Articles by Rebecca Rupp
Sucilaria is a classically trained vocalist who is better at Final Fantasy games than you are. She is also the other half of Bartoneus, and the source of most of his good ideas.
Review: Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab RPG Series Scents
OK, quick word association game: when you think of the words “D&D” and “scent”, what immediately comes to mind?
Probably not something pleasant. Luckily, Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab is trying to change that, or at least make that scent something more interesting than “Odeur de corporelle.” Seventeen vials of liquid character await, but are they worth the price? Will they get you laid?? This is dangerous reporting, folks.
The “RPG Series” includes 6 races, 6 classes, and 5 alignments – Good/Evil, and Chaotic, Neutral or Lawful. Intended to be blended together rather than be stand-alone perfumes, one should combine drops from 4 vials to create a character. Each vial sells for $17.50; though there is a no-return policy, you may purchase an “Imp Ear” of any of the RPG collection scents for $4.00, or 6 for $22.
PROS
- Uniqueness/Customizability
- Role-Playing enhancement
- Ability to buy a trial size for a reduced price
CONS
- High cost
- Good roleplaying does not necessarily mean a sexy scent
First things first: despite what the locked cabinet at the drugstore may have lead you to believe, perfumes and scents are not meant to be gender-specific. Sure, there are smells that lend themselves toward “masculine” or “feminine”, but it’s really a matter of interpretation. In fact, I found myself pleasantly surprised by some scents; for instance, I expected “Lawful Good” (note there is no scent for human, your own brand suffices I suppose) and “Paladin” to smell unabashedly masculine, which would have sent me into a rant about sexism. Instead, I found the combination to be more subtle: Flowery, but somehow strong underneath. Indeed, this was not a scent that I could imagine a guy wearing out to attract women. Also worth noting is the subjective nature of both the nose and the bearer of the scent; these perfumes might not only smell different TO you, they might smell different ON you.
Here’s the main issue: if you want to wear something to spice up your D&D adventure, this is a perfect product. Each scent I tried rang true to the words the vials bore. Again, since the scents are meant to be combined, some of them are almost offensive on their own. “Good”, for instance, smells sickeningly sweet yet fits nicely into a number of combinations. But I doubt many among us are going to shell out $70 for a full set of perfumes that make one smell like a dank, moldy cave (I’m looking at you, “Chaotic Neutral Dwarf Fighter”!)
If you’re looking for something that smells a particular way, something that you’d use to attract mating partners, use your no doubt well-trained imagination. I found that most of the scents I expected to smell “nice” smelled nice. “Evil” smells dead sexy, period – no real shock there! Most of the races you would expect to smell…unique and character-filled…do. I thought “Neutral Orc Fighter” was a great role-playing scent – kind of like a truck-stop bathroom, though more on the side of the air freshener used within. Conversely, Elf is not the most masculine smell, though that can be tempered. A particular favorite was “Chaotic Evil Elf Rogue” – very sexy, springtime in the woods, but exotic and spicy. Certainly appropriate on man or woman.
The bottom line? It’s hard for me to give one. I really enjoyed mixing and matching day to day, but that’s really not an option unless you have a lot of cash hanging around – I’d be happy to help out anyone with that particular problem, by the way! The creativity and hard work that clearly went into these products certainly deserves partaking in a few sample sizes. Each individual scent is paired with a few descriptive words on the website to make your choices easier. Who knows? You may find something that is truly, uniquely you – or whoever you’d like to be.
Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab RPG scents are available now from their website. A free sample of their product was provided for purposes of this review.
Why You Shouldn't Watch Firefly
Many, if not most of you, have already viewed Joss Whedon’s Firefly series and the follow-up film, Serenity. This article is not intended for you; however, let me say that I’m sorry. I now feel your pain, because some supposed “friends” convinced Bart and I to view the series. I had many reservations about it, and many reasons for those, but I finally made the mistake of giving in. No, I write this article for the uninitiated (if there are any of you still left out there). I want to get the warning out, loud and clear, to prevent further hurt – DO NOT WATCH FIREFLY. What follows is a cautionary tale, read at your own risk.
Joss and I have a mixed history. The first exposure I can remember came from seeing fellow nerd’s DVD collections and noticing a large amount of Buffy and Angel. Granted, I never gave either series much chance due to a large prejudice against what I felt was a silly concept, and WB or UPN or whatever network it was on. I was mystified by the devotion that people had for these series, but I never gave it too much thought. [Read the rest of this article]
Review – PLAY! A Videogame Symphony
August 4th, 2006 – Imagine yourself in my place. Sitting through your last of three semesters of music history, finally having come to the 20th century. You’ve covered the greats – Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms – composers who have inspired young minds to pursue music for centuries. And yet you find yourself wondering – when will we cover the composer who first touched my heart? The composer who introduced me to opera?
Of course, I knew that moment was not to come. Yet, Friday night at Wolf Trap, I was able to experience the music of Nobuo Uematsu live, with probably the most enthusiastic audience the National Symphony Orchestra has ever seen. PLAY! A Videogame Symphony comes to us from the minds that created the first game music concert to be performed in the states, Dear Friends – Music from FINAL FANTASY. Though our friend from G4, Tommy Tallarico, has his own variation on this theme, PLAY! has the advantage of the full support of Uematsu, and started off with a fanfare composed specifically for this concert series. One could sense the nervousness in the audience at this point – with no videogame images on the screen and no recognizable game franchise to latch on to, I am sure many people were afraid that they had somehow ended up in the wrong place! However, the Fanfare was classic Uematsu (it can be heard at the official website).
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