Desperately Seeking Sindar

chibisophia @ 2006-07-06T03:08:00

2006-07-06T08:24:27Z

One of these days, I really will sleep through the night, I think, instead of falling asleep reading at 7:30 (!) and waking up at 2am, fully awake and alert. Bah. I wasn't even that tired. (Though now I feel rather lethargic, oddly enough.) The problem is, I'm not lethargic enough to feel like sleeping...but not really alert feeling enough to do anything but sit around. :/

Meh. So far as complaints go, it's only a minor thing, but still annoying.

Still haven't gotten word on that damn letter. Tried calling today, but it went to a voice mail. Left a message...Hopefully they'll get back to me soon. Computer is still being a bit of an ass. Not quite sure what's wrong with it. Tired of my connection cutting out so much.

I think I'm going to skip looking for Valkyrie Profile Silmeria stuff until I've played through it from now on. To my annoyance, I'm getting pretty heavily spoiled even when I'm just looking for info on the gameplay itself or even just looking at general impressions threads. :/ Be nice if some people actually took care not to spoil, you know, major storyline plots and things. >_>

France beat out Portugal, so it's a France v Italy showdown in the World Cup now. Not quite sure who I'm rooting for. France has the guy with the Best Name Ever (Zinedine Zidane), nice uniforms, and a very diverse team. But Italy has even nicer uniforms, and they haven't won in quite a while, I think. Either way, I think, it is guaranteed to be a good show.

GIP: "The Lady Valkyrie is not a fish!"

2006-06-16T09:01:20Z

Yes, so I said I would have an entry on the trip the next day, but that turned out to be a big fat lie. XD It wasn't intended to be one; just got busy with other things and honestly, it wasn't that interesting a trip. When the main highlight is "I saw Mennonites!", the trip is probably not that interesting. XD (Well, the highlight I feel comfortable sharing. The real good news is the news my friend recieved, but I'm sure she wouldn't want me going on about that, so I won't.)

I meant to update more, but it's been quite hot here again. The temperature isn't bad, exactly; it's just that there's this pervasive heat in the hosue that just won't go away, and I don't particularily like sweating, and being in front of anything electronic giving out electricity = ick. X_X Blergh. It's actually taking me forever to write this, beacause I keep getting up and walking around in front of the fan, then coming back to type this. And to think June was the month I thought I'd have updates every day of the week. Maybe July. Oh well, at least I have a ton of stuff to write about. xD

Ah, yes, and I finally added another icon. I figured now that I'm on sponsored plus I really should be taking advantage of the extra space. XD So - Lezard and Mystina. (I tried to include Lenneth, but alas, had to cut her out; icon was too hard to see who the For geeked out entries. Or VP ones. I have a feeling I'll be using them a lot. <3 Especially since Silmaria is coming out soon. I really hope Lezard and Mystina will be in it. They had such a delightful chemistry in the first one; their scenes were easily the best ones, for me. <3

They also easily get the best lines:

- "Basically, I'm consumed with melancholy after a particularly debauched midnight tryst."

- "I didn't know you had such scandalous fetishes, Lezard."

- "I don't know about you, but I paid attention in theology class!"

- "You don't believe me? Come come now, do we really have the time for quarrels amongst friends?"

"WHO'S YOUR FRIEND?!"

- "We mustn't let her thaw out. She might go bad. Ha ha ha."

"Blech! You're sick, Lezard. The Lady Valkyrie is not a fish!"

...Well, I always found them amusing. XD VP is probably the only game I'd ever use two pure mages at once.

My, this entry is getting long and rambly. I started this at midnight and it's damn close to 3:30 now. X_X So I think I'll just announce the rest briefly:

- Finally got screencapping to work. You want anything snatched from a PS 1/2 game, give me a bit of time and I'll do it, if I have the game (I'll try to edit in a list later; too tired now. If it's in my interests or I've talked about it in the past, I've probably owned it.). Especially Suikoden V, ie the Game That Ate My Memory Card. I think I have approx. 900 thousand saves on that game. *dies* I have a savepoint near every major point in the game, I think. It's worse than S3 where I had 1 for every choosable main, one for Luc, and one for the point right before you choose who gets to be FC.

- Does anyone else find themselves suddenly interested in characters even if they've had like 2 minites, if that, of development? I find myself doing that with Maha Sparna this time around. I didn't care about Maha at all the first time I played; this time, I'm kind of looking forward to seeing her. I have no idea why, but dammit, I think I'm beginning to like her. I never took the Armes path(s) yet, though; so it might just be I'm looking forward to that. Which I am. Jidan seems interesting, too, though he's also quite two dimensional, so far...And Shula and Josephine are just bloody awesome, especially Josephine. Best. Narcy. Ever.

- Does anyone else with sponsored plus OR those without it looking at my journal see two advertisement things now? I could have sworn yesterday there was just one, but now is says advertisement twice on the page. Are there two ads now? X_X

Good lord it's 4AM. I need to go to bed.

Layout Changes

2006-06-02T18:26:55Z

Sponsored + made my old layout look weird, and, well, I was getting tired of blue anyway, so I switched over to a dark red. Which is nice. I like dark reds. I wish I knew how to edit that damn blurb out, though; I can't get it to recognize HTML or be otherwise formattable, making it useless to me. I'm not sure how long this layout will stick, but right now, I'm rather fond of it. I quite like reds. Heh, I guess it's appropriate, since according to my horoscope, they are my color. :D The ads aren't annoying me, but if they're particularily annoying to everyone else, I'll stop using this level, I suppose. ^^' Oh, yes, and do ignore the June 1st entry - it's my private testing box for this layout. ^^'

But for now, let's see what other kind of nifty things this level has been hiding....

Now that I've got more userpic space, though, I'm not quite sure how I'll fill that up. I've seen some cute S5 icons I wouldn't mind using, but...I dunno, is it too soon? I still spoiler-cut SV info, and I know there are some people on my friend's list who haven't played it yet. But the character art itself isn't dreadfully spoiley. Not sure what I'll do.

Today's been a slow day, but I find that hasn't been a bad thing. I think I figured out for sure one of my cables for my tv tuner got damaged in the move, which is ...probably the best thing that could have gone wrong, since it'd be the cheapest to replace. Which is also good, since ever since I started playing Suikoden 2, I've been wanting an avatar of the Euram Barows dance. Oh yes. It may be the best Suikoden dancing ever, that one, and I am including the Gen-Gen and Gabocha (or was it Gon? I can never keep the sidekick Kobolds straight) dance in that estimate.

I also came up with what I believe is the best excuse ever today in answer to the question "Can't you get that?"

And that excuse, ladies and gentlemen, is this: "No! My hands are full of meat!"

...Hmm. You may have had to be there.

4 things I loved, hated, and was confused by in X-men 3: The Last Stand.

2006-05-31T08:47:21Z

First, the spoiler-free review: Xmen 3: The Last Stand is a movie I'm pretty split on. Part of me liked it; part of me didn't, and part of me was pretty boggled by it. I'm not comparing it to the comics, as I think the movies are in an entirely different universe, and thus the comparison isn't really apt. (Besides, I don't have a strong-enough background in either the comics to really discuss them indepth; I was more of a casual fan than anything else. I liked the cartoon more.) I thought it was a good summer popcorn movie, and certainly a nice way to escape the horrible heat, but on the other hand…I had quite a few problems with it as a picture. It's certainly not the strongest X-men - that's still X2 - but I'm not sure if it's the worst.

And now, for the spoilers:

The Good:

The Phoenix - Jean Grey having a duality to her character actually made her interesting. I like Jean Grey, but she was rather blah in the firs two movies - Professor X Jr. more than a superhero in her own right. She was boring. In this one, Jean becomes more than just Professor X Jr. Her powers are awesome, and I love the way the Phoenix is introduced as a character more or less completely reliant on instinct. And honestly? I’m glad they didn’t bring in the cosmic forces. I don’t think they would fit well here.

Storm Does Something! - Yes, Storm actually does something besides sit in the background. It’s nice to see her finally come into the spotlight, and actually look like she’s there for a reason. Happy days! Go Storm! Storm was my favorite X-men ever in the comics/cartoon, so it makes me happy that, for once, they treat her as more than a good looking weather machine. She actually acts like a leader, and a teacher, and a member of the team.

Beast - Kelsey Grammar does a good job with Beast, which makes me happy as I was rather fond of ol’ Henry, too. He does a good job of being conflicted; his politics don’t match his personal issues. I wish we would have got more on him. I loved his intro, with him sitting on the ceiling reading Scientific American. *grin* (Though it’s just a nitpick, but I have to wonder – what fool would give up a cabinet post for an ambassadorship?)

Small Details - There are lots of really nice small scenes in this movie that are wonderful. I love in the scene where Magneto moves the bridge, and there’s a family in a car whose doors get stuck and they can’t get out. They manage to survive Magneto’s forces storming the bridge, and when they get to Alkatraz, Magneto slowly glides in right in front of them. He turns back to look at the family, and the mother slowly reaches and locks the door, and Magneto smiles. It’s just a wonderful suburban safety maneuver that makes me laugh. Beast’s outfit not fitting at all. Colossus having Rogue absorb his powers in the training room sim.

The Bad:

Ok Phoenix, my uber-powerful ally – why don’t you sit around for a long while? - We get at least three scenes - maybe more, but I stopped counting at three - saying how Jean is an incredibly powerful mutant. However, her primary use to the Brotherhood seems to be ...sitting around. A lot. She only gets about three chances to use her powers at all in the movie, and most of her time is spent looking good, staring at others. It's quite the waste, considering how interesting her character was. Perhaps it's just because the basic idea struck a hit with me, but I didn't like it that she took the background on both sides of the conflict, in a movie that is mostly about her. It bothers me how passive she is; I don't really get the idea that anything that goes on with Jean/Phoenix is something she can control, and basically her only character trait is to be unstable.

For some reason I can't quite explain, it also bothers me that she is not the one who chooses when she dies. I don't like that it's Wolverine who helps her - no one should have to help her! It’s her fate, and if she’s the most powerful mutant since like, ever, (as the movie keeps pointing out) – she shouldn’t need Wolverine to claw her. I really got the idea that nothing Jeane did in this movie was something she had any control over. (And while I said I wouldn’t compare the comics to the movies, I will say it’s notable that in the comic, Jean committed suicide all by herself.)

Mystique's De-Morphing - It's incredibly stupid Magneto just ups and abandons her at basically the drop of a hat. I understand why the script makers make him do it - it's to show just how much of a zealot Magneto is and how little he cares about homo sapiens, but it makes little sense because Mystique has already been established as his right-hand; she knows just as much as he does, and they've been established as being quite close.

Honestly, I wouldn't want to see it happen, but if they really needed that scene to show Magneto [and the Brotherhood, by extension] as zealots, they should have had Magneto kill her. It would be in character for him - after all, both he and Mystique think of homo sapiens as a lesser state, at the very least. (Mystique even uses "homo sapien" as a curse!) Having him kill her not only shows smartness on his part - removing the only one who really knows his secrets, now that she's a liability - but also allows him to reward Mystique's loyalty by giving her a fate they would both prefer - to be dead, rather than to be less than the mutants they were born as.

This also would have underscored two themes:

1) The Cure - Well, it isn't, and Mystique’s devolution proved that not all of them wanted it. Mystique never would have taken it voluntarily. It would make her death a tragedy; a real political hullabaloo, far more than just a demorphed girl. Now the government has a demorphed dead girl who never would have taken that cure. Magneto could have used her as a martyr for the cause; the government would have to explain around her, and Magneto could use her death to put pressure on the government and convince mutants to join his side by using her death as a rallying cry.

2) The Brotherhood vs the X-Men: Mostly it would establish how hardcore the brotherhood's beliefs are. And it would have established them as a threat, because if that is what they are willing to do to themselves, then what would they be willing to fellow mutants who just dared not to go along with them? Or other humans? It would have heightened suspense.

And considering it had no effect on the plot but a 30 second scene later with the decoy camp, I've got to say - was it meant to be a decoy? Was Raven still working Magneto or not? There doesn't seem to be much subtext in this movie (save the Big Gay Mutant Boyfriends moment in the beginning *snerk*) so I'm assuming she really did betray him, but it really had no point to it other than to show why they recruited multiplication-man.

Clunky Cast Changes - What happened to Nightcrawler? Who is Kitty Pride? Colossus? Where did Beast come in? A lot of cast plusses and minuses, and all of them are very clumsily explained - if at all. I think a lot of it was meant for the fan boys, because so many characters flew past my head and I had no idea who they were. Hey, I haven’t seen the cartoon or read the comics in a long time – and frankly, considering how different the movie universe is – I don’t think I should have to. The cast is also kind of bloated - why is Angel even in this movie? He only goes about 4 scenes, and interacts barely-at-all with any of the main characters.

Draconian Measures - Ok, this is possibly just me, but did it bother anyone else the way they de-powered Magneto? I don’t like that the X-men more or less switched their viewpoint on the cure completely. They didn’t like the idea of mutants being forced to undergo the cure, yet with Magneto, all of a sudden it’s OK? Damn slippery moral slope, there.

The Ugly

I Know Where You Recruited Most of Your Extras - Evidently, Magneto found most of the mutants willing to join him in a cyberpunk convention. Ruins any drama the brotherhood might have had as a collective of mutants of all kind.

Holey Wolverine, Batman! - Dear writers, director, etc - We get that Wolverine has powerful regenerative powers. We got it the first time you had him heal uber-fast after being poked. We got it the second time. We even got it the third, fourth, fifth, and even the six hundred and sixty seventh time. Considering how short this movie was, maybe some development could have gone to other characters instead of Wolverine's amazing healing powers, because we got it the first time.

Dear Wolverine, Do You Like Me? XOXO - This whole damn movie is pretty much a love letter to Wolvie. Great if you’re a Wolverine fan, but considering he’s getting his own spin-off, I was kind of hoping this would be more of a team effort, considering Wolvie’s plot was important in the other two, too. It’s sad that a lot of the Phoenix storyline (which should have been more about Jean, IMO) is pretty much about how Wolverine feels about it. And while I’m pretty apathetic to ol’ Wolverine, his overwhelming presence is what killed the X-men comics for me, and I don’t think his character is so strong that the movie really needed to focus on him so much – especially when he wasn’t as affected as other characters by the two main plots, unlike the second movie (Stryker was the one who gave him the skeleton, yes?), and possibly the first, even, though my memory is hazy on that one.

Death - The biggest thing that bothers me about the film, though is the attitude towards Death it has. So many deaths, and none of it is ever really talked about. It’s like it doesn’t matter that at least 50 – probably more – people die at Alcatraz – it doesn’t even come up again. Scott dies in the first 15 minutes, and everyone forgets about him – Jean and Wolverine don’t even remember him until they’re halfway through their make-out session. Which, in all honesty, I can see for Jeane, who is acting out of pure instinct and really isn’t aware of much beyond that. But Wolverine? Who found Scott’s glasses? Really, really should have thought of it sooner. Poor Scott is such an afterthought, he doesn’t even get a headstone until the end of the movie! Professor X’s death is the only one that is mourned. No one even mentions all the poor people who were disintegrated by Jeane during her rampage, or all the pawns that Magneto sends in first. They just don’t exist as anything but a special effect. It bothers me, because I think any time you kill someone in a film, you need to show some reaction to it. Death should mean something, dammit, even in a comic-book movie.

Suikoden V, Round 2

2006-05-27T14:57:16Z

So....I started my second run through of Suikoden V. So far it's going well, save that I'm having a damnable time getting the Ps2 to connect with dscaler X_X. I'm just hitting the end of the introduction and getting into the real meat of the game. But I'm not going to do everything the same way - this time, I'm going to be taking a ...different approach to recruiting characters. Something I've never done before. It's a wee bit depressing, though.

First off, I won't recruit all 108, since I'm going for the normal/bad endings. My goal is to get as many characters as possible...And then kill as many as I can.

I've never played a Suikoden where I didn't reset as soon as a character was killed. I don't like to kill my characters; the story just feels more complete with everyone recruited, and hell if I'm going to be losing out on that 108 star bonus. It's not like much changes if you kill someone, other than them not being available for play anymore, anyway. And that has always bothered me as well - if, say, Lo Wen dies, then I would expect the other Lampdragon bandits to react to it. But they don't; they just keep going.

But Suikoden V is different. If you kill characters in combat, other characters react. For example, say, Belcoot falls in battle. Not only do you no longer have Belcoot, but Marina and Hazuki will leave your army, never to return. People even write you notes about their deaths. And I want to see that.

So - we have the rocks fall, everyone dies method. :D Optional characters I plan on recruiting for sure:

Belcoot - Expendable. I want to see how his harem reacts.

Bergen - Expendable, though I wonder if Levi will care much...

Cathari - Expendable, but probably one of the to go as I'm quite fond of her. But I really want to know if she says anything about the HVG or what happens to the other characters when she dies.

Eresh - I didn't recruit her last time, because I was all about the Euram Barows, baby. But Eresh is really cute, and I want to see her scene with Shun Min and Lelei. Expendable, but I might let her go to see her ending.

Ernst - Expendable, though I might split file and let Norma take the fall (either one will probably provoke the other's leaving).

Fuyo - Comes with Obaro.

Isabel - The first female Maxmillian Knight. <3 Will be the hardest for me to not ressurrect, as I use her a lot and like her and Mathias tons. Still - expendable, though I might split-file with her and Mathias, just like Norma and Ernst.

Josephine - Recruiting my favorite FASHION DIVA is not a matter of question, but I'm going to do later on, when you've got Shula and the Armes faction with you, and see if there's any extra stuff there - though I kind of doubt it.

Killey - Not killable, but he's got an alternate recruitment scene I'd rather like to see ~~and I've heard he even has extra dialog with Lorelai with it, and I've got to try and see that.~~. I still haven't quite figured out how to get him in the Ceras Lake Ruins' sluice gate, but I will. Oh yes, I will. And I will be severely annoyed if I fail.

I'm also going to split a file and miss him, though, and see what happens if you don't do any of his recruitment scenes - does he still show up in the Twilight Forest? Or in the Sun Castle? (Who the heck tells you to go to the Arshtwal Mountains if not him?) And does Zweig's ending change? I'm pretty sure it mentions Killey by name. The only downside is it takes so long to recruit Killey...Messing up means more or less playing everything-but-the-intro over again. And not getting him is going to screw my parties up badly, because he's just so useful. X_X Who will I replace him with? No one else I can think of is such a good mesh of long distance fighter and mage.

Levi - Comes with the Bergen.

Mathias - Like Isabel and Cathari, hard for me to let him fall without resetting, as the practicioner of divine retribution is one of my faves. Still, I want to see what'll happen with Isabel if you let him fall.

Nakula - Wonder what his death speech is?

Nikea - I like her tons, too, so not hitting reset will be hard. But I'm curious who would say anything about her - Hazuki? Gavaya? Retso? (Well, she eats a lot...)

Norden - Poor unhappy Norden. Sorry, Norden. Maybe you'll find happiness in the next life.

Norma - I'll miss her SS in potch gathering, but I want to see what happens when she dies and Ernst is left.

Obaro - Like hell I'm missing that stupid quest early in the game! Oh yes, Obaro, you are coming with me, and before there's like 15 characters left to recruit!

Raven - Expendable. And I'll have to bring him to see the battles in the New Queen's Campaign this time.

Richard - To take on (and lose to) Childerich.

Roy - Default, but this time, we're defending that headquarters, come hell or high water...

Sagiri - Comes with Nakula.

Shiguri - Comes with Obaro.

Zegai - Expendable. Though I wonder what'll happen with him.

My other big quest? Getting Georg a Saint's Cloak. The Corruption Shell is worthless to him. (Georg's a nice guy, but he ain't never going to be a mage, so +50 magic bonus does nothing for him - a +50 magic defense, though? Georg needs that like he needs a triple chocolate deluxe piece of cheesecake.) So this time, Deathblow Georg...isn't. So far Georg's only ko'ed 5 ~~furballs~~ people (boy he likes to counter attack!), but sticking the Prince in front of him solved that. :P

Lezard Valeth and Ernest Raviede = ?!

2006-05-26T05:47:25Z

To start with: I am not crazy. I think.

So...Something has been irking me for a while about the design of one of my favorite characters in Suikoden V. I know I'd seen something like it before, but I just couldn't place it. And then, looking through some Tri-Ace artwork in a videogame gallery today, it hit me like a ton of bricks:

Is it just me who thinks it looks like someone threw Lezard and Ernest into a blender, and Zweig was the ~~incredibly gorgeous~~ result?

Consider not only the damning physical evidence, but also how weirdly their personalities match. Like Ernest, Zweig is an archeologist/glorified treasure hunter who is rather ...obsessive about exploring various ruins. He's got the same kind of attitude, too. And he even has a much younger female accomplice following him - though unlike Lorelai, Opera's more interested in Ernest himself than any of the ruins he drags her to. ^^;

And Lezard...Well, just the sheer obsessessiveness ~~and nerdiness~~. And the hair. And the penchant for keeping laboritories. And the fashion sense- they both have decided to rock the "short, well-padded coats with puffy pants tucked into boots" look - rather questionable, but wahey, it works for them. It's kind of geeky archeologist chic, I suppose, but I digress....

So....Am I crazy? Or does anyone else kind of see it, too? It's certainly an amusing coincidink, IMO. ^^; I'm laughing at it, anyway. (Ah, for the record, I should probably say I doubt Konami ripped Enix off, but well, I STILL think the resemblence is funny.)

And the sad thing is, I'm quite sure that someplace, somewhere, on the big old internet, there is an MPREG fanfic that explains it all. :p

GIP: "Look at your globe. Pick a spot. It's always morning somewhere."

2006-05-19T00:56:37Z

New icon. My interest in .hack has waned, and azurefire got me thinking about Carmen Sandiego, and lo and behold, I felt the urge to make a Carmen icon. So I did. And so she is.

Once I overheard someone complaining about the people kids hold up as role models these days, and wondering whether kids would commit the bad behavior from things like GTA, ganstra music, etc. To which I say, well, my role model as a child was Carmen Sandiego, and wahey, I haven't been tempted to steal any famous landmarks.

...Though the Eiffel Tower would look great next to my window...I bet it catches light magnificently.

In other news, I have to admit, I'm kind of tempted to move over to sponsored +. New userpics and features would be nice, but I don't know how I feel about the advertising. On one hand, I won't see it, since adblock pretty much takes just about all the advertising on the internets away, but I'm not sure I want someone's first impression of my lj to be "ADS ADS ADS LOL". And obviously, I don't want anyone nice enough to leave a comment be bombared with ads in the process of doing so! I might just switch it over to see how invasive it is.

I'm also going to be redesigning my journal soon. I've gotten bored with the blue, and, well, the "friendly company" atmosphere is kind of, uhm, weirding me out since it was pointed out. So...change! I think I will go back to reds. I like red. ~~And it goes looks good with Carmen.~~ Probably change some of my other icons as well, as I've had a couple of them up forever.

I'm also slowly working through the drabbles and will have what I believe can properly be called a "glut" of them up by tomorrow night. If you'd still like to request, please do, as I enjoy working on them.

I miss those happy music days.

2006-05-14T08:27:20Z

I am very tired, so short entry. My finals are over. :D Now just to wait until grades come out next Wednesday.

For those of ye who have been waiting on a drabble, I've been working on them, and will be finished quite soon - most should be up tomorrow, or, at worst, the day after tomorrow. (Quickest turnaround time ever, for me!)

And if you haven't requested one, please do!. I'm having fun doing them and really would like some more requests to work on. ^_^ Hell, ask for another one if you've gotten one already. So long as it's consensual and not something I'd get arrested for writing, I'm pretty much game for everything. :D

The Spice Girl's movie Spiceworld is on TV right now. Is it sad I kind of miss the Spice Girls? Say what you will about their music - yeah, none of them probably could sing without protools - but at least it was catchy and happy and celebratory, even. Now the pop charts are just dominated by a bunch of screaming emo-boys who write trite lyrics to sluggish songs and the only alternative are hip hop songs where every woman is a whore and every man is a ganster and the whole message is "I am bigger and badder than you."

And I'm so tired of them both. Say what you will about the gleeful pop on the radio, but at least it made the commute to school/work a hell of a lot happier. It's fun to sing along and dance around to "Baby Got Back" or "If You Wanna Be My Lover"; 50 cent and Nich Lachey? Not so much.

Request a drabble?

2006-05-10T08:37:09Z

2 down, 3 to go. Not much happening beyond finals studying. I caved in and bought myself a copy of A Short History of Myth as a present. Looks interesting. I've heard a couple people say good things about Karen Armstrong, so hopefully it'll be a book to enjoy. It looks pretty light, though. (Or at least as light as a book can be that still deals with faith(s) in a serious, hopefully indepth way.) but since it's a book I'm reading finals week, I don't mind.

Also, a meme, stolen from many people (wording's from yubberducky, though):

~~The first 15 people~~ Whoever would like to can comment on this post to request a drabble from you. In return, they have to post this in their journal and write a drabble for you. Post all fandoms you're willing to write for.

Your friends can pick a relationship, a story arc, a missing scene, or pretty much anything they want, unless the author has previously mentioned that they will not write it. They comment with what they want, and you write drabbles and post it in your LiveJournal.

Fandoms I'm willing to ~~draw~~ (unless you love stick figures or really abstract art) write about:

Suikoden I-V, +Rhapsodia
Shadow Hearts I & II
Chrono Trigger
Final Fantasy VI-X (don't ask me about X-2. Please.)
Star Wars - movies
Star wars - KOTOR I and II.
Xenogears (I can't do 'saga, beyond episode I.)
.hack
Dynasty Warriors
mythology (I'm best with Greek/Roman/Egyptian/Norse)

I'll write pretty much anything consensual that isn't illegal.

I will try to get these out somewhat fast. Considering I shall likely have a lot of freetime for a short bit soon, this will hopefully not quite be so delayed. And I really, really would like to try some requests. ^_^; So, uh...please request stuff? :D

What I Get For Looking at SV fanfic When I Should Be Doing My Paper

2006-05-02T05:30:44Z

“…and now it is with great pleasure that I present these medals of merit to the heroes of the Kingdom of Falena.”

...Uhm, you might want to go play the game again.

Shadow Hearts TtNW: Short But Sweet

2006-04-21T03:54:52Z

All I can say is that I'm really disappointed by the amount of T&A in this game (is there a female character with a portrait not wearing a thong? And why does Shania have to strip down EVERY SINGLE TIME she transforms?), but that I really, really love Frank, and have decided that, for now, this makes up for the incredible amount of fanservice. (~~That and the shirtless, muscular Natan.~~)

I want to master the ninja art of unlocking!

(And yes, azurefire, I know I owe you an interview still. I'm done with it; I'm just deciding how to post it.)

chibisophia @ 2006-04-08T18:38:00

2006-04-08T23:40:46Z

You may remember me, long ago, saying I'd do drabbles for the international women's day.

You may also remember me completely forgetting about them.

Until now, when I found the shredded remains in my school folder, and the memory came flooding back. *winces*

So, under the theory of "better late than never", I present to you the first one, scootermcgaffin's request to see Lorelai fic. I'll try to get to the others later this weekend, but it might take me an extra week to get them all done.

I had to scrap my original idea for Lorelai, since Suikoden V pretty much make it very, very un-canon, so you get Suikoden V comedy fic instead. ^_^; And wahey, to my knowledge it’s the first Suikoden V comedy fic, so hopefully that’s something. It might not be great, but, uhm, it exists? :D

Hope you like. ^_^ Crit/comments more than welcome.

Fandom: Suikoden (V)

Rating: PG-13

Words: 1,967, according to word

Characters: All the returning stars from Suikoden II, save a rune mage with perfect attendance.

Pairings: None except perhaps the most canon of them all – Georg/Cheesecake.

Summary: Georg attempts to teach a new unite attack, but things don't go as planned.

Spoilers: Moderate. Spoils all returning characters from Suikoden II save one, a couple new character’s names and a new location, a fairly heavy plot point from very early in the game, and a unite attack (Fate). Takes place after Twilight Forest.

"Alright, let's go over this one more time before we begin. Now, Viki - why don't you start us off?"

"...Huh?"

"...Idiot." Killey murmured. Out of the corner of his eyepatch, Georg could see Lorelai nodding vigorously in response. He turned to glare at both of them, but Killey had managed to pull his hat over his eyes in the few seconds it had taken him to turn around; Lorelai, for her part, had become extremely interested in her whip, examining it over and over again.

He sighed. "Viki, we're going to need to make use of your teleportation powers, alright?"

She nodded. "Where do you want to go? Raftfleet? Haud?"

He shook his head and waved the suggestion away, desperately hoping that she didn't get the idea that maybe he'd like to walk back from Estrise. Again.

"See, what I need you to do is teleport these two over here," he pointed to Lorelai and Killey. "And while I'm charging at the enemy, I want you to drop them in on the side."

"...Are you sure that's safe?" Lorelai asked.

"And then you two," he said, avoiding her question entirely, "fan out..."

"I asked you a question, Georg!"

"...and hit them on the sides, while I take the front." He beamed. "Any questions?"

Through the side of his eyepatch, he could see Lorelai raise her hand.

"I thought not!"

"Damn half-blind bastard..."

"Did you say something, Lorelai?" he said, grinning at her. "Didn't quite hear you."

Lorelai shot him a look that made Georg very glad that looks could, in fact, not kill.

"So, if there's no questions, lets -"

"...She does have a point," Killey interrupted. "How do we know she'll be able to teleport us where we want her to?"

"Look, Viki has an excellent record. She's never teleported us to the wrong place before, hasn't she?"

"...Doesn't mean she won't start." Lorelai grumbled. "Besides, you're wrong. Remember when we were heading to the Twilight forest, and wound up in some weird clearing?"

"Well, I'm sure that wasn't her fault, really; she probably just misunderstood what the prince was saying, that's all - "

"Funny, Georg, I was there and heard him say 'Port Spinacks' quite clearly."

"...Well, His Highness trusts her." Georg frowned. "What's good enough for him is good enough for me."

Killey folded his arms. "The prince also trusted the Godwins, and look where that got him."

It looked like he would have to use the big guns. He hadn't wanted to bust out his secret weapon, but they'd left him little choice. At least, Georg thought, this would end it - he hoped. "Look, I didn't want to bring this up in public, but you two are acting awfully ungrateful for someone who saved your lives once upon a time.”

Lorelai paled. "How did you know about that?! I didn't even tell the prince about that! The only one was...You hired a detective on me, Georg?! That's damn funny. If anyone here needs to be investigated, it's you, Mr. Mysterious!

"What? I’ve never met either her or him before!”

"Hey, wait a second now, let's not get too hotheaded, you two -" Georg held up his hands, trying to deflect any further hostilities.

"Yeah, you'd know all about dissipating problems, wouldn't you, Georg? Problems like Queen Arshtat! I bet the rumors are right. You did kill her."

He closed his eyes. For a girl so often so thick...

“And why me! I’m hardly the most suspicious person here! Look at Mr. Crazy Red Hat here! He’s not suspicious? Or – or her!” She pointed to Viki.

"It wasn't me! I keep telling you it wasn't me!" Viki shrieked, pointing hysterically at Lorelai. "I've never met you before!"

"You LIAR!" Lorelai grabbed Killey's arm. "You were there! Look at her!" She pointed at Viki. "She's the one! You know it, don't you? Tell them!"

Killey, who had managed to do a good job staying out of the fight thus far, glanced up at Viki. Viki stared back. For a moment, there was silence, which Georg's ringing ears definitely appreciated. Who knew Viki and Lorelai could hit higher notes than Cornelo’s DoReMi elves?

"...Looks like her, little girl." Killey finally said.

"See?! I told you! I told you all! It is her! I knew it! Just admit it already, Viki!"

"No, you're both crazy! It wasn't me! It wasn't me!"

Lorelai folded her arms. "I know you're lying, Viki."

"Am Not!" Viki replied.

"ENOUGH!" Georg shook his head. "I'm sorry I brought it up. Jeez."

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are t-"

"…Do I need to show you why they call me Deathblow Georg?"

Lorelai crossed her arms and looked away.

"Eeep!"

"Finally," Killey said.

"Hmph. Now, can we get on with practice? The sun's almost down already!"

Three hesitant nods were all the answer he needed.

"Alright!" he said, faking as much enthusiasm as possible. "You two, get into position! And," he said, smiling, "look on the bright side - if Viki gets it wrong, perhaps you'll finally met those Sindars you're so interested in."

Killey and Lorelai nodded. The thoughtful expression on Lorelai's face - an expression that practically screamed "I'll have to ask Viki if that's possible later" - disturbed him somewhat. He made a note to mention to the prince that Lorelai was perhaps not the best person to entrust the blinking mirror to.

They turned to face each other. Killey secured his hat. Lorelai tightened her whip. They both turned towards Viki.

"Go," Georg whispered.

Viki nodded and raised her staff. There was a bright flash of green light, and Killey and Lorelai disappeared.

That was his cue. Grabbing his sword tightly, Georg ran towards the straw man.

"Go! Go go!" Viki cheered.

The figure was within hitting distance. He raised his sword, aimed for the straw man's chest, and -

- and heard a very loud crack that sounded as if it were almost directly behind his ear. Lorelai and Killey? It couldn’t be, they should have been farther ba-

He felt something fast-moving, squirming, and heavy slam into him.

The next thing he knew, he was on laying on his stomach, and his vision was slowing going black...

Though he could of sworn he heard Killey curse and Lorelai mutter “I told you, Georg!” before it all faded away.

- - -

His head hurt like hell. He hadn’t felt this bad since the morning after he and Ferid had gone to explore that small island south of Middleport and found a well-preserved cask of old Kanakan mulled wine and Ferid bet him he couldn’t drink it all….

"Never thought I’d be sewing up another Queen’s Knight; especially one of your caliber, Georg Prime.”

He opened his eyes. Dr. Silva, looming over his bed, raised an eyebrow at him. “Getting a bit careless, aren’t we?”

He chuckled. “Sorry for the trouble, doc.”

She smiled. “Believe it or not, you’re the best of my patients so far today. The two who came in with you…” She shook her head. “Let’s just say I had to have Murad watch over them while Kyle and I brought you over here.”

Georg winced. “Sorry.”

She waved his apology off. “There’s no need to apologize; they’re hardly the only strong personalities in our motley crew. Anyway,” she said, “how are you feeling?”

“Well, my head and back hurt like hell.”

“That’s to be expected. Does it hurt when you breathe?”

He shook his head.

“Good; they didn’t crush anything crucial then.”

She placed her hand on the underside of his arm. She murmured something he couldn’t quite catch, to herself or him, he wasn’t quite sure.

When she was done, Silva stuffed her hands back into her pockets. “Well, you seem to be doing alright. I want you to stay in bed for the night, but you’re free to accompany the prince in the morning. Can I trust you to obey my orders?”

Georg nodded.

“Good.” She smiled. “You’ve really got them concerned, though. His Highness himself was here earlier; but Lady Merdes finally convinced him to get to bed about an hour ago.”

“I’ll have to write him a letter in the morning.”

“You’ve still got a visitor, by the way. I tried to send her home earlier, but she insisted on staying. Now that you’re awake, you want me to send her in?”

“Sure.”

Silva walked out the door, and Georg slowly sat up.

“Hey Georg!” Shun Min walked – well, closer to pranced – in. “How are you feeling?”

“It’s not the best day I’ve ever had, Shun Min.”

“I’m sorry.” She held up a basket. “My dad wanted me to give you this. As soon as he heard you were injured, he ran into the kitchen. He said this might make you feel a little better.” She offered it to him shyly. “I hope it does.”

Georg curiously reached up and took the basket from Shun Min’s small hands, and delicately unwrapped the carefully folded package.

Cheesecake. He closed his eyes as he took a bite. Good. Extremely good. Retso was a good man, and an even better cook. “Tell your father I give him my warmest thanks, Shun Min. And thank you for bringing it all this way.”

“Thank you. I will.” She blushed. “I have to get back to dad; he needs help cooking for all those soldiers in tomorrow’s campaign.”

“Goodnight, Shun Min.”

“Goodnight!” She turned to wave and smile at him as she walked out the door.

Georg looked around the room. Coast was clear.

He glanced at his cheesecake.

“Hello, gorgeous,” he said softly as he reached for the fork in Shun Min’s pack.

Before he could get in even one bite, however, there was a far too familiar flash of bright green light.

“Viki?!”

“It’s me. I, uhm, I wanted to say I’m sorry.” She blushed and fixed her vision on the floor. “I didn’t mean to send them hurling into you -“

He laughed. “It’s alright. I know it was an accident, Viki…”

“Oh!” She smiled. “You forgive me?”

“Of course. Was it ever in doubt?”

“Oh, good.” She sagged, visibly relieved. “I’ll be heading back, then.”

He nodded. “Goodnight, Viki.”

“Goodnight!” Another bright flash of light, and she was gone.

Georg glanced at the door. No one there.

He smiled. “Now, my darling…” he murmured as he grabbed a hold of the fork.

There was a bright light.

He sighed.

“Yes, Viki?”

“Uhm, I forgot to ask – when is the next training session?”

He closed his eyes. He’d forgotten about that. Another afternoon with those 3?

“Hey, are you ok, Georg?” He felt a cool hand pressing his forehead. “You don’t seem to be burning up and you’re not turning purple…”

“…Never, Viki.”

“Huh?!”

“We won’t have time to practice again.” A lie, but luckily he was a damn good liar. “Lucretia’s just given me an important assignment, and I’m afraid I won’t be able to meet with you guys for a while. We’ll just have to get it right on the field.”

Besides, it was almost true.

“Oh.” She smiled. “That’s a-a-ah-ah…”

“You ok?” Georg felt his pulse quicken. She was close to him. Very close. And he’d heard what happened to those who happened to be by Viki when she happened to sneeze. It had taken them three hours to get Roy out of that locked old storage room.

“’Choooo!” Viki sneezed, practically falling into his lap.

There was a bright flash. He raised his hands to shield his eyes. Up-close, the light was nearly blinding.

When the bright lights faded from his vision, he opened his eyes.

He was still in his room.

Viki was gone.

He looked down.

And his cheesecake with her.

“Damn.” Georg sighed. “What a day…”

Goodnight, Travelers of the Stars.

2006-04-07T07:49:51Z

(Not cutting; no spoilers for anything beyond the main concept of Suikoden.)

108/108. :)

But it's taken a surprisingly long time to get everything done. I'll have to wait til tomorrow to start the final stretch of the game.

I'm of mixed minds on finishing. On one hand, I have a lot I'd like to say on the game, but I don't want to post it until the end of the game in case there are some major OMG moments in the endings. On the other, though, I don't want it to end! I'm having too much fun!

Ah well, all things end in due time, I suppose.

Look for a huge number of Suikoden entries in the near future.

Oooh! And question, but - is Lepant Lepant's last name? Or is Lepant his whole name...? So, for example, if one were addressing Eileen, would she be Lady Lepant? Lady Eileen? Just plan old Eileen?

Seven Squees for Suikoden V

2006-04-03T05:54:07Z

I managed to get everything hooked up for screen captures...but decided I'm not going to start until summer vacation, for two reasons:

1) I want to beat the game first so I can be prepared in taking pictures.
2) I need time to clean out my hard drive for the numerous pics that will be coming. X_X *dies*

Though I might try to get one or two beforehand for iconage. Especially of a certain unite.

1. AHAHAHA I JUST FOUND OUT Lorelai and Killey have different intro speaches if you put them in the same party. [crackpot]I am now convinced their deep, mutual apathy is but a cover for their attraction to one another, or else they wouldn't need to keep saying it over and over. [/crackpot]

I am disappointed we don't find out how they met though. Lorelai's all "He's nearly cost me my life hundreds of times!" and Killey's all "YOU SHOULD TALK, GIRL!" but neither of them is willing to divulge how they met. I wanna know! Were they partners? long-lost siblings? strangers in the night? And why do neither of them say anything when they win? I WANT TO KNOW.

Their unite with Zweig cracks me up, too, especially when both are offended by him in the end. Sindar hunters have big egos.

2. OMG FATE UNITE IS LOVE. Does it ever work? I can't get it to work. But I CAN'T STOP DOING IT. I love that poor Killey's hat gets knocked off. <3 I don't know why that makes me laugh so much, but it DOES.

(Incidentally, Killey ALSO takes off his hat in the bath. Finally! ...Not that I was checking that. Nope. Not at all. And I totally did not zoom in. I DIDN'T. STOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT.)

3. CATHARI! <3 For too long has my party been gunner-free! Before I kind of wished we would have gotten Elza, but oh, Cathari is almost as good. <3 And her weapon's name has umlauts! UMLAUTS!

4. Josephine is the first narcissist I think I've ever really loved. "Clearly this castle was built by an advanced society of FASHION DIVAS." Finally, Esmeralda has company!

5. OMG VIKI/LORELAI/ZWEIG BATH SCENE AND I CANNOT STOP LAUGHING OH MY. Love that Viki is weirded out by them, and Zweig...Oh my, Zweig, I get your logic but why are you naked? And love that Lorelai is not, in fact, bothered by that.

6. GIZEL STOP WEARING THE HOT UNIFORM SO I CAN HATE YOU DAMMIT.

7. I love this game. <3

I'm Playing My Neighbor's KOTOR 2.

2006-03-30T16:00:09Z

Just to say, even though I think adding popular characters to something new just to earn a couple bucks is usually a bad idea, I wholeheartedly support the idea of adding Canderous Ordo to everything. Canderous just makes things better.

...The romance options in this game suck. My Sith lady just isn't interested in Diciple (too lightside) or Atton (still too lightside, but getting there). However, both a vast improvement on frickin' Carth, Mr. Emo of the Skies. Surprised you still can't try to romance the other party members - Why not Mandalore? Or Bao-Dur? 0.o

I am eating a breakfast of the last three leftover beer nuggets from last night. I am not even trying to think of how unhealthy this is.

I Hold This as Proof I am Statistically Awesome.

2006-03-28T18:07:03Z

...Is it sad I am amused by that? Because I kind of am.

Screencapping Ps2 games...?

2006-03-28T02:08:08Z

Potentially Stupid Question: Is there any way to screencap stuff from a ps2 game? I'd really like to get pictures from a few RPGs onto my computer, but alas, I can't figure out any way to do so, and googling isn't quite giving me anything I understand.

Oh, yes, and I keep forgetting to mention - I've written a few of the character entries on theirstar.com. And by a few, I mean "five", whereas John Layfield has written, like, six hundred and ninety two, but you should check it out. It's a nice site, and one of the better up-and-coming Suikoden information ones. Lots of maps. And the gallery is all rare images that I haven't seen anywhere else. The forums are fun, too. So, y'know, you might like.

"Yep. It's you, all right."

2006-03-26T04:15:04Z

Look, I have a lot to say about Suikoden V, and I will later, in a uhm, better written manner, but one thing must be said first:

Is it just me, or is it really weird to be back in this timeframe again? With characters and references to things that happened in the other games? (Lorelai! Killey! Georg! Morgan! ...Ivanov?)

I just got Lorelai back a little while ago. So strange to have her in my party again, considering the last time I was playing a new game with her in it it, well, almost 10 years ago. 0.o And she uses a whip! She's Indiana ! Lorelai. <3

And you know, even though she is pretty much my favorite Suikoden character, I do wonder what that says about me, especially when my first ideas after getting through her part in the story were "Awww! Lorelai has a friend, kind-of!" and "Oooh! I wonder if she killed him?"

And I'm glad Killey's around too, though he won't let me recruit him yet. ;_; I hope he isn't going to be one of the last stars, especially after seeing Lorelai pester/argue with him when he busted out of the prison. (Too long, has it been, since they have bickered! :D)

You know, I never was crazy about ol' Georg in Suikoden II, but I really like him in this game. <3 Georg can have all the cheesecake he wants. (And his banter with Sialeeds is very, very cute.)

Back to the game...<3

I am sad, but I don't care.

2006-03-23T15:59:06Z

Guess who is going home a day earlier because their Friday class was cancelled?

And guess who is stopping to pick up Suikoden V on the way home?

And guess who is waaaaay, waaaaaay too happy about that?

If you guessed me, you would be right, on all three counts.

(Though I have to admit, I am concerned that the store I preordered from didn't give me a call telling me to pick it up. I do hope they have copies. I will be pissed as hell if they don't.)

SNAKES ON A MF'ing PLANE!

2006-03-21T16:10:39Z

I want to see Snakes on a Plane. SNAKES ON A PLANE. SNAKES ON A FREAKING PLANE.

The title along would have gotten me into theaters.

But seeing Samuel L. Jackson snake-whip a man?

I believe it is safe to say I will be there on opening night.

Snakes. On a Plane.

That is the best movie title known to man. I wonder what the sequel will be called?

Also: I knew this crossover was coming! You know, you really only need to somehow have Darth Vader wander by (hey, if the phantom of the opera can get to futuristic England from France and 1911...) and you'd have possibly the biggest conference of deformed-antagonists-protagonists-who-wear-masks. Topics at this conference, I imagine, would include How To Keep Your Mask Looking Sparkley-Clean Even While Dispensing Orders/Revenge, Enchanting/Horrifying Your Love Interest, and 6,600 New and Exciting Ways to Snap Necks. Mostly, though, I think it would be about their girl issues - after all, they all have almost the exact same taste in women. Hell, if Natalie Portman could sing, they'd all have the exact same love interest.

V for Vendetta

2006-03-20T06:58:40Z

I went out and saw V for Vendetta the other day. It is a decent movie - not great, perhaps; I wouldn't recommend if you were going to see one movie in your life you would make it V for Vendetta. But I would certainly recommend it if you were only going to see one movie based on a comic book this year, you should go see V for Vendetta.

I feel a bit bad in even mentioning that, because calling it a movie inspired by a comic book puts it on the same level as Superman or the X-Men. Which isn't quite right, because V for Vendetta is not really like the Supes or the X-men movies; this is not a movie about extraordinary, magical people. None of the villains in this film have superpowers. The main character, Evey, doesn’t either; it is kept somewhat vague whether V does or not.

Speaking of V, I think Hugo Weaving does a very good job of conjuring up a character quite literally without a face in the movie; V wears a mask at all times. And it is well the character does not have a face, because the character himself is so ambivalent. The movie does a good job of not portraying him as either hero or villain, but rather striding the line between. He is somewhat reminiscent of Erik in The Phantom of the Opera, but where as I think one could always say Erik was the villain - if a romantic one, I'm not so sure one could say the same thing of V.

Where the film is at it's strongest is, IMO, the scene where Natalie Portman loses her hair. I won't say more than that, except to say anyone who thinks she is always wooden should check out that scene, because she acts the hell out of it, to the point of almost chewing scenery.

Where it fails, is, IMO, where it is too heavy handed: there are a lot of scenes of the government that pretty much conjure up the Nazi party and Hitler giving speeches in a very blatant way, and I think this weakens the film because the "poor common folk being duped by an evil, evil man" plot somewhat weakens the idea that all people should be able to decide their leader; someone arguing pro-fascism could easily point to Sutler and say, "This is what happens when the plebs attempt to choose a leader." The story itself is overly idealistic and simple and shortchanges the anarchist philosophy that V has. And the setting, despite English landmarks, does not seem very English to me.

But overall, I think it as a movie that should be seen. It is a movie that inspires thought, if nothing else, and we had interesting conversations about it afterwards. And it is a movie that makes me thankful to have a mostly democratic government - even at it's worst, there's never just one guy in charge.

That is the real problem with systems where there is only a singular person or body weilding power; it removes meaningful opposition, and without meaningful opposition there is no one to stop someone from doing anything they want. And for all that people complain about how congress is a pain when it it is deadlocked, I think it is at it's best when it is split, with neither side having a large majority, because it requires both parties to work together to pass something. Maybe changes will be slow, but they will be passed by the majority of the people, and not just because one person or one party wants it. And that idea, to me, is important, in a way I can't quite vocalize, so I guess I should stop here for now.

One last thing: I wonder why this movie got an R? There is a lot of violence, but quite a bit of it is hinted at off-screen, and the fight scenes in there are not very bloody beyond the occasional spray of blood. There is no sex, and the language is - well, not really bad enough to merit the rating. I wouldn't rank it as any worse than Revenge of the Sith, which managed go get a PG-13.

chibisophia @ 2006-03-14T07:24:00

2006-03-14T13:47:35Z

So...*cough* How much does a refurbished PS2 cost these days? Preferably the non disc read error-prone model? Is there any realistic chance of being able to find one for under 100?

I think mine is dead. It no longer reads any discs, and keeps making weird gear-ish noises. I think the disc drive or the laser's dead. (Admittedly, though, I'm no mechanic.)

...It figures my PS2 would run down and join the choir invisible right before Suikoden V and Shadow Hearts: To the New World arrive.

I already new March would be an expensive videogaming month, but I didn't think I'd have to buy a whole new system on top of it.

I'm debating waiting it out for the PS3, but frankly, there's no way I'm buying one while they're really expansive (hell, there's no way I can afford them while they're over 100 dollars!), and I've been burned by buying Sony's first run products before. Besides, god knows when it's actually coming out. The only launch date I could find on the internet was March 2006, which I don't think is quite right.

chibisophia @ 2006-03-13T01:01:00

2006-03-13T07:37:02Z

Who just beat Suikoden Tactics?

*I* just beat Suikoden tactics. Booyah.

About a month or two later than everyone else, granted, but still. X_X

Changed the layout on the journal. Not entirely happy with it; will probably fiddle with the colors later.

chibisophia @ 2006-03-11T06:15:00

2006-03-11T12:18:37Z

So, I'm on Spring Break. I actually went home a day early and bailed out; not a day too soon, I think. Honestly, I really like it there, but the last couple of weeks, tensions have been running high. The last straw was when our next door neighbours bailed for springbreak and left their alarm clock on wednesday.

Their alarm clock that happened to ring contiously for a god damned hour. At 4AM.

After about half an hour, my roomate and I called downstairs to OMG MAKE IT STOP.

...They rather promptly send someone up an hour later, when it was no longer a problem.

THANKS, NIU.

Evidently it didn't spread too far - this is a good thing, as the last person who left their alarm clock on for the weekend came back to AlarmGate 2006. (There was a meeting called about it, even, though it wasn't nearly as amusing as the airing of greviences (my favorite being the person who hopped on the cross for something the former CA - the CA who was there a day in August and then arrested and kicked out of the university, mind you - said) or the "conflict resolution expert" our beloved CA brought in whose solution to all problems was basically to ask nicely for things. Evidently she never has to deal with someone, oh, vomiting in all the shower stalls in the girl's bathroom.)

To blow off steam, my roomate and I went and basically blew our last 20 bucks on an absolutely orgasmic pizza, watched (and snarked) on America's Next Top Model and rented the first episode of .hack//Legend of the Twilight Bracelet.

My roomate's favorite show, and I can kind of see why. It's not high art, but oh my is it entertaining. I'm fairly sure I lost some brain cells watching it.

The girls are pretty; my personal favorite is Wendy, a really pretty girl from New Orleans. I'm almost certain she'll be the next to go, but only because I really like her, and she has a long schnozz that will limit how she can do. (Which is a shame, because her nose is gorgeous.)

Also fond of Nnena, a Nigerian-American girl with an accent to die for - and she's a chemist, which...well I don't know why a chemist would want to be a model, but it's interesting.

Looks-wise, I like Gina (those cheekbones!), but I don't see her lasting long - she's very socially awkward, and they seem to be pushing her to be the asian-american stereotype, which she doesn't seem interested in being. She also doesn't react well to pressure, judging by her gulping down a whole bottle of wine (...among other alcoholic drinks) and having to be practically wheeled out of the restaurant they were in. And she tends to make very stupid statements. But still...those cheekbones!

As far as .hack//LotTB For those of you who haven't seen the first episode, allow me to give you a short summary:

Shugo: "Reeeeeennna!"

Rena: "Shuuuugo!"

Both: "Let's go online!"

Rena/BlackRose: "Shugo?"

Shugo/Kite: "Rena?"

Rena: "Shugo!"

Both: "Let's go to a field!"

Rena: "Shugo?"

Shugo: "Rena?"

*scary monster goes GWAR*

Rena: "SHUUUUGO!"

Shugo: "REEEENA!"

Rena: "Shugo?"

Shugo: "Rena?"

Shugo: *ded*

Aura: *gives bracelet, kiss*

Shugo: Woah! Reeeena!

Rena: Shugo? Shugo!

Shugo: *data drain*

Balmug: *shows up in cool fashion*

Rena: Shug-Oh, who are you, tall, bright, mysterious stranger?

Shugo: DUDE DO NOT TALK TO MY SISTER.

Balmung: *vanishes mysteriously*

Shugo: Rena!

Rena: Shuugo?

I seriously think the voice actors are being paid by how many times they said Shugo or Rena. It's like they only had 3 minutes of plot, so they spent the rest of the time calling out each other's names. I've seen a lot of people rave over the anime, but so far I think I favor the manga. But it's probably not fair to judge it before it splits from the manga's storyline.

Although both suffer from a chronic lack of Helba. At least she gets like a panel in the manga, so we know she's still around, but daaamn, not even that in the first episode. Hopefully she shows up somewhere in there, because there is very little in .hack that is not better when Helba is involved.

Also picked up .hack//A.I. Buster 2 on the way home. Will probably post opinions on it tonight, as it isn't exactly a long read.

Am working on the litle something-somethings. Should have them posted by tomorrow or Sunday at the latest. I hope. X_X

Internetional Women's day

2006-03-08T19:46:09Z

(Idea stolen from sarah531. It was too good not to!)

It's International women's day today. In honor of this, if you give me a female character from any fandom you know I know, I'll write a little something-something about her. :)