lololol I still hate you, WB, for axing the Dragonriders of Pern TV show because you wanted to pimp it up with modern slang and teen-speak. Die in a fire, WB. Just because Buffy was epic doesn't mean all your shows had to talk Joss-esque. I'm only half sorry you turned into crappy CW.

Copperheart Entertainment secured the rights in 2006, and said they hoped to make a movie... no news yet. It was originally projected for 2008 - so much lies. :( I'm hoping something will be made... 20 years down the line. Those were great books - not pure fantasy, but kinda sci-fi! I like things that have a grounding with something.

And speaking of:

The Red is a girl and the White is a boy. Together, they made a red egg! :D Which I abandoned by accident, oops. Resisting the huge nerdy urge to name the white one Riku. Axelle would probably not be a favorable name for red, either.

Wah~ but I picked up two silver eggs in a row! Lucky~



I'll not spam FList with this any more, promise.

Online translation of the Twelve Kingdoms "The Shore in Twilight" novel has been released. Oh, Eugene Woodbury, you make me happy. This novel is where the Kirins of the Twelve Kingdoms go fetch Taiki back, btw.

( Spoilers and BAAAW-ing beyond this point )

You can find links to download 12K eps here - note, it's friend's locked, so if you're curious please kindly ask zanzou_chan~

Last night I went to fishay's graduation party. She got Rock Band and downloaded Portal's "Still Alive" song for it, of which a semi-large number of people didn't know. Here is a brief rundown of a popular saying related to this game:

"The cake is a lie."
This phrase stems from the game Portal. The concept is fairly simple, but nice - you have a gun that can shoot entry and exit portals. Shoot a portal Here, shoot a portal There, and when you step into it you're suddenly at the There location. You with portal gun are put into a series of tests and experiments that you must escape, the prompt being there is cake waiting for you while guided by a soothing if semi-sadistic computer voice. Best game objective ever.

However, at one point, you encounter a room where someone had scrawled "The cake is a lie. The cake is a lie. The cake is a lie." half a dozen times on a wall before ending in a scribble, suggesting they died without delicious cake. :(

The ending theme is simple and sweet. It's the computer singing, after you've defeated the game: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6ljFaKRTrI
But I quite love this British (correction: Jerusalem) band's cover:


(download the band's MP3 here: http://www.missFlag.com/?section=portal )


We do what we must because we can. For the good of all of us. Except the ones who are dead...!

Spoiler, cake is a lie, and the prize is death.

I went to the Original Pancake House this week and it was funny -
Last week, I ordered Apple Crepes, but got half Strawberry.
This week, I ordered Cherry Crepes, but got half Mandarin Orange. This is after the waitress goes "Everything good this week?" and I said yes, but then opened the crepe and it was...orange...
It was the same waitress both weeks and she was all "..." and I'm sure scolded someone in the kitchen. I got free crepes twice in a row! Woo!

Also, last night I went with the Friday Gang to the Dave&Busters restaurant - it has excellent food, and an arcade! An arcade for adults! On each game was a cocktail button! If you wanted a drink, flip it and someone would come by to take a drink order. D8!! That was fun.

Off topic: (screaming "click mee")


Aww little dragonets. Things learned:
- Egg can die if there are too many views versus clicks too early.
- Only start hatching after about 3 days even when reaching "enough" clicks.
- At a maximum, they stay egg for 1 week, then hatchling for 1 week, then get wings and become adults and have a gender and you can breed em. D8 ...or DIE if they don't grow up in time. T_T
- You can have zomg zombie dragons if you kill them and ressurrect them. (Only small chance of success).
- Eggs only spawn every __:00 hour. Refresh for more eggies.

It's a cute waste of time. What to name em...


Edit: And I've been reading Nabari no Ou since I might be joining a scanslation team as a typesetter. I've seen the first two episodes which are real pretty. I like the main char! He's different. As belindabird puts it, he's not a spunky go-getem type you see being the lead in a lot of shonen stuff. Most of the time he acts like he's indifferent to people (kind of reminds me of Ryoma of Prince of Tennis) - but is kind of... manipulative. 8D AKA, he occasionally uses his cuteness to his advantage, with lol results. Let me see if I can dig up a quick scan in a bit.

http://www.onemanga.com/Nabari_no_Ou/3/15/ haha

Also, I'm not 100% sure what his "power" is, but from what understand he could change reality if he wished it (reminds me of Haruhi). But it could also kill him in the process - dunno. Not that clear from some of the scanslations out there.

Overall, this series feels like its borrowing elements from multiple other series (NINJAS, Ninja-Samurai girl?!, uberpowered) but giving its own entertaining spin.

I wonder if the rest of my life will be cooler. I mean... What's the rest of my life going to be like? Think of ALL THAT TIME just waiting to happen. That's gotta be several decades of Something going on. (Knocking on wood.) That's a scary thought. I don't hate mine right now, which is a positive. It's consistent and has normal-level stress, which is more than many people get. The life of an average human in the US is real dull. In other terms, it's like spending hours leveling up (school) only to reach a pretty boring map with hardly any good drops. But hey, you're leveled up, that's good right?

I've probably posted this before a long time ago, but have some happy-cute:

Blaming chibimazoku. And inarticulate, lol.


NOOO MY EGG DIED

A "get enough clicks and your dragon will hatch!" things. Dragonnnn.

In other news, Ally got the Golden Compass DVD and Friday Gang watched it. I want to see all the extras...! I want a Golden Compass. However, the merchandise edition is, what, $150 and doesn't work like a watch or a regular compass anyway.

This weekend has been so lazy, it's nice. Went shopping yesterday and bought a nice outfit, bummed around at home, also my Princess Tutu boxset arrived! Will go watch the extras in a bit (extraaaas). It would be wonderful if all DVDs had the massive amount of extras like in LOTR. :(

And a belated Happy Bday to beckerbell~

Seriously. Why are you on Gaia Online. And selling clothes.




And lol, I fail to find the right items for my Avi cosplay.

Points to those who know who I failed at.

Edited because I like this icon. Maybe it should go with "listen, dammit!"

knowing_shadows linked Yoko Shinomura's Drammatica Album. (Composer for KH, and upcoming FFvs13 music). Download for some really nice arrangements of familiar KH music, and that opera-like song from the vs13 trailer.

Source: Find them here
The Other Promise - a slightly sweeter, slower arrangement of Roxas' theme.
The 13th Anthology - I'm guessing any and all Nobody themes all together?
Destati - I'm walking on stain glass.
Somnus - aka That Song From FFvs13 Trailer.


Why do I feel so frickin cold? Hands = ice.

The cat's hiding under the blankets of my bed. ;o; *Steals warmth*

---
( random chat at the CFUD Avatar chan )

Oh shi- I didn't realize that shounen_gangan now had KHII manga scans. Time to catch up.

I wonder what happened to Sionnachdhubh and her "Color of Joy" fanfic. (Schwarz-centric, post-series). That thing took hours to read. Epic before "epic" was popular. Yeah... last chapter was released in, what 2002 or 2001... site is dead. :( I'm sad it was never finished.

All you fantastic writers out there... I wish you were all novelists. This ensures somewhat a contract to finish and make with the lovely closure.
Maybe I'll write a book someday too. I just need an idea. And a cast. And a plot.

Also: wtf PMS. Getting those "urk" feelings. Mittelschmerz? I just had you the beginning of April, after a 2-month gap. :(


Edit: I bought pita chips... they are SO GOOD. With some hummus and they're the best.

Traffic today was hell. They shut down a major highway, and I tried really hard to follow all the detour signs, but ended up doing a giant 30 minute circle. That in itself was fortunate, since I could have easily ended up Completely Lost, but made a lucky turn that brought me back to square one when I had originally made that turn to go a different direction.

But then I spent the day over at baranoneko's. :D Watched ep 14 and 15 of the new Avatar and cheered. So good. Also, male bonding is FTW. Every single character enormously rocked.

I didn't want to go home and face getting lost again (I'm starting to feel like a comedic side character who has no sense of direction). We watched the first 6 episodes of Twelve Kingdoms, of which is ♥ and Kat has never seen. Seeing now all the references to Taiki they had way back in the beginning.

Also made sushi! I didn't have the proper rice, but we made do (due?) with plain white rice + rice vinegar + sugar + extra water. Avacado is so good. Some time ago my mom told me that when she was a kid, one of their favorite treats was to make an Avacado shake in this manner: Take an avacado, put in glass, put sugar in, and pour milk until glass is full, then stir it up. She made me one and it was really really tasty, but I could only drink half of it because it was so... rich?

Sushi was great, and cute kitties were also great. XU I want a kitteeeen.

The way home was half as bad as the way in, and I managed to make a 15 minute detour all around the city before finding my way to the Intersection of Confusion, which I U-turned and navigated to the right street. The saving grace was that I saw a bluish falling star on the last leg of journey home. Now I'm drinking some Honey Weiss.


I meant to go to the AD volunteer party, but changed my mind... I hope everyone who did go had fun times.

I like what I will term as genmance. It's strong gen interaction with a hint of "something deeper" but can be a variety of Somethings, including strong friendship or Something More. Its where the traditional sense of "Love" with the hearts and lust aren't too prevalent or the point, genmance focuses on the strong relationship and/or friendship between certain people. (In this category, I include most of 12K cast like Youko/Rakushun, Kings/Kirins. Tsuzuki/Hisoka also occasionally fall into this box for me.) And with all the potential pairings out there (slashy or otherwise) - I admit, I actually don't want it to be canon. I'd rather have it just remain between the lines.

Examples:
Zuko and Mai. Their relationship has entertainment potential. However, I am of the opinion it played very badly on screen, and unsatisfying for anyone who is a fan. I felt really embarrassed for the show to watch them. Where's the cute? The evidences of a bond that they could never have with anyone else? The genmance was missing for me.
Other Slash pairings - yeah, most of you are remaining non-canon. Mostly because this is reality and most slash isn't realized in mainstream media, which is fine by me because the fun is in fandom.

Unexpectedly, this turned into a "canon labu-labu isn't everything" rant.
Also, I avoid Romance novels at the bookstore, and likewise I sometimes avoid pure-romance fics. There's nothing wrong with romance... I just rather have it be secondary to the Story. Any romantic side-effect is a bonus, like dessert after a great meal. But if you only have dessert, it's not as satisfying. (But there ARE the days where you just want to eat a tub of ice cream, lol.)

I'm only talking about this now since I purchased the 12K novel and found the slow friendship between chars pretty refreshing! Relationships need to build.


CHANGE OF TOPIC

Random Twelve Kingdoms fic ideas that I will never write because I lack the stamina, and with my track record will probably drop after 2 chapters or until I've sufficiently whetted a handful of reader-appetites. Only for it to end in tears...!

( cut for wtf, lol, and things I want to con someone else to write. Slightly embarassing. )

I slept 11 hours last night. Reminding myself that it is no excuse to want to stay up until 4am to bum online. (Note, I don't wake until 10am anyway.)

(Icon: Nerd Raaaaaaaave!)

After bumming at baranoneko's place for a while today (and watching the HaruToki3 OAV!) I went home and re-watched a bunch of 12k episodes (episode 7!!) and cried.

I wish I could see what kind of person Youko settles into after 100 years of rule. Cool and confident. ♥ I could totally have a girl-crush on her. Maybe she'll have sparring matches with En-ou once in a while - that'd be badassed.

Also, I don't like how the anime translator for the subs used "Queen" of Kei. It's King. It's a title! A job title! Like President or CEO! You don't change it because of gender. "Ou" didn't suggest gender. Emperor or Empress is slightly more acceptable, but Queen is more "wife of the King". Also, Queen almost assumes there's a King, and no, Youko's the one and only top dog.

Someone on my Flist mentioned about the 12K novels a few weeks ago (canis_m?) and the translation/adaptation. I read a chapter from the middle of it just to see, and find I really like the choices they made, and understand why some things didn't use the original terms. (En-ou = Ever-King... it's easier to "think" about). Also, if anyone happens to specify the gender of the King, it's "Lady-King". I'm down with that.

Randomly, I lol at what was the author's process when starting the Twelve Kingdom novels. First, she did Ghost Hunt, which is horror genre and people seeking out spiritual and haunted matters. Then... I believe the next story was of Taiki, but before anyone knew what 12K was. It was a story of a boy with terrible, horrible things happening around him and people dying (Taiki, age 16, back in Japan). Horror-inclined, like Ghost Hunt. T_T And then came the real 12K novels which explained everything.

The author wrote something new after putting 12K aside for the last few years! A new story was released in Feb 2008. You can find more info of it on canis_m's journal as well.

asdf

July 2008 will be an epic month. Until then, Nickelodeon = Dickelodeon.
- The rest of the Avatar: The Last Airbender eps won't air until then
- Despite DVD 3 of season 3 being released supposedly on May 6th, which includes 2 episodes that haven't been aired ("in US").
- Then the final DVD is released at end of July.

However, until then, have some MIGHTY SPOILERY VIDEO (don't click if you don't want). The Season 3 Finale trailer shown at NYCC. (The Inferno).



Also, they apparently showed a few minutes from upcoming episodes at NYCC (of which you can find if you hunt around) - bits from "The Boiling Rock" 2-parter, and "The Ember Island Players".

I'm happy for Avatar shippers: IT WILL BE WAAAAAR. :) So exciting. Squee, I can't wait. XD

Click for full at DA

I lern'd 2 use Overlay, Maw. :U

Note and reminder to self: FINISH COMMISSIONS THIS WEEKEND BEFORE STARTING NEW PROJECTS. YES.


Edit: How do I edit my comments page to not match my LJ layout? ;_; I mean, I want it to be the default generic blue-and-white when reading comments. More roomy.

I was in the Avatar chat chan and someone was talking about actresses they'd like to see portray bitchy evil Azula in the live action, unfortunately one actress being in Japan. She linked this music vid made from the J-drama LIFE. I was curious about the show enough to more or less get the plot run down on dramawiki and watched the last episode. Lesson of the show: BULLYING IS BAD. THE END.

You know, when I see bullying in J-TV, it's aways way more extreme than anything I've ever seen in American TV. D8 I... am really glad to not go to school in Japan. Just saying.

Rundown: Girl A meets girl Z, they become friends. Girl A is a wet leaf, girl Z is pretty and popular (and also real manipulative). Things happen, falling out, possibly involving a manipulative Boy X. Z is all zomgwtfbbq, your life will be HELL now, A. But Boy X eventually gets arrested due to his violent rapey and murdery ways. Girl Z becomes target of the school now. However, Girl Z is... still a bitch!! This is kinda awesome - I don't like it when meanies turn good overnight. Girl A has a semi-touching conclusion with Z, mostly because girl A hates bullying. They will revolutionize the warudo!!

Chars:
- Ayumu, mop girl, the protagonist who is bullied like hell, pretty weak but becomes decently strong.
- Anzai, the antagonist, once-was-bullied-now-bullies-everyone-but-falls-back-to-square-one. Rich, pretty, powerful, in the end all her other "supporters" turn around and bullies her in return. Ayumu and Anzai were friends in the beginning, but things went downhill and asdf the bullying!!!
- Uh, Sako. Evil rapist boyfriend to Anzai? Who is using everyone around him too? And tries to seduce Ayumu, while telling everyone else that Ayumu is trying to pursue him? Oh yeah, and he's nookie-ing their homeroom teacher. CREEPY MAN.
- The homeroom teacher lady, who...I kinda really hate. She is bullied by Anzai herself, and just lets Ayumu get attacked, and even helps in the bullying. Gets better at the end... but!! General note: I dislike characters who stand by and do nothing, when they're in perfect position to change things. DO SOMETHING. Don't be an enabler, or a bystander! Otherwise, you're just a useless body in this life!!!
- Also Miki who becomes Ayumu's good friend who is her spine and is honest girl-slash material.

Anyway, it is true. The actress who plays Anzai would be a pretty good Azula. She apparently won Japan's equivalent of an Emmy for her role in this show.

You might as well watch the last episode of LIFE too - it's kinda satisfying. 30+ minutes. Honestly, I didn't want to suffer through 10 episodes of "I HATE THIS CHARACTER! KICK THEIR ASS!!!" so just watched the last ep.

While I'm working on over-due commission stuff, also working on more YnM fanart. ._.

WIP thumbnail


I think I may have slightly overdid the hair. But. I liiiiiike long flowy hair~

Also, Tatsumi hates me drawing his face. I keep having proportion issues with him, especially next to Watari, who has massive hair-flow. I resized it like 5 times. FINALLY, JUST CHOPPING THE LEFT SIDE OFF WORKS, YES?

-
I bought some hummus today. It is delicious. Then I put on a bit of avocado that I had from my sushi-making and it was wow awesome tasting.

Hey! And I bought for real cheap Fullmetal Alchemist vol 2 on DVD. I realize how much I miss that series - but also how much I groke at season 2, and that I want the rest of the manga animated somehow. Seriously, it needs some Chinese Ninja Immortality Seekers and Panda to spice things up. I suspect they'll just reanimate everything in OAV format after the manga ends, or 10 years after the first anime. Is it still a money-maker in Japan? Go, marketing, go!

Also, chatting with eag! \o/ I miss chatting with people! Especially about YnM! And fanfics! And WIP!

I randomly slept 12 hours Sunday night. That was nice. Tomorrow's Wednesday, I can't wait~ hanging out with people time.

Other topic: Oh Avatar... will you fail to air new eps this week again? sob

:I Because.

And since I probably pimp this fic at least once a year: read it.
Sketchy fanart of fic above (a start of a doujin??): Page 01 02 03
Sooo messy. ;;


...HISOKA SMAAASH~

My LJ has been lacking in doodly art. D:

If I recall, eag had a fic where Riko was a parasitic-type Shikigami, but owned by Terazuma. So, I drew this if Riko had been a parasitic-type for Hisoka. Eeeh, why?! D|



So undignified. Oh well, little cowboy cacti Shiki are probably best being a normal summon.