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| Analysis help is needed! And of the Revolutionary Girl Utena kind! I'm trying to understand the symbolism of Shiori's bird in her Black Rose episode. All the Black Rose duelist have a symbol on the desk during their fights and I understand the important of most of them. However, I just don't understand Shiori's. I know that a bird flies into the window during a conversation between her and Juri earlier in the episode but...the significance? It is escaping me. I'm sure it's something that I'm just overlooking, but could someone help a girl out here? This entry was originally posted at http://aliceylain.dreamwidth.org/6307.ht | ||||||
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Me and my Bride of Frankenstein
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April 8th, 2012
April 7th, 2012
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  I seem to be on a rewatching kick, as I rewatched the first season of Ookiku Furikabutte in its entirely this past week. I'm still quite enjoy it, even though I know what's going to happen in the plot. And when I think about why, there are the usual suspects. The characters are engaging, the games are well-paced, and who isn't a sucker for an underdog story? But the real draw for me, to be honest, is the main character Mihashi. Yes, Mihashi. The one who cries, trembles, and can't go against someone's decision if his soul depended on it. I won't act as if I've watched all the shounen and all of the sports series out there in the universe. But of the ones I've personally seen, the only one that's had a main character that isn't overflowing with confidence is Oofuri. I remember being struck at Mihashi lack of confidence was when I watched the first episode waaaaay back. Here was a kid who believed that people hated him, who felt that his pitching was lousy, who cried very easily, and who shied away from compliments as if they were double-edged swords. And shounen/sports series main characters...are never like that. They aren't always egotistical (although some are annoying so *cough*Echizen*cough*), but they usually have some measure of confidence in themselves. Mihashi has absolutely no confidence and when he strikes people out, feels that it's all due to the guidance of the catcher and not his skill at all. It's surprising and refreshing to see a series tackle such a main character. I'm not surprised that the anime series here in the United States. Watching a main character cringe and stutter and cry is not what people expect in a sports series. Secondary characters? Sure, that's been done. But the main character in a show that's aimed primarily at boys? Heck no. But while some may not enjoy that (my brother sure didn't when I tried to get him to watch it), I love the show for that. The fact is that talented people aren't always confident and sometimes confidence is a hard thing to grow. I like that Oofuri goes in that direction. I also like that Mihashi doesn't magically become confident after a win or two. While the show is an underdog story about a group of freshmen playing in Japan's summer high school baseball tournament, it's also largely a story about the relationship between Mihashi and Abe. Mihashi is overly dependent on Abe to control all aspects of the pitching game. And Abe is one of the worst communicators in the history of ever, and even doesn't really care to understand Mihashi in the beginning. While they're able to get by in the first season of the anime series with Mihashi blindly following all of Abe's calls and Abe doing his best to not yell at Mihashi all the time, it's very clear that the partnership won't survive too long on just that. Mihashi will need to learn to have confidence in his skills and at least realize that Abe's game-making skills wouldn't matter at all if Mihashi didn't have the talent to throw the pitches that Abe wants. And Abe needs to realize that Mihashi needs that confidence and help him grow it. So while Tajima is hilarious in the series, Mihashi Ren will forever be my favorite. EDIT: IN ISN'T-THAT-IRONIC NEWS, I reread posts that I made back in 2007 about Oofuri and I apparently found Mihashi very annoying back then. Oh, how time can change a person! This entry was originally posted at http://aliceylain.dreamwidth.org/6015.ht | ||||||
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March 31st, 2012
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   A couple of weeks ago, Funimation released all eleven episodes of Princess Jellyfish as a DVD/Blue-ray combo and I snapped it up immediately. Yes, I could wait a couple of months and the price would probably go down, but my love for the series could not be denied. I've watched the series twice on Hulu and immediately watched the whole thing as soon as I received the DVD set in the mail. I'm kinda rewatching it now as I write this up. I've yet to get bored of it, so it's definitely a winner for me. The series had me from the first ten minutes of the first episode when I watched it back in 2010, as soon as Tsukimi says, "I'm sorry, Mom, I have some bad news. I'm not sure where I went wrong, but somewhere along the line instead of becoming a princess...I ended up a freak." Princess Jellyfish has a way of being honest that I appreciate. None of the main characters in the show pretend to be something that they're not and they never try to change each other. Add in a main cast of women who are awkward and nerdy, and I'm pretty much in love forever. The Good Stuff - Kurashita Tsukimi is an adorable protagonist, who is very easy to love. I love her design, I love her gray sweatsuit, I love her bushy eyebrows, I love her fascination with jellyfish. She has the best facial expressions in the series by far and I am absolutely sucker for hilarious facial expressions. (See my adoration of Usopp.) I love how she talks to her Mom in her head and misses her Mom dreadfully. She does not magically become confident and daring in the series, which is nice. In fact, none of the main female cast do. I love how she jumps to the worst conclusions at the drop of a hat. And her pain regarding the Shu situation is nicely handled. - No, this needs its own point. Tsukimi's pain when she believes that Shu is with Inari is pretty heart-rending and real. It's hard to turn off hope that someone will like you, irregardless of how much you may belittle yourself. Her wish to forget it all is something I can relate to. - I feel that the Sisterhood gives a pretty decent depiction of what it's like to be nerdy, and not the kind of nerdy that's "cool". And the depiction doesn't say that their life is good or bad, it just is. - MA★YA★YA, oh my god. Just like I love Tsukimi for her facial expressions, I love Mayaya for her body language. No scene with the Sisterhood is complete without Mayaya waving her hands around and kicking the air and making Three Kingdoms analogies. While I like Banba and Chieko too, Mayaya outshines them. She also gets some wonderful one-liners. "What I want to know if, what nation would have a balding prime minister?! Tap the underlying strength of your hair follicles first, I say!" (On a side note, I just found out that the voice actress for Mayaya is also the voice actress for Nami in One Piece. MIND BLOWN.) - The inevitable makeover scenes weren't nearly as bad as they typically are in your normal "plain girl turns into breathtaking bombshell" movies. Tsukimi is made over really quickly in the series and it happens quite a few times more throughout the story, but the makeovers definitely aren't the focus of the series. Furthermore, none of the Sisterhood particularly like their new look. And most importantly, life doesn't suddenly become easier for them because they're made over. It doesn't solve their problems. - I love how the Sisterhood literally turns to stone when faced with a Stylish or a situation that they aren't comfortable with. Mostly because there are times when I wish I could've turned to stone in similar situations. Sometimes, it's FELT like I've turned to stone. Being social is hard, yo. - Clara's Top Five Lists about the Sisterhood. A+++++ would laugh again. - LOVE IS COMING BACK. I love the ending theme. The Uncomfortable Stuff - Yeah, the makeovers. Even though they're done palatably and aren't the focus of the plot, doesn't mean that I still don't roll my eyes at them. - The idea that girls are supposed to be princesses needs to go crawl back under the rock it came out from. I mean, I love the story A Little Princess as much as anyone, but the sentiment is kind-of ridiculous. - The love triangle is predictable and silly and makes Tsukimi cry and bleh. It makes me wonder, considering how prevalent the love triangle trope is in fiction, how often do love triangles happen in reality? Because, you know, I've never been aware of one. - Inari annoys the hell out of me and I pretty much skip her scenes. Kuranosuke - Yeah, he gets his own category because while I enjoy his interactions with the Sisterhood and Tsukimi, he's got problems. - I like that he cross-dresses and doesn't give a crap about what other people think. He likes skirts and make-up and wigs, he likes fashion, and that he's not supposed to by typical convention doesn't matter to him. If other people don't like it, well too bad. It's a good example for the Sisterhood, to be honest, so have someone doing what they want and not caring what other people think. Because while the Sisterhood is living their life, they're afraid of what other people think. - HOWEVER, Kuranosuke doesn't have to give a crap about what other people think. He's the son of a wealthy politician. He'll pretty much be able to do whatever he wants to do in life without problems. - Also, there are absolutely no realistic depictions of how people would react to such an unabashed cross-dresser. Life would not be nearly as easy for him as is depicted on the show. Of course, that's not the point of the show, but I'm just saying. - Kuranosuke never tries to turn the Sisterhood into something that they're not, disregarding the makeovers. He's also a great catalyst because he's not afraid to try things. They're losing their apartment building? No problem! Let's just buy it! It's not hard for him to think that big things are possible. - But he never really tries to understand them either. Cue his trying to sell Chieko's dolls. I keep getting the feeling that the Sisterhood's a curiosity that he'll throw away when he gets bored. I wasn't impressed with how easily he tossed away his former friends. This entry was originally posted at http://aliceylain.dreamwidth.org/5211.ht | ||||||||
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hopefulFebruary 4th, 2012
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 Honey just got done trying to eat the following: a paperclip, a Blu Ray DVD package, and a flash drive. Paperclips are old hat for her to snatch but the Blue Ray package and flash drive are new. That's what I get for leaving things on the floor and letting her into my room. Whenever I take things away from her, I get this annoyed look since she believes that all things on the floor belong to her forever. One of my favorite books forever is The Neverending Story by Michael Ende. I've had a paperback version of this book for quite awhile but have always wanted a hardback version with the bi-colored ink. Well, I was surfing amazon the other day and they were selling it for $15. All hail the internet! Now, if someone made a movie-version book, completed with Auryn on the cover, I'd be so content in my fannish little heart. This means that I've got a redundant paperback copy of the book. Does anyone on my friends list want it? You won't have to pay for the book itself, you just have to pay for the shipping. This entry was originally posted at http://aliceylain.dreamwidth.org/3864.ht | ||||||||
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January 29th, 2012
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| Aaaaaand nearly a month goes by again before I update. I guess it's a sign that my life is relatively calm, as I tend to post more often when I'm upset/frantic/tragic. And I am pretty calm. My new job is going great, even though most of the time I feel like the dunce of the department. But I never gave any indication that I was brilliant or anything, and I let them know from the get-go that I hadn't programmed in 10 years, so it's not as if anyone doesn't know what they were getting themselves into. Home life is calm too, although I've been chafing recently. I've been wanting my own place for about a year now. My own place to decorate and put things in. It's not as if I don't like living with my parents. I do but I want more space and I want to be able to decide where things go. What's stopping me? The fact that my parents need help keeping up their house and I'm best suited to giving that help. The fact that I would miss them and Honey a whole lot. The fact that the last two times I lived on my own, I became an emotional wreck. Maybe this year will be the year. This is the most positive I've been since college, so maybe I can make things stick this time. I'll wait until summer and see what happens. This entry was originally posted at http://aliceylain.dreamwidth.org/3820.ht | ||||||
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December 31st, 2011
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| Ye gods, has it really been about three weeks since I last posted? I feel that as time goes on, I become more unable to summarize my thoughts or write about interesting things. Most of the time, I don't noticed it until I start reading old journal entries. My ability to make coherent arguments and posts has gotten so much worse. I'm now transferred to my new position at work and my life? Has gotten a billion times better. I'm no longer in charge of anyone and it feels AMAZING. I'm also not a go-to person anymore, which is also AMAZING. I don't have to know everything and no one comes to me to solve issues. Instead, I can go to OTHER people to solve issues. Boo-yah! My new job involves coding, which is tons more interesting than setting up security access for people. And lastly, this job is simply less stressful. There are less time-related activities and I don't have to worry about the Audit department scrutinizing what I do anymore. (An Audit department is necessary and useful for most business organizations, but that doesn't mean I'm happy when they stop at my desk to question me on stuff.) Seriously, it's been years since I've been happy with my job and since I've been excited to go to it in the morning. Not to say that I don't love the weekends, because I do, but the work week isn't the stress and dread that it's been for the past four to five years. I'm even thinking that I might try to get myself off my anxiety medication, that's how much less stress I've got now. In general, my life is pretty simple right now. During the week, I spend my evenings playing with Honey, cleaning the kitchen, doing comic stuff, and roleplaying. The weekends are spent taking Honey to the local school to run around, watching movies, doing more comic stuff, roleplaying, and sleeping as much as I can make myself sleep. I wish I had a picture of Honey to end this journal entry on but alas. No puppy picture for this post. EDIT: Oh wait! I forgot! I've noticed that a lot of people who have been coming over to dreamwidth are also crossposting to their livejournal. Because I'm still reading both friend lists, I've getting a lot of duplicate stuff. I am going to start defriending people on livejournal who I've already got friended on dreamwidth. If you don't want me to defriend your LJ for some reason, just speak up and I'll add you back. This entry was originally posted at http://aliceylain.dreamwidth.org/3358.ht | ||||||||
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busyDecember 10th, 2011
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| Current Favorite Webcomics Keep in mind that I tend to prefer the gag comic style over the page format style, so that's mostly what I'm reccing. Comiques by Anne Emond I absolutely love Anne's style; the characters aren't typically pretty or handsome, but they have their own quirks that draw the eye. I also adore her somewhat pessimistic humor and the limericks she's thrown into a couple of her comics. I sincerely wish she updated more often. Girls with Slingshots by Danielle Corsetto I know, I know, this comic is very popular, but I still love it. I could do with less romance and the talking cactus is a bit "eh", but I pretty much love Jamie forever and I think the idea of a Porn Star Librarian is hilarious. Scenes from a Multiverse by Jonathan Rosenburg This is a genius format for comics, life on other planets. Jonathan's art is very loose and gooey and the planet names themselves provide half the humor in his comics. My Cardboard Life by Phillipa Rice I love that Phillipa pieces her comics together from construction paper, cloth, and cardboard. Seriously, I can't imagine the work that goes into that. Her comics are a bit more innocent and sweet, and very different from a lot that's out there. Knit Princess by Allison Sarnoff I can't remember how I stumbled across this comic, but I'm glad I did. I don't knit/sew myself, but I still find myself chuckling over the Knit Princess' adventures. And I hope she gets to convince her roommate to keep a sheep as a dog. Life Ain't No Ponyfarm by Sarah Burrini ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.1){kind=small} chili_das_schaf introduced me to this one. I'm a sucker for bright colors and sardonic elephants, so it was right up my alley. Sarah has a lot of artist comics and fan-culture comics, which are always fun.Not Invented Here by Bill Barnes and Paul Southworth Gotta include at least one techie comic! I love Desmond loads and their coding humor is spot-on, even to someone who's been out of that realm. There's also a lot of project-related humor; anyone who has had to work on a project with five or more people involved knows how frustrating and complicated it can get. Namesake by Isabelle Melançon and Megan Lavey-Heaton This comic is a re-imagining of classic children's literature and fairy tales, and anyone who knows me even a little knows that I'm a sucker for that sort of thing. They've started out with Wizard of Oz and I hope they get to Alice and Wonderland soon. The story is wonderfully paced so far and the art is superb. This entry was originally posted at http://aliceylain.dreamwidth.org/2921.ht | ||||||
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December 4th, 2011
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 Yesterday and today, Honey and I went on an ADVENTURE. Which means, we went to the local school and ran around. The school is nice because there are lots of fields for her to sniff and, since it's winter, there's nobody around at all. I can let Honey off the leash in relative safety. Of course, yesterday she decided to celebrate her leash freedom by rubbing her face in a mud puddle. MMMMMMM MUD PUDDLES. Today was very productive. Besides taking Honey on her adventure, I managed to: - Help my parents put up holiday decorations. Urgh. I'm not a fan of seasonal decorations, due to the amount of work involved. Granted, everything looks nice, but not nice enough to justify hauling boxes up and down to the basement. - Cleaned the kitchen and family room. I am a cleaning machine. - Took the paper shredding and aluminum cans to the recycling center. - Wrapped holiday presents because I am done with my holiday shopping. - Clipped coupons, which I am determined to do a better job of in the future. - Updated all the plugins on one of my Wordpress websites. Unfortunately, I also wanted to clean out a shelf in the refrigerator, mop the kitchen floor, and clean the bathroom. Oh well, can't win them all. Tomorrow, I start working in my new department part-time. Let's hope things go swimmingly! | ||||||
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November 24th, 2011
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| I woke up this morning at 4:15 AM for no other reason than I just happened to wake up. All attempts at falling back asleep again were futile. Why is it like this? During the work week, it's hard for me to drag myself from my bed, but I always seem to wake up extra early on weekends and holidays. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr stupid body. My job transition this time is going to be SO MUCH EASIER than last time! This time, I get training! I won't be a manager! There are already processes in place! The department is two years old instead of just two months old! The person taking over from me as manager has worked in our department so he already knows our processes! I know the people in the new department already! So. Much. Easier. It's ridiculous how happy I am at work now and I haven't even begun to truly transition. I will be spending half my days in the new department starting December 5th, with the hope that I will be there full-time on December 19th. Worst case scenario, I start full-time on January 3rd. Although, I don't know what to do about the holidays. In the past, I've always given gift cards to the people in my department and I'd like to do that for them one last time this year. But it doesn't seem right to give gift cards to my old department and not the new one as well. However, the combined total of both departments is 13 people. I mean, I could swing it, but it's more money than what I was planning to spend on work. Alright, enough of my first world problems, it's puppy time.  This entry was originally posted at http://aliceylain.dreamwidth.org/2423.ht | ||||||||
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awakeNovember 20th, 2011
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| NIGHT When I was younger (I say as I wave my cane), I liked the night. The dark held mystery and a sense of stillness, particularly in the suburbs and country. It was calm in a way that the day wasn't. Of course, it was also wild in a way the day wasn't, what with bars and nightclubs. But I enjoyed the moon, I enjoyed the stars, I enjoyed the way I couldn't see everything immediately. I felt the most alert in the evenings. And I also loved going to sleep in my warm bed, drifting off into that dark blankness. Now, I'm starting to hate the night. I seem to have developed a sense of dread as the sky darkens. I'm sadder at night, I'm more pessimistic. I've got more fear. I don't like walking Honey at night because instead of seeming serene, the shadows seem sinister. Honey doesn't much like it either. I having a harder time enjoying going to sleep, for a reason I can't describe. I crawl into bed and go, "Ugh, time to sleep." While I still enjoy the moon and stars, I much prefer the sun to them. This entry was originally posted at http://aliceylain.dreamwidth.org/2080.ht | ||||||||
| comments: 1 comment or Leave a comment |
lethargic
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| fartwinkle | noun | derived from the phrase"old fart" | intended to describe a young someone or young being that is being ornery | Example: "Honey is being such a fartwinkle today! She refuses to walk!" My dad and I use this work all the time. All the time. Usually, it's used in context with Honey because she can be super stubborn and onery. However, I didn't realize until recently that other people don't use this word. Are we truly alone? This entry was originally posted at http://aliceylain.dreamwidth.org/1838.ht | ||||||||
| comments: 5 comments or Leave a comment |
tiredNovember 13th, 2011
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| Let the good times roll Hey baby, throw your cares away Let the good times roll Leave your worry for another day Let the good times roll Leave yesterday behind Let the good times roll tonight "Let the Good Times Roll" by Ben Rector is a seriously addictive song. You can download it for FREE on amazon and I definitely have to check out this guy's other stuff. The song is pretty happy and bouncy and reminds me of 60s-era music. The programming interview went...okay-ish? At least, it wasn't a true technical interview, which are a horror to get through. I couldn't really get a good read off the interviewer as to whether it went well or poorly. At the very least, like always, I babbled too much and said things that I probably shouldn't have said. I'll probably find out by the end of next week whether or not I got the position. At least the interview wasn't too stressful because I always have a job. Still, I think I'm going to try to get back into programming. As to how, I've only got some vague notions. I watched One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest for the first time and whoof, what an ending. The movie was well done and I enjoyed it to an extent...until the ending. I'm glad I watched it but I probably won't ever rewatch it. It's just one of those kinds of movies. I've also been watching anime and have been enjoying this season. Chihayafuru is being described as the next Hikaru No Go and at the very least, I've been enjoying the colorful art. It has a typical love triangle, with the girl being clueless about everything. Hunter X Hunter is your normal shounen fare but I'm loving it because of the shounen. I've yet to really latch onto any of the characters, though. Of course, there have only been seven episodes so far, so we'll see. I really enjoyed Persona 4 The Animation initially, but have been bored with the recent episodes. Fate/Zero is EASILY my favorite so far, with the gorgeous animation and intriguing storyline, what with classic historical heroic figures coming to live. And, of course, Mawaru Penguindrum is being its typical mindfuck self. It'll be interesting to watch the series again after it's complete. | ||||||||
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November 8th, 2011
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| Interview is tomorrow for new position. I just spent the evening trying to stuff six month's of beginning programming back into my head and it didn't go as well as I wished. Here's hoping that I don't make too big an ass of myself! | ||||||||
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nervousOctober 30th, 2011
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| So. After the latest livejournal release that has went in, and the resulting responses by the livejournal team, I have decided to move my personal journal over to dreamwidth. I've been on dreamwidth for over six months with the Hotel Paranoia comic account and I have been very impressed with their communication and the method in which they implement changes to their site. I like how their team is smaller and more approachable, I like how dedicated they are to implementing changes that the userbase wants, and I like the inviting atmosphere. It makes me sad that livejournal has become what it now is. I've had many, many years of fun on this site and many good memories. It's just that dreamwidth is far more appealing to me at this point in my life. This can change in the future but I don't want to sit around, waiting for the future to happen. HOWEVER, the last thing I want to do is sever ties with my friends here at livejournal or make an ultimatum that they have to follow me at dreamwidth. I'm going to crosspost entries at dreamwidth here at livejournal and I will continue to follow my friends list here at livejournal. While I would prefer people to follow me at dreamwidth over livejournal, I realize that is not always possible and/or my friends won't always want to do so. You guys matter more than my preference of journal sites. :) My dreamwidth account is aliceylain. If you have an active dreamwidth account, please let me know so I can friend you, if I haven't already done so. Again, I will be crossposting here so you don't have to make any changes if you don't want to. I have no idea how to end this post. | ||||||||
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October 8th, 2011
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 I can't be the only person in this world that sings this, can I? | ||||||
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July 24th, 2011
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| I have been rewatching Revolutionary Girl Utena lately Anthy will forever and always be the most interesting characters in the series to me. As much as I love Wakaba and Utena and Juri and Shiori, my opinion on them doesn't change nearly as much as with Anthy. When I first saw the series, I very much saw Anthy as an utter victim, through and through. Everything was Akio's fault and Anthy shouldn't be blamed for anything that happened. I don't know what sort of lenses I was looking at the show through back then, but I've very much changed my opinion. It's very difficult to tell what was Akio's idea in the series and what was Anthy's, considering they work so closely together and are pretty close-mouthed. Still, in the school scenes where Akio isn't around, all of the passive-aggressive things that Anthy says and does are probably her idea. And it's amazing how passive-aggressive they are; I just now tried to find quotes of viciousness from Anthy but everything that she says can be taken so innocently. You almost need screencaps to show the emotion of the moment or, amazingly enough, lack of emotion. Utena: That's not what I'm talking about. How can she still be Nanami's friend? Utena: Even though she's actually carrying all sorts of feelings... Anthy: That's easy. Anthy: For someone you love, your feelings for any other people become insignificant. Anthy: You can deceive yourself as much as you need. - SKU, Episode 21, Troublesome Insects This quote struck me when rewatching the Black Rose Arc. Of course, Anthy can easily answer Utena's question. Because, of course, this is the answer for why Anthy does what she does and puts up with what she puts up with. She just lies to herself and continues on. She was able to ignore her burgeoning friendship feelings for Utena because of her love for Akio. The whole issue with Nanami finding out about Anthy and Akio sleeping together is also interesting because I can't figure out if it was purposefully done or not. I mean, it probably was and some conversation in Akio's car implies it. But then there's this quick clip that happens during "Romance of the Dancing Girls" when Nanami shoves away from the breakfast table, stating that Utena has no clue what's going on.  It looks like a questioning glance, which leads me to believe that at least Anthy didn't know. How much Akio and Anthy keep from each other is an interesting thought. | ||||||
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July 15th, 2011
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| Books I Have Read Recently Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips: A rather enjoyable book, even if the ending was lame. The concepts of the Greek Gods living in the modern world and that their powers depend on belief they receive aren't a unique ones but I still enjoyed Phillips' rendition, particularly her take on the Underworld. I do wish Aphrodite hadn't been categorized as such a cliché, but that may be in character. I confess, I don't remember much about the Greek myths. Kinda sad that she hasn't written anything since this book, I like her writing style. The Evil Genius Trilogy by Catherine Jinks: I read these a couple of months ago and don't remember a whole lot. However, the fact that I got through the three books lends credibility to their readability. I will state that I found the third book very interesting from a computer privacy perspective. (Essentially, privacy and security controls for anything electronic can always be circumnavigated and there really is no such thing as privacy online. Guys, always beware of the Latest and Greatest in technology because privacy and security controls are usually shoddily implemented to begin with.) Also, I LOVED Sonja. I mean, how many characters are there out that have cerebral palsy and who's a genius in mathematics? Honestly, I would kill for a book from Sonja's point-of-view. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs: A book clearly meant to be the beginning for a duology or trilogy, considering the abrupt ending. Still, I very much enjoyed it and blew through it in one day. I loved the picture descriptions and actual pictures in the book, and I found Miss Peregrine's peculiar children to be fascinating. It was definitely a set-up book and I will be sorely disappointed if a sequel doesn't get written. The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafón: I wanted to love this book after I finished it, especially since the first half was so great. However...I...don't understand the ending. I don't understand it at all. And based on various reviews that I read online, I'm thinking that Zafón left the ending purposely vague, which just annoys the heck out of me. If anyone does understand who Marlasca and David were exactly and can demystify the ending for me, I would very much appreciate it. If no one can, then this sadly is far below Zafón's first novel for me. Granted, the atmosphere and dialogue is top-notch but if I can't understand the plot, then what's the point? Books I Am Struggling With Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater: It's enjoyable enough but I'm halfway through and I've yet to spy a plot or true conflict appear. Still, I love the descriptions of the werewolves. The first couple of chapters particularly grabbed me with the description. Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta: This has gotten such glowing reviews too. But I find myself not caring for any of the characters, which means that I'm stuck halfway through and don't have the desire to continue. I can't even remember what it is about, since I stopped reading it a couple months ago. Something about a book? The Secret Country by Pamela Dean: Halfway through this one as well (I'm sensing a pattern) and by god, where's the plot? I mean, okay, the kids are in their imagined secret country. But all they do is travel back and forth and nothing is happening. And I don't feel that I "know" the kids at all either. Books I want to read but need to buy/borrow: Feed by Mira Grant, One of Our Thursdays Is Missing by Jasper Fforde, Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy and Tom Perciva Things That I Have Watched Recently Colorful (anime movie): Oh my gosh, did I ever love this! I didn't guess the ending at all and it left me pleasantly surprised, always a good thing. The premise is around someone who has committed a serious sin in their past life getting a second chance at rebirth. Their consciousness gets put into a boy who has just committed suicide and they have six months to remember what their sin was in their former life. It unfolds nicely, as we find out the circumstances of the boy's suicide and how the soul deals with the family/friends that are suddenly strangers. I highly recommend this. The Borrower Arrietty (anime movie): Very, very charming. I'm not much of a Studio Ghibli fan (the only other movies I've seen are Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away and I didn't care much for either) but this movie kept me entranced. It's based off of The Borrowers and while I haven't read the book, it was an enjoyable movie. I was particularly amazed at the sound, and how it changed when the narrative was following Arrietty, as if we were hearing normal sounds from her height. And yes, I found myself tearing up at the end. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1: This is a rewatch on DVD and I felt it's a good adaptation of the first half of the book. Strangely, I don't feel much impetus to watch the second part, because the Potter ship has pretty much sailed off into the sunset for me. I'll probably see it in the theaters at one point, but it's not a priority. | ||||||
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July 9th, 2011
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 The current Badass of the Week is a PIRATE QUEEN. No foolin'. I read the entry and man, I want to be Grace O'Malley when I grow up. She built up a crew of pirates and pretty much owned the coast of Ireland. From the article, "She was never conquered, never defeated, and died an old woman living in a giant fucking castle on top of piles of gold coins and 25 year-old studs with rock-hard abs." Fuck yeah, pirate queen! I love Badass of the Week, people can be so amazing. On the subject of PIRATES, I saw the latest Pirates of the Caribbean installment and I enjoyed it! Well, I enjoyed it if I ignored the plot and concentrated on Jack Sparrow being ridiculous and watching the awesome fight scenes. Seriously, it was not the best plotted movie but I don't think movies 2 and 3 were all that well plotted either. Still, now I want to re-watch the first three again because pirates. Er, fictional pirates. Not much has been going on with me, to be honest. I've been mostly playing with Honey, writing/drawing comics, and watching too much anime. I have definitely tripped over into full-fledged territory, which I am far too old to be in, but to hell with it. (Look at me, trying to be nonchalant and pretend I don't care what people think of me.) The new season has a lot of interesting shows, most notably a new show directed by the guy who directed Revolutionary Girl Utena. Just look at all the colors in one frame!  I love it when artists/creators use tons of colors. Such a beautiful first episode, although I wish they would tone down the siblingcest overtones some. On the subject of COMICS, yeah, Hotel Paranoia is still happening. I know, I'm shocked as well! Honestly, if it weren't for chili_das_schaf doing the art, I would've stopped the comic long ago. But lately I've been particularly energized, even putting out scripts ahead of schedule. Also, as you can tell from the link, we decided to get our own site. There's still more work to be done (the layout is quite drab, I know, and the Characters page doesn't have bios for everyone yet) but I'm proud that I have kept up with it.On a random note, I am considering renaming my journal to aliceylain. It's neater and more compact and I like the way it flows. I never thought I'd rename my journal but I dunno. It's not like this is a huge change, so I don't think my friends list will be weirded out. Gotta think about this more. | ||||||||||
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July 3rd, 2011
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 First Panel: "Hey, this doesn't look that bad. It's recognizably timeskip!Zoro! Good job, self! Second Panel: "The hat looks like Chopper's timeskip!hat! Again, good job! Maybe this comic won't suck. Third Panel: "Bottles are super easy to draw. I should draw bottles more often." Fourth Panel: "Failure, failure, failure, failure, failure." | ||||||
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June 28th, 2011
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Holy smokes. This video, right here, is a pure labor of love. | ||||||
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June 26th, 2011
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| Things haven't been great lately. I've been okay, but things have been rough for people around me. My mom lost one of her classes to teach this quarter (which means less money brought in), my dad's lawnmower went kaput (big expenditure), people are work have issues (and won't stop telling me around their issues). This summer seems to not be as good as last summer was. Last night, I took Honey to the local fireworks display and boy, was that a mistake. She was absolutely terrified and I felt horrible about it. She's her normal self today, so at least I didn't inflict lasting damage...probably. Puppy + fireworks = Bad News and I have definitely learned my lesson. ( Some One Piece thoughts of varying interest ) | ||||||
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June 7th, 2011
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| I should know better by now than to not let what people say get me down. In my head, I know I should do what I want to do and not listen to other negative opinions. Too bad that doesn't seem to happen. | ||||||
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May 27th, 2011
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| I NEED BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS. I'm out of recommendations to try and am hankering for something new to read. My current interest of the moment are books set in a dystopian future, but I'm willing to give any fiction a go. Also, relatedly, is The Haunting of Hill House anything like We Have Always Lived In The Castle? I mean, yes, it's Shirley Jackson, so I imagine The Haunting of Hill House is amazing but when I tried to read the preview from amazon, all I got was the Forward where they analyzed the novel. Which isn't helpful to tell if I would like the novel itself! But I liked WHALITC a lot so if it's similar in writing and tone, I'll probably like THoHH. | ||||||
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May 4th, 2011
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| So you know when you really like someone (and I'm talking about like as in they're a cool person and not like as in romantic lurve) but you don't talk to them everyday or see them everyday, just even once in a while, but you keep lurking around them or stalking their online journals and such and you tell yourself it's not stalking because everything is public but you know in your heart of hearts that you're a creeper and you wish you could just poke them whenever and say I THINK YOU'RE COOL LET'S COMMUNICATE MORE but that's just so uncool to say point blank like that and then you write an incoherent run-on sentence about the situation because it seems like a really good idea at the time? ;akjs;dfaionwlekjfaa;ljafsda53a574a5sd2f Anyways, I've figured out why I feel so burnt out. I've got this journal and my RP stuff and Hotel Paranoia and my secret project and the tumblr I just started up and guys? I have enough creativity on a daily basis to fill a thimble, maaaaaybe a nail polish bottle on the best of days. Clearly, I have too much stuff going on for my thimbleful of creativity. The problem is that I don't know what I should get rid of because I want to continue to do everything forever. As well as apparently creep on people who I think are awesome when it's late at night. Well, late for me, I know you kids out there never sleep. This post has been brought to you by the letter "Why aren't I asleep yet?" | ||||||
| comments: 27 comments or Leave a comment |
April 28th, 2011
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| Last night, I told my parents that we need to change Honey's name from Honey to Snorty Morty. She snorts all the time, since she has a squashed nose, and we always tease that we have a piggy in the house. However, I am glad to see that I am not the only one to come up with the name Snorty Morty. THIS POST WAS BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE LETTER "I DON'T WANNA GO TO WORK BUT I HAVE TO SO I'M PROCRASTINATING ON ACTUALLY STANDING AND WALKING OUT OF THE HOUSE." | ||||||
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March 4th, 2011
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| And if you feel there's no passion No quality sensation Seize the young determination Show the fakers you ain't foolin' You'll see me come runnin' To the sound of your strummin' Fill my heart with joy and gladness I've lived too long in shadows of sadness Yesterday, I posted about how I was sad and upset and generally in a funk. I woke up this morning, re-read it, and promptly privated the post. To hell with that. Privilege indeed, my life's pretty damn grand in comparison to where I've been and where others are. Wallowing in sadness brings more sadness and I've wallowed enough in my life. AND SO I DECLARE THIS A LOVE POST. As in, I'm going to write/talk about the things I love for the next two hours. Things I love, things that fill me with joy, things that lift my spirits, things that give me hope. If you want to talk about things you love in the comments, go right ahead. If you want to do a love post of your own, rock on. If you're too sad or depressed or upset right now for this, that's fine. You can come back later when you're in a better frame of mind. This post will be here forever.  Guys, the fact that summer is coming, coming, coming makes me so happy. I adore summer. I don't mind the heat, the humidity. I love the neverending sun, the long days, the lukewarm evenings, the gardening, how everything is so alive. I like spring and fall as well but summer makes me happiest. ( Love cut for length, images, etc ) | ||||||
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February 20th, 2011
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 Timeskip!Usopp's hair is AMAZING. Also, please ignore the artistic fail in the third panel. | ||||||||
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February 16th, 2011
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| I know this is probably a long shot but does anyone on my friends list speak Chinese? | ||||||
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December 19th, 2010
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This week, I:
I'm hoping this week will be uncharacteristically quiet at work. At least, my manager won't be in on Monday and Tuesday. That's always nice because then I don't have to worry about him dumping problems in my lap or asking me questions about things that will likely become problems. | ||||||
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December 12th, 2010
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My friends, the End of Days has begun. The White Death has been coming down and I fear I see no hope for respite on the horizon.
If you're new to my journal within the past six months, I apologize in advance. I have a sincere hate-on for snow, ice, sleet, hail or anything where water takes a solid form and dumps itself on my head from the sky. Winter is a season that I dread loathe despise repudiate and grump endlessly about. Those of you who live in Canada, Minnesota, or anywhere where snow is a frequent occurrence, I don't see how you deal with it. I would deal with it a lot better myself if I had a flamethrower but alas. No flamethrower this year.  On the other hand, Honey LOVES snow. She jumps and frolics and pushes her head under it to snuffle, while I pray that she hurries up and pees so I can go back inside. It is the best thing ever to her. Therefore, I have decided to teach her to eat all the snow off the driveway so that I never have to shovel it again. I'm really glad we have Honey around now. The winter is generally a nasty time for me and having a little puppy who's a source of unending love around has really brightened things up. It's hard to be a curmudgeon when she crawls right into your lap with a chewtoy and sits down like your lap is her own personal sofa. I look forward to coming home from work so I can work on her commands with her and cuddle her, if she'll let me. And when I'm feeling insecure and needy and like noooobody loooooooves meeeeeeee, she is there to give me attention and love me. I've been feeling so needy lately. Please love me, everyone. One Piece continues to be amazing and Usopp continues to be amazing and all the Strawhat crew antics continue to make me happy in my soul. The pacing of he past couple chapters has been rocky but the antics make up for all of it and more. Also, I drew an absolutely ridiculous picture for the last week of the Sanji Rehabilitation Project here and I love it so much that I'm linking it. An artist I am not, but finding humor in things helps me forget about the White Death that will destroy us all. | ||||||||
| comments: 33 comments or Leave a comment |
December 5th, 2010
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| Things I have been into recently! Forgive how disjointedly the below is written. Books I have been reading quite a bit lately, which is nice. I used to be such a voracious reader and that has slacked off in the past ten years or so. I will, instead of blaming myself and my weak attention-span, blame the internet for being too damned interesting. However, when I visited hermione_like this past September, I got quite a few book recommendations from her. (I haven't even read them all yet, she is a book machine.)The Knife of Never Letting Go and The Call and Answer by Patrick Ness - I did not expect to love these books as much as I did. They're kind-of Sci-Fi but with some gender weirdness thrown in for kicks. I really fell into the writer's easy style, the way he writes accents, the new terminology of the world. The first book opens on another planet. All the men has contracted a disease which gives them the ability to project their thoughts on everything, whether they like it not. And the women? They're all dead. Todd the only remaining left "kid" on the planet and during his last days of kid-dom, he comes across a spaceship...with a girl on it. The third book of this series, Monsters of Men, was recently released and I'm hoping to get it for the holidays. Mozart's Sister by Nancy Moser - I was intrigued by the premise, since I didn't know that Mozart had a sister who was as talented at the piano as he was. However, while the writing style is smooth and some bits were interesting, it was a book that didn't really go anywhere. I kept waiting for something to happen and...nothing of importance ever really did. Still, I don't regret reading the story as I liked Nannerl Mozart. I just wish that things had turned out differently for her. Catching Fire and Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins - Both of the sequels to The Hunger Games were not nearly as good as the first book. I hated the book, actually. The drama got too thick and it's possible that there were themes that the author was going for that flew right over my head. I liked Catching Fire more than Mockingjay but not by much. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak - I'm still reading this and I quite like it! It's told from the point-of-view of Death during Nazi Germany about a girl who becomes...you guess it, the book thief. The author has a way of bumping out truthisms during the text that I enjoy and the girl is very likable. I'm sorry that I'm not saying too much about this one but I'm not finished with it yet. TV Shows Princess Jellyfish - I'm watching this on Hulu and I'm ADORING it. Well, adoring it if I don't scrutinize the Cinderella angle of it too much. This anime is about five thirty-something women who are self-proclaimed obsessors and shut-ins in an apartment building they share. Tsukimi, the main character, fixates on jellyfish and while trying to save a jellyfish that's going to die at a pet store, is helped by an incredibly stylish and fashionable woman when Tsukimi fails at interacting with the shopkeep. Tsukimi is a great main character and I love the interactions between the five women in the apartment building. The Walking Dead - I have a severe weakness for apocalypse storylines and this show hits those buttons, basically. All I have to do is shut my eyes during the gory scenes and I'm fine! Essentially, a zombie disease has overrun the world and the surviving humans have to make their way in it. However, I think it's being well-told so far, despite the fact that I haven't fallen in love with any of the characters yet. Glee - *sighs* Yeah guys, I'm pretty much watching it for Sue Sylvestor and the ensemble numbers at this point. One Piece! serrende linked to the Manga Moveable Feast, which is about One Piece this time. I'm really enjoying reading all the essays, particularly the ones by ABCBTom. Also, the Sanji Rehabilitation Project has been going on as well this month in the ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif?v=92.1){kind=small} one_piece community and I have REALLY been having a good time with that and drawing tons of stupidity. Now I know why Oda draws the angry, point-teeth mouths so much...because it's a lot of fun! The manga remains my love and I've been so happy with the past couple of chapters. Having the crew back together again is such a relief after so much separation and I'm really happy that the characters haven't changed too much. | ||||||
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October 31st, 2010
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| So earlier this week, Obviously, this act of excellent taste and generosity needed to be repaid with pirates in return. And so, beneath the cut, a pirate comic for ( bigotebigotebigotepirata ) | ||||||||
| comments: 19 comments or Leave a comment |
October 24th, 2010
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| My mom hates the cold. My dad hates the wet. I hate the cold and wet. So when we need to take Honey out to pee this winter, I imagine it'll go a lot like this. ( Read more... ) | ||||||||
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August 28th, 2010
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THE QUEEN OF TIRED AND OBVIOUS JOKES HAS STRUCK AGAIN. Also, please pretend this is thoughtful commentary on recent manga events instead of me making hand puns. | ||||||||
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August 15th, 2010
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To be honest, mis compadres, all I want to do lately is put my life down in comic form. Thoughtful post? What thoughtful post? Some of the pulled monster weeds tend to slap me in the face as I try to stuff them into the weed bucket. And they try to jump out all the time. It's only a matter of time before one develops that is stronger than me. But until then! *gleefully stomps the freaking weeds into the bucket* Also, you may have noticed my drawing has leveled up. I got a tablet! I'm still figuring it out but it's getting easier and easier to use. Someday, I aspire to increase my artistic talent to a 1.5/10. I expect I'm currently at a 1/10. | ||||||||
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August 5th, 2010
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I bet everyone thought they were free of bad comics. YOU THOUGHT TOO SOON. I kinda feel bad for not cutting this monstrosity. But not bad enough to actually cut it. If I kill anyone's layout for some reason, let me know. | ||||||||
| comments: 30 comments or Leave a comment |
July 11th, 2010
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I would hereby like to crown myself Queen of Obvious and Tired Jokes. FYI, I yanked the sand and cactus from gettyimages, my drawing has not magically improved. | ||||||||
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July 1st, 2010
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I would like to call this comic LUFFY'S INNER-MIND THEATRE.    | ||||||||
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June 28th, 2010
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| SOMETHING IS EATING MY BEGONIAS AND FLAPJACK PLANT. I HAVE IT ON GOOD AUTHORITY THAT IT'S NOT THE NEIGHBORS. LITTLE BUNNY HEADS ARE GOING TO ROLL. EDIT: IT MIGHT ALSO BE DEER. BIG DEER HEADS ARE GOING TO ROLL TOO. WELL, I GUESS THEY WOULDN'T ROLL, THEY'D THUD. BIG DEER HEADS ARE GOING TO THUD. SEE, NOW THIS IS A SITUATION WHERE A FLAMETHROWER WOULD COME IN HANDY. | ||||||
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June 17th, 2010
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You know what I miss doing? Making stupid fandom comics that hash over old fandom jokes. That's what I miss doing!    | ||||||||
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May 2nd, 2010
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| I am attempting to sell things that I don't need/want anymore! If you're interested, please comment and we'll talk price. Books The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (hardback) Saiyuki, Volumes 2 through 7 by Kazuya Minekura (manga paperback) The Good Fairies of New York by Martin Millar (paperback) Black Unicorn by Tanith Lee (paperback) The Illustrated Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo (hardback) Complete Fairy Tales of Oscar Wilde by Oscar Wilde (paperback) Silk by Caitlin Kiernan (paperback) The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (paperback) The Meaning of Night by Michael Cox (paperback) A ton of the old Marion Zimmer Bradley's Fantasy Magazine, most of the issues from year 2000 DVDs FullMetal Panic! Complete Collections (anime) Air Gear, first four episodes (anime) Martian Successor Nadesico, first four episodes (anime) Gankutsuou, first four episodes (anime) Wolf's Rain, first four episodes (anime) | ||||||
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April 2nd, 2010
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| If you have a paypal account and a dollar or two to spare, you should definitely definitely DEFINITELY go to THIS ENTRY on ptps's journal and request an art icon from her. If you do, you will get a lovely icon like I did. GO GO GO! | ||||||
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March 28th, 2010
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    The dramatic conclusion??! | ||||||||
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March 21st, 2010
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    Those are worms attacking, in case my truly superior art skills didn't make it clear. And I would not rule out a Worm Attack if I were you. They could be amassing an army as we speak and we wouldn't know it because they live underground. They could be planning a huge invasion and strategically be converging on major cities and have developed titanium body armor in order to burrow through buildings. This is probably in retailiation for constantly having run them over with our cars and not caring about it. | ||||||||
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February 28th, 2010
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    The flamethrowers would also come in handy in the event of a zombie apocalypse. | ||||||||
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February 18th, 2010
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| One Piece is currently my one tiny little light in the darkness and even that is somewhat dim because this arc. I would never have thought Oda would take his story to where it's currently going. ( One Piece 575 Thoughts ) | ||||||
| comments: 18 comments or Leave a comment |
October 21st, 2009
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| 1. What gives you hope? 2. What's an upbeat, positive song that you love? 3. Tell me about a time where you have messed up during your job, whether it's big or small. You can answer one question, two questions or all three, it doesn't matter. | ||||||
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August 22nd, 2009
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| Somehow, a short sequel to this. No, I haven't forgotten about my requests post, I'm working on them, but I came across this scribbled in my notebook. Title: In The Interest Of Fairness Rating: PG Fandom: One Piece Summary: Luffy and Zoro form a club too. ( "It's not fair," Luffy whined as he threw himself down on the deck lawn next to Zoro. ) | ||||||
| comments: 5 comments or Leave a comment |
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| BONES HAS AN EPISODE ABOUT PIIIIRATES. BEST FORENSIC SHOW EVER. | ||||||
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August 15th, 2009
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| Strangely enough, I feel like writing again. Therefore, I am requesting prompts! They can be from the following series: Revolutionary Girl Utena* Avatar: The Last Airbender One Piece* Prince of Tennis* Psych Harry Potter* The series with asterisks are one I've written in before and therefore have a greater chance of being fulfilled. In your prompt, please use the following format: series, one character, word/phrase/lyric/anything. I am not forcing or limiting myself with regards to length; you might get a sentence or you might get a full-blown story with plot and everything. It shall be a surprise! And now, I am off to look for dressers. | ||||||
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Me and my Bride of Frankenstein
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