Although I haven't been very active in Gamespot lately I still can't forget all the great friends I have made here :) So I want to wish you merry christmas and that you have a great year of 2011 :D

I don't have big news... I recently started to play Resonance of Fate... I really like it but I amstuck with my first boss and the combat system has a really steep learning curve... I am yet to understand how it really works.

I am really excited about Christmas :) (I can't describe how childish I am with this time of the year). I ordered a lot of books for myself and I can't wait to open my boyfriend's present :$ (I think he is going to offer me a heart shaped locket).

Merry Christmas everyone!

I hope to hear news from you!

~Mariana

Reading: Lord of the Rings
Last movie watched: Lord of the Rings
Listening to: Lord of the Rings soundtrack (:P)
Playing: Nothing Oo'
Mood: Lazy

I am suffering from Gamespot Lazyness! I haven't played a game in ages, I don't feel like blogging, I have no curiosity about gaming! Jesus I have never been so away from the gaming world like now!
I think it's because of school. It's pushing hard now! A lot of projects and my Art cla$$ has been killing me.

But I miss all of you guys :) Are you all fine?

At ease!

~Mariana

Reading: Nothing (:O)
Last movie watched: Shrek
Playing: Valkyria Chronicles
Listening to: Hello by Lionel Richie
Mood: Relaxed

I think I never talked to you about my youtubing habits. Yes, I also have them! I would like to introduce you (or not) to some of my favorite youtube users!

- MysteryGuitarMan

Come on, you have to know this guy! Joe Penna probably makes the most interesting videos on youtube. His work requires such patience, originality and creativity. He is originally from Brazil but lives in Los Angeles. Go check out his videos, they are truly awesome!

http://www.youtube.com/user/MysteryGuitarMan

- Katethegreat19

Kate Covington is a really special girl. She started making AMV's and soon started to make covers of Final Fantasy, Anime and other games songs. Her voice is one of the most beautiful voices I ever heard! She also plays the piano, the violin, flutes, various drums and the harp. Kate is currently working on her new album that will soon be released!

http://www.youtube.com/user/katethegreat19?blend=1&ob=4

- Ray Williams Johnson

You have to admit it: this guy is a cla$$ic :P I think that everyone knows him: he started making =3, the channel where he posted videos with his reviews on viral videos. His comments are so comic that they turned him into a legend.

http://www.youtube.com/user/RayWilliamJohnson

- lonlonjp

An incredibly talented guitar player, lonlonjp makes the most incredible guitar covers on various game songs or anime songs. He conquered my heart with his Final Fnatasy covers, I admit!

http://www.youtube.com/user/lonlonjp

-JPizzle1122

Did you ever ask "what would happen if I'd microwave this thing"?
Well, this group of guys have a special room covered where they microwave all kind of things (from lava lamps to Iphones to soap). Some videos are just lame because nothing happen, other are amazing, specially when they microwave dangerous thing (like batteries Oo').
Pure fun.

http://www.youtube.com/user/JPizzle1122

-nigahiga

I admit that nigahiga already had better days. His first videos were incredibly fun (I swear that one time I fell off my chair). I think that he recently lost inspiration. He started making less videos and they were also much more "dry" on the humor. But you can always watch the first lot! Such a wonderful piece of humour.

http://www.youtube.com/user/nigahiga

- AnnoyingOrange

Ah, the annoying orange. Everybody knows the annoying orange. The most annoying and funny and (sometimes) intelligent videos around. I recommend it, but then, everyone does. It's an orange! You're an apple!

http://www.youtube.com/user/realannoyingorange?blend=2&ob=1

-HollowRiku

A very talented piano player. He plays the piano but also sings and his voice is very beautiful. I love the cover he made on the piano duet of "Corpse Bride". He also makes some compositions that are just wonderful!

http://www.youtube.com/user/HollowRiku#p/u/9/BBKuuFtOy5o

So here are few of my favorite users (yes, I don't have Fred here! :O)

Are you are all fine? How was your Halloween? :)

Hugs!

~Mariana

Reading: Amor de Perdição by Camilo Castelo Branco (yes, portuguese once again)
Last movie watched: None
Playing: Valkyria Chronicles
Listening to: Total Eclipse of the Heart
Mood: Neutral

Hello everyone, how are you doing? :) This will be a quick update! My life is quite boring right now but I don't want to leave you without word from me! I don't want to neglect you! :P

So, main topic of this blog: Halloween. It will happen next Sunday. As you probably know (at least if you have been friends with me from the begginning) I'm very calm and I simply can't stand parties. So next Sunday I will sit in front of my tv watching Tim Burton movies and eating popcorn :lol:

I started playing Civ 5. I don't see many differences between the fourth and the fifth title but what matters is that it is so much fun! I like the "economical" part about the game. I love to expand my territory, build a lot of farms, roads, camps, lumber mills... I think that people that play these kind of games develop their management skills. Games are starting to become part of people's life like a toy is a part of a child's growth and development.

What do you think of Final Fantasy XIV? I was shocked with the reactions! Gamespot gave it a score of 4.0! :O I think that Square Enix is getting worse and worse. I am really afraid about the future of this company. Final Fantasy was such an iconic game series and now is losing quality and the aww-factor that it always possessed.

Are you all well? I leave you with this picture of Nightmare Before Christmas :)

Hugs!

~Mariana

Reading: Amor de Perdição by Camilo Castelo Branco (yes, portuguese once again)
Last movie watched: Flags of our Fathers
Playing: Valkyria Chronicles
Listening to: Bon Jovi
Mood: Tired

I am doing a short blog because I don't have anything to say :P My life hasn't changed for the past two weeks, it's all the same. This week I have to study for my Philosophy exam (man, it kills me) and my English exam (remember that English is my second language, not my first) and I have a ton of Geometry exercises to do and FINALLY my art cla$$es begin this week and OH MAN I feel overwhelmed.

I'm on the 10th chapter of Valkyria Chronicles (can someone tell me how many chapters does this game have? Because i absolutely have no idea). Darksiders and Resonance of Fate are waiting for me after I finish this game :P

It stopped raining here in Sintra. We'll have a clear sky for the rest of the week and then probably it will be pouring rain, killing wind, thick fog (the fog here is REALLY thick) and that awful humidity that clings to your bones.

Well, I hope you're all fine :)

Hugs,

~Mariana

Reading: "O que Darwin escreveu a Deus" by José Jorge Letria (yup, it's a portuguese book)
Last movie watched: None
Playing: Valkyria Chronicles
Listening to: Genesis
Mood: Neutral

Hi there! How are you all? :)

I have received several requests to add a picture of me to one of my blogs, so here it is:

I don't even remember when this picture was shot. I think it was back in March or April, at a friend's house.

I think that one of the purposes of Internet is too make every user annonymous. While we search and wander through the Internet we stop being "us" and are just another user, with no backstory or "past". However, I believe that when someone becomes so involved with other internet users (as I am with my dear Gamespot friends) I find it that learning more about others becomes essential. And I thought that it wasalready timetooffer a "face to the words", as every writer or blogger should do. Everything becomes more real, as if there was actually someone behind everything.

I wanted to dedicate this blog to all of you, since I have made such good friends here on GS for the pastfew months :) Even if this is incredibly bizarre, the truth is that you all have been present in every moment of my life since I started blogging here. I believe that's the power of writing: people get involved in our history, wanting it or not.

I want to thank my closest friends here on Gamespot, at least thosewith which I get better along with!

@EGOE - You always have the most special blogs and it's always a pleasure to read them and comment! I am very glad we've met!

@indzman- Ahh, my very cool friend indzman! It's incredible how you always got nice words to say and have such a good and kind personality! :)

@Just-Adam - A very, very cool and nice friend here on Gamespot. You always have something nice to say, your blogs are amazing, your crazy dreams remind me of my own crazy dreams! :P And Adam... I really don't think you are a jerk :P I share your sarcastic sense of humour and although it gets me into trouble sometimes, I just swipe it off. It's part of my personality and I will never change it and neither should you!

@kairikh - A very cool and nice girl here on GS :) Actually I believe that she was one of the first girls that I met here. You're always very nice and have really good blogs. Everytime I read your blogs I have the feeling that you are feeling what you're saying and dedicate yourself to every comment you make! Thank you for everything!

@nachi_lobo - Probably one of the users here on GS with the best blogs. Although he has a huge friend list, he always finds time to reply to every comment on his blogs and to comment in every of his friends blog! We share the same language, portuguese. Meu amigo, fico muito feliz por te ter conhecido! Nem todos os dias tenho a oportunidade de encontrar alguém tão simpático e honesto na vida real, quanto mais na Internet :)

@TheNineRings - We both share the same passion for every kind of art and have conversations about our art projects :) It's really nice to find someone with the same interests. You're a really nice friend, I am glad I've met you!

@zinoalex - A very cool friend here on GS. You always have time to write long comments and care about your friends. You always have the sweetest words! :) I'm very happy that we've met here on GS!

@ArmoredCore555 - Although you're a recent friend, it doesn't mean you aren't a very cool one! We like to share our likings in music and PM each other quite regularly. You always have the nicest words :)

@Asagea_888 - Also a recent friend. We don't talk much but I hoped we did!You always have great blogs :)

@lightwarrior179 - Probably one of the Gamespot users that writes most admirably. I swear that I've probably never saw a spelling error in one of your comments! :P Always a very good friend, you write the most interesting comments and assertively state your opinion on the subject! I love your honesty :)

I also love all my other GS friends, and if I didn't mention, don't think that I value you less :)

Thank you all for everything! :) You add a little color to my day-to-day life! :lol:

HUGS!

~Mariana

Reading: "Starcraft Ghost: Nova" by Keith R. A. DeCandido
Last movie watched: None
Playing: Valkyria Chronicles and Starcraft II
Listening to: Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen
Mood: Lazy

Pretty random title :P

So here are some updates about my not very interesting life:

I've been so lazy about blogging lately! I think it's the weather: we had sunny and hot days until Saturday. Today, however, the rain was pouring, the wind shook everything and it was incredibly cold. In these days I love to cuddle in the sofa, wrap myself in a blanket and play PS3 and drink hot chocolate all day long.

My copy of Valkyria Chronicles just arrived and I've been playing it for 7 hours Oo' Since I begun school only in the last two weeks I don't have anything to study yetso in a rainy day I have to find something to entertain myself with. I really love that game. The battles are long and strategy is really important. Above everything, it's really necessary to predict every movement of the enemy. Also, the cutscenes and the storyare fantastic so far. A really good balance between a serious and a humorous plot-line. Selvaria looks like a very interesting character although she hasn't appear much so far.

Saturday night I went to dinner with my brother and his girlfriend to his apartment. I borrowed "Starcraft Ghost: Nova" by Keith R. A. DeCandido since I've been very curious about Nova's character since she made an appearance in Starcraft II. I read half of it this afternoon because there was a blackout here in Sintra so there was no way I could use a TV or PS3. I'm liking the book so far, it offers a new, more human dimension to the Starcraft universe.

In my piano cla$$ I am playing Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven. One of my favorite piano pieces, actually. Since in my music academy I have a piano and at home I have a keyboard I'm having some difficulties in balancing the pressure that I have to apply in the keys.

As always, I've been writing a lot, drawing as much as I can (since I have Art and Drawing cla$$es, I spend most of the time drawing at school instead of doing it at home).

So are you all fine? I really hope so :)

Cheers!

~Mariana (yup, that's my real name)

So I'd like to share with you what I did in my art class. It was my firstart class and we have no teacher so they give us assignments. I did this in 135 minutes (a whole class). I am sorry that I had to take a snapshot of it, but my scanner must have some problem because it doesn't recognize the computer which it's connected to.

(see full blog format to see the whole picture)

The funny thing is that you can see my name in the bottom of the drawing :P

I hope you liked it :)

Hugs!

~Irith

Reading: "Poetry" by Fernando Pessoa
Last movie watched: Karate Kid
Playing: Guitar Hero World Tour
Listening to: Sting
Mood: Excited

Hello everyone! :)

I am so sorry I haven't replied to your comments on my last blog. I feel awfully for it. I promise I will reply this time. I hate to think that you so willingly comment my blogs and that I completely ignore you.

I really don't have much to talk about. My brother recently bought Guitar Hero World Tour and I got to play the career with him (we play in turns because we only have one guitar). I found it amazing that I play guitar for five years and I am not very great with guitar hero. In the other turn, my brother completely sucks at playing guitar (I am completely unable to teach him how to play the simplest song in the world) and he's so much better than me in Guitar Hero. And there I was, babbling about how my fingers' flexibility would make me a GH Superstar. And then he totally beats my score. Just like that.

Here are some pictures about the place where I live, Sintra. Some people looked curious about it on my last blog so here it is:

This is the palace which I see from my bedroom's windom. It's called "Palácio da Pena" in portuguese, and "National Pena Palace" in the English "version".

This is the castle. It's called "Castelo dos Mouros" in portuguese and "Castle of the Moors" in English. I can also see it through my bedroom's window :)

This is the beach where I take my long morning strolls... It's 10 minutes away from my house! It's so big that it's actually officallycalled "Praia Grande" in portuguese which means "Big Beach" in English.

More snapshots here:

This is another palace in Sintra:

Another palace:

We also have many trams here:

Well, I hope you liked the snapshots of the place I live in. I really love it here. It's so peaceful :)

Cheers!

~Irith

I was wandering through "All Time Greatest Game Villain" comments and I spotted this one on the Darth Vader x RAAM fight:

(It's a user confronting another user about trolling)

"Look at your comment, now back to mine. Now back at your comment now back to mine. Sadly it isn't mine, but if you stopped trolling & started posting legitimate comments it could look like mine. Look down, back up, where are you? You're scrolling through comments, writing the comment your comment could look like. What did you post? Back at mine, it's a reply saying something you want to hear. Look again: the reply is now diamonds. Anything is possible with legit comments. I'm on a chair."

I just burst out laughing. I love that ad!

More things to share...

Today is raining. Actually, it's a depressing weather. There's a lot of "mist" around here, the skies are dark grey, it's pouring rain. I live near the mountains (low mountains, though), and one of the mountains has a palace on top of it and the other has a castle. The mist is so thick that I can't even see them! :|

The other day I was thinking about Twilight and I figured out that Twilight seems like a four book fanfiction that some girl made up! You know those fanfictions like "I got sucked into Final Fantasy world" or "Cloud or Sephiroth got sucked into my world"? It seems like one of those fanfics, like vampires got sucked into Bella's world. Come on: Edward goes to Bella's room at night. Those things almost only happen in fanfiction like that. They don't happen in... well, fantasy books.

Now enough with my babbling.

I hope you're having a good time.

Hugs,

~Irith