In Sickness and in Health

Exam time is here. Next Monday starts the death of a part of my soul as my brain will be tortured, tormented and subjected to all kind of horrors.

Well, actually, exams isn't that serious. I'm just making it sound really bad. What's really bad is that I am on medication. Again.

Yep, some ol' sickness crawling its way back towards me. And this time, I think it is rather serious, despite the seemingly harmless symptoms.

It all started... Monday? Around the 1st of May, maybe. It started as a really bad throat itch which wouldn't go away, even after a good night's rest. The next day, I began coughing up phlegm. They were green, viscous, sticky and... well, you get it. I'll spare you the disgusting stuff.

However, what was in the phlegm was also blood. Yes, blood. Strands of them were found in the phlegm, and surprisingly, I wasn't much bothered by it. My parents said something about some hidden flame that is burning inside me cause I didn't get enough sleep. I don't really see the connection.

No, not this.

And so, days passed and nothing special besides the daily dose of blood in my phlegm. Then, one day, there was this... pressure in my ear. You could say it was sort of something like how your ear would feel when in a plane during accession. This, and the fact that it is only happening in my left ear makes it annoying. I cannot hear things clearly, and the sound of scratching my head or chewing my food was amplified.

So, following my parents advice (I was forced to), I went to see a doctor. The doctor was stern faced and serious-looking, and after much examination the doctor found nothing in my lungs, ears and throat. So the only place left was my nose.

The doctor said that somewhere in my nose there is a blockage. That was the only explanation for the blood and the ear-thingy. So sometime in the future I would have to see a more professional doctor and maybe a surgery is in order. Note, this is just a maybe, so don't go all worrying.

Last but not least, I am to not eat anything oily, spicy, or cold. The doctors said strictly NO. But I ate some curry noodles yesterday and a mouthful of ice-cream, therefore I think my road of recovery isn't very bright. If this keeps up (the blood, I mean), I would have to see that doctor again.

No, not this doctor. This one's awesome.

Oh well, I hope I get well soon. Maybe I should post one of those Facebook things where I will miraculously recover to full health after getting 50 Likes or something.

YC, signing out.

How Long Again?

No, seriously, how long has it been since I posted here, on this blog? It feels like an eternity already. Several times I have opened my blog, steeling myself to write a new post, only to be distracted by a Facebook message, a random youtube video or... DotA 2.

I have no idea what Bane is doing here.

Yes, I have received the DotA 2 Beta Key invite, big whoopy-doop deal; Steam has started spamming these invites to those people in SEA, I think. Many of my friends have already received the beta key to this game, and I can only wonder how long till we have to start paying.

Alright, back on track: I know I have promised to write a post about the lore of Gensokyo (or Touhou for that matter) as well as introducing the 2 main heroines of the series, but I could not find the time to do it. Or even if I did, I was busy writing my own story, which I am sharing with several of my friends to read and review, and hopefully correct some mistakes of mine.

And then there's the upcoming Mid-year Exam. The thought of this exam has been looming over me like a dark cloud for several weeks already. Granted, I do study, but I am not sure if my brain could absorb all the information I have read. I am kind of worried, since I am quite sure that I do not have enough time to read everything, especially for Chemistry, Sejarah and the notorious Additional Mathematics. I am trying my best not to play so much hardcore games like DotA 2, and instead relax myself through minigames like Touhou... But it seems that Touhou pumps up your adrenaline by some level.

I apologize for the short post, and I assure you all that I will be writing a Touhou-related or after-exam related post, after a long hiatus of course. Can't really blog while I'm wracking my brain cells for the exam.

One last thing to give you a laugh! :D

YC, signing out.

First and Not-so-Minor Introduction to Touhou Gameplay

Wow, a new post! Within less than a week! Surprise, surprise indeed! What has drawn me to make such a shocking attempt to entertain all of you? The answer would be boredom and homework. Yes, anything to take my mind off school.

But the reason for this post, as you can tell about the title, is not about school work. Or my rantings. Yes, it is this unknown and probably alien word, "Touhou". You may have noticed that, in addition to the large background image behind the title, there is also something called the Touhouclock located at the right side of the blog.

Yes, all of these relates to the magical world of Touhou, where magical things exist and magic prevails over science (not to say that it doesn't exist). Now, what is Touhou, you ask? To sum it up, Touhou is a bullet hell shooter game, or danmaku, if you prefer. What is a danmaku game then? Well, ever played those vertical shooting game, where you pilot a plane, blasting your way through levels vertically, where enemy planes come in through the side of the screen or the front, firing bullets or missiles at you?

Yeah, it's kind of the same thing. Except you multiply the bullets by a 100 times.

Don't worry; that's the Extra Stage, which is harder than your average Normal run.

Yes, the idea might be a little daunting. After all, you remember dying often during those plane games. A bullet tearing though your left wing, your other wing nicking a stray missile... Multiplying this many bullets will only serve to intimidate you all, no?

Focusing

But let's take a look at several factors which makes Touhou not as impossible of a task as you might think. Firstly, the Focus mode. By holding the Focus button, your attacks are, well, focused, and in most cases gathered at the front to deal more damage instead of spreading out. This is useful against bosses (which are the most important obstacle to clear in the games). Most importantly, Focus lets you move slower, sort of like a break button. This is very crucial so that you won't fly around at top speed and crash into random projectiles (coincidentally also called danmaku).

Non-Focused attack.

Focused attack.

Hitbox

Another factor that prevents you from dying would be the hitbox. Well, in those plane games, a missile touching you anywhere will cause you to take damage and/or die. So if your plane is especially wide, fat, or long... well, we all know what happens to fat planes, now do we? Going back to the original topic, your character in Touhou has something called a hitbox, which is usually hidden. However, during Focus mode, your hitbox, a small little round circle (despite being called a box) will be able to be seen. Any danmaku that touches the hitbox will end your life. BUT, that is, if they hit your hitbox.

See that white dot in the middle of your character? Yep, hitbox.

What do I mean? Well, if they hit your hands, legs or head (Yes, you don't pilot a plane in Touhou), you would not die. Heck, you would get extra points for this instead. The act of dodging danmaku in close proximity is called 'grazing', but more on that later.

Bombing/Spell Cards

The next factor would be 'deathbombing', but before we continue with that subject, let's talk about bombing. Each player is given a limited amount of bombs, known as spell cards. These are flashy abilities that has the main function of clearing enemy danmaku off the screen. Each spell card has a different graphic and removes danmaku in a different way. Some remove them by expanding outwards in a ring, while others seek out enemies, removing danamku as they pass through them. Then there is also a mega laser which makes Goku's Kamehameha look pathetic.

IMMA FIRIN' MAH LAZOR!

Another thing to note about bombing is that players tend to bomb to clear danmaku and not to cause damage. They only use them to clear danmaku when they are trapped in a situation in which they are unable to escape, thus allowing them to continue and not die.

Right, deathbombing. The act of deathbombing is the activation of a spell card within a split second of your death. Basically, when a danmaku touches you, you have a short window, normally 0.3 second, to press the bomb button and survive, but using up one of your bombs, naturally. As usual, the small window to deathbomb seems impossible, but with practice, it can become your lifesaver for the rest of your future Touhou life.

Collectibles

Like every vertical-scrolling shoot em' up game, there are collectibles. The main 2 collectibles are Powers and Points. Powers appear as small red blocks with a 'p' on them, while Points are blue blocks with a... thing on them. I can't tell, since there aren't giant Point blocks, as opposed to Powers.

Right, now let's discuss about the collectibles. Powers are, well, basically powers. Collecting them will increase your power. In other words, they increase your damage, and in some cases cause your attacks to change. Points on the other hand give you points. Besides the obvious, Points are a source of Life in many games. Collecting a set amount of Points will give you bonus 1UP. Nifty isn't it?

There are also some mobs or bosses who will drop spell cards upon their death. These can be a green block with a 'B' on them, or a green star shaped collectible, depending on which game you are playing. Obtaining one of these will automatically give you one free bomb!

In the newer Touhou games, health is rewarded through empty star shaped pink collectibles, which you would require a few to successfully get a 1UP. It might seem like a hassle, but in some games it is really easy to get them.

Enemies
Now for the battles. Almost each battle is scripted, and the mobs and bosses will act accordingly. Mobs will always spawn from the same place, and mobs that are destined to fire danmaku at you WILL fire danmaku at you. There is no circumstance where they decide to spare you. No; every youkai, fairy, spirit, furball and magician wants you dead. No matter how far or how near or how much or how little health you have, they will shoot at you if they are programmed to do so. Early in the game there are those who could only hurt you through body contact, but from Stage 1 onwards, it will be a rare sight.

However, despite how merciless the mobs may be, there is a benefit: it is scripted. Yes, it means that those that fire aimed shots would not suddenly decide to spray you with danmaku, and vice versa. This means that completing a stage multiple times or encountering the same enemies over a course of short period will allow you to analyze and memorize the patterns. This applies to bosses as well.

Yeah, just memorize the pattern. And don't die.

Bosses
Ah, what is a fun game without bosses? Even Pokémon had bosses in the form of Gym Leaders and the Elite Four. Touhou bosses are not as simple as bosses from the other games. Granted, there is no special spot that you must know, no weak points that you must exploit. They can all be easily taken down with a barrage of danmaku. The only problem with them is that they have many lives, up to 6. Bosses also have spell cards on their own. Uh oh, does that mean that they can wipe out your danmaku and damage you no matter where you are, taking you down in 1 shot (everything hostile that touches you destroys you in 1 shot)?

Fortunately, no. Spell cards work differently for bosses. Instead of a full screen explosion designed to take out danmaku, it is a complicated spell pattern which has only 1 function: to knock you out and give you a headache. Actually, that was 2 functions, but who cares. Each spell card varies from boss to boss, each as complicated as the other. Most of the time, they are scripted/patterned, and all you need to do is learn it well. Some of the more intricate patterns require time and patience to understand and memorize, and you need not rush it. Bosses also have non-spells, which are basically just danmaku spam, but those from Stage 4 onwards can be tough and must be handled with care. Oh, did I mention that there are 6 stages, each with their own boss, and sometimes, midboss? What joy!

An example of a boss' spell card.

Getting Started
Of course, after pressing start and entering the game, the first thing you want to do is select the difficulty. The names might differ from game to game, but the difficulties are always arranged in the same order: Easy, Normal, Hard and finally, Lunatic. As someone who just started on Touhou, do NOT pick Lunatic. Well, you can try, but I doubt you will ever touch Touhou ever again. Either pick Easy to get a feel of the game, and practice lots with Normal mode.

Yes, see the highlighted difficulty with the word 'Lunatic' on it? Do not touch that if you value your sanity.

Next will be selecting your character. Some games give you an option of up to 4, but mostly it is just 2 to 3. Each characters work differently, from their style of play, to the size of the hitbox and the speed in which they move. Usually beginners will pick Reimu, the main heroine, whom I will discuss most likely in the next few posts.

Most of the games will also offer the option to select different shot types. Shot types give your characters the option to attack with a different style while keeping the characteristics of the character (like I said, hitbox, speed etc.). For example, you may trade a weak homing shot for a strong but non-homing attack. Select those that you like which suits your style.

The next and final thing to know would be Point of Collection. There is an invisible line within your field of gaming, where you may cross to gain auto collection. In other words, you vacuum all collectibles like a blackhole, as long as the points are on screen. The Point of Collection is located about 4/5 of the way up the screen. It is not encouraged to do this in the later stages, where mobs are constantly spawning and firing shots at you. However, this is quite useful in early Stages.

Tips
Now, being a beginner, your top priority isn't about getting Points, nor rushing through danmaku to get Powers and using flashy techniques to beat bosses. No, your main and only priority as of now would be to survive. Use every trick up your sleeve to evade danmaku. Study the danamaku patterns well, be quick to react if unfamiliar ones come your way, and use your bombs. I cannot stress this enough. Don't be too stingy about using them, but at the same time, don't use them just to clear up simple danmaku which could be easily avoided. If you can, use up all your bombs before you die, so it wouldn't be a waste.

Do not attempt to graze complicated-looking danmaku patterns until you are ready for them. For this picture, just move to the left or right side of the screen safely.

Death is common in Touhou, and do not get dispirited after a simple death, or an accidental one. Do not expect to beat the whole game on Normal the first time in 1 CC (continue). It is near impossible if you do not have the experience. You might be a natural, but still do not get your hopes too high. However, there is one important and crucial thing that you must never, ever forget.

Do not retry because of a small mistake. Well, you died in Stage 1 due to an accident. Then you had to use up a continue in Stage 4. Do not retry the game just because of that. If you do, it will only become an endless cycle of Stage 1, 2 and 3. How are you supposed to be good at Stage 5 if you keep retrying at Stage 4? Do not be afraid to lose: Touhou games are hard, and do not expect to be a master at it straight away.

Dodging
Dodging may seem like a basic move that everybody knows, but of course, dodging in Touhou is a rather hard feat. And thanks to Focus mode, there are many different ways of dodging. Some bullet patterns require you to make big movements, moving from left to right and back to left again without the time to stop and rest. Then, there are mobs or bosses who would try to overwhelm you with a sheer number of danmaku, and the only way to survive these attacks would be to 'micrododge', by tapping your arrow key in the direction you want once, or a continuous succession of tapping to weave your way through the bullets.

Then, for those large numbers of danmaku aimed at you, you can use a method known as 'streaming'. Streaming is the act of moving left, right, up or down the way you would when micrododging, but continue doing so every second. The bullets aimed at you would just brush by you, dangerously close but relatively harmless.

Here, you can see streaming being used on the left picture while it is not in the right picture. Streaming makes it much more safe to move around and the danmaku patterns more easily handled.

Another dodging method is known as 'belting'. There is a time when some mobs decide to fire danmaku non-stop at you. Aimed danmaku. You're doing good, streaming past them like a boss, until you find yourself stuck at the corner.

Now, belting usually used for aimed danmaku that are fired at intervals, let's say every 2 seconds. Use that short interval as a chance to move to any direction free of danmaku at top speed, making the next interval of bullets aimed at you to spread out behind you. Once you're in a safe position, resume streaming again until the mobs are dead.

Now, to make things clear, I am not a pro at this game. Heck, I can barely finish a 1 CC run. So do not take these tips seriously and expect to be an expert at it, because I have not yet achieved that dream to. But never give up, and do not abandon the game just because you lost the first time. With practice, Touhou can become really addictive and fun to play. Not to mention the fanbase.

Lastly, most will still be confused about what really is Touhou. Well, fret not. On one of my upcoming post, I shall write about the lore of Gensokyo as well as introduce the 2 main heroines of the series: Reimu Hakurei and Marisa Kirisame!

YC, signing out.

Test-Which-Feels-Like-An-Exam Over, Alas!

Wow, you must be surprised. Two posts in such a short (a week is very short in my standards) time! What's the big news, you ask? What compelled me to write another post within a short period, you ask? Well, the answer is, the Test-Which-Feels-Like-An-Exam is over! Finished! Completed! I feel like a bird set free, where the big blue sky awaits me!

Well, pfft, big deal. It's just a monthly test. But, here's the catch. The school or the government (it doesn't matter anyway) had decided to introduce a time table for the monthly tests. Which means stress, pressure and world destruction. OK, forget the last one, but still this time table has greatly changed the way Taman SEA students cope with the monthly tests.

Adding a time table seems to make it more... official. Monthly tests in the past are usually ignored, the students don't care if they pass or fail, and most importantly, the stress level was much, much lower. Now, everything has changed. Students are now gluing their eyes to revision books right before the exam. They mostly meet up with friends to discuss about the upcoming test subjects and such. Students are now pressured by the fact that it feels just like the mid-year or year-end examination. The second factor that made this monthly test so stressing is the fact that it was barely a month away from the first monthly test.

You can just feel the amount of pressure emanating from this picture.

But now it's finally over, and I am able to relax. That, and holidays have already started today~ I do not have many plans for the week, except maybe to jog every morning with my dad, hang out with a few of my friends and hopefully get some school work into my head.

Now, I said I have cleared my school's monthly test, but not only that, I have also cleared my Undang Test, or for those who are not familiar with Malay, the "Driver's Education Curriculum Exam". This test was done on a computer, and I finished it within 20 minutes or so after double checking. I did not study finish the entire length of the book, so I was a little nervous when I entered the examination hall (actually, it's a room which looked like a cyber cafe). In the end, I cleared with 44/50, with the passing mark being 42/50, so it was close enough.

Also, yesterday was my birthday. Yay, happy 17th birthday to me! And several people have already told me that I am getting old... Besides that, my classmates celebrated my birthday along with my form teacher's and I had cake to eat. It's been a really long time since I ate cake in school, so I was kind of touched. I had never expected at all that they would celebrate mine in school. And then, a few of my close friends had to buy me a gift as well. I would like to thank you all from the bottom of my heart! Stormtroopers for the win! *Insert Star Wars song*

Cause I'm fabulous!

Aww, I blocked out the Stormtrooper's face...

The end of this post marks the start of the holidays. I hope that I will do many beneficial things instead of lounging around at home facing the computer, but I doubt so, unfortunately. Well, I am sure to be doing a Touhou post, and maybe continuing my story from the previous post or post a short story for the fun of it.

And here's a little present for you guys who have not watched it.

YC, signing out.

A Very (Extremely) Late Chinese New Year (?) Post

Greetings, fellow humans. It had been since an extremely long time since this blog has since any activity. Seeing the title might already tell you how slow my update has been. Maybe I'm not really up to blogging, but hey, it's Form 5. I am meant to be busy. I might be lazy in maintaining it, but in the course of not posting up any new things, I have found several interesting things to add to the blog,

Firstly, you may notice the TohouClock at the right side of the of the blog. I have no idea which time it follows, most probably Japan, or even the time in Gensokyo. It would be rather weird if it was the latter. What is Gensokyo, you ask? More on that later.

The other thing you might notice changing would be the big picture directly below the title. As usual, it is another anime-base thing, and god knows the dead it will change to something that is not a/an anime/game/non-realistic stuff. Probably very far in the future, and if this blog is still alive by then... But let's look on the bright side for now!

The bright side. Oh wait...

A very late Happy Chinese New Year to you readers! I am really sorry for the late wish, but I have been *ahem* quite busy *ahem* recently. I enjoyed the whole New Year without any regard of school, eating, gambli- I mean playing innocent games of cards, and of course, what is CNY without fireworks? Pity I didn't get any pictures taken. Hey, I can't help it okay? I was busy soaking up in the CNY atmosphere.

Here are some fireworks to cheer you up!

There was a small problem though. Alright, scrap that, it was a big problem. Not exactly huge, but it was big. Ya see, at the start of the year, when we were choosing clubs and all that, I decided to join the Science and Mathematics Society, just cause I was getting a bad impression from the last 2 years of LEO and that a few of my friends in the club said there are interesting experiments at every meeting and I said to myself, "Aw what the heck, it's the last year I'm gonna be in this school. Let's try something new."

So, in the course of picking the committee members for the club, I found myself raising my hands when teacher was asking for any volunteers to be the person in charge of the Science and Mathematics Society notice board. Vicson, a friend of mine, decided to pitch in and be my assistance. I guess he doesn't know me well enough then, or he would have thought about it twice. I bet he is regretting it now.

So, my first duty would be to change the overall layout of the board. It sounded easy enough, but the paper on the board itself was freaking huge. Not only that, I wasn't really an art person, but still I volunteered myself for it. Up till this day, I still do not know why.

Right, so then, at my hometown, sitting in front of the crappy computer (which got a recent upgrade by the way, so using it is much better now. Plus, I can Facebook!) I suddenly realized that I have to finish redecorating the board and pass it up. Great, just great. However, that didn't stop me from enjoying my CNY, and so the redecorating was thrown aside, forgotten for the moment, ready to haunt me once the holidays are over.

Other than that, my parents had brought my little cousin to eat Pizza Hut. He seemed to be enjoying himself a lot, eating very little pizza and drinking a lot of mocha, which wasn't fair. I wasn't allowed to touch coffee by myself until I was at least 12 years of age, and in my opinion, that is way too long. It's fine if he drinks coffee and eats pizza, but please, leave my hand out of it.

Him drinking the coffee.

Him taking a portion of his pizza, ready to eat it anytime...

...But the coffee makes another return.

STOP DRINKING COFFEE!

Meh, it isn't as harmless as it looked.

Well, besides eating, sleeping, and in between innocent games of cards, I also went out with a few of my friends to Sunway Pyramid for ice skating. It might not be as exciting as it sounds, but ice skating is a refined art in some places, and regular competitions are held just to see who could perform the best acrobatic moves. Ice skating is merely just an experience for me though, and it doesn't matter if I do good or bad, or if I fall down. As long as I enjoy it and am having fun, it's good enough for me. Although I slightly envy the professional skaters who flit around like they were gliding.

I do not think this really needs a description...

The decoration above the skating rink.

And a decoration at the entrance.

And a friend of mine who accompanied me that day.

The same can't be said for gaming though. I am fairly certain that almost all gamers had met some situations which would make you scream or swear. Mostly at your teammates for A) Making a mistake, B) Not knowing how to play, C) For being a noob, or D) For fun. And then you type in big capital letters cause it would make your words seem more intimidating.

You, upon playing with a shitty (pardon the language) teammate.

Sorry for being completely off track. I'm kinda tired now, and recently work has been increasing ever so much, plus exams are coming soon (AGAIN!), I'm dying so much while playing Touhou (again, more on that later), I lost my ruler... ARGH! Pardon my ranting. I bet it's because I'm tired now.

Anyways, after being sidetracked once again, let's continue with the actual content of the post. I had seen many things recently just before, during and after CNY. I saw a book that was rather misleading in the children's section. Adults these days, trying to corrupt the mind of young kids. I don't blame the author, but the publisher and designer of the cover could at least think of using small letters instead of capitals. In my various shopping adventures, I have also encountered a neat Halo toy. Now, I agree with you that I am a little too old for toys, but this piece of art is finely made, and you don't see a Halo toy in a shop everyday.

Flicka, not F***A.

Rather high quality, a rare thing to see on toys these days.

The other thing that I want to touch about would be LYNAS. Yes, the Australians are going to put a giant nuclear powered reactor in Kuantan. Yeah, it's a really great idea... until it goes boom, of course. Now now, I don't blame the Australians, but I think putting a power plant full of radioactive gunk for such a small country such as Malaysia is kinda stupid. I mean, what do we need the excess energy for? Powering up superweapons? There are already thousands of people protesting the construction of the power plant. Again, it is merely my opinion that the government made a mistake. This country has enough energy, and since the earth is slowly dying, shouldn't we search for a more environmental-friendly energy source, such as the windmills in New Zealand?

Windmill-mill-mill-mill.

Say no to nuclea- Wait, what?

And then, there was a giant spider in my bathroom. Ready to kill me.

This might be one of the worst post that I have ever made. There should be grammar mistakes everywhere. I would have to apologize for that, but as I said, I am really tired now. Well, off to sleep!

YC, signing out.