Moving

I'm moving to an apartment tomorrow.  As I'm packing DVDs I'm kinda wishing my collection was....less.  I'm proud of all the anime and movies and television I've collected, I just wish it were more portable.

I have more DVDs/books than clothes.  >.<

Got Toradora! 2nd half for b-day.  Will watch when I'm done with the move.  ^_^

Disney

Anyone know what Disney's next move is?  Besides Pixar sequels?  I'd love another Tangled, that movie had everything I'd been missing from Disney animation.

I still watch it at least once a week.  Ssshhh, don't tell anyone.

I just re-watched Beauty & the Beast last week.  Man, that's a great film.  The animation still holds up pretty well, though I noticed Belle was off-model in a few important scenes.  Also Gaston never fails to crack me up.  They were so spot-on with this villian.

Favorite Disney villian of all time?  Mine's still Hades from Hercules.  Hmmm...I think I'll watch that after work today.

Jacqueline Carey (Yay For Non Urban Fantasy!)

So, one of my favorite authors in ever just finished another series set in an Ersatz Renaissance France with fantasy elements.  I'm wondering what's next for the talented Jacqueline Carey because frankly there aren't that many great Olde Thyme Fantasy writers.  She makes some true, epic fantasy.  Plus I love the world she created and the characters that have populated it.  I still can't decide if I love Phedre or Moiren better.  Both had their strengths, both had their weaknesses, and both were truly great heroines with unique love stories that were actually interesting as opposed to cliched or plot by numbers.

I like urban fantasy but it's beginning to grate on me.  I get that it's popular right now, but that also means that now there's a lot of crap to wade through to get to the good stuff.  I also like steampunk but sometimes it doesn't strike that crucial balance between science, danger, mystique and Britishness that it needs too.  A lot of it falls kinda flat.  I could use some recommendations right now.

Though I did start reading Kelley Armstrong's works and I'm liking them. 

Anyway: Mystical Creatures.  A lot of fantasy right now is sticking to a small and thoroughly over-used number of them right now.  Vampires, Weres/Shifters, ghosts, dwarfs and elves.  Ask anyone on the street about any of these creatures and they'll tell you why they love or hate Twilight, True Blood, The Lord of the Rings, or Harry Potter.  We've kind of forgotten about dragons, griffons, sea monsters, giants, pagan gods and demons, faeries, unicorns, and other strange beasts that have no practical purpose whatsoever (think Grendel and his mother in Beowulf (not that horrid CGI monstrosity)).  True, most of the things I named were in Harry Potter, but work with me here.  You'll see these things on the edge of good fantasy works, but never a story about them.  Remember when dragons were huge, scary, incredibly difficult to defeat and had hordes of treasure for no discernable reason?  THAT WAS AWESOME!!  Bring that back.  Bring back the unknown, the mysterious, the alien.  I'm sick of all this "But for the grace of God go I" b.s. that vampires and shifters give us.  Bring back the sublime to my fantasy.  I'm sick of all this mirror-holding business turning badass vampires and wraiths into sparkly vampires and helpful ghosts.  Give me back the mischevious and terrifying imps and fae that grant a gift to humans only to drown them in a lake a few pages later.  Give me back the fantastic in fantasy!

Crossing Midnight

I read this comic series recently that was completely awesome (and also written by Mike Carey) called Crossing Midnight.  It's about these Japanese twins (boy and a girl), one who is born on one side of midnight and the other born after midnight.  A specific kami wants one of the twins to be his servant for eternity (the girl, but not for reasons you'd think) and he controls all the knives/daggers/swords in the world.  It's a great story written about Japanese religion, folklore, and pop culture with themes like familial loyalty and the identity of self.  I also hope that it's not over yet as the last issue ended a kind of a downer/cliffhanger.  Plus Mike Carey is a brilliant writer.  He portrays Japan very realistically, even with all the crazy demons running about.

Published by Vertigo (which is owned by DC) it's definitely worth a read if you're looking for something new.  It's like a nice halfway point between American comics and Japanese manga.

Random Tidbit of Info Involving Lovecraft

I was in Rhode Island recently (Providence in specific, though I did visit other areas) and was requested by my one true love to bring to him back something related to H.P. Lovecraft as that's where he lived most of his life.  Perhaps I was looking in all the wrong places but I could not find anything Lovecraft-related gift-wise to bring back to my beloved.  He was crushed, as was I because it was also going to be his birthday present.  The closest I came was when I was on a ghost tour (which on the way to it I was almost devoured by feral cats but that's another story) and saw Lovecraft's actual house, but there was no memoribilia to be had.  Not even one lousy plushie Cthulu was in residence.  Not like I'm asking for the complete hand-written and human skin bound Necronomicon here.  I'd have settled for a t-shirt proclaiming that I was lost in Innsmouth and all I got was that crappy shirt.

See what I did there?  *self congratulatory pat on the back inserted here*

All right, I'll babble at you later.

Cosplay

Alright everyone, prepare to be bowled over because for once I'm delivering on a promise I made.

Who would I cosplay as?  If you had asked me nearly three years ago I would've instantly answered Haruhi Suzumiya from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.  The character and concept were brilliant.  Also funny as hell.  But time has tarnished it for me somewhat and now I'm forced to reconsider my answer.

As I have a difficult time just choosing one, I'm going to choose from categories. 

Videogame:

If I had the body for it (and for the sake of the list let's pretend I do) I'd almost be forced to cosplay as Farah from Prince of Persia: Sands of Time.  There's just too much I love about the game and the character will always have a special place in my heart.  She's just a genuine character.  An abducted princess (a new concept, I know!) who isn't worried so much about her abducted status as she is about the fate of the world with the Sands of Time unleashed on it.  From the beginning we see her trying to protect the dagger and its secrets, and only her iron resolve to guard the world from the Sands show through.  She comes across as vulnerable at times (kidnapped princess alone with only her captor in a world full of sand monsters and crumbling architecture, somewhat difficult not be vulnerable), letting her guard down with the Prince at key moments.  She goes from seeing him as an obstacle (and the enemy) to sympathizing with him to actually caring about him to loving him.  And when he lets her down at a critical moment she puts that love aside to do what's right for the world: sealing the Sands of Time.  Her duty is paramount to her existence, and her resolve is nothing short of miraculous.  Also I love the color red and shooting things with arrows.

Comic Book:

This was a tough one.  It basically boiled down to Selena Kyle (Catwoman for those who aren't in the know), Rogue, Ramona Flowers, or our winner: Kim Pine.  I chose Kim because a) she'd be an easy cosplay (cheap, I know) and b) I related to her the best out of the Scott Pilgrim females.  I loved all of them (Roxie almost made the list, actually), but Kim is so beautifully cynical, sarcastic, and flawed that she was hard not to love and relate to.  Her little ball of snark and angry made her too kick ass to not pay attention.  The absolutely biting wit guaranteed her some of the best lines in the series.  She's trying to deal with her past, but not in a head-on way.  She just gets some distance and mellows out.  I couldn't help but relate and admire that.  Plus who doesn't love a drumming redhead full of snark?

Anime/Manga:

I was expecting this one to be really, really hard.  In a way, it actually was.  There were so many favorites to choose from, but once I closed my eyes and thought about anime, this was the first one to pop in my head and it felt so right.  Akane Tendou from Ranma 1/2.  If I were forced to pick only one of the characters I'd named so far to cosplay as (final answer?) she would be it.  One of the first mangas I'd ever read was Ranma 1/2, thanks to my roommate Robin.  And while I'd seen anime before nothing stuck with me the way that Ranma had, and has continued to do so.  Akane is at the heart of that series and one of my favorite characters of all time.  And once again, relatively easy to cosplay as.  I love her because every action and reaction she has to her situation and the people around her is so genuine, whether good or bad.  She is amazingly kind, staunchly loyal, and quick to react negatively with an angry punch.  She's perfect.  Akane is all passion and emotion, completely thrilling and strangely vulnerable.  She can't admit to herself that she does love Ranma (just like he can't admit he loves her) because it would mean leaving herself open to rejection (and also giving in to her father's plans).  All of Akane's adventures and her relationship with Ranma made her an easy choice for me to pick.  Also lots of outfits to choose from.

So there you have it.  Some more geekitude for you as well as some random reasoning.  I might even revisit this topic again.

New question: What's your favorite mythological creature and why?  Can also include fantasy characters and Lovecraftian mythos.

Anime, etc.

I've been feeling a real lack of interesting anime. Haven't seen anything new since I last posted. Any recommendations from anyone?

Random subject change:

I didn't think it was possible, but somehow Portal 2 was actually funnier than the original. Valve has shown time and again that when they put something out it's worth the wait. Which is why I'm convinced that Half Life 2: Episode 3 will be the Holy Grail of video games. Or something. And I still wouldn't be able to play it due to my inability to process what's going on from FPS mode.

Been watching Comic Con footage of The Last Airbender: The Legend of Korra panel and it's pretty amazing. I'm probably most excited for this property in the upcoming future.

True Blood has been continuing its tradition of loosely interpreting the word "adaptation". It was more offensive in season 3 in regards to Alcide's character, but it still bugs me because book 4 is my favorite. Not like this is a tragedy or anything because it's still entertaining as all get-out to watch. I do like a lot of the ideas they're presenting.

 

The show still commits the deadly sin of thinking I give a damn about Jason's character and what he gets up to. Don't get me wrong, I love Ryan Kwanton (and I mean: damn is he entertaining) but I still hate the character. Jason=booooooooooooooring. Crystal=dumb. Jason+Crystal=Jill Sleepy-Time. And WTF is up with Bill becoming KING!? What!? Bill is terrible at leadership! That's a major character flaw. He's built on not leading. A major character trait of his is loner, not leader. I can see where one might get confused, both starting with 'l' and all, but sheesh.

True Blood also continues to think that Sookie is a secondary character, which as we know is in line with the book series. Y'know, it's not like she was the main protagonist of all those books...waitaminute. Well, it's not like they were from her point-of--hold on. Uh, well, it's not as if all the side stories have her as the narrator, right? Oh wait, all except one do. And that one story was a complete side story and didn't feature any first person narrative, the only one of Charlaine Harris's stories from the Southern Vampire series to do so. I'm just so tired of Jason's stupidity taking up precious screen time from Sookie. Or Bill's non-rule. Or Tara and Lafayette's boring "Oh noes, Eric gonna kill our asses" storyline. Dramatic irony only goes so far on that one. It wouldn't bug me except for four seasons it feels like Sookie actually gets the least amount of screen time and SHE'S THE MAIN FRIGGIN' CHARACTER. She's the one who introduces the audience to this wacky world, and we explore it on her terms. Why can't the show reflect that AT ALL?

*sigh*

Rant over for now.

Question for the day: If you could cosplay as any character ever, who would it be and why? I'll answer in my next post for myself but I'd like to hear any of your answers first. :)

Undead

I'm the living undead now, returned to the world as a nerdy zombie. Only explanation I have for neglecting this blog for so friggin' long. For reals.

Watching Comic Con footage of The Last Airbender: The Legend of Korra and it's moved me so much I had to post for the first time in forever:

Korra and her mantourage look awesome. I'm having fangirl squealing moments that make me extremely ashamed of myself because I was beginning to think I had finally grown up and reached my mature phase.

Cannot begin to describe how pumped I am for the show...nor how much artwork I've collected over the past year.

Also excited for Mass Effect 3 as it looks amazing. We might also get a FemShep trailer! How cool would that be!?

And everyone is drooling over the steampunk wonder that is Bioshock: Infinite. If only I could play FPS without motion sickness. Or stop jumping everytime someone fires at me. This one will be relegated to me watching Tony as I just can't do FPS. Still looks amazing and thematic and everything we've come to expect from these developers.

Batman Arkham City is also a big fangirl moment for me. When I saw the Catwoman stuff I was very excited, but then a little sad. Her lines seem very cheesey. I'd hoped we'd moved on from Selena making all the cat references and just have her be a real person like Bruce. He doesn't make goofy bat references at all.

Still, most excited about Korra. It's been a long time since I've been looking forward to American animation like this.