IL. It seems that Carbondale is now the nexus of the universe. I will be there in seven years. And anyone that has the ability to go see it next time must do so. It will change your life.

Now, I do have a few photos I took. I use my Galaxy S7 with a 12x telescope attachment and a solar filter. The pictures ended up pretty good. Taking them was a pain in the ass. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of the sun during totality. I wasn't going to waste my two-and-a-half minutes fiddling with the camera. I simply stared at the sun the whole time. It was over way too fast. Now for the pictures, click them for a bigger version.

Here are a couple pictures of the surroundings during totality. Unfortunately, the pictures don't really convey how dark it was. Like I said before, it looked like just after sunset. Not coompletely dark, but more like twilight.

Here's another photo I took of the shadows of the trees and leaves projected onto the ground. Notice how the bits of light between the leaves are shaped like little crescents. This is because the gaps between the leaves act like little pinhole projectors, which project the crecent of the sun onto the ground.

Another cool effect just before and after totality was shadow bands. The were these little rolling bands of shadows undulating across the ground. It's the weirdest thing I've ever seen. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a picture of it. It was eerie. So that's it for now. Just remember, I cannot stress enough how awesome this was. If you have any opportunity to see a total eclipse in the future, do it. I guarantee you won't regret it.

So now that the DLC for BOTW has been out for a few hours, I decided to get cracking. Gotta get those outfits. To be honest, they weren't hard to find. The clues, combined with the treasure chest Sheikah sensor, made it all too easy. I've gotten everything except the Korok mask. And the master trials, but that'll come later. Behold:

That helmet honestly looks kinda heavy.

It even has Midna's orange/yellow hair in the back. Gotta love the little details.

Hopefully this one won't make the moon come crashing down. Here's a new idea: make the blood moon have the face from Majora's Mask's moon. Just to make it extra creepy.

This is definitely the most ridiculous of the outfits Link has, by far. Although I think Paya might like it. She's already so hot and bothered by Link that this might push her over the edge. The Gerudo outfit didn't do it for her, but maybe she's not into cross-dressing.

Now this is classy. Strong, yet feminine. And as we know, this version of Link is in touch with his feminine side. Let's just hope he isn't scared by rats. Come to think of it, are there even rats in this game? Haven't seen one yet. Although it would be fun hunting those little guys down. Link already eats wolves, foxes, and "shrooms", so rats aren't out of the question. I''d like to see this Link at one of those all-you-can-eat buffets. He's canonically a glutton according to Zelda's diary, so I can see it ending up like when Homer gets kicked out of the seafood buffet.

And now, for more random observations, some of those poor Gerudo women have problems getting dates. It's okay, trying to date an eight foot tall Amazon warrior might be a little intimidating. But seriously, they have hearts of gold. Just look at this Gerudo dating class (yes this has been out forever on the Internet, but I still had to do it myself):

Poor Risa. Her heart's in the right place, but she just doesn't get it. She reminds me of a Klingon. All battle and no love-dovey sentiment. Also, I wonder if her name being Risa, as in the sex planet of Star Trek was intentional? Maybe it's a coincidence. But considering all the little inside jokes, I wouldn't put it past the localization team.

Now it's off to the master trials. Wish me luck everyone. I might actually have to think about my actions instead of mindlessly swinging my sword like I've done since the first Zelda game in 1987.

And one last thing...Thanks to Nintendo for the DLC to select audio language. Now I can listen to the cutscenes in the original Japanese like God intended. I have watched some anime in my time and I refuse to listen to dubs. Whichever language it was made in is the one I listen to. Plus, since I don't speak Japanese, I can't hear how lousy the voice acting is. It's a win-win.

So I beat the game. It was too easy to beat the final boss. But that will come for another time. I only came here to post this:

I may or may not have used illicit means to get this outfit, but.... Just google it. Make sure you get NTAG215 cards, or it won't work. Now I'm back to grinding for Korok seeds. God(dess)(es) help me.

As an aside, why is it one goddess now? What happened to Din, Nayru, and Farore? Did they go from polytheistic to monotheistic? Or is Hylia a manifestation of the three goddesses? It bothers me. My headcanon is that Hylia is a singular manifestation of the three true goddesses. It just bugs me. Why have a Triforce if there's only one goddess?

Aaaand...If you want to clone some random Amiibo, don't go here. Or here. And don't buy these. A.K.A. "Bulk Blank NTAG215 PVC Cards - 25 count pack". Just sayin'

So I've been playing Breath of the Wild for a while now. Still haven't beaten it. This game is so massive and expansive that I may never truly beat it. Fine. I want enough Korok seeds to max out all my weapons. I'm playing this game in reverse. I want all the little things, then I'll go for the grand finale. But, do I love the little things in this game. They thought of everything. I've taken a few screenshots of my favorite things (which have already been published by numerous people, but I had to do them myself), and I really love this game. Here's the best ones so far:

I honestly never thought I'd see the words "left butt cheek" in a Zelda game, but here we are. Kudos to the writers. If anything makes this game more real, it's someone being embarrassed by their grandmother (or mother). This game is HARD and REAL. If Link had a mother in this game, I'm sure she would make sure he wears clean underwear just in case he gets in an accident. You never know. But judging by Link in this game, I think he hasn't had a bath in a while. Which is why Paya is so incredulous.

Once again, this game is about the little details. During this particular conversation, Paya occassionally takes a peek at Link. Just to make sure. I hope whoever came up with this ridiculous bit of dialogue becomes the next president of Nintendo. That kind of genius cannot be squandered. I can't think of a more "Notice me senpai ^_^" situation outside of a harem anime. Good lord.

And you know what, running around nearly naked works in this game (unless you find a Lynel, then he'll fuck you up). I haven't talked to everyone yet, but at least the Koroks understand freedom.

So I'm still playing this game, and still enjoying it. Here's a few more stupid pictures to keep you going:

I've never taken a selfie, and I never will. But damn. Link's selfie game is tight. Is that what you kids say now, "tight"? Or is it something else now? Maybe "shibby", or "funky", or "quetzalcoatl". I'm not hip with the lingo, ya dig?

Me IRL. gotta keep up with those dank memes, amirite?!

And we leave with poor Roscoe. Loone cared more about pictures of guardians than her beloved Roscoe. It's okay. Roscoe found his true home inside a small depression exactly the same size as him. If only we could all be so lucky.

I will not "beat" this game until I get all the shrines, and all the weapons slots, and until I've talked to everyone while nearly naked. My next stop is talking to people while wearing Link's sultry Gerudo costume. Crossdressing, running around in his underwear, these guys thought of everything. But here's one tip for everyone out there: YOU MUST DYE ALL YOUR CLOTHES GREEN. It's just the rule. I think it's in the manual somewhere. Somewhere in the back. Wait, did this game even have a manual?

P.S. Due to voice acting, the pronunciation of "Gerudo" with a hard "g" like "get" is now canon. I do not accept that. I pronounce Gerudo like "jerudo". And yes, I also pronounce GIF like Jif, the peanut butter. Go ahead and fight me. And also, Alex you're wrong, the creator of the GIF format pronounces it jif. Checkmate.

P.P.S. Bro, play this song in your head when you realize I'm right about the pronunciation of GIF. Here it is. (It's the song when Link finds a new memory, just in case this file doesn't work).

Yes. I am still alive.

For the two people out there who still check this site: yes, I am still alive and kicking. This site wouldn't be here if I wasn't paying the bills. So here's a little summary of my life right now. I am finally about to finish my bachelor's degree at Saginaw Valley State University. Hopefully by the end of April, I will have a B.S. in Computer Information Systems. It's been a long road fraught with perils, but I love computers and programming, and I hope to make a career out of it.

So here's the deal with this site and the things that go along with it. I desperately want to devote all my time to this site, but real life gets in the way. My brother, known as Genken on the Vinculum has some ideas to bring my site into the 21st centtury. We'll see how that goes.

As far as my latest fanfic goes, it has been tough. I've been "writing" this story for the better part of four years. I have made some progress, but writer's block is my eternal enemy. This is a problem that maybe some writers can understand. I want to finish this story so I can move onto other ones. My big problem

30

Holy crap, I'm 30 years old today. It's all downhill from here. At least I can complain about kids these days.

Well, that was fun. For those few people who emailed me about concerns of my website going down, I thank you. Things seem to be running fine now. There was a bit of a problem at my webhost, and it seems that the server shit the bed. I've restored the site from my last backups. But because I suck at backups, here's the deal:

The Vinculum has been restored to its state as of October 22nd. Any users who made posts after that date, and any user who registered after that date must either re-post or re-register. I'm sorry for the loss.

The Post Your Own Work section has been restored to its state as of July 16th, 2012. I'm sorry for the losses. Any users who posted anything after July 16th or registered after that date must do so again.

I will pledge to make weekly backups from now on. So everyone take this as a warning: backup your data. If anyone finds a problem, please email me. I'm still working some kinks out.

My server has been upgraded to much better specs than before. I now have 1GB of RAM, 50GB disk space, and 2TB of bandwidth. That's pretty damn sweet. And I'm only paying $4/month more than before. My last hosting plan was 256MB RAM, 20GB space, and 300GB of bandwidth. Anyone who's interested in a VPS hosting plan should check out ModVPS (and no, they didn't pay me to say that).

But as far as news goes, everything is up and running again for the three people who still visit this site. If anyone finds any problems or errors, please let me know.

It looks like my current hosting plan isn't quite beefy enough to run everything I need it to. So I am working on upgrading it to a better plan. The main site will remain online for now, but any parts that use the database (like Post Your Own Work) and the Vinculum will remain offline because I don't have the memory to run them. Hopefully I can get this sorted out soon.

As I unfortunately expected, my new story "In Thine Image" is not complete. However, I promised to post whatever I have if I was not done by the time school started again. So here it is. Click here to read the rough draft of my new story. I write in a very linear fashion, so what you see is pretty much how the story goes until it abruptly ends mid-scene. The rough draft will remain online in perpetuity, even after I post the complete story. Currently there are no chapter breaks, because I haven't decided how to split it up yet. I only hope that this will give everyone an idea of where I want this story to go. There's still a lot more that I want to say. I also plan on expanding some of the scenes written so far, as well as putting some new scenes in between what I've already written. My estimate is that this story is half done.

Getting back into writing after so many years is very difficult, far more than I imagined. I welcome any and all criticism, as well as any suggestions any of you might have. Please ignore spelling and grammar errors, as I will fix those later. But anyone who gives any advice, be it structure issues, plot ideas, or anything I find useful, I will give you credit in an acknowledgements section. I have a pretty good idea of where I want this story to go, and how it will end. The hard part is writing the middle. So wish me luck.

For the tl;dr crowd: Click here to read the rough draft of "In Thine Image".

I am currently in the process of moving servers. If you can read this, you are on the correct page.

Thursday, December 15th, 2011

Updated Sections:

Skyward Sword
Game-Breaking Bug

Zelda II
Level Maps
Bestiary

Now that I'm nearly finished with Skyward Sword, I have a few things to add here. Just the other day, Nintendo released news about a potentially game-breaking bug in Skyward Sword. I'm thankful that I had just gotten past that part of the game and narrowly avoided triggering the bug. Be warned that the news of the bug contains game spoilers.

I've also posted a few corrections, and new content for the Zelda II section. I have updated the Bestiary with information about the dungeon bosses, and the point values of all the enemies. I also updated some of the level maps to make them more accurate. The level 7 map is the one that had the most errors. I missed part of a room (where the 1-up is) and some of the rooms with walk-through walls. My more comprehensive improvement of the Zelda II walkthrough is still in progress. I basically have to sort through hundreds of screenshots to make a better walkthrough.

And in other not-really-news, I'm back to working on my new story. It definitely won't be done by year's end, but hopefully won't be much longer. Sorry for the wait, everyone. I really want to get this story done purely for my own satisfaction. I don't want to leave an idea unwritten.

The special article I wrote for Zelda Universe about Zelda II is now posted here at Zelda Universe. It's also posted on this site in the University of Hyrule section, and in the Zelda II section. It seemed like it could fit into both sections on this site.

Writing the article has also inspired me to research a more detailed article about the differences between the Japanese and worldwide releases of Zelda II. That is still in progress.

I've also been reworking parts of the walkthrough for Zelda II. I'm updating the Bestiary section with more detailed information, and I'm also correcting a few errors I found on a couple of the maps. The corrections to the walkthrough should be done soon.

Here's a small update about what's been going on lately.

First of all, the wonderful Vinculum Co-Administrator and friend Lysia (who also happens to be co-webmaster of Zelda Universe) has asked me to write an article about Zelda II for her website. It's part of a special 25th anniversary celebration for the Zelda franchise. I just completed the article, and it is slated to be posted on Zelda Universe on October 26th. Zelda II was always one of my favorite games, so writing this article was a labor of love. In deference to Zelda Universe, I will wait until the 26th to post the article here. Writing this article has also inspired me to write a detailed comparison about the differences between the US and Japanese versions of Zelda II. I'm currently playing through both games, and I'm cataloging all the little differences. It will make for a nice article.

On the fanfic front, I've just reached the 50,000 word mark for In Thine Image. I still hope I can complete it by year's end, but don't quote me on that. There's so much I want to say, that I really have to think of how to put it into story form. As I've said before, this story will mostly be about character development and setting the stage for future stories. I only hope that it will compare to the other stories I've written.

As for my corrections on my old stories, I'm up to Origins. So far, everything up to and including Origins is posted on fanfiction.net under the name Kasuto of Kataan I. I'm still working on corrections for my other stories.

That's all for now. See you out there.

Sorry I didn't have anything planned for the 11th anniversary of the site. I'm basically too busy writing my new story. So when I finally post it, consider that a late anniversary present to everyone.

Also, I have recently re-registered at Fanfiction.net under the name Kasuto of Kataan I. It's not someone pretending to me (someone emailed me about it today). My long feud with them is over. Unfortunately they wouldn't let me use my original name and email address, so I had to make a new one. I did this so I can hopefully get a little exposure and maybe get some people visiting the site again.

As for updates on how my story is going, and information about future stories, here's a repost of what I said on the message board:

Here's a little update on story progress. I'd say that right now I'm about halfway done. So far the story is at about 40,000 words, and continues to grow. It seems like the main conflict of this story isn't really going to be the actual main focus. This story is really more about character development than anything else.

Here's a few more details that I hope will give you ideas of what the story is about, without giving away the whole plot:

As the teaser showed, it will involve Termina very heavily. Not only will I explore the characters of my versions of Link/Zelda/etc., but I will delve into my interpretation of the lives of the people in Termina. I'll also say that at the moment I'm writing scenes involving Cremia and Romani. And I'm trying to portray Romani as weird and loveable, but also batshit insane (in a good way). When I first played Majora's Mask I always saw Romani as being pretty much nuts, so I'm taking that idea and running with it.

After the main plot of "In Thine Image" is concluded, there will be a bit more afterwards to expand on the characters' lives. So basically this is two stories in one. It's probably going to be long and rambling, and might not be up to my normal standards. It has been six years since I published a story, so I'm really trying to learn to write all over again.

After this story is done, I have lots more ideas to move everything forward. I especially have some ideas for Link and Zelda's children. No, that's not a spoiler because I figured everyone assumed they would get married and have children of their own. I already know their names, personalities, character traits, future love interests, and basic story lines for them.

Wednesday, August 3rd, 2011

Updated Sections:

Ocarina of Time
OoT Graphical Manual

Skyward Sword
SS Official Art
SS Screenshots

Slowly but surely, I'm adding new content to the site..

I updated the main page for Ocarina of Time with more detailed information. I also added a page containing scans from the instruction manual. I did not scan the manual myself, I borrowed them from Zelda Shrine. The original page the scans came from is here. They were used in accordance with Zelda Shrine's usage policy. Many thanks to their hard work.

I also added a section for Skyward Sword, with a little information about the upcoming game. I also added Official Art and Screenshots for Skyward Sword. More stuff will be posted as I come across it.

I also re-organized the menus for the Fan Works sections. I did it to emphasize that the original Fan Fiction sections are no longer updated. For those who don't know, all new fan fiction and poetry is in the gate.io opinion section. Everything in the other sections, Fan Fiction (A-B), Fan Fiction (C-E), Fan Fiction (F-L), Fan Fiction (M-Z), Poetry, and Fan Art is from a long time ago. Nothing new will be put in those sections. I'm currently trying to find an easy way for people to post their fan art. If anyone has suggestions, I'd be happy to hear them.

Tuesday, July 19th, 2011

Updated Sections:

The Legend of Zelda
Game Genie codes

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
Game Genie codes

A Link to the Past
Game Genie and Pro Action Replay codes

Check it out, I made two updates in the same year! There is nothing major about this update, but it's something. Aside from the behind-the-scenes work, I've added a little more new content that should have been here a long time ago. So on to the content.

The main page for The Legend of Zelda has been updated with more detailed information about the game, and I also added a section for Game Genie codes. I tested and verified all the codes listed.

The main page for Zelda II: The Adventure of Link was updated with more detailed information, and I added Game Genie codes for it as well. All codes have been verified.

The main page for A Link to the Past was updated with more information, and Game Genie and Pro Action Replay codes were added. All codes have been verified to work.

That's it for the actual new content. I'm still working on my new fanfic. It's currently at about 59 pages (11pt font with 1.5 line spacing) and 22,000 words. I'm just now starting to get to the real plot. I'll keep everyone updated as I progress. I've also been doing some minor grammatical corrections on my older fanfics, but those probably aren't too noticeable.

Guess what? I'm still not quite dead yet. I have two important announcements. First of all, I am still writing my new fanfic. Unfortunately, it's not quite done yet. I have decided on a title, though. My new story shall be called "In Thine Image". I can say right now that this will probably be a long one. There are so many ideas I've come up with over the last few years that I want to include in this story. I've also been going through my old stories and doing some simple proofreading and corrections. The changes won't be very noticeable, though.

I also have another cool announcement. An awesome friend of the site, GlitterBerri, has been steadily translating the Zelda manga I posted many years ago. The translation is now complete, and can be viewed at her site here. Many, many thanks.