Ursa’s Lament (Avatar: The Last Airbender Fanfiction)

Hey Otakus and Geeks here is our New York Comic Con contest winner fanfiction. Congrats Lenora! Great job.

Title: Ursa’s Lament
By: Lenora Ashford
Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender

What a shame. You always had such beautiful hair…
Yes, I was there. Before the comet arrived, I made my way into the city. I watched my daughter slip into madness and my son take the throne with the Avatar at his side. My husband was sent to his proper place, a cell in prison.
Where he belongs.
“Hello, my husband.”

He looks at me through strands of his hair, squinting in confusion. “You were banished.”
“I believe the new Fire Lord will be lenient with me.” His face hardens. “Yes, our son was crowned today. And our daughter was committed.”
Ozai snears at me. “He will never accept you. You abandoned him; his own mother. Vanished without a trace leaving her discarded children behind. He will banish you again.”
And he would have every right to do so. The scar on Zuko’s face wouldn’t be there if I had found a way to bring him with me. “Then that will be my fate. But if he let you live after burning his face, I believe he will be merciful.” My rage shows on my face. “You scarred your own son and fed your daughter’s madness. If I am a failure as a mother because I left, you are a failure as a father because you stayed.”
I expect to be hit with flame myself but Ozai only glares at me until he can’t hold my gaze anymore.
I don’t know why I wait. There will be no apology from him, no excuses. I envy him in that I have no delusion I am blameless. I did abandon my son and daughter to a madman.

Wordlessly, I turn away from him, my Earth Kingdom robes kicking up dust from the floor. The small village which sheltered me was very kind to me all these years; giving me shelter and the provisions to return.
I hear my husband snicker at my back. “You will join me in here, Ursa.”
I don’t turn around. I look only ahead of me at the road that will take me to my son.
A little girl stops me mere steps from the gates to the palace. Her eyes are clouded and feet bare and I stop at her raised hand.

“Who are you?”
By the spirits, she really is only a child! “I-I have come to see Fire Lord Zuko. I am his mother.”
She pauses, sightless eyes widening in shock. “You’re telling the truth.” She tilts her head; listening for what, I do not know. “Follow me.”
The girl leads me away from the guards and earth bends a secret doorway. We both enter a series of dark corridors I am certain did not exist until she made them.

“May I ask what you are doing?”
“Sneaking you into Zuko’s office. Nobody’s there now but he will be soon.”

She rests her hand on the wall for a moment before bending a clean doorway, a slab of earth descending into the floor. “Go on in. He’ll be back in a bit.”
“Why are you helping me?”

“You’re Zuko’s mother. I’m sure he’ll wanna see you.” A sadness passes over her eyes before she forces it aside for a sly grin. “And he owes me for burning my feet. We’re even if he passes out from shock.”

She waves me through the door and closes it behind me. I survey the space but don’t truly see the lush furnishings around me. I am too nervous to move, my heart roaring in my chest. I do not feel time pass. It is forever and only a moment before the latch stirs and the door opens to reveal the face of a man. A Fire Lord. Gone is the child I left behind and I struggle for a greeting.
“Good evening, my son.”

His smile fades in the wake of his shock, his feet rooted to the spot. “Mother...”
It’s a start. Surprise is better than revulsion. I take it as a sign of hope.

End

Adam's Morgan Day :: Art & Fashion!

         
 Adam's Morgan Day is a great outdoor festival for one of the most eccentric melting pots of neighborhoods in Washington, DC. -Adam's Morgan. As invitees, Indian Pussy Brand moved their goodies from Artistic Sole headquarters to 18th Street, NW in the heart of Adam's Morgan. 
Once I got settled I decided to take a stroll & find some otaku goodness to share! OZKER of Sleeper Cell Productions & Indian Pussy Brand model/ noted piercer, Sarah, & Seven stayed back at our temporary headquarters partying with the good people interested in our art!   

On my stroll, it was a pleasure to run into one of our good friends, Kelly Chin, of Chinhamaya Organization. Kelly is GREAT! Not only is she the area's adopted mom for us otakus ... & geeks!, but she also oversees a youth taiko drumming group. The kids in the group are amazingly talented and dedicated to their individual arts. Kelly's super power is that she specializes in making kimekomi dolls.
If you're ever in the area and want to take a class of how-to's ... be sure to check her out! 

 

Mean while ...
 
Back at the tent, The Peligro Brothers, DJ Provoke & OZKER, are getting it in! I think by the time I stopped back in, they were on to some dance music & kept the crowd there!

Since everyone was occupied and happy, I snuck off to see t-shirts! In REAL LIFE ... what otaku, fan boy/girl, or every day person does not need a dope tee in their life!
Please, do me a solid & check out these tees from Fuzzy Ink. Their tagline is "It'll grow on you" ... and trust!, it doesn't take very long. 
Be sure to check out their sight for some cool fashionably affordable tees!




Well! I had to get back & shut down shop, so til next week ...
~je t'adore!

Free Portal Off Steam & Weaponized Nyan Cat

If you have Steam go to Learning With Portals, to get yourself a free copy of the award winning Portals, if you don't have Stream, go and download it from HERE, get an account and then go back to learn with portals and get it for free. This is the first game and not the second one. The reason for these guys giving the game out for free, is because they want people to use it as a learning tool for getting people, mainly students get into math, science, technology and engineering.

Now as a huge fan of Portal I got to say this is the most amazing thing ever for schools. Portal shows the best way to teach new ideas. My time with the first one really broke the game down into 2 parts, the teaching of new concepts and then the using of them. If Valve did not understand that the idea of portals would be easy to understand, they would not have spent so much time using the test chambers and glaDOS to explain things to you and the promise of cake..... delicious cake but anyway check out the site and get your free copy, do it meow (super trooper reference for the win) and download it the reason why is because this free copy is only until the 20th September. Here is also the link to PORTALS if you just want to download it.

This next thing is totally sweet. Its a mod created by Scott Coxhead (AKA Cr4zy) in collaboration with - Bi()ha2ard and Azurescorch for Unreal Tournament 3 and they created a weaponize Nyan Cat.
Check out the video.

Now with that being said and shown, two things come to mind: 1. This is the most random and epic awesome thing I have seen in years. 2. It will now link the nyan cat song to pant shitting moments. THINK ABOUT IT: your in an intense free for all and out the blue you hear that song just start... you know someone is going to die when that song stops and you dont want it to be you but it could be because its RADIO CONTROLLED POPTART SPACE CAT OF DEATH. Thats just beyond awesome. To download your space cat of death mod click HERE and go nuts. you have to scroll down the page a bit to find it.


ALSO:
Am going to leave this here for everyone to enjoy, trust me its amazing.

Nyan Cat the Movie by Blake Robinson

Cool Stuff From Boomslank.Com

Hey Otakus and Geeks readers. I just wanted you guys and gals to know about a cool site, that sells some nice original shirts, I-Pod cases and more. The site is called Boomslank.com What I like about Boomslank is that all of their designs are original, also the prices are good as well. Here are some of there cool shirts below, don't forget to check out their site at Boomslank.com for prices and more cool stuff.

Zero Frame: This shirt was inspired by Mech Anime. As a Mech fan myself I really love the design and color choice of this shirt.


Strike Witch: Otaku boys please don't have a nerdgasm. Needless to say the design of the Strike Witch is awesome. The horns, the gun and the sassy look on her face is great.


Zero Frame Case: The Zero design for I-Phone cases, another well done job.

Kirby's Mass Attack Event In NYC

Yesterday the crew and I went out to Kirby's Mass Attack Event at Nintendo World. We got to sit down and play the demo, did a little shopping and talk with a bunch of Kirby fans. Here is a video of went down, they also had free ice cream. Sorry for the quality of the video. We are currently fixing it and adding more footage, but we had a blast. Check it out.



Super Mario Land 3D Trailer & Screenshots

Here is the trailer and some screenshots of the upcoming Super Mario 3DS game. Also here is the details of features.

Super Mario 3D Land reinvents everything fans love about Mario™ gaming with the first platforming environment in true 3D, without the need for special glasses. Players will experience an exhilarating new sense of depth, distance and speed while running, jumping and stomping on enemies throughout the levels.

Trailer


FEATURES:

Tanooki Mario returns! The fan-favorite Tanooki suit makes its first appearance on the Nintendo 3DS. Use the Tanooki suit’s tail to attack enemies or float gently down from great heights. These abilities help players move through the 3D environments with more confidence.

3D visuals make it easier for players to judge the depths and distances in their environments. Players can more accurately judge the jump to the next platform or how far Mario is from a question block.

New and familiar abilities add unique game-play strategies to the adventure. Mario can perform a rolling somersault attack or run fast with a dash move.

The Circle Pad gives players complete control to confidently move Mario through fun and challenging environments.

New enemies include Goombas with tails, tall stacks of Goombas and a Piranha Plant that spits ink to obscure a player’s view.










UPDATE On The 3DS Add On & Monster Hunter 3DS



Here is an update on the second joystick add-on that is coming out for the 3DS.

Joystiq reports that the add-on will be coming out on Dec 10th of this year in Japan for ¥1500 or roughly $19.50 and its currently called "The Slidepad". It looks to be final too, there maybe some design changes between now and then but that's a maybe. All that is known for sure is that it is coming out this year..... in Japan. It also looks like it will not be some kind of battery life extender because it need a single AAA battery for it work.

The Monster Hunter update is that there are 2 Monster hunter games coming out for the 3DS. Monster Hunter Tri-G (an update of the Wii Monster Hunter Tri) and the New Monster Hunter 4. Both in 3D and it is comfirmed that Tri-G will work with the SlidePad and a list of a few other games those being: Biohazard Revelations (Resident Evil: Revelations everywhere outside of Japan), Metal Gear Solid : Snake Eater 3D, Ace Combat 3D: Cross Rumble, Dynasty Warriors VS, and Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance(see what they did there in the title). Monster Hunter Tri-G will come out at the same time of the "Slidepad" in Japan so its easy to assume that Nintendo will bundle the "SlidePad" with not just the a system but with Monster Hunter Tri-G. In case you dont know why this is a big deal, Monster Hunter is like Digital Crack in Japan, millions are hooked and this is one of the best ways I can see Nintendo selling millions of units over there, I can even see there being a special edition 3DS color system with graphics on it.
Lastly here is the trailer for Monster Hunter 4 and thats on the 3DS were looking at.




Links:
Joystic: "SlidePad" Release date and price

GameStop Android Tablet


GameStop is coming out with an Android GameStop branded Table for the stores as reported by Joystiq. What is known as of right now is that the tablet will be a gaming center tablet and will come with Google Android Os. Many people knew something like this was coming after GameStop brought the developer Spawn Labs and Impulse. If you dont know Impulse is a digital distribution similar to Stream. In the end, this could mean many things for many reason. The one reason that stands out the most is that GameStop is trying their hardest to get into the digital gaming world, competing with Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Store, Steam and On-live. To even reach far out there maybe even competing with Netflix, I am not sure anyone notice this or not but sometimes GameStop sells DVDs its mainly the used ones but I haven't be inside a GameStop in a long time.

I will keep all of you updated as more information comes in.

Links:
Joystiq
Games Industry(original source)

Batman: The Animated Series OST Review

One thing many of us remember from Batman: The Animates Series besides it's great story, great acting, was the great music. It took a long time but the OST finally released a while back. The OST is still hard to find and Amazon price tag is a heavy one. Is this rare OST worth the price? Find out below.

Review: There is no doubt that the work of Shirley Walker is amazing. However this soundtrack is disappointing. It's not the music that's the problem. It's the way they choose the music, that will leave fans hoping for more. Instead of focusing on some of the best themes in the entire series, fans will get themes from whole episodes, mainly the ones focusing on the first season. For example instead of a Mr. Freeze theme, which was fantastic in the series by the way. Fans will get a theme like "Batman Chases Croc." While the themes chosen aren't bad, Shirley Walker library is too amazing to have mediocre themes on this soundtrack. However the music chosen is a great representation of how great Walker was. Each theme is pack with either a mellow easy listening tone, or an action pack compositions that will really make you feel like your part of the action. With over 2 hours and 30 mins of music, you will surely get enough for your buck. However some melodies are heard over and over again in some compositions. For instance "The Joker" theme is heard all over the soundtrack. It can get a little repetitive and will make you wish they had a better selection.

Regardless of the disappointment of the selection tracks. This is a solid OST that any fan of the Animated Series will love. The OST has tons of action themes, but it misses it's mark on more of the emotional themes, that really made this series special. The OST also includes a track of Sherry Walker giving you her insight on how the Batman theme works, this is a real standout track that shows you Sherry's musical thought process. Final Grade is a B-/8.0. The OST does well by bringing us themes for the show, however it's not the best of the best.


01 - Gotham City Overture - 14:01
02 - BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES - Main Title (Danny Elfman) - 1:02
03 - Sub-Main Title / Batwing / Bat Attack - 1:51
04 - Batman Drives To Gotham - 1:00
05 - Batman Investigates / Batman Uses Infrared / Police Rush Building - 1:48
06 - Batman Escapes / Batman Flies - 1:48
07 - Bats / Evidence Goes Up In Smoke/ The Formula / Dr Jekyll And Mr. Bat - 3:01
08 - Gotham From the Air / Ride’Em Batman / Epilogue - 2:16
09 - Sub-Main Title - 1:35
10 - The Submarine / Joker Loots Gotham - 2:35
11 - Alfred Loses It - 0:58
12 - Bat Boat / Batman Catches The Big Fish / Batman Fights The Bad Guys - 2:18
13 - Cliff-Hanger Under Water / Batman A.K.A Houdini - 1:56
14 - Batman The Terminator - 2:01
15 - Batman Vs. Joker / Batman Vs Joker Part 2 - 3:47
16 - Sub-Main Title / Stromwell’s Flashback - 2:01
17 - Batman on Top of Church / Stromwell Arrives At Pete’s / Thugs Exit - 1:20
18 - Stromwell Confronts Thorn - 1:15
19 - It’s Party Time / Batman Carries Stromwell - 0:48
20 - Stromwell Sees Joey - 1:41
21 - Stromwell Tricks Batman / Thorn’s Men Move In / Thorn Chases Stromwell - 3:22
22 - Stromwell’s Flashback #2 - 1:45
23 - Batman Cracks Heads / Thorn Removed - 1:20
24 - Ground Breaking Ceremony / Penitentiary Time Lapses - 1:11
25 - Batman Catches A Chopper / The Chopper Crashes/ Rooftop Chase - 1:58
26 - Batman Sneaks Around - 1:09
27 - A Little Plant Muzak / The Carnivorous Plant - 0:59
28 - Batman Vs. Poison Ivy / Poison Ivy In Prison - 3:52
29 - 14 Seconds Opening / Jingle Bells / The Joker Blasts Off - 1:03
30 - Down the Mountain / Sidewalk Red Herring - 0:51
31 - Pukey Christmas Music / Christmas With The Joker / Game Show Music - 2:18
32 - The Train Crashes - 1:19
33 - Observatory Cannon / Cannon Out Of Control / Robin Blows Up Cannon - 1:11
34 - More Game Show Music / Drive To The Toy Company - 1:39
35 - Nutcracker Suite Medley - 1:24
36 - Pie In Batman’s Face / Dangling Hostages Saved / Deck The Halls - 1:40
Disc 2
01 - BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES - Alternate Main Title (S. Walker) - 1:08
02 - Harvey’s Nightmare / Dent’s Soap Box - 2:24
03 - Batman Tracks Dent - 2:07
04 - Split Personality / Harvey / Harv - 4:21
05 - Part One Recap - 0:33
06 - Sub-Main Title / The Heist - 1:49
07 - Bruce Wayne’s Nightmare / Two-Face Remembers - 2:47
08 - Batcycle / What About Grace - 1:58
09 - My Name Is Two-Face - 1:52
10 - The Great Equalizer / Where There’s Love - 4:03
11 - Sub-Main Title / Cussing Out The Joker / I Had A Bad Day - 3:18
12 - Joker’s Hide-Out - 1:19
13 - Charlie’s Neighborhood / Joker Finds Charlie - 1:18
14 - Charlie Arrives In Gotham / Joker Collects His Favor - 0:42
15 - Harley’s Party Source - 0:44
16 - Crashing The Party - 1:33
17 - Batman Saves The Commissioner / Batman’s After The Joker/ Charlie Gets the Joker - 3:38
18 - Sub-Main Title / Conway Is Abducted - 0:43
19 - A Clue / The Crocodile’s Lair - 1:27
20 - Another Clue - 1:19
21 - Croc’s Cave / Killer Croc - 2:52
22 - Batman Chases Croc / Sewer Fight - 2:54
23 - Bullock Gets The Croc - 1:09
24 - Sub-Main Title / The Dream Begins - 0:52
25 - It’s Impossible / Bruce Sees Batman / Bruce Watches Batman At Work - 2:14
26 - My Life Is A Dream - 2:48
27 - Climbing The Church Tower / Belltower Fight - 2:45
28 - Your Own Private Wonderland / Back to Reality - 2:48
29 - Birds Of A Feather - 1:54
30 - That Fine Roman Nose / Penguin vs. Muggers - 2:32
31 - Penguin Takes Veronica - 0:40
32 - The Drop / Rubber Duckie Ride - 1:50
33 - The Penguin’s Opera / High Society - 2:19
34 - BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES - End Credit (Danny Elfman) - 0:34
35 - Music Of The Bat 101 - 6:45

Huck Gee & His Gold Life Dunny Series

So! I'm an avid vinyl toy collector. With goodies like these, there's no excuse why not collecting art is still possible.








During the end of the year, I usually scrpae and save for a special yummy, end of year Dunny collection distributed by Kid Robot. While this year is no different, I'm also scraping and saving for a special blind box collection by artist, Huck Gee. Be sure to check out his latest news if you like what you see!
Huck Gee news















More on Huck Gee's series here

Be sure to buy the goods at KidRobot! Kid Robot

Until Next Time!
~je t'adore!

Professor Layton and The Last Specter Trailer & Screenshots

This fourth installment of the Professor Layton puzzle adventure series begins a new trilogy that is a prequel to the original games. Three years before the events in the Professor Layton and the Curious Village™ game, Professor Layton receives a letter from his old schoolmate Clark, telling him that "a mysterious giant is destroying the town." The professor heads to the town of Misthallery to investigate, and is joined by Emmy, his new assistant. What is the meaning of all the destruction, and is it related to the village's folklore legend of a "specter"? The unfolding story details how Professor Layton and his apprentice, Luke, met.

Trailer


Screenshots






3DS Circle Pad Add-On

Hey guys Jeff here and I have some new news for you that just came out about the 3DS add-on from Joystiq and Kotaku.

Currently, it is show in a Japanese magazine call Famitsu and they have leaked photos of what is called "3DS Kakuchou Slide Pad" or "3DS Expansion Slide Pad."


Now what is shown could be final or couldn't be, all that is know it that i looks to be a dock of some kind that has a second joystick. this basically give the system two of them copying modern controllers.


Just from how it looks, it is believed that it covers the wifi switch, and since its a dock it looks like it covers the game slot but from Kotaku, it is said it doesn't cover the light indicators on it. It looks like it doesn't add any buttons for the system but it might also be an official battery life extender for the system, but like I said this all could be rumor. Right now this looks to be real, no date or any other info about it for now I will make sure to keep everyone up dated on this.

Side note it looks like Monster Hunter Tri is coming to the 3DS as Monster Hunter Tri-G and that it will have local wireless play but that had not been proven true yet. I will all so keep you updated on this too as info comes in.

UPDATE:
Nintendo have said that its an official product but there is no release day yet, more details will come out and I will keep updating
Links
Joystic
Kotaku(update)
Japanese Story(its written in japanese also)

Doctor Who Fanmade Anime Short

Slowly, but surely I'm becoming a Doctor Who fan. I found this oldie but goodie Fanmade Anime Short on the good doctor on Youtube. This would be a cool Anime. Here is the description: All 13 minutes of the completed fake Doctor Who 80s-style anime. Drawn, animated and partially voiced by myself. Some bits are good, some bits are poor, but on the whole it turned out okay, I think. Enjoy! This is old school Who, so fans of the new reboot show may be confused by the fact that the Doctor is doing martial arts and Cybermen say "excellent." Watch the classics and you'll understand. You'll also become almost instantly more handsome by watching classic Who.