Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} To Save a by S.A. Garcia Shining Souls. Started nearly ten years ago Alex Soto aka MC Liazon and Franco Habre aka Bronze Candidate met at Phoenix College and soon after formed a band. Over the years members moved on and the two were left and began to focus on hip-hop. In their current formation, they’ve completed many projects including their latest album Sonic Smash . Soto jokes, “We read an article at some point and it said it takes ten years to be an overnight success – so we’re almost there.” Taking time out before a week-long tour, the hip-hop duo Shining Soul took time to talk about their journey so far. We met at Arizona Falls, a water installation set along a main canal running through Phoenix. Style and fashion are topics not usual explored by Soto and Habre. Hailing from central city south or South Phoenix Habre, Chicano, shares “style, it’s personal, physical communication, something non-verbal.” Distinguishing from fashion which is more “popular”. Noting in hip-hop how important it can be to personalize your style to make you stand out on and off the stage.” Soto adds “style can be music and fashion for me it even includes my choice to grow my hair out a few years ago something important to me as a Native.” Originally from Sells, Arizona on the Tohono O’odham Nation, Soto grew up in Valley too. Their work focuses on their experiences wanting listeners to understand “hip-hop is resistance”. Incorporating issues into their work like the Arizonan immigration law SB-1070 to other issues facing the Tohono O’odham and Chicano people. “It’s important for us to share our story all while keeping it funky,” says Soto. Both note how their style isn’t necessarily a “this ain’t out sh*t” variety, a reference to an attitude present on the hip-hop scene to have the exclusive shoes, shirt, etc. Their style aims to be more original and related to causes they support. Each make an effort to share the efforts of friends who advocate for current issues and design shirts to bring awareness to an issue. Soto wears a bright green tee printed by a friend with a message protesting the expansion of the Loop 202 freeway across O’otham land on the southern perimeter of city limits. Soto also wears a medallion with the Man in the Maze symbol on it, a significant image for his people. Habre’s shares he aims to keep his style “funky but functional” wearing a marble gray tee with a personalized hat which reads “Valley”. Their music is something that will make you think about issues while “vibing out” in the words of the team. Shining Soul has had an incredible year, opening for Grammy nominated artists including Ana Tijoux. While they are thankful for all that has brought them to this point they are looking ahead to more including Germany and Europe in 2015. As they close out this year the pair is also plotting another album looking at ways to blend influences and think about what story they want to share next. Habre notes “pulling together beats is an arduous process” but soon they will know what to extract and just what they want their message to be next. “We want people to experience our music and to be critical of what issues we share as it’s unique,” adds Habre. Soto remarks, “You think you knew Shining Soul before…” we’ll just have to see what is next. Presence 4.0 will take part in the event No Rezervations in Tucson on Saturday 15, 2014 from 7-10:30pm at Mr. Heads Art Gallery and Bar. A fundraiser for the Pascua Yaqui Festival for the Arts the event will featuring a great selection of Creative Indigenous talent. Featured in the line-up is Shining Soul a hip-hop duo based out of Phoenix, Arizona. More on the event HERE. To Save a Shining Soul by S.A. Garcia. . Shining Soul II may seem excessively difficult, but that's because today's RPGs arm enemies with pillowy swords, and heroes with one-hit-kill spells. Review Platform: Genre: Developer(s) Publisher(s) Atlus THQ Nordic. Long before saving princesses, slaying archdemons, and stealing from gold-hoarding dragons were way too played out stereotypes of the RPG genre, the series helped carry the torch from 8-bit to 16-bit. After enjoying spectacular success on the Genesis, the series branched off onto the Game Gear and Sega CD, which eventually spawned spin-off series such as Shining Soul. By the time Shining Soul II came around on the , rescuing royalty and ceasing impending doom was only kind of annoying. Mix this with sound gameplay, and you’ve got yourself a cult hit. Shining Force fanboys and neurotic grinders will rejoice, because Shining Soul II is just what the vicar ordered; I should know, I’m both. Behold! The ever-changing plot device! Fans of Shining Force don’t love the series for its unique style of writing or depth of plot. No, we’re in it for the traditional fantasy atmosphere and world–which never seems to be the same, aside from a robust centaur population. However, where Shining Soul II falls short on centaurs, it makes up for with its reoccurring monsters. While not every monster seems familiar, enough debuts are made so that fans feel at home. What of the princess, though? Worry not, Shining Soul II unabashedly pokes fun at the Shining series, appearing quite self-aware of its overuse of archetypical heroes and runaway results of in-breeding. Other than the light, subtle humor, Shining Soul II provides nothing but weak excuses to venture into the fray. In fact, the king’s orders can be easily summarized thusly: “You’re young, and I don’t want to see you die out there, but do it, anyway.” The dialogue really isn’t much different from that, either. Whether saving a princess or chasing after a hero ominously named Deatharte , you can be sure that a resurrecting evil is orchestrating everything. Hug walls and spam the A button. That’s really all there is to the game, but that wouldn’t make for an entertaining read. In truth, Shining Soul II’s gameplay may be ostensibly simplistic, but satisfactory game design incorporates a of challenge that requires a bit more strategy from the player. No matter what class a player picks, the game offers accessibility to unique playstyles–all adequately challenging. For the modern gamer, Shining Soul II may seem excessively difficult, but that’s because today’s RPGs arm enemies with pillowy swords, and heroes with one-hit-kill spells. Yes, one could grind easier dungeons to level up and crush the competition into submission, but that diminishes the experience. The strategy lies in leveling up appropriate skills and stats, and finding hidden goodies. Without careful planning and analysis, players will find themselves in impossible situations right from the beginning. The only options after this are revisiting old locales or starting over. Unlike most Diablo imitators, Shining Soul II doesn’t hold your hand; no, instead, it drives a twelve inch dagger through your hand thereby trapping you against a tree, spits in your eye, turns you around, and then kicks you in the ass until you figure out what to do on your own . A lot can be said about a design team that forces the player to engage the game their way … none of it pleasant. However, even more can be said about someone who stupidly puts all of their stat points into dexterity, and none into vitality. No matter how one allocates the skill and stat points, though, Shining Soul II will challenge everyone, and not just in combat but in collection as well. For the packrats out there, SSII certainly doesn’t skimp on collectibles and oftentimes leaves their utility to the player to figure out. Find a G? Yeah, good luck figuring that out. How about a text bubble that has a “4” inside? Yeah, sure. A baby slime? Why not. Fans of the Shining series won’t be surprised, though; after all, promotion items in Shining Force II weren’t the easiest tools to decipher, and the Domingo Egg in Shining Force I could have garnered more explanation. Oh, and did I mention there’s a monster book with over 200 slots for every monster in the game? Have fun! Although the aforementioned tasks may sound painful to some, having a friend tag along on the adventure lightens the load and livens up the experience. In fact, having played the game solo and with a friend, I can say with certainty that the game is multiplicatively more fun with others. Plus, with such a large roster of unique classes to choose from, finding three other people to play with won’t get too crowded. Rough on the hands, ears, and eyes. For many, the Game Boy Advance isn’t the kindest system on the eyes and not much aural majesty can be gained from playing it, either. This parallels SSII, which serves its purposes adequately on all fronts, but doesn’t boast the luster its predecessors did. The unforgettable themes and sound effects of the dynasty born on the Genesis got lost along the way, leaving SSII with unimaginative, dull sounds that don’t always suit the situation. Graphics lag behind as well, which are strangely blocky, mostly due to thick black borders. This may separate the foreground from the background quite well, but at the cost of good visuals. The artwork looks fantastic, as exemplified by the summon sequences. Clearly, a lot of work was put into monster design, and some debuts are even made, but, like many old RPGs, Shining Soul II simply recolors enemies in order to feign variety, such as with ice versions of baddies. To make matters worse, the projectiles these foes launch often flash, making combat difficult for the wrong reasons. On top of that , hit boxes are a nightmare to figure out. Eventually, the hit boxes become intuitive, but this takes hours of investment, and some strangely shaped fiends require learning. Combat aside, the game and its menus flow naturally, except for the dialogue. To my memory, SSII has the absolute worst, nonadjustable dialogue I have ever encountered. The text box is enough for two lines of giant font, which slowly scrolls. Accidentally speak to the wrong person in town, and you can kiss two minutes of your life good bye. It’s like awesome, but stale, candy. At its time of release, Shining Soul II must have been a worthwhile title; I had fun reviewing it in 2011, after all. However, the game definitely has its flaws, and these hit the game hard. With no in-between, the impatient player will hate this short excursion, while relaxed, nostalgic RPG fans will probably find it time well spent. Personally, though, if I have to sit through one more giant string of text, I might throttle a Yogurt plushie. Shining Soul II. A significant improvement over the original, but still not without its faults. Eight playable characters Cartridge save (eight slots) Link cable support for four players (multiple cartridge) The original Shining Soul was only an RPG because of the different character classes and the ability to "level up" the characters in battle through experience. It was weighed heavily towards the action side of things, essentially a Game Boy Advance version of Diablo . For the sequel, the developers tweaked the balance to bring the game more to the side of an RPG adventure, giving players more opportunity to learn about the game's story through conversations with the locals and side-quests outside of the battles. These definitely make the player feel more involved with the Shining Soul universe, but the text (or at least, the localization of the original Japanese) is so poorly written; characters say in multiple paragraphs what could have been blurted out in a sentence or two. Worse, a lot of the text is set in a very slow type setting that's almost painful to sit through. especially if you've already spent the time to read it once before with another character or two. Or seven. But again, it's all about the action in Shining Soul II , and the developers bump up the gameplay for the sequel by allowing for more "maze-like" areas to hack through. Though the areas are linearly designed to lead to the end boss, there are plenty of "hidden" locations in each sub-area to score treasure, health, armor, and weapons. They've been laid out better to allow for the multiplayer aspect, and they're slightly larger in size so that players can be in more extreme locations off-screen when fighting in the cooperative modes. There's also been much more focus placed in special attacks, giving players the ability to charge up offensive strikes to higher levels. as well as level these attacks up by performing them over and over. The action's more strategic in the sequel, too, since the collision detection's pulled off better and lets players get away from cheap hits from the enemies a lot more efficiently. The designers still put the player in a "real time" setting, which means levelling up and equipping as the world continues to move. This works in a multiplayer setting since it would irritate the other players if a partner kept pausing the game while he or she accessed the menus. But there's no reason why the game has to keep going in the single player mode, and again there's no "pause" menu while in battle. to take a break players will have to save the game, which immediately kicks them to the title screen. This awkwardness in design is minor, but it adds up as a significant irritation. Dying in battle seems slightly meaningless since you're teleported away to heal up, and have the ability to teleport right back to the spot you died. so saving your coin for a bunch of healing potions doesn't seem like that big of a focus this time around. Verdict. Overall, Shining Soul II is a significant improvement over last year's original and a lot more fun and playable. The developers worked to make the sequel a much more realized action RPG than the original Shining Soul . Even with the awkward "adventure" design elements, this sequel is enjoyable both in single and multiplayer. but because of the multiplayer focus the real fun is finding one, two or three friends to join the battle. Because the game shares similarities with Diablo , Shining Soul would work best as an online game since local linking isn't the easiest thing to organize on the Game Boy Advance. so perhaps if there's ever a third game in the series, it'd be worth it for Sega to approach the sequel for Wireless play on the GBA. or even the Nintendo DS. Shining Soul. This lackluster RPG is a way better multiplayer experience than it is a solo outing. Four character classes Cartridge save (four slots) Multiplayer support. This GBA game is an RPG in the sense that players pick from different character classes, and level-up their on-screen persona through experience points as well as cause hitpoints of damage to enemies with weapon attacks. But in terms of gameplay, Shining Soul is mostly all action. And in the loosest sense of the word, too. If it weren't for the fact that you have to continuously manage your characters' equipment, health, and experience, there wouldn't be much to do in this game but aimlessly attack enemies with less strategy than Gauntlet. Honestly. All there is to do in the game is through indoor and outdoor locations; enemies teleport in out of nowhere, and players can't move onto the next part of the "world" until they've met a hidden quota, either wiping out a set number of enemies, or defeating the one specific enemy in that area. Once that happens, the exit appears and it's off to the next area for the same action. Other than figuring out attack patterns of enemies and the end bosses within each realm, there's little to no strategy involved in playing Shining Soul. There aren't even any puzzle elements in the level design. It's clear that the development team's main focus was multiplayer, which is definitely commendable considering most GBA developers work on that aspect as an afterthought. In this case, Shining Soul becomes a game similar to Diablo and Phantasy Star Online where as many as four different adventurers, each with their own skill levels, work together to get through the different, set missions in Shining Soul. But that multiplayer focus negatively affects the singleplayer design. like, where's the storyline? But even worse: players can't pause the game in battle. At all. The action never stops for the player when he enters the options menu, so it's possible that an enemy can pop out of nowhere and attack while you're adjusting inventory. This design element makes sense in multiplayer sessions, since pausing the game would affect everyone in the network. But this is a portable game, and portable gaming means playing with distractions; and the only way to safely "pause" the game is to save the game and quit, or hang out in the central village. As bland as the gameplay is, there are some good ideas in Shining Soul . The ability to map different weapons and items to the L and R triggers works pretty well, though it's just initially a bit awkward to get the hang of it during the action. Item gathering and organization is handled by a clean checkerboard that shows empty slots in the player's inventory. And, of course, the multiplayer focus is a welcome element, though the player interaction doesn't come anywhere near what Nintendo has done for the GBA in The Legend of Zelda: The Four Swords. But these decent gameplay designs are within a game that features some really bad graphic designs; the backgrounds and characters are nicely rendered, but the sprite animations are downright terrible and chunky. Verdict. It will be interesting to see what Shining Soul II brings to the table next year after experiencing what was created for the first game. There's certainly nothing wrong with creating a dungeon hacker, even a multiplayer one, but it needs to be something more than what Gauntlet was. especially if it's to be branded within a well-known RPG "series" like Sega's Shining namesake. As it stands, Shining Soul just feels like a shell of a design, good ideas and intentions spattered thoughout boring action sequences. Our Guest Today is S.A. Garcia! Madam Author, better known as S.A. Garcia, hee-hee, I call her Madame Author to irritate her, is off coddling her Elf and King during their new trauma drama. For this guest post I, the delicious and self-effacing demon Amando Renato, will seek to entertain loyal readers. Hold on. Wait, you aren’t a loyal reader? Wait, please, you don’t know who I am? Fine, here comes the dramatic part where I stare in disbelief, step back, slam my perfectly manicured hand over my heart, and shake my head in distress. Do you have the visual? Make sure you imagine my long, curly black hair swishing in grand pique. My head toss is a thing of beauty. I credit my fabulous mane to my human Italian-Irish heritage. You see, I’m the star, well, one of the stars, of Temptation of the Incubus, a novel about a lovelorn incubus and his humble, pure of heart human lover who has an added something special. Not giving away the details, kittens, no way; I understand my place in Madam Author’s world. Brr, she could make me vanish! My lover Mads is the other star. Marvelous trips and fun loom in our future, along with danger and intrigue. What can I say, this sexy creature attracts danger and intrigue. Sniff, does Madame Author tell the world more about us? No, instead she babysits her depressed Elf and stressed King. Yes, yes, I realize they were in the story land line ahead of me, but I’m impatient that way. I confess Alasdaire and Linden from Canes and Scales are sexy and fun but man, they own serious emotional baggage. Marcus, a fellow demon, and Tristan from To Save a Shining Soul own far less baggage. What bothers me is I hear that another annoying Elf will enter my story land world in May via the novel An Elf for All Centuries. Rumor claims that Prince Fabion owns an ego to match mine. He’s an Elven supermodel. Oh reallllly? I already don’t like him. Pooh, I’ll worry about the Elven upstart later. It’s not like I’m jealous or anything. No way, kittens, I know I am Madame Author’s ultimate sexy incubus. Yes indeed. Better yet, unlike my fellow story land sex gods, I savor the opportunity to get out and chat. I enjoy being Madame Author’s social surrogate. Today I want to chat about erotic flowers. Hey, hold on, no eye rolling. Only I get to perform eye rolls because unlike most people I look sexy, not petulant. Or so I have been told. Kittens, it is springtime, well, almost, and that makes me want to babble about flowers as sexual aides. Flowers offer everyone great sexual apparatus. Roses seem like a romantic cliché, but think about a long stem rose. The smooth, gentle petals excel at stroking a lover’s sensitive areas, yet the stem is a handy torture device when you want to draw a little blood. The rose offers the adventurous two erotic joys in one lovely package. I have a thing for tossing red rose petals over black satin sheets. They feel divine to roll around on. Another supremely erotic flower is the calla lily. Think about that they look like: a sleek hood with a cock tucked inside. Calla lilies own a special place in my heart. Dear Mads presented them to me on our second date. Here, I will let you read about the strange night in this excerpt from Temptation of the Incubus . Trust me, kittens, Mads tempted me to near, ha- ha, madness. 8:57. The lower buzzer sounded. I almost dropped my wine glass. Twitchy dolt. The security camera showed Mads casually standing with his hands tucked behind his waist. Good; he wore a relaxed black T-shirt and those sinfully snug jeans. When I spoke to him, Mads appeared startled. “Hello, my prompt Mads. When I buzz you in, press the red button. That unlocks the lower door. Make sure the door shuts firmly behind you. I’ll buzz you in to the elevator foyer. Press 0834, press 1, then 9234, then 1 again.” Light laughter sounded. “Wow, this is like entering a bank vault.” No, more like a mediaeval tomb. “Since there’s no night doorman, security is pretty tight here. Look, let me come down.” Mads’s chuckle tickled me. “Thanks, baby. I hate to admit it but I already forgot the last four digits. I’d probably end up in the basement banging around while scaring the rats.” What a cutie. I rattled down in the large freight elevator, pulled across the security grate, and buzzed Mads in. “Welcome to the inner sanctuary.” “Yeah, I noticed the assorted numerical codes you used on Wednesday. I guess living here makes you sharp on the numbers, right? These are for you.” Mads grandly brandished a bouquet from behind his back and adopted a cheesy Southern accent. “A proper gentleman shouldn’t come a callin’ without flowers, especially when he comes a callin’ on such a stunning man. Amando, you look wonderful. You might look more beautiful than I remember.” I blinked in surprise then my hands accepted the dozen burgundy calla lilies graced by dainty painted Japanese ferns and one miniature green orchid spray. How lovely. Flowers for me? Had anyone ever given me flowers? I recollect Ian did one time but… no, no, ouch, ouch, ouch, shove the memory back in the iron chest! Slam! Something frightening melted inside me. I shook my head in helpless amazement. “You sweetie, these blooms are supremely beautiful. Thank you for such an exquisite gesture.” I planted a quick kiss on Mads’s smiling lips. Whew, nothing weird took place. We entered the elevator. Mads gently stroked my naked arm. His warmth burned into my muscles. “I saw that special arrangement and the flowers instantly reminded me of you; elegant, sleek yet, I dunno, there’s something mysterious and openly sexual about calla lilies. I find them intriguing.” My laughter encouraged the cocky smile to appear in brilliant force. “That’s quite a compliment, Mads.” Yikes, did I own a vase? Wait, these bright blooms would look smashing in my Art Deco chrome ice bucket. We stepped into the quiet loft. In my anxiety, I had forgotten to switch on the light Chopin etude. No seductive mood music greeted us. “Let me take care of these beauties. There’s Harvest ale in the fridge and snacks and wine in the living room.” “Thanks, baby, for thinking of me. I appreciate a tasty Harvest ale.” Mads shrugged off his worn brown leather backpack and draped the strap over the one bar chair. Guess he remembered his toothbrush and change of underwear. He popped open a bottle, sipped and watched me arrange the lilies in the ice bucket. He cleared his throat and spoke in near embarrassment. “Hey, I hate to sound picky, but if I remember the drill, they last longer if you cut the ends. It helps them soak up the water.” “Ah, right, silly of me not to remember the cutting detail.” Dolt! Angels Above, where were my scissors? Fuck, did I own kitchen shears? Great, I owned a super sharp knife still resting in the sink from my cheese cutting fun. I placed the stems on the counter and gently started sawing off the slightly browned edges. I sensed Mads watched me in full tilt curiosity. Of course, my polite gentleman caller never commented on my unusual stem decapitation style. Back then this incubus was such a social imbecile! Mads was, well, he is, such a gentleman that he overwhelmed this ancient incubus. Do you still have the image of the calla lily in your mind? Here’s my advice; when purchasing them for a romantic evening, look for the large blooms, the ones big enough to slide over a man’s… yes, you understand the point here, eh? Eeks, I said point! I’m a fan of all lilies, especially the sinfully scented stargazer lilies. Just smelling them supplies instant seduction. Whoops, now you know the quick way to lure me into bed. Alas, your tricks won’t work, not when I have my sexy Mads already heating up the bedroom. I love the man too much. One fast note about bed lily play: pinch off the stamen before you start. The orange pollen or whatever it is stains the skin and sheets something dreadful. I better wrap up this discussion before you think I’m insane. Please, after being an incubus for hundreds of years, my mind probably is a little left of center, but what’s the fun in being normal, correct? I’ll leave you with another sexual flower trick. Behold stately tulips. Not only is the name sexy, tu-lips, eh, always a good thing during wet and wild sex, but again, think of the tulip’s bell shape. You have the visual, yes? Fantastic. A dewy bouquet of big, red tulips makes any bed romp extra special. There are many other blooms to work with here: passion flowers, daffodils; again, think about the big cup shape, and violets, fun because you can eat them. Wait, what about orchids? Not going there. Boring Heavens, if I start drooling over orchids, I’ll be here chatting for another year. For now, kiss-kiss, kittens. It has been fun! Wait, I need to give you kittens Madame Author’s details: Creating visual art and marketing word art occupied my professional life until fictional art triumphed in 2010. In 1979 reading Gordon Merrick had sounded a wake-up call about gay fiction. I waited over thirty years to enter the publishing world, but at least I’ve made the plunge. Happily that situation has changed. Thirty years of gay romance stories lurk in notebooks and in my computer. Here they come, oh yeah. In 2011 Dreamspinner Press released the romantic fantasy Canes and Scales, dark comedy To Save A Shining Soul, sad short Baron’s Last Hunt, and the sci-fi dramedy Divine Devine’s Love Song. In October 2011, Silver Publishing unleashed the sexy incubus tale Temptation of the Incubus. The romantic comedy An Elf for All Centuries arrives in May 2012 through Silver. I hope my devotion to words connects with my readers. Hey, was that a sincere enough ending? Drat, the sentiment needs work. Blame my muse.