http://search.deviantart.com/?q=by:swan-swan&section=today deviantART RSS for by:swan-swan en-us Copyright 2009, deviantART.com Fri, 27 Nov 2009 10:37:20 PST deviantART.com http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://s.deviantart.com/minish/widgets/apple-touch-icon-precomposed.png http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/28595525/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/28595525/ Thu, 26 Nov 2009 17:24:14 PST
Apparently not, in my case.

Glad to have the free time, but I'm wasting a bit more of it on this journal...hoping to build up my effort just enough to work, though.

I've got work-work tomorrow, you know, employment, but I don't know when, exactly. Store's closed, so...I'll have to get up at six and call in, just to make sure I'm not working then. I believe I left my work shoes at my apartment, though, so that might be a bit of an issue. I also hope that I can actually wake up, because I'm running on a total of nine hours of sleep since Wednesday morning, all accumulated last night. And I have a LOT of homework. Including an interview with a teacher/neighbor (that's both, not either...she's a teacher who's a neighbor...anyway...), a paper, and an electronic portfolio. I'll be getting to that immediately after this.

I have successfully procrastinated through family bonding, though! Monopoly and dinner earlier this afternoon, and watching Soul Eater last night...finally converting another brother to the show. He's enjoying it. But he's at work right now. AKA, when he gets back, homework stops, watching starts, but that's beside the point.


I also read Bleach 383...*spoilers*

*spoilers*

*Bleach 383 spoilers*

It was pretty enjoyable. For the first time in a long time, that manga has made me flail. And probably a lot of the fandom. Many of whom are vindicated, others proved wrong, and others just surprised. The fact that Captain AgodamI explained a lot of his views also cast a further logic behind the Espadas' deaths, but I still am not satisfied. Not really. It would have been cooler to have them still around. Though the speech would have to be a little different. Actually, it wouldn't have happened at all. But mainly, Captain IwanttobeGod explained his motivations. Put the turkey right on the table and said, "I strive to find those as strong as I am. And surpass them."

Speaking of turkeys, how about that gobbler that Zaraki and Byakuya were carving up back in HM? He's actually making me like the guy a little more. He's not just rolling over and dying (like all the OTHER guys, honestly, WHY, Tite Kubo, WHYYYYYYYY???), but he's sticking to his powerful number. Trying to hold out. It's not going to work, but, hey, if he can take a beating like that without having the stuffing knocked out of him, he's coming close to reminding us that the guys are powerful. Trouble is, no matter how you slice it, he's a giant, so he's not a Vasto Lorde, which means that the awesome element of those guys is still taken as lies.

Haha. Yammy's name has "yam" in it. Hahaha.

Anyway, all the important stuff was happening between Captain Xanatos and Shinji (who took a MOST impressive level in awesomeness through this chapter through SHEER ATTITUDE ALONE), who are ready to start the main course of fighting. And Captain Broken is currently making more spirit-shakers than we've ever seen before, with a dramatic spread of black and shaky particles.

And meanwhile, Captain No1LikesU is actually starting to show something that might strip him of that nickname. Because the way he said it...gives him a little more depth. Which was something he lacked. Which was odd. But now....

I'm excited.

But I also have to get to WORK.

HOMEWORK TIME.


I CAN'T WASTE ANYMORE OF THIS.



And it had better be Black Friday by now, because if you guys are reading this on Thanksgiving instead of spending time with your family, GET BACK OUT THERE.

Unless you're alone. In which case, I am terribly sorry for any hurt feelings and hope that you have better luck next Thanksgiving. Which is not going to happen unless you GET OUT THERE AND FIND A SOCIAL LIFE OF SOME SORT. WORK A LITTLE.

I'M WORKING. I AM MOTIVATED. HAW.

]]> ~swan-swan http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/28351177/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/28351177/ Sat, 14 Nov 2009 10:49:31 PST
Eh, it wasn't really that HARD getting there, but it was certainly much more exciting. See, the website closes from 1:00-7:00 AM, so when I went to check for the exact time (I believed it to be 9:30), I could not find the information. The aforementioned final boss had a hand in that, actually, as I lost track of time and actually lost to the boss once...wasted time, and I might have been done sooner and checked the information....but that's irrelevant.

The point was, when I checked the computer at 7:24 this morning to find out what time the exam was, I saw that the exam was scheduled for 7:30.

Now, I don't run that much, a disappointing lack, I must say, but I pounded out five blocks like they were nothing. The pathetic "breakfast" of peanut M&Ms and last night's spaghetti begged to differ from the "nothing" part, but they stayed in. Of course, even when I reached the seventh block, there were still no buses...finally, one came, and thanks to a lack of traffic, I was able to run up ANOTHER hill and get to a point where I could print up my admission certificate...at about 8:00.

I would miss the first exam, or only have ten minutes to do it, but I would have the next two under control!

Well, I thought so, anyway.


It turned out that the exams were very similar to the SATs, including that absurdly long time they spend forcing the proctors to go over all of the instructions. Information, name, date, location, all that stuff...point being, I was actually there two minutes prior to the examination's start.

A miracle, truly a miracle.

First was reading. Some questions were woefully tricky ("I think the answer is 'a', 'recise,' but 'd', 'small' has a certain promise to it, too...why isn't 'simple' a word here? That's what 'neat' means in this sentence! 'Simple'! 'Organized'! 'Convenient'! 'recise' leans too much in the opposite direction...but it's still the right one..."), but for the most part, it was child's play.

The math section, the one I was worried about beforehand and had actually considered studying for (I didn't) was also very easy. I'm willingly attempting to jinx things here by saying that I think I got them all correct--I dare the exam to prove me wrong. Make me see that it was a challenge. I want to have made a mistake. But I don't think I did.

And then came the writing section, where, after having to run a gauntlet of horrific sentences with deliberate grammatical errors (THE FORMS!!! THE VOICES!!! THE "HAS"ES AND "WILL BE"S IN THE SAME SENTENCES...AAAAAAAAH!!!), I had to write an essay on whether or not I believed advertising needed limits. In which I referenced everything from radio jingles to the creepiness of the Burger King (yes, he made it into my PRAXIS essay...FEAR HIM). I even included the "congratulations, you won!" ads that always pop up around the web! I went wacky, I went serious, I tore that thing apart like Greed tears apart an armored car. And, of course, ended it with a statement asserting my approval of the essay.

Easiest examination of my life. Compared to the SATs (the REAL SATs, not those silly analogy-deprived excuses for examinations that you post-high-school-class-of-oh-fivers had...I kid, I kid, I'm sure they were more challenging than these three wimps), they were nothing. Again, child's play.

Of course, now I have to register for the Latin exams, which will probably be in a whole different league from these. I'm going to have to take that seriously.

I'm also going to have to study for this Contemporary Literature and the Classics exam on Tuesday. Best get started. Sometime soon. You know. No hurry. I've got a post-exam high, and I think that Metroid Prime 2 is going to be a release.




Am I being overconfident?

Yeah, sure. I guess so.

But you didn't take this test. Seriously.


And guess what, neither did I! HA!!! *slaps thigh*

No, really, I did take it seriously. Which was why it was so disappointing....

]]> ~swan-swan http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/28280347/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/28280347/ Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:54:02 PST



TODAY'S LESSON.

TODAY'S CLASS.

The syllabus for this course describes multiple meetings of flailage and plot-forwarding. There are surprises scheduled on multiple pages, and the final pages will count for only ten percent of the overall grade. Be aware that there will be spoilers and Incredibly Lame Puns found throughout the terms. Refer to the online site TV Tropes for further information on some terms.



In our first class, we will be studying the Return of the King. This is not the classic Tolkien book, but rather, a reference to Bradley's sooner-than-expected reappearance, consisting of him getting out of the water in an ominous way. Remember this information, because it will be important later on.

We next move to a continuation of some information from a while ago, involving a character study of Major General Olivia Armstrong and those around her, with particular attention given to her relation with the one called Buccaneer. Several pages are devoted to reminding us how he fell like a wintastic hero against the Wrath of King Bradley, and yet passed away with a smile, which reminds us not to mourn him too much. In this part, we explore a softer side of Armstrong, as this is pretty much the first time she has really had an important figure taken from her--Smith brought out her Mama Bear, but this really hits home. And she turns away and is actually...quite hug-inviting. In the same way that one may want to cuddle a sulking polar bear. But she mans up (though a woman is she!) and continues onward, and that will conclude this section. More will follow in future courses, but this is all that we need to study here. There is also a very annoying political figure who is punched out in yet another one of this series's Crowning Moments of Awesome.

The rest of the course is devoted to the life of Roy Mustang, though the main focus at the beginning is on Riza Hawkeye. She, as you will remember from your last issue, was given a would-be fatal blow (in a very cruel, horrific way). Mustang faces a choice here, and it is designed to make you readers think, as well--what is the value of human life and relationships? Keep this material in mind. Hawkeye, of course, being a stubborn person, not only refuses to let Roy Mustang open the gate, but also refuses to die because he told her not to.

Immediately after, there is a surprise entrance by an unfamiliar figure--Mr. Frog Chimera. He shuts up the meddling Doctorwhonobodylikes and then introduces the legendary, lovable Mei-Chan. Who, along with Xiao-Mei, lays a complete array of butt-whoop upon all of the enemies present, with one of the greatest panels of her that has ever been seen (see page 23 for reference).

On the 24th page, Scar-san shows us all his own "I am going to destroy you" face. Which is scary. And glorious. And does not disappoint--he destroys every fool who touched him. Roy Mustang also owns several clones with their own swords (see Hoist By His Own Petard at TV Tropes).

The next few pages are then devoted to a game of "Inconvenient Keep-Away", which is ultimately won by the interloper, King Bradley of Wrathdom. Of important note, though, is that Mei-Chan could have won the game, but threw it because she went to save the life of Riza Hawkeye. One of the most obvious Mei-Chan/Xiao-Mei parallel panels is there, too, which may or may not lead to Fridge Logic regarding the question "Why didn't Mei-Chan save Hawkeye while Xiao-Mei got the bottle of antidote to the poison Indiana Jones just drank?" (there may not be time to address this in the course, though).

The 29th page is a review day, in which we notice that Mustang FREAKING HUGS HIS HAWKEYE. PULLS HER TO HIM AND HUGS HIM. There is also mention of eye signals--don't forget to go back and study those just to see how they worked.

There is a bit of untranslated text on the next page, that is definitely worth studying. The class is assigned to find out what it means, no matter how irrelevant, and turn in their findings as soon as possible. It is for extra credit, so you are all encouraged to do so.

It is also noted that Riza smiles there.

When classes meet again after Mush Break, though, much attention is drawn to the awesomeness that is King Bradley--coming in to finish off his wearied opponents, with a look of death in his one remaining eye that is TERRIFYING, this is not to be taken lightly. As a Homunculus who has always seemed to be gunning for an "Incomplete" score, he nevertheless continue's to maintain straight A's by being Ambiguous and Awesome. He gives a smile while saying that he is angry, and yet reminds us of how he is not regenerating like the other Homunculi. He spends several panels talking with Mustang about the value of people close to him, and wraps up the unit with a cryptically soft smile. Mei-chan ends th... ]]> ~swan-swan http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/28242548/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/28242548/ Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:00:03 PST
Okay, so, this weekend I went home to work after a rough week that was mainly composed of self-inflicted pain. I worked on Saturday for most of the day, a decent shift that was not too long and not too short. Played some Heroes III with the little brother, got some sleep that night, got to see that the cat actually had a smooth coat (her name is Matilda, and there is almost always a heavy emphasis on the "mat" part..."clump" might be a better word, but....it's nice to see her doing well), got to wake up at a decent time and go to church and participate in discussions with the adults over different versions of the Bible (I contributed in the lingual factor...one thing that I've learned from Latin is that translations of ANY material can leave something to be desired), got some more literary inspiration during the service, and then went home to a house that was...actually acceptable for the Bible-study that night!

Which I participated in, and got to hear some stories from the elders of the church...there are some awesome people there. I mean, a lot of comedies and popular views look down on "old people," but they are AWESOME. Building a house from more or less scratch, including gas and water pipes...they worked hard. And getting a measure of inflation and understanding that you got paid...50 cents a day, with good wages...yeah. It's fascinating.

Still got to go to bed at a decent time, then got up in the morning and went to the doctor's to get a prescription filled out, then went to Giant Eagle and spent the morning shopping with my mom for groceries (she bought me food! she's putting me through college, and STILL buying me food...<3 <3 <3...and I mean GOOD food, like bananas and hamburger and gyro packets and...whatever....it's....<3) before picking up the prescription. Then, I went off to class, got there EARLIER than I usually do, did a decent job translating, and then got my exam from Wednesday back.

A, A-, C, A-. Excellent. Provided I don't drop the ball on the final, I'm going to get an "A" in the course.

So, after that, I went back to the apartment and worked on a Lesson Plan for homework tonight...and then e-mailed it to myself...and saw a very, very interesting e-mail.





I got placement for field experience.

I was nervous about when it would happen, but I FINALLY GOT EVERYTHING TOGETHER AND HAVE BEEN GRANTED PLACEMENT FOR FIELD EXPERIENCE.

LIKE, INVESTIGATING MY JOB AREA.

*FLAILS*

The best bit is that it's at a school of pretty good reputation around here.

It's not student teaching, of course, but it's the next-best-thing.

IT'S A STEP.

It's like, today, things are just going really well.

Gotta go to class soon. Print up stuff for it. All that jazz.

And then...then...I get to come back to the apartment and watch a Steelers game. Steelers vs. Broncos. Big game. Probably not gonna win. But it has been a GOOD day so far. And now I have Black Eyed Peas stuck in my head. Splendid.

And there's a new Fullmetal Alchemist and a new Soul Eater right around the corner!!!




....


....


....and a PRAXIS exam on Saturday. I should enjoy the happiness while it lasts.



ETA: Well, there's the karmic payback or whatever you want to call it. I can't find my cell phone. I've had other people try calling it three times, and it always jumps straight to voicemail, so it's either somewhere where it's out of reception, with someone who turned it off (and is thus probably not planning on giving it back), or it's been destroyed (run over by a car, perhaps). It wasn't too low on batteries, I know that.

It might be out of reception, but the room where it would have been...I scoured it, even the trash can and recycle bin. It just wasn't there.

SO....

If there's still no reception tomorrow, I'll contact Verizon and/or my parents and see what I can do about it. SIGH....


But, still.

Life's fun.

Life's good.

Steelers are down 3-0, but I'm still optimistic.


ETA: STEELERS WIN. STEELERS WIN.



So, all in all, a great day. Except for the cell phone thing.

Which is going to make waking up in the morning VERY difficult. 8(

]]> ~swan-swan http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/28172684/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/28172684/ Fri, 06 Nov 2009 03:52:34 PST
Either way, there was Bleach and Naruto this week. Naruto finally got back to the part that matters. And Bleach, well, it continued being Bleach, and really didn't get anywhere except to actually take some time setting up plot-relevant information. Which was nice.

Unohana just didn't say what I wanted her to say.

*spoilers for Bleach*
*fine, I'm putting spoiler tags*




*spoilers*





I was expecting her to say something that would heighten her own power...let us know that she's on Captain Broken's level...but instead, she actually said something that confirms a number of theories and also sets up another plot point. Now, standard rules of drama say that it can go one of two ways: either Ichigo sees the shikai release and has to find a flaw in its design, or Ichigo will have to fight to not see it. Of course, the money really leads toward the former.

HOWEVER...

Bleach has already defied a number of rules. Perhaps the most grievous violation being "When you introduce a threat that is stronger than the strongest good guys and the good guys outnumber this threat, certain good guys are going to die sacrificing themselves against them." It broke that one to pieces. Words said in dramatic expository tones have proven empty later on.

It is also straying dangerously close to violating the ultimate rule of doors in stories: when a door is revealed to be locked and a key's presence is made known, the key will be used to unlock the door. It's a law that's older than written word. Pandora's Box is an example. Which actually traces its origins even further back to the absolute very beginning, when God put a lock on the Forbidden Fruit. He said, "Do not eat." And Adam and Eve ate.

Trace it onward through every sort of literature. Pandora's Box. The winds of Aeolus. Several instances with King Arthur and his knights. The wardrobe to Narnia. Pippin and the Palantir. Raiders of the Lost Ark. When Luke Skywalker was told to stay behind on the Death Star but found out that there was a door to the princess, he went to that door. Final Fantasy VI. Ocarina of Time. Avatar: the Last Airbender, many, many, many times. Remember Zhao and the Moon Spirit? Aang said that he had no idea what kind of imbalance a murder of the Moon Spirit could bring...and sure enough, we got to have an idea. The third-floor corridor in Hogwarts.

And this is not just literature and fiction. Any number of instances have happened in the Bible, in history, and I'm sure in your lives. Door-peeping might not be the exact case here, but tell me the last story that you've encountered where a door and a key showed up but weren't opened....

Speaking of doors, FMA comes out this week. YAAAAAAAI!!!

Unohana was fun in this chapter.

And Mayuri is back to his old evil ways. Very good. I like him evil.

And Yammy is a complete joke. A JOKE.




Good manga coming out soon, though.


PRAXIS next Saturday. I am...TOTALLY unprepared.


I need to study my math.








Oh, and it's my dad's birthday today. So I'm gonna wish him a happy one.

]]> ~swan-swan http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/28134721/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/28134721/ Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:26:02 PST
How about that.

I'm so slow, sometimes.



New issue coming out soon!

And I have a Latin exam tomorrow that I'm completely going to bomb....*wringing hands nervously*




Also, what do you think the odds are of Ed getting his body back to normal and then having his right arm chopped off when he tries blocking a blade with his now flesh-and-blood arm?

In case you haven't worked it out yet, I post journals when I'm stressed.

Exammmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....................

]]> ~swan-swan http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/28116300/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/28116300/ Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:51:52 PST

Or maybe the other way around.

I dunno, the fanservice stuck pretty well, unfortunately.


[link]

I like how Riza seems to be saying, "Okay, are we done now?"

That concludes my perverted segment...

Not enough flashback, IMHO. Needed more Armstrong. And more...of the wonderful pacing. Brotherhood's good, but it's still falling far short of the manga. Far short. Well, not so much in some parts, but here...definitely. They spliced the part where Riza takes out the guy who ambushes Hughes and Mustang...added to the danger of the battlefield AND the awesomeness of her character. Kimblee's speech didn't go on long enough, either. They left out the "What, did you sign up to kill one person? Ten?" And the subtitles botched his speech. Alas. Bad subtitles can ruin a show.

But overall, it was cool to see everything laid out again. And see the nastiness and magnificence of Kimblee. He should be back soon. And making toy bombs. That aren't really bombs.

Oh, and despite the amounts of Riza fanservice, they never actually explained the part where she tells Mustang to burn her back. Or does that come later? I don't think it does. Where she asks if she can "entrust her back" to him. And thus, he learns Flame Alchemy...


They had May-Chan falling in love with Al, though. Which made me laugh.

OH.

They also cut the awesomeness of Basque Gran!

"Didn't you hear, sir? A large number of the officer casualties are coming from their own men."
*shoots*


Though they DID have his front-line awesomeness. Mister Gran...you're wonderful. And you get Worfed like a n00b.

Wrathley did his whole nasty "One man isn't worth ten thousand" thing and his "Where is God if I'm still alive?" thing. Evil man.

And yet, I still admire the guy.

No idea what's going on next episode. Hopefully we'll meet Olivia soon.





And IRL, my whole life is basically welded together by microscopic threads and about to come apart. Yeah.

]]> ~swan-swan http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/28076923/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/28076923/ Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:41:49 PDT
Not that I need it, really. Or maybe I do.

I slept about fifteen hours last night. No exaggeration. I pulled a random all-nighter the night before, and consequentially...yeah. Wound up still staying awake until about midnight, when I just crashed. Woke up at three in the afternoon. Ugh.

Spent the next few hours of Halloween playing Metroid and other stuff, then went with my brother to a friend's house to watch scary movies. We wound up watching "The Neverending Story" instead. Which was no less scary, of course. But I hadn't seen it since...well...about sixteen years ago, when I had only paid indiscriminate attention. Read the book about five or six years ago...best book ever...and the movie was wonderful. Racing snails ftw. And Falkor has the most cutest face ever. Those EYES....

And now, here I am. Preparing for bed.

And as a heads-up, it's NaNoWriMo. National Novel Writing Month. And hunting season, too. On the....other end of the spectrum.

And it's Candy Clearance Day, too. Buy 'em now! Buy 'em in bulk!


BED!!!


*out*

]]> ~swan-swan http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/28028722/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/28028722/ Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:54:19 PDT
*SPOILERS*


*SPOILERS*


*SPOILERS*





Okay, I'll admit, I actually smiled some here. It was nice. Kubo really seemed to rush the art in this one, so I'm guessing that he's just as eager to change places as we are. No one wants to watch Yammy.

Zaraki and Byakuya continue with their parade of awesome...and Byakuya makes a statement that really made me pause, and was basically the biggest thing I got out of this issue.

"There's no one among the captains of the Gotei 13 who you could be a help to."

And I was just like, "...what?"

Because, essentially, Byakuya just said, "You're strong, but the captains of Soul Society are still all stronger than you. Even if I'm a captain, and I lost to you."

I dunno if I buy that completely, but the point is that he gave valid reason for the captains being able to take down Espada stronger than Ulquiorra.

Now, this STILL does not excuse the whole "Vasto Lorde are stronger than captains" thing OR how the entire situation was handled, ESPECIALLY not the part where the Primera Espada was killed by a shikai, but it's hard to argue when Yammy is getting his legs chopped off by a one-handed, eyepatched Zaraki. I guess Nnoitra DID have the toughest Hierro. Yammy's not even a Vasto.

The overall air of Unohana's appearance was...something along the lines of, "You children have fun playing with the monster, now, but make sure that you clean up the mess behind you." She didn't even care about Yammy. And we know that she's not nearly as arrogant as Zaraki or Byakuya, or even Ichigo. So, we can be pretty sure that this battle is going to be all wrapped up.

Now, how throwing HER back to Karakura Town is going to help matters, I don't know. They've already got too many eligible battle bachelors there and not enough opponents to fight them. She's only going to make matters worse, especially because she's tough enough to take down any one of the three by herself. Even Mister Broken.

Mayuri continues to be very secretive with what he found in the lair of Szayelaporro, with a disturbingly convenient plot hole back home. But, he's Mayuri. He can do that. And as long as Urahara doesn't barge in and save the day, I'm happy. Any misfortune or put-down of that man is received by me with much joy.

Though, there was something about the art in this issue. I know I said it looked rushed, but it also looked...OLD. Like, it reminded me so much of the glory days of Bleach.

It seems almost like he's going to go back and fight Aizen one-on-one right now, doesn't it? They're all going to get their butts kicked. Again. If only the Espada could have helped in the butt-kicking. But no, he wasted them...which defies all logic.

We're having a severe villain shortage in this series. A shonen series of this sort requires a wide array of villains. Every villain gets to fight at least one main character, and the upper-level ones have to kill/have some dramatic effect on the character. Grimmjow, for example, didn't kill any main characters, but he did kick Ichigo around several times and drive the guy to become stronger. Ulquiorra did basically the same thing. The rest of the Espada didn't have that effect, though...and now we're left with three (or four...WW is out there...) significant villains, and about a dozen heroes who have yet to do anything significant. But of the three main villains, one already has his foes laid out (Tousen with fox-man and 69), one has some backstory and interaction required (Gin and Matsumoto), and one is really only beatable by Ichigo himself (Aizen). Wonderweiss is left to be destroyed by any number of characters. Unohana, Yamamoto, Shinji, Kensei, Urahara, Yoruichi, Isshin, Ryuken, Chojiro, Love, Rose, Hikifune, Ukitake, Shunsui....the list really goes on.

It's fascinating how he's written himself into a corner with this piece.





In further news, I tried to find a sword again, and once again failed. While coming all kinds of close. But, now I have to get ready for class. And we're out of toilet paper.

]]> ~swan-swan http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/28004112/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/28004112/ Tue, 27 Oct 2009 22:17:28 PDT
And, sadly, FMA: Brotherhood just had a clipshow episode.

Urgh.




I was actually distressed at first because there was a new theme song. A greatly inferior theme song. Which, from the looks of it, I'm going to have to put up with for the next ten weeks.


Though...there WAS a shot of a certain blond-haired, sword-wielding woman. Which made me flail. Muchlots.


But, yeah. Clipshow episodes are fail, and sadly, FMA was no exception. Especially with the cheesy song near the end...it's like they took all of my episode dislikes and lumped them into one go.


Oh. AND the subber was lazy.

The ending was okay, though. The new ending theme. Though it sounds sort of like a combination of one of the Naruto endings ("ALIVE") and one of the Bleach endings ("Sky Chord"). Mixed with something else. But it did have a cool shot of Ran Fan.


Ah, well. On to a more flail-worthy episode. I hope. Well, it's back on-plot, and Father is in it, so...



In other news, I don't know HOW Bradley walks around with four swords on his hip. You can't go through doorways like that!!!




ETA: Okay, I just watched the opening again. It is AWFUL. The song, at least. The shots are okay. A little weak in the second half...but there is Kimbley and Olivia. And even a vicious shadow. But the main point is that Olivia is a Large Ham in the piece, taking the normal flash shot, lingering for a little while, then doing another shot, and just...yeah. She doesn't leave the screen. Which is just fine. Actually, it's quite wonderful.

]]> ~swan-swan http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/27996961/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/27996961/ Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:10:39 PDT
First stop: Macy's. I know, I know, Macy's is clothes, but they had other stores in the building, including a bookstore where I bought the Avatar magazine....but nowhere in the maze did they have plastic swords.

Next: Rite-Aid. I came VERY close there. They actually had a sword for 2.99 with a thin, straight blade. Further poking even found that they had another one of similar make, but this one was a scimitar-style one. It had the handle I was looking for. I considered buying both and then finding some way to glue the blade of the one to the hilt of the other, but I chose to look around some more, instead. The place was right by a bus stop; I would stop by again.

Next was CVS. There, I found a pirate sabre that might have worked...trouble was, the blade was black, and it had a double guard on the handle; it just didn't seem right. It wasn't perfect, which was all that I would settle for (I spent twenty-four dollars on plastic swords yesterday, if I'm going to settle, I'm settling for those!). So, I went back and just got on a bus after a little more searching, heading out toward Target.



On the way, I pulled out Herodotus, who I had not looked at for a long, long time. And I read about the march of the Persian army. And then I wound up accidentally glancing at a page near the back of the book, and did a hasty double-take to that page because I had seen the word "Amestris." Who, apparently, was one of the wives of Xerxes. This is probably a major "You Should Know This Already," but I did not know this, but now I do know it. Hah.





So, then I got to Target. I didn't go in, though; instead, I went into the store with the big Halloween sign above it, that was nothing but Halloween costumes. And there was a full armory. So, I went there....and they had axes, scythes, chopping blades, clubs, Roman swords, scimitars, long knight's swords...and there, there it was! Straight blade, curved handle, right color, right look, it was perfect! ....except for the fact that the blade was about a foot long. I asked the cranky manager if they had them in a larger size, but they didn't. So, I went to Target. And, well, Target didn't have ANYTHING in the weapons department. Except for Optimus Prime blades.

I then walked around the entire Waterfront area, checking out shops of all sorts, but they were all clothing stores and restaurants. And Costco. I don't know what Costco is, but I tried to find out, but it's a members-only store, which I didn't even know existed, but they sure didn't have swords. So, I stopped in by Barnes and Noble...read some of the FMA manga books that they had...there were a number of entertaining omake bits included, and manga is only fifty times better when you actually read it in a book rather than online...no scrolling, no waiting for loading, clearer pictures, and it all LOOKS right. Sometimes the language is a little different, but it's worth it. I didn't buy any, though.

Then I just gave up, went back...stopped at Giant Eagle...and I saw a place on my return trip that MIGHT have swords, but I didn't have the energy to stop (I had a gallon of milk with me, that kind of thing can inconvenience any trip). But I might head out again tomorrow.

How hard is it to find a plastic sword of that make? Straight blade, maybe slightly curved, with a plain hilt and a curved handguard...they have them at every Civil War battlefield, I know. And the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyworld. I think I actually have one at home, but I'd need my loving little sister and brothers to go find that for me. I don't have means to do that.

Ah, well.

Projects call.



Oh, and I know I'm being picky with the sword, but Bradley's a tough costume to pull off in simple garb. You can't have too many people thinking you're a pirate. And my build's not quite right, so I'm already walking around with one strike.

]]> ~swan-swan http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/27977171/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/27977171/ Mon, 26 Oct 2009 12:48:41 PDT
I just spent thirty bucks in one day....and not on anything academic.

Just free spending. And now I'm just bumping lines because the journal history is blocking the actual text box for some reason. Stupid DA.


I went to Rite-Aid, bought an eyepatch...then hunted around at places like CVS, Giant Eagle, gift shops, and more Rite-Aids, but didn't find what I was looking for. Until, on my way home, I passed by a variety store and saw an assortment of plastic weapons out front.

To the shopkeeper's pleasure, my wallet's dismay, and probably some little kid's disappointment, I bought four plastic swords. Katana/wakizashi-style "ninja swords". They didn't have any proper sabers (curved handleguard, straight blade) or rapiers. They had some REALLY awesome "Spartan swords" (VERY shiny blades, dragon hilt, Roman-style, I was VERY tempted), cutlasses, and too-fancy knight's swords, but I just bought all four of the ninja blades. And I also was able to get a bushy mustache, but I don't know if it's big enough. I have a white shirt and pants, I need to summon my dark shoes, though...but I'm considering trying to find a black t-shirt and overalls. And gloves.



King Bradley for Halloween...or something resembling him...a much punier version.

But you can do a lot with four swords.

Technically, he has five in the one scene with his field of blades. But they only had four. If I come across a cheap saber in the next few days, I'll buy it and use it. But for now...I have almost a complete set.

And I feel that I can get a lot of mileage out of the four plastic samurai swords.

Granted, I'm going to have to skip a few meals this week, but this is one steep bill that's worth it.

And, yes, if I can get a picture of myself and I can pull it off, I'll try posting it. Okay?

I may need to dye my hair, though, too.

But I'm pretty excited about how it all went.



Some cosplay-experts are going to reprimand me for buying the swords at six bucks apiece. "You can find better ones for two!" "They sell those things at dollar stores!" "If the costume costs more than twenty dollars, that's a deal-breaker!"





30 Rock is so awesome.





Oh, but in my defense, I went to a Steelers game yesterday. With donated tickets...so, that was a deal. I, unfortunately, bought some overpriced food. So that's another meal lost. HOWEVER, we won the game yesterday...epically...so, I've been in a good mood.

I have to work on a project, though. Contact my partner.

Halloween!

]]> ~swan-swan http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/27910503/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/27910503/ Thu, 22 Oct 2009 17:31:32 PDT *SPOILERS FOR MANGA 379*
*OR WHATEVER IT IS*
*BLEACH SPOILERS*



Okay.

This week was definitely the week of least anticipation. In a long, long time. I just wasn't that interested. I have two filler episodes to watch...but I'm all involved with FMA: Brotherhood.

Bleach manga, though...well, this week's was a little more interesting than I thought.

For one thing: Yammy was a lampshade. A big one. And it was...delightful. I actually got some respect for him.

Another thing: Ichigo was awesome. Because he was sticking up for the Espada. Which shows that, somehow, Kubo does know that the Espada fellows were all cool. Ichigo wanted to beat up Yammy because he was talking trash about them. So...yeah.

Predictably, though, he failed. When his first blow fails and Yammy says that he's not going to talk himself up, he means that. So, Ichigo failed. And, right on cue...Unohana came to the rescue.

Only, in a touch of unpredictability, it wasn't Unohana. It was Zaraki and Kuchiki. Or rather, Kuchiki and Zaraki. Heh. Heh. Heh. Because Byakuya made it first.

However, as awesome as those two are, I smell a "Hisagi and Kira vs. Allon" moment coming on. Where Kuchiki and Zaraki (who have both, conveniently, already beaten Espada...that's right, Zaraki beat Nnoitra...despite what Ichigo thinks...) both get curb-stomped by the gigantic Yammy. And THEN Unohana whoops him. Or the two men could do it. That might work, as well.

Actually, the only way that I'm going to be impressed with this is if Isane AND Unohana take him down. I mean, Unohana would be awesome, but predictable. Because silly Shunsui has sullied the Espada name by taking down the Primera all by his lonesome, and Aizen has followed up on that. Unohana would do most of the damage, but, really, it would be fun to see Isane helping out. With snow.

Of course, Urahara may also be the one to take him down. See, it has the bookending-feel, and, more importantly, it would be a way to open Garganta to let everyone back to Karakura Town. AND, he's a man, so he can fight and win.

Wow, I've never been this radically feminist. I've actually opposed these kinds of arguments. But, eventually, everything falls apart. Maybe it has something to do with HARRIBEL BEING KILLED BEFORE SHE CAN KICK BUTT. OR HAVE HER BUTT KICKED BY HIYORI AND LISA. And then, of course, Hiyori got curb-stomped. Or curb-slashed. Whatever the case, I'm dubious.

Yammyzilla is fun, though.

I mean...he would be MUCH more intimidating if Kubo had done the SMART thing, and kept Harribel and Starrk alive and impressive. As it was, the Espada are already trash.

Which is stupid. But it's how it happened. However much Ichigo might argue.

Sigh.

There needed to be more Cero Oscuras. More Gran Rey Ceros. More Balas. More...diversity in the fights. Not the elemental rock-paper-scissors.

Let's see what happens.

But I can wait.

In the meantime, I recommend Fullmetal Alchemist. A manga where the Espada actually kill some people, women have action, and everything is plotted out well.

Ugh.

*wibbles*

Reading Ichigo's line again about how he doesn't expect "scum like you" to care about comrades...well...I remembered Harribel. "Apache...Sun-Sun...Mila Rose...you fought well."

She was awesome.

And she died like a...well, a girl.

Puh.

]]> ~swan-swan http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/27844478/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/27844478/ Sun, 18 Oct 2009 21:03:31 PDT
*bounces up and down with all sorts of insane delight*

Also, I've gotta finish getting this discussion lesson together for my presentation tomorrow. I'm thinking of having it be, "Latin in the modern world--how relevant is it? Your thoughts?"

And that's what I'm asking. Kind of. Any ideas for questions I could put forth? I've already got the standards, like, "Is it relevant?", "Have you ever had to use it?", and "Does it have a future?", but I may need more discussion points. And I need an idea for whether or not it can carry over.

Well, it's a bit late to change topics now, of course, but the point is...any ideas on how the conversation might play out would be handy.




...

...MEI CHAN!!!!!!!!!!

]]> ~swan-swan http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/27804090/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/27804090/ Fri, 16 Oct 2009 19:22:20 PDT
SO.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.


Five minutes in, I was like, "This movie is awesome."

Fifteen minutes in, I was like, "Okay, this movie is pathetic."

Some time later, after things got rolling, I just became a big old ball of flail.

It was all the robots. ALL the robots. Any time the robots weren't involved with a scene, I was grumpy. Well, except for some military scenes. But the military was involved with the robots, so, that might have had something to do with it. I even came around to Shia's stalker when she was revealed to be a T-1002 or something along those lines. I began to become suspicious, but...yeah.

Jetfire, yee-ee-ee-ee-ee....*happy shaking*

Mudflap and Skids. I had problems with them on so many levels. It was like...

Big robot goes rolling through China.

Mudflap and Skids show up.

Robot resumes chase scene, Optimus drops out of plane.

Mudflap and Skids talk.

Optimus goes down in battle.

Mudflap and Skids show up.

Devastator shows up.

Mudflap and Skids start talking.



And so on and so forth.


But, I will condense things into a straight list of "Things that made me go :iconkermityay:":

- Ravage. Dear lord, Ravage. Destroying a whole base with a razor-thin spy drone.
- Megatron taking out a submarine.
- Jetfire. Any time he did anything.
- Space Bridges. He made one. I approve.
- Optimus taking on three Decepticons at once. And kicking butt.
- Megatron utterly pwning Optimus with a blade in the back. Doubled as an oh-noes moment.
- Seeing six construction vehicles in Egypt. Yeah. Yeah. YEAH.
- Devastator. Every moment. Except the section mentioned above.
- The US military kicking Decepticon butt. Like...with awesomeness. Such a glorious battle.
- Scorponawk coming out of NOWHERE and destroying Jetfire. Well, almost. Is it Scorponawk or Scorponok? Whatever the case, he was brilliant. I remembered that he was coming a few minutes before he appeared, but that did not make his return unflailworthy. Especially because he DID something. And then got destroyed.
- The Fallen showing up and destroying everyone in his path. While on FIRE. They were very clever.
- Optimus. Freaking. Prime.
- Flying into the air.
- On wings.
- And casually laying a can of pure, undistilled PWNAGE on the Fallen, Megs, and the machine.
- And then following it up by taking BOTH OF THEM ON. AND WINNING.
- "You picked the wrong planet."
- Oh, I forgot. Destroyer using rail gun to take down Devastator in one shot. Yes. I like Devastator. But advanced tech pwnage is win, too.
- Linkin Park. Not the biggest fan, but with Transformers, it just...works. It's like...it's like Frosted Flakes and milk. You know, you can enjoy Frosted Flakes on its o... ]]> ~swan-swan http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/27780864/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/27780864/ Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:36:51 PDT including research, for a whole month, right up until the morning that it is due, and get through it without breaking a sweat...

And then sign up for the PRAXIS exam on November 14th and begin stressing out that I haven't been studying for the past two w...m...years?

It's a month away. Just under that.

Thirty days.

*body turns to jelly*


Thirty days....



I have to study. Study. Study. Study. Thirty days....

]]> ~swan-swan http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/27771890/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/27771890/ Wed, 14 Oct 2009 21:48:32 PDT

NOOOOOOOOOO...




In other news, I have a five-page paper due tomorrow that I haven't started on. Well, I've found a few sources. But....yeah. I have about fifteen hours to do it.

And a lot of that time will be taken up by sleep.


The anime in question is good, though. REALLY good.



I'll be able to watch it in a relaxed manner tomorrow night, though. Because then my paper will be done. Heh. Ah, well. It's bedtime. Sleep...verrrrry important....

]]> ~swan-swan http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/27736301/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/27736301/ Mon, 12 Oct 2009 22:32:51 PDT [link]


*MADFLAIL*



CRAZY BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!




...in SPANISH???


And college...

Development...change...and...AMAZINGNESS.

"SHOULD WE BE HYSTERICAL???"



YES, REX. YES.




This movie is going to make the Tissue Takes in Wall-E and Up look like minor down moments, I think. Man. I can't imagine what it's going to be like for some kids--because I don't think Andy is going to end things like the Brave Little Toaster.




IT WILL BE GLORIOUS.

]]> ~swan-swan http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/27731416/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/27731416/ Mon, 12 Oct 2009 17:30:20 PDT
It's only fair, since I posted a whiny journal a few days back, that I post some happy news. People don't rejoice as much as they should, so I like changing things up a bit. It's not boasting if you've earned it.

First things first: academics. I took my Latin exam on Friday, and I got it back today. A-, B+, A, A-. I was expecting A, C, B+, B, so I couldn't really be happier with my exam. One down. Two more to go.

Also, I got my lesson plan written up for today's class, and I also found out that the assignment for Wednesday is, in fact, due Wednesday. The last assignment for that class was due on a Sunday night, before midnight, e-mailed in, and I had a temporary panic attack earlier today when I thought that that might once again be the case. Hyperbooks!


The day actually started with breakfast at Pamela's Diner...famous spot...never actually been there before...the hotcakes were to die for. Unfortunately, I could only eat one. The other was left almost untouched. But...it was wonderful.

And yesterday, the Steelers won in a good game against Detroit. Titans lost. Ravens lost. Pats lost. Vikings won. All good games. Good day for football.

And the day before that, I had a long shift at work...work all weekend, actually...

But Soul Eater 66 and FMA 100 both came out! And they were AMAZING.

FMA was...so...intense. So much development.

*gags at horrific ending of short on TV*

Oh, my.

ANYWAY...

FMA...yes. Amazing. I love how well she writes that manga. It's spectacular.

Soul Eater was good, too.

I've also started watching Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. That show is wonderful. So well-made. And the Bleach filler episodes are much more satisfying than the manga.

AND, I got out of class early. So now I'm home and watching Heroes. Yay. It's...um...odd...it's....better than before. But Claire has a very dominating roommate.

It's a good day. A good day.

It's going to be rough over the next two days. But I feel ready.

Tomorrow's going to hit me like a punch to the gut. I'll get the results of that Contemporary Literature and the Classics exam back. And it'll be bad.

But for now...I can relax. I can be happy.

]]> ~swan-swan http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/27648740/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/27648740/ Thu, 08 Oct 2009 11:15:44 PDT
And, of course, as I looked at the terms (3 points each, aka, 3% of the exam grade each, AKA...wait a minute...*does the math*...35-point essay...15-point short answers...each one fifteen points? Or three five-pointers? Probably three fifteen-pointers...regardless, that's a total of eighty points, and there were about fifteen or twenty terms, so...what? A hundred and fifty points total? Basically, every term is 2%, so, if you miss three terms, the highest grade you can get is a 94%), more or less randomly selected from a list of about a hundred terms (fifteen or so people, a few works by each, some terms, some French words, a few more people), and, anyway, as I looked at these terms, I began to recognize that they were...not recognized. Not really.

I will put it this way. Out of that list of one hundred terms, I knew about...ninety of them. Down pat. Okay, eighty-five. A few I chose to neglect because we had not really discussed them, others I felt I could easily link up and seemed more relevant to being used in the essay question. Some were even just on sections beyond where we were supposed to study, so, I focused my energies on memorizing the others.

Hee-yooge mistake.

I know 85/100. About five of the terms on that exam were from those fifteen I did not know. Another ten were ones that I barely knew, but had studied, thankfully. One or two were easy points.

And then, to make matters worse, one of the short answers was from one of the works that I did not study because we studied it after the cut-off for exam material.

Now, this professor is awesome, don't get me wrong, I've had him for multiple classes and learned his strategies and knew what to expect. Mostly. But that's why this threw me off so badly. Point: I'm going to be happy if I manage a mid-range "B" on this thing. Keep in mind that I needed an "A." Not "wanted" an "A", "NEEDED" an "A." Maybe I didn't put as much work into it as I could have, but, I certainly tried. And went in there with confidence. No desperation. But...when the material that you have the most confidence in and that the class spent two full classes studying has what amounts to little more than a cameo on the exam, your preparation may not count for much.

But, I can't wallow or waste time with this journal of whinging and whining. Round Two starts tomorrow. A Latin exam, which, mind you, I ALSO need to get an "A" on. And, of course, I have not studied much for it recently due to the fact that I was studying for THIS exam.

But first, I have to prepare for this presentation in my night class tonight. And then go to the night class. And not study DURING this night class. For three hours. So I can't waste this post-exam slump writing. I need to study my Petronius. Heh.

Fortunately, Bleach can yank me out of bed early tomorrow morning, and I may post a review, but don't expect one. I'm not anticipating a dominant chapter.

There are two more exams in this class, though. If I get "A"s on both of them, he'll probably curve me up. I hope.


GRRRRR.

"Tower Beyond Tragedy"....

]]> ~swan-swan http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/27534650/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/27534650/ Fri, 02 Oct 2009 07:12:20 PDT *spoilers for Bleach 376*
*Bleach manga 376 spoilers*

Nothing big to report. It seemed like it might get somewhere, but it spent the second half dealing with Wonderweiss duking it out with Mashiro. It was kind of a cool battle, but I thought Aizen cutting down Harribel meant the end of this silly Espada fail agony. Granted, Wonderweiss isn't technically an Espada, but he is still racking up the clothing damage with Mashiro's scarf. Which definitely earns him a spot in the list of best Espada. Yep.

I was hoping to pull myself out of this angst-forgiveness-anger-disappointment style in some way this week, but...not really.

Aizen is just evulz.

Now, Harribel became super-awesome this week (last week, she was awesome...this week...super-awesome...). Illusion or not, easy-to-see-coming-illusion or not (kurse all spoilers!), that panel of Harribel running Aizen through is a gorgeous thing. Perhaps topped only by her face in the panel next to it.

The panel on the page before it, though, was pretty freaking awesome. With Aizen sheathing his sword as Harribel falls before him...it is a very bow-like pose that she's in, which makes it a really cool panel.

Poor Harribel. Falling for the illusion-chop trick twice. It would have been cool if she had come to that conclusion, but I don't blame her for being tricked five seconds after her betrayal. I give her props for resisting that first wound and continuing to fight.

"I will never let you raise your sword to me again."

And then he cuts off her wing. And Hitsugaya stares in horror. And the shippers go insane. Because really, Hitsubel IS insane. Harrigaya. Which looks pretty cool.

And then we have the two-page spread where Aizen challenges everyone and verbally pwns the Vizard in one panel. And we see everyone else in the others. And then...the action cuts away to the fight I really wasn't that interested in, but turns out to surpass my expectations. Kind of.

Basically, Mashiro doesn't get anywhere with Wonderweiss. Which is good. Because Wonderweiss is a guy I just...don't really like. He's not as awesome as the other Espada. He's just a weapon until he gets more character development (like Crona! ). But I still found myself rooting for the little guy...mainly because he can't just go down after Harribel's been executed because the Espada managed to go 0-10. I'm sorry, Yammy, 0-9. Does Aaroniero's fight make it 0-8-1? Nah, because Rukia lived....0-9. Probably 0-10. What a bad season.

But Wonderweiss is a ball of power, and he manages to take everything Mashiro has and then take her down without fail, even doing the trademark Arrancar tactic of destroying clothing. HA. He wins.

But then Kensei reminds us where we are by saving Mashiro, which sets up Wonderweiss to release, destroy everyone, and then get chopped in half for being too weak.

....I've gotta laugh at Hitsugaya's "...WHA?" face on page 5, though....it's just hilarious.

Harribel's fall is not hilarious, though. It's very sad. Especially because she didn't get a flashback. Which may be a sign that she's alive. Whatever Mashiro says. Though it doesn't seem like Aizen is using Vasto Lorde souls to make his Ouken.

So, maybe he's going to use Plan B, where he releases the illusion from his sword to show that the real Karakura Town came back thirty-five minutes ago, and that they've been destroying the real thing the whole time. Y/N/Mudkipz?

However, Aizen not using the Vasto Lorde souls DOES mean that Harribel and Starrk can just lie there on the ground pretending to be dead ("Oh, please. Ulquiorra had his legs and arm blown off and half his internal organs destroyed and still died because he used too much energy. And Barragan died by his own absolute power. We're not that easy to kill. But let's just lie here until everyone's gone. Then we can go home. And be a happy Vasto Lorde couple together..."). Never Found the Body = Still Alive, in all likelihood. They've both got pretty good scores on the Sorting Algorithm of Deadness, and I really don't think that Harribel's score was hurt at all in this chapter.

I do kind of like Aizen coming back onto the playing field, though. Him getting his hands dirty is awesome. Because he's the villain.




In other Bleach stuff, we had the anime episode. Which was really, really awesome, though it seemed to poke fun at the nerfed-ness of Vasto Lorde by having Muramasa apparently pwn one (for real fun and laughs, Google "muramasa vasto lorde" and see how the forums are doing with this one). That scene was impressive and happy, because I always like the Menos Forest, but I don't buy the Vasto Lorde thing. Not withou... ]]> ~swan-swan http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/27410394/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/27410394/ Fri, 25 Sep 2009 13:57:59 PDT *SPOILERS*
*YOU KNOW. THE SPOILERY KIND*


WELL.

After all of the BSODing is gone and the shock has been somewhat absorbed and the chapter read through multiple times, I have things to say about this chapter...surprisingly, mostly positive.

First off is the whole "Best Bout" thing. That looks cool. I'm not sure which one I would give it to, but I think it might be Barragan's battle. It was a very...Espada-ish battle, and I liked all of the characters. Rukia's fight against Aaroniero was pretty good, too, though the dramatic tone it set for the later battles is diminished a hundred issues later. Or is it? Aaroniero's screams of pain in the end....anyway.

On to the real issue.

We see Starrk, who was apparently able to make himself into an Arrancar without the Hougyoku's power. He actually hinted at that before...saying that "When other Hollows evolved into Arrancars, they split their powers" and such...he never mentions Aizen. Also, when Aizen comes and finds him, he's in his evil-overlord attire, as opposed to his Clark Kent getup. Odds are that he found Starrk and recruited him after his defection. Which I figured before would make sense. HOWEVER...I did make a mistake in this paragraph by saying that Starrk had made himself into an Arrancar. Because after reading the review by Underscore on mangahelpers and re-reading the chapter, I came to one conclusion.

Lilynette is the actual Primera Espada.

Starrk's flashbacks in the previous chapter suggested that he did not know which one was the original. One was, one wasn't. Now, besides the fact that it would just be awesome if Lilynette was the original, the dialogue actually makes more sense with her being that original.

Starrk: "Do you...have a name?"
Lilynette: "...Lilynette. What about you, do you have a name? Even though you're just me."

That's one of the big lines. "Even though you're just me." He's her. She has just met this being, and so, she asks his name. Now, why do I think this means that she's the original? Well, it seems very similar to a child having an imaginary friend. Politely asking the name. It's not a mother naming her kid or a child naming a new doll, or even a father naming his daughter or something on Starrk's end...there's something in the tone. It's far-fetched by itself, but fortunately, the conversation continues.

Starrk: "...Starrk."
Lilynette: "...Starrk."

She repeats the name. Remembering it. Treasuring it, perhaps? Being able to learn the name of someone else?

Lilynette: "...What will we do now...?"
Starrk: "We can do anything."
Lilynette: "Okay. Then where shall we go?"
Starrk: "Wherever."

Here's the real clincher for me. If Starrk just made someone else, he's being pretty antisocial. And, moreover, commanding. It seems to me that the loneliest person in the world would not tell his or her new friend what they were going to do...but rather, he or she would ask what to do. Because, well...there has never been anyone to ask before. Always, it has been his way; wherever she wanted to go, she went. Asking someone else for instructions and directions, letting someone else lead you onwards...that seems more in-line with a lonely person's desires.

Starrk then finishes it off with this line:

"...but let's stick together."

To which Lilynette gives a smile that is pretty much on-par with one of Orihime or Rukia's best. She looks so...content. So happy. And it's that panel that finishes me off on the debate. Take it as the look of a new being entering the world...or else a child who has finally found a friend who she can smile at.

Forever.





It's so much more mushy and adorable that way. I am such a softy. But I'd also like to add (and completely kill the fluffy feeling) that Starrk had expressed envy for the weak ones. Lilynette was, well, weak. I think she put most of her strength into Starrk. Her power and logic all went into his head. Hence, he's incredibly sharp and strong. He makes the decisions and he fights the battles; she just plays around and pushes him to exert himself.

Also, when Starrk splits his form further, he makes more wolves. Starrk resembles a wolf. Lilynette...not so much. Combine this with the way that Neliel shrank down to a pint-sized kid when her power drained out of her, and, voila. You have some pretty interesting fanart that can be created there.

The whole mini-story there is pretty touching. I would have liked for more time to be spent with Starrk and Lilynette. And yet, that might have ruined it...it was very well-done. Especially with the whole final-moments thing.

But someone has no appreciation for touching stories and is just ignoring the Primeras' fall altogether. Nasty old Aizen... ]]> ~swan-swan http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/27404866/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/27404866/ Fri, 25 Sep 2009 06:43:17 PDT *BLEACH 375 SPOILERS*
*FREAKING BLEACH 375 SPOILERS*



WHAT???


WHAT???



WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT??????????

]]> ~swan-swan http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/27392566/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/27392566/ Thu, 24 Sep 2009 13:37:00 PDT

...um...yeah....

Still waiting for Soul Eater's release. I might go read it at another source, but I was really hoping OneManga would put it out soon.

So, I took my time by reading FMA.

And, well...yeah. Once again, I run through a whole series and end up crashing to a halt as I have to wait for the next issue. Le suspense-filled SIIIIIIIIGH....

No spoilers here, but if people comment, then, well, I'm making no guarantees.

]]> ~swan-swan http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/27372599/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/27372599/ Wed, 23 Sep 2009 10:36:38 PDT *NOT REALLY FOR THIS WEEK'S ISSUE, BUT STILL*
*BLEACH SPOILERS*
*IF NOT CAUGHT UP WITH BLEACH, DO NOT READ*




Okay, so...the other night, I realized that Tite Kubo lied with his title. "The Deathbringer Numbers" came about, and the three Deathbringers--Harribel, Barragan, and Starrk--were all supposed to, well, bring death. AKA, kill people. Scary concept. I took the title to mean, "Yes, these guys WILL actually kill. The gloves are off." But, of course, I realized that Barragan failed to do so. And thus, Tite Kubo failed titles 4evah.


....until last night.

When I realized the potential GENIUS behind the man.

...to a point. Not exactly genius. But...

The lightbulb clicked on.

Because the fact is that in the Deathbringer Numbers...Barragan never actually reveals his number.

We see that Starrk is Number One. And Harribel is Number Three. 1 and 3. Those are the Deathbringer Numbers. Barragan's number is not revealed, it is just left to remain there by process of elimination. Since he's not 1 and he's not 3, he has to be 2.

Well, he could have been 0, which would have been another twist, but he's not that tricky.

The point is, the Deathbringer reputation is still in one piece. Kind of. They still haven't actually KILLED anyone. Starrk may have earned his title, as his backstory thing suggested that he brought death wherever he went, but I'm still hoping that the freaking Primera Espada can kill someone. I was hoping that Love and-or Rose would be exempt from the "last-minute-save" shield, but alas, they were not. Starrk crushing two ex-captains would have been awesome, though.

Harribel also has to do some damage. Poor girl's FRACCION did more than she has. Except for an ice clone. She had a kill for two weeks. One issue. And then it was taken from her.

But, yes. The main point of this is, Barragan was never actually a Deathbringer because his number was not revealed. Hahahaha. Take THAT, assumption!



Oh, last night's episode of Bleach was also pretty decent. Hinamori's confrontation with Tobiume...who is remarkably similar to Sun-Sun....and had pretty nice reasons for being grumpy with Hinamori.

Hinamori. The one timeline-buster in this saga, really. There are a few others, but she's the big one. Ah, well. I prefer this to her being hospitalized AGAIN. She probably will end up injured at the end of the arc, a la Rukia from the Bount section, but...watching her and Rangiku being awesome together is fun.

Oh, speaking of Muramasa, if you were wondering why the video game is so awesome, here's one of the soundtrack pieces that I'm listening to: [link]

Glorious.

]]> ~swan-swan http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/27310140/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/27310140/ Sat, 19 Sep 2009 23:02:14 PDT
Spoilers for Bleach to follow.

People who have read the manga and watched the anime are probably VERY familiar with the fact that the anime makes some stuff up. Sometimes, it's pretty awesome, like Soifon attempting to punch Omaeda for a second time, but him anticipating the move and receiving a kick between the legs in return. Sometimes, they're a little frustrating for the story's pace, but still enjoyable to watch, like Soifon's super-sleuthing of Urahara in the Turn Back the Pendulum arc. And sometimes, they're just downright dumb, like portions of the Bount arc and the Arrancar Rebellion section. Okay, it wasn't downright dumb, but it was still lacking...and there were some things with the mod-souls....but the point is, despite the times that the story is held back by filler scenes, there are occasional gems and/or treasure troves of awesomeness. Casting about rather quickly, with some thought, I ranked my top ten favorite scenes of filler-ness. Some of these aren't so much scenes as arcs, but the point is the same.



10: The real-world filler episodes where all of the Shinigami got their own moment-in-the-spotlight episodes. Besides being perfectly timed in that month of inaction between Grimmjow's first attack and the Espada's move, they were all very amusing. Particularly Hitsugaya's soccer (football!) episode. It was the classic story. With...Hitsugaya. Underdog team against the big bullies. It was cute. And nicely developed. Perhaps not quite as awesome as the episode where Ikkaku teaches the kendo team (pure unadulterated win), but more awesome than the caketastic episode where Yumichika learns to cook. And we hang out with Hanatarou and Rin. They were fun ways to spend time, and, unlike the later filler episodes, they worked perfectly in the time frame.
9: The cloning Arrancar filler arc that preceded those episodes. Again, it was perfectly timed, and it had a plot that was actually decent. There were risks, drama, and even a bit more tension than the actual canon normally induces. Getting the viewers attached to filler characters, who are more or less expendable, takes some doing. It was also a fun way to showcase the powers of the sentry Shinigami. It played out like a particularly awesome piece of fanfiction, though, unfortunately, the animation wasn't that top-notch. Still, though, it managed to be a filler arc that did not interfere with the canon and yet remained interesting. They even took note of the fact that Hitsugaya had his limiter on the whole time, so it's not like the Arrancar in that arc was even comparable to the Espada.
8: Hitsugaya vs. Ichimaru. One of the first filler scenes ever, it was not really a "filler" so much as "making the fight worthwhile." In the manga, Ichimaru and Hitsugaya's fight is pretty much a swipe, another swipe, a release of the sword, weather manipulation, and then the dramatic finish. The anime took it up a few notches by having a full-fledged swordfight beforehand, with moves such kicking, cloth-throwing, chain-swinging, and even stab-spamming...anime-style. And that was all before things got serious. For the early stage of the story, in the time when there was actually more talking than fighting (now, there's about the same amount of talking as fighting...because they do it at the same time...economizing!), it was a really, really awesome addition. And it's still fun to watch.
7: Findor vs. Hisagi. On the opposite end of the spectrum from the Hitsugaya-Ichimaru fight, we actually had fighting tossed on top of MORE fighting. And, somehow...they pulled it off. Findor really only got a few moments in the manga where he was awesome, then he released. And quickly got his butt kicked. In the anime, though, he spends pretty much the whole first half of the episode kicking Hisagi's tail, with bala-spams, ceros, and dramatic music. And the animation is killer. It made his release all the more fearsome, and Hisagi's comeback all the more impressive. It also kept the pace of the whole fight steady, allowing the ending twist to fall perfectly. All in all, it's another scene worth watching several times, and one that I approve of fully.
6: The extra scenes of Episode 46. There are several bonus bits of Hinamori watching Aizen, Renji failing at Kido, Kira having training time, and even Aizen pwning a gigantic Hollow. What's more, all of the extra scenes fit so perfectly, the actual manga chapter that it's based on seems a little lacking upon re-read.
5: Renji vs. Zabimaru/Ichigo vs. Muramasa. Yeah. A scene from this filler arc made it in. Actually, this filler arc is far from bad, but it's still interesting to me that a scene like this made me so excited. There was just a...total crowni... ]]> ~swan-swan http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/27287274/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/27287274/ Fri, 18 Sep 2009 19:17:15 PDT
After MUCH delay and ado and such, I finally got to see Star Trek.

It was pretty darn awesome.


Spoilers ahead, obviously.

Though, as I'm pretty much the LAST person on Earth, Romulus, or Vulcan to see that movie, I don't think it matters that much.

Spoiler. Kirk captains the Enterprise.
Spock becomes his best friend.
They transport stuff.

Actually, all over the place...

My first bit of flailage might have come when I saw that James T. Kirk was born during a space battle. I mean...how much more legendary can you get than that? "I was born during a space battle." Yeah.

And his dad was awesome. To the tenth level.

My NEXT bit of major flail came when it was revealed that the guy who finds Kirk in all of the trailers is Christopher Pike. Pilot shout-outs. Mwahahahaaaaa. Taken even FURTHER when Kirk is bedding the Green Space Babe. Heh. Heh. Heh.

But they blew up Vulcan. Or blew in. Whatever the case, it upset me. Not as much as most of the die-hard fans, I'm sure, but it made things interesting. Poor Vulcan.

All sorts of references, quips, and even some lampshading...the fourth wall became VERY thin when Spock was explaining how the futures of the crew could not be determined by any party. He could almost look at the camera and say, "This means YOU people."

The red-suited guy died. Heh.

And Sulu was awesome. He saved Kirk. With a sword. I thought they'd have Kirk manly-man his way out of his own situation, but, nope...I was given my wish of seeing the underling come to the rescue. Because he is MISTER SULU.

Another thing that pleasantly surprised me was Uhura. I had been given the impression that there was some love triangle between Kirk, Uhura, and Spock, and furthermore that Kirk would eventually win it. It really, well...wasn't. Kirk was just sort of, "Heh-heyyyyy, good looking," and she was all "Yeah, I'm pretty," and Spock was just "I am Spock. I will angst and have you comfort me. And maybe indulge." Which was lovely. In a way. The love triangle will probably come into play in the sequel, Kirk will go and get some, and poor Uhura will go cry in the corner by herself before hooking up with Sulu. I kid. Kind of.

I DID love the Scotty/Enterprise shipping. Even I picked up on the symbolism of him entering the ship, being inside the warp engines, and coming out all wet. Yeeeeeeah. That was surprisingly dirty for me.

All the acting was excellent.

The effects were amazing. The shots...great. Everything was spectacular.

And the final battle surprised me, too. It was far from cliche. I mean...there was no suspenseful last-second targeting now-or-never shot that miraculously hits. Spock actually could probably have made three or four more passes. Or six. Whatever the case...he just got out and got his job done. Lickety-split.

LEONARD NIMOY. FTW.

Especially delivering the last lines. Final minute of the film...pure awesomeness. Leonard Nimoy says the classic Star Trek introduction, and the credits roll with the original Star Trek theme. Can it get any better?

Lulz were had, "wow" moments grew in abundance, and Vulcans died. Poor Vulcans. And poor Romulus.

And there were big monsters. Rawrrrrrrrrrrr.

Watching it with a bunch of fellow geeks from the anime club only made it more fun.



Fullmetal Alchemist, Ouran High School Host Club (not the manliest show I've watched...erm....), and Gundam Wing. Tropetastic.

OH.

One of the anime club members had his DS with him. And he happened to mention that he had Scribblenauts on it. I practically clawed it away from him to try it. It was pretty cool. But slightly frustrating. Still, though, typing in "Large Hadron Collider" and watching a black hole suck everything in was fun.

It needs expansion, though.

But...SCRIBBLENAUTS.

STAR TREK.

AND, to top it all off, I actually got a tuberculin test today, so it was PRODUCTIVE, too! Results to come on Monday. Probably going to be positive, though.

]]> ~swan-swan http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/27258564/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/27258564/ Thu, 17 Sep 2009 07:59:46 PDT SPOILERS FOR BLEACH 374
SPOILERS FOR BLEACH MANGA 374




No, no, no, NOT THE FLASHBACKS!!!

Starrk! Don't look at the flashbacks! Don't give us the backstory! We don't want it yet! I don't care HOW awesome or heartwrenching or beautiful it is, take it back! Keep it secret! Somewhere safe! Somewhere where they can never touch it! Where you can live forever! STARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRK!!!!!!!!!!!!!

All the same, I had a feeling that it was Shunsui. With the shadows. Something as creepy and evil as that...I doubt that this is his bankai, but it's certainly nasty enough.

The guy is CREEPY. His swords are EVIL. Or at least, Kageoni is.

"Say the color you wish to cut."

Starrk....STARRK...STARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRK....

So, this is what happens when Shunsui gets serious. He pulls out the dark, scary powers of absolute terror. "It makes children's games real." Can there BE a scarier way to describe it? I mean, "It brings nightmares to life" has too much of an adult semblance to it. It's too logical. "Children's games" is...yeah....what an awesome and terrifying power.

And then there was Starrk's backstory.

Which...as I indicated above, I was freaking out as I saw that first glimpse. Denying it, wishing it away...but as it came, I was all "awwwwwwwwwwwwww"....

He was too strong. He was TOO STRONG. So everyone he came in contact with got crushed by his spiritual pressure. He killed everyone around him. I wonder who that one Hollow with the smashed face was...he was probably a nice guy...Thomas Maxwell, I think his name was...I think that's a real name, but he shall be Thomas Maxwell. He was weak. He was...happy...he was...envied by Starrk....the poor guy....

Can ANYONE personify loneliness better? He's on Naruto-level scales...

And that panel of him cuddling Lilynette...

Starrrrrrrk....

More creepiness from Kageoni comes from the fact that a tiny cut MADE STARRK FEEL LIKE HIS ARM HAD BEEN CUT OFF. The pain he's gotta be in NOW...yeah. Black.

Of course, he's not dead yet.

NO Espada has died to less than a bankai if they're seven or above. Most have even SURVIVED bankais. No matter how strong Shunsui's shikai is, if it's something that he's forbidden to use in front of others, it's going to come out. And Starrk didn't die yet. He's just been very badly injured. It's JUST A FLESH WOUND.

It does look pretty bad, though.

Huh, look at me. I was so busy worrying, I didn't even notice that Starrk was FREAKING FIGHTING WITH TWIN SWORDS OF ENERGY. It's like he's fighting with TWO LIGHTSABERS.

Either he's going to survive this attack, or Shunsui is going to die with him.

OR, maybe Harribel, in a somewhat disappointing plot twist that would still be pretty freaking awesome AND break all the rules of Bleach and actually be a clever thing, will use her aspect of sacrifice to save Starrk's life...and then she will kiss him, turn into water, and swan-swan's shipping-mad heart will explode from all of this inexplicable joy, then break as he realizes that Harribel is gone, and then melt when the water flows over Apache and her sisters' badly-burned bodies and heals them, and Apache scoops up some of it in her hands and whispers her mentor's name, and a drop of either Harribel's water or something else runs down the side of her cheek....

....

....it won't happen. But it would be somewhat beautiful. But ONLY if Starrk continued to kick butt.

It would also end Starrk's loneliness. Someone as strong as him....

Baaaaaaaah....

WHY MUST THE AWESOME ONES DIE IN THIS STORY???

I don't believe Starrk will die so soon, though. He's loneliness, so I don't think he's allowed to leave any other Espada to remain without their companions. Harribel is sacrifice, though. Perhaps something will come of that. If she resurrects all of the Espada through her own life, that might be pretty awesome. It would make new opponents....and such...I guess they would be old ones....

STARRRRRRRRRRRK.

Lilynette...Lilynette, WHERE ARE YOU??? YOU HAVE TO SAVE STARRK!!!

...but don't kill Shunsui, please...just...just kill the guys you were gonna kill. You kicked their butts, which made me very happy...now finish them....get rid of them...or do something along the lines of taking their arms....

Shunsui's probably going to be badly injured by his own attack. If he dies taking Starrk out, that will be sad. For both sides. Unfortunately, I might be more upset with Starrk's death. And then Harribel and Lisa will both abandon their fight and catch her comrade's falling body...

The "Is it over?" line, though, almost completely says "No, it's not."



On re-reading the part where W... ]]> ~swan-swan http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/27146252/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/27146252/ Fri, 11 Sep 2009 08:00:37 PDT *BLEACH 373 SPOILERS*
*SPOILERS FOR BLEACH 373*






Heh. I knew he could kick their butts.

The best part? Love and Rose are now completely awesome. I've forgiven them their past shortcomings in the course of this battle. They actually gained personalities, what with Rose being all "Art is magnificent! I must be artistic!" and Love being all "Just shut up and fight." Constantly. It was a fun dynamic. And I still laugh every time that I see Love pound Stark into the pavement with his mask. Because it just seems like such a comical moment of pwnage. And Starrk's okay, so it doesn't make anything lame.

And then Starrk unleashed the wolves. Which were actually him. Which is kind of awesome. Because it's not like they're his friends or anything; they're actually still him, which makes him STILL a very lonely person. Coyote Starrk. What an awesome name. And Lilynette Gingerback. Cute and fuzzy-sounding, and yet with an air like she's going to rip your leg off. They both have their own names. Which is very, very awesome.

But the wolves basically went in, savaged those two, got owned like the mooks they are (you know what else was awesome? I had just realized yesterday that no one in the manga had a whip for their zanpakutou...and then...what does Rose pull out? ), but kept coming, and suddenly had the advantage over the MASKED CAPTAINS, and basically wound up kicking their butts. While Starrk just watched in boredom. Or was it him savaging the two ex-captains? Whatever the case, he was unleashing pwnage left and right on all levels of the awesome scale.

But the two guys put up a good fight. It was impressive. But...the Primera was just too much for them.

So, Starrk won. Neither of the Vizard's former captains could do anything to him, even with their masks on. Granted, they never went Bankai, but neither did Shunsui or Ukitake before. And Starrk hasn't gone Segunda Etapa. And he never even seemed unsettled.

Until, you know, that LAST panel...where...someone...who will provide a week of speculation...hit him in the back. It's nothing critical. That much is obvious. It's not in his heart, hole, face, or entire body. Whatever the wound is, it's just going to be from another opponent.

....he doesn't even look that unsettled in the last panel. He looks more...irritated.

But it's so hard to see in those last panels. So many lines. It may be deliberate, but it's hard to tell.

Well, who are the candidates for ambush?

Shunsui is obviously number one. He did it before, he fought Starrk before, and he was only temporarily out. Trouble is, the hit looks thin. Not Shunsui-ish at all.
Ukitake seemed WAY too out of it to come back anytime soon. Actually, not really. He'll be rip-roarin' in a little bit. It would be awesome if it was him. And I can't see him playing fair with Starrk anymore, either. But I dunno...
Yama would have left a much bigger hole. Or would have just gone all-out fire.
To list the Vizard first...Hiyori and Lisa are too busy fighting Harribel. Hopefully. That battle's not just going to vanish, though. Stipperella vs. Pettanko and Miniskirt. Kubo won't want to divert any attention from that one.
Hacchi's already had his fight, and all he would gain from this would be a quick death. Which would make me sad. He hasn't really used his sword, but I can't see him going to attack like this, anyway. He'd do something smarter. Soifon is the same, and Omaeda does not cut. He crushes.
Kensei...it's possible. Him and his wind-ness. And we haven't seen who his opponent is. But I've been assuming that he would be fighting Gin, as Gin was not standing beside Aizen a few issues ago, and he was observing Mashiro and Kensei's battle. And it would be fun to have him fight Kensei. But Kensei's a definite possibility. And Mashiro. It would be an interesting pair-up with Starrk. But I also think Mashiro would be the first in...though she may just be the follow-up beater-upper. They're still on the list.
Matsumoto, Hinamori, Kira, and Iba are all off the list. Besides injuries, they just don't seem strong enough to cut Number One. And they don't really have reason.
Hisagi's still up with Tousen. So is Komamura.
If Hitsugaya is entering this fight, we'll have to seriously question his and Kubo's sanity.
Chojiro is a possibility, though even the second-most-powerful-man in the First Division would probably be an idiot for attacking Starrk. Not that it rules him out, bu... ]]> ~swan-swan http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/27101528/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/27101528/ Tue, 08 Sep 2009 18:25:34 PDT
Basically, I've played through the whole game, but there are still alternate endings and other bonus materials to do, so I am nowhere NEAR one-hundred-percent completion.

But the point is...the game is AMAZING.

It just came out a few days ago, my brother bought it because he was eagerly looking forward to it, and, well, when he was out that evening, I started up my own game and got addicted.

Pretty much spoiler-free.

There are two stories in the game; one follows Momohime, a girl possessed by an ancient warrior's spirit (so, it's not really a girl you're playing as...it's a girl controlled by a guy...which means that you're a guy [or girl, but I was a guy...] controlling a guy controlling a girl...yeah...), and the other one follows Kisuke, a young ninja with no memory of his past but a rather notorious skill with blades.

You run around carving up ninjas and onis and umbrellas and woolly eyeballs and tengus and occasionally a passing boar, and every few areas you run into a boss that you have to fight. Sometimes for a long, long time.

It's pretty straightforward. There aren't puzzles like Zelda games, or different characters like Final Fantasy...everything stays pretty much the same.

Which is completely awesome.

You know your ancient Mario games? Metroid? Commander Keen? This is like those games. Only a lot more open, a lot faster-paced, and A MILLION TIMES TEN MORE BEAUTIFUL. It's all done up like Japanese paintings...with all sorts of flashy, scenic views...it's basically a piece of art that you run around in. And you get to fight with swords.

Oh, and the food. This game WILL make you hungry, and you WILL want to take the nearest yam, run outside with it, bury it in dead leaves, set the leaves on fire, and wait for it to cook. And then enjoy. And you will want to make rice balls. But you will go to the Giant Eagle and find that they do not, in fact, SELL rice-ball-makers there. Perhaps because they do not sell, because people do not usually buy them, because they are not AWARE of them, because the United States CENSORS them.... [link] ....but I guess I will have to make onigiri the proper way, with the HANDS, and not a press...or just find a press somewhere else. But that's how they're made in the game, so by-hand should work.

Roast squid, too...

Trust me. If you play the game, you WILL know why I obsess over the food. Food porn. Totally. I could eat this forever...

The people all speak Japanese in the game, too. And they have some familiar voice actors. Ox Ford from Soul Eater voices Kisuke, for one; but that's not the half of it. I'm going to hunt down more VAs, but there's a certain fellow from Bleach whose booming voice is very recognizable.

Fortunately, the game is only for Nintendo Wii, as well, so if and when they make a new Super Smash Bros., Kisuke and Momohime are almost shoo-ins for the position. It feels like Smash Bros...but different. More adventurous. It is...addicting. And wonderful.

You forge different blades throughout the game, too. Your swords get better, and they obtain different powers, and each one just...yeah. That's where most of the game's strategy comes into play--mixing and matching how you use each combination of blades (you use three at a time, cycling through each one...), adjusting your fighting style...it's a LOT like Smash Bros.

Eagerly awaiting the sequel. You know. Game's been out for five days, and already I want them to take it up a notch. They've left room. It's not exactly lacking...but it leaves you craving more.

MORE, YOU HEAR???

And you want to watch Soul Eater. And Bleach. A lot. Because, well...swords. Souls. Spirits. Giant baboons with snake-tails. ONIGIRIIIIIIIIIII!!!

In short: AWESOME. AWESOME BLADE.

]]> ~swan-swan http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/27013837/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/27013837/ Fri, 04 Sep 2009 11:43:56 PDT Manga spoilers!





This week’s chapter of Bleach wasn’t very talk-about-able or flailage-inducing, so I decided that, instead of doing the usual, I would use this opportunity to discuss some elements of the story. Or whatever. Namely, an issue that was actually touched upon in this chapter, wherein Love, in jerktastic fashion, mocks Starrk by questioning the nature of Hollows and hearts (Starrk, as usual, is spot-on with his retort…to which Love makes an admittedly impressive comeback of his own, which may actually be his Crowning Moment of Awesome). And this brings me to a subject that I have pondered ever since the debatable deaths of Apache, Sun-Sun, and Mila Rose: do Arrancar need purification?

I’m sure that the subject has been brought up many times in Bleach fan forums, but since most of the topics there will give you a headache in three minutes (sometimes two, if you have a particularly hard keyboard), I’m bringing it up here. I can also spout freely here.
The point is that, from about the beginning of the saga, we were told that Shinigami cleanse Hollows with their swords, allowing them to move on to Soul Society. It redeems them and cleanses them of their sins and whatnot. The question, though, is this: does the same apply to Arrancar?

Arrancar have already had their masks broken. Damage has been done. In doing so, the line between Hollow and Shinigami becomes blurred, and they become Arrancar. Arrancar are sentient and conscientious; as Neliel explained, they are no longer driven by hunger and animal instinct, but now possess logic and their own choices. They no longer have to fear regression into the mindless torment of a Gillian. And, as Neliel proved herself, they don’t necessarily have to be evil. Nor was she the only one: Starrk, Harribel, Dordonhi, Rocky Balboa (it’s what I call…um…Ganteneban??), and even Ulquiorra are all direct servants to evil who have shown sides that are far from that. In fact, Harribel and Starrk are almost heroic in their own regards (and HOW for Starrk in the most recent chapter).
Thus, when the Shinigami strike down Arrancar, what are they doing? Are they purifying Hollows? Or are they simply murdering beings who are similar to Shinigami? Granted, a number of them are evil and, arguably, deserve their deaths, but Zommari made a point with his rant about cutting down Hollows and the arrogance of the Shinigami. Is it really all for the best? Is it all happy-daisy now?

When all of this is over and all the Espada are dead and all of the Shinigami are alive, what will happen to Neliel? Will she live the rest of her life as an Arrancar, or will they cut her face open to send her off to live properly in Soul Society?
It’s a debatable subject.

Would it be better for Apache, Mila Rose, and Sun-Sun to have been killed in that blast, or for them to survive and learn from their mistakes?

Whatever the case, Lilynette pushed the Big Red Button in the latest chapter by using the word “friends.” The old nakama theme of Bleach and every other Shonen…it’s suddenly in the possession of the villains. Which makes me hope that Love gets killed all kinds of dead. Because Starrk admits that he’s lonely. And Lilynette is telling him to protect his friends. See the significance? He’s not fighting for power or glory; he’s fighting to protect his nakama. Just like Ichigo. So, will Starrk win? I hope. At least for a while. Harribel, too, has to have her day. She was the most caring of the Espada toward her Fraccion, apparently; she freaked out like a Mama Bear and just attempted to destroy Hitsugaya (who was a bit of a jerk himself, mocking her for her quest for vengeance, and denying her. The woman is now also an underdog in her fight--the record is against her, she’s already lost once, she’s up against two of the most awesome Vizard….she’s toast.

As further note, I would like to draw attention to the faces of Soifon and Byakuya. Two people who are not completely unrelated to one another…but both of them are wearing similar expressions after they strike down their primary foes, namely Ggio Vega and Zommari. For such normally emotionless characters, the expressions seem rather telling; almost regretful. There is no pleasure or relief or even anger on their faces; they have just killed, and neither one looks too happy. Even when Barragan is dissolving into dust, Soifon is looking on with a rather grim expression. They tend to come to recognize the Arrancar as foes, and not simple beasts to slaughter. The past two chapters have focused on that with surprising intensity--the victimization and misery of the Arrancar.

The line is questionably blurred in the other direction, as well; the Vizard may be in the same boat as the Arrancar. Will they need their masks broken to be able to join the cycle again? Or is it something else?... ]]> ~swan-swan http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/26945132/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/26945132/ Mon, 31 Aug 2009 19:57:38 PDT
And now 31 is going to have a second.

But I basically have to flail about my Introduction to Education class...

In order to demonstrate how to create lesson plans, the professor decided that she would do a demonstrative example and teach us something in lesson plan style. Namely, "how to punch people." Because she's a black belt in karate. It's how she, as a mother and professor and schoolteacher, relieves stress. By punching and kicking people. Other karate combatants, of course, but...the point is, she had the whole class stand up and follow her through the motions of punching. Loose fist, tighten knuckles of ring and little fingers, hand at hip with elbow behind...use the hip for force in the punch...just straighten the arm....and yell. She had us all work on our kiai. Put some ENERGY into the class, as it's a night class...

And then we all paired up and practiced with partners, punching a piece of paper. My form was awful. XD Fortunately, I was paired up with a microbiology teacher from South Africa who ALSO was well-versed in the art of karate (she's got even more awesome stuff to her), so I had some good pointers.

And then we got to make our own lesson plans on "How to Make Scrambled Eggs." How we would teach a class...what we would need, what our goals would be...it was fun. Very fun. And yet, productive.

The professor is just...

In the world of teachers I have had in the past, she is easily one of the top ten. I'll have to see how well the course turns out before I rank her in the top slot, but she's definitely got potential.

Espada.

Oh, I also applied the Menos ranking system to an education concept before class...it worked. I think. Factual Knowledge-> Conceptual Knowledge -> Procedural Knowledge -> Metacognitive Knowledge. Factual is all the individual bits of information (Hollows), and then there's Conceptual Knowledge, which is when one has all the facts in the field put together into the concept (Gillian), then there's the Procedural, where one knows how to apply all of this knowledge and use it (Adjuchas), and then Metacognitive (Vasto Lorde), where one is aware of their own awareness and understands how they know it.

Or something like that.

But the class is still kind of epically awesome. We get to hear stories about real-world teaching...there's a VERY diverse class...I mean, come on, I'm sitting next to a microbiology teacher...and I sit behind a Spanish teacher...emergency certification...and there's someone who was laid off from his corporate job due to the recent happy times that the financial market has been enjoying, and now wants to be a teacher...it's all different people. Different ages.

It's...awesome.

We learned to PUNCH THINGS.

Oh, my professor apparently also went to tournaments.

It's...yeah. She's enthusiastic. She's passionate. She's...amazing.

]]> ~swan-swan http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/26931913/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/26931913/ Mon, 31 Aug 2009 08:36:32 PDT
[link]

Discuss.









...does this mean that Spider-Man may appear in Kingdom Hearts IV???

]]> ~swan-swan http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/26916561/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/26916561/ Sun, 30 Aug 2009 13:27:56 PDT

Well, to be fair, it wasn't entirely my fault and whatnot. I only just got the book on Friday. And I tried reading last night. Actually, I did read some. And I read more today.

It's not difficult material, education. It's just...LOTS of it. And it's very simple. I can follow effectively...but...well...you can tell how blinky-eyed I am at the moment by all of the ellipses.

I have been amused, though, at how propaganda-ish certain sections sound. Descriptions of how education in the first-to-third grades is supposed to work (introduce them to the concepts, and encourage them to realize that it is interesting and opens doors), then the fourth-to-eighth lessons (give them the knowledge and inform them, filling their heads), and then the ninth-to-twelfth grade (show them how Western and non-Western cultures have contributed....). It's all a very precise formula, and there's something vaguely creepy about it. In a Brave New World fashion.

Other areas reminded me of Umbridge's class and textbook in Harry Potter. Don't teach secondary students what you learn in college textbooks, or structure your classes like those, because they are not ready for that style of learning.

...

It was also interesting to have the chapter on Lesson Planning start off by telling me to think about the last time I planned something out. That took time. A very long time. Because I'm not the planning type, really. I plan somewhat, but...scheduling just isn't my thing, really.

Looking over "Bloom's Revised Taxonomy of Cognitive Processes" (I'm going to be honest with you, "Taxonomy" is a word that I have NEVER liked...it's too complicated, has no aesthetic appeal, and does not seem to hold any life beyond that of scientific complexity. And yet, on closer inspection, for all of its attempts to be sophisticated with the "x" and the "nomy" and simple "y" ending, it's a pathetically non-complex word...consonant, vowel, consonant, vowel, consonant, vowel, consonant, half-vowel...and yet, in its sound, it carries phonetic complexity by using the "ecs" sound...blah...it's a word that you make with all of those Scrabble tiles that you don't want) is just a bit of a headache in itself. "Remember," "Understand," "Apply," "Analyze," "Evaluate," "Create," with all sorts of word banks...it looks like the Vocabulary List from Complicated Simple Word Heck. All the words are easy ones. But...it looks like I should define all of them in this sense. And it's about eighty different words. Brrrrrrrrrr.

Define "Restate" in the manner in which it applies to lesson planning, please. Or, even better, define "define".




And then, of course, I went over to the Academic Standards page on the PA education website. That was a bit of a mistake. Because I went there, clicked on the little link on the left, and found myself faced with a screen full of words and boxes with words in them and a scrollbar whose box resembled a tiddly-wink. Pages upon pages...


You know, I'm really just using this journal as an excuse to write. Lots of reading means lots of writing, and lots of writing requires lots of reading. They are symbiotic in nature. So, I'm spamming the journal with writing practice. Warming that section of the brain up. Or warming up that section of the brain. Let's get the sentence structure systems warmed up, and let us also remember that contractions are not allowed when one is not writing dialogue.

Oh, I have another chapter to read, as well. And more documents to go over. And it is hard to tell where to start. But I guess I should just dive right on in. I am also looking over the Lesson Planner format, which describes where everything should go and such.

And I also need to fill out my Criminal History record online. It's all clear, of course (it IS all clear, of course), but I still have to do it before I can do any field experience.

And I have Latin work for tomorrow.

Procrastination and I have had a great thing going these past years, but I think our relationship may finally be reaching its limit. Bit of a shame, really. Of course, few individuals in this life know how to cling harder than Procrastination. I mean, the guy (girl? hermaphrodite?) just got me to write up a whole useless article instead of reading Chapter 8. Heh.



...Taxonomy. If the word ALONE isn't disgusting enough, just look at what it deals with! Categorization and subdivisions and...urrrrrrrgh...the word itself expresses limitations.





If you read all of this way, here's a little bit of Spartan pirate nonsense for you to enjoy: [link]

]]> ~swan-swan http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/26904991/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/26904991/ Sat, 29 Aug 2009 21:59:29 PDT








I'm the only one in the apartment tonight, so I don't have to worry about spoiling the brother or third member, so when I found Bleach by accident (I had made no plans to catch it), I HAD to watch. Because, well...

ESPADA DUBS.

At the moment, it's just the filler scene with the sand tornado, but I've gotta say...


Starrk has an AMAZING dub voice. I just want to listen to that line over and over and over again.

Commercial break...

But, yes. Starrk had a VERY good voice. It's not drawly or sleepy-sounding at all, but...that's good. I don't think he talks again, so...enjoy it.

Nnoitra sounded great, too. As did Szayel.

Barragan is gruff. Not as menacing as I would like, but he's not supposed to sound menacing yet.

Zomarri, is, um...well...how do I phrase this? "Gangsta"? I dunno if that sums it up...we'll see how he sounds in his next line.

Still waiting for Harribel. Waiting eagerly. Eagerly, eagerly, eagerly.

They're back!

Out of the tornado in a few moments, and into the real scene. ESPADAAAAAAAAS.

"Good morning, my dear Espada."

Ichigo just had the best scream ever after Ishida's evil laugh. Filler scenez can be amusing.

You know, JYB is a REALLY good VA.

...okay, come on....

Silly music ftdubs!!!

...

...in re-watching these eps, though, to fill time in commentary, Chad is awesome. He has always been awesome. But here, especially.

And lololz at the threats of Iceringer. "No victory." Please. You guys are being swept like ants off of a rug.

ESPADAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAZ!!!

"So, does everybody have a cup of tea now? Good." Very fast.

"Begin the presentation, Kaname." Schoolteacher. XD

Grimmjow go "WHUUUUUU???" O_O

Ulquiorra go "blah."

AARONIERO.


OH MY GOSH. BARRAGAN SAID "RIDICULOUS." WIN. WIN. A MILLION TIMES WIN.


Oh, and Aizen is SINISTER now...good. Verrrrry good...



Oh, Zommari. Please stop.

....


...Harribel???

Um...are you feeling okay?

You sound...ah...young. O_O


...

Now, behold the true power of CAPTAIN BROKEN.

ABLE TO CRUSH AN ESPADA WITH HIS BATTLE AURA ALONE.

He finds Grimmjow's lack of faith disturbing.



All in all, they sound great.

Except that Harribel sounds young.

Which, I guess, her released form works with young. She looks a lot younger there. But...her Fraccion are going to be odd when they talk.

But...Barragan said "Ridiculous." Come on. If that is not the best thing the dubs have ever done, please tell me what it loses to.

Ishida goes "blahblahblah" and Ichigo makes fun of him. And Chad is being serious. And discovering his inner Hollow-ness.

Oh, don't worry about how many Arrancar there are, you'll kick all of their butts.

But...here...comes...where are they? Come on...come out, little ones...Ichigo agrees with "blahblahblah" Ishida-ness.


...


BAWABAWA!!!

PESCHE!!!

DONDOCHAKKA!!!!!!!!


NELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!








With an...OLD voice?

WHAAAAAAAA???


Well, it'll be good for Neliel.

But...

Harribel and Neliel are on opposite ends of the spectrum.



"Pop quiz, everyone," says Aizen-sama.

"Espada Quick Reference Chart." Not available to Soul Reapers.


So, yes.



DUBUBUBUBUBUBUBUBUBUBBBBBBBBBBBSSSSSS!!!


Okay.

I'm going to watch the next ep quietly.

I think.




ETA:



OHMYGOSH. NEL. NELNELNEL.

YOU ARE ADORABLE!!!

She has...such a...cute voice...



"A Soul Reaper, y'know what I mean?"

Nel. NEL. NELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL.

I can't...I just can't get over how AWESOME her voice is. It's...it's not annoying at all. After the headache of dubbed Ririn, Nova, and Claude, I was worried about what would happen with the Desert Bros.

But...yeah.

They are...they are...they are...

*FLAILAGE*

"Oh Mister Soul Reaper, if you're not bad guys, then... ]]> ~swan-swan http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/26871922/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/26871922/ Fri, 28 Aug 2009 08:24:45 PDT *OBVIOUS SPOILERS AHEAD*
*SPOILEY SPOILERS*

...


....


....


FLASHBACKS FTDUUUUUUUBS!!!

I love flashbacks in almost anything. Especially those related to villains. They're a good way to get more information about the guys, can show them in their element, and make them appear more powerful without sacrificing current cast members.

Thus, this was...just plain awesome.

It was similar to how I'd always visualized the guy...sitting on a throne, attended by Hollows, watching guests come before him and killing them...crushing their skulls and such...no skull-crushing today, though.

Barragan's evil warlord discussion was fantastic, too. "It's so boring just sitting around and waiting for people to invade..."

And then Captain Broken came marching in, and it was all over.


Seriously, though, Tousen needs to STOP getting in the way of the Big Bad's victims. He's nerfing the chances to see Superman in action. Tousen is still a jerk. And he is still earning his nickname of "Captain No1LikesU."


And then Captain Broken just...reveals that during the course of the conversation, his buddies had been methodically slaughtering Barragan's army. In the classic overlording mastermind that he is. Even if he's thrown most of his henchmen away, he's STILL an awesome villain.

And then Barragan wins eternal sympathy, and perhaps some wooby-ism, with his empty promises to kill Aizen.

YOU SHOULD HAVE POPPED YOUR HEAD OFF AND HOPPED AWAY, MAN!!!

You could get better! Really! You could have lived! You could have kept going!!!

And Overlord-Sama...you could have saved him! You could have...made it be an illusion that he was dying! You could have...you could have done anything besides TURN YOUR BACK ON HIS DISSOLVING CORPSE.

You animal.

He was the most Espada-y Espada we've had in a while. I mean...seriously. He was SCARY in his final moments, where he let loose with an all-powerful attack. Even if it was all the same thing, he didn't NEED to go any higher! And he only died by his own power...that means that we still don't know what can take down Three and One! He kept the reputations alive!

And he had FLASHBACKS!!!

He had kingly history!

And now Harribel and Starrk have VERRRRRY interesting looks on their faces...they must both be afraid of death, now, too.

But the biggest thing may be VERY important. If one looks back to Chapter 245--the episode that will be dubbed tomorrow night (ENGLISH HARRIBEL AND BARRAGAN AND STARRK, YAAAAY!)--Aizen promises the Espada that as long as they walk with him, they will be invincible. ALL the other Espada who died before they marched on Karakura Town died because they specifically did not follow his orders. But Barragan stuck with him. He served under him, however loosely, and fought alongside him in the city.

And died.

And then Starrk says something that I'm thinking over who he's talking to...I'm guessing it's himself.

It's a sad, sad life being evil, I guess.

But I doubt that Harribel and Starrk are going to be relaxed at all, anymore. When the one closest to them just died...their own demises seem that much closer.

Here's hoping they put on a show before the end.


Oh, and Starrk, if you lose to two characters as flat as Love and Rose, I WILL kill you.

Well, mostly Love.

They're SURPLUS Vizards. Seriously...

All in all, though, I loved this chapter. SO MUCH FLAIL WAS HAD.

Now, though, I have to do homework. Real life and such.

]]> ~swan-swan http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/26782498/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/26782498/ Sun, 23 Aug 2009 19:17:51 PDT
[link]

Soul Eater opening meets Super Smash Bros. Brawl....


Well, it turns out that someone got up and made one for the SECOND opening...which actually SURPASSES THE FIRST IN QUALITY AND INGENUITY.

[link]

Gotta say, Peach is strangely beautiful.

Poor Dr. Mario...






Oh, by the way, classes start tomorrow for me. Which is kinda important. But I had to get this out.

]]> ~swan-swan http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/26724399/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/26724399/ Thu, 20 Aug 2009 23:06:26 PDT *BLEACH 370 SPOILERS*
*SPOILERS PAST 370*





But...NOOOOOOO!!!

Okay, Barragan, you crossed the Moral Event Horizon.

Taking Soifon's arm is one thing.
Taking Hacchi's arm is another.

But DESTROYING SOIFON'S SHOE??? THAT'S ENOUGH. Die, you old coot. DIE. NEVER MESS WITH TEH SMEXEH SHOES AGAIN.







....now, as a question of continuity here...how on earth was ol' Cap'n Barry able to see with the left side of his face missing like that???


And Hacchi has once again secured his place as the most awesomest of all the Vizard. I love that guy.

And Soifon, too. Love her, too. And Omaeda. Heck, I loved everybody in this issue.

Except Barragan. The shoe-killer. >

]]> ~swan-swan http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/26639378/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/26639378/ Sun, 16 Aug 2009 22:40:30 PDT
YES, THAT FINAL EPISODE.

THE ONE FROM SEVERAL MONTHS AGO.

THAT'S EXACTLY THE ONE.




I just finished re-watching the whole series with my brother, and, well...I just have to say that I get it now.

I was initially disappointed in the ending. However, upon re-watching it and other points in the series, a few things became clear. They primarily focus on several specific points:

1. The Chain Resonance Lessons
2. Crona and Maka's bonds
3. Black*Star's second battle with Death the Kid
4. Asura devouring Azu...Arachne's soul.




1 and 2: Chain Resonance and Crona/Maka On initial viewing of the finale, I found it odd and slightly cheesy how Black*Star, Kid, and Crona could all harmonize on their admiration of Maka's courage and spirit. After noting the Chain Resonance, though, that would have been a logical place for the three of them to understand each other more...thus, Black*Star and Kid understand it better. It also helps me, as the viewer, to follow it when I'm looking for that point throughout the series and finding it to be blatantly obvious. And Crona and Maka just had that thing going on between them. So...yeah. Cheesiness mostly gone (it IS still slightly odd, but far from lame), and awesomeness in.

3. Wavelength problems Being reminded of Black*Star's failure to resonate properly in his battle gave a reason for Asura's sudden weakness at the end. Every principle he believed in, every code he followed, every angle of reality was suddenly distorted and unable to encompass Maka's courage. Pain, anger, recklessness, sadness, loss, everything that should have consumed her with fear (and had forced HIM to give in to fear) just did not faze her. I understood this point from the start...he could not stand against someone who was not afraid...but the thing was that this actually literally weakened him. Black*Star could not use his super-special technique when his confidence was shaken--for someone who was as high-and-mighty as the Demon God, being unable to frighten a child left him completely helpless. And his own weapon abandoned him then, when the hold was released.

4. Soul Strength Final SMAAAAASH... Somehow or other, I missed noticing that Death the Kid's final attack weakened Asura. It didn't just bounce off...it actually took him down from the form that he had acheived by eating a witch's soul. It took him down to a beatable level. I thought that he had just shifted his form when Maka emerged, but in actuality, he had been weakened. She didn't use a punch to do what Kid's mega-ultra-symmetrical-cannon couldn't...she just finished what her friends had started. Final blows.

IN SHORT...

I completely forgive and love the Soul Eater finale. Corny as it is at some parts, it's still cool.


Even if Eibon's character is...rather laughable...*snickers and rubs forehead*

]]> ~swan-swan http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/26527464/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/26527464/ Tue, 11 Aug 2009 12:56:22 PDT
First, it seems that I'm going back to school after all. I finally cleared up most of the stuff regarding grad school, and I'm meeting with the advisor next week to schedule classes. About a week before classes start, but...hey, better late than never, right?

I have a resume made up, but I need to work on cover letters and actually applying. Wendy's is still going well, though. It's an income.

We're cleaning (there's irony in the statement...I'll make this journal short) the basement to allow my mom's brother and his family to stay with us for a little while. It needed to be cleaned. Badly. And we're making progress. In the process, we also found two little treasures.

One was the Star Wars: Rebellion CD. One of my favorite video games. Got it installed...
Also found a USB mouse. This may mean faster and easier art. I don't know. Don't expect anything soon. Like I said...cleaning and Rebellion. But...there may be one piece in the near future. A few more figures...

Um...

Driver's test in a week and three days, too.

Birthday in a week and two days.

Meeting in a week and a day.

End. GTG.

]]> ~swan-swan http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/26402727/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/26402727/ Wed, 05 Aug 2009 13:12:28 PDT patrolling the Bleach fan forums...




*SPOILERS IF YOU HAVE NOT CAUGHT UP WITH THE MANGA YET*
*SPOILERS AHEAD*
*NOT FOR THIS WEEK'S, BUT FROM BEFORE*


Oh, this isn't just about forums, but also places like DA and TV Tropes and whatnot....


Lalalala....



1. Fandom Hate My goodness. I'd heard about it, but...*hugs Hinamori protectively* Wow! Oh, and even Hitsugaya *hugs him too, if a little less concernedly*...well, actually, I always knew that there was hate for him, but the magnitude of the war is rather horrific. It's mainly the Hinamori stuff, though. And the Orihime. And the Renji. And the Kubo. But, yeah. It's not as surprising as it could be, though. Zelda and Avatar have already introduced me to the Hatred of FanDumb.

2. Vasto Lorde. You know, peoplez, at a certain point, theorizing and far-out thoughts just become stupid. I bring up this issue first because of just how many times I have felt like banging my head off of the wall. There is a RAMPANT argument out there that NONE of the Espada are Vasto Lorde, and that they are simply being held in reserve to be a REAL fight...um, no. I answered this argument for myself long ago by settling that Ulquiorra's silhouette is used to describe a Vasto Lorde. He's the poster boy. Which automatically places him at that rank, really. Those above him are, therefore, probably Vastos as well. I used to consider Nnoitra and Grimmjow Vasto Lorde, but thoughts have led me to believe otherwise now (Nnoitra was Number 8 before, and actually fought his way up in strength, and assuming that the evolution stops when the masks are broken...). So I rank those two as very powerful Adjuchas, nigh on Vasto Lorde. The top four...definite. Almost. You never know. Segundo Etapa and all that. And Wonderweiss is one, too. But that was known from the start, really...though fans will gleefully debate that, I'm sure. Yammy, on the other hand, is something else entirely...beyond VL. Or below, but more powerful. But, seriously, if you google "Vasto Lorde" and check out the fan forums, you WILL have a headache. Because I have yet to see someone just post Ulquiorra's picture and the Vasto Lorde picture.

3. Vizard Love. For some reason, I've been less of a fan of the Vizard than the Espada (well, that's pretty much a given...), and also less of a fan of the Vizard than the Gotei 13. But, oddly, there's a lot of love for them in the rest of the fanbase. Not that this is Fan Dumb at all...completely different...I'm just surprised.

4. Ulquiorra is coming back. Yes. He's coming back. Faster. Stronger. Better than before. With robotic arms. And LAZOR BEAM EYES. ...no. He was awesome, but he's reached his finish, as far as I can tell. If he returns, well, it'll be a twist...or, with this being Bleach, not so much.

5. Bleach Wikia is AWFUL. If you've found yourself finally getting over the headache from the VL debates, fix this problem of happiness by going to read the Bleach Wiki pages. Ugh. EDITS. EDITS. CONDENSE, PEOPLE. CONDENSE!!!!!!!!!!!! Don't spend a whole paragraph describing Harribel's appearance when her picture is RIGHT--THERE...and then describe her AGAIN in the plot section, and then AGAIN in whatever other place!!! I'd fix it myself, but I don't know where to begin....oh. And let's try not to use the same word in every sentence, please. Because when you use the same word or phrase over and over, it becomes unnecessary. We can avoid using the same words by using pronouns. Thus the same words don't get annoying and overwhelming. Because it's just the same word repeated over and over.

6. Spelling, people. It's really amusing to read debates and side with the well-written, well-thought-out entries over the hasty, not-even-a-sentence entries. It's a headache finding those well-thought-out entries, but sometimes they can make you think. Such as indicating that Harribel now has a field full of water from Hitsugaya's final attack....

7. Reviews. This isn't all negative stuff here. If you're looking for good reviews of Bleach chapters, I HIGHLY recommend the Underscore reviews. [link] Well-written, fine usage of panels, and lots of entertaining comments and skull jokes. I've gone, "Oh, that's RIGHT...cool...I didn't realize that..." more than once with those things. The reviews, not the skull jokes. I usually understand the skull jokes pretty well beforehand.

8. TV Tropes. Glorious site. But you knew that.

9. Bleach. Fanfiction. It's like most other fanfiction out there. Blagh. I had some fun reading a... ]]> ~swan-swan http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/26261946/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/26261946/ Wed, 29 Jul 2009 18:54:41 PDT [link]

Soon, you won't have to choose!

Hopefully, will give us more information on this...the info has probably also been included in ComicCon journals, but this got me excited. Anything new that's Avatar-related is fun and awesome, really.

Prequel stuffz...well, hopefully, this will make up for the kick-in-the-face with Nickelodeon magazine.









On the more manga-y side of things, I've recovered a bit from my Bleach shock. But am...now a little antsy in waiting for the next one. Learning the rules of the waiting game and such...the usual.


Lalalalala....

Avatar manga!!!

]]> ~swan-swan http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/26217812/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/26217812/ Mon, 27 Jul 2009 18:08:49 PDT



*BLEACH SPOILERS*

*BLEACH SPOILERS*

*BLEACH SPOILERS*





So, I realized that "King of the Clouds" was a reference to Hyourinmaru, and I decided to read that chapter before I worked out what was going to happen or something similar, and wound up seeing the weather change, and went on to the next issue for fear of Harribel's life, and wound up freaking out in the BAD way when he pwned her face, and then spent the next issue waiting to see if she was actually alive, then just went "OH MY GOSH, IT'S A MISSILE" when Soifon came up with her...her...her...THING, and then went "Wait, WHUT???" when Barragan went and got himself blowed up, and then was just in such a depressed and fetal-position mood that I had to go on and found that it was NOT HELPED by a semi-wolfie Starrk having GUNS in a COMPLETE RIP-OFF OF DEATH THE KIDD (not that that's not awesome, but...but...), but then things picked up when Ukitake was firing off Ceros, and then they picked up even MORE when Starrk was being awesome, and then I just felt that classic fear when HE showed up, the little speech-impeded fellow who pretty much destroys everything with his pet "That's Not Yammy!" eye-in-the-sky, and then frees Harribel (still lame...) and reveals Barragan's survival (yay! I knew Mr. Kubo couldn't be made of THAT much fail) and then FREES THE OTHER GUYS and basically made is JUST SO MUCH OVER, IT WAS NOT EVEN FUNNY...and then the Vizard showed up, in the return I was dreading so much...so...so...much...but they actually pulled it off for a moment, and then put on their masks (which actually had a surprisingly short limit, which may even this fight out a bit) to go and kick some Menos Grande butt in what was, perhaps, the most effective show of power Tite Kubo has done since Ichigo squashed the lieutenants, and then Shinji went to fight Aizen himself but wound up being blocked by the Jerkface of Justice, and then Harribel wound up stuck against Hiyori and Lisa, and Barragan against Hacchi and...who knows who else, and then Komamura pulled off another Big Bad Hero moment, and then Hisagi showed up, and THEN....

....

....

....

Yeah.



Maybe it was just because I rushed these last chapters, but this seems like a big mess.

...

...

Nah. It's a big mess.

Oh, Vizards. The McGuffin family. The McGuffins. They were always waiting to turn the battle around with a sudden upsurge in power...I knew it was coming. But...not like that. I actually enjoyed the moment. Until they started doing exactly what I was afraid of them doing, and going, "Lolz, Gotei n00bs. We'll show u how fight Espadaz." And the Espada are all like, "Oh, noez! Vizard KEEL us! Waaaaah!" And Aizen still smiles. So hopefully he's got something up his sleeve.

And where the HECK is Nanao???




Please kill someone, Espadas. The Vizard are all cannon fodder. Not very filling cannon fodder, but cannon fodder, all the same. You are the Deathbringers. The Top 3. You can't just...not kill anyone.

But honestly, couldn't you have had Harribel break HERSELF out of the ice? Or maybe she did...

He rushed those issues, didn't he?

She hasn't been Number 3-ing at all. I don't care what Ulquiorra says about hidden forms, he was using Cero Oscuras LONG before he double-released. And he was taking masked Getsuga Tenshous without flinching, too.

To say NOTHING of Gran Rey Cero. Which is still cooler than Cero Oscuras. And Cero Metro...Meteo...Cero Spamming. Button mashing.

I needz to find pictures of Death the Kidd beating Starrk over the head for thievery and asymmetrical faces. And maybe having Lilynette and the girls glaring at one another.


...Starrk looks like Spike. You know. From Cowboy Bebop.

Ah, well.

Now I'm just another member of the Bleach fandom. Or readership. I'm selective about what I fanboy about in this thing.

TV Tropes...DeviantART...Wiki...they are MINE FOR THE EXPLORING.

MWAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!! *runs off*





*runs back*




Please, do NOT spoil me for Bleach 368! I have not read that far yet! NO SPOILERS, YOU UNDERSTAND??? NO SPOILERS PAST BLEACH 367!!! NONE!!!

]]> ~swan-swan http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/26198670/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/26198670/ Sun, 26 Jul 2009 20:25:02 PDT
*BLEACH MANGA 356 SPOILERS*









Oh my gosh, it's KRONOS.



Or Death.

Or...or...SOMETHING.




BARRAGAN IS...NOTHING MORTAL. NO SIMPLE ANIMAL. HE HAS BECOME DEATH.

He has a crown, too. Shiny, shiny. Pointy-pointy. And big black flames. And...he's...well...DEATH.

I actually sketched out a fanfic in a notebook a few weeks ago where Barragan ended his life as a mortal by killing himself--having never lost in his life, having conquered every foe he met, he finally chose to conquer death itself by refusing to allow it to kill him with its greatest weapon of old age. So he killed himself, denying death that pleasure...but the point was, I went all giddy-like when he described "old age" as the ultimate weapon of death.

And then used it.

Which I had also been thinking would be creepy. "What if some Espada or creature had the power to age and wither whoever it touched?" And, well...poor Soifon seems to have encountered that.

It's a wonder how the "white-on-black" coloration can perfectly illustrate a time-stop.

And I like Soifon's shoes. I have observed this in the past. But they are very pretty. And I don't say that too often. But then again, everything about Soifon is awesome.

And speaking of awesome...

Hitsugaya does NOT go down that easily, I guess. Which actually makes me happy. The Ice Dragon's incarnation will continue to fight.

Ice Doubles FTW.

Oh, but as awesome as that was, Harribel is STILL made of total win. Not only was she preparing to take on Captain Yama (which I was HOPING for...but...if Hitsugaya can't go down that easily, then...), but she dodged Hitsugaya's attack. Ducking at point-blank. And then...she SWITCHES HANDS FOR THAT COLOSSAL WEAPON OF HERS. I didn't even NOTICE the first time. She doesn't blink, she doesn't hesitate or stumble, she just switches hands and slashes, taking out Toshiro's tail.

She doesn't need the overly-fanservice-y outfit to be gorgeous, though. The sweeping fins, the hair, the colossal blade...wheeeeeeeeee!

I'm still iffy on the boots, though.

Barragan, though...he's there swinging his hourglass-shaped axe around like a pendulum, while Soifon and Omaeda dodge and try to counterattack. And he's owning their faces. And Soifon, naturally, brushes said ownage aside and continues to fight. Which is why she's awesome. Reason #31.

And then Barragan attributes each Espada with his/her own trait. Starrk is lonely...Harribel is apparently sacrifice...implying that she sacrificed herself...? Or, perhaps, in a more creative and intriguing angle, that someone else sacrificed their own life for her?

Ulquiorra is nihilism...or apathy, perhaps. There's probably an alternate translation.

And all of the others have theirs.

And Barragan apparently has the power to make Soifon make very strange faces...

And he turns into Death. Or something similar. It's scary. Whatever it is, it's scary.

But, yes...everyone is awesome here. Except for old man Yama. He murdered Harribel's children and was smug about it. He even used the word "toasting." Meaniemeanface. I hope Harribel cuts his beard off.

IF SHE DOES, DO NOT SPOIL ME.

I'VE BEEN ON A ROLL WITH RANDOM GUESSES COMING TRUE, OR SIMILAR.

SO...NO SPOILAGE.

PLZ.

I HAZ NOT READ FURTHERZ.

Skullz.

]]> ~swan-swan http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/26131010/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/26131010/ Thu, 23 Jul 2009 13:50:39 PDT [link] . The weather was poor, so instead of going to the pool, we went to the movies. The kids could choose to go to either of two movies (no voting, just selection), Up or Ice Age 3. It was a VERY difficult choice for me, naturally, but in the end, I just had to go with the Pixar film. I don't know why, really. I mean, just because I disliked the first two Ice Age movies doesn't mean that I have to sell the third one short, right?

All kidding aside, I was probably more excited than any of the kids I was going with. On the inside, anyway. I mean, here was a chance to see the first movie on my "must-watch" list! So, with many thanks to the sky, I went and watched the latest Pixar masterpiece. The following is pretty much spoiler-free.

The short was, perhaps, the greatest one yet. Dialogue-less, as is tradition ("Boundin'"? What's "Boundin'"?), hilarious, and yet very sweet and emotional. But then we went on to the main picture...which was...perhaps the most sophisticated and powerful animated movie I have ever seen. I won't say it was the best one, as I had a few issues, but there were so many times that my eyes were burning during that film. Usually, it only happens once a cartoon movie (when Antagonist is winning and Hero is moping and Best Friend is leaving to return for the final battle and everything is obviously going to be solved but the Good Guys are having their cry moment and even though you know it's all going to be resolved in the next act, the audience still finds themselves slightly weepy just because the people on-screen are weepy...don't give me that look, guys!), but this time, I was pretty much crying in the first fifteen minutes.

The kids, of course, laughed quite often. As did I, but there were several interesting moments where kids were laughing while my heart was aching for the poor characters on-screen...and I don't blame the kids. The moments were funny to kids, but to those who may understand...much more serious. That's the kind of movie it was.

Very colorful. Carl is...awesome. He is...I'll gush on a later post, but this isn't going to be only about "Up," and I have to think about the movie some more. I'll just say that he is one of the coolest protagonists I have ever seen. And all throughout, the animation is superb (though not as flashy and fun as films like Ratatouille and Wall-E) and the story in motion. The mood could swing in an instant...and pull it off well, too. SQUIRREL!!!

And as usual, no matter how zany and impossible the movie seems to be at first, it all makes sense upon viewing ("An old guy flies in a balloon-propelled house? A robot who never talks dreams of going into space?"). Another great piece by Pixar.

There was emotion, there was depth, there was comedy, there were tropes aplenty, and there was Christopher Plummer. And, of course, John Ratzenberger. YAY!!!

Ellie. ELLIEEEEEEEE...

A number of parts were predictable, and the formula was very similar to other animated films, but the depth of everyone and everything made up for it. It's not all about what they say and do in the films...one can actually study the characters and form different opinions and viewpoints. It was...deep. The whole thing. Again, I'll gush about it later. THIS is not gushing. This is me holding back. This is a taste of how much emotion this movie aroused. The big part is coming later. But really, the film is another Pixar film that kids will love, but adults will understand in a completely different way.

And apparently, the most noteworthy thing that I missed out on by not going to Ice Age 3 was a baby T-rex scratching his butt. That's the quality artistic expression of today. That's the valuable information for our children to retain. That's worth paying ten dollars for. Yep.

Because that is the true power of "Up": it's a statement of quality in the world of simplicity.

However, I understand the kids' retention of certain gags in the films. What they judge it on. I was a kid, I have little brothers, and I spent the last few weeks working with kids. It'll work out. I hope. But it was a privilege to work with them this whole time. It was frustrating at times, and it took a lot of patience, but that was worth it. To learn how to approach difficult situations like that, and to examine the limits of my own patience in the actual world...that was the purpose of my visit. To learn. Learn about others and myself. Sounds cheesy, but it's a fact.

Most of the things that tried my patience with the students weren't even aspects of the kids themselves; usually, I found myself questioning their home treatment and the effect that modern-day society has on them... ]]> ~swan-swan http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/26097281/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/26097281/ Tue, 21 Jul 2009 21:54:13 PDT *BLEACH 355 SPOILERS*
*BLEACH MANGA 355 SPOILERRRRRRZ!!!!!!!!*










First, I was just all, "Nooo! Not the hat!"

But then....

Soifon being downed.

Harribel having more swordfighting action!!! Yaiz!!!

And Barragan...Barragan...pulling out that...that...that...that THING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The GIGANTIC THING!!!

I'd been hoping for it...and it was only about five times the size I expected.

He makes Nnoitra's blade look like a SPORK!!!!!!!!!!

And, of course, Soifon dispels any epileptic tree theories that the limiter was still on....

And they haven't been able to budge the big guy.

A SPORK, PEOPLE!!! A SPORK!!!

And then....

Harribel went and SAID APACHE'S NAME. YAAAAAY!!! I love Apache...

But then....

She RELEASED. After some fighting. And I'm okay with it. She was in a bad mood. And, as I theorized at the end of the last issue...a shark.

With a freaking huge sword.

A SPOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRK!!!

And a...a...a MOUTH. A FACE. Where'd my chompers go??? The scary things? I hope they have more screentime in the anime...

And I have no idea how the anime's going to get around THAT outfit. Hmmmm...

And then she proceeded to, um...bisect the child. Poor boy...

Seriously. Terrifying. And she's certainly living up to Vasto Lorde expectations.

...like, and THEN some.

My previous complaints about nerfing the big guys are more or less dispelled.

And I'm also loving the subtle nuances of Harribel's character...her dramatic side revealed in that little fancy sword-spin she did at the start of the battle...and now her poetic monologues.

And I'm placing her as the Goddess of Grief. She released with a freaking breaking heart. Her three Fraccion fell before her eyes (or something like that). I'll see what's with her soon enough, though.



I guess it's safe to assume that we're one captain down. But...NO SPOILERS, PLEASE. NO SPOILERS.

I HAVEN'T READ ANY FURTHER.


Yama-jii...you're gonna need a bigger captain.

]]> ~swan-swan http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/26094376/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/26094376/ Tue, 21 Jul 2009 19:08:00 PDT
That REALLY set the seal on one of the best filler episodes ever...

Oh, Ikkaku and his lover...le sigh...it's wonderful. Even with some of the gags being repeats, they had a good air of deliberate repetitiveness and throwbacks...

Mizuho? Is that her name?

Whatever the case...Ikkaku with hair. Orihime's old ways of being rather slow on the uptake. Ichigo cracking up with laughter. Yumichika getting up to wild antics with ol' Madarame.

And the best plot device ever: SOUL SOCIETY SUPER-GLUE.

YES.

It was very entertaining. Very.

Next week's ep looks like srs bsns.

And Mayuri offered Hitsugaya a lolly in the ending segment.

The "kid" jokes just don't get old with him.

]]> ~swan-swan http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/26072452/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/26072452/ Mon, 20 Jul 2009 18:27:31 PDT
Besides the consideration I had the other night, today, while doing my volunteer work, I doodled a Mai on paper...one of the students came up to my desk, looked over, and said, "Is that a character from Avatar?"
Pleased at the recognition, I said, "Yep!"
And then he said, "That's Zuko's girlfriend, right?"
Some part of me did an inner happy dance, but the rest was piecing Avatarded sides together. He then gushed over the finale a bit, on everything from Firelord Ozai's fight with Aang to Azula's unknown fate to Katara kissing Aang under the sunset. His favorite part was when Aang took Ozai's bending away...Aang's his favorite character.

Teh awesomeness lvl is over 9000.

He also requested a few drawings, which I provided rather gladly; Zuko's face, Ty Lee's face, and a full-body Aang. I had some fun with that. Oh, and the Dai Li. I need to study their outfits again....

I wound up drawing more Avatar characters for other students, too. And dragons for someone else...my artistic skills were valued today.

Woohoo. Pride.

Whatever the case, I finally had the little twinge of interest to set me over the edge. And I feel ready to re-watch the show. It's been AGES...I haven't done a full rewatch since the show ended. I guess, about a year later, it's appropriate.

It was also kind of awesome to see some pure, un-fandom-influenced reactions to the show. From kids who are more or less the target audience.

AVATAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRR.

]]> ~swan-swan http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/26052688/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/26052688/ Sun, 19 Jul 2009 20:22:47 PDT
No.

Freaking.

Fair.



*MEGA BLEACH SPOILERS*
*MEGA BLEACH SPOILERS*
*MEGA BLEACH SPOILERS*
*MEGA BLEACH SPOILERS*
*BUT ONLY UP THROUGH 354*
*ONLY UP THROUGH 354*





That's just...you can't...

What the HECK???



I'm going to spend the next few weeks reprocessing every single thought I ever had. Every. Single. Freaking. Thought.

Espada this, Espada that, Primera this, Decima that, and WHAT THE HECK IS THIS THING NOW???????????????????????????????

SO TOTALLY FREAKING UNFAIR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


My brain is pretty much completely broken at the moment.

I was only JOKING. I was JOKING, you hear me??? JOKING!!! JOKE JOKE JOKEY JOKE JOKING!!!

But...but...but...but....

...

WHY????

WHY DOES HE INVERT EVERYTHING LIKE THIS???

WHAT THE HECK????

WHAT THE HECKENWURST???

YAMMY!!!

WHAT IN THE...???

THIS MAKES...

IT'S THE...IT'S...IT'S NOT FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Starrk's a WIMP now! A WIMP!!!

The organization is...in pieces!!!

The symmetry! The randomness! The reality! It's all...KAPUT!!!

THE WORLD HAS DISSOLVED INTO BLACK CHAOS AND SHATTERED INTO A MILLION TINY PIECES!!!

YOU CAN'T GO GANON ON US LIKE THAT, MR. RIALGO!!! YOU JUST CAN'T!!!

YOU CAN'T...YOU...

And YOU. YOU, Harribel!!! SHAME on you! SHAME on you for giving us THREE PANELS of you fighting before releasing! SHAME, SHAME, SHAME!!! I still don't know what your swordname is (and it will STAY THAT WAY, provided everyone is smart and DOES NOT SPOIL ME) or what your form is (and it will STAY THAT WAY, provided everyone is smart and DOES NOT SPOIL ME), but...you fought THREE PANELS' WORTH. SHAME ON YOU, WOMAN.

You're...you're out of my favorite Espada club. Take you and those...those THINGS out of my sight! Away with you! Begone, back to the pit from whence you came! Never darken my doorstep again!

And Starrk. Shame. Shame, shame, shame, shame, SHAME. On you, too! Falling short like that! Letting yourself be...be...OOOOOOOOOH. ME SO ANGRY. ME HULK OUT.

And speaking of hulks, Barragan is innocent except for the fact that he's been plopped down a rank. And he didn't show up yet.

BAAAAAAAAAAH.

I think there's an electrical fire between my ears.

It was bad enough when a nameless someone suggested that he was, in fact, top dog in the Espada without Captain Broken's knowledge, but to demote...blaaaaaargh!!!

OH, MY HEAD.

EVERYTHING IS EXPLODING. IT'S COLLAPSING. LIKE BARAD-DUR.

YAMMY. YOU...I'm done with you. I'm...it's over between us. Keep the dog. It never liked me, anyway.

Explains your kill count, bub. World-record fifty-seven or so kills, including one named character. Possibly two. Which continues to make this a shutout.

The world has broken. Broken, broken, broken. And it CANNOT BE FIXED, DO YOU HEAR??? IT CANNOT. IT WILL NOT.

It...it...

WHERE DID THIS COME FROM???

HOW'D IT GET BURNED? HOW'D IT GET BURNED??? HOW'D IT GET BURRRRRRNED???






...oh, and Ulquiorra was in here, too, okay, now that we've mentioned him....




Grimmjow will always be cooler than him. ALWAYS. Ulquiorra tried his best, didn't he? But still...I will always root for Grimmjow. The one true Espada. Or whatever.


This...this....it DOESN'T MAKE SENSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


MY BRAIN HAS MELTED.

IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A NICE, AWESOME ESPADA FIGHT WHERE HE REMINDED US THAT NUMBER TEN IS A TOUGHIE, TOO. BUT...BUT...BUT...NOOOOOOO, APPARENTLY, THAT WASN'T GOOD ENOUGH FOR HIM, HUH??? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAMMY WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A PLOT HOLE, NOT A...A...A BOSS IN MOOK'S CLOTHING!!! WHY????????????????????????



Ishida was awesome, though. Like...so much so, I don't know if it's possible to top it.



But YAMMY. NO. THAT'S NOT AWESOME. THAT'S...THAT'S...CHEATING. CHEATCHEATCHEATING.

What next? Is Lilynette going to be the negative Espada? Is Unohana going to be a unicorn? HAS TOUSEN BEEN ABLE TO SEE ALL ALONG???

CHEATING.

CHEATING. CHEATING. CHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAATING.

Shawlong LIED to us. He LIED.

So did Ulquiorra!!!

BAH!!!

THE...THE...THE...THE...THE....WHY????????????

*collapses*

Oh, by the way, let's hear a big hurray for Kubo's accuracy in having his ice-type Pokemon beating the grass-type Pokemon. Yay!!!

...which, if you add two "... ]]> ~swan-swan http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/26017276/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/26017276/ Fri, 17 Jul 2009 23:43:25 PDT
He lived a good, long life, at least. Ripe old age. But he was...a legend. He was amazing. I never saw him do newswork, but I knew him from Liberty's Kids and We're Back! A Dinosaur's Tale. And he was amazing. His voice was great.

But now...may he rest in peace.

That's all there is.

]]> ~swan-swan http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/25973760/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/25973760/ Wed, 15 Jul 2009 21:40:03 PDT Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

It...it was awesome.

They only dropped the ball at about five points. Compared to the other movies...that's very, very few.

It didn't feel too rushed (except at the end), but it didn't drag out, either. A bit of a heavy focus on the romance, but it balanced nicely with the drama. Alan Rickman was awesome. So was ol' Sluggy.

Best of all?

Danny and Emma actually ACTED in this one. Like, WELL.

Bonnie was great, too. She really came off well, considering the heightened role she had.

Rupert Grint was fantastic, as usual. And, as usual, he was denied a number of good parts. But he got some, too--this time, he actually got to put in some exposition, rather than letting Hermione do it for him. And his Romilda-Vane-ness was WIN.

The Felix scene was also win. Harry's "Hi!" was the most hilarious delivery out of that boy's mouth...ever.

Oh, and there were so many innuendos throughout the film, it was...heh...

And Dumbledore was freaking Dumbledore. With FIRE.

And DRACO MALFOY. YES. Tom Felton stole the show, in my opinion.

The anti-climactic battle was a letdown...but the halftime show was good. I actually enjoyed it.

I had issues here and there, but overall, a solid eight-out-of-ten. Maybe even nine. I REALLY enjoyed it.

H. Slughorn...more than meets the eye...H. Slughorn...wizard in disguise!



Oh, the theater was PACKED, by the way.


This is a quickie, though...I have more volunteer work tomorrow morning....and I'm sleep-deprived already....

]]> ~swan-swan http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/25952630/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/25952630/ Tue, 14 Jul 2009 21:44:42 PDT


...um....




....yeah.....



It was actually pretty good for a while there. AWKWARD, but...pretty good. Very amusing. All the omake bits spliced together. Matsumoto's comments on Nanao's, er, chest were uncomfortable but entertaining (heck, seeing Nanao in ANY situation these days is...okay, I'm gonna take that "ANY" part back, but...it was nice to see her again, regardless of the context), and Soifon's despair was wonderful. Despite my love for her. Silliness from the serious characters is always great.

Hitsugaya using Hyourinmaru to make party ice? Mundane Superpower Utility ftw.
The Seaweed Ambassador's dramatic entrance? Double win.
Byakuya destroying a swimming pool? So much win, Ichigo wouldn't stand a chance.

THEN came...um....

...

...tentacle hentai.


All of it was actually pretty decently explained...blame it on Mayuri and his mad-scientist-ness, and Yachiru and her insanity...but that was about the end of the "decent." It was like the men at the studio just decided, "You know what this show's been missing? Tentacles!" Despite actually having them twice in the past...tamely, really, but...this...I was VERY much disturbed.

Nanao and Isane just got picked on because they're not allowed to fight back due to their having never ACTUALLY FOUGHT in the manga. They just get their butts kicked in the first three seconds because they end up facing top-tier opponents.

Renji, though, could fight.

Of course, being Renji, he could not win. EVEN IN THE FILLERIEST OF FILLER EPISODES, HE COULD NOT WIN.

Because it was actually a watermelon. An Anti-Hollow Watermelon. Prepare to meet your doom, Ulquiorra!!!

Seriously. The ultimate in front-line weaponry. Giant tentacled watermelons.

Soifon got to be awesome, though.

And yay for her having independent thought! Or at least...trying to....

But then the episode concluded with the standard sitcom "here we go again" ending. Lovely.

Thankfully, we seem to be going on to more lucid terrain next week. With Ikkaku apparently marrying Keigo's sister.

Easily the most awkward episode of any TV show I have ever watched in the history of ever, though. The Swimsuit Episode.

Chances of it being aired in the US of A? Slim to none, I'd say.

There were plenty of other awkward moments that I dare not repeat here. *shivers*


My showwwwwwww....

]]> ~swan-swan http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/25927708/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/25927708/ Mon, 13 Jul 2009 18:55:15 PDT [link]

YAYYYY-YAAAAYYYYYY-YAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




Thanks to for the link!!!

]]> ~swan-swan http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/25888118/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/25888118/ Sat, 11 Jul 2009 21:11:18 PDT
Avatar, Mulan, Rocky, Karate Kid...yeah. Eat your hearts out. Or your dumplings.

Kung. Fu. PANDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.




Dustin Hoffman for the winzors.

]]> ~swan-swan http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/25885153/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/25885153/ Sat, 11 Jul 2009 18:10:29 PDT
To my great, great, GREAT delight.

*spoilers for Bleach through MANGA CHAPTER 344*



For one thing, I was proven wrong in my resolve to hold out for a while and wait to read on in the manga. And I was also proven wrong with my pacing. I planned on doing one issue a night, or two issues...I wound up doing four. Or something like that.

Ulquiorra fight.

*SPOILERS FOR BLEACH THROUGH MANGA CHAPTER 344*
*BLEACH SPOILERS THROUGH MANGA 344***
***BLEACH 344 SPOILERS...THE PRIDE***

Okay. So. Let me make a few things clear:

*MOMENTARY SPOILERS FOR THE REST OF THE ULQUIORRA BATTLE*

All I knew about the Ulquiorra battle was this:

1. Ichigo beats Ulquiorra.
2. Ichigo is down at halftime. With a capital "D".
3. Orihime is, once again, and despite all the development of her character, a useless lump of a damsel.
4. Loly and Menoly get involved.
5. Yammy gets involved.
6. Ulquiorra releases into a bat with the command "Bind" and then an unknown sword-name. SPOILER-FREE 4EVAH!!!
7. Ichigo does it all alone with an inexplicable burst of power.

*END POTENTIAL SPOILERS THAT I DO NOT KNOW OF YET*
*BACK TO STANDARD SPOILERS*
*IF YOU ARE HAVING TROUBLE READING THIS, YOU SHOULD PROBABLY JUST STOP NOW...BASICALLY, IF YOU'RE AHEAD OF ME IN THE BLEACH MANGA, YOU'RE FINE*

Whatever the case, several things were proven DEAD WRONG.

But first...

I should give some credit to number 7. And Ichigo's dialogue. And his first (of hopefully many) Crowning Moment of Awesome when he CATCHES ULQUIORRA'S HAND IN A BIT OF LOGICAL SWORDPLAY. For once, it's not "Power A > Power B = Power A wins!". He uses his head, a bit of strategy, and his skills to get a hit in. Not much of a hit, but hey, it's a start. And it levels the playing field.

But that's not enough for Berry-tan. No, no, no. It's NOT ENOUGH.

Because he then manages to not only explain his own increase in power, but also EXPLAIN THAT ULQUIORRA HAS, INDEED, BEEN NERFED. And not because the plot demanded it. He actually gave a sound reason. That I'm sure many a Ulquihime shipper flailed over.

"Have I become more like a Hollow...or have you become more human?"

Big Red Button? I think I'll push it!

I had previously credited Ulquiorra's little hand stab with Ichigo's increase in power; the reiatsu that Orihime observed to be swirling around and mixing with Ichigo actually strengthened him (in my mind) and allowed him to be more connected to his Hollow form. Ichigo's line gives some credence to that theory, which may never be proven or disproven. The fact that Tite Kubo spent almost a whole issue pointing out that Ichigo is unnaturally more powerful than he should be, though, suggests that he actually knows what he's doing. It's not the random power-jump I've heard people griping about and was always afraid of. I mean, I hope he has some good explanation in the future, but for now I'm willing to ride along with it.

But back to that Big Red Button.

Ulquiorra smashes the floor (in a panel that really lends itself to a comic gag...picture a pair of cymbals, or a bear trap) as the Berserk Button demands, and promptly denies such silly notions as "becoming more human." Which, of course, is only confirmation of that actually happening. Yay, noble side of the dark guy! Yay, Orihime's monologues finally being useful!

And speaking of being useful....

Crowning.

Moment.

Of.

AWESOME.

Orihime.

Completely defying my expectations, fulfilling my hopes, and basically BEING AWESOME...she INTERFERES WITH THE BATTLE. She BLOCKS THE BLADE. SHE DOES SOMETHING.

It's minor, but it's enough to keep Ichigo from becoming Ich and Igo, and also enough to make Ulquiorra launch into a monologue of blithering rage. Or something like that.

Yammy makes his cameo. Along with his puppy. That I'd heard of...but always pictured as being a giant monster. A savage beast. Not...a PUPPY. Tite Kubo is a straaaaaange man.

With horns.

The puppy. Not Kubo.

Insert inappropriate joke here.

ANYWAY.

Where was I?

Oh, yes, Loly and Menoly coming in and being all "We R teh evullllz!" And Orihime being all "...what???" and Ulquiorra and Ichigo being "...um..." and "...stop that!" and all the readers being, "Er...where is this going, exactly, Mr. Kubo?"

Fortunately, before anything can get TOO awkward, Yammy does his Kool-Aid Man impression and bursts through the wall. So fast, he left his hole behind and actually mirrorized the page!!!

Meanwhile, Ichigo is furthering his "it's not all about random power boosts" thing by KEEPING THE GETSUGA IN HIS SWORD TO AMP HIS POWER. Wh... ]]> ~swan-swan http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/25860588/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/25860588/ Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:05:16 PDT
Whatever the case, just got back from an abbreviated (curse you, brother's-workplace, for forcing some of us to return early!) vacation-slash-family-reuinion. Paternal grandparents' fiftieth anniversary (take THAT, modern-day-society!) meant everyone getting together at a resort spot in northern Michigan (Crystal Mountain, Charlie!). Lakes, golf courses, chairlifts, woods, pools, all that sort of stuff...

The whole family--all eleven of us--wore Penguins t-shirts on the way up. It had absolutely nothing to do with some of our uncles and aunts...and our grandparents...being Red Wings fans. Nope. Absolutely nothing. Heh. Heh. Heh. It was also fun sitting in a restaurant on the way up without any shame at all while less than a hundred miles from Detroit.

Fun.

But whatever the case, it was good to catch up with the relatives...talk, hang out, campfire, all that stuff. It's very amusing how some of my cousins are even more antisocial than I am. So you have one big, antisocial horde. Well, a number of people were more willing to bond, but...there's a fun dynamic.

We went canoeing, too.

Weather was nice. Service was frighteningly high-quality (housekeeping...dishes and dishwashers...fridge...those glasses and coasters like you find in hotels...my parents had a whirlpool bathtub...and yet, there was NO TOILET PLUNGER...). Everything went rather smoothly. Though the employees on the resort were very...I dunno...so professional and stringent, it was almost rude. Other than that minor bit of discomfort, it was all great. But, again, most of the family is still there, but the olders kids of the family had to come home early. Overnight drive...again, fun.

Oh, we also had a boat cruise. It was fun, except that the captain of the boat could probably have ruined the best joke in the world if he delivered it. Meh. Can't complain too much, though. I was on a boat. On a boat. Everybody look at me, I'm on...okay, let's not continue with that bit of ear worm.

There was HBO there, too. Dark Knight, the end of Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet, and the awesomeness that is Babe. Oh. And Speed Racer. Um, yeah. Speed Racer, indeed. Or Acid. And on another channel, Cash Cab. Which is a strangely...evil show. I may have nightmares about it sometime in the future.

Family bonding. Fun. Talked with one of the aunts about writing. Working on different things. Still struggling. Talked with a number about the plans for the near future. Also learned some bits of family trivia...apparently my dad hit someone with his lunchbox while at camp a long time ago. And may have broken that someone's fingers. He said that she (THAT wasn't in the quiz question, but it made it all the more shocking) had been provoking him.

And one of my uncles apparently kicked my dad unconscious while in their youth, too. And that uncle was also his now-wife's paperboy, too. There's something that you don't expect to happen outside of Hollywood or wherever.

I have an awesome family. Thank you, reunions.





In a completely different vein...

New Bleach episode was fun stuff. And Soul Eater 63...yeah. FLAILAGE. And anticipation. And angels all around!

And Star vs. Stein EFFTEEDUBS.





All of which PALES in comparison to Kidd's latest OCD escapade. Using your unhealthy obsessions to aggravate the villains? WIN.



I also read The Last Olympian while on break. Last Percy Jackson book. It was pretty darn awesome. Still nowhere near the level of the first one, but it was a good finish. I'm hoping he does more with that universe. Hopefully with a time-skip thing.

]]> ~swan-swan http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/25660164/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/25660164/ Tue, 30 Jun 2009 20:22:54 PDT



*BLEACH 226 SPOILERS*
*BLEACH 226 SPOILERS*
*BLEACH 226 SPOILERS*




Months of questioning and pondering. A long, long period of isolation and paranoia. Weeks of wondering whether or not I had been spoiled, attempting to convince myself that I actually had not been subjected to such a failure at so close of a point. The long hours spent away from DA as the episode's online posting crept closer and closr, terrified of the ultimate finish-line trip-up...and all of them served to lead to a revelation that satisfied, surprised, and elicited much "WHOA."

Harribel. Is. A. Beast.

The number had been spoiled to me from about five different sources. I had also worked it out myself by Tite Kubo's usual pattern...and that of anyone. In a group composed of nine guys and a girl, the girl will be neither ten nor one. And there followed a process of elimination that left me with three possible answers (2, 3, or 7), and the design of another Espada (Barragan) really narrowed it down to two choices. It was all just a matter of waiting and finding out for sure. And pretending I didn't know.

As for Mr. "I Am the Primera". I was hinted, believed it, and was then more or less spoiled...but only in the manner of confirmation. Surprise was not really there with the numbers.

The SMILE, on the other hand...all of my doubts about his evil-ness kind of turned to ash.


And...speaking of "turned to ash"....


Old. Man. Yama.

FIRST, he pwned Aeon. Allon. However you want to spell it. SEVERAL TIMES. Allon went all ROIDS on us, and Yama just pulled out the first blow.

And then...

*sniffle*

He dashed my hopes of my favorite three Fraccion lingering on with one arm each for the rest of the battle. They dashed in foolishly, and he annihilated all of them. Freeing their souls...sure...but...*sniff*...I liked them...

But then came the CROWNING MOMENT OF AWESOME for Harribel-sama.

When she LIVED UP TO AND SURPASSED EVERY EXPECTATION I HAD OF HER by SHOWING CONCERN AND RESPECT FOR HER FRACCION.

"Apache...Sun-Sun...Mila Rose...you fought bravely."

And then she LOSES it. Earlier, she'd been showing surprise as Hydrahyourinmaru attacked her from all sides, and Hitsugaya pushed back. But now...she freaks out, and her sword GLOWS WITH ENERGY and she THROWS SHIRO-CHAN BACK, and then OPENS HER SHIRT and lets nowhere near ALL OF HER ENERGY GO with a blast of yellow energy that BARELY LETS HITSUGAYA GO BANKAI.


Oh, I forgot to mention zee hilarious filler scene with Soifon and Omaeda at the start...with Barragan...

But WHATEVER, HARRIBEL ALSO HAD A FREAKING MASK WITH TEETH UNDER THERE. SHE IS CREEPY LOOKING.

She also had a very revealing outfit that I'm sure was toned down from the manga.

I had actually been expecting her to have her Hollow hole underneath the collar...right through her mouth...but it was close enough. The design was similar. Just no hole.

But then, after that....Stark immediately revealed HIS number, and also GAVE A MURDEROUS SMILE THAT MADE ME REALIZE THAT HE LOOKS A LOT LIKE FIRELORD OZAI.

Which, apparently, wasn't in the manga...

But STILL.

And then Barragan widened his eye, creepily, and they all let off full blasts of reiatsu that basically promised a huge, epic battle...which we were then, of course, immediately swept away from.

To Hueco Mundo!

Where Chad and Renji are busy accepting the settlements from their "I'm Secondary So I Stink" contracts and pwning armies of mooks.

Rukia, meanwhile, is also pwning mooks as settlement of her "I Die Every Other Battle" contract and then moving on to Rudobone (who will, of course, kill her and be killed by her only-mostly-dead body in the last moments).

And Rudy (I shall call him that henceforth) let off blacky-purpleish reiatsu. Yippers!

Meanwhile, Ichigo and Ulquiorra are duking it out over a woman in a much bigger and less filler-y fight (Rudobone held a big lampshade over how much the Rukia fight matters in the grand scheme of things, which was then only FURTHER emphasized by Ulquiorra's "resistance is futile" speech). Ichigo is going berserk, and Ulquiorra is bouncing off the walls, and Orihime is pleading with them to stop drinking her coffee and go outside if they want to run around.

Ichigo, apparently, decides that he's going to do a triple-take past her, and completely ignores the woman. Ulquiorra uses a Cero, Ichigo goes all-out, and then we end the episode to move on to fillers. That Ulquiorra urges them to take a break for. And so he hangs up his sword, changes into his streets (blue suit, khaki pants), and heads out for sweets with Ichigo and Ne... ]]> ~swan-swan http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/25634341/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/25634341/ Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:59:43 PDT
I kicked off volunteer work at a local summer school for children with special needs. Disabilities ranging from severe ADHD to straight-up autism, these kids have problems, and there are a number of people who do their best to find solutions. My dad's a child psychiatrist, so he works at the school often and knows a lot of the kids there, and is well-versed in the field, and he was able to give me a shot at volunteer work there today.

No payment, of course, but the experience and privilege of working there more than made up for it. Not to mention that Dad footed most of the college bills, anyway, so you can call that payment.

But the bottom line is: working alongside actual hospital residents and teachers is an experience. It's satisfying. Unlike Wendy's, there's no "I can do better than this" nagging at the back of my head (hey, I take pride in my job and the efficiency and attitude I bring to it, but sometimes when you're mopping the floors after earning a Bachelor's, you get a little twinge), because I'm going right alongside superiors. Fortunately, I have a lot of patience and experience with kids. So I fit right in.

I didn't do much in the way of "teaching," of course...and since I'm just a volunteer, I'm always under a "no touching" policy, but like I mentioned above with the patience shtick...I'm comfortable in that role. And fortunately, the kids were pretty well-behaved. And once I got involved, they took a bit of a liking to me. ^_^

Meeting, homeroom, math, art, gym, lunch, recess, science, literature, and conclusion....it was just like school. Only more fun. And less homework. And a lot more screaming and stand-off-ing. Not from me, but...yeah. The kids were fascinating. At times they were really intelligent...some of them had no trouble reading the words "literature" and "required" and debating and working things out logically...and at the same time, they had their tantrums and their difficulties and their nervous breakdowns because June has thirty-ONE days (he was so well-behaved up until that point, too...*sigh*). But it was always enjoyable. As long as you're patient and don't back down (unless it's REALLY not worth the argument, and I mean REALLY), it's enjoyable.

I was working with ten-to-twelve-year-olds, too. Mostly boys. You can imagine. But with my younger siblings (who fall into that age group and below) as experience, it was easy to go along. And, admittedly, my own personal experience and interests also help (I seriously got a little too into the LEGOs...I may have to work on distancing myself from them, though I may want to bond with the kids...might be a smarter approach....I'll see what the actual teachers and staff want).

It's a blast, though. A little tedious, a little stressful, but overall...totally worth it. It's stuff that I can be proud of.

Oh, also, to add to the Scrubsyness of the title and the residents, one of my first interactions with the little guys consisted of one of them asking, "How do you make thirty cents without any nickels?" I played along almost perfectly. Also in the Scrubs vein, I had a few eerie Wizard of Oz references early in the morning...first was a sign in the cafe we stopped in that said, "Nobody gets in to see the Wizard, not nobody, not no-how", and then, later, there was a sign on the door that said "Bell out of order, please knock." No evil Janitors painted my shoes red, fortunately.

Get to do the same thing tomorrow. And the next day. And then on Thursday. Then there's no school on Friday, and I'm on vacation for the next week, but then it's back to it for a three-week period. Woo-hoo!

I'm feeling now, though, that it's draining work. Whoof.

]]> ~swan-swan http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/25504763/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/25504763/ Tue, 23 Jun 2009 20:47:56 PDT
AIRBENDER PREVIEW.

Or...


"Noah Ringer tells all the casting complainers to go shove it."

Without any words.

And there are ships. Big. Fire Nation. Ships. Like...big-big.

You're like, "Oh, hey, cool, Fire Nation warships, but I wish we could see them bet--OH MY GOSH, NEVER MIND, THOSE THINGS ARE HUGE!!!"

Good ad. Good ad.






AND THEN...



*BLEACH ANIME 225 SPOILERS*
*BLEACH ANIME 225 SPOILERS*
*BLEACH ANIME 225 SPOILERS*


I'm going to have to rewatch the episode and post flailage in the comments of this piece, because I spent the better half of it sulking and mumbling angry words about sexism and having to suck up to the overly-feminist people who complain about genderfail and such in this manga.

But it wasn't just gender that made me grumpy, it was favorite-character-scale-ness that made me grumpy. When two favorite characters of Espada-esque levels get their butts saved by two characters who might make the Fraccion level, I get annoyed.

And I then get delighted as these characters get THEIR butts handed to them a short while later. Albeit with a little more drama. Even poor Tetsuzaemon, who actually got me EXCITED about his appearance and his Big Dang Hero moment...well, he got pwnt utterly. And I was stunned. I hope he's okay. I think he is. My brother didn't seem too bugged by it.

And then, when all hope seems lost and Rangiku's revival is the only chance of salvation, I see that there is another.

And...

I scream and crawl backwards, an imaginary tail between my legs, whimpering like a terrified puppy. As someone who I NEVER imagined to get involved with FRACCION made his appearance. And told me just what kind of level this thing was at. This monster. Chimera Parca. The coolest thing to hit the manga in a long, long time.

Didn't actually KILL anyone, but, hey, I'll take incapacitating damage any day. However toned-down the anime makes it.

Oh, also, Lilynette was a little less intimidating than I expected. And Ukitake was a little more awesome. Or a lot more. Either way...yeah.

REMINDER: I HAVE NOT READ PAST THIS POINT IN THE MANGA. I DO NOT KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT. I DO NOT WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT, SAVE FOR WHEN I WATCH THE NEXT ANIME EPISODE. DO NOT SPOIL ME. I HAVE SEVEN DAYS, OR ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-EIGHT HOURS, TO LAST. DON'T MAKE ME TRIP ON THE FINISH LINE. I WOULD BE VERY, VERY ANGRY. YOU HAVE NO IDEA. NO. SPOILERS. NO NUMBERS, NO COLLARS, NO DEATHS, NO SURVIVALS, NO RELEASES, NO TWISTS, NOTHING!!!



However, if you happen to have access to some sort of exposition-fic regarding Allon that is non-spoilery and well-written, I would be happy to be directed to it. Because besides two of my favorite characters being disposed of in a matter of seconds, this episode upset me in its lack of information about the monster. I was theorizing several theories, but all my theorization was vague because, in theory, the theory could be countered in the first few pages of the next issue. But now I'm under the impression that, like most of the awesome things in this show, there's not going to be any exposition.

But I WANT it.

How did they learn to make it?

What does it involve?

Does it have something to do with Mila Rose having her sword? Did she have a power similar to Aaroniero's Glotoneria, where she could absorb the abilities of a victim she devoured, and she devoured a Shinigami and took his sword? Can Apache shed her antlers and grow minions, and therefore combine her powers with Mila Rose's and create a more powerful creature? And can Sun-Sun shed her skin and make a copy and a new body, allowing for a similar combination? Therefore, when you put them together, you can BLEND!!!

...you see how I think and theorize?

I love those three.

Apache especially. Though Mila Rose took some more boosts, too, in my mind...read the above thought of her killing a Shinigami and taking his sword to understand why. Because that would be awesome. And Sun-Sun appears to have snakes in her sleeves, which lends itself to Sun-Sun's Snake Puppet Theatre.

"Hello, everyone. It's time for Sun-Sun's Snake Puppet Theatre! I'm your host, Sun-Sun."
"And I'm Apache, duhr-huhr-huhr!"
"I'm Mila Rose, and I'm grouchygrumpy. Grrr. And I like shedding on people's clothes."
"Behave yourselves, you two."

...

...

IF THEY DON'T GIVE ME A CHARACTER'S BACKSTORY AND DAILY HABITS, I MAKE THEM MYSELF.


Which is why Mai's dad was apparently a master swordsman back in the day...and why Ozai has dubbed his beard "Bernard"...and why, in Bleachy stuff, Aaroniero doubles as a lemonade dispenser.


... ]]> ~swan-swan http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/25485456/ http://swan-swan.deviantart.com/journal/25485456/ Mon, 22 Jun 2009 23:39:28 PDT
Being able to post rants about the presumably-rigged elections in Iran without fear of suppression. Real fear, anyway.

You all know I'm not prone to srs bsns journals and all that, but you know, every time I read about it, I just have the urge to sit here and say, "Hey, when a government shuts down any protests, cuts off communications right before an election, and limits the media coverage of the situation, it's not exactly saying that all is good and clean."

And I'm seeing a surprising lack of discussion of the issue. I guess this site isn't really a political discussion spot, but, still, some of the other journals I read--that are usually immediately stoked up about whatever issue comes up related to feminism or racism or equality or whatever--have been strangely silent on the issue. I think I saw one small mention of the issue.

I'm not really sure what to say about everything, of course, because it's possible that the election was won legitimately (though, if it were, one would think that they would be more transparent with the results, more willing to show off, as it were). But I just feel like saying something, because it's feeling worse and worse to not say anything when I actually can say something.

Do you understand what I mean?

Too many things in life get taken for granted, in my opinion. That's a whole new monologue in itself, but it's like...red lights and green lights. People tend to get frustrated by the red lights when they're in a hurry, or even when they're not, but how often do you feel thankful or privileged when you can just keep going through a green light? People get ticked off when someone is rude or late, but how often do they give respects for simple manners--not even outright politeness, but just not being rude--or the ability to be somewhere at the right time?

My philosophies on life.

I don't think the elections in Iran were the results of a fair game, and even if yonder "president" did win legitimately, the margin was probably exaggerated and the response is less than honorable. People are dying in protests over this.

We passed the anniversary of Tianamen Square a few weeks ago with little comment, too; another example of suppression and intimidation. I'm gonna mention THAT, too, because I can.

Don't whine about too much in life. Before you go complaining about whatever it is that you feel like complaining about, consider how lucky you are that you CAN complain. And then, by all means, feel free to complain. Because you CAN.

Of course, I dunno what I can do about the situation over there, if anything, which I probably can't, and I doubt that it's a good idea for anyone to get involved, but it should be a fascinating series of events. Pay attention, now, people, because that's what we're not. As far as I know. If I don't post Bleach flailage tomorrow night or Airbender flailage by next Monday (I'm gonna be gone for the weekend, and I dunno when I plan to watch the trailer), you can begin to suspect government interference and crackdown, but I don't think I've really said anything to upset the AMERICAN government, so...

People always tend to complain about what they don't have and give attention to what still has not been done, but there's not a lot of happiness toward what has happened. You know, unless it's being brought up in some political campaign or advertisement to say just how great such-and-such is with such a flashy white smile you wonder if those are actually teeth or if they're actually bleached whalebone dentures.

Feel free to say what you want. Unless it's a Bleach spoiler or Airbender trailer spoiler or anything spoilerish. Because you don't have that freedom of speech in my journals. You can post those in your OWN journal comments. I'm tyrannical in that regard. Yes, I am writing humor about a serious issue. BECAUSE I CAN. And actually, I'm not being mean with it...if you do, you don't have to fear for your life. Just your relation with me...it's a courtesy thing.

Now that I've talked about it, I hope this nagging feeling will go away. Urgh.

Tyranny is too effective for its own good.

]]> ~swan-swan